The Beauty of What Could Have Been

Chapter 6 - Filming of Episode 8 (Part 1)

Note:

Dear readers – I poured all my thoughts on Episode 8 into one draft. It ended up becoming too long for one chapter so I split it into Chapters 6 and 7 and published them at the same time. Here's hoping that you like them.

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"Yum!" she said cheerfully as she took her first bite of the chocolate muffin which they picked up from her favourite coffee shop along the way. Her food cravings had increased in the past few days. She was seated on the passenger side of Hyun Bin's SUV as they drove on that sunny Thursday morning towards Seongbuk-dong in the outskirts of Seoul. They had left his Gangnam apartment early to start the close to three-hour drive. Her two goodie bags rested on the rear passenger seat behind her, replenished by him the night before. Another muffin was safety tucked away in one of the bags. One of the barf bags sat beside the tote bag, ready for emergency use. Their managers followed them in the car behind.

She was about 5 weeks pregnant by then, as confirmed by Doctor Gang. Her next check-up was scheduled for the upcoming weekend, which Hyun Bin was very much looking forward to since he hoped to get reassurance by Dr. Gang that her previous day's filming activities did not take a toll on her and their baby's health. She had still been feeling a bit bloated, her breasts started becoming more tender, and cramps had started visiting her more frequently since they got back to Seoul. Fortunately she hadn't felt any light-headedness....yet. That morning she generally felt good, except for when she first got on his SUV and took her first whiff of the new air freshener that he just opened minutes before. "Ugghhh, what's that smell?" she shrieked, looking around the cabin. He immediately realized what it was. His action was swift and the newly opened can got ejected from the vehicle in milliseconds. He vowed never again to buy anything with a citrus scent.

Director Lee and Writer Park Ji-eun had proposed to prioritize filming Son Ye Jin's Episode 8 scenes for that day because of two key reasons that suggested that it made more sense filming while she was not yet more pregnant. The first reason was because a couple of the scenes required a secluded, forested "North Korea" setting where a significant chunk of the filming needed to be done outdoors, exposing the actors to the cold weather. The second reason was because some scenes needed to be filmed late at night. Seongbuk-dong was selected as the ideal place from a cinematographic perspective but the hilltop location meant that it would be quite chilly at night because of its altitude.

The drive had been refreshing for both of them. She was cheerful and calm as she enjoyed the scenery and the opportunity to spend time alone with him. Long drives were relaxing to him too. The early morning sun greeted them with bright golden rays as they exited the freeway to enter the neighborhood of Seongbuk-dong which was nestled on majestic hills overlooking the city. The roads pitched and ebbed as they entered the labyrinth of roads, following the gentle contours of the land as they ascended to the hilltops to the site of one of the day's filming locations - a beautiful, modern, sprawling villa in the midst of a myriad of other large villas and mansions in the affluent part of the neighborhood. The area was dubbed the Beverly Hills of South Korea.

"Last time I visited this area was at least about ten years ago" she said, admiring the aged trees lining the picturesque roads and the lush greenery on both sides. Beyond the thick bushes by the roadside were tall stone fences that hid the elegant properties beyond, barely noticeable as they were almost covered by the foliage. "I remember it to be this beautiful. Nothing has changed", she said, then reached out to rest a hand on his leg.

Based on the schedule, the day's filming calls were to cover three sets of scenes for Episode 8: The set where Ri Jeong Hyeok infiltrated Gu Seong-jun's lair to try to take Yoon Se-ri away, just after Gu Seong-jun proposed marriage; the roadside scene where Yoon Se-ri offered to drive Ri Jeong Hyeok back to his home in the middle of a snowstorm; and, the set of classroom scenes where Ri Jeong Hyeok and Yoon Se-ri spent the night, the morning-after scene with Ri Jeong Hyeok waking up sick, and the pair hitching a ride back to the military village. Everybody was to first meet up at the villa in the morning, and then drive to the first filming location after lunch.