Life, Once Again!

The lights didn't turn off, but Maru's part was done. He finished off his scene by crawling on the ground, and being arrested by the police.

"Thanks for the work," Joohyun spoke as she offered him a bottle of water.

He opened it and drank a sip. When he did, the pain he had almost forgotten became vivid again. He took off the leather jacket and the padding. He pressed on his arm with his fingers, and thankful, it didn't seem like he was heavily injured. It seemed that his muscles were just startled, so he thought that he would be okay after around a day or so.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

"No, it doesn't hurt that much. But you still have scenes left to do, right?"

"I do. I'll call a taxi, so you can go first."

Joohyun put her hand inside her pocket before pulling it out again.

"Oh, looks like I left my wallet with my manager. Let's go."

Maru stopped Joohyun from going to the van.

"Can I stay at the shoot? I want to see what it's like."

"It shouldn't matter, I think? I'll ask the producer. He'll probably say yes though."

Joohyun approached the producer. Meanwhile, Maru returned the padding and the jacket to the staff in charge of clothing. The staff that received the clothes sighed slightly. It was probably because the leather was damaged due to scraping against the ground.

"Sorry about that. I tried my best not to damage it, but it happened anyway."

"Oh, no. We can just mend it later. Thanks for the work."

It seemed that the staff never had the intention to get angry at him and just smiled back. Maru bowed and turned around. Just then, he heard a shout saying something about the management of clothes. When he turned around again, he saw that the staff that just received the leather jacket was receiving an earful from a woman in her forties. He met eyes with that staff for a brief moment, and that staff twitched his clasped hands, gesturing for him to go. Maru bowed again because he felt sorry. The woman's voice kept rising endlessly after that.

"Position is everything."

He looked around the set while drinking some barley tea. He saw the leader[1] shouting at the background actors. He even pointed his fingers at people that looked older than him and kept shouting words like 'hey', and 'you'. He instructed the background actors that had flocked to him like chicks around a mother hen and told them that they had 30 minutes to finish lunch before meeting up again. Maru looked around. They were within the ranges of Woomyun mountain. On his right were heavy vehicles, and to his left was the silence of the big mountain. There was no way there were any restaurants in this deserted area. The closest place he could think of was the Seoul Arts Hall to their north, but they would have to cross the mountain to go there. Moreover, the rental coach was clearly not going to move.

The staff received lunchboxes and started eating, but the background actors all just looked at the staff anxiously. The leader was just eating a lunchbox comfortably.

Just as he was suppressing his bitter smile with some barley tea, he was given a lunchbox. The producer was standing in front of him.

"You should eat."

"Ah, yes. Thank you."

"You said you wanted to watch the shoot, right? You can. If you've never watched a monitor before, you can come and watch as well. I can do that much since it's thanks to you that we can take a breather. If we went overtime with this many people, we would've been over budget. So, you were…."

The producer made an awkward smile and looked at Maru's face. Maru knew the meaning behind his smile, so he spoke first.

"Han Maru, sir."

"Yes! Han Maru. Sorry I can't remember your name. Anyway, you can watch at ease. Oh, and this is your payment. This is just for you without anything for the academy, so don't tell them that you were paid. You know that you'd originally get paid three months after, right? I'm being considerate."

The producer winked at him before going away. One of the things people realized while working at a day labor market was that the middlemen that did the calls became rich the fastest. The academy stood in between the student and the field. Not only did they take lesson fees, they were taking broker fees as well, so their pure profits had to be through the roof. Perhaps instructor Choi, who introduced them to the job, might have monopolized the commission in the middle. The only one that took losses were always the worker ants.

He opened the lunchbox and sat down on some construction board. He put some kimchi in his mouth and was chewing when he met eyes with one of the background actors that was wandering around. The kimchi he was chewing suddenly tasted like sand.

Maru never considered himself to be 'good'. He rarely donated money to beggars in the streets, and he didn't have any memory of sacrificing himself for others.

However, he wasn't so insensitive to the point that he could ignore the eyes of the people who were given the cold shoulder in the field, when he used to be one himself. He closed the lid and stood up from the spot. There were around 11 background actors. Most of them were sturdily built since they had to play policemen, but there were a few that looked thin and looked like they weren't here to play the police roles.

He did not plan to tell the producer to take care of their meals. If those people had the will to take care of that, they would've done so already. Telling people who had no will would be telling them that they were wrong. Maru didn't want to receive a glare from the producer.

He would do whatever was within his reach. Maru gave his lunchbox to the middle-aged man who was smoking.

"Here."

The man stared at him for a while before whisking away the lunchbox. The man glanced at Maru before starting to eat on top of an iron beam.

Maru shrugged and turned around. Not all good deeds were rewarded. However, the moment one decided to do good deeds, they should not expect a reward. The moment they expect even a smile, they would resent the person that did not thank them back.

"Huh, it's Maru, right?"

Someone called out to him. Maru turned around to look at the person that called out to him. The man waving his hand at him was Park Woojoo, who he met during the shoot of Youth Generation. The man filled with a sense of justice still remained in Maru's mind.

"Hello, hyung. Are you here as a background actor?"

"Yeah. So the one that was being arrested was you. No wonder you felt familiar. Were you always part of this drama?"

"No, I'm just a replacement for the day."

"I see."

"You haven't eaten yet, right?"

"They told me to eat, but I don't have a place to go. I'll try telling the leader."

Maru looked at the background actors with unsatisfied expressions standing behind Woojoo. It seemed that Woojoo was going to represent them in getting justice. It seemed that his personality hadn't changed at all.

"You probably won't be able to do anything about it."

"Perhaps."

Woojoo smiled bitterly.

"Thanks for the lunchbox. That person might look cold, but he's not a bad person. He just has some circ.u.mstances."

"Who here doesn't have some? I don't mind so don't worry about it."

At that moment a van entered the premises. It was Joohyun's van. The manager, who was supposed to be sleeping, came out as he yawned. He opened the back of the van and took out a cardboard box.

"Please take these. It might not be enough, but it should be enough to stave off hunger."

Inside the box were hamburgers and drinks. The background actors all took a drink and picked up a hamburger. Even the man that took Maru's lunchbox took a set for himself.

"Maru, was it? You should take one as well."

"Thank you."

The burger had a thick patty. The manager also crouched down with the hamburger in his mouth.

"Did Joohyun-noo-nim buy it?"

"Yeah. I got a call. She told me to go buy something for them since they looked like they weren't going to have lunch. Thanks to that, though, my nap time is gone. Geez, even after she told me to sleep, I have to work."

Although he was saying that, the manager was looking at the people eating hamburgers with satisfaction. It wouldn't have been surprising even if he said that the actress Ahn Joohyun is the one treating them, but he didn't and just told them to have a good meal.

While eating, Maru looked at the tunnel. He saw Joohyun, who was focusing on her script. When he stared at her for a while, Joohyun waved back at him.

"You know Ahn Joohyun?" Woojoo asked him.

The manager had returned with the box.

"Yes."

"Really? Wow, so you're an actor after all."

"You are one too, though."

Hearing that, Woojoo stayed silent for a while as though he was embarrassed before continuing with a cough.

"Actually, I was cast in a drama this time. There was an audition at the academy I went to, and the president told me to try so I applied for it. I didn't expect much, but I ended up passing."

"Congratulations. I guess the only thing left for you now is to become a superstar."

"Yeah right."

Although Woojoo was shaking his head, he had a smile on his face. Maru truly wished for him to become successful through this opportunity.

"But what drama is it?"

"It's a historical drama. The next one on RBS."

"Really? I'm part of that too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm a beggar."

"Really? We might see each other then, huh."

"I hope we do. Please take care of me."

"Hey, I'm in no position to take care of anyone."

The two faintly smiled while looking at each other. Just as the background actors almost finished eating, the staff came and told them to get ready. It seemed that they were going to do the next part.

"I'm off then. See you during the shoot if we can."

"Yes, hyung. I'll give you a call at that time."

"Okay."

Woojoo put on a jumper and ran to the tunnel. Maru picked up the hamburger wrappers that the background actors littered everywhere and put them in a separate bag. From afar, he saw the leader pointing his fingers at the background actors. The staff didn't say anything as they walked by.

"The moment you become the only good guy, you'll get sworn at instead."

Joohyun's manager had come.

"Let's go. Noo-nim wants me to give you a ride. Is the train station okay?"

Maru replied yes before standing up. Although he wanted to watch the actors a little more, it wouldn't be bad to leave right now.

"I wonder when they'll start treating them like people. I know well since I have experience doing that, but there are too many shit leaders and staff. Of course, there are good people as well, but there are more that think that the people they're working with are people they'll never see again and treat them however they want. Even though they have superiors that do the same to them, they do the same to the extras."

"That's how people get by everyday. Though, I think there are some decent people," saying that, Maru looked at the staff he returned his leather jacket to.

"That person's decent," the manager agreed.

The 'good' people were always noticeable.

Maru got in the van and had a look at the set. Below the sparkly lights were stars and around them were numerous people that did not shine. They would only be able to put their names in the ending credits. For some, this was a set that shined, while for others, it was a gloomy workplace. Maru sighed as he looked.

Thank you all for today's work - those words lingered in his mouth.

* * *

"His eyes look good."

"It's really good."

"It's somewhat of a pity to let him go after just that."

Joohyun heard the conversation between the producer and the assistant director as she fanned herself. She approached the two who were focusing on the monitor. The monitor that would usually give a live feed of what the camera was shooting was currently playing back the scene they shot before. It was the scene where Maru was being subdued. After the camera swiped past her face, it captured Maru's wrist, and even his face. Maru was looking at her with twisted lips from the ground. She felt this during the read-through for Twilight Struggles, but he was really good when it came to expressing raw rage. In this scene as well, he managed to create a good picture with a single keyword despite the fact that he didn't know what the character was like at all.

"What happens to him after this?" Joohyun asked.

"Well, I'll have to consult the writer about it, but he actually has a decent impact. It's too much of a waste to throw him away after using him once."

"Then why don't we add an interrogation scene or something?" She hinted at him.

"That sounds good. We haven't discovered the backer of the organization yet. We should give this footage to the writer and listen to her opinion as well. Hey, text the writer for me and ask if she has some time."

The assistant director quickly took out his phone. Seeing that, Joohyun smiled and took a step back. She had received help from Maru. As a person, she had to pay back what she received. It might be an opportunity that might slip past him, but she tried her best anyway. She hoped that this would help Maru.

"Ah, Miss Joohyun."

"Yes?"

"We're going to eat dinner together after this. You're coming with us, right?"

"You might get an earful from me, are you fine with that?"

"Don't worry about that. I won't ask you to drink."

"Then I'm in."

The producer raised his thumb and smiled.

[1] The same position as the 'leader' from the super rich academy/Youth Generation shoot. But a different person.