Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 707

Today was a day off from filming.

To be precise, it was a day off from filming for ‘William Lee’, but instead, it was a day to film the scenes of ‘Shadowman’, another protagonist of [Shadow and Knight].

“Do you need a break, Seo-jun?”

Choi Tae-woo, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, asked. Seo-jun paused the phone he was watching and took off the earphones he had plugged in his ears.

“No, I’m fine. I’m just going to watch the morning shoot and come back.”

He didn’t plan to stay long, since he was going to see Evan Block.

“How are your classes at school? Are they worth listening to?”

At Choi Tae-woo’s question, Seo-jun looked at the phone in his hand.

The professor’s materials were displayed on the phone screen that he had paused for a moment.

It was a script of a play that was excellent in portraying the characters’ psychology.

He was analyzing the characters’ dialogue and how to convey the emotions that the characters felt to the audience most appropriately during the class.

It was mid-March now.

Seo-jun was doing both the filming of [Shadow and Knight] and the classes at Hanye University at the same time.

‘Well, it’s only been a few days.’

But he thought he could do well in the future, as the schedule was clearly set in Hollywood. Of course, he would need some time for assignments.

‘It’s better than filming Korean dramas.’

He heard from his friends who had filmed dramas that they were treated well when they were child actors, but after they became adults, they filmed day and night.

‘Da-jin noona did that too.’

What, schedule?

Is that something you eat?

He recalled the stories of his actor acquaintances, such as Da-jin noona’s words that were not a joke, Jong-ho uncle, Ji-seok hyung, Do-hoon hyung, and So-young noona.

Even if they started with half pre-production, they soon changed to live scripts and live filming. It was a terrible filming environment. Well, maybe only a few works were like that.

‘…Right?’

Anyway.

“Yes, I’m fine. They’re good enough to do together.”

He folded his thoughts and answered Choi Tae-woo’s question.

“Then I’m glad.”

Choi Tae-woo, who was holding the steering wheel, smiled brightly.

“Let’s get ready to get off. We’ll be there soon, Seo-jun.”

“Yes, Tae-woo hyung.”

As Seo-jun put his wireless earphones in the case, turned off the phone screen, and put on his coat, Choi Tae-woo, who had proven to the security guards that he was a staff member, parked the car in the parking lot after passing the entrance.

Seo-jun, who got out of the car, looked at the scenery where the studios, which looked like huge warehouses, were lined up in a row.

In between, the staff were busy moving around.

“It feels like we’re really here to film.”

“Right.”

The place where the two arrived was the studio area of Marina, where the set of ‘William Lee’s house’ was built.

Of course, the studio where Evan Block was filming today was a different place.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun followed Choi Tae-woo and moved his steps.

***

“Welcome!”

Matthew, the assistant director, greeted the two with a smile.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your filming.”

“No, not at all. Everyone was so happy to hear that Seo-jun was coming.”

Matthew, the assistant director, said with a smile.

“Of course, me too.”

“Haha.”

Following the assistant director, they headed to the actors’ waiting room first.

“The set is being finished, so please wait here.”

At the assistant director’s words, Seo-jun and Choi Tae-woo nodded their heads.

Knock knock.

After the assistant director left, Seo-jun knocked on the door of the waiting room.

A voice from the other side of the door told him to come in. It was a familiar and welcome voice.

“Hello, Evan!”

“Seo-jun. You’re here?”

Evan Block, who was wearing casual clothes, greeted Seo-jun with a smile.

He looked like he hadn’t done any makeup or costume, but he was already done.

‘That must be the costume for the scene he’s filming today.’

He was Mac, who was called in while working, according to the setting.

After greeting Choi Tae-woo, the two actors chatted happily.

“I thought you would come for the first shoot…”

“No, I had a schedule.”

Happily…right?

Seo-jun’s teasing half-serious half-joking criticism towards Evan Block, who didn’t come for the first shoot, continued.

“I came like this…”

“Well… How about we go and say hello to the other actors? They were all happy to hear that Seo-jun was coming.”

“Yes!”

He knew it, but.

Evan Block smiled bitterly as Seo-jun’s mood brightened in an instant.

“Tell me honestly, Seo-jun. You came to see the other actors more than me, right?”

Seo-jun rolled his eyes and smiled innocently.

“I came to see both.”

“Oh. I see. So I’m on the back burner now?”

“Hey. I came to see you, Evan.”

The situation was reversed in an instant, and Choi Tae-woo and Evan Block’s staff laughed.

The two actors who left Evan Block’s waiting room knocked on the next waiting room door.

“Sophia. We’re here. Seo-jun is also…”

“Oh!”

Before Evan Block could finish his sentence, the door opened wide. A red-haired actress with short hair stood there with a flushed face.

“Hello, Kelly. I’m Seo-jun Lee.”

“Oh! Lee! I’m a big fan of yours!”

Sophia Kelly, who shook Seo-jun’s hand vigorously, seemed to be a real fan of Seo-jun, as [Good Afternoon] was playing in the waiting room. She smiled as she noticed Seo-jun’s attention.

“I always listen to Lee’s violin performance before filming. Oh, call me Sophia, Lee.”

“Please call me Seo-jun, too. And speak comfortably.”

Sophia Kelly.

She was the actress who played ‘Taylor Warren’, who took over the first after the death of the director of ‘First’ in [Assemble Series].

Maybe because she was the director of ‘First’, unlike Evan Block who was wearing casual clothes, Sophia Kelly was dressed in a cool outfit.

“Look. I have a weapon too.”

“Wow!”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at the gun that Sophia Kelly took out of her waist.

“Wow. I can’t believe I get to be in the same movie as Jun…”

“I’m happy too. But it’s a shame we don’t have any scenes together.”

“I know. I feel the same way.”

Evan Block said with a smile.

“Don’t worry. We’ll see each other again. Sophia. Jun. The heroes will gather again in season 2, right?”

If there was [Assemble] in season 1, there would be a new group in season 2. And the organization that would lead that group would be ‘First’.

Jun’s eyes sparkled at Evan Block’s words.

That’s right. He was a hero now. He could star in movies with groups like [Assemble], not just [William Series].

“Oh! That’s true! I look forward to working with you then, Sophia.”

“I’d love to say the same, but… The former director of First is dead, you know. Taylor has to survive until then.”

Sophia Kelly joked, and Jun and Evan Block burst into laughter.

***

As he greeted the other actors, it was time to shoot before he knew it.

He moved to the set with Evan Block, Sophia Kelly, and the other actors, and Jun’s steps looked unusually excited. Evan Block noticed that and asked with a smile.

“You look excited, Jun?”

Jun replied with a smile.

“It’s my first time seeing this set. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Huh? It’s your first time? You’re one of the characters in the Shadowman Series, aren’t you?”

Sophia Kelly asked with a puzzled look, and Jun nodded.

“Yes. First didn’t appear in the Shadowman Series.”

In the Marine world, it was the first defense organization of Earth that moved to protect and defend against terror with unreal abilities and alien invasions.

‘First’ was also the organization that the group of superheroes, ‘Assemble’, belonged to.

“Oh, they only appeared in the Assemble Series?”

The actor who played a researcher recalled the movie plot.

“They also showed up briefly in the Redbone Series. I couldn’t go see it because First didn’t appear in the Shadowman Series, so I only watched it in the movie.”

Jun said regretfully.

He liked the [Shadowman Series], but he also liked the other hero movies. [Assemble] too.

So he wanted to go see the inside of First as the villain ‘Jin Natra’, even if he couldn’t star in it, but unfortunately, First didn’t appear until the end of the [Shadowman Series].

They said it was the first defense organization of Earth.

Why didn’t they show up when Jin Natra invaded?

“Hmm. Should I have destroyed the Earth more?”

Everyone laughed at Jun’s small grumble.

***

As he entered the set, he saw the inside of ‘First’ that he had only seen in the movie.

The background of the scene he was shooting today was the central laboratory of First, and the sight of being surrounded by machines that seemed to be used only in the distant future made him exclaim involuntarily.

The staff in First uniforms, the researchers in white coats, and the director Sophia Kelly and Shadowman Evan Block.

‘If William was standing there…’

Jonathan, the director, asked Jun, who was staring blankly at the set.

“What are you thinking, Jun?”

“Well, if we make a movie with the superheroes gathered in season 2, William could be a hero of First, right? I was thinking about that.”

At Jun’s explanation, Jonathan also exclaimed and looked at the set.

A character who became a hero from a villain.

Normally, it would feel out of place with a 180-degree changed image, but

“That’s… It would suit him well.”

“Right?”

The genius actor and the director who saw his hero acting smiled brightly as if they were looking forward to that day.

***

“Ready, action!”

First headquarters, central laboratory.

Several people were gathered in a place that was more secure than any other laboratory.

The cause was a meteorite that fell from space to Nevada a few weeks ago.

Taylor Warren, the director of First, looked at the analysis data while looking at the sealed meteorite.

“Nothing’s wrong?”

“Yes. There’s no difference from a normal meteorite.”

The doctor’s words made Taylor Warren frown.

“I heard there was an abnormal reaction when the meteorite fell.”

“We’re guessing that it might have disappeared completely due to the collision with the atmosphere. It’s happened before, and we’ve done several experiments, but there was no problem.”

It was written like that in dozens of analysis data.

Just an ordinary rock.

But Taylor Warren, who had experienced a lot of things, felt uneasy. If it was a normal meteorite, he would have to hand it over to NASA, but was it really okay to do that?

“Where’s Shadowman?”

“He just arrived.”

As he said that, the door of the central laboratory opened, and Mac, who was called from work, appeared.

“What’s up, Taylor?”

“You heard about the meteorite that fell a few days ago, right, Mac?”

“Yes, but.”

Taylor Warren pointed to the meteorite sealed in a transparent case with his hand.

Mac walked up to it and looked at the meteorite. If he hadn’t said it was a meteorite, he would have thought it was a rock picked up from a park. It was a rock that looked very ordinary.

“There was a very short abnormal reaction before entering the atmosphere, but there was no reaction after passing through the atmosphere. Not until now.”

“Hmm. But I don’t know anything about science, you know. Wouldn’t it be better to call Redbone or someone else?”

Mac was an alien by birth, but he lived as a normal Earthling for so long that he didn’t know anything about this.

Taylor Warren, who knew that well, didn’t expect much from Mac either.

“I’d like you to ask Bell Natra for help. I think he knows more about space than anyone else.”

Mac nodded at Taylor Warren’s words.

“Okay. I’ll contact him.”

“And one more thing. Is your partner not reacting at all right now?”

At Taylor Warren’s words, Mac looked down.

His black shadow, aka partner.

He was more sensitive to alien beings than Shadowman, who was an alien by birth but almost an Earthling, but he was quiet today.

“Yes. That’s right. It doesn’t seem like a special meteorite.”

“I see. Okay.”

At Mac’s confirmation, Taylor Warren finally relieved his uneasiness.