In one corner of the set, the spaceship of Natra created by the Marine Co. art team was visible.
Although it was only the entrance of the spaceship, which could be opened and closed, and a part of the outer wall attached to it, it was large, seemingly built to actual size.
The empty spaces were surrounded by chroma key.
"Wow, that's amazing. Can we take a picture?"
Minjun and Seojun marveled at the gleaming black exterior of the spaceship.
The back was an empty structure, but the front looked like the real Natra spaceship from Shadowman 1.
After hearing Minjun's words, Jonathan smiled and said,
"It's fine. After filming Shadowman 2, it will be displayed at the Marine Memorial Hall. It looks solid, but it's just the exterior; the inside is completely empty. We have a separate interior set."
"Really? Seojun, let's take a picture and show it to Mom and Uncle!"
Jonathan took a picture of the two, who were smiling with the black spaceship as the background.
Evan Block and Richelle Hill, who had finished their makeup and appeared on the set, also joined in for a photo.
Meanwhile, the staff had completed their preparations for filming. The camera was aimed at the set, and everyone returned to their positions. Director Ryan sat in front of the monitor.
-Ready,
[(Evil) The melancholic scent of a solitary blooming flower is activated.]
Seojun took a deep breath. Everyone watched the actors with tense expressions.
-Action!
Bell and Mac couldn't say a word. Only then did Mac recall Jin Natra's words.
Chills ran up his spine from his toes. Mac opened his mouth and, with a trembling voice, spat out,
"You... you... are that... child?"
Jin Natra replied with a cold expression,
"What does that matter now?"
"What?"
Mac shouted. The image of a woman crying and collapsing came to his mind. A damp scent rose from somewhere. Without realizing it, Mac let out a cry.
"Your parents are waiting for you! If you're alive and well, shouldn't you go to them right away?!"
"With this body?"
Jin Natra pointed to himself. Mac, who was about to shout that it didn't matter, was taken aback.
The child looked about ten years old. Natra's wormhole anomaly occurred a year ago. A four-year-old child couldn't have grown so much in just one year.
"How...?"
"The time on Natra and Earth is different."
Bell interjected between the two. Bell, who was at a loss, grabbed Jin Natra's shoulder. Jin Natra turned around at Bell's tug.
"Let's go back."
"...Okay."
The two headed towards the spaceship. The entrance of the spaceship lowered and touched the ground. Then, armored Natra soldiers poured out from inside.
"Wait!"
Mac shouted. The steps of the two heading towards the spaceship stopped. Only Bell turned to look at Mac. With a distorted face, Mac shouted,
"I understand, I understand! They love you so much!"
"..."
Jin Natra looked at the open spaceship and then at the sky. His eyes, slightly moist, gazed into the spaceship. He never looked back.
Mac called out desperately,
"Come back! William!"
"I am Jin Natra."
And the door of the spaceship closed.
-Cut! OK!
* * *
"Stuntman!"
Seojun's eyes sparkled. Evan Block and his stuntman stood side by side in front of Seojun.
"They look exactly the same."
Not only were they the same height, but their silhouettes were also similar. Both were dressed as Shadowman, making it look like there were two Shadowmen.
The filming of the battle scene began. The hero's battle was the most spectacular and indispensable scene in Marine Co. productions.
The most capital and technology were invested in the battle scenes, and the filming period was the longest.
Director Ryan and the stuntmen started filming. The staff, more tense than usual, focused on their tasks.
Seojun and Richelle Hill, who had come to watch, sat together with Evan Block, who occasionally appeared in the battle scenes to deliver lines.
It wasn't as spectacular as in the movies, but the coordination of the stuntmen was so well done that it was thrilling.
"I want to try it too!"
Seojun mimicked Shadowman's punch. The short distance made Evan Block and Richelle Hill chuckle.
"We try not to film dangerous scenes if we can."
"Why?"
"Do you know why Redbone 2 was delayed?"
"Because the Redbone actor was injured."
Evan Block and Richelle Hill nodded.
"It might be okay if there's a replacement actor, but for actors in series like ours, it's most important to take care of their bodies. If a different actor takes over, how disappointed would the audience be?"
"I see."
Still, Seojun watched the stuntmen fighting with a wistful look.
Shadowman easily dealt with the enemy and made a throwing motion. Once the CG work is done, a shadow-made spear would appear in Shadowman's hand.
"Still."
Evan Block stood up from his seat. He saw Jonathan, who had come to deliver a message from Director Ryan.
"If it's not a dangerous scene, we can film it."
Evan Block followed Jonathan and switched places with his stuntman for the filming.
The filming resumed. Seojun, who had been watching the battle scene, tilted his head and asked,
"Is that not a dangerous scene?"
Evan Block ran around, matching his movements with the stuntmen playing the enemies.
It wasn't as spectacular as the previous scene, but the actions were still dangerous enough to cause serious injuries if something went wrong.
"Evan has been going to action school since he was young. He has mastered various martial arts and is now better than most stuntmen. Plus, he knows how to film as safely as possible. Look at that."
As Richelle Hill said, Evan Block checked the ground for anything that could hurt him and had a thorough discussion with the stuntmen playing his opponents, even practicing a few moves.
"Those things can cause serious accidents if someone makes a mistake. In fact, Evan probably wants to do all the stunts himself. He wants to perform his role perfectly from start to finish. But if a major accident happens, it would affect everyone here, so he doesn't."
Seojun saw the staff working hard.
The stuntmen moving around, the actors, the makeup artists, and the staff who would work on the CG. Many people were working on this movie.
"If you want to be more involved in movies, you should learn some sports. If you start exercising now, you might be able to participate in more action scenes than Evan."
Seojun nodded. When he returns to Korea, he'll go to a Taekwondo school right away!
* * *
From the scheduled filming to the additional scenes. The filming of Shadowman 2 wasn't over, but Seojun's part was all done.
On the last day of filming, a Marine Co. publicity officer asked if Seojun would attend the screening in the U.S. Seojun shook his head when he heard the date.
"Good luck with the filming!"
"Take care, Seojun. If you come to the U.S., call me!"
"Here's my phone number and email address. Contact me even if it's just to say hi."
"Oh, me too!"
Evan Block handed Seojun a piece of paper with neat handwriting, and Richelle Hill quickly found a piece of paper and wrote her email address in a flowing script.
Seojun smiled brightly as he held the two pieces of paper.
"Be careful with the filming. The battle scenes are dangerous."
"Don't worry! I'm tougher than I look."
"Let me know when you're in a movie or drama. I'll definitely watch it."
The three actors, who had been together throughout the filming period, couldn't bear to part. In the end, Evan Block and Richelle Hill left the hotel only when it was time for Seojun to go to bed.
"Dad."
"Yeah?"
Father and son lay side by side on a large bed, talking.
Seojun, lying on his side to avoid triggering [Summer Bear's Winter Sleep], recalled the time he spent in the U.S., from the Central Park shoot to the set.
He also went out to play with his dad whenever he had free time.
"It was so much fun. It would have been great if Mom came too."
"Sure. When you start school and have summer break, let's come with Mom."
Seeing his son's face full of joy and satisfaction, Minjun, who was lying next to him, chuckled.
"Yeah. Ah, I want to film again."
"You just finished filming, and you want to do it again?"
"Yeah! I should ask Uncle Chan if he has a good script!"
"Sure. Let's do that."
Seojun's eyes slowly closed as he lay straight.
"Tomorrow I have to play with Jack..."
...Minjun covered his sleeping son with a blanket.
The next day, Jack Smith, Seojun's 13-year-old brother, burst into tears upon seeing Seojun, who was taller than him. When his parents scolded him, saying, "It's because you don't eat well enough!" he lay on the floor and sobbed.
Still, he soon forgot why he was crying, and Jack and Seojun had a great time at a nearby amusement park.
When Seojun returned to Korea, he started going to a Taekwondo school.
When the instructor saw Seojun, who had come to register at the closest Taekwondo school to his home, he tilted his head. The instructor wasn't particularly interested in movies.
The adult and middle/high school classes had different schedules, and many of Seojun's kindergarten friends attended the school, so the parents were already familiar with Seojun, and he could attend without any issues.
"Today I learned this!"
Seojun punched the air. "Yah! Yah!" Seunhye and Minjun couldn't help but laugh at Seojun's face, which was full of determination.
"How was it? I did really well, right?"
"Seojun is the best!"
"You did really well! You could be a Taekwondo athlete!"
And that actually happened.
"Let's make Seojun an athlete! Seojun's mom!"
In less than a week, the Taekwondo instructor grabbed Seojun's pants. Medals won by the instructors at the National Sports Festival were displayed on the walls of the small consultation room.
"Se... athlete?"
"Seojun is really good. He's really, really good! He can master a move after just one lesson."
"Seojun is a bit smart."
The instructor shook his head.
"Not just a bit! Strength, agility, flexibility—there's no doubt about it, especially since he's still young!"
Seojun drank the orange juice given by the instructor.
[(Noble) Hwangbo Seja's youngest son's pet - Low]
I can see a little bit of the flow of Hwangbo Seja's martial arts.
I can reproduce Hwangbo Seja's martial arts.
Limitation: Dog
Seojun lived as the pet dog of Hwangbo Seja's youngest son for ten years.
He roamed around Hwangbo Seja, following the youngest son, and eventually, he could go anywhere the youngest son's authority extended.
Who would dare to mistreat the only pet of the youngest son, who was the beloved of the Hwangbo family!
The most interesting thing in the boring Hwangbo family was getting snacks near the kitchen, and the second most interesting was eating snacks in front of the family members who were practicing, while the snacks' scent wafted in the air.
Most of the family members were angry, but they couldn't do anything to the youngest son's pet.
On such days, the youngest son would feel sorry and give him something delicious, so soon the family members would wait for the "young master's dog" to come.
This ended when the youngest son turned fifteen.
There was a sudden attack. The dog didn't know who the enemy was or how it ended at the time.
Seojun learned from a book that the enemy was the Demon Sect, and the Hwangbo family barely survived.
The dog, who had learned the Hwangbo family's martial arts by watching, blocked the enemies and died saving its owner.
The youngest son, now the new young master after all his brothers died, ordered the dog to be buried next to his own tomb and vowed to take revenge on the Demon Sect.
'If it weren't for the dog, I couldn't use the Hwangbo family's martial arts. It's low-level, after all.'
Still, he understood how important it was to have a discerning eye.
To correct and improve, one must be able to see the difference between the orthodox and one's own skills.
Using his ability, Seojun could take a more accurate stance than the instructor demonstrating.
When the instructor tried to persuade him with a long speech, his mother said that he was still young and didn't want to do it.
Leaving the disappointed instructor behind, Seunhye and Seojun left the school.
"I knew he was good, but I didn't know he was good enough to be an athlete."
"I'm really good!"
The Taekwondo he learned with the keen eye of a martial artist from a world full of real martial arts was easy to master.
Seunhye teased her son, who had a proud expression.
"Sure. Do you want to be a Taekwondo athlete, Seojun?"
"No! No! No!"
Seunhye burst into laughter at the sight of her son shaking his head vigorously in refusal.
"When you finish Taekwondo, you'll learn Kendo next! And Hapkido too!"
"Then I'll have to look for schools quickly."
She never imagined that Seojun would be told to become an athlete at every school he registered for, with the promise of an Olympic gold medal just around the corner, and the instructors grabbing his pants.