* * *
The next morning, Na Kang-In met with the food truck owner, Kim Byung-ho.
Kim Byung-ho boomed, “I went to the early morning market and bought everything on the list you gave me yesterday. Check if anything is missing.”
Na Kang-In scanned the ingredients loaded on the food truck. The AI Zijin analyzed the ingredients and displayed the results on the AR lens.
Na Kang-In said, “Everything else is more or less up to standard, but the carrots aren’t fresh.”
“Wow, a pro can tell with just a glance. I didn’t buy new carrots because we had plenty left from before. Should we stop by a market on the way?”
The AI Zijin spoke up:
[In the field, anything that people can eat is used as ingredients. When supplies are at their worst, even contaminated ingredients are purified just enough to avoid causing illness and consumed.]
“It’s not bad enough to cause problems, so it’s fine.”
Kim Byung-ho had injured his right hand, so Na Kang-In drove the food truck.
Kim Byung-ho, sitting in the passenger seat, marveled, “You’re a really good driver. I never knew my truck could drive this smoothly.”
“I just do it a bit.”
The AI Zijin remarked.
[I am the one driving.]
Kim Byung-ho kept Na Kang-In entertained with various stories so he wouldn’t get bored. Since they were on their way to a movie set, most of the stories were about the current movie.
“This movie, you see, is fully edited and already has its theaters booked. It’s supposed to be released in about a week. But suddenly, they called saying they needed to shoot more scenes and needed a food truck.”
“A sudden situation arose, huh?”
“A huge one. The police raided a drug party early yesterday morning, and it turns out one of the movie’s key supporting actors was arrested there.”
Na Kang-In tilted his head slightly.
“Is that the drug group they busted while catching the arsonist murderer?”
“That’s right. It was on the news, wasn’t it? They caught the guy behind the arson and murder case and ended up arresting a bunch of drug addicts along with him.”
Na Kang-In had drawn the suspect’s composite sketch for the police.
Kim Byung-ho explained, “That actor was arrested at the drug party, so the film company can’t just wait for the investigation to finish before releasing the movie. How could they wait when the actor was caught on the spot?”
“So what happens now?”
“They can’t release the movie with the existing footage. What else can they do? They have to cut out all the scenes with that drug addict.”
Na Kang-In now understood why they urgently needed to reshoot the movie and why the food truck was called in such a hurry.
“How much of the movie needs to be reshoot?”
“I heard that cutting out all the scenes with that actor would ruin the movie’s integrity. So they decided to reshoot all of his scenes as quickly as possible.”
“Will the movie turn out okay if they shoot it that fast?”
“It won’t be as good as the original, will it?”
“There’s always the option to delay the release.”
Kim Byung-ho shook his left hand’s fingers.
“The situation is very specific. They booked a lot of theaters, and if they delay the release, they’ll lose the theaters and the film company will go bust. I don’t know the detailed circumstances, though.”
“So they decided to reshoot the movie yesterday and started filming today.”
“That’s right. That’s why my food truck was urgently hired. If I had bailed, I would’ve been blacklisted completely.”
Kim Byung-ho laughed heartily, “Thank you for helping me out, Na Kang-In.”
“If it were really urgent, they would’ve found someone else to replace me.”
“That’s true, but it would’ve taken a lot of effort. And they wouldn’t have found someone as skilled as you. Today, I’ll make sure the actors and staff eat delicious meals and remember me well. Hehe.”
As Na Kang-In turned off the main road onto a dirt path, he asked, “You know today’s work isn’t free, right?”
“Of course, I’ll pay you for today’s work since you came to put out a fire for us.”
The filming took place at a set in Gangwon-do.
Na Kang-In prepared lunch.
Kim Byung-ho, clearing away the scraps after prepping the ingredients, commented, “They filmed here before and haven’t dismantled the set yet. THO Entertainment and Director Son Tae-min are really fortunate.”
“Is Director Son Tae-min good at making movies?”
Kim Byung-ho raised three fingers on his left hand. “Of course. He’s one of the top hit directors in Korean romance films.”
***
Director Son Tae-min sighed after reviewing the morning’s footage.
The cameraman, who was close to Son Tae-min, asked, “Not satisfied?”
Son Tae-min grumbled, “How could I be? It’s far worse than the original!”
“Should we shoot it again?”
Son Tae-min grabbed his hair with both hands.
“I want to, but we don’t have time. We have no choice but to okay this and that. Sigh, this movie might really bomb.”
“If we don’t meet the release date, we’ll go completely bust.”
“Right. If we miss the release date, both I and the film company are screwed. That’s why we’re in this mess, trying to salvage at least the production cost.”
The Cameraman lamented, “This movie wasn’t supposed to just break even. It was supposed to be really good.”
Director Son Tae-min exploded, “It’s all because of that drug addict bastard! If I get my hands on him, I’ll kill him!”
The Cameraman patted Son Tae-min’s arm.
“Let’s take a break and eat. The crew is exhausted too. We’ve been pushing hard since morning.”
“Lunch?”
Son Tae-min wasn’t hungry, but he needed to eat. “We have to keep working in the afternoon, so I should eat something. What’s for lunch today?”
The assistant director, who had been watching nervously from the side, quickly answered.
“The food truck guy was boasting that he brought in a special chef. So, I guess they’ll make something delicious.”
Son Tae-min responded irritably.
“Do you think anything would taste good to me right now?”
“But the food truck guy said it would really be good….”
“Why? Is he going to add some drugs to it? Is he upset that only he got arrested? Should we all try wearing handcuffs together?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Son Tae-min sneered.
“A chef, my foot. Obviously, the food truck guy lied to you. How much does a food truck meal cost per day? How could he afford to hire a chef?”
***
Director Son Tae-min was taken aback as he ate his lunch.
“Why does this taste good? I didn’t even have an appetite.”
The assistant director, busily shoveling food with his spoon, said.
“Right? The Food truck said he brought in a chef, and it seems to be true. It doesn’t seem like they added drugs to the food either.”
Son Tae-min couldn’t understand.
“No, if they’re using a professional chef and good ingredients, is there any profit left from running the food truck? They’d be operating at a loss.”
“Yeah, really.”
The Cameraman spoke.
“Maybe the food truck guy is treating us to encourage us.”
It wasn’t just the director who found the food tasty. The staff and even the actors, who usually ate well, were impressed.
“It’s delicious.”
“This place is like a gourmet restaurant.”
“It feels like we’re at a famous restaurant in a scenic spot in Gangwon-do.”
A staff member eating next to them sighed.
“How can you feel like you’re on a trip? We’ve been working since dawn, and it’s exhausting.”
“That’s true. But at least the food is good, so it’s a bit better.”
“Yeah. We’re suffering because of one drug addict, but if the food was bad too, it would’ve been really tough.”
***
This movie went into reshoots just before its release. Naturally, the filming schedule was extremely tight, leaving no time for a break after meals.
The actors and staff hurriedly finished their meals. The afternoon shoot started immediately.
Na Kang-in, after cleaning up the food truck, watched the filming nearby with Kim Byung-ho.
Kim Byung-ho remarked.
“Everyone seems to be on edge. Director Son Tae-min isn’t usually someone who yells at actors or staff, but he’s been shouting nonstop. How frustrated must he be?”
“Rushing like this, it’s easy for accidents to happen.”
“No way, really….”
Suddenly, AI Zijin issued a warning.
[The risk of an accident has increased…. An accident has occurred!]
Before AI Zijin could finish the warning, an actor’s stunt double fell to the ground. But the way he fell was unusual.
Director Son Tae-min jumped up from his seat.
“What? What’s wrong? Are you hurt? No, right? Please say you’re okay!”
“My ankle! Aaah!”
Nearby actors and staff quickly ran over to check the injured man’s condition.
Actress Shin Eun-ha screamed.
“Director! This stunt double actor’s ankle is twisted!”
Hearing this, Son Tae-min stopped running. His vision went dark, and he couldn’t move any further. He felt like collapsing on the spot.
“We’re doomed.”
But he couldn’t just collapse. There was an injured person on set. The director was responsible for the scene.
“Call 119 right now!”
“We’re in the mountains! It’ll take a while for an ambulance to get here….”
“Call anyway, and if anyone can provide first aid, step up and do something!”
No one stepped forward.
“Hey! Assistant director! Is there no one?”
The assistant director, looking flustered, said.
“Director. The injured stunt double is the only one who knows how to give first aid.”
“What?”
“There might not be anyone else.”
“Damn! What are we supposed to do then? We can’t just leave him like this!”
Son Tae-min looked around at the people.
“Is there anyone who can do something?”
Kim Byung-ho asked Na Kang-in.
“Can’t you do it, Kang-in? You fixed my severely sprained wrist quickly.”
Several people turned to look at Na Kang-in upon hearing this.
AI Zijin spoke.
[The injured person has a severely sprained ankle, but it’s not as bad as it seems.]
Na Kang-in said.
“I thought it was serious because they said the ankle was twisted. It’s badly sprained, but not that bad.”
[Using field emergency treatment techniques to stabilize the ankle can reduce pain and shorten the recovery period.]
Na Kang-in stepped forward.
“I’ll provide first aid, but you need to send him to the hospital immediately.”
Director Son Tae-min quickly nodded.
“Of course, just do something! He’s still screaming!”
“Do you have a compression bandage?”
One of the staff members ran over with a first aid kit.
“Here it is!”
Na Kang-in properly set the actor’s ankle and wrapped it with a compression bandage. He also massaged the area to reduce pain.
The injured stunt double actor’s screams softened. It still hurt, but the pain was now bearable.
“Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.”
Director Son Tae-min sighed in relief at the sight.
“Whew.”
But he couldn’t completely relax. There was still another issue.
Son Tae-min asked Na Kang-in.
“Will he be able to continue filming?”
Na Kang-in knew what scene had just been shot when the accident happened.
“It will be difficult for him to walk for a while. Filming is out of the question.”
Son Tae-min covered his face with his hands.
“We’re screwed.”
* * *
👌
Thanks
It’s so quiet here