Chapter 17
THE FOLLOWING MONDAY, EVERYONE IN THE cast and crew congratulates me.
“Ooh,” says the assistant director. “A real-life on-set romance. I love it when real-life love blossoms during filming!”
Only Director Cha has a lukewarm response to our relationship news.
“I’m hoping this means I can expect better chemistry between you two!” he remarks. “It is a new year, after all. Let’s try our best!”
“You and Bryan look so great together,” comments a production assistant. “It truly was ‘fated destiny.’”
Everyone chuckles. Even Director Cha and I awkwardly laugh along.
There’s a palpable shift in the mood on set today.
This past weekend’s episodes of Fated Destiny premiered at a solid second place in this week’s ratings, which is pretty good, considering the fact that we just premiered our tenth episode.
Although it’s made my personal life a confusing mess, I’m glad the sacrifice was good for something .
Even the Brybabies generally reacted positively to our tower date, and apparently some of the people who previously hated me are now convinced that Bryan and I are “obviously meant to be.” Fan art and fan photo collages of us together are all over Instagram and Twitter.
I wonder how much of them shipping us has to do with our actual compatibility rather than just how good we look together.
After all, Bryan’s fans may know a lot about Bryan, but they barely know anything about me.
How do they know if Bryan and I are really meant to be?
Or any celebrity couple, for that matter?
Thankfully, people on set get over the news of Bryan’s and my “relationship” pretty fast, since we’re on yet another tight schedule.
Today, I’m supposed to shoot a few scenes with Minjee, which is a welcome distraction from everything.
According to Director Cha, they’re “simple flashback scenes” meant to establish the fact that Sora and Danbi were enemies in their past lives.
But the moment I see Minjee in her hanbok, the scenes become more than just “simple” to me.
Everything from the long, scarlet skirt to the elegant flowers embroidered on her yellow blouse looks perfect on Minjee, and so do her rosy-pink-painted lips and thick, long lashes.
With the help of extensions, Minjee’s hair is now luxurious and long, styled into a braid that goes down to her waist. My eyes linger at the delicate, round ornamental hairpin sitting on top of her head like a small blooming flower.
She looks so stunning and so totally different than her usual self. I stare down at my feet so I don’t mindlessly gape at her as we wait for the crew to finish setting up the camera.
“God, it’s so freakin’ cold,” Minjee hisses, bringing my attention back to her face. “Couldn’t they tell us to stand on our marks after they finish setting up?”
I smile. Even though she may not look it, she’s still the same Minjee I know.
“I know, right? They’d probably do that if we were more famous,” I say. “Or if this show had a higher budget. I heard that for some shows, they get other people to stand in so the actors only have to come out when everything’s ready.”
“That’d be the absolute dream .”
In a way, complaining about things behind the scenes with Minjee makes it feel like we’re in school again, chatting backstage before we perform. It’s the type of instant comradery that I’ve never had with anyone else.
A mischievous grin flashes across Minjee’s face. “So, you’re supposed to slap me today, right?”
“Um, yeah?” I say, taken aback by the change of topic.
“Well, don’t hold back. Even if we’re just doing fake slapping. I want it to be as realistic as possible. I won’t even mind if you accidentally hit me. Let’s try to get this scene done in as few takes as we can, okay?”
“Well, we could practice some slaps right now.”
I glance back at the camera crew to see if anyone’s watching. They’re all crouched over the camera, talking about how they can’t find a particular lens.
I turn back to Minjee with a playful grin of my own and add in English, “That is, unless you’re too chicken.”
Minjee scoffs. “Ever the American. Okay, I’m down. Let’s try practicing.”
Slapping someone on camera is always a tricky business because it requires a team effort between two actors. I feel a thrill at the challenge. Maybe this is my chance to follow through with my New Year’s resolution and actually allow myself to have fun with this show.
I stand at an arm’s length from her, positioning my feet wide enough that I have a stable stance. Minjee does the same, bracing herself.
“We should have a nonverbal cue,” she says. “How about I blink to tell you that I’m ready, and you swing then?”
“Sure.”
I wait for Minjee to blink, and then swing my arm. Minjee ducks well clear from my hand, so clear that it’s definitely not going to look realistic, and especially not on camera.
We try a few more times, but they all look obviously fake.
“Maybe try a bit faster?” Minjee suggests.
“Okay.”
She blinks. I swing. This time, my fingertips make contact with her cheek.
“Shoot!” I say. “Sorry.”
Minjee only laughs. “Totally fine. Like I said, I don’t care if you accidentally hit me. That was definitely more realistic, though, so try it again like that! I’ll try to dodge faster.”
This time, my fingers come so close to Minjee’s cheek that I can feel her body heat, without making contact with her skin.
“Perfect! We’ve got this.”
“Awesome!”
We high-five. We’re both grinning ear to ear. Acting together feels so natural, like we’re back in school practicing skits. When I’m with Minjee, it really isn’t hard to have fun. I hope we can keep up this energy for the real thing.
“Okay, we’re ready to go,” says Director Cha. He must have seen us practice because he gives us an amused look. “Sorry for the wait. We thought we were ready, but there was something wrong with one of the lenses. The issue is fixed now.”
When it’s time to get into our places, I walk through the doorway of the main gates of the palace, which is where I’m supposed to enter through with my entourage of royal servants.
I bow to all the actresses who are playing my servants while we’re waiting for the director to call action. They give me friendly waves in return. Even though they’re my servants on-screen, they’re all women around my mom’s age. I want to treat them with the utmost respect.
“All right, action!” shouts Director Cha.
The ladies pick up the long skirts of my hanbok to help me walk up the steps and through the gate into the palace.
We stride into the courtyard, and I keep my head held high as I survey my surroundings.
My directions for this scene are simple yet spicy.
Slap Danbi and tell her off for hanging out with Hyun. I’ve got this.
Feeling every bit like some mean girl in a high school drama show, I storm as quickly as I can in Minjee’s direction. Minjee, as Danbi, takes a step back, a scared yet resolute look on her face.
But when I meet her eyes, Minjee winks. The camera’s on me, so it won’t capture her expression, and it takes all my effort not to smile. By the time I’m standing in front of her, though, Minjee’s face is dead serious again, since her face might be visible in the periphery of the shot.
She greets me with her head bowed. I keep my nose pointed up to the sky. In this lifetime, Danbi is a maidservant while my character is a princess. I give her my best steely glare.
“My maidservants spotted you leaving the prince’s chambers late at night. What could you possibly have had to do there?”
Minjee glares up at me, eyes flashing. Her gaze is so intense that it takes all my effort to not flinch away.
As we’re standing there, practically nose-to-nose, I linger on the little details on her face I wouldn’t normally get to see unless I was this close up.
Her mahogany-brown eyes. The light freckles across her cheeks.
I’m supposed to slap her after her next line. I get ready.
“The prince sought out my company,” Minjee says. “I was there under his orders.”
She blinks. I swipe my hand. She dodges perfectly, cutting it close enough that there are small gasps from the crew members.
“How dare you insinuate such things about the prince?” I yell. “I’m sure he had a good reason for asking you to be there. Repent before you find yourself kicked out of the palace.”
I wish I could scrub my mouth with soap. I have no idea what direction the show was supposed to go in before they decided to add Minjee into the script, but I wish they hadn’t made my character so... petty.
I turn around like I’m supposed to, and my entourage follows me across the courtyard.
I don’t totally leave the scene, though, because at that point Minjee comes in with, “With all due respect, agissi, you speak too harshly. And you struck out unfairly. We were just talking. Nothing more. Please ask the prince about what happened. If his words counter mine, I will gladly leave.”
Chills go down my spine at the quiet resolve in Minjee’s voice. The lines sounded so resigned when I read them in the script, but her tone gives them an edge that changes their meaning entirely.
I wish I had better lines to counter her. But my lines stop there. I’m just supposed to walk away as if I didn’t hear her. And so, that’s exactly what I do until Director Cha cries out, “Cut! That was great, ladies. Reset! We’ll be shooting from Sora’s POV next.”
On my way back to my mark, I stop to tell Minjee, “You were amazing.”
“Thanks!” she replies. “You were good, too.”
The compliment is nice, but it doesn’t do much against how crummy I feel about the scene in general. Something in Minjee’s expression tells me she feels the same way. I say quietly so only she can hear, “Thanks. I just wish I had better lines to work with.”
Minjee’s eyes widen. “Same!” she whispers back. “Wouldn’t it be amazing if Sora and Danbi were secretly friends?”
“Or better yet, lovers?”
The question comes out of my mouth before I can stop it. Minjee laughs and says, “Oh gosh, that’d be so good! And then they could ride off into the sunset together while leaving Hyun in the dust.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Director Cha asks, cutting our conversation short. “The camera is ready. Please get back to your places.”
Minjee and I share one last secret grin before we return to our marks.
Sora and Danbi being endgame is a scenario that’ll probably never happen in a K-drama, but it’s definitely fun to think about.
And even though I’m sure Minjee was just playing along with what I said, it makes me feel better that she wasn’t repulsed by the idea.
Before we begin again, Minjee says loud enough for everyone else to hear, “Take two. Hope you’re ready, agissi. Because this time I’m going to be glaring even more daggers at you.”
I throw a mock-victory sign in Minjee’s direction. “Bring it. Because this princess isn’t going down without a fight.”
Everyone chuckles at our little exchange, and it takes me a lot of effort to stop smiling so we can run the scene again.