CH68

In a world of cyclops, having two eyes isn't abnormal, yet he was treated as the odd one out by these three?

Ian made a bewildered face.

"Even if you consider laundry time, three sets of clothes are more than enough."

During his days as a homeless person, wearing a single suit was the norm, and owning two was considered extravagant, often resulting in forced donations.

Ben sighed deeply, a look of 'can't you do the math' on his face.

"Even an ordinary person going on a backpacking trip would carry more than this."

"That sounds like a discriminatory remark."

"No, it's not. Anyone who saw this would be appalled, not just the fans."

Among the fans, there's a debate about which clothes suit him best, and here he is, dressed like this?

Rachel also had reason to sigh.

"Do you hate paparazzi so much? If you rotate through three outfits, they'd get bored and leave."

"Not really. The paparazzi and I are quite friendly."

"Maybe that's what you think. Whatever you did, they seem cautious."

'That's strange talk. All I've tried is to be friendly.'

Ian shrugged his shoulders and passed by Ben, who was flipping through a script nonchalantly. It was nothing special, just printed paper.

"There's no need to bundle these up and bring them. We could just copy them here."

"You actors lack sentiment. Like the rings of a tree, the time spent together remains on the paper."

"Hahaha, talking about sentiment now?"

Ben ruffled Ian's hair roughly.

He was weird as a child, and nothing has changed.

"Let's just buy some clothes. Dressing him in these crappy clothes might lead to accusations of child abuse."

"Ah, what a hassle."

Ben grinned as he watched Ian fidgeting with the script.

Getting him to move was never difficult. Leaning on Damian, he asked.

"Peacock, shall we go out together?"

"Why would I go out with you? Are you insane?"

"Ian finds it bothersome. Let's go buy some clothes. It doesn't matter what clothes he wears, right? Shall we get matching couple shirts as peacocks?"

"Oh!"

Oh? More like, oh my god.

How could a human think like that? Shocked by the horrible idea, Ian suddenly stood up.

"Let's go! I'm coming!"

Damian's eyes sparkled.

"You're coming too? Well, you have to try clothes on yourself."

"The peacock can stay home. I'm definitely not wearing anything that includes a peacock."

"Why?"

Why indeed.

Ian shook his head.

Thinking about spending more time with these people gave him a headache.

***

The most important household chores were handled by the housekeepers, so life for the four men wasn't too difficult.

Specifically, they were all busy preparing for shoots.

Gavin was out every day, pushing forward with shoot preparations, and Ben, playing a warrior character, wandered around like a zombie managing his physique.

"Ugh, I hate chicken breast."

Chicken breast with greens.

As Ben's physique improved with hard training, his state became more wretched by the day. Ian secretly offered him a drink.

"Here, drink this. Choco…"

"Choco?"

Ben reached out with a bright expression, and Ian replied with a wide smile.

"It's protein."

"You jerk."

Ben shuddered with a sense of betrayal.

"That's what you get for accepting such a role from the start."

While Ben suffered for his physique, Damian was twisting about for other reasons.

"Lighting team has Jack Martin, makeup has Jack Cox, props has Jack Lee… Damn it. Might as well name them all Jack."

Damian was diligently keeping a previous promise, but it was hard to tell if he should be praised or worried about losing all his peacock feathers.

Damian had memorized all those staff names, and Ian approached him.

"Wow, you've memorized a lot?"

As if he hadn't been troubled at all, he proudly replied.

"Well, this is nothing really."

"Truly impressive!"

Ian gave him a thumbs up, then they engaged in light chatter before heading out.

-Ah, I forgot again.

Ian heard a groaning voice as the three of them each prepared for their shoots.

"Director Isaac!"

"Hello, have you been well?"

Patting his shoulder to express friendliness, he sat down and after a brief update on recent events, he moved on to the main point.

"Caleb School responded well to the talks. They must think it's a good opportunity after hearing the purpose. But they asked for a chance to review it before public release."

"Of course. They need safety measures in place."

Children might call and say anything.

It was only natural to want such conditions to alleviate this worry.

'It's actually impressive that they readily agreed to the filming.'

It was likely they trusted Isaac enough to permit it. Isaac wasn't someone who would sensationalize the footage for the sake of viewership.

Isaac pulled out the flyer he had received.

"Just like you said, I plan to put these up all around the school. But I'll be busy with filming; will that be alright?"

"The kids will be at school during filming, so it should be fine most of the time. Plus, we'll add more numbers later."

Dorothy, Daniel, and Larry.

The trio he befriended at Beverly Hills Moms said they would help, so there shouldn't be any problems.

'I just need to hold on until I hear from Cooper.'

Nathan was asked to ensure Cooper would definitely get in touch, so it wouldn't take long.

They also exchanged ideas about the documentary production.

Sharing plans with the student council and setting things up so that students could start making calls was as crucial as arranging for someone to film those calls.

Having swiftly organized his plans, Isaac glanced at his watch and stood up.

"Filming starts today, right?"

"Yes!"

'Why is he so pleased with filming?'

A slight smile appeared on Isaac's face, witnessing the joy on his face. Perhaps it was this expression that attracted talented actors and directors to Ian.

'I'd like to capture it too someday.'

Isaac, who was taking a long break, suddenly had this thought.

"I don't really need to tell you to do well, do I?"

Was there a need to answer verbally?

Ian responded with a refreshing smile.

***

NO PARKING signs were attached to the trees.

Below that, between the NYPD emblem and the Made in NY campaign logo, lengthy details about the filming continued.

It was a familiar sight for New Yorkers.

Massive filming equipment and vehicles blocking a whole block and police controlling the area were common.

The filming itself was not as intriguing as the curiosity about what was being filmed among the bystanders peeking around.

"Move that wrecked car back a bit! It's in the way."

"Can we cover this wall with chroma key for easier CG later?"

"Don't crack insane jokes!"

Even amidst the bustling noise, one could tell how accustomed they were to such film sets.

While the staff prepared the scene, Ian, who had finished makeup, nudged Ben.

"You dress up on set anyway. After all, three pieces were enough." 

"You always dress up at home, right? huh?" 

"Maybe it's not that bad."

Ian answered playfully and glanced around.

The conflict element in this part of the film emerges as a warp is discovered in New York.

The debate between destroying it now to minimize damage and enduring it for the future is the main storyline.

'Honestly, it's because of Director Gavin that we ended up with this story.'

A strong will to minimize the appearance of grotesque monsters.

That intention was deeply embedded in the story, but Landon's interference meant that only half of it was realized. While the frequency of appearances was reduced, their form became even more horrific.

Gavin hadn't decorated his room with exorcism items for nothing.

"Filming begins!"

At the staff's shout, Ian took a steady breath.

There was no CG monster in front of him. Instead, in broad daylight, he had to act towards nothing.

It could be embarrassing.

'What's embarrassing about acting?'

Such feelings were unnecessary.

Ian immediately immersed himself in his role.

As glass shattered in the crowded streets of New York, a woman touched the dripping liquid that fell from above and screamed horribly as her body melted away instantly.

Not only she was a victim; the dreadful way people died made others scream and flee.

"Damn it!"

Kayden, carrying Beta, cursed as he jumped out of the broken window.

The liquid that melted people quickly formed into a monstrous figure.

Spikes like bones protruded all over its body, and a skull, worn as a head, mockingly moved its jaw.

"Beta!"

"I'm not Alpha, how am I supposed to get rid of it?"

"Then bring out Alpha."

"Are you crazy?! If you want to die that badly, go die alone!"

Beta glared at the enemy with annoyance. At first glance, he looked like a barbarian, but his ability was to twist space and escape. Beta wanted to grab him by the scruff and ask how he managed such a scientifically challenging feat of teleportation.

Realizing there was no other choice but to summon Alpha, Beta closed his eyes tightly.

"Just throw me!"

"What?!"

"Throw me, before he disintegrates all my hair!"

Faced with this horrifying threat, Kayden immediately threw Beta towards the enemy, and the alien, who had been nonchalantly flicking its skull, screamed.

The area where Beta touched turned to dust.

-Aaaaah!

The space rippled.

It was a phenomenon Beta had seen several times when escaping. Afraid of losing his chance, Beta clenched his eyes shut and shouted.

"Alpha, you bastard! Wake up!"

-Keek?

The atmosphere changed instantly.

The playful, bouncing atmosphere disappeared, replaced by a pressure so intense it was beyond pain.

The lightless black eyes indifferently watched the enemy held in its grasp.

"Disgusting."

With those words full of deep disgust, the world distorted.

The ground collapsed as if a sinkhole had opened, and the surrounding buildings disintegrated without even a sound.

As the surroundings vanished like the start of an apocalypse, the rift created by the alien and Alpha's power intertwined, causing a resonance.

"Huh?!"

"Look at that!"

Even Alpha paused its destructive actions to look up.

Above the New York sky, the hidden warp gate revealed itself.

It was Alpha's dramatic entrance, unseen until the end of the first part, marking the beginning of the second.

"Cut!"

"Quick, prepare for the next shot!"

They had to proceed with the next filming within the allotted time.

As the staff hurried to set up the next scene, Damian, who had appeared unnoticed, sat down beside Ian.

"Ian."

"What?"

"Director Davis said you're free to suggest any good ideas you have. He's open-minded about it."

"Okay."

Despite his reputation, Gavin was open to incorporating good suggestions into the shooting, even from the junior staff.

Damian, seemingly perplexed, said, "I suggested changing my character's pet from a cat to a peacock, which I actually own, but he flatly refused."

"Really?"

That was fortunate.

Gavin seemed to be the most sensible among them.

***

Students at Caleb School noticed a strange flyer.

It referred to itself as 'Lonely John' and invited anyone to call the number listed anytime.

"What's this?"

"Some weirdo must have thought it was a joke. John! Did you do this?"

"Are you crazy? That's not even my number."

Students named or nicknamed John were suspected, but none were the culprit.

Just when everyone was puzzled, a student council member flopped down beside them.

"If you're so curious, just call it. It's not like anything bad will happen by just making a call. If it were really a problem, the teachers would have removed it long ago."

"Guess you're right."

With worries abated, curiosity prevailed, and the student dialed the mysterious John.

After a brief moment, the call connected.

"Hello! Are you the weird John?"

-Yep, I'm Lonely John.

The voice was pleasant to hear. The idea of sparking something fun gathered more students around.

"Do you also go to Caleb?"

-No, I don't even live in New York.

"That doesn't make sense! Then how did you get flyers up here?"

-I asked someone I know. I've never even been to that school. I swear on everything I own.

The sincerity in his words was palpable.

If this were a lie, it seemed there would be no one left in the world to trust.

A student, overhearing the conversation with a mischievous grin, snatched the phone.

"Do you study well? Like, science and stuff?"

-Me? I do pretty well.

"Oh! Then…"

The student flipped through a textbook rapidly to find a difficult question. The sound of pages turning was so loud that the person on the other end spoke up first.

-You seem to be quite interested in science too. Do you, by chance, know about the theory of relativity? It's really fascinating.

"…I've heard of it?"

-You don't know the details, huh? Let me explain. Unlike classical mechanics, where time and space are absolute, in relativity, time and space are relative depending on the speed. Let's start with the speed of light as the absolute reference…

Starting from Maxwell's equations, the clues to the speed of light, to discussions on time dilation and length contraction, the middle school students were spun into confusion by the relentless onslaught of relativity theory.

After a while, the students conceded defeat.

"…I was wrong."

-Great, shall we then talk about everyday things?

"That would be perfect."

The student sincerely responded.

***

After schooling prank-calling kids with the theory of relativity on his first phone call, Ian had a long chat with the students before hanging up. Ben, who had been filming and watching dumbfounded, asked,

"Are you planning on working at NASA instead of acting? How do you know all that already?"

"It used to be a good way to shake off annoying kids at school. Back then."

Intrigued by the response, Ben asked,

"…Back then?"

"Yeah, these days, the kids come up to me talking about quantum mechanics."

Ben sighed at the reply.

"What exactly are you doing at school?"

Maybe the documentary should be filmed at Ian's school instead?

Ben wondered.