Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 60

“Ahem.”

Lee Ji-seok’s cough snapped the two people out of their trance.

PD Choi Min-sung and writer So Eun-jin slapped their cheeks to regain their senses.

“Right, we were talking about the cameo, weren’t we?”

“Of course, we would be grateful if actor Lee Seo-jun agreed to appear!”

“But, are you sure you’re okay with it? The role has barely any lines and only shows up once.”

Seo-jun nodded and answered.

“I read the whole script that Ji-seok hyung gave me. My mom and dad said it was very interesting and I enjoyed reading it too.”

It’s interesting! Writer So clenched her fists and restrained her excitement. A Hollywood actor said my script was interesting!

“PD, I also watched the drama you directed before in the US and I think you’ll do a great job with this one too.”

PD Choi covered his mouth with his hand. He watched my drama! He thinks I’ll do a great job!

They felt like they had become successful fans.

Lee Ji-seok shook his head as he watched the two people moved by his words.

“Ji-seok hyung is a good actor too, so I decided to do the cameo.”

Lee Ji-seok, who had been pretending not to care, also ended up being touched. Seo-jun said I was a good actor!

Seo-jun, who had impressed the three people with his words, casually drank his juice.

The moment of emotion that seemed to last long ended quickly. The staff started to show up one by one for the shooting.

“For now, let’s keep actor Lee Seo-jun’s appearance a secret until the shooting.”

“You can call me Seo-jun.”

“Ugh.”

The two people were moved by Seo-jun’s words and shouted his name in their hearts.

“Then, should Seo-jun stay with actorJi-seok? That would be better, right?”

“Just say he’s Ji-seok’s nephew.”

“Okay. Got it!”

Seo-jun put on the hat he had been wearing until then and ran to manager Yoon Seong-oh, who was checking Lee Ji-seok’s schedule in the corner.

PD Choi and writer So couldn’t take their eyes off Seo-jun’s back.

“He’s so cute!”

“I know, right? How can he act like that with such a cute face?”

“It’s no wonder he’s rumored to be a genius.”

“Ji-seok, you’re amazing. How did you bring actor Lee Seo-jun, no, seo-jun here?”

Lee Ji-seok smiled and answered PD Choi’s question.

“You heard the reason earlier, didn’t you? That’s the truth.”

“Really?”

The two people, who had thought it was just a casual compliment, asked with surprised faces.

They were happy even with a casual compliment, but it was sincere? Lee Ji-seok shrugged and said.

“If he didn’t like the script and the direction, he would have refused my request. He’s that passionate about acting.”

“Wow…”

They saw Seo-jun differently as they heard that story. He was sitting next to manager Yoon and looking around the set. Lee Ji-seok spoke softly.

“Let’s show him today. What drama shooting is like.”

“Huh?”

“Seo-jun might have so much fun that he’ll star in a drama next time. Then you can brag to others. Thanks to us, this actor named Lee Seo-jun became interested in dramas.”

Their eyes widened. Ji-seok laughed. He thought of Jin Natra from Shadowman 2. He wanted to work with Seo-jun again. He didn’t care if it was a drama or a movie.

“Maybe that will be the next project of the writer and the PD.”

The eyes of PD Choi Min-sung and writer So Eun-jin sparkled. If Seo-jun agreed, anyone would invest and any broadcasting station would give them the prime time slot. The success was guaranteed.

No, they had other roles that they wanted Seo-jun to play. They both dug up the stories that they had buried in their hearts.

“That sounds good.”

“I agree.”

The three adults whispered as if they were plotting a secret operation.

Yoon Seong-oh, who was watching them, shook his head.

He wants to film with Seo-jun again!

That was what Ji-seok had been saying ever since he watched Shadowman 2, and he was still saying it now.

“Hyung is wasting his time.”

“Wasting his time?”

Seo-jun turned his head to look at Yoon Seong-oh, his manager, who was sitting next to him. He was wondering what snack to eat.

Yoon Seong-oh grinned. Ji-seok was wondering why Seo-jun didn’t film dramas, but Yoon Seong-oh decided to just ask him directly.

“Why don’t you do dramas, seo-jun?”

Seo-jun rolled his eyes and opened his mouth.

“I don’t like any of the scripts. And the roles are too similar, so I think anyone can do them.”

Seo-jun tore open the bag of the snack he had chosen. As he neatly opened the bag, Yoon Seong-oh clapped at his skill.

“So you would do a drama if you liked the content?”

“Yes. But why are you asking?”

“Hyung thinks you’re not interested in dramas.”

Seo-jun shook his head as he chewed on the snack. That wasn’t true.

“He wants to film with you again, but if you only do movies, the chances of being cast together are low. He said that if you did dramas too, the range would increase and the chances would go up.”

“Why doesn’t he just ask me?”

Seo-jun said without thinking as he saw Ji-seok entering the set after finishing his makeup.

Ji-seok, who was wearing a police uniform, waved at Seo-jun. Seo-jun waved back.

Yoon Seong-oh laughed.

“He can’t force you to do a movie you don’t like. And he might not like the movie you’re doing. He just hopes that you both pick good movies and they happen to be the same one.”

The rehearsal began.

As Seo-jun watched the people moving on the set, he listened to Yoon Seong-oh’s voice.

“Hyung knows that you will definitely reject something you don’t like. He will do the same. But he thinks that those rejections will create an invisible gap between you two. That’s how people’s hearts are. They understand, but they feel a bit hurt. And eventually, they drift apart. Hyung doesn’t want that.”

Seo-jun nodded.

He didn’t know he felt that way. I want to film with Ji-seok again too.

“Then what should we do?”

“Well, we have to rely on luck. If we secretly scheme, hyung will feel sorry. He’ll think he’s making you suffer because of his selfishness.”

“Ji-seok hyung, you’re too complicated.”

“Hahaha. He’s sensitive.”

PD Choi and writer So gestured to them.

It was time for the real shooting. To lure Seo-jun into the drama world, the three of them decided to show him their best from the closest distance.

They gestured for Seo-jun and Yoon Seong-oh, who had temporarily become Seo-jun’s guardian, to come over.

“Just do the acting that you want to keep doing.”

That’s what Yoon Seong-oh said. Seo-jun looked up at him.

Five years. Yoon Seong-oh, who had been working as a manager next to Lee Ji-seok, remembered the eyes of Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun that looked alike.

They were the eyes of actors who loved, desired, and enjoyed acting.

“Ji-seok hyung will never leave here. He will keep acting for 10 years, 20 years, even when he gets old. You too, right?”

“Yes. I will do it for a long time.”

“If you keep acting in the same place for so long, you will surely meet in the same work someday. You can’t avoid each other in this small world, can you?”

Yoon Seong-oh burst into laughter as he spoke. Come to think of it, this was a smaller world than he thought.

“Maybe later, both of you will get tired of saying ‘Why are we in the same work again?!’”

“Hahaha. That’s right.”

Seo-jun laughed at Yoon Seong-oh’s words. Unlike now, when he had few roles as a child actor, he might really feel that way when he grew up and started playing adult roles.

“What? Why are you laughing?”

Lee Ji-seok, who was checking the script for the last time before shooting, asked, looking at the two laughing people, but they both shut their mouths as if they had made a promise.

***

The day of the cameo shooting for the drama ‘Reinvestigation’.

For the cameo shooting, director Choi Min-sung decided to shoot with only the most reliable and minimal staff.

When Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun appeared in the deserted alley, the staff who didn’t know until then gasped.

“Honestly, I expected it when you said you saw the play together, but… it was true.”

The lighting director said to the camera director. The camera director nodded.

PD Choi, who wanted to keep the secret for the special cameo shooting, and writer So, who was smiling and pulling out the script, and the fact that Lee Ji-seok brought the child actor. They had guessed it from then on.

“It’s really Seo-jun.”

At the end of April. After a month and a half of screening, shadowman 2 surpassed 10 million and left the theater.

There were more viewers than other Marina movies because a Korean actor appeared.

“Didn’t Shadowman 1 also exceed 10 million?”

Shadowman 1 surpassed 10 million with the effects of ‘Tear Challenge’ and ‘Shadowman VS Greenwing’. Not only in Korea, but also in the global box office, the Marina wondered if they should try another confrontation. They thought carefully.

“Wow. He’s already a double 10 million actor? No. Shadowman 1 was an extra… or not?”

“Shadowman 3 will definitely be double 10 million. Anyone can predict that it will exceed 10 million.”

The people who were whispering around nodded.

“How’s school? Is it fun?”

Seo-jun sighed at Lee Ji-seok’s question after finishing his makeup. He still had to wait a little longer for the shooting to be ready.

“I didn’t recognize him much at the entrance ceremony, but after Shadowman 2 was released, people who saw the movie seemed to recognize him. Kindergarten friends are fine, but other friends and older brothers and sisters are making a fuss.”

“Why? Do they want your autograph?”

“Not only mine, but also Shadowman and Rachel’s autographs.”

The teachers were doing a good job of blocking them, but he wondered if he should go to an art middle school.

Well, it might be better to go to an art middle or high school when he had to miss a lot of days because of shooting.

Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye were deep in thought. They decided to think slowly since they still had six years left.

Lee Ji-seok opened his mouth without knowing it at Seo-jun’s words.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill’s autographs.

“I want that too.”

The staff who were pretending to work and listening to the two’s conversation also nodded.

“No, I can’t do that. If I do it once, everyone will ask me to do the same. I don’t mind signing my own name, but I can’t sign other people’s names.”

“I see. Who taught you how to do that?”

“My uncle.”

“Oh. Your uncle is the president of Cocoa Entertainment. By the way, don’t you need to find an agency soon? Cocoa Entertainment doesn’t have any actors. Do you want to join my agency?”

Yoon Sung-oh, who was checking his schedule on his phone, looked up with a spark in his eyes. He said enthusiastically, “That’s a great offer, bro! Let me get the brochure for casting from my bag and explain it to you.”

His manager, Lee Ji-seok, rolled his eyes at his eagerness.

Still, his agency was not bad compared to others.

“We have a lot of actors, and I’m here too. The facilities are also good.”

Seo-jun tilted his head and then shook it gently.

“I decided to go with Cocoa Entertainment. They are looking for a manager for me right now.”

He had already signed the contract at home. Of course, since he was a minor, he had also completed the signatures of his parents, who were his guardians.

Seo Eun-chan, who took the contract with excitement, hung Seo-jun’s photo on the wall of the first floor as the first thing he did. Then he started looking for Seo-jun’s manager.

“Really? That’s too bad.”

He had hoped that they would be in the same agency, and he felt disappointed. Yoon Seong-oh, who heard the story, also put the brochure back in his bag with a regretful expression.

“Lee Ji-seok, actor! We’re starting the filming.”

At the call of the assistant director, Lee Ji-seok got up from his seat. His solo filming started first.

Seo-jun’s filming was next.