Contrary to what Secretary Kwon felt, the next few days went on uneventfully. Now that Gun was on his summer break, he too could follow Yeo Ri to her shoots on days he was off from work.
Today—or rather tonight—was Yeo Ri's first time attending a night shoot, and Gun was adamant about not letting her go alone.
"I hope it won't be too tiring for you later," Gun sighed, endlessly worried about his baby sister's wellbeing.
"That's how it is, Oppa," Yeo Ri replied for the nth time. A sizeable chunk of the scenes in [Runaway Kids] happened during nighttime, so the production team had no choice but to film at night. She'd been cautioned by her two senior co-actors that night shoots usually took a long time—going into the early hours of the morning—especially if they needed to take advantage of the darkness. While editing could help take some of the physical burden off, it was better to have an authentic night sky rather than CGI.
Gun frowned worriedly nonetheless, caressing her head with one hand and holding her hand with his other. Yeo Ri was leaning in his embrace, half-hugging him.
"I know how to take care of myself, Oppa. I promise I won't work too hard. This much is fine, you know? Besides, I have you with me, so I'm happy." It was a little embarrassing to have Gun watch from the sidelines, but she truly appreciated his presence and support.
"My pretty baby..." Gun sighed. He kissed the crown of her head, praising her for her diligence. It must be hard for her, too, since she was working to support them both. They were living in such a good house now all thanks to her, and Gun could never forget it or forgive himself for it. As the older one, he should've been the one to shower her with the finer things in life, and not the other way around.
"I'm not a baby anymore, geez!" she exasperatedly complained with faux anger. Her expression was so lovely that Gun could not help but want to spoil her even more.
Yeo Ri felt as if Gun was babying her even more after she got hurt in that incident, but since he was doing it for his own peace of mind, she didn't particularly feel stifled by it. She was free now, and getting coddled by Gun could never be a bad thing in her books.
Yeo Ri giggled as she rubbed her cheek on his chest.
Secretary Kwon could sense the disparity between Yeo Ri's treatment towards him and her treatment towards Lee Gun as the Lee duo conversed lightly in the backseat. They were so close that his heart itched. If he could just have at least 10% of that affection... Kwon Tae Yang shuddered to think of what he could do with that kind of power. That boy Lee Gun didn't know how lucky he was to be in the little miss' good graces!
Yeo Ri and her entourage arrived on set around six o'clock in the evening, and filming was supposed to start as soon as the sky went dark.
Yeo Ri entered the dressing room and changed into the prepared outfit.
Next, she sat down at the styling area to get her hair and makeup done. Since the setting was of three kids sleeping outside, Yeo Ri's makeup was made to look as if she had had a rough day. Her hair was sprayed with a temporary brown dye, then tied up in a messy topknot bun.
When she came out of the dressing room, she looked quite different compared to her earlier clean and neat appearance.
Despite knowing that it was makeup, Gun's heart still ached at her battered appearance.
Yeo Ri waited for nightfall at the actors' waiting area. The night shoot's main focus was the three main actors, so there were no other cast members on set.
"Wow, you're here early, Yeo Ri-ah." Won leisurely greeted his female co-star as he strolled into the area, complete in costume.
"Won-oppa," Yeo Ri bobbed her head in greeting.
Hearing Yeo Ri say his name, Gun narrowed his eyes. Wasn't this the annoying fly that bothered Yeo Ri the other day? The so-called 'friend'?
"Um... who's this?" Sensing the aura of wariness radiating from the stranger, Won smiled awkwardly as he asked for an introduction. The stranger wore a face mask, concealing half of his facial features, but just from the look of his eyes alone, the idol could tell that the man standing close to Yeo Ri was both good looking and hard to deal with.
"Oh, this is my older brother," Yeo Ri kindly introduced, smiling as if she couldn't wait to brag about him. Yeo Ri smiled happily as she linked arms with Gun intimately.
"Lee Gun. Thank you for taking care of my little sister." Gun, being the taller one, stared down at the idol with a look of obvious hostility despite his politeness.
"Ah, um, I'm Won... real name, Jung Eun Won," the younger man replied uneasily, intimidated by his co-star's guardian. He broke into a cold sweat, thinking that it wouldn't be easy to approach Yeo Ri with such a scary brother around.
Yeo Ri shook her head helplessly. It was so easy to tell that Hyuk and Gun were brothers judging from how similar they acted sometimes, even if they said otherwise. Whenever Gun glared at someone, his ferocity was quite on par with Hyuk who often carried the expression of a Hannya mask on his face.
"Oppa, that's enough. Don't scare away my friend; I already have so little of them," Yeo Ri said with a pout.
The harshness in Gun's gaze seemed to melt as his eyes landed on the young girl by his side. "I'm sorry. I was just worried since there's so many ill-meaning b*stards these days," Gun said apologetically.
"Oppa..." Yeo Ri frowned at him reproachfully, not appreciating that he indirectly insulted someone whom she regarded as a fairly close acquaintance right in front of them. He should've been more roundabout with his insult, at least! Geez!
She turned to Won, apologising in her rude brother's stead. Gun frowned at her meek mannerisms, but also followed up with his own half-hearted apology. "I'm sorry if my words were a bit harsh. The world isn't a safe place for a girl, and certainly not in this industry. You understand, right?" Gun smiled coldly behind his mask.
"Y-yes," Won flinched, wondering just what it was that he did to make the brother of the girl he was interested in to view him so negatively. Was it something Yeo Ri said? No—that was highly unlikely considering her gentle and quiet personality. Was it his rather flashy occupation? Or was it that his interest in the younger girl was so obvious that her family member raised a red flag immediately?
Won suddenly became hyperaware of the overprotective brother glaring coldly at him. Instead of engaging in a conversation with Yeo Ri as he always did whenever they met, Won decided to stay quiet for the sake of his own safety.
Soon after Won sat down, the final member of the main cast finally arrived.
"You guys are too diligent," Park Jung Ho remarked as he stepped into the space. "Ah~ we won't be getting much rest for the next few days..."
"Hello."
"Hey~"
Won's eyes sparkled, looking as if he had just met his saviour.
Park Jung Ho glanced at him quizzically until he realised that there was an additional person next to the female lead.
"Oh? Did your bodyguards increase? Hello, my name is Park Jung Ho." The veteran child actor raised a hand amiably in greeting.
"This is my brother," Yeo Ri introduced with a wry smile. "And what bodyguard? I don't have such a thing..."
"What do you mean?" Park Jung Ho laughed, his eyes darting between the girl's bodyguard-like manager and the girl's bodyguard-like guardian. The two men flanked the girl's side, watching her every move attentively as if even allowing her to receive the slightest scratch would be unforgivable. To top it off, one was dressed as if he was a member of the secret service, and the other looked like he could secretly be a hitman.
This girl was so mysterious that it was entertaining.
"..." Yeo Ri scrunched her nose with a pout, also realising how strange the two men by her side looked. One wore sunglasses indoors, and the other was glaring at every man and dog as if they were his mortal enemies. She didn't think her brother could be so... unfriendly.
—This must be why the number of his friends could be counted on one hand...
"So, the script for tonight..." Yeo Ri started a different topic to take the limelight off the two peculiar tough guys next to her.
"Oh, yeah, the script," Won piped up. "Will you be okay, Yeo Ri-ah?"
"It's the running scene, right?" Park Jung Ho made himself comfortable in his seat and took out his copy of the script. It was filled with handwritten notes and highlights, displaying how dedicated he was to his craft. "Your character wears heels. That must suck."
Yeo Ri grimaced, but waved off their concern with a neutral smile. "I'll be fine. The heel isn't that tall. Thank you for worrying, sunbaenim, Won-oppa."
The three actors soon find themselves absorbed in a discussion about work, each relaying to their coworkers on how they intended to tackle the scenes.
"But what if we do it like—"
"—But I think it wouldn't look good on camera if we don't slightly exaggerate it—"
"—Isn't it more natural to react like—"
Gun watched Yeo Ri silently, his eyes softening as she worked, his antagonism all but forgotten.