Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 599

[Hello, I am actor Kim Jong-ho.]

On the stage.

Kim Jong-ho was holding a trophy and standing in front of the microphone.

He greeted the audience in Korean and then continued his acceptance speech in fluent English.

[There were a lot of concerns. They said I was doing well in Korea, so why did I challenge myself in America. I thought so too. As you get older and settle down, you become more afraid of challenges.]

Everyone laughed at Kim Jong-ho’s words.

[The reason why I am standing here now is because of the actor who stood here eight years ago, Seo-jun Lee.]

Everyone recalled the young actor who came from the same country as Kim Jong-ho.

[When there is a record of someone who has done it, you think you can do it too. It is easier to swim across the vast sea when you see a small and faint light of a lighthouse than when you see nothing. That’s why I think the word ‘first’ always stays in our memory.]

Kim Jong-ho showed the trophy and continued his speech.

[Seo-jun Lee was that lighthouse and the first for me. His passion and love for acting made me challenge myself for this award.]

Kim Jong-ho smiled brightly.

[You could say he is my role model. Then someone might ask. Isn’t he too young to be your role model? Well, I don’t know. All I see is a very talented actor.]

Wow!!

There was a roar of cheers and applause.

It was a loud sound that seemed to reach beyond the TV screen.

“Ahem. Ahem.”

And there was also a sound of coughing.

“What’s wrong? Do you have a cold? Do you want some warm water?”

Lee Ji-seok laughed and said, looking at Kim Jong-ho who was coughing. Seo-jun, Park Do-hoon, and Lee Da-jin, who were sitting in front of him, smiled softly.

“Let’s stop watching and eat.”

“Just one more time. Our brother is so good at speaking! Be honest. Did you prepare your acceptance speech? Otherwise, how could you speak so smoothly!”

Lee Ji-seok teased Kim Jong-ho and played the award ceremony scene again with the remote control. On the stage, Kim Jong-ho, who had a slightly reddened eyes, was about to open his mouth to speak.

“You brat! Stop it!”

“Hahaha!”

Hahaha.

Seo-jun, Park Do-hoon, and Lee Da-jin laughed at the sight of Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok bickering.

It had been several days since the Academy Awards ended.

The Lee Seo-jun Company gathered at Lee Ji-seok’s house for a celebration party and dinner.

“Congratulations on your award. Uncle.”

“Congratulations!”

They had already congratulated him on the day of the Academy Awards, but Seo-jun and the actors congratulated him again. Kim Jong-ho smiled and thanked them.

“Uncle, you are really amazing.”

Park Do-hoon said, putting some food on his plate.

“You challenged yourself in a new place and showed a great result.”

Seo-jun and Lee Da-jin nodded their heads as they received their plates, and Kim Jong-ho said with a smile.

“It’s all thanks to Seo-jun.”

“No, it’s all thanks to you, uncle.”

“No, it’s not. If it wasn’t for Seo-jun, I would have just stayed in Korea. As I said at the ceremony, when you get older and settle down, you become afraid of challenges. Because Seo-jun was the first, I was able to challenge myself.”

At Kim Jong-ho’s words, Seo-jun smiled shyly.

***

Even while eating, Seo-jun, Lee Da-jin, and Park Do-hoon talked excitedly as if they had won the award themselves.

“There were a lot of articles. It was on the news all the time.”

“And it was so cool that you said Seo-jun was your role model! It shows that you think of him as an actor regardless of his age!”

“Lee Ji-seok also, everyone said they were sorry. If there was one more supporting actor award, you would have definitely won it.”

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok nodded their heads with a smile.

“We saw it too. There were really a lot of articles.”

“But apart from our articles, they were all about Seo-jun, right?”

Seo-jun, who was picking up a well-cooked rib, laughed.

It was exactly as he said.

[Korean immigrant family-themed movie ‘Dandelion’ wins screenplay and supporting actor awards!]

[Academy Awards, second Korean winner, actor Kim Jong-ho!]

[Actor Kim Jong-ho, Oscar for best supporting actor!]

[Actor Kim Jong-ho, Lee Ji-seok, at the Academy Awards after-party!]

[New Hollywood stars! Actor Kim Jong-ho, Lee Ji-seok!]

Along with these articles,

[From March 1st to March 10th, ‘Hwa’ screening at theaters!]

[On the birthday of the first Oscar winner, actor Lee Seo-jun, fans took action!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun’s fan cafe ‘From Sprout’, donated the profits and donations to the independence activists!]

[From March 1st to March 10th! Fly the national flag!]

These articles flooded the internet. No other articles were visible.

“Yesterday, there were a lot of articles too. Seo-jun’s verification photo.”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek at Park Do-hoon’s words.

Yesterday, his birthday.

He went to the theater where [Hwa] was screening and watched the movie and took a verification photo. He uploaded it with a letter thanking them for the birthday wishes on [From Sprout].

“Even though you were wearing a hat, they recognized you. Because you cut your hair.”

The sprouts, who had been waiting for Seo-jun’s reply since midnight, clicked on the post as soon as it was uploaded and screamed! They screamed in real life.

-Ah, ah, ah, no, he cut his hair?!

-What?! What is this… Why is my heart beating so fast?!

-Hah, hah!! It’s Seo-jun… It’s Seo-jun, but something is different?!

-It’s not Ilko… It’s not Ilko, right??? (I can recognize him) It’s Seo-jun, right??

-He looks good with short hair too!! (Sobbing)

-Photo! Photo more! Seo-jun!!

-Do I have to call you oppa now?!?!

-Waiting for the next work… Waiting for the next work… Waaaa!

-22 I don’t know what the next work is, but I send a grand bow to the director and writer in advance (in ancient script)

-Everyone dropped the honorifics lol

Cafe managers ‘Sob Sob’, ‘Sunshine’, and ‘Sprinkler’ thought it was probably the most intense day since [From Sprout] was created.

“It seems like they noticed more than just your hair cut…”

Everyone laughed at Lee Ji-seok’s words, who had seen the sprouts’ comments. They seemed to notice the change in Seo-jun’s atmosphere after he joined the army.

“But they only talk about the next work, they don’t seem to think you went to the army.”

Seo-jun smiled slyly at Park Do-hoon’s words. His ability was still working well.

As they were talking about this and that, the dinner was coming to an end. Lee Da-jin clapped her hands.

“Okay, now let’s have a celebration party!”

…What?

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok blinked their eyes at her words. Wasn’t it over with the greeting earlier?

Meanwhile, Seo-jun cleared the center of the table and placed the cake that Park Do-hoon had stored in the refrigerator.

“Uh, what should I do?”

“Just sit down, hyung. You also appeared in Dandelion, so you should receive congratulations too.”

“That’s right!”

At Seo-jun and Lee Da-jin’s words, Lee Ji-seok smiled sheepishly and sat down.

“I thought we were just having a meal…”

“Me too. I didn’t expect them to prepare a cake for us.”

Soon, several candles were lit on top of the delicious-looking cake. Seo-jun, Lee Da-jin, and Park Do-hoon clapped their hands and sang with bright faces.

“Congratulations on the award! Congratulations on the award! To our beloved Uncle Jong-ho! Ji-seok hyung (oppa)! Congratulations on the award!”

Bang! Bang!

The party’s main characters, Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok, burst into laughter at the exploding fireworks.

“Congratulations, Uncle!”

“Thank you.”

“Ji-seok hyung. This is a trophy. It’s from your fans. They all congratulate you.”

“Ah… Thank you…”

Lee Ji-seok quietly looked at the trophy that resembled an Oscar and smiled.

He was happy that Jong-ho hyung received it, but it would be a lie if he said he wasn’t disappointed. But with this trophy, he felt like the slight disappointment he had was gone.

As she handed over the prepared gift, Lee Da-jin clapped again.

“Now! Next is Seo-jun’s birthday party! Do-hoon oppa! A new cake!”

…Huh?

Seo-jun, who was about to cut the cake, blinked his eyes at her words. He thought they were only having a congratulatory party for the award…

“It’s my birthday party?”

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok, who seemed to have known in advance, took out the hidden birthday gifts and smiled.

“Yeah. It was your birthday yesterday, but we only called you.”

“It’s been a day, but since we met like this, we have to have a birthday party!”

Seo-jun thought they only had a congratulatory party for the award today, and Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok thought they only had Seo-jun’s birthday party.

Lee Da-jin and Park Do-hoon, who had cunningly deceived the three actors, smiled and placed a new cake on the table. There were two long candles and two short candles on the cake, matching Seo-jun’s age of 22.

“Then let’s sing again!”

“Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~ To our beloved Seo-jun~”

As the song flowed from the four actors’ mouths, Seo-jun burst into laughter with the cake in front of him.

“Happy birthday!”

The four actors also laughed at the consecutive parties, but they didn’t stop singing.

“Thank you. Everyone.”

“Haha. Keep acting happily, Seo-jun.”

“Yeah. Always have fun.”

Seo-jun, who blew out the candles, smiled brightly.

***

April, when the flowers were in full bloom.

“Private! Jang! Hyun! Jun!”

Private Jang Hyun-jun stood stiffly with a tense expression. In front of Jang Hyun-jun, the company commander and the battalion commander were sitting and talking.

The battalion commander rubbed his temples with a headache and looked at Jang Hyun-jun and the company commander. The wrinkles between his eyebrows that had been disappearing due to the lack of problems in the unit for the past year seemed to reappear.

“…It’s only been three weeks, hasn’t it?”

“But the other soldiers are going crazy. They say they can’t live like this anymore.”

The company commander also said with a frustrated face, and the battalion commander looked at Jang Hyun-jun. Jang Hyun-jun, who had a kind and sincere face, was sweating profusely in his rigid posture.

Of course, there were also people who caused trouble with kind and sincere faces, but Jang Hyun-jun had a personality that matched his appearance. His evaluation at the training center was good, and he was also adapting well to the unit.

For about four days.

The battalion commander sighed and crossed his arms.

He looked like he had never seen such a headache before, and Jang Hyun-jun tried to hide his bitter expression without knowing it. He understood why.

“…You … see ghosts?”

“Yes! That’s right!”

…Don’t answer that so confidently.

The battalion commander sighed again, and the company commander explained.

“He keeps looking at the air and talking nonsense, and the platoon members say they are going crazy because it seems like poltergeist phenomena are happening too.”

“Poltergeist?”

“You know, things like objects moving or breaking on their own. The locker room that was well organized was messed up several times, and they say it’s because of the ghosts. They’re going crazy.”

They passed it off as a misunderstanding a few times, but they went crazy when it continued for three weeks. It was starting to affect the training.

“Some people also have nightmares.”

“Isn’t someone playing a prank?”

“That’s not it either.”

As the battalion commander and the company commander were talking, Jang Hyun-jun sighed inwardly.

A creepy laugh was ringing in his ears, and he could see grotesque shapes everywhere he looked. They were the nonsense things that he had seen and heard every day of his twenty years of life.

‘Well, not for my whole life.’

Strangely enough, he didn’t see or hear anything like a normal person during the time he was in the military academy and the training center, and for the first four days after he was assigned to his unit.

How nice that ‘normal’ was.

‘I even thought about driving a stake…’

He told his grandparents that he was doing well in the army and that he didn’t see any ghosts at all, but the next day, as if to mock Jang Hyun-jun, the ghosts started to appear again.

‘If only that was the case…’

If he was his old self, he would have ignored them as if he didn’t see them, but he got used to not seeing them for a few weeks, and he was startled or looked at them and even talked back.

And the lowly ghosts seemed to be angry at the silence of a few weeks and caused all kinds of trouble.

“Jang Hyun-jun?”

“?! Private! Jang! Hyun! Jun!”

Jang Hyun-jun, who was longing for the brief ‘normal’, reflexively answered. The conversation seemed to be over, and the battalion commander and the company commander were looking at him.

The company commander said.

“You’re being transferred. Pack your things.”

“…I’m sorry?”

Jang Hyun-jun blinked his eyes.

…So suddenly?

And not discharge, but… transfer?

He couldn’t write that he saw ghosts on the paperwork, so he thought he would get a mental health evaluation and be discharged as unfit for active duty.

‘Of course, discharge is not a bad thing…’

He had felt a brief ‘normal’ after joining the army, and he wondered if there was still a clue to that ‘normal’ in the army, so he wanted to find out the cause.

“I’ll try everything I can. Pack your things. We’re leaving right away.”

“…Yes. I understand!”

Jang Hyun-jun answered with a flustered face at the company commander’s words and left the battalion commander’s office.

The voices of the two people were carried by the wind.

“I wonder if that kind of symptom can be cured?”

“Let’s just leave it to them and see. If it doesn’t work, there’s nothing we can do.”

“But this sergeant doesn’t drive a stake, right? He only has a few months left until discharge.”

“He says he’s trying hard, but there’s no sign of that.”

“Oh, well. That’s too bad.”