Chapter 169:
Chapter 169
Z-Day. (4)
“I hope we’re not bothering you too much.”
“It’s okay. You brought us coffee, after all… And you’re Ian’s group members, so I’ll make an exception for you.”
Lee Ju-hyuk smiled awkwardly as he talked to Director Park, while the other members looked around the filming set with curiosity.
“Wow, look at that.”
“Isn’t that from a superhero movie?”
They saw a huge chroma key background behind the elaborate set.
“The set is really big.”
“It’s no joke when you see it in person.”
“How do you act in front of that?”
The members lowered their voices as much as possible to avoid disturbing the filming, but they couldn’t stop talking.
They all looked like they had found a toy, and they exclaimed in awe at everything they saw. Ian had to suppress his laughter at their reactions.
“I’m going to get my makeup done. Do you want to stay here?”
“Go ahead.”
The members secretly wanted to see the makeup room as well, but they thought it would be too noisy if they all followed him. So they restrained themselves.
Ian left the members who were chatting with the director and headed to the makeup room. There, he saw Eom Ji-hwan and Kim Min-jae, who had already finished their makeup and were wearing their costumes.
“You’re a bit late, aren’t you?”
“The members came to see the set.”
“Really? Then I’ll go ahead. I didn’t get to thank you properly earlier.”
It wouldn’t hurt to be friendly with a popular idol group. Kim Min-jae, who had a calculative mind, quickly left the makeup room.
Eom Ji-hwan lifted his coffee cup slightly behind Ian, who was getting his makeup done.
“Thank you for the coffee, Ian. I got to enjoy some coffee thanks to you.”
“Don’t mention it. It was our members who did it.”
“Do your members do this often? Sending support?”
“Yes, but this is the first time they came in person.”
The members had been sending support to each other whenever they had individual schedules. Sometimes, they even competed to see who would send it first.
Eom Ji-hwan sneered inwardly at Ian, who had a faint smile on his lips.
‘He’s so naive.’
He thought that, but he also felt envious of Ian.
Eom Ji-hwan was not very close with his group members, Nine Seven. And ever since he received the support of Cheonghwa Group, the other members started to envy and oppose him more.
‘You got that ad too? You must have a good sponsor.’
‘You don’t need us anymore, do you?’
‘You’re so arrogant these days. What’s wrong with you?’
Of course, Eom Ji-hwan had changed a lot too, but he didn’t know that.
He just thought that they were jealous of him because he was doing well. Anyway, they had been working together for seven years, so he just ignored them.
‘They’re all the same. It’s not just me.’
He thought that other idols were similar. Especially Awi, who had only Ian as the most popular member, and one of their members had stopped working due to panic disorder.
‘I thought they wouldn’t get along well either.’
But when he saw their relationship, he felt jealous of what he didn’t have.
“I thought you wouldn’t be close, but you’re surprising.”
Eom Ji-hwan muttered as if Ian could hear him, and then left the makeup room. Ian raised one eyebrow at his tone.
‘What’s that?’
[Is he being rude?]
Jin expressed Ian’s feelings.
Ian finished his makeup and headed to the filming set. The Awi members, Kim Min-jae, and even Director Park were gathered together and chatting.
Kim Hyun took a step back and casually talked to Eom Ji-hwan.
“Long time no see, Ji-hwan.”
“Hello, hyung.”
Eom Ji-hwan nodded his head briefly and answered dryly. He focused on his phone, but he also glanced at the Awi members from time to time.
Ian saw that and approached Kim Hyun’s side.
“Do you know Ji-hwan?”
“We were trainees together for a while.”
“Really? Were you close?”
“I was close with the other members of Nine Seven, but not with him.”
He seemed to have changed a lot from his trainee days, but people changed after they debuted and gained experience. Kim Hyun shrugged.
***
Ian’s makeup was done, and the extras and staff were also ready, so Director Park started the filming without delay.
The members of Awi decided to watch the filming quietly behind the director.
“Wow.”
“Isn’t he amazing?”
They exchanged silent words as they saw the actors change their atmosphere through the camera screen.
“Action!”
The staff clapped the slate.
Naowoo Shin, who had been kidnapped by unidentified zombies and escaped, locked all the doors in his house, fearing another attack from the zombies.
He had stayed up for several days and dragged his tired body to work.
“How are you feeling, Mr. Shin?”
As soon as he entered the office, his boss grabbed his shoulder. Naowoo Shin flinched and looked back.
“I’m fine. I slept well after taking some medicine.”
He realized that the hand on his shoulder belonged to his boss and forced a smile.
‘Wait a minute…’
But then, he noticed that his body felt strangely light, even though he hadn’t slept well for a long time.
‘Don’t you wonder what will happen if they find out about you?’
He remembered the words of the zombie who had kidnapped him and felt a chill on his arm.
‘Nah, it can’t be.’
He convinced himself that the zombies were mistaken and that everything was a dream. He focused on his work.
Around lunchtime, the steel door of the office opened with a loud noise.
“What’s going on?”
The office workers jumped up in surprise. The people who entered the door were armed government soldiers.
“Is there a Mr. Naowoo Shin here?”
They pointed at him, and Naowoo Shin felt his hair stand on end. He had never committed a crime in his life. He had never slandered anyone or made enemies.
‘Why are they looking for me…’
And they were not even police, but soldiers. Moreover, their combat uniforms had a clear mark of a government special unit.
“Over there…”
All the eyes of the office workers turned to Naowoo Shin. The soldiers approached him and surrounded him.
It looked like they were blocking his escape route, and Naowoo Shin’s eyes trembled.
“Mr. Naowoo Shin?”
“Yes?”
“We need you to come with us for a moment.”
“W-what for?”
“You went to the C-38 area four days ago, right?”
Naowoo Shin jerked his shoulder. The alley where he had been kidnapped by the two zombies was the C-38 area.
“Let’s go. Get up.”
The soldiers didn’t wait for his answer, but confirmed that he was the person they were looking for by his reaction.
Naowoo Shin hesitated, and one of the soldiers grabbed his arm and forced him to stand up.
Crash
Just as Naowoo Shin was about to be dragged away by the soldiers, the glass window of the office broke and a smoke grenade flew in.
“Get down!”
The soldier who was holding Naowoo Shin grabbed the back of his head and made him bend his upper body.
Bang!
The soldiers fired their guns at any sound or movement, even though the smoke made it hard to see.
‘Is this okay?’
Naowoo Shin was forced to bend his body by the soldier, but he felt that something was wrong.
“Ahh!”
“Don’t shoot, don’t shoot! We’re employees here!”
Bang!
Some of the people who were shot and screamed were his colleagues.
‘Aren’t soldiers supposed to protect humans?’
As Naowoo Shin was confused, the soldier who was holding him shouted.
“Captain! Is it okay to shoot like this? What about the civilians?”
“What’s the target?”
“He’s right next to me!”
“It doesn’t matter! As long as the target is alive!”
Naowoo Shin’s expression darkened as he heard their conversation.
‘What the hell is going on…’
At that moment, another glass window broke and someone entered the office.
Despite being on the seventh floor, Kim Junhee, who easily jumped over the window from outside, kicked the soldier who was holding Naowoo Shin’s head. The soldier flew in the air and hit the wall.
“Ouch! Fuck!”
It wasn’t a collision, it was a stab. Naowoo Shin screamed as he almost fell to the floor when he saw the sight.
Kim Junhee, who had kicked the soldier, quickly crouched in front of Naowoo Shin and roughly grabbed his hair, forcing him to look at him.
“Ouch!”
“Mr. Shin. What did I tell you?”
Kim Junhee freed his other hand and pulled down the mask that covered his face. Naowoo Shin gasped stupidly when he saw Kim Junhee’s bare face.
“You… you!”
“Do you want to live?”
Other zombies also entered through the window one by one. The soldiers fired their guns at them, and someone let out a painful scream.
Naowoo Shin didn’t know whether to believe this zombie’s words, or whether it would be better to go with the government side.
“Then do you want to die?”
But when he saw the soldiers who mercilessly shot and killed civilians, his hesitation disappeared.
“Please save me…”
Naowoo Shin’s face turned red in an instant, and his expression twisted. He sobbed and barely spoke, and Kim Junhee gave him a meaningful look.
“Mr. Shin, close your eyes.”
“Ey, eyes? Why the eyes…”
“And don’t scream either.”
Kim Junhee lifted Naowoo Shin with one hand.
At that moment, the director shouted a sign.
“Cut! Good job. Minjae, you did well as a pathetic character.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“It’s a compliment.”
After a short monitor time, Kim Minjae’s stunt double and Kim Minjae touched the baton.
Ian decided to do the action scenes without a stunt in ‘Z-Day’. He had some free time in his schedule, and he was better at following the action than expected, so he made the decision.
“Just do what you practiced when you hear the cue sign.”
“Yes.”
Ian nodded at the action director’s words.
“Ready, cue!”
As soon as the director’s sign rang, Ian, who had turned into Kim Junhee, grabbed Naowoo Shin’s waist and threw him out of the window.
Naowoo Shin, who was thrown outside, was supposed to be caught by Kim Kanghyuk, who was waiting on the ground.
“Cut! Good job.”
While Kim Minjae and Eom Jiwan were watching the monitor, Ian checked the movements with the action director.
The members watched Ian, who was matching the action with the soldier stunt in the middle of the set, from a distance.
“Wow, that’s cool. Is he filming all that?”
“That scene is going to be a one-take shot.”
A staff member from the filming site came over to the members and explained the scene that was about to be filmed.
“One-take shot?”
A filming technique known to the public as a one-take shot. It means capturing a scene in one breath without any cuts or spatial transitions.
“Isn’t that the same as what we did in ‘Dawn’?”
“Oh, that time? It was so hard.”
Even Awi had a hard time putting a short one-take scene in their music video.
Lee Juhyuk asked the staff.
“Is that normal?”
“Well, nowadays technology is so advanced that you can shoot separately and edit it well later, but Ian is so good that the director wanted to try it once.”
“Wow…”
The members widened their eyes and looked at each other.
“Our kid is amazing, huh?”
“I guess so.”
“You guys know you sound like proud parents, right?”
Park Seodam shook his head at the two Hyuks, Lee Juhyuk and Park Jinhyuk, who were admiring Ian.
‘Ugh, so cute!’
The staff was secretly in love with Ian. She tried to hide her smile and pretended to be indifferent as she explained the shooting to the members.
While the members were feeling proud, Ian took a deep breath nervously.
[Can I do this?]
Ian nodded slightly. In fact, he was not confident.
He had to wear K’s mask and act like a zombie while shooting a long-take action scene.
‘I’ll give it a try.’
Ian felt his palms sweating and clenched and unclenched his fists.
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