慈禧太后的秘密

Chapter 536

She looked at the uniform in her hands once before looking at the girl who looking at her with a bright smile on her face. Perhaps this was what it meant when a person looked ‘blindingly bright’. Her eyes were so sparkly that instead of making her question why she had to wear this uniform, she just kept thinking that she should wear it. She came to herself and looked at Maru who was standing next to her.

“She’s a bit reckless.”

“Well, I get that.”

“Sora. At least explain to her what this is about. Don’t just ask her to wear something out of the blue. You’re supposed to be the director.”

Director? She looked at the girl. Her name seemed to be Sora.

“That’s true. I was looking at you thinking that that uniform would fit you perfectly, so I ended up saying that without thinking. I’m Kang Sora, and I’m directing this film. You know that we’re shooting a film, right?”

“Yes, I heard about it.”

“Oh, don’t speak politely. You must be a 3rd year if you’re a friend of Maru-seonbae’s, and that makes you an unni. Unni!”

Sora emphasized that word. She also briefly introduced herself.

“But I think I saw you somewhere before.”

Sora tilted her head before exclaiming.

“‘That family is suspicious’, am I right? You appeared in that one! U-uhm, that’s right, Wansook!”

Wansook. That was the nickname of the character she played in the sitcom. Although that character had a real name, she was called by that nickname more often than she was called by her real name, and after the 10th episode, she was never called by her real name. Everyone at the shoot called her Wansook as well, so it was a familiar name for her.

“Ah!”

“She is.”

Everyone around started recognizing her. She made an awkward smile.

“Oh my god! So both of you are on TV? That’s awesome.”

She looked at Sora who grabbed her hands while smiling brightly. Perhaps she would have a similar face if she picked up a 10,000won bill on the street. She coughed slightly when Sora looked like she had picked up a treasure, but Sora did not let go. In fact, she scanned her even more closely.

“Uhm….”

“Unni! Today’s our first shoot.”

“Oh, really?”

“Also, there’s a really attractive role for you here, do you want to try?”

“Me?”

“No, you must do it. This is called fate. I already have a premonition. The fact that that uniform fits you perfectly is proof of that.”

“I haven’t even tried putting it on though….”

“No! I’m sure of it. It will definitely fit you.”

“Moreover, she appeared on TV, so her skills could be vouched for.” Sora made an evil grin as she said that to herself in a small voice.

She pressed her lips together. She felt dizzy because of the storm brewing in front of her. She felt like she would accept whatever the girl in front of her said at this rate, so she stepped backwards for now. Sora approached her with a disappointed gaze. She quickly moved behind Maru. She needed a shield. This girl was somewhat scary.

“Calm down. Also, Aram is going to play that role,” Maru said.

“I don’t care if it’s unni who plays the role.”

Aram smiled and followed up. She looked at Aram. What she found out through the conversation just now was that she was taking something away from Aram.

She tensed her eyes before walking forward. She then gave the uniform back to Sora.

“What is it?”

“If there’s someone who has already been chosen to play the role, then use that person. A director must not lose the trust of the actors. I don’t feel good about it either.”

Sora blankly stared at her after taking the uniform. She just returned a firm gaze back to her. An actor always had a desire to act. Aram was also an actress. It was unthinkable for her to take away Aram’s role when she wasn’t here to play the role in the first place.

“Unni,” Sora spoke.

She couldn’t predict what was next, so she paid attention to Sora’s lips.

“You’re so cool.”

A smile returned to Sora’s face. Sora moved even closer to her. She flinched before taking a step back.

“You are right, unni. I was wrong. Uh, Aram….”

Sora’s lips twitched as she looked at Aram. Aram, who saw that, spoke,

“I’m a 2nd year.”

“Then, seonbae! Sorry about that Aram-seonbae. I was too fixated on the uniform, so I didn’t think things through.”

“Forget it. I’m not someone that gets angry at something like that. Also, unni, I really don’t mind. I’m only doing this because Maru-seonbae asked me to, I don’t really want the role that much. In fact, I want you to do it. You were really cool in Myunghwa High’s play. I want to see that again. Also, the uniform doesn’t fit me, unfortunately.”

Aram shrugged.

She looked at Maru.

“Weren’t the roles decided?”

“Just the main character. As for the rest, we decided to decide on the rest while shooting today. Aram’s role was a delinquent, but now that I look at you, I think you’ll do a fine job too.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that you look really gentle.”

She was about to punch Maru’s waist, but she stopped after seeing that there were many people around her. However, everyone was already looking at her clenched fist with awkward smiles on their faces. She smiled wordlessly before loosening her fist.

“You aren’t going to hit me today?”

Maru was being really spiteful today. She decided to record it in her mind. One punch to the stomach. She turned her head around to face Sora.

“How are you going to use someone who knows nothing about this?”

“We were just going to get the background shot and the group shot. Oh, and test the camera too. Since the shoot overlaps with the acting club’s practice hours, I don’t have much time. Plus, other than Maru-seonbae, there’s no one who’s memorized the lines. I was planning to test the people recommended by Maru-seonbae and decide the roles that way. That’s when you came in, unni.”

Sora gave her back the uniform with a smile.

She stared at the uniform.

“Also, I’m not going to have you play Aram-seonbae’s role. I’m going to get a uniform that fits her and shoot it that way. Instead though, it will look quite awkward if there’s an empty seat when we get the group shot. You just need to wear this uniform and sit down as an extra. Can’t you do that? It’s just for memories!”

Sora widened her eyes and approached her.

“Shouldn’t that be fine? I think it’ll be good if I can shoot with you.”

As she was hesitating, Maru approached her and talked to her in a small voice. She sighed slightly before accepting the uniform. Sora cheered loudly.

“So I just have to sit here without doing anything, right?”

“Yes! That’s fine. You’re pretty so just that will be enough to make the scene look good. Well then, everyone. Please get changed. We’ll start the shoot now!”

She took the uniform and went to the bathroom to change. The skirt was a little short, but it was nothing unwearable.

“It suits you perfectly.”

Aram said as she stood in front of the mirror. She checked herself in the mirror and left the bathroom, only to see Maru standing opposite to her.

“It suits you.”

“Isn’t it a bit short?”

“Girls these days all wear it like that. Rather than that, it’s quite interesting to wear the same uniform as you.”

“Should we take a photo together to commemorate?”

She took out her phone. Aram, who was watching, said that she’d take the photo and took the phone from her.

“You are too far apart. Get a little closer together.”

Just as she was about to say that she should just take it, a hand grabbed her hand. It was Maru’s. The distance between them closed to the point that a paper wouldn’t fit between the two. She widened her eyes in surprise before smiling in resignation and then hugged Maru’s waist.

“Whoo, the two of you look hot.”

After taking the photo, Aram gave her the phone back. She checked the photo.

“Looks good,” Maru said.

“Isn’t my face a little too big?”

“You just have a big head.”

After poking the grinning Maru on the waist, they returned to the classroom. She was originally just here to watch, but now she had changed uniforms and was getting ready to shoot. It didn’t feel unpleasant though. Although it was just a background shot, she felt good shooting with Maru. This was the first time this happened since the amateur acting class during the winter two years ago.

“Uhm.”

She turned around when she heard a voice. A rather tall boy was looking at her shyly.

“Yes?”

“Are you perhaps Maru seonbae-nim’s girlfriend?”

“Eh?”

When she blinked at the sudden question, Maru, who was talking to Sora, came over and grabbed the tall guy by the ear before dragging him into a corner. The big kid flailed his arms in the air and shouted “Please look at me in a good light! I’ll do my best!” before being dragged off. For some reason, it looked funny so she chuckled while covering her mouth. There seemed to be a lot of interesting folk around Maru.

“Who was that?”

She asked Maru when he returned.

“Don’t take interest. He’s a tiring guy.”

“Why? He looks like an interesting kid.”

“He’s a stalker. That’s what this is about.”

“Stalker?”

She tilted her head and looked at the big kid standing in a corner. She met his eyes and he smiled back like a puppy. I’m Ahn Chihwan - he said to her.

“Hm, usually, people sit according to height, so can you sit like that for now?”

They sat according to Sora’s arrangement. She sat at the very back, while Maru sat at the very front.

“Please act like there’s a teacher in front of you for now.”

She opened the book that Sora handed out and pretended to study. When she looked at the book, she felt a little disturbed because it reminded her of college, but then she remembered that it was just a shoot and calmed her expression. The boy holding a camera slowly moved and started the shoot. It wasn’t that the entire class was in the frame. It seemed that he was shooting just the first and second columns from the left. The boy walked past her. There was a long black cable attached to the camera which was connected to the laptop that Sora was looking at. She looked at Sora’s expression through the corner of her eyes. Sora’s eyes as she looked at the screen looked very serious.

“Cut. The person on the 3rd and 4th seats, I can see that you’re being conscious of the camera. I want you to look more natural. Let’s do that one more time.”

“Sora, you don’t need to clap the slate?” Maru asked from the front.

“It’s a cut I’m going to add in the middle, so I’m not planning to use a slate for this one. I’m just going to get a few group shots to use in between scenes.”

Maru nodded before looking at the front. He looked quite serious. She

also sat up. She started this shoot due to a coincidence, but since she started it, she didn’t want to do it awkwardly.

‘I need to experience as many things as possible so that I will gain individuality in my acting and have others praise me.’

After uttering a short breath, she grabbed the pen on the window sill. She slightly tilted her head like she usually did and started writing things down. Since there was supposed to be a teacher at the front, she also had to look forward from time to time. This time, the camera was shooting from the front. Unlike when the camera just shot the back of her head, she had to mind her expression this time as well. She felt a little tense when she thought that this was someone else’s work.

“Good. This time, we’re going to get an overhead shot. Ando-seonbae! Please get up on the desk over there and shoot from there.”

A shot was taken from the top of the lockers, from the top of the window sill, from the top of a chair, and even from the top of the TV box.

“I think that will do for now.”

She sat up before looking at the clock. It was just going past 8.

“Sorry for having you do all that when I called you out to eat dinner,” Maru approached her and said.

She shook her head. Her heart, which was quite complex due to college problems and acting, calmed down a lot during the shoot. Just like how people were necessary to soothe wounds caused by people, perhaps acting was necessary to solve problems related to acting.

“It was fun. It was also good to see some interesting people.”

“That makes me feel a little better. But are you okay with the time?”

“It’s fine. I’ll be by myself even if I go home tonight, so I might as well play around here. Ah, well I guess it’s not exactly playing, huh?”

“Just play around.”

Just as she smiled faintly, Sora spoke after looking at the screen for a while.

“This time, we’ll shoot a scene where everyone throws things at the main character’s head.”

She couldn’t understand what it was about at first.

“Throw things?” She asked Maru.

Maru brought the script next to Sora and showed it to her.

“Can I see it?”

“You’re helping out. Of course you can.”

She nodded before looking at the script. As it wasn’t that long, it didn’t take her long to finish reading it.

“So that’s what this is about. So you are being bullied?”

“Yeah. Suits me, doesn’t it?”

She shook her head. That was something she didn’t want to admit even as a joke. Maru smiled faintly before showing her the back of his head.

“Aim properly. Also, no sharp objects.”

“Should I throw a mechanical pencil?”

“I said no sharp objects.”

Maru returned to his seat. She split pieces off the eraser she was holding. At Sora’s signal, she threw the eraser bits. The camera that shot Maru from up front moved up and down. “We’ll take multiple angles this time as well. Oh, should we rest for 10 minutes before that? Now that I think about it, you’ve been sitting all this time. Let’s start after a 10 minute break!”

At Sora’s words, the students stood up and headed towards the bathroom. She also stretched her arms before standing up. Just as she was about to open the window to get some air, she saw Sora checking the laptop screen. She cautiously approached Sora and asked.

“Can I have a look as well?”

Sora grinned before turning the laptop around.

“Of course you can.”

She sat on a chair and looked at the screen.

On the paused screen was Maru, curled up into a ball.

“Unni.”

“Yeah?”

“Look at Maru-seonbae’s eyes. Oh my god. If I don’t get the grand prize with this, I’ll just consider myself horrible at directing.”

She clicked on the play button as she said those words.