Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 64

Kim Hee-sang sat down with a pleased face.

Seeing the natural interaction between the two, Ahn Da Ho hesitated before opening his mouth.

He had a feeling why President Seo Eun-chan introduced him to this person named Kim Hee-sang.

“Um.”

“Yes?”

“What should I do to support Seo-jun in the future?”

“That’s a good question.”

It was a good question.

And the best person to answer it was Kim Hee-sang, who knew Seo-jun better than anyone else, except for his parents.

“First of all, seo-jun doesn’t do anything he doesn’t like. He doesn’t have many dislikes, though. And he has to do what he wants to do.”

Kim Hee-sang recalled the eight months of hardship.

He never gave up, even when he was frustrated by the unchanging acting.

He finally achieved it, and Kim Hee-sang couldn’t help but admire Seo-jun’s determination.

“This is a story that only a few people know, but Seo-jun practiced only one script for eight months for the filming of Shadowman 2.”

“Eight months?”

Ahn Da Ho’s eyes widened.

“Yes. That’s how much he has to do what he wants to do, and he also works hard. And as I said, seo-jun doesn’t care about the box office. He just likes any script that’s fun.”

“I see.”

Ahn Da Ho felt like he had to tell the second team, who were busy looking for hit works, right away. He took out his phone.

“Can I make a call for a moment…”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

And he went to the corner and made a call. The whole second team sighed when they heard the story from Ahn Da Ho.

-How could the president leave out the most important part!

-Well, let’s just take out the ones that seem to fail… No, let’s just take out the ones that have real problems with the director or the production company.

-He can do children’s musicals too? Then we have to look for them again!

The second team was busy, and Seo Eun-chan, who was in the president’s office, felt his ears itch.

“I want to do this!”

Seo-jun raised his head with an excited face after reading all the scripts.

Ahn Da Ho quickly took out his notebook, and Kim Hee-sang ate the snacks he bought for Seo-jun and asked.

“Really? What role is it?”

“Blue Dragon!”

“Blue Dragon?”

Unlike Ahn Da Ho, who tilted his head, Kim Hee-sang nodded.

Seo-jun’s face was more excited than ever. Kim Hee-sang saw the happiness in his face and remembered Seo-jun, who had lived with a monster doll next to him since he was a baby.

Maybe the source of Seo-jun’s acting skills was his doll play when he was young.

He was so good at playing with dolls that he wondered if it wasn’t the reason for his acting skills.

“I knew this day would come someday. I thought he might star in a Hollywood fantasy movie, but I can’t believe this day has come already.”

Seo-jun enthusiastically told the story. Kim Hee-sang listened with a nod, and Ahn Da Ho listened attentively, not wanting to miss a single word of Seo-jun’s. His head gradually tilted to the side.

“He’s not the main character, is he? He has an impact, but he seems to have less lines than the other roles.”

Ahn Da Ho was confused by Seo-jun’s story and opened the script.

[Blue Dragon (voice)]

He read it again, but there were no directions for action or acting. There were only directions for the voice tone.

It was written in the script.

The blue dragon was made with stage equipment, so only the actor’s voice would come out.

“…Only your voice comes out, are you okay?”

Seo-jun nodded his head even at Ahn Da Ho’s question.

“Yes! I like this.”

“…Really?”

Ahn Da Ho’s eyes turned to Kim Hee-sang. Kim Hee-sang chuckled and nodded his head. Ahn Da Ho’s face brightened at Kim Hee-sang’s gesture, who was like a senior manager.

“Okay. I’ll read the announcement and send the application.”

“Wow!”

He finally found his next work. Seo-jun, who was happy, suddenly thought of something and looked at Kim Hee-sang.

“But what kind of play is it that only kids come out?”

“Let’s see.”

Kim Hee-sang read the phone screen down.

It was a play planned by the Milky Way Center, which had a fairly large theater in Seoul, where you could watch musicals and plays.

“A children’s play. It’s a play that’s made because there are a lot of kids who want to act, but there’s no stage to perform. But since it’s the first attempt, they’re only accepting applications from experienced child actors this time.”

“I see! I can do it too!”

“It’s not a free play, but a paid one, so practice can be hard, and the role can change depending on the actor’s ability. They recommend that inexperienced actors apply for roles with few lines.”

There were all kinds of warnings attached to it.

From physical problems to the possibility of being scolded. But they won the parents’ hearts by saying that they could always watch the practice. Of course, it was impossible to join the practice.

“You can’t drop out in the middle, so think carefully and apply.”

“It’s a play where children are the main characters.”

The protagonist.

Ahn Da Ho’s words crossed Seo-jun’s mind.

“Da Ho hyung.”

Seo-jun opened his mouth. Ahn Da Ho, who was reading the announcement hard, looked at Seo-jun with a puzzled expression on his slightly heavy voice.

“I don’t want to do this.”

“What?”

“Why? Seo-jun.”

Seo-jun shook his head without saying a word, despite the confusion of Kim Hee-sang and Ahn Da Ho.

***

Seo-jun sighed.

Ji-yoon tilted her head.

“Seo-jun. Are you sick?”

“No. I just have some worries.”

“What are you worried about?”

Ji-woo and Ji-ho, the twins sitting in front of them, turned their bodies and sat down. Mina quickly joined the conversation.

“Um.”

Seo-jun wondered. How can I explain it to these kids so they can understand? He decided to just tell them honestly.

“I’m famous, you know.”

“Yes!”

“Seo-jun is super famous.”

The kids nodded their heads, remembering the high school students who came to see him during break time.

“I’m worried that everyone will only look at me if I do a play.”

“Isn’t it great to be liked by everyone? I think I would be very happy!”

The children agreed with Ji-yoon’s words.

“Hmm. Ji-woo. Ji-ho.”

“Huh?”

“How would you feel if everyone liked only Ji-woo?”

At that, Ji-ho, who quickly empathized, whimpered.

“Mom too? Dad too? They only like Ji-woo?”

“No. Mom and Dad like both Ji-ho and Ji-woo. I mean, what if the supermarket owner and the snack shop lady only liked Ji-woo?”

Seo-jun quickly explained and Ji-ho said with a calm face.

“…I don’t like that. I wish they would like me too.”

Ji-ho’s words made Ji-woo nod.

“I like it when they like me and Ji-ho the same!”

“Me too. I wish the actors who come out with me would be liked the same too. But I’m worried because it might be hard since I’m famous.”

The children looked like they understood half of it.

“Then what should we do?”

“How can we make them like us all the same?”

The children thought hard for Seo-jun during class and break time, but as soon as school was over, they quickly forgot and got ready to go to Seo-jun’s house to play.

Today was a day off from the academy and they were going to hang out with their friends. Of course, it was raining lightly, so they decided to play inside the house. Seo Eun-hye came by car to pick up the children.

“I brought my spinning top too!”

“Me too!”

“I didn’t bring mine. I must have forgotten.”

“I’ll lend you mine!”

Seo-jun decided to put aside his worries for a day and play hard.

The children ate snacks and played hard, then took a nap and played hard again. It was soon evening.

Seo Eun-hye, who was worried after hearing the story yesterday, Lee Min-jun, who was worried about Seo-jun and came home early from work, and Kim Hee-sang, who came along, all relaxed at Seo-jun’s cheerful face.

The children sat side by side and looked at the television. It was to watch the spinning top animation that was on air.

They smiled at the sparkling eyes of the children.

“Shall we go home after watching this?”

“Yes!”

They all answered in unison to Seo Eun-hye’s words.

The three adults also sat on the sofa and watched the television. Kim Hee-sang quietly opened his mouth.

“We had a similar animation back in our days, but with a different name.”

“That’s right. We also spun our tops hard.”

They watched with nostalgia, but one of the two spinning tops that were competing flew out of the arena, and broke into three pieces.

“?!”

“Huh?”

Unlike the adults who were startled, the children cheered as if the protagonist had won. Kim Hee-sang wiped his face and said.

“Back in our days, the tops didn’t break. They just went out of bounds or stopped.”

“That’s right. Back in our days, when the tops broke, it was either a really dangerous situation or a serious situation…”

“Wow. I thought my heart was going to drop.”

Even after that, the spinning tops in the comic would easily split into three pieces when they hit the ground.

Unlike the children who cheered for the protagonist’s consecutive wins, the three people who had no immunity to the splitting tops had a serious conversation with grim faces.

“Isn’t he breaking them too easily? I feel like my heart drops every time they split into three pieces.”

In the comic from the adults’ memories, the protagonists would cry bitterly when their tops broke. The audience in the comic would also gasp in shock.

“It doesn’t feel like they’re breaking, but more like they’re separating. Did he make them weak on purpose?”

“Maybe he copied the durability of the toys these days.”

The protagonist who broke them, the opponent who held the broken tops as if nothing happened, and the children who shouted “Go!” The adults couldn’t understand.

Suddenly, Kim Hee-sang opened his mouth.

“Is this a generation gap?”

The adults became solemn.

The protagonist advanced to the finals. His opponent was wearing a mask, but his hair color and eye color. To Seo-jun’s eyes, no matter how he looked,

“Is that Ray?”

“Really?!”

“Ray was a villain?!”

It was Ray, the protagonist’s friend.

But neither the protagonist nor his friends, nor the people in the audience noticed. And the name of Ray who appeared in the stadium was different.

X.

It was the appearance of a new villain.

“That was so fun!”

“X! What a cool name!”

The children chatted and followed their parents home. Seo-jun waved his hand and saw them off.

For dinner, they ordered pork feet. Seo-jun skillfully put a piece of meat on a lettuce leaf and added shrimp paste and onion pickle. He ate it in one bite and said,

“Delicious!”

“Yeah? Chew well.”

“Okay!”

The adults eagerly brought food to Seo-jun’s front.

They didn’t know why he decided not to do the play he liked, but they hoped he would forget it soon.

Seo-jun finished the delicious pork feet and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He squeezed toothpaste on his toothbrush and brushed his teeth. Then, seo-jun,

“Ouch!?”

He screamed.

The three people who had been worried about Seo-jun all day ran over.

“What, what’s wrong, seo-jun!”

“What happened?!”

Ugh-! Seo-jun spat out the foam and smiled brightly.

“I thought of a good idea!”

He rinsed his mouth and headed to the living room excitedly. The adults followed him. The three people sat side by side on the sofa and looked at Seo-jun. Seo-jun said with a thrilled face.

“Can I hide my name?”

“Name?”

Name? The three people tilted their heads. What name all of a sudden?

“Yes!”

“Why the sudden name change?”

Seo-jun felt embarrassed by the serious expressions of the adults looking at him.

He didn’t tell them because he thought they would worry about him not being able to do what he wanted because of his fame, but ironically, he seemed to have caused them more worry by not telling them.

Seo-jun quickly explained.

“Well, the children’s play is a play that the kids do together. They all want to do great acting and get attention, but if I do it, most people will come to see me only. I want the other kids to get the same attention as me.”

Of course. Commercial plays or movies were different. They involved a lot of money and they cast famous idols with ticket power for the sake of box office.

Seo-jun would have applied for an audition without any hesitation if it was such a movie or play.

But this was a play for children.

They charged a fee for the sake of the children’s serious attitude, but it was less than a regular play.

The Milky Way Center also wanted all the children who appeared to be the main characters and get attention. Seo-jun hoped for that too, and gave up.

“That makes sense.”

The three people nodded. It was obvious what would happen if they promoted with Seo-jun’s name.

To be able to see Seo-jun’s acting right in front of them. Not to mention the others, but the people who cried watching William, or saw God in The Evil Spirit, or felt the coldness in Shadowman 2, seo-jun’s fans, would definitely come to see it.

To feel Seo-jun’s vivid acting that was not filtered through the media!

“So, can’t I apply with a different name?”

‘Ray’ and ‘X’ came to Seo-jun’s mind. Even though he only changed his name and hid his face, the people in the comics didn’t recognize him.

No, not just comics. Movies too. And he often appeared on entertainment programs.

“You mean a pseudonym.”

“Pseudonym?”

“A fake name.”

“Yes! Pseudonym!”

Kim Hee-sang clicked his tongue at Lee Min-joon and Seo Eun-hye’s words.

“Seo-jun is a celebrity, what’s a pseudonym?”

“…Aren’t you going home? What time is it?”

“Hahaha. Stage name. Stage name. A lot of celebrities use stage names.”

Kim Hee-sang cut off Seo Eun-hye’s nagging and said awkwardly.

Stage name!

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.