Chapter 58

58. Action Scene

Seokgu looked at the five-year-old child in front of him and scratched his head again.

It was an old habit that surfaced whenever he was troubled or unsure.

“Ah!”

Seokgu suddenly let out a short scream.

Siwoo, who had been swinging his arms wide as if warming up, stopped upon hearing Seokgu's shout.

What is it? A battle cry?

Is the practice starting?

Seokgu, with a stern expression, tapped the back of his head with his palm and said,

“Ah~ forget it, something got in my hair and I scratched it. Ah… ouch….”

“……”

Siwoo stared blankly at Seokgu, the action director.

Somehow… it felt like Seokgu's intimidating muscles were shrinking.

“Why? Are you worried? Don’t worry, I’m a man, a real man.”

Seokgu, breathing heavily from the sharp pain in his scalp, looked at Siwoo with a serious face.

“Alright. Let’s start!”

Standing in front of the small Siwoo, Seokgu met his eyes.

What’s the most important thing in action scenes?

Action?

No.

This isn’t a real fight but a part of acting.

Therefore, the eyes are the most important.

“Okay, Siwoo. Glare at me. Really scary! I don’t mean your expression should be scary, just your eyes… Got it?”

“Yeah~!”

Siwoo smiled with a playful grin.

“Huh? No, no, I didn’t mean to smile….”

Whoosh!

A presence that had startled the emergency room doctor began to emanate from Siwoo’s eyes.

Seokgu fell silent.

“……”

“……”

Siwoo and Seokgu exchanged intense gazes under the birch tree, like a scene from a martial arts movie.

Three seconds.

Five seconds.

Ten seconds.

Seokgu thought,

‘What is this? A kid’s eyes are… really, this is ridiculous.’

No one would believe it, but Seokgu’s trained senses kept warning him.

The creeping, unpleasant feeling was fear.

Seokgu suddenly burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! Good! Really good! Not perfect, but really good!”

Seokgu’s voice sounded a bit awkward.

‘…Ah, if I had held on a few more seconds, I would have been intimidated by a five-year-old. This doesn’t make sense. What is this kid?’

Seokgu sneakily glanced at Siwoo again.

Sparkle, sparkle.

Beautiful stars floated in his eyes.

Seokgu rubbed his rough head with his palm, shook off the strange feeling that had enveloped him, and decided to start the real practice.

“Eyes passed. Now, action! Siwoo, have you ever played with swords with your dad at home?”

“Yeah!”

“Really? That’s great. It’s the same. We’ll act like we’re playing with swords in a movie. Do you understand what I’m saying? Can you follow?”

“Yeah!”

“Good. Now, watch me closely. See how slowly I move.”

Seokgu moved his body slowly in front of Siwoo.

Very slowly.

It felt like he had applied the super slow-motion function from a phone camera.

Seokgu demonstrated running and bending actions while shouting,

“Like this, very slowly! We’re sloths! You’re Sloth Yama, and I’m Sloth Demon! Got it?”

“But… if it’s slow, it’s not cool. Can’t we do it fast?”

“No, no. It’s dangerous. You’re only five. And just because it’s slow doesn’t mean it’s not cool. When the movie is finished, it will look really cool. So let’s have fun with this. Ready? Actor Yoon Siwoo! Are you ready!?”

“Yeah! Yoon Siwoo!”

Seokgu clenched his right fist and approached Siwoo in the same super slow motion.

“Alright, I’m coming! My fist is flying~ Whoosh~ It’s slowly flying towards your face. Tap it with your palm!”

Siwoo watched the fist coming towards him at a snail’s pace, then extended his small palm and tapped Seokgu’s fist.

“No~ too fast. Siwoo. Again, again. Slower, like me.”

Second attempt.

This time, Siwoo also moved his palm in super slow motion.

Tooo~ Oook~

When Siwoo’s palm touched Seokgu’s fist, Seokgu spoke.

“Good! You really understand what the director is saying! Let’s keep going. Siwoo, chase me and run slowly.”

Seokgu, with an exaggeratedly shocked expression, slowly moved to the side.

Siwoo laughed and, like a sea turtle, slowly lifted his feet to chase Seokgu.

Siwoo and Seokgu, like a pair of sloths, wandered under the birch tree, playing palm-pushing and wind-blowing games. For the final highlight, they practiced the only high-difficulty technique—

the technique that fathers and children endlessly repeat at home, the father mountain technique, and then happily high-fived.

* * *

“He’s a genius, a genius. So smart. Just a glance and he gets it. A five-year-old with such a sense. If he were fifteen, I’d beg him to join our team on my knees, but he’s only five?!”

Seokgu was praising Siwoo to Director Choi Mincheol nonstop.

Director Choi Mincheol said,

“He is smart. I heard he’s a chess prodigy.”

“Really? I see. I thought he wasn’t an ordinary five-year-old.”

“He memorizes the script perfectly and never gives an NG. He’s an acting prodigy too.”

“In fact, he showed signs of being a martial arts prodigy as well.”

“A prodigy in both arts and martial arts. And he even has a good appearance. The game is over. If he grows up like this, the entertainment industry will be devastated.”

“Ah, we should keep a close eye on him. Haha.”

“I’m even considering writing ten contracts in advance. Haha.”

Holding paper cups and drinking coffee, Director Choi Mincheol and Seokgu took a short break before standing up from their chairs.

“Seokgu, let’s shoot.”

“Yeah~ I understand~”

Seokgu, still in demon makeup, stretched and went to find Siwoo.

“Good! Let’s go! Siwoo!”

Seokgu shouted loudly.

“Oh, I was eating bread….”

“…Really!? Then eat and let’s go!”

Siwoo broke off a piece of bread and put it in Seokgu’s mouth.

Seokgu and Siwoo, sharing the bread, went to the camera with cheers.

All the preparations for the shoot were complete.

As Siwoo and Seokgu stood facing each other in the clearing in the mountains, the staff members held their breath.

The surroundings instantly became quiet.

Only the sound of the wind blowing from the mountain and the occasional chirping of birds quietly reached Siwoo’s ears.

“Wait!”

Seokgu suddenly raised his hand, breaking the silence.

Everyone’s attention was on him.

“…Siwoo.”

“Yeah?”

“Just like the practice, but… the glare… can you make it a bit less scary, just a little less scary? Can you do that?”

Siwoo smiled.

…It must have been very scary.

‘I tried to be gentle.’

“Yeah~”

Director Choi Mincheol adjusted Han Yoori’s position.

“Too far! Come a little closer to Siwoo and lie down!”

In Siwoo’s action scene, Yoori’s role was to lie unconscious behind Siwoo.

She would deliver her lines when she woke up, but for now, she had to lie still.

Even while lying on the ground, Yoori couldn’t give up her beauty, so she tidied her long hair and checked her makeup with a compact mirror before carefully lying down behind Siwoo.

“Oh… dirt might get on my hair… I don’t want to put my face directly on the ground, so can I use my arm as a pillow? Sorry.”

Seeing Director Choi Mincheol’s stern eyes, Yoori quietly lay down with one side of her face on the ground.

“Siwoo, be careful. Don’t get hurt.”

Yoori, lying on the ground, closed her eyes and cheered for Siwoo.

Director Choi Mincheol shouted,

“Ready! Action!”

“Grrrrr-!”

The demon Seokgu distorted his face grotesquely and let out a roar.

Before meeting Siwoo, Director Choi Mincheol had asked if he should shout a bit quieter or shoot separately, in case the child got scared and cried.

Director Choi Mincheol had just laughed and said, “Huh.”

Now, Seokgu understood the meaning of that laugh.

Seokgu, a martial arts director with a passion for acting, was confident that Siwoo wouldn’t be scared, so he performed with all his heart.

“Grrrr-!”

Growling like an angry dog, Seokgu fiercely glared at Siwoo from a distance.

The demon, having shed its human disguise, revealed its true form with a blood-red face and zombie-like movements.

It was a terrifying sight, but to Siwoo, it was quite cute.

When Director Choi Mincheol told him to say something if he was scared, Siwoo had eagerly said he wanted to see the demon quickly.

After Seokgu’s growling act, it was Siwoo’s turn.

Siwoo, with a calm and composed movement uncharacteristic of a child, dusted off his clothes.

Lifting his cute and beautiful face, he lazily looked at the demon and spoke.

“Haa, not even recognizing my aura… because of a low-level, insignificant! I came down. Tsk tsk.”

Director Choi Mincheol and all the staff clenched their fists.

‘Got it! Low-level, insignificant! Perfect pronunciation!’

It came out perfectly.

The staff were amazed that a five-year-old could memorize these lines.

Siwoo’s lines didn’t end there.

They continued.

“Demon~”

Siwoo called the demon with a cheerful smile and a cute voice.

“Grrrrr-?”

“Have you eaten? Don’t eat the people in this world, go up and eat hell rice. You guys like that, right~ right?”

“Grrrrr-!”

The demon, perhaps finding the idea of hell rice too unpleasant, let out a loud roar and started to charge at Siwoo.

Siwoo, looking annoyed, puffed out his cheeks and let out a “Poo-.” He neatly flipped the Yama’s robe, which was dragging on the ground, to the back and looked at the demon Seokgu.

While Siwoo was being casual, Seokgu had closed the distance in one breath.

As they got closer, Seokgu naturally and seamlessly slowed down his movements into slow motion.

Seeing Seokgu’s sudden change in speed, Siwoo genuinely admired his skill.

‘Without martial arts training, he’s quite well-trained. Then I should-!’

Siwoo, with a cute smile, delivered his final line.

“Alright, come. I’ll play with you for a while.”

The young Yama Siwoo crossed his arms and waited for the demon Seokgu’s attack.

A super slow punch flew.

During practice, they had laughed and enjoyed it, but now it was a real shoot.

Everyone was serious.

Siwoo’s palm touched Seokgu’s fist.

“Grrrrr!”

As Siwoo’s hand made contact, Seokgu flew backward.

Siwoo chased after him.

Seokgu, who had been stepping backward, stopped and, with a bewildered expression, wildly swung his fists.

Of course, it was slower than a sloth.

Siwoo, looking at the fists, ducked to the right and left to avoid the attacks.

Seokgu couldn’t help but be amazed.

‘A genius! This kid is a real genius!’

Avoiding the attacks was not difficult.

Any five-year-old in the world could easily avoid attacks at that speed.

The problem was matching his speed and balance.

Originally, he had planned to adjust his speed to the child’s inconsistent pace, but it wasn’t necessary.

Siwoo didn’t deviate from the ideal speed he had set initially.

It was an unbelievable and spine-chilling experience.

‘That intense gaze during practice… what is this… a five-year-old like this-!’

Standing still, Siwoo extended his palm and made a sweeping motion.

It was a wind blast.

“Grrrrr-!”

Seokgu threw his body backward and rolled on the ground.

Then Siwoo alternately extended his hands forward.

Although nothing was visible, Seokgu vividly felt the aura of Yama pouring out.

Seokgu rolled to the left, to the right, and crawled on the ground to avoid the attacks, occasionally letting out a “Grrrrr-!” as he fell backward and got up again.

There was a sense that Seokgu should be provided to every household with children at the national level.

Now, the action scene was nearing its end.

The final attack to destroy the demon!

The only high-difficulty action!

The highlight!

Siwoo ran towards Seokgu.

Oh.