NUTMEG 39

Section Chief Park Youngmi from the costume team said wistfully as she helped Minje put on his school uniform shirt. Minje replied in a small voice, “I know.” In front of the full-length mirror, Section Chief Park attached the name tag that read ‘Lee Eunseong’ to his left pocket, her eyebrows drooping into a figure eight.

“Ah. This feels strange. It feels like I’m sending my son off to graduation.”

“Oh, what do you mean, son? You’re going to scare Minje. Stop being silly, Minje, let’s take a picture together.”

Jo Areum from the makeup team, who had been sitting at the makeup table dangling her slippers, approached with her phone switched to selfie mode. When she held up her phone, even the youngest staff members who were organizing costumes in the corner scurried over to pose together. Once they started, everyone began holding out their own phones, and Minje, after taking four selfies, hesitantly held out his own phone as well.

“Um… can we take one with my phone too?”

“Oh my. Of course!”

And so, the five of them gathered together again for a picture. This time, Minje pulled the corners of his mouth up even wider to smile.

It was the last day of filming. Everyone had bittersweet expressions, hugging each other for a moment before quickly starting to talk about their next schedules. The staff, who moved in teams, were each being assigned to different projects, so this was an indefinite farewell for the time being. Section Chief Park gave Minje’s clothes a final check and then gulped down her iced americano.

“I wish I could only work with people like Minje. Nice, and wears the clothes well. I wanted to try dressing him in all sorts of things, but it was a shame we were mostly in school uniforms this time. Oh, Minje. The macarons you gave me earlier were really delicious. Where are they from?”

As he was about to answer, ‘Oh, those are from a place in Nonhyeon-dong…,’ Areum spoke first.

“Section Chief, you said you worked on a drama with Jeong Danbi before, right? What’s she like?”

“Are you working with her on your next project? You’re in for a tough time. When we were doing the drama, our youngest staff members cried several times because of Jeong Danbi. She asks for her makeup to be retouched con-stant-ly. If you don’t do it, she’ll fix it herself. It drives you crazy when she asks for full makeup even in a sleeping scene.”

“And the director just lets her?”

“What can you do? She whines and says she’ll die if she can’t have it. Then everyone just throws their hands up. Minje, don’t you be like that later on. Got it? It would be so nice if all actors were like Minje.”

Minje smiled with an embarrassed expression. It seemed the staff thought he was so docile, letting them do whatever they wanted, because he had a nice personality or because he was a rookie who didn’t know any better. He would often hear them say, half-jokingly, half-warningly, ‘You better not act like that when you get famous, okay?’

Then, old memories would naturally surface. The Minje of his idol days would have been the kind of celebrity they called ‘a tough time.’ Now that he could look back on his past actions objectively, he felt embarrassed and sorry towards all the staff. Why hadn’t he had the余裕 to look at his surroundings back then? At Section Chief Park’s words to wait a moment, Minje sat on the sofa in the trailer and flipped through the script for today’s scene.

“Noona. Can you make my hair stick a bit more on this side?”

Without warning, the trailer door flew open, and Wonoh, already in costume, strode in and sat in front of the makeup table. Surprised, Minje looked up, and their eyes met in the mirror before quickly dropping away. Wonoh explained a few things to the makeup staff, and soon the sound of the hairdryer made it an awkward time to try to talk. Minje just moved his lips pointlessly before bowing his head, pretending to look at the script.

“Actor Minje, we’re going to do a short behind-the-scenes interview right now, is that okay with you?”

“Ah, yes.”

Hyesle from the behind-the-scenes team, wearing a baseball cap pulled down low, approached Minje and spoke to him. She seemed busy getting comments for the final day of filming, and it looked like it was now Minje’s turn. After asking things like, “How do you feel?” and “What scene are you filming today?”, Hyesle, perhaps conscious of Wonoh behind them, suddenly asked.

“You’re really close with Mr. Choi Wonoh, who plays the role of ‘Jaeho’, in real life too. I’m sure you have many memories together, so could you please tell us just one memorable episode?”

“Ah…”

At that question, Minje involuntarily glanced at Wonoh’s back. Wonoh, as if he hadn’t heard, just sat with his legs crossed, looking at his phone. Minje moistened his lips with his tongue and cleverly dodged.

“There are so many memorable moments that it’s too hard to pick just one….”

“Still, just one. You can tell me anything that comes to mind.”

He really didn’t want to talk about Wonoh in a place where he was present. But Hyesle added a condition as if she wouldn’t let him get away with that level of defiance. After following him around and filming for three months, it seemed she had completely figured out Minje’s personality. In the end, Minje reluctantly chose an episode that would be appropriate to talk about in front of the camera.

“It was when we were filming the scene right before the one we’re shooting today. The one where they fight in the gym.”

Hyesle held up the camera and nodded, gesturing for him to continue.

“That day, I felt like I had really become ‘Eunseong.’ I was so worked up after the shoot ended that I was just sitting there, unable to take off my costume, and Wonoh told me that my acting was really fun. I thought it was a feeling only I was experiencing. …I don’t know if it was just my imagination, but I felt like Wonoh and I became really close after that day.”

“You seem very sad to see it end.”

“Yes. The thought that we won’t be able to work together anymore… makes me very sad.”

As he said the last words, Minje unconsciously glanced at Wonoh’s back again. And he was startled. Wonoh was looking at Minje through the mirror. Minje, his patience worn thin by Wonoh’s steady gaze, was the first to look away.

I couldn’t have said anything weird, so why is he looking at me like that? Maybe I should have just talked about the time we played ladder games for late-night snacks at the dorm. His mouth went completely dry for no reason. Only after Wonoh, his hair fixed, had returned to his van, did Minje, his interview finished, exit the trailer and let out a heavy breath.

After he had asked to stop, Wonoh had never asked again, nor had he ever brought up a similar topic. It was as if nothing had ever happened, and the relationship between the two had neatly returned to how it was before. No, to say it was back to how it was before would be a bit of a misstatement.

He still greeted Minje warmly and smiled a lot when he saw him. But he no longer hung out with him in the van during breaks or pulled mischievous pranks on him. Lately, Wonoh had been so busy preparing for his third album that he barely came to the set, so other people didn’t notice such small changes. Only Minje knew about the messages that were now only about work, and the hand that no longer stroked the back of his head.

Minje stared at the white van where he was probably resting alone, then reluctantly turned his head away. From where he was sitting outside, Minje had no way of knowing whether Wonoh was playing a game on his phone, watching choreography videos, or talking on the phone inside the heavily tinted car window.

He knew it couldn’t be helped, yet every time he witnessed this distance firsthand, his mood sank. Thinking about it rationally, this was of course better than foolishly dragging things out and having something happen due to the side effects, but he still felt that way.

“Assistant Director. Have the planning team tell the onlookers to move further back. I think they’ll be in the shot. Yeah, yeah. Thanks.”

The final shoot was an outdoor scene at a high school in Seoul. The scene, which had been postponed in the early stages of filming due to the unpredictable weather, was now being shot over the weekend when there were no students. There were tons of extras in school uniforms on standby, and whether it was because they heard a rumor that Choi Wonoh was coming, young students and local residents had surrounded the school field.

Director Im, with a megaphone tucked under his arm, checked the monitors here and there, and once the onlookers were completely out of the frame, he smiled and gave an okay sign. Then he patted Minje’s shoulder, who was sitting next to him, and leaned back in his chair.

For some time now, Minje had started sitting near Director Im during breaks. After he started keeping his distance from Wonoh, he felt awkward being all alone, and that was when Kihwan had naturally started calling Minje over to sit next to him. He probably had some misunderstanding again, but Minje was grateful that he didn’t ask anything.

Minje handed him the envelope containing the card and gift he had prepared in advance. “Huh?” Director Im said as he took it, then grinned after opening the gift.

“You must have really liked these macarons.”

“I thought they would make a good gift.”

Minje had prepared the macarons he had received from Director Im as a gift for everyone. After deciding he wanted to give everyone a gift, the macarons he had received from Director Im had naturally come to mind. He wanted to emulate, even just a little, the warm feeling he had felt when he received the macarons. He also thought everyone would like them because they were actually very delicious. The filming crew staff all loved sweet snacks.

Minje went around to each of the 80-odd staff members, greeting them one by one and handing them the cards he had written over several days and the small packages of macarons. The macarons were more expensive than he had thought, so Minje had to use a large portion of the down payment he had received, but he didn’t feel it was a waste at all. He gave everyone a box containing five colorful macarons each, and for Director Im, he specially chose a box containing twenty.

“I’ll enjoy them. Thanks for the card, too. I’ll read it when I get home.”

Director Im ruffled Minje’s hair roughly, as if he were a praiseworthy puppy.

“Ah, Director! My hair.”

Minje let out a small cry and covered his hair. The hairstyle the makeup team had done was ruined. Kihwan, probably because he wasn’t an actor, would often touch his hair even while he was on standby. Of course, Wonoh never touched his hair or face once they were set. Instead, he would often grab the back of his neck from behind.

“Ah, sorry, sorry.”

Director Im looked apologetic as he removed his large hand and quickly apologized.

When Minje, who had replied that it was okay, stood up from his chair, his eyes met Wonoh’s, who was on the phone from a distance. When did he get out of the van? He must not have noticed while he was talking with Director Im. His eyes, which seemed somewhat chilly, quickly moved away from Minje. Minje fidgeted with his own hair for no reason and approached the trailer where the makeup team was.

“Let’s get on standby— Extras, please focus as well—.”

“We’re recording sound simultaneously, so to our onlookers, please be quiet~!”

Since it was an outdoor shoot, it took a long time to get on standby. This scene, which was also Wonoh and Minje’s last, was the one where ‘Jaeho’ and ‘Eunseong’ make up after their fight in the gym. And, it was also the scene Minje had acted out in his audition.

Minje was waiting for the cue sign with his backpack slung over one shoulder. Beside him, Wonoh stood idly with his arms crossed, wearing a short-sleeved school uniform. After a very brief run-through of their lines right before standby, no other conversation had passed between them. Minje glanced at Wonoh on his left, and when their eyes met, he awkwardly brought up the weather.

“…It’s hot.”

“Yeah.”

The conversation didn’t continue. Minje pressed his lower lip firmly shut and looked down at his feet. He wished the cue sign would come quickly. Just then, Wonoh suddenly spoke.

“What was that thing you gave Kihwan-hyung?”

“Ah. A gift for the last shoot.”

Wonoh let out a short “Ah,” then closed his mouth as if in understanding. Minje wanted to quickly add that he had one for him too, and that he would give it to him later, but just then Director Im shouted through the megaphone, “We’ll start as soon as the actors are ready.” At the sound, the two of them quickly turned in their designated directions.

“Action!”

Students poured out of the building, heading home. ‘Eunseong’ gripped the strap of the bag slung over one shoulder and quickly wove through the crowd. ‘Jaeho’ followed behind him and grabbed ‘Eunseong’s’ shoulder, spinning him around.

“Hey, Lee Eunseong. Are you still pissed?”

This was the line Minje had said during his audition. He had been reciting Wonoh’s line, so in the actual filming, Wonoh was saying it to Minje. ‘Eunseong,’ though trying hard to maintain his composure, retorted curtly in a tone clearly mixed with annoyance.

“About what?”

“How long are you going to be sulking about yesterday?”

“I don’t remember.”

“You’re messing with me.”

Wonoh playfully wrapped an arm around Minje’s shoulder and pressed their upper bodies together. A vertical line formed between Minje’s eyebrows. Wonoh pretended not to see his expression and chattered playfully.

“Who was the one who ditched me to go on a date with Kim Jihyeon without even sparring, so why do I have to walk on eggshells around you?”

Minje shook his shoulder without hiding his annoyance. The arm around his shoulder fell off, and Wonoh exaggeratedly held up his palms. Minje looked back at his face and said incredulously.

“You walked on eggshells around me?”

“Yeah. I totally did. But you wouldn’t even eat the sausage bread I gave you.”

“You think you gave me that because you were thinking of me? You just dumped it on me because you had to diet for your weight class.”

“You noticed?”

Minje silently shoved his hands in his pockets and walked straight ahead.

“Ah, I’m sorryyy.”

Wonoh wrapped his arm around his shoulder again and clung to him. Seeing his face, smiling with crinkled eyes, Minje let out a chuckle. Not missing the opportunity, Wonoh pressed his shoulder closer.

“It’s been a while, how about we hit the PC bang and then the gym? Your hyung will treat you to cheese ramen.”

His anger had already completely dissipated. But not wanting to show it, ‘Eunseong’ put on a deliberately sulky expression and replied.

“Aren’t you on a diet?”

“I am. So just give me one bite of yours.”

“You’re messing with me.”

“So, you’re not going?”

“I’m going.”

The bickering pair walked past the camera, and the camera lingered on their receding backs for a long time.