Chapter 55 Chapter 55
The film set was built on a vacant lot on the outskirts of the city. The temporary wooden fence and old gray floor tiles outlined a simple "palace city".
A lamp stand hung high on the ceiling, a white cloth shielding the sun. The sound of an assistant's footsteps could be heard rushing about in the makeshift dressing room, the air mingling with the scent of hair wax and lime. Yu Seung-ho, wearing a loose, dark-blue traditional costume and a hair crown,
He wore a ribbon around his waist and light makeup on his face. He lowered his head to look at the script, his lips moving slightly as he memorized his lines. "It's time to go on stage," the assistant director whispered. "Okay." He stood up and
He put the script aside, adjusted his headdress, and quickly walked to the set. The camera was set in the main hall. The plot was already halfway through, and the character he played, Chunqiu, had changed from the initially taciturn, submissive young man to a more mature one.
Gradually, he reveals his deeper thoughts and schemes. He plays opposite two older actors, playing the roles of His Majesty and the Queen. This scene is about the Queen recognizing him – on the surface, it's a "mother-son reunion."
In reality, Chunqiu was showing weakness in exchange for trust and planning for the future. The clerk raised the board: "Scene 139, first time." The director shouted from behind the monitor: "Action—" The camera began at the main entrance of the hall.
The panoramic view unfolds from a distance, then gradually advances to the center of the hall. A young man, Chunqiu, kneels on one knee, his brows lowered, his hand resting on his knee, his posture almost stiff and upright.
His voice was low, but his words were calm and clear, as if he had rehearsed them many times in his mind. "Your Majesty and the Queen must be very worried." As soon as he finished speaking, a dead silence fell in the palace. The Queen was stunned for a moment, then spoke in a trembling voice: "Chunqiu,
Is it Chunqiu?" Tears gradually welled up in her eyes, and she couldn't hide her trembling emotions as she stumbled forward a step. "You've grown so big." She reached out to hold his shoulders, her fingers trembling slightly, as if she was unsure, and as if she was afraid of waking up from the dream.
Chunqiu nodded gently in agreement. His gaze narrowed, resting only on the hem of the man's gold-jewelled garment. The camera zoomed in, resting between his slightly drooped eyelashes and furrowed brow, capturing the subtlest fluctuation in his eyes. A trace of impassive calculation.
"Cut——" After a moment of silence, the director smiled and nodded: "Okay, this shot of Chenghao is OK!" Yu Chenghao nodded, and for a moment he was still unable to extricate himself from the role.
After accepting the water from the staff, he walked over to the monitor and checked the footage with the director. "Just add a side shot here, this one," the director instructed Yu Seung-ho, pointing to the screen.
"Okay." He replied seriously, his expression serious. ... While waiting for the next take, Yu Seung-ho sat outside the set, drinking water while the makeup artist touched up his face. "Noona—" he suddenly said.
The makeup artist kept applying loose powder with a powder puff, asking, "What's wrong?" "Noona, are you a fan of Bigbang?" The makeup artist was a little surprised: "Yeah, why are you asking that all of a sudden?"
She stopped, a little embarrassed. She had always been reserved on set, at most just playing songs quietly during breaks. "Ah, I heard about it from a friend, and I'm curious." He lowered his head and smiled, "Who is Nuna's favorite?"
"GD, he's a genius." The makeup artist blinked without hesitation. "Is that so..." "Does your friend like Bigbang too?"
"Maybe." He paused, "She's in the music business, so there's some connection." "Does she write songs?" The makeup artist's eyes suddenly brightened. "If she's a musician, she should be able to see GD's talent even more clearly. They'd appreciate each other."
"...Yeah." He murmured. "By the way, isn't today your birthday? What are your plans?" The makeup artist winked. Yu Seungho shook his head. "I have an announcement tonight." The makeup artist couldn't help but sigh.
Kids these days are incredibly mature. He stopped talking, his eyes lowered as he fiddled with his phone. He turned it on, then off. He turned it on again, then off again. No new messages came in. He clicked back into the chat box and stared at the message that had appeared in the early morning hours:
NeonL: "Happy birthday! I'll make up for it when you get back!" He replied simply, "Okay, thanks." He put his phone back on.
He didn't know what he was expecting. He was the one who told Xia Qing he didn't have time. The next second, the phone rang again. "Hello—" He only answered twice in a low voice, then suddenly raised his voice a little: "Are you here?"
The makeup artist paused, silently giving him room to speak. "What are you wearing today?" "..." He muttered something to the other person.
"Just find a place to sit at Exit 1. I'll have someone pick you up." He frowned and hung up. "What's wrong?" the agent came up. "Grandma's here."
"Huh? Didn't you tell the old lady not to come because you have an announcement today?" The manager was stunned. "I can't get her to come." Yu Seung-ho shook his head. "Where is she?" the manager asked. "Seoul Station Exit 1. She said she got off the train."
The agent frowned and said, "It takes more than four hours to go from the studio to the city and back. It's too rushed. I'll ask someone from the company in the city to go over there." As he spoke, he had already taken out his cell phone and was ready to dial.
Yu Chenghao suddenly raised his hand to stop him: "Brother, don't do it yet." "Hmm?" He didn't rush to explain, but lowered his head to open the address book, and his eyes fell on the phone number that was fixed at the top.
He stared at the name for a moment, as if considering something, then pressed the call button. The call connected quickly. "Hello?" It was her voice, a hint of surprise in her tone. "Lia."
"What's wrong?" She seemed to have just left the house, and the sound of the elevator door closing could be heard in the background. He paused, and lowered his voice: "Are you in the city?" "Yes, at home. I'm about to go out for something." She responded calmly, "What's wrong?"
He exhaled and whispered, "My grandma is here. Today...she drove down from the country to celebrate my birthday, but I couldn't leave at the last minute, and my agent isn't in town." There was silence on the other end of the line for two seconds. "Did she come alone?"
"Yeah. But she forgot how to get to my house." His voice was slightly hoarse. Lia didn't say anything, as if she was thinking about something. "Are you filming now?" she asked. "Yes, I have another announcement tonight, maybe until around nine o'clock."
"Where is she?" "Seoul Station, Exit 1." "I'll pick her up," Lia said flatly, without hesitation. "Will things... not be delayed?" he whispered.
There was silence on the other end for a few seconds: "No, this matter is more urgent." "...Thank you." He said softly, his voice so low that it was almost inaudible.
I heard her voice again on the other end of the phone: "Send me the address and her photo later, as well as the color of the clothes she's wearing. I'll text you when I find her." "Okay."
He nodded, lowered his head to open the photo album, picked out a photo from the last time he went home, in which his grandmother was wearing a gray-blue coat and holding a vegetable basket, standing in front of the house, and sent it with text.
"This is a recent photo. She's dressed the same as in the photo, with her hair tied up and holding a blue and white checkered bag. I asked her to find a place to sit near Exit 1, which shouldn't be far away."
"Her phone number is: 010-3523-8010, but her hearing is not very good, so you may need to speak louder if you call." "Okay, no problem." The other party replied quickly.
He lowered his head, sat there, his fingers slowly stroking the edge of his phone, quietly reading the message on the screen. He knew she would agree. She was always like this, straightforward and appropriate. He was just a little uneasy. So he started to think about it.
He lowered his eyes, a faint shadow cast by his long eyelashes, and his lips were tightly pressed together. * Lia watched the station signs flying by outside the subway window, confirming that she only had three stops to reach Seoul Station.
She was about to leave for the company when she received the call. Quan Zhilong had repeatedly confirmed with her that he would arrive today, and although there didn't seem to be anything that needed her "help", she still left after lunch.
The large bag she carried with her contained two gifts—one was a pair of sneakers she had originally brought with her to give him, and the other was a copy of "Director's Notes" that she had asked Mina to mail from the United States.
The book isn't thick; it's a collection of essays by French director Henri Cartier-Bresson, capturing fragments of his thoughts over decades of creative process. I had been planning to give it to him after school started, but I didn't expect to have this encounter again.
After receiving the call, she immediately returned home, taking the gift with her. A rough estimate of the time showed that it would only take a little over an hour to get there and back from her home to Seoul Station, which wouldn't interfere with her other plans.
The train was moving quickly. She glanced at the station signs and followed the crowd toward the exit. The sun shone on the square in front of the station, and the crowd was bustling.
Lia stopped in the crowd and saw the thin old man at a glance - he was wearing a gray-blue coat, his hair was neatly tied behind his head, he was standing on the sidewalk carrying a heavy cloth bag, and he looked around with a little uneasiness in his eyes.
She took a deep breath and walked forward: "Hello, are you Yu Chenghao's grandmother?" The old woman was stunned, then nodded, her tone a little hesitant: "You are...?"
Lia smiled and introduced herself: "I'm his friend. I came to pick you up today. He's on the set, still filming."
As she spoke, she gently took the cloth bag from the old woman's hand, and could clearly feel its heft. It must have contained some homemade side dishes or local specialties. "Thank you for all the hard work, Grandma," she bowed slightly.
"Oh, it's not hard, not hard..." The old man waved his hands repeatedly, his eyes finally settled down, and he looked at Lia carefully again, "Did you... live in our village before?" Lia was also stunned for a moment, and then she remembered.
It was the grandmother who washed dishes with her during the school trip! "It's you!" She couldn't help but smile in surprise. "So the grandson you were talking about who's very busy at work is Xiao Yu!"
"Oh, it's you." Grandma smiled and patted her arm, with a touch of kindness in her eyes. "At that time, you didn't say much, but you did things very efficiently. I even said that this child had good family education." Lia couldn't help laughing.
As they chatted, they slowly walked toward the subway station. Lia deliberately slowed her pace, monitoring the other person's movements. Although the old man looked strong and walked steadily, his age was there, and his inconveniences were hard to hide.
As soon as she walked into the subway entrance, Lia noticed that the atmosphere was not right.
The subway station entrance was packed with people, and occasional complaints could be heard from the crowd. A message scrolled in red on the platform display: "Due to equipment failure, some trains on Line 1 are delayed. Passengers are requested to wait patiently."
She glanced at the time on her phone and frowned slightly. Seoul's subway system occasionally malfunctioned, and based on past experience, the time it took to recover varied. Some could take as little as ten minutes, while others could take several hours.
She glanced down at her grandmother beside her. She didn't say anything, but she was looking around, a hint of confusion in her eyes. The bus was an option, but it required a transfer, and she had to walk up and down stairs, a long way to get to the station.
Lia made a quick decision—it would be safer to wait for the subway. "Grandma, there seems to be a problem with the subway today," she explained in a low voice. "We may have to wait here for a while."
"It's okay, I'm not in a hurry." Grandma smiled warmly, obviously not wanting to cause any trouble.
Lia helped her walk to the waiting area, found a seat by the side, put the cloth bag and her own big bag under the chair, then took out a bottle of water from her bag and handed it to her.
She pulled out her phone and sent a received message to Yu Seungho, then opened another dialog box: "Oppa, something's wrong. I'll be a little late at the office today." The message arrived. She lowered her eyes and put the phone away.
I hope the subway will be restored as soon as possible.
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