Godsent Top Star [EN]: Chapter 235

235. Haunted House Filming (1)

“This isn’t the date we applied for, is it? I’m sure we scheduled it for a few weeks later?”

The news from the location scouting PD [Production Director] hit the production team like a bolt from the blue.

The already tight filming schedule was about to get seriously messed up.

“I’m pretty sure we scheduled it that way back then……?”

“It seems like something came up. Sigh…….”

“No, what kind of situation would suddenly move the rental date up by weeks, not just a few days?”

“You know how there was a fuss because the landowner and the building owner were different, right?”

“Right. That’s why that place was perfect, but getting permission was like pulling teeth.”

The place they were talking about was an abandoned mansion.

It wasn’t just a house; it was a huge mansion. It was chosen as one of the locations where Kim Seon-woo, played by Yeon-woo, would commit murder in the drama.

Why did such a huge, luxurious mansion become abandoned?

That had a long and complicated history.

It happened to be the site of a murder.

After that, rumors spread like wildfire – ghosts appearing, the second owner fainting one day and abandoning the property, and so on.

“Back then, the relationship between the landowner and the house owner was very tense.”

“That’s right. We shouldn’t have brought them together…….”

The landowner wanted to demolish the house and redevelop the area, while the house owner was against demolition.

The second owner, who bought the house without knowing the dark history, also had their own reasons.

To even consider reconstruction, the house would have to be sold first, right?

The first house owner, who was also the landowner, was in a position to offer some compensation and tell them to leave, but….

“What is it about money? Ugh. Rich people are always the worst.”

The problem was money.

It was frustrating that the expensive mansion had become a haunted house and couldn’t be sold for its true value.

However, the former owner (also the landowner) offered a pittance, telling them to take it or leave it, so the two parties couldn’t reach an agreement.

The landowner argued that since it had become a haunted house, no one would want to buy it, so they should just accept the offer.

The house owner said they’d rather not sell it at all than sell it for next to nothing.

In short, the two had been locked in a tense tug-of-war until now.

“They didn’t get along, so it seemed like they wouldn’t talk to each other anymore, but suddenly they agreed.”

“Agreed? They did? How?”

“The landowner gave them more money than the market price.”

“No, why? Why did they agree right now, when we were supposed to be filming?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Anyway, the demolition date has been set, so there’s not much time left. If we want to film, we have to do it the day after tomorrow, or just forget about it…….”

The situation was complicated, with house prices, compensation, and various interests intertwined.

But for some reason, the landowner offered to compensate the house owner.

It seemed the reconstruction date was set quickly thanks to the landowner, who had seemed unwilling to concede even a penny, offering even more money.

“I’m going crazy. What are we supposed to do with two days’ notice?”

PD Gil [Production Director Gil] scratched his head.

“What about our rental fee? What are they going to do with the rental fee we paid?”

“They said they’ll return it if we don’t film.”

“Ugh…… I guess we should be grateful they at least told us they were demolishing it…….”

“It was fortunate the house owner included that clause because they felt wronged. If not…….”

The house owner, who lost hundreds of millions of won [Korean currency; roughly equivalent to hundreds of thousands of US dollars] because the expensive house became a ruin, saw the filming as an opportunity.

Even though it was the backdrop for a murder, they thought people would come in and renovate it, and the filming would promote it, so they had their own agenda.

Now that they were selling it for a premium, filming wasn’t really an opportunity anymore, but the house owner gritted their teeth until the end.

“The house owner seemed to have a lot of mental anguish, seeing them grit their teeth, saying they would definitely leave it on video. I thought they were going to fight back then, but it’s helping us now.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

The location manager PD, who had gone on a business trip to the provinces due to the sudden situation, wiped his tired face with his hand.

PD Gil, sitting across from him, also sighed deeply.

“There’s no other way.”

They had persevered through various obstacles, so they could overcome the location schedule being overturned.

PD Gil declared in a heavy voice.

“We have no choice but to move up the filming schedule.”

*

“I’m always sorry to Yeon-woo. Ugh. Why does it have to be…….”

Yeon-woo was the busiest person as the filming schedule was moved up.

Of course.

The filming location was exclusively for filming Kim Seon-woo’s murder scene.

“No. I’m just doing what I have to do.”

“Oh, my. How can you say such pretty things? That’s why our staff can’t come to their senses.”

As PD Gil listed praises with sparkling eyes, rough voices popped out from here and there.

“You’re misunderstanding, sir!”

“We’ve never *not* been in our right mind, sir.”

At the commotion, PD Gil threw out a question.

“Does anyone know where the best mint chocolate is around here?”

The answer came out immediately.

“The cafe in the first alley across the intersection has the most ideal ratio……!”

“Look at them working.”

“Yes, sir…….”

PD Gil, who lightly subdued the staff, looked at Yeon-woo and continued.

“Well, in this industry, it’s common to shoot the last scene first, the timeline is all mixed up, and it’s routine to shoot the contents of one place or season all at once… I think that it may save time and money, but it doesn’t help the completeness of the work.”

As the drama production environment gradually improved, extreme filming close to same-day shooting, exchanging scripts on the spot, was avoided.

As the saying goes, there are a hundred people, a hundred opinions, and of course, there were people who didn’t think like PD Gil Sang-jun.

“I’m not trying to say what’s right or wrong. It’s just that it doesn’t fit the story *I* want.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. Anyway, I wanted to follow the timeline step by step if possible. But things have turned out this way. It’s Yeon-woo’s role, not any other role…….”

Not only Kim Seon-woo but also other roles change according to the beginning, middle, and end.

How much they have grown internally and externally while experiencing a series of events.

What kind of mindset they gain through that growth and how it is expressed in their attitude or tone.

Such various changes are bound to appear.

Depending on the character, there are differences in the degree of change, sometimes subtle, sometimes noticeably noticeable, but all characters change as the drama progresses.

Of course, among them, one of the characters with the most noticeable changes is Kim Seon-woo, played by Yeon-woo.

It was natural since he was a character who lived a double life.

“I’m okay. Ah. If you don’t trust me, I can’t help it…….”

“No, no! Uh-huh. Not at all, so don’t say that.”

“I will try harder to act in the future…….”

“Shh, shh! If writer Song hears that, I’m in big trouble. What’s wrong with Yeon-woo’s acting that you’re saying such scary things?”

Gil Sang-jun jumped up, saying not to say anything that would cause big trouble.

“Anyway, I’m glad if Yeon-woo is okay. I’m relieved. This is really…… I’m asking my actor to do something that goes against my values, sigh…….”

Yeon-woo asked, looking at Gil Sang-jun, who was bitterly licking his lips.

“But director, is there a reason why it *has* to be that place? If it’s a place where Kim Seon-woo commits murder, there are plenty of other places.”

They paid a considerable amount of money for the usage fee.

Even the promised rental date was not properly kept.

Even while being treated in a similar way to power harassment, PD Gil deliberately changed the filming schedule to choose that place.

“Um…… Does it really have to be there?”

“That place is really perfect. It’s perfect for Kim Seon-woo’s luxurious image. Our location manager is great at finding places, and no matter how much we travel around, there is no other place with that kind of feeling and atmosphere.”

As it was an abandoned house, it was eerie, but thanks to being such a luxurious mansion, it looked great on screen, so everyone in the production company agreed as soon as the location manager brought the data.

“Places like abandoned schools or abandoned construction sites are too cliché. That’s not to say we won’t film there… but we have to diversify the screen to make it interesting.”

As much as he was betting his life on the drama, PD Gil paid a lot of attention to every outdoor filming location.

The assistant director, who had subtly approached, added.

“I’ve been there, and the atmosphere is amazing. Yeon-woo would have fallen in love with it if you went there. What should I say? It’s like discovering a pearl in the mud?”

“Is that so?”

A pearl in the mud.

‘They’d be shocked if they found out that what they found wasn’t a pearl at all.’

Sometimes it’s better to hide the truth.

Yeon-woo looked at the assistant director’s shoulder area and sighed inwardly.

Seeing that he didn’t even think about running away even though he recognized this side, the answer was obvious.

‘I wonder why I’ve been seeing strange goblins here and there since yesterday…….’

Without thinking deeply, there was only one reason.

“Ah, come to think of it, I didn’t show you the pictures? It was so rushed that I didn’t even think about printing them out…… Choi Hyun-shik! Bring the laptop here!”

What started as a simple conversation turned into a location meeting.

PD Gil looked at the location PD who brought the laptop and asked in surprise.

“Hyun-shik, are you sick? What’s wrong with your face? You’ve become so haggard in just one day? Did you eat something wrong? Shouldn’t you go to the hospital?”

His face was pale, and his eyes were sunken.

The dark circles that looked like they would come down to his chin were unusual.

“No. It’s not to the point of going to the hospital…… I think I just have a bit of a cold. I think it’s because I haven’t been able to sleep properly…….”

“Are you feeling very bad?”

“No…… Um……. I think I’ll be fine if I rest a little.”

That won’t work.

Yeon-woo thought.

‘It’s not very helpful to go to the hospital, and it’s useless to rest. No. It’s clear that it will get worse if he rests.’

The weaker his energy becomes, the more likely he is to be swayed by the attached spirits.

It’s a common trick used by bad guys.

They deliberately stick to him and weaken humans in every way possible to devour their bodies.

The methods are very diverse.

Just sticking to him is a minus, but what goes one step further is a dream.

They gnaw at the dream little by little, and when their influence grows a little more, they reach out until they wake up from the dream.

‘They make him sleep badly, then give him nightmares, and then…….’

They make him see things.

They reveal themselves even when he’s not asleep and dry up the host’s blood.

Moreover, there were more than one or two spirits attached to the location PD.

I could feel them sticking to him and trying to do all sorts of things in a short period of time.

‘Then you shouldn’t have been seen by me.’

How dare they try to boldly eat the staff in front of my eyes?

“Would you like to come here for a moment?”

“Yes……? Me……?”

“Yes. I know how to do acupressure. Since you said you have a cold, it will help if you loosen up the tense muscles in advance.”

“No…… I’m sorry, how can I do that…….”

The location PD instinctively took a step back.

‘Where are you going.’

But Yeon-woo wasn’t going to let that happen.

“It’s okay. Leave it to me.”

Yeon-woo, with a smile on his face, strode up and grabbed the PD’s shoulder.

[Kyaaak!]

[Kkyaaaak!]

Sizzle!

The sound of something burning and a smoky smell rose up.

Of course, it was a sight that only Yeon-woo could see.