After the casting announcent for In My Office, news articles flooded in from all directions.
≫ Spark’s Iwol, ‘Now I want to act’… A new challenge
≫ Striking while the iron is hot, ‘Spark’s Iwol to appear in In My Office’
≫ ‘I want to show a mature side of myself…’ Spark’s Iwol’s unique transformation
Half of them were backhanded complints. Since I had been a hot topic recently, they couldn’t outright write, ‘Iwol: The Next Cringe-Worthy Idol-Actor?’. But it was clear that there was still a negative perception of idols venturing into acting.
Lee Cheonghyeon, who was scanning the headlines next to , said,
“People don’t seem to know how good of an actor you are, hyung. You’re totally the king of acting.”
“?”
I hadn’t even received the script yet, let alone shown anyone my audition performance. But Lee Cheonghyeon spoke with absolute certainty.
When I questioned him, he nodded and said,
“You’re good at that one kind of acting, hyung. That… ‘Thinking it’s a ridiculous request, but enthusiastically responding as if you’ll give it your all’ acting.”
“Cheonghyeon, how about we start so drama at the dorm for the first ti? Maybe do a live stream about Spark’s internal conflicts?”
“You can’t deny it, can you? I’ve seen right through you, hyung.”
He saw through so well that it felt like he’d pierced a hole in my heart. I must have raised him wrong. Or he learned sothing strange sowhere without my knowledge.
Lee Cheonghyeon giggled and ran away. A sigh rose from deep within my belly.
‘I should at least have a frawork for the fan song lyrics before the script arrives.’
I opened my precious journal. This month’s schedule was also packed.
There were local festival schedules, and another ‘Challenge Life’…
Wait.
‘Challenge Life’?
“Seongbin, did we have a set date for our Challenge Life filming?”
“I only heard it was this month, but the exact date wasn’t decided yet…”
“It’s today! How are you doing, Spark?”
“Whoa!”
Before Jung Sung-bin could finish, the production crew burst through the practice room door. They were like a tidal wave.
More importantly, it was 10 PM.
They wouldn’t co for a eting at this hour…
“We’re not leaving right now, are we?”
“As expected of Mr. Iwol. You’re quick on the uptake.”
“Right now?”
Kang Kiyeon’s eyes widened.
“W-We’re a ss right now.”
Park Joowoo’s voice was full of despair. It was fortunate that we had only done vocal training instead of dance practice, so we didn’t sll of sweat.
“It’s alright. You’ll all be a ss once we get there anyway.”
The PD said with a good-natured laugh.
But PD-nim, while pearls shine even when buried in the mud, barnacles remain barnacles no matter where you place them.
And I, a barnacle, need ti to prepare.
“Do we have to leave now?”
I understood Choi Jeho’s bewildernt. If we left now, we could reach almost anywhere in Korea before sunrise.
What kind of work is usually done at night?
The environntal cleanup episode already aired. Rail track maintenance? Or maybe a PC café night shift as an extension of the café job episode?
As I racked my brains, I quickly pulled a pouch from my bag.
And promptly gave Park Joowoo motion sickness dicine.
“This is definitely a long trip. Take this quickly.”
“Yeah…”
Park Joowoo swallowed the dicine as if it were the elixir of life. He seed to sense an impending doom.
“Alright, Spark! We have a long way to go! Let’s get going!”
“Yes!”
We piled into the car in an orderly fashion. Caras were installed everywhere, seemingly set up while we weren’t looking.
“What do you think we’ll be doing?”
Kang Kiyeon asked as he fastened his seatbelt.
“My mom always stays in the lab late at night when her experint results don’t go well.”
“But what help could we possibly offer in a research lab?”
For once, Choi Jeho made a valid point. None of us were even bachelor’s degree holders, let alone masters or PhDs.
“Maybe sothing like squid fishing?”
“That sounds plausible…!”
Kang Kiyeon also offered his opinion. It seed plausible enough, but Jeong Seongbin refuted it.
“Wouldn’t we have had to leave earlier then? We’d have to go all the way to Ulleungdo. And it’s the end of the season.”
“How do you know about the squid fishing season, hyung?”
“I saw it on the news.”
The news anchor probably didn’t expect an idol to be diligently watching reports about squid fishing season.
While we were racking our brains, the car sped south.
Work that had to be done in the early morning or dawn in the southern region during a calm autumn day.
Sothing where appearance wasn’t important, so no makeup was required, difficult enough to satisfy viewers, yet simple enough for even children to do, requiring only manpower.
And sothing that required going at night, even if it ant filming in the dark.
In other words, sothing that had to be done at a specific ‘ti’…
“It’s the mudflats.”
“Huh?”
We’re going to the mudflats, you fools!
***
The car drove for a long ti before finally arriving in Mokpo. Everything was pitch black. The salty scent of the sea hung in the air.
As we got out of the car one by one, the PD approached us.
“I heard you figured out where we were going midway?”
“Yes, Iwol hyung did…”
“The audio director was freaking out when he realized no one was sleeping. It’s a long trip, you should have gotten so rest.”
Spark had an ironclad rule: no sleeping when the caras were on. Unless it was due to unavoidable circumstances like motion sickness, injury, indigestion, or a 24-hour sleepless schedule, we must stay alert.
“The driver didn’t even use the navigation. How did you guess? Did our script leak?”
“Haha, I wonder.”
I smiled, but inside, I was crying. There was no filming location as cost-ineffective as the mudflats.
Work on the mudflats followed a frustrating pattern: the tougher the labor, the less usable footage we got. The only entertaining monts ca at the start when people fell a few tis. But after that, the thick mud slowed everything down.
There was only one benefit Spark could gain from this filming: a full-body natural mud pack.
‘They probably put in a whole group because if a regular cast mber fild this alone, it would turn into a docuntary.’
I lanted inwardly as I took my position under the lights.
Once the scene was set, the PD started.
“So? Do you have any idea what kind of work you’ll be doing today?”
“Digging… clams?”
Park Joowoo cautiously attempted to guess the answer.
“I saw this on Tube. Cleaning barnacles!”
“What’s that?”
“You remove barnacles from the bottom of ships with a high-pressure hose. They lift the ship…”
Lee Cheonghyeon enthusiastically explained the process of barnacle cleaning. None of it sounded easy.
‘Besides, they wouldn’t give a task involving high-pressure hoses to non-professionals.’
Aside from the difficulty, it was a matter of safety. The ‘Challenge Life’ production team wasn’t that incompetent.
“Ah, it’s so satisfying when you can’t guess the answer easily. It makes brainstorming for ideas worthwhile.”
The PD laughed contentedly, seeing us struggle to guess the correct answer.
“Last ti, Spark prepared for the part-ti job too easily. So this ti, our writers gritted their teeth and searched for an idea.”
It seed the ‘Challenge Life’ team had a competitive spirit. That must be why they brought us all the way to Mokpo at 1 AM.
“Today, Spark’s daily task is ‘catching mud octopus’!”
An item not commonly heard of beforehand.
A task difficult to prepare for.
The unique characteristic of not knowing if we could succeed until we tried.
Perfect. That was why my vision was going dark.
Spark was aiming to be a cool idol group, looking good and excelling at everything, leaving no room for criticism!
“The tide hasn’t gone out yet, though?”
Choi Jeho asked, pointing at the sea. The water was visible not far away.
“We’ll be taking a boat from here.”
“A boat?”
“Apparently, octopuses don’t live near the shore.”
At the sa ti, we were handed docunts for boarding. After filling out the forms, we were each given a plastic bag.
“It contains work clothes, gloves, and everything else. You can change into them on the boat. Just put them on over the clothes you’re wearing now!”
“Wow, our first matching outfits since our practice clothes!”
Lee Cheonghyeon rejoiced. He seed to be making a dig at for suggesting we buy practice clothes as our first friendship item.
Since we had to catch the tide at the right ti, boarding was quick and efficient.
It was quite a novel sight, seeing us wearing multiple layers of clothes inside the boat. At least, it was a scene we hadn’t seen from Spark before.
“Joowoo hyung, are you okay with the motion sickness?”
“Yeah, I’m okay for now.”
“Kiyeon, your shoulder strap is twisted.”
“Thanks.”
It was nice to see everyone taking care of each other.
Until the boat reached its destination, we reviewed today’s goal.
“How many did the PD say we had to catch per person?”
“Wasn’t it ten?”
“Is that doable? I’ve never caught one before, so I have no clue.”
Jeong Seongbin, Kang Kiyeon, and Lee Cheonghyeon huddled together, discussing ‘Can Spark catch 60 octopuses today?’.
Choi Jeho was leaning against the wall, drinking the mixed coffee the crew mber had given him, and observing. He seed like he’d adapt and survive anywhere.
As we chatted, cramd together in the small space, we heard the sound of the boat anchoring.
Following the captain’s instructions, we waited, and as the water slowly receded, the vast mudflats were revealed.
“Spark, please get off the boat now! Be careful, the mud is very deep!”
As soon as the PD finished speaking, we heard a thud sound. Choi Jeho’s right leg was stuck in the mud up to his knee.
“You have two hours to catch octopuses here. And you’ll need tools to catch them, right?”
At that mont, a staff mber threw sothing from the boat onto the mud.
Six large baskets woven with straw, presumably for holding the octopuses, and…
‘Shovels?’
…Six shovels. Long ones, with long handles and blades.
Strange. From what I saw on the internet, people used small trowels to dig up clams. Was the equipnt for a mudflat tourist experience different from that used in real mudflats?
Regardless of my shaking pupils, the PD didn’t seem to care. Instead, he brought a crew mber to his side and said,
“Then, before we start digging… I an, octopus catching! You’ll see a demonstration by a skilled professional!”
I heard that clearly.
He definitely said digging!
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