The atmosphere on the Titanic filming set had changed significantly compared to two months ago.
Dark circles hung under the eyes of the filming crew and Director James Cameron, and even the actors looked exhausted.
“Welcome. We’ve finished all the major shoots, and now only the finishing shots and the scenes with the children remain.”
“You all look really worn out. Are you okay?”
“It’s a dangerous set, so there have been some injuries, and the schedule has dragged on, so we’ve pushed ourselves a bit too hard. It’s something that happens often, so don’t worry about it.”
In addition to James and his sister, children who had come over from the United States were arriving one by one, and the assistant director explained their roles and acting instructions.
“Wow! Seeing it in person, this is no joke. Are we really not going to end up drowning for real?”
“Oppa, I thought it would be fun, but this place is scary.”
The enormous set, the countless cameras, and the jets of water pouring from everywhere created a far greater sense of pressure than expected.
“Ready~ Cue!”
Mom, his sister, and James changed into retro-style formal clothes and filmed the scene of escaping from the flooding Titanic.
He had worried that his ever-smiling little sister, who never wrinkled her face, wouldn’t be able to act terrified, but the filming site was so frightening and chaotic that a genuinely scared expression came naturally.
James also tensed up from the water spraying everywhere and the shouting voices, while Mom, with her acting experience, delivered exactly the right amount of perfect performance.
“Cut! Good. We already have a solid take, but once the set is cleared, we’ll shoot the same scene one more time before moving on.”
After filming the escape from the flooding ship and the transfer to the lifeboat, all their strength drained away, leaving them utterly exhausted and limp.
“You said this is your first time filming a movie? How was it? Fun, right?”
“Leonardo, I thought I was going to die. It didn’t feel like acting—it really seemed like we were escaping a sinking ship.”
“Haha. You acted with real sincerity. That’s how the urgency of the scene comes across on screen.”
“Extras already have it this tough—how do you manage a leading role?”
“The body suffers, but you get compensated accordingly and build a portfolio, so you push through.”
After safely completing the shoot, Leonardo visited the exhausted James sprawled out in Cameron’s office and asked about his first acting experience.
“Your mother acted in Korea, right?”
“She worked as an actress before getting married and quitting, from what I know.”
“She definitely has solid fundamentals. Her looks too—it’s a waste for her to have quit acting.”
“But isn’t the racial barrier still too high for working in Hollywood?”
“That’s true.”
While Asian actors did break into Hollywood, most were from China and capable of handling action roles.
“You and your sister have looks good enough to be actors too—it’s a shame you’re Asian.”
“I don’t really have any intention of becoming an actor. This time, Director Cameron offered the roles, and I joined to make some memories.”
“Fair enough—you don’t exactly have a reason to act. I heard you invested ten million dollars in the movie? Your story is famous among the staff.”
The film’s male lead, Leonardo DiCaprio, grew curious about the Asian kid who had invested ten million dollars and often approached James to chat.
Normally extras aren’t given special treatment, but James, his mom, and his sister were cameo appearances as investors, so they received VIP care.
His sister and mom mostly chatted with the actress playing the female lead, while James talked with Director Cameron and the male actors.
“So you’re saying I should invest in internet companies for the next two years?”
“There are way too many internet companies, aren’t there?”
“Then invest in famous ones like Yahoo, Netscape, or Amazon.com.”
“They’re already expensive— you’re saying they’ll go even higher?”
“The market is growing explosively, so for a while, stock prices have no choice but to keep rising. Then people will get blinded by greed, inflate it crazily, and eventually—pop!—it’ll burst like a balloon.”
Normally no one would listen to stock tips from a middle schooler, but if that kid had become rich from IPOs and invested in film production, it was worth hearing out.
Decisively, for those doubting James, showing photos of him receiving private lessons from Warren Buffett—the richest man in America and the world at the time—made them believe and accept his words.
“So when the stock hits five times the price, start selling off gradually, and finish before it reaches ten times.”
“Since we don’t know when the bubble will burst, even if you can’t sell at the peak, it’s important to lock in profits bit by bit.”
Men certainly loved talking about money, and they became engrossed in the high-level information James provided.
Director James Cameron and Leonardo asked which companies to buy, and James recommended mostly ones he already held stakes in.
“The important thing is not to get too greedy and to start selling stocks in two years.”
“Got it. You’ve told me that at least ten times.”
“If greed blinds you, you could lose everything—so even a hundred warnings aren’t enough.”
Through stock investment talks, he quickly grew close with the crew, actors, and Director Cameron, did additional filming, toured the set, and then headed home.
“Stay safe and take care.”
“Yeah. See you at the premiere. Keep doing well in school.”
Filming Titanic made the short winter break fly by, and to return to school, he said goodbye to the people he’d grown close to in the meantime and headed back to Seattle.
Thus, 1997 began while filming Titanic.
“Clinton succeeded in his reelection.”
“He’s still young—it’s amazing he’s the U.S. president.”
“He’s handsome and speaks so well; he must come across as very charming to Americans.”
His parents marveled at the youthful appearance of Bill Clinton, who had won reelection despite already serving one term.
Next to Bill Clinton stood Hillary with a joyful face, and as James watched TV with them, Bill’s scandal came to mind.
It’s still before he gets into trouble with Lewinsky, right? Men really need to be careful around women.
America, which seemed open-minded, was far more conservative than expected, and a president having an inappropriate relationship with an intern inside the White House while his wife was fully aware would cause enormous waves.
Besides the president’s reelection, many events happened in 1997.
First, at school, even middle schoolers were noisy about the Pokémon animated series that came out this year, while elementary school kids were obsessed with Teletubbies from Britain.
The news often covered Hong Kong’s handover from Britain to China this year, and Mike Tyson caused an unprecedented incident by biting Evander Holyfield’s ear during a boxing match.
Most crucially, the IMF crisis will hit Korea this year.
Knowing a massive financial crisis was coming to Korea, James wondered if there was anything he could do, but as a middle schooler living in America, his options were limited in many ways.
Moreover, interfering with the Korean economy could drastically alter the future he knew, so regrettably, he decided to intervene only minimally.
As he attended school while thinking about the events of the year, the semester passed quickly.
“It’s finally next week.”
“I’m incredibly excited but also nervous. How about you?”
“I’m excited, but not as nervous as Jefferson.”
“It would be great if you could come to New York with me—can’t you skip school for just one day?”
“Strangely, everyone whose company goes public wants me to come along. I don’t want my face known, so go enjoy Wall Street. You graduated from Princeton nearby, so you know the area well.”
Amazon.com’s IPO was approaching, and though only 10% was being offered publicly, Jefferson was already distracted with worry.
“Will we secure enough funding? I’ve calculated it multiple times and been conservative, but what if it’s not enough?”
“It’ll at least double from the opening price. Don’t worry too much—have a safe trip.”
Though Jefferson Bezos worried, Amazon.com successfully went public, closing the first day at $18 per share.
This valued Amazon.com at $440 million total, a company that would grow to over $2 trillion in the future.
Dad watched the Amazon.com IPO news and said to James,
“So Jefferson went public in the end.”
“He worked really hard for it. He’s rich now, but he’ll be even busier for a while.”
Having witnessed several company IPOs, James knew well how work piled up right after listing.
Jefferson also began massive investments to grow the expanding Amazon.com even larger, making his already busy schedule even busier.
“He was the first neighbor we befriended after coming to America—it’s sad to part ways.”
“It’s not like they’re moving to another city; it’s just within Seattle, so we can keep seeing each other. We’ll invite you as soon as the house is settled.”
Thanks to the IPO dramatically increasing their wealth, the Bezos family moved from their current home in Bellevue to Belltown, a high-end residential area closer to downtown with many luxury high-rises.
They suggested the same to James’s family, but the current house was better—close to James and Jenny’s schools and Dad’s university hospital commute—so they had no plans to move for now.
It was sad that the Bezos family, with whom they’d grown close and visited often, was moving, but lately Jefferson literally only slept at home and worked, so to see him, one had to visit the Amazon.com office.
“Finish school quickly and join Amazon too, James. I’ll grow the company hard until then.”
“I still have a long way to go until college graduation—will that be okay?”
“It’s already been three years since we met you—waiting seven more is fine.”
Of course, he had no intention of joining Amazon.com, but he agreed for now and said goodbye to Jefferson.
Jefferson’s wife and children, whom he’d grown close to, were also sad about the farewell, but since Bellevue to Belltown wasn’t far, they promised to meet again and parted.
“Oppa! Mom and I are going to Blockbuster to rent movie tapes—come with us.”
At his sister’s suggestion to rent movies, he rode in Mom’s car to the nearby Blockbuster store.
There was a Blockbuster in every neighborhood renting tapes and DVDs, where people borrowed movies or games.
It was annoying to always go to the store to rent and return by the due date, but visiting the offline shop had its own charm.
They rented recently released movies and stopped by a nearby large supermarket for simple snacks.
“Oppa! There’s a movie vending machine.”
“Renting movies from a vending machine—how novel. And returns by mail, so no need to go in person—that’s convenient.”
Mom was also amazed by the DVD vending machine, and James felt his heart thumping as excitement welled up after a long time.
This company has finally appeared. I had forgotten about it since I couldn’t find a way to reach them, but here it is.
James was delighted that a new investment opportunity had emerged after so long, and he wrote down the company contact information listed on the machine.