Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 686

It was a break time after the first part of the fan meeting.

“Good job, Seo-jun.”

“Thank you, Da-ho hyung.”

Ahn Da Ho handed a towel and a bottle of water to Seo-jun, who came backstage.

“Are you not tired?”

Seo Eun-chan asked with concern, seeing Seo-jun leading the stage by himself. 

He wondered if they should have hired an MC, but the actor wanted to do it without one, so the powerless president and director had no choice.

“I’m fine, uncle. It’s fun.”

He was not tired at all, but rather very happy and joyful.

Ahn Da Ho and Seo Eun-chan just smiled at Seo-jun’s giggling.

“Where’s Su-bin?”

“She’s waiting in the waiting room.”

Seo-jun nodded at Seo Eun-chan’s words, while moistening his throat with water. 

The backstage was probably too crowded with staff members, so she must have stayed in the waiting room.

“Your friends are all here, so just rest until the second part starts.”

“Okay. I will.”

Seo-jun headed to the waiting room, where he met Su-bin, who had sparkling eyes, and his friends, who were clapping and admiring him.

“Wow. Lee Seo-jun is amazing.”

“What a novel fan meeting. Only Seo-jun can do it.”

“Hyung! You were awesome!”

Seo-jun, who had been shining on the stage until a moment ago, laughed and sat down in an empty seat. 

He felt comfortable with the sprouts, but being with his friends was comfortable in a different way.

‘I want to show only good sides to the sprouts.’

Well, they would like him no matter what he looked like.

Kang Jae-han placed a warm lunch box in front of Seo-jun, who was sitting on a soft sofa.

“You must be hungry. Eat first.”

“Thank you. What about you?”

“We already ate.”

There were also other snacks to fill their stomachs. Some of these snacks were also being delivered to the sprouts who were resting in the audience seats.

Sprouts.

They were the snacks that Seo-jun chose from the ones that Team 1 had selected. 

Thinking of the sprouts who were waiting for the second part while enjoying the snacks, Seo-jun felt his heart flutter and become impatient.

“Let’s do a reading after we eat!”

His friends shook their heads and laughed at Seo-jun’s words, who spoke with sparkling eyes.

***

Under the management of manager Choi Tae-woo and Team 1, the sprouts who were sitting in the audience seats also received juice and snacks.

“I thought it would take a while since there are so many people, but it ended quickly.”

“It’s because they are sprouts.”

If they had to choose the most orderly fandom among the celebrities, [From Sprouts] would be the first.

“They will probably do a play in the second part, right?”

Song Yu-jung asked while eating a snack. Lim Ye-na, who was drinking juice, nodded.

“I guess so. What character will he play in the second part?”

“I wish he would do Prince Seong-nyeong’s mama again…”

Kang Tae-young, who was still immersed in the aftermath of the first part, nodded his head at the sprouts who were sitting nearby. He had already started talking to the sprouts he met for the first time today.

It was the same everywhere, not just where Kang Tae-young was sitting. 

The reaction to this fan meeting was amazing.

“This is something that all the sprouts in the world should see.”

“I want to see it again too. I hope it doesn’t disappear from my memory.”

“I heard the staff talking earlier, and it might come out on DVD.”

“Really!?”

The sprouts’ heads turned at the words of the sprout who came back from the bathroom. 

The sprout who mentioned the DVD release was a little flustered and nodded.

“Yes. I’m not sure, but that’s what I heard.”

“Wow… DVD… I’ll buy it for sure. I’ll buy everything.”

“Photo cards with adult Prince Seong-nyeong…!”

“And adult Lee Hyun-woo and Go Joo-won…!”

Like the sprouts who were holding their hands and praying, Kang Tae-young, Song Yu-jung, and Lim Ye-na also prayed earnestly.

And then they started eating the snacks that were given to them again, to replenish the energy they had used up with tears, laughter, emotion, and cheers. They had to send applause and cheers to the second part performance as well.

“But doesn’t it feel like an epilogue?”

“Epilogue?”

Kang Tae-young’s words made Lim Ye-na and Song Yu-jung tilt their heads.

Epilogue.

The last part of the story.

“Yes! Over the Rainbow showed the adult Gray’s appearance in the second part, but it’s hard for other works to do that, so maybe Seo-jun showed us this way?”

Oh!

Kang Tae-young’s words made Lim Ye-na, Song Yu-jung, and the nearby sprouts open their eyes wide.

“Wow! That might be true!”

“Right. I think so too!”

“Prince Seong-nyeong’s mama has already passed away.”

“Huh…”

Lim Ye-na’s words made Kang Tae-young, who had Prince Seong-nyeong’s mama as his favorite character, swallow his tears. He wondered how a sandwich soaked in tears tasted… Huh.

“It’s also hard to make a sequel for Escape’s Go Joo-won or Survivors’ Lee Hyun-woo.”

“I was curious how they grew up, but I didn’t expect him to show us like this…”

“As expected, our Seo-jun!”

They were moved by Seo-jun’s sense of planning this fan meeting again, and talked about what character would appear in the second part while eating the delicious snacks.

***

The curtain rose for the second part of Seo-jun’s fan meeting.

Unlike the first part, which they had no idea what to expect, the fans could tell what he was going to do by looking at the stage set with props.

“Mirror!”

“It’s Kim Jin-woo!”

The few sprouts who had seen him at the last fan meeting, and the many sprouts who had only seen him on YouTube videos, closed their mouths and stared at the stage. 

Seo-jun’s performance was good, but his main job was the best.

The stage lit up and nurse Park Si-young received a phone call. 

They couldn’t hear the voice, but the sprouts knew what it was about. 

They already knew the twist, but their hearts still pounded.

-Sorry for being late. It’s lunch time.

-Oh, no.

Seo-jun, or rather, the innocent-faced Kim Jin-woo, quickly shook his head.

-Just a moment.

The doctor, Yang Ju-hee, who entered the clinic naturally, took off her jacket and hung it on a hanger, and put on a white doctor’s gown. She put a stethoscope around her neck and sat down on the sofa.

Stethoscope…!

Why was it so interesting even though they knew it!

The sprouts were focused on the play without making a sound, as the conversation between doctor Yang Ju-hee and patient Kim Jin-woo continued.

‘He was good even when he was in middle school…’

Kang Tae-young was overwhelmed with emotion.

The set was impressive, with a lot of capital and expertise invested in it, but what was more impressive was the skills of the actors who had grown up.

Two men entered the stage, breathing heavily. 

They ran into the clinic without giving the nurse a chance to stop them.

-Jin-woo!

-Kim Jin-woo!

Kang Jae-han, who played Oh Jung-hwan, limped in, and Jeon Seong-min, who played Kim Jae-woon, supported him.

The truth (?) of the story was revealed by their appearance.

Kim Jin-woo, who was holding the wrist of Doctor Yang Ju-hee and crouching down, lifted his head.

He was smiling.

It was a smile that was both amused and regretful. His face was pale, like white porcelain. He looked inhuman. His black eyes sparkled like beads.

-You got caught?

Just one word.

That one word made the fans who were watching the screen gasp. They felt chills. The tension and the thrill were incomparable to the YouTube video. The fan meeting hall was filled with them.

Splash!

Hot tea was poured on Kim Jin-woo.

Aaah!!

Kim Jin-woo’s scream was heard, and the two men stood as if they were blocking the way between Kim Jin-woo and Jeong Chae-won.

‘It looked like they were protecting Doctor Jeong Chae-won, but actually… No.’

It was a scene where they were protecting Kim Jin-woo, the ‘real doctor’.

Kim Jin-woo, who was groaning and not lifting his face until the end, was carried out of the hospital, to the end of the stage, by Oh Jung-hwan (Kang Jae-han) and Kim Jae-woon (Jeon Seong-min) detectives. 

Jeong Chae-won was staring blankly at the scene, and the nurse picked up the phone. This time, a voice was heard.

-Yes. Yes. He has a very aggressive tendency, so he needs to be hospitalized.

The curtain slowly came down, with the nurse’s words and Jeong Chae-won’s blank expression as the last scene.

Wow!

The audience, which had been quiet for a moment, soon burst into applause and cheers.

“Wow! It’s so fun to watch, no matter how many times I see it!”

“Right?!”

As if to answer the applause and cheers, Seo-jun and the actors came out to the front of the curtain that covered the stage. 

Seo-jun held the microphone and said.

“Please give a big round of applause to the friends who kindly agreed to appear. Especially, Jae-han and Seong-min, who appeared even though they had only been discharged from the army a few days ago.”

There was laughter along with the applause.

They smiled brightly and bowed, Yang Ju-hee and Park Si-young, and Kang Jae-han and Jeon Seong-min.

And Yang Ju-hee pulled out a microphone from somewhere.

Huh? A microphone?

Seo-jun blinked his eyes.

“Shall we have a little chat until the next stage is ready?”

“We know a lot of stories about Seo-jun, because we went to middle school, high school, and college together.”

“It would be nice to talk about the mirror preparation!”

“Wait, wait. Guys??”

There was no dark history (…right?), but Seo-jun was flustered, and the friends and fans laughed.

***

“Yes! The friends finally left.”

Shoo shoo-

Seo-jun waved his hands at the friends, telling them to go quickly, and he looked happy, making the fans laugh again. He scratched his cheek, embarrassed.

“It’s not a dark history, but it’s embarrassing.”

-You were so cute!!

“Ha ha. Thank you.”

Well, whatever.

He decided to think positively, since the fans liked it. Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders and smiled, continuing his speech.

“Now it’s time to show you the next performance. The title of the song is Good Afternoon. I’ll be back soon after changing my clothes!”

-Take your time!

He smiled brightly at the worried voice and waved his hand, disappearing to the side of the stage, and the fans talked to each other.

“Seo-jun must be tired.”

“Yeah. But I love it. I wish he would do more…”

Half of them were worried about Seo-jun, who was passionate about the stage.

“Good Afternoon was the song he played in the park, right?”

“Yes. It was the song that came out when he met the three musketeers and Rebecca expressed that she still had a dream of being a fashion designer.”

The other half were looking forward to what kind of performance he would show.

“I wonder what character he will be.”

“Right. The atmosphere of the song changes depending on the character. Seo-jun must have arranged it himself, right?”

“He must have.”

Lim Ye-na, Song Yu-jung, and Kang Tae-young also looked at the stage with excited eyes.

Soon, as if everything was ready, the curtain slowly rose.

The first thing that appeared on the stage was,

“…A piano?!”

It was a black grand piano.

The fans who were waiting for the violin performance were surprised, and Seo-jun, who was wearing a white and warm-looking sweater, walked slowly and bowed, then sat in front of the piano.

Seo-jun playing the piano…!

The fans were happy and excited, and then white snow fell on the screen behind the stage. And then a blue sea appeared.

…What? …Snow?

…What? …The sea?

The fans felt a bad feeling, and their eyes widened.

Then the snow-covered sea disappeared, and Seo-jun sitting in front of the piano appeared.

‘Ready, action.’

No, it was ‘Jung Ga-ram’, the grown-up version that could not be seen in the movie [Flowing Away].

…!!!

The fans opened their mouths wide without knowing, and before they could come to their senses, Jung Ga-ram’s two hands on the piano keyboard started to move.

Good Afternoon, arranged as a piano piece, filled the fan meeting hall.

[Good Afternoon]

It was a song that made you feel the pleasant scenery of the park, such as the warm sunlight, the green leaves, and the laughter of the children who came out to play with their families, but also the happy expression of the old man, the flying steps of Rebecca, and the lively appearance of the people.

A song that contained the expectation and hope for the future, the wind.

Ga-ram…

They remembered the boy who dragged his sick body and filmed YouTube videos, saying he wanted to be a film director. The boy who laughed and lived with his friend Kwon Hee-chan. The boy who was happy that the film director he admired gave him advice. The boy who left the last notice to watch the sunrise together and went into the surgery room.

They were happy to see the piano, but soon they were shedding tears.

The long fingers moved along the white and black keys. The piano melody was heard by the gesture of ‘adult Jung Ga-ram’.

[Flowing Away] was a movie that ended with Jung Ga-ram smiling brightly at Kwon Hee-chan’s call in the snow-covered winter sea.

So they could have thought that after the surgery was successful, adult Jung Ga-ram was playing the piano, dreaming of a happy future.

…If it weren’t for that reviewer’s review.

Movie killer!!!

The fans cried and shouted the name of the reviewer who killed (?) Jung Ga-ram in their hearts.