There Are Four Top Idol Uncles - Chapter 254

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Part 2, Episode 80
* * *
They were already five weeks into filming.
Early summer was unmistakably in the air now. The students wore summer uniforms at school, and everyone on set hunted down cold water as if their lives depended on it.
“…We absolutely have to finish shooting before summer arrives.”
At Ju Chaejeong’s words, all the young actors nodded in agreement.
Even in early summer like this, they were subtly worn out—what would the height of July do to them?
“The film’s called Summer’s Proof and all that, but forget it—I need to survive. We cannot drag this into July. We have to wrap by early June, no matter what. July is when we all hole up together in the cool editing suite and work. Understood?”
“Understood!”
At Ju Chaejeong’s rallying cry, everyone nodded with expressions of grim determination.
But….
…….
Only one person—Hyuk—was sweating profusely and avoiding everyone’s gaze.
“You heard that, Mun Hyeok?”
“….”
“Huh? You heard me, right? Don’t blow a take, you bastard?”
“Don’t talk like some hoodlum, Ju Chaejeong….”
Hyuk uttered those words with effort, then excused himself from the group.
This was bad.
Now every flubbed take would land all their resentment squarely on his shoulders…!
Nearly all the remaining scenes involved only Yewon and Hyuk. That meant the futures of everyone else hinged on how well these two performed.
Hyuk felt the weight of the group’s sharp expectations (probably) and let out a heavy sigh.
‘I’m a third-year and this much pressure is crushing—how is Yewon holding up?’
Hyuk glanced around, searching for her.
There.
Yewon sat on the porch of the small house by the beach they’d emptied out for filming. White wired earphones plugged into her ears, her head tilted back against a wooden post.
Her legs were wrapped in crisp white bandages for makeup purposes, and across them were scrawled musical notes like casual graffiti.
Watching Yewon with her hair tied neatly back like Seojin’s, her eyes vacant as she gazed out at the sea, Hyuk found it a strange and wondrous thing.
Take her to the forest and she becomes the forest itself. Place her by the sea and she becomes the sea itself.
A blank canvas was white, at least—but Yewon was more like transparent glass, absorbing all light perfectly and reflecting back everything around her.
Hyuk sat down carefully beside her. At the motion, Yewon looked up gently, as if waking from a dream, and smiled at him with a soft, bashful grin.
“Oppa.”
Seeing that smile, Hyuk felt his mind go utterly white.
Yewon was waking from her daydream, but Hyuk—fool that he was—was sinking deeper into his daydream of her.
Whether Yewon noticed his feelings or not, she slowly pulled out one earphone and handed it to him. A silent invitation to listen together.
“What were you listening to?”
Hyuk asked, slipping the earphone into his ear with trembling fingers.
“Oh, the music team sent over the OST tracks that’ll go into the film ahead of time. I was listening to concentrate better on understanding the mood.”
“Really? How come I didn’t get them? These guys, always making people feel left out.”
“Don’t feel left out. I asked them to send it just to me.”
‘There’s someone on the music team who’s a huge fan of Uncle Doha, and they’re giving me special treatment because of that—I could never admit that even if I died….’
Yewon quietly kept the secret to herself and laughed softly.
“I haven’t seen wired earphones in ages. Is there a reason you’re not using wireless?”
“Oh, these. They’re Uncle Doha’s.”
At Yewon’s words, Hyuk let out a small exclamation of recognition.
“They’re the earphones he’s used consistently since his trainee days—they’re sentimental to him. Apparently they originally belonged to Uncle Weon, but I’m not sure if he stole them or if Uncle Weon gave them to him as a gift.”
Since the two of them gave completely contradictory accounts…well….
Yewon giggled, picturing the two uncles bickering constantly.
“So I snuck them as a gift too. Did I do good?”
“Yeah, you did really well.”
“Because when you’re filming, you often miss the chance to charge things…. These are more convenient that way.”
So that’s why.
In each small word she spoke, you could feel how much she loved her uncles, and how fiercely she’d been living on this set.
And all of it made Hyuk love Yewon even more.
Hyuk pretended not to care while stealing glances at her sideways. She still stared ahead with that vacant expression in her eyes.
From the earphone came a song that was gentle yet spiraled like a small tempest.
In her eyes….
Hyuk followed where Yewon’s gaze was directed.
There stood Yoo Eun-o, film camera always in hand.
In front of him, a cat lay sprawled out in a deep afternoon nap, and Eun-o crouched as quietly as possible so as not to disturb it, photograph it.
And finally, as if retrieving a frame he approved of, he rose to his feet….
He looked this way.
Hyuk didn’t avoid Eon’s gaze. But truthfully, he understood it too.
What Eon was looking at wasn’t him, sitting ostentatiously beside Yewon.
It was Yewon herself.
And Yewon, too—instead of the one right beside her, she was looking at Eon, far away.
Ah.
In that moment, Hyuk grasped something.
Summer, after all, was beginning for him as well.
Drawn out and relentless, suffocating and oppressive, and humid like a shimmer you could almost see—
A long, endless summer.
* * *
It was rain like a downpour.
When Eon wrote this scene, he’d searched for photos of driving rain. He’d wanted it to rain exactly like that.
“Wow. Don’t even need to call the water truck. Is this the jackpot? How on earth would we get a water truck up the mountain? I was wondering if we could just spray water with our own tears or something!!! But like this!!! Shagal!!! Hahahaha!!!!”
“It’s supposed to rain all day.”
“What kind of weather did the gods send down? Seriously, we’re blessed, truly blessed.”
…….
“This is the most important scene of the day, right?”
“Yeah. In terms of emotional arc, it’s the most crucial one.”
At Baek Yun’s answer, Jeongyun’s expression grew serious for the first time.
What is about.
A small village where people who’ve lost their hearing live together.
Seojin, born without losing her hearing, hides herself because she doesn’t want to be seen as “different” from her family and friends—but the story truly begins when she loses her closest friend, Gyeongho.
When Gyeongho dies in an accident, Taejun, who’d left the village after his parents’ divorce, returns to uncover the truth about his friend’s death.
And today was the day they’d film the scene where Taejun finally discovers Seojin’s secret.
Trying to ignore the conversation between Jeongyun and Baek Yun behind him, Eon threw on a raincoat carelessly.
Actually, he didn’t want to wear it at all. He wanted to shoot drenched in this rain, like Seojin and Taejun.
But he had no choice. To keep his mind sharp and capture every frame of this scene, he had to fight the rain.
Eon carefully fitted a rain cover on the camera with his crew, then surveyed the largest tree they’d found on the mountain with the directing team the day before.
Yewon was beneath it.
Before rolling, as she stood with her eyes closed, letting the rain soak her to gather her emotions, Eon caught himself reaching for an umbrella before stopping short.
Instead, he tapped the focus puller on the shoulder.
“Ready? I think we can roll now. Start with Seojin’s close-up.”
“Yeah, that works. The angle is perfect?”
At Eon’s word, the camera operator immediately picked up the camera and framed Seojin in close-up.
“Good. Really good. Let’s shoot quick and move on. If the rain lightens again, the continuity will….”
“I know.”
Eon immediately nodded to Hyuk, who was waiting behind him, then woke Yewon, who had her eyes closed.
“Let’s begin now.”
“…Yes.”
The moment Eon heard Yewon’s voice, he felt that she had become Seojin. His heart quickened at that very thought.
He wanted to shoot quickly. He wanted to capture this girl….
At Eon’s urgent expression, Chaejeong stepped forward with the slate, as if understanding.
Eon confirmed all the staff, then said:
“Ready, action.”
The moment those words left his lips….
Seojin and Taejun looked at each other.
The rain fell so heavily that visibility was nearly gone. Taejun, with rough gestures, swept his hair and the rainwater back from his face and shouted:
“We have to get inside!”
But despite Taejun’s shout, Seojin’s face remained cold, as if she couldn’t hear what he was saying.
[I don’t understand what you’re saying.]
“Don’t lie to me, of all people.”
[Say it in sign language.]
“I get that you don’t want to seem different from everyone else. But—!”
[I’m not different.]
“Seojin!”
[I’m not different either.]
At those words, Taejun bit his lip.
“I don’t care about anyone else, but you can tell me, can’t you? At least to me…. I’m Gyeongho’s only family. I deserve at least that much.”
At Taejun’s words, Seojin continued to gaze at him with an expression he couldn’t quite read.
Taejun watched the rain streaming endlessly down her face, trying to discern whether it was tears. That face—on the verge of collapse, swollen almost to bursting, ready to shatter at any moment….
[Gyeongho called out to me.]
“!”
[Why did he call? What was he thinking?]
“….”
“I think he wanted to greet me. At first, I didn’t realize it was my name being called. The pronunciation was…. It didn’t sound like my name. But then I heard it, and when I turned around….”
Hearing Seojin speak in a way he’d never heard before, Taejun stared at her blankly.
“Gyeongho was smiling.”
The moment he heard that voice, Taejun understood with absolute certainty.
Seojin was sobbing. The rain may have washed away her tears, but it could not erase her voice.
[Go now.]
Yet as though she hadn’t been crying at all, Seojin closed her lips and spoke with her hands.
[You’ve learned the truth you wanted. All of it. So…. go.]
Taejun looked at Seojin. At the hair tie slipping down and the strands of hair that fell across her face as though trying to hide it.
But beneath it all, her eyes—impossible to conceal.
[It’s all over now.]
And her farewell to him.
* * *
“You did remarkably well!”
That night.
Children with towels draped around their necks and shoulders clinked glasses of soda together.
“We finally finished the difficult beach scenes!!! Thank goodness!!! It’s done!!!!”
At Chaejeong’s announcement, everyone erupted in a chorus of cheers and celebration.
“The beach scene with Gyeongho!!!! The mountain scene with Seojin and Taejun!!!! With these two legendary difficult shoots wrapped, the rest should be smooth sailing!!! Let’s go!!!!”
“Let’s celebrate!!!!”
For the first time since filming began, everyone was smiling with genuine brightness.
Yewon laughed along with them, savoring the joy with the whole crew.
Though they’d shot many scenes, she’d never felt quite this sense of accomplishment before.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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