Chapter 713

“Hey, why are we the only people going there?” Ando asked.

Sora, who was walking ahead, turned her head around slightly and spoke,

“Because only two people other than the director are allowed to attend. Apparently, the award ceremony is done alongside premières for some films in a theater.”

“Then you should’ve called someone else. You know, like that friend of yours who helped out or one of the actors. They should have wanted to come.”

“I did ask.”

“Really?”

“Think about it. How many people do you think are willing to spend morning till afternoon at an obviously boring award ceremony hosted by the City Hall, on a Sunday of all days?” Sora said.

If Sora hadn’t barged in in the morning, he would also have made an excuse and would not have gone to it. He got admitted to college already, so he had zero interest in spending a ‘full’ weekend. He wanted to become one with his bed.

“That’s why you were picked.”

“What about my opinion?”

“You should sacrifice yourself for the juniors at a time like this. Do you think I’m doing this because I want to?”

For someone who was unwilling to go, Sora was grinning like a child the night before a picnic. That wasn’t the kind of expression someone who was forced to go would make. Ando was very willing to nitpick with her, but after seeing Sora’s bright smile, he felt his energy draining. He sighed before looking at Maru.

“Then you were dragged here as well?”

“No, I was asked by her if I could go with her the day she got the call to come to the award ceremony.”

Someone was asked, and someone was dragged. It wasn’t probably just him that thought that the treatment was different.

Ando stared at Sora. She chuckled and fidgeted.

“Fine, I’m easy for you huh. That’s right, I’m easy….”

“Ando-s...o...b..e. What’s good is good, isn’t it? If not for a day like this, when else would we get to go to something like an award ceremony? For Maru-s...o...b..e, he might be able to attend the Daejong awards and things like that in the future, but this might be our last chance, you know? Or what, do you hate me that much? Do you dislike me because I nagged you to come with me since morning?”

Ando was fl.u.s.tered now that a smiling girl was suddenly looking dejected. He tried to look for Maru to help, but he had become distant already.

“No, it’s not like that. I was planning to go as well, but it just surprised me because you came over so suddenly.”

“What were you planning to wear if I didn’t come over?”

Sora had asked with a scolding look. Ando replied while stuttering,

“The things I usually wear… I mean, those clothes aren’t that strange, are they? They might be a little dated, but I find them comfortable.”

“The things you’re wearing now vs that stretched-out t-s.h.i.+rt at home. Which one do you honestly think is better?”

Ando looked at his reflection in the gla.s.s on the building next to him. When he just changed his clothes at the clothing store, he felt really embarra.s.sed as though he had become b.u.t.t-naked, but now that he was used to it, his neat hair and clothes really did look quite cool.

“I guess this one is better.”

“Then did I do well going over or not?”

“You did well…I guess?”

“Then were you in the wrong or not when you said that earlier to me?”

Probably in the wrong - he replied, feeling like he was being driven to the edge of a cliff. Sora, who looked like she was about to cry at any moment, instantly changed her expression. It was the same face she made when she was pondering over which clothes were better back at the clothing store.

“Then as an apology, you should hold the camera during the winter holidays.”

So it comes back to this - Ando sighed as he nodded.

“Looks like you should just obediently follow Sora,” said Maru, who was far ahead of them just until a few moments ago.

Maybe there wasn’t anyone on his side here - Ando thought.

“Anyway, I’m looking forward to working with you over the holidays too, s...o...b..e,” Sora said with a smile.

For some reason, Ando thought that her teeth were really straight as he looked at her. It would be great if her personality was neat just like her teeth - he thought, but it was too late.

“I think it’s over there.”

Sora pointed. Ando followed her finger. On a building that was fully covered with gla.s.s, he saw a banner that was hung vertically. The words ‘The 1st Seoul Youth Film Festival’ were fluttering in the wind.

* * *

“We’re going to do the award ceremony after the première ends, and you just have to come down these stairs. We’re going to call you by the order you’re sitting, so if the person next to you stands up, you should get ready. Also, Miss Kang Sora?”

Hearing the guide’s call, Sora raised her hand.

“Photos will be taken when the grand prize is awarded. You just have to smile without getting fl.u.s.tered. As for the handshakes, I’m going to tell you about the order later, so you should do it just like that.”

“Yes.”

“You can go to the bathroom during the ceremony, but it would be troublesome if it somehow coincides with your award time, so please go in advance if possible. If you take the door on the left once you are outside Cloud Hall, the place you are in right now, you’ll see a lounge immediately. We’ve prepared some snacks and tea, so you can stay there until the ceremony begins. If you sit down in the order I told you by 2:50, the ceremony will begin.”

The guide put on a faint smile.

“The people who are giving speeches today are all rather old, so it might not be any fun, but you can’t doze off because of that. There are seats for journalists on the side, so if you get your photo taken while dozing off, you might be in an internet news article. You should open your eyes as much as possible.”

Then, you can come back after resting - the guide finished her words and pointed at the door towards their left.

Maru stretched his neck lightly and stood up. The people sitting in front of him also stood up one by one and left Cloud Hall.

“There’s a lot of people,” Ando said as he left.

“There are awards for 10 categories, so there should be around 30 students from that alone,” Sora said.

“Anyway, it looks like this is a newly-built building. It’s really clean.”

Maru looked at the glossy marble floor and the pure-white walls. There was a theater that took up the 1st and 2nd floors, and from the 3rd floor upwards, there were multiplex movie theaters. The Youth Film Festival that was being held for the first time in a building that was built for film & culture businesses in mind should have some meaning.

He went inside the lounge, to which the doors were open. It was completely empty inside and seemed like it would serve a different purpose in the future. Inside, all there was, were some lights and some snacks on a table.

“Quite a lot of people came here in uniforms.”

More than half of the students that came inside were wearing student uniforms. For middle school students, almost all of them were wearing student uniforms. Perhaps their schools instructed them to.

The students were in groups of three throughout the room and they watched each other as they quietly ate the snacks. However, the silence only lasted a brief moment. The students, who came all the way here because they were mesmerized by creating the type of content known as film, immediately became close to each other and started talking about the film they shot.

“Uhm, I heard that you guys won the grand prize.”

“What did you shoot?”

In the middle of them was Sora. As the guide had mentioned that she got the grand prize in front of everyone, they all knew who she was and gathered around her. Maru slightly fell back with a paper cup in hand. Ando also sneaked his way out of the crowd.

“She must feel proud,” Ando said.

His eyes were fixed on Sora, who could be heard clearly despite being in the center of the crowd. Sora didn’t feel pressured by all the attention on her and was speaking with even more delight.

“You don’t seem to like it,” Maru noted as he sipped his drink.

“I do like it. I mean, for the first time in my life, I get to receive an award. I’ve never received an award, you know? Not even an attendance award.”

“Then why do you look so gloomy?”

“Because honestly, I didn’t do anything. She wrote the scenario, and you did the acting. But as for me, all I did was chase you guys around with a camera. I did something that anyone else could have done, so it doesn’t feel real that I’m getting a prize.”

Ando spoke as after he ate some snacks,

“Also, look at those other people. They created a film because they are full of the will to do something and have received a prize as compensation, right? But as for me, I just did what I was told to do. There was no sense of duty in me either. It just suddenly dawned on me that maybe it’s not really okay for me to be here.”

“I heard that people get emotional during graduation season, and I see that it must be true.”

“Maybe that’s why?”

Ando laughed powerlessly. Maru looked at him and spoke,

“If you’re envious of them, then why don’t you try doing it properly?”

“What?”

Ando stopped just as he was about to eat some snacks.

“You might not have had the intention to do it, but the videos you shot were really decent. Just look at Sora. Do you think she’s the kind of person who would be okay with a not-so-decent video?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Yet she still let you have the camera. If, like what you said, shooting is about chasing the actor with a camera, then there would be no reason for her to pick you to hold the camera. When it comes to work, the will to do it isn’t always the most important. Heck, it would be weird instead if you think that this is your path when you are just a beginner. No, you can call that crazy. In your eyes, everyone here might look like they have a specific purpose in life, but people aren’t that different.”

Maru raised his hand and pointed at the people chatting in front of them. Ando no longer spoke and focused on their conversation. The things he heard weren’t anything much. ‘We just shot it for fun’ and ‘we got a prize, isn’t that lucky?’ could sum up the entire conversation.

“That’s true,” Ando chuckled.

“While it might sound funny for me to give you any advice, you should look into learning about shooting videos. I’m not telling you to learn about it seriously; I’m just telling you to do it as a hobby.”

“As a hobby?”

“You don’t have anything to do since you got admitted to college already.”

“Both Sora and you, why do you think that I would have a lot of free time?”

“So, do you have anything better to do?”

“If you say it like that, I’ll get hurt, you know?”

Ando leaned on the wall before continuing,

“After we finished shooting, I suddenly got my hands on a lot of free time. We were really busy during summer, weren’t we? We met up on days when you didn’t have shoots and walked around late at night, and we even went to Sora’s house to shoot more.”

“It was the best when we walked around alleys to shoot street scenes.”

“Yeah, I thought I was going to die. I mean, you guys weren’t carrying anything, but I had to carry the camera bag, the microphone bag, and gee, don’t even mention it. I was sweating like mad, my shoulders were aching…. Back then, I wanted to throw everything away and go home.”

“Yeah, you worked really hard. You deserve the prize.”

“Now that I think about it, if I don’t get the prize, no one here should,” Ando said as he flicked his chin with his fingers.

“How is it during a drama shoot? Are camera directors people who just work according to orders from the overall director?”

“There’s no way that’s true, is there? It depends on how old they are, but usually, the camera director is the one who talks to the producer the most. It is up to the producer to decide on how to shoot a scene, but it’s the camera director’s job to get the perfect picture. There are times where the two clash and delay everything.”

“So you’re saying that they aren’t just lackeys?”

“Why do you think they’re called camera ‘directors’ in the first place? Though, some places call them the cameraman.”

“So in any case, they aren’t just yesmen under the overall director, right?”

“Why, you want to go against Sora?”

“I’ll see how it goes.”

Ando tensed his eyes and looked at Sora. Perhaps feeling his gaze, Sora turned around and looked at him in confusion. Ando looked at the ceiling before putting his head down again. He didn’t seem like he had any intentions of going against her for the time being. After watching others chat for a while, Ando quietly spoke,

“I don’t have anything better to do, so should I try?”

“You should investigate it first. You haven’t fully decided that you are going to do it, have you?”

“Of course not. My dream is to become a civil servant.”

“What a nice dream.”

“People around me always said that becoming a civil servant is the best when you don’t have anything you want to do.”

“Right, civil servants are the best.”

“Or get employed in a big company.”

“That’s good too.”

After saying those words, Ando pointed at the table and spoke,

“Let’s eat all those up. Since I’m here, I’m going to get the most out of it.”

“I’ll treat you to dinner afterwards, so don’t eat too much,” Maru said as he hung his arm around Ando’s shoulder.