So Se-jun created it. The clues were the teddy bear, mom, and smile.
From a distance, Ryan Will's voice as the director could be heard.
"Action!"
Just as he thought the voice was unexpectedly small for such a large man,
'William' was now four years old. The teddy bear in his hand was a birthday gift he had received on his fourth birthday. Among all the gifts, this teddy bear from his father was his favorite. Playing in the yard and talking to the teddy bear was William's favorite game.
It wasn't a grand story. This morning's breakfast was delicious, cookies were the best snack. What should we play today? This or that?
Today was just another ordinary day. The weather was chilly, so his mother dressed him warmly. Clutching the teddy bear under his arm, he sat in the yard where he played every day and played with the teddy bear.
"William!"
His mother called. William lifted his head at the sound of her voice. His mother was standing by the door, looking at the baby. William loved his mother. He got up with a wide smile, delighted by her call.
"William!!"
His mother ran over. Seeing her running with her arms outstretched, William also extended his hands, holding the teddy bear, to be embraced in her warm arms. William loved being held by his mother, more than even the delicious cookies, and he smiled happily.
Then everything went dark. His whole body felt cold.
"Cut! OK!"
Ryan Will's voice, like a shout, pierced Se-jun's ears. Se-jun's eyes snapped open.
"Huh?"
What? What is it? When did the filming start?
With a dazed look, he saw Barron's worried face come into view.
"Scared? Did I pull you too quickly?"
Barron held Se-jun and patted him. Seeing Se-jun stretch out his arms toward Melissa, Barron thought it was a good timing and quickly pulled Se-jun into the chroma key fabric by holding his side. He then checked on Se-jun's condition.
In previous shoots, other child actors would start crying when Melissa screamed, startled by her voice. Even if they managed to get through the scene, they would cry in fear when Barron tried to hold their sides.
But Se-jun didn't cry; he had his eyes tightly shut. His lips were slightly blue.
Was he cold? But Se-jun's body, held in Barron's arms, was warm enough.
Concerned by this difference, Barron asked again.
"Are you okay? Jun?"
"What's going on, Barron?"
"No, Jun…."
"I'm fine!"
At the director's voice, Se-jun snapped back to reality and shouted. Barron, who had been patting Se-jun's back, put him down on the ground. The two walked toward Ryan.
"Weren't you scared?"
"No, it was fun!"
Actually, he couldn't remember anything. Se-jun had just thought about William. Happiness, mom, and the pulling wormhole. It was cold and dark. Se-jun tilted his head. What was that?
Ryan and the camera director were discussing seriously while looking at the monitor.
On one side, Melissa was wiping her tears with a handkerchief. Barron was surprised to see her.
He knew she was working hard, but he didn't expect her to be so immersed that she would cry. Moreover, she had been repeating the same performance all day. He didn't think she had that much energy left.
"You were that immersed?"
"Ah, well…."
As Melissa was about to answer Barron's question, she saw Se-jun holding Barron's hand and started crying again.
Barron and Se-jun were at a loss.
"Why are you crying?"
"Melissa, why are you crying?!"
"Sniff. Poor William…."
Finally, other staff members led Melissa to the waiting area. The staff members who led her away had bright expressions.
It was because the OK sign had finally come from Ryan Will. Everyone looked at Se-jun with admiring eyes.
Barron shook his head as he watched Melissa's back being led away by the staff.
"Method acting isn't all good, it seems."
"Method acting?"
"Jun doesn't know?"
"No."
How could he explain it to this 4.5-year-old baby? Barron thought for a moment but decided to trust the smart Se-jun. He explained slowly and simply.
"Method acting is when the actor becomes the character they are playing. For example, Melissa is usually herself, but during filming, she forgets herself and becomes William's mom."
"William's mom…."
Se-jun thought deeply. Wasn't his situation just the same?
Se-jun had forgotten he was Se-jun and became William. He knew he would be pulled into the wormhole, and he knew it wasn't a wormhole but Barron, yet it was cold and dark inside.
Is this what method acting is?
"Method acting is good while you're acting, but it's hard to come out of the character after filming, like Melissa."
"Come out of it?"
"Melissa forgetting she's William's mom and becoming herself again."
That was different. Se-jun had come out of it as soon as he heard Ryan's 'Cut.' Se-jun tilted his head.
"How do you do method acting?"
At Se-jun's question, Barron cleared his throat and answered in a serious tone.
"The foundation of all acting is to understand the character's role…."
"To understand the character's role!"
"To understand the character's role…?"
"Swalwin Anem!"
Se-jun's words made Barron's neck and face turn bright red.
"…Did you see it too, Jun?"
"CAN Channel 'People Who Love Movies'!"
"…You saw it."
"Swalwin Anem is the best."
Barron laughed, a bit embarrassed.
"He's my favorite actor too."
Se-jun also laughed….
Slap!
Se-jun slapped his cheeks very hard with both hands. I didn't laugh yet! Slap! Slap! I didn't laugh! Fortunately, his ability didn't activate when he heard Se-jun's shout.
Barron was at a loss at the sight of Se-jun, who had suddenly started slapping his cheeks.
"Are you okay, Jun?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Really?"
"Really!"
His cheeks hurt, but he was fine. Really. Se-jun shed a few tears from his burning cheeks.
'I need to sleep as soon as the filming is over.'
* * *
"Ready!"
Ryan shouted loudly. On the monitor, a firmly closed door appeared. On another screen, Se-jun was seen sitting on the floor.
"Action!"
The door burst open, and Melissa appeared. The camera focused on her face.
Ryan looked at her face. It was touching, but to him, it was a slightly lacking performance.
She was a mother who had rushed out after seeing the breaking news. She should have been filled with the belief that her son wouldn't disappear among so many people and the anxiety of "It can't be, it can't be." But Melissa's face only showed the urgency of finding her son.
Was it because they had filmed too much? Knowing the staff and actors who had been suffering all day, Director Ryan, who was about to call "NG," decided to watch Se-jun's performance as well. If this child was also bad, he thought about just deleting this scene.
"William!"
Melissa's scream was heard, and Se-jun in the screen stood up. No,
"That's…."
William stood up. The small child got up with a wide smile and greeted Melissa.
[The Illusion of the Smiling Face Mushroom has been activated.]
A sound that Se-jun, who was acting, and everyone else couldn't hear rang out.
As Se-jun's smiling face was shown in close-up, Ryan Will, the director, and James Randon, the camera director, who were monitoring, held their breath.
Melissa, who was also acting, was only able to open her mouth, unable to breathe. Jonathan, who was among the tall staff members, opened his mouth wide.
The child's bright smile was radiant, yet it made them feel suffocated and their hearts tremble. It felt like their chests were tightly blocked. The child who was about to disappear into the wormhole was unbearably pitiful.
"William!!"
Melissa, or rather, William's mother, shouted.
Oh, my child! My precious child!! The mother shouted. No! It didn't come out of her mouth. Her insides felt like they were on fire. Her throat was blocked, and no sound came out.
William disappeared into the wormhole with a smile, leaving only one shoe behind.
The mother, overwhelmed with emotion, collapsed in the yard. She couldn't take her eyes off the spot where the wormhole had disappeared. Tears fell drop by drop.
The first to regain composure in the suffocating situation was Ryan Will, the director.
The director, forcing his blocked throat, shouted loudly. No one knew the moisture hidden in his voice.
"Cut! OK!"
It was as if it had become a breath of fresh air. Everyone who had been holding their breath while watching Se-jun and Melissa's performance took a deep breath. The staff members waiting nearby approached Melissa, who was lying on the ground crying.
Meanwhile, Ryan Will and James, the camera director, unknowingly wiped away the tears that were falling and Jonathan was crying in a corner.
While the staff were clearing the scene, the two directors watched the scene they had just filmed again.
"Too…."
"Good."
James Randon, the camera director who had been working with him since the first short film, nodded, and Ryan Will leaned back in his chair.
They had been filming all day. With only the youngest child actor left, he had been considering giving up on this scene, as none of the previous scenes were satisfactory.
But he was glad the last child did well. No, not just well. He gave a performance that was astonishing.
Ryan chuckled. The small child's acting made him cry, something the Ryan Will from an hour ago couldn't have imagined.
"At first, I thought his legs were hurting when he sat on the floor…."
"His smile when he got up made it seem like he was really greeting his mother."
"…Was it a coincidence?"
"Maybe he's a genius."
Even when he watched it again, Se-jun's smile made his heart ache and almost brought tears to his eyes.
His heart raced despite the burning sensation inside. Just thinking about how people would react to this scene made him smile.
James, the camera director, also nodded.
"A 5-year-old actor who can make his co-star get into character. Anyone who hears this will think it's a joke."
"He's not 5 yet?"
Ryan laughed. James asked.
"What? How old is he?"
"58 months. It's been 10 months since he turned 4."
"Whatever. He'll be 5 in 2 months."
* * *
"Got an OK on the first try?"
"Jun did well. I was moved too."
"Melissa's acting was amazing too. Even her final expression!"
"I saw a movie with Melissa before, and it was completely different. It was a similar role, but today, it felt like she had broken out of her shell."
"But, did you see it?"
A staff member's voice lowered. The staff members who were moving equipment perked up their ears.
"What?"
"Director Will and Director Randon were crying."
"…Was Melissa's acting that good?"
"No, it seemed like they were crying because of Jun's acting."
The staff members tilted their heads.
"He did well, but not to the point of making them cry, right?"
"Jonathan was crying too, it seemed."
The staff members looked at each other. Jonathan Will, the nephew of Ryan Will, was studying to become a director under his uncle and had won awards at film festivals for middle school students. He was a promising young man.
"…Is there something we don't know?"
The temporary tent used as the waiting room for the child actors had poor soundproofing. Se-jun, who was drinking orange juice, nodded at the conversation he could hear from outside.
He then recalled the number of people who had been watching him during the filming. About 30 people. And those who seemed to have been affected by the [Illusion of the Smiling Face Mushroom].
Melissa, Director Will, the camera director, and Jonathan Will. These four people.
'The [Illusion of the Smiling Face Mushroom] is a low-level skill, so it only affected this many people.'
The top-tier skill [Envious Packaging of the Small Mimic], which affected everyone targeted, was incomparably more powerful than the [Illusion of the Smiling Face Mushroom].