Superstar From Age 0

The next morning.

The filming crew of [Title: Travel] was preparing to shoot at Hwaseong Haenggung Palace when a group of people appeared.

They were wearing Joseon-era military uniforms and followed the staff's instructions to gather on one side of the set.

They were a performance team that showed martial arts at Hwaseong Haenggung Palace.

“It's amazing that our team is in a movie.”

“Maybe our performance will be seen overseas too if they screen it there.”

“Then we have to do well. We practiced a lot. And they even sent us a martial arts director over there…”

It was only a five-minute performance.

They didn't know if it would even make one minute after editing, but the movie crew had sent them a martial arts director for that short scene.

“And if we make a mistake, it will stay forever. Forever.”

“But wouldn't they edit out the mistakes? Cut it out.”

One of the team members made a gesture of cutting with his fingers.

There was laughter here and there, but it soon faded away.

One of the team members who had already told his family that he was in a movie said in a serious voice.

“…Let's do our best.”

“Yes.”

They all nodded with determined faces for the shooting that might be their lifelong pride.

“Performance team! Let's go for rehearsal!”

At the staff's words, the performance team cleared their laughter and stood in the yard.

Director Min Hee-kyung, seo-jun, and the martial arts director looked at the monitor.

On the monitor, the performance team moved in sync with each other with sharp movements.

The bright red fabric of the Joseon-era military uniforms unfolded or folded as they spun, creating a beautiful flow.

“We’ll shoot from here and then walk like this. The cinematographer will move with you too.”

“Yes. But they're all so good that I think it’ll look good no matter where we shoot.”

He thought they would be a bit sloppy since they were a free performance team, but they seemed to be quite good as they moved in perfect harmony with each other.

The extras who were waiting to play tourists also admired them.

“Hmm.”

Unlike the people who were constantly amazed, the martial arts director who was watching the monitor with hawk eyes gave feedback to the performance team as soon as the rehearsal ended.

A moment later.

The extras and the performance team went to their places and the shooting began.

“Ready, action!”

Jeong Ga-ram's smiling face was reflected on the phone screen against the bright sky.

“Today we’re going to explore Suwon Hwaseong Fortress during the day. We’ll start from Hwaseong Haenggung Palace and go to Seojangdae, hwaseomun, Janganmun, and end at Hwahongmun. I've been to Hwaseong Haenggung Palace and Hwahongmun yesterday, but I wonder how they look like in daylight.”

Jeong Ga-ram bought a ticket and entered Hwaseong Haenggung Palace. He wandered around the palace during the day and headed to where people were gathered.

“If you come on time, you can see a 30-minute performance by ‘Muye 24th’ in the square. It's a performance where they show various weapons in Joseon-era military uniforms. Shall we take a look for a while?”

Jeong Ga-ram found a spot on one side of where people were gathered and soon after, the performance began.

The warriors lined up and appeared through the central gate.

The three warriors in front waved large flags with poles in a splendid manner.

The flags fluttered without tangling as they thrust, shook, and spun the poles. It was an involuntary admiration.

Meanwhile, straw mats were lined up in the center.

The warriors with flags stepped back and the warriors with swords came forward.

Ha!

The warriors with sharp swords cut down the straw mats in one stroke and applause erupted from among the extras, whether it was acting or sincere.

Following that, the warriors faced each other and fought as if they were dueling.

At first, they exchanged attacks in the same way and fell down in order, but then they attacked differently at each fall, making it impossible to take their eyes off for a moment.

Jeong Ga-ram's face admiring Muye 24th's performance that was more passionate than ever was captured on camera.

***

“Suwon Hwaseong Fortress was also built by King Jeongjo. It was built in 1796 when he moved his father's tomb. He used new devices such as cranes and pulleys.”

Jeong Ga-ram's pace slowed down a bit because it was uphill. He didn't mind and read down the pamphlet.

“Hwaseongseongyeokui. Have you heard of it in class? This book was published after Hwaseong was built. It records everything from the construction plan to the system, laws, personnel and materials involved. Wow. It even shows where the materials came from. Which mountain in which region did they get what kind of stone from? I guess the origin was important back then too. And the source and purpose of the materials, budget and wages.”

Jeong Ga-ram nodded.

“You have to pay well for the work done. The construction machines, material processing methods, and construction diary are also recorded in detail. And Suwon Hwaseong Fortress was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. Ah, this is Seojangdae.”

Jeong Ga-ram showed Seojangdae on his phone. The two-story pavilion was captured on the camera.

“Jangdae is a building where the generals commanded the military in the Joseon era. It's on the west side, so I guess it's Seojangdae. You can see the whole mountain below from here. Next, we’ll go to Hwaseomun.”

***

“Cut! Okay!”

“Good job!”

At Director Min Hee-kyung's okay sign, the staff quickly moved to pack up the shooting equipment.

With the shooting just now, all the shooting in Suwon was over and they had to go to the next location, cheonan.

The cinematographer who was checking the camera asked the assistant director.

“Is the shooting tomorrow?”

“Yes. We’ll arrive in Cheonan today and rest, and start shooting from tomorrow morning.”

“What's good in Cheonan?”

At the cinematographer's question, there were shouts of walnut cookies from here and there.

“Do you only eat walnut cookies without rice?”

Everyone laughed at the cinematographer's words.

Seo-jun, who had changed his clothes and came out, was no exception. He asked a serious question to the staff who had returned from scouting.

“I asked the staff and made a list of everything. There are Korean, chinese, and Western food.”

At that, seo-jun and the filming crew looked at the staff with sparkling eyes.

***

Jeong Ga-ram's second destination in Cheonan was Independence Hall of Korea and Hong Daeyong Science Museum.

Both places had holidays, so it was easy to shoot.

The day of shooting in Cheonan.

From the entrance to Independence Hall of Korea, red and yellow maple trees were visible.

People admired the autumn scenery that came closer with each step. Director Min Hee-kyung, who had talked with the assistant director, opened her mouth.

“There's a maple tree road inside, so let's take a break after shooting. I can't give you much.”

There were happy sounds from here and there at Director Min Hee-kyung's words.

Ahn Da Ho quickly brought his camera.

“Action!”

Jeong Ga-ram smiled brightly and looked at his phone at the end of his selfie stick.

“This is Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan. From the entrance, there are beautiful maple trees welcoming us, and there's even a maple tree road inside. It seems like a great place to visit in autumn.”

At the end of the road he was heading to, there were two pairs of huge wings-like towers. They were so tall and big that he had to tilt his head back to see them.

“These are Towers of Nationhood. They are 51 meters high. They’re huge.”

He passed by Towers of Nationhood that looked like they were praying and came across Houses of Nationhood.

Houses of Nationhood was a building at the very front of Independence Hall of Korea with maple trees lined up on its front and right side, and countless flags on poles higher than Jeong Ga-ram's height fluttering in the wind on its left side.

“There are 815 flags here. It's really cool.”

At the same time, Jeong Ga-ram admired the fluttering flags for a moment and moved on, explaining.

“Independence Hall of Korea has six permanent exhibition halls and a special exhibition on one theme. I'm going to visit only the permanent exhibition halls today. The first exhibition hall covers from prehistoric times to the late Joseon era, and from the second exhibition hall, there are exhibitions related to the independence movement that took place during the Japanese colonial period, as befits the name of Independence Hall of Korea. Let's take a look at them one by one.”

As he explained while looking at his phone, Jeong Ga-ram made eye contact with a staff member who was looking at him.

His cheeks turned slightly red and he quickly said.

“I’ll go and ask if I can film!”

***

After the shooting at Independence Hall of Korea was over, everyone moved to the maple tree road.

“Wow.”

Seo-jun's eyes sparkled.

He had seen some maple trees here and there on the way, but it was amazing to see them lined up neatly like this. He felt the real autumn.

The staff and the extras also took out their phones, admiring them.

“Seo-jun. Stand here.”

Ahn Da Ho took out his camera before Seo-jun could ask. Seo-jun laughed at that.

In the camera angle, seo-jun smiled brightly. He looked like a scene from a pictorial as he stood in the middle of the red and yellow maple tree road.

***

“This is Hong Daeyong Science Museum. Have you heard of Hong Daeyong? You must have heard of him once if you studied history. Hong Daeyong was a Northern Learning scholar with Park Je-ga and advocated for geocentrism, which is the theory that the earth rotates.”

Jeong Ga-ram moved inside from the smaller building than Independence Hall of Korea.

“I'm going to watch a video of constellations and stars in the planetarium first, and then do a zero-gravity experience later. It sounds fun! Oh! You can also observe the sun during the day. You can see sunspots and solar flares.”

As people entered the planetarium one by one, Jeong Ga-ram also went inside.

There was something like a screen on the ceiling.

He looked around for a moment and said in a low voice with his phone.

“They say filming is prohibited during screening. I’ll be back soon.”

He turned off his camera and leaned his tired body on his chair. The chair tilted back to make it comfortable to look at the ceiling.

Soon, the planetarium darkened slowly. Countless stars appeared on the ceiling screen.

Jeong Ga-ram and the people let out admiration.

From the beginning of the universe to the formation of stars, a simple video followed by narration.

[Now let's learn about autumn constellations. You know how in stories, when the main character dies, God makes them into constellations.]

Jeong Ga-ram flinched at the narration that sounded like praying and stared blankly at the ceiling.

[What constellations are there in autumn? First, there is Perseus. You all know Medusa, right? The one who turned everyone into stone when they met her, with snake hair. The hero who defeated Medusa was Perseus. After he died, Athena made him into a constellation.]

The stars in the video twinkled and the soft voice narration continued.

***

Cheonan accommodation.

“Where will be our next destination?”

Jeong Ga-ram placed his phone camera in front of him and drew a lot with a careful face.

He unfolded the well-folded paper and saw letters.

[Daegu]

“Daegu! It's Daegu. Then I’ll see you in Daegu for our next video.”

He waved his hand with a smile toward his camera and paused for a moment before reaching out to his phone.

He checked if it was recorded well and sat down in front of his laptop.

“Shall I look for places to visit or learn about Daegu before editing?”

He had to find out where to go before leaving because he decided his destination by drawing lots, so he searched for Daegu as he had done so far.

Top 3 attractions, 7 best places to walk, date spots recommendation! He also went into blogs with these titles.

[Gyeongsang Gamyeong Park]

[Dalseong Park]

[Chilseong Night Market]

[Cheongra Hill]

“Hmm.”

His hand stopped clicking here and there as he looked for places to go.

On a blue sky background, there was a Gothic-style building with two sharp towers that seemed to pierce the sky, a reddish roof, red bricks that formed walls, and a flower-shaped stained glass above an open entrance.

[Gyesan Cathedral]

“…Cathedral.”

As if time had stopped, he stared at the laptop screen without blinking his eyes.

He soon searched for how to get to Gyesan Cathedral from Daegu Station.