Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 171

Park Young-jin looked around nervously.

He was in the middle of a rural road, where cars and people were scarce. 

He had no idea which direction to go. 

The cameraman and the youngest PD laughed at Park Young-jin’s plight.

“I can’t believe I’m left behind! Left behind!!”

Park Young-jin, who couldn’t even start, looked pitiful. 

Or maybe it was part of the plan. 

The youngest PD soon told him the direction to the filming location.

Park Young-jin started walking that way.

A road with no cars or people. 

Park Young-jin sighed at the bleakness.

“How long will it take?”

“About two hours on foot.”

“…Please, someone, pass by…”

Park Young-jin clasped his hands and prayed. 

After walking for a while, his prayer seemed to be answered. 

He heard a car sound from behind.

Unlike Park Young-jin, who brightened up, the youngest PD looked disappointed and turned around.

“It’s a car! Can I hitch a ride?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you too sad?!”

Park Young-jin and the two others stood by the road and waited for the car.

Please, let there be an empty seat. 

Park Young-jin widened his eyes at the sight of a rather large car.

A tourist bus that he never expected to see on this country road. 

And it seemed like there was more than one. 

Tourist buses and cars following them.

The three of them blinked their eyes in confusion. 

Then, the window of the driver’s seat of the first tourist bus went down.

“What are you doing here… Oh? Aren’t you Park Young-jin?”

“Yes. Hello. I’m filming for Walking Man right now. Can I get a ride?”

“Wait a minute.”

The driver stopped the car and got up from his seat to go to the back.

The youngest PD whispered to Park Young-jin.

“Do you think it’s a group tour?”

“Maybe.”

Meanwhile, the cameraman filmed the cars behind the tourist bus with his camera. 

Two buses and a small bus, and a black car that looked expensive even at a glance.

“Hyung, isn’t that car a luxury car?”

“Huh?”

Park Young-jin turned around at the cameraman’s call. 

The car looked familiar. Where did he see it… As Park Young-jin was about to recall, the driver said.

“It’s okay.”

“Wow! Thank you! Where should I get on?”

The tourist bus, the small bus behind it, or the last car.

The driver smiled at Park Young-jin’s question.

“You can get on the last car.”

“Okay! Thank you so much!”

Park Young-jin walked happily to the end. 

The youngest PD and the cameraman also followed him with a smile.

“When we did the pre-survey, there was no car passing by.”

“I told you I’m lucky!”

“Right. I should call the PD. We might arrive sooner than expected.”

The youngest PD took out his phone as they reached the door of the last car. 

Park Young-jin kept tilting his head.

“This car looks so familiar…”

“It looks like there are only a few of them in Korea.”

“That’s what I’m saying. I’ve seen it in real life, not in a picture… Where…!”

As Park Young-jin was about to continue, he remembered where he had seen this car.

This! No way!

He looked shocked as if he had seen a ghost. 

The cameraman, who was filming Park Young-jin’s face, turned his head and then quickly pointed his camera at the car. 

The black car door slid open.

Under the shining sun, someone came out of the car. 

The cameraman was startled and his camera shook. 

Park Young-jin recognized the face and shouted.

“That’s right! Seo-jun’s car!”

“Ahaha. Hello!”

Seo-jun’s cheerful laughter was heard. 

The youngest PD, who was talking to the PD on the phone, turned around at the noise.

“Yes. PD. We might arrive sooner than…!”

And there, he saw an actor’s face that he never thought he would see here.

While the youngest PD stared blankly at Seo-jun and Park Young-jin greeting each other, the PD on the other side of the phone asked him.

-So you think you’ll arrive sooner? Or not?

“…PD”

-What?

“We hit the jackpot.”

-What? Why?

“Hyung got a ride from someone,”

-Then you’ll come early. I need to adjust the schedule…

“The owner of the car is Lee Seo-jun.”

-?? What?

“Lee Seo-jun. Actor Lee Seo-jun!”

The PD, who had paused for a few seconds to process the youngest PD’s words, screamed like a banshee.

Seo-jun and Park Young-jin’s ride together was not long. 

They had to part ways at a fork in the road because they had different destinations.

The [Walking Man!] production team, who had rushed to meet them at the fork after receiving the youngest PD’s call, filmed Seo-jun and Park Young-jin.

“Uncle! Have a safe trip!”

“Seo-jun, do well in your filming! I’ll definitely watch your movie! I’ll promote it hard too!”

“Thank you! PD, cameraman, please be careful!”

The youngest PD, who was waving his hand vigorously with a bright face, whispered to the main PD.

“Did you film it well?”

“Yes! I got permission. The manager said it’s okay to broadcast it!”

“You lucky guy! Good job!”

They expected a high rating for this episode. 

They all smiled and waved at the departing team.

***

After the unexpected encounter, the filming team arrived at their destination, Maejukru, and quickly prepared for the shooting. 

Seo-jun and the actors also changed their clothes and finished their makeup.

“Ready, action!”

Danjong stood at Maejukru with a lonely back. 

He was trying to console his gloomy heart by looking at the scenery as he did yesterday, when Kim Naegwan and Kangdol ran to him. 

Kangdol cried out with tears in his eyes and said with difficulty.

“Let’s run away. Your Majesty! Let’s hide somewhere, whether it’s Geumgangsan or Baekdusan!”

“Don’t call me Your Majesty.”

“That’s not important! Let’s run away!”

“Yes. Your Majesty! Kangdol is right. We have to leave quickly. Kangdol knows this road well, so hurry up!”

Danjong sensed it from their words.

“Did my uncle… order you?”

“That tiger-faced bastard…!”

Kangdol shouted angrily at Danjong’s words.

That tiger-faced bastard had driven out the benevolent Danjong and seized the throne. 

He also killed the loyalists and exiled Danjong. 

He felt his blood boil whenever he thought of that traitor.

Kim Naegwan’s face turned even paler than before.

“…Your Majesty. You have to leave here quickly!”

I see.

Danjong looked at Kim Naegwan, who was beating around the bush, and got a clear answer. 

He looked at the blue sky. Many faces came to his mind. Danjong smiled faintly.

“So this is how it ends.”

Where did I go wrong?

That was what he always thought about on his way to Yeongwol.

What if I had done this or that?

He resented his father and mother who had left him first. 

He also blamed his grandfather who had entrusted him to his uncle Seo-yang. But they were all useless thoughts.

The end he had anticipated had come. 

He couldn’t sleep easily since the night he arrived in exile. 

He tossed and turned every night, imagining the worst day.

Maybe it wouldn’t come, he thought. But then, that day really came.

The cries of Kangdol and Kim Naegwan reached Danjong’s ears, who was lost in his thoughts.

“Let’s run away already!”

Kangdol and Kim Naegwan were ready to carry Danjong and run away at any moment. 

Danjong felt their sincere hearts and laughed. It was a laugh that seemed to crumble at any moment.

Danjong also wanted to run away. 

He was only 17 years old. 

He still had a long life ahead of him. But what held Danjong back was the duty that had weighed on his shoulders since he was born.

He had experienced many things and knew very well what Sejo would do.

He would blame the negligence of the governor and punish him, and turn Yeongwol upside down, looking for accomplices or helpers.

“If I run away, he will turn the whole world upside down like this.”

“Your Majesty…”

Danjong saw smoke rising from afar. It was Kangdol’s village. 

There were children laughing and people working hard there.

“This place won’t be safe either.”

They were the people he had saved. Danjong smiled warmly.

“As a former king, I have to protect my people.”

Kangdol and Kim Naegwan bowed their heads in front of the king who thought of his people.

“Cut, okay! We’ll take a break and start filming again!”

At the friendly director’s words, Kim Hoyoung, who played Kim Naegwan, and Park Cheonil, who played Kangdol, wiped their tears.

Unlike the two who were slowly calming down, Seo-jun, who had been their kind king, was stretching with a smile.

“Seo-jun, what do you want to drink?”

“Hmm. Lemon tea.”

As Seo-jun sat down on a chair after finishing his stretching, Anh Da Ho asked him. Anh Da Ho opened the thermos with lemon tea and poured it into a cup. 

Seo-jun took a sip of the warm lemon tea and smiled comfortably.

His surroundings were quiet today. Lee Jiseok and Park Wonyul, who had come to watch the afternoon filming, also kept their distance from Seo-jun unlike the last filming when they chatted with him.

Anh Da Ho handed him the script and Seo-jun read it quietly.

To avoid disturbing Seo-jun, the staff and the actors also looked at him from a distance. 

Of course, they couldn’t stare at him openly and only glanced at him secretly.

“Don’t you wonder what kind of acting he will do?”

“Yes. I think he will do well, but I’m curious how well.”

At Park Wonyul and Lee Jiseok’s words, the supporting actors nearby whispered.

“Will he do well? He only has one line and it’s all expression acting…”

“He’ll do well. That’s why those actors came to see him.”

“I wish I could talk to him once.”

The supporting actor who played soldier 1 said and the actor who played soldier 2 said.

“I want to see his acting. He’s an actor who has filmed Hollywood movies too. I want to see how he acts in front of my eyes.”

The supporting actors who had grown from extras to famous actors nodded at the young supporting actor who played soldier 2.

“We don’t know when we’ll get this chance again. We have to watch carefully.”

“I’ve seen other actors’ acting while doing extras too, but I wonder how different it will be.”

The supporting actors talked about Seo-jun. Normally, Seo-jun would have felt embarrassed by hearing their conversation with his sensitive hearing, but not today.

He had nothing in his quiet mind but the script. He focused on the script and imagined the acting he would perform in his head.

A few moments later, the filming began.

“Ready, action!”

Danjong knelt down in the yard of Gwanpungheon, his residence in Yeongwol. 

Kim Naegwan and Kangdol, who shouldn’t be here, hid behind a tree and sobbed.

“Nosan-gun is plotting something with Geumseong-daegun…”

The governor appeared with a medicine and said something, but Danjong didn’t hear it.

Danjong stared blankly at the medicine. The black medicine looked like cold water in a dream.

The governor finished his words and stepped back a few steps.

He had heard the rumors that circulated in the palace. 

Everyone kept their mouths shut, but they knew. 

The story of how his uncle had ousted his nephew and taken his place.

He felt like he was doing something wrong by giving the medicine to Danjong, who had been a rightful king. 

He remembered the words of those who had trembled in fear, saying that he would be punished by heaven for disobeying the king of heaven.

A heavy silence fell on Gwanpungheon.

Everyone’s eyes were on Seo-jun. 

In the silence where even the birdsong disappeared. 

Seo-jun’s facial muscles moved slowly.

The black medicine slowly rose from Danjong’s feet. 

He felt like he was sinking into a sticky swamp. 

He couldn’t get out. 

He felt his feet getting cold and was afraid.

He had anticipated and prepared for this day since he left the palace. But it was only a thought. 

The death he saw with his own eyes was terrifying enough to make him nauseous.

Why do I have to die?

Danjong’s eyes were filled with fear and doubt.

Why did my grandfather entrust my uncle with the regency? 

Wasn’t it forbidden from ancient times to give a position to a relative who could be the king’s biggest enemy?

Why did my father die so early? If only he had lived a little longer, a little longer, and guided me.

Danjong bit his lip. His eyes were full of resentment and anger.

Why couldn’t I run away? If I had run away with Kim Naegwan, I could have lived. I wanted to live more too.

What is the king’s duty? What are the people? 

He wanted to lash out at everything. 

Why do I have to take care of the people? Why do I have to go through this?

Danjong closed his eyes tightly.

I should have ignored the people and run away!

No.

His tense face relaxed slowly.

No. That was a lie.

Danjong loved his people and his country. He wanted to be a great king like his grandfather and father. 

He didn’t have much power, but he had done everything he could with his life.

He risked his life to stop Suyang’s rebellion, and he didn’t run away to protect the innocent people.

Danjong,

He had done his best as a king.

Danjong smiled softly and looked at the sky.

“…Didn’t I do well?”

At that, Kim Naegwan and Kangdol burst into tears without knowing. 

Hearing the cries of the people who loved him, Danjong slowly reached out for the medicine.

“Cut, okay!”

Before Seo-jun’s hand touched the bowl of medicine, the friendly director shouted cut.

At that sound, Seo-jun blinked his eyes and stopped his hand in mid-air. 

The assistant director ran over and snatched the medicine away like a hawk catching its prey.

‘Huh, what’s going on?’

Seo-jun tilted his head as he looked at the empty table.

“Wasn’t I supposed to drink the medicine?”

“No, you don’t have to. The script said so, but I think it’s better to stop here.”

It wasn’t good for the audience to be too immersed in the movie. 

Especially if it was death.

The director knew the right balance. 

Seo-jun looked disappointed at his words.

‘But that was delicious…’

It looked black and unappetizing, but so were cola and chocolate. 

Seo-jun decided to ask how to make it later. 

Meanwhile, the staff and the actors were wiping their tears.

“If he had drunk the medicine, we would have cried our eyes out.”

“Assistant director. Nice!”

“That young kid drinking poison…”

“I heard he was actually strangled by a servant…”

“What!?”

Everyone was surprised by the staff’s words.

“There are many stories about Danjong’s death. There are poison theories, suicide theories, murder theories.”

“That’s so pitiful.”

Park Wonyul wiped his tears with a handkerchief. 

Lee Jiseok also sniffed his nose.

“They say you cry more when you get old.”

“Everyone is crying. What are you talking about. It’s because of Seo-jun’s acting,”

“Yeah. He expressed anger, resentment, doubt, everything with just his face. He’s really an amazing actor.”

“Right?”

Lee Jiseok smiled as if he had been praised too. 

Seo-jun joined their conversation.

He had a thermos in his hand. 

He had asked the staff for the fake poison recipe and got a whole thermos of lemon tea from Anh Da Ho, who had a red nose.

‘Well, lemon tea is good too.’

“Teacher. Do you want some lemon tea?”

“Sure. That sounds good.”

“What about me?”

“Just wait a bit.”

Seo-jun handed him a cup of lemon tea and sat next to them, sipping his lemon tea. 

Park Wonyul smiled and said.

“Is this the last filming?”

“Yes. If there’s no additional filming, this is the last one.”

“Then let’s do our best until the end.”

And so, the filming in Yeongwol, Danjong’s exile place, came to an end.