Chapter 008
The old man looked at us, who were only exchanging confused glances with each other, and spoke again with force.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to open the door?”
“Ah, yes.”
Despite his small body, the old man gave off such strong charisma that the production department’s Taesu was overwhelmed and awkwardly opened the car door.
“Go straight down the road.”
Following the old man’s instructions, who naturally got into the car as if it were his own, we started moving.
After driving back the way we had come for about ten minutes, we saw a small village made up of around ten houses.
“There, you see the village hall? Park in front of it.”
We stopped the car in front of a two-story building with a sign that read ‘Village Hall’.
The old man got out of the car and, without explaining anything to us, headed somewhere.
He immediately went through the alley behind the village hall and entered through a blue gate at the end of the alley.
We followed him through the gate without knowing what was going on.
Inside the gate stood an old-fashioned Korean traditional house that looked like it had been built a hundred years ago, with a large yard in front of it.
“Sit over there.”
The old man pointed toward a wooden platform in the yard and went inside what looked like the kitchen.
Left alone in the yard, we looked at one another awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
Eventually, we timidly went over and sat on the platform.
After a while, the old man came out carrying a tray of drinks and handed one to each of us.
“Drink.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“What genre is it?”
“Pardon?”
“I mean the genre of the movie you're making.”
“Ah, yes···. Well··· it’s a noir movie···. So, about noir, what that means is···.”
The assistant director looked troubled, wondering if an elderly country man who looked to be around eighty even knew what noir was.
“Something like The Godfather?”
“Whoa··· amazing.
You know The Godfather?”
When the old man mentioned the movie The Godfather, Taesu from the directing department asked again as if he had received a huge shock.
“Tch, are you looking down on me just because I’m an old country man?”
“Ah, I’m sorry.
That’s not what I meant···. Ahem···.”
“So, what’s the story about?”
We completely forgot about the doubts we had held toward the old man just moments ago.
Like people under a spell, we began explaining every little detail about our movie to him.
“Hmm···.
The story isn’t bad···.
It’s interesting.”
“Right?
It’s pretty good, isn’t it?
It looks like it’ll be a huge hit, right?!”
We took the old man’s simple comment that it was ‘interesting’ as if some famous movie critic had given our film five stars.
Just then, a middle-aged man whose head was almost completely bald like the old man entered through the gate.
When he saw all of us gathered on the platform, he gave us a suspicious look.
“Is Junhyun’s father here?”
The old man spoke first, as if trying to reassure the middle-aged man.
“Who are these people?”
“They say they make movies.
They want to film over at that old furniture factory.”
“A movie?”
As soon as the middle-aged man heard the word ‘movie,’ his expression immediately became displeased.
“He’s my son.
He’s the village chief of Daecheon-ri.”
The old man explained that the owner of the abandoned factory had immigrated to Australia, and that his son, who was also the village chief, was managing the land.
“If you want permission to film, ask my son.”
Only then did we understand the old man’s actions until now.
Jeong PD quickly took out his business card and handed it to the middle-aged man.
“Ah, so you’re the village chief.
It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Forget it.
What could I possibly do for you?”
Despite the village chief drawing a clear line as if he found us troublesome, Jeong PD remained polite throughout.
“Then, can we discuss using the abandoned factory with you, Chief?”
“Why would you want to film in such an ugly place···?”
The village chief said that some people had come before wanting to make a movie about ghosts appearing there.
But he had refused because filming something like that would only damage the village’s image.
“It’s not a ghost movie.
It’s noir.
Noir.”
“I don’t know anything about that.
Go find somewhere else.
If a bunch of people come here to film, making noise and walking around everywhere, and complaints start coming in···.”
The village chief frowned deeply and shuddered just thinking about it.
“We’re a small production.
We’ll make sure you don’t have to worry about us···.”
“Enough.
You can’t film there, so go find somewhere else.”
Despite the village chief’s firm refusal, we tried several times to persuade him.
In the end, we were practically kicked out of his house.
“Ah, this is going to be difficult···.”
“I know.
He looks strict, and the way he acts is even stricter.”
On the drive back to Seoul, we exchanged various opinions about this unexpected obstacle.
“Could he be doing this because he wants money?”
Cha Seungjun cautiously spoke up.
When preparing the budget, we had set aside a separate amount for location fees.
If the village chief was actually acting this way because of money, he might demand more than the amount Jeong PD had budgeted.
The thought made Jeong PD’s expression darken.
“I think we should visit the chief’s house again in a few days.
And just in case, we should look into other abandoned factories too.”
“Ah, but the director had this place in mind from the moment he wrote the script, so finding another location···.”
The assistant director sighed as if the thought alone gave him a headache.
“The director is one thing, but finding another place like this won’t be easy either.”
“We should try to persuade him if possible.”
“But that old man···.
When he asked what genre it was, I was honestly surprised.
I wondered if an old man like him even knew what a genre was.”
“Yeah.
And earlier, when that old man said our movie was interesting after hearing the story··· wow.
I don’t know why, but it actually felt pretty good.”
Because of the evening traffic, we didn’t arrive in Seoul until well after seven.
“Ha···.
If we stop by the office, drop off the equipment, and then go home, it’ll be past nine.”
Assistant director Taesu spoke in a tired voice.
“Then let’s do this.
The other members of the directing department have probably already gone home too.
Let’s all go home from here, and we’ll organize the equipment tomorrow.”
“But PD, don’t you have a meeting tomorrow?
Aren’t you coming to the office late in the afternoon?”
“That’s true, but···.”
I spoke to the troubled-looking Jeong Inbeom.
“There’s no need for that.
I’ll stop by the office for a while, organize what we filmed today, and then go home.”
“You’re going alone, Gibaek?”
The assistant director and Taesu both lived in Gangnam.
Cha Seungjun’s house was also in the opposite direction from the office.
My house was in Hong-eun-dong, so I had to pass by the office anyway to get home.
Therefore, I willingly took on the extra work.
“Yeah.
Normally, this kind of work is done by the youngest.”
‘Tch.
He really didn’t have to say that.’
I suppressed my urge to punch the assistant director, who seemed to be strangely teasing me, and awkwardly smiled.
“Right.
Well··· I am the youngest.”
After parting ways with everyone, I carried camera bags in both hands, took the subway, and arrived at the office.
I thought everyone would have gone home and the office would be empty.
But the lights were still on.
Naturally, I assumed that the scriptwriter Jeong-in or the youngest member of the directing department, Mijeong, was still there.
However, contrary to my expectations, Song Director was in the office.
“Oh, it’s Gibaek.
Did you just get back from location hunting?
Where is everyone else?”
“Ah, everyone went home first.
I just stopped by because there were some things I needed to organize.”
“I see.
I also had something to look at.
How did the location hunting go?”
I briefly explained everything that had happened that day.
“I see···.
I should have gone with you today···.”
“If you’re worried about the location problem, don’t worry too much.
We’ll find a way to solve it somehow.”
“Wow, that’s reassuring even just hearing you say it.
Haha.”
Although Song Director was smiling on the outside, his face looked tired, probably because of all the stress caused by Yoo Haein.
“Is it··· very hard?”
It wasn't really a question.
I had simply said it to encourage him and tell him to stay strong.
But Song Director opened his mouth heavily, as if he had been waiting for someone to ask him that.
“Yeah···.
It’s not as easy a choice as I thought···.
If I only think about the movie, I know I shouldn’t change it.
I feel like I’ll regret it if I do···.
But when I think about the staff who are working so hard, maybe I should change the script and cast Yoo Haein···.
Ha···.”
A deep sigh seemed to pour out from the very bottom of Song Director’s heart.
If they cast Yoo Haein, the quality of the movie would decline, but a future where the movie achieved a certain level of success was almost guaranteed.
But he would be left with regret.
If he gave up Yoo Haein, he wouldn’t have that regret.
But the future would become uncertain.
That also meant the value of the shares I had received from this movie after giving up my wages would become uncertain.
What could I possibly say in this situation so that I wouldn’t regret it later?
For the first time since returning to the past, I realized that knowing the future wasn’t always a good thing.
“My mother once told me this.
‘If you’re going to regret it anyway, do it first and regret it afterward.’
She said that way, you’d have fewer regrets.
Then she told me to please study more.
Haha.”
This was my second life, one that had begun after a life filled with regret.
Maybe that was why I didn’t want to leave behind another regret.
“A choice that leaves less regret···.”
Song Director’s already-deep eyes became even deeper.
“You already gave me the answer yourself, Director.
You said that if you only think about the movie, you shouldn’t change it.
And you said you felt that you would regret it if you did.”
Song Director’s eyes trembled at my words.
I continued speaking to him.
“Director, no matter what choice you make, I believe that if it’s your choice, then it will be the best one.”
“I appreciate that, but aren’t you overestimating me too much?
Haha.”
“No.
I’m not overestimating you at all.
You know that, right?
I gave up my wages because I believe in the potential of your movie.”
Song Director’s eyes trembled again at my unexpected answer.
“And more than anything, I trust my own judgment.
So, if what I’m saying puts pressure on you, then just trust my judgment instead.
This movie is definitely going to be a huge hit.
Haha.”
And more than anything, if you truly care about the staff who are working so hard, then repay them with a good movie.
A movie you won’t be ashamed of.
A few days later, Song Director made his decision.
He decided to cancel Yoo Haein’s casting.
And he decided to make the independent film according to the original plan, without changing the script.
