Superstar From Age 0

“Ah, wait a minute!”

He reflexively shouted okay at the smoke that seemed to suck him in, but there was a scene that flashed through Director Min Hee-kyung's mind.

She felt a pang of regret and looked back, but as expected, ‘hyung's’ movement was slow.

“Actor Kim Jin-cheol, can you come over here?”

The people who were preparing for the next shoot after the splendid acting of the two actors and the director's okay stopped their movements at Director Min Hee-kyung's words.

Come to think of it, the smoke behind them was so impactful that they had momentarily forgotten, but Kim Jin-cheol's acting was a bit strange.

Everyone's eyes were on Kim Jin-cheol.

Kim Jin-cheol, who remembered his sluggish movement even by his own standards, frowned slightly and got up from his seat and headed toward Director Min Hee-kyung.

His movement was not very fast either.

As everyone looked at him with curiosity, Kim Jin-cheol headed to the monitor.

He saw his slow self on the screen that Director Min Hee-kyung showed him.

“Hmm. Did you deliberately move slowly?”

Director Min Hee-kyung thought that if this acting was the actor's interpretation, she would listen to his reason. But Kim Jin-cheol looked a bit flustered and shook his head.

“No, no.”

“Then please speed up a bit.”

“…Yes. I understand.”

Director Min Hee-kyung nodded at Kim Jin-cheol's answer.

***

“Actor Kim Jin-cheol, can you come over here?”

Kim Haun, who was relieved by the director's okay sign, turned his head at that voice.

Kim Jin-cheol, who had a strange gait, was heading toward Director Min Hee-kyung.

“…Do you think they’ll shoot again?”

“Yeah.”

Seo-jun nodded at Kim Haun's question. It seemed like they would shoot again once more, judging by the atmosphere, even though they got an okay.

Seo-jun handed him some water.

They had to reshoot the full shot, and there were still bust shots and close-up shots left, so Kim Haun still had a lot of crying to do.

“Hydrate yourself.”

“Thanks.”

Kim Haun drank the water and sighed with relief.

He was glad that it wasn't his fault this time.

And it was a bit satisfying that the cause of this NG was Kim Jin-cheol.

Kim Haun smiled with a relaxed face.

The audition application form, the friendly director's synopsis, and the okay sign.

He felt at ease and thought he knew why he had made a mistake.

“I think I didn't get an NG because I tried not to care about your acting. Now that I think about it, I must have felt sorry for you when I saw you looking at me with that expression right next to me.”

Kim Haun's role as ‘boy’ was to make Jung Ga-ram's unhappiness and despair more vivid by comparison.

Only joy.

Joy that would make anyone think ‘how lucky he is!’ He had to show only that.

“I got swept away by your acting and forgot about that for a moment. To overcome that, I forced myself to continue acting, but it didn't work out well.”

He was acting joyfully when he saw ‘Jung Ga-ram's’ expression and felt sorry for him. He flinched a bit at the gaze of ‘Jung Ga-ram’ who was staring at him intently.

At the moment he was about to shrink back, Kim Haun remembered that he was acting.

Only then did he focus on his acting again, but it was hopeless.

On top of that, he thought of various things like Seo-jun's friend, the golden generation.

He wavered.

“And after that, I couldn't help but look at you without realizing it. Your expression, no, Jung Ga-ram's expression made me feel sorry for being so happy without any consideration.”

Kim Haun said with a sigh.

“You're too good at acting.”

Seo-jun laughed at that.

“Anyone would be too busy feeling relieved by hearing that it's not a serious illness to care about others.”

They wouldn't have time to worry about others while feeling relieved about their own situation.

“And that's what this scene is about.”

This scene where joy and despair contrasted sharply would show Jung Ga-ram's feelings better.

Kim Haun nodded at Seo-jun's words and opened his mouth.

“But what about Kim Han-seok? Doesn't he seem like he’d do well?”

“Yeah. He's totally living his role.”

A boy who was seriously worried about hearing that he had a serious illness but got diagnosed as not having it after the test.

Wasn't that exactly Kim Han-seok's story?

Kim Haun and Seo-jun chuckled.

“We’ll start shooting!”

Then they heard the assistant director's voice.

Seo-jun and Kim Haun, who were sitting on chairs and chatting, got up from their seats.

Seo-jun looked at Kim Haun's face, which had gained some color.

Kim Haun, who was going into the right clinic with the other actors, looked comfortable.

He didn't seem like he would make a mistake now that he knew the cause.

Seo-jun's gaze moved to Kim Jin-cheol. He saw the Loomentos that wrapped around Kim Jin-cheol's body and hindered his movement.

Hmm.

Today's shoot seemed more difficult than ever.

***

Fortunately or unfortunately, it wasn't as difficult as Seo-jun thought. Kim Jin-cheol's lines were in the beginning of the shoot.

The shoot started shortly after the waiting room conversation, but it stopped because Kim Jin-cheol's movement didn't improve.

Kim Jin-cheol's voice and facial acting were as expected, but his body movement was slower than when they first shot. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

“Let's do a rehearsal.”

Just like she did for Kim Haun, Director Min Hee-kyung paused the shoot and had only Kim Jin-cheol rehearse to help him, but his speed didn't improve.

He looked more confused and puzzled than anyone else by his heavy body.

Director Min Hee-kyung asked him with a worried face, seeing that he didn't seem to be moving slowly on purpose.

“Actor Kim Jin-cheol. Are you not feeling well?”

“Well, that…”

Kim Jin-cheol was also worried about his body, which felt like something was pressing down on him from above.

He didn't feel any pain, but he felt a strange sensation.

“You’d better go to the hospital than shoot.”

“…Yes. I understand.”

He would be lying if he said he wasn't sorry to miss the opportunity to appear in Seo-jun's work, but it didn't seem like it would get better even if he continued shooting.

He was worried about his health.

Kim Jin-cheol sighed and drooped his shoulders as he headed out of the set. The actors who were close to Kim Jin-cheol said words of consolation.

“Today's luck is terrible.”

“Yeah.”

The staff nodded at the shooting director's words.

After Kim Jin-cheol left, the assistant director asked Director Min Hee-kyung.

“Should we cast someone new for hyung's role?”

“No.”

Director Min Hee-kyung shook her head and called the actor who played Kim Haun's ‘father’.

The middle-aged actor, who looked a bit nervous, nodded at Director Min Hee-kyung's words to replace Kim Jin-cheol.

He had seen it several times today, so he roughly grasped the lines and movements.

The actor who played Kim Haun's ‘father’ rehearsed several times before the shoot resumed.

“Ready, action!”

Thankfully, the rest of the shoot was finished without any major NGs.

***

“Doesn't this part need to be trimmed too?”

“Wouldn't a round shape be better?”

The tree that reached up to his waist was cut into a round shape.

Suwon was bustling with activity.

People were roaming around the streets, sidewalks, and roads, causing a commotion.

Especially near the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress and Hwaseong Haenggung Palace, there was a lot of noise due to the hasty renovation work.

They trimmed the branches of the trees that stuck out, checked the stones on the ground, and looked around for ways to create a better scenery.

They also hired experts to repaint the faded dancheong, the traditional multicolored paintwork on wooden buildings.

The day-trippers and the Suwon citizens who came out for a walk were surprised by the unexpected chaos.

“But can't we just edit the screen? Do we really need to renovate everything?”

One of the officials who had been inspecting the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress for days asked the tourism marketing team leader.

“We have to leave it like this for a few years, so we have to make it perfect now.”

“Huh?”

“Think about it. A movie featured a tourist attraction. But when people actually went there, they found out that it was all edited. Would you go there?”

“…No, I wouldn't.”

“See? What tourists want is a tourist attraction that is exactly like the movie. If we renovate it after the movie is released and it turns out to be different from what was in the movie, would you go there?”

A tourist attraction that was clean but different from what was in the movie.

Then why bother going there?

“…No, I wouldn't.”

“Exactly! You wouldn't!”

The team leader who had been scanning the area with eagle eyes said.

“We have to renovate it before the movie is filmed and make sure that the renovated appearance is captured in the movie. That way, it will be promoted. And we have to maintain that appearance for several years, without changing even a centimeter, so that tourists will keep coming.”

“…You said?”

Ahem.

Everyone smiled faintly at the sight of the team leader coughing.

He seemed to know too well.

It was obvious that he had heard it from someone.

Maybe it was his daughter who was a fan of Lee Seo-jun.

“Did you say he's coming to film?”

“…No. I think I need to get his autograph.”

He needed a bribe, no, a gift for later.

Everyone laughed at his words.

“Anyway, we have to change everything before he films.”

The team leader accepted his daughter's words and passed them on to everyone. Soon, not only the tourism marketing team but also the culture, sports and education department, the economic policy department, the safety and transportation department, in fact, all of Suwon was in an uproar.

“We have to keep tourists here for as long as possible, so we have to make a lot of events and spend a lot of money, which will create more jobs. And since it's different from domestic travel where you can come by bus or train, we have to make sure that the transportation facilities are well developed for overseas travelers.”

“Well, Lee Seo-jun…”

Everyone shut their mouths and looked around as they saw a Suwon citizen passing by. Oh, there's a patch of grass over there. The officials who had been pretending not to see anything opened their mouths.

“…That actor's movie will attract tourists from abroad too.”

“And unlike domestic travel where you can come by bus or train, overseas travel takes longer, so we can expect them to come until at least next year.”

“We don't know how much he’ll appear in the movie though.”

“I hope they don't cut too much…”

It might become one of the places on the ‘Lee Seo-jun Tour’ that connected Gyeongbokgung Palace and Gangneung.

“My friend who owns a workshop on the street next to Hwaseong Haenggung Palace said he's drinking kimchi soup. How many tourists will come after filming a movie? Unless it's a Marina Studio movie or something.”

Everyone chuckled at his words.

People who didn't know anything would think so. It wasn't a Marina Studio movie, but it was a movie starring Lee Seo-jun.

“We’ll keep it a secret until he films and then start promoting it after consulting with the production company.”

“Then there will be a lot of related products here and there.”

They wondered if the street next to Hwaseong Haenggung Palace would be filled with Lee Seo-jun related items. The places where Lee Seo-jun stayed or ate would also be crowded.

The team leader who had recommended some restaurants to the staff who came for location scouting regretted his decision.

‘They’re really good, but they’ll be packed now.’

He wanted to keep them to himself, but it was better than going out of business.

***

On the bus heading to Suwon.

Lee Seo-jun, who had finished filming the scene of ‘riding a bus from Seoul to Suwon’, sat next to the filming director.

“Can you teach me how to film?”

“Yes.”

Lee Seo-jun nodded at the filming director's question.

There were two types of filming scenes in [Working Title: Travel].

One was a normal movie scene where the filming director filmed, and the other was a scene that looked like a YouTube broadcast where Lee Seo-jun filmed himself.

Of course, that ‘YouTube broadcast scene’ was also filmed by the filming director with a proper camera, not a phone camera, to make it look like Lee Seo-jun was filming himself.

The filming they had just done was like that.

If it weren't for the selfie stick, the camera would have hit Lee Seo-jun's face.

“Since I'm filming anyway, wouldn't it be better if I filmed it myself? It would have more realism. Or I think it would be good for promotion too.”

!

At Lee Seo-jun's voice, Min Hee-kyung, the director, and the planning team leader, who were sitting in front of him, turned around and looked back.

‘Lee Seo-jun won't be able to pay attention to the camera because he's acting, so there will be some scenes that are too shaky to use… But we can edit and insert the less shaky scenes in between.’

‘For promotion, we can use the shaky scenes as they are.’

The actor, director, and planning team leader who looked at him with sparkling eyes and no words made the filming director smile and nod.

“Why not? We have plenty of time.”

Lee Seo-jun and the two people brightened up.