I Returned as a High School Girl - Chapter 262: Job Matching Hobby (4)

A multitude of people were gathered at the Steel Man 3 set location with the Han River as the background. Lotier was also extremely famous in Korea due to the Steel Man series’s massive success. He waved to his fans after changing into the suit, to which they screamed with joy in response.

Camera shutters could be heard all around them. Lotier smiled while looking at the passionate Korean fans.

“I’ve felt this every time I’ve come to Korea, but I love how energetic the fans are here.”

Kang Ra-Eun nodded in agreement. There were many occasions of foreign singers being moved by how Korean fans sang along with them during their concerts. Not just singers, but actors also felt the same way. Lotier had been in a great mood ever since a plethora of fans had come to the airport to see him. He was honestly a little envious of Ra-Eun.

“I’m sure it’s fun to be an actor in such a passionate country,” he remarked.

“I guess it is.”

However, it wasn’t only fun. Such passion was also occasionally used in a negative way, in the form of hate comments. Ra-Eun did not pay much mind to hate comments; even when seeing highly vulgar ones, she was not offended much because she had yet to fully perceive herself as a woman. Due to that, she became known as an actress with an unbreakable mentality, which was one of the reasons why Director Geneve had cast her as Black Cat.

***

Lotier stood in front of the camera first to shoot scene #15-2.

“Take 1! Ready, action!”

Lotier’s expression changed as soon as the cameras began to roll. Ra-Eun was impressed by how quickly he had switched from being playful to serious.

‘That’s a Hollywood actor for you. He’s completely different in front of the cameras.’

It had been as if he had flipped a switch to turn on his actor mode. The spectators also silently watched Lotier’s performance. Despite wearing a heavy suit, Lotier enacted his action performance against imaginary enemies just like it was written in the script.

Steel Man’s main weapon was his mechanical suit itself. He defeated his enemies with weapons built into the suit.

‘Stuff like beams and missiles will be CG’ed in later.’

Although there wasn’t much to see on the set, Steel Man’s action scenes on the screen were flashier and more intense than those of any other hero. That was the power of CG. On the other hand, Black Cat did not require as much CG as Steel Man. To put it simply, the scenes were highly physical.

“Okay! Let’s move on to Black Cat’s action scene.”

Ra-Eun’s turn had arrived after Lotier’s. She held one last rehearsal with the extras playing the villain’s underlings before getting into the real thing. She was all ready now.

“Scene #17. Take 1. Ready… Action!”

Ra-Eun’s Hollywood debut had finally begun.

***

Ra-Eun had more or less been able to perform the action scenes that she had wanted during shoots of the drama Reaper. She then starred in productions like Waitress, One of a Kind of Girl, Shuttered, and the recent Spokesperson, which all managed to become massive hits. However, they couldn’t have been further from the action productions that she had desperately wanted.

However, the Black Cat role had finally given her the opportunity to unleash her desire for action scenes that had been stuffed into the corners of her mind. The extras wearing special makeup ran toward Ra-Eun as soon as they were given the signal. Ra-Eun took out a stun gun, one of the many weapons on her belt, and aimed it at the frontmost extra.

Click!

As she pulled the trigger, the extra shook violently to show that he had been paralyzed. Ra-Eun then pulled out a knife and neutralized the other enemies while holding it in a reverse grip. One of the extras charged at Ra-Eun with exaggerated movements, but she then rolled to the side and pretended to stab the extra on his side.

Next, she stretched out her left hand toward the remaining extra and pulled it back hard, as if something had blasted out from her hand. It had been to portray the recoil of a small missile firing from her wristguard. Since it was supposed to be a missile, Ra-Eun had portrayed the recoil to be large.

A staff member shouted “Boom!”, to which the extra pretended to have been blown backward.

“Cut!” Director Geneve exclaimed. “That was great, but I think it’d be even better if you did more, Ra-Eun. How are you with wire-flying?”

Shin Yu-Bin was hesitant due to the unplanned wire work request, but Ra-Eun okayed it without hesitation.

“I can do it.”

“Great. You can take a short break while we get it ready.”

While the shoot was momentarily paused, Yu-Bin asked in worry, “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve done wire-flying a few times in Reaper.”

“Yeah, but that was a long time ago.”

“I’ve actually practiced it in advance just in case.”

Yu-Bin chuckled at how impeccably prepared Ra-Eun was.

“For God’s sake, you’re amazing.”

Yu-Bin could tell how excited Ra-Eun had been for these action scenes. Ra-Eun was as confident in her wire performance as she could possibly be.

The shoot resumed. Even while flying three meters high into the air, Ra-Eun stayed calm and performed her action scene. It certainly looked like a lot more was going on, and far more flashy.

‘People need to stick to what they’re good at.’

It had been a while since Ra-Eun had been excited about acting.

***

The action scenes were all over. It was the last day of shooting in Korea. The scene involved Steel Man, who was going back overseas after a small-scale battle with the villain, saying his goodbyes to Black Cat.

Ra-Eun stood in front of the camera in formal wear, and so was Lotier.

He stood across from Ra-Eun and remarked, “Thanks for the great time, my lady.”

“I’d appreciate it if you could call in advance. And preferably not while dragging any problem children along with you.”

“I’ll try. Well, then…”

Lotier suddenly closed the distance between them, to which Ra-Eun’s small shoulders flinched. Lotier put his left cheek close to hers. He then tilted his head in confusion at her sensitive response.

“What? Are greetings like this bad manners in Korean standards?”

Ra-Eun shook her head in forced laughter.

“N-No. I-It’s fine, but I’d appreciate it if you could let me know in advance if you’re going for such an assertive greeting.”

“I’m getting a hint of deja-vu. Or is it just me?”

“No, it’s not just you.”

Ra-Eun couldn’t help but grin due to Lotier’s playful gesture.

“I’ll get going, then,” Lotier said.

He tapped on his wristwatch twice. The CG team would add in the effects of him being enveloped in his suit and then flying away.

“Cut!” Director Geneve exclaimed. “That’s a wrap for today!”

The staff members clapped as soon as the final scene in Korea had finished. Ra-Eun’s one-week Hollywood experience had become something that she wouldn’t ever exchange for anything in the entire world.

***

On the evening of the final day, the Steel Man 3 production team held an afterparty with the Korean staff members who had helped during the final day. Ra-Eun had also attended.

Lotier sat next to her and asked, “How about a drink together?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t drink alcohol.”

“Why not?”

“It’s just how my metabolism is.”

Lotier looked disappointed. He seemed to have taken a liking to soju, considering he had already emptied a whole bottle.

“Korean food fits my palate better than I’d thought it would. I’ll have to come visit often.”

“Feel free to contact me when you do. I’ll show you around some good restaurants.”

Ra-Eun had researched many must-go restaurants with her friends, so she was fairly confident in showing others around.

“I’d love that, but wouldn’t that invite a lot of scandals?”

It certainly might, since reporters lived off of celebrities’ personal lives. This did not apply only to Korea; America was no different, especially for Hollywood stars.

Since Lotier was not only handsome but highly successful, he was swept into scandals with every single woman that he associated with in private. He had even been in a scandal with a famous female pop singer right before flying to Korea. Having experienced such things countless times, he was now used to it.

“In any case, I’ve learned a lot from you during the time we’ve worked together, especially regarding action performance,” Lotier said.

He was being completely genuine.

“I’ve met countless actresses in my career, but I’ve never seen any that were as good at action scenes as you. Our director seriously has a fantastic eye for talent.”

“Thank you very much,” Ra-Eun replied.

Her action performances were naturally high-quality, considering she had practiced martial arts and had even honed them through practical use.

Lotier laid down his shot glass and asked while staring right at Ra-Eun, “Is it true that you don’t have a boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ve never had one?”

Ra-Eun slowly nodded, to which Lotier then smiled meaningfully.

“In that case, how about someone like me? Would you see me as boyfriend material?”

Ra-Eun momentarily stared at him dumbfoundedly.

Seeing that, Lotier snickered and stated, “It was just a joke. Don’t take it so seriously.”

“Was it actually a joke?”

“Probably.”

“…”

Ra-Eun wondered if all American men were this sly, or if it was just Lotier. Lotier found the confused Ra-Eun so cute that he couldn’t stop chuckling for a while.