Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 392

Clap clap clap!

Applause sounded.

Director Park Jung-woo, assistant director Kim Soo-han, and the actors looked around with surprised faces. 

Seo-jun and Evan Block, Rachel Hill also clapped.

“I know it’s a courtesy, but it feels good.”

“Indeed.”

Kim Soo-han agreed and smiled broadly at Park Jung-woo’s words.

The reporters who were sitting in the audience took out their phones and timed as soon as the movie ended. 

It was not a big deal as it was a custom of the Cannes Film Festival, but there was no headline that could attract attention as much as ‘Standing ovation for how many minutes!’

“Soo-han hyung. Did you do the special makeup at Dohwa-won?”

“Yeah. How did you know? The zombies were also the ones who appeared in Escape. They all acted so well that I cast them first as soon as the production plan was set.”

I see.

I thought they looked familiar.

‘But I couldn’t recognize the zombies well.’

They looked more so because they were wearing hanbok.

Seo-jun kept clapping while exchanging small talk with Kim Soo-han.

As the applause continued, the faces of Park Jung-woo and Kim Soo-han appeared on the screen. 

The actress who played the role of ‘Soo-ryeo’, the heroine, and the faces of other actors also appeared, and the applause grew louder.

That way, 3 minutes passed, and 4 minutes passed, but the applause did not subside. 

The director, actors, and staff of [Soo-ryeo] were stunned by the standing ovation that lasted longer than expected.

It was a successful screening.

[Director Park Jung-woo’s ‘Soo-ryeo’, 6 minutes of standing ovation!]

[Director Park Jung-woo, successful debut at Cannes Film Festival!]

[Shadowman team also standing ovation! ‘Soo-ryeo’, what is Joseon-era zombie?]

-6 minutes is pretty good, isn’t it?

=Yeah, usually everyone gives a standing ovation as a custom, but if it’s boring, it ends quickly. 6 minutes means good reaction.

=I’m looking forward to it

-Is there a subtitle for Korean movie?

=They provide English or French subtitles.

=Your highness is very generous!

=Thank you, your highness!

=

-It’s good that the first screening got good reviews

“I’ll arrive tonight.”

“Your team?”

Charlie, who had finished getting ready to go out, asked and Seo-jun shook his head and answered.

“No. The One Shot team.”

Charlie, who arrived in Cannes yesterday and stayed at Seo-jun’s accommodation, decided to go around with Seo-jun from today.

“When is your team coming?”

“They’re coming tomorrow. But I have a schedule from then on, so I don’t think I’ll see you much.”

When [Flowing Away] team arrives, there will be some scheduled events in between, so he wouldn’t be able to watch many movies with Charlie. 

Charlie quickly shook his head at Seo-jun’s regretful expression.

“I like this schedule.”

He didn’t know how surprised he was when he saw the movie list that Seo-jun showed him yesterday.

‘How many movies do you want to see…’

If he had no schedule, he would have started and ended his day with movies. Charlie shivered.

“But I can only see one or two a day…”

“But you have all the movies you want to see.”

“That’s true, but…”

Seo-jun nodded his head and looked at his ringing phone.

Rachel: Come down quickly!

Rachel: Evan is here too!

“They’re both in the lobby.”

“Yeah? Let’s go down quickly.”

Seo-jun and Charlie put on their hats and left the room and got on the elevator.

“I met them when I was filming Shadowman3, but I didn’t know they would remember me.”

“Really?”

He said they were friends, but he didn’t say it was Charlie, so Evan Block and Rachel Hill were really happy. They also agreed to try Charlie’s cooking next time.

“But can you stay in your room all the time?”

“It’s inconvenient to go back and forth from your house, and it’s too late to book another accommodation. There are two rooms here, so you can use one. And this is a separate accommodation prepared for me, and [Flowing Away] team has a different accommodation, so it’s okay.”

“Oh. You’re a Hollywood star after all.”

Charlie clapped his hands jokingly with a playful face and Seo-jun also smiled.

Soon the elevator stopped.

The hotel lobby was full of people with fancy decorations, but Seo-jun, who had a keen eye, quickly found the two actors who were pretending to be tourists looking at pamphlets.

“Oh! You’re here. They say the tiger comes when you talk about it!”

“A tiger?”

Charlie tilted his head and Rachel Hill smiled satisfactorily.

“It’s a Korean proverb. I wanted to use it once!”

“What were you talking about?”

If it was that proverb, it meant they were talking about Seo-jun or Charlie.

Evan Block answered Seo-jun’s question while Rachel Hill explained the proverb to Charlie.

“We were talking about your graduation performance.”

“I see.”

It was not a very special story, as only the fact that it was a play was decided.

“Then let’s go quickly!”

Rachel Hill led the way with an excited face.

The movie they were going to watch today was an American movie that was invited to the midnight screening.

Since Charlie was a civilian and they didn’t want to attract too much attention, they decided to skip the red carpet event and enter quietly.

Seo-jun took out a pamphlet and read it as he settled in his seat at the Lumiere Theater. 

Charlie also looked at the pamphlet with a curious face.

“SF, huh… That’s unusual.”

“Right? An alien that falls into a cornfield… Who would think of that?”

Seo-jun and Charlie chuckled as they thought of the superhero with an S on his chest. 

Evan Block and Rachel Hill also had smiling faces.

Soon after.

The theater darkened and the movie began.

A large ‘S’ appeared in the center of the screen and spun around, then moved to the left side and other letters appeared one by one.

[Silent]

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the screen.

***

That evening.

Seo-jun, who bought a lot of the most delicious cakes in Cannes, headed to the accommodation provided by the Cannes Film Festival office. 

It was not [Flowing Away] team that hadn’t even departed yet, but [One Shot]’s accommodation that arrived in Cannes two hours ago.

“Uncle Jong-ho, Ji-seok hyung! I’m here!”

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok, who were lying on the sofa, greeted Seo-jun with a smile.

They looked tired because they had been on a plane for more than ten hours and were caught by reporters on their way from the airport and had to do interviews and take a lot of photos.

“Where are the others?”

“They all went to bed early after eating.”

“At this time?”

It wasn’t even 8 o’clock yet.

Lee Ji-seok chuckled at Seo-jun’s question.

“They said they would play all day tomorrow since they have to run around from the day after tomorrow.”

Seo-jun laughed at that.

[Flowing Away] team would probably do the same.

“Then have this later. I bought a lot, but I don’t know if the number is right.”

“Jong-ho hyung. Should we eat ours now?”

“Why not.”

As Seo-jun put down the cake on the table, Lee Ji-seok brought out some drinks from the fridge. 

Kim Jong-ho also leaned towards the table. 

They each chose a slice of cake that suited their taste and picked up a fork.

“This is delicious.”

“They say it’s the best place here.”

“Really? Everyone will love it.”

Seo-jun smiled at the compliments of the two actors.

“Then should I tell you some good restaurants?”

“Good restaurants?”

“I found some while watching movies. They’re pretty good. And they suit Korean taste buds too.”

“Then we’re lucky.”

Seo-jun took out a pamphlet and a map and marked the restaurants with a red pen and wrote down the recommended menus.

Not only Lumiere Theater, but also theaters that were a bit far from Debussy Theater, there were not only meals but also simple snacks.

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok watched as red dots appeared one by one on the map while eating cake and opened their mouths in astonishment.

“…Didn’t you come here a week ago, Seo-jun?”

“That’s right. How did you find so many places? There’s no gap in the map. No gap.”

There weren’t that many red marks, but they were evenly distributed within the area where the Cannes Film Festival was held, so if there was a theater where a movie was screened, there was always at least one red dot nearby. 

Even the farthest theater was no exception.

“I just watched all the movies I wanted to see and went around like that.”

Seo-jun chuckled as Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok looked at him with an expression that said they couldn’t stop him.

“So which movie did you like?”

Kim Jong-ho asked and Seo-jun mentioned several movies. Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok also listened with interest to the stories of movies from all over the world.

“Soo-ryeo was also fun. The zombies who acted in Escape did it too. And Dohwa-won did the special makeup.”

“Really? I don’t know about anything else, but zombies must be worth watching.”

Kim Jong-ho, who was the lead actor of [Escape], smiled with satisfaction.

“And there was a movie called Silent that I watched today. That was fun too.”

“What kind of movie is it?”

“Oh, I think I saw that on the pamphlet. It definitely said… Sci-fi, right?”

“Sci-fi?”

Lee Ji-seok’s words made Kim Jong-ho tilt his head. It wasn’t a genre that was completely absent from the Cannes Film Festival, but it was definitely rare.

“Yes. It’s Sci-fi and it’s about aliens and alien civilizations. Like androids. The background is America.”

“Wow. I’m curious about the story.”

Seo-jun enthusiastically explained the plot of [Silent]. 

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok nodded their heads and listened with pleasure.

“It sounds interesting just from the plot.”

“There’s a twist in the second half, so be sure to watch it. I didn’t tell you that.”

“Okay. I got it.”

Kim Jong-ho said and Seo-jun laughed and then exclaimed.

Oh.

By the way.

“I’m going to do SF for my graduation performance.”

Cough!

Lee Ji-seok choked on his drink at the sudden appearance of the genre. Kim Jong-ho, who barely avoided a crisis, also blinked in surprise.

“…Sci-fi?”

Seo-jun chuckled at their strong reactions and said.

“Well, it’s a play, so I can’t put everything like a movie, right?”

Besides, it was a student’s graduation play, so he wouldn’t be able to use the amazing devices that could be used in large-scale plays.

‘Hmm. If I use the art students from Mirinae High School, I think something good will come out.’

Seo-jun laughed as he knew the skills of the art students at Mirinae High School well.

“…You’re really doing Sci-fi?”

Lee Ji-seok, who had finally calmed down, asked Seo-jun as he handed him a tissue.

“I don’t know yet. We just decided on the genre today, so we have to look for it now. I’m going to look for various things when I go back to Korea.”

“Or adaptation?”

“If there’s a good novel, I’ll adapt it.”

“Is there something like a mirror that has a twist?”

“Uh… I don’t know?”

Since he had just decided to do Sci-fi today, Seo-jun couldn’t answer questions he didn’t know.

“Ugh! I’m dying of curiosity!”

“Me too. It would have been better if we didn’t know until the script came out.”

Seo-jun burst into laughter at the sincere words of Lee Ji-seok and Kim Jong-ho.