Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 607

It was only a few days ago that the news of actor Lee Seo-jun’s military service was revealed.

Some of his acquaintances knew about it, but most of them didn’t.

Especially, the [Hwa] team, who had been working with him until right before his enlistment.

They were also the first people that Seo-jun met after his long five-week vacation.

“He’s in the army?!”

The [Hwa] team, who had rented a small barbecue restaurant, exclaimed at Seo-jun’s hair, which was slightly longer than a civilian’s, but shorter than a soldier’s.

Among them were Yoo Seo-young, who had returned from studying abroad last year, and Kim Sung-sik and Jung Eun-mi, who had been active as middle-aged actors since the release of [Hwa]. It was the first time that the whole [Hwa] team had gathered in a long time.

Inside the restaurant, where the meat was sizzling and the smoke was rising.

Seo-jun looked at his teammates, whom he hadn’t seen for a while, and said.

“I’m sorry for telling you so late. I thought it would be easier to keep it a secret if fewer people knew.”

“You did well. If you hadn’t hidden it, someone would have spilled the beans sooner or later.”

“I bet it was him. He was drinking the other day and…”

“Aaaah!!”

The team burst into laughter at the sight of a senior running towards his friend sitting next to him. Even though a year had passed, the [Hwa] team was still close.

“But how come you still look like a private, even though you found out a while ago?”

“I know, right? He’s already a corporal…”

Everyone nodded at Hwang Do-yoon’s words, and Hwang Ji-yoon and Kim Se-yeon said with regretful faces.

“I wish I had known, I would have visited you.”

“It’s okay. Your thoughts are enough for me.”

While they briefly talked about their recent situations, the meat was cooked, and they started their dinner.

“Is that really you, Seo-jun, the second-class soldier?”

“Yes. It just happened that way.”

“I’ve been through it, so I know. It’s not easy to take care of a troubled soldier… You did a great job. Hey.”

“It wasn’t as hard as I thought.”

“Well, Seo-jun has a kind of calm charisma, you know.”

“Right. Especially when he acts! He has an overwhelming presence that dominates the surroundings.”

“…I wonder how you counseled him…”

“Don’t you think he would have listened in an instant if you acted like a villainous character?”

“Right? Like a murderer character or something…”

“If Seo-jun had a stern expression and pointed a gun at him and said, ‘…Sir. I’ll watch how you behave from now on.’ in a cold voice, he would have to surrender with both hands and feet.”

“I did it with words. Words. And if I had a gun, I would be in big trouble.”

That was a direct violation of the military law.

The team laughed at Seo-jun’s words. They knew he was a good-natured person, so it was a joke they exchanged.

Park Woo-jin drank soju and said.

“We thought you were filming. In America.”

“Yeah! We were wondering why you needed to keep it so secret, so we all kept our mouths shut.”

“But who would have thought it was the army…”

“Nobody would have expected that.”

The day before Seo-jun’s enlistment was revealed, Yoo Seo-young, who had returned from abroad, opened her mouth with a giggle.

“I thought it was a dream when I first found out.”

“Me too. And we called each other to confirm, right?”

Seo-jun and his teammates put raw meat on the grill and started to grill it again, talking about this and that.

“Sister Seo-young. How’s France?”

“I’m adapting well. Matteo helps me a lot, and the professor is a nice person. And before I knew it, a year had passed. Oh, I agreed to help Matteo with his work.”

The others listened with interest to Yoo Seo-young’s story, which was the opposite of the situation when they were filming [Hwa].

“But it’s a work that has a bit of oriental painting in it, so I’m studying too. For now, I’m collecting data and translating.”

Yoo Seo-young majored in Western painting, but she thought that this work would play a very important role in establishing the identity of her future works. She was eager to help, thinking that this was a rare opportunity to study oriental painting.

They also heard about the recent situations of the other teammates.

A lot of time had passed since the filming of [Hwa], so Hwang Do-yoon, who was a junior at the time, graduated in February this year and started his acting career, and the acting students who were freshmen and sophomores at the time either moved up to a new grade or prepared for enlistment.

Actors Kim Sung-sik and Jung Eun-mi also said they were busy being called from here and there.

The art and music students also either graduated and decided on their careers, or deferred graduation or were seniors who were about to graduate.

Kwon Se-ah, who had graduated from college but still couldn’t drink alcohol at the age of 18, said.

“I’m… unemployed.”

“…Huh?”

Seo-jun stopped his hand that was drinking beer.

“We’re unemployed too.”

“It’s perfect for playing and eating… Sometimes I get spanked by my mom…”

Seo-jun’s face was filled with pity at the words of Park Woo-jin and other film graduates and stage art seniors. He had heard that the job market was tough these days… He thought it would be harder for the arts and physical education fields.

Seeing Seo-jun’s expression, Hwang Ji-yoon, Kim Se-yeon, and the other teammates pretended to be serious and sullen, and then burst into laughter.

Hahaha.

Seo-jun blinked his eyes at the loud laughter.

“It’s a joke. A joke. We’re not really unemployed.”

Hwang Ji-yoon smiled broadly and said.

“We’re going to make a film production company.”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened.

“A film production company?”

“Yes. We made a lot of money from Hwa this time.”

He knew that.

He could tell from the revenue that came to Cocoa Entertainment and Seo-jun.

“As you know, Seo-jun, it was an independent film, so the production cost was not that high.”

“But it was screened in theaters nationwide and exported too!”

Kim Se-yeon added excitedly to Hwang Ji-yoon’s words.

It was a sensational and profitable enough to be called a hit, even for a normal commercial film, but what if it was an independent film with much lower production costs? It was an enormous hit that didn’t need any words.

So the [Hwa] team donated three times the amount of support they received from the school to the school scholarship fund. It even made the news.

“It was a lot of money to just leave it alone.”

It would be nice to invest it safely and have a peaceful and good life, but the [Hwa] team members were young men in their twenties full of ambition.

Hwang Ji-yoon and his teammates smiled.

“But it’s enough money to make a movie.”

“It’s more than enough!”

“So we decided to make a film production company together.”

The eyes of the [Hwa] team members, who spoke in unison, sparkled.

The film team members decided to dive in very seriously, and the team members who had decided on their careers in music or art decided to invest only.

“Se-ah is a music major, but she already decided to pursue film music, so she joined our production company’s music team.”

“I’ll do my best!”

Kwon Se-ah clenched her fists. Hwang Ji-yoon smiled and said.

“At first, we’re going to make independent films and gain experience. It’s okay if we fail, but we have to secure at least the production cost.”

“When we all gain enough experience, we’ll produce a commercial film!”

“And then we’ll hit the box office! Break into the global market!”

“Sweep the film festivals!!”

“Watch out! Oscars! Cannes! Berlin! Venice!”

Wow!

Seo-jun was sincerely amazed by the [Hwa] team members who were dreaming of the future. His heart seemed to thump along with them.

“Wow! That’s really cool!”

“Right?”

The film department team members giggled. The other team members also smiled brightly with similar expressions.

“Can I invest too?”

“Of course!”

The team members quickly nodded at Seo-jun’s question.

“Seo-jun, you’re part of the Hwa team too.”

“You can’t miss out. Investor Seo-jun!”

Hahaha.

The laughter filled the inside of the store. Seo-jun also burst into laughter.

“We’re having a meeting right now to decide whose script to use.”

“I’m reading at home, so I’m easy to be treated as a bum. My back is getting thinner… Sigh.”

“Oh, do you want to read it too, investor?”

“Yes. I’ll read it if you give it to me.”

The film department team members uploaded their works to the [Hwa] group chat with excited faces. He couldn’t help but laugh at the titles of the works that said ‘Completed_4_5_6_Final_Ultimate_Final_Really Final.hwp’.

“We’re going to set up a company around August, do you want to come?”

“Let’s party!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t think I can go in August. I have a schedule.”

“A schedule?”

The team members looked at Seo-jun with curious expressions as he spoke regretfully. Seo-jun answered with a smile.

“I’m going to shoot a movie in the US after I finish my military service.”

There was a moment of silence.

“…Really?”

“Really.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“You’re not lying?”

“…I feel like I know how the boy who cried wolf felt.”

Seo-jun said with a sulky expression, pretending to act. Everyone burst into laughter.

“Well, there’s nowhere to hide now.”

“That’s right. I’m not going to the army twice.”

“Ugh. I hate it just thinking about it.”

Behind the shivering veterans, Kwon Se-ah asked with a bright face.

“What movie are you shooting? Is it a new work? Or…”

“It’s a series.”

Gasp!

Everyone gasped. There was only one series for actor Seo-jun.

“…What, what, what is it?”

A fan of Marine asked with a trembling voice. He hoped that a word starting with ‘S’ would come out of Seo-jun’s mouth.

“Over the Rainbow.”

…Wow!

Kwon Se-ah and the music department team members opened their mouths wide. The other team members were the same. It wasn’t the [Shadowman Series], but it was still a shocking news.

It was the sequel to an Oscar-winning film!

Seo-jun smiled and said to the team members who were stunned.

“You all know, right? This is a secret.”

Mhm!

The team members made a gesture of zipping their mouths and nodded repeatedly.

***

“That’s a perfect way to go bankrupt, isn’t it?”

Ahn Da Ho gave a cold evaluation after hearing the story of the film production company that the [Hwa] team was making from Seo-jun.

“Ah. Da-ho hyung…!”

He was explaining with sparkling eyes, but he seemed to have hit a sore spot. Ahn Da Ho chuckled at Seo-jun who called him.

“But you have to be objective.”

“Well, I guess so.”

Seo-jun stretched out on the sofa.

There were many cases of companies that started with friendship and ended up in ruin.

And the [Hwa] team had more than thirty members.

“It’s fine now, but when opinions start to diverge, factions will form and if faction fights get worse, it will eventually fail.”

“…What about a happy ending?”

“Splitting up at the right time?”

Ahn Da Ho explained with a smile.

“Usually, a company is okay if the representative is the center and the subordinates create factions, but the Hwa team is all like representatives.”

Seo-jun nodded.

“It’s hard to say who’s the representative.”

“Then there will be no one to mediate. Even if there is, it will be hard to exert much power.”

Then small fights would turn into big fights and factions would form and soon they would not even associate with each other.

“It’s better for the company and the team members to admit that they have different directions and break up cleanly.”

“…I guess so.”

Seo-jun sighed lightly. Ahn Da Ho asked with a smile.

“So, are you investing?”

“Yes. I already said I would.”

Seo-jun answered without any hesitation.

“And… no one knows the future. A production company like this could do really well. I believe our team members will do well.”

“Okay. Then.”

Ahn Da Ho agreed lightly and Seo-jun blinked. He thought he would have to persuade him more.

“…You’re letting it go so easily?”

“You’re going to be discharged soon, Seo-jun. You have to manage your money yourself. Of course, there will be parts that you entrust to experts, but there will also be cases where you have to make decisions yourself. It’s a good opportunity to experience investing.”

Hmm. Money management.

Seo-jun had left it to his parents until now, as he was a minor.

He didn’t have much desire for anything other than delicious food. It was as if everything was directed to his work and acting.

‘I have a card, and they buy me everything I need, so I didn’t care much.’

He wondered if it would be okay to leave it to his parents as it was.

“Think about other investments too. How about movies or dramas? If you invest, you might be able to make good works that can’t be made because of lack of production costs.”

Yeah.

It seemed like it was time to learn.

Seo-jun was hooked by the words of movies, dramas, and good works.

He was happy to be in the works, but he was also happy to help in this way. Ahn Da Ho swallowed a smile at Seo-jun’s face, which seemed to be happy, and continued.

“You have to talk to your parents too, if it’s hard, I’ll tell them.”

“No. It’s okay. I’ll tell them.”

There were parents who thought that the money their children earned was their own, but his parents were not like that. They wouldn’t touch a penny and manage it. Ahn Da Ho probably knew that and brought it up.

“Then let’s end this talk here. Shall we get to the point?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho picked up the script and proposal of [Over the Rainbow 2] that were on the table.