Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 453

[The Tiger]

[The tiger comes down]

A slow and subtle voice was heard.

It was like a tiger preparing for a hunt, quietly reciting Park Seo-jin’s voice.

[The tiger comes down]

He spat out each letter quietly, but with a sense of strength.

[An animal comes down to the deep valley of the pine forest]

Then, the rhythm slowly began to speed up.

Like a tiger that slowly stepped on its big feet and approached its prey.

[Shaking its silkworm head, tearing its ears, its body wobbly, its tail stiff!]

Boom!

The melody of the janggu, drum, and geomungo that had been faintly heard along with the footsteps of the tiger coming down from the mountain began to run fast and the song began.

The four voices of Brown Black captivated the ears of Song Yoo-jung and Im Ye-na who were listening.

[The tiger comes down]

[The tiger comes down]

At the part that came out again as if reciting, Song Yoo-jung blinked her eyes and opened her mouth.

“Uh… Is it just me or does Jangsanbeom come to mind?”

“…No. Me too.”

Two weeks ago, that day came to their minds.

The intense appearance of Jangsanbeom, who appeared right next to them, shaking his snow-white hair and spotted durumagi, walking slowly and strangely toward the ground.

“Wow… Did they plan this in advance?”

“As expected of Lee Seo-jun’s troupe.”

They couldn’t help but admire.

***

[Brown Black, single album ‘Tiger’ announced!]

[Brown Black, YouTube ‘Tiger’ MV released!]

[Collaboration of pansori and pop music! Brown Black’s ‘Tiger’!]

-BB’s new song is good.

=22 I was curious when I heard that pansori was included, but it has a good vibe.

=333 It fits better than I thought.

=444 I keep singing along to the part where the tiger comes down

-I never thought I’d hear Sugungga here;;;

=What is Sugungga?

=The liver of a rabbit. There’s a fairy tale book. The Dragon King is sick and tries to get medicine (the liver of a rabbit) by going to land. Jara brings a rabbit (Mr. To) to Yonggung, but the rabbit lies and returns to land.

=The title is The Liver of a Rabbit I knew the story roughly, but the title is very straightforward

=Sugungga is one of the parts where [the tiger comes down]. Jara tries to call Mr. To (rabbit), but his jaw hurts and he accidentally calls Mr. Ho (tiger).

=Oh.

-Here’s a video of a famous pansori singer singing it (link)

=They arranged it. The way they sing is different.

=I can’t believe I’m listening to pansori

-Wow… Wow… Lee Seo-jun’s troupe is here…!

=?? What? Why does Lee Seo-jun suddenly come up??

=Didn’t you watch the play?

=…Are you bragging that you watched the play?

=Sorry Then I can’t say anything.

-?? This kind of comment started appearing on BB’s new song post.

=What the hell is it that people who watched the play are all reacting like this??

***

The play [MOEB-436] ended its 6th performance, and the date was already almost the end of January.

Today was Monday and Eunhasu Center was closed, but [436] team gathered at Theater 2.

“I’ve been listening to this all day.”

Kim Joo-kyung and Lee Sol sang along to Brown Black’s new song, [Tiger], which was released a week ago, and tapped their feet. The other kids were the same. They unknowingly sang along to the part where ‘the tiger comes down.’

“As expected of BB.”

Music and Kids couldn’t help but admire and clap their hands softly.

“I never thought they would put pansori in it.”

“Right? The public’s reaction was good too.”

Seo-jun smiled at the sight of the kids who had gathered in the dressing room listening to [Tiger] and waiting for their teammates who had not arrived yet.

When Hwang Ye-jun still couldn’t decide on the direction of the song, what caught Hwang Ye-jun’s eye was Seo-jun’s play script.

The story that connected from SF to Joseon era was interesting, and he was impressed by the description that he would appear from the audience seat. He showed him briefly how he would act.

As soon as he got hooked on the idea of ‘tiger’, Hwang Ye-jun started looking for traditional instruments, songs, and stories related to tigers. 

He thought there would be something from the old days when tigers appeared frequently.

That’s how he found pansori [Sugungga].

Hwang Ye-jun took a part of pansori [Sugungga] and put it in the chorus of the song to make a new song [Tiger].

Brown Black’s new song [Tiger] was released less than a week ago, and it topped all music sites and the music video uploaded to YouTube also boasted a huge number of views. 

Maybe it would win first place on music shows from this week.

“When I hear this part, I can’t help but think of Jangsanbeom’s appearance.”

“Me too! I thought of that scene exactly when I first heard it!”

The kids nodded at Kim Chae-yeon’s words. Kang Jae-han asked Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun. Did you plan this?”

“No. I showed them once, but I didn’t know it would feel so similar.”

It was a very brief performance.

After that, Seo-jun and Brown Black were both busy preparing for the play and the album, so they couldn’t even meet.

“As expected of Lee Seo-jun’s troupe…”

“I guess they communicate without even talking.”

Seo-jun scratched his neck with embarrassment at the admiring teammates.

“You all came early!”

“Hello!”

As they talked while listening to Brown Black’s [Tiger], the teammates arrived one by one.

When the scheduled time came, Seo-jun, who had gone out for a while and came back, looked around the teammates who had arrived and smiled and said.

“You all know that we’re going to shoot a video for YouTube today, right? The staff at Eunhasu Center will help us, but let’s do our best.”

“Yes.”

“Yes!”

“Then let me introduce the directors who will help us with the shooting today.”

At Seo-jun’s call, three people entered the dressing room.

“Nice to meet you. [436] team members.”

[436] team kids opened their eyes wide and looked at the directors in front of them. The faces they had been looking for, hoping they would shoot their play [MOEB-436], were right in front of them.

The friendly director, Choi Dae-man, Choi Min-seong PD smiled at the surprised kids’ expressions. They were the directors who filmed and edited the play [Mirror].

“Ah! I hope the shooting goes well today!”

The surprise was brief, and the [436] team greeted them with a happy expression. The directors also smiled and returned the greeting.

“I really enjoyed watching the play. That’s why I want to convey that atmosphere to the viewers as much as possible.”

Director Woo Jung-han said.

“It’s a long-take shooting, right? Unlike the usual way of shooting one scene in short segments, we plan to capture the liveliness of the play by filming it in long stretches. So there won’t be any interruptions in your acting.”

If the usual shooting was like a music video that was cut into pieces, today’s shooting was like a music show stage where the play would be performed continuously.

PD Choi Min-seong spread two fingers and said.

“We plan to shoot in two versions. A close-up shot that shows the actors’ expressions and a full shot that shows the whole stage. When we shoot the close-up shots, each character will have a camera assigned to them. Of course, we will go up to the stage as well.”

“It sounds like a variety show.”

PD Choi Min-seong nodded at Seo Joon’s remark. It was similar to a variety show where each person had a personal camera that captured their expressions and reactions.

“That’s right. You can think of it that way. So please pay attention to your facial expressions and eye contact when we shoot the close-up shots.”

The acting team nodded their heads. Park Yeon-ji and Kim Young-chan swallowed their saliva.

“Although it’s a long-take shooting, we will cut some parts. Like the real Yoo-jin’s appearance, the spaceship crash, or Jang San-beom’s appearance.”

The [436] team nodded their heads at Director Choi Dae-man’s words. 

Those were also scenes where the lights were turned off to show the passage of time in the play.

Director Woo Jung-han, who had explained enough to the [436] team, said.

“Shall we start preparing for the shooting?”

At that, the makeup team staff who were waiting to dress up the acting team handed them their costumes. 

Park Min-hyung and Kim Chae-yeon headed to the lighting & sound room, and Lee Sol and the art team headed to the stage to check the set.

That’s how the YouTube video shooting began.

***

[Actor Lee Ji-seok, happy news from Hollywood!]

[A new Hollywood star in reserve! Actor Kim Jong-ho leaves for abroad!]

[Play ‘MOEB-436’ second ticketing scheduled for tomorrow!]

-Wow. Lee Ji-seok passed the audition!

-I knew it would happen, but I’m so happy! Have a good shooting!

-Kim Jong-ho actor, have a safe trip!

-I’m looking forward to 22 movies!

-Are Lee Ji-seok and Kim Jong-ho in the same movie?

-Yeah, I guess so.

-I have to watch it!

-Second ticketing! Second ticketing! Sec.ond.Tic.ket.ing!

-I hope I succeed this time…!

-Moviegoer-nim Leave your mouse to your younger sibling

-Moviegoer-nim’s younger sibling’s career: Attended many concerts as a Bubble fan.

-That ticketing?!?

-Wow… You have a secret weapon! Will you succeed this time?

-It feels like a grandchild who buys tickets for Trot Emperor concert instead

-But your younger sibling hasn’t seen Seo Joon’s play?

-They saw it with first ticketing So now they are cheering up Moviegoer-nim

-If you succeed this time too… Rea.lly.Awe.some.

***

Incheon International Airport.

Park Ji-o’s agent looked at his watch and waited for Park Ji-o and his family.

Originally, he was going to pick them up himself, but they said they would come with their friends, so he decided to wait at the airport.

“But it’s Park Ji-o we’re talking about. Wouldn’t it have been better to go earlier?”

The subordinate who would help with various procedures in Spain asked the agent.

Usually, talented players join overseas youth teams in their teens and start their careers by learning overseas soccer. After all, the Korean soccer pool is small, and if you aim for overseas, it’s better to get used to training and foreign players’ play from an early age.

“I thought so too at first…”

Park Ji-o, who was currently one of the best high school soccer players, had enough skills to do more than his share even as a pro. 

There were also some Korean clubs that were interested in him.

He had been that skilled since he was young, so it wouldn’t have been easy for him to have a competitive spirit against his peers who were worse than him. Competition is when you see players who are similar or better than you and ignite your ambition.

So he had to see and experience more amazing players right next to him.

The agents who gave him their cards all said that and recommended him to go to Europe.

You shouldn’t stay in Korea, if he was my child, I would have gone right away, his parents are blocking his way, he can debut as a pro right away if he trusts himself.

After all kinds of words were exchanged before the contract, the current agency that agreed to wait until he graduated from high school was chosen.

“Ji-o’s skills improved much more than I expected.”

The agent who had judged that his skills would improve by +10 if he had chosen to go to Europe at that time, was surprised by the recent test results. It was more than that.

“+15 or so.”

“Oh…”

“And he has no injuries at all, and no fatigue accumulated anywhere. He’s clean. 

The medical department was really amazed. 

They thought Ji-o had someone who took care of his body.”

The agent who didn’t know that he had accidentally hit the right answer still felt a soreness in the back of his neck.

Even if he had gone to Europe, wouldn’t his skills have improved more? +20 or so.

“Well. I don’t think so. We also judged that Ji-o’s talent was almost top-notch back then.”

“Hmm. That’s true.”

The expected value of the top-notch talent and the top-notch environment was +10.

But Park Ji-o overturned the agency’s guess and grew splendidly in Korea. 

His performance in Spain was really anticipated.

“I wonder if it affected his mental state because he was young.”

There were quite a few young players who went to Europe early and couldn’t adapt and got homesick.

“That’s not all, but it must have been a good decision for Park Ji-o to stay in Korea.”

“Right. And he knew Choi Si-hyuk too. He must have gotten a lot of advice from him.”

“And the contract too.”

“Hmm.”

He still felt a lump in his throat when he thought of that time.

He expected that there would be someone in this field among his acquaintances who would check the contract thoroughly, but he never thought it would be Choi Si-hyuk, who was currently playing in the German first league.

“I couldn’t find any reason for them to meet. It’s amazing.”

Choi Si-hyuk and Park Ji-o were about five years apart, so it wouldn’t have been easy for them to meet. The agent and his subordinate were curious how they met.

“Ah. They’re coming over there.”

Park Ji-o and his twin brother Park Ji-hoo, and their parents were walking with their carriers. 

There were three people next to them who were having a fun conversation with the twins, probably their friends.

“Hello, hyung!”

Park Ji-o greeted the agent happily when he saw him.

He had a bright face that showed no fear of living in Spain from now on.