Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 463

[SBC Working Man, Actor Lee Seo-jun Appearing This Week?!]

[Have You Seen Actor Lee Seo-jun? He Was in the Trailer Too?]

[Lee Seo-jun’s Original Play ‘MOEB-436’, Only Two Episodes Left!]

[Play ‘MOEB-436’, One Week Left Until YouTube Premiere!]

[Watch Out for Spoilers! Witness Accounts of Lee Seo-jun’s ‘Working Man’ Filming!]

[The Connection Between Babel Tower’s Choi So-young and Lee Seo-jun!]

“Wow. It’s quite a buzz.”

“…”

“But the only thing about our drama is Choi So-young. Well, I guess if we make a good teaser and show it, maybe some of the viewers will watch it?”

“…”

Shin Ji-hye, the PD of [Babel Tower], was browsing through various entertainment articles on her phone. 

She turned her head with a bright smile.

This was the editing room inside the SBC broadcasting station. 

She looked at the assistant director who was staring at the editing monitor screen.

“So which teaser do you like?”

She thought it would be better to have someone else’s opinion, so she dragged the assistant director of [Babel Tower] with her.

“…Aren’t these 17 and 21 the same?”

Shin Ji-hye widened her eyes at the question of the assistant director who had dark circles under his eyes. 

She retorted.

“No way. Here, number 17 slowed down a bit to create tension in this part. Number 21 sped up to give a sense of speed.”

“They all look the same to me. Senior.”

“No way. Look closely.”

Shin Ji-hye grabbed the assistant director’s shoulder. The assistant director’s shoulder sagged weakly.

“Ugh. Senior. Can’t we just pick anyone? Or can we take a break or something…”

Shin Ji-hye shook her head and said.

“No way. We still have a lot of filming left for Babel Tower and we’ve almost used up all the time for editing the promotional video, so we have to quickly make the best video and send it over. The director keeps calling us.”

The assistant director knew that too.

But he had already seen 21 promotional videos for [Babel Tower]. There were only 21 videos, but he had to watch them several times to compare them, so he felt like he had seen dozens of similar videos.

“I think I would have gestalt collapse if this was possible with videos, not just texts.”

He wouldn’t do this much for editing the actual episodes.

Shin Ji-hye sighed lightly at the assistant director’s pale face.

“It can’t be helped.”

“Are you done?!”

“There are more teasers with different compositions. I made about nine of them.”

Eek!

The assistant director gasped and looked at Shin Ji-hye, who was clicking the mouse frantically.

“Senior, how serious are you about the promotional video?”

“We have to make the drama successful. Then you can get paid and I can get a new drama with better conditions.”

“That’s true, but…”

“The conditions are good. How many people will watch the drama promotional video anyway? They’ll just change the channel. We have to grab their attention when we have gathered the viewers with actor Lee Seo-jun.”

He couldn’t argue with that, so the assistant director closed his mouth.

A new teaser video started playing on the monitor. 

The time of hardship returned.

The assistant director muttered with half-closed eyes.

“I wish actor Lee Seo-jun would make a cameo appearance. Then we wouldn’t have to put so much effort into the promotional video…”

What is a promotional video anyway?

If they just released an article saying [Actor Lee Seo-jun, Cameo Appearance!], the abusive articles would flood in and promote it for them.

“The viewers would flock in on their own too.”

“Right. But that’s not going to happen. We can’t burden Choi So-young to bring him over. So let’s just pick a good promotional video. Junior.”

“…Buddha, God, Heaven and Earth! Please let me escape from here!”

The assistant director clasped his hands and prayed sincerely.

Whether his prayer was heard or not, Shin Ji-hye’s phone rang.

“Is it the director?”

Shin Ji-hye picked up her phone.

It was the drama director who contacted her every day, so it was obvious that he was asking when the teaser would be finished.

Shin Ji-hye winked at the assistant director.

The assistant director, with a pale face, but obediently started clicking on the ‘other versions of promotional videos’. 

It was hard, but it was for the ratings, so he had no choice.

‘It’s better to be a little hard now than to have the drama fail.’

He was just whining a bit in a better situation than he thought.

While the assistant director was focused on the video, Shin Ji-hye tilted her head at the person who contacted her.

“Huh? It’s Choi So-young?”

It was Choi So-young, the actress who played the female lead in this drama.

“Yes. Choi So-young. What’s up?”

-Director. Can you talk now?

The narrow and quiet editing room.

Choi So-young’s voice echoed.

“Yes. It’s okay.”

-You know there was a role that you said would be good to have a cameo in.

Cameo.

The air in the editing room stopped at that word.

Didn’t they just talk about it?

Choi So-young, cameo, and…

He had a hunch.

No, he was sure.

Shin Ji-hye and the assistant director, who had stopped breathing, stared blankly at the phone that indicated they were on a call.

-Director? Director Shin?

“Yes. Yes! There were. There were cameo characters!”

Shin Ji-hye’s urgent gesture made the assistant director quickly grab the [Babel Tower] script that was stuck in the corner of the table. 

It was left there to figure out which scenes to take out from each episode and make into a teaser.

The paper fluttered.

Shin Ji-hye quickly scanned the script that had the important scenes from each episode marked.

Cameos usually played characters that were short but memorable in the work, and [Babel Tower] had only one role that suited ‘that actor’ for a cameo.

‘…This is it.’

Shin Ji-hye’s face lit up with ecstasy.

“There were several characters, but which one are you talking about…?”

-Well. Among them…

Shin Ji-hye listened to Choi So-young’s explanation and flipped through the paper.

The assistant director held his pounding heart and watched the situation with bated breath. 

He felt like everything would shatter like a dream if he made a sound.

Shin Ji-hye’s hand stopped at one place.

‘…This is it.’

The role that the cameo played was usually a character that was short but memorable in the work, and [Babel Tower] had only one role that suited ‘that actor’ for a cameo.

The voice from the other side of the phone was the same as Shin Ji-hye’s.

-Is it okay that the actor’s age is younger than the character’s setting?

“Yes. Yes. Of course! It’s not a character based on anyone specific! It’s a minor role, so we can change it as much as we want!”

We will make it possible!

Shin Ji-hye swallowed the rest of her words.

-Will the writer be okay with it?

If the character setting changed, the dialogue had to change too.

But what was that to worry about?

If ‘that actor’ appeared, they wouldn’t mind rewriting the script.

“Of course! He’ll be the happiest.”

The cheerful conversation continued.

The assistant director, who was watching the conversation, wrote on the script with a frustrated expression.

[So who is the cameo?!]

Oops.

Shin Ji-hye’s eyes shook. She hadn’t heard that yet.

She was sure it was ‘that actor’, but it could be someone else unexpectedly.

‘That can’t happen…!’

She felt dizzy just thinking about it, and Shin Ji-hye asked with a trembling voice.

“Who, who is the actor who agreed to appear as a cameo?”

-Ah. I didn’t tell you that yet!

Choi So-young laughed awkwardly from the other side of the phone.

-It’s Lee Seo-jun. He liked the work.

…!

As expected!

She expected it and she was sure, but hearing his name directly was more shocking than she thought.

They felt like they were struck by lightning, and Shin Ji-hye and the assistant director covered their mouths. 

Their hearts were beating so fast that they couldn’t breathe, but they felt like everything would disappear like a fantasy if they made a sound.

-The rest should be discussed with Lee Seo-jun’s agency, right?

“Yes, yes!”

-Then I’ll see you at the next filming. Director Shin!

“Thank you! Choi So-young! Rest well!”

Shin Ji-hye’s voice was full of sincerity, and a small laugh was heard before the call ended.

She put down her phone with trembling hands, and Shin Ji-hye and the assistant director looked at each other. 

Their eyes were filled with ecstasy, joy, and gratitude.

They couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Ahhhh!!”

The script flew into the air and scattered everywhere, along with a scream that sounded like a cheer.

“Ahhhhh!!”

The loud noise made the PDs and assistant directors in the next editing rooms reflexively press the save button and run out, opening the door of [Babel Tower]’s editing room.

“What? What’s going on?”

“We’re done! We’re all done…!”

“We’re done… Uhuhu…!”

They saw pieces of paper flying everywhere.

The two women who were sitting on the floor of the editing room were almost sobbing now. The people looked at them pitifully.

“They’ve been making teasers since last week…”

“Are you okay? How about taking a break?”

They seemed to have worked too hard.

“Uhuh…huhu…haha…!”

Hmm.

Should they close the door for their image?

They were sobbing and now they started laughing, and people wondered for a moment if they should do that. Some people who were passing by stopped to see what was going on.

“What? What’s going on?”

The drama director who didn’t get in touch with Shin Ji-hye and came to the editing room asked, and the people around him made way for him.

“They seem to be under a lot of stress.”

“…Did I go too far?”

The drama director reflected on himself for urging them to make the best teaser every day. But he shrugged it off soon, since it was all for the sake of the drama.

“Shin PD.”

“Yes!”

“What’s going on?”

“Our drama is over!”

“Huh?”

“We don’t need to promote it anymore! We just have to film hard!”

He didn’t know if that meant they made a good promotional video or they wouldn’t promote it at all. 

The people’s expressions were strange, and Shin Ji-hye shouted with a choked voice.

“Lee Seo-jun is appearing in our drama as a cameo!”

“…? Who?”

The director didn’t understand properly at the sudden name, and Shin Ji-hye screamed.

“Lee Seo-jun! Lee Seo-jun!”

The people’s mouths dropped open. 

They understood why Shin Ji-hye and the assistant director had such intense reactions.

“…Crazy.”

“…Wait. Isn’t this Lee Seo-jun’s first time doing a drama in our broadcasting station?”

An exclamation mark popped up over everyone’s heads.

KBC had [Reinvestigation] and [My Doctor].

MBS had [Spring Has Returned].

But SBC only had the variety show [Working Man]. This was the first drama (even if it was a cameo).

It had been 12 years since Lee Seo-jun appeared on TV as a cameo in [Reinvestigation] when he was 8 years old.

The drama director of SBC, who had caught this opportunity for the first time, blinked his eyes.

“Shin PD.”

“Yes!”

“Can’t we increase the role’s screen time? These days, they give decent screen time even to cameos.”

It was a waste to have him as a cameo.

If possible, he wanted to increase his screen time to the level of a main role. [Spring Has Returned] also increased from 4 episodes to 6 episodes, didn’t it?

He heard from someone that if the revised work pleased Lee Seo-jun, it was possible.

Shin Ji-hye shook her head.

“There’s nothing to increase.”

“Nothing at all?”

“Nothing.”

At Shin Ji-hye’s firm words, the director asked for an explanation. 

Shin Ji-hye searched for the script that had fallen on the floor, and explained to the director about the character that Lee Seo-jun would play.

“…I see.”

Sigh.

There was indeed nothing to increase, as Shin Ji-hye said. The director only licked his lips in regret.

“If we can’t increase the screen time, we have to promote the drama [Babel Tower] itself with Lee Seo-jun’s name. I see from the script that this is the last episode, but if we promote it well, we can make them watch from the first episode, right?”

“Yes. We don’t have to say which episode he appears in, just that ‘Lee Seo-jun appears’. Then people will be curious about when Lee Seo-jun will show up and watch it live.”

The director nodded at Shin Ji-hye’s words.

“Then how should we promote it?”

How could they let as many people as possible know about Lee Seo-jun’s cameo appearance?

Of course, one article would be enough to spread the news, but this was his first appearance in a SBC drama. 

They wanted to promote it in the most eye-catching, most shocking way.

“By the way, Choi So-young was this close to him.”

“It must be because of their friendship, but also because he liked the work.”

“Who is the writer of Babel Tower? What is his next work?”

“What about Choi So-young? Did she already get her next work?”

Only a few people were seriously thinking about how to promote it, like the director and Shin Ji-hye.

The rest were having conversations that seemed to aim for the next opportunity with Choi So-young, who seemed to have entered Lee Seo-jun’s circle, and the writer of [Babel Tower], who seemed to have pleased Lee Seo-jun.

“Um…”

The assistant director of [Babel Tower] raised his hand slightly. All eyes were on him in the noisy place. He rolled his eyes and opened his mouth.

“What about putting it in this week’s Working Man broadcast?”

Oh.

The people’s eyes sparkled.