Everyone was so drained that even though the lights were on, they couldn't move.
They had come to watch a fun movie, but unexpectedly, it was emotionally draining. It wasn't that they disliked it; they couldn't take their eyes off the screen for a single moment.
Park Sung-won moved around to loosen his tense body. The audience gathered their belongings and stood up from their seats.
"Cookie..."
"What?"
"...Is there a cookie scene?"
Someone's words echoed in the quiet theater. Realizing this, people who were packing up their things sat back down in their seats.
What kind of shocking cookie scene will they show this time! Park Sung-won looked at the screen with eager eyes.
White letters slowly rose up. Soon, as everyone expected, the screen changed.
[How about it? It's tough alone, isn't it?]
Redbone extended his hand. After a moment, a black-gloved hand grabbed it. There was no way to forget the outfit from earlier! The audience's mouths opened wide.
[Please take care. Shadowman!]
Confident Redbone and exhausted Shadowman stood facing each other.
"...What?!"
It was the trailer for [Assemble], which gathered all the superheroes of Marine City.
As Park Sung-won was leaving the theater, he suddenly turned around. Although he was the last one to leave and there was no one left inside, he remembered the child who had stood there. Instantly, goosebumps ran from his toes to the tips of his hair.
"Ji-seo?!"
Really?! Did I see it wrong?! Park Sung-won, babbling, ran home.
[Title: I think I saw Ji-seo at the movie theater!]
A Ji-seo sighting had emerged.
"Wow. Shocking."
"Did Ji-seo know?"
"Yeah, yeah."
Whether they knew it or not, Kim Hee-sang and Ji-seo were calmly leaving the theater.
"I didn't know at all!"
"The security must have been really tight if even the actors didn't know!"
"I couldn't imagine it! Shadowman, wow!"
"Ji-seo, no spoilers outside."
By now, the two had left the theater and were standing outside in the sunlight.
* * *
"Hello, I'm Moviegoer."
Moviegoer waved at the camera. It had been two weeks since Shadowman 2 was released.
The comments flooded in so quickly that there was no time to read them.
"It seems that Marine City is now using cookie scenes to shock people. Wow, a movie with all the superheroes, just like in comic books! So I looked up the title."
A bright logo appeared on the monitor.
[ASSEMBLE]
"Assembly! The next movie's title is Assembly. So far, only our heroes, Redbone and Shadowman, have been confirmed to appear. I'm looking forward to seeing which other heroes will join them."
The Assembly logo disappeared from the screen.
"Next, as the title suggests, I'll talk about Shadowman 2."
-Did you get it wrong again?
-What can I do? Ji-seo is the villain!
Moviegoer shook his head.
"Yes, I got it wrong again. Why does everything I say turn out the opposite? Honestly, I thought the Central Park scene was a setup, but this photo is so strong that I thought it would be awkward if he appeared as a villain."
A photo appeared on the screen. An image cut from Marine City. It showed Ji-seo looking at something with a cold gaze.
"This villain with an incredible presence! It was actor Ji-seo. Ah, he's not a villain yet. He hasn't done anything bad. This Earth invasion was carried out by those evil guys targeting Jin Natra. Still, everyone can feel that he will become a formidable villain!"
-Yeah, really scary.
-It was scary, but also sad.
-While watching the movie, Jin's emotions were so palpable that it was depressing and scary.
"But if I were in his shoes, I would be resentful too. According to the official setting, the time ratio between Natra and Earth is 5:1. So, it's been a year since William disappeared on Earth, but it's been five years since he fell on Natra. If William was about 4 or 5 years old when he disappeared, Jin Natra would now be about 9 or 10 years old."
-He definitely looks older than when he was with William.
-But I recognized it was Ji-seo in the Central Park scene. I've seen so many photos.
-What do you eat to grow so much, Ji-seo?
"Everyone, think about it."
Moviegoer stopped the flow of the conversation.
"William grew up well from that age without his parents. Even though he was bullied, he was a normal, happy, and chatty child until he went to the memorial hall."
-At that time, I really thought he was a hero.
-His smile was definitely that of an angel!
"Yes, I thought so too. But then, this child found out that the person he loved the most, his father, was the one who caused him pain. He also learned that his real parents were desperately waiting for him, and that everything he envied in Central Park, which he visited every day, was a time he could have had instead of his painful experiences. That smart child."
Moviegoer and the viewers recalled Jin Natra, who recognized himself in the photos from those small clues.
-That expression, so sad.
-I almost cried there. It was sad, but also scary to see the change.
"But I had this thought."
-What kind of thought?
"Think about it. Max is a character who somehow ended up on Earth from Natra. Jin is a character who went from Earth to Natra. Max had many good people around him, growing up with love despite being an orphan. But what about Jin? He lived unhappily without anyone to rely on."
-But Bell Natra? Isn't he okay?
Moviegoer's brows furrowed.
"I can't say for sure, but Bell Natra doesn't seem to be a good person either. Anyway, Max and Jin have completely opposite pasts."
-So, hero vs. villain?
"Yes, that's right. This movie seems to be the turning point for Shadowman and Jin Natra. Overcoming this crisis will make him a hero, failing will make him a villain. Here, the two diverge again."
A photo of Shadowman and Jin Natra appeared on the screen, and a photo appeared under Shadowman.
"A helper appears for Shadowman!"
-Redbone!
-Assembly!
It was a confident Redbone.
"Max is really lucky. But what about Jin, who returned to Natra?"
Under Jin Natra's photo, a large question mark appeared. Anyone could guess that Jin Natra had no one to rely on, let alone a helper, and that this was one of the reasons he became a villain.
- Sob, sob, sob, sob.
- Sob, sob, sob, sob, sob, sob.
The comments were filled with tears. Everyone recalled the first scene. The cold, mocking voice. And the father who made him unhappy.
Moviegoer nodded.
"Since everyone has guessed, I'll stop here. In my opinion, the most important part of this movie was actor Ji-seo's performance. The reviews after watching Shadowman 2 said that from the memorial hall scene, it felt like actor Ji-seo was going down a bad path. I felt the same way."
-Yeah, me too.
-It got really serious from there!
"That scene depended on actor Ji-seo. The evil that blossoms from sadness. The seed of evil that will grow into something huge. If actor Ji-seo had played it in a way that felt unfamiliar but good, we might have thought Jin Natra could become a hero in Shadowman 3. But actor Ji-seo crushed our hopes perfectly, with a flawless performance!"
-However you think about it, he's just a villain in Shadowman 3...
-He's a villain no matter how he appears...
-When Shadowman saves the child... it's really scary.
"I hope Shadowman 3 comes out soon! Of course, I'm also looking forward to Assembly!"
Moviegoer's live stream ended, and articles started popping up everywhere.
[Acting Transformation! How can he act like this at his age?]
[The evil hidden in sadness. Is this subtle acting the key to Hollywood success?]
[Real-life situation! A child raised by a kidnapping method?]
[How far can Ji-seo's acting go?]
[So, when is Shadowman 3?]
[Superheroes gather! Assembly!]
-He was definitely a hero. I still have the angel photo.
-It's a bit sad. Why didn't he stay on Earth?
=He must be conflicted. His father was wrong, but he still loves him. The parents waiting for him are just memories.
=His body grew, making it more so. He's too big for just a year.
-But Ji-seo really acts well. The close-ups are so intense. He acts with his eyes.
=I also got chills. It was scary and sad.
-While watching the movie, I empathized with Ji-seo and resented Shadowman. Why didn't he save him?
=Me too. I know it's not Shadowman's fault, but I still resented him.
-But is the sighting real?
=Probably not. How many people are in the theater? Even if he was disguised, there's no way no one would recognize Ji-seo.
=That's true. Even though he grew, his face is still handsome. I recognized him in the movie at first glance.
-But it's strange that there aren't many sightings of Ji-seo.
=Is he in America? No, if he was in America, someone would have posted a photo.
=Are people protecting him? He's still young.
=That's possible. Good people. But now that he's in elementary school, it might be harder.
=Out of so many kids, a few would post.
-But only in movies. People who don't watch movies might not know.
=But it was in the news?
=My mom knows that a Korean child actor named Ji-seo is popular abroad, but she doesn't know what he looks like. But she has the angel photo. That's Ji-seo, lol.
=There are probably many people like that. They know he's famous but don't know what he looks like.
=If he appears on TV, he'll become famous quickly, I think.
* * *
"Mom."
"Yes?"
"My tooth is wiggly."
Ji-seo wiggled his front tooth with his finger. It wobbled. Running up to his mom, he moved his front tooth to show her.
It really was wiggly. Seo Eun-hye, who was preparing dinner, stiffened.
"Your baby tooth is falling out!"
"Baby tooth?"
"Your baby tooth is falling out, and a strong permanent tooth will grow in its place."
"This is uncomfortable. Can't you pull it out?"
The feeling of something dangling was unpleasant. Seo Eun-hye shook her head.
"If you wait a bit, it will fall out on its own."
"But it's uncomfortable."
"It will fall out soon."
Ji-seo, though uncomfortable, left it alone. He didn't want to pay attention, but he kept wiggling his front tooth with his tongue.
A few days later.
"It fell out!"
His front tooth was gone.
Ji-seo kept looking at himself in the mirror. His front tooth was missing, and his parents were busy taking photos, finding it cute.
The feeling of his lips and tongue touching the empty space was strange.
"Mom, my pronunciation is weird."
The air was escaping, making his pronunciation a bit off. Seo Eun-hye, finding it cute, laughed and said,
"The air is escaping through the gap where your front tooth was. It will be fine once your permanent tooth grows in."
"Hmm. Can you understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes, it's fine."
"Good thing it fell out after filming Shadowman!"
"Wouldn't they do it with CG?"
"Maybe!"
The next day, he went to elementary school, paying attention to his pronunciation. Most of his classmates had also lost their teeth.
One classmate had lost two front teeth, and another had lost a bottom tooth. They all laughed at each other's faces.
"Ji-seo, you lost a tooth too?"
"Yeah, yesterday!"
"I lost mine the day before. You have to throw it on the roof to get a new tooth."
At Ji-yun's words, Ji-seo and his classmates tilted their heads. We live in an apartment?