Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 497

[The Chick Class in the Forest, Video Uploaded on Channel KBC!]

[The Essential Mukbang for Raising Kids! It’s Back with an Upgrade!]

[Fifo the Flying Squirrel, Picture Book + Hand Puppet on Sale!]

-What videos did KBC upload?

=First, mukbang and music. Music has both a cartoon theme song medley and a classical version. Fifo the Flying Squirrel puppet show will be uploaded later.

=Fifo… Could he become the second Cheongryong?

=He’s far from Cheongryong. The charisma is different.

=But he’ll be popular with kids.

-There are two types of mukbang. Quiet version and noisy version.

=It depends on the kids’ personalities. For quiet kids, show them Channel JUN. For noisy kids, show them the Chick Class.

-There are a lot of good videos for kids.

=Parents are happy too. Actor Lee Seo-jun is really a benefactor.

-Please correct the article. Fifo the Flying Squirrel picture book is sold out. I’ve been looking for it since last week, but I can’t find it anywhere. Where are they selling it?

=First of all, online bookstores and bookstores in neighborhoods with lots of kids are sold out. You have to go to bookstores in neighborhoods without kids.

=Didn’t the publisher hear about it from the broadcasting station beforehand? How could they only prepare this much?

=The broadcasting station didn’t know Lee Seo-jun would appear either. They didn’t have time to prepare.

-I’m so happy that Seo-jun is on variety shows. I can see him cooking, eating, playing with friends, and playing with kids!

=And he even plays music there…!

=I like that they made a separate video for Cookie. It feels like I got an unexpected gift.

-Where did you learn to play the punggeum?

=I want to learn too, but they say it’s better to learn piano first.

=I’m practicing Mendelssohn’s On Wings of Song.

=Lol

-He was so sweet when he said goodbye to Harang.

=I can’t forget Park Eun’s expression.

=Let’s meet again = Let’s have a meal together kind of greeting?

=Exactly.

[Unexpected Advertising Effect, PPL Products Selling Out!]

[DD Electronics, PPL Products from the Chick Class Guide.]

[Lee Seo-jun Dishes, Spoons Set Sold Out! Cooking Set Sold Out!]

-The PPL companies hit the jackpot.

=At first they thought it was a filler variety show and put it in, but then Deus Ex Machina appeared.

=Deus Ex Machina?

=A directing technique in ancient Greek drama… Simply put, it’s like a ‘final weapon’. No matter what difficulties and hardships there are, they solve them at the end of the play by saying ‘Deus Ex Machina appears!’

-You can’t get this much publicity even if you pay money.

=A lot of households with kids must have watched it because of Mukbang 2. People who were curious about the effect of Mukbang 2 must have watched it too.

=A lot of soon-to-be married couples must have watched it too.

=PPL products are mostly things you use at home, so they got a lot of publicity.

=I changed my old refrigerator to that one.

-DD Electronics: I want to say it! I want to say it! That this is Lee Seo-jun’s line!

=Lol

=Can’t you say it?

=Celebrities have publicity rights on their names too, so DD Electronics can’t use Lee Seo-jun’s name. They can’t stop reporters or people from saying it though.

=I see. So they’re promoting it as the Chick Class product.

=They’re probably proposing to be a model for Cocoa Entertainment by now.

-But shouldn’t we buy the products that appeared in the cookbang and mukbang on Channel [JUN] rather than the ones that appeared in the Chick Class? Those are real products.

=Both sold out.

=…What?

=Both sold out. The Chick Class and YouTube products.

(Whisper) Someone who failed to buy Lee Seo-jun’s fan products?

(Whisper) Ahh.

[Lee Seo-jun left the Chick Class in the Forest, What will be the ratings next week?]

[Next week, the Chick Class leaves for the forest!]

-The ratings will drop without Seo-jun, that’s inevitable.

=But I’m attached to the kids, so I’ll keep watching.

=A lot of people will feel the same way.

-I really won’t see Seo-jun anymore? Not even phone calls or video calls?

=He’ll probably appear on mukbang. He has to feed the kids.

=Too bad.

-I thought they never went into the forest behind them. I thought it was a background.

=I thought they should remove ‘in the forest’ from the title.

***

When the world was buzzing about [The Chick Class in the Forest] and [Mukbang 2], the students of Korea Arts University were busy moving. 

The same was true for other universities.

“Midterms!”

Han Ji-ho, who had been studying so hard that his head was steaming, collapsed and shouted.

Seo-jun and his friends, who had rented a study room to study together, laughed.

Late April.

The first midterm of the semester, which they faced for the first time after entering college, was approaching next week.

The exams for the major courses of the acting department were divided into practical and theoretical. 

Of course, they also had to take exams for liberal arts courses.

“At least I have Tuesday off. But I have to take two on Wednesday.”

“I have to take three…”

Everyone looked at Kang Jae-han with surprised eyes at his words.

“How did that happen?”

“I have two classes on Monday and Thursday, and the professor asked which day we preferred. The others said Thursday, so it got pushed back.”

“That’s too bad.”

“There’s nothing I can do, right? But I understand why you want to postpone it for a day.”

Kang Jae-han shrugged his shoulders.

They all had strong personalities, so the classes they wanted to take were different. That’s why there weren’t many overlapping classes except for the major required ones.

‘Some people failed to register for classes.’

Seo-jun looked at Han Ji-ho, who was pretending to cry on the table. 

Han Ji-ho, who wanted to empty his Monday schedule somehow, ended up taking a liberal arts course that had a lot of written exams.

“What did he say? From ancient times…”

“Analysis of Literature from Ancient to Modern Times.”

“…Just hearing that sounds daunting. Who takes that?”

Everyone looked at Han Ji-ho silently without saying anything. Han Ji-ho tried to remember.

“I think it was playwrights and film majors. I heard it on the first day of attendance.”

“Oh, I think I took that.”

Yang Ju-hee’s words made Seo-jun and the kids look at her with trembling eyes. 

It had only been a month and three weeks since they started school, but how did she know about the classes that aspiring writers and film majors took?

They didn’t know how far Yang Ju-hee’s social skills reached.

“The class is super hard and the exam is tough, but they say it helps a lot with writing. That’s why a lot of people who want to write take it. There must be seniors too, right?”

“Yeah. There were some fourth-years too.”

“Are you the only one from the acting department?”

“Yep.”

“…But how did you sign up with such confidence, Ji-ho?”

“If there are fourth-years, wouldn’t they get the highest scores?”

“Is this a relative evaluation or an absolute evaluation?”

Seo-jun and the kids nagged at their friend who was worried about his grades.

“I’m confident in memorizing, so I signed up. There were some freshmen too, just from different majors. It’s an absolute evaluation, so I just have to do well on the exam.”

Seo-jun and the kids felt relieved at Han Ji-ho’s answer. ‘He wasn’t so reckless after all.’

“Literary analysis… It sounds like it would be helpful for script analysis, right?”

“Yeah. They explain the clichéd parts and characters that have been passed down from ancient times, and also the literature that used those parts or characters in a unique way. The class is really intense without a single break, though.”

Seo-jun and his friends’ eyes sparkled at Han Ji-ho’s explanation. It sounded like a better class than they thought.

“Is that class only available in the first semester?”

“I want to take it next semester if it’s available.”

“Me too.”

There are often characters in dramas, movies, or plays that make you think ‘Where have I seen this before…’. Sometimes, the viewers guess what the character will do first.

That’s why sometimes they complain that it’s too similar, but they can’t ignore the clichéd parts completely. They are clichés because they have been loved by people for a long time.

“Clichés can be good if you use them well.”

“Right. If you add a little bit of uniqueness, it becomes the character’s personality and the actor’s personality.”

Since the conversation went off topic, Seo-jun and his friends decided to take a break. It was a place that operated with a café, so there was a menu. There was a PinePad on one side where you could order and they would bring it to the study room. It was a convenient system.

“What should we eat?”

“Yeah!”

They ordered drinks and bread with the PinePad and handed it to Han Ji-ho.

“Then who among us has the first exam?”

“If it’s next Monday, isn’t it all the same?”

“Hehe. I don’t have classes on Monday.”

“Oh, I have an exam on Friday.”

Seo-jun, who received the PinePad from Han Ji-ho, said. Orange juice and hmm. What bread should I eat?

“Friday? Oh, Introduction?”

Kim Ju-kyung thought of the Friday class for first-year acting majors [Introduction to Acting]. He chose a sweet chocolate bread and handed the PinePad to Jeon Seong-min.

“No. This Friday.”

“…”

“There are three days left.”

“…Well. You’ll do well since you’re Seo-jun.”

“Aren’t your reactions too different?!”

Seo-jun and the kids laughed at Han Ji-ho’s scream.

***

Seo-jun’s Friday classes were [Introduction to Acting], which ran from 10 am to 12 pm and where all acting professors taught at least once, and [About Violin (Advanced)], a music elective course that ran from 1 pm to 3 pm.

And today’s exam was [About Violin (Advanced)].

[About Violin (Advanced)] had a written midterm and a practical final exam, and the classes were conducted accordingly.

Until the midterm exam, they only had written classes in the classroom, and after today’s midterm exam, they planned to have practical classes in the music department practice rooms until the final exam.

That’s why only students who had learned violin since they were young like Seo-jun or violin majors who wanted to check their basics (although it was an advanced course) took this course.

‘They said usually violin majors take it in their first year…’

Seo-jun entered the classroom and glanced at one person who stood out. As always, the female student sitting alone in the back looked very young.

She was Kwon Se-ah, a genius violinist who entered Korea Arts University at 14 two years ago.

She was only 16 years old now. She was in college at an age when she should be in middle school. He couldn’t help but admire her.

‘She performed at the entrance ceremony.’

He didn’t see her performance because she did it after he finished his oath as a representative of new students, but his mom and dad told him about the young violinist.

He was curious about what kind of person she was, so he looked her up and found a lot of articles and videos. 

She was a talented person who had won many awards in domestic and international competitions.

‘She played well too.’

But at some point, her activities started to decrease, and since last spring, she hadn’t participated in any competitions or performed at all.

‘Is she in a slump?’

Seo-jun liked violin too, and he had some violinist friends, so he was worried. He hoped that a good violinist would overcome her slump and play beautifully. Especially since she was four years younger than him.

‘But why does she run away when I say hello?’

Kwon Se-ah only nodded and said hello, then ran away when Seo-jun greeted her. 

It didn’t look like she hated Seo-jun. She did the same thing when someone else greeted her.

‘I wonder why?’

If it was only Seo-jun, he could think that she was nervous because he was a famous actor, but she did the same to other people, so he was curious.

‘Maybe she’s just very shy?’

While Seo-jun was thinking for a moment, the professor entered the classroom. The professor’s eyes briefly met Kwon Se-ah’s and then moved to the other students.

“As I told you before, I will replace the supplementary lecture with a concert review. Since this is a violin class, I will only accept violin concert reviews. Please submit your reviews based on the analysis you learned in the written class.”

He looked up the professor’s performance videos because he was curious how such a cold professor would play, but even his violin sound was cold and sharp.

“Then I will announce the groups that will work together from the next class before the exam. I decided them arbitrarily, so you can change them with the consent of your partner. You can decide by the next class.”

The professor called out the students’ names in a cold voice.

The students who knew about the group activity from the syllabus raised their hands to confirm their partners as their names were called.

“Group 6. Kwon Se-ah. Lee Seo-jun.”

Thud!

Seo-jun turned around at the sound of a chair and saw Kwon Se-ah’s surprised face.