Life, Once Again!

After Story 134

Hot-blooded Youths was her third entertainment program. She went through two cultural programs and two entertainment programs as a freelancer, and this was her current one, which she got through YBS. Although she was not the main writer, she received considerably good treatment when she joined.

Back when they first held the item meeting, she was enveloped with the thought that this would hit a jackpot. She prepared for the broadcast, imagining a dream-like situation where the media praised Hot-Blooded Youths for its idea and top stars asked for an appearance.

The results, however, weren’t so good. Nay, the video was produced just according to the intent of their original plan, but there weren’t any responses.

A few times, they received attention. This was thanks to the guests going wild, in a good way.

However, that momentary increase in viewing rate was restored the next week. In fact, it even decreased more than before.

Such was the birth of a calm entertainment show for the night.

She ran her mouth numerous times in occasions without the producer, saying that it might disappear during the Autumn reassignment, and after that, the Spring reassignment.

Thankfully, they managed to survive both the Autumn and Spring reassignments, but that didn’t guarantee the following Autumn reassignment.

As a freelancer, the end of a program meant the end of her payment. She couldn’t give up her means of living, so she started taking the work into her own hands.

She used all sorts of methods in order to recruit singers and actors that were well-known. Once, she managed to scout a huge actor thanks to her efforts, but the shoot didn’t happen. She had no choice since that person’s movie shoot schedule suddenly changed.

Ever since then, the shoot continued with the feeling that she was barely managing to survive one week after another.

Today too, the guests were a combination of new idols and a nameless actor. Epix, she had heard their names at least. If the viewing rate increased, it would be thanks to them.

The person she was in charge of, was the new actor. His name was Han Maru. Apparently, a lot of people knew him because he did narration in a documentary, but this was the first time she had heard of his name.

“Once you go to the market, you’ll be selling items at the shop that we arranged beforehand. Don’t think that it’s too difficult and think that you’re genuinely here to help them out.”

She did not place much hope on the new actor. The main producer went to Epix, the sub-producer went to the comedian, and Wang-unni went to Bad Girls.

This assignment of members meant one thing. Han Maru was a guest they only brought to increase the running time. This was evident by the fact that she was always put in charge of the least well-known guest.

They arrived at Joong-il market. She got out of the car and looked up at the sky. The weather, at least, was really good. It was the perfect weather to go on a picnic.

Thanks to the weather, there were many people at the market, so that was a silver lining. The combination of a nameless actor plus a deserted marketplace made her freak out just by imagining it.

She started setting things up first alongside the new assistant director (AD) recruit at the TV station, and a veteran video journalist (VJ). People approached them after seeing the camera, but they soon lost interest and left.

Whenever this happened, she sometimes thought that celebrities who weren’t famous might attract even less attention than pretty puppies.

“Why can’t I get a sound signal?” said the VJ that was checking the camera audio.

There was supposed to be sound from the wireless mic on the guest, but it was not working. She checked the camera with him and scratched her head. The new AD stared in a daze for a while before asking what they should do.

“Call the producer. I think we need to ask the audio director for this,” she said to the AD.

As the production crew split up for the shoot, the main-level staff were all on Epix’s side.

Over there, they even had a boom mic on top of the wireless mics, so there wouldn’t be a problem even if the wireless mics broke, but here, the mic on the guest was the only one. If they couldn’t solve this, then they couldn’t even proceed with the shoot.

The AD took out his phone with an expression like he just chewed on something bitter. He probably didn’t want to make a call, since it was obvious that he would get a scolding.

What else could he do though? On paper at least, the one responsible for the scene was the AD.

The shoot would usually be led by her, but any accidents would account the AD responsible. He was an official employee at the TV station unlike her, who was a freelancer, so that much was a given.

“Is there a problem?” Han Maru, the guest, walked over.

He must have been nervous since the staff was talking amongst themselves without proceeding with the shoot.

“I’m sorry. There’s a small problem with the broadcasting equipment. We’re going to proceed after asking the audio director, so please wait a little.”

“Is the problem with the mic?”

Maru took off the transmitter attached to his waist. She raised her hand to stop him.

“You can’t touch that. We set it all up before the shoot.”

“You checked the channels, right?”

She nodded, saying that it was natural.

“How about the battery?”

“You see that light indicator over there, right? It means that the power is on.”

“This happens sometimes. The LED indicates the battery level is still lit, but it doesn’t have enough power to send a signal. There doesn’t seem to be a problem with the connector either. You have spare batteries, right?”

He was so bold in his words that she looked for the batteries. Seeing Maru change out the battery so leisurely, he looked like TV personnel who had experienced all there was to TV media rather than a new actor who knew nothing about TV programs.

“Check the in-ears. Can you hear me?” Maru spoke into the microphone.

The VJ smiled and said that he could hear it.

“There doesn’t seem to be a problem with the audio sync either. If there’s a problem, I guess they’ll do something in the post-processing. Can we proceed with the shoot now?” Maru said as he put the transmitter by his waist again.

He also put the pin mic inside his clothes and fixed it in place. She was reaching out to him to help him, so it was quite awkward.

All the new actors she had experienced until now were all akin to little kids when it came to video production. They would usually sit still like a wooden puppets before they were asked to do something, but the man in front of her was different.

He exchanged opinions with the production staff and even shared jokes.

He was definitely someone they had met for the first time this morning, but he mixed in with the staff like he had been a member of the team for a long time.

“We’ll shoot the insert now when there’s still a lot of people and then we’ll begin soon.”

She told Maru to wait and shot the market as a background. Merchants selling various things, people going to and fro… the market was quite crowded, so it was quite a good picture.

“This is the place you’ll be working today. Hello, sir.”

The place the new actor was going to work at was a dried fish shop located at the entrance of Joong-il market.

“We’ll begin with a short interview. These are the questions.”

She handed Maru a list of questions. They based the questions on the story of the owners of the dried fish store they received beforehand.

Maru looked at the paper for a few minutes before putting it in his pocket. Did he memorize them all already?

“You can treat us comfortably too, owner. We’re going to shoot starting from the scene where we’re approaching, and you can just welcome us warmly.”

“I’m not really that good with words,” said the husband of the owner couple.

Next to the husband smiling awkwardly was his wife, who was even more shy.

She didn’t think that this was bad. A cozy and warm vibe was not a bad item. In the first place, not many people watched their program for laughs.

“Please relax.”

That was the only thing she could say to them. Actually, the market was not a really charming place. If there was a famous actor here, there might be people gathering, but for a nameless actor, people would just give them a glance before going their way no matter how hard they tried.

“We’ll begin now.”

They approached the dried fish shop with Maru. They greeted the owner couple before proceeding to have a conversation.

“This is rather unexpected. I visit a lot of traditional markets, but it’s hard to see a young owner.”

“The thing is, the two of us were ordinary salarymen like the others. But one day, I suddenly had the urge to do merchant business.”

“Merchant business? Madam, how did you feel when your husband suddenly said that he wanted to do that?”

“I… well….”

Unlike the husband, who responded to the questions at least, the questions stopped when the mic was given to the wife’s side.

She thought that she had to intervene here to change the direction of the interview. It was just as she was about to speak,

“If it were me, I would’ve been really angry. If he was thinking about something so life-changing, he should have given hints about it and consulted you about it, right?”

Maru suddenly looked at the husband like he was angry and pressed down on his thigh.

The husband curled up a little. Seeing that, the wife smiled faintly and spoke,

“Actually, more than angry, I was just flabbergasted. I was wondering what this man was up to.”

The wife’s mouth opened just as it was about to get fully locked up.

She put down her hand that she half-raised. Then, she looked at Maru, who was communicating with the married couple. His eyes looked really gentle.

The couple didn’t even care about the camera anymore and started talking to Maru.

Having started talking, the wife spoke like she was going to utter everything she was disappointed with until now.

Between the two, Maru sided with one of them from time to time, and even scolded one at times, not letting the conversation cut off.

“So it wasn’t the cafe that you wanted, madam, but a dried fish shop, huh?”

“Exactly.”

“This… is entirely your fault, mister.”

The husband rubbed under his nose and smiled awkwardly.

“But how is it now that you started it? The market isn’t so bad, is it?”

“It’s taxing, but when we started doing it, I found out that he didn’t start this irresponsibly. He looked into the logistics and learned some know-how from the previous owner as well. The business isn’t exactly booming, but it’s fun living among the people here.”

The couple looked at each other and smiled.

“Well then, can I ask you to do a hug of reconciliation? Or a kiss? A deep one?”

The way Maru made a perverted smile to say that was strangely suited to him. It was quite funny that a young actor gave off the vibe of an old man.

From the way he set up the mood without crossing the line and inflicted harm on his own image when inducing laughter, it didn’t look like he did this kind of thing only once or twice.

The husband, who had a bold personality, gave the wife a kiss. As this was the kiss of a young married couple in their 20s, it looked cute. She had confidence that this was not going to get edited out.

They managed to get quite a lot of good footage from the opening that she didn’t place many expectations on.

If the interview went according to the interview sheet she gave Maru before, it would’ve ended twenty minutes ago, but it lasted about 30 minutes.

Just when did he come up with those commentaries and questions, she could only marvel.

“How much sales do you want today, the two of you?”

“I hope I can sell just a little more than usual,” said the husband.

“I want double,” the wife cut in, raising two fingers up.

“The madam is a lot more ambitious. Fine. Let’s sell triple today. If I don’t sell that much, I’ll buy the rest to make up for it,” Maru said boldly.

His voice was pretty loud, so the people walking by, who didn’t have any interest, started looking over.

She got a little away from the shop and looked at it. Although people had gathered slightly, they still didn’t show a whole lot of interest.

If the store was bustling with people, then she would try getting a far shot, too.

Just as she was feeling a little pity, however,

“Sir. Please grill ten of these squids for me. I’m going to buy them with my own money.”

Hearing Maru’s words, the husband placed squids on top of a stone grill. Soon, an irresistible salty and savory smell started wafting out.

“And this one’s on me too.”

The thing Maru grabbed was a dried squid. He asked the wife for a pair of scissors and a rubber band and soon made a squid mask.

With the mask on his head, Maru climbed on top of a plastic chair.

People who came here to buy groceries started showing interest in the person that suddenly towered above everyone else.

“Is this some kind of TV show?”

“I’m not sure.”

He managed to grab their attention, but still not their interest.

Just then, Maru raised his hand. She narrowed her hand. She didn’t know where he got it, but there was thick pair of scissors in Maru’s hand.