After Story 235

-Director Kwon was looking for you. He said he was having fun with you around, but hes bored now that youre gone.

You should hang out with him for me then, senior.

-Im good at everything else, but not action acting.

If thats not good, then everyone learning in action schools should quit. Hows the atmosphere at the set? Ive seen a lot of heat warnings since the start of August.

-Big brother Kwak pa.s.sed out once. Apparently, he got dizzy while carrying the camera. The shoot stopped there. It was a total mess.

Director Kwak has really good stamina though. If he pa.s.sed out, then it must be really bad.

-He pushed himself. He was away for a few days because someone couldnt make the job for team B, and when he got back, he got to shooting right away. I heard he had less than four hours of sleep in three days.

With all that work under this weather, it wasnt surprising that he pa.s.sed out. If even the camera director was having a hard time, the rest of the production team must be having an even worse time.

You should watch out too. They say theres no set order for going to the afterlife.

-Thanks so much for the encouragement. If theres ever a funeral for me, then you can eat three bowls of yukgaejang. Ill allow it.

Geunsoo told him to wait before talking to someone else. From what Maru could hear over the phone, he seemed to be talking to his manager.

-The shoots resuming.

Have a good time.

-I will. Oh yeah, hows it going with what you were doing?

Im going to be looking at potential shooting locations now.

-Youre already investing in production at that age, huh? Its good to see you living a busy life.

I should try many things out while Im still young. Only then will I be able to catch up to people like you.

-Whats so great about me? Also, Suyeon said we should meet up once. Lets go to the sea before the summer ends.

Ill call Suyeon-noona and Ganghwan-hyung about the schedule. When does your shoot end?

-Ive been told I have two shoots left. If things go the way I think they will, I should have time next week.

Then lets meet up next week. Eating sas.h.i.+mi and fish stew while feeling the sea breeze. Just thinking about it makes me feel good.

-It sure does.

Geunsoo hung up, saying that they should meet next time. Maru checked the time before calling Yoonseok. It was almost time, but he couldnt see him around.

-I was just about to call you too. Im waiting in front of exit 3.

Exit 3? So you havent seen the message. I messaged you to come to exit 8 at the very last moment. Its easier to turn the car around there.

-Oh, youre right. Ill go to exit 8 right now. Itll take a minute.

Is Jiseon next to you?

-Shes with me.

Not long later, Yoonseok and Jiseon came out of exit 8. Maru raised his hand to notify his position to the two of them.

Its a car driven by a celebrity, said Jiseon, whom he hadnt seen in a long time, as she got in the car.

He handed the two of them some drinks that he had bought while waiting.

I typed the location into the GPS, but check if its the right place, Maru said as he pointed at the address displayed on the screen. Yoonseok looked between his phone and the GPS and nodded.

Thats the place. We need to visit about three more places after that.

Put your seatbelts on for now. Lets talk as we go.

He started the car. Apparently, Yoonseok had looked into about twenty places. He said that he had about four or five after picking suitable locations.

The place we are going to right now should be easy to shoot in because all the stores around it have pulled out. The landlord said that its okay to use it for one or two months without any upfront deposit.

Hows the size?

It does feel a little big. I was originally planning for an old bookstore with piles of books throughout, but I thought it wouldnt be bad to have cozy-looking places like independent bookstores these days.

Its supposed to be a bookstore inherited from the characters grandfather, so think about it some more. Also, the location is just as important as the character, so think about it until the end.

Thats why I asked you to scout out the places with me. I couldnt fully trust myself.

Jiseon, who was sitting in the back seat, poked her head to the front towards the pa.s.senger seat.

Dont forget that theres someone behind you. If you two talk by yourselves, Ill get mad.

Okay, Yoonseok said as he pressed Jiseon on the forehead.

Maru looked at the two of them and spoke, Nice times. Theres a sense of sweetness when you first start a relations.h.i.+p.

Yoonseok and Jiseon both laughed at the same time.

Youre still dating Haneul-unni, right? Jiseon asked.

That we are.

Are you going to go public about it?

We dont plan to keep it under tight wrap, but we dont plan to blurt it out everywhere either.

Dont do it if possible. Ive rarely seen good responses about celebrities dating. Everyone congratulates when a couple is getting married, but theyre really naggy if its just dating.

Then I guess its not a big problem.

Jiseon widened her eyes and asked back, Are you going to marry her?

I am.

Really?

You two are going to do it too, arent you?

He looked at the two with a mysterious smile. Yoonseok tilted his head, while Jiseon twitched her nose while looking at Yoonseok tilting his head.

You never know how things will go. You might think that youre just dating and wont get married, but youll be in a tuxedo and a wedding dress before you know it, Maru said, So you should treat each other well.

Oppa, you sounded like my grandpa just now. He says something very similar when I go talk to him during festive seasons.

I am quite old you see.

He smiled and turned the driving wheel. He stopped the car after hearing the GPS tell him that they were at their destination. There were commercial buildings lined up on either side of a narrow road that was slanted upwards to a hill.

The only people he saw around were those that seemed to be local residents. If there were this few people moving around at lunchtime on a weekend, it could be considered dead as a commercial area.

There were more shops that had banner notices for lease than there were shops actually running businesses.

I feel really sorry for the people working here, but this place suits our film a lot.

If we shoot the appearance before gentrification and then cast some people to be tourists, it should look pretty decent, right?

Yoonseok told him to follow and walked ahead. They walked past the rice cake shop that had a display outside, an independent caf, and a barber shop that looked at least thirty years old before standing in front of an empty shop.

Its this place.

Yoonseok pushed open the gla.s.s door. Jiseon grabbed Yoonseoks arm and spoke, Is it okay to just barge in here?

I got permission beforehand. Were allowed to go inside and have a look so dont worry.

As it was an empty s.p.a.ce without anything at all, there was no lock on the door. When they went inside, Maru could smell moist concrete. He could see electrical lines on the wall that had the wallpaper removed, and there were flyers on the ground.

This place must have been a pork cutlet restaurant before, Jiseon said as she picked up a flyer.

The flyer, which had lost most of its color, had the menu of the shop as well as some promotional words for the restaurant.

Delicious, high-quality pork cutlets.

Looks like running a business really is hard, Yoonseok said as he threw away the flyer.

Maru walked along the walls of the shop. The shop was around 33 square meters. Placing a bookshelf on the left wall, a round table to display some books in the middle, and a counter on the right it looked like it would look good.

What do you think? Do you think we should pile up books against the walls like old bookstores or have some simple decorations instead?

I think itd look better to imitate some of the well-known independent bookstores and decorate it, but if were to portray the complex feelings of Daejoo, then I think it should look messy

Yoo Daejoo. That was the name of the main character.

Yoonseok touched the wall and spoke, Its going to be set sometime after he inherits it from his grandfather. Only then will there be a reason for him to be attached to the bookstore thinking that its his and the fear that he might be asked to move out will be justified.

Is Daejoo someone who does his best for the bookstore? Or someone who just operates with whatever he has?

He should have tried to decorate it at first. Then he should have eventually just let the force of habit take over.

Should have? If the director is having uncertainties when were starting the shoot soon, there will be big trouble.

Hearing that, Yoonseok crossed his arms. He thought for a long while before speaking again,

Daejoo put a lot of effort into the interior design. He wouldve been like that. I think I can come up with how to decorate this place. Jiseon, come here for a sec.

The two juniors looked around the shop and had a conversation.

Maru pushed open the gla.s.s door and left before walking around the street. There wasnt a single customer even at the restaurant where it should be full of people.

He entered a caf on the opposite side of the street. There was only one customer, a woman with a stroller. He went to the counter and ordered three cups of coffee.

Are you planning on opening a shop? asked the store owner as she gave him three cups of coffee.

It seemed that he was seen as a young man trying to open a business here.

No, Im looking for a location for a shoot.

Oh, a shoot?

The owner, who was giving him the straws, flinched and looked at him closely.

Arent you Han Maru?

What do you think?

You are?him. Im a huge fan. I mean it.

The owner covered her mouth in surprise and ducked down below the counter. She came back up with three cookies.

You should take these as well. I baked them myself, so they should be pretty good.

If theyre good, I cant take them for free. Ill pay for them as well.

No, its okay. Im giving them to you because Im a fan, so just take them.

The owner packaged the cookies into a plastic zipper bag and carefully handed them to him. He found it hard to refuse and accepted them for now.

Are you really going to shoot over there?

Nothings set in stone yet. Were still looking for locations.

You should shoot here. That way, Ill see you a lot more often. Also, if word gets out that a films being shot here, people will visit too.

The owner loudly said goodbye to the customer that left. Maru could feel that each and every customer was precious.

As you know, this place is pretty much dead. I thought I would be okay with not having people around since the rent is cheap, but I was wrong. Money calls for more money and people call for more people. After the stores around started pulling out, the entire area just collapsed.

Its a hard time to do business.

So dont you ever run your own business, Mr. Han. Even celebrities fail their businesses even if they use their fame.

Thats true.

Maru quietly said goodbye and left the caf with the three cups of coffee. He stood in the middle of the street and looked at the caf for a while.

The book of his memories started flapping. There were numerous times when he shot a film in a spa.r.s.ely populated neighborhood. Among them, there were cases where the movie gained popularity and the neighborhood ended up booming as a result.

However, rather than a happy ending where the movie and the neighborhood do well, it only resulted in increased rent due to the onslaught of visitors and the true original owners of the shops being pushed out. What would happen with this film?

It was quite ironic. A movie that uses gentrification as a topic could cause gentrification.

Though, it was still unknown how much attention this work would receive.

Hyung! I think we should go with this place, Yoonseok said as he left the shop.

What about the other places?

The landlord here said he can do 300 thousand a month.

The monthly rent is directly related to the price of the real estate it seems that the landlord is having a hard time paying for the rent.

Its a pity, but for us, its better because we can save up money. Anyway, we decided to go with this place. I talked to Jiseon about it, and I think the interior design should be finalized soon.

Maru handed two cups of coffee to Yoonseok who seemed excited.

Give one to Jiseon.

Yoonseok returned to the shop after receiving the coffee.

Maru thought as he drank the coffee. If the film did well and people started flocking to this place, would the caf owner smile, or would she end up crying?

Hyung! Come quick.

Hearing Yoonseoks call, Maru bit on the straw and walked off.

Food typically served to visitors when they come to pay respects to the deceased at a funeral.