Life, Once Again!

person sitting and looked outside the window.
He would arrive at the train station in just 4 more stops.
Air conditioning was coming.

* * *

Murphy’s law.
He had to read the expressions of the people in the car when the train arrived.
The train driver’s announcement floated above his head: the air conditioning is currently under maintenance.
We apologize for your inconvenience.

The door opened along with the announcement that they arrived at Yeouinaru station.
Maru shook his head as he left the train.
It was quite a tiresome day.
This was definitely not his lucky day today.

After passing the ticker barrier, he immediately entered a convenience store.
He was finally greeted with some cool air.
He bought a tube popsicle and the chilliest canned drink he could find.
He wanted to buy some beer, but he wasn’t old enough yet.

He chewed on the tube popsicle as he headed towards the meetup place.
His original schedule today was a shoot for the historical drama, but he got a message that it was cancelled the night before.
He wasn’t notified of the reason though.

He thought that he could get some rest since a schedule was up in the air, but it seemed that his company did not plan on having him rest.
He immediately got a call from Byungchan.
There was a shoot for an ad, and he was needed to fill the headcount.

He left through the 3rd exit.
The Hangang park was filled with people running away from the heat.
After throwing away the empty popsicle tube, he looked around.
He saw a group of people in a place a bit away from the 3rd exit.
They looked completely awkward with each other, so they didn’t seem to be companions.
That left one possible answer.
Maru also walked towards that group.
He saw a person checking names.

“Is this the meetup place for the ad shoot?”

“Ah, yes.
Where are you from? Taeyang? Daejoon? KA?”

“I just got a call from my company.”

“Really? What’s your name then?”

“Han Maru.”

“Han Maru, Han Maru.
Oh, here it is.
JA, huh? Do you know how to write the log?”

“Yes.”

The man handed him a palm-sized piece of paper.

“Write ‘commercial advertisement’ on the program, and ‘casual’ for the clothes.
Once you’re done give it back to me.”

He gave the man the log after writing his name, and some of his personal information.
This was usually for companies that managed background actors for their payroll.
There was no reason for him to write one since he didn’t come here through one of them, but he wrote one anyway since he was told to.

There were around twenty people gathered here.
Since it was a shoot for a telecommunication company, there were only young people around.

“We’re moving now.
Please get in the coach.”

They got in a coach and were driven for around 10 minutes.
Maru saw a school outside the window.
Jangho Highschool.
The bus went past the school gates and parked in the middle of the school field.

“We’re getting off.”

There were many cars parked in the school field other than the coach they came in.
Students peeked outside the classroom in curiosity since they seemed to be in self-study sessions.
It seemed that there weren’t any celebrities here yet.
Maru could tell that from the lack of noise.

“Please change into gym uniforms.
Oh, and don’t forget to take off any accessories you’re wearing.
Over there! The one with strong hair.
Please tone it down.”

A man who styled his hair with wax brushed his hair with his hand in dejection.
Maru changed into the gym uniform in the bathroom and moved to the right side of the main school building.
He saw a few students who escaped the watch of the teachers and came here to watch, but they soon left after finding out that there weren’t any celebrities here.

“Please quiet down.
We’re going to the 4th floor.”

The man led the people to an empty classroom on the 4th floor.

‘Balls?’

There were table tennis balls in many colors inside boxes.
Just the number of boxes lined up in the corridor numbered a dozen at least.
Maru wondered what they were going to do with all those balls.

“Once the shoot begins, you just need to throw the balls around and look like you’re enjoying it as much as possible.”

“You mean those?”

“Yes.”

The uses for them were revealed.
He thought that there was going to be a warm couple since he was told that it was an ad for a telecommunication company, but it seemed that he was wrong.
He went inside the classroom and waited for the main characters.
He wondered which celebrities were coming.

He yawned and had a look at the time.
It was past 8 now.
The equipment for the shoot seemed to be almost set up as well.
There were eight cameras in the corridor shooting the class through the window, and six cameras at the back of the class.
He had never seen so many cameras before.
He thought that the funds for shooting a 15-second long aesthetics would match the budget of an ordinary drama episode.

“Please get ready.
The director is coming.”

It was finally time.
Maru stretched his neck out and looked at the back door of the classroom.
He saw a woman with dark bags under her eyes.
She looked very tired.
She was young too, so Maru wondered if she was sick or something.

“I hope we can do this enjoyably, Haha.
I am Park Jiseon, and I’ll be working with you today.
And yes, I am the director.
Though, I don’t think any of you wanted to know that.”

She yawned as she staggered her way across and sat down.
Behind her, a good-looking man and a woman pair came in.
They were actors he saw on TV.
Also, one of them was someone he knew.

“Oh? Han Maru.”

He waved his hand at him.
It was the guy who always had a grin on his face, Sooil.