The sunlight outside the orchard café was soft and long now, painting the gravel and trimmed hedges gold as the shadows stretched. It could have been any ordinary late afternoon in Jeju—if not for the overturned tables, the scuffed gravel at the gates, and the low murmur of voices that betrayed a day anything but normal.
PD Kang stood near the patio, his clipboard now tucked under one arm, looking every bit a man who'd just walked through fire. He motioned to the cast and crew, gathering them into a rough semicircle beneath the thinning branches. For a moment, nobody spoke; even the ever-buoyant Seul-gi just watched him, arms folded tight.
PD Kang's voice, when it came, was gentle but edged with exhaustion. "I need you all to know… You did good work today. More than good. You looked after our guests, you protected each other, and you held together when things got ugly. That matters."
