Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 459

-Is Choi So-young still close with Lee Seo-joon?

=I guess so. She’s also close with Lee Da-jin.

=They’re sometimes mentioned together in the articles, right?

-But I think that’s not the case anymore.

=The article when Lee Seo-joon applied to Han Ye University: <Actor Lee Seo-joon, will he become the junior of actors Lee Da-jin and Park Do-hoon?>

=Choi So-young is also from Han Ye University, but she’s not in the article.

=Wow;;;

=Until the entrance ceremony of Mirinae University, Choi So-young was also mentioned with them, but now there are no such articles.

-Bom and Cheongryong-nim must be close, right?

=In my heart, they’re best friends But I wish they would show it.

-But what does Choi So-young do when Lee Da-jin and Lee Seo-joon are in the same work?

=Lee Da-jin is in Lee Seo-joon’s group. Choi So-young has never been mentioned in that direction. She doesn’t do any work, not even a cameo appearance. Are they really close?

-That can’t be helped. Choi So-young was studying acting and doing theater, and she recently came to drama and movie fields. She also had some hiatus.

=Yeah, Lee Da-jin started her activities right away.

=You can tell that Choi So-young is a studious type and Lee Da-jin is a practical type.

-In an interview, she said that she felt the charm of theater after the children’s play Bom.

=Lee Seo-joon doesn’t do theater. He only did school plays after Bom, and adults can’t participate in school plays.

=If she had done any work, Choi So-young would have been in Lee Seo-joon’s group too.

=Aren’t you all seeing the entertainment industry too narrowly? There are many works that Lee Seo-joon doesn’t appear in. And there are many actors who are active.

=Yeah, it’s very rare to meet as often as Lee Seo-joon’s group.

-If they’re close, shouldn’t there be some sightings?

=…Our Seo-joon doesn’t have any sightings even when he walks around alone…

=I wonder if he’s invisible to my eyes now.

=He’s really amazing

-It seems like Choi So-young’s fans think that she’s close with Lee Seo-joon, but other people don’t.

=Aren’t you all jealous of Choi So-young and Lee Seo-joon being close?

=No, no. Other people have no choice but to think that way because the children’s play Bom was when Lee Seo-joon was 8 years old, and look at his age now. He’s already a college student. It’s been over 10 years. But there are no sightings and they don’t appear in any work together, so they think they’re not close.

=There’s also Lee Da-jin who is in the same situation but in Lee Seo-joon’s group.

=The difference is too big. It looks like Choi So-young’s fans are just insisting.

-But is it important to be in Lee Seo-joon’s group? Choi So-young is good at acting.

=Yeah, skills honed by theater and theory. Among her peers, the only one who can compare is Lee Da-jin?

=But there are some people who criticize her for her acting skills.

=…Are their eyes crooked?

=They just don’t like seeing her succeed.

=That’s when being in Lee Seo-joon’s group is good. They’re all good at acting, directing, writing, so they have an image of being skilled.

=Usually celebrities are nothing without their image.

=You can counter with “Lee Seo-joon, a Hollywood star, acknowledged her??”.

=Aren’t they impressive just by saying they’re in Lee Seo-joon’s group?

=And Lee Seo-joon has such a good network…

=It’s not because of his network, but just look at Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok who entered Hollywood… It seems like he was the cause of it.

-But honestly, ordinary people don’t know much about the relationships between celebrities. If there are no articles or posts on the internet, they’ll never know.

=True. There are times when unexpected connections appear.

=Dating, marriage, divorce, they’re all revealed out of nowhere. Friendship is nothing compared to that

=I don’t know where they became so close.

****

Ding dong! Ding dong!

As soon as the notification of a new message arrived, Ahn Da Ho, who was reading the documents piled up on his desk, quickly picked up his phone that was next to him.

The 2nd team staff who were doing their own work also stopped their hands and looked at Ahn Da Ho at the loud notification sound that was different from the others.

It was the exclusive notification sound for actor Lee Seo-joon.

-Seo-joon: Da-ho hyung!

-Seo-joon: I’m at a ski resort, can you come and pick me up?

As soon as he read the message, Ahn Da Ho got up from his seat.

He quickly put on his thick coat as it was still cold weather and grabbed his car key. 

And he called two of the 2nd team staff who had big builds. 

The two staff also got up from their seats and followed Ahn Da Ho, who ran out of the 2nd team office, with their clothes.

It was something that happened within 10 seconds of Seo-joon’s message arriving.

“That’s strange. Seo-joon called Mr. An on his day off.”

“That’s right.”

The remaining 2nd team staff cleaned up the seats of the staff who had left.

Seo-joon: I have friends with me too!

“Let’s take this one.”

“Yes.”

After receiving another message from Seo-joon, Ahn Da Ho turned his steps and headed for the biggest car among the cars in the parking lot. 

The two staff sat in the driver’s seat and the passenger seat and handed over the car key to Ahn Da Ho, who sat in the back seat.

“Drive carefully and quickly.”

Careful and quick were not words that went well together, but as ‘Lee Seo-joon’s’ manager, he couldn’t cause an accident.

It would be a problem if an accident happened when Seo-joon was in the car, but it would be more certain that an article would come out as ‘Lee Seo-joon’s manager’ if an accident happened when Seo-joon was not in the car. 

It was an unpleasant thing for an actor’s name to appear in an article like that.

The car started and left Cocoa Entertainment with Ahn Da Ho and the 2nd team staff.

Ahn Da Ho immediately sent a message to Seo-joon.

<What’s going on?

<Did you get caught?

Was it because he was a little careless with Seo-joon’s excellent disguise skills?

Ahn Da Ho rubbed his forehead with a serious face while waiting for Seo-joon’s reply.

‘When he was young, he had bodyguards with him, but…’

That was only when he was a hot topic. He lived a normal life like other kids in his everyday life.

‘That’s why I don’t always follow him or have bodyguards with him when he goes out with his friends.’

Even if he knew he had to be careful about safety, if he or the bodyguards always followed him, Seo-joon would feel suffocated someday.

‘It’s hard…’

He had been a manager for over 10 years, but it was quite difficult and worrisome to deal with the star’s safety and freedom in between.

-Seo-joon: No. I didn’t get caught!

Sigh.

Ahn Da Ho let out a deep sigh of relief and leaned his back on the backrest of the car that was moving smoothly.

-Seo-joon: Well, hyung.

-Seo-joon: Walking Man came here to film.

At that message, Ahn Da Ho had no choice but to pull his upper body back again.

The two staff who were sitting in the driver’s seat and the passenger seat looked at Ahn Da Ho, who was holding his phone with both hands and smiling brightly.

<…Working Man?

-Seo-jun: Yes.

-Seo-jun: I ended up hiding my identity and filming.

Ahn Da Ho blinked his eyes.

‘Filming is filming… but hiding your identity?’

It was Seo-jun, why? How? These words filled Ahn Da Ho’s head.

But his hands were naturally contacting Team 2. Team 2 looked into the production team’s contact information and the cast for this filming of Working Man! at Ahn Da Ho’s request.

-Seo-jun: But it’s time to reveal my identity!

Ahn Da Ho was silent at Seo-jun’s message, which seemed to have a strange spirit.

What on earth was going on at the ski resort?

‘…Should I just follow Seo-jun?’

He even had such a thought in this frustrating situation that he couldn’t grasp at all.

-Seo-jun: It’s hard to take the shuttle bus when my identity is revealed, so I wanted you to come.

-Seo-jun: Can’t you? Da-ho hyung?

-Seo-jun: (A puppy emoticon with teary eyes)

Ahn Da Ho chuckled and sent a reply.

<No. I’m on my way.

-Seo-jun: ?? Already??

Seo-jun had no idea that Ahn Da Ho had left the Team 2 office and departed without even explaining why.

<But Seo-jun.

<Can you tell me more about what’s going on?

<What do you mean by hiding your identity, and what do you mean by it’s time to reveal it?

-Seo-jun: I want to, but…

-Seo-jun: I’m expecting a call soon.

-Seo-jun: I have to act well!

-Seo-jun: Hehehe

A strange spirit was felt from the message again.

Ahn Da Ho scratched his chin in wonder while Team 2 sent him a message.

-Team 2: The actors of [Babel Tower] are the guests today.

-Team 2: Choi So-young is also coming.

“…I still don’t understand…?”

He unknowingly blurted out his inner thoughts, as he couldn’t understand the situation at all.

Ahn Da Ho gave up on understanding for now and started doing his job.

<Should I contact the Working Man poduction team then?

-Seo-jun: No. It’s okay!

-Seo-jun: It’s a surprise appearance

-Seo-jun: They might contact you later from Working Man.

<Okay. Got it.

<Stay close to the Working Man production team until I get there.

<And your friends too.

Seo-jun: Yes!

-Seo-jun: Oh! Don’t call me, Da-ho hyung!

He still couldn’t understand it.

He looked at Seo-jun’s message telling him not to call with trembling eyes and put down his phone, then picked it up again and sent a message to Team 2. 

He hadn’t finished his work yet because he left in a hurry.

The employee who had been sneaking glances behind him noticed that Ahn Da Ho had relaxed and asked him.

“Team leader. What’s going on with Seo-jun?”

“He’s not in danger. He just filmed with Working Man at the ski resort… but he hid his identity.”

“…Yes?”

“And now it’s time to reveal his identity.”

“…What does that mean?”

Team 2 employees who were floating question marks looked at Ahn Da Ho, who laughed and said.

“I’m glad. It’s not just me who doesn’t understand…”

Even if he didn’t understand the situation, a manager was needed for a star, so he didn’t have time to hesitate.

“Let’s go as safely and quickly as possible.”

***

“Da-ho hyung is coming.”

The friends smiled brightly at Seo-jun’s words.

“Then we can go home comfortably.”

“Yeah. I’ll drop you off in front of your house.”

Seo-jun switched his phone to silent mode so that it wouldn’t ring even if someone else called. 

He planned to switch it back to ringtone when So-young unni called later.

“Then let’s find the best route.”

Sung-min suggested that it would be nice to find the best route by telling each other their home addresses so that they wouldn’t go back and forth.

“Let’s finish our appearance first.”

The kids’ eyes sparkled at Seo-jun’s words.

The bonus game was just past the third person.

It took longer because the other side didn’t answer the phone quickly and the signal tone lasted long, but even if they answered, there was a short interview where they talked about their current situation.

“Choi So-hee failed!”

“No, why don’t you answer the phone!”

This was the fourth one.

There were cases where the phone was not answered at all and it ended quickly, so Seo-jun and the kids couldn’t predict when it would be So-young’s turn.

They just had to wait.

Seo-jun and the kids didn’t just let that time pass.

They moved their seats quietly first.

There were a lot of people standing in the front where they could see the celebrities well, but there weren’t that many onlookers on the side, maybe because there were staff there too. 

Seo-jun and his friends moved to that side.

“This seems like a good place for people to see well when our identity is revealed.”

Like a stage.

There were people gathered on the other side, so Seo-jun and his friends smiled brightly.

“Let’s change the ringtone too. Something majestic.”

“Beethoven’s Fate would be good.”

Han Ji-ho quietly hummed Ba-ba-ba-bam!

“What about some soft music? Like sha-la-la-.”

“That’s not bad either.”

The friends whispered around Seo-jun, and their voices looked somehow happy.

“Should we shine our phone lights behind us?”

“The flashlight function is really bright.”

“Halo!”

They looked very happy.

Seo-jun also happily discussed which direction would be better when Park Si-young said.

“If it’s Seo-jun, it has to be that one.”

At Park Si-young’s words, Seo-jun and his friends widened their eyes and then giggled and nodded.

***

“And now it’s So-young’s turn!”

The filming site of [Working Man!] was filled with a strange anticipation. 

There were people who had heard some rumors and came to see, as well as the staff of the ski resort.

“Do you keep in touch with Seo-jun?”

“Yes. I have a group chat with Da-jin, actress Lee Da-jin.”

“Wow!”

The people’s eyes sparkled at the mention of celebrities, and Choi So-young scratched her cheek. 

She had just exchanged messages with Seo-jun a while ago, so she wasn’t worried that he wouldn’t answer.

“But Seo-jun might be busy and not answer.”

“We know! We know.”

“Just do it casually. Casually.”

Choi So-young shrugged her shoulders at the people’s reactions and pressed the call button.

The filming site became quiet.

Doo-roo-roo-

Just as the signal tone was about to start,

Dong!

A loud sound came from somewhere.

The production team frowned at the sound that interfered with the filming, and the onlookers also looked displeased at the direction where the sound came from, and the youngest cameraman who was filming the people’s reactions reflexively turned his lens to that direction.

Dong-dong!

But it was a strangely familiar sound, no, music.

His heart beat in sync with the music.

Maybe because he had been thinking about Seo-jun until now, he could recognize it from that short intro.

[Shadowman]

It was the OST of Jin Natra.

It could have been just someone’s ringtone who liked Jin Natra, but his senses warned him that it wasn’t the end.

Because he felt a different presence among the people who were standing sparsely.

He felt what they called a star’s aura.

Not only ordinary people, but also production staff and celebrities, and even cameras unconsciously turned their heads to that direction.

In the center, there was a man wearing a white ski suit and a sky-blue goggles.

Was it an illusion?

He seemed to see a bright halo behind the man.

Dong-dong!

The OST of Jin Natra rang.

The man slowly raised his hand and moved the goggles that covered half of his face to his forehead.

…!

His eyes couldn’t get any bigger at the familiar face that he couldn’t mistake for anyone else.

It felt like his heart, which should be inside his body, dropped to the floor.

The man didn’t care about the surprised people and took out his phone, took off his left ski glove and pressed the call button.

At the same time, there was silence.

The ringtone would naturally turn off when the call started, but it felt like a scene from a movie without the background sound.

As if it wanted to focus only on the protagonist and erase all the sounds around him.

And then the protagonist opened his mouth.

“Hello? So-young unni?”

…!!

Everyone, ordinary people, celebrities, production staff, opened their mouths wide.

And then they alternately looked at the super star who was casually saying ‘hello?’ on his phone and Choi So-young, who was his call partner, with sincere shock on their faces.

Choi So-young blinked her eyes at the voice coming from her phone and right in front of her and opened her mouth

“…Seo-jun why are you here?”

Choi So-young’s confirmation shot of surprise.

The ski resort was filled with screams of startled people at the sudden appearance of a super star.