The Last Diner (1)

[#S. 21 Hotel Restaurant (Day)

Joonki, Yooil, Sohee, and Jongsun enter a luxurious restaurant. The four, with awkward expressions, head to their seats.]

Director Yoo Jaeho looked at the script and then forward as all preparations were complete.

“Standby! …Sound!”

“Speed.”

“Camera!”

“Roll!”

After responses from the sound and camera directors,

“Scene 21, Take 1!”

 

Then the sound of the slate being clapped was heard.

“Action!”

Yoo Jaeho now fixed his gaze on the monitor.

It was also his first time shooting with actual actors instead of animation, so he was quite nervous. He took a shallow breath and focused on the monitor.

Soon, the monitor showed individuals of various ages, too awkward to be family and too diverse to be friends, entering the hotel restaurant.

An antique yet tidy luxury Chinese restaurant. It was an early weekday evening, so it wasn’t very crowded.

The first thing seen was the displeased faces of Joonki and Yooil. Following them, Jongsun entered expressionless.

Sohee, the first to enter, was making exaggerated gestures but also keenly observing the others.

“Aww, so fancy and noisy!”

Joonki grumbled as he sat down.

 

“A hotel restaurant, not even a buffet…”

“…Why? I wanted this to be my last meal. Everyone agreed to go wherever, right?”

“Have you even eaten here before?”

“What do you take me for? Back in my heydays, places like this were routine for me.”

Sohee snorted and took her seat. Compared to the shabby clothes of the others, Sohee’s flashy dress seemed to match the restaurant well.

“If you don’t like it that much, leave! It’s my treat anyway. I save money and that’s good for me.”

Right.

The cost of visiting each person’s favorite restaurant was to be borne by the person who suggested it. After all, when you’ve decided to end it all, money doesn’t matter.

“How much is the dinner course here?”

“150,000 won.”

 

“Wow, big spender, sis.”

Squeak.

Yooil noisily drags his chair and sits askew, his lip corner raised.

“Sohee noona, did you get divorced because you always ate at places like this?”

‘…!’

Yoo Jaeho, watching the monitor, flinched involuntarily at Yooil’s casually tossed remark.

The assistant director felt the same.

‘That polite actor from earlier… is this guy?’

He had felt it during the audition, but the atmosphere had changed so drastically, it was as if he had swapped faces.

“…Hey. What did you just say?”

Sohee looked at Yooil with a serious face, the atmosphere suddenly becoming tense.

In the restaurant, adorned with antique interiors and quiet classical music, the glances of the four met precariously.

And Yooil, still with a lifted lip corner, was laughing.

“Ai, ai… it’s all a joke.”

“Stop bullshitting.”

At that moment, Jongsun loudly placed his cup down.

“Enough already.”

At his words, everyone fell silent.

As the uncomfortable silence lingered, a waiter with her hair tightly tied approached and placed warm tea and side dishes on the table.

Thus, the most splendid yet uncomfortable meal began.

‘…That’s it.’

Watching their expressions through the monitor, Director Yoo Jaeho smiled contently.

It was exactly the picture he had envisioned.

‘Nice, this is it.’

The anticipation for the upcoming shoots started to build already.

* * *

“Actor, is a grilled cutlassfish lunch box okay?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

Yooil sat down at the spot prepared by the staff.

“…You’re really different when acting.”

“Oh, no, not really.”

Director Yoo Jaeho approached the actors with a beaming smile.

“You all are doing great! Let’s keep this up. Oh, and Yooil.”

His gaze then turned to Han Yooil.

“Yooil, you’re so different on the monitor and in person, I can hardly recognize you. You’re really good.”

“Thank you.”

The other actors chuckled and chimed in.

“Director, you’re dripping honey from your eyes.”

“Jealous of you, Yooil.”

It was their first meeting, but the atmosphere was more comfortable than expected.

Everyone being new to leading roles seemed to create a sense of camaraderie due to shared nervousness.

 

“I heard from the director, you’re not from the acting department, Yooil?”

“Yes, that’s correct. I’m studying Korean Literature.”

“Really? I thought you were already an experienced actor.”

“Isn’t it too good for someone who’s doing a movie for the first time? Haven’t you even done student films?”

“Um… yes, embarrassingly, it’s my first time.”

“That’s not embarrassing. It’s impressive.”

“Let the kid eat, stop talking.”

Thanks to Lee Jongsun’s considerate comment, Yooil finally took his first bite.

Sohee and Joonki seemed eager to talk to Yooil but began focusing on their meal too.

【Heart rate normal. Body temperature normal. Oxygen saturation normal. Chew well for digestion.】

‘…You don’t need to tell me that.’

Though slightly cold, the lunch box was quite tasty. Yooil took a big spoonful, inadvertently thinking,

‘…I want to start the next shoot quickly.’

“Yooil really eats well and heartily~”

“Ah, stop it now.”

Perhaps it was because of the lively actors around him, but Yooil didn’t hear.

【…80% of phase 1 objective achieved.】

The soft murmur of Brion’s voice.

* * *

“Action!”

With a brisk sound, Yooil closed his eyes.

When he reopened them, he had transformed into a rough young man in his late twenties.

A young man who had just experienced a meal costing over 150,000 won for the first time in a hotel, harboring all sorts of anger and inferiority complex.

And in front of him was Sohee, bending over in pain.

“Ugh…”

The sound of endless retching echoed through the alley.

“Come on, after eating something so expensive, why are you throwing it all up?”

Yooil spoke with apparent displeasure but still patted Sohee’s back.

It was not out of special consideration for Sohee, but rather because, compared to Joonki in his fifties or Jongsun in his seventies, Yooil was the more suitable person to offer the gesture.

After more retching, Sohee struggled to stand up.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“If you’re sorry, at least wipe your mouth.”

Yooil handed her a tissue with a blunt tone.

After wiping her mouth roughly, Sohee started to stagger along. Joonki and Jongsun were already seated in the SUV they had been using.

“If you can’t even digest it, why did you eat it?”

As Yooil spoke harshly, Sohee lifted the corner of her mouth. It was not the confident smile she had in the restaurant.

She responded with a raised tone.

“Exactly. …But I wanted to taste it again before dying.”

“Ha, seriously.”

Was it that delicious? It seemed just okay to me.

Yooil grumbled as he walked. However, he soon slowed down. Sohee had stopped walking and was just standing there, staring into the distance.

“Hey, what are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”

Yooil asked irritably, but Sohee didn’t answer for a while.

“Ah, noona…!”

“I have cancer.”

“…!”

Yooil’s eyes widened slightly.

“I’m going to die soon.”

“What are you talking about right now…”

“I lived so desperately… and yet I have nothing left. Nothing at all…”

Then, Sohee started laughing hysterically. She held her stomach as if she genuinely found it funny.

“…Huh.”

Yooil tilted his head as he looked at Sohee.

His eyes, initially widened in shock, gradually darkened.

His expression was indecipherable.

Not quite pity, as it was too stiff, and more complex than mere shock or surprise.

The assistant director, watching the monitor beside the director, unknowingly held his breath.

‘…Is this really okay?’

The atmosphere was unsettling, raising an involuntary question.

The sight of Sohee laughing in the dark alley felt both sad and eerie, and Yooil, watching Sohee with those unreadable eyes, seemed almost frightening.

 

The assistant director felt a chill down his spine.

‘How can he act so well…?’

During the audition, such synergy was not anticipated.

The assistant director thought so as he glanced at Director Yoo Jaeho. As expected, Yoo Jaeho was already smiling contentedly.

“Cut!”

He called out with a thrilled face and clapped his hands loudly. The scene had turned out exactly as he had envisioned.

‘I had high expectations after shooting the first scene.’

And here was an actor meeting those expectations to the tee.

He felt like getting up and whistling with delight.

“You both were fantastic! The acting was superb!”

He gave a double thumbs-up and called the actors over. Soon, the actors gathered in front of the monitor.

“Oh… what’s this? Sohee’s acting is different again?”

“Han Yooil, this expression here is good.”

“Thank you.”

Everyone added a word of praise, but Min Sohee just stared at the monitor without saying a word.

“Gosh, this acting is really… too good, right? I think this is the best acting I’ve seen from Sohee. Haha, am I being too sycophantic right now?”

Even to Director Yoo Jaeho’s flattery, Min Sohee remained silent, her lips sealed.

She felt the same as the director.

Min Sohee had started acting in her early twenties.

She began her acting career in a small theater group but couldn’t continue due to the need to make a living. Whenever she had some spare time, Min Sohee tried to act. Although she never let go of acting, as time passed, she increasingly felt a clear limit.

But it seemed like she had just witnessed the threshold of that limit.

And she knew the reason.

‘…It’s because of that kid.’

That young man, calmly monitoring beside her. She wouldn’t have been able to act like this if it weren’t for Han Yooil.

‘So young… what will become of him?’

A mixture of envy, amazement, and anticipation filled Min Sohee’s eyes.

‘If he keeps growing like this, maybe…’

Before she could finish her thoughts, the monitoring ended. Han Yooil quickly returned from his serious expression to his usual one.

Director Yoo Jaeho spoke brightly.

“Let’s keep this one as is, and move on to the next scene.”

“Understood!”

A swift shoot was good news for the staff too.

“If we keep this up, we might get off early today.”

“Yes!”

And Yooil and the other actors did their best to make the collective wish of an early wrap-up a reality.

“You all did a tremendous job!”

“You all worked harder. Thank you, everyone.”

The shoot concluded warmly. As everyone was packing up, a junior staff member, particularly happy about the early finish, asked Yooil,

“Actor, what are you doing tomorrow? It’s an off-day, right?”

“Oh, me?”

Yooil responded with a smile as if painted on.

“I’m going to my part-time job.”