Superstar From Age 0

Lee Hyun-woo tried to scream loudly, but his parched throat choked him.

‘No…!’

He had no voice.

His heart sank, but he couldn’t give up. Lee Hyun-woo quickly thought of a plan and raised his right arm to grab a stone that was slightly bigger than his fist.

He then groped around for a spot nearby.

He found a place that seemed a bit wide and sturdy.

He hugged Ian Weaver, who had lost consciousness, tightly and smashed the stone against the spot.

Thud!

Once.

Thud!

Twice.

Thud!

Thrice.

He couldn’t make any sound with his dry lips and throat, so this was all he could do. But Lee Hyun-woo didn’t give up.

His struggle continued like this.

He couldn’t hear anything else, only the sound of the stone hitting the wall.

Lee Hyun-woo occasionally checked Ian Weaver’s breathing and then hit the wall again with his right hand holding the stone.

Thud!

Please.

Thud!

There are.

Thud!

People here.

Thud!

…Save us.

Thud!

…Please help us.

Song Yu-jung felt like she heard Lee Hyun-woo’s cry.

The sound of the stone and the wall colliding sounded like Lee Hyun-woo’s cry.

Her vision blurred with tears.

She heard sobbing sounds from everywhere.

If it wasn’t a movie theater, she would have wailed out loud.

A short but long time passed for Lee Hyun-woo on the screen and the audience outside the screen.

Lee Hyun-woo’s strength seemed to fade away as his sound became weaker.

Then.

Plop,

Sand fell down.

Lee Hyun-woo’s face fell.

It was a fear he had experienced and learned.

It was going to collapse.

Lee Hyun-woo dropped the stone in his right hand and hugged Ian Weaver tightly.

His body trembled as he held Ian Weaver.

He was scared.

He was terrified.

He was really… terrified.

It was hard to breathe properly.

The audience also felt the same fear.

Every time sand or dust fell down, they expected the wall to crumble and people to disappear.

When some bigger stones fell on Lee Hyun-woo’s black hair, everyone held their breath.

They felt their hearts stop at the sight of Lee Hyun-woo, who was curled up and shivering in fear.

That’s when it happened.

[Survivors found. Survivors found.]

A heavy voice rang out.

…!!

Song Yu-jung clenched her fists.

If she was at home, she would have cheered loudly.

She felt Lim Ye-na’s movement next to her.

The silent theater seemed to stir.

She felt the silent cheers of the people.

Lee Hyun-woo, who had flinched, slowly lifted his head at the sound of the voice.

He saw something moving through his blurry vision.

He saw light.

‘Ah…’

Lee Hyun-woo shed tears.

He felt like he would lose consciousness at any moment from the relief that washed over him like a wave.

He heard the sound of the rescuers moving. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

They cleared the debris and secured a passage.

The sound filled the air. It was not the sound of dying stones, but of lively life.

Tears of emotion welled up in her eyes.

[Are you conscious? We’ll get you out now.]

Lee Hyun-woo, who was holding onto his fading mind, breathed heavily and moved towards the widening passage.

It was narrow, but enough to move.

[Don’t move now…!]

A small hand and arm appeared from below Lee Hyun-woo, different from Lee Hyun-woo’s hand.

The rescuers were speechless for a moment.

[…Two survivors! Bring another stretcher!]

One of the rescuers snapped out of it and shouted urgently in a trembling voice as he saw the twitching small hand.

The rescuer carefully lifted Ian Weaver, who had lost consciousness, out of the hole.

Then Lee Hyun-woo came out.

The rescuers were speechless at the sight of the two children they rescued.

Under the bright sunset, the audience was also silent.

They saw something they couldn’t see in the dark underground.

They shed tears at the sight of Ian Weaver, who had no serious injuries, and Lee Hyun-woo, who had wounds all over his body.

[…Call an ambulance quickly!]

The boy seemed to have some kind of relationship with the child he tried to save, or maybe he just wanted to save him safely.

The rescuers moved more carefully.

The rescuer next to Lee Hyun-woo on the stretcher felt something tug at him and turned to look.

Lee Hyun-woo, who seemed to have passed out, opened his eyes faintly.

The rescuer smiled softly at him.

[The child is fine. He just fainted. We’ll take you to the hospital in an ambulance right away…]

Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes were more intense than anyone else’s, even though his face was pale. Lee Hyun-woo licked his lips. The rescuer who stopped talking bent his knees and listened carefully.

“…Ah… Down there…”

A faint voice was heard.

“…There are people…”

…!

The rescuer gasped and looked at Lee Hyun-woo with trembling eyes.

Lee Hyun-woo spoke with difficulty.

“I, I think it took about 30 minutes to crawl. Her name is Cynthia, Cynthia Lindberg…”

A dry voice was heard.

“And from there, south for 10 minutes… W, west for 5 minutes…”

Lee Hyun-woo didn’t stop talking, and Song Yu-jung covered her mouth.

The audience was shocked.

“…His name is Jackson Miller.”

…Really, this boy only inspired awe.

The rescuer took a deep breath and gestured.

Someone quickly turned on a recorder.

The rescue team became busy.

“And,”

Lee Hyun-woo closed his eyes and breathed hard, then opened his mouth.

“From there, east for 5 minutes, south for 15 minutes… Again east for 15 minutes… South for 5 minutes… His name is Raymond Wish.”

Lee Hyun-woo really wanted to save everyone.

Lee Hyun-woo was sobbing and gasping for air.

A rescue worker spoke to him.

[Don’t worry. We’ll get you out of here soon.]

Lee Hyun-woo finally let go of the rescue worker’s clothes.

On the screen above, his relieved face was shown.

The screen slowly faded to black.

Song Yu-jung sniffed and wiped her tears with a tissue that Lim Ye-na gave her.

She thought the movie was over, but she saw a flickering light inside.

It was Raymond Wish’s eyes.

…He was alive!

The audience stirred as Raymond Wish appeared.

They all seemed to share the same feeling.

Song Yu-jung smiled through her tears.

She didn’t know how much time had passed.

He was lucky that only his lower body was trapped under the rubble.

If he had been crushed, he would have bled to death by now.

He was bleeding a bit, but it wasn’t fatal.

“…Did they make it?”

Raymond Wish breathed weakly.

He honestly didn’t know.

There were more explosions and collapses after that.

That’s when it happened.

A bright white light shone over the rubble where Raymond Wish was buried.

He didn’t notice it as he lay on the ground.

But he heard the sound of rocks rolling.

He tensed up, thinking that it was collapsing again.

He looked in that direction.

The hole that was as big as a fist grew larger.

At the same time, Raymond Wish’s eyes widened.

[Survivor found. Survivor found.]

A rescue worker with a flashlight walked towards Raymond Wish.

[Raymond Wish.]

When his name was called, Raymond Wish stared at the rescue worker with a blank face.

As if they had come to save ‘Raymond Wish’ among the many survivors, the rescue worker’s voice was uncertain.

[Are you Raymond Wish?]

Without knowing why, Raymond Wish nodded dumbly.

***

-Hyun-woo! Oh, my. Our Hyun-woo!

His parents, covered in bandages, appeared on the other side of the PinePad screen.

Seeing his parents’ unharmed faces, Lee Hyun-woo, who was receiving emergency treatment in the ambulance, looked at the PinePad with a dazed face.

“Mom… Dad…!”

-Our son! Are you hurt anywhere?

Lee Hyun-woo nodded repeatedly.

There were many tourists in Galleria Mall who couldn’t be identified right away, so the rescue team used video calls to confirm the survivors.

A rescue worker ran up to Lee Hyun-woo, who was talking to his parents.

[We rescued Cynthia Lindberg!]

[We rescued Jackson Miller!]

The rescue worker told Lee Hyun-woo the news of the rescue with an incredulous voice.

And,

[We rescued Raymond Wish!]

Only then did Lee Hyun-woo feel relieved and burst into tears.

The camera slowly moved back.

Lee Hyun-woo’s crying face became smaller and the ambulance he was in became smaller.

The surroundings slowly came into view.

The collapsed Galleria Mall, dozens of ambulances and fire trucks, busy people and rescue dogs, and survivors being carried to ambulances on stretchers were seen.

The orange sunset lit up the ground.

***

The theater became slightly brighter and the ending scroll appeared on the screen.

[Lee Hyun-woo played by Lee Seo-jun]

[Lee Hyun-woo’s father played by Kim Jong-ho]

Familiar names slowly rose up.

No one left their seats even after the movie ended.

Loud cries were heard from all over the theater.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na also wiped their tears with tissues while sniffling.

Their eyes were swollen by now.

“We have to watch it again.”

“Yeah. Next time we should bring more tissues.”

The ending scroll ended and the screen turned black.

When the cookie video started, everyone who was chatting with their friends shut their mouths at once.

It was a scary unity.

***

On a large desk.

In the center, there was an envelope and a letter.

And next to it, there were also many photos.

Cynthia Lindberg hugging her grandmother tightly.

Jackson Miller having his daughter’s birthday party.

And Ian Weaver smiling brightly with Raymond Wish’s family.

No.

Square by square.

A neat hand holding a sharpie moved over the letter.