Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 557:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 557

“That’s a wrap for today!”

The camera captured the scene of Mr. Lee and Min-han running towards the young master’s room. The actors changed their clothes and the crew packed up the filming equipment.

“Can you believe we’re filming it tomorrow?”

“I know. I’m so excited.”

“Me too.”

The crew’s hands were slower than yesterday as they tidied up the filming tools. 

They chatted while rolling up the wires, and while turning off the cameras.

Hwang Ji-yoon and Kim Se-yeon smiled at the lively atmosphere on the set.

“Everyone is really curious, huh?”

“Well, only you and Do-yoon oppa and I saw it during practice. But now that I think about it, we’re going to see it for real on the screen. I’m excited too. Aren’t you?”

Hwang Ji-yoon agreed with Kim Se-yeon’s words with a laugh.

***

The next day.

The mood on the set was strangely tense but calm. Everyone was moving more briskly than on the first day of filming.

“When we draw the curtains, it’ll be this dark. We’ll use this much light.”

Hwang Ji-yoon opened the window curtains slightly and a faint beam of light spread into the dark room. Kim Se-yeon stepped into the camera angle as a test. Her face was visible even in the darkness. Park Woo-jin, who was filming with the camera, nodded.

“It looks good, doesn’t it?”

The room of the ‘lord’, filled with furniture that showed signs of life, such as a table, a chair, a bed, and a wardrobe, was still unfinished in some details, but the rest of the work was done. In this level of darkness, the unfinished parts would not show on the screen.

While the set was busy with filming preparations, the actors were also getting ready.

Kim Sung-sik, who played Mr. Lee, and Hwang Do-yoon, who played Min-han, wore hanbok as they did yesterday. Seo-jun, who played the unknown painter, wore a white shirt and trousers like the intellectuals of the late Joseon period.

“Should we wrap the bandages up to the wrist?”

“I think it would be better to wrap them up to the elbow.”

A member of the art team, who also doubled as the makeup team, wrapped white bandages around Seo-jun’s two hands. 

The bandages were neatly wrapped, as if the art member had practiced on his brother. He wondered what his brother would say if he told him this story later.

“Thank you.”

Seo-jun moved his bandaged hands and got up from his seat. Kim Sung-sik and Hwang Do-yoon also looked ready, exactly as they did yesterday.

When the actors came up to the second floor, the students’ eyes sparkled. They all looked at the actors with a mixture of anticipation and curiosity.

“Let’s start filming!”

At Kim Se-yeon’s words, the actors headed to their positions. Seo-jun went inside the young master’s room, while Hwang Do-yoon and Kim Sung-sik went to the stairs.

Hwang Ji-yoon raised her voice as she checked the monitor.

“Ready, action!”

***

Thud! Thud!

The sound grew louder as they approached the second floor room. It sounded like something was being hit.

Mr. Lee, who ran ahead, opened the third door on the right side of the second floor and said,

“Close the door when you come in!”

Min-han, who followed him, quickly closed the door with a nervous expression.

As the light from the hallway disappeared, the room was dyed in deep darkness.

Even though the sun was setting, it was still bright outside, but the inside was completely dark. 

Only a thin light was visible through the curtains.

Maybe because they came from a bright place, they couldn’t see the inside of the room clearly. In the meantime, the thud! thud! sound continued. If they listened carefully, they could also hear a rough breathing.

Min-han shrank a little in the incomprehensible situation. He reflexively turned his head towards the sound and saw something moving.

His eyes slowly adjusted. 

The light coming through the curtains also helped. 

He saw a faint figure. He was raising his arms and hitting something (probably a table).

Was he hammering something?

But the thud! thud! sound was nothing like the hardness of a hammer. 

Feeling an inexplicable tension, Min-han swallowed his saliva unknowingly.

“…Cut! NG!”

Bang!

It seemed like the sound of silence breaking. The students’ sharp eyes turned reflexively to the source. It was Director Hwang Ji-yoon.

…Ah!

They were filming right now.

When he realized that, he felt like he had returned to reality.

The students, Jung Eun-mi, and Kwon Se-ah, who had been holding their breath in the dark, let out a long sigh.

“…That was some force…”

“I know. It feels totally different even though we know everything.”

The light came on in the dark room and Seo-jun, Hwang Do-yoon, and Kim Sung-sik, who looked sorry, came into view. Kim Sung-sik looked even more apologetic at the sight of Director Hwang Ji-yoon approaching.

“I’m sorry. I should have looked more familiar, but I looked too surprised. And I missed my line…”

Kim Sung-sik, who had been watching Seo-jun’s acting as an audience, knew the reason for the NG. Director Hwang Ji-yoon smiled and said to him.

“Seo-jun’s acting is amazing, so it will take some time to get used to it. I was also very surprised even though I’ve seen it a few times.”

“But we practiced… And the scene just now was so immersive that it would be hard to do it twice.”

They had practiced at the dorm yesterday and the day before, and they had a short rehearsal too, but they had an NG.

And it was a filming that seemed to be a good scene naturally, as the actors were deeply immersed, but Kim Sung-sik felt bad that he had ruined it because of his NG.

“It’s okay. Seo-jun can immerse himself in the same way many times.”

‘…Was that really the case?’

Kim Seong-sik looked at Seo-jun after hearing Hwang Ji-yoon’s words.

“Doesn’t your hand hurt? The sound was so loud.”

“It’s just the sound. I have a trick.”

As Seo-jun and Hwang Do-yoon were chatting, moving away from the director and the actor who had caused the NG, they felt the gazes of the two people and turned around. Seo-jun smiled brightly at Kim Seong-sik, who looked apologetic.

The shooting resumed soon.

And Lee Seo-jun, the actor, showed an immersion that was no less than the previous shooting, just as Hwang Ji-yoon, the director, had said.

***

‘Was he hammering something?’

But the thud! thud! sound was nothing like the hardness of a hammer. Feeling an inexplicable tension, Min-han swallowed his saliva without realizing it.

“Young Master!”

Mr. Lee, who had shouted, ran towards the person.

He hugged the person, who was called Young Master, from behind, as if to stop him or calm him down. But the thud! thud! sound only slowed down a bit, and did not stop. The Young Master was taller than  Mr. Lee, so his strength seemed to be insufficient.

“Min-han!”

“…Yes!”

Min-han, who was stunned by the scene he had never imagined, came to his senses and quickly ran to the front of Young Master and grabbed his two arms that were hitting the table mercilessly.

‘…Yes.’

That dull sound was not the sound of a hammer or something hitting the table.

Min-han looked at the end of the arm he had grabbed. Young Master had nothing in his hand.

Only his frail skin and muscles were hitting the table with ruthless force. And that was not by someone else, but by the owner of that body.

‘Wasn’t it painful?’ 

He thought, but seeing his two arms and hands trembling with pain, he thought that was not the case. He also felt a rough breath that seemed painful, exhausted, or… full of anger.

At that moment.

Min-han and Young Master’s eyes met.

Young Master’s eyes sparkled in the thick darkness. It was a painful look that Min-han had never seen before. And for Min-han, it seemed that there was a fierce emotion that he could not understand.

But that was only for a moment.

As Min-han was surprised, Young Master’s eyes suddenly died.

Young Master’s breath, which had been rough, gradually calmed down, and the strength in his two arms, which had been exerting a lot of force, drained away. Young Master staggered like a puppet with a cut string, not only his arms but also his whole body losing strength.

‘Uh, uh?’ 

As Min-han was confused, Mr. Lee skillfully supported Young Master and moved him to the bed. The appearance of him running wild just before was gone, and he walked shakily as if he had lost his mind.

“…Young Master. I’ll be back soon with some bandages.”

Even with the gentle voice of Mr. Lee who sighed, Young Master laid on his back and did not budge.

[The Evil Mist Swamp Watcher’s Harvest-High Level is activated.]

[The level of The Evil Mist Swamp Watcher’s Harvest-High Level is temporarily lowered.]

[The Evil Mist Swamp Watcher’s Harvest-Low Level is activated.]

[The Evil Mist Swamp Watcher’s Harvest-Low Level]

A dense mist of death flows out very faintly.

Your movement becomes heavy as if you are submerged in a shallow swamp.

Young Master’s appearance, which had been so intense just before, felt like a dream now, as he had no life in him. He just looked like he was dying, sinking quietly into the deep swamp.

Unable to say any words of comfort, Mr. Lee looked at him quietly with a sad face and took Min-han out of the dark room.

***

The shooting set was as quiet as a dead mouse.

Seo-jun, who had turned his back to the camera and lay down on the bed without any strength, waited for a few seconds for the editing point and then activated [(Good) Low-level Angel’s Fan].

[(Good) Low-level Angel’s Fan is activated.]

The magic that had accumulated in the room was swept away by the wind in an instant. The students who had unknowingly held their breaths at the faint magic began to regain their senses one by one.

“…Cut! Okay!”

As Hwang Ji-yoon, who had come to her senses, raised her voice, the place became noisy in no time.

“Wow… The full shot was like this, but it would be no joke if we shoot the close-up.”

“Right. His eyes were amazing.”

“That’s why he’s Lee Seo-jun.”

Hwang Ji-yoon and Kim Sung-sik, who had gone outside for monitoring, came back into the room, and Seo-jun, who had been lying on the bed, also got up and headed towards Hwang Ji-yoon, the director.

Seo-jun’s acting on the monitor was intense.

Hwang Do-yoon’s surprised acting was also excellent, and Kim Sung-sik’s familiar acting was stable.

The shooting team, who had filmed the scene with their own cameras, and Hwang Ji-yoon and Kim Se-yeon looked excited at the flawless scene. But they calmed themselves down. It was only one cut, and they had just got an okay.

“Then let’s shoot the close-up shot right away!”

They decided to be a little greedy and shoot the close-up shot before the bust shot.

“We’ll start with Seo-jun!”

“Yes!”

The actors, who had finished preparing, started acting again. They ignored the camera that was pushed in front of them and did the same as the full shot a while ago.

The young master, who slammed the table with his bandaged hand as if he was venting his anger in the darkness.

Mr. Lee, who tried to stop the young master with a familiar but regretful face.

Min-han, who was suddenly caught up and startled by the young master’s eyes.

Seo-jun gave his gaze to the camera as if he had met Min-han’s eyes. The young master’s pupils, which had looked small in the full shot, shone brightly and then died in an instant.

“…The actors are amazing.”

“Right. They can act so naturally even with the camera right in front of them.”

The shooting of [Fire] continued amid the admiration of the students, who were either shooting staff or spectators.

***

He felt like he had lost his mind at the unexpected first meeting.

Min-han stared at the closed door with a half-soulless face, and Mr. Lee sighed heavily and said.

“First of all… You go wash your hands. I have to change the young master’s bandage.”

“…My hands?”

Min-han looked at his hands with a puzzled expression at Mr. Lee’s words.

His palms were red.

Blood.

It was blood.

He didn’t notice it because he was out of his mind, but he remembered that it felt a little damp when he grabbed the young master’s arm.

‘Could it be that it was blood?’

Min-han looked down at his hands with a disgusted face and said in a trembling voice.

“…Didn’t you say he was cured in Hanyang?”

“He was cured. But he hurt himself by abusing his body. He does that two or three times a day. I can’t tie him up. Sigh…”

At Mr. Lee’s sigh, Min-han couldn’t help but look at the room where the young master was.