Chapter 39: A Blessing in Disguise
The set of ‘Jaeni’s room’ was built in warehouse number 8 on the filming site.
The small, cramped room was littered with all sorts of trash. With grease dripping down her face and her hair a mess, Jaeni looked at herself in the mirror, her black eyes sparkling.
“Jaeni, you’re ready.”
“Yes!”
All the staff members who were checking the props on the set stepped back. The space, which only had walls, soon became the child’s nest, and in an instant, the time of
“Ready-”
At the director’s signal, a small dolly (a camera cart) moved. Pulling the trailer, it went forward, forward.
“Action!”
It was an angle that followed the bug’s point of view. The camera approached Jaeni, scanning the floor. At the sound director’s signal, a staff member behind the wall punched fiercely.
Crash! Bang!
Jaeni looked anxiously back and forth.
‘When you go in with a dolly in (moving towards the subject), get the lens as close to your face as possible. It should feel like the bug is right in your eye.’
‘You mean fill up the entire screen?’
The child recalled the director’s instructions and fixed her gaze on the floor. The camera was approaching her at a rapid pace, right in front of her. The cinematographer’s hands tensed up.
Zziiing.
Get close, but don’t hit the face. As the precarious tension made his palms sweat, Yuna continued with her lines.
“······Why?”
Squeak!
A distance where they were almost touching, but not quite.
Yuna flinched but kept her eyes wide open and fixed. She was waiting for the director’s cut. In the silence, the sound of the film rolling could be heard, and then Jin Gyeongmun gave the signal.
“Okay! Cut!”
“Whoa! That was a surprise.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Yuna. I went a little further.”
The camera had come closer than they had rehearsed beforehand. If things had gone wrong, it would have been an NG, and if they were unlucky, there would have been a collision. When he apologized, feeling sorry, Yuna just laughed.
“It’s okay. I’m fine.”
After all, they got the shot.
Besides, it was the camera director, so what could she say? He looked around and called a staff member.
“Check the brake over here. It needs to be tight to work properly, but it keeps slipping. Do we have any gaffer tape?”
While they were moving efficiently, the child went to the corner of the set. Muyoung was sitting on a folding chair, watching Yuna.
“How was it?”
“Awesome. You did really well.”
Two thumbs up!
Yuna smiled bashfully as she received a touch-up from the makeup team. The grease that had been slightly wiped off became thick again.
‘What an amazing child.’
It had been three days since the ritual, and Yuna had been filming solo scenes ever since. The schedule was set to save production costs, so they were filming everything they could on the built set.
In other words, get it all done at once.
“Script supervisor, is the next scene number 17?”
“Yes. And then we’ll go in order: 3, 104, 98. Tear the clothes. Only change the calendar when going from 104 to 98. You know that, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Director! Was the fourth take we just shot okay? Should I log this as the final one?”
“Hmm. Just in case, keep the third one too.”
Besides, the timeline was all over the place. It’s not usual to film scenes in sequence according to the script, but he didn’t expect it to be this chaotic from the start.
‘The script supervisor must be having a hard time.’
And it’s not just the script supervisor, who records everything about the shoot. Yuna had to play Jaeni from the future and Jaeni from the past several times. And she’s only nine years old!
Saying she’s amazing is an understatement.
“Oppa. Ah-”
Yuna would come to Muyoung whenever she had a break and get some chocolate from him.
As Jin Gyeongmun predicted, his presence seemed to be a great support for Yuna. She paid no attention to her protector, her mother, and stuck to Muyoung like glue.
“Ah-”
Muyoung fed Yuna some chocolate and asked,
“Were you scared? When the camera came over?”
“I’m fine. It stopped right in front of me, though. But where are you looking so intently, Oppa?”
The child was attentive. While focusing on her acting, she accurately sensed the atmosphere and mood on set.
Especially since it was something she liked and involved Muyoung, her instincts were even sharper.
“You keep glancing upwards.”
“You noticed that?”
When Muyoung looked up, Yuna followed his gaze. The ceiling was dark and high, with far more lights than there had been during the web drama shoot.
‘That guy.’
Among them, a malevolent spirit was hanging from a broken light fixture.
It was the same one he had seen during the ritual, but strangely, it hadn’t left the set and was lingering around.
Last time it was in the large warehouse, and now it’s here in warehouse number 8.
‘It’s bothering me.’
The spirit, who had been moving between the staff members, had, at some point, stuck to that spot as if honey had been smeared there.
Hanging in human form.
It was impossible not to look.
“Oppa?”
“It’s just that I’ve never been on a movie set before, so it’s fascinating.”
“Come on. What’s the big deal? You’ll be shooting with me starting tomorrow, right?”
“The outside looks really cool. Doesn’t it?”
“Yeah. It felt like I was in a different world. I’ve never seen such a big set before.”
The entire filming site outside warehouse number 8 was being rebuilt. Between the excavators and various construction equipment, the world of
“Yuna, come here for a moment.”
“Yes!”
Left alone, Muyoung stared straight up at the ceiling. Although it wasn’t visible due to the darkness, he could definitely sense a dark energy swirling around.
“What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”
The staff members passing by asked, puzzled. Occasionally, mice or birds would come in. Concerned, they, too, looked up.
“That light fixture over there.”
“Which light?”
“The second one from the left. The fifth one from the bottom.”
“The one that’s turned off?”
He just nodded. He was momentarily wondering how to put it into words.
He couldn’t bring himself to say that a ghost was hanging from it and that it was bothering him······.
“Let me see.”
A staff member shielded the light with his hand and squinted.
“Hmm?”
Then a strange expression came over his face. The embarrassed tone of voice was a bonus.
“Why is that one shaking?”
“Is it shaking?”
“That’s why I’m looking at it.”
“Oh. Right. Yes, it is.”
The spirit’s shaking must have been the machine’s shaking. With its arms and legs wrapped around it, the light itself wasn’t very visible.
“Director, take a look at that.”
At the staff member’s words, everyone on set focused their attention. Since it was an indoor set, there was no wind blowing.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Should we go up and take a look?”
“Never mind. It’s turned off anyway.”
If it was a light that needed to be used, they would have to secure it, but it didn’t matter, right? Since it was an instruction from the best person on the lighting team, the staff members were curious but simply nodded.
“Oh, by the way, Director. HMI 6K, right? It’s set up.”
“Pull that and move it behind the window.”
“Does anyone have a spare pig snout?”
Besides, they were busier and more frazzled than the other teams. They quickly lost interest and focused on their work.
Only Muyoung, who had nothing to do, just stared blankly.
“Mr. Muyoung.”
While continuing his non-staring contest with the malevolent spirit, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
“Oh. Hello.”
It was a staff member from the stills team. He was in charge of taking still shots. The DSLR camera hanging around his neck looked heavy.
“That thing is really bothering me. Isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.”
“I’ll take a picture of it. Who knows? Maybe there are mice fighting up there. Ha ha.”
“The ceiling? Are you sure that’s okay?”
“I just need to use a ladder. The lighting team doesn’t seem to care, so I’ll just take one high-angle shot and come down. Can you help me?”
The staff member nodded his head.
He meant, could Muyoung hold him steady from below when he went up? Muyoung readily agreed and followed him.
Squeak- Squeak!
“Heave-ho!”
He brought over a ladder and put his foot on it. The people on set glanced at him but didn’t seem very interested. No. They were too busy to pay attention.
“Be careful.”
“As long as Muyoung holds me tight, there’s no problem.”
“Okay. Then I won’t let go even if I die.”
Muyoung watched from below as the man climbed up to the ceiling. The movements of the malevolent spirit, which had been hanging upside down, became slightly erratic.
‘Huh?’
It was playfully twitching back and forth.
The movement gradually grew larger, and the trembling became clearly visible. The man, who was almost at the ceiling, muttered in confusion.
“It’s shaking even more when I look at it up close?”
Squeak-
Click! Click!
Even as he said that, he didn’t forget to put his hand up towards the ceiling and take pictures. The man turned his arm this way and that, pressing the shutter.
“Huh.”
It was then.
The malevolent spirit suddenly dropped down and approached Muyoung. At the moment their eyes met firmly, the man let out a shout.
“Oh! Over there, over there!”
Squeak-
The lighting pin, which had been barely hanging on a loose screw, broke.
A light the size of a human face fell, and the man barely managed to knock it away with his other hand.
Thud! Clang-!
“What happened?”
“Is everyone okay?”
“Oh! What? What?”
Behind Muyoung, the broken light lay scattered. If he hadn’t knocked it away, it would have fallen on Muyoung’s head.
The malevolent spirit glanced around Muyoung’s shoulders and then disappeared, laughing.
“Mr. Muyoung. Are you okay?”
“Why did you touch it? That’s why it happened.”
“That could have been bad!”
“Oppa! Are you okay?”
Muyoung touched his face, looking dazed. Then he quickly smiled and calmed the people down.
“I’m fine. I’m not hurt at all. Is the stills photographer okay?”
“Oh. I’m okay, but······.”
He had caused an accident.
The stills team photographer looked troubled. The lighting director’s face turned bright red as he shouted angrily.
“Why did you touch it? That thing!”
“I’m sorry. It kept shaking, so it was bothering me······.”
“So why did you have to be the one to be bothered by it? Hey! Go up there quickly and check the others.”
“Yes.”
A lighting team member stepped onto the ladder and climbed up. Muyoung, too, was wondering what to do about this situation and could only manage an awkward smile.
Flash-
“Huh?”
Flower petals trickled out of the hole where the light had fallen. It looked like dust, but it wasn’t. It was definitely light.
‘Why?’
Muyoung looked up at the ceiling with a puzzled expression. A lighting team member who had climbed up the ladder checked something and shouted loudly.
“Team leader! The entire rail here is broken.”
“What?”
“Uh-oh? We need to fix this quickly. The hooks on both sides of number 3 are loose. Senior! Go to the other side and hold it down! Quickly!”
He didn’t understand what they were saying, but it was clear that something serious had happened. The lighting team was shocked and scattered in an instant.
“What happened?”
Director Jin Gyeongmun rushed over, looking startled.
“The rail hooks were loose.”
“Rails, you say······.”
He was referring to the long bars that stretched across the ceiling of the set. Usually, ten to twenty lights are attached to them······.
“How did that happen?”
“I don’t know either. Let’s tighten the hooks and talk again. Just a moment.”
Muyoung stroked Yuna’s head, which was resting on his waist, and watched the situation. That huge rail. If it had fallen-.
‘The entire set could have been destroyed.’