Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 173

As June approached, Korea became more and more lively.

-Isn’t this the first time Lee Seo-jun is the lead in a Korean work?

=What about The Royal Physician?

=Strictly speaking, that was Heo Uigwan’s lead role.

-The Rebel is a two-top of Danjong and Sejo, but Danjong is the center, so he’s the lead.

-Oh. It’s really his first lead role?

-lol It’s funny. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor, but in Korea, he’s just getting his first lead role lol

-Congratulations on your first lead role! As a fan of Seo-jun, I have to jump for joy N times!

=N times? You mean 2N times!

=Math out of nowhere?

The entertainment reporters didn’t miss this interesting story.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, his first lead role in a Korean movie!]

[His first lead role movie, will it be a hit?]

[Tomorrow, The Rebel press screening!]

[Confirmed to open in LA, USA! Simultaneous release in America and Korea!]

[Next week, The Rebel advance booking starts!]

-It’s weird to say this to an actor who won an Oscar, but congratulations on your first lead role!

=22 lol I never thought of that. First lead role lol Congrats lol

=He really doesn’t go the normal way lol He carves his own path lol

-The press screening reporter… I can feel your excitement lol

=Envy… You get to see it before the opening…

-Oh. Simultaneous release!

=Thx thx I came here as an exchange student this year and I was wondering if I should go to Korea.

=Are you in LA?

=No no I have to drive there but I’m planning to go with a group. Better than flying lol

-Advance booking! Good seats! Advance booking!

=22 I want to see it on the first day. No spoilers please.

=Read the history book lol

The press screening of The Rebel was held.

The director and the lead actors, Lee Seo-jun and Lee Jiseok, Park Wonyul, who were used to such occasions, sat comfortably in their seats. 

Next to them, Kim Hoyoung sat alone with an awkward expression.

Until June, the director and actors who had gathered people’s attention were showered with flashes. 

They heard their names being called from here and there. Seo-jun smiled familiarly and turned his head from side to side.

Before the movie screening, the director picked up the microphone.

“I first became curious about Danjong’s life because of Nosa-gun Ilgi.”

Seo-jun also knew about [Nosa-gun Ilgi]. 

He had thought that there were only two diaries in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, Yeonsan-gun Ilgi and Gwanghae-gun Ilgi, but Danjong Sillok was actually [Nosa-gun Ilgi] until Danjong’s name was restored and became [Danjong Sillok].

“Nosa-gun Ilgi is a diary, so unlike the annals that required strict security, I thought there was a high possibility of modification. Especially, I was bothered by how they glorified and exaggerated Sejo to justify his rebellion, and how they slandered Sejo’s enemies.”

The director paused.

“In every work, Danjong had to live as a weak character who always followed Sejo. Maybe he will continue to do so. But was Danjong’s personality really like that? He didn’t have favorable circumstances, but didn’t he try to overcome them? I don’t think so. Through this movie, I want to show you Danjong’s efforts that were hidden by Sejo’s lies.”

The reporters and staff were captivated by the director’s words.

“This movie may be all fiction or all truth. We will never know the truth of that old time. Just think that there could be such a Danjong in the hidden truth, and watch it with that in mind.”

Clap clap clap-

Applause erupted.

[Director Woo Jeong-han, “I want to show you Danjong’s efforts.”]

[Nosa-gun Ilgi? Danjong Sillok?]

[How much should we trust the distorted Danjong Sillok?]

[Lee Jiseok, “I tried to get rid of Heo Uigwan’s image.”]

[Lee Seo-jun, “I practiced with Jiseok hyung.”]

[Park Wonyul, “They are both great actors.”]

[What kind of Danjong is this? I’m curious about The Rebel!]

[Tomorrow, The Rebel finally opens!]

***

Lee Mi-yeon looked at the crowded movie theater and said.

“It feels like I just watched the trailer… and it’s already opening…”

“? You watched it yesterday too, right? And today too.”

Lee Mi-yeon laughed at Park Sung-ah’s words.

“Don’t you know a joke?”

“Stop wasting time and let’s go get the tickets.”

“Okay.”

Lee Mi-yeon took care of the tickets, and Park Sung-ah took care of the posters. 

Park Sung-ah quickly grabbed two of each poster. 

The staff had prepared enough copies, and as the posters ran out, they refilled them.

There were four posters in total, two versions with two each.

 One of them was like the trailer, with the top and bottom split.

The posters with [Danjong/Sejo] and [Sejo/Danjong] had the upper bodies of the two actors wearing dragon robes.

The other one had the pictures of [Danjong] and [Sejo] sitting on the throne. 

Danjong sitting neatly and Sejo sitting lazily contrasted each other and looked more cool.

Lee Mi-yeon applauded Park Sung-ah who had collected all the posters. 

They were about to wait and admire the posters for a while, when a theater staff shouted.

“Hall 1, hall 1, The Rebel screening will start soon! Please enter quickly!”

They rolled up the posters carefully without wrinkling them, and moved with the people heading to hall 1.

***

A dark night.

Snowflakes fluttered in the wind.

The screen that showed Gwanghwamun slowly moved to the inside of the opening gate.

It showed the guards in gold armor, and the officials moving around. 

The screen moved around the palace, showing different places. 

It showed a palace building.

It was hard to tell which palace it was from the outside, so Lee Mi-yeon blinked. 

A caption appeared.

[Gangnyeongjeon (the king’s bedroom)]

‘If it’s the king, is it Danjong?’

The audience focused more, expecting Lee Seo-jun to appear.

The screen didn’t go inside Gangnyeongjeon, but only showed the outside. 

It was dark everywhere, but there were candles lit inside the palace.

The candles inside Gangnyeongjeon flickered. 

The light of the candles created shadows on the paper windows.

A shadow that seemed to be sitting, and a shadow that seemed to be crouching in front of it. 

The sitting shadow looked smaller than the crouching shadow.

‘Who is Danjong with?’

Without knowing who they were, the camera moved back as if rewinding, and arrived at Gwanghwamun again.

Boom!

The wide-open Gwanghwamun gate closed firmly.

***

With a sad background music, the Gwanghwamun gate opened. 

The inside of the open gate was bright, unlike before. The palace was lit by the sun, and people were bowing their heads or kneeling on the ground.

“Long live!”

A voice was heard.

“Long live!”

A child’s cry was heard among the loud shouts.

“Daddy mommy!”

Lee Hongwi crouched in front of his father’s dead body and burst into tears. 

Hyebin Yang, Sejong’s concubine, also wiped her tears at the sight of Lee Hongwi crying.

But Lee Hongwi, who would become the king, couldn’t stay in sorrow for long like a child from a commoner’s house. 

The heavy duty on his back made him stand up from his grief.

The high-ranking officials appointed by Munjong, such as Kim Jongseo, assisted Lee Hongwi.

While preparing for Munjong’s funeral, Lee Hongwi also prepared for his coronation ceremony.

Geunjeongjeon.

Lee Hongwi sat on the same place where Sejong and Munjong had sat. 

The civil and military officials bowed their heads and shouted.

“Long live!”

Lee Hongwi clenched his trembling hands and looked ahead with the crown on his head.

“Long long live!”

The faces of Grand Prince Suyang and Kim Jongseo, who shouted long long live, were shown.

The first thing that Lee Hongwi did after becoming the king was to banish the high-ranking officials who supported him, following the advice of the high-ranking officials. 

The news reached Grand Prince Suyang.

“He bans us?”

The audience leaned back on their seats at his growl.

He bans us from visiting him, which means he distrusts us. 

This is not his will. Perhaps, he is isolated and needs our help.”

Grand Prince Suyang’s words startled Hwangbo In and the other officials.

He looked at them with a pitying expression. It was a sincere, genuine pity.

“We are trying to overcome this precarious situation with all our heart and strength, together with the officials. How can he suspect and reject us instead? Uijeong.”

In the end, the ban was lifted. People started to visit Grand Prince Suyang’s house again, and that was the beginning of a dark future.

Lee Hongwi ascended to the throne and time passed day by day.

The audience frowned at the scroll of personnel recommendations that Kim Jongseo handed over.

He might know better than Lee Hongwi about talents, but it didn’t look good to push his recommendations so unilaterally.

Lee Hongwi did his best. 

He participated in the royal council and listened to the opinions of the officials. 

He also attended the civil service examination without fail. 

He read petitions at night, studied, and worked hard.

‘He’s admirable, but…’

Lee Mi-yeon and Park Sung-ah looked at Lee Hongwi with a subtle expression. 

To the eyes of the audience, Lee Hongwi still looked young. 

Maybe that’s why he was pushed aside by Grand Prince Suyang, they thought.

“What is that, Kim Naegwan?”

What caught Lee Hongwi’s eye was something that Kim Naegwan had been holding since a while ago. 

At Lee Hongwi’s words, Kim Naegwan hesitated and handed over something. 

It was a piece of yellow cloth. 

He bowed his head and said.

“It’s a petition that I brought.”

“A petition?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Lee Hongwi unfolded the cloth piece. 

There were black letters written on it with charcoal.

[Please save our village.]

He swallowed his saliva at the crooked Hunminjeongeum letters.

“What happened?”

“…A plague broke out in the village. The officials ran away and didn’t send proper petitions, so no one else knew about the situation. A lone survivor came out of the village and arrived in Hanyang yesterday…”

“Arrived?”

“He was wandering around in front of the palace… and got caught. A sympathetic soldier delivered his petition to me, and I received it.”

Lee Hongwi looked at the petition and asked.

“Where is he now?”

“He was released soon, but he is still wandering around the palace.”

“I want to meet him.”

At Lee Hongwi’s order, the meeting took place.

The man who didn’t expect to meet the king knelt down as soon as someone came out. 

He was trembling so much that it was obvious at a glance.

Lee Hongwi examined the kneeling man. His old clothes were torn in many places, and his exposed skin was full of bruises. 

He must have suffered a lot to come to the capital in a hurry to save his village.

“Is there a plague in your village?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Please save our village.”

He saw a ‘subject’ that was different from the officials. 

Unlike the officials who made his head spin with their stern expressions and sharp tongues, he looked simple and weak.

But he wasn’t completely weak.

He ran all the way to the capital to save his village. 

He lingered around the palace, knowing how scary it was, hoping to get some help. 

He begged him to save his village, even in front of him, the king.

Lee Hongwi faced his duty as a king for the first time.

He was the first subject of mine, of Joseon, that he had ever seen. 

He was the one that his daddy mommy tried to protect, and that he had to protect.

Lee Hongwi,

[(Good)The wings of the fallen king of Joseon are activated.]

No, Danjong said in a soft voice.

“I’ll send doctors and medicine right away. Thanks to you, we have a chance to save everyone. You did well. You did very well.”

At the kind voice of the king, at the warm hand of the king holding his, the man cried. 

He had gone to many places to save his village, but he was the first one who said he would save them.

He survived. 

He made it. 

Relieved, the man cried like a child.

Danjong smiled and looked at the man crying. 

His attendants and guards bowed their heads without realizing it.

It was the day when the young successor, who didn’t know ‘the heart of a king’ even at his grand coronation ceremony where the civil and military officials bowed their heads, became a true king.

And a few days later, Danjong smiled kindly as he read the letter of gratitude from Kang Dol, the man that Kim Naegwan had introduced him to. 

The crooked Hunminjeongeum letters, the letters that his daddy mommy had created, touched him more deeply. 

It felt like his daddy mommy was praising him for doing well.

His face shone with longing and pride.

A warm wind seemed to blow in the theater. 

The audience’s hearts beat faster at Danjong’s appearance, who was more merciful than anyone else.

He was a real king. 

Anyone could see that he was a king. 

Who else could be a king if not him?

“Your Majesty.”

Grand Prince Suyang appeared.

…!

Lee Mi-yeon almost cursed without knowing it. 

She knew how this story would end, so her blood pressure rose every time Grand Prince Suyang appeared. 

It seemed like other audience members felt the same way, as faint curses were heard.

“Welcome, uncle.”

Danjong greeted Grand Prince Suyang.

Kim Jongseo was the only official that Danjong could rely on among his subjects, while Grand Prince Suyang and Anpyeong Daegun were the only relatives that Danjong could rely on among his kin.

Grand Prince Suyang laughed and chatted with Danjong with a gentle smile. 

His eyebrows twitched slightly at Danjong’s change. 

The perceptive Grand Prince Suyang quickly noticed Danjong’s transformation.

Grand Prince Suyang left the palace after talking with Danjong. 

His steps were heavy as he walked toward the outside of the palace. 

The audience’s breaths also slowed down with his steps. 

Silence filled the theater. 

It wasn’t a horror movie, but tension ran from their toes.

The camera that only showed Grand Prince Suyang’s back slowly moved forward.

“Ah!”

The audience gasped and buried themselves in their seats.

Grand Prince Suyang’s face was twisted like a demon.