I Returned as a High School Girl

Chapter 174: Need for Therapy (2)

It was hard to believe that there was a variety program that could act as therapy for the cast. One couldn’t rest while working at the same time; although it would be a different story if they loved their job, such an instance was very uncommon. Kang Ra-Eun at least considered TV appearances a job, so she couldn’t imagine it could be therapeutic.

“Is that possible?” she asked.

- It is. Have you heard of a variety program called?Country Diner?

“Yes, I have.”

Although she had never watched a single episode, she knew a few things about it. The program consisted of a few celebrities going down into the countryside and managing a diner to serve the residents of the village. The program always gave fresh content to the audience because there were no regular cast members; new cast members were recruited for each season.

However, the greatest advantage of Country Diner was not its changing cast, but how it invoked unique emotions. They were in the slow but peaceful countryside, and were surrounded by its residents. Just seeing that was enough to be therapeutic.

- I heard from a sunbae of mine who had appeared on the program before, and apparently the schedule isn’t super tight. Even he was wondering if he was on a program or had just come down to the countryside for a break.

“Really?”

This was the first time Ra-Eun had heard of such a thing. Ra-Eun had been nothing more than a viewer before she had returned to the past. However, she was now a member of the entertainment industry, allowing her to know the behind-the-scenes stories and untold episodes that viewers had no idea of. She had only been able to hear such information from Ji Han-Seok because she had been a member of the entertainment industry.

- You remember when we appeared on the observation show at Je-Woon’s house, right?

“Yes, of course.”

- The program director of?Country Diner?was apparently impressed by the chemistry that you, me, Je-Woon and Tae-Chan had with one another. He’s gonna be sending casting offers to all four of us.

Ra-Eun liked the list of cast members very much, but the problem was with the ratings. However, her worries disappeared before she knew it, considering the lineup.

‘The cast is stacked.’

The ratings were practically guaranteed to be high.

- You’ll be getting a call soon. Je-Woon, Tae-Chan and I have already decided to do it, so I hope you’ll join us.

“Okay, sunbae. I’ll talk it over with my agency.”

Since the shoot spanned over multiple days, she would be able to appear on TV multiple times from a single shoot.

‘From what I remember, they filmed for 4 days to secure enough content for four episodes.’

The gears in Ra-Eun’s head were already turning.

‘Well, I guess it’s not bad.’

She decided to wait until she received the offer for now.

***

Program Director Choo Yong-Seok and the writers of Country Diner?greeted Ra-Eun.

“Hello, my name is Choo Yong-Seok.”

His bushy beard was the biggest thing that stood out about him.

‘He looks more like a man of nature than a program director.’

Director Choo gave off a powerful first impression. Ra-Eun had heard of Country Diner many times even before her return to the past, but this was her first time meeting its director.

The writers had already expected Ra-Eun’s reaction as she blinked repeatedly.

“Even we’re shocked by Director Choo sometimes.”

“We keep telling him to shave his beard, but he never does.”

Ra-Eun also used to have an acquaintance in her past life who purposefully grew out a beard. Even now, she couldn’t understand why. It was extremely nice to never have to shave again after becoming a woman. However, that only applied to facial hair; in terms of the entire body, she needed to shave far more often than back when she had been a man, which was definitely a bit annoying.

“Ahem!” Director Choo coughed loudly on purpose. “You must be busy, Ra-Eun, so let us get straight to the point.”

“That sounds good,” Ra-Eun replied.

It was exactly what she had wanted. Like she had expected, the shoot would span for four days and three nights at Ttangkkeut of Haenam County. The production team had secured a small diner looking over the ocean, so they just needed to serve the residents of the village.

“The diner will open on the second day. Before then, we’ll be filming you deciding on the menu and practicing making the dishes.”

“Do we have to make the menu ourselves?” Ra-Eun asked.

“You can, but we can also bring in a chef that will give you some guidance if need be, so there’s no need to worry.”

Ra-Eun was also a fairly good cook, but not at the level that she’d be able to own a restaurant.

‘Han-Seok sunbae is also a good cook, so I guess we can have a group meeting to decide.’

The problem was the filming duration.

“The shoot will have to start from the 26th, two months from now because Je-Woon and Tae-Chan have their world tour. Does that date work for you as well, Ra-Eun?”

The 26th. The date sounded familiar. Shin Yu-Bin, who had been next to Ra-Eun, expressed worry once she checked Ra-Eun’s schedule on the 26th, “We have the film premiere on that day.”

It seemed like this would be a rough voyage right from the schedule adjustment.

***

The premiere day of Shuttered?had arrived. Ra-Eun stood on stage with Seo Tae-Yeon and Jin Seo-Yeong, each of them wearing a dress of different color. Director Choi Yong-Woon was the only man out of the participants; even the host was a woman.

The director mentioned when his time for introduction had arrived, “Hello. I am Director Choi Yong-Woon, unintentionally the only man up here. It’s very nice to meet you all.”

The audience laughed at his humorous introduction. He did not look nervous on stage at all since he was very experienced in terms of being up on stage. Rather, he carried himself much better than the average celebrity.

‘I didn’t know Director Choi had a side like that to him.’

Ra-Eun was marveled as Director Choi masterfully spoke on stage.

‘I can’t let him beat me.’

Ra-Eun also talked without making any errors like a lead actress should. All of them except Seo-Yeong, for whom this was her first time being up on stage in a film premiere, showed off their veteran skills. However, no matter how great their public speaking skills were, it would not improve the critique of the film. That would depend only on the film itself.

The film Shuttered?was finally released for the first time after a short interview. The audience was on the edge of their seats for the entire runtime of one hour and fifty-five minutes. They were almost drowning in overbearing pressure and fear. As people were screaming as if it was natural, the credits rolled at last to signify the end of the film.

Ra-Eun and Tae-Yeon turned around to check the audience members’ faces. There were tons of people with faces deathly pale from terror. Some of them were frozen with shoulders hunched up, still unable to escape from the terror that the film had given them.

‘I get how scared you all are.’

Ra-Eun had also been scared on multiple occasions despite knowing exactly what would happen. The success of a horror film mainly depended on how scary it was.

‘In terms of that, it’s definitely a hit.’

The more rumors that the film is extremely scary spread, the faster this film would become a hit, since there would be tons of people who would want to find out just how scary the film really was.

After the premiere ended successfully, Tae-Yeon walked up to Ra-Eun.

“Ra-Eun. We’re all gonna go have drinks together. Do you wanna come too?”

“I’m sorry, sunbae. I already have something I have to do.”

“Oh? What is it?”

A staff member holding a camera approached Ra-Eun before she had a chance to answer Tae-Yeon. They had arrived to film her setting off to Haenam after the premiere.

Ra-Eun answered Tae-Yeon while pointing at the staff members, “I have to go to Haenam for a Country Diner?shoot right now.”

Top stars had no choice but to endure jam-packed schedules like this that offered absolutely no time to rest.

***

The sun was about to set by the time Ra-Eun arrived at Haenam. She went to the diner that she would be running with the other three men before going to the lodge.

‘It’s a lot cleaner than I had expected.’

Ra-Eun had imagined a run-down building since it was a country diner, but that had not been the case at all.

Seemingly figuring out what Ra-Eun had been thinking about, the program director explained, “They demolished the old building and built it anew last year.”

“Oh, really?”

No wonder it looked like a brand new building. The interior was fairly clean as well. There weren’t many tables since the only customers that would come to the diner were the village residents.

‘The kitchen’s pretty clean too.’

Ra-Eun was planning on doing a thorough check since she would be spending the next few days here. She had checked the diner, and all that was left was to go to the lodge.

“Is the lodge far from here?” Ra-Eun asked.

“No. It’s only about a seven to eight minute walk,” Director Choo replied.

“Then let’s walk there.”

She thought she might as well take a look at the scenery while walking to the lodge. The beach view of Haenam was enough to captivate Ra-Eun’s eyes, ears and heart.

‘It sure is therapeutic, going from the shuttered hospital to here.’

She wondered if Han-Seok had called her about the program appearance because he had somehow known how she had been feeling.

Ra-Eun started looking around the lodge as soon as she arrived.

‘That’s the women’s bathroom, and...’

There was a large room on the first floor.

‘What’s this room?’

The lights were on inside. She wondered if someone was inside, or a staff member had forgotten to turn off the light. She thought about asking someone, but the staff members all looked so busy that she couldn’t bring herself to.

‘I guess I’ll just try going inside.’

Ra-Eun pushed the brown sliding door wide open, and was lost for words by what she saw. There had been someone inside the room that she had thought was empty, and it was someone she knew, no less.

It was Je-Woon. He was extremely flustered once he saw Ra-Eun.

“Ah, u-uhh...!”

He couldn’t help but stutter, since...

He was only in his underwear.

1. Ttangkkeut is a village in Haenam County. Its name means “the edge of the land” because it is the southernmost area of the Korean peninsula.