I Returned as a High School Girl

Chapter 79: Beautiful Part-Timer (1)

This was Program Director Hwang Yun-Seong’s first solo production. He had not been able to sleep well lately despite filming not having begun yet, since this was the first time that a production would be produced under his name.

Screenwriter Yeo Yu-Min clicked her tongue as she saw the director coming to the broadcasting station with thick dark circles yet again.

“Did you stay up all night again, Director Hwang?” she asked worriedly.

“No, I slept.”

“How many hours?”

“...That’d be the wrong unit of measurement.”

“So, you didn’t. How could you even call that sleep?”

Yu-Min sighed deeply from the fact that Director Hwang hadn’t even slept for an hour.

“You’re gonna collapse before the shoots even begin at this rate,” Yu-Min remarked.

She voiced her concern for him as a screenwriter. Director Hwang aside, she couldn’t help but be concerned since her name was also hanging on this production. She was filled to the brim with worries, seeing the terrible condition that Director Hwang was in at such a crucial time when they had to give their all into preparation. The condition of the production team was just as important as the actors’. However good the actors were, it was pointless if the production team couldn’t make good use of them.

“Why don’t you wrap things up early today and go home to sleep?” Yu-Min suggested.

They had an early morning shoot scheduled today, but there wasn’t much to film. If everything went according to schedule, it would all be over before noon. However, he politely declined Yu-Min’s consideration.

“Ra-Eun said she was going to show us her sportswear today. I should at least take a look at them before heading home.”

“Oh, right.”

They had heard that Ra-Eun had been preparing to launch her business specialized in sportswear. Kang Seon-Hye, the female lead of the drama Waitress, was written to love exercising, so there would be many scenes where she would be exercising in sportswear. They had been thinking of getting a sportswear sponsorship for Ra-Eun to wear in such scenes, but they had decided to take a look at Ra-Eun’s products because she had brought up her new business during conversations.

“Anyway, Ra-Eun sure is multi-talented. She’s good at studying, she’s a great actress, and even dabbles in business.”

Ra-Eun did not give off a feeling that she was stretching herself too thin, but felt like could actually pull off everything that she did. And in actuality, she had been showing people exactly that, which allowed people to rely on her more.

The car that Ra-Eun was in arrived on set while they were preparing for the shoot.

“Good morning,” Ra-Eun greeted first.

“Good morning, Ra-Eun. I’m sorry to have you come so early in the morning.” Director Hwang greeted in return.

“It’s no problem. Rather, I prefer having and finishing the shoot early since I can take my time exercising once it’s over.”

“Oh, are you going to exercise as soon as you’re done? Won’t you be tired?” Yu-Min asked.

“I’ll be fine. I actually feel more refreshed if I end the day by breaking a sweat.”

Ra-Eun’s stamina that was on par with that of men was one of the reasons why drama production teams loved her so much. She showed no hint of fatigue after continuous re-shoots, and displayed a lively performance every single time on camera as if it was her first attempt. Actors were bound to get tired when shoots extended for long periods of time, but words such as fatigue were not in Ra-Eun’s vocabulary. This was one of Ra-Eun’s massive strengths as an actress.

Since Ra-Eun had met up with Director Hwang and Yu-Min, she decided to take a short time to show them the sportswear that she wanted to wear.

“I was hoping to wear these,” Ra-Eun expressed.

A zip-up sweatshirt, black leggings, and white sneakers were together as a set.

Yu-Min asked in surprise, “Aren’t these leggings?”

“Yes.”

“You’re going to wear these?”

“Is it not allowed on TV?”

“No, that’s not it, but there are some actresses who don’t like wearing tight-fitting clothes that expose their figure.”

Not only did Ra-Eun enjoy wearing leggings while exercising, they were one of the main items that would be sold in her business.

“I’m fine with them. I wear them all the time when exercising,” Ra-Eun replied.

Director Hwang asked while tilting his head, “I thought you didn’t like clothes that were revealing, Ra-Eun.”

“What I don’t like is skin exposure. I’m fine with skin-tight clothes like these.”

Every actor had things that they were okay and not okay with. In Ra-Eun’s case, she was still reluctant to expose her bare skin. Since the person concerned was saying that it was okay, Director Hwang and Yu-Min had no reason to refuse.

“The design isn't bad either.”

In their eyes, the sportswear looked great. They would not contradict the character Kang Seon-Hye’s traits either.

Ra-Eun sighed in relief in her head as the two most important people of this production showed positive responses. Her sportswear was approved in no time. Since the sportswear issue had been resolved, Ra-Eun got ready for the shoot. But before that, Yu-Min asked her about a different subject.

“Ra-Eun, are you not interested in social media?”

“Social media?”

“Yes. I’m sure your company sales would increase exponentially if you upload selfies in your sportswear. Other celebrities do the same thing, don’t they?”

An indirect advertisement through social media. In Ra-Eun’s case, it could even be considered a direct advertisement since it was her own company’s product.

‘Social media, huh...?’

She had used a few in her past life, but it was nothing more than a way to communicate with her friends. It was her first time making a social media account as an extremely popular actress.

‘Do I just upload a few pictures like other celebrities do?’

It looked like she had some studying to do as a social media novice.

***

Scene #3-2. The shoot started off with the scene where the female protagonist Kang Seon-Hye visited the cafe to apply for a part-time job. Ra-Eun entered the cafe in casual clothing. The camera filmed her first meeting with the man standing at the counter, Ji Han-Seok.

“Welcome.”

Mistaking her for a customer, Han-Seok put on his business smile. Ra-Eun stated the purpose of her visit while returning his smile with an awkward one of her own.

“I’m here for an interview.”

“An interview? Oh, are you Miss Kang Seon-Hye?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“You’re extremely early, aren’t you?”

The interview was supposed to be held at 3 PM, but Seon-Hye had arrived at 1 PM.

“I arrived early because I didn’t want to be late. If it’s too early, then I’ll spend the time drinking a cup of coffee until you’re free.”

“No, no, it's okay. There aren’t any customers at the moment, so let’s start the interview right away.”

Ra-Eun and Han-Seok exchanged lines naturally without a single NG cut, possibly because they had already worked together before.

“Okay, cut! That was great. Let’s take a fifteen-minute break before we move on to the next scene.”

“Yes, Director.”

Ra-Eun did not seem to have any intention of taking a break despite being given time for one. She had always been the competitive type even in her past life, so she always saw things through until perfection. And of course, that was also true in the case of drama shoots.

“Sunbae. I’m sorry, but could you join me in the script reading?”

“Script reading? Okay, sure. Let’s do it.”

Han-Seok became a yes-man for any of Ra-Eun’s requests.

“W-Wait,” Han-Seok stuttered in embarrassment as soon as they sat across from each other.

As Ra-Eun was about to ask him what was wrong, Han-Seok said while turning his gaze elsewhere, “Ra-Eun. You should... cover your legs with something.”

Ra-Eun was not wearing a particularly short skirt, but it had rolled up slightly due to her sitting motion. It was possible for someone right across from her to see her panties at the right angle. However, Ra-Eun had been a woman for almost two years. Such situations were well within her expectations.

“It’s fine, sunbae. I’m wearing bloomers underneath.”

Ra-Eun did not seem to mind her movements or posture much because of the insurance that she was wearing, but that was only the case for herself. Han-Seok, who had to sit across from her, was not thinking as positively as her.

“No, but still...”

Ra-Eun’s smooth calves and thighs were still clearly visible. There was no way that Han-Seok could take his eyes off her legs which were every man’s hopes and dreams. Ra-Eun had no choice but to take off her jacket and cover her legs for Han-Seok to focus on the script.

Everything was now ready.

Ahem!

Han-Seok cleared his throat and recited his line first.

“Where did you say you were from again?”

“I’m from Namhae County of Gyeongsangnam Province!”

“Namhae? That’s pretty far away. How did you end up in Seoul?”

“It... just happened.”

No drama revealed everything from the first episode. The same went for Waitress; the reason why Seon-Hye came to Seoul was not fully revealed because the audience would slowly lose interest as the drama went on if everything was laid bare on the table.

This script was special because the reason was not revealed to the actors.

‘There are a few production teams that do this.’

Ra-Eun had heard of such instances before in her past life where a thriller drama was filmed with the actors having no knowledge of who the culprit was, not even the actor who was playing the culprit. The movie director had said that he had purposefully kept it secret to help the actors immerse themselves in the scenario more to heighten the quality of their performance.

However, there was one problem.

‘I already know what happens.’

The actors had speculated that Seon-Hye had come to Seoul to find her long-lost younger sister that she had separated from in childhood, and that younger sister would play a very important role in greatly distorting Seon-Hye’s relationship with the male lead played by Han-Seok.

‘That’s not it…It’s a bit boring to perform while knowing everything.’

However, Ra-Eun was giving her all into her performance despite that.

‘I was paid a lot, after all.’

One should do as much as what they were paid to do. That was the case for a security team leader, a popular actress, or any other job.