X
“Huff—!
Huff—!
Huff—!
Huff—!”
The stretch of road where he had just faced Corporal Choi Jina.
After sprinting at full speed for roughly fifty meters, Yejun passed through the final camera angle waiting for him and bent forward at the waist.
Through Assistant Director Jang Youngho’s radio, Director Kim Minsu’s voice comes through.
–Cut.
–Again.
That makes six times already.
Aside from one NG caused by Corporal Choi Jina starting to run faster than Zhang Wei, all the retakes were simply to capture the scene from different angles.
Even when a scene gets an OK in one take, chase scenes like this have to be filmed repeatedly from multiple perspectives.
There’s no avoiding it.
On the way back to the starting point, Assistant Director Jang jogs up beside him and asks,
“You okay, Yejun?”
“I’m still fine.”
“This is way easier than Action School training.”
“Haha, really?”
Jang checks the time, his expression souring.
“The guy who said he’d be an hour late still hasn’t shown up, and it’s been two hours.”
“…..”
They’re talking about Lee Jihoon.
Honestly, it’s not that rare for lead actors to arrive later than their call time.
Though cases like Jihoon’s—being late because he drank himself unconscious—are uncommon.
Most delays happen because their previous schedules run long or traffic gets bad.
“If Lee Jihoon’s late, it’s better for me.”
“I get my scenes done faster.”
Jang lets out a hollow laugh.
“Yejun.”
“Yes?”
“You said you’ve never played a supporting role before, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve only done background roles in dramas.”
Jang shakes his head slowly.
“Do you know what happens when you’re filming something else because the lead actor is late, and then the lead finally arrives?”
“…..”
Of course.
Everything else gets pushed aside, and they shoot the lead actor’s scenes first.
Why?
Because they’re busy.
Which means you end up waiting until all of the lead’s scenes are done before finishing your own.
In the end, if that guy is late, your clock-out time gets pushed back too.
Jang looks up at the sky as he speaks.
“Well, at least today’s an outdoor shoot.”
“We have to get everything done while there’s daylight, so things should move quickly.”
“They’ll probably push the dinner scene back since it’s indoors.”
“No problem even after sunset.”
“Haha, is that so?”
“Anyway, let’s give it one more push.”
“Yes, sir.”
They run about five more times.
Eleven full sprints of fifty meters.
When exhaustion finally sets in properly, the OK sign drops at last.
“Phew.”
It’s tough.
Looking across the street, Jisoo looks like her heart is about to burst out of her throat.
While he catches his breath, the makeup team rushes over, wiping sweat from his face and pressing an ice pack to the back of his neck.
But the rest is short-lived—because the next shot is another running scene.
Director Kim Minsu moves closer and explains the setup.
“Alright, you see that alley up ahead?”
“Start inside that alley, run out, glance around once, then sprint back this way and duck into that other alley.”
“It’s a dead end, so once you’re inside, step on the trash bin down there and vault over the wall.”
This shoot features Yejun alone.
Corporal Choi Jina chasing Zhang Wei into the alley will be filmed separately.
That involves vehicle action, so it’ll likely be done on another day.
Yejun slips behind the alley that’s out of the main camera’s view and regulates his breathing.
His lungs feel mostly recovered, but his thigh muscles throb faintly.
He shakes and massages his legs, and it eases a little.
Across from the alley he’s hiding in, behind a wall that won’t be caught on camera, Assistant Director Jang is peeking out with just one eye visible.
Once the signal drops, Yejun needs to run immediately.
The signal to get ready.
Director Kim’s voice carries faintly from far away, too distant to hear clearly.
Instead, Jang gives a hand signal.
‘Now.’
He bursts out at full speed, barely controlling his momentum as he brushes against the wall, spins to scan his surroundings, spots an alley—and bolts straight into it.
A dead-end alley, yet Zhang Wei doesn’t slow down.
He plants one foot on the recycling bin and climbs the wall in a single motion.
“Cut!
That was great!”
“Let’s do it once more from another angle!”
“Camera, move!”
Behind the wall lies a thick mattress.
Since the scene requires him to jump down, he lands on the padding instead.
An FD holding up the edge of the mattress to prevent injury asks,
“Yejun, you’re not hurt, right?”
“Huff, huff…
I’m fine.”
“We’ll do one more take after the camera moves.”
“Lie down and rest for a bit.”
“Thank you.”
Lying on the soft mattress and staring at the sky, his breathing stabilizes quickly.
‘Wow.’
‘Action actors really deserve respect.’
No matter how much he trained at Action School, it was only about a month and a half.
He’s holding out partly because he was discharged from the military not long ago.
Otherwise, he might’ve collapsed halfway through.
They shoot the same scene five times—despite getting OKs on every take.
All those angles will pass through Director Kim Minsu’s hands and be reborn as a thrilling escape sequence, paired with powerful music.
After finishing Jisoo’s scenes, they move on to shots where Corporal Choi Jina closes the distance and nearly catches up.
In reality, although Zhang Wei is unfamiliar with the area and Choi Jina knows every inch of it, Zhang Wei’s raw speed is far superior.
Because of that, they repeatedly film scenes where Choi Jina sees Zhang Wei’s back and takes alternate shortcuts.
‘Jisoo must be exhausted too.’
As her stamina drops sharply, break times grow longer.
The staff also begin taking more frequent rests.
Then, at last, around three in the afternoon, Lee Jihoon arrives.
“Oh man, I’m so sorry!”
“My manager got the call time wrong!”
“I’m really sorry~”
Five hours late, and he blames the manager.
At least he’s bowing and acting contrite—he does have some sense.
“Wow, as expected of our crew!”
“You filmed other scenes first?”
“Good thing you didn’t waste time.”
“Assistant Director!”
“Today my shoot starts with the dinner scene, right?”
“Should we go straight in?”
Assistant Director Jang replies stiffly,
“We need to shoot the outdoor scenes while there’s daylight.”
“So we’ll have to do the chase scenes before the dinner scene.”
“Oh, really?”
“Then it’s the shot where Corporal Choi Jina chases from a distance, right?”
“Shall we start with that?”
“…..”
Unable to watch any longer, Director Kim Minsu rips off his headphones and strides over.
The sharp-eyed manager rushes to intercept him first.
“Director!”
“I’m really sorry!”
“This is entirely my fault for misreading the call time!”
“Step aside.”
“Director—Director?”
The manager clings desperately to him.
Blocked from advancing, Kim shouts from a distance.
“You made the entire staff wait five hours!”
Every staff member’s gaze snaps toward them.
Lee Jihoon bows his head once.
“I’m sorry.”
“I already apologized earlier.”
“Hah?”
“Fine, let’s say you apologized.”
“But we’re already filming.”
“You think you can just show up and demand to shoot your scenes first?”
Jihoon checks the time and replies,
“I’m sorry about that too.”
“But I have a live radio broadcast this evening.”
So absurd that words fail him, Kim flicks the manager clinging to him aside.
“You’re the one who’s late.”
“Handle your radio schedule yourselves.”
“We’ll shoot the indoor dinner scene after finishing the outdoor shots.”
“Wait.”
“D-Director.”
“That’s a bit—”
“It’s live.”
“If you have complaints, talk to CEO Song Minsu tonight and decide what to do.”
“Director!”
“I have nothing more to say to you.”
“And you know I’ve been patient enough.”
“…..”
Kim clicks his tongue, glancing at Jihoon.
“F*ck.”
“Five hours late, and he shows up without even getting into makeup?”
He mutters it under his breath.
Jihoon doesn’t hear, but the manager does—and his face drains of color.
He pushes Jihoon along.
“Go get your makeup done.
Now.”
“No, hyung.”
“Isn’t this a bit much?”
“We’re the ones who messed up.”
“Still.”
“Embarrassing the lead actor like this in front of over a hundred staff?”
“What kind of treatment is that?”
“Lower your voice, idiot.”
“Tch, f*ck.”
“So what if I drank and came late?”
“Why’s he throwing a tantrum?”
“Like he’s the only one with a temper.”
The last part is muttered quietly.
He’s got a temper—but not the guts to challenge the director outright.
After the brief uproar, filming resumes.
Jisoo and Yejun run.
And run again.
Other actors playing detectives join in, running together for about an hour.
By the time Jihoon returns in full makeup, it’s time to shoot Detective Cha Seunghyun’s scene.
Director Kim shoots him a displeased look and jerks his chin.
“Get into position.”
“Yes.”
Seeing the tension, Assistant Director Jang steps in and checks the script.
“You know your line, right?”
“‘Jina!’”
“That’s all, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“You got it.”
“You receive the call and rush out of the pork belly restaurant with the other detectives.”
“There are cameras inside and outside.”
“Just run naturally.”
“Got it.”
“Easy.”
“Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
A scene of detectives sitting around a round table in a pork belly restaurant, drinking and laughing.
Given that he drank last night, it looks natural enough.
Then, Corporal Choi Jina’s urgent call comes in.
–Senior!
–Zhang Wei!
–Zhang Wei’s here!
–Hurry!
–Hurry, that bastard’s running!
Drunk or not, a detective is still a detective.
They throw everything aside and rush outside.
Cha Seunghyun bursts through the sliding door, scans his surroundings, spots Corporal Choi Jina’s retreating figure, and shouts,
“Jina!!!”
Director Kim calls the cut.
Thankfully, it’s not a difficult scene, and they clear it in one take.
Outside the restaurant, sitting on the sidewalk to catch their breath, Jisoo and Yejun chat quietly as they watch.
“At least it’s a relief.”
“Jihoon oppa showed up, so we finally got a breather.”
“If he’d been here from the start, I don’t think we would’ve had to run nonstop like this.”
Normally, for stamina preservation, large chase scenes rotate actors.
All the other detective actors were present, but without Cha Seunghyun, they kept filming only the Zhang Wei–Choi Jina chase.
That’s why they ran so much in such a short time.
Jisoo checks her wristwatch and stares at the step count.
“What?”
“I’ve walked and run this much today?”
“Wow.”
“My legs hurt.”
“Hang in there just a bit longer.”
“Aren’t your scenes almost done?”
“The car accident’s on another day anyway.”
“That’s fine.”
“A stunt performer will handle it.”
“Now there’s just one scene left.”
“We meet up with Detective Cha’s team in that alley, vault the wall, and then I make eye contact with Zhang Wei as he looks back.”
“At least there’s less running there.”
“I’ll be the one running,” he laughs.
“Ha.”
In that scene, a fixed camera captures Zhang Wei sprinting into the alley first.
Detectives rush into frame from the side, watch him vault the wall, and scowl in frustration.
This is where Cha Seunghyun and Zhang Wei lock eyes for the first time.
Despite being chased by five detectives, Zhang Wei bursts into a mad laugh atop the wall.
Their first encounter.
After that, the detectives chase again, and Corporal Choi Jina’s accident occurs.
Of course, that scene isn’t filmed today.
For Yejun, this is his final shot of the day.
It’s just before six in the evening.
A little more time, and the sun will set.
They have to finish this scene before then.
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