Superstar From Age 0

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 550

Hwang Do-yoon, who had gone to buy some drinks, arrived just in time.

Everyone grabbed a drink and sat around the table, regaining their composure. 

Their eyes were still full of astonishment as they looked at Seo-jun and Hwang Ji-yoon.

“Is it really Matteo!?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded with a smile.

Matteo had graciously accepted their offer. He seemed interested in the fact that the protagonist of the movie was a painter.

Wow, the art team members exclaimed as they watched him.

“And please feel free to speak.”

“Really… Is that okay?”

“Yes. You’re freshmen, right?”

Normally, that would be the case.

But they were still cautious, wondering when they would ever get such an opportunity.

“It’s no wonder the scenery looked so real on the shooting day.”

“Right.”

Hwang Ji-yoon shook her head at Hwang Do-yoon’s cheerful remark. Yu Seo-young asked in surprise.

“Wait. The filming team doesn’t know yet?”

“Until a while ago, only me, my brother, and Se-yeon knew.”

“When did you cast actor Lee Seo-jun?”

“About a month and a half ago?”

Yu Seo-young was amazed at the long time.

“I would have bragged about it everywhere if I were you…”

“Seo-young, do you know? She initially rejected Seo-jun’s appearance.”

Yu Seo-young and the art team members turned their heads to Hwang Ji-yoon. Their eyes were full of question marks.

Hwang Ji-yoon slapped Hwang Do-yoon’s back, saying he was making unnecessary stories. Slap- a crisp sound was heard. Seo-jun smiled and said.

“It’s an independent film. I was worried that the scale would get bigger if I joined.”

“No, isn’t it hard to call it an independent film when actor Lee Seo-jun and Matteo are already in it?”

“That’s why I’m half giving up.”

But there were also independent films with top actors and independent films with experts’ advice, so it wasn’t completely out of the frame of independent films.

“…Can we join this?”

“Don’t think too hard. Here, Seo-jun is just a freshman who is very good at acting, and he said he would like it that way.”

“Yes. That’s right. Please treat me comfortably.”

Hwang Do-yoon smiled softly at the worried art team member. Seo-jun also nodded in agreement.

Hwang Ji-yoon said.

“If you’re still uncomfortable, think of him as Na Jin, not Lee Seo-jun. You know Seo-jun’s sub-character, right? His name will also appear in the ending scroll.”

“Wow…”

Na Jin.

The art team felt a bit of fun when they heard that name.

As the atmosphere lightened, they began a formal meeting.

“First of all, we have to adjust to the French time zone and have meetings in the afternoon. Usually, we’ll do it by video call, but Matteo said he would send an email if he had a lot of questions.”

Seo-jun’s words made Yu Seo-young and the art team members listen carefully and nod their heads.

“And he said he had some data on the density of the paint, so he would send it this afternoon, and it would be better to prepare six of the most suitable ones from there and experiment at the shooting location.”

“Huh? Why?”

“The snow in Korea and Europe may have different textures, and even the snow in Korea may have different feelings depending on the snow that falls that day.”

There were broadly four types of snow: powder snow, wet snow, hard snow, and sleet. Sleet melted as soon as it touched the ground, and it was hard to draw on hard snow. Powder snow had less paint spreading, and wet snow was wet and had more paint spreading.

“You have to adjust according to the snow condition at the shooting site.”

“We were worried about that too.”

The art team nodded their heads at Seo-jun’s words.

“Then, will Matteo draw the image of the climax part?”

“No. He just said he would give some advice. It’s our movie, after all.”

The art team was disappointed, but they nodded at Seo-jun’s answer.

“But it will be a lot of help. You can also learn how a genius works from what perspective.”

The art team’s eyes sparkled at Yu Seo-young’s words.

That’s right. If they could learn a little bit of the genius painter Matteo’s perspective with his help, it would be a great help for their future work.

“Good. Then let’s decide what to ask Matteo at the afternoon meeting!”

“Let’s scan the picture candidates so we can see them well!”

“Uh… Is the meeting in English? French? Or… Italian?”

Cold water poured into the lively art team.

Yu Seo-young and the art team members, who were studying for studying abroad, had their eyes wide open. Seo-jun smiled and said.

“You can do it in English. I’ll help you with the interpretation today.”

“Thank you very much.”

It was a sincere voice.

That afternoon.

The video call was ready in the [Fire] team’s office.

A large monitor and camera, as well as the prepared picture candidates and the colored pencils to mark them, were perfectly ready.

“Can we do this?”

“…We can do this.”

Yu Seo-young and the art team members, who had prepared a script by now, said so and trembled. Hwang Ji-yoon and Hwang Do-yoon also took their seats nearby to see how the meeting would proceed.

The tense time passed, and the promised time came.

A familiar but unfamiliar face appeared on the monitor screen.

It was Matteo.

“/Bonjour! Oh, is it afternoon in Korea? Nice to meet you. I’m Matteo./”

“/We’re the ones who are honored! We’re really happy to meet you./”

Yu Seo-young led the conversation as the representative. Seo-jun only helped when there were difficult words or the meaning of the conversation was not fully communicated.

“/You said you were going to draw outside, right? Then it’s a good idea to use the surrounding objects./”

“/But we’ve never dealt with three-dimensional things before…/”

“/Don’t think of it as three-dimensional, but think of it as flat. I saw the script and the point of view is only frontal. Then you just have to think according to that./”

Matteo said with a smile.

“/Think of it as continuing to draw. Nature drew a picture on a white paper first, and you guys draw on top of it. Then a really cool picture will come out./”

The art team gasped and nodded their heads.

“/Shall we look at the picture candidates now?/”

The picture candidates appeared on the monitor screen.

Seo-jun was also interested in seeing them for the first time. It was the picture that the unknown painter would draw in [Fire].

“/This was the picture with the best reviews./”

“/Hmm. It’s good./”

The art team’s faces brightened at Matteo’s words.

“/I’ve been interested in Korean art lately./”

“/Really? Really./”

“/I’m studying a word called ‘yeobaek’./”

Yeobaek.

Yu Seo-young and the art team looked at the painting again with the word that Seo-jun translated for them. It was a painting that was filled to the brim with no yeobaek.

“/Of course, I think I know why you filled it up so much. You must have drawn it with the feeling of a nameless painter who couldn’t stand the situation in the work, right?/”

“/…Yes. That’s right./”

Yu Seo-young and the art team poured out the heart of the nameless painter who ran wild, filling up every part of the white paper. It was as if they poured everything they had into this painting.

“/That’s why I think you need more yeobaek./”

Matteo said in a serious voice.

“/The nameless painter is a great painter, isn’t he? No matter how wild he is, he would have thought of the quality of the painting first./”

“…That’s right. The nameless painter would have breathed his deep heart into every moment of drawing the picture. Even the empty places… are not really empty.”

At that, everyone looked at the direction where the voice came from.

It was Seo-jun, who would play the nameless painter.

‘The main character is a painter, so the character’s personality is also in the painting.’

It was a more expanded feeling than before, when he only changed his speech, behavior, and gait to suit the role. Just like changing the font according to the character, the painting also changed according to the personality of the character who drew it.

‘But while the font can be changed by the actor, the painting has to cooperate with the art team.’

If the actor’s portrayal of the painter and the art team’s painting did not match, it would feel incongruous.

Seo-jun looked at Yu Seo-young and the art team and said.

“Can I join this meeting too? I want to tell you what kind of heart and thought the nameless painter had when he drew that painting.”

At Seo-jun’s words, Yu Seo-young and the art team realized it.

Of course, Yu Seo-young and the art team also analyzed the nameless painter and heard about the character from director Hwang Ji-yoon, but they were less than the actor who analyzed the character every day.

“We’re the ones who should ask you.”

Yu Seo-young and the art team nodded their heads gladly.

Matteo smiled brightly after hearing the story from Seo-jun.

“/Good. Then shall we start talking seriously?/”

Hwang Do-yoon, who watched the passionate conversation of the actor, the art team, and the consultant painter, whispered to Hwang Ji-yoon.

“…If you don’t do well in this work, you’ll get scolded.”

“…I know.”

***

November 1st, morning.

A car stopped in front of Korea National University of Arts. It was an 11-seater van that the [Fire] team’s advance party would ride.

“Leave the other stuff to the rear party, just take what you need!”

“Woo-jin, what about the camera?”

“I think one is enough.”

Hwang Do-yoon was in the driver’s seat, Hwang Ji-yoon was in the passenger seat, and in the back seat were one art team member (Yu Seo-young, the team leader, would join later with the materials), Park Woo-jin, the head of the filming team, and two seniors from the stage art department who were in charge of props and furniture.

“Se-yeon, I’ll look around the set and let you know if I need anything else.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

The advance party would look around the set first and contact the rear party if they needed anything, and Kim Se-yeon, the assistant director, would leave with all kinds of stuff and the rear party two days later.

The advance party left behind Kim Se-yeon and the team members who came to see them off and the 11-seater van took off. The two seniors from the stage art department, who had a lot of physical work and were big, asked in a puzzled way in the spacious interior of the car.

“Isn’t it a waste of money to rent a big car like this?”

“Oh, there’s one more person to ride.”

“? Here?”

At Hwang Ji-yoon’s words, the seniors from the stage art department and Park Woo-jin tilted their heads. Hwang Ji-yoon, Hwang Do-yoon, and the art team member chuckled.

Not long after leaving KNUA, the car stopped by the sidewalk. A man with a backpack and a hat came up to the door as if he had been waiting for the car. The art team member opened the door and greeted the man. The siblings in the driver’s seat and the passenger seat also welcomed the man.

“Welcome!”

“Did you wait long?”

“No. I just came out.”

At that, Park Woo-jin and the seniors from the stage art department blinked their eyes. Who is he? They wondered, and the man smiled and took off his hat.

“Hello.”

Park Woo-jin and the seniors’ mouths opened wide.

“I’m Lee Seo-jun, a freshman in the acting department. Nice to meet you.”

***

“Wow…”

Park Woo-jin and the seniors, who were amazed by Hwang Ji-yoon and Seo-jun’s story, calmed down a bit after stopping by the first highway rest area.

“What do you want to eat?”

“When it comes to rest areas, it’s butter potatoes!”

“I want tteokbokki!”

Maybe it was because of the food.

The party who got out of the car quickly realized that there was a superstar among them when they came near the rest area where people were bustling.

“Seo-jun, you…”

‘Can you go around like this?’

Hwang Do-yoon, who was about to ask, closed his mouth when he saw Seo-jun ordering at the hot dog shop.

“What do you want, seniors? The hot dogs here are delicious. They have potatoes and cheese.”

“…Potatoes?”

“…Cheese?”

“Please give me one more potato and one more cheese.”

Everyone couldn’t help but admire the sight of Seo-jun coming back with his hands full of hot dogs.

“…Why doesn’t he get caught?”

“Maybe it’s because of the chilly weather.”

Maybe it was because there were many people wearing hats and scarves in the chilly weather, but Seo-jun with a hat didn’t stand out much. Rather, the party who looked around reflexively rather than Seo-jun who seemed to have nothing to hide stood out.

“They’ll be so surprised when they find out Seo-jun was here.”

“They even sell Jin Natra products over there…”

Jin Natra himself is here!

They wanted to say that, but they blocked their mouths with the delicious rest area snacks.

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