Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 364

Soon, Seo-jun was looking at the lightstick designs with enjoyment rather than judging them for the contest. 

He saw a werewolf that he had dressed up as for Halloween, and a detective that he had cameoed as. 

He also saw a baby ghost in a colorful robe, and a baby Seo-jun with a small spoon in his hand and chubby cheeks.

As he browsed the [Lightstick Contest] board with Seo-jun, An Da-ho said.

“Hmm. These look more like fan art than lightstick designs, don’t they?”

“I agree.”

Seo-jun laughed as he found a phrase that said ‘Seo-jun, I love you!’ on one of the designs, which the fans had written knowing that Seo-jun would see them.

After looking at the posts that were hard to tell whether they were lightstick designs, fan art, or letters with pictures for a while, Seo-jun took his eyes off the PinePad.

“Da-ho hyung. There are so many designs that I like, I don’t know what to choose.”

“That’s true… But most of them seem difficult to make into lightsticks.”

“Why?”

Seo-jun tilted his head at An Da-ho’s words.

“Unlike singers who have concerts or events, you won’t use them much in reality. Once you make one, you’ll have to keep using it unless you change the design. I think it would be better to make a lightstick with a common image rather than one based on a single work.”

An Da-ho said with a smile.

“Each fan will have their favorite work, so it would be a pity to make it only based on one work… And you’ll have more works to do in the future.”

“That makes sense.”

True.

He might have better works, more fun works, or even masterpieces in the future. 

It would be regrettable to make a lightstick based on only one work.

‘Then what should I choose…’

As Seo-jun looked at the board with a serious face, An Da-ho said with a smile.

“You still have time left for the contest, so you can choose slowly.”

An Da-ho’s head turned to the clock in the practice room.

“Hmm. It’s been quite a while, so let’s stop here for today?”

“Okay.”

His eyes were a bit sore from seeing so many designs as well as the love of his fans.

An Da-ho smiled as he saw Seo-jun rubbing his eyes lightly. 

He brought one script. Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the script as if he was never tired.

“I’ll only give you one script at a time while you’re judging the contest. It’s from 2nd team’s recommendation. You can read it when you’re bored at home.”

“What kind of work is it?”

“It’s from Danhong. It was pretty good. The other actors haven’t been decided yet. And it’s the director’s second work. The first one didn’t do well at the box office.”

Seo-jun blinked as he listened to An Da-ho’s explanation.

The first work failed and it was the second work.

It was the same history as the director he met at Han River, but it didn’t seem like him since it hadn’t been even a month since then.

“There’s an audition, is that okay?”

“Yes. That’s fine.”

What did it matter if there was an audition as long as the script was good?

He had a lot of ambition for works and even adapted and staged a play by himself. An Da-ho and 2nd team knew him well and recommended Danhong’s script without much hesitation.

‘They all know what attracts Seo-jun now.’

The vibe of the scripts that came into Cocoa Entertainment’s 2nd team dedicated to actor Lee Seo-jun slowly changed. Of course, there were some scripts that were just thrown in, but some famous production companies started to send good works or unusual and different works that they couldn’t see normally.

They realized that actor Lee Seo-jun moved when he liked the work more than any other conditions.

‘Some production companies might use good works as hostages and hit him hard…’

It was the job of the manager and the agency to prevent that in advance and make him act comfortably and happily in the work he liked.

‘An audition is nothing but a formality.’

He smiled confidently, believing in his actor’s skills. 

Then he handed over the script to his actor who was waiting for it with sparkling eyes.

Seo-jun quickly took the script and looked at the first page.

The title, director, and production company name were written on the first page of the script.

“Oh.”

Seo-jun let out an exclamation without realizing it.

He really didn’t expect to see that name here.

[Working Title: Travel]

[Director: Min Hee-kyung]

[Production Company: Danhong]

Min Hee-kyung.

The three letters reminded him of the voice of the director he met at Han River.

‘I’ll write a good script, so wait for me.’

Seo-jun smiled brightly and turned the first page.

‘I thought it would take longer…’

He was really curious about what kind of script it was.

***

Movie production company, Danhong.

The planning team was working as usual, but they seemed to be distracted by something else.

“When will it come?”

“I don’t know. Cocoa Entertainment said they review them in the order they received, so it might be late if they have a lot of backlog.”

“It’s hard to wait even though it’s only been a few days since we sent the script.”

“We need an answer to proceed, whether it’s yes or no.”

“Cocoa Entertainment is busy these days. Seo-jun is having a lightstick contest and they’re also planning to debut a new idol group.”

Lee Yoon-ju, who was a fan of Seo-jun, said at her colleague’s words.

“Did you see the lightstick designs? There were a lot of good ones. Which one did you like the most?”

“I liked the snow globe with My Wish. I loved how Seong-nyeong Daegun and Heo Uigwan were holding hands. But I don’t think the snow globe will shake.”

“Why?”

“It’s snowing in winter… It’s sad.”

“Oh. Seong-nyeong Daegun died in winter.”

Sniff.

Lee Yoon-ju was choked up as she remembered the drama.

Her colleague patted her shoulder as she saw her sad. 

Another employee joined the conversation.

“I saw that too. I wanted to buy one. Do you think that will win first place?”

There were quite a few designs that even ordinary people who didn’t think of buying them wanted to have ‘one or two’.

Lee Yoon-ju, who got out of her sadness, opened her mouth.

“But I like other designs too. I think I’ll regret it no matter what wins first place.”

“That’s true. Once it comes out, it’s over. You can’t change it to what you want.”

Lee Yoon-ju, who was sighing regretfully, stopped moving at her colleague’s words. She even stopped breathing and stared blankly at her colleague sitting next to her.

“…What did you say?”

“Huh? What?”

Her colleague blinked his eyes at Lee Yoon-ju, who looked like she was broken or in a strange state.

“What did you say just now?”

She looked at him with fire in her eyes and asked sharply. He opened his mouth with a flustered face.

“…Once you’re out, it’s over?”

“What about after!”

“…Can’t you switch places?”

“That sounds good!”

Lee Yoon-ju sparkled her eyes and took out a white paper and a pen. 

Her colleague scratched his cheek at the sight of Lee Yoon-ju blatantly doing something else.

Meanwhile, the other side was buzzing with the talk of the new group coming out of Cocoa Entertainment.

“I was wondering when the next group after Red Crown would come out, and now they’re here.”

“It does take a while for Cocoa Entertainment to launch a new group.”

“But they all turn the music industry upside down when they do. Brown Black, White, Red Crown. Three consecutive successes. Isn’t that something only big agencies can do?”

Everyone nodded and then smirked.

“But isn’t Cocoa Entertainment a big agency by now?”

“It seems like they have fewer artists under their label than that.”

“They have Lee Seo-joon, don’t they?”

Ah.

They all nodded in agreement.

“Is it a girl group? A boy group?”

“A boy group. I heard from a friend of a friend that some of Lee Seo-joon’s friends are in it too.”

Wow.

The employees exclaimed.

“Lee Seo-joon’s friends? They must be really good then.”

“I know, right?”

The office, which was noisy with the stories of Lee Seo-joon and the boy group, quieted down as soon as the planning team leader came in. 

A colleague tapped Lee Yoon-ju’s arm, who was busy drawing something on the paper.

“Is the audition script ready?”

It was obvious that it would be a hot topic since Lee Seo-joon was participating. 

And then it was obvious that the movie would be a hot topic too, and reporters who wanted exclusives could make articles about the movie content.

So Dahn Hong planned to prepare a separate audition script with an unedited script that was somewhat related to the work.

The planning team leader asked and one of the employees answered.

“Yes. Director Min gave us a little revision yesterday.”

“Be careful not to leak any content since the audition is open.”

“Team leader!”

Then one of the employees called out to the planning team leader. 

Everyone’s eyes turned to him.

The employee’s bright expression made everyone in the office sense it. 

The planning team leader didn’t stop his rising lips.

“Actor Lee Seo-joon. He auditioned for it!”

***

“Did you see the new audition posted on the board?”

The kids lit up their eyes at Jeon Seong-min’s words, who came back from running an errand for the teacher. 

Seo-joon, who was explaining an English problem to his friends, had a feeling what that audition was.

“What is it? A movie? A drama?”

“When is the shooting? I’m done with my drama next month…”

“I can’t. I’m preparing for a play.”

“I wonder if it overlaps with the end-of-the-year performance practice.”

“I don’t think I can do any activities next year because of my grades.”

“I’m the same. My mom says I have to study from now on.”

Except for the kids who were filming dramas or movies or appearing in plays, or who were planning not to do any filming until they took the college entrance exam, everyone was interested in Jeon Seong-min’s words.

“The movie company is Dahn Hong.”

“Oh wow!”

“Dahn Hong is a big company!”

“They did The Station too!”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Seo-joon and then to Jeon Seong-min. 

The friends reacted clearly to every word Jeon Seong-min uttered. Seo-joon smiled and said.

“What role is it?”

Kim Joo-kyung asked and Jeon Seong-min answered.

“They’re looking for supporting actors and the main character.”

“…The main character?”

They expected supporting actors… but the main character?

The kids opened their eyes wide at that.

“The main character must be young.”

“Don’t they usually pick adults for young characters even if they’re leads? They can just put them in school uniforms.”

“Isn’t it like Survivors where they appear with other adult roles?”

The kids took out their phones one by one and looked up the new audition. 

They were interested in the audition site even if they were filming movies or dramas or because of the college entrance exam.

Seo-joon also took out his phone and read the audition notice posted by Dahn Hong. 

The plot was different from the script he had seen because of concerns about script leakage.

‘But there are some similar parts.’

Kim Joo-kyung, who was reading the short character description posted, opened her mouth.

“…This seems like something Han-seok would do well?”

“…Yeah.”

At Kim Joo-kyung’s words, the kids thought of the first-year acting major who had caused a stir in the Mirinae High School a few weeks ago.

***

Mirinae High School, Acting Major, 1st Grade, Class 1.

The kids were noisy with the new audition notice.

“I can’t believe this…!”

“Dahn Hong! It’s Dahn Hong!”

“Hey! Kim Han-seok! This role seems perfect for you!”

Unlike the friends who were making a fuss, Kim Han-seok was only stunned.

The three words written in the main character’s description stuck in Kim Han-seok’s eyes.

[Terminal Illness]

Just a few weeks ago.

He had experienced firsthand what it was like to be terminally ill right before he died.

It was a word that was familiar to him, but still made his chest sting a little.

“I’m going to audition too… but I think I can do better as the main character’s friend than the main character.”

One of the kids said and everyone nodded.

“That’s true. What made us nervous then was not the main character’s feelings, but the feelings of the friends who were worried about him.”

“Han-seok. Do you remember how you felt then?”

Kim Han-seok recalled at his friend’s words.

“Um. I think I know what it feels like.”

Anxious and insecure and scared.

To be honest, he was stressed out by worry rather than illness and almost died.

“Who among our peers would know the main character’s feelings better than you?”

“Right!”

Then, the door of Class 1 opened with a bang!

Kim Han-seok and his friends looked at the door. 

The class president, who had the widest network among the Class 1 kids, raised his voice with a flushed face.

“Hey! Senior Lee Seo-joon auditioned for Dahn Hong’s thing!”

…What?

Kim Han-seok and his friends froze at the unexpected appearance of the final boss.