Superstar From Age 0

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 549

“I’ve never drawn anything on the snow except for some small footprints when I was a kid.”

The most she had ever done was to lie down on the snow and flap her arms and legs to make an angel-shaped imprint.

Yu Seo-young sighed.

“We’re all new to this, so we don’t have a clue how to draw on the snow.”

“Is it that hard to draw on the snow instead of a canvas?”

“Of course it is! It’s a new material. How can you expect us to draw without researching the material first? You guys are the same.”

“I heard the film department went crazy when you practiced with the Kid 100 camera or whatever it’s called.”

“Ah…”

Hwang Ji-yoon scratched her cheek at Yu Seo-young’s words.

A week ago, three Kid 100 cameras sent by Cocoa Entertainment arrived at KNUA.

They were stored in the office assigned to the project team, but the filming team took the Kid 100 cameras and went around the campus to practice, and the news of the Kid 100 cameras spread.

“Woo-jin sunbae! Let me try it once!”

“Se-yeon!”

The film students who knew someone in the [Fire] team followed them with their eyes on fire, begging to take a shot or at least touch it once.

“Our department kids were asking if the film kids ate something wrong.”

It had calmed down now, but for the first two days, they were running around like mad, and the students from other departments were avoiding them with their eyes wide open.

Remembering the scene, Hwang Ji-yoon buried her face in her palms with embarrassment.

“Anyway, you guys also practice with different cameras when you get them, right? That way, you can learn what features the camera has and how it looks on the screen when you actually shoot.”

“True.”

Hwang Ji-yoon nodded.

“It’s the same for us. Material analysis is our first priority. Even if you use the same crayons, the texture and the degree of smudging on the paper are different from those of a painter who knows them well and those of an ordinary person who doesn’t.”

Yu Seo-young sighed deeply.

“Do you think we would have gone through the trouble of making snow out of ice and experimenting with it?”

At that, Hwang Ji-yoon could only sigh heavily. The art team seemed to be working hard too.

“…Well, let’s make this our first choice for now.”

Hwang Ji-yoon and Yu Seo-young sighed at the same time as they looked at the picture that the art team unanimously agreed on.

***

Hwang Ji-yoon had a place to go for healing when she was stressed and worried about the production of [Fire].

It was the acting department’s practice room in Building A.

She sat in the corner and watched Seo-jun and Hwang Do-yoon practice quietly, and she smiled involuntarily as if the characters she had seen in her dreams came out and moved.

‘I really saw them in my dreams.’

One of them was Hwang Do-yoon, who gave her the chills, but… they suited each other well.

By chance or fate.

The scene they were practicing today was the climax part. It was the part that Hwang Ji-yoon and Yu Seo-young were worried about until a while ago.

Seo-jun, who had put on the mask of the ‘unknown painter’, looked at the white snowfield in front of him. He felt like he could see his breath and hear the sound of his feet stepping on the snow.

‘Going to the ski resort helped.’

It was a few months ago, but he vividly remembered the cold wind that hit his face, the chill that made his body shiver, the bright white snow that reflected the light, and the snow that he stepped on, threw, and got hit by (they had a snowball fight).

The unknown painter stepped on the snow.

He didn’t care what was under the fluffy snow, or if he would slip, or if he should be careful. He seemed to be lost in his own world as he stepped on the snow with a thud-

“Haah…”

It was a small sound, but it was loud enough to be heard in the quiet practice room. The one who sighed, Hwang Ji-yoon, was also surprised.

“Sorry! I’ll be quiet! Keep going!”

She had been coming to watch the practice all this time, but it was the first time Hwang Ji-yoon made a noise during the practice. She looked bad since she came in.

“No, I’ll go and see! Good luck!”

Before Hwang Ji-yoon could get up and apologize, Seo-jun opened his mouth.

“Do-yoon hyung, shall we take a break for a while?”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

Hwang Do-yoon nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

***

Seo-jun and Hwang Do-yoon asked her what was wrong, and Hwang Ji-yoon told them her worries. She also showed them the picture that she chose as her first priority.

“Isn’t this good enough?”

“…Hmm. It’s a bit disappointing.”

Hwang Do-yoon looked puzzled and Seo-jun looked more closely.

It was a picture that showed the ‘unknown’ and the ‘ordinary’ as they were, and Hwang Ji-yoon couldn’t help but laugh.

“There’s another problem. We have to make the paint to use on the snow.”

“Paint?”

“Yeah. The paint spreads differently on normal paper and wet snow. It can’t be too thin or too thick. We have to know the concentration. And since we’re using it in nature, we have to make it eco-friendly so it doesn’t cause any problems.”

Seo-jun and Hwang Do-yoon’s eyes widened. There were more things they needed than they thought.

“You came up with such a scene well.”

“I didn’t know much about art, so I just thought it would work. Well, what can I do? I have to do as much as I can. This isn’t bad either.”

“I think it’s good.”

As Hwang Ji-yoon sighed and Hwang Do-yoon scratched his chin,

‘Snow painting…’

Seo-jun was racking his brain.

He had seen it before.

A picture drawn on a wide snowfield with colorful paints.

‘Ah, there’s also a watercolor work. There was a picture drawn on the snow. I have a photo of it, do you want to see it, Jun?’ The professor Arno who boasted of his disciple came to his mind.

The photo he saw then.

It was unfamiliar because it was drawn on the snow that was naturally made, not on the usual canvas, but it was a great picture that expressed the smudging, the mixing of colors, and the gradation as if he was familiar with it.

If it was Matteo who drew that picture, he would be able to help a lot.

“I know a painter, can I ask him?”

Hwang Do-yoon and Hwang Ji-yoon’s eyes widened at Seo-jun’s words.

If Seo-jun knew a painter… Was he a student of Mirinae Arts High School’s art department? No, then he would say a friend or a senior, not a painter…

But if Seo-jun was the first to talk, it might be a big help. She didn’t mind if he was a high school junior, and Hwang Ji-yoon nodded quickly.

“Uh, uh. Can you ask him?”

“Yes. Just a moment.”

Seo-jun smiled and tapped his phone.

It was 5 p.m. now, and France would be around 10 a.m.

<Matteo.

<Can you talk now?

-Matteo: Sure!

Seo-jun had kept in touch with him occasionally after returning to Korea (he said he became interested in the palace, scenery, and art in the movie Seo-jun filmed). He quickly received a reply. Seo-jun pressed the call button, and soon a familiar voice came from the other side.

“Ciao! JUN.”

“Ciao. Matteo.”

Ji-yoon and Do-yoon blinked their eyes at the Italian that came out of Seo-jun’s mouth.

***

The next day.

KNUA campus [Fire] project team office.

“Seo-young.”

“…Uh?”

Yu Seo-young, who was half-zombie, raised her head with a creak at Ji-yoon’s call.

She seemed to be worried about the climax part of the drawing. The art team members in the office were also in a slump.

“Do you know Matteo? The painter.”

“…Matteo?”

Yu Seo-young’s eyes lit up. She was planning to study abroad in Paris, France after graduation. The other art team members were the same.

“Matteo? The one who’s studying in France right now?”

“…Yeah.”

‘You even know where he is?’

Ji-yoon nodded her head with a nervous face.

“How can I not? He’s the hottest painter these days!”

“I wanted to go see his exhibition!”

“Me too!”

Yu Seo-young and the art team members blurted out.

Matteo.

An Italian who is currently studying at a school in Paris, France. He is a genius artist who has exhibitions at famous galleries, sells his works well, and shows excellent skills in not only painting but also installation art, despite being a student!

“We first looked for his paintings. Matteo also painted on the snow.”

“That was amazing. That one.”

“Yeah. It was huge.”

The art team members, who had no energy, chatted and talked. Even Yu Seo-young, who was the most depressed, seemed to regain her spirit.

‘He was such a great person.’

She had learned a little bit about him after the call yesterday, but she didn’t know he was so popular that he would make the whole art team excited.

“But why Matteo all of a sudden?”

“What if Matteo helps us with the art consulting for our movie?”

“…Haha.”

Yu Seo-young laughed and put her hand on Ji-yoon’s forehead. It was such a natural gesture that Ji-yoon just blinked her eyes.

“You don’t have a fever?”

“I don’t know if you’re sick somewhere else.”

“Yeah. Ji-yoon must have been so worried lately.”

The art team looked at her pitifully, as if they were going to send her to the hospital right away. Ji-yoon burst into laughter.

“…She must be really sick.”

“Yeah.”

The art team looked at her with genuine concern. Ji-yoon, who was laughing, glanced at the clock.

It was time for him to come.

“By the way, I haven’t introduced him yet. Another protagonist of our movie, the actor who plays the unknown painter.”

“? Yeah.”

Suddenly?

The art team blinked their eyes at Ji-yoon, who suddenly started talking about the actor after talking about Matteo.

“This actor knows Matteo. So he agreed to help us with our movie.”

The office was quiet.

Someone said, ‘Is it April Fool’s Day today?’ ‘Matteo, right? Matteo.’, ‘Is there a Mr. Ma?’, ‘Yes. There is.’ The whispers were heard.

Yu Seo-young, who was smiling, was about to open her mouth when she heard a knock on the door.

“He’s here.”

The door opened at the sound of come in.

Who’s coming in, the art team wondered. Their brains seemed to not recognize him for a moment.

‘Wait, wait. Where have I seen that face before?’

Immediately, dozens of exclamation marks popped up over their heads.

“Hello. I’m Lee Seo-jun, a freshman in the acting department.”

Seo-jun, who entered the office, smiled and bowed. There seemed to be a sparkle around him.

…Why are you here?

The art team members were frozen with their mouths open at the appearance of the actor Lee Seo-jun.

“Welcome, Seo-jun. Where’s my brother?”

It seemed like only Seo-jun and Ji-yoon were moving in the office, as if they were under a spell.

“He told me to go ahead and he will buy some drinks.”

Gasp!

The sound of breathing in the air that had stopped was heard. It was really Seo-jun’s voice. The art team’s eyes darted to Ji-yoon.

“Let me introduce him again. He’s the actor who plays one of the protagonists of our movie, the unknown painter, Lee Seo-jun.”

‘Crazy…!’

Seo-jun and Ji-yoon smiled at the sincere voice that came from somewhere. As if it was a spell, the art team members started to move one by one.

“No, Lee Seo-jun’s next work is a Hollywood movie…”

“He said he wouldn’t work with students because of the plagiarism incident.”

“Wait. Come to think of it, that original plagiarism was Ji-yoon’s. The movie we’re preparing!”

‘Wow!’

Is that how it happened? Seo-jun nodded his head with a smile at their eyes.

“Yes. That’s how it happened. I liked the script.”

“…Crazy…”

The art team members looked at Seo-jun and Ji-yoon alternately with surprised faces.

“Ah, hello. I’m Yu Seo-young, a junior in the art department. I’m the leader of the art team for Fire.”

Yu Seo-young, who came to her senses, started to greet him one by one. But she still had a half-dazed face.

She was trying to calm her heart that was pounding too much from the surprise, when she suddenly thought of something and looked at Ji-yoon.

The painter introduced by the actor who plays the unknown painter.

If the actor who plays the unknown painter is Hollywood actor Lee Seo-jun…

“…Then Matteo… really…?”

“Yeah. He agreed to be our movie consultant.”

Yu Seo-young’s eyes and mouth grew so big that they couldn’t get any bigger at Ji-yoon’s answer.