Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 727

William exclaimed in surprise, his eyes almost tearing up.

“Partner! How are you here!?”

His voice was full of joy.

Jay also seemed happy, abandoning his calm demeanor and poking Partner playfully.

Partner shrugged his shoulders at the enthusiastic greeting from William and Jay, who had placed the teddy bear ‘Will’ on the bed. Then he stretched and shrank his shadows to explain.

He showed them the figure of a man first. It was someone William knew.

“Shadowman?”

Ding dong dang!

As if to say it was correct, Partner drew a circle and moved his black shadows around like a shadow play.

William and Jay sat side by side and watched.

Shadowman leaning on his upper body and William supporting him.

A round sphere, ‘Pure Darkness’, moved through the hands of William and Shadowman.

“…I heard from Director Taylor. It was succession, right?”

William asked in a slightly lowered voice. Partner nodded.

William’s expression turned gloomy.

He hadn’t thought about it because he was so happy to see Partner suddenly.

‘Partner being here means…’

Everyone said so, and reality showed it, and he even saw it himself, but William didn’t want to believe it. So he tried to focus on Partner’s shadow play.

Partner pointed at the round sphere, ‘Pure Darkness’, with an arrow. Then he made a ‘mini Partner’ inside the sphere.

“…You were inside?”

Ding dong dang!

Like a quiz show, Partner drew another circle and fell on William’s bed with a thud. He made a pillow and a blanket with shadows and covered himself neatly, looking like he was asleep. Then he got up as if stretching.

William, who was confident in interpreting shadow plays since he played with Jay since childhood, rubbed his chin for a moment and opened his mouth.

“You were asleep because of the succession… and you just woke up now?”

Ding dong dang!

Partner drew a circle.

“I see.”

William looked at Partner, who was having fun with Jay. Then he wondered if Partner still didn’t know. It felt like his heart was being squeezed just by thinking.

“Partner.”

Huh?

Partner tilted his head.

Jay, who seemed to know William’s feelings, calmed down.

“Shadowman… Mac…”

Right! Mac!

Partner put an exclamation mark over his head. Then he looked around William’s room. Where is Mac? Mac! Mac!

William opened his mouth with difficulty, his eyes red, at Partner’s innocent and naive expression.

He felt like he couldn’t take it back once he said it, but he couldn’t not tell Partner, who had been with Mac longer than him.

William said in a miserable voice.

“Mac is dead…”

…?

Partner stopped moving and tilted his head.

“He… he gave you to me… and died there…”

…Dead? Mac?

If shadows could breathe, maybe he would have stopped breathing too.

Partner froze like a statue.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry. Partner.”

William trembled his lips and said.

“Because of me… Mac…”

Jay, who didn’t know what to do in the middle, comforted William and Partner, who was in a daze.

Partner, who was blankly staring, saw the old teddy bear ‘Will’ on the bed. And William, who was holding back his tears and apologizing to him.

Suddenly, Partner remembered the young William, no, Jin Natra, he had seen ten years ago. And Mac, who had been worried, sorry, and wanting to save ‘that kid’ for a long time.

‘Protect William, Partner.’

Mac’s will, which was conveyed to him right before the ‘succession’.

Tap tap-

Partner tapped William’s knee.

“…Partner?”

William raised his head in surprise and saw a shadow in front of him.

It was William.

And there were two shadows standing like shields in front of William. As if to protect William.

“…You’re going to protect me?”

Nod.

And Partner made a figure of a man next to one of the shadow shields (probably Partner).

Shadowman, Mac.

The shadowman, Mac, made of shadows, was not bleeding, but looked sturdy next to the shield. As if Mac was also protecting William.

At that, William burst into tears.

***

“Cut! Okay!”

Jonathan, the director, smiled broadly and shouted, looking at Seo-jun, who showed a great performance today.

It was a completely different reaction from the staff who were covering their mouths and saying ‘Partner…!’, ‘Shadowman…!’, ‘William…!’. Some of the staff even felt resentment.

“Jun, don’t you think you’re really good at acting?”

“Exactly.”

It was a scene where Seo-jun Lee was acting alone, looking at nothing, but somehow it seemed like he could see Partner and the shadow play that Partner made.

“I feel like I really saw it.”

Of course, there were some sensitive staff who actually saw the shadow play that Seo-jun made with [(Good) Dark Elf’s Shadow Art]. It was needless to say that those staff were more immersed in Seo-jun’s acting.

“Uhuhuhuhu…”

Some staff, who were crying but still moving for the next shooting, smiled faintly and handed Seo-jun a new bottle of water.

“Seo-jun, do you want more water?”

“I’m fine. I drank enough.”

Seo-jun showed him an empty bottle of water at Choi Tae Woo’s words. He had already drank a bottle of water.

“It seems like you’ve been sad and crying ever since Shadowman died.”

Choi Tae Woo said, looking at Seo-jun, who was putting an ice pack on his eyes to calm them down. Seo-jun leaned back on the chair and smiled.

“It’s only been 24 hours in movie time.”

That was true.

Shadowman died last night, went to First the next day, and met Partner that night.

William had no time to dry his tears.

“Isn’t it true that everyone cries when they watch your movies? The new fans must remember to bring tissues this time, right?”

Seo-jun smiled faintly as he recalled the joke that his fans and even the general public who trusted his works would always bring tissues to watch his movies. Whether it was a sad movie or a touching movie, his filmography was known to be tear-jerking.

***

“Ready, action!”

William calmed his surging emotions and picked up his phone. He felt like he had to tell Director Taylor that Shadowman’s partner was with him.

Director Taylor probably didn’t expect to hear from William so soon.

But as if he was waiting for his call, his voice came through the phone after one ring.

-What’s the matter, William?

“No, it’s not that.”

William looked at Jay and his partner, who seemed to be having a conversation with the stuffed animals ‘Will’ and ‘Jin’ on the bed.

‘I’ve met them a few times after finding out who Shadowman was…’

But Jay and his partner looked like they had known each other longer than that.

-William?

“Ah, yes. I called to let you know that Shadowman’s partner is with me.”

-…Partner?

“Yes. I think he came along with Shadowman’s power when I inherited it.”

There was silence on the other side of the phone.

-…I was just talking to an alien expert. She’s a Natra line too, so I’ll ask her. Please wait a moment, William.

“Okay.”

The voice was cut off, and silence resumed on the phone.

William turned his head to look at Jay and his partner, who were now holding hands and spinning around with the stuffed animals.

“Are you playing /tag/ or something?”

William chuckled softly.

Jay was happy to see William smile, even if it was a small one.

-William.

“Yes!”

William quickly answered Director Taylor’s call, still smiling faintly at Jay and his partner.

-She said she couldn’t give you a definite answer, since there’s no precedent of a Natra line inheriting to a human. But she said it wouldn’t have any negative effects on your body.

“That’s good to hear. I was just worried if it was okay for my partner to be with me.”

Wasn’t it a superhero’s power?

He was just a normal person, but he had inherited Shadowman’s power and his partner. He wasn’t sure if that was alright.

-It’s fine.

Director Taylor said without hesitation.

-That was Shadowman’s will.

“…Yes.”

William answered quietly, feeling a lump in his throat.

-Please do well on this mission. William.

“Yes. Don’t worry. I’ll do my best.”

William hung up the phone and saw his partner looking at him curiously.

“I should tell my partner too.”

His partner would move with him, so he had to know the plan beforehand. William explained the ‘bait operation’ to his partner. His partner seemed to be paying attention like a model student.

“For some reason, the villain shows up in Central Park every two days.”

William guessed that Director Taylor knew the reason, but he was hiding it from him.

Hmm. Was it because of the inheritance?

He felt like he could see and sense the subtle movements and expressions of people that he couldn’t before. And it felt strangely familiar, even though it should have been new to him.

“When the villain appears, I’ll cover the sky with shadows and pretend to be Shadowman to get his attention. He hates Shadowman a lot, you know.”

He would come for sure, if he knew he was alive.

His black eyes flashed.

“And then I’ll attack him.”

Unfortunately, the other superheroes were on duty, so only the First agents’ attacks would rain down on him. But Director Taylor said that would be enough.

“How about it? Did you understand?”

Jay nodded his head repeatedly, having already heard and understood.

William smiled at his cute appearance and looked at his partner. His partner was still tilting his head, confused.

“Uh, um. Do you want me to explain it again, partner?”

He thought he had explained it very simply.

William scratched his cheek and simplified it even more.

“So, for a short while, I’ll become Shadowman.”

Huh?

His partner still didn’t understand William’s words.

Because his partner remembered what Shadowman had said.

‘He’s a hero…’

One evening, when the sun was setting.

Shadowman suddenly burst into laughter. He remembered William’s words from when he was young, that he wanted to be a hero.

‘Then you’ll need a codename. What would be good?’

Mac thought of William Lee, who had grown up straight. And he thought of Jin Natra, who had been forgotten.

‘…That would be good. How about it, partner? Isn’t it nice?’

His partner made letters with shadows on the wall.

William looked up at the cursive alphabet that appeared.

-You –

Like a graph that showed the waveform of his heartbeat,

-are –

His heart throbbed as the letters formed by the black line moving up and down.

-Knight JIN –