Superstar From Age 0

“Hi, hi! Jun!”

Ice crack!

Andrew Walker, who had been frozen as if he had shouted that, started to move.

He greeted Jun with a hint of hesitation and a lot of excitement.

Seo-jun smiled and tapped the seat next to him.

“Do you want to sit here?”

Andrew Walker, who widened his eyes at Jun’s words, smiled brightly and quickly ran over to sit next to Jun.

“You came early?”

“Well… I was so excited about the shooting today that I woke up a little early.”

He answered with a shy laugh, as if he was embarrassed.

Seo-jun also laughed along and looked somewhere.

Andrew’s mother, who came with him today, was making a number five with her fingers and smiling from a distance.

She must have woken up at five in the morning.

‘…That’s not a little, is it?’

Seo-jun, who had a healthy lifestyle of going to bed early and waking up early, didn’t wake up that early either.

“Then you must be tired.”

“No, I’m fine! I slept well on the way here! I can do it! The shooting! I’ll do my best! I memorized all the script!”

Jun laughed again at Andrew, who was babbling as if he was afraid that Jun would postpone the shooting because he looked tired.

He looked so cute with his tiny fists clenched and his whole body saying that he could do the shooting.

“What are you doing for Christmas, Andy?”

The shooting of [Survivors] was scheduled to take two days off, including Christmas and Eve, and two days off in the new year.

The scenes to be shot in between were not that important or time-consuming.

Andrew, who was excitedly swinging his legs at the thought of talking with his favorite actor Seo-jun Lee sitting next to him, answered Jun’s question.

“I’m having a Christmas party with my friends! How about you, Jun?”

“I’m also having a party with my friends.”

His mom and dad were coming to America for the new year.

He talked to them every day on video calls, but somehow it felt like a long time.

Andrew’s eyes sparkled at Jun’s answer.

“Are they Evan Block and Rachel Hill, Jun’s friends?”

Andrew already had a picture of a superstar party that he had only seen in movies in his head.

He vividly imagined Seo-jun in a stylish suit holding a wine glass.

Jun laughed and shook his head at Andrew’s sparkling eyes.

“No. I’m meeting with friends I’ve been playing with since I was young.”

“I know! Jack Smith, the player!”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened at the name he didn’t expect to come out of Andrew’s mouth.

Andrew Walker, a big fan of Seo-Seo-jun Lee, proudly shrugged his shoulders and said.

“I saw it too! Uri and Loki! The documentaries ‘We Are Now’ and ‘In the Sea’. I also went to the SEA SAVER Center!”

Andrew Walker’s story started with documentaries and went on to Jun’s works.

“My favorite character is Gray Vainy! My mom told me that the first thing I saw was Jun’s ‘Mukbang’, but I don’t remember that because I was too young. My second favorite is Cheongryong. My mom bought me a Yeouiju online too! Oh, I also like Go Ju Won! And Jin Natra too! Eek. I like them all!”

He looked like he couldn’t stand it because he liked it so much.

Seo-jun felt his face turn red and his shoulders shrug at the sight of the fan who was spewing out his feelings.

‘Tae-young hyung would get along well with him.’

He somehow thought of Kang Tae-young, who was in Korea.

The time flew by as he talked with Andrew.

When Jun and Andrew were eating snacks prepared on the set, Milan Chellen and Vanessa Olsen arrived.

And soon after, Davis Garrett arrived on the set.

“It’s our first time acting together, right? I look forward to working with you during the shooting.”

“Me too.”

Jun’s eyes sparkled as he looked forward to Davis Garrett’s improvisation. Andrew’s eyes also sparkled as he looked at Seo-jun Lee.

***

When all the actors arrived, they started preparing for the shooting.

The skilled special makeup team created faint bruises on the actors’ faces and darkened them.

Seo-jun sat down and stretched out both hands.

The biggest makeup for ‘Lee Hyun-woo’ was broken nails and dry dark red blood underneath them.

The brush strokes made it look realistic in no time.

It was amazing every time he saw it.

Especially, the artificial nail on his right index finger was made to dangle as if it was about to fall off, making even the viewers shudder.

“Eek. It looks painful.”

Andrew Walker, who saw Seo-jun’s makeup for the first time, frowned and said.

He knew it was makeup, but he felt sad to see his favorite actor’s hand like that.

The actors who finished their makeup laughed at Andrew’s restless look.

***

“Please let it go smoothly today.”

The planning team leader prayed with his hands together for Davis Garrett’s shooting.

Davis Garrett had shown an acting that didn’t deviate much from the script in the previous shooting, but he didn’t know what would happen next.

“Please, no overtime…”

Unlike the worried planning team leader, director Jeffrey prepared for the shooting with a relaxed expression.

He checked the set and confirmed the routes with the staff.

“Makeup is done!”

The actors, who had not only makeup but also dirt on their clothes, appeared on the set.

If it weren’t for their bright faces and expressions, they would have looked like they had just escaped from a disaster zone.

The planning team leader and director Jeffrey saw Andrew Walker, who was sticking close to Seo-jun Lee and walking timidly, in their eyes.

“He said that since the audition, he must be a real fan of Jun. I wonder if he’ll be distracted by Jun and can’t act?”

He was worried because Andrew Walker had never acted with Seo-jun before.

You might expect that kind of discernment from an adult actor, but it was hard to expect it from a young actor.

He had been worried about it since the audition, but he couldn’t not cast him because he was the most talented among the child actors who auditioned.

“Well, if I were him, I would want to show my favorite actor a cool side of me.”

Director Jeffrey’s eyes met Jun and Andrew, who were smiling and talking to each other.

**

“Ready, action!”

Jackson Miller, who carried the unconscious Lee Hyun-woo, moved along the path where the light came in.

He avoided the debris from the fallen ceiling and watched his step on the cracked floor.

A sign hanging from the ceiling caught his eye.

‘The closest exit from here is…’

He sighed and moved on.

His destination was the east movie theater, which was the closest from here.

As he walked, he spotted a group of people.

He looked at the people who were sitting down with tired faces.

Even when Jackson Miller appeared, they just glanced at him and said nothing.

“Why are you gathered here?”

Jackson Miller asked the person who was closest to him.

She was a woman wearing a Galleria Mall guide uniform on top, but instead of a skirt, she wore training pants.

It was easier to talk to her because there was a boy next to her.

Cynthia Lindberg looked at Jackson Miller once, and then at Lee Hyun-woo who was on his back once, and sighed.

“First of all, put that kid down here. You need strength to get out of here.”

Jackson Miller nodded at Cynthia Lindberg’s words and kicked away some big rocks with his feet.

Cynthia Lindberg also swept the floor with her palm.

The boy next to Cynthia, Ian Weaver, also came over to help.

Jackson Miller put Lee Hyun-woo down on the clean floor and sat down to catch his breath.

He wanted to drink water, but it seemed hard to find it around.

He swallowed his saliva as Cynthia Lindberg spoke.

“A bomb went off in the south shopping area and then another bomb went off in the east gate where the broadcasting room is.”

Jackson Miller took a breath.

That’s why there was no other broadcast after the first announcement.

“The east gate too?”

Cynthia Lindberg’s eyes didn’t leave the boy sitting next to Lee Hyun-woo.

“Yes. And then there was an explosion in the west dining area too. The only exit left is the north gate.”

He had a headache at the news that three out of four entrances had exploded.

“Then why don’t you go north?”

“The way to the north is blocked, so we’re looking for another way. At least the building is sturdy enough that there’s no major collapse.”

But there must have been more than one or two groups like this who were stuck in the mall and couldn’t go anywhere.

Cynthia Lindberg explained as if she understood what he was thinking.

“Is there no communication?”

“I don’t know if it’s because of too much traffic or… or…”

Cynthia Lindberg trailed off. Jackson Miller crossed his arms and sighed, understanding her unspoken words.

“The terrorists wouldn’t have left the base station alone.”

“Yes.”

While the adults were having a serious conversation, the boy, Ian Weaver, looked at Lee Hyun-woo.

Even though he was unconscious and lying down, his pale face and sad expression made Ian Weaver, no, Andrew Walker sad too.

‘No. I have to act.’

Andrew wanted to show his acting to his favorite Jun.

Ian Weaver held Lee Hyun-woo’s injured hand with his small hand, as if he wasn’t afraid of the bloody nails and dangling nails.

“We found a way.”

Former soldier Raymond Wish appeared from a corner, brushing off the dirt on his head.

The people got up one by one with bright faces.

“Where?!”

“Me, me first…!”

“Hey! I got here first!”

Raymond Wish looked around at the shouting people and lifted his head with a heavy sigh.

Lee Hyun-woo’s consciousness came back a little bit as he heard the voices of people who wanted to escape from here.

His back felt cold.

The air was heavy too.

His head slowly turned and he heard people shouting that their young son, daughter, family were waiting outside.

He didn’t want to get up when he heard those voices.

‘Just… just…’

Then he felt a hand holding his cold hand.

It was warm and soft.

He jerked up and lifted his heavy eyelids.

A child with brown eyes was looking at him.

The child smiled brightly when he met Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes,

Thump!

Lee Hyun-woo unconsciously slapped away the child’s hand.

***

“I don’t really hate you.”

“…I know.”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek awkwardly at Andrew Walker’s sullen look.

The actors and even the staff couldn’t help but smile at the two kids who were talking with each other.

Seo-jun’s acting was so realistic that Andrew was depressed as soon as the OK sign fell.

He had been sparkling all day long, but now he avoided Seo-jun’s gaze and slumped down. Seo-jun felt guilty for some reason at the sight of the kid who had been looking at him with bright eyes.

“Andy. That’s Lee Hyun-woo who is pushing Ian away. He’s so hurt that he hates everything.”

“I know that…”

Andrew’s ears and tail, which had been fluttering all day long, didn’t move at all.

“…I know that…”

Andrew knew it was acting too.

If it was another actor, he would have understood and laughed it off.

But it was Seo-jun Lee.

His favorite actor in the world.

He understood it in his head, but his heart hurt.

Andrew didn’t even realize that his eyes were watery.

‘Don’t cry.’

‘It’s acting. Don’t cry.’

He repeated to himself, but his lips pouted out without him knowing.

He hated himself more for his pathetic look and tears came out.

It was a vicious cycle.

“…I really like Jun…”

“I like Andy too!”

Ouch.

Seo-jun hugged Andrew and cooed at him.

‘It feels like cheating, but…’

He also emitted a sparkling aura.

Andrew’s mood slowly softened as he saw the sparkling star.

He finally laughed with a hehe.

Seo-jun also smiled widely at Andrew’s return.

“Kids are so cute these days!”

The people who had been holding their breath and watching them burst into laughter at Vanessa Olsen’s words.