Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 553

“Thank you!”

The man got out of the taxi and ran to the hospital.

The hospital entrance was crowded with people who had been transferred from a nine-vehicle collision involving six cars and three tourist buses. The man, who had only seen such a gruesome scene in movies, spat out a sigh.

The clothes of the people were stained with blood, dust, and scorch marks, and their hair, faces, and exposed limbs were covered with dried blood and dust.

Some of them seemed to have finished their treatment and sat nearby, looking exhausted.

‘But…’

The atmosphere was different from what he expected.

He thought it would be filled with groans and cries of pain, but although he heard some moans, it was not that dark.

“Ha ha ha!”

Children with gauze on their foreheads ran around as if they were not hurt.

They looked like they had been in a terrible accident, but the mood was like they were extras who had just put on some makeup.

“It’s weird. When I had the accident, my leg wouldn’t move and I thought I was in big trouble, but it turned out to be just a bruise.”

“Me too. My arm got stuck between the steering wheel and the door and the rescue workers had a hard time getting it out. It looked hopeless to me. But look at this. It moves. The doctor said I was really lucky.”

“I heard there weren’t many serious injuries than expected. The people who had surgery also did well.”

“The kids who were unconscious also came to their senses as soon as they arrived at the hospital.”

“Is this place lucky or something?”

The man, who had been listening to the patients’ stories, looked up at the hospital and hurried to the ward where his wife was admitted.

“Are you here?”

“Are you okay?!”

He burst into tears at the sight of his wife lying in a hospital gown and receiving an IV. She smiled faintly at her husband, who looked like he was about to cry.

“I’m fine. So is our baby.”

“I’m glad…”

The husband carefully held his wife’s hand.

She swallowed the doctor’s words that she and the baby would have been in danger if he had arrived a little later, and comforted her trembling husband’s hand.

“Do you know the contact number of the person who helped us?”

“No, he didn’t tell me.”

“Did you see his face?”

“I didn’t see it well because of the rain. And it wasn’t just one person, there were other people who helped us too. They seemed to be going somewhere together.”

“I see. I really want to repay them… Should I post something on the internet later?”

The wife nodded with a smile at her husband’s words and said something that came to her mind.

“Oh, I remember that. The person who helped us was very handsome! I didn’t think of it at the time because I was out of it. When I first saw him, I thought an angel had come from heaven.”

Heaven, an angel…

Isn’t that a bit dangerous?

The husband, who was secretly startled, squeezed his wife’s hand a little harder.

“He even had a halo!”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t see him well because of the rain?”

“But I could feel his handsomeness! He looked just like Seo-jun!”

The wife, who was babbling with a bright face as usual, made the husband smile somehow.

“Are you sure you didn’t see him wrong because you were looking at Seo-jun’s pictures too much while you were pregnant? You can see things wrong when you’re in pain.”

“No! He was really handsome!”

The couple bickered and spent their time as usual.

***

“Are we there yet?”

“No. We have to go a little more.”

The way back took quite a long time.

Hwang Do-yoon looked out the window as he listened to the conversation between the stage art and the seniors in the driver’s seat and the passenger’s seat. The sun was already setting.

“Should we eat dinner as soon as we get there?”

“Yeah. What do you want to eat?”

“Let’s eat something light.”

They didn’t have much appetite because of the big accident nearby. They all agreed and nodded their heads without saying much.

The art team member recalled the dark smoke and said.

“Are they all okay?”

“They’ll be fine.”

Following Seo-jun’s reassuring words, the radio announcer’s voice came on.

-It’s a miracle.

Seo-jun and the seniors listened to the voice filled with surprise and admiration.

-The fire department had expected that there would be many casualties because the accident occurred inside the tunnel and there was also an explosion, but contrary to expectations, there was not a single death.

“Wow…!”

-The treatment of the seriously injured who were taken to the hospital also ended safely, and there were no more serious injuries from the three tourist buses that were carrying the elderly.

At the announcer’s words, everyone’s faces brightened.

“That’s a relief!”

“Yeah, really!”

The seniors, who let out a sigh of relief, started to chatter excitedly.

“Should we eat pork belly for dinner?”

“Sounds good!”

“Do we have any soju?”

“Let’s drink somaek. Somaek!”

“It’s good that you guys drink, but we have to do today’s work tomorrow, so don’t drink too much.”

“Ah…”

They all nodded their heads with regretful faces at Hwang Ji-yoon’s words.

They were supposed to do the work today and tomorrow separately, but they had to do today’s work tomorrow because they arrived late.

“This is the place.”

They passed a narrow street with dimly lit houses and streetlights, and the [Hwa] team arrived at the accommodation.

As Seo-jun and the seniors got out of the car and stretched, Hwang Ji-yoon and the stage art and the seniors who had come to survey the place first quickly turned on the lights in the accommodation.

The accommodation in the shape of a D had a large yard, a wooden platform, and a faucet on one side of the yard. It looked like a country house, but it also looked like a guest house with quite a number of rooms.

“Are we using all of this?”

Seo-jun, who had contacted his parents and told them he had arrived safely, looked at the accommodation that seemed to be rented out entirely with a surprised face. Hwang Ji-yoon nodded.

“This place is made into a guest house for people who come here to shoot or play. There are cases where they use it all.”

Hwang Do-yoon, who had entered the assigned room, shouted.

“This room, it looks like it’s been remodeled, right? It’s awesome!”

There was also a kitchen and two large refrigerators. There were also pots, pans, cooking utensils, spoons, and plates for cooking.

[Fire] Team was going to stay here for about a month.

“They said we can use everything here.”

“Then we just need to get the ingredients. It feels like a field trip.”

As Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled, Hwang Ji-yoon, who knew the reality of a field trip, scratched his cheek. He would be grateful if he didn’t have to eat ramen every day.

“Seo-jun, Ji-yoon, let’s move our luggage first.”

The nine-seater van that the advance team used was a bit small to carry a month’s worth of luggage, so the rest of Seo-jun and the seniors’ luggage was coming with the main team.

They all put their three-day luggage in the rooms that had been assigned in advance and gathered in the kitchen to prepare dinner.

They microwaved the instant rice they brought from Seoul, grilled pork belly on a frying pan, and prepared side dishes such as lettuce, perilla leaves, and ssamjang. Soon, soju and beer were on the table.

“Should we make soybean paste stew?”

“…Can you?”

The seniors, who had only washed and grilled the ingredients, widened their eyes at Seo-jun’s words and nodded their heads.

“Wow. I thought we’d only eat ramen or grilled meat for a month… but there was someone who could cook.”

“Right? Seo-jun, do you need any help?”

“Yes. Please cut this for me.”

“…Like this?”

“Yes. A little smaller.”

Seo-jun nodded at the slightly clumsy art team member.

“By the way, Seo-jun, you have a Korean cuisine certificate, right?”

“Yes.”

They exclaimed in admiration.

Soon, the soybean paste stew that Seo-jun made was on the table. They swallowed their saliva at the bubbling soybean paste stew. Park Woo-jin scooped out a ladle for each of them, and they quickly picked up their spoons. They gasped at the hot broth.

At the same time, the seniors raised their thumbs up, and Seo-jun laughed.

The atmosphere was lively with the hot soybean paste stew and the well-grilled pork belly. The stage art seniors drank a glass of soju and a glass of beer sparingly and cried.

“Who told me to stick this on my nose…”

“Give me one more drink…”

“No way.”

At the director’s firm words, Park Woo-jin and Hwang Do-yoon, who had been secretly hoping, drooped their shoulders. Seo-jun and the art team members laughed.

“By the way, when are we going to do the ritual?”

“Oh, we’re not going to do it.”

Hwang Ji-yoon shook his head at Park Woo-jin’s question. The stage art seniors widened their eyes.

“You’re not? Really?”

“Yes. That’s all superstition.”

Park Woo-jin scratched his cheek at Hwang Ji-yoon’s words.

“It’s superstition, but… looking at the incidents that happened on the way here, I think it would be better to do it.”

They all nodded their heads without realizing it.

From plagiarism to tunnel accidents.

They were resolved safely, but they could have been big trouble.

Hwang Ji-yoon couldn’t argue, and started to think seriously.

***

The next day.

After a simple breakfast, the [Fire] advance team had a brief meeting.

“Seniors, please check the location of the props and furniture with me, and Woo-jin, please take pictures of the outside and inside of the building with the camera with your brother. I’ll join you later.”

And Seo-jun and the art team members went to look around the place where the ‘unknown painter’ would paint in the climax.

“Please contact Se-yeon right away if you need anything.”

“Se-yeon must be busy.”

Kim Se-yeon, the assistant director, probably had to look at his phone all day.

“Let’s go!”

The filming location was not far from the accommodation.

They walked along the field next to it, turned right at the ‘’ shaped fork, and walked straight in, and saw a two-story Western-style mansion surrounded by a red brick wall.

The window frames were white, and the walls were made of red bricks. The mansion was old-fashioned.

“It looks like a mansion taken straight out of the script.”

They were amazed at how they found such a place.

“Right? I had a hard time finding this building.”

Hwang Ji-yoon smiled brightly and shrugged his shoulders at Seo-jun’s admiration.

Hwang Ji-yoon led the group through the well-maintained yard and into the mansion.

They marveled at the interior that looked like something from a movie. They passed the entrance and a spacious lobby appeared, and they could go up to the second floor through the central staircase.

The heavy bronze doors and the bright windows also suited the mansion.

“The luggage in the rooms and hallways we’re going to shoot is already taken out. It’s a place they sometimes use as a villa, so you can use electricity and water, so there won’t be any problem with lighting or other machines.”

After looking around the mansion, the [Fire] advance team started to move.

Hwang Ji-yoon and the stage art seniors walked around the rooms and hallways they were going to shoot and checked the location of the props and furniture again.

Park Woo-jin checked the appearance of the mansion on the screen through the Kid 100. He had to pay attention to the color and direction of the light that changed with the time.

“Do-yoon, walk from here.”

“Like this?”

Hwang Do-yoon, one of the main characters, helped Park Woo-jin’s work as a model.

Seo-jun and the art team members headed to the place where they would shoot the climax. It was a place they had to drive to, so Seo-jun took the wheel.

“This must be it.”

“Looks like it.”

The place where they would shoot the climax was a rugged mountain that had burned a few months ago and still had traces of it.

As they said, there was a clear boundary line, and there was a clear distinction between the part that was completely burned and the part where the leaves were slowly falling.

The burned part was shaped like a distorted square, and it looked like it would turn into a white canvas when it snowed. It was perfect for painting.

“But doesn’t it look like a rat ate it?”

“Right. It looks like a patch.”

Seo-jun and the art team members laughed and took pictures of the place and sent them to the art team in Seoul. As if they were waiting, they got a call from the art team leader, Yoo Seo-young.

-It’s bigger than I thought! I think we’ll need more paint than expected. Can you measure the width there?

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

-And check the fallen tree pillars or something. How’s the slope?

“It’s pretty low, so I don’t think the paint will flow down.”

-That’s good. Anything else unusual?

Seo-jun and the art team members looked around the filming location and talked to Yoo Seo-young.

***

And the next afternoon.

The [Fire] main team arrived.