Superstar From Age 0
Author: Book Bear
Date: 2024-05-07T19:51:58.888000+00:00

Chapter 1

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Chapter 1

Prologue

He died as an unnamed extra.

He didn’t know if it was an accident or a suicide.

It was a very old memory.

After that, he was born again and died, again and again.

For some reason, his memory had not been erased.

He accumulated the memories of all his lives.

He then created a library of his lives.

Some lives were so long and huge that he put them in a corner of the library, and some lives were so precious that he placed them in an easy-to-reach place and often looked at them.

He had never reincarnated as a human before.

He didn’t particularly wish to be born as a human, but he had reincarnated as other creatures many times, but never as a human.

It was strange.

When he thought he was forgetting his first life, he was reborn again.

As a human.

***

“Boo boo boo.”

The baby laughed.

The newly married couple, Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye, clutched their chests and collapsed at his smile.

“Our baby is so cute…”

Seo Eun-hye’s moan made Lee Min-jun nod his head.

Their baby, who was now seven months old, was so gentle that he was a blessing.

He ate well, pooped well, and had no health problems.

Other couples with babies of the same age envied Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye.

“Seo-jun! Lee Seo-jun!”

‘Daddy, daddy!’

The baby laughed with a loud sound.

Even though he was still a baby, his round eyes sparkled and his features were clear.

His smiling face was like the spring sunshine.

He was a very cute baby who seemed to have inherited only the good traits of his mom and dad.

“Haaham.”

The baby yawned and the couple’s voices quieted down.

Seo Eun-hye gently patted the baby’s stomach on the crib.

Lee Min-jun pressed the button on the CD player on the drawer.

A gentle lullaby flowed out.

***

The baby, Lee Seo-jun, opened his eyes.

‘Hmm.’

Lee Seo-jun thought.

It’s too big.

The door in front of him was too big.

It was the door of the library that contained his past life memories.

The baby’s hand, which was as big as a maple leaf, slapped the huge library door.

The door did not open.

Of course.

Sometimes he was born as a creature with intelligence below the standard.

Even then, he sometimes visited this library of memories.

Creatures with intelligence below the standard, that is, ‘idiots’, absorbed the abilities they saw without thinking, but sometimes those abilities were beyond the limits of their ‘outer body’, and in those cases, their body always broke down.

He died several times like that, and he locked this library tightly.

And he made it so that only the doors that matched his ‘body’ would open.

‘I give up on this door.’

This huge door would open wide as soon as he touched it when his ability grew.

Lee Seo-jun waved his tiny hand.

The huge door disappeared like a revolving door and a smaller door appeared in front of him.

There were many doors in the library.

Every time an ‘idiot’ appeared, he set the standard for abilities and made libraries…

He thought about it again and realized that many ‘idiots’ had died.

He made it easy to see.

The bigger the ability, the bigger the door, and the smaller the ability, the smaller the door.

The size of the books containing life memories also varied.

If it was a long and big monster’s life, there were big and thick books, and if it was a short and small monster’s life, there were small and thin books.

Lee Seo-jun kept waving his hand.

The door got smaller and smaller.

He passed by doors that were as big as five-story buildings or three-story buildings, and finally a blue door that was as big as a doghouse appeared.

It was the smallest library here.

‘It’s the library I made when I was a slime.’

He mourned for the ‘idiot’ slime who died three days after being born and sat on the floor in front of the small door.

His appearance in the library had changed according to his current body.

He was now seven months old and it was amazing that he could sit on the floor by himself.

A few weeks ago, he was lying on the floor in front of the library door and just staring at the closed door.

Sometimes he rolled over.

His head was big so it was hard to sit up and Lee Seo-jun had laid down again.

‘If it were another time, I would have opened it and gone in by now…’

The way to open the door was simple.

He just had to touch the library door.

Lee Seo-jun lifted his legs and kicked the air.

Eutcha eutcha.

‘Human babies grow too slowly.’

There was no point in going into this door.

The only books he could see were useless books like slime books that only jumped around or fairy books that sparkled and flew around.

Every time he was born again, he assessed the situation and learned the skills he needed for that life and recorded them.

He had so many lives that he must have forgotten some things.

He needed to look at the books to see what was appropriate and what was necessary for human life.

‘Well, I don’t think I need to see them right now.’

He was a baby whose job was to eat, sleep, and poop.

Of course, every time he was born again, he remembered the [Basic Breathing Method of Elves] – which he did when his personality was light – and did it from the moment he had consciousness until now.

His shiny appearance, even though he was a baby, was all thanks to the basic breathing method of elves.

Lee Seo-jun rolled over again.

Rolling over was very easy now.

‘Huh?’

He turned his body and lay down on the floor, and next to the door that was as big as a doghouse, there was a very small door.

It was a door that was as big as his face.

It was not only small, but also dusty and dark, a black door that did not catch the eye.

It was amazing that he found it now.

‘I’ve never seen this before…’

He tilted his head and reached out to press the pattern on the door.

The door opened slowly.

He stuck his head inside the door.

It got stuck at his shoulders, but that was okay.

There was only one book inside.

Lee Seo-jun pulled his head out and put one hand in to grab the book.

As far as he remembered, he had never seen this book before.

The book he took out of the door looked very old.

It was covered with dust and it seemed like the paper would turn into dust and fly away if he blew on it.

The baby opened the book slowly.

The book was written in Korean.

Lee Seo-jun knew that the memories of his lives written in Korean gradually changed into monster letters.

It was because he felt more comfortable with monster letters unconsciously.

But this one was all written in Korean.

It was his first life.

All Lee Seo-jun remembered about his first life was that he was a nameless actor.

He didn’t even remember how he died.

The baby spread the old book on the floor and read it slowly.

It was awkward Korean, but he read it while recalling his memory.

The book was interesting.

It was a story of a man – Lee Seo-jun himself, but his memory was so vague that he felt like a stranger – who tried and tried to become an actor, but never made a name for himself and died in an accident during filming.

‘Hmm.’

At the end of the book, there was a short sentence written.

It must have been the last thought he had before he died.

-I want to be an actor again. I want to be the main character in my next life.

The baby who sat in front of the old book on the floor pondered deeply.

His heart, which had become dull after the many lives, felt a little excited.

He wondered if he had ever lived so hard to become something like this man.

He hadn’t.

At first, he was busy surviving, and later, life was too boring.

The baby smiled crookedly.

He felt moved by the book somehow.

‘Okay! Let’s do it, actor!’

The baby looked at the book in front of him.

‘No.’

He tapped the book as if to comfort his past self who died miserably.

‘Just being an actor is nothing! I have to be a superstar at least.’

He would be a superstar who would remain in history for a long time.

The baby promised that in front of the book of the unknown actor.

Chapter 2

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 2

He, Seo-jun was hungry.

His tiny stomach filled up quickly and digested quickly, so he was hungry all the time.

The baby had lived many lives and had a lot of memories.

He thought it was best to move according to his instincts without holding back in his young childhood.

Especially when it came to eating and sleeping.

“Wah wah.”

Seo Eun-hye came with a bottle of formula mixed with warm water.

“My Seo-jun. Are you very hungry?”

Seo Eun-hye fed Seo-jun, who was seven months old, with baby food and formula alternately.

He still liked formula better than baby food.

Suck suck-

He was holding the bottle and trying to drink, but he got distracted by other thoughts.

The baby decided to become an actor.

No, he decided to become a superstar, beyond an actor.

Fortunately, this world was similar to his first life.

As far as he could tell with his baby eyes that only saw the small house, it was like that.

On the television that his dad and mom watched, there were news and entertainment programs like in his first life, but the celebrities that appeared were faces he had never seen before.

Of course, he had only read about his first life in books, so it could be that it was the same world but he just didn’t recognize them.

‘Well, it doesn’t really matter.’

The baby lay down on the white and fluffy blanket and sucked on the formula.

It was delicious.

His little feet stretched and curled up.

His mom, Seo Eun-hye, knew that it was what he did when he was satisfied.

She smiled softly and tickled his little feet.

His feet were ticklish from his mom’s touch.

Seo-jun shook his feet in the air.

Soon there was no more formula coming out of the bottle.

The baby’s tiny stomach was full in no time.

The baby’s body wobbled.

Seo Eun-hye held him and patted his back.

Seo-jun rested his cheek on his mom’s shoulder.

Burp!

“My Seo-jun. Aren’t you eating too much? Hahaha.”

Seo Eun-hye laughed at the baby’s burp.

The baby also laughed gaily.

***

Seo-jun thought.

What did he need to become an actor, no, a superstar?

With his ‘body’ that couldn’t even stand up by himself now, he could only open a blue door as big as a doghouse that he made when he was a slime.

Inside this door, there were only memories of when he lived as a slime and a fairy as big as an adult’s palm, and other memories of when he lived as a small monster.

Those monsters usually had short lifespans and died early or died quickly like a shrimp in a whale fight.

‘Would that be helpful?’

Seo-jun recalled when he was a small slime.

It was when he lived near the dragon’s lair.

The slime that wandered near the dragon’s lair looking for food died after being hit by the dragon’s breath – probably a yawn – that had just woken up from sleep.

It had been only three days since he was born.

He felt like sighing at the past that seemed like a waste of time.

Seo-jun shook his head and decided to go into the library first.

He pressed the blue door with his palm.

The door opened slowly.

There were small two-story bookshelves lined up long.

Most of the books were thin and small like children’s picture books.

There were few books with words written on them, and most of them had pictures drawn like fairy tales.

Seo-jun crawled slowly and looked at the names of the books.

[Slime 1][Slime 1-2]… [Fairy 1][Fairy 1-2][Fairy 2]… [Ant 1]… [Plant 1]…

The bookshelves were divided by monster types.

He had reincarnated as a slime several times and as a fairy several times.

Sometimes they were the same type and sometimes they were different.

He didn’t remember everything.

Seo-jun picked up [Slime 1] that was on the front and spread it on the floor in front of him.

It was a book with large pictures drawn on it.

There were pictures of a green slime dissolving food with acid and hitting a tree with its tentacles.

It was as the baby thought.

Slimes looked like water droplets and could change their shape according to their molds.

Other than that, they seemed useless. Well, they were monsters that even young children could catch.

He opened [Fairy 1].

A flower bloomed and a small fairy that resembled the flower appeared inside it.

There were pictures of the fairy flying around and sleeping with the flower when it wilted.

He remembered something about this fairy as he looked at the pictures.

[Fairy 1] was a mischievous flower fairy.

This fairy was born from a flower and died with the flower.

It had a colorful appearance that resembled the flower.

It had no special skills. It was just a fairy that lived happily for one day and died.

‘Appearance would be helpful, but…’

To use this fairy’s skill, he needed a flower as a base.

If he found a beautiful flower and registered this skill, he would have a similar appearance to that flower.

The problem was.

‘If the flower dies, I die too.’

No matter how long they lived, they would die if they lacked water or had too much water, or if the wind blew and broke their stems, or if they were stepped on.

Flowers were fragile creatures.

The baby quickly closed the book.

He looked over the books on the bookshelf.

‘I don’t know what I need to become a superstar because it’s my first time living such a life…’

The uncertain future brought him anticipation.

The baby slowly wandered around the bookshelves and looked at the contents of the books.

‘This is not good… This seems good!’

Seo-jun chose two abilities for now.

They were [Slime’s Digestion] from [Slime 3] and [Fairy’s Sparkle] from [Fairy 15].

[Slime’s Digestion-Lowest Grade]

It can digests anything.

It converts the excess nutrients from the digested objects into nutrients that is needed by the body.

It expels all the components that cause abnormal status.

It was a lowest grade ability, so it didn’t have a dramatic effect like a complete transformation, but it would be very helpful for a baby who was growing.

Moreover, it would have a better synergy with [Elf’s Basic Breathing].

[Fairy’s Sparkle-Lowest Grade]

It is the sparkle produced by the fairy’s wings.

If you sparkle, you can attract the attention of those who can see the fairy.

If you shake the sparkle and act, some of those who can see the fairy will follow you.

[Fairy’s Sparkle] was a bit of a gamble, but he thought it would be nice to be popular among his peers.

‘If I’m popular among other babies, wouldn’t my parents think that I should be an entertainer? That’s how I will plant the seeds.’

He had to prepare in advance.

[Slime’s Digestion] appeared as a green round bead.

Seo-jun held the bead with both hands and pressed it into his stomach.

Spark!

The bead, [Slime’s Digestion], passed through his stomach and settled in his tiny intestine.

A blue pattern appeared on Seo-jun’s chubby belly.

The bead-shaped pattern was only visible to his eyes.

[Fairy’s Sparkle] appeared as a small leaf-shaped wand that the fairy carried around.

Seo-jun touched the wand to his right index finger.

He thought that shaking his legs and arms every time he used the sparkle would be a bit strange in his current state as a baby.

Spark!

The wand was registered.

‘Oh, here…’

He meant to register it on his index finger, but it seemed that his finger was smaller than [Fairy’s Sparkle-Lowest Grade], so a pattern was engraved on his palm.

It was a grass-colored pattern.

The baby clenched his hand.

Squeeze squeeze.

‘…It doesn’t matter.’

When he clenched his fingers, the grass-colored wand pattern disappeared, and when he spread them, it appeared again.

Squeeze squeeze.

The baby’s instinct found it amusing to see the wand pattern appear and disappear.

He fell into a trance while clenching and spreading his tiny hands.

Squeeze squeeze.

***

“Seo-jun really eats well.”

The mother of Ji-yoon, who had a seven-month-old baby girl, said.

Ji-yoon, who was born in March like Seo-jun, also ate baby food and formula alternatively, but her daughter refused to eat anything lately.

She would shake her head when she was offered a bottle and spit out the spoonful of baby food that was put in her mouth.

Seo Eun-hye brought some fruit from the kitchen.

It was Saturday afternoon when everyone was resting.

Seo-jun’s dad, who had a lot of work, went to work today and his mom invited her friends over.

There were five babies gathered in one corner of the living room.

Seo-jun, who had just finished his formula, Ji-yoon who didn’t eat anything, twin brothers Park Ji-ho and his twin sister Park Ji-woo, and Mina Owen whose father was American.

They were all babies between seven and nine months old.

The babies ignored Seo-jun’s toys and played with their own toys.

Seo-jun took out his dolls and played with them.

Playing with dolls was a fun game for him who had half instinct and half reason.

Ji-yoon’s mother sighed.

“It would be nice if they ate obediently when they were hungry enough to cry, but it was frustrating that they didn’t eat even though they weren’t sick.”

Seo Eun-hye said as she cut an apple.

“It’ll get better soon. They said there’s nothing wrong with her.”

She was so worried that Ji-yoon didn’t eat anything that she went to the hospital.

Everyone was worried, but fortunately there was nothing wrong.

It was just that Ji-yoon didn’t eat anything.

“When they grow up, how much trouble will they cause…”

The other mothers sighed at the words of the twin mother.

Only Seo Eun-hye, who didn’t know what tantrums were because of Seo-jun, smiled awkwardly.

The mothers’ conversation continued after that.

They talked about sending their kids to kindergarten, but the nearby kindergarten was too competitive, or recommended ingredients for baby food that were good for their kids’ health.

Seo-jun who was playing with toys with the other babies, suddenly felt hungry.

Thinking that he had a good appetite, he started crying.

“Wah wah.”

“Oh my, is it time to eat already?”

Seo Eun-hye was surprised and looked at the clock.

Time had passed quickly.

When Seo-jun cried, the other babies started crying one by one.

Wah wah! Wah!

The living room was filled with the babies’ cries.

The mothers hurriedly took out the formula from their bags.

Seeing that, Seo-jun stopped crying as if he had never cried.

His mom would bring him the formula soon, so there was no reason to waste his energy by crying.

But the other babies, who had only eating, pooping, sleeping, and playing on their minds, kept crying.

‘Did I cry for nothing?’

His ears were hurting from the sharp cries of the weak babies.

But if he didn’t cry, he wouldn’t get any food.

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders.

He had a big head on his small shoulders, so it didn’t show.

Chapter 3

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 3

“I’ll get some water.”

Seo Eun-hye went to the kitchen and brought back some lukewarm water.

She put some formula in a bottle and added water.

Soon, the nipples were inserted into the mouths of the babies who were laying roundly on a clean blanket.

But the babies shook their heads.

They had nipples in their mouths, but they didn’t suck on them.

They whimpered because they were hungry, but they didn’t want to eat.

“Oh, Ji-yoon. If you’re hungry, eat a little.”

Ji-yoon’s mom sighed at the sight of her daughter who refused to eat no matter what.

The other babies were the same.

Only Seo-jun was drinking formula from the nipple.

Seo Eun-hye picked up Seo-jun in her arms.

She didn’t do anything wrong, but she felt awkward seeing her son eating well by himself.

Suck suck-

In his mom’s arms, Seo-jun watched the situation.

His mom looked embarrassed holding him, and the other people were also pushing bottles into the babies’ mouths, pleading with them to eat at least one bite.

Suck suck-

While drinking the formula, Seo-jun raised his right hand.

If he left them alone, the babies would continue to be noisy and the moms would cry too.

‘This might not work, but…’

In the baby’s right hand, there was a leaf-colored wand with stripes that no one else could see.

‘I’ve never used it like this…’

To be honest, it was his first time using a skill like [Fairy’s Sparkle].

He didn’t need such a superficial skill in the monster ecosystem where only the strong survived.

It was rather dangerous.

He had only used skills that involved fighting and surviving, and now he had to use this kind of skill.

It was quite refreshing.

‘Sparkle.’

[Fairy’s Sparkle-Lowest Level-Sparkles. It attracts the attention of children who can see everything.]

Normally, a fairy’s wings would sparkle, but Seo-jun didn’t have wings, so his hair and skin glowed slightly.

The crying babies’ eyes turned to Seo-jun, who was shining mysteriously.

The moms couldn’t see it.

Only the innocent and pure babies could see the fairy’s sparkle.

When the babies stopped crying and looked to one place, the moms’ eyes followed.

They saw Seo Eun-hye, who was sitting on the floor with Seo-jun in one arm and holding a bottle with the other.

Suck suck-

Only the sound of Seo-jun sucking on the nipple could be heard.

While drinking formula, Seo-jun waved his right hand casually.

He shook the sparkle.

[The fairy’s sparkle shakes. Someone will want to imitate you.]

When a fairy’s wings sparkled, it drew the children’s attention, and when a fairy danced, the children danced along.

The fairies played tricks on those who followed them.

Sometimes they took the children into the forest and made them lost.

The fairies danced or sang or did strange things.

Strange things were most of them.

It was all the power of the sparkle.

Suck suck-

Along with the sound of Seo-jun sucking on the nipple, there was another sound from the nipples in the other babies’ mouths.

Suck suck-

The babies who were affected by the sparkle started to drink formula.

“Oh my!”

They all didn’t know why, but they realized that the babies were following Seo-jun.

The babies who were crying and refusing formula were gone, and instead, they were eating as if they had never tasted such delicious formula before.

“Seo-jun is amazing!”

“Right? They all eat when Seo-jun eats!”

The moms were overjoyed and said,

“How nice it is to see them eat like this!”

Especially Ji-yoon’s mom, who had been struggling to feed her daughter for the past few days, said with a sob.

“Ji-yoon, if you’re hungry, please eat a little.”

Ji-yoon had been refusing to eat no matter how much her mom begged and pleaded.

Ji-yoon’s mom had a headache and in tears every mealtime.

The other moms nodded in sympathy.

Mina’s mom stroked Mina’s golden hair as she sucked on the bottle and said,

“Is this what you meant?”

“What?”

The moms looked at Mina’s mom.

Mina’s mom smiled slyly and said,

“The baby version of a mukbang!”

Mina’s mom’s words made a pfft sound from the moms’ mouths.

Mukbang!

The baby version of mukbang!

“Ahahaha!”

They all laughed at the joke made by Mina’s mom, who was a vlogger who recorded and uploaded her daily life on YouTube.

“That’s right!”

“They could really do a mukbang show. They’re stars. Stars!”

Mukbang was a genre of videos where people displayed various delicious foods in front of the camera and ate them in different combinations.

It let the viewers live vicariously through the streamers and left them satisfied and helped with their diets, but sometimes it also made them order the same menu and eat along.

The babies were also influenced by Seo-jun’s eating.

“Hahaha,” the moms laughed without caring about anything else.

The babies didn’t care about the moms’ laughter either.

They looked at Seo-jun, who was sucking on the bottle, and followed him.

Soon, the bottles were empty and the moms picked up their babies.

Burp-!

Seo-jun, who finished first, burped first, and Seo Eun-hye helped Ji-woo burp.

Like a lullaby, the babies’ burping sounds filled the living room.

Fortunately, they all ate well and burped well, and they didn’t seem to vomit.

The moms put the babies back on one side of the living room and continued their conversation while occasionally looking at them.

“Seo-jun’s mom.”

“Hmm?”

Ji-yoon’s mom asked Seo Eun-hye her request.

Mina’s mom had said it as a joke, but the heart of a mom who had a baby who didn’t eat well was different.

She felt a bit embarrassed but rationalized it was for her daughter.

“I’m sorry to ask you this. But can you film Seo-jun eating and send it to me?”

Everyone was surprised by Ji-yoon’s mom’s words.

Especially Mina’s mom said in surprise,

“No. That was a joke.”

“I know that.”

Tears welled up in Ji-yoon’s mom’s eyes.

The twin’s mom quickly handed her a tissue.

“My Ji-yoon is so small compared to her peers because she doesn’t eat well. So I’ve been trying to feed her well, but she just won’t eat…”

Ji-yoon’s mom shed tears.

The moms looked at the babies.

Ji-yoon, who was holding a rattle in her hand, was clearly smaller than Seo-jun, who was seven months old like her.

She was the smallest among the five babies.

Seo-jun and Ji-yoon were different in size, but Seo Eun-hye thought that it was because Seo-jun was unusually healthy and tall for his age.

She quickly raised her hand and said,

“No. Seo-jun is just bigger than his peers, so he looks like that.”

“Sob…The doctor said that I have to feed her well… Sob…”

Ji-yoon’s mom burst into tears.

Ji-yoon seemed to notice her mom crying and her face twitched.

Seeing that, Seo-jun sighed inwardly and raised his right hand to call the sparkle.

‘I don’t need this useless crying when I’m not even hungry!’

[The fairy’s sparkle sparkles. It attracts the attention of children who can see everything.]

Soon, Seo-jun’s hair and skin glittered.

The babies’ eyes were drawn to him.

‘Oops! I forgot.’

The babies flocked to Seo-jun.

It was different from before when he was safely in his mom’s arms.

The babies swarmed over Seo-jun, who was lying defenseless on the floor.

They were babies who would grab anything with their hands and put it in their mouths.

There was something shiny and amazing right in front of them.

They couldn’t miss it.

Seo-jun’s glittering hair and fingers went into the babies’ mouths.

Suck suck-

They sucked on them as if they had formula.

‘Mom!’

Seo-jun looked at Seo Eun-hye, but she was comforting Ji-yoon’s mom.

His whole body was covered with the babies’ saliva.

He could have cried ‘Eek’, but he saw that the moms were having a serious conversation.

Seo-jun sighed deeply and gave himself up to the babies.

He decided to sacrifice himself for the sake of not disturbing the moms’ talk.

Suck suck-

‘But why do I feel like my soul is being sucked?’

“Really, I’m just asking you once… Sob.”

Ji-yoon’s mom clasped her hands and begged.

Seo Eun-hye’s heart softened.

Her son ate well, slept well, and pooped well.

He was healthy and never sick.

She thought he was a very rare baby.

She raised him without any worries or troubles.

She was a mom too.

So, she understood Ji-yoon’s mom’s feelings very well.

Besides, it was just filming him eating.

‘It’s not like she’s asking me for money.’

She wasn’t going to ask Seo-jun to eat every time Ji-yoon didn’t eat.

She thought for a moment and said,

“Okay. I’ll film him eating and send it to you on Banana Talk. He won’t eat now because he’s full.”

“Really?!”

Ji-yoon’s mom asked in surprise. Then she grabbed Seo Eun-hye’s hands.

“I’ll, I’ll only show it to my Ji-yoon. Only my Ji-yoon…”

She wiped her tears and said,

“I’m really grateful. Really… Thank you… I’ll repay you…”

“No, no. Just let me know when Ji-yoon eats well after watching the video.”

The twin’s mom and Mina’s mom, who were watching them, thought for a bit and opened their mouths.

“Um, Seo-jun’s mom. Can you send it to me too?”

“Me too!”

“My twins are not bad eaters, but they sometimes don’t eat…”

“Mina doesn’t like baby food, so… Can you please send me the baby food version?”

Seo Eun-hye nodded at their words.

“Sure! It’s just filming him eating anyway. I’ll film him eating both formula and baby food.”

Only then did the smiles return to their faces.

Seo Eun-hye smiled too and turned her head to her son, who ate well and slept well.

“Oh my, Seo-jun!”

“Mina!”

“Ji-ho, Ji-woo!”

“Ji-yoon!”

Seo Eun-hye’s son was half-resigned under the babies.

Chapter 4

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 4

Ding-dong-

“Daddy’s home. Seo-jun!”

Seo-jun, who was playing with a doll on the soft mat in the living room, turned his head at his mom’s words.

The door opened and his dad appeared at the entrance.

Seo-jun crawled towards the front door.

Well, he tried to crawl, but his chubby belly rubbed against the floor.

The baby’s arms and legs flailed on the ground.

Lee Min-jun, who had worked until Saturday evening and barely got off work, picked up his son who was trying to crawl towards him.

“My son!”

Seo-jun stretched out his arms and hugged his dad.

Lee Min-jun hugged his son tightly and kissed his wife Seo Eun-hye’s cheek, who was standing next to him.

He also kissed Seo-jun’s rosy cheeks.

“Son, kiss too!”

“Let’s wash up first!”

Seo Eun-hye said and Seo-jun pushed his dad’s cheek with both hands.

Lee Min-jun laughed.

It was always a warm home.

Lee Min-jun quickly washed up and played with Seo-jun while Seo Eun-hye prepared dinner.

Seo Eun-hye talked about what happened during the day while preparing the side dishes.

“So, when Seo-jun drank formula, the other babies followed him, right?”

“That’s amazing!”

“That’s what I’m saying. You know Mina’s mom is a vlogger, right?”

Lee Min-jun remembered Mina’s mom’s videos.

She uploaded fusion dishes that mixed American and Korean home cooking or introduced small interior items.

“Yeah. You showed me last time.”

“Yeah. So Mina’s mom said, our Seo-jun is a mukbang star. A mukbang star of the baby world.”

Seo Eun-hye said with a laugh in her voice.

Lee Min-jun also laughed out loud and looked at his son who was playing with dolls.

He was happy to see his son having fun, but he felt like sighing whenever he saw the dolls.

The dolls that his son played with were made by his friend when he was five months old… Actually, Lee Min-jun was amazed that his son played with those dolls.

He and his wife wanted to throw away the dolls, but their son, who had never been stubborn before, cried and made a fuss. So they gave up on it.

Lee Min-jun’s friend liked games and had good hand skills, so he often made figures, dolls, miniatures, etc.

He had made the dolls by hand.

The dolls were monster dolls.

There was an ugly green orc, ogre, a twin-headed troll, and a dragon with huge wings.

The dragon was so well-made that even the scales were expressed, and it looked very scary.

The other dolls didn’t look very cute either.

‘Is this a waste of talent…?’

His son often played games where he knocked down the dragon with the orcs.

He seemed so excited that Lee Min-jun couldn’t stop him.

He was doing that now too.

He held a small slime in one hand and hit the dragon doll.

“Kyaaaaa!”

He looked completely excited.

“Do I have to stop him…?”

Lee Min-jun was worried that his son would develop a violent personality.

Seo Eun-hye came out of the kitchen after finishing preparing dinner.

“It’s okay. Seo-jun is very nice.”

“Yeah?”

“Today, he got surrounded by babies for a moment while I wasn’t looking. But he didn’t hit any of the other kids and just stayed still.”

“Surrounded?!”

Lee Min-jun was shocked.

‘Surrounded?’

He imagined his son being miserable and unable to move because of the other babies.

Seo Eun-hye noticed his thoughts and lifted Seo-jun up and shook her head.

“No, not like that, more like he was popular and they wanted to touch him?”

“Oh, oh. That’s good.”

Lee Min-jun also headed to the dining table.

A splendid table was set with delicious soybean paste stew and rolled eggs.

Seo-jun also sat in a baby chair.

Seo-jun didn’t eat with them but ate after they finished eating.

He had just finished taking revenge on the dragon that killed him when he had been born as a slime.

Well, it was a model.

He thought he would enjoy dinner tonight.

Seo-jun flapped his arms excitedly.

“Hehehe!”

“You’re really happy, huh?”

Lee Min-jun pinched the baby’s cheek.

He smiled involuntarily at the sight of the baby laughing happily.

Seo Eun-hye brought rice and dinner began.

“So I filmed him drinking formula earlier, but you’ll have to film him eating solid food. It’s hard to feed him and film at the same time.”

“Okay. I’ll finish eating quickly and film him.”

Lee Min-jun answered and scooped up a big spoonful of rice.

***

Dinner was over and it was time for the baby to eat.

Seo-jun, who was sitting in a baby chair, watched his dad look for a camera in the drawer.

His mom brought the solid food.

‘She wants me to use the glitter, right?’

Seo-jun remembered what happened during the day.

He had heard the moms asking Seo Eun-hye for help because the babies wouldn’t eat, while he was surrounded by the babies.

‘I didn’t know the glitter would be used like this…’

He thought his skin and hair would be popular with the babies because they sparkled.

He fed them to stop their crying.

He didn’t expect it to come back like this.

“Seo-jun, let’s eat!”

Seo-jun sighed inwardly and looked at his mom and dad.

He was a well-fed and well-slept baby who had no worries, but other parents might be different. He remembered the face of Ji-yoon’s mom who cried.

‘No choice.’

The problem was that [Fairy’s Sparkle] was in his palm.

If it was on his finger, he could have shaken it slightly without being seen by the camera. But to shake his palm, he had to shake his arm.

And it would be obvious if he only shook his right arm, which had the mark.

‘Do I have to raise both arms? I’ve never eaten with both arms waving before.’

Hoping that his mom and dad wouldn’t think it was weird,

Lee Seo-jun looked at his dad who was calling him.

***

-You got a message! Ding ding!

“It’s here!”

“Is it?!”

Ji-yoon’s mom, Lee So-young, still hadn’t eaten dinner.

Ji-yoon’s dad, who had just come home from work, was the same.

It was because their precious only daughter refused to eat again.

“At least she ate once in the afternoon… That’s a relief…”

Lee So-young felt like crying at her husband’s words. But she held back her tears and quickly opened Banana Talk. Seo-jun’s mom had sent two videos to the group chat.

-This is the formula version

-This is the baby food version. Sorry for being late!

Lee So-young typed a message quickly.

-No! Thank you so much!

Then she played the videos.

She opened the baby food version, which had more nutrition.

Her husband, who had heard about the afternoon from Lee So-young, also watched the video.

Seo-jun was sitting in a baby chair and looking at the camera.

A small male voice said, “Seo-jun, look this way!”

It sounded like Seo-jun’s dad.

At his dad’s voice, Seo-jun’s eyes turned to the camera.

He smiled brightly.

A small baby bowl was placed in front of Seo-jun.

Seo Eun-hye held a small baby spoon in her hand.

“Seo-jun, let’s eat!”

At Seo Eun-hye’s words, Seo-jun opened his mouth wide.

The spoon disappeared into Seo-jun’s mouth.

He closed his mouth and chewed. Then he raised and shook both of his arms.

“Huh? Are you excited? Is it that delicious?”

At Seo Eun-hye’s words, Seo-jun opened his mouth again.

The baby food was gone.

Seo Eun-hye put more baby food into his mouth.

For about 10 minutes, Seo-jun’s eating scene was filmed.

Lee So-young commented on the well-filmed video.

“Good! Ji-yoon, let’s eat!”

Her husband ran to the kitchen to heat up the baby food.

Even as they prepared to feed their child, they were doubtful whether this video would work. But they wanted to try anything, so they quickly went to their daughter.

They fixed the smartphone in front of her and put Ji-yoon in a chair.

“Ugh.”

Ji-yoon started to whine.

Ji-yoon’s dad quickly put the baby food on the table.

Lee So-young stirred the cooled baby food with a spoon and pressed the start button on the video.

“Seo-jun, look this way!”

Seo-jun’s dad’s voice was heard.

At the same time, Ji-yoon’s dad said,

“Ji-yoon, look this way!”

Ji-yoon turned her head to where her dad’s voice came from.

The smartphone came into Ji-yoon’s sight.

Seo-jun was inside it.

Lee So-young quickly pushed the spoon toward Ji-yoon’s mouth.

Ji-yoon saw it.

Seo-jun raised and shook both of his arms again.

And he shone brightly.

She felt like following Seo-jun.

The simple baby mimicked what she saw in front of her eyes.

When Seo-jun opened his mouth, Ji-yoon also opened her mouth.

When Seo-jun bit the spoon and chewed, Ji-yoon also bit the spoon.

There was baby food on the spoon.

When the baby food entered her mouth, Ji-yoon chewed and swallowed.

‘She ate!’

Lee So-young clenched her fist.

Ji-yoon’s dad, who was about to shout in joy that his daughter finally ate, barely swallowed his voice at the pain he felt on his thigh.

It was because his wife was glaring at him with fire in her eyes.

His wife whispered softly without opening her lips much.

“Be quiet! She has to finish the whole bowl!”

“Okay.”

The couple quietly fed their daughter.

As if all the trouble they had gone through was a lie, Ji-yoon finished a bowl of baby food in no time.

They wondered if she had ever eaten so obediently before. Tears blurred their eyes.

Lee So-young patted Ji-yoon’s back.

Ji-yoon, who had eaten well, slowly closed her eyes.

She fell asleep with a soft snore on the fluffy bed. Her chubby cheeks were very cute.

They had been so worried that something was wrong with her that they had even gone to the hospital.

They had tried to feed her all kinds of formula and baby food that babies liked and were tasty.

They all failed.

The more they failed, the more they felt guilty that they were not qualified to be parents.

Lee So-young, who could smile now, said to her husband.

“We should buy Seo-jun a gift.”

“Let’s do that! And send a message quickly! That Ji-yoon ate well. And a thank you.”

“Oh, right.”

Lee So-young laid Ji-yoon on the bed and picked up her smartphone.

The group chat was already full of messages.

It was Mina’s mom and the twins’ mom.

-Really! What’s going on! Mina ate everything! She didn’t even fuss about food!

-The twins ate too! In an instant!

Lee So-young, Ji-yoon’s mom, also left a message.

-Ji-yoon ate too. It’s only the second time she ate today. Really… Thank you so much!

Seo-eun-hye, who read the message, told her husband who was putting their son to sleep.

Their son, who had eaten well, was half asleep and fell asleep on the soft blanket. His round cheeks were very cute.

“They all said it worked.”

“Hmm… Maybe they were just hungry and ate?”

To Lee Min-jun, who had only seen his son eat well, a baby who didn’t eat well was an unfamiliar being.

Seo-eun-hye knew a little bit about the mothers’ feelings because she had baby mom friends.

“They don’t eat if they don’t want to. Ji-yoon’s mom even went to the hospital.”

“To the hospital?”

Only then did Lee Min-jun realize how serious it was and patted Seo-jun’s stomach.

He thought that his and Seo Eun-hye’s son was really a kind and gentle child.

“I hope it works tomorrow and the day after too…”

“Me too.”

As the couple wished, Seo-jun’s formula eating show and baby food eating show were very effective tomorrow and the day after too.

Chapter 5

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 5

The effect of Seo-jun’s video did not end with one time.

A week later, Seo Eun-hye’s Banana Talk had many messages piled up.

They were messages from mothers who praised Seo-jun’s video.

-He ate again today!

-Wow! Ji-yoon ate everything without skipping a single meal!

-Do the twins weigh twice as much now?

The twins’ mother was joking, but the other mothers also had a chance to weigh their children.

Especially Ji-yoon, who gained a lot of weight and made his parents cry.

“Seo-jun seems to be growing really fast, doesn’t he?”

Lee Min-jun looked at the picture that Seo Eun-hye sent him.

She sent him a picture of Seo-jun taken just now on Banana Talk.

It was a picture of Seo-jun sitting on a scale with a bright smile, holding an orc with green skin in both hands.

And she sent him a message with his weight from last week and this week.

Lee Min-jun was amazed by the huge increase in weight.

Well, his son was a child who ate well, slept well, and pooped well. He would have been worried if he didn’t gain weight.

“Oh, Seo-jun?”

Kim Hee-sung came.

Kim Hee-sung glanced at Lee Min-jun’s phone.

“An orc? The one I gave you? He still likes it?”

Lee Min-jun sighed.

Kim Hee-sung laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

Cold sweat ran down his back.

“No, I really didn’t know he would like it.”

He wanted to tease Seo-jun, who always smiled brightly.

He wanted to see Seo-jun cry in fear. Kim Hee-sung, as a joke, filled a large box with monster dolls that were piled up in his house and took them to Lee Min-jun’s house.

He thought he would take them back as soon as Seo-jun cried…

“I didn’t know he would like it so much…”

Lee Min-jun rubbed his face.

As soon as he opened the box, his son screamed in a high-pitched voice.

He thought he was scared and quickly closed the box, but his son was so excited that he hit the box and Lee Min-jun’s arm with both hands.

It hurt. It looked like he was shouting ‘Open it! Open it!’ so Lee Min-jun had no choice but to open it for him.

“He became completely attached to them…”

“Ahahaha. Sorry.”

Seo-jun crawled into the box and buried himself in the dolls, giggling.

Kim Hee-sung was also surprised by Seo-jun’s reaction and didn’t know what to do.

At that time, Seo Eun-hye was standing there with a blank expression, holding Todorolli – a rabbit doll – that had been abandoned by Seo-jun.

“But he really has a strange taste, Seo-jun.”

“Are you in any position to say that.”

Kim Hee-sung, who had been nagged by Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye for about a week for giving such dolls to a baby, raised both hands at Lee Min-jun’s faint words.

“I’m really sorry!”

“Haa, no. I given up now.”

He said he gave up, but Lee Min-jun opened his phone gallery and showed him pictures of Seo-jun.

Seo-jun holding an orc, Seo-jun holding a slime in both hands and smiling, Seo-jun crushing a dragon.

Seo-jun sleeping with a werewolf.

Seo-jun with a twin head ogre…

Kim Hee-sung quietly bowed his head.

“I’m really sorry.”

Seo-jun’s smiling face was cute, but the dolls he was holding were terrifying.

It was enough to doubt his parents’ taste.

Kim Hee-sung had no choice but to apologize for the imbalance.

Lee Min-jun nodded his head.

Kim Hee-sung’s apology was not enough until Seo-jun’s tastes changed.

Lee Min-jun didn’t know.

He never thought he would hear Kim Hee-sung’s apology for a lifetime…

Kim Hee-sung sat down.

Thanks to working until Saturday to finish his work, he could relax today.

Maybe it would have been better to work today…

He sat down without any motivation. Lee Min-jun showed him a video.

Kim Hee-sung expected it.

It would be either a video of Seo-jun or Seo Eun-hye or a video of both of them.

His expectation was right.

“Our Seo-jun eats well!”

“This arm strength.”

But Kim Hee-sung also thought that Seo-jun was very very cute.

He seemed to have inherited his parents’ good points and hidden good points and was very cute.

Kim Hee-sung, who was watching Seo-jun eating baby food, opened his mouth.

He saw Seo-jun shaking his arms and eating.

“But why is he shaking his hands?”

“Hmm…”

Lee Min-jun shook his head, as if he didn’t know, at Kim Hee-sung’s question.

Seo-jun didn’t shake his hands when he ate baby food this morning. Why did he do that?

“Maybe he’s very excited?”

“Eating? Every time he eats?”

Lee Min-jun shook his head and said no.

Kim Hee-sung thought hard. The difference between usual and now was…

“The camera?”

“…Camera?”

Lee Min-jun looked at the video at Kim Hee-sung’s words.

There was Seo-jun, who was shaking his arms and smiling brightly.

“Does he like cameras? That’s why he’s excited and shaking his arms.”

“Is that so?”

“Oh, Seo-jun has the potential to be an actor!”

Lee Min-jun looked at the video again at Kim Hee-sung’s words.

“Kyaaak!”

Seo-jun’s laughter was heard.

***

“Wow, really… Ji-yoon and I. We got praised at the hospital.”

Seo Eun-hye smiled at Ji-yoon’s mother’s words.

It had been two weeks since she sent the video of Seo-jun eating.

The five babies ate well without making a fuss.

“He eats well even without watching Seo-jun’s video now.”

The other mothers nodded their heads at Mina’s mother’s words.

“After watching Seo-jun’s video for a few days, I thought he wouldn’t be able to eat without it, but now he eats well without watching it when it’s time to eat.”

“Well… There was a little bit of a struggle in between…”

“That’s nothing. He’s a baby!”

The three mothers agreed with Seo Eun-hye’s words.

She smiled brightly and took a slice of cake that Mina’s mother had made.

A whipped cream cake with lots of strawberries.

It seemed to be a celebration the relief of the mothers’ worries.

There was a moment when everyone was silent as if they had the same thought.

Seo Eun-hye looked at the three mothers.

They had no makeup on, but their faces shone brightly as they resolved their worries.

Seo Eun-hye felt choked up.

The other mothers were the same.

Ji-yoon’s mother, who had a weak heart, had tears in her eyes.

“Thank you, really. Eun-hye…”

“No…”

“Really, really… Thank you…”

Some people might say it was just baby food, but it was more painful for parents than skipping a few meals themselves.

“She eats well, plays well, sleeps well… And she isn’t getting sick…”

“It’s only been two weeks.”

“I’ve been really happy for these two weeks.”

Mina’s mother also said.

She was grateful for Mina who ate without fuss and for Seo-jun too.

“Don’t our babies look more lively?”

The mothers laughed and wiped their tears at the twins’ mother’s joke.

The babies also laughed at the mothers’ laughter.

Seo-jun was surprised to hear the mothers’ words.

‘The [Fairy’s Sparkle] had an effect through the video?’

It was his first time using his ability through a medium like a video, so he thought it wouldn’t have any effect. But it seemed otherwise from the mothers’ words.

He didn’t expect it, but it was good news.

‘If an ability like [Fairy’s Sparkle] works through a video. It will be easier to become a superstar.’

Seo-jun giggled and hugged the doll that Kim Hee-sung gave him a few days ago.

It was a doll of a black mage lich king that Kim Hee-sung said he made himself.

Seo Eun-hye was startled by the skull doll with a crown – it looked even scarier with a green cubic in its eye – but Seo-jun liked it so much that he hugged it all week.

The babies moved away from Seo-jun, who was laughing happily.

The lich king’s green eyes seemed to glare at them.

As they ate cake and talked, Mina’s mother cautiously opened her mouth.

“If it’s okay, how about uploading Seo-jun’s video on YouTube?”

“YouTube?”

Seo Eun-hye asked and Mina’s mother nodded.

“I’m uploading vlogs on YouTube, you know.”

The mothers listened carefully.

“I used to upload Mina’s appearance a little bit while uploading vlogs. Like Mina ate well today, or she didn’t eat well. Then there were a lot of comments from other baby moms saying their son or daughter doesn’t eat well either.”

Seo Eun-hye and the mothers nodded.

Seo-jun, who was wiping the mat with the lich king’s hand and drawing a magic circle on the cloud-shaped mat, also nodded.

There must have been more than four babies who didn’t eat well here.

“But for the past two weeks, I kept saying ‘Mina ate well today’, ‘I gave her a new baby food and she really liked it’. I didn’t even realize it.”

Mina’s mother looked at Seo Eun-hye apologetically.

Ji-yoon’s mother and the twins’ mother also flinched. They also bragged to their parents and in-laws that their children ate well these days.

“It’s okay. It’s not like you talked about Seo-jun.”

Seo Eun-hye shook her head.

“So there were comments asking me to tell them the secret of how to make babies eat well. And besides that, there were comments saying their babies don’t eat well… They even went to the hospital…”

The mothers looked at Ji-yoon’s mother at the mention of the hospital.

Ji-yoon’s mother shrugged her shoulders.

Ji-yoon was now a child who ate well. She had nothing to worry about.

“I didn’t talk about Seo-jun’s video. I just posted the brand of formula Mina drinks and some baby food recipes. Eun-hye, if you’re okay with it, I want to upload Seo-jun’s video on YouTube and help other baby moms.”

“Hmm. I see.”

Seo Eun-hye thought about it.

The mothers waited quietly for Seo Eun-hye to finish thinking.

Should she upload Seo-jun’s video or not? Seo Eun-hye thought hard.

It was about Seo-jun’s face being uploaded on video.

It was a situation where Seo-jun’s opinion was needed more than anyone else’s, but her son was only a 7-month-old baby who crawled around saying abububu.

Seo-jun’s mom and dad had to make a decision.

‘I think the good thing is… It will help babies who don’t eat well. Their parents will also be able to solve their worries. And the bad thing is that Seo-jun’s face will be known…’

There could have been other good and bad points, but she couldn’t decide by herself because it was about Seo-jun.

She finished thinking and opened her mouth.

“I’ll talk to my husband first.”

“Okay. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to! Think carefully and decide.”

Mina’s mother nodded at Seo Eun-hye’s words.

‘If only Seo-jun could talk, I would ask him…’

Seo Eun-hye looked at her son who was cleaning the mat with the hand of a skull doll.

The dark and white bones.

She momentarily forgot about YouTube and sighed at the skull doll that Kim Hee-sung gave her.

Chapter 6

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 6

Lee Min-jun moved the skeleton doll.

Seo-jun held a small dog doll.

According to Kim Hee-sang, it was a werewolf doll that turned into a human when it saw the full moon.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun sighed as they saw the sharp eyes and the fierce mouth with flashing teeth that looked alive. But Seo-jun was happy to hear Kim Hee-sang’s explanation.

He said he would give him a human version as a gift next time.

He was such a cool uncle.

“Uuung.”

“Oh, yes. I am the king of skeletons. The Lich King, Edmund!”

Seo-jun whined at Lee Min-jun’s awkward acting.

Lee Min-jun read the script on the paper and spat out the lines while moving the skeleton doll.

He didn’t act like that at other times, but he always reacted dull when he played with monster dolls.

It was a script written by Kim Hee-sang, Seo-jun’s best playmate.

“Seo-jun likes realistic things, right?”

‘Is this… realistic?’

“Look! Seo-jun!”

“Uung?”

“I am the cursed dragon, Black Dragon, and I will destroy the world! Waaaaah!”

“Kyaaaaak!”

Lee Min-jun thought he had never seen Seo-jun so excited. He looked at the paper again.

There were lines on the paper that were hard for him to say.

As Lee Min-jun tried to put down the paper, Seo-jun grabbed his father’s hand.

‘Dad.’

Seeing his son’s sparkling eyes, Lee Min-jun sighed and opened the paper again.

“My minions, my subjects. Follow my com… command.”

“Uwoo woo!”

“Oh, my Seo-jun. Our son says you need to put more emotion into it.”

Seo Eun-hye, who was sitting on the sofa and drinking tea, said with a giggle.

Lee Min-jun rubbed his face with one hand.

“My Seo-jun’s mom. Your son. He really likes this.”

“He loves it when he plays with Hee-sang too.”

“Uwo uwo!”

“Okay. Okay. Don’t talk to mom and play with me?”

As if he knew his son’s heart well, Seo-jun smiled happily and lifted the werewolf-wolf version doll.

The blue fur of the wolf doll sparkled as if it had been treated somehow.

The Lich King and the werewolf!

It was obvious that the Lich King would win, but the baby’s play was different. After a little while of awkwardly spitting out lines and clashing Seo-jun’s wolf doll and the skeleton doll, dad said.

“Ack! I lost!”

The werewolf won.

The baby loved this play where he always won.

Seo Eun-hye hugged Seo-jun who was excited.

She patted his belly to calm him down.

“Huhuhu.”

“Oh my. Seo-jun won!”

“Seo-jun is amazing!”

Whether it was calming or exciting him, the couple’s words made Seo-jun’s arms and legs flail in the air.

He felt his body twitch and his heart beat fast as he heard his parents’ praise. Seo-jun couldn’t speak, but he shouted in his mind.

‘Dad mom! I’m awesome! I’m great!’

The baby’s instinct overcame Seo-jun’s reasoning.

After playing with his son for a while, Seo Eun-hye mentioned what Mina’s mom had suggested about YouTube.

“So I was thinking about uploading the videos on YouTube…”

“Hmm?”

“But what if Seo-jun grows up and asks why we did that… What should we do?”

Lee Min-jun laughed at Seo Eun-hye’s worries.

“It’s just a baby video. And by the time Seo-jun asks that question, it will already be forgotten.”

“That’s true, but…”

“In my opinion…”

Lee Min-jun recalled his conversation with Kim Hee-sang.

He thought of Kim Hee-sang who saw Seo-jun waving his arms and said he liked cameras and had the potential to be an actor.

Lee Min-jun was leaning towards that idea too.

“Maybe Seo-jun likes being filmed?”

“Seo-jun?”

“Look. He usually eats quietly. But when we filmed him with a camera, he was so happy and he even waved his arms.”

‘That’s because I have to wave my arm to use [Fairy’s Sparkle]. Dad.’

Seo-jun thought as he heard Lee Min-jun’s words. But it wasn’t a bad approach.

Seo-jun was in a baby’s body that could barely speak or express himself.

‘It would be nice to be famous from an early age if I want to be a superstar!’

Seo-jun liked the idea of his parents leading him in that direction.

Seo-jun smiled brightly.

Suddenly smiling, Seo-jun was patted by Seo Eun-hye.

She remembered two weeks ago.

Seo-jun was eating his food happily while waving his arms.

‘Come to think of it, he did that.’

There was a camera in front of Seo-jun for the first time when he was eating.

“Did he know and liked the camera?”

The baby, who was nibbling on his fist, looked at Seo Eun-hye and smiled brightly.

Lee Min-jun shrugged and said.

“He’s the one who complained that my acting was not cool.”

“Ah.”

“Ah.”

Seo Eun-hye exclaimed, and Lee Min-jun made a face as if he realized what he had said.

Seo Eun-hye looked at him with disbelief.

“Why are you surprised by what you said?”

“No, I just said it without thinking… Our son is really amazing.”

Lee Min-jun said with admiration in his voice.

“How did he know that my acting was awkward?”

“Maybe because your voice was unnatural and you kept pausing?”

“Well, he can’t understand the words anyway.”

Lee Min-jun nodded.

Seo Eun-hye lifted Seo-jun and looked into his eyes.

Seo-jun thought ‘I can understand everything’ and smiled sweetly.

“Our son. Isn’t he a genius?! He seems like a real genius, right?”

“He’s 7 months old, no, 8 months old now! How are other 8-month-old babies?”

“I don’t know.”

Seo Eun-hye answered Lee Min-jun’s question as she shook Seo-jun in the air.

“Our Seo-jun grows fast. The hospital said he’s in the top few percent. There’s hardly anyone to compare him with.”

“Wow! Seo-jun is awesome!”

The couple’s eyes turned to their son.

Seo-jun pretended not to know anything and nibbled on his fist.

“Then should we really… make him act?”

“Acting…”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun thought of the baby roles and child actors they had seen in dramas or movies.

And then they thought of the actors who successfully transitioned from child actors to adult actors.

But then they also thought of the actors who couldn’t escape from their childhood image and eventually quit acting.

The parents’ worries deepened.

Seo Eun-hye, who was holding Seo-jun in her arms, said.

“It was YouTube that Mina’s mom had suggested So I was thinking about uploading videos on YouTube…”

“Hmm.”

“But what if Seo-jun grows up and asks why we did that… What should we do?”

“Seo-jun’s mom, I don’t think that’s the most important thing right now!”

“Oh, right, that’s not the problem.”

Seo Eun-hye came to her senses.

It was too early to think about becoming an actor or a star.

At least, they had to wait until their child could express his own wishes.

Lee Min-jun realized her thoughts and felt embarrassed.

“So, you’re okay with uploading it on YouTube?”

“Yes, I agree. So-young said she had a hard time because Ji-yoon wouldn’t eat. I don’t know much, but it would be a good thing if it helps other people.”

“Okay, got it. Then I’ll upload it on YouTube!”

She handed Seo-jun to his father and Seo Eun-hye picked up her smartphone.

She wanted to contact Mina’s mom.

<Mina unnie!

<I talked to my husband and we think it’s okay to upload them on YouTube!

-Really?

-Then make an account with your name and upload it!

<My name? Can’t you just upload it on your channel?

-Eun-hye, you don’t know because you watch my videos a few times a day!

-That counts as a lot of views!

-Other moms will definitely watch it too, so you can apply for monetization later and put ads on it!

-Buy Seo-jun something delicious!

“Is that so?”

Seo Eun-hye’s words made the couple look at the Banana Talk screen together.

The baby was tired from playing and fell asleep. His eyes closed by themselves.

The parents’ voices became quieter as they noticed.

“That’s a good idea. I didn’t think about ads. We can use it for Seo-jun’s education later. I want to let him do whatever he wants.”

Lee Min-jun said and Seo Eun-hye thought for a moment.

She also wanted to let Seo-jun do whatever he wanted.

But they were just videos of a baby eating.

With these kinds of videos.

“Will it make that much?”

She wondered.

“Or maybe, Seo-jun’s allowance?”

Lee Min-jun joked lightly and Seo Eun-hye laughed.

“Yeah. We’re not trying to make a fortune.”

Seo Eun-hye brought her laptop from the room and came to the living room.

She put the laptop on the table and logged in to YouTube.

YouTube was easy to upload videos, so Seo Eun-hye quickly made a channel.

“What should I name the channel?”

Batoq! Batoq!

Just then, Banana Talk came in.

It was her YouTube senior, Mina’s mom.

-Oh, I forgot to tell you, but put the title and channel name in English and Korean!

<English?

-There are English-speaking moms on my channel too!

-Korean babies are not the only ones who don’t eat. Foreign kids don’t eat either.

-If you put the title in Korean, they won’t be able to find it!

“English…”

Mina’s mom’s message made the couple think deeply. Lee Min-jun patted Seo-jun’s back as he slept and said.

“Our son really doesn’t have any sleep problems and sleeps well.”

It was a random remark, but the couple didn’t think it was strange at all.

Mom and dad were happy with even the smallest advantages of their baby.

“He’s such a filial son.”

“I know. Our son is the best!”

“Wait, think of a channel name. Seo-jun’s dad!”

Seo Eun-hye scolded Lee Min-jun, who laughed out loud.

“Let’s keep it simple. We’re only going to upload two videos anyway.”

“That’s true. How about Seo-jun? Seo? Jun?”

“Seo sounds weird, so Jun?”

That’s how they decided on the channel name.

[JUN]

“Is it too simple?”

Seo Eun-hye tilted her head and then shrugged.

She uploaded the video.

She didn’t think she could come up with a better name anyway.

“What about the videos titles?”

“Just write baby food version and baby formula version. Mina’s mom will explain it for us.”

Mi-na’s mom was the first one to introduce Seo-jun’s video.

“Should we?”

Seo Eun-hye agreed with Lee Min-jun’s words and uploaded the video.

[baby food version baby food. ver]

[baby formula version baby formula. ver]

Seo Eun-hye sent a Banana Talk message to Mi-na’s mom.

<Unnie!

Lee Min-jun carried Seo-jun to the bedroom and gently rocked him. His soft words flowed out like a lullaby.

“Our Seo-jun will be famous now! Then he’ll buy dad a car~ and mom a car~ and a house~”

“Pfft!”

Seo Eun-hye burst into laughter at Lee Min-jun’s words.

He also smiled at her laughter.

Seo Eun-hye followed his tone and said.

“Yeah. Our Seo-jun will buy a car~ and toys~”

“And go on trips~”

<I uploaded the video!

<The channel name is [JUN] and the videos are the same ones I sent you before! Baby food version and baby formula version.

-Thank you so much! I’ll promote it for sure!

On a chilly autumn night.

In a small apartment in Korea, a video that would become the eternal number one of the Best 10 videos that parents around the world should watch when raising a baby was uploaded.

Chapter 7

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 7

Eric Smith had a 15-month-old son who had just started to utter words.

He was overjoyed when his son said mama and papa.

“Maria…”

But now he felt like crying.

His son, Jack Smith, refused to eat anything in the morning and had clenched his mouth shut.

It had been only two days since he had been left alone with his son.

He was flustered by this unprecedented situation.

He had been trying to feed his son for 30 minutes.

He had regrets.

‘Why didn’t I learn from her then?’

He remembered how his wife had struggled to feed their son just one more spoonful.

“Nooo!”

He looked at his son who was sitting in a baby chair and banging the small table with both hands.

He felt like he was going to be sick.

He had tried everything from airplane games to train games with the tiny spoon in his hand, but nothing worked.

He finally resorted to his last option.

“I didn’t want to bother you…”

But he couldn’t let his son starve.

<Honey, Jack won’t eat 🙁

<What should I do?

-There’s some yogurt in the fridge that Jack likes. Try that.

<He won’t eat that either 🙁

Park Maria, who was on a business trip in France, sighed as she read her husband’s message.

“Two days…”

Her son was very picky about his food.

That’s why she had stocked the fridge with only the foods that Jack liked before she left, but they had run out in just two days.

She had also bought the things that he didn’t eat when she was there, but they were useless.

“What should I do…”

She had to stay in Paris for three more days.

No, only if things went well. But now.

“Manager! This hasn’t arrived yet!”

Someone shouted and waved a paper.

That startled the manager who jumped from his seat and picked up the phone.

He dialed a number quickly and waited for the other person to answer.

He shook his leg nervously and showed his impatience.

Beep-

‘Hell…’

“What do you mean, now? If you don’t send it now, what are you going to do? We don’t have much time left, don’t you know how important this is?”

He interrupted the other person before they could speak.

Maria rubbed her face with both hands as she saw the manager ranting on the phone.

“I can’t go back even after a week at this rate…”

Was this what they called stress?

Park Maria let out a sigh from within. Then she sent a message. The recipient was Eric Smith, her husband.

-You can do it, you’re his papa 😉

<Honey?!

“Maria? Maria?!”

Eric shook his smartphone.

It was a futile scream, but he couldn’t give up on his last resort.

He hoped that his voice would reach Paris as he shouted.

“Maria!!”

“Nooo!!”

Eric collapsed on the table in frustration.

Jack was still hitting the table.

Tears welled up in Eric’s eyes.

Tears welled up in the baby’s eyes too.

Eric looked at Jack who was sobbing.

He wondered if he missed his mom or if he was hungry.

“If you’re hungry, just eat…”

Eric lifted a spoon.

It was yogurt, Jack’s favorite.

Jack knew the sweet taste of the white yogurt, but he didn’t open his mouth.

He shook his head vigorously.

As Eric and Jack were about to start their second round,

-Ding dong!

An alert sounded.

Later, when Maria came back home after finishing her business trip for two weeks, Eric told her that the alert sounded like heavenly bells.

Of course, not now.

It was an unnecessary alarm.

“What is it?”

An alert came from the PinePad on the table.

It was the PinePad that Maria used for cooking or working at the table.

The screen showed that one of the YouTube channels that Maria subscribed to had been updated.

[LALA’S DAY-New video has been uploaded.]

It was a YouTuber that Maria sometimes referred to when she made fusion dishes of Korean and Western cuisine.

Eric hesitated for a moment. He had been trying to feed his son for over 50 minutes.

“Okay. Jack. Son. Let’s have a truce for a moment.”

Eric raised both hands.

Jack also pouted his lips and muttered to himself.

He decided to watch the video for a change of mood.

“This YouTuber’s daughter has been eating well lately…”

He recalled what Maria had said.

They were YouTubers and subscribers who were raising babies together and trying various methods to feed them through comments and broadcasts.

But these days, Maria said she was envious of the YouTuber’s daughter who ate very well.

The YouTuber had posted a formula-only sold in Korea so she had to order it overseas-and he bought it and tried making the recommended baby food, but it didn’t work for Jack.

“I wonder if she’ll share any tips on how to feed babies well.”

Eric pressed the start button. There was no ad unlike usual.

“Huh? Two minutes?”

It was only a two-minute video.

He had hoped to relax for about 30 minutes while watching the video, but he looked at it with an awkward expression.

[Hello! This is LALA!]

He thought it was a bit strange, but he didn’t stop the video.

It was a stroke of luck.

He thought it was really lucky that the alert sounded then.

And he thought that watching that video was the best thing he had done after marrying Maria and having Jack.

[Today’s video is short. I want to recommend you a YouTube channel.]

LALA held the camera with her hand and seemed to be filming herself.

The screen was shaky and she spoke with a serious face.

[My daughter has been eating very well lately. You all know that, right?]

Eric nodded.

[Um. I said that, so you must know.]

She paused for a moment and opened her mouth.

[I brought you the secret.]

“What?”

Eric was surprised.

A secret?

The people who were watching her video around the world were also surprised.

LALA bowed her head slightly.

She looked sorry.

[Actually, the formula and baby food are true that my daughter likes them. But they weren’t the only reason why my daughter started to eat well. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before.]

“What?”

He remembered the formula that he had waited for hours until it was restocked and barely bought it.

The quantity was limited and he barely managed to buy it before it sold out.

And the ingredients that he bought to make baby food, which were piled up in the fridge.

He looked at the fridge with a dumbfounded expression.

LALA had just said ‘recommend’ and Eric, he didn’t believe her 100 percent, but he felt like he had been scammed.

Eric opened the comment section to see what other people thought.

There were already many comments.

-What do you mean, it wasn’t because of the formula and baby food?

-I had to go through so much trouble to get that formula… They don’t even ship overseas hereㅜㅜ

-I even paid extra money for it…

-LALA just recommended them, that’s all.

-Exactly. Her recommendations might not suit other babies. It’s not LALA’s fault.

-But she said there was another secret. That’s why we’re disappointed that she hid it.

-Maybe it’s something related to her personal life?

There were no comments with swear words because they were all LALA’s fans, but there were many comments that blamed and felt let down by her.

There were also many comments that defended her. It seemed like a fight was about to break out.

As he scrolled down the comments, he heard LALA’s voice and saw subtitles.

A plane icon appeared at the top of the screen.

[The video with the icon on the screen right now is the secret.]

A title appeared. . He could watch it right away by clicking on it.

“What is this?”

He couldn’t tell from the title alone.

LALA’s video continued.

[Let me tell you briefly, this is a video that my friend uploaded. We originally intended to watch it among ourselves, but I persuaded her to post it on YouTube.]

He wondered what kind of video it was that she had to persuade her.

[This video is for the kids, not the parents. My daughter did too. Set it up so that your baby can see it well and try feeding them formula and baby food. They’ll eat very well.]

Several photos of LALA’s daughter eating while watching her smartphone were uploaded.

He turned his head and looked at Jack, who still had his mouth shut.

[The formula and baby food were my personal recommendations, but these videos are a must-watch. Really, absolutely essential! I’ll see you soon in the next video! Bye everyone!]

With that, LALA’s video ended.

The only thing left was the video that LALA recommended.

He hesitated for a moment and decided to try as she said. His last resort, Maria, had left everything to him.

He placed the PinePad where Jack could see it well and heated up Jack’s baby food.

It was food made with LALA’s recommended baby food recipe.

He thought that if it was her recommended baby food, he would eat better while watching the video.

“Will this really work?”

He doubted it, but seeing Jack who hadn’t eaten for an hour, he had no choice but to try.

Jack clenched his mouth shut and he sighed. He placed the baby food in front of Jack.

He sat next to Jack and decided to feed him while watching the video together.

“Please eat…”

The video started.

A baby with black hair appeared on the screen.

A younger baby than Jack, who looked like he wasn’t even one year old yet, was sitting in a baby chair.

He was a cute baby with chubby cheeks and distinct features.

Then a small sound was heard.

It was a man’s voice.

‘Daddy? Jun?’

The channel name appeared.

[JUN].

It seemed like the baby’s name.

A woman’s hand came out and showed the white baby food on the small spoon she was holding.

He also scooped some baby food on Jack’s spoon.

And he sneaked a peek at his son.

His son’s expression softened slightly and he stared at the video.

‘Oh!’

He held his breath and waited for the timing.

The baby in the video, Jun, opened his mouth and the spoon went in.

Jun waved his arms happily.

Jack’s eyes widened.

He saw a mysterious baby with shiny hair eating baby food.

Very deliciously.

Yum yum.

He felt like he wanted to follow him for some reason.

“Ahh! Ahh!”

Jack opened his mouth.

He noticed it.

Now!

Swoosh!

The spoon went into Jack’s mouth.

Jack chewed and swallowed without spitting it out.

His eyes widened.

Oh, ohh, ohhh!!

He felt like shouting with emotion, but he held back.

There was still a lot of baby food left.

“Papa! Papa!”

Jack, who had eaten a whole bowl of baby food, hugged Eric and kept calling him papa.

He felt like tears were blurring his vision.

“No, this is not the time.”

He quickly took out his PinePad and wrote a comment on Jun’s video.

He quickly subscribed and pressed the like button.

He made sure he could play it easily next time he fed Jack.

-He ate everything! It really works!

-My daughter ate everything too! I recommend this for babies who don’t eat!

-I tried for an hour but couldn’t feed him anything, but as soon as he saw the video he ate everything! Jun! Thank you so much!

And he also went to LALA’s video that introduced Jun’s video.

The short two-minute video had many disappointed comments, but they were gradually deleted.

It wasn’t LALA who deleted them.

The people who wrote the comments voluntarily deleted them.

-Thank you! Please tell your friend that it was really helpful!

-Thank you for persuading her! My son eats really well!

-I’m the mom who wrote a comment earlier. I’m sorry. Really… Thank you for uploading the video.

Ding dong-!

-Did you feed Jack?

It was Maria.

He wrote a message with a bright face. He also sent a picture of the empty baby food bowl.

He did it for his wife who was working hard and worrying about her son and husband who were having trouble feeding him.

<Mission complete! He ate everything! 🙂

-How did you do it!? You’re amazing!

He laughed.

He planned to keep Jun’s video a secret until Maria came home.

He wanted to show off how well he could feed him without her. Of course, he would be found out as soon as she came back.

<I’m good, aren’t I!! 🙂

Eric Smith, just like the viewers, who watched [LALA’S DAY] and [JUN]'s videos and fed their babies formula and baby food increased.

The comments and likes of the two videos also increased.

24 hours after the video was uploaded.

The number of views was close to one million.

Chapter 8

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 8

Seo-jun opened his eyes with a flash.

He had slept very well without dreaming.

Lying in his crib surrounded by walls, Seo-jun looked at the colorful mobile dolls and stretched his arms and legs.

Then he bit on the pacifier that was connected to his chubby wrist by a string, a gift from his mom.

Suck-suck-

Other babies would have cried as soon as they woke up, but Seo-jun was different.

He enjoyed his pacifier leisurely.

[Basic Breathing of Elves]

The presence of light makes mana exist.

It does not conflict with other breathing methods.

(Except for darkness)

It harmonizes the body of the holder.

Seo-jun breathed.

He inhaled and exhaled.

This world had little mana, but not none.

Seo-jun had learned [Basic Breathing of Elves] since he started to think.

There were two things he never forgot when he was reborn.

He made sure to remember [Basic Breathing of Elves] and [Basic Breathing of Mine]. [Basic Breathing of Mine] had a similar effect to [Basic Breathing of Elves], but it helped the beings of darkness.

Seo-jun chose one of the two attributes and learned the basic breathing method when he had some understanding of his new ‘body’.

Seo-jun’s breathing gradually calmed down.

As he repeated inhaling and exhaling, very small manas seeped into his body.

He had chosen these two breathing methods as his first abilities in many lives for one reason.

The biggest advantage of [Basic Breathing of Elves] and [Basic Breathing of Mine] was…

“Oh, you’re already awake?”

Dad popped his head over the crib.

Seo-jun smiled at him.

…safety.

They could be safely finished even if someone touched them or they suddenly stopped breathing during the process.

It was especially useful, when he was born as a weak monster that could not relax for a moment.

“Is Seo-jun awake?”

“Yeah. But why are there so many Bananatoks?”

It was Sunday morning.

Dad, who didn’t have to go to work, came out to the living room with Seo-jun in his arms.

Mom was looking at her laptop and smartphone on the living room table.

She must have set an alarm, because it kept ringing Bananatok-Bananatok-.

“Dadadada.”

“Seo-jun is noisy too.”

“I know, I know. I’ll turn it off soon.”

Seo-eunhye hurriedly turned off the alarm.

Lee Min-jun sat next to Seo-eunhye.

Seo-jun leaned on dad’s stomach and sat on his lap.

“But what’s going on? Why are there so many Bananatoks?”

“Well, first of all, Mina’s mom and So-young unni… It seems like everyone Seo-jun knows is sending them.”

Seo Eunhye said with annoyance.

The BananaTalk messages kept pouring in during the conversation.

Seo-jun pondered.

He was hungry.

Should he cry? Or not?

“Mina’s mom told me to go to YouTube. She said it’s a total mess.”

Seo-eunhye barely read the message and logged in to YouTube. Lee Min-jun also looked at the laptop screen.

Seo-jun decided to wait for now and looked at the screen.

YouTube was where Seo-jun’s parents had uploaded two videos of him using [Fairy Sparkle] before.

YouTube.

A site where people from all over the world upload their own videos.

Dad sometimes watched the news that explained the past, present, and future of YouTubers.

He didn’t know much about it, but Seo-jun knew that there were people who became stars through YouTube, not celebrities.

“Wow… What is this…”

“Wow… This is scary…”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun were shocked by the huge number of views and comments.

Lee Seo-jun also saw the numbers on the screen.

‘This is amazing, right?’

He had hoped that many people would watch it, but he didn’t expect it to be this many.

And it hadn’t even been 24 hours yet.

As the three of them were marveling, a phone call came in.

It was from a senior YouTuber, Mina’s mom.

Seo Eun-hye quickly answered the phone.

She was not happy, but rather scared by the unbelievable number of views and comments that she saw on her screen.

“Hey, unnie! What is this? What happened?!”

“Did you see?! Amazing! You’re awesome!”

“No, really, is this real?”

“Yes! You’re a total star! Oh, no. No. I mean, Seo-jun! Seo-jun is a total star!”

Mina’s mom’s excited voice filled the living room.

Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye couldn’t take their eyes off the screen even as they heard Mina’s mom’s voice.

Mina’s mom quickly added.

“Hurry up and apply for monetization!”

“Mo-monetization?”

“Wait a minute, honey.”

Lee Min-jun took the phone from Seo Eun-hye, who was flustered, and switched it to speaker mode.

“Hello, Mina’s mom. I’m Seo-jun’s dad. But isn’t there a requirement for that?”

He tried to sound calm, but he was also surprised by the situation.

“You have to be famous to achieve that in a day or two, right?”

He had heard Kim Hee-sang talk about the requirements for monetization when he uploaded videos of making dolls for him on YouTube.

“No, it’s okay! Seo-jun’s channel already met and exceeded the requirements by a lot!”

“Really?”

“Yes! I checked the watch time and the number of subscribers, and Seo-jun’s channel passed them yesterday evening!”

Seo Eun-hye pointed at the number of subscribers on the screen with a stunned expression.

Lee Min-jun, who was on the phone with Mina’s mom, looked in that direction.

Subscribers: 200,000.

Lee Min-jun’s mouth also dropped open.

Lee Seo-jun was conflicted.

He was hungry. Should he cry? Or not? But his mom and dad looked too shocked to cry.

“200,000! 200,000! And it’s still going up!”

Mina’s mom’s voice continued.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun didn’t show any signs of changing their expressions.

Feeling like his stomach was sticking to his back, Lee Seo-jun decided to cry.

“Waaah! Waaah!”

“…!”

“…Wow!”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun snapped out of their trance at Lee Seo-jun’s cry.

Lee Min-jun picked up Lee Seo-jun and rushed to the kitchen.

“R-right. Let’s eat. Our son. You need to eat!”

“Uh… uh… I’ll talk to Mina’s mom for a bit!”

Seo Eun-hye applied for monetization of channel[JUN] while talking to Mina’s mom.

Lee Min-jun poured warm water into a bottle and added formula.

Lee Seo-jun, who had stopped crying quickly, waited for the formula in Lee Min-jun’s arms.

“Wow… really… what’s going on?”

Dad muttered to himself in a daze, but he made the formula very naturally.

He was a father after all!

He checked the temperature of the formula and put the nipple into Lee Seo-jun’s mouth.

Slurp slurp!

Lee Min-jun quickly took Lee Seo-jun back to the living room.

Seo Eun-hye had hung up the phone and was reading the comments on Lee Seo-jun’s video.

“Did you apply?”

“Yeah. They’ll put ads on it as soon as it’s approved.”

“But what happened?”

Seo Eun-hye, a teacher at an academy that teaches Korean to foreign students, slowly read the comments.

There were many languages, but she read the ones in English and Korean.

“Everyone… My kids wouldn’t eat, but they could after watching this video. If I feed them five times a day, three of those times take about 30 minutes of coaxing, but they really eat right away when they watch Seo-jun’s video…”

Lee Min-jun leaned over to look at the screen, making Lee Seo-jun, who was enjoying his formula, uncomfortable.

He couldn’t make a sound with the nipple in his mouth, so he slapped Lee Min-jun’s arm with one hand.

“Ah, sorry sorry.”

Lee Min-jun adjusted his posture and looked at the screen again.

Lee Seo-jun also glanced at the screen.

He could read some Korean because he watched TV with his dad and read picture books and fairy tales, but… there were more comments in English and other languages.

He tried to read the occasional Korean comments, but his mom and dad read them too fast.

As the comments scrolled down,

‘Ah, my eyes hurt.’

Lee Seo-jun blinked his eyes a few times and decided to focus on his formula.

Slurp slurp!

Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye were engrossed in reading the comments.

There were comments thanking them and saying that they recommended it to their friends.

Tok! Tok!

It was Seo Eun-hye’s phone.

The message was from the twin’s mom.

Seo Eun-hye read the message while Lee Seo-jun finished his formula and dropped the bottle on the floor as if he was done with it.

The bottle was heavy.

“Ouch.”

Dad, who had just gotten out of the comment hell, quickly grabbed the bottle.

“Hey. You should call dad if you’re done!”

‘Dad dad!’

“That’s right. You should call me like that! What if you drop it?”

“What do you expect from an 8-month-old baby?”

Seo Eun-hye said as if she was incredulous at Lee Min-jun’s words.

Lee Min-jun smiled and patted Lee Seo-jun’s back.

Burp.

“Our Seo-jun is a genius, so he understands everything.”

“Every parent thinks their child is a genius.”

“Our Seo-jun is really a genius.”

“Yes. Yes.”

Seo Eun-hye let her husband’s words go in one ear and out the other as she opened the link that the twin’s mom sent her.

It was an article.

It was a small online article, but it was clearly an article.

“…”

Lee Min-jun also saw the article.

They both couldn’t say anything.

They barely uttered some words.

“Wow. I thought my heart stopped.”

“What happened overnight…”

After that, links to articles or posts about Seo-jun’s video were sent to Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun’s BananaTalk from everyone who knew Seo-jun.

-Hey! Isn’t this the video of Seo-jun you showed me before?!

-Crazy! Wow! Really!!!

Even Kim Hee-sang, who wasn’t even married, contacted them after watching Seo-jun’s video.

[Title: I recommend this! It’s a direct hit for babies who don’t eat!]

[Content: I’ll tell you the channel name first.

It’s YouTube [JUN]! Go watch it now!

If you show it to your babies, they’ll eat right away!]

There were a lot of comments on the three-line post on Mom Cafe.

At first, there were many comments wondering what kind of post it was, but soon, there were praises for the video.

Comments (1,293)

…

-Wow! My daughter ate everything!

-It really works! What’s the principle?

-Wow. I’m feeding her for the third time while watching this video, and she really eats without any fuss! Seo-jun is awesome!!!

…

-Ah, my son doesn’t work. He doesn’t eat.

-I saw some people like that. It doesn’t work for some people…

-My son is 4 years old. It doesn’t work.

-My daughter is 3 years old. No effect!

There were more posts and articles after that.

At first, it was a video that moms watched among themselves, but now even couples without children or unmarried people started looking for the video.

[Title: Let’s do some statistics!]

[Content: If you write your baby’s age and whether it works or not, I’ll do some statistics!]

-That’s a good idea!

-23 months, no effect.

-5 years old, no effect.

-10 months, effective.

…

The parents’ solidarity was amazing.

They soon started a movement to find out the range of the video’s effect.

Someone analyzed and did some statistics.

And the result came out.

On sites that had nothing to do with babies, posts titled [A mysterious baby eating show that works up to 20 months!] started to appear.

There were screenshots of Seo-jun’s video, comments from Mom Cafe, and pictures of babies eating while looking at their smartphones, which were proof shots.

-Wow. Does he really eat?

-Lol it’s amazing lol

-They say it doesn’t work from 21 months, 26-month-old baby mom criesㅠㅠㅠ

-No, really, does it stop working exactly from 21 months?

-Yep, it doesn’t work. My daughter is 21 monthsㅜㅜㅜ She doesn’t eatㅠㅠㅠ

-Why is that?

-I think it’s more amazing that he eats lol

Before long, [JUN] appeared on the real-time search terms.

It was a low rank, but everyone clicked on it once.

And there was one person here.

Someone who was looking at the posts with a serious expression.

Chapter 9

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 9

Choi Hyun-ji, the planning team leader of the Elephant Series, bowed her head.

“Sigh, what should I do…”

The more she read the comments, the darker her vision became.

Just a week ago, she was happy to think about getting a bonus, but now she felt like she had to write an apology letter instead of getting a bonus.

‘Surely, I won’t get fired… right?’

She had been lucky these days.

She finished her work happily on Friday and won 50,000 won on two instant lottery tickets she bought.

Her work went well, and the clothes she bought online fit her perfectly.

The food she ordered late was delivered in almost 15 minutes, and it was so delicious that she thought it would become her regular place.

She slept well without dreaming, got up early and finished cleaning the house neatly, and was about to watch a movie that had good reviews for being fun…

Bang-bang-bang.

The wind blew. It was the beginning of a storm.

Kang So-ra, the marketing team leader, sent her a frantic message on Banana Talk.

She wondered if she had to work until the weekend and made a face, but now she felt lucky or unlucky that she didn’t.

-Hyun-ji! We’re in big troubleㅠㅠ

<Why? What happened?

-We were going to hire LALA for the CF deal, right? She uploaded a video on YouTube!

LALA was the biggest contributor to the sales of the Elephant Series in the past week.

The formula that LALA fed her daughter was one of the Elephant Series.

She recommended the Elephant Series in her video, and thanks to that, her small formula company was sold out all week.

Not only in Korea, but also in the United States, Britain, Australia and other countries where LALA’s videos were watched by parents, they seemed to buy at least one bottle.

From online shopping malls that shipped overseas to domestic marts, they received orders to increase their orders along with the words that they were sold out.

“So we increased our production…”

As soon as she found out the reason for the formula sellout, she proposed that it would sell well for at least three months.

So they were running the factory 24 hours a day, but that was a mistake.

-It wasn’t because of the formula, it was because of the baby mukbang!!

After that, Choi Hyun-ji couldn’t take her eyes off her laptop.

She watched LALA’s video first and then JUN’s video next.

To be honest, the baby, or ‘Seo-jun’ according to the man’s voice that could be heard faintly, was cute.

Was there such a pretty baby?

It was amazing. But this video was the cause?

The situation changed quickly.

Choi Hyun-ji read the comments on YouTube and went to a mom cafe where her cousin’s ID was registered and visited various sites.

In the meantime, baby mukbang had at least one post on most sites. It ranked low, but it even took over real-time search terms.

Finally, Choi Hyun-ji sighed as she looked through the verification photos taken by the mothers.

“Really?”

It was as if she was hypnotized.

It wasn’t because of the formula, but because of this little baby’s mukbang.

It was amazing that two 10-minute videos had an effect.

-What about our inventory?

It was the weekend, but the factory must be working hard right now.

She felt dizzy at the thought of the mountain-like formula inventory.

The company she worked for, Elephant, was a small but good company that was founded with the intention of making healthy and good formula for babies.

She couldn’t let the company falter like this.

These days, YouTube stars who matched the target group of products were hired for CFs rather than famous celebrities.

So Elephant also wanted to take advantage of that and offer LALA and her daughter a proposal.

But there was someone more amazing than them here. Choi Hyun-ji made a decision.

<Let’s do it.

-Do what?

“Seo-jun. Help your aunties.”

Choi Hyun-ji clasped her hands and prayed.

The fate of the company depended on this little baby.

***

“It finally came!”

Mina’s mom said excitedly.

Seo Eun-hye wondered what was going on.

“No way, it’s only been three days since Seo-jun uploaded his video?”

“You have to ride on it when it’s trendy.”

Proposals poured into YouTube channel [JUN].

The most common ones were promotional models and CF models for formula companies.

And then there were baby clothing and shoe companies, and baby-related product companies.

She couldn’t decide by herself, so Seo Eun-hye called her moms.

Meanwhile, unlike usual when he played with his dolls separately, Seo-jun played with his dolls with the babies.

There was a gray bear doll that was twice as big as Seo-jun among the babies.

***

Last weekend night.

Kim Hee-sang, the damn friend of Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, rushed to their newlywed house after watching Seo-jun’s video and gave Seo-jun a bear doll as a gift.

“Wow, our mukbang star. Seo-jun!”

“What are you doing so late?”

Lee Min-jun, who opened the door with a nervous face, hugged Seo-jun, who was still energetic.

He slept well during his nap, so his eyes were clear. His mom, who had been tormented by messages and calls all day, fell asleep early.

“Abububu!”

‘Oh. Gift uncle.’

“Don’t you think Seo-jun recognizes me now?”

Pat-pat-pat.

Kim Hee-sang smiled brightly as he saw Seo-jun waving his arms at him.

Lee Min-jun hit Kim Hee-sang’s back.

“What’s going on?”

“Ah, this.”

Kim Hee-sang brought a box that was about twice the size of Seo-jun from behind the door.

“Ooooh!!”

‘Oh!! Is it a werewolf in human form?’

“You bastard, again…”

Lee Min-jun was about to say something, but Kim Hee-sang shook his head vigorously.

“No. This one is not! Absolutely not!”

Kim Hee-sang opened the box.

Gray fur appeared.

It was one doll, but it was a bear.

Seo-jun was disappointed.

It was an ordinary teddy bear that looked soft and cute like the ones that came out on TV with babies.

It didn’t have sharp teeth or fierce eyes.

It didn’t have sharp claws on its fingertips.

It was really a bear doll.

‘Ah, uncle is disappointing.’

“Ooboo.”

“…A bear doll?”

With a disappointed face, Seo-jun slumped in his dad’s arms, but Lee Min-jun turned pale as he asked.

“Really? Is it just a normal teddy bear?”

“Yeah. A normal teddy bear.”

Kim Hee-sang said proudly.

“No. I was watching Seo-jun’s video and I saw a twin-head troll behind the chair.”

“…?!”

Lee Min-jun’s face turned white.

Seo-jun thought that he had played with it and left it there like an ordinary baby in his rebellious phase.

“No… really? Was that there?”

He threw the bear doll he was holding in his hand and took out his phone.

He looked at the video of Seo-jun stored in the gallery.

“It was in the baby food version.”

“Baby food. Baby food.”

Kim Hee-sang took Seo-jun from Lee Min-jun, who was looking at his phone in a hurry.

Seo-jun’s lips were pouting.

Kim Hee-sang noticed that.

“Did you get disappointed because uncle brought a normal doll?”

“Abububu!”

Seo-jun slapped Kim Hee-sang’s arm with his hand.

Um. Kim Hee-sang understood what he meant.

His friend’s son… seemed to have a strong preference already.

“Oh no. Seo-jun is disappointed. I think I haven’t seen you often enough, right?”

Distant… enough…?

He might not understand everything, but he understood the word disappointed.

That was how Seo-jun felt.

While Lee Min-jun was looking for the green doll in the video, Kim Hee-sang quietly took the bear doll that was lying on the floor and said to Seo-jun.

“There is, if you open the zipper like this…”

Kim Hee-sang opened the zipper on the bear doll’s belly that was hidden by the fur. There was a small black doll inside. It looked like a shadow.

Seo-jun’s eyes widened.

‘No, that is!’

“Abu?! Abububu?”

“Yeah! This is the doppelganger!”

It was a doppelganger!

The nice bear doll was controlled by the evil doppelganger.

Seo-jun was surprised by the twist and shouted abububu while waving his arms.

Kim Hee-sang got hit by Seo-jun’s arm on his cheek, but he smiled and put the black doll back into the bear doll’s stomach.

“This is a secret between Seo-jun and uncle. Promise!”

“Abu!”

Seo-jun came down to the floor and hugged the bear doll.

‘No, this twist bear! Uncle is amazing!’

Unlike his son who was happy to receive a doll with a twist, Lee Min-jun was serious.

They might be known to the whole world as having a strange taste in dolls, whether it was his parents’ taste or his baby’s taste…

“No, where is it?”

But he couldn’t find it.

He watched the video several times at double speed, but he couldn’t see the twin head troll.

“It’s right here. Green.”

“…This?”

He looked at where Kim Hee-sang pointed.

On one leg of the baby chair where Seo-jun was sitting, there was a really small pixel… green… something like a piece of paprika. Just… square… green…

Lee Min-jun muttered faintly.

“What is this…”

“It’s the foot of the twin head troll. You should have seen how surprised I was.”

Lee Min-jun decided.

“You’re going to die today!”

“No! I told you?! You don’t like these dolls, so I came right away to tell you when I saw it on Seo-jun’s video?!”

“Be quiet! It’s night, so be quiet! And if you didn’t give him these dolls, it wouldn’t happen!”

“Seo-jun loves them so much!”

While dad and uncle were quietly fighting, Seo-jun fell asleep buried in the fluffy bear doll.

***

That’s how the first normal-looking bear doll appeared in Seo-jun’s living room.

The bear doll controlled by the doppelganger was popular among the babies, asit passed their aesthetic sense.

Seo-jun and the babies played with their dolls together for almost the first time. They all grabbed the big bear doll’s limbs and moved them around.

“First of all, my Mina likes Elephant formula best. They use organic and healthy ingredients.”

“My Ji-yoon likes I-mama formula. She didn’t like other formulas.”

“The twins also like Elephant. I tried feeding them because they eat a lot, but they poop well and it’s good.”

The moms looked at the proposals that came in and gave their opinions. Seo Eun-hye shook her head.

“No way. We’re not saying we’re going to do an ad…”

“This is also a trend. Make a lot of money and give it to Seo-jun.”

Mina’s mom, who had been hired for internet ads several times, scanned through the proposals with fire in her eyes.

“First of all, let’s exclude the formulas that have bad reviews among moms.”

“Yeah. Seo-jun has an image too.”

The twin’s mom chimed in.

“Also filter out companies with bad images.”

“Then let’s exclude this one and this one.”

“We have to choose a formula that Seo-jun can eat well. If his face gets distorted because of the formula, how many times do you have to feed him? You have to eat it deliciously and take a good shot at once, so Seo-jun doesn’t suffer.”

Mina’s mom nodded her head. She remembered the scene where her five-year-old daughter had to drink milk several times for a CF.

“Really?”

Ji-yoon’s mom was surprised.

“No way, Elephant is that good?”

She was the only one who fed her baby a different brand of formula.

Since her close friends were all feeding their babies Elephant formula, she wondered if she should change it too.

Now that she thought about it, Elephant formula was a smaller company than others, so she didn’t trust it and never tried it on Ji-yoon.

Mina’s mom nodded her head.

“It’s good. The president of the company was a mom who had a hard time finding a formula that suited her baby. She said she started to try to make a healthy and good formula since then.”

“I don’t know much about the company, but the ingredients seem similar to other formulas, but the amount is more compared to the price. Considering how much the twins eat…”

The twin mom tapped her forehead. Seo Eun-hye also joined in.

“I bought the formulas that were recommended on the mom cafe and fed them to Seo-jun. The one he liked best was Elephant formula.”

“Is that so? Should I try it too?”

The word-of-mouth effect was already showing. Mina’s mom smiled at that.

“No way, this is the advertising effect!”

“Right? Is Seo-jun going to sell out?”

“Then shall we go with Elephant?”

Seo Eun-hye said. The decision was quick, unlike the worry. As Mina’s mom said, this trend was also temporary. Even if he appeared in an ad, the model would be forgotten soon unlike the product.

Besides, if it was Elephant, it was a formula that Seo-jun liked too. She thought this would be a good memory too.

‘It would be better if we could make money and help Seo-jun.’

“What about Seo-jun’s dad? What did he say?”

“He knows about the ad offer, but he’s still undecided.”

“Then ask him later. This is something that couples have to do together. It’s about the baby, but if only one parent decides, it will be a mess later.”

Mina’s mom, who had been actively agreeing to YouTube because of Mina’s dad, said.

“Okay.”

Seo Eun-hye agreed with her.

And that night, with dad’s approval, the future superstar Seo-jun’s first CF shooting was decided.

Chapter 10

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 10

Seo-jun and his mom were looking at the laptop.

The screen was still flickering with images that Seo-jun could not understand, but fortunately, Seo Eun-hye explained everything to him.

Seo Eun-hye did not think that Seo-jun would comprehend her words. But he made appropriate sounds that encouraged her to talk more.

“Wow. It doesn’t work after 21 months.”

She was the one who filmed the video, but there were many things she did not know about it on the internet.

She was especially surprised by the posts that said the effect was dependent on the age of the baby.

‘Maybe it’s because [Fairy’s Sparkle-Lowest Grade] is a low-level ability.’

There were quite a few abilities that made people imitate others, but they required a lot of mana.

It was too much for Seo-jun, who was only eight months old.

“There are a lot of videos of other babies eating too?”

That’s how trends worked.

When someone started something, everyone else followed.

But unlike Seo-jun’s video, the other babies’ videos had no effect.

They ate once or twice by chance, but it became clear after two days.

“Everyone says they only watch Seo-jun’s video. Our Seo-jun is amazing!”

Seo-jun’s shoulders rose at his mom’s praise.

Seo Eun-hye browsed the internet for a while and then looked up.

The clock had already passed 10 o’clock.

Lee Min-jun, who usually came back at 7 o’clock, was late.

“Daddy is late.”

“Dadadada.”

Today, Lee Min-jun took a half-day off from work and went to talk to Elephant about the CF contract.

He also planned to meet his friend who was a lawyer and check the contract.

“Maybe he’s drinking with his friend.”

“Ubuubu.”

Seo-jun laid down on the bear doll next to him.

It was already 10 o’clock.

He was sleepy.

Seo Eun-hye hugged Seo-jun.

She patted his back and he soon felt drowsy. Seo-jun’s eyelids slowly closed.

Ding-dong-ding-dong.

The timing was bad.

Clank-

The door opened.

The sound woke Seo-jun up.

Seo Eun-hye sighed.

“Daddy is here!”

His dad said with a red face.

Seo Eun-hye saw Lee Min-jun trying to hug Seo-jun and waved her hand.

“Wash up first.”

“…Okay.”

Lee Min-jun quickly washed up and sat down with Seo Eun-hye.

He didn’t seem to drink too much, as his eyes were clear.

Seo-jun, who woke up from his sleep, played with the bear doll next to his parents.

Lee Min-jun took out the contract. It was not the original, but a copy.

There were difficult words or phrases marked with a pen and notes below them.

Lee Min-jun explained the contract as he had heard from the Elephant team leader and his lawyer friend.

“So, the filming time is when Seo-jun eats, about 30 minutes, and if they need more, they will do additional filming on the same day. Of course, after Seo-jun digests everything.”

Looking at Seo-jun’s eating time, they would have to wait at least two or three hours after one filming session before doing another one.

“Seo-jun will be comfortable, but other people have to wait that long. Then they have to finish it in one go… Can they film in 30 minutes?”

“They said they just need it to look like the YouTube video. They can edit it with effects or subtitles or narration.”

Seo Eun-hye nodded in relief at Lee Min-jun’s words.

The YouTube video was just filmed and uploaded without any retakes. Lee Min-jun continued.

“They said they would try to make the background as similar as possible if we send them a picture of where Seo-jun eats comfortably.”

“Wow. They care that much? That’s nice.”

“It will be uploaded on YouTube ads or something first and then later on TV ads. The period is about three months.”

It was much better than she expected. She was worried that Seo-jun might have a hard time, but it seemed okay if they cared that much.

“That sounds great, doesn’t it? How about your friend?”

“He said there’s no hidden clause or anything like that.”

“Then shall we do the ad?”

Seo Eun-hye asked and Lee Min-jun nodded.

Seo-jun also nodded. His mom and dad laughed at his gesture.

“Seo-jun likes it too.”

“Then it’s decided!”

Lee Min-jun looked for a black pen. He then took out the original contract.

“We just need to sign here.”

“Okay.”

Seo Eun-hye wrote her name and Lee Min-jun also wrote his name.

Seo Eun-hye thought for a moment and went to the toy storage room that also served as the couple’s dressing room.

She brought back a red paint.

“What’s that for?”

“Seo-jun is doing the CF, so he needs a signature too. This is a paint made from natural ingredients. I bought it in advance when it was on sale, thinking that we could use it for sensory play when he gets older. Seo-jun can’t sign, so he has to stamp his thumb.”

Seo Eun-hye brought a small bowl from the kitchen and poured some red paint into it.

She then sat Seo-jun on her lap.

Seo Eun-hye dipped Seo-jun’s right thumb into the paint.

“Wait, wait! Let’s take a picture to commemorate the first contract!”

Lee Min-jun quickly brought the camera and took some snaps.

He was not satisfied with that, so he filmed a video. Seo Eun-hye stamped Seo-jun’s thumb under the parents’ signatures.

On the CF contract, there were the signatures of the dad and mom, and the thumbprint of the baby in red.

***

Seo-jun opened his eyes.

He seemed to have fallen asleep.

He stretched out his hands and looked at his palms.

There was still a red mark on his thumb.

He remembered his mom’s words that it would be gone by tomorrow and clenched and unclenched his fist.

He stopped looking at his hand and lifted his head.

There was a blue door in front of him.

It was the same door that he had opened.

‘Is this still the only one?’

Seo-jun swung his hand to the right.

A door bigger than the blue one appeared.

He pressed the door with his palm, but it did not open.

He swung his hand again and opened the blue door.

Seo-jun crawled slowly and looked at the books.

‘Did I read up to here?’

The books that were not organized and could not fit in the bookshelf were scattered on the floor.

‘Hmm. Should I make an automatic cleaning magic or something?’

He tilted his head, but soon thought that it was not a bad idea to mark how far he had read like this.

Besides, it was hard to do anything with this baby body in reality.

Seo-jun started reading from where he had left off.

‘Well, is there anything good?’

What would he need for the ad filming?

[Fairy’s Sparkle-Lowest Grade] had a good effect, but it only worked for babies up to 20 months old.

Unlike the mukbang, which only needed to affect babies, the Elephant formula ad had to appeal to parents who had the purchasing power.

‘For adults… Hmm… What is there…’

Seo-jun read the books diligently.

The books that contained many lives were read in an instant.

There was definitely a difference between his body in reality and his body in the library.

Unlike his baby body in reality, he could read faster in the library and his hands and body movements were more comfortable.

But reading too much made his eyes hurt just as much.

‘Ah, my eyes.’

His eyes hurt from reading too much, so Seo-jun rubbed them with his small palms and took a break.

He thought of the doll of the Lich King that Uncle Hee-sang had given him.

“If only I had the Lich’s hypnosis magic…”

He knew that it had an effect even through the video, so it would be a dream come true to sell out with one hypnosis spell.

But unfortunately, he had to pass through a very big door to access the memories of a life like the Lich.

It was a place that Seo-jun could not open in his current state.

‘Besides, the Lich’s magic is only evil (dark)… Maybe…’

If he gave up on [Elf’s Basic Breathing-Light] and started learning it now.

He read the books again.

‘I think I have to read all night… Sigh…’

He couldn’t find a suitable ability.

It seemed like a lot of time had passed. Seo-jun wondered.

Should he just give up and rest? Or should he look a little more?

Then, a book caught his eye.

He read the title as it passed by, and faint memories seeped into his mind. Huh?

‘This was here?’

Seo-jun’s eyes widened.

He quickly opened the book and read it.

Reading the book made him feel closer to that life.

‘This is it!’

He found an ability that he liked and smiled brightly.

***

“Hello!”

Team leader Choi Hyun-ji ran over and greeted them.

Seo Eun-hye, who was taking Seo-jun out of the car seat, also greeted her warmly.

Lee Min-jun also got out of the passenger seat with Seo-jun’s bag.

“I’m Choi Hyun-ji, the planning team leader of Elephant.”

“Hello, I’m Seo Eun-hye, Seo-jun’s mom.”

Team leader Choi Hyun-ji led the family to the filming set.

“You came early! There’s still some time left for filming!”

“I thought Seo-jun would have to get used to the unfamiliar set if he wanted to film well.”

“Then we’re grateful!”

The filming set was spacious and open, with one side decorated like a living room of a house and the other side equipped with cameras and lights.

People who looked like staff were moving furniture and adjusting lights in the living room.

Seo Eun-hye, who was watching the scene, noticed the living room set that looked like a house. She exclaimed.

“It looks exactly the same.”

“Yes. We tried to make it as similar as possible.”

Seo-jun also made a sound of surprise when he saw the living room that was almost identical to his home.

“This is the waiting room. If Seo-jun is uncomfortable, you can come in anytime and rest comfortably.”

She opened the door and there was a room decorated with a warm feeling.

There were dolls that babies would like, a small baby bed, a mobile hanging above it.

On one side, there was a coffee pot and Elephant formula with a yellow elephant on it, and a bottle sterilizer.

There were even diapers from various brands.

There were also sandwiches, coffee sticks, snacks, etc. prepared for the couple to eat.

It was so well prepared that Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun gasped in admiration.

“It’s really nice.”

“Yes. You can look around the set anytime you want. Or you can rest here until filming time. The director hasn’t arrived yet… Oh, be careful when you look around the set. There are many wires on the floor. And don’t touch anything dangerous. And please hold Seo-jun all the time.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun nodded at team leader Choi Hyun-ji’s words.

Team leader Choi Hyun-ji left the waiting room to prepare for filming.

Lee Min-jun unpacked Seo-jun’s bag and said.

“I didn’t expect them to prepare this much.”

“Right? But these dolls are really cute.”

Seo Eun-hye, who was holding Seo-jun, looked at the dolls gathered on one side and admired them.

A fluffy yellow chick doll, a panda doll with big eyes, a sparrow doll huddled together, etc.

They were very different from the dolls at home.

Lee Min-jun smiled half-resignedly.

He had in his hand a bear doll that he had taken out of his bag, which was the only normal doll in his house.

“Seo-jun won’t like it.”

At his dad’s words, mom looked at her son.

Seo-jun had no interest in the dolls in front of him.

He stretched out his arms at the bear doll that his dad had taken out.

Lee Min-jun gave him the bear doll.

It was too hard to hold him all the time, so Seo-jun was put in the prepared baby bed with the bear doll.

“Dadadadap.”

‘Of course, uncle’s doll is the best!’

He touched the belly of the bear doll that had a doppelganger doll inside and looked down at his own belly with a meaningful look. It contained the killer move for the ad that he had found in the library of life.

‘Huh? Why is my head going down…?’

Seo-jun couldn’t bear the weight of his head and hit his forehead on the bear doll’s belly.

Chapter 11

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 11

“Grandpa! Tell us the story of the hero!”

The children swarmed around him.

The old man, who was sitting in front of the fountain in the village square, chuckled.

He was the grandfather of the village chief and the oldest person in the village.

“What? What story?”

The old man put his hand to his ear and asked.

He was very wise, kind, friendly, and smart, but he had a problem with his hearing.

The leader of the children shouted again.

“The hero! The story! Please tell us!”

“Oh, the story of the hero?”

“Yes!”

The children gathered around the old man and sat down.

The old man was not only smart, but he also had a knack for telling stories in a very interesting way.

“That’s not a very old story, you know.”

“But you’ve lived for so long, grandpa! Mom said you’re a wizard!”

The old man had experienced those things just the other day, but the children knew how old the story was.

The old man pretended not to hear, or maybe he really didn’t, and continued the story.

“When I was a little younger than you, the village was very peaceful. There were no monsters for years. It was a very peaceful village.”

The old man was lost in his old memories.

“When I went to play in the nearby forest, I found a small wooden box under a tree.

I thought it was very pretty, so I quickly picked it up and brought it to the village.

The villagers also admired the pretty and curious box. But then the box suddenly opened with a bang. What was that?”

It was a monster, a mimic.

“But the villagers didn’t know what it was. Inside the opened box, there was a tiny tooth and a tongue the size of a hand. On the lid, there were two round eyes. The people wondered what it was. Then they heard a rumbling sound from the wooden box. I quickly went and brought my snack and gave it to the box.”

After that, the wooden box lived in the village with the name Mimmy.

At first, the people gave it the food they ate, but soon they started to give it the food they couldn’t eat and threw away instead of burying it in the ground.

Mimmy ate it very deliciously.

“Sometimes Mimmy pretended to be a box, and then I really wanted to open it. I was very curious and wanted to have what was inside the box.”

“But that was Mimmy!”

“Yes, whenever I opened the lid, it was always Mimmy. Sometimes I gave it as a birthday present. It was a very fun prank.”

The old man laughed very happily. Then he lowered his voice.

“And a few years later, a very scary monster appeared.”

The old man still couldn’t say the name of the monster. He was the only person who had survived that incident and lived until now.

The old man remembered it very clearly. It was a very high-ranking demon.

He didn’t know why such a terrifying demon appeared in this small village. He was just a village elder.

The hero, who was chasing the demon that flew with a cackle, was covered in blood. Even the great hero couldn’t defeat the demon.

Fortunately, the day dawned and the demon hid in the darkness. The hero received treatment from the villagers.

“What kind of monster was it? An orc? A troll?”

“A werewolf!”

“Well, it was a very terrifying monster.”

The old man didn’t reveal the identity of the monster for a long time. He was afraid of being cursed if he said it. The children were curious, but they soon gave up.

“The hero said, ‘Help me. We have to get rid of the monster right away.’”

The hero said so, but what could these bumpkins do?

The only thing the villagers could do was heal.

That’s when it happened.

‘Mimic! Mimimic!’

It was a mimic, Miming. The startled hero shouted.

‘Mimic?! Why is there a mimic here!’

The villagers tilted their heads.

To them, Miming was just a wooden box for disposing of food waste.

The hero, who had drawn his holy sword, explained.

‘That’s a monster. It lives only in the dungeons of the demon race, in the very depths! How did it get here?!’

‘No! Miming is very nice!’

The old man who was still young cried out. He quickly hugged Miming with both arms. The hero yelled.

‘Put it down right now! That’s a very dangerous monster!’

‘No! Miming is! Miming is!’

The villagers blocked the child’s front as they watched the quarrel between the hero and the child.

The village chief at that time, the old man’s grandfather, said.

‘Hero. The important thing right now is not this child.’

The hero, who had frowned at the chief’s words, sighed.

‘I see. I understand.’

The hero put away his holy sword and nodded. He could deal with the mimic anytime. The problem was the marquis-level demon.

Then, the mimic jumped out of the child’s arms and bounced to the front of the hero.

‘Mimic! Mimimic!’

‘…What?’

Miming closed the lid and turned into a wooden box.

The hero, who had the purpose of defeating the demon king, felt it.

This… Why is it so pretty?

The small box was very shiny and glossy.

What was inside, what did they put in such a beautiful box? He was curious. He wanted to open it.

The hero, who was lost in the box, reached out his hand.

‘Hero!’

‘…!?’

The hero came to his senses at the chief’s call.

The hero was at his wit’s end. He shook his fingers and pointed at the mimic.

‘What the hell is that!’

He had destroyed many dungeons and eliminated all kinds of mimics, but… There was no mimic that had tempted him to this extent.

As if it knew the hero’s mind, Miming opened and closed the lid, shaking with excitement.

‘Mimic! Mimimic!’

‘But why has Mimmy been acting like that since earlier?’

‘That’s right. It’s usually quiet…’

Mimmy jumped up and turned into a box again in front of the hero.

The hero, who knew the temptation of the mimic well, had no choice but to succumb.

The hero realized it after being tempted three times.

‘I see. This mimic is…’

“The hero suggested to the villagers. Let’s lure the monsters with Mimmy. And he would get rid of them while the monsters were distracted.”

“Mimmy is in danger!”

“Monsters are scary!”

The children screamed, even though they knew the story. The people passing by smiled and looked at the children. They had been like that too.

The villagers loved Mimmy very much and hated the plan. But brave Mimmy decided to side with the hero.

In the end, the villagers entrusted Mimmy to the hero.

The hero placed a small box on the table and said,

“…I don’t know if you can understand me. But I think this is why you came to me. I will bring the duke here. When he comes, I want you to use a skill that will tempt him. I will get rid of him while he is distracted.”

The hero hesitated a bit and continued.

“Make it quick… and stay safe. Be careful.”

“Mimic!”

As the sun set, the hero lured the monster that was hiding. Mimic was on the table in the center of the village. The monster that was chasing the hero saw Mimmy.

“Mimic! Hang in there!”

The hero and Mimmy’s plan was flawless.

“Oh, what is this?”

The duke-level demon was mesmerized by Mimmy. He had never seen such a box in his hundreds of years of life. He wanted to open it and see what was inside. He wanted to have the thing in the box.

“Hahaha! These worms have offered me such a treasure! Good! I will kill you all very comfortably!!”

The demon shouted.

The people trembled in their houses.

The demon was more terrifying than they had imagined.

The demon lifted the box with both hands.

He carefully opened the box with his large and sharp hands.

Then.

Something sprang out of the demon’s chest.

It was a white holy sword. It pierced the core of the demon that was shining in the center of his chest.

“Die! Duke!”

The hero pushed the sword with force.

Snap.

The crack became clearer.

The demon’s head turned back.

The sharp eyes of the duke and the hero met.

“This… this was a trap…”

As his vision blurred, the duke straightened his head. He looked at the box in his hand.

“What is this…”

Even as he was dying, the duke wanted to have what was in the box.

He knew it was a trap, but he was curious.

What did they put in there that made him so tempted?

The duke clenched his hand.

He didn’t care about the box.

The contents were important.

Snap!

“Mimmy!”

Mimic.

It was a Mimic.

The duke sneered as he saw Mimmy screaming in pain.

Just a Mimic.

A lowly monster that couldn’t even become a noble, let alone a knight. He was tempted by it.

The duke felt ashamed and gave more force.

‘I will kill you too!’

The hero swung the sword up.

The duke’s head was split in half.

The duke’s hand lost its strength and Mimic fell to the ground.

The old man who had come out of the house ran and caught Mimic as he fell.

“Mimmy!”

The villagers also came out quickly.

Mimic’s body was torn and tattered.

It seemed like it would break if touched. Children and adults cried.

The hero, who had finished off the duke, walked slowly and knelt down in front of Mimic, who was held by the old man.

The Mimic’s eyes turned towards the warrior, and a soft whimper elicited a nod from him.

“Mimic…”

“Yes, it’s done. I’ve incinerated it completely, leaving no ash behind, not even with holy power.”

The Mimic’s lid rattled, and the warrior and villagers thought it was Mimic smiling.

The old man, who first met Mimic and brought it to the village, continued to weep.

“You’ve done well. Thanks to you, the villagers are safe, and I was able to deal with the Count. Thank you.”

“Mimic…”

The warrior knew, unlike other monsters, this small one was special.

In the warrior’s lifetime, such a kind monster as this Mimic was the first and would be the last.

The breath of the Mimic grew faint. Something rolled out from the broken body of the now-dead Mimic.

Seeing it, a child burst into tears. It was a small, round stone the child had given as a gift to Mimmy.

“And so, Mimmy died at the hands of the monster. The Hero and villagers built a fountain and a statue in the place where Mimmy lay, as a token of gratitude.”

“Mimmy, thank you!”

“Poor Mimmy!”

The children sobbed.

The old man smiled, reminiscing about a long-lost dear friend.

Behind the old man, atop a beautifully spraying fountain, stood a statue.

It was a statue of Mimmy, with its wooden lid open and a bright smile.

The once-small village had grown significantly since then.

The warrior had defeated the Demon King and settled in this village.

He was granted a title and a large tract of land that included the village as his domain, which he governed peacefully ever after.

“Lady Elizabeth is here!”

The children sprang up and ran towards a carriage adorned with the emblem of a wooden box.

They were eager to see Elizabeth, the warrior’s great-granddaughter.

As the carriage window opened, a young girl peeked out.

The old man chuckled, reminded of the Hero’s face by the girl’s visage.

Then someone sat down next to the old man.

“It’s been a while.”

“Indeed.”

“You always come here. Every year on this day.”

The middle-aged man with flecks of white in his hair smiled gently.

He felt at ease whenever he visited this village, this place.

“Today is the day Mimmy died, isn’t it?”

The middle-aged man, the Hero, looked at the old man. The once-small child had aged so much.

The Hero, aging very slowly by the grace of the gods, kept his identity hidden and roamed around, but every year on this day, he returned to this village.

“Yes, it’s already been that long. Time flies as you age.”

The old man laughed.

The Hero’s gaze turned to his great-granddaughter’s carriage.

Seeing the emblem of the wooden box, he felt a sense of pride.

The king had asked, ‘What would you like for your emblem?’

The warrior had replied, ‘A wooden box.’

Unable to say ‘Mimic,’ the wooden box wrapped in laurel became the warrior’s emblem.

“That little one was truly special.”

“Yes, a very kind and good friend.”

The Hero looked up at the clear blue sky, feeling uplifted.

“I wonder what the gods have in store for it in its next life?”

“Another life, huh…”

The old man chuckled.

“Perhaps it’s charming others just as it did us.”

“Yes, that sounds about right.”

The Hero smiled, remembering the precious bond with the Mimmy, however brief it had been.

The Mimic, having charmed both the warrior and the high-ranking demon, is now preparing for its next enchantment.

“Seo-jun, let’s get ready for the shoot!”

Seo-jun clenched his tiny hands, determined to sell out completely.

“So, the next life…”

The old man chuckled.

“Are you still tempting other people?”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

The hero smiled as he remembered Mimmy, a precious bond he had formed in a brief encounter.

Chapter 12

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 12

“The director is here. Can Seo-jun eat now?”

Kang Sora, who introduced herself as the marketing team leader, asked.

Seo Eun-hye looked at the clock while holding Seo-jun, who was lying on the baby bed. -Oh, Seo-jun!-

“Yes. He can eat in about 10 minutes.”

“That’s good. Then, shall we wait at the set?”

Seo Eun-hye carried Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun held a teddy bear.

They followed Kang Sora out of the waiting room and saw the living room that was being set up.

It was similar to their home living room, but it had a warmer and cozier atmosphere.

“It’s pretty.”

“Thank you.”

A man walked over from afar.

He kept touching his clean-shaven chin with his hand, as if he was not used to it.

Kang Sora introduced the man.

“This is Choi Dae-man, the director who will be in charge of the CF shooting today.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Hello.”

Choi Dae-man, who had a deep voice, nodded and met Seo-jun’s eyes. He was the one who made him shave his beard, which he always kept scruffy because of his short film shooting.

Seo-jun also looked at the man in front of him.

He seemed like a good person, judging by his clear and bright eyes.

He laughed out loud.

“That’s nice. The baby is not shy at all.”

Choi Dae-man, who had a rather fierce-looking face, was not very popular with children.

They would cry whenever he got close to them.

He did not hate children, but he felt reluctant to approach them when they cried like that.

Fortunately, Seo-jun did not shy away from him, but smiled brightly.

“The shooting preparation is done. You can feed him anytime. We will use five cameras: one in front, two on the sides, one behind, and one above. We will try to get it done in one take as much as possible.”

Choi Dae-man explained the shooting content.

“First, we will film Seo-jun drinking formula. Then, after he finishes, we will film him hugging the Elephant formula case like a doll and smiling brightly.”

Seo Eun-hye thought for a moment. Drinking formula was fine. But hugging the Elephant case, and smiling brightly at that…

“Seo-jun is smart, but I don’t think he can do it in one go… Is that okay?”

“It’s okay. Everyone came prepared.”

The staff members at the set sighed inwardly.

That’s how it was when shooting with children.

Especially when they were babies who could not even do what their parents told them.

Choi Dae-man also braced himself for a long shooting time.

He came here to earn money for his independent film that he was producing with his own funds.

“At this age… He can’t hold the bottle by himself, right?”

“No. They usually can hold it by themselves when they are 7 or 8 months old.”

“Oh, really? Well, then, I was going to use a model, but if he can hold it by himself, that would be fine too. It might be uncomfortable for him to be in a stranger’s arms.”

“Then, do you have something like a baby chair…”

“Here it is!”

Kang Sora, who had run to the waiting room, came back with a soft baby sofa that was tilted at about 45 degrees.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun smiled awkwardly at her enthusiastic attitude.

“You have it.”

“Yes. Then, please make some formula for Seo-jun, and team leader, please bring the chair over here.”

Seo Eun-hye went into the waiting room to make some formula, following Choi Dae-man’s words.

Kang Sora and Choi Dae-man placed the chair in the center of the living room and turned it around.

They moved it slightly depending on where it was reflected on the camera screen.

As Seo Eun-hye prepared the formula, Choi Dae-man led Lee Min-jun, who was holding Seo-jun, to the living room.

Lee Min-jun carefully placed Seo-jun on the baby sofa.

He also put down the teddy bear he was holding next to him.

He arranged the teddy bear’s arm so that Seo-jun could grab it.

“Seo-j, let’s eat.”

Seo Eun-hye handed the bottle to Seo-jun. Seo-jun grabbed the bottle with his tiny hand.

The warm and delicious formula. Seo-jun felt the warmth of the bottle on his palm and smiled brightly. He was just hungry.

“Ready! Action!”

Director Choi Dae-man whispered.

The set became quiet in an instant.

The eyes of Director Choi Dae-man, Team Leader Kang So-ra, Team Leader Choi Hyun-ji, who appeared out of nowhere, and the couple were fixed on the large screen.

Seo-jun, who was holding the bottle, was captured by the camera. Seo-jun bit the nipple.

Slurp slurp-

The only sound in the set was Seo-jun drinking the formula.

Fortunately, he didn’t cry and seemed comfortable on the sofa. He ate very well.

“Is that the mukbang?”

One of the staff members who hadn’t seen Seo-jun’s YouTube video asked his senior. The senior nodded.

“Yes.”

“The baby is very cute and eats well, but… It’s ordinary, isn’t it? The way he eats.”

“Kids his age can’t take their eyes off him.”

Like the music review videos, the review videos of the babies who watched Seo-jun’s mukbang started to appear.

They all looked mesmerized as they ate.

“But the baby is really cute. He doesn’t seem to be aware of the camera.”

“Do you think he knows what a camera is at that age?”

“But isn’t the set a scary atmosphere? The lights are bright, there’s no one around, and it’s quiet. There are a lot of strange things…”

The staff member was right. Any other baby would have burst into tears.

“I’m eating right now.”

“That’s true.”

“The next scene is more important than this one. Please pass it in one go.”

The staff nodded at the senior’s words.

Burp-

Seo-jun finished his formula.

He burped in Seo Eun-hye’s arms.

Lee Min-jun, who was shaking Seo-jun’s hand next to him, chuckled.

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Seo-jun didn’t shake his arm.”

“Arm? Now that you mention it…”

Seo Eun-hye racked her brain.

She realized that Seo-jun didn’t shake his arm even though there was a camera.

He just drank his formula quietly.

“Hmm. Maybe it’s because he was holding the bottle?”

“Maybe. Well, as long as it was filmed well.”

Seo-jun smiled smugly in his mother’s arms.

Seo-jun, who still had a baby’s body, had limited skills.

He had returned the [Fairy’s Sparkle-Lowest Grade] that made Seo-jun shake his arm to the library because of a new secret weapon.

It was probably back in the book by now.

Seo-jun thought of the skill I had found.

[Small Mimic’s Tempting Package-Highest Grade]

It makes any being covet an item.

You can specify the target.

Limitations: The user must be of a certain size or smaller.

The item must be held in the user’s arms.

There were many limitations, but thanks to them, even a baby with a lack of mana could use a top-notch skill.

This skill was something that could not be used as an adult. First of all, it could be seen from the name ‘Little Mimic’. Only small beings could use this skill.

“Then, let’s shoot the next scene.”

At the director Choi Dae-man’s words, Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye put Seo-jun down in the living room again.

The baby sofa had disappeared, and elephant milk bottles were stacked up to the third floor.

In front of them, Seo-joon was holding an elephant formula tin.

“Seo-jun, how about this?”

“There, there. What a pretty elephant.”

The couple shook the formula tin. Snuggled in his mother’s arms, Seo-jun had heard the director’s words and already knew that he had to hold the tin and smiled brightly.

‘I’m glad. If there was no content about me holding the tin, I would have had to cry until they hugged me.’

[Little Mimic’s Tempting Packaging] only had an effect when the user was holding something.

Seo-jun had to hug the formula tin tightly to make people want to buy the formula.

“Kyaaak!”

Seo-jun smiled widely and hugged the formula tin.

The couple quickly moved out of the camera screen as the director said.

[Little Mimic’s Tempting Packaging-Highest Grade-wraps the target.]

Seo-jun hugged his belly, which had a small wooden box pattern, and the formula tin as close as possible.

It was not visible to the people’s eyes, but Seo-jun could see it.

The elephant formula he was holding shone in a very beautiful color.

[Little Mimic’s Tempting Packaging-Highest Grade] was well activated.

‘Target. Parents with babies of my age.’

If he did not set a target, the whole world would go crazy to buy the formula after seeing the CF.

‘Well… there are not many parents with babies, but… it would not make sense if this CF with me did not sell out!’

Seo-jun laughed gleefully, dreaming of a sell-out.

Director Choi Dae-man zoomed in on the camera screen.

The baby was cute and handsome, but he also looked great on the camera screen.

There were people who looked good in real life but not on the screen, but the baby looked satisfying in both ways.

‘And he doesn’t even care about the camera, he will be a great actor when he grows up.’

Seo-jun’s chubby cheek pressed the lid of the formula tin. Kang So-ra, the team leader, clenched her heart at the slightly protruding cheek fat.

“Ugh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“He’s too cute.”

Team leader Choi Hyun-ji sighed.

She did not express it, but she also wanted to smash two or three apartments.

“Really, I think this is the first time I’ve seen such a cute baby.”

“I know. If he grows up like this, he’ll be a huge star, won’t he?”

“If he was my son, I would really push him to be a celebrity.”

Not only the team leaders, but also the other staff whispered.

Seo-jun did not stay still for a moment. He changed his posture constantly, as if he was thinking of how to look cuter.

He never forgot to smile and hug the tin.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who alternately looked at Seo-jun and the people in the shooting set, were lost in thought.

Should they really make him be a celebrity?

“Seo-jun! Can you look this way?”

Director Choi Dae-man said.

The eight-month-old baby did so well.

The director, who was immersed in the shooting, unknowingly gave instructions.

Whether it was by chance or fate, Seo-jun turned his head and saw the camera that Director Choi Dae-man was holding.

“Smile wide!”

Kyaaak!

The shooting ended with Seo-jun’s laughter.

****

“Great job.”

Director Choi Dae-man said with a serious face. Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun nodded as if they expected it. Seo-jun was lying on a baby bed with a teddy bear and taking a nap.

Only 20 minutes and the CF shooting was over.

“This child must become an actor. He knows what he has to do instinctively, even though he can’t understand anything.”

Director Choi Dae-man didn’t think Seo-jun understood his words.

Destiny, constitution, instinct.

He thought Seo-jun had the qualities to be an actor.

“I’m not saying you have to appear on TV or movies right now. There are no directors who would send out such a young baby unless it’s a very minor role. I just thought it would be very good if you think about it from now on and send him to an academy when he can talk or understand.”

“Yes.”

“I’m still a newbie in this world, but please contact me anytime if you need my help.”

Director Choi Dae-man wrote his contact information and name on a note and handed it to Lee Min-jun.

Director Choi Dae-man left his seat and Team Leader Choi Hyun-ji and Team Leader Kang So-ra came in.

Team Leader Kang So-ra dragged a big box on a cart.

“Thank you for your hard work. You did really well, Seo-jun.”

“Thank you. You worked hard too. Both of you.”

“Hahaha. Seo-jun worked hard. Oh. This is Elephant milk and the baby sofa he sat on earlier. It’s a gift for Seo-jun.”

“Thank you.”

The schedule ended in a friendly atmosphere.

The staff who had prepared for the milk commercial shooting and expected to be tormented by the baby all day long were also impressed by the shooting that ended in less than an hour.

“Seo-jun, bye!”

“I’ll buy milk for my nephew.”

“Elephant sold out! Fighting!”

The family returned home with the cheers of the staff.

***

Jack Smith’s meal time.

Eric turned on the YouTube video. It was [JUN]’s video that he seemed to watch five times a day.

He watched it so much that he now knew when Seo-jun would laugh, what angle he would wave his arm, and how much he would chew his baby food.

“Here, Jack. It’s JUN, your favorite.”

“Like! Like!”

Maria, who had returned from a business trip to Paris, also sat at the table to feed Jack.

She also soon praised JUN’s video. Maria pressed the video hard.

A calm music flowed. It was the timing when JUN’s dad’s voice would usually be heard.

“Oh, there’s an ad?”

“Well, with how many views that are there…”

Eric and Maria were also subscribers who contributed to the views, but they were sick of seeing the views and subscribers that were still going up.

“What’s that ad?”

“Oh, isn’t that Elephant milk formula?”

A yellow elephant appeared on the screen.

The image of the yellow elephant lifting its trunk turned into a picture and was attached to the milk bottle. And then.

“Oh! Is that JUN?”

“Right! He must have filmed an ad! He’s so cute!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and sipped the milk. And then Seo-jun hugged the Elephant milk bottle and laughed heartily.

That was the end of the ad.

“…”

It was silent.

Eric and Maria didn’t say a word and picked up their phones.

They went to an overseas delivery site and searched for Elephant.

“Damn! It’s sold out!”

“No way! I really want to buy this right now!”

The effect of [Small Mimic’s Tempting Packaging – Top Grade -] was amazing.

Chapter 13

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 13

Seo-jun laid on the baby sofa that Team Leader Kang So-ra had given him as a gift, and sucked on the bottle of Elephant milk formula.

Normally, his mom would have held him, but right now she was busy.

“Our Seo-jun is so good on camera. The other staff members praised him so much. And our son is so well-behaved, he didn’t cry and finished the shooting in one go!”

She was telling her mother about the shooting.

She looked very happy as she bragged about her son.

Her mother’s face appeared on the video call screen.

Seo-jun waved his hand at his grandmother from time to time as he drank his formula. His grandmother also smiled brightly and waved her hand, saying, ‘Oh, my puppy!’

-But when will our grandson’s ad be on TV? I’ve been watching it all the time, but I can’t see it.

At her mother’s words, Seo Eun-hye laughed awkwardly.

“Well, there’s this thing called YouTube, where they send out ads on the internet. The ad did so well there that the company said they ran out of milk formula. They said the TV ad would be delayed a bit until they make more formula.”

Team Leader Kang So-ra, who had come to their house personally, told them about the sold-out situation and said that they would pay the ad model fee as originally contracted for both internet and TV ads.

She said that if the TV ad was delayed beyond the deadline, they would renew the contract.

She bowed her head and apologized for the delay, but she couldn’t hide her smile as she was achieving record sales.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun were also happy that the ad contract was extended.

It was a harmonious apology scene.

-So I can’t see it on TV? You… YouTube? How do you do that?

“Ask Chan. He didn’t even know his nephewwas in an ad. What is he doing these days?”

Her mother sighed.

-He’s busy.

“Why? He hasn’t even gotten a job yet, has he?”

-He did. He got a job.

“He did?! Why didn’t you tell me?”

Seo-jun thought of his uncle Chan at his mom’s words.

Seo Eun-chan.

He was a very scary-looking uncle who looked like a beauty and the beast with his mom because he was big and burly.

His mom used to complain that he couldn’t get a job because of his face, and that he looked like a sportsman but was a klutz.

She would slap his back and lament.

“That’s great! He got a job. What kind of job is it?”

-Well… Entertainment planning company, agency?

Her mother rummaged through somewhere and soon took out a white paper and read it.

-Cocoa Entertainment, manager.

“Cocoa Entertainment? I’ve never heard of it.”

-Well, you see. They’re making a new idol group, and he’s so busy that he doesn’t even come home. I don’t even know how many days it’s been, Hye.

Seo Eun-hye’s face darkened at her mother’s worried sigh.

Seo Eun-hye quickly changed the topic. Look at our cute Seo-jun! His smiling face filled the video call screen. His grandmother smiled again.

“This kid, his mom is so worried about him!”

Seo Eun-hye hung up the phone and was about to yell, but she saw Seo-jun and lowered her voice. Then she quickly made another call.

Her target was Seo Eun-chan, that bastard!

“Pick up.”

She clenched her teeth and called her brother. She was really his sister. She looked like a real sibling. Seo-jun remembered the real siblings he had seen on TV.

That was that.

‘Daddy!’

“Oh, did our Seo-jun finish eating?”

‘I ate all my rice!’

Seo Eun-hye quickly picked up Seo-jun and tickled him, then put him back on the sofa.

She grabbed a random doll from the pile of dolls that Uncle Hee-sang had given him and hugged him with it.

“Mommy is a bit busy right now. Here, this is Seo-jun’s favorite doll!”

She must have been really busy, because the doll she hugged him with was the Lich King doll that she hated the most.

‘Daddy! I like it, though!’

Seo-jun’s upper gums were itchy, probably because his upper teeth were coming out.

He bit the hand of the Lich King doll that his mom had washed clean and chewed on it.

Click-

-Yes! This is Seo Eun-chan, the manager of Cocoa Enter!

Uncle Chan’s loud voice was heard. Seo-jun, who was playing with the skull doll, turned his head. Seo Eun-hye also turned her head.

“Seo Eun-chan, manager?”

-Yes! I’m Seo Eun-chan, the manager. Excuse me, but who are you?

Seo-jun was puzzled by Seo Eun-chan’s lively voice.

Huh? Isn’t that Uncle Chan? Unlike Seo-jun, who was confused, Seo Eun-hye realized the reason right away.

‘Dad?’

“This kid…”

-Hello?

Seo Eun-hye, who was holding back her temper in front of her son, couldn’t stand it anymore and yelled.

“Don’t you have my number saved?!”

-…Eek! Sis? Why are you? Wait, did you change your phone number?

“It’s been three years!”

-Ahahaha. How come I didn’t know?

Seo Eun-hye tapped her forehead.

“Well, whatever. The phone number isn’t important. I’ve been doing fine without knowing your phone number. Yeah. You said you haven’t been home lately?”

-Yeah, well. I got a job, but I’m a bit busy.

“Mom is worried. Make some time and go home.”

Seo Eun-hye’s voice was as calm as Seo Eun-chan’s voice was low. Seo Eun-chan sighed softly over the phone and answered.

-I got it.

“Okay. Come by our house when you’re not busy, and let’s call again. Save my number!”

-Yeah! Say hello to Seo-jun and brother-in-law for me!

Seo Eun-hye hung up the phone and sat down in front of Seo-jun. She took the Lich King doll’s hand out of Seo-jun’s mouth, who was sucking on it.

“Why is your uncle like that, huh? Sigh. Well, at least he got a job, that’s good.”

Seo Eun-hye smiled and Seo-jun smiled with her. But that smile didn’t last long.

“No, really! This kid doesn’t even recognize his own nephew?!”

Lee Min-jun came home from work and was looking at the emails that arrived on the YouTube channel [JUN] with his wife and Seo-jun.

There were many advertising offers besides the Elephant Milk. He occasionally looked at the products that Seo-jun used well and wondered if they would be okay to go out as advertising models.

“This one came again today.”

Lee Min-jun pointed to an email. Seo Eun-hye knew that email too.

There had been a steady stream of emails sent every day since the day Seo-jun’s video was uploaded on YouTube.

It was some kind of internet broadcasting offer, but both Lee-min-jun and Seo Eun–hye had glanced over it and ignored it.

Seo Eun–hye clicked on the email.

“I’m curious what it’s about since they keep sending it.”

“Me too. I saw they want to make a broadcast on YouTube.”

“Like a web drama?”

“Yeah. Something like a web variety show.”

The screen changed.

[Hello. This is Cocoa Entertainment.]

That was the beginning. Seo-jun, who was sitting on his dad’s lap, also read it.

‘Cocoa, enter? What is that…’

“Dadadada?”

“Huh? Where is this…”

“Why?”

Seo Eun–hye also read it. Lee-min-jun turned his head to look at her reaction.

Um, he turned his head back. Seo-jun also looked at his mom and quickly turned his head away. There was a terrifying Seo Eun–hye there.

[…We were planning a parenting variety show when we discovered the channel [JUN]. JUN, who captured the hearts of babies all over the world with one mukbang! If you have a chance, please join our parenting variety show that we are planning…]

That wasn’t much of a problem.

[…If you are interested, please contact us at the number below.]

Yeah. That was the problem.

[Manager Seo Eun–chan. 010-XXXX-XXXX]

“Huh? Seo Eun–chan? That’s the same name as my brother-in-law…”

“No way! This kid can’t even recognize his own nephew?!”

That’s when the dad realized the situation and moved away while sitting. Seo-jun was quiet.

Mom quickly took out her phone and called.

-Yes! This is Cocoa Entertainment manager, Seo Eun–chan!

‘Dad!’

“Shh. Seo-jun, be quiet. If you bother mom now… It’ll be a big problem!”

‘No, dad, that’s not it!’

Lee-min-jun cautiously covered Seo-jun’s mouth with his big hand. He shook his arms up and down as much as he could. Seo Eun–chan, who was far away, wouldn’t see it, but it was all Seo-jun could do.

‘Uncle! Uncle Chan is in big trouble!’

Seo Eun–hye smiled brightly and said in a sweet voice.

“Oh, I called you after seeing your YouTube email.”

-Ah! Are you JUN’s mother? Nice to meet you! I’m Cocoa Entertainment manager, Seo Eun–chan!

“Dadadada.”

“Shh!”

The two men held their breath and looked at the mom who was smiling scarily. Seo-jun sighed inwardly.

‘Uncle Chan didn’t save it again.’

“But I’d like to meet you in person if that’s okay?”

-Yes! Anytime is possible!

“Okay. Then please come to noona’s house.”

-Uh… Yes? Noona’s house?

Seo Eun–chan, who was on the phone, tilted his head. He wondered if such an apartment existed.

The men who had been watching him also turned their heads when Seo Eun-chan jumped up as he answered the phone.

They were a four-member boy group that Cocoa Entertainment, where Seo Eun-chan worked, was going to debut.

They hadn’t decided on a group name yet, but they were talking about their future schedule with Seo Eun-chan at their dorm.

“Noona? Noona’s house? Is there such an apartment in Korea?”

Kevin Kim, the rapper and Korean-American, tilted his head.

“No? I’ve never heard of it either.”

Park Seo-jin, the lead vocalist who had to search everything he didn’t know, picked up his phone.

“But Jun! That’s awesome!”

“Yeah! I didn’t think it would happen!”

Choi Si-yoon, the dancer who first suggested the YouTube variety show, and Hwang Ye-jun, the sub-vocalist who suggested the parenting show, high-fived each other.

The four men whispered to each other.

That’s when it happened.

-Come to my house right now. You stupid idiot who can’t even recognize your nephew!!!

A loud voice roared through the phone. The four men who were talking quietly, and Seo Eun-chan who had the phone to his ear, were startled.

“No, this is…”

Seo Eun-chan quickly looked at his phone.

Huh? Why is Jun’s mother on the previous call list…?

He remembered what happened a few hours ago in his head.

Noona? Noona?!

“Yikes!”

-You. I told you to save my number, right?

“No, noona! Wait. Are you really noona?!”

-Who else would be your noona!?

“No, no. Uh. Then on channel [JUN], Jun…”

-Your nephew, Seo-jun! How can you not recognize your nephew when you saw him a month ago!

Seo Eun-chan stuttered as he continued the conversation.

No, what is this. What’s going on!?

“Nephew? What’s a nephew?”

“Nephew. The son of the manager’s sister.”

“Oh. Nephew!”

Kevin, who was not good at Korean, asked and leader Park Seo-jin answered. Hwang Ye-jun kept exclaiming.

“Wow. The star baby with 200,000 subscribers, he’s the manager’s nephew.”

“Excuse me. He doesn’t look like the manager, does he?”

Choi Si-yoon quickly turned on YouTube and played a video from channel [JUN].

The four men gathered around and watched the video. A baby with a cute face was eating spoonfuls of food. The four men’s eyes went from the baby to Seo Eun-chan.

He was a man who looked like he would have to kneel and apologize if he bumped into him on the street.

He was glad that he had gotten used to him in the past three weeks, but he still had a terrifying appearance.

Hwang Ye-jun whispered softly.

“He really doesn’t look like him, does he?”

Meanwhile, Seo Eun-chan, who had been scolded by Seo Eun-hye, barely hung up the phone.

He lost his energy and slumped down on the chair, lowering his head.

His ears were ringing. He felt like he heard a screech-! in his head.

“Manager. Are you okay?”

“Uh-huh.”

Seo Eun-chan answered with a wave of his hand, as Park Seo-jin spoke to him. Park Seo-jin shook his head.

“Manager, you don’t look okay.”

“Manager’s sister seems very scary.”

The members nodded at Kevin’s words.

Seo Eun-chan lifted his head, after sitting on a chair for a while. He remembered his sister’s last words, while he was lost in thought.

-Come to my home right now!

Seo Eun-chan quickly got up from his seat and grabbed his wallet, phone, and coat. The four men’s eyes followed him. Park Seo-jin asked.

“Manager! Where are you going?”

“Uh… I have to go to my sister’s house.”

“Yep! Come back soon!”

He didn’t need to beat around the bush. Seo Eun-chan waved his hand casually at Kevin’s farewell and ran out of the door.

Watching the closing door, the four people silently prayed for the safe return of Manager Seo Eun-chan.

Chapter 14

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 14

The door opened and Eun-chan came in. Eun-hye, who had greeted her brother at the front door, glared at him fiercely.

Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun held their breath and pressed themselves against the sofa.

Eun-chan had something crinkly in his hand.

He was terrified of his sister, whom he hadn’t seen in a month.

He had stopped by a nearby mart and bought a gift for his target of persuasion.

“Hahaha. This is for Seo-jun.”

“A bribe?”

“…Uh.”

Eun-chan answered with a crestfallen face, his intention exposed. Eun-hye sighed and stepped aside.

Eun-chan cautiously entered the living room. He saw the two people curled up on the corner of the sofa.

“Hello, brother-in-law. Hi, Seo-jun.”

“Long time no see.”

“Wow!”

He handed Seo-jun’s gift to Min-jun and knelt down quietly in a corner of the living room. He bowed his head.

“I’m sorry!”

“Give me your phone.”

“I saved it!”

Eun-hye took the phone from Eun-chan and checked the contact list.

She sighed again and sat down.

This time, Eun-hye’s phone number was properly saved.

“How could you not recognize your own nephew?”

“Well, babies all look alike. Besides, it’s been a month since I last saw him. How was I supposed to know Seo-jun became so famous?”

Eun-hye rubbed her forehead at her brother’s evasive answer.

“Yeah. He’s not your son. You could miss him.”

“Hahaha.”

“Register my number again.”

“Yes!”

“Go home today.”

“Uh, about that…”

Eun-chan hesitated for a moment. Eun-hye’s eyes shot up to the sky. Seeing her face, Eun-chan hurriedly explained.

“No, it’s just that our company is new and I got a job there three weeks ago, but we’re so short-staffed that I’m already a manager. So I have to debut an idol group as soon as possible. Somehow, we got to go on a music show in a month, but I’m so busy preparing for that…”

“Busy?”

“…I don’t think I can go home until the music show is over.”

“Where are you staying?”

“Our kids are all boys, so we’re staying together at the dorm that the company provided for them. I don’t know about anything else, but our company has good benefits, so the dorm is nice too!”

Eun-hye ignored her brother, who seemed ready to show her the dorm at any moment, and asked.

“Can you go home after the music show?”

“Uh… if we fail?”

Min-jun and Seo-jun shook their heads vigorously.

No, they can’t fail. Eun-hye looked at Eun-chan with a disdainful expression, as if to say ‘What kind of idiot is my brother?’

“I’m sorry. I’ll try not to fail.”

Eun-chan apologized quietly, feeling the gaze of the three people.

“If it doesn’t fail and actually succeeds?”

“If it does succeed… then there will be events to attend and broadcasts to appear on. I’m only called the manager in name, but I’m also acting as a director.”

“So you’ll be even busier than now?”

“Yeah. I suppose so.”

Seo Eun-chan’s noncommittal agreement led Seo Eun-hye to give up, as if resigned.

“Well, you’ll be thirty next year. You’ll manage on your own. At least call mom more often.”

“Sure! I’ll call more often.”

Seo Eun-chan quickly responded, glancing around cautiously.

“Since you’re here, have some food before you go. Have you had dinner?”

“I have!”

“Then have a cup of coffee before you leave.”

Seo Eun-hye stood up and headed to the kitchen. The three men quietly sighed in relief. Feeling that the commotion had ended, Lee Min-jun spoke up.

“But what’s this about a variety show, brother-in-law?”

“Oh, that.”

Seo Eun-chan hesitated. He had been riding on the popularity of a YouTube baby star, not realizing it was his nephew. He wondered if it was alright to discuss such an unexpected situation.

“So, what’s the story?”

Seo Eun-hye asked, placing coffee on the table.

‘Mom, dad, Uncle Chan’s. None for me.’

Seo-jun, feeling left out, was about to burst into tears when something caught his attention.

“Here, the baby snack your uncle brought.”

It was his father. Seo-jun was grateful.

;Yum yum! Banana flavor!;

Seo-jun enjoyed the snack, gnawing it with his lower teeth. Holding the snack in one hand, he sucked on it diligently.

Seo Eun-hye, who had silently praised Lee Min-jun for averting Seo-jun’s tears, turned her sharp gaze to Seo Eun-chan. Swallowing hard, he began to speak.

“Our group is so unknown that we don’t have a single fan. It would be a blessing to have someone we know. We only got on one music broadcast as a filler. I thought we should at least get our name out there, so I worked hard on a music video and posted articles online, but the views are low. I’m afraid we’ll just fade into obscurity.”

Seo Eun-chan took a sip of his coffee, his throat parched.

“I thought we should at least get our name out there, so one of the members suggested posting a broadcast on YouTube. Not just an introduction, but something like a short variety show. Since parenting shows are popular these days, we thought that might be a good approach.”

“So you’re using Seo-jun?”

“Seo-jun is famous, so we thought we could use that popularity… uh…”

“Exploit it?”

“No, not exploit…”

“No?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Tension rose again. The choice of words about using his nephew was unfortunate. Cold sweat dripped down his face.

Seo Eun-hye fell into thought. Her brother had spent three years unemployed, his self-esteem waning.

But now, employed, his complexion looked good despite not being able to come home.

He was clean-shaven, his hair neat, and his clothes clean.

It seemed he was finally starting to fulfill his role as a person.

‘But, if the company fails, will he become unemployed again?’

It was clear that the fate of the new idol group depended on their debut, since they belonged to a fledgling company.

Even if they didn’t fail completely, things would get harder for them.

Seo Eun-hye took a sip of her coffee.

‘It’s nice to help my brother, but…’

This was different from the two short videos of eating food that they had filmed.

Even though it was on YouTube, not television, it was still a variety show.

Seo-jun would be seen by many people, and his mouth would be moving up and down.

She was worried.

“I agree.”

“Abu!”

‘Agree!’

Lee Min-jun raised his hand.

Seo-jun, who had finished his snack, also raised his hand.

He didn’t expect it, but he was already going to appear on a variety show! He was all for it!

The two father and son, who looked alike, raised their hands in the same pose. Seo Eun-hye relaxed her stiff face and chuckled.

“Look. Seo-jun agrees too!”

“But…”

“It’s okay. This is also a memory. I’m busy with work and you’re busy taking care of Seo-jun. How can we film Seo-jun all day long? It will be a great memory later.”

He said that, but he was clearly agreeing for her and Seo Eun-chan’s sake.

Seo Eun-hye squeezed her husband’s hand. Lee Min-jun also held his wife’s hand. The couple’s eyes softened.

Before long, Seo-jun slipped out of his dad’s arms and sat on his uncle Chan’s lap. He leaned his back on his uncle’s stomach. Seo Eun-chan also quietly followed the mood.

“They’re still newlyweds.”

“Amum.”

Seo Eun-chan gave Seo-jun a baby cookie and quietly left the living room. He headed to Seo-jun’s toy room.

He closed the door tightly.

“Phew. Sis. You scared me to death.”

He shivered. Then he flopped down on the floor and hugged Seo-jun, talking to him.

“Seo-jun. Your mom. She’s really scary. Right?”

“Abubup!”

“Be nice to her later, so you don’t get scolded. This is a favor, a favor. If not for your uncle, there’s no one who will take your mother. Your uncle is like Buddha.”

Seo Eun-chan grumbled and looked at Seo-jun. He was sucking on a cookie in one hand. He was so cute.

“Is this because you’re my nephew and you look cute to me? Or are you just cute?”

“He’s just cute.”

“Eek!”

The door opened.

Seo Eun-hye was standing there.

Seo Eun-chan stuttered.

“Did-did you hear?”

“What?”

“Never mind. You didn’thear.”

“That ‘your uncle is Buddha’?”

“You heard everything!”

“Stop talking nonsense and come out.”

“Seo-jun hears everything. He’ll learn bad words!”

Seo Eun-hye snorted and hugged Seo-jun.

“Our Seo-jun is smart and won’t use bad words.”

“Abu!”

‘That’s right!’

“See, that’s what I’m talking about.”

At his sister’s doting words, Seo Eun-chan was at a loss for words.

“So, are you going to appear on the show?”

“Let’s hear the plan first. We haven’t discussed what content will be shot. And we need to hear how much will be paid.”

Seo Eun-hye spoke decisively, and Seo Eun-chan nodded in agreement.

“That’s my sister.”

“What?”

“Nothing! Shall we look at this proposal first?”

Seo Eun-chan quickly took out his phone and opened the file.

The file was a proposal created by the members of Cocoa Enter, huddled together with the president’s permission.

It looked a bit rough, as it was something none of them had done before.

Seo Eun-chan began, “We’ve set the filming time to 48 hours.”

“Isn’t that too long?”

Her first comment was a criticism. Seo Eun-chan, with a face full of things to say but choosing not to, continued.

“24 hours is too short, sister. It would end just as they’re getting to know each other.”

“Fine. Let’s move on.”

“Alright… And the number of episodes we’ll upload on YouTube will depend on the footage we get, but we’re thinking about 8 episodes, each 15 minutes long. People watch short videos on YouTube, unlike television. And if we upload two episodes a week, we can release them all before the music broadcast in four weeks.”

Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye nodded. Gaining confidence, Seo Eun-chan said, “We’ll upload it on our group channel, but I hope Jun can promote our channel on his channel later.”

“Ah!”

“Of course, we’ll pay separately for the promotion.”

As Seo Eun-hye raised her hand, Seo Eun-chan quickly responded, understanding his sister’s intentions. Seo Eun-hye smiled in satisfaction.

“We have Christmas in the middle, so we’ll shoot one or two episodes with that concept, and the rest will be our daily lives.”

Listening to the plan, 48 hours seemed insufficient.

“What if we run out of content?”

“Hmm. We’re also considering 8 episodes of 10 minutes each. Or maybe just 4 episodes…”

Seo Eun-chan trailed off and sighed.

“Will we even get that much? What do you think, sister? Does Jun have a sense of variety?”

“What do you expect from an 8-month-old baby? How about the variety sense of your group members?”

“Uh…”

At Seo Eun-hye’s question, Seo Eun-chan racked his brain.

Smart Park Seo-jin, Kevin Kim who blurts out English when rushed, playful Hwang Ye-jun, and the youngest Choi Si-yoon.

They had only been together for three weeks, but their characters were distinct. But as for variety sense…

“…I’m not sure.”

“Ugh.”

“It’ll go well. Jun is already a YouTube star. If all 500,000 subscribers watch it at least once, it’ll be huge.”

Lee Min-jun patted the gloomy siblings’ shoulders. Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders.

“Abup!”

Indeed, the channel [JUN] had already surpassed 500,000 subscribers.

Chapter 15

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 15

“Wow, it’s increasing again.”

Choi Si-yoon said as he refreshed the channel [JUN].

Every time he refreshed the channel [JUN] with his latest model of FinePad, the subscribers increased by dozens.

Kevin and Hwang Ye-jun, who were sitting in front of the computer, also browsed through various sites in the US and Korea, looking into the channel [JUN] and the Elephant milk formula.

They had heard from their manager, Seo Eun-chan, that the baby they were going to film a variety show with, ‘Lee Seo-jun’, had starred in an Elephant milk formula commercial.

“[Wow, the ad effect is amazing, right? Everyone is desperate to get it. This shopping mall is sold out too, which means almost all the products that came out in the world are sold out, right? Wow. How can it be so effective? It just looks like a normal ad to me… There must be some message or something in the ad that I don’t know, for the parents to react like this.]”

“Kevin, you’re speaking in English again! Doctor! Doctor Park Seo-jin!”

Hwang Ye-jun shouted, looking at Kevin, who was mumbling at a frightening speed – and in English. Hwang Ye-jun, who was teased by the members for being poor in Korean, let alone English.

Sitting separately, Park Seo-jin, who had been taking notes on parenting books such as [The Only Thing You Need to Know to Be a Parenting Master!], [What You Need for an 8-10 Month Old Baby], [How to Make Your Baby a Genius], etc., looked at Hwang Ye-jun with a face full of dark circles.

“We’re filming in three days. Instead of looking at useless things, read this book.”

Hwang Ye-jun, who was shaking his head, quietly turned off the computer and took the book.

“I get sleepy when I read books…”

“It’s okay. Half of it is pictures.”

Park Seo-jin, the leader who had the meticulousness to choose a book that suited Hwang Ye-jun’s level. Hwang Ye-jun looked at the book title.

[Fairy Tales for Babies Under 12 Months].

“Practice so that you can read it without interruption, and tell it as a story.”

“Got it.”

Choi Si-yoon, who was sitting next to Hwang Ye-jun, who started reading the fairy tale book, put down his FinePad and headed towards Park Seo-jin.

“Seo-jin hyung. What should I do?”

“You… [Kevin. Give me the card!]”

Kevin, who was analyzing the Elephant milk formula ad, took out a card from his kangaroo pocket and threw it.

Park Seo-jin, who was used to receiving the card, handed it to Choi Si-yoon.

“You go to the nearest big mart and buy some toys that the babies will like. He’s eight months old and a boy. Got it?”

“Of course I do. What’s the limit?”

“None.”

“Okay! I’ll be back!”

“But…”

Choi Si-yoon, who was excited to look around the new products in the electronics corner of the big mart, stiffened as he heard Park Seo-jin’s faint voice.

“If Seo-jun doesn’t like the toys, you won’t be able to use your precious electronics for a while.”

“…How long?”

Park Seo-jin smiled sweetly like an idol in front of the fans, with a fierce glint in his eyes.

Choi Si-yoon felt goosebumps as if he had seen the devil’s smile.

“For life?”

Park Seo-jin. The leader of the group [Brown Black], who had not even debuted yet, was staking the group’s life on this filming.

***

“Good! Installation done!”

Uncle Chan said.

He had come home early in the morning and installed black cameras everywhere, in the living room, the room, and the kitchen.

“Here and here. And here too. I installed them all.”

“Why do we have to tell them? We won’t be here anyway.”

“The landlord should know too.”

Seo Eun-chan shrugged his shoulders and answered Seo Eun-hye’s question. Then he picked up his phone and made a call.

“Hey, it’s me. Are you ready?”

-Yes! Just a moment!

Park Seo-jin, who received Seo Eun-chan’s call, looked at the members who were staring at him in front of him.

This was Seo-jun’s house, the apartment parking lot.

Four men were sitting in a car with dark tinted windows, half nervous and half clueless.

Seo Eun-chan said over the phone.

-Come up when you’re ready. Don’t forget the camera.

“Yes!”

The call ended. Park Seo-jin lifted his head from the blackened screen.

The four of them had each gone through a long trainee life and wandered around different places before settling down at Cocoa Entertainment.

They had experienced many frustrations and failures. They had no more places to go, so they all thought this debut was their last chance.

“This could be our last chance. It’s different from the other companies that kept scamming us and delaying our debut. There are hardly any places that would give us such an opportunity, even though we haven’t debuted yet.”

Park Seo-jin said to the members as if he was making a vow.

“Let’s do our best, everyone!”

He opened the car door that was tightly locked.

***

“Hello! We are Brown Black!”

The four men bowed 90 degrees to the couple.

Seo-jun, who was in his dad’s arms, clapped his hands at their spirit, and Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun stepped back with cold sweat.

Seo Eun-chan expressed his pride with a look of seeing his well-grown child.

“Br, Brown Black?”

“Yes, brother-in-law. We decided on our group name. You can shorten it to B.B. You can also call us BuBl (bubble) Isn’t it nice?”

“Uh… Is it? Nice to meet you. I’m Seo-jun’s dad, Lee Min-jun.”

Lee Min-jun greeted the four men with an awkward smile. Seo Eun-hye also greeted them.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Seo-jun’s mom, Seo Eun-hye.”

“She’s my sister.”

The members nodded at Seo Eun-chan’s words. She was the main character of the loud phone call. She was a plain beauty, unlike the fierce-looking Seo Eun-chan.

“Hello! I’m the leader of Brown Black, Park Seo-jin.”

“I’m the rapper, Kevin Kim.”

“I’m the sub-vocal, Hwang Ye-jun.”

“I’m the dancer and the youngest, Choi Si-yoon.”

They bowed 90 degrees again. It was getting uncomfortable.

Lee Min-jun quickly led them to their seats. There was not enough space on the sofa, so they all sat on the living room floor.

There were fruits and snacks on the table, but Brown Black was stiff as if they were in a difficult situation, and they couldn’t even look at the refreshments, let alone move.

In the awkward atmosphere, Seo Eun-hye opened her mouth.

“Are there no other people?”

She thought there would be a production team like a TV show, but it didn’t seem like it. Seo Eun-chan shook his head.

“I don’t plan to do anything big. Just something small. The camera is already installed and recording, and the rest of the filming is done by me and… Just a moment…”

Seo Eun-chan got up from his seat and made a phone call somewhere.

As their manager Seo Eun-chan left his seat, Brown Black wondered if they should get up or not.

“Yes, yes, it’s the 12th floor. Yes, room 5.”

He had a brief conversation with someone and hung up the phone.

“They’ve arrived.”

At the same time, the doorbell rang. Seo Eun-chan opened the door, and a woman with short hair and a large bag was standing there.

“Hello.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who were sitting down, also got up and greeted her. Seo-jun, who was in his father’s arms, also said hello.

Brown Black, who didn’t know what to do, also got up and bowed to the new guest.

“Hello.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“This is Dr. Kim Hwa-ryeon, a pediatrician. She’s also the head of our company’s PR team.”

“I’m Kim Hwa-ryeon.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun’s eyes widened.

“What? You brought a pediatrician for the filming?”

“Seo-jun is going to film with strangers for 48 hours without his mom and dad. Don’t you think you and your brother would feel relieved? I’m his uncle, but I think we need a doctor to be worry-free.”

Seo Eun-hye was amazed by her brother’s deep thoughts.

“I didn’t know you were so thoughtful. I’m impressed.”

“Kuku-hm.”

Seo Eun-chan coughed and turned his gaze. It was where Brown Black’s members were.

Seo Eun-hye, Lee Min-jun, and Seo-jun also looked that way.

As the people’s eyes were focused on them, the four of them felt awkward and flinched.

“It wasn’t me, it was Seo Jin.”

“Well, of course.”

“No, sis!”

Seo Eun-hye’s expression changed. Her brother was still immature after all.

Lee Min-jun, who was used to the siblings’ quarrel, ignored it and approached the man who introduced himself as Park Seo-jin.

He was touched by Park Seo-jin’s consideration and delicacy for the baby and his parents.

Besides, he was an idol – although he hadn’t debuted yet – but he seemed to care for the baby and didn’t wear any accessories or makeup.

There was a lot of luggage that Brown Black brought at the entrance. Looking at the items that popped out of the bag, it seemed like they had studied a lot about the baby.

He felt like he could trust them with Seo-jun.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome!”

“Now, do you want to hold Seo-jun?”

Lee Min-jun lifted Seo-jun from his arms and handed him over to Park Seo-jin.

Park Seo-jin, who had never seen such a young baby around him, trembled his hands and carefully held Seo-jun.

“Hello!”

‘It’s a bit uncomfortable…’

Seeing the expressions of Park Seo-jin and the other three people who were holding him, he decided to hold back from crying. They looked so unhappy.

Lee Min-jun adjusted Park Seo-jin’s posture.

“Don’t hug him like that, it will make Seo-jun uncomfortable. Put your arm inside like this…”

Seo-jun smiled brightly as his dad coached him to a comfortable position.

He was used to being hugged by the same people every day, but it felt different to be hugged by a stranger.

“Kyaaah!”

“Teacher Kim Hwa-ryeon!”

“[Doctor! Doctor!]”

“Why! Why is this happening?!”

“Eek eek!”

Brown Black was in chaos at the baby’s laughter.

Park Seojin and Kevin kept calling for the doctor, while Choi Si-yoon quickly took out the toys he had bought.

Hwang Ye-jun was so flustered that he couldn’t say a word and just screamed.

It was a mess.

“Is this… okay?”

“There’s a doctor here, so don’t worry. But isn’t this kind of funny?”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun whispered to each other. As Lee Min-jun said, it was only a few minutes of situation, but they couldn’t help laughing.

Seo Eun-chan looked at the cameras installed in the living room and smirked.

“I’m glad I installed them in advance.”

Kim Hwa-ryeon cautiously held up the camera. It was the one she used to practice dancing at Cocoa Entertainment.

“I’ve been filming since I came in. I got everything.”

“That’s great! It’s good to have a lot of content to edit.”

Seo Eun-chan smiled and tried to take the camera from Kim Hwa-ryeon. If only she didn’t step back.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Uh… that… I’m sorry.”

Kim Hwa-ryeon couldn’t say it, but Seo Eun-chan, who had lived with a fierce face for 29 years, noticed it right away. It must be his scary face that was the problem.

Kim Hwa-ryeon unconsciously stepped back from Seo Eun-chan’s fierce face.

“No, it’s okay. Then give me the footage later…”

Kyahahaha-

“Teacher! Seo, Seo-jun is still laughing!”

“[Is there anything wrong with you? Why are you giggling like that?!]”

“Kevin, speak Korean! He can’t understand you! But Seo-jun really seems to be laughing too much!”

“Teacher, how about this? Should I give him this?”

Seo Eun-chan turned his head to the noisy place.

Brown Black was rolling their feet and trying to calm Seo-jun down. Choi Si-yoon was holding a big stuffed animal and showing it to him.

Seo Eun-chan tapped his forehead.

“No. He’s laughing because you guys are funny.”

“Kyahahahaha!”

Seo Eun-chan’s words didn’t reach Brown Black’s ears. They were too panicked to hear anything.

Seo-jun had never seen such funny people before. He laughed so much that he felt like tears were coming out.

“Seo-jun’s tears! Tears!”

“Seo-jun is crying!”

“[Doctor! Doctor! He’s crying while laughing?! Is he, is he sick?!]”

“Can… can someone else hold Seo-jun for me?”

A single tear drop was very powerful. Hwang Ye-jun and Choi Si-yoon were running around, and Kevin was shouting ‘Doctor!’.

Park Seo-jin was holding Seo-jun with his trembling arms and sweating coldly.

Looking at Brown Black rolling their feet, ahahaha!

Mom and dad were holding their stomachs and laughing, and even the doctor and Uncle Chan burst into laughter. Seo-jun also laughed happily.

Chapter 16

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Chapter 16

To have a calm conversation, Seo-jun headed to his dad’s arms first.

Brown Black, who had barely calmed down, collapsed on the floor with an exhausted expression.

They were so tense that they almost lost their minds.

“You’ve only been here for less than 10 minutes. How are you going to handle 48 hours like this?”

Seo Eun-chan laughed. Brown Black’s faces turned pale.

It’s been 10 minutes already? 48 hours is 2,880 minutes…

Park Seo-jin’s hand trembled as he did the math in his head.

“It’s okay. You’ll get used to it soon if you struggle a little at first.”

The four of them felt a slight comfort from Seo Eun-hye’s words.

Seo Eun-hye took out a stack of A4 papers and put them on the table. Brown Black, Seo Eun-chan, and Kim Hwa-ryeon looked at the pile of papers.

Seo-jun knew.

These papers were books that his mom and dad had worked hard on last night.

They were customized parenting books for Brown Black, who would take care of Seo-jun, and for Seo-jun’s comfortable and safe 48 hours without his mom and dad.

They even wrote down Seo-jun’s preferences in detail.

“What is this?”

“It’s what you need when you take care of Seo-jun. For now.”

Seo Eun-hye answered Seo Eun-chan’s question and opened the book. The first page.

“I divided Seo-jun’s eating time, nap time, play time, sleeping time, etc. into 24 hours.”

Brown Black listened to the explanation as they looked at the first page.

The baby’s daily schedule filled the A4 paper.

“Wow, he eats every three hours. He also naps twice a day.”

“Especially for meal time, Seo-jun knows it very accurately, so you have to feed him on time before he cries. Not even a minute late.”

“Before he cries…”

Brown Black swallowed their dry saliva.

“And behind that, there are methods for making formula and baby food, recipes for baby food, and how to warm up cold baby food. And the amount of snacks Seo-jun can eat…”

They wrote it down so thoroughly that it was scary. Seo Eun-chan looked at his sister with a bored eye.

She wasn’t this meticulous before she got married, was she? Is this the power of a mother?

The pages fluttered.

“Seo-jun’s favorite toys and dolls…”

Seo Eun-hye paused for a moment and then opened her mouth again.

“…You don’t need them, right?”

She couldn’t show them Kim Hee-sung’s monster doll. How could she show them a doll with two heads and fierce teeth?

She had already hidden all of Seo-jun’s dolls in the back seat of the car. Except for one bear doll.

“Yes. We also brought toys and dolls!”

Hwang Ye-jun raised his hand and said. Most of the luggage was toys and dolls and things for Seo-jun. Seo Eun-hye smiled brightly.

“That’s good. I hope this opportunity will make Seo-jun…”

‘I wish he would like normal dolls…’

Seo Eun-hye’s voice got smaller and smaller, and the last word was barely audible.

Lee Min-jun, who was sitting next to her and listening to her voice, nodded as if he agreed, and Seo-jun, who had his dolls taken away, pouted his lips.

He felt like he had to give up Uncle Hee-sung’s doll for the next two days.

‘I’m glad I still have the doppelganger bear doll!’

Unlike other normal dolls, Uncle Hee-sung’s monster doll had something that satisfied Seo-jun’s soul.

That’s why he felt like he couldn’t do without it.

“I wrote down the order of bathing.”

“Bathing? We have to do that too?”

Seo Eun-hye and Seo Eun-chan nodded at Choi Si-yoon’s bewildered question.

“Of course.”

“Of course.”

Seo Eun-hye continued to explain. As she did, Brown Black’s faces grew worse.

They had prepared themselves, but there were a lot of things to be careful of and to do.

They finally realized it. For 48 hours, everything about this tiny baby depended on them.

They had never raised a pet before, and now they had to take care of a baby who couldn’t speak.

They felt like fainting just thinking about it.

“That’s about it. How do you feel? Do you think you can do it?”

“…I’ll try my best.”

They couldn’t say they would do well, feeling guilty.

“Well, then. It’s time to feed Seo-jun. Who wants to try?”

Brown Black turned to stone at Lee Min-jun’s words.

Seo-jun, who had an alarm clock in his stomach, was ready.

He would cry if even a second passed!

“You have to feed him before he cries. You haven’t even made the formula yet, right?”

“Me! Me! I’ll make the formula!”

“Me too! I have a thermometer!”

Hwang Ye-jun jumped up and ran to the kitchen. Choi Si-yoon followed him, taking out a thermometer from his bag. Seo Eun-hye and Kim Hwa-ryeon followed them with cameras.

Lee Min-jun’s eyes turned to Kevin and Park Seo-jin. The two men were like mice in front of a snake, unable to move.

“Then, who among you two?”

“I’ll let the leader do it.”

“I haven’t held him yet.”

“Then, how about Kevin?”

Kevin shuddered at Lee Min-jun’s words.

“Here, Kevin.”

“Oh…”

Lee Min-jun handed Seo-jun to Kevin. Kevin’s hands trembled, but luckily he was sitting down, so Seo-jun landed safely between his knees.

“Lay him down slightly to the side like this…”

“Hmmph.”

“…!”

“Put a cushion under him if he’s uncomfortable.”

Seo-jun arched his back and whined at the awkward position.

Lee Min-jun, a competent father, quickly put a cushion under Seo-jun’s back from the sofa.

Seo-jun’s expression relaxed. Seo-jun was comfortable, but Kevin’s posture was, in a word,

Weird.

He looked like a puppet controlled by strings, his arms moving in different directions.

“You look like a marionette, Kevin.”

“Um. How about lowering your right arm a bit?”

Park Seo-jin and Lee Min-jun moved Kevin’s arms around, but they couldn’t find a comfortable position. When they moved one arm, the other arm moved automatically.

“Um… What do we do?”

“I, I’m fine.”

Kevin looked uncomfortable in his posture, but he insisted that he was fine. Minjun and Seojin worried about him, but they didn’t know how to help.

He was more anxious about the heavy baby on his lap.

He wanted to shake his legs, but he was afraid of dropping the baby. He nervously bit his lips.

‘My legs… they’re going numb…’

The living room was filled with panic and anxiety, but the kitchen was warm and cozy.

“This is his favorite formula.”

“I know. Elephant formula! I saw the ads!”

Seo Eun-hye taught them how to make the formula and where to find the bottles. Ye-jun and Si-yoon followed her instructions.

They spilled some powder and water on the floor, but they soon made a warm bottle of formula.

Seo Eun-hye checked the temperature of the formula. Siyun sneakily looked at the thermometer as well.

‘40 degrees!’

“You can make it like this next time.”

“Yes. Leave it to us!”

They came back to the living room with the bottle. Seo Eun-chan was lying on one side of the room, laughing quietly. Min-jun and Seo-jin were looking at Kevin, who was holding Seo-jun, with worried expressions.

“This is the best we can do.”

“I guess so.”

Seo-jin nodded at Min-jun’s words. They had tried many positions, but this was the best one.

“What is this?”

Ye-jun, who was shaking the bottle vigorously, exclaimed in disbelief.

Kevin, who didn’t know where to put his arms, had stretched them out like the armrests of a chair.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who had been watching the four men and the baby, quietly got up from their seats.

They were the couple who decided to leave the house when the baby and Brown Black were off guard, following Seo Eun-chan’s suggestion.

Seo Eun-hye waved her hand to call Seo Eun-chan.

Seeing the two people getting up, Seo Eun-chan mouthed.

‘Are you leaving now?’

‘Yes. We taught them everything we could. There’s nothing more to do.’

‘Brother-in-law. Please take good care of Seo-jun!’

Kim Hwa-ryeon, who was filming Brown Black, also noticed that the couple was leaving and nodded her head in greeting.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun also quietly said goodbye and headed towards the front door.

The door that was slightly open due to Seo Eun-chan’s trick closed silently.

“Sigh. I hope they do well.”

“They’ll be fine. They have a doctor and a brother-in-law.”

“I trust them, but… still…”

48 hours.

They had never been apart for so long as a family. They couldn’t move their feet from the front of the door.

Lee Min-jun, who guessed his wife’s feelings, hugged Seo Eun-hye’s shoulders as she stared at the closed door.

“When will we have a chance to rest like this? How about we go on a trip this time?”

“We can’t go far.”

“I know. Then where should we start?”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun smiled at each other on their long-awaited date.

***

“Wow. He finished it all.”

“He really eats well.”

Brown Black, who had been staring blankly at Seo-jun eating, came to their senses when the bottle of formula ran out.

Hwang Ye-jun turned around with a bright smile.

“What should we do next…? Huh? Wha?!”

The two people he thought would be there were nowhere to be seen.

At Hwang Ye-jun’s surprised voice, the eyes of the three people who were watching Seo-jun also turned to the back.

“Huh… gone…”

The quiet and calm atmosphere flew away in an instant.

Brown Black’s eyes twitched with anxiety and panic.

Park Seo-jin’s eyes quickly turned to Seo Eun-chan, who was holding the camera. He was too shocked to speak and just opened and closed his mouth.

The eyes of the three people who didn’t know what to do also followed Park Seo-jin and turned to Seo Eun-chan.

Seo Eun-chan, who had a mischievous smile on his face, mouthed.

‘Brown Black and Jun’s 48 hours! It starts now!’

“Whaaat?!”

Seo-jun leaned his back on Kevin’s stomach, as if he was sitting on a comfortable chair. He stretched out his sore legs and grabbed Kevin’s arms, which served as armrests, with both of his hands. He was in the most relaxing position ever.

“He’s a human chair. A human chair.”

Choi Si-yoon’s remark made the others laugh.

Seo Jun liked the fluffy cushions and the comfort of his Kevin chair.

Excitedly, he grabbed Kevin’s arms, which had become armrests, and wiggled his bum.

Seo-jun leaned his back against Kevin’s stomach and gripped the armrests with his skinny arms as if he were sitting in a recliner.

He stretched out his chubby legs, and it was the most comfortable position in the world.

Chapter 17

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Chapter 17

The living room was silent.

Seo-jun dropped the empty bottle he was holding onto the floor.

Unlike the veteran dad who had caught it in an instant, Brown Black didn’t even react.

The empty bottle rolled and stopped.

Hmm. I shouldn’t do this to the kids.

Seo-jun looked at Brown Black, who were spaced out, and Seo Eun-chan, who was giggling and saying he had secured enough footage with the surprise camera.

He remembered last night.

***

“Let’s write down Seo-jun’s daily routine for the first chapter.”

“We have to write down the meal times clearly. He’ll cry if we’re even a minute late.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun took out an A4 paper and wrote down the daily schedule like a plan. Wake up, eat, play, nap.

“Wow, he lives such a simple life, Seo-jun.”

Seo Eun-hye laughed at Lee Min-jun’s remark.

“It’s not easy to find new games every time, even with a simple schedule. And lately, Seo-jun seems to be bored with playing with me too.”

Seo Eun-hye glanced at Seo-jun, who was playing with the twin head ogre by grabbing both sides of its head and pulling it in opposite directions.

Seo-jun flinched, but the couple didn’t notice.

‘I’ve been getting bored lately.’

A normal baby wouldn’t know, but Seo-jun, who had many past lives, was getting tired of playing with dolls every time. And since he was still a baby, he had limited people to meet.

‘Babies, moms, uncle…’

He could count them on both hands. But he heard that new people were coming tomorrow.

Seo-jun was excited.

Kyaaak! He twisted the head of the twin head ogre.

The doll didn’t burst a single thread, whether it was because of the baby’s weak strength or because Kim Hee-sang made it sturdy.

Lee Min-jun, who was writing down the points to watch out for while taking care of Seo-jun, said.

“The must be good at singing if they’re an idol group.”

“Hmm. According to Chan, they’ve been trainees for a long time, so they are pretty good…”

Seo Eun-hye recalled Seo Eun-chan’s words.

Seo Eun-chan sighed and said.

-They’re all good kids, and they can sing, dance, and rap well, but something feels a bit lacking. They’re working hard, and the other staff members say they’re doing well, but I don’t know.

Seo Eun-chan told his sister everything he couldn’t say to the staff and the kids.

“He thinks he’s the only one who believes the kids are lacking. He didn’t say anything because he thought it might be a silly thought. But he said he really hopes that the lacking part will be filled.”

The Cocoa Enter staff members were very nice. Only Seo Eun-chan had a bit of a nagging feeling.

Lee Min-jun tilted his head.

“Isn’t it because he lacks experience in the field? They can build that up on stage after they debut.”

“Maybe.”

“Oh, this baby food recipe seems wrong.”

“Oh my. You’re right!”

Seo Eun-hye quickly picked up a pen. Seo-jun, who was listening with his ears perked up, thought.

‘Lacking…’

It was Seo Eun-chan’s uncle’s opinion, but he felt like his uncle was right.

Seo-jun was lost in thought. A four-member male idol group. What was missing?

‘I hope it goes well for uncle and mom.’

Seo-jun fell asleep as he watched his mom and dad prepare until late at night.

Upon opening his eyes, he found himself before the Library of Life. The only door that was open was a blue one.

‘Wonder if this will open next year?’

What books lay beyond the door next to the blue one? There were so many he couldn’t remember. Seo-jun crawled into the blue door.

Inside, the library was still a mess. Seo-jun diligently crawled through the scattered and toppled books.

‘I’m sure I’ve read this before…’

He rummaged through the books, searching for [The Little Mimic’s Tempting Package], recalling he had read books about life related to music.

Seo-jun flipped through each book, reading the titles. There seemed to be a perfect skill for the people coming tomorrow.

Not [The Composition Fairy].

Nor [The Instrument Slime].

Definitely not [The Singing Bug].

‘Ah, here it is.’

He opened a book and, reading the life written within, felt there could be no better skill.

‘Perfect!’

The book sparkled, and round beads seeped into the palms of Seo-jun’s hands.

He opened his palms to reveal long batons engraved on them.

[Orchestra Conductor’s Link – Lowest Grade]

The musical talent of those connected to the conductor varies up to 1.3 times depending on the bond.

The bond with the conductor and the connectors is numerically represented.

Maximum Connection: 4

***

Regaining their senses, Brown Black handed Seo-jun the only remaining teddy bear and sat around in a circle.

Even a simple YouTube entertainment video needed a main theme.

Brown Black, along with Seo Eun-chan, created a rough sequence of events, like a script.

Now, as filming began, it was time to introduce Brown Black to the viewers and Seo-jun.

Hwang Ye-jun, the MC, pulled out a toy microphone from his bag.

“Now, let’s start with the introductions!”

Clap, clap!

Seo-jun joined in the applause. New faces had arrived in his mundane life.

His heart raced.

Screech!

“It seems our Seo-jun is already having fun! First up, the star of this broadcast! Let’s introduce Seo-jun!”

Park Seo-jin read from the paper given by Seo Eun-hye. Later, during editing, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-un’s voices would be added.

“Name, Lee Seo-jun. Born on March 10th. Already 8 months old. He has two bottom teeth and his favorite way to play is with dolls.”

“Wow! Only 8 months old! So young! A real newborn! Next, let’s introduce the Brown Black hyungs who will be with Seo-jun for the next 48 hours!”

Hwang Ye-jun passed the microphone to Park Seo-jin, who waved at Seo-jun. The footage for the viewers would be filmed separately later.

“Hello, Seo-jun. I’m your hyung Park Seo-jin, the leader of Brown Black…”

“Does Seo-jun understand what a leader is?”

At Choi Si-yoon’s words, Park Seo-jin hesitated. Indeed, would he know? Hwang Ye-jun raised his hand.

“If we’re being technical, he probably won’t understand the other introductions either!”

He had no idea how to explain to an eight-month-old baby what a leader or a main vocal was.

As expected, Seo-jun turned his head to the side as he listened to Park Seo-jin’s words.

Huh?

Hwang Ye-jun, Choi Si-yoon, and Kevin burst into laughter.

“He doesn’t seem to understand anything!”

“Let’s see how well you guys can do.”

At Park Seo-jin’s words, Hwang Ye-jun waved his hand excitedly.

“Hi! Seo-jun! I’m Hwang Ye-jun, your hyung, and I’m the second best singer in Brown Black!”

“Wow!”

Hwang Ye-jun spoke cheerfully, and Seo-jun clapped his hands, whether he understood or not. Kevin and Choi Si-yoon also applauded.

“He’s smart!”

“He has a sense of humor! Ye-jun hyung!”

Park Seo-jin also closed his mouth and clapped. Ahem. Hwang Ye-jun’s microphone moved to Kevin.

“Hi! I’m Kevin Kim and I can talk fast. I’m from LA, USA, and both of my parents are Korean. My favorite singer is D. Ray. My favorite food is braised ribs…”

The rapper went on and on. The only words that reached Seo-jun’s ears were the first three. Hi! I’m Kevin!

“Abububu!”

“Wrong!”

Seo-jun slapped the floor with his palm. ‘I can’t understand that. Hyung!’

Seeing Seo-jun’s reaction, Hwang Ye-jun crossed his arms and made an X sign. The next turn was Choi Si-yoon.

“Hi! Seo-jun, my name is Choi Si-yoon. My specialty is dancing and uh, I want to show you…”

“No. You can’t dance here…”

If Choi Si-yoon danced, he would move around a lot. If he danced in the living room where the table was in the center, something would surely break. Choi Si-yoon shrugged his shoulders.

“Then I’ll show you next time!”

Clap clap-!

Seo-jun clapped. Dancing. He had seen it on TV, but he wondered what it would be like in real life. He was looking forward to it. At Seo-jun’s applause, Hwang Ye-jun shouted, “Pass!”

Ding dong.

“Oh, it’s the alarm.”

Choi Si-yoon took out his phone. Choi Si-yoon, who never left his electronic devices, set an alarm for every hour on his phone as soon as he saw Seo-jun’s daily schedule.

“It’s time for Seo-jun to take a nap.”

“Where’s the blanket?”

Park Seo-jin came out of the room with the blanket. Seo-jun’s blanket was laid on one side of the living room.

Kevin, who was holding Seo-jun for the second time, carefully lifted him up with a teddy bear and laid him on the blanket.

Slowly from the legs.

His hands trembled a little, but he safely placed Seo-jun’s head on the pillow.

As soon as he lay down on the blanket, Seo-jun stretched out his arms and grabbed Kevin’s cheeks, who was leaning over to lay him down.

Slap-!

No, he hit him.

[Using the connection of the orchestra conductor.(1/4)]

“Huh?”

Brown Black’s eyes turned to Kevin. Kevin touched his slightly reddened cheeks with his palms.

A tiny and soft baby’s palm touched his cheek. Kevin rubbed his cheek for a moment and smiled.

“Seo-jun seems to like me a lot, huh?”

Seeing that, Hwang Ye-jun, who was unpacking his luggage, quickly came to Seo-jun’s side.

“Seo-jun. Bro. Give me a face slap too!”

Hwang Ye-jun leaned his face in, and Seo-jun raised both his hands to slap Hwang Ye-jun’s cheek.

[Using the connection of the orchestra conductor.(2/4)]

Hmm. I think I hit him harder than Kevin hyung. Seo-jun clenched and unclenched his slightly hot fists. Fun.

Contrary to Seo-jun’s thoughts, Hwang Ye-jun was smiling happily.

“He likes me more, see? Look. It’s totally red!”

Choi Si-yoon and Park Seo-jin also came to Seo-jun’s blanket and leaned their faces in. They looked like cat owners who wanted to play with their kittens.

Seo-jun was wondering who to slap first, when he saw Choi Si-yoon, who had promised to show him a dance. He slapped Choi Si-yoon’s cheek first. Then he slapped Park Seo-jin’s cheek.

[Using the connection of the orchestra conductor.(3/4)]

[Using the connection of the orchestra conductor.(4/4)]

“Seo-jun’s affection ranking is out!”

Hwang Ye-jun said, looking at the camera that Seo Eun-chan was holding. He laughed loudly and raised both his arms, as if he was bragging to Seo Eun-chan or the future viewers.

Seo Eun-chan and Kim Hwa-ryeon, who were in charge of filming and couldn’t appear on the screen, looked at Seo-jun, who was lying under the blanket, with envious eyes.

“First place is me, Hwang Ye-jun!”

“I was the first one to get hit, though?”

Kevin said, and Hwang Ye-jun snorted. He pushed his barely visible cheek, which was red with excitement, to the camera lens on the table.

“Come on, you see this? This red cheek! It’s filled with Seo-jun’s love, so I’m redder than you!”

“NO! I was the first one.”

Park Seo-jin, who was the last one to get hit, was silent with frustration, and Choi Si-yoon, the youngest, patted Seo-jun’s stomach, who had chosen him before Park Seo-jin.

Kevin and Hwang Ye-jun argued back and forth. Then they dramatically compromised. Hwang Ye-jun and Kevin held each other’s hands and lifted them up.

“Then, joint first place! Hwang Ye-jun, Kevin Kim! Third place Choi Si-yoon! Fourth place Park Seo-jin!”

The two members, who were waving their hands and jumping around, made Park Seo-jin whisper.

“This is just the first impression.”

The members’ eyes turned to him at Park Seo-jin’s words. Park Seo-jin smiled meaningfully.

“The real affection ranking will be confirmed on the last day.”

“Will I be in first place then?!”

“Okay. It’s a challenge!”

“I’m number one now and later!”

The members were fired up by Park Seo-jin’s challenge.

Seo-jun, who was covered with a blanket and lying down, slowly closed his eyes. He giggled. It was fun, even though it was only a few hours.

They were really interesting hyungs. He was looking forward to the evening time after he woke up from his nap, and tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. It will be a very exciting two days!

“Ah, Seo-jun is sleeping.”

Brown Black, who was burning with enthusiasm, became quiet in an instant. They all sat around Seo-jun’s blanket without making a sound.

“We must be funny. He keeps laughing.”

“Right. He’s really cute.”

Through his blurry vision, he saw the brown-black faces around him. Numbers floated above the brown-black members who occupied all four sides of his blanket.

Both numbers were high.

The number that represented the bond between Seo-jun and the brown-black members, the ‘Conductor Bond’, was high. And the number that represented the bond among the brown-black members, the ‘Connector Bond’, was also high.

Even though they had not known each other for long, he could tell how much the brown-black members liked Seo-jun. And they seemed to get along very well with each other too.

With both bonds being high, it was certain that he would have a skill improvement up to the limit of 1.3 times.

It was a good thing. Seo-jun fell asleep soundly after seeing their affection with his own eyes.

Seeing Seo-jun’s closed eyes, the brown-black members lifted their heads and looked at the clock. It was exactly nap time.

“He’s really accurate.”

The members looked at the schedule again, impressed by Seo-jun’s body clock and the precision of the timetable.

Chapter 18

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 18

Seo-jun spread the book on the floor.

It was the life of [The Spirit of the Conductor’s Baton], who had acquired the skill [Orchestra Conductor’s Connection].

“I was really…”

He sighed as soon as he opened the first page.

This was a dark history that he had to bury for a long time.

***

This world was the world of music spirits.

If you buried various instruments under the tree in the center of the world, the tree would bear fruit by taking the instruments as nutrients.

And from those fruits, spirits were born.

These spirits became friends, fought, reconciled, loved, and parted with the music they played.

When their instruments became old and could no longer make sounds, they finally rested in peace.

It was a beautiful world where everything was centered on music, and music never stopped.

He was a spirit born from the nimble conductor’s baton of an orchestra conductor.

The spirits of this world were born with one or two skills, which they used without revealing to other spirits.

His skill was [Orchestra Conductor’s Connection – Top Class], a very great ability.

[Orchestra Conductor’s Connection – Top Class]

The musical skills of the beings connected to the conductor vary up to 10 times depending on their affinity.

The affinity with the conductor and the affinity of the connectors are expressed in numbers.

Maximum connection: 30

The way to use the skill was simple. He just had to shake hands with the being he wanted to connect with.

He, who was born from the conductor’s baton, had the destiny to become a conductor from the moment he came out of the fruit.

If he used this skill, he would connect his orchestra members and build affinity between the conductor and the members, and between the members themselves. Then, in the future, a tremendous orchestra that had never appeared in this world would surely be born.

‘Hmm.’

Yes. If he, in his previous life,

Had not been the Demon King.

He was born as the descendant of the Demon King and became the Demon Prince smoothly with his cruelty.

And thanks to his outstanding talent, he became the Demon King without any objection.

His life as the Demon King, who conquered not only the Demon Realm but also the Middle Realm and invaded the Heavenly Realm, was unimaginable.

His memory was gone, but there were times when his previous life affected his next life.

Just like now.

Before he conducted the orchestra, he sat on a chair and looked down at his two hands.

They were clean hands.

But soon, blood spurted out like an illusion.

It was the blood of humans.

The blood of monsters.

The blood of the heavenly beings.

In his previous life, he lived violently and hotly, with blood running rampant and tearing apart lives.

He made mountains of corpses and dyed the land and sky with darkness.

He did. He clenched his hands so hard that he could break them.

This world was boring.

This world filled with music did not have bloody fights. Nor did it have breaking fights.

Everything was music.

It started and ended with music.

The spirits staked their lives on music and worked hard to make more beautiful and excellent music.

‘That’s too, beautiful, isn’t it?’

He laughed.

He was tired of living quietly.

He covered his mouth with both hands, afraid that his expression would be seen by anyone. ‘Ah, I have to mess it up.’

The Demon King of his previous life knew how fun it was to step on the clean snow first.

He was aiming for the Music Festival, which was held once every four years in this world.

The Music Festival.

It was a very important festival where music was dedicated to the tree where the spirits were born.

Depending on the music played to the tree at that time, the temperament of the spirits born in the next four years changed.

Positive spirits were born when happy music was played.

Careful spirits were born when serious music was played.

Spirits who could empathize with other people’s sadness as well as their own were born when sad music was played.

The spirits loved all kinds of music.

Ten music groups went on stage and did not rank.

Everyone enjoyed the music.

He, with his excellent skills, went on stage with his orchestra for the Music Festival.

‘Nice to meet you. I’m the spirit of the conductor’s baton.’

‘Oh! I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m the spirit of the drum.’

‘Hello! I’m the spirit of the piano!’

He used [Orchestra Conductor’s Connection – Top Class].

The target was not his orchestra members.

He shook hands with the spirits of the instruments who played the important parts of the other nine music groups.

The spirits could not imagine. What kind of music that could not even end would affect the tree of the spirits.

He smirked.

[Orchestra Conductor’s Connection – Top Class]

The musical skills of the beings connected to the conductor vary up to 10 times depending on their affinity.

The affinity with the conductor and the affinity of the connectors are expressed in numbers.

Maximum connectors: 30

‘What if the affinity was 0… No, minus?’

He focused on the word ‘vary’. To increase and decrease the number. He was very curious about what type of results it would bring.

The stage was set up in front of the tree so that the tree of the spirits could hear the music best.

The first group went on stage.

It was a band. The mark of the skill appeared above the head of the drum.

[43 / 10]

There were two numbers, the former was the conductor’s affinity and the latter was the connector’s affinity.

The conductor’s affinity number was high.

The drum respected the spirit of the renowned conductor’s baton, even though they played different instruments.

The connector’s affinity number was low.

The nine in the band barely knew each other’s faces and names, so there was no bond to speak of.

The drum on the stage raised his stick. He used his skill.

[Orchestra Conductor’s Connection is activated.]

He let go of his mind a little. He revealed the contempt that he had hidden by pretending to be an ordinary spirit.

He revealed his disdain.

The affinity responded to their hearts.

The drum’s admiration for him remained the same, but his disdain affected the affinity. The conductor’s affinity number, which was 43, gradually decreased.

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

…

That’s how the number above the drum’s head turned negative.

Bang!

The drum missed a beat. He was one of the best drummers in this world.

The drum didn’t panic and continued to play. But unlike his mind, his hands and feet couldn’t keep up with the rhythm.

As the drum, the center of the band, messed up the beat, the other instruments that tried to cover up the drum’s mistake also started to go out of sync.

Somehow, the band’s stage ended.

The audience’s reaction was not good.

They all worried about what was wrong with the drum.

But it was only one team that made a mistake. Then the next group went up on the stage.

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

…

They also made a mistake.

The next music group went up. She was a solo singer famous for her beautiful voice.

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

…

She also made a mistake.

The next music group went up.

They were a choir known for their outstanding cohesion.

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

…

‘Ah!’

Someone in the audience uttered a lament mixed with sadness.

The nine music groups failed to end the stage properly.

It was the last one. The spirits were confused.

This was the first time that the Music Festival had collapsed since the world was created.

‘What do we do?’

‘What will happen to the spirits that are born now?’

‘Who sent such a team to the Music Festival!?’

The quiet spirits were angry and confused.

The world where beautiful music flowed was cracked. Then, someone said.

‘There’s still the orchestra left. They, the spirit of the conductor’s baton, will do it without any mistakes!’

‘Yeah. He’s still there!’

There was still a ray of hope.

They all held hands with half worry and half expectation and waited for the next stage.

He and his orchestra went up on the stage.

‘Violin. One last time.’

He reached out to the violin, who would play solo in his orchestra.

The violin, wearing a beautiful red dress, blushed and barely held the hand of the master who had allowed her, who had only a low-level skill, to stand on this stage.

He was a very grateful person.

‘Thank you. Maestro.’

‘Don’t mention it.’

[Orchestra Conductor’s Connection is activated.]

A gloomy warning sounded in his head, as if he knew the tragedy that would come to the world, but he smiled cheerfully.

He hated this boring world.

He stood on the podium and lifted the conductor’s baton he was born from with all his might.

The stage began.

He didn’t hide it anymore.

Like shooting a brilliant firework at the end, he didn’t hide his contempt for this dull and monotonous world.

The violin, who was playing solo closest to him, noticed it first. She trembled all over with the evil emotion that she felt for the first time in her life, but she couldn’t stop playing.

But unlike her intention to endure the fear and continue playing, her heart gradually lost respect for the conductor.

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

[The affinity with the target decreases.]

…

‘Ah.’

It was a good sound.

The Demon King swung his conductor’s baton.

As the dizzying, almost-wrong, wavering performance continued, not only the orchestra members, but also all the spirits in the audience noticed.

There, the conductor’s heart on the podium!

The contempt!

The indifference!

The ridicule!

The disdain!

Squeak!

Finally, a sound of despair came from the violin.

She had made a mistake, but she couldn’t ruin the music.

The violin continued to play, tears streaming down her face.

Crack! Screech!

It wasn’t just the violin.

The cello, the viola, the trumpet, they all shivered and despaired.

The spirits in the audience couldn’t hold back their cries as the music crumbled endlessly.

Rustle-

The beautiful spirit tree that served as the background behind the stage shook.

The branches and leaves swayed, even though there was no wind.

‘No!’

The nine music groups that were sitting in the audience and watching his stage in horror shouted as they saw the tree.

‘The tree, the spirit tree!’

The tree was dying.

A scream erupted.

A very high and loud scream.

‘Stop playing!’

‘No, don’t stop!’

The opinions were divided.

Some argued that they had to finish the music even if they made a mistake, and some argued that they had to stop playing because they made a mistake.

He, who was waving his conductor’s baton, knew the answer. He stopped his baton at the highlight part.

The orchestra, who hated him for ruining the music, but only looked at his baton, unknowingly stopped playing.

‘Ah… no…’

There was poor music and there was mistake-ridden music. But if they stopped in the middle, that was not music.

As the orchestra’s performance came to a complete halt, the spirit tree gradually changed.

Darkly.

It died.

The leaves fell one by one, and a large branch fell to the ground with a thud.

Along with that, the screams and lamentations of the spirits were heard from all directions.

The sound of crying was heard.

Ah.

He, who had destroyed a world, was satisfied.

He wondered how the world would change now… His heart beat with anticipation.

Zing-.

Then, the sound of the violin was heard.

***

Seo-jun opened his eyes.

“Seo-jun is awake?”

Choi Si-yoon, who was staring at Seo-jun’s face next to him, smiled and said.

“Ueeeng.”

He had fallen asleep while reading a book in the Library of Life.

It was a nightmare.

A dark history.

He wondered what he was thinking when he ruined such a peaceful and beautiful world.

He felt guilty and embarrassed.

He really sighed.

Hahaha! Chaos! Destruction! Doom!

He felt like he could hear the evil laughter of the spirit of the conductor’s baton in his ears.

‘They call that a second-year syndrome, right? I saw it on TV…’ Seo-jun felt depressed.

At the sound of Seo-jun’s crying, the members who were heating up the baby food and Seo Eun-chan and Kim Hwa-ryeon hurried to the living room.

“Why, why are you crying?”

“Are you okay, Seo-jun?”

Hwang Ye-jun and Kevin quickly sat next to the blanket.

Blowing on the hot baby food, Park Seo-jin finally sat down.

Kim Hwa-ryeon quietly told Seo Eun-chan, who was worried, that it was a tantrum.

“Ueeeng-eeng.”

‘Stupid me from the past!’

It sounded like he was crying, but he wasn’t.

The more he thought about it, the more embarrassed he was.

Seo-jun kicked the blanket with his short legs.

The small baby blanket fluttered.

“Is Seo-jun hungry?”

“I guess so. Seo-jin hyung. Feed him quickly!”

Park Seo-jin scooped up the baby food with a small baby spoon. Kevin quickly picked up Seo-jun and sat him on his lap.

‘No. I’m sad. I’m not hungry…’

“Hap!”

“Our Seo-jun eats well!”

“He must have been really hungry.”

He unknowingly opened his mouth.

Gulp gulp.

The baby food in his mouth disappeared in an instant.

He felt better after eating something delicious.

Seo-jun tilted his head and continued to open his mouth.

‘Hmm, was I really hungry? Come to think of it, I feel a little hungry?

Oh, maybe I had a nightmare because I was hungry.’

“Here. Seo-jun, open your mouth.”

“Me too! I want to try too!”

“After Ye-jun hyung, I’ll do it!”

“Next is me!”

[The affinity with the target increases.]

[The affinity with the target increases.]

[The affinity with the target increases.]

[The affinity with the target increases.]

Seo-jun ate another bite.

The baby food that his mom made was very delicious.

****

The spirit of the cello opened the book.

It was a book about the worst traitor in history, the spirit of the conductor’s baton.

After the incident, the traitor’s skill was revealed and the spirits had to register their skills as soon as they were born.

The first page of the book had the image and skill of the hero, the spirit of the violin.

The violin, who had a low-level skill and defeated the traitor and revived the spirit tree, was a dazzling idol for the cello, who also had a low-level skill.

[Basic Skill with Effort of the Violin-Low]

Basic skill with effort allows you to continue playing with any mistake or bad condition.

It was a skill that didn’t help with skill improvement, but it was very helpful in defeating the traitor.

The cello turned the page.

There was a picture of the violin playing in a red dress and the traitor, who seemed to be screaming under the people in concert clothes.

[The violin continued to play the mistake-ridden music. It was like the clumsy music of a newly born spirit. Her skill, which she had only complained about for being useless, shone. The music that seemed to break but didn’t break continued on and on.

The spirit of the conductor’s baton, who tried to stop the violin, was subdued by his own orchestra members and couldn’t stop the violin’s performance.

The spirit of the conductor’s baton’s skill continued to be used and her skill got worse and worse, but she also didn’t stop her skill and continued to play.

Thanks to the violin’s performance that lasted for five hours, the spirit tree came back to life.

But the spirit tree, which had died and come back to life, did not produce any spirits for the next four years.

Fortunately, the violin’s miracle didn’t end there. At the next Music Festival, thanks to her beautiful performance, was full of vitality. The spirit tree, which had returned to normal, produced more spirits than usual.

…The worst traitor in history, the spirit of the conductor’s baton, was the first to be executed after the world was created.]

Chapter 19

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 19

After feeding Seo-jun some baby food and playing with him to his heart’s content, Brown Black gave him a bath.

The bath was not smooth either.

There was a commotion, and Brown Black, who were all soaked, came out of the bathroom and laid down their bedding in the living room.

Choi Si-yoon and Kevin brought Seo-jun’s crib from the master bedroom and placed it on one side of the living room.

They originally planned to sleep together on the same blanket, but Choi Si-yoon objected to Seo-jun’s smaller-than-expected appearance.

“What if we squash Seo-jun?”

Brown Black and Seo Eun-chan nodded in agreement, as if they hadn’t thought of that, at Choi Si-yoon’s words full of worry.

That’s how Seo-jun ended up sleeping in a crib surrounded by wooden rails.

“I’ll go now. Call me anytime if it’s urgent.”

“Yes, thank you for today.”

“You can call me even at dawn. I’m not worried because Brown Black seems to have studied a lot and played well with Seo-jun, but still.”

Kim Hwa-ryeon, who got on the elevator, massaged her stiff shoulders. It was a tough job to help with the filming for three days and two nights after taking a vacation from the hospital.

Really, if it wasn’t for her hyung… She wouldn’t have wasted her precious vacation on chicken and pizza, and begging her to help him.

“Well, at least Seo-jun is nice and Brown Black seems to have learned a lot, so it’s easy to work.”

Kim Hwa-ryeon pressed the button to go to the first floor with a smile.

Seo-jun’s eyes widened.

‘Hmm. What should I do? I can’t sleep.’

The lights in the living room were off and only a weak orange light was on.

Brown Black changed into their pajamas and leaned their chins on the crib rails, looking at Seo-jun.

Seo Eun-chan yawned silently and picked up the camera.

“Seo-jun is not sleeping?”

“Si-yoon, how long has it been?”

Choi Si-yoon looked at the schedule and the clock and answered Park Seo-jin’s question.

“Thirty minutes.”

“I thought he would sleep well. He’s not sleeping?”

Kevin tilted his head.

The baby, who had been reliable at mealtime and naptime, was not sleeping.

“Hmm. Should we do that?”

“Shall we?”

Brown Black, who had been looking at each other awkwardly, nodded.

They had prepared something for three days before filming.

They wondered if they had practiced in vain because Seo-jun slept well, ate well, and pooped well.

“We practiced for this.”

Fortunately or unfortunately, they could show it because Seo-jun was not sleeping. Park Seo-jin smiled and the rest of the members giggled.

‘What’s going on?’

Seo-jun couldn’t fall asleep easily after spending a day differently from usual.

He was trying hard to sleep. But he couldn’t get the funny faces of his hyungs out of his head. Hehehe.

But the hyungs, who had been different until now, were looking at Seo-jun with calm faces.

[Your bond with the target increases.]

Hmm hmm hmm–

Kevin and Choi Si-yoon opened their mouths first.

A low but soft humming sound flowed into Seo-jun’s ears.

[Orchestra Conductor’s Connection-Lowest Level- is activated.]

Without the conductor Seo-jun’s will, the skill was activated by the music of the connectors.

On top of that, Hwang Ye-jun and Park Seo-jin’s voices blended together.

“Mom went to the shade of the island-”

“When she went to pick oysters-”

The heads of Brown Black, who were singing and harmonizing, shone brightly. Two numbers sparkled.

‘What? This is…’

Park Seo-jin, who was singing, flinched at his own voice, which was so different from the practice.

He was singing like usual.

He had practiced this song dozens of times.

But it was different.

He felt like he could sense the emotions, feelings, and hearts of the other Brown Black members who were singing with him. And they seemed to feel his heart as well.

Seo-jun stared blankly at the numbers of ‘connector bond’ that were rising along with the beautiful singing.

The numbers glittered and rose higher and higher.

Before registering the skill, Seo-jun was shocked to find the book [Spirit of the Baton] in the library. It shouldn’t have been there.

It was a skill that almost ruined a world. Even though it was originally a light attribute, it should have been corrupted into a dark attribute skill.

Then Seo-jun, who had a light attribute, wouldn’t have been able to learn [Orchestra Conductor’s Connection].

But the book was here in the library. In the library full of books that Seo-jun could learn from. Seo-jun had looked at the epilogue.

The epilogue was written as a side story.

At the moment when [Orchestra Conductor’s Connection] was about to be corrupted into a dark attribute, the tree of spirits, which was barely breathing, squeezed out its remaining strength.

The tree hated the traitor, but loved the traitor’s ‘musical talent’.

The spirit of the baton, who was a traitor, hated it, but the tree of spirits couldn’t bear to throw away this amazing skill that would develop the music it loved, so it fought for it.

‘Maybe it cursed a lot.’

In the end, the tree of spirits, which suffered the most damage, used its remaining power to stop the corruption of the traitor’s skill. But even the tree couldn’t stop the skill rank from falling.

The tree cried as it watched the skill rank drop.

[Orchestra Conductor’s Connection] dropped from the highest to the lowest.

The music talent increase that was 10 times changed to 1.3 times, and the number of connectors that was 30 decreased to 4.

Also, the simple condition that could be used by holding hands changed to a difficult condition that required slapping the target’s cheek with both hands.

The skill survived as a light attribute with the tree’s terrifying love for music.

‘The tree’s obsession with music… Scary.’

That’s how [Orchestra Conductor’s Connection] was activated here.

The tree’s obsession with music, which even cherished the traitor’s skill, was great, but Brown Black’s desire was also great.

Brown Black sang the song without being surprised by their sudden rise in skill.

The numbers glittered more.

‘Scary hyungs.’

But the song was beautiful. Seo-jun closed his eyes and enjoyed the song in his warm blanket.

[Orchestra Conductor’s Connection] was not a skill that simply increased the musical skill of the target with friendship.

Based on the bond between the connectors and the conductor, their thoughts, perspectives, and goals for music.

Everything had to come together for the musical skill to increase.

‘But it’s very easy to lower it. It’s very easy if you have different thoughts and perspectives on music. Even when I changed my mind alone, the bond became negative. But… It’s very hard to raise it.’

[Orchestra Conductor’s Connection] was a double-edged sword. Seo-jun gave [Orchestra Conductor’s Connection] to Brown Black, whom he met for the first time, because the skill could be used for good or bad depending on their efforts.

‘I can’t give it to you for free, even if you’re my hyungs!’

That’s what he thought as he handed it over, even though they were good people now. He didn’t know what the future would bring. If they had any bad intentions, Seo-jun would come and take it back, or make them go bankrupt.

He thought it would take months for them to understand and trust each other’s thoughts!

But Brown Black had sung only one song – a nursery rhyme, at that – to activate [the connection of the orchestra conductor].

‘Amazing…… Haa…….’

Seo-jun, who was lost in thought, slowly fell asleep.

Brown Black forgot that they were singing a lullaby.

When the nursery rhyme ended, Park Seo-jin started singing their new song without realizing it.

Hwang Ye-jun, Kevin, and Choi Si-yun also sang their parts earnestly.

It was different, really.

Seo Eun-chan barely held onto the camera. He had noticed something different since they started singing the lullaby they had prepared.

It was a nursery rhyme that they had practiced hard in the practice room, in the dorm, and in the car, saying they would play it for Seo-jun. Seo Eun-chan had heard it enough to get sick of it.

‘It was just a normal nursery rhyme back then…….’

It changed completely. He didn’t know what had changed. The voice, the rhythm, the way of singing seemed the same. But Brown Black’s song made Seo Eun-chan’s heart beat faster, even though he couldn’t read the music.

“Wow…….”

When Brown Black sang their song, Seo Eun-chan shivered as if he had been struck by lightning.

This was it.

This was what had been missing, what they had been lacking.

He clenched his hand unconsciously. He felt something hard in his hand.

It was the camera. He had been filming the floor all along.

Surprised by the camera, Seo Eun-chan quickly lifted it up and filmed the four men who were singing with bright smiles.

He hoped that this beautiful song was being recorded well on the camera.

Brown Black looked at each other’s faces.

They saw each other smiling and singing, and thought, they feel the same way as I do.

They were excited.

They had fun.

They were happy.

They felt each other’s music and their own music.

It seemed like all the problems they had been worrying about were solved.

Their hearts beat fast without rest, and their breaths were short, but they couldn’t stop. They felt anxious about the passing time.

“Huff- Huff-!”

The small midnight concert ended after they sang all six songs that would go into their album.

Brown Black, who had sung with all their strength, collapsed on the living room floor. They gasped for air.

“Wow, shit. That was crazy.”

Hwang Ye-jun, who had stretched out on the floor, was the first to speak. His heart was still pounding.

It was a perfect song, something he would have only sung in his dreams.

He had sung it a few minutes ago, but his heart still fluttered when he thought about it.

He became a singer because he wanted to sing songs like this.

Hwang Ye-jun let out a tear.

“I got goosebumps.”

Choi Si-yun, who was more of a dancer than a vocalist, had sung a more passionate song than any other vocalist.

He had always liked dancing more, but……. Wow……. He couldn’t believe he could sing a song like this……. He felt so emotional that he got goosebumps.

“[That was insane. Really.]”

Kevin breathed heavily. He had changed all the rap parts and sang them differently.

He had spent days and nights writing the lyrics, but the ones he changed in 30 minutes while singing the song suited their music much better.

He had always been worried about his talent among the many rappers in LA, but today he gained confidence. ‘I can do more!’

“This is our music.”

Park Seo-jin, the lead vocalist, could feel the members’ emotions more than anyone else as he had the most parts.

He wondered what kind of idol singer he would be.

He agonized over the genres of many songs.

And now, the leader of Brown Black made a decision.

“Let’s make music that conveys our feelings to others.”

“Wow, shit. You want to do this again?”

Hwang Ye-jun sat up and looked at Park Seo-jin’s face.

“I don’t think I can do this twice. Seo-jin hyung.”

Choi Si-yoon straightened his body, which was stretched out as if he had danced a lot.

“Me too. My heart is still pounding…”

Kevin said, rubbing his hand near his trembling heart.

“We can do it again since we’ve done it once.”

His words were gentle, but Park Seo-jin’s face was not.

The members realized that their leader was quite Spartan when they saw his bright smile.

The days of practice ahead were engraved in their minds.

“Oh, oh. Seo-jun is sleeping!”

Hwang Ye-jun barely remembered Seo-jun in his fading mind.

Oh, right. We were singing a lullaby!

At Hwang Ye-jun’s words, Brown Black belatedly and quietly gathered around the baby crib.

“…Our song. It’s not dance music?”

“It must have been very loud.”

“He sleeps well.”

“Seo-jun is cute.”

Seo-jun slept well amid the noisy idol songs.

***

“Wow… Who is it?”

The man in Seo-jun’s downstairs apartment exclaimed.

He opened the window to ventilate, and he heard a song he had never heard before.

It seemed like an idol song, with fast music and rap.

He was annoyed and wanted to yell at them to be quiet, as he had to go to work early tomorrow morning.

“Should I go up and ask?”

He loved the song. He sat on the balcony with the window open for almost 30 minutes, even with the cold wind of winter.

“It didn’t show up on the phone’s song search… Is it an indie singer?”

The man sneezed loudly as he looked at the search window that said ‘not found’.

“Achoo! Oh, I can’t catch a cold!”

He had left it open for another 10 minutes, hoping to hear the song again, but they seemed to stop singing.

“Ugh! I have to sleep.”

The man closed the window tightly, getting up with his frozen body.

Not only there.

The houses next to Seo-jun’s were all busy trying to find out the singer, admiring the song they heard for 30 minutes.

But it was impossible to find Brown Black, who had not yet debuted.

Chapter 20

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 20

The sun rose.

The kitchen was bustling since morning.

“No, cook it a little more!”

“Isn’t that too big?”

“Teacher, can Seo-jun eat this?”

Seo-jun, who was building blocks with Choi Si-yoon, kept looking at the kitchen.

Uncle Chan was near the sofa, and the other three members and Dr. Kim Hwa-ryeon were chatting loudly in the kitchen.

Seo-jun pouted his lips. What are they doing without me? Is it fun?

“Seo-jun! Look at this. It’s very high!”

Choi Si-yoon tried hard to divert Seo-jun’s attention. He was in charge of taking care of Seo-jun until everything was ready.

Choi Si-yoon stacked wooden blocks with his unique sense of balance. Seo-jun’s head turned to the blocks that Choi Si-yoon had built.

“Hehe!”

‘It’s very high!’

A tower of wooden blocks stood a little far away from Seo-jun.

Seo-jun crawled towards it, and Choi Si-yoon quickly blocked him.

He had carefully stacked them one by one, but it would be a big accident if they collapsed and hit Seo-jun.

“Seo, Seo-jun. Let’s look from here. Don’t touch it!”

“Uwooong!”

Seo-jun went to the left, and Choi Si-yoon quickly twisted his body to the left. Seo-jun went to the right, and Choi Si-yoon quickly moved to the right.

Huh? Is this a game? Peekaboo?

“Aaang!”

‘I’ll accept your challenge!’

Seo-jun pretended to go to the left, then crawled to the right. Choi Si-yoon was a beat too late for Seo-jun’s fake out.

“Seo-jun?!”

Seo-jun, who was crawling hard to the right, stopped at Choi Si-yoon’s scream.

He turned his head and smiled brightly at Choi Si-yoon, then grabbed the drawer next to the block and put strength in both hands.

He put strength in his butt, legs, and feet, and stood up on the spot.

“Waaaa!”

The wooden block tower was taller than Seo-jun who stood up. Seo-jun had to look up to see it.

Choi Si-yoon, who didn’t know what to do, sighed with relief and hugged Seo-jun who stood up.

“Did you want to stand up?”

“Uuung!”

“Then, say it!”

Seo-jun turned his head and looked at Choi Si-yoon with a sour expression.

Choi Si-yoon coughed.

Oh right, he can’t even say mom and dad yet?

“Now, Seo-jun. Shall we stack it higher?”

“Aaaa!”

Choi Si-yoon put a block on top of the wooden block first. The wooden block settled securely on the top.

“Next, let’s have Seo-jun try.”

Choi Si-yoon handed Seo-jun the smallest square-shaped block.

Seo-jun stared at the small block, then reached out his hand to the block tower.

Choi Si-yoon, who was holding Seo-jun, walked slowly to the front of the block tower.

“Uoo.”

Seo-jun slowly reached out his hand. He placed his tiny hand on the wooden block and slowly spread his fingers.

The wooden block fell from his palm.

The block wobbled on top of the tower.

Seo-jun and Choi Si-yoon held their breath and waited for the block to stop.

“Wow! Seo-jun made the highest tower!”

“Woahhh!”

The block that seemed to fall any moment stopped.

It was half-sticking out from the top of the tower that Choi Si-yoon had neatly stacked, so it didn’t look very cool, but it was amazing that he had put it there.

“Seo-jun is a genius!”

“Hehehe!”

Choi Si-yoon lifted Seo-jun up in his arms. Seo-jun giggled, and Hwang Ye-jun and Kevin came out of the kitchen.

Hwang Ye-jun was sweating a little and Kevin had a knife in one hand.

“Hyung! Knife! Knife!”

“Oh, Sorry!”

Choi Si-yoon quickly turned Seo-jun’s gaze and shouted, and Kevin hurried back in.

Park Seo-jin must have heard Choi Si-yoon’s scream, as he scolded Kevin.

Hwang Ye-jun wiped the sweat off his face with a handkerchief.

As he approached, Choi Si-yoon backed away with Seo-jun in his arms.

Hwang Ye-jun opened his eyes wide.

“What? Why are you avoiding me?”

“Seo-jun-ah. That hyung is dirty. Dirty.”

“I cleaned up. The handkerchief is clean too!”

“Eee! Eeng!”

“Yeah. Dirty!”

Seo-jun laughed at Hwang Ye-jun’s pitiful expression. He was a fun hyung to tease.

“Hurry up and wash up.”

“Okay.”

Hwang Ye-jun quickly washed his face in the bathroom.

Kevin also came out of the living room with a pale face, having heard Park Seo-jin’s nagging about putting the knife away properly.

“So what? What made you laugh so much, Seo-jun-ah?”

“Ooahh! Woong!”

Seo-jun pointed to the wooden block tower with his hand. The two men looked at the tower. Hwang Ye-jun said.

“Why is this so crooked? Did you put it wrong?”

“That’s right. Only this one is like that.”

Hwang Ye-jun reached out his hand to straighten the wooden block that was stacked crookedly by itself.

“No! Hyung!”

“Aaahh!!”

Choi Si-yoon and Seo-jun screamed.

The scream was louder than before, and Park Seo-jin and Kim Hwa-ryeon came out of the kitchen.

Seo Eun-chan, who had been filming in the living room, chuckled.

Hwang Ye-jun stopped his hand, startled by the loud noise.

It was just before he touched the wooden block on top.

Hwang Ye-jun’s eyes rolled.

Park Seo-jin and Kim Hwa-ryeon wondered what was going on. Kevin, who was quick-witted, stepped back.

“Why? Why? What did I do wrong?”

“That’s Seo-jun’s tower! Seo-jun worked so hard to build it!”

“Abubu! Abububub!”

Seo-jun talked a lot. His round eyes glared sharply at Hwang Ye-jun.

‘I built it! I built it coolly!’

Hwang Ye-jun hid his hand behind his back in surprise at Choi Siyoon’s words.

Park Seo-jin and Kim Hwa-ryeon glared at him with a look that said, ‘How dare you!’

“Oh, my. Seo-jun, I’m sorry. I didn’t know!”

“Abubup! Abububu!”

‘I was standing here, raising my hand like this!’

“Right. I was wrong!”

Hwang Ye-jun didn’t know what to do with Seo-jun’s most intense reaction so far.

Kevin clasped his hands politely in front of him.

He almost ended up like Hwang Ye-jun.

“Come on, Seo-jun. Forgive Ye-jun hyung. He’s sorry. And luckily, he didn’t touch the blocks, right?”

At Park Seo-jin’s words, Seo-jun looked at Hwang Ye-jun, who was begging in front of him.

Hwang Ye-jun was pleading so hard that his palms were hot.

What can I do? I’ll let it go!

“Ooong!”

“Oh, thank you. Thank you!”

Seo-jun spread his arms. Hwang Ye-jun hugged him with a smile.

Hwang Ye-jun shook Seo-jun gently in his arms and laughed loudly.

Seo-jun also enjoyed being in Hwang Ye-jun’s embrace and giggled.

“Okay, that’s enough. Seo-jun might get dizzy.”

Seo Eun-chan intervened. Hwang Ye-jun, who was shaking Seo-jun hard, came to his senses and stopped.

Seo-jun hit Hwang Ye-jun’s arm, asking for more.

“Seo-jun, let’s eat. Food.”

At Park Seo-jin’s words, Seo-jun’s head turned quickly. Oh, that’s right. It was almost time to eat. He was a little hungry.

“Ooong!”

“We prepared a special meal for Seo-jun!”

They all headed to the kitchen.

On the table, there were bowls of finely chopped ingredients. Park Seo-jin added the opinion of Dr. Kim Hwa-ryeon to the ingredients he had researched.

There was beef broth and minced beef, spinach, seaweed, enoki mushrooms, potatoes, egg yolks, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and yellowtail.

All kinds of ingredients were neatly cut.

Hwang Ye-jun, who had seated Seo-jun in a baby chair, wiped his sweat.

“It was hard to make beef broth. I had to boil sweet potatoes and pumpkins and blanch the vegetables.”

“Cutting them was hard, too.”

Kevin nodded at Park Seo-jin’s words. Choi Siyoon, who didn’t know the situation because he was playing with Seo-jun, was surprised to see the ingredients on the table.

“Are you going to use all of this? Are you planning to make enough for several days?”

“No. We’re going to make what Seo-jun wants to eat from here. We have to decide quickly if we want to boil it in a pot and make porridge.”

Brown Black’s eyes turned to the clock. They were all anxious about the approaching time to feed Seo-jun.

Hwang Ye-jun looked at the camera that Seo Eun-chan was holding and said.

“Hello, viewers. We’re going to start making baby food with Jun! Today’s baby food will be made with the ingredients on this table. The method is random!”

Brown Black clapped their hands and Seo-jun clapped his hands, too.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how delicious the baby food will be! By the way, we’ll try it first and then feed it to Seo-jun if the doctor approves the combination of ingredients. Seo-jun’s taste is safe!”

“Please let it be a delicious baby food.”

Kevin prayed at Hwang Ye-jun’s last words. Seo-jun’s taste might be safe, but what about ours? Brown Black’s eyes became sad.

“Well, shall we start now?”

Park Seo-jin carefully picked up Seo-jun, who was sitting in a baby chair, and looked him in the eye.

“Seo-jun.”

“Hmm?”

“Pick something that looks delicious here. What do you think looks good?”

Seo-jun’s gaze followed where Park Seo-jin was pointing.

There were colorful things on the plates.

“Huh?”

‘Well?’

What would be tasty?

Seo-jun wondered.

He first chose the ingredients that he often ate in his baby food.

Seo-jun pointed at the seasoned beef.

“You picked beef first!”

“Meat is delicious.”

Huh? Choi Si-yoon tilted his head.

Hwang Ye-jun, who was broadcasting live with Kevin, whispered. What’s wrong?

‘If this is the first one, how many times does Seo-jun pick?’

‘Uh… I don’t know.’

They didn’t decide that.

Before Choi Si-yoon and Hwang Ye-jun could panic, Seo-jun pointed at the plates with his fingers.

This one is yellow, so it must be tasty.

This one is green, so it might be good!

This one is white.

It looks delicious!

This one, this one, this one!

Seo-jun didn’t know what the original ingredients were because they were chopped too finely, so he chose the ones that looked delicious without any hesitation.

“You picked egg yolk, spinach, mushroom, wait, how many are you picking? Seo-jun!”

“Kyaaah!”

‘I picked them all!’

Oh. A sigh came out of Brown Black’s mouth. Seo-jun smiled proudly. He picked them all!

“He really picked everything…”

Brown Black couldn’t continue their words at Seo-jun’s mischief of choosing all the ingredients on the table.

“Hehehe.”

“Seo-jun, tell me honestly. You know we’re going to eat this, right? You did this on purpose, right?”

“This can’t be delicious, hyungs.”

Hwang Ye-jun whined in front of Seo-jun, who was in Park Seo-jin’s arms.

Choi Si-yoon rubbed his forehead as he checked the ingredients roughly. Kim Hwa-ryeon, who was holding the camera from afar, made an X sign with her arms.

“Yes. That’s right. The baby food that the doctor also opposed!”

“We have to eat this, right?”

“Is this a punishment food?”

Brown Black was disappointed, but they put Seo-jun in a baby chair and brought a pot.

“We can use the leftovers as Seo-jun’s baby food ingredients, so let’s just put them in.”

“Okay.”

They all picked up a spoon with a listless voice and put one spoonful of ingredients into the pot.

“Ugh. I don’t like mushrooms…”

“Good for you. You can fix your picky eating with this opportunity.”

“How much broth should we put in?”

“Maybe it’ll be delicious if we season it well?”

Hwang Ye-jun put a spoonful of mushrooms in the pot with a disgusted face. Then, all the ingredients went into the pot.

“Okay. Now let’s boil it.”

“We’re going to eat this, so can we add some salt…”

Seo Eun-chan swung his arm at Choi Si-yoon’s words. That’s not allowed! It’s baby food!

“…It won’t work, right?”

“It won’t work…”

Hwang Ye-jun turned on the gas. Bubbling. He heated up the baby food that Seo Eunhye had prepared while Park Seo-jin was watching.

“Seo-jun, let’s eat this delicious and safe baby food.”

“Uh-uh-uh?”

‘Didn’t you want to eat that? I picked it because it was pretty. You don’t want me to eat it?’

Ding-dong- As usual, the alarm rang and the baby food went into Seo-jun’s mouth.

Yum! Delicious! Seo-jun was enjoying his mom’s baby food when the gas stove switch turned off.

Lee Seo-jun’s random baby food was ready.

“It’s done.”

“Is this Seo-jun’s pick of baby food?”

“There’s no such thing as a pick. Everything went in.”

“Oh. The colorful colors, well…”

Brown Black’s face looked bad as he peered into the pot.

Seo Eun-chan shoved the camera into the pot. Hmm. I’ll have to mosaic this later.

“What is this? The ingredients were fine, but why is it this color?”

“That’s because everything went in.”

“Are you really going to eat this?”

“It’s a waste not to.”

Brown Black all picked up their spoons. Hwang Ye-jun tried to eat a sparrow’s tear amount, but Park Seo-jin kindly scooped up a full spoon for him.

“Do we eat it when we count to three?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

Brown Black swallowed their saliva. Seo-jun, who was holding a baby spoon, looked at his brothers. What is that? That weird color? You’ll get sick if you eat that!

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three!”

Brown Black’s mouths were filled with Lee Seo-jun’s random baby food, which they admitted was a strange color.

Chapter 21

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 21

Brown Black quickly threw away the mysterious baby food in the pot after having a delicious breakfast. They regained their appetite.

“Shall we go outside later?”

“An hour should be fine.”

Seo-jun woke up from his nap.

He had woken up early in the morning, played a lot, ate some delicious baby food, and took a nap, but the sun was still high in the sky.

He decided to go to the apartment playground with Kim Hwa-ryeon and Brown Black.

“Have you been to the playground, Seo-jun?”

“Abup!”

He had gone there with his mom for a walk. He couldn’t walk, so he couldn’t ride any of the playground equipment.

Choi Si-yoon smiled brightly and said.

“Today, I’ll show you how I dance.”

He seemed to be influenced by last night.

He wanted to dance right away, and his feet wouldn’t stay still.

They all packed some milk, diapers, and a thick blanket for Seo-jun and headed to the playground.

It was a cold winter, but the playground was full of lively children.

They heard laughter and saw children running around.

“When will our Seo-jun run around?”

Seo Eun-chan muttered as he watched the children.

Kim Hwa-ryeon, who heard him nearby, dusted off the bench and said.

“He’ll run around soon. Children grow up in the blink of an eye.”

“I guess so.”

Seo-jun, who was in Hwang Ye-jun’s arms, stared at the playground. He looked so cute in his rabbit fur hat.

“I told you I chose well.”

Hwang Ye-jun lightly pressed and released Seo-jun’s cheek with his finger.

The rabbit hat he bought suited him very well.

“He’s so cute. Seo-jun.”

Kevin pressed the handle of the rabbit hat and the rabbit’s ears popped up.

He pressed the other side alternately and the rabbit ears flickered.

Hwang Ye-jun and Kevin laughed as they saw the rabbit ears standing up.

“Seo-jun is a rabbit. A rabbit.”

“Ahahaha.”

“Come on, Seo-jun. Sit here.”

Park Seo-jin, who had safely placed Seo-jun’s baby chair on the bench, called Seo-jun.

They were in a secluded corner of the playground where there weren’t many people.

It was a shady place where the sun didn’t shine well, so they wrapped Seo-jun’s body with a blanket.

“Abubu!”

‘It’s stuffy, but warm!’

Seo Eun-chan and Kim Hwa-ryeon, who had cameras, sat on either side of Seo-jun, who had become a snowman wrapped in a blanket.

Kim Hwa-ryeon took a picture of Seo-jun and Seo Eun-chan took a picture of Brown Black.

Brown Black found their positions and stood up.

Brown Black wasn’t disappointed that their first stage wasn’t a glamorous place, but a corner of the playground where no one came.

Rather, their hearts were beating so fast that they felt like they would stop breathing.

There were spectators, not the company staff who always watched their practice.

Seo-jun, who was sitting in the baby chair, opened his eyes wide and looked at them.

‘What are those hyungs going to do?’

Brown Black’s heads sparkled.

The sparkling numbers got higher and higher.

It was the same as last night.

Seo Eun-chan felt the same way.

He wished he had a better camera and a recording machine. He was sorry.

The leader, Park Seo-jin, raised his voice.

“Hello, everyone. Hello, Seo-jun!”

“Kyahaha!”

Seo-jun laughed brightly. ‘Whatever happens, do your best! Hyungs!’

Brown Black bowed their heads with bright smiles.

“From now on, we will perform for you. Please listen carefully!”

Choi Si-yoon, who was closest to them, quickly ran to play music on his phone.

Music flowed from two Bluetooth speakers placed on both sides of the bench chair. The place was noisy with various sounds. But,

-It’s a humble start

As soon as Park Seo-jin opened his mouth, it seemed like the noise was gone except for their music.

[The Connection of the Orchestra Conductor is activated.]

‘I knew it.’

Seo-jun nodded.

It was not a skill that was activated often, but they used it too easily.

Seo-jun leaned back on the chair and enjoyed the song.

Even now, they were good enough, but if they continued to trust each other and study music for a long time, he wondered how Brown Black would be in the future, using both their basic skills and the power of the skill.

-It’s just one step

Hwang Ye-jun’s mouth opened and a gentle voice was heard. Choi Si-yoon came forward.

[The Connection of the Orchestra Conductor] only increased their musical ability.

It had no effect on their dance skills.

But Choi Si-yoon felt the rhythm and beat of the song more intensely than usual.

He was sure of that, and he moved more fiercely than usual.

The three others also moved their bodies to match Choi Si-yoon’s intense dance.

Seo-jun’s eyes widened at the dazzling dance that continued without a break.

It was different from the dance he saw on television.

The stage that unfolded right in front of his eyes had a unique vividness.

The four of them danced to the music.

It was amazing.

He felt the members’ hearts like last night.

It was a familiar dance, but today their fingers and toes fit perfectly.

They were so happy that they didn’t lose their bright smiles even while singing and dancing.

Their dance was more perfect than ever. Seo Eun-chan clenched his fist.

It wasn’t just last night.

They showed the same skills as yesterday.

‘This should be a success, right?!’

Seo Eun-chan got up from his seat without realizing it.

He didn’t want to sit still and film, but he wanted to take a closer look at these cool idols.

“Wow…”

Kim Hwa-ryeon, who had returned home last night, unknowingly turned the camera from Seo-jun to Brown Black.

She didn’t expect much from the first idol group of the new entertainment company, but it was beyond her imagination.

It was the first time she heard the song, but the lyrics stuck in her ears and the flashy choreography delighted her eyes.

-It’s just the beginning!

The song that lasted for about four minutes ended. Brown Black bowed to the camera that was filming them.

“Huff- Huff- Thank you!”

With a clearly exhausted look, Brown Black sat down in front of the bench chair where Seo-jun was.

Seo Eun-chan gave them water bottles with a puzzled face.

“Didn’t you say you were going to do two more songs?”

“Huh- No, no. Huff huff- I’m really tired…”

Hwang Ye-jun waved his hand as he drank water without breathing.

The other three also nodded. Park Seo-jin washed his face with a tired look.

“I didn’t know what I was doing yesterday and sang all the songs, but I feel like I’m going to die if I sing and dance at the same time.”

“I know. Wow, how did we do it yesterday?”

‘It must be because of me.’

Seo-jun wanted to pat his brothers’ backs with both hands as a mana supplier, but he couldn’t move because his arms were wrapped in a blanket. He only wiggled his fingers.

Using skills was not without a price.

Mana was the basic resource, but if mana ran out, they had to pay with their physical strength.

Yesterday, Seo-jun and Brown Black were close by, so Seo-jun’s mana had partly covered for them, but now they were far apart.

Today, and on the future stages, it was up to Brown Black, they had to solve it themselves.

Kevin, who had been sitting on the dirt floor and taking a few deep breaths, smiled.

“I need to exercise more, don’t I?”

“Yeah. I’ll upgrade your gym membership. You need to build up your stamina if you want to do a concert.”

At Seo Eun-chan’s words, the faces of Brown Black, who were sitting on the floor, turned to one place.

It was a word that had seemed far away even in their imagination.

Choi Si-yoon asked with a flustered face.

“A c-concert?”

“Yeah.”

Seo Eun-chan smiled brightly.

“You guys are awesome! If you debut like this, you might be able to do a nationwide concert within a year!”

“Really?”

Brown Black looked incredulous.

They had been rejected by several agencies.

They had always been told that they lacked something, and their debut had been canceled and their schedule had been overturned.

But a concert?

They also thought they had done better than usual when they sang and danced just now.

The song they had sung last night, full of emotion, and the dance that could not be more perfect.

They wondered if they could do the same on a music show and have a great debut stage!

“I think so too.”

It was Kim Hwa-ryeon. Her face, which had been calm until a moment ago, was flushed.

“Wow. Why haven’t you debuted yet? You sang really well and your dance was awesome! Look, look. I got goosebumps. You were amazing.”

“Uh…”

Brown Black didn’t know what to do at Kim Hwa-ryeon’s praise.

That’s when it happened.

“Excuse me!”

A man called out to them.

The cheerful atmosphere quickly faded.

Was he a complainant?

Seo Eun-chan jumped up and ran to the man.

Was it too loud?

Seo Eun-chan bit his lip.

He couldn’t ruin Brown Black’s image before their debut.

“I’m sorry…”

“What’s the name of the song?”

“Huh… Yes?”

The man, who had come to get the documents he had left behind, had heard their song and ran over.

He smiled awkwardly.

“I searched everywhere, but I couldn’t find the song title or the singer’s name. You sang several songs last night, but today you only sang one.”

“Uh… Uh…”

The eyes of Brown Black and Kim Hwa-ryeon, who had been holding their breath in tension, widened.

Seo Eun-chan and Brown Black lost their words at the man’s sudden question.

The man who asked the question was also embarrassed and said nothing.

Silence flowed.

They all seemed to be out of their minds.

“Kyahaha!”

It was time for me to step in.

What’s with the mood? Is it edible?

The baby’s laughter, which didn’t know anything, broke the silence.

Seo Eun-chan, who was startled, quickly answered.

“Oh, yes! The song title is ‘Start’. And the singer’s name is, uh. Just a moment.”

Seo Eun-chan gestured to the back. Brown Black, who flinched at the gesture, quickly ran to Seo Eun-chan. Greet him. Greet him. Seo Eun-chan whispered.

“Hi, we’re Brown Black!”

“Oh, you’re Brown Black. I’ve heard of you at night. You sing well and dance well too.”

“Thank you.”

“But I couldn’t find your songs online…”

Seo Eun-chan quickly answered.

“They haven’t debuted yet.”

The man’s eyes widened.

Ah. That’s why.

The man who had searched music sites all night and even posted a question felt relieved when he found the answer.

“I hope you debut soon. Please sing more good songs.”

The man smiled and took out a paper from his bag.

He also took out a pen from his pocket.

He handed the paper and pen to Brown Black.

Brown Black didn’t know what he meant and just stood there blankly. Seo Eun-chan poked Kevin’s side.

“Sign, sign.”

“Huh!”

Hwang Ye-jun’s breath stopped. Park Seo-jin trembled as he took the paper and pen.

“Please, if you don’t mind.”

“No, not at all.”

Seo Eun-chan waved his hand. In the meantime, Choi Si-yoon, who had difficulty breathing, signed the paper.

As the conversation dragged on, Kim Hwa-ryeon headed to them with Seo-jun in her arms.

“Kyaaah!”

“Huh? Is that a baby?”

“Yes. We’re filming a parenting show for YouTube. Please watch it when you have time. This is our YouTube address.”

As Seo Eun-chan and the man continued their conversation, the signing was over. The man received the signed paper and smiled brightly.

“I’ll definitely buy your album when it comes out.”

“Thank you!”

Brown Black and Seo Eun-chan bowed their heads. The man also said goodbye and left.

Brown Black only looked at the man’s back as he walked away.

The man’s back faded.

“Ah…”

It was a tear.

Kevin bit his lip. His chest was hot.

It was so hot that he felt like crying.

Choi Si-yoon, the youngest, had already started crying. He shed tears without making a sound.

Hwang Ye-jun and Park Seo-jin opened their mouths with watery eyes as they looked at their members.

They couldn’t say anything and closed their mouths.

“Well done!”

Seo Eun-chan, who managed to spit out the words, patted Brown Black’s shoulder, who buried his face in his hands.

He also couldn’t control his rising emotions and kept repeating ‘well done, well done’.

Kim Hwa-ryeon, who skillfully held Seo-jun with one hand, lifted the camera. She also sniffed her nose.

“Kkahaha.”

Seo-jun, who couldn’t cry himself, smiled brightly. Brown Black’s gaze turned to the baby. Seeing his smiling face.

“Uhuhuhung. Seo-jun!”

“Your hyungs were praised!”

“[They said they’ll buy our album! We have to sing more for them!]”

“Uhuhung. Hyung, you danced well!”

Starting with Hwang Ye-jun, they all burst into tears. They hugged each other and cried with the little baby in the middle.

He could endure the frustration, but…

‘I want to cry!’

“Uwaaaaah!”

Seo-jun also burst into tears.

Seo Eun-chan wiped away the flowing tears and Kim Hwa-ryeon took out a handkerchief.

It was a good day.

Chapter 22

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 22

Brown Black and Seo-jun came back from the playground with their faces stained with tears.

They washed their faces first before doing anything else.

Hwang Ye-jun, who had practiced hard for the puppet show, sat Seo-jun on his lap and read him a storybook with pictures.

Seo-jun loved fairy tales.

He felt nostalgic whenever the main characters or the supporting characters were not humans, but animals like pigs, dogs, or tigers, or sometimes even plants.

“Kyaaak!”

Seo-jun screamed and clapped his hands. His enthusiastic reaction marked the end of the puppet show.

Hwang Ye-jun smiled brightly and put away the book.

“I’m glad you liked it, Seo-jun. It was worth practicing!”

Ding-dong-

Choi Si-yoon, who had been dozing off on the sofa, woke up abruptly and said.

“Oh, it’s put him to bed time to feed Seo-jun and.”

After dancing hard, crying their hearts out, washing up, and listening to a bedtime story, they gradually fell asleep.

Kevin also yawned widely.

“Hmm.”

Park Seo-jin looked at the members’ condition and pondered.

In his hand was a bottle of milk that he had prepared at the perfect temperature.

He had become a veteran in just two days.

“Since Seo-jun has eaten and taken a nap, shall we sleep too?”

“Yes, please!”

“Agreed!”

“Spread the blankets.”

Kevin quickly got up and spread Seo-jun’s and the other members’ blankets in the living room.

Park Seo-jin gave Seo-jun a pacifier to suck on.

Seo-jun’s eyes curved into crescents as he caught the incoming milk without missing a beat.

The other members also gathered around him, sitting in a cozy circle.

“Ehehe.”

“Ah, Seo-jun is so cute.”

“I think he’s the cutest when he eats.”

Seo Eun-chan quickly grabbed the camera and took a close-up shot.

As he looked at Seo-jun through the camera screen, he clutched his heart.

Gasp! Is this how he became a nephew fool!

The nap was short but sweet.

Brown Black and Seo-jun, who had slept soundly and woke up, were full of energy.

They played with the rice flour and seaweed that Park Seo-jin had prepared, and Seo-jun’s bath, which was a mess after playing, was finished in no time thanks to Brown Black’s dazzling teamwork that they had studied from YouTube videos all night.

The fun time passed by in an instant. It was already the second night with his hyungs.

“Round eyes and a small black nose-”

“Wearing a black fur coat-”

Hmm. Seo-jun, who was lying on a cozy blanket, thought. Did these hyungs just want to sing songs using my lullaby as an excuse?

He saw Brown Black, who pushed their faces over the baby bed and looked at him like yesterday.

They all smiled and sang nursery rhymes, and he didn’t think his guess was wrong.

“Pretty baby bear.”

[The connection of the orchestra conductor is activated.]

‘Well, their singing skills have increased by 0.3 times in a day or two, so singing must be fun.’

Yawn.

But today, they didn’t sing all six songs that would go into Brown Black’s album like yesterday.

They continued to sing the calm nursery rhymes that they had practiced.

Seo-jun fell asleep with a swoosh.

The man downstairs, who opened the window and waited for the song that would come from somewhere in the cold wind, didn’t notice that the last night of Brown Black and Jun’s 48 hours had passed.

It was morning.

The atmosphere was a bit gloomy, unlike the lively day before.

Brown-Black did their jobs perfectly, even with a slightly dark expression.

Seo-jun ate his formula as usual, played, and took a nap. Then he ate his baby food and played happily.

The time that seemed endless and hopeless passed by like light.

“This is the last time We’re going to make formula, Ye-jun hyung.”

Choi Si-Yoon opened his mouth without realizing it as he made the formula.

“Don’t say that. It’s sad.”

Hwang Ye-jun, who was holding Seo-jun, said with a drooping eye. Seo-jun, who had his chin on Hwang Ye-jun’s shoulder, stared at Choi Si-Yoon making his formula and screamed.

Ding-dong-

“That’s sharp!”

As Seo-jun’s alarm and the phone alarm rang, Choi Si-Yoon quickly checked the temperature and gave Seo-jun the nipple.

Slurp slurp.

Hwang Ye-jun headed to the living room with Seo-jun, who was eating comfortably.

“Only the Christmas tree is left to decorate and it’s really over.”

Park Seo-jin and Kevin had neatly arranged the items to decorate the Christmas tree in the living room.

The two of them sighed as they put the sparkling bulbs on the floor and the small dolls to decorate on the floor.

“Is the world going to end because of that?”

“You guys are also sad, right?”

Park Seo-jin looked at Seo-jun, who was eating his formula deliciously.

“At first, it was really hard…”

“Yeah. Changing diapers was also very hard.”

“Diapers are still hard, right?”

“Parents are amazing.”

Eeheeheehee.

Seo-jun smiled shyly at the brothers who stared at him intently.

Now, even Brown Black smiled softly without being flustered.

Hwang Ye-jun recalled them two days ago.

They made a fuss at the baby’s laughter, and ran to the doctor at the drop of a tear.

“It feels like 48 hours have passed in the blink of an eye.”

Park Seo-jin, who had been studying childcare in between singing and dancing practice for three days, placed his index finger on Seo-jun’s tiny palm.

Seo-jun reflexively grasped Park Seo-jin’s index finger tightly.

“At first, I just thought it was a video to promote our name, but…”

They felt like they had become a real family.

Choi Si-yoon looked at Seo-jun with moist eyes.

Thanks to this little baby, his singing and dancing skills, which had been stagnant, seemed to have improved by leaps and bounds.

“It seems like we’re making a lot of happy memories before we leave.”

Kevin gently stroked Seo-jun’s hair. It was a noisy and happy break from the daily routine that was filled with practice, practice, and more practice.

“I’ll miss this place when we go back to the dorm.”

Everyone laughed at Kevin’s words. They all agreed with Kevin’s words with laughter.

“We’ll be busy anyway. We have to go on a music show in a month.”

Seo Eun-chan, who had been scribbling something on a piece of paper in a corner of the living room, said. Brown Black nodded at his words.

As Brown Black listened to their conversation, Seo-jun drank his formula deliciously.

He held the empty bottle in his hand for a moment and then dropped it.

“Oops!”

Before the empty bottle hit the floor, Park Seo-jin caught it in a flash.

“Kyahaha!”

“You’re good at catching, leader?”

“I have learned to catch it now, since he drops it so often.”

They all smiled brightly as if they were showing their familiarity of 48 hours.

“Okay, let’s turn off the lights.”

They closed all the curtains in the living room and made it dark.

The bright living room became dark like night.

The blackout curtains that Park Seo-jin brought did their part.

Hwang Ye-jun showed the heavy blackout curtains with a look of disbelief.

“Why did you bring that?”

“It’s better to have more than less.”

Park Seo-jin had no idea that in the future, whenever he appeared on a variety show, a caption would say, ‘Park Seo-jin, who prefers more than less, brought this much again!’

“Let’s have Seo-jun turn on the switch!”

Seo-jun, who was sitting on Choi Si-yoon’s lap, looked at the Christmas tree that was set up on one side of the living room. His small hand grabbed the switch of the colorful lights. Choi Si-yoon’s hand was on top of his.

Seo-jun tilted his head at the sight of the Christmas tree, which he had been watching with a look of what are they doing this time.

They attached dolls and stars and beads to the tree, and now they turned off the lights without even looking at the decorated tree.

They even blocked the sunlight that came in through the window with curtains.

“Uhing?”

“Come on, Seo-jun. Look carefully.”

Hwang Ye-jun stopped Seo-jun, who was slapping Choi Si-yoon’s arm with both palms.

Park Seo-jin and Kevin also sat next to Choi Si-yoon.

They all sat in the dark living room and looked at the Christmas tree.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

Choi Si-yoon flipped the switch. Seo-jun’s finger moved along with him.

Click!

Sparkle!

The tree sparkled. It twinkled with red, blue, green, and yellow lights.

Seo-jun was startled and looked at the tree. The yellow star at the top of the tree spun and shone!

The beads that were invisible before sparkled under the light of the tiny bulbs that wrapped around the tree.

The decorated dolls were also very visible.

“Uh-huh?”

‘What is this?’

The light came on with a click.

It was not white light like the living room lamp, but colorful lights of various colors.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the tree that shone brightly. It was pretty!?

It was very pretty!

“Seo-jun, Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas!”

“That’s the native pronunciation!”

Everyone cheered and clapped for the early Christmas. Seo-jun, who was mesmerized by the tree, also clapped along with his brothers.

He didn’t know what they were saying, but it was awesome! It was the best!

“Kyaaahahaha.”

“Isn’t it pretty, Seo-jun?”

“Uh-huh!”

Seo-jun wiggled his hips as he looked at the sparkling tree. He saw the amazing switch between Choi Si-yoon’s and his own hands.

So, if he clicked it. Seo-jun put strength into both hands. Choi Si-yoon said “oh no” at the same time.

The living room went dark in an instant.

“What, what?!”

“Si-yoon?”

“No, it’s not me! It’s Seo-jun!”

“What?”

Seo-jun felt a surge of mischief as he saw his brothers’ surprised faces.

He laughed hehehe and put strength into his hands again.

Sparkle!

The light came on the tree.

The colorful lights danced again.

Brown Black’s eyes all turned to Seo-jun, who was sitting on Choi Si-yoon’s lap.

Seo-jun smiled cutely. Brown Black also smiled without realizing it.

‘Hehe, this is great!’

Click!

It went dark again.

Click!

The light came on and off.

“Oh, Seo-jun. Stop it.”

“That’s enough!”

“Curtains! Open the curtains!”

Kevin opened the curtains wide.

Bright sunlight came in.

It was winter, but it was very bright at noon.

No matter how much he moved the switch, click click, the incoming sunlight was too bright to make a dramatic change.

“Uh-hehehe.”

Seo-jun showed the switch with a sullen face.

Turn this on.

His eyes sparkled. Brown Black tried to look away.

Hwang Ye-jun and Kevin whispered quietly.

“It’s cute, but.”

“It won’t work.”

Hwang Ye-jun quickly turned away from Seo-jun’s gaze.

“Shall we give Seo-jun his Christmas present now?!”

At the sound of the word ‘present’, Seo-jun put down his switch. Present! I love presents! Seo-jun spread his arms and cheered.

“Hehehe.”

“Thank goodness he’s simple-minded.”

Choi Si-Yoon quickly hid the little light bulb’s switch where Seo-jun couldn’t see it.

Brown Black searched their luggage for the presents they had bought for Seo-jun.

Then, the irresponsible uncle who was busy filming, Seo Eun-chan, shouted. He couldn’t miss this interesting opportunity!

“Didn’t you guys say you were going to rank your love for him?”

Pause.

The living room, where they had been rummaging for presents, became quiet in an instant.

The four men slowly lifted their heads and exchanged glances.

They all looked confident.

“Okay.”

“Let’s do it.”

Brown Black quickly cleaned up the living room.

And they made Seo-jun sit in front of the sofa.

Brown Black sat opposite Seo-jun, each hiding their Christmas present behind their backs. Park Seo-jin opened his mouth.

“The first person Seo-jun goes to is the first place. You can use the present however you want.”

“I don’t need to do this in the first place!”

“I’m the best.”

“We’ll see who’s the longest and the shortest.”

As the four men competed with each other, Seo-jun sat blankly.

‘Tree… It was fun… It was so sparkly! It’s so fun and new to be with my brothers!’

“Seo-jun!”

Brown Black called Seo-jun, who was still mesmerized by the Christmas tree.

They decided to show him their presents one by one.

“Uh-huh?”

Huh? What are you doing there, brothers? You said you’d give me a present?

“Here, a very cute rabbit doll!”

The first one was Hwang Ye-jun, who won the rock-paper-scissors.

Hwang Ye-jun cheered and took out something from behind his back. It was a doll.

Unfortunately, Hwang Ye-jun’s doll looked exactly like the attachment doll, Todori, that Seo-jun had thrown away when he was five months old. Seo-jun pouted his lips.

That’s boring.

Seeing Seo-jun’s reaction was not good, Hwang Ye-jun was discouraged.

No, doll shop owner! You said this was the best seller!

Next was Choi Si-Yoon’s turn.

“Seo-jun, look at this! It’s amazing.”

What Choi Si-Yoon took out was a snow globe. When you flip it over and put it down, it snowed.

Oh, that… Seo-jun’s head turned to the cabinet.

There were about ten snow globes. Choi Si-Yoon was startled by the small voice behind him.

“Sorry. I buy it as a present every time I come. A snow globe.”

“Ah, sigh!”

Next was Park Seo-jin’s turn.

A bag appeared from behind Park Seo-jin’s back.

It was a snack.

A baby snack.

Park Seo-jin shook the snack bag with confidence.

“Seo-jun, are you hungry? Here are some delicious snacks. There are banana and apple flavors.”

The sound of crinkling bags filled the air, but Seo-jun didn’t react much. He just tilted his head slightly.

“Why? Why?”

Park Seo-jin exclaimed as he took out the snack bags from his backpack and piled them up.

Choi Si-yoon, who had found the reason, showed him his phone.

“It was a good gift that perfectly matched Seo-jun’s taste, but the timing was bad. Seo-jin hyung. It’s not snack time yet.”

“Damn… Bad biological clock!”

He restrained himself from swearing.

Next was Kevin’s turn.

When all three of them failed, Kevin swallowed his saliva.

Hmm. This was serious.

“I give up.”

“Give up? Why?”

At Park Seo-jin’s question, Kevin showed him the gift behind his back.

There were Hwang Ye-jun’s rabbit doll, Choi Si-yoon’s snow globe, and Park Seo-jin’s snacks.

Kevin shrugged his shoulders.

“They didn’t say to buy only one thing.”

“This shameless…”

Hwang Ye-jun pointed his finger at him.

He couldn’t say anything out loud because Seo-jun was there and they were filming, but his face was cursing.

Choi Si-yoon and Park Seo-jin had the same expression.

After cursing with his face for a while, Park Seo-jin came to his senses.

“Well, then. This will be the purest ranking of affection.”

“Yeah. Trying to woo him with gifts is just a gift foot!”

Brown Black, who regained their confidence, put away all the gifts and sat side by side again.

“Okay, let’s start again-”

Ding dong.

The doorbell rang as they were about to start. At the sound, Brown Black’s eyes reflexively turned to the clock.

2 p.m. sharp.

Brown Black and Jun’s 48 hours were over.

‘Hey, hyungs. Did you forget anything at 2 p.m.?’

“Ahh!!”

“Ah! Seo-jun’s formula!”

Chapter 23

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 23

Choi Si-yoon ran to get the milk formula as fast as he could.

It was the first time he was late for feeding Seo-jun, who pouted his lips.

“Come on. Let’s eat quickly.”

Seo-jun sucked on the nipple.

Slurp slurp.

While Brown Black was frantically making the formula, Seo Eun-chan got up from his seat and opened the door.

“Is that you, sis? You came just in time?”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun were standing there.

The couple smiled awkwardly.

They also wondered if they had arrived too perfectly.

The couple missed their son so much that they had been waiting in the apartment parking lot for an hour.

“Sorry for the trouble because of Seo-jun.”

Brown Black quickly waved their hands at the apologetic words.

“No, not at all! Seo-jun was very nice and we had a lot of fun.”

“Oh, welcome back!”

“Hello!”

Everyone was flustered and stammered. Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun greeted them as well.

They all looked cheerful and energetic, as if the 48 hours were not too bad.

“Come in quickly. The cold wind will get in.”

Seo Eun-chan closed the door behind the couple.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun saw Seo-jun sitting in the living room.

Seo-jun’s eyes widened.

Mommy and Daddy!

They said they would bring gifts, and they came!

Seo-jun had completely forgotten about the stuffed animals, snacks, and snow globes that his hyungs had shown him.

“Mama, Papa!”

He was overjoyed to see his parents after 48 hours.

Seo-jun rattled the bottle in his mouth and raised his arms to ask for a hug.

Seo Eun-hye lifted Seo-jun and held the bottle for him to drink easily.

Brown Black, who didn’t want to leave Seo Eun-chan’s sight, came in, dragging their feet.

They had overstayed their welcome at his sister’s place.

They had to hurry to the company and do some editing, and Brown Black had to practice for their debut in a month.

“Let’s pack up and shoot the last scene.”

At Seo Eun-chan’s words, Brown Black scattered to gather their belongings.

They picked up a set of clothes and a toy, looking at Seo-jun.

“Bye, Seo-jun.”

Lee Min-jun opened his mouth, feeling sorry for Brown Black’s teary-eyed faces.

“Come back again. You can come anytime.”

“…Really?”

“Chan, just tell your manager and come over again. You’re always welcome.”

They thought they were saying goodbye forever, but they weren’t?

Brown Black’s faces went blank.

They could come again?

“No way. Won’t you be busy when you debut?”

“True. It might be hard to come over when you’re busy.”

Brown Black shook their heads at Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye’s jokes. Their faces were covered in tears, but they smiled the brightest today.

“No! We’ll come no matter how busy we are.”

“If we can’t come, we’ll call you at least!”

“Video call! Video call!”

“We’ll send you gifts on your birthday!”

Everyone laughed at Brown Black’s bright smiles.

Seo-jun waved his hand at Brown Black and his uncle, who got on the elevator.

“They’re gone.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun closed the door and went inside.

They decided to remove the camera installed in the house later.

“Ugh.”

‘It’s so quiet.’

The house that used to be bustling was now empty.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who didn’t live with them, didn’t know, but Seo-jun felt it for sure.

The house felt too big.

“Wow. It’s a Christmas tree.”

“They’re still trainees, you know. How did they buy this without any money?”

They had heard that they decorated a Christmas tree, but they were surprised by how big it was.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun headed to the tree.

Seo-jun also looked at the tree in his mother’s arms.

The tree was decorated with colorful ornaments.

Lee Min-jun, who was looking around the tree, found a transparent ball among the decorations.

“What’s this?”

“What’s wrong?”

There were four capsules.

Lee Min-jun sat on the sofa and opened the capsule. Seo Eun-hye also sat next to him and watched.

“Seo-jun.”

Lee Min-jun called his son’s name with emotion. Seo-jun, who was sucking on the pacifier he got from his mom, turned his head at his dad’s call.

“Your brothers left you letters.”

“Huh?”

“Wow, really? When did they write them?”

Lee Min-jun read the letters slowly at Seo Eun-hye’s urging. They could tell from the letters how much Brown Black enjoyed spending time with Seo-jun, and Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun smiled without realizing it.

After reading all the letters, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun decided to keep them in a frame. They picked the prettiest album in the house and put the letters in it carefully.

Seo Eun-chan, who came to get the camera in the evening, saw the letters from Brown Black in the frame and shouted.

“No, we have to film this! These kids!”

Seo Eun-hye shouted at him, but Seo Eun-chan wasn’t listening. He quickly took off all the cameras that were installed in the house and ran to the dorm.

Seo Eun-hye clenched her fist as her younger brother left without looking back. She would have to punch him when he came back.

“Seo-jun said so! Give me the recording later!”

In the living room, Lee Min-jun was laughing so hard that his mouth seemed to split to his ears. He lifted Seo-jun high in the air.

“Daddy, try it. Seo-jun! Daddy!”

“Dada?”

Seo Eun-hye closed the door and ran over.

“Seo-jun. Mommy. Say mommy.”

“Mama?”

Lee Seo-jun, 8 months old. He said mommy and daddy.

***

Seo-jun hugged each of Kim Hee-sang’s monster dolls once again when he returned home.

A skeleton lich king doll.

A slime.

A dragon.

An orc.

A twin-headed ogre.

A troll.

A werewolf in wolf form.

He cherished each one.

He had so much fun and lost his mind playing with Brown Black and Nonda, and filming.

He felt like he had become a real baby.

He barely touched the doppelganger bear doll that was the only one left because he thought of his mom and dad.

‘Confusion came.’

Was he the baby or was he now?

He hugged the dragon doll tightly in his complicated feelings.

He felt like he could forgive the dragon doll for now.

Before the Library of Life was created, he remembered all his past lives and almost lost his sense of self.

He was treated as a strange monster and his alignment of good and evil was mixed.

He was punished as a heretic.

Seo-jun had built a library with all his efforts.

The library was a place of sealing that prevented his previous life from affecting his next one.

All of Seo-jun’s memories from his past life had turned into books.

That way, his memories became like ‘books he had read’.

Sometimes they influenced his personality, but that was it.

‘Just don’t get lost in your baby instincts while playing for a while.’

Seo-jun hugged the dragon doll tightly.

When he fell asleep, he headed to the library of life.

There, his memories became clearer and his reason became stronger.

That was why Seo-jun, who couldn’t speak a month ago, could make sounds with his mouth in the library.

The monster doll was a very important string that held his current self together.

‘Well, I have my own taste too.’

Seo-jun giggled.

***

Seo Eun-chan sent all the videos he had taken so far to Seo Eun-hye.

Seo-jun spoke!

He should have seen that! Seo Eun-chan, who was crying and pounding the ground, got Seo Eun-hye’s permission and watched the recorded video with Brown Black at their dorm.

They all burst into tears with emotion.

After talking about Seo-jun’s cute points for a while, he returned to the company for editing.

The editing was done by Kim Su-ryeon, the head of the PR team and the younger sister of Kim Hwa-ryeon, the teacher.

“…There are a lot of videos.”

“Hahaha. Please help me.”

“Well, I’ll do well if the company does well.”

Kim Su-ryeon rolled up her sleeves. Several videos appeared on the monitor screen at the same time.

Seo Eun-chan took out a bunch of papers.

He had made a storyboard of how he wanted to compose the video while filming Brown Black.

“Let’s start with the first meeting. Put stickers on the baby’s parents’ faces…”

“Yes…”

Seo Eun-chan sat next to Kim Su-ryeon and slowly explained the editing direction. Kim Su-ryeon laughed as she edited the video.

“This is fun, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know how much I laughed.”

-Oh, Seo-jun is frowning?

-Are you okay? Are you sick?

-…I’m fine.

The expression on Brown Black’s face disappeared when they heard Kim Hwa-ryeon’s teacher’s words across the camera. Park Seo-jin said.

-…It’s poop.

-oh…

Brown Black challenged their first diaper change. No matter how cute the baby was… poop… Even Brown Black, who had prepared for everything, almost gave up. But Park Seo-jin, who had studied hard, rolled up his sleeves.

-…!

The other members’ faces changed colors as they saw Park Seo-jin changing the diaper.

Park Seo-jin, who had neatly handled the diaper, left with a detached face.

-…Looking at the color, it’s very healthy poop.

“Let’s edit this.”

Kim Su-ryeon tilted her head at Seo Eun-chan’s words.

“Isn’t this okay for idols to change diapers for the first time? The reaction is good, and they’re doing well, right?”

At that moment, Seo Eun-chan was more of an uncle to Seo-jun than a manager to Brown Black.

He rubbed his chin and said.

“Well, I think Seo-jun might feel a bit embarrassed when he grows up and sees this.”

He had become more picky about his nephew’s future. What could happen in the future was playing in his mind.

‘“Oh, Seo-jun is frowning?”

Kim Hwa-ryeon asked, concerned.

“Are you okay? Are you sick?”

Park Seo-jin added, worried.

“…I’m fine.” Seo-jun muttered, avoiding their eyes.’

“Kids these days are so sensitive about the smallest things. And these videos might stay with Seo-jun for the rest of his life… I don’t know about the other stuff, but the poop thing… That’s a bit…”

“Ah… I understand.”

Kim Su-ryeon nodded, empathizing with Seo Eun-chan’s concern.

“And I’d appreciate it if you could edit two more episodes for me.”

“What are they?”

“[48 Hours with Brown Black and Jun] should focus more on Jun than on Brown Black. That’s because Jun’s fans will watch it more than Brown Black’s fans. And this other video is the one that will only be uploaded to the company channel.”

Seo Eun-chan handed her another paper. Kim Su-ryeon took it and read it.

“A song?”

“Yes.”

Seo Eun-chan played one of the videos.

It was a video of Brown Black singing on the first night.

Kim Su-ryeon’s eyes widened.

She had heard the song before, but it was completely different.

“There’s another video of them dancing and singing at the playground. I’d like you to edit that separately and upload it. Only to our company account.”

[48 Hours with Brown Black and Jun] was going to be uploaded to Jun’s account. And below that, there would be a link to the Cocoa Entertainment’s YouTube channel.

“If they watch 48 hours and get interested in Brown Black, they’ll come to our company channel. Then they’ll definitely watch these two videos.”

Seo Eun-chan thought these two videos would be the foundation for Brown Black’s success.

Kim Su-ryeon smiled, nodding her head to the rhythm of Brown Black’s song.

“That sounds good. I got it.”

“Please edit the two episodes of 15 minutes each that will be uploaded this week first. Oh, and please edit out the part where a random guy appears in the playground video.”

“Okay. I finally have something to do.”

Kim Su-ryeon was the head of the PR team, but she had no singers to promote, so she was just killing time.

The company was new and Brown Black hadn’t even debuted yet, so the reporters ignored and didn’t even read the materials she sent them about Brown Black.

The best she could do was to upload introduction videos on Cocoa Entertainment’s website and YouTube channel.

“Please take good care of them.”

“Just leave it to me.”

“Haha. Okay.”

The next day, Kim Su-ryeon was relaxing at home when she made a trailer for [48 Hours with Brown Black and Jun] with the video that Seo Eun-chan sent her.

-Sorry. I forgot to ask you this first.

-Just add some simple subtitles!

“Are you kidding me? You said to leave it to me!”

Kim Su-ryeon had no choice but to work hard on the trailer, even though she complained. It was because her sister, Kim Hwa-ryeon, who had a crush on Seo-jun during the filming, kept interfering.

Kim Su-ryeon sat in front of the computer, quietly moving her hands, feeling guilty for making Kim Hwa-ryeon spend her vacation on filming.

She even got paid for the filming part-time job!

“No, make the subtitle color cuter!”

“It looks messy, okay?!”

“Isn’t there a cuter and neater color? You went to art school, didn’t you?”

“This is why you’re a science major!”

Kim Su-ryeon gritted her teeth at the polar-opposite client.

Chapter 24

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 24

Seo Eun-hye turned on the television and connected it to YouTube.

She entered the channel [JUN] with the ID and password that Seo Eun-chan had given her.

He had been uploading the edited videos for her.

The video appeared on the screen.

Lee Min-jun, who had been playing with Seo-jun, picked him up and sat on the sofa.

Seo-jun was holding his bottle tightly. Sip, sip.

“This is the last episode.”

“I know. You can tell how much fun Seo-jun had.”

It was already the last episode of the video series that had started in early December.

She had watched the videos that Seo Eun-chan had sent her whenever she had time, but it was different to watch the edited version with subtitles.

A month had passed and Seo-jun was nine months old.

“Seo-jun is cuter and stronger at nine months.”

“We’re used to being his parents now. When we first heard him, we thought our hearts would break.”

It felt like yesterday when Seo-jun opened his mouth and said ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ while looking at the Christmas tree.

The moment when he first called them mom and dad was clearly captured by the camera that Seo Eun-chan had left behind.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun had saved the video on their laptop, three external hard drives, and the cloud.

The Christmas tree that Seo-jun and Brown Black had decorated was still in the living room, even after Christmas was over.

“Shall we watch it now?”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun watched the last episode on the television.

Seo-jun, who was sitting on his dad’s lap, handed him the empty bottle and looked at his two palms. His hands had grown a little bit in a month.

The baton symbol on his right palm had faded slightly, while the baton symbol on his left palm had become a bit darker.

As Seo-jun grew older, the [Orchestra Conductor’s Link] symbol would remain only on his left palm.

‘I can give my left palm to my hyungs, right?’

The couple had become quite close with Brown Black, who would contact them during their practice breaks.

They felt like their younger siblings now.

Seo-jun giggled.

[Let’s send a video letter to Jun for the last time!]

The subtitle appeared and the couple’s eyes moved to a frame on the cabinet. There was a letter and a signed poster from Brown Black.

They said they would become famous idols, and the second signature was for Seo-jun. It was from Hwang Ye-jun.

“If Seo-jun’s signature is the second one, what’s the first one?”

“It didn’t show up in the video.”

It was probably the man who had asked for their autograph at the playground. Come to think of it, the video of the playground and the video of them singing a lullaby at night hadn’t appeared either.

‘Well, uncle will take care of it.’

Seo-jun looked at the screen.

He saw his hyungs sending him a video letter with their faces flushed.

He knew what the letter said because his dad had read it to him, but it was better to hear it from his hyungs themselves.

The last episode ended and Seo Eun-hye turned off the television.

She picked up her phone and checked the views.

Hmm. She sighed.

“People who watch from the first episode seem to watch all the way…”

“There aren’t many viewers.”

“Eun-chan said he was very satisfied with this much…”

Lee Min-jun also lifted his head and looked at the phone screen.

He couldn’t help but compare it to the channel [JUN] that he was running. He had gotten used to having over five million subscribers.

-That’s because it’s Seo-jun’s channel! This is amazing enough! They haven’t even debuted yet. They don’t have a fan cafe. If half of the views become fans, it’s a hit!

Seo Eun-hye’s words mixed with regret made Seo Eun-chan, who was on the phone, pound his chest in frustration.

****

Hello. We are Brown Black.

…

We hope you enjoyed [48 Hours with Brown Black and Jun].

Tomorrow at 6 p.m. We will have our debut stage on WNET’s The Music Show.

If you have time, please watch our debut stage of Brown Black.

…

We want to be idols who touch your hearts.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely, Brown Black.

***

The day dawned. It was the debut day of Brown Black.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun sat on the sofa. Seo-jun also sat on his dad’s lap with an oak doll in his arms.

“They’re finally debuting.”

“Seo-jun, in a little while, your hyungs will sing on TV.”

“Ing-ah?”

He seemed to speak quite well now.

“Yes. hyungs.”

“Ing-ah. Eo-ong-ong!”

Seo-jun hit his phone. Hyungs, I miss you! Seo Eun-hye noticed his gesture and sent a message to Seo Eun-chan.

A message came back without a second of waiting.

-Seo-jun misses them. Can you talk?

<Good! They’re so nervous they’re not themselves!

Seo Eun-chan called.

“Seo-jun. It’s your hyungs.”

“Ing-ah!”

-Seo-jun!

-Wait a minute! Don’t push!

-Hwang Ye-jun! Calm down!

-Eu-heong. Seo-jun!

The screen was full of Brown Black’s faces.

Their faces were hidden by the colorful makeup, but their expressions were not good.

They bit their lips nervously and anxiously. Seo-jun tilted his head.

The conductor’s affinity was fine. It was high for being apart, but…

‘Connector’s affinity. Why is it like that?’

The high number seemed like a lie and dropped to 20. Seo-jun was flustered.

“Ing-ah? Ee-eeng?”

-Seo-jun. Can we do well?

Among the noisy words of Brown Black, only one word was heard.

At that word, Seo Eun-chan, who was holding the phone, and the couple and Seo-jun stopped their actions.

Brown Black, who had been distracted, became quiet.

Yeah. Can we do well? The others will do well. But me. Me? I had no faith in myself. That faith affected the affinity.

Seeing the gloomy look of Brown Black, Seo-jun clenched his fist. And he lifted it to the sky.

“Hi-ing!”

‘Fighting!’

What if the ‘connector’s affinity’ is low? Just raise the ‘conductor’s affinity’. I’ve never used it like this before, so I don’t know if it will go up, but cheer up!

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun quickly raised their arms, flashing the V sign, as they saw Seo-jun cheering for them.

“Look at him. Seo-jun is rooting for you! Cheer up. You can do it!”

“You’ve practiced hard and recorded a new version!”

-Yeah. You guys have been practicing day and night! You’ve improved your skills a lot while filming with Seo-jun!

Seo-jun kept shouting “Fighting!” He waved his arms and bounced around.

-Hahaha.

Hwang Ye-jun’s stiff face relaxed. His laughter was followed by the other members.

That little baby, that clueless baby, was sending them his support.

-Seo-jun is cheering for us like this!

-We can’t just give up like this.

-Watch TV!

-Seo-jun, thank you!

“Kyahaha!”

Seo-jun’s eyes showed a slight increase in the ‘bonding connection’. He was relieved. He sighed and then laughed heartily.

After the video call ended, Seo Eun-chan sent a message.

-Thank you. The kids are feeling better!

<Hang in there with Seo-jun! Cheer up!

Seo Eun-hye put down her phone and looked at the TV where an advertisement was playing.

The channel was WNET. She opened her mouth with a deep sigh.

“…Should we tell them we’re going to America today?”

“Um. We agreed to have dinner tonight, so let’s tell them then.”

Lee Min-jun patted Seo-jun’s belly and said.

***

Thursday, the last week of December.

WNET Broadcasting Station was in the middle of rehearsal.

Lee Sang-cheon, the PD of The Music Show, was watching the monitor screen of the rookie idol group singing on stage.

“The song is good, but they look nervous as the first group of the new entertainment company.”

His junior, Kim Min-hyuk, handed him a cup of coffee and said.

“He’s over there, right?”

“Yeah.”

Lee Sang-cheon shrugged his shoulders and took the cup.

Kim Min-hyuk was good at making coffee, so Lee Sang-cheon PD liked him quite a bit.

In a place where coffee was consumed like air, being good at making coffee was a minor but very good advantage.

Kim Min-hyuk himself knew that his coffee-making skills were top-notch, and he diligently served the upper people.

“A rich kid doing this kind of thing.”

“Well, there are quite a few sons and daughters of wealthy people, right?”

“But they usually become actors or something. Or join a big agency.”

The rookie idol group that had gone up on stage came down with their shoulders slumped. Lee Sang-cheon PD’s eyes followed their backs.

“If he’s the youngest son of King’s Market, he could just play for the rest of his life, you know.”

King’s Market.

It was one of the top three Korean markets that operated in various places in the US, centered on LA’s Koreatown.

It was a very large market that had not only Korean food ingredients, but also food ingredients from various Asian countries, and many people liked to visit it.

Lately, there were rumors that it might overtake the other markets and take the lead with its aggressive operation.

“It must be fierce there too.”

Kim Min-hyuk spoke up after hearing what PD Lee Sang-cheon said.

“Why did you give them the empty slot? Even if they had a cancellation, you still had a month left. You could have put anyone famous for their special stages. Unless, senior…”

Kim Min-hyuk made a circle with his thumb and index finger. Lee Sang-cheon hit him on the back of his head. Ouch!

“Senior! I was joking! Joking!”

That really hurt! Kim Min-hyuk rubbed the back of his head.

“We’re going to do more music shows overseas from next year, right?”

“Yes. What was it, global hallyu? The higher-ups think they can do anything they want. How much do foreigners know about Korean idol groups…”

“So we need to gather more of an audience where there are a lot of Koreans. Like LA or something…”

Kim Min-hyuk exclaimed.

“LA means King’s Market!”

“Yeah. This is a good opportunity to give them a stage that had a cancellation and create a good image. If it goes well, they might become sponsors. And even if they don’t, well, it doesn’t matter.”

“Then you don’t have to greet them? Don’t you have to at least shake hands and see their faces, so they can say, ‘Oh, this PD is the one who gave me a chance’?”

Kim Min-hyuk shrank under Lee Sang-cheon’s gaze.

“You’re the only one who can express how pathetic you are with your whole body.”

“How long have you been here…”

“Yes, yes. I’m sorry.”

-It’s blinding!

One of the singers who came up one by one shouted into the microphone.

The music stopped and the lights dimmed.

Kim Min-hyuk and Lee Sang-cheon looked at the monitor screen.

They saw the face of the owner of the voice. Kim Min-hyuk sighed deeply, and Lee Sang-cheon rubbed his forehead.

It was the leader of West Wing, a five-year-old boy group.

Yeah, he wondered why he was so quiet.

“Ah, that jerk again…”

“Watch your mouth.”

“Yes, yes.”

Lee Sang-cheon gave instructions through the microphone and the lights came back on.

The rehearsal started again.

West Wing moved half-heartedly and finished the rehearsal and went down.

Kim Min-hyuk, who was watching the screen with a displeased eye, gulped down the remaining coffee and lifted his head.

“Ah, where were we?”

“Not greeting them?”

“Yes. Why don’t you?”

A man and a woman came up on the next stage.

They were a unit made up of one member from a boy group and one member from a girl group, with a couple concept.

As soon as the meeting to make this unit was held, rumors started that they were dating.

The two people and their agencies denied it, but after that, the relationship between the two groups’ fans got worse and it didn’t even become a topic of conversation.

“The entertainment industry is a place where rumors of dating and marriage fly around. If they brush shoulders, they’re on bad terms, they’re enemies. If they’re a little cold, they’re ostracized.”

Lee Sang-cheon crumpled up the paper cup.

“But go to the waiting room of the kids who haven’t even debuted and say, ‘I’m the PD here’. How do you think that will go?”

“Ah…”

“They’ll usually think you gave them money.”

Lee Sang-cheon swallowed the remaining coffee.

“Then their image will be bad and mine will be bad too. They just have to think that the More Music Show PD gave them a stage.”

“Then it’s good for the new PD if you go somewhere else, right?”

“They must know the PD’s name by now.”

But Brown Black had no mind to think about the PD’s name.

Six groups were crammed together in a large waiting room.

Four of them were sitting in a corner, holding their phones in their hands.

Seo Eun-chan spoke quietly.

“Guys, snap out of it.”

They were staring at their phones. Kevin’s phone had rap lyrics, Choi Si-yoon’s phone had a dance video, Park Seo-jin and Hwang Ye-jun were listening to songs with earphones.

They had all made mistakes on the rehearsal stage and were out of their minds.

Seo Eun-chan sighed at their murmuring in fear.

He had been talking to them for a while, but there was no answer.

Did they even hear his voice?

Their eyes were red.

They didn’t cry because he told them not to ruin their makeup, but they were holding back a lot.

Seo Eun-chan’s phone rang as he was about to sigh again.

It was a lifesaver!

Chapter 25

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Episode 25

Lim Yeon felt invincible as a high school senior who had just finished the college entrance exam. She grinned as she held a placard and a cheering stick in both hands and took her seat.

She was a newbie fan of Westwing, the hottest boy band in the country. She was thrilled to be at the broadcasting station for the first time, seeing the things she had only watched on TV.

“Are you Lim Yeon?”

A voice asked her.

“Hi, nice to meet you!”

She replied.

She had never been to a music show before, so she had agreed to meet a senior fan she had befriended on social media. The woman had the username Your Sky and greeted her with a smile.

She sat next to Lim Yeon.

“Westwing will be the last act. Until then, enjoy the other singers’ performances and cheer for them too.”

“Okay. I will!”

Lim Yeon waited anxiously, and then the show began.

[Welcome to The Music Show, the program that brings you the best music every Thursday at 6 o’clock!]

[I’m your host, MC Lia!]

[And I’m MC Minwoo!]

“Wow!”

Lim Yeon exclaimed.

The staff signaled for applause.

Your Sky clapped expertly, and Lim Yeon followed a beat later.

“They’re so gorgeous.”

She understood why people were crazy about idols.

The MCs looked even more stunning and handsome in person.

She overheard a whisper from the seat in front of her.

“Looks like we’re the only ones here.”

“Well, what can we do? They’re rookies and they don’t have any famous trainees. It’s a miracle that we’re here at all.”

Who are they talking about?

She peeked and saw some people holding signs that said [Love BrBl!] [Brown Black Fighting!] [Congratulations on your debut!].

Are they debuting today? Brown Black? She wondered.

[We’re so nervous for their first stage today.]

[Yes, we have some amazing newcomers debuting today.]

[Have you met them, Lia?]

[No, I’m about to see them now!]

Lim Yeon nodded along with the MCs’ introduction.

The first stage must be the group that the people in front of her supported.

“I hope they don’t mess up their debut stage.”

“I know, right? Westwing’s debut stage was…”

Your Sky shook her head, remembering.

It was a disastrous debut stage that became a notorious legend. But that video also made them famous, so it was a mixed blessing for the fans.

[Their names are as sweet as cocoa!]

[We hope that all of you watching The Music Show will have a wonderful ‘Start!’ like their songs!]

[Here comes Brown Black!]

Lim Yeon and Your Sky didn’t expect much. They just decided to clap for them out of courtesy.

Four men in suits appeared on the stage.

They looked like fresh graduates who had just landed their first jobs, or college freshmen who had dressed up nicely.

The music started, and the audience went silent.

The fans who were waiting for their own idols, the small talk they had made, the coughs and the creaks of the chairs, everything vanished.

Only Seo-jun, who was not there, could see the numbers that glittered above Brown Black’s heads.

[The orchestra conductor’s connection is activated.]

Lim Yeon was mesmerized by the idol’s stage that she saw for the first time in her life.

She stared at the stage without blinking. Her mouth was slightly open.

Before she could react, Brown Black’s song reached its climax, and

Bang!

The confetti exploded. She got goosebumps.

“Wow…”

Brown Black, who finished their stage, took a deep breath and bowed to the audience.

Lim Yeon clapped without realizing it. Her applause was followed by cheers and shouts from the audience.

Brown Black, who were heading backstage, heard the cheers and nodded repeatedly as they disappeared.

“Wow. So this is what live performance is like? I only watched TV all the time because I was studying… I never went to a concert! Wow. If a debut group is this good, West Wing’s stage must be amazing!”

Lim Yeon chattered excitedly.

She was impressed by the unexpected stage.

If a group that just debuted was this good, how amazing would West Wing’s stage be, a group that was famous and had been active for five years?

Her heart raced.

Next to Lim Yeon, who was sparkling with excitement, Your Sky snapped out of her trance.

“Ah.”

“What’s wrong?”

Your Sky shook her head. It was better to show than to tell.

She looked at the people in front of her.

They must have been the fans of the group that performed the amazing stage.

As she expected, they were talking with bright faces. Your Sky saw the placards they were holding.

[Brown Black]

It was the debut of a remarkable rookie.

The Music Show continued. But unlike usual, the audience’s reaction was not very enthusiastic.

They responded to the singers they liked, but it was weak.

They were still captivated by the first stage.

She couldn’t help but compare the first stage with the other singers’ stages.

The Music Show ended with West Wing’s stage.

Lim Yeon got up from her seat with a disappointed expression.

“I don’t know. I was looking forward to it, but it was not that great. The songs seemed like half lip-synced, and the dance was not in sync either.”

“It was the first group that was amazing.”

Your Sky patted Lim Yeon’s shoulder, who had lost her energy.

Lim Yeon recalled the first stage of The Music Show, which made her heart beat even when she thought about it again.

“What was the name of that group?”

“Brown Black.”

Your Sky, who decided to become a fan of Brown Black, said with a smile.

***

The Music Show was over.

The staff were cleaning up the confetti that had exploded at the end.

Kim Min-hyuk came with a cup of coffee, smiling.

PD Lee Sang-cheon took the cup and took a sip. He wanted to work with this guy just for the coffee.

“It was pretty cool, wasn’t it?”

“Hmm? What was?”

“Brown Black? The group with the rich kid.”

“They’re doomed.”

“What?!”

Kim Min-hyuk was shocked by Lee Sang-cheon’s words. How could they be doomed when the stage was so good?

“Didn’t you like them too, so you set off the confetti for their stage?”

“That was really embarrassing…”

PD Lee Sang-cheon rubbed his forehead. Why did his work ethic have to show up at such an inconvenient time? He didn’t even know he had such a thing in him.

He had unwittingly set off the confetti and had a hard time cleaning it up.

He had to sweep the stage of the confetti for the next singer, and he had to prepare the confetti for the announcement of the first place.

PD Lee Sang-cheon felt dizzy when he thought of what happened an hour ago. He was lucky that he had some spare confetti.

Kim Min-hyuk sat on a chair and asked.

“Do you think our ratings will be amazing today? The SNS was buzzing with how awesome our stage was after it ended…”

“It would be a hit if it was a recorded broadcast. But we’re live, you know. People switched channels after hearing how great our first stage was, but they saw the same old thing. The online forums must be exploding by now.”

Kim Min-hyuk wondered and turned on his phone.

“Besides, you know you’ve been talking about them non-stop, right? They overshadowed the back-half with their stage. We’re screwed. We should have switched their order to the back-half. They were so nervous during the rehearsal!”

Despite Lee Sang-cheon’s lament, Kim Min-hyuk just stared blankly at his phone. Isangcheon PD sensed something was wrong and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“They’re on the real-time search…”

Kim Min-hyuk showed him the phone screen.

The Music Show’s first stage

Brown Black The Music Show

Brown Black

Brown Black’s debut

The Music Show’s audience review

…

NEW! 48 hours with Brown Black and Jun

***

“They’re on the real-time search!”

Seo Eun-hye quickly looked at her phone at Lee Min-jun’s words.

Seo-jun, who was in his mother’s arms, also looked at the phone screen.

“Brown Black, audience review, first stage…!”

“Wow. Amazing!”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun were flustered.

They were trembling until they video-called them, but their stage was so brilliant that it gave them goosebumps.

And it seemed that they were not the only ones who felt that way.

People wanted to know who the group was that performed the first stage.

“Seo-jun, your hyungs are really amazing! Wow! Really, I thought they were just hard-working guys, but they did such a cool stage!”

“I wish I could have seen it in person! It’s such a shame, really.”

While Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye praised Brown Black endlessly, Seo-jun, who was looking at the blackened television, felt something burning in his chest. It felt like something was on fire deep inside.

The stage of Brown Black that Seo-jun saw was definitely amazing. It was not only the result of [the connection of the orchestra conductor], but also their effort, skill, and talent.

The applause and cheers that came from beyond the television after Brown Black’s stage.

Seo-jun felt the admiration and excitement in them.

‘They were the hyungs who played with me just a month ago.’

“They’re even on SNS with their pictures!”

“The video they took with Seo-jun is also on the search!”

Mom and dad were excited without knowing Seo-jun’s frustration.

In his mother’s arms, Seo-jun looked at the phone screen.

The bright smiles of his hyungs on their way home.

The hyungs with red eyes from crying.

In the narrative, someone compared photos of Brown Black’s commute to work with their journey home, highlighting a transformative journey.

Initially unnoticed, a photo of Brown Black faintly captured behind a famous singer contrasted with their beaming smiles surrounded by cameras upon returning home.

Seo-jun, gazing at the photos, realized that the life he yearned for in his first existence was unfolding before him.

Brown Black’s path mirrored his own.

Unlike his first life, where he remained unknown and passed away in obscurity, they managed to shine despite starting as nobodies, stepping towards the stardom he had always desired.

The casual vow to become a superstar suddenly loomed large for Seo-jun.

Tears streamed down his face as he stared at his phone, unaware of the tears or the commotion of Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun around him.

He was too engrossed in the images on the screen to notice anything else.

Seo-jun had helped his hyungs out of sympathy for their anonymity, not wanting them to despair as he had in the past.

But seeing them now, sparkling in the limelight, he realized he truly wanted to be a superstar, independent of his past life.

***

Title: Does Anyone Know This Song?

Author: CompanyGoneUnder

Does anyone know this song? I couldn’t record it… it was coming from upstairs.

Doo-doo-doo-doo, da-ra-ra-ran, da-ra-ra-ran, doo-doo-doo-doo

Something like that!

-?

-How could anyone know?

-Isn’t it “Together” by West Wing?

-Here comes another chicken wing…

-Try writing down the lyrics

-OP: It was a soft sound, hard to hear. Something like, “Step on me, rise up, I’m getting so high I could die”?

-What incredible lyrics…

-Accusation of plagiarism!

-Brian’s Tiki-Taka!

-OP: Neither of those.

…

Thus, a popular music forum on the internet was set ablaze.

Even after the original poster who kept saying no disappeared, wild guesses continued.

Eventually, the post made it to the top.

Title: I’m the One Who Asked for Help Finding a Song Yesterday!

Author: CompanyGoneUnder

Found it.

There was a performance at our apartment’s playground!

They haven’t debuted yet, but the group’s name is BrownBlack.

The song is called “Start!” It’s really good!

Got their autograph too!

-?

-??

-???

-What’s this? Such incredible clickbait?

-Asking for help finding a song from a group that hasn’t even debuted?

-Is this how new artists promote themselves nowadays? Impressive.

-??? : You’ve gained 10,000 haters in one day.

In an instant, a huge number of comments flooded in.

The two posts written by ‘CompanyGoBroke’ spread quickly across various sites.

[The Common Way to Promote a Rookie Idol]

The man downstairs didn’t know what to do.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen…”

He tried to find and upload his own video from the variety show of Brown Black that was on YouTube, but it looked somehow edited.

It was because Seo Eun-chan had edited it beforehand to prevent the rumors that he had hired someone to appear on the show.

The man posted another message a few weeks later.

Title: Look at this.

Author: CompanyGoBroke

I never expected my post to become such a hot topic. It’s not a promotion, it’s real.

They’re going to debut on WNET The Music Show. Their first stage is at 6 o’clock. It’s not a promotion, I swear! If you want to curse, watch their performance first!

-Yeah, right. Another promotion.

-It was really amazing, though.

-I searched hard for their song!

…

-Wow. Their first stage… A legendary legend!

-I wanted to see how good they were, and they were awesome. I got goosebumps when the pollen exploded.

-The singers after them were terrible at singing.

-You’re mistaken. It’s because their first stage was so good. Well, ChickenWing was definitely bad.

-They said it was their debut stage. It was a big hit.

-I don’t know if it was a promotion or not, but the song was good.

…

-But they have a variety show on YouTube… Did you watch it?

Chapter 26

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 26

After finishing all their schedules, Brown Black and Seo Eun-chan headed to Seo-jun’s house.

They were stunned by the unexpected applause and the flash of cameras on their way out.

They realized what was happening when they saw Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun setting off fireworks as soon as the front door opened.

They couldn’t help but burst into tears. Seo-jun, who was sandwiched between Brown Black, didn’t cry this time.

He was a bit annoyed by his hyungs who kept clinging to him, so he pushed their faces away.

“Doesn’t Seo-jun seem cold today?”

“I think so too.”

Brown Black quickly washed up and gathered around Seo-jun. To cheer him up, they picked up some dolls.

“Wow. Seo-jun has these dolls?”

“Wow, this is a complete skeleton!”

Brown Black was momentarily surprised by the monster dolls, but soon they read the ‘scenario for playing with Seo-jun’ that Kim Hee-sang, who attended the celebration party, gave them and played with Seo-jun diligently.

Seo-jun’s mood soon improved.

The living room table was soon filled with delicious food.

They showed him the real-time search results and chatted happily. Then Lee Min-jun spoke up.

“We’re going to America.”

“What?”

“We’re going to America. In about a month.”

“America?!”

Brown Black exclaimed in surprise. Kim Hee-sang and Seo Eun-chan, who had become close to Brown Black in a month, just drank their beer as if they already knew.

“Yeah. Min-jun got transferred to the US branch. We’ll be back in two or three years.”

“We decided to go together because it would be lonely to go alone.”

Brown Black nodded with a blank expression. Then they looked at Seo-jun, who was sucking on Lich King’s hand.

Two or three years.

It was a long time.

“Where in America are you going?”

“LA. Los Angeles.”

Lee Min-jun answered when Kevin asked in a quiet voice.

“We have a house in LA. Everyone else moved out, so only my Noona lives there now…”

Kevin showed them a picture on his phone. It was a family photo.

There were two men and two women, and Kevin looked younger than he did now.

“This is my hyung and this is my Noona.”

They saw a stern-looking man and a cheerful woman.

Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye looked at the photo.

“I’ll contact my Noona, so if you have any problems or questions, call her. Here’s her number.”

“It would be nice to have someone we know in America, but can you give this to us so easily?”

“Hahaha.”

Kevin laughed at Lee Min-jun’s question.

“It’s okay. My Noona is very outgoing. She’ll be very happy to have more friends. She’s so bored that she’ll come out and play with you as soon as you call her. Well, of course, if she doesn’t have work.”

“Really? Thank you. I’ll definitely contact her.”

Seo Eun-hye held the number tightly.

They decided to go because they had no one to care about, but paradoxically, they were a bit scared because they had no one to rely on.

They were glad to have someone to ask about life in America.

***

Seo Eun-hye stroked Seo-jun’s hair as he fell asleep.

Lee Min-jun also quietly looked at Seo-jun’s face. Seo-jun’s mouth moved as if he was eating something in his dream.

“I thought I was someone who didn’t have any prejudices…”

Seo Eun-hye said with a hint of self-reproach, and Lee Min-jun smiled. He felt the same way.

“It can’t be helped. We’re parents.”

“But still, it felt wrong.”

Seo Eun-hye felt a pang in her heart when she saw Seo-jun, who hugged each of the monster dolls that came back home after the shooting.

And in the video of [48 Hours], he didn’t touch the mimic doll at all.

When she asked Seo Eun-chan, he said that he didn’t touch it for the entire 48 hours, except for the first time.

“Our Seo-jun is so kind and smart. He seems to be too aware of mom and dad’s feelings.”

“…We made him that way, didn’t we?”

Seo Eun-hye, who lost her father when she was young, had lived bravely without giving up, even though she sometimes got hurt by the careless words of some people.

She thought she was living happily without caring about other people’s eyes, as she had overcome those prejudices and grown up.

But she was wrong.

Seo-jun didn’t hear it, but the words of someone who said ‘That baby, his dolls are weird’ a long time ago were stuck in Seo Eun-hye’s mind.

The words of the dolls being weird turned into the words of the baby being weird, and it haunted Seo Eun-hye’s head. Lee Min-jun, who heard the story from Seo Eun-hye, also became a bit sensitive.

They didn’t know it, but it became their trauma.

“We might not care, but Seo-jun shouldn’t hear those words.”

“Yeah. What if Seo-jun gets hurt?”

So the couple played with the monster dolls that Seo-jun liked at home.

The baby moms were nice people, so they didn’t hide it, but they didn’t take the dolls outside.

They only took a bear doll that looked normal.

But that bear doll was also not normal, as they found out when they washed the dolls.

They realized that it was Kim Hee-sang’s consideration, who knew the couple’s feelings and thought of Seo-jun.

But that situation, which they tried so hard, made Seo-jun more aware of their feelings.

It made this little baby worry.

As they wondered how to make Seo-jun feel comfortable, and not to care about mom and dad’s feelings, and play well with the dolls, Lee Min-jun got a transfer to the US branch.

America.

A place where diverse people live together.

A place where there are people with different personalities, and even uniqueness can be an advantage.

They thought it would be better than Korea, where they knew too many people and had to care about them, to go to America, where they didn’t know anyone.

They thought that if they changed their surroundings and met different people, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun’s trauma would get better.

So Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun decided to go to America with Seo-jun.

They had enough money.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who saw the account connected to YouTube for the first time in a long time, held their hearts that were beating like crazy at the sight of the unbelievable numbers.

And then they took out some of the money for Seo-jun and donated it to various organizations.

“I’m going to study more in America.”

“Seo-jun will see a wider world.”

Mom and dad decided to go to America for themselves and for Seo-jun.

***

Seo-jun went to the park not far from the apartment with his mom in a stroller. It was chilly, but he was warm in his thick clothes.

As he sat on the bench and received the warm sunlight with his mom, he heard a murmuring sound. It was the couple sitting on the opposite bench.

“That baby, isn’t he the one who came out with Brown Black? He was on WNET.”

“Really? I don’t know.”

“Why? I can tell just by looking at him.”

“Aren’t kids that age all similar?”

The woman nodded at the man’s words, who tilted his head. Well, it was hard to tell babies apart by their faces.

“But, did you watch 48 Hours?”

“Yeah. It was fun. It must be really hard to take care of a baby.”

Seo Eun-hye carefully relaxed her stiff body and got up from her seat.

She made sure not to show any signs of avoidance and blocked the front of Seo-jun’s stroller as she slowly moved away from the bench.

As they moved away from the spot where the couple was sitting, Seo Eun-hye found a place where there were no people and sat down on the ground.

“Mommy?”

“Wow. You even got recognized outside?”

Brown Black had debuted a month ago.

They made an impression as a talented idol group with their first debut stage, and even after a month, they were busy with broadcasts and events.

They had no time to make phone calls, and Seo Eun-chan couldn’t go home more than before his debut. Seo Eun-hye and her mother had already given up.

As Brown Black’s popularity rose, so did the number of people who looked for 48 Hours on YouTube.

When it became a hot topic on the internet, WNET sent a proposal to Seo Eun-chan’s side to re-edit and release 48 Hours.

“It’s a late-night show anyway, so there won’t be many viewers. Besides, you’re going to America soon. The kids will grow so much by then that no one will recognize them when they come back.”

The uncle who used his nephew for Brown Black’s success, Seo Eun-chan said that it didn’t matter since they had already uploaded it on YouTube, and the couple agreed.

WNET edited the video to be aired on television, taking into account the opinions of Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun. This time, it was edited with Brown Black as the center rather than Seo-jun.

“I think it’s okay to put this in this time.”

The video that they didn’t upload on YouTube. Seo Eun-chan decided to upload the video of the man he met at the playground for this broadcast.

Seo Eun-chan went to Seo-jun’s apartment to get the man’s consent and heard the story from him. Wow. How did I not know? The manager, Seo Eun-chan, regretted it.

“I’m really sorry!”

“No, it’s fine. It was good publicity.”

“It wasn’t really publicity!”

With the man’s permission, the cable channel edited and uploaded the man’s post, the comments on the board, and the video of the playground.

-Really?

-It wasn’t really publicity?

-Why didn’t they upload it on the YouTube version?

-Then they would have said it was a fake. Who would go to a concert of an unknown idol group and ask for an autograph because they liked the song?

-True.

The man on the screen smiled brightly.

“This is the first autograph!”

It was the official first autograph that was recognized by the broadcast.

-When Brown Black becomes famous, it will be very expensive.

-Yeah, the story is good too.

-Envy…

…

-But the baby is cute too.

-He seems smart, doesn’t he? Smarter than the other kids. And he doesn’t seem shy at all. He never cries.

-Isn’t he the one? The legendary mukbang kid who went viral with his eating videos.

-Oh, yeah. That’s him. I’ve seen him on YouTube ads lately. The one with the elephant.

***

“Let’s go home quickly before we get found out more.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun was thrilled.

He already had people who recognized him, even though he wasn’t as famous as his hyungs. Of course, he was a bit doubtful.

His heart was pounding.

The feeling of being noticed by others! He loved it!

The house he returned to with Seo Eun-hye was a mess.

Only the bedroom was tidy.

The living room and kitchen were half-filled with boxes of stuff.

“We’re leaving the house to Eun-chan. This is how much we have to pack, even though we only took what we needed.”

“Wow!”

Seo-jun lifted up his Lich King doll. Seo-eun-hye smiled.

“You packed your doll well, too.”

“Yup!”

Seo-jun hugged his Lich King doll tightly and smiled brightly. His parents’ eyes were different when they looked at the doll.

Somehow, his parents seemed more relaxed.

Seo-jun was happy, too.

A week later, Seo-jun left for America.

***

“Seo-jun, Aunt Na-ra is here!”

“Auntie!”

Seo-jun turned his head from the window, where he was waving his hands vigorously at the passing people.

Kevin’s Noona, Na-ra, was standing at the entrance, waving her hand. Seo-jun ran over and gave Na-ra Kim a high-five.

It had been four years since he came to America.

Lee Seo-jun, 58 months old.

Chapter 27

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 27

“Are you ready?”

Na-ra Kim, with her short bob hair, lifted her black sunglasses and smiled as she met Seo-jun’s eyes.

Seo-jun raised his fists and answered.

“Yeah!”

“Shall we go then?”

“Seo-jun, you need to bring your bag.”

Seo Eun-hye brought Seo-jun’s bag. Seo-jun put his arm through the strap.

He held his mom’s hand in one hand and his aunt Na-ra’s hand in the other and left the house.

“Oh, Jun!”

“Hi, Eric!”

Seo-jun greeted Eric Smith, the man from next door who came out to throw away the trash, cheerfully.

Eric smiled and asked.

“What kind of bag is that today?”

“Zombie!”

Seo-jun let go of both hands and spun around.

A zombie doll with stitches all over was attached to his bag, catching Eric’s eye.

The zombie, with red bloodstains and pale skin, looked realistic but also quite cute.

“Cool! Did Sang make it for you?”

“Yeah. Uncle Hee-sang made it for me. Where’s Jack?”

“Jack went to grandma’s house. He’ll cry again when he sees it and want one. I have more orders for Sang.”

Eric shook his head and held out his fist.

Seo-jun also held out his fist and bumped it.

Eric greeted Seo Eun-hye and Na-ra behind him and went down the stairs.

“Hee-sang’s dolls are popular.”

“He quit his job and started this, so it would be a disaster if they weren’t.”

Seo Eun-hye sighed and said. Na-ra laughed.

“It’s all because of your YouTube.”

After coming to America, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun were very busy.

There was so much to prepare to start in a new place.

Especially, they stayed up for several nights studying child abuse and other child crimes.

Things that they would just let go in Korea became child abuse in America.

It was a natural thing for the child’s safety, but they had to be careful with every action.

It would have been hard to study if it weren’t for the materials that Na-ra Kim prepared for them.

The busy couple got used to life in LA not long after, and they realized that this place was no different from Korea, where people live, because of the people who interfered here and there. But they decided to overcome it, and it seemed half solved.

Seo Eun-hye uploaded a vlog of her life in America on YouTube and exposed Seo-jun’s dolls.

Around that time, Kim Hee-sang was working hard on designing dolls to satisfy the couple and Seo-jun’s tastes.

At first, there were many comments saying it was weird, but gradually opinions changed to that they were well made appeared and soon people asked where they could buy the products.

Seo Eun-hye asked Kim Hee-sang and posted the order method on YouTube.

And Kim Hee-sang threw his resignation letter with a happy expression as the orders poured in.

“Last Halloween, almost all the kids in this area were hugging Hee-sang’s dolls.”

The leader of that trend was Seo-jun.

The various monster dolls that the little boy carried with him every time he went out with his mom and dad caught the adults’ attention at first, but soon they became wildly popular among the kids.

Especially Jack, who lived next door and was very close to Seo-jun, cried every time Seo-jun got a new doll and wanted one.

He made the Smiths and the Seo Eun-hye Lee Min-jun couple uncomfortable.

Seo-jun, who was generous, gave him one of the dolls he liked less.

“Auntie! Let’s go quickly!”

Seo-jun grabbed Na-ra’s hand and led her. Na-ra and Seo Eun-hye followed him with a smile at his urgency.

Na-ra and Seo Eun-hye buckled their seat belts and Seo-jun sat in the car seat.

The zombie bag was neatly placed next to him.

“Seo-jun, did you practice?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun was excited by Na-ra’s question and bounced his feet.

“Are you sure you can act? You’ve never done it before.”

Seo Eun-hye’s words made Seo-jun want to say no, but he stopped himself.

He had worked hard to be cute when he filmed the Elephant Milk commercial.

He pouted his lips secretly so his mom wouldn’t see.

“You worry too much.”

Seo ESeo-eun-hye rubbed her forehead at Na-ra’s calm words.

“No. You were the one who called me three days ago and said, let’s film a movie. It wasn’t even a suggestion.”

“Hahaha.”

***

Three days ago, Na-ra called her. Seo Eun-hye talked to Seo-jun on speakerphone.

-Seo-jun, let’s film a movie!

“A mo…?”

“I want to!”

Before Seo Eun-hye could ask, Seo-jun answered.

A movie! A movie!

Seo-jun was thrilled.

He had only filmed vlogs since he came to America.

He felt like he would never become a superstar if he hesitated.

Seo-jun ran around the living room, shouting hooray.

“I want to! Seo-jun wants to!”

-Okay! I’ll send you the script!

“Wait, Na-ra!”

Na-ra, who was about to hang up, asked back at Seo Eun-hye’s call.

-Why?

“What do you mean, a movie?”

-Well, Seo-jun was watching a documentary about movies the other day, and I asked him if he wanted to be an actor, and he said yes.

“Really?”

-Yeah. So I sent some of the commercials and YouTube videos that Seo-jun filmed to a place that was looking for child actors, and they replied to come for an audition.

“An audition?”

At Seo Eun-hye’s words, Seo-jun ran over and asked on the phone.

“Isn’t it a movie shoot? An audition?”

-It’s an audition and a movie shoot. There will probably be other child actors besides Seo-jun. They will put the best video of the ones they filmed in the movie.

“Then Seo-jun might not be in the movie?”

-Just think of it as an experience and try it. How about you, Seo-jun?

“I want to!”

He was confident that he could beat anyone. Seo-jun clenched his fists. Seo Eun-hye raised both her hands and feet at Seo-jun’s fiery look.

“Okay.”

-Then I’ll send you the script!

And then she got an email from Na-ra, who was quick to act. Lee Min-jun, who came home from work, stared at the script that his son printed out without knowing the letters.

“I can’t go see my son’s first shoot.”

“I’ll take a picture.”

Lee Min-jun said, stretching Seo-jun’s cheek as he smiled brightly. Seo Eun-hye raised her camera to capture the moment.

<Oh. I forgot to tell you. It’s a Marina movie.

“…Marina?!”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun felt their hearts sink at Na-ra’s message.

***

The houses outside the window flew by. Seo-jun was worried. There was a speed limit on the road, but was his aunt following it?

“But how are you going to hide the videos on YouTube and the ads you filmed?”

“I saw the report from Man-se. Seo-jun has been on camera since he was seven months old. He even did some commercials.”

Man-se was Kevin Kim’s real name.

The eldest son Woo-ri, the eldest daughter Na-ra, and the youngest son Man-se.

Woo-ri Na-ra Man-se.

Seo Eun-hye, Lee Min-jun, and Seo-jun laughed for a long time when they heard his name from Na-ra.

Soon, the fans of Brown Black also heard about it, and there was a commotion in the fan club to get the nicknames with Man-se first.

“Report?”

“Grandpa told us to write reports instead of diaries or letters since we were little.”

Na-ra nodded her head vigorously.

Grandpa who asked the snotty kids to write reports was one thing, but there was also the brother who ran away from his job, and the younger brother who left the house because he liked rap and ended up in Korea.

Was there anyone normal in our family?

“We’re more used to that than letters or something. We sent you a report saying please take care of your family. Four years ago. Of course, we read it and forgot about it then.”

A few days ago, she saw an announcement looking for a handsome boy actor with black hair and black eyes. Na-ra immediately thought of Seo-jun.

Come to think of it, Man-se had sent a report with that content.

She searched the shelves in the library and found Man-se’s report that she had read once and put away four years ago.

“The formula ad that Seo-jun filmed was just a normal ad for ordinary people, but it was very popular among parents with babies. Seo-jun’s mukbang also had a huge impact on babies under 20 months old.”

Na-ra also looked for the videos after reading the report.

To her eyes, it was just a common ad that she could see anywhere, but the reactions of the parents and children were extraordinary.

Na-ra Kim looked at Seo-jun through the rearview mirror. Seo-jun flinched at her sharp gaze.

“As it turns out, Eric from next door also watched Seo-jun’s videos. He said it was very helpful in raising Jack.”

And Seo-jun’s videos didn’t discriminate by nationality.

“I know that.”

On the first day, when they moved to this house. When they knocked on the door to greet them, the Smith couple who came out saw Seo-jun in Seo Eun-hye’s arms and exclaimed in surprise, ‘Oh, jun!’

The couple and Seo-jun were also startled. They became quite close after that.

“Plus, the Hee-sang doll that Seo-jun always carries around sells well. They said it would be sold out if they promoted it. That means Seo-jun has something, right?”

Na-ra was thinking of using Seo-jun as a model for King’s Market later. Right now, he had no fame, so everyone was against it.

Seo-jun tilted his head. He had never used his ability. The Hee-sang uncle doll was just popular. He thought of Hee-sang uncle, who had dark circles down to his chin from work, on a video call.

Na-ra’s car stopped. Had they arrived at their destination? Na-ra, who unbuckled her seat belt, looked at Seo Eun-hye and Seo-jun in the back seat and said.

“Don’t worry. Just shoot it lightly as a practice. Just like I told you on the phone, it’s a really short extra role. You just have to smile brightly without being nervous and look at the camera. You read the script, right?”

“Okay.”

Marina… Seo Eun-hye recalled the name she had tried to forget.

Ah… Unlike her mother who touched her forehead with a sense of pressure, Seo-jun was thrilled. He was going to star in a huge company’s movie from the start!

“Mom read it to me! I practiced too!”

“Good. You did well!”

Na-ra got Seo-jun out of the car. She also put the zombie bag on his back without forgetting.

“This way.”

Na-ra walked ahead.

There was a noisy sound from the direction she was heading.

There were people moving boxes and people running around everywhere. Na-ra talked to the security guard and the security guard said something on the radio.

Soon, someone ran from afar.

“Hello! I’m Jonathan Will, a staff member. Are you here for the audition today?”

A boy who looked like a middle school student with freckles, Jonathan Will, asked with a paper in one hand. The paper was full of red lines.

“Yes. I’m Seo-jun Lee.”

“Okay. Just a moment. Another child actor is auditioning right now.”

Jonathan wiped his sweat and led the three people inside.

On the right, there was a silent commotion as if they were filming.

“Here it is.”

Jonathan opened the entrance of the makeshift tent with a quiet voice.

That was when it happened.

“William!”

A woman’s scream and.

“Aaaah!”

A child’s cry.

Jonathan clenched his eyes. The three people who didn’t know the situation tilted their heads.

As the child’s cry didn’t stop, a very loud voice was heard.

“Jonathan Will!!”

“Yes! Director! I’ll be right there!”

Jonathan said quickly with a flustered expression.

“If you wait here, the makeup artist will bring you the costume. You can change into that and wait until you’re called. I might not be able to come back.”

“Jonathan Will!”

“Yes, yes!”

Jonathan ran to the filming set where the child’s cry was still heard, pale at the director’s loud voice.

Chapter 28

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Chapter 28

“Is he here for the audition?”

Na-ra answered Seo Eun-hye’s question as she entered the makeshift tent.

“I guess so. The script looked pretty scary for a kid.”

“Will Seo-jun be okay?”

“Yeah!”

He was totally fine. He was actually excited about the upcoming shooting.

Seo-jun replied and sat on a small chair that he brought for the child actors.

The tent was supposed to be a waiting room for the child actors who were auditioning.

There were two cots, a large table, a small table, a mirror, some chairs for adults, and several chairs for kids.

There were also some snacks, sandwiches, and juice.

Seo Eun-hye looked around the tent. It was amazing to be on an American movie set. She had never been to a Korean movie set before.

Na-ra handed her a cup of coffee and opened her mouth.

“Are you nervous about the Marina movie?”

“I thought I was going to die for three days.”

Seo Eun-hye sighed and answered. She was trembling when she signed the audition and shooting agreement that was sent by mail.

Marina!

It was one of the top three movie production companies in the world.

Marina became famous for making live-action movies of comics and superheroes.

The most popular movie was Redbone.

Redbone 1, which no one cared about, turned the world upside down after its release.

Fans of Redbone sprang up all over the world.

Now they were shooting Redbone 2, and the interest was enormous.

“Na-ra, is Redbone in it?”

“No, it’s a Marina movie, but not a Redbone movie.”

“Aw!”

Seo-jun pouted his lips. He enjoyed watching Redbone. But even if it was a Redbone movie, Seo-jun’s scene would be very short.

It was a brief scene that the audience would forget in a second.

Na-ra smiled softly as she watched Seo Eun-hye gulp down her coffee.

“This is a secret. Because of an accident, Redbone 2’s shooting was delayed, so Marina decided to produce and release two movies before that. That’s why the shooting schedule is urgent.”

“Two?”

As Seo-jun asked, a cough was heard outside the tent, followed by a woman’s voice.

“Excuse me. Can I come in?”

“Yes. Please come in.”

Two men and women entered the tent.

A woman who was smiling awkwardly and a man who was wearing a thick coat.

“Hello. I’m Melissa, who plays William’s mother.”

“Hello. I’m Baren, who will help with the shooting.”

Seo-jun got off the chair and greeted them.

“Hello. I’m Seo-jun Lee, the child actor.”

The two people widened their eyes and smiled. They heard that the last child actor was the youngest, four years and ten months old, but he was smart and spoke well. Melissa said with a smile.

“I thought it would be better to get to know each other before the shooting, so I came with him.”

She said that, but it was already the fifth time she came to the child actor’s waiting room.

Melissa’s awkward smile felt like a spasm.

“I don’t want to scare you by suddenly coming in from behind.”

Of course, Baren was the same.

“Ah, please sit down. I’m Seo-jun’s mom, Seo Eun-hye.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Na-ra Kim.”

They exchanged greetings and the waiting room became quiet, but the awkward atmosphere soon eased.

It was because Na-ra Kim, who had a good social skill, actively asked about the movie shooting scene.

“It must be hard to repeat the same acting.”

Melissa shook her head.

“I can act as much as I want, but the problem is that the kids cry too much.”

“In front of them, a stranger woman screams loudly, and behind them, a stranger man grabs them.”

Barren smiled bitterly.

“They must be very scared because they are young.”

“We just have to act, but the staff are having a hard time.”

Melissa and Barren thought of Jonathan Will, the only staff member who was young and small among the fierce-looking staff, who was in charge of taking care of the children.

Jonathan Will had been running around all day today, soothing and looking after the crying children.

Melissa and Barren decided to achieve their purpose of coming into the tent.

Melissa, Barren, and Seo-jun.

The three actors sat on chairs and talked.

They talked about playing with their next-door friend, Jack, and the other movies they were shooting now.

Seo Eun-hye and Na-ra smiled proudly as they saw Seo-jun talking happily.

Melissa asked.

“Jun, did you read the script?”

“Mom read it to me.”

“How was it? How do you think William felt?”

“He must have been very happy.”

Melissa and Barren widened their eyes as they recalled the scenes they had already shot several times. Happy? No way.

“Why?”

“Because mom called my name.”

Seo-jun recalled the script that his mom had read to him.

Seo-jun’s scene was short.

The invaders who invaded the earth created wormholes all over the earth.

Seo-jun’s scene was one of the scenes that showed the damage situation.

The baby who was playing alone in the garden looked at his mom who ran out of the house after watching the breaking news.

‘William!’

The baby smiled brightly, holding the bear doll he was playing with, as his mom called his name like a scream.

Then, a black wormhole that was scary enough to be behind the baby was created. The desperate mom called.

‘William!!’

But the baby smiled even brighter at his mom’s scream.

And in an instant, the baby disappeared into the wormhole.

Leaving only one shoe.

“William didn’t know anything. He was just happy that mom called him.”

“That’s a good interpretation.”

A familiar voice was heard.

No, it was similar to what he had heard before.

Seo-jun lifted his head and saw a man entering the tent.

Seo-jun, who was sitting on the chair, lifted his head so much that it hurt to see the man.

He was huge.

His height and build were so big that his mouth opened wide.

Seo Eun-hye and Na-ra’s eyes also widened. If he hadn’t been a movie director, wouldn’t he have been an athlete?

“Director!”

Melissa and Barren, who were sitting next to Seo-jun, jumped up.

He was the director of this movie, Ryan Will.

Ryan Will entered the tent. Next to the director, there was a makeup artist holding a cosmetic box and a stylist carrying the clothes for Seo-jun.

Ryan Will sat down in front of Seo-jun. Their eyes met.

Ryan’s blue eyes moved up and down, examining Seo-jun.

The boy was bigger than he had seen in the video.

Black hair. Black eyes. His features were clear and would look good on the screen.

He also seemed to have a decent height.

He didn’t look scared even when he made a fierce expression.

Moreover, he was only an extra in the scene, but he had his own interpretation of the script.

He was different from the other child actors who just moved as their guardians told them.

Ryan Will smiled wickedly and reached out his hand, which was as big as Seo-jun’s face.

“You don’t seem to be afraid of me, so you must have some courage. Nice to meet you. I’m Ryan Will.”

“Hello. I’m Seo-jun Lee, a child actor. Please call me Jun.”

Ryan Will’s large hand and Seo-jun’s small hand touched.

“Right. Even if the situation around you is sad and serious, William doesn’t know anything. So you have to smile happily, Jun.”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Ryan’s words. I have prepared a secret weapon too!

Ryan Will, who had exchanged greetings with Seo-eun Hye and Na-ra Kim, left the tent to prepare for the next shooting.

“Shall we change clothes first?”

The stylist, who was looking at the clock, said. Seo-jun changed his clothes. Fortunately, the season in the movie was autumn, so Seo-jun wore warm clothes.

“It’s a bit chilly, but the fabric is thick and there’s a warm hand warmer inside, so you’ll be fine.”

“You don’t need much makeup either.”

The two people who finished their work quickly went out of the tent to find something else to do.

“Then we’ll go too. Jun. Fighting!”

Melissa, who played William’s mother, and Barron, who helped lift Seo-jun from behind and make him disappear into the chroma key, also went out to prepare for the shooting.

Na-ra also went out of the tent to make a phone call.

Everyone seemed to have made an appointment and left the place, and only Seo Eun-hye and Seo-jun were left in the tent.

“What do you want to do, Seo-jun?”

“Meditation!”

Seo-jun took out a flat slime pillow from his zombie bag. It was his favorite item that Kim Hee-sang had made for him and he always carried it with him.

“Are you sleeping?”

“No. It’s meditation.”

Seo Eun-hye laughed.

Where did he hear the word meditation?

She was amazed and exhausted by her son’s language development, which was far superior to his peers.

“Okay. Mom will read a book here.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun climbed onto the makeshift bed in the corner of the tent. He lay down with the slime pillow. His mother covered him with a blanket on one side.

“Then I’ll wake you up when it’s time to shoot.”

“It’s meditation.”

Seo-jun closed his eyes with a pout.

[Summer Bear’s Hibernation-Lowest Grade], which was engraved on the back of Seo-jun’s head, had a very excellent effect.

He fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

[Summer Bear’s Hibernation-Lowest Grade]

Summer bears, who only work in the hot summer, are too cold in autumn, winter, and spring, so they only sleep.

You fall asleep wherever you touch for 30 minutes a day.

Your recovery rate is slightly higher during sleep.

***

He was standing in front of the Library of Life.

There was only one door that opened before, the blue one. But now, another door was open.

It was the yellow one.

Seo-jun quickly pressed the bead that contained a power he had found in the yellow door library three days ago against his face.

The bead sparkled and a smiley pattern appeared on both cheeks of Seo-jun.

[Smiling Face Mushroom’s Illusion-Low Grade]

When you smile, an illusion magic is cast on the target who sees your face.

The target feels compassion for you for a certain period of time.

The effect and duration vary depending on the target.

“This was a big trouble because it was automatically used when I smiled.”

He rubbed his cheeks that felt slightly warm and recalled a week ago.

He had searched all night for a power after listening to the script his mother read. He was so happy to find the perfect power that he registered it right away.

The next morning, he smiled as usual when he saw his mom and dad.

[Smiling Face Mushroom’s Illusion is activated.]

‘What?’

Suddenly, his mom and dad hugged him. They squeezed him tighter than usual. And then, with a tearful voice mixed with overwhelming emotions in their chest,

“Our Seo-jun!”

“Our cute Seo-jun!”

They called out to him. The effect changed depending on the target. It seemed that they felt more intense emotions because they were his parents.

Fortunately, their emotions soon subsided. But Seo-jun had to stay in his mom and dad’s sight for half a day because of the skill.

All the effects disappeared by that evening.

Seo-jun was surprised by the good power and smiled, then quickly stiffened his face and went to sleep.

He couldn’t use it normally.

He had to cancel this skill today.

Because of that skill, Seo-jun had no choice but to sleep well on the set.

“This is a problem from now on.”

He must never smile.

Seo-jun tapped both cheeks and opened his eyes.

Chapter 29

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Chapter 29

He opened his eyes.

As soon as Seo-jun got up from his cot, Seo Eun-hye, who was reading a pocketbook, looked at the clock.

It had been less than ten minutes.

“You didn’t really sleep, did you?”

“I was meditating!”

He felt a smile forming on his face whenever he saw his mom.

Seo-jun tensed his face.

He couldn’t smile.

That would be trouble.

“Seo-jun Lee. It’s time for filming soon.”

Jonathan, who had been listening to the children’s crying all day, spoke to him from outside the tent with a detached expression.

“Yes. I’m going. Let’s go, Seo-jun.”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun clenched his face to avoid smiling carelessly and walked out of the tent holding his mom’s hand.

***

“Wahhh! The mushroom is so pitiful!”

A burly mercenary was crying loudly with his face buried on the table.

His colleagues, who were sitting at the same table, just shook their heads and drank their liquor.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Another mercenary from a different group, who was familiar with their faces, asked as he passed by.

The mercenary captain, who was closest to him, snorted and opened his mouth.

“We went to the mountain for a request this time, and there was a crying mushroom there. He was the one who was in front of us. As soon as he entered the territory of the crying mushroom, he burst into tears, and we were fine, but…”

“He couldn’t protect us, so we couldn’t go on with the request.”

The mercenary nodded.

“If it was a crying mushroom… Even if it was a fully grown mushroom, he would be fine by tomorrow evening if he cried like that.”

“If he had been the one who got affected, he would have cried for half a day and been done with it…”

The mercenary captain lowered his head as he looked at the glutton who was eating without even lifting his head at one end of the table.

The glutton raised his head as if he knew they were talking about him.

“Captain! I heard crying mushrooms are really delicious! We should have collected them yesterday!”

“We couldn’t even collect them, let alone enter the territory. We would have cried too much to collect them. But they must be in demand, they’re very expensive.”

“There.”

Someone interrupted the mercenaries’ conversation.

He had a large load on his back and his face was wrapped in a brown cloth.

He looked like a herbalist.

Next to the herbalist was a child who looked like his apprentice.

“Where is the mountain with the mushrooms?”

The mercenary captain raised a finger as he glanced at the herbalist.

The herbalist threw him a gold coin.

The herbalist and his apprentice slowly climbed up the mountain that the mercenary captain had told them.

There were holes everywhere and the trees were tall.

It was a rugged mountain with huge rocks and tree roots tangled together.

“Master! You shouldn’t give gold coins so recklessly! How do you know it’s really a crying mushroom?”

“It’s not a crying mushroom…”

“Yes, yes. Herbalists should use the correct scientific name! I know. Smiling face mushroom!”

“That guy was definitely under illusion magic. There’s only one way to get caught by illusion magic in this remote place where even magicians can’t see.”

“I know that too. But a silver coin would have been enough!”

The herbalist stopped walking and the apprentice closed his mouth. They saw the three rocks that the mercenary captain had mentioned.

“It’s around here.”

“Let’s look for it.”

The two of them searched for the smiling face mushrooms around the rocks.

The herbalist’s eyes, with his years of experience, spotted a small white dot.

It was a smiling face mushroom.

“I found it.”

“I’ll get ready!”

The disciple put down his backpack and took out a crossbow. He tied a sturdy rope to the end of the arrow.

Meanwhile, the herbalist slowly surveyed the area of the smiling face mushroom and chose a tree.

When the disciple handed him the crossbow, the herbalist, who had found a sturdy tree, shot the crossbow.

“Hit!”

The disciple ran into the mushroom’s area, avoiding looking at it, and quickly tied the rope tightly to the tree.

The herbalist also tied the rope to a nearby tree.

And then he tied another rope to the rope that was tied high like a clothesline and tied it to his body.

“Be careful, master.”

“Yeah.”

‘The illusion magic of the smiling face mushroom’ was a magic that affected anyone who entered the mushroom’s area and saw the mushroom’s smiling face.

The only way the smiling face mushroom could protect itself was this illusion magic that made anyone who saw the mushroom feel a slight pity or burst into tears.

The smiling face mushroom could be harvested if the mushroom’s face was not seen, but unfortunately, all four sides of the mushroom’s east, west, south, and north were faces.

No matter where they went, they could only see the mushroom.

The herbalist had learned one way from his previous master.

The herbalist took out a thick cloth and covered his eyes.

And he slowly relied on the rope tied to the tree and headed towards the smiling face mushroom.

A month later, two dishes of smiling face mushroom, big and small, were served on the imperial emperor’s table.

“I didn’t know there would be baby mushrooms! We got twice as much! With this, we can pay off all the master’s debts!”

The disciple, who saw the shiny gold coins in the pouch he received from the merchant, smiled brightly.

The herbalist, seeing the disciple’s smile, shoved the newly created debt collection paper into his pocket.

***

Jonathan Will led Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye to the filming location.

Jonathan took out a small teddy bear from the bag he had been carrying on his shoulder and handed it to Seo-jun. This was the fifth time he had given it to him.

He hoped the filming would end soon. To be honest, he didn’t have much expectation for this kid, Seo-jun Lee.

Even kids older than him cried and quit when they went into filming.

His mouth moved on its own, while his head was thinking of something else.

“You have to keep this, it’s for filming.”

“Yes!”

Holding the teddy bear in one hand, the three of them headed to where the staff were gathered.

The staff’s expressions were not good, as the filming continued all day.

It would have been fine if there was any progress, but this was the fourth time they had been fooled.

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye saw the staff surrounding a chroma key device installed on one side of the yard of an ordinary American house.

“The guardian can wait here. The actor goes to the director.”

At Jonathan’s words, Seo Eun-hye waved her hand slightly at Seo-jun.

“Good luck.”

“Okay!”

Jonathan took Seo-jun’s hand and headed to Ryan Will, who was looking closely at the monitor.

He didn’t know how many times he had checked, but he couldn’t be careless.

Ryan, who was comparing the screen and the image he had in mind, turned his head at Jonathan’s call.

“Director. Seo-jun Lee, the actor, has arrived.”

“He’s here. Let’s do well.”

“Yes!”

Ryan Will got up from his chair and headed to the yard with Seo-jun. He placed Seo-jun in front of the chroma key structure that would become a wormhole in CG.

Seo-jun looked around the floor and the surroundings were marked with tape. He lifted his head and saw the door that Melissa would run out of. It was a clear view.

[Checking the area of the smiling mushroom face.]

The area turned blue wherever Seo-jun’s eyes reached. The door that Melissa would run out of, the camera that was installed, and the place where Ryan’s chair and some staff were located.

When he turned his head, the blue area returned to its original state.

‘People have only one face, so their area is only this much.’

Seo-jun nodded.

The camera would film Seo-jun’s face anyway, so it didn’t matter.

“Here, you play with the teddy bear that Jonathan gave you. When Melissa calls you, you look up.”

“I know!”

Seo-jun answered confidently, and Ryan smiled. He was a brave kid, unlike the other child actors who would get nervous and teary-eyed when he explained. But he didn’t stop giving advice.

“Don’t be surprised when Barren grabs you.”

“Hi, Jun.”

Barren, wearing a green outfit, waved his hand from behind the chroma key cloth. His fingers were also covered with green cloth. Seo-jun waved back.

Barren wondered if he could expect something this time, seeing Seo-jun’s relaxed appearance.

Ryan peeled off the tape that was stuck on the floor and got up.

“You can make mistakes as much as you want, so don’t be burdened, or rather, don’t worry. Tell me if you’re cold.”

“I’m fine!”

“I’m not fine.”

Ryan chuckled and returned to his seat.

A chilly wind blew.

Ryan Will raised his hand in front of the monitor, and the staff became quiet.

In the silent set, Seo Eun-hye, who unknowingly held her breath, couldn’t even sit on the prepared chair and stood looking at Seo-jun.

She was worried about her son, who didn’t smile since he came out of the tent.

‘Is he nervous?’

Seo Eun-hye was also experiencing movie filming for the first time, so she couldn’t help it. Na-ra, who had finished the call, came and patted Seo Eun-hye’s anxious shoulder.

She whispered quietly, “He’ll do well,”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun, who was checking the area of the mushroom, turned his head and saw his mom and aunt Na-ra standing side by side.

He wanted to smile and reassure his mom, who was nervously clasping her hands, but no.

He couldn’t.

He couldn’t.

Seo-jun raised his hands and pressed his lips that seemed to rise without him knowing.

When the camera director looked at Ryan, Ryan nodded.

Ryan shouted loudly.

“Ready!”

Melissa, who was holding the door handle tightly inside the house, took a deep breath.

It was already her umpteenth line today.

The line was just one word. ‘William!’ But she had to express the anxiety and pain that was contained in it.

Barren, who was behind the chroma key cloth, also took a deep breath.

Timing.

That was what he had to match.

Seo-jun held the teddy bear.

****

A few months ago, Seo-jun watched a documentary.

Swalin Arnham, a famous Hollywood actor for his great acting, swept his white hair and talked.

[The basis of acting, in my opinion, is understanding. Understanding the history of the character.]

‘History?’

Seo-jun tilted his head as he watched the documentary with his dad and studied acting.

Lee Min-jun watched his son Seo-jun lying on the floor, drawing a worm with crayons on a large sketchbook.

He held his breath and smiled.

He didn’t know that the worm-like drawing was a mix of monster letters, Korean, and English that only Seo-jun could understand.

[History may seem difficult, but it’s simple. It’s about understanding how a character was born and grew up, their growth process. For example, the protagonist of ‘Soldier’, the movie I starred in, Benter…]

Swalin Arnham talked about Benter’s parents and growth process. He explained the reasons for his personality and the motives behind his actions in the movie.

[But there are characters who are difficult to create history for. They are the extras.]

[The extra characters who pass by the main characters without any dialogue have their own stories too. But the script writers have no reason to create history for those extras. They are busy. They are useless.]

Swalin Arnham’s face hardened.

He was a middle-aged man with a strong impression, and the atmosphere became serious as soon as he frowned.

[Actors have to understand the history of those extras, even if they don’t have any.]

‘How?’

Seo-jun dropped the crayon from his hand and crawled to the front of the television. He was stopped by his dad. He couldn’t take his eyes off Swalin Arnham’s serious face, even in his dad’s arms.

[Create it.]

[There are many clues. They are all in the script. You have to analyze and understand even the smallest clues.]

So Seo-jun created it.

The clues were a teddy bear, a mom, and a smile.

Chapter 30

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Chapter 30

So Seo-jun created them. The clues were a teddy bear, a mother, and a smile.

From afar, he heard the voice of director Ryan Will.

-Ready, action!

As he thought it was a small sound that didn’t match his size,

‘William’ was now four years old.

The teddy bear in his hand was the gift he received for his fourth birthday.

He liked this teddy bear more than any other gift, because his dad gave it to him.

Talking to the teddy bear in the yard was William’s favorite game.

It wasn’t a great story.

The breakfast was delicious, and the snack was always cookies.

What should he play with today? This or that?

It was another ordinary day.

The weather was chilly, so his mom dressed him warmly.

He sat in the yard where he played every day with the teddy bear under his arm.

“William!”

His mom called him.

William lifted his head at the sound of his mom’s voice. His mom opened the door and looked at the baby. William liked his mom.

He was so happy to hear her call that he smiled brightly and got up from his seat.

“William!!”

His mom ran to him.

William stretched out both hands holding the teddy bear, wanting to hug his mom’s cozy embrace, as he saw her running towards him with her arms outstretched.

William liked being hugged by his mom more than the delicious cookies, and he smiled happily more than ever.

And then everything went dark. His body was cold.

“Cut! OK!”

Ryan Will’s voice, like a shout, pierced Seo-jun’s ears.

Seo-jun opened his eyes wide.

“Huh?”

What? What’s going on? When did the filming start?

As he stood there with a blank face, he saw Barren’s worried face in his sight.

“Did I scare you? Did I pull you too fast?”

Barren hugged Seo-jun and rocked him.

Seo-jun stretched out both arms towards Melissa, so Barren thought it was good timing and quickly grabbed Seo-jun’s side and pulled him into the chroma key cloth.

And then he checked Seo-jun’s condition right away.

In the previous filming, the other child actors started crying when they heard Melissa scream.

Even after they passed that scene, some of them cried out in fright when Barren tried to grab the child actor’s side.

But Seo-jun didn’t cry and kept his eyes closed. His lips were slightly blue.

Was he cold? But Seo-jun’s body, cuddled in Barren’s arms, was warm enough.

Barren was worried about the difference and asked again.

“Are you okay? Jun?”

“What’s wrong, Barren?”

“No, Jun…”

“I’m fine!”

Seo-jun came to his senses and shouted at Ryan’s voice.

Barren, who was patting Seo-jun’s back, put him down on the ground. The two of them held hands and headed towards Ryan.

“Weren’t you scared?”

“No. It was fun!”

He didn’t remember anything.

Seo-jun just thought about William. Happiness, mom, and the wormhole that pulled him in.

It was cold and dark.

Seo-jun tilted his head. ‘What was that?’

Ryan and the camera director were talking seriously while looking at the monitor.

On one side, Melissa was wiping her tears with a handkerchief. Barren was surprised to see her.

He knew she was working hard, but he didn’t expect her to be so immersed that she would cry.

And she had been repeating the same act all day long.

He didn’t think she had that much energy left.

“Did you get that into it?”

“Uh, that’s…”

Melissa, who was about to answer Barren’s question, saw Seo-jun holding Barren’s hand and started crying again.

Barren and Seo-jun didn’t know what to do.

“Why are you crying?”

“Melissa, why are you crying?!”

“Uhuhu. William is so pitiful…”

In the end, the other staff members took Melissa to the waiting room instead.

The staff members who took Melissa had bright expressions.

Finally, the OK sign came from director Ryan Will.

They all looked at Seo-jun with proud eyes once in a while.

Barren looked at Melissa’s back, leaning on the staff members, and shook his head.

“Method acting is not all good, I guess.”

“Method?”

“You don’t know, Jun?”

“Yes.”

How do you explain this to a four-and-a-half-year-old baby?

Barren thought for a moment, but decided to trust the smart Seo-jun.

He explained slowly and easily.

“Method acting is when an actor becomes the character they play.

For example, Melissa is usually Melissa, but when she films, she forgets herself and becomes William’s mom.”

“William’s mom…”

Seo-jun thought hard. Wasn’t my situation the same?

Seo-jun forgot that he was Seo-jun and became William.

He knew he was being sucked into a wormhole, but even though he knew beforehand that it wasn’t a wormhole but Barren, it was cold and dark inside.

Was that method acting?

“Method acting is good when you act, but it’s not easy to get out of the character like Melissa when the filming is over.”

“Get out?”

“Melissa forgets that she is William’s mom and becomes Melissa again.”

That was different. Seo-jun got out of it as soon as he heard Ryan’s ‘cut’ sound. Seo-jun tilted his head.

Seo-jun asked Barren how to do method acting.

Barren cleared his throat and answered in a serious voice without answering.

“The basis of all acting is understanding. The role of the character…”

“Understanding the situation!”

“Understanding the situation?”

“Swalin Arnham!”

At Seo-jun’s words, Barren’s neck and face turned red.

“…You saw it too, Jun?”

“CAN Channel ‘People Who Loved Movies’!”

“…You saw it.”

“I love Swalin Arnham.”

Barren smiled sheepishly.

“He’s my favorite actor too.”

Seo-jun also giggled…

Slap!

Seo-jun slapped both cheeks hard.

He hadn’t laughed yet!

Slap! Slap!

He didn’t laugh!

Fortunately, his ability didn’t activate when he heard Seo-jun’s scream.

Barren didn’t know what to do when he saw Seo-jun suddenly hitting his own cheeks.

“Are you okay, Jun?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Really!”

His cheeks hurt, but he was fine. Really. Seo-jun shed a tear on his hot cheeks.

‘I have to sleep as soon as the filming is over.’

***

“Ready!”

Director Ryan Will shouted loudly.

A tightly closed door appeared on the monitor screen.

On another screen, Seo-jun was sitting on the floor.

“Action!”

Bang!

The door opened and Melissa appeared.

The camera showed Melissa’s face.

Ryan saw her face. It looked desperate, but it was a bit lacking in his eyes.

She was a mother who ran out after watching the breaking news.

Among many people, she had to be full of faith that her son wouldn’t disappear and anxiety that maybe, maybe, but Melissa’s face only had urgency to find her son.

Was it because she filmed too much?

He knew the staff and actors who had been struggling all day long, so director Ryan Will decided to watch Seo-jun’s acting first.

If this kid was also bad, he thought he would just delete this scene.

“William!”

Melissa’s scream was heard and Seo-jun got up on the screen. No,

“That’s…”

William got up.

The little boy smiled brightly and got up from his seat and hugged Melissa.

[The illusion of the smiling face mushroom is activated.]

The people and Seo-jun, who were immersed in acting, couldn’t hear the sound.

When a close-up of Seo-jun’s smiling face was shown, director Ryan Will and James Landon, who were filming directly, swallowed their breath.

Melissa, who was acting, was also speechless with a choked breath. Jonathan, who was among the tall staff, opened his mouth wide.

It was a bright smile of a child, it looked happy, but it made them breathless and their hearts trembled.

It felt like their insides were clogged.

They couldn’t bear to see the child who would soon disappear into the wormhole.

“William!!”

Melissa, no, William’s mother screamed.

Oh, my child! My precious child!! She screamed.

No! It didn’t come out of her mouth. Her insides were burning like she had eaten a fireball.

She couldn’t make a sound as if her throat was blocked.

William disappeared into the wormhole with a smiling face until the end. He only left one shoe behind.

The mother, who was emotional, collapsed in the yard. She couldn’t take her eyes off the place where the wormhole disappeared. Tears fell.

The first to come to his senses in the suffocating situation was director Ryan Will.

He forced his throat, which was tightly blocked, and shouted loudly. No one knew the moisture hidden in his voice.

“Cut! OK!”

As if that was a signal, everyone who had stopped breathing while watching Seo-jun and Melissa’s acting took a breath.

The staff who were waiting went to Melissa who was crying on the floor.

Meanwhile, director Ryan Will and James the camera director secretly wiped away the tears that were falling unconsciously and Jonathan went to the corner and cried.

While the staff cleaned up the scene, the two directors watched the scene again.

“Too…”

“Well done.”

Ryan Will nodded his head and leaned back on the back of the chair at the words of James Landon, the camera director who had been with him since his first short film.

They had filmed all day long.

He was left with only the youngest child actor scene and nearly gave up on it because he didn’t like any of them.

He was unsatisfied, but fortunately, the last kid did well.

No, not well.

He showed an amazing performance.

Ryan chuckled.

He couldn’t believe that the little kid’s acting made him cry, something he couldn’t have imagined an hour ago.

“When he first sat on the floor, I thought his legs were hurting…”

“His smile as he got up from his seat seemed more like greeting his mom.”

“…Was it a coincidence?”

“He could be a genius.”

It was Seo-jun’s smile that made his heart ache and made him want to cry even when he saw it again.

His heart pounded in his burning chest.

He couldn’t help but laugh when he thought about how people would react to this scene.

James, the camera director, nodded as well.

“A five-year-old actor who can make his co-star be immersed in their role. No one would believe it if they heard it.”

“He’s not five, though.”

Ryan Will laughed. James asked.

“What? How old is he?”

“He’s 58 months old now. He’s been four for 10 months.”

“Well. He’ll be five in two months, anyway.”

***

“OK in one take?”

“Jun did well. I was moved too.”

“Melissa’s acting was amazing too. Especially the last expression!”

“I saw a movie that Melissa was in before, and it was completely different from today. It was a similar role, but today it was like she broke out of her shell, you know?”

“But, did you see that?”

A staff member’s voice lowered.

The ears of the staff who were moving the equipment perked up.

“What?”

“Director Will and Director Landon crying.”

“…Was Melissa’s acting that good?”

“No, it seemed like they were crying after seeing Jun’s acting.”

The staff tilted their heads.

“It seemed good, but not enough to cry, right?”

“Jonathan seemed to be crying too.”

The staff looked at each other.

Jonathan Will was Ryan Will’s nephew and was studying to become a film director under his uncle.

He was a promising boy who had won a prize at a film festival for middle school students.

“…Is there something we don’t know?”

The makeshift tent that was used as the child actor’s waiting room was not soundproof.

Seo-jun nodded his head as he drank orange juice at the staff’s conversation outside.

And he recalled the number of people who were watching him during the filming.

About 30.

And the people who seemed to be affected by [The Illusion of the Smiling Face Mushroom] were.

Melissa, Director Ryan, Director James, and Jonathan Will.

These four people.

‘[The Illusion of the Smiling Face Mushroom] is low-grade, so it only affects these people.’

The top-grade skill, [The Tempting Packaging of the Small Mimic], which had an effect on all the targets, was an incredible skill that couldn’t be compared to [The Illusion of the Smiling Face Mushroom].

Chapter 31

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Chapter 31: Superstar from Zero Years Old

Dad was home before them today.

The family enjoyed the curry with big chunks of potatoes and meat that dad had cooked for a long time.

They talked about what happened at the movie set.

It was his son’s first movie shoot in his life, but Lee Min-jun couldn’t go with him. He felt sorry and asked him many questions.

“How was the shooting?”

“It was fun!”

“Did you get praised by the director? You did great, right?”

“Yes!”

After the shooting was over, Ryan, the director, stopped by the tent and lightly patted Seo-jun’s head.

He said he did well. Seo-jun smiled happily.

“I also took some pictures. Let’s look at them later while eating strawberries.”

After dinner, the three of them ate dessert while watching the pictures and videos that Seo Eun-hye had taken on the TV.

The first picture that appeared was Seo-jun sitting on a chair and Ryan Will sitting on the floor, shaking hands.

Seo-jun looked even smaller next to the huge Ryan in the picture.

Seo-jun stopped eating the strawberry.

“That’s the director!”

“He’s huge.”

“They say he’s over 190 centimeters tall in our language.”

“Wow… He would have been great as an athlete too.”

Then there were pictures of Seo-jun, Melissa, and Barren changing clothes. Seo-jun talking with Will Ryan in front of the chroma key. And then.

“This can’t be leaked. But they allowed me to take it from afar since it was Seo-jun’s first shoot.”

It was Seo-jun acting.

The video that Ryan Will, the director, showed them after the shooting, saying that actors should always monitor their performance, looked different from the one that mom took from afar.

It was amazing to see himself from a distance.

Sitting on the floor, getting up, stretching his arms.

It felt like someone else was inside his body and moving.

Lee Min-jun also clapped his hands, seeing Seo-jun disappearing into the chroma key with Melissa’s voice, which was faint but sharp.

Especially Melissa’s acting made Lee Min-jun’s heart ache, who had a son.

“Melissa, the actress, she’s amazing, right?”

“I thought so too. I can’t believe she’s been unknown until now.”

“What about me?”

Seo-jun turned his head quickly and looked at his mom and dad, who only praised Melissa.

Mom and dad opened their eyes wide and smiled brightly at their son’s puffy face.

“Seo-jun did well too!”

“You got an OK in one shot! You did really well!”

Seo-jun smiled and ate a ripe red strawberry.

“But when will it be released?”

“They have to do more shooting and some post-production work like CG… They said it will be released in late March or early April in our language.”

“I have to see it in the theater.”

Lee Min-jun, who was checking the schedule with anticipation of seeing his son’s first movie, was poured a cup of cold water by Seo Eun-hye.

“But since it was an audition and a shoot, I don’t know if they’ll use the scene with Seo-jun for sure.”

Seo-jun, who was eating strawberries deliciously next to him, was shocked. ‘No, how hard did I work, how much did I suffer from not smiling all day?!’

“Why?!”

“Yeah. Why? You said you got an OK, right?”

Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun asked Seo Eun-hye.

In the world of filmmaking, not every shot makes it to the final cut.

Many scenes are edited out, unnecessary parts trimmed, and the movie’s duration adjusted for optimal viewing.

This explains why deleted scenes and director’s cuts from various films frequently surface online.

Na-ra had warned Seo Eun-hye of this potential disappointment after watching the movie, to which Seo-jun responded by flopping onto the carpet.

“I worked so hard!”

Like a zombie doll, Seo-jun rolled around on the carpet.

Despite his efforts, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun could only offer a small laugh at his antics.

***

Two men in suits were walking somewhere, lightweight PinePads in hand.

“Shadowman, huh…”

Marina Studio, with its plethora of superhero characters, had Vice President Richard Bowen tapping on his PinePad.

Phelan was responsible for the Studio’s film division, shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s inevitable. Replacing Redbone’s actor would cause an uproar.”

“True, that’s a given.”

Redbone was a superhero movie produced by Marina Studio with an enormous budget, yielding equally impressive profits.

To maintain the popularity gained from the first installment, the original cast of Redbone was retained.

More funds were poured into production, along with the latest equipment and a significant workforce.

Plans for a simultaneous global release and extensive promotion were underway.

However, as filming for Redbone 2 reached its midpoint…

“Damn paparazzi.”

Richard Bowen frowned.

The lead actor of Redbone had been chased by paparazzi and met with an accident.

Fortunately, his life wasn’t in danger, but recovery to acting condition would take time.

This put a significant dent in the meticulously planned schedule for Redbone 2.

With equipment and personnel sitting idle, money was being wasted.

Left with no choice, Richard Bowen and Phelan decided to fill the gap with movies from two up-and-coming directors.

A financial loss was acceptable; this was an opportunity to test directors who had been on Marina Studio’s radar.

The Studio sent out feelers to two promising directors.

One was Ryan Will.

A short film director known for his sharp portrayal of social issues like racial discrimination. His direction was commendable, but his talent for casting was particularly noteworthy.

The actors he chose brought their characters to life, leaving a lasting impression on the audience.

“I’m curious to see how his casting skills will translate to selecting actors for Marina characters.”

“The actors for Shadowman are mostly unknowns. Just by looking at their portfolio photos, I’m not sure if they fit.”

Phelan flipped through Ryan Will’s resume and the resumes and portfolios of the actors he cast for Shadowman with a flick of his finger on the PinePad.

Actors who performed well but lacked charisma.

Extras who appeared briefly.

What did Director Ryan Will see in these actors? Phelan’s expression wasn’t optimistic.

Richard Bowen, seemingly indifferent to Phelan’s words, kept tapping on his PinePad, displaying Ryan Will’s resume.

He spoke in an annoyed tone.

“I never liked the choice of Shadowman to begin with.”

“Well, Shadowman isn’t popular, after all.”

Phelan nodded in agreement.

Redbone was among the most popular characters of Marina Studio’s comics, which is why it was turned into a movie and achieved global success.

In contrast, Shadowman was virtually unknown, and Phelan wouldn’t have even been aware of its existence if not for Ryan Will.

As Phelan skimmed through the portfolio, he shook his head.

No matter how he looked, he couldn’t predict what kind of movie would emerge from the collaboration between Director Ryan Will and these actors.

“What about Sara Roth?”

Richard looked down at the resume that had just popped up.

Phelan opened the Sara Roth folder on his PinePad.

Another director. Sara Roth.

She was a director who had swept the short film festival awards with her action scenes that blended beautifully with the screen and music.

Especially, her action scenes that matched well with the music reminded people of music games.

She was a director who was perfect for a superhero movie with thrilling action scenes.

This movie was also her first feature-length commercial film.

“The actors that Sara Roth cast are quite well-known. They also have good acting skills. I wonder how her Greenwing will be.”

Greenwing.

A character with incredibly fast speed, and one of the most popular heroes in Marina.

Marina also recommended him, and Sara Roth agreed right away.

They looked forward to the world of speed that she would direct.

The two men arrived at the huge door. Phelan grabbed the door handle.

The big door opened slowly and they heard a buzzing sound.

A large screen was installed in the center and people were sitting in their seats.

It was a preview screening of the edited movies that was held inside of Marina.

Richard and Phelan sat in their seats.

Soon, the host came up and explained about the two movies and the two directors and went down.

The inside of the conference room darkened.

The logo of Marina appeared on the screen, and the faces of two superheroes looking at each other appeared on the screen.

[Greenwing VS Shadowman]

“Well, at least the promotional slogan is decided.”

With such a confrontation, the public would surely be interested.

“Then, let’s watch Shadowman by director Ryan Will.”

The applause sounded at the host’s words and the screen that Ryan had seen dozens of times appeared.

Ryan, who was sitting in his seat, couldn’t focus on his own movie that was being shown to the audience for the first time and was lost in his thoughts.

Ryan’s dream was to make a hero movie about justice that defeats the evil of the world.

He had no one to invest in him, so he made a short film at first.

It was a short film that showed social issues such as racial discrimination and income inequality bluntly.

Then, he finally got a chance. He got an offer from Marina.

[Shadowman]

It was Ryan Will’s first feature-length hero movie.

The protagonist, Mac, was an alien child who crash-landed on Earth. The other alien who crash-landed with him died quickly and the baby who couldn’t even walk grew up in an orphanage and went out to society.

It was a cold society for an orphan, but he liked this country, this world, thanks to his friends who loved him.

One day, a necklace came into Mac’s hand.

The aliens invaded the Earth to find the necklace.

Mac, who wore the necklace around his neck, used his power to protect the Earth. But some people went missing while Mac was fighting the aliens.

And at that time, there was one person among the missing who was the rival of Shadowman.

‘That’s William.’

Ryan Will wanted to make Shadowman a series, but it didn’t go as he wanted.

So he wondered whether to put this scene as a foreshadowing or not, and eventually decided to put it.

Because Ryan’s superhero’s, Shadowman’s, enemy was only ‘William’.

Ryan thought of a boy’s face.

The black-haired, black-eyed boy stood with a cold expression, looking at Shadowman who wore a black mask.

Before he made the movie, William’s face was a white man with black hair, but after he saw Jun’s face, he only thought of Jun’s grown-up face.

‘I hope this movie succeeds so I can make the next movie.’

But even the rational Ryan couldn’t help but be optimistic about the success of this movie.

“Uhuhuhuhu.”

Because Richard Bowen, the vice president who crossed the line between illegal and legal for the Studio’s profit, was crying like a child who lost his mother.

Chapter 32

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Chapter 32

The theaters were buzzing with excitement as April came with blooming flowers. T
oday, Shadowman and Greenwing were released.

“Mom! Dad! Hurry up!”

Seo-jun was bouncing on his feet at the front door, holding his slime backpack.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who had packed Seo-jun’s snacks and belongings, smiled at his impatience and quickly helped him put on his coat.

“Seo-jun, it’s still chilly outside. Put this on.”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun obediently wore his coat, but his feet were still restless.

The couple couldn’t help but laugh at his eagerness.

“Do you like it that much?”

“Yes! I’m in the movie!”

On March 10th, when they were still in the US, they had a birthday party for Seo-jun.

Their planned two-year business trip to the US had been extended to four years due to Lee Min-jun’s company situation.

They were worried that it might be longer, but luckily, their US trip was finally over.

They had to leave the US soon and go back to Korea, so they invited the people they had been close with in the US for a farewell party.

As they were eating, playing, and chatting, Seo Eun-hye got a call on her phone. It was from director Ryan Will.

Ryan confirmed Seo-jun’s casting and congratulated him.

Seo-jun cheered and ran around until his mom scolded him, but there was no sign of the smile fading from Seo Eun-hye’s face or the faces of the others.

They all congratulated him and promised to watch the movie with Seo-jun.

And then they arrived in Korea.

Time flew by as they unpacked, cleaned, and looked for a kindergarten for Seo-jun.

And today.

Shadowman was finally released.

Seo-jun had been shining his eyes and staying at the front door since this morning.

The couple had wanted to wait until the release date passed, because they thought Seo-jun might have a hard time with the crowd, but Seo-jun couldn’t sit still since he saw the ‘Marina Studio’s advertisement, so they booked the movie tickets early.

“Greenwing might win! We have to go see it soon.”

“I didn’t know that’s what you meant.”

In the elevator, Seo-jun couldn’t move around, but he couldn’t keep his upper body still either.

Seo Eun-hye shook her head at him.

They were shocked when they saw the ‘Marina Studio’s advertisement for the first time in Korea.

It was an advertisement that showed the two heroes of the Marina Studio, Shadowman and Greenwing, facing each other.

And the advertisement said that you could vote online with the movie ticket, which encouraged the competition.

And they said they would send a figure of the hero and some prizes by lottery, so the internet was heated up even before the movie was released.

Seo-jun had been anxious since then.

He was confident in the audition, but movie versus movie. He was worried about how Ryan edited it.

‘If [The Fantasy of the Smiling Mushroom Face] worked, he wouldn’t cut it for sure…’

Seo-jun remembered Ryan Will’s face, which was calm even after the filming was over.

He patted his head and said he did well, but was that really true?

Seo-jun trembled his legs nervously.

The elevator reached the first floor and the family headed to the nearest theater.

It was the biggest theater in the neighborhood.

The theater was crowded with people everywhere.

Seo-jun had never seen so many people before, so he held his mom and dad’s hands tightly.

“Shall we watch Greenwing?”

That word pierced Seo-jun’s ears like an arrow. Seo-jun pouted his lips.

And after that, he only heard stories about Greenwing. Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun kept turning their heads.

“The promotion is really scary.”

“I know. It was a mess when I heard that Redbone had a car accident.”

As soon as they left the subway station, they were greeted by a sea of movie posters from Marina Studios.

Lim Yeon agreed with her friend, Park Seonga, who looked fed up with the sight.

It had been a chaotic time.

Fans of Redbone, the star who had fallen ill, flooded the SNS with video messages and vows to boycott any movie without him.

There were even news of serious terrorist threats that appeared on SNS, which didn’t seem like jokes at all.

Lim Yeon got the tickets she had reserved from the machine.

She had settled for Shadowman, since Greenwing was sold out. It didn’t matter to her, though.

She planned to watch both movies anyway.

“But you have to hand it to Marina. They know how to create a buzz with this rivalry thing.”

“I think I’ll watch both too. It’s interesting to see two rookie directors with different characters. One famous, one unknown.”

“Greenwing will probably win, right?”

“Most likely. The director of Greenwing has won a lot of awards, after all.”

They took and opened the pamphlets that were available.

Marina Studios had made the promotion of the two movies into a competition, as one pamphlet had Greenwing on the left and Shadowman on the right.

Greenwing in green and Shadowman in black.

They also listed the directors’ achievements below.

The Greenwing director’s award history was clearly longer.

“It’s weird, though. Usually, for this kind of competition, they would pair a famous character with an unknown director and an unknown character with a famous director, to make it fair.”

“Yeah. This looks like Shadowman is doomed from the start.”

Lim Yeon was familiar with Greenwing, but she only learned about Shadowman when the movie was announced.

Park Seonga, who had been pondering for a moment, said.

“Or maybe, they’re trying to manipulate people’s psychology.”

“People’s psychology?”

The people who came to get the pamphlets were listening to their conversation.

Seo-jun, who had grabbed the Shadowman poster, pricked up his ears.

“Why. When it seems like a one-sided loss, people tend to root for the underdog.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“Well, they’ll do what they want. It’s Marina.”

“But when is Redbone 2 coming out?”

“I bet they’re aiming for the summer break, so maybe in the summer.”

The two people who were chatting casually turned away. Then, the people who were listening to their conversation also looked away and acted as if they hadn’t heard anything.

It wasn’t just Park Seonga and Lim Yeon.

The theater was filled with people who came to watch the movies from Marina Studios, and everyone was talking about Marina.

Two movies made by the same studio.

It was the clash of the century, they said, and they all rushed to the theater like cold-blooded movie critics, ready to cast their votes.

“There are more people watching Greenwing, of course.”

“Greenwing is popular, you know.”

“I’m going to watch Shadowman! Underdog!”

“Where did you hear that?”

The two people laughed at Seo-jun’s words. Seo-jun looked at the movie ticket his mom gave him.

Shadowman, theater 3.

He turned his head around and said,

“Mom, theater 3!”

Seo-jun, who could now read numbers well, spotted the number 3 on the wall.

The family held their pounding hearts and stepped into theater 3.

================

“Wow, Greenwing is amazing.”

“Seriously, the world felt so slow. I thought time had stopped.”

Greenwing’s screening ended first.

The audience came out and shared their impressions.

“The background music timing was incredible. When Greenwing hit a villain, it sounded like a bang! at the exact moment of impact. It felt like hitting with music. It wasn’t 4D, but it felt like it!”

Some people were planning to watch Greenwing for the nth time, while others shook their heads, saying it was not as good as they expected. But even those people could not help but nod at the dazzling visual effects and say, ‘As expected of Marina.’

“It’s hard to get out, isn’t it? Maybe because there are so many people.”

“That’s how this theater is. It’s really hard to leave.”

As people were lining up to slowly exit Greenwing, Shadowman’s screening ended.

The door of theater 3 opened. People came out, but not many.

A theater employee who had seen Shadowman beforehand shouted loudly with a resigned expression on his face.

It was loud enough for even the Greenwing audience who were leaving next to him to hear.

“Shadowman’s screening is over. Please take your belongings and leave. Tissues are prepared in front of you.”

As the theater employee said, there were several boxes of tissues next to him.

The Greenwing audience wondered. Shadowman was a movie from Marina, the rival of Greenwing.

It was supposed to be a thrilling superhero movie, so why tissues?

As soon as the theater employee finished speaking, someone showed up. He was a person who came to watch Shadowman alone, and he was so busy crying that he didn’t even notice the door opening.

“Sniff. I… need… sniff… some…”

“Here you go.”

“Thank… sniff…”

The rest of the audience came out after him.

Some of the Shadowman viewers were crying.

They were only about 10% of the audience, but they stood out more because they were sobbing.

Some people took tissues while crying, and some people came out with the support of their friends.

Their friends were bewildered.

“Why are you crying so much?”

“Will… William was so pitiful…”

“I mean, I also felt sorry for him, but… is it worth crying like this?”

Lim Yeon kept pouring out tears.

“Hey, you’re embarrassing me.”

Park Seonga quickly grabbed a tissue from the box next to the theater employee and gave it to Lim Yeon.

Lim Yeon continued to cry even as she wiped her tears with the tissue.

Even after Lim Yeon came out, there were occasional viewers who came out crying from theater 3 where Shadowman was screened.

They cried regardless of age or gender.

The Greenwing audience stared at the Shadowman viewers.

What kind of movie was it?

The audience who were satisfied with Greenwing became curious. Some of them were already booking tickets for the next Shadowman movie on their phones.

“Sniff.”

Seo-jun cried.

Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye, who were sitting next to Seo-jun, gave him tissues with subtle expressions and wiped his tears.

Seo-jun, who was in his father’s arms, blew his nose with the tissue his mother gave him.

“William… was so… pitiful…”

“What are you going to do if Seo-jun sees you crying and cries too?”

Lee Min-jun lifted Seo-jun from his seat and hugged him.

“But… he was so pitiful… sniff.”

Seo-jun buried his face in his father’s shoulder.

Even though he had little mana and low resistance, the effect of [Smiling Mushroom’s Illusion-Low] that made even the skill owners cry was amazing.

“Seo-jun, look. Your name is up there.”

“Sniff? My name?”

Seo Eun-hye quickly changed the subject as her son cried too much.

Just then, the names of the production company, actors, and staff appeared on the screen that turned black along with Shadowman’s OST.

In the meantime, Seo-jun Lee appeared in fairly large letters.

His tears blurred his vision, but Seo-jun saw it clearly.

[Seo-jun Lee]

The white alphabet seemed to sparkle.

Seo-jun couldn’t take his eyes off his name that slowly rose, even as he shed tears.

Meanwhile, the internet was in an uproar with reviews of Shadowman.

Chapter 33

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Chapter 33

As expected, Greenwing was so popular that most of the initial reviews were about it.

Soon, Shadowman’s reviews also came up.

Both movies received a lot of praise for being fun.

Some people were already looking forward to the sequel.

Someone posted a message.

Title: Shadowman, Strange.

Author: WhyDidICry

I watched Shadowman because Greenwing was sold out, and I cried. I don’t cry at melodramas usually. I didn’t cry even when I had surgery that was very painful. But I saw the baby’s face and sobbed.

-? You cried watching a marine movie? Did you watch the wrong movie?

-Why sob?

That was not all. Day by day, other people’s reviews and photos started to appear. When some of the reviews said they cried watching Shadowman, it became an issue.

The biggest buzz was caused by a video from a YouTuber [Moviegoer]. Moviegoer, who uploaded movie reviews as videos, posted a video after posting a review of Greenwing and reading people’s posts.

[Shadowman Tear Challenge 15th Round]

“Hello. This is Moviegoer. I finally succeeded!”

Moviegoer wiped his tears with a tissue and said.

“According to my calculations, about 0% to 10% of the people cried. There were times when no one cried at all, and times when 10% cried.”

Moviegoer showed a table he made on the screen. It was a table that showed the number of viewers and the number of people who cried during the 15 rounds he watched. At the end of the table, there were numbers like 3, 7, 4… The largest number was 10.

“I didn’t expect to jump 15 rounds. I think I know what kind of feeling the others are talking about. How should I put it, I realized William’s true acting? I couldn’t take my eyes off the child’s face from the moment William smiled. Melissa, who played the mother, was also great, but now I feel deeply in my heart that the child actor who played William was really amazing.”

Moviegoer opened a window on the screen.

“So I was curious who the child actor who played William was, and I looked it up, but what is this!!”

William role [Seo-jun Lee]

“He was a Korean child actor! I wondered if he was a Korean-American or a Korean, and I was worried about how to find out. By the way, my younger sister is a fan of Brown Black. She is the one who captured [48 Hours] in 0.01 second intervals! That sister was researching behind me and said, when she saw the picture of the child actor who played William, ‘Oh? He looks like Seo-jun.’ Seo-jun. Seo-jun Lee. Aren’t they the same? So I asked my sister, and guess what!”

Moviegoer showed two windows on the screen. There were pictures of Seo-jun holding a milk bottle with the logo hidden and Seo-jun with Brown Black.

“Korean! And a star who appeared in commercials and YouTube shows! He is Seo-jun Lee!”

Moviegoer’s YouTube video became a hot topic in no time.

There were many people who were curious about whether they cried or not watching Shadowman, whether it was manipulated or not.

The reporters who aimed for clicks poured oil on the fire.

[The youngest Korean Hollywood actor, Seo-jun Lee!]

[Number one again this year! The music powerhouse, Brown Black and Hollywood actor Seo-jun Lee met in the past?!]

[The child actor chosen by the marines!]

[How to make your child a Hollywood actor!]

[What do the people who cried have in common? How sensitive are you!]

[Did you cry too? The secret of Shadowman!]

Many people wondered why they cried.

A movie critic said in an interview, “It’s ironic and even sadder to see William smiling and knowing nothing in an urgent situation.”

Some people agreed with the movie critic’s interview, but many others shook their heads. If that was the reason, they should have cried from the first time they watched the movie.

This issue was not only in Korea. In every country where Shadowman was released, [Shadowman Tear Challenge] spread like a trend.

Especially for quests or events, Koreans who always played them to the end turned on the fire in their eyes and ran the Shadowman Nth time to cry.

But few people burst into tears.

***

Director Choi Dae-man got a chance to shoot his first feature film. It was because a film production company that liked his script suggested working together.

Film Dream was a place that made and earned money from various genres of movies, and it was the place that Director Choi Dae-man also thought of if he made his first movie.

It was because the genre of the movie he was going to make was a mystery movie, which was rare in Korea.

That’s how the movie production started.

Choi Dae-man wanted to make the movie more perfect, so he wandered around the country with the location manager of Film Dream.

For a month and a half. It wasn’t that he wandered around the country without a plan.

He looked through the resumes and portfolios sent by the production company and looked for actors to appear in the movie. Sometimes he went back to Seoul and auditioned.

He worked hard on his job, but the production company raised both hands and feet and asked him to finish it by August, seeing the director wandering around the country.

Then,

“Here. Here it is!”

He found a village.

Choi Dae-man, who returned after finding a village that would be the background of the movie, faced another obstacle.

The casting manager, who scratched his head with the end of a pen, sighed softly and opened his mouth.

“This is the third audition. You called the child actors who failed the document screening and the child actors who scored the highest in the first audition, but you rejected them all. Director.”

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

“No. You don’t have to be sorry, Director. I know you are working hard because it was your first feature film.”

The casting manager, who had an unpleasant expression, crossed his arms and sighed. The conference room was quiet for a moment.

“There is a child actor who is getting a lot of attention these days. I don’t know if he will come to Korea to shoot this movie, but…”

The casting manager stopped talking as if he remembered something.

Director Choi Dae-man asked.

“Then, shouldn’t we ask the child actor if he wants to participate in the audition?”

“That’s…”

The casting manager recalled the movie he saw a month ago.

“He’s pretty famous, so I don’t think he’ll be in our movie.”

“Huh?”

Choi Dae-man, who had wandered around the country, was slow to catch up with the latest news.

“The child actor was in a Marina movie. And he acted so well that he was a hot topic in both Korea and the US. Almost every Hollywood movie that a child actor could appear in would have sent him an offer.”

“Marina? That, Hollywood?”

“Yes. The awesome Hollywood movies that call a movie with a budget of less than 100 billion won a low-budget movie and easily spend 100 billion won on a movie.”

It meant that his movie, which was only 6 billion won, was not even a hill. Director Choi Dae-man wondered. How well did he act that the casting manager said that?

The casting manager, who was rubbing his chin, opened his mouth.

“Go and see for yourself. Director.”

“Do you know who he is?”

“You’ll know when you see him.”

At the urging of the casting manager, Director Choi Dae-man hurriedly left the conference room and headed to the nearest theater.

Director Choi Dae-man stepped into the theater.

It had been a month since it was released.

The screening rooms for Greenwing were getting thin, but the screening rooms for Shadowman were still packed.

He bought a ticket for Shadowman and looked around. Everyone had tissues in one hand.

‘Tissues?’

There were also people holding cameras.

“Hello, everyone. This is my tenth attempt today. The person next to me succeeded on the fifteenth try! I’ll try to beat that record!”

“Fifth attempt! Let’s go!”

The other spectators didn’t seem to care about those people.

They were busy betting on whether they would succeed or fail, and chatting among themselves.

“What is this…?”

As he wandered around the countryside, he wondered what had happened in the past month. The voice of the movie theater staff cleared his mind, which was full of confusion.

“Screen 4, Shadowman is about to start! Please enter as soon as possible.”

Among the crowd of people rushing in, Cho Dae-man also moved his feet with a complicated expression.

“Yes. Haru-haru, it’s starting soon. Yes. Coffee-love, I’ve been in China for a month. It was released there too, but I don’t know Chinese, so this is my first time watching Shadowman.”

There was someone who was even live-streaming, but no one seemed to mind. Why?

Cho Dae-man suppressed a sigh and sat down on the seat.

He had a headache throughout the movie, worrying that the camera lights would bother him, but contrary to his concern, the lights in the theater went off and everyone turned off their lights as if they had made a promise.

The people who were talking also shut their mouths.

The sudden silence gave him goosebumps.

‘Come to think of it…’

They all had cameras, smartphones, and tissues, but nothing more important than that.

Koreans, who would say they ‘watch movies to eat popcorn’, considered popcorn and soda as essentials, but no one had popcorn in their hands. No drinks, no nachos, no squid butter that smelled strong.

‘What happened in a month?!’

He felt a chill from his back. How could there be no food in the spectators’ hands, even if it was a great movie?

Cho Dae-man wanted to scream at the sight, but the signature of Marina Studio was appearing on the dark screen.

Mac was an orphan, but he lived happily with the good people he met. One day, he used his secret ability, which he hadn’t told even his precious friends, to deliver pizza through the shadows.

He found a blood-stained necklace in a corner.

As soon as Mac’s hand touched the necklace, a signal shot up to the sky.

The planet Natra, which received the signal of the rebel, launched a warship to eliminate the rebel.

And to stop Natra, Mac used his ability to manipulate the shadows.

Mac’s fierce attack made Natra create a strange wormhole all over the world. Narta didn’t expect what was on the other side of the wormhole.

People all over the world were sucked into the black wormhole.

The world’s television broadcasted an emergency news bulletin to evacuate. But they couldn’t stop the wormholes that appeared and absorbed people in an instant.

Mac, the Shadowman, defeated the Natra warship, but he couldn’t stop the victims from disappearing.

The Shadowman lowered his head at the sight of the woman who was crying without making a sound, pressing his mask deeper.

Flash!

The lights in the theater came on.

The suffocating silence was broken in an instant.

The theater became noisy.

“Ah, I failed again. But I’ll try again in a moment for the eleventh time!”

“Uhuhuhung! I cried! I cried! Everyone! William… Uhuhuhung!”

“Shadowman is over. Tissues are available at the front for those who need them!”

It was a ridiculous situation, but Choi Dae-man was not in a position to care. His eyes were also dripping with tears.

He couldn’t get rid of the image of William, who disappeared into the wormhole with a bright smile, in his head.

He felt a chill.

It was just a smiling face, but it hurt his heart so much.

He felt a chill.

This level of acting, he remembered what the casting manager said.

Almost every Hollywood movie would send a love call to this kid.

He nodded his head even as he shed tears. He would send one too.

He would cast him in his movie, even if he had to beg his parents.

Chapter 34

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Chapter 34

Choi Dae-man searched for Shadowman William on his phone after leaving the movie theater.

It seemed like everyone else had done the same, as it was the top suggestion in the auto-search.

[Shadowman William]

[Shadowman William child actor]

[Shadowman William Lee Seo-jun]

He glanced at the passing words.

Lee Seo-jun.

Suddenly, he remembered the cute baby from the past, as if struck by lightning.

Choi Dae-man unconsciously opened his mouth.

“Lee Seo-jun? Lee Seo-jun!?”

He pressed the search button with his finger.

A profile window popped up.

Among the people with the same name, the most famous one appeared on the screen, smiling brightly in a photo.

He had grown a lot since he saw him four years ago, but he still had the same round eyes and distinct facial features.

“Is that really Seo-jun!?”

It was Lee Seo-jun, who had filmed the Elephant Milk commercial with him.

He felt a chill.

He had thought he was a genius, but he expected him to do something bigger later, not to go to America and star in a movie by Marina.

“He’s a genius, after all.”

Choi Dae-man entered a nearby cafe and ordered an iced americano.

He sat down and started surfing the internet about Shadowman and Lee Seo-jun.

For the past month, there had been a lot of news about them, from the Elephant Milk commercial to the show [Brown Black and Jun’s 48 Hours], which Choi Dae-man had watched because of Seo-jun, and of course, [Shadowman].

WNET was trying to catch the wave and re-broadcasted the show with the title [48 Hours of Hollywood Child Actor Lee Seo-jun!].

There were also many articles with catchy headlines like ‘The Youngest Korean Hollywood Child Actor!’ and ‘The Korean Chosen by Marina!’.

There were some malicious comments saying ‘He’s just an extra’, but there were also many praises.

As Choi Dae-man read the screen diligently, he made a phone call.

“Ah, long time no see. Team Leader Kang So-ra.”

The recipient was Kang So-ra, the team leader of Elephant Company.

***

“So I wanted to see you and tell you about it.”

Seo-jun sucked on his orange juice. Ew, sour.

He shook his head and the team leader Kang So-ra sitting in front of him smiled lightly.

“There’s nothing we can do about the law.”

“I’m really sorry.”

Seo Eunhye waved her hand.

It wasn’t Kang So-ra’s fault that the law was set that way.

She had sent gifts every year for New Year’s and Chuseok, and also for Seo-jun’s birthday. She was grateful that she came to explain in person.

“So the milk commercial won’t air anymore?”

“No. I’m sure others will find some loopholes. But we’re planning to stop advertising altogether.”

“I see.”

The milk commercial was banned. Not only in Korea, but in more than 120 countries that joined WHO, there was an international regulation that prohibited milk formula advertising.

It was to prevent the misuse of formula.

That’s why Seo-jun’s milk CF had ended.

That wasn’t the only reason. The TV quality had changed drastically as technology advanced.

The commercial was effective, but it didn’t suit the future customers other than the baby parents. It was amazing enough to air the CF that was filmed four years ago for four years.

To break the somber mood, Kang So-ra opened her mouth.

“Ah, have you seen Seo-jun’s movie? He was really good.”

“Seo-jun likes acting. I’m thinking of sending him to an acting school these days.”

Team Leader Kang So-ra rolled her eyes playfully.

“Acting school? If Seo-jun, who has even filmed a Marina Studio movie, goes to an acting school…”

It would cause a stir.

Banners would be hung on the walls of the acting school, and the principal would appear on television, promoting the school using Seo-jun’s name.

There would be other repercussions, most likely not good ones.

As Team Leader Kang trailed off, Seo Eun-hye, who had guessed her concerns, also smiled bitterly.

“That’s why I’m worried. Acting isn’t something you do alone. Neither Seo-jun’s father nor I know anything about acting, and we just awkwardly play his counterparts.”

Seo Eun-hye, sipping orange juice, glanced at Seo-jun, who was watching a documentary about movies on his phone, and continued.

“It would be nice to have a friend or a teacher who knows acting well to play opposite roles.”

“I see.”

“Moreover, scripts are coming in for Seo-jun, and I don’t even know which ones are good.”

As Seo-jun’s connection with Brown Black became known, offers poured in for Seo Eun-chan, Brown Black’s manager.

It was amazing how many companies were making advertisements.

Moreover, many scenarios and synopsis were coming in from the drama and movie side.

Unable to discern the good from the bad, they were all being rejected. Seo-jun was also shaking his head, seemingly not finding any scenarios to his liking.

That’s when it happened.

Buzz buzz—

Feeling the vibration from her handbag, Kang So-ra stood up with her bag.

“Just a moment.”

“Take your time with the call.”

Kang So-ra, who had been on the phone in a corner of the cafe, returned to her seat with a subtle expression.

“Seo-jun’s mother.”

“Yes?”

“Do you remember the director from the last CF shoot?”

“Yes, I remember.”

Seo Eun-hye and Seo-jun nodded.

It was their first CF shoot.

Every moment was memorable.

They remembered the kind director who had called Seo-jun a genius and offered his phone number, willing to help even in a small way.

“Director Choi Dae-man wants to meet you urgently. What should we do?”

“Why does the director suddenly want to meet?”

“He’s making a movie and wants you to take a look at the script.”

Kang So-ra spoke cautiously.

On the internet, there were posts everywhere about how this already famous child actor was getting scripts from Hollywood.

She wondered if it was okay to talk like this.

“I want to see it!”

“If it’s a script, Seo-jun has read almost all of them, so it’s fine.”

At the mention of a script, Seo-jun raised his hand eagerly.

Whether it was because his smiling face in Shadowman without any lines had left a strong impression, or because they didn’t trust the speaking abilities of 6-year-old Seo-jun, almost all the scripts coming in for Seo Eun-chan involved roles where he just stood and smiled.

How boring.

So they were all rejected.

Seo Eun-hye also nodded.

It wasn’t a request to appear in a movie without a plan, using past connections, but rather a request to look at a script and make a judgment.

Moreover, it was a director with whom they had a connection. She felt more inclined towards him than others.

“Shall I give you the director’s phone number? Or should I receive it by email and give it to you?”

“Could you give me the director’s phone number, please?”

Four years ago, Seo Eun-hye had kept a note with the phone number of Choi Dae-man, the director who could make Seo-jun’s future. It was still in her notebook.

But it might have changed in four years, so she entered the number that Kang So-ra gave her into her phone.

She texted Choi Dae-man first to ask when he was available to talk.

She wanted to call him when both Lee Min-jun and Seo-jun were with her. He replied that he was free anytime.

After dinner, the whole family gathered around the phone. Seo Eun-hye called him as the representative.

“Oh, a mystery movie.”

Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun looked at their mother who was talking to the director.

“He said it’s a mystery movie.”

“Mystery?”

Seo-jun searched for mystery genre movies with his dad.

There were more genres than he thought.

There were movies with ghosts, movies with supernatural powers, and movies with detective stories.

“Horror movies are also included. If it’s a horror movie, does it have ghosts? Can Seo-jun do it?”

“Yeah! Am I a ghost?”

“Maybe. There were Japanese movies where kids were ghosts. Or maybe. If it’s a movie like a detective story, are you a victim?”

“Victim?”

“Um. Someone who gets hurt by the villain?”

They looked at the movies they searched and talked about the roles that they thought Seo-jun could play. There were many different genres and roles that Seo-jun seemed to fit.

“What role does Seo-jun have?”

Seo Eun-hye asked Choi Dae-man. He answered something. Seo Eun-hye barely said goodbye with a vague expression and quietly put down the phone.

Lee Min-jun and Seo-jun, who were curious about the conversation with the director, hovered in front of Seo Eun-hye.

She had a half-dazed expression on her face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Mom, what role do I have?”

“Not a ghost? He said it’s a mystery movie, right?”

Was that so surprising? Seo Eun-hye looked up and down at Seo-jun and opened her mouth.

“He said you’re a shaman.”

“…What?”

At Lee Min-jun’s question mixed with doubt, Seo Eun-hye repeated.

“He said you’re a baby shaman who exorcizes ghosts.”

Shaman?

“What’s a shaman?”

Seo-jun looked at himself and asked, grabbing his mom and dad’s hands with a complicated expression.

Seo-jun, six years old.

In this life, he had never seen a shaman on TV, in newspapers, or in fairy tales.

No, he had never heard the word shaman before.

Seo Eun-hye printed out the script she received from Choi Dae-man. It was not the whole script, but the part where Seo-jun would appear.

She also printed out a file with the story of the baby shaman that Choi Dae-man had set up.

“Do shamans wear these clothes?”

“Yeah. They’re colorful, right?”

“Why do they wear them?”

“…Well? I don’t know either.”

Meanwhile, Lee Min-jun explained to Seo-jun about shamans.

When they searched for shamans, they saw pictures of people wearing colorful clothes and spreading their arms.

Seo-jun frowned as he looked at the pictures.

“What are they doing?”

“That’s…”

He couldn’t say ‘they’re shaking bells’, so Lee Min-jun quickly moved on to the next picture.

“He won’t do this.”

He knew it without looking at the script. Who would make a six-year-old ride a wooden horse?

The next picture was not easy either.

The shaman with a straw hat was dancing like crazy, and the picture was full of dizzying afterimages.

Lee Min-jun sighed.

“Is this dancing?”

“This is… a ritual.”

“A ritual?”

“It’s a way to get rid of the bad spirits that enter people’s bodies. It’s a dance that makes all the bad things disappear.”

Lee Min-jun explained as much as he knew. Seo-jun blinked his eyes.

“What happens to the shaman?”

“A very powerful god enters the shaman’s body. The shaman uses that power to tell fortunes.”

“Isn’t it a bad spirit if it enters the body?”

“…Help!”

Lee Min-jun raised a white flag.

Seo-jun had fun teasing him and he laughed. He didn’t know the word ‘shaman’, but he had a rough idea of what it was from his dad’s story.

It was like a priest or a cleric. Or maybe an archangel.

“Okay. Seo-jun. Shall we read the script?”

“Yes!”

They all sat on the sofa, and Seo Eun-hye read the script slowly.

The baby shaman’s part was not long, but it was a very important role.

Seo Eun-hye’s voice, which had been flowing calmly like a bedtime story, stopped. She asked Seo-jun, who was listening intently.

“What do you think? Do you want to do it?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun nodded his head. Unlike the other scenarios, there were lines and he wasn’t just smiling blankly. And it was the climax of the movie.

“Okay. Then I’ll contact the director.”

Seo Eun-hye picked up her phone and made a call. The recipient was Director Choi Dae-man.

Seo-jun handed the A4 paper with the script printed on it to his dad, who was sitting next to him. Then he climbed onto Lee Min-jun’s lap, who had taken it by surprise.

“Why?”

“Read it with me. I have to memorize the lines!”

Lee Min-jun, who had opened his eyes wide, smiled and stroked Seo-jun’s head.

“Are you practicing already? Okay. Dad will help you.”

Seo-jun leaned his back on Lee Min-jun’s stomach and looked at the script that his dad was holding.

He skipped the scene number and the background description at the front and read only the parts he needed to know, such as the narration and the dialogue.

“Soo-hyuk knocks on the door. No other sound is heard. How many…”

“Times.”

“How many times did he knock, the door opens with a squeak and a young baby comes out. Soo-hyuk, is there a dragon here?”

“Dragon.”

“There’s a dragon shaman here…”

Lee Min-jun helped him with the parts with final consonants or difficult words. Seo-jun read the script slowly. ”

Chapter 35

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 35

Near the filming site of the movie ‘The Evil Spirit’, there was a pork belly restaurant.

Lee Ji-seok, who played the protagonist Kim Soo-hyuk, treated everyone to a meal.

There was no filming tomorrow, as they had to go to a provincial location the day after. Everyone was in high spirits and drank alcohol.

Director Choi Dae-man and the assistant director sat at a different table from the lead actor Lee Ji-seok.

The three of them were talking about the filming, so the staff and the other actors who didn’t want to talk about work at the dinner party quietly moved away from that table.

“The atmosphere is good.”

Lee Ji-seok said. He smiled at the sight of the staff who were laughing loudly after exchanging stories about the movie for a while.

“It’s rare to have such nice people.”

Director Choi Dae-man also smiled.

“It was a lot of work for me, since it’s been a long time since I played a lead role. I hope you can give me a lot of advice in the future.”

“No, no. It’s me who needs your help. It’s my first feature film.”

Lee Ji-seok chuckled and lifted his glass. Director Choi and the assistant director also lifted their glasses.

Cheers!

“By the way, when will we meet the child actor?”

“You’ll be able to meet him at the next filming.”

“I’m curious what kind of kid he is.”

The assistant director had a twitchy expression on his face. He wanted to say it. He wanted to say it so bad! But he had to keep quiet and drink soju because of Director Choi, who was sitting next to him and watching him.

“How was the audition for the child actor?”

“He did great! Amazing!”

“Can’t I just say who he is!?”

Finally, the assistant director couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Director Choi gave him a silent permission, as if to say he had endured enough for two months.

The excited assistant director spoke in a loud voice that even the other staff could hear.

“Phew! I thought I was going to die from the shock! Director and I won’t tell you who he is! Just the audition!”

The staff’s eyes all turned to the assistant director, like children listening to an old story from their grandfather.

“When I first saw him, he was amazing. He spoke well and memorized the script, even though he was so young. Well, there were a few others who did that in the previous auditions.”

The assistant director dragged on the time, and the staff booed him.

“When the director said he wanted to see his acting, he just stood up. And then, from that moment on, it was totally, goosebumps. He had some charisma. He didn’t seem human, and it felt like an aura was rising from his small body.”

They all swallowed their saliva. Lee Ji-seok, who would play the opposite role of the baby shaman, also listened intently.

The assistant director felt goosebumps just thinking about that time. He clearly understood what Director Choi meant by ‘the inner god’.

“He looked straight into the director’s eyes and lifted his head up and down, as if he was piercing through his soul. He looked like a real shaman. The director shouted ‘You’re in!’ at his gaze, and honestly, anyone who saw that audition would have thought he was in. I really thought I had received a divine revelation.”

“So who is the child actor?”

Someone asked.

The assistant director grinned.

“You guys won’t be able to imagine it. Our movie will be a huge hit!”

***

“Is this the first time you’re going out with your uncle?”

“Yes!”

Kim Hee-sang drove the car carefully. Seo-jun was sitting in the car seat in the back seat.

He was holding a bag shaped like a goblin doll in his arms.

“The goblin dolls that Seo-jun drew are very popular. We’re getting a lot of orders, so you and your uncle will be rich.”

“I’ll draw more next time!”

The two of them were on their way to the movie set.

Seo Eun-hye was supposed to go, but her grandmother had fallen two days ago.

It wasn’t a serious injury, but she had to stay in the hospital for a few days because of her old age. Seo Eun-hye decided to take care of her.

What about the shooting? As Seo Eun-hye and Seo-jun worried, they remembered the day before.

-I signed a contract with the factory! You have no idea how hard it was to find a good factory! I cleared all the backlog of doll orders! I’m free now!!

Kim Hee-sang had bragged, recalling his words.

Lee Min-jun nodded, thinking Kim Hee-sang would be fine.

Thanks to him, Kim Hee-sang, who had been reading comics and chatting, came down to the countryside with Seo-jun as his guardian and manager.

“Seo-jun drew the pictures for the dolls, and he invested the money he made from YouTube in my company. I have to do something like this for him.”

He planned to pay him well for the design and the profit, but his heart felt differently. He was able to start doing what he wanted because of Seo-jun’s non-advertisement advertisement.

“When you grow up, you’ll have to go with a manager instead of your mom and dad. So let’s get used to it slowly.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun said they should start looking for a good person now, and Kim Hee-sang wondered if there was anyone like that around him.

Would Eun-chan know best about this? He thought of Seo Eun-chan, who was working hard with Brown Black.

Kim Hee-sang stopped the car.

They arrived at their destination, Oge-ri.

As the name Crow Valley suggested, crows were flying around and cawing from the entrance of the village.

“Let’s get off. Seo-jun.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun got out of the car. He put on his goblin backpack and held his uncle’s hand.

The two headed to the noisy place where people were gathered.

One of the staff members who was moving the luggage saw a young child who looked like a child actor and ran to the assistant director.

The assistant director came running with a bright smile on his face.

“Welcome. Nice to meet you. I’m the assistant director, Park Jae-min.”

“I’m Seo-jun’s guardian, Kim Hee-sang.”

“Hello!”

“Seo-jun, you’re here. Are you tired? Wasn’t it a hard journey?”

“I’m fine!”

The staff members who were organizing the luggage looked at the child actor who had finally appeared.

Who? Who is it? Do you know who it is? I’ve seen him somewhere.

The assistant director smiled as if his mouth would tear.

He felt like he understood the person who shouted ‘The king’s ears are donkey ears!’. He shouted very loudly.

“Director! The Hollywood child actor who played William in the Marina Studio movie, Shadowman, Lee Seo-jun! He’s here!!!”

‘Da-a-’ ‘Da-a-’

As the assistant director’s voice echoed, Choi Dae-man, who was walking over to greet him, touched his forehead.

This kid.

Kim Hee-sang and Seo-jun looked at the assistant director with a flustered face.

Was that necessary?

The assistant director looked proud as if he had gone to Hollywood.

The staff members who heard the assistant director’s words stopped what they were doing and stared blankly.

He poured out his frustration.

“This is Lee Seo-jun! The hottest! Child actor! Hollywood even sent a synopsis! Just by announcing the news of casting, our movie will be a hit! Everyone is waiting for Lee Seo-jun’s next work! It’s our movie! Evil Spirit!”

“Stop it! You kid!”

In the end, Choi Dae-man hit the assistant director’s back. His back hurt, but he felt relieved.

Hahaha! The assistant director laughed.

The staff members couldn’t come to their senses because of the amazing adjectives.

What? Is it real? Is it not a hidden camera?

Choi Dae-man, the director, who saw the noisy staff members, coughed and introduced Seo-jun.

“This is Lee Seo-jun, who plays the baby shaman in Evil Spirit. Please take good care of him.”

“Hello! I’m Lee Seo-jun!”

Seo-jun bowed.

***

“Ahhhh!”

“Kyaaa!”

Screams erupted from the mouths of the staff who faced reality.

“I watched Shadowman three times!”

“Three times!? I watched it ten times!”

They all crowded around Seo-jun with awe. They only twitched their hands, unable to approach him any closer because Kim Hee-sang and Director Choi Dae-man were standing next to him.

They all looked at Seo-jun with admiration.

The child actor who starred in that Marina’s movie was in their film! It was a strange feeling.

Seo-jun was also excited to see the people who were shining their eyes at him.

He didn’t know because he only went to his home and daycare, but these people all knew and liked him.

He felt like he was finally walking the path of a star. It felt real.

Then, Seo-jun noticed some staff members who were holding something among the many staff.

They had hastily found papers, such as: the back of the script, white tissue pieces, and crumpled papers.

They had papers and pens, but they only looked at Director Choi Dae-man.

Director Choi Dae-man, who sensed the staff’s feelings, looked at Kim Hee-sang, Seo-jun’s guardian.

Wouldn’t it be hard to sign for everyone, even though they said it was a few?

Kim Hee-sang, on the other hand, had no thoughts. Seo-jun would do it on his own.

Seo-jun recalled what he had practiced hard with his mom and dad.

-Let’s do it for the people Seo-jun likes!

-Okay!

“Um.”

As Seo-jun opened his mouth, everyone became as quiet as mice.

“Should I sign for you?”

“Yes!”

They all answered in unison.

One of the staff ran between the boxes and brought a stack of clean papers and a thick pen. Another staff member brought a desk and a chair.

At the audition, the assistant director couldn’t get a signature because of the director’s sharp eyes, also lined up.

They were all happy to get Seo-jun’s sign.

Director Choi Dae-man sighed and opened his mouth.

“First of all, please keep it a secret that Seo-jun is in this movie.”

“Why? It will be a great promotion!”

Director Choi shook his head at the staff’s words, who said they had confidence in promoting.

It had been a month since Shadowman was taken down from the theaters.

The buzz about Seo-jun was also gradually decreasing. But if the news of his next work was revealed, it would immediately appear on the real-time search.

The title was also expected.

[A Korean movie chosen by a Hollywood actor!]

“If it’s revealed now, reporters will flock to the set and delay the filming. You don’t want to have a night shoot because the schedule is delayed, do you? We only have a few scenes left to shoot.”

“Okay!”

“And the movie promotion is being prepared by the production company, so please keep it a secret. You all signed a confidentiality agreement, right?”

Come to think of it, they had signed a contract a month ago.

They thought it was just about the movie’s content, but it must have been about Seo-jun.

The staff who were going to post it on SNS gave up obediently.

“You can’t tell your family either. If you keep the secret well, there will be a bonus when the movie is released!”

“Wow!”

Of course, the bonus.

The assistant director suggested a bonus, saying that the contract was not a perfect measure.

As the assistant director said, the staff pretended to zip their mouths.

Meanwhile, Seo-jun kept signing.

He held the black pen with his small hand and wrote his name diligently. It was finally the last one.

“Hi, Seo-jun. I’m Lee Ji-seok.”

“Hello, senior! I’m Seo-jun.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun were worried about how to address the actors they met.

Seo-jun was too young, and all the actors he encountered were older than him.

They wondered if calling them hyung or nuna from the start would offend some people, and calling them Mr. or Ms. so-and-so seemed too informal.

The couple asked Seo Eun-chan for advice. Seo Eun-chan said that ‘senior’ was the most comfortable term.

It was a place where experience mattered more than age.

He warned them not to call anyone hyung or nuna, as it would complicate things later when they found out their real age.

He gave them some advice based on his own experience.

The couple and Seo-jun laughed, guessing that he was talking about Kevin.

So Seo-jun decided to call most people ‘senior’, and those who were much older ‘teacher’.

Lee Ji-seok smiled. It was funny to hear the little guy call him senior.

“Just call me hyung.”

“Okay! Ji-seok hyung! Do you want me to sign in Korean or English?”

“You can already do English? You’re only six years old?”

“I can read the script if dad and mom help me.”

“Wow! Then, please sign in Korean.”

“Okay. Just a moment.”

Seo-jun wrote down the letters with his tiny hand, quite neatly.

Chapter 36

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 36

After everyone received a signature, they resumed their work.

Kim Hee-sang and Seo-jun headed to the blue gatehouse where they would stay during the filming, along with the assistant director.

The assistant director opened one of the many doors.

The bedding and pillows were neatly arranged, with a floral pattern that reflected the grandmother’s taste.

“The grandmother went to work in the fields. This is your room. There are blankets and pillows, and the bathroom is over there. If you’re hungry, you can take anything from the fridge in the kitchen. This is the staff’s contact list, and if you need anything, please call me. The scene with Seo-jun can only be filmed after the sun sets, so rest well until then.”

“Okay.”

“Make sure Seo-jun gets enough sleep too, so he won’t be sleepy during the filming.”

“Yes!”

The assistant director left the room and Kim Hee-sang unfolded the blanket.

“Are you tired from the long car ride?”

“Um. A little?”

“Do you want to take a nap? Let’s sleep well and then have dinner and go to the filming.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun snuggled into the floral blanket. He covered himself with the cozy blanket and laid his head on the pillow. He didn’t intend to, but …

[The Winter Sleep of the Summer Bear is activated.]

“Seo-jun?”

As soon as he laid his head on the pillow, he fell asleep.

He slept soundly, even ignoring Kim Hee-sang’s call.

“Did you sleep well?”

Kim Hee-sang chuckled and packed Seo-jun’s belongings.

***

The sun set.

It was time to prepare for the filming.

Seo-jun woke up from his nap and had dinner with the grandmother who had returned from the fields.

The grandmother kept bringing out more side dishes from the fridge as Seo-jun, the little baby ate deliciously, and Kim Hee-sang was busy refusing them.

“Is it good?”

“Yes!”

With his eyes half-closed from sleeping well, Seo-jun stuffed his mouth with rice and side dishes and chewed them well.

He had been filming mukbangs since he was eight months old, and he had become a mukbang master.

Kim Hee-sang and the grandmother also scooped up rice with their spoons, watching Seo-jun eat with a plump face.

After finishing dinner, Kim Hee-sang and Seo-jun talked about the monster drawings in Seo-jun’s sketchbook until the staff called them.

“This is a darker color than this, but I colored it like this because the crayons only have 24 colors.”

“Then, would this color be okay?”

Kim Hee-sang showed him one of the colors on his phone’s color chart. Seo-jun nodded.

“Yes!”

“Next, this is. What is this? Fur?”

“This is an antenna.”

Seo-jun explained slowly.

Kim Hee-sang listened carefully and wrote it down in his notebook.

Knock knock-

“Yes. Come in.”

The staff with a hat opened the door quietly and met Seo-jun’s eyes, who was drawing and explaining the pictures in his sketchbook.

“Did you wake up already?”

“Yes!”

“That’s good. It’s time to film. You can go to the hanok behind.”

The staff left and Kim Hee-sang and Seo-jun put on their clothes and went outside.

It was hot until night in Seoul in July, but Oge-ri was cool.

“It might get cold if it gets later.”

Kim Hee-sang went back to the room and brought a blanket and a hand warmer.

Kim Hee-sang and Seo-jun chatted as they walked to the mansion, which was the only hanok in the village full of slate roofs.

As they walked along the wall of the hanok, the house seemed very big.

“While Seo-jun was sleeping, I heard from the grandmother, that the family who owns this house are very smart people. They are all famous doctors, judges, lawyers. Do they have good luck?”

“What is luck?”

“Um. There is a mountain over there, right? And there is a river in front of it. The power of the mountain and the power of the river gather in this hanok and give power to the people who live here. That could be the power to make a lot of money, or the power to make the people who are born here smart.”

Seo-jun followed Kim Hee-sang’s finger and looked at the mountain and then the river.

“That’s amazing!”

“Isn’t it?”

They also talked about the structure of the hanok. Kim Hee-sang had a lot of trivial knowledge and told him many interesting stories.

As they walked and talked, they arrived at the filming location.

Choi Dae-man, the director, who was talking to Lee Ji-seok, saw them and came over.

“How are you? It’s late, but you’re not sleepy?”

“I took a nap!”

“That’s good.”

“Shall we go to the dressing room together?”

Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun went into a tent.

There were various clothes hanging and a large mirror and a chair.

Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun sat on the chairs as the staff instructed.

“Don’t talk.”

“Um!”

Seo-jun answered with his mouth closed, and the staff didn’t know what to do with his cuteness.

The staff who won the rock-paper-scissors and took charge of Seo-jun’s makeup moved the brush carefully.

Lee Ji-seok felt like he was left out.

“It suits you well.”

Seo-jun came out wearing the clothes.

It was a white robe that a baby shaman wore when he slept.

Seo-jun adjusted his robe. He had worn hanbok on New Year’s Day or Chuseok, but this was the first time he wore a white robe.

Kim Hee-sang touched the fabric of the robe.

Was it a bit thin?

“Are you cold?”

“No!”

“Tell me if you’re cold.”

“Okay!”

Lee Ji-seok finished his makeup and came out.

He was wearing the same clothes as Soohyuk, who had been attacked by evil spirits in Seoul and then he came to this village.

“Wow!”

Seo-jun opened his eyes wide. It looked like real blood and dust. His face was full of wounds and one of his eyes was swollen and bruised. His clothes were ragged and torn.

Kim Hee-sang was also amazed by the movie special makeup.

“Wow. It looks so real.”

“That’s our team’s skill.”

The assistant director who came in boasted. Then he led the two actors and Kim Hee-sang to the filming location.

“We’ll only check the movements for the rehearsal. The director said that both of you have great acting skills and that it would be emotionally exhausting. Besides, we have to film full shots, bust shots, and close-up shots, so it’s not good to lose your strength during the rehearsal.”

The first filming location was in front of the large wooden gate of the hanok.

Several cameras and lights were already set up, and Choi Dae-man, the director, who was checking the background on the monitor, got up and came over.

“Seo-jun and Ji-seok, you both look great. Shall we start with checking the movements?”

Choi Dae-man explained in detail. Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok knew everything, but they listened carefully.

Meanwhile, Kim Hee-sang went over the gate and into the yard.

There were also cameras and lights set up here to film Seo-jun.

“Filming starts!”

The simple rehearsal ended and the main filming began.

The cameras started rolling and everyone took their positions.

Seo-jun stood in front of the large wooden gate, wearing a white robe.

His role was a baby shaman who harbored a fearsome god inside him.

He had very few lines, but he had to express a lot with his body.

Before the director’s signal, Seo-jun licked his lips as he looked at the wooden gate.

“Kim Seo-bang, let’s play.”

[The Bubble Goblin’s Kim Seo-bang Teasing-Low Level-is activated.]

*

[The Bubble Goblin’s Kim Seo-bang Teasing-Low Level]

The bubble goblin’s energy bursts out.

You can change the shape of the energy.

With the power of the shaman’s bell, you can rarely predict Kim Seo-bang’s future.

Activation: Kim Seo-bang, let’s play

Cancellation: Kim Seo-bang teasing over

*

The bubble goblin was a little goblin born from an old shaman’s bell.

The bubble goblin lived for the fun of teasing the passing Kim Seo-bang.

He emitted a strange energy and made his body two or three times bigger, or turned his yellow energy made of brass into a black one and imitated a dark ghost.

There was one Kim Seo-bang who often visited the mountain where the bubble goblin lived, and he felt a familiarity with him, who was always startled by him.

“Aren’t you used to it by now, Kim Seo-bang?”

“How can I get used to you!?”

The bubble goblin, who revealed his identity, sometimes received acorn jelly from Kim Seo-bang and gave him gifts, and they became friends.

“…This hat looks familiar…”

“Hehehe.”

“Isn’t this mine!?”

One day, the bubble goblin saw Kim Seo-bang’s future. The bubble goblin was very glad. He knew that Kim Seo-bang would die soon, so he jumped in instead of his friend.

“Hey! Why did you!”

“I’ve lived longer than you, Kim Seo-bang!”

Kim Seo-bang held a memorial service for his goblin friend who sacrificed his life for him, putting the broken shaman’s bell in an old tree.

“I’ll give you a hard time when we meet again.”

***

Something moved in the middle of his chest. Seo-jun took out what he had practiced for a month and a half.

He made the goblin’s energy into a human shape and put it in his body.

It felt like there was something inside him.

It was hard to make this shape. It had to look like a human, but not be a human, and it had to be inside him, but also show some of its energy outside.

He made the shape as if he was playing with clay, but somehow he made a ‘thing’ with long arms and legs and scary eyes.

-Ready.

Just like when he filmed the shadow man, he heard the director’s voice very faintly. He was able to think a little bit, unlike when he was sucked in without realizing it.

‘Oh, it’s starting now.’

That was all he could do.

-Action!

The baby shaman’s god was very powerful and terrifying.

He didn’t reveal his name, but he had a great power even so.

The rumor of the baby shaman only circulated within the village. His great god’s power made it so.

The god’s power that didn’t go outside piled up inside the baby shaman.

Thump thump!

So he knew.

Thump thump!

The baby shaman opened the wooden gate. There was a man in front of him, breathing roughly.

The man was full of wounds. He had hurt one leg and his eye was swollen. The baby shaman knew what had made him like that.

That thing.

The thing inside the man.

The evil thing.

“They say there’s a powerful shaman here…”

The man who was talking stopped.

The baby shaman lifted his head and looked at the man from the top of his head to the tip of his toes.

The evil thing.

That was it. That was what killed your parents.

The baby shaman saw everything that was swirling inside the man.

The dark spirit looked at him like a dancing flame, laughing and crying, and finally showing the image of his parents who died quietly, hiding their breath so that the baby wouldn’t be scared.

Thump!

The baby shaman, who knew everything, closed the wooden gate.

It wasn’t time yet.

“Cut! OK!”

Seo-jun turned around and breathed lightly, muttering.

“Kim Seo-bang, teasing over.”

Hee-sang, who was outside the camera, ran over and wrapped him in a blanket and handed him a hand warmer.

“Are you okay, Seo-jun?”

“I’m okay! I was a little tired after the shadow man.”

Fortunately, his ‘body’ had grown a lot in the six months, and he still had some strength left.

“You focused so much. You did well.”

Hee-sang patted Seo-jun’s head and hugged him, heading to Choi Dae-man, the director.

They had agreed beforehand to watch the scene they filmed on the monitor and talk.

Hee-sang pushed the wooden gate. Huh? It was harder than he thought.

He pushed harder and the gate opened.

“It takes quite a bit of strength. Is Seo-jun strong? He pushed it easily.”

“No. It was really easy.”

Seo-jun mimicked how he opened and closed the gate.

Was it?

Hee-sang clenched and opened his hand a few times and looked at the wooden gate.

The large wooden gate was tightly closed.

Chapter 37

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 37

“Ready, action!”

Ji-seok knocked on the door.

Thud, thud!

He followed the script’s instructions, but he felt something standing behind the door.

He flinched involuntarily and knocked again.

Director Choi Daeman thought that looked more natural.

It seemed like the evil spirit inside ‘Soo-hyuk’ sensed the divine power of the baby shaman on the other side of the door.

Indeed, there was a reason why he was a good actor.

Thud, thud!

The door opened.

It looked quite thick when he knocked, but it opened lightly. And a child in a white hanbok appeared.

“Is there a powerful shaman here…?”

The line was supposed to end there, but Ji-seok, no, Soo-hyuk stopped talking without realizing it.

Two pairs of eyes were looking at him.

One was the sparkling eyes of the baby shaman.

And the other was something inside them.

Director Choi Dae-man, who was watching the monitor, didn’t feel it as much as Ji-seok. But he knew that something inhuman was there. Because he felt the same thing when Ji-seok auditioned.

He had a feeling that there was something inside Seo-jun.

Some staff members also felt a strange sensation from the child, and some didn’t, but they all held their breath at Seo-jun and Ji-seok’s acting.

The silence created by the two actors made their hair stand on end.

The baby shaman’s head moved slowly from Soo-hyuk’s head to his feet.

Soo-hyuk couldn’t snap out of it because of that thing that was examining his insides.

Soo-hyuk thought that the evil spirit inside him was dancing.

He felt his blood moving along with his pounding heartbeat. He felt his heartbeat from his toes to his fingertips.

And finally, even in his head.

The baby shaman’s gaze disappeared and bang! The door closed. Soon,

“Cut! OK!”

The director’s voice was heard, but Soo-hyuk, no, Ji-seok was still staring at the door in the same posture.

The other staff members also quietly rolled their eyes as the actor didn’t move.

When the puzzled Choi Dae-man got up from his chair,

Clank.

The door opened.

Ji-seok stepped back two steps without realizing it.

“Oh, were you still filming?”

When Seo-jun’s guardian,

Kim Hee-sang appeared, Ji-seok came to his senses.

He saw Seo-jun smiling brightly in Kim Hee-sang’s arms, waving his hand at him. He had only one pair of eyes now.

“You both did really well! Now take a break while we prepare for the next shoot.”

As Director Choi Dae-man said, they had to shoot the close-up and bust shots now.

While the staff members set up the camera near the wooden door to capture the realistic expressions of the two actors, the two actors sat on chairs and waited for the shoot.

Ji-seok opened and closed his mouth as he saw Seo-jun sitting politely on the chair and drinking cocoa.

How did you do that? How, how is that acting possible?

He wasn’t a tiny child who just started acting, but an actor who had been active for a long time.

No, could an ordinary actor do that kind of acting?

Ji-seok kept staring at him, and Seo-jun put down his cocoa cup and rubbed his face.

“Did I have something on my face?”

“No.”

Ji-seok shook his head. There were actors like that.

Actors with a talent given by heaven. Born actors.

That kind of talent was not something that ordinary people could understand by explaining it.

It was no different from saying ‘I just studied from the textbook’. No, in this case, it might be ‘I just tried it because it seemed possible, and it worked’. Ji-seok sighed inwardly.

But even acting with such an actor, his acting skills improved.

He could take a step forward just by playing the opposite role without being overwhelmed by the overwhelming acting.

Ji-seok smiled. If he couldn’t learn it by the book, he had to steal it.

“Let’s start the next shoot!”

Ji-seok and Seo-jun got up from their seats and headed to the set.

After the shooting was over for the day, the actors went back to their lodgings and the staff stayed behind to clean up the equipment.

The camera director spoke to Director Choi Dae-man incredulously.

“Lee Jiseok is one thing, but Seo-jun doesn’t give in either. The two of them acted like sparks were flying…”

“I doubt it.”

“What?”

“It looked to me like Ji-seok was trying not to lose to Seo-jun.”

***

The next day.

The shooting for the scene with Seo-jun was over in a flash.

He played a baby shaman who prepared bells and talismans to exorcize an evil spirit and calmed his mind.

He also filmed a scene with his grandfather, who lived with the baby shaman.

Since the scene was not time-bound, it was all done by lunchtime.

Unlike Seo-jun, Lee Ji-seok had many scenes to shoot.

He had to film a scene where Soo-hyuk, his character, heard the baby shaman’s story from his grandfather, and another scene where Soo-hyuk tried to leave the village to avoid harming the baby shaman, but clashed with the evil spirit who wanted to stay.

“Grandma, this is delicious!”

“It’s really good.”

Seo-jun and Kim Hee-sang, who decided to explore the village, were invited by the old lady of the blue gatehouse, which they used as their lodging, to eat hand-cut noodles.

It didn’t seem to have much ingredients, but it was very tasty.

Seo-jun slurped the noodles eagerly.

“The baby eats well.”

“That’s Seo-jn!”

“Is that so?”

The blue gatehouse seemed to serve as the village’s meeting place, as all the villagers were gathered there. An old man who was drinking rice wine said.

“They’re filming, right? Where can we see it? On TV?”

“It’s a movie filming. You’ll have to see it at the cinema.”

“The cinema is over there, we have to go to the town…”

“But our village is in it, we have to go!”

“If we take Lee’s car and the cabbage house’s car, we can all go, right?”

“Lee’s car is big, but we need four cars!”

They all started to plan the date to go see the movie. The old lady asked.

“What kind of movie are they filming?”

Kim Hee-sang hesitated for a moment. Exorcist? Spirit?

“A movie about fighting evil spirits!”

Seo-jun answered in the meantime. Evil spirits? The villagers tilted their heads.

“There are shamans and priests. That kind of movie. Should I call it Spirit?”

“Oh, shaman!”

“The shaman from the next village was very powerful.”

The topic quickly changed from the movie to the shaman.

When the old lady saw the empty bowls that Kim Hee-sang and Seo-jun had finished, she tried to give them another ladle, but they both declined quickly.

They had eaten too much, honestly.

Seo-jun and Kim Hee-sang decided to go see the Seonangdang, a shrine at the corner of the village.

They got up from their seats, greeted the villagers, and left the blue gate.

After Seo-jun and Kim Hee-sang left, the old man who poured rice wine into his bowl said.

“If the shaman from the next village was still alive, I would have asked him to look at my grandson’s fortune…”

“Ah, didn’t Choi’s grandson come to visit the other day?”

The villagers remembered Choi’s grandson, who used to walk around with slumped shoulders.

He had grown up in his grandfather’s house until he was ten, and he was like a grandchild to the old folks in Ogeo-ri.

“Where is he going without eating lunch?”

“He went to see the Seonangdang in the morning. I wonder if he’ll come back late again.”

“Life in Seoul must be hard for him.”

They all drank from their rice wine cups.

***

The Seonangdang of Ogeo-ri was a very old tree. But it was not the oldest or the biggest tree in Korea.

It was just an old tree, the kind that you would expect to find in the countryside.

“It’s huge.”

“It must be 200 years old.”

Seo-jun ran to the front of the tree.

He looked up and saw how big it was.

Red, blue, yellow, and white cloth were tied to the branches and hung down to the ground.

The trunk of the tree was surrounded by a round stone wall.

Kim Hee-sang held up his camera from afar.

“Seo-jun, over here!”

“Kimchi!”

Kim Hee-sang was taking pictures of Seo-jun to send to Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun.

Seo-jun, who had been a good photo model, heard Kim Hee-sang say that he was done and looked at the big tree again.

The large branches stretched to the sky and the trunk was thick.

The long strings of colorful cloth reminded him of his memories.

It felt like the grave of the bell goblin!

Could it be? Is this the place?

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled as he walked around the Seonangdang slowly.

Kim Hee-sang took pictures of him as if he were a photographer.

He searched everywhere, but he couldn’t find the hole where Kim Seo-bang had put the broken bell.

“There’s no way it’s here.”

He felt a bit disappointed. It would have been nice if it was. If Hee-sang was his uncle, he would have fixed it in no time.

“What is it?”

“Nothing!”

Seo-jun ran to Kim Hee-sang.

“Uncle! Let’s go to the mountain!”

Was this the same mountain?

It might have changed over time, but he had grown fond of the mountain after reading the book of life like an old fairy tale for a month and a half.

It was a mountain that seemed to have a real goblin or two.

“Okay. But don’t run, there are a lot of rocks here.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun and Kim Hee-sang walked slowly along the path next to the Seonangdang.

They hadn’t walked for more than a few minutes when the summer sun that had been shining through the branches and leaves was blocked.

“It’s cooler in the shade.”

“Look! A flower!”

Seo-jun spotted a flower nearby. It was nice to be outside and see things.

Seo-jun was excited and pointed here and there. He saw a bird. There was a squirrel too. Kim Hee-sang, who was watching where Seo-jun pointed, said.

“What if a wild boar comes out?”

“A pheasant!”

“A pheasant?! Are you sure it’s not a wild boar?”

Seo-jun, who had been walking and looking for animals, stopped and

Swish!

He turned his head.

He heard a sound through the gentle breeze.

It sounded like a bird, but there was something more, something meaningful.

Seo-jun raised his head like a rabbit twitching its ears and looked around.

Kim Hee-sang, who had been following Seo-jun diligently, called him with curiosity.

“Seo-jun?”

“Shh!”

Seo-jun focused his attention, over there, far away. Something. But it was too small to tell the direction.

“Kim Seo-bang.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s play.”

[The Bubble Goblin’s Kim Seo-bang Prank is activated.]

Seo-jun scattered the goblin’s energy like a bat’s echolocation.

He had created an inner form and wondered if there was a better way to use it, until he came up with this idea after watching an animal documentary.

The only one who reacted to this energy was Kim Seo-bang.

Seo-jun concentrated.

He was at a low-rank, so he didn’t have much energy. In such a wide place, he could only reach a short distance.

So Seo-jun decided to move around actively as the center.

He thought he would stay close to the road as much as possible, since he had his uncle Hee-sang behind him, but the sound that was barely audible before disappeared completely.

It was a dangerous situation.

Seo-jun changed his mind and walked off the road into the mountains.

“Seo-jun?!”

Kim Hee-sang called out to Seo-jun, who left the trail and went to a place that was not a road, but Seo-jun apologized inwardly and walked carefully, watching his feet.

“Uncle! Follow me!”

The little boy scurried around like a squirrel.

Kim Hee-sang also hurried after Seo-jun.

The road was rough and Seo-jun was too fast to catch up.

“You, you’re going to be in trouble!”

The goblin’s energy that was flowing smoothly was blocked at one point.

Seo-jun quickly headed there.

“I found it!”

“Seo-jun, you! You’re going to get scolded by your uncle!”

“Uncle! Here! There’s someone here!”

“Also from mom and dad… What?!”

Kim Hee-sang was startled by Seo-jun’s words and ran over in a breath.

Chapter 38

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 38

Seo-jun crouched down.

It was a pit.

Inside the pit, about 3 meters deep, there was a boy covered in dirt, with his eyes closed.

One of his legs was broken.

Seo-jun leaned forward to observe the boy, but Kim Hee-sang quickly covered Seo-jun’s eyes.

Was he dead?

He bit his lip.

“Seo-jun, that guy is now…”

“Uncle, his chest is moving. Only his leg is hurt.”

Seo-jun saw the boy’s chest rising and falling as if he was breathing.

Kim Hee-sang sighed in relief.

“119!”

“Yeah, just a moment.”

At Seo-jun’s urging, Kim Hee-sang quickly picked up his phone and called 119, then immediately called the assistant director.

The assistant director answered before the second ring.

“Ah, assistant director. There’s a kid who got into an accident here. No, it’s not Seo-jun. He looks like a village kid. He fell into a pit… He seems to be unconscious. His leg is broken. We need to call the villagers and an ambulance as soon as possible. Where are we? We’re behind the Seonangdang, on the path through the grass, a little further into the woods…”

While Kim Hee-sang was giving directions, Seo-jun covered the boy with his goblin energy, like a blanket.

With the remaining energy, he covered the pit with a lid to keep the cold wind out. He wouldn’t be cold this way.

The boy’s complexion improved as some warmth circulated. If he had more strength, he could have done more. He felt sorry and couldn’t take his eyes off the boy.

“Seo-jun. You’ll fall in too.”

Kim Hee-sang quickly lifted Seo-jun, who was leaning close to the pit.

Soon, the director and the people arrived. They all looked at the boy in the pit.

“We have to get him out quickly!”

“Don’t touch him carelessly. You might shock him and make things worse!”

“Excuse me, I’m a doctor.”

The people’s eyes turned to the outsider who was panting and gasping for breath.

He had followed them eagerly when he heard about the accident, but he was exhausted.

“I’m the son of the hanok owner. I came to watch the movie shooting.”

At the man’s words, the director and the people asked for his help.

With the doctor’s help, the boy was safely rescued and taken to a nearby hospital.

After the commotion was over, the shooting team resumed shooting.

Seo-jun took a nap because it was a night shoot, then got up, ate dinner, and headed to the set.

“It might be a bit hard today.”

“If it’s too hard, we’ll split it up today and tomorrow.”

The director nodded at the assistant director’s words.

“Oh, they’re here. The actors.”

Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun appeared at the shooting location with makeup on.

The assistant director and the director greeted the two actors.

The scene where they exorcized the evil spirit, which would decorate the finale of ‘Evil Spirit’, was shot in the hanok courtyard.

The equipment to show the power of the baby shaman and the evil spirit was being installed.

The director took the two actors and explained the equipment and the order of operation in detail.

A machine that blows wind.

A device that ignites fire.

He was amazed to see that they had implemented everything that was in the script with all kinds of devices.

Seo-jun asked questions eagerly.

The staff who were checking the devices that looked like talismans that would light up fire quietly talked to each other.

“But it must be hard to act in a place like this.”

“Well, Redbone1 was all green chroma key and they had sensors on their clothes too. The attacks were mostly CG, so they just stretched out their arms. It’s amazing that they can act like nothing in that situation.”

“That’s true.”

The Battle of the Evil Spirit and the God.

The staff who were installing the devices felt a bit awkward watching the two actors perform without any effects, unlike the movies with flashy CG.

“It might feel weird when you act, but it will look amazing after the CG work and editing. Please act as naturally as possible. Well, let’s start with the full shot.”

As everyone headed to their positions, Director Choi Dae-man called Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun, when you say your lines, leave some room for the ‘inner god’ to speak.”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun nodded at the director’s words and stood in his place.

He saw the cameras and the lights, and Lee Ji-seok. Seo-jun whispered quietly.

“Kim Seo-bang, let’s play.”

[Kim Seo-bang’s teasing by the Bell Goblin is activated.]

The energy inside his body moved softly. The human-like energy danced with mischief and whimpered.

-Ready,

It was time to unleash this energy. Just like when he teased Kim Seo-bang!

-Action!

The wind blew.

The baby shaman wore a bright red shaman outfit that fluttered softly, and the shaman bell he held shook quietly.

Jingle jingle.

The baby shaman knew that today was the last day.

[Long time no see, baby.]

The man, no, the evil spirit opened his mouth.

[You’ve grown so appetizing, I should have eaten you back then.]

The evil spirit that took over the man’s body chuckled.

The baby shaman had been the prey of all kinds of ghosts since he was born, because of the power he inherited from his father and mother. His parents were the ones who protected him from those ghosts.

The baby shaman recalled the faces of the two people in his faint memory.

The two people who always smiled were gone forever by the evil spirit’s power.

[But, what’s inside you?]

The wind blew fiercely. The evil spirit that had the power to shake the baby shaman’s outfit with a single word raged.

[It was what I wanted, what I waited for you to grow more delicious for!]

The baby shaman’s shaman bell swayed and made a loud noise.

[Who is that bastard who took you before me!!]

The evil spirit screamed as if his mouth would tear. But the baby shaman remained still. He just waited for the right time.

The god inside him whispered.

Wait a little more.

A little more.

A little more.

Not yet.

The baby shaman thought so too.

The evil spirit raged.

The evil spirit knew.

He had to make the baby open his mouth and use his power.

The evil spirit thought.

[If I can’t have him.]

“Kheh!”

[You!]

“Kheuheuheuk!”

The evil spirit withdrew his power and Soo-hyuk regained his body.

The body that was controlled by the evil spirit fell to the floor like a puppet with a cut string.

The evil spirit whispered to Soo-hyuk, who was barely breathing.

[He’s the only one who can get rid of me. Beg! Beg and beg again! Beg him to get rid of me quickly!]

Soo-hyuk slowly calmed his breath.

The baby shaman looked at him with a blank face, but with a pitiful gaze.

That man was also suffering from the evil spirit, just like his mother and father.

The god spoke.

Wait. You have to wait.

‘But. That guy. He’s hurt. He needs treatment.’

You’re too soft-hearted. That’s why I chose you, but…

The god smiled.

The baby shaman had quickly closed the door when he first saw Soo-hyuk, because he felt like he would reach out to him without knowing it.

Still, wait.

The hesitant baby shaman nodded at the god’s firm words.

After his parents passed away, the god had taken care of him like a child.

Soo-hyuk looked at the baby shaman. His body was in pain and his soul was tormented, but he didn’t open his mouth.

He just looked at the baby shaman with a pitiful gaze.

[Beg, I said beg! That kid is so tender-hearted that he will make you comfortable as soon as you ask him! Like this!]

A moment of comfort came to Soohyuk’s body.

Yes. It was the state of his body before he was possessed by the evil spirit.

[Don’t you want to be comfortable? Don’t you want to go back to the way you were?!]

The evil spirit shouted.

[Then beg!]

The wind blew fiercely like a storm.

The shaman bell that the baby shaman was holding shook wildly and made a loud noise.

The bell sound was so loud that it hurt their ears, but no one covered their ears.

Soo-hyuk snickered.

He couldn’t stand it anymore and burst into laughter.

He opened his mouth.

“Kid.”

At Soo-hyuk’s call, the baby shaman opened and closed his mouth slightly. Soohyuk looked at the baby shaman. His eyes, resembling his father, made the baby shaman’s pupils tremble slightly.

“Do what you have to do.”

Now is the time.

The god whispered.

The moon rose.

The baby shaman looked at the sky.

The bright yellow full moon looked down at the yard like a beast’s eye.

It’s a full moon.

The baby shaman lowered his head and looked at Soo-hyuk and the evil spirit inside him. The god said.

And it’s your birthday.

Three years ago today, his mother and father died.

The baby shaman raised both hands.

In his right hand was the golden shaman bell that his mother used, and in his left hand was the red-lettered talisman that his father used. The items that contained the energy of the two people.

You’ve worked hard for the past three years.

[No way!]

As soon as the god spoke, the evil spirit took over Soo-hyuk’s body again and screamed.

Soo-hyuk’s soul held back the body that was trying to run to the baby shaman. His whole body felt like it was tearing apart, but.

“Damn! That kid couldn’t talk, cry, or laugh for three years! He’s only seven years old now! Laughing and crying is his job!”

[Get lost! Human!!]

“If you want to go, kill him and go! You bastard!!”

Jingling.

The wind blew. The evil spirit’s power blew very hard. But the baby shaman’s bell rang quietly and briefly.

Jingling.

The baby shaman blew the power that he had gathered for three years into the talisman and the bell with the help of the god.

A huge aura appeared behind the baby shaman.

The god’s power, resembling the yellow moonlight, exploded from the baby shaman’s body.

The baby shaman’s clothes fluttered in the golden wind.

Something huge wrapped around the baby shaman.

It hurt to feel the immense power of the god, but it was also warm.

The baby shaman held a talisman.

The talisman that had been swaying weakly in the wind stiffened.

The red spell written on the talisman sparkled.

The baby shaman uttered the spell that the god had taught him, the spell that he had muttered to himself for three years, for the first time out loud.

“I beg the heavens and the earth and the gods.”

[No way!]

“Stay away!!”

Soo-hyuk’s body glowed by itself. He fell to the ground as the evil spirit’s power pushed him forward.

In the gap, Soo-hyuk, who had taken over the right eye of the body, looked at the baby shaman who was shedding tears. Soo-hyuk’s gaze was gentle.

“I beg you, a lowly being.”

[^&%&@!!!]

This is it.

The god whispered.

The baby shaman knew everything as the god entered his body.

The baby shaman saw Soo-hyuk, who was wounded all over while fighting off the evil spirit.

Tears blurred his vision.

If Soo-hyuk had asked him as the evil spirit said, the baby shaman would have granted Soo-hyuk’s wish and let the evil spirit devour him. But Soo-hyuk didn’t do that.

The baby shaman knew that Soo-hyuk would die if the evil spirit was defeated. Soo-hyuk was a good person. He shouldn’t die like this.

You are too soft.

The god sighed and showed the baby shaman a different future.

The baby shaman’s eyes, which had been cloudy with tears, shone.

How is it?

‘Good!’

What about me disappearing?

‘Even if I can’t see you, you’ll be by my side, right?’

The god raised both hands. I can’t win against you.

A foreign voice joined the baby shaman’s voice.

“Let that great soul descend upon me.”

The talisman that was in the baby shaman’s left hand flew away and surrounded the evil spirit.

And then it burst into flames.

The baby shaman grabbed the bell with both hands.

[!#$^#!!!]

“Good job.”

Maybe Soo-hyuk had expected that he would die.

The baby shaman shook the bell with all his might.

Jingle!

“The power to burn the ignorant evil!”

The golden aura that received the moonlight charged at the evil spirit like a golden beast.

Burning in the golden fire, Soo-hyuk twisted his whole body in the flames.

The evil spirit screamed. It shrieked. Soo-hyuk also screamed in pain as his soul burned in the hot fire.

Jingle!

“The power to destroy the source!”

The fire that looked like it was made of gold grew stronger.

The black evil spirit struggled to escape Soo-hyuk’s body as its power faded.

Soo-hyuk’s soul caught the evil spirit that tried to get out of here.

“Thanks to you, I think I learned how to handle souls!”

[!#%#$&@!!!]

The evil spirit that could not escape from Soo-hyuk’s hand or the hand of God shrieked and withered away.

The golden flame that failed to find the evil spirit to burn also circled around Soo-hyuk like a beast looking for prey, then soon calmed down.

The yard that was filled with screams became quiet.

In the end,

It disappeared.

When the pain was over, Soo-hyuk collapsed to the ground and the baby shaman also slumped down. He looked at the fallen Soo-hyuk with tearful eyes.

-Cut, OK!

He came to his senses with the voice of Director Choi Dae-man.

Seo-jun looked at his hand.

There were red marks from gripping the handle of the bell so hard. He felt more immersed than when he practiced at home.

Seo-jun carefully raised his hand to his chest. His heart was pounding.

[Smiling Mushroom’s Fantasy] was an ability that activated automatically, so Seo-jun could use it without worry even when he was absorbed in acting.

But this time was different.

Unlike the first shooting when he just had to keep it inside his body, he had to emit energy all over his body and make it disappear.

He also had to act out the goblin’s energy.

So Seo-jun immersed himself in method acting, and practiced emitting the goblin’s energy until it became familiar to his body, in case he forgot to use [Bell Goblin’s Teasing Kim Seo-bang].

“But, it went better than I thought.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly.

“Ugh!”

Lee Ji-seok, who had been lying on the ground, gasped for air. Then he slowly got up.

Oops.

Seo-jun noticed Lee Ji-seok, who was covered in dirt.

Ji-seok hyung also acted really well.

He looked like he was really possessed by an evil spirit.

As Seo-jun approached Lee Ji-seok to ask if he was okay,

Clap-

Clap clap-

Clap clap clap!

“Wow!”

Applause erupted from the staff.

Director Choi Dae-man and the assistant director also gave a round of applause to the two actors.

Chapter 39

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 39

“Ready, action!”

The wind machine started to blow. Seo-jun’s red martial arts uniform fluttered in the wind.

“It’s been a long time, baby. You’ve grown so deliciously, I should have eaten you back then.”

Lee Ji-seok spoke in a rough voice and chuckled.

“But, what’s inside you? It’s what I wanted, what I waited for you to grow more delicious!”

The goblin bell that Seo-jun was holding shook loudly.

Lee Ji-seok’s voice became even rougher.

The staff on one side shivered at his voice.

“Who is he, who took you before me?!”

Seo-jun had no lines, so Lee Ji-seok had to match the timing himself.

It was time for the ‘baby shaman’ and the ‘god’ to talk. But somehow, Lee Ji-seok felt like he could hear their conversation through Seo-jun’s expression.

So, when Seo-jun hesitated a bit, now!

“Khek!”

Lee Ji-seok fell to the floor.

“Kheheheh!”

The voice of the evil spirit came out, and Seo-jun looked at Lee Ji-seok with a pitiful gaze.

Again.

It was just facial acting, but Lee Ji-seok felt like he could hear the conversation between Seo-jun and the god.

Everyone held their breath.

One of the staff looked at the script he was holding.

The staff next to him peeked at the script.

God: Wait. You have to wait.

Baby shaman: But. That guy. He’s hurt. I have to heal him.

God: (smiling) You’re too kind-hearted. That’s why I chose you. But still, wait.

“Wow. How can he do that?”

It seemed like they could hear the dialogue between the god and the baby goblin from Seo-jun’s facial acting.

“Beg, beg, I say! That kid is so kind-hearted, he’ll make you comfortable as soon as you ask him! Like this! Don’t you want to be comfortable? Don’t you want to go back to normal?!”

Lee Ji-seok was so immersed in his facial acting that he felt like he was burning. He also fell into his role from head to toe.

Jingling!

The goblin bell shook, and Lee Ji-seok, who was absorbed in the evil spirit acting, Choi Dae-man, the director who was staring at the monitor, and some of the staff saw it.

A golden aura burst out from the body of the little boy standing behind the hanok.

The power of [Kim Seo-bang’s Goblin Bell Prank] was revealed.

The pitch-black night.

The golden thing that soared like a hot heat wrapped around Seo-jun.

“Uh…”

One of the staff pointed at Seo-jun without knowing it, but the staff who didn’t see the aura were also engrossed in Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok’s passionate acting and didn’t notice.

They all held their breath and swallowed their saliva.

Finally, Seo-jun opened his mouth.

It was his first line.

“I beg the heavens and the earth.”

Seo-jun’s voice made Lee Ji-seok come to his senses and continue his acting.

“I, a lowly being, beg you.”

“^&%&@!!!”

Lee Ji-seok screamed as if he was really scared of becoming an evil spirit.

The staff stepped back at his tremendous voice.

Was it an illusion?

Along with the golden aura that rose from Seo-jun’s body, something black seemed to shake from Lee Ji-seok’s body.

Director Choi Dae-man rubbed his eyes and looked again, only to see a golden aura pulsating vigorously.

“Let that great soul descend upon this body,” Seo-jun murmured, flicking the talisman in his left hand.

As practiced, the goblin’s energy stylishly propelled the talisman.

The staff, who had been mesmerized by the two actors, fortunately didn’t miss the timing and pressed the switch.

Flare!

As the flames erupted in a circle, the spot where Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok stood seemed like a different world.

Despite knowing what to expect, the staff couldn’t help but inhale sharply.

“Power to burn the ignorant evil!”

With Seo-jun’s voice, the golden aura surged towards Ji-seok.

“?!”

Genuinely startled, Ji-seok screamed and tumbled to the ground.

Even the staff, who couldn’t see the aura, were taken aback by his performance, as if he were truly on fire.

It was chilling.

Clang!

Seo-jun shook the bell in his hands.

The sound, surprisingly loud, resonated through the large Hanok courtyard.

“Power to annihilate its very source!”

The golden flames intensified.

Whether it was fortunate or not, the earnest effort to mimic fire without actual flames paid off.

“I feel like I’m getting the hang of handling souls, thanks to you!”

Ji-seok delivered his line and watched the golden aura cavorting around him with a sickened look.

Is this really a ghost?

A specter or will-o’-the-wisp from a blockbuster movie?

Ji-seok, who accidentally guessed right, collapsed to the ground as the apparition conveniently vanished.

Seo-jun sat down beside him.

It was over.

“Cut.”

Director Choi Dae-man, who had been anxiously alternating his gaze between the monitor and the scene, finally spoke up and shouted.

“OK!”

As Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok were about to converse, the assistant director unknowingly clapped his hands.

Clap-

Clap-Clap-

Clap-Clap-Clap!

“Wow!”

Applause erupted among the staff.

“Shall we take a break?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“No, thank you. I’ve never seen such an incredible performance.”

Seo-jun and Ji-seok dusted off the dirt and settled around the monitor.

Director Choi Dae-man and the assistant director also took their seats.

“Let’s watch and then discuss.”

Director Choi showed the actors the footage they had shot.

“Keep in mind the voices of the evil spirit and the deity as you watch.”

True to Choi’s words, although there were gaps in the dialogue, the actors’ voices and movements filled the screen so well that it didn’t feel awkward.

Ji-seok watched intently but couldn’t find even a trace of the ghost. It must have been an illusion.

After the video ended, Ji-seok said with a laugh.

“Do we even need dialogue?”

“Exactly. Both of you did so well. If there’s a chance to release this footage, I’d love to share it.”

“Seo-jun’s acting was so good… Is Seo-jun asleep?”

“…Yes?”

Seo-jun’s eyes were half-closed.

The adults laughed. He was only six years old.

He must have been tired after such an amazing performance.

Director Choi Dae-man opened his mouth.

“That’s enough for today. Go and get some rest.”

“But… I have to shoot the burst scene…”

“You got it right in one take, so you can do it tomorrow. We’re filming here until the day after tomorrow anyway.”

“I guess I worked too hard today. I’m so tired. I need to go to bed early.”

When both Director Choi and actor Lee Ji-seok said that, Seo-jun rolled his eyes and nodded.

“Then I’ll go first. Good night.”

“Sleep well!”

Kim Hee-sang, who was sitting behind Seo-jun, lifted him up. Seo-jun, who was in Kim Hee-sang’s arms, fell asleep in no time.

“Wow, Director. Look at this. My hands are shaking.”

Lee Ji-seok, who had been acting relaxed in front of the child actor, leaned back on the backrest and showed his hands as soon as Seo-jun disappeared.

Director Choi Dae-man, who had been observing Lee Ji-seok’s condition from the beginning, laughed. The assistant director went to tell the staff that the shooting was over.

“I thought Seo-jun would eat me alive.”

“You were almost equal to him.”

“Equal? If Seo-jun and I are equal, that’s a big deal.”

He said it was a big deal, but his face was bright. Lee Ji-seok talked happily.

“This is the most fun shooting I’ve had in a long time. I really didn’t think about anything and just acted. I became a demon, and then Soo-hyuk. I was afraid of the god. And then… I burned.”

He said fire, and the aura from before came to his mind. Was that a fake? Lee Ji-seok touched his ankle, where he had felt a hot sensation.

“Me too…”

Director Choi Dae-man bit his lip that was about to curl up.

“Me too, I’m looking forward to how I’ll edit it. My heart is pounding.”

He wondered if he could recreate the golden aura he had seen before. Maybe it would be a more amazing scene than he had expected.

The two people who thought they were the only ones who saw the aura laughed.

“That’s right. You’ll be the first one to see the final product, Director. Oh, man. I can’t even imagine. What kind of movie will it be?”

“Ji-seok, you should go in and rest too. Tomorrow, we’ll shoot the burst scene and the close-up scene.”

“But, can I do it like this tomorrow?”

He had given it his all in the shooting. It was a full shot, so the camera was out of sight. That’s why he could immerse himself more.

But he had to shoot that scene again? And with the camera right in front of him?

Lee Ji-seok’s worry made Director Choi laugh.

“It’s okay if it doesn’t come out well. The full shot alone will be perfect for the movie. Don’t worry and just relax.”

“I can’t relax, but I’ll do my best.”

The two people joked and laughed.

The next day.

Thanks to Seo-jun, who was full of mana and vitality, the burst scene and the close-up scene were shot better than the full shot.

Director Choi’s mouth was hanging open at the unexpected result, and Lee Ji-seok collapsed.

“I can’t do this anymore. I really can’t.”

There was no aura, but Seo-jun’s acting was more overwhelming than the full shot.

Lee Ji-seok, who had tried harder than yesterday to not lose to him, lay down on the bed as soon as he entered the room.

Seo-jun brought the dumplings that his grandmother had given him. Ji-seok hyung was lying down without even covering himself with a blanket. He seemed to have a hard time acting possessed for a few days.

“Grandma wants you to eat some dumplings, Ji-seok hyung.”

“I can’t eat. Seo-jun. Hyung is too tired. I must be getting old.”

“But the dumplings are delicious.”

Seo-jun bit into a dumpling and grinned.

Ji-seok, who was lying on the blanket, looked at Seo-jun.

Yesterday, he was nodding off after just one shot, but today, he was so energetic after two shots.

Why was that?

It was because he had unleashed his goblin energy and imitated a bat, but Ji-seok had no idea.

Seo-jun ate the dumplings diligently.

The meat dumplings were delicious!

They were homemade dumplings that Seo-jun had made with his grandmother’s hand-rolled dough and stuffed with filling.

Ji-seok swallowed his saliva as he watched Seo-jun enjoy his food.

He was feeling weak, but the dumplings looked really tasty.

“Give me one too.”

“Here you go. This is a kimchi dumpling, this is a meat dumpling.”

“Give me a meat dumpling.”

Ji-seok also took a bite of a dumpling.

“Wow. This is really good.”

“Grandma’s hand-cut noodles are also amazing.”

“Yeah?”

Ji-seok and Seo-jun talked about their favorite foods as they ate the dumplings.

The last day of filming for the movie ‘Evil Spirit’.

The movie shooting was over as soon as they finished filming today.

The scene they were going to film today was the last scene in the movie.

“That was a pit to catch wild boars.”

“Wild boars?”

Seo-jun, who was getting dressed and made up for the last scene, asked.

Kim Hee-sang, who was sending a banana talk somewhere next to Seo-jun, opened his mouth.

“Wild boars have been appearing in the fields lately, so they dug a pit on the path where the wild boars often walk. They told everyone in the village a week ago, but that kid came to his grandfather’s house four days ago.”

“I heard that too. He was a kid who grew up in this village and knew the area well. He used to go out early in the morning and get food from everywhere and come back late at night, so they didn’t worry much yesterday. It would have been a disaster if he was found later.”

“He regained consciousness yesterday. Thanks to Seo-jun, he was found quickly and he’ll be fine as long as his leg heals.”

“Hehe.”

“I told your mom and dad that you ran there alone. From now on, you have to stick to your uncle.”

“Uh-huh.”

Kim Hee-sang showed Seo-jun his phone screen.

-You did well saving him, but you should have gone with your uncle!

-You’ll have to write a reflection when you come back!

-Hold your uncle’s hand and walk!

Seo-jun’s shoulders drooped.

Kim Hee-sang scratched his forehead on Seo-jun’s drooping shoulders.

Kim Hee-sang was about to comfort Seo-jun, who had lost his energy, when.

“Let’s get ready for rehearsal!”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun, who had been drooping, suddenly perked up and smiled brightly as he headed to the set.

He had to worry about the reflection later and go film quickly!

Kim Hee-sang watched Seo-jun, who was almost flying out, and said with a hollow face.

“He must really love acting.”

With this shooting, the movie ‘Evil Spirit’ was over.

Chapter 40

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 40: A Superstar from Birth

“Did you have a good day?”

“Yes!”

He had just returned home after finishing all the filming.

His mother, Seo Eun-hye, was planning to take care of his grandmother, who had been discharged from the hospital, at her place.

So there was only Lee Min-jun at home.

He had come back from work, but the house was empty.

It was so lonely.

Lee Min-jun hugged Seo-jun tightly. Seo-jun also giggled and hugged his dad back.

“Well, I’m going now.”

Kim Hee-sang waved his hand at the father and son who were having a heartfelt reunion.

He was about to go home and enjoy his vacation, but Lee Min-jun grabbed his shoulder.

“What? Why again?”

“Do you want to go to America with me?”

Lee Min-jun smiled kindly, but Kim Hee-sang felt a chill.

“America?!”

Seo-jun tilted his head as he took out the autograph he got from Ji-seok hyung and the gifts from his grandparents from his goblin bag.

America? Why America?

“Uncle Hee-sang. Go to America?”

“Yes.”

“No! I won’t go! Why me?”

Kim Hee-sang shouted, but Lee Min-jun dragged him into the living room.

The three of them sat around the table.

“Why America all of a sudden?”

“Director Shadowman wants to sign a movie contract with Seo-jun. He said he would come here if we don’t go there, but that’s too much pressure. And since we’re going anyway, why don’t we let Seo-jun play with Jack at amusement parks and stuff?”

Movie! Seo-jun’s eyes lit up as he ate the watermelon that Lee Min-jun had prepared in advance.

“Then you can go, right?”

“I can’t because of work.”

“Me do movie again?”

“If Seo-jun wants to, after reading the synopsis?”

“Woohoo!!”

Seo-jun raised both his hands. He had just finished one movie, and another one came up.

Wait, hold on.

Is it another extra role?

Seo-jun wanted to do all the roles he could at this age.

He decided to follow his dad’s advice and see what kind of movie it was first by reading the synopsis.

“So, come to our company.”

“You mean your company, not ours.”

Kim Hee-sang muttered.

The company had grown enough to sign contracts with factories, but it was hard to find someone he could trust and work with.

When his dream-like vacation was over, Kim Hee-sang would have a lot of things to deal with by himself.

Before that, he needed a really trustworthy employee.

For example, someone who had been his friend since middle school, who was reliable and who would use the money wisely as an investor’s son.

Lee Min-jun!

“Come on, Seo-jun invested his money from YouTube, too. Then it’s Seo-jun’s company, too, right? I don’t have anyone I can trust and entrust. If you join, I’ll make you a co-CEO.”

Lee Min-jun pondered over Kim Hee-sang’s words.

“When I have to go with Seo-jun like this, I can’t go because of work. And who knows when I’ll have to go abroad for a business trip? And it might even double or triple the duration like last time. If you come to our company, I’ll adjust your schedule diligently! I’ll pay you a lot, too! And you’ll only have to work a little!”

Kim Hee-sang tried hard to persuade Lee Min-jun.

If this didn’t work, he was ready to throw a tantrum on the floor.

Lee Min-junsighed, having discussed with Seo Eun-hye as well.

He realized that urgent matters could arise for Eun-hye too, due to her grandmother’s hospitalization.

The couple needed more free time to care for Seo-jun, or they had to find someone trustworthy.

“Understood.”

“Great! When do you want to start working?!”

“I need some time for the handover.”

“Take all the time you need!”

“For now, you’ll go to the US with Seo-jun.”

“Isn’t that a contract? Can I really go?”

“They said a representative could go, so I offered to accompany you.”

Na-ra Kim, then.

Kim Hee-sang, who had become close with Na-ra during her stay at Seo-jun’s house in the US, nodded.

“Meet with the director, have fun with Jack, and I’ll give you a present.”

Seo-jun beamed with joy. It had only been a few months since they last met, but he missed them dearly.

“I’ll see Jack, Maria, Eric, and Aunt Na-ra!”

He placed several monster dolls in front of Min-jun.

“I’ll give you these too!”

“Alright. Let’s pack those as well.”

Two days later, laden with gifts for friends in the US, Seo-jun and Kim Hee-sang boarded a flight to LA.

****

Title: Always Stick to the Paths in the Mountains

Author: Junbeom Order

Always stick to the paths in the mountains. Don’t get carried away and wander into the woods.

I fell into a pitfall meant for wild boars and my leg snapped backward. I couldn’t imagine a human leg could bend that way.

The pain and fear were overwhelming, and I screamed for help, but no one came. I lost track of time and… it was so cold and tough. I cried until I passed out.

But when I woke up, I was in a hospital. They said I was lucky; a little longer in the pit and I would’ve been in danger of hypothermia. Strangely, my body temperature was normal, which the doctor found curious.

A child actor filming in the village found and rescued me. My lifesaver. I plan to watch their movie ten times.

+) But I don’t know how they found me. Only the villagers knew about the pit’s location.

Bored in the hospital, the boy browsed the internet and posted his story.

It didn’t get much attention, and there were no comments. Feeling awkward, he was about to delete it when he asked his grandfather, who was peeling fruit beside him.

“What’s the name of that movie, Grandpa?”

“What was it… Demon? Spirit? Something like that?”

“Demon. Spirit.”

The boy searched for ‘demon’ and ‘spirit.’ Foreign and Korean movies with similar titles appeared, but they were all already released.

“When is it releasing?”

“Early August, they said. The whole village plans to go.”

It was early July, the time for advertisements, but the movie being promoted on TV and the internet was:

[The Hero Returns, Redbone 2! Premiering mid-July!]

“Oh! Redbone 2 premieres next week!”

The boy’s eyes sparkled.

It was Marina Studio’s movie, Redbone 2.

The moviegoer turned on his YouTube live.

“Hello, viewers. This is the third Q&A session to celebrate the release of Redbone 2. I’m not doing this because I failed to get a ticket for the premiere of Redbone 2. I had planned this from the beginning.”

-Yeah, right. Next loser.

-Lol. So who are we talking about today?

“Today, we’re going to talk about Lee Seo-jun, the actor who heated up the theater in April. I’ll answer all your questions based on the information I know. And I have a backup too.”

Someone waved their hand next to the moviegoer’s screen. The moviegoer said with a gloomy expression.

“She’s my sister. I thought she would know a lot about Lee Seo-jun, so I paid her a fortune to hire her. She won’t appear on the screen, so don’t mind her. Now, let’s take the first question!”

-There are rumors and articles on the internet that Hollywood studios are pouring scripts for him. When do you expect his next work?

The moviegoer nodded.

“An actor can’t help but think about their next work. Especially Lee Seo-jun, who only appeared as an extra in a marine movie. You might be waiting for his next work. Unlike other actors who return within 1-2 years, I think it’s a bit early for Lee Seo-jun, considering his age. Unless he grows enough to speak more lines, he’ll probably get another role with no lines and no importance.”

-Honestly, I think people are making a fuss because an extra is Korean. Melissa Walton did much better.

The moviegoer read the comment and nodded.

“Honestly, there aren’t many people who watch the movie to cry several times. I wouldn’t have watched it 15 times if it wasn’t for the review video. Unless you’re like me, who wants to prove it on the internet, or YouTubers, you won’t watch it that much. Most people feel curious or proud that a Korean appeared in the movie. The articles about Lee Seo-jun are just hype. But.”

The moviegoer said emphatically.

“As Lee Seo-jun grows, more people will realize his acting. He’ll become a great actor.”

-Is his next work Hollywood or Korea?

“This is also a controversial topic. Regardless of whether Lee Seo-jun is in the US or Korea, I think it’s better for him to appear in Hollywood movies. Even if it’s an extra role!”

-?? Why?

“This might be a bit weird, but think about baseball. There’s a Korean unknown player. He somehow got to play in a major league game.”

-How? Lol.

“It’s an example. An example! The major league game wasn’t that important to decide the championship. But for some reason, it got a lot of attention. And in that game, a Korean player who no one knew hit a home run that decided the victory. Against a major league pitcher! And the team with the Korean player won. Whether it’s Korea or the US, it’s a big deal. You’d be curious about who the player is and how he’ll grow. But then the Korean player has to decide which team to play for.”

-Our team!! Come to our team!1

-? He should play in the major! The salary is different!

-Major 1

“And a few days later, he shows up in a Korean stadium with an article saying he’s the next generation major league player.”

-? Why? Why not the major?

-No skills lol. He won’t make it there lol. No skills lol.

“That’s right. What if he keeps playing in the major league games, even if it’s once in a while?”

-He’ll improve his skills as he grows? He has potential?

-He’s in the major, they must have tested him thoroughly.

“Then let’s compare the player to Lee Seo-jun. What do you think people will think if Lee Seo-jun stays in Hollywood? What if he appears in Korean movies?”

-The analogy is a bit weird… But I’d think the same.

-One-hit wonders are not for nothing.

-So he shouldn’t appear in Korean movies at all?

The moviegoer opened his mouth after a moment of thought.

“I have to prove that I still have a connection with Hollywood. I have been recognized for my acting skills and abilities that can land me in any Hollywood movie. At least until the next project, I have to star in Hollywood movies, make them successful, and play memorable roles in them.”

-But wouldn’t it be better to earn more money and star in Korean movies instead of playing extra roles? You have a reputation.

“…?”

The moviegoer tilted his head. Who is this idiot from nowhere?

-???

-??

-Why? I know that Lee Seo-jun did the Elephant ad and the 48 Hours show. The Elephant ad was banned because of some international regulations, right? And the 48 Hours appearance fee was not that much, was it?

“…You really don’t know. Well, I forgot to mention it when I uploaded the Shadowman review. Sponsored by data, my sister.”

The moviegoer opened an internet window on the screen and logged into YouTube. He then entered the channel [JUN].

“Do you see the views, subscribers, and likes here?”

-Here… There are countless numbers.

-lol I’ve never seen such views lol

“As long as there are babies under 20 months old and their parents on the planet, Lee Seo-jun will never fail.”

-What if YouTube goes down?

“I’ll make DVDs and sell them.”

The moviegoer shrugged his shoulders.

-What role do you want Lee Seo-jun to play?

“That’s a good question. I was so impressed by his acting as William, I hope he can play a similar role next time.”

The moviegoer’s live continued.

***

The day of the Redbone 2 preview.

Choi Min-ji, a PR team member working at Movie Dream, the production company of ‘Evil Spirit’, grabbed her pounding heart and entered the preview hall.

She was thrilled to see Redbone 2 earlier than anyone else, even though it was only a few days. She remembered the faces of many people who came to see the preview, besides herself.

“Is this it?”

Choi Min-ji turned off her phone and sat down in her seat with a devout mind. She took a vacation to see Redbone 2.

Soon the preview hall darkened.

Marina’s signature appeared on the black screen and Redbone OST flowed from the speakers installed here and there. Her heart thumped.

Two hours flew by. The movie was over.

Clap clap clap!!

A loud applause sounded and Choi Min-ji clapped hard. Marina’s name and director Ryan Will’s name came up on the black screen. Soon the names of the cast, staff, and collaborators would appear.

Choi Min-ji packed her belongings and got up, thinking of going back quickly.

The other audience members also slowly got up and left the ending credits behind.

But the lights didn’t come on in the preview hall.

“What’s going on?”

Choi Min-ji uttered a voice without knowing it, but it was drowned out by the noise of the other audience members. They all stood up in an awkward posture.

Boom!

Choi Min-ji and the people’s eyes turned to the screen.

***

“Come on, turn on already! Hurry!”

Choi Min-ji quickly turned on her phone as soon as she left the conference room. She couldn’t afford to waste any time on booting up her phone.

Everyone who passed by Choi Min-ji felt a chill down their spine.

Some people rubbed their arms as if they were cold, and some people made faces as if they couldn’t stand the itchiness in their mouths.

She had been using this phone for five years already.

Choi Min-ji vowed to herself that she would replace it as soon as she got her bonus after this job.

Bonus! Yes! This was a bonus-worthy job!

Ding-

Her phone finally turned on. Choi Min-ji looked around and headed to a corner.

She quickly called her senior colleague from the PR team, whom she was close with.

Choi Min-ji cursed at her senior who didn’t answer the phone.

She was in a hurry, every minute and second mattered.

Why! Why! Didn’t he answer the phone!

-Why?

“Senior! Why did you answer so late!”

The PR team employee who answered Choi Min-ji’s call took the phone away from his ear and looked at the screen. The youngest, Choi Min-ji. Was it really her?

-Senior! Are you listening?!

He tilted his head, wondering if the junior who was screaming like that was really the same junior who was so nice.

“Uh, yeah. I’m listening.”

He scratched his forehead. Choi Min-ji’s voice was so loud that it leaked out of the phone. The PR team leader’s hair stood up.

“You sound so excited. If you’re not busy, why don’t you come and work?”

“Should I?”

The PR team leader joked and the senior chuckled.

“Are you done playing? Do you want to come to the office and work?”

-Yes!

“… What?”

-I’m coming! Wait for me! Taxi!!!

The PR team was silent. Only Choi Min-ji’s voice shouting ‘Taxi! Taxi!’ echoed.

The PR team leader asked quietly.

“Min-ji. Are you sure you’re not sick?”

Bang!

The PR office door opened.

There she was, with a flushed face and a confident smile, Choi Min-ji who had come to work on her precious vacation. The PR team employees’ expressions changed.

Choi Min-ji skipped the greetings and went straight to the point as soon as she entered.

“Is there anyone here who hates spoiling movies to death?”

“Then you can’t work for a movie production company.”

The job was all about spoilers.

They heard it from the staff who passed by, and from the director.

Sometimes, a slip of the tongue ended up in the movie.

They all shook their heads. The PR team leader asked.

“So what’s the matter?”

From then on, the PR team employees’ expressions changed as they listened to Choi Min-ji’s story.

The PR team leader, who had been listening without much thought, opened his mouth wide at the unexpected story.

And not long after, an emergency meeting was held.

Chapter 41

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 41

Park Seong-won arrived at the theater where Redbone 2 was premiering.

The theater was bustling with excitement.

Everyone was looking forward to Redbone 2. Park Seong-won had avoided the reviews from the preview screening on the internet.

He was watching the first screening of the movie, so there was no one to spoil it for him.

He hated spoilers with a passion.

When the time came, everyone got up from their seats and headed to Screen 1.

Park Seong-won followed them.

The ads ended and the signature of Marina, the director, appeared on the screen. Then, the OST of Redbone 2 started playing.

Wow!

Wow!

Flash!

The screen lit up. It was a captivating two hours. As expected of Marina!

As expected of Redbone!

Park Seong-won smiled from ear to ear and was about to get up from his seat when he saw the aisle.

The audience in the front rows had left first, causing a traffic jam.

“Should we wait a bit and then leave?”

He felt like sitting back and listening to the Redbone OST.

He looked around and saw that there were others who had the same idea.

He was watching the ending credits while listening to the music, when

The names that were scrolling up suddenly disappeared and the screen turned pitch black.

The Redbone OST that was filling Screen 1 also stopped.

“What? An accident?”

“Don’t we need to call the staff?”

The audience murmured and the people who were leaving stopped in their tracks.

That’s when it happened.

Boom!

Boom boom!

Park Seong-won lifted his head and looked at the screen.

The screen was still black. But the music kept playing.

The viewers who were leaving Screen 1 heard the music and wondered what was going on.

They came back inside.

They were all bewildered.

Park Seong-won opened his mouth without realizing it.

“Shadowman?”

His voice echoed loudly in Screen 1, where only the Shadowman OST was playing.

Everyone gasped and held their breath.

And then,

The screen lit up again.

There was a teddy bear on a wooden table. And a person’s shadow covered the table.

[William?]

The shadow moved as if it heard a woman’s voice.

Boom!

The Shadowman OST ended and the Redbone OST resumed.

The ending credits of Redbone 2 also started scrolling up again.

The viewers who were leaving Screen 1, the viewers who were getting ready to leave, and the viewers who were leisurely listening to the Redbone OST. They all opened their mouths and stared at the screen with the white letters.

What? What was that? Did I see that…?

“Huh?”

Screen 1 exploded with Park Seong-won’s exclamation.

Park Seong-won went home and turned on his computer.

He didn’t even know how he got home.

He went to his favorite site and read the review that had no spoilers.

He had wondered what it meant before he watched Redbone 2.

[Redbone 2 Preview Review]

Wow. (Music)

Wow?(video)

Wow!(realization)

-Agree.

Crazy.

“That’s insane.”

It was exactly like the review I read. My heart was still pounding.

Title: (Spoiler) Redbone 2 Cookie Video Spoiler

Author: Marina Fan

Wow. Redbone 2 was fun, but the cookie video was the best.

I had a feeling that Shadowman 2 was coming, but… wow… shocking…

I was happy when I heard the music, thinking that Shadowman 2 was coming!

But then I saw the teddy bear in the video,

Wow. Where have I seen that before!(Shadowman 10 times<stupid)

And then the woman’s voice. William.

I thought I heard it wrong and looked at the subtitles. The subtitles also said [William?]

LOL. I was in a daze after hearing that. I came out of the theater and saw the sunlight and realized! But the people who watched the movie with me also seemed to snap out of it then. I heard them saying, “Huh! Wow?!” all the time LOL

Seriously. Marina… take all my money!! How can there be such a shocking trailer!

Can someone tell me the story of the comic with William and Shadowman? I can’t predict the plot!!

-Really shocking. I thought it was an extra.

-A hero or a villain?

=Too young to be a villain.

=Not too young to be a hero?

-Shadowman comic, came out 20 years ago. It was unpopular then and out of print. It might be in a place like the Marine History Museum.

Park Seong-won, who was reading the post, wrote a comment.

[(Spoiler) Redbone 2, then…?]

Does that mean Lee Seo-jun is in the Marina series now?

-Isn’t it a different actor in Shadowman 2?

=Right. In Shadowman 1, he was an extra, so they used a Korean, but now he has a pretty important role, so wouldn’t they cast a new actor?

“Is that so?”

Park Seong-won scratched his head.

-Then they should have used an American from the start. Isn’t that racial discrimination?

=No way. The Shadowman director is not like that. He made a lot of movies against racial discrimination.

-Just by looking at the cookie, where Lee Seo-jun doesn’t appear and only the shadow does, it’s not him.

[(Spoiler) Redbone 2, but wouldn’t it be a hit if he appears?]

The title doesn’t have a subject, so it’s not a spoiler.

But if Lee Seo-jun appears as William, wouldn’t it be a hit?

They must be thinking of making a Shadowman series, and if he has a very important role, he would keep appearing, right? And that too in a Marina movie.

Marina movies are not only released in the US, but all over the world, and his name would be huge. Guaranteed box office, guaranteed fame. There would be no Korean actor who succeeded in Hollywood like this.

-But he won’t.

-That’s the problem. He won’t 100%.

The public opinion was negative. There were more and more posts arguing about the cookie video from Redbone 2.

The cookie video of Redbone 2 was a hot topic in the US as well. People were debating whether Seo-jun should be the leader, or whether they should cast a new actor, or whether the existing actors were good enough.

And a week after Redbone 2 was released, a post appeared on the website and SNS of Marinesa.

[Marina’s heroes are everyone’s heroes, and no one is excluded from ‘everyone’.]

-Of course!

-Everyone’s heroes! How cool.

“-What do you mean?”

Richard Bowen clasped his head at Fallon’s words. He had a headache just thinking about a few months ago.

“You should have seen his eyes.”

“Ryan Will, the director? I heard he was amazing.”

A few months ago. While Fallon was on a business trip, a meeting was held. When they proposed to make a series of Shadowman to Ryan Will, the director, it was because of the synopsis he brought.

‘William’, the nemesis of Shadowman.

It was a role that was only known as an extra, but it was a role that would appear throughout the Shadowman series.

They discussed whether to cast an Asian or a Westerner for that role, regardless of age.

Ryan Will, who attended the meeting, crossed his arms and looked silently at Richard Bowen, who was sitting at the head of the table.

The people in the meeting room who were arguing also became quiet as they saw Ryan Will’s expression, who only stared at them without saying anything.

The meeting room was silent.

It was horrible to think about it now.

Richard Bowen washed his face.

“That was clearly a look that said, if you don’t listen to me, I’ll make a movie about Marina’s racism, just like what I said in this meeting room.”

“Hahaha. Ryan Will is good at that. Maybe he won an award this time.”

“…Are you on his side because you’re Korean?”

At Richard Bowen’s words, Fallon Park shrugged his shoulders.

“There’s nothing more stupid than judging by country in this global era. Besides, look at this.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“It’s the revenue and audience numbers of Redbone 2 by country. Well, don’t you think it’s okay to have a Korean actor with this much?”

“…How many people are there in Korea?”

“Ten times that.”

“…That’s amazing.”

Redbone 2, one week after its release.

It surpassed 5 million viewers.

Park Seong-won turned on the TV. He wanted to watch his favorite entertainment program, but the timing was bad and an advertisement came out.

“Is it a new movie?”

A man running hard on a black screen appeared. He was covered in wounds and kept looking back. The actor’s name appeared at the bottom of the screen. Lee Ji-seok.

“Ah, Lee Ji-seok. He always fails when he’s the lead…”

The man who was running arrived at a village. Crows cawed and a large wooden gate slammed shut. And suddenly the screen turned black. The tense music also stopped at the same time.

Park Seong-won felt a subtle sense of strangeness at the sudden blackout.

Jingle!

“Huh?”

He heard a bell sound. Park Seong-won sat down slowly in front of the TV without taking his eyes off the screen.

Jingle!

There was a bell that looked like a fruit hanging from a branch on the wooden table.

He had seen a shaman holding a bell like that and performing a ritual on TV.

Park Seong-won didn’t even realize his mouth was open.

Jingle!

And a shadow of a person appeared on the table.

[Little one.]

The shadow moved.

The screen changed and letters that looked like they were on fire appeared.

[Evil Spirit, coming soon in early August!]

And Park Seong-won stared blankly at the television screen until several ads passed by and a variety show came on.

Title: (Redbone 2 Spoiler) Is that for real?

Author: Marina Fan

Should I put a spoiler for Redbone 2 or not? I decided to put it anyway.

First of all, if you haven’t seen the trailer for ‘Evil Spirit’, go watch it on YouTube.

There are two possibilities.

Evil Spirit plagiarized.

Marina Studio gave permission.

If it’s plagiarism, then the production company of Evil Spirit is in big trouble. You know what I mean.

Welcome 🙂 This is the land of lawsuits, America 😉

And if Marina Studio gave permission…

Lee Seo-jun!!!

It must be Lee Seo-jun!!

Cookie video shadow = Evil Spirit shadow = Lee Seo-jun

That’s why Marina Studio agreed!

Wow. I got hit in the back of the head twice in a week.

Seriously, if Lee Seo-jun is in Evil Spirit, then the Shadowman William who will appear later will automatically be Lee Seo-jun too.

+) I emailed Marina Studio and they said they gave permission! Wow… Wow…

-Marina Studio and Evil Spirit’s big picture… Goosebumps…

-Seriously, unless you have a lot of courage, it can’t be plagiarism. Then…!?

-Wow. I have to go see Evil Spirit to check if it’s Lee Seo-jun.

Two days after the trailer for Evil Spirit came out. Korea was once again on fire with ‘Lee Seo-jun’.

[What is the next work of Lee Seo-jun, the Korean Hollywood child actor?]

[What kind of movie is Evil Spirit?]

[What kind of actor is Lee Seo-jun in Hollywood?]

[Is Lee Seo-jun in Korea or America right now?]

-At this point, he’s a real Hollywood star.

-Wow. My god. Isn’t Lee Seo-jun six years old now?

-He’s five years and five months old in American age.

A YouTuber named Moviegoer uploaded a video. Moviegoer shrugged his shoulders and laughed bitterly.

“Lee Seo-jun really solved everything perfectly. I couldn’t imagine it. A Hollywood movie, and a Marina Studio movie at that, confirmed to appear in a series and already filming a Korean movie. I really wonder what kind of actor he will become in the future.”

-Lol he was wrong about coming out in two years lol

-???: America? Korea? Why not both?

And in early August, Evil Spirit was released.

Park Seong-won didn’t miss the first screening on the first day again.

He entered the theater.

“It’s Lee Seo-jun, right?”

“100 percent Lee Seo-jun.”

As he looked at the poster of the evil spirit, he heard people talking about it. Just like everywhere else, there was no name or photo of Lee Seo-jun here. There was only a picture of a table, a bell, and a shadow that appeared in the trailer.

“Please enter the 9th hall if you want to watch the Evil Spirit!”

Park Seong-won followed the staff’s guidance and took his seat. Soon, the lights went off and fiery letters appeared on the screen.

Evil Spirit.

Soo-hyuk, who worked at an antique shop, bought a jewel box that looked expensive one day.

He planned to sell it after cleaning it, but that was a mistake.

An evil spirit came out of the jewel box and attached itself to Soo-hyuk.

The evil spirit caused all kinds of trouble with Soo-hyuk’s body. At first, it was a minor accident, but soon it set fire to the antique shop.

Soo-hyuk tried to exorcize the evil spirit by visiting churches, cathedrals, temples, and all sorts of places, but he couldn’t even get a blessing, let alone help.

The evil spirit even endangered the life of the pastor who tried to help him.

The pastor, who was taken away by an ambulance, gave Soo-hyuk a piece of paper in his hand. Soo-hyuk left with a determination to end it if this didn’t work either.

And when he arrived at the village, he saw a little boy in a hanbok.

The boy, who had an indifferent expression, looked at him with a creepy gaze and closed the door.

Not long after, an old man came out and rented him a room.

And the next day, the old man who offered to take care of Soo-hyuk’s breakfast and walk with him brought up the story of the boy.

The boy, who was now seven years old, lost his parents to the evil spirit when he was four and received a divine revelation on the same day.

He was doing some kind of practice at the request of the god.

He didn’t cry, laugh, or speak, and lived for three years.

The old man who looked after the boy’s life was not his blood relative either.

Soo-hyuk saw the boy standing blankly in front of the shrine, staring at the tree.

The boy shaman was the same age as Soo-hyuk’s nephew, who was a troublemaker, but he ate, prayed, and meditated without any expression.

“The evil spirit wants your body, young man.”

Soo-hyuk’s face hardened at the old man’s words. And he tried to leave the village. There was no way that the little boy could beat this evil spirit.

A fight broke out between the evil spirit who wanted to stay in the village and Soo-hyuk who wanted to leave.

In the end, Soo-hyuk lost.

Late at night.

The evil spirit broke into the boy’s house.

There was the boy, who seemed to be waiting. Soo-hyuk grabbed the evil spirit and collapsed.

The night was filled with screams.

Soo-hyuk opened his eyes with a flash. The old man who was nursing him next to him smiled brightly.

“Would you like to go with me to greet him?”

“Greet who?”

“Yes.”

He followed the old man to the yard with a refreshed body.

It had been a week since Soo-hyuk collapsed.

He was hit not by the body but by the soul, so he was sure that he couldn’t be treated at the hospital.

He said he nursed him at home.

“I’m very grateful to you.”

“What?”

The old man opened the big wooden gate with a smile. There.

“Hi, Soo-hyuk hyung!”

A little boy in a yellow kindergarten uniform with a backpack on his back smiled brightly and stood there.

Soo-hyuk looked at the boy and the old man with a stunned face.

“The evil spirit was exorcized and the god inside also used up his power. The god was not bad, but he gave a lot of burden to the child. Now this child will live normally like other children, laughing and crying. He can even go to kindergarten. It’s all thanks to you.”

“No. No, it’s not.”

He felt something surge up as he saw the boy holding his hand with a bright smile.

The boy shaman who cried all night and fought the evil spirit was nowhere to be seen.

Soo-hyuk knelt down and looked into the boy’s eyes.

“Hey, kid. What’s your name?”

The boy smiled brightly at Soo-hyuk’s question.

Title: Is it just me, or did I really receive a divine blessing?

Author: I am a demon

I was honestly curious whether it was Seo-jun or not, but I think I’ll watch it a few more times.

I was so impressed by his acting as William that I couldn’t imagine him doing any other role, but I was such an idiot.

Ji-seok’s possession acting was amazing, but Seo-jun’s shaman acting was even more incredible.

If Ji-seok’s acting gave me the impression of ‘split personality + alpha’, Seo-jun’s acting made me feel like there was something real inside him.

When Seo-jun scanned Soo-hyuk from head to toe, I felt like he could see through me and I got goosebumps.

And what can I say, after Seo-jun appeared, both Ji-seok and the movie seemed crazy.

Seo-jun seemed like he was harboring a god with a tremendous power, Ji-seok seemed like he was possessed by a real demon and fighting with it, and the direction and CG matched the surreal atmosphere and made it look realistic.

Anyway, it was awesome.

-Awesome. I didn’t expect much, but it was awesome.

-Definitely, the movie’s mood changed when Seo-jun came out. If it was all human world fluff before Seo-jun, it was like this is the hidden world!! after he came out.

-The CG was awesome when they fought. I want to make gifs of it later.

And after the movie was released, the staff and related people who automatically had their secrecy lifted posted on SNS and the internet.

Photos of Seo-jun in casual clothes and photos of his signed paper were uploaded.

Chapter 42

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 42: A Superstar from Birth, Episode 42

Seo-jun returned to Korea with his uncle Hee-sang.

In his bag full of gifts from his acquaintances, there was also a synopsis he received from director Ryan Will.

Shadowman 2.

After reading the synopsis and hearing about the future development from director Ryan Will, Seo-jun decided to appear in the movie.

He was bothered by the person who was the vice president of Marina, who looked at him with complicated eyes, but he shrugged his shoulders and quickly signed the contract.

“But…”

Seo-jun recalled the content of the synopsis.

There was one thing that bothered him.

He felt uneasy about the acting he had done in front of director Ryan Will.

It was different from the acting he had done so far. It was not refreshing.

He wondered what the problem was, both when he was in the US and when he came to Korea, but he couldn’t figure it out.

“Since the director said I passed, it shouldn’t be a big problem… But still, I don’t know.”

Seo-jun, who was in his room, closed the synopsis of Shadowman 2 and put it next to the bookshelf full of scenarios in English that his aunt Na-ra had gotten for him.

Out of the three bookshelves, only two were filled, and now three.

He decided to use this bookshelf to store the scripts of the movies he would appear in.

In other words, the real-life version of the bookshelf of life!

He wanted to do as much acting as possible to fill this bookshelf.

“Seo-jun, let’s eat some grapes.”

“Okay!”

His dad, who had moved to his uncle Hee-sang’s company, and his mom, who was recruiting Korean tutoring students, watched TV together.

Lee Ji-seok was doing an interview for the promotion of The Evil Spirit.

“Would Seo-jun do something like that?”

“Isn’t he too young to do an interview?”

“He can do it!”

He could do it if he was asked, but for some reason, the scenarios, synopses, and advertising proposals stopped coming after the trailer of Shadowman 2 came out.

Seo-jun and his parents were puzzled by this strange phenomenon, but Seo Eun-chan said it was nothing.

“It’s because of money. They’re racking their brains over how much to pay an actor who’s confirmed to star in Shadowman 2. Plus, he has a name value as a Hollywood actor, but they can’t predict how much of a publicity effect he’ll have.”

Fortunately, the scenarios started to come in little by little thanks to the success of The Evil Spirit.

The producers concluded that his appearance fee would be expensive, but he would be worth it.

“So, do you have any scenarios you like?”

“No. No!”

He shook his head at his dad’s question. His appearance fee was high and his acting skills were recognized, but the roles he was getting now were ones that didn’t seem to need him.

A child who lost his parents, a child who cries.

It seemed that the roles he could do at this age were mediocre.

The baby shaman role in The Evil Spirit was definitely unique.

[What kind of actor is Lee Seo-jun?]

The reporter’s question drew the family’s attention to the TV.

Seo-jun looked at Lee Ji-seok’s face.

It was his first work as a lead actor, and it was doing well at the box office.

Many people said they saw Lee Ji-seok’s acting again.

Lee Ji-seok’s face lit up.

[Lee Seo-jun is amazing. At first, I thought he was just a genius actor with a natural talent.]

That’s right.

The people who were watching TV nodded.

A Hollywood movie at the age of six.

It wasn’t officially announced by Marinsa, but anyone who got a hint of that would know.

Lee Seo-jun became an indispensable presence in Shadowman.

If that’s not a genius, what is?

[But, when I saw Lee Seo-jun’s script, I realized it wasn’t.]

[What was wrong with the script?]

***

[You studied not only your own lines, but everyone else’s too. You must have a lot of words you don’t know yet…]

Ji-seok laughed.

He remembered the script that had popped out of his bag, which looked like a goblin. He was curious and asked Seo-jun to show it to him, and he did without hesitation.

Eun-hye and Min-jun, who were watching Ji-seok’s interview, also laughed.

Seo-jun pouted his lips.

What do you mean?

It’s my first time learning Korean!

Well, not exactly the first time, but I don’t remember anything.

[I was studying hard with colorful pens, writing down the meanings.]

[That’s cute.]

[Yes. It’s cute.]

The reporter, Ji-seok, and the people who were watching the interview smiled.

[Seo-jun is a great actor who has amazing talent and works hard. I feel that even more when I act with him. When Soohyuk and the baby shaman met for the first time, I felt like I really became Soohyuk. I was overwhelmed by the god that Seo-jun portrayed.]

Some of the people who had seen The Evil Spirit nodded their heads at the behind-the-scenes story of The Evil Spirit. The interview continued, and suddenly the lights on the screen dimmed and the reporter asked quietly.

[Some of the staff of The Evil Spirit said they saw ghosts during the filming. Did you see them, Ji-seok?]

Ghosts? The couple tilted their heads. If something like that had happened, they would have heard it from Kim Heesang, the occult maniac.

“Seo-jun, did you see any ghosts?”

“No?”

Seo-jun rolled his eyes. He had a guess.

It was the goblin’s aura.

The aura that was made of brass and looked yellow had darkened and looked like gold.

He was shocked when he saw The Evil Spirit that had been edited and CG-ed.

The scene that he had seen with his own eyes was on the screen.

He thought it would have some impact on the people, but he never imagined that it could be expressed so exactly.

“I didn’t see any.”

Seo-jun shrugged.

[Wasn’t there a scene that caused a stir with CG?]

[Yes. There were a lot of reviews that said it felt like the god really descended into the shaman’s body. They said Korean CG had advanced so much. There were rumors that many people wanted to know who the CG team of The Evil Spirit was?]

The reporter tilted his head. Ghosts causing trouble and CG? Ji-seok smiled.

[Do you remember the golden flames that you saw with CG? The ones that wrapped around Seo-jun’s body and ran around me like a wolf and stuck to my body like fire.]

[Of course. It was one of the best scenes in The Evil Spirit. There’s no way I would forget such a scene.]

[That was a ghost.]

[…What?]

The father who was eating grapes spat out a grape with a cough.

Min-jun liked the CG when he watched The Evil Spirit. And he was afraid of ghosts. Min-jun’s face turned pale.

Not only Min-jun, but also the people who were watching the interview lost their words like the reporter.

Ji-seok smiled brightly.

[I thought I was the only one who saw it, but Director Choi Dae-man also saw the ghost. He thought it would be good to use that scene as it was, so he worked hard with the CG staff. The CG staff was amazed by how clear the image was, and they thought highly of the director. They probably didn’t think that it was a real ghost that he had seen.]

The CG staff who was watching the television with his family opened his mouth wide.

[I was surprised when I saw the movie that was edited and CG-ed at the preview. It was exactly the same as what I saw. Because of that, I knew that the director and the other staff also saw the ghost.]

Was it just his feeling that the word ‘exactly’ sounded louder?

The reporter felt a chill down his spine when he heard that not only the director and Lee Ji-seok, but also other staff members had seen the same ghost. He managed to say.

[So, is it all… CG?]

[Only the full shots. I only saw it when we filmed the full shots, and I didn’t see it after that. I was a bit disappointed. I wish it had appeared in other scenes too. It would have made my acting more realistic. But the movie was a hit, so I guess it’s true that you have to see a ghost when you film to succeed.]

Lee Ji-seok laughed heartily, feeling happy with his life, as he was flooded with lead roles like a wave, as if asking when he had ever failed after making a hit with The Evil Spirit.

The comments piled up on the interview program’s board, where the interesting behind-the-scenes of The Evil Spirit was revealed.

-lol Lee Ji-seok’s face of regret lol

-Wouldn’t they be cursed if they reenacted that? The director and the actors seem out of their minds.

-My friend was a staff member of The Evil Spirit team, and they said there was applause when they filmed the exorcism scene in full shot. They were all stunned and watching lol. Some of them said they saw the ghost too omg

-No wonder… Lee Seo-jun’s acting. At first, it was so alien that I felt like I saw a ghost and it was scary, but when he fought with The Evil Spirit, he was like a real god. A kind god, you know? But it was a real ghost. Creepy.

Lee Ji-seok, who was laughing in the dark light, felt a cheap feeling as if someone was watching him.

The reporter quickly changed the subject.

[Did you hear that Lee Seo-jun did a great thing?]

Along with the reporter’s words, a post appeared on the television screen.

Lee Seo-jun’s father and mother, who were watching the interview without much thought, were surprised to see the screen.

Title: Wow. I saw Lee Seo-jun but I didn’t.

Author: Law and Order

[Previous post link]

Read this and come back. The movie that was filmed here was ‘The Evil Spirit’ and the child actor who saved me was ‘Lee Seo-jun’. I didn’t see it because I was unconscious… Really… Thank you for saving me. I wanted to buy you something delicious, but you had more money than me.

The short post passed by, and a leg in a cast appeared. The face was not shown, and only the boy’s voice was heard. The boy spoke shyly and awkwardly.

-I fell into a hole for catching wild boars… If it wasn’t for Lee Seo-jun, I would have been in big trouble! Lee Seo-jun, thank you so much!

“That’s the brother that Seo-jun saved.”

“He must be okay now!”

They felt relieved to hear the clear voice, unlike the time when only the faintly moving chest proved that he was alive. After all, it was the right thing to do to save him even if he had to write a reflection letter. Seo-jun smiled brightly.

A month later, The Evil Spirit, which left behind the catchphrase ‘That was a ghost’, continued to be a hit and closed with 6 million viewers, far exceeding the break-even point.

And a few months later, it was released in several countries, including the United States, although it was a small number.

***

Even though the weather was chilly, the children with high body temperatures were lively.

“Hi, Seo-jun!”

“Bye! Let’s play later!”

Seo-jun waved his hand hard to his kindergarten friends.

Most of them took the kindergarten bus to go home, but there were also children whose mothers came to pick them up at the kindergarten.

The children who held their mothers’ hands chattered and left the kindergarten.

The parents were calm and greeted Seo-jun, as if they were used to the sight of the kindergarten with a Hollywood actor.

It was a much better situation than when Seo-jun first came to the kindergarten.

Seo-jun shook his head as he recalled that time. It was hard.

The children didn’t know who he was, but the parents were excited and he didn’t know what to do.

In the end, the kindergarten principal, who had predicted this situation, decided to send Seo-jun’s autograph to the parents on behalf of the children, and they all calmed down.

“Seo-jun, are you cold? Should we go inside and wait?”

Seo-jun held his teacher’s hand and went inside.

Seo Eun-hye, who came to pick up Seo-jun at the exact same time every day, was late today.

It was because she had gone to see off her grandparents and great-grandmother, who were going on a trip abroad.

The departure time of the plane to Europe was awkward, so she had no choice but to leave Seo-jun at the kindergarten a little longer.

It was their first time traveling abroad, so they had a guide with a package tour, but they couldn’t help worrying.

Seo-jun used the ability he found in the newly opened library to make a talisman. He could only make one a day, so it took him three days.

He couldn’t use any other abilities while making the talisman.

Neither [Orchestra Conductor’s Connection] nor [Slime’s Digestion Ability].

He ate less for three days, which worried his parents.

Seo-jun gave the talisman to the three people who came to Seo Eun-hye’s house in the morning. The grandparents and great-grandmother put the talisman with a firefly drawn on it in their bags very preciously.

[(Production)Firefly’s Unlucky Avoidance-Low Grade]

The incoming misfortune is avoided.

The more you draw in detail, the more your ability improves.

You can use it once a day.

How to use: Own the paper with a firefly drawn on it.

Expiration date: 2 weeks (1 person 1 time-reuse 1 year)

“This should be enough!”

Chapter 43

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 43

Seo-jun, who was playing alone with blocks until his mom came to pick him up, perked up his ears and jumped up from his seat.

The teacher, who was finishing up some work, asked him.

“Why, Seo-jun?”

“I think mom is here!”

“Really? Shall we go out?”

Seo-jun held the teacher’s hand and went outside.

As he had said, his mom was there.

The teacher, who had thought it was just a tantrum of the child, was surprised to see Seo-jun, but Seo-jun had already run to his mom and hugged her.

“I’m sorry for being late. You must have to go back to work.”

“It’s okay. I still have some work left.”

Seo Eun-hye handed a paper bag to the teacher. It was a snack she bought at the airport.

“Please have this. There were a lot of delicious things at the airport.”

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

“Yes. Thank you. Seo-jun, say thank you too.”

“Thank you!”

“Well, I’ll be going then.”

“Oh, wait a minute. Seo-jun’s mom.”

The teacher took out a flyer from Seo-jun’s bag and showed it to her. The flyer was brightly decorated and looked like a kindergarten.

It was full of pictures of Santa Claus in a red suit smiling brightly and Rudolph with a red nose.

***

“A festival?”

Lee Min-jun, who was putting some crab meat on Seo-jun’s spoon, tilted his head. Seo Eun-hye recalled the contents of the flyer.

“It’s a children’s festival on Christmas Eve. They sell food, toys, and have playgrounds.”

“That sounds fun. Seo-jun, do you want to go?”

Seo-jun, who had chewed and swallowed the sweet and salty soy sauce crab and the white rice, nodded his head.

“Yes!”

“No, no. Wait. You can’t. Seo-jun!”

Seo-eun-chan, who had come by unexpectedly in the evening and brought soy sauce crab and spicy crab, put his hand down as he listened to the conversation of the couple and Seo-jun.

Seo-jun and the couple tilted their heads. Seo Eun-chan tapped his forehead.

“Even if Seo-jun is young, brother-in-law and sister don’t know how famous Seo-jun is?”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun’s eyes met at Seo Eun-chan’s words.

Seo Eun-hye shrugged her shoulders and answered.

“I know. It was a mess on the first day of kindergarten. The teachers were speechless, the parents didn’t know what to do, and the kids were crying and screaming at the sight of their mom and dad.”

Seo Eun-hye put down the crab shell and shook her head. Seo-jun nodded and ate the crab meat that his dad gave him. It was his first time eating soy sauce crab, and it was delicious.

“The news was huge too. The Evil Spirit had over 6 million viewers. There was also news that Seo-jun might play William in the US, and it’s quiet now, but until a few months ago, Seo-jun’s story was on TV every few days.”

Lee Min-jun asked if he wanted some spicy crab. Seo-jun nodded. What would spicy crab taste like?

The [Slime’s Digestive Ability] that he couldn’t use for three days because of making talismans moved vigorously.

“But you want to go to the children’s festival with Seo-jun?”

“Isn’t it quiet now? The kindergarten teachers seem to be used to it, and they treat him the same as the other kids. The parents of the kids just say hello and leave, right?”

Seo Eun-chan drank some water in frustration.

“That’s because they’ve seen him all the time. At the children’s festival, everyone will be people Seo-jun has never seen before. That means, it will be like the first day of kindergarten.”

The first day.

Seo-jun and his parents’ faces hardened instantly as they were enjoying the seasoned crab.

They could laugh about it now, but they wouldn’t do it again.

Seo Eun-chan shook his head.

“No, it’s worse. It’s a children’s festival, but won’t there be kids like Seo-jun? Relatives will come, and so will grandparents. The stores are looking forward to it, right? There will be lots of advertising. Then students will come, and college students… In the end, it’ll just become a Christmas Eve festival.”

Seo-jun and his parents swallowed hard.

“Just imagine if Seo-jun, brother-in-law, and you sister were in the middle of that. It’s like a family of mice fallen into a pit of snakes.”

Numerous snake eyes gleamed sharply, and long tongues flickered.

The mouse family huddled together, trembling.

Seo-jun quietly put down his spoon at the image that came to mind.

“…I don’t want to go.”

“Dad agrees.”

“Mom too.”

Seo-jun and his parents raised their hands. It was just Seo Eun-chan’s thought, but it seemed likely.

A zombie movie they had seen days ago came to mind. It wouldn’t be that bad. But if the already famous Seo-jun went to such a festival without any precautions, an accident could happen.

‘Maybe I need [The Firefly’s Brush with Misfortune]?’

Seo-jun considered drawing a talisman for himself.

Seo Eun-hye sighed.

“So Seo-jun can’t go to such festivals anymore? That’s a shame. You should go to such places, make memories, and take pictures.”

“Should I wear a mask?”

“Since it’s winter, maybe a hat and scarf could cover it?”

Still, the couple felt regretful that they couldn’t go and started discussing various ideas. Seo Eun-chan cleared his throat.

“I have a good suggestion…”

“I knew it. You bought soy sauce crab and seasoned crab, and I thought it was a bribe?”

“Why doesn’t Eun-chan’s repertoire ever change?”

“Exactly!”

Seo-jun and his parents nodded as if they expected it, and Seo Eun-chan laughed awkwardly.

Everyone was too sharp.

“There’s an outdoor music broadcast on Christmas Eve. How about coming as a guest? A special appearance!”

“With the hyungs?”

“Yeah. With the Brown Black guys. You can sing or just come out and greet. The kids’ dance is too intense, so dancing is out.”

“Hmm.”

Seo-jun pondered. Seo Eun-chan smiled slyly and tempted Seo-jun.

“You’ve never been on a live broadcast, right? This is a nationwide live broadcast on terrestrial TV. Plus, there will be a huge audience.”

“I’ll do it!”

Live broadcast!

When else would I get to be on a live broadcast!

Seo Eun-chan silently cheered. He could handle the Brown Black kids who kept clamoring to see Seo-jun and the broadcast station PDs who begged for Seo-jun’s appearance, saying just once, only once.

“Do you want to sing? Or just greet?”

“I’ll sing!”

Everyone nodded at Seo-jun’s words, then twisted their heads. Even Seo Eun-chan, who suggested singing, suddenly wondered. Had Seo-jun ever sung before?

The next day.

Seo-jun followed his uncle Seo Eun-chan to Cocoa Entertainment.

He looked at the three-story building. This was the agency of Brown Black, the best idol group in the industry? Seo-jun frowned.

“It’s small.”

“Ahahaha.”

He was right. Brown Black had debuted five years ago.

They had been number one for five years straight.

Their agency was too small for such a successful idol group.

Seo-jun tried to think positively.

Maybe the building was bigger inside.

Maybe it had nice facilities.

But contrary to his expectations, the first floor of the building was a restaurant, and the second floor was a taekwondo academy.

One! Two!

The sound of shouting echoed through the stairs.

Seo-jun’s expression got worse.

Cocoa Entertainment only occupied the third floor.

What? Why? Seo-jun’s eyes widened.

Seo Eun-chan sighed inwardly.

He knew he shouldn’t judge by appearances, but…

As they reached the front door of Cocoa Entertainment, Seo-jun cautiously opened his mouth.

“Uncle, do you get paid well?”

“Yeah. I’m doing fine.”

“What about the hyungs?”

“They get paid according to their contracts.”

Was it his imagination, or did the word ‘contracts’ sound louder than usual?

Seo-jun’s questions made Seo Eun-chan sigh out loud.

“Seo-jun, do you remember hearing about the new idol group that our company was launching?”

“Yeah. Ye-jun hyung was so happy that he would have juniors.”

It was two or three years ago. Hwang Ye-jun had called him with an excited voice and yelled for the whole conversation. Seo-jun had hung up after a while because his ears hurt.

“They invested a lot in that idol group, but it failed soon after.”

It was because of the criminal records of two of the five members.

When that came to light, the president had cursed at Brown Black, the only source of income for Cocoa Entertainment, and quickly disbanded the group.

He had planned to keep them for a few more years if it was a matter of talent.

“And then, a year later, they tried to make another idol group, but sigh.”

This time, one of the members had plagiarized a song that he claimed to be his own.

They had filmed a music video, released a song, and were about to debut, when the plagiarism accusation came up.

It was a song by an unknown indie group from overseas, but the group had become popular on YouTube and reached Korea.

Since Brown Black was also active with self-composed songs by Hwang Ye-jun and Park Seo-jin, they had disbanded the group before getting involved.

After that, the president and the staff were reluctant to make a new idol group.

Seo Eun-chan was unhappy about that. They had to keep investing. They couldn’t rely on Brown Black forever.

“That’s why the company is like this. They keep spending the money they earned.”

“Where do the hyungs practice?”

“There is a practice room here, but it’s the one they used before debut. The facilities are not good, so they used their own money to find a place near their dorm.”

Seo Eun-chan shook his head.

He felt sorry for the singers who had to pay for their own practice room.

The company’s situation made him sigh.

“Then, why did we come here?”

Seo-jun tilted his head.

Wouldn’t it be better to go to their practice room?

“To get a camera. The camera they use for practice is broken. They need to buy a new one, and they’re looking for a good one online.”

“Are they going to upload their practice videos on YouTube?”

“Okay. After the music show ends. If I upload it now, there won’t be any surprises!”

Seo-jun nodded. A new video would be uploaded on his channel [JUN].

“Seo-jun!”

“It’s been a long time since I saw you in person!”

“You’ve grown so much.”

In the clean practice room of the 10-story building, there was Brown Black.

Seo-jun ran to them and hugged them.

Kevin lifted him up high and swung him around. Seo-jun laughed out loud.

And then the other members also took turns lifting Seo-jun up.

After the lively greetings, they got down to business.

“What song do you like, Seo-jun?”

“Maybe a calm song would be good if Seo-jun wants to sing too?”

“Fast songs would be too hard for sure.”

Seo-jun and Brown Black listened to the songs that they had uploaded on YouTube and eliminated them one by one.

Finally, they found a song. The second mini album. TODAY.

“It’s calm and good for listening at Christmas.”

“The lyrics are not too hard either.”

“Shall we start practicing then?”

Park Seo-jin, the lead vocalist, taught Seo-jun the song one by one. Seo-jun sang along diligently.

“Higher here.”

“Slower here.”

“Pronounce the lyrics more clearly.”

Seo-jun sang as Park Seo-jin told him. He raised his voice and sang along with the flowing MR.

How is it? Did I do well?

His face was full of pride and Park Seo-jin’s eyes shook.

Pfft.

Seo-jun turned his head and saw his uncle Chan in the corner of the practice room, shivering and crouching.

He looked around and saw that the other hyungs were the same.

They covered their mouths, but their eyes were squinted.

That’s. Seo-jun’s eyes narrowed.

“Pwahaha!”

Seo Eun-chan burst out laughing first.

And then Brown Black also started laughing one after another. Seo-jun stomped his feet with his face turned red.

“Don’t laugh! Uncle! It’s my first time!”

“Hahaha. I have to show this to your sister!”

“Yeah. Seo-jun. It’s your first time. It’ll be okay if you practice. You guys stop laughing too!”

Park Seo-jin tried to comfort Seo-jun, but Seo-jun didn’t hear him.

He tried to hold back his laughter, but it wasn’t easy.

He saw his uncle and hyungs snorting and glared at them with his eyes sharp.

He was going to be a superstar. Singing? What can’t he do?

“Seo-jin hyung. Play the music.”

Seo-jun said with a determined face.

He had a week left until the live broadcast on Christmas Eve.

Chapter 44

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 44

[Hello!]

As Hwang Ye-jun greeted the audience with a microphone, a scream of excitement erupted.

It was Christmas Eve, the day for lovers and families.

Many people came to watch the outdoor stage of KBC Music Channel.

Before the last performance of Brown Black, the sound system broke down due to the cold weather.

While the staff were trying to fix it temporarily, Hwang Ye-jun, the best speaker among the Brown Black members, decided to go on stage and fill the time instead of the MCs who had been hosting in the cold.

Hwang Ye-jun’s face was shown on the large screens installed in the center and on both sides of the stage.

This video was being broadcast live nationwide.

[I didn’t expect so many of you to come. Can you see me in the back?]

-Yes!

[Ahahaha.]

Hwang Ye-jun smiled brightly.

[Thank you for coming in this cold weather. The MCs have been working hard too, so I decided to host for a while. Is that okay with you?]

From everywhere, voices of yes! and Brown Black fighting! were heard.

[But you must be disappointed if there’s only one MC, right? That’s why I brought a special MC with me!]

The audience applauded at Hwang Ye-jun’s words, but as he was killing time, the staff who were moving quickly to fix the sound system turned their heads.

“What? There was a special MC?”

“I’ve never heard of that.”

As they were puzzled, they heard the PD’s voice in their earphones. He didn’t tell the staff either to keep it a secret.

-It’s my request. And set up more security guards around the stage. Be careful of other places too. More people might come, so be prepared.

It was a faint sound from a single speaker, but it caught their attention. The audience went silent as it started.

They all had puzzled expressions on their faces. Wait, this. Isn’t this. But, why is it here?

[William?]

A woman’s voice ended the video, and then.

Clang!

[Lil’ bug?]

A man’s voice ended the video.

Hwang Ye-jun shouted loudly.

[Please welcome our Hollywood star, Lee Seo-jun, who performed brilliantly as William and the baby ladybug!]

And then, a small child walked out from behind the stage and stood next to Hwang Ye-jun.

Seo-jun’s face, smiling brightly, was shown on the big screen.

Seo-jun was wearing a thick white cape and a warm fur hat.

On the cape, there were small white wings, and on the hat, there was a round ring.

It was Kim Hee-sang’s masterpiece, The Baby Angel of Christmas.

It was a costume and accessory that took a week to make by hand.

The couple showed their thumbs up to Kim Hee-sang, who was drinking beer next to them, as they saw their son’s face filling the screen.

Ahh! Someone screamed.

Wowowowowow!

And cheers erupted.

The people who were watching on television also gasped and exclaimed.

“Really? Is that really Lee Seo-jun?!”

“He came here?!”

“No wonder, Hwang Ye-jun was so excited.”

They already knew the relationship between Brown Black and Lee Seo-jun, which had made the news.

They all nodded their heads.

The entertainment reporters who were nearby started to upload articles with only titles on the internet.

[Hollywood star, Lee Seo-jun, a special guest on the music channel?!]

[The Shadowman series’ Lee Seo-jun, together with Brown Black!]

[The undisputed Hollywood actor! Lee Seo-jun!]

-Lee Seo-jun?! I’m a fan?! Why am I not there?!

-If he’s coming, he should have said so! No, I’m going there now!

-Wow. The music channel. How much did they pay him?

The staff swallowed their saliva at the unexpected reaction of the audience.

“This doesn’t look like it’s going to end well. PD-nim.”

[Hello!]

Seo-jun grabbed the microphone. They all screamed at the sight of Seo-jun, who had turned into a baby angel for Christmas Eve.

[Do you all know Lee Seo-jun?]

Yes!

[We have a small connection with Brown Black, so we came here. We will also have a special stage later. Please look forward to it!]

A short conversation ensued between Hwang Ye-jun and Lee Seo-jun.

It was broadcast live to the whole country through the microphone and camera.

Lee Seo-jun’s fans who lived near the outdoor stage started to gather one by one.

The staff’s hands and feet were busy.

Finally, the repair was done.

A staff member who had done a quick fix waved his arms at Hwang Ye-jun. Hwang Ye-jun saw the signal and said his farewell.

[Today is Christmas Eve. Have a happy day, everyone!]

[Have a happy day, everyone!]

Seo-jun also greeted them and activated his ability. It was a convenient ability that he could use as long as he wanted, because his owner was kind.

[Hollywood Star Lee Seo-jun as a Special Guest on Music Channel?!]

[Lee Seo-jun from the Shadowman Series, Together with Brown Black!]

[The Undisputed Hollywood Actor! Lee Seo-jun!]

-Lee Seo-jun?! I’m a fan?! Why am I not there?!

-They should have announced it if he was coming! No, I’m going there right now!

-Wow. Music Channel. How much did they pay him?

The staff swallowed their saliva at the unusual reaction of the audience.

“This doesn’t look like it’s going to end well. PD-nim.”

[Hello!]

Lee Seo-jun picked up the microphone. Everyone screamed at the sight of Lee Seo-jun, who had transformed into a baby angel for Christmas Eve.

[Do you all know Lee Seo-jun?]

Yes!

[We have a small connection with Brown Black, so we came here. We will also have a special stage later. Please look forward to it!]

A brief conversation ensued between Hwang Ye-jun and Lee Seo-jun.

It was broadcast live across the country through the microphone and camera.

Lee Seo-jun’s fans who lived near the outdoor stage started to gather one by one, and the staff’s hands and feet got busy.

The repair was finally done.

A staff member who had done a rough emergency treatment waved both arms at Hwang Ye-jun.

Hwang Ye-jun saw the signal and said his farewell.

[Today is Christmas Eve. Have a happy day, everyone!]

[Have a happy day, everyone!]

Lee Seo-jun also greeted them and activated his ability. His ability was convenient and kind, as he could use it whenever he wanted, since his master was kind.

[The Baby Angel’s Giving Feather-Low Level-is activated.]

The Baby Angel’s Giving Feather.

It makes the hearts of the people who see it a little cleaner.

It can give a small blessing once a day.

Feathers that only Lee Seo-jun could see fell sparsely on the audience, and were absorbed by the people. Now the people could spend the day happily without worrying for a while.

[Then, shall we meet the stage of Brown Black? Lee Seo-jun, you can sit there.]

Hwang Ye-jun guided Lee Seo-jun to a chair at the end of the stage.

The audience near the chair turned on their phone cameras and took pictures of Lee Seo-jun.

Lee Seo-jun waved his hand and sat on the chair. He sighed inwardly.

‘Wow, I almost got into trouble going to a children’s festival.’

The reaction was bigger than the first day of kindergarten. He was on the stage, but it was like this. If he walked on the street… Lee Seo-jun shook his head inside.

[This stage is Brown Black’s stage.]

The MCs who had warmed up their bodies in the meantime introduced the stage of Brown Black.

Lee Seo-jun clapped his hands, and it showed on the screen.

The audience also followed Lee Seo-jun and clapped their hands. Then Lee Seo-jun smiled brightly at the camera.

Kyaaa!

Brown Black, who came up on the stage, also chuckled.

Soon the music flowed.

[The Connection of the Orchestra Conductor is activated.]

Wow.

The people who had never seen Brown Black’s stage in person opened their mouths and watched their stage.

Lee Seo-jun also watched the stage with sparkling numbers.

He saw his brothers dancing with dazzling choreography as always.

Their stage was cooler than other singers, but it seemed that they had reached the limit of their talent, as there was no difference between the two songs.

[The Orchestra Conductor’s Connection – Lowest Rank]

The musical skills of the beings connected to the conductor vary up to 1.3 times depending on their bond with the conductor.

The bond between the conductor and the connectors is expressed in numbers.

Maximum connection: 4

‘Is this 1.3 times the limit of their talents?’

Brown Black, who had finished their stage, approached Seo-jun.

They had gotten used to their current limit and thought that their performance was the best they could do.

Wasn’t it too early?

They felt like they would hit a slump with their skills reaching the limit, but they hid it well.

It was time for Seo-jun and Brown Black’s special stage.

Seo-jun got up from his chair and stood in the center of the stage with Brown Black.

He held the microphone that his brother handed him.

Music flowed from the speakers.

It was time to sing the song they had prepared hard for a week.

Seo-jun stood in the middle and Brown Black stood on both sides.

The calm sound seemed to wrap around the five of them on the stage.

Seo-jun didn’t prepare a special skill for this stage. Because,

[The Orchestra Conductor’s Connection – Lowest Rank – is activated.]

He already had a good skill.

Seo-jun learned how Brown Black felt about their stage.

He could feel and understand their music even though he was just standing on the same stage.

Seo-jun enjoyed Brown Black’s music with a throbbing heart.

The stage with the skill activated and the practice without the skill were clearly different.

As if the conductor was conducting, the five of them sang in perfect harmony.

That’s when it happened.

The numbers above Seo-jun’s head started to rise.

And at the end of the first verse of TODAY, all the numbers above Seo-jun and Brown Black’s heads sparkled as they pointed to 100.

[All bonds have reached the maximum.]

[The rank of the Orchestra Conductor’s Connection increases.]

?

In the midst of the interlude, Seo-jun widened his eyes at the letters he saw.

What?

Rank increase?

?

In the midst of the interlude, Seo-jun widened his eyes at the letters he saw.

What?

Rank increase? There was such a thing?

[The rank of the Orchestra Conductor’s Connection increases from the lowest to the low.]

The letters kept appearing whether Seo-jun was puzzled or not. The pattern on his right hand sparkled.

[The Orchestra Conductor’s Connection – Low Rank]

The musical skills of the beings connected to the conductor vary up to 2 times depending on their bond with the conductor.

The bond between the conductor and the connectors is expressed in numbers.

Maximum connection: 8 (4/8)

[The Orchestra Conductor’s Connection – Low Rank – is activated.]

Yeah?

And the second verse of TODAY began. Without a moment to lose, Seo-jun started to sing the second verse as usual. Brown Black’s voice mixed in.

The [Orchestra Conductor’s Connection] that increased to the low rank drastically increased the musical skills of the five. It almost reached 2 times, surpassing the previous maximum of 1.3 times.

And from the first line of the second verse, Brown Black realized that their song had changed.

They were surprised, but they continued to sing with a calm expression. Only the twitching facial muscles represented their hearts that were beating like crazy.

Brown Black’s singing voice grew louder.

They sang as if they were pouring out all the energy in their bodies.

“Crazy.”

Lim Yeon, who became a fan after watching Brown Black’s debut stage, blurted out without knowing.

Chapter 45

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 45

“Jenny, what is that?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s a picture I found on the internet. Isn’t it cute?”

“It’s like a real angel.”

Jenny’s phone wallpaper was a photo of a smiling child. Jenny’s friend couldn’t take her eyes off the picture.

“Can you send it to me?”

“Sure.”

The photos of Seo-jun in an angel costume started to spread all over the world through SNS and the internet.

England.

Emma was lying on the sofa, staring at the black screen of the TV that was turned off.

She didn’t know why she was alive. She didn’t want to breathe, think, or do anything.

She didn’t know how she ended up in this state.

She hated the foggy British weather, the small and dirty house, and the work.

As she hated more and more things, one day she lost all the things she liked.

Ding-

Emma blinked her eyes.

She was not in contact with anyone right now, and the only person who would call her was her parents.

She saw the sad eyes of her parents who begged her to answer their calls.

She didn’t want to move, but it bothered her.

Emma reached out and grabbed the phone on the table.

“Sigh.”

It was not her mom or dad.

It was her best friend who sent her a picture.

She was the friend who came to her house to help her clean and hoped she would get better.

-Isn’t it super cute? You like cute things, don’t you?

There was a picture of a kid.

He was wearing a cape with wings and smiling brightly.

Emma couldn’t look away from his face.

[The baby angel’s wings are activated.]

Suddenly, Jane’s mind turned white.

The dark mind that was dyed with depression and frustration and couldn’t think of anything was cleared.

It was refreshing beyond words.

“Ha!”

Jane, who didn’t even know she exhaled, looked around.

She saw a house full of trash and dust.

Before, she felt suffocated just by looking at the dirty house, but now she wanted to clean it up quickly.

Emma got up from the sofa with a smile for the first time in a long time.

Now, it was time to start again.

Seo-jun’s pictures spread across the world at a very fast speed. And among them was Ryan Will.

“Is this Jun?”

Jonathan showed Ryan the picture he got from his friend.

Ryan had just come back from watching The Evil, which was also released in the US theaters.

He had a serious expression on his face, and Jonathan hesitated to show him the picture. Ryan looked at the picture silently, then frowned and sat down in front of the computer.

[This picture made me feel better after seeing it.]

[I had a good day after seeing this picture.]

[Wow, this is a picture that makes people happy.]

Ryan washed his face and headed to his room. He packed his luggage in a large travel bag. Jonathan asked him at the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Yeah. Korea.”

“Korea?”

“If you want to come, then come.”

Jonathan didn’t know why, but it was an overseas trip. He nodded his head quickly.

“I want to go! When are we leaving?”

“Tomorrow. Do you have a passport?”

“Yes. Uncle! I have it. I brought it with me!”

“But, what are we going there for?”

“To meet Seo-jun Lee.”

Ryan Will said with a stern face.

***

Ryan Will’s arrival in Korea was not announced.

Unless Marina Studio published an article, or he was a movie director who had made several blockbuster films in Hollywood, no one would remember the name of the movie director.

The two of them unpacked their luggage at the hotel and contacted Seo-jun and his wife.

The couple was surprised to hear that they had come so soon.

They gave them their home address.

Seo-jun shook hands with Ryan Will.

He was still tall. Jonathan waved his hand awkwardly from behind.

Ryan Will brought up the main topic after a brief conversation.

“I have something to talk to you about, Jun.”

“Oh, should we leave you alone then?”

Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye were about to get up. Jonathan also got up, feeling the atmosphere. Ryan Will shook his head.

“It’s fine with me.”

“Me too!”

But it seemed like an important matter, so the three of them sat a little away from Ryan Will and Seo-jun.

Ryan Will looked at Seo-jun who was sitting in front of him.

Seo-jun couldn’t guess why Ryan had come and just rolled his eyes.

Ryan opened his mouth.

“I saw The Evil Spirit, Jun.”

“The Korean movie?”

“There weren’t many theaters, but I was able to watch it in the cinema.”

It was released in the US too! Seo-jun smiled brightly and Ryan nodded his head.

“I don’t know much about shamans, but you did well.”

“Thank you.”

Seo-jun said nervously. He didn’t know when Ryan Will’s expression would soften.

The couple and Jonathan watched the two of them with bated breath.

Seo-jun swallowed his saliva. Well. He didn’t come all the way to Korea to compliment him.

“But.”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember the audition we did?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded his head.

When Hee-sang went to the US with his uncle to sign a contract, Ryan Will, the director he met at Marine Star, said.

“I don’t care what race the actors are, as long as they can act in my movie. But I can’t have actors who can’t act.”

He said that and gave Seo-jun a short script and auditioned him. Seo-jun passed as expected and even signed a contract.

“I thought the alien atmosphere I felt from your acting was the aura of a villain.”

Seo-jun looked into Ryan Will’s eyes.

The first villain. He pushed back the audition and searched the library when he heard that ‘William’ was a villain.

But he couldn’t find any more abilities in the first or second door.

He was sure there wouldn’t be any in the third door that had just opened.

So Seo-jun used [Bubble Goblin’s Mr. Kim Prank] in the audition.

To Seo-jun, who had a good nature, ‘evil’ was just a joke. A witty joke that could make even the victim laugh.

That’s why Seo-jun acted with the goblin’s energy in his body during the audition, which created the most plausible atmosphere. He thought that was enough.

“But when I saw the evil spirit, I realized it wasn’t.”

Seo-jun’s eyes shook. His expectation was wrong. He had a nagging feeling since the audition ended.

There was one problem that bothered him. Ryan Will had come to point it out.

The couple and Jonathan listened quietly to the two men’s conversation in the serious mood.

The couple thought it was a bit early.

No, it was too early for a child who was almost seven years old.

But the couple thought Seo-jun’s talent, ability, and effort were different from ordinary children.

He was their son who could overcome this ordeal.

They believed in him.

Jonathan, who had seen the evil spirit at the audition, bit his lip. His uncle knew it, and even the young Jun knew it, but Jonathan didn’t realize his mistake.

He still didn’t know.

He had to study and analyze harder in the future.

“If you only appear in one scene with your villainous acting, people won’t know. They’ll think it’s just an eerie feeling like I did, and attribute it to the villain’s vibe. But ‘William’ won’t just appear in one scene. He’ll show up throughout the movie, and it’s a series, so who knows how many movies there will be. Then people will find out. That the ‘William’ you’re acting is not a villain.”

Ryan Will recalled the evil spirit he saw in the theater. Seo-jun’s aura that he felt beyond the golden CG.

“The alien feeling I felt when I saw the evil spirit gradually became warm and magnificent. It was alien because I had never experienced it before, but it was definitely good.”

Seo-jun had nothing to say.

It was as Ryan Will said.

No matter how he disguised it, [Bubble Goblin’s Kim Seo-bang Prank] was a skill of good nature.

“Now, the people who saw the evil spirit will feel the same when they see the ‘William’ you’re acting. A villain, but kind. And they’ll find that strange. That’s not the ‘William’ I want.”

Ryan Will sighed without realizing it. If that was all, maybe the people who didn’t see the evil spirit wouldn’t feel Seo-jun’s ‘William’ acting as a villain.

He could get by in Shadowman 2, which he had to film soon, and as he grew older and experienced more roles, and had more diverse experiences, his acting range would widen, and he could act as a perfect villain in the later Shadowman series.

At least that was Ryan Will’s plan.

He thought of the young child with little acting experience as ‘William’, and lowered the standard for William’s acting in Shadowman 2, because he had such a plan.

“But the broadcast you were on became a problem.”

“Broadcast?”

Everyone listened to Ryan Will’s words at the sudden remark.

“The broadcast where you wore angel clothes. That broadcast was captured and your picture spread all over the world.”

Seo-jun tilted his head. Was that a problem? Wouldn’t it be better if his face was known?

“Unlike a movie like Evil Spirit, where you have to be held for two hours, a picture sticks in your head in just one second. And its scalability is incomparable to a movie. Even in places where there are no theaters, where Evil Spirit is not translated, the picture will spread everywhere with phones and computers, and some people will print it out. And you can see it again and again anytime.”

Ryan Will saw the problem at a glance when he saw the picture Jonathan brought.

“You’re too good.”

His expression was serious, so everyone stopped looking at him.

“The image was stuck. Unless it’s an overwhelming acting, everyone will see your acting and not be able to get out of the image in the picture.”

At that moment, everyone remembered the story of the woman who started a new life after seeing Seo-jun’s picture.

Oh, I see. No one thought it was serious, and they thought it was helpful and lucky, but only Ryan Will, who had been watching Seo-jun’s acting, realized the seriousness.

“It’s not for nothing that the previous work’s character affects the next work. The image in the work becomes the image of the advertisement. Once people think that way, they won’t change easily.”

“…Then I can’t do the movie?”

Ryan Will frowned at Seo-jun’s question.

“Why don’t you want to study villain acting? You’re a genius. You can do anything if you learn. A good image? Just crush it with your overwhelming acting skills!”

Seo-jun looked at Ryan Will with a dark gaze.

Ever since he had something like a self, he had been doing [Elf’s Basic Breathing], which created his source.

That source, which was like Seo-jun’s soul, only aimed for goodness, and he could only use abilities of good alignment.

Even if he acted without using his abilities, his source, which was already full of seongi (mana of goodness), would emit that ‘goodness’ even when he acted as a villain.

Even if he stopped [Elf’s Basic Breathing] now, Seo-jun’s disposition was already fixed to goodness.

“…What if I study and it doesn’t work?”

He was sure it wouldn’t work. That’s why Seo-jun couldn’t help but ask.

“Then you’ll end up playing similar roles for the rest of your life.”

Director Ryan Will was cold even to a six-year-old kid.

“Hmm.”

He didn’t like that.

A superstar had to perfectly digest any role.

He didn’t care if he couldn’t play a role because of his appearance, like a 30-year-old playing a teenager.

Seo-jun wanted to do any role perfectly.

As Seo-jun was lost in thought, Ryan Will said.

“Let’s practice.”

“Practice?”

“I’ll help you until you can do it. I wanted you to play it ever since I saw your William. If I was going to give up here, I wouldn’t have even thought of making Shadowman.”

Jonathan, who had heard of Ryan Will’s persistence from his father, nodded. His father still shuddered and said. A madman for movies!

“Hmm.”

He was grateful, but it was impossible. Hesitating, Seo-jun was asked by Ryan Will with an angry face.

“Are you not going to do it? Are you going to give up like this?”

Give up.

That word pierced Seo-jun’s chest like an arrow.

He had never given up on his life, even though he had lived many lives. He lived hard, even if he died just three days after he was born.

He lived his best.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

“…I’ll do it. I want to do it.”

“Good.”

Ryan Will, who smiled satisfactorily, took out a paper from his bag. It was a script written in English.

“It’s a one-man show. I wrote it as a villain of your age. Let’s start with that.”

Seo-jun took the script.

“Don’t worry. I think you’ll be able to do it in a few months.”

Seo-jun, who had been sinking, nodded.

In Seo-jun’s room, the practice of Ryan Will and Seo-jun began.

The voices of the two people who shared their thoughts were heard.

Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye didn’t know what to do outside the door. Jonathan studied by writing down Ryan Will’s sharp advice on paper.

***

Seo-jun opened his eyes in the library.

The library of good alignment.

He slumped down in front of it. Seo-jun sighed deeply.

He had been acting in front of Ryan Will all the time, but the effect of [Elf’s Basic Breathing] was amazing.

He never looked ‘evil’ for a moment.

He lifted his head and looked at the two doors that were wide open.

The library he had already searched through.

“There’s nothing.”

Seo-jun felt disappointed.

He looked at his first life book for the first time in a long time.

The book was still old and seemed to fall apart soon, but he could still read it.

As he read it again, he felt suffocated by his life that was so tightly blocked. But he did not give up.

Seo-jun was lost in thought.

He could have chosen to play only good roles. He could have become a superstar that way. But that was giving up.

That was avoiding. Seo-jun closed the book.

“I won’t give up either.”

But what should he do?

Seo-jun, who had been staring at his first life book and the library door, unknowingly turned his head.

On the opposite side of the library door, a darkness appeared.

Chapter 46

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 46

Ryan Will, the director, and Jonathan returned to the US a week later.

Until then, the monologue that Ryan Will had written was still stuck at the first line.

Ryan Will and Seo-jun agreed to have a video call once a week and share their thoughts on the best recorded videos they had made.

Meanwhile, the grandparents who had gone on a trip to Europe came back safely.

The three of them handed Seo-jun pieces of paper with fireflies drawn on them, torn apart, as he came to pick them up at the airport.

“What am I supposed to do with this? The talisman you gave me is torn.”

“Grandpa’s too. Can you draw it again later?”

“Yes!”

The delicately drawn fireflies were ripped in different directions.

They wouldn’t have torn the gift they received from their grandson.

‘It worked!’

Seo-jun was startled and looked around his grandparents, checking if they were hurt anywhere.

The adults, who thought he was happy to see them, smiled.

The grandparents who came to Seo-jun’s house talked happily about their trip to Europe, and also mentioned the traffic accident.

The grandmother realized that she had left something at the hotel and went back with the guide.

Because of that, the package tour bus left about 10 minutes late.

“I don’t know how shocked I was when I saw the collision of 10 cars.”

“Everyone was blaming grandma for being late. But when the driver and the guide saw the accident and said, ‘We would have been there if we had left on time’, everyone shut their mouths!”

Fortunately, there were no fatalities, but it could have been a big accident if the tourist bus had been involved in the collision.

The couple and Seo-jun sighed with relief.

After the new year and the Lunar New Year, Seo-jun, who received a lot of birthday gifts, turned one year older.

He was now six years old. Seven years old in Korean age!

And.

A new door opened.

“I’ve been waiting!”

Seo-jun, who had read all the books in the two open libraries three times, grabbed a thin straw and knocked on this door every night in front of the library.

He had been waiting for it to open, and it finally did.

Seo-jun opened the door of the newly opened library with all his strength, his eyes sparkling.

“Why are you so low on energy today?”

“He’s been like that since this morning.”

Seo Eun-chan, who had visited Seo Eun-hye’s house for the first time in a long time, asked Lee Min-jun.

Seo Eun-chan had been busy taking over and sorting out Cocoa Entertainment, replacing the president who had been arrested for embezzlement and other crimes.

He came to tell Seo-jun, his sister, and his brother-in-law about the progress of the takeover of Cocoa Entertainment, but his nephew, who was always lively, was strange.

Seo-jun was lying on the living room sofa like a slime that had lost all its strength.

“What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

“Nothing? What do you mean?”

“There’s nothing bad.”

Seo Eun-chan rolled his eyes at Seo-jun’s incomprehensible words and looked at Lee Min-jun. Lee Min-jun smiled bitterly and pointed his finger at the kitchen.

“Ryan Will, the director, came at the end of December.”

Lee Min-jun continued his story slowly.

Seo Eun-chan looked at the five-year-old kid, who was slumped on the sofa, with a bored expression, as he heard that he was still practicing the monologue and having a video call with Ryan Will every week.

He loved acting, but at that age, wasn’t he supposed to lose interest as soon as he turned away?

“Is it July already?”

It was early July, when the summer sun was scorching and the typhoons were coming.

For seven months, Seo-jun had been practicing his one-man play diligently every day.

In the first month, he practiced morning, noon, and night.

Whether at home or at kindergarten, he never took a break. But when he realized that it was not a short-term battle, but a long-term one, he started to practice only at a fixed time after coming back from kindergarten.

And he had dozens of video calls with Ryan Will. All of them ended in rejection.

“Aaaah!”

Seo-jun screamed and flapped on the sofa.

He couldn’t find it in the newly opened library. He had read all the books, but it was not there.

He used his most promising ability, but he failed in one shot.

He even heard that he looked kinder.

‘I haven’t done [Elf’s Basic Breathing] since the day Ryan came!’

He was so used to it that it became like breathing, but he tried hard not to do it unconsciously.

‘Oops. I just did it!’

Seo-jun stopped the [Elf’s Basic Breathing] that he was quietly doing with his whole body.

As Seo-jun lay down on the sofa, Seo Eun-chan smiled without knowing. It was a new side of Seo-jun, who had always been relaxed.

“So these days, you see a lot of things you didn’t know about Seo-jun.”

His mother scolded him as he got up from eating and headed to his room. His father scolded him as he took out the script without washing after coming back from kindergarten.

Lee Min-jun also laughed as he recalled the life of the past few months.

Maybe it was because they believed that Lee Seo-jun would make it through.

Unlike the adults’ faith, Seo-jun was getting more and more exhausted.

It had been seven months already. He had the confidence to do it for a year, five years, or even ten years. No, Seo-jun shook his head. ‘Even I would have a hard time doing it for ten years.’

Seo-jun sighed as he looked at the sky outside the window.

At first, he thought he could do it without using his ability, but Ryan Will’s evaluation was not. He still said he looked kind.

So he waited for the next library to open, but all the lives inside were the same. Here’s a nice kid.

There’s a nice kid.

“Sigh.”

Seo-jun sighed again, feeling like he was carrying all the worries of the world.

Wouldn’t it get better if he did a little more? Seo-jun got up from the sofa and headed to his room. Practice.

Practice was the only way to survive.

As he repeated his practice and library visits, Seo-jun received unexpected news.

Ryan Will came back to Korea. Jonathan was with him.

The couple and Seo-jun tensed up at the sudden appearance of the director.

They had a feeling that something big was going to happen today.

Today, he performed in front of Ryan Will. He memorized all the lines and his movements were perfect. But he was rejected again. Ryan Will, who was watching Seo-jun sigh, suddenly opened his mouth.

“We’re going to start shooting Shadowman 2 in September.”

At that voice, the couple and Seo-jun froze. Ryan Will unknowingly wiped his face as he saw Seo-jun’s eyes flicker. He wanted to wait a little longer, but

“…Shooting?”

“Yeah. I can’t help it.”

The schedules of the other actors in Shadowman 2 were set, as well as the release dates of the new Marine movies.

Director Ryan Will had postponed the deadline as much as he could with his discretion. But that was impossible now.

Seo-jun opened his mouth hesitantly.

He had always enjoyed acting, but shooting.

It was a desperate word that he wished would not come today.

“So, what about the acting…?”

“Let’s just film it with the same acting you did at the audition.”

Seo-jun was speechless.

He had practiced for seven months, and they were telling him to do it the way he did it the first time.

He changed the subject as he fidgeted with his mouth.

“Are my pictures still circulating?”

“That’s something even the FBI can’t get rid of.”

They could try to erase the pictures that were floating on the internet, but they couldn’t get rid of the ones that people had collected. Especially if they were printed out.

Ryan Will and Seo-jun shook their heads in resignation.

There were pictures of Seo-jun that Ryan’s mother had printed out and displayed at his home, and there were pictures that Kim Hee-sang had framed and put up at Seo-jun’s house.

The couple hung them in their room, ignoring Seo-jun’s displeased expression.

“By the way, Jonathan said that some countries are making souvenirs like cups or fans with your pictures and selling them. Are they supposed to be lucky charms? He said they were very popular.”

“Ryan!”

Seo-jun snapped at Ryan’s casual remark. The two had become close enough to exchange sarcastic jokes after dozens of video calls.

“That’s because you looked so good. You were so into your angel act on Christmas Eve, weren’t you?”

“How was I supposed to know this would happen?”

Seo-jun pouted. He was so happy to be on live TV on Christmas Eve, he used his power to bless the whole world. He couldn’t deny Ryan’s words.

The sarcastic joke passed, and silence remained. After a long pause, Ryan Will spoke first.

“How do you feel? Can you prepare for it?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded. This time, he would get through [The Goblin’s Kim Seo-bang Prank], and next time, he would practice harder.

“I’ll try.”

***

Jonathan watched Ryan and Seo-jun talk.

Ryan, who had told them the filming date, got up from his seat.

The couple and Seo-jun said goodbye.

Should he stay at Seo-jun’s house and coach him on acting? Jonathan thought as he followed Ryan out of the door.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to revise the script.”

He wondered how many times he had revised it.

Jonathan looked at Ryan’s back as he pressed the elevator button.

He was his uncle who was really happy to find the perfect actor, even though he didn’t show it. He felt sorry for his dejected appearance.

“Are you going to revise it more?”

“The actor is working hard, so I have to do my best too.”

He felt like he could change the actor at this point.

Jonathan closed his mouth.

Ryan, who had been making movies for years, knew that fact.

Seo-jun Lee must have known it too. But the two never gave up.

Jonathan and Ryan got on the elevator. A heavy silence enveloped them.

***

Seo-jun stood in front of the library. Ryan Will, the director, had come to tell him about the filming of Shadowman 2.

“Sigh.”

It was August now. Seo-jun turned around and walked away.

The brightly shining Sun Seong-hyang’s library gradually disappeared behind his back, and darkness came.

He hadn’t walked far when he saw several doors. Unlike the colorful doors of Sun Seong-hyang’s library, they were all black.

The library door was covered with thick black chains.

Seo-jun approached the door and touched it. Neither the door nor the chains reacted.

This monstrous library was filled with various evil reincarnations.

“An evil-aligned library.”

There was only one way to unlock the chains and open the door.

He had to possess evil-aligned mana (magi).

If Seo-jun had used [Basic Breathing of Mine] to create a source, the evil-aligned library would have opened wide, and thick white chains would have tightly wrapped around the good-aligned library.

It was his daily routine for eight months, but he still felt nervous.

Seo-jun exhaled and relaxed his tense body.

The good-aligned mana (seongi) inside his body squirmed as if it was affected by the evil-aligned library.

Seo-jun sat down in front of the evil-aligned library.

He closed his eyes.

Chapter 47

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 47

After hearing the problem from director Ryan Will, Seo-jun thought of a few ways to solve it.

The first way.

Practice, practice, and practice some more, just as director Ryan Will said.

But the more he practiced for months, the more he realized that this was not the way.

He still didn’t give up and continued.

Seo-jun took a deep breath. He pushed aside the mana (energy) of the good alignment and started [The Basic Breathing of Mine].

The second way.

Wait for a new door to open in the library of the good alignment.

Like a birthday gift, the third door opened wide, but there was no suitable ability inside either.

He heard that he looked kinder, and Seo-jun wondered if he should stop opening the library doors.

The white mana (energy) of the good alignment crumpled in his source.

Seo-jun waited for the black mana (energy) of the evil alignment to seep into his source.

One hour, two hours. And seven months. Eight months.

The third way.

Open the door of the library of the evil alignment.

To open the door of the library of the evil alignment, he needed the mana (energy) of the evil alignment.

Seo-jun tried to shake off his impatience, but he felt irritated by the mana (energy) that didn’t budge.

Usually, he would decide on an alignment and live with the ability of that alignment. Good if good, evil if evil.

He had no reason or need to have both alignments.

Only one life.

He didn’t know if there were more similar lives. But there was one life that remained vividly in his memory.

A life that was like a warning in his head.

It was the life of an elf who lived for revenge against the humans who hunted his tribe.

The elf of the good alignment also tried to open the door of the library of the evil alignment in the same way as Seo-jun.

He had the source of the good, but he wanted to get the mana (energy) of the evil and open the door of the library to avenge.

The life of the elf was long, and the elf had enough patience.

But before the elf got the mana (energy) of the evil, one of the elf hunters who was the target of his revenge died of a disease.

The elf realized.

Unlike himself, who had a long lifespan, the human who was the target of his revenge died too easily and too soon.

‘Maybe I can get it someday with this method. But will it be 10 years or 100 years.’

The elf closed his eyes.

He gave up.

And using the bones of the liches, the blood of the demons, and the flesh of the monsters,

He became the demon king.

Seo-jun shook his head at the life that came to his mind.

The end of that life was destruction.

The elf who became the demon king killed the humans and destroyed the human kingdom, and the mana (energy) of the evil eventually eroded his head, and he finally destroyed the kingdom of his own kind, the elves.

And then, the high-level black mage who was born later, remembered his previous life and opened the library of the evil alignment and read the life of the elf, and for the next life, he stuck the life of the elf in Seo-jun’s head like a warning.

“Hoo.”

Seo-jun exhaled deeply.

He didn’t know how long the elf had tried in front of the library.

But unlike the elf who lived for a long time, the human life was short and the filming of Shadowman 2 was even shorter.

Seo-jun ran [The Basic Breathing of Mine] again.

A lot of time passed and the mana (energy) of the evil did not answer today either. Seo-jun sighed and prepared to wake up.

“For now, let’s use [The Bubble Goblin’s Teasing of Kim Seo-bang] for Shadowman 2.”

He looked at the library of evil tendencies, tightly closed and bound with black chains, with a regretful gaze.

“And I’ll keep practicing and practicing, breathing and breathing again. I’ll open it for sure.”

Just before he woke up, as always, Seo-jun’s vision blurred.

“I won’t star in any other movies until then. No dramas either!”

Like a warning, like a vow.

The library seemed to shake slightly at Seo-jun’s firm words.

***

The next day.

After coming back from kindergarten as usual, Seo-jun practiced hard and went to bed.

He opened his eyes in the library.

And he sat down in front of the library of evil tendencies, as he was used to, and started to breathe slowly.

He sucked in the magic that spewed out of the library, as if he was pulling it in with his whole body.

Then, the divine power that he had tucked away in a corner of the origin moved. Seo-jun frowned and controlled the divine power, which was actively working to repel the intruder.

But the magic, which was overwhelmed by the divine power, only circled around Seo-jun’s body and did not enter his body.

“Ha. Really.”

‘Is it impossible for the two mana to coexist?’

Seo-jun, who was losing his heart, sat up straight and started to breathe again.

‘Will the library of evil tendencies never open?’

The magic and the divine power confronted each other inside and outside his body.

‘Then, will I never be able to make movies for the rest of my life?’

The library shook slightly.

He closed his eyes tightly and focused on [The Basic Breathing of Mine]. He didn’t see it.

‘Can I become a superstar if I can’t even act as a villain?’

Seo-jun exhaled deeply and inhaled.

That was when it happened.

The library of life moved.

It patted the divine power and boosted the courage of the magic.

It mediated and demanded cooperation between the two mana.

Sometimes soothing, sometimes threatening.

It bared its teeth and growled at the two mana who wouldn’t listen.

The two mana didn’t know what to do at the library’s actions and eventually, they reluctantly held hands.

As if they would let go at any moment, only one finger was weakly connected.

It was something that happened while Seo-jun was focusing only on his breathing with his eyes closed.

What?!

The magic seeped into Seo-jun’s body. It was slowly coming in, twitching as if it would run away at any moment.

His heart pounded.

The divine power that was in the origin also moved as if it would rush out to fight the magic, but it didn’t run away and just circled around the origin.

What’s going on?!

Seo-jun felt like his mouth would open involuntarily at what was happening in his body.

He only looked at the quarrel between the two mana and quickly came to his senses.

He decided to find the cause later and seize the luck, the opportunity, in one breath.

Focus. Focus. Focus!

He cheered on the hesitant magic and calmed down the growling divine power.

He did his best to soothe the two mana who were like children.

And then,

Finally, the magic seeped into the origin. The two mana circled around each other, as if they were about to fight or talk. And gradually, they quieted down.

Then, a notification like a blessing sounded.

[The Basic Breathing of Mine is activated!]

Seo-jun felt happy as the two mana in his origin stayed without any trouble. The notification also seemed to be happy, as if it sensed his mood.

[The Basic Breathing of Mine]

The presence of evil (darkness) embraces mana.

It does not conflict with other breathing methods. (Except for light)

It harmonizes the body of the holder.

“Wow!”

Seo-jun raised his arms high and shouted. He shouted with joy.

“Finally! Finally!”

He was so excited that he ran around the library.

“Hahaha!”

He had never been so happy in his seven-year life. He burst into laughter that came from his stomach and ran around.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

“Huh?”

He heard something fall in the library where he was alone.

Seo-jun turned around with a puzzled face.

Three beads had fallen to the floor and rolled around.

“What is this?”

Seo-jun picked up the three beads. Each one had a pattern.

A bead with a pattern of a long stick, a bead with a slime pattern, and a bead with a bear symbol.

“…What?!”

Seo-jun put the beads neatly on the floor and quickly looked at his right palm.

He slapped his stomach and the back of his head.

They were gone. Gone! Seo-jun slapped himself with a blank face.

He could not feel the energy of his abilities.

The only thing in Seo-jun’s body now was [The Basic Breathing of Elf] and [The Basic Breathing of Mine], not in the form of beads.

“Why did they fall off!?”

He was confused by this situation, but soon came to his senses. He realized that this was the first time that magic and light had formed one origin.

“No one knows what will happen when the two mana are together for the first time. Let’s try putting them in.”

Seo-jun grabbed a bead. It was [The Digestion Ability of Slime]. And as he always did, he put it in his stomach.

A slime pattern appeared on his stomach. And he put [The Winter Sleep of Summer Bear] on the back of his head and [The Connection of Orchestra Conductor] on his right palm.

Fortunately, they all seeped into his body.

“Did it bounce off because of the sudden magic?”

Seo-jun’s eyes rolled as he examined his body.

“I didn’t expect this…”

The amount of light he had used freely had halved. That is, the light that was 100 had decreased to 50, and the remaining 50 was occupied by magic.

If he could use 100 light all day long, now he only had 50, so he could only use it for half a day.

Of course, his origin would naturally grow as he aged and matured.

“It’s okay, since I have magic.”

He only had to adjust his abilities when filming. His acting practice with Ryan Will for eight months was not in vain.

He practiced the same role every time and was able to get out of method acting a little bit. He could control it quite well.

“Just a little more.”

Seo-jun turned his body and looked at the library of evil scent that was tightly closed.

In Seo-jun’s sight, the black chains that sensed the magic in Seo-jun’s body began to loosen with a rattling sound.

The chains that had bound the black door disappeared in an instant.

Seo-jun walked slowly and swung his right hand.

The huge door that looked like a library of good books disappeared to the left, and a smaller door appeared from the right. The door shrank as Seo-jun touched it.

The last door, tightly closed, came into view.

“This is the beginning again.”

Seo-jun placed his right hand on the black door.

With a creak,

The door opened.

***

Director Ryan Will looked over the script for Shadowman 2, which would start shooting next month.

Edit, edit, edit.

The script that he was satisfied with at first had become ragged over the course of eight months.

Seo-jun Lee’s part had been reduced, and he had a headache from trying to fit in other episodes to fill the empty time and make the plot coherent. But he finally finished it.

‘I’m not happy with it, but it will be a hit.’

Then, an alert rang. He checked his phone and saw that it was Seo-jun. He had sent a video message. Ryan Will turned on the video with familiarity.

He had just received a video the day before, but he sent another one in less than a week. Ryan Will smiled faintly.

“I have to give him credit for his persistence.”

That made him even more regretful. Why couldn’t he act as a villain?

Ryan Will crossed his arms.

It was a time when attractive villains were popular, unlike before.

Not being able to act as a villain meant losing half of the roles he could do.

With a bit of selfishness, Ryan Will wanted to see Seo-jun Lee’s villain acting.

He had shown amazing acting before.

He wondered what kind of aura and performance he would show with his small body.

‘But not now…’

He barely held back a sigh and played the video.

“…!”

There was,

A child who was smiling brightly, but had a cold atmosphere.

Chapter 48

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 48

Ryan Will, the director, had arrived in Korea.

It had been less than 24 hours since Seo-jun sent him the video.

He must have been in a hurry, because all he brought with him were a few scripts and a wallet.

And so, the conversation between Seo-jun and Ryan Will began.

Ryan Will didn’t say a word after greeting him. He just stared at Seo-jun.

His eyes scanned Seo-jun from head to toe, with a serious expression, as if he was seeing him for the first time.

Seo-jun held back his laughter and lifted his head with confidence.

He wanted to show off. He wanted to brag. His video was worth it.

Ryan Will, who had been looking at him intently, opened his mouth.

“You’ve become ordinary.”

“What?”

That was an unexpected evaluation. Was that bad?

Seo-jun tilted his head.

“Before, you had a kind aura that radiated from you even when you smiled.”

Ryan Will frowned. Seo-jun’s head followed his movement.

“Now, I don’t feel anything. You’re ordinary.”

“Is that good?”

“For now.”

Ryan Will nodded at Seo-jun’s question.

“You need a blank canvas to paint it white or black. That’s good.”

And then, silence fell between them. Ryan Will washed his face.

“How did you do it?”

He lowered his hands from his face and broke the silence.

“Until the last video, I’m sorry to say this, but you were terrible.”

“Why do you say that if you’re sorry?”

Seo-jun pouted. He wasn’t really hurt. Because he could tell from Ryan Will’s eyes and his gesture when he entered the door.

“That was the past. Now…”

Ryan Will answered with a very satisfied face.

“You’re the best.”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened at the sudden compliment. He expected some praise, but he didn’t expect him to say he was the best. But soon, he was happy to hear the praise and he smiled brightly.

“Right? I did really well, right?”

“Yes. That’s why I burned all the revised scripts.”

“Revised scripts?”

He remembered Jonathan, who ran out in shock at the late-night burning of the revised scripts, but he quickly put it aside. Ryan Will nodded.

“I was going to make you appear as little as possible if you didn’t solve it before the shooting.”

That was the first time he heard that. He wondered if he didn’t trust him, but he soon understood Ryan Will’s feelings and nodded. If he had seen the practice videos for seven, no, eight months, he would have done the same.

They were really,

The worst.

It was awkward and strange to see a child who had a kind atmosphere and said villainous lines.

It felt like he was imitating someone poorly.

Who forced him to say those things?

That’s what he thought.

Seo-jun shivered and said.

“If I had acted according to the original script, people would have only felt awkwardness from my acting.”

Ryan Will nodded his head. His smile stayed on his face.

He had pulled out the first script as soon as he saw the video.

He was excited to compare the cold-eyed boy in the video with William.

He couldn’t wait and flew to Korea.

“But there’s no need for that now.”

“Hehehe.”

The two of them smiled brightly and broke the serious mood. Ryan Will’s eyes sparkled.

“Then I’d like to see it for myself, is that okay?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun got off his chair. He clenched his right hand.

[The Sorrowful Scent of a Lonely Flower-Bad-Low] is activated.

[The Sorrowful Scent of a Lonely Flower-Bad-Low]

Only this flower blooms within a 10m radius.

It looks like a weed and no one knows that it’s a flower.

You feel depressed when you smell the flower’s scent.

And,

In front of director Ryan Will’s eyes, there was a child who hated the world for being abused.

Director Ryan Will was satisfied with Seo-jun’s acting. And he prepared to go back to America.

He seemed to have been in Korea for less than 10 hours, but he was already leaving.

The couple who wanted to tell him to rest a bit before going back shut their mouths at the sight of Ryan Will’s fierce eyes.

Seo-jun’s acting that he saw in person had a different atmosphere from the video.

Ryan Will wanted to go back and rewrite the script as soon as possible.

He took the fastest flight back to America without resting for an hour.

After Ryan Will left, Seo-jun bragged to his mom and dad for a long time.

The couple who saw Seo-jun’s acting praised him for doing so well.

Seo-jun was very satisfied and fell asleep.

He was excited to go to the library of bad tendencies and read the two books that were open.

He didn’t have enough magic or time to open more than two. But he felt that soon the same number of doors would open in the library of good tendencies.

“I hope they open soon too! I wonder what books are there!”

Unlike the gloomy eight months, the son who fell asleep with a giggle made the couple happy as well.

And the day dawned.

It was the weekend, so Seo Eun-hye went out to meet her friends.

Today, Lee Min-jun spent the day with Seo-jun.

After eating the delicious lunch that his dad made, Seo-jun looked at the mirror while brushing his teeth.

Huh?

There was nothing on his head.

The thing that always sparkled above him,

“The baton is gone!?”

Seo-jun spat out the toothpaste foam.

And he quickly rinsed his mouth with water and looked at the mirror again.

There was no number no matter how he looked.

“Dad! Call the hyungs! Video call!”

“What?”

“Call the hyungs!”

Lee Min-jun looked confused and made a video call.

The hyungs that Seo-jun was talking about were none other than Brown Black.

Brown Black would be busy with practice or schedule, so he contacted Seo Eun-chan, who became the president of Cocoa Entertainment.

Seo Eun-chan, who happened to be with Brown Black, answered the phone and handed it over to them.

“Huh! It’s gone!”

-What? What’s gone?

Seo-jun’s eyes widened.

The number that should have been floating above Brown Black’s head, [Orchestra Conductor’s Connection-Low], which indicated their bond, was gone.

Suddenly, Seo-jun remembered the beads that fell with a clang in his head.

“Impossible!”

Did it reset when it fell off? That’s too easy to reset!

Wait a minute.

How long has it been since the bead fell off? Seo-jun couldn’t hear the voice of Brown Black calling him.

He counted his fingers one by one and fell into thought.

He opened the library door, woke up from his sleep and sent a video, then Ryan came the next day, and it was morning again.

It’s been three days!

Three days is fine.

He heard from his uncle Chan that Brown Black was on a break because of the former president of Cocoa Entertainment.

Of course, even though they were on a break, they must have sung songs to prepare for the next album, but still, three days.

It had only been three days.

Seo-jun asked hastily.

“Guys. How was the practice yesterday?”

-Practice? It was the same as usual.

“No, I mean, more. How do I say this. Did you have trouble breathing or did your skills drop?”

Brown Black shook their heads with puzzled faces.

-We’ve been in perfect sync since the Christmas Eve stage.

Seo-jun buried his face in his hands. It won’t work. They don’t know the effect of the skill. What should I do?

His head was spinning. Seo-jun lifted his head with a flash.

“What are you guys doing today?”

-We have a fan meeting. We’ve been a bit shaky this year. Do you want to come, Seo-jun?

“Do you perform on stage at the fan meeting? Are there a lot of fans coming?”

-We invited as many as we could because everyone had a hard time this time. Of course we perform. Our nickname is Live-dol.

Seo-jun nodded at Park Seo-jin’s words.

“I’ll go too. When does the fan meeting start?”

-Um. It’s at one o’clock, but it might be a bit late if you come now. There’s a 6 o’clock time too. Do you want to come then?

“No! I want to go now! Dad! Let’s go!”

Lee Min-jun was startled and looked at Seo-jun. He was about to say, ‘It might be too late if we go now, how about 6 o’clock…’ but he closed his mouth and quietly grabbed his phone, wallet, and car keys.

It was because his son’s eyes were burning and he didn’t seem to give up.

He got a text from Seo Eun-chan with the location.

It was far.

It seemed to take more than 30 minutes, but he decided to do his best for his son.

He sent a simple text to Seo Eun-hye.

“Hurry! Dad! Hurry!”

Seo-jun rolled his feet. Lee Min-jun drove while keeping the speed limit for his son’s safety.

Fortunately, the traffic was not bad, and they were able to arrive at the fan meeting place soon.

“Seo-jun! Bro!”

Seo Eun-chan was waiting outside the fan meeting hall. He also looked at Seo-jun with a bewildered face.

Seo Eun-chan led the two people into the fan meeting hall.

The passing staff and the stage production company staff greeted the president and Seo Eun-chan lightly.

“What’s going on all of a sudden?”

“Uncle! Did it start already?”

“It started already. They’re on stage right now.”

Seo-jun opened his mouth.

It can’t be! Seo-jun, who was rolling his feet, heard Seo Eun-chan’s voice like a ray of light.

“You can meet them backstage after the first part is over.”

“Are they not going to sing in the first part?”

“They already sang at the beginning of the fan meeting, and they’re going to talk with the fans for a while and then sing another song at the end. There will be more stages in the second part.”

Seo-jun let out a sigh of relief. He thought it would be okay if they couldn’t sing twice as long as they made up for it in the second part.

They couldn’t tarnish their reputation as live idols!

He felt drained from worrying too much.

Seo-jun, who had been impatiently tapping his feet, suddenly looked calm. Seo Eun-chan and Lee Min-jun exchanged glances. What’s wrong with him? I don’t know. Lee Min-jun shook his head.

Seo Eun-chan scratched his cheek a few times and opened his mouth.

“Do you want to go over there and watch the fan meeting?”

“Yes!”

“Okay. But you have to be quiet, okay?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun held Seo Eun-chan’s hand and headed to their seats.

They were close to the audience seats where the fans were sitting, but no one noticed Seo-jun and Seo Eun-chan coming in because they were all absorbed in Brown Black on the stage.

Choi Si-yoon, who was on the stage, was the only one who noticed them and winked at them. Seo-jun waved back.

Lee Min-jun, who had called Seo Eun-hye and told her the situation, also sat next to Seo-jun.

Brown Black was talking with the fans on the stage.

The three of them sat down and watched the fan meeting.

It was time to read the notes that the fans had written in advance, and there was a lot of overlapping content.

Hwang Ye-jun grabbed the microphone and said with a smile.

“This is the same too. ‘President Seo Eun-chan, please take good care of our Brown Black! We would appreciate it if you could do it just like when you were a manager.’ Eun-chan hyung has already received this many notes.”

Hwang Ye-jun put the notes on the table. The contents of the piled-up notes were similar.

“We’re also really happy that Eun-chan hyung became the president. We can say what we want more comfortably now. We hope you stay the same as always.”

The fans clapped hard at Park Seo-jin’s words. They trusted Seo Eun-chan, who looked fierce but was kind. They wished for the best for Cocoa Entertainment’s future.

“Uncle, you’re awesome!”

“Uh-huh-huh.”

Seo Eun-chan smiled awkwardly, feeling embarrassed by his nephew’s compliment. He was a first-time president, but he felt like he could do well with so many people supporting him.

The first part of the fan meeting flew by and the final stage of Brown Black was being prepared.

Seo-jun clenched his fists again, feeling anxious.

He wondered if they could satisfy the fans who had seen many stages before, even though they had no talent.

Boom boom!

The music started.

The fans cheered as they saw Brown Black, who had thrown away their playful image and stood on the stage with serious faces.

Chapter 49

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 49

“Huh?”

The stage was over. Seo Eun-chan took Seo-jun, who was out of his mind, to the backstage.

He thought Seo-jun was acting strange today, but he didn’t pay much attention to it.

“Seo-jun! You really came?!”

“Hyung. What’s wrong with him? He’s spaced out.”

“I don’t know. He’s been like that since morning.”

Seo-jun snapped out of his trance and called out to Brown Black, who were wiping their sweat.

“Hyung. How was the stage just now?!”

“The stage just now?”

Kevin, who was closest to him, tilted his head and answered.

“It was good. It felt better than usual, somehow.”

“Yeah. We danced better too.”

Choi Si-yoon, who was stretching here and there, nodded his head.

Park Seojin and Hwang Ye-jun, who were drinking water, agreed.

“Our voices came out well and it was fine.”

“Yeah. Yeah!”

Seo-jun opened his mouth wide. He also thought that Brown Black’s stage was cool.

There was no [Connection of the Orchestra Conductor]! Why?

“How does it compare to Christmas Eve?”

“Christmas Eve? It’s been more than half a year, do you remember?”

Seo Eun-chan asked with his arms crossed, but contrary to his thoughts, Brown Black recalled their memories without hesitation.

They remembered Christmas Eve vividly.

It was when they overcame their slump.

It was when they did a stage they never imagined.

Park Seojin, who was deep in thought, spoke first.

“It was amazing then. It felt like someone was directing us from the middle, you know? Then I felt his direction and thought, oh, he’s going to sing like this next. I need to go higher. I judged and sang like that.”

“Me too. It was like someone taught us. We all knew where to stand on the stage. We could even do a solo dance at that level. That thought popped into my head.”

All four of them nodded their heads. Hwang Ye-jun, who had twisted his head, said.

“Was it a perfect stage? It felt like it was set and we just had to follow it. Compared to then, the stage just now didn’t make me feel that way, but it felt more free.”

“Now we don’t need that feeling to guess where you are. Ye-jun is right. I didn’t know it before, but I felt a bit suffocated when I was thinking about you all the time while doing the stage.”

Brown Black nodded at Kevin’s words.

Suffocation.

They didn’t feel it before because they were used to the amazing stage, the stage beyond their imagination, but they could feel it clearly today.

Seo-jun asked with a stiff expression.

“Then do you like the past or the present?”

“That’s obvious, the present.”

Seo-jun nodded at Brown Black’s answer.

‘I see.’

The staff announced the start of the second part. Brown Black prepared to go on stage again.

Choi Si-yoon asked Seo-jun.

“Shall we go eat something delicious after the second part? There’s a really good seasoned ribs place nearby.”

“Yeah! I want to go. Hyungs. Do well on the stage!”

Seo-jun returned to his seat with Seo Eun-chan.

Lee Min-jun, who was sitting there, greeted them.

Seo-jun didn’t even notice his dad’s hospitality and sat on the fluffy chair, lost in thought.

Why?

The usefulness of his ability was undeniable. But he said he liked it better now.

Why?

Seo Eun-chan and Lee Min-jun, who were sitting on either side of Seo-jun, exchanged glances.

Lee Min-jun asked.

What’s wrong with him? I don’t know.

Seo Eun-chan shook his head.

Then, a voice reached Seo-jun’s ears.

It was a conversation between Brown Black fans who were sitting closest to him.

“I think today’s stage was amazing.”

Park Sung-ah asked in response to Lim Yeon’s remark.

“I didn’t see much difference from the last stage I saw.”

Lim Yeon shook her head vigorously.

“Well, the previous stage was like… a perfect stage without any flaws. But today’s stage was a stage where each of their personalities shone. Brown Black’s stage didn’t have any ad-libs before, but today there were quite a few.”

“That’s true.”

The audience became quiet.

They all perked up their ears.

They were fans who felt the difference between the previous stage and today’s stage.

Why was it different?

They wondered, but there was someone who answered their question here.

Lim Yeon didn’t know that and happily talked to her friend.

Seo-jun also listened to their conversation with his ears pricked up.

“If the previous stage was like an orchestra with a ‘perfect conductor’ who had to hide themselves and blend in with the other instruments, today’s stage was like a performance where various instruments that could play solo showed off their skills and personalities while also harmonizing with the other instruments. I liked today’s stage better because I could see the personalities of each member of Brown Black.”

Seo-jun realized.

Frustration.

Wasn’t that the feeling of being a small instrument in a huge orchestra? Having to play according to the conductor’s fixed gestures without being able to play as he wanted.

Seo-jun looked at his left palm.

The pattern of [Orchestra Conductor’s Connection] sparkled.

He wouldn’t have felt the limitation of ‘orchestra’ when his skill was at the lowest level. His skill was weak and Brown Black’s skills were low too.

But as his rank rose to low, his skill became stronger.

And Brown Black’s skills also improved dazzlingly in a few years.

And the ‘time’ when his ability didn’t activate for a while became the key.

There must have been a stage where he had to kill himself and play without any freedom.

On the other hand, there must have been a stage where they had to show their personalities and lead the stage freely.

And Brown Black’s stage was the latter.

‘I don’t need this anymore. I’ll put it in the library when I get home.’

He was seriously worried about whether he could slap his brothers’ cheeks on the way to the fan meeting.

Seo-jun sighed with relief.

And two months later, Brown Black made a comeback with a new album that showed off their brilliant performance and individuality.

***

The long-awaited September came.

This time, Lee Min-jun went with Seo-jun as his manager and guardian instead of Seo Eun-hye.

Kim Hee-sang kept his promise and changed Lee Min-jun’s schedule.

Of course, he didn’t forget to give Lee Min-jun a handful of work that he could handle in the US.

The plane that left Korea spent a lot of time in the sky and arrived in the US.

“Hi, Seo-jun!”

“Aunt Nara!”

“You look like you’re having fun every time you come.”

Nara, who came to pick them up at the airport, greeted them with a big swing of her arms.

She was still Nara Kim, with a sharp bob cut and black sunglasses.

Seo-jun ran to hug Nara.

“Seo-jun has grown so much!”

The two people who got along well laughed and held hands as they spun around.

The people around them clapped at the sight that looked somehow happy.

Lee Min-jun covered his face with one hand and sighed as his face turned red.

Soon, the two people who calmed down walked up to Lee Min-jun.

“We worked so hard to come and greet you!”

“Then thank you.”

“Thank you, aunt!”

Lee Min-jun and Seo-jun got in Na-ra’s car and loaded their luggage.

The three people fastened their seat belts and left the airport for their destination.

Seo-jun looked out the window at the city he had never seen before.

After a while, he saw huge buildings.

There were a lot of people, too.

There were not only locals, but also tourists who were taking pictures with their cameras everywhere.

Na-ra pointed to one of the buildings.

“That’s the Empire State Building. It used to be the tallest building.”

“Wow.”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

The city that never sleeps, New York.

It was the filming location of Shadowman 2.

Na-ra dropped off Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun in front of the hotel and gave Seo-jun a bunch of gifts.

She said she bought them whenever she thought of Seo-jun when she went shopping, but the amount was enormous because she hadn’t seen him for almost a year.

They piled up next to the carrier and stacked higher than Seo-jun’s height. Lee Min-jun wondered. How do I take this to Korea?

“Well, I’ll go then.”

Seo-jun asked Na-ra, who got in the car.

“Aunt. Are you going to work?”

“No? I have to go home. Then do well in the filming. Call me if you need anything.”

Na-ra waved her hand and left in the blink of an eye. Lee Min-jun, who had a gift box up to his chin, smiled bitterly.

“She came from LA to New York to give Seo-jun a gift. Na-ra is amazing.”

“Aunt is awesome!”

“Yeah. Awesome.”

Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun smiled and carried their carrier and gifts into the hotel.

The next day.

Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun, who were rolling around in the hotel to rest and adjust to the time difference until the filming, received a call from director Ryan Will.

Ryan Will greeted Lee Min-jun briefly on the phone and handed the phone to Seo-jun from his father.

-It seems like you didn’t have a chance to meet other actors because you were practicing. How about saying hello to everyone tonight if you have time?

Seo-jun looked at Lee Min-jun. Lee Min-jun, who was listening next to him, nodded his head with a smile.

“Sure! But who’s coming?”

-Evan Block and Rachel Hill. They are the only two actors who will match your harmony.

“Wow!”

-I’ll text you the place and time. Did you memorize the script?

“Of course.”

Seo-jun nodded his head to the phone that Ryan Will couldn’t see.

He received the script not long ago, but smart Seo-jun memorized all the parts he would appear in.

Moreover, the emotional acting that Seo-jun had to do for his role in Shadowman 2 was similar to the one-man play he had practiced for eight months, so he was able to pull it off smoothly.

-Okay. See you later then.

“Sure.”

Seo-jun hung up the phone and was excited by the text message that arrived soon after.

He walked around his room and took out the script of Shadowman 2 from his bag.

He didn’t practice his own lines, though.

He read the lines of the two actors he was going to meet soon, and glanced at the clock from time to time.

The hour and minute hands didn’t move at all.

Seo-jun nagged his dad, who was helpless against the slow clock.

“Dad, dad. How much time has passed?”

“Um. Five minutes?”

This was the third time he asked about the time.

Seo-jun, who knew how to read the clock, kept asking, showing how much he was looking forward to meeting the two actors.

Lee Min-jun opened his laptop and rolled around on the bed, reading the script. He looked at the clock and then called Seo-jun, who was reading the script again.

“Do you want to watch some movies that they starred in until then?”

“Yeah!”

Seo-jun jumped up and sat next to his dad. They searched the names of the actors and found the movies they had appeared in.

Evan Block, who played Shadowman, and Rachel Hill, who made her debut in Shadowman 2.

The two of them looked at the filmography of Evan Block and Rachel Hill and found out something interesting.

“They were in a movie together.”

“Let’s watch this one!”

“Shall we?”

Lee Min-jun and Seo-jun watched the teen movie ‘With’ that the two actors starred in and chatted with each other.

And here, there were two people who were watching a different movie.

The two people who were friends through the teen movie ‘With’ that they couldn’t watch with their eyes open now, were eating popcorn and watching the movie.

“This is my favorite part.”

Ding! A bell sound was heard. Rachel Hill looked at the large television screen with an admiring expression.

“The CG is amazing, but so is the acting.”

Evan Block nodded at Rachel Hill’s words.

It was obvious that the conversation between the god and the inner self was inserted later.

No matter how well they edited it, could it be that natural?

“Last year, you contacted me saying that you saw Seo-jun Lee’s next work. I barely found the theater and watched it. I didn’t expect the director to send me the video. You’re so sneaky. How did you find it?”

“I have to know what kind of acting my co-star does.”

Rachel Hill shook her head vigorously. Evan Block opened his [Seo-jun Lee] notebook from his bag. Rachel Hill stuck out her tongue at the black letters that filled the notebook.

‘There must be a notebook with my name on it too.’

She wanted to see what kind of evaluation he had made, but she was also afraid of what bad reviews there might be. Rachel Hill ate popcorn.

“Is it analysis time again? So, what do you think? How is Jun’s acting? People say he’s a method actor, right?”

“Well.”

Evan Block rubbed his chin and looked at the screen.

A golden beast moved around. His blue eyes sparkled as he stared at the light.

Chapter 50

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 50

“I don’t think it’s me.”

“Why not? You’re acting so immersed in it.”

Rachel Hill looked at the screen.

There was a child wearing a red and fluttering dress.

She looked so natural and skilled that Rachel thought she must have been doing this since she was born.

Evan Block slowly opened his mouth.

“Didn’t Ryan Will, the director, advise Melissa Walton to take a different role next time?”

“Yes, he did.”

A year ago, the Hollywood insiders were focused on Melissa Walton.

Inspired by her tearful performance, the directors sent her love calls for similar roles, but she rejected them all and chose to star in a cheerful romantic comedy.

It wasn’t a huge hit, but it received a lot of praise for showing a new charm of Melissa Walton.

“The people who were on the set at that time said that Melissa Walton couldn’t get out of her role even after the shooting was over. She was crying, but Seo-jun Lee wasn’t. There was no child who lost his mother, but a child who enjoyed drinking orange juice. That’s what Ryan Will noticed.”

“What do you mean?”

“Even if they both did method acting, Melissa Walton would have a hard time getting out of the same role, but Seo-jun Lee is different.”

Evan Block’s eyes sparkled. Rachel Hill hesitated and asked him, feeling his oppressive gaze.

“‘This kid is special.’ That’s talent. He gets into the role perfectly and gets out of it perfectly. Where can you find such a talent for an actor?”

Evan Block chuckled and opened his notebook. There were many questions he wanted to ask Seo-jun Lee. Rachel Hill moved away from Evan Block a little.

“I can’t wait to meet him.”

“Rachel, I think we should run away.”

***

The place for the evening meeting was a private room in the restaurant of Ryan Will’s hotel.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill, who were staying at the same hotel, arrived first, and Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun, who were staying at a hotel a few blocks away, arrived soon.

“Hello! I’m Seo-jun Lee!”

“Hi, Lee. I’m Rachel Hill.”

“Please call me Jun!”

“Call me Rachel.”

Seo-jun shook hands with Rachel Hill, who greeted him warmly, and also with Evan Block.

“Hi, you’re Seo-jun Lee, right? I’m Evan Block. Call me Evan.”

“Yes, Evan! Nice to meet you! Please call me Jun!”

Ryan Will introduced Lee Min-jun, who was next to Seo-jun.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Evan Block, who played Shadowman and Mac.”

“Hello. I’m Rachel Hill, who will be Jun’s sister for a while.”

“Nice to meet you. Please take care of our Jun.”

Evan smiled cheerfully and nodded.

“I should be the one asking for your favor. The movie was amazing. I might get buried by that kind of acting.”

Evan Block, who had seen the ghost, crumpled the paper cup of juice he was holding in his hand. He was glad he had finished drinking it, or he would have made a mess.

Seo-jun tilted his head.

“Shadowman?”

“No, the ghost. Um, is this how you pronounce it? They changed the title to English, but I prefer the original title to the translated one.”

Evan Block squinted one eye and lowered his body. Seo-jun felt relieved as he followed Evan Block’s gaze.

Seo-jun smiled brightly. He was happy and amazed that someone had seen the evil spirit.

“Yes. It’s perfect.”

“Great. Thanks. But what do you think when you act? Do you plan everything thoroughly or do you go with the flow? You said that the action of sitting and standing up in William’s scene was your idea. Is that true?”

“Uh…”

Evan Block bombarded him with questions. Seo-jun stared blankly at Evan Block’s face. Rachel Hill covered her face with both hands and Ryan Will just smiled.

Lee Min-jun, who was listening to their conversation, finally remembered the stories that were circulating on the internet about Evan Block.

The Analyst.

Evan Block’s acting was based on detailed character analysis and meticulous planning. He even planned and acted out the trembling of his hands and facial muscles.

His thoroughness impressed the directors and actors who worked with him. That was the nickname he earned.

“Come on, come on. Let’s eat first. I’m hungry! Oh, you two, sit down quickly. Jun, are your legs hurting? Sit down quickly.”

Rachel Hill pushed Evan Block’s back. Evan Block, who seemed to want to hear the answer until the end, shrugged his shoulders and sat down.

As everyone sat down, Rachel sighed in relief as she saw Ryan calling the waiter. She smiled at Seo-jun.

“Jun. You look taller than in the movie, don’t you?”

Seo-jun straightened his back and grinned proudly.

“I grew 10 cm in a year!”

It was all thanks to [Slime’s Digestion Ability]. It was a very precious ability that sent plenty of nutrients to every corner of his body at the right time.

He was the tallest in kindergarten.

He wondered if he would be the tallest in his class when he entered elementary school next year. His family all said so.

The waiter in charge brought the food they had ordered in advance.

The waiter’s eyes widened as he opened the door of the private room he had been taking care of every day without any thought.

The hidden marine fan silently exclaimed as he put down the food with a professional expressionless face.

‘Evan Block! And Seo-jun Lee, who is very tall for an Asian kid! And Rachel Hill and Ryan Will, the director! This is Shadowman 2’s…!’

He wanted to take out his camera right away. But he held back and closed the door of the private room after finishing his work. Maybe he could get an autograph when they finished eating.

After filling their stomachs a bit, the five of them started talking. Evan Block opened his mouth.

“What do you think of William?”

“?”

Seo-jun tilted his head as he chewed his steak. He quickly swallowed the meat in his mouth and answered.

“Poor?”

“You don’t think you’re like William?”

Ryan and Rachel looked at Seo-jun at his words. What kind of weird thing was that? William was a character in the movie and he was Lee Seo-jun. Seo-jun shook his head vigorously.

“No. Not at all. I’m Lee Seo-jun, Seo-jun Lee.”

“Look at that. You’re special.”

Evan smiled as if he liked the answer. Rachel shook her head repeatedly. Lee Min-jun tilted his head and Rachel explained.

“I see. Method…”

He didn’t know much about how to act or what it felt like, but he knew what method acting was. It was a common adjective for good actors, but there were also episodes of actors who got confused with reality because they were immersed in their roles.

“Jun’s acting is completely different from the method you know.”

Evan Block nodded in agreement. Director Ryan Will said.

“Jun completely immerses himself in the role. He is totally different from the method acting that has the drawback of dragging the emotions and thoughts of the role into reality. If Jun really did method acting, he would have lost himself and lived as William for a while in that situation.”

Who would have expected that the little kid would do such acting? Even Seo-jun himself didn’t dream that he would fall so deeply.

At that time, if Seo-jun couldn’t get out of the role, Ryan Will would have told the child’s guardian to never let him act.

But Seo-jun Lee was different. He patted his head and said he did well, and he smiled brightly, happy to receive praise.

“But he came back to Jun as if nothing had happened.”

Ryan Will felt a chill as he watched Seo-jun, a five-year-old child, who performed such amazing acting and smiled brightly.

“Jun’s acting is similar to method acting, but it’s not method acting. I knew for sure during the eight months of long practice. Jun is the only actor who can act so immersed in the role and get out of it quickly.”

Ryan Will took a sip of wine.

He didn’t see much, but Seo-jun’s immersion was different from other actors.

So Ryan didn’t let go of the tension during the eight months of practice. It was to stop when there was something wrong, even a little, because of the first villain acting.

But contrary to Ryan’s worries, Seo-jun was the same as usual.

He looked kind.

He didn’t give up and did it perfectly.

Rachel Hill, who was listening to the story, asked Seo-jun.

“What do you think, Jun?”

“Hmm.”

Seo-jun thought hard.

Everyone closed their mouths and focused on Seo-jun’s mouth. Seo-jun, who was tilting his head left and right, opened his mouth.

“I don’t think I’m doing method acting.”

“Why?”

Evan Block, who asked, opened the notebook he brought.

Rachel Hill, who had a sullen expression, moved the chair she was sitting on a little to the side.

“The method acting they’re talking about here is something that affects reality, and that’s why dad is worried. Will the role I play affect reality? Or not?”

“That’s right.”

“But I was normal when I did William and I was fine when I did the evil spirit. And while I was acting as a child who hated the world for eight months, I was always me.”

He definitely immerses himself in the role when he shoots. Where is there an actor who doesn’t immerse himself?

But when the shooting was over, he was still Seo-jun who liked monster dolls.

Look at the slime doll hanging on the bag.

I was me.

“So I’m not doing method acting. I’m just good at acting.”

Seo-jun said confidently. Everyone laughed at his absurd answer.

“Then how do you act?”

Evan Block asked. Seo-jun, who was thinking hard, answered.

“I look at the lines or directions and think, this character has this personality because of his past, so I should act like this. When I start shooting, I sometimes have better ideas. My body moves naturally. It was the same when I did William.”

“It’s definitely similar to method acting.”

“But it’s not. I’m fine.”

Maybe.

Seo-jun thought.

Is method acting a skill in this ‘body’?

Like the skills of other lives that can be used in the next life.

And his ‘mind’ was his ‘self’ who had a library of life, so it was different from the ordinary method acting that was hard to get out of the character.

The talent of ordinary method acting met his special self.

‘If I could make this ability into a bead, it would look like this.’

[The special method acting of Seo-jun Lee (Good? Evil?)]

During filming, he immerses himself as if he became the actual character.

He can completely get out of the character by his own will.

What would be his rating? Seo-jun, who smiled inwardly, asked Evan Block.

“How do you act, Evan?”

“I calculate thoroughly. For example, Mac is an orphan. He only has good people around him. Why is that? Maybe because of his bright and cheerful personality? I think that way and analyze every action of Mac, even the direction of his eyes and the position of his feet. If I know someone who has a similar personality to Mac, I observe them carefully. Even a small habit can help me in filming. That’s why my friends hate it when I get a movie script. They say they see themselves in the movies I’m in.”

“That’s amazing.”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at Evan’s words. He could act that way too.

The two actors talked earnestly about their acting methods. Rachel Hill also joined in.

“If you’re talking about method acting, Evan Block is more dangerous. He prepares so thoroughly, but eventually he will feel a lack. To fill that lack, he will eventually affect the reality.”

“I see.”

“Jun is just an actor with a natural talent for acting. He’s a smart kid. He won’t do anything that will harm himself.”

“Even if he’s a smart kid, parents always worry.”

Lee Min-jn smiled as he watched his son chatting and laughing with the two actors.

***

“Wow. They’re filming a movie here.”

“Yeah. What movie is it?”

The tourists who were walking around Central Park looked up and saw a crowd of people.

Central Park, located in the center of Manhattan, New York, was one of the places that often appeared in movies.

The locals who were used to movie filming walked by without much thought, but they turned their steps when they heard a voice.

“Evan Block?! Is he filming Shadowman 2?”

In front of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, the largest area in Central Park, the staff of Shadowman 2 were gathered.

The staff set up some tents to block the sunlight and installed large filming equipment such as lights.

Two people were sitting in the first tent that was set up.

The tourists who came to New York from various countries unknowingly lowered their voices and talked as they saw the two people who were reading the script and talking affectionately.

“Is that Evan Block and William?”

“William grew up so much?”

“It’s been a year since Shadowman was filmed, but kids grow up in the blink of an eye.”

“Wow. It was heartbreaking back then, I wonder how he will appear in Shadowman 2.”

Someone ran to the tent where the two people were sitting. Soon, the two people also got up from their seats.

“They’re starting to film.”

Shadowman 2’s filming began.

Chapter 51

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 51

Seo-jun appeared after changing his clothes and putting on some makeup.

Evan Block, who had finished his preparations and was sitting on a chair reading a book, greeted him.

“Jun, you look a bit taller than before, don’t you?”

At Evan Block’s question, Seo-jun sat down on a chair and took off his shoes to show him.

They were sneakers with a slightly higher heel than normal ones.

“My arms and legs are long and slender, and my proportions are good, but they told me to grow a little taller. It’s 4 cm. They’re fluffy and comfortable to wear.”

“You look older with your height and your bangs swept back.”

He looked different from when he was William, who was cute and lovely in a light blue outfit and cheek touch. He wore black clothes and had a slightly pale makeup.

“Where’s your father?”

“He’s working.”

Lee Min-jun, who was sitting next to Evan Block’s manager, was on the phone.

He didn’t forget to wave his hand when he met Seo-jun’s eyes from time to time.

Seo-jun smiled as if he could hear the voice of his uncle , who was shouting not to forget the time difference between Korea and the United States.

“Evan! Jun!”

Jonathan, who was still helping Ryan Will with the filming, and who had become a high school student, found the two of them.

Jonathan hyung, do you not study at all? Seo-jun wondered as he saw Jonathan running towards them.

“They said we’re going to rehearse soon.”

“Really?”

“Let’s go.”

Evan Block and Seo-jun got up from their seats.

At the same time, cheers came from the mouths of the people who were watching.

They could see the two actors standing up, unlike when they were sitting down.

Especially, the attention was focused on Seo-jun.

-Shadowman and William in Central Park. Looking forward to Shadowman 2!

-William has grown up! How many years have passed?

-William is so big! What do you eat to grow like that?

The news from the United States reached Korea. It was enough to make headlines.

[Shadowman 2 starts filming in Central Park!]

[How tall is Lee Seo-jun, who has grown up?]

[Is your child average? Or below? How to grow taller!]

-Wow. They’re filming now!

-He looks like a hero in the angel photo.

-He’s grown a lot. Well, I guess he eats well and grows well from watching his baby mukbang.

The main filming began.

Seo-jun left the library.

There were many lives in the library of evil tendencies.

There were abilities that brought misfortune if they liked it, and abilities that made them feel like someone was watching them all day long, which was good for getting mental illness.

They were all dreadful abilities.

Among them, Seo-jun searched for an ability that was moderately bad but without a curse.

‘I’m glad I found something decent.’

But he didn’t use [(Evil) The Lonely Flower’s Sad Scent] for this filming.

[(Good) The Cat Baron’s Elegant Steps-Low]

Elegant steps, dignified posture are ingrained in your body.

You have a correct posture without thinking.

Similar animals are attracted to you.

The cat baron was the first to receive the title of baron as a cat.

She was a noble lady’s pet who had been taught etiquette as a joke, but she turned out to be more graceful than anyone else, earning even the queen’s applause.

The cat was then granted the title of baron by the queen’s discretion.

“Let’s start filming!”

Seo-jun took a deep breath and exhaled.

He remembered William’s life that he had seen in the script. A kind and innocent child.

Now was the time to emit the sweet scent that director Ryan Will had talked about.

[The Basic Breathing of Elves is activated.]

The divine energy in Seo-jun’s origin moved vigorously as if it had met a new world. Magi was holding his breath, mesmerized by the movement.

-Ready,

Director Ryan Will’s voice came through. Seo-jun stomped his feet twice, hearing the voice that sounded distant and close at the same time.

[(Divine) The Graceful Steps of the Cat Baron is activated.]

And in sync with the director’s signal,

-Action!

He immersed himself.

The child was lost. He had nowhere to go in a place he had never been before. He looked around the Onassis Reservoir and the surroundings with a bewildered face.

There was a gaze watching him. It was Mac, who was working as a guide part-time at Central Park.

Mac, wearing a guide vest, looked around and headed toward the child.

“Hey, kid.”

The child looked up at the voice that came close.

Mac remembered the team leader’s words to take the missing child to the shelter. He bent down to meet the child’s eyes and smiled brightly, saying, “Don’t cry, okay?”

“Where are your parents?”

“They’re at home.”

“Do you have a home in Manhattan?”

“No.”

Mac scratched his cheek at the child’s short answer. The child, who saw Mac not leaving, opened his mouth. A small smile appeared on his pale face.

“My family is coming. You can go.”

“When are they coming?”

The child recalled his memory. I’ll pick you up when the sun sets. He remembered the voice of the woman he relied on the most, who had said it lightly.

Mac could tell what ‘noble’ meant from the child’s behavior as he was thinking.

There was dignity in every action of the child.

“When the sun sets…”

“Oh.”

Mac turned on his phone and entered the weather site.

It was September, and the sun didn’t set until 7 p.m. It was 1 p.m. now, and the sun was above his head.

“You have to wait six more hours?”

Trouble appeared on the child’s face.

Six hours.

It was too long.

Mac smiled and turned on the radio and contacted the team leader. He spoke quietly so the child wouldn’t hear.

“There’s a missing child here.”

-A missing child? Bring him to the center.

“Can I play with him instead of the center? I won’t leave Central Park.”

-You? Why?

“My family is coming to pick me up at seven, but it’s suffocating to stay at the center for six hours. I’m done with my part-time job too.”

-Seven? Okay. Got it. Return the vest and the radio to Mia and hand them in.

“Thank you!”

Mac ran up to the boy with a bright smile.

“Do you want to play with me until seven?”

The boy, who had been lost in thought for a moment, nodded slightly.

-Cut! OK!

Ryan Will’s voice rang out.

As the camera stopped, Seo-jun quickly tapped the floor twice with his foot to stop wasting the battery.

The running drone also quieted down.

The sweet atmosphere turned ordinary in an instant.

Evan Block, who had been watching the difference right in front of him, widened his eyes.

He believed that small actions and habits made a person’s vibe.

That’s why he always analyzed people and added details to his acting.

But Seo-jun Lee was different.

He just stood there the same way, but the vibe changed in an instant, as if he had turned a switch on and off.

Is this talent?

Evan Block had one more thing to write on his note analyzing Seo-jun. He chuckled.

One of the tourists who had been watching the two actors’ filming whispered to his friend without disturbing the shooting.

“…That kid, he looks familiar, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah…”

Emma, who was trying to recall her memory, had a flash of the boy’s face smiling brightly in her mind.

“The picture you sent me!”

“What?”

Emma’s friend racked his brain. He didn’t know who the boy in the picture was, since it was floating around on the internet.

The friend who had been looking at Seo-jun also realized it soon. He had the same warm and gentle feeling as the picture.

“Do you think it’s him?”

“Wow.”

Emma clasped her hands tightly. She wanted to thank him if she ever met him.

Now it was time to film the scenes where the boy and Mac became friends while touring and exploring Central Park.

“Do you want to try this?”

“Sure.”

At the baseball field in Central Park, Mac threw the ball and the boy hit a light single with a baseball bat.

Mac, no, Evan Block was sincerely impressed.

The baseball-crazy staff clapped their hands sincerely after the shooting and said, ‘It was a perfect hit, if only he had a little more power, it would have been a home run.’

“What is this?”

“It’s a snow leopard.”

The boy often learned about the world and common sense with a face that he had never seen before.

He seemed to be eating a hot dog for the first time and shivered at the carbonated drink.

Mac just thought, are all kids like this these days? I don’t think I was like that. But he explained diligently.

The snow leopard, who was sitting on a rock and yawning lazily, made eye contact with Seo-jun at the end of the shooting at the zoo.

Sniff sniff-.

The snow leopard tilted its head and walked slowly toward Seo-jun.

There was a large glass wall blocking it, but it didn’t take its eyes off Seo-jun.

“The snow leopard really likes you, Jun.”

At Evan Block’s words, Seo-jun moved to the right. The snow leopard also moved to the right. When he moved to the left, the snow leopard followed him. Everyone was amazed at the sight.

‘Hmm. Is it because of the Cat Baron?’

Seo-jun nodded and deactivated [The Noble Cat’s Graceful Steps].

The snow leopard sniffed around a few times, then tilted its head curiously before returning to its spot and yawning.

Throughout the shoot in Central Park, the two actors truly enjoyed sightseeing, conversing, and touring.

The joy seemed to spread to others, giving the impression that they were filming a promotional video for Central Park rather than a movie.

Even the Central Park staff guiding the film crew asked if they could use the footage for promotional purposes after the release.

As the shooting progressed, posts began to surface online speculating whether Seo-jun Lee’s role might be a hero.

Photos of the two actors surrounded by staff also appeared.

During breaks, Jonathan summarized the circulating posts for director Ryan Will.

“Many posts say Seo-jun looks like a hero. There are also questions about why William, who disappeared through a strange wormhole, is in Central Park. They’re saying he’s grown a lot, isn’t he too different from Shadowman 1?”

“Indeed.”

Director Ryan Will nodded.

The Central Park shoot was also part of the promotion for Shadowman 2. Key scenes of Shadowman 2 were planned to be shot on set for security reasons. The shoot in Central Park ended in a warm and friendly atmosphere.

“Seo-jun, this.”

Jonathan showed a letter to Seo-jun, who was removing his makeup.

“A fan left this for you, but it seems safe. We’ve checked it. We don’t know what’s inside, so shall we open it for you?”

Seo-jun agreed, and Jonathan and the staff quickly headed to another tent.

Lee smiled. He was happy to see everyone treating Seo-jun with care.

The inspection was quick. Jonathan handed Seo-jun the neatly opened envelope, his eyes slightly red.

“Here’s the letter. Seems like a real fan.”

Seo-jun unfolded the letter. It was hastily written but neat.

The letter’s author, Emma, mentioned she was able to overcome depression after seeing Seo-jun’s photos.

Although not cured instantly, the clarity and hope she once felt became her beacon, allowing her to receive treatment and eventually travel abroad.

The letter ended with a request for Seo-jun to continue making movies.

“That’s great!”

Seo-jun carefully placed the fan letter in his bag. If his photo had helped many, it was worth the effort.

Seo-jun and Lee stepped outside to return to their accommodation.

“But they really recognize me. Dad, wasn’t my image very different?”

pondered.

The contrast between Seo-jun in pure white angelic clothes, beaming with joy, and Seo-jun in black, looking a bit pale.

Even during the shoot, as they moved around Central Park, they occasionally heard conversations.

“Some recognized you quickly. They were asking each other if you were the child from the photos.”

“Ah, I see.”

Despite his growth and different hairstyle, it seemed the photo from Christmas Eve had left a lasting impression.

“Still.”

Seo-jun chuckled.

A robust magical energy stirred within him, bringing a smile to his face. His efforts had paid off.

“They’ll forget all about it once they see the end of the movie!”

He was determined to work hard to ensure that outcome.

Chapter 52

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 52

After finishing the shooting at Central Park, it was time to shoot at the indoor set.

With Director Ryan’s permission, Seo-jun and his dad stepped into the completed set. Jonathan was in charge of guiding them.

Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun, who saw the movie set for the first time, were amazed.

It was perfect, as if they had taken a corner of a real exhibition hall.

On the wall, there were photos and captions of people.

In the glass display case in the center, there were things that people had left behind.

“It looks like a real exhibition hall. Jonathan hyung.”

“The art team worked hard to make it. I helped a little bit too.”

Jonathan said with a shy smile.

Seo-jun, who was walking along the arrow marked on the floor, read the caption written in Korean among the various languages.

“…An abnormal wormhole occurred all over the world due to the alien invasion. The photo is of Ray Kasman, a high school student who went missing at that time. Do they write all this?”

“People these days take pictures of every cut and analyze the background. We entrusted all this to the translators. If we write something irrelevant, it would cause a fuss.”

“Wow.”

There were many stories behind the photos here.

Writers, you are amazing. Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun looked around the set slowly.

Jonathan followed the two quietly.

On the wall, there were photos of people who had disappeared into the strange wormhole, smiling brightly.

They were photos that they had received from their families, from old ones to recent ones, full of memories.

As they looked at each one, one photo caught their eyes.

“My photo!”

“It’s William!”

It was the photo that Director Ryan Will had asked Seo Eun-hye to send.

There was Seo-jun, four years old, smiling brightly.

Lee Min-jun’s eyes blurred as he saw the photo.

Seeing his son’s photo here, he felt uneasy. The memorial hall was so well made that it hurt his heart.

“You were so young!”

“Pfft. I’m still young.”

“Hehe.”

But soon, Seo-jun’s words turned into laughter.

Seo-jun looked at the caption next to William’s photo.

Along with the ordinary caption, there was a letter from William’s parents to William.

Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun read the letter slowly.

It was a letter from the parents who wished for their child’s happiness.

“Originally, the scenario writer wrote a letter, but after seeing Melissa’s acting in Shadowman 1, he rewrote it. He said this was better than the previous letter, and the director liked it too.”

Jonathan explained.

Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun nodded.

They didn’t know what the previous letter was, but this letter was enough to make their hearts ache.

***

“Let’s start shooting!”

The assistant director shouted.

The extras who played the roles of the relatives of the victims who came to the memorial hall found their places.

Seo-jun, who was talking with Evan, also got up from his seat. His clothes and shoes were the same as at Central Park.

Evan Block and Seo-jun stood at the entrance of the memorial hall.

Director Ryan Will, who was looking at the monitor, yelled.

Several cameras pointed at the two.

The extras recited their lines and the staff held their breath.

-Ready,

Seo-jun tapped the floor lightly twice with his foot.

[(Line)The elegant footsteps of the cat baron are activated.]

-Action!

Mac and the child entered an exhibition hall inside Central Park.

Unlike the lively rest of Central Park, this place was very quiet and filled with silence.

Some people had grim faces, some looked like they would burst into tears any moment, as they looked at the photos on the wall.

Mac lowered his voice in solemnity.

“This is a memorial hall. It was built to commemorate the people who disappeared into the strange wormholes a year ago, the missing people, and the dead people.”

“Strange wormholes?”

“You’re too young to remember. A year ago, around this time, aliens invaded Earth.”

The child blinked his eyes.

“They said they came from Natra and attacked Earth to find the rebels.”

Mac bit his lip. Why did they do such a thing? They eventually won, but many scars remained.

The child muttered blankly. Why did that word come up here?

“…Natra.”

“Yeah. This person had a wedding that day. A strange wormhole appeared on the stage where the bride and groom were standing and swallowed the bride. This is the bouquet that the bride had that day.”

Mac pointed to a place where there was a photo of a woman and a man smiling happily.

Mac slowly explained the photos.

The stories of that day, the people left behind, and the belongings like relics.

The dried bouquet, the fallen petals, looked like the families left behind.

“I think that man was wrong too.”

A person who had been standing in front of a photo of a man holding a soccer ball and smiling said. His fierce voice echoed in the quiet memorial hall.

“That man, what did he say? Shadowman? Why didn’t he fight the aliens from the start? If he had killed them before they created the strange wormholes, this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Calm down. Tim.”

The friend who came with him comforted him. He had lost his best friend in front of his eyes.

A strange wormhole appeared at the place he suggested for the trip. His friend’s photo and belongings that disappeared into the strange wormhole were here in the memorial hall.

And today was his friend’s birthday. He shouted with anger and sorrow.

“Isn’t the rebel that the aliens were looking for actually Shadowman? He used strange abilities! If it wasn’t for him, this wouldn’t have happened! He calls himself a hero! Why! Why, couldn’t he save my friend!”

The friend dragged him out of the memorial hall, crying. Mac and the child looked at their backs.

Mac felt heavy in his heart.

He had been wondering since Natra invaded until now, for a year, but he couldn’t find the answer.

If it wasn’t for me…Would this not have happened if it wasn’t for me? Am I really the rebel they were looking for?

The child woke up Mac, who had closed his eyes tightly.

“That is…”

“Ah. That’s the child who disappeared into the strange wormhole that day.”

The child looked at the photo on the wall. A baby with black eyes and black hair was smiling brightly. And next to it was a photo of a child holding a teddy bear.

But somehow, it was a familiar face. Mac turned his head, feeling a chill. The child was staring blankly at the photo.

Mac looked at the photo and the child.

They looked alike, didn’t they?

The child in the photo looked like he would grow up to be like this child in five or six years.

The child couldn’t take his eyes off the photo for a moment.

“…What does it say?”

“Hmm.”

Mac slowly read the caption.

It was the family of the victim he had seen himself a year ago. The woman who cried as if she was dying was still vivid. His chest hurt.

“To William… I never expected you to disappear in an instant. Why didn’t I run faster? Why wasn’t I with you? I regret it every day. Please stay alive. Please live happily wherever you are. Even if I can’t spend time with you, as long as you’re alive, we can have hope. We can be happy. Mom and Dad will wait for you forever. We’ll wait for you at home, no matter when you come back. Please come back anytime. We love you. Mom and Dad.”

“William.”

At that word, the child’s eyes widened. The child clenched the pendant around his neck. It was the one word that had stayed in his head since he could remember.

William.

The child’s mind spun. And then, all the pieces fell into place.

He realized it.

This is my hometown.

That’s me.

I had a family.

Something surged up in him.

He saw his family’s faces, clear as day, in his mind.

They had spent happy days together.

Everyone in Central Park had that expression.

Me too,

I too, here,

I too could have lived like that here.

Something writhed in his heart.

I could have been happy!

The child’s eyes turned cold as he looked at the photo on the wall.

Seo-jun stopped [Elf’s Basic Breathing].

And he started [Mine’s Basic Breathing].

He used his abilities at the same time.

[(Evil) The Lonely Flower’s Gloomy Scent is activated.]

[(Evil) The Lonely Flower’s Gloomy Scent-Lowest Grade]

Only this flower blooms within a radius of 10m.

It looks like a weed, and no one knows that it’s a flower.

You feel depressed when you smell the flower’s scent.

A cold energy burst out of Seo-jun’s body.

Seo-jun had done many experiments after opening the door of the evil library.

He also learned that he could use both good and evil skills at the same time when he had enough mana in his body.

He also learned that he could decide which ability he wanted to show more with the ‘breathing method’.

[(Good) The Cat Baron’s Elegant Steps] and [(Evil) The Lonely Flower’s Gloomy Scent] were activated together.

With the synergy of [Mine’s Basic Breathing], a cold magic flowed out of Seo-jun’s body.

The child who had looked like an angel changed in an instant. It was different from when he had changed normally in Central Park. A chill that made his whole body shiver. Coldness.

At that momentary change, Mac, no, Evan Block’s expression changed weirdly without him knowing.

The script clearly stated that he ‘didn’t notice the child’s condition’, so,

-Cut! NG!

The filming stopped, of course.

At the same time, the staff and the extras who had been watching quietly without blinking exclaimed.

They also noticed the change in Seo-jun’s atmosphere.

“Wow. That’s…”

“I heard he was a genius, but he’s beyond imagination.”

They whispered to each other, but the crowd of more than ten soon turned into noise.

The camera director and the assistant director were too busy admiring it to do anything, so in the end, Ryan Will, the director, shouted.

“Everyone, quiet! We’ll start filming again. And Evan Block!”

“Ah, I’m sorry!”

Evan Block, who couldn’t take his eyes off Seo-jun, who had returned to normal, came to his senses at the director’s call.

The more he knew, the more he realized that his talent was endless.

He was a child, no, an actor who showed more skills than he expected.

He looked forward to the future of this actor.

‘Maybe it won’t end in one book.’

None of the great actors had ever gone beyond one book. Evan Block smiled and prepared for the shooting.

‘It’s my first NG.’

Seo-jun felt curious.

It wasn’t a shooting for a bust shot or a close-up shot.

It wasn’t his mistake either, but it was his first NG.

‘Maybe, it’s because of the magic?’

Even when they returned to their seats, they couldn’t take their eyes off Seo-jun and kept admiring him.

Somehow,

‘It feels good!’

Their expressions clearly showed the effect of the magic he had obtained with difficulty.

‘Will the people who watch the movie make the same expressions?’

He imagined the faces of the people who would be stunned by his changed appearance and smiled.

Good. Let’s try harder! Seo-jun put his spirit into the shooting.

“NG! Jun! You put too much power into it! Then Mack will notice it! You have to show it a little bit!”

“I’m sorry!”

The staff and the actors were surprised again by Seo-jun’s colder atmosphere than before, but Ryan, the director, evaluated it coldly.

His first NG in his life was due to excessive enthusiasm.

Seo-jun pouted his lips and went for a re-shooting.

He couldn’t touch his set hair, so Evan Block tapped Seo-jun’s shoulder and cheered him up.

Fortunately, he got an OK and went for a close-up shot.

Chapter 53

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 53

The filming location was an outdoor set.

There were huge trees and green grass.

There was a neat running track that looked inviting to run on, and a chroma key was installed all around the set.

“They really make everything, don’t they? Right, Seo-jun?”

“Dad, it looks just like Central Park.”

Lee Min-jun nodded as he looked around again at Seo-jun’s words.

It was exactly like Central Park, where they had filmed for the first time.

It seemed like they had copied it from a photo.

“But why is there a chroma key?”

“They’re planning to composite this place and the reservoir with CG. It would be a waste to make the reservoir too.”

The two of them were startled by a sudden voice.

They turned their heads and saw a blonde woman smiling brightly. Lee Min-jun and Seo-jun greeted the woman warmly.

“Hello! Rachel!”

“Ahahaha. Jun, hi? Hello.”

“Hello.”

Rachel Hill waved her hand at the two of them.

The three of them sat on the chairs prepared in the actors’ waiting room near the outdoor set. Seo-jun asked.

“If the background is Central Park anyway, why can’t they film there?”

“Then the content would be leaked, wouldn’t it? Everyone is curious whether William is a hero or a villain, but if they blurt out the lines there, what would happen?”

“That’s true.”

“Can I join in?”

Another person joined in the conversation with Rachel Hill. It was Evan Block. The three actors and Lee Min-jun sat on the chairs and chatted.

“Evan, you’re filming the action scenes from the day after tomorrow, right? Can I go and watch?”

“There’s nothing to see, though. The background and the extras are all chroma key. And the action scenes are not filmed by me. Most of them are done by stuntmen. I just pose for the close-up shots or the bust shots. Wearing a tight suit with sensors all over.”

Evan sighed heavily. They all laughed at his expression. They remembered the video of the CG work of Shadowman 1 that was floating on the internet.

“Shadowman’s attacks are mostly CG work too, so there’s nothing to see for real.”

“I still want to go!”

“Can I go too?”

“Fine. But you have to get permission from the director, not me.”

“Okay! I’ll ask!”

Seo-jun ran to the director who was walking over there. The director agreed without hesitation.

“He said it’s okay!”

“…The director seems to really like Jun.”

“Ehehehe.”

They laughed at Seo-jun, who didn’t deny it. Why? I really like the director too.

Lee Min-jun took out the snacks he had brought for Seo-jun from his bag and shared them with the three actors.

Rachel, who was holding the snack and smiling cheerfully, opened her mouth.

“By the way, I heard you had an NG. Evan, I’ve seen you reshoot because you didn’t like it, but NG? That’s surprising.”

“Ah. That.”

Evan clenched his jaw. He should have told them in advance. He had that scene today too.

“I was shocked by Jun’s change of atmosphere in an instant.”

“Atmosphere?”

“It’s hard to explain in words… You’ll see when you watch it. You better brace yourself.”

Rachel Hill rolled her eyes at Evan Block’s advice and looked at Seo-jun.

Seo-jun, who was focused on eating the snack his dad gave him, tilted his head at Rachel’s gaze.

Ryan Will, the director, came to where the four of them were sitting.

The two actors went to the dressing room to change their clothes, and Lee Min-jun went to answer a phone call from Kim Hee-sang.

Ryan Will sat down in front of Seo-jun.

“Today’s shooting is the most important one.”

“I know!”

“This scene will be the turning point.”

Ryan Will opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“It’s up to you to set the mood. Will you be a hero or a villain?”

Seo-jun nodded heavily.

The shooting began. Cameras installed everywhere were focused on Seo-jun and Evan.

Seo-jun and Evan took their positions. Evan did some light stretching as usual. Seo-jun tapped his feet,

[(Good)The elegant steps of the cat baron are activated.]

He touched the power in his chest.

[(Evil)The lonely scent of a blooming flower is activated.]

Seo-jun balanced the magic and the goodness that flowed from his body without breathing.

Don’t be swayed by the two mana, keep your balance.

Hoo.

He exhaled softly.

He was now able to control his strength and weakness.

-Ready, action!

A blonde woman ran over from the other side. It was Natra. smiled and raised her voice as she saw the child.

“Where were you?! I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

“…”

, who had lived longer than him, must have known.

The child looked at silently.

felt something strange and glared at behind the child. waved his hands frantically.

Then noticed the pendant around ’s neck.

’s eyes widened.

That. Why is that?

’s gaze moved down to ’s feet.

The shadow, which had a short temper, twitched first at the constant gaze. ’s eyes sparkled.

“You.”

As was about to open her mouth,

“I’m adopted.”

and were startled and looked at the child.

The child took his eyes off and looked at the reservoir.

“My siblings all had amazing abilities. I was the only one who was ordinary.”

, who had grown up with the child, didn’t know what to do.

The child turned his head and looked at .

His eyes, which had been shining brightly, were now shrouded in darkness.

’s forehead wrinkled.

Something was wrong.

He felt something strange.

’s shadow, which had pretended to be ordinary, shuddered.

Danger. Danger. Danger!

“My father, who adopted me, seemed disappointed in me and didn’t say a word to me. I didn’t want to fall behind. I wanted to be loved by my father. So I did my best for my beloved father. But because they were different from me in race, the result was not satisfactory.”

The child, no, his eyes glowed fiercely.

“But what is this?

At the child’s lowered voice, swallowed his saliva. sent a signal somewhere, restless. He twisted his head.

“My life was here. Look over there.”

He pointed his finger at a happy child holding his parents’ hands. Anyone could see they were a happy family.

“I could have lived like that too. I had parents who loved me regardless of my abilities. You saw them, didn’t you? They begged me to stay alive, no matter where.”

He laughed bitterly. His biological parents were still waiting for him, still loving him.

But felt his aura before he understood his words.

This is!

’s expression hardened in an instant. It was an unforgettable energy. ’s shadow flickered.

“But my father ruined it.”

“Natra!”

shouted, and he smiled. Bell gasped and grabbed the boy’s shoulder. How did he know?!

But Bell couldn’t say anything to his hollow voice. Bell’s hand trembled.

“That’s right. Natra.”

Seo-jun moved.

[The (Evil) Lonely Flower’s Sad Scent is activated.]

[The (Evil) Mine’s Basic Breathing is activated.]

[The (Good) Cat Baron’s Graceful Steps is deactivated.]

He put more, more power into his magic.

“I am the son of King Natra, Jin Natra.”

Evil burst out of Jin Natra’s body. stepped back from the cold energy that seemed to devour him.

Bell let go of Jin Natra’s shoulder without realizing it.

The people around them collapsed from his energy.

Jin Natra twisted his head and ignored Bell, who was looking around in panic.

The man who stood up to his energy, the man with the wavering shadow.

“I know who you are.”

“Damn it! What are you doing!”

yelled at the sight of the falling people.

He remembered a year ago.

The buildings and structures that collapsed from Natra’s ship’s attack.

The people who bled and fell.

And the woman who cried after losing her son.

It was a memory engraved in his heart like a trauma. He clenched his fist until it bled. His shadow moved in response.

Jin Natra saw it and spoke with a smile.

“As the human said. . No, Shadowman.”

“…”

He was the man who stopped us five years ago?! But that pendant… that shadow…! Bell’s head spun.

looked at Jin Natra with blank eyes.

Jin Natra’s face, the face of a ten-year-old boy who should have grown up with his parents’ love, twisted for a moment.

“You should have defeated Natra. And.”

A tear fell from the boy who lost his happy life with his parents.

It ran down his cheek.

“You should have saved me.”

-Cut! OK!

Director Ryan shouted. But no one moved. They just stared at Seo-jun.

The mourners were surprised by the sudden change of atmosphere.

They thought it was amazing enough. But it wasn’t.

A more intense acting unfolded here.

Seo-jun quickly deactivated his evil skills and activated [The Elf’s Basic Breathing]. Then he waved his right hand.

[The (Good) Lower Angel’s Fan-Lower is activated.]

***

[The Debt of a Low-Rank Angel – Low]

A warm wind blew.

It had a certain chance of curing the targets from their abnormal states.

It had a strong effect on magic below the lowest rank.

The warm wind from Seo-jun’s hand woke up some people who were depressed by the smell, and the others who were mesmerized by the gentle breeze came to their senses.

When the magic that some people felt disappeared, Seo-jun deactivated his ability and sighed.

The skill of evil fragrance was too hard to use. Finding a suitable ability was secondary, but the aftermath of using it was also troublesome.

‘I’m glad I found a good ability.’

With [The Debt of a Low-Rank Angel], he could use the lowest-rank skills without worry.

[The Lonely Scent of a Flower that Bloomed Alone] was also an ability that used fragrance as a medium, so it wouldn’t have much impact on the people who were watching the movie.

‘But the ‘atmosphere’ still remains.’

Wasn’t that the case with the video that Ryan Will, the director, saw? It was enough for the director to rush from the US to Korea.

When Seo-jun was checking the amount of mana, he heard Jonathan’s voice.

“Let’s get ready for the next shoot!”

Everyone who heard that voice returned to their positions.

Seo-jun wiped away his tears and headed to fix his makeup. Rachel whimpered and sat down on the grass-covered floor.

She brushed her glittering golden hair in the sunlight and spoke with a blank face.

“I almost messed up because of you. If I had NG’d with that acting, the director would have nagged me for a long time.”

Evan Block, who was sitting in front of her, laughed.

Rachel Hill’s hand that left Seo-jun’s shoulder was not acting, but sincere.

“I almost did, too.”

“? You’ve experienced it before, haven’t you?”

Evan Block rubbed his neck.

The sun was so strong, but his neck was still cold and the sweat that ran down his back was unforgettable.

“His eyes were different. He wasn’t looking at me in the memorial hall scene.”

Evan Block recalled Seo-jun’s black eyes. The eyes that looked kind changed to pain and eventually to resentment. He almost missed his lines because of that drastic change. What about the atmosphere that matched those eyes?

“And…”

Evan Block looked at the place where he was standing during the shoot. He still felt the smell in his nose.

Along with the damp scent that came from somewhere, a sudden wave of depression.

The emotion that Jin Natra felt was transferred to Evan Block.

Sadness. Resentment. Depression. Suffering.

‘If I step back even a little, I’ll be eaten alive.’

Thinking that, Evan Block changed that depression into an emotion that came from ’s trauma.

It wasn’t easy, but he tried to make it look like that on the outside. It was the first time he acted spontaneously without a plan. It felt different from usual.

‘I’m fine now that the smell is gone… But was that smell an illusion?’

Evan Block spat out a hollow laugh as he thought of the analysis he would write in Seo-jun Lee’s notebook.

“Really. He’s a new actor every time I see him.”

“Is he that different?”

“It’ll be a mess when they shoot the close-up shots.”

It was exactly as he said.

The first to lose his words was James Landon, the camera director who was filming his face in front of Seo-jun.

And Ryan Will, the director who was watching the screen on the monitor, Rachel Hill, who couldn’t take her eyes off the monitor while hesitating whether to ask the director or not, and some of the staff who pretended not to watch the screen behind them.

They were all stunned by the resentment that poured out of the child’s body, as well as the changing eyes of his pupils like a gradient.

They couldn’t breathe comfortably in the damp scent and the depression that bound their ankles.

The gloomy smell blocked their nostrils.

Breath? How do you breathe? Was this how you breathe?

Unlike the people who were immersed in Jin Natra’s emotions, Seo-jun had no thoughts.

When the cut sound didn’t come out after acting hard, he just released his ability and activated [(Sun) Low-grade Angel’s Fan] by waving his right hand.

He finished his work and stood blankly, enjoying the sunshine.

The sun is nice.

It’s not too cold or too hot, and the sun is warm.

Ryan Will, the director who came to his senses first as the damp scent disappeared, shouted.

“Cut! OK!”

Then they all came to their senses and rubbed their arms.

Wow, that’s amazing.

I’ve never seen anything like that.

They looked at Seo-jun Lee, who was standing blankly, with surprised eyes.

“He doesn’t seem much different from other kids…”

“He’s tall.”

“He’s handsome.”

“And above all, his acting is amazing.”

The staff nodded their heads. Seo-jun followed Ryan Will’s gesture and headed to the monitor. Seo-jun’s face appeared on the large monitor. He exclaimed at the expression changes he couldn’t see.

“I’m really good at this.”

“Yeah. You’re awesome.”

Ryan Will ruffled Seo-jun’s hair roughly.

And Evan Block and Rachel Hill also ruffled Seo-jun’s hair, which became a bird’s nest. Seo-jun laughed.

Jonathan, who checked the schedule he was holding in his hand, shouted.

“That’s it for today’s shooting. Good job, everyone!”

Lee Min-jun, who was a little far away and couldn’t see the monitor, called Seo-jun with a bright smile at the sound.

“Seo-jun, mom’s calling!”

“Really!?”

Seo-jun ran to his dad with a bright smile.

He took the orange juice from Lee Min-jun and video-called his mom. James Landon, who couldn’t find Jin Natra, who had been spewing malice from his body until a while ago, from Seo-jun, snorted and said.

“Now I know why you had a hard time for eight months.”

Ryan Will, the director who was writing the revised version while clutching his head, was surprised by Jonathan’s call that he burned the revised version, but now he understood why.

Ryan Will laughed.

“If you miss an actor like that, you can’t be a director.”

Chapter 54

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 54

A spaceship of Natra, crafted by the Marina Art Team, stood on one side of the set.

It was only a partial replica, with an entrance that could open and close and a section of the outer wall. But it looked as big as the real thing.

Chroma key surrounded the empty spaces.

“Wow, that’s cool. Can I take a picture?” Lee Min-jun asked, his eyes shining at the black exterior of the spaceship.

It was an empty structure from the back, but the front resembled the spaceship of Natra they had seen in Shadowman 1.

Jonathan smiled and nodded. “Sure. We’ll display it at the Marina Museum after shooting Shadowman 2. It’s only the outside that’s intact, though. The inside is hollow. We have a separate set for the interior.”

“Really? Seo-jun, let’s take a picture and show off to mom and uncle!” Lee Min-jun exclaimed.

He and Seo-jun posed with bright smiles in front of the black spaceship. Jonathan snapped a photo of them with his camera.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill, who had finished their makeup and appeared on the set, joined them for another picture.

Meanwhile, the staff completed the preparations for the shooting.

The camera pointed at the set, and everyone returned to their places. Ryan, the director, sat in front of the monitor.

-Ready,

[(Evil) The sad scent of a flower that bloomed alone is activated.]

Seo-jun took a deep breath. Tension filled the air as everyone watched the actors.

-Action!

Bell and Mac stared at each other in silence. Mac’s mind flashed back to Jin Natra’s words.

Goosebumps crawled up his skin. He opened his mouth and spat out with a trembling voice.

“You… are… that… kid?”

Jin Natra gave him a cold look.

“What does that matter now?”

“What?”

Mac yelled. He remembered the woman who had collapsed and sobbed. A damp scent wafted in the air. Mac let out a choked cry.

“Your parents are waiting for you! If you’re alive, you should run to them right away!”

“With this body?”

Jin Natra pointed at himself. Mac gasped, his words dying in his throat.

A child who looked about ten years old.

The strange wormhole of Natra had happened a year ago.

The child who had been four years old couldn’t have grown so much.

“How…?”

“Natra and Earth have different times.”

Bell stepped between them. He grabbed Jin Natra’s shoulder, not knowing what to do. Jin Natra followed his lead and turned around.

“Let’s go back.”

“…Okay.”

They headed for the spaceship.

The entrance lowered and touched the ground.

Inside, Natra’s soldiers in armor poured out.

“Wait a minute!”

Mac shouted. The two stopped in their tracks. Only Bell looked back at Mac. Mac’s face twisted as he screamed.

“I understand, I might understand. They love you so much!”

“…”

Jin Natra glanced at the open spaceship, then at the sky. It was blinding.

He watched the inside of the spaceship with his moist eyes.

He never looked back.

Mac cried out desperately.

“Come back! William!”

“I’m the real Natra.”

And the spaceship’s door closed.

-Cut! OK!

***

“Stuntman!”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

Evan Block and his stuntman stood side by side in front of Seo-jun.

“They look exactly alike.”

They had the same height and body silhouette.

They both wore Shadowman’s costume, so it looked like there were two Shadowmen.

The shooting of the combat scene began. The heroes’ battle was the most spectacular and indispensable scene in the movie.

The most capital and technology were poured into the combat scene.

The shooting days were also the longest.

Ryan Will, the director, and the stuntmen started shooting.

The staff, who were more nervous than usual, tensed their nerves and did their jobs.

Seo-jun and Rachel Hill, who came to watch, sat together with Evan Block, who had to appear in the combat scene and say some lines.

It wasn’t as flashy as in the movie, but the stuntmen’s coordination was so well matched that it was thrilling.

“I want to try it too!”

Seo-jun punched along with Shadowman. Evan Block and Rachel Hill laughed softly at his short length.

“We’d better not shoot dangerous scenes if we can.”

“Why?”

“Do you know why Redbone 2 was delayed?”

“The Redbone actor got hurt.”

Evan Block and Rachel Hill nodded.

“It might be okay if there’s a replacement actor, but for actors who appear in movies that are planned as a series like us, we have to be careful with our bodies more than anything. The audience likes us playing our roles, but if another actor comes out, they’ll be disappointed.”

“I see.”

But Seo-jun still looked at the scene where the stuntmen were fighting with regret.

Shadowman easily took care of the enemy and pretended to throw something.

When the CG work was done, a spear made of shadows would be in Shadowman’s hand.

“Still.”

Evan Block got up from his seat. He saw Jonathan, who came to deliver the director’s words.

“If it’s not a dangerous scene, you can shoot as much as you want.”

Evan Block followed Jonathan into the shooting and switched places with his stuntman.

The shooting started again.

Seo-jun, who was watching the combat scene, tilted his head and asked.

“Is that not a dangerous scene?”

Evan Block ran around and coordinated with the stuntmen who played the enemies.

It didn’t look as flashy as the previous scene, but it was still an action that could hurt him badly if he made a mistake.

“Evan has been going to action school for a long time now. He mastered various martial arts. Now he’s better than most stuntmen. And he knows how to shoot as safely as possible. Look at that.”

As Rachel Hill said, Evan Block checked the floor for anything that could hurt his body and talked enough with the stuntmen who would play the opposite roles. He also lightly matched the coordination.

“That kind of thing is really a big deal if someone makes a mistake. Actually, Evan wants to shoot everything himself. He wants to act perfectly from beginning to end. But if he gets into a big accident, he’ll hurt everyone here, so he doesn’t do that.”

Seo-jun saw the staff working hard in his eyes.

The stuntmen, the actors, the makeup artists, and even the CG workers. Many people were working for this movie.

“Jun, if you want to participate more in the movie, you should learn some exercise. If you work out hard from now on, you can join more action scenes than Evan.”

Seo-jun nodded. He had to go to a taekwondo academy as soon as he returned to Korea!

***

From the scheduled shooting to the additional shooting. The filming of Shadowman 2 was not over, but Seo-jun’s filming was all done.

On the last day of shooting, a Marina Studio PR staff asked him if he would attend the premiere in the US. Seo-jun shook his head when he heard the date of the premiere.

“Good luck with the shooting!”

“Jun, take care. Call me if you come to the US!”

“Here’s my phone number and email address. Contact me anytime.”

“Ah, me too!”

Evan Block handed Seo-jun a paper with his neat handwriting. Rachel Hill quickly found a paper and wrote her email address with flying letters.

Seo-jun smiled brightly as he took the two papers.

“Be careful with the shooting. The combat god is dangerous.”

“Don’t worry! I’m very tough, you know.”

“Let me know when you film a movie or a drama next time. I’ll definitely watch it.”

The three actors who had been together throughout the shooting period couldn’t part easily.

In the end, Evan Block and Rachel Hill left the hotel when it was time for Seo-jun to sleep.

“Dad.”

“Yeah?”

The father and son lying side by side on a large bed talked.

Seo-jun, who lay on his side in case [(선)Summer Bear’s Hibernation] was activated, recalled the time he spent in the US, from the Central Park shooting to the set shooting.

He also went out with his dad whenever he had some free time.

“It was so fun. I wish mom was here too.”

“Yeah. Let’s come back with mom when you enroll and have summer vacation.”

Lee Min-jun, who was lying face to face with his son, smiled softly at his son’s expression full of satisfaction and joy.

“Yeah. Oh, I want to film again.”

“You want to film again after all that?”

“Yeah! I have to ask Uncle Chan if he has a good script!”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

Seo-jun’s eyes slowly closed as he lay flat.

“I have to play with Jack tomorrow…”

…he did. Lee Min-jun tucked in his sleeping son’s blanket.

The next day, Jack Smith, who was a year older than him, was shocked by Seo-jun’s height and burst into tears.

His parents scolded him, saying, “You don’t eat well, that’s why!” He lay on the floor and sobbed.

But soon he forgot why he cried and Jack and Seo-jun had a blast at a nearby amusement park.

Seo-jun started attending a taekwondo academy when he returned to Korea.

The instructor who saw Seo-jun coming to register at the nearest taekwondo academy tilted his head and said nothing. He was not interested in movies.

The adult and middle/high school classes had different times, and many of Seo-jun’s kindergarten friends also attended the academy, so the parents had already experienced Seo-jun and he could attend without any trouble.

“Today I learned this!”

Seo-jun threw punches in the air.

Yap! Yap!

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun couldn’t help but laugh at Seo-jun’s face full of spirit.

“How is it? I’m awesome, right?”

“Seo-jun is the best!”

“He’s really good! He could be a taekwondo athlete!”

And that actually happened.

“Let Seo-jun be an athlete! Seo-jun’s mom!”

It was not even two weeks when the taekwondo master grabbed Seo-jun’s waist. On the wall of the small counseling room, there were medals that the masters had won at the national championships.

“An… athlete?”

“Seo-jun is amazing. He’s really good! He learns the moves in one go after being taught once.”

“Seo-jun is a bit smart, isn’t he?”

The master nodded his head vigorously.

“He’s not just a bit smart! He has strength, agility, and flexibility! He’s still young, so there’s no need to say more!”

Seo-jun sipped the orange juice that the master gave him.

[(Sun)Hwangbo Se-ga’s youngest son’s pet dog-low rank]

You can see a little bit of the flow of martial arts.

You can reproduce Hwangbo Se-ga’s martial arts.

Limit: dog

They say a dog in the village school for three years can recite poetry, right?

Seo-jun had lived as Hwangbo Se-ga’s youngest son’s pet dog for a whopping 10 years.

He followed the youngest son around and roamed around Hwangbo Se-ga, and from some point on, he could go anywhere that the youngest son’s authority worked.

Who would dare to treat the youngest son’s only pet dog, who received the love of Hwangbo Se-ga, carelessly!

The most fun thing in the boring Hwangbo Se-ga was to get snacks near the kitchen, and the second was to tear up snacks in front of the Se-ga people who were training, while emitting the smell of snacks.

Most of the Se-ga people were angry, but they couldn’t do anything to the youngest lord’s pet dog.

And on those days, the youngest lord would apologize and give him something delicious, so soon the Se-ga people would wait and wonder if the lord’s dog would come today.

That ended when Hwangbo Se-ga’s youngest son was fifteen years old.

There was a surprise attack. The dog didn’t know who the enemy was or how it ended.

Seo-jun found out after reading a book.

The enemy was the Demon Sect, and Hwangbo Se-ga barely survived.

The dog, who blocked the enemies with Hwangbo Se-ga’s martial arts that he learned by sight, eventually died after saving his master.

The youngest son, who had lost all his brothers and became the lord of the province, ordered to bury the dog that saved him next to his tomb.

And he harbored revenge against the Demon Sect.

‘If it weren’t for the dog, I wouldn’t be able to use Hwangbo Se-ga’s martial arts. It’s because I’m low rank.’

But he felt like he knew how important the eye of observation was.

He had to know the difference between the standard and himself to correct and fix the mistakes.

Using his ability, Seo-jun could take a more accurate posture than the master who was showing the demonstration.

The mother said to the master who was trying to persuade her with a long story that she was too young to think about it.

Leaving the disappointed master behind, Seo Eun-hye and Seo-jun left the academy.

“I knew you were good, but I didn’t know you were good enough to be an athlete.”

“I’m really good!”

It was taekwondo that he learned with his eye of observation from the martial arts-filled world.

He could easily learn what the master taught him.

Seo Eun-hye poked at her son’s face, which was full of confidence.

“Then. Do you want to be a taekwondo athlete, Seo-jun?”

“No! No! No!”

Seo Eun-hye burst into laughter at the sight of her son, who shook his head so hard that he was dizzy, rejecting her in an instant.

“When I learn taekwondo, I’ll learn kendo next! And hapkido too!”

“Then mom should look for a school quickly.”

No way.

She never imagined that every school Seo-jun enrolled in would beg her to let him be an athlete, saying that the Olympic gold medal was only a matter of time.

Chapter 55

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 55

A year had passed and Seo-jun was now eight years old.

After the long Lunar New Year holiday, the promotion for Shadowman 2 began.

Scenes from the teaser video of Redbone 2 were shown on television, as well as edited clips of Seo-jun and Evan Block smiling brightly and touring Central Park.

There were also commercials featuring Evan Block fighting and a blonde woman appearing.

-Rachel Hill! Evan Block! The members of High Teen With are together again!

=High Teen With?

=It’s the teen movie ‘With’. It was a masterpiece that revealed that Rachel Hill and Evan Block, who had a love line, were actually multiple personalities in the same body. LOL

=Wow;;;

[Shadowman 2, coming soon in mid-March!]

[Korean Hollywood star, Lee Seo-jun, is in it!]

[Let’s learn about the filmography of the proud Korean, Lee Seo-jun!]

[The debate. Hero or villain?]

-So, is he a hero or a villain?

=Can’t you tell by looking at him?! He’s a hero!

=Can’t you tell by the way they’re promoting it?! He’s a villain!

-But if he’s a villain, I can’t empathize with him. I keep thinking of him as an angel. I prayed and went to work today.

=Are you the one who gave him a money envelope and got 500,000 won?

=Yeah, yeah, LOL

The internet was full of opinions, but most of them predicted that Seo-jun was a hero with a ratio of 9 to 1.

They also didn’t hide their anticipation for Shadowman 2.

Unlike the noisy online world, Seo-jun’s family was peaceful.

“Seo-jun, what do you think of this? It’s light and doesn’t get dirty.”

Lee Min-jun showed him a navy blue backpack. Seo-jun tried on the backpack that looked soft and fluffy on the back and pondered seriously.

The straps seemed to fit his shoulders well, and it was light.

Seo-jun nodded, and Seo Eun-hye, who was next to him, showed him a sky blue backpack.

“How about this? It’s refreshing and nice to look at.”

“Hmm.”

Seo-jun also tried on the sky blue backpack.

He switched between the two backpacks and chose the one his dad picked.

Lee Min-jun cheered and put the navy blue backpack in the cart.

Seo Eun-hye put the sky blue backpack back on the shelf with a disappointed face.

“Next, we need a pencil case, pencils, erasers, and notebooks.”

The large mart was full of families who brought their children.

As if they had made a promise, they all filled their carts with backpacks, stationery, notebooks, and so on.

That’s right.

Next month was March.

It was the start of a new semester and a month full of excitement for the children who were going to enter school.

Lee Seo-jun, who had turned eight, was assigned to the nearby Maesil Elementary School.

“Uncle Hee-sang said he would make me a pencil case.”

Seo-jun, who was looking around the shelves, suddenly said.

“He said it’s a gift for entering school! He also made a lot of dolls that I can attach to my backpack.”

The couple, who were heading to the stationery section, shook their heads.

“Is he going to expand into stationery now?”

“He must be popular. Well, then we just need to buy notebooks.”

Seo-jun had chosen a notebook with a cover he liked and finished preparing for elementary school.

That night, Kim Hee-sang showed up at his house and handed him a box.

“This is a basic item, a long slim pencil case. There are five different colors. This one is a werewolf wolf version. There’s also a bear version.”

“Uncle. What about the giant worm?”

At Seo-jun’s words, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who were eating oranges, choked.

The giant worm?

That huge earthworm?!

They wanted to make a pencil case out of that?! Even though the prejudice had faded a lot, earthworms were still…

“That was rejected by the planning team and the design team. They said it was impossible.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun imagined the planning and design team members who were silently cursing the boss with their eyes.

“It can’t be helped.”

“It’s a shame. It would have suited him well.”

Seo-jun and Kim Hee-sang had now compromised with reality.

***

March 3rd.

It was still a chilly morning.

Entrance ceremonies were held at elementary schools across the country.

Seo-jun, who was going to attend Maesil Elementary School, headed to the school with his mom and dad.

Maybe it was because he was tall, or maybe it was because he had balanced his magic and mana, but no one recognized Seo-jun except for his kindergarten friends and their parents.

They just whispered that he was handsome.

Was he a model?

He looked familiar.

The couple and Seo-jun sighed with relief at their reaction.

The entrance ceremony in the auditorium was short and simple, considering the children’s attention span.

Seo-jun was assigned to class 2 of the first grade. He saw his parents sitting in the back of the classroom and the children sitting at their desks with their names on them.

“Seo-jun! Sit here!”

“Here, here.”

He was looking for where his name was written, but there were children calling him.

“Hi. I’m Mina. And this is Ji-yoon.”

“Hi. Seo-jun!”

“Ji-ho and Ji-woo are in the same class too?”

Luckily, all the baby friends he had made first were there.

They were in the same class and their seats were close.

As he was chatting with his friends – the topic was the unicorn doll hanging from his backpack – the door opened and the homeroom teacher came in.

The homeroom teacher called each student’s name and gave some announcements to the parents and children.

“See you all tomorrow!”

“Yes! Teacher!”

With a cheerful greeting, the entrance ceremony was over.

Seo-jun held his mom and dad’s hands and headed to his grandfather’s house.

Both his maternal and paternal relatives gathered to celebrate Seo-jun’s entrance.

On the way to his grandfather’s house, his mom and dad stopped by a cell phone store and activated a smartphone for him.

When they put on the phone case with various monsters drawn by Kim Hee-sang as a surprise gift, it became a perfect Seo-jun exclusive phone.

As they registered the phone numbers of their acquaintances, the couple said to Seo-jun.

“You have to answer the phone well. Mom and dad are worried.”

“If you’re in danger, call us. If mom and dad don’t answer, call grandma and grandpa. Or your uncles. We even registered the phone numbers of Brown Black hyungs.”

“Okay!”

“I’ve registered on Banana Talk too. Should we send a message?”

“Let me do it!”

My smartphone! Seo-jun awkwardly held the phone and sent a message.

Many chat rooms were created as many as the number of people.

He sent messages in both Korean and English.

<Hello. This is Lee Seo-jun.

<I bought a smartphone!

<This is my phone number! Please register it ㅇㅅㅇ 🙂

“I couldn’t decide whether to do the American one or the Korean one, so I did both!”

***

“Our puppy is already going to school!”

“This is a gift from Grandpa.”

“This is a gift from Grandma.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly as he held the gift box. Grandpa whispered to him. He would give him a birthday present separately.

After eating delicious food and returning home, he found that many people had congratulated him on his entrance to elementary school.

The news had reached America.

“It must have been Na-ra.”

“Na-ra told Jonathan, and Jonathan told Director Ryan, and everyone found out, right?”

“When did he become friends with Jonathan?”

Seo Eun-hye shook her head.

“They all sent entrance gifts and birthday gifts together.”

“Wow. There will be a lot of deliveries for a few days, right?”

As Min-jun predicted, gifts arrived from American acquaintances and Brown Black. Through Cocoa Entertainment, gifts were also delivered from Lee Ji-seok and Director Choi Dae-man.

Seo-jun raised his head and looked at the gift boxes piled up in the living room.

“Are they all mine?”

“Yes. They are Seo-jun’s.”

The couple was grateful for the gifts piled up in the living room, but they sighed involuntarily.

Especially, they were afraid of Na-ra and Kevin’s gifts.

“And we have to add Rachel to that list.”

“…Yeah.”

Kevin and Na-ra, who had adapted to sending professional violins and guitars, sent them. Hollywood actress Rachel Hill sent an expensive electronic piano.

Evan sent books related to movies.

They laughed at the gifts that showed their personalities.

“Do you want to learn instruments while you’re at it? Violins and guitars are hard, but pianos seem okay to learn by watching videos.”

“Or you can go to an academy.”

“Um. I’ll think about it!”

In Seo-jun’s fan cafe, they decided to donate instead of sending birthday gifts to Seo-jun. Seo-jun and his parents posted a thank-you note on the fan cafe.

They left comments saying they were looking forward to Shadowman 2.

***

It was still cold. But he felt spring coming.

Mid-March. Shadowman 2 was released.

“The poster is cool, right?”

Kim Hee-sang looked at the poster on the wall.

Mom and Dad went on a date for the first time in a long time. Kim Hee-sang took care of Seo-jun to see his picture.

The poster of Shadowman 2, with Shadowman’s face looking somewhere with a stern expression, was attached to the wall.

“Seo-jun, how were the gifts?’

“Vampire badge! The kids were so jealous of it.”

“I got interested in metalwork this time and made it myself.”

“They say your red eyes are very scary!”

The friends said it was scary but also cool. Kim Hee-sang and Seo-jun whispered jokes to each other. Because, this was a movie theater where Shadowman 2 was playing.

“It would be a total mess if Seo-jun’s identity was revealed.”

“Hehehe.”

Seo-jun and Kim Hee-sang sat in the empty seats.

The screening time for Shadowman 2 they booked was still far away.

Seo-jun wanted to hear what people were saying and dragged Kim Hee-sang out early.

“Of course he’s a hero, right? He filmed with Evan Block so affectionately.”

“No, that’s why it’s weird. He filmed so openly. Maybe he’s actually a villain?”

“Even if William is a villain, what reason would he have to film with Shadowman so affectionately?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Everyone was curious about William’s position.

“I was more curious about how William, who was sucked into a strange wormhole, ended up on Earth.”

“Me too. What the hell happened?”

“I’m so curious!”

Soon, the cleaning of the theater was over and the door opened. The staff began to guide the next audience.

“Screen 4! Those who are going to watch Shadowman 2, please enter!”

Seo-jun and Kim Hee-sang held hands and headed into the theater.

Park Seong-won followed behind them. His small height stood out among the many audience members.

‘Even such a young kid came to watch. But, where have I seen him before?’

But as soon as he sat in his reserved seat, he forgot about it. It was Shadowman 2, which he had been waiting for two years. His heart was pounding.

The ads ended and the theater darkened. Park Seong-won waited for the logo of Marina to appear. It was just a logo, but it was a scene that made him nervous and excited.

But the flashy logo that Park Seong-won expected did not appear and the screen turned black.

And music he had never heard before flowed from the speakers all over the theater.

It was a heavy and gloomy music that seemed to hit his chest.

It was a music that would later be used as the OST of Jin Natra.

The black screen brightened and black shadows moved.

They clustered and separated, moving vigorously like black flames.

-You can’t even do this?

-As expected, a picked-up kid.

-He’s not even our kind.

A mocking voice was heard. The sound filled the theater.

Park Seong-won swallowed his saliva. What? Did they play the wrong one?

[Mom, Dad…]

And then he heard the sobbing voice of a child. He had no time to guess whose voice it was,

Boom!

Boom boom!

The logo of Marina appeared.

Mac’s part-time job today was to guide tourists around Central Park.

Thanks to the diligent tourists, Mac, who had been out since morning, met a child.

Somewhere in the theater, a voice shouted ‘Seo-jun!’. But Park Seong-won was focused on the screen.

The child, who looked flustered, had a dignified and gentle atmosphere.

Park Seong-won remembered the angel picture that was smiling brightly.

A smile came to his face.

He’s a hero after all!

It was time for Mac to finish his part-time job, and he decided to show William around Central Park, since the boy must have been bored staying at the missing center for so long. The two of them visited the baseball stadium, the zoo, and the art museum, until they entered an exhibition hall.

[Memorial Hall]

As the caption appeared, the audience held their breath.

Mac saw the boy listening to his explanation.

This was a place for the people who had disappeared through the strange wormhole.

And the two of them, who had been touring the memorial hall, stood in front of it.

“Wow.”

Someone gasped involuntarily, but no one paid attention. Because they felt like they would make a sound too, if they relaxed their bodies a little. Park Seong-won covered his mouth and stared at the screen.

There was William. Mac looked back and forth between the photo and the boy, tilting his head.

In the scene where the boy realized, Park Seong-won and the audience felt a chill. They had been wondering how he would become a hero, but he wasn’t. The feeling they had in that moment, it wasn’t of a hero.

Park Seong-won denied that fact in his mind.

No.

That can’t be. He was such a good kid… And he remembered the god he had seen in the evil spirit.

It was because he felt unfamiliar, like that. It would get better later…

And then Bell appeared, and the boy’s, Jin Natra’s story was revealed.

That’s when Park Seong-won’s mouth opened wide, recalling the first screen that had appeared.

The boy’s gentle atmosphere changed in an instant.

His parents who had lost him, his hero who had failed to protect him, and his beloved father who was the cause of his painful time.

The boy who had a good nature couldn’t bear the pain, the betrayal.

“You should have defeated Natra. And.”

The boy who had lost his happy daily life with his mom and dad shed a tear. It rolled down his cheek.

“You should have saved me.”

Park Seong-won, who couldn’t give up on the hero until the end, understood then.

He felt the malice in the boy’s, Jin Natra’s eyes as they slowly changed.

He felt the small but clear malice that emanated from his whole body, from his head to his toes.

Mac shouted.

“Come back! William!”

Everyone’s mind flashed with the bright smile of William, the crying baby mantis, the angel who had been a blessing, but when Jin Natra’s face, who had turned his back on Mac, was close-up, they forgot it all.

The audience was stunned by the cold and ruthless expression that made their spines shiver.

“I am Jin Natra.”

Jin Natra left Mac behind and boarded the spaceship.

The door of the spaceship closed tightly. At the same time, spaceships appeared in the sky.

They were Natra’s ships. Bell, who had boarded Jin’s spaceship with Jin, shouted.

“Those guys! They followed us all the way here!”

Bell remembered the candidates who had laughed in his head.

They seemed to hate Jin Natra and had decided to get rid of him.

The candidates’ spaceships opened and attacked Central Park, where Jin Natra’s location was marked.

The door opened and the candidates’ soldiers fell to the ground. In that mess, Bell remembered five years ago.

“I have to go and help. Jin. What are you going to do?”

Bell, who had become thoughtful, shouted, but Jin Natra just silently watched the screen of the spaceship, where the battle scene of Shadowman and the soldiers appeared.

After that, the citizens who had gone on a picnic were shown fleeing, crying, and bleeding.

Hesitating, Jin left behind and Bell Natra ran to where his soldiers were. And the battle began.

The battle flowed without a break.

Then, Jin saw some people who caught his eye.

They were the children who had gone out for a walk, holding hands happily.

The child was crying alone in the midst of the war, as if he had lost his mom and dad. Jin Natra’s eyes shook.

Natra’s spaceship was falling over the child. Jin got up from his seat without knowing it.

Everyone knew this was his last chance. The last chance for Jin Natra to become a hero.

They clenched their fists tightly.

Go back. Go back!

Someone grabbed Jin, who was trying to run away.

It was Shadowman.

Jin Natra had failed to save him, but Shadowman had defeated all the enemies and rescued the child under the crashing spaceship.

The child returned safely to his parents’ arms.

There were tear stains on his dusty face, but he smiled brightly in his parents’ embrace.

Jin Natra couldn’t take his eyes off that touching scene. He covered his face with both hands.

Everyone was speechless at the malice that spewed out from his back.

“…You did well.”

But why.

Jin Natra bit his lip. A drop of dark red blood fell to the floor.

The audience held their breath.

Here, a new evil was born in the midst of sorrow.

None of the audience had time to think of the angelic Lee Seo-jun.

They had no thoughts at all.

They only focused on the screen.

Why did he do that when he could!

“Why didn’t I save him.”

Park Seong-won shuddered at the cold, frozen eyes of Jin Natra.

The image of Lee Seo-jun, who had been like an angel, had turned black.

The child, who couldn’t bear too much pain, began to vent his anger.

Jin went into his room.

There was a teddy bear on the table.

The audience remembered the same scene.

The teddy bear, which had been five years old in Natra’s time, was very worn out.

“William?”

Bell came back after the battle. He was wounded, but he had a bright face.

“Isn’t that teddy bear’s name William? That man called you William when he saw you… Your name was William before you lost your memory.”

Jin Natra looked at the teddy bear without a word.

Shadowman stood on the ruins of Central Park.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the spaceship that was flying into space, where Jin Natra, William, was on board.

“Why. Why did this happen?”

The broken mask fell to the ground. Mac’s confused face was revealed.

The movie ended.

Chapter 56

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 56

“Wow…”

Everyone was drained of energy and couldn’t move even after the lights came on.

They came to watch a fun movie, but it turned out to be more emotionally exhausting than they expected.

Not that they hated it.

They couldn’t take their eyes off the screen for a single moment.

Park Seong-won moved around to loosen his tense body.

The audience gathered their belongings and got up from their seats.

“Cookie…”

“What?”

“…Is there a cookie video?”

Someone’s voice echoed in the quiet theater.

That made the people who were packing their stuff snap out of it and sit back down on their chairs.

What kind of shocking cookie video would they show this time?

Park Seong-won also looked at the screen with anticipation.

The white letters slowly rose up.

And soon, as everyone expected, the screen changed.

[How about it? It’s hard to do it alone, right?]

Redbone reached out his hand.

A moment later, a black glove grabbed it.

How could they forget the clothes they just saw?

The audience’s mouths opened involuntarily.

[I’m counting on you. Shadowman!]

The confident Redbone and the weary-faced Shadowman were facing each other.

“…What?!”

It was the trailer of [Assemble], the movie where the superheroes of Marine gathered.

Park Seong-won, who was leaving the theater, suddenly turned around.

He was the last one to leave and there was no one else in the theater, but he remembered the kid who was standing here. He felt goosebumps from his toes to his hair.

“Is, Seo-jun?!”

Really?! Did I see it wrong?! He ran home, babbling.

[Title: I think I saw Seo-jun at the theater!]

A sighting of Seo-jun was posted.

“Wow. Shocking.”

“Seo-jun didn’t know?”

“Yeah. Yeah.”

Kim Hee-sang and Seo-jun were leaving the theater leisurely, not knowing or caring about the fact.

“I had no idea!”

“Even the actors didn’t know, so the security must have been really tight!”

“I couldn’t even imagine! Shadowman, wow!”

“Seo-jun, no spoilers outside.”

Before they knew it, the two were outside the theater, where the sun was shining.

***

“Hello. I’m a moviegoer.”

The moviegoer waved his hand at the camera.

It had been two weeks since Shadowman 2 was released.

It felt like everyone who wanted to see it had seen it, so the comments were flying up in no time.

“Now it seems like Marina decided to shock people with cookie videos. Wow. A movie where the superheroes that I only saw in comic books come together! So I looked up the title.”

A bright logo appeared on the monitor.

[ASSEMBLE]

“Assemble! The next movie’s title is Assemble. The only confirmed superheroes are our hero, Redbone, and Shadowman. I wonder what other heroes will appear.”

The logo of Assemble disappeared from the screen.

“As the title says, I’m going to talk about Shadowman 2.”

-Did you get it wrong again?

-What can I do? Lee Seo-jun is a villain!

The moviegoer shook his head in disbelief.

“Yes, I got it wrong again. Why is it that every story I tell has the opposite outcome? Honestly, I don’t care much about the Central Park photo, but what about this one?”

The moviegoer showed a photo, a baby angel Lee Seo-jun.

-Angel! Up to 1 million won angel!

-My friend also picked up 100,000 won. He thought it was a cigarette butt and was going to throw it away, but there were two 50,000 won bills inside!

-We have it at home tooㅋㅋ Pray every dayㅋㅋㅋ

“I have this at home too. The day I saw this photo, my mother won a 1 million won gift card. I printed it out very big and hung it in a frame. And my younger sister put photos of Brown Black around it. They’re also noisy these days because of the renewal.”

The moviegoer uploaded a photo of his living room. Seo-jun’s photo and Brown Black’s photos were attached.

Brown Black debuted six years and a few months ago. The contract renewal of Korea’s best idol group was approaching. The moviegoer shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, that’s enough for the gossip, but isn’t he a hero just by looking at this photo? Honestly, I thought the Central Park shooting was a bait. But this photo was so powerful that I thought it would be awkward if he came out as a villain.”

A photo popped up on the screen. An image cut from Marina Studio. Seo-jun’s face looked somewhere with cold eyes.

“This villain with an amazing force! It was actor Lee Seo-jun. Oh, he’s not a villain yet. He hasn’t done anything bad yet. This earth invasion was done by those bad guys who were after Jin Natra. But you all know, right? The feeling that he will become a great villain!”

-ㅇㅇReally scary.

-Scary, but also sad.

-I watched the movie and felt Jin’s emotions so much. It was depressing and scary.

“But I think I would resent everyone too. According to the official setting, the time difference between Natra planet and Earth is 5:1. So on Earth, William disappeared a year ago, and on Natra planet, William fell five years ago. If William disappeared when he was four or five years old, Jin Natra’s age would be nine or ten years old now.”

-He definitely grew up more than William.

-But I recognized him as Seo-jun in the Central Park scene. I saw so many photosㅋㅋ

-What do you eat to grow so big. Seo-jun.

“Everyone. Think about it.”

The moviegoer stopped the flow that was going to the other side.

“William grew up well without his parents since then. Even though there were people who bullied him, he was a normal kid who smiled and chatted until he went to the memorial hall.”

-I thought he was a real hero then.

-His smiling face was like an angel!

“Yes, I did too. But then he found out that his father, whom he loved the most, was the one who put him in pain. He also found out that his real parents were waiting for him desperately, and that all the daily life in Central Park, which he envied while watching all day, was the time he could have had instead of the time he suffered. That smart kid.”

The moviegoer and the viewers remembered Jin Natra, who quickly realized that he was the child in the photo with the small clues.

-His expression, so sadㅜ

-I almost cried there. Sad, but also scary how he changed.

“But then I had this thought.”

-What?

“Think about it. Mac is a character who came to Earth from Natra by chance. Jin is a character who went to Natra from Earth. Mac had a lot of good people around him. He was an orphan, but he grew up with love. But what about Jin? He lived unhappily without anyone to rely on.”

-Bell Natra? He’s not okay.

The moviegoer frowned.

“I won’t say it for sure, but I don’t think Bell Natra is such a good person either. Anyway, Mac and Jin have completely opposite pasts.”

-So it’s hero vs villain?

“Yes. That’s right. This movie is like a turning point for Shadowman and Jin Natra. If they overcome this crisis, they become heroes. If they fail, they become villains. And here, the two of them diverge.”

On the screen, pictures of Shadowman and Jin Natra appeared, and another picture appeared under Shadowman.

“Shadowman has an ally!”

-Redbone!

-Assemble!

It was Redbone, who was smiling confidently.

“Mac is lucky. He has good fortune. But what about Jin, who turned back to Natra?”

There was a big question mark under Jin Natra’s picture. Anyone could guess. Jin Natra had no one to help him, let alone someone to rely on. And that was one of the reasons why he became a villain.

-ㅜㅜㅜㅜ

-ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

The comments were full of tears.

They all remembered the first scene.

The cold, mocking voice.

And the father who made him miserable.

The moviegoer nodded.

“As you all guessed, I’ll stop here. In my opinion, the most important thing in this movie was Lee Seo-jun’s acting. That’s what the reviews of Shadowman 2 said. From the memorial hall scene, I felt like Lee Seo-jun would go down a bad path. I felt the same way.”

-ㅇㅇ me too

-It was serious from there!

“That scene was up to Lee Seo-jun’s acting. The evil that sprouted from the sorrow. The seedling of evil that would grow huge in the future. If Lee Seo-jun had a strange but kind atmosphere like a ghost, we might have thought that Jin Natra would become a hero in Shadowman 3. But Lee Seo-jun crushed our hope very well. With perfect acting!”

-No matter how I think, he’s just a villain in Shadowman 3…

-He’s a villain no matter how he comes out…

-When Shadowman saved the kid… so scary

“I hope Shadowman 3 comes out soon! Of course, I’m looking forward to Assemble too!”

The moviegoer’s live ended and articles popped up everywhere.

[Acting transformation! How can he act like this at this age?]

[The evil hidden in the sorrow. Is the delicate acting the key to Hollywood success?]

[Real situation! There is a child who grew up with kidnapping skills?!]

[How far can Lee Seo-jun’s acting go?]

[So when is Shadowman 3?!]

[Superheroes assemble! Assemble!]

-He’s definitely a hero. I still have an angel in my hand.

-It’s a pity. Why didn’t he stay on Earth?

=He must be conflicted. His father did wrong, but he still loves him. He doesn’t remember his biological parents who are waiting for him.

=He must have grown more because of that. He’s grown so much in a yearㅠ

-But Lee Seo-jun is really good at acting. I was breathless at the close-up. He acts with his eyes.

=Me too, I got goosebumps. Scary but sad.

-I empathized with Lee Seo-jun while watching the movie. I resented Shadowman. Why didn’t he save him!

=Me tooㅋㅋㅋ I know it’s not Shadowman’s fault but I resent himㅋㅋㅋ

-But is the sighting story true?

=I don’t think so. There were so many people in the theater. No matter how much he hid, they wouldn’t miss Lee Seo-jun.

=I know. He grew up a lot, but his face was still handsome. I recognized him at a glance in the movie.

-But it’s amazing that there aren’t many sightings of Lee Seo-jun.

=Is he in America? No. Someone would have seen him and taken a picture there.

=Maybe the people around him are protecting him? He’s still young.

=That could be true. Good people. But now that he’s in elementary school, it’ll be hard.

=One or two of those kids will upload it.

-But. He only appears in movies. People who don’t watch movies won’t know him.

=Didn’t he make the news?

=My dad knows that Lee Seo-jun is a Korean child actor who is very popular abroad, but he doesn’t know what he looks like. But he has the angel pictureㅋㅋㅋ That’s Lee Seo-junㅋㅋㅋ

=There must be a lot of people like thatㅋㅋㅋ They know he’s famous, but they don’t know his faceㅋㅋㅋ

=He’ll be famous soon if he appears on TVㅋㅋ

***

“Mom.”

“Yes?”

“My tooth is loose.”

Seo-jun touched his front tooth with his finger. Wobble wobble. He ran to his mom and moved his front tooth as if to show her.

It was really loose. Seo Eun-hye, who was preparing dinner, stiffened.

“It must be a baby tooth!”

“Baby tooth?”

“Your baby tooth falls out and a strong permanent tooth grows in.”

“This is uncomfortable. Can I take it out?”

He didn’t like the feeling of something dangling. Seo Eun-hye shook her head.

“It’ll fall out on its own if you wait a little longer.”

“It’s uncomfortable.”

“It’ll fall out soon.”

Seo-jun was uncomfortable, but he left it alone. He didn’t want to care, but he kept shaking his front tooth with his tongue.

In a few days.

“It fell out!”

His front tooth was empty.

Seo-jun kept looking at the mirror. His front tooth was missing. His mom and dad were busy taking pictures, saying he was cute.

His lips and tongue felt strange when they touched the empty front tooth.

“Mom, my pronunciation is weird.”

And a little bit of his pronunciation leaked out like the wind. Seo Eun-hye smiled and said, even that was cute.

“It’s because the wind goes through the gap where your front tooth fell out. It’ll be fine when your permanent tooth comes out.”

“Hmm. Can you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes. It’s okay.”

“I’m glad it fell out after I filmed Shadowman!”

“Don’t they do that with CG?”

“Do they?”

The next day, he went to elementary school, paying attention to his pronunciation, and most of his classmates had their teeth missing too.

Some of his friends had lost two front teeth, and some had lost a lower tooth. They all laughed as they looked at each other’s faces.

“Did you lose one too, Seo-jun?”

“Yeah. It fell out yesterday!”

“Mine was the day before. They say you have to throw it on the roof to get a new tooth.”

Seo-jun and his friends tilted their heads at Ji-yoon’s words. We live in an apartment, right? They all lived in the same apartment complex.

“Where’s the apartment roof?”

“Isn’t it the rooftop?”

“We can’t go to the rooftop!”

They all nodded at Seo-jun’s words. And then they all tilted their heads again.

Their homeroom teacher, who was listening to their conversation, smiled and told them another way.

That night, Seo-jun wrapped his fallen tooth in a tissue and put it under his pillow. Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun asked him.

“Teacher said that the tooth fairy comes and gives you a coin. Since we can’t throw it on the roof these days, we do it this way.”

“Teacher is so global.”

Seo-jun quickly lay down on his pillow.

He was thinking of going to the library to look for the tooth fairy. He skimmed through the books that had nothing to do with acting, and he forgot some of them because there were too many.

There must be something! What does the tooth fairy do with the teeth?

When he opened his eyes, he was in the library of life.

The fourth door opened on his birthday. Now he enjoyed reading books. He thought they were like dramas or movies, and he felt like he was practicing acting and empathizing with the characters.

“Tooth fairy. Tooth fairy!”

He searched the library and found it.

In the library of evil Sun-hyang.

It was a fairy that stole the children’s fallen teeth and used them to transform into a child and live among their families instead.

“Bad tooth fairy!”

He woke up with a start, and his dad was holding a tissue with a tooth in one hand and a pocket with a coin in the other. His mom was standing behind him. He blinked his eyes at his parents’ faces, which were faintly lit by the sunlight coming through the curtains.

“…Seo-jun. You woke up early.”

“Well, we were going to do it at night.”

His mom and dad smiled awkwardly and handed him the pocket with the coin.

When he went to school, his friends all had pockets with coins.

Seo-jun’s eyes narrowed. Seeing the similar pockets with coins, he guessed that their parents had all discussed it.

Well, whatever!

Seo-jun and his friends finished school and bought some delicious tteokbokki at the snack shop in front of the school.

Chapter 57

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 57

Seo-jun wondered when his front tooth would grow back.

Would any other baby teeth fall out?

He looked in the mirror every day, and one day, he got a call from Lee Ji-seok.

“Hello, Ji-seok hyung.”

-Hey, Seo-jun. I saw your movie! You did great!

“Hehehe. Thank you. Hyung, thank you for the birthday present.”

Lee Ji-seok had given Seo-jun some old movies and their scripts as a gift for his admission and birthday.

Seo-jun and his parents enjoyed watching them.

-I’m glad you liked them. What are you up to these days?

“I go to taekwondo academy on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I go to music academy on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I’m going to start hapkido academy next month. And I’m going to swim academy in the summer break.”

Seo-jun sat on the fluffy sofa and answered one by one with his fingers. His parents were amazed by his growing skills, and Seo-jun had fun.

Seo-jun wanted to learn many things. He could learn anything if he had time and leisure.

He also wanted to learn how to ride a horse, but the place was too far away. He planned to learn it during the vacation.

Besides that, he wanted to learn kendo and foreign languages.

He discussed with his parents and decided to learn them slowly without being too hard on himself.

Lee Ji-seok scratched his head at the busy life of the elementary school student.

-Seo-jun, do you know what a cameo is?

“Yes, I do.”

-I’m filming a drama right now, and I was wondering if you’d like to do it.

“Uh, but…”

-Why? Are you busy?

“No, it’s just…”

Seo-jun hesitated, and Lee Ji-seok said they could talk about the cameo later and asked him to have a meal with him.

Seo-jun nodded and made an appointment with Lee Ji-seok.

Weekend.

Seo-jun put the golem doll that Kim Hee-sang had given him as a gift in his new outing bag and headed to Cocoa Entertainment with his mom.

They had chosen Cocoa Entertainment as the meeting place with Lee Ji-seok.

It was safer than a place like a cafe where people who recognized Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok would flock.

Besides, there were few people who came to work on weekends.

Seo Eun-chan, who was now the president and working hard, got a call and came down to the first floor.

“Hahaha. Seo-jun, your front tooth fell out? It fell out so cleanly.”

Seo Eun-chan greeted Seo-jun and laughed when he saw his missing front tooth. Seo-jun pouted his lips at his laughter.

“Ouch!”

“Stop teasing him!”

Seo Eun-hye hit Seo Eun-chan’s back hard and looked around the first floor.

She asked Seo Eun-chan, who was making a fuss because his hand couldn’t reach his hot back and he couldn’t touch it.

“Where are the other staff members?”

“Only the essential people came to work. There’s not much work these days because of the Brown Black’s contract renewal. There are trainees, but they’re practicing in the basement practice room. Don’t worry, they’re not a bother.”

“Okay. This is a snack for the staff. Seo-jun, I’ll come back to pick you up later. Call me.”

“Okay!”

Seo Eun-hye left, and Seo-jun looked around the first floor.

It was completely different from the old building.

Cocoa Entertainment, which had changed its president, was using the entire five-story building.

It was thanks to the investment money that Seo-jun had gladly given to Seo Eun-chan.

“Uncle. The company is huge.”

“Isn’t it better than before? There’s only Brown Black as singers, so it feels empty, but we have to start over!”

Seo Eun-chan guided Seo-jun to Cocoa Entertainment, holding his hand.

“It’s a building that was used by another agency before, so I just did a little remodeling. There was a practice room in the basement, but it was small and old, so I changed it all. It’s a brand new practice room, so Brown Black kids come and practice often. The first floor is where we greet guests. There’s a conference room and a lounge. There’s also a room where we store things.”

He looked around slowly from the first to the fifth floor.

On the fifth floor, there was Seo Eun-chan’s office, and on one wall, there were pictures of Brown Black and Seo-jun.

He knew why there were pictures of his brothers, since Brown Black was under Cocoa Entertainment. But,

“Why is my picture here?”

He would have understood if it was the ‘angel’ picture.

There were often reviews that people carried it around like a charm in their phone gallery or in a small size.

But the picture that was attached here was a picture taken by a photographer who took still cuts when Seo-jun appeared in Evil Spirit.

The red robe was spread wide by the fierce wind, and Seo-jun looked at one side with a serious expression.

On the black background, there was a yellowish goblin aura that only Seo-jun could see.

If they expressed that aura with CG, it would have been a cool picture that could be used as a poster for Evil Spirit.

“Hahaha. Why is this here?”

Seo Eun-chan quickly stood in front of the picture and covered it.

He broke out in a cold sweat.

It was a picture that he wanted to put on the first floor wall when Seo-jun came to Cocoa Entertainment.

He also thought of putting up a picture of Jin Natra from Shadowman 2.

Seo-jun narrowed his eyes and looked at Seo Eun-chan. Seo Eun-chan quickly turned Seo-jun’s body and left the office.

‘I was trying to lure him little by little, but I blew it!’

He wanted to say, “I gave you the investment money, so you’re half Cocoa Entertainment, right?” But Seo Eun-hye would say that’s one thing and this is another.

Seo-jun would probably say the same, since he was his mother’s son.

Seo Eun-chan sighed.

“Come on, we still have time for the appointment. Let’s go to the conference room on the first floor!”

“Suspicious. Uncle.”

He didn’t expect his nephew’s meaningful gaze to drop.

Seo Eun-chan quickly took Seo-jun to the elevator and went down to the first floor.

He roughly guessed.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

I mean, other agencies are unfamiliar. But Cocoa Entertainment doesn’t have any actors.

He was discussing it with his mom and dad.

Whether to go to Cocoa Entertainment where he knew someone, or to another agency that had experience in taking care of actors.

The company that Lee Ji-seok belonged to was also on the list.

At the end of the family meeting, they agreed that since he was still a child, it would be better to go to a place where he could trust someone.

Seo Eun-hye was there, and he had the investment money, so he wouldn’t make him do anything.

That was Lee Min-jun’s opinion.

Seo Eun-hye nodded and said that was true.

Seo-jun agreed.

‘Uncle is really scared of mom.’

He now contacted his grandmother regularly and came home well.

[We are on the first floor.]

The elevator stopped. Seo Eun-chan led Seo-jun to the conference room.

He gave Seo-jun a glass of orange juice that he brought from the lounge and sat down in front of him. Then he opened his mouth, looking at Seo-jun’s mood.

“So, have you decided on an agency?”

“Hmm.”

His mom and dad said he could tell his uncle, so he had to. Seo-jun opened his mouth.

“Yes!”

“…Really?! Where?”

“Cocoa Entertainment.”

“…Wow!”

Seo Eun-chan raised both hands with a slight delay.

Hooray! He finally got the big fish he had been eyeing for a long time.

With top idols Brown Black and superstar Lee Seo-jun, who wouldn’t be proud of their agency wherever they go?

“But.”

As Seo-jun opened his mouth, Seo Eun-chan, who was cheering, stopped. Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders and said.

“I’m only staying at uncle’s company until I become a high school student. After that, I’ll go to the agency that takes care of me the best.”

Seo-jun as a high school student.

Seo Eun-chan, who was lost in thought, opened his mouth.

“…What if you like our care?”

“Then I’ll keep working with uncle.”

Honestly, that was the opinion of mom and dad, too.

Even if he took on his first acting role, they still had nine years left to adjust to each other from now on. In that amount of time, any new agency would be able to take care of Seo-jun perfectly.

Besides, he wasn’t an unknown child actor who had to submit documents and do business everywhere.

He was Lee Seo-jun, who received scripts and synopses from all over the place even if he just sat still.

“The fact that you get work even if you do nothing, that would be a reason to be complacent.”

Seo-jun nodded at Seo Eun-chan’s words.

That was also the reason why other agencies failed.

If they worked sloppily, thinking that they had already caught the fish, it would be poison to both Seo-jun and the agency.

And wasn’t there an agency that often caused trouble with the actor’s name, contrary to the actor’s opinion?

Seo Eun-chan nodded.

And he brought the A4 paper and pen that were in the corner of the conference room and sat down in front of Seo-jun.

Seo-jun also pulled his chair closer and sat down with a serious expression that was unlike his uncle.

“Any other conditions?”

“I’ll seriously consider the dramas and movies that Cocoa Entertainment offers, but I won’t do them if I don’t like them.”

“Good.”

“I don’t want to be pushed into any new rookie actors.”

“Pushed into… Did sister do that?”

“No. Ji-seok hyung taught me that.”

He had already asked for advice from everyone he knew in the entertainment industry in Korea and the US, not to mention Brown Black and Lee Ji-seok.

Should he do it until he became an adult?

The family, who had been worried about that, suggested a time limit until he graduated from middle school, which was their opinion.

They said that he would need a definite care from the agency from then on, because there would be more roles suitable for high school students.

Seo Eun-chan, who had been scratching his head with a pen, nodded. Lee Ji-seok, the actor.

There must have been many people who gave advice here besides Lee Ji-seok.

Seo Eun-chan swallowed his saliva as he thought of Seo-jun’s connections.

“Okay. No pushing into, and next?”

“I have to do overseas movie contracts separately.”

“Good. I didn’t even think about that.”

Marina Studio, Hollywood debut. He didn’t even think about it. Seo-jun whispered the details that he had decided with his mom and dad to Seo Eun-chan. They valued Seo-jun’s opinion more than money.

He could do as many works as he wanted in a year, or he could do none if he didn’t want to.

He didn’t care if he took a break for a few years.

They didn’t know when Seo-jun would want to do something else, so mom and dad suggested conditions for Seo-jun from one to ten.

“Recontract after graduating from middle school.”

“Yeah. Is that all?”

“I think I’ve said everything I wanted to say.”

“Then I’ll write a contract with this and bring it home. Let’s talk with sister and brother-in-law then.”

“Yeah!”

“Oh, by the way. What time is the appointment?”

He didn’t even know how time passed as he focused on the unexpected story. Seo-jun and Seo Eun-chan looked at the clock hanging in the conference room. Fortunately, they still had 20 minutes left until the appointment time.

“Do you want to see the scripts that came in while we have some time left?”

“Did you get more?”

“There are plenty of scripts and synopses. It’s because there’s not much production going on. I think the amount has increased because of the web dramas lately.”

“Yeah. I want to read them!”

“I hope there’s something that Seo-jun likes this time. But you can’t do anything even if you like it because of your front tooth, right?”

“Uncle!”

“Hahaha.”

Ji-seok came to Cocoa Entertainment with his manager Yoon Seong-oh.

“It’s completely different from the photo.”

Cocoa Entertainment had changed completely in a few months after the boss changed. It was definitely different from the old building that had appeared in the news and online articles.

“The boss changed and the investment money came in, so everything changed. They hired more staff too.”

The office was spacious and clean. They also recruited new staff and talented and attractive trainees.

The trainees who were surprised to see Ji-seok there made a startled expression. The staff who guided them said that they were the group that would debut in a few months and smiled.

Ji-seok waved his hand, and the trainees who were going to the convenience store to buy snacks bowed their heads and greeted him, then disappeared into the practice room like a flock of sparrows.

The staff led Ji-seok and manager Yoon Seong-oh to the conference room on the first floor.

Seo-jun, who was sitting on a chair and flipping through the scripts that his uncle had given him, greeted the two people. He arrived right on time.

“Ji-seok hyung! Seong-oh hyung! Hello!”

“Pfft. That’s why you hesitated.”

Ji-seok couldn’t help laughing at Seo-jun’s missing front tooth. He looked so cute and charismatic and cool that this ordinary look felt awkward, but Seo-jun suited it perfectly like a mischievous kid. Yoon Seong-oh also covered his mouth with his hand to hold back his laughter.

Seo-jun said with a displeased face. It was the second time today.

“My pronunciation is weird too.”

“I couldn’t tell on the phone.”

“The wind keeps blowing this way. Later, this and this will fall out too. Really! I don’t think I can do serious acting until my permanent teeth come out.”

“That’s true.”

Ji-seok sat down with a smirk. Manager Yoon Seong-oh also sat next to him.

Ji-seok took out a bunch of papers from his bag and handed them to Seo-jun.

They were the script and synopsis of the drama he was starring in.

“Is this the script?”

“Yeah. How is it?”

[Reinvestigation]

The title alone gave him the impression that it was a detective story.

Seo-jun flipped through the script. In the latter part, Ji-seok had marked some places with a highlighter and a post-it.

It was about three lines of dialogue.

“It’s a passing role that has nothing to do with the drama’s plot.”

“But is it okay in this state?”

Seo-jun, who had given up by now, showed Ji-seok his empty front tooth with a ee- sound. Ji-seok laughed again.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It suits you better.”

“What role is it?”

“A elementary school student who tells the hit-and-run car number.”

“Really?”

Seo-jun nodded at Lee Ji-seok’s words.

“It suits me well.”

“What do you think? Do you want to do it?”

“I’ll read the script and synopsis first.”

“You’re thorough.”

Seo-jun put the script and synopsis he received from Lee Ji-seok in his bag. The golem doll attached to the zipper of the bag swung.

Lee Ji-seok got up from his seat with a smile.

“Let’s go for lunch.”

“Okay!”

“Is there a good place nearby?”

“There’s a dumpling place in front of us. They also sell cold noodles!”

Lee Ji-seok smiled as he recalled the memory of eating dumplings together when they were filming The Evil Spirit.

Chapter 58

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 58

“The cold noodles are delicious.”

“Right?”

“Yeah. The dumplings were good too.”

After a satisfying lunch, the three of them walked away.

Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok wore their hats tightly and no one recognized them with Yoon Seong-oh around.

“At this rate, we can just meet outside, right?”

“Yeah.”

Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok chatted and laughed, while Yoon Seong-oh shook his head.

Well.

He didn’t know because there was no one to recognize them.

As Yoon Seong-oh thought, the street was empty of ants.

There were few people passing by, but they were just using this road to go somewhere else in a hurry.

Hmm.

He heard that a new road had opened across the main street, and it seemed that everyone had gone there.

Yoon Seong-oh scratched his cheek.

“Excuse me…”

The voice that came from nearby startled the three of them.

The man who spoke to them was also surprised.

Yoon Seong-oh naturally blocked the two of them and asked.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at his gesture.

The top actor’s manager!

He remembered what his uncle Chan had said, that he would introduce Seo-jun’s manager next time.

What kind of person would he be?

He wished he was as cool as him.

“What is it?”

The man flinched at the slightly cold voice.

Seo-jun applauded inwardly at Yoon Seong-oh’s change, who had been smiling all the time.

“Um, excuse me. Do you have time to watch a play? It’s suitable for kids too.”

“A play?”

Play.

That word caught the attention of Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun.

They were two actors who could talk about movies and dramas all day long. Plays were also indispensable.

Yoon Seong-oh’s stiff expression slowly relaxed. Seeing his change, the man spoke with a clear voice.

“Yes. It’s at a nearby theater. The story is interesting and everyone acts well. You won’t regret it.”

The man handed out flyers to Yoon Seong-oh, who gave them to Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun.

[Our Neighborhood]

Hmm. He couldn’t guess what the story was about just by the title.

Lee Ji-seok tapped Seo-jun’s shoulder with his hand.

Seo-jun looked up and Lee Ji-seok winked at him.

Do you want to see it?

Seo-jun nodded.

He had seen some plays in the US, but it was his first time to watch a play in Korea.

“If you buy tickets from me, I’ll give you 20 percent, no, 40 percent off.”

“No, thank you.”

The man’s shoulders sagged at Lee Ji-seok’s words. He didn’t know how many times he had been rejected.

Would there be no audience today either?

He pretended not to care, but he thought of the disappointed members and turned to look for other potential customers.

Then, Lee Ji-seok’s voice caught his ear.

“We like plays. You should charge us the full price. How much is it?”

The man’s face brightened up.

****

The actors of the theater group ‘Wind’ gathered together.

Some of them came from other groups and some of them were new to this group.

Pooling their resources, they rented this small and humble theater, but there were no separate staff to manage and produce the stage.

It was all created and moved by the actors themselves.

Only seven of them, all passionate about theater and acting.

“Ah, how many tickets have sold?”

“Three from Sung-woo’s side. One child, two adults.”

“That’s a relief. Our play is rated for general audiences. Otherwise, we might not have sold even three tickets.”

At Han Jia’s words, the lead actress, everyone smiled faintly.

Sun-gon Kim, the director playing the role of the village chief, spoke up after receiving a call from Sung-woo, who played the role of the supermarket owner.

“It’s not time to smile.”

“Huh? Why?”

“They paid the full price.”

“…What?”

“They love theater so much, they refused the 40% discount and paid the full price.”

At Sun-gon Kim’s words, everyone was at a loss for words.

The simple phrase “they love theater” struck a chord in their hearts.

“No, why did Sung-woo give a 40% discount? We won’t even cover the rental fee! And why did those people pay the full price when offered a discount…”

Han Jia couldn’t continue, choked up despite her scolding tone.

It had been three days since they faced an empty auditorium from the stage. It was just one sentence about loving theater, just a few thousand won difference, but something welled up inside them.

Sun-gon Kim clapped his hands sharply.

“Snap out of it, everyone! They bought tickets at full price because they love theater! We need to show them a play that’s worth it!”

“Yes!”

It had been a while since they had an audience. Only three people, but everyone was fired up.

***

“Hello! Are you here to see the play?”

One child, two adults. These were the people! Han Jia greeted them with a bright smile.

The trio, looking for the entrance to the theater, nodded at Han Jia’s words.

“The entrance is this way. You’ll have to go up to the second floor. Just give me your tickets.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Han Jia took their tickets, tore them in half, and led Seo-jun and the two others up the narrow stairs into the theater.

The theater was small.

The stage and the audience were incredibly close, and there weren’t many seats.

As the trio looked around the theater, Han Jia said with a smile,

“You can sit anywhere you like. If you want a broad view, the middle is best, and if you want to see the actors up close, the front row is good.”

“Where should we sit?”

Although there wasn’t much difference in the small theater, Seo-jun carefully chose their seats.

“I’d like to watch from the middle.”

“Okay. Sit here. This is the best view.”

Han Jia, beaming at Seo-jun’s choice, pointed out the prime spot. She had thought they might leave, seeing the empty auditorium, but the three didn’t seem to mind.

“We’ll start in a little while. Enjoy the show.”

“Thank you!”

“We will.”

After Han Jia left, Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun took off their hats.

“Ah, it’s hot outside!”

“It’s cool here, at least.”

“Didn’t I tell you not to take off your clothes like that? Both of you.”

“It’s fine. It’s fine. There’s no one to see us.”

Yoon Seong-oh sighed at Lee Ji-seok’s calm words. Seo-jun looked around the small theater with curiosity.

When they sat down, the tiny stage seemed to be right in front of them. Could they see the actors’ sweat from this close?

“But it’s really small.”

“It must be the smallest among the theaters. The rent must be cheap.”

“But there’s no one here… How can they make any money? I guess we’re the only ones here.”

Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun nodded at Yoon Seong-oh’s words. They felt a bit sad for the empty seats.

***

“I don’t think they’re coming!”

Han Jia burst in. Kim Seon-gon rubbed his forehead.

“What are you doing? You’re the lead, you have to greet the guests!”

“I’m wearing casual clothes anyway. I don’t need any makeup! Besides, those three, I don’t think they’re coming. There were some people who left because there were not enough audience!”

That was the case even when they had five guests.

“Fine. Fine. Just get ready for the stage.”

“Yes!”

Han Jia and the other actors were excited for the rare audience. They all waited for the curtain to rise with eager faces. Kim Seon-gon clapped his hands.

“Everyone, calm down.”

“Yes!”

Kim Seon-gon put his hand on the center and everyone else put their hands on top of his.

They looked the same as usual. But today, they had an audience.

They all shouted their slogan with their pounding hearts.

“Our neighborhood!!”

“Fight on!!”

“We can hear you.”

“Hahaha. This place has less soundproofing than others.”

They didn’t know what they were saying, but they clearly heard the ‘Our neighborhood, fight on!’ sound.

The two actors and the manager laughed at the cheerful voices of the theater actors.

They wondered what kind of play it would be, and how they would act.

Soon, the auditorium where only three people were sitting darkened and the stage was lit up.

“I guess it’s starting now.”

Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun’s expressions changed.

Yoon Seong-oh shook his head.

The actors changed in an instant when it came to acting.

He had seen Lee Ji-seok for five years, but Seo-jun too.

They had to be that good to star in Hollywood movies at such a young age.

‘Do they know that the people watching their play are Lee Ji-seok and Lee Seo-jun?’

No way.

Soon, Yoon Seong-oh also focused on the stage.

The play began with an incident that happened in a small town.

The female protagonist, a detective, investigated the townspeople and caused laughter with misunderstandings and confusions.

She caught the culprit by accident, like a cow stepping on a mouse, but she couldn’t clear the misunderstandings of the townspeople until the end.

“I’m not a real estate agent, I swear! I’m a detective! A detective!”

They heard the clear laughter of a child. They also heard the laughter of two adults. Kim Seon-gon’s hand tightened as he looked at the stage and the audience.

This vivid reaction.

He loved theater.

“Senior! It’s your turn to go out!”

“I know!”

Han Jia and the other actors had smiles on their faces.

“Hey. You can’t act if you smile like that! You’re supposed to be sad!”

“Senior! You’re supposed to be serious right now, but you’re totally laughing!”

They couldn’t help it. It was too fun and exciting.

Their hearts were pounding as if they would burst.

They enjoyed it, even though their clothes were soaked with sweat and their makeup was almost gone from running around under the hot lights.

That’s why they couldn’t leave this place.

“Come on, let’s go out!”

The play ended with a cheerful laugh.

Yoon Seong-oh clapped his hands with a grin.

“That was really fun!”

“I know. I didn’t expect much, but they all did well and the story was interesting. Right, Seo-jun?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun answered with his small hands, clapping hard, at Lee Ji-seok’s words.

“You all did great.”

Seo-jun knew that the acting of the members was lacking in his eyes, but that was because his standards were too high. He was aware of that.

‘If my co-stars were Ji-seok hyung, Evan, and Rachel, I would have improved too.’

Besides, he had studied hard for acting, watching dramas and movies. They were good enough for ordinary people, but not for Seo-jun’s standards.

But he liked it. He could feel how much they loved and enjoyed acting with their whole bodies. Just like him in his first life.

Seo-jun sent them a bigger compliment in his heart.

A small but loud applause echoed in the theater. The actors behind the curtain shed a few tears when they heard the applause.

“Hey. Don’t cry. We haven’t taken a picture yet.”

“Yes. But, they keep coming out.”

“Try to wipe them off.”

Kim Sung-woo, who sold tickets and went on stage, wiped his tears.

He was so glad that he talked to them then. He saw the happy members through his blurry eyes. He was really lucky.

They all stopped crying and held hands with red eyes on the stage. They bowed their heads to greet the audience, and the applause sounded again.

“Do you want to take a picture with the actors?”

Kim Seon-gon, whose eyes were a bit red, looked at the person without a hat and the boy and man with hats. The boy shrugged his shoulders and the man with the hat smiled slightly.

“I can’t help it. It was really fun.”

“Me too!”

“It’s going to be a mess.”

Yoon Seong-oh sighed and led the two people to the front of the actors.

They looked like bodyguards, and the actors tilted their heads.

“Sung-woo, who are they?”

“I don’t know. They came out of the cold noodle shop in front of us.”

“Jia, shh.”

Han Jia and Kim Sung-woo closed their mouths.

The leader of the theater group, ‘Wind’.

Yoo Seon-gon smiled brightly and stepped forward.

“Did you enjoy it?”

“Yes. It was really fun.”

“Thank you…”

Yu Seon-gon stopped in the middle of his bow. It was because Lee Ji-seok had taken off his hat that he had worn deeply.

Under the brightened auditorium lights, Lee Ji-seok’s handsome face was revealed.

Everyone who had been on stage, starting with Yu Seon-gon, saw his face clearly.

“Wow!”

“Lee Ji-seok!?”

Kim Seong-woo, who had blurted out without knowing, covered his mouth. Lee Ji-seok greeted them with his eyes and said.

“Seo-jun also said he enjoyed it.”

“It was so much fun!”

Seo-jun also took off his hat and bowed, then smiled brightly.

What? What? Who?

A brief silence fell over the theater.

As if they had finally recognized Lee Ji-seok and Lee Seo-jun in their heads, the actors screamed.

A scream erupted among the actors.

“Lee Seo-jun!!”

Chapter 59

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Chapter 59

“Is this real?”

“Actors Lee Ji-seok and Lee Seo-jun are here!”

“Is this a dream? Am I dreaming?!”

The seven members of the troupe were ecstatic.

They all gasped and sparkled their eyes.

Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun were taken aback by the intense reaction.

They wondered if they should step back.

Yoon Seong-oh tensed up his whole body.

Thwack! Kim Seon-gon slapped the back of Kim Sung-woo, who was closest to him. Fortunately, that sharp sound snapped everyone out of it.

They calmed down and caught their breath.

“Oh, oh, hello. Actor Lee Seo-jun. I’m a huge fan of yours.”

Seo-jun shook hands with the actors who asked for a handshake, trembling and smiling.

Ignoring his burning back, Kim Sung-woo quickly brought a clean sheet of paper and asked Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun for their autographs.

“Photos! Let’s take photos too!”

“Please give it to me. I’ll take it for you. I don’t really like photos.”

“Oh, thank you!”

Kim Seon-gon, who was wondering if he should stay out of the photo, thanked Yoon Seong-oh for his words.

Kim Seon-gon’s phone captured the faces of the seven actors, Seo-jun, and Lee Ji-seok. And Lee Ji-seok took another photo with his phone.

“Senior. Please send it to me too.”

“Me too!”

Kim Seon-gon uploaded the photo to the Banana Talk group chat.

They all downloaded it with happy faces. Lee Ji-seok, who got his phone back from Yoon Seong-oh, also sent the photo to Seo-jun.

“Um…”

Kim Seon-gon asked,

“Is it okay to post this on the internet? For promotion.”

“I’m fine with it.”

Unlike Seo-jun, who answered without much thought, Lee Ji-seok, who had experienced the fame, scratched his cheek.

“We don’t mind, but if you promote it with celebrities, it will be harder for you. Especially, Seo-jun is getting a lot of attention lately, so he will get more attention.”

It might be impossible to fix it if something went wrong. Yoo Seon-gon said with a smile.

“We’ve been on stage without an audience for three days already. Today, you were the only ones who watched our play. If there was no audience today, we might have dropped this work altogether. Some of us might have given up on acting. But we love theater. We want to keep going. So we can overcome it.”

All the members of the Wind Troupe nodded their heads. Han Ji-ah said with a firm expression.

“We’ll work hard so that the people who came to trust you won’t be disappointed.”

Seo-jun tilted his head as he listened to their stories. Why are they so worried about posting a photo? He wondered.

Seo-jun was not yet familiar with the life of a star, the daily life of a celebrity.

‘I’ll have to ask Ji-seok hyung later!’

After the photo talk was over, Kim Sung-woo, who sold the tickets, cautiously opened his mouth with the courage of the youngest who had just become an adult.

“Um…”

“Yes?”

“Can you teach us if there is anything lacking in our play?”

It was something they all wanted to do, but couldn’t.

It was a fact that everyone here, except Seo-jun, knew that Lee Ji-seok had debuted as a drama actor after doing theater. Lee Ji-seok looked at his watch without knowing.

‘I have to take Seo-jun with me…’

Seo-jun, who noticed his thoughts, raised both hands.

“I’m curious too!”

“Shall we chat for a bit and then leave?”

The members cheered at Lee Ji-seok’s answer.

***

Two days ago, a photo posted on SNS caused a stir on the internet.

[#Lee Seo-jun #Lee Ji-seok #Our Neighborhood #Play]

[Title: I watched Our Neighborhood]

I’m a fan of Lee Seo-jun who searches his name every day. I saw the photo as soon as it was uploaded. I ran out right away! I wonder if there were people like me, because the tickets were almost sold out. I was able to buy a ticket for the last show!

Sold out behind me! Hahaha

I had a lot of time left, so I looked around the shops near the theater and ate. There were a lot of people everywhere, maybe because there were many people like me. The owner of the shop I went to also said that he wished there were more people, because they suddenly increased.

Anyway, when I entered the theater, there were few seats and the stage was very close. When I bought the ticket on a first-come, first-served basis, there were numbers 1 and 2 written on the ticket, which was awesome. I could sit in the seats where Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok sat. There were marks on the chairs. People who sat there took pictures and made a fuss.

But, there were quite a few people coming behind me, so it seemed like it would change to a bigger theater soon. I should go and sit down soon.

The play was fun. I kept laughing. Everyone laughed a lot.

And after the play, I talked with the actors, and everyone asked about Lee Ji-seok and Lee Seo-jun. The actors seemed to expect it, and they read the answers in a row.

-Lee Seo-jun, Lee Ji-seok, and the manager, we all enjoyed it. At first, I didn’t know it was Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok. I found out when I took a picture. Lee Ji-seok and Lee Seo-jun ate lunch at the cold noodle shop in front of here. Lee Ji-seok gave advice on the play. Lee Seo-jun had never done a play before, so he learned with us.

+That cold noodle shop is where I ate. But the owner didn’t seem to know that Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok came and went.

-Oh, they learned together. That’s cute.

-There, the tickets will be sold out in 30 minutes. I failed today. I wish they moved to a bigger place soon.

=They’re looking for it now. But there’s a contract period, and it’s a bit hard to move around.

-The cold noodle shop must be crazy. The neighborhood was struggling with business lately, and everyone was worried. Thanks to the two, they survived.

-I didn’t like it. They just kept forcing jokes and the acting was bad. I don’t know why they recommended it.

=It wasn’t a recommendation. They just watched any play and took a picture together.

=Me too. I wouldn’t have watched it if it wasn’t for the two.

-Isn’t this paid promotion? The skills are not good either.

-I thought it was fun. It felt like relieving stress.

=I agree. But everyone only cared about Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok, and they only asked the actors that question. I wanted to ask more about the play.

=I felt the same way. The actors were good at acting. I’m looking forward to the next work.

-There are pros and cons. But it’s an opportunity to make a name for themselves, so it might be a good chance for the theater group. They have to make fans with this work and take them to the next work.

Seo-jun, who got in Lee Ji-seok’s car, read the comments on his phone screen.

Two days ago, when he left the theater after giving advice to the group, Seo-jun asked Lee Ji-seok.

Why did he have to worry about posting one photo on the internet? Lee Ji-seok, who thought for a moment, said he would know soon.

And now.

Seo-jun, who got in Lee Ji-seok’s car to observe the drama shooting, listened to Lee Ji-seok’s explanation.

For two days, Yoon Seong-oh and Lee Ji-seok collected the comments that Seo-jun could see and showed them to Seo-jun.

Even though they edited hard, they wondered if they could show him, but it felt a bit lacking to explain in words.

Lee Ji-seok couldn’t take his eyes off Seo-jun’s face.

And Seo-jun nodded his head without any expression. When children used the internet or watched YouTube, they had to see malicious comments, even under the supervision of their parents and adults.

‘It’s nothing but medicine.’

Lee Ji-seok sighed with relief and said,

“People are curious about what celebrities and famous people eat, watch, and do. And fans are even more interested. Especially Seo-jun, who has hardly any sightings and has starred in a Hollywood movie. People will pay a lot of attention to even the smallest things. Look, there are already articles about it.”

As Lee Ji-seok said, the internet was filled with all kinds of articles about Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun’s meeting, the play they watched, the introduction of the play, and the interview with the owner of the cold noodle shop.

Some reporters even used the headline ‘The play praised by a Hollywood actor!’ to attract clicks.

Seo-jun tilted his head when he saw the title.

It wasn’t wrong, but it felt too exaggerated.

“The actors can see the audience’s reactions in real time in a play, so they get immediate feedback. It’s fun. It’s boring. These articles make people expect too much, and that’s not good for the theater people. And the theater is already small, but if people suddenly flock in because of our names, will the actors be able to perform well under the pressure? That’s what I was worried about.”

“I see.”

Seo-jun nodded. He looked at his phone screen again.

[The play praised by a Hollywood actor, Lee Seo-jun!]

[Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun watched a different play!]

[The play chosen by the famous actors that combines fun and lessons!]

The article titles were really making people anticipate the play.

Seo-jun thought of the people from the Wind Theater Group that he saw two days ago.

People who loved theater. Could they cope with the bubbly interest of the public?

“Hyung, do you think the theater group can do well?”

“They have to overcome that pressure. They said they can do it. If they can get through this challenge, they will become a great theater group.”

Lee Ji-seok stroked Seo-jun’s head, which was full of worry, and said,

“Seo-jun, we, as entertainers, have to be more careful than ordinary people. You never know what kind of trouble a careless photo or a careless word can cause.”

Seo-jun nodded at Lee Ji-seok’s words. Manager Yoon Seong-oh, who had a professional disease, said without realizing it,

“Seo-jun doesn’t do SNS, right?”

“Yes. I don’t!”

“Don’t ever do it. That’s the source of all evil.”

***

Next week, from 10 p.m., the KBC Monday-Tuesday drama ‘Reinvestigation’ PD Choi Min-sung and writer So Eun-jin tilted their heads.

“What?”

“Seo-jun will do a cameo.”

PD Choi and writer So looked at Lee Ji-seok’s face, which was full of confidence, with blank expressions.

They knew about the cameo. There was a role that could be played by any child actor or a famous child actor.

During the script reading, they had a break and talked about who would be good for the role.

The lead actor, Lee Ji-seok, who was sitting next to them, heard it and said he had a good actor and he would bring him, so they agreed.

Anyone was fine. It was a role that would appear and disappear in one scene. Lee Ji-seok was picky about acting, so they trusted his acting.

“…What?”

PD Choi and writer So asked again. What nonsense was this popular actor talking about? Was it April Fool’s Day? They counted the date and shook their heads. April Fool’s Day had already passed.

Lee Ji-seok smiled and stepped aside.

“Ta-da!”

“Ta-da!”

A child shouted and appeared behind Lee Ji-seok. PD Choi and writer So’s eyes widened.

It was the most trendy profession in Korea. How could they not recognize this face!

It was Lee Seo-jun.

The same Lee Seo-jun that they had seen on the screen, in the movie theater!

PD Choi Min-sung, who had watched Shadowman 2 four times, and writer So Eun-jin, who had joined Seo-jun’s fan club, felt their hearts skip a beat when Seo-jun appeared right in front of them.

They couldn’t take their eyes off him, even though he was smiling brightly.

“Wow!”

Lee Ji-seok laughed as he saw the two people with their mouths agape.

“I came to visit the drama set for the first time. Are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. Yes. Yes!”

“We’re fine! Totally fine!”

The two people, who had been nodding their heads at Ji-seok’s question, suddenly snapped out of it.

“Wait. Juice. There should be juice here!”

“Isn’t juice too sweet? Don’t you have something else to drink for your health?”

“Oh, oh. Is that so. Then what should we give him…”

They turned their attention to the other side. Ji-seok spoke as he watched the two people who were restless. He didn’t act like this when he was in their position. Seo-jun must be really amazing.

“First, let’s sit down.”

“Yes. Yes. Right. Lee Seo-jun must be tired too.”

“Isn’t the chair too hard!? Cushion! Cushion!”

Writer So Eun-jin went out of the set to look for a cushion.

Seo-jun and Ji-seok blinked their eyes.

In no time, PD Choi Min-sung also disappeared to get some snacks. Only the two of them were left in the empty set.

“…I don’t need a cushion.”

“They all seem to like you very much…”

Soon, the two people came back.

Writer So Eun-jin brought three cushions wrapped in plastic, and PD Choi Min-sung brought a bunch of snacks and drinks, as if he had raided a convenience store.

They finally calmed down and sat on the chairs.

As Seo-jun sat on the cushion and drank orange juice, the two people looked at him with an emotional expression.

Tears filled their eyes.

They had to be happy.

It was a dream come true!

Chapter 60

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Chapter 60

“Ahem.”

Lee Ji-seok’s cough snapped the two people out of their trance.

PD Choi Min-sung and writer So Eun-jin slapped their cheeks to regain their senses.

“Right, we were talking about the cameo, weren’t we?”

“Of course, we would be grateful if actor Lee Seo-jun agreed to appear!”

“But, are you sure you’re okay with it? The role has barely any lines and only shows up once.”

Seo-jun nodded and answered.

“I read the whole script that Ji-seok hyung gave me. My mom and dad said it was very interesting and I enjoyed reading it too.”

It’s interesting! Writer So clenched her fists and restrained her excitement. A Hollywood actor said my script was interesting!

“PD, I also watched the drama you directed before in the US and I think you’ll do a great job with this one too.”

PD Choi covered his mouth with his hand. He watched my drama! He thinks I’ll do a great job!

They felt like they had become successful fans.

Lee Ji-seok shook his head as he watched the two people moved by his words.

“Ji-seok hyung is a good actor too, so I decided to do the cameo.”

Lee Ji-seok, who had been pretending not to care, also ended up being touched. Seo-jun said I was a good actor!

Seo-jun, who had impressed the three people with his words, casually drank his juice.

The moment of emotion that seemed to last long ended quickly. The staff started to show up one by one for the shooting.

“For now, let’s keep actor Lee Seo-jun’s appearance a secret until the shooting.”

“You can call me Seo-jun.”

“Ugh.”

The two people were moved by Seo-jun’s words and shouted his name in their hearts.

“Then, should Seo-jun stay with actorJi-seok? That would be better, right?”

“Just say he’s Ji-seok’s nephew.”

“Okay. Got it!”

Seo-jun put on the hat he had been wearing until then and ran to manager Yoon Seong-oh, who was checking Lee Ji-seok’s schedule in the corner.

PD Choi and writer So couldn’t take their eyes off Seo-jun’s back.

“He’s so cute!”

“I know, right? How can he act like that with such a cute face?”

“It’s no wonder he’s rumored to be a genius.”

“Ji-seok, you’re amazing. How did you bring actor Lee Seo-jun, no, Seo-jun here?”

Lee Ji-seok smiled and answered PD Choi’s question.

“You heard the reason earlier, didn’t you? That’s the truth.”

“Really?”

The two people, who had thought it was just a casual compliment, asked with surprised faces.

They were happy even with a casual compliment, but it was sincere? Lee Ji-seok shrugged and said.

“If he didn’t like the script and the direction, he would have refused my request. He’s that passionate about acting.”

“Wow…”

They saw Seo-jun differently as they heard that story. He was sitting next to manager Yoon and looking around the set. Lee Ji-seok spoke softly.

“Let’s show him today. What drama shooting is like.”

“Huh?”

“Seo-jun might have so much fun that he’ll star in a drama next time. Then you can brag to others. Thanks to us, this actor named Lee Seo-jun became interested in dramas.”

Their eyes widened. Ji-seok laughed. He thought of Jin Natra from Shadowman 2. He wanted to work with Seo-jun again. He didn’t care if it was a drama or a movie.

“Maybe that will be the next project of the writer and the PD.”

The eyes of PD Choi Min-sung and writer So Eun-jin sparkled. If Seo-jun agreed, anyone would invest and any broadcasting station would give them the prime time slot. The success was guaranteed.

No, they had other roles that they wanted Seo-jun to play. They both dug up the stories that they had buried in their hearts.

“That sounds good.”

“I agree.”

The three adults whispered as if they were plotting a secret operation.

Yoon Seong-oh, who was watching them, shook his head.

He wants to film with Seo-jun again!

That was what Ji-seok had been saying ever since he watched Shadowman 2, and he was still saying it now.

“Hyung is wasting his time.”

“Wasting his time?”

Seo-jun turned his head to look at Yoon Seong-oh, his manager, who was sitting next to him. He was wondering what snack to eat.

Yoon Seong-oh grinned. Ji-seok was wondering why Seo-jun didn’t film dramas, but Yoon Seong-oh decided to just ask him directly.

“Why don’t you do dramas, Seo-jun?”

Seo-jun rolled his eyes and opened his mouth.

“I don’t like any of the scripts. And the roles are too similar, so I think anyone can do them.”

Seo-jun tore open the bag of the snack he had chosen. As he neatly opened the bag, Yoon Seong-oh clapped at his skill.

“So you would do a drama if you liked the content?”

“Yes. But why are you asking?”

“Hyung thinks you’re not interested in dramas.”

Seo-jun shook his head as he chewed on the snack. That wasn’t true.

“He wants to film with you again, but if you only do movies, the chances of being cast together are low. He said that if you did dramas too, the range would increase and the chances would go up.”

“Why doesn’t he just ask me?”

Seo-jun said without thinking as he saw Ji-seok entering the set after finishing his makeup.

Ji-seok, who was wearing a police uniform, waved at Seo-jun. Seo-jun waved back.

Yoon Seong-oh laughed.

“He can’t force you to do a movie you don’t like. And he might not like the movie you’re doing. He just hopes that you both pick good movies and they happen to be the same one.”

The rehearsal began.

As Seo-jun watched the people moving on the set, he listened to Yoon Seong-oh’s voice.

“Hyung knows that you will definitely reject something you don’t like. He will do the same. But he thinks that those rejections will create an invisible gap between you two. That’s how people’s hearts are. They understand, but they feel a bit hurt. And eventually, they drift apart. Hyung doesn’t want that.”

Seo-jun nodded.

He didn’t know he felt that way. I want to film with Ji-seok again too.

“Then what should we do?”

“Well, we have to rely on luck. If we secretly scheme, Hyung will feel sorry. He’ll think he’s making you suffer because of his selfishness.”

“Ji-seok hyung, you’re too complicated.”

“Hahaha. He’s sensitive.”

PD Choi and writer So gestured to them.

It was time for the real shooting. To lure Seo-jun into the drama world, the three of them decided to show him their best from the closest distance.

They gestured for Seo-jun and Yoon Seong-oh, who had temporarily become Seo-jun’s guardian, to come over.

“Just do the acting that you want to keep doing.”

That’s what Yoon Seong-oh said. Seo-jun looked up at him.

Five years. Yoon Seong-oh, who had been working as a manager next to Lee Ji-seok, remembered the eyes of Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun that looked alike.

They were the eyes of actors who loved, desired, and enjoyed acting.

“Ji-seok hyung will never leave here. He will keep acting for 10 years, 20 years, even when he gets old. You too, right?”

“Yes. I will do it for a long time.”

“If you keep acting in the same place for so long, you will surely meet in the same work someday. You can’t avoid each other in this small world, can you?”

Yoon Seong-oh burst into laughter as he spoke. Come to think of it, this was a smaller world than he thought.

“Maybe later, both of you will get tired of saying ‘Why are we in the same work again?!’”

“Hahaha. That’s right.”

Seo-jun laughed at Yoon Seong-oh’s words. Unlike now, when he had few roles as a child actor, he might really feel that way when he grew up and started playing adult roles.

“What? Why are you laughing?”

Lee Ji-seok, who was checking the script for the last time before shooting, asked, looking at the two laughing people, but they both shut their mouths as if they had made a promise.

***

The day of the cameo shooting for the drama ‘Reinvestigation’.

For the cameo shooting, director Choi Min-sung decided to shoot with only the most reliable and minimal staff.

When Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun appeared in the deserted alley, the staff who didn’t know until then gasped.

“Honestly, I expected it when you said you saw the play together, but… it was true.”

The lighting director said to the camera director. The camera director nodded.

PD Choi, who wanted to keep the secret for the special cameo shooting, and writer So, who was smiling and pulling out the script, and the fact that Lee Ji-seok brought the child actor. They had guessed it from then on.

“It’s really Seo-jun.”

At the end of April. After a month and a half of screening, Shadowman 2 surpassed 10 million and left the theater.

There were more viewers than other Marina movies because a Korean actor appeared.

“Didn’t Shadowman 1 also exceed 10 million?”

Shadowman 1 surpassed 10 million with the effects of ‘Tear Challenge’ and ‘Shadowman VS Greenwing’. Not only in Korea, but also in the global box office, the Marina wondered if they should try another confrontation. They thought carefully.

“Wow. He’s already a double 10 million actor? No. Shadowman 1 was an extra… or not?”

“Shadowman 3 will definitely be double 10 million. Anyone can predict that it will exceed 10 million.”

The people who were whispering around nodded.

“How’s school? Is it fun?”

Seo-jun sighed at Lee Ji-seok’s question after finishing his makeup. He still had to wait a little longer for the shooting to be ready.

“I didn’t recognize him much at the entrance ceremony, but after Shadowman 2 was released, people who saw the movie seemed to recognize him. Kindergarten friends are fine, but other friends and older brothers and sisters are making a fuss.”

“Why? Do they want your autograph?”

“Not only mine, but also Shadowman and Rachel’s autographs.”

The teachers were doing a good job of blocking them, but he wondered if he should go to an art middle school.

Well, it might be better to go to an art middle or high school when he had to miss a lot of days because of shooting.

Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye were deep in thought. They decided to think slowly since they still had six years left.

Lee Ji-seok opened his mouth without knowing it at Seo-jun’s words.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill’s autographs.

“I want that too.”

The staff who were pretending to work and listening to the two’s conversation also nodded.

“No, I can’t do that. If I do it once, everyone will ask me to do the same. I don’t mind signing my own name, but I can’t sign other people’s names.”

“I see. Who taught you how to do that?”

“My uncle.”

“Oh. Your uncle is the president of Cocoa Entertainment. By the way, don’t you need to find an agency soon? Cocoa Entertainment doesn’t have any actors. Do you want to join my agency?”

Yoon Sung-oh, who was checking his schedule on his phone, looked up with a spark in his eyes. He said enthusiastically, “That’s a great offer, bro! Let me get the brochure for casting from my bag and explain it to you.” His manager, Lee Ji-seok, rolled his eyes at his eagerness.

Still, his agency was not bad compared to others.

“We have a lot of actors, and I’m here too. The facilities are also good.”

Seo-jun tilted his head and then shook it gently.

“I decided to go with Cocoa Entertainment. They are looking for a manager for me right now.”

He had already signed the contract at home. Of course, since he was a minor, he had also completed the signatures of his parents, who were his guardians.

Seo Eun-chan, who took the contract with excitement, hung Seo-jun’s photo on the wall of the first floor as the first thing he did. Then he started looking for Seo-jun’s manager.

“Really? That’s too bad.”

He had hoped that they would be in the same agency, and he felt disappointed. Yoon Seong-oh, who heard the story, also put the brochure back in his bag with a regretful expression.

“Lee Ji-seok, actor! We’re starting the filming.”

At the call of the assistant director, Lee Ji-seok got up from his seat. His solo filming started first.

Seo-jun’s filming was next.

Chapter 61

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Chapter 61

“Then, I’ll go film.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun bid farewell to Lee Ji-seok and sat down on a chair.

The drama filming felt faster than the movie filming.

The shots were less close-up and less detailed than the movie.

If this was the pace of a Monday-Tuesday drama, a daily drama would be totally exhausting.

He looked around the set and saw a staff member bringing a boy with a soccer ball tucked under his arm and a sullen face.

“Actor Seo-jun. You’ll be filming with this hyung later. The filming might take a while, so please wait with him.”

“Okay. I understand.”

The boy sat down on the seat where Lee Ji-seok had been sitting.

Silence fell between the two kids.

It would be awkward to film like this, so Seo-jun initiated a conversation.

“Hello, hyung. I’m Seo-jun. I’m in the first grade of elementary school.”

Seo-jun greeted him cheerfully, and the boy’s cute face relaxed into a smile.

He was already here, so he had no choice.

“Hi. I’m Jeong Si-hyeok. I’m in the sixth grade of elementary school. I’m in the soccer club.”

“Soccer club?”

“Yeah. My dream is to be a soccer player.”

Seo-jun recalled the script.

It was a scene where the kids who were playing soccer in the vacant lot told the detective the number of the hit-and-run car.

They brought a real soccer player even though he was an elementary school student.

“Um. Seo-jun. Do you want to play soccer? I’ll teach you.”

Jeong Si-hyeok seemed restless even though he had just sat down.

He lifted and dropped the soccer ball with both hands, unable to stay still.

Seo-jun nodded, wondering if the ball would fly away and interfere with the filming.

“Shall we?”

“Yeah! I’ll go ask my uncle!”

Yoon Ji-hyeok ran quickly to where the lighting staff was.

Ah. He must have come through someone he knew.

He came back with a bright face, having gotten permission.

“They said we can play over there in the vacant lot. But don’t go too far.”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun got up from the chair, and Yoon Seong-oh, who had been watching Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok alternately, approached.

Usually, Lee Ji-seok was Seo-jun’s guardian, but when Lee Ji-seok was filming, Yoon Seong-oh took over.

“Seo-jun, where are you going?”

“I’m going to play soccer with Si-hyeok hyung in the vacant lot.”

“Really? Then I’ll go with you.”

“What about Ji-seok hyung?”

“He’s an adult, so he’ll be fine on his own.”

The two kids headed to the vacant lot with manager Yoon Seong-oh.

The lighting staff, who had been glancing at them, seemed relieved and focused on their work again.

“You have to kick it like this, with the inside of your foot.”

“Like this?”

“You’re good! Have you played soccer before?”

“No.”

He had never played soccer, but he had played with a ball.

[(Choice) Golden Seal’s Golden Ball-Low Grade]

The golden seal never lets go of the ball made of gold.

It can manipulate the ball freely.

When manipulating the ball, the user’s physical ability is slightly enhanced.

The golden seal makes a round ball out of the shell of the golden egg it hatched from.

***

He was a race that could handle the ball better than anyone else, because he carried a golden ball with him all his life.

He used his tail to hit the golden ball, attacking his enemies or hunting for food.

‘There were no monsters that played soccer, but there were quite a few that played with balls.’

[The Golden Seal’s Golden Ball is activated.]

He enjoyed moving the soccer ball around with his feet, as if it was magnetized to them.

He had kicked the soccer ball a few times before, but it was different from using the skill.

Under Jeong Si-hyeok’s guidance, Seo-jun’s skills improved noticeably, as if he had been playing with the ball his whole life.

Yoon Seong-oh clapped without realizing it, seeing the change.

“Hey! Pass it over here!”

Jeong Si-hyeok was also excited. His uncle had asked him to help out just once, and he came out without any practice, but the kid he was filming with was amazing.

He not only passed well, but also stole Jeong Si-hyeok’s ball with quick footwork, despite the difference in height and gestures.

Jeong Si-hyeok’s enthusiasm was ignited by the sight, and he worked hard with his feet.

The two kids kept stealing and stealing the ball from each other, and when they got bored, they passed it back and forth from a distance.

Jeong Si-hyeok, who received Seo-jun’s pass, smiled brightly and shouted.

“Seo-jun, are you really doing this for the first time? You’re really good.”

“Really?”

Seo-jun laughed and kicked the ball.

While they were playing, Lee Ji-seok’s filming was over.

The staff who gathered at the vacant lot to film watched the kids play and admired them.

“They’re both really good, aren’t they?”

“Si-hyeok is one of the top five elementary school students in our country. He was on TV last time. But, this actor Seo-jun is also really good.”

The pass was seamless, and they sometimes fought for the ball.

Jeong Si-hyeok was gentle, but Seo-jun’s skills were also impressive.

“Should we put this in?”

“Yes. Let’s put a little bit in the beginning.”

Director Choi Min-sung and writer So Eun-jin nodded.

The camera was rolling without the kids knowing, and Yoon Seong-oh moved away from the kids so he wouldn’t be on camera.

The scene of the kids playing was quickly filmed, and they moved on to the main filming.

***

May 8th.

It was Parents’ Day.

Seo-jun, who had a lot of fun with his friends at the campsite on Children’s Day, made a carnation to give to his parents at school.

The first graders were still too dangerous to use scissors, so the teacher had cut out red, yellow, and pink petals in advance.

They glued the petals together to make a carnation, but unlike the other kids who had glue on their hands and tore the petals, Seo-jun’s carnation looked like a product sold in a store.

Seo-jun had folded the paper petals himself and put creases in them, so the shape of the petals was different.

“Seo-jun, how did you do that?”

Ji-yoon, who was sitting next to Seo-jun, asked. His carnation was much different from hers, which had glue all over it. Seo-jun’s was much prettier. I want to give my mom and dad a pretty flower too!

“This? If you fold it like this and unfold it, it’s pretty. You have to fold it in half.”

As Seo-jun showed how to fold the petals, Ji-yoon and his other friends who were sitting around followed him.

Soon, the kids who were making their own at their desks gathered around Seo-jun.

“Like this?”

“Yeah! You’re doing great.”

The teacher smiled at Seo-jun’s polite appearance, and lifted his arm when he couldn’t make his own carnation because he was helping the kids.

“Okay, teacher. I’ll help you too.”

They all worked together and made beautiful carnations in no time.

Seo-jun’s hands moved quickly while the children were making carnations for their parents with their clumsy skills.

He folded and cut the colored paper he bought with his own money neatly and prettily – with the teacher’s help – and filled his bag with flowers.

He came home after his taekwondo class and found his parents waiting for him with bright smiles.

Seo-jun checked the clock. It was not even six o’clock, but his dad was home.

“Dad! You got off work early?”

“Uh-huh.”

Lee Min-jun coughed at Seo-jun’s remark. He couldn’t admit that he came early because he wanted to get a carnation for Parents’ Day.

Seo-jun guessed his dad’s thoughts and grinned as he opened his navy blue backpack.

“This one is for mom. This one is for dad!”

He handed them the pretty envelopes with the carnations inside.

“Mom, dad. I love you!”

Seo-jun hugged them both tightly. Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun felt tears welling up in their eyes.

They put the carnation and the letter on the floor and embraced Seo-jun.

Ah. When did their little baby grow up so much?

They had received carnations and letters every year, but their hearts still fluttered every time.

“Mom and dad love Seo-jun so much too!”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun pinned the carnations on their clothes and read the letter.

Seo-jun, feeling shy, quickly went to his room and brought out a few boxes he had prepared beforehand.

His parents wiped their tears after reading the letter.

Lee Min-jun, whose nose was running, asked as Seo-jun took out more carnations from his bag.

“Seo-jun. Why did you make so many?”

“I have many people to give them to!”

Seo-jun put the carnations in the lovely boxes.

The carnations for his parents had more petals, but the others were still pretty.

“These are for grandma and grandpa. This is for my other grandma. This is for Uncle Chan. This is for Uncle Hee-sang. These are for Brown Black hyungs. This is for Aunt Na-ra.”

That was all for the carnations. Seo-jun took out another flower.

“I made these for other people I wanted to give them to.”

Lee Ji-seok and Yoon Seong-oh. Director Choi Dae-man, Director Ryan Will, Jonathan, Evan Block, Rachel Hill.

They were paper flowers for the people who had been kind to him.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun smiled as they saw the postcards and flowers in the boxes.

“They will love them a lot.”

As they said, Seo-jun’s phone rang nonstop after he mailed the boxes to the people.

Brown Black, who sobbed and said they didn’t expect to receive such a thing, and Kim Hee-sang, who sent him a bunch of dolls.

The others seemed to have forgotten the gifts they got on Children’s Day, and they sent him more gifts again.

***

It was the third week since Reinvestigation started airing.

Seo-jun watched the rerun of Reinvestigation with Lee Ji-seok, and went to bed at nine, but today he decided to watch it live.

It was finally Reinvestigation episode five.

The episode where Seo-jun made a cameo appearance.

“It feels weird to watch it on TV. I always watched it at the cinema.”

“Right. Mom and dad already turned on KBC.”

The couple and Seo-jun sat on the sofa and watched the TV with commercials.

The drama was always entertaining, but it felt different from the movies when Seo-jun was on it.

“They also showed Evil Spirit on KBC on Sunday.”

“Ugh. I’m not a fan…”

“He’s a cop, and there was a hit-and-run accident right in front of him. He’s investigating it.”

“So?”

“There’s no other way out of here. Did you see any strange cars passing by?”

“I didn’t…”

“I did!”

The little kid quickly answered.

The big kid sighed. He remembered how the kid had been babbling about the weird car all night long.

“It drove weirdly. It hit the streetlight over there and the fence over here.”

“Did you see the license plate of that car?”

“Uh… It was similar to our home phone number… 4812. I don’t know the front part.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Ji-seok nodded his head. And he left the alley to investigate the hit-and-run car.

As the fifth episode of Reinvestigation ended and the scroll went up, a bright white caption appeared on the screen with the smiling face of the kid.

[We thank Lee Seo-jun and Jeong Si-hyeok for their special appearances.]

-??? Lee Seo-jun?! For real?

-Wow. I thought Lee Seo-jun only did movies!

-But Lee Seo-jun lost his front toothㅋㅋㅋ I feel his ageㅋㅋ

-So he went to see a play with Ji-seok.

-Who’s the kid next to him? He kicked the ball really well.

=His name is Jeong Si-hyeok, he’s an elementary school student and a promising player. He’s the best in his age groupㅋ

=But Lee Seo-jun also kicked wellㅋㅋㅋ He’s a genius in acting and soccer, what can’t he doㅋㅋ

=My dad, he’s the coach of the elementary school soccer club, he’s asking me who he is, where he livesㅋ

Dad: You’ll go abroad and become a world star!(soccer)

Me: He’s already abroad and a world star.(acting)

Dad: What!?

-That’s why KBC showed Lee Seo-jun’s movie.

=But the atmosphere was totally differentㅋㅋ He was amazing in Evil Spirit, but in the drama, he looked like a real neighborhood kidㅋㅋㅋ

=But still, a change of moodㅋㅋ It wasn’t as bad as Jin Natra. That was beyond the wallㅋㅋ

[Reinvestigation, who’s the special guest?]

[Why are you here?! The cameo of Reinvestigation!]

[Ji-seok’s hidden card! Back to the ratings! Reinvestigation, ratings explosion!]

[Come back next episode! Lee Seo-jun!]

[Hollywood actor’s TV debut?!]

-No way! If Lee Seo-jun is coming, you have to tell me!!!

-I saw itㅋㅋ His front tooth is so cuteㅋ

-I didn’t see itㅜㅜ I thought Lee Seo-jun would never be on TVㅠㅠ

=I agreeㅠ I have to watch the rerunㅜㅜ Why are the ads so longㅠㅠ

Lee Seo-jun Reinvestigation

Lee Seo-jun Drama

Lee Seo-jun Cameo

Lee Seo-jun

Reinvestigation Episode 5 Rerun

…

“Lee Seo-jun Reinvestigation, it sounds like Seo-jun became a criminal.”

“That’s true. But it was fun. Seo-jun is good at soccer. Do you want to go to the soccer field with dad next time?”

“Yeah!”

Lee Min-jun asked as he checked the real-time search terms on his phone.

He smiled brightly at his son who answered coolly. He liked almost all sports.

Seo Eun-hye also shared her thoughts on the cameo.

“I hope you do more dramas next time. Movies end in one episode, but dramas keep coming out. No, wait. Dramas are hard because of the scripts. Ugh. Never mind. Seo-jun can do whatever he wants. Mom likes everything.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Seo Eun-hye’s words.

“I’m going to do something else!”

Chapter 62

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Chapter 62

Cocoa Entertainment’s headquarters lobby.

Seo Eun-chan was fondly touching the nameplate that said ‘Cocoa Entertainment Actor Lee Seo-jun’ under Seo-jun’s photo on the wall.

He quickly snapped out of it and headed to the PR team.

The sound of the phone ringing pierced through the wall, even though they used good materials for soundproofing.

“It’s what I signed up for, but this is no joke.”

The day after the fifth episode of Reinvestigation aired, Cocoa Entertainment was flooded with calls.

It was because Seo-jun’s agency was registered on the search site’s profile page.

Seo Eun-chan swallowed his saliva and opened the door to the PR team.

The sound of the phone bell hit his eardrums.

All the phones in the company were ringing and the company email was also filled with emails.

It was like a war zone.

An employee who answered the phone shouted.

“Boss! It’s MBS!”

“This is SBC!”

There were offers for drama and variety show appearances from everywhere.

If it was just a matter of poking the unripe fruit before Seo-jun made a cameo appearance in Reinvestigation, now it was quite serious.

They rushed in from dramas that were already scheduled to dramas that were just gathering actors.

Seeing the broadcasting stations competing to get Seo-jun, everyone thought that he could even get into a drama that was already scheduled if he said yes.

‘But that’s unlikely.’

Also, in the case of variety shows, there were cases where different writers from the same program contacted them separately.

The employees who didn’t answer the phone browsed the internet.

From KBC’s homepage to communities with a lot of members.

There were stories about Seo-jun everywhere.

Even people who didn’t watch movies knew ‘Hollywood child actor, Lee Seo-jun’.

When they heard the news that Seo-jun appeared as a cameo in a drama, they wanted to see it.

“The rerun ratings and the replay views are amazing.”

“KBC is airing episodes one to five again to catch the viewers.”

“There are posts asking if Seo-jun will appear again.”

“There are also some posts saying they want him to play soccer?”

Among them, there were people who looked for the movies that Seo-jun appeared in after watching Reinvestigation.

There were also people who watched Reinvestigation after seeing The Evil Spirit that KBC showed.

As the public’s interest increased day by day, the broadcasters also moved busily. The phone bell rang jingle jangle.

The PR team leader Kim Su-ryeon raised her voice.

“What should we do, boss?”

Seo Eun-chan scratched his cheek.

“Let’s reject all the dramas for now.”

“What?!”

The heads of the employees who were answering the phone and browsing the internet turned around.

They could pick and choose as they pleased, but they weren’t going to do any dramas?

No, are they going to do a new movie? Hollywood? Korea?

As the employees’ questions piled up, Seo Eun-chan opened his mouth.

“Actor Lee Seo-jun wants to do a play.”

At that, the man who came to find Seo Eun-chan dropped the white paper in his hand.

It was Lee Seo-jun’s manager, Ahn Da Ho, who had read all the scripts of the dramas and movies that came to Seo-jun for two weeks and wrote reviews for them.

He missed today’s reviews, which were ten pages long.

Seo Eun-chan turned his head at the sound of something falling.

He saw Ahn Da Ho standing at the entrance of the PR team office. Seo Eun-chan smiled brightly at Ahn Da Ho’s gaze, which looked at him with a blank expression.

“That’s great. Da Ho. You have time now, right?”

At the boss’s words, Ahn Da Ho, a mere employee, nodded reflexively.

***

“This is Ahn Da Ho. He’s 25 years old.”:

Everyone noticed how Da Ho’s face lit up whenever he talked about Seo-jun. He was clearly a fan of his.

“But you’re good at separating work and personal life. You’ll be a great manager.”

They teased him, half-seriously, half-jokingly, if they should let him talk to Seo-jun on the phone. But Da Ho always refused firmly, saying it would be rude.

After introducing the manager, Da Ho checked the time and saw that it was almost time for Lee Min-jun to get off work. He decided to stay for dinner at Seo-jun’s place and greet him as well.

The boss, Seo Eun-chan, gave him a day off to make up for the long hours he had been working.

Seo Eun-chan, who went to the market to run an errand for Seo Eun-hye, saw her cooking in the kitchen. Da Ho, who was sitting stiffly in the living room, didn’t know what to do.

Seo-jun, who was doing his homework at the living room table, started a conversation with Da Ho, who looked awkward.

“Hyung, are you bored?”

“Huh? No, I’m fine. Why? Do you need help with something?”

“No.”

Seo-jun put down his pencil and went to his room. He brought back some scripts that he had enjoyed reading and gave them to Da Ho.

“Here, read these if you’re bored.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Seo-jun finished his homework, and Da Ho read the scripts.

The notes that Seo-jun had written himself made Da Ho’s heart flutter.

[I want to try this]

[This is not good]

[This is very different from the movie]

[The director changed halfway]

Da Ho opened his notebook and wrote down the characteristics of the roles that Seo-jun wanted to try and the genres of the movies.

He also wrote down the titles of the scripts that had bad reviews.

He decided to look them up when he got home.

The sound of pencils and knives in the quiet Seo-jun’s house sounded like music.

Seo-jun, who was working hard on his homework, turned his head and looked at Da Ho.

He liked the way he was absorbed in reading the script. He smiled and focused on his homework again.

“My hyung is here with me.”

The silence didn’t last long. Seo Eun-chan and Lee Min-jun came in through the front door. Seo-jun jumped up and ran to hug Lee Min-jun.

Lee Min-jun smiled and lifted Seo-jun up.

“Seo-jun, did your manager come?”

“Yeah! It’s Da Ho hyung!”

Da Ho, who had regained his composure, bowed and greeted him.

“Hello, I’m Da Ho.”

“Hi, I’m Seo-jun’s dad, Lee Min-jun.”

When Lee Min-jun arrived, dinner began. Seo-jun told them about his day at school and the adults responded enthusiastically. Seo-jun was more excited and talked more.

He gave a few presentations, played soccer in the playground, and moved on to the next book at the music academy.

As Seo-jun chattered away, Da Ho’s shoulders, which had been tense as if he was at any dinner, relaxed.

Seo Eun-chan brought dessert and Da Ho and Seo Eun-chan left Seo-jun’s house.

“How was it?”

“What?”

“Seo-jun. He’s pretty normal, right?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Da Ho nodded at Seo Eun-chan’s words as he sat in the passenger seat.

“Hello! I’m Ahn Da Ho!”

Ahn Da Ho, who had a fairly sturdy physique, bowed politely.

He wondered where the boss was taking him, and to his surprise, it was the actor Lee Seo-jun’s house.

He expected Lee Seo-jun, who had filmed Hollywood movies, to live in a wealthy neighborhood with a spacious detached house and a dignified dog, but he lived in an ordinary apartment in an ordinary neighborhood.

Seo Eun-hye and Seo Eun-chan laughed at Ahn Da Ho’s tense expression.

Lee Seo-jun also looked at Ahn Da Ho, who would become his manager.

By chance or fate, there were many good people around Lee Seo-jun.

The neighbors who lived in the same apartment as Lee Seo-jun and did not spread rumors. The kindergarten parents who were satisfied with just an autograph and a photo.

He didn’t care if it was really a coincidence, but if it was the influence of Seon-gi, he couldn’t predict what effect it would have now that he had embraced magic.

‘No, I have a rough idea…’

Lee Seo-jun’s eyes rolled. Ahn Da Ho, who was sitting cross-legged, straightened his shoulders and back.

Lee Seo-jun smiled brightly as he looked closely at his opponent like a cat. He seemed like a good person.

“Hello. Ahn Da Ho hyung. I’m Lee Seo-jun.”

“Nice to meet you. Lee Seo-jun actor. I’m Ahn Da Ho.”

When Lee Seo-jun reached out his small hand, Ahn Da Ho’s eyes shook.

He didn’t tell his boss, Seo Eun-chan, but Ahn Da Ho was a fan of Lee Seo-jun.

Two years ago, when he saw William in the theater, Ahn Da Ho cried as if the theater would leave.

He was living a life of enduring day by day, not to be a burden to his mother who was alone, but then, he had a dream of supporting an actor who could act like that.

He worked hard after that. He studied about the entertainment industry and entered as a new manager and took care of the chores.

He also became a manager of an actor who was not very famous but abusive, and he was curious about how the actor felt and tried to act as an extra. He quit after four NGs.

In two years, a short time, his first job went bankrupt and he wandered around and joined Cocoa Entertainment.

There was only Brown Black, and the next trainee seemed to be an idol group, so Ahn Da Ho, who wanted to be an actor manager, was looking for a new agency.

Then a rumor spread inside the company. The rumor that Lee Seo-jun actor signed a contract with Cocoa Entertainment.

He couldn’t believe it, but it was concluded as a fact. There was an announcement that they were looking for a manager.

It wasn’t written openly, but it was a manager recruitment announcement after the rumor that Lee Seo-jun actor joined Cocoa Entertainment. It was definitely for Lee Seo-jun’s manager by timing.

Ahn Da Ho applied immediately. And he passed. There were several candidates, but he was the one.

Ahn Da Ho grabbed Lee Seo-jun’s hand with a trembling hand. Seeing him in person, he felt his age more. He admired him for acting like that.

And now Ahn Da Ho could help Lee Seo-jun’s acting.

“I’ll do my best.”

He was sincere. Lee Seo-jun felt Ahn Da Ho’s sincerity and smiled brightly. He felt an honest heart from his face, which seemed to burst into tears with his huge body.

“Let’s talk comfortably! Ahn Da Ho hyung!”

As the two shook hands, Seo Eun-hye poked Seo Eun-chan’s side.

“You seem to have a good eye for people.”

“Ahn Da Ho might have hidden it, but everyone in our company knew he was a fan of Seo-jun.”

Seo Eun-chan sighed as he remembered the report that Ahn Da Ho brought.

He told him to analyze a few, but Ahn Da Ho analyzed almost all the scripts that came to Seo-jun.

With a tired face, Seo-jun thought about the roles he should do now, next year, and for years to come.

“Seo-jun is good at acting and smart for his age, but you don’t need to feel pressured. Just take care of him like a younger brother. Stop him if he seems to be in danger. Listen to his reasons if he wants to do something. And contact me if there’s any trouble.”

“Ah. I understand.”

“Do you know a guy named Kim Hee-sang?”

“Yes?”

“He knows a lot about Seo-jun. My brother-in-law and nuna also know him well, but they have different fields. For manager-related matters, it might be better to ask Hee-sang for advice than my brother-in-law or nuna. I’ll introduce you to him next time.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“Mr. Da Ho.”

Da Ho answered Seo Eun-chan’s faint voice.

“Yes. Mr. President.”

“Please take good care of our Seo-jun.”

Seo Eun-hye, Lee Min-jun, and Seo Eun-chan all said the same thing all day long.

Please take good care of our Seo-jun.

Da Ho engraved the hearts of the people who worried about Seo-jun deep in his chest and spoke with determination.

“Yes. I’ll do my best!”

***

They had entrusted him to Cocoa Entertainment, but Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye didn’t let go of their hands.

The two searched the internet together.

“This one is too old for him.”

“This one too. Only over 10 years old.”

There were few plays with children in them.

The roles were few and far between, and there were height and age restrictions.

Especially Seo-jun, who was 8 years old, couldn’t even write an audition application form because of the age limit.

“Seo-jun, do you really want to do a play?”

“Yes!”

The play he saw with his hyung Ji-seok left a deep impression on him.

The actors who performed right in front of him and the close audience seats that seemed to hear their breath.

The small theater stuck in Seo-jun’s heart.

“I want to act like that too, so close to them.”

What would it feel like to see the reactions of the people who watch my acting?

Unlike the staff who had to pay attention to the filming, they would only watch my acting.

The audience who would focus on my acting without thinking about editing or box office.

He liked movies and dramas, but he wanted to see the vivid and direct reactions, with his own eyes. His heart pounded just thinking about it.

Seo Eun-hye grabbed his arm at Seo-jun’s sparkling eyes.

“I see. Then let’s look for more.”

Seo-jun searched the internet with his phone and Seo Eun-hye with her laptop.

Chapter 63

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Chapter 63

Seo-jun’s daily routine was always the same.

He would come home from school and do his homework and worksheets.

Da Ho hyung would come and give him a script. He would read it.

He would shake his head. Da Ho hyung would leave.

After Da Ho left, Seo-jun asked his dad with a pouty face. Lee Min-jun lowered the volume of the TV.

“When can I do a play?”

“You don’t have to rush. You’re still young, Seo-jun.”

“I know, but I feel like I’m missing out on some roles that I can do right now!”

“Really? Then how about you make your own play that you like?”

“By myself?”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened. By himself?

Lee Min-jun was half-joking, but his words struck a chord in Seo-jun’s heart.

Seo-jun had plenty of money, close friends who were famous actors, and excellent directors.

All he needed was a good story.

Seo-jun blinked.

Huh? Maybe I can really do it…

“Isn’t that the play that Seo-jun saw?”

“Huh?”

Seo-jun’s thoughts were interrupted by his dad’s words. Seo-jun looked at the TV and Lee Min-jun turned up the volume.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, Lee Ji-seok’s Our Neighborhood! Wind Theater Group Interview!]

A short clip of an entertainment news program appeared.

The Wind Theater Group’s leader, Kim Seon-gon, was on the screen, with a bigger stage than the small theater that Seo-jun had seen.

[How do you like the new theater?]

-It’s the first time for all of us to perform on such a big stage, so we’re a bit awkward, but we’ll adapt soon.

[Tell us about the play, Our Neighborhood.]

-Our Neighborhood is a human comedy play that is built on people’s misunderstandings and misconceptions.

[What is your next work?]

The brief interview about the play continued, and then the topic shifted to Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok.

As more questions followed about them, the smile on Kim Seon-gon’s face that was visible on the screen dimmed for a moment.

Seo-jun, who was watching the TV with bated breath, quickly took out his phone and contacted Lee Ji-seok as soon as Kim Seon-gon’s image disappeared.

The phone rang a few times before Lee Ji-seok answered.

-Seo-jun? What’s up?

“Hyung. Did you watch TV?”

-TV? No. Why?

“The Wind Theater Group was on TV, but the leader’s face didn’t look good.”

The couple, who were curious about what was going on, quietly left the living room. It was better to leave this matter to Lee Ji-seok, a veteran actor.

Lee Ji-seok put on his earphones and searched on his laptop. If the theater group was on TV, it must be entertainment news. He found what he was looking for.

“Seo-jun.”

-Yes?

“Don’t worry.”

-But, his expression was bad.

There was no one more sensitive to the expressions of others than actors who acted with their faces.

Seo-jun noticed the fatigue and exhaustion in Kim Seon-gon’s expression.

-Didn’t I tell you before? If we promote ourselves with our names, bad things will follow.

“Yes.”

-This is one of those bad things. Director Kim Seon-gon loves acting as much as he loves his own troupe’s works.

Seo-jun sat on the sofa and listened to Lee Ji-seok’s story.

-We saw the play in April and now it’s June, right? For almost two months, he must have heard more questions and stories about us two than his own work. Even if the audience asks for the first time, it must be hard for him to listen to the same thing for two months. And it’s not even about the work.

“Yes.”

-And this time, it was Director Kim Seon-gon, Wind Troupe, who chose this.

“Chose?”

-Yes. He wanted to succeed with our names, rather than making his work the protagonist. He loves theater, but he needs money to keep doing it. Work or success. He chose success in that dilemma.

“Then how long will it be hard?”

Lee Ji-seok smiled and said to Seo-jun’s gentle words.

-Don’t worry. People’s interest changes in an instant, so it won’t last long.

Lee Ji-seok scrolled down the comments. Unlike the first day when it sold out in 30 minutes, there were few stories about the tickets being sold out.

Now that the audience was dwindling, it must have been the reason why Director Kim Seon-gon appeared on the broadcast interview.

He didn’t miss the opportunity that came to him, and the timing of the interview was good.

He felt a moment of boredom at the thought that the general public who watched the broadcast would see the play and ask more questions about Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok.

There was nothing on the entertainment news board, so only Seo-jun noticed it.

‘You have good eyes.’

Lee Ji-seok chuckled and said.

-It’s okay. If you look at our neighborhood on the stage, you still have some room left. If it’s really hard, he would have put up a new work. People are interested in the play we saw.

Seo-jun thanked Lee Ji-seok for his words and hung up the phone.

“Protagonist…”

That word remained in Seo-jun’s head.

He had always received attention, but he knew well enough how it felt to not be the protagonist.

It was a feeling of exhaustion that had nothing to do with his love for acting.

No, it wasn’t unrelated.

The situation of not being the protagonist slowly eroded his love for acting.

Who could immerse themselves in acting comfortably in a situation where they couldn’t get any attention and were overshadowed by others? Could they still love acting?

He blamed his talent and himself and eventually quit acting.

Wouldn’t a person who truly loves acting be someone who acts until the end in that situation?

Suddenly, he thought of that.

****

Seo-jun’s search for his next work continued.

“This one has no dialogue at all. How about it?”

Seo-jun tilted his head at Ahn Da Ho’s question.

There was no weight for child actors, but it was a play that did well last year.

This year, they were going to put it on stage with different actors.

“Um. Is there anything else?”

“Yeah. Let’s look for more.”

Ahn Da Ho put down the script at Seo-jun’s words.

He sighed inwardly.

There weren’t many plays with child actors, but would there be any that Seo-jun liked? He had to ask the company to look for more.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho put their heads together and diligently examined the scripts.

Just then, ding-dong- the bell rang.

Ahn Da Ho got up, stopping Seo-jun who was about to get up, and headed to the intercom. After a brief conversation, the front door opened.

“Uncle Hee-sang!”

Kim Hee-sang had come to the house. Seo-jun greeted him with a smile. Kim Hee-sang hugged Seo-jun and extended his hand to Ahn Da Ho, who was standing awkwardly.

Ahn Da Ho quickly shook his hand.

“Hello. I’m Kim Hee-sang, Seo-jun’s uncle. You’re Seo-jun’s manager, right?”

“Yes. I’m Ahn Da Ho, the manager of actor Lee Seo-jun. Nice to meet you!”

“Please take good care of our Seo-jun.”

They met without any introduction from Seo Eun-chan. Kim Hee-sang exchanged greetings and sat down on the living room floor. Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho also sat in their seats.

“So, what’s up?”

“I was wondering if you had any new designs.”

“Yeah! I’ll bring the sketchbook!”

Seo-jun gave Kim Hee-sang a sketchbook full of monster drawings that he drew while playing.

As Kim Hee-sang slowly looked through the sketchbook, Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho started reading the script again.

Impossible, impossible, possible.

Seo-jun’s drawing skills had improved day by day.

He drew so realistically that many of his drawings were rejected for product design.

He looked at the drawings that he thought could be simplified and lifted his head. He saw two people immersed in the script.

The drawings were quick and easy to see. Kim Hee-sang finished his work and took out one of the scripts that were piled up.

“What is this? A drama? A movie?”

“No, a play script!”

“A play?”

Kim Hee-sang tilted his head and read the script. There were black letters on the white paper.

He flipped through a few pages and saw lines marked with a highlighter pen. There were barely ten lines in one part of the script.

“Is this the child actor’s part? It’s very short.”

“I don’t mind the length. But there’s nothing interesting.”

Seo-jun slumped on the table. His hands and eyes were still on the script.

Ah, what should I do? Should I find something better here? Then, this one. And this one.

Kim Hee-sang, who was reading the script, shrugged his shoulders and picked up his phone.

“Is there anything posted on the internet?”

“Uh-huh. Mom and I looked around, but there’s an age limit on that side. Da Ho hyung picked out the plays that don’t care about age.”

“Really?”

“Yes. We chose the plays that could be the most popular with the team members from Team 2.”

At Ahn Da Ho’s words, Seo-jun, who was slumped, and Kim Hee-sang, who was searching on his phone, turned their heads and looked at him.

They looked surprised.

“What, is there something you don’t like?”

“Popularity?”

“Popularity?”

At Seo-jun and Kim Hee-sang’s words, Ahn Da Ho unknowingly knelt down. Cold sweat ran down his back. He stuttered a little and answered.

The evening sun was setting behind the skyscrapers, casting long shadows on the streets. Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho were sitting on the couch in the living room, flipping through the pages of a script.

They had been practicing for hours, but they still couldn’t find any excitement or passion in the lines.

They sighed and put down the script, feeling frustrated and bored.

Just then, they heard a loud ding-dong from the doorbell.

Seo-jun jumped up, hoping it was someone who could save them from this dullness. But Ahn Da Ho stopped him and got up instead.

He walked to the intercom and pressed the button.

A familiar voice greeted him from the other side.

Ahn Da Ho smiled and opened the front door. It was Kim Hee-sang, Seo-jun’s uncle and a famous illustrator. He had come to visit them with a surprise.

“Yes, for actor Seo-jun’s filmography, we’ve gathered plays with the highest potential for success. Considering all factors—talented actors, renowned directors, and famous writers…”

Ahn Da Ho trailed off as he noticed the increasingly displeased expressions on the faces of the others. Something was amiss.

Seo-jun looked at the script he had already read three times with a deflated expression. It seemed to him that there were too many remakes of previous plays or translations of famous foreign plays.

Kim Hee-sang laughed at the sight of Seo-jun’s dejected figure and Ahn Da Ho’s restless demeanor. It appeared he was still unaware of Seo-jun’s preferences.

“What did the president say, Mr. Ahn Da Ho?”

“The president? He just said to find suitable scripts since Seo-jun wants to do a play.”

It wasn’t incorrect, but the explanation was lacking.

Perhaps Team 2, dedicated to actor Seo-jun, was seeking a hit to follow ‘Shadowman 1’, ‘Evil Spirit’, and ‘Shadowman 2’. Indeed, even Kim Hee-sang wouldn’t dare suggest a project that seemed destined to fail.

“I don’t care about hits, Mr. Ahn Da Ho.”

Ahn Da Ho looked at Seo-jun in surprise.

“I’d rather do plays that I want to do. So next time, give me all the scripts that seem doable.”

After hearing Seo-jun’s words, Ahn Da Ho’s shoulders slumped as he replied.

“Got it. Sorry.”

“No need to apologize! I just want to play a variety of roles, regardless of the box office. Of course, exclude the ones that seem truly doomed!”

“How about this one?”

Kim Hee-sang interjected between the two apologizing men. He showed a colorful announcement on his phone screen, which made Ahn Da Ho’s gaze turn skeptical.

“It’s a play targeting child and teenage actors. No adult actors, and it only runs during the summer break. Age doesn’t matter.”

“I saw that too, but it didn’t seem like the right fit for Seo-jun…”

To be honest, it felt like it wasn’t the right ‘level’ for him.

“Do you have the script, uncle?”

At Seo-jun’s question, Ahn Da Ho looked at him. Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled. Really, he didn’t care about the box office? Ahn Da Ho’s pupils shook.

“It’s uploaded here. You read the script and apply for the roles you think you can do.”

“Uncle, print it out for me!”

“Alright.”

Kim Hee-sang moved towards the printer set up in one corner of the living room. Seo-jun stood by his side, eagerly waiting for the script to print.

Ahn Da Ho felt a strange sensation.

Working in the entertainment industry, he had met many actors who only sought projects that seemed likely to succeed.

Famous actors meant a plus, newcomer leads meant a minus.

Renowned directors meant a plus, newcomer directors meant a minus.

The same went for writers and production companies.

Team 2 at Cocoa Entertainment was no different.

They all thought the same way, searching only for scripts filled with pluses. But could such a play also be acceptable?

The printer whirred to life, and the script began to print.

As soon as it did, Seo-jun read each page as it came out, unable to take his eyes off the script.

He collected the papers neatly as they emerged from the printer, all the while engrossed in the script.

Chapter 64

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 64

Kim Hee-sang sat down with a pleased face.

Seeing the natural interaction between the two, Ahn Da Ho hesitated before opening his mouth.

He had a feeling why President Seo Eun-chan introduced him to this person named Kim Hee-sang.

“Um.”

“Yes?”

“What should I do to support Seo-jun in the future?”

“That’s a good question.”

It was a good question.

And the best person to answer it was Kim Hee-sang, who knew Seo-jun better than anyone else, except for his parents.

“First of all, Seo-jun doesn’t do anything he doesn’t like. He doesn’t have many dislikes, though. And he has to do what he wants to do.”

Kim Hee-sang recalled the eight months of hardship.

He never gave up, even when he was frustrated by the unchanging acting.

He finally achieved it, and Kim Hee-sang couldn’t help but admire Seo-jun’s determination.

“This is a story that only a few people know, but Seo-jun practiced only one script for eight months for the filming of Shadowman 2.”

“Eight months?”

Ahn Da Ho’s eyes widened.

“Yes. That’s how much he has to do what he wants to do, and he also works hard. And as I said, Seo-jun doesn’t care about the box office. He just likes any script that’s fun.”

“I see.”

Ahn Da Ho felt like he had to tell the second team, who were busy looking for hit works, right away. He took out his phone.

“Can I make a call for a moment…”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

And he went to the corner and made a call. The whole second team sighed when they heard the story from Ahn Da Ho.

-How could the president leave out the most important part!

-Well, let’s just take out the ones that seem to fail… No, let’s just take out the ones that have real problems with the director or the production company.

-He can do children’s musicals too? Then we have to look for them again!

The second team was busy, and Seo Eun-chan, who was in the president’s office, felt his ears itch.

“I want to do this!”

Seo-jun raised his head with an excited face after reading all the scripts.

Ahn Da Ho quickly took out his notebook, and Kim Hee-sang ate the snacks he bought for Seo-jun and asked.

“Really? What role is it?”

“Blue Dragon!”

“Blue Dragon?”

Unlike Ahn Da Ho, who tilted his head, Kim Hee-sang nodded.

Seo-jun’s face was more excited than ever. Kim Hee-sang saw the happiness in his face and remembered Seo-jun, who had lived with a monster doll next to him since he was a baby.

Maybe the source of Seo-jun’s acting skills was his doll play when he was young.

He was so good at playing with dolls that he wondered if it wasn’t the reason for his acting skills.

“I knew this day would come someday. I thought he might star in a Hollywood fantasy movie, but I can’t believe this day has come already.”

Seo-jun enthusiastically told the story. Kim Hee-sang listened with a nod, and Ahn Da Ho listened attentively, not wanting to miss a single word of Seo-jun’s. His head gradually tilted to the side.

“He’s not the main character, is he? He has an impact, but he seems to have less lines than the other roles.”

Ahn Da Ho was confused by Seo-jun’s story and opened the script.

[Blue Dragon (voice)]

He read it again, but there were no directions for action or acting. There were only directions for the voice tone.

It was written in the script.

The blue dragon was made with stage equipment, so only the actor’s voice would come out.

“…Only your voice comes out, are you okay?”

Seo-jun nodded his head even at Ahn Da Ho’s question.

“Yes! I like this.”

“…Really?”

Ahn Da Ho’s eyes turned to Kim Hee-sang. Kim Hee-sang chuckled and nodded his head. Ahn Da Ho’s face brightened at Kim Hee-sang’s gesture, who was like a senior manager.

“Okay. I’ll read the announcement and send the application.”

“Wow!”

He finally found his next work. Seo-jun, who was happy, suddenly thought of something and looked at Kim Hee-sang.

“But what kind of play is it that only kids come out?”

“Let’s see.”

Kim Hee-sang read the phone screen down.

It was a play planned by the Milky Way Center, which had a fairly large theater in Seoul, where you could watch musicals and plays.

“A children’s play. It’s a play that’s made because there are a lot of kids who want to act, but there’s no stage to perform. But since it’s the first attempt, they’re only accepting applications from experienced child actors this time.”

“I see! I can do it too!”

“It’s not a free play, but a paid one, so practice can be hard, and the role can change depending on the actor’s ability. They recommend that inexperienced actors apply for roles with few lines.”

There were all kinds of warnings attached to it.

From physical problems to the possibility of being scolded. But they won the parents’ hearts by saying that they could always watch the practice. Of course, it was impossible to join the practice.

“You can’t drop out in the middle, so think carefully and apply.”

“It’s a play where children are the main characters.”

The protagonist.

Ahn Da Ho’s words crossed Seo-jun’s mind.

“Da Ho hyung.”

Seo-jun opened his mouth. Ahn Da Ho, who was reading the announcement hard, looked at Seo-jun with a puzzled expression on his slightly heavy voice.

“I don’t want to do this.”

“What?”

“Why? Seo-jun.”

Seo-jun shook his head without saying a word, despite the confusion of Kim Hee-sang and Ahn Da Ho.

***

Seo-jun sighed.

Ji-yoon tilted her head.

“Seo-jun. Are you sick?”

“No. I just have some worries.”

“What are you worried about?”

Ji-woo and Ji-ho, the twins sitting in front of them, turned their bodies and sat down. Mina quickly joined the conversation.

“Um.”

Seo-jun wondered. How can I explain it to these kids so they can understand? He decided to just tell them honestly.

“I’m famous, you know.”

“Yes!”

“Seo-jun is super famous.”

The kids nodded their heads, remembering the high school students who came to see him during break time.

“I’m worried that everyone will only look at me if I do a play.”

“Isn’t it great to be liked by everyone? I think I would be very happy!”

The children agreed with Ji-yoon’s words.

“Hmm. Ji-woo. Ji-ho.”

“Huh?”

“How would you feel if everyone liked only Ji-woo?”

At that, Ji-ho, who quickly empathized, whimpered.

“Mom too? Dad too? They only like Ji-woo?”

“No. Mom and Dad like both Ji-ho and Ji-woo. I mean, what if the supermarket owner and the snack shop lady only liked Ji-woo?”

Seo-jun quickly explained and Ji-ho said with a calm face.

“…I don’t like that. I wish they would like me too.”

Ji-ho’s words made Ji-woo nod.

“I like it when they like me and Ji-ho the same!”

“Me too. I wish the actors who come out with me would be liked the same too. But I’m worried because it might be hard since I’m famous.”

The children looked like they understood half of it.

“Then what should we do?”

“How can we make them like us all the same?”

The children thought hard for Seo-jun during class and break time, but as soon as school was over, they quickly forgot and got ready to go to Seo-jun’s house to play.

Today was a day off from the academy and they were going to hang out with their friends. Of course, it was raining lightly, so they decided to play inside the house. Seo Eun-hye came by car to pick up the children.

“I brought my spinning top too!”

“Me too!”

“I didn’t bring mine. I must have forgotten.”

“I’ll lend you mine!”

Seo-jun decided to put aside his worries for a day and play hard.

The children ate snacks and played hard, then took a nap and played hard again. It was soon evening.

Seo Eun-hye, who was worried after hearing the story yesterday, Lee Min-jun, who was worried about Seo-jun and came home early from work, and Kim Hee-sang, who came along, all relaxed at Seo-jun’s cheerful face.

The children sat side by side and looked at the television. It was to watch the spinning top animation that was on air.

They smiled at the sparkling eyes of the children.

“Shall we go home after watching this?”

“Yes!”

They all answered in unison to Seo Eun-hye’s words.

The three adults also sat on the sofa and watched the television. Kim Hee-sang quietly opened his mouth.

“We had a similar animation back in our days, but with a different name.”

“That’s right. We also spun our tops hard.”

They watched with nostalgia, but one of the two spinning tops that were competing flew out of the arena, and broke into three pieces.

“?!”

“Huh?”

Unlike the adults who were startled, the children cheered as if the protagonist had won. Kim Hee-sang wiped his face and said.

“Back in our days, the tops didn’t break. They just went out of bounds or stopped.”

“That’s right. Back in our days, when the tops broke, it was either a really dangerous situation or a serious situation…”

“Wow. I thought my heart was going to drop.”

Even after that, the spinning tops in the comic would easily split into three pieces when they hit the ground.

Unlike the children who cheered for the protagonist’s consecutive wins, the three people who had no immunity to the splitting tops had a serious conversation with grim faces.

“Isn’t he breaking them too easily? I feel like my heart drops every time they split into three pieces.”

In the comic from the adults’ memories, the protagonists would cry bitterly when their tops broke. The audience in the comic would also gasp in shock.

“It doesn’t feel like they’re breaking, but more like they’re separating. Did he make them weak on purpose?”

“Maybe he copied the durability of the toys these days.”

The protagonist who broke them, the opponent who held the broken tops as if nothing happened, and the children who shouted “Go!” The adults couldn’t understand.

Suddenly, Kim Hee-sang opened his mouth.

“Is this a generation gap?”

The adults became solemn.

The protagonist advanced to the finals. His opponent was wearing a mask, but his hair color and eye color. To Seo-jun’s eyes, no matter how he looked,

“Is that Ray?”

“Really?!”

“Ray was a villain?!”

It was Ray, the protagonist’s friend.

But neither the protagonist nor his friends, nor the people in the audience noticed. And the name of Ray who appeared in the stadium was different.

X.

It was the appearance of a new villain.

“That was so fun!”

“X! What a cool name!”

The children chatted and followed their parents home. Seo-jun waved his hand and saw them off.

For dinner, they ordered pork feet. Seo-jun skillfully put a piece of meat on a lettuce leaf and added shrimp paste and onion pickle. He ate it in one bite and said,

“Delicious!”

“Yeah? Chew well.”

“Okay!”

The adults eagerly brought food to Seo-jun’s front.

They didn’t know why he decided not to do the play he liked, but they hoped he would forget it soon.

Seo-jun finished the delicious pork feet and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He squeezed toothpaste on his toothbrush and brushed his teeth. Then, Seo-jun,

“Ouch!?”

He screamed.

The three people who had been worried about Seo-jun all day ran over.

“What, what’s wrong, Seo-jun!”

“What happened?!”

Ugh-! Seo-jun spat out the foam and smiled brightly.

“I thought of a good idea!”

He rinsed his mouth and headed to the living room excitedly. The adults followed him. The three people sat side by side on the sofa and looked at Seo-jun. Seo-jun said with a thrilled face.

“Can I hide my name?”

“Name?”

Name? The three people tilted their heads. What name all of a sudden?

“Yes!”

“Why the sudden name change?”

Seo-jun felt embarrassed by the serious expressions of the adults looking at him.

He didn’t tell them because he thought they would worry about him not being able to do what he wanted because of his fame, but ironically, he seemed to have caused them more worry by not telling them.

Seo-jun quickly explained.

“Well, the children’s play is a play that the kids do together. They all want to do great acting and get attention, but if I do it, most people will come to see me only. I want the other kids to get the same attention as me.”

Of course. Commercial plays or movies were different. They involved a lot of money and they cast famous idols with ticket power for the sake of box office.

Seo-jun would have applied for an audition without any hesitation if it was such a movie or play.

But this was a play for children.

They charged a fee for the sake of the children’s serious attitude, but it was less than a regular play.

The Milky Way Center also wanted all the children who appeared to be the main characters and get attention. Seo-jun hoped for that too, and gave up.

“That makes sense.”

The three people nodded. It was obvious what would happen if they promoted with Seo-jun’s name.

To be able to see Seo-jun’s acting right in front of them. Not to mention the others, but the people who cried watching William, or saw God in The Evil Spirit, or felt the coldness in Shadowman 2, Seo-jun’s fans, would definitely come to see it.

To feel Seo-jun’s vivid acting that was not filtered through the media!

“So, can’t I apply with a different name?”

‘Ray’ and ‘X’ came to Seo-jun’s mind. Even though he only changed his name and hid his face, the people in the comics didn’t recognize him.

No, not just comics. Movies too. And he often appeared on entertainment programs.

“You mean a pseudonym.”

“Pseudonym?”

“A fake name.”

“Yes! Pseudonym!”

Kim Hee-sang clicked his tongue at Lee Min-joon and Seo Eun-hye’s words.

“Seo-jun is a celebrity, what’s a pseudonym?”

“…Aren’t you going home? What time is it?”

“Hahaha. Stage name. Stage name. A lot of celebrities use stage names.”

Kim Hee-sang cut off Seo Eun-hye’s nagging and said awkwardly.

Stage name!

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

Chapter 65

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 65

The next day.

Da Ho, who had brought a bunch of scripts and synopses that he had selected regardless of the popularity, just whether they were good or bad, greeted Seo-jun, who had quickly returned from school and academy.

“This is what we picked out.”

“Yes. Thank you! But, Da Ho hyung.”

“Yeah?”

Seo-jun slowly brought up the conversation he had with his mom, dad, and Uncle Hee-sang last night.

Da Ho nodded and listened attentively.

“So I thought it would be better to go by a stage name.”

“A stage name?”

“Yes!”

Da Ho scratched his cheek.

He was impressed by Seo-jun’s consideration for the other kids who would appear with him.

But, as an actor’s manager, he had some concerns. Da Ho, who had been thinking about the problem and the solution, opened his mouth.

“We don’t mind, but do you really want to, Seo-jun?”

“Yes!”

The actor wanted to do it. Da Ho smiled at his actor’s face, which was bright and opposite to the one that had been sagging the day before.

“Let’s use your real name on the application form. Anyway, once you pass and start practicing, everyone will see your face, Seo-jun. The people over there need to know.”

“Oh, right.”

“Shall we write the application form now?”

“Yes!”

Da Ho opened his laptop and Seo-jun sat next to him.

***

The place that planned the children’s play was the Milky Way Center, which had one of the largest theaters in Seoul, and it was a project that they decided to try this year for the development of child actors.

Since it was their first attempt, they accepted child actors who had appeared on TV or movies without discrimination.

The application deadline passed and the first round of document screening began. There were a lot of applications from children and parents who were aiming for the ‘second Seo-jun’.

Thanks to the other team members who were called in, the document screening was going smoothly without any problems until one application turned it upside down.

Park Ji-soo, the director who was in charge of the production, was racking his brains.

“Seo-jun is coming out, but he wants to use a stage name for the role of Cheong-ryong, who only has a voice…”

“What should we do, director?”

Park Ji-soo, who had been looking down at the application form with a frown, lifted his head at the question of the assistant director.

“First, let’s audition. We’re not trying to make money with this play, it’s for the kids, so there’s no reason why Seo-jun can’t come out. Besides…”

Park Ji-soo looked at the resume written on the application form.

Shadowman 1

Evil Spirit

Shadowman 2

Reinvestigation, cameo.

“With this kind of resume, the other kids who act with him will learn something too.”

***

The audition day for the children’s play [Spring] was approaching. Seo-jun headed to the Milky Way Center with Da Ho.

Seo-jun climbed into his car seat and fastened his seat belt himself. Da Ho checked Seo-jun’s car seat and seat belt and then sat in the driver’s seat.

Seo-jun looked around the car that would be his feet from now on and asked.

He couldn’t help but admire the shiny and dazzling appearance. It was better than our car!

“Da Ho hyung. Is this a new car?”

“Yeah. The boss bought it for Seo-jun.”

“Wow.”

Seo Eun-chan and the team 2 staff gathered their heads and chose the most sturdy and safe car.

They were all excited to pick a car with the boss’s words not to worry about money.

Even though they weren’t going to drive it themselves, they felt a vicarious satisfaction from laying out a bunch of catalogs and choosing without worrying about money.

“But how long do I have to sit in the car seat?”

“Seo-jun, you’re not 145 cm tall yet, right?”

“Yes.”

“You have to weigh at least 36 kg to wear a seat belt. Seo-jun is still far from that.”

“I see.”

The car seat felt familiar by now. Seo-jun nodded his head, swinging his legs.

Ahn Da Ho drove safely. Occasionally, cars that tried to cut in at fast speeds were intimidated by the flashing lights of Seo-jun’s car and slowed down.

Seo-jun’s car soon arrived at the Milky Way Center.

Ahn Da Ho parked in the underground parking lot and Seo-jun stayed quietly in the car seat until he opened the door.

“You can get off now.”

“Okay!”

At Ahn Da Ho’s words, Seo-jun finally unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. He could unbuckle and get off by himself when the car stopped, but his mom and dad always told him to wait until an adult said it was okay to get off.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho took the elevator to the first floor of the Milky Way Center.

Ding-dong-

First floor.

“Not again.”

The last day of the audition for the children’s play [Spring], and the day of the audition for the role of Cheong-ryong.

The eyes of the employees who came to work had been looking at the elevator ever since.

Every time they heard the ding-dong sound, their heads turned like lightning.

When the door opened and a child and a guardian appeared, they stretched their necks and looked at the child.

They quickly realized it wasn’t him if it was a girl with long hair, but if they couldn’t see the boy’s face clearly, they kept looking at the child.

The staff who checked the names of the children and gave them numbers shook their heads vigorously, and everyone started their work again with disappointed faces.

“Isn’t it time for the audition?”

“We’re all here except for him.”

Everyone was waiting for someone, as the news had leaked out somewhere.

At the staff’s words, they all glared at the elevator.

Just then, the elevator went down to the underground parking lot.

He’s here!

Ding-dong, first floor.

The elevator door opened slowly, and a child and a guardian appeared.

The child’s face was hidden by a silver badge on a baseball cap that he wore deep, but everyone guessed.

The staff who checked the number of people ran over quickly.

“He’s more ordinary than I thought.”

“Yeah. Honestly, I thought he would have some kind of aura just by standing there, if he was Lee Seo-jun.”

He did before he filmed Shadowman 2.

“Lee Seo-jun, the actor?”

“Yes.”

The staff member who came to help with the audition checked the list nervously and handed a number to Seo-jun.

“This is your audition number. When they call your number, you can go to the front.”

“Thank you.”

The staff member looked at Ahn Da Ho and said.

“You can leave as soon as the audition is over. We’ll let you know the results later.”

Ahn Da Ho nodded.

“Okay.”

“The waiting area is over there.”

The staff member led Ahn Da Ho and Seo-jun to the waiting area. Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho, who had expected a small waiting room, were surprised by the large door that the staff member was heading to.

The staff member opened the thick door that was tightly closed. Behind the wide-open door, a large stage and a spacious auditorium appeared.

“The audition will be held on the stage where the play will be performed. You can sit in any seat you like and wait until the director calls you.”

“…On the stage?”

“Yes. There aren’t many applicants who have been on the stage before, so they said that it’s also a test to see if you can audition without being scared here. The role of Cheong-ryong only has a voice, but you’ll have to sync with the actor behind the props on the stage.”

Ahn Da Ho and Seo-jun looked at the theater again. Well, if they were scared of the stage when there was no audience, they wouldn’t be able to stand on the stage when it was full of people.

“Then please wait a moment.”

The staff member left and Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho sat down in a suitable seat. There were children and guardians who came to audition here and there.

A child who was crying in fear as he looked around the stage and the auditorium, and a guardian who was comforting him.

A child who was running around happily because he liked the spacious place, and a guardian who was only looking at his phone.

There was also a child who was reading the script diligently.

Seo-jun, who wore a black baseball cap, looked back and forth between the auditorium and the stage.

It was very different from the small theater where the Wind Theater Group was.

The stage was wide and clean, and there were many seats in the auditorium.

There was also some distance between the stage and the auditorium.

‘Hmm. It’s very different from what I thought.’

The stage that Seo-jun had imagined was smaller than the Wind Theater Group, but big enough to feel the gaze of the actors.

Ahn Da Ho asked Seo-jun, who had a subtle expression.

“Is there something you don’t like?”

“No. It’s just that the stage is bigger than I thought. I thought it would be smaller than this.”

Ahn Da Ho remembered the small theater of the Wind Theater Group at Seo-jun’s words.

“Like that small theater?”

“Huh? How do you know, Da Ho hyung?”

Ahn Da Ho smiled. He was a fan of Seo-jun, and he went to see the play as soon as the photo came out.

“I saw that play too. But, you can’t do that in such a small place.”

“…I can’t?”

Seo-jun tilted his head at Ahn Da Ho’s firm words. He just wanted the audience to feel the actors’ breath more, but was it so bad that he said he couldn’t?

“It’s dangerous to have the seats and the stage so close. There could be someone who intrudes on the stage during the play, or someone who throws something onto the stage.”

“There are people like that?”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened. Ahn Da Ho smiled bitterly. He had seen everything he didn’t want to see in his two years of entertainment life.

“So, for safety reasons, it’s better to have some distance between the seats and the stage.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun looked at the space between the seats and the stage with a regretful face and asked.

“What about the hyungs and nunas of the Wind Theater Group? Are they okay?”

“There hasn’t been any major accidents, but there seem to be some minor incidents. Still, they are all adults over there, so they should be better off than Seo-jun.”

“That’s good.”

Seo-jun, who was relieved, looked at Ahn Da Ho. Ahn Da Ho tilted his head.

“How do you know so well?”

Seo-jun asked, and Ahn Da Ho answered without hesitation. He was amazed that he knew even the current situation of the Wind Theater Group, let alone anything else. Ahn Da Ho scratched his cheek.

“That’s what managers do. They have to take care of things that actors can’t. The Wind Theater Group is a group that has a connection with Seo-jun, and it’s still a hot topic, so I have to keep an eye on it.”

The second team of Cocoa Entertainment was watching closely how the name of Seo-jun and the Wind Theater Group would turn out. Today, too, a text message saying ‘Wind, no problem!’ arrived on Ahn Da Ho’s phone.

“I see.”

Seo-jun, who didn’t know the situation of Cocoa Entertainment, just nodded.

Then, the lights in the auditorium went out. The stage was bright, and only the passage leading to the stage was lit up to avoid danger.

[Hello.]

A voice echoed through the theater.

The children who were playing around and the child who was reading the script all looked at the stage.

A woman was standing under the spotlight.

[I am Park Ji-soo, the director of the children’s play, Spring.]

The woman bowed. A clap of applause sounded. It was Seo-jun. The others also applauded.

[We will start the audition for the role of Cheong-ryong soon. Please come to this spot and act in the order of the numbers called.]

“Do the kids have to go up by themselves?”

The director nodded and answered the guardian’s question.

[Yes. Please sit down and wait. The applicant will come up alone and act the lines from the script. Any more questions?]

The auditorium was quiet. The director nodded and went down the stairs and sat in the front seat.

Seo-jun stretched his head and saw that there were other people sitting besides the director. They were probably the music director, the lighting director, the assistant director, and so on.

[Then, the first applicant, please come out.]

The director’s words were followed by a whimpering sound from somewhere.

“Why is the kid like this?! Hurry up and go!”

“No! I’m scared!!”

The child was scared of the huge theater. He looked anxious from the start and finally burst into tears. The guardian tried to calm the child with a restless face, but the child didn’t budge.

[First applicant?]

“Wait a minute! You said you wanted to be like Seo-jun. Are you going to give up here?”

“Who said I wanted to be like Seo-jun?! Mom said that!”

The child and the guardian’s words rang through the quiet theater.

The two people’s words made Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho flinch, who had done nothing wrong. The people who knew who was auditioning today also flinched.

“Dad too! I said I didn’t want to do it!!”

In the end, the guardian left the theater with the child who was crying loudly. The director sighed and picked up the microphone again.

[Second applicant.]

“I don’t want to do it either!”

The mischievous child who was running around the theater ran out of the theater bravely.

The guardians bowed their heads and apologized as they followed the child, as if they had expected it.

The staff and the officials who had gone through the audition for three days were used to it and continued their work.

[Please come out, applicant number 3.]

No one came out, even after Director Park Ji-soo called. This applicant must have left without a word. The staff members handed over the application form without shaking their heads.

Out of the 10 applicants, only 6 stood on the stage. And out of those, only 3 had memorized half of their audition lines. Only one child had managed to act. And that was thanks to the parent’s diligent coaching.

One of the staff members who was judging the audition opened his mouth in the dismal situation.

“Why is it like this for the role of Cheongryong?”

“I know, right? The other roles were at least serious.”

The parents almost fought over the role of the protagonist.

There were also actors who were too good to be eliminated.

“It’s because their face doesn’t show. Who would want to be just a voice?”

The staff members who recalled the script sighed, and then looked at the last application form.

“Here it is.”

“Yes. This actor is all we need.”

Director Park Ji-soo picked up the microphone.

The staff members who were counting the number of children who came out of the auditorium quietly opened the door and sat in the audience seats.

“Is this okay?”

“It’s fine. It’s fine. When else will we get to see Lee Seo-jun’s acting in person?”

“Senior!”

“What?”

“Isn’t that the president over there?”

At someone’s words, everyone’s heads turned. The president of Eunhasu Center, who had received a call from the assistant director, quietly entered the auditorium and took a seat near the judging table. After that, the higher-ups who were hard to see also showed up.

While Seo-jun was waiting for Director Park Ji-soo’s call, almost everyone who knew about Lee Seo-jun’s acting application appeared in the auditorium.

Unlike the empty auditorium a while ago, there were people here and there in the audience seats. Unlike Seo-jun, who showed no signs, Ahn Da Ho, who confirmed the fame of his actor, chuckled without knowing it.

Director Park Ji-soo, who looked around the audience, opened his mouth when he thought everyone had arrived.

[Please come out, applicant number 11.]

Ahn Da Ho took off Seo-jun’s baseball cap and fixed his hair. As Ahn Da Ho’s hand fell, Seo-jun smiled brightly.

“Hyung! I’ll be back.”

“Okay. Seo-jun. Do well and come back!”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun was about to fly,

“Don’t run!”

He was about to go down the stairs, but he walked carefully at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

The assistant director attached a microphone to Seo-jun with a slightly trembling hand.

Everyone held their breath and watched Seo-jun’s every move.

Seo-jun stood on the stage.

A beam of spotlight shot onto the dark stage, illuminating only Seo-jun.

Chapter 66

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Chapter 66

“Why don’t we change the script?”

The president of the Milky Way Center suggested, but director Park Ji-soo just crossed his arms and said nothing.

The lighting director and the music director nodded their heads. The president’s eyes sparkled.

“I’ve never seen a child actor who can act like that.”

He remembered it vividly.

Lee Seo-jun, standing alone on the stage, uttered the lines of the Blue Dragon.

He didn’t just stand still and act with his voice like the other kids, but he changed his expressions and gestures according to the lines.

He looked like a real, non-human being as he walked step by step.

He looked like a real blue dragon that had transformed into a human child.

No matter how good an actor was, it was awkward to play a role that was not human.

Especially when acting without any special makeup, it was inevitable that the viewers would feel strange.

But Lee Seo-jun was different. He didn’t have any makeup on, but the people who saw Lee Seo-jun’s acting couldn’t feel anything ‘human’ from him.

The president’s eyes became dreamy, as if he was dreaming.

“That’s what I thought. If there was a real dragon, wouldn’t it have that kind of feeling, gesture, and expression? Director Park. It’s too wasteful to just send out his voice. Everyone should see that.”

“Well…”

Director Park Ji-soo frowned.

“You know, Mr. President. An actor who can act that well will choose the script that he likes. Lee Seo-jun likes ‘the current script’. If we change it arbitrarily, he might say he won’t do it.”

There were such actors.

Actors who would only act the ‘script’ that they liked, regardless of the amount or the number of lines.

They had faith in their acting, and they had plenty of money and time.

They could afford to have a few years of hiatus to find the scenario they liked.

The source of their confidence was the public.

They were sure that the public would go crazy for them whenever and whatever role they appeared in.

Superstars!

“Lee Seo-jun is at that level.”

Everyone nodded at director Park Ji-soo’s words.

There was no one here who didn’t know about Lee Seo-jun.

The money he made from YouTube videos every year, the global recognition he built with Marine’s movie, and the popularity he would gain from his TV debut with the cameo in Reinvestigation.

The president sighed.

“It’s not just for the sake of box office. I just feel sorry for the stage as a member of the theater industry. I feel sorry for Lee Seo-jun. I wish everyone would appreciate Lee Seo-jun’s abilities.”

“Anyway, Lee Seo-jun’s side said they would hide their identity, so the current script might be appropriate.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

The president unconsciously furrowed his brows.

“He’s such a kind actor who cares for the kids, but why do I always feel sorry for him?”

It wasn’t a matter of money or using Lee Seo-jun’s name, but he felt sorry. He wished everyone could see Lee Seo-jun’s acting.

Ignoring the still regretful expression of the president, director Park Ji-soo brought up the main point of the meeting.

“Then what about Lee Seo-jun’s appearance?”

“What’s the opinion of the ‘Spring’ team?”

“He passed.”

At director Park Ji-soo’s words, the president leaned back on the chair and smiled brightly.

“Hmm. Then let’s start with keeping the secret within the center first.”

***

Seo-jun put down his spoon on the table and rubbed his ears.

Min-jun, who was moving the bowl of soybean paste stew to the table, asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“My ears are ticklish.”

“Someone must be talking about Seo-jun.”

“That’s right.”

Seo Eun-hye smiled and put the grilled hairtail on the table.

The plump hairtail looked delicious.

Everyone took their seats.

“Let’s eat!”

Min-jun sliced the hairtail and put it on top of Seo-jun’s rice. Seo-jun scooped up a spoonful of rice and ate it with the hairtail. The salty and savory hairtail!

“It’s delicious!”

“Is it?”

“Yeah! Dad. I want to slice it this time!”

“Do you?”

Min-jun slowly taught Seo-jun how to slice the hairtail bones.

First, peel off the sides of the hairtail, which has a lot of bones, with chopsticks. Then, gently rub the chopsticks over the large bone in the middle.

“Done!”

“You’re good!”

“Seo-jun has good hands.”

Perfect!

The long and white hairtail flesh was perfectly sliced.

After filling their stomachs with the delicious hairtail and soybean paste stew, Seo-jun and his parents headed to the living room for dessert. Seo-jun opened his mouth after eating a slice of melon.

“I saw the audition, and the kids were crying and stuff.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

There was a moment of silence in the living room.

Seo Eun-hye and Min-jun, who had heard the story from Ahn Da Ho, quietly waited for Seo-jun to open his mouth.

“His mom said, ‘Don’t you want to be like Lee Seo-jun?’ And he cried and said he never said that.”

“I see.”

“Yeah.”

Seo Eun-hye and Min-jun sat next to Seo-jun and hugged him tightly. In the warm embrace of his mom and dad, Seo-jun quietly listened to the sound of his heart beating.

“Seo-jun, that’s not something he said because he hates Seo-jun.”

“Yeah. He just hated that situation. He wanted to do something else, but his parents forced him to do it. That’s why he was so angry.”

“Yeah.”

He knew.

It wasn’t because of Lee Seo-jun, but he just mentioned the name of the most noticeable and famous child actor.

But he still felt bad that he had influenced the child’s unhappiness a little bit. And that there would be more people like that child and his parents in the future.

‘…Maybe they already exist.’

Seo-jun snuggled into his mom and dad’s arms. Seo Eun-hye and Min-jun stroked Seo-jun’s head.

“Do you like acting, Seo-jun?”

“…Yeah. I love it.”

“Mom and dad love it when Seo-jun does what he likes. And Seo-jun’s fans will also like what Seo-jun likes to do.”

“Seo-jun. The more famous Seo-jun becomes, the more he will influence people in some way. And he can’t solve all the problems that arise from that. That’s something that even Redbone and Shadowman can’t do.”

“Yeah.”

“So when Seo-jun is having a hard time or feeling sad, think of the people who love Seo-jun. Making them happy is a really amazing thing.”

Mom and dad counted their fingers and named their friends one by one.

Among them were the nicknames of the fans who often posted on Seo-jun’s fan cafe.

The names that came out of mom and dad’s mouths, filled with love, were like a powerful magic spell that lightened Seo-jun’s heart.

“Hehehe.”

Seo-jun smiled, and so did Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun.

The living room of the happy Seo-jun family became lively with Seo-jun’s acting practice.

As soon as Seo-jun brought the blue dragon doll from his room and started acting, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who became his audience, clapped for him.

He had always loved monster dolls since he was little, and now he got to play such a role.

To be honest, the couple had expected it, just like Kim Hee-sang. They thought he would someday play a monster role in some work. And they thought he would do it very well.

He had practiced as much as his age, after all.

“But are you okay with just your voice? You wanted to act in front of people, right?”

“It’s okay! Voice acting is still acting!”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’m a little disappointed, but I’m playing the blue dragon!”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

“Movies or dramas with dragons or monsters are very rare. Even if they appear, they look like humans. There are some movies, but not many plays or musicals. I want to do a play, but I want to be a monster more. If it’s not this work, I don’t know when I’ll get to do it!”

The future was unknown.

There might be more monster roles than Seo-jun thought, or this might be his first and last one, as he thought.

“So I’m going to do this now.”

What was clear was that he wanted to do this role, even if it was only with his voice.

“Ah! It sounds so fun!”

In the end, Seo-jun couldn’t contain his excitement and hugged the blue dragon doll tightly. His cheeks were flushed and he smiled brightly.

Seeing him, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun also burst into laughter.

Their son was so adorable.

***

The first day of practice came.

The actors who would appear in the play [Spring] gathered at the Milky Way Center rehearsal room. Fifteen children chatted with their peers. The parents who came with the children also sat on the chairs prepared on one side and talked.

“Isn’t this a play supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sports?”

“Yes. That’s why a few reporters are coming to take pictures of the kids later. A public official from the Ministry of Culture and Sports might also come.”

“Oh. But there won’t be many audiences, right?”

“Well, it’s not about the audience. It’s about putting a line of experience on your resume. Whether you become an actor or study in the future, it will be a good extracurricular activity if it’s a program supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sports.”

Everyone nodded at that.

“But isn’t one person missing?”

“That’s right. They said they picked 16 people.”

“It’s not good to be late on the first day.”

Just then, Director Park and the staff, along with a few reporters, entered the rehearsal room.

The children and parents who were talking loudly stood up awkwardly.

Director Park Ji-soo looked around the rehearsal room and opened his mouth.

“First, let’s take a group photo, and then we’ll take a reading scene. You don’t have to worry about the camera during the reading.”

“Excuse me, director.”

Choi So-yeong, the oldest and the protagonist of the play [Spring], raised her hand.

“Yes.”

“It seems that one person hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Ah.”

Director Park Ji-soo scratched his cheek and answered.

“The actor who plays the blue dragon couldn’t come today due to personal reasons, but he will definitely participate in the next practice. Then, shall we gather and take a group photo? First, let’s take the actors first and then the parents together.”

“Yes!”

The children gathered together.

The short ones stood in front and the tall ones stood in the back.

The cameras held by the reporters and staff flashed.

The first reading of the children was better than the reporters and parents expected, but worse than the director and staff expected.

The parents who kept applauding and the reporters who responded moderately made Director Park Ji-soo and the staff sneer inwardly.

Well, this was normal. It was only Lee Seo-jun who was special.

[Supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, planned by the Milky Way Center. Children’s play [Spring]]

[Spring is a play that depicts the adventure of a girl…]

[Spring practice first day, group photo.]

The article of [Spring], which only the actors and parents looked for, was buried by other entertainment articles as soon as it was posted.

***

The second day of practice.

Seo-jun arrived at the Milky Way Center early, intending to go out according to Director Park Ji-soo’s introduction, but he was waiting in the next rehearsal room.

Seo-jun looked a little nervous, unlike usual. Ahn Da Ho handed him a water bottle and held it out in front of him.

“Do you want some water?”

“Yes!”

After taking a sip of water, Seo-jun finally seemed to relax and sighed lightly. Ahn Da Ho tilted his head.

“Why are you so nervous?”

“I’ve never met child actors before.”

He knew that not everyone would like him. Da Ho hyung, and his mom and dad who heard the story, all comforted Seo-jun.

Unlike Seo-jun’s heart, things that he didn’t intend could happen.

He couldn’t solve all those problems by himself. But Seo-jun wanted to do his best for his and everyone’s happiness.

They all liked acting, so he hoped they would have fun making the work together. How could they get along well?

The staff gestured to see if everyone had gathered in the rehearsal room.

Seo-jun took a deep breath and got up from his chair. It felt a bit like cheating, but he started [Elf’s Basic Breathing] to win the children’s favor.

And from Seo-jun’s body, the actor’s aura that everyone was curious about began to emerge.

The staff and Ahn Da Ho flinched at the atmosphere.

‘…Is this a preemptive strike?’

It was completely different from what Seo-jun thought.

“Then, let me introduce the actor who plays the blue dragon.”

As soon as Director Park Ji-soo spoke, the door of the rehearsal room opened.

At first, they couldn’t tell who it was. But soon they realized who the child walking towards Director Park Ji-soo was.

He had a dazzling appearance and a bright smile more than anyone else.

He was a little nervous to meet his peers for the first time, and he exuded charisma to win their hearts.

With that warm and extraordinary aura, everyone remembered someone they had seen at least once.

“Lee Seo-jun!”

Choi So-yeong, the protagonist of ‘Spring’, shouted without realizing it.

At that sound, the children who had seen Shadowman screamed.

The parents were speechless.

Even the children who hadn’t seen the movie had heard of ‘Hollywood star, Lee Seo-jun’ on television.

They just opened their mouths at his sight.

Seo-jun, who was emitting the actor’s aura, bowed to the children in front of him.

“Hello! I’m Lee Seo-jun!”

“Hello!”

As if they had become a teacher, the children followed Seo-jun’s words. Seo-jun smiled brightly, seeing that they welcomed him unlike his worries.

When his worries disappeared, his heart pounded. He finally realized that he was acting with the children here.

He always acted with adults, and it felt strange to meet his peers.

He had to look up at the adults, but the eye level was different. Child actors who were on the same path as acting.

It felt different from his school friends.

“Hi. I’m Choi So-yeong.”

“Hello!”

Choi So-yeong, the oldest and the leader of the children on the first day of practice, introduced herself first, and the children introduced themselves one by one.

As the children seemed to be chatting without any problems, Director Park Ji-soo winked at the assistant director.

“Then, parents, please come this way.”

Director Park Ji-soo left the children to the assistant director and headed to another rehearsal room with the parents.

Until then, the parents followed Director Park Ji-soo with a bewildered expression.

The door closed with a thud.

Chapter 67

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Chapter 67

The door closed softly, but the parents felt otherwise.

They were all speechless at the unexpected and unimaginable situation.

Director Park Ji-soo opened his mouth.

“Please keep the secret about actor Lee Seo-jun. And please tell your children as well.”

“…Why? If Lee Seo-jun is in it, it will be a huge buzz.”

At the question of the acting academy staff, Director Park Ji-soo explained slowly why Lee Seo-jun used a stage name.

The parents nodded and listened to his story.

“That makes sense, but…”

Still, they wanted to spread the rumor that their son, daughter, or student was acting with Lee Seo-jun.

They wanted to brag.

People would flock in, and reporters would take pictures.

It was an opportunity to become a star, even if not as much as Lee Seo-jun.

Director Park Ji-soo seemed to know what the parents were thinking, and he opened his mouth again.

“If the secret is revealed during the practice period, Lee Seo-jun will quit. And if it is revealed during the performance, the rest of the shows will be replaced by another voice actor.”

The practice room became quiet at Director Park Ji-soo’s words. He looked at the parents who were making displeased expressions, and he met someone’s eyes and quietly went outside.

When the director disappeared, they all expressed their thoughts comfortably.

They were all dissatisfied with why they didn’t promote with Lee Seo-jun’s name. Then, a woman opened her mouth.

“It might be better to reveal it after the play is over.”

“Why?”

“If he drops out during the practice period, this play won’t be in Lee Seo-jun’s filmography.”

“Then what about revealing it during the show?”

“If he drops out in the middle of the show, the kids will get attention at first. Are you close with Lee Seo-jun? How was it during the practice? How was it during the show? But soon, everyone will only dig into why Lee Seo-jun left the play.”

They all got absorbed in the woman’s story.

“Then the story will spread. Someone didn’t keep the secret and that’s why it happened. Then the public’s criticism will pour on the kids, the parents, and the academy. They will say they are the people who broke the contract to make their names known.”

“…Will it go that far?”

“The reporters will do it. They can’t touch Lee Seo-jun who hid himself for the kids, so they will find a way to increase the views with provocative content that will be a buzz, while putting Lee Seo-jun’s name in it. Lee Seo-jun couldn’t do the play because of someone’s selfishness? There’s no way it won’t be a buzz.”

Someone swallowed their saliva, as if they could imagine the headlines.

“They will easily find out the kids’ names on the play pamphlet and their elementary schools. The same goes for the acting academy. You can guess the rest. That’s the worst case scenario.”

“…That’s true.”

“Then what’s the best case scenario?”

At someone’s question, the woman opened her mouth.

“Everyone keeps the secret and the play ends safely. As the director said, we can reveal it after the play is over. We can say that our child was on the same stage with Lee Seo-jun. Rather, since we can’t see the play anymore, the kids who were on the stage with him will get a lot of interviews. If they leave a good impression there, drama or movie appearances won’t be a problem either.”

The parents’ eyes sparkled.

The academy staff were the same.

An acting academy with ‘child actors’ who acted with ‘Lee Seo-jun’.

It was a bit of a strange phrase, but in the world of child actors, anything with ‘Lee Seo-jun’s name sold.

The elephant milk that was still selling well. The monster company’s doll that Lee Seo-jun played with.

The daily items that appeared in the occasional YouTube vlogs.

Things that seemed like they had to have, things that seemed like they had to raise them like this to enter Hollywood, strange beliefs.

The parents here had them too.

“Well, we have to keep the secret until the play is over.”

At the woman’s words, they all nodded their heads heavily, thinking about their children’s and students’ futures.

-Mission complete!

<Thank you for your hard work.

-Thank you too, Da Ho!

Ahn Da Ho put his phone in his pocket, looking at Seo-jun who was having fun talking with the kids.

The second day of practice was over.

The kids and the parents couldn’t take their eyes off Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho who were heading to the underground parking lot.

When Seo-jun got on the car seat, Ahn Da Ho checked it and got on the driver’s seat.

“How were the kids?”

Ahn Da Ho watched from afar and they looked friendly, but it could be different from the direct conversation with Seo-jun. Seo-jun answered with a bright smile.

“They’re all nice! But they said they’re going to practice by scene, so there won’t be much time to meet if it’s not a group practice.”

At Seo-jun’s words, Ahn Da Ho thought of the script of Spring.

“Seo-jun comes out at the very end. The character that comes out with him…”

“The main character! I only practice with So-yeong noona!”

“That’s something.”

He thought of the parents who were disappointed with the scene-by-scene practice, but Ahn Da Ho shrugged his shoulders.

The staff of Team 2 who secretly infiltrated among the parents told them a lot of worst-case scenarios, so they would keep the secret as much as possible.

Even if they didn’t get close with Lee Seo-jun, being ‘in the same play with Lee Seo-jun’ would be a very impressive title as Lee Seo-jun became more famous.

When they met Seo-jun as an actor next time, it would be easier to start a conversation.

‘I hope it ends quietly as Team 2 planned.’

Ahn Da Ho started the car and wished in his heart.

***

Half of the one-month practice period passed like a flash.

It was a short time, but not for the kids.

The kids who were awkward at first soon forgot that Lee Seo-jun was a famous actor and became close enough to play jokes with him.

The parents and the academy staff who were disappointed with the scene-by-scene practice were also satisfied with their appearance.

“Seo-jun! Have some ice cream! My mom bought it!”

“Okay! I’m coming, hyung!”

Buying snacks was the easiest way to gather the kids who were scattered in different practice rooms.

Most of the time, it was simple snacks like ice cream, bread, or milk, but sometimes Seo-jun brought pizza or burgers.

“Seo-jun, let’s have chicken next time!”

Lee Da-jin, who played the role of a hunter, smiled brightly with ice cream in his mouth.

It was his fourth time appearing in a play, but it was the first time he got snacks every practice day.

“Should we?”

“I want pizza.”

“noona. We had that last time.”

The parents took pictures of the cheerful kids.

A video of the kids with Seo-jun! When they met eyes with Director Park Ji-soo, they pretended to zip their mouths.

Director Park Ji-soo hoped that the secret would be kept and nodded awkwardly.

“We’ll start the group practice today.”

For the next two weeks, the group practice would begin on the stage where the play would be performed.

The kids arrived at the stage where they had auditioned with Director Park Ji-soo and swallowed their saliva.

Unlike the audition when there was nothing, the stage production team had placed empty boxes that would become the background props according to Director Park Ji-soo’s instructions.

“First, we’ll check the movements in order.”

The scene-by-scene acting instructors stuck to the kids. Director Park Ji-soo followed Choi So-yeong, who played the main character ‘Spring’.

The screen background was already completed, and a beam poured from the audience seats and showed the background on the screen behind the stage. It was a cute fairy tale background that suited the kids’ play.

Finally, it was Seo-jun’s turn to appear.

At Director Park Ji-soo’s gesture, Seo-jun went up to the stage.

And a white cloth fell from the ceiling and spread out.

“Wow!”

The kids shouted and Seo-jun also exclaimed. It was a blue dragon.

A cool blue dragon was drawn on the white cloth.

“This is the blue dragon that will appear on the screen later. It’s the role that Seo-jun plays. Seo-jun just has to speak with the microphone here.”

Seo-jun stood where Director Park Ji-soo pointed.

There was a thin board in front of Seo-jun, and there was a round hole in the middle.

It seemed to fit Seo-jun’s height, and he could see the stage without anything in front of him.

“We’ll make sure Seo-jun can see well here. Of course, the audience won’t be able to see it. When you act with So-yeong, you have to look at her and match the timing. Got it?”

“Yes!”

That’s how the kids were told the positions and movements of their roles and had time to practice with each other.

When the kids were practicing and talking with the teachers, Director Park Ji-soo checked the time and clapped his hands to gather the kids’ attention.

“Then we’ll start the final practice today! The lights, music, and sound effects will all be like the performance. Even if you make a mistake or miss the timing, we’ll go to the end this time! Please focus.”

The kids looked at the stage with nervous expressions.

The sound effects and lights were made by the teachers’ words in the practice room.

‘Spotlight!’

‘A loud noise is heard.’

‘The background changes.’

Now it was really standing on the stage.

The kids who appeared in the first scene stood on the stage.

The staff also moved the boxes to set up the first scene.

The kids who appeared in the second scene stood close to make it easy to go up, and the other kids waited for their turn or sat nearby.

Seo-jun, who appeared last, sat a little away from the kids so as not to interfere with their movement.

Seo-jun’s eyes never left the stage.

Cameras were installed in a few places in the audience seats to monitor with the kids.

The staff checked that the stage was well lit and sent a signal. Director Park Ji-soo shouted loudly.

“Let’s start!”

The music flowed.

The kids stumbled to find their movements and acted timidly, unlike the lively practice in the practice room, but the story progressed slowly.

Choi So-yeong, who played the main character, led the kids like a veteran. Director Park Ji-soo checked the places where the kids made mistakes and thought about the background, props, and lights.

The last scene, it was Seo-jun’s turn.

The kids who had finished their turn sat comfortably in the audience seats, and the parents were busy taking pictures of their kids with their phones.

The staff also moved with half their minds relaxed as the group practice was ending.

At Director Park Ji-soo’s gesture, a blue dragon picture fluttered down from the ceiling, and Seo-jun brought the microphone close to his mouth.

[(Line)The weak bloodline of the Blue Dragon Hatchling is activated.]

Seo-jun’s black eyes turned into the color of the sea. The ends of his black hair also turned blue. His senses, especially his hearing, were sharpened, and he felt like he could hear the breathing of Da Ho hyung who was sitting in the audience seats.

More. More.

Two hard horns grew out of his black hair. Pink scales appeared on his chubby cheeks, shining blue.

Seo-jun looked at the blue scales that sprouted on the back of his hand.

[(Line)The weak bloodline of the Blue Dragon Hatchling – Intermediate]

It is the bloodline of a young blue dragon (hatchling).

The bloodline alone shows the difference in ‘rank’.

Depending on the strength of the bloodline, some parts of the body become blue dragonized.

‘That’s why I couldn’t use it in the practice room.’

At the audition, everyone was far away, and the bright lights hid not only the color of his eyes but also his hair.

But in the practice room, So-yeong noona was close, and the lights were moderate.

It was a perfect situation to be caught, so he didn’t use his ability.

So, the bloodline was weak at the audition, and he didn’t use it after that.

That was the story.

Even though the people were satisfied with his acting, Seo-jun felt regretful.

He could have done better.

Now that his appearance was hidden behind the board, it was his chance to show off his skills.

He breathed in and out deeply,

And then,

A blue dragon appeared in the theater.

The kids who were sitting in the audience seats after the stage was over, the parents who were watching, and the staff who were walking around, all looked at the blue dragon installed on the stage.

There was no wind, so it was just a dull and ordinary picture. It was just a coolly drawn blue dragon picture, but,

“…What kind of device did they use?”

One of the parents asked, and the staff shook their heads.

It was just a cool but ordinary blue dragon picture printed by a large printer.

“Wow. I thought it was a real blue dragon.”

“Me too! It felt like I was making a wish to the blue dragon.”

As the kids chattered, the adults finally came to their senses.

The president who came to watch the first group practice and Director Park Ji-soo looked at the blue dragon picture and Seo-jun who was sitting in the audience seat and drinking water alternately with a blank face.

“…I’m so sorry to waste this.”

“I agree.”

“I’m really sorry!”

“I agree a hundred thousand times.”

As the two people were talking only about how sorry they were, someone approached them.

“Sorry…”

“…Excuse me, Mr. President.”

“Yes… Oh, yes. What is it?”

It was the stage director who wore his hat backwards. He opened the note he brought with a flushed face.

“While watching the group practice earlier, I thought of something. I want to add more devices here. Like the real world. Trees, flowers, houses, everything realistic. Especially the blue dragon, not just a video, but something more three-dimensional…”

The stage director’s talk went on for a while.

The president and Director Park Ji-soo nodded repeatedly. In the meantime, the assistant director checked the time and sent the kids and parents home.

The president counted the remaining days. Two weeks. There were two weeks left until the performance.

“Will we have enough time to make it until the performance?”

“We have time, but… the budget…”

The stage director rubbed his neck. The background, props, and blue dragon he wanted to make were different from the cute ones he planned to make. He had a rough idea of how much it would cost.

The stage director’s eyes rolled and headed towards the president.

“Don’t worry about the budget.”

As he saw Seo-jun’s acting and heard the stage director’s talk, his tight head stopped.

The president of Milky Galaxy Center’s eyes sparkled.

Chapter 68

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 68

“DVD?”

Seo-jun tilted his head as he met the president of the Milky Way Center in the conference room.

“Yes. Musicals and plays are also made into DVDs and sold. I want to make a DVD because it’s a waste to just watch it ourselves. And VOD too.”

DVD.

Seo-jun pondered for a moment.

The characteristic of a play was that there was no same stage.

The same script, the same stage, the same props, but the actors’ mood and synergy varied from show to show.

There was a clear difference even during practice. Seo-jun found it fun and regrettable.

He wished he could film it and make it into a movie when his hyungs and noonas did an impeccable performance.

And then, on the next rehearsal stage, someone burst out laughing and the stage became a sea of laughter.

That was also very good in its own way.

The feeling that the stage was really alive.

As he practiced more and more, as the performance date approached, he looked forward to the stage he would create with his hyungs and noonas and in front of the audience.

He was going to leave such a stage on video! Seo-jun nodded his head repeatedly.

“I’m fine with it, but what about my noona and hyungs?”

The president smiled brightly at Seo-jun’s question. As soon as he brought up the DVD recording, the actors and the guardians all agreed without a single objection.

“They all agreed.”

“Then I’m okay too.”

Seo-jun agreed and Ahn Da Ho nodded his head. Since Seo-jun said he would do it, Cocoa Entertainment would definitely do it too, but they needed to discuss the contract terms and profit distribution.

“Then I’ll contact you soon.”

“I’ll wait. But you have to tell me the name that will go on the pamphlet, that is, your stage name. Do you have a fixed stage name?”

There wasn’t much time left for the performance. Now they had to make promotional materials and pamphlets to give to the audience.

“I’m going to use the blue dragon picture that I used for the rehearsal stage last time. You just need to decide on your stage name.”

At the president’s words, Seo-jun smiled a little shyly. He gathered with his mom and dad, Uncle Hee-sang, and Uncle Chan, and talked about his stage name. Among the many candidates, Seo-jun chose the one he liked the most.

“Please make my stage name Na Jin.”

The president blinked his eyes. The name, which sounded like a place name, reminded him of a person when he was with Seo-jun.

“That’s…”

“Do you know?”

Seo-jun giggled.

The stage became more and more glamorous from the day the contract for the DVD was discussed. As if to show the power of the generous budget, devices that seemed to be seen only on foreign famous stages appeared and the children’s practice became more and more perfect with the moving props.

Choi So-yeong looked at the stage with a disgusted face. She had already appeared in six plays at the age of 12. Among them, there was a musical for children. But she had never seen such a stage that put so much effort. It was the same for her acting academy friend, Lee Da-jin, who did two works together.

“I guess I’ll get emotionally involved automatically at this rate.”

“That’s right. But, emotional involvement is the best.”

“Are you talking about Seo-jun?”

“Really, it’s amazing. I don’t know how he can do that with just his voice.”

Choi So-yeong recalled the practice. The scene-by-scene practice for two weeks was amazing, but the group practice was decisive.

“I wonder if I need that level of acting skills to enter Hollywood.”

“Maybe.”

“I’ll never be able to go in my life.”

Lee Da-jin laughed at Choi So-yeong’s disgusted look.

“Well, it was amazing. We all made a wish once.”

“Da-jin, you. You really wanted to make a wish then, right?”

“Yes!”

Lee Da-jin nodded his head without a moment’s delay at Choi So-yeong’s words. The two laughed at the ridiculous answer.

It was after a few group practices.

Lee Da-jin raised her hand with a snap as she ate her snack. Lee Da-jin couldn’t stand it because she was curious.

Her friend, Choi So-yeong, who was no different from usual in other acting, changed into a really cool acting when the blue dragon appeared.

As if she was really wishing for something. And the blue dragon also responded with an amazing atmosphere. It seemed like the blue dragon would really grant her wish when she saw that scene.

When she went to a temple or a church, even if she didn’t believe in that religion, even if she had doubts, she wanted to make a wish like that. Lee Da-jin wanted to make a wish to the blue dragon.

“I want to make a wish too!”

“What?”

Park Ji-soo, the director, asked back at Lee Da-jin’s incomprehensible words. Oops. I unknowingly said what was on my mind. Lee Da-jin quickly added this and that.

“Seo-jun’s acting is so real that I’m curious what it feels like to act with him! So-yeong’s skills have improved a lot, right?”

At that, the children raised their hands one by one and the guardians silently applauded Lee Da-jin’s words.

Park Ji-soo looked at Seo-jun, who was eating pizza. Seo-jun, who was eating deliciously, raised his head at his own story.

To be honest, Park Ji-soo was also amazed by Choi So-yeong’s acting skills, who became a child who really believed in the blue dragon in the scene where the blue dragon appeared.

‘But in the previous scene, it was the usual skill. If Seo-jun’s acting skills raise So-yeong’s acting skills, what would happen if he acted with other children?’

Park Ji-soo put down the pizza piece he had in his hand and looked at Seo-jun and the children who were shining their eyes and asked Seo-jun.

“How about it? Seo-jun.”

“I’m fine.”

Seo-jun answered like that and looked at the children. Hmm. There are fourteen people excluding So-yeong noona. Doing it fourteen times is too much.

He checked the remaining props and skillfully divided them. Seo-jun asked.

“Can I do it with four people?”

“Yes!”

“Let’s do that.”

They all nodded their heads. And soon the stage was decorated. The blue dragon appeared on the stage. The blue dragon, which the stage director had completed first and was still being revised, was the one that was taken from the amusement park parade.

The long and long beard stretched to both ends of the stage and the large and sharp eyes looked down at the stage and the audience.

The long and long body that swayed like a wave appeared on the screen.

The stage darkened, and Seo-jun, who was standing behind the board, grabbed the microphone. And the stage director pressed the switch he had made with his heart.

Blink,

The blue dragon’s eyes closed and opened.

“Since then, the children’s skills seem to have improved a lot.”

“Well, it’s only for this play.”

“This experience is the foundation.”

The guardians and the academy staff had a quiet conversation. As the academy staff said, the children became much better at emotional involvement in this play. They moved as if they were not acting, but living in a fairy tale.

“When I asked how they could do that, they said they felt like the blue dragon was real and they felt like they were living in a world where the blue dragon existed on the stage.”

“My child was staring at the prop box the other day.”

“Prop box?”

“Yes. There were the dragon balls that the protagonist collected inside.”

“Oh. I see.”

“Yes. I feel like this could really grant our wishes. Should we try making one? I was thinking about it.”

“Kids tend to blur the line between reality and fantasy sometimes.”

“Honestly…”

Someone chuckled sheepishly.

They discussed how to keep their secret, bought snacks in turns, and became friends with the other parents.

“I also make a wish whenever I see So-yeong making hers during the group practice.”

“Well, the Blue Dragon God does have an impressive presence.”

Their conversation reached the ears of the director through the staff. His eyes sparkled once again.

***

“Hey. Are you really going to watch this?”

“This was the cheapest one. Let’s go to the PC room with the leftover money.”

“I’m so embarrassed.”

Kim Suhan’s friend wiped his face with his hand. They had a summer vacation homework to watch a play or a musical. The school gave them a subsidy, so they could watch any show within a reasonable price range for free.

“Come on, we’re high school students now. Isn’t a children’s play too much?”

“Everything else was sold out. Let’s just watch it and have fun.”

He had a point, but his friend sighed again.

“You know you have to write a review, right?”

“I know. I’ll just write something like ‘I found my inner child.’ It’s not like the teacher knows the value of this play.”

“Yeah. Fine.”

They had already reached the Galaxy Center, so it was too late to turn back. Kim Suhan and his friend entered the center.

“…This is a children’s play, right?”

“It is, but…”

There were a lot of adults. Some looked like they came in groups, and some were families. Half kids, half adults. His friend blinked his eyes and nodded.

“Maybe the families and friends came to watch the kids who are performing.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

“Well, it’s better than being the only two of us here.”

There was a group that stood out among the audience. They had no kids, only adults.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun held the pamphlets. Kim Hee-sang and Seo Eun-chan were there too, and the grandparents came along to watch their grandson’s first play.

“This must be Seo-jun.”

There was a well-drawn dragon picture under the name ‘Na Jin/8 years old’. While everyone was focused on the pamphlet, Seo Eun-chan looked around.

“But there are more people than I expected.”

“It seems like they are from the acting academy. President.”

Ahn Da Ho appeared out of nowhere. Seo Eun-chan gasped and clutched his heart. He felt like it was going to drop!

As she ignored her brother Seo Eun-hye asked.

“The acting academy?”

“Seo-jun told some people that he was performing.”

Ahn Da Ho’s eyes moved to the people who looked like directors and instructors. His mouth twitched slightly, as if he knew who was performing. They all kept their mouths shut, feeling like they were polishing their knives.

It was clear that they would choose to gain Seo-jun’s favor, rather than becoming the prey of the reporters.

“Fortunately, they listened to my advice, and there were no articles or rumors. The kids who came with them don’t seem to know either.”

The kids they brought to show Seo-jun’s acting were bored, not knowing the truth. Some of them were looking at their phones.

Some students from the same academy complained that they had to watch the play just because one of them was performing. They didn’t have to do that when it was their turn.

Seo Eun-chan calmed down his racing heart and asked.

“That’s good, right?”

“Yes. President.”

“Ahn Da Ho. How is Seo-jun?”

Lee Min-jun, who greeted Ahn Da Ho with Seo-jun in the morning, asked as he pointed inside.

“He said he needs to focus now, and asked me to keep away unless necessary.”

“I see.”

“When will the DVD be out?”

The grandmother, who wanted to keep her grandson’s play, asked Ahn Da Ho.

“We decided to sell the recording of the best performance out of the eight shows. So I think it will be sold after the play is over.”

“It’s still two months away.”

Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye folded their fingers and thought of the people they wanted to send the DVD to. They had to send it to the Brown Black members and to America.

[The play ‘Spring’ will start soon. Please enter the theater, everyone.]

With the announcement, the staff opened the doors of the theater.

People holding their kids’ hands in one hand and the pamphlets in the other moved their steps into the theater.

They thought only the families and friends would come on the first day, but the spacious seats were barely filled.

The only audience who had no relation to the actors were the two male students who came to watch the play for their homework.

Unlike the parents who looked at the empty seats with regret, the kids were a bit nervous to see the people coming into the seats that were empty during the practice.

The kids who were laughing and talking loudly until a while ago became quiet, and Director Park Ji-soo gathered their attention with her usual clap.

“Are you all ready?”

“Yes!”

The kids in well-finished hanboks answered.

The budget poured in, and the kids’ costumes changed too. When they first planned this play, they just hoped it would end well, but at some point, they tried to make it a ‘real’ story.

“Then, shall we cheer up?”

At Director Park’s words, the protagonist Choi So-yeong reached out her hand. Seo-jun and the kids gathered around and put their hands together.

The staff took pictures of Seo-jun and the kids’ smiling faces. It was the making film that would go into the DVD.

“Spring!”

“Spring!”

“Fight!!”

A thrilling chill ran up from their toes. The stage was about to start.

Seo-jun, holding a turned-off microphone, looked around. Everyone’s faces were full of tension and anticipation. But no one looked worried.

Seo-jun smiled at the sight. Seo-jun and the kids knew. How amazing the stage and the work they made were.

“Let’s begin!”

Chapter 69

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 69

Beep-

The sound rang out and the auditorium went dark.

Clap clap-

The curtain rose with applause.

Everyone looked at the stage and marveled.

They had expected a simple and round background like a fairy tale, since it was a children’s play, but it was a background that depicted houses and trees that swayed as if they were in a fantasy movie.

The protagonist, Dream, lived in a village of spring that had been suffering from drought for years.

Finally, when her younger sibling collapsed, she decided to make a wish to the Blue Dragon, the guardian of the world, who was passed down in legend, and set off on a journey to find him.

Dream traveled around and helped people, and in return, she received glass pieces that she could not identify.

They were useless, but she thought he would give them to her sibling as a gift, and she kept them well in his bundle.

The audience rubbed their eyes without realizing it.

No, were they children?

The stage equipment and props were neither flashy nor out of place, and they looked real.

Especially, the natural acting, or rather, the appearance of the children, looked like they were watching the daily lives of people living in a foreign country on television.

Some of them were children who were on stage for the first time.

For that, they looked like real farmers and woodcutters, and for a month of practice, the parents of the children wondered if their child had such talent.

Should they go into acting?

They thought.

But when they tried other acting as a test, it was still at a beginner level, so they realized that this play was a special case.

Finally, Dream arrived at the cave of the Blue Dragon.

“Blue Dragon, Blue Dragon! Please listen to my wish.”

Dream clasped her hands and prayed earnestly.

“Please save my sibling, please save our village.”

At her desperate appearance, the children who were attending the same acting academy as Choi So-yeong were surprised.

She was good, but not that good.

Dream remembered the people she had met during his journey who were suffering from the drought.

The urgent problem that had to be solved was that Dream helped them, but the fundamental solution was only one.

The Blue Dragon sending rain!

“Blue Dragon, Blue Dragon! Everyone is suffering.”

Then, rumble boom! A loud noise shook the theater.

The stage director shivered at the firepower of the newly installed speakers. It was worth the money!

The clear sky on the screen was covered with clouds and the sun disappeared.

The stage darkened and flash! Lightning struck.

And behind the prop in the center of the stage, Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled with the color of the sea.

No one saw Seo-jun now, so he could use it as much as he wanted.

[(Line) The weak peer of the Blue Dragon Hatchling is activated.]

Along with Seo-jun’s pupils, the color of his hair changed.

A small horn grew and dragon scales sprouted on his cheeks and backs of his hands.

This time, it seemed like his vision was enhanced, and he saw the appearance of his noona So-yeong, who was acting passionately while looking at him with her back to the audience.

The lighting was strong, but the dragonized Seo-jun could see the expressions and faces of every person sitting in the audience.

Some were crossing their arms as if they were watching a play that could be seen anywhere, and some were talking to the person next to them.

There were children who were watching with interest, but there were also children who were not interested.

That’s why the play was good. He could see the reactions of the people directly.

He looked forward to the expressions of the people who would be surprised soon. Seo-jun smirked.

Here, there was a Blue Dragon that no one could ignore.

Seo-jun opened his mouth.

Through the voice-changing machine prepared by the stage director, it was filtered once, but the ability was great.

[You’re noisy.]

Those words.

That voice that was like a child or an adult, that was unknown.

It pierced through the screen of the television, and connected the world on the stage and the world under the stage.

The audience opened their mouths without realizing it at the overwhelming something.

Dream, who was praying to the unknown being, felt like she was right in front of him, far away.

She felt like she was standing in front of a tremendous being.

Now, the play was not a play.

The cave on the screen grew bigger.

And a huge blue dragon appeared in the cave.

The blue dragon that came out of the cave flew in the wide sky.

Dream and the audience looked up at the blue dragon that reached the ceiling.

And the blue dragon came to Dream.

The blue dragon that was flying from the end came flying.

Close.

So close that she could meet his big eyes.

“Uh? Uh!”

The adults, seeing the blue dragon getting closer and closer, backed away without realizing it. But they were blocked by the back of the chair and could not move any more.

They all huddled up and buried themselves in the backrest.

It was too close even though it was close.

The head of the blue dragon pierced through the screen and appeared on the stage.

Gasp!

The audience gasped and buried themselves in the chair.

Unlike the adults who were overwhelmed, the children opened their mouths wide and looked at the blue dragon that appeared for real.

The long beard of the blue dragon waved like a wave and reached both ends of the stage, and the sharp eyes looked down at Dream and the audience.

As if he had really become a blue dragon, everyone in front of him felt small. His enhanced vision showed him the appearance of the audience.

The adults who backed away with a strange awe, the children who sparkled their eyes with a warm holiness.

Seo-jun remembered his grandfather, who had protected the human kingdom, and opened his mouth.

[You’re noisy, kid.]

At that voice, the audience clasped their hands without realizing it. They had goosebumps even though it was not cold.

They had never seen anything outside of humans here.

It was not scary. It was just huge and spiritual, something they had never imagined.

Kim Hee-sang suddenly realized that he had felt this similar feeling before.

Evil spirit.

Of course, it was a bit different.

The acting as a demon was full of mischief, but it felt more human.

This one, however, sounded like a real non-human being.

“Blue Dragon! Please help me.”

While the entire audience was speechless, Dream, who was used to it from practice, opened her mouth well.

She told the blue dragon, who had big eyes, about the things she had experienced while traveling, with earnest gestures.

The blue dragon’s momentum, which had been blinking his eyes, subsided a little.

[Hmm. I’m sorry.]

“What?”

[Someone stole my magic orb. I need it to make it rain…]

Dream jumped up at the blue dragon’s words.

“I’ll find it for you! You just need the magic orb, right?”

[Yes. But I don’t know where it is. I think the magic orb might be broken.]

“It’s okay! I’ll find it soon! Please tell me what it looks like!”

The blue dragon slowly opened his mouth.

The half-closed eyes of the blue dragon blinked as if recalling his memory.

[It’s blue and pretty. It has this pattern on it.]

A waterdrop pattern appeared in front of Dream.

The children exclaimed with admiration at the blue dragon’s ability and sparkled their eyes.

Suddenly, Dream felt like she had seen it somewhere.

That is, very close.

My bag!

“My bag!”

[Hmm?]

Dream quickly untied the bag she was carrying on her back.

Three pieces of glass came out of it.

Dream showed the glass pieces to the blue dragon so he could see them well.

“Blue Dragon! Is this the magic orb!?”

The blue dragon’s eyes, which were always half-closed, changed to round. And he smiled.

[Yes. It’s my magic orb. Thank you very much. I’ll grant you one wish in return.]

“That’s great! Blue Dragon! I have a wish! Please make it rain soon.”

[Don’t you have any other wishes?]

“No!”

[Okay. Wait a moment!]

At the blue dragon’s wink, the glass pieces in Dream’s hand rose into the air, shone brightly, and turned into a round magic orb. And the magic orb fit perfectly into the blue dragon’s foot.

[Hmm!]

The blue dragon spat out a satisfied moan and his head slowly disappeared into the screen. And the screen was full of the blue dragon’s movements.

Seo-jun remembered the laughter of his family, the only one of the blue dragon hatchlings, the owner of the ability.

The cheerful and reliable laughter that made him forget all his worries and gave him strength.

Following the faint laughter of his grandfather that came to mind thanks to the book of life, he smiled.

[Hahahaha!]

Along with the blue dragon’s refreshing laughter, it started to rain.

The audience’s hearts were refreshed as if the heavy things were washed away by the rain with the clattering laughter.

Something like rain also started to fall on the stage. Of course, it was a stage effect that cost a lot of money.

After the sun set and the moon set and a few days passed, Dream arrived at her village.

The rain that the blue dragon brought seemed to have a mysterious power, and the fields and rice paddies were already grown enough to harvest.

Everyone was harvesting with happy faces.

“Noona!”

And Dream’s younger sister, Autumn, who had recovered from her illness, ran over and welcomed Dream.

The play ended with the sisters’ hug.

A heavy black curtain came down and covered the stage.

Soon the audience seats brightened.

Clap-!

Clap clap clap!!!

The applause sounded in the theater.

***

There was a small party after the first stage.

There were still many performances left, but everyone laughed and ate the food prepared by their parents.

Park Ji-soo, the director, who was sitting around with the children, said.

“Let’s change the order a bit?”

Seo-jun, who was sitting next to Park Ji-soo, the director, nodded. In Seo-jun’s hand was a pizza bread and a glass of milk.

“Yes. The audience seemed a bit distant at first.”

“That’s true. Even if you do a daily drama, you feel that way, but this is a completely fairy-tale-like story.”

Seo-jun followed Park Ji-soo’s words.

“But at the end, you can see that they were completely immersed.”

“Yes.”

Park Ji-soo, who had been looking back and forth between the stage and the audience, knew that very well.

At first, they thought the children were doing well for a children’s play, and they just watched with their arms crossed, but from the moment the blue dragon appeared, they moved their bodies back and forth and were completely absorbed in the play.

The children in the audience, who were distracted, also opened their mouths and stared at the stage without blinking when the blue dragon appeared.

Another indicator of immersion was the magic orb. The president of the Milky Way Center prepared a blue magic orb as a souvenir, and it sold out. Both adults and children bought a sparkling blue magic orb on their way out.

They knew it was a made-up story, but they had a half-belief like a superstition.

“It’s all thanks to Seo-jun.”

“So, how about having the blue dragon appear a little more in the front?”

“How?”

“Um. Like a blue dragon crying and losing his magic orb?”

At Seo-jun’s words, Choi So-yeong, who had come close, sat down and said.

“Doesn’t it look too empty?”

“But, noona. Hahaha laughing blue dragon is also…”

There was in the script, and Hatchling’s grandfather also laughed so hard that it was funny, but when he thought about it, his grandfather, who went to the human palace, never laughed like that.

The guardian dragon, who always pretended to be stern and had a serious face, only came back to Rare and smiled and looked for his grandson.

“Well, he also says ‘child’.”

Lee Da-jin and the children, who had come close, also joined in the conversation with Seo-jun and Park Ji-soo.

Everyone gave their opinions one by one.

The children’s opinions gathered and eventually decided to add and change the blue dragon’s lines.

The next performance was three days later, so they decided to practice in the meantime.

“Are you okay? Director Park? The kids are changing their lines.”

At the assistant director’s words, Park laughed.

“We see it from the outside, but they feel it while acting directly. There must be a world inside the stage that we don’t know. It would be different if we wanted to make money and planned this, but this play was planned for the children, so this much modification is nothing.”

Park Ji-soo, who looked at Seo-jun and the children who were having a lively conversation with a look of seeing a well-grown disciple, opened his mouth.

“But I have to say one thing.”

As always, Park Ji-soo caught the children’s attention with a clap.

“Kids.”

“Yes!”

“You can’t change it like this when you go to another play. It’s possible because we are.”

“Yes!!”

We.

That word stuck in Seo-jun and the children’s hearts.

The children here, and Seo-jun, knew.

It’s hard to meet such a free and fun play stage in the future.

So he wanted to work harder.

Chapter 70

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 70

The day of the second performance.

A group of students flocked to the Milky Way Center.

They were brought by Kim Suhan, who had seen the first performance.

“It’s really amazing!”

“I almost fainted watching it!”

The two of them gestured wildly to convey how awesome it was, while the other three friends shook their heads in disbelief.

“Come on, what’s there to see in a children’s play?”

“If it’s really boring, I’ll treat you to a PC room!”

“Instant noodles?”

“Deal!”

The students who were looking forward to getting a free meal stopped in their tracks. One of them said.

“…Can we watch quietly?”

The lobby of the Milky Way Center was filled with children and parents.

“Me too, Blue Dragon! I want to see you!! Heeju bragged so much! She even bought a Yeoui!!”

“Blue Dragon! Blue Dragon!! I have to make a wish!”

“Yeoui!!! Give me a Yeoui!!”

The children in the lobby were divided into three groups.

The first group was smiling brightly and showing off their Yeouis, which they had bought as souvenirs, to their friends who had never seen them before.

The second group was the children who had seen the first performance and had gotten their Yeouis.

They had nagged their parents to come to the Milky Way Center again to meet the Blue Dragon and make a wish.

The third group was the children who had been dragged by their parents who had heard a recommendation from someone. They had no interest in the play or the Yeoui.

The high-pitched voices of the children hurt the ears of the students, who covered them and headed to the ticket booth. Kim Suhan looked exhausted from dealing with the children, and asked the weary-looking staff.

“Do you have any tickets left?”

“Uh, what are you looking for?”

“The children’s play, Spring.”

The friends who had followed Kim Suhan pretended not to see him, as if they were too old for a children’s play, but the staff and Kim Suhan had a conversation without any hesitation.

“Yes. There are still some seats available.”

“Then I’ll take five, please.”

“You must have seen the first performance.”

“Yes. I even bought a Yeoui.”

“What? You bought a Yeoui? Are you a kid?”

“Hehehe. You’ll want to buy one too after you see it.”

Behind them, the children were shouting Yeoui! Blue Dragon! and the three friends were dumbfounded by Kim Suhan, who had bought a Yeoui.

“Seriously, what kind of play is this that causes such a fuss?”

***

As soon as they entered the theater, the seats were half full.

The students sighed softly at the chatter of the children, expecting a noisy show.

The parents seemed to be trying to calm them down, but the excited children wouldn’t listen.

The children had Yeouis in their hands, which were sold as a special event before the show.

They were blue and shiny.

Most of the children were happily playing with their Yeouis, but the children who had been brought by their parents had empty hands.

“Do we really not have to buy one? All the other kids have one.”

“It’s just a bead. I’ll buy you a car later!”

But the child didn’t know that he would regret it in less than an hour.

Beep-

A sound was heard, and soon the theater went dark.

Before the curtain rose, a loud thunder and lightning sound shook the audience.

“What’s that?”

The audience who had seen the first performance and came back to see it again turned their heads to the direction of the sound, which was different from the first show.

Seo-jun, who was standing on one side of the stage, smiled slightly and turned on the microphone.

[(Sen)The weak blood of the Blue Dragon Hatchling is activated.]

[Uhuhuhu.]

A whimpering sound was heard.

The voice that was neither childlike nor adultlike, and the strange feeling that came from somewhere, made the children who were chatting excitedly and the adults who were tired of stopping them shut their mouths.

[My Yeoui…!]

That one word united the stage and the audience.

After that, it was the same as the first performance.

The audience was absorbed in the play, as if their souls had been sucked out and were floating on the stage.

They put all their strength into their bodies and didn’t take their eyes off the stage.

When Spring was in danger, they reacted as if they were in danger, and when Spring cried, they cried with her.

And then, the Blue Dragon appeared.

The sight of the Blue Dragon breaking through the screen made everyone move away from him, burying their bodies in their seats. His large and sharp eyes blinked.

He had a fearsome and sacred presence.

[Quiet!]

The childlike voice of the Blue Dragon shattered them.

Seo-jun continued his acting with a new interpretation of the character.

A part of his body became the Blue Dragon again, and his senses, especially his hearing, increased several times. He heard the breathing of the audience clearly in his ears.

Gasp!

Eek!

Phew.

They were all reactions created by his acting.

Seo-jun shouted as if he was really the young Blue Dragon, or rather, the owner of the power, the Blue Dragon Hatchling.

[Quiet, I said!]

“Blue Dragon! Please help me!”

[I can’t help you! I don’t have my Yeoui!]

The Blue Dragon’s voice sounded like he was throwing a tantrum, but strangely enough, his holiness and otherworldliness remained. It was the power of [(Sen)The weak blood of the Blue Dragon Hatchling], which made them feel the difference in ‘level’.

“Here! This is the Yeoui!”

[My Yeoui! Thank you! I’ll grant you one wish!]

“My wish is.”

And then, that immersion moved the children who were watching the stage with their mouths open.

Some of the children who couldn’t tell the difference between reality and story got up from their seats and held up their Yeouis, just like Spring did, and shouted.

“Please let me have a lot of allowance!”

“Please let me eat pizza tomorrow!”

“I want to go to the amusement park!”

The sudden situation made the audience stir. Choi So-yeong wondered if she should continue her lines. In that brief moment, Seo-jun, who had sharp ears, said with a smile.

[Good! Anyone else have a wish?]

At the playful voice of the Blue Dragon, the quick-witted music director lowered the volume of the background music.

A gentle music played in the theater, and the children who were encouraged by the Blue Dragon’s words held up their Yeouis and made their wishes.

The children who didn’t buy the Yeouis rolled their feet in envy as they watched their friends happily making their wishes.

“Please make my mom get well soon!”

“Please let me not go to the academy tomorrow!”

The children’s wishes were heard from all over. The adults’ voices murmured in Seo-jun’s ears.

The children’s voices that were noisy quieted down and the Blue Dragon’s gaze turned to Spring.

[What about you?]

“I have a wish too! Please make it rain!”

[Okay! I’ll grant everyone’s wishes!]

Hahaha! As the bright laughter of the Blue Dragon rang out, the rain began to fall.

The curtain fell on the stage, and Director Park Ji-soo, the staff, and the children rushed to Choi So-yeong and Seo-jun.

“You both did great! Wow! You were amazing!”

“I never thought you would say that! So-yeong noona and Seo-jun! I thought the stage was ruined!”

“It was all Seo-jun’s doing, anyway.”

Choi So-yeong passed the credit to Seo-jun, who had carried on the play with an ad-lib in the sudden situation, unlike her who had panicked.

“Noona, you matched me perfectly.”

Seo-jun shook his head modestly. It was also a remarkable feat that she had grasped his intention and stopped the story from progressing further, and that she had responded appropriately to his ad-lib.

“You both did great!”

As Director Park Ji-soo clapped his hands, everyone behind the stage applauded the two actors.

Seo-jun smiled happily as he saw his colleagues who were happy with one heart and one mind. His chest tickled.

Ah, this is so good.

The children changed their clothes and removed their makeup, and gathered in the practice room.

They decided to review what had happened on the stage and have a meeting for the next stage.

“Should we add a wish-making time for the next stage?”

“That sounds good!”

“Let’s talk to the director and the music director!”

“Should we change some of our lines too?”

That’s how the children’s opinions changed the lines of the Blue Dragon and the other characters a little bit.

Sometimes he was a childlike Blue Dragon, sometimes he was a grandfather-like Blue Dragon, and sometimes he was a real god-like Blue Dragon.

Various colors of the Blue Dragon appeared from the children’s mouths.

The warm backstage was the opposite of the Milky Way Center lobby, which was more noisy than before the show.

Before the show, the children who had passed by the stall without any thought started to throw a tantrum as soon as they saw the blue glittering Yeoui.

“Yeoui! Buy me a Yeoui!”

“I want to make a wish too!”

The parents who gave up trying to stop them bought them Yeouis, and the children were ecstatic and raised their Yeouis.

Among them was a child who had asked for a car.

“Blue Dragon! Please grant my wish!”

“Please!”

“Let’s go see it again! We have to make a wish!”

The sea-colored Yeouis sold like hotcakes with the children’s enthusiasm.

Among them were the three friends who had scolded him for buying a Yeoui.

They all picked up a Yeoui as if they were bewitched.

“Hey. I really don’t know what this feels like.”

“I know, right. I know it’s a made-up story, but it feels like it’s real somehow.”

“I don’t know if he grants wishes or not, but if there was a dragon, it would feel like that.”

They all couldn’t get the voice of the Blue Dragon out of their heads. They felt stiff all over from thinking about it.

“But, did you see this?”

“What?”

Kim Suhan showed them the pamphlet. From Choi So-yeong, who played the main character Spring, to the woodcutter and the hunter, the actors’ photos, names, and ages were written.

He pointed to one of them.

The picture of the Blue Dragon and the writing below it.

[Blue Dragon, Na Jin/8 years old]

“…?”

“Huh?”

“That’s? An 8-year-old’s voice?”

Not only the students, but also the adults who saw the pamphlet looked back and forth between the theater where the sacred Blue Dragon was and the pamphlet.

Kim Suhan and his friends, who had seen both the dignified and the quirky Blue Dragon acting, made a more bizarre expression and said.

“…Is he a genius?”

“…There are so many talented kids these days.”

“But the first performance was a bit different.”

“On the first day, the Blue Dragon was like a grandfather, but this time he was like a child.”

“That too, but I liked the feeling of being immersed from the beginning.”

“It’s definitely more fun than movies or dramas that are edited and done. It’s because it’s a play.”

“I wonder if the next performance will change too?”

The rest of the three people decided to come and see the next performance after hearing the conversation of their friends who had seen the first performance.

And they invited more friends.

The students of Juyeong High School, who were looking for a cheap and worth-watching play for their summer homework, gathered at the Milky Way Center.

***

“It’s so fun!”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun burst into laughter at Seo-jun’s words.

Seo-jun was looking forward to the day of the performance these days. He marked the performance days on a large calendar and waited for the time to pass by cutting the scissors.

The other kids were the same.

They all laughed and made a fuss when they gathered in the practice room.

“Dad liked the grandfather Blue Dragon.”

“Mom liked the child Blue Dragon.”

“I like them all!”

The performance ‘Spring’ that changed slightly every time had a lot of Nth audience. There were audiences who watched diligently from the first day to the last week of the performance, which was this week.

How did he know?

It was because the audience sent him a signed poster with seven performance tickets attached through the staff.

He sent Na Jin’s signature first, but later he wanted to send a signature with the name Lee Seo-jun.

“Is the audience seat full these days?”

“Yeah! There’s no empty seat!”

A review was posted on the internet after the third performance, where the audience had a separate time to make wishes.

[Title: Children’s Play ‘Spring’ Must See!]

Please watch the children’s play ‘Spring’ at the Milky Way Center!

It’s a really cool play.

Especially, after watching the play, if our child does a good deed, he gets a Yeoui – divided into three pieces! – as a souvenir.

If you collect three of them, the Blue Dragon will grant your wish, so he works harder than collecting praise stickers.

Thanks to that, he eats well, cleans up his toys, and reads books diligently.

He’s looking for books with the Blue Dragon these days, but there aren’t many.

Of course, if the wish is too hard to grant, he says ‘The Blue Dragon can’t grant it either?’ and makes an excuse for the Blue Dragon. I’m sorry. Blue Dragon.

Please show it to the children who have lost the effect of praise stickers!

Maybe it was because of the review on the mom cafe, but there were a lot of children, but somehow the word of mouth spread among the students and these days there were a lot of teenagers and adults.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which was excited by the record of sold-out every day, sprinkled the materials to the reporters.

[Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Support, Children’s Play Spring Sold Out Lineup!]

[Veteran Child Actor Leading Spring, Choi So-yeong!]

[Child Actors Who Can’t Miss Anyone Have Appeared!]

[8 Years Old, Na Jin. Talented Voice Actor!]

[The Second Lee Seo-jun of the Voice Acting Industry! Na Jin!]

-These days, if you say you’re a little bit popular, they call you the second Lee Seo-jun.

-You have to compare what you compare. It’s just a play between kids. It’s obvious that it’s childish.

=They’re working hard, so praise them. The reporter put the title like that.

As the last performance was not far away, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism wanted to extend the performance, but the Spring team all shook their heads.

The kids were going to start school soon, and the adults wanted to let them know about Lee Seo-jun as soon as possible.

***

And the last day of the stage that lasted for three months came.

The end.

That one word weighed heavily on the actors of Spring.

Seo-jun looked at the faces of his hyungs and noonas who were sitting in the practice room.

Now we won’t have any snacks together, and we won’t change the lines for the next stage together.

Someone sniffed and made a sound.

At that sound, no one could tell who was first, but their eyes turned red.

Seo-jun’s eyes also turned red. His vision blurred with tears.

It was so fun, exciting and happy for three months that it was so hard and sad to say goodbye. It’s not that we’ll never meet again, but I wonder if we’ll ever be on stage with this team. That’s why Seo-jun was sadder.

“Don’t cry! You’ll ruin your makeup!”

Choi So-yeong jumped up. Even though she said that, Choi So-yeong’s nose was also red.

“Let’s cheer up! It’s the last time! Let’s do the best acting!”

At Choi So-yeong’s words, everyone nodded their heads.

As always during these three months, they reached out their hands without anyone being first.

They all put their hands on top of their sister’s hand, on top of their brother’s hand.

They looked at each other’s faces and reddened their eyes.

“Spring!”

“Spring!!”

“Fighting!!”

The kids, Seo-jun shouted loudly.

Chapter 71

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 71

Seo-jun grabbed the microphone.

‘This is the last time I hold this microphone.’

He felt a warmth from the hard microphone.

He only had a voice role, but being here made him feel like he was really the Blue Dragon, acting on the stage.

Seo-jun looked around the place where he was standing.

‘This is really the last time.’

He felt a tear welling up in his eye.

He could meet his hyungs and noonas again, and it wasn’t like they were saying goodbye forever, but he didn’t know why he was crying.

He wasn’t like this when he filmed the movie.

Beep-

The sound of the start of the performance was heard.

Now, it’s the last performance.

‘Since it’s the last time, let’s do our best!’

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

[(Good) The weak peer of the Blue Dragon Hatchling is activated.]

Seo-jun used his ability.

Seo-jun’s pupils turned into the color of the sea and his hair started to turn blue from the ends.

Two horns grew from his head and dragon scales sprouted on his cheeks and chin.

A little more.

Seo-jun closed his eyes tightly and started to breathe.

[(Good) The basic breathing of the elves is activated.]

A little more.

Until the tips of the five fingers holding the microphone, the white line turned blue as it turned into sharp claws.

Seo-jun realized the use of that fact. Seo-jun opened his eyes and looked at one side.

Following the place where his sea-colored pupils touched, the blue line that was swirling inside Seo-jun’s body ran along the wall and headed for the dragon model that was hidden behind the screen.

The blue line that turned into the Blue Dragon like a wave of waves wrapped around the dragon model.

The Blue Dragon that wore the dragon like a veil gave life to the dragon model that moved like a machine.

The large eyes closed softly and the beard that moved regularly waved gently.

The mane that was stiffly standing looked like it was swaying in the wind.

The blue scales that were covered with artificial colors turned into a vibrant sea color.

And,

Seo-jun became the Blue Dragon.

[Ooooh.]

The low roar of the beast-like Blue Dragon announced the start of the performance.

How will it be today, the audience who were curious and the audience who came to see the reviews shivered at the sound.

The fur on their bodies was prickly enough to spill out of their ears.

As if the story on the stage became real, everything came closer than ever.

They all fell into the play without saying a word.

The sound of coughing, the sound of chairs shaking by the movement of the body, the sound of children talking, no noise appeared in the theater.

They all looked at the stage with their bodies tense.

The children on the stage had no time to look at the audience, thinking that it was the last performance, they moved harder than ever.

They spoke, moved, cried, and laughed. Their heart-wrenching acting made their hearts pound.

And the Blue Dragon appeared through the screen.

Not only the audience who saw the play for the first time, but also the audience who saw the play several times and the staff who installed the Blue Dragon themselves opened their mouths without knowing it at the sight of the Blue Dragon that seemed to be alive.

The long beard that moved mechanically, the stiff fur, and the movement of the eyelids that were hard, all disappeared.

The hard scales of the Blue Dragon sparkled in the light.

The paint that was painted blue turned into a mysterious deep sea color.

As if breathing, a faint wind seemed to come out of the Blue Dragon’s nose.

The blue eyes of the dragon that looked like a picture had a mysterious life in them and the claws of the two feet that were awkwardly attached were sharp enough to pierce anything.

The blue mane of the Blue Dragon swayed in the wind.

Really,

It seemed like there was a living dragon in front of them.

The huge Blue Dragon hit his head on the theater and looked down at them.

If they went out of the Milky Way Center, there would be a huge body of the Blue Dragon floating in the sky.

[You found the Yeoui. Thank you.]

The Blue Dragon’s mouth opened slightly and his sharp teeth were visible.

Suddenly, the stage director remembered something. ……That mouth shouldn’t open……?

The beard and mane moved as if they were swaying in the wind to match the movement of the mouth.

The heavy voice penetrated the hearts of the audience.

Seo-jun, who became a dragon, remembered the life of Hatchling he found in the Library of Life.

He remembered his grandfather who lived with Hatchling when he was young.

A large body with a kind face.

The Blue Dragon, the guardian of the human kingdom.

He was kind to Hatchling, but his grandfather did not distance from humans.

He generously gave them, but did not let favor become a right, and maintained his coldness toward humans.

Hatchling wanted to be such a dragon.

He followed his grandfather at the first stage. But as he went through the stages, Seo-jun, Hatchling, grew up.

This appearance was himself, not following his grandfather or anyone else. He died early and couldn’t become the guardian dragon of the human kingdom, but

[I’ll grant you a wish in return.]

At the words of the living Blue Dragon, some of the children and people in the audience naturally clasped their hands. Seo-jun saw people with desperate expressions in his eyes.

Although it was a lie, he thought that maybe he had become the guardian dragon that Hatchling wanted at this moment.

The play was over.

The heavy curtain covered the stage and came down.

The audience was bright, but the shock of the living Blue Dragon was so great that there was only a heavy silence in the audience.

Soon the curtain rose and the children who appeared on the stage to greet them appeared.

They were sweating, but they were breathing hard as if they were out of breath, and they smiled brightly.

As they saw the children smiling,

Clap!!!

Clap clap clap!!!

Wow!!

The people who jumped up from their seats sent applause and cheers.

The children and adults alike, it was the biggest cheer ever.

“Awesome!”

“It was the best!”

“Lee Da-jin!!”

Someone called his name, and Lee Da-jin, dressed as a hunter, came forward and bowed and waved his hands.

The audience who had seen the play several times and memorized all the actors in the pamphlet called out the names of each one.

The child who was called his name didn’t know what to do, so Lee Da-jin smiled and pushed his back.

The children also greeted with a shy but bright smile and waved their hands.

And, one last person was left.

He never appeared on the stage, but he was an actor who captivated the hearts of children and adults with his voice alone.

Today, he gave a more sacred and heavy voice than ever.

The eyes of the audience turned to one child.

Among the children wearing hanbok, there was one child wearing a T-shirt and pants.

Kim Suhan, who came to see the play with his friends today, shouted.

“Na in!!”

Seo-jun, wearing a hat, stepped forward at the name.

The children’s voices saying Blue Dragon! Blue Dragon! were heard here and there. Seo-jun looked around the audience and bowed his waist.

And he waved his hands.

“Let’s see your face in the next work!!”

The audience laughed at that.

The actors also laughed and stood side by side.

And they held hands with their friends next to them.

Seo-jun also held his hyungs and noonas’ hands tightly. He felt the emotion of the actors in the hands that were holding each other.

One, two.

“Thank you!”

The last stage was over.

***

“Good job!”

“It’s over!”

The play was over.

There was no more practice or performance.

The kids who cried their eyes out backstage hugged each other and raised their glasses of soda.

In the middle of the practice room, there were delicious foods like pizza, chicken, and pork feet.

As the tension eased and they sobbed, the hungry kids quickly filled their stomachs.

Seo-jun, who had red eyes, also bit into a slice of pizza.

He chewed the pizza and thought.

His life as a dragon had nothing to do with the history of the character he had studied.

He had just used the appropriate ability in a makeshift way.

But this time it was different.

The fact that they were similar races, that they cared for humans.

And the life that Hatchling wanted.

Many things in the play situation resembled his life as a dragon.

Was that why?

He felt that Hatchling, who had not grown up because of his short life, grew up according to his acting.

In the end, Hatchling showed his own dignity, not his grandfather’s.

‘Did he become the guardian dragon he dreamed of?’

The dragon-shaped ability in the middle of his neck sparkled with satisfaction.

He bowed his head and glanced at it.

He couldn’t see the pattern, but the blue light it emitted was so intense that it hurt his eyes.

He hadn’t thought of it, but he felt like he had solved the wish of one life among many reincarnations.

‘I should go to the library when I go back.’

Seo-jun put the last piece of pizza in his mouth.

“But the blue dragon, it looked really alive earlier, didn’t it?”

“Yeah. I saw it from behind the stage, and if it was that much, So-yeong would have been really surprised.”

The kids who had finished their share of pizza early and grabbed a chicken leg nodded their heads.

“That blue dragon really breathed like a living thing, swelling and shrinking. It moved so little that I thought I saw something wrong, but since everyone felt that way, it must be real.”

“The stage director also lost his mind and went to check. ‘This is… There is no such device here?!’ He ran over.”

The kids laughed as Lee Da-jin imitated the stage director.

Come to think of it, there were no parents or staff except Ahn Da Ho.

They seemed to be unable to leave the stage.

“Did he really come to see?”

“Maybe. There are many unbelievable things in the world.”

The kids nodded at the words of the kid who was interested in UFOs.

And they told each other about the amazing things they had experienced.

The kid who saw a white dress at night, the kid who saw a strange animal on the street, the kid who heard a strange sound at school.

Most of them were ghost stories, but they all listened with interest.

The stage director who was checking the blue dragon model shook his head.

The parents and staff were cold and stiff at the blue dragon model.

It didn’t feel like this.

He couldn’t believe it, he hesitated at the blue dragon model that came down from the stage and even touched it with his finger.

Park Ji-soo, the director who went to check the video, opened his mouth.

“The video shows the same movement as usual.”

“…So did we really see something wrong?”

At someone’s words, Park Ji-soo shrugged his shoulders.

The people lost their words.

***

When the schedule was over, the kids all went home.

And the time the parents were waiting for came.

The last performance day, evening.

SNS posts went up simultaneously.

The first thing that came up on the internet was the acting schools that had been waiting eagerly to write and press the enter button.

[Child actor who acted with Seo-jun, Choi So-yeong!]

#Children’sPlaySpring #MainRole #Seo-jun #ChoiSo-yeong

[Hollywood star, with Seo-jun! Child actor Lee Da-jin!]

#Children’sPlaySpring #HunterRole #Seo-jun #Lee Da-jin #Hollywood

Along with the posts, there were clear evidence photos.

Pictures of Seo-jun and the kids eating ice cream with bright faces and playing around. And there were videos of Seo-jun and the kids practicing.

Around the same time, Cocoa Entertainment also spread the data. And in no time, the internet was flooded with articles about Seo-jun.

[Seo-jun, his next work is a children’s play?! And it’s already over!]

[Stage name?! Seo-jun’s stage name is Na Jin!]

[Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism sponsorship, Milky Way Center planning, let’s find out about the children’s play Spring!]

[Seo-jun only had his voice. But his voice acting is also top!]

[The blue dragon the kids were looking for! Seo-jun!]

And the reviews of the children’s play ‘Spring’ began to spread everywhere.

***

“Hey! Over here!”

“Wait a minute! I’m going!!”

Kim Suhan and his friends, who had seen the children’s play Spring, went to the PC room and shot guns.

The PC room was noisy. They all had a cup of ramen and moved their mouse.

“Is it a nuke? How do you get hurt every time you shoot?”

“…You can’t shoot.”

Kim Suhan’s friends shook their heads at his words. In the end, Kim Suhan, who died first, started surfing the internet while waiting for his friends’ game to end.

He went to the site he visited most often and looked at the posts without thinking. Somehow, there was a lot of talk about ‘Seo-jun’.

Kim Suhan scratched his head and muttered.

“Did he shoot another Hollywood movie?”

“What!?”

“No!”

Kim Suhan clicked on the post with the most views. The content was not very long. To shorten it.

Seo-jun, children’s play, Spring, blue dragon role, Na Jin, stage name.

“…Huh?”

“Ah! I died.”

“Wow, how do you kill everyone without missing one?”

Meanwhile, his friends also seemed to have game over, and they became noisy. Kim Suhan’s hand moved on its own.

He went to the search site. He also looked at the real-time search terms. He checked the articles and the YouTube videos.

“Hey, why are you shaking?”

“What, did you have an accident?”

Kim Suhan looked down at his hand at his friends’ words. The hand holding the mouse was shaking.

“Hey…”

“Why?”

“The world must be crazy.”

“No, you look crazy?”

“…Na Jin is Seo-jun.”

His friends tilted their heads. Na Jin? Who is Na Jin? The blue dragon.

Oh, the one Suhan likes? But Na Jin is Seo-jun? Seo-jun is not him? Jin Natra.

The voices of the whispering friends got lower and lower.

They all looked at Kim Suhan with a strange expression.

“…Are you crazy?”

“Am I crazy? Na Jin is Seo-jun. The one who played the blue dragon role, Seo-jun!”

Kim Suhan shouted with goosebumps all over his body. The loud noise made the people in the PC room look at Kim Suhan and his friends.

He spat out without caring. As he spoke, he remembered the image in his head. Na Jin, who was wearing a hat on the stage. He waved his hand at my words. … Huh. Was that him?!

“He was in the play I saw eight times! The Na Jin I got a signature from is Seo-jun! Look at this!”

What Kim Suhan showed was clearly a picture of the main character of the play ‘Spring’, Choi So-yeong, the hunter role Lee Da-jin, and Seo-jun smiling.

He also posted the introduction of the actors in the picture. Choi So-yeong, Lee Da-jin, and the one who stood out.

[Na Jin / 8 years old]

-Wow. He came out of nowhere!

-Na Jin? No way… Jin Natra?

=Yeah, I think so lol

“…Wow.”

“Wow.”

The people in the PC room were startled by Kim Suhan’s words. What? What, did something happen? No, it’s Seo-jun. Seo-jun? Why, the child actor who went to Hollywood. Oh.

They all started searching for Seo-jun’s name. What’s going on?

Soon, there were exclamations of wow! Really?

And the eyes were on the students again.

Among them was a social affairs reporter who came to investigate the situation of the PC room.

“…But you got a signature with Na Jin’s name.”

“Ah…”

“No! That’s more rare! Who would get Seo-jun’s signature as Na Jin!”

“That’s true.”

Without knowing the people’s eyes, the friends chatted next to Kim Suhan, who was having fun.

Kim Suhan’s phone rang.

Kim Suhan answered the phone with a nervous face.

“Who is it? Yes? Yes?”

The friends who were debating whether Na Jin’s signature or Seo-jun’s signature was better asked him.

“What? Why?”

“…It’s Cocoa Entertainment.”

“Where is that?”

“Seo-jun’s agency…”

“What?”

The noise in the PC room disappeared.

There was a faint sound of games, but they all closed their mouths and looked at Kim Suhan and his friends.

Kim Suhan, who started his first fan activity in his life, Na Jin (8 years old, who turned out to be Seo-jun), opened his mouth with a strange face.

He still didn’t understand that Na Jin was Seo-jun, but a storm of events hit him.

“They said thank you for watching the play eight times. They said they would send Seo-jun’s signature if I gave them my address. Is Na Jin really Seo-jun?”

“…Wow.”

“Excuse me. Can I interview you for a moment?”

When they were all stunned, the social affairs reporter handed out his business card and asked for an interview.

It was a scoop that he couldn’t miss, whether he wrote it or passed it on to the entertainment section.

[(Exclusive) Children’s play Spring, a special gift from Seo-jun to the viewers of all episodes!]

-Wow. He’s really lucky lol How did he go to see it cheaply, and that was Seo-jun’s play.

-But if you watched all the episodes, you used up all the support money from the school and spent your own money, right?

-He watched it eight times because of Na Jin’s acting. How impressed was he to collect the tickets and ask for a signature lol To an 8-year-old lol

-Thanks to that, Na Jin, he can have two Seo-jun signatures. I’m jealousㅠㅠ

-I think that’s funnier. He watched the second episode with five friends and called his friends’ friends to watch the third episode and a lot of students from the same school came to the eighth episode lol Is that a pyramid lol

-Now, for the children’s play Spring, the viewer interview, you can go to Juyeong High School lol lol lol

-The teachers are embarrassed;;; The school became famous nationwide, but it became famous in a weird way lol lol

-I want to see that. I have to write a review after watching the performance. Someone please post a review lol lol

And a few days later, a review came up on the internet. And the articles about the review poured out like crazy.

[It’s here! Seo-jun’s signature!]

Seo-jun’s signature is here! Play Spring, DVD too! There’s a postcard too!

(Na Jin signature, Seo-jun signature, play Spring dvd, Seo-jun postcard)

(Postcard zoom)

The handwriting seems better than mine. He wrote Na Jin cutely lol

But I don’t know the world. The actor I first liked, he’s Seo-jun lol I thought I was his first fan, but he’s already a world star lol I have to join the fan club.

-Wow, fan service… Awesome.

-Honestly, this is not because of his name, but because I became a fan just by watching his acting. Who would fall for an 8-year-old’s acting, and that’s voice acting, and watch it eight times.

-That’s a high school freshman lol

-But what is DVD?

=It’s selling from next week. It’s on reservation now.

[Seo-jun’s next work, children’s play Spring! All episodes on DVD! There’s also VOD!]

[Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism sponsorship! Seo-jun appearance! Children’s play Spring DVD reservation in progress!]

[The characteristics of each episode told by the viewers of all episodes!]

[You don’t know the other episodes, but you have to watch the last eighth episode!]

[We met the child actors who appeared in the children’s play Spring!]

Chapter 72

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 72

The day Seo-jun’s stage name, Na Jin, was revealed.

Before sending out a press release to the reporters, Cocoa Entertainment posted a message on Seo-jun’s fan cafe.

It was about the children’s play ‘Spring’ and the reason why he used a stage name.

The fans who were browsing the internet articles and reviews all clicked on that message.

-I got to see Seo-jun’s (voice-only) acting in person!

-If he had given us a little hint, we would have figured it out and gone to see it!

-I understand the reason from the announcement, but… I still feel regretful.

Comments expressing regret flooded the announcement, and the views also increased rapidly.

And occasionally, there were reviews from the fans who became lucky after being dragged by their children or nephews to see the play.

[Title: I bought a lot of toys for my nephew.]

I bought gifts for my nephew who had been throwing tantrums for almost a week, wanting to see Cheong-ryong.

I also bought delicious chicken for my sister and brother-in-law who said they had a lot of work to do.

Yes.

I went to see it with my nephew!

Honestly, I couldn’t tell it was Seo-jun just by his voice. I only found out after the article came out. I just thought, the kids are really good at acting. Wow. It’s fun. But when Cheong-ryong came out, I was overwhelmed from then on. I really buried myself in the chair without knowing it.

The adults were mostly like that, but the kids were so excited that they didn’t know what to do. Maybe, it’s like the saying that a puppy doesn’t know how scary a tiger is, right? Lol

But when the play was over, everyone was the same. They opened the pamphlet and looked for the actor who played Cheong-ryong.

[Cheong-ryong – Na Jin / 8 years old]

And they were surprised by the fact that he was an 8-year-old child actor. Honestly, I thought, ‘Wow, if he and Seo-jun acted together, it would be no joke, they should be friends and star in Hollywood movies side by side…’ But… it was him. Lol

Anyway, he was an overwhelming actor with just his voice.

-Envious… I’m sincerely envious…

-How many members are there in the fan cafe, I don’t think I could have seen it by looking at the number of seats in the theater, but I really regret it.

The theater was small, and there were few people who saw it. In Seo-jun’s fan cafe, where there were overwhelmingly more people who didn’t see it, a message expressing regret was posted every few seconds.

Kim Soo-ryeon, the head of the PR team, who was looking at the fan cafe, turned her head and looked at Seo Eun-chan.

Even though it was past the end of work, the PR office was full of staff from Team 2 and the PR team. Phone bells rang everywhere.

“Shall we post it?”

“Yes. Let’s post it now.”

Click.

With one finger of Kim Soo-ryeon, the head of the PR team, the fan cafe exploded again.

“It’s up!”

“Oh. It’s already up?”

“Now is the perfect time.”

Seo-jun and his parents gathered in the living room and looked at the laptop.

The most eye-catching post was on the cafe, which was beautifully decorated with Seo-jun’s photos.

[(Notice) We inform you of the schedule of Seo-jun’s fan meeting.]

The notice had the date and time of the fan meeting, and the date of ticketing.

The place was vaguely written for security reasons.

And in unusually large letters, there was a restriction that said ‘Fan cafe regular members only’.

“Da Ho is very thoughtful. He also thought of a fan meeting for the fans who couldn’t see the play.”

“Da Ho hyung, awesome!”

Seo-jun nodded at his dad’s words.

When he was practicing hard for the play, he saw Da Ho hyung calling and working here and there, but it was because of the fan meeting!

Thanks to the preparation that started slowly three months ago, the fan meeting preparation was now in the final stages.

Seo-jun nodded his head when he heard that from Ahn Da Ho before the play went on stage.

It was a fan meeting for the fans who regretted not seeing the play.

“There are a lot of comments.”

I looked at the comment window at my mom’s words.

Every time I refreshed, dozens of comments appeared. I read the comments that came into my eyes first.

-I wonder why Seo-jun used a stage name…

-I have a feeling that I won’t be able to go no matter how big the fan meeting venue is;;;

-Already taken seat…

“What is already taken seat?”

“It means ‘This seat is already selected’, when you book a seat that has already been booked.”

“I see.”

Seo-jun read the comments and found a changing trend from one point.

-Brown Black’s fan cafe is also crazy.

=??? Why there?

=They say Seo-jun might come to the fan meeting.

=No, they have concerts and fan meetings there too. If it’s ticketing, they have more experience than us. Is it already taken seat?

-Only fan cafe members can buy it, right?

=There are a lot of Brown Black fans who joined this cafe early because of the 48 hours.

=If you look at the year of joining, they are older than us.

Seo-jun tilted his head and went to Brown Black’s fan cafe, which he joined for fun. It was also turned upside down because of Seo-jun’s fan meeting.

At first, there were posts like ‘That little baby is already having a fan meetingㅠ’, ‘He grew up a lotㅠㅠ’, but soon, a post came up. That post was the start of the problem.

[But a lot of friends are coming to the fan meeting, will Brown Black come too?]

-Right. They will, right?

-They can’t not come. Did they have a schedule that day?

-Brown Black’s tension is out of this world when they meet Seo-jun… It would be fun.

“Mom, I have to call my uncle, right?”

“Why?”

Seo-jun showed his parents the post on Brown Black’s fan cafe. The expressions of the couple who read the post titles became more and more serious.

This was a fan meeting for Seo-jun’s fans only. They understood the feelings of the fans who loved Brown Black, but.

“This is not right.”

Seo Eun-hye picked up her phone.

Yes! This is not right!

Seo-jun nodded his head.

Meanwhile, the internet was buzzing.

The reporters who were roaming around various sites, making articles out of the stories that would become hot topics, had no time to rest.

“Really, it’s a hit whenever Seo-jun comes out!”

“They say the work is exploding without a break!”

After Seo-jun’s identity was revealed, an unprecedented event called ‘article reverse run’ happened.

The articles about Na Jin, which were buried by other articles, started to resurface.

The articles that they wrote at the order of their boss, the articles that they wondered if they would get any views, they spread like they had wings.

[8-year-old, Na Jin. A talented voice actor!]

[The second Seo-jun of the voice acting industry! Na Jin!]

-I thought he was the second Seo-jun, but he was himself!

-How well can he do at that age?! He was in the Marina Studio movie too!

The reporter who was smiling and watching his article views increase rapidly started surfing the internet again.

The most important thing to post an article was to find the hot topic before anyone else.

“Huh, what’s this?”

[Title: Why did the computer orders increase?]

Our assembly computer is famous among idol fans. They ignore everything else and set it up so that they can only do ticketing well. If you apply, they will check the internet speed at home and give it to you. The success rate is pretty high.

But a few hours ago, the computer orders increased.

The speed check inquiries also increased.

Usually, this happens when there is a concert, but I can’t find any.

Do you know what’s going on?

The day Seo-jun’s fan meeting schedule was announced.

There were rumors that Brown Black, from the same agency, might show up.

-GS: …Wow. I need to find a part-time job.

“Seo-jun and Brown Black…”

They were the kind of people that even ordinary people would have heard of a few times, and couldn’t resist clicking on. Come to think of it, Seo-jun’s network didn’t end with Brown Black.

“I don’t know if they’ll come to Korea just for the fan meeting, but there’s no better news than this!”

The reporter put his hand on the keyboard.

[Seo-jun’s fan meeting! Brown Black’s appearance?!]

[Seo-jun’s first fan meeting is held!]

[Hollywood stars who might appear at Seo-jun’s fan meeting?]

Meanwhile, the two fan cafes’ popularity rose to the real-time rankings. And people bit the bait that the reporter threw.

Seo-jun fan meeting

Seo-jun Brown Black

Cocoa Entertainment

Seo-jun Evan Block

Seo-jun Rachel Hill

Seo-jun Na Jin

…

new! Children’s play Spring DVD

Seo Eun-chan, who received a call from Seo Eun-hye, said he already knew.

Cocoa Entertainment only managed two teams of celebrities, so they always monitored the two teams’ fan cafes.

“Uh, uh. It’s okay. We have a solution.”

Seo Eun-chan quickly posted Brown Black’s schedule on Brown Black’s fan cafe.

The staff sighed in relief when they saw the views exceeding 2,000 in the blink of an eye.

“You did a good job of booking overseas schedules.”

And it wasn’t a one-day trip, but a week-long European schedule.

Brown Black was sorry that they couldn’t attend Seo-jun’s fan meeting, but they didn’t want to fill Seo-jun’s first fan meeting with their fans.

They promised to appear at each other’s fan meetings next time, and even made a pinky promise with Seo-jun.

“We’ve been preparing for three months. We have all the necessary measures ready.”

“We have to post it on Seo-jun’s fan cafe too. And send out press releases to the reporters.”

Unlike other celebrities’ fan meetings where a lot of acquaintances came, Seo-jun’s fan meeting was not going to have any other acquaintances.

“It doesn’t matter if they’re just moderately famous people, but Seo-jun’s acquaintances are so amazing…”

The staff nodded their heads at the boss’s words.

Brown Black, who always topped the idol charts, Lee Ji-seok, who starred in the drama that had the highest ratings among the three major dramas and was in his heyday, and the Hollywood actors who appeared in Marina Studio.

Seo Eun-chan shook his head vigorously. Kim Soo-ryeon, the head of the PR team who posted the message on Seo-jun’s fan cafe, smiled.

Soon, there were many comments on the post.

There were many positive reactions.

“It would be a mess if even one of them showed up.”

“But, Seo-jun has a lot of fans too.”

They nodded their heads as they watched the comments pile up without a break.

Even the comments posted here exceeded the number of seats for the fan meeting, and they wondered if it would be a bloody ticketing when the real ticketing started.

“That’s true.”

Meanwhile, the posts on the two cafes were turned into articles.

[Seo-jun’s fan meeting! Brown Black is filming overseas!]

[No one else is coming! A fan meeting only for Seo-jun’s fans!]

***

Seo-jun opened his eyes.

The Library of Life appeared before him.

The door in front of Seo-jun was the most recently opened one.

“Last time I checked, I was too big to enter the first door…”

Seo-jun gestured to the left.

“Huh?”

The door that should have shrunk remained the same. No, on closer inspection, there were no small doors.

The doors that Seo-jun had discovered, [Slime’s Digestion], [Fairy’s Sparkle], and [Smiling Mushroom’s Illusion], which was bigger than those.

There was only this yellow door, slightly larger than Seo-jun’s height, that had opened recently.

“Even though it was hard to enter because I grew bigger, I don’t think my past life would have erased the doors?”

He looked at the corner, puzzled.

The first life’s black door was still there.

The doors that disappeared and the doors that remained.

He couldn’t figure out the criteria.

Seo-jun tilted his head.

“Well, it’s been a long time since I made the Library of Life.”

It wasn’t even made by one of Seo-jun’s lives. A long, long time ago, one life made the foundation, another life made the walls, another life made the bookshelves, and another life made the ceiling. It was a place where the power of many lives was engraved.

The Library of Life, created by the outstanding abilities of many lives.

He thought he knew it well, but there were many features that he had forgotten or made for fun, and there were still many amazing things.

“First, let’s check out the hatchling book.”

As Seo-jun touched the yellow door, it opened.

A white energy poured out.

He felt good in the bright atmosphere.

Seo-jun hummed a tune as he browsed the bookshelves.

“This book is…”

It was the book that gave him [Fairy’s Sparkle].

The next book was the book with the ability of [Orchestra Conductor’s Connection]. [Summer Bear’s Hibernation] was also on the next bookshelf.

He noticed that and looked around the library. It felt bigger than when he first opened the door. It wasn’t just a feeling.

“It’s grown.”

The Library of Life, which realized that Seo-jun couldn’t pass through the small door, gathered the libraries that Seo-jun could open here.

“Well, I need this feature to use it when I’m an ogre.”

Seo-jun nodded his head and praised his past life who had put in the integration and expansion feature. But.

“Why is this still the same?”

Seo-jun, who came out of the Library of Life, sat down in front of the first life’s black door. He had already put the first life’s book in the library that was open now.

Whether there was no automatic display feature at all, or it wasn’t time to work yet, the book stayed still even if he moved it.

It looked so old and worn out that it seemed to crumble soon, so he emptied one bookshelf and left only the first life’s book.

Seo-jun, who was staring at the first life’s door, scratched his cheek and got up from his seat.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I don’t have to see it today.”

Seo-jun moved his steps. And he stood in front of the book of [Blue Dragon Hatchling].

He took out the book and read the life again.

The front and the middle didn’t change. The death of the blue dragon hunted by the demons was the same.

Only, there was a new sentence written.

[The blue dragon’s hatchling, Seidonin, finished his task with the alias ‘Blue Dragon’ in the false world. Seidonin fell asleep with a proud heart.]

It was written like that.

And as he read that sentence, a notification window appeared in front of Seo-jun’s eyes.

[(Good) The weak peer of the blue dragon hatchling’s ability is transformed!]

At that news, Seo-jun took out the ability that was in his throat. A blue bead popped out and landed on Seo-jun’s hand. Seo-jun examined the ability.

[(Good) The weak peer of the blue dragon hatchling – Intermediate]

It is the peer of a young blue dragon (hatchling).

The peer alone shows the difference in ‘class’.

“Huh?”

Dragonization, which had the advantage of developing senses, but had the huge drawback of not being visible to others.

Like a gift, the dragonization that was a restriction to Seo-jun disappeared.

Now he could use this ability without hiding behind. Seo-jun shook his head as he looked at the book and the bead with the new sentence added.

“It’s really amazing. Well, then…”

Seo-jun thought of a book.

The life of [Fairy of the Baton], which had the ability of [Orchestra Conductor’s Connection], which rose from the lowest to the lower rank.

He searched and took out the book of [Fairy of the Baton].

There was only a brief mention of the ability’s rank increase.

There was no story about the fairy of the baton.

Seo-jun, who had been thinking for a while, came up with an answer.

“The book is a life, so it’s separate from the ability’s rise.”

The hatchling achieved his dream through his ability.

The Library of Life, which judged that as the hatchling’s life, reflected it in the book.

But the fairy of the baton was different. His will and the ability’s rise had nothing to do with each other, so there was no story about the fairy of the baton.

“Then, if I destroy the world with the orchestra conductor’s connection, it will be written in the book.”

Unlike the world made of music, could the complex modern society be destroyed by this small ability, and that too, a musical ability? Seo-jun tilted his head.

“Well, it doesn’t matter!”

Seo-jun closed the book and looked around the other bookshelves.

“I’ve solved the curiosity about the hatchling, now I have to find the ability to use at the fan meeting!”

He wanted to show his cool side to the fans who came to see him, only for Seo-jun.

Seo-jun turned on the fire in his eyes and left the Library of Life.

Chapter 73

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 73

[Hello! We met the actors who starred in the play ‘Spring’ with actor Lee Seo-jun at Entertainment TV.]

“You did an interview. Isn’t it too fast, hyung?”

Bang bang! Seo-jun, who was stamping a white paper, looked at the TV screen with a surprised expression.

It was only two weeks ago that Seo-jun’s identity was revealed, but the broadcast was already on, when did they record it?

“It’s faster than the Wind Troupe, but it’s late if it’s because of the popularity. They probably wondered who to interview after watching the VOD that came out a few days ago.”

Ahn Da ho, who was sitting next to him, pushed a new paper and took out the stamped paper and put it on the living room floor so that the ink would not bleed and dry.

The living room was full of autographs with Seo-jun’s name and the blue dragon paintings that Seo-jun drew himself.

Of course, they were all stamps.

Bang! Bang!

The blue ink on the white paper sparkled.

[(Line/Production) Lucky Ink of Sea Slime-Low Grade-]

It is an ink made from sea slime that you can see only if you accumulate a lot of luck.

The superstition that luck is bestowed has become a reality.

The ink used brings unexpected luck.

How to use: Hold the ink bottle with both hands.

When he found and read [Sea Slime]’s life, he was a little disgusted. Because the ink was made from the slime’s sap.

He shivered as he saw the blurry image of people squeezing their whole body like wringing out a wet towel.

‘I’m glad. If I needed blood, hmm. I might not have been able to use it.’

Seo-jun wiped the sweat that didn’t come out and moved his hand again.

He hoped that the fans who received the autograph would be lucky, and he stamped each one with sincerity to increase the activation probability as much as possible, even though it was a low-grade ability.

It shouldn’t be crooked.

After a few minutes, Seo-jun’s hand, which moved skillfully once on the ink and once on the paper, stopped.

Ahn Da ho looked at Seo-jun at the stamp that didn’t print. Seo-jun’s eyes were on the TV.

There was an acting academy on TV, and by the name, it was the academy that So-yeong and Da-jin attended.

He remembered the two people who always complained that the class was too hard.

On the wall of the stairs going up to the second floor, there was a picture of the two people with Seo-jun. The reporter interviewed the academy director, and soon Choi So-yeong and Lee Da-jin appeared on the screen.

[Hello. Actress Choi So-yeong, actor Lee Da-jin.]

At the reporter’s words, the two smiled with a shy face. It was two weeks since the play ended. Seo-jun smiled brightly at the faces of the two people he hadn’t seen in a long time.

[A few days ago, the DVD and VOD of the play Spring were released. The praise poured out to all the actors was amazing. There was also an opinion that ‘children’ should be removed from ‘children’s play’. I really enjoyed it too.]

The two smiled broadly and thanked the reporter for the compliment. People preferred to watch VOD on the TV at home, which was more convenient than the DVD that took time to ship.

Sales started and it wasn’t even 24 hours, but the download number already exceeded expectations. Both ‘Video Tree’ that sold VOD and Eunhasoo Center couldn’t help but be surprised.

Seo-jun and his couple also received the DVD, but bought the VOD. It was definitely more comfortable to watch on TV.

VOD came up with the name [Children’s Play ‘Spring’], and the short trailer edited by the play was free, from the first to the eighth episode, and the making film was paid.

Not only the play, but also the making film recorded a high download number.

[We didn’t know when we were on stage. We acted really happily without the burden of having to do well.]

Lee Da-jin’s words made Choi So-yeong nod her head.

[We also saw our play from the audience’s point of view and thought, did we do that well? I’m sure I’m acting there, I remember moving like that, but I was surprised that it was cooler and better than I thought.]

Seo-jun was immersed in the interview of the two and stopped moving his hand.

Ahn Da ho didn’t rush and watched the interview together. He felt a little bitter at the sight of Da-jin talking excitedly and So-yeong answering calmly with a shy face.

Seo-jun picked up the phone next to him.

“Da-jin! You’re on TV now!”

-Ah! Did you see?! No, was that today? Wait a minute!

***

[Title: What’s up with the blue dragon in episode 8?]

Did you only do CG?

No, it’s the same as the other episodes when I look again, but when I first saw it, I thought it was really alive.

Did my eyes go weird after watching up to episode 8 in a row. Or did the computer technology develop so that it looked like CG only when I first saw it?

-There is no such technologyㅋㅋㅋ

-But it’s really amazing. I also wondered where they brought the real dragon when I first saw itㅋㅋㅋ

-?? Is there such a thing? I didn’t see it.

[Title: How about this? Episode 8 was like this.]

I drew itㅋㅋ It felt like I hit my head on the Eunhasoo Centerㅋㅋ

(A picture of a dragon flying in the sky outside the Eunhasoo Center with its head inside the Eunhasoo Center.)

-ㅋㅋAhㅋㅋ

-I got itㅋㅋ

-I synthesized itㅋ(A picture of the dragon’s body and tail synthesized on the Eunhasoo Center picture)

-Isn’t this better than that dark one?(A picture of the body and tail looking like faint clouds)

=The theater where Spring went up is on this side. You have to do the opposite.

-How about this?(Picture.)

-ㅋㅋSomeone drew this as a cartoonㅋㅋ

***

“Hyung. Did you see this?”

Seo-jun held out his phone. Although he was sitting in a car seat and his arm didn’t reach the driver’s seat. Ahn Da ho met Seo-jun’s eyes in the room mirror and asked.

“What is it?”

“Spring cartoon!”

“Oh, I saw it. It was well drawn and cute, right?”

“Right? Especially, isn’t it cute that the blue dragon broke the wall of the Eunhasoo Center with his head to grant Spring’s wish? He even got a bump on his head.”

“That was popular.”

Today was Seo-jun’s first fan meeting in his life.

Seo-jun, who was sitting in the car seat, looked out the window and hummed a song, or read the review articles that he was so happy to win Seo-jun’s fan meeting on his phone, or read the articles that he had already arrived at the fan meeting place.

He lifted his head at the article.

“Hyung! There are people who have already arrived.”

“Really? It’s still a long way to start…”

“Hyung hyung! Is the weather okay today? The fan meeting place!”

“It’s a bit cloudy elsewhere, but the fan meeting place seems fine. It doesn’t matter anyway because it’s indoors, but it would be bad if the weather was bad outside while waiting. It worked out well.”

Seo-jun smiled happily at Ahn Da ho’s words. It was a relief that the weather was good.

Seo-jun rolled his feet with a pleasant tension. Ahn Da ho also smiled as he watched Seo-jun shake his legs here and there. It was because he heard from Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun that Seo-jun was so excited that he couldn’t sleep at all.

“Did you sleep late yesterday? How about sleeping a little in the car?”

“I’m fine! I’m not sleepy at all!”

As he said, Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled. It was all thanks to the ability.

As he approached the fan meeting place, people wearing strange hats, clothes, and bags appeared.

Seo-jun, who stuck his nose to the black-tinted window, looked at the people.

“Ah. That’s Uncle Hee-sang’s. That too! It’s the same as mine!”

There was a goblin-shaped bag that Seo-jun took to the set when he was a ghost, a monster doll attached to the bag that he carried around during this play, and a metal badge attached to the hat. Seo-jun’s heart fluttered.

“Are they all my fans?”

“Looks like everyone’s going to the fan meeting.”

One fan couldn’t take his eyes off the badge on the bag of the fan ahead of him.

Hmm. Seo-jun frowned.

He couldn’t see it well.

He hesitated for a while, then tapped the fan’s shoulder and gestured this way and that.

He probably asked where he bought the badge.

The fan smiled brightly and seemed to tell him where he got it.

Soon, they were chatting and heading to the fan meeting place together.

Seo-jun smiled brightly at the sight of the fans.

He didn’t know what the badge was, but he was so happy that everyone was getting along!

Seo-jun’s car, which was running vigorously, stopped in the underground parking lot.

Seo Eun-chan appeared in front of Seo-jun, who got out of the car with a flushed face.

Seo-jun smiled broadly at the sight of Seo Eun-chan, who now looked good in a suit.

“Uncle!”

“Seo-jun is here! Let’s go up!”

Seo-jun, Seo Eun-chan, and Ahn Da Ho headed upstairs. Seo Eun-chan explained slowly.

He saw the staff running around.

When they met Seo-jun’s eyes, they waved their hands or nodded.

“After the fan meeting, when you leave the theater, we’ll give the fans the autographs, DVDs, and gifts that Seo-jun made. We’ll also give them snacks during the break.”

“Okay!”

“Do you remember the order of the event?”

Seo-jun nodded at Seo Eun-chan’s question.

The three of them entered the prepared lounge.

Everything from water to drinks, snacks, and fluffy chairs was ready for Seo-jun to rest comfortably.

Seo Eun-chan looked at Seo-jun and said.

“Seo-jun, if you’re tired, tell me. You can use the break time whenever you want, as much as you want. Got it?”

“I’m fine! I’m super strong!”

“Still!”

Seo Eun-chan ruffled Seo-jun’s hair roughly. Seo-jun giggled.

Knock knock-

“Yes. Come in.”

At Seo Eun-chan’s words, someone opened the door and came in. Seo-jun smiled broadly at the familiar face.

“So-yeong noona!”

“Hi! Seo-jun!”

“When you show the Blue Dragon performance, it’s better to have actress Choi So-yeong than anyone else, right? And the MC is…”

“Ta-da! It’s me!”

“Da-jin hyung!”

Lee Da-jin appeared behind Choi So-yeong. It had been several weeks since the play ended.

The stormy interviews had subsided, and drama scripts had poured in.

The two of them, who had been working hard to choose, received an offer from Cocoa Entertainment.

Choi So-yeong and Lee Da-jin gladly accepted the offer.

“I’m good at broadcasting.”

Lee Da-jin’s words made Choi So-yeong and Seo-jun laugh. The three of them, who hadn’t seen each other for a long time, laughed and talked as if they were having a lot of fun.

***

Time passed and the theater was packed with people.

The lucky fans who got the tickets that sold out in five minutes after the reservation started waited eagerly for the fan meeting to start with anticipation on their faces.

“The MC will come out, right?”

“Seo-jun can’t do it alone, so they must have called someone.”

“I don’t know who it is, but I hope they don’t interfere.”

The fan meeting was a place where fans and celebrities got closer than concerts or plays. It was a time when laughter came out even if the celebrity didn’t try to be funny.

“It would be nice if it was Hwang Ye-jun from Bbl. He might be able to tell us stories about Seo-jun that we don’t know.”

“If that was the case, we wouldn’t be sitting here, right?”

“Anyway, I hope it’s someone with good chemistry!”

They all clenched their hands and prayed.

When the fan meeting started, the stage lit up and someone appeared.

“Hello!”

A boy stood on the stage.

They were bewildered by the appearance of a young MC, but then they realized that the boy was Lee Da-jin.

They had watched the fan meeting from episode 1 to episode 8, not to mention the making film, several times. They couldn’t miss Lee Da-jin, who was chatting and playing with Seo-jun.

“I don’t think we have to worry about the chemistry.”

“He’s a funny kid, too.”

Wow.

The exclamation that came out without me knowing echoed through the theater with the microphone.

The fans laughed at the face of the middle school student who was stunned.

“You came a lot. Oh, no, that’s not it! Hello. I’m Lee Da-jin, the MC of actor Lee Seo-jun’s first fan meeting. I don’t know if you know, but I was in the same play as Seo-jun!”

Seo Eun-chan, who was standing behind the stage, smiled.

“He’s doing well.”

“There are a lot of people, but he’s not nervous. Da-jin is good, too.”

The planning team leader, who planned the events of Brown Black’s concerts and fan meetings at Cocoa Entertainment, looked at Lee Da-jin, who was speaking skillfully, and his eyes shone.

Choi So-yeong and Seo-jun shook their heads at his words.

“Da-jin hyung is just talking without thinking. Right, So-yeong noona.”

“Yeah. It’s a good thing that’s not a bad thing. If it was, we would have been in trouble by now.”

“But Da-jin hyung seems really excited. He’s flying around.”

“He’s a bit of a show-off.”

While the two of them were whispering, Lee Da-jin spoke with an excited face.

“You all came to see Seo-jun, right? I haven’t seen him for a long time, either. Shall we call actor Lee Seo-jun quickly? Seo-jun! Come out quickly!”

They laughed at his friendly tone. Some fans followed Lee Da-jin and shouted ‘Seo-jun!’

It was a more cute feeling than expected because it was a child actor’s fan meeting.

The fans of Seo-jun, whose hearts seemed to burst with anticipation, and the staff, who were nervous because it was their first fan meeting with such a young actor, relaxed and smiled at Lee Da-jin’s words.

“Look. It’s totally different from the script.”

“Choi So-yeong, hurry up! Lee Seo-jun!”

“noona, let’s go quickly. I don’t know what to say.”

They told him to be comfortable, but… Lee Da-jun’s tone hit the back of the planning team leader and Seo Eun-chan’s heads, and they laughed. Seo-jun, who led Choi So-yeong, headed to the center of the stage.

When Seo-jun, whom they had been waiting for, appeared on the large stage, they screamed.

Seo-jun turned on the microphone he was holding and bowed.

[Seo-jun! I love you!] The fans holding the panels that were well visible, the fans wearing the clothes of the monster dolls that Seo-jun liked, and the fans shaking the monster dolls they bought as gifts for Seo-jun above their heads.

Even without using his ability, he felt their hearts as if they were right in front of him, and Seo-jun’s chest thumped.

“Hello. I’m actor Lee Seo-jun!”

Chapter 74

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 74

“Hello! I’m actor Lee Seo-jun!”

-Hi, Seo-jun!

As Seo-jun smiled brightly, groans of admiration erupted from everywhere.

His face was also close-up on the screen installed behind the stage.

When Da-jin noticed the screen, he tapped Seo-jun, and he turned his head.

Everyone laughed as they saw Seo-jun’s back of the head on the big screen.

“Let’s have fun today!”

-Yes!

Da-jin held up a square cue card with the order of the event. So-yeong and Seo-jun sat on the chairs prepared in advance.

“First of all, you said Seo-jun sings well, right?”

-Yes!

“Then, shall we start with a song?”

Seo-jun, who had been preparing, picked up the microphone and stood up. He didn’t know what song would come out, but Uncle Chan said it was a song Seo-jun knew well. It must have been a song by Brown Black or a famous song.

Music came out of the speaker. Ddadan-ddadan-

Ddadan-ddadan?

Seo-jun tilted his head at the intro that flowed out.

The fans also tilted their heads and looked at the screen, then burst into laughter.

Seo-jun turned his head heavily at the roar of laughter from the audience.

-Playing is the best!

On the big screen, familiar characters were running around.

There were lyrics written below, but he seemed to know what song it was even without the lyrics.

It was the theme song of an animated movie popular with children.

Da-jin and So-yeong were so amused that they shed tears and pounded the floor. Seo Eun-chan also covered his mouth and laughed.

Looking around at the people laughing, Seo-jun casually opened his mouth to the microphone.

“Playing is the best!”

He sang well, but he was fierce.

That fierceness was directed at only one person.

Seo Eun-chan shivered at the fierceness that poured out on him. His nephew seemed to be a genius who could act with just the atmosphere.

Seo Eun-chan’s prank was not his, but the request that received the most votes on Seo-jun’s fan cafe.

As the song progressed, the fans, Da-jin, and So-yeong sang along. Seo-jun soon threw away his fierceness and sang cheerfully.

Well, he sang it often in kindergarten.

It was a bit awkward to sing it as an elementary school student, but it seemed fun to sing it after a long time.

“Okay! Applause!”

Cheers poured out. Seo-jun scratched his cheek and sat on the chair.

“Next is the time to answer the questions that the fans wrote.”

“Okay.”

The staff brought a box full of papers with questions written on them to the stage.

Seo-jun put his hand in and stirred it, then took out one paper. Da-jin read the question as it was written.

Some fans were hoping that their question was picked, and some fans were listening to Seo-jun’s answer.

Seo-jun answered each question sincerely.

The fans’ interest in each question and Seo-jun’s feelings for acting in each answer were felt.

The meaningful question time was nearing the end.

“Oh, this is too harsh.”

Da-jin shook his head as he read the last paper Seo-jun picked.

Seo Eun-chan, who couldn’t take his eyes off the stage for a moment, turned his head and looked at the planning team leader.

The planning team leader shook his head hastily.

“We filtered everything out.”

“But, what kind of…”

Before Seo Eun-chan could swear, Da-jin opened her mouth.

“Do you like mom or dad, Seo-jun?”

At that question, laughter erupted from the audience. Some had serious expressions as if it was too harsh a question, but they didn’t hide their twitching lips. Among them was the questioner. Da-jin and So-yeong also looked at Seo-jun with curious faces.

Seo-jun’s eyes twitched like he had never seen before. Everyone couldn’t help laughing at the agitation that was enough to show on the screen.

It was a mean question for a young actor like Seo-jun.

Once again, Seo-jun’s gaze turned to the back. He saw Seo Eun-chan laughing.

Seo Eun-chan felt like he made eye contact with Seo-jun and stiffened his face belatedly, but Seo-jun had already seen it.

‘The fans who liked me wouldn’t ask such a question, so this is Uncle Chan’s doing!’ Seo-jun, who didn’t know the fans’ hearts who wanted to see the cute side of the actor, came to a strange conclusion and answered with a bright smile.

“I like Uncle Seo. Eun. Chan. the best!”

“Oh! Not mom or dad, but uncle? Uncle must be very happy!”

Everyone laughed at Seo-jun’s evasion, and Seo Eun-chan hoped that his noona and brother-in-law wouldn’t hear Seo-jun’s answer. Ahn Da-ho, who was watching from behind, shook his head.

The question time was over and the time everyone had been waiting for came. The chairs were moved to the back and So-yeong and Seo-jun faced each other.

Da-jin spoke into the microphone and gave a brief summary of the play. Everyone was Seo-jun’s fan, so they watched the VOD, but they listened to Da-jin’s voice quietly.

It was the first and last time that Seo-jun and So-yeong faced each other and acted. So-yeong remembered Seo-jun during practice and on stage.

“He was more amazing on stage than during practice. But we can’t show that. It’s a shame, but he was amazing during practice too.”

As Da-jin’s explanation ended, So-yeong spat out her lines.

It was hard to immerse herself in the empty stage without any decorations or props, but she did her best.

She was most confident in this role, if nothing else.

“Blue Dragon! Blue Dragon!”

In front of everyone, Seo-jun opened his mouth to the microphone. His hair and eyes didn’t change. He didn’t have horns or scales.

[(Pre)Blue Dragon Hatchling’s Weak Peer is activated.]

But his skills were the same!

[Thank you! Let me grant your wish!]

The fans shivered at Seo-jun’s voice.

It was different from when they watched the VOD. Of course, the VOD was impressive, but Seo-jun’s acting and voice that they saw in person seemed to shake their whole body through the speaker.

They understood why that high school student watched the same work eight times.

They were sorry they couldn’t see the play, but they were glad they came to the fan meeting.

[Hahaha!]

Everyone relaxed at the refreshing laugh. Euaaa- groans of admiration came out from here and there.

It felt like a cool breeze was blowing from somewhere.

For a moment, the fans who were immersed in the aftermath woke up.

Da-jin smiled brightly and said.

“Isn’t he amazing? I’ve never seen an actor who can act as well as Seo-jun.”

There were responses of agreement from everywhere.

“Thank you.”

Seo-jun bowed and sat down. Da-jin, who was looking at the cue card, opened his mouth.

“Unfortunately, part one ends here. We’ll take a break and continue with part two. Please wait a moment.”

-Yes!

Thanks to the announcement from Cocoa Entertainment, everyone relaxed and leaned back in their chairs. They didn’t want to miss a single move of Seo-jun, so they watched with full concentration and their whole body was stiff.

Some took out their phones and posted reviews of the first part of the fan meeting, and some took pictures inside.

“Wow. He was amazing.”

Lim Yeon, who was a fan of Brown Black and Seo-jun, spoke to the person sitting next to her with a flushed face.

The fan sitting next to her, Kang So-ra, nodded.

“There’s a world of difference between the VOD and the live performance.”

“But that badge is really cute.”

“It’s a bit expensive because it’s custom-made, but I’ll send you a picture, so try making it.”

“Thank you.”

Lim Yeon looked at Kang So-ra’s badge.

It was Seo-jun’s first CF, which was not broadcasted due to the quality and regulations.

The badge had a picture of baby Seo-jun from the Elephant shooting. She couldn’t take her eyes off his vivid cuteness even when she walked on the street.

“Oh, it must be a snack.”

Fruit lunch boxes were passed one by one from the next seat. Lim Yeon and Kang So-ra also received them and passed them to the side.

Lim Yeon opened the lid of her fruit lunch box. It was filled with seasonal fruits that were easy to eat.

“The fan meeting fee was cheap, and they also gave us snacks and Seo-jun’s signed stamps later. The rental fee here must be expensive too, it’s really nice.”

“They’re not doing it for money.”

“Well, if they were thinking of making money, they wouldn’t have done the play.”

Although they were strangers at first, the two had a pleasant conversation.

They continued to talk about the movies and dramas that Seo-jun starred in, when someone appeared on the stage.

There was still some break time left.

Kim Su-ryeon, the head of the PR team of Cocoa Entertainment, came up on the stage. The fans who were eating fruits and having fun conversations all looked at the stage. Kim Su-ryeon smiled slightly and opened her mouth.

“Hello, everyone.”

-Hello.

“I’m Kim Su-ryeon, the head of the PR team of Cocoa Entertainment. I came up on the stage to tell you some good news.”

Good news?

The fans tilted their heads.

Cocoa Entertainment was turned upside down by the news that came from the US a while ago.

An employee at the company told Kim Su-ryeon, and Kim Su-ryeon told Seo Eun-chan, the president.

Seo Eun-chan, who didn’t understand at first, searched his phone several times and finally understood.

Seo Eun-chan, who was good at playing jokes with Seo-jun, smirked.

Kim Su-ryeon, with a flushed face, said.

“This is something that Seo-jun doesn’t even know yet. I just got a call. I hope you will tell Seo-jun.”

The fans swallowed their saliva at Kim Su-ryeon’s serious expression. The noisy auditorium became quiet.

Kim Su-ryeon closed her eyes for a moment and opened them.

She thought again, and it was thrilling. The voice of the employee who was trembling and unbelieving came to her mind.

“Seo-jun has been nominated for the Notable Actor Award at the WTV Film Festival, WMA, in the US!”

…What?

There was a buzzing sound from everywhere. The US? WTV Film Festival? Award? Nominee? The fans slowly understood one word at a time and opened their mouths wide.

The fans who roughly understood listened to Kim Su-ryeon’s next words.

“Of course, the winner hasn’t been decided yet, but it’s a great achievement to be nominated for an overseas film festival. Please tell Seo-jun.”

Wow…

Wow!!!

The fans who were stunned screamed. Overseas, overseas film festival!

“Amazing!”

“I knew he would get it someday! But I didn’t expect it to be so fast!”

“This year’s overseas movie is that one, right?”

“Shadowman!”

“Jin Natra!”

“Well, they had to nominate him after seeing that!”

The auditorium became more noisy than before. The cheers of the fans reached the waiting room where Seo-jun was.

Seo-jun, who was filling up his sugar with chocolate milk, tilted his head.

Choi So-yeong and Lee Da-jin also filled their stomachs with sandwiches and juice.

“What’s that sound? What happened?”

“Nothing. Nothing.”

Ahn Da-ho, the stylist, and the staff, who had already heard the news, all smiled when they saw Seo-jun.

Zoop- Seo-jun opened his eyes wide as he sucked the chocolate milk. No, they’re hiding something.

Even though they all looked at Seo-jun, they acted cheeky and did their own things.

They reorganized the papers they had done and cleaned up the snacks.

It’s really weird!

“Wow. Seo-jun! A lot of fans came!”

The easiest prey came to him. Seo-jun smiled brightly at Seo Eun-chan’s appearance. Ugh, his spine was cold. He glanced around and saw them all shaking their heads.

“Uncle, are you hiding something from me?”

“What? What… no?”

He didn’t look him in the eye for that. Seo-jun turned his head around and glared at Seo Eun-chan.

He had already told Kim Su-ryeon to tell the fans that Seo-jun didn’t know. He couldn’t tell Seo-jun now.

“What? What is it!”

“Seo-jun. You have to go on stage now.”

Thanks to Ahn Da-ho, who opened his mouth at the right time, Seo Eun-chan sighed with relief. As he was dragged out of the waiting room by Ahn Da-ho’s hand, Seo-jun didn’t take his eyes off Seo Eun-chan. How many times did he get tricked by his uncle today!

Seo Eun-chan sweated coldly at the gaze of his nephew who kept looking at him.

“I’ll watch you. Uncle.”

Seo-jun clenched his teeth slightly.

“Hahaha. Come back well.”

The door of the waiting room closed smoothly. Choi So-yeong and Lee Da-jin, who had already come out, smiled brightly as they looked at Seo-jun.

They seemed to have heard something from the staff.

It doesn’t seem like a bad thing? Seo-jun looked at Choi So-yeong and Lee Da-jin and held Ahn Da-ho’s hand and headed to the auditorium.

“What’s going on? Hyung.”

“Um. A very good thing? The fans will tell you.”

When Seo-jun appeared on the stage, the fans screamed without any signal. Seo-jun, who was about to lose his mind at the cheers, held the microphone. His lips became pouty. They all know and I don’t!

“Uncle Eun-chan, Da Ho Hyung, and sisters, were hiding something, right? Do you know, fans? I don’t know?”

-Yes!

“What is it?”

-Congratulations on the film festival nomination!

-Congratulations!!

He tilted his head at the congratulatory sounds that came from everywhere.

The voices that spoke from everywhere were mixed and he couldn’t hear well.

Seo-jun asked again.

“What are you congratulating me for?”

-Look behind you!

That voice was especially clear. Seo-jun turned around and saw a large screen with a site on it.

He didn’t have time to read the site written in English, and Lee Da-jin’s voice came.

The voice that flowed from the speaker was bright, cheerful, and clear. It stuck in Seo-jun’s ears.

[Congratulations to Seo-jun, who has been nominated for the Notable Actor Award at the 39th WTV Film Festival.]

[(Photo) Jin Natra, Seo-jun Lee/7 years old]

“…Wow.”

The only thing Seo-jun could say was that word at the site with his picture on it.

Chapter 75

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 75

While the theater was bustling with the film festival, the outside was no less chaotic.

Not everyone who came to the fan meeting was a fan of Seo-jun.

There were more fans who failed to get tickets for the fan meeting than those who did.

-Part 1 review is out!!

-Wow! The MCs were the ones who came out in the spring.

While browsing the fan cafe and reading the short reviews that someone posted during the break, a notice from Cocoa Entertainment popped up on the fan cafe.

Is it the next fan meeting announcement? They clicked on it, and a huge news was waiting for them.

A while ago.

The PR team employee who delivered the news to Team Leader Kim Su-ryeon followed Seo Eun-chan’s instructions and wrote a press release.

Because they were an idol agency, they had no interest in foreign film festivals and only just found out that the WTV film festival decided the winners by the viewers’ ‘votes’.

Votes!

The word that stimulated the fans’ peripheral nerves!

It was an indicator of the fans’ love for the celebrities, and it caused all kinds of tricks, and even manipulation controversies.

It was an act that anyone who was a fan of someone would have tried once.

‘The scary thing about voting is that with just one vote difference, the winner and the loser are decided.’

Seo Eun-chan said to the PR team employee across the phone, looking at his nephew on stage.

-Boss. Should we post it on the fan cafe first?

“Since we’ve already told the fans here, post it on the fan cafe first before sending out the press release. If they find out about this later, they’ll say the company isn’t doing its job! It’s good if Seo-jun wins, but if he doesn’t win by a few votes…”

-It’ll be a mess.

That’s right.

His first nomination in his life.

His first chance of winning in his life.

And that too, at a foreign film festival!

If the fans found out that Seo-jun didn’t win the award because of a vote they didn’t know about, their anger would turn to Cocoa Entertainment, who didn’t inform them of the voting.

The employees who heard Seo Eun-chan’s words through the speakerphone swallowed their saliva.

“Since there has never been a Korean nominee for the WTV film festival, there won’t be many people who know about this, so we need to let them know as soon as possible. The fans of the other actors who are nominated are not easy either. Seo-jun’s disadvantage is that he has less experience and works in the US.”

The PR team employees took a deep breath at Seo Eun-chan’s words. It was time to show the power of Cocoa Entertainment’s PR team.

The reporters who were always watching Cocoa Entertainment, thirsty for news, received the PR team’s email and contact and wrote articles. Anything that Cocoa Entertainment sent was a hit!

“Post it quickly!”

“What’s the content!?”

“Just post the title! You can edit it later!”

Seo-jun, overseas, film festival, nominee, possibility of winning.

And voting!

These keywords, all of them, fit the public’s taste perfectly.

There was no better article to increase the views.

To be the first to post, an article with only the title [Seo-jun, nominee for foreign film festival, possibility of winning?!] was uploaded on the internet.

[(Exclusive) Seo-jun, nominee for foreign film festival, possibility of winning?!]

-What? There’s no content?

-He got nominated? Where and what film festival is it?

-You can’t write an article like this!

After that, articles poured out. The entertainment section of the internet articles was filled with Seo-jun’s name.

[Notable Actor Award! Nominee Seo-jun!]

[Only 17 years old, the youngest Korean nominee for the WTV film festival!]

[Notable Actor Award decided by voting! A Korean actor might win!]

Along with the articles, Seo-jun’s name quickly rose to the real-time search terms.

Seo-jun fan meeting

Seo-jun

Seo-jun WTV

…

How to vote for WTV

Seo-jun’s fan cafe also moved quickly after hearing the news. They were just waiting for the fan meeting reviews, but the exciting news made the fans excited.

[(Notice) Please vote for everyone!]

Our actor Seo-jun has been nominated for the WTV film festival ‘Notable Actor Award’!

Let’s make Seo-jun’s first award in his life with our sprouts’ hands!

Please vote for everyone.

[WTV voting address]

-Oh. Nominee! I voted!

-Notable Actor Award! Of course it’s Seo-jun!

-Isn’t the best villain good too?

=He hasn’t done anything bad yetㅋㅋ Well, maybe he’ll get it in Shadowman 3ㅋㅋ

-I voted!

The internet and the entertainment industry were buzzing while Seo-jun’s fan meeting was going on.

TV explained the WTV film festival and introduced the Korean actors who had won awards at foreign film festivals. They said that if Seo-jun won the award, he would become the youngest Korean to win an award at a foreign film festival.

Brown Black and Lee Ji-seok also announced that Seo-jun was nominated through their agency’s SNS.

They wished that Seo-jun would win the award, and that moved the fans.

[Let’s vote too!]

Brown Black and Seo-jun are not just acquaintances!

He’s like our BBL’s nephew! Let’s vote!

[WTV voting address]

-I voted!

-I hope he wins!

[Let’s vote for actor Seo-jun!]

For actor Lee Ji-seok, who got out of the lead role jinx thanks to Seo-jun!

Let’s vote too!

-It’s been so good since The Evil Spiritㅠ

-I voted!

The movement of the two fan cafes caught the eyes of the reporters who were looking for prey. Articles went up without anyone being first.

[Brown Black, Lee Ji-seok’s fans unite for Seo-jun!]

[We’ll help you! Aim for Seo-jun’s award!]

[Actor Seo-jun, nominated for the WTV film festival!]

[The first for a Korean actor!]

[Let’s find out about the WTV film festival!]

[The winner decided by the fans’ votes!]

***

The second part of the fan meeting was so exciting that everyone didn’t know what to do. Especially when Seo-jun acted as Jin Natra, they all admired that this was the nominated acting and clapped.

Seo-jun was also so excited that he just smiled. It felt like the fan meeting hall was floating on the clouds. But he didn’t forget what he had to do.

Seo-jun proceeded with the fan meeting according to the schedule. He picked some fans and received gifts and shook hands with them, and sat on a fluffy chair and chatted with the fans.

Stories from the US, stories about friends, stories about losing another tooth.

They were trivial and small stories, but they were fun.

The fans also listened to the stories with a smile.

The fan meeting time, filled with happiness, came to an end.

“How was it, everyone?”

After Lee Da-jin and Choi So-Yeong left the stage, Seo-jun was standing alone on it.

He shone brightly as he smiled under the spotlight.

He said with a laugh.

“I don’t know if I did well, I was so excited.”

-No, you were awesome!

-You did great!

Seo-jun smiled happily as he looked at the audience. They were all happy for him as if his nomination was their own.

He loved the sight of the fans who liked his every move.

He looked carefully to see if anyone was frowning during the fan meeting, but they were all happy and cheerful as they watched him.

As he slowly scanned the audience, as if making eye contact with each one of them, he suddenly wondered if he had any fans in his first life.

If he did, would they have cried when he died? He was worried. He wished he had at least one fan in his first life…

He shook off the growing thoughts in his mind as he met the eyes of the fans who only looked at him.

His first life was his first life, and now he had to think about his fans only! Seo-jun smiled brightly.

“Thank you so much for coming today. I hope you will continue to support and love me!”

-Seo-jun! Congratulations on your nomination!

-It was fun today!

Seo-jun got off the stage and the theater doors opened.

The staff at the door handed out paper bags from a large box.

The fans carefully put the gifts they brought in a prepared box and took the paper bag with Seo-jun’s autograph and DVD. As soon as they left the theater, they turned on their phones.

Lim Yeon turned on her phone with a smug face to brag to her friend.

“Hey, it’s over now.”

-How was it?

“It was so much fun! Seeing Seo-jun’s acting in person was no joke. He only gave his voice for the role of Cheong-ryong, but it was amazing. Oh, and, did you know that Seo-jun was nominated for a foreign film festival? We were the first ones to know!”

-Oh. There was an article about that. The internet is going crazy.

“Of course, the reporters are fast. I hope Seo-jun wins.”

-Huh? Didn’t they tell you at the fan meeting?

“What?”

Lim Yeon, who was listening to her friend, Park Seong-ah, screamed without knowing.

The people who were leaving the fan meeting hall turned their heads to look at Lim Yeon.

It was such a loud noise. No, Lim Yeon’s words hit the fans hard.

“The winner is decided by voting!?!!”

Voting!?

The word that stimulated their instincts made the fans’ eyes sparkle.

***

“Voting?”

“Yeah. That’s when you go to the website and vote.”

“But you didn’t say that earlier.”

They parted with their sisters at the theater and Ahn Da Ho and the employees all went home.

Today, he was going home with Uncle Chan.

Seo Eun-chan drove Seo-jun’s car and left for home with Seo-jun.

Seo-jun tilted his head as he received a doubtful look from Seo Eun-chan, who told him the truth about the song and that he was not the owner of the questionnaire.

“If I told them about voting at the fan meeting, they would have gone crazy. And it would look like I did the fan meeting just to encourage voting. The fan meeting was for the fans, and that’s enough to post on the fan cafe.”

“I see.”

“Uncle already voted.”

“Hmm.”

Seo-jun wondered.

Should he ask about the voting situation or not?

He was curious, but he would be disappointed if he was last.

Beep-

Then, his phone rang. It was a text from Seo Eun-hye. Seo-jun read his mother’s text with sparkling eyes. Seo Eun-chan asked.

“What did she say?”

“She said to buy a cake for a celebration party for being nominated! The one I like! And if there’s anything else I want, buy it!”

“Really? Where’s a good place to buy a cake around here?”

“Uncle, uncle. Let’s eat chicken too!”

“Cake and chicken. Sure, eat as much as you want! Uncle is paying today!”

Seo-jun was excited by Seo Eun-chan’s words and went to buy a chocolate cake, while the internet was burning with voting.

-If you’re Korean, you have to vote! Seo-jun!

-I didn’t know there was such a film festival, but he also won the Redbone.

-Vote! Let’s vote!

-Vote for Shadowman too!

-Oh. The site crashedㅋㅋ

-It’s a mess in the fan cafes of Brown Black and Lee Ji-seok, who are in the same agency.

-I don’t know about the others, but Brown Black fans are used to it because of the music show.

On the screen of Seo-jun’s fan cafe, there was a big letter.

[Our actor’s first award in his life! Let’s make it with our hands!]

***

As the awards ceremony approached, and the voting time was coming to an end, everyone worked hard.

Especially Cocoa Entertainment’s PR team and Seo-jun’s 2nd team were very busy.

“I don’t know how much we have to vote because it’s a secret ballot. We did a lot of publicity, but… this should be enough, right?”

“I guess so. But it’ll be busier than this if he wins the award.”

The PR team spread publicity materials everywhere to encourage voting, and the 2nd team was busy rejecting the interviews and broadcasting proposals that came in.

They didn’t know if Seo-jun would win the award, so they wanted to collect the movies he had done and the pictures and materials his parents had and edit them into a documentary.

There were also calls for him to appear on variety shows.

Most of them were interview requests.

They postponed the interview schedules of the three major public broadcasting stations that Seo-jun had decided to appear on until after the awards ceremony.

They refused everything else.

“A documentary is too early.”

“Variety shows are either physical or just talking, which is no different from interviews.”

They all shook their heads. The employee who was browsing SNS exclaimed without knowing.

“Wow, the reporters are waiting at the airport.”

A picture taken by someone who was leaving today was posted on SNS.

There were reporters with big cameras waiting at every international terminal entrance.

“They don’t know when he’ll leave, but they’re waiting because he’ll definitely leave.”

“But we can’t tell them the date either.”

The interest in Seo-jun increased as he was nominated.

The heat was so hot that they didn’t know if they would get burned or cause a big accident. Cocoa Entertainment wanted to leave secretly, but.

“It seems difficult.”

Seo Eun-chan sighed at the situation of the international terminal that was popping up everywhere.

Chapter 76

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 76

“Here, try these on.”

Seo Eun-chan and Ahn Da Ho took out hats, masks, and colorful clothes from their bags.

Seo-jun stared at the clothes they had taken out.

‘I don’t know much about fashion, but I just wear the clothes that mom and dad give me, but this is a bit too much.’

His lips puckered at the eye-hurting yellow and blue primary colors, clothes that even kindergarteners wouldn’t wear.

“I’m not wearing this.”

“No, Seo-jun. You have to wear this.”

He thought it was a joke as always, but when Seo Eun-chan said it with a serious face, Seo-jun and his parents tilted their heads.

“What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

Seo Eun-chan frowned and Ahn Da Ho sighed without realizing it.

“The reporters are all over the airport. If Seo-jun wants to go to the film festival in the US, he has to take a plane, so they found out the schedules of the planes that arrive in the east coast, the west coast, or the ones that stop over, and they seem to plan to wait until the awards ceremony.”

“You can think of them waiting at the airport for almost 24 hours.”

The parents and Seo-jun were speechless. Seeing that, Seo Eun-chan took out his phone. The screenshots of the photos and comments on the smartphone screen were shown.

“SNS is crazy. Let the kid go comfortably. It’s a big deal if Seo-jun gets hurt. Cocoa Entertainment should hire bodyguards.”

“They already did.”

“Wow.”

The parents and Seo-jun, who were just happy to go to the US, closed their mouths and listened to Seo Eun-chan and Ahn Da Ho’s story.

Seo Eun-chan rubbed his head as if he had a headache.

“I see some signs of that, so I think we should go to the US as soon as possible. If you wear these clothes, people will think there’s no way it’s Seo-jun, right?”

“Some signs?”

“They start by taking pictures of the kids first. Especially the ones who cover their faces and wear hats, the reporters who take pictures of kids who are as big as Seo-jun are starting to show up.”

“That’s a big deal.”

“Then why don’t you just tell them the day you’re going?”

The four people looked at Seo-jun, who asked.

Seo-jun pushed the clothes that his uncle and brother brought with his feet and said.

“Then the airport guests won’t be uncomfortable, and there won’t be any other kids getting photographed. Wouldn’t it be okay if you just get ready and go?”

I don’t want to wear these clothes either.

Seo Eun-chan and Ahn Da Ho thought about Seo-jun’s words. Then they sighed.

“That’s true, but… I’m worried because Seo-jun hasn’t met the reporters and fans up close like that.”

“More than at the fan meeting?”

“It would be less than that, but the fan meeting was all people who liked Seo-jun. And they were all sitting in their seats and it was safe. But the airport doesn’t have that kind of boundary, so I’m worried that Seo-jun might get crushed by people because he’s small.”

Was it an illusion that the word ‘small’ sounded loud? Seo-jun, who was the tallest in his class, said.

“I’m fine. Anyway, there will be a lot of reporters at the film festival, and there will be a lot of reporters when I come back from the US! I think of it as a trial in advance, what!”

Seo Eun-chan’s gaze turned to the parents. Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun were lost in thought.

“Is Seo-jun safe?”

“We’ll have a lot of bodyguards, and it’ll be okay if we cooperate with the airport. We’ll set up a photo zone separately.”

“What do you think is better, Eun-chan?”

“If it’s possible to control it, it would be better to just reveal it. If we sneak in without people knowing, the bodyguards will have to stick less, so it would be more dangerous if someone notices.”

“Then let’s just reveal it.”

With the permission of the parents and Seo-jun, Seo-jun’s departure date and time were uploaded to Seo-jun’s fan cafe.

The announcement was soon turned into an article, and the reporters who were waiting at the airport also left one by one.

Some reporters doubted it, but they all withdrew, thinking they wouldn’t deceive the fans.

The airport was peaceful again.

***

The day came when they had to leave for the WTV film festival. Seo Eun-chan and Ahn Da Ho, who were going to the US with them, came to Seo-jun’s house.

“Sister and brother-in-law are already at the airport.”

As they checked for any missing items, turned off the gas, and checked the gifts for their acquaintances, Seo-jun tilted his head at Seo Eun-chan’s words.

“Do we have to go first?”

“Yeah. They don’t know sister and brother-in-law’s faces, so it’ll be okay. If we go with Seo-jun, our faces will be in the pictures, and it’ll be hard for the bodyguards to focus on Seo-jun if they have to protect two more people.”

“Oh, I see.”

The parents nodded. Seo Eun-chan crossed his arms and sighed.

“The fans are also talking to each other to be careful in the fan cafe, so I feel a little relieved… But I’m still worried.”

“It’s okay!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and said.

“The fans are so nice!”

“Well. They’re nice when you meet them one by one, but when they gather in a group, they get excited and you never know what will happen.”

It was obvious that a situation would arise where they would follow whoever moved a little. Crowd psychology was scary.

Seo Eun-chan shivered as he recalled the day of Brown Black’s departure and arrival.

Seo-jun giggled and grabbed his wrist. He already had a plan.

***

“Is that car, Chan’s?”

“It looks like it? Wow. That must be really expensive…”

“He’s a Hollywood star, after all.”

A sleek black car slid into the airport. Outside, the reporters waiting for it pressed their shutters incessantly, and the fans standing with them screamed. The bodyguards who had been on standby headed toward the car.

“There are so many fans. He’s a Hollywood actor, but I thought there wouldn’t be many fans coming to the airport since he’s a child actor.”

“He’s not just any child actor. He’s Seo-jun Lee, the special one. Everyone has cried because of William or been overwhelmed by Baby Shaman. And there are many people who became fans because of his acting in Jin Natra. When they see his acting, they must want to see him in person at least once.”

The two reporters kept pressing their shutters as they talked.

Even if they just uploaded the pictures of that big car with the title ‘Seo-jun Lee’, they wouldn’t have to worry about the views.

The bodyguards took their positions, and soon the thick car door opened.

A man who looked like a manager got out, followed by Seo-jun in a pastel-toned casual outfit.

He smiled brightly in clothes that were much better than the childish ones he wore before. His smile made the cameras flash and the cheers erupt.

Ahn Da Ho held Seo-jun’s hand tightly and moved slowly through the bodyguards.

Seo-jun smiled brightly, waving his hand diligently at his name that popped up everywhere. His movement made the wolf-shaped backpack on his back sway.

“Is that a Monster Company backpack? They’ve grown a lot too. Someone took a picture of Seo-jun’s pencil case and posted it on the internet, and it sold out too.”

“That’s Seo-jun’s father’s company. The co-CEO is his father’s friend.”

The two people holding the cameras didn’t stop their hands as they talked. The fans and the reporters followed Seo-jun’s movement into the airport.

The airport had prepared a different passage so that the customers wouldn’t be harmed.

“Those clothes will sell a lot too. These days, metal badges are out, and Seo-jun’s fans who couldn’t use Monster Company products because they were for kids started buying them too. Oh, that one.”

A shiny badge on the wolf-shaped backpack on Seo-jun’s back was visible. It was a wolf with sharp teeth. The two people zoomed in and took a picture of the badge.

“People say that parents buy a lot of things that Seo-jun uses. It’s a product that a Hollywood star uses, and he doesn’t even do commercials, so it’s more trustworthy because it’s what he actually uses.”

“It’s amazing that he doesn’t do them even though they offer him a lot of money.”

The bodyguards passed by with Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho. Seo-jun’s name was called everywhere in the airport.

People who were going to leave the country or enter the country were drawn to the crowd and wondered who it was.

They peeked their heads out or searched the internet.

Seo-jun?!

Where did that sound come from and people gathered and gathered.

The tension grew among the bodyguards as more and more people gathered.

They tensed up their bodies.

Ahn Da Ho was ready to pick up Seo-jun and run if necessary.

When he felt the strength in the hand that Ahn Da Ho held, Seo-jun chuckled and touched his wrist.

[(Pre) Calming Apple Blossom Scent-Medium Level- is activated.]

[(Pre) Calming Apple Blossom Scent-Medium Level]

It is the flower of the apple tree that puts people into eternal sleep.

Unlike the poisonous fruit (apple), the flower only has a calming effect.

You feel calm when you smell the scent.

When the apple blossoms fall and you eat the fruit, the apple, it becomes poison. There is a story that a princess of a certain country ate that apple and never woke up. But the scent of the apple blossom is made into perfume and used as a sedative, so it became a good medicine for people.

‘This is perfect for this situation!’

A sweet scent began to flow from the white apple blossom pattern on his wrist. And he adjusted his breathing to make the effect more effective.

Something started to spew out of Seo-jun, who had been ordinary until a moment ago.

The reporters and fans who had been watching Seo-jun with their cameras noticed the change.

They all gasped at the aura that flowed from Seo-jun’s body.

“Look at that charisma. He’s just standing there, but he feels completely different from ordinary people.”

“Not many celebrities have that kind of vibe either.”

The fans who also took pictures of other celebrities and posted them on SNS nodded their heads in agreement with the reporter’s words.

There were celebrities who clearly showed their star quality even when they wore shabby clothes, but there were also celebrities who made people wonder who they were even when they dressed up.

Seo-jun, who was only eight years old, was a celebrity that anyone could see shining brightly.

“It’s amazing. He’s so different even when he passes by, how can he live normally?”

“Sniff. But where does the flower scent come from?”

“Flower scent? Sniff sniff. I don’t smell anything.”

The fans and reporters who had been taking pictures of Seo-jun with their big cameras sniffed at the sweet scent.

The footsteps that had been pressing toward Seo-jun stopped.

The heat that had been heating up the airport slowly subsided.

Their hearts calmed down as they smelled the sweet flower scent. But they couldn’t completely cool down their passion, so they calmly pressed their shutters.

The bodyguards and Ahn Da Ho, who had been tense, breathed a sigh of relief after smelling the flower scent.

They calmly and coolly continued their security.

They decided to have a short interview and take pictures on the stage prepared at one side of the airport.

When Seo-jun grabbed the microphone and went up on the stage, some of the people who couldn’t hear shouted, but they felt embarrassed by the calm atmosphere except for themselves and closed their mouths.

There were few people who smelled the apple blossom scent, but the crowd psychology that Seo Eun-chan was worried about worked in reverse, and they all closed their mouths and stayed quiet.

‘It really works well!’

He greeted them with a relaxed mind and was going to leave for America.

Seo-jun smiled brightly, and the camera lenses turned to Seo-jun.

The sound of click-click and the flash went off.

“Hello. I’m Seo-jun Lee.”

Seo-jun bowed.

The fans who saw him in person for the first time held their hearts and wanted to scream as much as they wanted, but the flower scent stopped them.

The fans’ hearts fought hard between the happy feeling of meeting Seo-jun and the ability that made them calm. In the end, the agreed heart moved both hands, and a loud applause sound burst out everywhere.

Clap clap-!!

The bodyguards and reporters were rather puzzled by the reaction of the well-behaved fans. Some reporters even turned their cameras to the fans.

A security guard who came out of the airport tilted his head.

What should I say?

It was a peaceful feeling.

There was no one running or screaming. He wondered if they were considerate because he was a child actor.

“Everyone is so quiet.”

“I wish it was like this every day.”

Even if it was just Brown Black, who belonged to the same agency, the airport would be in chaos whenever they showed up.

The bodyguards who had experienced such situations were nervous, but they also did their job diligently while being bewildered.

One of the reporters asked Seo-jun a question as a representative.

The questions they could ask an eight-year-old child actor who had no scandals or problematic incidents were similar no matter who asked them, so they all took out their laptops without much competition.

“How do you feel about being nominated for the film festival?”

“It was something I never expected, so my heart is racing! Thank you to everyone who voted for me! Even if I don’t win this time, I’ll work hard to win next time!”

Seo-jun answered with a clenched fist and a bright-eyed expression, and a squeal of delight was heard from here and there, but soon they closed their mouths in embarrassment at the sight of the people who had no reaction.

Only the sound of applause echoed in the airport.

Some of the reporters who were puzzled by the quiet response turned their heads and looked at the fans, and swallowed their saliva.

It wasn’t that bad… They bit their lips hard, but they felt the passion that spewed from the fans’ sparkling eyes and the clapping hands that hurt their palms.

And they felt the inexplicable frenzy from the still bodies.

A few more questions followed and a short photo time passed.

There was no loud scream or oppressive atmosphere, but they all moved their fingers diligently. Click-click. Only the sound of the shutter rang in the quiet.

The bodyguards and Ahn Da Ho sighed with relief at the safe atmosphere and admired the fans’ self-restraint for Seo-jun. My goodness! There are fans like this too!

It was time to head to the departure hall. As he walked with one hand held by Ahn Da Ho, Seo-jun couldn’t take his eyes off the fans and waved his hand diligently.

The distance between the fans and Seo-jun gradually widened.

As the source of the scent got farther and farther away, the voices that had been suppressed by the fans popped out from here and there.

“Seo-jun! Win the award!”

“I voted with my mom and dad too!”

But thanks to the flower scent that floated in the air, the quiet atmosphere didn’t break.

Even without expressing it with cheers, Seo-jun recognized the fans’ hearts through their sparkling eyes and smiled brightly.

“Thank you! I’ll be back soon!”

The fans who were moved by the sight of Seo-jun waving his hand until he disappeared beyond the departure hall covered their mouths.

He’s so cute!

[Seo-jun Lee leaves for the US to attend the WTV Film Festival!]

[Today is the day. The airport security guard’s view of the fans’ attitude!]

[Monster Company’s products never miss a day!]

[Seo-jun’s airport fashion! How much is it?]

Seo-jun’s departure was a hot topic, but so was the attitude of Seo-jun’s fans.

They showed their love for Seo-jun in the quietness and everyone applauded them.

[Title: Today was really amazing.]

I went on a trip and came back to Korea today. It happened to be Seo-jun’s departure time, so I waited to see his face and go.

I use the airport a lot for work, so I see celebrities leaving and entering a lot, but it was never such a mess.

They hold up their phone cameras and the celebrities and bodyguards get pushed by the fans. They even block the gate. It’s no joke. So I didn’t go near and watched from afar…

Contrary to expectations, it was so quiet.

The number of people gathered was similar to famous idols, but it was really quiet. It seemed like there was a loud noise, but it soon became quiet.

I only heard the reporters’ questions, the camera sounds, and Seo-jun’s voice.

The response was only applauseㅋㅋ It wasn’t that they were indifferent. How should I put it, it felt like the only response we were allowed was applauseㅋㅋ You could see their faces were really moved and heart-fluttering, but they didn’t scream or approachㅋㅋ

Seo-jun’s fan, really amazing.

-It’s probably because he’s young. There was a post on the fan cafe saying that. They said to refrain from going to the airport and screaming.

=There aren’t many fans who follow that post, but they’re really united.

Before the plane took off, Seo-jun looked at the internet articles and left a post on the fan cafe.

The fans left comments saying they cried and that it was okay if he didn’t win the award, and to be careful and come back safely.

Chapter 77

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 77

As he waited at the airport entrance after collecting his luggage, a large car stopped in front of Seo-jun.

The window on the driver’s seat rolled down and a sparkling blonde appeared. Seo-jun greeted his old acquaintance with a bright smile.

“Hi, Rachel!”

“Jun! Long time no see!”

Rachel Hill welcomed Seo-jun and his companions who had just arrived in America.

Rachel stuck her head out of the window and chatted briefly with Seo-jun, when a voice came from somewhere.

Who said Rachel? At that, Rachel, who was wearing sunglasses, stuck out her tongue and gestured.

“Get in quickly. It’ll be hard to get out if we get caught!”

Without any time to exchange greetings, Seo-jun and his parents, Seo Eun-chan and Ahn Da-ho, all got into Rachel Hill’s car.

Rachel Hill confirmed that everyone was in the car and drove out of the airport.

“Thank you. I don’t know if I should be imposing on you like this.”

“It’s okay. Just make yourself comfortable and have a good time.”

Seo Eun-hye and Rachel Hill, who had talked on the phone, smiled and greeted each other.

Seo-jun and his parents, who were attending the film festival for the first time in their lives, didn’t know much about it. The guide they received from the film festival wasn’t very helpful either.

Fortunately, Seo-jun had many people around him who knew a lot about the film festival. When he contacted Ryan Will, Rachel Hill, and Evan Block, he heard that the three of them had decided to walk the red carpet together.

They said they were about to contact Seo-jun anyway.

This year’s WTV Film Festival was scheduled to be held in Los Angeles.

LA, where Hollywood, the mecca of the film industry, was located, was home to many directors, actors, and people in film-related professions.

Rachel Hill was one of the people who owned a large mansion in LA.

Since it had come to this, Rachel Hill suggested that they stay at her house and attend the film festival together. Seo-jun and his parents nodded.

“This is our house.”

Seo-jun and his parents, Seo Eun-chan and Ahn Da-ho, were speechless at the sight of the large mansion with a garden. The size of the house was different from Korea, as expected of the vast land of America.

They all got out of the car and unpacked their luggage in the room that Rachel Hill showed them.

“Let me know if you need anything.”

Rachel Hill introduced them to the staff who worked at the mansion, and they all smiled awkwardly and nodded. Well, it would be hard to manage such a big house without hiring people.

The next day.

After adjusting to the time difference, Seo-jun joined the adults at the restaurant. Rachel Hill had prepared breakfast for the five of them in advance.

They all took their seats and filled their stomachs. As they chatted lightly, the topic of the film festival came up.

“We need to pick out some clothes first.”

Rachel Hill, who was sipping warm tea, opened her mouth. Seo Eun-hye tilted her head.

“I have some suits that I brought from Korea, but are they not good enough?”

“They’re fine, but there might be something better. Wait a minute. I have something prepared in the living room.”

Rachel Hill smiled and led Seo-jun and the adults to the living room. In the spacious living room with a fluffy sofa, there was a movable hanger and a staff member.

There were a lot of clothes hanging on the hanger, but they were not Rachel Hill’s clothes by the look or the length.

“What’s that, Rachel?”

Seo-jun asked, and Rachel Hill smiled and said.

“They’re Jun’s clothes.”

“My clothes?”

“Yeah. They’re clothes that came to me with a request to pass them on to Jun. They all said they wanted Jun to wear them at the film festival or other events.”

Is that all?

The adults were speechless. Rachel Hill took out the clothes that were hanging in the front and showed them to the people. She introduced the clothes, explaining the brand, the designer, and the features, as if she had become a show host.

There were various kinds of clothes, from famous brands that the adults had heard of a few times to brands that had started to rise recently.

“These are clothes from a place that’s popular for children’s clothing. It’s a children’s clothing brand, so it’s not very well-known, but they know what kind of clothes suit children well. It’s comfortable and durable for children who are active.”

“This is a place that’s famous for women’s suits, but they said they made a new brand for children’s suits. I think Jun might be the first model if he wears it.”

There were more than ten clothes that she explained like that.

“Jun’s body needs to be adjusted, right? They said they would come whenever I called. Oh, don’t feel burdened. During the film festival, each brand sends a tailor. You never know when or where you’ll need to fix something.”

The thing that Rachel Hill didn’t miss in her explanation was that all the clothes were for ‘Seo-jun’.

She showed them the short letters that came with the clothes, from the designer who was inspired by William to the designer who felt like he was struck by lightning after seeing Jin Natra’s acting.

They were expensive, but they were different from the department store suits that were only ready-made in design.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who looked at the clothes closely and listened to Rachel Hill’s explanation, nodded their heads with bright smiles.

“They’re better than the ones we brought from Korea!”

“Let’s try them on!”

The eyes of the couple and Rachel Hill sparkled. Seo Eun-chan and Ahn Da-ho, who had seen them become picky when they chose the clothes for the Brown Black awards ceremony, shook their heads.

Seo-jun, who couldn’t foresee the future, bit into a delicious chocolate cookie.

And Seo-jun’s small fashion show began. Seo Eun-chan and Ahn Da-ho changed his clothes, and Lee Min-jun took pictures with his camera.

Seo Eun-hye and Rachel Hill alternately looked at the photos and the real appearance, and exchanged opinions enthusiastically.

“Would it be better to sweep his hair back?”

“Or maybe it would be nice to sweep it slightly to the side.”

They did that ten times.At first, Seo-jun enjoyed posing like a real fashion model, but he soon sighed and took off his top.

Seo Eun-chan and Ahn Da Ho awkwardly smiled and handed him the next outfit.

“You only have to change three more times.”

“Cheer up, Seo-jun.”

“Yeah!”

Yeah. Just three more times!

He said with enthusiasm and went out, only to face a trouble. Evan Block, who had heard that Seo-jun was here, came to Rachel Hill’s house with his hands full of stuff.

“Oh, good. I brought some too.”

Evan Block put down his stuff. It was clothes.

“They told me to give them to Jun.”

The female clothing brands sent clothes to Rachel Hill, and the male clothing brands sent clothes to Evan Block.

Since they had no way to reach Seo-jun directly, they sent clothes through the two actors.

It was lucky that there were only six outfits.

Seo-jun looked at the well-packaged clothes with a bored eye.

“Let’s do this then.”

After putting on and taking off a total of twenty outfits, time flew by. Seo-jun’s clothes and hairstyle were decided with Evan Block’s help.

They all had dinner together and Seo Eun-chan and Ahn Da Ho headed to their room.

They still had some work to do about Seo-jun’s schedule after the film festival.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun decided to go see their friends in LA for the first time in a long time.

They were worried about Seo-jun, but they felt comfortable leaving him with the other actors who had things to talk about.

So, everyone left their seats and Seo-jun, Rachel Hill, and Evan Block decided to watch a movie in the small theater in Rachel Hill’s mansion.

Seo-jun and Evan Block were busy choosing a movie in front of the bookshelf with DVDs, and Rachel Hill shook her head.

“Why do you always talk about movies and acting when you get together?”

“Because it’s fun.”

“That’s easy for you to say. What about you, Jun?”

“I love it!”

The two answered as if they had been waiting for it, and Rachel Hill, who was almost lying on the fluffy sofa, smiled helplessly.

They seemed to enjoy just looking at the movie DVDs, and the time to choose a movie got longer and longer. How long are they going to choose? Rachel Hill, who was bored waiting, suddenly thought of something.

“Then, how about that?”

“What?”

“That?”

The two turned their heads at Rachel Hill’s words. Rachel Hill remembered the news she had heard from Na-ra Kim.

“I don’t know if there are English subtitles, but Jun. You did a play in Korea, right?”

Evan Block also remembered. He had forgotten for a moment because he was immersed in the movie DVDs.

A play. Seo-jun, who debuted in a movie, went on a play stage. Nara said that only children were on the stage.

It was natural that they would look inferior to the two Hollywood actors, but it was Seo-jun’s acting. Seo-jun’s acting that made the atmosphere cold.

They were rather sorry that they couldn’t see it in person. If they had known, they would have flown to Korea right away.

Fortunately, Seo-jun’s play was recorded. Their hearts beat.

“Yes. I did!”

“Do you have the DVD?”

“Yes! I brought it with me. I wanted to give it to Rachel and Evan. There are English subtitles too!”

Seo-jun jumped up and headed to his room. Rachel and Evan followed him. Two DVDs came out of Seo-jun’s wolf-shaped bag. The two laughed at the cute cover of the DVD that Seo-jun handed over.

“Then, let’s watch this.”

“This only has child actors. And we changed some of the lines and stuff.”

As Evan Block said, Seo-jun explained about the play as he headed to the theater.

The two nodded and listened to the story, and laughed at Seo-jun’s words that only his voice came out.

The more they listened to the story, the more curious they became about Seo-jun’s acting.

“I’m really curious.”

“Me too. I can’t guess what kind of acting he did.”

Seo-jun and the two actors sat down. The stage unfolded on the large screen in front of the three actors.

First show.

Second show.

Third show.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill, who were enjoying the play, gradually became serious as time passed.

The two actors only looked at the screen without blinking.

Seo-jun, who had watched the play several times, blinked his heavy eyelids a few times and fell asleep on the soft sofa.

In the meantime, the couple who had gone out and came back were guided by the staff and saw the two actors who were immersed in the stage and Seo-jun who was asleep in the theater.

The two actors didn’t notice even when the door opened. So Lee Min-jun quietly carried Seo-jun out and Seo Eun-hye closed the theater door tightly.

And then,

Eighth show.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill couldn’t take their eyes off the screen for a moment.

The heavy voice of the blue dragon and the high-quality speakers sounded like they were pounding their hearts.

The ‘real blue dragon’ that some of the audience in Korea had seen appeared in front of the two as well.

The wavy beard, the sharp eyes, the flashing claws, but the kind voice and the warm eyes.

It was a strange thought, but somehow the two felt that the blue dragon was Seo-jun himself.

***

The next day.

Rachel Hill’s mansion was bustling from the morning. Everyone was hurrying to get ready for the WTV Film Festival.

The makeup artist that Rachel Hill had called did Seo-jun and Evan Block’s makeup and quickly headed to Rachel Hill.

Seo-jun put on a black suit that had been tailored to his body shape and a bow tie, and got into the car with his hair swept back.

“Seo-jun, you need to take this.”

“Yeah!”

Seo Eun-hye neatly folded a handkerchief and put it in Seo-jun’s suit pocket. The white handkerchief stood out on the black suit.

The handkerchief, embroidered with a winged horse, Pegasus, was a gift from Seo Eun-chan to commemorate his nomination for the film festival.

Finally, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun patted Seo-jun’s head and suit and smiled.

“Mom and dad will be watching! Do well and come back!”

“Seo-jun, fighting!”

“Yeah! I’ll do well and come back!”

Seo-jun hugged his mom and dad. He felt their hearts pounding with nervousness.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who said goodbye to Seo-jun, got into another car.

Seo-jun looked out the window and watched the car that his mom and dad got in leave.

His mom and dad had decided to go to the film festival seats first with Uncle Chan and Da Ho hyung.

‘I wish we could go together…’

He felt sorry, but he thought it would be better to go separately when he imagined his mom and dad sweating in front of the flashing cameras and people shouting from all directions.

His mom and dad were different from Seo-jun, who loved getting attention.

“You did really well in the play.”

Evan Block, who sat next to Seo-jun, opened his mouth. Seo-jun smiled brightly and said.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I stayed up all night watching it. You can’t see it because of the makeup, but my dark circles are down to here.”

Evan pointed to his chin with his finger and Seo-jun burst into laughter.

“What? You’re having a fun conversation without me?”

And then Rachel Hill got into the car. Rachel Hill, who wore a bright red dress and had her blonde hair neatly tied up, was so pretty that Seo-jun’s eyes widened.

“You’re pretty! Rachel!”

“Thank you!”

Rachel Hill smiled brightly and sat down.

“What were you talking about?”

“About the play. Evan said he watched it all night.”

“Oh. I watched it too. I didn’t even notice the time and watched it all. I’m so tired now that I might fall asleep during the awards ceremony.”

They all laughed at Rachel Hill’s words. Rachel Hill also smiled and continued.

“Let’s give that DVD to Director Ryan later. He’ll want to see it so bad if we tell him how well Jun acted.”

“He has to watch the film festival first. I’ll give it to him when it’s over.”

Seo-jun nodded at Evan’s words, thinking that he might really leave in the middle of the film festival.

The three actors chatted while the car started.

In the middle of the way, Director Ryan Will, who would walk the red carpet with them, got into the car and the Shadowman team was all together.

Somehow, the conversation turned to the DVD.

Ryan Will, who was attending the film festival, was restless all the way, shaking his legs, and Seo-jun, who met Evan’s eyes as if to say look at this, smiled.

‘Director Ryan. He might really leave in the middle.’

They heard a loud noise and the car stopped.

WTV Film Festival.

It was the beginning.

Chapter 78

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 78

-It’s today, right?

-I hope he wins the award!

-What time does it start? The time difference is killing me.

These were some of the posts on Seo-jun’s fan cafe.

Everyone was waiting for the film festival to start with a mix of excitement and nervousness.

They were not the only ones.

People who had seen Seo-jun’s movie and those who hadn’t were curious to see if the little boy would win the award or not.

They waited for the news eagerly.

-You can watch it here [address]!

-Thank you!

-Oh, it’s Ryan Will, the director!

The internet buzzed with the news that Ryan Will, the director of Shadowman, had gotten out of his car. If he was there, that meant Seo-jun would soon appear.

***

Ryan Will got out of a huge car. Flashes of cameras went off.

Evan Block in a gray suit, Rachel Hill in a dazzling red dress, and finally Seo-jun in a black suit with his bangs neatly swept back followed him.

As the Shadowman team appeared,

Wow!

Cheers erupted from everywhere.

Shadowman! Rachel! Jin! Evan! Jun! Bell! Natra!

Among the many voices, the ones calling his name made his heart race. Surrounded by bodyguards, Seo-jun walked forward, listening to the cheers of the people.

Thump, thump.

With every step he took, he heard cheers from all around.

He felt like he was walking on clouds. As Seo-jun’s mood soared, his ability moved on its own.

It had been emitting from the car, but it was more active now that he was standing on the red carpet.

‘I don’t need to use my ability here, right? There are plenty of bodyguards and fences.’

As if he had made up his mind, he sparkled like a superstar. His appearance and aura made people scream louder.

The camera flashes kept going off.

The commotion drew the attention of the people who were ahead of them.

The noise attracted people and the people created noise.

It was a situation that Seo Eun-chan would have called crowd psychology.

Ryan Will was the one who stopped the frenzy of the people and Seo-jun.

“Jun. Calm down.”

Ryan Will tapped Seo-jun’s shoulder, who was waving his hand vigorously. His heavy hand made Seo-jun come to his senses.

Oh, he had been enjoying himself too much. Seo-jun let out a breath and touched his wrist.

[(Good) The calming scent of apple blossoms is activated.]

A sweet scent wafted and the people started to calm down one by one.

They stepped back from the fence and showed a reasonable response.

Seo-jun looked at the apple blossom pattern engraved on his wrist. He thought it was a useless ability, but it turned out to be the most useful.

“Did you have fun?”

Seo-jun turned his head at Rachel Hill’s question and smiled sheepishly.

“It’s my first film festival. When will I ever get to see so many people cheering for me? This is the best time, so I’m enjoying it as much as I can.”

“That makes sense. At fan meetings, everyone sits in their seats and at airports, it’s dangerous. Here, there are a lot of bodyguards and fences, so I guess you had a lot of fun.”

“I prefer being a singer at times like this.”

Rachel Hill shrugged her shoulders.

“Singers can have fun with their fans at concerts and such. Actors only have filming with the staff. Right?”

“I like acting.”

Evan Block interjected.

“That’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about the time with the fans.”

Seo-jun laughed at the sight of the two actors bickering. And that scene was captured by the live camera.

“What are you talking about so happily?”

A reporter suddenly interrupted. He had been walking all the time and didn’t realize that he had already arrived at the photo zone. More cameras and reporters were waiting for the Shadowman team than ever before.

Rachel Hill, who had the best sense of humor and was familiar with interviews, led the interview.

She skipped the difficult questions and talked with the reporter, while also drawing attention to Evan, Seo-jun, and director Ryan Will. Finally, she said.

“Please look forward to Shadowman 3!”

She finished the promotion of Shadowman 3, which hadn’t even been filmed yet. The three men unwittingly applauded Rachel Hill.

“Rachel, that was a great interview.”

“Yeah? You get used to it if you do it a lot.”

The four of them entered the awards ceremony hall and sat down at the table marked Shadowman team and sighed.

Seo-jun took a sip of the water that Evan handed him and looked around the audience. He spotted his mom and dad, uncle, and Da Ho hyung.

The four of them had been looking at Seo-jun since he came in, and their eyes met in an instant.

“Noona, Seo-jun!”

“Oh!”

Seo-jun waved his hand as he looked back, and Evan Block and Rachel Hill also looked that way. The two actors also noticed Seo-jun’s family. Seo Eun-hye, Lee Min-jun, Seo Eun-chan, and Ahn Da Ho all waved their hands at Seo-jun.

“How did you find them in this crowd?”

“By intuition?”

Seo-jun’s intuition was amazing to find the four of them in this wide audience. He finished the brief greeting and waited for the film festival to start.

Director Ryan Will used a translation site to research the children’s play Spring, and the three actors talked about the movies and dramas that the actors who entered the awards ceremony hall had starred in.

The people sitting next to him, behind him, and in front of him were all actors that Seo-jun had seen before.

Rachel Hill and Evan Block introduced Seo-jun and greeted them when they met their acquaintances.

As they waited, bang! The fireworks went off and the WTV Film Festival began.

The film festival started with a performance by a solo singer who always ranked high on the Billboard chart whenever he released an album. Fireworks exploded and colorful flames danced. Seo-jun clapped hard and watched the performance.

The singer had a different charm from the actors.

The splendid celebration performance ended and the MC grabbed the microphone.

He briefly introduced the WTV Film Festival and opened his mouth. The people who won the awards in other categories appeared. Seo-jun clapped hard.

And then,

“Best Hero of the Year!”

The faces of Evan Block and other actors appeared on the screen.

People’s voices were heard in the audience.

There were people who shouted Shadowman and people who shouted the names of other heroes.

Seo-jun clasped his hands and shouted Shadowman in his heart.

After a brief pause, the MC shouted,

“Evan Block!”

Evan Block’s face appeared on the screen. Evan Block smiled and got up from his seat.

He shook hands with director Ryan Will and smiled at Rachel Hill, and then patted Seo-jun’s head, who was clapping hard.

That scene was broadcasted on the screen and applause was heard from the audience.

Shadowman! Jin Natra!

“It’s amazing to receive the Best Hero Award. I never thought I would receive this award until I filmed Shadowman 1. Unlike Redbone, which was famous as a comic, Shadowman, which was discontinued 20 years ago, became memorable enough to receive this award. I’m very happy. Please love us a lot in the future…”

Evan Block and Seo-jun’s eyes met. Evan Block’s lips curled up slightly.

“Please look forward to Shadowman 3.”

Wow!!!

A huge applause filled the awards hall. Evan Block, who came down from the stage with the trophy, smiled at Seo-jun, who was clapping hard.

“Congratulations, Evan!”

“Thank you.”

“Can I see the trophy?”

“Sure.”

The friendly scene of the two actors was broadcasted live.

-Evan Block won!

-Please, Seo-jun too!

“Next is the ‘Notable Actor Award’.”

At the MC’s words, the audience and everyone watching the broadcast held their breath.

Among the actors on the screen, a young face stood out.

There was hardly anyone in the film festival audience who hadn’t seen the movie that the child starred in, so there was no one who didn’t know about the child’s acting skills.

The MC laughed and mixed the contents of the script and his impressions.

“This actor’s voting rate is no joke. Well, he’s an actor worth it. Did they choose the wrong award? This actor is already getting enough attention. People all over the world have seen his acting and are impressed. And they are looking forward to his next performance! The winner of the Notable Actor Award is…”

On the quiet stage, the MC shouted loudly.

The camera that had been showing the candidates lingered on Ryan Will, Rachel Hill, Evan Block, and Seo-jun.

In the audience, Seo Eun-hye, Lee Min-jun, Seo Eun-chan, and Ahn Da Ho swallowed their saliva and waited for the next word.

Thump.

Thump.

“Seo-jun Lee, who played Jin Natra in Shadowman 2!”

Wow!!!

A huge cheer erupted and Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun were too surprised to utter a sound.

They half expected it, but still, they really won! Tears fell from their eyes with emotion.

Seo Eun-chan shouted hooray and Ahn Da Ho leaned back on the chair as if he had lost his energy.

A large camera pointed at Seo-jun. On the screen, a child who was staring blankly at the MC was seen. Everyone sent him cheers and applause of congratulations.

Evan Block patted Seo-jun’s shoulder. Rachel Hill and Ryan Will also clapped and congratulated him.

Seo-jun was surprised and lost his words. He expected it, but reality was different from the sensation and emotion that came rushing. He felt like he was going to stop breathing at any moment.

“Come on up, Jun!”

The MC’s voice made his heart pound.

Award.

He won an award.

He won an award for his acting, for his movie.

The Library of Life, it shook.

From the depths of his stomach, emotions overflowed and became tears. Tears flowed from Seo-jun’s eyes.

‘I won an award for my acting.’

That was the only thing that came to mind.

The first resentment of his life engulfed Seo-jun like a wave.

Many emotions rushed towards Seo-jun.

Happiness. Joy.

Satisfaction.

Seo-jun, who was about to sink into the sea, stopped.

?

Satisfaction?

Here?

Just here?

Seo-jun tilted his head and peeled off the first resentment of his life that clung to his source. It was a cold and light gesture.

No, are you satisfied with just this?

No guts?

No greed?

The first resentment of his life retreated.

I told you.

Seo-jun smiled.

I’m going to be a superstar!

A superstar wouldn’t be satisfied with just one award!

Seo-jun, who had fallen asleep without knowing it, returned to reality. It wasn’t even a second. It was just a blink of an eye.

Rachel and Evan, who were sitting next to him, lifted Seo-jun up. Ryan Will pushed his back.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and walked down the aisle and onto the stage.

The stage was wide.

Only Heo Jun and the MC were standing on the wide stage. All the audience who attended the film festival, and everyone who was watching the broadcast, were looking only at Seo-jun.

He looked even smaller next to the big MC. The audience applauded him.

The trophy that the MC handed him sparkled.

The first trophy. The award that sparkled in the bright light was really,

Funny.

It was a trophy with gold popcorn in a red popcorn box.

When Evan Block was holding it, it was only funny because of the difference, but it suited the young Seo-jun very well.

Everyone thought so and applauded.

It was a funny-looking trophy, but it was an award.

Seo-jun smiled and showed the trophy.

Chapter 79

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 79

After the film festival was over, a small celebration party was held at a hotel near the award ceremony.

It was a surprise party to congratulate Seo-jun for his first award, so the couple and the Shadowman team only invited a few acquaintances.

Rachel and Evan set off fireworks when they saw Seo-jun, who changed out of his suit and appeared in the party hall in comfortable clothes.

“Congratulations on your award!”

The people who had arrived earlier also set off fireworks and congratulated Seo-jun.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun’s invited friends, Seo Eun-chan and Ahn Da Ho, also set off fireworks. Seo-jun was surprised, but he was very happy and smiled brightly.

“Thank you!”

Jack and the Smith couple, who were ordinary people, looked around the attendees with surprised faces.

There were actors from their favorite movies and famous directors.

They felt more amazed because they were not dressed in glamorous outfits, but in casual clothes as if they were attending a neighbor’s home party.

“Congratulations on your award!”

“Thanks, Jack.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and gave Jack a chocolate cookie.

Jack had eaten all the snacks for today, so he quickly stuffed a large cookie into his mouth, looking at his parents who were talking to the couple.

“Wowowow.”

“Isn’t it really delicious?”

Jack was surprised by the taste of the cookie, which was the first time he had ever had such a delicious cookie.

Seo-jun, who somehow understood him, smiled and gave him warm milk. Jack’s expression melted.

The chocolate cookie that melted softly in the milk was very delicious.

“This is really delicious!”

“Do you want to ask and take some later?”

“Can I take some?”

“Yeah! There’s so much!”

Seo-jun and Jack were the only children invited to the party, but there were a lot of cookies and cakes that suited their tastes.

Seo-jun and Jack tasted the food with excited faces.

They went here and there, chirping.

The busy movements of the children caught the eyes of the adults who were having a conversation.

The directors who were gathered together laughed at their childlike appearance.

One director opened his mouth.

“I can’t imagine it. He looks like an ordinary kid right now, but how can he act like that?”

“That’s right. His William performance was amazing, but Shadowman 2 was also impressive.”

Sarah Roth, the director of Greenwing, who had competed with Shadowman 1, nodded her head. Ryan Will, who hid his rising lips with a wine glass, called Seo-jun under the praise of the directors.

Seo-jun turned his head to Jack at Ryan Will’s call. Jack shook his head vigorously at Seo-jun’s question of whether he wanted to go with him, because there were so many unfamiliar adults.

Seo-jun ran to the front of Ryan Will, jingling.

“Director, what’s up?”

“I want to introduce you to the directors. This is Sarah Roth, the director of Greenwing.”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened. He shook Sarah Roth’s hand tightly, who was the director of Greenwing, which showed a cool sense of hitting that was like a music game.

“Nice to meet you! I’m Seo-jun Lee!”

“I’m Sarah Roth. Nice to meet you.”

“This is George Roberts, who directed Assemble this time.”

“Hello!”

“Nice to meet you.”

After Ryan Will’s introduction, the directors asked Seo-jun what they were curious about when they saw his acting.

From a broad question of how he could act like that, to a question of which movie he liked the most, which involved the directors’ pride.

Seo-jun enthusiastically told them his thoughts.

The directors were fascinated by Seo-jun’s story and nodded their heads.

As the story got longer, Jack looked bored. Seo-jun enjoyed talking with the directors, but he couldn’t help but care about his friend, Jack.

Ryan Will, who noticed that, stopped the other directors and sent Seo-jun away.

Even after that, the directors couldn’t take their eyes off the young genius.

George Roberts, the director of Assemble, who had experienced many actors, opened his mouth with a bitter expression.

“He’s doing method acting at that age, and he doesn’t even have any side effects? There’s an actor sent by heaven over there. I don’t have any talent that suits an actor like that.”

“That’s right. He’s an actor with a promising future.”

“Future? What future? I’m looking forward to his next work right now.”

The directors laughed in agreement with George Roberts’ words.

****

“Jun!”

They were caught by their parents after eating cake to their heart’s content.

They lifted their heads, eating the last cake they chose very little by little, like a bird pecking at food, Seo-jun and Jack.

Evan Block waved his hand with a smile. Will he not go this time? He looked at Jack, and Jack’s eyes sparkled.

“It’s Shadowman!”

“Do you want to go together?”

“Yeah!”

Seo-jun placed the cake on the table carefully and headed to where Evan Block was with Jack.

Evan Block was standing with a man who turned his back to Rachel Hill. Who is he? He tilted his head, and the man turned his body.

“So you’re Jun.”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened at the familiar voice and face. Jack, who was behind Seo-jun, also recognized the man’s face and lost his mind.

Wow, wowowowow! Rachel and Evan laughed at the surprised faces of the two children.

“Redbone!”

“Davis Garrett!”

The children’s hero appeared at the party. If there were three more children at this party, it would have been a huge commotion.

Davis, who saw the children who didn’t know what to do at the unexpected encounter, took out a pen familiarly.

“Do you want a signature?”

“Yes!”

Jack ran to the Smith couple quickly. Maria, who saw where her son ran to and met Davis Garrett’s eyes, touched her forehead.

“Jack, son.”

“Huh?”

“Please get one for mom too!”

Jack nodded at the words of Maria, who was a big fan of Davis Garrett.

Jack brought a bunch of papers and shared half of them with Seo-jun.

Davis signed the papers familiarly. Jack ran to his mom with the signed papers.

Maria shook Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun’s hands vigorously with a touched face.

Thank you so much for inviting me!

Seo-jun also handed a paper to Davis Garrett. Davis smiled and signed it.

“I’m sorry that Redbone and Jin Natra couldn’t be in the same movie.”

“Let’s do it next time!”

“Yeah. I heard from Evan that you did a play too?”

“Can I join too?”

Seo-jun, who was about to nod at Davis’s question, turned his head at a familiar but strange voice.

He thought there was nothing more to be surprised by after Davis Garrett’s appearance, but Seo-jun was startled and speechless.

Swalin Arnham!

A representative actor of Hollywood, a famous actor who he wanted to act with. Swalin Arnham, who became Seo-jun’s teacher through video.

“Stalin, long time no see.”

“Yeah. You’ve improved a lot.”

“I’m still far behind Stalin.”

Rachel, Evan, and Davis, who had filmed with Swalin Arnham, chatted leisurely, but Seo-jun just stared at Swalin Arnham.

‘Sign! I need a sign!’

“Please sign!”

Seo-jun shouted with a more excited face than when he met Davis Garrett.

Davis Garrett, who clearly knew who his fan was by Seo-jun’s expression, raised both hands and pretended to lose. Evan and Rachel laughed at that sight.

“Yeah,”

“I, I want to act with Arnham next time!”

Swalin Arnham, who was signing with Davis’s pen, looked at Ryan Will with a puzzled face at Seo-jun’s words. He laughed at Ryan Will, who zipped his mouth.

“Yeah. Let’s act together sometime.”

“Yes!”

Ryan Will, who was watching Seo-jun and the actors having a pleasant conversation, turned his eyes back to the directors. He heard an interesting story.

“Greenwing 2 will be released next year, right?”

“Yes. We lost in the competition, but there are many fans waiting for Greenwing 2.”

“That’s good. Greenwing 1 was also good. Especially the music and the fight scenes. It must have been hard to match the music and the video.”

Sarah Roth smiled at the directors’ compliments.

“When I make a movie, I pay attention to the music too. So I thought, what if I make a music movie where music is the main character? I want to make a music movie next time.”

“A music movie by Sarah Roth. Have you thought about who to cast as the lead?”

At that question, Sarah Roth’s eyes went to one place.

The directors’ eyes also went there.

Seo-jun and four actors were having a lively conversation.

Judging by the sound that came in, it seemed to be a story about acting.

There were four adult actors who guaranteed box office success, but the directors who were there knew that the actor who caught Sarah Roth’s eye was not them.

A child actor who talked passionately with all kinds of gestures and sparkling eyes, Seo-jun Lee.

“Wow.”

Someone whispered in admiration. Ryan Will also imagined it in his head.

A music movie and Jun. He didn’t worry that they wouldn’t match. He was a great actor who could digest any role.

He just wondered how amazing the movie would be.

A thriller director who was a musician asked half-heartedly.

“Can you tell me the rough plot? I’m dying of curiosity.”

“I still have a lot to prepare. The synopsis is not ready yet.”

The directors laughed at Sarah Roth’s words, waving her hands.

“Can we invest in that movie?”

One person near the group of directors opened his mouth.

At that, the directors’ eyes turned to the man. There were a few other people who were watching the directors.

Ryan Will frowned and looked around the party, which had become crowded.

There must have been other places where parties were held after the film festival.

But the actors and directors wanted to see the child actor who showed amazing acting skills.

For that reason alone, actors and directors who had fans all over the world and guaranteed box office success flocked to Seo-jun’s party.

There were delicious prey gathered in one place. Reporters, investors, and movie production companies all had their attention on one place.

As soon as you say it, it spreads like a rumor that everyone knows, and the investors and officials who came in one by one made the party bigger.

The directors also noticed that. Sarah Roth touched her forehead.

The party hall was like this, but outside must have been a mess.

The directors were not the only ones who sensed it.

The hosts of the party, Rachel Hill and Evan Block, sent Seo-jun’s acquaintances, who were ordinary people, out through the back door of the hotel. They promised to meet later and left the party hall.

Seo-jun waved his hand to his friends who were leaving in the car.

He didn’t know because he was only in the bright hotel, but the round moon was already up.

Lee Min-jun, who was looking at the clock, rubbed his neck and said. He didn’t know that the time had passed so much because his son was so excited about the award.

“Isn’t it too late? Should we go back now?”

“Yeah. It’s past Seo-jun’s bedtime. Seo-jun, are you tired?”

“I’m fine, but I want to go back since it’s late!”

There was no Jack and there were many strangers in the party hall. He could talk all night with the actors or directors, but it wasn’t that kind of atmosphere.

Oh! He forgot!

“I’ll ask for Swalin and Davis’s phone numbers and come back!”

He became very close in a short conversation, but he didn’t know their phone numbers yet. He had to get their phone numbers!

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

***

[The stars’ celebration party at the Royal Stiver Hotel!]

[The stars of Hollywood gathered in one place!]

[Another film festival?! The stars and directors who lit up the party hall!]

[The protagonist of the party is Seo-jun Lee, who played Jin Natra!]

[Redbone, Davis Garrett, attended!]

[Hollywood’s famous actor, Swalin Arnham, attended!]

The paparazzi who followed the Hollywood stars uploaded photos.

There were photos taken at the hotel entrance and photos of the inside of the party hall, how they got in.

Every single photo was full of amazing faces. They were all exclusive scoops.

The Korean reporters who were busy sending out articles and news about Seo-jun’s award also received the photos that came up in real time and quickly posted new articles.

The hotel guests’ SNS, the paparazzi’s photos, the locals’ photos.

If it was a photo related to Seo-jun, even if Seo-jun didn’t appear, they quickly made it into an article.

[The Hollywood stars who appeared at Seo-jun’s celebration party!]

[Swalin Arnham and actor Seo-jun having a pleasant conversation!]

[Swalin Arnham, Davis Garrett, Evan Block, Rachel Hill! And Seo-jun!]

-Goosebumps! When you put these names together, it’s no joke!

-Swalin Arnham and Seo-jun. I never thought of this combination.

-The directors too, wow, it’s no joke. There are so many famous directors.

-Redbone is there too. He’s really world-class.

And one article came out.

[(Exclusive) Actor Seo-jun, returning next week!]

Chapter 80

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 80

A few days later.

While Seo-jun was having fun with Jack, Seo Eun-chan arrived in Korea first and started preparing for Seo-jun’s arrival.

The excited public, the endless calls, the perfect preparations, but as the day of Seo-jun’s arrival approached, Seo Eun-chan and Cocoa Entertainment became anxious.

“Please, just like when he left! Please!”

Seo Eun-chan prayed and prayed.

The airport security and the bodyguards who had experienced the departure with Seo-jun also prayed in their hearts.

Just be quiet like that time.

And the day of Seo-jun’s arrival.

When Seo Eun-chan saw the people flocking to the airport, he couldn’t help but look for a god.

The Cocoa Entertainment staff who came to the airport with him also called for a god. Cheong-ryong. Cheong-ryong.

Could it be…

“Are those all people waiting for Seo-jun?”

“I hope they are leaving!”

The prayers didn’t seem to work at all. The airport was crowded even before the plane arrived.

Unusually large cameras were installed in and around the arrival hall.

Seo Eun-chan opened his mouth with a disgusted expression at the names of the broadcasting stations attached to the cameras.

“That’s…”

“Yes, that’s it.”

Kim Su-ryeon, the team leader, nodded as he understood Seo Eun-chan’s thoughts at once.

“…I agreed to broadcast it live, but maybe I shouldn’t have?”

“They would have come anyway, right?”

Exactly. Seo Eun-chan muttered as he washed his face.

“Why are there so many?”

“Seo-jun is eight years old now, right? This year is like this, but what kind of movie will he make next year and how much will it be a hit? What about when he’s ten, thirteen? The older he gets, the more famous he will be. Beyond imagination.”

Kim Su-ryeon opened his mouth, recalling the posts on Seo-jun’s fan cafe and website.

There were noises everywhere. The people who came from the fan cafe shouted the points to pay attention to.

Don’t scream so Seo-jun won’t be surprised! Don’t flash because it will dazzle him! Don’t push the fence! There! Don’t push!

“We are watching his growth. 48 Hours, CF ads, William, Evil Spirit, Jin Natra. Maybe we are watching the growth of an actor who is writing an amazing history that everyone in the world will hear at least once. The growth of a superstar who will leave his name behind even after a hundred years, like a legendary singer.”

That was the heart of the people who gathered here and watched the live broadcast on television.

“He’s in his childhood now, and he’s breathing and spending time with us. Who wouldn’t be curious about the real thing?”

At Kim Su-ryeon’s words, Seo Eun-chan looked at the crowded airport. He saw people waiting for Seo-jun with eager faces.

“…They seem to expect too much.”

Seo Eun-chan suddenly felt the pressure of the people’s expectations and thought of the stories of the geniuses who hid themselves.

The plane that left LA arrived.

As the letters appeared on the screen, the airport swayed.

After a while, the door of the arrival hall opened.

Wow!

As the Korean actor who was laughing and chatting with the famous Hollywood actors appeared, a huge cheer rang out in the airport.

Seo-jun quickly used his ability at the scream that was incomparable to the departure.

[(Line) The calming scent of apple blossoms is activated.]

[(Line) The basic breathing of the elves is activated.]

A sweet scent wafted. He also calmed his breathing.

As their excited hearts calmed down and they felt relaxed, the people who were gathered became quiet.

There were more people who didn’t listen to the ability, but they all seemed to have been impressed by the fans’ attitude at the departure and clapped with happy faces.

At that sight, Seo Eun-chan, Cocoa Entertainment staff, and Ahn Da Ho were relieved.

The bodyguards and the airport security also breathed a sigh of relief and did not lower their guard.

‘I have one more ability prepared…’

He didn’t seem to need to use it when he saw the quiet people. Seo-jun smiled and waved his hand to the people.

The live broadcast camera kept spinning. It showed Seo-jun’s appearance and the people who gathered.

The people who were watching the television and worried about the noisy and crowded crowd a while ago were amazed at the quiet people.

-He’s here! The time of silence!

-They are so united even though there are so many people! That’s Seo-jun’s fan!

-It’s really amazingㅋㅋ

A small podium was prepared like when he left. Seo-jun, who climbed on the podium, picked up the microphone. Flashes popped up everywhere.

Only the sound of applause filled the place, and Seo-jun’s voice echoed.

“Hello. I’m actor Lee Seo-jun.”

Clap clap clap!!

The actor who made his name known to the world, Lee Seo-jun, returned.

[KBC, Interview with actor Lee Seo-jun!]

[MBS, We asked Hollywood star Lee Seo-jun!]

[SBC, Lee Seo-jun ‘Thank you for voting’]

***

“Mr. Da Ho! Today’s script!”

A staff member from Team 2 handed a small box to Ahn Da Ho.

After the interviews with the three broadcasting stations as a commemoration of the award, Seo-jun took a break for a while.

The short break seemed to get longer and longer, and eventually filled a full year. But even with a year of diving, the scripts poured out to Seo-jun as usual.

Movie, movie, drama, drama, drama.

Ahn Da Ho nodded his head as he glanced at the script roughly.

As Seo-jun became famous, more and more works featuring child actors appeared.

At first, some of them were hastily made to cast Lee Seo-jun, and they ended up being scrapped halfway.

But when some of the works met brilliant child actors and became hits, child actors like Choi So-yeong and Lee Da-jin also found their places.

The fact that those works had been offered to Seo-jun made Ahn Da Ho and the staff of Team 2 feel bitter.

That success could have been my actor’s success!

The probability of this script being rejected was high, too. A staff member who belonged to Team 2 sighed and asked.

“Will this one fail, too?”

Team 2, which had been the exclusive team for actor Lee Seo-jun, had nothing to do when Seo-jun’s hiatus became longer. Team 2 also took care of the work of ‘White’, the junior group of Brown Black, who had just debuted.

After a few months, when White settled down, they hired new staff members to take care of the five members of White.

With the increased number of staff, Team 2 could gather again and form an exclusive team for Seo-jun when he resumed his activities.

“Seo-jun needs a script that he likes.”

“Right. When will that script come?”

“Don’t worry. Idols have little rest because they have events and various performances, but actors have long breaks. One year is the minimum.”

“Sigh. Well, Brown Black was so busy. They were busy making the next album even during the break. It’s the first time we have an actor in our company, so it’s awkward to have such a long break.”

The staff nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words, who had seen many actors at other companies. Ahn Da Ho, who had prepared the scripts, got up from his seat.

***

“Hyung! You’re here?”

Ahn Da Ho looked at Seo-jun. Seo-jun, who had lost some baby fat, had grown up well with his handsome appearance intact.

He had lost his baby teeth and got his permanent teeth. He still had some inner baby teeth that were not visible and his permanent teeth had not come out yet, but Seo-jun liked his neat front teeth.

His round head had gotten closer to his previous height. He had grown a lot taller.

One year.

It had been a year since the WTV Film Festival ended. Seo-jun, who had been in the first grade, would become a third grader after this winter break.

Ahn Da Ho handed a box to Seo-jun and entered the house. Seo-jun smiled brightly and took out a script from the box. He easily lifted five thick scripts. He was strong, too.

“Hyung. What do you want to drink?”

“Do you have juice?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun clattered to the kitchen.

Ahn Da Ho looked around Seo-jun’s house, which he was now familiar with.

On one side of Seo-jun’s living room, a trophy shaped like a popcorn box was displayed on a neat shelf. In front of it, there was a photo of Seo-jun smiling brightly with the Shadowman team, the couple, Seo Eun-chan, and Ahn Da Ho. It was a photo that made his heart beat whenever he saw it.

“Hyung! Juice!”

“Okay.”

The two sat in their seats. Seo-jun read the script and Ahn Da Ho also took out another script and read it.

There were also evaluations of the directors, writers, and production staff that the staff had researched.

Most of them were false rumors, but there were a few percent of truth hidden in them.

The gossip that he had collected from here and there while taking care of Brown Black.

He had excluded the production companies or directors with the worst reviews, but he had marked the directors and writers whose rumors were not sure whether they were true or false.

‘Is there none today?’

Seo-jun quietly read down to the last script. Ahn Da Ho had thought that this one had a good chance.

Because, the writer of the drama script that Seo-jun was reading now was So Eun-jin, the writer of Reinvestigation, which he had cameoed in before, and the director who would film the drama was Choi Min-sung, the PD who had filmed with him.

‘The production company is okay, too.’

Cocoa Entertainment’s rating was four stars. It was only an evaluation of the non-work-related aspects.

Thanks to the success of Reinvestigation, the writer and director were confirmed, which was a plus. Seo-jun’s positive evaluation from the cameo shooting was another plus.

The experience of filming with him was also a plus.

However, a star was deducted because the broadcasting station and the co-stars were not decided yet.

Depending on the actors, it could be a plus or a minus.

Seo-jun read the script.

It was not the whole script, but the scenes where Seo-jun appeared were clearly marked. He flipped back to check the synopsis and looked at the script again. Hmm. Hmm.

“I like this!”

“Really?”

Ahn Da Ho, who was sighing inwardly as he expected another rejection, asked with a brightened face. Seo-jun smiled mischievously.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun were also worried about Seo-jun’s long break.

They felt anxious when they heard the news of Brown Black, who were busy with their work, while Seo-jun was relaxing without any work.

Did mom and dad lose interest in acting? Should we find something new and fun for him? They looked troubled. Even if it was not Seo-jun, they would be worried. Rachel Hill, Evan Block, and Lee Ji-seok, who had the same profession as Seo-jun, took a break for up to three years.

Seo-jun handed the script to Ahn Da Ho. He liked the script and the historical drama, which was not popular these days.

“I want to do this!”

One year.

The sleeping acting genius opened his eyes.

***

“Hello. This is Moviegoer.”

Moviegoer turned on the live broadcast. Many comments greeted Moviegoer.

“Finally, the movie Assemble of Marina, which started shooting last summer, finished filming and started promoting. Wow. It’s going to be released in mid-January! I’m really curious about the stories of Redbone, Shadowman, and other heroes. Oh, by the way, Greenwing’s appearance in Assemble was confirmed in the cookie video of Greenwing 2, which was released early last year! Let’s clap!”

-Clap!

-Clap clap!

“Greenwing’s appearance is important, but there’s another thing that’s important to us, right?”

At Moviegoer’s words, one person’s name started to appear in the comments. Moviegoer nodded and said.

“Yes. It’s actor Lee Seo-jun! The real Natra. I wonder if he’ll appear in the cookie video of Assemble. Honestly, when he won the award at the WTV Film Festival and came back to Korea, and interviewed by all the public broadcasting stations, I thought he would debut on TV! He would do a drama! But…”

-That was the last.

-ㅠㅠ

-He didn’t do any CFs or dramasㅠ

Moviegoer’s face also became gloomy.

“Honestly, his activities two years ago were amazing. Shadowman 2, of course, that was filmed the year before, but anyway. Shadowman 2, Reinvestigation cameo, children’s play Spring, WTV Film Festival. And they were all hits! He achieved what adult actors could hardly do at the age of eight, now ten, right? Actor Lee Seo-jun did it. Clap!”

-Clap clap!

-Clap!

“For a while, actor Lee Seo-jun didn’t do any work, so the media, ahem, wrote some terrible stories, but they all turned out to be nonsense when they saw actor Lee Seo-jun’s appearance on Channel [JUN]. Some of them were even sued.”

-Kidnapping story!

-Confinement story!

“Honestly, don’t actors take a lot of breaks? It’s because actor Lee Seo-jun did so much work in a year, usually they do one work and recharge and then go back to work. And if they don’t like the work, they rest until they find the work they like. The problem is…”

-Retirement?

“Yes. There are actors who start doing other things or retire. Well, there might be actors who are forced to retire because they are forgotten by the public and don’t get any scripts, but actor Lee Seo-jun is not at that level.”

-World class!

-Just come out! I’ll go see it!

-The reporters are waiting too! ㅋㅋ

Moviegoer opened his mouth as if he thought of something.

“By the way, do you know this?”

-??

“Reporters go to see plays and musicals. They always go to see the works where child actors appear. Actor Lee Seo-jun has been so quiet for a year, so they wonder if he’s doing something under a pseudonym. So these days, plays and musicals are booming. People think the same and go to see them.”

Some plays became famous thanks to the articles titled ‘The second Lee Seo-jun?’. Many people went to see them, hoping it was true. In the end, it turned out that it was not Seo-jun, and the comments on the articles were full of curses, but the plays were successful every day.

-Honestly, I went tooㅋㅋ

-Me tooㅋㅋ It was fun, but it didn’t feel like Seo-junㅋ

“I went too. But it was a bust.”

Moviegoer shrugged his shoulders.

“Actor Lee Seo-jun hasn’t done any work for almost a year, but there’s a confirmation that he’s in the Marina series, so I’m just waiting for Shadowman 3. It’s a waste of talent for an actor who does such impressive acting to do something else! I want to see actor Lee Seo-jun’s acting! I don’t know how many times I’ve watched Shadowman 1 and 2.”

-But Seo-jun is good at horse riding.

-And soccer! He scored a goal in a mini-game with a middle school team last time.

-He’s so good at taekwondo that they wanted to make him a national team.

Seo-jun occasionally uploaded daily vlogs on YouTube Channel [JUN]. He uploaded videos of cooking or cleaning with his mom and dad at home, or going out, rather than his life at the academy, which would be troublesome if it was revealed.

Even so, he couldn’t stop the mouths of the people who came to the academy. They didn’t reveal the name and location of the academy, but they posted their sightings.

Among them, there were some false reviews, but there were three sightings that were proven to be true.

Taekwondo, horse riding, soccer.

The instructors who taught him all recommended him to be a national representative, saying that Seo-jun’s skills were excellent.

-He tried this and that and quit acting!

-I Seo-jun, decided to become a national representative!

-Horse riding, soccer, taekwondo! Call me anything! The goal is gold medal!

Moviegoer looked dejected at the comments that came up.

The comments that laughed at his impressive expression came up. Moviegoer quickly fixed his expression and said in a serious voice.

“It’s very important for an actor to have a lot of experience when he’s young! Please, please, please start working again.”

-What do you think he’s doing now?

Moviegoer gave an answer that anyone could guess to the question of the viewer who was praying to Cheongryong somewhere.

“Um. Assemble is going to be released soon, so I think he’ll go see it.”

Chapter 81

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 81

“Here we are.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun sat down in their seats, comparing them to the ones on the ticket.

Seo-jun, who had followed his parents, took off his scarf and hat that he had wrapped around himself.

To watch Assemble, Seo-jun and his parents chose a movie theater that was a bit expensive but had fewer people.

Unlike the regular movie theater with seats right next to each other, the premium theater had seats that were far apart and had partitions.

It was hard to see the faces of the people next to them.

They had watched Greenwing 2 here last year.

“The world has gotten better.”

Lee Min-jun said with a smile, sitting on the seat that was softer and wider than the regular movie theater.

Seo Eun-hye nodded her head as she ate popcorn.

“The seats are wide, and there’s no one in front or beside us, so our son won’t be caught.”

“I would prefer a more crowded place if it was a movie I was in, but this is fine since it’s not.”

But they couldn’t give up on the big screen, so they came to the movie theater.

As they chatted during the commercial time, the lights in the theater went off.

Boom-

A new OST started playing. It was Assemble’s OST. Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the glowing screen.

The movie was humorous like Redbone’s movie, and serious like Shadowman’s movie. George Roberts, the director, was amazing.

The heroes with strong personalities gathered together and showed off their charms without anyone dying.

As the heroes defeated the enemies, the time for the movie to end was approaching. Everyone thought it would end coolly and pleasantly, when

Redbone
collapsed.

“What?!”

He, who was the center of Assemble, lost consciousness and fell.

[Redbone!?]

The heroes shouted in surprise and jumped from the airship to the sea to save him.

Seo-jun and his parents’ mouths opened wide at the unexpected development. They had forgotten about the popcorn they were eating.

The movie ended when Shadowman’s fingers, which he stretched out desperately, touched the back of Redbone, who had lost consciousness.

Boom-

Assemble’s OST played.

The theater lit up. George Roberts’ name appeared on the screen. And then the names of the actors and staff appeared.

Everyone seemed to be used to Marina’s cookie video, as they stayed in their seats and talked about the end of the movie.

“Wow. Why did he collapse all of a sudden?”

“Maybe he got hit by the enemy without knowing it?”

“That could be possible.”

Seo-jun and his parents also talked. But they couldn’t find the exact reason. It might depend on what the cookie video showed. Seo-jun looked at the screen.

Boom-

It was Assemble’s OST.

The screen showed the pale face of Redbone, who was lying on the bed. And then the door opened. Shadowman, Mac. And,

“Huh?”

It was Bell Natra.

Rachel Hill!

Seo-jun and his parents, and the audience, had their eyes wide open.

Why are you here? Bell Natra, who was a character whose side and morality were unclear, whether she was on Shadowman’s side or Jin Natra’s side, appeared at Assemble’s base.

Bell Natra smiled cheerfully and opened her mouth.

[Okay. Then we’re allies for a while.]

[You get what you want, and I get what I want.]

Mac, who had a reluctant but helpless expression, reached out his hand.

Like the cookie video of Shadowman 2, like Shadowman and Redbone had held hands, Mac and Bell Natra held hands.

“What is this?”

Everyone was speechless.

***

The moviegoer turned on the live with a serious expression.

“This is a mess, right?”

He said strongly from the first word.

-ㅇㅇㅇㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Who would have thought Bell Natra would show up thereㅋㅋ

-So is it Shadowman 3? Assemble 2?

It was clear that Shadowman and Bell Natra would appear. If they appeared, would it be Shadowman 3?

Or would it be Assemble 2, with other heroes appearing, even though they didn’t show up in the cookie video?

The movie title was important, even though it was just that.

“Yes. That’s important. If it’s Shadowman 3, actor Lee Seo-jun will appear, but if it’s Assemble 2, well, he might not. If you go to Marina’s homepage, you’ll see this.”

[Assemble 2]

“Yes. It’s Assemble 2.”

-ㅋㅋToo badㅋㅋ

“But I’m sure Shadowman 3 will come out after Assemble 2! There must be a reason why Bell Natra appeared!”

-Why did Redbone collapse?

“That’s a bit controversial, but maybe he got hit by the enemy without knowing it, along with the other Assemble members and Redbone himself.”

-Is that possible?

“Marina’s heroes are not perfect. They make mistakes and can’t save everyone. They get beaten and beaten by the enemy until they win at the end. It’s a movie, so we can laugh and watch it, but if it was real, it would have been a disaster. There would be more than one or two victims like William.”

-That makes sense.

“So, that means Redbone is not always strong. If Shadowman grew in Assemble 1, then Assemble 2 would be about Redbone’s rest and growth.”

-I was shocked when Redbone collapsed.

-I thought Redbone wouldn’t collapse.

-Why did Bell Natra show up?

“Well, I think it might be a hint that Redbone’s cure is an alien substance. Like the dialogue in the cookie video, Shadowman and Bell Natra each have something to get. Shadowman wants Redbone’s cure, and Bell Natra probably wants something related to Jin Natra. I can’t imagine what that thing is.”

The moviegoer said after thinking for a while.

“But one thing is certain.”

-What is it?

“I think the past story might come out since Bell Natra and Shadowman met. We can guess that they are family with our omniscient viewer’s perspective and our sensitive intuition trained by the makjang drama, but Shadowman doesn’t know yet. Maybe it will be revealed in Assemble 2.”

-Omniscient viewer’s perspectiveㅋㅋ

-Makjang dramaㅋㅋ Don’t tell me you’re my sister?!

-Last time it was multiple personalities, this time it’s siblingsㅋㅋ

“Assemble 2 will be about Redbone’s rest and growth, and a hint for Shadowman 3.”

Bell Natra’s appearance and Assemble 2’s trailer gave a big shock to the people who were waiting for Lee Seo-jun’s next work.

[Where is Shadowman 3?!]

[The cookie video that previews Assemble 2!]

[Bell Natra is there, but Jin Natra is not!]

[Find the missing Jin Natra!]

-Who wants to blow up Marina?

-I waited for Shadowman 3 after Assemble, but they threw Assemble 2?!

-He doesn’t appear this time eitherㅠ

-Ah, I wish he would act even with a stage name. I want to see his acting even on VODㅜ

-How many times have I watched it lately…….

Everyone was in pain from the back of their heads hit by Assemble 2, when the drama production company ‘Wave’ was in trouble for another reason.

Choi Min-sung PD and So Eun-jin writer, who ran to hear the news, couldn’t say anything.

Really? For real? They could tell from the look in their eyes that they were asking. The planning team leader, who was in charge of the production and planning of this drama, nodded his head.

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“Really! For real?!”

“Yes! Yes!”

So Eun-jin writer and Choi Min-sung PD cheered at the planning team leader’s answer.

How many dramas and movies have been rejected by Lee Seo-jun in a year! Among them, there were some successful works, so everyone wondered what the standard of the script that caught Lee Seo-jun’s eye was.

Everyone would make the next work to fit that standard, and Lee Seo-jun’s next work would surely be that standard.

“But it’s us!”

They felt good but also nervous. They were a little scared.

“Why did he choose our drama?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because it’s a historical drama?”

“There was a movie with a historical drama. Starring Lee Da-jin. And it was a hit.”

The two tilted their heads. The planning team leader, who had no interest in such worries, quickly brought up the main point.

The drama production company ‘Wave’, which was only worried about who to cast, how much it would cost, whether there would be investors, and whether it would make money in the historical drama genre that was gradually disappearing, now had to move for the box office in the midst of the influx of investors and the increased number of cases.

Even though the article didn’t come out, how did they know? Despite the fact that PPL was almost impossible in a historical drama, investors started to appear one by one.

They were all well-known companies with products that had nothing to do with historical dramas.

The production company staff were amazed by the investors’ information.

And the broadcasting station with the fastest information contacted them.

“The place to broadcast has been decided.”

The rumor started to spread in the entertainment industry.

An amazing drama came to KBC broadcasting station.

****

Ring-ring-

Seo-jun, who was watching TV while eating a sour hallabong, answered the phone. It was Lee Ji-seok.

“Ji-seok hyung!”

-Seo-jun! You’re doing a drama!

“How did you know?”

He had told Da Ho hyung that he would do it just a few days ago. He said he would do it, so he wouldn’t change his mind, but the only one who knew that fact was Cocoa Entertainment.

The production company and the broadcasting station wanted to stamp the contract as soon as possible.

They would have accepted any amount of Lee Seo-jun’s appearance fee, but Cocoa Entertainment wrote the contract moderately.

Cocoa Entertainment, the production company, and the broadcasting station. Everyone related to the drama knew about Lee Seo-jun’s appearance.

Everyone’s mouth was itching, but they had to keep it a secret until a proper promotion plan was set up.

But there were people who knew about Lee Seo-jun’s appearance. Lee Ji-seok was one of them.

-I’m also in it!

“Really?”

Seo-jun’s mouth opened wide at the unexpected news. Lee Ji-seok laughed cheerfully. He was really glad about this coincidence.

-I wanted to try a historical drama. I got a good script and decided to do it, but when I signed the contract, they told me you were in it too!

“Wow! Really? I’m happy to film with you, hyung!”

It was his first drama, so Seo-jun and his parents were worried, but it was a relief to have Lee Ji-seok there.

-Me too! It feels like we haven’t filmed together in a long time, right?

Evil Spirit was four years ago, Reinvestigation was two years ago. And Reinvestigation was too short to say we filmed together.

“Yes! I’m really looking forward to it.”

Seo-jun nodded his head repeatedly.

****

February.

An article appeared on the internet.

[(Exclusive) Actor Lee Seo-jun, confirmed to star in a drama!]

-???Lee Seo-jun in a drama!?

-Finally!! But which broadcasting station, what drama, what role?

-This reporter is fast with the news, but has no content.

-Wait. It’ll come out soon.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, confirmed to star in KBC drama!]

[Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok! The two actors have teamed up!]

[KBC, ‘The Royal Physician’ to air in April!]

[A fusion historical drama with the royal physician as the background!]

[The prince of Joseon! Actor Lee Seo-jun as Grand Prince Seongnyeong!]

[Let’s learn about Grand Prince Seongnyeong!]

“I’m curious, but this is like a drama spoiler!”

Park Seong-won tore his hair out. He was looking at the articles about Lee Seo-jun’s appearance.

They all had similar content, but there was one article that caught his eye. Park Seong-won couldn’t take his eyes off it.

The mouse was pointing at the article [Let’s learn about Grand Prince Seongnyeong!].

The problem with historical dramas was that they had a predetermined ending, a history.

No matter how much they said it was a fusion historical drama, they wouldn’t change the big future.

Is this a spoiler or not? The mouse cursor was trembling. Park Seong-won, who was struggling with his head in his hands, finally,

“Aaaah!”

He couldn’t resist his curiosity and clicked the mouse.

[Let’s learn about Grand Prince Seongnyeong!]

Let’s learn about Grand Prince Seongnyeong, who will be played by actor Lee Seo-jun (10).

Grand Prince Seongnyeong Lee Jong

1405 (Taejong 5) ~ 1418 (Taejong 18)

The fourth son of the third king of Joseon, Taejong, whose name was Jong. He was dignified and intelligent from a young age and received the favor of his father.

He had brothers who were 11 years older, Yangnyeong Daegun, 9 years older, Hyoryeong Daegun, and 8 years older, Chungnyeong Daegun, who later became King Sejong.

Grand Prince Seongnyeong, who was Taejong’s youngest son, died at the age of 14 from smallpox.

“What?!”

Park Seong-won, who was reading the article, screamed without knowing it.

[He died at the age of 14 from smallpox.]

That one sentence stirred up the internet.

-He dies!?

-He’s King Sejong’s brother and he dies!?

-This is a tearjerkerㅠ

Chapter 82

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 82

Lee Ji-seok walked with his manager, Yoon Seong-oh, to the conference room where the script reading for

The Royal Physician was taking place.

Seong-oh checked the time in the empty hallway.

“Hyung, aren’t we too early?”

“Well, I have nothing else to do, and Seo-jun said he would come early too. It’s my first reading, so it’s nice to have someone I know.”

Ji-seok’s words made Seong-oh laugh. He had never seen Ji-seok so excited before.

Ji-seok opened the door to the conference room with a bang.

“I’m the first one here, huh? Oh, Jong-ho hyung?”

The conference table was already prepared by the production team, with paper name tags indicating the roles and actors.

Kim Jong-ho, who was called by his name, flinched and turned around. He had two paper name tags in his hand.

[Heo Yuseon, Ji-seok Lee]

[Taejong, Kim Jong-ho]

Ji-seok tilted his head at the large letters. Ahem. Kim Jong-ho coughed and put the two name tags on the table. Then he sat down at his seat and opened the script.

“Hyung, aren’t you coming in?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Ji-seok, who was tilting his head at Seong-oh’s words, sat down at his seat.

What’s going on? Ji-seok crossed his arms and stared at Kim Jong-ho, who was greeting Seong-oh and taking out his script and barley tea from his bag.

“Jong-ho hyung, do you have something on your mind?”

“What, what? What do you mean?”

“Hyung, you’re not even in the first episode, but you’re reading the script.”

“Well, I can read it even if I’m not in it.”

Kim Jong-ho coughed and closed the script.

‘This kid came so early when there’s still time until the reading.’

A silent silence flowed between Kim Jong-ho and Ji-seok, when the conference room door opened.

“You’re already here?”

It was PD Choi Min-sung and writer So Eun-jin. And there was one more person behind them.

“Hello!”

It was Seo-jun. It was his first script reading, so he came early with Da Ho hyung.

He met the PD and the writer in front of the conference room and received some snacks. Then he came into the conference room with them.

Hehe. It was his first filming in a year, and even though it was just a script reading, he was very happy.

“Hi, Seo-jun.”

“Long time no see.”

Ji-seok and Seong-oh greeted Seo-jun warmly. Seo-jun smiled brightly and waved his hand to them. PD Min-sung showed him his seat.

“There’s a name tag on each seat. Just sit there.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun found his name tag and walked to his seat. It was next to Kim Jong-ho.

Seo-jun bowed to him. Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho had a 30-year age difference.

“Hello! Kim Jong-ho teacher. I’m Seo-jun Lee.”

Kim Jong-ho, a middle-aged actor, was an indispensable actor for historical dramas. He looked like a nobleman from the Joseon era when he wore a durumagi and a beard.

His grim face and thick voice suited the villains who had power in their hands. He mostly played the role of a powerful person whenever he appeared.

Because of that, the public expected that Kim Jong-ho would be a villain nine out of ten times.

‘Is this your first time playing a king?’

Seo-jun, who read the script for The Royal Physician and learned about Taejong, thought that Kim Jong-ho suited the role of Taejong Yi Bangwon very well.

“Do you know me?”

“Of course! I watched the historical dramas you were in!”

“Really? Well, sit down.”

“Okay!”

Kim Jong-ho smiled at Seo-jun’s words and listened to him attentively. He looked like a cool ‘teacher’, so Seo-jun talked enthusiastically about the historical dramas and dramas that Kim Jong-ho was in.

Ji-seok felt left out, even though he was only on the other side of the table. He made a dissatisfied expression.

PD Min-sung and writer Eun-jin, who were looking for a cushion and snacks for Seo-jun, whispered to each other.

“Didn’t we tell you to put Seo-jun’s seat next to Ji-seok?”

“Yeah, I guess we forgot.”

“Huh?”

Ji-seok’s head spun when he heard the two’s words. Kim Jong-ho, who came unusually early, Kim Jong-ho, who had name tags in his hand, and the changed seat.

“Jong-ho hyung, don’t tell me that’s my seat?!”

“What, what. What are you talking about?”

He looked flustered, as if he had hit the mark. Seo-jun, who received citron tea from Da Ho, sipped it and watched Kim Jong-ho and Ji-seok argue.

The teacher-like appearance that Seo-jun had seen was gone, and his original personality came out.

“Hyung, sit in your own seat!”

“I want to talk to Seo-jun too. It’s too far over there! You’ve been in Evil Spirit and The Reinvestigation, and you’ve been in touch, so just give me a break today.”

Kim Jong-ho, who was about to yell, lowered his voice, conscious of Seo-jun.

Ji-seok clenched his teeth and spoke, remembering that Kim Jong-ho had asked him how to vote for the WTV Film Festival.

He just said he would give a vote to a handsome child actor, but he must have been a fan of Seo-jun.

“Are you and Kim Jong-ho senior on bad terms?”

“No, not at all. We’re actually very close. We were in the same drama when Ji-seok debuted. We’re so close that we joke around comfortably. He even made a special appearance in The Investigation, like Seo-jun.”

“Oh, I saw that. He came because of Ji-seok hyung.”

Seo-jun nodded. Was he like Chan uncle and him? Ji-seok, who gave up his seat, grumbled at Kim Jong-ho.

“Then you sit here too!”

“I’m not as petty as you, hyung.”

Kim Jong-ho and Ji-seok’s second round was about to start, when the conference room door opened. It was a staff member who brought water bottles for the actors.

He looked at the clock and it was almost time for the reading. After that, the actors and managers came into the conference room.

They all had the same reaction.

They came into the conference room without thinking, and were surprised to see Kim Jong-ho and Ji-seok sitting there.

They greeted them and sat down at their seats, carefully feeling the atmosphere of the conference room.

They were shocked to see Kim Jong-ho talking kindly to Seo-jun.

“Didn’t Kim Jong-ho senior say he hated juniors? He didn’t even say a word to the actor he co-starred with in the last drama.”

“He hates the ones who can’t act. He was a parachute and his acting was terrible. He likes them if they can act well, even if they’re parachutes.”

“Still, this is the first time I’ve seen him so kind.”

They whispered to each other, while Kim Jong-ho and Seo-jun became closer.

“Is this your first drama reading?”

“Yes!”

“We don’t have any lines in the first episode, so ask me if you have any questions.”

“Thank you.”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled as he answered.

The promised time came. Fortunately, all the actors who said they would attend arrived on time.

Seo-jun looked around at the actors sitting at the table and the ones sitting behind them.

Taejong, Queen Wongyeong, Yangnyeong, Hyoryeong, Chungnyeong, and the royal physicians.

The script reading was supposed to be only for the first episode, but everyone who wanted to see each other’s faces, even those who had no lines, gathered.

Actors, managers, filming staff, and public relations staff. The conference room was bustling.

“Then, let’s start the script reading for The Royal Physician.”

Everyone took their seats and Director Choi Min-sung announced the start of the script reading.

It was Lee Ji-seok’s first historical drama, but he delivered his lines naturally, unlike a beginner.

Kim Jong-ho, known as an acting purist, was friendly enough with him, who was ten years younger, to get along well, despite his nagging. He had a great acting skill.

It was only a script reading in a conference room. But as if he was acting on the set, Lee Ji-seok didn’t just spit out his lines casually. His gestures and expressions changed.

If you closed your eyes and listened to his voice, it felt like you had come to the Joseon era.

Seo-jun blinked his eyes and compared the modern and historical speech. It was more fun because it was a speech that was not used now.

The script reading for The Royal Physician passed by in an instant.

The first episode was about Heo Yu-seon, the physician, entering the royal physician’s office and building his reputation as a physician.

There was no appearance of the royal physician’s office, which would be Heo Yu-seon’s workplace, responsible for the health of the royal family, let alone Taejong or the princes.

Because of that, Taejong, Queen Won-gyeong, and the princes had to watch Lee Ji-seok and the actors recite their lines awkwardly.

No, they all had to bite their lips while watching Seo-jun scribble notes on the script and nod his head.

Director Choi Min-sung and writer So Eun-jin were already leaning their chins and looking at Seo-jun with honey dripping from their eyes. Kim Jong-ho peeked at what Seo-jun was writing next to him.

[Strongly? Weakly?]

[Take a break]

[As expected, Ji-seok hyung is good!]

Even though he was distracted, the reading continued thanks to Kim Jong-ho.

Kim Jong-ho was not so kind to actors who couldn’t act. He had even spat out harsh words to juniors who asked for advice.

Kim Jong-ho, who had a bad personality, was not thought badly by the actors who were close to him.

Contrary to the fact that Kim Jong-ho was known to like actors who could act well, the actors that Kim Jong-ho liked were actors who ‘liked’ acting.

Even if he didn’t do well because he hadn’t learned to act for a long time, Kim Jong-ho opened his heart if he liked acting.

Of course, it was when he knew his own skills and took on a role that suited him. Even if he liked acting, he turned his back on him as soon as he took on a role that was too much for him.

He couldn’t do a minor role. One or two lines of dialogue, he would gain experience little by little and improve. Kim Jong-ho also learned to act that way.

But these days, people who couldn’t even do the basics took the roles of lead and supporting actors too easily with the word ticket power.

‘Seo-jun is one of the few actors who can do well from the start.’

Kim Jong-ho smiled as he watched Seo-jun diligently taking notes.

He felt that he liked acting even though he was still young, as Lee Ji-seok said. He liked his attitude of trying hard even though he was good.

Lee Ji-seok was proud of the affectionate Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho.

Kim Jong-ho, who liked acting and liked actors who liked acting, had a talent for teaching.

He taught good juniors and they became stars.

But the end was not so good.

The juniors who loved acting became actors who enjoyed fame and neglected acting.

As such experiences accumulated, Kim Jong-ho’s personality, which was already dirty, became dirtier, and it became very rare for him to teach someone. Lee Ji-seok was able to hear short advice only after a few years.

But an unexpected thing happened.

When Seo-jun tilted his head in doubt at someone’s line, Kim Jong-ho opened his mouth softly. His eyes were still on Seo-jun.

“You have to speak faster and more desperately there. You came to find a physician to save your dying mother, didn’t you?”

“Yes, yes!”

When the actor recited his line again, Seo-jun nodded his head and wrote down Kim Jong-ho’s advice on the script.

[Faster and more desperate]

Kim Jong-ho smiled at that. He had no intention of giving advice to other actors. He just hoped that this handsome kid would learn a lot indirectly.

The actors who appeared in the first episode, who would ever hear advice from an actor like Kim Jong-ho, continued to read the script diligently to hear more.

Lee Ji-seok was momentarily goosebumps by Kim Jong-ho’s soft voice, which was different from usual, and almost stuttered his line.

The actor Seo-jun, who was fidgeting, Kim Jong-ho, who was teaching his junior, and the actors who were participating diligently.

As topics of conversation sprang up here and there, the public relations staff smiled and diligently pointed the camera lens.

“Good job, everyone!”

The script reading for the first episode was over. When Seo-jun closed the script, everyone closed their own script with a regretful face.

The managers took care of their actors’ luggage, and Ahn Da Ho, who was behind Seo-jun, also started to take care of Seo-jun’s luggage one by one.

Kim Jong-ho was sad in the atmosphere of tidying up. He was an actor who liked acting and was very good at it, whom he met after a long time. He wanted to talk to him a little longer.

Kim Jong-ho wondered what elementary school students liked these days and what to talk about, but Lee Ji-seok intervened.

“Seo-jun, Jong-ho hyung said. He likes you a lot. He even voted for you in the film festival. It’s a bit awkward to call him hyung, so call him uncle.”

“Uh… Can I call you ‘Jong-ho uncle’?”

“Of course! Anytime!”

“Hehehehe.”

One person had the courage to join the friendly conversation of the three actors. Queen Won-gyeong, Lee Ji-hye, smiled and said.

“Seo-jun. Can you give me a sign? My name is Lee Ji-hye.”

“I know! I saw the movie. You were with Da-jin hyung, right?”

Seo-jun signed the white paper that Lee Ji-hye gave him. Lee Ji-hye smiled as she received the signed paper.

“Da-jin also said you were really good.”

“Hehe.”

As Seo-jun smiled, people gathered one by one with papers in their hands. They sneaked their eyes away from Ahn Da Ho’s cold gaze and stood in a line in front of Seo-jun.

Kim Jong-ho didn’t show it, but he wanted Seo-jun’s signature. Lee Ji-seok teased him as he noticed the sign.

“Seo-jun, can you give Jong-ho hyung a sign? He really wants it.”

“Yes!”

It would have been nice if he hadn’t said the back. Kim Jong-ho and Seo-jun thought the same.

A small signing event was held in the conference room. There were too many people to do it all, so they decided to get it later from Seo-jun and those who had the same filming.

Kim Jong-ho was also in it. Seo-jun gave Kim Jong-ho his phone number, who was sorry.

***

KBC’s new drama, The Royal Physician’s script reading video was uploaded on the internet.

KBC divided the video into reading version, Seo-jun version, and actors version.

Especially, Seo-jun version had yellow and cute subtitles and cute music, making it look like watching a variety show.

-So cuteㅋ He’s fidgetingㅠ

-Honey dripping from Kim Jong-ho’s eyes. But it’s a bit scary to see him like that with that faceㅋ

-Every time Seo-jun pauses, Kim Jong-ho teaches himㅋ

=And if he does well, he nods

-Seo-jun doesn’t know he’s only looking at the scriptㅋㅋ

Chapter 83

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 83

The fusion historical drama, The Royal Physician, was produced with half pre-production.

The filming B team took care of the minor scenes in the drama, and the filming A team filmed the scenes that involved a large number of people and could not be filmed during the broadcast.

“Wow.”

It was the end of February, and it was still winter. The cold wind blew.

Seo-jun, who was enjoying his winter vacation by skating hard at the ice rink, visited the filming site at the suggestion of Lee Ji-seok.

It was an outdoor filming, so he wore a thick jumper and carried a small bag shaped like a mimic on his shoulder. He also put a hot pack in it to keep warm.

“How is it? Isn’t it cool?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun nodded at Lee Ji-seok’s words.

The palace was beautifully decorated with colorful fabrics. People wearing various hanbok.

And a lot of staff. It was the first time he saw so many people filming.

Today was the day when King Sejong ascended the throne.

“It’s better to see this in person than on TV. You can also learn from it.”

Lee Ji-seok said with a proud face. Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho nodded.

The actors with lines coordinated their timing under the direction of the assistant director, and the extras who became the background were assigned their positions by the staff.

To be honest, he was more interested in the extras who wore the same clothes and could not even tell them apart than the actors who dressed up splendidly.

He also saw people who seemed to have come to work part-time, laughing and chatting with their friends, and people who looked serious and looked at the actors with lines.

Seo-jun felt uneasy at their faces filled with envy.

Time passed and everyone was ready to film. As it was a large-scale filming, one mistake could cause a big problem, so everyone focused on not making a mistake.

The actors who had to move around checked their routes for the last time.

The staff who had been running around all headed outside the filming site.

Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok stood in a place a little far away where they would not appear on the screen and watched the filming.

When there was nothing on the screen, Choi Min-sung PD shouted loudly.

“Ready, action!”

The officials appeared one by one. Not only the extras wearing hanbok, but also people wearing various clothes found their places and stood. Lee Ji-seok whispered to Seo-jun.

“Students from Sungkyunkwan, foreigners, elders, and monks also attended King Sejong’s coronation ceremony.”

“I see.”

Music flowed. Although they would do post-recording later, Choi Min-sung PD called a traditional music group and made the music flow lively on the filming site.

Next to him, Sejong appeared in a palanquin. Sejong sat down and the coronation ceremony began.

A solemn atmosphere flowed on the filming site.

Fortunately, Sejong’s coronation ceremony ended without any NG.

Everyone sighed with relief and quickly put on their padding.

While the staff prepared for the close-up filming, the extras warmed up their bodies.

It was amazing to see so many people moving in an orderly manner. It felt like he had fallen into the Joseon era and watched King Sejong’s coronation ceremony.

Seo-jun asked Lee Ji-seok. It seemed like it would be a lot of fun if there were other large-scale filming.

“Are there any more filming like this?”

“Hmm. Should I ask the PD?”

At the question of the two, Choi Min-sung PD scratched his head and said.

“There are. The funeral of Prince Seongnyeong, the funeral of Queen Wongyeong, the funeral of King Taejong.”

“They’re all funerals.”

“It’s a bit like that at this time. Someone gets sick and dies. You can come and see if you’re curious. It’s a fusion historical drama, but they did a lot of research on the ceremonies!”

“Yes!”

The large-scale filming continued after that. Seo-jun called a coffee truck for the filming of Prince Seongnyeong’s funeral.

Several food trucks were set up outside the filming site so that the extra actors could drink comfortably.

There was a banner on the food truck that said ‘Prince Seongnyeong is treating you!’ Everyone laughed and drank warm tea and coffee, saying ‘Prince Seongnyeong is giving coffee at his funeral’.

After the filming of the scenes that required a lot of people was over, the filming of the first episode of The Royal Physician began.

Episode 1, 2, 3. Seo-jun’s filming day came soon with the smooth filming.

“It’s still cold.”

Ahn Da Ho, who had finished his makeup, put on his coat and sat on the chair waiting for the filming.

It was a bit funny to wear padding over hanbok. The hot pack he attached inside his clothes was still warm.

Seo-jun’s first scene was filmed on the set. It was March when the flowers bloomed, but the set was chilly.

Meanwhile, the protagonist Heo Yu-seon entered the medical office and became the disciple of the doctor Yang Hong-dal.

Today was the scene where Heo Yu-seon and Prince Seongnyeong met for the first time. Lee Ji-seok, wearing a medical office hanbok, approached Seo-jun with a smile.

“Oh, my prince! It’s been a long time since I saw you!”

“Heo, it’s been a long time!”

“Hahaha. Seo-jun is doing well, huh?”

Seo-jun also responded cheekily to Lee Ji-seok’s words. Lee Ji-seok, who laughed cheerfully, sat next to Seo-jun.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“I’m fine!”

When Lee Ji-seok took out a hot pack, Seo-jun pointed to the side of the chair. Everyone asked me if I was cold when they saw me and gave me a hot pack. The hot packs that had gathered were already a box.

It seemed that Yoon Sung-oh had also been there, as there were several hot packs that were the same as the one Lee Ji-seok was holding.

“You’re popular. You won’t be able to use them all during this filming.”

“I think it’s a bit hot now.”

But he kept them because they gave them to him for his sake. As he talked with Lee Ji-seok, time flew by.

“We’re going to start filming!”

Everyone took their places at the sound of the assistant director’s voice. Seo-jun felt his heart pounding as he headed to the filming location.

The writer, So Eun-jin, who was waiting in front of the set, cheered him on. Seo-jun waved his hand with a smile.

He looked around and saw that many people had come to watch him film. Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji0hye waved their hands at him. Park Do-hoon, who played King Sejong and whom he had seen every time there was a large-scale filming, was also there.

Park Do-hoon nodded slightly as his eyes met Seo-jun’s.

They had exchanged greetings many times, but they were not as close as Uncle Jong-ho and Aunt Ji-hye. Still, Seo-jun’s persistence had paid off, and now he even greeted him.

‘I have to become friends with him today!’

Seo-jun clenched his fist and headed to the set.

He stepped into the well-decorated room of Prince Seongnyeong.

He looked like a painting as he sat on the cushion across the room.

The staff whispered as they saw how well he matched the background.

“I thought he wouldn’t suit historical dramas, but this is amazing. He looks like a real prince from the Joseon era.”

“I know. This drama is going to be a hit.”

As they chatted, the assistant director raised his voice when he saw the smirk on the PD, Choi Min-sung’s face.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes!”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok answered the assistant director’s words. The staff who had been chatting also closed their mouths.

The quiet set pleased the PD, Choi Min-sung, who looked at the camera screens installed here and there. He checked for any flaws and looked at the positions of the two actors.

He smiled satisfactorily and raised his voice.

“We’ll start filming now.”

Seo-jun straightened his shoulders and back. He exhaled and recalled the ability he had found in the Library of Life. The roaring baby lion’s pattern on the back of his right hand sparkled.

[Young Lion King’s Dignity-Low Grade]

You became the king of lions at a young age.

To lead the pack, only the ‘dignity’ among many abilities increased.

Activation: Tap twice with your finger.

Also known as the young lion king’s bluff.

His ability was worse than a normal lion, but only the ‘dignity’ beyond imagination made the young lion king lead his own pack. But it soon got exposed and he died.

‘I had other abilities too…’

He had more outstanding and easier to activate abilities, but Seo-jun chose this ability. He was not a king who had to overwhelm his subjects, but a young prince. He thought a moderate dignity was enough.

He lifted his hand to the table and opened the book.

“Ready, action!”

Prince Seongnyeong, Lee Jong, monopolized the love of King Taejong and the Queen. He cherished his son, who he had at 40, as if he would fly away if he let go or burst if he squeezed.

Because his parents were old, he was born weaker than his other brothers and was more pitiful.

That worry added fuel to the fire when King Taejong’s fourth daughter, Princess Gyeongan, died of an unknown disease. King Taejong, who was worried about his children, attached doctors to them.

The doctors took turns taking care of the king’s children three times a day.

And today, the previous doctor left and a new doctor appeared. He said he was a disciple of Yang Hong Dal, the doctor who served the Queen Mother.

Kim Nae Gwan, who was outside, informed Prince Seongnyeong, who was reading a book with dignity, of the doctor’s arrival. Prince Seongnyeong closed the book and called the doctor in.

Heo Yu-seon, who had lowered his eyes, entered the room and bowed. Seo-jun tapped the table twice.

[(선)Young Lion King’s Dignity is activated]

“Lift your head.”

Heo Yu-seon slowly lifted his head to see Prince Seongnyeong, whom he met for the fourth time. He flinched for a moment as his eyes met the prince’s gentle smile and lowered his head again.

“I am Heo Yu-seon, the doctor of the royal family.”

Prince Seongnyeong smiled kindly.

“Cut! OK!”

The PD, Choi Min-sung’s voice rang out loudly. Lee Ji-seok got up from his seat, rubbing the back of his neck. He felt like he was bewitched by something when he saw Seo-jun just now. His head bowed involuntarily.

‘What was that?’

He couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling and headed to the monitor with Seo-jun. An Da Ho and Yoon Seong-oh, who had arrived in the meantime, handed hot packs to the two actors.

The scene they had just filmed came up on the monitor. Everyone watched the monitor quietly.

The aura emanating from his small body was amazing. He felt a princely dignity from Seo-jun, who was smiling gently. Everyone was satisfied, except for Lee Ji-seok, who tilted his head.

“Isn’t it a bit weak?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. The close-up shot will be different.”

Lee Ji-seok shook his head at Seo-jun’s question.

Choi Min-sung prepared for the next filming.

The direction of the close-up shot was something he had thought of after racking his brain.

He wanted to leave a lasting impression of Seo-jun on the viewers. He wanted them to remember him until the end of the drama.

Seo-jun went up to the set alone and the camera director took Lee Ji-seok’s place.

Lee Ji-seok smiled at Choi Min-sung, who was giving instructions here and there. He liked the instructions he heard from time to time.

The close-up shot filming began.

Seo-jun acted as he did before and it appeared on the monitor.

Everyone held their breath and looked at the monitor screen.

Seo-jun appeared. He was a perfect prince before, but the close-up shot direction was amazing. It made even those who didn’t have the ability lose their words.

Would it be like this if he was born and lived as a royal? He felt like he had to bow his head involuntarily. He got goosebumps.

Especially, Kim Jong-ho, Lee Ji-hye, and Park Do-hoon, who played the roles of royals, King Taejong, Queen, and King Sejong, who remained king until the end of the drama, swallowed their saliva.

They looked at Seo-jun’s face, who was smiling gently with a serious expression. The actors recalled the scenes they had filmed before. How was their acting in that scene? Were they royal enough compared to him? Their minds were complicated.

Lee Ji-seok smiled.

This was it.

This was it.

The atmosphere he felt when he acted in front of Seo-jun was vividly displayed on the screen.

He knew why he felt uneasy. It was because it wasn’t acting. He bowed his head involuntarily as if he had become Heo Yu-seon.

This was how he felt when he acted with Seo-jun. He felt like he was experiencing method acting by relying on Seo-jun’s acting, both when he was a demon and now.

Anyway, it was indirect, so it didn’t have a big effect, but it was a strange feeling.

Lee Ji-seok, who came to his senses early after seeing it once, shook Choi Min-sung, who was lost in thought even though he was directing.

Choi Min-sung, who came to his senses, shouted loudly.

“Cut! OK!”

The synergy of Seo-jun’s ability and the excellent direction was amazing.

Chapter 84

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 84

Today was the day to film the scene where Grand Prince Seongnyeong and Chungnyeong Daegun were playing with bows and arrows.

Heo Yu-seon, the medical officer, was on standby in case the two princes got hurt and needed immediate treatment.

While waiting for the set to be ready, Park Do-hoon and Seo-jun sat on chairs and waited.

They felt good to be outside after filming only on the set.

The weather had warmed up and the sun was pleasantly warm. Seo-jun hummed a tune and rummaged through his bag.

“Hyung. Do you want some of this?”

Seo-jun offered Park Do-hoon a snack from his bag. It was chocolate that he had made with his mom and dad.

The chocolate was wrapped a bit clumsily. Park Do-hoon reached out his hand.

“Thanks.”

“Hehe.”

Seo-jun also unwrapped one and put it in his mouth. The sweet chocolate made him feel even better. Park Do-hoon smiled too.

Park Do-hoon seemed to have let his guard down a little.

‘No, maybe he’s more relaxed.’

Seo-jun looked at Park Do-hoon with a smile. Usually, he was so focused on the script that he didn’t pay attention to anything else. But when he was with him, he had some time to catch his breath.

He had watched Park Do-hoon’s filming for a while and he thought he was a perfectionist.

He wasn’t as meticulous as Evan Block, who calculated every eyebrow movement, but he wondered if he would become like that when he got older.

‘They’re similar, but the difference is more important.’

Evan Block was confident.

He was confident that his calculated acting was perfect.

Even when he checked the monitor after finishing his acting, he looked for ‘a better direction’, not thinking that his acting was wrong.

That might be wrong, but it was different. Seo-jun just nodded along to Evan Block’s explanation.

But now he thought he understood.

Park Do-hoon’s brief relaxation was gone. He flipped through the script. His script was filled with various action directions, like Evan Block’s.

There were post-its stuck all over and traces of various colored pens.

Park Do-hoon read the script for today’s scene nervously.

Park Do-hoon lacked confidence. He couldn’t acknowledge his own great acting.

Even though everyone said it was okay, he tried hard to find ‘the wrong part’. And he fixed it and acted again. The re-filmed scene was good.

‘It’s the same process and the same result as Evan, but it’s so different.’

Park Do-hoon had a weak faith in his acting. He was different from the self-assured Evan Block. He was always anxious, reading the script, acting, and sighing again. He felt like he was being chased by something.

“Do-hoon hyung. You’re good at acting.”

“Yeah?”

If it was Ryan, the director, or Swalin, or Evan Block, they might have given him some good advice and feedback.

No matter how much he thought about it, Seo-jun couldn’t think of any advice to give Park Do-hoon. His many past lives didn’t help much.

He had lived too instinctively for such delicate worries.

‘Besides, if it’s advice, Uncle Jong-ho and Hyung Ji-seok must have given him a lot.’

So Seo-jun praised Park Do-hoon every time he met him. Praise makes even a whale dance.

Today’s filming was good in this way, good in that way, and he showered him with praise. Park Do-hoon’s anxious face relaxed a bit.

Hoo, Park Do-hoon sighed and opened his mouth.

“I’m a child actor, you know.”

“I see.”

Unlike Seo-jun, who nodded his head, Lee Ji-seok, who had quietly approached to surprise the two actors, was startled and looked at Park Do-hoon.

“My face changed a lot from when I was young, so there are quite a few people who don’t recognize me. But if you look closely, you can still see it.”

Park Do-hoon continued after eating the chocolate that Seo-jun gave him.

“When I was young, I played the role of Jeongwoo, a child actor. It was a historical drama.”

“Oh. I know. That. I saw it.”

“Back then, there was no child actor like me, or maybe the other actors didn’t act well, or maybe the character of Jeongwoo suited me very well. There must have been many reasons, but I did really well. But I didn’t do well in the roles I played after that.”

Lee Ji-seok joined the conversation.

“That’s just what you think. Do-hoon did well. It’s hard for a kid with no acting experience to play a character with a completely different image. Considering that, you did very well. …The problem is that the movie flopped.”

Seo-jun shook his head at the movie title. He hadn’t seen the movie. Park Do-hoon smiled quietly at Lee Ji-seok’s words. Many people had worked hard for him.

“The actors and the director who starred in the movie heard a lot of, um, bad things. I was one of them. After that, I developed an obsession. To be more perfect, to fit better. I analyzed the character in detail and paid attention to every fingertip and toe.”

Kim Jong-ho, who had co-starred with Park Do-hoon, didn’t just watch the actor fall apart. He introduced him to various actors and gave him various experiences. Lee Ji-seok also met Park Do-hoon through Kim Jong-ho’s introduction.

Park Do-hoon’s acting was cool. Seo-jun remembered the solemn look of King Sejong at the coronation ceremony.

He recalled King Sejong at the funeral. He was so well suited that Choi Min-sung, the PD, and So Eun-jin, the writer, sent him a love call.

Park Do-hoon held the script in one hand and still looked nervous. But when he went into filming, he looked fine as if nothing had happened.

But was that really fine?

Lee Ji-seok’s face was also uneasy, as if he had the same thought as Seo-jun.

It was a pity that he couldn’t acknowledge his own acting that everyone recognized.

“This is the first time I’ve told this story to someone else. I feel comfortable when I’m with Seo-jun.”

Seo-jun felt a sense of responsibility at Park Do-hoon’s words. He felt like he had to take care of his hyung who was more than ten years older than him. Why?

“Let’s start filming!”

There was no time to get lost in thought as the filming began.

The staff left the set and Seo-jun took a breath and tapped the wall twice with his finger.

[(Seon)The Young Lion King’s Dignity is activated.]

***

As the filming of The Royal Physician continued, Seo-jun’s praises poured out. Park Do-hoon felt confident with Seo-jun’s compliments, but soon he had doubts.

He felt bitter when he said he was doing too well. Was he really praising me because I was good? Or, was he lying for me?

Today, after school, Seo-jun waved his hand.

Park Do-hoon also waved back.

It’s been a month since the filming of The Royal Physician started.

Do-hoon, who used to be curt, now waved his hand. Seo-jun smiled brightly as he realized the difference.

He felt more of that thought when he saw Seo-jun smiling brightly. Would Seo-jun praise him even if he couldn’t act well? Park Do-hoon entered the filming with a rebellious attitude like a teenager.

“Cut! NG!”

Everyone moved at the voice of Choi PD. NG once was not a big deal. Everyone prepared for a re-shoot without much thought. Choi Min-sung PD, who saw Park Do-hoon coming out of the set, casually said.

“Um. Do-hoon. Can you be more natural? It seemed a bit exaggerated before.”

“Ah, yes. I got it.”

Everyone didn’t care much, but Park Do-hoon snapped out of it at that reaction.

He screamed inside and washed his face. He wasn’t a child who caused trouble to get attention from his parents.

He felt Seo-jun’s gaze pouring from behind. He wanted to ignore it, but his feet were heading towards Seo-jun.

Seo-jun wondered. Should he always praise an actor who has a hard past? But the filming before was really, really, bad. He could see that Do-hoon didn’t do it properly.

“…”

Silence flowed between the two. Seo-jun wondered whether to praise or not, and Park Do-hoon was upset. Why, why did he become restless waiting for the words of a ten-year-old kid?

“Do-hoon.”

“Huh?”

“Do it properly in the next filming.”

“…Okay. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry to me. It’s the filming staff who are having a hard time. It would be different if it was a mistake, but you did it on purpose before.”

He had nothing to say to that. Park Do-hoon, who was deflated by Seo-jun’s words, filmed again and got OK at once. And he decided to treat the filming staff.

“You did well in the second one.”

Seo-jun opened his mouth while eating the pork belly that Park Do-hoon grilled. Park Do-hoon smiled at Seo-jun, who didn’t stop praising him.

Ahn Da Ho left the seat for a while, and there were only two people at Seo-jun and Park Do-hoon’s table.

He realized today that Seo-jun’s praises were not lies. Seo-jun really praised Park Do-hoon because he was good.

Then Park Do-hoon told the story he had hidden for three weeks. Seo-jun was surprised and looked at Park Do-hoon.

“Did you keep watching that?”

“Yes. I asked Choi PD to see if there was anything I could learn from it. I’m careful not to leak it.”

Park Do-hoon took out a phone from the deep part of his bag. In it was a video of the scene where Seongnyeong Daegun and Heo Yu-seon met for the first time. It was a video that had been filmed three weeks ago.

“At first, I felt guilty for not being able to act like that, but as I watched it, my mind relaxed. It felt like a support.”

“Support?”

“Yes. I realized it now, but back then I didn’t listen to anyone. Jong-ho uncle’s words and Ji-seok’s words. They said I was cool and did well, but it didn’t seem sincere. I just thought I had to do better, I had to do well.”

Seo-jun listened to Park Do-hoon’s words. Park Do-hoon felt his attitude and continued to talk comfortably.

“But as I kept watching the video, I relied on Seongnyeong Daegun in the video. He was just smiling, but I felt the atmosphere and unknowingly confided in him. It’s amazing, right? I also felt that feeling sometimes when Seo-jun was filming, and it made me feel comfortable.”

Seo-jun also wondered why he felt a sense of responsibility for Park Do-hoon. Hmm. He thought he knew now. Why he felt a slight sense of responsibility when he saw Do-hoon.

‘It’s because of the ability.’

It was because of the influence of [(Sun) The Young Lion King’s Dignity]. Ordinary people would feel only the dignity of a prince as Seo-jun intended, but Park Do-hoon, who had a weak mind, had a greater effect.

‘And he must have seen it a lot, not once or twice, since he’s a perfectionist.’

“Hyung, how often did you watch it?”

“Seo-jun’s acting was so cool. I really wanted to learn from it,”

Park Do-hoon said the reason first and answered with embarrassment.

“I watched it whenever I had time.”

“Wow.”

With one word, Park Do-hoon became a member of the pack that Seo-jun ruled.

Park Do-hoon, a member of the pack, leaned on Seo-jun, and Seo-jun, the king of the pack, had a responsibility to look after him.

‘I didn’t think [(Sun) The Young Lion King’s Dignity] would have this effect.’

It wasn’t even written on the notification window.

It seemed that coincidence and coincidence met and had an effect. What kind of weak-minded person would watch Seo-jun’s video whenever he had a chance, and keep listening to Seo-jun’s praises?

“That was the start.”

A weak-minded person needed someone to rely on. Park Do-hoon couldn’t find such a person. That’s why he pushed himself more.

Then [(Sun) The Young Lion King’s Dignity] had a big impact on Park Do-hoon.

When something unknown happened, he relied on Seongnyeong Daegun’s dignity that overwhelmed him, like looking for a god.

Seo-jun’s praises, which poured out every time he met Park Do-hoon, also had a great effect.

As a child’s best compliment is from his parents, there was nothing more powerful than the compliment of the being he relied on.

Seo-jun’s praise became rain for Park Do-hoon’s dry heart. Thanks to the rain, Park Do-hoon found some room and his acting improved. With improved acting, Park Do-hoon was able to find some confidence.

“Now I can hear Jong-ho uncle and Ji-seok’s words.”

He was still anxious now. But he saw hope. He thought he knew a little bit what it meant to trust his acting.

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Park Do-hoon’s relaxed face.

“It’s good!”

“I think so too.”

Seo-jun and Park Do-hoon, the ‘Young Lion King’s Pack’ created by the two, would not last long.

Because, when Park Do-hoon’s mental strength became stronger, he would naturally get out of the effect of dignity he felt from Seo-jun.

“I really appreciate it. Seo-jun.”

Park Do-hoon would never forget the kid who came to his filming site and praised him for weeks.

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Park Do-hoon’s sincerity.

[(Sun) The Young Lion King’s Dignity has changed.]

The roaring lion pattern on the back of his hand sparkled.

[(Sun) The Young Lion King’s Dignity-Low]

You became the king of lions at a young age.

Among the many abilities, only dignity has increased to lead the pack.

You can create a pack when the conditions are met. (1/1)

The pack’s abilities increase.

Condition: Weak mental strength, more than 30 meetings, more than 10 praises

Activation: Tap twice with your finger

Chapter 85

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 85

As the broadcast date of The Royal Physician approached, KBC channel started to promote it.

They promoted it more diligently than any other drama.

The public’s reaction was hot as they promoted it. It was more rewarding than ever.

Park Seo-jin, a solo singer who was active, sang the OST of The Royal Physician.

Boom-boom- The heavy sound of drums stirred the heart.

A black brush covered with ink wrote ‘The Royal Physician’ on the screen.

The scenes of Lee Ji-seok, who was treating patients with a cold face, Taejong, who drew his sword with a fierce face, Yangnyeong, who was drinking alcohol, Hyoryeong and Wonyeong Queen, who were praying to Buddha, and Chungnyeong, who was reading a book, appeared.

And then,

It was over.

The broadcast date was announced and the next advertisement came out right away.

-?? What about Seongnyeong?

-Hey! I think you left someone out!

-I was waiting for the trailer and you cut it off like this?!

-There’s no Lee Seo-jun in the other promotional videos either!

***

“Da Ho hyung. Today is the last day, right?”

“Yeah.”

Ahn Da Ho nodded at Seo-jun’s question. Today’s filming was the last one before the broadcast. Ahn Da Ho took out his phone and checked Seo-jun’s schedule again, even though he memorized it.

“There’s a production presentation on Monday and the broadcast is at 10 o’clock on Wednesday and Thursday. Rest well and start filming again next week.”

“It’s finally airing!”

“I know. Everyone’s crying and waiting.”

“Hahaha.”

Seo-jun also saw the posts on the fan cafe. They had to wait for two months from February to April because they promoted it too early. They cried because he didn’t appear in the promotional video. But Seo-jun’s pictures that came up from time to time were comforting.

“Jong-ah! Let’s start filming!”

“Yes!”

During the filming of The Royal Physician, Seo-jun filmed a lot with Chungnyeong Daegun, or with Taejong and the Queen. Lee Ji-seok, the main character, always followed him.

Kim Jong-ho, who was generous to the people he liked, sometimes called Seo-jun ‘Jong’, the name of Chungnyeong Daegun. Seo-jun said to Kim Jong-ho with a smile.

“Doesn’t it sound like a puppy’s name if you call me Jong-ah a little strongly?”

“Jjong?”

“Yes.”

“Then should I call you Jjong-ah from now on?”

“No!?”

Everyone burst into laughter at the startled look of Seo-jun. Park Do-hoon, who came to see the filming, also smiled.

Choi Min-sung PD, who was laughing cheerfully, raised his voice. The laughter died down at his voice.

“Then we’ll start the last filming before the broadcast. Let’s film well until the end, and rest well and then run again!”

Applause erupted everywhere. Seo-jun also clapped hard.

“We’ll start filming!”

Everyone found their places at the voice of the assistant director.

Seo-jun also headed to the filming location. The staff who was waiting in front of the filming set sprayed a little water on Seo-jun’s face.

“Spray this a little if you think it’s dry.”

He took the small sprayer that the staff handed him and headed inside. The filming location was Chungnyeong Daegun’s residence.

Seo-jun lay down on the fluffy bedding that was laid in the room and covered himself with a warm blanket.

He hid the sprayer where it wouldn’t be caught on the screen and checked the water droplets on his face with the hand mirror that Ahn Da Ho gave him. People smiled at his appearance.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes!”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok answered the assistant director’s words. Choi Min-sung PD looked at the cameras and raised his voice.

“Ready, action!”

Taejong and the Queen visited Chungnyeong Daegun’s residence after hearing that he was caught by a horn.

Heo Yu-seon, the doctor, stood in the corner to avoid Taejong and the Queen who came in with heavy footsteps.

Chungnyeong Daegun, who was lying on the bedding and groaning, greeted the two.

Taejong and the Queen quickly sat next to Chungnyeong Daegun, whose heart ached at the sight of him smiling with a bad complexion.

“Chungnyeong Daegun. Your mother is here.”

“Seongnyeong. Are you in a lot of pain?”

“I’m fine… Your Majesty.”

He smiled faintly, like a polite son.

Taejong and the Queen felt sorry for the small Chungnyeong Daegun and just stroked his hand without saying anything. His hand was hot and his face was red from the fever.

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-hye wondered if Seo-jun’s hand was really hot.

They continued to act as the filming went on, but they wondered if he was really sick. When Choi Min-sung PD shouted.

“Cut, OK!”

As soon as the sound was heard, Seo-jun’s complexion returned.

The atmosphere that had collapsed was revived like a blooming flower. Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-hye, who witnessed the change, were speechless.

The temperature of the hand they were holding was surprisingly moderate. They thought he had a great acting skill, but they was more and more surprised.

“Seo-jun. Do you act with your body temperature too?”

She knew how stupid her words were, but Lee Ji-hye had no choice but to say that. Seo-jun flinched at the question. How did she know?

[(Line) Red Slime’s Core-Low Grade]

This is the core of a red slime.

The core of a slime that uses fire as a means of attack is hot.

While holding the core, you gain resistance to fire (high temperature).

It was possible to adjust the intensity of the fire (temperature).

It was the core of a red slime that he also used as a heating device. It was a low-grade slime that couldn’t spit out flames outside its body, but it could regulate its body temperature to some extent. And it had resistance, so it didn’t cause any harm to his body.

Seo-jun could only pretend not to know and smile at Ji-hye’s question.

That’s how the last shooting before the broadcast ended.

The actors of The Royal Physician decided to have dinner together. Kim Jong-ho called Park Do-hoon.

Park Do-hoon, who always had a script in his hand during the shooting, came to the restaurant with the script in his bag today.

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok smiled contentedly at the sight of Park Do-hoon, who had become more relaxed.

“Hello, Do-hoon hyung!”

“Hi, Seo-jun. Did you finish the shooting well?”

“Yes. Did you do well in the interview, hyung?”

As Seo-jun waved his hand with a smile, Park Do-hoon sat next to him.

A young lion emblem glittered on Park Do-hoon’s head. It was a sign that Park Do-hoon belonged to Seo-jun’s pack.

‘He must be slowly getting better since he’s still in the pack.’

Seo-jun had a hunch that Park Do-hoon would regain some confidence and leave the pack after all the shooting of The Royal Physician was over.

Knowing the right time for a pack member to leave was also a sense of the young lion king.

Soon after, the samgyetang came out. The managers took seats at a different table in the same room. While eating the hot samgyetang, Lee Ji-seok, who heard about Seo-jun’s body temperature from Ji-hye and Kim Jong-ho, said.

“It’s perfect for faking a sickness.”

The actors and managers burst into laughter. Seo-jun, who was diligently separating the bones and meat, also laughed and shook his head.

“I don’t fake sicknesses.”

“At that age, you should fake a sickness once or twice to avoid going to school.”

“Mom and dad would be shocked. I’ve never been to the hospital because I was sick.”

“…What?”

The actors and managers who were eating samgyetang behind him looked at Seo-jun in surprise.

Ahn Da Ho nodded his head. He understood why he had never heard Seo-jun say he was sick since he met him.

Seo-jun smiled sheepishly. It was all thanks to his ability.

He had never had a fever or a mild cold that everyone experienced at least once as a baby.

Not only that, he had good athletic skills, so he never fell while playing, and he never got cut or scratched by anything.

“I’ve been to the health checkup and the vaccination because I was too healthy, but I’ve never been there because I was sick.”

“Really?”

“Yes. So if I fake a sickness, mom and dad would be really surprised.”

It wouldn’t end with just being surprised. If Seo-jun, who had been very healthy until now, said he was sick, it would be a big deal.

“That’s why I don’t fake sicknesses. Mom and dad worry.”

“Wow. Seo-jun is a filial son.”

The four actors and Seo-jun chatted while eating samgyetang. Among the many stories, the most interesting story for the five actors was the story about acting. Kim Jong-ho nodded his head.

“Method acting. No wonder it was easy to immerse myself when I acted with Seo-jun. It’s easier to focus on the role when someone is so immersed.”

“Hyung, you too? I wanted to act more with Seo-jun. He was really like a prince this time. I’m just a lieutenant.”

Lee Ji-seok became more immersed in the acting of Heo Yu-seon, the lieutenant, while filming with Seo-jun. Even when Seo-jun wasn’t there, he tried to act without forgetting the feeling.

Kim Jong-ho and Ji-hye also felt like Seonyeong, the prince who smiled brightly when they entered the shooting, was their son.

Park Do-hoon, who was a bit awkward because of his ability, also felt Seo-jun as a very reliable younger brother.

“Oh, is it because of method acting that your body temperature went up?”

At Ji-hye’s words, everyone nodded their heads as if it could be.

***

“We will now start the production presentation of KBC’s Thursday-Friday drama, The Royal Physician. We would like to thank all the related parties and reporters who attended the production presentation, and all the viewers who are watching the production presentation through live internet broadcast.”

At the MC’s words, people who were watching online commented. The comments that the staff picked out appeared on the screen behind the stage.

-I’ve been waiting for this! The press conference! I can’t wait! This week on Wednesday and Thursday!

-It felt like two months were two yearsㅠ

“Then, after waiting for two months like two years, we will invite the PD and the actors of KBC’s Wednesday-Thursday drama, The Royal Physician, to the stage.”

As the MC spoke, the side door of the stage opened and PD Choi Min-sung appeared. The reporters sitting in the audience pressed their shutters. Every time an actor appeared, flashes burst.

The comments also came up endlessly.

The staff’s eyes moved busily to find witty comments while filtering out curses, criticisms, and malicious comments.

“Shall we hear the introduction of the roles you played first?”

Lee Ji-seok, who played the main character Heo Yu-seon, grabbed the microphone and looked at the camera.

“Hello. I’m Lee Ji-seok, who played the main character Heo Yu-seon in The Royal Physician. Heo Yu-seon is a character who lived lonely after losing his mother early as a son of a noble family. He became a doctor only for success, and entered The Royal Physician to become the highest-ranking doctor among the doctors, a doctor of medicine. But…”

-That won’t be easy!

-If you’re the main character, you need hardships and trials!

The actors laughed as they read the comments that appeared on the monitor in front of the stage. When Seo-jun laughed, the comments exploded.

-Seo-jun! You’re so cute!

-He laughed at my comment!

“Yes. As the viewers said, it won’t be easy. Please support Heo Yu-seon, who will overcome hardships and trials in the future.”

Lee Ji-seok sat down and handed the microphone to Seo-jun. Everyone smiled proudly at his polite appearance despite the many reporters.

-The actors’ group dad smileㅋㅋ

-We’re doing that too.

“Hello. I’m Lee Seo-jun, who played Seongnyeong Daegun.”

-Seongnyeong Daegunㅠㅠ

-Daegun Mamaㅠㅠ

“Seongnyeong Daegun is a very happy character who grew up with the love of his kind parents and cool brothers. He likes to play and study. He is a character who loves his family very much. Please give me a lot of support and love.”

Seo-jun sat down and Taejong and Kim Jong-ho grabbed the microphone. As if they had been waiting for this moment, cheerful comments came up.

-You finally became the king after causing so many conspiracies!

-Congratulations! Prime Minister! No, Your Majesty!

-Taejong who blows the wind of blood suits you very well!

“Ahem. I’m Kim Jong-ho, who played Taejong. Yes. I’ve finally succeeded after causing so many conspiracies.”

Everyone laughed at that. Kim Jong-ho continued.

“But I think Taejong in The Royal Physician will be quite different from before. He will love his youngest son very much while ruling the country coldly, and he will only hope that his children are healthy, as a father who loves his family.”

The actors’ introductions continued, and finally PD Choi Min-sung grabbed the microphone.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Choi Min-sung, the PD of The Royal Physician. The drama, The Royal Physician, looked more at the daily life of the royal family, such as their schedule, meals, and rest, than politics or conspiracies. Through the eyes of the doctor Heo Yu-seon, we drew Taejong’s life and father’s life. The life of the royal family and the life of the people. And the death of one person.”

Death.

Everyone remembered the articles they had seen for two months.

The death that even the royal family could not avoid.

The comments that were coming up diligently seemed to listen to PD Choi Min-sung’s words and stopped for a moment.

“Then we drew the appearance of the people left behind. There are no flashy scenes like fights or wars, but I hope it will be a drama that stays deep in the viewers’ hearts.”

Applause sounded from here and there at PD Choi Min-sung’s words.

Chapter 86

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 86

[KBC’s The Royal Physician Production Press Conference Interview!]

[The Royal Physician, first broadcast on Wednesday at 10 p.m.!]

-Only one day left!

-Only 10 hours left, but time is not passing. It feels longer than two months.

-Off work! Only 3 hours left!

-I still have an hour left, but I turned on KBCㅋ I haven’t watched the 9 o’clock news in a long time.

***

The actors and staff gathered at the barbecue restaurant they had reserved while waiting for the first broadcast of The Royal Physician.

The appointed time was 9 o’clock, but they had already taken their seats and the grill was full of meat.

“It was a good idea to book from 8 o’clock. Why did you come so early?”

“Well, we knew that Writer So would book early. We only see each other once or twice a day, right?”

The camera director said, and Writer So Eun-jin laughed and looked around the noisy restaurant.

Everyone had a bright smile on their face and a drink in their hand.

“This is the first drama that I don’t have to worry about the ratings.”

“They said the ads were sold out, too?”

“Yes. They sold out so much, so eat as much as you want!”

They still had a lot of filming left, but they had two days off, so they all drank and ate heartily.

PD Choi Min-Sung was at the broadcasting station to see if the first episode of The Royal Physician was broadcast properly.

Writer So said to eat comfortably, so everyone was really eating comfortably.

“They said the ads were so competitive that they bought other time slots, too. From what I heard, they were all huge companies, and the rerun ads would be no joke, either.”

“Of course, Lee Seo-jun! His first drama after a year of hiatus is our drama, so we can’t miss it! By the way, did Seo-jun come today?”

“I don’t know. He’s still in elementary school, right? Isn’t it his bedtime now?”

“Is it?”

The staff looked disappointed, and the door of the restaurant opened. Writer So Eun-jin, who turned to see who had come, shouted.

“Seo-jun is here! I didn’t think he would come!”

“Hello! Writer-nim! I got permission from my mom and dad!”

The staff who were busy grilling meat greeted Seo-jun. Seo-jun also had an excited expression on his face as he greeted the staff. It was his first time attending a dinner at such a late hour.

Just one day! He begged his parents to let him come in late for just one day, and Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun smiled and agreed.

“Hello! Ji-seok hyung, Do-hoon hyung, Jong-ho uncle!”

The three people who were sitting at one table waved and welcomed Seo-jun, then got up from their seats. Seo-jun tilted his head as he headed for that seat.

“Seo-jun, let’s sit over there.”

“Huh? Okay.”

The three actors moved to a new table.

There were plates and side dishes already prepared on the table.

What? Seo-jun blinked his eyes and sat next to Lee Ji-seok. Lee Ji-seok picked up a pair of tongs and put a juicy piece of beef on the hot grill.

Sizzle-

He heard the sound of the meat cooking and wondered what the difference was between this table and the previous one. Seo-jun asked Lee Ji-seok, who was deep in thought.

“Hyung. Why are we sitting here?”

“Oh, that side is for the people who drink alcohol.”

Park Do-hoon said, and Seo-jun looked again and saw that the tables were divided in half, and the other side was full of bottles of alcohol.

The table where the three actors were sitting also had bottles of soju and beer.

This side only had bottles of soft drinks.

“People who have work tomorrow or don’t drink alcohol can eat here. If you don’t want to drink on that side, you can come here, too.”

Seo-jun was a child, so he moved to this side. He heard that Jong-ho uncle really liked alcohol, was he okay?

“I see. But hyungs and uncle don’t have to drink?”

“We came early and drank. It’s the first broadcast, so we have to watch it with Seo-jun with a clear mind. When Seo-jun goes home, we can drink then.”

“Ugh. Uncle, are you going to drink more?”

“Seo-jun, let’s eat meat. Jong-ho hyung grills it really well!”

Lee Ji-seok handed the tongs to Kim Jong-ho.

Kim Jong-ho flipped the meat without paying attention to Park Do-hoon, who was looking at him with a sour expression.

The cooked beef looked very delicious.

“Do you always have to make hyung do it?”

“Didn’t you say that Seo-jun loves beef? You said you would grill it for him until his stomach burst if you ever met him?”

“I know. I know!”

He said that, but Kim Jong-ho grilled the meat for Seo-jun with great care. He only ate a little for dinner to prepare for the dinner. He also had [Precedence] Slime’s Digestive Ability! Seo-jun picked up a piece of deliciously grilled meat with his chopsticks.

“They must have sold a lot of ads. Eating beef for a dinner.”

“They said that other broadcasting stations scheduled low-budget dramas because they promoted it in advance. It’s obvious that the viewers will flock to our drama. Look over there. They’ve been showing ads non-stop.”

Kim Jong-ho said, and Seo-jun, who had filled his stomach, looked at the television in the restaurant.

The restaurant they had carefully chosen seemed to have a large television that could be seen from most tables.

As Kim Jong-ho said, the ads went on for a long time.

“The internet is going crazy, too. Why are there so many ads?”

“It’s a historical drama, so they can’t do PPL, so they should at least watch the ads.”

“It feels like they’ve gathered all the top 10 companies in the ad rankings, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

The long and lavish feast of ads, but there was an end to it. The noisy restaurant quieted down as the OST of The Royal Physician played.

Boom-boom- The heavy sound of drums was heard, and Seo-jin hyung’s voice was heard.

“Good music!”

“Good screen!”

Lee Ji-seok’s face, Kim Jong-ho, and Lee Ji-hye’s face passed by. Park Do-hoon and other actors’ faces, too.

It was amazing to see familiar faces on television.

It was a different feeling from movies.

It was different from Reinvestigation, which he watched when he only knew Lee Ji-seok.

“Seo-jun’s face doesn’t appear in the opening, either.”

“They’ll put it in after he appears in the drama.”

“It’s going to be a riot again.”

There was nothing special about the first episode.

They had seen it all while filming, so they didn’t pay much attention and drank and ate.

Writer So Eun-jin was so nervous at the broadcasting station, and PD Choi Min-Sung worked hard to edit it, so they wanted them to watch it a little.

“Oh, well. I don’t know.”

“Haha. Writer So, please understand. We’re watching it well!”

Lee Ji-seok said with a laugh. The people who were drowsy ate moderately and looked at the television.

“Honestly, you can’t eat comfortably on the first broadcast because you’re worried about the ratings. Where else can you find such a comfortable first broadcast dinner?”

The art team staff said, and everyone nodded.

As the staff said, no one was worried about the ratings.

Even if it didn’t do well now, it was obvious that it would skyrocket from the place where Lee Seo-jun appeared.

“It’s all thanks to Seo-jun!”

“Right! Seo-jun, drink more soft drinks… You’re watching the drama.”

He wasn’t noisy, and Seo-jun’s eyes were fixed on the television. Everyone quieted down at his focused expression.

“Didn’t you watch the filming scenes before? You must have read the script, too…”

“It must feel different from that. Besides, Seongnyeong Daegun doesn’t appear until the fourth episode, so Seo-jun didn’t see what he filmed. He only saw the large-scale shootings like the coronation ceremony and the funeral.”

“I see.”

Everyone nodded at Lee Ji-seok’s explanation.

Ahn Da Ho, who had to abstain from drinking because of driving, was sitting at the manager’s table and suddenly looked at Seo-jun, who had quieted down.

Oh dear. Everyone was keeping their mouths shut out of consideration for Seo-jun, who was engrossed in the drama. Ahn Da Ho took out his earphones and phone from his bag and headed towards Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun, listen to this.”

“Okay!”

He felt sorry already, but it worked out well. Seo-jun put on the earphones that Ahn Da Ho gave him with a bright face and looked at the big television screen in the store.

The sound and the screen were not in sync, but it was not too uncomfortable.

‘It’s better than the phone screen.’

Ahn Da Ho moved Seo-jun, who was wearing earphones, to another table so that he would not be disturbed.

Seo-jun sat right in the middle of the people who were drinking and those who were not. The staff, who could finally open their mouths a little more comfortably, smiled without realizing it.

“Ah, isn’t Seo-jun so cute?”

“Manager, can I take a picture of Seo-jun and post it on SNS?”

“Yes. It’s okay because I already posted that he’s participating in the dinner.”

At that, everyone took out their phones and took pictures of Seo-jun. The picture of Seo-jun, who was immersed in the drama like a cat looking at an aquarium, was uploaded on SNS.

[(A picture of Seo-jun engrossed in the drama during the dinner)]

#RoyalPhysicianEpisode1 #LeeSeoJun #RoyalPhysicianDinner

“Seo-jun must be watching The Royal Physician at the dinner place.”

“Really?”

Seo Eun-hye showed the phone picture to Lee Min-joon. Seo-jun’s side profile, looking at the television, was captured.

Even through the picture, one could tell how focused he was on watching the drama.

“His eyes are sparkling.”

“Right?”

It was not because of the reflection of the light.

Seo-jun always had a happy face when he was acting and when he was watching a work.

His black pupils sparkled like stars and his soft cheeks turned red. He smiled happily as if he had everything in the world.

“I feel like I did a really good job of supporting him when he makes that face.”

“I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t see that face for a year.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

Seo-jun was not particularly unhappy or sad during the year of rest, but he looked the happiest when he was acting.

“Ah, we should watch the drama too. So we can talk to Seo-jun tomorrow.”

“It must have passed a lot by now.”

The couple sat on the sofa and turned on the television.

The Royal Physician Episode 1 was the story of Heo Dae-gam’s son, Heo Yu-seon.

Heo Yu-seon introduced his childhood with a cold and ruthless monologue.

Heo Yu-seon, who was kicked out of Heo Dae-gam’s house, learned medicine from the village physician. Heo Yu-seon filled his shortcomings with books and improved his skills, and made a living by receiving medical fees from people.

“Did the princess mama pass away?”

“Yes. That’s why all the physicians in The Royal Physician were kicked out!”

That conversation lit a fire in Heo Yu-seon’s heart. If he became a physician, he could get revenge on Heo Dae-gam and his wife, who killed his mother.

There were many ways. He could also reveal his dark past to the king when he became a physician and received the king’s trust, and get him punished.

“I could also poison the king’s medicine and pin the treason charge on Heo Dae-gam.”

Heo Yu-seon, who was willing to give up his life for revenge, had a cold gaze that reached the palace.

The screen stopped and the The Royal Physician OST played. Seo-jun, who was listening to Seo-jin’s voice, took off his earphones.

It was fun. It was fun to read the script, but it was more vivid and better to watch it on the screen.

‘Ah. When will I appear? I really want to see it!’

His heart was pounding for some reason. PD Choi said that Seongnyeong Daegun would appear in episode 5. They would air episodes 1 and 2 this week and episodes 3 and 4 next week, so there were still two weeks left. Ah, how can I wait! He felt like he knew how the fans felt.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and looked around the table where Lee Ji-seok was.

“Ji-seok hyung, your acting was awesome!”

“Seo-jun, shh!”

Huh? Seo-jun’s eyes widened.

He was so excited after watching The Royal Physician that he didn’t pay attention, but the store was quiet.

The people who were drinking and laughing happily, and the people who were filling their stomachs with expensive beef, were all looking at one place.

“Yes. Yes.”

It was So Eun-jin, the writer, who had been holding her phone since before The Royal Physician ended.

Seo-jun tilted his head and looked at So Eun-jin.

What? He couldn’t figure out why, and Seo-jun blinked his eyes.

“Yes?!”

Wow!

A voice came from somewhere. No matter how you look at it, that ‘Yes?!’ was a ‘Yes?!’ of joy and astonishment! Someone, with years of experience, raised a toast first.

“Writer So! So how much is it?!”

So Eun-jin, who was talking to PD Choi Min-sung at the broadcasting station, shouted. She was surprised even as she spoke. Her mouth was wide open.

“21%! 21%! The highest rating was 22.3%!”

“Woah!”

The adults, who jumped up and cheered, made Seo-jun realize why. It was because of the ratings!

“Our Seo-jun is the best!”

“Hahaha. 21% on the first episode, I never expected that!”

Surrounded by laughter and cheers, Seo-jun also became happy, and smiled broadly and raised a cup of soda.

21%!

The amazing record made cheers erupt everywhere.

[Lee Seo-jun hits again! The Royal Physician Episode 1 ratings 21%!]

[21% from the first episode! Is it the power of actor Lee Seo-jun?]

[Is there a fusion historical drama craze? The Royal Physician ratings first!]

[The Royal Physician Episode 1, Lee Seo-jun did not appear!]

-Oh my! The first episode rating is 21%? How many people are watching it again?

-The Wednesday 10 p.m. drama ratings are about 34 combined, 21 lol

-If the first episode is like this, it will be no joke from the episode where Lee Seo-jun appears!

-But Lee Seo-jun doesn’t appear, so it might decrease from episode 2.

[The Royal Physician Episode 2, ratings rise! 22%!]

[He still didn’t appear this time!]

[Seongnyeong Daegun appears! A familiar face? Child actor, Park Do-hoon!]

-Ah! I don’t know when he’ll appear, so I keep watching!

-But it’s still fun. Trying to assassinate the king by entering The Royal Physician lol

=It’s an ‘attempt’ to assassinate. Heo Dae-gam was involved in a conspiracy and wants to get revenge, but if the king really dies, it’s a big deal.

=Why? There’s a crown prince, right? Can’t the crown prince handle the conspiracy?

=The crown prince is Yangnyeong now. If Yangnyeong becomes king, Seongnyeong Daegun can’t be king. There’s no King Sejong. That’s not history distortion, it’s history destruction.

-It’s Park Do-hoon. I enjoyed that drama.

-Now I’m not worried about The Royal Physician ratings. Oh, no. There’s one thing. That thing.

=‘That thing’ lol You can’t say that, right?

=But it’s amazing that I can understand what you mean by ‘that thing’ lol

Chapter 87

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 87

Last week, in episode 4 of The Royal Physician, Yangnyeong Daegun, who enjoyed hunting, and Heo Yu-seon, who disliked him, appeared.

And then, the preview that everyone was waiting for came out.

The back of Heo Yu-seon, who was lying face down, was shown on the screen.

[Lift your head.]

Boom- boom- the drums sounded.

[Next Wednesday, episode 5 of The Royal Physician, Grand Prince Seongnyeong appears!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, his first drama appearance!]

[Not much time left!]

-How many times did I hear ‘lift your head’?

-As soon as Friday came, I wished it was Wednesday already.

“It’s starting! Seo-jun!”

“Yeah.”

Usually, Seo-jun went to bed early and watched The Royal Physician on VOD or reruns, but today he decided to watch it with his mom and dad.

The family sat side by side on the sofa and turned on the KBC channel. The new smartphone ad was on. After that, there were car and refrigerator ads.

“Finally, Seo-jun is in the drama.”

“Mom, I thought you didn’t show up because you didn’t show me.”

“Hahaha.”

Lee Min-jun and Seo-jun laughed at Seo Eun-hye’s joke. That joke was popular on the internet.

They said he only used his name for publicity, or did he even film, or how well did he film that he didn’t show up, and everyone was grinding their teeth.

“Ah, it’s starting.”

At Lee Min-jun’s words, the family’s eyes turned to the television.

Boom-boom- the drums sounded and the OST played.

“Heo Uigwan, today you will go to Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s residence.”

“Yes.”

Heo Yu-seon, who had experienced all three Daeguns, Chungnyeong, Hyoryeong, and Yangnyeong, finally went to Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s residence. He had to stay there for three days and then go back to Chungnyeong Daegun’s residence.

He was plotting a conspiracy, trying to implicate Heo Dae-gam in a treason. He saw the Daeguns in his sight.

Wouldn’t it be easier to deal with them than the king? He thought this might be a more certain way than the king, who was worried about his children after the death of Princess Gyeongan.

Heo Yu-seon moved his feet. The palaces were similar, but the atmosphere was very different depending on the owner.

It smelled like ink in Chungnyeong Daegun’s residence, it smelled like incense in Hyoryeong Daegun’s residence, and it was free-spirited in Yangnyeong Daegun’s residence.

And the cute Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s residence.

The old Uigwan and Sanggung who took care of the young Grand Prince Seongnyeong greeted Heo Yu-seon. They were the ones who were responsible for the health of the person they served.

“Daegunmama, the Uigwan has arrived.”

“Let him in.”

Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s voice came out.

-A different line! But it’s short!

The door opened. Heo Yu-seon bowed his head and touched his forehead to the floor in front of Grand Prince Seongnyeong. The camera showed Heo Yu-seon lying down.

-He’s coming! He’s coming!

-He’ll really show up, right?!

“Lift your head.”

A gentle child’s voice was heard. Heo Yu-seon’s head moved. Then, the screen changed.

The yellow floor was shown on the screen.

It seemed like the eyelids closed and opened, the screen darkened and brightened.

And then the screen moved slowly.

Boom-

The drums hit the viewers’ hearts.

Boom-

The camera slowly rose.

The yellow floor and the wooden table came into the screen.

Boom- boom-

The drums sounded.

The camera moved with Heo Yu-seon’s eyes. Slowly, very slowly.

The wooden table and the covered book on the wooden table were seen. The two small hands neatly placed on the book were also seen.

Boom-boom- boom-boom-!

With the drums, people’s hearts started to beat.

Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-!

No one could take their eyes off the screen. Lee Seo-jun’s face didn’t even show up, but somehow their chests thumped.

The flow of the air was different. The television inside and outside were not distinguished. Everyone closed their mouths and looked at the screen.

Like Heo Yu-seon, who was lifting his head, their eyes went up. It was a short time to lift his head, but it felt long to the viewers.

At that moment, the fast drums stopped.

In the quiet silence, as if looking up from below, Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s face appeared on the screen.

Thump!

A loud drum sound was heard as if the heart sank.

There was a dignified child smiling kindly.

“Wow.”

Suddenly, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun felt like they saw a light shining behind Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s back.

They were not the only ones. The people who were affected by the ability of [(Sun)The Young Lion King’s Dignity] felt the dignity expressed by the light.

-Halo? Didn’t Lee Seo-jun have a light behind him just now?

=?? I didn’t see that.

=I think I saw it!

“The Royal Physician Uigwan, Heo Yu-seon.”

For a moment, the screen showed Grand Prince Seongnyeong and Heo Yu-seon looking at each other.

Soon, Grand Prince Seongnyeong, who was sitting politely, smiled and jumped up from his seat.

“Then let’s go ride a horse!”

“…Yes?”

“Abamama said you have to take the Uigwan with you if you want to ride a horse!”

Where did his polite appearance go, Grand Prince Seongnyeong left the room excitedly. Heo Yu-seon, who had a puzzled face, looked at him and followed him quickly.

The Uigwan and Sanggung who took care of Grand Prince Seongnyeong followed them as if they were used to it.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun smiled and asked Seo-jun, who was cute like Grand Prince Seongnyeong.

“Seo-jun, did you ride a horse?”

“Yeah! But it was different from the riding club, I could only film the shooting scene.”

“I see. There are a lot of teachers who help and hold the horse at the riding club, but the shooting site is hard.”

“But it was fun to ride a horse after a long time. I was surprised that everyone rode so well!”

It was obvious even without seeing.

They rode well.

They rode well.

They only heard the story, but not many people saw it.

Everyone was surprised by Seo-jun’s skillful riding. But they didn’t let Seo-jun ride alone for safety. Lee Min-jun asked.

“Shall we go riding this week?”

“Yeah!”

Grand Prince Seongnyeong never stayed still. He did everything diligently. He rode a horse, played, and studied hard. He greeted the officials who passed by brightly and went to play at other Daeguns’ residences.

Heo Yu-seon felt like he walked around almost twice as much as when he was with the three Daeguns.

He seemed to have met the king and the queen a lot in three days.

They laughed and chatted, sharing stories of what they did today. They looked no different from any other family.

It was a strange sight for Heo Yu-seon, who was not born in a normal house. After a long and exhausting three-day shift, his master Yang Hongdal greeted him with a smile.

“You worked hard.”

“…Prince Seongnyeong seems very lively.”

“He didn’t get to do many things when he was younger, because of His Majesty’s order to worry about his mother’s health.”

Yang Hongdal, who had been in the palace for a long time, brought up Prince Seongnyeong’s story, but Heo Yu-seon only half-listened.

Wouldn’t they be more angry if he was such a precious child?

Heo Yu-seon’s thoughts always ended with revenge against Heo Dae-gam, no matter where they started.

[Episode 5 of The Royal Physician, ratings 28%!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, makes his appearance! Creates an aura even without a halo!]

[But he’s still a young prince. A cute smile for his dad!]

-His first appearance was “I’m the prince of Joseon!” lol

-My brain made a halo for him lol

-So cute lol Let’s go learn Korean! Heo Yu-seon’s expression = my expression

-This is pitiful.

-Heo Yu-seon is like a poisoner. He thinks of killing when he meets the cute Prince Seongnyeong.

KBC’s fusion historical drama, The Royal Physician, was a hot topic.

There was no episode that wasn’t talked about, from the first one to now.

Especially, everyone loved the harmonious atmosphere of the Joseon royal family.

And they couldn’t help but like Prince Seongnyeong, who was at the center of it.

He shot arrows and rode horses with Prince Chungnyeong, went out to play in the streets with Prince Yangnyeong, and visited a temple with Prince Hyoryeong. He also had a friendly conversation with King Taejong and the Queen. He was very adorable.

Heo Yu-seon was always by his side.

The viewers were also pleased with Heo Yu-seon’s change of heart.

Whenever he met Heo Dae-gam and his son in the palace, he growled with a fierce face, and he suffered from accidents and work everywhere. But when he met Prince Seongnyeong, his face relaxed. Everyone smiled at his expression.

He almost used Prince Seongnyeong as a means of revenge against Heo Dae-gam, but as he followed the lively prince and took care of him one by one, he became attached to him.

It showed very well.

-Heo Yu-seon… He’s like me, suffering from my boss. I wish I had someone like Prince Seongnyeong to heal me.

-The royal family is so relaxed, but the people below are working hard. There’s no difference here or there.

-I’m healing by watching Prince Seongnyeongㅠ

-Glad Heo Yu-seon changed his mind!

They went out to the mountain near the palace again today. They enjoyed the scenery of the mountain and climbed it with Prince Seongnyeong and Heo Yu-seon.

Prince Seongnyeong and his guards were fine, but Heo Yu-seon was sweating profusely as he climbed the mountain.

“Huff. Huff. Ma, mama. Please go slower.”

“Hahaha. You need to exercise more, Heo Uigwan.”

“Mama will live a long time.”

“Of course. I have to live long and see Heo Uigwan get married. When a child is born, I hope Heo Uigwan’s child and my child will get along well!”

Prince Seongnyeong spoke of the future with a bright smile.

Boom- boom- A heavy drum sound rang out.

Heo Yu-seon opened his mouth with a faint smile, catching his breath. At this moment, he forgot everything. Heo Dae-gam, his wife, his mother. All of them.

“Haha. Then I’ll have to teach my child to be a doctor.”

Heo Yu-seon imagined a future he had never dreamed of. He felt his heart swell with happiness at the thought of the future.

He forgot the anger against Heo Dae-gam, the revenge he had risked his life for. If he devoted his loyalty to this person, wouldn’t he have a very happy life?

Prince Seongnyeong’s small back, looking at the palace, was reassuring.

Heo Yu-seon’s eyes turned to the palace in front of Prince Seongnyeong. His eyes sharpened like a wolf hunting prey.

“Uh. It’s cold. Heo Uigwan, let’s go down quickly.”

“Yes. Mama.”

The weather got colder and winter was approaching.

[KBC’s fusion historical drama, The Royal Physician, soaring ratings!]

[Heo Yu-seon gave up his revenge? What’s his next move?]

[Prince Seongnyeong’s day, the cold February!]

-ㅠㅠ He’s talking so brightly, does he have to die?ㅠ

-I guess I got attached to him while watching the dramaㅠ At first, he was just cute, but now I feel sad whenever Prince Seongnyeong comes out smilingㅠ I wish Heo Uigwan cured his illnessㅠ

-Heo Yu-seon… He’s finally happy.

-Ah… Really… The last line about being cold gets me.

-But at the end, Heo Yu-seon’s look at the palace is not good, right?

=??? Is it?

***

Seo-jun spread the books on the floor. He was busy choosing abilities to fake his death.

“Death.”

He looked around the library of life. To put it nicely, it was a library of life, but it was a story of so much death.

The monsters who had to die at a young age.

The monsters who died because they were weak.

And the monsters who died peacefully after living their lives.

He couldn’t even guess the number of books here.

There were many books in the open library, but there were also many closed libraries. Seo-jun had experienced this much death.

“The library of death is a bit creepy…”

Seo-jun, who had ended his worries about life and death a long time ago, spoke calmly and chose his abilities.

“When people die, they stop breathing, their body temperature drops, and their heart stops. I can stop my heart, but that would be a bit hard when I wake up. Then let’s do this!”

[(Good)Blue Slime’s Core-Low Grade]

It’s the core of a blue slime.

The core of a slime that uses ice as a means of attack is cold.

While you have the core, you have resistance to ice (low temperature).

You can control the intensity of ice (temperature).

Seo-jun, who chose [(Good)Blue Slime’s Core-Low Grade], moved his eyes to the side. There was a pile of books with magic rising from them.

“If it’s death, it has to be magic!”

Seo-jun read the black books down to make a perfect act.

The books in the library of evil all had serious side effects, so he picked one life from the lowest grade abilities.

[(Evil)Skeleton Mouse’s Smell-Lowest Grade]

It’s the first skeleton that a novice black mage made.

It smells of death because of the imperfect magic.

It didn’t take long for the skeleton to become a skeleton, and it was exposed to the priest because of the unmistakable smell of death and disappeared.

“He died early and was purified by the priest, so there’s no side effect. Perfect.”

Seo-jun smiled wickedly and absorbed the two abilities into his body.

Chapter 88

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 88

It was the last day of filming for Seo-jun’s medical drama.

“It’s already the last scene.”

Lee Ji-seok and Kim Jong-ho greeted Seo-jun with a regretful expression as he entered the set. Seo-jun smiled and handed out the cookies he brought.

“They look delicious.”

“I made them with mom and dad. This is a plain cookie. This is a sweet cookie. This is a super sweet cookie. What do you want?”

“I’m curious about the super sweet cookie, but just give me a regular one.”

Lee Ji-seok chose a sweet cookie. Kim Jong-ho chose a plain cookie. After that, Seo-jun gave a cookie to each of the staff members on the set.

The last ones were director Choi Min-sung and writer So Eun-jin.

“There are no super sweet cookies left.”

“I was wondering what they tasted like!”

Writer So Eun-jin bit into a plain cookie with a disappointed face. Seo-jun laughed. Everyone who was curious had taken a bite and shivered at the really sweet taste.

“Today is the end of the medical drama filming. Thank you for everything.”

Seo-jun chatted with director Choi and writer So.

Lee Ji-seok and Kim Jong-ho smiled at him.

“The work turned out well and Do-hoon improved a lot. We’re so lucky.”

“Right. It’s almost the first time you didn’t yell while filming a drama, right?”

“I can’t yell in front of the kid.”

“Your blood pressure is high, too. You should keep it up.”

“Hey, if that was up to me…!”

“Seo-jun would worry.”

Kim Jong-ho, who was about to explode at Lee Ji-seok’s words, splashed water on his face. Lee Ji-seok chuckled.

“I’m like that, too, but you’re really weak to Seo-jun.”

“Who isn’t weak to Seo-jun?”

Kim Jong-ho agreed with Lee Ji-seok’s words and nodded his head.

The set was in a warm atmosphere, but the scene they were going to film from now on was not.

Seo-jun, who was excited to perform perfectly after finishing his preparations, went unnoticed by anyone.

“Ready, action!”

The face of Prince Seongnyeong, who was hanging on the window, was flushed. His breathing was rough and his complexion worsened.

The doctor sent by Taejong, Yang Hong-dal and his disciple Heo Yu-seon, tried their best, but Prince Seongnyeong’s condition did not improve.

He was out of breath. His lungs hurt.

His body was hot and his head was dizzy.

Prince Seongnyeong’s faint breath made director Choi, the staff, and the actors who were waiting, hold their breath and look at Seo-jun.

“Ah, dad, mom…”

The small voice of Prince Seongnyeong reached Taejong, and the father and mother who ran to the place where Prince Seongnyeong was isolated appeared. They ignored the servants’ objections and grabbed the hand of the child who had a rash.

“Jong-ah, Jong-ah.”

“Mom is here. Seongnyeong.”

Wasn’t he the son who always smiled brightly and made the couple happy?

He should get up soon and show them that bright smile.

Taejong and the queen shed tears and comforted Prince Seongnyeong.

The doctor Yang Hong-dal and Heo Yu-seon just bowed their heads. The couple felt their regret and shook their heads.

“No. No. Why do you want to leave before your parents?”

“This can’t be. Seongnyeong. Wake up. Mom is here.”

The faint voice of the parents made the good Prince Seongnyeong’s mouth curl up slightly.

[(Good)The core of the blue slime is activated.]

Prince Seongnyeong’s stomach, which had been moving up and down, slowly stopped moving. His body temperature, which had been hot, gradually cooled down.

[(Evil)The smell of the skeleton mouse is activated.]

Seo-jun activated all the abilities he had prepared.

An unpleasant smell of death flowed from Seo-jun.

The hearts of a few actors and staff members who smelled the death beat irregularly.

One of them, Taejong, Kim Jong-ho, held Seo-jun, whose body temperature was dropping.

The unpleasant energy made Kim Jong-ho restless. Seo-jun’s hand fell weakly.

“Jong-ah. No. Jong-ah!”

Kim Jong-ho held Seo-jun with his trembling hand. The smell of death clouded Kim Jong-ho’s judgment. No, why does his body temperature keep dropping? He knew he was a good actor, but Seo-jun’s body temperature dropped too fast. He rubbed him with his big hand as if to make the blood flow, but it didn’t work.

Suddenly, Kim Jong-ho remembered the story they had shared at the first broadcast dinner.

Method.

Method acting. He thought it was just amazing at the time, but it wasn’t. Kim Jong-ho’s heart pounded.

Was it because of method acting? He was so immersed that he really thought he was Prince Seongnyeong who was sick. Kim Jong-ho’s hand trembled and his face turned pale.

It was a big deal if his body temperature dropped below a certain level. Kim Jong-ho held Seo-jun and tried to warm him with his own body temperature. His head didn’t work.

“Who! Who’s there!?”

Kim Jong-ho’s eyes widened. His fierce look made director Choi, the staff, and the actors who were watching him through the camera flinch. Kim Jong-ho’s expression added to the anxiety with his irregular heartbeat.

‘Huh? What? Is this ad-lib?’

Seo-jun heard the thumping sound of Kim Jong-ho’s heart beating fast. He felt the uncle Jong-ho’s hand shaking.

Seo-jun, who was pretending to be dead with 100% realism using the abilities he had chosen, tilted his head and wondered.

A red light turned on in Seo-jun’s head. This was more than an experience that came from a long time, it was an instinct that warned of a terrible emergency.

It was a more urgent situation than the day when a high-ranking angel who had once been a demon and was reborn as a low-ranking angel recognized Seo-jun and met his eyes.

Seo-jun realized that Kim Jong-ho’s condition was not normal. And that it was because of his acting. Seo-jun’s head spun.

‘So, Uncle Jong-ho really thought I was in danger.’

And in an emergency, anyone would call an ambulance, and if they called an ambulance, it would be on the news. And not only Mom and Dad, but many people would be worried.

It was obvious that there would be various problems, regardless of how healthy Seo-jun was.

‘That can’t happen!’

It seemed like not even 0.01 seconds had passed. Seo-jun quickly stopped his ability and opened his eyes wide.

Kim Jong-ho, who had finally regained his senses, was about to scream loudly, as if he had never done so before.

“Gu…!”

Seo-jun, who had sprung up from Kim Jong-ho’s arms, covered Kim Jong-ho’s mouth with one hand and grabbed the wrist of the hand that covered Kim Jong-ho’s mouth with the other.

As the apple blossom pattern on his wrist glowed, Seo-jun used his ability with all his might, as if he had never done so before. He poured all the energy he had into it.

[(Good) Calming apple blossom scent is activated!!]

[(Good) Basic breathing of the elf is activated!!]

The energy that burst out of Seo-jun’s body covered the set.

With the medium-low level ability and the basic breathing added, it was natural that the smell of death from the lowest level ability disappeared, and more than half of the people here would calm down.

Kim Jong-ho, who had a desperate expression on his face, was about to rush into the set with PD Choi Min-sung and Ahn Da Ho, but Lee Ji-seok, who was lying on the floor, unaffected by [(Bad) Skeleton mouse’s smell], exclaimed, ‘Wow, Jong-ho hyung is a great actor’ and admired him peacefully. The staff, who were worried about the accident, regained their peace of mind.

But there was still a big hurdle left. It was Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-hye, who were right next to Seo-jun.

Aunt Ji-hye, who seemed to have been affected by the ability, regained her composure from her panicked face. What about Uncle Jong-ho? Seo-jun cautiously removed his hand that was still covering Kim Jong-ho’s mouth.

“Hoo.”

Kim Jong-ho let out a deep sigh.

His head, which had been cloudy and dizzy, brightened up in an instant. His heart, which had been pounding, settled down, and what had happened a little while ago felt like a few days ago.

A healthy-looking child was in front of him. Kim Jong-ho, who took another breath, hugged Seo-jun, who was looking at him, and patted his back.

Seo-jun, who felt Uncle Jong-ho’s reaction, let out a sigh of relief and relaxed his body.

***

“Did you really think Seo-jun was dead because he acted so well? Jong-ho hyung, really!”

“Right. Why did I think that way then?”

Kim Jong-ho, who had become more generous than usual because of the warm energy, nodded at Lee Ji-seok’s teasing. He felt like the filming just now was all a dream.

The energy that he had emitted with his whole body was so effective that everyone forgot the anxiety they had during the filming and had a relaxed conversation.

Seo-jun felt sorry. He didn’t mean to do that. He just wanted to do a more perfect acting.

“I’m sorry.”

“What do you have to be sorry for, Seo-jun. We were just too immersed.”

“Seo-jun did his best.”

But he had to be careful next time.

He only thought of the viewers behind the camera who were waiting for his amazing acting.

He didn’t care about the feelings of the actors who were acting with him.

If the body temperature of the actor who was acting with him right next to him dropped and his body stiffened, there would be no actor who wouldn’t be surprised.

‘And I even used magic.’

He had to write a reflection today. Seo-jun held back the tears that seemed to come out of his sorry and regretful feelings and made a vow.

The people who were affected by Seo-jun’s ability regained their stability, but the rest were still in a confused state.

Kim Jong-ho looked very anxious during the filming, but now he had a relaxed face.

“Was that acting?”

“I got goosebumps when I saw that.”

“But didn’t Seo-jun look really, like, in big trouble earlier?”

PD Choi Min-sung, who was in an awkward mood at the set, decided to end the filming today.

PD Choi looked at Seo-jun, who was sitting between Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-hye and being stroked.

The staff had built a lot of rapport with Seo-jun while filming.

They liked the lively Prince Seongnyeong and were proud of the studious Prince Seong-nyeong.

They thought the public’s reaction would be no different when they edited and broadcasted it. In other words, the reaction of the staff here was the same as the reaction of the viewers who watched the drama ‘The Royal Physician’.

The staff, who saw Prince Seongnyeong being filmed over several days, were worried about Seo-jun, even though they saw him filming with their eyes.

The viewers, who were healing while watching the perfectly edited broadcast, would care more about Seo-jun than the staff.

PD Choi was troubled by that fact. It was time to make a decision.

Everyone left the set and Seo-jun headed to the university hospital with Ahn Da Ho.

“Hospital?! Why?!”

No matter how long he lived, no matter how many lives he had, he hated hospitals.

Seo-jun, who was stuck to the window, was flustered by the hospital that was getting closer and closer.

“There were some scenes where you were sick during this filming. I was going to get a health check-up after the filming was over, but since it ended early today, I have some time left, let’s get a health check-up.”

“I’m super healthy! I eat well! I’m not sick!”

“The president made an appointment, so he’ll be at the hospital. Let’s eat something delicious when we’re done!”

“Da Ho hyung?! I’m healthy, okay?!”

“Everyone will be relieved if you bring the health check-up results.”

“…Yes.”

Seo-jun, who was trying hard to appeal his health, could only nod quietly at Ahn Da Ho’s last words.

He couldn’t help it. He had to take it because everyone was worried. But he hated hospitals.

The big white building was getting closer and closer to Seo-jun.

The test results came out quickly. Seo-jun brought the health check-up results to the filming location on the day Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-hye were filming.

He proudly handed the results to the two actors, like a scholar who had passed the highest-level exam in the past.

“I, Lee Seo-jun! Totally! Healthy!”

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-hye took Seo-jun’s health check-up results and analyzed them. The two, who had undergone health check-ups several times, read them familiarly. Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon also tried hard to see them.

“Jong-ho hyung! Show me too!”

“Uncle! Me too!”

Why don’t you ask me? Seo-jun looked at the four people who were clinging to the results with a pouty expression.

The results were copied and the originals were sent home.

The doctor’s question, disguised as a compliment, ‘How did you grow up so healthy? Do you have a secret?’ was heard from uncle Chan and Mom and Dad kept it well with a big smile.

Seo-jun thought the doctor was sincere. When he went to get the results, the doctor looked at Seo-jun with sparkling eyes, as if he was going to write a paper.

Kim Jong-ho, who had been immersed in the health check-up results for a while, nodded.

“He’s healthy.”

“I told you!”

“But next time, please do it a little weaker.”

“…Yes.”

He turned the set upside down with one fake death.

As soon as he thought he would lower his body temperature a little and not do anything else next time he filmed.

“The scene has changed.”

A thunderbolt struck.

Chapter 89

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Chapter 89

Seo-jun wanted to protest.

Why did they have to change the scene just because he acted well in his death scene? But he nodded along with the words of PD Choi Min-sung and writer So Eun-jin.

“Everyone is so immersed in Seo-jun’s acting as Prince Seongnyeong. They don’t want to see his death scene. They say it would be too sad. The staff are like this, but what about the viewers who are hooked on the drama right now? If we broadcast Seo-jun’s death scene here, it might cause a commotion.”

“It’s just a death scene, isn’t it?”

“It would be different if it was another actor’s acting. But it’s ‘Actor, Lee Seo-jun’s’ acting.”

“Are you worried about the Werther effect?”

At Ahn Da Ho’s words, Seo-jun tilted his head and PD Choi and writer So nodded.

“We’re not thinking about people following his death. We’re just worried that the people who enjoyed watching it would be shocked. They must be prepared, but still.”

“What is the Werther effect?”

Ahn Da Ho explained to Seo-jun.

It was a story about how some readers of a novel attempted suicide after the protagonist killed himself.

Not only the novel’s protagonist, but also some people followed the death of a famous person. Seo-jun was stunned by the unimaginable story.

Writer So said.

“It’s not that serious. It’s just that the video didn’t come out last time. Seo-jun’s acting was fine, but Jong-ho’s acting was too realistic and made it look more dangerous.”

As writer So said, Seo-jun’s acting was fine.

The camera wouldn’t capture Seo-jun’s lowering body temperature or the smell of the skeleton mouse.

The problem was from the moment when Kim Jong-ho’s passionate expression became reality.

“When his expression and Seo-jun’s acting were combined, it was too much of a plus.”

PD Choi and writer So shivered as they watched the video again. They saw Kim Jong-ho’s desperate expression and Seo-jun’s limp figure. Ahn Da Ho and Seo Eun-chan, who ran over in surprise at the news of deleting Seo-jun’s scene, agreed with the two and immediately collected and erased the video.

“If my noona and brother-in-law saw it, I would be dead already.”

Years later, as an adult Lee Seo-jun, and his uncle, Seo Eun-chan, who confided in him over a drink, Seo-jun laughed as he remembered his younger self who acted with all his might.

Seo-jun realized that acting that looked real was not that good.

No matter how great the acting was, it had to be acting.

Acting that could laugh, enjoy, and talk. Acting that could make people think, ‘That’s acting’ even if it was sad.

People could enjoy watching thrillers or horror movies because they knew it wasn’t real.

Where was the line between acting that looked real and acting that could be called acting? Everyone said Seo-jun was good at acting, but Seo-jun still had a lot to learn.

“Is it okay to change it?”

Seo-jun nodded his head at the cautious question of PD Choi and writer So.

“Yes! It’s okay!”

Seo-jun hoped that the people who watched the drama wouldn’t be sad. It was a sad story, but he hoped they would be only a little sad.

That’s how Seo-jun’s first drama, The Royal Physician, ended its last shooting, and the last scene disappeared.

***

Wednesday’s The Royal Physician, episode 13, aired.

“Your Majesty, please forgive me…”

The physician Yang Hong-dal bowed down. His words crushed King Taejong’s heart.

It was the most horrible sound he had ever heard. His hand, gripping the armrest, trembled.

“…It’s smallpox.”

Smallpox!

At the physician’s words, King Taejong and Queen Won-gyeong were speechless. They could only stare at the back of Yang Hong-dal’s head, who bowed down with a crestfallen face.

“Smallpox? Smallpox!?”

Prince Seongnyeong had been feverish and breathing heavily for a few days. He sometimes complained of insomnia with a tired face.

The physicians said it was a cold. Just take the medicine and rest well!

But smallpox, the plague?

“How is the treatment… Physician, how is the treatment…?”

Queen Won-gyeong managed to calm herself and asked. Yang Hong-dal pressed his head harder against the floor. His heavy silence made King Taejong and Queen Won-gyeong lose their minds.

The palace was engulfed in a chilly silence. King Taejong scolded Prince Yangnyeong, who was having fun while his brother was sick, and couldn’t eat a spoonful of rice.

Queen Won-gyeong went to the temple with Prince Hyo-ryeong and prayed to Buddha and offered sacrifices to the gods and spirits.

The wise Prince Chungnyeong studied Prince Seongnyeong’s disease with the physicians.

In those days when medicine was not advanced, they did their best. They searched for the unknown god and the miracle cures that were rumored to cure all diseases.

Even if they didn’t understand the treatment method, the viewers who saw their expressions and appearances understood their hearts.

Among them, Heo Yu-seon was the busiest. Prince Seongnyeong, who was sick, didn’t bother his family. Heo Yu-seon was the only one who could act spoiled with him, who he could confide in.

The dignified Prince Seongnyeong acted a little childish with Heo Yu-seon and always apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“Physician Heo. Thank you very much.”

“Really, it’s really okay.”

Heo Yu-seon smiled, hiding his reddened eyes. He had no time to cry. Heo Yu-seon took care of Prince Seongnyeong, fed him the medicine, and studied the disease at the place that Prince Chungnyeong prepared when he had time.

But despite everyone’s efforts, Prince Seongnyeong’s disease worsened.

The preview came out.

It snowed.

[The Royal Physician Episode 13, 37% ratings!]

[KBC Thursday 10 p.m., the day is coming!]

[The level of medicine in the Joseon era!]

[Let’s learn about smallpox!]

[Fortune-teller, shaman, ritual. They prayed to the gods to cure the disease.]

-Why are they performing a ritual for the prince who looks like he’s dying?

=That was the treatment back then. They believed that if they cast a divination, got a good day, and performed a ritual, the grateful gods would drive away the disease.

-Wow, he’s really doomed.

-Honestly, I’m annoyed by many things in this fusion historical drama, but I can’t judge the death of Grand Prince Seongnyeong.

-One side prays to the gods, the other side does research. The contrast is impressive. Doing anything for their family, they’re no different from us.

-My parents also prayed at the temple because of my illness.

=Are you okay now?

=Yeah, I’m much better.

“Seo-jun, are you feeling sick?”

“No! I’m very healthy. Teacher!”

Thursday was a weekday and on weekdays, he had to go to school. Seo-jun answered cheerfully to his friends and teachers who asked about his health. Then they all turned away with relieved faces.

“Cheer up, Seo-jun.”

Seo-jun smiled bitterly and sat down at the comfort of his baby friends who had seen the same situation several times.

And finally, that day came.

[Finally, that day. The day of history has come!]

[KBC The Royal Physician! Will they make a decision?]

[Fusion historical drama, stories in history, how far can they be tolerated?]

[Our Daegun Mama, please let him live happily!]

-My Royal Physician ended yesterday. Ha. Ha. Ha.

-I’m a history major, so I don’t like fusion historical dramas, but I sincerely wish Grand Prince Seongnyeong had survived!

-Can’t they just run away?! Send him to recuperate!

-Damn Smallpox! I don’t care if it’s history destruction, just save him!

But still, everyone turned on the TV and started watching KBC as 10 o’clock approached.

The ads that were sold at a high price ran for a long time, but everyone waited without complaint. They were still ads that seemed to gather the top 10 companies in terms of ranking.

-I’m going to die anyway, but I’ll live a little longer while the ads are on.

-ㅠㅠ The ads are so sad

-I wish the ads would end soon, or not endㅠ

Contrary to everyone’s wishes, the ads ended early today. No, it was the same as usual, but everyone felt that way.

When the ads ended and the heavy drum sound that sounded sad today started, the people who were watching TV closed their mouths.

The Royal Physician began.

Grand Prince Seongnyeong, who was full of rashes, breathed heavily. The people of The Royal Physician, who were covering their mouths with white cloth and working hard, were seen.

Among the people, Heo Yu-seon, who was moving the busiest, was seen. Following the order of his teacher, Yang Hong-dal, he boiled the medicine, wiped Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s sweat, and massaged his arms and legs.

A few days ago, he would open his eyes slightly, but now there was no sign of that. His condition was serious.

‘Mama. Mama.’

Heo Yu-seon showed his sad feelings with his eyes without opening his mouth.

In a world where there was no one to rely on, he was the first child he opened his heart to. Although he was a concubine’s son, he dared to call him his family.

Seongnyeong, who shared the medicine with him, Seongnyeong, who shot the bow coolly, Seongnyeong, who smiled and played pranks. And the unforgettable first meeting of Grand Prince Seongnyeong.

Where did that spirited appearance go, Daegun Mama.

Heo Yu-seon clenched his fist so hard that his nails dug into his flesh, as he looked at Grand Prince Seongnyeong, who was only breathing heavily.

The camera zoomed out and showed the scene of Chungnyeong Daegun looking at the place where Grand Prince Seongnyeong was from afar.

Jong-ah, Jong-ah. He prayed without making a sound, and under his feet, the pile of papers he had been studying with his doctor and Won Hak scattered like snow.

Among the doctors who were running around, the one who was moving his feet the fastest was seen.

Heo Yu-seon, who took care of Seongnyeong in the morning and evening, and studied with Chungnyeong Daegun when he had time.

Neither I, the Daegun, nor him, the doctor, nor these many papers could save my brother. He remembered the dying face of his brother, and Chungnyeong Daegun shed tears.

That scene came heavily to the viewers.

-Park Do-hoon’s tearsㅜ It seems like acting.

-Ah! This! It must be that scene!

Everyone clenched their chests and looked at the TV. It was quiet everywhere, as if everyone in Korea was watching Royal Physician.

Above the scene of Grand Prince Seongnyeong breathing heavily, Heo Yu-seon, who was running somewhere, was seen.

He threw away the white cloth that was hindering his running, and ran with all his strength to send them to the child who wanted to see his parents.

‘I need to exercise more, Heo doctor.’

He remembered the bright smile of Grand Prince Seongnyeong. That’s right. I should have exercised more as Mama said.

Heo Yu-seon, who was jumping around without caring about his aching lungs, reached the place where Sang Seon, who had sensed the end of Grand Prince Seongnyeong, was standing.

What is 3 shifts, he followed Grand Prince Seongnyeong every day, Seongnyeong, who recognized Heo Yu-seon, opened his mouth hard.

“Your Highness. Heo doctor…”

Before the words were finished, the door opened with a bang and Taejong and the Queen appeared.

The expressions of the two people who sensed the death of their youngest son made the viewers’ hearts ache.

The furrowed brow, the lips bitten to the point of pain, the shaking eyes.

There was no acting that was not impressive.

-Wow, Kim Jong-ho, Lee Ji-hye are no joke.

-I don’t care if it’s history destruction!?

“Let’s go!”

Taejong and the Queen moved their feet quickly. To the place where their young son was waiting for them.

They couldn’t even go there because of the opposition of the officials, fearing that Smallpox would spread. No one said anything to the footsteps of the two heavens that were disrespectful.

Heo Yu-seon followed them. The palace ladies and the guards also moved their footsteps quietly.

Grand Prince Seongnyeong, who brought laughter to the palace. There was no one who was not sad.

When Taejong and the Queen entered the place where Grand Prince Seongnyeong was, the officials who were next to them couldn’t stop them.

The place where Grand Prince Seongnyeong had been closed since the onset of the disease opened wide.

Heo Yu-seon saw the backs of Taejong and the Queen disappearing into the place where Grand Prince Seongnyeong was in his sight.

The wooden door closed heavily.

It was winter. Snow-like fluff began to fall with the cold wind.

“Jong-ah!”

Heo Yu-seon looked at the door of Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s place with the voice of Taejong and the Queen that seemed to tear apart, and knelt down on the ground and bowed his head.

Ah.

“Jong-ah! No! Jong-ah!”

Heo Yu-seon’s back shook. He couldn’t utter a single cry of despair and frustration that enveloped his whole body.

Ah,

The master who came in winter left in winter.

[Taejong 18th year (1418) February 4th. Grand Prince Seongnyeong, Lee Jong died.]

Chapter 90

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Chapter 90

[The Royal Physician, The Death of Grand Prince Seongnyeong, A New Beginning!]

[The Death of Grand Prince Seongnyeong, Expressed Through the People He Left Behind!]

-Wow.

-Wow…

-I can’t say anything.

-The Royal Physician wasn’t over yesterdayㅠㅠ

-Throughout this episode, I kept thinking of Lee Seo-jun’s acting.

=Me too. They showed some flashback scenes, but I just remembered them in my head. Grand Prince Seongnyeong, who used to play around innocently. When Heo Yu-seon reminisced, it was so creepy how I thought of him exactly the same way.

=I need to exercise more. Heo Uigwan ㅠㅠ

“It’s a shame.”

“Are you sad?”

“Yeah.”

Seo-jun was watching The Royal Physician with Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun. His own death scene, where he didn’t appear. He felt regretful. What if he had acted more weakly in his dying scene? Would he have appeared then? Would it have been a more impressive scene?

“But I like this too.”

The Royal Physician wasn’t a drama that ended with Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s death. Next time. From now on, it was the story of the people who remained after Grand Prince Seongnyeong died.

‘Maybe if it had ended with my death, everyone would have thought it was completely over?’

The sight of Heo Yu-seon trembling and throwing the research papers on the floor, and Choongnyeong Daegun who collapsed, would lead the viewers to the next episode.

“No, I like this more.”

What can I do? My acting is important, but so is the work!

When Seo-jun said that with a smile, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun felt relieved. They had heard from Seo Eun-chan that Seo-jun’s scene had been deleted.

They also heard the reason. He was deleted because he acted too well in his dying scene? They hadn’t seen Seo-jun’s acting themselves, and the health check results they received from the staff were just a distant story to them.

Seo-jun ate some fruit and wondered how much he should act in his future dying scenes.

He couldn’t die too realistically, but he couldn’t die too theatrically either. Hmm. It was a difficult task. He thought about his parents and fans who would worry when they saw his dying scenes. Hmm. It was really hard!

[The Royal Physician Episode 14 Average Viewership Rating, 38%!]

[KBC The Royal Physician, What Will the Future Viewership Ratings Be?]

[What Will Fill Lee Seo-jun’s Empty Spot?]

-I watched The Royal Physician to see Lee Seo-jun, but I’m curious how it will end, so I keep watching.

-I was going to stop watching if Lee Seo-jun didn’t appear, but 222

-I can’t not watch thisㅠ How will Heo Uigwan liveㅠㅠ

[Title: Is it just me?]

I wished Grand Prince Seongnyeong had become king.

His appearance scene was so impressive that I kept comparing him to the other daeguns.

Of course, I knew Choongnyeong Daegun was King Sejong, and I really liked King Sejong, and I knew Park Do-hoon acted well, but what can I say. Lee Seo-jun’s acting skill influenced me.

He was royal from his bones, like a king sent down from heavenㅋㅋ The story of him seeing a halo was also like that, Lee Seo-jun’s aura did everything.

When I saw Heo Yu-seon and Grand Prince Seongnyeong, I felt like they were family, but somehow they also seemed like a lord and vassal relationship. The only lord who knew me! That kind of feeling. I felt like I understood why the people of the past devoted their loyalty to their superiorsㅋㅋ

-ㅋㅋAre you recreating historyㅋㅋ

-But I felt the same way. If Grand Prince Seongnyeong hadn’t died and grew up well, Heo Yu-seon would have killed them all and offered him the throne.

=…Wouldn’t Grand Prince Seongnyeong hate him for doing that?

=If he had grown up with that aura, his brothers would have stepped aside like in the original history. Seongnyeong would have ruled the country with charisma, and Choongnyeong would have invented all kinds of devices without doing politicsㅋ

-Heo Yu-seon would have become a noble by force.

-But it’s not easy to trust and entrust the country to an aura!

The Royal Physician Episode 15 showed the people who were sad about Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s death.

In the State Council and the Office of Inspector General, they accused the doctor Yang Hong-dal and the officials of their crimes, and they asked King Taejong, who didn’t listen to the oracle about Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s illness, to listen to the oracle.

They also ordered punishment for the fortune-teller who had predicted Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s future and the shaman who had offered sacrifices to the gods to extend Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s life.

-One daegun dies, and it’s a mess.

-Wow, what will happen to Heo Yu-seon?

There was no big change in The Royal Physician’s viewership ratings. The viewers were curious about the stories of the remaining people.

They were amazed to see Choongnyeong Daegun, who was sad at Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s funeral, and to think that he was King Sejong.

Heo Yu-seon used his connections to interfere with Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s funeral from start to finish. He chose the best and the softest things for each one. Choongnyeong Daegun and King Taejong also closed their eyes to Heo Yu-seon’s authority for his sincerity.

Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s funeral ended in a heavy silence.

“Punish the doctor Yang Hong-dal who failed to notice the illness of Princess Gyeongan and Grand Prince Seongnyeong!”

At the words of the officials who demanded punishment for Yang Hong-dal, King Taejong sent Yang Hong-dal and the officials to a temporary exile as if to avoid them.

Heo Yu-seon also followed his teacher Yang Hong-dal to the exile site. His luggage was full of papers that he had researched on Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s illness.

From then on, the two people’s research began. Heo Yu-seon took care of the people in the exile site and did research, and on June 3, 1418, Choongnyeong Daegun, who became the crown prince, studied Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s illness in the palace.

The highest and the lowest places.

The two people’s appearances became a topic of discussion.

***

After finishing his preparations, Seo-jun watched KBC on his phone.

KBC had been airing a program called [The Royal Physician Special] since the day they broadcasted The Royal Physician Episode 6, and it was a program that introduced the events and places that appeared in ‘The Royal Physician’ and told the differences and similarities with the original history.

The Royal Physician was a fusion historical drama, and there were many differences from the original history for dramatic effect, but the viewers liked it because they compared it for themselves.

A man with a name tag that said ‘Doctor’ opened his mouth.

[To treat tuberculosis, you need to first increase the patient’s strength. The patient’s strength is the basis of all treatments. The next step is to…]

“I didn’t expect them to broadcast a tuberculosis treatment method on television. Who watches this kind of thing?”

Seo-jun asked with a puzzled expression. Lee Ji-seok, who was reading the script for the next shooting, answered.

“You think they only show the tuberculosis treatment method? They’re making a fuss about everything, from the funeral order to King Sejong’s coronation ceremony. They even broadcast the royal children’s games. Other broadcasting stations are scheduling one or two special episodes, but KBC is so excited that they’re tearing apart the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty and broadcasting the Taejong volume.”

“That’s the problem with the high ratings.”

If Seo-jun appeared here, the ratings would explode! Reminded of the film festival a year ago by the casting calls coming from everywhere, Ahn Da Ho sent chicken gift cards to Cocoa Entertainment’s Lee Seo-jun dedicated team 2.

“Are you ready?”

Peek, the PD of ‘The Royal Physician Special’ popped his head into the waiting room. Behind him was a cameraman sent by KBC. They said they would broadcast today’s event on The Royal Physician Special and Entertainment News.

“Yes!”

“Hahaha. I never thought I’d participate in the Gwanghwamun Gatekeeper Replacement Ceremony in my life.”

“Technically, it’s the Your Highness Grand Prince Procession Ceremony.”

The The Royal Physician team thought that the ratings would drop after Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s death was aired. But they decided to hold a special event instead of the usual ratings promise, to repay the viewers for the better-than-expected ratings.

At first, they planned to have Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok participate in the Gwanghwamun Gatekeeper Replacement Ceremony, but they added more people and asked for permission from the venue to change it to the Your Highness Grand Prince Procession Ceremony.

“All the people around you are bodyguards, so you can move around comfortably. The rest of the people are actors who also appeared in The Royal Physician.”

At the PD’s words, Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok changed their clothes and left the waiting room. The bodyguards who were guarding the two actors were awkwardly fiddling with their clothes and hats.

It was a different guard uniform from what they usually wore. Their bodies were sturdy from exercising, and they looked like real guards.

A broadcasting station staff member who checked if the fence at the venue was well installed came back in a hurry.

“There are so many people! And, oh, no. This is better to see for yourself!”

“Is it something bad?”

The staff member nodded his head with a bright smile at Seo-jun’s words. The PD showed a large map and spoke again. He also pointed out where the cameras were installed.

“You just have to follow the people in front of you as you go around. Look at the camera once in a while. Do you have any questions?”

“No!”

Everyone left the waiting room with a smile at Seo-jun’s cheerful answer. Outside, the extras who were sitting comfortably in their familiar clothes were getting up one by one.

***

“Gwanghwamun is this way…?”

“Emma? What’s wrong?”

“Uh, is there a dress code here?”

Cho Min-young, who was looking for water in her bag, asked her British friend Emma, whom she met on a trip abroad, with a what? and lifted her head. The words popped out before she could think.

“Uh, you can get free admission to Gyeongbokgung Palace if you wear hanbok… but why are they all wearing official robes?”

It wasn’t just red, blue, and green official robes.

There were people wearing the clothes of palace ladies that always appeared in historical dramas, officials who wore white cloth over their official robes, and people who wore hanbok that looked like they came out of a historical drama shooting.

“And why are there so many people?”

There was a big difference from the number of tourists she saw when she passed by on the bus. Then, someone’s voice reached Cho Min-young’s ears.

“Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok are having an event right now!”

“Really? Let’s go see.”

Lee Seo-jun! Lee Ji-seok!

Those names stuck in Cho Min-young’s ears.

“Emma.”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s go see that.”

“Yeah? Okay.”

Emma scratched her cheek.

Emma and Cho Min-young came to see the gatekeeper replacement ceremony, didn’t they? She felt like there was no need to say that.

“But, will we be able to see?”

“…Yeah. Let’s go inside.”

Cho Min-young and Emma started looking for the least crowded place.

***

It was time.

First, the veteran gatekeeper who stood at the front came out.

There were a lot of people. And their clothes… they weren’t the glittering gold or pastel-toned modernized hanbok.

“Official robes?”

Despite his bewildered head, the gatekeeper’s feet moved forward on their own. He heard music. From the speakers installed by KBC in advance, The Royal Physician OST played.

Wow-!!

Thanks to the advance notice on SNS, fan cafes, and KBC’s homepage, there were a lot of people standing.

Between the bodyguards wearing guard uniforms, Grand Prince Seongnyeong and Heo Yu-seon appeared.

Seo-jun’s eyes widened. He didn’t think he would see people wearing official robes here.

“Your Highness! Your Highness Grand Prince!”

At that voice, Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun burst into laughter.

“I thought they would call me Seo-jun.”

“Right?”

If they were looking for Your Highness Grand Prince, they had to answer! Seo-jun tapped his back of the hand twice with his finger.

[(선)The Dignity of the Young Lion King is activated.]

[(선)The Basic Breathing of the Elf is activated.]Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun waved to the people. The crowd cheered at their every move. The splendid procession of the Daegun and his guards looked like they had just popped out of a drama. And the dignity that emanated from Seo-jun. Everyone remembered the first appearance scene of Grand Prince Seongnyeong.

“Wow. Is this the aura of the royal family?”

“Grand Prince Seongnyeong is alive!”

“Grow up healthy!”

“Heo Uigwan! Treat him properly!”

The people shouted as if to shake off the sad development of The Royal Physician. The foreign tourists who came to visit were puzzled.

“Hahaha. Your Highness, Your Highness Grand Prince!”

“Your Highness?”

Emma tilted her head at the sight of her friend shouting in a daze.

Emma, who had studied Korean history and watched historical dramas, knew that it was a word that referred to the royal family.

Everyone here was calling the little boy Your Highness.

“What’s with those people? Didn’t you say there’s no royal family in Korea?”

“Oh, there isn’t. The drama that’s airing these days is so popular that they held a special event today. I’ll show you later. It’s really fun.”

It’s really sad, though. It wouldn’t be fun if she told her in advance. Cho Min-young smiled brightly at the thought of hitting her friend’s back of the head.

“Really? That kid is a child actor.”

“You know that, right?”

“Huh?”

“It’s what got you interested in Korea. Jin Natra. You’re lucky. You met him on the second day of your trip to Korea…”

“Jin Natra? Seo-jun Lee!?”

At that voice, what is this, what a mess. The foreign tourists who were trying to get away from the noisy venue turned their heads. Emma, who still cherished the angel photo, grabbed Cho Min-young’s shoulder and shook it.

“Really, Jin Natra? Seo-jun Lee, or Lee Seo-jun!?”

“Ugh. I think I’m going to vomit. Let go of me.”

“Where, I didn’t see his face!”

The other foreigners also started asking the Koreans next to them one by one. When they asked if that kid was Seo-jun Lee who appeared as Jin Natra, they all nodded proudly and answered.

The Daegun’s procession stopped for a moment. Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok went up to the stage that had been prepared in advance.

The sight of Grand Prince Seongnyeong in purple official robes and Heo Yu-seon in medical robes looked like they had jumped out of a drama, and everyone’s hearts thumped.

“Hello! I’m Lee Seo-jun!”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Ji-seok!”

The two actors bowed and the applause erupted.

The fans’ cameras and KBC’s large camera lens shone on the two.

“We came here, to Gwanghwamun, to repay you for watching The Royal Physician even after ‘that day’.”

“There are still some people who haven’t seen it, so don’t spoil it!”

“Yesss!”

“Are you all enjoying The Royal Physician?”

At Seo-jun’s question, ‘Yes!’, ‘Yeah!’ came the answers, and someone shouted.

“I was so sad that I couldn’t binge-watch it!”

“Thank you so much for loving us that much.”

“Tell me honestly! Heo Uigwan! You wanted to make Grand Prince Seongnyeong the king, right?!”

The people laughed at the question that flew from somewhere. Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok also laughed out loud.

“You mean ‘Heo Uigwan Kingmaker Story’, right? I know that too!”

“Hahaha. No comment!”

After a brief conversation, it was time to go back. They had to clear the place quickly for the tourists who wanted to see Gyeongbokgung Palace.

As Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok waved goodbye, the people in the front row wearing medical robes and official robes shouted loudly.

It was playful, but there was something resonant about it.

“Your Highness Grand Prince!”

“Please, live long and prosper!”

Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun were surprised and looked at the people. The two lifted something over their heads. There was a large letter on a white paper.

[From Lee Seo-jun Fan Cafe, Sprouts!]

They were the people who came from Lee Seo-jun’s fan cafe. When the news of the special event was announced, the fans who could go decided to deliver a message on behalf of them.

Among the phrases that were voted on in the fan cafe, ‘Your Highness Grand Prince, please live long and prosper!’ was selected by an overwhelming difference.

Since this was the message they wanted to deliver, they decided to wear matching clothes. They were looking for various rental shops, but Seo Eun-chan, the president of Cocoa Entertainment who was monitoring the fan cafe, sent them.

“You have to be healthy!”

“Take it easy with acting!”

“You’re so good at acting sick!”

“We’re cheering for you!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and waved his hand at the fans’ cheers.

And that became the news.

[Your Highness Grand Prince, please live long and prosper!]

[Gwanghwamun, the living Grand Prince Seongnyeong appears!]

[Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok, The Royal Physician special event!]

-The fansㅋㅋ so funnyㅋㅋ

-The foreigners asked, did Korea have a royal family?

-Lee Seo-jun is the nation’s His Highness Grand Prince

=Not even the nation’s little brotherㅋㅋ

Chapter 91

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 91

A few days later, a video was uploaded on YouTube.

[Title: I showed my foreign friend the drama The Royal Physician.]

“Hello, this is Jojo. Today, I showed my friend Emma, whom I met during my trip to England, the popular drama The Royal Physician. Of course, it was too long to watch it all, so I only showed her the most important parts!”

Cho Min-young and Emma waved their hands and greeted the viewers on the screen.

“I edited the scenes where Grand Prince Seongnyeong appears so that they are connected properly! Aren’t you curious about my friend’s reaction to the cute and lovely Grand Prince Seongnyeong! And Emma is a huge fan of Jin Natra, so she is very excited! She is also studying Korean hard to watch Lee Seo-jun’s Korean works!”

As Cho Min-young spoke, a caption appeared.

‘Emma can understand Korean, but she is still studying Korean history. She is only at the Goryeo period ;)’

“I’m so excited!”

Emma’s eyes sparkled at the thought of seeing the cute and lovely Seo-jun Lee. Her anticipation was so palpable that the people who watched the YouTube video shed tears. It was not a live broadcast, but a recorded video, so they must have already seen it, but they felt sorry for her.

-You devil! There’s a devil here!

-That cute and lovely Daegun Mama, Mama!ㅠ

Along with the images of Emma and Cho Min-young watching the video, the title of The RoyalPhysician appeared in the corner of the screen.

Dung-dung- The sound of drums rang out.

Heo Yu-seon entered Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s residence. And the camera slowly moved up from the yellow floor.

A wooden table, a covered book, a purple official robe with a giraffe badge, and Grand Prince Seongnyeong. Emma’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened involuntarily.

-Wow. The entrance scene is the best.

-The sound of drums fits so well.

-This is exactly the next king. He has such a presence.

The rest of the video was peaceful. As Cho Min-young said, it was full of cute, lovely, and lively Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s daily life.

Emma’s expression softened. The people who watched the video smiled faintly at Emma’s face and reminisced about the past.

-It’s just like me three weeks ago. I thought it was a fusion historical drama that would save him.

-No emotional involvement. No immersion. I’m watching with blurry eyes.

-The aftermath will be no joke.

-Now it’s ‘that’.

=Thatㅋㅋㅠ

[Smallpox is here!]

The voice of Uigwan Hong-dal echoed throughout the palace. Smallpox? Emma tilted her head, and Cho Min-young told her it was a disease. A disease? Min-young’s expression changed subtly.

The situation turned very quickly. People were running around and Grand Prince Seongnyeong was lying down. Anxiety overwhelmed Emma. Emma clasped her hands and watched the video. Episode 14 was almost entirely continuous. She couldn’t miss a single thing.

[Jong-ah!]

“Ah…”

Emma covered her mouth and couldn’t take her eyes off the screen.

The parents’ voices filled with grief stuck in her ears. Emma’s eyes widened.

The physician who had been smiling with Seo-jun knelt down and collapsed. Snow fell.

[Grand Prince Seongnyeong Lee Jong, Dead]

Cho Min-young kindly added a caption. Dead. That word pressed heavily on her chest.

“…Kuhng.”

As they watched the video together, Cho Min-young felt sad and handed Emma a tissue.

The YouTube video ended with a scene of Emma and Cho Min-young, who had prepared a lot of tissues, watching The Royal Physician episode 1 affectionately.

-Ah, I have to watch it again.

-If I watch it from episode 1 again, I think I’ll be sad every time Seongnyeong appears.

-Tsk tsk. I’m already on my third rewatch.

=Are you okay with the aftermath?

=No no, so I took a half day off and went to Gwanghwamun. I came back after being treated by the living Grand Prince Seongnyeong.

There were many foreign reaction videos to Korean dramas and music videos, but Cho Min-young was the first to upload a video of The Royal Physician.

As the views rose at the speed of light, the foreign YouTubers who were obsessed with the views started to show interest one by one.

Some watched the edited version like Cho Min-young, and some watched it from episode 1 carefully.

Among them, unlike the Koreans who had been spoiled in advance, the foreigners did not understand why Grand Prince Seongnyeong, who had made a splendid appearance (some even saw a halo), died.

-Why did he die? Wasn’t this a story about him becoming a king?

-He looked like he would become a king.

=The little brother is King Sejong. He’s in the show too.

=Oh, I see.

=And the little one is Jin Natra 😉

=!!!

After that, reaction videos with the title ‘feat. Jin Natra’ were made, and the video streaming sites that were interested in ‘The Royal Physician’ started to take action.

***

On August 11th, 1418, the year of Sejong’s accession, 22-year-old Chungnyeong Daegun ascended the throne.

The splendid coronation ceremony was somber with Chungnyeong Daegun’s reminiscence of the dead Grand Prince Seongnyeong.

[KBC The Royal Physician, ratings! 34%!]

[The two actors who have to carry The Royal Physician! Park Dohoon, Lee Ji-seok!]

-I didn’t know. Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s death had such an impact. He died in February, became the crown prince in June, and ascended the throne in August. It was a tumultuous year of 1418.

-34%ㅋㅋ Are they the ratings gangstersㅋ

=The other broadcasting stations were completely ruined at that time slot.

The sad events did not end.

“Sangwibok!”

Two years after Wonkyung Queen Consort died, Taejong closed his eyes. A eunuch took the king’s upper garment and climbed up to the east roof eaves and shouted northward. Sejong looked at his father’s face with a blank expression.

“Sangwibok!”

In the king’s head, the death of Gyeongan Princess and Grand Prince Seongnyeong, whom he had spent affectionately with, flashed by. His mother and father’s memories and death flashed by.

“Sangwibok!”

Sejong buried his face in his palm without a word.

The news of Taejong’s death reached Heo Yuseon’s ears. Heo Yu-seon, who had come out for a moment after researching, looked up at the sky.

The blue sky without a single cloud was too clean and he hated it.

“Daegun Mama. Are you well with Jungjeon Mama? I heard the news that Sangwang Jeonha passed away. Sangwang Jeonha committed many sins, so I don’t know if he can meet Mama.”

He saw a man running from the end of the street. He was carrying an old man on his back. Seeing that, Heo Yu-seon smiled faintly.

“I think I have to do good deeds to go to where Mama is, so I have to do more good deeds.”

“Physician Naeuri! Physician Naeuri!”

[KBC The Royal Physician, ratings stay in the 30% range!]

[Already the third funeral!]

-Wow. How long has it been since Grand Prince Seongnyeong died, and Wonkyung Queen Consort and Taejong died too.

-Already the third funeralㅠ Is Sejong mentally okay?

-Seongnyeong-2 years later Queen Consort-2 years later Taejong… Who will die in 2 years?

-Heo Yu-seon dissing in the meantimeㅋㅋ He said Taejong committed a lot of sinsㅋㅋ He can’t go to heavenㅋㅋ

***

“Hello!”

As Seo-jun appeared with a bright smile, the staff who were preparing for the shooting greeted him.

The assistant director guided Seo-jun to the makeup artist. Seo-jun sat on the chair and sang a song happily.

The makeup artist’s brush brushed Seo-jun’s cheek and passed by.

I thought the last shooting was the final one, but a few days ago, I got a call from PD Choi Min-sung. He asked me if I would play a different role. I tilted my head at his words, but soon nodded.

‘I liked the changed scene, but it was a bit disappointing that it was deleted since it was the last shooting. And the shooting ended abruptly.’

I was disappointed that I didn’t hear the ‘Cut, OK!’ sound at the last shooting.

I opened the script. It was a different role, but I had a feeling why PD Choi called me.

I read the script again and laughed. Lee Ji-seok, who stopped by the dressing room after hearing the news of my arrival, smiled at me.

“Do you like it that much?”

“Yes!”

“Seo-jun, you’re really a born actor.”

“Hehehe.”

“Seo-jun, let’s get dressed.”

“Okay!”

I ran to Ahn Da Ho’s call. PD Choi Minsung, who was looking around the set, smiled and watched me change into a dirt-covered hanbok. The assistant director rubbed his neck and said.

“Will it be okay?”

“Well, I guess we’ll hear some nonsense.”

“Do you know that?”

“But this makes it easier for the viewers to focus. I thought it would be fine to use someone of the same age when I read the script, but the more I shot, the more Grand Prince Seongnyeong stuck out, so I decided it wouldn’t work if it was just similar. Fortunately or unfortunately, I couldn’t find an actor because of that, so I decided to cast him himself.”

The assistant director nodded in agreement at PD Choi’s words.

“Well, I like the change too. But I can understand Heo Yu-seon’s feelings better.”

“Right? Then shall we start shooting?”

“Yes! Let’s start shooting!”

I lay down on the blanket and took a deep breath. I was so nervous that I forgot how excited I was when I came to the set. Lee Ji-seok asked me.

“Seo-jun, what’s wrong? You were so excited earlier.”

“Um. I’m a bit nervous.”

“Seo-jun is nervous and that’s something.”

I turned my head and looked at Lee Ji-seok, who was sitting next to me.

I opened my mouth hesitantly. I felt the [(Good) Red Slime Core] in my body rolling around.

“Ji-seok hyung. How much should I act sick?”

I still hadn’t set a standard. I remembered the surprised face of Kim Jong-ho and the worried face of Lee Ji-hye, who held my hot hand. Hmm. Lee Ji-seok pondered.

“I don’t know either. Some people like the acting that others don’t. When they are very sad, some people cry loudly and some people cry silently. People have different ways of expressing themselves, so they empathize with different acting.”

“I see.”

“You have to shoot a lot of works and see the people’s reactions and find out for yourself what’s enough.”

“Then what about before I gain experience?”

What should I do now? I looked at Lee Ji-seok. Lee Ji-seok seemed to know the feelings of Jong-ho hyung, who cherished the actors who loved acting.

“You have no choice but to rely on someone else’s help.”

“Someone else?”

“Like the last shooting. If Seo-jun’s acting is too much, PD Choi will stop you. It’s not often that a scene is deleted, so usually it’s NG. If NG happens, PD Choi will tell you what’s wrong and you can act again.”

“Again…”

“That’s how you adjust.”

“I see.”

I nodded. I hardly ever made NG, but there was one time when I was scolded for months.

‘That’s right. I got feedback from Director Ryan for eight months. Of course, I shouldn’t make that much during shooting. But a few NGs wouldn’t hurt, right?’

I felt better when I remembered that time. PD Choi Min-sung, who was waiting for the two actors’ conversation, smiled and announced the start of the shooting. The other staff also started shooting with a happy expression.

“Ready, action!”

[(Good) Red Slime Core is activated.]

My body temperature started to rise. I breathed heavily and adjusted my temperature.

‘Weaker than last time. Weaker.’

Lee Ji-seok checked my pulse with a serious face. My breath flowed out in colors. He remembered my acting clearly and bit his tongue.

“Cut, NG!”

I was surprised by Director Choi Min-sung’s voice. NG. NG! My eyes widened. I turned my head and looked at PD Choi.

“Uh, did I do something wrong?”

“No, Seo-jun. You acted well, but in this scene, you have to act exactly like Grand Prince Seongnyeong when he was sick. But this time it was a bit weak.”

“Oh, oh. I see.”

I nodded awkwardly at PD Choi’s words. I guess I acted too weak because I was afraid everyone would be surprised. Lee Ji-seok patted my shoulder.

“Just relax. Relax. Seo-jun, you’re a great actor.”

“Uh. Yes. Acting is hard.”

Sigh. The people who watched the works that this young actor acted in laughed at his words.

***

[Yang Hong-dal and Heo Yu-seon returned from exile!]

[KBC The Royal Physician, how many episodes?]

[The Royal Physician is heading towards the end! What will be the ending?!]

-Just don’t be a dragon’s head!

-So how many episodes is The Royal Physician?

=24 episodes. Today is episode 22, so next week is the last.

-Wow…it’s over already?

-It felt like I waited for two years, but it’s going so fast!

Yang Hong-dal and Heo Yu-seon, who returned from exile, resumed their original duties.

Heo Yu-seon continued his research after finishing his work. Sometimes, or rather, often, he wandered around Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s old residence and indulged in memories.

Sejong and Heo Yu-seon felt a peacefulness, as if a corner of their hearts was empty.

An urgent report came.

Sejong sensed something from the pale face of the messenger.

A cold wind blew, as if when his brother, mother, and father passed away.

The messenger shouted loudly, very loudly.

“Smallpox is here!”

[The Royal Physician episode 22! Smallpox outbreak in Gyeonggi-do!]

[Stop the epidemic Smallpox!]

[Sejong and Heo Yu-seon! Can they cure it this time!?]

-Wow shit. I got goosebumps when he said Smallpox is here!

-Heo Yu-seon will stop it! Cure it this time!!

=But Grand Prince Seongnyeong is gone nowㅠ

The Royal Physician, which was nearing the end, flared up again.

After Grand Prince Seongnyeong’s death, the people who tried to forget his death had a new goal.

Chapter 92

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 92

“Choosing a show on Plus+ is the hardest part.”

Olivia had finished cleaning her house and wanted to enjoy a relaxing weekend watching dramas on the paid streaming site Plus+.

She ate some snacks and searched for a good drama to watch.

She didn’t mind foreign dramas as long as they had subtitles, but she couldn’t find anything that appealed to her.

“This one is not good either…”

Eventually, she returned to the home screen and saw a banner for [Actor of the Week].

The [Actor of the Week] category on the paid streaming site Plus+ featured actors from different countries and their works every week. Sometimes they were famous Hollywood stars, and sometimes they were only popular in their own countries.

“Well, there must be a reason why they are famous in their country.”

Olivia learned about actors from various countries who gained overseas fans thanks to the [Actor of the Week].

“I wonder who is up today.”

She clicked on the banner and saw a screen full of actors’ photos.

There were actors from India, China, France, Italy, and other countries. Among them, the one that caught her eye was a photo of a smiling child.

[Seo-jun Lee]

“Jun is already a star. I’ve seen everything, but it’s still fun, so maybe I’ll watch it again?”

Olivia had watched the Korean movie ‘Evil Spirit’ on Plus+ and clicked on Seo-jun’s photo with a smile.

Shadowman 1, Shadowman 2, Evil Spirit. She wondered which of the three movies to watch, and her expression hardened.

“Huh?”

[Play/ ‘Spring’ 1st-8th] NEW!

[Drama/ The Royal Physician 1st-8th] NEW!

Seo-jun Lee had new works.

***

“So it’s a huge mess.”

KBC, the production company, and the paid streaming site Plus+.

They all expected Seo-jun’s name value, but the results exceeded their expectations.

The number of views increased every day, and so did the number of people who subscribed to Plus+ to watch Seo-jun Lee’s new works.

“There are a lot of comments saying that the prince is cute.”

“It’s going to be a big deal when the 14th episode is uploaded.”

Lee Ji-seok laughed at Seo-jun’s words. He put a bone from the large potato soup on Seo-jun’s plate and one on his own plate.

“They upload two episodes a week, so there’s still some time. By the way, I heard that there’s a special for The Royal Physician on Plus+.”

Seo-jun let out a bitter laugh at that. He turned his head to the television installed on one side of the restaurant.

The rerun of the The Royal Physician special was on.

[As you may have seen in the historical drama, the first thing to do is to isolate the village where the plague patients appear. Then call the doctors and start the treatment. The perfect cure for the plague is not yet available, but I will make a decoction that can help with the treatment. I would have prescribed this decoction to Prince Seongnyeong first.]

KBC broadcasted the The Royal Physician special with enthusiasm, as the viewers of The Royal Physician were on fire.

They also made a decoction that could help with the plague treatment using the medicinal herbs that were available at the time of the Joseon Dynasty.

On the television screen, a doctor was diligently boiling a decoction in a place that was clearly a studio.

“Is that really going up?”

“Sure. Thanks to The Royal Physician, people are curious about Korean medicine in other countries. There are more customers in Korean clinics abroad. I don’t know what will happen when Prince Seongnyeong dies, but it’s a hot topic now. Someone told me that they also broadcast how to treat the plague with Western medicine in the The Royal Physician special. Plus+ is watched by a lot of people around the world, so that’s not bad either.”

“Why do they watch that kind of thing?”

“People usually find useless stories more interesting. They wonder if Prince Seongnyeong would have survived if he had this medicine, or what would have happened if he was alive.”

“I see.”

He answered, but he didn’t understand what was fun about it.

Seo-jun scooped up a spoonful of soup. The hot potato soup was delicious.

***

The 23rd episode of The Royal Physician was broadcasted.

When King Sejong heard the news of the plague outbreak in Gyeonggi Province, he called a man without hesitation.

Heo Yu-seon, who was wearing a humble outfit, raised his head at the king’s call.

“I have a favor to ask of Heo doctor.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“There is a plague outbreak in Muulri. I want you to go there.”

Heo Yu-seon, who was listening to the king’s words without any thoughts, flinched.

King Sejong knew.

If other doctors had heard his words and shivered, it would have been because they were afraid of the plague, but this man was different.

“…Plague?”

Heo Yu-seon blurted out, forgetting that he was in front of the king.

Plague?

“Ha…”

Heo Yu-seon lowered his head. He curled up. His back trembled like that day. But it was different from then.

“Ahaha, ahahaha!!!”

Heo Yu-seon laughed like a madman. His insane laughter made the guards outside open the door and rush in.

King Sejong waved his hand without saying anything. Ahahaha, the laughter of Heo Yu-seon, who was driven out of the palace, stopped.

“Your Majesty.”

Heo Yu-seon raised his head.

The viewers were shocked by Heo Yu-seon’s face on the screen. He shouted with a distorted face.

“I am grateful to Your Majesty!!”

-Wow. They could have ended the 23rd episode with this scene.

-Right. But there’s still half left.

Heo Yu-seon packed his belongings. He gathered the materials that King Sejong had researched and his own materials. He packed his bags like a madman, and the other doctors shook their heads.

“He must have gone crazy because he’s going to the countryside.”

“Didn’t you hear? He received an order from His Majesty and said he was grateful. He’s crazy.”

Heo Yu-seon stopped by Prince Seongnyeong’s tomb before going to Muulri.

He bowed to the neatly arranged tomb of Prince Seongnyeong and headed to Muulri with a stern face.

Smoke rose. It was a typical village where a plague had spread. Heo Yu-seon wrapped a white cloth around his face and entered the village.

There were dead people everywhere. Heo Yu-seon didn’t even look at the corpses and asked the soldier.

“Where are the patients?”

“Over here, sir.”

The soldier led the way.

The patients were sitting disorderly here and there.

Heo Yu-seon first divided the patients according to their condition. He left the ones who were not seriously ill to the doctors who came with him and started to take care of the serious patients who everyone hated to go to.

“Huh. This is not it either.”

Heo Yu-seon did not treat anyone poorly. But the treatment methods he had researched did not work on the patients. One died, and another died. King Sejong, who had the same heart as Heo Yu-seon, sent enough medicinal herbs.

He was trying to fix the failed treatment methods when it happened.

“Sir! Sir!”

“What is it!”

He heard a voice looking for Heo Yu-seon outside.

He opened the door and went out, and saw a soldier who had been infected with the plague and recovered carrying someone.

“There’s a herb gatherer kid who lives in the mountains, and he hasn’t come down lately, so I went to see him and he’s infected with the plague!”

“Lay him down on the floor.”

“Yes, yes!”

The soldier carefully put the child down.

Boom!

The sound of the drum, which had been quiet for several episodes, rang out.

The viewers who were watching the medical drama attentively flinched at the sound of the drum.

Their hearts pounded like Pavlov’s dogs.

Boom!

The dark shadow of the soldier gradually disappeared and the face of the child was revealed.

Heo Yu-seon, who was coldly examining the patient, wavered for a moment. His mouth opened involuntarily.

The people who were watching on television also unknowingly opened their mouths.

“He’s a very good kid. He gave us good herbs when our mother was sick. Please, please cure him,”

The soldier’s words were not heard.

Boom! Boom!

Heo Yu-seon, who had lost strength in his legs, collapsed on the dirt floor.

The soldier shouted, please, please! But all of Heo Yu-seon’s senses were focused on the child.

Mama.

Heo Yu-seon, who was looking at the child who was breathing heavily, finally blurted out. It was a voice that was blocked and cracked.

“Prince Seongnyeong mama!”

[Prince Seongnyeong reappears?!]

[Episode 23 of the Medical Drama, the highest rating ever at 37%!]

-Crazy? Really? Him!? Prince Seongnyeong was here!?

-No, that can’t be. It’s been seven years already, and he hasn’t grown at all! It’s someone else!

-Wow. Heo Yu-seon is going crazy. He looks exactly like Prince Seongnyeong, but he’s also infected with smallpox.

=…Wow! That’s true?!

-But isn’t that Lee Seojoon?

=Yeah, yeah. I thought he wouldn’t appear anymore! But he did!

=He shines even in the herbalist’s outfit!

[KBC Medical Drama Final Episode!]

[The reappeared Prince Seongnyeong?]

[The failed treatments so far! Can he be cured?]

-Ah… The last episode. I want to watch it, but I don’t want to.

-It’ll be a happy ending, right? He’ll be cured!

=It’s not a happy ending from the point of view of Prince Seongnyeong’s death, is it?

=Then is it a normal ending? Just don’t be a bad ending.

Heo Yu-seon brought the child to an empty room. He was mistaken for a moment, but when he looked closely, he realized that it was a different child from Prince Seongnyeong.

“It’s been seven years already…”

If it was Prince Seongnyeong, he would have grown up splendidly in seven years. There was no way he could be such a small child. Heo Yu-seon, who was staring blankly at the herbalist’s child, quickly came to his senses and sent a letter to Sejong.

“He looks like Seongnyeong.”

Sejong rose from his seat with a start. He looks like Jong? Sejong, who looked at Muwolli with a faint eye, sighed and sat down.

“Saengseon.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Prepare all the medicinal ingredients that Heo Yu-seon asked for and send them to him.”

“I understand, Your Majesty.”

As Saengseon took the letter and left the room, Sejong spat out a deep sigh from his chest and washed his face.

“Please, this time, please…”

He was almost thirty years old, but he couldn’t help but weaken at the memory that came back to him. He heard the bright voice of Seongnyeong calling him from afar, “Chungnyeong brother! Brother!”

Heo Yu-seon started the treatment right away. The more he looked, the more he resembled Prince Seongnyeong at that time.

He was similar in height and appearance, and even in the symptoms of the disease. He had examined Prince Seongnyeong’s symptoms dozens of times. That’s why Heo Yu-seon had to be more absorbed in the treatment.

When he wasn’t treating the child, he looked at other patients and checked the effects of the medicine. There were medicines that suited the child and medicines that didn’t.

“Please, you need to rest!”

Heo Yu-seon was so focused on the child’s treatment that the soldier tried to stop him. When the medicine that the patient who got better ate didn’t work for the child, he cried alone.

The child’s condition got worse and worse.

Just like that day. Heo Yu-seon could only look at the child with no strength.

Mama. Mama.

He couldn’t cry then, but it was different here.

Heo Yu-seon burst into tears, letting everything out. Heo Yu-seon, who cried like a child, made everyone lower their heads.

Then, something warm touched Heo Yu-seon’s hand. It was the child’s hand.

The child, who smiled weakly, muttered something.

‘Thank you.’

Heo Yu-seon came to his senses at the slowly moving mouth of the child. ‘Thank you. Heo Yu-seon.’ He heard Prince Seongnyeong’s voice. He couldn’t let him go like this again.

Everyone who was watching television held their breath.

The clothes and the place were different, but the child who looked exactly like Prince Seongnyeong reminded Heo Yu-seon and the viewers of that day.

Heo Yu-seon’s face and the hand that held his pulse, the child’s face twisted in pain.

They all focused without breathing.

The sun set and the moon rose, and the sun set again.

The fever that seemed to burn the child’s body gradually subsided. The red rash faded and the breath that was shallow returned to normal.

Heo Yu-seon, who was trembling and examining him, finally wrapped the small hand in his two hands and bowed his head over it.

In the end, Heo Yu-seon succeeded.

Ah, Prince mama.

Sejong, who received the letter that he had cured the child, shed tears without knowing it. It wasn’t a perfect cure for smallpox, but he felt like he had put down half of the burden in his heart just by curing one child.

Sejong wanted to make Heo Yu-seon a doctor, but Heo Yu-seon refused. Heo Yu-seon, who cured the child and confirmed that Muwolli’s condition improved, left the road.

The destination was Prince Seongnyeong’s tomb.

“Prince mama.”

Heo Yu-seon, who bowed to Prince Seongnyeong’s tomb, straightened his back and sat down.

“I, this Heo Yu-seon, cured smallpox. There were many ways to cure mama than when I cured you.”

Heo Yu-seon read the medical records. Heo Yu-seon’s voice, which was calm, gradually slowed down and drowned in water.

“The child is better. He can live as before if he recovers his strength.”

Heo Yu-seon smiled as if he was crying.

“I loved the days I spent with mama. I dared to dream of a future I couldn’t hope for. As I thought about the future, a small sprout grew. My conscience, what I saw and learned, was to covet power, and I wanted to give mama the king’s throne. I wanted to give it to him somehow, but surely mama would have hated it, right?”

I wondered if Heo Dae-gam’s blood flowed in my body, because I felt resentment when I saw Yangnyeong Daegun, who looked inferior, in the prince’s seat. That seat suited Prince Seongnyeong, who made me bow my head from the first meeting.

But he left for the sky before he could do anything. I felt guilty that his death was my fault for having a bad heart.

“I did wrong. I, I really…”

Heo Yu-seon lay down on the dirt floor like that day. The tears that flowed endlessly soaked the dirt floor.

“So, so… Please…”

The day I could never forget.

Heo Yu-seon spat out the words he couldn’t vomit.

“Please come back.”

Sangwibok.

The word to ask the soul of the king who went to heaven to come back.

A caption appeared under the image of Heo Yu-seon crying on Prince Seongnyeong’s tomb.

[Thank you to the viewers who have watched the Royal Physician.]

Chapter 93

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 93

[From April to June, the number one topic, finally ending.]

[The other broadcasters sighed, KBC missed out!]

[Popular overseas, Plus+’s hit work, number one. The Royal Physician!]

[KBC The Royal Physician final episode, ratings 41%!]

[The first Wednesday-Thursday drama to surpass 40%!]

[Spot on! The Royal Physician, Heo Yu-seon’s kingmaker theory!]

-I haven’t waited for the drama broadcast in a long time, what do I watch now. I wish it was April againㅠ

-I thought it was a mess when Seongnyeong Daegun’s doppelganger appeared, but it seems like Heo Yu-seon’s trauma treatment would be better with a doppelganger than someone else.

-Me too, I empathized well with Seongnyeong Daegun because he looked exactly like me. I remember episode 14.

-ㅋㅋ Heo Yu-seon, he really tried to make a kingㅋㅋ

From April to June, the 24-episode, 12-week fusion historical drama, The Royal Physician, ended with a grand finale. There were many reviews on the KBC The Royal Physician board, SNS, and the The Royal Physician fan cafe that started from episode 4.

[Title: Heo Yu-seon seems amazing as a doctor.]

It’s not all doctors, it’s what I think. I don’t know about the difference in status or loyalty or anything like that.

There were two times when I thought I couldn’t be a doctor, the first was when my family or friends were very sick. I don’t think I could ever do surgery on my parents. I’m too nervous that I might make a mistake.

The second was when I had my first death patient… I still remember it clearly. When I meet a patient with the same disease as that patient, my heart sinks without me knowing.

Even when it’s a patient I’m not very close to, Heo Yu-seon’s first death patient was the first person he opened his heart to, Seongnyeong Daegun… He didn’t quit the clinic and researched the cure for the epidemic and finally succeeded (and his face and symptoms were exactly the same!) Heo Yu-seon is really amazing.

[The Royal Physician Special – Interview with PD Choi Min-sung]

Q. In the early Joseon period, it was not The Royal Physician but My Pharmacy, right?

A. Yes. That’s right. But the title My Pharmacy is not familiar to the public. The Royal Physician is not as intuitive as just listening to it, so that the viewers can think of ‘something happening in the palace, royalty will come out’.

Q. What happened to Heo Yu-seon after that?

A. He travels around the country doing good deeds (laughs) and returns to the palace as a physician at Sejong’s call. He works hard to research diseases.

It’s related to the title, but it was around Sejong 25. The drama ended and 18 years passed. After Heo Yu-seon returned, Sejong renamed My Pharmacy to The Royal Physician.

I originally planned to include this story, but the scene of crying at Seongnyeong Daegun’s tomb was so impressive that I decided to end it there.

Oh, of course, the story of Heo Yu-seon as a physician is all fiction.

-Sejong Sillok, Sejong 25th year, June 15th, Musul 2nd article / Deciding the name of My Pharmacy and the titles of the officials [Annals of the Joseon Dynasty] It’s real!

-I like this kind of behind-the-scenes storyㅎ

-If it was fiction, you should have saved Daegun Mamaㅠ

-But the last scene was good. If it was the original script, leaving out Seongnyeong Daegun and Heo Yu-seon becoming a physician would have been bad.

=ㅇㅇ I like the lingering feeling. Heo Yu-seon becoming a physician is too closed ending. By the way, I like closed happy endingsㅎ

***

“It’s weird.”

“What is?”

“I didn’t have Monday blues for three months, but I think they came back. When will it be the weekend?”

“It’s only been five minutes since we started work.”

The employees of Monster, led by co-CEOs Kim Hee-sang and Lee Min-jun, were preparing to work and chatting.

“And the Monday blues are because of that. The Royal Physician.”

“Ah. It ended last week.”

The Royal Physician, which aired on Wednesdays.

Thanks to that, among the The Royal Physician fans, there were people who hoped that the weekend would end quickly and Monday would pass and it would be Wednesday.

There were people who said they never dreamed they would wait for Monday in their lives.

That was all past now.

“What do I live for now?”

“Wait and see. There will be another interesting drama.”

“That’s true.”

The employee who quickly regained his energy checked his email.

“There’s a lot today.”

Thanks to Hollywood star Lee Seo-jun, Monster was known overseas. If it wasn’t a photo taken during filming, Monster’s products were almost never missing from the photos Lee Seo-jun took.

In one article, it was even called ‘Lee Seo-jun’s signature’.

Thanks to that fame, there was also a buying group called Lee Seo-jun’s overseas fans, and they were selling quite well.

The employee looked at the purchase inquiry emails that arrived from all over the world and something caught his eye.

“Halloween festival?”

***

He was free because he had no filming. And in a few days, it would be summer vacation. Seo-jun yawned big and solved the workbook. His smart head quickly derived the answer.

He finished his school homework and solved all the problems he had to solve in a day.

Seo-jun, who finished all his work, wondered what to do and picked up the remote control.

“Da Ho hyung went on vacation. Mom went to the mart. Should I watch a movie?”

Then, the phone rang. Uncle Hee-sang! Seo-jun’s face brightened.

Last January, after finishing the film festival and returning, Kim Hee-sang told Seo-jun his wedding news.

The other person was his longtime girlfriend, Choi Soohee.

Pianist Choi Soohee worked in Europe and Kim Hee-sang worked in Korea.

The two people who were in a long-distance relationship recently decided to get married when Choi Soohee settled in Korea.

Kim Hee-sang enjoyed his honeymoon and vacation after the wedding, so only co-CEO Lee Min-jun was busy.

‘He hardly ever comes to our house.’

He felt a little disappointed, but he was happy to see his uncle Hee-sang smiling. He was also looking forward to the baby that would be born soon.

‘Uncle Hee-sang will be a great dad if he does what he did for me.’

Seo-jun thought so sincerely. From when he was a baby until now, he was a good uncle who knew him better than anyone else in a different way from his mom and dad. Wouldn’t he be a happy child if he grew up as his uncle’s child!

“Hello!”

-Hey, Seo-jun. What are you doing?

“I finished the workbook and I’m going to watch a movie now!”

-What about Eun-hye?

“Mom went to the mart!”

-Really? Do you have anything to do at the end of October?

“October?”

It’s July now. Seo-jun checked the schedule that Ahn Da Ho sent him on his phone. Hmm. It’s clean. There was no schedule since the filming of The Royal Physician ended.

“No. It’s very clean.”

Kim Hee-sang laughed at Seo-jun’s words.

-Well, then, do you want to go to Paris with Min-jun?

“Paris? Paris, France?”

-Yeah. Our company is participating in a Halloween festival in a city near Paris.

“Halloween festival?”

-Yeah. It’s an event where people set up stalls in the square and dress up as monsters or ghosts.

Halloween! Monsters! Ghosts!

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

-If you look at the reviews from last year’s event, you have to act according to your costume. A person dressed as Dracula has to pretend to hate garlic and wooden stakes like a real Dracula, and a zombie can’t talk. At the end of the event, they vote on who did the best costume and acting.

Seo-jun’s eyes, which were sparkling, grew even bigger.

Kim Hee-sang, who seemed to notice Seo-jun’s excitement, laughed cheerfully.

-I thought of you when I saw that. How about it, do you want to go?

“I want to go!”

Seo-jun said with enthusiasm. As expected, Uncle Hee-sang! He knows what I like! Seo-jun wondered what to wear for the event that was three months away. Dracula? Zombie? Goblin?

-I’ll send you the promotional materials for the Halloween event, so look at them with Eunhye and Min-jun. And let Eun-chan and Da Ho know.

“Okay!”

Seo-jun hung up the phone and waited for the banana talk to arrive, staring at his phone.

After 10 seconds that felt like 10 minutes, a banana talk arrived from Kim Hee-sang. The banana talk message had not only promotional materials, but also links to reviews from people who participated.

[Title: Going to the Halloween Festival in Orche.]

I went to the Halloween festival in Orche, a small city next to Paris, France.

I went dressed as Dracula… I couldn’t eat garlic. Garlic bread with alio olio! There were all kinds of delicious garlic dishes, and I can easily eat ten cloves of garlic in one meal! I couldn’t eat itㅜ They don’t sell it to vampires. That’s the festival rule… Please check it out before you participateㅠ The garlic sausage looked delicious!

“Ahahaha. There’s really such a festival?”

The couple and Seo-jun laughed as they read the review. A vampire who had to run away from a wooden stake, a werewolf who had to growl and imitate a wolf when he saw a round and yellow ornament, and many other monsters with different concepts had reviews.

“Famous monsters have settings set by the festival. Monsters without settings have to wear badges.”

For example, if a gumiho, an oriental monster, had no festival setting, the festival organizers would give out badges.

What you can eat and what you can’t.

A person who dressed up as a gumiho chose a badge that matched the concept of a gumiho who eats liver, which allowed him to eat only red food.

There were many other badges.

“That makes it easy to understand.”

Seo-jun’s words nodded Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun.

“That’s right. With these badges, you can participate in the festival even if you make your own monster.”

“What are you going to do, Seo-jun?”

“Werewolf! Uncle Hee-sang is going to make it for me.”

“You won’t be cold with fur.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at his parents’ words, who looked up the weather in Paris in October.

“Are mom and dad going too?”

“Then, shall we go on a family trip this time?”

Seo Eun-hye and Seo-jun nodded their heads with a big smile at Lee Min-jun’s question.

They had been to the US as if they were visiting their own house, but it was their first time in Europe. Seo-jun, of course, and Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun too.

“Yes! Let’s do that!”

“Okay! I have to tell Chan too.”

“Okay!”

Seo Eun-hye called Seo Eun-chan.

“What kind of werewolf clothes are you going to wear, Seo-jun?”

“Furry ones! Dad, I have a drawing, do you want to see it?”

“Sure.”

Seo-jun quickly brought his sketchbook from his room.

The werewolf in the picture was covered with glittering silver crayons.

Lee Min-jun frowned as he looked at the picture.

The werewolf in the picture had a snout sticking out and his nails were terrifying.

His whole body was covered with fur and he was standing on his hind legs. He looked more like a wolf walking on two legs than a werewolf.

“Doesn’t this look too much like a doll mask?”

“Is it?”

“It’ll be hard to eat with your face like that.”

“I see!”

He hadn’t thought of that. Seo-jun pondered and drew a werewolf in a new sketchbook.

He drew a person first, since it was the clothes he was going to wear. Then, he left his face alone and drew ears on his head with silver crayons.

Seo-jun concentrated on drawing.

“Eun-chan is here.”

“Huh? My brother-in-law is here? Now?”

Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun, who were drawing hard and meddling, looked up at Seo Eun-hye.

Seo Eun-hye scratched her cheek.

“Well, he said he had something important to talk about.”

“What is it?”

The couple and Seo-jun tilted their heads to the side.

Chapter 94

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 94

He felt nervous no matter how many times he said it.

With a tense face, Seo Eun-chan told his parents and Seo-jun, who were staring at him blankly.

“I have someone I want to marry.”

“Is that so?”

“The head of the PR team?”

“Kim Su-ryeon?”

Seo Eun-chan’s serious face turned blank in an instant. His parents and Seo-jun smiled mischievously with their identical faces.

“How did you know?”

“Da Ho hyung told me!”

“The Brown Black kids told me. They said you and the team leader looked suspicious.”

Seo Eun-chan splashed water on his face. ‘How did they know? Wait a minute! If Ahn Da Ho and Brown Black, who occasionally visited the company, knew, then most of the employees working at the company knew.’

Seo Eun-chan’s mind went blank.

“…We didn’t tell anyone?”

“Da Ho hyung said so. Everyone knows but they don’t say anything. It was obvious.”

“I see…”

“But why all of a sudden?”

Seo Eun-chan came to his senses, remembering his foolish self who thought no one knew while secretly meeting with the employees. He wanted to hide in a mouse hole.

“I was wondering if we could have a meeting with the parents next week. I told mom.”

“Oh. Right. There was a meeting with the parents.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun didn’t associate marriage and meeting with the parents right away. Because, their meeting with the parents was no different from usual, since they had known each other since they were young.

Their parents were also close friends, so they had a meal as casually as eating out.

How comfortable was it?

They had a pleasant conversation and came back, only to realize that it was a meeting with the parents.

They got together again and set the wedding date.

It was the first time for the couple, the grandmother, and the person in question, Seo Eun-chan, to have such a normal meeting with the parents.

Seo Eun-hye, who was wondering what to prepare, looked at Seo-jun.

“What about Seo-jun?”

“Huh? Me?”

“It’s an important occasion, the meeting with the parents. Seo-jun is well-behaved, but it might be frustrating for him to stay still all the time.”

“That’s true. Maybe we can ask Da Ho ssi. Or the Brown Black kids.”

“Sister.”

Seo Eun-chan raised his hand cautiously.

“The father-in-law and mother-in-law said it’s okay to bring Seo-jun. They said they really enjoyed watching My Star.”

Seo Eun-chan’s words made Seo-jun and the couple think that it might be a more comfortable meeting with the parents than they thought.

***

They were right.

On the day of the meeting with the parents, the awkwardness that flowed through the meeting place melted away with Seo-jun’s words, ‘Do you want me to sign for you?’

The parents of Kim Su-ryeon, who were excited by the pictures taken with Seo-jun’s signature, brought up various topics.

“Our child has been praising the company president since he changed. There must be no subordinate who praises their boss like that.”

Kim Su-ryeon’s mother’s words made Seo Eun-chan and Kim Su-ryeon’s faces turn red as if they were on fire. Kim Su-ryeon’s father also smiled.

“Seo ssi is reliable and dependable, so it seems like he is running the company well.”

“I also heard a lot about the new baby. How much he praised Eun-chan for doing a good job.”

Ha ha ho ho, the meeting with the parents became harmonious with the two’s black history as a sacrifice.

Seo-jun, who was quietly listening to the love story of his uncle Eun-chan and aunt Su-ryeon, smiled. They all seemed to have agreed to the marriage and were talking about their son and daughter comfortably.

Eun-chan and Su-ryeon had been working together for 10 years already.

They had worked hard together under the previous president, and they had also worked together with Eun-chan as the president.

They didn’t know when they started dating, but the compliments they had casually told their families before dating came back to them like boomerangs at this place.

The two were blushing, but they seemed to like the compliments they had given each other, and they had a smile on their faces.

“Hello, Seo-jun.”

“Hello.”

“Do you want to eat this?”

“Thank you.”

There were familiar faces too. Kim Hwa-ryeon, the doctor who had been with him on 48 Hours.

Kim Su-ryeon’s older sister, Kim Hwa-ryeon, put a steamed egg on the plate in front of Seo-jun. The steaming egg looked delicious.

Kim Hwa-ryeon smiled as she watched Seo-jun eat the egg.

It seemed like yesterday that she saw Seo-jun, who couldn’t even walk, while filming 48 Hours. Other people’s kids grew up so fast.

“Do you remember me?”

“Yes. We were together when we filmed 48 Hours, right?”

“Seo-jun is smart.”

Kim Hwa-ryeon was surprised and smiled. Kim Hwa-ryeon’s husband also looked at Seo-jun with a surprised face. Seo-jun smiled and looked at Kim Hwa-ryeon’s husband.

“Do you still have the first sign?”

“…Wow. I thought my heart was going to drop.”

Kim Hwa-ryeon’s husband, Choi Minho, grabbed his heart. He was so surprised that his heart fluttered. Kim Hwa-ryeon’s eyes also widened.

“How did you know?”

“I remember seeing it then, and you also appeared as a fan number one on the 48 Hours broadcast before.”

“I didn’t think you would remember.”

No matter how much he appeared on the broadcast, who would remember after nine years? Kim Hwa-ryeon and Choi Minho applauded Seo-jun’s excellent memory in their minds.

Kim Hwa-ryeon turned her gaze to her parents and Seo-jun’s grandmother.

The three were still talking happily, bringing up the old stories of Seo Eun-chan and Kim Su-ryeon.

“I enjoyed watching The Royal Physician.”

“Me too. It was so much fun.”

“Thank you.”

“Our parents-in-law also cried while watching it. I’ll ask you for a sign later.”

Kim Su-ryeon whispered and Choi Minho asked for a favor with an awkward face. He didn’t know when he would meet him again if not now. Seo-jun nodded.

“Are you still a fan of the Brown Black hyungs?”

“Yes. I’m not a passionate fan who goes to events, but I listen to their songs regularly.”

“If you’re a fan for almost 10 years, that’s amazing. If you have time and tickets, you should definitely go to the concert.”

Choi Minho scratched the back of his neck awkwardly at Kim Hwa-ryeon’s words, who spoke with a smile. Seo-jun laughed.

“But how did you meet the teacher?”

It was an interesting combination.

The fan number one of Brown Black and the pediatrician who was with him when he filmed 48 Hours. Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

“I met him when I went to the hospital with my nephew. We recognized each other right away.”

“Honestly, it was a memorable encounter.”

The man who took the sign of an idol who hadn’t even debuted at the playground and the woman who was holding a baby while filming a YouTube entertainment show.

Kim Hwa-ryeon recognized Choi Minho, and Choi Minho became acquainted with her when he visited with his nephew.

They started dating and got married.

They had two children now.

“Didn’t you bring them today?”

“They’re probably busy playing with their cousin right now.”

Various stories came and went. Seo Eun-chan and Kim Su-ryeon’s wedding was set for January.

***

In August, when the typhoon was rising, Kim Hee-sang visited Seo-jun’s house to make clothes for the Halloween festival.

Since it was custom-made, Kim Hee-sang measured and recorded Seo-jun’s body size with ease.

“You’re so fluffy, you look like a doll!”

“Right? Mom and dad said I was super cute too.”

“Shall we use this picture for now?”

“Yeah!”

Seo-jun and Kim Hee-sang picked out one of the drawings from Seo-jun’s sketchbook. Then they drew a new one on a fresh sheet of paper, considering what Kim Hee-sang could make.

Swish-swish- Seo-jun’s eyes widened at the drawing. He wore a denim jacket with a hood and plain black pants.

“Hmm. Uncle. Isn’t this too plain?”

“I saw what you drew. That’s not a werewolf, that’s just a wolf. You’re covered in fur from head to toe. You need to look more human.”

Come to think of it, the werewolves in his previous life had various appearances. Some were closer to wolves, and some were closer to humans. Seo-jun’s drawing was closer to a wolf.

“People will think you’re a wolf if you’re too furry. Not a werewolf.”

“Hmm. That’s true.”

Seo-jun nodded.

“But you still have to be a wolf, so like this.”

Kim Hee-sang continued to draw.

The hood on the denim jacket looked like a wolf’s head.

It was mostly covered in gray fur, and he drew two wolf ears, a long snout, sharp fangs, and fierce eyes.

He drew a long and fluffy tail on the back of the black pants.

“When you wear the hood, it’ll probably look like a baseball cap, and your wolf snout will stick out and shadow your face. If you look from a distance, you’ll only see a wolf head and Seo-jun’s chin. I’ll make the gloves so that you can take them off by pulling your hands out of the gap between the sleeves and the gloves. The top part will be connected to the sleeves, so you won’t lose them. I’ll make the wolf claws on the gloves soft and fluffy.”

“And the fangs too!”

As they talked about the Halloween costume, Seo-jun and Kim Hee-sang’s attention soon turned to Kim Hee-sang’s son, Kim Subin, who was born a month ago.

“Do you want to see Subin’s pictures?”

“Yeah!”

They couldn’t go see him yet since he was only a month old, but it was nice to see him in pictures. Kim Hee-sang showed them the pictures he had taken.

“He’s so small.”

In the pictures Kim Hee-sang showed them, there was a very small baby. He was so small that Seo-jun unconsciously lowered his voice.

When Seo-jun was a baby, he was small too, but he didn’t think much of it because his baby friends were also small. But now that he was big, the baby looked so tiny.

He saw pictures from when he was born, when they visited him at the hospital, when he was at the maternity center, and when they took him home.

“There’s a video too.”

Kim Hee-sang showed them the video. On the fluffy blanket, there was a newborn baby, Kim Subin, smiling brightly. Along with Subin’s image, the video had the laughter of Kim Hee-sang and Choi Soohee, who were not visible.

“He’s so cute, right?”

“Yeah!”

It was Seo-jun’s first time seeing such a young baby, and he looked at the pictures and videos that Kim Hee-sang had taken.

He wondered how many he had taken, and he looked at them until Seo Eun-hye, who had gone out, came back. Seo Eun-hye also joined them in looking at the pictures.

“Seo-jun was like this too when he was this small. He was so cute.”

“Our Subin is the cutest!”

“What are you talking about? Our Seo-jun is the cutest!”

Kim Hee-sang and Seo Eun-hye laughed and chatted. Seo-jun was still looking at the pictures on the phone.

The baby who couldn’t even open his eyes and was wrinkled was so cute. A little brother! He wished he would grow up fast so they could play together.

“…I have a favor to ask.”

Unlike his usual cheerful self, Kim Hee-sang hesitated and opened his mouth.

At his voice, Seo Eun-hye and Seo-jun, who had been smiling without realizing it while looking at the pictures, raised their heads and looked at Kim Hee-sang.

“Huh? A favor?”

“…Can I ask you something when I don’t know something while raising Subin? I’ll only ask when it’s really necessary.”

Kim Hee-sang wanted to raise Subin healthy and strong like Seo-jun. Seo Eun-hye, who blinked her eyes at the unexpected question, opened her mouth.

“You know it too. Our Seo-jun grew up normally. Of course, acting and living in America are a bit special… But for everything else, I mostly bought things based on internet reviews or recommendations from other moms.”

“But still, I don’t know, becoming a dad makes me worry about even the smallest things. I want to give him only the best, and I hope Subin grows up happy like Seo-jun.”

Seo Eun-hye smiled at Kim Hee-sang’s shy expression. She thought he would never grow up when she saw him playing with Seo-jun, but he had already become a father.

“Okay. Ask me anything. I’ll teach you everything I know.”

“Thank you.”

“Ugh. I’m getting goosebumps. Just act like you always do.”

“Ahahaha. Should I?”

“So what are you curious about?”

“Things like toys or fairy tales that Seo-jun liked to play with. I’ve decided on the formula. Elephant formula. It’s still very popular.”

“I recommend the formula. But,”

“Huh?”

“You know what toys Seo-jun liked to play with. The dolls you made.”

As if he hadn’t thought of that, Kim Hee-sang’s face was surprised, and Seo Eun-hye and Seo-jun burst into laughter.

‘But the baby friends didn’t like them much. I wonder if Subin will like them. If he does, I’ll play with him!’

Seo-jun wondered which of the monster dolls he had would be liked by the baby.

***

‘The Royal Physician’ was exported to various countries, and all 24 episodes of ‘The Royal Physician’ were uploaded to Plus+.

The people of the countries that started airing ‘The Royal Physician’ were curious about the behind-the-scenes stories of ‘The Royal Physician’ and joined Plus+.

Seo-jun heard the news that the actors who appeared in ‘The Royal Physician’ were getting love calls from everywhere.

There was also a CF that Do-hoon and Ji-seok filmed together. There was also a CF that Uncle Jong-ho appeared in.

Seo-jun also received a lot of CF offers, but he refused them all.

The success of ‘The Royal Physician’ increased not only the CF offers, but also the amount of scripts and synopses that came to Seo-jun.

The problem was the quality of the scripts. There were many scripts that were sent with the thought that if Seo-jun chose them, they would get a huge investment even with a shoddy script.

Seo-jun’s dedicated team 2 was filtering them, but the amount of scripts that reached Seo-jun also increased by 1.5 times.

He read the piles of scripts and synopses, did his summer vacation homework, and Seo-jun’s summer vacation ended and the second semester of his third grade began.

Chapter 95

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 95

“Seo-jun, Hee-sang is here. Let’s go quickly.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun quickly came out of his room with a bag that had a wolf drawing on it, following his mother’s words.

At the entrance, there were a suitcase and his parents, who were going to use it for a week-long trip.

They also had excited faces like Seo-jun.

“We’ll be quiet this time.”

“I hope so.”

They didn’t announce their departure this time. It was just a family trip to enjoy the festival.

Kim Hee-sang agreed to take Seo-jun and his parents to the airport, so they loaded their luggage into his car and got in.

He didn’t know when he moved it, but there was Seo-jun’s car seat in the car.

Kim Hee-sang practiced installing it himself.

He had done it a few times when Seo-jun was young, so he was able to install it easily.

“Experience seems to be important for everything.”

Kim Hee-sang smiled broadly as he grabbed the steering wheel.

The experience of taking care of baby Seo-jun after Kim Subin was born was very helpful. His body remembered even if his head forgot.

Kim Subin, who seemed a little uncomfortable in the arms of Choi Soohee, who had just become a mother, smiled comfortably in Kim Hee-sang’s arms.

“Uncle. Is Subin sleeping well these days?”

“Yeah. She sleeps very well. She really likes the slime doll that Seo-jun gave her.”

Kim Hee-sang’s car headed to the airport. These days, whenever Kim Hee-sang and Seo-jun’s family met and talked, it was always about Subin.

The slime doll was a gift from Seo-jun because Subin couldn’t sleep well.

He originally wanted to give him a doll he had, but it looked too old because he had it for a long time.

So Seo-jun bought it himself with his allowance from the Monster Company website.

A fluffy green slime doll.

He put the ability to calm the mind in the doll and wrapped it himself and gave it to Subin.

Seo-jun smiled broadly at Kim Hee-sang’s words.

“Right? That’s a really good thing.”

“Thanks to that, Soohee and I are sleeping well these days. But what did you do with it? How do you sleep so comfortably? It’s completely become a comfort doll.”

“Um. It’s because it’s fluffy.”

He couldn’t say he used his ability. Seo-jun giggled and gave the reason he had thought of.

“I made it just the right fluffiness. If Subin can’t sleep well next time, bring it back. I’ll make it fluffy again.”

“Is that so? I can’t feel much difference from other things. Subin seems to have a ghostly sense of it. Last time, when the slime was less dry, I gave him a different doll, and he turned his head. How did you do that?”

“We have something in common. Adults don’t know!”

The adults laughed at Seo-jun’s words. The time to go to the airport felt short with the stories about Subin.

Kim Hee-sang’s car stopped in front of the international airport. Because of the chilly weather, everyone was hunched over their shoulders, and no one paid attention to Seo-jun, who was wearing a scarf and a hat.

Seo-jun’s family got out of the car and said goodbye to Kim Hee-sang.

Seo-jun. Kim Hee-sang called Seo-jun with his mouth. Seo-jun looked up at Kim Hee-sang, who was sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Huh?”

“Have a good time at the festival!”

“Okay! I’ll show everyone the perfect werewolf! I’ll take pictures too!”

If Seo-jun was so excited to act as a werewolf, wouldn’t it be on the news that a real one appeared? Kim Hee-sang was glad that the clothes he made didn’t look so realistic.

“Um. I think it’s okay to do it a little weaker. Seo-jun.”

Seo-jun blinked and tilted his head.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Moderation is good for everything. You guys have a good trip too.”

“Be careful.”

As Kim Hee-sang waved his hand, Seo-jun and his parents waved back.

Seo-jun and his parents left Kim Hee-sang’s car and quickly entered the airport in the chilly wind.

They hid their faces well at the airport, but they couldn’t hide them in the plane for more than 10 hours.

They took pictures, signed autographs, slept, and ate the in-flight meal, and before they knew it, they arrived in Paris, France.

Seo-jun waved his hand and left, and the people who took the same plane as him started posting on SNS as soon as they could use their phones.

-I saw Lee Seo-jun! Paris-bound plane!

-I was on the same plane as Lee Seo-jun! It must be a family trip. Autograph!

Journalists who searched for [#Lee Seo-jun] on SNS once a day started writing articles in an instant.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, spotted on a Paris-bound plane!]

[What’s in Paris? Actor Lee Seo-jun, to France Paris!]

And the quick-witted journalists reacted to the keyword of family trip.

They searched for ‘Monster Company’, where Lee Min-jun, Seo-jun’s father, worked, and there were several articles. It was more surprising that they didn’t know until now.

“The Royal Physician was so hot.”

“I know. I don’t know how many articles were buried because of The Royal Physician. They’re making a fuss about making a DVD now.”

“DVD?”

“Yes. Usually, when you buy a DVD or something, they give you something related to the drama. The viewers of The Royal Physician want the script that Lee Seo-jun read. They’re curious about what he wrote so hard during the reading video.”

“That would sell a lot.”

The reporter who was writing an article with the title ‘The Royal Physician, export amount is amazing?!’ until a while ago lowered his head at the junior’s words and started writing a new article.

[Monster, sponsoring Halloween festival in Orsay, France!]

[A city near Paris, Orche!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, attending the Halloween festival?]

-Wow, I live in Paris! Should I go to Orche?

-I’m thinking of going to Belgium.

-I’m in the UK. I’m torn. When will I ever see Seo-jun?

-The Halloween festival is in two days, so it’s too hard to go now.

-But the Halloween festival looks fun.

-Must read) I attended the Orche festival. It’s really hard to recognize people there. Everyone comes in costumes. There are so many kids, too. You wouldn’t even notice Seo-jun if he walked right past you.

=LOL, I guess so.

***

Choi Ye-seul, an employee of Monster Inc., entered the warehouse with a box. She shouted to the other employees who were organizing the stuff inside.

“This is the last one!”

“Good job!”

They had moved all the items to the warehouse prepared by the Orche City Hall. The team leader nodded as he checked the schedule.

The festival would start at 5 p.m. tomorrow. They would set up the booth at the square in the morning, so they were done for today. They had to rest early today since they would be busy tomorrow.

“Let’s wrap up today’s work. It’s a bit early, but shall we go for dinner?”

“Yes!”

The employees of Monster Inc. locked the warehouse door and headed to a nearby restaurant.

The team leader, who spoke French quite well, explained the menu to them. Respect, boss!

They all listened attentively to his explanation.

They ordered their favorite dishes, considering the ingredients and allergies.

“The pasta here is delicious.”

“I got a recommendation from a city hall employee. They said this place has a good beef bourguignon, too.”

“What’s beef bourguignon?”

“It’s a beef stew dish. It’s made with beef, red wine, vegetables, mushrooms, and so on. It’s cooked for a long time. Do you want to order it?”

“Yes!”

They were on a business trip, but they were all excited to be in France for the first time.

The CEO suggested that they could take a vacation in France after the Orche Halloween festival.

Most of them planned to do that.

“This is awesome. It’s my first time abroad.”

“Me too. I thought my first overseas trip would be to a country close to Korea, but France? I’m going to Italy as soon as the work is over. I’ve always wanted to go there!”

“I was thinking the same thing! I’m going to Belgium.”

They chatted happily, not looking like people who came on a business trip.

They enjoyed their leisure time with dessert after an early dinner. Among the employees who were browsing the internet for news from Korea, Choi Ye-seul suddenly got up with a shocked expression.

“Wow!”

“What’s wrong, Ye-seul?”

She showed her phone screen to the team leader without a word.

[Actor Seo-jun, family trip destination is France!]

[Seo-jun, attending the Halloween festival in Orche?!]

[Orche’ specialty, wine!]

[Monster Inc., sponsoring the Orche festival!]

The team leader, who was reading the article, turned pale and said.

“Wow. Seo-jun is in France.”

At the sound of Seo-jun’s name, they all gathered around Choi Ye-seul’s phone.

“I really enjoyed watching The Royal Physician!”

“Honestly, isn’t it hard to find people who haven’t watched The Royal Physician?”

“I watched it on replay until episode 10, then I watched it live. I couldn’t wait for the replay to be uploaded.”

“I cried so much. Episode 14, and the last episode, too.”

“All The Royal Physician fans must have cried, right? I heard there might be a DVD release, is that true?”

“Yes. I hope they give us a script book as a souvenir.”

They were all cheerful. Only Choi Ye-seul had a serious expression. The team leader noticed that and tilted his head.

“Ye-seul, are you sick? Do you want to go back and rest?”

“No. It’s not that…”

Choi Ye-seul sighed without realizing it. The eyes of the employees who were happily talking about Seo-jun turned to Choi Ye-seul. She clicked on one of the articles with her finger.

“It says here that Seo-jun is on a family trip, right?”

“Yeah?”

“It also says he might come to Orche, right?”

“Then we might see him passing by! I thought we could see him at the company since he’s the son of our CEO, but we never did… Huh?”

The employee who was talking stopped. ‘I thought I could see him, too…’ The other employees who agreed with his words also looked at the article with a dawning realization. Even the team leader had a stiff face.

[Actor Seo-jun, family trip destination is France!]

The word ‘family trip’ seemed to stand out in bold and large letters.

“…If Seo-jun is family, then our CEO is…”

“…!”

“The CEO might come here, too.”

The atmosphere that was warm and friendly turned gloomy in an instant.

***

Seo-jun and his parents, who had adjusted to the time difference, decided to visit the Eiffel Tower.

It was a famous tourist spot, and there were still many people even at the time when the sun was setting.

Seo-jun looked at the huge tower in front of him.

The Eiffel Tower, which was seen with the sinking sunset, was really cool.

Seo-jun and his parents looked at the Eiffel Tower without a word.

“They’ll turn on the lights soon. It’ll be even cooler then.”

“Shall we wait and take a picture?”

“Yeah!”

They had fun walking around freely without anyone recognizing them because they were in a foreign country.

Seo-jun and his parents, who were excited about the unexpected trip, took pictures here and there.

While they were doing that, Lee Min-jun’s phone rang. It was Kim Hee-sang’s call. Lee Min-jun, who answered the phone, rubbed his neck as if his blood pressure had risen.

“Dad, who is it?”

“Hee-sang.”

“Kim Hee-sang? What does he want?”

“He said our company has a booth at the Orche Halloween festival. He told me to stop by and check how they’re doing.”

Lee Min-jun’s words made Seo Eun-hye tilt her head.

“Didn’t you take a vacation and come here?”

“I did. But he said I should take a look at Orche since we’re going there anyway. This guy, he’s making me work even on vacation.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter since we’re going there anyway, right?”

“…I don’t want to work until the end of the vacation…”

Lee Min-jun sighed, and Seo-jun and Seo-eun-hye hugged him warmly.

“Come on, come on. Let’s think about that later and enjoy the trip now.”

“Leave tomorrow’s work to tomorrow’s dad!”

Seo-jun’s words made Lee Min-jun laugh.

Chapter 96

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 96

“So this is Orche.”

Seo-jun and his parents arrived in Orche.

The Halloween festival had not started yet, but there were people everywhere with their children.

They all wore light costumes and did not hide their excitement for the festival.

Seo-jun and his parents checked into their accommodation and went outside.

They had lunch in Paris.

Lee Min-jun looked at the time. It was almost time for his appointment.

“I’ll go to the square first. Seo-jun, do you want to go sightseeing with mom somewhere else?”

“Can’t we go together?”

“Hmm. It’s probably busy right now. It’s dangerous to move things around. Let’s go later.”

“Okay!”

“We’ll be at the wine museum. I don’t know where we’ll go next, but call me when you’re done.”

“Okay. Be careful, both of you.”

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye parted ways with Lee Min-jun, who headed to the square where the Halloween festival would be held.

The square of Orche was bustling with preparations for the festival.

The square and the road were divided by a boundary line, and security guards blocked the entrance of people.

Inside the square, there were large tents set up by the organizers and booths by the participating shops.

Lee Min-jun rubbed his neck as he saw the sight of paper boxes, chairs, and desks scattered everywhere. He felt like he came here to work.

“Kim Hee-sang. You’ll see.”

He saw people carrying loads here and there.

At the entrance, security guards checked the badges. Lee Min-jun, who had no badge, took out his phone and called his team leader.

The phone rang.

“He’s here!”

Lee Min-jun’s name filled the screen. He had contacted him that he would visit around 2 o’clock, but the team leader had been waiting since 1 o’clock, looking at his phone.

The other employees also looked at the team leader who ran to the entrance with a pitiful look.

“Our company is good, and our company’s presidents are good people too, but…”

“Honestly, bosses are all hard to deal with.”

“Team leader, hang in there.”

They all cheered for the team leader.

There was one person who was having a hard time because of his boss here, and one person who came to work during his vacation.

The team leader and Lee Min-jun greeted each other awkwardly. The team leader handed Lee Min-jun the badge he had prepared.

Lee Min-jun put the badge around his neck and stepped into the square.

“This way.”

“Yes.”

The team leader gave Lee Min-jun the event guide pamphlet distributed by the organizers and guided him around the square.

The stage events would take place on the large stage that was being set up in the center, and food and souvenirs would be sold at the booths that were lined up here and there.

They greeted the staff of the Orche City Hall and looked around the lost and found center and the emergency treatment center.

‘I need to remember this.’

It would not be easy to find such a large place when there were many people.

“This is the food truck zone.”

“There are a lot of shops.”

“Yes. The popularity has increased as the rounds went on. At first, we only used half of the square, but now we use it all.”

Lee Min-jun nodded.

“Shall we go to our booth then?”

“Yes.”

The team leader walked ahead and said.

“On the guide pamphlet, you can see that the restaurants are marked with colors. The places that sell drinks are blue, and the places that sell food are green.”

“I see.”

“And the places that sell souvenirs are scattered around, but the foreign companies or the bigger companies are clustered together. Our booth is over there too.”

On the map on the pamphlet, Lee Min-jun saw the logos of the toy companies and the doll companies that he had seen before when he considered overseas shopping for Seo-jun. Among them, the logo of Monster Company stood out.

“Here it is.”

The Monster Company’s booth was busy displaying the Monster Company’s dolls, stationery, and metal badges.

The employees who were carrying the paper boxes with dolls, and the employees who were neatly arranging them, stopped and looked at Lee Min-jun, who appeared with the team leader.

“Don’t mind me and keep going.”

Lee Min-jun quickly waved his hand.

At his words, the employees bowed and resumed their work.

Lee Min-jun looked around the booth’s sign and the inside from a distance and opened his mouth.

“Is there anything you need?”

“The Orche City Hall is helping us a lot, and the other booth companies are also helping each other. It’s not a competition to sell more products, but a really enjoyable festival for the participating companies too.”

The team leader smiled and said that he knew well that Lee Min-jun and Kim Hee-sang were good people, but he was just burdened by their titles.

“But if you have any difficulties or need me, please contact me right away.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“Then I’ll go now.”

“Ah, already…?”

The team leader said that without knowing. It seemed like it had not been 30 minutes. The employees who were working hard but also listening to their conversation shouted inwardly. No, already? You can’t say that!

Lee Min-jun chuckled and said.

“I stopped by for a while during my vacation. You all seem to be doing well. I’ll trust you and go. Cheer up, everyone. Oh, this is a bonus. Have something delicious and expensive when you finish your work.”

“Yes, thank you…”

Lee Min-jun handed the envelope to the team leader and disappeared like a storm. It ended so quickly that it was as if he had not been nervous.

The team leader sighed with relief and sat on a chair that was on one side.

An employee who went to the warehouse to get the load and came back to the booth looked at the team leader and turned his head to find Lee Min-jun, who had been there. Choi Ye-seul, who noticed his look, said.

“The president is gone.”

“Already? Really?”

“Yes. But, team leader. Did you hear that earlier?”

“?”

Choi Ye-seul smiled awkwardly and said.

“The president is on vacation right now.”

“Now that I think about it, the article said he was on a family trip…”

“I thought he came on a business trip with his family, but he took a vacation and came?”

It was unfortunate that he had to work during his vacation.

He understood why he left so quickly.

***

While Lee Min-jun was in the square, Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye visited the wine museum of Orche.

On one wall, there was a large map of France with vineyards other than Orche marked.

“There are a lot of vineyards.”

“Yeah. That’s why French wine is famous.”

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye slowly looked around the wine museum.

They saw the types and origins of wine, and small dolls working in the order of making wine.

They enjoyed talking with their mom while looking around the wine museum, and they soon saw the end.

“Would you like to taste some wine? We have wine for children too.”

At the employee’s words, Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye nodded.

The wine had a strong grape scent, as it was a specialty of Orche.

It was sweeter and had a stronger grape flavor than the grape juice they had in Korea. Seo Eun-hye also looked satisfied.

“Should we buy some wine for dad?”

“Okay!”

They bought some wine on the employee’s recommendation and some children’s wine, or grape juice, for Seo-jun.

As they left the wine museum with heavy hands, they saw Lee Min-jun standing at the door.

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye’s eyes widened at their father’s smiling face.

And they also smiled brightly without knowing.

“Dad! You came back so fast!”

“They were all doing well. They must have planned everything from the beginning to the end, and I didn’t want to mess it up by interfering. They would be in trouble, and so would I.”

“I guess so. There’s a concert ahead. Let’s go watch it.”

“Sure. Is this wine?”

Lee Min-jun naturally took the paper bag with wine from Seo Eun-hye.

“Dad. This is really delicious. There’s also children’s wine.”

“Children’s wine?”

“Grape juice.”

Lee Min-jun burst out laughing at that. Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye also laughed and headed to the theater where the concert would be held.

There were quite a lot of people heading to the theater where the concert would be. There were tourists and citizens of Orche mixed together.

The seats were first-come, first-served with a low admission fee. Seo-jun and his parents found a decent seat and sat down.

“Seo-jun, can you see?”

“Yes!”

Even though it was a small theater, there was a difference in the level of the seats, so the people in the back could see well.

As they sat quietly and waited, the side door of the stage opened and two people came in.

They were a pianist and a violinist.

The two bowed and the audience clapped.

Seo-jun and his parents also clapped.

The pianist sat in front of the piano and warmed up his hands, and the violinist held the violin and got ready.

The two performers played famous classics. Piano solo, violin solo. Duet of the two instruments.

The performance was beautiful.

They were not famous performers, but it was a good performance.

When the performance ended, applause erupted. Normally, the performance would have continued, but there was not much time left until the Halloween festival of Orche.

The violinist picked up the microphone.

“Thank you for visiting Orche. Please enjoy the Halloween festival as much as you can, and I hope it will be a happy festival for you.”

***

When the concert ended and they went outside, the people walking on the street looked completely different from a few hours ago.

The children wore black cloaks and carried witch’s brooms, or wrapped bandages around them and imitated mummies.

The adults wore light costumes such as headbands with devil horns or angel rings, or more elaborate costumes such as inverted doll masks.

Seo-jun and his parents’ eyes widened.

Suddenly, monsters had taken over the streets of Orche.

Seeing this sight for the first time in his life, Seo-jun grabbed his mom and dad’s hands with an excited face.

“Mom and dad! Let’s go quickly!”

“Seo-jun’s clothes are in the hotel. We have to hurry.”

Seo-jun and his parents quickened their pace. Even the hotel door, the lobby, and the hotel staff were all in costumes, no matter how small.

The hotel decorations, which were beautifully decorated for Halloween, looked completely different from what they had seen during the day, with the colorful hotel lights.

“It’s like we came to another world.”

“Maybe the theater door was a portal to another world.”

“Awesome! It’s really Halloween!”

Children shouted Trick or Treat everywhere. The adults gave them candy from their pockets.

“Let’s go quickly!”

“Yeah.”

When they returned to their room, Seo-jun opened the suitcase. The clothes that Kim Hee-sang had made were neatly folded. Seo Eun-hye put down the wine and said.

“Can you dress yourself?”

“Yes! What are mom and dad going to do?”

“We’re going to wear the headbands that Hee-sang made.”

“Hehehe.”

Seo-jun took out the denim jacket.

The wolf head looked rounder and cuter than in the picture.

The wolf ears that stood up, the fangs, and the eyes were all small.

Uncle Hee-sang said that he had made it too hard and didn’t think about the weight, and the wolf head became too heavy. It would be hard for Seo-jun, since it would make even adults’ necks stiff, so he made it simpler.

“Hmm. Can’t be helped.”

He carefully wore the denim jacket with the wolf head, and the black pants with a tail. And he put his hands in the gloves at the end of the sleeves.

Both hands were gloved and looked like chubby wolf paws. The back of the hand was fluffy, but the palm was a dog’s paw.

“Wow. Jelly!”

He clenched his fist and admired the round and soft paw. The claws on the gloves were also small and soft.

Seo-jun finally put on the wolf head hat. He moved his head around and it felt like he was wearing two hats.

“It’s light! And I can see well.”

He looked in the mirror and saw that his forehead was covered by the wolf’s snout. The wolf head in the mirror looked like a baby wolf.

Hmm. He wanted to be a cooler werewolf, but it was because of the weight. Nothing he could do!

“Seo-jun, are you done?”

“Yes! Ta-da!”

“Wow! You’re so cute!”

“Really! You’re so adorable! The gloves have jelly too.”

“Kim Hee-sang. Amazing. No shoes? He could have made wolf feet too.”

“He said to just wear sneakers. He said it might be dangerous to step on the decorations.”

“I guess so. Oh, take this bag with you.”

Lee Min-jun hung a small bag on Seo-jun’s shoulder. It was a wolf-shaped bag that could hold candy or snacks, and had emergency money in it.

“Shall we go now?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and held the hands of his mom and dad, who wore headbands with wolf ears.

The wolf family was all together.

Chapter 97

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 97

Seo-jun and his parents left the hotel and followed the pumpkins called jack-o-lanterns to the square.

Jack-o-lanterns were lined up along the street like streetlights.

There were people taking pictures with jack-o-lanterns everywhere.

“Should we take some too?”

“Yeah!”

Seo-jun and his parents also took pictures non-stop.

The end of the jack-o-lantern road was the square of Orche City.

The festival had not even started yet, but the square was bustling.

The booths were brightly lit and children and adults were laughing happily.

“Are you hungry?”

“No, I’m fine. I’ll eat later.”

Seo Eun-hye, who was watching the children walking around with sausages, asked Seo-jun.

Seo-jun shook his head.

Lee Min-jun opened his mouth after looking at the clock.

“I guess it’s about to start.”

Bang! Bang!

The start of the Halloween festival was marked by colorful smoke rising into the sky and everyone shouting trick or treat together.

A voice saying trick or treat came out of the speakers installed in the square.

As the Halloween festival began, Seo-jun and his parents went to the organizer’s tent first and submitted their contest application form. The staff handed them a piece of paper and said.

“You can choose several effects from here. But if you choose too many, the timing might not match, so it’s better to choose only one or two. Look at this guide and write down what effects you will use and when on the stage. The lights also have numbers on them, so you can choose them by looking at the stage. If it’s too hard, you can either turn off all the lights and shine only the spotlight or turn on all the lights.”

There were various colors of lights, fog effects, soap bubble effects, and so on.

“Please match the standard to the time of the music you prepared. If you don’t have music, you can choose and use it from here.”

“I have music!”

“Then, choose the effects and come to the back of the stage an hour before and get the order sheet. We’re going to draw lots, so you have to come on time.”

Seo-jun nodded his head repeatedly.

“It’s more serious than I thought…”

“I know. I thought they would just pick who suits the best. Did you know, Seo-jun?”

“Yeah! I saw it on YouTube. I went to uncle’s company practice room and practiced.”

No wonder, he thought. He went out with Ahn Da ho often even though he wasn’t filming. Seo-jun and his parents put the guide in their bag and left the organizer’s tent.

Outside the tent, the square was already full of monsters. People who had attended the Halloween festival several times before skillfully imitated the monsters.

The people who were awkward at first soon got used to it and immersed themselves in their roles.

“Roar!”

“Ha ha ha!”

A person dressed as a werewolf growled and the children ran away laughing. A mummy wrapped in bandages and a zombie covered in blood looked at each other silently. Little witches and wizards boasted their brooms and wands to each other.

Without a script, without anyone’s instructions, the festival burned hot.

“They’re really doing it right.”

“I know.”

“Can I play over there?”

Seo-jun pointed to where the werewolves were gathered. From adults wearing wolf-like doll clothes like the picture Seo-jun drew for the first time to children who only wore wolf ears headbands. They were happily complimenting each other’s costumes and chatting.

“You have to play only there. Don’t go far. Mom and dad will be here.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun waved his hand to his mom and dad and headed for the werewolves.

“Oh. Another fellow has come.”

“What a cute wolf.”

“Hello!”

They all welcomed Seo-jun warmly. Children dressed as werewolves approached Seo-jun.

“You’re awesome. Where did you buy your clothes?”

“My uncle made them for me!”

“Your palms are cute. They’re like our Max!”

“Max?”

“Our dog. He’s huge.”

There were children who could speak English and those who couldn’t, but they all laughed and talked as if they were having fun.

“There are vampires and werewolves fighting over there!”

“What?! Where!”

Someone’s scream made the adults jump up.

Seo-jun, who couldn’t speak French, tilted his head and a child who could speak English translated for him.

“Vampires and werewolves are fighting.”

“Huh?”

Vampires and werewolves were enemies in the setting, but was it enough to fight at the festival?

The child pulled Seo-jun, who was blankly standing.

The other children were already running to the place where the fight broke out.

“Let’s go quickly!”

“Wait a minute! I’ll tell mom and dad and come back!”

Seo-jun quickly ran to his mom and dad, who were talking with a couple who said they came from the United States.

“Mom and dad! Someone is fighting over there.”

“What? Fighting?”

“Do we have to report it?”

Unlike Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who were surprised, the people who attended the festival for the second time laughed and said.

“It’s not a fight, it’s a contest.”

“A contest?”

“Last time it was beer drinking. I wonder what it is this time.”

“The werewolf faction and the vampire faction have been rivals since the festival started. The duel of the two monsters is one of the best events at this Halloween festival.”

I see. That’s why the children ran to watch. He turned his head and saw the child who had translated for Seo-jun waving his hand and rolling his feet.

“Mom and dad, can I go?”

“Let’s go together. Mom and dad are curious too.”

“Okay!”

They greeted the couple they were sitting with and headed to the place where the werewolves and vampires were dueling. The child who had waited for Seo-jun was with them.

The blond boy only wore a wolf ears headband. He didn’t have a wolf tail that everyone was wearing.

“Charlie!”

“I’m Jun!”

“Jun is like our dad! Cool! Are you going to the contest later?”

“Yeah! I’m going for first place!”

Charlie chuckled and shook his head at Seo-jun’s words.

“The monster contest is not only about costumes, but also about acting. Last year’s winner was a vampire, and when he appeared, the smoke was billowing and it was awesome. He also acted like a vampire very well, but it turned out he was an actor who was on the theater stage.”

Charlie talked without hesitation. Seo-jun opened his eyes wide and asked.

“Do you live here? You know a lot.”

“Yeah! This is my tenth time participating in this festival!”

“How old are you?”

“Ten years old! I’ve been participating since I was a baby. Back then, I dressed up as a jack-o-lantern, but now I’m following my dad and becoming a werewolf.”

“That’s amazing. Cool!”

“Ahem!”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun chuckled at the children’s conversation. As they chatted, they headed towards the place where the vampires and werewolves were having a showdown. It was a sausage booth.

“…I can’t eat anymore.”

“Good. Switch!”

On two simple seats, there was a vampire with a black cloak and a werewolf with no shirt on.

In front of them, there were piles of well-cooked sausages. The vampire with a bloated stomach got up from his seat and another vampire took his place and started eating sausages.

Charlie shrugged his shoulders and said.

“Today is sausage day.”

“Today? What about other times?”

“The fight between vampires and werewolves is randomly decided. Two years ago, it was steak and last year, it was beer. So the start time and the fight location are different every time.”

“I see.”

This time, the werewolf got up from his seat. Another werewolf who was standing next to him sat down on the chair and started eating sausages.

“Do you have to make a reservation to participate?”

“No. Anyone can do it if they are a vampire or a werewolf. Once someone comes down, I mean, a monster, they can’t do it again and only new monsters can participate in the showdown. It goes on like this until the last monster left wins.”

“But why do you call it a fight?”

He was startled by that earlier and thought there was a big accident. Charlie grinned and answered Seo-jun’s question.

“If you’re dressed up as a monster, a contest or a bet would look too weak, right? It has to be a fight or a battle between vampires and werewolves!”

“…You really care about the setting, huh.”

“It’s super fun that way.”

Seo-jun smiled at Charlie’s words. Yeah. That’s what makes it fun!

“Can I fight too?”

“Oh. You’re quick to adapt. Sure. Dad! He wants to fight too!”

Charlie raised his arm and waved his hand. The werewolf who was lining up the participants on the werewolf side turned his head.

“Wow.”

Seo-jun and the couple gasped without realizing it. A man with a wolf mask flipped over his head walked over.

He looked like the god of dogs in Egypt, Anubis, but with a wolf head instead of a dog. His head was completely wolf and his neck was also covered with wolf fur.

‘Can he see? Where are his eyes?’

Seo-jun blinked his eyes. He was still very cool.

“Little wolf. Do you want to participate?”

“Hello! I’m Jun! I really want to participate!”

“Good. We welcome participation from our kind. Charlie, you?”

“Me too!”

Charlie and Seo-jun held hands and headed towards the waiting line. The real werewolf looked at Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun.

Hmm. The two people felt embarrassed by their wolf ears headbands.

“Don’t worry. I’ll feed him a little and send him down.”

Charlie’s dad opened his mouth. His voice, which had been rough until a moment ago, softened. The couple smiled at the change.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Our son loves monsters. Please take good care of him.”

“It looks like it. This is your first time at this festival, right? You’re having fun with Charlie.”

The young wolves were playing and joking around even in the waiting line. Their parents smiled at their bright faces.

“Come on, sit here.”

The werewolf in front of Seo-jun raised a white flag.

As Seo-jun sat down, his mom and dad took a picture and a new sausage arrived in front of him.

It was a kid-friendly sausage that was not too spicy and smaller than the adult-sized ones.

“You can put some sauce on it and eat it slowly. Just eat three and come down. We have to buy some other delicious snacks too.”

“Okay!”

Charlie’s dad went down and Charlie, who had been waiting next to him, gave him a thumbs up.

Seo-jun picked up a fork and stabbed a sausage.

The three sausages disappeared in no time.

“But how long does that contest last?”

Charlie also ate three sausages and came down.

Now they were heading to the store where Charlie often went to buy a drink.

“Two years ago, they ate steak, but it ended when the steak ran out. Last year, it was beer drinking, but there was a limit per person, or monster, so it ended because there were no participants. This year, it will end if the sausages run out or there are no participants, right?”

“I see.”

Charlie knew a lot of people. Whenever he walked by, people working at the booths or passing by called out to him.

Snacks piled up every time someone called his name.

They also gave Seo-jun a lot of snacks, saying he was Charlie’s friend.

Seo-jun and Charlie walked around with a pile of snacks.

“We got this much snacks without doing trick or treat.”

“They’re all delicious. Do you want to sit over there and eat?”

Charlie pointed to a place full of kids. There were playground equipment like slides and swings, and toys and dolls. Around the kids, their parents were sitting and resting.

“Where is this?”

“This is a playground, where kids play. Only kids can enter. They made a separate space because it’s easy to lose kids over there where it’s crowded.”

“I see.”

“Let’s go too!”

Seo-jun turned around at Charlie’s words. Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun waved their hands.

“Mom and dad will stay here.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and headed to the playground with Charlie. When Lee Min-jun got up from his seat, Seo Eun-hye asked him.

“Are you going to check it out?”

“Yeah. I think I should take a look.”

“Then I’ll watch Seo-jun. Be careful and come back soon.”

“Alright.”

Lee Min-jun moved his feet. He had followed Charlie around the square, but he didn’t seem interested in the corporate booths and didn’t go that way.

There were a lot of people at the corporate booths too.

Lee Min-jun walked slowly to the Monster Company booth he had visited earlier in the day.

“Oh. This is the badge that Seo-jun Lee used to do, right?”

“Yes! He often does this one and this one.”

“I didn’t buy it because I was afraid it would get lost in the delivery, but I didn’t expect to buy it here!”

Lee Min-jun said with a laugh. Most of the adult customers of Monster Company were Seo-jun’s fans.

They bought badges or dolls and had a pleasant conversation with the next customer they had never seen before.

“Did you watch ‘The Royal Physician’?”

“Of course. I cried so much!”

My goodness. I didn’t expect a foreigner to say ‘The Royal Physician’ in Korean. The power of the media was amazing.

“Mr. President?”

“Oh. Hello.”

“Did you come to have fun? The wolf ears suit you well.”

Lee Min-jun smiled awkwardly and adjusted his headband at the team leader’s words.

Just then, Choi Ye-seul, wearing a sparkling LED angel ring headband, passed by in front of Lee Min-jun and the team leader.

The angel ring, which had been white, changed to red and blue.

The team leader smiled and said, seeing her eye-catching appearance.

“The staff also came well-prepared.”

He felt like he was participating in the festival, even though he couldn’t attend because of work.

Lee Min-jun looked at the Monster Company booth. He was relieved to see the staff’s bright faces.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“No, it’s fine. I never thought there would be a festival like this. It’s fun just to watch.”

“I agree. If nothing happens, we might participate again next year.”

“That would be nice.”

“Well, I’ll go then.”

The team leader watched Lee Min-jun walk away. A flash of light appeared behind his back. It was a sign of popularity faster than his voice. Choi Ye-seul asked with shining eyes.

“Did the president come again?”

“Yes. He probably came with his family.”

“Wow, then…”

Choi Ye-seul, who had been blushing, lowered her voice.

“Actor Lee Seo-jun must be here too!”

“Uh… yeah.”

Why couldn’t he associate the president and actor Lee Seo-jun?

The team leader sighed softly, wishing he could meet Lee Seo-jun.

Chapter 98

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 98

“Hi, Charlie!”

“Hi!”

Charlie was popular here too.

Seo-jun and Charlie played together all over the playground.

They saw some toys and dolls with the logo of Monster Inc.

Seo-jun and Charlie tried all the rides on the playground.

The couple gave them drinks when they came back from having fun.

“The Halloween festival is fun, but the clothes are annoying, right?”

“Yeah. The hat keeps falling off. And the tail is uncomfortable too.”

“That’s why I didn’t wear the mask that dad gave me. I have more fun playing on the playground than dressing up.”

No wonder.

Charlie’s dad was wearing a cool mask, but Charlie only wore a headband with wolf ears.

He could have made or bought one for his son, but Charlie must have refused.

“But it’s still fun, right?”

“Yeah!”

Seo-jun and Charlie got up from their seats after catching their breath.

“Do you want to play hide and seek?”

“Shall we? Let’s call the other kids and play together.”

“Yeah!”

Seo-jun and Charlie disappeared into the playground in an instant.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun shrugged their shoulders.

“They have amazing stamina. I’m already tired.”

“Same here.”

***

“This time, Jun is the seeker!”

The kids took turns being the seeker. Charlie acted like a leader and decided the order, so there was no fighting.

“Okay. Shall I count to 30?”

“There are zombies too, so you have to count to 60!”

“Zombies are fast these days… Okay.”

Seo-jun buried his face in the wall.

Charlie didn’t forget to play with the settings while playing hide and seek.

Zombies were slow, but the seeker had to touch them to avoid being bitten. Witches and wizards could say a spell and get another chance to run away.

“One!”

The kids scattered like a swarm of bees.

“Two!”

But even so, the kids often forgot the rules and were caught quickly.

Seo-jun counted with a smile. The playground, which was full of the kids’ laughter, became quiet. Only Seo-jun’s voice was heard.

“Sixty! I’m coming!”

‘I didn’t prepare this ability for this.’

Seo-jun decided to use a trick to get back at Charlie, who found him quickly.

[(선)Shadow Werewolf’s Wolf Transformation is activated.]

[(선)Shadow Werewolf’s Wolf Transformation-Low Intermediate]

You are a werewolf who lives with a wolf made of your own shadow.

You usually live as a human, but you turn into a wolf when the moon is full.

You can walk on four legs more comfortably and your sense of smell is enhanced.

You can control your shadow wolf.

There was no obvious change like when he was a Blue Dragon Hatchling. When he tried it at home, his eye color turned yellow, his nails and claws became sharp, and his sense of smell became stronger.

Seo-jun let out a low howl. His sense of smell became stronger. His nails and claws, hidden by gloves and sneakers, became sharp. His eyes, hidden by the shadow of his hat, turned yellow.

Sniff.

He smelled the kids.

Seo-jun’s sense of smell quickly found the hiding kids.

From the young wizard who turned his back and covered only his eyes in the corner of the ride, to the Jack O’Lantern with a pumpkin head under the bench.

And finally, the werewolf Charlie, who was hiding skillfully, he found them all.

No, there was one more person left.

Sniff.

Seo-jun’s nose twitched. It was a human smell mixed with water.

“Next, I’ll be the seeker… Jun, where are you going!”

“Just a minute! I think there’s one more person hiding!”

“What? We’re all here!”

Seo-jun walked toward the corner where the smell came from.

The corner of the playground, a little dark.

There was one person there.

A girl with a black witch hat was crouching.

“Found you!”

The tearful girl lifted her head at the sound of his voice.

Seo-jun reached out his hand and the girl, who was looking at the jelly shaped like a dog’s paw, grabbed his hand.

***

Charlie left the kids to play and ran back to where Seo-jun and the girl were.

The girl and Seo-jun were still holding hands.

“Hi. I’m Jun. I’m a werewolf.”

“I’m Charlie. I don’t have a tail, but I’m a werewolf too.”

“What’s your name?”

The blonde girl, who looked cute like a doll, slowly opened her mouth.

She met the kids who spoke the same language as her for the first time among the scary-looking people who spoke an unknown language. They didn’t look scary either.

“…Grace.”

“Grace, huh. Grace, where are your mom and dad?”

“…I don’t know.”

Tears welled up in Grace’s eyes.

She followed the people with the witch’s broom because she was curious, and then she lost her mom and dad.

The fun Halloween festival became scary in an instant.

She walked to the brightest place and saw a playground where the kids were playing. They were all having fun, but she couldn’t join them, so Grace hid in the corner.

‘Mom, dad… sister…’

Please find me.

She was cold and hungry. Grace wanted to eat the waffle that she refused to eat earlier because she was full. She missed her dad who quenched her thirst, her mom who hugged her tightly, and her sister who teased her.

She felt like she would be sadder if she cried, so she leaned against the corner and curled up.

“Found you!”

She heard a bright voice right in front of her. She lifted her head and saw a round wolf. No, it was a kid with a wolf hat.

The wolf kid stretched out his jelly paw to Grace. It felt like she had entered a fairy tale.

Grace also reached out and grabbed his paw. As expected, the paw was fluffy.

As Grace told them her story in a stuttering voice, Seo-jun and Charlie thought.

“We need to contact the missing children’s shelter.”

“Let’s go together.”

Seo-jun and Charlie held the girl’s hand and walked toward the couple.

“What’s going on?”

Seo-jun and Charlie, who were playing well, brought a girl in a witch costume. Grace hid behind Seo-jun and Charlie, afraid of the strangers.

“She lost her mom and dad.”

At Seo-jun’s words, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun were surprised and got up from their seats and packed their things.

“Then we have to go to the missing children’s shelter right away!”

They felt sorry for the little girl who lost her parents.

As parents themselves, they felt heartbroken just thinking about it.

Lee Min-jun carried the bag and looked for the way. Seo Eun-hye bent her knees and looked at Grace.

She was still hiding behind Seo-jun and Charlie.

“Can I hug you, ma’am?”

Grace clutched the clothes of the two children. Seo-jun felt her trembling from the end of the fabric and realized her fear. He rubbed his wrist.

[(Active) The calming scent of apple blossoms is activated.]

A sweet fragrance flowed from Seo-jun.

Grace’s heart, which had been beating irregularly, gradually began to beat steadily. Her fearful mind slowly calmed down. As Grace’s hand loosened, Seo-jun stopped his ability.

“It’ll be faster if you go with the lady.”

“…Okay.”

Grace hugged Seo Eun-hye. Seo Eun-hye felt sorry for her cold body. How cold and scared she must have been? Seo Eun-hye hugged Grace tightly as if to share her warmth.

“Mom.”

“I know. Let’s go.”

The couple and the children quickly headed to the missing children’s shelter. Lee min-jun and Charlie shouted “Excuse us!” and made way for them, while Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye followed behind, comforting Grace.

“Here, we have a missing child!”

The staff at the shelter got up from their seats.

The peaceful shelter became busy.

They asked Grace’s name and checked her appearance.

They radioed the staff who were roaming the plaza to search for the child’s parents and started broadcasting.

[…The parents of Grace Welton, who came from the United States, New York. Grace Welton is now at the missing children’s shelter. We repeat…]

Charlie boasted his wide network of contacts. He managed to get some delicious cookies and warm hot chocolate from the city hall staff.

“This is usually only for the missing children…”

“Hey. We brought a missing child here!”

“That’s right. Good job.”

Today was the first time Grace was missing, and there were plenty of cookies and hot chocolate prepared. Charlie brought three cups of cookies and hot chocolate, and Seo-jun smiled brightly and prepared a place to put the tray.

“Thank you!”

“Don’t mention it!”

The two children seemed to have become close friends in no time.

Seo-jun gave Grace a hot chocolate.

Grace sipped the hot chocolate. Her empty stomach warmed up.

The three children wrapped themselves in blankets and sat together in a corner of the shelter, chatting.

“After the contest, the vampire team, the blue werewolf team, and the witch team will perform, and my dad will be there too. He’s the leader of the werewolves! He performed with his uncles last year and it was awesome. I want to perform on stage when I grow up too!”

“Charlie’s dad looked cool in his werewolf costume.”

“I like Jun’s costume better.”

Seo-jun smiled broadly at Grace’s words.

“Right?”

“You’re cute.”

Seo-jun blushed at Grace’s words.

“I can’t be cute. Werewolves are usually very scary and cool, you know.”

“Like our dad! You can’t win first place with such a round face, can you? Why did you make it like that?”

“It was originally a cool wolf hat like Charlie’s dad, but it got too heavy as I added this and that. So I made this instead.”

“It’ll be hard to win first place with that.”

“But what is the contest?”

Grace asked, and Charlie answered. Seo-jun listened carefully.

“You go up on the stage in the center and act. Vampires act like vampires, witches act like witches. You can also make and use props, but they can’t be too big. The first place is decided by the audience’s reaction.”

“What if the reactions are similar?”

Charlie shrugged.

“Then it’s a tie, I guess. It happened quite often. A tie.”

“I see.”

“By the way, Jun, did you apply for the contest?”

“Yeah. I did it as soon as the festival started.”

“What’s the title?”

“The Transformation of a Werewolf.”

“I’ll cheer for you. My voice will be the loudest!”

Charlie’s words made Seo-jun and Grace laugh.

The staff and the couple at the MIA Shelter, who were worried that Grace might be anxious, were relieved and waited for Grace’s family. How long had it been?

“Grace!”

The tent of the MIA Shelter opened wide. Grace’s parents and a girl who looked like her sister rushed in.

Grace, who had been laughing until a moment ago, burst into tears as soon as she saw her parents’ faces.

“Mom! Dad! Sister!”

“Grace! Where on earth were you…? No, never mind. I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

The couple examined Grace all over.

The girl and the parents both had tear-stained faces.

Soon, Grace’s parents, who were relieved that Grace was safe, thanked the staff and Seo Eun-hye and Lee min-jun repeatedly.

“This is Jun and this is Charlie. They found me.”

“Thank you so much.”

Wiping away her tears, Grace introduced Seo-jun and Charlie with the brightest smile. Grace’s mother, who also thanked Seo-jun and Charlie, asked Grace.

“Do you want to go back to the hotel now?”

She looked worried that Grace might hate the Halloween festival now, or that she might have a little trauma. Grace’s father and sister also looked at Grace.

“No.”

Grace hugged her warm mother and smiled brightly.

“Jun is in the contest. I want to see that too. Jun wants to be first, but he needs my support to be first. Mom and dad, let’s cheer for him together!”

Seo-jun and Charlie laughed at Grace’s words.

They thought she was a quiet child, but she must have been silent because she was nervous.

“Then you have to be first! I’ll cheer for you.”

Grace and her family left the MIA Shelter to have dinner they hadn’t eaten yet.

Charlie looked at the clock in the Mia Shelter.

“Jun, you have to go and prepare for the contest now.”

At that, Seo-jun and the couple checked the clock. The time that the organizers had told them was almost up.

“How did you know?”

“It’s my tenth time participating.”

“Which one do you remember?”

“Um. The fifth?”

The two kids laughed.

“I went to see my dad perform.”

“Do you want to go with me?”

“Yeah. I’ll show you what my dad is preparing.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Charlie’s words.

He would be able to see that cool wolf mask up close!

Chapter 99

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 99

The stage set up in the Orche Square was bigger than he thought.

There was still an hour left until the show started, but there were already people sitting in good seats to watch.

“It looked smaller in the YouTube video, didn’t it?”

“They installed a bigger one this year because they had more customers than expected last year.”

“I see. It’s awesome!”

Seo-jun nodded at Charlie’s answer.

There was a rectangular stage with lights installed, and a protruding stage in the shape of a straight line that he could walk out on.

It was similar to the runway that fashion show models walked on, but it was wider and shorter.

‘I’ll walk out this way.’

Seo-jun, who was thinking about the route on the spacious stage, nodded his head with satisfaction.

“This is the way to the back of the stage.”

The backstage was noisy as he followed Charlie’s guide.

The contestants for the contest received their numbers and handed over the papers with the prepared music and the timing of the stage effects to the organizers.

Seo-jun also handed over the paper and received his number. After waiting for a while, the staff who checked the application form started drawing lots.

Seo-jun was the last of the 13 teams.

“This way. The performance teams are preparing further inside. They have a lot of props to prepare.”

As he followed Charlie, he saw two groups of people who were practicing hard and matching their timing.

At a glance, they were vampire and werewolf groups. The vampires were wearing fancy suits and the werewolves had human faces with their wolf masks off.

“Uncles! Dad!”

“Charlie!”

“A little wolf without a tail has come.”

The vampires and werewolves who were practicing greeted Charlie. The practice stopped for a moment with Charlie’s appearance. They all drank water and took a breath. Then, a stranger walked towards Charlie. Charlie ran and hugged the man.

“Dad!”

“…Dad?”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes.

For a moment, the face and the name did not match.

Oh, right. Charlie was human and Charlie’s dad was human too.

The wolf mask was so impressive that he only remembered the wolf face.

The mom and dad he glanced at also seemed flustered.

The man who hugged Charlie tightly opened his mouth.

“Thank you for taking care of Charlie.”

“No, we had a lot of fun too.”

“Charlie knows the festival well.”

Charlie’s dad smiled and stroked Charlie’s head at the couple’s compliment.

He greeted the other people and Seo-jun’s group went outside.

“The contestants’ party can sit in the front of the stage. This way.”

Charlie walked ahead.

“But are they all actors?”

“No. My dad runs a restaurant in front of here. The food is delicious, but the beef bourguignon is the best. Try it later.”

Seo-jun and the couple blinked their eyes. Charlie’s dad, a chef.

“Vampire leader uncle makes wine and the other uncles have their own jobs too.”

“Why do they perform?”

“Orche’s specialty is wine, but there are a lot of places in France that have wine as their specialty.”

Charlie shrugged his shoulders.

“They wondered how to get more people to come to Orche and came up with the Halloween festival. The Halloween festival has been going on since a long time ago, but there weren’t many participants. But there are a lot of Halloween festivals, so they wondered if there was anything special, and they decided to make and keep such a setting that they could really immerse themselves in. That’s how they started various events, and the most popular one was the confrontation between vampires and werewolves.”

Seo-jun nodded his head.

“They said they would continue to perform as well as fight for food. The first performance was clumsy, but everyone loved it. The tourists also increased. They like it, so they work hard. I don’t know about anything else, but no one can follow our uncles in vampire or werewolf acting.”

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders at Charlie’s words. Monster acting, there was someone here who could do it better than anyone else.

“I can do it too.”

“My dad has been doing it for 10 years already.”

“I’ll be that good too.”

This life. Seo-jun swallowed the rest of his words and smiled. The couple who heard Seo-jun’s words also smiled.

“You can see well if you sit here. There’s a dad’s performance after the awards ceremony, so we can all watch it here.”

Seo Eun-hye put her bag on the chair and decided to wait for the contest with Seo-jun behind the stage, and Lee Min-jun decided to film Seo-jun’s stage from the audience seat. Charlie decided to watch the contest with Seo-jun behind the stage.

***

When there was not much time left for the show, the front of the stage was crowded. People dressed as various monsters sat in their seats.

The Monster Company staff who had finished cleaning up all the booths, and Grace and her family who had finished dinner, also took their seats where they could see the stage well.

“Will Jun come out?”

“I forgot to ask for his phone number.”

“Let’s go see him after the show is over.”

Grace, who was with her family, looked lively. The family was also relieved by Grace’s cheerful mood.

After waiting for a while, an announcement came out in French, English, and various languages.

[The monster contest will begin now. Please take your seats, everyone.]

Grace straightened her back and looked at the stage.

[The first contestant. The fairy’s dance!]

A cheerful music flowed. A ray of light fell on the stage that was all turned off.

There was something on the stage.

One by one, the lights turned on, and the stage brightened up. Something that was curled up like an egg in the middle of the stage slowly got up.

He got up from his seat and spread his arms wide. At the same time, his wings spread out on his back. A fairy with rainbow-colored wings danced.

“Wow!!”

“Is she a ballerina? She’s amazing!”

Grace, who was clapping along with the people, stopped her hand.

“No. I have to cheer for Jun.”

Her parents burst into laughter at the sight of their daughter clenching her hands that had been clapping.

The first contestant left the stage and the second contestant came up.

This time, it was a funny concept, and a contestant appeared with a Pegasus model.

The front legs of the Pegasus were dolls and the hind legs were the contestant’s legs. Of course, the person on top of the Pegasus had model legs.

“Yeehaw!”

The contestant ran around with a cheerful music. Laughter erupted everywhere.

The contestants who were watching the television behind the stage also burst out laughing.

The contestants who were discouraged by the fairy’s dance of a different level relaxed their minds and decided to enjoy themselves.

“I applied for fun anyway!”

“I worked so hard to make this, I have to go on stage!”

The contestants regained their energy and went up on stage one by one.

A performance of witches and wizards casting magic. A performance of Jack O Lantern choosing a new pumpkin head from the closet.

A performance of a vampire dancing with a beautiful woman and biting her neck.

The short performances passed and it was Seo-jun’s turn.

The previous contestant went down below the stage, and Lee Min-jun, who knew Seo-jun’s order, picked up the camera and started filming the stage.

[The 13th contestant. The werewolf’s transformation!]

The music Seo-jun prepared was the sound of drums. It was a heavy sound like the drums of the inner circle.

Boom!

Smoke rose from both sides of the stage. It was a device rented by the organizers. Seo-jun chose smoke among various effects.

Boom! Boom!

The audience’s hearts raced with the sound of the drums. Seo-jun, who was standing next to the stage, pressed his wolf hat firmly. And he growled very low and softly.

[(Line) The wolf transformation of the shadow werewolf is activated.]

Something long appeared from Seo-jun’s shadow.

It was a shadow wolf.

Seo-jun bent his knees and leaned his waist, and stepped on the stage with his fluffy dog paws.

The shadow wolf stood next to Seo-jun. And Seo-jun and the shadow wolf overlapped.

Seo-jun, who wore the shadow wolf upside down, had fake wolf ears and a wolf tail that moved like they were alive.

He moved his body for a moment with his right hand, left hand, right foot, and left foot on the floor.

When he got comfortable with walking on all fours, he activated another ability.

[(Line) The fog of the cloud whale is activated.]

[(Line) The fog of the cloud whale – medium-low level]

Fog rises from the blowhole of the whale flying in the sky.

You can adjust the density and thickness of the fog.

Fog flowed from Seo-jun’s body. His two hands and two feet that stepped on the stage felt strong. Seo-jun and the shadow wolf went into the thick fog.

***

The stage was full of smoke. It was the most impressive effect that the organizers had provided so far. They couldn’t see an inch ahead. The stage was filled with cloud-like smoke, and the organizers turned off the smoke machine.

“Hmm. The machine is fine.”

“Is it because of the weather?”

While the organizers were puzzled, the people were looking for the 13th contestant on the stage. The smoke was too thick to see anything on the stage.

“What do you see?”

“No, I don’t see anything.”

Then, something flashed by in the smoke. People who saw the black shadow tilted their heads.

Boom! Boom!

The drums sounded, and another black shadow crossed the stage. More people witnessed the shadow. It looked like something with four legs.

“Dog? Wolf?”

“If it’s a wolf… is it a werewolf?”

“But it didn’t walk on two legs, did it?”

Boom! Boom!

The shadow passed by.

Boom! Boom!

The shadow flashed.

“But…”

The audience swallowed their saliva.

“…isn’t it getting bigger?”

The four-legged beast was swelling in size. It hid its body like hunting and moved very fast. It was coming from the back of the stage to the audience in a zigzag.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The fast drum sound was different from the shadow, which started to move slowly. The dim shadow made by the lights and smoke looked like a real wolf.

The wolf slowly walked from the right to the left of the stage. The wolf slowly raised his upper body at a quarter of the stage.

[(Line) The dignity of the young lion king is activated.]

Step by step, the wolf in the smoke became more human. The bright light shone behind Seo-jun, and it looked like a real halo.

With the halo on his ability, the heavy atmosphere that flowed from Seo-jun made people speechless and only looked at the stage.

“Wow…”

Step by step, he felt the power.

The smoke that came out of the machine was blown away by the wind and gradually disappeared.

The wolf, who had fully stood up, stopped his steps to the side and turned his body and walked slowly to the front of the stage.

The smoke cleared and the wolf’s face was revealed. It was a round and cute face, but it felt strong. His ears twitched. His tail also swayed.

Charlie and Charlie’s dad, who were watching on TV, admired. It seemed like they could hear the audience’s exclamation from behind the stage.

“…I didn’t know how to express the transformation like this, but the little wolf is amazing. He used the lights and smoke well. Like a shadow play.”

“Cool!”

Not everyone could do that. He just walked on the stage, but it looked like a wolf’s movement. Charlie’s dad, who had studied wolves to act well as a werewolf, saw that.

Swaggering. The audience didn’t know the details, but they felt that way.

The movement of the shadow wolf in the fog a while ago was also felt by the bipedal werewolf.

It was amazing. Walking on four legs and two legs should have different movements, but they had a similar atmosphere. It was so natural that the being on the stage felt like a human who had been a wolf until a while ago.

Boom! Boom!

The fast drum sound was heard. Seo-jun, who had reached the end of the protruding stage, turned around.

The gray tail with a blue light swayed.

Boom! Boom!

Smoke rose on the stage. Seo-jun, who was looking at the stage slowly with his back to the audience, sped up.

The ceiling light shone like a full moon. The fog that flowed from Seo-jun rose and made a shadow.

In the smoke, Seo-jun ran on two legs, bent his knees and waist, and put his hands on the floor and became a wolf again.

The shadow wolf that popped out of Seo-jun’s shadow covered Seo-jun’s body. The wolf tail swayed.

The audience looked at the wolf that became a dot in the smoke.

Boom!

A very loud drum sound was heard and all the lights went out. Soon the lights came on again.

The fog and the wolf were all gone.

The audience, who had lost their minds on the clean stage, jumped up from their seats and started clapping.

Wow!

Wow!

Grace, who was clapping hard, realized.

“Ah! It’s Jun!”

“What?”

“Dad! It’s Jun. The werewolf I found!”

Grace’s words reminded her family of the boy they had seen at the orphanage. He was a boy who wore a wolf head doll-like mask on his head.

“Oh? Now that I think about it, the clothes are the same.”

“It’s really Jun?”

“Wow. I didn’t expect much when a kid entered the contest…”

They thought it was a well-made costume then, but now that they saw it, it was amazing.

“Did Jun act? Like modern dance or something.”

“Um. I don’t know.”

“But it’s really cool. It was just running and walking, but it was amazing.”

“This will be the first place, right?”

“Of course!”

Grace and Grace’s family clapped hard. It was the first place in the contest that no one could refute.

When Seo-jun came back behind the stage, Seo Eun-hye handed him the water she had prepared. He was drinking it and Charlie’s eyes sparkled.

“You’re awesome!”

“I am.”

Seo-jun smiled at Charlie’s compliment. Charlie’s dad, vampires, werewolves, and contest participants also applauded Seo-jun, who came back behind the stage.

“The little wolf is amazing!”

“We have to work hard not to lose!”

The organizer’s staff, who calmed down the cheering audience, appeared.

He informed the contest participants of the award ceremony, and told Charlie’s dad and uncles to prepare for the performance.

Chapter 100

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 100

While the stage was being decorated for the performance of the vampires and the werewolves, the award ceremony for the contest began.

The lights on the stage went off and only the protruding stage was lit up.

The 13 teams of participants appeared on it and the audience’s eyes turned to the protruding stage.

[We will now start the Monster Contest award ceremony. The mayor of Orche will present the trophies.]

A guide voice came from the speaker.

The mayor, who was standing next to the trophies, bowed.

The people applauded.

[Third place!]

“Who will it be?”

“I liked the team of magicians and witches who came out as a group.”

[Number 2! Dancing with a Pegasus!]

At that, laughter erupted from the audience.

They all remembered that ridiculous participant.

Number 2 spun around and went to receive the trophy.

“Well done!”

“It was so funny!”

As the sound of congratulations clapped, number 2 danced hard without any music. It was funny to watch on the screen, but it was really funny to see in person.

Seo-jun and the other participants behind him also laughed.

“I agree. Thanks to that person, I performed comfortably.”

“It was really amazing.”

The mayor also gave the trophy to number 2 with a cheerful smile.

[Second place! Number 1! The dance of the fairies!]

Wow!

The children’s cheers were heard. Number 1, who walked gracefully, received the shining trophy and turned with a splendid gesture.

The transparent, glittering pair of wings was very beautiful.

[First place!]

“Werewolf!”

“It was the best!!”

The audience cheered.

[Number 13! The transformation of the werewolf!]

Seo-jun walked forward.

It was his second time receiving an award, but it was a different scale from the film festival, and he felt good to feel the hearts of the people who congratulated him.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and waved his hand.

Applause sounded from everywhere.

Seo-jun walked casually to the mayor who was handing over the trophy, just like the other participants who had shown a short performance after receiving the award.

The audience, who had not lost the afterglow of the performance, sent cheers and applause to him.

He looked even cooler because of the smoke that had been thick on the stage, but he was great even without the smoke.

[Please give a big cheer and applause to the participants who showed us a wonderful performance!]

Once again, cheers and applause erupted from the audience. The participants who did not receive the award also greeted them with bright faces.

[Soon, we will start the performance of the vampires and the werewolves. Please wait in your seats.]

The announcement went out and the participants sat in the seats prepared by the organizers.

The friends of the participants who were sitting first greeted the participants with bright smiles.

Lee Min-jun, who was watching from the staff seat, smiled broadly and greeted the two kids and Seo Eun-hye.

“You did well! You looked like a real wolf!”

Seo-jun smiled and sat down in the chair at his father’s words. The people sitting near the staff seat also kept praising him.

“You were amazing for a kid.”

“It looked like modern dance. Where did you learn dance?”

Charlie’s shoulders were proud of the praise that poured out to Seo-jun. But the praise soon stopped. It was because the announcement came out.

[We will now start the last performance of the Orche Halloween Festival.]

Soft music sounded and the dark stage lit up with a beam of light. A golden box was placed on a tower in the center of the stage.

Seo-jun, who looked up at the stage, took off his hat because his wolf head was a little uncomfortable. Seo Eun-hye, who was sitting next to him, cleaned up the traces of wolf ears and fur as much as possible.

The light shone elsewhere.

On the left side of the stage, five black coffins were set up against a black castle background.

“Vampires.”

Charlie whispered.

The lid of the black coffin slid open and white smoke flowed out.

Inside the coffin was a man with white skin and black hair, wearing a black suit.

The other coffins were the same.

The sound of bats flying was heard.

The vampires opened their eyes at the same time. Heavy music flowed and the vampires came out of the coffin.

They greeted each other with noble faces and seemed to be talking. And one of the vampires pointed to the golden box on the tower in the center of the stage with his finger.

The light on the left side of the stage went off. This time, the light shone on the right side of the stage. Someone appeared on a rock-shaped prop in front of a background full of rocks. A yellow light shone on him.

“Werewolves!”

And five werewolves appeared. Unlike the stiff vampires, they were free-spirited and sat or stood here and there. One of the werewolves pointed to the golden box.

The audience understood without any dialogue. Both the vampires and the werewolves were after the golden box.

The light that shone on the right side of the stage went off and soon the stage brightened.

The number of vampires and werewolves increased and they met.

One of the vampires pointed at them.

The werewolves also bowed their upper bodies and growled.

Tense music flowed.

The vampires and the werewolves started to fight like enemies who met on a bridge.

As the fight progressed, something yellow caught the eyes of the audience. It was a pumpkin.

“Jack O Lantern!”

The existence of the pumpkin head ran through the gaps between the vampires and the werewolves.

The audience laughed at the sight of him avoiding the attacks of the two groups.

In the end, the one who took the golden box was Jack O Lantern.

The performance ended with a loud applause.

The vampires and the werewolves, who had performed with sweat, bowed to the audience.

In front of them, Jack O Lantern, who had a golden box and a relaxed look, passed by. It was a pleasant performance until the end.

The lights on the stage went off and,

Bang! Bang!

Fireworks exploded. Pretty sparks bloomed in the black sky. The short fireworks show ended and the announcement came out.

[Thank you to everyone who participated in the Orche Halloween Festival. We hope it was a fun memory for everyone. See you at next year’s Halloween Festival!]

The Orche Halloween Festival was over. The people also left their seats with happy faces. While waiting in the audience until Charlie’s dad came, there was a witch running from afar.

“Jun! Charlie!”

“Grace!”

“Jun, you really won first place! I cheered for you too!”

Grace’s family appeared behind her. They all smiled and waved their hands.

“I forgot to give you my contact information earlier. I thought you left, but you were here!”

“I’ll give you my phone number too! What messenger do you use?”

While the three kids exchanged contact information, Charlie’s dad, who had changed clothes, appeared. Charlie’s dad smiled and said to the growing party.

“Would you like to have something at our store?”

***

Charlie’s dad’s store was close to the square.

He raised the temperature in the store in the chilly weather and prepared a place for everyone to sit.

Charlie’s dad quickly made delicious food. Both the kids and the adults ate the food with admiration.

“Do you want to play over there?”

“Yeah!”

Charlie pointed to another table and Seo-jun and Grace nodded.

They were playing and chatting, when Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

He had been worried about it since the performance, but he thought someone would recognize him once the video was uploaded on YouTube.

And then it would spread like wildfire.

They were friends he met for the first time today, but he wanted to tell them himself.

“I have something to tell you.”

“What is it? Is it a secret?”

At the word secret, Charlie and Grace’s eyes sparkled. Seo-jun smiled and took out his phone. He showed them a picture.

It was a picture of Evan Block and Rachel Hill, taken right before Seo-jun finished his makeup and started filming Shadowman 2. Charlie and Grace blinked their eyes when they saw the picture.

“What is this?”

“Charlie, don’t you know Shadowman?”

“I know Shadowman, but… don’t tell me that’s Evan Block!?”

“…Rachel Hill is here too.”

The two kids’ eyes widened. Next to the two actors was the kid who had been playing with them.

Charlie looked back and forth between the picture and his friend. No way. There was no one around, but Charlie lowered his voice.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you really Jin Natra?”

Grace, who was a step behind, covered her mouth as if she was about to scream. Seo-jun smiled brightly and opened his mouth as he met the eyes of the two shocked kids.

“I’m Jin Natra, Seo-jun Lee.”

Charlie and Grace couldn’t move for a few seconds, then they finally exclaimed. My friend is Jin Natra! A Hollywood actor!

“…Wow!”

Grace and Charlie’s eyes shone. Seo-jun showed them another picture. It was a picture of him with Redbone and Davis Garrett.

“Redbone!”

“It’s real!”

The two kids’ hearts beat very fast.

They felt like they would faint if they were more surprised. Grace lowered her voice and asked Seo-jun.

“Can I tell my mom and dad? And my sister too!”

“Me too! Can I tell my dad?”

“Sure.”

While the kids were playing, the adults who were drinking tea and chatting brought up the performance. They said it was a great performance, and Charlie’s dad smiled shyly.

“Seo-jun did much better than me.”

“He really looked like a werewolf.”

They all remembered the vivid performance again. Grace’s dad took out his phone.

“I recorded it on video, do you want to see it?”

“Oh, I have it too.”

The adults took out their phones and showed each other the videos. Seo-jun’s performance looked amazing and cool from different angles in the audience.

“This side captured the transformation scene well.”

“Running looks much better from the side.”

“But no matter where you look, Seo-jun is really good.”

At that, the adults laughed. Grace’s sister asked Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun.

“Did Seo-jun do any dance or acting? If not, he should start now! He’s much better than our school drama club!”

“Uh…”

Hmm. What should they do? As the couple looked at each other, Charlie and Grace ran over with surprised faces. Seo-jun walked over with a relaxed face.

“Dad! Dad! Da-ad!!”

Charlie called his dad over and over again, as if he had seen something amazing. Charlie’s dad seemed to see his son’s expression for the first time. He was excited, his face flushed. Seo-jun looked fine, but his son was like that.

“What’s wrong?”

“Dad!”

Charlie called his dad like a broken record.

Seo-jun tapped Charlie’s shoulder.

Charlie couldn’t stand still. He kept bouncing around, not knowing what to do.

Hmm. He was a prankster, but he had never made such a fuss before.

“Dad, Seo-jun is Jin!”

“What?”

Seo-jun is Jin? Charlie’s dad frowned at the strange words.

Was it some kind of secret code that only the kids knew? Charlie’s dad looked at the couple with a bewildered expression, and they smiled as if they knew something.

As Charlie’s dad was about to ask, Charlie opened his mouth first. His heart was pounding so hard that he couldn’t wait.

Grace was also explaining to her parents and sister. Grace and her family, who were explaining with gestures and body language, looked more and more stunned.

“Seo-jun is Jin Natra! He was in Shadowman! Seo-jun Lee is Seo-jun! He had pictures with Evan Block and Rachel Hill, and with Davis Garrett too! Redbone, I mean!”

“…What?”

“Dad, you saw it too! Shadowman!”

At his son’s words, Charlie’s dad looked at Seo-jun. Grace’s family also looked at Seo-jun.

Seo-jun smiled and pushed his hair back, just like he did when he played Jin Natra. The adults’ mouths opened wide. He was really Jin Natra.

They thought he was an ordinary family with a memorable wolf hat, but why was there a Hollywood actor here?

“Hello. I’m an actor, Seo-jun Lee.”

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

Even though they recognized him, they couldn’t believe it. Charlie’s dad looked at the couple. They nodded their heads as if to confirm.

Charlie ran around the restaurant, too surprised to think of anything to say. He just shouted, Wow! Wow! Soon, Grace was running around with him.

“…Can I ask for one autograph?”

“Yeah! Autograph! Me too!”

“Can we ask too?”

“Yes. It’s okay!”

The two kids who got the autographs shouted with their faces lit up.

“This is my treasure!”

“Me too! I’m going to frame it!”

After getting the autographs and taking pictures, it was time to say goodbye. Everyone was reluctant to leave, but they had a schedule for tomorrow, so they packed their bags and got up from their seats.

It was a short meeting, but it was a meeting they would never forget. Seo-jun hugged the two kids who looked like they were going to cry. Charlie and Grace hugged Seo-jun too.

“I’ll definitely watch Shadowman 3 later.”

“Me too! I’ll watch all the movies Seo-jun is in!”

“Come and play again next time!”

“Come to New York!”

“You two come to Korea too! Let’s play together!”

The adults shook hands with each other, watching the cute kids say goodbye.

It was time to really part.

The kids kept looking back and waving their hands with regret.

“Bye!”

“Bye!”

“See you again!”

Seo-jun waved his hands hard, watching his friends get smaller and smaller.

Chapter 101

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 101

After the Orche Halloween Festival ended, videos taken by the audience started to appear on YouTube.

The Orche channel also uploaded some videos, from the contest participants to the performances.

It wasn’t a very famous festival, but thanks to the sponsorship of Monster Co. and the attendance of Seo-jun, it even made the news in Korea.

There were people who were waiting for the videos and reviews.

[Title: Orche Halloween Festival Review]

I’m a student studying in Paris. I went to Orche because I heard that Seo-jun might come. There were more people than I expected. Anyway, I stopped by the Monster Co. booth, but Seo-jun wasn’t there. I couldn’t find him even if I tried, because everyone was wearing masks and animal costumesㅜ

But the festival was fun. There was an event called Monster Contest, and everyone did well. Especially, the werewolf who came up last… After watching it, I realized that it was probably Seo-jun.

The people who read the review looked for the werewolf in the YouTube videos. The most viewed video was the one uploaded by Orche.

[Monster Contest Winner! Number 13, Werewolf Transformation.]

-Wow, amazing. Compared to the other videos, he’s short, so he doesn’t seem like an adult.

-He looks like a kid. But did he do modern dance or something? He’s really good.

-He used the lights, smoke, and shadows well. If the smoke was thin, there wouldn’t be any shadows and it would have been lame, but the weather was on his side.

-I feel like I’ve experienced something like this before. Is it déjà vu?

=I feel like I know. When Seo-jun doesn’t show up, some kid becomes famous and that’s Seo-jun himselfㅋㅋ

The Orche video was fixed at one point, so people looked for other videos. They were shaky, but each video had different parts that were well captured, and soon a post titled [The Order of Watching the Werewolf Videos] appeared.

-But you can’t see his face because of the wolf mask. Is it really Seo-jun?

-Who else has that level of acting skill at that age?

-I don’t know. Maybe another genius.

Seo-jun or not, the controversy reached Cocoa Entertainment. Eun-chan sighed at the constant ringing of the phone and headed to Seo-jun’s house.

The couple and Seo-jun, who were busy sorting out the gifts and luggage they bought in Paris, greeted Eun-chan.

“This is uncle’s gift!”

“…Slime?”

“It looks like uncle!”

It was a stuffed animal that they bought at the Halloween festival, not a product of Monster Co. Eun-chan, who was playing with the soft slime stuffed animal, sighed and said.

“…Didn’t you say it was a family trip?”

“Yeah! It was so fun!”

Eun-chan couldn’t help but smile at Seo-jun’s sparkling eyes. Well. Yeah. As long as it was fun.

“Sis. Can you give me the videos you took?”

“Do you want me to upload them on the fan cafe?”

“I thought it was just a small festival, but if Seo-jun went, it’s a legend.”

Eun-chan smiled bitterly and turned on his laptop. Eun-hye showed him the videos.

“Why are there three videos?”

“This one is taken by Seo-jun’s friend’s sister, this one is taken by his friend’s parents. This one is taken by Min-jun. They have different parts that are well captured in each video. I thought it would be better to edit and upload them since we’re uploading them anyway.”

“Hmm. That makes sense.”

Eun-chan watched the three videos. They were short, so he could see them quickly, and they were as Eun-hye said.

“Got it. I’ll have to go to the company and do it.”

Eun-chan returned to the company and handed over the videos to the PR team. The staff gathered and made the best edited version. At the end of the video, they added a few photos of Seo-jun taken at the festival.

The video was uploaded to the fan cafe right away.

-Wow! It was Seo-jun after all!

-He’s cool even without showing his face!

-The pictures are so cute too! Is that also a Monster Co. outfit?

And as soon as Seo-jun’s video was uploaded, articles started to pop up. Seo-jun and his parents, who had finished sorting out their luggage and were watching the video uploaded by Cocoa Entertainment, marveled at the lightning speed.

“They’re really fast.”

[Actor Seo-jun, attends Orche Halloween Festival!]

[Family trip and Monster Contest Winner!]

[Real Werewolf?! Actor Seo-jun!]

-As expected… I knew it.

-He really did well. He looked like he lived with wolves for years.

-I’m a zookeeper (wolf handler) and the shadow in the acting is totally wolf-like. How do you do that?ㅋㅋ I think I can’t do it as well as him.

-Seo-jun is good at both dragon and wolf. It’s not easy to do something like thisㅋ

***

After the Halloween festival, everyone returned to their normal lives. Peaceful everyday life. But this year, somehow, it was more noisy after the festival.

“Charlie! Charlie!”

The door of the restaurant opened with a bang.

The vampire boss who ran the wine shop came in with a surprised face.

The restaurant, which had been deserted by tourists, was filled with Orche citizens again.

They all knew each other, so they just picked up their forks.

Charlie, who was smiling while looking at the photos he took with Jun on his phone, raised his head at the sound of his name.

“What? Uncle?”

“Your friend! The one who was wearing the werewolf costume!”

At the mention of Seo-jun, Charlie jumped up. Charlie’s dad, who was wondering what was going on, came out to see.

“Jun?”

“Yeah. Your friend Jun!”

The people who were eating also remembered the kid with the wolf head who was with Charlie throughout the Halloween festival. He was a kind and cute kid.

They clearly remembered the performance he showed at the contest.

“Didn’t he do really well?”

“Yeah! I didn’t know the kid could do that well.”

“Don’t you think he’ll be a great actor if he acts?”

“That’s right…”

“He’s a Hollywood star, you know!?”

“…?”

Everyone stopped their forks that they were bringing to their mouths at the man’s words. Did I just hear what I heard, the people blinked and looked at the man.

“Did you drink wine in the morning?”

“Go home and get drunk.”

Before Charlie’s dad, who hated drunkenness, could open his mouth, the customers opened their mouths first.

“No, really!”

The man with a flushed face insisted, but everyone shook their heads. Charlie’s dad, who was about to say ‘get out’ in a quiet voice, didn’t make a sound.

The customers looked at Charlie’s dad. They were puzzled by his smiling face. Charlie opened his mouth proudly.

“You just found out? I knew it from the festival. That Jun is a Hollywood star!”

“Really? It was true?!”

“I have his autograph here!”

Charlie showed them the photo on his phone. [To my werewolf friend, Charlie. Seo-jun Lee] The man who was doubtful of the autograph screamed.

“I’ve never seen a Hollywood actor in my life! He was so close, but I couldn’t shake his hand!”

The one who was puzzled by the man’s agony was the customers.

“Charlie. What are you talking about? What did he say then?”

The grandfather who gave orange juice to Charlie and Seo-jun asked. Charlie smiled brightly and answered.

“He’s a Hollywood actor! The Jin Natra who was in Shadowman! Seo-jun Lee!”

“…What!?”

Even those who hadn’t seen Shadowman knew that there was a movie called Shadowman. And that it was a huge hit. They all stared at Charlie with wide eyes.

The city hall staff who had been informing them of the progress from behind the stage touched his forehead. He was a Marina fan who had seen everything from Redbone 1 to Assemble 1.

He knew Seo-jun Lee and Jin Natra very well, deep in his bones. Tears blurred his vision.

“…I’m a huge fan! I knew it! I thought he was a great actor! I never thought he would come here.”

He saw him right in front of his eyes! Seeing the frustrated staff, one by one, they realized that the little wolf they had seen was a real Hollywood actor.

“Last year he was a theater actor and this year he’s a Hollywood actor. I’m scared of who will come next year.”

“Will he come again next year?”

“What’s the name of the movie?”

“But how did you know, uncle? That Jun is a Hollywood actor!”

At Charlie’s words, they all closed their mouths and looked at the man.

“It was on YouTube. The video had Jun being a Hollywood actor and the last contestant of the contest. The views are no joke right now! It also announced our festival. To the whole world!”

“…!”

To the whole world! His last words echoed throughout the restaurant. Maybe next year it would be a huge festival. The citizens of Orche swallowed their saliva.

***

“Damn assignment!”

Grace’s family returned to New York and went back to their normal lives. Laura Welton, a high school student, was wringing her head over a writing assignment.

She had to write a short story, but she hadn’t written a single line yet. The screen was blank and the cursor blinked.

“Ugh. Come on, brain.”

She banged her head on the desk, looking for a good idea, when her sister Grace popped into her head like lightning. Her sister who had gone missing and the two kids who had found her!

“Grace!”

“Yeah?”

“Can I write a story about you going missing at the festival?”

“Uh!”

Grace, who had been watching television, frowned. Laura begged her.

“I’ll change the names and appearances! I have to turn it in by this week!”

“…Hmm.”

“I’ll buy you three New York cheese tarts!”

“Five!”

“Okay!”

Was money the problem now? Laura smiled brightly and headed to her room, then turned back.

“Can I put in Jun and Charlie’s story?”

“You have to ask Jun and Charlie for that.”

“Can you ask them for me?”

“Two tarts!”

“Okay!”

< My sister is doing an assignment and she’s writing a short story.

< Can Jun and Charlie be in it? The Halloween festival story is the motif.

< She said she’ll change the names and appearances.

-Charlie: I’m fine!

-Jun: Me too!

-Jun: Can I see it when you’re done?

-Charlie: Me too! I’m curious!

Laura watched Grace tapping on her phone and felt relieved. Wasn’t there a time difference overseas? Would they answer if she contacted them now? Should she wait a little longer? The assignment was due tomorrow!

Grace looked up and looked at Laura.

“Sis! Jun and Charlie said they want to see it when you’re done!”

“Okay!”

Laura answered in an instant and went back to her room. The notebook screen was blank.

“Okay. The female protagonist is a witch and the male protagonist is a werewolf.”

Laura wrote down the story in an instant. She added a little bit of imagination to what had actually happened.

A witch who got lost and a werewolf who found her. The ending was also like the Halloween festival, where the witch met her family.

The writing assignment was over in no time, as if the previous difficulties were a lie. She felt empty after all the trouble.

A few days after she turned in the assignment, the writing teacher called Laura. Laura Welton sat in a chair with an awkward face, and the writing teacher, Tyler, smiled kindly and said.

“Welton. Do you want to write this as a novel?”

“Huh?”

“It’s so interesting. I wonder what it would be like if you added some other stories and wrote it as a novel.”

“Oh. I’ve never thought about it, but writing is a bit…”

She had a hard time coming up with a short story, let alone a novel. She was in the dark.

Tyler, who saw Laura refusing, hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth.

“Then, how about replacing this semester’s writing assignments with this?”

“Okay!”

To get rid of the writing assignments for now, Laura Welton voluntarily entered the pain of creation.

“No. I can’t think of anything!”

It was hard enough to write a short story, but a novel was harder and harder. She couldn’t stretch out the story of finding Grace, and she couldn’t think of any other episodes.

She wanted to write a romance novel, but she didn’t know how to connect the protagonists and grow their feelings.

Laura Welton read the novels she borrowed from the library and pondered.

“The problem is the characters’ past.”

The past would be the start of the event or accident. Laura wrapped her head.

Then, there was a knock on the door. It was Grace. She peeked her head through the open door and opened her mouth.

“Sis, do you want to watch TV with me?”

“TV? What are you doing?”

“Jun’s drama. It was on Plus+.”

At Grace’s words, Laura Welton looked at the blank notebook screen. She didn’t think anything would come out.

“Okay, let’s cool off.”

Laura and Grace sat on the sofa.

The opening screen of The Royal Physician filled the TV screen connected to the notebook.

They ate snacks from the kitchen and Laura asked.

“What kind of drama is it?”

“There were a lot of comments saying not to spoil it, so all I know is that it’s a Korean historical drama.”

“Really?”

The first episode was a scene of a man treating someone. The English subtitles not only had the characters’ dialogue, but also explained some knowledge that foreigners might not know, making it easy to immerse themselves.

When Laura and Grace were watching The Royal Physician, their parents who had gone out and came back also joined the drama.

The Welton family forgot about the programs they usually watched and got hooked on The Royal Physician.

Chapter 102

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 102

Ever since then, the Welton family would gather in the living room and watch The Royal Physician whenever they had time.

They cried their eyes out when Prince Seongnyeong died in episode 14, and they were shocked to see a child who looked exactly like him. In the final episode, they shed tears at Heo Yu-seon’s cry for him to come back.

“Dad! Jun is such a great actor, right?”

“Indeed. The actor who played Heo Yu-seon was also good.”

“It was so sad. Seongnyeong would have been the king if he wasn’t sick…”

“I know. If only his illness could be cured by magic, he would be the king…”

As Laura listened to her parents and Grace’s conversation and wiped her tears, she shared her own thoughts. Then she stiffened.

A missing tail. A king. An illness. Magic!

“This is it!”

“What is?”

“I remembered! The male lead’s past!”

Laura Welton ran to her room as fast as she could and turned on her laptop. She opened the file that she hadn’t touched for weeks and started writing. Laura Welton’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the laptop screen.

“The male lead lost his tail in a battle and only a witch can make a tail.”

Laura Welton thought of Charlie, a werewolf without a tail, and Seo-jun, who was more majestic than anyone on the stage. She combined the two werewolves into one. She couldn’t stop writing as she felt chills and excitement from the episode.

“Let’s just use a big stem for now. I’ll fix it later!”

As Laura laughed and typed on the keyboard, Grace and her mom and dad quietly closed the door.

“I’ve never seen Laura so happy.”

“Sis, do you think she wants to be a writer?”

“Maybe. Grace, do you want to go buy some tarts? Sweets are the best when you use your brain.”

“Yeah!”

***

Tyler, the writing teacher at the high school Laura Welton attended, was worried that he had done something wrong when he saw that Laura Welton hadn’t brought a single page since a few weeks ago.

“But she seemed talented…”

He had just said that her short story was interesting, but Laura Welton had talent. Her writing was easy to read and had unique character settings, but it also had a surprising sense of reality, as if she had experienced it herself.

He had suggested that she expand it into a longer piece, but every time he saw her passing by, she looked troubled. He wondered if he had made a mistake.

“If she could bring me something, even a little, I could tell her whether to continue or not… But she never shows up outside of class…”

“Teacher!”

Tyler’s eyes were filled with relief when he saw Laura Welton’s bright face.

“I wrote something roughly, can you take a look?”

“Sure.”

Laura Welton handed him a USB.

“I’ll keep writing here!”

“Okay.”

Tyler turned on his laptop and plugged in the USB that Laura Welton gave him. There was one file with an untitled name. He glanced at Laura Welton, who was focused on writing, and opened the file.

The male lead, who was the leader of the werewolf pack, lost his tail in an enemy attack.

The tail was an important part that allowed the werewolves to transform.

The colleague who helped the male lead escape gave him a detector that had been passed down and told him to find a witch. Only a witch could make a tail again, he said.

There was only one witch left in the human world. Neither the female lead nor the people around her knew it.

The male lead, who followed the detector to the city, helped the female lead who was lost.

He found himself drawn to the female lead, not the woman that the detector pointed to.

“…This is interesting.”

As he read Laura Welton’s novel, Tyler couldn’t help but think of the phone numbers of the publishing company staff he knew.

***

As the end of the year approached, various broadcasting stations were busy preparing for the awards ceremonies.

From the acting awards, to the entertainment awards, to the music festival.

The programs that wrapped up the year together started preparing, and the reporters were also busy predicting the nominees and winners.

Among the various broadcasting stations, the most talked-about one was KBC, which had achieved a 40% viewership rating with The Royal Physician.

[KBC. Who are the acting award nominees?]

[Let’s find out the award categories of KBC.]

[Acting award, rookie award. How far is a rookie?]

[Is it possible to win multiple awards? Impossible?]

-He appeared as a cameo, so isn’t the rookie award too much?

-But he was barely in Reinvestigation, so I think he could get the rookie award for The Royal Physician.

-Um. The awards that Seo-jun could win are the excellence award, the best award, the supporting actor award, and the child actor award.

=What about the grand prize?

-Seo-jun did well, but… Heo Yu-seon is…

-Yeah. Lee Ji-seok did everything in episode 14 and the last episode.

-KBC is dominated by The Royal Physician.

The internet was buzzing with Seo-jun’s chances of winning. It had been a few months since The Royal Physician ended, but the emotions that people felt while watching the drama were still vivid.

-He should only get one award even if he wins, so that other actors can get some too.

-But he acted so well, it’s a shame to get only one.

-You can only get the rookie award once.

-Seo-jun did really well for the rookie award.

-There’s also the child actor award.

-KBC must have a lot of trouble.

Just like the people’s thoughts, KBC was also struggling to decide the nominees and winners.

“What should we do?”

“I don’t know.”

“We decided everything else, but… Seo-jun is the problem.”

“Hmm. He only appeared once as a cameo, can he get the rookie award?”

They all sighed.

There were too many awards to give to Seo-jun, who made the viewers cry.

***

“Seo-jun, do you want to do a congratulatory stage for the acting awards?”

“A congratulatory stage?”

Seo-jun tilted his head at Ahn Da Ho’s words as he read the script.

“KBC asked if you would do a congratulatory stage for them.”

“A congratulatory stage means singing?”

“No. They asked if you would do the performance you did at the Halloween festival.”

Seo-jun blinked.

When the edited version was uploaded to the fan cafe, people who edited and uploaded personal videos on YouTube also appeared. Seo-jun also saw the comments that said the quality was poor.

“Um. That’s short, is that okay?”

“They said they would be happy if you just showed up.”

The ratings would explode no matter how short it was. Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

“I’ll do it. They said they want to see it in good quality.”

“Okay. I’ll tell the broadcasting station.”

“But, Da Ho hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“Can I wear different clothes for that?”

Seo-jun laughed happily.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, performing on the congratulatory stage!]

[What will Lee Seo-jun show us? A song or a dance?]

-I’ve never seen Lee Seo-jun dance.

-He must be good. He’s good at sports too. And he sings well. He’s not a jack of all trades.

-I’m curious about that. The Halloween stage! The video was so shaky. And the quality was low!

-Ah. It would be nice if they filmed it like a YouTube edit.

=That one had the best composition. It looked great.

As the acting awards ceremony approached, Seo-jun received more clothes.

The brand of the suit he wore at the WTV Film Festival two years ago, Aresis, had grown noticeably since then, and Seo-jun received more clothes.

Of course, this ceremony was a domestic one, so there were more domestic brands than foreign ones.

From brands he had never seen before to brands with famous designers. Seo-jun looked at the boxes of clothes piled up in a corner of the Cocoa Entertainment practice room with a bored face.

“There are so many.”

“It’s definitely more than the film festival.”

“Do I have to try them all on?”

Seo-jun asked, and Ahn Da Ho, who was thinking for a moment, shook his head.

“Let’s just pick a few that you like and try them on and decide.”

“That’s a relief.”

Seo-jun opened the boxes and saw various designs of suits. He looked at the clothes and put them back in the box, opened the box and put them back. As he repeated that, one box caught his eye.

“Aresis?”

“Yeah. They sent it even though it’s a domestic ceremony. Do you like it? Do you want to wear it?”

“Let me see a bit more.”

He put it on the candidate list for now. Seo-jun, who was looking hard at the clothes, opened the last box of clothes.

“Wow.”

Seo-jun exclaimed as he took out the suit. On the black suit, there was a faint dark thread that embroidered the giraffe pattern of the official uniform that Seo-jun wore in The Royal Physician.

Of course, the design of the giraffe pattern was simple, but it was recognizable at a glance.

Ahn Da Ho also admired the suit. From a distance, it looked like a plain suit, but up close, the giraffe pattern was visible.

“It has a good meaning too.”

As it was a ceremony where he stood as The Royal Physician, this special suit fit Seo-jun’s taste perfectly.

“I want to wear this!”

“Okay. Let’s try it on and adjust the size. Is there anything to fix?”

Ahn Da Ho looked at the suit, and Seo-jun called him. There was another piece of clothing in the box.

“Da Ho hyung! There’s a dragon version too.”

“Is that a dragon… the pattern on the king’s clothes?”

“Yes!”

Ahn Da Ho burst into laughter. He felt the designer’s wish for Seongnyeong Daegun to become king even at the ceremony. He probably was a fan of The Royal Physician.

***

December 31st, the day of the ceremony.

Seo-jun arrived at the KBC Hall, where the ceremony would be held, earlier than others because of the rehearsal for the congratulatory stage. His mom and dad were going to come later with uncle Chan.

Seo-jun looked at the stage that was ready.

The stage of the KBC Hall was bigger than the Halloween festival.

“I’m going to go like this from here.”

At Seo-jun’s words, the directors and cameramen marked the route on their notes. They followed the little kid around and figured out the route and camera composition. One of the cameramen asked.

“How fast?”

“Uh. Like this?”

Seo-jun ran on the stage. It was similar to the speed when he turned into a wolf in the fog. The cameramen who were filming and estimating the speed nodded.

“When you’re on the main stage, you’ll run on four legs, so you’ll have to lower the camera than now.”

“Where do you stand when you stand on two legs?”

“About here.”

Seo-jun told them his plan as it was. And he asked the directors to run on the stage without the smoke that rose in clumps, standing on two legs as he did during the performance.

Seo-jun moved from the end of the stage to the zigzag, moved his steps slowly in the middle, stood still for a moment at the front, and ran to the back of the stage.

The cameramen who followed him with the camera all nodded.

“Thank you, actor Lee Seo-jun.”

“No, thank you. Please film well.”

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

We don’t want to hear any complaints either.

They all swallowed their last words.

When an article about Seo-jun’s congratulatory stage came out, people picked ‘the transformation of a werewolf’ as the most likely candidate over a song or a dance.

-I was so frustrated watching only the personal shooting videos on YouTube.

-KBC camera, do a good job!

-If they shoot it with their feet, I’ll blow up the homepage.

There were many comments on the KBC homepage. The homepage was going to explode even before Seo-jun’s stage came out.

After greeting the filming crew, Seo-jun headed to the waiting room prepared by KBC.

Knock-knock-

Seo-jun, who was spending time with Ahn Da Ho in the waiting room wearing comfortable clothes, looked at the door at the knock.

“Hi, Seo-jun.”

It was Ji-seok hyung. Seo-jun smiled brightly and greeted Lee Ji-seok, whom he met after a few months.

“Hyung! You came early!”

“I wanted to enter with you. It’s our first time participating in the ceremony together.”

“Move. Jerk.”

“Seo-jun, hi!”

Not only Ji-seok hyung, but also Uncle Jong-ho and Do-hoon hyung were there.

They were all ready to go on the red carpet right away, with their neat suits, neatly combed hair, and makeup.

Seo-jun looked at Park Do-hoon’s head with a proud face.

There was no pattern on Do-hoon hyung’s head, who he met a few days after the last broadcast of The Royal Physician.

It was still clean even after a few months.

‘He must be okay now.’

He seemed to have become strong enough to get out of the influence of the power, even if he didn’t have a strong mind. Seo-jun smiled brightly and greeted the three.

“Was the Halloween festival fun?”

“Yes. It was awesome!”

“Seo-jun always causes a fuss whenever he does something.”

“Have you decided on your next work?”

“Not yet. How about you, Uncle Jong-ho?”

“I’m going to try a modern drama this time.”

Lee Ji-seok smirked at that. A gangster? Kim Jong-ho hit Lee Ji-seok’s back. Ouch! Lee Ji-seok made a fuss, and Park Do-hoon and Seo-jun laughed.

“Seo-jun. Let’s change clothes now.”

“Okay.”

Ahn Da Ho, who checked the clock, said. Seo-jun changed his clothes in the corner of the waiting room and came out.

The stylist who was waiting did his makeup and hair. It didn’t take long because he was still a kid.

The three actors who were watching behind the stylist and Ahn Da Ho looked at Seo-jun’s clothes with surprised faces.

“This is amazing. You can see the embroidery when you look closely.”

“Is that a dragon?”

“The one in Gonryongpo?”

Seo-jun nodded and said.

“The place that sent me these clothes sent me a giraffe and a dragon, and I decided to wear the one with the dragon.”

“Wow. Seo-jun, I didn’t know you were ambitious. Do you want to be a king next?”

Seo-jun and the adults laughed at Lee Ji-seok’s joke.

Chapter 103

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 103

It was 9 p.m. on December 31st. The KBC Acting Awards opened with a dazzling ceremony.

The other broadcasting stations had given up on competing with them at this time slot.

“They can’t win. Lee Seo-jun is going to perform a congratulatory stage.”

“Who can get Lee Seo-jun for their next project? How did KBC find out so quickly?”

“I heard a rumor from someone who heard it from someone else…”

“From who?”

“They said they kept an eye on the project that Lee Ji-seok, PD Choi Min-sung, and writer So Eun-jin were working on. And the moment they saw someone from Cocoa Entertainment there!”

The employee who was answering grabbed the air sharply.

“They snatched him up.”

“Let’s do the same.”

“Maybe, he only appears in the works of the actors, PDs, and writers he knows since he’s still young… Who were the actors he worked with before?”

“Kim Jong-ho, Lee Ji-seok, Park Do-hoon, Lee Ji-hye. And many more.”

“First of all, let’s keep a close eye on the actors from The Royal Physician… Is KBC still running ads?”

-Wow. Look at those ads. They’re on the level of The Royal Physician.

-Lol. Lee Seo-jun is there. He’s also doing a congratulatory stage.

-Is he congratulating himself for winning an award? Lol.

-What will he do for the congratulatory stage? Usually, they do something similar to the drama.

-King! Become a king! Wear the dragon robe!

-Oh! That sounds good!

The ads ended and the red carpet that was spread out in front of the KBC hall came into view.

The live camera moved and the actors appeared one by one.

The actors waved and greeted the crowd amid the loud cheers, took photos and did interviews at the photo zone.

A large car entered the spot where many actors had passed by.

The reporters were the first ones to recognize the flashy black car.

“It’s Lee Seo-jun’s car!”

“Lee Seo-jun is here!”

The flashes flickered. The car door opened and a tall man got out. Was he the manager? The flashes stopped for a moment.

“Lee Ji-seok!?”

“It’s Lee Ji-seok!”

It was Lee Ji-seok. Kim Jong-ho and Park Do-hoon followed him. Finally, Lee Seo-jun stepped down to the ground and everyone took a group photo.

The flashes kept going off towards the actors from The Royal Physician, who had the most brilliant performance of the year.

Lee Seo-jun, who had taken countless photos and done an interview at the photo zone, sat down on the chair with his name on it. Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon were on his sides, and Kim Jong-ho was next to Park Do-hoon.

“Why am I not next to Seo-jun?”

“Maybe the staff considered the age difference, Jong-ho hyung?”

“Seo-jun and I are very close, you know?”

“Do you want me to switch with you?”

Kim Jong-ho shook his head at Park Do-hoon’s words.

“I would have taken Ji-seok’s seat, but not yours.”

“Then let’s do it like this. Whatever.”

Park Do-hoon switched seats with Seo-jun. Lee Ji-seok, Park Do-hoon, Seo-jun, and Kim Jong-ho sat in a row.

“You’re showing your true colors now, huh?”

“Hahaha.”

They all laughed at Lee Ji-seok’s words. Laughter also burst out in front of the four. Seo-jun leaned forward and the person in front also turned around.

“PD-nim! Writer-nim!”

PD Choi Min-sung and writer So Eun-jin, who hated showing their faces on television, were sitting in the front row.

They seemed to have attended the awards ceremony as nominees for the writer’s award.

“Congratulations! You’re nominated for the writer’s award, right?”

“Yes! I’m so happy.”

“Honestly, everyone who watched The Royal Physician must have cried!”

“It’s thanks to Seo-jun’s great acting! Seo-jun, congratulations on your nomination for the rookie award!”

“Thank you!”

They complimented each other and enjoyed the joy of being nominated. Honestly, everyone from The Royal Physician who was nominated was smiling brightly.

“Congratulations.”

“I hope to appear in your next project, writer-nim and PD-nim!”

The actors who were looking for their seats also congratulated PD Choi Min-sung and writer So Eun-jin.

They all looked at The Royal Physician, the most talked-about drama of the year, with envy.

“Wow. It’s Lee Seo-jun!”

“Lee Seo-jun!”

Lee Seo-jun was a special existence even among the actors. He had appeared in a Hollywood movie that even adults would find hard to do at such a young age.

And it was a series of movies by the Marina Studio. He wasn’t the main character, but he played a role that was as memorable as the main character.

They all looked at Seo-jun with curious eyes.

Ahn Da Ho, who had been away from his seat for a while, headed towards Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun. Let’s go prepare for the congratulatory stage.”

“Okay! I’ll be back soon!”

“Come back safely!”

Seo-jun waved his hand and left the The Royal Physician team.

-Red carpet is over!

-Today’s The Royal Physician group appearance was hilarious lol.

-I never thought they would all come at once lol.

-But what’s the first thing?

-I saw the leaked one,

=??

=???

=? Tell me already!

-It’s an ad lol.

The long and long ad ended and the title ‘KBC Acting Awards’ appeared on the screen. The two MCs introduced themselves.

[Shall we start with the first congratulatory stage?]

[To be honest, I was shocked when I saw the script. I thought I would see it at the end.]

The people were wondering, wondering at the MCs’ words.

[It’s Lee Seo-jun’s congratulatory stage!]

[The transformation of the werewolf!]

-It’s only been five minutes since it started?! From the beginning?!

-Is KBC’s ad okay? Is the rating okay?

KBC Broadcasting Station decided to get it over with quickly, since Cocoa Entertainment said that Seo-jun would only attend the first part. They were planning to make a separate edited version of the congratulatory performance anyway, so it was fine. The cameramen who had to pay attention to the camera movement were tense and focused on the stage.

Boom!

Boom!

The drum sound that echoed from the speaker made the audience in the auditorium and the viewers who were watching the television at home think of The Royal Physician reflexively. The drum sound was heard over the calm The Royal Physician OST.

Fog rose on the stage.

Boom! Boom!

The speaker roared loudly.

The Royal Physician fans groaned at the familiar drum sound.

[(Sun) The fog of the cloud whale is activated.]

The fog was thicker than the one from the broadcasting station.

[(Sun) The werewolf transformation of the shadow werewolf is activated.]

Seo-jun bent his knees and lowered his waist, pressing his wolf paw with jelly on the stage. The shadow wolf covered Seo-jun’s body.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A bright yellow full moon appeared on the screen behind the stage.

Woo-woo, the sound of a wolf howling was heard.

A camera focused on where Seo-jun was. Because of the fog, only a black object was visible.

The light flashed.

Seo-jun ran.

The camera moved with Seo-jun.

The cameras moved without missing Seo-jun in the best spot.

The shadow wolf that moved zigzag slowly raised its upper body.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The fog slowly faded, and Seo-jun stood up.

Kyaaa!!

The internet was on fire along with the screams of the audience.

The actors and the viewers were dumbfounded by Seo-jun’s unexpected appearance, and eventually burst into laughter.

-Oh my, what is this! Seong-nyeong Daegun, became a werewolf. Right!?

-Have you ever seen such a cute hybrid lol

Seo-jun walked swaggeringly in a purple robe embroidered with giraffes and cute wolf ears. There was a fluffy wolf tail behind the robe. It was Kim Hee-sang’s work.

It was a different look from the Halloween festival when he was the same as a werewolf, but Seo-jun thought that there was no outfit that suited this place as much as this.

The people who wanted to enjoy the werewolf transformation also laughed out loud.

-How did he move with the robe lol the robe lol

-Ah. The wolf ears are so cute lol

Unlike the Halloween festival when he just went in, Seo-jun waved and greeted the audience and turned around.

The people who saw the glove on Seo-jun’s hand screamed again.

-Did you see? The glove! The jelly! Pink jelly!!

-Tail! Tail! The back view is also so cute!

Seo-jun turned around again at the reaction of the people and bowed as planned and ran. The fog thickened and the being that was human disappeared as a wolf.

Applause erupted everywhere.

-Ah lol I was trying to watch it seriously but I laughed lol

-Who thought of this lol I’ll praise the wolf Daegunmama lol

-It suits the awards ceremony lol it’s funny though lol

-When it’s over, this is all I’ll think of

“Da Ho hyung, did I do well?”

“The reaction is really good. You did well!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and took off the headband with wolf ears. He took off the robe and changed his clothes. He drank the water that Ahn Da Ho gave him and caught his breath.

After a while, Seo-jun returned to the The Royal Physician team’s seat. They all welcomed Seo-jun. Lee Ji-seok asked.

“Who thought of that? Seongnyeong Daegunmama as a werewolf. I thought I was going to die laughing.”

“I did.”

“Seo-jun did?”

“Yes. I wanted to do something related to the drama since it’s an awards ceremony.”

“You did well. There are a lot of posts on the internet.”

Seo-jun smiled sheepishly at Park Do-hoon’s words.

The awards ceremony proceeded while Seo-jun was away.

Usually, the rookie award was announced early, but KBC Broadcasting Station skipped the rookie award and announced the other awards first.

It was because Seo-jun, who would receive the rookie award, was away for the congratulatory performance.

“The rookie award is not bad. You can only get it once in your life.”

Seo-jun nodded at Kim Jong-ho’s words. KBC Broadcasting Station’s choice was also like that. Among the awards of Seo-jun, the actor with a bright future, the rookie award would only be from KBC Broadcasting Station. It would remain in Seo-jun’s memory and in people’s memory like that.

[Next is the KBC Acting Award, the Rookie Award.]

At the end of the first part, the MC opened his mouth.

Everyone’s eyes were on the screen. Among the various dramas, the most eye-catching one was the bright smile of Seongnyeong Daegun.

[Lee Seo-jun/Seongnyeong Daegun(The Royal Physician)]

Seo Eun-hye, Lee Min-joon, Seo Eun-chan, and Ahn Da Ho, who were watching from the audience, couldn’t get rid of their nervousness even though they expected it.

[Rookie Award!]

[Drama The Royal Physician, Lee Seo-jun for the role of Seongnyeong Daegun!]

Seo-jun’s face filled the screen.

The people who were watching the live broadcast and the people who were in the audience all sent their congratulations.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and got up from his seat.

Lee Ji-seok made way for him and Seo-jun received the bouquet that he had hidden while preparing for the congratulatory performance.

Kim Jong-ho and Park Do-hoon also gave him bouquets.

Seo-jun, who had a bunch of bouquets in his arms, went up on the stage.

The microphone was high, but soon a staff member handed him another microphone.

The MC handed him the trophy and the bouquet. Seo-jun’s face with the beautiful flowers filled the screen behind the stage.

The beautiful flowers and Seo-jun’s handsome face created a synergy and looked even more amazing.

-This is a meme material! Actors are different!

-Seongnyeong Daegunmama. Congratulations!

-? Is that a dragon pattern?

-Dragon?

“Hello. I’m actor Lee Seo-jun.”

Seo-jun’s voice was broadcasted to the people. Seo-jun smiled as brightly as he could and said.

“I’m very happy to receive the rookie award, which I can only get once in my life. There are so many people I want to share this joy with. All the actors and production staff who filmed with me for months. The viewers who loved The Royal Physician until the last episode with tears. My family and Cocoa Entertainment staff. I want to thank everyone. I want to be an actor who can stay in people’s hearts with my acting. Thank you.”

Seo-jun bowed. Applause erupted. It was a short acceptance speech, but his sincerity was conveyed.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, KBC Rookie Award Winner!]

-Rookie award? Shouldn’t he get the best award?

-The rookie award is good. If you don’t get it for The Royal Physician, you’ll hardly get it. You already filmed Shadowman, so you can’t get the rookie award for movies.

-Seo-jun will get more awards in the future!

The first part of the acting awards ended with Seo-jun’s award. Seo-jun got up from his seat.

“Then I’ll go first!”

“Okay. Go home and rest quickly.”

“I’m going to watch Ji-seok hyung’s award at home!”

Everyone laughed and greeted Seo-jun’s words. Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho left the hall and met his mom and dad who were waiting outside.

“Seo-jun, congratulations on the rookie award!”

“Hehehe.”

“Let’s go and wash up and watch Ji-seok’s award.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun parted with Ahn Da Ho and Seo Eun-chan and headed home with his mom and dad. There was not much traffic on the road, so they arrived home quickly.

They turned on the TV and watched KBC, but it seemed like there was still a long time left before Ji-seok hyung received his award.

Seo-jun and his parents quickly washed up and changed into pajamas.

They sat on the sofa.

Not long after, the MC announced the nominees for the acting award.

Among the various videos, Lee Ji-seok’s back lying in front of the grave was seen.

The viewers who had watched The Royal Physician had tears in their eyes just from that video.

-Wow. Acting with his back!

-Who else can get it if not Lee Ji-seok!

[Acting Award!]

[Drama The Royal Physician, Lee Ji-seok for the role of Heo Yu-seon!]

Lee Ji-seok’s face was shown on the screen.

Seo-jun was proud of Lee Ji-seok’s face, which was brighter than ever. Although he couldn’t hear it, Seo-jun clapped hard.

Kim Jong-ho and Park Do-hoon gave Lee Ji-seok bouquets.

Lee Ji-seok, who had a bunch of bouquets in his arms, went up on the stage. He received the trophy and opened his mouth to the camera.

“Hello. I’m Lee Ji-seok. I have a lot to say, but I want to thank you first. The fans who always support me. The actors and production staff who filmed The Royal Physician with me…”

Seo-jun listened to Lee Ji-seok’s speech and sent him a message. He would be happy to see it later!

<Ji-seok hyung! Congratulations on the acting award!

<Let’s keep acting together in the future!

Lee Ji-seok finished his speech and bowed and came down from the stage.

The screen that showed the MC’s face changed.

It was Bosingak where people were gathered.

“Is it already 12 o’clock?”

“It’s past Seo-jun’s bedtime.”

“I’ll just watch the bell ringing and go to sleep!”

“Okay. I got it.”

[This year is already ending. The old year is gone and the new year is coming. We hope that the viewers will have only happy and joyful things.]

The MC’s voice was heard.

A large number appeared in the center of the screen. 10!

[Then, let’s start the countdown!]

The people on the screen shouted the numbers and prayed.

“Shall we pray too?”

“Please make us happy next year too.”

“Please keep our family healthy.”

Seo-jun and his mom and dad prayed for a happy new year and counted the numbers together.

3!

2!

1!

Ding-!

[Viewers, happy new year!]

Ding-!

Ding-!

The bell rang 33 times.

It was the new year.

Chapter 104

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 104

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, winner of the KBC Rookie Award!]

[Prince Seongnyeong, who became the king, has a dragon embroidered on his suit!]

[Writer So Eun-jin of The Royal Physician, winner of the Writer’s Award!]

[The actors of The Royal Physician swept the KBC Acting Awards!]

[Actor Lee Ji-seok, winner of his first acting award!]

-Someone took a close-up photo and it’s a real dragon lol

-He’s wearing a suit, but it’s like a dragon robe!

-Your Majesty, please accept our bows!

-Honestly, this year was all about The Royal Physician. It ended in June, but I still remember it vividly lol

-Lee Seo-jun’s congratulatory performance video is out!

[Actor Lee Seo-jun’s congratulatory performance, uploaded!]

[The congratulatory performance on KBC, perfectly edited!]

[The cute and lovely congratulatory stage of Lee Seo-jun!]

-The edited video is good, right? Wow. The editor is in charge of documentaries lol

-Is this a documentary?! lol

-It’s the kind of editing that needs a narration

-??? : We will explore the ecology of werewolves.

Boom! Boom!

The sound of drums, the camera that doesn’t miss Lee Seo-jun in the smoke, the occasional howling of wolves, and the big full moon on the screen behind the stage.

It was enough to feel that they had worked hard to film each scene.

“They filmed it well.”

“Yeah.”

Seo-jun and Eun-hye admired the video on their phones.

Min-jun tried hard to fix his gaze forward, which kept turning back.

He looked at the black asphalt road with envy, thinking of his wife and son who were looking at their phones affectionately.

“I want to see it too!”

“See it at the wedding hall. When you’re driving, look ahead!”

“I’m looking. I’m looking so well that I can’t see behind me. That’s the problem.”

Seo-jun laughed at his parents’ conversation.

The new year came and the new door of the Library of Life opened.

He read the books of life to find abilities that would help his acting, read the scripts that Ahn Da Ho gave him, and enjoyed the exciting winter vacation. Before he knew it, it was the day of his uncle Chan’s wedding.

Seo Eun-chan’s wedding was to be held at a hotel. It was a private wedding, so there were no crowds of people.

Seo-jun, who entered the hotel comfortably, found his grandmother in the waiting room.

“Oh, my puppy!”

“Grandma!”

Seo-jun ran to his grandmother, who was wearing a hanbok, and hugged her.

Seo-jun was also wearing a handsome suit.

The couple, who were filming their grandson’s happy face with a camera, greeted Seo Eun-chan, who came in with a bright face.

He looked more neat than usual, and both Eun-hye and Min-jun were surprised.

“He looks a bit better.”

“Right? He said he went to the salon where our kids go for a few days to take care of his skin. They all laughed and did it for him.”

The salon staff congratulated him on the news of his wedding and brought up old memories.

The staff who worked at the salon at that time remembered the debut of Brown Black and Seo Eun-chan, who came into the salon with a look of where they were.

Seo Eun-chan, who was getting skin care while listening to the staff’s stories, also remembered that time.

He didn’t expect, no, he couldn’t even imagine the debut stage reaction that the former president had gathered money from nowhere to take them to the salon where the celebrities went.

Unlike Kevin Kim, who was familiar with the staff’s guidance, the three members and manager Seo Eun-chan were nervous and couldn’t touch anything that sparkled.

And Seo Eun-chan became a decent company president.

“When I first met him, he said he didn’t know he would succeed like this. Well, I’m amazed too. I was a bum, then an idol manager, then a president, and now I’m getting married…”

Life was, unknowable.

“Congratulations on your wedding! Uncle!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly. Suddenly, Seo Eun-chan remembered the beginning of all this. It was his nephew, Lee Seo-jun, who invested enough money for Seo Eun-chan to become a president, and who started the success of Brown Black.

“It’s all thanks to our Seo-jun! Our Seo-jun is a lucky charm!”

Seo-jun, who was suddenly lifted up, was startled and laughed.

***

“Auntie! Auntie! Is it true that Jin Natra came?”

“Su-ryeon. They said Prince Seongnyeong came, is it true?”

The bride’s waiting room was as crowded as the groom’s waiting room.

They only found out the identity of the groom when they came to the wedding hall.

No one was interested enough to memorize the name of the president of the agency.

Kim Su-ryeon, who was wearing a beautiful wedding dress, looked dumbfounded at the chattering nieces and relatives.

“It’s my wedding, please focus!”

“You always see him, but today might be the last time you see Seo-jun!”

They agreed with what was true, and Kim Su-ryeon smiled as if she couldn’t help it.

Su-ryeon knew well that they all knew it was a private wedding, and they couldn’t brag about it even if they wanted to.

That was all they talked about when they came to the bride’s waiting room.

“Seo-jun is coming today, and you’ll probably see him at the hall.”

“I cried so much when I watched The Royal Physician!”

“We’ll be at the hall. Su-ryeon, congratulations.”

“Auntie, congratulations on your wedding!”

The relatives disappeared like a storm and the friends came in.

The friends also had faces that couldn’t hide their excitement. It couldn’t be helped. It was a wedding that was prepared for this.

“Brown Black came! Hwa-ryeon is close to my sister and they were talking!”

“They must have become friends when they filmed 48 Hours.”

“White is here too! Can we get their autographs?”

Kim Su-ryeon sighed. The second round had begun.

***

Seo-jun sat down with his mom and dad. Across the table, the kids who looked like Kim Hwa-ryeon’s sons were staring at him with surprised expressions. He waved his hand and they hid behind Kim Hwa-ryeon in shock.

The bride’s side couldn’t take their eyes off the groom’s side guests.

“It’s really Brown Black!”

“White is here too!”

“It’s Lee Seo-jun, Seo-jun!”

It was obvious that the ratings would explode if these three appeared on TV, but they were right in front of them in real life.

Choi Minho, who was moved by Brown Black’s songs, couldn’t look away either.

“Si-yoon, isn’t that the guy from the playground?”

“Uh… the one we got autographs from?”

Hwang Ye-jun asked and Choi Si-yoon squinted his eyes and looked at the bride’s side guests. Then he met Choi Minho’s eyes.

“Really?”

“Wow! What a coincidence!”

Brown Black didn’t forget their first autograph fan either.

They waved their hands and Choi Minho, who was startled, looked around and pointed at himself.

He nodded his head and bowed in surprise.

The relatives around Choi Minho kept asking what was going on, but the successful fanboy Choi Minho couldn’t come to his senses.

White, the second idol group of Cocoa Entertainment, couldn’t take their eyes off Seo-jun.

“We couldn’t even meet at the company!”

“Thank you, boss!”

The five-member boy group White was known as Marina fanboys among their fans, as they enjoyed watching Marina’s movies and comics.

There was even a rumor that they had a copy of the Shadowman comic book that was out of print 20 years ago.

“Autographs! Can we get autographs?”

The noisy banquet hall was silenced by the MC.

[We will now begin the wedding ceremony of groom Seo Eun-chan and bride Kim Su-ryeon.]

[The groom’s entrance!]

Seo Eun-chan, dressed neatly, walked confidently. Seo-jun clapped hard. Brown Black also remembered the first time they met Seo Eun-chan. They thought he had entered the wrong company when they saw his grim face as a manager.

“I thought he would change to another manager soon.”

“I never thought we would be together for so long.”

White also recalled the boss, Seo Eun-chan, whom they met for the first time.

They thought he would be cold and calculating, as he was the boss of the agency that created the group Brown Black and brought in the Hollywood actor Lee Seo-jun, but he wasn’t.

He would come down to the practice room whenever he had time and ask if they needed anything and give them various advice.

The groom’s side guests looked at Seo Eun-chan, who was smiling on the stage. They all had different impressions of Seo Eun-chan when they first met him, but they all knew he was a good person. They all sent their sincere congratulations and blessings with applause.

[The bride’s entrance!]

Kim Su-ryeon, wearing a wedding dress, walked slowly.

The groom’s side also clapped hard at the appearance of the PR team leader, who was indispensable at Cocoa Entertainment.

Seo Eun-chan and Kim Su-ryeon stood face to face on the stage. They looked shy and avoided each other’s eyes, and everyone laughed and clapped.

The short speech ended and it was time for the congratulatory song. It was natural when Seo-jun went up on the stage first.

And when Brown Black and White went up on the stage, the banquet hall exploded with cheers.

“Wow. To hear a congratulatory song from these members!”

“Can I record it?”

They all looked at Seo Eun-chan, the boss of the three groups. Seo Eun-chan, who had asked for permission in advance, nodded his head and they all turned on their cameras.

The piano accompaniment flowed.

Seo-jun opened his mouth first.

A soft congratulatory song was heard. Seo Eun-chan held Kim Su-ryeon’s hand tightly. Kim Su-ryeon also held his warm hand.

Seo-jun, who was singing the congratulatory song, looked at Seo Eun-chan and Kim Su-ryeon, who were smiling happily, and smiled broadly.

[The feather of a generous intermediate angel is activated.]

The inside of the banquet hall was filled with angel feathers.

***

[(Exclusive) Cocoa Entertainment’s Seo Eun-chan, married today!]

[Cocoa Entertainment’s boss, private wedding!]

[Brown Black, White, Lee Seo-jun attended!]

[Brown Black×White×Lee Seo-jun’s congratulatory song!]

-? The news of the agency’s boss’s wedding is also in the article?

-He’s Lee Seo-jun’s agency.

=I’m looking for Lee Seo-jun’s article, I’m not interested in the agency’s boss.

=The boss is Lee Seo-jun’s uncle.

=???

-Then Seo-jun must have gone too!

=Not just Seo-jun, right? Brown Black and White must have gone too.

-Wouldn’t the TV people come to see Lee Seo-jun? Maybe some who want to break into Hollywood.

=No, no, it was private, so they only invited their acquaintances. The wedding is already over.

-Congratulations on your wedding!

-??? : Born and found out that my cousin is a Hollywood star, Lee Seo-jun!

=Lol, really?

-Wow… It must be hard to gather those three teams even on TV…

***

The sound of the keyboard that had been ringing for a while stopped.

After a few clicks, the sound of the keyboard resumed.

Emily sighed and put a warm cup of coffee next to the laptop.

“Drink while you work. Did you eat today?”

The assistant director, Sarah Roth, avoided Emily’s question and awkwardly looked away from the coffee cup. Emily sighed again.

“I’ll buy you something simple to eat.”

“Thanks as always.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Emily went outside and Sarah Roth focused on the laptop again.

A musical movie.

She thought it was a fleeting idea at the film festival, but before she knew it, Sarah Roth was writing a synopsis and a script.

She interviewed and collected data, and wandered around places that could serve as backgrounds.

The script work that seemed endless was now in its final stages, and Sarah Roth had been concentrating without eating for the past few days.

“Here’s a sandwich.”

“Thank you.”

“How far have you progressed?”

She didn’t expect much.

The person who would answer her was Sarah Roth, who had deleted the entire script that was being completed a year ago, shouting “This is not it!” And there were more than a few scenes that she had deleted.

‘I have to finish it, find investors or actors. Will it ever end?’

The Greenwing, which had an original work, was finished quickly, but this was Sarah Roth’s story from beginning to end. She understood the struggle, but it seemed like she would only work on the script for a few years.

“Just a moment…”

Sarah Roth bit into the sandwich and quickly tapped the keyboard at Emily’s question.

Emily thought. It’s a bust today.

The next day.

It’s a bust today too. Maybe it’ll end in 10 years, she thought as she bought kebabs for Emily and Sarah Roth shouted.

“It’s done!”

“Really?!”

The assistant director, Emily’s astonishment, Sarah Roth smiled proudly. Emily ran over and sat in front of Sarah Roth’s laptop.

Sarah Roth took the kebab and sat comfortably on the sofa.

She wrote and erased, wrote and erased for days. It was a hard time!

“Can I read it? Director!”

“Of course. You’re the assistant director of our movie.”

Emily read the text on the laptop screen. She thought of actors who suited each role, places that suited each place, schedules, and production costs.

“Director. Do you have an actor in mind for the main character?”

Sarah Roth smiled at the question of the assistant director who had been filming with her for a long time.

The script was completed and now she had to cast actors and get investment with this pile of paper.

She thought it wouldn’t be too hard to find investors if she thought about the film festival.

“Yes.”

Sarah Roth looked at the television on the wall. The screen showed the smiling face of Prince Seongnyeong. He was an actor she wanted to work with at least once since she first saw the movie.

“I hope he’ll do it with me.”

Chapter 105

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 105

[KBC Broadcasting Station, Lunar New Year Holiday ‘The Royal Physician’ Marathon!]

[Lunar New Year Holiday, TV Schedules of Each Broadcasting Station!]

[A Lunar New Year Full of Movies, Only One Drama!]

[Will It Return to the Ratings This Time?]

[KBC, The Royal Physician 3 Hours Twice a Day, 4 Days in a Row!]

“Are they crazy?!”

The other broadcasting stations were turned upside down by KBC’s schedule.

“If you work in the same industry, you should be considerate and give way!”

“Calm down, PD-nim.”

The PD of the variety show that aired at the same time as The Royal Physician shouted at the KBC’s schedule that filled the screen. The assistant director and the staff tried to calm him down.

“But it hasn’t been long since the broadcast ended, so there won’t be many people who don’t watch it, right?

“…Look at the comments.”

The assistant director and the staff each took out their phones and looked for the comments on the article.

-Wow! Nice. Grandma’s TV, it’s huge and the latest model, so I think I can watch it wellㅎ Laptop is too smallㅠ

-Do The Royal Physician Special too! Morning-The Royal Physician-Lunch-The Royal Physician-Dinner-The Royal Physician Special!

-No! I’m going on a trip abroad!

-Watch it live!

“We’re doomed!”

The PD, who was aiming for a pilot variety show for the Lunar New Year holiday, buried his head.

***

After the 4-day Lunar New Year holiday, one by one, interesting stories came up.

[Title: Uncle Kicked Outㅋㅋ]

There’s an uncle who says everything he can’t say. He’s the best at making people feel bad when he opens his mouth. I thought I’d have to listen to that uncle again this year, so I went to my grandfather’s house with detachment. The kids who were preparing for college entrance exams, the kids who were preparing for jobs, they all looked unhappyㅎ

After lunch, when I saw the signs, I thought I’d better listen to the TV sound, so I chose The Royal Physician, which seemed to be the most focused. So I was listening to the uncle’s words with one ear and The Royal Physician’s sound with the other. Ha ha ho ho, my grandfather and grandmother who were laughing started watching The Royal Physician. They were very focused and asked, ‘Who is that, what does he do?’ㅋ I taught them everything.

As it turned out, The Royal Physician was on at 10 o’clock, right? Grandpa and grandma went to bed at 9 o’clock. They couldn’t watch the rerun because they were working in the field and going outㅋ It was their first time watching The Royal Physicianㅋㅋ

Anyway, the relatives were watching The Royal Physician hard, and the uncle said.

‘Dad, mom, you haven’t seen this. He dies.’

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋIt was episode 5 then. Prince Seongnyeong’s first appearanceㅋㅋ The atmosphere turned cold in an instant.

‘And Heo Yu-seon or whatever he is…’

‘If you don’t shut up, get out.’

GrandpaㅋㅋㅋThe uncle was stunned by that remarkㅋㅋ It was the first time I saw grandpa and grandma so angry. Thanks to that, it was quiet all throughout the Lunar New Year holiday! Thank you KBC!

-They don’t do The Royal Physician after dinner, do they?

=As soon as the uncle opened his mouth, the cousin quickly connected the TV to Plus+. Watched The Royal Physician Special with Plus+ㅋㅋ Grandma was taking notes diligently.

-(Breaking News) Cousin who was going to spoil, shut up with pocket money.

-(Breaking News) Small father who never cried since becoming an adult, sobbed at episode 14!

-Our house is crying tooㅋㅋ

-(Breaking News) Cousin says: Small father of the above article, wailed on the floor at the last episode!

-Our family is still at the grandparents’ house to watch episodes 23 and 24ㅋㅋ We usually left early because of the traffic jamㅋㅋ

-Everyone had the same idea, we left after episode 24 and the traffic is jammedㅋㅋ

[Title: Parody Novels I Read During the Lunar New Year Holiday!]

I’m a The Royal Physician fan (roughly meaning The Royal Physician fanboy)! I recommend parody novels!

[Fix the Wolf Prince Mama!] > Prince Seongnyeong’s cuteness. He hides his ears and tail and flirts with Heo Yuseon. His parents and brothers are shockedㅋ

[I Became a Colleague of Heo’s Office!] > The Royal Physician fan becomes a colleague of Heo’s office. The goal is to cure Prince Seongnyeong! Show the power of The Royal Physician fan who memorizes The Royal Physician Special!

[I’m Prince Seongnyeong?!] > This one is a bit divisive. The Royal Physician fan goes into The Royal Physician and becomes Prince Seongnyeong. The first goal is to treat the plague! The second goal is to stop 4. Heo Yu-seon! (Real) Prince Seongnyeong disappears and there is a bad review.

-Thank you. I’ll read it well.

-‘Wolf Prince’ has a comic too.[Link]

-‘Heo’s Office Colleague’ is very empathetic as a The Royal Physician fan. Every step of the way, it’s fan serviceㅋㅋ I was really jealous.

Protagonist: This is where Heo’s office lay down in episode 14!(Sobbing)

Heo’s office: ?(He suddenly cries while walking, is he crazy?)

-‘Heo’s Office Colleague’ is so funnyㅋㅋRecommendation2222

Prince Seongnyeong: (Dreaming) Isn’t the colleague officer coming tomorrow?

Protagonist: He’ll come tomorrow and the day after! (Prince Seongnyeong is so cute!)

Heo’s office: (Annoyed)

-‘Heo’s Office Colleague’ has an English translation tooㅋㅋ The reaction of the foreign fans is no jokeㅋ A golden hand will draw it into a comicㅋ

Prince Seongnyeong: Cough.

Doctor Yang Hong-dal: Damn…

Protagonist: Nooo!!! It’s the plague! The plague has this as a special remedy!

Cured Prince Seongnyeong with the decoction from The Royal Physician Special!

Heo’s office: …(I’m grateful, but I don’t want to say thank you)

Protagonist: Sniff(He sees Prince Seongnyeong who is fine even after February and Heo Yu-seon who is peaceful and is moved.)

=The protagonist who seemed to be just a fan was thoroughly prepared! Hey. Heo Yu-seon! The protagonist who you treat so badly is your benefactor!

-Please keep updating… Writer-nim! ㅋㅋ The protagonist is awesome from beginning to endㅋㅋ

Heo’s office: (He glares coldly at Prince Chungnyeong, who has become the crown prince.)

Protagonist: No!! Even if that’s all you learned from watching!! You have to think of Prince Seongnyeong mama! What if you do something to King Sejong, no, Prince Chungnyeong mama!

Heo’s office: (Chilly) …What if?

Protagonist: I’ll tell Prince Seongnyeong mamar!

Heo’s office: … (ㅠ)

-Now the readers of ‘Heo’s Office Colleague’ are fightingㅋㅋ Who will be the king?

=There’s a good way. The writer can write both versions, one where Chungnyeong becomes the king and one where Seongnyeong becomes the king. We’ll have twice as much to watch! The writer will have twice as much to write!

=Writer: …Evil. Devil!

***

The cold winter passed and the warm spring came.

Seo-jun, who became a fourth-grader at Maesil Elementary School, had a peaceful first semester and welcomed the summer vacation.

Ahn Da Ho and the staff of Cocoa Entertainment thought that Seo-jun would take a break this year.

Meanwhile, the drama that Kim Jong-ho filmed was aired and gained popularity.

But KBC, who had tasted the sweetness of The Royal Physician, and the other broadcasting stations who only watched KBC’s festival, hoped that Seo-jun’s next work would be their drama.

But contrary to their wishes, a mail from across the sea turned Cocoa Entertainment, Team 2 upside down. The person who sent the mail was amazing.

“Sarah Roth, the director?!”

“Really? Really, the director of Greenwing?”

There were many other famous Hollywood directors, but for Team 2, who was in charge of Seo-jun, they cared more about the directors of Marina Studio than any other directors.

“Looks like a casting inquiry, shall we look at the script first?”

One of the Team 2 staff quickly printed the script from the mail. Zing- As the printer worked, the staff talked.

“Hollywood scripts have come in, but they’ve all been rejected so far.”

“Maybe, this one might work.”

“Is it another hero movie if it’s Sarah Roth, the director?”

“But there’s the Shadowman series…”

A Marina fan among the staff smiled faintly.

“I knew this day would come someday. I hate spoilers, but it’s work.”

“But there’s a big difference between reading the script and watching the video.”

The staff who was standing in front of the printer brought the script and sorted it out. The eyes of the staff who read it down one by one shone.

The next day, as usual, Ahn Da Ho stopped by Cocoa Entertainment and picked up the script for Seo-jun. A Team 2 staff member handed him a script.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a script from the US. It’s the director of Greenwing.”

Ahn Da Ho’s eyes sparkled. He wanted to be a manager after watching Shadowman 2 and was lucky enough to become Seo-jun’s manager. And it’s been almost three years.

‘Domestic movies are good, but…’

He still wanted to support the actors who starred in movies that were shown all over the world.

He had received quite a few Hollywood works so far, but Seo-jun had rejected them all. The chances were high that he would do the same this time, but he had a good feeling.

Ahn Da Ho looked down at the white script cover. The black alphabet in the center seemed to sparkle.

***

As usual, Seo-jun’s eyes lit up as he picked up the box with the script. English!

“Is it a Hollywood movie?”

“Yeah. It’s Sarah Roth, the director of Greenwing.”

Seo-jun blinked.

He remembered Sarah Roth’s appearance at the film festival after-party and thought of Greenwing. Was it a hero movie, or something else?

“Did you read it, Da Ho hyung?”

Seo-jun quickly put the box back in its place and happily took out the top script. He was always excited to see a thick script.

“I haven’t read it yet, but the Team 2 staff who read it first said it was good.”

“Hmm. Do you want to read it together?”

“No. I’ll read the other scripts first. Take your time.”

“Okay!”

Thump thump, Seo-jun looked at the cover with a happy heart.

He was always happy and joyful when he watched any work. That’s how much he was disappointed if the work was below his expectations.

[Working Title: Violin]

“Violin?”

“It must be a music movie.”

Seo-jun blinked. Music movie. And violin. If he thought one of the books in the library of life was sulking, was it a delusion? But this life was mine.

‘I’ll do what I want!’

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled as he read the script down.

After some time, Ahn Da Ho, who was reading another script, checked the time.

Usually, he would have read it and moved on to the next script. He looked at Seo-jun, who was reading and nodding his head.

He must have read it all. Ahn Da Ho opened his mouth.

“How is it, do you want to do it?”

At Ahn Da Ho’s question, Seo-jun lifted his head, his face shining brightly.

“Yes! I want to do it!”

At Seo-jun’s answer, Ahn Da Ho picked up his phone. Once again, Cocoa Entertainment Team 2 was turned upside down.

“But how do we contract with Hollywood movies?”

“That’s right. This is our first time…”

“Maybe we should ask the agencies of other actors who have entered Hollywood…”

“No way! We don’t even know how they’re going to promote it over there!”

The staff’s worries reached the president, Seo Eun-chan.

Seo Eun-chan shrugged his shoulders and answered clearly.

“That’s not our job.”

“…What?”

“That’s not our job, I said.”

“…What?”

The problem was that the staff didn’t understand his answer properly.

***

Seo-jun talked to his mom and dad while eating dinner.

“I want to star in Director Sarah Roth’s movie. What do you think, mom and dad?”

“We’re fine with whatever Seo-jun likes.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at the approval of Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun.

He knew they would agree, but he was so happy to have his mom and dad’s full support. Seo-jun giggled and the couple smiled.

“If it’s Director Sarah Roth, it’ll be filmed in the US, right?”

“Yeah. It said so in the script.”

“Then, should I go this time?”

Lee Min-jun nodded at Seo Eun-hye’s words.

They had decided who would go with Seo-jun, so the contract was the problem this time.

“Let’s ask Na-ra if she knows anyone over there who can help us.”

“Aunt Na-ra has a lot of connections, so she’ll find someone quickly.”

“And someone very competent, too.”

They left a message for Na-ra Kim, and she replied soon.

<I have a good agency for you!

<I’ll give you their contact info! I explained everything, so they’ll know who you are if you mention my name!

“That’s fast.”

“Yeah. It’s kind of scary.”

How far did Na-ra Kim’s sociability go? Seo-jun and the couple nodded their heads.

“Mom, should we call them now?”

“Let’s just leave a message first.”

They left a message saying they were introduced by Na-ra Kim to the contact Na-ra gave them, and they got a reply soon.

Hmm. This person seemed to be in the same category as Aunt Na-ra. Seo-jun and the couple checked the message they received.

<Surprise! It’s our company!

“…Wow.”

Seo-jun and the couple were speechless at Na-ra’s reply.

“What is this…?”

Seo Eun-hye quickly came to her senses and made a call.

On the phone on the table, they heard Na-ra’s laughter.

“Hi, Aunt Na-ra!”

-Hi, Seo-jun! I watched your drama! I cried so much!

“Na-ra, what is this?”

-Oh. We have something like an agency, too. It’s all thanks to Man-se. You know, Brown Black. They have overseas activities, too. He asked us to make an agency that only handles Brown Black’s overseas activities.

An agency exclusively for Brown Black, that was some rich people’s scale. Seo-jun and the couple stuck out their tongues.

-We also have a contract with Cocoa Entertainment, so we’re taking care of White, too.

“…Why didn’t we know?”

Na-ra laughed at Seo Eun-hye’s words.

-We only handled singers until now, so Eun-chan probably didn’t know we could cover actors, too. The president here is me, so Seo-jun is always welcome! Do whatever you want! I’ll push you hard!

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Na-ra’s words.

“Yeah! Aunt Na-ra!”

-We’ll take care of the rest. Just let Cocoa Entertainment know. Oh, by the way. Are you looking for an agency because you’re filming overseas?

“Yeah! I’ll come see you, Aunt Na-ra!”

-Really? I bought some gifts for Seo-jun, so hurry up!

Seo-jun and the couple burst into laughter at Na-ra’s genuinely happy voice.

Chapter 106

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 106

After sending a casting offer to Seo-jun Lee, director Sarah Roth sent the synopsis to every production company she knew.

She thought she would get a bite from somewhere, but to her surprise, it was Marina Studio that hooked on.

They responded immediately to the synopsis she sent.

On the day of the meeting, the person Sarah Roth met was Phelan Park.

There was a cold wind between Phelan, who had a wide influence over Marina Studio’s subsidiaries, and Sarah Roth, who had just finished two hero movies.

“I liked the synopsis.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re considering Seo-jun Lee for the main role, right?”

Sarah Roth straightened her back under Phelan’s sharp eyes. Hollywood was full of racial discrimination.

White washing was the norm, and there were fixed images for each race.

Seo-jun Lee, who was perfect for the role of Jin Natra, almost missed the opportunity because he was Asian.

‘Marina Studio’s public image is different, though.’

The person who created that image was director Ryan Will.

It was well known that Ryan Will had a hard time casting Seo-jun Lee. Hmm. Should I try it too? Sarah Roth wondered if she should cross her arms.

“Yes, I am.”

Phelan tilted his head slightly.

“Is he cast?”

“No, not yet.”

“Do you think Seo-jun Lee will star in your movie?”

That was a strange question. It implied that Seo-jun Lee would reject it regardless of her intention.

Sarah Roth blinked and answered.

“I sent the synopsis and the script to Seo-jun Lee’s Korean agency, Cocoa Entertainment. They should contact me soon.”

“Oh, Seo-jun Lee doesn’t have an agency in the US, right?”

Sarah Roth also tilted her head at that. She learned that fact when she researched Seo-jun Lee.

But how did Phelan Park know about the agency status of a movie star?

“Director Roth, there is a condition.”

“Yes.”

This was the main point. Sarah Roth straightened her back. Was this the time to cross her arms?

“If Seo-jun Lee stars in it, we’ll double the production budget.”

“…What?”

Sarah Roth’s eyes widened at Phelan’s words.

This was something she never imagined.

Phelan, who had kept a cool expression, took off his mask and sighed lightly. He tried to imitate Richard Bowen, but it didn’t suit his temperament.

“To be honest, Seo-jun Lee’s ticket power is amazing. Just look at the streaming site, Plus+’s drama. You can guess the number of viewers for his next work.”

“I see.”

Sarah Roth also knew about Plus+’s growth. She subscribed to watch The Doctor, too. It was so fun. She and Emily cried a lot.

“But there hasn’t been a Hollywood movie starring Seo-jun Lee since Shadowman 2.”

Sarah Roth nodded.

“Marina Studio, Marina Studio’s subsidiaries, and the competing production companies, we have a lot of scripts that we sent to Seo-jun Lee. But none of them were chosen by him.”

“I see.”

“And this movie is a musical, right?”

“Yes? Yes.”

Phelan Park smiled.

“Korea loves musical movies more than any other country. Even if they don’t make a profit in other countries, they can make a huge profit in Korea. Think about it. A musical movie with a Korean main character. Can you imagine how much profit you can make in Korea?”

Sarah Roth’s mouth opened wide at the number Phelan Park presented.

“Think about the people around the world who are waiting for Seo-jun Lee’s next work. It would be much more than when Shadowman 2 was released, now that the drama has succeeded. Double the production budget? That’s easy to make up. We can give you more if you need it.”

Phelan’s eyes sparkled.

“But we need a certainty, a contract, that Seo-jun Lee will star in it.”

Sarah Roth lost her words. She had thought of all the reasons why she should cast Seo-jun Lee as the main character, but Marina Studio was against it.

“What if Seo-jun Lee doesn’t star in it?”

“The synopsis was good. If you agree, we’ll still produce it. But the production budget will be reduced.”

Sarah Roth nodded at Phelan Park’s words. After that, they talked about the movie production.

The place where Sarah Roth’s musical movie would be produced was Whale Studio, a subsidiary of Marina Studio that produced genres such as romance comedy and human drama.

***

“Marina?”

Emily was surprised and looked at Sarah Roth. Sarah Roth put a pile of papers on the table.

“Yes.”

“Well, Marina Studio has subsidiaries that make other genres of movies besides hero movies. Was it Whale Studio? Marina and Whale, it’s totally sea.”

“They’re going to make it at Whale.”

Emily sighed with relief. Sarah Roth had made a name for herself with Greenwing, but musical was a completely different genre. She was worried that she wouldn’t find a production company, but it was a false alarm.

“Marina, no, Whale should be fine. But what did they say to produce it?”

Emily asked, and Sarah Roth recalled what happened.

“They said they would double the production budget if Seo-jun Lee starred in it.”

“Double?!”

“They said they could give more if needed. Seo-jun Lee must be more amazing than I thought, as an actor and as a ticket power.”

Sarah Roth told Emily what Phelan Park had offered. Emily nodded.

“Well, it’s not a hero movie, so the production budget is low, but double… Still, there were some cases where Korea was the most profitable country for musical movies. And if the main character is from their own country… I can understand why Marina Studio came out like that.”

“I hope we get an answer from Seo-jun Lee soon.”

“Let’s do our work first. Seo-jun Lee is secondary, and we have decided on the production company, so we need to form the production team.”

“That’s why I brought this. Marina Studio gave me the profiles of the staff who worked in the musical genre.”

As Sarah Roth sat down, Emily also took a seat in front of her. They both picked up their pens.

“How are you going to do the violin performance?”

“I’ll use an expert. The actors will learn the fingering and the timing of using the violin bow according to the expert’s performance.”

Sarah Roth answered Emily’s question.

Sarah Roth’s eyes moved quickly. She needed a new sense, different from the hero movies.

She saw the staff who had produced the musical movie that Sarah Roth enjoyed.

“That person has a bad reputation.”

“Really?”

The paper turned over. The eyes and mouths of the two moved separately.

“Wouldn’t it be better to have actors who have learned violin a little bit?”

“No. If we set that standard, it will be hard to choose good actors. Violin is not a basic education.”

“Oh. You’re right.”

Another paper turned over.

“First, we need to find actors who match the image and act well, and then make them practice violin.”

“Wouldn’t that take a long time?”

“I don’t know.”

Sarah Roth, who had stopped checking the profiles with her pen, looked at Emily.

“Would it take a long time to act the posture alone?”

“It would be better to have a generous practice period. How about we gather the characters who play the violin and give them lessons?”

“That sounds good.”

Emily counted on her fingers.

“We have outdoor shooting, so the weather has to be warm. The release date is up to Whale, but we can’t ignore it completely. The actors have schedules, too, so we have to consider that.”

“Hmm.”

Sarah Roth also thought about the future schedule.

“When will we get an answer from Seo-jun Lee? We need to get the production budget to do anything. I want to use a good camera! And a good violin! And other things, too, expensive ones!”

“Let’s start with the initial budget. We can use the rest for publicity.”

While Sarah Roth and Emily, the assistant director, were busy forming the shooting team, an email arrived. It was from Seo-jun Lee’s new agency.

***

The second team, who had sent the documents related to Seo-jun to his new agency, Kings Agency, had a bitter conversation.

“Well, Hollywood is hard for us. It’s almost impossible to grasp the local situation in Korea. That’s why other actors work with agencies, too.”

“We could also make a branch, but since Seo-jun is the only Hollywood actor, it would be a waste of money when he’s not active.”

“It’s still a shame.”

“The manager must be more sorry than us.”

At that, Ahn Da Ho, who was taking care of the scripts for Seo-jun, gave a wry smile.

“But wouldn’t it be okay for the manager to go to the US? He improved his English a lot in two years. If the agency takes care of the big things and he just looks after Seo-jun, he doesn’t have to be fluent in the US.”

“That’s right. BuBl and White also took some Korean staff when they went abroad.”

“It’s definitely more comfortable to have someone who has been working with you.”

Then, one of the employees came into the second team’s office.

“Manager. The president is calling you.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Ahn Da Ho left the second team’s office and headed to the president’s office. Ahn Da Ho was also bitter. He never thought that Cocoa Entertainment and Seo-jun would leave the overseas works as an exception.

‘I wanted to help him with the Hollywood movie shooting… No. Let’s do our best in Korea.’

He tried to calm his mind and knocked on the door of the president’s office. He heard Seo Eun-chan’s voice telling him to come in.

“Did you call me, sir?”

“Yes. Have a seat.”

As Ahn Da Ho lowered his eyes to sit on the sofa, there was a boy who had a presence that was surprising to see.

“Seo-jun?”

“Hello! Ahn Da Ho hyung!”

In the president’s office, there was not only the president, Seo Eun-chan, but also Seo-jun, who should have been at home. Surprised, Ahn Da Ho blinked a few times and sat down.

“Let’s skip the introduction and get to the point. I’d like you to go with Seo-jun for his overseas shooting, too.”

“…Yes?”

Ahn Da Ho asked back at Seo Eun-chan’s words. Seo-jun and Seo Eun-chan smiled mischievously.

“Ahn Da Ho hyung, we rewrote the contract!”

“…Again?”

“Originally, when Seo-jun does overseas activities, a Kings Agency employee would be his manager, but now that we have rewritten the contract, you can still support Seo-jun. Of course, you’ll get paid more.”

Seo Eun-chan said with a smile. Ahn Da Ho rolled his eyes and opened his mouth.

“Why…?”

“I saw you studying English.”

Seo-jun knew that Ahn Da Ho brought an English book every time he brought a script.

When Seo-jun read the script or did his homework, Ahn Da Ho, who had finished his work, never let go of the English word book in his hand. His schedule on his days off was always an English academy.

Sometimes he even talked to Seo-jun in English. He watched movies without subtitles and read scripts written in English.

After the WTV Film Festival, Ahn Da Ho always devoted himself to studying English.

“I know, too. How hard you work as Seo-jun’s manager.”

Ahn Da Ho’s face turned red. He didn’t think they wouldn’t know, but it was still embarrassing.

Seeing that, Seo-jun laughed. He was proud to have such a diligent and cool person as his manager.

“Seo-jun would feel more comfortable acting with you than with a new employee. The other things will be done by Kings Agency. If you need anything while supporting Seo-jun, contact the agency.”

Ahn Da Ho was moved by Seo Eun-chan and Seo-jun, who recognized his efforts, and clenched his mouth and nodded his head.

“Oh, I forgot to ask you first.”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho looked at Seo Eun-chan.

“You can still work as Seo-jun’s manager even if you refuse. You don’t have to go to the US. Ahn Da Ho. Can you keep helping Seo-jun in the US?”

“Yes! Just leave it to me!”

At Ahn Da Ho’s words, Seo-jun smiled brightly.

“I look forward to working with you in the US, Ahn Da Ho hyung!”

“Me too. Seo-jun.”

In the end, Seo-jun and Seo Eun-chan laughed after seeing Ahn Da Ho shed a tear.

Chapter 107

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 107

Soon, he received a call from director Sarah Roth. Her face filled the laptop screen.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Sarah Roth.”

“Hello. I’m Seo-jun Lee. You can call me Jun. Please feel free to talk to me.”

Director Roth nodded and smiled at Jun’s words.

“Okay. Jun, did you read the script?”

“Yes. It was very interesting.”

Jun told her what he liked about the script and director Roth nodded repeatedly. He was a handsome actor who looked good no matter what he did.

“Good. Jun, have you ever played the violin?”

“A little bit, a long time ago.”

He had learned to play the violin that he received as a gift from his aunt Na-ra when he entered elementary school.

It had been two years since then and he had learned for a short time. He had diligently learned activities like taekwondo or horse riding that would help him during filming, but he never expected to star in a movie about violin.

‘I learned piano well, though.’

“Then, can you practice until the filming? You don’t have to play perfectly. You just need to learn how to hold the violin, how to grip the bow, and the basic posture.”

“When is the filming?”

“It’s still the first stage, so I think we’ll film next year. There’s outdoor filming too, so maybe in spring or summer when the weather gets warmer?”

It was August now, so he had nine months left. He had more than enough time to practice the posture of playing the violin.

“Okay.”

“I’ll send you the sheet music for the parts of the playing scenes. You can practice the order and then I’ll send you the playing scenes when the violinist is cast, so you can match the timing.”

“Okay.”

Director Roth continued to talk. Jun listened attentively.

“Some of the songs, I’m thinking of commissioning them, so there’s no sheet music ready yet, but I’ll send them to you as soon as they come in. I hope you practice them. Um. Is it too much?”

“No. It’s okay. I think of it as a script and memorize it. It’s easy.”

He could practice one song a month and that would be nine songs. And most of them were short plays. He could memorize them easily, but if he found a suitable ability in the Library of Life, he could play them more easily.

Director Roth nodded at Jun’s words.

Well, it would take a long time to play like a real violinist, but what she wanted from Jun was ‘a plausible posture’.

“If it’s hard to memorize all the violin fingering, just make sure you raise and lower the bow at the right timing. The fingers won’t show much unless it’s a close-up. But if you can, memorize them.”

“Okay.”

“And before the filming starts, there’s a lesson for about a week, can you come to the US? I’m going to invite other child actors who have violin playing scenes. I think it’s better to learn with the actors and get along with them than to practice alone.”

Jun nodded at director Roth’s words.

“I’ll definitely participate if I don’t have anything urgent!”

“Okay. Then I’ll contact the agency as soon as the songs come out.”

Director Roth hesitated a little and opened her mouth.

“Jun. Let’s make a great movie together.”

“Yes!”

Jun smiled brightly.

***

First, he had to find a teacher who could teach him the violin. He wondered how to find a teacher and suddenly realized.

This was the job of the agency.

Jun contacted Seo Eun-chan, considering Ahn Da Ho, who was working with Marina Studio and King’s Agency.

“You want to learn the violin?”

“Yes!”

“Didn’t you learn it a few years ago, Jun? I think I saw a video that your sister took a few times.”

He remembered that he did well. Jun answered Seo Eun-chan’s question.

“I can play a little, but I want to play more naturally. I have to read the sheet music and match the timing and playing. It’s hard to do it by myself.”

Seo Eun-chan scratched the back of his neck at his words. He had read the script too. There were quite a few scenes of playing the violin, but he honestly thought Jun would do well with a little learning.

“Okay. I got it. The violin, huh…”

Seo Eun-chan thought for a moment.

“If it was guitar or piano, I could ask the singers that BuBl knows, but the violin… Wouldn’t Soohee know that better?”

“…Right?”

Jun blinked at Seo Eun-chan’s words. He hadn’t thought of Choi Soohee.

Choi Soohee, who was Kim Hee-sang’s wife and Jun’s aunt Soohee, had worked as a pianist in Europe and settled in Korea a few years ago. She was teaching college students now. Jun quickly called aunt Soohee.

“Hello. Jun.”

“Hello. Aunt!”

“…Heong?”

He heard a baby’s voice from the other side of the phone. It was Kim Subin, who had turned one a few weeks ago.

Subin babbled. Choi Soohee switched to video call with a smile. The baby was holding a slime doll in his arms and tilting his head.

“Yeah. It’s Jun, your hyung.”

“Heong?”

Kim Subin smiled brightly and leaned his face toward the camera.

His blinking eyes, chubby cheeks. Seo-jun burst into laughter. Subin also laughed loudly and squealed when he saw his favorite brother laughing.

“Hi, Subin.”

“Heong! Hi!”

“Subin, let mom talk with hyung.”

“No!”

Kim Subin seemed to grab the phone, and the camera went dark. Choi Soohee’s voice came through. Seo-jun laughed and said.

“Aunt, I can hear your voice well, so you can just tell me.”

“Haha. Okay. I got it. What’s up?”

“Do you know anyone who can teach me the violin?”

“The violin?”

“Yes. My next work is a musical movie. I have to play the violin. The filming will start next spring or summer. I need someone who can come two or three times a week and teach me until then.”

“Heong? Me! Me!”

“Yeah. Hi, Subin!”

“Hi!”

Subin, who was leaning his face on the phone, laughed at Seo-jun’s greeting.

Choi Soohee thought for a moment. She recalled the faces of the people she knew. That person was abroad, and this person was busy.

“Don’t you have to learn from a famous person for a movie shoot?”

“No. They’ll hire someone else to teach me later. I just need to learn the basics until then.”

“Then it doesn’t have to be a professor, right?”

“Yes!”

“Then I know someone. He’s still a student, but he’s done some tutoring and he can teach well. He came to Korea not long ago and he’s looking for a short-term job. He might leave the country next year. You might not be able to learn from him next year, is that okay?”

“Yes. I can find another teacher next year.”

“Okay. Then I’ll contact him. Oh dear. Subin is upset.”

Heeng! Subin’s whining mixed with crying came from across the phone, and Seo-jun and Choi Soohee burst into laughter.

“I thought he was quiet. Take care, Subin!”

“Bye bye, say bye bye. Subin.”

“No! Heongaa!”

“Come and play again, Subin.”

“Yeah!”

He understands the words ‘come and play’ perfectly.

“Well, see you next time. Jun.”

“Yes!”

The phone hung up with Subin’s scream and Choi Soohee’s laughter.

A little later, a picture of Subin holding a slime doll and a phone arrived.

-Subin is calling for his hyung while looking at the phone haha

<I have to go and play soon

Jun laughed.

***

Jun fell asleep. When he opened his eyes, he saw the tightly closed Library of Life. He opened the door of the library and saw many bookshelves and books.

The books of the abilities he had used, the books he had read, and the many books he had not read yet.

When he had no filming, he read a few books a day, but there were still many books he had not read.

He could skim through and choose a good ability, but when he read a book of a life, he remembered the faint memories of that time and was immersed in them until it was time to wake up.

“But today I have to find an ability first.”

Jun first looked around the titles of the books on the bookshelf.

The classification of the Library of Life was divided by the type of monster. Any kind of slime, slime was on the slime shelf, any kind of elf, elf was on the elf shelf.

To find a book related to the violin, he had to look around all the shelves.

He passed three shelves and barely picked out two candidates, and Jun pondered seriously.

“…Do I have to reclassify?”

Music is music, art is art.

There would be many other ways of classification, but Jun could not do it.

The only ones who could influence the Library of Life were those who had abilities similar to the level of the lives that created the Library of Life.

It was impossible for Jun, who could only use low to medium level abilities.

“I have to open the last library door to use the power of the Library of Life, right?”

There were still many closed doors in the Library of Life. He had to open all those doors and open the last door, but he didn’t know when that would be. Jun sighed and walked to the next shelf.

“Sigh. I have to look hard.”

***

A few days later, the violin teacher Choi Soohee introduced, Jung Yi-seul, arrived at Cocoa Entertainment. Jung Yi-seul, who held the strap of the violin case with both hands, stood awkwardly in front of Cocoa Entertainment.

There were some people who looked like fans of celebrities.

Jung Yi-seul, who attracted attention with her eye-catching violin case, didn’t know what to do.

Ahn Da Ho, who was waiting in the lobby, saw Jung Yi-seul with the violin case and came out.

“Jung Yi-seul teacher?”

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

“Nice to meet you. Let’s go in first.”

Jung Yi-seul followed Ahn Da Ho’s guidance and entered Cocoa Entertainment. Jung Yi-seul received a temporary pass from Ahn Da Ho.

“I’m Ahn Da Ho, the manager of actor Lee Seo-jun.”

“Hello. I’m Jung Yi-seul.”

“Jun’s practice room is this way.”

Jung Yi-seul held the strap of the case tightly. It was her first time at a celebrity agency, and she was amazed by the pictures of celebrities everywhere.

The practice room that Ahn Da Ho guided was a practice room exclusively for Jun, which Seo Eun-chan made as soon as Jun entered the agency, because he couldn’t make loud noises or practice acting in an apartment.

“If you scan your pass here, it will open. Try it.”

“Okay!”

Jung Yi-seul scanned her pass at the machine as Ahn Da Ho instructed. A beep sounded and Ahn Da Ho opened the door.

The practice room was spacious and clean. One wall was filled with mirrors. Jung Yi-seul was admiring the place when she heard a bright voice. It was Jun.

“Hello!”

“Ah, hello.”

Jung Yi-seul quickly greeted him. Ahn Da Ho left the practice room and Jun led Jung Yi-seul to a chair.

There was a small table and a chair on one side of the practice room.

There were also a camera and a large monitor that could record and play back the footage, and a refrigerator filled with snacks and drinks to satisfy the hunger.

“Please sit here, teacher.”

“Ah. Thank you.”

“Please speak comfortably. I’m Lee Seo-jun.”

“…Nice to meet you. I’m Jung Yi-seul.”

“Yes. Jung Yi-seul teacher!”

Jun took out two cups with ease.

“There’s green tea and coffee. There’s also orange juice. What would you like?”

“Um. Can I have juice?”

“Yes.”

Jun poured orange juice into two cups and placed them in front of Jung Yi-seul. Jung Yi-seul, who was thirsty, gulped down the juice. She sighed and said.

“I heard from the professor that I don’t have to play, but just match the music and timing. Is that right?”

“Yes. The director sent me the sheet music. I just have to practice the posture of the sheet music until the next one comes.”

“I see. I heard you learned the violin a few years ago. How much did you learn?”

“Um. A few months or so.”

“A few months…”

Jung Yi-seul thought for a moment.

A few years ago, he barely learned for a few months.

That was no different from not learning at all. Jung Yi-seul, who didn’t know Jun’s ability to learn quickly even if he only learned for a few months, decided to teach him from the beginning.

“Then should I teach you from the beginning?”

Jun nodded at Jung Yi-seul’s words.

He had some memories of learning from a music teacher in front of the school, but his attitude was different from then and now. Jun decided to learn properly from the beginning for acting.

“Yes!”

“Then shall we try holding the violin?”

At Jung Yi-seul’s words, Jun took out the violin from the case. It was a fairly expensive violin that his aunt Na-ra bought for him. It seemed a bit big a few years ago, but now it was just the right size.

Jun, who was taking out the violin bow, looked up and said.

“Teacher. Can I record this?”

“Record?”

“Yes. It might help me when I act, so I’m recording it.”

“Oh, sure.”

Jung Yi-seul nodded. If it helped him act, he should record it. Jun put down the violin and set up cameras in front and on the side.

He looked like he had done this kind of recording more than once as he adjusted and aligned the cameras.

A red light came on the camera and Jun lifted the violin again.

“Shall we start with the posture?”

Jun’s violin lesson for his next movie began.

Chapter 108

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 108

Sarah Roth was nervously waiting for someone while sipping her coffee.

She had already achieved half of the success criteria by casting Seo-jun as the lead actor, and the other half depended on the music.

The door of the cafe opened and a person entered. Sarah Roth, who had been anxiously staring at the entrance, sprang to her feet.

“Professor Morton!”

Their eyes met as Benjamin Morton heard his name. He nodded his head in greeting and sat down in front of Sarah Roth.

The waiter took their order and left.

“Nice to meet you, Professor Morton. I’m Sarah Roth, the film director.”

“Hello. I’m Benjamin Morton.”

There were two people that Sarah Roth wanted to work with when she first planned this movie.

One was the actor, Seo-jun Lee, and the other was Benjamin Morton, who was sitting here.

Benjamin Morton.

He was a musician who had made a name for himself as a violinist and a composer.

He had been active until ten years ago, but he retired due to personal reasons and now he was teaching students at a music college near his home.

He only gave a special lecture once a week, but the number of applicants for the composition and violin departments increased because of him.

Benjamin Morton was not only a skilled violinist, but also a composer whose music moved people’s hearts. His songs were enough to become someone’s life song.

There were even concerts that featured only his songs, and they were sold out every day.

The best feature of Benjamin Morton’s songs, according to people, was ‘emotion’.

It was easy to tell what the performer wanted to express just by listening.

And that ‘emotion that the audience could easily feel’ was what Sarah Roth needed for her musical movie.

After the greetings and the coffee arrived, Benjamin Morton took a sip and Sarah Roth opened her mouth.

“Did you read the synopsis and the script?”

“Yes. I liked them. It was a story that made me think a lot.”

Hmm. Sarah Roth suppressed the smile that was about to form on her lips at Benjamin Morton’s soft voice.

It seemed like it would be easier than she thought. Benjamin Morton took another sip of his coffee and opened his mouth.

“Wouldn’t it be better to use some famous classical pieces instead of my songs? There must be some suitable ones.”

“Yes. There might be some, but I need your songs, Professor Morton. I want to deliver vivid emotions to the audience.”

Benjamin Morton paused for a moment at Sarah Roth’s words and opened his mouth.

“I have a favor to ask you in exchange for writing my songs.”

“Yes.”

Sarah Roth’s eyes sparkled at his half-consenting words. Benjamin Morton held his coffee cup with his thumb and his expression darkened.

“Have you found a violinist to play the protagonist’s part?”

“No. Not yet. If it’s not rude, I’d like to ask you, Professor. Do you know any violinists who can play the role of the protagonist?”

Benjamin Morton sighed in relief.

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. I have a student and I’d like you to give him the part.”

Benjamin Morton’s student!

Sarah Roth cheered inwardly. His playing skills would be guaranteed by Benjamin Morton, and she had one more selling point.

“I’d be more than happy to ask you!”

“Thank you. Then I’ll send you the songs as soon as they’re done.”

Sarah Roth, who had been nodding her head, suddenly opened her mouth.

“Professor Morton.”

“Yes?”

“Would you mind teaching our actors?”

“Actors, you mean?”

Benjamin Morton tilted his head.

“Yes. We’ll use a stand-in for the playing, but the actors have to shoot the playing scenes. They have to match the timing of the music and the posture, and I’d like you to help them. I’d like to have a two-week intensive lesson before the shooting and your help during the shooting.”

Benjamin Morton thought for a moment and nodded his head.

“Can I bring my student along?”

“Yes. Of course!”

“I see. Okay. Then please contact me when the schedule is set. I have to adjust it with my college lectures.”

“Thank you!”

Sarah Roth left with a bright face and Benjamin Morton went back to his home. He left a text message to his damned student and turned off his phone. He was sure he would make a fuss.

***

“Benjamin Morton, the professor?”

Seo-jun looked at the laptop screen with a surprised face. Sarah Roth smiled and nodded as if she was waiting for his reaction.

He had learned about various violinists from his teacher, Jung Yi-seul, while he was learning the violin.

Among them, he also heard about Benjamin Morton.

The songs that his teacher played for him were very touching and beautiful.

‘He said he was the professor he respected the most…’

He wondered if his teacher would faint if he heard this story. Seo-jun smiled inwardly.

“Yes. He’ll give you a two-week lesson and help you during the shooting.”

“That’s great. But the song came out really fast.”

“I thought it would take longer, too, but it came out faster than I expected. And I didn’t expect such a good song!”

Sarah Roth was so impressed by the song that the student of Benjamin Morton played that she thought Benjamin Morton had read her mind.

She couldn’t imagine that a song that matched her image so well would come out. She was lucky!

“So the song is done?”

“Yeah. All you need to do is practice.”

“Are the other actors casted?”

“The first and second auditions are over, and only the final audition is left. Now it’s time for the set to be built and the art team to work hard.”

Sarah Roth smiled lightly. The production budget was generous, so everyone was working happily.

“The shooting schedule is roughly decided. The other actors have to go to school, and Jun has to go to school too, so we decided to shoot during the summer vacation next year. Of course, you’ll have to come to the US before the summer vacation.”

Seo-jun knew that from Ahn Da Ho. Ahn Da Ho, Kings Agency, and Whale Studio had discussed the school attendance.

For My Way, they filmed in Korea, and used early dismissal and weekends to film, so it didn’t affect the attendance much, but this filming was different.

‘No paid leave.’

The adults and Seo-jun thought so.

Because they had to film in the US, there were many days off, so Ahn Da Ho went to Maesil Elementary School and checked how many days Seo-jun had to attend, and told Kings Agency. After adjusting, the date was roughly decided.

“Yes. I understand. Please contact me when it’s confirmed.”

“Okay. Practice hard!”

He hung up the phone and Seo-jun printed the sheet music. He had improved his ability to read sheet music while learning the violin for a few months.

Along with Seo-jun’s gaze, the fingers with the violin pattern on them moved along the notes on the sheet music.

“Wow.”

Seo-jun exclaimed as he read the sheet music.

The calm performance surged and shone brilliantly at the end.

He felt like he had become a real violinist as he practiced hard for a few months.

He wanted to play this song. His hands were itching as he fiddled with the violin case.

“Seo-jun, let’s eat!”

“Okay!”

But it was time to eat dinner.

‘I’ll have to play it tomorrow.’

He swallowed a sigh of regret and got up from his seat to eat dinner.

***

“This is Professor Morton’s song?!”

“Yes. He helped us with our movie.”

“Hollywood class is different!”

Jung Yi-seul’s eyes sparkled. Her favorite song to play on the violin was Benjamin Morton’s song.

Jung Yi-seul read the sheet music down. She had seen sheet music all her life, so she read the song faster than Seo-jun.

It was a really cool song, just as Seo-jun felt, calm and intense and shining at the end.

Jung Yi-seul came to her senses as she imagined herself playing. This was not a song for her to play, but for Seo-jun.

“Is this what you’re going to play?”

“Yes. You just have to match the hand movements and the timing of using the bow. The real performance will be done by a violinist.”

“I see. Okay. Let’s do it.”

Seo-jun, who had put the violin on his chin, called Jung Yi-seul.

“But, teacher.”

“Yes?”

“If we practice well, let’s practice for real. So we can play it.”

Jung Yi-seul nodded at Seo-jun’s words. Seo-jun was really good at playing the violin, even though he had only been taught for a few months.

He learned quickly and didn’t forget what he was taught. Jung Yi-seul was amazed and exhausted by Seo-jun’s changing appearance every day.

He was incomparable to the other kids she had tutored. He was so fast at improving his skills that she wondered if Seo-jun and Choi Soohee had tricked her.

But Jung Yi-seul soon shook her head. If she searched the internet a little, she would find stories about Seo-jun’s talent.

[Title: Playing soccer with actor Lee Seo-jun!]

My friend is a promising soccer player and he called me to play soccer on the weekend, but he said he had a prior engagement. So I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was playing soccer with his younger friend. So I said let’s play together. He said OK and we gathered the soccer club kids and went to the school playground, and Lee Seo-jun was there. At first, no one recognized himㅋㅋ It was so out of the blueㅋㅋ Why are you here?

Anyway, the director who was in the soccer club room because of work was surprised and ran out, and the soccer club kids who got the call also ran overㅋㅋ But we didn’t tell anyone outside, so there weren’t many peopleㅋ We got autographs and took pictures and played a game and it was funㅋ

—He said I could post this.

-Choiㅁㅁ thx! I didn’t expect to see Lee Seo-jun!! I got an autograph too!!

-I played a game with Lee Seo-jun! He was really good.

Choiㅁㅁ : He’s better than ㅁㅅㅋㅋ

<……I admit, he’s better than me, a middle school third grader, even though he’s a fourth grader. Acting, soccer, what can’t he do?

-Choiㅁㅁ : Nothingㅋ

-Did you see the director asking him if he wanted to play soccer as a hobby?

-ㅋㅋ Seo-jun was funny tooㅋㅋ He said he would think about it if he made a soccer movieㅋㅋ

-There’s only Choi Si-hyuk who’s close to Seo-jun among soccer players. They appeared in a cameo together.

-Middle school third grader Choi Si-hyuk, tells his friend that Seo-jun is better!

=Friend who played with Seo-jun, agrees!

-The director asking him if he wanted to play soccer as a hobbyㅋㅋ

-A soccer movieㅋㅋ Is it a sequel to the movieㅋㅋ

-ㅋㅋAs expected, he’s recommended to the national team for whatever he doesㅋ

Seo-jun’s talent was not only in violin. Soccer, horse riding, taekwondo. He had amazing talent that crossed fields.

It seemed like the sky had poured out various talents when creating the person named Seo-jun.

Jung Yi-seul, who had given up early, opened her mouth.

“Let’s try what we practiced last time first.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun lifted the bow. He pressed the violin strings hard with his fingers and pulled the bow.

The violin patterns on the tips of his fingers sparkled.

[(Line) Violin Dream Fairy’s Basic Lesson is activated.]

[(Line) Violin Dream Fairy’s Basic Lesson-Low Level]

The violin dream fairy finds a child with great talent.

Your understanding of the violin increases.

Your finger movements become easier.

Your sense of pitch and rhythm improves.

The dream fairy, who teaches the child in the child’s dream as a dream fairy, leaves the content learned in the dream in the child’s subconscious, and helps a lot when the child plays the violin.

There was a similar fairy who made him feel ‘I got inspiration in my dream!’ as a composition dream fairy.

In a word, it was an ability to learn the violin more easily. It was an ability that suited Seo-jun, who had to learn the violin.

‘I flipped through six bookshelves.’

Seo-jun smiled bitterly and moved the bow.

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Spring. First movement.

A cheerful violin sound was heard.

The lesson that was supposed to practice only the posture became a serious violin lesson.

Jung Yi-seul saw the beautiful violin sound and Seo-jun’s precise movements. Seo-jun was focused on the music, playing with a serious expression.

Who would think that this kid had only learned for a few months? He had grown so much, even though he only had a few songs to learn.

‘He’s fast at understanding and learning. If he learns the violin properly from the beginning, he’ll be amazing.’

Jung Yi-seul regretted the dazzling talent.

‘He would do well if he learned… But he won’t, right?’

Jung Yi-seul had to give up, knowing that Seo-jun was learning the violin because of the movie.

Chapter 109

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 109

Jung Yi-seul’s violin lessons, which she thought would end by the new year, continued until spring.

After practicing the violin, Seo-jun and Jung Yi-seul would sit in the practice room and chat while eating snacks.

“I don’t know if I’m teaching Seo-jun or playing with him.”

“Hahaha.”

“Don’t you think so? Maybe the professors would have more to teach, but I’m still a student and I don’t know much.”

“This is enough for me. Thank you, teacher.”

Jung Yi-seul smiled at Seo-jun’s words. Teaching Seo-jun was a good time for Jung Yi-seul.

There are geniuses in the world that you can’t even imagine. And there are many things to learn from a genius.

Jung Yi-seul’s skills improved rapidly as she played the violin with Seo-jun.

She wanted to go back to school and play in front of everyone as soon as possible.

Seeing Jung Yi-seul like that, Seo-jun also thought that the teacher was a very nice person.

Jung Yi-seul was briefly discouraged by Seo-jun’s excellent learning ability, but she quickly regained her energy and took it as a good nutrient.

“I read the script, but I had no idea how it would turn out. Is this how ordinary people feel when they read sheet music? Do you imagine scenes when you read the script, Seo-jun?”

“It depends on the director’s directing style, but I get a rough idea. It’s like music, different conductors have different feelings.”

“Oh. I see. But the script itself was really fun. Is this going to be the movie?”

Seo-jun shook his head at Jung Yi-seul’s question.

“It could be, or the script or the directing could change and the feeling could be different.”

“Really? I wonder what kind of movie it will be.”

Maybe because she heard Benjamin Morton’s music and read the script, music flowed in her head as she read the script.

Jung Yi-seul was eagerly waiting for the movie to be released. The problem was that they hadn’t even filmed it yet.

“By the way, when do you start filming?”

“I got a call from the director, and I think we’ll go to the U.S. sometime in May. We’ll practice for two weeks and start filming in June.”

“May… That’s not much time left.”

“Yes. I wish it was May already.”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled. It was the first time he had such a long practice period.

He had other opportunities to film in the meantime, but he was already hooked on this work and didn’t consider them at all.

‘Ah. I want to film soon.’

***

[20th College Student Film Festival, Kim Suhan wins gold!]

[Director Kim Suhan, known as a fan of Na Jin (Lee Seo-jun), wins!]

-Lol, he’s the first fan of Na Jjin who got his autograph lol

-He became a director. Well, he must have a good eye for becoming a fan of Lee Seo-jun just by his voice.

-What’s the movie about? Does Cheongryong appear?

-No lol, it’s a horror movie lol

-Lee Seo-jun hasn’t been active for a year and a half

=Come back soon!!

“Seo-jun, did you see this?”

“Yeah. Suhan hyung. He became a director.”

“I know. You never know what people’s lives are like. Maybe we’ll work together with Seo-jun someday.”

“Hahaha. Maybe we’ll make a horror movie. Then dad won’t be able to watch it.”

Lee Min-jun made a sad face at Seo-jun’s words.

It was his son’s work, but it was a horror movie. He wasn’t sure if he could watch it or not. Seo-jun, Seo Eun-Hye, and Seo Eun-Chan laughed at that.

“Da Ho will go in a few days. If you need anything in the U.S., contact Da Ho.”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun nodded at Seo Eun-Chan’s words. Lee Min-jun hugged Seo Eun-Hye and Seo-jun.

“I’ll take some vacation and go. Take care of yourself. And Seo-jun, do well in filming.”

“Okay! Dad, you too.”

“Let’s go.”

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-Hye, wearing black hats, pulled their suitcases and disappeared into the departure hall. Soon, a plane flew to LA in the sky.

***

“Hi!! Seo-jun.”

“Hi. Aunt Na-ra!”

“This time, we’ll be filming in LA, so we’ll see each other more often!!”

“Yeah!”

The movie was filmed in LA. Seo-jun and Seo Eun-Hye, who were looking for a place to stay, decided to stay at Na-ra Kim’s house in LA. Da Ho also rented a room there.

Na-ra Kim’s house was a two-story mansion with staff, and it was no less than a hotel. Everyone looked at Seo-jun with curiosity and then with surprise at Na-ra Kim.

“See? I was right.”

“Really! The boss’s connections are amazing…”

Everyone nodded their heads. Seo-jun and Seo Eun-Hye looked around. Na-ra Kim laughed and led them to the room.

“Nobody believed me when I said I was close with Seo-jun Lee. No matter how wide my network is, they said there was no way I knew Seo-jun Lee. I even changed his diapers!”

“Aunt!”

“Why, it’s true.”

“It is, but… It’s embarrassing for me too.”

Seo-jun looked around. The staff who were moving the luggage twitched their mouths. Sigh. Seo-jun sighed inwardly.

“Can’t you just say you fed me baby food instead of changing my diapers?”

“Isn’t that too weak?”

“Then, um.”

Seo-jun was seriously worried that she might bring up the diaper story in some interview.

Na-ra and Seo Eun-Hye smiled at Seo-jun’s expression.

They thought they shouldn’t mention this story anymore since he hated it so much.

“It would be enough to say that you introduced me to the audition. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have done William.”

“…Really?”

“I might have started with a different role someday, but I wouldn’t have made such an impact.”

Everyone nodded at Seo-jun’s words. Na-ra Kim smiled and stroked Seo-jun’s head.

“Know that it’s all thanks to me.”

“No, it’s not. It’s because I’m good at acting.”

The two bickered, and Seo Eun-Hye burst into laughter.

After unpacking and taking a break, the three decided to have dinner.

They went out to the yard where a barbecue grill was installed and grilled the barbecue themselves.

Delicious meat, sausage, and dishes. Seo-jun looked at the beef that was deliciously cooked on the grill.

The beef was big and thick, like American beef.

Could he eat it all?

Seo-jun decided to trust the slime in his stomach.

Seo Eun-Hye and Na-ra Kim, holding beer glasses, grilled the meat and reminisced. A piece of meat came up on Seo-jun’s plate, and he quickly picked it up and put it in his mouth. Yum yum. It was delicious. Seo-jun smiled broadly and ate the meat diligently.

“We used to have fun like this. Right?”

“It would be perfect if Min-jun and Jack’s family were here.”

“Jack, he said he started playing baseball, right?”

“Yeah. He’s pretty good. I guess he’s thinking of going that way.”

Seo-jun laughed at that. The little boy who cried and cried if he didn’t give him a monster doll was already at the age of thinking about his career.

“Seo-jun, are you going to act when you grow up?”

“Yeah! I’ll do it for a long time.”

“It’s a good thing to be able to do what you love for a long time. Work hard.”

Na-ra Kim, who had risen to the position of president of King’s Market, was working hard and said with a smile.

***

Two days later, Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye headed to the practice room prepared by Whale Studio. It seemed that they had arrived early, as there were only Director Sarah Roth and Assistant Director Emily in the practice room.

“Hello! Director!”

“Hello.”

“Welcome. Jun! Nice to meet you. And you too, ma’am.”

Emily quickly prepared the chairs.

“Did we come too early?”

“No. We were just about to get ready.”

As she said, Emily prepared three more chairs besides the two for them.

“The child actors who will practice with you and the professor who will give you lessons will be here soon. There will also be a student of the professor who will play for Jun instead. We will also greet the other child actors who are coming. Ma’am, you can wait in the waiting room while we practice.”

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye nodded at Sarah Roth’s words.

A little later, two child actors and their guardians arrived.

Emily guided the guardians to the waiting room.

Director Sarah Roth introduced the three children sitting on the chairs to each other.

“This is Seo-jun Lee, the actor who plays the main character, Gray.”

At that, the two children gasped.

No one had told them who the main character was until now, and it was Seo-jun Lee!

Among the actors who attended the same acting academy, Seo-jun Lee was the object of envy. Everyone, whether adult or child, wanted to be famous like Seo-jun Lee and do great acting.

“This is Catherine Miller, the actress who plays Rebecca.”

Sarah Roth pointed to the girl. The blonde girl, who was slightly taller than Seo-jun, waved her hand lightly.

“This is Paul Oden, the actor who plays George.”

The boy who looked like a mischief-maker smiled broadly and reached out his hand. Seo-jun also smiled and shook his hand.

“Hi. I’m Seo-jun Lee. You can call me Jun.”

“I’m Catherine.”

“I’m Paul. Nice to meet you!”

As Seo-jun and the children were shaking hands, Director Sarah Roth’s phone rang. The caller was Professor Benjamin Morton. Sarah Roth got up from her seat.

“It must be the professor. I’ll go get him. Wait here.”

“Okay.”

Director Sarah Roth left the practice room and Catherine, who had been hesitating, opened her mouth.

“Can you give me your autograph later? I really enjoyed your movie.”

“Sure. Can you also tell me the movies you starred in? I’ll look them up.”

“Um. The movies I was in are not very fun. They all flopped.”

Seo-jun said with a smile at Catherine’s words.

“Even if the movies flopped, you did your best, right? I want to see your acting more than the movies. We have to act together from now on. I’d appreciate it if Paul could tell me too.”

It was much easier to understand the other person’s acting than to know nothing.

It might not matter for a simple role, but Catherine and Paul were supposed to match their breath with Seo-jun from the beginning to the end, so it was more important.

Catherine and Paul nodded at Seo-jun’s words. The famous actor was really different.

“I see. Okay. I’ll tell you.”

“Give me your contact too.”

“Oh. I can contact Jun? My friends won’t believe it!”

Paul and Catherine took out their phones with excited faces. Seo-jun also took out his phone with a cheerful smile.

Soon, Director Sarah Roth came in with two men.

The middle-aged man who looked like Professor Benjamin Morton had gray hair and a thin body, but he didn’t look weak. He looked like a kind teacher with a neat outfit and a faint smile.

The man who came in with him looked like he was in his mid-twenties and had a stiff face. His outfit was as neat as Benjamin Morton’s, but his eyes were fierce. Catherine and Paul, who were intimidated, closed their mouths.

“This is the person who made the music for our movie.”

“I’m Benjamin Morton.”

Benjamin Morton said politely. Catherine and Paul were bewildered by the polite greeting from the adult. Seo-jun greeted him first.

“Hello. I’m Seo-jun Lee. Please call me Jun.”

“Yes. Jun. I look forward to working with you.”

Catherine and Paul also greeted him bravely. Benjamin Morton smiled and the atmosphere relaxed.

The kindness was also conveyed to the children, and Benjamin Morton started a small talk first.

Seo-jun and the children also opened their mouths comfortably.

In the warm atmosphere, the man who was alone stood still without saying anything.

He had a disgruntled look in his eyes, but he tried not to show it and seemed to hide it well.

However, the problem was that this was a place where there were actors who had to act with their eyes and directors who had to capture and make them into works.

Even if they were child actors, they were actors. Catherine and Paul poked Seo-jun’s back with their fingers.

Seo-jun also gestured with his hand behind his back.

They seemed to have noticed without saying anything.

“This is my student.”

“I’m Jason Moore.”

But something changed in his mind, and Jason Moore’s disgruntled look subsided. The director and the actors were rather puzzled by Jason Moore’s polite attitude.

But anyway. Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders.

It would have been a bit awkward if he had kept that look, but it was good that he changed.

Seo-jun reached out his hand.

“I’m Jun. Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah. Nice to meet you.”

The children also exchanged greetings with Jason Moore. Benjamin Morton, who was satisfied with the softened atmosphere, opened his mouth.

“Shall we start by looking at what each of you practiced so far? We need to see how familiar you are with it to know how to practice from now on.”

“Yes!”

At that, Catherine and Seo-jun, who had to play the violin in the movie, answered.

Chapter 110

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Chapter 110

“Let’s try the shortest piece today. I recorded Jason’s performance, and you have to start right away when I give you the signal of one, two. One, two. Snap! Got it?”

“Yes!”

Professor Benjamin taught Seo-jun and Catherine the name of the piece and handed them the sheet music.

While the two kids recalled the performance they had learned by looking at the sheet music, Director Sarah Roth called Paul and handed him the camera.

“Let’s practice filming here.”

“Yes!”

Paul was excited to hold the camera while his friends played.

Seo-jun and Catherine appeared on the camera screen.

“This side would be better, right?”

“This side?”

“Yes. If you know what the cameraman feels, it will help you when you act.”

Paul’s eyes sparkled as he heard this explanation from the director. He thought he had to learn hard and use it when he acted.

“Then let’s start with Jun. Let’s match the pre-recorded performance.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun took out the violin from the case. He put his chin on the chin rest and held the bow in his right hand without a moment’s hesitation. His skillful appearance made Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore’s eyes sparkle.

When Seo-jun finished preparing, the practice room was silent.

“One. Two.”

Snap, Benjamin Morton turned on the music with the signal.

Seo-jun lowered the bow. The bow drew the string and made a beautiful sound.

He pressed the violin string hard with his left fingers and moved the bow with his right hand. The sound flowing through the string echoed in the practice room.

Jason Moore’s performance and Seo-jun’s appearance matched well.

Both of them followed the instructions of the sheet music thoroughly.

Thanks to that, the beat and the order of pressing the strings were correct.

The timing was good and the sound was clean.

Yes, as if the sound was coming from the violin…

“?”

The people who were nodding their heads and watching Seo-jun’s performance looked at Seo-jun with surprised eyes.

‘There’s no way such a clean sound can come out?’

As long as he pretended to draw the violin string with the bow, the sound had to come out due to the friction between the bow and the string. In a short time, it was hard to learn the clean sound of the piece as well as the decent posture.

‘Well, maybe it’s possible if he got used to it for a short piece…’

Professor Benjamin and Jason’s eyes widened at Seo-jun’s violin sound without a single pitch deviation.

Professor Benjamin turned off the speaker. But the beautiful performance continued.

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Spring, 1st movement.

The performance of a level similar to an expert was flowing out of Seo-jun’s violin, not the speaker.

There was no one in the practice room who was not surprised.

The filming part of the Four Seasons Spring, 1st movement was short, and Seo-jun stopped the bow at the end of the sheet music.

Everyone applauded the result of the practice beyond imagination. Director Sarah Roth, who was clapping hard, remembered something and opened her mouth in surprise.

“Wait a minute.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Director Sarah Roth.

“Professor. Can I ask you how Jun’s posture is?”

“It’s perfect. It’s like a textbook example.”

Professor Benjamin said with a satisfied smile. It was a posture that he wanted to show to his students right away.

Unlike Benjamin Morton, who was satisfied, Director Sarah Roth was restless.

“Then it’s not good! Jun. You know the character’s setting, right?”

“Yes. I know.”

Seo-jun answered and grabbed the violin again. It was a different posture from before. Director Sarah Roth, Catherine, and Paul tilted their heads. The most surprised ones were Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore.

“Like this?”

It was a posture that the two knew very well.

The awkward posture of someone who had just picked up the violin. Seo-jun’s perfect posture changed to a novice’s posture to the point of perfection.

Seo-jun moved the bow.

Two strings were pressed by the bow, and a squeaky sound came out. But the performance continued.

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Spring, 1st movement.

A terrible sound that was a mess came out of Seo-jun’s violin. Everyone in the practice room looked at Seo-jun with a blank expression.

‘Is this performance and the previous performance by the same person?’

No one would believe it.

“Can you play it again like the first time?”

At Sarah Roth’s words, Seo-jun straightened his posture. The performance that sounded like a scream from hell changed to a heavenly performance again. Benjamin Morton lost his words. Jason Moore swallowed his saliva.

Catherine and Paul looked at Seo-jun with curious eyes. It was a more amazing sight for Catherine, who had practiced only good postures from the beginning to the end.

“Jun. How about the middle?”

Seo-jun nodded at the words of Director Sarah Roth, who was holding the camera and filming Seo-jun.

“I can do it.”

The posture changed. Oh. Professor Benjamin finally exclaimed. It was a posture similar to the students he was teaching now.

The sound came out. It was amazing. The performance was cool, but there were occasional mistakes. From the mistakes that only Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore could know, to the mistakes that Director Sarah Roth and the kids could know.

“Uh. Jun. Back to the first posture.”

He heard the perfect spring again. If Benjamin Morton didn’t hear it wrong, this was a perfect performance. So. That means…

“Did you act out the mistakes too?”

From novice to gradually improving skills. Many mistakes and fewer mistakes.

The crooked posture and the posture that seemed to be in the textbook.

The sound that hit the floor and the music that he wanted to hear again.

Everyone was shocked by the change that was scary.

“This is Seo-jun Lee…”

Catherine, Paul, and Director Sarah Roth lost their words. The acting of Seo-jun Lee, who they saw in person, was more shocking than the ones they saw in the works.

Benjamin Morton, who was thinking for a moment, opened his mouth. He couldn’t keep listening to Seo-jun’s performance. The child that Benjamin Morton had to teach was two.

“Next is Catherine.”

Catherine was startled by Professor Benjamin’s call. No, how can you ask me to act after seeing that acting? Catherine’s pupils shook.

“It’s okay. Just do it as you practiced comfortably.”

“Ha, but…”

Catherine couldn’t hold the violin in the end.

Neither Benjamin Morton nor Director Sarah Roth blamed Catherine.

They didn’t know that Seo-jun could act so well, so they understood that Catherine felt pressured.

“You just have to practice until the filming. Cheer up, Catherine.”

“…Yes!”

Catherine nodded at Director Sarah Roth’s words.

***

In the car on the way home, Professor Benjamin asked Jason.

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“…I played according to the sheet music in less than a year.”

Professor Benjamin smiled and looked outside at the appearance of his disciple, who was still unhappy that he called him when he was busy preparing for his first solo concert.

When he drove alone, he drove fast, but he drove at the speed limit when he got on. He laughed at the sight.

“Not the performance, but the acting.”

“…”

Jason didn’t open his mouth. Professor Benjamin recalled what had happened in the practice room.

Seo-jun’s acting changed under the direction of Sarah Roth. Professor Benjamin rubbed his arm that had goosebumps.

“That must be genius. What was his name, Seo-jun Lee? I have to look up his works when I get home. Do you want to watch them too? It would be nice to have dinner as well.”

“…Yes.”

Jason Moore had to practice for his solo recital, but he couldn’t refuse his teacher’s invitation. He ended up watching a hero movie that didn’t suit his taste and having a lavish dinner.

***

The next day.

Sarah Roth, the director, and Professor Benjamin, who arrived early at the practice room, had a conversation.

“If he can play everything, it would be fine to use his performance as it is.”

“Do you think so?”

Sarah Roth was tempted by Professor Benjamin’s words, but she was also worried.

“But as you said, it’s too faithful to the score. I wish it was a performance that showed Gray’s genius, even if it didn’t match the score.”

“He’ll have to learn that from now on.”

Professor Benjamin thought of the movie he had watched yesterday. He watched Seo-jun’s works on Plus+, which Jason had connected to the television.

He skipped the children’s play that only had his voice and Shadowman 1, which he said he had a short appearance in, and watched Shadowman 2.

It was an amazing change that made Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore, who didn’t know the art of acting, admire.

“If Jun can act like that, he’ll do it in no time.”

“Well, Jun will do well. Let’s ask him then.”

Sarah Roth asked Seo-jun, who had just arrived. Seo-jun’s eyes widened with surprise at the unexpected good news. He smiled brightly and nodded his head repeatedly. It would be a lie to say he didn’t expect it.

“Great! I want to play!”

“Then you have to practice harder for two weeks.”

“Yes!”

The second practice was to listen to Catherine’s performance and Seo-jun’s other songs.

Catherine, who had reviewed her practice at the hotel, showed a posture that satisfied Professor Benjamin and Director Sarah. Of course, there were some places that didn’t match the performance that came out of the speakers.

“I can see some parts that need to be fixed, but I can finish them in two weeks.”

“That’s good.”

Next was Seo-jun’s turn. Everyone looked at him with anticipation.

As expected, Seo-jun showed a splendid performance that was faithful to the score.

Professor Benjamin and Jason, who had followed him today, nodded their heads and listened to Seo-jun’s performance.

“Shall we listen to the last song?”

“Over the Rainbow, right?”

At Seo-jun’s words, Jason Moore and Sarah Roth’s eyes sparkled. Catherine and Paul looked at Seo-jun with hopeful faces.

Over the Rainbow.

The song that Professor Benjamin Morton composed, which would decorate the end of Seo-jun’s next movie, Over the Rainbow.

“Sure. Can you do it?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun lifted his violin to his shoulder and rested his chin.

Seo-jun wondered. Should he play as faithfully to the score as he had done so far, or should he play as he would show during the filming?

Seo-jun smiled at the people who were full of expectations and activated his ability.

[(Line)Goblin Violinist’s Melody is activated.]

[(Line)Goblin Violinist’s Melody-Intermediate]

You are the one and only goblin violinist.

You learned how to play the violin by yourself.

Raw emotions flow through the melody.

You convey some of the emotions you feel to the listeners.

The one and only goblin violinist in that world.

He was obsessed with the violin that humans had left behind and was driven out of the pack. But he didn’t let go of the violin.

The goblin brought out a wonderful performance with his genius talent and effort that he didn’t even know he had.

He expressed his emotions through music and moved and subdued his enemies.

‘Of course, it’s a monster’s performance, so it’s raw.’

It was rough and violent. But there was no other way of playing that suited ‘Gray’ as much as this. Seo-jun’s bow slid along the string.

The violent tone filled the practice room.

***

Seo-jun turned on his violin. He played a noisy song with a sloppy posture. No one in the practice room was fooled by that.

Professor Benjamin’s words were heard and Seo-jun corrected his posture. Soon, beautiful music flowed out.

“I can’t beat that.”

“Did you think you could?”

Paul smiled and said to Catherine, who was taking a break from practice and catching her breath.

Paul Oden participated in the lesson even though he had no practice. Sarah Roth, the director, was busy with the filming preparations and came by alternately with Emily, the assistant director. Sometimes they gave advice that helped. It was also fun to watch Seo-jun’s acting.

“I mean, I felt stupid for not being able to act because of his acting.”

“That’s true. If you can’t act because you’re overwhelmed by his acting, it’ll be hard to be an actor in the future. There must be actors who can act as well as Jun…”

“Hmm. Do you think so?”

“Maybe there’s one somewhere?”

Paul shrugged at Catherine’s words.

“Weaker, a little weaker!”

Jason Moore’s voice was heard as Seo-jun’s performance was heard. Jason Moore, who was busy preparing for his first solo recital, often stopped by the practice room after hearing Seo-jun’s Over the Rainbow and gave him advice on his performance.

“Use your fingers more. Press harder.”

Benjamin Morton smiled as he tried to ease Jason’s burden of the recital by helping him with the movie shooting.

He hoped his disciple would take a break from playing other songs, but he was fascinated by Seo-jun’s performance.

It was different from the direction he intended, but he was satisfied with the sight of his disciple whose nerves had calmed down.

Seo-jun’s performance changed according to the two people’s teachings. Before he knew it, he forgot about the filming preparations and was immersed in teaching a great violinist. Thanks to the two teachers who were into it, Seo-jun’s skills improved day by day.

‘There is definitely a difference between the teacher and the professor’s teaching.’

If Jung Yi-seul’s teaching was faithful to the score and the textbook-like posture as Seo-jun asked, Professor Benjamin encouraged a more free posture. It was also amazing that he felt refined while using [(Line)Goblin Violinist’s Melody].

‘The sharp tone that was sharp while conveying the emotions is disappearing.’

Seo-jun was excited and continued to play.

Catherine and Paul looked at the three people.

“…Is this a violin solo recital practice, not a movie shooting preparation?”

“Maybe Jun will play that song the best in the world.”

“That’s right. Ah, today is the end of the lesson and the shooting starts the day after tomorrow.”

“Uh. I’m nervous. I wonder what Jun will be like on the set.”

They roughly guessed. Catherine and Paul looked at Seo-jun. People who are focused are cool, but Seo-jun was shining.

“I don’t know, but he won’t be worse than he is now.”

Over the Rainbow filled the practice room.

Chapter 111

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Chapter 111

It was the first day of filming for the movie [Over the Rainbow].

Usually, the filming order and the movie order did not match, but director Sarah Roth decided to follow the flow.

It was because it was easier for the child actors to immerse themselves in the acting and the character’s emotions when they filmed according to the timeline.

The movie’s setting was a fictional city.

One city was Starfield, where the middle class lived, and another city was Downlock, where it was hard to survive on a day’s earnings.

From the sky, Starfield looked well-organized with colorful pastel colors, while Downlock was filled with dark cement colors.

There was a park at the border of the two cities, and that park was the main setting of this movie.

Since it was often used as a filming location, director Sarah Roth made a small park to film without any interference.

“This is Hollywood…”

Seo Eun-hye and Ahn Da Ho, who arrived at the filming location with Seo-jun, sparkled their eyes.

They couldn’t imagine that they would make a park for filming one movie. If they didn’t say it was a filming location, they would think it was just a park here, with lush trees.

Seo-jun had already experienced it when he filmed Shadowman 2, so he led his mother and Da Ho brother to the dressing room.

“Welcome!”

“Hi, Jun!”

“Hi, Catherine! Paul!”

There were two children who had already arrived in the dressing room. Seo-jun also wore the clothes that the stylist gave him and fixed his hair. He chatted with Catherine and Paul and came out, and saw two people greeting his mother and Da Ho brother.

It was Professor Benjamin Morton, who was smiling kindly, and Jason Moore, who was wearing black sunglasses.

The children greeted Professor Benjamin like chicks.

“Hello, Professor!”

“Today is Catherine’s first performance scene, right? You have to be comfortable. You’ll be perfect if you don’t get nervous.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

Catherine smiled brightly and answered.

Seo-jun greeted Jason.

They became close enough to chat during the two weeks of lessons.

While chatting, he heard that Jason was nervous because of his first solo recital.

When he told the children, Catherine and Paul said they felt the same way when they first filmed, and they politely understood Jason Moore’s feelings.

‘The kids seem to have a bigger heart…’

Seo-jun asked Jason. Jason Moore, who didn’t hide his displeasure when he became close, didn’t answer, but everyone understood.

They all laughed.

***

To prepare for filming, the three children headed to the middle of the park surrounded by cameras and staff, chatting.

“Hmm. It doesn’t suit him. Jun.”

“I know. His face is too good-looking.”

Seo-jun laughed at Catherine and Paul’s words. Catherine and Paul, the children of Starfield, and Seo-jun, the child of Downlock.

The three children’s outfits were noticeably different.

Catherine and Paul wore clean and bright clothes.

There was no difference from the clothes they usually wore.

“Look. The stylists are worried when they see Jun.”

Seo-jun, the child of Downlock, wore clean but faded old clothes. It was a place where it was hard to live on a day’s earnings, so it was hard to get new clothes.

Downlock was a dangerous and gloomy place with no hope.

“Should we put some dirt on him?”

Director Sarah Roth shook her head at the stylist’s words.

“Gray is poor, but he’s a child who is well taken care of by his mother. He doesn’t have to wear dirt.”

“But doesn’t he stand out too much? It’s like he’s only shining his face with the light over there.”

Emily whispered. The director and staff laughed at her words. Director Sarah Roth, who was laughing cheerfully, opened her mouth.

“Let’s try filming first. If it doesn’t work, we can make him pale with makeup.”

She said that, but director Sarah Roth trusted Seo-jun.

She had enough time to feel Seo-jun’s acting for two weeks. He smiled with a clear face, but when the filming started, he would become a ‘perfect Gray’ that people who knew Seo-jun Lee wouldn’t recognize.

“Emily. Let’s start preparing for filming.”

“Yes!”

The first scene was a scene where the three children met in a park divided by the border of the two cities.

The staff who checked the camera and lighting finished preparing. The parents of the child actors and the staff all focused on the children.

“We’re starting filming.”

The voice of assistant director Emily, who looked around the quiet surroundings, was heard.

“Ready, action!”

Director Sarah Roth shouted loudly, checking Catherine and Paul on the monitor. The wide-open park, Rebecca’s lively voice was heard.

“Are you filming well?”

“Yeah.”

“Our school is really weird. How can they tell us to film something like this?”

“Well, it worked out well. You record your practice and study, and I film you and learn how to direct.”

Rebecca nodded at George’s words.

Director Sarah Roth smiled and quietly gestured. Several cameras zoomed in on the two child actors.

“What song are you going to play?”

“The song I’m going to play is Spring from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.”

“Why spring of all things?”

“Because it’s my favorite song. Then I’ll play.”

“Okay.”

George filmed Rebecca, who stood up with a violin. Hoo. Rebecca exhaled and put the violin on her shoulder. She tucked her chin and lifted the bow.

After a moment of leisure, director Sarah Roth shouted.

“Cut, okay!”

They got an okay in one shot. Catherine and Paul smiled and left the filming location and headed to the monitor.

Director Sarah Roth watched the video again with them. Jun and the director watched the video silently, and they felt nervous.

They had to check how they filmed, but they couldn’t take their eyes off Seo-jun and Sarah Roth’s faces.

Seo-jun, who checked the video he filmed, looked back. He saw Catherine and Paul’s faces, who were very nervous. Seo-jun smiled brightly.

They seemed very nervous before filming, but they did well naturally.

“You did great!”

The two children smiled shyly at Seo-jun’s compliment. Soon, director Sarah Roth, who took his eyes off the monitor, also praised Catherine and Paul.

“You did a perfect job with the dialogue and the eye contact. Catherine, Paul, let’s shoot the next scene with the violin. Professor Morton, please let me know if you see anything that needs improvement after the shooting.”

“Okay.”

Catherine and Paul stood in the middle of the park. Catherine straightened her posture.

She recalled the sequence of the violin performance that she had practiced for two weeks.

Professor Benjamin and Jason also focused on Catherine as the violin music started.

“One, two…”

Snap! A small signal sounded and the music flowed from the speaker at the same time as Catherine’s right arm moved.

Thanks to the effect of the practice, the timing was very well matched.

Professor Benjamin looked at Catherine with a pleased expression. She looked like Rebecca, the character who had devoted herself to the violin for years.

“Cut!”

Director Sarah Roth looked at Professor Benjamin. It looked fine to Sarah’s eyes, but it could be different to an expert’s eyes. Professor Benjamin nodded, and Sarah shouted.

“OK!”

After that, there were shots of the same scene with different angles: a bust shot and a close-up shot.

Fortunately, the shooting of the scene with only two people was over without any NG.

“Ugh. I’m exhausted.”

Catherine collapsed on the ground. Seo-jun handed Catherine a water bottle that Ahn Da Ho gave him and fanned Paul with a fan.

“You did great.”

“No, I’m more worried about the next shooting.”

“Yeah. Yeah.”

“Huh?”

Seo-jun tilted his head at the two kids’ words. They opened their mouths with a mix of anticipation and anxiety.

“It’s the acting genius! We’re shooting with Seo-jun. Ugh. I’m nervous! What if I get overwhelmed and forget my lines?”

“Me too. I’m so worried that I practiced the first scene a lot.”

“It won’t be that bad.”

The kids didn’t know what to do with Seo-jun’s words.

They were not the only ones who were curious about Seo-jun’s acting. Director Sarah Roth, Professor Benjamin Morton, Jason Moore, and the staff were also curious.

They had heard that he was amazing in the practice room, but that was playing the instrument. This was the real acting.

“Then we’ll start shooting.”

Emily, the assistant director, shouted the start of the shooting with a more nervous heart than usual.

The camera, the lights, and the microphone were all focused.

As everyone’s eyes turned to the shooting site, Director Sarah Roth shouted.

“Ready! Action!”

It was George who found the black head in the grass. The black head in the grass that was reflected on the camera screen was too noticeable.

“Hey. Who are you?”

The black head flinched. Rebecca, who was preparing to play the next song, also looked back. George yelled fiercely.

“Who are you?!”

“…I’m, I’m sorry.”

The head popped up. Huh? Catherine and Paul opened their eyes wide. Director Sarah Roth, Professor Benjamin, and Jason were the same.

No one was not surprised, except for Seo Eun-hye and AhnDa Ho, who had proud faces.

‘As expected, our Seo-jun!’

It was not the Seo-jun who seemed to have lived brightly and happily in the world until a while ago, who seemed to have grown up well just by looking at him. There was a child who was twisted and lonely by the world.

The colorful world, only where the child stood was black and white.

As if hidden by the shadow of the tree, only where the child was, it looked dark.

The seriousness and gloom of black and white were felt.

The atmosphere was so different just because Seo-jun started acting.

“Uh, uh…”

In the end, the two child actors forgot their lines because of the change.

“Cut! NG!”

Director Sarah Roth, who came to her senses first, shouted and the camera stopped.

At the same time, Seo-jun’s mood changed again. He threw away his twistedness and ran over with a bright face.

“What? What happened?”

Everyone lost their words again at his healthy and bright face. Was the black and white processing a lie?

Even if they washed their eyes and looked again, Seo-jun was colorful. His black hair and eyes sparkled like the night sky.

Jason Moore rubbed his arms that had goosebumps.

He liked Seo-jun’s playing style, which was similar to his own, while teaching him with Professor Benjamin for two weeks.

He was jealous of Seo-jun, who was growing dazzlingly as a violinist, but on the other hand, he was looking forward to what kind of music he would play when he grew up.

So he asked the professor if he could recommend the violin to Seo-jun, but Professor Benjamin just smiled without saying anything.

‘Well, his acting in The Royal Physician was amazing, but… I don’t know if that was the director’s direction or the writer’s skill.’

Jason Moore, who had forgotten the crying while watching The Royal Physician, thought so and secretly researched good professors and schools. He wondered how to lure Seo-jun, but it was all useless.

‘It’s not just his genius skills…’

Jason Moore, who recalled Seo-jun’s sparkling eyes, sighed and gave up.

While Assistant Director Emily handed the script to the child actors and Seo-jun and the kids matched again, Director Sarah Roth and Professor Benjamin Morton had a conversation.

“A great actor has appeared in the film industry. He played the violin well, but his acting is beyond imagination.”

“To be honest, Seo-jun will do well even if he plays the violin.”

“No. He will do well, but not to this extent.”

Professor Benjamin Morton had met many people in different fields over a long time. He could feel what the students liked and what they focused on while teaching them.

“Seo-jun plays well, but that’s for acting. No matter how well he does, his heart is elsewhere. Maybe if Seo-jun pours his passion and love for acting into the instrument, a great performer will be born, but Seo-jun won’t do that.”

Professor Benjamin’s eyes turned to Jason.

He smiled with a tight-lipped mouth that seemed displeased. His disciple seemed to have understood now. Just like Jason Moore loved the violin,

“Seo-jun loves acting.”

Professor Benjamin’s words made Director Sarah nod.

Chapter 112

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Chapter 112

The preparations for the reshoot were done.

“Let’s start filming!”

“Alright! Let’s do it right this time!”

“Yeah!”

Catherine and Paul, who had memorized their lines perfectly, clenched their fists and braced themselves.

Seo-jun headed to the bushes. His ability seemed to have improved more than he expected. He sat down among the bushes again and waited for the start.

“Ready, action!”

[Line] Black and White Chameleon’s Black and White Effect is activated.

[Line] Black and White Chameleon’s Black and White Effect – Intermediate Level

The Black and White Chameleon’s body color changes to black and white.

It changes the colors of the surroundings to black and white.

Limit: The vision becomes black and white.

The world that the Black and White Chameleon lived in was the same as the world in a black and white comic.

Everything was black and white, and the boundary line was barely distinguished by the presence or absence of shade.

That world was heavy and gloomy in itself.

Sometimes, when a full-color being appeared, they were either worshiped as gods or killed as demons.

Next to the book of the Black and White Chameleon’s life, there was another book of his next life, and he was born as a golem and stared blankly at the colorful world. He was lucky to be a golem, because if he had been a slime or an orc, he would have starved to death.

Seo-jun blinked. The world looked black and white due to the effect of [Line] Black and White Chameleon’s Black and White Effect.

Gray lived in a not-so-good environment. He lived with his Korean immigrant mother. His American father had passed away when Gray was very young.

While his mother was away for work, Gray, who was attending elementary school, stopped by the park after school. This park was close to the private school next door, so the students there often came.

A student who came to draw, a student who sang, a student who filmed something.

Among the many children, the one Gray was looking for was the one with an instrument.

A beautiful performance flowed out. He didn’t know the name of the song, the composer, or the meaning. He just thought the sound was very beautiful.

Today, too, Gray sat in his designated seat and waited for the child who would play the instrument.

He hid behind the bushes, and two children who looked like his peers appeared.

The children chattered. Unlike the other children who started playing without saying anything, these children said the title and started playing.

His heart thumped. Ah. This song is Spring of the Four Seasons.

He had heard it quite a few times. When it was a sunny spring, someone would play it. It was sometimes a violin, and sometimes an electronic piano.

The small bushes had to be crouched down to hide Gray’s body.

As he listened to the performance in a crouched position, he unknowingly straightened his waist. He moved his body this way and that to the flowing music.

“Hey! Who are you?”

He didn’t realize that his head had come out of the bushes until he heard the fierce voice.

Gray got up awkwardly at the loud voice of the child.

Crouched shoulders.

Fidgeting hands. Eyes that couldn’t see his face and stuck to the ground.

Gray heard his mother’s voice in his ears. Don’t run into the Starfield people. You never know when they’ll pick a fight over something.

Gray lifted his head. The sparkling children were looking at him. He wanted to back away, but he held back.

“…I’m sorry for sneaking in.”

It was a meek apology that made the anger seem pointless.

At that apology, Rebecca and George felt embarrassed. This was a park, and anyone could hear Rebecca’s performance.

“No, it’s okay. This isn’t my practice room, either. It’s a park, so you can hear it.”

“I’m sorry for shouting. I thought you were a bad person.”

At the children’s apology, Gray rolled his eyes. A chilly air flowed through the park for a moment.

“Cut, OK!”

At the OK sound, the two child actors collapsed. They were drained of energy, but they were happy to get the OK.

“I almost messed up the lines again.”

“I was surprised because Jun was so different.”

“Haha. That’s Gray for you.”

The children’s chatter made everyone laugh.

***

The first day of filming was over and Seo-jun was getting ready to go home when director Sarah Roth approached him.

“Isn’t there a park in front of you?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded. He had been there a few times with his mother for a walk and a picnic while practicing the violin for two weeks.

“How about playing there?”

“Playing?”

“Yeah. It’s a plan from the marketing team. It sounded good, so I thought.”

Sarah Roth explained. Ahn Da ho’s ears perked up at the word marketing.

It had been several months since Seo-jun decided to star in the movie, but no articles had been released yet. He was worried, though he thought Whale Studio would take care of it.

“Of course, if Jun agrees.”

Seo-jun tilted his head and asked.

“What kind of plan is it?”

“Our movie is about a boy who plays the violin for the first time and gradually improves his skills with the help of his friends.”

Seo-jun nodded. That’s why Seo-jun had to practice changing his posture from a beginner to an expert. He followed the recorded video of himself and also watched the videos on YouTube. It wasn’t as hard as he thought.

“Yes.”

“Just like that, you show your performance in the park, from a beginner’s appearance, to gradually getting better, and finally playing better and more perfectly than anyone else.”

“…Will that be a promotion?”

“They’re thinking of making a promotional video by filming it. An amazing kid who improves his skills every week. The number of people who watch will increase, right?”

At director Sarah Roth’s words, Seo Eun-hye and Ahn Da ho nodded. That kid would definitely be a hot topic.

“It sounds fun. I’ll try it!”

So Seo-jun started playing in the park every Sunday afternoon from this week.

***

The filming went smoothly without any trouble.

The fourth filming was a scene where Gray went to meet his friends with a bright face.

Rebecca and George, who brought a lot of snacks from home, welcomed Gray.

Even while eating the delicious snacks for the first time, Gray’s eyes didn’t leave Rebecca’s violin. Rebecca noticed that and gave him the violin with a smile.

“Do you want to play? I’ll teach you.”

“…Can I?”

[Line] Black and White Chameleon’s Black and White Effect is canceled.

Gray’s world was dyed green as his fingers touched Rebecca’s violin. The white sky turned blue and Gray’s pale cheeks turned red.

Color was slowly added to the black and white world.

At that amazing change, Catherine and Paul were caught off guard again.

“Cut, NG!”

Director Sarah Roth’s voice rang out and Catherine and Paul grabbed their heads and groaned.

“I couldn’t do it again.”

“I thought I’d pass it in one go this time.”

At the children’s words, Seo-jun and the staff laughed. Seo-jun matched the timing with the children who read the prepared script.

“Alright! Let’s pass it this time!”

Before the reshoot, Catherine and Paul cheered themselves up.

“Let’s do this!”

“I’ll do my best too!”

At Seo-jun’s words, Catherine, Paul, and the staff paused. Do more? Would they get an OK cut today? Catherine felt nervous and opened her mouth.

“…Jun, you can tone it down a bit.”

Paul nodded in agreement.

***

It was Sunday, a day off from filming.

The Hollywood shooting went according to plan, so the child actors had enough rest.

Seo Eun-hye came to see Seo-jun and Ahn Da ho off as they headed to the park.

“Seo-jun, don’t be late. Dad is coming today.”

It was the first time his dad came to America after taking a vacation since they came to the US for filming.

He video-called every night, but seeing him in person was more exciting. Seo-jun smiled brightly and said.

“Okay! I’ll only play three songs, so I’ll be back early.”

“Will playing three songs be enough for promotion?”

“I don’t know either. But they said that’s enough.”

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders with the violin case on his back. Seo Eun-hye smiled and patted Seo-jun’s head. He looked like a violinist rather than an actor with the violin on his back.

“Alright. Have a good time. Ahn Da ho, please take care of him.”

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

“Mom! I’ll be back soon!”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da ho got in the car and headed to the nearby park. Unlike the usual park with many families, there were many people singing and playing instruments.

“There’s a music college nearby, so a lot of students come here.”

“I see. No wonder there’s a lot of singing.”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da ho drove to the store that Whale Studio had told them. It was a small store that they rented for two hours on Sunday afternoon.

A Whale Studio marketing team member was standing in front of the closed store. The employee guided them to a parking spot and greeted Seo-jun and Ahn Da ho who got out of the car.

“Nice to meet you. Seo-jun Lee.”

“Hello!”

The three people entered the store.

The store window was covered with curtains and sturdy bodyguards greeted them.

They were dressed in plain clothes like ordinary people, unlike their usual black suits, but they had a blue whale logo on their conspicuous places.

After exchanging brief greetings with the bodyguards, the employee handed Ahn Da ho a violin case and a paper bag. Seo-jun, who had his own violin on his back, tilted his head.

“I have a violin.”

“The concept of the promotional video is ‘Gray’. That’s too good a violin for Gray to use. Jun.”

Seo-jun blinked a few times and nodded.

“So I’m busking as Gray.”

“Yes. I heard you were amazing during the filming. Just do it like that.”

“Okay!”

“There are clothes in the paper bag, too. Please change.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun changed his clothes in the dressing room that was prepared in advance. He neatly put away the clothes he had worn and took out the clothes from the paper bag. The faded blue T-shirt looked like something Gray would wear.

When Seo-jun came out in his new clothes, he left the store with the employee and the bodyguards.

They pretended not to know each other and headed to the busking spot in the park that they had prepared beforehand.

It was a bit secluded, but the quiet atmosphere suited Seo-jun’s taste.

“You can play here. These people and the bodyguards will film you. Other buskers also have their audience filming, so you won’t stand out too much.”

At the employee’s words, a man with a blue hat with a whale pattern on it smiled and held up his phone. Seo-jun tilted his head.

“Will the video quality be good enough?”

“That’s the charm of busking. Besides, if the quality is too good, Jun will be exposed right away.”

“Do I have to hide?”

“Well, I don’t know if it can’t be helped, but we’re planning to keep it as secret as possible. Seo-jun. If it rains or something happens, come back to the store we were at before. Of course, the bodyguards and I will always be with you, but we have to be prepared in advance.”

“Okay.”

The employee checked the time on his wristwatch and pointed to the spot.

“It’s time to start. You can play here. Jun.”

“Okay. I got it!”

Finally, to hide his face, Seo-jun put on the black baseball cap that the employee had given him and stood in the spot that the employee had pointed to.

The bodyguards and the employee who were going to film him also surrounded Seo-jun naturally as if they had come to see the busking.

Of course, they left enough space for other people to see.

“Then you can start anytime.”

The employee and Ahn Da ho moved away from Seo-jun. They just stood there like spectators.

Seo-jun was not awkward even though it was his first time busking. He casually put the violin case on the ground and took out the violin. It was old but well-maintained.

“It’s smaller than mine.”

But it was good enough to play.

He held the violin and the bow in his hands and spread the violin case wide open to the people to receive money.

Meanwhile, the bodyguards and the employee who started filming with their phones caught the eyes of the people passing by.

It was a bit secluded, but there were people, so they wondered if there was something. The ‘real’ spectators gathered one by one.

Seo-jun exhaled and lifted his chin to the violin. He held the bow with his right hand and pressed the strings with his left hand.

[Line] Black and White Chameleon’s Black and White Effect is activated.

The world turned black and white. Now Seo-jun became Gray, who was playing the violin for the first time.

Chapter 113

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 113

Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie, who were studying at the music academy, went out for a walk to a nearby park.

They smiled at the music that came from everywhere.

“There are a lot of buskers today.”

“Well, it’s right next to the academy, so there must be students from our department and other departments too.”

“Hmm. Natalie. Look at that.”

Natalie turned her gaze at Choi Yoo-seong’s words. He was pointing at a young boy who was holding a violin that didn’t fit his body.

Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie walked a little closer. The boy’s clothes and violin looked old and worn.

In a peaceful corner of the park where the warm sunlight shone, the boy’s black-and-white appearance drew people’s attention.

A few coins and bills were already visible in the open violin case, indicating how many songs he had played.

“Not a bad income.”

Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie also put some money in and waited. The boy bowed to them and rested his chin on the violin.

As the boy’s arm holding the bow moved, Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie swallowed their saliva at the same time.

“His posture…”

When they were very young, their hand movements and the way they held the bow were as awkward as his.

The boy’s violin performance was also like that. Several notes were mixed in one bow stroke.

The wrong posture changed the sound into a chilling one.

‘But still…’

Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie felt a small touch by the boy’s performance, which continued despite the mistakes. He was a beginner, but he was doing his best.

“What is this noise?”

Some people frowned and cursed at the loud noise, but only licked their tongues and left when they saw the boy.

Well, that was understandable. Of course, they agreed that it was hard to listen to the performance with a clear mind.

Even though it was hard to bear the performance, Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie felt a strange feeling.

There were quite a few people who listened to the miserable performance until the end.

The violin boy played his last song and bowed.

Applause was heard.

The boy smiled faintly and took his money and violin case and left.

The spectators also scattered one by one.

The old clothes and pale image of the boy stuck in Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie’s minds. Choi Yoo-seong, who was looking at where the boy had disappeared, opened his mouth.

“I hope he has a good dinner.”

“Yeah.”

“But there are people who film such performances.”

“Well, maybe it’s a memory for them.”

“…I just hope they don’t make fun of him.”

Natalie sighed at Choi Yoo-seong’s words.

***

Seo-jun headed to the store that was used as a waiting room with the bodyguards and Ahn Da Ho. He changed his old clothes and handed them to the staff. The staff took the clothes, but gave the violin back to Seo-jun.

“I’ll bring you different clothes next week. You can take the violin and practice. The violin you’ll use for filming might be different, so it might be hard to play.”

“Okay! Oh, what about the money?”

Seo-jun looked at the bills and coins that he had placed on his two hands.

He didn’t expect to get any money for the promotional video, but someone had opened the violin case on the bench and put some money in. After that, some people put some coins and bills in. He couldn’t stop them because he was playing.

The staff smiled and said.

“It’s your money, Jun. Buy whatever you want. Jun. You did a great job today.”

“Goodbye!”

As Seo-jun greeted the staff and bodyguards, Ahn Da Ho arrived with the car in front of the store.

He put the two violin cases in the back seat and sat in the passenger seat with the coins and bills clenched in his hand.

He fastened his seat belt and spread his palm to count the coins and bills one by one.

“Seven dollars! Seven dollars, Da Ho hyung.”

“Really? That’s good.”

Ahn Da Ho smiled at Seo-jun’s words.

“Did you put some of this in, Da Ho hyung?”

“…How did you know?”

“I saw you sneaking it in.”

Seo-jun saw Ahn Da Ho secretly putting in some coins in the middle of the performance.

He probably knew how bad ‘Gray’s first performance’ was, and he was worried that he would be disappointed by the little money in the violin case that someone had opened. He didn’t put in a lot of money because it would stand out, so he just put in some coins.

Seo-jun remembered the faces of the people who listened to his performance up close.

The coins and bills in his hand felt heavier as much as their hearts.

‘I’ll save this and not use it.’

Seo-jun smiled and cherished the coins and bills.

***

The next filming was the scene where Gray learned the violin from Rebecca.

Gray, who was still colorless, only smiled brightly like a colorful flower when he held the violin.

While filming the scene where Gray, Rebecca, and George had a conversation, Jason Moore, who visited the set every day, felt a sense of familiarity from Rebecca’s appearance.

“That’s…”

“Doesn’t it look like Professor Morton’s teaching?”

Jason Moore’s head turned to the side. Emily, the assistant director, said.

“I guess the professor’s appearance left a deep impression on her during practice. He taught her kindly.”

As Emily said, Catherine looked like Professor Benjamin. Studying the people around her and acting was also a common method, so Sarah Roth, the director, proceeded with the filming without any comment.

With Rebecca’s guidance, Gray drew the strings with the bow for the first time. He wasn’t used to the delicate force control, so he pressed two strings of the violin with the bow at the same time.

Rebecca turned her head when she heard two sounds. George chuckled and watched the two of them.

“Relax. Just stroke it gently like a puppy.”

“I’ve never touched a puppy before…”

In Downlock, there were only big, ferocious stray dogs. Her mother wouldn’t let her go near them because of the rumors that they were fighting dogs. Gray wilted. His bright color faded to black as Rebecca grew impatient.

“We have a puppy at home! Do you want me to bring it? It’s so cute.”

“…Really?”

Gray smiled widely as he imagined a cute puppy.

“Cut! OK!”

After the morning shoot, the kids chatted over lunch.

“You made seven dollars?”

“With that performance?”

Catherine and Paul looked at Seo-jun with surprised faces.

They had already heard his performance in the practice room. Seo-jun nodded as he ate.

“Da Ho hyung gave me about two dollars, but five dollars came from a stranger.”

“That performance could earn five dollars…”

Paul shivered as he recalled the ear-splitting performance. Catherine dipped her meat and said.

“Are you going again this week?”

“Yeah.”

“I wonder what kind of promotional video it will be.”

Catherine and Seo-jun nodded at George’s words.

The next shoot was Gray’s first time playing the violin.

“Ready, action!”

Rebecca said.

“Don’t worry about mistakes. Just play as much as you learned.”

“I’m not good at it…”

“You’ll only know what to fix if you practice. It’s an easy song. Try it.”

The song was ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’, a nursery rhyme familiar to everyone.

Gray tensed up as he rested his chin on Rebecca’s violin. George’s camera pointed at Gray.

Gray remembered what Rebecca had taught him.

Straighten your back and keep your shoulders at the same height. Curve your left fingers that press the strings, and hold the bow with your right hand like you’re holding an egg. Be careful not to lower the violin.

He drew the bow down.

Screech-

In the quiet park, a squeaky sound echoed. Rebecca and George, or rather, Catherine and Paul, couldn’t help but stifle their laughter as they forgot their acting and pressed their lips together. Gray followed Rebecca and George’s words to the letter, so he didn’t laugh and continued playing with a serious expression.

‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ that sounded like it came from hell.

The staff, Professor Benjamin, Jason, and Director Sarah, all waited for Seo-jun’s performance to end with their mouths shut.

When the performance ended at the part he had learned, Gray fidgeted. He knew it. It was a mess. But he was happy that he had played the violin himself. He looked at his friends with a shy face and opened his mouth.

“…How was it?”

“Ahahahaha!”

“Puhahaha!”

Catherine and Paul laughed heartily, as the script had instructed them to.

Director Sarah shouted OK after filming Gray’s pouting lips, and laughter erupted among the staff.

“Jun, you’re amazing!”

“I would have laughed in the middle of playing if I were you.”

Seo-jun also laughed at Catherine and Paul’s words.

**

The shooting continued the next day.

Today, George and Rebecca brought a bag full of papers with staff lines instead of violins.

“Composing?”

“Yeah. It’s our homework for the break. Gray knows how to read music, so let’s do it together.”

Gray nodded at George’s words. He wanted to play the violin more, but he was happy to hold the pen as he enjoyed doing anything with his friends.

“But how do you compose?”

“Just write down the music that comes to your mind. Don’t think too hard. Think about what kind of emotion you want to express with your music.”

“It’s okay to just think of a big outline.”

The music he wanted to play. Gray blinked. Something flashed through his mind. It was a surprisingly clear violin sound.

While Rebecca and George, who had a teacher to check their homework, were struggling and groaning, Gray, who could compose as he pleased, brought his pen to the staff paper.

Hmm.

Seo-jun, who had become Gray, smirked inwardly. The music that came to his mind was not Professor Benjamin Morton’s song, ‘Over the Rainbow’.

A dream fairy and a goblin violinist, and Gray met and created a simple but emotional song of their own.

‘This isn’t bad either… But I’ll draw it and play it next time.’

Seo-jun didn’t forget that this was a movie shoot.

Gray’s hand moved. He awkwardly drew circles with a black pen to make notes. He looked like a child who was drawing music for the first time.

Professor Benjamin Morton couldn’t help but think of Jason Moore’s childhood when he saw him.

He remembered Jason’s back then, as he smiled brightly and composed with the kids, while he couldn’t come today because of his solo recital preparation.

***

On Sunday, Choi Yoo-seong went to the park alone. He only had time on Sundays because of school. He sometimes thought of the violin boy.

“Is he here?”

He headed to the spot a little earlier than when he came with Natalie.

Fortunately, the violin boy was there. He hadn’t played a single song yet, as there was nothing in his violin case. Choi Yoo-seong put some money in the violin case.

“Thank you.”

“Do you come here every day?”

“No. I come every Sunday.”

The boy said in a small voice and picked up his violin. Choi Yoo-seong looked around at the spectators who were waiting for the boy’s performance.

There seemed to be about the same number of spectators as last week.

There were some students who came out of concern for the boy, like Choi Yoo-seong, and some who had malicious faces that were curious about his job.

Then, Choi Yoo-seong’s eyes caught a particularly blue whale picture.

‘Is that the new Brandon? It seems popular since I see it a lot, but it’s weird that I’ve never seen it outside the park… There’s something different…’

His thoughts were interrupted by the screeching violin sound.

Choi Yoo-seong’s gaze turned to the boy. He still wore faded clothes and had a small, old violin. But the boy continued to play.

Choi Yoo-seong noticed several mistakes in the boy’s posture. He wanted to teach him, but he didn’t want to be nosy. He sighed inwardly and listened to the squeaky violin sound again.

Seo-jun smiled happily and put the bills and coins he had earned into the transparent piggy bank he had bought on his way home.

Today, he made ten dollars without Da Ho hyung’s money.

Chapter 114

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 114

Natalie headed to the park with Choi Yoo-seong.

She was surprised when he said that he had come to the park on Sundays, both last week and the week before.

“So you come here every week?”

“Well, this is only the fourth time. I hope it helps, even if it’s only once a week.”

“Really? You’re so kind, getting a scholarship and all.”

“There seems to be someone else who comes here every week. He uploads videos on YouTube every time.”

“Really?”

Choi Yoo-seong opened the YouTube app and showed her the videos.

There were three videos on a newly opened channel with low views and subscribers.

“How are the reactions?”

“Well, there’s not much feedback since the views are low. There are comments from people who ask why he’s busking with such skills, and others who say they remember when they first learned the violin.”

“I know, I felt the same way when I first held the violin. It was amazing to hear the sound.”

Natalie and Choi Yoo-seong walked and talked about their memories of the first day they held the violin.

Today, there were quite a few people in front of the violin boy. Choi Yoo-seong greeted the people with blue whale pictures and took his usual spot.

He stood on the left side of the boy, where his fingers plucking the violin strings were clearly visible.

As usual, he checked the mistakes in the boy’s playing, which sounded squeaky. He had started filming with his phone since last week.

‘I should get to know him better and teach him later when I show him the videos.’

He was filming the boy with a pleased expression, when Natalie hit his side with a surprised look.

“Why?”

She lowered her voice at his quiet question.

“He’s improved a lot, hasn’t he?”

“…What?”

“Didn’t you notice? His posture and sound are better than the first time we heard him.”

At Natalie’s words, Choi Yoo-seong looked at the boy again and recalled his posture and sound on the first day.

Oh?

It was true. The boy’s posture was closer to the standard than the first day.

The sound was also listenable, with only a few mistakes.

Of course, it was still far from Choi Yoo-seong’s ears, who learned the violin professionally, but considering that only three weeks had passed, it was an astonishing change.

‘Does he have a teacher?’

His clothes were old but clean. His violin was small for his body, but it sounded good.

He wondered if someone who used to play the violin was teaching him.

He would get better and better. Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie put money in the violin case with happy faces.

Seo-jun smiled brightly as he put coins and bills in the transparent piggy bank.

It was his fourth busking. He earned $7, $10, $14, and today, $20.

“Your subscribers have increased a lot, right?”

“Yeah! Now I have 100!”

Seo-jun said proudly, and Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun laughed.

The growth rate of the channel [JUN] was indeed abnormal. The channel [RAINBOW] made by Whale Studio had a normal growth like other channels.

At first, everyone subscribed as they usually did.

Seo-jun had a lot of acquaintances, but there weren’t many people who subscribed without knowing anything.

“Seo-jun and mom and dad, and the Brown Black kids, and Eun-chan and Hee-sang.”

“Ahn Da Ho hyung, and Ryan director, and Eben and Rachel!”

“And Soohee and Soo-ryeon, and the Cocoa Enter staff.”

“And professor Benjamin and Jason, and Catherine and Paul. The director and the staff did too.”

They gathered and gathered people, and there were 94. There were only six people who subscribed without knowing anything.

“Six. Will this be enough for promotion?”

“Maybe the promotion team will take care of it?”

Seo-jun and his parents tilted their heads at the subscriber and view counts that didn’t change even after refreshing.

***

A new character appeared in this shooting. It was Gray’s mother. She was raising her son alone in Downlock after her American husband died.

“This is Ji-yeon Jo, who plays Gray’s mother. And this is Seo-jun Lee, who plays Gray.”

At Sarah Roth’s words, Ji-yeon reached out her hand. Seo-jun also smiled and shook her hand.

“Hello!”

“Hi! I’m so glad to meet you!”

Seo-jun laughed at her words. It was his first time acting with an Asian actor.

‘William’s mother, Melissa, was white.’

Unlike the comic where William was white, in the movie, William’s father was a Korean-American.

At first, it was just a passing role, so they didn’t set such detailed settings. But when Seo-jun took on the role of Jin Natra in Shadowman 2, the settings were added.

There were different opinions until the official setting of the movie came out. He was mixed, adopted, etc.

“I enjoyed your drama.”

Ji-yeon smiled shyly at Seo-jun’s words.

“It was the last one I filmed three years ago. Did you watch it?”

“Yes. You’re famous in Korea because you acted in Korean.”

Ji-yeon Jo starred in a drama in the US. It was a medical drama, and she played a sharp-eyed surgeon. Some episodes where she acted in Korean went viral on YouTube, and many people looked for the drama.

“Then let’s work hard on the shooting!”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

Ji-yeon, who had a soft impression unlike before, smiled and said.

“Ready, action!”

A small house. A faded sofa. Old-looking things. But the house was clean and cozy. While his mother was out working, Gray picked up the small violin he had received from Rebecca, the one she used when she was young. Gray recalled yesterday’s memory.

Rebecca and George said they were going on a family trip.

Rebecca said she couldn’t give him the violin she was using now because it was expensive, and she was sorry. Gray refused with his hands waving.

“I had one when I was young!”

Rebecca thought she had thrown it away, but it was in the house storage. It was old, but it was decent enough after changing the strings and fixing the bow. George gave him a lot of delicious snacks.

“Practice with this. I’ll check it when I come back from the trip.”

“Work hard on composing too.”

Gray smiled and shed a tear at the sight of Rebecca and George putting on a show. That’s how Rebecca and George left for a trip with their family and were not expected to return until three weeks later.

“Trip…”

The scenery outside the window of his narrow room was gloomy.

Dark clouds were hanging as if it would rain soon.

The downlock of summer was about to start the rainy season. Gray, who was staring blankly out the window, jumped up.

“They’ll hear it.”

The upstairs uncle went out to work at night and was sleeping now, and the downstairs brother hated noise. It was scary when the upstairs uncle and the downstairs brother fought.

The apartment was not soundproof.

Gray carefully pressed the strings with his fingers and pretended to turn on the violin.

“This is do, this is re.”

Mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do. He played with the violin strings without sound, then put the violin in the case and took out a paper from an old bag. It was the staff he was composing.

Gray sat at the small and old dining table and picked up a pen and wrote down.

He revised the front part he had written in the park and came up with a new melody.

He pondered and moved the pen and pondered and moved the pen, and time passed like light.

“…Ray. Gray?”

Gray, who was immersed in composing, didn’t even know his mother had come. He was startled by the touch of shaking his shoulder and looked to the side, and there was his mother with a tired look on her face.

“What is all this?”

There were things he didn’t buy. A violin that looked old but expensive. His mother’s expression hardened and Gray quickly opened his mouth.

He told her what had happened. He met a friend in the park and learned the violin and composing.

“This is what Rebecca lent me. She said she doesn’t use it now because it’s what she used when she was young.”

His mother was speechless at the sight of her son who was shining more than ever.

“Cut! OK!”

Sarah Roth’s voice was heard. Ji-yeon, who was really out of it, came to his senses.

He thought of his son as he looked at Seo-jun, who was sparkling. His son, who said he would go a hard and difficult way. He remembered his son who smiled brightly at Seo-jun’s face, even though he was against that way for his son.

“We’ll start the next shoot.”

The shooting continued regardless of Ji-yeon’s thoughts. Unlike Ji-yeon, Gray’s mother was looking for a way to help her son on that path.

Before he knew it, Ji-yeon was assimilated into Gray’s mother.

Gray’s mother, who worked at the downlock mart, asked around about the violin teacher.

“A violin? Who would teach such an expensive instrument?”

“You don’t have the money to do such nonsense.”

Despite the sharp words, his mother diligently asked around. She couldn’t forget Gray’s shining face.

It was true. Downlock was not safe as it got farther from Starfield.

The apartment near the park, where he lived with his child, was the safest place to live.

It was a place where he barely paid the expensive rent. There were many other places where money went out.

“But…”

She thought there might be a cheap and good teacher if she looked for it. His mother’s eyes sparkled as she tried for her son.

And at the end of it, hope appeared.

“Gray! There’s a violin teacher on the other side of the bridge.”

Gray tilted his head at his mother’s words as he played with the score. It was raining and he couldn’t go to the park. A safe and quiet place. There was nowhere to turn on the violin except the park.

So Gray devoted himself to composing instead of the violin. It was fun to draw the music that came to his mind on the staff.

His mother was so excited that she smiled and said.

“The lesson fee is cheap, and he’s not famous, but he graduated from a music school.”

“…I see.”

Gray blinked his eyes. What does that have to do with me? His mother opened her mouth, expecting her son to be surprised.

“So I asked him to teach Gray too. You can go every other day starting tomorrow.”

Uh. Gray blurted out without knowing.

“Money?”

He was surprised and covered his mouth with both hands. Money worries were the saddest thing for his mother. Gray covered his mouth and rolled his eyes and looked at his mother.

His mother expected her son to smile happily, but her heart broke at that word. Even so, she didn’t show it. She smiled wider and said.

“It’s very cheap, right? I can afford that much.”

Whether that sounded sincere or not, the young Gray’s eyes sparkled.

He could learn the violin. He could learn from a teacher!

He was so happy that he cried. Gray smiled broadly and shed tears. He was so surprised and happy that he didn’t know what to say and muttered, and Gray cried and spat out a word.

“Uaaaang! Mom! Uaaaang!”

“Do you have to work hard?”

“Yes! Yes!”

He cried and smiled and hugged his mother. He was so happy.

“Cut! OK!”

There was a sound of applause from all over the place with Sarah Roth’s voice.

Some people cried at the child’s touching expression, and some people cried at the mother’s earnest heart. Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun also had red eyes.

Ji-yeon decided to find a way to make his son’s way easier after today’s shooting.

***

“What are you doing, Seo-jun?”

His mother and father, who had red eyes, peeked out and looked at Seo-jun sitting at the desk. They had red eyes all day long, thinking of Seo-jun’s acting whenever they forgot.

They tilted their heads at the sight of Seo-jun pondering with the stand on.

“It’s not a script?”

“Staff? Score?”

“Yeah. There’s a scene where I compose during the shoot. So I wanted to try it.”

“I see. Tell me if you need anything.”

“Okay!”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun quietly left Seo-jun’s room. Seo-jun recalled the song that had passed by then.

A happy and joyful melody. He couldn’t write it then because of the shooting, but he wrote it down little by little when he came home.

“So, what was next…!”

The problem was that the inspiration that passed by like lightning only left the tip of his head.

He didn’t have to use the ability to compose.

It wasn’t something he had to do perfectly, and it was okay to take as much time as he wanted. It was just something Seo-jun wanted to do.

He decided to do it slowly like a hobby.

“Ah, I remembered!”

Composing, which expressed what came to his mind on the score, was a different fun from acting.

He laughed and filled the staff with notes.

Chapter 115

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 115

[Marina, Assemble 2! Shooting starts in September!]

[Superheroes gather! The heroes in Assemble 2!]

[Why did Bell Natra and Shadowman join hands? Redbone is dangerous!]

[What is the past of Bell Natra and Shadowman?]

[Where is Jin Natra?!]

-Yeah, where is Jin Natra?

-He probably won’t be in Assemble 2, right?

=Yeah, he won’t be lol

-What is Lee Seo-jun doing these days? There’s no drama or movie that’s interesting. I don’t know how many times I’ve watched The Royal Physician.

-Come back, Lee Seo-jun!

-Lately, I’ve been looking for a young genius on YouTube. Maybe Lee Seo-jun is there lol

=Then there would be an article already.

-Did you see this?!! A boy of Asian descent busking in the park, is it Lee Seo-jun?!![link]

=I’m going to watch it!!!(excited)… (after watching)… No fishing!!

=He looks like a performer who came from hell lol The violin is suffering

=?? You can’t see his face? How do you know it’s not Lee Seo-jun?

=He can’t do it. Lee Seo-jun can do anything.

=It’s a violin. Lee Seo-jun is an actor.

=He can do anything lol

-But isn’t he much better in week 5 than week 1?

=Yeah. It’s amazing. How did he get so good so fast?

=The comments are all surprised too lol They say he sold his soul to the devil for his violin skills lol

-But seriously, can you do that in five weeks?

=No no I was busy memorizing how to press the strings lol

=Me too lol I have to pay attention to the bow and the pressing, my head explodes.

-Someone edited and uploaded the videos of week 1 and week 5 on a classic site. Everyone is amazed lol

=The site ratings are good too. ‘I wonder how he will grow’ ‘He improved this much in five weeks???’ ‘I want to hear it in person, where is this?’

The unbelievable skill change of the violin boy attracted a lot of attention.

The short edited videos of week 1 and week 5 recorded a lot of views.

The violin majors and the people in the classical world, as well as the general public, showed interest in the violin boy with ‘devilish talent’.

Especially, the fact that nothing was revealed amplified the interest of the people.

-lol The netizens of Korea, China, and Japan are fighting.

=Why?

=They say the violin boy is from their country lol He’s definitely Asian, but you can’t see his face lol They’re all fighting lol Other countries might join too lol

=? Of course he’s not Korean? Why fight?

=lol lol lol lol lol

***

The violin teacher that Gray decided to learn from was a calm and intellectual man that he couldn’t see in Downlock.

Seeing the teacher who greeted him warmly at the old apartment entrance, Gray liked him at first sight.

He was a handsome teacher with a soft smile.

“You’re Gray. Nice to meet you. I’m Swalin.”

“Hello, teacher!”

The teacher who lived in a small apartment near the bridge lent Gray a book related to music first.

Seeing the traces of someone reading it, Gray thought it was the teacher’s trace.

“Read that on your day off. The basics are the most important. If you need more books, you can come and borrow more on the day of the lesson.”

“Yes!”

There was no library anywhere in the city, let alone the school, in Downlock. Gray smiled brightly and nodded his head.

“By the way, do you have a violin, Gray? If not, the teacher knows someone…”

“I have a violin!”

Gray said with a wide smile. It was a violin that his precious friend lent him. Swalin nodded his head. He never lost his smiling face.

“Then bring it to the next lesson.”

“Yes! Teacher!”

Swalin smiled brightly as he saw Gray’s smiling face.

“Cut! OK!”

As the director Sarah Roth’s voice was heard, Swalin’s actor Wyatt Carter clutched his chest. Cough.

“I can’t do this because of my conscience.”

“Bad teacher! Evil teacher!”

Emily, the assistant director, shouted as if she was high. The staff and Seo-jun, who knew the content by reading the script early, laughed. Wyatt Carter shook his head.

“Isn’t it too unfitting to give this role to a hero?”

The former superhero, Greenwing, said, and director Sarah Roth laughed. Wyatt Carter, director Sarah Roth, and assistant director Emily were close friends who finished two series together.

“That’s why it’s more believable. The shock of the twist is bigger.”

Wyatt Carter shook his head at the director Sarah Roth’s words full of laughter. He felt sorry for the audience who would be hit in the back of the head.

***

“Wyatt Carter?! Did you film with Greenwing?”

“Wyatt Carter was the teacher.”

Paul, who liked Marina’s hero movie, shouted. Catherine was no different. The two said with a regretful expression.

“Then we won’t have a scene to shoot with him.”

“Yeah. Only Gray comes out with the teacher.”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do.”

If there was no scene to shoot together, there were actors who didn’t meet even if they were in the same movie or drama. The kids who knew that fact quickly changed the topic.

“By the way, the number of subscribers to the YouTube channel increased a lot. It was also posted a lot on the internet. The violinist who bought talent from the devil.”

Catherine giggled. Paul and Seo-jun also laughed.

“I saw it too. What kind of devil, there were people asking how to make a devil summoning circle.”

Paul’s words reminded Seo-jun of the devil summoning circles he knew, and he quickly shook his head. The first ingredient that came to mind was not good.

“But no one knew that it was a movie promotion, when are they going to reveal it?”

“They said this week’s busking was the last one, so maybe they’ll reveal it soon?”

“Really?!”

“I’ve been waiting so much!”

Catherine and Paul, who were smiling brightly at Seo-jun’s words, leaned back on their chairs and sagged. Their faces darkened in an instant.

“Ah, can I do well in today’s shooting?”

“Yeah. It seems really hard…”

“I hope we pass within ten times.”

The attempt of Catherine and Paul to relieve their tension by chatting seemed to fail. Today’s shooting was the first intense emotional scene in the movie.

“If you can’t do it today, you can do it tomorrow. Just relax.”

“I want to, but I’m nervous.”

“Jun. Let’s match it one more time.”

Catherine opened the script she had been clutching in her hand at Paul’s words.

“Yeah.”

Seo-jun nodded his head willingly at his friends’ words.

***

“Ready! Action!”

Gray was sitting in the park, waiting for his friends.

He saw two familiar friends running towards him from afar. Rebecca and George, sunburned by the sun, smiled broadly and handed him a gift.

“Have you been practicing hard?”

“Yes! Oh, I have a teacher now.”

Gray said with a flushed face, shyly. Rebecca and George congratulated him with bright smiles.

“That’s great! We had nothing left to teach you anyway!”

“What do you mean, you’ve been playing for years and you have nothing to teach him?”

“You don’t play the violin, that’s why. Gray is so good!”

They were sometimes jealous of how good he was, but whenever they saw Gray’s face turn pink whenever he played the violin, their jealousy would fly away.

He improved so much that he seemed like a genius violinist with a talent that Rebecca couldn’t even imagine.

“My teacher gave me books, so I read a lot of books.”

“Oh, books! Books, right! There are a lot of books in our school library.”

“You can borrow them during the vacation, too. We should have lent them to you.”

“As expected, the teacher is different.”

Gray was happy as if he had been praised by Rebecca and George’s compliments. Gray, who had nothing to be proud of in Downlock, had something to brag about for the first time in his life. He and his friends thought Swalin, his teacher, was cool.

My teacher is awesome! The best! Amazing!

Rebecca and George smiled softly as they saw Gray’s expression that showed everything. Everyone smiled with a fatherly smile at the cute kids. Benjamin Morton, who had visited the set for the first time in a long time, had a pleased expression.

Jason Moore, who came with Professor Benjamin Morton, had a cold face as usual, as if to say ‘what is that’.

Professor Benjamin Morton recalled the first time he saw Jason Moore. The smart and talented kid shone so much that anyone could notice. He had a hard time making him his disciple, but he didn’t regret it.

“My disciple never bragged about his teacher like that.”

He wondered how cute and lovely he would have been if he had bragged with a smile like that. Suddenly, Benjamin Morton realized that his disciple was too cold even though he was cold.

***

Gray’s face was happier and brighter than ever. He said he wanted to see his friends because his teacher taught him.

Gray stood up proudly for the first time in his life. He put the small violin he had been practicing with on his shoulder instead of the one that fit his body.

The bow touched the strings.

A miserable sound echoed.

Rebecca and George, who had been clapping and listening to their friend’s performance, stiffened. Everything that Rebecca and George had taught him was gone.

Gray’s posture was bad, bad, and bad.

The technique he tried to force was out of tune, and the inappropriate selection of songs made his fingers move fast. He pressed the wrong ones sometimes and missed them completely sometimes.

But Gray was smiling. He was radiant with the happiest expression in the world. He loved the violin.

He was happy. He wanted to play more. His head was spinning with Gray’s expression that Rebecca and George liked and the performance that tore his ears.

“What is that?!”

Finally, Rebecca couldn’t stand it and shouted. Gray, who was immersed in the performance, was startled and stopped the bow.

“What, what?”

“Why are you playing that song? And why is your posture like that!”

“Uh… my teacher told me to do this. He said I have to play hard songs to play easy songs easily.”

Gray repeated what his cool teacher Swalin had said. The teacher had explained to Gray in a gentle voice.

Gray understood and quickly learned it. He wanted to explain it to his friends too. As he was about to explain, blaming himself for his poor eloquence,

“What kind of bullshit is that!”

George, who was calm but always shouted when something big happened, yelled.

[(선)The black-and-white effect of the Black-and-White Chameleon is activated.]

Gray, who had been shining in various colors, gradually darkened.

Thump.

Thump.

“…Even if the sound is weird, it will be fine later…”

“No! Gray!”

Gray felt uneasy at Rebecca’s scream. He recalled the words of his kind and cool teacher Swalin. But he was furious at his friends in front of him.

Thump.

Thump.

His heart was beating so fast that it was hard to breathe. Teacher, teacher. Teacher Swalin. He had only met him ten times, but he had given him his heart. Gray couldn’t come to his senses.

“That’s not the posture of a violinist! It’s all messed up!”

Rebecca, who had lent him the violin, sobbed and shouted. George, who realized that it was not a situation to be angry at Gray, spoke calmly. But he couldn’t hide the anger that welled up from deep inside.

“You have to start with easy songs. You move on to harder songs after you get used to them.”

Thump.

Thump.

Gray’s heart, which had slowly turned black, rang throughout his body like an alarm bell. No, the teacher. The teacher…!

“Is that teacher really a violinist!?”

Bang- bang- bang! Like the sound of a judge’s hammer, Rebecca’s voice pierced his ears. Gray’s heart, which had turned black as if it had been burned, fell to the floor.

“Cut, OK!”

At the director Sarah Roth’s words, Catherine and Paul, who had been red and blue with anger, sighed. After calming down and catching their breath, they smiled broadly.

They had passed such a difficult scene in one go! They were so nervous and immersed that they felt feverish. They didn’t even see Seo-jun’s acting, which was a problem, but they were happy that they passed it in one go.

“It was worth practicing earlier. I didn’t expect to pass it in one go.”

“Emotional acting is hard. I almost forgot in the middle, but then I thought about it and got really angry. Teacher Swalin, he’s really bad.”

“I know. But the shooting went in order, so it was easier than I thought. I could empathize well. The last movie I shot, I acted the front part and then the back part, it was so hard.”

“But you did well in both.”

“Wow! I got a compliment from Jun!”

Catherine and Paul cheered and rejoiced. Seo-jun also smiled and waited for the next close-up shot.

“Let’s go in one go this time too!”

“Let’s go!”

They started shooting with enthusiasm, but it was only for a moment. The close-up shot was constantly NG, and it finally got OK at the eighth time.

Because Catherine and Paul, who were relieved, witnessed Gray’s despairing expression clearly and stopped talking without knowing it because of his gloomy appearance.

***

“You’re going to get out of here. Jason.”

Jason Moore, who got up without knowing it at some point, realized that he was grinding his teeth at Professor Benjamin’s words.

“…What are you going to do if you ruin your form by doing that?”

“He’s not even a violinist, what. He did better than I thought.”

Professor Benjamin Morton, who had taught him ‘that thing’, smiled.

It was ‘that thing’ that Professor Benjamin Morton had thought of at the words of director Sarah Roth, who had ordered a posture and playing method that looked fine on the outside but had no substance.

A strange posture that only violinists would notice and ordinary people wouldn’t.

He had never thought of such a posture before, so he had to think a little, but it was fun.

He saw Seo-jun easily learn it and thought he was a born actor.

“Jun is an actor. And he loves acting.”

“…I know.”

He had a restless expression as if he wanted to run to Seo-jun and fix his posture, but Professor Benjamin nodded.

No matter how much Jason wanted to make Jun a violinist, what would he do if Jun said no.

He would just look like a dog chasing a chicken and looking at the roof.

He used a proverb that came out of his mouth and laughed.

Chapter 116

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 116

Every Sunday, at the same time.

The staff member of the Whale Studio’s PR team, who met at a store near the park, handed over the clothes with a smile.

“Today is the last day.”

“Yes. I just have to play well today, right?”

“Yes. Please play beautifully.”

So far, Seo-jun had shown a gradual improvement.

The people who came to see the park also increased, and the professors of the music college also showed interest in the child who showed amazing growth.

They all wanted to see it in person after watching the video.

“I’m sad. It was so much fun…”

Everyone smiled at Seo-jun’s words as he changed his clothes.

It was a few pennies for Seo-jun Lee, a Hollywood star, but now he was carrying a piggy bank and cherishing it.

“Today, I’ll earn more than any other day!”

Seo-jun clenched his fist and vowed.

***

Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie headed to the park with a smile. Both violin majors had violin cases on their shoulders.

While Choi Yoo-seong was buying snacks for the boy, Natalie gently smiled as she fiddled with her old violin case.

“Last week’s performance was good, right?”

“Yeah. It seems like the bad habits are gone. It’s a bit clumsy, though.”

“I guess the person who taught him isn’t that good.”

“But… he did well.”

Awkward posture, missed notes. Even in that, the intense emotion was felt. Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie were captivated by the boy’s performance.

“He must have gotten better today.”

With a hopeful face, Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie found their place among a few more people than usual.

The boy was just about to put his chin on the violin.

How much better did he get this week! The expressions of the people who were looking at the boy with hopeful eyes.

Squeak-

It turned fierce in an instant.

Seo-jun, who was playing the first note, felt a pang.

The blue whale guards, the staff who were filming, and Ahn Da Ho, who was on edge among the increased people, were surprised and looked at Seo-jun.

As he had been acting as Gray while playing, the scenes that were being filmed now, that is, the terrible performance that Gray learned from the swindler Swalin, came out.

Seo-jun was worried. Should he fix it right here, or finish this song and fix it?

‘Either way, it would be weird… ’

As Seo-jun was worrying, Seo-jun’s subconscious continued Gray’s acting.

The terrible performance continued and the expressions of the spectators became more fierce.

The posture, the position of the fingers, the height of the arm holding the bow, and even the position of the feet standing.

“Damn. What is that?”

“Calm down.”

“Do I look calm right now?”

“He must have some reason. It’s none of our business.”

Choi Yoo-seong breathed in at Natalie’s words. That’s right. He doesn’t know what the reason is. But,

Squeak-squeak-

The sound rang. The violin was crying. Full of discord, the sound that couldn’t be called a performance, the boy’s heart was felt intensely.

I like the violin. I like music. More. More. I want to play. I want to do well. I want to learn more!

Even in the moment of worry, Gray’s acting that Seo-jun continued hit Choi Yoo-seong’s heart hard.

“Damn.”

The people around the boy who were listening to the performance with a disappointed expression closed their eyes at the squeaky sound.

The people who felt proud every Sunday when they saw the child, and cheered after watching the child’s video, and the people who came to see him for the first time today, all felt sorry.

Choi Yoo-seong’s eyes, who was washing his face, shone. It didn’t matter what the reason was.

“Hey, kid!”

Choi Yoo-seong’s voice rang out loud. The students who were listening to the boy’s performance with a grim expression and Natalie looked at Choi Yoo-seong with a surprised face.

“…Yes?”

The violin performance that was going on stopped. The boy lifted his head.

He had just decided to play straight after this song, and asked while continuing Gray’s acting.

“Why is your posture like that?”

“Uh… did I do it wrong?”

“Yeah. If you lower your elbow like that, the bow won’t move properly.”

After that, Choi Yoo-seong pointed out one by one the wrong postures.

“Your feet should be here. Straighten your waist, and your arms here. Your fingers were better last week.”

As the boy said, uh, uh, he changed his posture according to Choi Yoo-seong’s words. The students of the same violin department intervened in Choi Yoo-seong’s appearance.

“You’re still young, so you have to learn the basics well.”

“It would be better to lower your shoulders a little more, right?”

That’s how the boy’s posture was completed. Choi Yoo-seong and the students moved away with a proud face.

“Play like that.”

“The song you played last time was Autumn of The Four Seasons, right?”

“Good. I’ll look at the wrong performance later. Just play for now.”

At the words of the fans who remembered the repertoire, the boy who was rolling his eyes picked up the bow.

“Wait a minute.”

Natalie handed over the violin case she had on her shoulder to the boy who was about to play the old and small violin.

The boy who received the shabby violin case smiled at Natalie.

“It’s what I used when I was young. You can still use it. It’s the right size.”

“You had this?”

Choi Yoo-seong looked at Natalie. Natalie shrugged her shoulders.

“I just brought it to reminisce… I think it’s better for the kid to use it than me now. It’s a gift, kid.”

The boy who was surprised and refused with his hand, Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie refused to refuse.

“Play it. We came to hear that.”

“That’s right.”

“…Thank you.”

Everyone said that, and the boy took the violin. As Natalie said, it seemed to be kept precious, the case was neat, and the violin inside was well maintained enough to be turned on at any time.

What is this, the guards, the staff, Ahn Da Ho, and Seo-jun, who were confused by the unexpected situation, were tickled by the kind-hearted students.

Seeing the people smiling happily, Seo-jun laughed. So Seo-jun threw away Gray’s appearance and decided to play with sincerity.

[(Line) Violin Dream Fairy’s Basic Practice is activated.]

[(Line) Goblin Violinist’s Melody is activated.]

[(Line) Elf’s Basic Breathing is activated.]

He didn’t have the ability to bless at ordinary times, so this was all he could do now.

‘They all seem to be related to music.’

I hope it helps a little.

Seo-jun, who put his chin on the violin, started playing with all his might.

[Violin Performance of Dream Fairy, Goblin, and Gray NO.1]

The boy rested his chin on the violin. Choi Yoo-seong, who was about to adjust his posture because of the changed size of the violin, paused.

“Huh?”

His posture was surprisingly flawless. Like a violinist who had stepped onto the stage, very cool. Dazzling.

It seemed as if only the spot where the boy was standing was lit up by a spotlight. He had an overwhelming presence that was strange to have gone unnoticed until now.

Choi Yoo-seong was not the only one who felt it. The students who were standing around had their mouths wide open.

The shy genius Gray was gone, and there stood Lee Seo-jun, who exuded confidence from head to toe, revealing his existence in all directions.

The long bow that looked like it was shining came down beautifully. The boy’s performance pierced through the ears and stuck to the heart.

The sound filled with gratitude, appreciation, and joy resonated as if it had become a speaker, vibrating the people’s bodies.

It was an ordinary violin that someone had played when they were young, but it came heavy and beautiful like the sound of a Stradivarius made by a master.

The sound from the small violin filled the park. People gathered around the beautiful performance. Those who were already there and those who came late listened to the performance quietly.

Explosive energy burst out from the small body. Goosebumps ran down their spines.

With one breath, someone got inspiration, and with one note, someone got enlightenment.

There was no better study than listening to music of a different dimension.

The boy looked like he would make a great scene in a movie no matter where he was filmed.

Everyone was mesmerized by the boy who played with vigor.

The last note of the song that seemed to continue on rang out loud and long. Even after the performance ended, people could not come to their senses.

Ahn Da Ho, the staff, and the bodyguards, who had nothing to do with music, were the first to snap out of it and helped Seo-jun pack his things.

But they couldn’t take their eyes off Seo-jun, who pressed his black hat down. They had met every Sunday and talked about this and that, but this was the first time they saw him as a star with such a presence.

This was, Lee Seo-jun.

He had an aura that made them understand why he became a Hollywood star at a young age.

Seo-jun carefully put the violin in the case and handed it to Natalie. Choi Yoo-seong, who was next to him, came to his senses and opened his mouth.

In the meantime, the boy who was surrounded by the blue whales showed his back.

“Who… are you?”

It was a faint voice that sounded like a murmur, but it reached Seo-jun’s ears, who had his senses sharpened by the use of three abilities.

Seo-jun lifted his black hat slightly and showed his face. He smiled and said. Whether it was because his pronunciation was good, or because his voice was clear, or because the park was quiet, Seo-jun’s answer was heard very clearly.

“I’m Jun. Thank you for the violin.”

“No, wait!”

Jun and the blue whales disappeared before he could catch them. Choi Yoo-seong slumped his shoulders in disappointment.

“No, what’s going on?”

As Choi Yoo-seong said that, everyone came to their senses. Someone shouted.

“Where did that kid go?!”

“Wait, I have something in mind!”

Someone opened a notebook in their bag and wrote something down. Someone recorded it and someone grabbed their instrument. As they made their own notes, Natalie opened her mouth.

“…Does anyone know that song?”

At that, the noisy park became quiet as if time had stopped. Everyone thought of all the songs they knew, but there was no answer.

“Then…who filmed it?”

The first performance was so shocking (in a bad way) that they didn’t even film it properly. The people who were filming stopped filming for a while as Choi Yoo-seong and the others fixed the boy’s posture.

Everyone closed their mouths and felt frustrated. Natalie and Choi Yoo-seong also felt hopeless.

There was not a single person who filmed that amazing performance, that beautiful song?!

“No, really, not one?!”

***

“I filmed it!”

A staff member of Whale Studio shouted with an excited face. Seo-jun, who had changed his clothes, came out and tilted his head.

“What did you film?”

“Jun’s awesome song that he played at the end! I filmed it all! It was a godsend that I took the camera for filming at the end!”

“There was such a camera?”

“It was the end. Maybe it would be used for TV promotion or making film, but there was an instruction to film the good scenes with a high-quality camera.”

“I see.”

Seo-jun nodded his head, not caring what camera he was filmed with.

“But what’s the title of the last song? It was the first time I heard it, and it was really good.”

At the staff’s question, the bodyguards and Ahn Da Ho perked up their ears.

It was a song that felt like warm sunlight was pouring down. A happy, joyful, and fun song. A fairy-tale-like song that they had never heard before in their lives.

“I composed it.”

“…What?”

“I’ve been learning violin and composition since last year because I was curious about the script that had composition in it. I finished it a few days ago, it’s not bad, right?”

At that, everyone lost their words. Seo-jun smiled sheepishly.

To be honest, it was a lie. He had thought of the song when he was filming the scene where he composed it, and he finished it a few days ago after tweaking it a bit more.

‘How can I say it took me a month?’

It would be hard to believe even if he said he had been working on it for a year, let alone a month. Seo-jun apologized in his mind for lying, and handed the violin to the staff.

On the way home, he snapped his fingers and toes as he thought of [Dream Fairy, Goblin, Gray’s Violin Concerto NO.1] in his head. Seo-jun suddenly sighed at the thought that came to his mind.

“Ah…”

“What? What’s wrong?”

Ahn Da Ho, who was driving, reacted immediately to Seo-jun’s words.

“I didn’t make a penny today.”

“Ah. They were all too distracted to give you money.”

Seo-jun made a gloomy expression and Ahn Da Ho recalled the people who were watching in the park. Seo-jun nodded his head. He understood, but,

“It was the last busking…”

It was a very regrettable ending.

Chapter 117

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 117

Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie sat nervously in the cafeteria, waiting for the upload of channel [RAINBOW].

“I don’t know about the others, but this person must have filmed it well.”

“Yeah. Let’s trust them.”

Meanwhile, posts about today’s busking were uploaded on SNS.

[It was really touching today. The music students were nice, but the violin boy’s performance was amazing. It was a simple but happy music that made me feel good just by listening. No one knew the title of the song. I’m just waiting for the YouTube upload. I hope Rainbow filmed it.]

#Devilish talent #Violin boy #Busking week 8 #Only trust Rainbow!

[The first performance was shocking in a bad way. Why did he do that when he was doing well until last week? But the last performance was shocking in a good way, so I’m glad. If not, I would have grabbed the teacher’s collar ;)]

#Devilish talent #Violin boy #Who’s the teacher? #Be glad!

“Agreed.”

“Me too.”

Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie unwittingly commented on the posts. If it wasn’t for the second performance, they might have dragged the boy to his teacher.

“It’s up!”

“As expected, Rainbow!”

They turned on the YouTube site on their laptop screen and entered channel [RAINBOW].

A new video popped up. Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie held their pounding hearts and pressed the play button.

“Will we be in it?”

“Well… maybe?”

It was Rainbow’s video that came up without editing.

Meanwhile, the violin boy’s performance began. The bow moved greatly. Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie smiled at the boy’s shining posture, more than ever.

“It’s good.”

“Yeah. It’s still so good to listen to.”

Like then, the boy sparkled. He shone as if he was receiving the spotlight alone.

Thankful and happy. Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie felt like they were being eroded by the emotion that came out of his body.

In the meantime, Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie felt a subtle feeling.

A familiarity that seemed to have seen somewhere. Something that seemed to come up, but didn’t come up, like a sneeze.

‘Is it because I see him every week?’

As the two pondered, the boy’s performance continued. They decided to listen to the performance first and fell into the performance again.

Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie, who had heard the performance directly, realized that it was soon over. They were sorry. They regretted. They wished he would play longer. Longer.

The boy’s performance ended and the laptop screen turned black.

Choi Yoo-seong pressed the screen to watch the video again with a regretful heart. The play button and the video’s play time appeared below the screen. He was puzzled by the remaining play time as he was about to press it.

[What do you need to make music?]

A girl’s voice was heard.

The girl spoke in a dull tone, as if she was just relaying someone’s words.

“Huh?”

At the unexpected appearance of the voice, Choi Yoo-seong, who was holding the mouse to listen again, and Natalie, who was going to upload the appreciation on SNS, stared blankly at the laptop screen.

[Talent?]

The face of a brightly smiling girl was reflected on the screen. The girl was looking at the side, not the camera.

[Effort?]

This time it was a boy. The boy, who was smiling broadly, was also looking in the same direction as the girl. The screen slowly turned to the side.

[No,]

There was a boy who was smiling shyly where the two children were looking. The boy, who was holding a small violin, smiled like a flower.

Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie’s eyes widened. It was the face that he always hid with a baseball cap, but the two recognized him at once.

The atmosphere was the same. It was the first time they saw the bare face of the violin boy.

[Money.]

At the end of the girl’s voice, white letters filled the black screen.

[OVER THE RAINBOW]

[Coming soon this year]

[Whale Studio]

[Seo-jun Lee. Catherine Miller. Paul Oden.]

Even after the video ended and the replay button popped up, Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie couldn’t come to their senses. Their brains seemed to have a hard time accepting what had just happened. Uh, so…

“…Seo-jun Lee?!”

“…You mean Lee Seo-jun?!”

Screams popped up all over the cafeteria. Other students who were interested in the stories of the students who had seen the busking directly and were waiting for the video to appear on YouTube were also shocked by the unimaginable event.

The news of the Asian boy with devilish talent made the netizens of Korea, China, Japan, and other countries stop their hands, wondering which country’s child he was, and they were going to burn their enthusiasm again after watching the 8th week video.

SNS, which was burning in all kinds of languages, became quiet as if water was poured on it.

Not to mention China and Japan, which didn’t know he was a child of another country, but even Korean netizens who knew he was Korean lost their words.

-???

-I didn’t know, but I think I learned the alphabet wrong.

=Me too. I guess I learned it wrong with you… or maybe the alphabet notation changed…?

=33333 ???

Is this what it means to not believe it even though you see it? People who were reading the comments that came up blankly came to their senses with a bang at one comment.

-…? Seo-jun? Why are you there?

-…Right?! Lee Seo-jun! I thought it was a namesake!?

-Why is Lee Seo-jun here? Someone explain!!

-Wasn’t it busking? No, why suddenly a movie? Lee Seo-jun?

It took only a few seconds to figure out the situation with their frozen heads. The people who were watching the video screamed in reality and started writing.

The internet flipped over. And Korea flipped over with the unexpected appearance of Lee Seo-jun.

NEW! Lee Seo-jun

NEW! Lee Seo-jun violin

NEW! Lee Seo-jun movie

NEW! Lee Seo-jun movie shooting

“We were prepared, but it’s amazing.”

“Real-time search terms are all Seo-jun.”

The staff of Cocoa Enter’s 2nd team and the PR team opened their exploding mailboxes and their cell phones in turn, receiving phone calls that shook the office.

Is it actor Lee Seo-jun, is it a Hollywood movie shooting, when is the release, what are you doing and where are you now. Questions poured out.

“Send the press release!”

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, filming a movie in LA!]

[Cocoa Entertainment revealed that they have been preparing since last summer!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun. Hollywood movie, first lead role!]

[How far can actor Lee Seo-jun go? Violin is also top-notch!]

[Only a few months left until the release of Lee Seo-jun’s next work!]

[What do you need for music, talent? Effort? No, money. What does that mean!]

-There’s something to surprise people. That’s why I love itㅋㅋ

-Congrats!! Seo-jun!!

-Wow. I thought it would come out next year, but it’s coming out this year! And he was already filmingㅋㅋ

-A violin! A musical movie?!

-Sing-along would be impossible. It’s only fun if we sing togetherㅋ Violin isㅠ

As soon as Seo-jun’s article came out, the views and subscribers of the channel [RAINBOW] started to rise rapidly.

Even people who had no interest in classical music started to look for it after hearing that the protagonist was Lee Seo-jun. From the first week video to the eighth week video.

It was an amazing change to see again. They could understand why everyone called him a devilish talent.

-It’s awkward to watch even knowing it’s Lee Seo-jun.

-He looks similar in height and silhouette, but the vibe is totally different. Lee Seo-jun’s acting skills are amazing.

=But the eighth week looks like Lee Seo-jun. He has presence even without lightingㅋㅋ

=Even if you pass by, you can tell it’s Lee Seo-junㅋㅋ How did they not recognize him?

=Isn’t it weird to think that Lee Seo-jun would be busking? And he did it for eight weeks, not just onceㅋㅋ If it were me, I would think he’s there again today and pass byㅋㅋ

-But the skill difference from the first week to the eighth week is no joke. From the first week posture that could fool even violin majors to the eighth week performance that was like a pro… He’s amazing.

-The eighth week song is good. What’s the title?

=No one knows. Everyone seems to be asking Whale Studio. The site crashedㅋㅋ

-So when is the release date?

***

The next day after the advertisement. On the set.

Everyone looked at Seo-jun with curious faces. Jason Moore, who had been recommending violin to Seo-jun since before, and Benjamin Morton, who had laughed and said, ‘It’s up to Jun’s heart’, both looked at Seo-jun with regretful expressions.

“Did Jun really compose it?”

“Yes. The director said he’s been doing it since last year.”

It seemed like he composed one song a year, but it was not easy for a complete beginner to make a song like that. If he learned from Benjamin Morton, who was also famous for composing, how much would he grow?

The more they thought about it, the more they regretted it.

“Did you try to persuade him with me? I’m a gem when it comes to talking, but the teacher would have fallen for it if he did it like he did when he persuaded me.”

“…Yeah. I really should have done that.”

Benjamin Morton answered half-jokingly, half-seriously to Jason Moore’s grumbling.

But they both knew.

Seo-jun, who was a born actor, would not learn professionally unless it was a hobby or a shoot.

***

“Ready, action!”

As Sarah Roth, the director, said, raindrops spewed out of the machine and filled the sky.

Police officers in raincoats came out of Swalin’s apartment. The children who came to meet the teacher with George’s brother, holding umbrellas, looked at the scene with pale faces.

“Just wait a minute.”

George’s brother headed toward the police officer. Gray looked at him talking to Moore with a blank face.

George’s brother came back.

The children and Gray held onto a small hope. George’s brother, who had already heard everything from George, opened his mouth with a dismal face.

“Another…”

The sound of rain was heard. Heavy raindrops hit the ground and screamed.

“Another, incident happened. The victim on that side reported it.”

Gray’s ears went numb. Victim. Incident. He understood with just those two words. Downlock was a neighborhood where even the runt knew what ‘fraud’ was.

“If you’re a victim, you should go to the police station. You might get some compensation…”

Even in his messed up head, Gray remembered his mother’s happy face.

His mother, who was happy that he got to learn violin. The teacher that his mother had worked hard to find was a fraud, and her son was learning violin from a fraud who didn’t even know the ‘ba’ of violin. Gray closed his eyes tightly.

“…Can I go to the police station?”

“…You probably need an adult to go.”

Yeah, that’s right.

Gray, who tried to buy some time, held onto his umbrella. The umbrella handle was too cold.

“…Thank you. I’ll go first.”

“Gray…”

“You guys, thank you so much. See you later. See you later.”

It rained. Gray walked with his usual steps, leaving his friends behind and heading home.

Fraud, fraud, hitting, hurting, fighting. It was a normal thing in Downlock. It was a normal thing for Gray.

Yeah…

Still…

He wished there was a miracle once in a while.

Gray lifted his head and looked ahead. The black road was like him. He moved his steps slowly.

[(Evil)Baby Kraken’s Stealth is activated.]

[(Evil)Baby Kraken’s Stealth-Lowest]

It is the stealth ability of the Kraken, the genius of stealth.

You blend in with the surrounding environment.

You may be infected with magic when touched.

Gray’s figure swallowed by the black darkness was reflected on the camera. Sarah Roth turned on the light.

‘Is it too dark?’

The light was too bright to see Seo-jun’s back clearly. But it seemed like the darkness of the alley and Seo-jun’s figure were subtly intertwined.

‘But this is not bad. No, good.’

The borderless figure seemed to show Gray’s despair better. It seemed like a dark and ominous aura was covering Seo-jun. Gray’s despair, the atmosphere, was felt.

Sarah Roth was not the only one who felt that. Catherine and Paul, who were only looking at Seo-jun’s back, had tears in their eyes.

The two missed the timing to say their lines because of the sadness that came over them.

Slowly, Seo-jun, who was walking and waiting for Catherine and Paul’s lines, noticed it and activated his ability.

[(Good)Low Angel’s Fan is activated.]

“Cut! NG!”

A warm wind blew, and the magic that was low on the set disappeared. Catherine and Paul, who were overwhelmed by the atmosphere, came to their senses.

“…I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay. Emily. Stop the rain.”

“Oh, yes!”

The staff came to their senses at Sarah Roth’s voice and moved quickly.

They stopped the machine, took towels, and headed for the actors.

They couldn’t block the rain completely even with umbrellas. Seo-jun and the children wiped their wet clothes with dry towels and sat in chairs to warm up their bodies.

And so, the third shoot began.

Rebecca, who couldn’t sit still, shouted.

“Gray! In two days! In two days at the park! Let’s meet at the place we always meet!”

“You have to come! I’ll wait until you come!”

At Rebecca and George’s voices, Gray’s black umbrella seemed to turn back, but in the end, Gray disappeared into the darkness.

“Cut! OK!”

The machine that was spraying rain stopped at Sarah Roth’s voice. Seo-jun folded his umbrella and activated his ability.

[(Good)Low Angel’s Fan is activated.]

A warm wind to get rid of the magic filled the set.

Seo-jun and the children wiped their clothes and bodies with towels that the staff handed them.

“It would have been freezing if we filmed in winter.”

“It’s a relief that we only had two NGs.”

“It’s because Catherine cried, right?”

“You cried too.”

“Honestly, it was hard not to cry.”

The children who got out of the heavy atmosphere chatted and talked.

Sarah Roth looked at the actors who were talking with bright faces and thought of the remaining shooting schedule.

Now the shooting was heading to the end.

Chapter 118

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 118

“Gray. Are you home now? Oh, right, today was your violin lesson, wasn’t it?”

Gray kept his head down even as his mother spoke.

Seeing his state, his mother silently wiped him with a towel that was slightly damp.

She carefully opened her mouth, looking at her son’s pale face.

“What happened?”

“Mom…”

“Yes?”

Gray hugged his mother.

He had been through a lot of shocking things, but he hadn’t shed a single tear. But now, he started to sob.

He was so, so hurt. His heart was in pain. He had thought for the first time that he had met a good adult, someone he wanted to emulate, a teacher he wanted to learn from. He was so, so happy to learn the violin from him!

“Swalin wasn’t a real teacher…”

Gray whimpered in his mother’s arms.

He couldn’t finish his sentence as the tears came out involuntarily. He sniffled and barely managed to say the words.

Mom had tried so hard to find him… but he wasn’t a real teacher… he said my posture was terrible. And my playing…

He explained everything that had happened, and Gray’s cold body warmed up.

His mother closed her eyes and hugged her crying son tighter.

“I’m sorry. I should have looked into it more and found you a better teacher, even if it was more expensive…”

“No! No… it was me, I wanted to learn the violin… so…”

Anyway…

Gray thought.

Anyway, I can’t make money with the violin. I just did it because I liked it. It was the first time I felt excited about something.

But of course, it was too much.

It was too much for Gray, a child of Downlock.

“I’m sorry. Mom.”

Gray left his mother’s embrace and wiped his tears. His eyes were swollen from the rough and worn sleeve.

Gray spoke bravely, but with a look of giving up on something.

He had bloomed like a flower when he met the violin, but he was eventually blown away by the storm.

“They said I can get my money back at the police station. Let’s use that to pay this month’s rent.”

“…Sob.”

At that, his mother couldn’t help but burst into tears. She wished he had blamed her, or said he wanted to learn from another teacher.

She felt like her heart was breaking at the sight of her son, who had grown up too fast and worried about money first.

Seeing his mother cry, Gray tried to hold back his tears, but he couldn’t and sobbed again.

“Cut! OK!”

The quiet set became noisy at the sound of the cut.

The staff who had been watching the shoot with their mouths covered started to cry out loud as the shoot ended.

****

Gray, who was immersed in sadness, was left alone in the empty house after his mother went to work. He didn’t want to do anything.

He didn’t want to think about anything. He just lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The pattern on the ceiling looked like musical notes. Gray drew five black lines.

This is do, this is so… As he was thinking that, a melody flashed through his mind.

It was a sad and despairing melody that he had never thought of before. It seemed to reflect his current feelings.

His left finger moved as he stared blankly at the ceiling. It was like he was plucking the strings of a violin.

Dozens of melodies passed through his mind. His fingers moved faster with the explosive music.

He got up abruptly, only moving his hand. His head was noisy. He wanted to get it all out.

But, but could he? What if he got hurt again? He hesitated in front of the door that seemed to be closed tightly. His hand trembled.

His trembling hand barely touched the door.

The door that was slightly pushed opened easily, as if it had never been closed.

And Gray couldn’t help but cry.

There, in front of the door, were the pile of staff paper and the blanket that he had thrown away at the dump last night, soaked in the rain, and Rebecca’s violin that he had hidden under them.

He remembered his mother, who had dried and flattened the staff paper that had been wrinkled by the rain, and neatly placed them with the violin in front of the door.

He couldn’t stop crying as he felt his mother’s heart, telling him not to give up.

Gray didn’t think about anything. He just moved his hand to the staff paper and pen. He lay down on the cold floor and wrote down everything that came to his mind.

Sadness, frustration, despair.

And between those moments, he drew a bright white hope.

Gray recalled and repeated his despair and sadness. And he moved them to his hand.

He filled the staff paper with them. Drops of water fell from his eyes. Tears fell on the staff paper.

It was painful to remember that time, but composing was so much fun. He wanted to write more. His hand writing the music sped up.

The set became quiet.

Everyone’s eyes were on Seo-jun, who was acting in the set. Seo-jun was lying on the living room floor. He was writing something like crazy in that position.

“Wow…”

Someone opened their mouth, not to disturb the shoot.

“He’s like a genius.”

Seo-jun’s face was facing the floor, so they couldn’t see it. But they could tell how passionately he was composing from his moving hand and arm, his wriggling shoulder and the staff paper piled up next to him.

It was just acting, but they felt like an amazing masterpiece was being born there.

What kind of music would it be, made with that feeling?

Even the staff who had no interest in classical music were curious. It was that powerful.

“They say artists use their emotions as nourishment, but do they all feel like this?”

“Then, are all artists…”

Crazy?

The staff’s eyes turned to Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore. Whether they knew it or not, Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore kept sticking their heads out to look at Seo-jun. Benjamin Morton whispered in a low voice.

“Can you see? What is he writing?”

“No. His back is blocking the view.”

“Do you think it’s his own composition?”

“Maybe not a complete song, but at least a basis?”

The two of them, who were curious about the song that he was creating while acting so amazingly, waited anxiously for the shoot to end.

And as soon as the shoot was over, they received a pile of staff paper from Emily, the assistant director, who nodded her head.

Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore looked through the pile of staff paper without a word.

“This is… the teacher’s song.”

“…Yeah.”

“Well, even Seo-jun can’t just pull out a song.”

Unfortunately, contrary to what they had hoped, what Seo-jun had drawn on the staff paper was ‘Over The Rainbow’, composed by Benjamin Morton.

The two of them, who had a look of disappointment on their faces as they looked at the pile of staff paper, caught Seo-jun’s glance as he ate a sandwich.

***

The shooting of Over The Rainbow was nearing its end.

There were only two scenes left.

There were more if you counted the minor ones, but there were two big ones left.

Today was the scene where Seo-jun played ‘Over The Rainbow’.

“Ready, action!”

Today, they had rented the best spot in the park. The people passing by recognized Gray and the kids.

“Are you performing today?”

“Yes. We’re performing a song that Gray composed!”

“You compose too? That’s awesome.”

One by one, they sat on the park grass and waited for Gray’s performance.

George finished setting up the camera and Rebecca cheered.

He was happy. His days had been plain and ordinary, but he was happy when he met the violin, and he was despairing, but he had friends.

Gray, who was looking at the people who had gathered, strapped on the violin with his trembling hand.

My violin.

His chest and hand trembled.

George said.

“Gray. I’ll turn on the camera. Everyone’s waiting.”

“Okay!”

Gray smiled brightly. His black eyes sparkled like stars with the tears in them.

[(Line)Goblin Violinist’s Melody is activated.]

[(Line)Elf’s Basic Breathing is activated.]

The staff, the actors, the director, Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore all looked at the shining Gray. Even though it was an ordinary violin, it shone more than any other violin.

Gray’s right arm, holding the bow, slowly came down. Unlike the first time, when he pressed two strings at once, he pressed only one string and made a beautiful sound.

Gray’s comfortable melody, like his ordinary day, flowed, and the sparkling melody, like the joy he felt when he first met the violin and his friends, flowed.

He poured out his overflowing heart as he learned the violin and felt the utmost happiness when he met his teacher.

“Oh…”

Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore let out a groan at Gray’s rough but pure, and raw performance.

As the teacher was Rebecca, a student, the director ordered them to let Gray play his own way.

A more raw, lively performance.

The strength and rhythm of the performance depended entirely on Gray’s heart.

They thought it was amazing in the practice room, but the performance now was shocking.

The person named Seo-jun disappeared and only the child named Gray remained. There was no ‘Seo-jun Lee’ anywhere in the violin.

‘Until the seventh week, it was Gray’s performance, and the eighth week was Seo-jun’s performance.’

They had a comparison group, so Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore knew.

The performance during the lesson was half Seo-jun and half Gray.

‘Maybe he was half immersed in acting and played. And this is 100% immersed performance.’

They got goosebumps.

Not knowing acting, but knowing well about violin and music, Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore felt that in front of them was not ‘Seo-jun Lee’, but ‘Gray Vainy’ who was alive.

They felt Gray clearly in the violin melody, and they couldn’t help but feel awe at Seo-jun Lee, who could pull off such an act.

The performance continued, and everyone’s heart who listened to the violin crumbled to the point of agony.

Even Benjamin Morton, the composer, wondered how he could express it so well, so miserable and dismal, and hopeless.

Gray’s heart, which was burned black when he found out that his teacher was a fraud, pierced the people’s hearts like a dagger along the violin melody.

But there was a thin, thread-like hope in it.

His friends who said they would wait for him and his mother who left the staff paper and violin in front of the door.

Gray held onto that thin hope. And he slowly moved toward the light. It was a slow speed, but Gray walked. Holding hands with his friends and mother.

And so, one step. Two steps.

Finally, Gray met happiness.

The day he met his friends again, the end of this song he completed.

Gray played with all his strength until the end. It was music that shook people’s hearts.

The rough rain fell and the rainbow rose. And there was happiness over the rainbow.

Over The Rainbow.

The bow of the violin brushed the string, and the last sound echoed in the park. No one could say anything.

Even the sound of nature was swallowed by the sound of the violin, and silence flowed in the park.

The staff and the extras had nothing to do but enjoy the aftertaste.

“OK! Cut!”

Sarah Roth, the director, shouted loudly.

With that sound, applause erupted.

They all watched Gray grow and felt all the emotions of this song again.

They cried and laughed and congratulated Gray’s growth. Even though he was a character in the movie, he seemed to be right in front of them.

“Wow. This movie is going to be a hit.”

“I don’t know what the story is, but it’s amazing.”

“Where can I buy this soundtrack?”

The people who participated as extras for today grabbed the staff and asked.

Meanwhile, Seo-jun wiped his sweat with a wet towel that Ahn Da Ho handed him.

It was a performance that he had put all his strength into. If it was Gray, he would have played with all his strength, so Seo-jun did the same.

He drank the cool juice that Ahn Da Ho gave him and took a good rest.

He still had the bust shot and the close-up shot left.

Chapter 119

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 119

“I still can’t believe it.”

“Me neither.”

The violin students of LA Music Academy gathered in the cafeteria and stared at their phones.

Two days ago, the truth came out that the violin boy was Seo-jun Lee, and Whale Studios started to release information about the movie [Over the Rainbow].

Besides Seo-jun Lee, there were other names that caught the students’ eyes more than anyone else.

They were Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore, who participated as consultants.

“Professor Morton was involved too?”

“I had no idea. That’s why he didn’t do the surprise lecture.”

Benjamin Morton taught a special class once a week at LA Music Academy, but sometimes he would stop by the school and give an extra lecture regardless of the scheduled time.

The students called it the surprise lecture, and thanks to that, they would come to school even on days without classes.

“I thought he went on a vacation for the summer break.”

“Me too. Or maybe he was helping Jason Moore with his solo concert.”

“Did you get a ticket for the concert?”

“No. The venue was the biggest hall in LA, and it sold out in the early evening.”

“As expected, Jason Moore. He’s Professor Morton’s disciple, and he gets love calls from famous orchestras. I’ve seen him a lot on videos, but I want to hear him live.”

“This time, he’ll use that violin again, right?”

Choi Yoo-seong’s words made everyone’s eyes sparkle.

“The Stradivarius that Professor Morton used when he was active!”

“It’s so romantic that the master’s violin is passed on to his disciple, isn’t it?”

“I prefer Stradivarius over Guarneri.”

As Choi Yoo-seong and his friends chatted, Natalie ran over from afar. She stopped right in front of the table, her face red from running out of breath.

They all looked at her with curious faces.

“What’s going on?”

“They’re filming at the Brad Hall…”

She gasped for air and quickly got to the point. The Brad Hall was the largest hall at LA Music Academy.

It was where the undergraduates held their concerts, and famous orchestras had performed there as guests.

“Filming? What filming?”

“…Over the Rainbow!”

She whispered lowly, wary of the crowded cafeteria. Choi Yoo-seong and his friends felt like they were struck by lightning and perked up their ears. Natalie continued swiftly.

“They’re filming Over the Rainbow. What do you think it means that they’re filming at the Brad Hall? It means that Seo-jun Lee, the main character of the movie, might show up. And there’s a high chance that he’ll play the violin in the scene.”

“But what does the filming have to do with us?”

“Let’s go see him after they finish filming!”

She caught her breath and pointed to one side.

It was the direction of the Gudo Museum.

Come to think of it, there seemed to be more people heading that way than usual. Natalie opened her mouth.

“They’re recruiting extras to play the audience in front of the Gudo Museum.”

“…?”

“I already did it. It’s first come, first served!”

Natalie’s words hit their brains like a hammer. First come, first served! Choi Yoo-seong and his friends jumped up and ran to where Natalie pointed.

***

“We’re trying to gather a diverse group of people… but it’s already over.”

“Already?”

“They somehow found out and came on their own.”

The Whale Studios PR team employee said with a smile. LA Music Academy’s Brad Hall waiting room. Seo-jun Lee, dressed in a black suit, asked.

“Will everyone who applied come? What if they can’t make it because they’re busy or something?”

“That might happen, but I heard the audience seats will only be shown for a very brief moment on the screen. It won’t be noticeable. If not, we can just recruit some passing students. This is a college, after all. Well, Jun. Rest well until the performance.”

The PR team employee left and Ahn Da Ho handed Seo-jun a drink. Seo-jun took a sip of the orange juice and smiled.

“It feels more like a concert than a filming. Da Ho hyung.”

“Right. Are you nervous?”

“No. I think it will be fun. It’s a different field, but there are so many people who came to see me that they filled up the audience seats. I’m really excited.”

Knock- Knock-

Ahn Da Ho got up at the sound of knocking and opened the door slightly to check the visitor. There was a bodyguard, but he checked every time, which showed that his nerves were on edge as more people came in.

“It’s bigger than I thought.”

“Jason!”

“It’s going to be a great performance.”

“Professor Benjamin!”

The visitors were Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore. Seo-jun jumped up and greeted the two people who were dressed casually as if they came to watch a concert rather than a movie filming.

Benjamin and Jason were surprised by Seo-jun’s outfit. His hair was neatly combed back without a single strand out of place, and the black tuxedo that he had hardly worn before suited him very well.

“You look like a real violinist in that outfit.”

“Do I look good?”

“Yes. Much better than I expected.”

Seo-jun chuckled at Benjamin and Jason’s compliments.

“Is this the violin you’re going to play?”

“Yes. It sounds really good.”

Jason Moore silently examined the violin. Even if he paid a lot of money and got a good violin, anyone would hesitate to lend it to an eleven-year-old kid who would play it.

This must be the best violin that Sarah Roth and Whale Studios could get.

“How about this?”

Jason Moore put the bag he was holding on the table. Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho wondered what it was and watched Jason Moore open the bag.

It looked like an ordinary bag that he casually carried, but it was a violin case.

Benjamin Morton frowned.

“You’re carrying it around in that bag?”

“Master was too precious with it. That makes it more likely to be targeted.”

“Are you being too harsh?”

“It’s the words of an experienced person.”

The kid who had stolen Benjamin Morton’s violin once said with a smirk. He thought there was money in it because he was so careful with it, but it was just a violin. The disappointment he felt then.

‘It wasn’t a violin to use the word ‘just’.’

Jason Moore opened the bag. Benjamin frowned at the case that opened too easily.

Despite his master’s expression, Jason opened the lid wide. Inside, there was a violin and a bow.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho looked at the brown violin that was quietly sitting inside.

To the eyes of the two ordinary people, it was just an expensive-looking violin, but Seo-jun’s abilities stirred.

He felt something inside the violin. He realized that this was not an ordinary violin.

Jason Moore opened his mouth proudly. The ignorant little thief had no idea how much the violin was worth.

“It’s a Stradivarius.”

“Wow!”

Stradivarius.

One of the three great violins of the violin world, worth at least billions.

At least billions… Ahn Da Ho swallowed his saliva.

He looked at the bag, the violin case, that Jason Moore was carrying around. He felt a chill in his heart as he saw him swinging it around casually, even though he wasn’t the owner.

Seo-jun had heard from his teacher, Jung Ee Seul, about the violin she wanted to play.

The Stradivarius that she couldn’t even imagine because of its terrifying price.

“It’s super expensive, right?”

“I got it from my master. I don’t know the exact price, but. So, what do you want to do? Do you want to play with this?”

“Can I?”

“Yes.”

Jason and Benjamin nodded at Seo-jun’s question. Seo-jun, the natural-born actor, wouldn’t hold a concert. But the two of them were curious about the melody that Seo-jun and Gray would play with the Stradivarius.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the Stradivarius.

***

“But…”

Choi Yoo-seong, who sat in his assigned seat, suddenly wondered if his outfit was okay.

“Concerts usually have a dress code, right? And this is a movie filming where every costume has a meaning. Is it okay to wear this?”

Jeans and a T-shirt. He felt like he came to the wrong place and suddenly became anxious. Natalie patted Choi Yoo-seong’s shoulder.

“It’s okay. There aren’t many people wearing suits.”

As Natalie said, there weren’t many people wearing suits in the wide and spacious audience seats. It didn’t seem like they only gathered students, but there were people of various ages.

There were chattering children, the couple who owned the pizza place he often went to, couples with children, and people who looked like patients.

Their outfits were neat, but they were colorful.

“It looks more like a light show than a violin concert.”

“Whale Studios will take care of it. We just have to enjoy the violin performance.”

“But it’s a bit weird to see the concert before the movie. I signed a confidentiality agreement, but I might blurt it out after drinking.”

“You might. I’m fine. I’m more curious about how this concert scene will be used.”

As the people were filled with anticipation, the filming crew became busy. Sarah Roth, the director, checked the background in the camera and the status of the microphones installed here and there.

She wanted to convey the liveliness as it was, even though she would do post-recording. There was no trouble, but the filming time was approaching.

Emily, the assistant director, called Seo-jun from the waiting room. Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore headed to the VIP seats, and Ahn Da Ho carried the bag and followed Seo-jun, looking at the brown violin in Seo-jun’s hand with anxious eyes.

Whether he knew about his anxiety or not, Seo-jun, who was excited, headed to Sarah Roth, the director.

“Jun. Are you ready?”

“Yes!”

Sarah Roth smiled at Seo-jun’s answer.

“That’s the VIP seat, and Catherine and Paul are there. Your parents are also there, can you see them?”

“Dad came too?”

He said he might not be able to come, but luckily he was able to. Mom and dad, who were whispering to each other, looked like they were on a date.

Professor Benjamin and Jason. Huh? In the back seat, there was the noona and hyung who lent him the violin when he was busking.

They looked like they were about to faint as they sat in the front seat.

“Good. Then let’s start filming.”

“Yes!”

Why are they like that? He wondered, but at Sarah Roth’s words, Seo-jun got ready for filming.

Seo-jun stood alone on the stage hidden by the curtain and exhaled.

This filming would end Gray’s life. Unless there was a sequel, no one would know Gray’s future. But Gray, who was going to perform at this solo concert, would be happier and more overwhelmed than anyone else.

Seo-jun decided to do his best as ‘Gray’.

[(Line) Violin Dream Fairy’s Basic Lesson is activated.]

[(Line) Goblin Violinist’s Melody is activated.]

[(Line) Elf’s Basic Breathing is activated.]

Gray Vainy, the genius violinist, rested his chin on the Stradivarius.

The audience seats darkened a little, and the curtain slowly opened. The spotlight shone on the stage and the boy in a black suit appeared.

There were shouts of Jin Natra! Seo-jun Lee! from all over the audience seats.

Especially from the children’s side, there were many voices looking for Cheongryong.

“Is this okay?”

“Right. The sound is all going in, right?”

“What are we going to do?”

Unlike the worried audience, Seo-jun smiled softly and moved his bow to make the first sound.

This time, as he acted as Gray, he played [Violin Performance No. 1 of Dream Fairy, Goblin, and Gray], which would be registered as ‘Gray’s Violin Performance No. 1’.

The Stradivarius conveyed Gray’s heart as he played it into the melody.

As the soft yet vivid violin sound was heard, the audience seats became quieter.

Gray’s presence shone the most when he played the violin.

Whether it was the effect of the spotlight or the aura that emanated from Gray, Gray Vainy, who stood on the stage, sparkled.

His eyes lightly closed, his graceful performance, and the melody that shook his body.

For some reason, the people who watched Gray’s busking felt like Gray had grown up a lot.

The short performance ended and applause erupted.

Gray nodded lightly and lifted his bow again.

Chapter 120

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 120

Seo-jun stretched his arms wide after finishing his workbook.

Two days ago, the filming of Over the Rainbow had ended. He had taken a day off yesterday and did nothing.

He was told to rest for a few days, but being unusually healthy, Seo-jun was doing this and that.

He was about to read the book that his aunt Na-ra had bought him as a gift after finishing his workbook for the day.

“Seo-jun.”

“Yes?”

Da Ho came in with a bunch of papers.

Hmm. The filming was over, but wasn’t it too soon to show him the script? Couldn’t he rest for a few more days? Hyung?

Even though he thought so, Seo-jun’s hand naturally reached out and took the script. Hehe. He was curious what kind of script it was.

But the paper was thinner than he expected. A lot. Was it a synopsis?

“What is it, Da Ho?”

“It’s from director Ryan.”

“Shadowman 3?”

It felt like ages ago when he filmed Shadowman 2. Already, one year, two years… four years had passed.

Was he finally filming it? Seo-jun was excited and flipped a page.

“It’s Shadowman 3, but…”

“It’s a cameo.”

“He said he’ll put it in Assemble 2. He said, how about filming it while you’re in the US. He said the date doesn’t matter.”

“Wouldn’t it be okay to film it after the post-recording and Jason’s recital?”

“Really? Then do you want to do that?”

“Yes!”

“Okay.”

Da Ho left to contact director Ryan and Kings Agency.

Seo-jun sat on the sofa. He had nothing to do since he wasn’t filming or busking. He was bored. He picked up his phone while sitting blankly.

[I can’t say anything because of the confidentiality agreement, but I’m touched.]

#OverTheRainbow#MovieFilming#ExtraReview

[But, it’s the same as busking, but totally different.]

#OverTheRainbow#FirstSongAsAnAlbum#ExtraReview

[So when is the release?]

#OverTheRainbow#ILiveInLA#FirstComeFirstServedTooMuch#IWantToWriteAnExtraReview

[What you need for music is, talent, effort, no, money.]

#OverTheRainbow#AdLine#Cold

The concert that was filmed with ordinary people was raising the expectations of other people with the reviews of the attendees.

As expected, a subsidiary of Marina Studio. The publicity scale was different. Seo-jun was browsing his SNS when a message arrived. It was Grace Walton, the little witch he met at the Halloween festival.

-Grace: Laura’s book started selling yesterday! It took almost two years, I can’t believe it.

<Congrats! Oh, I’m in LA!

-Charlie: Is there anyone who doesn’t know where Jun is right now?ㅋㅋ

-Grace: I know, rightㅋ The internet is buzzing because you’re filmingㅋ

-Charlie: What’s the title of the book? Can you buy it in France?

-Grace: I don’t know. It’s only sold in the US.

-Charlie: Is it fun?

-Grace: It’s awesome!

-Grace: She asked me to write a review.

<Okay!

Seo-jun jumped up and headed to the kitchen.

Na-ra’s craving for boiled pork made Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun busy. They made kimchi salad and boiled pork with soybean paste with the cabbage and seasoning ingredients they bought from Kings Market.

“It looks delicious.”

“That’s the tenth time you’ve said that. It still needs to boil for another 10 minutes.”

At Seo Eun-hye’s words, Na-ra ate the kimchi salad with chopsticks and only looked at the pot where the boiled pork meat fell off.

Seo-jun entered the kitchen.

“Mom, can I go to the bookstore?”

“Bookstore? Do you have a book you want to buy?”

“Yeah! Grace’s sister wrote a book.”

Seo Eun-hye remembered the girl and her family she met at the Halloween festival two years ago and smiled brightly.

“Really? Then you should buy it and read it. But isn’t she still a student? Writing a book is amazing.”

“She’s going to college next year.”

“That’s amazing.”

Na-ra and her husband were amazed at the young age. Lee Min-jun scooped up the fluffy rice into a bowl and opened his mouth.

“Seo-jun. Let’s eat before we go to the bookstore.”

“Yeah! Should I call Da Ho?”

“He’s still boiling the pork, so call him later. He seemed busy with work.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Seo-jun took his seat at the table. Na-ra picked up the kimchi salad with chopsticks and said.

“It looks delicious.”

“Eleventh.”

Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun burst into laughter.

***

With Seo-jun’s post-recording, the filming of ‘Over the Rainbow’ was over.

Director Sarah Roth was stuck in the editing room, and Whale Studio announced the completion of filming.

Korea was buzzing with the news that Lee Seo-jun’s movie filming was over. Many people were on alert to welcome Seo-jun back home.

But Seo-jun still had things to do in the US.

“Is this your first time listening to Jason’s performance?”

Seo-jun nodded at Catherine and Paul’s words.

“He showed it as a test during the lesson, but that was very short.”

“Besides, Jun was so good that Jason didn’t have a chance to show off.”

Seo-jun and Catherine laughed at Paul’s words.

Today was Jason Moore’s first recital in his life.

Seo-jun and his party were invited to the best seats at the violin recital held in the largest hall in LA. Catherine and Paul, who met after a few days, sat next to Seo-jun.

The people who saw Seo-jun, Catherine, and Paul without hats whispered to each other. It was a hot topic even though it hadn’t been released yet.

Well, they had managed to get tickets that sold out early, and they came all the way here to listen to the performance, so they must have been interested in the violin.

They might have been interested in the violin movie as well.

The people who were whispering closed their mouths at the sound of the start of the performance.

A super star for violin lovers, Benjamin Morton’s disciple. It was Jason Moore’s first recital in his life.

It was thrilling to see him perform with famous orchestras, but the violin playing alone was also very exciting.

Everyone’s eyes sparkled as they waited for Jason Moore to appear.

“The outfit is different, but it’s just like Gray’s concert.”

“That’s right. There are a lot of people and they are all looking forward to it.”

Seo-jun nodded at Paul and Catherine’s words.

Everyone was dressed in formal suits and dresses.

It was quiet and not noisy like when they were filming.

It felt different, but the eyes of the people waiting for the performance were the same.

The curtain opened and Jason Moore appeared in a black tuxedo. He had swept back all his hair and looked serious, which contrasted with his usual chubby face. The kids giggled quietly at his sight.

Jason Moore stood alone on the wide stage and lifted the violin to his shoulder. It was the Stradivarius he had borrowed from Seo-jun for a while.

The kids and adults who knew well what kind of sound it would make looked at the stage with anticipation.

Jason Moore couldn’t help but chuckle at the eager eyes of the people who filled the auditorium.

He used to feel burdened by all this, but now he was excited. He looked forward to the compliments, the cheers, and the applause from the people who would listen to his performance.

In the silence that was so quiet that even his heartbeat could be heard, Jason Moore’s arm moved.

[Benjamin Morton, Violin Concerto, No.1]

Jason Moore’s violin recital consisted of Benjamin Morton’s pieces, except for the last one.

The pure and intense melodies that the young Benjamin Morton, who had not yet reached the master’s level, had composed flowed out.

The violin pattern on Seo-jun’s finger sparkled. It was a mark imbued with the power of the violin dream fairy.

When Seo-jun first saw Jason Moore, he noticed a faint trace. It was a dream fairy. He never thought they existed in this world…

Seo-jun looked at Jason Moore, who was shining on the stage. The faint trace of the dream fairy showed how talented Jason Moore was.

The performance of Jason Moore, the genius violinist recognized by the dream fairy, continued.

It was similar to Gray, but different.

The melody and emotion that resonated through his body. And the guidance of Benjamin Morton, who smoothed it out.

The splendid collaboration of the master and the disciple was revealed here, at the recital.

The applause erupted at the amazing performance. The clapping and cheering did not stop throughout the recital.

The maestros and musicians who were seated in the auditorium shone their eyes, and the students looked at Jason Moore with envy.

“It’s the last piece.”

“Yeah. There’s no title either.”

They all looked at Jason Moore, who was standing on the stage, with more anticipation.

Jason Moore wiped his sweat and came up. He sighed and rested his chin on the Stradivarius. He moved his right arm vigorously.

***

“How was it?”

“It was awesome!”

“It was really cool!”

The kids who came to the waiting room gave Jason Moore a bouquet of flowers.

Jason Moore had overcome all his pressure and finished the recital splendidly.

Seo-jun clearly saw Jason Moore’s proud face in the standing ovation of the people.

“You did well.”

“Thank you.”

Jason Moore smiled faintly at Benjamin Morton’s praise. His gentle smile resembled his master, Benjamin Morton. The kids laughed at his expression that they saw for the first time.

Catherine and Paul nudged Seo-jun.

They had become quite close, but Seo-jun was still the most comfortable with Jason.

Seo-jun asked, following the kids’ signal.

“I especially liked the last piece. You composed it, right?”

“Yeah.”

Benjamin Morton coughed at the mention of the last piece. It was a piece that expressed his gratitude and admiration for his master, which Seo-jun and the kids could tell.

Benjamin Morton’s eyes were red as he listened to Jason Moore’s performance. He didn’t want to miss a single moment. My disciple is the best.

As Benjamin Morton wiped his tears that seemed to come out again, Jason, who was holding a bunch of flowers, looked at Seo-jun.

“Next time…”

“Yes?”

“Contact me if you want to learn violin next time.”

“Okay! I will!”

He had found a violin teacher with incredible talent and skill.

Seo-jun and the kids, who were chatting with Professor Jason and Benjamin, gave up their seats when their friends came to the waiting room.

As he was about to leave the waiting room, Seo-jun peeked his face out and said.

“I’ll keep in touch even if nothing happens! Is that okay?”

Jason Moore and Benjamin Morton blinked their eyes and smiled alike.

“Sure. Do as you please.”

“Anytime is fine.”

Seo-jun grinned at their cheerful answers.

***

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho gasped as they arrived at Marina Studio to shoot the cookie video for Assemble 2, or the trailer for Shadowman 3.

Swalin Arnham, a famous Hollywood actor, who was walking with Director Ryan Will, waved his hand when he saw them.

“Long time no see since the last film festival party. How have you been?”

“Yes! Hello, Swalin!”

Seo-jun greeted him excitedly, his eyes sparkling. Ryan Will and Swalin Arnham smiled, noticing how much he liked Swalin Arnham.

Seo-jun thought of a character that Swalin Arnham could play in Shadowman.

The king of Natra, the fearsome invaders of Earth.

“Is Swalin Arnham Jin’s father?”

“Yes.”

“Wow!”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at Director Ryan Will’s answer. He was going to be in the same work as Swalin Arnham!

It seemed like yesterday that he studied watching the documentary that he starred in! He was so happy that his heart was pounding.

“You know it’s a secret until the article comes out, right?”

“Yes! I won’t tell anyone!”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho closed their mouths at the director’s words.

Swalin Arnham smiled and offered a handshake. Seo-jun reached out and shook Swalin Arnham’s hand lightly.

“Nice to meet you, son.”

“Yes! Me too!”

Seo-jun watched Swalin Arnham head to the dressing room with his eyes shining.

“Is Swalin Arnham really in Shadowman?”

“Yes. We’ve signed the contract.”

“Wow. I really wanted to work with Swalin! Do you know? My favorite documentary is the one that Swalin was in.”

As he was talking excitedly, Seo-jun suddenly felt an empty space. He looked around, but there was no one who should be right next to the director.

“Director. Where did Jonathan go? I don’t see him.”

“He went independent.”

“Independent?”

Seo-jun tilted his head.

“Yes. He wanted to do something too, after I made Shadowman, the movie I’ve been dreaming of for 20 years, and it became a series. He went independent a year ago and is making an indie film.”

“He never mentioned that when we talked… What’s the title of the movie?”

“It’s still in production. It was the first time he experienced a lack of money, time, and people, since he started following me around when we were shooting Shadowman.”

“I see.”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled. He still remembered Jonathan Will, the middle schooler, clearly. He could see his face, tired of the crying of child actors.

Jonathan Will had started walking the path of a film director, like his uncle.

“Here he comes. Jun. It’s your turn.”

“Yes.”

Swalin Arnham appeared after finishing his makeup. Seo-jun headed to the dressing room, taking turns with him.

There were not many staff or actors, as the cookie video was shot on the set.

When Seo-jun finished his makeup and appeared, Director Ryan Will shouted ‘Action’.

Chapter 121

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 121

September.

Lee Seo-jun, who had left for the US to film a Hollywood movie, finally returned.

The airport was temporarily paralyzed by the return of the Hollywood star. Of course, it was Seo-jun’s ability that subdued the crowded airport.

He had a brief interview time and headed home quickly before more people flocked in.

“You’re home after eight months! The house in the country was great too, but our house is the best, right, Seo-jun?”

“Yeah. Our house is the best!”

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye smiled brightly and walked around the house. Was anything changed? They looked around, but it was similar to when they left. That made them more comfortable.

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye sat on the sofa and relaxed their whole body.

“Home is the best.”

“I agree.”

As they laughed and enjoyed the energy of their home, they heard the sound of the door lock opening.

It was Lee Min-jun. Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye greeted him with a bright smile.

“I was going to pick you up, but my brother-in-law said it would be better not to go.”

“You did well, you did well.”

“Yeah, dad. There were so many people that mom had to come out separately.”

“So I bought this.”

“What is it?”

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye stretched their heads. Lee Min-jun smiled and handed over what he had hidden behind his back.

“Pig’s feet!”

It was a family set from Seo-jun’s favorite pig’s feet restaurant. Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye were delighted by the familiar store name printed on the plastic bag.

“Wow! Dad is the best!”

“Pig’s feet! The pig’s feet in the US don’t taste like this!”

“Let’s eat quickly.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye went to the kitchen to prepare to eat the pig’s feet. With that bustle, the empty space for eight months was quickly filled, and Lee Min-jun smiled without knowing it.

***

[Hollywood star, actor Lee Seo-jun returns!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun’s airport fashion, still loving Monster!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, please watch Over the Rainbow!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, glad to return before school starts.]

-Welcome back, Seo-jun!

-It’s amazing. A Hollywood actor returned, and it’s our country.

=I agreeㅋㅋ It’s really amazingㅋㅋ I never thought I would see [Hollywood star, return] instead of [Hollywood star, entry].

-Monster’s bag sold out, hat sold out, even handkerchief sold outㅋㅋ He’s a walking billboard. Son, nephew, raise one well and save on advertising costs and increase brand valueㅋㅋ Mom, dad, I’m sorry. I can’t do that.

=It’s amazing that Monster’s investment came from Seo-jun’s eating showㅋ How many people does Seo-jun feed?

=I’m a Monster employee. I’m a fan of Seo-jun. I love you, Seo-jun!

-I’ll watch the movie even if Seo-jun doesn’t say itㅎㅎ This movie will be a big hitㅋ

-Schoolㅋㅋ That’s right. Summer vacation is over. Did you do your homework, Seo-jun?

=[Article: I did all my homework!] He did itㅋㅋ

***

“Hi, Seo-jun!”

“Hi, Ji-ho, Ji-woo!”

Seo-jun, who was sitting in the classroom, greeted the twin brothers who ran to him. Ji-ho and Ji-woo asked him with excited faces.

“You did busking, right? How much did you make? You’re the first one among my friends who did busking!”

“Are you okay with attendance? I just found out that there’s a mandatory attendance.”

“I didn’t even make 100,000 won. Attendance is close, but I think I can make it.”

Ji-ho’s eyes widened. Ji-woo smiled softly.

“100,000 won is a lot! It’s more than my monthly allowance!”

“I’m glad. I was worried about what you would do if you were alone in fifth grade.”

“Let’s go eat tteokbokki after school. Ji-woo, you still say scary things without a care.”

Seo-jun laughed at the sight of his friends who hadn’t changed. The kids who entered the classroom waved at Seo-jun, and Seo-jun greeted them warmly.

“Seo-jun! Did you have a good trip?”

“Was the filming fun?”

Mina and Ji-yoon entered the classroom. Five more people were in the same class. The number of classes was small, so the kids were in the same class several times until they reached fifth grade.

“Yeah. It was really fun.”

Seo-jun, who was in fifth grade in elementary school, which he couldn’t see in movies or dramas, chatted with the kids. Filming was fun, but so was everyday life.

“Mom said she’s going to change the math academy. It’s the same academy as the class president, but he said they give a lot of homework…”

“I think I’m fine. The academy I’m going to now is too neglectful.”

“Then how about our academy? Mina and I go to the same academy.”

“Is there no homework there?”

“There is, but not much.”

Ji-ho was disappointed by the word homework and looked at Seo-jun.

“Where do you go to math academy, Seo-jun?”

“I don’t go to an academy. I do worksheets and workbooks every day. Mom and dad teach me what I don’t know.”

“…We’re better off with academy.”

The kids nodded at Ji-woo’s words. Ji-ho shivered as if he was cold.

“Mom checks my score every day…”

“Seo-jun is good at math. He’ll get everything right, but Ji-ho is wrong every day… If you do it with mom, you’ll fight, right?”

The kids and the classmates who were listening nodded.

While Seo-jun was starting the second semester of fifth grade with no change from the other kids, the full-scale promotion of Over the Rainbow began.

As a subsidiary of Marina Studio, commercials aired on television and there were many ads on the internet. But the violin performance that flowed from the ads was only Rebecca’s performance played by Catherine Miller.

The promotional video after the eighth week video was the only video that was exposed.

There were many ads, but not much information was released.

[Whale Studio, will release the sound source three days after the release!]

[Sarah Roth, director, a song that is better to listen to while watching the movie!]

[Release D-7, 3 major theaters, Over the Rainbow preview lottery!]

[Whale Studio, preparing souvenirs for Over the Rainbow!]

-So I’m watching busking day and night.

-It’s just classic until the seventh week, release the eighth week sound source!

=8th week! 8th week!

-Isn’t that how well the music and the video go together? I want to hear the music for the first time while watching the movie.

=Then you have to watch it within three days. The sound source will be released and it will be on the top of the chart and you will hear it everywhereㅋ

-Souvenir? What is it? What is it!! I’ll buy anything!! I’ll buy everything!!

=Popcorn bucket?ㅋㅋ Violin shapeㅋㅋ

=……I have to see the real thing first.

[Title: (No spoilers) I went to the preview of Over the Rainbow.]

Don’t listen to the music and go. Listen to it there.

Listening to music and watching movies can wait until the second viewing.

Let’s all cover our ears and head to the theater.

Let’s go in without knowing anything. Ignorance is bliss!

I already booked my tickets for the nth time.

-I’m curious!

-I have to see it on the first dayㅠ

-The movie theater website is about to crashㅋ

[Over the Rainbow, praised at the preview!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, the first Korean to star in a Hollywood movie! The youngest lead actor in Hollywood!]

[Another masterpiece! Trust and watch Lee Seo-jun’s work!]

[Over the Rainbow, 83% pre-booking rate!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun’s first lead role, Over the Rainbow. Worldwide simultaneous release tomorrow!]

-The first Korean and the youngest lead actorㅋㅋ He’s breaking records left and rightㅋㅋ

-As expected of Lee Seo-jun! He’s awesome!

-Worldwide simultaneous releaseㅋㅋ Lee Seo-jun is in a different classㅋㅋ

=I know, right. It’s amazing. A movie with a Korean actor as the lead is being released worldwide. Wow. He’s our pride.

-Tomorrow! I’m going to see it tomorrow!

-So what’s the souvenir? Is it really a popcorn bucket?

=I heard it’s a ticket.

=A ticket?

***

The day of Over the Rainbow’s release.

The theater was crowded. Everyone seemed to have come to see the same movie, and they were all talking about it.

Among the people who couldn’t hide their excitement were Lim Yeon and Park Seonga.

“There are so many posters.”

“I know, right. Are these and these Over the Rainbow?”

They started to collect the posters that had the actors’ and the movie’s introductions.

Lim Yeon tilted her head and picked up a black poster among the many posters. On the black background, a violin on the stage was receiving the spotlight.

In yellow letters, [OVER THE RAINBOW] was written in the center of the poster. This unusual poster had no pictures of the lead actors or any introduction to the movie.

[Violinist: Gray Vainy]

The bottom part of the poster had a dotted line, and it looked like a ticket with the date and place of the performance and the seat number printed on it. And in the center of the ticket, there were yellow letters.

[Thank you for your long-time support.]

Lim Yeon tilted her head. Meanwhile, Park Seonga, who had printed out the mobile ticket, asked.

“Is that also a Rainbow poster?”

“It seems like it, but… The back is blank and the front has nothing written on it. It says Over the Rainbow and it’s stuck here, so it seems like a movie poster, but… Not many people are taking it.

The other posters are almost gone, but there are a lot of these.”

Park Seonga shrugged.

“Let’s take it. Marina does weird things all the time. They hit us with a cookie video, made a movie with a bunch of heroes, and even did a surprise busking. Maybe it’s some kind of event?”

“Maybe. It’s a music movie, so it looks like a concert poster.”

As Lim Yeon and Park Seonga were talking, the other spectators also picked up one black poster each.

“By the way, where’s the souvenir?”

“Is it really a popcorn bucket?”

The two looked around and headed to where the people were gathered.

“Is this the souvenir?”

“Isn’t it just a ticket?”

What the people were looking at was a luxurious envelope and a ticket with the date and seat number written on it. Lim Yeon and Park Seonga looked at the ticket and the poster.

“It’s similar to this.”

“I know, right. This looks much more luxurious. The poster is just yellow, but this looks like gold, doesn’t it? The ticket design also looks like a lot of effort went into it.”

“I know, right.”

At the two’s words, a customer who was wondering whether to buy or not saw the poster that Lim Yeon was holding. A ticket similar to the one on display. And that was a poster that could be taken for free.

“Hey, is that a poster? It’s the same as that ticket.”

“Yes. It’s over there.”

“The poster is free, why are they selling this?”

The spectator tilted his head and headed to where the poster was stuck. Most of the people who were watching also headed there. Lim Yeon asked the staff.

“How much is this?”

“Are you buying it? It’s also on the poster.”

“Yeah. I have to buy this or I’ll regret it later.”

“Still…”

Park Seonga hesitated, and the staff smiled and said.

“It’s 3,000 won.”

“I’ll buy it!”

The staff said thank you and asked.

“This is only for those who are watching the movie, so can I check your ticket? If you check here, you can’t refund your movie ticket.”

“Here.”

“Yes, thank you. Which seat do you prefer? You can choose any seat. Please choose a date as well. The first week of release is from January to March, and you can choose any date. If you want a different date, you can choose the second week from April to June, the third week from July to September, and the fourth week from October to December. Even if it’s not today, you can come here with your movie ticket and choose any date you like and buy it anytime without a deadline.”

At the staff’s fluent words, Lim Yeon and Park Seonga blinked their eyes.

“Is this a real ticket?”

“No. We’ll make a ticket with the same date and seat as you choose.”

“What? That’s amazing.”

“I guess I’ll put my birthday date if it’s from January to March.”

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga chose the date and seat as the staff said. The date was their birthdays, and the seat was the recommended seat where the stage could be seen best.

The staff smiled and guided the two to a pinepad and keyboard on one side.

“We’ll also put your name on it, so can you write your name? You can also put other phrases within the character limit below.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga wrote their names on the pinepad and pressed the enter button.

A moment later, the staff put the ticket in a luxurious ticket envelope and handed it to the two.

Besides the two, many people stopped by here.

There were people who bought it, and there were people who turned their feet at the words that there was a similar ticket on the poster.

Before the movie started, the two took out the ticket from the envelope and looked at it.

[Lim Yeon. Thank you for your long-time support.]

[Place: Korea, Seoul, Whale Classic Hall]

[Date: 20XX February 27, 8 p.m.]

[Seat: Ma 52]

[Violinist: Gray Vainy]

The black ticket had glittering gold letters written on it. Lim Yeon and Park Seonga really liked the ticket with their names on it.

“Isn’t 3,000 won okay? It says here that they donate everything except the production cost…”

“Some people might think it’s expensive for a piece of paper. But it’s amazing. We chose the date and seat. The poster ticket’s place is in the US, but here it says Korea. Look at this. It says here too. Thank you for your long-time support.”

At the incomprehensible words, Lim Yeon and Park Seonga tilted their heads when the theater staff shouted loudly.

“Screen 3! Those who are watching Over the Rainbow in Screen 3, please enter now!”

At the staff’s words, everyone moved their feet.

The staff checked the movie tickets and everyone found their seats on the movie tickets.

Sitting in the seats marked on the movie tickets, Lim Yeon and Park Seonga carefully put the commemorative tickets into their bags.

Moments later, advertisements began to flow from the grand screen.

Chapter 122

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 122

Beep-

The alarm went off. The girl jumped out of bed and quickly turned it off.

“Rebecca! Get up quickly!”

“I’m up!”

[What do you need to make music?]

Rebecca thought as she ate breakfast. A peaceful and ordinary day. Her dad was working on his phone while reading the newspaper, her mom was on the phone with someone.

[Talent? Effort?]

“Don’t miss the new violin lesson teacher who’s coming today. He’s a famous person’s disciple, so you have to learn well. Do you know how much money it costs for one lesson?”

“Yes-.”

[No, it’s money.]

A boring narration flowed.

Rebecca and her friend George met a boy in the park.

A lonely black-and-white boy in a colorful park that reeked of sadness.

Is that Seo-jun?

Even though they knew him, it took them a while to notice.

The depressed boy looked nothing like Seo-jun. He was neither the prince of Seongnyeong nor Jin Natra. He was just Gray, nothing more.

As they played with Gray, he gradually brightened up.

Everyone smiled at Gray’s face that bloomed like a flower. His expression that was colorless became colorful, making the people who saw him feel happy.

It must be a healing story.

The audience quickly forgot the annoying narration as they watched the children laugh.

They were proud of Gray’s violin skills that improved noticeably.

They felt sorry for Gray who was already worried about money, but they smiled at Gray’s life with Swalin, the teacher his mom found for him.

It was obvious that Gray liked his teacher.

They read books together, watched videos of violinists, listened to music and shared their opinions.

On days when he didn’t have lessons, Gray practiced at home and waited for the lesson day. On days when he had lessons, he ran to the apartment next to the bridge with a brighter smile than ever. He was so beautiful that he made them cry.

They thought, ‘He’s a good teacher, Gray got a good teacher’ and looked forward to Gray’s performance that would soar like in the eighth week of busking.

“I have a teacher.”

Gray said shyly and Rebecca and George blushed.

They smiled like parents as they praised his teacher. But that smile didn’t last long.

Gray rested his chin on the violin. Rebecca’s bright smile froze. The audience was puzzled. Why? Wasn’t that a good posture?

The reason was revealed soon. A terrible performance echoed through the speakers. Some of the audience were so surprised that they dropped the popcorn they were eating. Some almost got up from their seats. No, why!?

Spring of Four Seasons, which he learned from Rebecca, that was sloppy but improved, was ruined.

Rebecca shouted. Gray spoke. And a flashback scene appeared.

The hidden side of Swalin in the happy lessons. A scammer who didn’t even know the ‘b’ of violin was there.

The audience’s mouths opened wide at the shocking twist.

“Is that teacher a real violinist!?”

Gray’s despairing face and the audience screamed inside. He wasn’t a good person!? They forgot to eat the food they were holding and got absorbed in the movie.

Rebecca and George decided to go find Swalin with Gray. There must be some reason.

They held onto a thin hope and headed to Downlock the next day. George’s brother agreed to go with them because their parents said they couldn’t send the kids to Downlock alone. Downlock was that kind of place.

The rain fell and the truth was revealed. It was so painful that the audience clenched their mouths.

They cried at the sight of Gray walking down the dark road. Gray and his mom sobbed.

After that, Rebecca and George’s crying faces were shown in their rooms. Rebecca, who had turned the blanket over her head, sobbed.

[What do you need to make music?]

It was a sincere and desperate voice, unlike the light tone at the beginning. The audience remembered the narration that had been on TV for weeks.

[Talent? Effort?]

Gray’s face that smiled brightly as he rested his chin on the violin was shown. Rebecca shed tears.

[No, it’s money.]

[If I had money, I could buy a violin that suited Gray! I could find a better teacher than that scammer! Money, if I had money!]

Rebecca buried her face in the pillow and cried again, thinking of Gray’s lonely figure disappearing into the rain.

[Gray didn’t have to cry…]

Sob, sob. There were people crying in the audience too.

Some cried because they felt sorry for Gray, some cried because they remembered their dreams that they had to give up because of money.

There must be many Grays here. Lim Yeon and Park Seonga also wiped their tears.

The movie time kept flowing even though the audience was immersed in Gray’s emotions.

They cried again at the staff paper and violin left in front of the door, and they were speechless at Gray’s genius that showed even in the despair of not being able to let go of music.

Gray, who was composing like crazy, suddenly lifted his head. A surprised expression appeared on his face full of tears.

‘In two days! At the park!’

Two days! Gray left the door. He ran. He ran to the park.

‘It’s been two days already.’

It had been several days since then. He was afraid that his friends who said they would meet in two days wouldn’t be there, that they would be disappointed because he didn’t show up.

But Gray ran. They were good friends. He didn’t want it to end like this. He breathed heavily and headed to the place where they met every day.

He ran fast and found something, then slowly stopped.

Over the Rainbow.

What’s at the end of the rainbow?

“Gray!”

“You’re late!”

His friends were there, smiling brightly. He was so happy that he burst into tears. He had been crying for days, but his tears didn’t dry up. Rebecca and George started crying too at Gray’s cry.

“I thought you wouldn’t come.”

“I was so scared because you didn’t come…”

“…I’m sorry I’m late.”

They cried for a while and their eyes were swollen. They laughed at their funny appearance and forgot that they had cried.

Cheerfully and bravely. They laughed as if they had blown away all the sadness.

They cried and laughed.

The exhausted children ate the snacks George brought and replenished their energy.

Ah, happy. Gray smiled. He felt that way because he was happy.

He was scared that he would fail and be discouraged again, but everyone was cheering for him. He didn’t want to give up.

“Rebecca.”

“Hmm?”

“Will you teach me violin again?”

Rebecca and George were surprised and shouted at Gray’s words.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I want to learn again. It was a mess, but… I can do it again, right?”

“Of course! You’re a genius, so you’ll learn it properly soon!”

Rebecca smiled brightly, but George said coldly.

“Rebecca will run out of things to teach you soon.”

His voice and red eyes didn’t match, but Rebecca and Gray nodded at his seriousness.

It was something they had experienced before.

“I need a teacher.”

“…Yeah.”

Gray flinched at the word “teacher”, but nodded his head. George continued.

“And we need money.”

Money. It was hard for children to get, and hard for adults to have. It was the cause of everything. A heavy silence fell between the three children.

“So I looked it up, and what do you think about busking?”

“Busking? We can’t make much from busking, can we?”

“It’s not just busking, we’re also uploading the busking scenes to YouTube.”

YouTube.

Rebecca and Gray tilted their heads.

“There are so many other videos on YouTube, who would want to watch Gray’s performance? He learns fast, but he’s not as good as the other violinists on the videos.”

“The YouTube videos are for something else.”

“Something else?”

George’s eyes sparkled. He had studied even during the family trip, and he had researched diligently while waiting for Gray.

“Crowdfunding.”

“…What’s that?”

“It’s when people from all over the world support, donate, or invest in people and groups who post on the internet. So, we’re posting Gray’s story and getting support.”

Rebecca and Gray’s eyes shone at George’s words. Support.

“And not only that, we’re also creating a YouTube channel to show how we’re learning. It’s more convincing to show them the videos than to just ask for support. More people might support us that way.”

As the children listened attentively, George’s excited words continued.

“Of course, the support won’t be that great. There are many people who have harder stories than Gray. The YouTube videos are plan B. I don’t know if we can make any profit from them, though.”

It was uncertain. They might get hurt again. Rebecca and George looked at Gray.

“How about it, Gray? With crowdfunding, we might get some support, but your story might also get known to many people.”

George whispered the pros and cons he had learned from the internet. He was ready to help Gray with whatever decision he made. The friends’ eyes shone brightly as Gray smiled brightly.

“I want to do it. Let’s try it, guys.”

He wanted to learn the violin.

That’s what Gray thought.

After that, the children started filming videos for the crowdfunding site and YouTube.

Gray got rid of his bad habits and learned from Rebecca again from the beginning. He learned faster than before with his dazzling talent.

Rebecca kept asking questions to her violin teacher and participated actively in the classes she had been slacking off. George also looked for more ways to promote Gray.

“Today is the first performance, right?”

That’s how they decided on their first busking performance. They asked the park manager and found a spot where they could busk.

It was Gray’s first time playing the violin in front of people. He recited the sheet music nervously.

The busking was attended by his mother and George’s family, and Rebecca’s family.

The first performance was Vivaldi’s Spring.

They hoped to welcome a warm and lively spring.

Everyone who knew Gray’s story had tears in their eyes at his clumsy but beautiful violin.

Soon after, the three children uploaded the edited video to the crowdfunding site and received comments.

-I hope this helps, as a fellow violinist!

-You should buy a violin first.

-I don’t have much, but I hope this helps 🙂

A high school student watching on his phone, a young child watching with his mother, a patient watching the video on a hospital computer, and an old man living in the same apartment as Gray, and a guy downstairs. They all donated their money.

As the donations and comments piled up, Gray suddenly had a thought.

“George. Can we see the records of the people who supported us?”

“Yeah. For product funding, they send the products to the customers when they reach the amount.”

“Then…”

Gray spoke with shining eyes, like when he played the violin.

“Later, I don’t know when, but what if we invite them?”

“…Invite?”

George and Rebecca tilted their heads.

“Yeah. If I keep playing the violin, I might have a concert someday.”

Gray, who had been living day by day, suddenly dreamed of a distant future. A concert. Rebecca and George smiled broadly at his words.

“I want to invite the people who supported us. I want to invite them all and play for them.”

“That’s awesome! Yeah. Let’s do it!”

“All of them? We don’t know when that will be?”

George went to the crowdfunding site and checked the records of the supporters. The detailed address didn’t show up, but the names of the countries and cities they lived in did.

“France, UK, Russia, Australia, Korea… If we invite them all, it’ll be a world tour?”

He glanced at the countries, and there were ten. It was too big a dream. It was unrealistic to think about it.

But Gray, George, and Rebecca looked at the monitor screen with excited faces. So many people from so many countries were cheering for Gray.

“I want to do it. I really do.”

Gray’s eyes sparkled.

They set a big goal. The children worked harder on the videos.

They walked with Gray without giving up their school or their lives. The crowdfunding continued and was fairly successful.

They couldn’t afford a good teacher’s lesson, but they could buy a decent violin.

“Can I try this next time we busk?”

“What is it?”

“A song I composed.”

Rebecca and George nodded their heads at Gray’s words.

“That’s awesome! Everyone will be surprised!”

“Hehehe.”

George moved quickly. He wanted to make his friend’s first original song performance in a bigger and better place, where more people could hear it.

Rebecca and Gray worked on the sheet music together.

Rebecca made some suggestions to Gray’s questions, and Gray chose the answer from them.

Rebecca had heard more songs than Gray, so the song was revised to a more refined feel.

George prepared the performance venue at the widest place in the park. There were many people and the place was spacious.

Gray looked around nervously as he stood at the place where he would play.

The park manager and friends he had met a few times, and the people who came to watch the busking often.

And at the news of Gray’s performance, people who didn’t go to the park often also appeared in the park.

They wore shabby clothes, but they were clean and neat. Gray knew. Even among the people of Downlock, who had a hard time making a living, there were some who had supported him.

Thump, thump. He heard a pleasant heartbeat.

He was so happy.

Gray rested his chin on the violin and held the bow.

The bow came down on the strings of the violin. The melody flowed out. The things that Gray had gone through were conveyed to the audience through the violin.

He was happy to meet his friends and enjoyed learning the violin. He was happy to meet his teacher and despaired at his teacher’s lies.

At the end of the despair he couldn’t escape, there was a rainbow, and beyond the rainbow, there was the happiness he had now.

The audience who knew Gray’s story shivered at the emotion and melody that pierced them like thorns.

They were happy with him, because his happiness was too raw. They despaired with him, because his despair was too vivid.

And they struggled to grasp the thin hope in the despair. In the end, he became happy. The melody that seemed to shine brightly, contrary to the expectations of the audience, did not burst, but slowly subsided.

When they thought it was over, the screen changed.

As the melody faded, the screen followed Gray and swept over the trees and leaves, then gradually rose to the sun.

The screen that shone brightly with the sunlight suddenly changed to lights.

The camera slowly moved down.

The camera that showed the full and applauding audience turned back and showed one person.

He was wearing a black tuxedo.

It was Gray.

[I want to invite them all and play for them.]

He remembered his young vow and raised his bow to play the violin.

The screen was fixed, as if watching a solo concert right in front of the movie theater.

He became more refined and calm, but his vivid and lively Gray-like vitality developed further and Over the Rainbow came out.

The audience in the movie theater was captivated by the excellent performance.

As if it was really a solo concert, there was no narration or screen change from beginning to end until Over the Rainbow was over.

The ongoing performance finally exploded in brilliance.

Happiness.

Joy.

Praise.

All kinds of happy emotions in the world flooded the audience like waves.

Some of the audience closed their eyes and enjoyed the music.

They felt like they knew how hard Gray had worked and how many people had helped him, just by the difference between the previous and the current performance.

He met a true teacher and bought a better violin. He worked hard and dreamed.

Even without watching the video, they could tell by listening to this violin performance.

That’s how the child of Downlock became a violinist.

Even though it was a very happy performance, he shed a tear. Lim Yeon and Park Seonga wiped their eyes with a sob.

The performance that he wanted to keep listening to ran to the end. The last note echoed loudly in the concert hall as Gray’s bow stopped.

As Gray bowed, the audience in the video stood up one by one and applauded.

Meanwhile, the video was silent, without any background noise.

As if watching Gray Vainy perform somewhere live, the movie theater audience was immersed in the movie.

A person who looked like a staff member handed Gray a microphone. There was no editing in the meantime.

The unedited video gave the audience a sense of reality.

Gray brushed his hair neatly and smiled. His appearance hadn’t changed much, but his confident expression and gentle smile showed how much he had grown.

“I didn’t expect so many of you to come.”

Gray looked at the audience. His expression was full of gratitude.

The people who had supported Gray Vainy with letters, they all had a body in front of Gray’s eyes.

His mother, Rebecca, George, the old man upstairs, the guy downstairs, the librarian at Starfill, the sandwich shop owner, the young child who supported him with his mother, the people who commented that his music helped them while they were hospitalized.

There were many people there.

Gray quietly looked around the audience and looked at the camera. The movie theater audience thought they made eye contact with Gray, and Gray on the screen smiled.

“Thanks to your support, I was able to stand here. I sincerely thank you for your long support.”

Clap-!!

The applause sounded and the curtain fell on the stage. The applause continued. The movie theater audience also clapped their hands without knowing.

How long did they clap, the lights in the theater turned on, and the ending credits came up with a song.

[Gray’s Violin Performance NO.1]

It was a violin performance full of Gray’s gratitude and thanks. The audience was amazed by the performance that came out again.

Lim Yeon, who was clapping, suddenly remembered something whe had put in his bag before the movie started.

A 3,000 won souvenir. Lim Yeon took out the ticket envelope from her bag with trembling hands. Park Seonga saw her friend do this.

Lim Yeon opened the ticket envelope and took out the ticket. She saw unusually glittering golden letters.

[Lim Yeon. Thank you for your long support.]

[Violinist: Gray Vainy]

Chapter 123

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 123

On the night of the premiere of Over the Rainbow, a movie review YouTuber, Moviegoer, started his live broadcast.

[Title: (Spoilers) Over the Rainbow Review Broadcast]

“Hello, this is Moviegoer.”

-Moviegoer hi! (A greeting for Moviegoer fans)

-Hello!

-??? The movie just came out today and you’re doing a review broadcast now?

“Yes. I know it’s late for everyone, that I usually wait for a while before broadcasting so that most of the viewers can watch it, but this movie was so urgent that I came early!”

-Lol, did you miss the preview?

-The people who went to the preview started posting their reviews, so I guess he wouldn’t have been so rushed if he had seen it at the preview lol

-Has Moviegoer ever won a preview invitation?

-No no, Moviegoer would get invitations at his level, but if not, he probably never went.

“You all know too well, don’t you?”

Moviegoer laughed awkwardly. He was known to the viewers as the unlucky Moviegoer.

“The movie I’m going to introduce today is, as the title says-”

-Over the Rainbow!

-Rainbow!

-Sob

The screen was filled with the poster of Over the Rainbow. Lee Seo-jun, Catherine Miller, and Paul Oden were smiling brightly.

“Yes. Over the Rainbow. Wow. Just looking at the poster makes me happy.”

-Autoplay, Over the Rainbow lol

-Play part 1 lol

“I assume that everyone who is watching this live broadcast has seen Over the Rainbow. This is a spoiler-filled broadcast! If you haven’t seen it, please press the close button.”

-Is there a YouTuber who kicks out his viewers? No?

-Lol, the number doesn’t drop lol, they must have all seen it

-Well, just look at the number of viewers today lol

Just a few hours after the worldwide release. And yet, the internet was buzzing with Over the Rainbow.

When was the last time a musical movie was so popular and successful? It seemed like Whale Studio’s cheers were already heard.

“Yes. It’s an amazing number of viewers for a musical movie, right? If the soundtrack is released, I can’t even imagine what will happen. Do you know? There’s a classical chart on Billboard.”

Billboard.
That heavy name froze the chat window.

-…?

-…Wow, scary.

-Seriously creepy lol

-Hollywood and Billboard. How many countries did Lee Seo-jun save in his previous life?

He saved a lot and destroyed a lot.
There was no way Moviegoer and the viewers would know that fact.
They moved on to the main topic.

“How did you like the movie?”

-I cried!

-I cry whenever Lee Seo-jun appears!

-But I’m glad it was a happy ending. My doctor was so sad lol

-Lol, me too

“Ahahaha. Me too. I cried a lot, and I was happy that it was a happy ending.”

As a movie analyst, he spent the whole day sitting in the theater, watching ‘Over the Rainbow’. His butt hurt from sitting all the time, but the more he watched, the more he admired Whale Studio’s marketing. Moviegoer said with a smile.

“This movie can be seen from two perspectives.”

-Two? Why two?

-Did I only see one?

“The first perspective is the one that the first-time viewers see. They follow the flow of time and see Gray’s life. What did you think when you saw the final performance scene?”

-I was surprised that the stage came out so suddenly lol

-Gray. You’ve grown up well.

-Yeah, did they show us the future?

“Yes. That’s the first perspective. It could be the future after a few years, or it could be the image that the three kids imagined.”

-What about the second?

“To watch it from the second perspective, you need this.”

Moviegoer showed a black poster to the camera. The viewers tilted their heads.

-A poster?

-? Was that the Rainbow poster? I thought the staff put it wrong.

-I have one too. At first, I thought it was a concert poster that the staff mistakenly put in, because there were no actor photos or movie descriptions, but after hearing what other people said, it seemed like it was also a Rainbow poster.

“Yes. This is also a poster for Over the Rainbow. The important thing is this ticket.”

Moviegoer zoomed in on the screen. A yellow ticket was visible.

-What ticket?

“It has a perforation line. If you look closely, you can see the date, performance time, and seat number.”

Date, performance time, seat number, and.

[Thank you for your long-term support.]

-What does that have to do with the second perspective?

“Do you remember what the final scene of Over the Rainbow was?”

How could they forget. The scene where they were proud of Gray’s growth.

-Yeah, playing on the stage.

-You can hear the applause of the audience.

-I almost clapped too lol

-…!!!

-What?! Really?!!

-What is it…? Am I the only one who doesn’t know?

-Me too, I don’t know…;;;

The viewers who realized something wrote. They were curious and started typing ‘???’ earnestly. Moviegoer smiled as he looked at the chat window filled with chaos.

“Yes. I’ll tell you. The second perspective is, we went to Gray Vainy’s recital.”

-…Recital?

-Suddenly a recital?

“Gray said, right? He didn’t know when, but he wanted to have a recital with the people who funded him. And Gray Vainy had a recital. We are the ‘invited guests’.”

-???

“Here, the phrase ‘Thank you for your long-term support’ is the decisive evidence and hint. The viewers who came to watch the movie with this poster must have been the ones who sponsored the kid named ‘Gray Vainy’ on the funding site a long time ago. And the kid grew up and finally had a recital. We were invited with this poster’s ticket and the theater seats turned into recital seats.”

Moviegoer said with a smile.

“Just like they show a special video on the screen before the performance, the story we saw was a video prepared for ‘Gray Vainy’s recital.”

-Huh???

“When the movie started, Rebecca’s alarm sound was probably an alarm used to announce the start of the performance.”

As Moviegoer’s words continued, the chat in the chat window decreased. He knew well that it meant that the viewers were absorbed in his words.

“When I went to see Over the Rainbow with this ticket, I felt like I was visiting a child I had sponsored, even though I hadn’t. I was moved to tears by how well he had grown up despite his hardships. I thought there were only audience participation plays, but now there are audience participation movies too.”

He couldn’t forget the impression he had then.

“Gray Vainy was clearly a pitiful and lovable child. But he had nothing to do with us. However, this ticket changed everything.”

[Thank you for your long-term support.]

The yellow letters glittered like gold.

“We sent him donations and he grew up wonderfully with that money. It could be a vicarious satisfaction, or a reward for contributing to his future. Whatever the emotion, the sure thing is, we got closer to Gray Vainy than before.”

-Ah. I have to go see it again.

-It feels amazing to hear thisㅋ

“I don’t know if this is the right interpretation, but that’s what I think.”

He carefully lifted something up as he said that.

“And there’s something else that makes you more immersed in the movie. Do you know this ticket?”

It was a black envelope and a ticket with a cool design.

-ㅇㅇ It’s a rainbow souvenir.

-It’s cheap for a movie product, 3,000 won, but buying another ticket is a bit much.

-ㅇㅇ It was on the poster too.

-I thought it was a photo ticket and bought three.

The viewers who knew about the poster ticket nodded at his words.

“Since there was a poster ticket, I was curious about what this was at first. But I had to explain it to you anyway, so I bought it.”

He smiled and showed something on the screen.

“This is a ticket photo taken and uploaded by someone who lives in London, UK. This is a photo taken and uploaded by someone who lives in Melbourne, Australia.”

[Emma. Thank you for your long-term support.]

[Location: UK, London, Whale Classic Hall]

[Date: June 13th, 20XX, 8 p.m.]

[Seat: E 30]

[Violinist: Gray Vainy]

[Jefferson. Thank you for your long-term support.]

[Location: Australia, Melbourne, Whale Classic Hall]

[Date: September 4th, 20XX, 6 p.m.]

[Seat: K 61]

[Violinist: Gray Vainy]

When everyone was tilting their heads at the photos posted on SNS, someone noticed.

-??? The locations are different for each country?

-The dates are different too.

-Huh. Is this… a world tour?

“Yes. That’s right. To be exact, it’s the world tour ticket that Gray and the kids dreamed of.”

He looked at the black ticket with a faint eye. The four sides of the ticket were wrapped in a wavy golden pattern, and there was handwriting on it.

[Moviegoer. Thank you for your long-term support.]

[Location: South Korea, Seoul, Whale Classic Hall]

[Date: January 21st, 20XX, 4 p.m.]

[Seat: Bar 56]

[Violinist: Gray Vainy]

“Wow. This is really touching. Look here. It says moviegoer, right? Of course, I bought another ticket for the next time with my real name.”

-Wow. It’s really the same.

-Right. It feels like the movie and reality are connected.

-Is Over the Rainbow a documentary of Gray Vainy?

“The poster ticket says US Whale Classic Hall and the date is set to October 15th, the US release date. You can’t put your name on it either. But this ticket lets you choose your name, date, and seat. It’s an upgraded version of the poster ticket. To be honest, the poster ticket is nice, but after watching the movie, this ticket is overwhelming.”

He burst into tears after the movie, holding the ticket with his real name on it.

He couldn’t help crying at the gratitude that tingled his whole body through the violin performance.

He felt guilty for receiving thanks for a donation he hadn’t made, so he went to the funding site and donated to someone with a similar story to Gray.

It seemed like there were many people like him, and the crowdfunding site was briefly stuttering.

The viewers reacted to his sincere words.

-A name… I have to buy one too.

-ㅇㅇ It seems touching to have your name on it.

He carefully put the ticket in the black envelope. And he put the envelope away carefully too. He didn’t want to scratch the ticket or the envelope.

“And I won’t be able to do the movie review broadcast for a while.”

-? Suddenly declaring a vacation?

-[YouTuber Moviegoer, announces retirement today.]

-Ah. Then what will we watch for movie reviews?

-Yeop Yeop Bang is fun.

“No! I’ll be back in a few weeks, a few weeks! Hey! Don’t promote other YouTubers!”

-Then why?

-Yeah. Why?

“Ahem.”

He coughed.

“I’m going abroad.”

-YouTuber Moviegoer, suddenly declares immigration?

-Ah, I get it!

-What? What?

-Could it be…?

He smiled broadly.

“I’m going to collect Over the Rainbow overseas tickets. I already got January, so from February to December, I’m going to visit 11 countries by month. I was saving money to travel to the places where our Hollywood star, Lee Seo-jun, had been, but I’m very happy that this event came up too!”

The viewers who were watching the broadcast were sincerely envious of his happy face.

-This is like a Lee Seo-jun fan! …I want to go too!

-Broadcast. Broadcast!

-Yeah. Upload something like foreign reactions!

-Huh. Are you going to France? It’s Halloween soon! Is it the Halloween festival that Lee Seo-jun was in?!

“Yes! I’m going! I’ve scheduled October for Europe. Looking at the foreign tickets, the first week’s date in Korea is from January to March, but the UK is from April, and Italy is from July. I don’t know if Whale Studio intended this, but if I travel well, I can fill up to December just by traveling around Europe. But!”

-But?

-But?

“As a fan of Gray Vainy, how can I not go to the place where he first busked! LA Music Academy Park! I’m going!”

-Envy… Really envy…

-Is it a Lee Seo-jun tour, a Gray tour, or a Rainbow tour?

-A three-in-one fan serviceㅋㅋ

“So…”

He got up from his seat with a smile. He looked comfortable in his pants and shirt.

-You dressed up well today? You still have the gif of you accidentally getting up in your flower-patterned pajama pants last timeㅋㅋ

-It was lucky that he was wearing pajamas at least… If not (horrible)

-? Is that a suitcase behind him?

-???

“I’m starting the travel broadcast now! Please enjoy watching!”

-…Excuse me? Now? Starting now?

-Did you buy a plane ticket?

“Yes! As soon as I found out that it was different for each country, I bought a plane ticket. I’m leaving in three hours. I’ll do an outdoor broadcast from now on.”

-Look at the drive. He bought a plane ticket as soon as he thought of it.

-He must have thought of the broadcast and his daily life after that.

-It’s hard to broadcast while traveling, so he’s trying to finish it quickly, that’s why he’s broadcasting at this time.

-ㅎ Fan service like Moviegoer

-Where are you going first?

He read the comments and smiled brightly, holding the outdoor camera.

“Czech Republic, Prague.”

Chapter 124

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 124

The YouTuber Moviegoer ended his live stream with the words that he was leaving for Prague, Czech Republic.

He quickly edited the video at the airport and uploaded it to YouTube, where the views skyrocketed.

The video had subtitles in different languages, and the viewers who had watched Over the Rainbow looked at the black poster they had brought from the theater.

[Thank you for your long-time support.]

They felt a heavy emotion from that one sentence.

And soon, the internet was turned upside down.

YouTuber Moviegoer’s World Tour

Gray Vainy’s World Tour

Over the Rainbow Commemorative Ticket

Ticket Exchange

Rainbow Country Dates

…

As the first one to find out about the world tour and put it into action, YouTuber Moviegoer’s name was the first to appear on the real-time search trends.
Naturally, there were also articles about him.

[YouTuber Moviegoer, chasing Gray Vainy’s world tour!]

[Different concert dates for each country! Korea from January to March!]

[Over the Rainbow commemorative ticket, let’s find out the dates for each country!]

[Ticket exchange on SNS! Let’s exchange if we can’t go ourselves!]

[Me and 11 foreigners! Gray Vainy fan meeting in progress!]

-Wow… Marina’s marketing… genius…

-But it would be thrilling if it lasted from January to December lol

-I’ll go with my mom and dad and ask for only movie tickets haha I’ll make them all in my name

-There are other YouTubers who are going too.

-Yeah, America is big so the dates are different for each state. The people who are traveling in America seem to be going around like that.

-Foreigners also started a lot. Europe is easy to travel between countries, so they’ll probably go a lot.

-There are a lot of posts on SNS too lol Especially Lee Seo-jun fan cafe is crazy lol

=Yeah, they’re connected with foreign Lee Seo-jun fan cafes and doing it as a group?

=Already done with the first round. Second round in progress.

=It’s only been two days??? They’re really fast there.

-A lot of foreigners who want to do the Rainbow Tour said they’ll come to Korea

=???Why?

=Lee Seo-jun is Korean and Gray is half Korean. I don’t know about other countries, but a lot of people said they’ll definitely go to LA in America and Seoul in Korea

=I want to go to LA too. I want a ticket with LA written on it!

[Thank you for your long-time support. The hidden story of Over the Rainbow!]

[It’s not just a commemorative ticket. It’s a ticket for the solo concert of the world tour that was the dream of the three kids!]

[Whale Studio, donating all proceeds from commemorative tickets for the second Gray!]

-They’re really good at marketing. Marina is.

=Isn’t it Whale Studio’s work?

=That’s Marina’s subsidiary lol

-I cried when I first watched it, but I cried harder when I watched YouTuber Moviegoer’s video and then watched the movie again. I thought I made eye contact with Gray at the end, but it turned out he was really talking to me.

=Me too. I’m so proud of Gray, and thankful that he grew up well. I feel like I donated even though I didn’t. I’m so happy that I keep my commemorative ticket in a frame lol

Two days passed since the hidden story of Over the Rainbow was revealed.

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga headed to the theater.

“YouTuber Moviegoer arrived in Czech Republic and watched the movie right away before going to Germany.”

“He doesn’t see any tourist attractions?”

“Nope. He said he has to hurry to get to France Orche by Halloween. He said he can’t pay for movies and not watch them. He watched them all.”

“Amazing. Oh, isn’t the soundtrack released at midnight today?”

“Yup. That’s why we came here again. I loved Over the Rainbow and Gray’s songs so much. They keep coming to my mind.”

“Ah, are you going to buy a commemorative ticket?”

“Hmm. I’m thinking of buying movie tickets for different dates anyway.”

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga headed to where they sold commemorative tickets.

There were already many people in line.

Some people wrote their names on Pinepads familiarly, while others asked questions to the staff as if it was their first time.

“They sell a lot.”

“Yeah. Look over there too.”

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga turned their eyes.

The black posters that had not been given out at all were now being handed out one by one by the staff after checking the tickets.

“Can you give me one more?”

“I’m sorry. We don’t have much stock, so we can only give one per person.”

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga bought commemorative tickets and entered the screening room.

Park Seonga, who was looking at the ticket, opened his mouth.

“It feels different from when I first saw it, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. It feels like I was really invited by Gray.”

Beep-beep-

The alarm sounded.

It sounded like a signal to start the show when they heard the translation.

Videos of Gray Vainy introducing himself and his story flowed.

The reason he started playing the violin, his learning, his crisis, and his funding.

Along with the comments of people who said they would support him, there were faces of people from all over the world.

From the very rich to the people who barely made a living.

From a few cents to tens of dollars.

The faces of ordinary people were no different from Lim Yeon’s.

They saw Gray Vainy playing the violin roughly, and soon a bright stage appeared.

It was still a brilliant and beautiful violin performance.

At that moment, Lim Yeon realized.

Whether it was because of the commemorative ticket with her name on it, or because she thought he was playing the melody of gratitude for the audience in the video, it was directed at her.

She felt like crying from that wave of emotion.

When had she ever received such a thank you from someone’s heart?

The applause of the audience in the video poured out at the sight of Gray Vainy bowing.

Lim Yeon, Park Seonga, and the other viewers in the theater also clapped.

There was no excitement like a sing-along screening, but the emotion was more than enough to overflow.

[Over the Rainbow changed the world! Flood of donation inquiries!]

[Can there be a second Gray?]

[Children who dream. People who cheer.]

[Soon, at 5 a.m. Over the Rainbow full soundtrack release!]

-It feels different when I watch it for the second time. It feels like there’s a real person named Gray Vainy.

-Definitely, the color of the screen is slightly different between the last scene and the previous scenes.

=I thought it was just my feeling!

-I donated on my way out. I hope he grows up well too.

=Me too. I checked out the donation site

=3333

-Soundtrack release!! I stayed up all night waiting!!

=You could have woken up early?

=…It’s easier to stay up all night.

-I’m buying it right away! I watched the movie again because I wanted to hear it more! The movie was fun too, but I wanted to listen more comfortably lol

At 5 a.m.

Some people were still lost in their dreams, and some people were awake at that time.
The internet was burning unlike the dawn hours.

[First! Violin performance song tops the charts!]

[Gray Vainy! Dominates the global music charts!]

[Billboard Classic No.1! Over the Rainbow!]

[Over the Rainbow, released in two versions!]

-Busking version… best… (dying message)

-When I first heard it, I almost fainted lol I thought it would end faintly like in the movie, but it suddenly exploded lol

-Yeah, you can tell how refined his performance on stage is lol. The solo concert version also makes me feel swept away by emotion, but this is what raw genius emotion is like. Truly devilish talent!

-Ah, devilish talent. It reminds me. That kid who everyone claimed was from their country is actually from our country and his main job is an actor lol

-I totally agree with your last sentence. Really amazing.

-As a musician, I feel sorry for Lee Seo-jun, but as an The Royal Physician fan, I love Lee Seo-jun lol I’m now a Gray fan too. Seriously, I hope he releases another album.

=222 I hope he does it as a hobby lol

-…But what is this?

=What?

=[Gray’s violin performance song NO.1 composer: Seo-jun Lee]

=???

The phone rang in Cocoa Entertainment’s PR office.

They had barely refused all the calls from broadcasters who wanted to cast Seo-jun and reporters who wanted to interview him an hour ago.

The staff sincerely prayed.

“I wish this year would end soon…”

“I feel like we’ll be answering calls all year long.”

“Let’s just answer them first.”

“Yes.”

Ugh.

They sighed and answered the phone.

[Gray’s violin performance song NO.1, actor Lee Seo-jun composed!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, composed since last year!]

[A performance song created by Lee Seo-jun’s own skill!]

[Director Sarah Roth, liked the song and added it to the ending credits!]

-Seo-jun has maxed out his talent. He must have taken all the talent from me.

=??? : What talent do you have?

=Don’t hit me with the truthㅠ

-But how can you believe this so quickly? Someone could have helped him.

=If you look at Seo-jun’s actions so far, you’ll believe it.

=Honestly, there’s no reason for world star Seo-jun to lie about composing. He can’t get any more famous. It just makes these comments ridiculous.

=Agree

***

The camera that was filming YouTuber Moviegoer shook.

The long, long line was over.

YouTuber Moviegoer smiled brightly and stood in front of the sales counter.

He operated the Pinepad familiarly, and the commemorative ticket was made.

“I finally bought the August ticket! Now I just have to buy the November ticket in France Orche and the December ticket in America LA!”

-Wow. This is like collecting dragon balls lol

-12 months x 12 countries lol That must be hard.

-I like this challenge lol

-How was the movie?

“The song was still good. I watched the dubbed version because there were no seats for the original. I couldn’t understand it at all. I’ll have to watch it with subtitles in France.”

-Are you leaving for France right now?

“Yes. If I go now, I think I can join the Halloween festival. I’ll move quickly!”

-Fighting!

-I’m watching you!

***

[Title: Traveling in France Orche!]

“Hello, this is Moviegoer. It’s already October 31st. It’s been two weeks since I left Korea. Fortunately, this trip will be over soon!”

-You worked hard.

-Really, watching movies and moving, calculating dates lol You were busy lol

-Are you joining the Halloween festival?

-??? Oh, translator… lol Moviegoer’s viewers are global now.

“Yes. I’m joining. Monster said they’re participating too, so I’m going to buy their products if they’re sold out in Korea.”

-So jealous!

-They’re all sold out hereㅠ

-They’re based in Korea, but why can’t we buy them! Take my money!

-I want to buy them too. 🙁

“I have to find the corporate booth zone first. They said Monster’s booth is over there.”

-Just came in, what’s that headband?

-Someone gave it to him saying you’re Korean lol Lee Seo-jun did a werewolf costume lol

-People get service everywhere for being Korean lol

The boy wearing a wolf ear headband moved while looking at the pamphlet map.

He bumped into someone.

Fortunately, neither of them fell.

Moviegoer’s camera was pointing at the sky.

Only their voices could be heard.

“Sorry! Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine. I was looking at my phone too.”

-A fateful encounter! …But the voice is male…

-lol He sounds young

-I can’t see here!

-The sky in France is pretty. It’s the first time I see the sky during a broadcast.

-There are a lot of people, so be careful.

“Where are you looking for?”

“Oh, yeah. Do you know where the corporate booth zone is?”

-Someone translate please. I don’t understand anything he’s saying in English.

-Moviegoer is good at English. He said he learned from movies and broadcasted his study method, but I can’t do it lol I just want to watch with subtitles.

-The night sky is still there?

-Count the stars.

-Then I’ll start from the right.

-OK I’ll start from the left.

“It’s over there.”

“Oh. You could have just pointed me in the direction.”

“It’s okay. We’re like friends who know each other.”

The boy who was tapping his phone shrugged his shoulders.

Moviegoer tilted his head.

“Friends?”

He didn’t have time to solve the mystery as he arrived at the corporate booth zone following the boy’s guidance.

Moviegoer was surprised to see the corporate booth zone.

There were too many people.

The boy said.

“You have to hurry if you want to buy Monster’s products. They sold out in less than an hour after the festival started over there.”

“Oh, oh! Thank you!”

Moviegoer ran away with his camera properly held.

Charlie looked at his back and tapped his phone.

<I guided him. He was filming with his phone, maybe he’s a YouTuber?

Jun: Yeah, I’m watching him too. We did wolf together last year, but what are you doing this year?

<I t was annoying to prepare something else, so I just wore a wolf ear headband lol Oh, the movie was fun. You played the violin well, right?

Jun: Thanks lol

Seo-jun, who was watching Moviegoer’s broadcast, sent a message to Charlie with a smile.

“You said the screen was upside down?”

Moviegoer in the smartphone was surprised to see the chat window.

He seemed to have secured a spot in the long line that stretched out at Monster’s booth.

-Yeah, so we were counting stars.
They were clearly visible lol

-Sad. I counted 40.

-I counted 34.

“Ahahaha.”

Seo-jun laughed as he saw the chat window.

Chapter 125

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 125

[Title: Arrived in Korea.]

“Hello, this is Moviegoer. I left from LA and arrived in Korea a few hours ago. I traveled hard for almost two weeks. They say home is the best place to be, and I agree.”

Everyone left comments on Moviegoer’s tired face.

-You collected them all. Well done.

-Did Whale expect someone to collect them all?

-Well, maybe he expected one or two nearby countries.

“I thought so too, but more people than I expected started the tour. And there were different versions of collecting them.”

-And you found something to broadcast?

-Awesome.

“It was a long flight from LA to Korea. I had nothing to do on the plane.”

Moviegoer showed a picture on the screen.

There was a short post with a picture of the tickets.

[France, collected all 12 months.]

[Italy! Collected all 12 months on the 14th date! It’s my birthday.]

[Russia, 12 countries, 12 months. Collected them all.]

[USA. Collected all 50 states and Washington DC.]

-That’s a lot.

-What did the last American do? He visited all 51 states in the US? Did he go to Alaska and Hawaii too?

-What about places like Guam or Saipan?

-He said he was going to go.

-Wow. They say a fan among fans is a sheep.

“They are amazing. How is that possible when it’s only been three weeks since the movie was released?”

Moviegoer shook his head at the last SNS post.

-There was someone who visited all the theaters in our country.

-That’s nice too.

“Shall we put the tickets in a frame then?”

Moviegoer took out a box that he had carefully brought in his carry-on luggage.

He had put the tickets and envelopes in a hard box so they wouldn’t get wrinkled during the move.

-Exciting!

-Wow!!

Moviegoer opened the lid of the square box like a treasure chest.

Both Moviegoer and the viewers were very excited.

“First of all, January, South Korea, Seoul.”

Moviegoer fixed the ticket at the front of the frame he had prepared in advance.

“February, Czech Republic, Prague.”

The second ticket went up next to it.

“March, Germany, Berlin.”

Moviegoer continued to fix the tickets.

He fixed all the tickets until October.

“These two are different from the others.”

-Oooh, Orche!

-Eeeeh, LA!

“November, France, Orche. December, USA, California, LA. This is a ticket from a theater near LA Music School!”

-The park near LA Music School was amazing.

-There were so many people. Everyone was taking pictures with violins.

-There were people who lent violins and people who took pictures.

-Moviegoer took one too. He paid for it lol

“I had to take one when I went there.”

-I would take one too… I want to go…

-There were also kids and parents who were learning violin. Did they get some inspiration?

-Are there such things in other countries?

-Maybe some kind of magic?

“Then I’ll hang it on the wall.”

Moviegoer hung the frame on a wall where it could be seen well.

The tickets were arranged in four rows of three each, shining golden and dazzling.

Moviegoer smiled sheepishly as he looked at the frame on the wall.

[YouTuber Moviegoer, collected 12 countries 12 months!]

[YouTuber Next Door Room, completed national tour! A total of 17 tickets!]

He didn’t know if he knew that articles with these titles were being uploaded right away, but he opened his mouth with a happy face as he looked at the frame on the wall.

“But I felt something while watching Over The Rainbow more than 12 times.”

-What is it?

-What kind of bombshell are you dropping now?

-The tour started with Moviegoer lol

-lol He’ll start an outdoor broadcast right away lol

“Although it’s a different song, don’t you think the atmosphere of the violin performance in Over The Rainbow and in week 8 are different?”

-Different songs, different atmospheres, right?

-Yeah.

“No. How should I put it? It’s not that the atmosphere changed because of the song change, but it felt completely different because of the performer change…”

-What kind of nonsense is that?

-Yeah. He must be very tired from traveling abroad.

-Moviegoer sir, please rest well.

Moviegoer scratched his cheek at the viewers’ comments.

He could have said it more confidently if it was a movie, but he didn’t know anything about music, so it was hard to explain more.

“Is that so? Then I’ll end the broadcast here. Unless something big happens, I plan to start the broadcast again in two days.”

-Bye, Moviegoer.

-Okay. I’ll wait for you.

-You always jinx it when you say something like that (ominous).

“What big thing could happen besides collecting tickets?”

Moviegoer laughed lightly.

And a few hours later, a big thing happened.

A video was uploaded on the channel [RAINBOW]. It was a scene of Seo-jun playing ‘Gray’s Violin Piece NO.1’ before filming on stage.

-It sounds good even when I listen to it again.

-They’re releasing the making film for marketing after three weeks since the release… Please release more! More! More!

-But? The atmosphere is a bit different from week 8?

=??? You’re right? Is it because of the clothes?

=It sounds different even when I close my eyes? A lot.

-Moviegoer said that… it was different… was he right?!

=Moviegoer? The YouTuber?

=Yeah, he said it was different, but he couldn’t explain what. But I think Moviegoer will figure it out soon.

=Then I have to watch his broadcast. What time is he on?

=He said he would rest until tomorrow lol But since something big happened, maybe he’ll do it soon?

[Title: Something really big happened…]

“…you. Broadcast.”

As Moviegoer’s exhausted face appeared on the screen, comments of pity and teasing started to pop up.

-Hi, Moviegoer!

-That’s not how you set a flag.

-You usually end it well, but what happened today…

-lol Are you okay? It must hurt a lot.

“I know. I should be careful with what I say from now on.”

-So did you find out the cause?

-Yeah yeah yeah What’s the reason for the difference?

“I thought about it yesterday and today, and I asked my sister too… I think I have a rough idea.”

-In the meantime… awesome.

-The sister who does music?

-The piano teacher!

-So what’s the cause?!

“First, watch this.”

Moviegoer played the busking video.

It was a compilation of weeks 1 to 7 that Moviegoer had edited before.

After all the videos were over, he played the video that was uploaded today.

-…Huh?

-…???

“Now you see, right? The video that was uploaded today was probably the performance that actor Lee Seo-jun was going to do at week 8 busking. As you can see in the video, the boy on stage looks like ‘Gray’, while week 8 looks like ‘Lee Seo-jun’, right?”

-You’re right?

-Wow. The difference between on and off acting is huge.

-Amazing. It doesn’t seem like much has changed…

“Maybe week 8 was set as Lee Seo-jun’s performance, and the video that was uploaded today was set as ‘Gray’s’ performance. Since the performers are different, the performances are bound to be different too.”

-…It’s scary that Moviegoer noticed that.

-Lee Seo-jun who did such acting is amazing too.

-But why did Lee Seo-jun suddenly change his acting in week 8?

-Yeah. He doesn’t seem like someone who would act poorly.

-Yeah, he’s young but he’s an acting genius, so there must be a reason.

“I looked into that too yesterday.”

-What did you do? Didn’t you say you would rest?

-Moviegoer lol He can’t stand being curious lol He has to find the answer lol

-That’s why I watch Moviegoer’s live! He answers anything I ask!

-When will I get a boyfriend/girlfriend?

-Moviegoer: I think only God knows that.

-lol

“What I focused on was the editing of week 8 video. Until week 7, everything from actor Lee Seo-jun greeting to taking his violin and leaving his seat was filmed, but only his performance was captured in week 8. So I thought something happened that day.”

-Ooh. Ooh. Detective mode!

-I’m a great detective! In my grandmother’s name!

“So I searched SNS. I found it while reading a post with #DevilishTalent.”

Moviegoer showed two SNS posts on the screen.

They were SNS posts that were buried by the fact that the violin boy was Lee Seo-jun after week 8 video was uploaded on channel [RAINBOW].

[The first performance was shocking in a bad way. Why did he do that today when he did well until last week? But I’m glad the last performance was shocking in a good way. If not, I would have grabbed his teacher by the collar. ;)]

#DevilishTalent #ViolinBoy #WhoIsTheTeacher? #BeGrateful!

[It was really touching today. The music students were nice too, but the violin boy’s performance was really amazing. It was a simple but happy music to listen to. But no one knew the title of the song. I’m just waiting for the YouTube upload. I hope Rainbow filmed it.]

#DevilishTalent #ViolinBoy #BuskingWeek8 #IOnlyTrustRainbow!

-The first performance? The bad side? Teacher?

-This cheap feeling… Swalin??

“Yes. I think the actor Lee Seo-jun, who played ‘Gray’ in the first performance, ended up playing ‘Gray’s performance learned from Swalin’. You can tell from the expression ‘good students’ that the students who were watching came over…”

The moviegoer’s speech sped up and the comments slowed down.

But the number of viewers kept increasing.

Ignoring the number of viewers, the moviegoer showed a picture on the screen.

It was a picture of Lee Seo-jun with his chin on the violin from week 1 to week 8.

“If you look at the picture, you can see that the violin that was smaller than Lee Seo-jun from week 1 to week 7 suddenly grew bigger in week 8. Maybe the ‘good music students’ helped him.”

-…!

-Wow!

“That might be why Lee Seo-jun stopped acting as Gray and played his gratitude with his own performance.”

“How did he know!”

“Is it true, Seo-jun?”

The kids who gathered at Seo-jun’s house for the first time in a long time looked at the television that was playing the moviegoer’s channel and then looked at Seo-jun who was sitting next to them.

They were originally playing board games with their friends, but they turned on the moviegoer’s live broadcast after receiving a text message from Ahn Da Ho.

“Yeah. He said he would upload a video later, but there was someone who already figured it out.”

“I wonder what kind of video it is.”

“You just have to wait a little bit. He said he would upload it at 6 o’clock Korean time. Oh, by the way, do you want to have dinner? Mom ordered pizza.”

“Yeah! Yeah! I want to eat!”

“Me too!”

Seo-jun and the kids chatted happily while thinking about the delicious pizza.

The moviegoer’s broadcast continued.

“Of course, this is just my guess…”

-Moviegoer. There’s a new video on Rainbow!

“…Let’s watch this first.”

-lol

A second video was uploaded on channel [RAINBOW].

Seo-jun and the kids, the moviegoer and the viewers, and people all over the world who subscribed to channel [RAINBOW] watched the video.

A boy who greeted them like in weeks 1-7 appeared on the screen. It was Gray. A terrible violin performance was heard, and a man called the boy.

The man corrected his posture, and other people helped him too.

A woman who was carrying a violin case handed him a violin.

And with a perfectly fitting violin, ‘Seo-jun Lee’ gave a wonderful performance.

[Seo-jun Lee: The day before week 8 busking, I filmed a scene where I showed my friends ‘the performance I learned from Swalin teacher’. I made a mistake because I thought I was continuing Gray’s acting.]

Lee Seo-jun in the video smiled. He had a dazzling aura like a superstar, and there was no trace of Gray.

[Seo-jun Lee: But I never imagined that something like that would happen. I was so grateful to those people who cared about a child they didn’t even know. It was also my last busking, and I wanted to thank them as Seo-jun Lee, but revealing my identity was something I couldn’t do… So I played as Seo-jun Lee.]

-Moviegoer guessed right wow

-Now I understand his SNS too.

-Yeah, that bad teacher was Swalin. Rebecca until week 7.

-Lee Seo-jun is amazing. How many kinds of performances does he have?

-Lee Seo-jun version, Gray busking version, Gray stage version… Wow…

-And he also has a version where he plays badly on purpose.

-He’s really an acting genius…

Thanks to the story revealed by channel [RAINBOW], the audience of Over The Rainbow, which had been stagnant for a while, increased again. And [Gray’s Violin Performance, NO.1] rose to number one on the chart.

-Over The Rainbow is good too… But that despair part is too heartbreaking lol It’s hard to listen lightly.

-Yeah, Gray’s song is better for light listening.

-But Over The Rainbow has great catharsis lol It’s awesome to listen without thinking lol

-When it plays in a cafe, no one talks during the despair part lol They just listen quietly lol

Choi Yoo-seong, who was surfing the internet with a proud face after watching the video and articles, heard his phone ring.

It was his younger brother in Korea.

He hadn’t contacted him once since he went abroad for study, so he thought something big had happened and quickly answered the phone.

“What? What’s wrong?”

-Is this you, hyung?

“What?”

-The person who taught Lee Seo-jun violin! The Asian who appeared in the busking! It’s you, right?!

“Uh… Yeah…”

-Look at that! It’s you! Mom and dad said it’s not you! But it’s obviously you! Hyung, hyung! Did you see Lee Seo-jun?! Did you get his autograph?!

The phone was noisy.

He was glad it wasn’t a big deal.

Choi Yoo-seong chuckled and told him about the day he met Seo-jun.

From the story that he watched all the busking, to the day he filmed the concert scene, to the day he got an autograph and a photo with Seo-jun and Natalie.

The family on the other side of the phone was excited by the thrilling story.

-Can I tell this to my friends? The movie is out, and did you sign any secret contract or something?

“It’s okay. He said it was fine as long as I didn’t say anything before the uploading of the video.”

-I have to brag to my friends!

Choi Yoo-seong smiled.

The day he got Seo-jun’s autograph, he also greeted Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore by chance.

It was a really happy day.

That amazing and fun story was passed on to his family, and his family told their acquaintances.

[The Asian in the video, revealed to be a Korean student studying abroad!]

[Korean student studying abroad, didn’t know he was Lee Seo-jun. He got his autograph!]

Chapter 126

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Chapter 126

It had been about a month and a half since ‘Over the Rainbow’ was released.

In December, a tense atmosphere filled Cocoa Entertainment.

It was because they received a call from Kings Agency, who supported Seo-jun in the US.

‘It’s not confirmed yet, but according to our sources…’

The message from Kings Agency made Cocoa Entertainment excited.

The staff members of Team 2, who were in charge of actor Lee Seo-jun, and the PR team members chattered with bright faces.

“It’s really good to have someone working in the US. Last time, we were so surprised that we didn’t know what to do… But now, we have people who can inform us before the announcement.”

“Well, that was something we never expected. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as WTV Film Festival back then.”

“Me too. But this one, anyone who has a little interest in film festivals would know, right?”

Unable to wait in the president’s office, President Seo Eun-chan and Lee Seo-jun’s manager, Ahn Da Ho, came down to Team 2’s office and stared at the phone on the table with their mouths shut.

“Even if you don’t have any interest in film festivals, you must have heard of it at least once.”

“Didn’t you all expect it? It was a blockbuster that shook the world!”

“That’s right. It was a movie that completely changed people’s travel patterns in a month. Not only overseas trips, but also domestic trips, it was a total chaos.”

“And the concerts and donations too. The movie’s influence is amazing.”

“…But I’m still worried that it’s just a rumor.”

At Ahn Da Ho’s anxious words, everyone laughed.

“Hey, Team Leader An. This kind of rumor is almost certain.”

“They will definitely call us soon and say it’s confirmed!”

Then, the phone rang.

Silence fell over Team 2’s office, which had been filled with joy as if they were standing on a cloud.

President Seo Eun-chan picked up the phone.

He nodded his head several times and his expression brightened.

The staff members of Team 2 and the PR team cheered silently.

“They said the article will be out in two days.”

At Seo Eun-chan’s words, Ahn Da Ho quickly took out his phone and contacted his actor.

“And, Whale Studios is starting an Academy campaign.”

At Seo Eun-chan’s words, another round of cheers erupted.

***

When the songs from ‘Over the Rainbow’ stayed in the top ranks of the music charts despite the comebacks of famous singers, a commotion broke out on the internet.

It started with one comment.

-Do you think he can get it?

=Get what?

=It’s a movie made in the US, and it was screened for more than seven days in LA theaters. It was so popular that everyone saw it. It even topped the Billboard Classic chart. Don’t you think he can get it?

=Get what?

=…Oscar

A reporter from the entertainment section who was wandering around the internet and writing replies without any news stopped typing on his keyboard without realizing it.

“Huh…”

“What are you staring at? Aren’t you writing an article about Lee Seo-jun?”

“No… Senior… This…”

When his junior pointed at the screen with his trembling finger, his senior tilted his head and read the comment on the screen.

He unconsciously opened his mouth.

“…Really?”

“I don’t know.”

“What if we write an article and get accused of false news?”

But they couldn’t not write it.

Lee Seo-jun and Hollywood and Oscar.

It was a combination that they had never imagined before, and it was thrilling just to think about it.

The senior reporter recalled the movies that were released this year in his head.

He couldn’t think of any movie that was more impressive than ‘Over the Rainbow’, and the timing seemed good too.

“Let’s contact Cocoa Entertainment first.”

“Yes!”

“And let’s drop some hints.”

“Hints?”

At his junior’s question, the senior reporter smiled slyly.

[Let’s learn about the Academy Awards!]

[Why are the Academy Awards called Oscars?]

[The movies that are likely to be nominated for this year’s Academy Awards!]

[The past Korean winners and nominated works!]

-Why are they suddenly talking about awards?

-Isn’t it because it’s the end of the year? There will be a lot of awards ceremonies soon.

-But if you look at the dates, these are awards ceremonies that will be held next year.

-That’s true…

=That?

=Over the Rainbowㅎ

=…Oh?

While Cocoa Entertainment’s PR team phone and email were flooded with reporters’ contacts, people who were interested in film festivals started to write comments one by one.

It had been only a few hours since the comment with the rumor was posted, and the articles and comments about ‘Over the Rainbow’ and film festivals were full of anticipation.

-Is there a possibility…?

-I didn’t know that Oscar was Academy Award. There was a Korean who was nominated for the Short Animation Award.

-Really? Can he really get it? I hope he does! If he wins, he will be the first Korean!

=Winning might be too much to ask for. Just being nominated is amazing.

-As expected, our great mama! Acting genius is different!

-Hey, don’t put pressure on him. Seo-jun is still young, and no Korean adult actors have ever won it…

Among the comments that showed their expectations, there was one comment that stood out.

It was written by a fan of actor Lee Seo-jun.

People who were reading the comment section to write their own comments of anticipation stopped their hands at that comment.

=ㅇㅇ I agree with that. If we think he has a chance to win, we might hype it up too much, and if he doesn’t win, we will be disappointed right away. How stressful would that be for the actor?

=They will say it’s all hype or something… There will be a lot of criticism.

=It doesn’t matter if he wins or not, Lee Seo-jun is good at acting. Very good.

=I think we should just keep our mouths shut until the nominations are announced.

People who had seen Seo-jun’s work at least once agreed with that thought.

There had been many geniuses who lost their confidence because of pressure.

In the end, some people gave up writing comments.

Whatever they wrote, it seemed like they would give Seo-jun more pressure.

-What do you think, Moviegoer?

At the end of his movie review and chat time with the viewers, the topic came up.

Moviegoer, who had been lost in thought for a moment, smiled.

“I don’t want to say anything that might put pressure on actor Lee Seo-jun, so I’ll just say one short thing.”

Moviegoer looked at the ticket frame on the wall and looked at the camera.

“I really enjoyed the movie. Actor Lee Seo-jun.”

There was no other word that the actor wanted to hear more than that.

Seo-jun felt the subtle change in the atmosphere of his school.

Was it because winter break was near?

Or was there some other event?

He saw his classmates who were surprised and covered their mouths, and his teachers who smiled awkwardly. Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

“Does anyone know why it’s like this?”

So Seo-jun asked his most comfortable friends.

At Seo-jun’s question, Jio rolled his eyes and opened his mouth.

“…Can I say it?”

“What is it?”

“My mom said not to say it because it would put pressure on you…”

“Ah.”

Pressure.

With that one word, Seo-jun understood everything. He couldn’t not know.

He often visited his own fan cafe [From Sprout] and sometimes looked up his own articles.

‘I thought it was only like this on the internet…’

Maybe the kids at school also heard about it from their parents or siblings.

‘As expected, our school kids are nice.’

Ji-woo hit Ji-ho’s side.

“Ow! Why did you hit me!”

“You said not to say it, why did you say it?”

“What? My mom said not to say anything about the awards…”

At Ji-ho’s words, Ji-woo, Mina, and Ji-yoon buried their faces in their palms.

Oh, you idiot.

At that remark, Seo-jun burst into laughter.

“It’s okay. You can say it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. The article will be out soon anyway.”

“The article is out?”

The timing was good.

He heard that the article would be out today, maybe it was out by now?

While the kids were tilting their heads at Seo-jun’s words, an article came out in the US.

The junior who had been refreshing the US website saw the changing screen and lifted his head.

“It’s out!”

His eyes quickly scanned the article.

His face brightened as he read the article.

His head tilted slightly.

“But… It’s not Academy Award?”

“It’s Golden Globe! That’s important too! Translate it and post it right away! And you call yourself an entertainment reporter, you don’t know what Golden Globe is?”

As soon as the nominations were announced, the media posted articles right away.

They had prepared several versions of articles in advance, such as ‘Actor Lee Seo-jun was nominated’, ‘He failed to be nominated’, and so on.

Soon enough, the entertainment news was filled with stories about Seo-jun, and he topped the real-time search terms and even appeared on television news.

[Over the Rainbow nominated for five categories at Golden Globe!]

[Over the Rainbow nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, Best Original Score – Motion Picture, Best Original Song – Motion Picture, Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director – Motion Picture!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun becomes the youngest nominee for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama at Golden Globe!]

[The precursor of Oscar, Golden Globe Awards. What are actor Lee Seo-jun’s chances of winning?!]

[Golden Globe Awards: The first Korean actor to be nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama!]

[Let’s learn about the Golden Globe Awards, created by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association!]

…Not Academy Award?

People who only knew about Oscar and heard about the Golden Globe Awards for the first time blinked their eyes and read the pouring articles.

Golden Globe Awards.

The Golden Globe Awards are awards created by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and the winners are decided by the votes of about 90 foreign journalists.

And because the Golden Globe Awards ceremony is held one month before the Academy Awards ceremony, the Golden Globe Awards have influenced the Academy Awards.

Therefore, being nominated for the Golden Globe Awards meant that there was a high chance of being nominated for the Academy Awards.

Those articles ignited the hearts of people who had been holding their breath.

-Ahhhh! Nominated! He’s nominated!

-I didn’t expect this award, but it’s very hard to get nominated here too!

-There are hardly any Asian actors, let alone Koreans!

-It’s the precursor of Oscar, my heart is beating so fast…

-It’s really happening, this!! It’s on the news!

-Can we, uh, expect a little bit now?

As expected, Over the Rainbow was nominated for all the music-related awards. LOL

If they didn’t nominate it, they would be deaf. Seriously.

“Seo-jun, congratulations on being nominated!”

“Being nominated is a huge deal!”

The teachers and friends said with bright smiles.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

They were speechless and awkward before, but now they were praising him again.

He felt sorry for their excessive concern.

There was a reason why they couldn’t celebrate his nomination wholeheartedly.

It was because of the article that said he had a low chance of winning the award in the US ceremony.

Soon after that article, another one came out saying that it wasn’t impossible for him to win, just like the Korean-American actor who won the Best Actress award before. But still, most people thought he wouldn’t win.

The best movie of this year for me is Over the Rainbow.

No matter what anyone says, Seo-jun Lee deserves the Best Actor award.

I agree.

He showed such amazing acting skills that it would be unfair if he didn’t win.

Well, I don’t know about the February ceremony, but he has a chance at the Golden Globe.

The overseas opinions on Seo-jun’s award were similar.

At that time, when everyone was excited about Seo-jun’s Golden Globe nomination, the reporters who received the press release from Cocoa Entertainment uploaded their articles.

[Whale Studio starts its campaign for the Academy Awards!]

[Whale Studio reveals its six desired categories for Over the Rainbow, besides Best Picture!]

[Whale Studio pushes Seo-jun Lee as a candidate for Best Actor!]

Chapter 127

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 127

[Over the Rainbow, Academy Awards Campaign, Best Actor Poster Revealed!]

-So Whale Studios is actively pushing for Lee Seo-jun to be nominated for Best Actor?

-It seems so.

-Whale Studios is big enough, uh, what was it?

-Say it! Say it!

-No, I’m sorry if it doesn’t happen.

-Golden Globe and Academy, Lee Seo-jun must be busy.

Ahn Da ho handed Seo-jun the documents that Kings Agency had given him along with the script.

It was a document that summarized the ‘usual schedule for winning an Oscar’, which was called the Oscar season and the Oscar race, sent by the Oscar team at Whale Studios.

The nominees and winners of the Academy Awards are decided by the votes of thousands of film professionals, such as directors, writers, actors, etc.

They choose from movies that were released from January 1 to December 31, so unless they were very impressive, movies that were released in January and February had a hard time getting votes.

That’s how an unwritten rule was established in the film industry: if it was a work with artistic and creative value, it would be released from September onwards.

“So this is called the Oscar season.”

It was the Oscar season.

Seo-jun nodded his head as he read down the document.

He knew that a lot of marketing went into releasing a movie, but he didn’t know that there was such an obvious method to win an award.

“So movies that want to win an Oscar usually open in the second half of the year. Hmm. Is that why Over the Rainbow opened in October?”

It took a long time for the actors to learn violin, so that’s why Over the Rainbow had been running non-stop from filming to editing.

Unlike ordinary movies that wait for release after filming and editing are finished, Over the Rainbow was released right after editing was done.

It was a very fast pace considering that it usually takes several months or even one or two years to release a movie.

Ahn Da ho agreed with Seo-jun’s words. Whale Studios, a subsidiary of Marina Studio, must have not set a single day of release loosely.

“That must be part of it. There weren’t many great movies this year either.”

The document from Whale Studios said so too.

Among the candidates predicted by Whale Studios and Marina Studio internally, there was no movie that had more box office success than Over the Rainbow.

‘Well, box office doesn’t determine the winners anyway.’

Seo-jun nodded his head and read on to the next section.

“Since directors, writers, and actors vote, they usually attend various film festivals from September and promote their movies, but Over the Rainbow couldn’t do that because it was filming then.

They couldn’t do it during the release either because box office was also important, so they’re starting now that it’s calmed down a bit.”

Ahn Da ho explained what he had read from Coco Entertainment beforehand. He also asked Kings Agency if he didn’t understand something.

“I was curious about this too.”

There was an interesting story in the document.

Channel [RAINBOW] uploaded two videos after the movie was released.

One was a video of LA Music Academy students and one was a video of Seo-jun playing ‘Gray’s Sonata’ on stage before filming.

“Yeah. I played some other songs on stage then too.”

The time to play one song was short, and the audience regretted the short concert. Seo-jun was no exception.

He played a few more classical pieces on stage after filming was over. Whale Studios uploaded only one video of ‘Gray’s Sonata’ among several videos recorded.

“It’s easy to compare because it’s the same song.”

The difference between busking in week 1-7 and week 8, and on stage.

The presence and violin performance that changed dramatically even though only the atmosphere changed!

Look at our movie’s lead actor, Lee Seo-jun’s acting skills!

Whale Studios made it easier to notice Seo-jun’s on-off difference that anyone could see by uploading week 8 video and stage video.

Not only that, Whale Studios also allowed editing and compositing of Channel [RAINBOW]’s videos.

They hoped that Seo-jun’s genius acting skills would be known to people around the world through YouTubers and YouTube viewers. And they hoped that his fame would reach the voters.

Whale Studios’ Oscar campaign was already underway.

Ahn Da ho continued his words.

“An Academy campaign is like an election campaign where you tell people who have voting rights that our movie is great, our actor is the best. Whale Studios and Kings Agency think that you’re sure to pass the first round of voting.”

“The second round of voting is the key, then.”

“Yeah. You’re lucky this year.”

There were countless movies pouring out, but there was no movie that had a bigger box office or attracted more attention than Over the Rainbow.

“If we go by the visible box office, our work is the best. The problem is the artistic and creative value. Artistic and creative value is different for each person.”

“Some people like it, some people don’t.”

“Right. But Over the Rainbow also has good reviews from critics, so Whale Studios seems to be ambitious.”

“Then what do I have to do?”

Ahn Da ho gave Seo-jun the materials he received from Kings Agency.

“You just have to do some interviews and talk show appearances before the Golden Globe Awards. They said it’s too young for you and Catherine and Paul to go around events, and they’ll take care of it themselves. This is the interview questionnaire and this is the talk show list. They asked me to tell them if there’s a good program. Of course, you don’t have to go on a talk show if you don’t want to.”

Seo-jun looked at the talk show list first.

The first talk show on the list was one that Seo-jun had watched with his mom and dad when he lived in America.

They’re still doing this program.

He felt amazed.

He was going to be on a talk show that he had only seen on television.

He slowly read down the list and said.

“I have fans in America too, so they’ll be happy if I go on a talk show, right?”

“Only in America? The whole world will love it as soon as subtitles come out.”

Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

“Then I’ll go out.”

“Okay? Got it.”

Seo-jun put down the list of talk shows and picked up the interview questions.

“There are more questions than I thought.”

He read the first question out of the thirty or so. Ahn Da Ho, who had read them first, laughed.

“It’s fun to read. There are a lot of trivial questions, like your favorite number or the food you hate. The Golden Globe Awards are in January, so you can write them comfortably until then.”

“Yes. Da Ho hyung.”

Seo-jun lifted his head as he wrote down the answer to the first question with a pencil.

“But Da Ho hyung.”

“Hmm?”

“How are we going to promote it when there are no actors at Whale Studio?”

“I don’t know. Should I ask later?”

“Yes. I’m curious how they will promote it.”

But the answer came before Ahn Da Ho even asked.

Not only to Seo-jun,

But to the whole world.

“…Can’t we do our comeback like this, Eun-chan hyung?”

“…We don’t have money.”

Se Eun-chan answered Hwang Ye-jun’s question.

Seo-jun and his brothers’ eyes were still on the television.

They were having dinner with Brown Black hyungs for the first time in a long time, but the news that came out of the store’s television stopped everyone’s hands.

New York Times Square appeared on the television.

Several screens installed on a large building turned black and then lit up someone. It was Seo-jun Lee.

A busking video came out, and the news screen changed.

It was London Piccadilly Circus Square.

Someone was shown.

It was Seo-jun Lee.

The news screen changed to Paris, Hanoi, Seoul.

Not only the outdoor advertisements on large buildings, but also posters seen in subways of each country.

Seo-jun Lee, Gray Vainy, was everywhere.

They couldn’t help but know because of the constant chatter on the news.

It was like before a movie was released, with that overwhelming amount of exposure that made Seo-jun and Cocoa Entertainment lose their minds.

“But Da Ho hyung. Don’t we only have to do it in America?”

“They said there are awards ceremonies in other countries too…”

It seemed like Whale Studio’s intention was to sweep all the awards ceremonies in the world, not to mention the Golden Globe Awards in January.

***

January came after the new year.

In January, Seo-jun and his family, and Ahn Da Ho left for the Golden Globe Awards.

Many cameras and people saw off actor Lee Seo-jun at the airport.

-A few minutes ago, actor Lee Seo-jun headed to the departure hall. We hope for good results at the Golden Globe Awards. The Golden Globe Awards will be broadcast live on MBS on January 7th. Please watch a lot.

Usually, the Golden Globe Awards were not broadcasted, but because of the movie ‘Over The Rainbow’, which starred Lee Seo-jun as the lead actor, was nominated for multiple awards at this ceremony, it was scheduled to be broadcasted live.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, departure today!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, airport fashion! Still a monster lover!]

[On January 7th, Golden Globe Awards live on MBS!]

[MBS, perfectly finished preparing for the Golden Globe Awards!]

-It feels like a Korean movie even though it’s not a Korean movieㅎ

=ㅋㅋBecause Lee Seo-jun is a Korean actorㅋㅋ

-MBS is crazyㅋㅋ They dug up the history of the Golden Globe Awards because they got a big deal for onceㅋㅋ

-I heard rumors that other broadcasters who lost the broadcasting rights to MBS by a small margin are also crazy…

=It’s a broadcast that will go down in history whether he wins or notㅎ

***

On a cozy stage, two fluffy sofas and a small table were placed.

As Valeria appeared from the side of the stage, the audience applauded.

“Oh. The welcome is hotter than usual today. Yes. I know. How great of a person we invited! He deserves applause, right? Don’t you think?”

-Yes!

-Hurry up and call him!

“You don’t have to rush me, I want to call him as soon as possible too. The production team gave me many adjectives to describe this actor, but there is one word that can express him. Let’s welcome our superstar!”

Valeria threw away her script and shouted.

“Korea’s ‘Grand Prince Mama’, genius violinist Gray, Seo-jun Lee!”

The production team, who had already given up on Valeria’s progress, gestured to Seo-jun, who was waiting behind the stage.

Seo-jun, who had watched Valeria’s talk show, chuckled and went up to the stage.

-Jun!!

-I’m a fan!!

As Seo-jun showed himself on the stage, the audience screamed for him to leave.

For the fans who met him for the first time, they felt the aura of a superstar from Seo-jun, who was emitting a lot of aura for them.

“Welcome. Lee.”

“Nice to meet you. Valeria. Just call me Jun.”

“Okay. Jun. I’m really glad to meet you. Sit here.”

Valeria and Seo-jun sat down.

“How do you feel about being on your first talk show?”

“I didn’t expect to hear the nickname ‘Grand Prince Mama’ here.”

“Oh. If you’re a fan of Jun, you have to watch that drama. I don’t know any other words, but I definitely remember ‘The Royal Physician’ and ‘Grand Prince Mama’. Right?”

-Yes!

-Grand Prince Mama!

Seo-jun burst into laughter at the nickname of Grand Prince Mama that came from everywhere.

Oh. My star is smiling!

Everyone called out to Seo-jun with moved faces.

“Come on. Calm down. At this rate, only Jun’s smiling face will be broadcasted. Of course, that would also get a lot of ratings, but we need to see more diverse sides of him.”

At Valeria’s words, everyone nodded and closed their mouths.

Seo-jun, who was smiling happily, wiped away the tears that flowed from laughing too much.

“Let’s get the work done first and then fill our hearts.”

Valeria seemed to really think so, as she finished the story of ‘Over The Rainbow’ in an instant, before Seo-jun could say a few words.

She managed to include all the words that Whale Studio had asked her to say.

The Whale Studio PR team member who came to the broadcasting station with Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho scratched his head.

Ahn Da Ho also looked bewildered.

They had monitored the talk show, but this was not how it was supposed to go.

“Is this show always like this?”

“Sometimes. Very rarely. When Valeria really likes a star, she does this.”

The production team shrugged their shoulders.

The PR team member muttered with a half-resigned face.

“It was my fault for hoping that Jun wouldn’t be one of them.”

Chapter 128

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 128

Meanwhile, on the stage, cheers from the audience could be heard.

Ahn Da Ho and the PR team staff looked at the stage.

Valeria’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Seo-jun.

“Are you really going to play the violin?”

“Yes. I brought the violin with me.”

“Wow. I was really disappointed when I heard that they invited ordinary people as extras for the last shooting of the movie, but I’m so glad I got to hear it up close!”

Seo-jun was touched by Valeria’s words and the cheers of the audience.

A staff member handed Seo-jun a violin.

It was the violin that aunt Na-ra had bought for him.

“This song is ‘Gray’s Violin Concerto NO.1’. It’s the song that was uploaded on YouTube. It was also released as a sound source, but did you watch the 8th week busking video and the stage video?”

There were answers from everywhere that they had seen it.

As Seo-jun’s fans, there was no video they hadn’t seen.

Seo-jun smiled and continued.

“That’s right. That’s the song. It’s a song that contains Gray’s happy feelings when he learned to play the violin and his gratitude to his friends.”

“I see.”

Valeria and the audience nodded, recalling the scene where Gray and the two children met in the movie.

Seo-jun rested his chin on the violin. Seo-jun decided to play with Gray’s feelings.

The joy he felt when he first met his friends and learned to play the violin.

The atmosphere of Lee Seo-jun, who was standing on the stage, changed in an instant.

It was such a change that even Valeria, who had met many actors, was surprised.

The audience was also surprised.

His clothes, hair style, makeup were all the same, but it seemed like a different person had appeared just by changing his mood.

‘I’ve seen him look like a different person in other works too.’

Even though he was a different person, even though he was a completely different character, people liked William if they liked Prince Seongnyeong, and they liked Jin Natra if they liked Cheongryong.

Suddenly, Valeria felt like she knew what the common point of popularity that did not discriminate against villains or genres was.

The emotions that people who watch Lee Seo-jun’s acting can feel.

The mood.

Something like aura.

‘That’s right. This intense emotional delivery that can’t be felt from ordinary actors.’

The vivid emotions and feelings that seem to meet them right in front of them.

Once they felt it, they wanted to feel it again like an addiction, the wave of emotions and immersion that could not be compared with any other actor.

Valeria swallowed her saliva.

The audience who had been whispering also closed their mouths at an unknown pressure.

[(Line)The melody of the goblin violinist is activated.]

The ability of medium level swept over Valeria and the audience, and the filming crew like a wave.

They felt a vivid joy and gratitude.

Is there a better way to express gratitude and thankfulness than this, even if you express it in words or give a gift?

Everyone listened quietly to the violin performance with their ears pricked up at the expression of gratitude that was shy but clear.

The violin performance ended and there was a short break.

Seo-jun drank some water and took a break for a while and went back on stage.

“That was a wonderful performance.”

“Thank you.”

“Jun. What made you start acting?”

At Valeria’s words, everyone listened carefully, including the audience, staff, PR team staff, and Ahn Da Ho.

Seo-jun thought for a moment.

‘I can’t say it was because of my first life.’

“You may not know this, but when I was very young, I appeared on a YouTube variety show.”

-I know! ‘Brown Black and Jun’s 48 Hours!’

-Me too! I watched it on YouTube!

Fans who raised their hands were seen here and there.

The PR team staff tilted their head and asked Ahn Da Ho.

“What is that?”

“It’s a program that Jun filmed when he was about 10 months old. It was a show where an idol group took care of a baby for 48 hours. Unless you’re a fan of Brown Black or Jun, it’s hard to find people who don’t know about it in Korea now…”

“Wow…”

Wow.

Seo-jun also exclaimed.

“I didn’t know there were people who knew about it.”

“What is it? Am I the only one who doesn’t know?”

“It’s a variety show where idols take care of a baby for 48 hours. It was December then, so I must have been 9 or 10 months old. That baby was me.”

Lee Seo-jun at 10 months old.

Valeria and the audience who didn’t know about the 48 hours screamed inwardly.

“He must have been so cute!”

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders.

“I think I was cute too.”

The audience laughed at his cheeky remark.

Then, on the screen behind the stage, a bright smiling baby appeared.

The audience who were laughing stopped for a moment and screamed.

-…?

Kyaaa!

Seo-jun and Valeria, who were sitting with their backs to the screen, were startled by the scream.

“Wow! What’s going on?”

The audience pointed to the back of her.

Valeria and Seo-jun looked back.

There was a baby with chubby cheeks and a smile that seemed to laugh.

“…Is that Jun?”

“Yes. He’s very cute, right?”

“Really, he’s cute.”

Valeria decided to find the 48 hours as soon as the recording was over.

The screen disappeared and everyone focused on Seo-jun again.

Seo-jun recalled that day as if it were still vivid, and spoke slowly.

That day, which I still remember vividly.

The sight of my brothers winning first place on a music show and receiving an award was so dazzling that I envied them.

“I think that show had a big influence on me.”

It wasn’t a goal I set because of my first life, but a goal I set for my own life.

It was the most important day in Seo-jun’s life.

Everyone listened carefully to Seo-jun’s serious expression.

“I watched programs related to acting and actors even after I moved to the US and learned to act that way. My parents thought I was just playing, but there was someone who took a 5-year-old’s words seriously.”

“Who was that?”

“It was aunt Na-ra. Aunt Na-ra signed me up for my first audition.”

The hidden stories of stars were always interesting.

People were hooked on Lee Seo-jun’s story.

The 5-year-old kid who wanted to be an actor and the aunt who took his words seriously.

Everyone was nervous about the audition story.

Lee Seo-jun had only one work when he was 5 years old.

Valeria opened her mouth.

“…What was that audition?”

“It was Shadowman.”

At Seo-jun’s words, cheers erupted from the audience.

Valeria smiled brightly.

“That’s right. Shadowman. Everyone remembered William, who appeared very briefly, thanks to Jun’s acting.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to appear if aunt Na-ra hadn’t applied for the audition.”

Valeria and the audience who imagined Lee Seo-jun without Shadowman and other works without Lee Seo-jun sighed with relief.

“We should thank Na-ra.”

Everyone nodded at Valeria’s words.

Seo-jun laughed, thinking of his aunt who unexpectedly heard words of gratitude from people.

***

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, appearing on Valeria’s talk show!]

[Valeria’s talk show, Lee Seo-jun episode, Plus+ uploaded!]

[Gray’s Violin Concerto NO.1, a song that makes you feel the gratitude!]

[WNET, airing Brown Black and Jun’s 48 Hours!]

[There would be no actor Lee Seo-jun without his aunt.]

-Talk showㅠㅠ I never thought I would see Seo-jun in a talk show instead of a movie or a drama!

=I wish he would appear on other shows tooㅠ

-The violin is so good to listen to no matter how many times I hear itㅎ

-WNETㅋㅋ They got wet and no low voiceㅋㅋ

-Thank you, Seo-jun’s aunt. Please work less and earn more money.

=Seo-jun’s aunt, richㅎ Brown Black Kevin Kim’s sister. Kings Market CEO.

=……Earn more money.

-I can’t imagine William without Seo-junㅋ He wouldn’t have become famous so quickly if it wasn’t for Shadowman.

-You don’t know. With Seo-jun’s acting skills, he could have become an actor anytime.

=That’s true, but… Then there would be no Seongnyeong Daegun Mama.

=……Thank you, aunt.

***

Actor Lee Seo-jun was nominated for the Golden Globe Best Actor Award and participated in the Oscar race, so Korea’s interest was focused on the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards.

The MBS production team, who were looking into the two awards while producing a show that explored the history of [Golden Globe and Academy], sighed.

“This is impossible, right?”

“I know.”

“Wow. Two years in a row, all the nominees are white. I can’t even imagine that.”

“There was also a time when a black actor who should have won the lead award received a supporting award.”

“…This is it.”

“Yes. OscarSoWhite.”

The Golden Globe Awards voters were foreign journalists, about 90 of them.

Thanks to them, more diverse movies and actors could win, but they couldn’t escape the controversy of racial discrimination.

The Golden Globe Awards, whose voters were foreign journalists, were like that.

It was needless to say about the Academy Awards, where the proportion of white voters exceeded 70%.

“But are we going to air this?”

With such history and data, the show [Golden Globe and Academy] that was in the final editing stage became a broadcast that showed the true faces of the two awards without any dreams or hopes.

The producers and writers of the entertainment department who made it also wondered, ‘Shouldn’t this be made by the current affairs and education department?’

“Honestly, there was no room to put any dreams or hopes.”

“That’s true, but…”

They tried their best, very hard, to put in a conclusion that actor Lee Seo-jun could win, but they failed.

It was simple.

The ratio of Asian actors working in Hollywood and white actors.

And the probability of Asian actors getting important roles for box office success.

Considering everything, it was hard for an Asian actor to get any dreams or hopes from the Golden Globe and Academy Awards, which were American awards.

The production team realized it after seeing the data and footage all along.

He can’t win!

And not because of actor Lee Seo-jun’s skills, but because of racial discrimination!

So the producer changed the direction of the broadcast completely.

“Rather, it would be a bigger problem if people didn’t know this and expected a lot, and then poured out their eyes after Lee Seo-jun didn’t win.”

“Ugh.”

The producer was right, so the writers sighed.

The whole nation’s attention was on America.

Everyone was looking forward to Lee Seo-jun’s return with an award.

There were articles that pinched reality, but most of them were optimistic.

The readers were too.

Their expectations were inflated like balloons.

“We have to pour cold water on them. Very hard! So they can’t even hope! People need to know the reality so they won’t blame Seo-jun if he doesn’t win!”

The producer decided to pop the balloon with a very sharp needle.

He decided to destroy people’s dreams and hopes from the beginning and let them know that it was amazing, proud, and cool just to be nominated for the Golden Globe Awards.

The writers whispered to each other.

“Producer. Are you a fan of Seo-jun?”

“Yes. He bragged a lot that he was a fan club member since he was a sprout.”

And two days later, the day before the Golden Globe Awards.

MBS aired [Golden Globe and Academy].

Chapter 129

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Chapter 129

MBS’s needle was very sharp, bursting all the balloons that were floating in the air.

The special broadcast that lasted only an hour had an enormous viewership and a terrifying impact.

The people who were happy about the nomination realized the reality.

[Three black actors, one Asian actor! Golden Globe nominees!]

[Just three years ago, at the Oscars. A black actor who was a strong candidate for Best Actor, failed to make it to the final list!]

[The nomination and winning rates of Asian actors, who are worse off than black actors!]

[The Golden Globes and the Oscars are their parties!]

-…That’s harsh. It’s amazing that Seo-jun made it to the list

-There was a time when only white people were nominated for two consecutive years

-This is… There’s nothing to say.

-It’s really an ‘American’ award.

-I knew there was some discrimination, but I didn’t know it was this bad.

[Golden Globes and Oscars] poured cold water on the expectations of the people. MBS was worried about the ratings of the Golden Globe ceremony, considering the money they spent on buying the broadcasting rights.

The next day, after the broadcast, the PD of [Golden Globes and Oscars] arrived at work and wrote down some words on a white paper.

The writer who handed him a warm coffee also sat next to him.

“Sho…uld…we…”

“Are you writing already? Well, the mood upstairs is not good.”

“I hope this is the end of it. Think about how much money we spent on this.”

Sighing, the PD continued to write.

And a few hours later.

It was time for the Golden Globe ceremony.

Fortunately for MBS and the PD, most of the viewers switched to MBS channel.

-We have to watch it anyway, even if he only made it to the list.

-Yeah, it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t win. It must have been hard to get there.

-But he’ll win the music award, right? We should congratulate him.

-He played the violin too!

-He’s my Best Actor in my heart! If they don’t give it to him, I’ll give it to him! Anyone who wants to make a Lee Seo-jun trophy!(1/9,999)

=Please give me your account number(2/9,999)

=If you need a design, please message me(3/9,999)

***

The fans who had already started making trophies didn’t know if Seo-jun knew or not, but he waved his hand to his mom and dad in a neat suit.

As with the WTV Film Festival, mom and dad decided to leave first.

The people in the mansion who knew about the commotion in Korea looked at the family with sad eyes. Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun hugged Seo-jun with a smile.

“Did you have fun filming?”

“Yeah! It was so much fun.”

“When will you film again? You’re not taking a break for another year, are you?”

Seo-jun laughed at his parents’ words.

“I like winning awards too, but acting is a hundred times better. So don’t worry.”

The couple hugged their son again.

Na-ra Kim and Ahn Da Ho watched the family with a warm smile, but felt a pang in their hearts.

They smelled something from somewhere. A sweet scent calmed their minds.

“Well, we’ll go ahead then.”

“Okay! Be careful!”

Seo-jun waved his hand as he left with Aunt Na-ra. Soon, a car prepared by Whale Studio arrived. Ahn Da Ho and Seo-jun got in the car.

“Hi, Jun!”

“Hi! Catherine, Paul!”

Catherine and Paul, who were waiting in the car, greeted him warmly.

It had been months since filming ended. They were more happy to see him after a long time.

Catherine and Paul both looked very nervous, but they seemed to relax a bit when they saw Seo-jun.

[(Line)Apple blossom scent that calms you down-intermediate level] flowed from Seo-jun’s wrist and filled the car.

“I’ve never been to an award ceremony before! Have you been here before, Jun?”

“This is my first time here too. The only award ceremonies I’ve attended were just two.”

“The important thing is that you won both of the two award ceremonies you attended!”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened at Paul’s words.

One was the WTV Film Festival and the other was the KBC Acting Awards.

“How did you know about the Korean awards?”

“There’s nothing that’s not on YouTube.”

“Yeah. I saw it too! Oh, you also filmed a talk show this time!”

“I saw that too!”

As the kids chatted, the car headed for the red carpet.

Soon, the car door opened in front of the red carpet.

The sound of calling the actors’ names was heard everywhere.

The three child actors who had been nervous in front of the flashing lights waved their hands and responded.

“Jun! Congratulations on your nomination!”

“Thank you!”

A reporter with a microphone approached Seo-jun and the kids.

“Do you have anything to say to the fans who are watching the broadcast right now?”

“I hope I can give you some good news!”

[Actor Lee Seo-jun on the red carpet!]

[Catherine, Paul, Jun. The three friends are all together!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, ‘I’m happy to be nominated’!]

[What Lee Seo-jun wants to say to his fans!]

-Seo-jun on the red carpet!!

-He’s awesome. Lee Seo-jun!

-T_T I’m happy just to be nominated! It’s okay if he doesn’t win!

=222 Let’s get all the awards we didn’t get here in Korea!

At 6 p.m. local time in LA, 11 a.m. in Korea.

The Golden Globe ceremony began.

MBS, which had won the broadcasting rights for the Golden Globes, was true to its article that it had prepared perfectly, and put up translated subtitles right away. The people put aside everything else and watched the television.

The articles were also uploaded right away.

[Over the Rainbow, Music Award, Theme Song Award, Film Award!]

[Over the Rainbow, Director Sarah Roth, Director Award!]

[Over the Rainbow, a total of four awards so far!]

Every time an award was announced, cheers erupted.

Seo-jun and the kids also clapped every time Over the Rainbow won an award.

“Congratulations, director!”

“Thank you!”

The long and long ceremony finally came to an end.

Now there was only one award left.

The people who were watching on television unknowingly clasped their hands.

They all remembered [Golden Globes and Oscars] from last night, but they couldn’t let go of their thin hope.

[Golden Globes, only one award left: Best Actor!]

-I know he won’t win, but I’m nervous.

-Really… I feel like I’ll be disappointed without knowing it. But this disappointment is not directed at Seo-jun. Never.

-Let’s give them a hard candy to the Golden Globes who didn’t recognize Seo-jun. Pumpkin candy.

=ㅋㅋ I’ll buy ginger candy.

=I have rice candy too.

His mom and dad who were in the audience clasped their hands tightly and prayed.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun didn’t care if Seo-jun won or not.

He was still their proud and lovely son.

They wished he could only see and enjoy good things, but the world he wanted to live in was too wide and rough.

Of course, they knew enough that Seo-jun would recover even if he had a hard time.

‘But still…’

They hoped that the hardship would come a little later.

Everyone’s eyes were on the MC who was standing on the stage.

“The Golden Globe for Best Actor goes to!”

The MC shouted loudly.

The screen behind the MC showed the nominated actors.

Various works and various actors, among them Gray with his chin on the violin and his eyes lightly closed stood out.

-Ah, it feels like Gray is going to win… No, it’s amazing that he made it to the list.

-That’s not wrong. It’s Seo-jun Lee who wins with his role as Gray! …No, he did well just by being nominated.

Half expectation, half not wanting to burden him. The comments grew longer as people had mixed feelings.

Thump.

Thump.

Paul and Catherine held Seo-jun’s hand tightly. Seo-jun held their hands firmly as they were more nervous than him.

Seo-jun’s black eyes were directed at the trophy on the stage.

Seo-jun was okay even if he didn’t win.

The WTV Film Festival award was the first award he received in both his first and current life, so he was so happy that he almost got swept away by his first life’s emotions.

He was happy.

And he was happy when he received the rookie award from KBC.

The slowly filling satisfaction gave Seo-jun confidence in his future.

I’m doing well.

I can win more awards in the future.

As he thought so, he felt more relaxed.

He still wanted to win more awards, but his thoughts changed little by little.

He cared more about people’s reactions than awards.

The evaluation of the movie ‘Over the Rainbow’ was enough.

The fans’ admiration and cheers shone more than awards.

So Seo-jun was okay even if he didn’t win this time.

But it seemed that other people were not.

He felt their worries and feelings who were upset: mom and dad, family, friends, fans.

‘I don’t like being judged by factors other than acting and work.’

But no matter how much he thought about it, there was nothing Seo-jun could do right now.

After thinking carefully, there was only one solution.

Seo-jun made up his mind.

Next time, in another work, he would show them an acting that could easily crush any discrimination.

He would act using more of his abilities than now.

The tens, hundreds, thousands of monsters who chased their prey once they set their goal, glittered their eyes and growled.

The books in the library seemed to be restless, as if they wanted him to use their abilities.

‘When will the next library door open?’

He wished he could handle the intermediate, upper-intermediate, and advanced abilities soon.

As Seo-jun and the monsters of his previous life were laughing and strengthening their will.

The MC shouted loudly.

“Over the Rainbow, Seo-jun Lee!”

A moment of silence,

And a huge cheer!

Wow!

Along with the cheers that filled the ceremony hall, the camera caught Seo-jun’s face.

“…?”

The monster who was sharpening his fangs and building up his will was confused by the unexpected situation.

Huh? I thought he wouldn’t win?

As the sound of applause poured in, Seo-jun heard Catherine and Paul’s voices in his ears.

“Jun! Congratulations!”

“I knew you would win, Jun!”

He looked to the side and saw Catherine and Paul, who were sitting next to him, clapping hard.

Director Sarah Roth and the production team also sent enthusiastic applause.

Ah.

Then Seo-jun understood.

His head was still stunned, but his heart was pounding with joy.

He got up slowly from his seat amid the huge cheers and applause for him.

***

“So this part is…”

It was math class right after lunchtime, when everyone was sleepy.

They all looked at the blackboard with half-closed eyes.

The teacher’s voice sounded like a lullaby.

Then, the kid who sat in the back row jumped up.

The chair made a loud noise as he got up, drawing the attention of the half-asleep kids and the teacher who was explaining earnestly.

“Aaaaaah!!!”

The kid who got up screamed.

Kyaaah!!

A scream was heard from the next class too.

What, what is it?

The kids who were startled by the sudden situation looked at their friend.

The kid who got up showed them his phone.

“Hey! Lee Seo-jun won an award! Teacher! Lee Seo-jun won an award!”

“…He did!? He did!?”

“Did he really win? I thought he wouldn’t!”

“What!? He won?! Wait, this kid didn’t turn in his phone!?”

People who were secretly watching the Golden Globe ceremony on their phones also got up without knowing it and shouted.

Cheers were heard from schools, workplaces, buses.

The news of Seo-jun’s win spread on radio and television broadcasts.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, Golden Globe, Best Actor Award!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, youngest Best Actor winner at the Golden Globes!]

-Uaaaaah!!

-I knew it!! Can I be happy now!? Lee Seo-jun is the best!!!

-T_T I’m crying T_T

-I thought he would win from before!

-Of course our Seo-jun is the best!

-They have to admit his acting skills!!

The joy was greater because they didn’t expect it.

Some people teared up at Seo-jun’s shining figure amid discrimination.

Those who couldn’t watch the ceremony because they were sorry for Seo-jun quickly turned on their TVs and switched to MBS as they saw the articles and reactions online.

They were lucky to see Seo-jun on stage.

It was not clear whether it was background music from the Golden Globe ceremony or from MBS, but ‘Over the Rainbow, Part 4’ played.

A melody of hope shining after despair.

The name that the fans shouted was ‘Brilliant’.

Seo-jun smiled brightly as he matched the melody perfectly with his brilliant expression.

He held the Golden Globe trophy in his hand and stood in front of the microphone.

‘I thought I wouldn’t win…’

The monster who had lost his will collapsed as he felt the weight of the heavy trophy.

The books in the library also quieted down.

Seo-jun looked ahead with a deflated spirit.

He saw his mom and dad, Aunt Na-ra, Brother Da-ho who were clapping hard.

They all had tears in their eyes because they didn’t expect it.

Maybe it wasn’t just mom and dad.

His friends and fans who were watching on TV.

Many people who cheered for him.

‘They must have been worried.’

And they must be very happy now.

As he thought so, Seo-jun smiled brightly.

He wanted to show them a bright and happy face.

‘Well, I’m a bit flustered but I’m happy. I thought I wouldn’t mind if I didn’t win, but it feels good to actually win. Hehe.’

Seo-jun’s face appeared on the big screen.

His cheeks were flushed red and his expression sparkled brightly and happily.

“Hello. I’m Lee Seo-jun.”

Seo-jun Lee’s first words of acceptance speech were in Korean, just like at the WTV Film Festival.

The Asian actor who won the youngest Best Actor award at the Golden Globe ceremony opened his mouth.

Chapter 130

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Chapter 130

Josh Macton was a movie actor.

He had been active in the US and had starred in a movie that was released last year.

In other words, he was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which had the voting rights for this year’s Academy Awards.

He did this every year, so he thought, ‘I just have to vote for the works and actors that I like this year.’

Josh Macton had always voted for white actors since he got his voting rights, so he planned to do the same this time.

But things started to go weird.

The Academy Awards were an American ceremony.
They didn’t target the whole world.

More than 70% of the voters were white. That’s why there was a constant controversy over racial discrimination, called ‘OscarSoWhite’.

Even so, it happened every year, so Josh thought it would be the same as last year.

If it weren’t for that advertisement.

He was having breakfast with his family when he saw the news and opened his mouth wide.

The advertisement that drew the attention of the world to the Golden Globe and the Academy Awards.

It was not only in New York Times Square, but also in shopping malls in each state of the US.

And famous places in other countries.

He was astonished by how much money Whale Studio had spent on advertising.

‘Is this an Oscar campaign?’

The scale was different.

The situation didn’t end with advertising.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, Oscar campaign begins!]

[Over The Rainbow, Oscar race begins!]

[The world is paying attention to Lee Seo-jun’s Oscar campaign!]

[Will he be the youngest and first Asian winner?]

Whale Studio’s article announcing their challenge for the Oscars spread all over the world.

People who were interested in the Oscars, and those who weren’t, started to pay attention to the Academy Awards.

Most of them had seen Lee Seo-jun’s movie.

[Gray Vainy, who goes after his dream! What will be his end!?]

[Gray Vainy, will Lee Seo-jun’s end be a happy ending?]

-I hope Gray wins!!

-It would be really nice if Lee Seo-jun or Gray wins the award!

-I don’t usually watch the ceremony, but I really like Gray so I have to watch it this time.

=Me too lol

The audience participation movie continued until the ceremony.

“Josh! Did you vote?”

He ran into his neighbor on his way out for a walk.

Josh smiled awkwardly and answered.

“Not yet. It’s not voting day yet.”

“Really? I’m going to watch the Oscars this time. The movie was really good. I’m really curious who will win!”

The neighbor said that and went into his house.

Josh wiped his face.

He had told them that he was voting at a barbecue party with his neighbors a few weeks ago while drinking alcohol, so they all knew.

This was already the fifth time.

They didn’t ask him about who or what he was going to vote for, but he felt their subtle gaze.

It wasn’t just his daily life.

It was the same on SNS.

Not only him, but everyone who had voting rights received such attention.

It was an unprecedented global interest in the history of the Academy Awards.

The academy sighed heavily at the pouring interest from all over the world.

“Marina…”

It all started with the advertisement and article that spread worldwide.

And soon after, something happened that drew the attention of the world to the Academy Awards.

[Golden Globe, Lee Seo-jun wins Best Actor!]

[Golden Globe, youngest winner of Best Actor 12-year-old Lee Seo-jun!]

[Second Asian winner! Lee Seo-jun!]

Lee Seo-jun won an award at the Golden Globe Awards.

The world’s attention, which had been divided into two directions, focused on one place.

The Academy Awards sighed again.

***

Richard Bowen smiled contentedly as he looked at the articles on the internet.

The Academy Awards had always been racially biased.

There were controversies, but they were buried and nothing changed much.

But they were changing.

“But too slowly.”

So he decided to speed up the process from this side.

Richard Bowen chuckled evilly.

“That’s a villainous laugh, Vice President.”

“Ahem.”

But Phelan Park also chuckled. Not only them, but also the staff of Marina and Whale Studio must have been giggling and laughing.

Mission accomplished!

Phelan Park, who was reading the articles that came out today with a proud face, opened his mouth.

“It cost a lot of money, but it seems to have gone better than expected.”

The reason why Marina, or rather Whale Studio, expanded their Oscar campaign to the whole world with their domestic advertisements.

They told Lee Seo-jun and Kings Agency that it was because of the overseas awards, but that wasn’t all.

Richard Bowen clicked his tongue.

“We’ve barely leveled the playing field.”

They wouldn’t have done such a global advertisement in normal times.

The reason why Marina did it was to gather the attention of people who were interested in movies or Lee Seo-jun to the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards.

They hoped that the interest of many people would prevent the discrimination of the voters based on their race.

“But I didn’t expect him to win in one go.”

[Lee Seo-jun, who debuted as Shadowman, wins Golden Globe Best Actor!]

There was a picture of Seo-jun smiling brightly with his trophy.

Shadowman, Marina Studio, Whale Studio.

The words that appeared in almost every article made Richard Bowen smile with satisfaction.

The stock price wouldn’t go down for a while!

“That’s right. I thought he had a higher chance of winning at the Golden Globes than at the Oscars, but I didn’t expect him to win in one go. I thought he would win in his next work, but his acting must have left a deep impression on the judges.”

Phelan Park smiled as he recalled Seo-jun’s acting.

“Well, there are some opinions that they had no choice but to vote for Seo-jun because of the advertisement, but that’s nonsense.”

“If they could win an award with such an advertisement, they would have done it a long time ago.”

There were many production companies and distributors in the US that had a lot of money.

If they could pay that much for advertising and win an award, the world’s billboards would have been full of movie posters all year round.

“But the Oscars are still impossible, right?”

“Probably.”

Richard Bowen nodded at Phelan Park’s words.

Unlike the Golden Globes, where the winners’ nationalities and races were diverse, the Academy Awards were a place where racial discrimination persisted despite the annual controversies.

Marina thought that Seo-jun had almost no chance of winning an Oscar even though they had spent a lot of money on advertising.

But they sent out advertisements and drew the attention of the world not for ‘this’ time, but for ‘next’ time. Richard Bowen smirked evilly.

“Since Seo-jun won at the Golden Globes, the pressure must have increased. The chances of winning at the Oscars are low, so it’s enough to just throw a spark this time. Seo-jun will show his amazing acting someday. And if he doesn’t win then, this spark will grow enormously.”

The on and off of amazing acting that even ordinary people could recognize.

If Lee Seo-jun, who performed such amazing acting, didn’t win an award several times, people would question the ceremony.

And then the authority of the Academy Awards would slowly, or quickly, decline.

“Well, if they have any sense, they’ll give it to him before that happens.”

“And I’ve prepared the scripts you asked for. Should I send them to Seo-jun right away?”

The scripts that had been in Marina’s archive for a long time came out.

From synopses from decades ago to new scripts.

He picked out the ones that were worth using and packed them neatly.

“Yes. The most important thing is that Lee Seo-jun’s next work is our company’s movie. It would be terrible if he won an award with another company’s work after we prepared all this.”

Richard Bowen’s words, which were calculated thoroughly, made Phelan Park nod his head.

He suddenly opened his mouth with a thought that came to his mind.

“By the way, Vice President. I heard you rented a ticket printer for commemoration…”

“Ahem.”

Richard Bowen coughed loudly, forgetting about his opposition to Seo-jun as Jin Natra and collecting ‘Gray Vainy’s World Tour Tickets’ with a trick.

***

“Oh! This year’s Golden Globe Best Actor winner!”

“Congratulations on your award!”

“I knew you would win!”

The party was still far from starting, but his friends and acquaintances were already excited.

Catherine and Paul, who were surprised to see the Shadowman team and Greenwing.

Benjamin Morton and Jason. And the Smith family and LA friends.

-Ahhh! Shadowman and Bell Natra, Greenwing!

-Thank you, Cocoa Entertainment! There’s such a YouTube live in the world!!

-It’s an unimaginable combination!

-(Breaking News) Genius violinist, Gray Vainy, revealed to be a superpower!

-Is he a buff type? Or does he control his emotions with his performance?

Ahn Da Ho, who was filming Channel [JUN]’s live broadcast on his phone, changed direction.

The figures of Redbone and Davis Garrett, who were just entering the garden, were seen.

Davis Garrett, who had heard that he would do a short live broadcast before the party started, waved his hand naturally.

-Ah! There’s Davis Garrett!

-Happy… (dying message)

-Shadowman×Assemble×Over The Rainbow!

-Redbone will buy you one of the world’s three best violins!

-He might even build you a concert hall just for you, Gray!

Seo-jun was the last one to stand in front of his phone.

As soon as he appeared on the screen, more comments poured in than ever before.

-I can’t see anything because there are too many comments! Mine will be buried too, but Seo-jun, congratulations on your award!

-Seo-jun, congratulations on your award!

-2222 Congratulations on your award!!!

“Hello, this is Lee Seo-jun. I’m so happy to share some good news with you. I won the Golden Globe for Best Actor! I didn’t think I would win, but I was really surprised! This is the Golden Globe trophy! My name is engraved on it too.”

Seo-jun held the trophy close to the camera.

The trophy with Seo-jun’s name sparkled.

-I didn’t notice it when I watched it live, but I can see Seo-jun’s surprised face when I watch it againㅋㅋ

=When is the rerun? I missed it because of workㅠ

=2222 I want to see it on a big and clear television, not a small phone screen

=Right now, MBS is only showing the scenes where he receives the awards. They probably won’t do any other broadcasts today. But it’s still good to watchㅎ

-ㅇㅇ His surprise is so cuteㅋ

-Ah. I was making a trophy for him…Too bad…

Seo-jun continued with a smile.

“A lot of people came to congratulate me. They are all really nice people, so I decided to broadcast and introduce them to you. Thank you for your concern. I’m doing well. I’m sure there are bad people out there, but I think there are more good people. Don’t worry about me. See you in Korea!”

Seo-jun waved his hand with a bright smile on the screen.

-Seo-jun is so niceㅠ

-He should be happy with the Golden Globe, why bother?

-Can’t he just come back to Korea without going to the Oscars?

=The music-related awards are almost certain that ‘Over the Rainbow’ will win at least one. He’ll probably come back after that.

-Then we can give him an Academy trophy instead!

=ㅋㅋIt seems like they are making one from scratch, how far have they progressed?

=They just need to engrave his name!

=…That’s fast.

***

A few days after the Golden Globe Awards, it was the day of the first round of voting to decide the nominees for the Academy Awards.

It was an annual vote, but this year was different.

Unlike last year, when he voted for white actors without much thought, Josh Macton was racking his brain this year.

He had to pick five nominees, but who should he pick? If he picked as he did before, there would be more controversy as much as the world’s attention was focused.

Besides, the vote to decide the nominees was by name.

His name would be revealed.

‘How many crazy people are there in this world…’

As many people were watching, some of them might try to find out who the voters were by shouting for justice.

Josh sighed inwardly as he thought about the future.

The future was the future, but the biggest pressure was now.

“Shh. Daddy is working.”

“Shh!”

“Shush!”

He felt the eyes of his daughter and son who were stuck to the door and looking at him with round eyes.

‘It’s about picking the best actor, right?’ Josh remembered his children’s voices and sighed again before voting for five actors after much deliberation.

As Marina had intended, the attention and interest of many people gave the voters a little hesitation, a little doubt, a little time to look back.

That’s how thousands of voters finished their first round of voting after much consideration.

At the end of January.

The biggest awards ceremony in America, the Academy Awards announced their nominees.

Once again, Korea turned upside down.

Chapter 131

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 131

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, fails to make it to the nominees.]

[It’s still too much for him. The limit of an Asian actor!]

[The racial gap of the Academy Awards, mentioned every year_]

“Senior. Do we really have to write this in advance?”

The reporter who was typing furiously on the keyboard looked at his senior with a dissatisfied expression, who was staring at his phone.

“Why, is it hard?”

“They haven’t even announced it yet, and I’m so angry to write this article first.”

“We have to prepare beforehand so we can upload it right away. You wrote a lot of articles about the nominees.”

“That’s because! It’s more comfortable to write that way.”

“Still, we have to write both the articles about making it to the nominees and not making it before the announcement. The other places are also preparing. It’s too late to write an article after the announcement.”

The junior sighed and put his hands back on the keyboard.

He felt drained as he tried to write a gloomy article that seemed to become reality soon.

“When will they announce it?”

“Soon.”

As the senior said, the list of nominees for the Academy Awards was revealed shortly after.

The two reporters who were quickly reading down the list lost their words.

They rubbed their eyes, thinking they saw it wrong, but the name didn’t change.

“…Do we have to rewrite the article?”

“First, let’s send out the Lee Seo-jun article. This doesn’t seem to be the end of it.”

The voters, the Academy, and the media from various countries who were watching with interest and curiosity, and the South Koreans who were anxious.

The people around the world who were waiting for the announcement of the nominees opened their mouths wide and lost their words at the unexpected, unimaginable result.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, youngest nominee for Best Actor at the Academy Awards!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, first South Korean nominee for the Academy Awards!]

[Over The Rainbow, nominated for 7 categories at the Academy Awards!]

[Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Music, Best Sound Editing, Best Original Song, and Best Actor!]

[Academy Awards nominees announced! Never seen before candidates!]

[The least white list of candidates ever!]

[Can there be such a wonderful color!!]

[Reference photo]

Academy Awards nominees

Best Actor: 3 white, 1 black (Milan Chellen), 1 Asian (Lee Seo-jun)

Best Actress: 4 white, 1 black

Best Supporting Actor: 3 white, 2 black

Best Supporting Actress: 2 white, 2 black, 1 Asian (Jessica Kim)

-…It was mostly white until last year.

-I’m seriously surprised. How did it change so much?

-But if you look at their acting, you’ll agree. All the actors I thought did well this year are there.

-I’ve never seen them announce the nominees on the news before, but even that list is not ordinary.

-Seo-jun is changing the world!

=…That’s a bitㅋㅋ

=But I think it’s true that the global ad was the beginningㅋ

=ㅇㅇ There’s nothing but Oscar talk everywhere. I wasn’t interested either, but I’m curious about the resultㅋㅋ

The world media who were surprised by the dazzling change of the Academy were busy writing articles.

[Milan Chellen, who drank bitter wine three years ago, first nominee for Best Actor!]

[First nominee! First nominee! The most welcome first nominee ever!]

[First nominee for Best Supporting Actress. South Korean-American Jessica Kim. Let’s find out more about her!]

-Finally! I love Milan Chellen so much! I still can’t forget that day three years ago! I was so angry that I couldn’t sleep that night!

-But it changed too much that it’s scary;;

-…Do you think it will go back next year?

=It might. But they showed that they can change like this, so maybe they won’t?

=It will take a long time though. 🙁

=The start is important.

***

“Oh.”

“Hmm.”

Richard Bowen and Phelan Park, who were looking at the list of nominees announced at the Academy Awards, let out a groan.

The operation was not only successful, but it was a fatal blow.

“I think the situation got too big.”

“It’s a good thing, right? Can we expect him to win?”

“That’s both happy and sad news. His appearance fee will skyrocket just by being nominated, let alone winning…”

Richard touched his forehead at Phelan’s words.

Come to think of it, that was true.

Lee Seo-jun was cheap for his fame.

Of course, it was cheap compared to Hollywood actors.

That’s why he planned to send Lee Seo-jun a lot of scripts and synopses.

He planned to make him film a lot of movies before his appearance fee went up, but the operation went too well.

He thought it would take at least five years for Lee Seo-jun to win, but it came next month.

Richard Bowen, who had planned to make a lot of money before Lee Seo-jun’s appearance fee went up, opened his mouth with difficulty.

“…How far did we sign the contract with Jun?”

“Until Shadowman 3.”

“…”

“That’s the end of the chapter.”

“…”

At Phelan Park’s firm words, Richard Bowen buried his face in his palms.

***

[Title: I told my dad about the nomination.]

“Eva? What are you filming?”

The black actor, Milan Chellen, turned his head.

He heard his daughter, Eva Chellen, laughing.

The camera shook with her laughter.

“Dad. They just announced the Oscar nominees.”

“…Really?”

A brief bitterness crossed Milan Chellen’s face.

Three years ago, the naive Milan Chellen who believed the media that said he was a strong candidate was gone.

He had no hope of being nominated no matter what he acted, so Milan Chellen didn’t care at all.

“I see. Today was the announcement day.”

He didn’t even watch it because it was impossible.

Come to think of it, there was an actor like him this year.

An actor and a movie that changed the travel trend throughout its release in mid-October.

An Asian actor who was touted as a strong candidate everywhere.

Lee Seo-jun of ‘Over The Rainbow’.

“Did Lee make it to the nominees?”

Worried that a young child would get hurt like him, Milan Chellen, who was sitting on the sofa, asked cautiously.

His daughter, who seemed to cry at his expression, answered with a bright smile.

“Yes! He made it to the nominees.”

“That’s amazing! That’s great. Lee’s acting was really impressive.”

“And you made it too.”

At her dad’s sincere smile, his daughter finally sobbed and said.

Milan Chellen’s hand holding the script twitched.

“You were nominated too!”

Eva handed him a pinepad at his incredulous expression looking at himself.

[Best Actor Nominees] Milan Chellen, who saw his photo with four other actors, couldn’t lift his head and kept staring at his photo throughout the video.

[I wanted to film my dad’s happy face, but he never looked up. Dad, congratulations on your nomination!]

-Milan! I love Milan so muchㅠ

-His movie was great too! Amazing!

-This year’s Academy Awards are making people cry from the announcementㅠ

[Title: Congratulations on your nomination! Surprise party!]

“Jessica! Do you know? There’s an Asian actor who got nominated this time.”

“Oh! Seo-jun!? Seo-jun got nominated!?”

Jessica Kim, who was exercising, smiled brightly and approached her friend.

When her friend said yes, Jessica Kim laughed cheerfully.

“I knew Seo-jun would get it! How can you not vote for him after seeing his acting!”

“And there’s one more.”

“What? Really?! Wait… an Asian actor… who else is there…”

“YOU.”

Fireworks went off everywhere at the same time.

Friends who were hiding came out and congratulated Jessica Kim with bouquets.

Unable to come to her senses with the piles of flowers in her arms and the noisy congratulations of her friends, Jessica Kim finally understood her friend’s words and started crying.

-Congratulations on your nomination!! I enjoyed your movie!

-I’m a fan of Jessica! Please keep up your activities!

***

Only thirty minutes after the list was announced.

With the pouring congratulations and contacts, Seo-jun had to connect his phone to a charger while looking at the decreasing battery.

Stuck to the wall socket because of the short charger cord, Seo-jun smiled as he sent replies and answered a call with a name on the screen.

“Hello?”

Na-ra tilted her head as she saw Seo-jun fidgeting in the corner.

“Why is Seo-jun there like that? He has a portable battery, right?”

At Na-ra’s words, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun laughed.

“It seems like he forgot he had a portable battery. He must be very excited too. We were crazy for ten minutes. How excited must Seo-jun be.”

“Right. I was so excited that I told Kings Market to have a sale.”

“…Is that okay?”

The couple lost their words at Na-ra’s words.

Was that what he was calling about?

The scale of excitement was too different?

Too happy to forget his portable battery, fidgeting in the corner, a Hollywood star with a completely different scale.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. It became known that I’m an acquaintance of Seo-jun on a talk show, so what. With Golden Globe win and Oscar nomination, everyone will understand. Maybe Seo-jun fans who are excited like us will come to the market to spend money. On the contrary, Seo-jun’s name might become more known by the sale event. Look. An article came out already.”

[Kings Market, starts sale event for actor Lee Seo-jun’s nomination!]

[Kings Market, sale event period!]

[The connection between actor Lee Seo-jun and Kings Market CEO, Na-ra Kim!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun’s Golden Globe win and nomination celebration, sale event!]

“Our company staff are competent, so they will manage the event without any loss.”

The couple nodded at Na-ra’s words.

‘The employees here must suffer a lot because of the boss.’

Kim Hee-sang, who had been pushing monster designs to his employees yesterday and the day before, suddenly felt his ears itch.

“Who’s talking about me? Why is Seo-jun always on the phone?”

At the sound of Seo-jun, Kim Subin, who was dragging the Minotaur doll by its leg and wandering around the living room, sparkled his eyes.

Then he ran to Kim Hee-sang, who was sitting on the sofa.

“Dad! Is it hyung?”

“Subin, wait a minute! Dad will do it for you!”

“Seo-jun hyung!? Play with Subin?”

Kim Hee-sang lifted his phone far away, and Kim Subin, who found his target, lit up his eyes.

He climbed up the sofa, grabbed his dad’s arm and stretched out his arm with all his might to reach the phone.

When he couldn’t reach the target, Subin pushed his dad with his whole body and called his hyung.

“Hyung! Can you hear me?”

“Dad said he’ll do it for you…”

Kim Hee-sang felt the weight of his grown son on his body, when Seo-jun’s agency, Cocoa Entertainment’s CEO, Seo Eun-chan was calling with a pale face.

“Yes, yes.”

Seo-jun answered and looked at his mom and dad and Na-ra aunt sitting there.

“Mom.”

“Yes?”

“Eun-chan uncle wants you to save him.”

At Seo-jun’s words, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun and Na-ra laughed.

Kings Agency was also in chaos.

Ahn Da Ho was there too.

It was like this in America, so they could guess how it was in Korea, how it was in Cocoa Entertainment.

“Tell him to hang in there until the awards ceremony is over.”

“Mom says to hang in there. Uncle.”

“Thanks. Oh, Seo-jun.”

“Yes?”

“Congratulations on your nomination.”

“Hehehe. Thank you. Uncle.”

It was a pleasant word to hear over and over again.

Uncle Eun-chan ’s call ended and uncle Hee-sang called him.

It was a video call.

Subin kept pushing his face into the camera with a loud voice while uncle Hee-sang congratulated him on his nomination.

Seo-jun also smiled brightly and talked with Subin.

Na-ra tilted her head as she watched Subin explain something eagerly with baby talk and Seo-jun nodding and answering him.

“Does Seo-jun understand all that? I don’t understand a single word.”

“It seems like he does. That’s why Subin and Eun-su like Seo-jun so much.”

“Subin is four years old and Eun-su is two years old, right?”

“Yes.”

“Eun-su is already two years old!”

“Well, she’s 12 months old if you count by months.”

Na-ra talked about Seo Eun-chan and Kim Su-ryeon’s daughter, Seo Eun-su with the couple and asked Seo-jun.

“But do we really not have to throw a nomination celebration party? Let’s do it big this time. Let’s invite all the staff from Shadowman and Rainbow!”

“We just had a Golden Globe win party, auntNa-ra.”

“But parties are fun.”

“Then let’s do it after the Academy Awards ceremony.”

“Hmm. How about it? Can you win?”

At Na-ra’s words, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun’s eyes turned to Seo-jun.

They didn’t worry this time either.

They had a good feeling. Seo-jun also smiled brightly and said.

“I have a good feeling. I think I can win.”

“Then shall we prepare for the ceremony?”

Na-ra got up from her seat.

“He’ll be the first South Korean winner of the Academy Awards, right? We have to make him shine on stage! From head to toe, I’ll make him sparkle.”

“Do we have to buy clothes too?”

“We don’t have to buy clothes, do we? Shoes too.”

“Huh?”

“I’m sure they’ll come flooding in soon.”

As Na-ra said, countless brands of clothes, accessories, shoes were delivered to Kings Agency until the day of the Academy Awards ceremony.

Chapter 132

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 132

[February, the Academy Awards ceremony is coming!]

[LA time 5 pm, Korea time 10 am!]

[Monday morning 10 am, watch the Academy Awards on OCM!]

[The world media, optimistic about actor Lee Seo-jun’s win!]

-Monday morning… 10 am… (note)

-If I check the time, I should be able to watch it during lunch!

-Wow! I have to see this!

-One day left!

-Only three hours left until the start, but OCM already started broadcasting lol

-It’s 7 am right now haha

-…? Why is Moviegoer here?

[Hello, viewers. The day we’ve been waiting for has arrived. I’m Park Young-jin, the host of the Academy Awards ceremony.]

[I’m Yang Si-eun, a film critic.]

[…I’m Moviegoer, a YouTuber.]

The faces of the MCs filled the phone screen.

Park Young-jin and Yang Si-eun, who had been commenting on the Academy Awards ceremony last year and the year before, seemed to feel a pleasant tension, but there was a man who was silently shouting ‘Where am I?’, ‘Who am I?’.

He was Moviegoer, a YouTuber.

Three hours before the ceremony started, Seo-jun was getting his hair done and watching the Korean broadcast of the Academy Awards on his phone.

On the right side of the screen, a small screen showing the entrance of the Academy Awards venue, which had not even started the red carpet yet, was empty, but the audio of the three people talking filled the screen.

[Moviegoer here is the first traveler of Gray Vainy’s world tour. He was on the news several times. Of course, there may be other people who are really ‘first travelers’, but ‘recorded’ as the first traveler in the world is Moviegoer.]

[I knew about the secret of the ticket, but I never imagined a world tour.]

Moviegoer smiled awkwardly at Park Young-jin and Yang Si-eun’s words.

He was used to live and recorded broadcasts as a YouTuber, but this kind of filming felt unfamiliar.

There were more cameras than he expected and the lights were hot.

[This year, for the first time, a Korean actor was nominated. The world media says that actor Lee Seo-jun has a high chance of winning. Do you two think so too?]

[Yes.]

[Yes.]

Without a moment’s hesitation, Yang Si-eun and Moviegoer nodded their heads at Park Young-jin’s question.

He tilted his head at their firmness.

[Why?]

[If all the nominees except actor Lee Seo-jun were white, he would have had a low chance of winning. It means that there is a thought of ‘race’ in the minds of the voters. Then there would be fewer votes for actor Lee Seo-jun.]

[The fact that the nominees are so diverse means that the thought of ‘race’ in the minds of the voters has faded a bit. This year, more than ever, it might be a fair ceremony.]

Yang Si-eun and Moviegoer answered in perfect harmony with their love for movies.

[If it’s a fair ceremony, does that mean actor Lee Seo-jun has a high chance of winning?]

[‘Over The Rainbow’ changed the world travel trend. Of course, it might not have happened without the marketing of commemorative tickets. But it all started with Gray Vainy. If another actor had played Gray Vainy, would we have collected world tour commemorative tickets? No. We saw Gray Vainy played by actor Lee Seo-jun, were moved by him, cried and rejoiced.]

Moviegoer’s words made Yang Si-eun nod her head and open her mouth.

[Yes, that’s right. The standard of acting is different for everyone. But there is one thing that everyone agrees on. This role is for this actor. The atmosphere, acting skills, and naturalness that no other actor can replace are what it is. Gray Vainy was a role that only actor Lee Seo-jun could play. I can’t think of a single actor who could replace him. That alone is enough to qualify him for an award.]

Seo-jun smiled faintly at Yang Si-eun and Moviegoer’s praise.

Their predictions were not much different from most predictions.

The world media had been buzzing about it.

It was easier and faster to conclude than winning the Golden Globe or being nominated for an Academy Award. Seo-jun Lee’s win was almost certain.

Seo-jun finished his preparations and sat on the sofa, waiting for his car while watching the broadcast and drinking tea prepared by Whale Studio.

He was planning to go with Catherine and Paul, just like the Golden Globe.

[Can you introduce actress Jessica Kim, who is Korean-American?]

[Actress Jessica Kim debuted in an American drama. From a small role to…].

The broadcast continued. Park Young-jin asked questions and Yang Si-eun and Moviegoer answered in turn.

“Seo-jun. The car is here.”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun got up at Anda-ho’s words.

He got into the empty car.

Now it was time to stop by where Catherine and Paul were and pick them up.

[The Academy nominees are more similar to my thoughts than the Golden Globe nominees. I’ve never had this before.]

[That’s evidence that things have changed a lot.]

[But they say that this year might be the first and last time for this kind of miracle.]

Park Young-jin’s words made both of them agree.

The world media also had a lot of reviews that this miracle was the first and last time this year.

The Korean media was no different.

[But if actor Lee Seo-jun continues to act, there will be another day like this. A day like this once, twice, three times. Then there will probably be a huge change.]

The viewers who were watching the television also nodded their heads at Moviegoer’s words.

As the three of them were talking, reporters and fans began to appear around the empty red carpet.

In the midst of the noise, the first actor appeared on the red carpet.

[It’s Jessica Kim!]

At Park Young-jin’s words, Yang Si-eun and Moviegoer, and the viewers’ eyes turned to that place.

The small screen showing the red carpet became larger.

Jessica Kim, wearing a beautiful blue dress, looked awkward in the pouring flash, but did not lose her bright smile.

A sincere smile that showed how happy she was, made the viewers who were watching on television smile warmly.

Yang Si-eun and Moviegoer enthusiastically continued their explanation.

[Jessica Kim was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress award at this year’s Academy Awards. She played a supporting role in the movie ‘Last’ and impressed the audience with her acting skills.]

[The YouTube video was very touching too!]

The commentary continued as each actor appeared on the red carpet.

From this year’s movies to the famous ones they starred in before.

The two movie buffs explained the stories and behind-the-scenes in an easy and fun way.

Time flew by as they talked.

Then, as an actor appeared on the red carpet, a loud cheer erupted from the fans, along with a dazzling flash of cameras.

[Milan Chellen! It’s actor Milan Chellen!]

[His story is really heartbreaking. I thought he would be nominated and win the award three years ago. That’s when I felt the ruthlessness of the Academy! So I didn’t expect anything this time! But to see him walking on the red carpet like this!]

[He also showed a great performance in the movie that was released this year!]

With a cool smile, Milan Chellen walked with heavy steps.

With each step, he felt his resentment from three years ago, his joy from now, and all his emotions being sucked into the red carpet.

The reporters, the fans, and the cameras all looked at the most attention-grabbing actor, Milan Chellen.

“Congratulations on your nomination, Mr. Chellen!”

“Thank you.”

“Your thoughts on…”

It was then.

A scream erupted from the end of the red carpet.

It was the fans’ scream that appeared whenever an actor showed up, but it was unusually loud.

Milan Chellen and the reporter who was interviewing him, and the cameras turned in that direction.

The viewers who were watching the screen, Park Young-jin and Yang Si-eun, and the moviegoers all had curious expressions on their faces.

[What’s going on?]

[…Huh? Jun? Is that Jun?!]

[Seo-jun? Actor Seo-jun?!]

[Did actor Seo-jun come!?]

The three people jumped up from their seats.

Milan Chellen was an actor they had been waiting for, but who could compare to this actor!

They got up early in the morning to prepare for the broadcast, and started broadcasting at 7 a.m. when the sun hadn’t risen yet.

It was all to see this actor.

The viewers who were watching the broadcast, and the three people who were hosting it, all looked at the wide-open black car.

Ahhhh!!

With a cheer, Lee Seo-jun, Catherine Miller, and Paul Oden got out of the car.

Milan Chellen blinked his eyes.

He had looked up information about the Academy after being nominated.

He could easily tell that there was a change in the Academy because of the media’s buzz.

Lee Seo-jun and his global advertisement.

Like a butterfly’s small wing flap turning into a huge storm, Lee Seo-jun’s existence, acting, and movies had an impact whether big or small.

Milan Chellen looked down at where he was standing.

It was the red carpet of the Academy he had dreamed of.

He smiled faintly and moved his steps.

He greeted the fans who were cheering for him and spent some time taking pictures with them while waiting for the interview of the previous actor.

In front of Seo-jun and his kids who were waiting for their turn, Milan Chellen appeared.

Seo-jun and his kids widened their eyes.

‘Our previous turn was Milan Chellen!’

Seo-jun knew well about Milan Chellen’s story because of the media’s buzz. He smiled brightly and greeted the actor who finally stood on the red carpet.

“Hello. I enjoyed watching The Circle.”

“I also watched your movie well.”

Everyone held their breath at Lee Seo-jun and Milan Chellen’s conversation.

Only flashes of light popped occasionally. Catherine and Paul exchanged greetings with Milan Chellen and stepped back slightly. Seo-jun noticed their consideration and smiled.

“Do you want to go together?”

“I’d love that.”

The Asian actor who was nominated for Best Actor, Lee Seo-jun, and the black actor Milan Chellen walked together on the red carpet.

They took pictures together and did interviews together.

The reporters didn’t miss a single moment or breath.

The large camera lenses focused on the two actors.

[This! Isn’t this a very meaningful scene?!]

[To see this at the Academy!]

Not only Korean broadcasts but also broadcasts around the world paid attention to their appearance.

In an instant, photos of them on the red carpet were uploaded, articles were posted, and reactions came.

“Thank you.”

“Huh?”

As they entered into the awards hall, Seo-jun tilted his head at Milan Chellen’s words.

Milan Chellen smiled. The change in the Academy Awards.

He didn’t know how much of it was influenced by Lee Seo-jun.

But even if it was as small as a chick’s tear, he wanted to say thank you.

“It was nice to meet you today.”

“Me too! I hope we can act together someday!”

“I’m looking forward to that day.”

Milan Chellen and Seo-jun said goodbye and headed to their seats.

As he headed to his seat, Seo-jun saw an actor who was waving his arms vigorously.

He couldn’t scream because it was noisy, but he had a bright face and was waving his arms.

He caught his eye.

Huh?

He tilted his head and checked the identity of the actor.

“Hello!”

“Hello! Actor Seo-jun!”

It was Jessica Kim.

Her face was flushed and she looked at Seo-jun.

He felt her joy from her whole body.

He was glad to hear Korean.

He heard she was a Korean-American, but she spoke Korean very well.

He thought it would be hard to move in a dress, so he headed towards Jessica Kim.

Her face brightened as Seo-jun approached.

“Congratulations on your nomination!”

“Congratulations to you too, actor Seo-jun! I hope you win the award!”

The cameras that were watching Seo-jun’s movements captured the scene of Seo-jun and Jessica Kim shaking hands with bright smiles.

[Lee Seo-jun and Jessica Kim greeting each other at the Academy Awards!]

[This is the first time! Two Asian actors who are nominated!]

[Korean language heard at the Academy Awards!]

-Wow!! Amazingㅋ Seo-jun and Jessica Kim met!

-And they are both nominated!!

-Oh my god. I never thought I would see this scene.

[This is really amazing, isn’t it? Milan Chellen and Jessica Kim, they met all the hot topics! I never imagined hearing Korean at the Academy. Oh, it’s time!]

[Yes. All the actors have taken their seats.]

[The Academy Awards will begin soon. Please stay tuned!]

At 10 a.m. in Korean time. And at 5 p.m. in LA time.

The long-awaited Academy Awards began.

Chapter 133

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Chapter 133

The opening stage of the Academy Awards began.

Was it a band?

A solo singer?

A group?

The people who were looking at the stage with anticipation saw a man walking out alone.

Who was he?

His face was unfamiliar, but the instrument he held was familiar.

Some recognized him and whispered.

In an instant, the identity of the man was revealed to the audience.

“Hey! It’s Jason!”

“Jun! Did you know?”

“No, I didn’t!”

The opening of the Academy Awards was Jason Moore.

Jason Moore, who appeared on the stage with a Stradivarius violin, played ‘Over the Rainbow’ and received a thunderous applause.

He was different from Gray Vainy, but Jason Moore’s performance was not lacking.

He was called a genius.

Seo-jun and the children also clapped enthusiastically.

[Yes. The opening stage is Jason Moore, who was in charge of the violin supervision for ‘Over the Rainbow’! He supervised the movie with his teacher, Professor Benjamin Morton.]

[Professor Benjamin Morton composed the OST ‘Over the Rainbow’.]

[I didn’t expect to hear a classical performance at the movie awards, but it’s a really fitting opening stage for this year’s Academy Awards.]

The Academy Awards began with a splendid violin performance.

[Over the Rainbow wins Music Award!]

[Over the Rainbow wins Sound Editing Award!]

[Over the Rainbow wins Theme Song Award!]

Every time a name was called, the commentators and Moviegoer applauded.

In no time, Over the Rainbow swept all the music-related awards.

[The Circle, starring Milan Chellen, wins Screenplay Award!]

[The Circle, starring Milan Chellen, wins Director Award!]

[Over the Rainbow wins Best Picture Award!]

Director Sarah Roth did not win the Director Award. The director of ‘The Circle’ went up to the stage to receive it.

While sending congratulations to the director of The Circle, Seo-jun and the children felt sorry.

But Director Sarah Roth smiled cheerfully.

“I’ll get it next time.”

The children laughed at her confident appearance.

The black director who went up to the stage burst into tears.

He spoke his gratitude while crying.

Due to the nature of live broadcasting, he didn’t have much time to speak.

He couldn’t use up all his time because of his tears.

He finished his list of names that came out like a machine gun.

A loud cheer and applause sounded, and the director went down from the stage with a mixed expression of tears and laughter.

Soon, the congratulatory stage began.

Director Sarah Roth opened her mouth as she clapped.

“But I’m still a bit disappointed.”

“Why?”

“This year’s awards are special.”

Sarah Roth looked around the award hall. The children also looked around.

The faces of the people sitting were bright.

“It’s so special that they removed the filter of race. To be judged only by skill, how dreamlike is that. Everyone must think so.”

Factors other than skill make people deny it.

If they don’t understand it, they become dissatisfied, and even those who watch the awards become puzzled.

But this year was different.

Maybe not everyone, but most understood the results.

Director Sarah Roth also admired ‘The Circle’ as she watched it.

I might not get it.

She thought so, and it happened.

Maybe if this year’s awards weren’t ‘special’, Director Sarah Roth, who was white, would have gotten it.

‘I don’t like that either.’

Director Sarah Roth smiled.

“Maybe this year’s winners are happier than other times. Because they really got recognized for their outstanding skills.”

“You’re amazing too, Director!”

Catherine said. Seo-jun and Paul nodded their heads.

“Everyone loves our movie so much!”

“You probably lost by only a few votes to The Circle’s director.”

The actors who were sitting nearby smiled warmly at the sight of the children comforting themselves.

The congratulatory stage ended, and it was time for the actors to receive their awards.

The attention of Koreans turned to OCM. Not only high school students who were studying at school despite winter vacation, but also office workers who were working hard and people who went out.

Everyone listened to radios and televisions.

[Now we have awards for actors. First is Best Supporting Actress.]

Along with Park Young-jin’s words, five faces appeared on the screen.

Jessica Kim and two black actors, two white actors.

[Among the five candidates, Jessica Kim and Delsie Roti are strong.]

[As a Korean, I want Jessica Kim to win, but Delsie Roti has a higher chance of winning.]

[She was a very charming supporting actress. Delsie Roti!]

[Jessica Kim was not inferior either. I think it might have been decided by a few votes.]

Yang Si-eun and Moviegoer added their comments.

[And The Oscar goes to……!]

The MC shouted loudly. Jessica Kim and her friends who were watching through television, and the viewers in Korea held their breath.

[Delsie Roti!]

Along with the MC’s words, the camera that was showing the five candidates focused on one person.

It was a black actress.

Delsie Roti, who was wearing a dress that sparkled like the Milky Way in the night sky, got up from her seat, not knowing what to do.

The other four supporting actress nominees, including Jessica Kim, sincerely congratulated her.

[With Delsie Roti’s win, there are now a total of 10 black actresses who have won the Best Supporting Actress award in the history of the Academy Awards. Out of more than 90 ceremonies, only 10 black winners!]

[And only one Asian winner, so… it’s bitter.]

[That’s the reality.]

Yang Si-eun said. Everyone focused on the movie critic’s words.

[Despite this reality, please praise the two actors who made it to the nomination, our actors!]

[Delsie Roti wins Best Supporting Actress!]

[Jessica Kim narrowly misses the award!]

[The nomination is enough! Comments of support for Jessica Kim!]

-ㅠㅠDelsie Roti did wellㅠ

-It’s been a long time since a black actress won, right?

-I wish Jessica Kim had won!

-It’s great that a black actress and an Asian actress were strong candidates, not white actressesㅎ

The Best Supporting Actor award went to a white actor, and the Best Actress award went to a black actress.

The black actress who was named burst into tears.

It was a series of surprises.

The excitement of the award hall seemed to be transmitted.

[This is the second time that a black actress has won the Best Actress award!]

[Out of more than 90 Best Actress winners, there are two black actresses and one Asian actress.]

Before she knew it, she stopped crying and went down from the stage after giving her speech.

[Well, now it’s our turn to wait.]

Park Young-jin said with a beaming smile.

[Maybe this could be a new history, or maybe there could be an unexpected twist.]

[I don’t think an unexpected twist would be very good.]

Even Yang Si-eun, who said that, and the Moviegoer, and the viewers who were watching them, couldn’t hide their excitement.

Half of the wonder of watching a historic scene live, and half of the joy of being Korean, the same as the protagonist of the historic scene.

They held their pounding hearts and turned their eyes to the television.

It was time to announce the Best Actor award.

The faces of five actors appeared one by one on the screen behind the stage.

Three white actors and Milan Chellen’s face appeared.

A huge applause erupted.

Finally, Lee Seo-jun’s face appeared. Cheers and shouts came like waves.

The MC opened his mouth.

[It’s an honor to be able to announce the winner at such a wonderful ceremony. The footage of today’s ceremony will last for a long time! Please give a big cheer and applause!]

The MC’s words were followed by an even louder cheer than before.

[If you ask me to choose the most amazing year of the Academy Awards, it would be this year, and if you ask me to choose the most fair year, it would be this year. And this year, if you ask me to choose the most brilliant actor, it would be this actor.]

Catherine and Paul felt Seo-jun holding their hands tightly.

It wasn’t the nervous tremor of the Golden Globe.

It was because they were so happy that they couldn’t bear the thrill that came from their toes.

Seo-jun felt the same way.

He hoped that his name would come out of the MC’s mouth.

He hoped that cheers would erupt from the audience and from those who were watching on television at the same time.

His heart was pounding.

It was a pleasant tremor.

There are many jobs that require recognition from others, but actors are more so.

If they don’t get any attention from anyone, they eventually wither away.

He knew that very well as ‘First Life’ and Seo-jun.

He learned the joy and happiness of receiving recognition and cheers from others.

It took a long time to get that happiness in both hands. He didn’t want to lose it.

His mom and dad in the audience seats, his hyung Da Ho.

His grandparents, uncle and aunt, Su-bin, Eun-su, friends, teachers, directors, writers, Ji-seok hyung, Do-hoon hyung, Uncle Jong-ho in Korea.

Charlie in France, Grace in New York. And countless fans.

He wanted to be recognized by everyone.

That he was such a shining actor.

A star.

‘I’m doing well.’

The glittering trophy in sight was one of the proofs.

[And The Oscar goes to……]

The award hall became quiet.

Everyone knew it.

But they waited for the MC to open his mouth.

Somewhere in the award hall, a violin melody flowed out.

It was ‘Brilliant’, which had played at the Golden Globe win.

Those who heard the violin performance realized who won, but Seo-jun noticed something more than that.

‘This is… live.’

It was a vivid performance by Jason Moore.

He must be playing behind the stage right now.

There were many emotions in the beautiful violin melody, but there was one emotion that was especially clear.

Seo-jun received Jason Moore’s message through the violin performance.

‘Congratulations.’

He teared up at the congratulatory song.

He had only expressed his gratitude and thanks to the people while filming the movie, but he received congratulations with a violin performance.

He felt overwhelmed by the emotion, and thought that the Moviegoer must have felt the same way.

His eyes slowly reddened, while the MC who had been hesitating shouted loudly.

[Lee Seo-jun!]

A very loud cheer sounded.

The students and teachers who were watching on television for the Best Actor award, as well as the office workers who had gathered to watch on laptops, and the people who were having lunch while watching. The fans of Seo-jun all over the world who were watching live regardless of time difference. They all screamed.

In the midst of such a huge celebration, Seo-jun got up from his seat.

This time, he didn’t hesitate to get up. He accepted the pounding of his heart with joy, and Seo-jun went up to the stage.

He received the heavy Academy trophy, the Oscar, with both hands from the MC.

As Seo-jun stood in front of the microphone with the Oscar trophy, a roar of cheers erupted.

It seemed like he could feel the cheers across the camera.

He savored all the congratulations with his whole body and smiled brightly.

With the aura that radiated from his body, Lee Seo-jun shone brilliantly.

“Hello. I’m Lee Seo-jun.”

The first words of the acceptance speech of Lee Seo-jun, the actor who would go down in history as the first Korean winner, began in Korean.

“I’m very happy to receive the Best Actor award. This award is not only for me, but also for Gray Vainy and all the Grays in the world. I’m really happy to be able to give dreams, hopes, and happiness to everyone with my acting. Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.”

Seo-jun took a light breath.

The audience and viewers realized it.

The person who was standing on the stage had changed.

Even though he had the same hairstyle, the same outfit, the same appearance, he had changed.

Anyone could tell,

“I would like to sincerely thank everyone who supported me.”

He was Gray Vainy.

Once again, they were amazed and applauded by his perfect on and off.

Some even shed tears as they remembered Gray from ‘Over the Rainbow’.

Seeing that, Park Young-jin and Yang Si-eun reddened their eyes and opened their mouths.

[Amazing! I never thought I would hear Korean on that stage!]

[Best Actor award! Congratulations from the bottom of my heart. Actor Lee Seo-jun!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun and Gray’s acceptance speech, I will never forget this scene in my life!]

The Moviegoer who had been more immersed than them after going on a world tour also sobbed and said.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, Academy Awards Best Actor award!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, youngest and first Korean Best Actor winner!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun holding the Oscar trophy!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun and Gray Vainy’s acceptance speech!]

-Seo-jun, congratulations!!

-Wow. I can’t believe I heard Korean at the Academy Awards!

-This won’t be the last time, right?

=Seo-jun will probably win againㅋ

-Really amazing acting skills. How can he act like that?

=2222 I criedㅠㅠ I love Gray so much.

Chapter 134

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Chapter 134

“Then, let’s toast to Jun’s award! Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

Na-ra Kim did it.

She really threw a huge party with the staff of Shadowman and Over the Rainbow, the actors and directors, and the people from Kings Agency.

Since they had to meet and part depending on the projects they worked on, they all became friends quickly.

“Now, let’s toast for Director Sarah Roth and Director Ryan Will!”

I didn’t know how many times we toasted.

Even those who were drinking wine happily raised their hands and feet.

The heavy drinkers gathered at one table, making up excuses to drink more and more.

At the center of that table were Na-ra Kim, Greenwing, and Wyatt Carter.

The people who watched them drink heartily shook their heads.

That was a hell of alcohol.

It would be a disaster if they got close.

They all kept their distance from that table.

The people who didn’t drink gathered at the opposite side.

Seo-jun, Catherine, and Paul were enjoying the party there.

Catherine and Paul kept asking questions to Rachel Hill.

Rachel also answered them happily.

“You have no idea how surprised I was when Jun’s mood changed completely!”

“Jun must have been good at acting since then!”

“That’s awesome!”

Seo-jun, who was listening along, felt awkward as his story got longer and longer.

He left his seat with a smile.

“The first one was William’s acting for sure.”

“Right! I cried so hard too!”

As they chatted with Rachel Hill, Seo-jun sat on a chair and enjoyed the party with a relaxed mind.

In Seo-jun’s hand were orange juice that Da Ho gave him and cookies that his mom and dad gave him.

‘They’re amazing. Da Ho hyung too. Mom and dad too.’

He felt their occasional glances as he talked to other people.

Under Da Ho’s and his parents’ eyes, Seo-jun bit a cookie.

‘Delicious.’

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

The cookies were really delicious as his mom and dad knew his taste well.

He decided to send some to Jack later.

They were perfect for Jack Smith, who still liked sweet food.

“Congratulations on your award, Jun.”

“Thank you, Evan.”

Evan Block sat next to Seo-jun.

“Did you finish filming Assemble 2?”

“It ended last year. The CG work should be almost done by now.”

“I see. Do you have a release date?”

“Maybe late March or early April? I don’t think it will be May.”

“It’s only a few months left.”

“I have to do promotional activities now, but I’m scared of flying.”

There were many countries to promote since it was a worldwide release.

The time to travel between countries, the time difference, it was exhausting just thinking about it.

Seo-jun laughed at Evan’s words.

“Will you come to Korea?”

“Yeah. If you know any good restaurants, let me know.”

“Okay. Please contact me when you arrive.”

As Seo-jun and Evan Block chatted, Catherine and Paul called Seo-jun.

“Jun! Let’s play a game over there!”

“Okay. I’ll go!”

“Should I join too?”

Seo-jun, who finished eating the cookies, and Evan Block, who was watching the lively party, joined the game.

They had fun playing various games with different penalties.

They all laughed out loud.

That’s how Na-ra Kim’s cheerful party ended.

The next day, Da Ho and Kings Agency, who were guests at the party, started working.

They were busy sorting out the interviews and broadcasting offers that came from everywhere.

“That place has a bad host. He asks provocative questions.”

“This place also has a rumor that the photographer is biased. He takes pictures over and over until he likes them.”

Kings Agency did their job well.

Da Ho took the filtered list of offers and went to Seo-jun.

Seo-jun looked over the list of offers and chose the programs he would appear on with Da Ho, Na-ra Kim, and the staff who worked at the mansion.

“Then I’ll do this.”

“Yes!”

After five days, Seo-jun finished three interviews and one talk show.

He boarded a plane with his mom and dad, and Da Ho hyung. It was a flight to Korea.

***

While Seo-jun was staying in America, Korea was buzzing with ‘Seo-jun’s award celebration without Seo-jun’.

The real-time search terms on search sites, the articles in entertainment and other parts, and even the placards in front of stores had ‘Seo-jun’ in them.

[Looking for someone with the same name as Seo-jun! 30% discount!]

[Looking for someone who is 12 years old like Seo-jun (age 12), toy discount!]

[Bring your SAT ticket! Looking for high school seniors named Seo-jun! 70% discount!]

Not only that, but the television stations also aired programs about Seo-jun during prime time after the awards ceremony.

[KBC, Actor Seo-jun Special, The Royal Physician Rebroadcast Decided!]

[MBS, Golden Globe Awards, Rebroadcast!]

[WNET, 48 Hours Rebroadcast Decided!]

[OCM, Academy Awards Rebroadcast!]

-Wow. Did the broadcasters coordinate? The times are all different.

-ㅎㅎIf they overlap, the viewers will scatter. They have to divide it properly to get the highest ratings.

=[Seo-jun’s Broadcast Order] I made a timetable!

=Thanks. Now it’s time for… The Royal Physician!

-By the amount, The Royal Physician seems to be the most aired, but by freshness, it’s the Golden Globe and the Academy.

-True. It’s still fun to watch, but I’ve seen The Royal Physician a lot (more than ten times ㅎ)

=I memorized all the lines ㅋㅋ

-The Golden Globe, Seo-jun flinching was so cute. The Academy Awards, Seo-jun’s eyes turning red was also cute!

=2222 Why are the awards so fun ㅋㅋ

-Both awards were edited to focus on Seo-jun, which was so nice ㅎㅎ There are so many cute moments to watch ㅎ

-I love how the Rainbow child actors hold hands tightly ㅠ

-The downside is that there are also a lot of ads.

-(Breaking news) The Royal Physician episode 5 is airing! The Great Mama appears!

=I’m going to watch!

While several broadcasters were enjoying the festival while sucking in ratings and advertising fees, there was one quiet broadcaster alone.

It was SBC. The only video they could send out related to Seo-jun was ‘WTV Film Festival Award Interview’. SBC had no choice but to watch the other broadcasters who were enjoying the festival with tears in their eyes.

***

Seo-jun returned to Korea.

There were a lot of people, but thanks to the preparations made by Cocoa Entertainment and the airport, Seo-jun was able to leave the airport after giving a brief greeting to the people beyond the fence.

‘The flower scent helped too.’

Seo-jun touched his wrist with the pattern of the ability that filled the airport with flower scent.

“I thought there would be a lot of people, but it was less than I expected.”

“Me too. I thought we had to go out through the back door.”

Seo-jun and Da Ho nodded at the couple’s words.

Seo Eun-chan, who was holding the steering wheel, smiled and said.

“If you had returned right after the awards ceremony, it would have been a mess with all the excited people. It was really crazy for these five days. There were discounts everywhere, movies and dramas that Seo-jun appeared in were on television, how many times did they show the awards scenes? We got a lot of calls at the company. A lot of fans came too.”

Cocoa Entertainment staff and Seo Eun-chan worked hard.

They would have given up in two days if it weren’t for the bonus and vacation that Seo Eun-chan promised.

Seo Eun-chan continued.

“People get used to happy things after a while. They calm down a little bit over time. The people who said they would come to the airport also calmed down one by one and there were fewer people who really came.”

“Really?”

“That will change again when they hear that Seo-jun came to Korea, but it won’t be as bad as a few days ago.”

Seo Eun-chan made a sad face.

“It has to be. It’s too hard.”

They all laughed at Seo Eun-chan’s words.

[Korea’s first and youngest Golden Globe and Academy Award winner for Best Actor! Superstar Seo-jun returns!]

[Actor Seo-jun returns! The airport is full of welcoming crowds!]

[Actor Seo-jun leaves after a short speech!]

[Actor Seo-jun, “Thank you for your support!”]

[“I got this award!” Actor Seo-jun shaking his Oscar trophy!]

-Seo-jun’s modifier is too long ㅋㅋ

=There’s nothing to take out ㅎ

-He’s like my daughter ㅋㅋ Mom I got an award!!!

=222 Seo-jun is so cute!!

After resting for two days without doing anything, Seo-jun decided to enjoy his winter vacation.

“Subin! Eun-su!”

“Seo-jun hyung!”

“Aang!”

“Cute!”

They ignored uncle Hee-sang and ran over.

Subin was also cute, and Eun-su who held uncle Chan’s hand and walked hard was also cute.

Seo-jun quickly ran over and picked up Subin.

Subin was so happy to see his hyung after a long time that he screamed.

Eun-su also walked hard holding her dad’s hand.

She was slow, but she walked diligently.

“Dadu!”

“My Eun-su is here too!”

Seo-jun laughed and hugged Subin and Eun-su tightly.

He giggled at their warm body temperature.

My siblings are so cute! Super cute!

“Do you want to play with Lich King today? Or Twin Head Ogre?”

“Lich King good!”

“Eeng!”

“As expected, both of you like Lich King!”

When Seo-jun handed them a skull doll, Subin and Eun-su’s eyes sparkled.

They would fight over the one doll, so Hee Sang quickly took out a skull doll from his bag and gave it to Seo-jun.

Seo-jun gave two Lich dolls to Subin and Eun-su.

“Good!”

“Dadu!”

The sight of the children hugging the Lich King dolls reminded Seo Eun-chan, Hee-sang, and Min-jun of Seo-jun’s old days. They laughed out loud.

“SBC?”

“Yeah.”

Subin and Eun-su played hard with their favorite brother and uncle, and fell asleep first.

They still smiled in their sleep.

They looked really happy.

Seo-jun smiled and covered Subin and Eun-su with warm blankets.

While Min-jun and Hee-sang talked about work, Seo-jun also talked to Seo Eun-chan.

“They really asked for it. Everyone else aired Seo-jun specials, but only SBC was missing.”

Seo-jun blinked at Seo Eun-chan’s words. Seo Eun-chan explained in detail.

“After the awards ceremony, KBC aired The Royal Physician, MBS aired the Golden Globe, OCM aired the Academy and the movies that Seo-jun was in, WNET aired 48 Hours. MBS was a bit vague, but they had good ratings. They all had a lot of ads too. Only SBC was left out.”

It was a festival for everyone.

And SBC sensed that it wouldn’t be just once or twice.

They could tell by looking at WNET, which squeezed out ‘Brown Black and Jun’s 48 Hours’ as much as they could.

They never expected to air ‘48 Hours’ even after 10 years.

Actor Seo-jun’s past materials became assets as he grew bigger.

They had to have more or at least as much as the other broadcasters.

But they couldn’t pressure him either.

If actor Seo-jun boycotted SBC, they would lose all the ratings, ads, and revenues that were guaranteed by Seo-jun’s appearance.

Seo-jun was only 13 years old.

Who knew if that boycott would last for ten years, twenty years.

Or even more… It was so far-fetched that SBC had no choice but to wait for an answer while offering the best conditions.

“Right now, the plan is to do one variety show and the rest are interviews. But it’s hard to decide.”

The interview at the WTV Film Festival was done with all three terrestrial broadcasters, and the interviews for this awards ceremony were being coordinated by Cocoa Entertainment since Seo-jun was in America.

All the broadcasters wanted a longer broadcast than a short interview, so they were earnestly negotiating.

“SBC has the best conditions.”

“Variety show…”

Seo-jun nodded his head.

He had talked with his mom and dad and his friends about fun variety shows.

He didn’t mind it.

Seo-jun nodded his head.

Of course, he had to choose carefully what kind of show it was.

“Is there anything specific?”

Seo Eun-chan handed Seo-jun a piece of paper.

“The team 2 staff picked out some variety shows that Seo-jun could do. You can choose from here or if you have something else in mind, you can do that too. Something that Seo-jun can enjoy.”

As always, Seo Eun-chan was on Seo-jun’s side.

“Hmm. What would be good? If it was a movie or a drama, I could just pick what I like, but variety show… It’s hard!”

Seo-jun read down the list.

There were variety shows from SBC as well as other broadcasters and cable channels.

‘I’ve seen this one. It was fun… This one was boring. This one was fun too, and this one is okay.’

Unlike scripts or synopses that he could decide quickly, Seo-jun was troubled. Variety shows could be fun in one episode and boring in another.

They didn’t have a story like movies or dramas.

Hmm.

Seo-jun looked up at Seo Eun-chan while reading the list carefully.

“Uncle. They all look good?”

“It doesn’t have to be SBC. You can think about other channels too.”

If SBC heard him say that so casually, they would have collapsed while holding their crotches.

“Okay. I got it!”

At Seo Eun-chan’s words, Seo-jun read the list again slowly.

Seo Eun-chan thought it would take some time for Seo-jun to decide.

But the decision came sooner than expected.

Chapter 135

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Chapter 135

The next day, Seo Eun-chan received a call from Seo-jun.

“Working Man?”

-Yes!

Seo Eun-chan blinked his eyes as he answered the phone.

Working Man was a SBC variety show where eight members and guests formed teams and cleared games prepared by the production team one by one.

“Suddenly?”

Wasn’t it Seo-jun who was worried all day yesterday?

He made a decision so suddenly?

Seo-jun’s voice, full of laughter, answered Seo Eun-chan’s question.

-I asked my friends, and they said it was fun. They said they wanted to try playing games. They can’t do it, so they said it would be nice if I did.

Aha.

Seo Eun-chan scratched his cheek.

‘Friends…’

As he spent more and more time at school than at home, and as he wanted his own world more and more, Seo-jun would be influenced by his friends a lot.

Seo Eun-chan was like that, and so was Seo Eun-hye.

When they were students, everyone tended to trust and rely on their friends’ words more than anyone else’s.

It was not strange that he decided to appear on this variety show after listening to his friends’ words.

It was not a serious matter like a drama or a movie, but just a one-time variety show.

‘Seo-jun is unusual though.’

When child actors choose their works, their parents or teachers’ opinions were reflected a lot.

It was because they could not choose good works yet.

But Seo-jun was different.

He picked out the stories he liked from among the many scenarios.

Seo Eun-chan fell into thought.

Would his friends influence Seo-jun’s choice of work?

Would Seo-jun make a different choice because of his friends’ requests or words?

‘No.’

Seo-jun wouldn’t do that.

He was a child who would not do the works of famous directors or writers if he didn’t like them.

Two years ago, he said he didn’t like the synopsis of ‘Evil Spirit’, directed by Choi Dae-man, the best director.

-Uncle?

Seo-jun’s voice brought Seo Eun-chan back to reality.

“What do you think? Do you want to do it?”

Did his nephew know his uncle’s complicated feelings or not?

The thirteen-year-old nephew answered happily.

-Yes. I want to do it. It sounds fun to play games!

“Then, okay. I’ll let Da Ho know as soon as the schedule is set.”

-Okay!

***

A noisy coin karaoke room.

The kids who occupied one room looked at Seo-jun quietly talking on the phone.

Seo-jun hung up the phone after talking to his uncle and said.

“I decided to do Working Man.”

“We recommended it, but can you decide so quickly?”

“Yeah. It’s work, you know. Wouldn’t it be better to think about other shows too?”

Ji-woo asked while eating snacks.

Ji-ho, Mina, and Ji-yoon nodded in agreement.

They answered because Seo-jun asked them, but they didn’t expect it to be decided right away.

They were either amazed by Seo-jun’s execution or blamed his agency for accepting it so easily.

The kids were suddenly scared that their recommendations would influence Seo-jun’s appearance.

What if something went wrong?

Their feelings showed on their faces.

Seo-jun noticed that and sighed with a big gesture.

It seemed like he had embraced all the worries of the world with that sigh.

“If it was a drama or a movie, I could decide by myself, but it’s a variety show, so I’m asking you guys. It’s easy to choose a work to act in. I just have to find what I want to do… But I don’t know about variety shows. I’m really grateful that you guys are helping me.”

Maybe his appearance worked well, or the relieved friends smiled brightly.

“Really? Then I’m glad.”

Ji-ho jumped up.

“Are we done with everything? Then let’s have fun! Who wants to sing first?”

“Me!”

Seo-jun raised his hand quickly.

He took the microphone from Ji-ho and put in a coin and pressed the number familiarly.

The title and singer of the song appeared on the karaoke machine screen.

[Spark-Brown Black]

Seo-jun held the microphone.

“Seo-jun really likes BrBl songs.”

“He also sings White songs often.”

“Is it because they are from the same agency?”

“Maybe. But isn’t it amazing?”

They looked at Seo-jun who was singing hard with the microphone and Mina said with a smile.

“Who would think that there is a Hollywood star in a coin karaoke room?”

Ji-yoon who was shaking the tambourine, Ji-ho and Ji-woo who were looking for the next song to sing also burst into laughter.

“Maybe Seo-jun’s bodyguards know.”

“They must have come today, right? But I don’t know who the bodyguards are.”

“They say there is a way to protect like that. Hiding among ordinary people and protecting them.”

“I’m done singing. Who’s next?”

“Me!”

Ji-ho jumped up and took the microphone from Seo-jun.

Starting with Ji-ho, the kids started singing hard in turn.

***

“What?”

Park Young-jin, who stepped into the Eunha-su Center for the filming of Working Man, blinked his eyes.

Despite the cold winter, he felt the atmosphere of the production team that was excited as if they felt the spring sunshine.

“PD Jeon. Who is the guest today?”

“It’s a secret.”

That was the answer that PD Jeon Min-jae of [Working Man?!] gave to Park Young-jin’s question with a smile.

Usually, he would give a subtle hint, but today, everyone was tight-lipped.

Park Young-jin scratched his head.

One by one, the Working Man members arrived.

They also noticed the strange atmosphere of the production team.

“Is it a female guest?”

“Or a male guest?”

It must be because of the guest, but unlike usual, they couldn’t even guess the gender.

Because both the male and female staff were excited.

How could they like someone so diverse?

Question marks appeared endlessly over the heads of the Working Man members.

Amidst such confusion, the shooting preparation was smoothly completed.

The staff of Working Man ran around in the lobby of the Milky Way Center to prepare for the opening shoot.

Among them, Ahn Da Ho and Cocoa Entertainment’s second team staff were looking at one person from a distance.

A staff member wearing a black hat was moving props, delivering messages, and carrying light loads here and there.

He seemed to have worked here for years, avoiding the paths of other staff members and moving around well.

“Team leader. Has Seo-jun ever done this kind of work?”

“…Of course not.”

He didn’t seem to have any experience, but he easily blended in with the production team.

The busy staff members also unknowingly gave him tasks because he looked so natural.

“Can you hold this for me?”

“Yes!”

Ahn Da Ho and the second team staff sighed as they watched Seo-jun run towards the writers.

“We should call him if he goes near the machines or wires, right?”

“Yes. Let’s watch him a little more.”

Seo-jun moved his feet quickly to find a sketchbook among the props, not knowing or caring about Ahn Da Ho and the second team staff’s gaze.

When everything was ready, the assistant director shouted loudly.

“Then we will start shooting Working Man!”

The opening of [Working Man?!] began with Park Young-jin as the center.

As usual, they exchanged small talk and listened to PD’s game explanation.

“Today is a mystery special.”

“Mystery? Is it a murder case?”

“It’s a theft case.”

“Wait, what about the guest?”

“Today’s guest will appear in a video.”

Everyone’s eyes widened at PD’s words.

Video?

But why were they all so excited?

“Something is weird.”

“That’s right. Maybe there’s a spy or a hidden mission.”

“Is it you? You’re the spy, right?”

“No way!”

As usual, the Working Man members started to gang up on each other.

“Well, we don’t have much time for shooting today, so please focus everyone.”

“That’s why. The shooting time is reduced and something is weird?”

Despite the suspicions of the Working Man members, PD only said what he had to say.

The shooting time given to Working Man was short because of the guest’s age.

Squeeze it out and dry it!

The eyes of the staff who expected a ratings explosion sparkled.

“The reason why we gathered you detectives today is because a superstar’s trophy has disappeared. We received a request that you must find it. And we also received a tip that the culprit is hiding among you.”

“Superstar? Is it PD Maknae in disguise again?”

“Can’t we just give him a gold badge instead of a trophy? The price of gold has gone up lately.”

“As expected, it’s you, right? Gotcha! You’re the culprit!”

Even amidst the noise, PD Jeon smiled faintly and continued.

“Then let me introduce you to the client.”

The staff member in the black hat pressed the remote switch at PD Jeon’s words.

A television set up in the corner turned on, and a desk and chair appeared on the screen.

The chair was facing backwards, so only the back of the chair was visible.

“Why can’t we just see his face?”

“That’s right. Why do they have to prepare like this?”

The chair moved slowly. And ‘Over The Rainbow’ played.

“…?”

The Working Man members stared blankly at the screen, waiting for PD Maknae to appear in a wig.

A brief cognitive dissonance occurred.

“Why are you here?”

They even spoke to their opponent in the television who wouldn’t hear them.

They were frozen.

A young voice came from inside.

[Hello. I’m Lee Seo-jun.]

The superstar who smiled like sunshine, Hollywood star. Lee Seo-jun was sitting there.

“What!? It hasn’t even been two weeks since the awards ceremony ended!”

“Is that really Lee Seo-jun? Is it someone in disguise?”

“…Sister, can you do that with makeup?”

“No way.”

[It’s nice to meet you detectives.]

“…Wow. It’s really Lee Seo-jun.”

The Working Man members who were making a fuss quietly looked at the screen.

The cameras of the members captured every reaction of the Working Man members.

Among them, there was a camera that was watching the staff member in the black hat.

The client on the screen, superstar Lee Seo-jun, made a gloomy expression and opened his mouth.

They all groaned at his realistic acting.

[I heard that my trophy that I sent to Korea yesterday has disappeared. It’s my first Oscar trophy, and I really want to find it, so I decided to ask you detectives for help. Please work together and find my trophy!]

The video ended and the staff member in the black hat turned off the television.

PD Jeon Min-jae, who was smiling brightly at the stunned Working Man members, opened his mouth.

“Yes. The Oscar trophy of actor Lee Seo-jun, the superstar, has disappeared. The trophy that you detectives have to find is this one.”

The staff member in the black hat brought a box.

The Working Man members looked at the box with disbelief.

The box opened and a shiny gold trophy appeared.

A human-like trophy, an Oscar trophy.

They all opened their mouths, but couldn’t say anything.

In the long silence, Park Young-jin was the first to speak.

“Wow. What a surprise. They really invited a superstar.”

With that, the Working Man members started to spill out various stories.

They said they watched the awards ceremony rerun several times, they knew he would win, they would have cut out PD Maknae if it was usual, but in other words, the shooting time requested by Cocoa Enter was short.

“Then now, we will pick the culprit who stole the Oscar trophy. The culprit must hide the trophy well.”

“Ah, you haven’t picked the culprit yet?”

“I’m not the culprit!”

“…Wait a minute. PD Jeon. That trophy is made by the production team, right?”

At Park Young-jin’s question, the other Working Man members raised their hands and laughed.

“Of course. Do you think they would use the real one here?”

“No, I thought PD Maknae was the superstar, but then the real one showed up. So I thought the trophy might be…”

At Park Young-jin’s words, PDs, writers, and staff laughed awkwardly.

There was a reason why the staff member in the black hat brought the box with the trophy among many staff members.

He was the only one who had the courage to touch it.

‘What if I drop it by mistake…’

It gave him chills just thinking about it.

“Unfortunately…”

“Unfortunately?”

“It’s real!”

It’s real!

It’s real, real, real… As if echoing, PD’s voice sounded and screams of Working Man members were heard.

“Are you crazy, production team!?”

“No way, it’s a real Oscar trophy!?”

“What are you going to do if you break it while hiding it!? You’re crazy!?”

“We’re going to put a lot of cushioning materials in it now. And this is not something you have to run with, it’s a treasure hunt. It’s okay as long as you’re careful when hiding and finding it.”

The Working Man members shouted even at PD’s words.

“The whole world will curse us!”

“I didn’t plan to make a name for myself in the world like this!”

The Working Man members resisted, but PD continued his words.

He couldn’t miss this jackpot.

It was already reported to the higher-ups.

“There are eight detective offices prepared from number one to eight. The culprit’s room has an Oscar trophy in it. The culprit must hide the real Oscar trophy very carefully.”

The Working Man members followed the staff member in the black hat to where there were eight offices.

“Just not me. Just not me. Just not me!”

“Didn’t that trophy look too weak earlier, bro? It looked like it would break if you dropped it slightly.”

“Well, as PD said, it’s just hiding. I think it’ll be fine if I just secure it well.”

“Right? This is not something you have to catch, but a treasure hunt.”

“We just have to catch the culprit.”

“Just confess if you’re the culprit. Isn’t it harder for the culprit who hides the Oscar trophy than the detective who finds it?”

“That would be nice.”

They said that, but they were sure to hide it hard for shooting.

The eight Working Man members decided on their numbers and stood in front of their office doors.

‘Please don’t be me!’

He grabbed the doorknob with a stiff face and opened the door.

Chapter 136

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Chapter 136

After the Working Man went into the office, the staff started to clean up the Milky Way Center lobby where they had filmed the opening.

Only the staff in charge of the machines like the lights could handle them, so there was nothing to do for them, but anyone could easily do simple errands or tidying up.

The staff began to take care of the things they had left behind while preparing for the opening.

Seo-jun, who had pulled his black hat down low, also lent a hand.

Anh Da Ho laughed at the sight of Seo-jun moving along with the other staff, without any sense of incongruity.

It was because he could feel Seo-jun’s joy.

He was very good at acting, so he would be more comfortable than anyone else in hiding and embellishing his emotions in everyday life, but Seo-jun’s heart was surprisingly easy to read.

When he did something he liked, Seo-jun’s mood became warm and cozy. His eyes sparkled and his complexion brightened.

It was the same now.

He hid his figure with a bulky padding and put insoles in his shoes to make himself taller.

He wore a black hat that made him look like just one of the staff.

Even though he was wrapped up like that, Seo-jun’s surroundings seemed to be full of joy.

‘The production team doesn’t seem to know…’

Anh Da Ho looked around.

Only he and Seo-jun, who were familiar with Seo-jun, and the team 2 staff and Seo-jun’s cameraman, who had been watching only Seo-jun, seemed to feel Seo-jun’s presence.

‘Maybe, because it’s a variety show, he wants to show his presence, but he also wants to act well as a staff member, so he’s acting moderately weak…’

The problem was that ‘moderately weak’ was Seo-jun’s standard.

If you kept looking at him knowing he was Seo-jun, he looked just like Seo-jun, but if you missed him or didn’t recognize him, he was just staff 1.

‘I’ll have to tell him to tone it down.’

He didn’t want to say it now because Seo-jun looked so excited, so Anh Da Ho decided to tell him when the cleaning was all done.

As Anh Da Ho thought, Seo-jun enjoyed being a staff member.

He smiled as he collected and neatly arranged the sketchbooks.

Seo-jun had been excited since the Working Man meeting.

He was thrilled by the production team’s words that he would disguise himself as a staff member and deceive the Working Man.

He thought of his first life and his heart started pounding.

‘A staff member…’

He was an extra actor in his first life.

He had a hard time making a living by just doing extra acting, so he also did staff work for the works he appeared in.

That was written in his first life’s book.

He must have done staff work for a long time as well as acting.

He felt a familiar feeling when he entered the Working Man set.

He felt like he could handle the lights, the jib crane, and the camera well.

He wanted to touch the installed lighting machine, tidy up the wires that were connected here and there, and put the camera in a better angle.

‘That’s not how you do that…’

He wanted to touch everything, and his hands were itching.

But Seo-jun didn’t forget that he was a guest.

‘Anh Da Ho hyung wouldn’t let me touch anything dangerous.’

Seo-jun obediently acted like a staff member and helped out with small things.

He didn’t forget to look at his camera and Anh Da Ho hyung from time to time.

‘Everyone is getting used to it quickly?’

He tilted his head as he handed over a black marker pen to the writer who asked for it.

The production team was different from a few days ago at the meeting.

They were startled every time their eyes met with Seo-jun then.

He thought they would be like that today too.

If they were so surprised, they would reveal that he was a spy.

But they all treated Seo-jun comfortably.

As if he had really become a staff member.

‘That’s good. It’ll be easier to fool them.’

Seo-jun didn’t realize that it was because of his ‘staff acting’ that the production team felt he was a real staff member and smiled.

When the cleaning of the Milky Way Center lobby was over, Anh Da Ho called Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun.”

“Yes?”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes at Anh Da Ho’s call as he moved his luggage and skillfully shook his hands.

“You’re here as a guest right now. You’re disguising yourself as a staff member, not becoming one.”

“Huh? Yes. I know that. That’s why I looked at the camera a lot…”

Unlike dramas or movies where you shouldn’t look at the camera, you had to look at the camera all the time in variety shows.

It was awkward at first, but he soon got used to it.

He also looked at the camera while doing staff work.

Anh Da Ho smiled at Seo-jun, who tilted his head.

“Your acting was too strong.”

“Strong?”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes.

While Seo-jun and Anh Da Ho were talking, Seo-jun’s cameraman told PD Jeon Min-jae about the strange and natural joining of Seo-jun.

PD Jeon and the staff who heard the story during the shooting also raised their heads and looked at Seo-jun.

Seo-jun’s black hat caught their eye.

Black hat!

The staff who had asked the black hat staff to do something gasped.

Come to think of it, he wasn’t our staff, he was Lee Seo-jun!

They knew he was Lee Seo-jun when they showed the trophy to the members, but they thought he was just staff 1 now.

As if they had woken up from hypnosis, they all looked at Seo-jun and Anh Da Ho with shocked faces.

The manager of Hollywood actor Lee Seo-jun spoke.

“You acted stronger than you thought. They all thought you were a real staff member.”

Acting…?

The PD, writer, and staff widened their eyes.

That natural look that seemed like he had been working in this field for years was acting?

“Ah, I see. I’ll have to tone it down then. I thought this was enough, but I guess not.”

The production team lost their words at Seo-jun’s answer.

They thought his on and off acting was amazing, but when they experienced it firsthand, they understood why they couldn’t recognize Lee Seo-jun at the busking.

Besides, the production team already knew that Lee Seo-jun would disguise himself as a staff member.

Of course, unlike the busking where they were just watching, the production team was busy preparing for the shooting.

‘But he was right next to me…’

The production team looked at the actor, Lee Seo-jun, who was talking to his manager, with astonished eyes.

“And it’s good that you’re helping out, but don’t touch the machines that are dangerous. You can only move light props and stuff like that. Got it?”

“Yes!”

He looked like his age when he was just talking, but…

‘This kind of acting skill…’

The modifier of Lee Seo-jun, the youngest Oscar winner, weighed heavily on the production team.

While everyone was admiring him, PD Jeon Min-jae remembered something.

His face turned pale.

“Camera!”

“Huh?”

“Nobody recognized Lee Seo-jun at the busking!”

“…!”

The startled production team rewound the video.

Fortunately, Lee Seo-jun was clearly captured by his cameraman.

His cute face smiling and looking at the camera from time to time.

But Lee Seo-jun in the other cameras was ambiguous.

On the side where the production team was gathered, a staff member wearing a black hat was moving around among the staff who were moving here and there.

“Is that Seo-jun?”

“If you know he’s Lee Seo-jun, he looks like Lee Seo-jun, but if you don’t know, you’d think he’s just a staff member.”

“That’s true. The viewers won’t pay much attention to the staff’s faces.”

“We’ll have to use only the scenes filmed by his cameraman for the front part.”

Leaving the first game to the assistant director, PD Jeon and the writers put their heads together.

“But what if they don’t recognize him at all?”

“That’s true. It would be nice to film their reactions when they find out it’s Lee Seo-jun, or play games with him, but…”

“We have to reveal his identity to do that. We didn’t assume that Lee Seo-jun wouldn’t be recognized in our plan.”

“We didn’t know he would do so well.”

PD Jeon and the writers sighed.

They had asked him to run errands as a guest.

The main writer opened his mouth as he kept rewinding the video and thinking.

“But this could be good in its own way.”

“How so?”

“Let’s fool the viewers too.”

“?”

“Find Willy, Lee Seo-jun edition. Of course, this is enough with what we’ve filmed so far. It would be a disaster if the viewers couldn’t recognize him even though he appeared. We’ll have to ask him to tone down his acting from the next filming.”

Everyone nodded at the main writer’s words.

Find Willy was a pretty fitting title.

“I thought about it too, let’s adjust the difficulty of the mission.”

“Adjust as in… make it harder?”

“Yeah. The current mission seems impossible to fail.”

“That’s fine too, but if they’re all hard, the viewers might complain?”

“We’re only adding three more missions to the current ones. It’s luck to draw a mission. There’s no way they’ll get those three out of all those easy ones.”

“That sounds reasonable.”

The production team’s meeting was short.

PD Jeon called Seo-jun and Anh Da Ho.

“We’re going to change it like this, is that okay?”

Anh Da Ho looked at Seo-jun. Seo-jun nodded his head.

“That’s fine! It sounds fun!”

“Please only fool the members. The viewers should be able to see Seo-jun well.”

“Yes. I’ll tone it down.”

Seo-jun answered cheerfully at PD Jeon’s words.

Fooling the members and letting the viewers see well.

‘Tone up and down. That’s hard!’

But a new challenge was always exciting and nerve-wracking.

Seo-jun’s cheeks turned red with excitement.

“PD-nim. They started hiding the trophy after the first game ended.”

At the staff’s words, PD Jeon pushed 10 mission papers in front of Seo-jun.

Seven of them were pre-made missions, and three were high-difficulty missions that were just made.

Seo-jun had to succeed in three missions during today’s filming.

“If you fail a mission, a hint about Seo-jun will be revealed to the members.”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun flipped over one of the 10 mission papers with sparkling eyes.

[Get caught by one of the members’ cameramen]

‘I didn’t expect to get a high-difficulty mission right away.’

Superstar Lee Seo-jun seemed to have bad luck.

“You have to get your face caught by one of the members’ cameramen without revealing your identity. Of course, the member’s face also has to be on camera. It means that both your face and the member’s face have to be in one shot.”

“Wow. That sounds hard.”

“Do you want to draw another mission paper?”

It was his first time, so maybe it was okay? PD Jeon and the production team nodded.

But Seo-jun shook his head.

“No! I think I can do it! I’ll try my best!”

It seemed like it would be really fun, as his friends said.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled as he aimed for his target.

***

After the first game ended, the eight members went into their own offices.

The time that Park Young-jin, the first place winner of the first game, got was 15 minutes.

Park Young-jin sighed as he came out of his office.

He had a light and heavy black bag in his arms.

Park Young-jin had to hide this bag for 15 minutes from now on.

“I’m the culprit!”

He looked depressed and frustrated as he held the bag very preciously.

There was nothing but a trophy, a cushion, and a box in the bag, but it felt heavier than anything else.

He carefully held the bag in his arms and moved his steps.

Park Young-jin’s cameraman walked behind him, filming Park Young-jin’s face full of the camera screen.

“Let’s hide it in the safest place. A safe place.”

He was looking for a place to hide the trophy when he suddenly turned around.

There was no one behind him.

“Huh? I thought there was something…”

He blinked his eyes a few times and hid the bag under the seats of the auditorium.

“C14. C14.”

He memorized the seat number so he could find it later and hurried to his office.

Chapter 137

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Chapter 137

The third game ended and the hint for the location of the trophy was revealed.

The culprit, Park Young-jin, who was holding his bag preciously to move the trophy to another place, ran into Jung-hoon, who suddenly appeared in front of him in the hallway.

“!”

Park Young-jin turned around to run away as soon as he saw Jung-hoon.

If Jung-hoon didn’t have a bag in his arms, that is.

Jung-hoon, who also tried to run away after seeing Park Young-jin, stopped his movement when he saw the bag that Park Young-jin was holding.

“Huh? Why do you have that bag, Young-jin hyung?”

“Jung-hoon, you… why?”

They looked at each other’s bags.

The bags had the same color, shape, and size.

“…!”

The two opened their bags.

They opened the boxes inside the bags and took out something wrapped in bubble wrap.

Trophies, two identical Oscar trophies. They didn’t know which one was real and which one was fake.

“I knew it! It was weird! The hints were different! I left mine on the bookshelf! Ugh, the production team, really! I was so surprised when I thought it was the real trophy! Ugh!!”

While Jung-hoon was making a fuss, Park Young-jin was lost in thought.

So that presence was not his imagination.

“Jung-hoon, did you not feel someone following you? I felt like something was following me all the time.”

“Huh? You felt it too, hyung? Me too. But they hid so fast that I couldn’t find them. I only saw the staff.”

Park Young-jin and Jung-hoon lowered their voices.

“…A spy?”

“…Seems like it.”

***

All the games that could give hints were over and it was time to find the trophy and the culprit.

“Then, from now on, please find the Oscar trophy and the culprit within an hour. The hint for the culprit is in the building. After an hour, please put the Oscar trophy on this table in the lobby on the first floor…”

The PD pointed to a table with a [W] mark on it.

“And write down the name of the culprit here. You only have one chance.”

The PD handed over an envelope. It looked similar to the envelope with the name of the winner at the Academy Awards.

“Then, race start!”

[01:00:00]

[00:59:59]

The red digital clock started ticking.

The six members excluding Park Young-jin and Jung-hoon tried to scatter while watching each other.

Park Young-jin opened his mouth.

“Are you all culprits?”

“What, what? Hyung, what are you talking about?”

“What do you mean? There’s only one culprit, right?”

At Park Young-jin’s words, the members pretended to be innocent and then realized the strange points so far.

They were all too flustered.

As if they were the culprits themselves.

“I have a trophy.”

Park Young-jin brought out the bag he had hidden nearby.

Jung-hoon did the same.

The six members were shocked by the appearance of two Oscar trophies.

“Why do you have that, hyung?”

“Wait, then does that mean our trophies were fake!?”

Fake!

At that word, some of the members collapsed as if their legs gave out.

“Crazy! I almost cried when I saw the trophy in my office!”

“Fake… it was fake! Thank goodness!”

“Yeah, right. Who would trust them to leave a real trophy here.”

Seeing the members who were genuinely relieved, Park Young-jin continued his words.

“But didn’t you feel someone around?”

At that, the six members shuddered.

They had felt a presence when they were hiding their trophies.

“…You felt it too, oppa?”

“Noona too?”

“Yeah. There’s someone else besides us. I think we have to find that spy.”

Spy.

The eyes of Working Man members sparkled.

“Maybe what came out as hints for the game were the locations of the real trophy.”

“Then let’s split up like this: four of us will look for the trophy and four of us will look for the spy.”

“Who do you think is the spy?”

“It must be someone related to Seo-jun since he came out. Actor Lee Ji-seok, actor Park Do-hoon, actor Kim Jong-ho… why are you looking at me?”

The members looked at Jung-hoon incredulously.

“Seo-jun? You’re close with Seo-jun?”

“I have a strong inner bond with him! I’ve been part of [Sprout] fancafe since season 3!”

“Hehehe. Season 3? I’m from season 1! What’s season 3? Cameo in Reinvestigation, Spring play, fan meeting… wait. Here?”

Choi Sohee, a season 1 fan who joined the [Sprout] fancafe after seeing ‘William’, proudly continued her words and looked around.

“Why? Why?”

They all followed Choi Sohee’s gaze. There was nothing there?

“This is the Milky Way Center! Where they performed the children’s play Spring!”

“Oh, oh. That’s right.”

“I thought we came here because it was Seo-jun’s special, but the guest was the child actor who appeared in Spring, right?”

“That’s possible! Wait, who was it?”

“Actor Lee Da-jin, actor Choi So-yeong…”

Choi Sohee listed the names one by one with her fingers. The members were speechless at her amazing fan knowledge.

“…Do you know them all?”

“Of course. I’ve watched the fan meeting and the play so many times! Oh, of course on DVD. I found out about the performance after it was over.”

“Then who do you think has a high chance?”

“Actor Lee Da-jin is filming a movie these days…”

“He came out to promote his movie!”

The members’ eyes lit up at Choi Sohee’s words.

“There are 50 minutes left.”

“Let’s go!!”

The Working Man members left the practice room at the PD’s words.

A moment later, when it seemed like the footsteps of the members had faded away, Seo-jun opened his mouth.

“They’re good at deducing.”

“I almost slipped up. And I have bad eyesight too. And Seo-jun is right here.”

Seo-jun, who was sitting with the writers, smiled at the main writer’s words.

Seo-jun had been sitting with the writers since the members entered the practice room that was decorated as a shooting location.

“Then, Seo-jun, you have to choose the last mission too, right?”

“Yes.”

At the PD’s words, Seo-jun sat down in front of the table that was prepared next to where the members had been standing until a while ago.

PD Jeon Min-jae placed eight mission papers in front of Seo-jun.

“This is the last mission. Please choose one.”

Seo-jun carefully looked at the eight mission papers.

According to PD Jeon’s words, both the first and second missions were high-difficulty missions that he had chosen today.

Seo-jun carefully looked at the mission papers and flipped over one of them.

[Group photo with Working Man members.]

It was this one no matter what he chose.

The production team’s expressions showed that clearly.

He had succeeded in both the first and second missions, but the third mission was hard to succeed.

“This is good too. Who would have thought that superstar Lee Seo-jun would be, um, unlucky.”

“Right? How did he pick three hard ones out of ten?”

“Seo-jun seems to have bad luck.”

Ahn Da Ho smiled quietly as he heard the staff’s words.

‘Luck is relative, and Seo-jun is lucky.’

Luck was on Seo-jun’s side this time too.

The harder the mission was, the brighter Seo-jun’s face became.

It was a face that was so excited and happy.

It seemed like luck responded to Seo-jun’s interest rather than the outcome of the mission.

“All you have to do is get in one shot with eight members and Seo-jun gun. It doesn’t matter what camera you use.”

“Do we have to show our faces?”

“At least four faces have to be captured. And Seo-jun’s face has to be in it for sure.”

“That’s really hard!”

He said that, but Seo-jun looked like he was having a blast.

The production team wondered for a moment.

Could he succeed this time too?

Seo-jun, who received the mission, left the practice room with the cameraman.

Seo-jun stood still in his place and looked around.

Where did they go?

Seo-jun activated his ability.

[(Line)Sandfish’s Vibration Detection-Low Level is activated.]

[(Line)Sandfish’s Vibration Detection-Low Level]

It is a desert fish that lives by eating sand.

To avoid becoming prey, it has developed an ability to detect the movement of living things.

The longer you search, the more detailed you can sense the movement of your opponent.

Sandfish, a low-level monster of the desert monster system, had no attack skills either.

Only evasion, escape.

That’s why Seo-jun chose this ability.

Thanks to this ability, he had avoided trouble so far.

But he didn’t expect to chase after the members now.

Ten seconds passed and a map was drawn in Seo-jun’s head.

The short search time showed only blurry dots.

But that was enough for now.

Because they were not living things, the shape of the building did not appear, but he could see the movement of living things floating in mid-air.

‘Members and cameramen, staff…’

Unlike before, there were dots moving around here and there without hesitation. Seo-jun chuckled softly.

‘It means they formed a group.’

He had seen it many times before, when low-level monsters gathered together and attacked stronger monsters than themselves.

And he also knew how to deal with those low-level monsters.

Attack them separately and destroy them, or dig a trap and wait.

“I heard it secretly, no, right in front of me, so openly, but it seems like everyone is moving hard.”

Seo-jun said to the viewers across the camera.

He felt a bit more comfortable with the entertainment camera now.

“How much time is left?”

“45 minutes.”

“That’s enough.”

Seo-jun went to check on the trophy he had hidden first.

The staff member of Team 2 who was managing the hidden Oscar trophy waved his hand happily when he saw Seo-jun. Seo-jun waved back.

“It seems like they haven’t found the trophy yet.”

Seo-jun moved his steps after checking the location of the members with vibration detection.

It was fun as his friends said. It felt like he had gone back to the time when he lived as a monster, chasing and being chased, and his wildness that had occupied most of his previous life was stirring.

His heart was pounding with excitement.

“Since the mission is a group photo, I think I have to gather the members in one place.”

He would have chased them down with vibration detection if there was no mission, but since the mission was what it was, he had to dig a trap.

Seo-jun laughed out loud at his uncontrollable hunting instinct.

***

“There they are!”

Jung-hoon spotted the cameraman.

“Hey! Lee Tae-hoon! The guest in charge cameraman! Lee Tae-hoon!”

He was lucky.

He didn’t see the guest, but he barely caught a glimpse of the back of the guest in charge cameraman.

The spy capture team of four rushed after him.

“Ugh! He’s really fast!”

“He’s good at escaping.”

The members looked around as they gasped for breath.

“Are we going down more?”

“I guess it’s easier to go down than up, so he’s going down.”

“Then do you think he’s already at the bottom?”

“That’s too much. What if he comes up in the middle? Aren’t there kids at the bottom?”

Jung-hoon’s eyes stopped as he looked around. He thought he heard footsteps going down.

“Hyung! Over there! He’s going down!”

At Jung-hoon’s words, they all moved. After following the sound and finding the back of the cameraman and chasing him, they arrived at the lobby on the first floor.

Park Young-jin felt uneasy at the timely chase.

“Don’t you think we’re being lured?”

“Lured?”

“It feels like he’s barely escaping. He was hiding for sure before, but now his back is slightly visible.”

“Come on. Why would a spy lure us? Besides, he seems to be alone, we can win.”

“You want to fight with a student?”

“No! I’m talking about the game! The game!”

“Why do I feel uneasy…”

Park Young-jin scratched his head.

The place where they followed the cameraman down was the lobby where they had filmed the opening.

The spy capture team found the trophy search team wandering around the lobby.

“Oh. Sohee noona. Weren’t you going to look for the trophy?”

“You guys seemed to be chasing the spy down, so I came.”

“We were going to join forces and catch him… but he’s gone?”

At the lobby of the Milky Way Center, eight members gathered.

The production team was also curious about what had happened.

The key to everything must have been in Seo-jun’s hands.

While the Working Man members were talking, Seo-jun, who was hiding, smiled at the backs of the members gathered in one place.

“Gotcha.”

Seo-jun quietly moved his position.

The cameraman followed him.

As he glanced back from time to time and narrowed the distance with the members, Seo-jun nodded his head in satisfaction and looked at the screen.

[(Line)Elf’s Basic Breathing is activated.]

A notification sound that no one could hear rang out.

Line energy burst out from Seo-jun’s body.

Even a faint presence could turn a person’s head, but that intense aura forcibly grabbed the attention of the members and the production team.

They had no choice but to look at that place.

In the eyes of Working Man members, someone’s back was visible there.

And in front of him, the guest in charge cameraman, Lee Tae-hoon, was holding his camera lens towards ‘someone’ and the members.

He had approached them without them knowing, Seo-jun was there with a lot of superstar aura.

Seo-jun smiled brightly at the camera.

“Kimchi!”

With stunned Working Man members as his background, Seo-jun made a victory sign towards the camera.

[00:00:03]

[00:00:02]

[00:00:01]

[00:00:00]

The red digital clock pointed to zero.

Chapter 138

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 138

A noisy barbecue restaurant.

The members of Working Man looked at Seo-jun, who was eating meat with a curious face.

“So, it was Seo-jun who made all that noise?”

“Yes! The second mission was to have a part of his body appear on the cameras of all eight members.”

“Did he succeed?”

“Of course he did! That’s why we couldn’t get any hints! If we had just one hint, we would have known it was Seo-jun right away!”

They were all excited about having dinner with a superstar.

“Am I the first comedian to eat with Seo-jun?”

“Oh, I want to show off the photo I took with Seo-jun! I want to post it on SNS!”

“No, you can’t! We haven’t even planned the promotion yet!”

The PD Jeon Min-jae, who occupied the table next to them, jumped up.

Park Young-jin placed some meat in front of Seo-jun and said.

“Do we really need a separate promotion plan? Just say, uh, Seo-jun is on our show. That’s enough, we don’t need any extra promotion.”

“But this is Seo-jun’s first variety show appearance. I want to do it in a cool way, even if it’s not as grand as Whale Studio!”

At Jeon Min-jae’s words, the noisy restaurant became solemn in an instant.

They remembered the ads that had covered the whole world when they heard the name Whale Studio.

Maybe because they were entertainers and entertainment staff, their mood changed quickly.

Seo-jun smiled and chewed his meat.

“Whale Studio… They were amazing…”

“PD Jeon. Do you have money?”

“No… I don’t.”

“Then just do it normally. If you mention Whale Studio or something, you’ll only invite comparisons.”

“…You’re right.”

After finishing their dinner and wrap-up party, the members and staff of Working Man took a group photo with Seo-jun.

They all thought they would never get a chance to take a photo with this Seo-jun, so the staff worked hard to get into the camera view.

This was something they could brag about for a lifetime.

“Goodbye!”

“Bye, Seo-jun!”

“Come back again!”

As Seo-jun’s car drove away, PD Jeon Min-jae and the writers scolded the staff and members who were giggling while looking at the group photo.

“Until the broadcast! No leaks! SNS is prohibited! Family, friends, acquaintances! Absolutely prohibited! I talk a lot when I drink, so don’t drink if you’re like me!”

“PD Jeon, when is the broadcast?”

“That’s right. We don’t have any episodes left that haven’t aired yet, right?”

“Today’s filming will air next week. Please hold on until then.”

“That soon? What about editing? Won’t it take long?”

The PD and the production team smiled faintly at the members’ questions.

“We’ll have to pull an all-nighter.”

They felt dizzy just thinking about the remaining work.

***

While SBC was biting their lips and dancing with joy over Seo-jun’s variety show appearance, Seo-jun interviewed with KBC and MBS.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun shares his award acceptance speech through KBC!]

[Lee Seo-jun says “Thank you for your support! I won an award!”]

[MBS’s interview with actor Lee Seo-jun hits the ratings jackpot!]

-Ugh. It’s been two weeks, but I still remember that feeling!

-It was amazing to see the Oscar trophy up close.

=222 They didn’t let us touch it

=What if it breaks?

-But… SBC is still… Nothing. Are SBC and Cocoa Entertainment not on good terms?

=I don’t think so. There’s no place that has bad relations with Cocoa Entertainment.

=22 Seo-jun’s uncle is the president of Cocoa Entertainment, and he and Seo-jun are very closeㅋㅋ If they had bad relations with Cocoa Entertainment, Seo-jun would never appear on that channel for life.

=Then why doesn’t he appear on SBC?

=I don’t know.

-I wonder if he’ll rest this year after the award ceremonies in January and February and the broadcast station interviews… I’m sad.

=There’s still more to see [article link]

=Ahhhhhh!

[Assemble 2 to be released worldwide in early April!]

[All heroes gather to save Redbone!]

[Is Assemble 2’s cookie video a prank or real?]

[The meeting of Bell Natra and Shadowman! And the missing Jin Natra!]

[Will Jin Natra’s past be revealed in Assemble 2?!]

[Look forward to Shadowman 3, he said! When?!]

-Release! It’s releasing!!

-I’ve been waiting for this! Really! I’ve watched the trailer N times!!

-I’m curious about Redbone too, but I’m more curious about Jin Natra’s past.

-And Shadowman too. I have a rough idea of what it’s about…

-Omniscient viewer’s point of viewㅎ

-Cookie! Cookie video! If they say something like Assemble 3 this time, I’ll explode. Mar. In. A!

=2222 I want to join too.

-I’m so happy that Seo-jun has been showing up since last fallㅎ He’ll be in this cookie, right?

While people were excited by the news of Assemble 2’s release, the weekend came. On Sunday evening at 6 p.m., SBC’s Sunday variety show [Working Man?!] ended.

Soon, the preview for next week came up.

On a black screen, white captions appeared.

[The superstar’s trophy has disappeared.]

[Eight detectives start to move to find the superstar’s trophy. Eight detectives and the culprit hiding among them!]

[Will the detectives be able to find the trophy and return it to the superstar?!]

The captions disappeared and the eight members of Working Man gathered in the lobby of Milky Way Center were shown.

They seemed to have heard the explanation from the production team and were laughing.

“PD Maknae will probably disguise himself and come out again.”

“Why don’t they give us a gold badge instead of a trophy? The price of gold has gone up lately.”

And shortly after, the screams of Working Man were heard.

The screen was filled with the expressions of Working Man who were genuinely surprised.

Their faces conveyed their shock beyond the screen.

“Are the production team crazy!?”

“No way, for real?”

“What if they break it while hiding it!? Are they insane!?”

With the voices of Working Man who were truly terrified, the preview for next week’s [Working Man?!] ended.

-Why? What? Why are they so surprised?

-?? They look really shocked. Is it a horror special?

=In this season?

=They could, you know.

-Ah… At this time of year, a superstar’s trophy…

=…Huh?

=For real?

[SBC Sunday variety show ‘Working Man?!’ actor Lee Seo-jun’s appearance preview?]

[The missing trophy of the superstar! Could it be, an Oscar!?]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun’s first variety show appearance?]

-Oh my god! I never thought I’d see Seo-jun on a variety show!

-An Oscar trophy! I never thought I’d see an Oscar trophy on Working Man!

=ㅋㅋIt’s funnyㅋㅋ A trophy on a variety showㅋㅋ

-Must watch live! Must watch live!

-This Sunday… I have plans… I have plans…

=Watch it later?

=Nah, I canceled my plans as soon as I saw the adㅎ

-But what role does Seo-jun play? The culprit?

=How can Seo-jun be the culprit when he lost his trophy?

=A detective then?

=It said eight detectives, right?

=One of the members is the culprit and seven members + Seo-jun = eight detectives, right?

=Maybe.

-I wish it was Sunday already! Skip Saturday and Sunday noon!

=…You say such scary things so casually?

***

On Sunday evening, before [Working Man?!] started broadcasting, an ad was aired.

Since it was ‘Seo-jun’s first variety show’, they expected a lot of people to watch it live, and there was a fierce competition to buy a few seconds of airtime.

Among them, there were companies that had fun with ads during KBC’s ‘The Royal Physician’, and there were also companies that regretfully lost the competition.

With such an enormous firepower, SBC’s mouth opened wide as they had expected.

They swallowed their saliva at the rumored ad fees.

‘We only have this one time…’

They thought that drama was the answer when they thought of how much ad fees KBC’s The Royal Physician had earned for broadcasting for several weeks.

-There are too many ads…

-But I waited for this. I wanted to see it from the start!

=222 I changed channels when ads came on, but I couldn’t because it might start.

-Ah. It’s starting!

The start of this week’s Working Man broadcast was different from usual.

It started with a staff member wearing a black hat carrying a square box into the building entrance, and then showed the staff preparing for filming in the lobby.

The viewers tilted their heads at the sight of them moving around as one by one things were installed.

-What? Is this a broadcast accident?

-So this is how they prepare. Interesting.

-Did they fill in because they didn’t have enough content?

=Maybeㅋㅋ

-How can they not have enough content with Seo-jun? It would be fun even if they just showed Seo-jun’s filming footage!

And soon one by one Working Man members appeared.

“Superstar? PD Maknae will probably disguise himself and come out again.”

“Why don’t they give us a gold badge instead of a trophy? The price of gold has gone up lately.”

“Of course, he’s the culprit, right? I caught you! Culprit!”

The viewers laughed at the sight of Working Man members who didn’t know about Seo-jun’s appearance during the recording.

A staff member wearing a black hat turned on the TV with a remote control.

[Hello, I’m Seo-jun.]

The real superstar, the Hollywood star, who smiled like sunshine.

Seo-jun was sitting there.

The viewers also cheered at Seo-jun’s appearance.

Seo-jun on the variety show was different from the drama and movie.

It was ‘Lee Seo-jun’ who was not acting.

He looked like he suited his age, but he also had the aura of a superstar.

[I heard that my trophy that I sent to Korea yesterday has disappeared. It’s my first Oscar trophy and I really want to find it, so I decided to ask you detectives for help. Please work together to find my trophy!]

The client on the screen, the superstar Lee Seo-jun, opened his mouth with a gloomy expression.

They groaned at his realistic acting.

-Seo-jun! Seo-jun!!

-A screen within a screen… This can’t be all, right?

=Then… SBC… will explode…

The staff member wearing a black hat came out with a box containing a trophy.

-Wow, an Oscar trophy!

-It’s sparkling! But is that real?

-He’s wearing a black hat too often, isn’t he? They usually don’t show us turning on or off the screen. He’s also carrying the trophy…

=222 Yeah…

“Wait a minute. PD Jeon. That trophy is made by the production team, right?”

Park Young-jin asked and the other Working Man members raised their hands.

“Unfortunately…”

“Unfortunately?”

“It’s real!”

It’s real! It’s real, real, real… The PD’s voice echoed like an echo and Working Man screamed.

“Are the production team crazy!?”

“No way, it’s a real Oscar trophy!?”

“What if they break it while hiding it!? Are they insane!?”

“We’ll put plenty of cushioning materials in it now. And this is not running with it, but treasure hunting. It’ll be fine as long as you’re careful when hiding and finding it.”

The PD’s words didn’t stop Working Man from shouting.

-? Is this okay?

-Yeah. What if the trophy breaks?

-But looking at the broadcast, the trophy seems fine.

=222 If they broadcast the broken trophy, SBC will blow up. I’ll blow it up.

=333 They wouldn’t send it out without thinking!

=Ah-ha.

The rules were simple.

After the first game, they gave time to the culprit to hide the trophy.

From the second game on, if the members won the game, they would tell them a hint about where the trophy was.

After each game, they gave a certain amount of time and during that time, the culprit had to avoid being caught by the detectives and hide the trophy and the detectives had to find clues about the trophy and the culprit.

With the guidance of the staff member wearing a black hat, eight Working Man members entered their offices.

Some viewers paid attention to him who appeared unusually often.

When he passed by, the screen was unusually clear as if it would have been edited out normally.

At that moment, some of them who were watching Working Man to see Seo-jun and had good senses noticed something.

-…Huh?

They couldn’t say anything at the sight of the star who appeared out of nowhere.

Meanwhile, Park Young-jin’s astonished face was shown on the screen.

There was an Oscar trophy shining in his office.

It looked exactly like the one he saw earlier.

[Park Young-jin has acquired a real Oscar trophy!]

-Park Young-jin won!

-ㅋㅋ He was really surprisedㅋㅋ

-I would be tooㅋㅋ How can he hide thatㅋ

“I’m it? Really!? Really me!?”

“Then please hide the trophy in this building.”

“What did I do wrong? This bad luck! This bad luck!! Are you crazy production team?! How can you bring a real trophy here?! What if I drop it and it breaks right away?”

Park Young-jin couldn’t even touch the glittering Oscar trophy and screamed.

-Huh?

“If I put it up there… It’ll fall down, right? Ahh. There’s nowhere to hide it…”

Choi Soohee muttered as she looked at the shelf above her.

-This?

“I don’t know how sturdy an Oscar trophy is since I’ve never seen one. Waterproof… It’s not waterproof, right?”

A member who was looking at the fountain in the garden through the office window hugged his bag carefully.

-ㅋㅋWhatㅋㅋ

“This is the first and youngest Korean winner’s trophy, you know!! This should go to a museum! Not on a variety show like this! What if this breaks! You can’t pay for this with the production budget! Do you want to go bankrupt!? SBC?!”

-ㅋㅋThey’re all culpritsㅋㅋ

-They’re all holding their bags too preciouslyㅋㅋ

[Working Man?!] showed the eight offices again. There were eight Oscar trophies in the eight offices. The viewers burst into laughter at the sight of the members who collapsed on the floor as their legs gave out.

The youngest member among them, Jung-hoon, couldn’t even touch the trophy and shed a tear.

“…Did you get insurance for this? I… I really don’t know if it breaks…”

-InsuranceㅋㅋㅋDo you want to break it?ㅋㅋ

=But Jung-hoon has broken a lot of sets while doing Working Man…

=222 The production team begged him to be gentleㅋㅋ

=It’s a good thing it’s fakeㅋㅋ

-It’s all fake, I admitㅋㅋ

-SBC is safe! Safe! Everyone, please put down your weapons!

The frustrated Working Man members participated in the game diligently to get enough time to hide the trophy.

The screen showed Park Young-jin, who came out of his office holding his bag preciously after winning first place, and then split into 3×3, a total of nine screens.

Except for the middle screen, the backs of eight gloomy Working Man members were shown on eight screens.

The middle screen got bigger and then a caption appeared.

[Has anyone seen actor Lee Seo-jun?]

Chapter 139

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Chapter 139

[Have you seen actor Lee Seo-jun?]

The viewers tilted their heads at the caption.

-…? Huh?

-Lee Seo-jun? Here? He didn’t show up, did he?

=222 How can you say you’ve seen him when you don’t show him?

As the viewers were confused, the screen went back to the beginning.

It showed the opening without sound at a fast speed.

A staff member in a black hat entered the building with a box.

From there, it showed the hard-working staff, the members of Working Man who were surprised by Seo-jun’s video message, and the members who hoped they weren’t the ones who entered the office.

Then, the caption appeared again.

[Have you seen actor Lee Seo-jun?]

-It’s the same as before?

-Yeah.

-??? Where is he?

-Maybe…

=??? Did you see him?

=He was there… from the start.

=??? Where???

[Correct!]

The opening screen started.

A yellow arrow pointed at someone.

It was the staff member in a black hat who entered the building with a box.

The staff member in the black hat moved around actively.

He showed his face on the camera here and there, as if he wanted to be noticed.

And then, the hard-working staff turned around.

Seo-jun lifted his hat slightly and smiled brightly at the camera.

-? What did I just see?

-Lee Seo-jun… he wasn’t there… but he was…?

-Is this edited? How can you not recognize him when he’s so obvious?

-What? Why didn’t I notice him?!

-We’re fans, but we didn’t notice him either, right?

It was Seo-jun who handed out water to the members, held a sketchbook, and gave them a microphone.

He thought there were a lot of staff appearances today, but it turned out to be Seo-jun.

-I saw Seo-jun in many places, but I didn’t notice him at all. I think I need to cultivate more fan love.

=222 Seriously. I thought I would recognize Seo-jun even if he passed by… but I couldn’t.

-I thought he was just a staff member… now that I look at it, he does look like Seo-jun lol

-Some people noticed him though… they have really good eyes…

“Hello, I’m Lee Seo-jun. I’m so happy to be on Working Man! I’ll definitely win!”

Seo-jun flipped over his first mission card with sparkling eyes.

[Out of 10 missions, only 3 are hard!]

[Seo-jun chose a hard mission!]

“Without revealing your identity, you have to get your face on one of the members’ designated cameras.

Of course, the member’s face has to be on the camera too.

In one shot, both your face and the member’s face have to be shown.”

“Wow. That’s hard.”

“Do you want to pick another mission card?”

“No! I think I can do it! I’ll try my best!”

-The production team gave him a chance to change it lol They thought he would fail lol

-The production team offered to change it, but he said he would try it. He’s so nice.

Seo-jun’s target was Park Young-jin, who came out of the office first after winning the first game.

Park Young-jin was only focused on his bag and didn’t notice Seo-jun following him.

Seo-jun hid behind a wall and peeked out at Park Young-jin who was looking at his camera.

-?? What is Seo-jun doing?

-He looks like he’s aiming for something…

=Aiming?

=He can see where the camera lens is pointing, so he can guess where to get in the shot.

=?? How does he know where Park Young-jin’s camera is pointing? Is he dodging bullets by looking at the muzzle?

But Seo-jun did it.

He sneaked his face out behind Park Young-jin and got on his camera.

And from a distance too.

-Awesome… he got on from that far away… why did I think he had to go close to get on?

-He’s far away but his eyes, nose, and mouth are all visible lol

-Look, Park Young-jin is turning around!

-He didn’t get caught!

The eight members who hid the trophy gathered in one place.

Unlike Park Young-jin who had 15 minutes of ample time after winning the first game, Jung-hoon who only had 3 minutes of time kept looking outside anxiously.

Meanwhile, the members were saying things like ‘Who’s the culprit?’, ‘It’s easier to confess.’, and ‘You can’t fool us.’

The viewers who knew they were all culprits just found it funny.

The game was like that too.

If they succeeded, they would get a hint about where the trophy was hidden.

The members of Working Man moved according to that rule.

“Hey! Hyung! You lost on purpose, right?!”

“No, I didn’t!”

“How could you not do such an easy thing?”

-They’re all culprits so they’re all trying to fail the game lol

-But they succeeded lol

“…The games are really easy today!”

“W-We’re just good at them!”

-Translation: They’re too easy so we all succeed!

-Translation: Let’s be more sloppy!!

“Then, we’ll tell you where the trophy is hidden. It’s under something.”

Park Young-jin and three others who hid the trophy under their seats flinched, and Choi Sohee and two others who hid it under their desks trembled.

Jung-hoon, who had put the bag with the trophy behind the curtain on the stage, tilted his head in suspicion.

-The hints are too vague even if they win lol

-Ah, Jung-hoon looks uneasy!

-Won’t it end too quickly if they figure it out?

-They’ll play with Seo-jun!

=That’s good too lol

After the second game ended, Seo-jun’s face appeared on the screen. He flipped over his mission card with a careful expression. A caption was added.

[Get a part of your body on every member’s camera.]

[Seo-jun chose one of the two hard missions out of nine!]

-…Seo-jun is unlucky too.

-It’s funny that a Hollywood star is unlucky lol

-But the second mission is hard too. But Seo-jun looks excited lol

-It’s harder to find the members who scattered to hide the trophy.

Contrary to the viewers’ worries, Seo-jun had a very excited expression on his face for the hard mission.

“I think they’re over here!”

Seo-jun found the members who scattered around the building very well.

He stood still for a moment and looked around the building, then ran somewhere.

There was a Working Man member wherever he went.

He pondered and ran, pondered and ran. Seo-jun found the Working Man members one by one like that.

-He’s bad at picking missions, but… he’s good at finding people?

-Amazing… how can luck be so divided?

-He’s really good at finding people

-A master of hide and seek! He’s really good at finding them. If Seo-jun was the seeker, the game would end in 10 seconds.

-He found Choi Sohee, and Choi Sohee was there. He found Park Young-jin, and Park Young-jin was there. Isn’t this some kind of miracle?

-He’s good at hiding too. He even hid his cameraman when Choi Sohee turned around. He would be the last one left if he played with his friends.

=They all won’t be able to find Seo-jun lol lol lol

It was all thanks to [(Sun) Sandfish’s Vibration Detection], but the viewers who didn’t know that only saw it as amazing.

It was easier to get a part of his body on the camera than his face.

The viewers laughed at Seo-jun’s hands and feet that peeked out on the Working Man members’ cameras, and later, when he had some time left, he waved his arms vigorously behind Jung-hoon, and made a big heart with his arms behind Park Young-jin.

-Lol Seo-jun is so cute lol lol

-Young-jin hyung! Behind you! Look behind you!

-No way, how can they not notice him when he’s doing that much? lol

-But Seo-jun is really good at finding them, but why don’t the members run into each other lol

-Ah! They met!

Park Young-jin and Jung-hoon met.

They realized that there was a spy among them, and they wondered if there was an accomplice among the members.

They kept their mouths shut and played the game while trying to find the accomplice.

Of course, there was no accomplice.

-No accomplice lol

-Lol lol fake lol

-Just tell them to the members!!

After the last game ended, Park Young-jin and Jung-hoon confessed about the fake trophy and finally deduced that ‘Lee Da-jin’ was the spy.

-Goodbye lol

-Why don’t they think of Lee Seo-jun?

=I didn’t expect Lee Seo-jun to be on a variety show either

=222 We saw the ads, but Working Man didn’t know for real lol

With only an hour left, Working Man left the practice room.

The screen showed the empty practice room where the members had disappeared.

The staff appeared on the television screen.

“They’re all good at deducing.”

A young voice was heard.

The viewers who were wondering why the screen didn’t change screamed silently.

There was a staff member in a black hat next to the writer.

-…! Seo-jun?! Why is Seo-jun here?!

-I felt like he was here all along… but I didn’t notice him again…

-I was laughing so I let my guard down.

-I understand why Working Man didn’t notice him. He’s really hiding everywhere without any pattern.

-Wow, Seo-jun. He heard everything Working Man discussed.

=But it’s useless even if he heard everything, right? They got the spy’s identity wrong.

=Maybe the important thing is that they divided into four people for the spy arrest team and the trophy search team?

-Wow. Seo-jun has another mission…

He smiled brightly and held up his mission card.

[Take a group photo with Working Man members.]

[He chose the last hard mission out of eight!]

[What is Seo-jun’s hand…!?]

-Lol how is he going to do this.

=Right. They’re all scattered lol

-Ah. He solved the hard one and got a harder one.

-But Seo-jun looks happy lol He’s cute

-He really likes the hard ones. Maybe that’s why he got them?

=Maybe. He would be disappointed if he got an easy mission.

Seo-jun left the practice room. The camera followed Seo-jun.

“I heard them secretly, well, right in front of them, but they’re all moving hard, I guess. How much time is left?”

“45 minutes.”

“That’s enough.”

Seo-jun checked the real Oscar trophy first. The Oscar trophy was on the second floor of the Milky Way Center.

-Oh, Cheongryong!

-Cheongryong in person! It’s the Milky Way Center!

-The kids are taking a lot of pictures in front of him!

A model of Cheongryong was installed on the second floor. The Oscar trophy was between Cheongryong’s mane. Seo-jun smiled with satisfaction as he saw the trophy in its place.

“Since the mission was a group photo, I think we need to gather the members in one place.”

Seo-jun smiled.

“They seem to be upstairs.”

Seo-jun, who had been standing still for a moment, said. Seo-jun and the cameraman took the elevator up. Jung-hoon noticed the elevator moving.

“Hyung! Fifth floor!”

“Stairs! Stairs!!”

-Wow. Are they caught?

-Why did they take the elevator?

Seo-jun got off the elevator and moved quickly. The sound of the members chasing him reached Seo-jun’s camera. Seo-jun headed to one side without any hesitation. There was another staircase there.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and looked at the camera and said.

“I know this place well because I did a play here for three months. The building is big, so there are a lot of stairs.”

-Wow… He even thought of an escape route.

-Seo-jun is smart.

Seo-jun started to go down the stairs. He heard the sound of the members following him. Seo-jun ran around the building and came down.

-Somehow…

=??

=Somehow it seems like Seo-jun is luring them?

=???

Seo-jun blinked his eyes twice and opened the emergency exit door slightly. Then he stuck out the cameraman’s bag.

-!!!

The bag caught the eyes of the members who were looking for the spy.

“Hyung! Emergency exit!”

-Is he really luring them?!!

-Wow…

“There he is!”

Jung-hoon spotted the cameraman.

“Hey! Lee Tae-hoon! Guest manager! Lee Tae-hoon!”

He was lucky. He didn’t see the guest, but he barely caught a glimpse of the guest manager’s back. The four members of the spy capture team rushed after him.

-…I thought, but it was Seo-jun’s trap.

-I thought Seo-jun would have a hard time because it was 1 VS 8, but… 1 was a carnivore ㅎㄷㄷ

=22 Seo-jun is really smart. He seems to have thought about his and the cameraman’s speed too. He doesn’t seem to get caught.

That’s how the spy capture team on the third floor went up to the fifth floor and then came back down. Their stamina was running low, but they heard footsteps.

“Hyung! This way! They’re going down!”

But they felt like they were going to catch him soon, so they couldn’t stop their feet.

Seo-jun, who arrived at the first floor first, hid his body when he saw the trophy search team gathered by the sound of four people coming down. Soon, the spy capture team also came down.

“Huh. Sohee noona. Weren’t you going to look for the trophy?”

“You guys seemed to be chasing the spy down, so I followed you.”

“We tried to catch him together… but he’s not here?”

The members who gathered on the first floor were confused when the screen changed.

[Since the mission was a group photo, I think we need to gather the members in one place.]

With a thrilling face, Seo-jun spoke along with a map of the building.

On the map, there were eight blue dots and one red dot, moving around. The four blue dots on the upper floor followed one red dot to the fifth floor, then came down to the first floor, and then four blue dots on the lower floor also gathered in one place.

It looked like one red dot was being chased on screen, but viewers knew it wasn’t.

When the members and staff gathered on the first floor lobby were dumbfounded, Seo-jun moved carefully.

Seo-jun’s camera showed his bright face and the backs of the members. And soon, all of them turned their heads.

“Kimchi!”

With stunned Working Man as his background, Seo-jun made a V sign of victory toward his camera. It was a perfect mission success with all eight faces clearly visible.

-Wow… He succeeded. I thought Working Man would win because it was a hard mission…

-How did he take a picture of all eight of them? He lured themㅋㅋ

-First of all, it was a big advantage that he knew the building well. Next was his ability to find the person closest to himㅋㅋ Next was his hiding abilityㅋㅋ

-Even if he had bad luck, he had the strength to winㅋㅋ He won in the endㅋㅋ

The Working Man members who were stunned bowed to Seo-jun. The viewers laughed at the sight of the members who were genuinely surprised.

“Today’s guest is the youngest Oscar winner, actor Lee Seo-jun!”

“Hello. I’m Lee Seo-jun.”

Seo-jun greeted them with a bright smile.

“We’re done, but we’re just saying hello to Seo-jun now.”

“Can’t we start over? We just met!”

“That’s right! I want to talk more!”

The Working Man members shouted, but Park Young-jin cut them off.

“Let’s watch that again later, and Seo-jun. How was the shooting today?”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and said.

“It was so much fun! I’m happy that I succeeded in all the missions.”

The members smiled warmly at Seo-jun’s words. But that warmth soon ended.

“Then we’ll choose two of the eight to be punished.”

“Huh. Punishment?”

“You lost. The punishment is a whipped cream bomb.”

In the end, two of the members who lost rock-paper-scissors received the punishment. Everyone laughed as they saw the two people with whipped cream all over their faces. Seo-jun also smiled brightly.

“Then we’ll see you next week, viewers.”

“Goodbye!”

That’s how [Working Man?!-Lee Seo-jun Edition] ended.

Chapter 140

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Chapter 140

-This episode was legendary. From finding the hidden Seo-jun, to the members’ mental breakdown, to the final 1 VS 8 game that Seo-jun won. The ending was perfect!

-I laughed the most at Seo-jun making a heart behind Park Young-jin.

-I was surprised by ‘kimchi’ lol. I didn’t expect kimchi to come out.

-Seo-jun was really good at the game. The missions were all hard, but he did really well.

-I didn’t even think of luring. Working Man always chased or was chased, but luring lol

-The last picture was perfect too. Everyone looked shocked and only Seo-jun was bright lol

[SBC Working Man?! Lee Seo-jun Edition! The real Lee Seo-jun appears!]

[Working Man! 1 VS 8, who is the winner?]

[Is Lee Seo-jun unlucky or lucky? He failed all the missions, but he was amazing at finding people!]

[The actor who hid everywhere, Lee Seo-jun! Why couldn’t Working Man recognize him?]

-I have to watch it again.

-Me too. I have to watch the opening carefully. How did I not notice it was Seo-jun?

=Someone who knows said he acted so well that they thought he was real staff. Even the production staff who worked there didn’t know.

=Oh, like when he did busking? We didn’t recognize him then either.

=222 Seems like it.

Park Young-jin

[I didn’t know Seo-jun was behind me. I never dreamed of it. (A picture of Seo-jun making a heart behind Park Young-jin)]

#WorkingMan?!#LeeSeoJun#Heart

Choi Sohee

[He was there during the meeting too. He was right in front of me, why didn’t I notice him.ㅠㅠ]

#WorkingMan?!#LeeSeojun#FailedDeduction

Jung-hoon

[I didn’t think of luring, that was amazing. Seo-jun is really awesome! Let’s play hide and seek again, Seo-jun!]

#WorkingMan?!#LeeSeojun#HideAndSeek#DidntKnowItWasALure

The SNS of Working Man members were uploaded. As the viewers thought, they felt their surprise after watching the broadcast. The SNS of the members were also turned into articles.

***

At the end of March.

Assemble 2 was about to be released, and the heroes that Marina fans were waiting for appeared in Korea.

The immigration gate opened, and three heroes showed themselves.

A huge cheer erupted at the airport.

“Rachel Hill! Bell Natra!”

“Look over here! Evan Block!”

“Redbone! It’s Redbone!!”

Rachel Hill, Evan Block, and Davis Garrett smiled brightly and waved their hands to the Koreans who welcomed them.

[Assemble 2! To celebrate the release. The heroes’ visit to Korea!]

[A crowd gathered at the airport to see the heroes!]

[Rachel Hill, “Thank you for your welcome.”]

[Evan Block, Shadowman, “I came to see Jin Natra.”]

[Davis Garrett, “I’m looking forward to the events in Korea.”]

[They will rest tomorrow and start their schedule the day after!]

-The main members of Assemble 2 are all here!

-Will they meet Seo-jun?

=Maybe? They seemed to be very close at the last award party.

-Ah, I missed the Assemble 2 event…

=They said they will broadcast it live on YouTube!

***

The ticket office staff at Gyeongbokgung Palace stretched lightly and sat down.

He wondered how many people would come today, and as soon as he thought that, a customer appeared.

It was a foreigner wearing a navy blue hanbok.

“/Welcome./”

The staff greeted him in fluent English, which he learned from working at the ticket office.

“Hello. Four adults and one child, please.”

The ticket office staff blinked blankly.

He expected to hear English, but he heard Korean, and it didn’t register in his head.

“Huh?”

“Four adults and one child, please. How much is it?”

“Oh, since you’re wearing hanbok, it’s free.”

“Oh. I see. Thank you.”

The foreigner who spoke fluent Korean walked casually toward his group.

He spoke in English to the woman and two men, and the boy who were also wearing hanbok, and they all headed to the entrance of Gyeongbokgung Palace.

“He speaks Korean really well.”

“Right? But doesn’t that foreigner look like Shadowman?”

The staff next to him nodded and asked.

“Shadowman? I don’t know. Would a Hollywood actor speak Korean so well?”

“I guess not. Yes. Welcome.”

The staff put aside his curiosity and greeted the next customer.

“Evan, you speak Korean really well.”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

Evan Block shrugged his shoulders with a smile.

The three actors, Seo-jun, and Ahn Da Ho headed to Gyeongbokgung Palace wearing hanbok.

The bodyguards were somewhere too.

“Who else would learn it just for me!”

“You should learn too.”

“I will!”

Rachel Hill, who was wearing a sky blue hanbok that Seo-jun gave her as a gift, chirped.

“I wanted to see Seo-jun’s acting better, so I learned Korean! I never thought of that.”

The foreigner who wore hanbok spoke fast in English, and the people around him moved away.

Seo-jun knew that face well. It was the face of his classmates who turned pale whenever it was time for English class.

It was English phobia.

“I also want to talk to Seo-jun in Korean, but also maybe I can star in a Korean movie with him. /Do you have any good scripts for me, Seo-jun?/”

“/Evan’s fee would be too high… I think it would be a flop./”

“/I think Seo-jun’s fee would be higher than mine since he won an Oscar./”

“Speak English!”

“Yeah. Let me join too.”

Rachel and Davis said as Evan and Seo-jun laughed.

The three actors and Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho took pictures and videos as they toured Gyeongbokgung Palace.

There were some people who seemed to recognize the three actors, but when Evan Block spat out fluent Korean, they shook their pupils and turned their steps away, thinking, oh, no!

“He speaks Korean so well! He must not be Evan Block!”

A tourist who was talking to his friend saw that.

“I didn’t know Korean would be so useful.”

“I don’t think anyone would expect Evan to speak Korean so well.”

“I’m going to do an interview in Korean at the event. The fans will love it.”

“They will! They will be so surprised!”

They imagined the surprised Marina fans and laughed. Ahn Da Ho took pictures of the actors’ expressions.

***

[Live-Assemble 2: Meeting with the Heroes]

One by one, they appeared on stage: Davis Garrett as Redbone, Rachel Hill as Bell Natra, and they received cheers and applause as they greeted the audience.

Next was Evan Block as Shadowman.

The fans who were waving their light sticks that Assemble gave them cheered for the two actors.

“By the way, I saw a foreigner who looked like Evan Block at Gyeongbokgung Palace yesterday.”

“Wasn’t it Evan Block?”

“But he spoke Korean really well. He even gave directions.”

“Oh, then it wasn’t him.”

It was unthinkable that a Hollywood actor would learn Korean.

“There’s no reason to learn Korean when English is the global language.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Oh, Evan Block is coming out!”

The audience, who had nodded along with his friend’s words, looked at the stage.

Evan Block appeared on the stage along with the MC’s introduction.

He held a microphone and looked at the Korean fans who filled the seats.

Rachel Hill and Davis Garrett smiled quietly, imagining the scene that was about to unfold.

“Hello. I’m Evan Block.”

?

The audience, who were about to applaud and cheer for the appearance of Shadowman, froze.

Not only the audience, but also the staff who prepared the event, the officials, and even the MC stopped moving.

In the silent space, only the Assemble light sticks held by the audience sparkled.

Evan Block smiled at the atmosphere he had expected.

“Thank you for coming to today’s event. I hope you all have a good time.”

‘Did I speak English so well that I could understand him so naturally?’ The audience, who had been listening blankly, screamed silently with their mouths wide open as Evan Block continued in Korean.

Rachel Hill and Davis Garrett, who had anticipated this situation, laughed happily, and George Roberts, the director of Assemble, gestured to the interpreter.

The interpreter, who had been stunned, quickly translated into English.

The MC, who came to his senses after hearing the interpreter’s voice, asked hastily.

“Uh, did actor Lee Seo-jun teach you that?”

That was the most likely scenario.

As the interpreter was about to relay it to Evan Block in English, Evan Block shrugged his shoulders and said.

“No. I studied Korean. I’m good at it, right?”

!

Ahhhhhh!

Evan Block understood the MC’s Korean and answered in Korean.

The audience in the seats and the viewers watching YouTube live screamed at his fluent Korean.

[Shadowman’s fluent Korean. The reason is Lee Seo-jun!]

[Evan Block, “I wanted to watch and listen to Lee Seo-jun’s acting without subtitles.”]

[Assemble team, “Working Man?! We watched it. It was fun.”]

-Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.

-…I’m speechless.

-Is this the first time a Hollywood star learns Korean?

-Lee Seo-jun’s overseas fans seem to learn a lot of Korean… but even a Hollywood actor…

-Seo-jun’s influence is amazing

And in no time, it was spread that Seo-jun and the three actors went to Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The photos taken by people at Gyeongbokgung Palace were posted on SNS.

They didn’t take them themselves, but they found them when they took their own photos and happened to be in the background.

That’s why the quality was not good.

[Title: I saw Assemble at Gyeongbokgung Palace yesterday!]

(Photo)(Photo)

It’s blurry but in the back, navy blue is Evan Block, sky blue is Rachel Hill, green is Davis Garrett, and blue is Lee Seo-jun!

I thought so at that time too… but Evan Block spoke Korean so well that I thought it wasn’t himㅎ His pronunciation was like he lived in Korea for 10 years.

-I saw him too and he was so goodㅎ He looked like a foreigner who lived in Korea for a long time and guided his foreign friendsㅎ

-They all look good in hanbok. I want to see them in high quality!

=22 Isn’t that too pixelated? ㅋㅋ

As the fans wished, soon photos and videos taken at Gyeongbokgung Palace and Changdeokgung Palace were uploaded on SNS and YouTube channel [JUN].

Photos taken at Gyeongbokgung Palace, videos taken at Changdeokgung Palace, and the last video showed Seo-jun and Hollywood stars laughing happily while grilling samgyeopsal.

Chapter 141

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Chapter 141

“Wow, there are so many people.”

Park Seong-won sighed and sat down in his seat.

Today was the premiere of Assemble 2, and the first screening was packed.

There was not a single empty seat in the front or the back.

The excited audience members were chatting with their friends.

Most of the conversation was about ‘Evan Block’s Korean’.

Park Seong-won looked at his phone.

A few days ago, after the Assemble 2 event, the internet and the movie sites he frequented were full of that topic.

“Lee Seo-jun’s influence is really amazing.”

People wondered if there were foreigners who learned Korean because of Lee Seo-jun.

Reporters who looked into it posted articles.

There were so many articles that it seemed like they just found out how many foreigners were learning Korean.

[The number of foreigners learning Korean has increased dramatically in the last five years!]

[Many foreigners use The Royal Physician as a textbook!]

[The children’s play ‘Spring’ becomes a Korean textbook for kids!]

[The children’s play ‘Spring’ is turned into a picture book!]

-There are a lot of foreigners who speak weird Korean because they learned it from The Royal Physician.

-It’s a good thing it’s a fusion historical drama, otherwiseㅋㅋ

=Seong-eun is grateful!

-There are also kids who learn Korean because of the play ‘Spring’

=ㅇㅇ Their parents said that Cheongryong only knows Korean, so they used a translator to make a wishㅋ

-When they are exposed to Korean at a young age, they tend to imitate it

-Wow, the media really has a lot of influence.

“I should buy the picture book version of Spring.”

Park Seong-won bookmarked it while the screening time approached.

The theater darkened and the Marina logo and Assemble OST played from the speakers.

Shadowman caught Redbone, who was falling into the sea.

He quickly moved him to the Assemble base and started treatment, but Dr. Letter, who checked Redbone’s condition, shook his head.

“It’s too late. There’s nothing we can do.”

The heroes swallowed their sadness.

The cause was poisoning.

“This is very strange.”

Dr. Letter frowned as he looked at the data.

“This is from last month, when Redbone had his regular checkup. And this is from just now. It’s only been a month, but his symptoms have worsened so much…”

“His symptoms have worsened? Did he have a disease?”

Dr. Letter nodded at Greenwing’s question.

“He was supposed to start treatment when he returned. He showed signs of poisoning. Maybe…”

Dr. Letter lowered his voice.

“It was the work of a spy in the base.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

Shadowman snapped. Why did he keep quiet?

Dr. Letter shrugged his shoulders.

“He was fine then. This poison takes a year to work in the body. It’s hard to detect, but I did.”

“Okay, enough bragging, so what’s the solution?”

“There isn’t one. The solution was to treat him early, but for some reason, Redbone’s body aged by a year. Even I can’t reverse time.”

The heroes fell silent at Dr. Letter’s words.

If there was no way for Dr. Letter, who was a genius, then there was no way for anyone else.

That’s when it happened.

The Assemble base turned red and the alarm rang loudly.

[Code red! Code red! It’s a Natra’s spaceship!]

Natra!

Shadowman and the heroes looked at the monitor.

[Natra’s spaceship is requesting communication!]

Everyone looked at Shadowman.

Shadowman nodded his head.

He allowed communication and on the monitor appeared…

-Hi!

It was Bell Natra, who greeted them brightly.

Natra’s spaceship couldn’t land, so Shadowman headed to Bell Natra’s spaceship.

“Hi, Shadowman.”

“Why are you here?”

Bell Natra shrugged her shoulders at Shadowman’s sharp voice.

“I have something to ask you. Do you have anyone around you who suddenly aged or became younger?”

“…”

Aged?

That reminded him of Redbone.

Dr. Letter, who was watching through video, told her about Redbone.

Bell Natra nodded her head.

“The one who made that man like that is the ‘Timestone’.”

“Timestone?”

Shadowman and the heroes in the monitor leaned in.

Dr. Letter’s eyes sparkled.

“It’s a powerful stone that was stolen by royal kidnappers 20 years ago in Earth time, 100 years ago in Natra time. It looks like this.”

Bell Natra reached out her hand and a hologram appeared from her wrist device.

A blue gemstone.

“This is Blue Timestone. The Blue Timestone has the power to pull the body’s time. If you had left him alone, Redbone would have collapsed like that in a year.”

Dr. Letter looked shocked.

“That’s right. If he hadn’t been treated, that would have happened. I see. It was the Timestone that made Redbone’s body pass a year. It pulls time… Then there really is no way to treat him.”

“There is a way.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Bell Natra, who spoke.

“There is a red one among the Timestones. It’s called Redstone, a stone that can turn back time. You just need to find it and use it on Redbone. The amount of time it reverses depends on the size, but…”

“Then we just need to find the biggest one.”

“That’s mine. That’s why I’m helping you.”

“Helping us?”

The heroes frowned at Bell Natra’s words. Bell Natra crossed her arms at their expressions.

“Do you know how to use Redstone? How to distinguish it? What if you use too big of a one and Redbone becomes younger? What if he becomes a baby? Can you handle it by yourselves?”

A baby Redbone, they all shut their mouths.

Greenwing opened his mouth.

-Then how did Redbone use Bluestone?

“There must be someone who knows about Timestones. Someone who has studied them for a long time and can harness their power.”

“Maybe he was affected by that power in the last battle.”

The heroes nodded at Dr. Letter’s words.

“But how do you know so much about Timestones?”

Bell Natra smiled.

“How do you think Natrans can live for over 100 years?”

Aha.

The heroes nodded their heads.

Shadowman also reluctantly nodded his head.

Bell Natra smiled and reached out her hand.

“Okay. Then we’re allies for now.”

“You get what you want, and I get what I want.”

Shadowman shook her hand.

The heroes and Bell Natra started to move.

“Timestone.”

Park Seong-won thought it was an item that gave him a good feeling.

It could reverse the user’s biological time, it seemed like something that existed for someone’s sake.

His heart pounded with anticipation.

Using Assemble’s intelligence, the heroes chased after the ‘Timestones’ that were disguised as jewels, and raided the terrorist organization that was researching their true power.

To secure the Timestones safely first, the heroes sneaked into the terrorist base and gasped at the sight of the deepest underground.

[1 month-Blue][2 months-Blue]…[1 year 2 months-Blue][1 year 3 months-Blue]…

Several capsules were neatly stored in small boxes.

The shortest was a few days, the longest was a year and three months.

Timestones were processed into capsules in the innermost part of the base.

A blue liquid in a hard glass capsule. Greenwing held a one-month Blue capsule in his hand.

“They must have been selling these. The enemy we fought last time also bought one.”

-According to the capsule material, it’s not for oral intake. You have to break the capsule and contact the liquid inside.

“That must be how Redbone aged so much.”

“But there are no red capsules.”

“They must have sold out everywhere. Let’s just find the Timestones first.”

The heroes moved to find the Timestones, and the enemies noticed their movement.

Shadowman and the heroes fought hard to save Redbone.

“But why would they age if they become younger?”

Greenwing asked as he moved fast toward the enemy.

-It could be to reduce the healing time after surgery. For congenital diseases, they would still have them even if they became younger.

“I see.”

After all the battles were over and Greenwing was collecting Timestones, he tilted his head at Bell Natra’s feet.

“Bell. Your shadow is very well-behaved?”

“Bell?”

“Why? Your full name is too long.”

Greenwing ignored Shadowman’s displeased expression and continued.

“Shadowman’s shadow always caused trouble for him.”

“That bastard tripped me today too.”

The heroes said and Bell Natra glared at Shadowman’s shadow. The shadow, which was whimpering, slowly stuck to the floor and pretended to be a shadow.

“It’s too late now. Idiot.”

Greenwing chuckled.

Bell Natra, who was quietly looking at her partner, shadow, turned her head when Shadowman spoke.

“What about Redbone?”

“Here. This is exactly one year and one month old.”

Bell Natra showed him an unprocessed Red Timestone after taking her eyes off her shadow.

The heroes sighed in relief at its brilliant red light.

The heroes boarded the spaceship and headed to Assemble base.

The night when only the sound of the spaceship engine could be heard faintly.

“The king of Natra chooses the strongest person among the candidates.”

Shadowman, who was looking at the night sky, turned around.

Bell Natra was looking at the sky too.

“That’s my father, Tul Natra.”

“Tul Natra…”

“And your father too.”

Mack lifted his head up. Bell Natra still looked at the sky.

“The candidates for king give a part of their power to the planet’s core and become Natra’s nobles when the king is decided. Well, some candidates grew up as candidates for king and didn’t fit in with ordinary life, but they accepted it because their power became weaker. There were also some who didn’t.”

“…”

“Two candidates ran away without giving their power to the planet’s core. They kidnapped Tul Natra’s newborn child to threaten him, the king who was chasing them.”

Mack’s eyes deepened.

“That child…”

That’s right. It was that necklace.

“We waited for the pendant to touch the child’s hand. It was good at tracking. Anywhere, as long as a part of the body touched it, the necklace would send a signal. And one day, the signal rang. It took 100 years.”

“That place…”

“That’s right. Here, Earth.”

Natra’s spaceship filled the sky.

They just came to find their son, but the difference in scientific power made the humans who lived on Earth fall into fear.

They had to fight back a little bit because of the shots from everywhere.

They should have been more careful, but Tul Natra’s reason was very, very faint at the clue that appeared after 100 years.

“Then, a man who used shadows appeared.”

Mack knew who it was.

It was him.

It was Shadowman.

Chapter 142

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 142

“Tul Natra’s patience had worn out over the course of a hundred years, and when he saw the man who used the shadows, he snapped the last thread that was holding him back.”

“…Why?”

“Because the shadows that the man used were Natra’s own. And Natra’s shadows could be inherited.”

“Inherited?”

Mack tilted his head.

The black shadow under his feet shrank its body.

The partner’s movement was transmitted to Mack.

“It means that the upper person plants a seed in the lower person’s shadow. The lower person can use the shadow only when the seed sprouts. After inheriting, the upper person’s shadow becomes weaker. That’s why it’s usually done only between family or very close friends. So Tul Natra thought.”

Bell Natra looked at the black sky and spoke.

“Those kidnappers had no reason to inherit to my son, so the man who used those shadows must be the kidnapper.”

“…”

“I have to catch him, and find my son.”

Mack let out a sigh.

The fight became fierce.

Bell Natra recalled.

“I realized it as I fought with the man.

The man had a better shadow than the two candidates.

When I saw that, I thought of ‘forced inheritance’.”

“…Forced inheritance?”

“…It means devouring a weak shadow. Completely. The owner of the shadow that was forcibly inherited dies in agony. There was a fight between the two candidates, and I thought one of them had forcibly inherited, but the man was too strong. It should have been 1 plus 1 equals 2… But it looked like 3 or 4. So we thought.”

Tul Natra lost his reason.

“My child was forcibly inherited… My son… My brother is no longer in this world.”

And.

That day, that moment, Bell Natra’s voice filled with despair and sorrow was heard clearly by the audience.

Mack opened his mouth.

“But…”

“Yes. You’re alive. Who would have thought, that a shadow would have a self.”

“A self?”

“Natra’s shadows are originally weapons. They have no thoughts or wills, just like swords or guns. But what about your shadow?”

Mack looked down at his feet.

His shadow was playing by itself, regardless of the two Natras who were having a serious conversation.

It was playing with the shadow play that Greenwing taught him.

Bell Natra looked at his shadow with disdain.

“Your shadow had a self and escaped from the kidnapper’s body before dying, and entered the nearest Natra’s shadow, which was yours.”

Mack remembered what the orphanage director told him when he became an adult.

The people who looked like Mack’s parents who died in an accident, and baby Mack who was crying between them.

‘A better shadow than the two candidates. A shadow that could be used without inheriting. And a shadow with a self.’

Mack looked at his partner.

The shadow that had been with him for a long time flinched at his gaze.

The black shadow that was once the kidnapper’s and now Mack’s was glared at by Bell Natra, who continued to speak.

“We didn’t think of that possibility at all. A self in a shadow was an old story that only appeared in fairy tales. I only found out after I saw your shadow in the park and searched through the library. I was sure after today’s battle.”

A misunderstanding piled up on another misunderstanding, and the father who lost his son lost his reason.

He committed an unforgivable act.

“Tul Natra created an anomaly wormhole.”

The strongest and worst weapon that even Natra who created it didn’t know where it led to.

The anomaly wormholes that appeared all over the world caused many victims and disappeared.

“Tul Natra went berserk after finding out the truth after waiting for a hundred years, and collapsed. In the meantime, Shadowman attacked and Natra had no choice but to go back. A while later, they found a child on Natra planet, in the ice desert.”

A child.

Mack’s eyes sank heavily.

“That kid…”

“Yes. It was Jin Natra. A very cute kid who was holding a teddy bear. Someone found him dying with a pale complexion, and the child who was not a Natra was sent to the king. Tul Natra, who was in shock after losing his son, took him as his own son. The kid had lost his memory, and all he remembered was,”

Bell Natra paused for a moment.

“Only ‘William’.”

“William…”

Mack buried his face in both hands. William.

“After that, he grew up as the king’s son. His father loved Jin dearly. He visited him even when he was busy and taught him how to inherit and use shadows even though he wasn’t a Natra. I liked Jin too. He was a smart, kind, and diligent kid. I couldn’t help but love him.”

Bell Natra smiled faintly.

“Jin was very good at handling shadows. I couldn’t do that at his age. Jin probably thought he was ordinary, but that’s natural. He was still a child then. It’s only natural that there was a difference between him and the grown-up candidates. But that was his poison. The more Jin stood out, the more enemies he had.”

“…Why did you make William a candidate?”

William.

Bell Natra sneered at Mack’s words. The kid who was William to Mack was Jin to him.

“Because he was Tul Natra’s son. The king’s children automatically become candidates. To avoid becoming a candidate, you have to renounce your status, but Jin refused. He wanted to be his father’s son.”

The audience remembered the little boy who smiled brightly and cried for his ‘mom and dad’ with a scornful laugh.

“So I…”

Bell Natra closed his eyes tightly.

His two fists clenched hard shook.

He shouldn’t have done that…

“I decided to send Jin back to Earth.”

“What?”

“I was stupid. I didn’t know how many countries or people there were on Earth, and I thought he would find his family on his own if I left him here. And I didn’t pay attention to the fact that Jin had grown up a lot since then.”

Natra was a single planet, a single nation.

And Natra had the Time Stone.

The time of the body was not something they had to consider.

But Earth was different.

“So…”

Mack remembered the boy who was alone in the reservoir.

“Yes. That’s why Jin was there alone at that time. That smart guy must have figured it out soon. That I wouldn’t come back.”

Well.

Mack recalled the boy at that time.

‘My family said they would come.’

The boy who said that was really waiting for his family. He wasn’t anxious, he just thought they would come soon. When will my sister come? He seemed to think calmly.

The boy was waiting for Bell Natra to come back, alone.

Mack opened his mouth.

“Why did you come back?”

“…Because he was my brother.”

That fact stopped Bell Natra from leaving Earth. She hurried back to Jin.

“In the end, I was late, but…”

Bell Natra sighed deeply, remembering Jin Natra who had learned everything.

In Natra’s time, five years had passed, and Jin Natra was sinking into darkness.

She wanted to make her suffering brother happy.

Bell Natra looked at Mack.

This man was also her brother.

The man who hadn’t slept for days and nights to save Redbone, with a haggard face.

He was far from the cute Jin Natra.

Bell Natra’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re also my brother, but you’ve grown up too grossly.”

“…What?”

“Your name is Muel Natra. It’s a name that father thought hard and gave you.”

“…Muel Natra.”

Mack repeated his name.

Muel Natra.

It was awkward but amazing, and made his heart beat faster.

The name that his parents gave him, who he thought he didn’t have, who he thought had abandoned him.

But Mack couldn’t be happy sincerely, because there were many people who were sad because of him and his family.

When Bell Natra used the Red Time Stone, Redbone’s body went back to a year and a month ago.

He cured the poison and restored Redbone’s health, and caught the spies and the organization that poisoned Redbone, and finally eliminated them completely.

“Thank you. You didn’t have to help me this far.”

“It’s my brother’s business.”

Was she talking about Jin Natra?

But Bell Natra’s gaze was directed at Mack,

Muel Natra.

Mack stopped breathing at that gaze.

The years he had lived with blood and sweat.

He finally had a family, but that… It was a being that made everyone unhappy.

What should I do?

“I’ll go back now. The Red Stone is smaller than I thought, so I think I need to look for other places too.”

“Take this too. We don’t need it anymore.”

Greenwing threw a pouch containing Time Stones.

They were small pieces that didn’t even last a year, but they were better than nothing.

Bell Natra smiled.

“Thank you for saving me. Bell Natra.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Bell Natra shook hands with Redbone who had become younger by a month and looked at Shadowman.

“Thank you. See you later. Muel.”

“…”

What should I do?

Mack couldn’t say anything to his family’s farewell.

He was full of worries.

Bell Natra got on the spaceship with a bitter smile.

“Let’s have a family reunion with father and Jin next time!”

Bell Natra’s spaceship disappeared into the sky.

Shadowman stared blankly at the spaceship that disappeared.

Redbone patted Shadowman’s shoulder, and Greenwing started playing with Shadowman’s shadow.

The other heroes chatted loudly and went inside the base.

Shadowman smiled.

It was the end of an ordinary day.

The ending credits slowly rose on the black screen.

The lights in the theater did not turn on, and the audience waited for the cookie video with their hearts pounding.

Park Seong-won also stared blankly at the screen.

Even until he entered the theater, there were many rumors about this cookie video, that it was a trailer for another movie, or a trailer for Shadowman 3, but Park Seong-won, the audience knew.

‘This is…’

The ending credits that were rising up stopped. Everyone swallowed their saliva.

Boom-

Boom-

A music that made their spines chill sounded.

They unconsciously tensed their bodies. Park Seong-won could only look at the screen without moving.

Boom boom-

It was Jin Natra’s OST.

In a dark room, moonlight shone through a large window.

The camera moved slowly following the moonlight and showed a man lying on a large bed.

Before they could be surprised by the face of the man they didn’t expect to see here, a boy who was hidden by the shadow of the bedpost appeared.

“Father.”

The boy who was looking at the pale man on the bed knelt down and held his hand. The boy’s eyes sank deeply.

“Just like you did…”

The boy held his hand tightly.

It was a hand that always held him gently, without saying anything.

It was also a hand that made his life miserable.

“I want to destroy all your happiness too.”

The fingers of Tul Natra, who was held by the boy, twitched.

The boy felt that movement and closed his eyes slowly and opened them again.

They were firm and cold eyes that let nothing in.

“So, give me everything.”

The boy slowly got up from the floor.

The two hands that were holding each other fell weakly.

The shadow under the boy’s feet, Jin Natra’s shadow, moved slowly according to Jin Natra’s will.

“Your country too.”

The flag of Natra that was hanging on the wall was swallowed by the black shadow.

“Your position too.”

The king’s bedroom was slowly engulfed by the dark and deep shadow.

“Your power too.”

The black shadow that had been eroding from all sides of the bed approached Tul Natra who was lying on the bed.

Tul Natra’s shadow writhed as if to resist the black shadow that surrounded him like a siege.

“Everything.”

The black shadow covered Tul Natra.

Boom!

Boom!

The screen showed the wriggling black shadow and Jin Natra’s back, and then turned pitch black.

Chapter 143

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 143

The movie theater brightened up and the remaining ending credits rolled up.

A heavy and oppressive silence filled the auditorium.

The audience, who had been watching the screen with tense bodies, finally relaxed and let out a hard breath.

“Wow…”

“That was really scary…”

“Look at that force. He’s obviously a villain, right?”

Agreeing with the audience’s comments, Park Seong-won also rubbed his goosebumped arms vigorously.

***

“Assembly 2 review, second time, start! The main content of Assembly 2 is a teaser for Shadowman 3, so we set aside a separate time for it. If you want to see the review of Assembly 2 other than the Shadowman 3 teaser, please watch the video on the link that pops up now.”

-First, Bell Natra?

“Yes. I’ll start with Bell Natra. I’ve said before that I felt she was cheap, but the reason was revealed.”

-She left him behind. Poor Jin Natraㅠ How could she do thatㅜ

-I feel betrayed tooㅠ

-I gasped while watching…

“Yes. The reason why Jin Natra suddenly appeared on Earth, and in Central Park of all places. I understand her intention to live comfortably on Earth rather than being bullied by the Natrans, but unlike Natra, which is a single planet and a single country, there are many countries on Earth, so Bell Natra’s attempt failed.”

-It’s also a bit much to tell a kid who lost his memory to go find his home.

“But if she’s a Natran, I can understand it a little bit. When William, an Earthling, was discovered, he was immediately reported to the king. Bell Natra might have thought that Earth was the same.”

-He goes to Earth > He gets reported to the king > He finds his parents?

“Yes. She probably thought that way.”

-But Bell Natra said that Jin would have noticed…

-I watched Shadowman 2 and he just stood there without any thoughts

The Moviegoer nodded.

“There was a flashback scene where Jin Natra was waiting for Bell Natra, but there was no sign of that at all. He just looked like he was waiting for a family member who went somewhere for a moment. Usually, when you go out with your family and they say they’ll be back soon, you don’t think much of it because they’ll come back eventually. You’d rather run around by yourself.”

-ㅇㅇ And then you get lostㅎ

“That’s how close he was to Bell Natra. Like a real family.”

-That’s why it’s more sadㅠ

-How could she leave him behindㅠ

-Does Jin still not know?

The Moviegoer frowned at the viewer’s question.

“He probably knows by now. Jin Natra, who learned about William, was shocked by his father’s betrayal, and that shock affected his bond with Bell Natra as well. He might have had a faint doubt: What if Bell did too?”

The Moviegoer continued.

“Bell Natra brought him to Earth, he waited there alone, Bell Natra arrived late. Those things that were nothing special became ‘something special’.”

-Jin is pitifulㅠㅠ

-If she had come back sooner, he wouldn’t have known the truth.

-ㄴㄴ Then the story wouldn’t have progressed.

“The pendant teaser was also solved, and we also learned why Natra invaded.”

-The reason why Shadowman is strong was also revealed.

-A picture of a person with A written on it and a person with B written on it, and a small baby picture appeared on the screen. There were shadows drawn under the pictures.

“So A, who won the fight, absorbed B’s shadow, but A was also on the verge of death due to a fatal wound. Then, ‘A’s shadow’ that grew by forced succession gained a self and escaped to the nearest baby Mack.”

On the screen, ‘A(+B)‘s shadow’ seeped into baby Mack’s shadow.

“According to Bell Natra, it’s very rare for a shadow to have a self, so the probability of two shadows having a self at the same time is low. Shadowman’s shadow also doesn’t seem to have more than one self.”

-That’s why. It was strange that only Shadowman’s shadow was embarrassed.

-In Shadowman 1 and 2, the Natrans just used them as weapons, but Shadowman’s shadow was special.

-In Assembly 1, when Shadowman was gloomy, he sometimes played the role of licorice and caused troubleㅎ

-But it’s a bit creepy that he’s a kidnapper’s shadow.

-! I didn’t think of that! I thought his shadow was cute!

“Yes. I thought so too… But Jin Natra’s shadow was originally Tul Natra’s…”

The chat room was filled with heavy silence.

-My God… They’re all enemy abilities.

-Tul Natra is a bit ambiguous though…

-You can’t deny that he’s the cause of William’s misfortune.

“And there was also a new teaser called Time Stone.”

-A picture of a red jewel and a blue jewel appeared on the screen.

“Red Time Stone and Blue Time Stone that allow the Natrans to live for over 100 years. I think this is a very important teaser. It turns back time. We know a child who can’t go home because of that ‘time’.”

-So I thought it would be a happy ending…

-? How can you think that after seeing Jin Natra in Shadowman 2?

-ㅋㅋ You still say that after watching the cookie video?

-He gave upㅠ

The moviegoer nodded.

“Yes. The cookie video. Jin Natra forcibly succeeded. Honestly, I had a feeling that it would happen when Bell Natra mentioned the concept of ‘forced succession’, but… There was a big difference between imagining forced succession and actually seeing it.”

He still felt a chill down his spine.

“I thought he would absorb the shadow moderately, but I didn’t know it would be so terrifying. It felt like the shadow was chewing on something. The CG technology seems to have improved a lot.”

-Goosebumps. I was scared after watching the cookie video.

-222 It was really scary. It looked like something was wriggling and it would jump out of the screen…

-That’s CG, right? Marina’s CG is amazing.

-What about Tul Natra?

The moviegoer said with a half-smile.

“Yes! Tul Natra! It’s unclear whether he will appear in Shadowman 3 or not after being forcibly succeeded, but I was surprised. Swalin Arnham! Swalin Arnham appeared in a superhero movie!”

-I thought he would make a movie worthy of an Oscar award since it was his next work after 5 years!

-ㅇㅇ I never imagined he would do a superhero movie

-But will he appear? Forced succession looked very scary.

-It seemed like he was groaning in the cookie video…

“I hope he does. It would be a shame if the cookie video was all he had for his first appearance in a superhero movie. Swalin Arnham and Lee Seo-jun’s acting… I’m looking forward to it just by imagining it.”

-Looking forward!!!

-Come out, Shadowman 3!

“Lee Seo-jun’s acting was still amazing. His voice, his movements, everything made me feel cold just by watching. He filmed the cookie video after filming ‘Over the Rainbow’, but there was not a single trace of Gray Vainy’s emotions, and he showed a perfect Jin Natra. His acting skills are admirable.”

-His force was amazing. I almost knelt down while watchingㅎ

-Will there be a fight scene in Shadowman 3?

-I think so. It seems like Jin Natra and Shadowman will fight, but who will win?

-Shadowman = Prince candidate×2 VS Jin Natra = Tul Natra (forced succession)

-It seems like a fight between the ‘potential’ that Shadowman, a Natran, had and the ‘grown shadow’ that Tul Natra had for 100 years.

-ㅇㅇ Jin Natra is an Earthling, so he doesn’t have any ‘potential’.

-Shadowman = Prince candidate×2 + potential VS Jin Natra = Tul Natra (forced succession) + 100 years growth / Like this?

-Good summary

The Moviegoer scratched his cheek. The viewers who had been reviewing with him for years started to discuss on their own.

“You guys are too much. At this rate, I won’t have anything to say.”

-Oops. ㅈㅅㅈㅅ

-The movie analysis is too funㅋㅋ

-Please explain!

“…You’ve already done everything. All of you.”

Sighing, the Moviegoer continued.

“The biggest problem is whether the Natrans will follow Jin Natra’s orders after he forcibly succeeded. Jin Natra might be able to invade Earth by himself, but it would be hard. He probably needs to mobilize the Natrans as well. He became the strongest among the candidates by forced succession, but will the Natrans listen to Jin Natra, an Earthling?”

-That’s true. Will they serve an Earthling as their king?

-They might rebel.

“I think everything will be resolved in Shadowman 3.”

***

[The past of Shadowman revealed in Assembly 2!]

[The cookie video that teased Shadowman 3!]

[A great misfortune caused by misunderstandings and misunderstandings!]

[A new jewel appeared, Time Stone!]

[Gray Vainy→Jin Natra, a perfect transformation!]

[The king of Natra! Tul Natra appeared! The actor is Swalin Arnham!]

-Wow… I knew it roughly, but it’s amazing when it’s revealed. Brother Shadowman, brother Jin Natra… Is it a brother fightㅠ

-What is Time Stone?

-Lee Seo-jun is amazing. The same face, but totally different

=Honestly, both Gray Vainy and Jin Natra seem to have somethingㅋ

=ㅇㅇ Lee Seo-jun’s on/off is amazing, but his ‘on/on’ is also amazingㅋ I watched Over the Rainbow a lot, but I didn’t feel any lingering feelings from his previous work.

=Me too. I didn’t think I would feel creepy looking at the same face as Gray. I still get emotional when I hear the OSTㅎ

-Swalin Arnham! Swalin Arnham is in a hero movie!

=He only lies in bed and it’s over?

=That! Lunge too…

=That’s better than nothing.

=ㅇㅇ Latte is, he was more famous than Davis Garrett

=He’s still famous. There are many actors who want to act with him. The producers are also trying hard to cast himㅎ

***

“Seo-jun, is Swalin Arnham a famous actor?”

Ji-woo’s words made Seo-jun look at Ji-woo with a shocked face.

His friends were more surprised by Seo-jun’s expression.

“He must be very famous, then.”

“I’ve never seen him…”

Ji-yoon and Mina also tilted their heads.

They were closer to movies than other kids because their friend Seo-jun was an actor, but they didn’t look for old movies.

Seo-jun nodded, fixing his expression.

It wasn’t unreasonable that they didn’t know about Swalin Arnham, whose last movie was five years ago.

‘He wouldn’t have looked for a journalist movie that was released when he was eight.’

Seo-jun and his friends were different.

He owned it on VOD and even had the script.

Seo-jun nodded.

“Yeah. He’s very famous. And he’s my favorite actor.”

“Wow, he must be really great if he’s Seo-jun’s favorite actor.”

Seo-jun grinned.

He wanted to talk about Swalin Arnham’s debut work to his latest work, what he liked best, which character was the coolest, this expression was good, that expression was good, he had a lot to talk about, but he closed his mouth when he saw his friends’ faces.

‘They’re not interested in acting like me, right? They wouldn’t understand if I talked like this.’

So Seo-jun explained it simply.

“Swalin Arnham won a lot of awards and went to a lot of film festivals. There are also a lot of actors who want to act with him. I wanted to act with him too.”

“I see.”

“So in Shadowman 3, you’re acting with that actor?”

“Yeah! That’s why I’m so happy!”

Seo-jun nodded repeatedly. He filmed with him in the cookie video, but it was too short.

‘I only had lines.’

He wanted to act more with him.

Even without lines, it was fine.

He wanted to be more emotional and intense with his eyes and gestures.

‘Please, director Ryan, put a lot of scenes with us together!’

Seo-jun seriously wondered if he should look for a power that would grant his wish, when Ji-yoon opened her mouth.

“But I think Seo-jun is cooler. Maybe when Seo-jun grows up, he’ll be more famous than that actor?”

“Right. He’ll win a lot of awards and go to a lot of film festivals and actors will want to act with him.”

“He might already be like that. Everyone is waiting for Seo-jun’s next drama.”

Seo-jun’s cheeks turned red at his friends’ words.

He felt happy just by hearing them. His friends laughed at Seo-jun’s smiling face.

It was then.

-Aaaah!

The sound that seemed to tear their ears made the homeroom teacher who was preparing for the class jump up from his seat.

Chapter 144

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 144

The sixth graders of class 3, who were chatting away, stopped talking at the sound of the emergency bell.

The kids who were playing in the hallway also came back to their classroom.

The homeroom teacher quickly checked on the kids.

Along with the loud emergency bell, an announcement came on.

The kids perked up their ears.

[We will now begin the evacuation drill.]

“Thank goodness. It was just an evacuation drill.”

“I know. I was so startled.”

Relieved that it was not a real situation, Seo-jun and his friends waited for the next announcement.

[There is a fire in the science lab on the third floor. Please avoid the hallway and stairs near the science lab, and use the hallway and stairs near the library to evacuate. We repeat. There is a fire in the science lab on the third floor…]

The location of the science lab on the third floor popped up in the minds of the homeroom teacher and the kids.

“Third floor science lab. Kids, let’s get out of here quickly.”

“Yes.”

At the teacher’s words, Seo-jun and his friends went out to the hallway.

The students from the other classes, both ahead and behind, also came out in droves and lined up.

In less than a minute, all the kids who were in their classrooms came out to the hallway and stood in two lines.

Seo-jun, who was the tallest in his class and stood at the end of the line, looked ahead.

There was no one missing among his classmates who stood side by side in two lines.

Ji-ho, who stood next to Seo-jun, whispered to him.

“It was math class in fourth period. We got lucky!”

“No kidding. We didn’t have any math homework because of the evacuation drill.”

The senior students, who were used to having evacuation drills twice a year, chatted while skillfully lining up.

One of the kids from the next class seemed to have gone to the bathroom, so their homeroom teacher asked Seo-jun’s homeroom teacher to look after them.

“Check if there are any kids missing in front or behind you.”

“Yes!”

“Anyone missing?”

“No!”

“Then let’s go down.”

Under the guidance of their homeroom teacher, the students moved.

They covered their mouths with handkerchiefs or sleeves, bent their waists, and headed for the stairs.

Seo-jun saw that not only his class but also the next class, and even the classes from lower floors, all orderly but swiftly left the building and came down to the playground.

As the senior students from higher floors came down, each grade head teacher and homeroom teacher checked on their kids and made sure no one was left behind.

“The first graders are crying.”

At Ji-woo’s words, everyone’s eyes turned to where the first graders were standing.

They seemed to be scared by the noisy sound and sudden movement, as they were crying.

They had classrooms on the first or second floor, so they evacuated quickly, but their lines were messy and they needed other grade teachers to calm them down and line them up.

“The first graders cry even though we tell them beforehand.”

“They’re still young.”

“You guys cried a lot too.”

At Ji-ho’s words, Mina laughed and said.

“Everyone in our class cried except for Seo-jun.”

They all looked embarrassed and rolled their eyes before looking at each other and bursting into laughter.

The lower grades of first and second grade were notified by their parents a few days before about having an evacuation drill, and they were explained again a day before and on that day as well.

They also watched a video, gathered together in their class, and moved together.

But they were still afraid of the loud emergency bell and sudden situation, so they cried.

There was an opinion that it was too early for first graders to have evacuation drills because of that, but it was buried soon because emergencies did not spare young children.

“I remember being surprised when they didn’t tell us until that day for our evacuation drill in third grade.”

“Yeah. We didn’t cry but still.”

Seo-jun and his friends nodded their heads.

By then, a teacher came back to the playground with a kid who had been in the bathroom.

It seemed like they were a fourth grader by looking at where they went among the groups of students.

Seo-jun and his friends laughed.

“They say disasters happen suddenly, so they don’t tell us anymore starting from fourth grade.”

At Mina’s words, Ji-ho shook his head vigorously and said.

“I really didn’t know they wouldn’t tell us. I was so shocked when I went to the bathroom during break time and heard the emergency bell. Luckily I heard the announcement in there too. And the teacher came right away.”

“I was surprised too when Ji-ho wasn’t there.”

“The teachers must have a hard time too.”

The teachers counted the number of students again and again, and then the emergency bell stopped.

There was no student who hid on purpose.

They had been warned by their teachers since first grade.

“But really, what if someone hid and didn’t come out? Would they have to write a 100-page reflection?”

“Probably. They make us write a parental consent form every year. It said 100-page reflection on there.”

“If you write one page a day, you can finish it by the end of the year.”

At Seo-jun’s words, they all frowned.

A reflection paper a day. It sounded painful just by hearing it.

“Then let’s move to the stands.”

At the teacher’s words, the kids moved.

While the kids were sitting on the stands, a fire truck came into the playground.

The first graders, who had been crying, stopped their tears and shouted wow at the sight of the big red fire truck.

Seo-jun and his friends smiled at their cute appearance.

The firefighters who got off the fire truck explained to the kids how to evacuate in case of a fire in detail and taught them how to use fire extinguishers, first aid methods, and so on.

They also picked a few kids who wanted to try it out and showed them how to put out a fire together.

Seo-jun turned his eyes away from the sight of a third grader holding a fire extinguisher and putting out a fire.

There were kids who listened attentively and kids who looked bored.

Even the bored kids had come down to the playground without any trouble under their teachers’ instructions.

“Don’t you think our school kids would be able to evacuate well if there was a fire at school?”

Everyone nodded at Seo-jun’s words. They hoped there would be no fire, but accidents could happen anytime.

Ji-woo opened her mouth.

“School is one thing, but kids don’t just stay at school. They go to academies, they go out to play.”

“They won’t freeze in fear when they hear the emergency bell, though.”

“After six years of evacuation training, I think my body will move on its own when I hear the emergency bell.”

Seo-jun and his friends laughed and nodded at Ji-ho’s words.

The first semester evacuation training at Maesil Elementary School was over with the last demonstration of fire suppression by the firefighters.

***

The bidding announcement for the advertisement of the Fire Department was posted.

[Bidding Name: “Children’s Fire Evacuation Tips, Public Service Advertisement Production”, Announcement Agency: Fire Department]

The meeting room of the advertising production company ‘Cloud’.

The planning team members gathered to have a meeting to create a proposal to submit to the Fire Department.

[Children’s Target ‘Fire Evacuation Tips Public Service Advertisement’]

Everyone was lost in thought at the topic written on the whiteboard.

Fire evacuation tips public service advertisement.

Everyone thought of a plain advertisement with large captions like 1.

Shout fire, 2.

Press the emergency bell, and models acting awkwardly.

The planning team leader, who had thought of the same advertisement, spoke up.

“What kind of advertisement do you want to make, considering that the target is children?”

“Well… We need to make it easy for children to understand.”

“We can also use characters that children like.”

“How about the Fire Department mascot?”

Everyone shook their heads without even looking at the mascot.

“If we use the Fire Department mascot, we might have a higher chance of winning the bid, but the advertising effect will be low. It’s not a character that children like.”

“It would be better to use popular cartoon characters. There are characters called ‘presidents of children’, right?”

“The most fundamental problem is that kids these days don’t watch TV. I’m sure the Fire Department also wants to post it on places like SNS or YouTube, not just TV. We need to get out of the frame of TV advertisements.”

The planning team members were actively exchanging opinions when Kim Ji-hyun, who had a daughter in elementary school, spoke up.

She had an easy time thinking of something that would appeal to her daughter, who was the target of this advertisement.

“I think it would be better to use famous celebrities that children like, or to make an advertisement that children can easily empathize with.”

“Empathize?”

“Children’s dramas starring child actors are popular among kids these days. You know what I mean by children’s dramas, right?”

Children’s dramas.

The employees in the meeting room also thought of the children’s dramas they watched when they were young.

It was a drama about a magic family.

The children were the main characters, and their life at elementary school was shown.

It was childish, but it was popular among their peers.

There must have been some kids among the employees who were fascinated by the drama and wanted to be magicians.

A fire evacuation tip as a children’s drama?

Everyone pondered. Kim Ji-hyun continued.

“Since children are the protagonists, it will be easier for children to learn fire evacuation tips. If they watch the drama and imitate the main character, they will naturally practice evacuation, and if there is a real fire, they will remember what the main character did one by one.”

“The idea is good, but…”

The planning team leader scratched his head.

“Do you want to make a drama with such a small budget?”

“5 to 10 minutes would be enough. We can edit the important scenes and use them as advertisements, and people who want to see the full video will look for the Fire Department YouTube channel. That way, we can also promote the Fire Department. And we can also use it as an educational video for the Fire Department.”

Kim Ji-hyun’s words made everyone lean towards web drama. The planning team leader couldn’t get rid of the idea that web drama would be better.

But he couldn’t accept it right away because,

“The government agencies are conservative and it will be hard for them to accept this proposal…”

With the planning team leader’s groan, the dilemma of ‘Cloud’ deepened.

***

A few weeks later.

The meeting room of ‘Cloud’.

The employees of Cloud gathered and read down the document sent by the Fire Department.

It seemed like a lie no matter how many times they looked at it.

They felt like their hard work had been rewarded with this one document.

“…Did this really work?”

“…? It was your idea, Ji-hyun.”

Kim Ji-hyun blushed at the surprised eyes of her team leader and colleagues.

“I thought it was a good idea, but like you said, they are conservative government agencies. I thought it would never work because it was a public service advertisement and a web drama…”

“Someone told me that they got extra points for using the video as an educational video. As you said, it seems like something that children would be interested in. There were also many opinions in the Fire Department that a plain public service advertisement wouldn’t work. The timing was good.”

The employees nodded their heads at the planning team leader’s words.

“If we do well this time, we might be able to get other government agency advertisements.”

“We might even get a proposal for a web drama.”

“Do you think we can make a TV drama someday? Like Wave.”

The newcomer’s words made everyone shake their heads. ‘Wave’ was the production company that made the drama ‘The Royal Physician’ starring Lee Seo-jun.

“They became famous after making ‘The Royal Physician’ and they have a lot of work coming in.”

The employees widened their eyes at the planning team leader’s words.

“It’s been three years and they still do?”

“They have a director and a writer who are close to Lee Seo-jun, and there is also the expectation that Lee Seo-jun might appear again. And almost every drama made by Wave is confirmed to be on KBC. It’s like entering terrestrial broadcasting as soon as they produce it. It’s no wonder they have a lot of scripts. And the dramas that were aired also had good ratings.”

“They really hit the jackpot. Wave, I mean.”

“I wish Lee Seo-jun would come to us too. Not only children, but adults would love it too. Our company would become famous too.”

The employee who was making the audition promotional material for the child actors who would appear in this public service advertisement made everyone laugh.

The planning team leader, who laughed heartily, opened his mouth.

“It would be nice if Lee Seo-jun came, but the problem is his appearance fee. It’s not a corporate advertisement, it’s a government advertisement, so we can’t spend that much money.”

Ah, appearance fee.

How much would they have to pay Lee Seo-jun?

The employees shook their heads at the amount they couldn’t even guess.

Chapter 145

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Chapter 145

The audition notice for Cloud, a short drama, was sent to agencies and acting schools that specialized in child actors.

They needed actors with experience, even if the drama was short.

Only one place was left out.

***

What did Team 2 of Cocoa Entertainment, the team dedicated to actor Lee Seo-jun, do?

When they arrived at work in the morning, they sat down at their desks and checked Lee Seo-jun’s articles and comments first.

“There are a lot of posts expressing their expectations for Shadowman 3.”

“Many fans are also waiting for his next work.”

They could check them with ease, as there were only good articles.

Lee Seo-jun had a good image and a heavy name as a Hollywood actor, even at a young age.

The next thing to do was to print out the scripts and synopses that came in the day before.

The printer worked fast, and the employees collected and organized the printed materials.

Then, the meeting began with Ahn Da Ho, the team leader who would explain them to Seo-jun in person.

“This production company keeps sending them. They’ve been on the blacklist for a long time…”

“This one is not bad, right?”

“I’ll read it too.”

After filtering out the synopses of the directors, writers, production companies, and other influential figures on the blacklist, they scored the rest of them, except for the ones that made them frown just by reading them.

They put them in a box to send to Seo-jun, along with Ahn Da Ho’s recommendations.

This task took the longest time, as there were many works coming in.

The next thing was advertising.

Lee Seo-jun was famous worldwide, so he could target the global market with just one advertisement.

Thanks to that, there were also a lot of offers for appearing in advertisements.

And they poured in from all over the world, not just Korea.

The problem was that he couldn’t choose advertisements carelessly as he became more famous.

Unlike scripts and synopses, which Ahn Da Ho and Team 2 could easily filter out, they became very careful here.

They searched for information about the products and companies and checked reviews and articles.

“This one has carcinogens in it.”

Everyone shook their heads at the employee’s words.

If that padding had been sold all over the world with Seo-jun’s advertisement… It would have been really dark.

It wasn’t Seo-jun’s fault, but they didn’t know if even a small spark would fly.

Considering Seo-jun’s influence, it might have been a big spark.

“I think it would be better if he just did dramas and movies without any advertisements.”

Team 2 agreed with that.

There were few offers for advertisements that passed through Team 2’s sharp eyes today, and none of them were chosen by Seo-jun.

After sorting out all the emails and mail that came in the day before, it was time to surf the internet.

From sites that actors and production companies used frequently to cafes and blogs, they searched for [audition] with their mouths shut.

[Advertisement audition]

[Theater audition]

[Independent film audition]

They checked the occasional articles and posts while looking for auditions.

There were more reviews of auditions and advertisements for acting schools than audition posts.

“There’s an audition notice here!”

An employee clicked on the post with interest.

It was a post on a site where only audition notices were posted.

“It’s a public service advertisement for the Fire Department. Do you have it, team leader?”

Ahn Da Ho, who was looking through the company’s mailbox, shook his head. There was no ‘F’ for Fire Department in it.

“No.”

“Then I’ll print it.”

The employee who found the audition notice activated the printer.

Several sheets of paper were printed out with a whirring sound.

Team 2 divided them up and read them one by one.

[Fire Department Public Service Advertisement Audition Notice]

[Age limit: 12-13 years old (5th-6th grade elementary school)]

[Production company: Cloud]

Cloud, an advertisement production company.

It wasn’t on the blacklist.

The audition date was on the weekend.

Team 2 checked the notice familiarly.

“The age limit is exactly Seo-jun’s age. Why didn’t they send it?”

“Well, it must be because of the appearance fee.”

After Seo-jun won the Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award, there was a time when the American media calculated his appearance fee.

His appearance fee in Hollywood, where they called movies with less than 100 billion won in production costs low-budget films, was enough to shock Korea.

“It’s not like you can believe that exactly…”

“The situation is different in Korea and the US, so the appearance fee would be different too.”

Team 2 nodded their heads.

There were often places that didn’t send offers because they were scared of the unexpected appearance fee.

Of course, there weren’t many.

Whether it was a play or a musical, if Seo-jun appeared in it, they could make enough profit from VOD or streaming sites.

‘Thanks to that, there were more places that threw scripts and synopses at him without any plan, saying that they would do this and that if Seo-jun appeared.’

They sighed just thinking about it.

Ahn Da Ho opened his mouth.

“It looks like they didn’t send it because they can’t make any profit from this public service advertisement.”

“It’s good that they don’t force him to donate his talent.”

Everyone gave a bitter smile at that.

They remembered the time when some association tried to force him to donate his talent.

Ahn Da Ho looked down at the paper.

He always thought of that time when he saw audition notices on the internet.

His actor, who chose a different work that seemed fun, rather than the next work list that only aimed for box office success.

“I don’t know if Seo-jun will choose this audition or not, but I don’t want a situation like the children’s play ‘Spring’ to happen again.”

“That’s right. The reason why Team 2 exists is to support Seo-jun, but it’s absurd that Seo-jun has to look for audition notices himself.”

After that, Team 2 didn’t ignore any audition notice or synopsis carelessly.

Of course, there were also some auditions that smelled like scams, but it was Team 2’s job to weed them out.

“Let’s check it out.”

At Ahn Da Ho’s words, the employees stopped chatting and checked the audition notice.

“Plus for looking like they’ll make it properly.”

“Plus for being a public service advertisement from the Fire Department. We don’t need to check it separately.”

“It’s an advertisement, but the running time is 5 to 10 minutes. It’s like a web drama. Plus for having a story.”

“There’s no synopsis in the notice. We need to check this.”

“I’ll send an email to the production company.”

“As soon as the production company sends us the synopsis or script, we can send it to Seo-jun.”

While one employee sent an email to Cloud, the advertisement production company, Team 2 started looking for audition notices again.

***

As usual, Seo-jun glanced at the titles of the scripts and synopses that Ahn Da Ho brought in a box.

He sparkled his eyes.

“Oh.”

He found a paper that was at the bottom.

It had three stars on it.

“It’s a public service advertisement from the Fire Department.”

“Why? Are you interested?”

“Yes. We had an evacuation drill at school last week.”

“Oh. Right.”

Seo-jun read the audition notice and synopsis and said.

“I became interested after that and looked into it a bit. Like how to evacuate in places other than school. But there were more problems than I thought.”

“Problems?”

“Like the rooftop door being locked when you have to evacuate to the rooftop, or the emergency bell being broken and ringing all the time, or the emergency door being locked and unusable in an emergency.”

Ahn Da Ho nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

“Well, yeah, there are cases where they lock the rooftop door because it’s dangerous.”

“And our school is special because we do it twice a year. I heard that other schools don’t do it much.”

Ahn Da Ho thought of Maesil Elementary School’s disaster drill.

It was an evacuation drill created by the principal who took office a few years before Seo-jun enrolled.

The evacuation drills with different levels of difficulty for grades 1 to 6 seemed to be very helpful for the kids.

‘But you can only tell if it’s really helpful or not when an accident happens, and accidents shouldn’t happen at elementary schools.’

There were things that were better not to know.

It would be helpful enough if they didn’t panic when the emergency bell rang.

“This is good.”

Ahn Da Ho came to his senses at Seo-jun’s words.

“Really? Do you want to do this?”

“Yes. I want to do it.”

Seo-jun nodded his head.

Ahn Da Ho took the paper from Seo-jun and looked over the notice.

This audition was for a public service advertisement that had a low budget and no other revenue, so they might hesitate to offer Seo-jun an appearance fee.

But,

‘If Seo-jun wants to do it, I have to let him do it.’

Lee Seo-jun’s manager, Ahn Da Ho smiled slyly.

There was also a way of donating his talent, but if he did that once, they would ask him to do it everywhere.

‘Then I have to use another method.’

“Seo-jun. Do you care about the appearance fee?”

“No.”

“Then shall we use that name?”

That name?

Seo-jun tilted his head and sparkled his eyes.

“Na Jin?”

“Yeah. This is a public service advertisement, so they won’t have much production cost. Na Jin’s appearance fee would be more appropriate than Lee Seo-jun’s, who won awards.”

Ahn Da Ho said and Seo-jun burst into laughter.

“Hahaha. Should we do that?”

Lee Seo-jun and Na Jin.

It was like playing peek-a-boo, but it was a good method.

***

The audition applications piled up on the conference room table.

The planning team members who had to do the document screening sat down with vague faces.

“We did send them the synopsis, but… what if we really get an application from him?”

Ever since they got an email from Cocoa Entertainment that day, Cloud’s employees wondered how much they would have to pay him if he appeared in this advertisement, or searched for old prediction articles.

The conclusion that always reached beyond their imagination was,

“Can’t we ask him to donate his talent?”

Donating his talent.

“Since it’s a public service advertisement, it might not be impossible.”

“But wouldn’t it seem like we’re forcing him if we suggest it from our side?”

Everyone groaned at that.

They remembered the time when some association tried to force him to donate his talent.

“Well, whether it’s donating his talent or paying him an appearance fee, we have to get an application from him first. If there’s no application, it’s just wishful thinking.”

Everyone nodded at the planning team leader’s words.

“Then let’s start the document screening!”

“Yes.”

The conference room was quiet, except for the sound of papers turning and pens scratching.

“There are a lot of child actors in this age group. They have at least two works of experience.”

“It’s because of Lee Seo-jun. There was a boom of child actors because of him.”

“There are still many. There are many people who want to make their kids like Lee Seo-jun from a young age. And many kids who want to be like him too.”

Everyone nodded.

Meanwhile, the planning team leader stopped at one application.

He seemed to stop breathing.

The employee sitting next to him tilted his head and looked at the application that the team leader was looking at.

The employee also froze.

Kim Ji-hyun, who was sitting next to them, was puzzled by their expressions and stretched her head to look at the application.

She read it slowly from the top.

“Name, Na Jin, age, 13.”

There was nothing special about the name or age.

There were many people with the same name in the world.

But when this work was added, there was only one person it pointed to.

“Experience, children’s… play… Spring…?”

The eyes of everyone in the office turned to Kim Ji-hyun.

The team leader and the employee who were staring blankly at the application, and Kim Ji-hyun’s pupils shook.

“…What?”

“…What did you say?”

They didn’t hear the employees’ questions.

As if they were slowly coming to their senses, the team leader and the employee started to laugh weakly.

“Ah, haha. Team leader, your eyes must have gotten worse. Do you want to get glasses together?”

“…Maybe. I’m seeing things. Should I drink some herbal medicine?”

Their short laughter ended and a brief silence passed.

The employees who were sitting got up and headed toward the team leader.

“Really!? It’s really Lee Seo-jun!?”

“Na Jin. Na Jin, isn’t that Lee Seo-jun’s stage name?”

“Well, it’s not really a stage name, but! How did this happen?! If they were going to send it, why did they send it as Na Jin instead of Lee Seo-jun?”

“Is someone playing a prank?”

“…! That’s right!”

Everyone nodded at the most probable opinion. The employee who suggested it picked up his phone.

“I’ll call Lee Seo-jun’s agency.”

“Isn’t there a phone number here?”

“How can you trust that.”

“Oh.”

He typed Lee Seo-jun’s agency on the internet search bar, and Cocoa Entertainment’s homepage and phone number appeared.

The phone rang. Everyone was silent as they answered the phone.

The expression of the employee who was on the phone gradually became confused.

Everyone was curious as he hung up the phone.

The employee opened his mouth with a pale face.

“…It’s really Lee Seo-jun.”

“…Wow! Lee Seo-jun is appearing in our advertisement!”

Among the happy employees, the team leader was lost in thought.

“But why did he send an application as Na Jin, not Lee Seo-jun? Does he want us to think of them separately?”

“It seems like that from only writing ‘Spring’ as his experience.”

“Then, Na Jin’s appearance fee is…”

“We’ll have to talk to Cocoa Entertainment to find out, but it might be okay if it’s less than Lee Seo-jun’s.”

The team leader’s face regained its color.

Chapter 146

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Chapter 146

After the meeting between Cocoa Entertainment, the advertising agency, and Cloud, Ahn Da Ho contacted Seo-jun.

“We decided to use Na Jin as his stage name. There’s no script change, and the child actors’ names will be their real names…”

“I’ll use Na Jin too.”

Seo-jun’s words made Ahn Da Ho laugh.

“You can use Lee Seo-jun if you want.”

“I already applied as Na Jin, so I’ll stick with that.”

“Okay, then. And they said you should get used to acting before the shooting. The audition will be at the Baekho Fire Safety Experience Center.”

“Baekho Fire Safety Experience Center?”

Seo-jun’s voice was full of curiosity. Ahn Da Ho explained.

“It’s a safety experience center made by the fire department. You can experience earthquakes, typhoons, and smoke evacuation there.”

Come to think of it, he remembered going to such a place with his classmates and homeroom teacher.

The earthquake experience where he was shaken violently on a machine, the typhoon experience where the wind blew fiercely, and the smoke evacuation experience where he walked through a dark corridor filled with smoky air and headed for the emergency exit.

Seo-jun nodded his head as he talked on his phone.

-I went there when I was in third grade. It had a different name though.

“It must be an old one. They said this is a new place they made.”

-I told them I was used to school evacuation drills, but the smoke evacuation room was different and I was surprised. The kids too. But they’re going to do the audition there?

‘Usually they would do it in an office… Wouldn’t it be hard to act in a dark and smoky place?’

Ahn Da Ho answered Seo-jun’s question.

“They’re looking at acting skills too, but they don’t want anyone to panic on the set, so they’re giving extra points to calm child actors.”

That makes sense.

If he got scared by the fake smoke and cried, or felt trapped and couldn’t move, it would be hard to continue shooting.

Ahn Da Ho continued.

“So I’m thinking of going to the Baekho Experience Center when I have time. What do you think?”

-Sure. I want to go too.

Seo-jun nodded his head repeatedly.

His parents, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, laughed as they watched their son nodding his head earnestly while talking on the phone.

***

The advertising agency ‘Cloud’ became busy.

They finished the audition at the Baekho Fire Safety Experience Center with Park Jong Woo, the director of this ad, and sent the scripts to the selected child actors.

The production team made the set for shooting the ad, and the planning team arranged a nearby fire station to cooperate with them.

Even in the midst of their busy schedule, the smiles never left their faces.

It was because an unexpected actor had agreed to appear in their ad.

“Ah, don’t we have to tell the fire department that Lee Seo-jun is appearing?”

“Yeah, shouldn’t we tell them soon?”

Everyone looked at their team leader.

The team leader shook his head.

“We can’t tell them.”

“…You mean we can’t tell them that Lee Seo-jun is appearing? Why not?”

“That’s right. The budget will increase a lot, won’t it?”

“And higher-ups will come too.”

The team leader’s words made everyone nod their heads. They understood.

“We get it.”

“You convinced everyone with one sentence. Team leader, you’re good at summarizing.”

“If we say Lee Seo-jun is coming, all the higher-ups will show up.”

“Maybe even beyond the fire department.”

The employees shuddered as they imagined Lee Seo-jun being harassed by them.

They wouldn’t have any excuse to butt in if it was a movie or a drama shoot, but a public service ad?

What a perfect excuse.

They could come from city councilors to congressmen, from here and there, to take pictures for publicity or election campaigns.

They sighed as they imagined Lee Seo-jun being surprised by the fake smoke and crying, or feeling trapped and unable to move.

“So everyone keep your mouths shut until the shooting is over.”

“Yes!”

“Let’s start telling the actors when the shooting date is.”

“Yes!”

“But don’t we have to tell the director? That Lee Seo-jun is appearing.”

Kim Ji-hyun’s words made the team leader pause.

“…Did we not tell him yet?”

“…No.”

“Let’s tell him right away.”

“Yes!”

Kim Ji-hyun quickly sent a banana talk message.

***

“I… those bastards… I knew they would do this…”

“Jong Woo hyung. Eat this while you drink. You haven’t eaten anything all day.”

Park Jong Woo, who had been grumbling, started to sob.

Kim Suhan, who had been drinking with him since noon, sighed.

He knew that Jong Woo hyung, who was good at drinking, wouldn’t get drunk by this much alcohol.

He was just using the slight buzz to let out the feelings he had been suppressing.

He understood how unfair and frustrated Park Jong Woo felt.

He had bought a good script that seemed promising among many others, and had secured the investment by running around everywhere, only to have the production company change the director without any notice.

They didn’t even listen to Park Jong Woo’s protest.

All he got was the script fee that the production company threw at him as if they were doing him a favor.

“We did everything… We did everything from start to finish… And those bastards…”

He repeated the same words and whimpered until he lay down on the floor and quieted down.

It was lucky that it was Jong Woo hyung’s house.

Kim Suhan sighed.

“But what do we do now…”

He felt bitter.

He had helped Jong Woo hyung, who was his junior in college, at a student film festival.

In return, Kim Suhan also helped with Park Jong Woo’s work.

He had worked hard for months, waiting for the day his name would appear in the ending credits, and it all turned out to be nothing.

“I thought I could do one work before going to the army…”

He felt sick.

He drank another beer to ease his stomach.

Bark!

Park Jong Woo’s phone rang. Kim Suhan shook Park Jong Woo.

“Hyung. You got a banana talk.”

“Huh?”

“A banana talk.”

“Huh… Give me my phone…”

Kim Suhan put the phone in Park Jong Woo’s hand that was waving in the air.

Park Jong Woo read the banana talk message with his blurry vision.

Director. This is Cloud, the advertising agency.

We have decided on the actor for role A.

Advertising agency.

Those words made Park Jong Woo sober up.

“Who is it?”

“The ad company.”

“Oh, them.”

Cloud, the advertising agency that Park Jong Woo and Kim Suhan had contracted with to make some money for their movie.

They had done other things too to raise funds for their movie.

But what was the point of having money when they lost their movie?

It was hard to cancel since they had already signed a contract, and neither of them had the personality to drop their work without a good reason.

‘I guess I’ll have to work hard on this instead of a movie.’

“Suhan ah, give me some cold water.”

“Okay.”

Park Jong Woo drank the cold water that Kim Suhan handed him and regained his senses. He sent a reply.

<Oh, the role you said you had an actor for.

Park Jong Woo sighed. Kim Suhan, who was chewing on chicken, tilted his head.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, I just realized how dark the actor side is too.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re doing a public service ad, but they have a parachute.”

“A parachute?”

“Yeah. They didn’t even audition. I don’t know who it is, but I’m really looking forward to their acting. Really looking forward to it.”

Kim Suhan pushed chicken and beer quietly in front of Park Jong Woo, who was being sarcastic.

The director who took Park Jong Woo’s work was the nephew of the production company’s president.

He understood why Park Jong Woo clenched his teeth at the word parachute.

Bark-

Park Jong Woo’s phone rang again.

He kept drinking beer without checking the banana talk notification.

“Aren’t you going to check?”

“Well, it’s probably just telling me who the actor is.”

“You should check anyway. You need to know who it is to prepare.”

“…Fine.”

Park Jong Woo drank his beer with a displeased expression and checked the text.

His eyes grew bigger as he read the banana talk message, and then,

Pfft-!

He spat out his beer.

“Ah, hyung!”

Kim Suhan got up from his seat with an annoyed look.

The chicken that received the beer baptism was coldly dying.

“I haven’t even eaten much yet!”

Kim Suhan quickly removed the chicken on top and checked on the chicken underneath.

Fortunately, the chicken at the bottom was safe.

“Su… han ah…”

“Look at this mess! Clean it up!”

“Kim… Suhan…”

Kim Suhan looked up from wiping the floor with tissue paper at Park Jong Woo’s trembling voice.

Park Jong Woo’s face was pale as he held out his phone with his shaking hand.

“…Yes?”

“Read this for me. I think I’m really bad at drinking. I’m seeing things.”

“…? Okay.”

Kim Suhan took Park Jong Woo’s phone and said,

“You do look really bad at drinking. You’re so pale, hyung.”

“Just read it.”

Kim Suhan shrugged his shoulders at Park Jong Woo’s urging and read the Banana Talk message.

-Director. This is Cloud, the ad production company.

-We have decided on the actor for role A.

<Oh, the role you said the actor was decided.

-Yes. Sorry for telling you late.

-Role A will be played by actor Na Jin. Lee Seo-jun, that is.

-We’ll see you on the shooting day.

Kim Suhan narrowed his eyes. I don’t think I drank much, but why am I seeing things?

He rubbed his eyes and checked the Banana Talk message again.

“Hyung, I think I’m seeing things too.”

“Right? Why does the actor’s name look like Lee Seo-jun?”

“…You see that too, hyung?”

Park Jong Woo and Kim Suhan, who had pale faces, looked at each other.

The pupils of the two people who met shook greatly.

“Let’s, let’s calm down for a moment.”

Park Jong Woo grabbed his phone with trembling hands.

He contacted someone with his shaking hands.

It was Cloud, the ad production company.

Kim Suhan also stared at Park Jong Woo without breathing, remembering the name of his favorite actor he met unexpectedly.

The connection sound that felt like 10 years in one second was cut off and someone answered the phone.

“Yes. Team leader. I saw your Banana Talk message… The actor for role A…?”

Park Jong Woo’s face changed in various ways as he held his phone to his ear.

A face full of doubt, a face of shock as he listened to the story, and finally a face flushed with excitement as he hung up the phone.

Kim Suhan saw such an expression on Park Jong Woo’s face for the first time. He didn’t look this happy and moved when he found this scenario or when he got the investment.

“Jong Woo hyung, really? Is it really Lee Seo-jun?”

“Yes!”

“Wow! Really?”

“They said they finished the contract! I can’t believe I’m shooting with Lee Seo-jun!”

Park Jong Woo’s eyes welled up with tears. He cheered and rejoiced with Kim Suhan, who suddenly remembered something and smiled.

“Well, I guess the actor side is also very dark, huh?”

“Huh.”

Park Jong Woo, who was wondering what he meant by that, stopped breathing. Then he remembered what he had said while drinking. And very vividly.

“A parachute? Who said it was a parachute? Seo-jun would be disappointed if he heard that. Hyung.”

“No, hey! How did I know this would happen!?”

“I’m looking forward to Seo-jun’s acting so much, I want to tell him. Oh right, I’m also shooting with him, right? I might just blurt it out.”

“I was wrong!”

Kim Suhan burst into laughter at Park Jong Woo’s words.

Kim Suhan demanded two chickens on the condition of keeping his mouth shut.

Park Jong Woo quickly ordered one seasoned and one fried chicken.

While waiting for the chicken delivery, Park Jong Woo and Kim Suhan kept looking at the Banana Talk message.

“This isn’t a dream, right?”

No matter how many times they looked at it, the message didn’t change.

When Park Jong Woo was overjoyed, Kim Suhan thought of Na Jin. He thought of Lee Seo-jun.

Acting skills that reached beyond the screen.

They had to shoot the acting of that great actor who was recognized by the whole world.

When he realized that, his heart that was trembling with joy started to beat with pressure and fear.

“Jong Woo hyung. Can we do well?”

“Huh?”

“Can we capture Lee Seo-jun’s acting fully?”

At Kim Suhan’s trembling voice, Park Jong Woo finally realized that he had to shoot ‘Lee Seo-jun’s’ acting for real.

Chapter 147

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 147

After getting the offer to appear in a public service advertisement, Seo-jun headed to the Library of Life to find a suitable ability for his role.

Normally, he would look for an ability that matched his acting, but this time was different.

He had a message that he wanted to convey.

A message that he hoped would stay in the children’s memories very strongly.

“I died in an accident in my first life too.”

It wasn’t a fire accident, but it was a tragic one that took away many things from him.

He felt regret and resentment for his first life, where he was already an adult.

How much more sorrowful and painful would it be for the children who lost their lives in accidents, and their parents?

‘Mom and dad must feel the same way.’

Seo-jun’s eyes slowly welled up.

He felt tears forming as he imagined his mom and dad crying.

He couldn’t prevent all accidents, but if it was an accident that the children could escape from, he wanted to help them not panic and evacuate safely.

He sniffed and remembered a faint trace of his race.

“Of course, it won’t work for everyone…”

He wished he had a top-tier ability that worked for everyone, but he decided to do his best with a low or mid-tier ability.

“The Moss Tribe.”

He stood in front of the bookshelf of the Moss Tribe and began to choose a book.

The Moss Tribe had no written language.

Their history was only passed down orally from mouth to mouth.

This stimulated their memory and eventually became an ability.

There were various types of memory abilities of the Moss Tribe.

There was one that allowed them to remember everything like a photograph, one that made them remember something forever like a scar, and one that influenced their daily lives like brainwashing.

Of course, those were in the Library of Evil.

Seo-jun picked one of them.

“This is it.”

[(Good)Moss Tribe’s Associative Memory-Mid-tier]

This is the associative memory ability of the Moss Tribe.

You will recall memories according to the activation conditions.

Activation conditions:

Associative memory. It does not affect your daily life, but it makes you recall other memories when you encounter certain objects, words, or thoughts.

“Activation conditions. Fire, smoke, alarm.”

[(Good)Moss Tribe’s Associative Memory-Mid-tier]

This is the associative memory ability of the Moss Tribe.

You will recall memories according to the activation conditions.

Activation conditions: Fire, smoke, alarm.

Seo-jun smiled as he touched the symbol of the ability engraved on his forehead.

Now, the children who were affected by [(Good)Moss Tribe’s Associative Memory] would automatically recall the public service advertisement or Seo-jun’s acting whenever they encountered something related to ‘fire, smoke, or alarm’.

“As long as you know how to evacuate, you can do it.”

He didn’t know how many people would be affected by his mid-tier ability, but he prayed.

Please, let it work for as many people as possible.

***

The filming set.

Kim Suhan, who was checking the set and the camera, was approached by Kim Han-seok’s guardian, who was playing B role as a child actor.

“Excuse me…”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you Director Kim Suhan?”

“Uh… Yes. I am.”

Kim Suhan barely nodded his head as he was flustered.

The guardian smiled at his answer and said,

“Congratulations on winning the film festival.”

“Thank you. How did you know?”

“There were a lot of articles and photos when you won the film festival. And you are Na Jin’s first fan.”

“Oh. Right.”

Kim Suhan scratched his cheek as he saw the guardians and staff members who were searching their phones.

That’s right.

Director Kim Suhan! Na Jin’s first fan!

The whispers from here and there made Park Jung Woo chuckle.

“Excuse me…”

“Yes.”

Kim Han-seok’s guardian lowered his voice.

“Do you have any plans for your next work?”

Aha.

That was his real intention.

Kim Suhan awkwardly smiled.

‘There weren’t many people like this.’

When he became known as Na Jin’s first fan, people were just envious of him.

But when Kim Suhan won an award at the film festival last year as a director, these people started to appear one by one.

They were one of three types.

The first type was investors and production-distribution companies who thought that there was a possibility that Seo-jun would appear in Kim Suhan’s work since he had a connection with Na Jin before.

The second type was actors who wanted to appear in the same work as Seo-jun for the same reason.

The third type was child actors and their guardians who wanted to get the title of ‘the child actor chosen by Director Kim Suhan, who recognized Na Jin’.

The third type was because of an article that came out during the college film festival.

[Who is the child actor chosen by Director Kim Suhan, who recognized Na Jin?] The article had a lot of clickbait with that title.

‘My film didn’t even have any child actors…’

The article had nothing to do with the content, but it had a lot of views.

The conclusion was and the comments were full of curses.

‘This one must be the third type.’

Kim Suhan said to the guardian who was looking at him with a burdensome gaze.

“I don’t have any plans for my next work yet.”

“Then, please contact me if you need a child actor. My Han-seok is good at acting.”

“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”

As Kim Han-seok’s guardian handed him a business card and left, Kim Joo-kyung’s guardian, who was waiting for a chance to butt in, quickly approached Kim Suhan and handed him a business card.

“You’re popular. Director Kim Suhan.”

“…Bro. Should I tell Seo-jun? That you’re a parachute?”

“Ch, chicken? Should I buy you some chicken?”

Kim Suhan, who snatched two chickens from Park Jung Woo, looked at the guardians who were explaining something to their children while pointing at him.

They didn’t know that the real star would appear soon.

They looked peaceful.

Then, the planning team leader, who was looking around the set, saw his phone and was startled.

He answered the phone.

“…He’s here.”

As they saw the planning team leader going outside the set, the people who knew about Seo-jun’s appearance swallowed their saliva and pressed down their pounding hearts.

‘To be honest, who here isn’t here for the first time…’

The staff members of Cloud, who knew about Seo-jun’s appearance, were also wandering around the filming set with the excuse of looking for something to help.

Well, there was one person who wasn’t. The one person who had heard his acting in person. Kim Suhan, who was standing next to Park Jung Woo.

Kim Suhan felt awkward.

He wondered if he should tell Seo-jun that he was Na Jin’s first fan.

Kim Suhan honestly wanted to tell him.

He wanted to say that he was really happy to work with him.

‘Is that too much?’

As Park Jung Woo was about to introduce him, at that moment,

“Oh. Is that you, Suhan hyung?”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and asked.

Kim Suhan and the others were surprised by his question.

They didn’t expect his favorite actor to remember him.

Seo-jun was also surprised by the familiar face.

He thought he might meet him someday since he heard that he became a film director, but he met him sooner than he expected, and in an unexpected place.

He didn’t think he would meet him at the filming set of a public service advertisement.

It was a strange coincidence.

“How did you know?”

“I saw the photo you took when you won the film festival. Congratulations on winning the gold prize. You can speak comfortably with me.”

At Seo-jun’s words, Kim Suhan clenched his fists.

His chest felt tight and he wanted to scream.

My favorite actor remembers me! It was a good decision to win the prize.

“Thank you.”

“Hehehe.”

The planning team leader introduced the two child actors. Kim Han-seok and Kim Joo-kyung, who were in fifth and sixth grade respectively, had been wondering who would play A role.

They had been frozen with their mouths open since Seo-jun entered the set.

Their guardians were the same.

Oh my god.

They came here just to add a line to their resumes, but they found an unexpected treasure.

‘I thought I was lucky enough to see Director Kim Suhan… But Lee Seo-jun!’

The child actors who had performed with Seo-jun in the children’s play ‘Spring’ were still active regardless of their success.

In that sense, today’s filming would be a great help for their acting careers, even if it was not as impressive as that.

“Hi?”

At Seo-jun’s greeting, the two children quickly opened their mouths.

“Hi! I’m Kim Joo-kyung. I’m in sixth grade.”

“I’m also in sixth grade. Nice to meet you.”

“Hello! I’m Kim Han-seok, in fifth grade. Can I call you hyung?”

The eyes of the two child actors sparkled. Seo-jun smiled brightly and nodded his head.

Come to think of it.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho thought at the same time.

‘Is this the first time I’m acting with younger actors?’

Seo-jun felt a ticklish feeling as he saw Kim Han-seok’s eyes that looked at him with admiration.

“Let’s check the movements!”

At Kim Suhan’s words, the filming set that was excited by Seo-jun’s appearance gradually calmed down.

In the middle of the indoor filming set, there was a set made by Cloud’s production team.

The background was a coin karaoke room that children often went to these days.

Coin karaoke rooms were dangerous places because they had many rooms and loud noises that could prevent people from hearing big sounds in case of an accident.

Park Jung Woo, who stood in front of the children and their guardians, opened his mouth.

“I’ll say it again, but this acting is not harmful to your body. We got the products from Baekho Fire Safety Experience Center. The smell might be unpleasant, but you don’t have to worry.”

“Yes!”

The children answered bravely.

“Then let’s go in.”

Kim Suhan took the children to the set.

“We start from this room.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun and the children entered the room and looked around.

The coin karaoke room number 7 had one wall open like a drama set.

Beyond the open wall, there were cameras and staff members.

Kim Suhan checked the movements with the children, and then they practiced their lines together.

Smoke with a bad smell also rose up.

While the children were resting after the rehearsal, Park Jung Woo watched the rehearsal scene on the camera and tilted his head.

“That’s weird?”

“What is it?”

Kim Suhan, who was looking at Seo-jun on the monitor with a pleased expression, asked.

“He’s easier to film than I expected. He’s good at acting, but he doesn’t have the charisma of Gray Vainy or Jin Natra, does he?”

“Ah… Now that you mention it, you’re right.”

The planning team leader, who was watching the monitor next to him, agreed.

The eyes of the staff and guardians turned to the monitor.

The children in the monitor were trying to get out of the coin karaoke room that was filled with smoke.

Seo-jun was acting along with them, but his acting didn’t seem as impressive as they thought.

Park Jung Woo, who had been very nervous, felt a bit disappointed.

“Was that all his directing?”

“No, hyung.”

“What?”

Among the people who nodded their heads, there were two people who disagreed.

Seo-jun’s manager Ahn Da Ho and Na Jin’s first fan Kim Suhan.

Kim Suhan didn’t take his eyes off the monitor and said.

“You won’t say that if you see Seo-jun’s acting in person. Hyung. It’s different from Jin Natra and Gray Vainy. This is a public service advertisement and the roles that these three children play are ordinary children.”

The people nodded their heads.

“They are not villains with a tragic past or genius violinists. They are just elementary school students.”

Kim Suhan’s eyes sparkled.

“Isn’t that amazing? He could have shown his presence, but he suppressed it for the sake of the work. To the point where you think that way, hyung.”

At Kim Suhan’s words, Park Jung Woo and the others looked at Seo-jun.

He was chatting with the two child actors and looked like an ordinary sixth grader.

Ahn Da Ho nodded his head.

He had thought so from before, but he had a good sense.

‘But he still doesn’t know Seo-jun well.’

Seo-jun wouldn’t be satisfied with being an ordinary kid.

He would show his uniqueness without breaking the character of the script.

There was no doubt about it.

Chapter 148

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Chapter 148

“Action!”

At Kim Suhan’s words, the staff retreated from the set.

“I’ll give you a signal when you’re singing. You can start from then.”

“Okay!”

The kids headed to room 7 with excited faces.

Seo-jun and the two child actors took their seats comfortably.

Kim Joo-kyung looked professional as she opened the karaoke book on the chair.

Kim Han-seok was already holding a tambourine in one hand.

Seo-jun laughed.

“Aren’t you two too familiar with this?”

“Ahaha. I went with my friends last week.”

“Me too! I’m the best at playing the tambourine.”

“Then who should sing first?”

“Jin hyung!”

“Okay. You go first.”

Seo-jun pressed the number he had memorized.

After the rehearsal, Seo-jun asked the kids to call him ‘Na Jin’ during the shooting.

The kids laughed when they heard that he had submitted his audition form under the name Na Jin.

While Seo-jun and the kids were singing enthusiastically, smoke began to rise from a corner of the set.

Several camera lenses focused on the kids.

When Kim Suhan gave the signal,

[(Line) The ancestral memory of the Moss tribe is activated.]

Na Jin opened his mouth.

“Don’t you smell something weird?”

“Smell?”

Kim Han-seok sniffed. Kim Joo-kyung furrowed her brows.

“Yeah. There’s a strange smell.”

“Is something happening outside?”

Na Jin opened the door.

As soon as he did, the pungent smell got stronger.

Na Jin peeked out into the hallway and saw something faintly glowing and disappearing at the end of the hall.

It looked like,

“Smoke.”

At Na Jin’s words, the two kids gasped.

“If there’s smoke, doesn’t that mean there’s a fire?”

“A fire?”

“It looks like there’s a fire, but I only see smoke.”

The expressions of the two kids changed. They looked fearful.

Na Jin was no different.

No, Seo-jun’s expression was different from the two child actors who only showed fear.

His hands that didn’t know what to do, his breath that he hurriedly drew in.

His eyes blinked rapidly.

His heart pounded and his head turned white.

Seo-jun’s acting was captured by the camera.

The director Park Jung Woo, Kim Suhan, and the staff swallowed their saliva as they watched the monitor.

He was not Jin Natra or Gray, but just an ordinary elementary school student who faced a fire.

With Seo-jun’s acting, Kim Han-seok and Kim Joo-kyung also started to get immersed.

Even though they knew it was fake acting, they were scared by the pungent smell.

“H-hyung…”

“Jin ah…”

At the frightened voices of the kids, Na Jin, who had been breathing heavily, came to his senses.

This was not the time to be like this.

Na Jin recalled what he had learned at school about how to evacuate.

“We have to get out of here.”

Na Jin quickly checked his and the kids’ clothes.

If it had been winter, he would have soaked his sleeves in water and covered his mouth, but it was summer now.

He never hated his short T-shirt more than now.

Na Jin looked around the karaoke room and found some tissues.

“Tissues. Let’s soak some tissues in water and cover our mouths.”

“Tissues… There are too few…”

“We have to cover them anyway.”

At Na Jin’s firm words, Kim Han-seok and Kim Joo-kyung nodded.

They divided up a few tissues and wet them with water they had bought earlier.

“Here, Han-seok. Take one more.”

“But… what about you…”

“I’m fine.”

Kim Joo-kyung handed a tissue to Kim Han-seok, who was sobbing, and Na Jin silently gave one of his tissues to Kim Joo-kyung.

Kim Joo-kyung smiled incredulously.

It was only that much, but it eased the tension of the three kids.

“Let’s go. We have to get out quickly.”

“Yes!”

“When we get outside, we have to bend our waists and lower our bodies. They also said it’s better to talk less.”

The kids nodded at Na Jin’s words.

The door of room 7 opened.

“Cut! OK!”

The smoke stopped and the fans on the set started to spin.

Several fans blew away the smoke outside.

Meanwhile, the guardians of the child actors approached their kids.

Unlike their worried guardians, the kids were chatting happily.

“Jin hyung, you’re really good at acting.”

“Yeah. I thought you were really scared.”

“You guys did well too.”

Kim Han-seok and Kim Joo-kyung looked at each other awkwardly and smiled.

“We were really scared.”

“Your acting was so good, I got confused for a moment. I thought there was really a fire.”

“Me too. I almost forgot my lines.”

Huh? Aren’t you supposed to NG then?

Since their roles were ordinary elementary school students, they acted scared and got more immersed than expected.

‘But, aren’t you supposed to NG at times like this?’

Seo-jun’s eyes turned to director Park Jung Woo.

Director Park Jung Woo and Kim Suhan were talking earnestly about something.

‘There’s no word from them, so it wasn’t bad enough to NG?’

Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

“Was it? Should I do it a little weaker?”

“That would be nice!”

“Okay.”

A little weaker. Seo-jun adjusted the intensity of his acting while director Park Jung Woo and Kim Suhan continued their conversation.

“Jung Woo hyung. Too much immersion is not good either. You have to cut it properly.”

“I know… I know that…”

Kim Suhan’s words made director Park Jung Woo touch his forehead.

“How can I do that when I’m filming Seo-jun? Everyone will say something to me if I don’t have this much impact. They’ll say I wasted such an actor.”

Kim Suhan sighed inwardly.

He understood director Park Jung Woo’s pressure.

It was just a normal video with Seo-jun in it, and people would doubt the director’s ability.

“Hyung. It’s okay because this is a public service advertisement. Everyone will think that way.”

Director Park Jung Woo agreed with Kim Suhan’s words.

He was right.

This was not a movie or a drama with a clear plot, but just a few minutes of video.

And it was a public service advertisement.

People would cheer just because Seo-jun was in it.

He knew that, but director Park Jung Woo had another reason why he wanted to shoot a better, more memorable scene.

“…When will I ever get to capture Seo-jun on camera?”

Kim Suhan sighed at the regretful voice of Director Park Jung Woo.

***

“Ready, action!”

The children bent their bodies and moved quickly along the corridor filled with smoke.

Na Jin was in the front, followed by Kim Han-seok and Kim Joo-kyung.

They headed for the coin karaoke entrance.

The door that always opened automatically was tightly closed, as if it had broken due to the fire.

“It’s closed!”

The automatic door of the coin karaoke was closed.

The three children tried to open it, but the door did not budge.

While Na Jin and Kim Han-seok were hanging on to the automatic door, Kim Joo-kyung looked around and found a green light.

“Emergency exit! Jin ah, Han-seok ah! Let’s go out through the emergency exit!”

“Yes!”

Kim Joo-kyung soaked some tissues in water from the cash register and handed them out to Kim Han-seok and Na Jin.

The children felt relieved with the thick tissues and smiled briefly without making a sound.

They headed towards where the green light was coming from.

They could go down or up through the emergency exit.

The children’s eyes sparkled with hope.

Na Jin, who was leading the way with his body bent, stopped walking.

Kim Han-seok, who was following him, tilted his head.

“Hyung, aren’t you going?”

“Jin ah? What’s wrong?”

“…It’s no use…”

At Na Jin’s trembling voice, Kim Han-seok and Kim Joo-kyung stood next to Na Jin.

Through the hazy smoke, they saw that the emergency exit was blocked.

It was blocked by trash and soda boxes that came out of the coin karaoke, and heavy-looking boxes.

Tears began to well up in the children’s eyes.

Kim Han-seok sniffed.

“…Can we clear them?”

At Kim Joo-kyung’s words, Na Jin wiped his tears with his arm and tried to lift one of the boxes.

The other two children also helped Na Jin.

They put more strength than ever before with a desperate heart, but the boxes did not move at all, as if something was inside them.

“It won’t budge…”

“Uhuhu…”

At Na Jin’s wet voice, tears dripped from Kim Han-seok and Kim Joo-kyung’s eyes.

That was when it happened.

Crash!

They heard something breaking.

An orange light shone from the other end.

The flickering shape looked like fire.

No, it was fire.

Even though it seemed impossible, it felt like it was getting hotter.

“Huuuu…”

The children’s eyes were filled with fear. Na Jin took a deep breath.

He felt like the thick smoke was seeping into his lungs.

Two faces came to his mind, which had turned pale with fear.

Mom, dad.

He felt like crying at their bright smiling faces, so he clenched his teeth hard.

He had to calm down.

He had to stay composed.

Na Jin thought of his mom and dad who were waiting for him.

They had planned to go to his grandmother’s house on the weekend.

They had planned to go to the sea during the vacation.

Na Jin wanted to be an actor when he grew up.

He wanted to be a shining star.

He had a lot of things he wanted to do and places he wanted to go.

He couldn’t give up here like this.

“Hoo…”

Na Jin let out a heavy breath and tightly grabbed Kim Han-seok and Kim Joo-kyung’s trembling hands.

The two children who had red eyes lifted their heads and looked at Na Jin.

Director Park Jung Woo unconsciously zoomed in on Seo-jun’s face.

Everyone stared blankly at the screen that showed Seo-jun’s face.

It was not the face of a reliable superhero or a hero.

His trembling hands, tightly closed lips, and shaking eyebrows showed Na Jin’s fear as it was.

But they couldn’t take their eyes off him.

Na Jin’s black eyes.

In his fearful expression, they saw his firm black eyes that had made up his mind.

‘Let’s get out of here.’

His eyes seemed to say that, and they inspired confidence.

The confidence that they could get out of here.

Even though they heard a crashing sound and saw orange and red flames dancing, the children did not lose hope.

They did not lose their calmness.

The three children who covered their mouths with wet tissues had sparkling eyes.

“Let’s find another way.”

Na Jin’s faint voice calmed down the two children.

Before they knew it, Kim Han-seok and Kim Joo-kyung’s eyes had changed too.

They had firm eyes that received Na Jin’s heart.

Kim Joo-kyung wiped her tears and said,

“The door won’t open and the emergency exit is blocked. Where do we go?”

“Let’s go back to the room.”

“To the room?”

They moved into the room with a window and blocked the door gap.

To prevent the smoke from coming in.

It would be easier for the firefighters to find them if they were near the window.

“Let’s do that.”

Kim Joo-kyung nodded her head.

Kim Han-seok also nodded his head repeatedly.

“There were a lot of rags and tissues at the cash register. Let’s take them with us.”

“Yes!”

The children started to move.

“Cut! OK!”

The set was quiet even after the OK sound.

Kim Joo-kyung and Kim Han-seok did not lose their concentration.

They felt like they had taken a step further than their previous acting.

They wanted to shoot the next scene with this feeling, this state of mind.

The parents swallowed their saliva at the quiet children.

‘Is this why the child actors who worked with Seo-jun are still active?’

They couldn’t go near them, afraid that they might interfere.

Director Park Jung Woo and Kim Suhan were also having a serious conversation. How to edit it.

Even Kim Suhan, who had said it was over-immersion, threw away his mind to send Seo-jun’s acting as a mere commercial.

The staff also kept their mouths shut and worked hard on their tasks.

The employees of Cloud, the advertising production company, felt guilty.

They wondered if they could send this out as an advertisement, or if it was too good for an advertisement.

There was one person who was peaceful in the set full of thoughts.

He bit a snack that Cloud had prepared and smiled brightly when he met eyes with Ahn Da Ho.

It was Lee Seo-jun, the actor who had shown a brilliant eye acting just before.

Chapter 149

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 149

“Ready, action!”

The kids decided to go to room 1, which was the farthest from the fire.

Na Jin reached for the doorknob, but

“Ow, hot!”

He screamed at the hot temperature.

Na Jin waved his hand in the air and poured some water on his palm.

Kim Joo-kyung asked with a worried voice, seeing Na Jin’s twisted face.

“What’s wrong?”

“The doorknob is hot.”

At that, Kim Han-seok remembered something.

An action movie he watched with his dad.

He felt a chill from his toes.

“Hyung, hyung. It can’t be hot. It will explode if air gets in!”

Kim Han-seok said with a startled voice.

“What?”

“It will explode if air gets in when you open the door. I saw it in a movie! There might be fire inside!”

At Kim Han-seok’s words, Na Jin and Kim Joo-kyung backed away from the door of room 1.

The smoke was coming from over there… There was no way there was fire here… But they didn’t feel like opening the door of room 1 either.

“…Let’s go to another room.”

Kim Joo-kyung said, and Na Jin and Kim Han-seok nodded.

Na Jin stood in front of the door of room 3, which was away from room 1.

The doorknob felt cold when he touched it lightly with the back of her hand.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

Na Jin grabbed the doorknob of the karaoke room door that was tightly closed.

He swallowed his saliva.

His hand holding the doorknob was damp.

His heart was pounding.

Would this room be okay?

Explosion, that was a scary word.

Na Jin’s hand trembled.

Elementary school student Na Jin was not a superhero.

He wanted to meet his mom and dad who were waiting for him, he made a firm resolution, but he became ordinary again in front of another fear.

This time, the two kids helped him.

Kim Han-seok, who was covering his mouth with a wet tissue, looked at Na Jin.

He saw his shaking hand.

He didn’t remember what the script said, he only remembered his hyung’s shining eyes.

‘This time, I’ll…!’

Kim Han-seok reached out and grabbed Na Jin’s hand.

“Let’s open it together. Hyung.”

Kim Joo-kyung put her hand on top of theirs.

“Yeah. Jin.”

“…Okay.”

Na Jin felt the warmth on his hand and thought.

He couldn’t stay here forever.

He had moved hard even though he was scared.

He wanted to go home with his friends.

The fear in Na Jin’s eyes turned dark again.

The kids smiled at Na Jin’s reliable face.

They put strength into their hands holding the doorknob.

The door of room 3 opened wide.

***

“Good job!”

After all the shooting was over, Seo-jun, who had joined late due to a sudden dispatch and shot with the child actors, exchanged phone numbers with a firefighter who had a flustered face.

Behind him were staff members and employees of Gureum holding signboards with Seo-jun’s signature on them with proud faces.

“Oh, is that really actor Lee Seo-jun?”

“Yes. He might appear in this public service advertisement.”

“…Might?”

The planning team leader smiled.

“There’s still a screening at the fire department left.”

They were the ones who had the final say.

He swallowed his words, but the firefighter smiled brightly.

“They’ll definitely approve it at the fire department.”

The planning team leader thought so too.

***

Two weeks later, at the fire department conference room.

To watch the public service advertisement video produced by Gureum, a production company, officials and executives gathered in one place.

“A web drama? Will that work as a promotion?”

“Why didn’t you just get a celebrity to donate their talent as usual?”

People who hated change complained.

The planning team leader and the public relations officer of Gureum smiled secretly.

They didn’t know it would be so fun to have an unbeatable card in their hands as Eul.

The public relations officer poked the planning team leader’s side.

“You should have told me too, right? I wanted to get his autograph!”

“He asked me to keep it a secret from Cocoa Entertainment… What if he cancels his appearance?”

The planning team leader whispered back, holding the signboard he got from Seo-jun in a frame.

Meanwhile, people who complained closed their mouths one by one.

Even if they complained, the result was already made.

They decided to oppose after watching the video and crossed their arms as if they had erected a solid shield.

The public relations officer who glanced at the situation opened his mouth.

“Then we’ll watch the public service advertisement video. This public service advertisement is divided into TV advertisement and YouTube upload. First, we’ll watch the TV advertisement video.”

Along with the public relations officer’s words, a video appeared on the screen.

Three kids singing in a small room appeared.

A public servant who complained asked his subordinate.

“Is it for children?”

“Yes. That’s why we hired three child actors.”

“Are they the child actors I know…?”

The public servant who was about to ask about the cast widened his eyes.

The face of the boy holding the microphone.

It was a face he never expected to see here.

Not only that, but everyone in the conference room was shocked to see the video.

“That… That…”

“Really?”

People who had crossed their arms as if they had a solid shield unknowingly uncrossed their arms and leaned forward.

Some even got up from their seats.

They looked at the video with disbelief.

The planning team leader clenched his fist.

After playing the video several times, without anyone’s opposition, it was decided to use Gureum’s public service advertisement.

***

“Passed at once! No revision!”

“Woohoo!!!”

The planning team leader said after returning to the company after the screening at the fire department.

The employees cheered sincerely.

It was very rare for a client to like an advertisement at once.

No, not only advertisements, but almost everywhere where there was a gap in creative fields without precise specifications.

Revision after revision after revision.

And finally, the client’s words that ‘the first one was better’.

Giving up was Gureum employees’ daily life.

Kim Ji-hyun, who had lost his mind after seven revisions, said that.

“Our company name… Is it not Gureum, which means cloud in the sky, but Gureum, which means rolling?”

“…It seems so.”

The planning team leader, who had met the client six times already, agreed with a pale face.

It seemed like yesterday, but no revision passed!

The employees cheered sincerely.

The planning team leader smiled.

There was still good news left.

“The boss said to go home early today!”

“The boss is the best!”

The second cheer erupted.

“Let’s finish what we’re doing and go home!”

“Yes!”

The employees finished their work with fire in their eyes.

They had set a generous deadline for the revision of the fire department public service advertisement, but since there was nothing to revise, the employees didn’t have much to do.

The employees who turned off their computers quickly packed their bags.

Ding-

The planning team leader, who was packing his bag with a happy face, heard his phone ring.

It was a text notification.

“Huh? Munㅈ…”

Ding-

Ding-

Ding-

His phone kept ringing, not with a call sound but with text notifications.

The planning team leader picked up his phone with a puzzled face.

He froze as he checked the texts.

Ding-

Ding-

Ding-

The text notifications continued like a phone call sound.

Kim Ji-hyun, who had packed everything, asked the frozen planning team leader.

“Team leader, who is calling you?”

“Don’t you have to answer quickly?”

The planning team leader showed his phone to the employees with a blank face.

[Hello. This is KBC broadcasting station…]

[Nice to meet you. This is MBS…]

[This is SBC broadcasting station…]

[This is TVM…]

As the employees read the texts, more texts arrived.

[Actor Na Jin’s advertisement…]

[Please let us air it on our channel…]

The employees’ eyes widened.

“Oh my god… Oh my god…”

“How did they find out?”

At Kim Ji-hyun’s words, the employees and the planning team leader thought of the stiff fire department building.

They must have contacted their acquaintances in the broadcasting industry as soon as they left the conference room.

The text notifications still ringing, the planning team leader wiped his face.

To send out a public service advertisement on broadcast, they had to buy public service advertisement time from the broadcasting station.

Because there was a legal ratio of how much public service advertisement each broadcasting station had to air, it was cheaper than commercial advertisement time.

“I was going to buy it now…”

They had a set budget, so they planned to choose one of the three terrestrial broadcasting stations and inquire.

They usually contacted KBC first. Knowing that, other broadcasting stations were sending more and more texts.

KBC was not relaxed either and kept sending texts.

“At this rate, we won’t be paying them money, but they’ll be paying us money, right?”

“…It seems like it?”

Maybe they wouldn’t pay directly, but they would offer something similar as compensation.

They lost their words at a situation they had never experienced before.

The planning team leader thought he should suggest a bonus to the boss.

***

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye’s eyes widened.

“All broadcasting stations?”

“Yes.”

“Not just terrestrial ones?”

At Seo-jun’s words, Anh Da Ho smiled awkwardly.

Cocoa Entertainment was also surprised by the news from Gureum.

They thought there would be some who would be greedy, but they were speechless at the list of contracted broadcasting stations.

“…Almost all?”

“Wow.”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes and read the paper again.

[KBC, SBC, MBC, TVM, OCM, general programming channels, cable…]

Seo-jun opened his mouth as he read the list.

“But can we air this much?”

“Well, advertisements do air on different channels… But not this much. It costs a lot of money.”

“Public service advertisements have low budgets, right? If we buy this much, we’ll run out of money…”

At Seo-jun’s worry, Anh Da Ho laughed.

“They all offer very low prices.”

It was so low that he wondered if it was okay.

Gureum also freaked out at the discounts and other compensation they offered.

The boss of Gureum sighed.

‘If it was because we did well, we could just choose the best one, but it’s not because of our company but because of actor Lee Seo-jun.’

In the end, they reached a point where they had to ask Cocoa Entertainment’s opinion.

Cocoa Entertainment also pondered.

No matter how good something was, people would get tired of it if they heard it too much.

And no matter how ‘Lee Seo-jun’ he was, if he appeared on every channel without rest, there would surely be people who would get sick of him.

‘There’s also image consumption…’

For that reason, Cocoa Entertainment suggested buying less than the usual frequency of public service advertisements airing, but as many broadcasting stations’ advertisement times as possible.

The broadcasting stations agreed too.

It was better for everyone to agree and air the advertisement at different times than for someone to monopolize it.

The problem was the long YouTube upload video.

It was too long to air as an advertisement, but the broadcasting station bastards, no, people grabbed their ankles and begged.

The planning team leader laughed bitterly and told them.

In the end, the persistent broadcasting station bastards agreed to donate most of the advertisement fees before and after the video to the fire department.

‘They’ll probably eat up the other advertisement fees they sell by inserting them.’

Thinking of the finished negotiation, Anh Da Ho was asked by Seo Eun-hye.

“Anh Da Ho. When will the first advertisement air?”

“It will air on KBC2 channel. This Sunday at 7 p.m. And the YouTube video will air at 8:40 p.m.”

“I’ll have to watch it then.”

“Yeah!”

As Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye told their acquaintances about the advertisement, each broadcasting station also started to send out press releases.

[Actor Na Jin, starring in a fire department public service advertisement!]

[Actor Na Jin (Lee Seo-jun), starring in a public service advertisement!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, first advertisement on KBC2 channel Sunday at 7 p.m.!]

-Na Jin is appearing! I was worried because he had no activities after the play!

=222 I waited so much!

=? Not Lee Seo-jun? Lee Seo-jun had a lot of activities.

=Whisper)It’s a concept play

=Oh… sorry

-So is it Na Jin or Lee Seo-jun? lol

-lol An actor famous for both his stage name and real name

-KBC is excited. It’s like they’re promoting a drama

[Actor Na Jin (Lee Seo-jun)’s advertisement, MBS Monday at 10 p.m.!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun (Na Jin), SBC Tuesday at 9 p.m.!]

-…Just give me a timetable. I’ll find it myself.

=222 Please give me a timetable.

-If it’s a fire department public service advertisement, will it be on the fire department YouTube?

=It hasn’t appeared yet.

=I wish it would appear soon!

[KBC schedule change! What is the 10-minute short video?]

-??? A public service advertisement is 10 minutes long?

=Not a public service video?

=What is a public service video?

=I don’t know. Maybe it’s an advertisement if it’s short, and a video if it’s long?

-But if it’s 10 minutes long, that means Seo-jun acted in it, right? I’m looking forward to it!

=ㄴㄴ Na Jin

=Na Jin or Lee Seo-jun, same thing lol

-This is directed by Kim Suhan!

=Kim Suhan?

=Na Jin’s first fan!

=…Wow

Chapter 150

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 150

[Fire department public service video, for children, fire evacuation tips ‘One Step’!]

[What a fate?! The assistant director of ‘One Step’, Na Jin’s first fan!]

[The schedule change of the three terrestrial broadcasting stations! The reason is ‘One Step’!]

[KBC2 channel this Sunday at 7 p.m., public service advertisement, 8:40 p.m. ‘One Step’ broadcast!]

-To be honest, I thought he would rest for a year after the Assemble 2 cookie video, but he filmed an advertisement. It’s only a 10-minute video, but I’m looking forward to it.

-Wow. Na Jin’s first fan was the one who won an award last year?

=Yeah. I saw the article and thought they would meet someday in Chungmuro… But that someday was not a year. Fate is fate.

-Not only terrestrial, but also cable and general programming channels.

=Checking the timetable. I have to watch Seo-jun N times.

-I’ll watch KBC first.

Sunday afternoon.

People who were waiting for Seo-jun’s advertisement gathered in front of the television.

Because it was for children, there were many parents who watched it with their kids.

Every parent must have thought about it at least once.

If an accident happened when only the kids were there, could they evacuate safely? Could the kids move calmly without panicking?

“I hope they don’t cry.”

Many parents who sat in front of the television with their kids hoped that this public service advertisement would help their kids a little bit.

The advertisement hadn’t even started yet, but people turned on the KBC2 channel early. Thanks to that, the viewership of the variety show that started at 5:40 p.m. today soared.

As time passed, exactly at 7:00:00 p.m.

The KBC staff who calculated to the second looked at the video that was being broadcasted nationwide with pride.

Na Jin’s face appeared as he discovered the smoke rising up.

[(Pre)The memory of fire of the Moss tribe is activated.]

The low-level ability flowed into the people who were watching the television.

The video seeped into their brains as if it was engraved.

Fear filled the faces of Na Jin and the kids in the video.

The three kids wetted tissues with water and covered their mouths with them.

The kids who did that stopped and a caption appeared below with a voice flowing out.

[To block toxic smoke, cover your mouth and nose with a wet cloth or tissue. Then, quickly report to 119.]

People focused on the television at the serious faces of the kids.

There was only a faint background sound, but that made them focus more.

The three kids who covered their mouths bent their bodies and headed for the exit.

Na Jin shook his head in front of the closed exit and Kim Joo-kyung pointed to the emergency exit.

The dark eyes of the silent kids created tension.

When they were about to get immersed in the video with their eyes and tension, a faint voice was heard.

[Avoid smoke by bending your body and evacuate through the entrance or emergency exit. If there is an emergency bell on your way out, press it.]

The three kids who went down the stairs through the emergency exit looked tired, but their faces were full of hope that they could get out.

[Do not use elevators as you may get trapped, move by stairs.]

The backs of the kids going down the stairs were shown on the screen and then it turned black with a white caption.

[Evacuation is priority – Fire department]

-Is this a disaster movie trailer? I’m sweating lol

-Right? How can they make a public service advertisement like a movie trailer?

-lol I get excited when I see Seo-jun’s acting sporadically.

=222 Sorry to say this because it’s a public service advertisement, but narration interference…lol

=Not Seo-jun’s narration?

=Interference… His voice is so good that it sticks to my ears, and it seems like it will interfere with my daily life!

=Change of attitude lol

-Is this full video coming out later?

8:40 p.m.

To watch the exciting full video of the public service advertisement, viewers headed to KBC2 channel.

The special broadcast of the fire department’s public service video ‘One Step’ started with three kids singing enthusiastically in a coin karaoke room.

People laughed at Seo-jun holding a microphone.

[(Pre)The memory of fire of the Moss tribe is activated.]

-Seo-jun sings well!

-The kids look so familiar lol

As they were singing, Na Jin smelled something strange.

The kids found smoke rising from the end of the hallway. Panicked Na Jin came to his senses and said.

“Let’s wet tissues and cover our mouths.”

“There are not enough tissues…”

“We have to cover them anyway.”

At Na Jin’s firm words, Kim Han-seok and Kim Joo-kyung nodded their heads. They divided the few tissues they had and wetted them with the water they bought.

“Here, Han-seok. One more.”

“But… hyung…”

“hyung is fine.”

Kim Joo-kyung handed a tissue to Kim Han-seok, who was sobbing, and Na Jin silently gave his tissue to Kim Joo-kyung.

-The little kid is giving it to the smaller kidㅠ

-It’s touching, but I’m cryingㅠ

The adults’ eyes reddened at the sight of the two kids caring for their younger sibling.

Meanwhile, people who saw the smoke outside the building reported it to 119.

The report that came to the 119 safety center was passed on to the nearest fire station.

[We’re on our way!]

The firefighter, Lee Young-tae, who got on the fire truck, shouted loudly.

People thought they had just left the fire station, but they opened their mouths wide at the scenery behind the firefighters getting on the fire truck.

The place where the fire truck was not a fire station, but a residential alley.

The firefighter who was driving avoided the parked cars and clenched his teeth as he held the steering wheel.

His hands were so tense that his veins showed.

[…Again?]

[…Yes. It was a prank call.]

It was a prank call again.

Two fire trucks that went out for a real accident, one fire truck that went out for a prank call.

Unfortunately, the garage of the fire station closest to the coin karaoke building was empty.

The viewers realized the seriousness of the situation then.

This was not an ordinary evacuation video.

The kids had no phones in their hands, no adults to help them, and no fire trucks that they desperately needed.

It was the worst situation that should never happen.

There was tension in the 119 safety center at that news.

Everyone felt sorry for the caller’s trembling voice asking when they would arrive.

“Where is the nearest fire station?!”

“It will take some time!”

“Are there people in the building?!”

“The caller said some people came out… But there are many stores inside, so there may be customers left!”

The arrival time of other fire station vehicles was announced.

The firefighter who was driving, Lee Young-tae, shouted.

[We will arrive around the same time as other fire station vehicles!]

Golden time.

The time that was really like gold was passing by quickly.

The firefighters felt frustrated as it seemed like there was more traffic today than usual.

They hoped there was no one in the building.

Woo-woo-!

The siren sounded like someone’s cry.

It sounded like a fast heartbeat.

With the siren sound, the kids heading for the emergency exit were shown.

“No…”

Na Jin’s trembling voice made Kim Han-seok and Kim Joo-kyung stand by his side.

In the smoky haze, the emergency exit that was their only hope was blocked. Trash and soda boxes from the coin karaoke, heavy-looking boxes.

-(Foul language!)

-Isn’t it common sense to clear the emergency exit!?

-Why is it an emergency exit then!

The viewers were furious when they learned the truth of the emergency exit that they didn’t see in the advertisement an hour ago.

Tears started to well up in the kids’ eyes. Kim Han-seok sniffled.

“…Can we move them?”

At Kim Joo-kyung’s words, Na Jin wiped his tears with his arm and tried to lift a box.

The two kids also helped Na Jin.

They put all their strength into it with a desperate heart, but the box didn’t budge at all, as if something was inside.

“It doesn’t move…”

“Uh-huh…”

At Na Jin’s wet voice, tears dripped from Kim Han-seok and Kim Joo-kyung’s eyes.

Crash!

The viewers saw the ceiling breaking from the fire. Above the terrifying flames, the face of the firefighter who was driving was shown.

Lee Young-tae bit his lips so hard that they bled.

His expression was acting, but it wasn’t.

He had experienced this kind of situation more than once or twice.

It was just his feelings at that time that came out.

The fire truck that couldn’t move even an inch, above it, the kids who were coughing from the smoke were shown.

They held each other’s hands tightly with fearful faces.

Oh, someone.

Someone please save them.

That was when it happened.

The car in front of the fire truck moved.

It started to stick to the side as much as possible.

Following that car’s movement, the cars on the road started to move one by one.

The road that was blocked like a wave started to open up.

Without having time to marvel at that sight, Lee Young-tae stepped on the accelerator.

He ignored the signals and lanes and drove as fast as possible!

No one stopped that fire truck.

Even though there were so many cars,

No one!

[Are you still far?]

[We’re coming!]

The firefighter shouted.

It was a voice full of gratitude and joy for those who moved aside, almost ecstatic.

At the same time, Na Jin’s eyes that were full of fear changed.

It wasn’t a reliable super hero or a hero’s face.

His trembling hands, tightly closed lips, and shaking eyebrows revealed Na Jin’s fear.

But the people who were watching television couldn’t take their eyes off one place.

Na Jin’s black eyes.

Even in his fearful expression, he had a firm and solid black eyes that showed his determination.

‘Let’s get out.’

His eyes seemed to say that, and they inspired faith.

The faith that they could get out of here.

Even though they were trembling with fear, their faithful eyes made people’s hearts beat faster.

-Movedㅠ

-Thank you so much everyoneㅠ

-Thank you for not giving up too!

Before the fire truck arrived, the kids moved.

They hesitated for a moment at the sound of possible explosion, but they didn’t give up.

The kids who went into room 3.

Na Jin climbed on the table and blocked the gap above the door with wet tissue balls.

Kim Joo-kyung held onto the table tightly that Na Jin stepped on.

Kim Han-seok who looked around took out several papers from the karaoke book.

“If we stick this, they’ll know we’re here, right?”

At Kim Han-seok’s words, Na Jin and Kim Joo-kyung opened their eyes wide and smiled brightly with their charred faces and raised their thumbs up.

“Good job! You’re smart!”

After blocking all the gaps above, Na Jin came down and blocked the gaps below.

Kim Joo-kyung and Kim Han-seok cut papers and made letters on the window made of tempered glass.

The wet paper stuck to the window as soon as they touched it.

“Hey, hey! There!”

The people who were anxiously standing outside the building found those letters. The police officers who were controlling them looked at the window with grim faces.

[SOS]

Below those letters, small kids’ figures were shown.

A faint voice came through the radio.

The firefighter on the other side of the radio didn’t get excited.

If he got excited and got into an accident with a fire truck, nothing would be more serious than that.

But the viewers read his anxiety in his calm voice.

Only someone who had experienced this kind of thing countless times could express that voice.

[Young-tae. There are people in there.]

[They look like kids.]

[Young-tae…]

His voice was saying to come a little faster.

The firefighter, Lee Young-tae, bit his lips.

He ignored the siren sound that seemed to make his heart jump, and stepped on the accelerator again.

The firefighter never got excited.

“…Please let me hug the young child before it’s too late… Please give me the strength to save one life…”

The cars on the road that were split like a red sea seemed to push the fire truck behind.

Na Jin and the kids who had nothing left to do but wait moved away from the door and huddled together.

Kim Joo-kyung and Na Jin sat next to Kim Han-seok who was a year younger.

There were many people outside the window.

There was a police car too, but the fire truck hadn’t arrived yet.

Because of the smoke, Na Jin’s face was charred and teary.

He suddenly opened his mouth.

“Ah. I forgot to call everyone…”

The two children laughed at Na Jin’s words.

“When we get out, I’m going to ask mom to buy us something delicious.”

“Me too. What should we eat?”

The children’s words were peaceful, but their hands that held each other tightly were trembling.

To forget their fear, the children chatted with each other.

The camera stayed with the children.

The viewers who didn’t know the situation outside felt sorry for them.

-Where are the fire trucks? How far have they come?

-Why don’t they show us the outside?

The viewers spent a minute that felt like 10 hours with the children, waiting for someone.

They felt as if they were trapped in room 3 like the children.

-It’s frustrating not to know what’s happening outside.

-So did the fire trucks arrive or not?

-This is a real indirect experience.

Bang!

The door of room 3 shook.

The children who were talking stopped and looked at the door with tense faces.

Was it a movement caused by the fire, or was it the person they were waiting for?

The children’s hearts pounded with worry and relief.

Bang!

The door shook again.

“Jin. Did you lock the door?”

“No.”

Then the children realized that this movement was not from the person they were waiting for.

It was probably from the ceiling collapsing and hitting the door.

-It wasn’t them…

-I thought it was the firefighters.

Before they could feel disappointed, the children were scared by the rattling door.

Knock knock-

Na Jin thought he heard something wrong.

Knock knock-

But he didn’t.

Na Jin turned his head and looked at the window.

Behind the SOS paper, there was a person.

The children’s mouths opened wide.

-What is this lol

-?? Is this how they show up?

-lol Did they have trouble entering the building?

-Well, if they can’t use the entrance, they have to come through the emergency exit, but they can’t get in because of the stuff blocking it.

=…This is not funny.

=Emergency exit!!!(A rabbit emoticon hitting the floor)

The firefighter waved his hand frantically.

“Uh… Does he want us to move away?”

“I think so.”

The children moved away from the window, and Lee Young-tae smashed it with ease.

Without any delay, Lee Young-tae entered room 3. He was relieved to see that the children were in better shape than he expected, and carefully lifted them one by one onto the ladder truck. Another firefighter on the ladder truck helped Lee Young-tae.

The ladder truck carrying the children slowly descended to the ground.

With applause from the citizens, the children headed to the ambulance.

The paramedics put oxygen masks on the children lying on stretchers and checked for burns or injuries.

The children, who had relaxed their tension, felt a bit more real now and shed tears while smiling with relief.

The viewers also felt relieved by seeing them.

-They are amazing!

-Well done! Well done!

-This is scripted… Why do I feel like I’m watching live news?

=I agree. It feels like a documentary. My heart is pounding.

The firefighters entered the building to find other survivors. At the same time, fire suppression work began.

The firefighters who had gone into the building came back safely.

Fortunately, there was no one else in the building.

They looked tired, but they smiled at the news that there were no casualties.

Above their heads, a logo of the fire department appeared.

[We will save you with everyone’s step – Fire Department]

Chapter 151

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 151

[The public service video ‘One Step’ from the Fire Department that makes you think a lot!]

[Why didn’t the sprinklers work?]

[The reason why the fire trucks couldn’t arrive early! Prank calls!]

[Unlike the public service ads, the children who couldn’t escape through the emergency exit.]

[I thought it would be only Lee Seo-jun (Na Jin), but this was a public service video.]

[Fire Department ‘Everyone is coming to save you now.’]

[Monday evening MBS ‘One Step’ broadcast!]

-I liked this.

-Yeah, it was good that they showed not only the children evacuating, but also the firefighters.

-Stop making prank calls. They can’t get to the places that really need them fast.

-I think they didn’t put sprinklers for the worst-case scenario.

=22 There are many old buildings without sprinklers, and many places where they are broken.

=Well, that’s true, and also the fact that the children didn’t have cell phones, and there was not a single adult.

-But do they need to assume such a worst-case scenario?

=It could happen, right? The accidents that we thought would never happen.

-Emergency exit!!

=Emergency exit!! I was stupid to laugh at them for trying to escape through the window!!

=The emergency exit seems to be a big deal. If it’s blocked, you can’t escape or go to rescue.

=Damn. There are a lot of stuff in front of the emergency exit where I work.

=22 We’re locked in.

-Haha, I have to watch it again on MBS.

=Me too. I was so stunned that I don’t even remember what I saw haha.

There were stories about the public service video ‘One Step’ everywhere.

[Title: What I felt after watching ‘One Step’]

Honestly, I thought it would be some cartoon characters since it was for children. Since Na Jin was Cheongryong-nim, I thought Cheongryong-nim would appear and teach them emergency tips one by one haha.

I thought I would feel Cheongryong-nim’s sternness after a long time haha.

But it wasn’t.

The ones who were trembling with fear from the fire were ordinary children that you could see anywhere.

It was so realistic that my heart clenched haha.

Anyway, so I naturally thought what if it was me.

It wasn’t a huge disaster in a movie, or something with superheroes.

If there was a fire where I went to play, would I be able to try to evacuate like those children?

Could I stay calm?

I thought a lot.

I don’t think I would know until I experience it myself.

I roughly understood why the title was ‘One Step’.

No one might report it because they think someone else will.

I might miss the golden time because I think I don’t have to move aside.

It might be dangerous if I don’t do anything because I think someone else will.

That’s what they’re saying.

I have to take one step ahead and report it, I have to take one step ahead and move aside, I have to take one step ahead and avoid the fire and move.

Na Jin took courage first with just one step.

He felt 99 fears but he took courage once.

Even if Na Jin stepped back two steps in front of room 3, he took one step forward again with the courage given by the children.

That ‘one step’ saves me and saves others.

Maybe ‘everyone’ in ‘Everyone is coming to save you now’ is not just firefighters.

The citizens who reported to 119, the police officers who controlled the situation so that no more accidents would happen.

The cars that moved aside on the congested road.

The firefighters who ran hard.

And ‘yourself’ who tried to survive.

They really all came to save me haha.

After watching this, I felt like I should move aside quickly for fire trucks and ambulances.

-ㅇㅇ Yeah, it seems like there are no separate heroes. Everyone is a hero haha.

-It was an evacuation video that I will never forget lol

=I totally agree. Unforgettable 22

-I reflected from the moment I saw the smoke at the end of the hallway. Because I think I would have just kept singing, wondering what that was haha

=I agree. I think I wouldn’t have run away even if the emergency bell rang, thinking someone pressed it by mistake (I’m sorry)

=There was an experiment too… Even if smoke rises, the subjects don’t move if other people don’t move. It’s because of crowd psychology.

=444 Desensitization to safety. I reflected.

“As expected of Lee Seo-jun.”

The senior reporter who was writing the article smiled contentedly.

It was Monday, but Na Jin and Lee Seo-jun’s names were still on the real-time search.

Occasionally, the names of the child actors who appeared with them, Kim Suhan, the assistant director, and Park Jung Woo, the director, were also mentioned.

“Senior! We got a reply from Cloud!”

“It must be chaos over there.”

“The phone connection is bad too.”

The senior reporter looked at the reply from Cloud, the ad production company, and continued writing the article.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun applied for audition as Na Jin!]

[‘One Step’ production company, “We didn’t propose to Cocoa Entertainment because of budget.”]

[Among the actors who used their real names, only Na Jin used a stage name!]

[‘One Step’ set moved to Baekho Fire Safety Experience Center.]

[Firefighter Lee Young-tae, “I empathized with the children’s footage.”]

A.I can’t act. I really can’t. I kept making NGs during filming. The camera lens was too big. And it was my first time saying such lines with my mouth.(laughs)

Q.Then how did that scene come out?

A.When I thought we had to bring in another firefighter, Director Park Jung Woo showed me a video he had filmed earlier. It was a video of Na Jin, Kim Joo-kyung, and Kim Han-seok actors trying hard to evacuate.

When I watched that video, I thought that those children’s faces would be the ones who were waiting for us firefighters at the fire scene. From then on, I thought it was not filming, but a real dispatch. After that, I didn’t care about the camera and I was happy that a cool video came out better than I thought.>

[(Exclusive) Plus+, shows interest in Fire Department video ‘One Step’!]

-Plus+ lol Isn’t this too fast?

=Seriously lol It’s been only 14 hours since it aired lol

=But it was good enough to be called a short disaster movie.

=22 I’m just waiting for MBS today

[Title: Lee Seo-jun applying for audition as Na Jin is funny haha]

Main character ‘Lee Seo-jun’ is (Shadowman123), Evil Spirit, My Doctor, Over The Rainbow, WTV Film Festival, Golden Globe, Academy, KBC Rookie Award winner) → Glamorous

Sub character ‘Na Jin’ is (Children’s play ‘Spring’) → Modest

You can see the huge difference in their careers at a glance. And there would be a big difference in their appearance fees if they were different actors. So I guess he applied as Na Jin.

-Maybe he wanted to raise his sub character a bit since his main character is already max level haha

-Lee Seo-jun is already beyond reach, and his sub character Na Jin is gaining experience as an ordinary child actor… But that’s ‘Children’s play, Spring’.

=Just look at the number of comments on Plus+ lol That’s not ordinary at all lol

=Right haha I can hear the cries of parents who have seen it dozens of times

-But why did he do it as Na Jin? He could have done it as charity…

=If he does it once, they will ask him to do charity everywhere. I’m a public servant, and that’s what’s happening now haha

=22 We’re an animal-related association, and we sent a lot of documents to Cocoa Entertainment and we’re still sending themㅠ

=333 If Lee Seo-jun does charity, everyone will rush to him. He did it for them but why not for us. Cocoa Entertainment will block them, but it will still be noisy. If he gets paid as ‘Na Jin’, that small amount of money will be a first filter to weed out people who are stingy.

=Wow.

-And if Lee Seo-jun does charity, it might be hard for other child actors.

=Why?

=Even the great Lee Seo-jun is donating his talent, and you want to get paid for it? I bet they’ll say that to you.

=…True

=It’s so cruel that even Satan would cry.

***

“…Park Jung Woo?”

“Yeah! The director who made ‘One Step’ is Park Jung Woo!”

The film production company, ‘Chugye’, was in an uproar. Director Park Jung Woo, who had been kicked out after losing his script, had become a huge star.

“No way….”

The nephew of the president, who had planned everything from start to finish, looked at the phone that the president had thrown at him with a pale face.

‘One Step’ was a public service video that featured actor Lee Seo-jun. It had been broadcasted on KBC two days ago and on MBS yesterday, and its ratings had not dropped.

‘How could Park Jung Woo, who barely won a few film festival awards, make that?’

The nephew looked at the phone again. He had no film festival awards at all.

[An interview with Park Jung Woo, the director of ‘One Step’!]

[An interview with Kim Suhan, the assistant director of ‘One Step’!]

The president shouted.

“Do you know how many calls I got from investors after that article came out!? They said they would pull out their money if Park Jung Woo was not the director! Damn it! Those bastards who were quiet when I gave them the script….”

“Sir… Uncle….”

The nephew backed away from the president, who was furious.

“Go and kneel down, beg, do whatever you have to do to bring Park Jung Woo back! Right now!”

The president watched the nephew rush out of his office and gasped for breath.

‘If I had Park Jung Woo, everything would be taken care of, from investment to promotion… Maybe even Lee Seo-jun….’

He felt like he had lost a huge profit in an instant. He forgot that he had agreed to kick out Park Jung Woo. He couldn’t contain his anger and yelled.

The nephew trembled as he heard the loud noise from the president’s office. He tried to contact Park Jung Woo, but his phone was turned off.

***

“I didn’t expect this….”

“Me neither. I thought we would be drinking and bragging for a day or two if we succeeded like this….”

Park Jung Woo and Kim Suhan sighed as they sat in front of their laptops.

But their hands did not leave the keyboards.

Lee Seo-jun’s acting gave them a lot of inspiration and they did not want to miss any of it.

Kim Suhan stretched his stiff shoulders and opened his mouth.

“Hyung. What are you going to do with the Chugye script?”

“That… I don’t think it’s good now. It wasn’t what I had in mind in the first place.”

Kim Suhan laughed at Park Jung Woo’s words. He liked how he seemed to have let go of everything.

Life is strange.

They were lamenting over drinks just a while ago, but now they didn’t care at all.

‘Not that I forgive Chugye or anything.’

They would never work with Chugye again in their lives.

Park Jung Woo and Kim Suhan focused on their own scripts again.

They expected that the investment for their next work would be plentiful thanks to this buzz. And since they were the directors who worked with Lee Seo-jun, actors would be interested too.

They had time, money, and actors. And the reporters would write articles for them, so promotion would be easy too.

‘It all depends on the director’s skill after that.’

It was both the biggest opportunity and the biggest crisis.

Park Jung Woo and Kim Suhan’s eyes settled calmly. Only the sound of keyboards echoed in the quiet studio.

***

A week had passed since Lee Seo-jun’s public service advertisement was released.

The world seemed quiet, but something was changing little by little.

[(Exclusive) Prank calls to fire stations stopped!]

-?? Really?

-Yeah, I’m a firefighter and there are no prank calls

=22 There are also fewer minor reports.

-But is it because of Lee Seo-jun’s advertisement?

-I get it. I saw how the kids were struggling because of prank calls… Who would do that if they had a conscience?

-I hope it lasts long.

[Title: Let’s write down what changed because of Lee Seo-jun’s public service advertisement!]

First, me!

I work at a PC room and I cleared the stuff from the emergency exit lol I always wondered if it was okay to leave it like that, but the day after ‘One Step’ came out, the boss cleared it all.

(A picture of an empty emergency exit)

He also made the emergency exit sign bigger. He marked the place where you press the emergency bell very clearly lol

-My company checked the sprinklers.

-I bought fire extinguishers for my part-time job lol Several lol

-I move my car right away when I hear a siren

-I look at the emergency exit first when I enter somewhere. I check if it’s blocked or open.

=22 I avoid places where the emergency exit is blocked lol

-I think about the escape route when I go to a new place lol lol

=Me too. If there’s a fire, I have to go this way lol I have to cover my mouth with this lol I have plans from route A to route D lol lol

-Cell phones are selling well

=???

=Cell phones for kids are selling well. The ones that make 119 and 112 emergency calls fast lol

=lol lol lol Last time on TVM ‘One Step’, they even put a cell phone advertisement after it lol Emergency call that tells your location lol lol

=It was an existing product, but it wasn’t very popular. It’s starting to sell now lol

=It was broadcasted on Sunday, so they made it by Wednesday evening? Condolences to the staff…

“Thank you….”

Kim Ji-hyun, who was reading the comments, said in a dying voice. She saw the staff lying around her.

This was ‘Cloud’, the advertising company that made the cell phone advertisement.

“Team leader.”

“…Huh?”

The team leader, who was also lying down, lifted his head with difficulty.

“Our company name is just Cloud from ‘rolling’. They think everything will work out if they roll people over.”

“…They said they would pay a lot of money. I couldn’t refuse.”

“Yeah. I understand.”

She sounded like she didn’t understand at all. It wasn’t her money anyway.

The planning team leader smiled.

“They said we’ll get a bonus.”

“Woohoo!!”

It was her money!

Chapter 152

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 152

The trend of child actors in Korea can be divided into two periods: before and after Lee Seo-jun.

His popularity changed drastically when the trailer of Shadowman 2, where he was confirmed to star in, came out after his brief appearance in a YouTube mukbang.

He was six years old in Korean age.

A wind blew in the hearts of parents and families who had children of the same age as Lee Seo-jun.

‘What can my daughter, my son, my nephew do worse than Lee Seo-jun?’

It would have been absurd for entertainment insiders to hear that, but every hedgehog thinks its child is cute.

Along with the parents’ wishes, the roles of child actors increased after the ‘Children’s Play Spring’, and that fueled their thoughts.

As there were more child roles in various works, naturally, there were more child actors.

Acting academies also tempted children and parents with the slogan ‘The second Lee Seo-jun’.

In the entertainment industry, which wanted new faces, they welcomed the birth of child actors.

The more children who wanted to be child actors, the higher the chance of finding hidden gems.

Among them, there must have been talented child actors, even if not as much as Lee Seo-jun.

As Lee Seo-jun grew up with unprecedented popularity, everyone’s hearts throbbed.

Dreaming of the second Lee Seo-jun, children jumped into the world of child actors.

It was,

The era of child actors.

In line with the trend of the times, there was a place that was tense.

It was the school where children had to attend compulsorily.

Elementary school was fine, but middle school was different.

Art middle school.

Art high school.

There were specialized schools where they could learn acting along with regular curriculum.

Especially, there was a lot of interest in Lee Seo-jun’s admission.

Art middle schools across the country checked their schools as Lee Seo-jun became a senior.

Schools that prohibited entertainment activities during enrollment abolished that rule, and art middle schools that did not have acting subjects decided to combine musical and acting departments after much deliberation.

Lee Seo-jun’s middle school where he attended or graduated from.

They wanted that title so badly.

The problem was that Lee Seo-jun could only apply to one place.

If he applied to one school and failed, he would be assigned to a regular middle school.

Of course, there was no way Lee Seo-jun would fail, so the school he applied to would get that title right away.

Child actors, aspiring child actors and their parents were also worried.

They wanted to apply to the school where Lee Seo-jun went, but they did not know where it was.

Would it be an art middle school near Maesil Elementary School where Lee Seo-jun attended quietly, or another middle school?

The worries of child actors and their families continued.

And there was a group that watched them closely. It was the art high schools and colleges that they would enter after a few years when Lee Seo-jun and this generation grew up.

“Let’s investigate carefully. Why Lee Seo-jun chose that school. Based on that, we will change the curriculum.”

They did not want to miss the title of high school or college where Lee Seo-jun attended or graduated from either.

In such a trend, uncles and aunts who had nephews and nieces of the same age as Lee Seo-jun also thought of him when they heard about their nephews’ and nieces’ admission to middle school.

-My nephew is the same age as Seo-jun, but he is worried about which middle school to go to.

=Middle school is compulsory education, so it’s not a lottery?

=Still, you have to choose 1st, 2nd, 3rd preference. They do a lottery based on how many percent for 1st preference and how many percent for 2nd preference.

-But isn’t Seo-jun going to an art middle school?

=Yeah, but I’m curious where that art middle school is.

-Wouldn’t it be close to home?

=Why? Don’t you look at the curriculum?

=Lee Seo-jun has too brilliant a career to learn acting in middle school.

=Oh, that might be true.

-Then going to the same school as Seo-jun wouldn’t be so great?

-Well, maybe not, but it will leave a record. And it will remain in Seo-jun’s history.

-Yeah. If talented actors who gather around Seo-jun succeed and students who see those actors gather become stars, it will eventually become prestigious.

-But just hearing ‘Seo-jun’s middle school’ sounds prestigious lol

=22 A school that seems to teach acting well

With the noisy internet atmosphere, articles also started to pop up one by one.

[Which middle school will actor Lee Seo-jun, who is in 6th grade, go to?]

[Let’s learn about specialized middle schools.]

[What is the competition rate for art middle schools?]

[Art middle schools with music and art focus, one by one, creating acting and musical parts!]

[Which middle school will become ‘Lee Seo-jun’s middle school’?!]

Lee Seo-jun’s middle school.

Everyone was interested in which middle school would get that title and become prestigious for a long time.

***

While enjoying the summer vacation, Ahn Da Ho came with a pile of papers to Lee Seo-jun, who was having a lot of fun.

Lee Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

He had been looking at new scripts every day, and sometimes there were days when there were no scripts at all, but this was the first time he had received so many.

“Are they all scripts?”

Lee Seo-jun asked happily, and Ahn Da Ho shook his head with a smile.

“No.”

“No?”

Lee Seo-jun’s tail drooped. Ahn Da Ho put down the box.

“They are from art middle schools.”

“Art middle schools?”

Lee Seo-jun looked at the paper on top. Gyeeul Art Middle School.

“Yeah. From the school history to the actors who graduated. They sent it very detailed.”

As soon as the summer vacation started, Team 2 was not surprised by the documents pouring in from middle schools across the country.

Team 2 had been collecting rumors and incidents about each school for Lee Seo-jun’s admission to middle school for a long time.

Incidents could not be perfectly controlled by the school, but the important thing was how the school dealt with them.

All those materials were gathered and a perfect guidebook was created for students and parents who wanted to enter art middle schools.

Of course, they also planned to make such a guidebook for high schools.

“The application period is around October, so you can think about it slowly with your parents.”

It was still July. There was plenty of time until October.

“Okay! I’ll ask mom and dad.”

“Ah. You can only apply to one art middle school, so the school you apply to will probably be your school. You have to think carefully.”

“Okay.”

Neither Lee Seo-jun nor Ahn Da Ho thought that Lee Seo-jun would fail.

Ahn Da Ho left, and Lee Seo-jun and his parents, who were looking at the piled up guidebooks, fell into deep thought.

“Where should we go… Seo-jun, do you have any place you want to go?”

“Not really… Should we go somewhere close to home?”

Even if it was close to home, it was far away.

Lee Seo-jun was worried.

He did not want to go to a regular middle school either.

Art middle schools usually included filming periods in attendance days, so he did not have to calculate the mandatory attendance days carefully.

He had never done that before, but there could be times when he filmed in both semesters and the overseas filming could be long.

‘Well, the production company would take that into account too. But still, art middle school would be better than regular middle school.’

Seeing Lee Seo-jun lost in thought, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun hesitated a little and opened their mouths.

“Um. Seo-jun. How about we move?”

“Move?”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened.

Seo Eun-hye nodded.

“I would have stayed here longer if you didn’t like it, but I thought it would be better to move to a place with more security and space.”

The reason why Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun chose this apartment in the first place was because it was close to the elementary school.

The elementary school was near, but the middle school was far away, so they planned to move to a place closer to the middle school when their son became a middle school student.

“I see.”

Seo-jun nodded.

Then he looked around the house.

This house was full of memories.

He had lived here for a long time since he came back from the US.

“Do you not want to move?”

Lee Min-jun asked cautiously as Seo-jun looked around the house.

Seo-jun shook his head.

“It would be nice to move. The room will be bigger, right?”

“Yes. We’ll find a bigger house.”

“We’ll also remodel it so that it has good soundproofing, so you can practice acting or playing instruments comfortably.”

The couple wanted to give their son a nice room.

But they hesitated because there were many good people here.

Especially, Seo-jun’s four friends who lived in the same apartment complex.

Seo-jun also thought of his friends.

As they approached the age of going to middle school, their after-school classes increased one by one.

Ji-woo, who was smart, already had a plan to go to a special high school for becoming a doctor.

It was time to start preparing for high school or college entrance exams by attending various after-school classes, unless they had a clear future like him.

He was a little sad, but it was okay. He kept in touch with Jack Smith, who lived far away in LA, through messenger. It was not a big deal to meet on weekends with his friends who lived in Korea.

“I think it would be okay to move.”

The couple nodded at Seo-jun’s words. Seo-jun looked through the guidebook for art middle schools again.

“Then I have to choose carefully.”

Now that he was free from the distance constraint, he could focus more on the curriculum.

The art middle school closest to Seo-jun’s current house would have cried if they knew.

During the summer vacation, Seo-jun researched various art middle schools.

He couldn’t ignore the regular curriculum as it was mandatory education.

The arrangement of regular subjects and acting-related subjects.

The acting skills of the teachers who taught acting.

Schools that occasionally invited actors or directors from the field for special lectures, even if they were not as formal as high schools or colleges.

“How about this one?”

Established 10 years ago.

It was Yeoul Art Middle School.

***

The summer vacation ended and it was the second semester of sixth grade.

“You all know that you’ll be assigned to middle schools starting from November, right? You have to discuss with your parents and decide on your first, second and third choices.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t choose your middle school based on your friends!”

The children laughed at the teacher’s words.

Most of them chose the same schools as their friends in order to go to middle school together.

“You can’t all go to your first choice school, so you have to consider how you’ll get there from home.”

“Yes!”

Even though he said that, there were always some children who chose their schools based on their friends and ended up crying when they were assigned to faraway schools.

The teacher sighed and looked at Seo-jun.

Seo-jun tilted his head.

“Can I see you for a moment, Seo-jun?”

“Yes.”

While the children were talking about their preferred schools, Seo-jun went to see the teacher.

The teacher looked at Seo-jun.

The actor Lee Seo-jun who made the world buzz was just a model student who set an example for other children and a mature and proud student for the teacher.

The teacher smiled softly and said,

“You’re going to an art middle school, right?”

Seo-jun nodded without hesitation.

“Yes.”

“Art middle schools usually start accepting applications from October. It’s still September, but are you looking into it?”

“Yes. I’ve already decided where I’m going.”

“Really? That’s good. If you need any documents for your application, let me know. If you tell me early, I can prepare them faster, so tell me in advance.”

“Yes! Thank you.”

Seo-jun finished talking with the teacher and went back to his friends. Ji-o asked,

“What did the teacher say?”

“He said to tell him in advance if I need any documents for the art middle school.”

“Oh, so you’re going to an art middle school.”

“Yeah. They’ll count my filming days as attendance days.”

“Then you’ll go to a different school. And you’re moving too, so it’ll be hard to see you.”

At the mention of moving, Ji-yoon and Ji-ho, who had cried a lot during the summer vacation, started to tear up again. Mina, who was full of regret, added,

“We might get separated too. There are co-ed and single-sex schools, you know.”

“Right. It’s a lottery, so we don’t know what will happen.”

They had been together since they were one year old, when they couldn’t even remember their first farewell, and met again when they were five.

Seo-jun was sad too, but he knew that this farewell was not the end.

Jack in LA.

Charlie in Paris.

Grace in New York.

Seo-jun’s world was wide and connected.

His baby friends would also go to middle school, high school, college, and society. As the children’s world expanded, there would be many farewells and encounters.

When the faces of his friends became gloomy at the possibility of being scattered, Seo-jun smiled.

It took effort to keep the old connections going.

And in the modern era with communication devices like cell phones, that effort became easier.

He could always contact them no matter how far apart they were.

“We just have to keep in touch. You won’t reply to my messages?”

“No. I will.”

Seo-jun and his friends laughed at Ji-hoo’s firm words.

Chapter 153

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 153

“Yeah. Let’s go to the coin karaoke again next time.”

“Oh, speaking of coin karaoke, the one step video that Seo-jun filmed got a lot of views on YouTube. There were comments in foreign languages too.”

The kids nodded at Mina’s words.

It was on the news.

There was probably no public service advertisement that spread to the world like this.

“People are flocking to the Baekho Fire Safety Experience Center.”

“Oh, I saw the article too.”

“They said the experience facilities are also very diverse.”

The set of ‘One Step’ that was moved to the Baekho Fire Safety Experience Center was renovated and opened in the middle of summer vacation.

They made it possible to experience different courses, such as escaping from room 7 like ‘One Step’ in connection with the smoke experience center, finding hidden tissues and water bottles in front of the blocked entrance and emergency exit, and finding the room to escape by the handle temperature.

It was a popular experience among not only children but also adults, especially Seo-jun’s fans, because they could experience almost the same thing as ‘One Step’.

There were many videos uploaded on YouTube that were edited similarly to ‘One Step’.

Seo-jun didn’t know that the set of ‘One Step’ would be used like that.

“Do foreigners come a lot too?”

“Yeah. They say a lot of them come.”

“Our Seo-jun is amazing!”

Everyone burst out laughing at Ji-yoon’s words. Ji-hoo, who had laughed enough, asked Seo-jun.

“By the way, if you go to an art middle school, don’t you have to take a test?”

“Yeah. There is no written test, but I have to act.”

“Seo-jun will definitely pass!”

“What about the house you’re moving to?”

“Not yet. Mom and dad are looking for it, but I guess there’s no good house.”

“Invite me when you move!”

“Right. Let’s all go play together.”

“Yeah. Come and play.”

Seo-jun smiled and nodded his head at his friends’ words.

***

As soon as they decided to move, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun became busy from summer vacation.

The couple worked hard to find a house near Yeoul Art Middle School.

“How about this one?”

“No.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun whispered behind the real estate agent.

It was spacious, clean, and well-located.

The security was also good, but… something felt bad.

They felt uneasy from the first impression.

“Why?”

This strange feeling gave them a lot of trouble in deciding on a house.

The note from Seo-jun in their wallet sparkled.

[I love you mom and dad!]

With a small bird drawing, it was a note full of Seo-jun’s love that the couple cherished.

[(Gift/Production)Fortune-telling bird’s note – intermediate level]

It helps you determine which house suits the owner of the note.

You will feel good if it is a good house, and uncomfortable if it is a bad house.

How to use: You own a paper with a bird drawing on it.

Expiration date: 2 months

This bird was a very brave fortune-telling bird that helped fortune-tellers with bird divination. Especially, he had made a fortune by predicting good places to move for many people. He was a famous fortune-teller who had made his family rich by moving to a good place.

‘I hope the new place we move to is as good as this apartment.’

The note filled with Seo-jun and his parents’ wishes told them that this place was not a good one.

“Is this one bad too?”

The real estate agent headed outside to introduce another house, sensing that fact from their expressions.

It was tough.

It was a cheap house that was spacious and clean, but it was put up for sale because of the noise from upstairs.

He wondered when this house would sell and shook his head.

With Seo-jun’s ability, the couple wandered around Yeoul Art Middle School until they found a good apartment at the end of September.

It was spacious, clean, and expensive, but it was understandable.

More than anything, when they stepped into this house for the first time, they felt a warm breeze that made them feel refreshed.

“It’s amazing.”

They liked the first impression of this house just by that breeze.

The small bird drawn on the note was also satisfied with this house.

But feeling is feeling.

The picky couple looked around everywhere.

Especially, they looked closely at two rooms that would be Seo-jun’s room and practice room.

“Let’s put a desk and a bookshelf here.”

“Let’s put the bed on this side. The sunlight is really nice.”

They liked the view from Seo-jun’s room window.

They hoped that the scenery would fit into their son’s heart as well.

“We’ll take this one.”

The real estate agent smiled and wiped the cold sweat from his back, seeing the satisfied smile on the couple’s faces.

They were young, but they had an extraordinary eye for houses.

***

“Seo-jun, we found a good house.”

Seo-jun asked, eating the braised ribs.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun looked at their son with pride.

They wanted to brag about how good the house was.

“You don’t know how nice it is to have a wide open view from the window.”

“The house is spacious and the energy seems good too.”

Energy.

Seo-jun chuckled at that word.

It seemed that the fortune-telling bird’s ability had chosen a reliable house.

Seo-jun felt relieved by that alone.

“Then when are we moving?”

“The current owner has to move out first, and we have to repaint and renovate Seo-jun’s practice room, so maybe around the end of November?”

“I see.”

“If you have anything you want to put in your practice room, think about it slowly.”

“Anything I want…”

He put a tender rib in his mouth and thought hard.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

“A camera and a monitor?”

“Of course we have to install those.”

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye laughed at dad’s words.

“Let’s also put a small refrigerator. We can put drinks and simple snacks in there too.”

“Yeah. You might want to stay in your practice room when you want to focus.”

“Let’s decorate the wallpaper of the practice room so that it helps you concentrate… Hmm, how about making it like the one in Cocoa Entertainment?”

“That would be nice. It would be better to practice in a familiar practice room.”

Somehow, Seo-jun smiled brightly at the sight of his parents who seemed more excited than himself.

He could tell how much he was loved by their conversation alone.

His heart felt ticklish.

“What do you want to put in, Seo-jun?”

“Um…”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun looked at him with sparkling eyes. Seo-jun thought hard.

A bookshelf for scripts?

That was obvious.

He was satisfied with just a monitor and a camera.

Then, what came to his mind was the movie theater in Rachel Hill’s mansion.

‘I can’t make it like that, but…’

Seo-jun opened his mouth. Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun perked up their ears.

“A screen to watch movies?”

“That would be great! We can watch them together.”

“If we soundproof it, we can watch it with loud sounds too!”

“Let’s get movable chairs, fluffy ones, so we can move them aside when Seo-jun practices. He can also sit there and read scripts!”

“Good. We have to buy a projector.”

“Let’s buy the best one!”

Seo-jun burst into laughter at his excited parents.

A new house.

A new school.

They were words that made him nervous and thrilled.

***

October.

The application period for national art middle schools began.

Seo-jun also printed out an application form from Yeoul Art Middle School website and attached his photo and wrote his name, elementary school name, and phone number.

“Major, acting.”

While Seo-jun was diligently filling out the application form, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun looked at the admission process that they hadn’t looked at when they decided which school to go to.

The curriculum was important, but they didn’t have to worry about the admission process until they chose the school.

“They have practical skills and interviews.”

“It says free acting within two minutes… Seo-jun will do well.”

To avoid putting pressure on their son, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun whispered.

But Seo-jun’s good sense conveyed their words to him exactly.

Of course, Seo-jun was confident too.

“I finished writing the application form.”

“Good. You did well. Should we mail it or visit them?”

The three family members fell into thought again.

“How about visiting them? We can look around the school too.”

“It’s a weekday, so I’ll go.”

“…I want to go too.”

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye laughed at Lee Min-jun’s words, who had to go to Monster Company on weekdays.

He wanted to see the school where his son would attend.

He was curious about what kind of school Seo-jun would spend three years in.

“Then let’s go together.”

“Let’s look around the school and apply, and then play somewhere else.”

“It’s chilly, so how about watching a movie?”

“Agreed!”

Seo-jun raised his hand quickly.

***

The last day of application for Yeoul Art Middle School.

“I guess it’s not our school.”

“Yeah.”

The staff who were looking at the submitted application forms looked at the piled up forms with regretful eyes.

“Is there any school that had an article saying he applied?”

“I don’t know if he hasn’t applied yet, or if the school is keeping quiet… There’s no article.”

The staff who was looking at the internet articles opened his mouth.

“Maybe he’s thinking of going to a regular middle school?”

“That would make it hard to film.”

“There’s no place as good as our school…”

The door of the application room opened with regret.

A woman who looked like a student’s mother came in with a smile.

“Can I apply here?”

“Yes. Come this way.”

The staff who was in charge of the application called the woman.

The woman took out an application form.

Sometimes there were mistakes on the form, so the staff checked the contents written on the form and froze when he saw the name on it.

“There…”

“Ye-yes, yes. I’m sorry.”

The staff cut out the admission card printed with the application form and handed it to the woman.

“You will receive a guide on your phone. Please come on the day of the practical test.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

As soon as the woman who bowed left the application room, the staff’s legs gave way.

The people who were doing other work were surprised and ran over.

“What, what’s wrong?”

“Are you okay?”

“Th-this…”

“This? Is this hurting?”

“Lee Seo-jun!”

…?

Lee Seo-jun? What Lee Seo-jun here?

The staff who had collapsed from shock got up and lifted up the application form that had just been submitted.

Everyone looked at him with blank faces.

“Lee Seo-jun came to our school!”

The name and photo on the application form seemed to shine as if they were special.

The people who checked the form opened their mouths wide.

No matter how many times they checked, the name and photo did not change.

***

Seo-jun liked the school after looking around Yeoul Art Middle School with his mom and dad.

He liked the fact that there was a large stage where students could perform and a practice room where they could practice acting.

“Seo-jun, what are you going to do for free acting?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I’m looking for it now.”

Yeoul Art Middle School’s practical test was free acting within two minutes.

It was okay to have self-created dialogue or dialogue from a well-known script.

It was possible to do a monologue alone or a dialogue with someone.

Of course, if the dialogue was awkward, it would look weird as if he was talking to himself.

“The score wouldn’t be good either.”

Two minutes.

It was a short or long time.

Seo-jun looked at the bookshelf full of scripts.

He chuckled unknowingly at the treasure chest-like bookcase.

He felt his heart fill up just by looking at it.

“No, not this. What should I do?”

Seo-jun wondered what role he should choose among many scripts.

First of all, he decided to exclude the roles he had played before.

It was too easy and it was not fun to show the same acting again.

“Let’s exclude foreign works.”

Seo-jun looked at the scripts of Korean works in front of him and pondered.

Should he choose a role of an adult played by an adult actor or a role of a child played by a child actor?

‘An adult role wouldn’t be good, right?’

Then, would it be better to have a cheerful child like the one who appeared in Reinvestigation’s cameo or a child filled with sadness?

Seo-jun’s eyes rolled around and read the titles of the scripts.

He could tell what characters were in them just by reading the titles.

Then, one script caught his eye.

Chapter 154

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Chapter 154

Yeoul Arts Middle School was silent.

They decided to keep their mouths shut, in case Lee Seo-jun or his parents, or Cocoa Entertainment, would cancel his admission if they spoke too soon.

It was certain that the news of his audition would spread through the students and parents on the day of the practical exam.

So even after the last day of application for Yeoul Arts Middle School, no one knew which school Lee Seo-jun had applied to.

-?? Where did Lee Seo-jun apply?

=It hasn’t been announced yet.

-What are they doing?

-Yeah. Let’s keep it a secret like in elementary school.

-ㅋㅋ We all know but we don’t say the name of that place.

-But if it’s Yeoul Arts, won’t they have a performance? I want to see that.

=That might be only for the school staff.

=ㅇㅇ Maybe they’ll upload a video on YouTube.

=But we need to know which school it is to find it ㅠ

No one except the staff knew Lee Seo-jun’s middle school, and time passed until October 25th, the day of Yeoul Arts’ practical exam.

The practical exam for Yeoul Arts was conducted by the teachers who taught acting for each grade.

“Is Lee Seo-jun really coming?”

The third grade teacher asked the first grade teacher, Jung Si-woon, who smiled and nodded.

“Yes. He applied on the last day. I think he’ll be one of the last ones to perform.”

“Lee Seo-jun is coming to our school. Do we have anything to teach him?”

The second grade teacher said with a worried face.

That was a concern for the other teachers as well.

“We have to do what we can.”

The two teachers nodded at Jung Si-woon’s words.

Then, they heard a knock on the door.

The door of the interview room opened and a staff member who helped with the practical exam peeked in.

“We’ll start the practical exam now.”

“Okay. Please send in number one.”

That’s how Yeoul Arts’ practical exam began.

After a few candidates, the teachers who had been watching the audition in the same posture were tired and took a short break.

They drank some water and moved their stiff bodies.

“There are a lot of Prince Seongnyeong’s acting.”

“Prince Seongnyeong is very popular.”

Jung Si-woon scratched his cheek.

“I don’t mind if they do well, but since there’s already a perfect Prince Seongnyeong, don’t you feel like they’re overshadowed?”

“Yes. I only thought of Lee Seo-jun’s acting.”

“The acting academy must have made a wrong strategy.”

The teachers massaged their sore shoulders and continued with the audition.

While the audition was going on, there was a small commotion in the waiting room.

The appearance of one candidate made the kids who went to the same acting academy whisper.

“Is that her? One Step?”

“I think her name was Kim Joo-kyung…”

“If she applied here, does that mean Lee Seo-jun is coming here too?”

Everyone thought so.

They wanted to ask, but they just rolled their eyes.

Then, the kid who was sitting next to Kim Joo-kyung gently tapped her shoulder.

Kim Joo-kyung, who was reading her script, looked up at the kid next to her.

“Hi. You’re Kim Joo-kyung, right? The one who was in One Step…”

“Yeah. That’s me.”

“…Um. If you’re here, is Lee Seo-jun coming too?”

The ears of the kids and parents who were gathered in one classroom perked up.

Kim Joo-kyung opened her mouth.

“No. I don’t know where he applied.”

“…I see.”

The kid nodded with a subtle expression at Kim Joo-kyung’s words.

“Why don’t you know? You filmed together.”

“That’s true.”

“You can film together and not be close. It’s not like it was a long movie or drama. It was a short filming.”

“That’s true. Then no one knows where Lee Seo-jun applied.”

“I wish we were in the same school. She became famous because of Lee Seo-jun. It would be better if we were in the same class.”

“I don’t care. If Lee Seo-jun comes, one spot is already taken. And we have to be compared to him for three years.”

The kids whispered. Kim Joo-kyung ignored their whispers and read her script down.

She exchanged messages with Seo-jun from time to time, but she didn’t ask which school he wanted to go to, as she had said before.

She had always wanted to go to Yeoul Arts Middle School, but she was afraid she would waver if Seo-jun said he was going to another school.

Kim Joo-kyung sighed.

‘Should I have asked? I don’t know what’s better for improving my skills, the teacher’s guidance or acting with Seo-jun.’

Kim Joo-kyung shook her head and focused on her script.

The practical exam was the first priority.

***

“Hello. I’m Kim Joo-kyung.”

The teachers’ faces brightened when they saw the first candidate who came in after the break.

But they didn’t say anything else.

The exam had to be fair, and everything was being recorded by a camera.

“Please introduce yourself and show us your free acting.”

“Yes!”

Kim Joo-kyung calmly introduced herself.

The teachers nodded at her clear voice.

Kim Joo-kyung’s free acting was also refreshing.

“Thank you!”

Kim Joo-kyung bowed and left the room, and the teachers had a short conversation.

“She’s good. She’s a professional child actor, so she’s very immersed.”

“It’s amazing that a sixth grader can do this much.”

“I wonder how good Lee Seo-jun will be, since she acted with him.”

Before they could answer that question, they heard a knock.

There were a lot of applicants, enough to call it a boom of child actors, so the audition continued without a break.

Kim Joo-kyung came out of the audition room with a bright face and headed to her mom.

His mom, who had been praying hard, felt relieved at her daughter’s bright face.

That’s how the first day of Yeoul Arts’ practical exam, which was divided into two days, passed.

And the second day dawned.

The teachers who had been exhausted from watching the kids’ acting and grading them all day yesterday looked cheerful.

They were humming to themselves.

“The principal wanted to come too.”

“He can’t come. It would be unfair.”

“I heard a rumor that the chairman also wanted to come.”

“Of course. He’s our Seo-jun.”

The two teachers laughed at Jung Si-woon’s words.

Jung Si-woon smiled awkwardly, revealing his fanboy side.

“Then, shall we start today’s audition?”

The applicants were divided into one morning session and two afternoon sessions, and the time of the practical exam was sent to their phones.

Lee Seo-jun applied on the last day, so he was scheduled to perform in the early part of the last session.

Lee Seo-jun and Lee Eun-hye arrived at Yeoul Arts around 3 o’clock.

“We’re not late, right?”

“No.”

The waiting room for the applicants was made by placing several chairs in a classroom, and the interview room was right next door.

As Seo-jun entered the classroom, the applicants who had arrived earlier unconsciously looked up at the sound of someone coming in, then blinked their eyes.

The parents were also frozen like ice and couldn’t move.

“Uh…”

“Lee Seo-jun!”

It was Lee Seo-jun’s school!

They were torn between being happy or sad that they were in the same school as Lee Seo-jun, as one seat had been reduced.

In the silence, Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye took their seats on the chairs with numbers written on their application forms.

The kids who were staring blankly at the two of them were startled when Seo-jun took out his script from his bag and started reading it, and they began to look at their own scripts.

Seo-jun was Seo-jun, and he had to pass first.

While the kids were trying to squeeze out their concentration that seemed to scatter, the parents’ fingers moved quickly on their phones.

The news that was delivered to friends, family, coworkers, acting teachers, etc. soon went up on the internet and reporters who were watching quickly posted articles.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, takes Yeoul Arts Middle School exam!]

[Yeoul Arts Middle School, 10th anniversary of its opening, an arts middle school that encompasses music, art, and acting!]

[ATR Group’s arts middle school. The same group as Eunhasu Center!]

[Let’s find out more about Yeoul Arts Middle School!]

-Wow… Eunhasu Center here?

-They did a children’s play together in spring, right?

=Yeah, they’ve been interested in nurturing actors since a long time ago.

-Actors or artists. They have a lot of scholarships too.

-Seo-jun Lee is going here. Isn’t it a bit far from his elementary school?

-He must have a lot of money. He probably bought a new house.

=Yeah, yeah. It must be hard to live alone when you’re young.

-Doesn’t Yeoul Arts Middle School have a dormitory?

=Yeah, but they check your family situation for that, so Seo-jun can’t do it. They give a lot of scholarships and support to kids who are poor but talented, so they want to go to Yeoul Arts Middle School.

As Cocoa Entertainment’s 2nd team was watching the internet articles, Seo-jun’s turn was approaching.

“Applicant number 274.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun got up from his seat after checking the number on his application form.

Everyone’s eyes in the waiting room turned to Seo-jun.

He showed off his aura more than anyone else as he headed to the interview room.

“Finally!”

“I’ve never felt time go so slowly before.”

The teachers who checked the next applicant’s application form waited breathlessly for the door to open.

They had been waiting for him since his application was submitted.

It was Lee Seo-jun’s turn.

Seo-jun entered the interview room.

He looked at the teachers sitting in the judges’ seats as he stood in the center of the classroom.

“Hello. I’m applicant number 274, Lee Seo-jun.”

I’m a fan. I enjoyed your acting. I hope you continue to be active in the future. There were many things they wanted to say, but Jung Si-woon held back and opened his mouth.

“Please introduce yourself and do a free acting.”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun’s self-introduction made them feel that he loved acting and worked hard for it.

The career history he talked about was enough to make them clap even if they just heard it.

Especially the Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award.

The teachers’ eyes sparkled as if they were wandering in their dreams.

They used to dream of being famous actors when they were young, but now they were teaching children.

“Then I’ll start my free acting.”

Seo-jun’s free acting started with a heavy silence.

He quietly sat down on the floor.

His small movement made everyone’s breathing slow down.

Seo-jun sat up straight and his body slowly twitched.

His fingers fidgeting on his knees, his eyebrows moving fearfully.

His stiff expression.

Then, as if he heard a loud noise, his body jerked violently.

He straightened his back and clenched his hands tightly. He hid his trembling heart and opened his mouth.

“I…”

He looked up from looking straight ahead.

Not at the judges in front of him, but at someone far away, a beast-like man who showed his teeth and looked at him.

“I am the king of this country. Uncle.”

At that word, the three of them thought of someone. A child who became king at a young age and died by his uncle’s hand.

“Uncle.”

With that one word, the interview room turned into a battlefield.

Seo-jun, who was wearing neat clothes, suddenly wore a dragon robe, and at the end of Seo-jun’s gaze, there seemed to be a man with a terrifying aura.

The interview room was quiet.

He opened the door with a loud thud, the man who would later become Sejo, Prince Suyang.

He said something, something, but Danjong didn’t hear it.

After all, he was still a child who hadn’t even turned 15.

He couldn’t show the dignity of a king, he could only say these words.

Because,

Danjong bit his lip.

The palace and the country were all in his uncle’s hands.

The ministers who supported him were killed.

“Uncle.”

But Danjong’s eyes shone.

“All righteousness is directed towards me. Even if you take this place, that fact will not change. The people and the descendants will all know.”

That sharp truth pierced through Prince Suyang, a rebel.

“Heaven will not forgive you!”

The young dragon’s roaring cry made Prince Suyang scream as well.

Chapter 155

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 155

Seo-jun blinked his eyes and got up from his seat after finishing his acting.

His eyes felt dry from staring too hard at the empty space.

“Thank you.”

The voice made the third grade teacher, who was the first to snap out of it, utter the same words he had been repeating for two days.

“Uh, uh. Yeah. Good job. You can go now.”

As Seo-jun bowed and left, the other two teachers slowly regained their senses.

“Wow… Wasn’t that from the movie that came out about Danjong(Yi Hong-wi)… Ugh.”

The second grade teacher who opened his mouth massaged his stiff shoulders. He had been so tense that his whole body was tense.

He sighed deeply and leaned back on the backrest. Jung Si-woon opened his mouth.

“You mean the movie from ten years ago?”

“Yes. The movie, Seo-jun.”

Seo-jun.

It was a movie that was released ten years ago, showing the process of Grand Prince Suyang ascending to the throne.

Since it was a story centered around Grand Prince Suyang and mostly featured the six martyred ministers, Danjong(Yi Hong-wi), who appeared briefly, was portrayed as a weak young king.

“I remember the child actor who played him did a good job too. I think it broke even…”

“Yes. Seo-jun’s role was impressive. But that also overshadowed Danjong(Yi Hong-wi). I didn’t know he could express Danjong(Yi Hong-wi)’s lines like that.”

The two teachers agreed with Jung Si-woon’s words.

They still felt their throats tighten as they recalled the fiery confrontation.

It wasn’t the weak Danjong(Yi Hong-wi) and the rough Grand Prince Suyang.

It was Lee Hong-wi, who had been a rightful king since birth, and Lee Yu, who had crouched down and sharpened his claws.

The king who was 13 years old and the daegun who was 37 years old.

The dignity of Danjong(Yi Hong-wi) that burst out of his young body and the fight of Grand Prince Suyang who ran to take the king’s seat.

Seo-jun must have pictured an amazing confrontation between Grand Prince Suyang and Danjong(Yi Hong-wi) in his head.

They wanted to peek into his mind.

“Will there be a movie like that?”

It seemed like it would be a great movie just by imagining it.

The teachers were savoring the aftermath of Seo-jun’s free acting when the door of the interview room opened. A staff member who peeked his head in cautiously opened his mouth.

“Excuse me…”

“Yes?”

“It seems like you didn’t hear the knock. Should I bring in the next candidate?”

The teachers were flustered by his words. Were they that absorbed!

“Yes, yes!”

“Is it number 275 next?”

The teachers hurriedly flipped through the applications, and the practical exam of Yeoul Art Middle School, which had been paused for a moment, resumed.

The candidate number 275 who took the practical exam after Seo-jun entered the interview room with a nervous face.

***

A few days later, on the day of acceptance announcement.

Reporters flocked to Yeoul Art Middle School.

“They’re here!”

“Excuse me! Did Seo-jun pass?!”

As they heard questions from all over and saw large camera lenses pointing at them, the staff member who had come out to post the list of accepted students on the bulletin board swallowed his saliva.

He calmly posted the list on the board and quickly stepped away from it.

“Seo-jun. Seo-jun.”

“Number 274, number 274.”

The reporters found [Number 274 Seo-jun] written on the list of accepted students in numerical order and quickly started posting articles.

Among them, a reporter who found an unexpected name in front of him sparkled his eyes.

[Actor Seo-jun passes Yeoul Art Middle School!]

[Seo-jun passes Yeoul Art School!]

[(Exclusive) Actor Seo-jun passes Yeoul Art Middle School with actress Kim Joo-kyung!]

-Congratulations on passing!

-Seo-jun would obviously pass!

-He’ll be a middle schooler next year! Other people’s kids grow up so fast!

-Oh. This! Isn’t that Kim Joo-kyung?

=The one who was in ‘One Step’? She’s in the same school as Seo-jun!

Seo-jun, who received an acceptance text early in the morning, read the congratulatory messages from his fans on his fan cafe and found an article about Kim Joo-kyung’s acceptance posted by a fan.

“Joo-kyung also applied to Yeoul Art Middle School.”

Seo-jun quickly took out his phone and sent a message to Kim Joo-kyung.

<Joo-kyung, congratulations on passing! We’re in the same school!

-Seo-jun, you too, congratulations! I never thought I’d be in the same school as Seo-jun.

<Me tooㅎ But why didn’t I see you?

-I took the exam on the first day.

<I took it on the second day. I guess that’s why I didn’t see you!

-I’m so happy we’re in the same schoolㅎ

<Me too!

After sending a message to Kim Joo-kyung, Seo-jun diligently replied to the congratulatory messages from his acquaintances. While Seo-jun was replying, a post appeared on the internet.

[Title: Yeoul Art Middle School uploads practical exam videos.]

I’m a graduate of Yeoul Art Middle School.

Yeoul Art Middle School takes the exam with free acting, and they film it with a camera.

The day after the acceptance announcement, they upload the videos of the free acting.

Of course, if the accepted students agree.

But most of them agree. There are directors who cast them after watching that. I did too.

They also send it to the rejected candidates. There’s no advice, but some of them go to acting academies to fix their acting after watching the video and get into high schools.

-But why suddenly practical exam videos?

=ㄱㅆ : I wanted to see Seo-jun’s videoㅎㅎ

=That’s right! Seo-jun must have taken the practical exam too!

=Of course he passed, but Seo-jun’s acting! I want to see it!

-But where does it come out?

=ㄱㅆ : Yeoul Art Middle School YouTube channel! They also upload performance videos every year besides practical exam videos.

-What’s the writer’s video? I want to see it

=ㄱㅆ : …I won’t reveal itㅎㅎ

The next day, the YouTube channel [Yeoul Art Middle School] uploaded the practical exam videos of the accepted students. The most watched video was, of course, Seo-jun’s video.

[No. 274, Lee Seo-jun’s Acting Video]

“Uncle.”

Danjong(Yi Hong-wi)’s eyes shone.

“All the righteousness is on my side. Even if you take this throne, that fact will not change. The people and the descendants will all know it.”

His sharp truth pierced Grand Prince Suyang, the rebel prince.

“Heaven will not forgive you, uncle!”

The young dragon roared with a loud voice, and Suyang also shouted back.

-Oh my… Is it just me or does his clothes look like a dragon robe?

=No, no, I thought he was a king too lol

-I can only see Seo-jun on the screen, but I think Suyang is standing outside the screen omg

=I can’t help but follow Seo-jun’s gaze.

-Is that something like a flame?

-This line… sounds like Seo-jun.

=Seo-jun? Is it a movie?

=Yeah, I saw this movie in the theater lol The first time he flinched was when Suyang burst into the room.

=Wow.

-I saw it too, but it didn’t feel like this kind of dialogue.

=22 In ‘Seo-jun’, Danjong(Yi Hong-wi) was a weak character. He didn’t have this kind of nerve-racking dialogue. Maybe Seo-jun interpreted the character differently.

=Seo-jun is smart lol

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, reveals his acting video for Yeoul Arts School!]

[The acting skills that make even a plain shirt look like a dragon robe!]

[The actor who captivates everyone’s hearts with just two minutes of free acting!]

[The movie that is hot again, Seo-jun!]

-lol The acting video has English subtitles lol

-They are interested in even the middle school acting exam, Seo-jun’s overseas fans are amazing lol

-Seo-jun was fun, but it was different from what I expected. I thought it was a nerve-racking battle between Danjong(Yi Hong-wi) and Suyang…

=If we want to see a movie like that, we need a child actor who can act well. Now that Seo-jun’s acting is beyond the wall, we think ‘he can do it’ but 10 years ago, even if the child actor for Danjong(Yi Hong-wi) was good at acting, we couldn’t imagine more.

=Yeah, can you think of any child actor who can compete with an adult actor now? No, right? That’s how it is. Even now, without Seo-jun, there would be no child actor who can play that role.

-How does Seo-jun know the movie from 10 years ago? He was sucking his thumb back then lol

=Sucking his thumb lol

Before long, the movie that people wanted to see with Seo-jun as Danjong(Yi Hong-wi) was called ‘Danjong(Yi Hong-wi)’.

When there were many comments saying that it would be fun if Seo-jun played Danjong(Yi Hong-wi), there was one comment that had a different opinion.

-I don’t think I can watch Seo-jun play Danjong(Yi Hong-wi) more than once.

=Why?

=Because he is Danjong(Yi Hong-wi). Danjong(Yi Hong-wi) keeps being oppressed by Suyang and becomes Sangwang, then Nosangun, and finally dies. Just writing this makes me feel sorry for Danjong(Yi Hong-wi), but imagine seeing him acted by Seo-jun. He cried so much when he died of illness as Grand Prince Suyang… This is Danjong(Yi Hong-wi) who has no happiness at all…

=You’re right. Now that I think about it, it’s just a sweet potato field.

=Yeah, Seo-jun has a king-like aura but the situation around him doesn’t follow. Whatever he tries to do, Suyang kills him lol It would be fun if he had a nerve-racking battle like in the video. We would be excited to see when Seo-jun would give Suyang a hard time. But this is a historical movie. The ending is fixed. Suyang wins and Danjong(Yi Hong-wi) dies. Seo-jun dies!

=King. Sweet. Potato. + No soda lol

The internet was flooded with Seo-jun again. Seo-jun and his parents were surprised by the reaction they got from just releasing the video without much thought.

“It’s only a two-minute video…”

“I know.”

There were some overseas reactions as well. It was amazing that such a short video got such a response. Seo-jun always topped the real-time search terms, so Lee Min-jun got used to it and turned his head to check the messages from his friends.

“Seo-jun, will you do the movie if you get an offer?”

“Hmm. If I like the script, I’ll do it.”

“Okay. You do what you want.”

The parents who didn’t want to pressure him nodded and changed the subject.

“Seo-jun. What do you want for your acceptance gift?”

Gift?

Seo-jun rolled his eyes. Gift. He was satisfied with having a script to read and a filming to do, so he had no greed for gifts.

“Well. I can’t think of anything when you suddenly say gift…”

“Look. Na-ra and Rachel are sending a lot of messages.”

Seo-eun-hye showed Seo-jun her phone. It was a messenger group chat with the Shadowman team and Na-ra Kim.

Na-ra: Acceptance gift, elementary school graduation gift, middle school entrance gift, and Seo-jun’s birthday is in March, so birthday gift too! Four gifts! Seo-jun, what do you want?

Rachel: What? Only four?!

Na-ra: Wait! There was also a Christmas gift! Should I send a New Year’s gift too?

Rachel: Let’s do that!

Evan: …I’ll send something moderate.

Seo-jun laughed at the excited messages from Na-ra and Rachel and the calm message from Evan.

‘Hmm. I don’t really want anything because I get gifts every year…’

But he didn’t know that more gifts would come if he didn’t say anything. To escape from the gift hell of Na-ra and Rachel, Seo-jun was in trouble.

“Hmm. Can you buy me a camera and a monitor for the house we’re moving to?”

“I want to buy that from your mom. I got recommendations from director Ryan and picked out a good camera and monitor.”

“Then how about a projector and a screen!”

“Dad already paid for that.”

The parents’ faces sparkled with the thought of giving their son a gift.

Seo-jun nodded and wrapped his head.

***

Cocoa Entertainment’s second team was busy.

The printer kept spitting out paper.

“They keep coming in.”

“They must be very busy over there too.”

Ahn Da Ho looked at the printed paper. As Seo-jun’s free acting became a hot topic, drama and movie offers based on Danjong(Yi Hong-wi) flooded in.

To not miss the hot topic and the actor, most of them were hastily made, low-quality synopses, but among them were some scripts that seemed to have been prepared for a long time with sincerity.

“It’s amazing that they thought of such a subject for a script.”

“They must have buried it because there was no suitable child actor.”

“And now that they have an actor who can do it, they brought it out.”

Looking at the thick script in Ahn Da Ho’s hand, the second team staff nodded.

Chapter 156

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 156

November.

The day to move into their new house was approaching.

After a few weeks of remodeling, Seo-jun’s dad came back from checking the new house and gave a thumbs up.

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye sparkled their eyes.

“My studio?”

“It’s awesome!”

“I’m so curious.”

Seo Eun-hye had visited the house a few times during the construction, but Seo-jun was not allowed to go because it was too dangerous.

He was more excited by dad’s words.

“The furniture and electronics are all coming this week. We’ll install them and move our stuff next Monday.”

“Seo-jun, you have to pack your things too. We’ll move them while you’re at school, so you have to pack them carefully so you don’t lose anything.”

“Okay!”

They decided to donate or throw away the furniture and electronics that they didn’t need.

They had changed Seo-jun’s desk and bed as he grew up, but their furniture had been with them for a long time.

They didn’t mind spending money on their kids, but they hesitated to buy new things for themselves.

Seeing mom and dad wondering whether to take their old furniture with them, Seo-jun said with a pout.

“I’ll buy them! Mom and dad’s stuff!”

The investor of Cocoa Entertainment and Monster Company, the Hollywood superstar, said.

Showing his bank account, Seo-jun convinced his parents to buy everything new.

New furniture and electronics. Both his dad and mom were excited to choose them.

“This one is supposed to be durable.”

“This one looks pretty sturdy, right? Should we go with this one?”

Their criteria for choosing were the same as always.

Seo-jun and his parents started packing. Seo-jun took care of his own stuff.

He folded his clothes neatly and put them in the prepared boxes.

He had donated or given away his outgrown clothes, so he didn’t have any clothes to throw away, but he still had a lot of clothes that his acquaintances had given him as gifts.

“Auntie Na-ra gave me the most clothes.”

Seo-jun put a neat navy shirt in the box with a subtle look.

It was winter clothes, so they took up a lot of space. It seemed like it would take some time to unpack them from the boxes and organize them in the closet.

Next were the Monster Company’s dolls.

“This is the oldest one.”

Seo-jun lifted up a faded blue slime doll.

It was the slime doll that Uncle Hee-sang had brought in the first box of dolls.

It was fluffy and soft, so he used to squish it with his belly when he started crawling. It was also fun to touch it with both hands on his stomach.

Now it was flat because the stuffing was dead, but the memories were still there.

“This is the Lich King.”

The Lich King, who had scared the kids, still had his green eyes glowing.

“There are a lot of dragons too.”

Red, blue, yellow, black, etc.

There were scary dragon dolls in various colors.

There were also many other monster dolls. Doppelganger bear doll, Twin-head ogre, Troll, Orc, Werewolf, Griffin, etc.

“I haven’t played with them much lately.”

The most he did was play with them with Subin and Eun-su. Subin and Eun-su both liked monster dolls, so it was fun to play with them. He remembered the two siblings screaming with joy and smiled.

Now he wouldn’t forget ‘me’ even without the dolls.

Seo-jun still liked monster dolls and monster-shaped accessories, but that was just his taste.

“But I’ll miss them if they’re gone.”

Seo-jun looked at the dolls and boxes for a moment and then started putting them in carefully like fitting blocks.

He didn’t want to leave any of the dolls that had memories in them.

After taking care of the dolls, he moved on to accessories like hats, belts, badges. This side was small in volume, so he could pack them quickly.

“This is a big deal…”

Something he didn’t want to lose as much as the dolls.

The scripts and DVDs on the bookshelf.

He quickly packed the scripts and DVDs of the works he had starred in, but there were still a lot left.

He looked at the scripts piled up on the bookshelf and braced himself.

“Ah. This was fun.”

He put the twentieth script in the box and looked at the title of the script in his hand with a smile.

He remembered the plot well, but it felt different when he read it again.

The script was for a historical movie that Kim Jong-ho starred in.

It was about King Jeongjo of Joseon Dynasty, and Uncle Jong-ho played the villain.

“Heh…”

Seo-jun sat on the floor and opened the first page of the script.

It was more fun to do something else than what he had to do, even for a superstar.

As he was reading the script, he heard his mom’s voice.

“Seo-jun, did you pack everything?”

“Ah, I packed half of it!”

Seo-jun came to his senses and quickly put the script he was reading in the box.

I was packing right now.

“You have to pack everything you need to take. Put your clothes in the box and pack your scripts well.”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun got up and put the scripts in the box.

And not long after, he started reading the script of an independent film made by director Ryan Will.

Seo Eun-hye, who was curious about Seo-jun’s quiet room, laughed at the sight of Seo-jun focusing on the script.

Day by day, Seo-jun and his parents cleaned up the house that they had grown attached to.

“I bought some bubble wrap.”

“Then let’s pack the trophies and frames.”

Seo-jun and our parents wrapped the WTV Film Festival, KBC Newcomer Award, Academy Award, Golden Globe Award trophies in bubble wrap and put them in a box.

And they wrapped the frames with pictures of our family, actors, friends, and acquaintances in bubble wrap and put them in a box.

They were going to move them themselves, not on a moving truck.

“We bought a new cabinet for the trophies too. It’ll look great when we put them up. Right?”

“Yeah!”

“Let’s invite everyone over for dinner the day after tomorrow.”

“Let’s do that.”

Seo-jun and his dad nodded at mom’s suggestion. They sent a message on Banana Talk and everyone happily made time for them.

The day before they moved was Sunday evening.

One by one, everyone arrived at Seo-jun’s house.

The kids who remembered Seo-jun’s house with monster dolls and glittering trophies were shocked by the empty living room.

“…You’re really leaving.”

The kids finally realized that Seo-jun was really moving away, and tears welled up in their eyes.

“You’ll still go to school, right?”

Seo-jun quickly reassured his friends who looked like they were about to cry.

It was an awkward time to transfer schools, so he planned to attend Maesil Elementary School until the graduation ceremony.

He would have to take a car, unlike before when he walked to school.

“But still…”

But they wouldn’t be able to walk to and from school together or play at each other’s houses until late at night like they used to.

Seo-jun comforted his gloomy friends.

Unlike the kids, the parents were talking happily.

“It’s good that you’re going to a bigger place.”

“I heard that Yeoul Middle School is a good school.”

The last dinner at Seo-jun’s house was lively like a feast.

Ji-yoon’s parents, Mina’s parents, Ji-ho and Ji-woo’s parents.

They had known each other for ten years already.

‘We kept in touch even when we were in America, so we can keep in touch from now on.’

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun were so glad that these friends didn’t change even when Seo-jun became famous.

“I don’t know how grateful I was back then. Ji-yoon wouldn’t eat…”

“Seo-jun’s mukbang was the cure.”

From very old stories to ones from just a few days ago. The old neighbors’ trip down memory lane lasted all night.

After the noisy dinner, the friends all went home.

The house that was full of people looked much bigger and lonelier as they left.

“This is the last time in this house too.”

“Yeah.”

Seo-jun’s house sold quickly.

The elementary school was close by, so there was already a lot of demand, but it became even more popular as Seo-jun attended and became famous.

Maesil Elementary School was close by, so someone bought it soon.

Seo-jun and his parents looked around the house after finishing the cleanup.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun had rented this house when they first moved in.

They also took out a loan. But they were so happy to have their own house.

Soon they became three and were happier.

They cried with joy when they heard the pregnancy news, and they were startled by the contractions they felt while sitting on the sofa watching TV.

They laughed with Seo-jun, who smiled and giggled, ate and slept.

This house was full of happy memories.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun’s eyes became misty.

“We filmed a mukbang here…”

The mukbang that their son filmed without much thought had a huge impact on their family.

They paid off their loan and bought a house for rent.

Seo-jun also remembered that time.

The influence of his top-tier ability was terrifying.

Even now, Seo-jun’s mukbang had a lot of influence around the world.

“We also filmed 48 hours here.”

He cried because he was jealous of Brown Black hyungs.

‘I was so young then.’

Seo-jun chuckled.

“I went to kindergarten and elementary school…”

The inside of the house was full of memories of Seo-jun and his parents.

Lee Min-jun, who shed a tear, opened his mouth.

“Should we have not sold the house?”

“We’re not going to live here forever.”

“Well, that’s true, but I’m just sad.”

“It’s okay. We have lots of photos and videos.”

“Right. Dad. We can make lots of memories in our new house too.”

Seo Eun-hye nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

Somehow, their son seemed smarter than his dad. But both Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye had sadness in their eyes as they said that.

“Should we all sleep in the living room today?”

“Yeah. I like it.”

Seo-jun raised his hand at his dad’s cool suggestion.

“Me too.”

With Seo Eun-hye’s agreement, Lee Min-jun and Seo-jun quickly brought out the blankets that they hadn’t packed yet. Seo-jun and his parents laid out the blankets in the living room and got ready for bed.

They covered themselves with cozy blankets and lay down.

The wall of the darkened living room glowed faintly with the glow-in-the-dark stickers that they had put up for baby Seo-jun.

They remembered all kinds of memories from just one thing.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun opened their mouths with emotion.

“Let’s live happily in our new house too.”

“Tell us if you have any problems.”

“Okay!”

The parents smiled at Seo-jun’s strong answer.

‘We have to make lots of happy memories in our new house too.’

That was the last night in their first house full of memories.

The next morning.

After finishing the last packing, Seo-jun decided to go to Cocoa Entertainment with Ahn Da Ho as soon as school was over.

“Do you need my help?”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun laughed at Seo-jun’s words.

If Seo-jun showed up, the movers would be surprised.

They might have an accident if they were distracted by Seo-jun.

“The uncles will only move the stuff, so we have to do the cleaning. There will be a lot of cleaning to do when we get back, so you can help us then.”

The house would be clean with the pre-move-in cleaning service, but moving the stuff would make even the cleanest new house dusty again.

Seo-jun nodded his head at Seo Eun-hye’s words.

He saw his mom and dad talking about moving things around and thought.

He had a lot to do when he got to his new house.

He had engraved various abilities in the house while he lived here.

From small things like preventing bugs to big things like preventing accidents.

‘I’ll have to put them in one by one again.’

He felt like a new door of the Library of Life would open soon.

The doors of the lower and middle levels were always open, but this time it seemed like a higher level door would open.

‘This time, I’ll be able to put in more powerful abilities. Of course, it won’t be done in a day or two.’

Seo-jun thought as he looked at the house he had to leave.

The symbols that only Seo-jun could see were still drawn all over the house.

‘Anyway, they’ll disappear if I don’t supply mana…’

Seo-jun decided to leave the symbols alone.

The person who moved into Seo-jun’s house would be able to live more comfortably than other houses for a few weeks.

“Seo-jun, let’s go to school now.”

“Okay!”

At Seo Eun-hye’s call, Seo-jun said goodbye to the house for the last time.

“Bye. Our house.”

Chapter 157

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 157

After school, Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho headed to Cocoa Entertainment.

“I was thinking of taking it home, but this worked out well. Let’s check out the scripts that came in last week and then go.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

As always, Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho went to Seo-jun’s practice room on the third floor.

When Ahn Da Ho opened the door with his card, Seo-jun’s practice room with a wall of mirrors came into view.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll bring the box.”

“Sure.”

Ahn Da Ho went to the second team’s office, and Seo-jun sat down in the resting area on one side of the practice room.

“Juice. Juice.”

Seo-jun prepared juice for both Ahn Da Ho and himself and sat on a chair.

He was about to wait for a while, when Ahn Da Ho appeared with a box.

Ahn Da Ho put the box on the floor and placed half of the papers in the box on the table.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at the papers on the table.

Some days were more and some days were less, but on average, Seo-jun received five works.

Of course, they were the ones that had been filtered by the second team. But today, it looked like there were more than five at a glance.

“There are more than usual?”

“A lot came in last week. But this is only for today. It’ll be back to normal tomorrow.”

Why did it suddenly increase?

Seo-jun tilted his head and picked up the synopsis on top.

Ahn Da Ho opened his mouth.

“It’s because of the acting video you filmed. All of these are works with that theme.”

“I see.”

Seo-jun knew well the influence of the acting video. It was a hot topic in Seo-jun’s fan cafe ‘Sprout’ every day.

“They’re all very proactive.”

He didn’t expect such synopses to come out in less than two weeks since the video was released.

Ahn Da Ho smiled.

“They can make big money if they catch it. Both big and small production companies are trying their best. There were also some directors and writers who sent synopses personally.”

What if there is no production company?

“Wouldn’t it be hard to make a movie then?”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes.

“It’ll be fine as long as you’re there.”

Ahn Da Ho laughed at Seo-jun’s worry.

Director needed.

Production company needed.

Distributor needed.

Investor needed.

Actor needed.

For an ordinary writer who only had one script, these would be difficult mountains to overcome.

[Casting Lee Seo-jun completed.]

This one sentence was like a ‘deus ex machina’ that could solve all problems at once.

‘No, rather, they would be in a situation where they could choose what they liked from the overwhelming applications.’

“Don’t worry, just choose what you want to do.”

“Okay. I will.”

Seo-jun nodded to Ahn Da Ho and read down the synopsis.

The contents were mostly similar, as they were works with the theme of Danjong.

He felt some works were similar to the movie Sejo from ten years ago.

“Compared to usual…”

The quality of the synopses seemed to be lower.

Seo-jun frowned slightly.

Ahn Da Ho noticed what Seo-jun swallowed and opened his mouth.

“These are works that came after the video was released, so it took them from one day to ten days at most. They’re different from the usual synopses that they spent a lot of time thinking about. Even though we picked them carefully at the second team, this is it.”

“Hmm.”

Ahn Da Ho smiled at Seo-jun’s dissatisfied face.

“There’s one work that the second team recommended.”

“Recommended?”

At that word, Seo-jun blinked his eyes and looked at Ahn Da Ho.

The second team’s recommendation. There was never such a thing before.

“Yeah. They unanimously recommended this one as the best one if you’re interested in playing Danjong. Of course, you’ll know when you see the script too.”

“What is it?”

“It’s at the bottom of the box. Wait a minute, I’ll get it for you.”

Ahn Da Ho quickly took out a pile of papers that was at the bottom of the box. Seo-jun’s eyes widened as he saw the script that Ahn Da Ho handed him. It was not a thin synopsis like he had seen before, but a proper script.

“This is… a script?”

“It’s hard to prepare in ten days. That alone shows that this is different from the other synopses that were hastily made because of the recent issue. It’s a work that had been prepared for a long time.”

Seo-jun agreed with Ahn Da Ho’s words.

Seo-jun lowered his eyes and looked at the first page of the script.

[Working title: Danjong]

[Director: Woo Jeong-han]

“Director Woo Jeong-han?”

Seo-jun knew that name. He was the director of the movie ‘Sejo’ that he acted in for the audition, and the movie ‘Jang Yong-yeong’ that he read while cleaning up his stuff, which starred Kim Jong-ho.

The master of historical movies, director Woo Jeong-han.

The production company and distributor columns under the director were empty.

The lead actors and supporting actors were the same.

Seo-jun tilted his head.

Woo Jeong-han was a director who had filmed with many actors.

There would be many actors who would appear if Woo Jeong-han called, but on the script, there was only,

[Danjong: Lee Seo-jun]

written.

“It’s director Woo Jeong-han’s work, but the production company and distributor are not decided yet. The actors too. Is there any problem?”

“Hmm.”

Ahn Da Ho rolled his eyes and opened his mouth.

“Maybe it’s because they’re in a hurry?”

“Hmm. Maybe.”

“Don’t worry. If you star and director Woo Jeong-han directs, you’ll be able to find them in no time.”

Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

That’s right.

Director Woo Jeong-han, who always broke even and earned the trust of investors with every work he released, and superstar Lee Seo-jun, who created an enormous buzz and revenue with every work he appeared in.

Even a cautious investor would put out money as soon as they heard that combination.

Seo-jun nodded and turned to the next page to read the script.

***

He was having fun at Cocoa Entertainment when he got a call from his mom.

She said they had moved all the stuff, so Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho headed to his new home.

The way to the new home from Cocoa Entertainment was the opposite direction from the way to the old home.

He felt like he had really moved to a new home as he saw the unfamiliar scenery through the window.

Seo-jun felt that way, and so did Ahn Da Ho.

“We’ll have to get used to this road now.”

“Yeah. I think this is my first time on this road.”

The car followed the unfamiliar road to the new home.

Seo-jun’s car entered the underground parking lot without any trouble, as if he had already registered his license plate number.

He pressed the button in the elevator at the unfamiliar parking lot.

His new house was on a higher floor than his old one.

After spending some time in the elevator, the door opened with a ding.

“You’re here, Seo-jun?”

His mom and dad, who were waiting in front of the elevator, greeted him.

Seo-jun smiled brightly.

“I’m back! Mom, did you move all the stuff?”

“Yes. All you have to do is clean and unpack.”

“Welcome, Mr. Da Ho.”

“Hello. This is a moving gift from Team 2.”

“Oh, thank you. Please tell them I appreciate it.”

Da Ho handed over the box he was holding to Lee Min-jun.

“Shall we go in then?”

“Yes!”

Seo Eun-hye opened the door of the new house.

The new house, with its shiny wallpaper and floor, welcomed Seo-jun.

The new house was bigger than the old one, so it felt a bit awkward, but he would get used to it soon.

Seo Eun-hye stood in front of the doors.

There were two doors, one with a sign that said [Seo-jun’s room] and the other with a sign that said [Seo-jun’s practice room].

“This is Seo-jun’s room. You’ve already brought your stuff here, so you just have to organize it.”

“Okay. Mom, my room is pretty.”

“Isn’t it?”

Seo-jun’s room, with its sky blue and white colors that were good for concentration and made it look spacious, looked neat at a glance.

Seo Eun-hye smiled proudly at Seo-jun’s words. She had been worried about it for a long time.

The new bed was big enough for him to use even when he became an adult, and so was the desk.

The room was bigger, so he had one more bookshelf.

As he looked around his shiny new room, Seo-jun saw a pile of brown boxes.

It was his own stuff that he had packed himself. Ugh. He sighed inwardly.

‘When will I sort all that out?’

As he roughly estimated where to put his dolls, Lee Min-jun called him.

“Seo-jun, this is your practice room.”

The room next to Seo-jun’s room was his practice room.

At Lee Min-jun’s words, Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled again. Practice room!

“Can I go in?”

The couple and Da Ho laughed at Seo-jun’s excited expression.

“Sure.”

Lee Min-jun opened the door of the practice room. Seo-jun’s cheeks turned red.

The practice room was similar to Cocoa Entertainment’s practice room.

One wall was entirely made of mirrors, so it was easy to check his hand and foot movements when he acted, and the floor was made of non-slip material.

There was also an air conditioner for comfortable practice, a small refrigerator and snack drawer, and a chair and table.

“Cool.”

What caught Seo-jun’s attention most was the cameras installed on all sides.

There were three movable cameras and cameras installed on the front, sides, and back.

There were also three monitors to check the recorded video.

“That’s awesome!”

“Seo-jun. Look at this.”

Seo Eun-hye called her son, who couldn’t contain his joy and rolled his feet. Seo-jun’s eyes shone like when he acted.

“What is this?”

“A remote control. It controls the camera position.”

As Seo Eun-hye pressed the button, the camera in front of the mirror started to move sideways.

Seo-jun lifted his head and saw that there was a rail on the ceiling where the camera was installed. The camera moved along the rail on the ceiling.

“Oh my!”

Seo-jun opened his mouth wide.

Da Ho, who was looking around the practice room behind the family, couldn’t close his mouth either.

“You can also adjust the height.”

As Seo Eun-hye pressed another button on the remote control, the moving camera stopped and slowly rose toward the ceiling. When she pressed another button, the camera slowly came down.

“You can also adjust the lens direction while watching the monitor.”

The camera lens turned in different directions according to Seo Eun-hye’s control. The image on the monitor also changed accordingly.

Ziiing-

Seo-jun felt like he was suffocating from the wonders of civilization.

His heart pounded and his body felt like floating.

“Oh my!!”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun smiled broadly at Seo-jun’s flushed face.

They were glad they listened to the opinions of Director Ryan, who said it was good to buy multiple cameras, and the actors, who said it would be nice to have cameras on the ceiling like Jimmy’s house.

They probably couldn’t imagine that such a result would come out.

Da Ho also looked around Seo-jun’s practice room with a surprised face.

‘It would be nice to install them in the dance practice room too…’

The flashy movement of the camera was more suited for idols than actors.

The strange camera movement that changed from side to side and hit the head.

The so-called bal-ka (camera that looks like it was shot with a foot).

If he practiced while being filmed from all sides, he might be able to create a better image in the music show screen.

Da Ho, who was thinking for a moment, asked Lee Min-jun, who was looking at his son with a pleased face, about the camera installation company.

Seo-jun, who was running around the practice room, wanted to practice in this practice room right now.

‘My back when I act… Oh my. Oh my!!’

He had a script by chance.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled, and he held his heart that was pounding like a child who saw a new toy.

When his mom and dad poured cold water on him.

“Then let’s just look around for now and sort out your stuff first?”

“…Okay!”

Seo-jun answered with tears in his eyes.

It was a pity, but he had to sort out his stuff first.

He quickly erased his disappointed face, said goodbye to Da Ho, who was leaving, and headed to his room.

‘I have to sort it out quickly and practice!’

Seo-jun quickly sorted out his stuff. He diligently put the script on the bookshelf and quickly arranged the dolls.

The couple rolled up their sleeves and laughed at his fast pace.

Seo Eun-hye put Seo-jun’s clothes in the closet, and Lee Min-jun organized the DVDs, scripts, and books.

“Do you want to practice that much?”

“Yes! Thank you for helping me. Mom, dad.”

Seo-jun’s face shone brightly.

The couple felt even happier seeing their son sincerely liking the gift.

With the help of his parents, Seo-jun sorted out his stuff faster than he thought and headed to the practice room.

Lee Min-jun said to Seo-jun, who opened the door of the practice room.

“You have to eat dinner, so just do it for 30 minutes.”

“Okay!”

The couple burst into laughter at Seo-jun’s hasty answer.

“Is this this way…”

He controlled the camera position while watching the monitor.

The four cameras on the ceiling moved as Seo-jun thought.

He felt like he was a director as he controlled the camera.

The lenses of the four cameras pointed at Seo-jun, and he exhaled.

At that moment, Seo-jun’s mood changed.

He remembered the script he had seen today.

“Uncle.”

A faint voice echoed in Seo-jun’s practice room.

Chapter 158

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 158

Director Woo Jeong-han, who was looking at his phone, suddenly got up from his seat.

The spoon that was about to enter the mouth of the cinematographer sitting in front of him stopped in mid-air.

“What, what is it?”

“…I’ve decided on the next project.”

The cinematographer blinked his eyes.

‘What does that have to do with what just happened? Well, it’s good that he’s working on a project after three years.’

The reason why the cinematographer came to see Director Woo Jeong-han today was also because of the next project.

He felt more comfortable working with Director Woo Jeong-han, who he had collaborated with for a long time, than with other directors.

‘Besides…’

He could shake off the pressure of box office performance that haunted him throughout the shooting, because Director Woo Jeong-han’s works hardly ever failed.

The cinematographer smiled broadly and said.

“Really? Are you going to shoot a historical drama?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s see… Which era haven’t we done yet?”

The cinematographer put the spoon in his mouth and counted on his fingers the works they had done so far.

‘We did Sejo, Yeongjo, Sejong, and Seonjo. Hmm… How about Taejo Yi Seong-gye? It would be very interesting if Jeong Mong-ju and Yi Bang-won appeared…’

The cinematographer lifted his head from his thoughts.

“But why are you still standing?”

Director Woo Jeong-han, who had jumped up from his meal, was still standing in the same posture.

“Oh, sorry.”

The cinematographer glanced at Director Woo Jeong-han, who was still tapping his phone even after sitting down, and continued his meal.

Director Woo Jeong-han was like that.

He would neglect everything else when he was focused on one thing.

While the cinematographer ate casually, Director Woo Jeong-han was contacting the place that had sent him a message.

***

After finishing school, he should have headed to his new house with his mom, but he got a call from Da Ho hyung.

He gladly accepted Director Woo Jeong-han’s request to meet him.

He went to Cocoa Entertainment with Da Ho hyung, who came to pick him up in front of the school.

Seo-jun tilted his head at Ahn Da Ho’s footsteps heading to the conference room instead of the usual practice room.

“Hyung, aren’t we going to the practice room?”

“It’s under construction right now.”

“Construction? What broke?”

Something must have happened at Cocoa Entertainment’s practice room while he was practicing acting in his home studio.

Ahn Da Ho laughed at Seo-jun’s surprised voice.

“No. Nothing broke. They’re installing cameras in the company’s practice room just like in your home studio. When you showed the president your practice room photos, he said he couldn’t lose and started construction right away.”

“Oh.”

Seo-jun nodded with sparkling eyes.

“So they’re doing it exactly like my home studio?”

“Yeah. But the company’s practice room is bigger, so it’ll be more convenient when you need more movement for a character.”

Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

“They’re going to renovate the other practice rooms too while they’re at it. The debutants and trainees are all looking forward to it.”

“When are the noonas going to debut? I’ll promote them to my friends!”

Ahn Da Ho burst into laughter at Seo-jun’s words.

The girls of Cocoa Entertainment’s third group and first girl idol group ‘Red Crown’ would have loved it if they heard it.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho chatted as they arrived at the conference room.

Seo-jun sat down on a chair and read ‘Danjong’ that Ahn Da Ho had printed out for him.

As he was immersed in the script, he heard a knock on the door.

“Seo-jun, the director is here.”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun got up from his seat and greeted Director Woo Jeong-han.

“Hello, Director Woo Jeong-han. I’m Lee Seo-jun.”

“Nice to meet you, Seo-jun-ah. I saw your performance video well.”

“Hehe.”

Seo-jun smiled at Director Woo Jeong-han’s compliment.

When Director Woo Jeong-han sat down, Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho also sat down.

“Thank you for accepting the role.”

“The script is interesting. I want to act it so much.”

There was no better compliment for Director Woo Jeong-han, who had written the script himself.

Director Woo Jeong-han smiled softly.

“I’m glad you liked it.”

“I was happy that you offered me the role.”

“I wouldn’t have made this movie if it wasn’t for you. I’m the one who should be thankful.”

“Huh?”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes at Director Woo Jeong-han’s words. Director Woo Jeong-han paused at his expression.

Ahn Da Ho, who had been quietly watching the conversation between the director and the actor, sighed inwardly.

The conference room became quiet.

Seo-jun tilted his head at Director Woo Jeong-han, who didn’t know what to do.

“I’m sorry, I made a mistake because I was so happy. I apologize.”

“No, I should have told you in advance…”

Seo-jun looked back and forth between Director Woo Jeong-han and Ahn Da Ho.

He wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for me?

“What do you mean by that?”

Seo-jun asked, and Ahn Da Ho opened his mouth.

“‘Danjong’ didn’t have a production company or a distributor, right?”

“Yes.”

Da Ho hyung said he couldn’t find them because the deadline was tight.

‘Could that be wrong?’

“When the script came in, the second team speculated that Director Woo Jeong-han might not make the movie at all if Seo-jun didn’t play Danjong.”

“Why is that?”

“Director Woo Jeong-han always makes sure that his movies break even and protect the investment. His works are popular among investors because they can make money or at least not lose money.”

Ahn Da Ho’s words made Director Woo Jeong-han look embarrassed. He knew it well, but it was still awkward to hear it in front of him.

Seo-jun nodded.

He didn’t know much about investment, but he knew that Director Woo Jeong-han’s works were fun.

“Even though it was a short time of ten days, if it was Director Woo Jeong-han, he could easily find a production company and investors. But nothing was decided yet, so we thought that Seo-jun’s casting was the start of this project.”

The existence of the work depended on his appearance.

It was an unbelievable story, but it didn’t seem impossible.

Seo-jun nodded, and Director Woo Jeong-han, who had sent him the script, opened his mouth.

“I was thinking of finding a production company and a distributor if you did it, but I was going to bury the work if you didn’t.”

“This is interesting… Can’t you just find another actor and do it if I don’t?”

He had heard that ‘Over the Rainbow’ would have been filmed with another child actor if Seo-jun hadn’t appeared.

Emily, the assistant director, had said at the award party that she couldn’t even guess what kind of movie it would have been if the production cost had been halved.

Director Woo Jeong-han smirked at Seo-jun’s words.

“I’ve been waiting for ten years, but I couldn’t find a Danjong that I liked.”

Ten years.

Seo-jun blinked his eyes.

That was when the movie ‘Sejo’ came out.

Director Woo Jeong-han spoke as if recalling an old memory.

“The original script of ‘Sejo’ was this ‘Danjong’. I wanted to make this work, but there was no child actor that suited it. I had no choice but to give up because they didn’t catch my eye. I still had some regrets, so I put some of Danjong’s lines in ‘Sejo’.”

“What?”

Both Seo-jun, who heard it for the first time, and Ahn Da Ho, who didn’t know this behind-the-scenes story, widened their eyes.

Director Woo Jeong-han laughed.

“Yes, it was the line that you showed me in your performance video.”

“…I see.”

“I saw it and thought that I wanted you to play Danjong. If you didn’t do it, I was planning to leave it on a shelf somewhere like I did for the past ten years.”

Seo-jun nodded at Director Woo Jeong-han’s words.

‘So that’s how it was. Well, that’s that.’

Seo-jun looked at Ahn Da Ho. At his intense gaze, Ahn Da Ho let out a light sigh and opened his mouth.

“The story that the movie would be made or not depending on Seo-jun’s appearance is not a special story.”

“Huh?”

“Some of the works that came in before were like that. This movie can only be made if Lee Seo-jun appears, this drama was made with Lee Seo-jun in mind, and so on.”

Ahn Da Ho continued his explanation.

“When we first heard such stories, we wondered whether to tell you or not in the second team. At the end of the meeting, we concluded that those stories would interfere with your work selection. So we hid them.”

“Hmm.”

Seo-jun wasn’t the type to decide on his appearance because of someone else’s story.

But for Ahn Da Ho and the second team, who wanted Seo-jun to choose his work without any external influence, hiding those stories was the best way.

“I was worried that it would burden you, so I asked the director not to tell you until the end of the shooting, but it turned out like this.”

Ahn Da Ho scratched his cheek.

“I was going to tell you after the shooting. It’s bound to come out in interviews anyway, and it’s a good story for promotion.”

Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

‘Well, it wasn’t a story I had to know.’

Regardless of the story of waiting for ten years, Seo-jun was going to do his best as always.

“I understand. Thank you, Da Ho hyung.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Ahn Da Ho sighed with relief at Seo-jun’s words.

He was honestly worried. Would he be angry that he hid the truth, or would he understand?

The reason why Ahn Da Ho kept his mouth shut was because he wanted Seo-jun to do what he wanted without any interference.

And he was going to do that in the future as well.

As the atmosphere in the conference room eased up, Director Woo Jeong-han, who had been watching Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho, opened his mouth.

“I have to decide on a production company to take charge of the movie production. Do you have a place you want to work with?”

“Do I have to decide?”

Director Woo Jeong-han laughed at Seo-jun’s words.

“I was wondering if you had a comfortable place. It would be a big problem if I chose a place that didn’t suit you.”

“I’m fine. The only movie I filmed in Korea was ‘Evil Spirit’, which was my first and last one, so I don’t really know any production companies.”

“Really? Then can I choose a good place?”

“Yes!”

At Seo-jun’s words, Director Woo Jeong-han thought of the work he had filmed most comfortably.

***

The planning team leader of the movie production company ‘Dahong’ turned pale at the message he received.

He jumped up from his seat and checked his schedule.

“What are you doing? Team leader?”

“Director Woo Jeong-han, he’s doing his next work.”

The planning team all laughed heartily at the sound of Director Woo Jeong-han.

Director Woo Jeong-han was easier to work with and get investment than other directors.

“Is it a historical drama again?”

“Oh, isn’t that the one these days? Danjong.”

“Lee Seo-jun?”

“We already did the story of Danjong in Sejo.”

The team leader answered the team member’s question.

“Then we have to think about it again, don’t we? If Lee Seo-jun films Danjong, it will come out around the same time as ours, and I think we’ll be pushed back.”

“Well, if I had to choose one of the two, I’d go see Lee Seo-jun’s movie.”

“Me too.”

The team leader crossed his arms at the team members’ words.

“We just have to film it and see the timing for the release. It’s quite common for the release to be delayed by a year. When Lee Seo-jun’s movie is released, everyone will naturally avoid it. We just have to avoid it too.”

“That’s true.”

If it was a completely different target group like animation or children’s movie, or a completely different genre, it would be different.

There was no movie that had the courage to release at the same time as Lee Seo-jun’s movie.

“Director Woo Jeong-han, did you decide on the lead actor?”

“He has several actors he worked with before and his name is there, so he doesn’t have to worry about the lead actor.”

“Just a minute.”

-Director, do you have an actor in mind for the lead role?

It seemed like Director Woo Jeong-han’s message would arrive soon, but it took some time.

While the planning team members were betting on what era they would film this time, the reply arrived.

Bing-

The phone rang and the planning team leader stopped breathing.

“Isn’t Goryeo okay?”

“Goryeo is too far away. How about the story of Sado Seja?”

“That’s fine too. Team leader, did you get a reply?”

The team members who were chatting called the motionless team leader.

“Uh…”

“Huh?”

“Aaaah!”

The team members were startled by the team leader’s scream.

People from other teams also gathered at the sound of the scream from the planning team office with the door wide open.

One of the planning team members who realized that the cause of the scream was on the phone looked at the phone screen.

“Aaaah!”

One banana talk message turned the movie production company ‘Dahong’ upside down.

-The lead actor is Lee Seo-jun. The era is Danjong.

-I’m going to film the story of Danjong.

-I cast Lee Seo-jun.

-(A picture of Lee Seo-jun and Woo Jeong-han together)

Chapter 159

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 159

Director Woo Jeong-han had gathered all the directors he had worked well with before, in order to make ‘Danjong’ as perfect as possible.

He smiled at the familiar faces of the assistant director who would be his hands and feet, the cinematographer who would be his eyes, the lighting director, the art director, and so on.

The directors who had gathered in the conference room of Dahong, the film production company, also looked cheerful, saying that they would work comfortably without worrying about the box office for a change.

Director Woo Jeong-han opened his mouth.

“The title is not decided yet, but the time period is Danjong’s era. That’s why I’m calling it ‘Danjong’ for now. The lead role of Danjong will be played by Lee Seo-jun, and the other roles are not decided yet. The production company is Dahong. Is it easy to work with them?”

The cinematographer, who had been listening to Director Woo Jeong-han’s smooth words, let out a silent scream.

The other directors who were in the conference room also stared blankly at Director Woo Jeong-han.

The assistant director, who had been picking up snacks that were prepared, spat out a cracker with a cluck. What? Who?

“Lee Seo-jun?”

“Yes.”

“Really? That Lee Seo-jun?”

“Yeah.”

He looked like he was telling the truth, with his face that didn’t sweat or turn red.

The assistant director and the directors clapped their hands without realizing it.

It seemed like there was a halo behind Director Woo Jeong-han.

“I have a list of supporting actors. For the roles that are not on the list, I’m thinking of holding auditions.”

“Auditions?”

The assistant director tilted his head.

“Lee Seo-jun is starring in it. Do you think this movie will end in Korea? Even ‘The Royal Physician’ was popular worldwide.”

Exclamation marks appeared over the heads of the directors.

“The actors who appeared in ‘The Royal Physician’ got overseas fans, and who was it? The idol actor who appeared in ‘The Royal Physician’. His group also got a lot of overseas fans.”

Along with words about this and that direction, this and that meaning, the director, writer, and production staff were also mentioned. Korean works starring Lee Seo-jun did not stay in Korea.

“It’s an opportunity to enter overseas with a small investment. Aspiring actors, idols who are acting, and idol agencies will want to appear in it no matter what, and that will be obvious poison for us.”

Director Woo Jeong-han sighed.

“I’d like to choose all the extras myself if I could, but that’s impossible because of time.”

They all nodded at Director Woo Jeong-han’s words.

The cinematographer opened his mouth.

“Auditions? It’s going to be a mess.”

Before holding auditions, Director Woo Jeong-han started casting the supporting actors for ‘Danjong’.

“Danjong has been confirmed to be played by Lee Seo-jun.”

“Wow.”

The planning team leader exclaimed and wrote down Lee Seo-jun’s name on the white board.

[Danjong Lee Seo-jun]

“Kim Jong-seo’s role is Park Woon-yeol as the first choice.”

“Park Woon-yeol is reliable.”

“It’s getting chilly these days. We need to check his health.”

[Kim Jong-seo Park Woon-yeol]

“Next is Prince Suyang…”

Director Woo Jeong-han’s voice stopped. The planning team leader tilted his head.

“Don’t you have an actor in mind? Director Woo?”

“I do, but…”

“Just tell us. We’ll bring him right in front of you.”

At the confident attitude of the planning team leader, Director Woo Jeong-han, who had been hesitating, opened his mouth.

“I want Lee Ji-seok…”

…Lee Ji-seok?

Question marks popped up over the heads of the staff.

They all imagined a two-shot of Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok in their heads.

It wasn’t hard.

The image was already ingrained in them.

At the unexpected appearance of an actor, the planning team leader rubbed his frowning forehead and cautiously opened his mouth.

“If it’s Lee Ji-seok alone, he’s fine for Prince Suyang. He’s one of the few male actors in their thirties who can act at that level. He might even be more impressive than Prince Suyang ten years ago.”

Director Woo Jeong-han nodded repeatedly. ‘Danjong’, which he had kept in his heart for ten years, unconsciously made Director Woo Jeong-han’s eyes turn to the actor who would play that role.

And then he saw Lee Ji-seok.

The cold gaze of Heo Ui-gwan looking at the palace pierced Director Woo Jeong-han’s heart like an arrow.

“But, the opposite role is Lee Seo-jun. Director Woo.”

That was the problem.

Director Woo Jeong-han swallowed the sigh that rose from the depths of his stomach.

Lee Ji-seok and Lee Seo-jun’s combination was already embedded in people’s brains with ‘The Royal Physician’.

And it was very fluffy, warm, and affectionate.

In a modern setting, when they met, they would look at them with a pleased eye and say, ‘They met in Hwa-seong’.

It was very deeply melted.

The planning team leader continued.

“Prince Suyang is the one who kills Danjong. He can’t be Grand Prince Suyang or Heo Ui-gwan.”

“Hmm…”

He had to break the card of Lee Ji-seok, since he couldn’t discard the card of Lee Seo-jun. But Director Woo Jeong-han couldn’t give up easily.

If he made that cold gaze look at Seongnyeongdaegun instead of the palace, there would be no better actor for him.

He couldn’t go out recklessly, so Director Woo Jeong-han suggested one thing.

“Can’t we at least see the audition?”

“Audition?”

“Let’s call Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok and have an audition. They will act in full costume, like in the actual footage. If you still see the image of Grand Prince Suyang and Heo Ui-gwan after watching that, I’ll give up.”

The planning team members looked skeptical at Director Woo Jeong-han’s words. But they nodded their heads because the boss here was Director Woo Jeong-han.

The planning team leader said.

“Okay. Then, I’ll contact Lee Ji-seok.”

“I’ll contact Lee Seo-jun.”

“Please prepare a second choice actor in case Lee Ji-seok doesn’t work out. Director Woo.”

Director Woo Jeong-han nodded heavily.

That same day, in the afternoon.

Lee Ji-seok received a call from Dahong, the film production company.

He hung up the phone and tapped his fingers on the table.

He jumped up and wandered around the living room.

He bit his lip, rubbed his forehead, and brushed his hair back.

His eyes sparkled.

He picked up his phone and contacted someone.

The ringing sound continued and someone’s voice came out.

He smiled brightly and said.

“Hey. Seo-jun. Help me out.”

***

Inside the ‘Actor Lee Seo-jun’s practice room’ at Cocoa Entertainment, which had been renovated.

Seo-jun and Ji-seok were chatting while manipulating the camera installed on the ceiling.

“This is awesome. A practice room.”

“Right? I have a smaller one at home, but it’s the same as this one.”

“Really? I should make one too.”

“Do you want me to ask my dad’s company?”

“Thanks!”

And they chatted with their eyes shining like acting enthusiasts.

At their sight, Ji-seok’s manager, Yoon Seong-oh, shook his head.

“It would be fun if Ji-seok hyung plays Prince Suyang.”

“I feel the same way. It would be nice to change my image. Lately, I feel like I only play the protagonist, so I wanted to try playing a villain character like Grand Prince Suyang.”

After receiving Dahong’s call, Ji-seok hesitated.

He knew that it was not easy for him and Seo-jun to change their image. But he wanted to challenge himself.

He thought it would be fun to act intensely with Seo-jun.

“I see. Then let’s practice hard!”

“Thank you for helping me.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Seo-jun and Ji-seok laughed heartily.

Meanwhile, in one corner of the practice room, Yoon Seong-oh sighed secretly in the resting area.

Ahn Da Ho lifted his head.

“Are you worried?”

“Yes. Seo-jun and Ji-seok hyung have a perfect two-shot. It will be hard for the public to forget. They might feel out of place if they appear in this movie.”

Ahn Da Ho nodded. It was a natural concern for any actor. If they appeared in the same movie and their image stuck, they would have to avoid each other when they appeared in another movie.

When they were lovers in the previous work and became a criminal and a victim in the next work, the audience’s feelings were subtle.

‘In that respect, Seo-jun changes perfectly.’

Seongnyeong was Seongnyeong, Gray was Gray, and Jin was Jin.

No matter how much they hit the box office and watched it several times, even if the image was deeply engraved in their brains, the audience welcomed Seo-jun’s new character without any influence. There was no actor who changed everything according to the role like Seo-jun.

A thousand faces.

Actor Lee Seo-jun seemed to have a thousand faces and atmospheres.

“How will it be this time?”

Seo-jun was bound to become Danjong. Would Ji-seok, who acted with Danjong, look like Heo Ui-gwan or Grand Prince Suyang?

Yoon Seong-oh looked at the two actors who started practicing with a worried look, and Ahn Da Ho looked at them with curiosity.

***

The lead and supporting actors began to be cast one by one.

The companies that invested in the movie ‘Danjong’ also increased.

As more movie officials increased, more mouths opened.

Finally, the article broke out.

It was a few days before December.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun confirmed to appear in Danjong (tentative title)!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun’s next work, Danjong (tentative title)!]

[The unfortunate young king, Danjong!]

[Seongnyeong Daegun who became king, but a lonely end!]

[Historical movie expert, director Woo Jeong-han and actor Lee Seo-jun’s next work!]

[The background is Danjong. Looking forward to Danjong played by Lee Seo-jun!]

-Seo-jun is king? Danjong?

-Is it really coming out?? It paid off to talk a lot!

-The director is Woo Jeong-han. He’ll do the basics.

-After the audition video came out, there were a lot of synopses for Danjong, right?

=ㅇㅇ My friend is an aspiring movie director and he put a synopsis in Seo-jun’s agency. I saw it from the side and he wrote it in three days.

=I know a writer who wrote it in five days. I read it and it was badㅎ

=It’s better not to make it so roughly

-But if it’s director Woo Jeong-han, it’s okay. He’ll do the basics.

=ㅇㅇ Woo Jeong-han’s historical movies are good

-If Seo-jun is Danjong, who is Kim Jong-seo? Who is Grand Prince Suyang?

=Grand Prince Suyangㅎ Kim Jong-ho fits perfectlyㅋㅋ

=If it was 10 years ago, it would be perfectㅋㅋ

=Then Kim Jong-seo?

=Kim Jong-seo is seventy years old. Kim Jong-ho is younger.

=Then Nae-si……his face is too fierceㅎ

-But Seo-jun’s end is always……ㅠ

=22 It’ll be a sea of tearsㅠㅠ

***

“Seo-jun is filming Danjong.”

Kim Jong-ho’s laughter came over the phone. Seo-jun laughed along.

“Yes. I’m filming with director Woo Jeong-han.”

“If it’s director Woo, it’s okay. I filmed Jang Yong-young comfortably.”

Kim Jong-ho told Seo-jun the story of that time.

“Usually, if there is a more cool scene, they modify it, but director Woo is the type who shoots according to the script. So it was easy to work.”

“I see.”

“By the way, Ji-seok, what is he doing these days? He doesn’t contact me.”

Seo-jun laughed at Kim Jong-ho’s words. Ji-seok hyung was monitoring hard right next to him.

‘Um. Ji-seok hyung told me to keep it a secret…
He said he would be embarrassed if he failed the audition, so he asked me to hide it from other people, especially uncle Jong-ho.’
He didn’t want to lie, so Seo-jun kept his mouth shut. Kim Jong-ho didn’t care about Seo-jun’s answer and grumbled.

“What’s his secret, that guy.”

A few days later, Kim Jong-ho found out about Ji-seok’s situation thanks to the exclusive article that created countless comments and articles.

[(Exclusive) Actor Ji-seok cast in Danjong (tentative title)!]

-What?? Suyang here?

-Ji-seok is Grand Prince Suyang???

-No… No… What???

-Speechless…

-How does Grand Prince Suyang do Danjong… How does Heo Ui-gwan do Seongnyeong Daegun?

-Heo Ui-gwan is Suyang… Heo Ui-gwan is Suyang!

The shocked netizens’ comments grew endlessly. They couldn’t believe it even after reading the article.

The netizens who were full of disbelief searched the internet hard, but the articles didn’t change. Ji-seok’s agency didn’t release an article saying it was a mistake. And it affected the real-time search terms.

Ji-seok Grand Prince Suyang
Seo-jun Danjong
Grand Prince Suyang Danjong
…

NEW! Danjong Audition

Chapter 160

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Chapter 160

The audition for Lee Seo-jun’s next work, Danjong, attracted a lot of attention.

[Danjong (tentative title) audition! Applications are being verified everywhere!]

[Idol Kim Sol challenges the Danjong audition!]

[Actor Kim Jong-ho, “I’m sorry I didn’t find the right role.”]

[Actors full of regret “If only there was no filming, I would have tried it!”]

-Oh. They’re doing a Danjong audition?

=I don’t know what role it is because there’s no name, but it’s a role with lines.

=The important roles will be done by acting-oriented actors. Maybe they can pick their own houses?

=22 It doesn’t seem like a very important role.

-Ah, idol… Let’s not put an idol in.

=22 The ticket power is enough with Seo-jun.

=333 I’ll jump in N times… Please, no idols!

-If Kim Jong-ho joins, isn’t it just The Royal Physician 2?

=Lee Ji-seok is the Prince Suyang?

=I still can’t believe itㅋㅋ Chaos and destruction of The Royal Physician 2…ㅋ

-The actors who are filming now are regretting it.

-At this rate, won’t all the Korean actors flock here?

-There’s an age limit according to the role image, so let’s filter them out with the documents first.

-The documents are so many that it’s hard to chooseㅎ

The meeting room of the film production company Danhong.

Director Woo Jeong-han scratched his head as he looked at the articles and comments on his phone.

The audition was more popular than he expected.

“Didn’t we only announce the audition to the actors?”

He had no intention of bringing in a complete newbie and filming.

Only actors who had done two or more works in theater or independent films, or who had roles with lines in dramas or commercial films, could apply for the audition.

Director Woo Jeong-han’s words were answered by the assistant director.

“We informed the actors’ agencies and the theater groups, so there must have been some people who opened their mouths.”

“To be honest, I thought they would all keep their mouths shut because they thought there would be more competitors. I didn’t expect it to spread enough to make it to the real-time search.”

At Director Woo Jeong-han’s words, the planning team leader who had happily spread the audition announcement was surprised and quickly opened his mouth.

“We’re happy about it. It’s already buzzing without any promotion.”

“But please do promote it properly.”

At Director Woo Jeong-han’s words, the planning team leader nodded.

The staff who came to help with the audition document screening and the employees of Danhong also laughed.

The Danjong team, which had guaranteed box office success, was in a harmonious atmosphere.

Before the applications that had to be reviewed today were ready, the planning team leader told Director Woo Jeong-han about the progress so far.

“The location booking is going well too. We got permission easily even for places that would normally be difficult. The local governments are also cooperating well, thinking of attracting tourists after the release. I expected it because of the Baekho Experience Center, but I didn’t know it would be this much.”

“Baekho… Oh, you mean One Step?”

The assistant director nodded at his words.

“Yes. There are still a lot of people coming. And a lot of foreigners too. The area near the experience center has also been active a lot. So everyone is welcoming the filming.”

“It’ll be easy when we film.”

Director Woo Jeong-han smiled.

“How are you going to schedule the filming?”

“As soon as we see the audition and complete the casting, we’re going to film indoors. Then when the weather gets better, we’ll film outdoors.”

The planning team leader nodded.

“It’s said that this winter is warmer than last year, but winter is winter.”

“It’s dangerous when your body is stiff for action scenes and horse riding scenes.”

As Director Woo Jeong-han and the planning team leader were talking, Danhong’s employees came in one by one with piles of paper.

The heavy piles of paper were placed in front of the people sitting in the meeting room.

“Were there so many actors in our country?”

The assistant director opened his mouth with bored eyes as he looked at the documents piled up in front of him.

The staff also nodded. Director Woo Jeong-han smiled as he rummaged through the documents.

“The qualification requirements were a bit loose. From active actors to actors with hiatuses. There might be some actors who have been doing other jobs for a few years and are challenging themselves.”

“How do we pick them all out?”

“We have to do it from now on.”

The employees checked their career details and filtered out the documents that did not qualify.

Then, Director Woo Jeong-han sorted the documents by looking at the photos.

It took quite a while just for that.

It took two days to finish the document screening for all the roles.

The film production company Danhong sent the news of passing the document screening to the cell phone number written on the application form, and sent the designated lines modified from some of Danjong’s lines by email.

***

The day of the Danjong audition.

Today was the day to choose the role of Naegwan, who would assist Danjong.

The film production company Danhong decided to conduct the audition on the first and second floors.

On one side of the meeting room, the assistant director looked over the documents slowly.

“It’s amazing that there are so many actors with experience. Oh. Kim Woo-jin. Kim Woo-jin also applied?”

“Kim Woo-jin is not at the level to audition. Amazing. Our movie.”

At the words of the cinematographer, the art director who was sitting next to him nodded.

“Kim Woo-jin is very interested in breaking into America.”

At the words of the casting director who was well-informed about the actors’ news, the assistant director blinked.

“Breaking into America?”

“He’s also auditioning for American dramas.”

Director Woo Jeong-han and the assistant director nodded.

“There must be a lot of actors who think that way. It’s an opportunity to make their name known overseas while appearing in a Korean work.”

“That’s why they’re applying even though it’s an audition.”

“I got a lot of calls too. Who’s judging, what’s the important point of the role, does Director Woo have a preferred style.”

The casting director smiled and showed his phone.

The black screen looked like it was completely turned off.

“So I turned it off.”

There must have been more than one or two people like that here.

They were getting a lot of calls from reporters and acquaintances.

“My son told me to get Lee Seo-jun’s autograph.”

“My daughter too.”

The cinematographer’s son was a fan of Shadowman and Director Woo Jeong-han’s daughter was a fan of Gray Vainy.

Did they get an autograph today, or will they get it tomorrow?

The burden only piled up as they saw their families’ sparkling eyes.

“So. Director Woo. When is Lee Seo-jun coming? It’ll be a mess if you don’t keep getting his autograph.”

“That…”

Ring-

Director Woo Jeong-han’s phone rang.

He got up from his seat and checked his phone as he opened his mouth.

“Just a moment.”

As Director Woo Jeong-han left the meeting room, the art director looked down at the documents.

He didn’t know why he was here when he should be looking at costumes and sets for a long time.

He had to choose the right actor among these many applicants.

Acting was basic, and

“They have to look round, kind, and innocent.”

“And you have to think about how they look with Lee Seo-jun too.”

The casting director added a word to the art director’s mumbling.

The casting director was doing this kind of work in the first place, so he didn’t seem to have much to worry about.

“It would be hard to see the two-shot without actor Lee Seo-jun.”

“Uh… should we bring in a life-sized panel or something?”

The eyes of the director of photography, the assistant director, and the casting director widened at the words of the art director.

“Can you make one?”

“We have a printer here, so we can print out pieces of Lee Seo-jun’s photos and stick them together.”

Maybe it would be okay to check with the panel next to them.

As the three people were about to nod, they were stopped by Woo Jeong-han, the director who entered the conference room.

“There’s no need for that.”

Woo Jeong-han said.

“He’s here in person.”

Behind Woo Jeong-han, Seo-jun’s smiling face came into the view of the four people.

“Hello!”

“Oh, hi. Seo-jun.”

The four people greeted Seo-jun, who had appeared unexpectedly.

“I came because it’s the weekend. If it was a weekday, I would still be in school.”

“Isn’t it winter break in December?”

“Winter break is in January, and that’s when I have my graduation ceremony.”

“Oh, you’re going to middle school now? Congratulations on getting into Yeoul Arts Middle School.”

“Thank you.”

Seo-jun, who sat next to Woo Jeong-han, opened his mouth. Ahn Da-ho smiled warmly and placed a hot yuja tea in front of Seo-jun.

He also handed out hot coffee to the others.

Woo Jeong-han asked Seo-jun.

“Do you know what kind of image Kim Nae-gwan has?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded, having read the script of ‘Danjong’ several times.

“All you have to do is choose an actor who has that image. Or, if you feel like you would match well with that actor, you can choose them too.”

“Okay. I got it.”

While they were chatting for a while, an employee of Danhong informed them that the start time was approaching.

“I guess it’s time. Let’s start the audition.”

They called 10 people from the first waiting room on the first floor where applicants were crowded.

They informed the people inside the conference room from the second waiting room on the second floor.

The tense second waiting room.

The actors who were holding papers with lines on them had blank faces at the words of the staff.

“Director Woo Jeong-han, assistant director, director of photography, casting director, art director, and actor Lee Seo-jun are inside.”

Seo-jun is here?

The first actor who had to audition was stunned by the appearance of an unexpected person.

***

They took a break after watching 20 actors’ performances.

The directors’ expressions were dark except for the art director.

Woo Jeong-han, who was rubbing his furrowed brow, opened his mouth.

“I wanted to see how they would look standing next to Seo-jun if I liked them… but no such actors came out.”

The casting director, who was familiar with evaluating actors’ performances, nodded.

The application forms in front of him were full of red X marks.

“I know. There were some actors who I thought were good in other works… but they were below expectations. I wish they were more impressive.”

“Kim Woo-jin is good at acting, but he’s not quite there?”

At the directors’ words, Seo-jun blinked his eyes.

‘What should I do?’

He was so entertained by watching 20 actors perform with different interpretations and acting with the same lines that he only watched them.

Instead of evaluating them, his application form was full of interpretations of their performances.

He wrote down everything from their gestures and expressions to their facial changes.

‘I think anyone would be fine…’

This actor seemed nice because their gestures were gentle, and this actor seemed nice because their expression was kind.

Hmm.

As Seo-jun was choosing one actor he wanted to act with most, the directors’ conversation continued.

The art director did not join in the conversation and scratched his cheek.

He did not know much about acting than the four people, but he had worked with Woo Jeong-han for a long time and knew his standards for acting.

There was a three-year hiatus, but his standards would not have changed.

“I think Kim Woo-jin is okay. Director Woo’s standards seem a bit too strict.”

“My standards?”

Woo Jeong-han rolled his eyes.

My standards? Strict?

As the directors pondered over the art director’s words, they seemed to realize something and opened their eyes wide.

Their eyes turned to Seo-jun at once.

As he felt their gaze, Seo-jun lifted his head while choosing one actor he wanted to act with most.

Woo Jeong-han touched his forehead as he met Seo-jun’s black eyes that tilted his head.

Woo Jeong-han knew the time when those sparkling eyes burned fiercely.

The casting director, the director of photography, and the assistant director who were in the same place gasped.

“That audition…”

“That was the cause.”

Lee Ji-seok’s Prince Suyang audition.

Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok’s passionate performance left everyone who saw it speechless.

Heo Ui-gwan? Grand Prince Seongnyeong?

The chemistry of The Royal Physician?

They did not come to mind at all.

Only Danjong and Prince Suyang were there.

After that audition, there was no more opposition to casting Lee Ji-seok as Prince Suyang.

When they saw the netizens’ reactions, saying that it was The Royal Physician 2 and that they would not be immersed in the movie, they laughed at the thought of how surprised the netizens would be after the release.

That audition must have been really impressive.

They were trying to find an actor who matched the performances of the two actors.

An actor who was on the same level as Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok.

There was no way such an actor would still be unknown.

Woo Jeong-han, who was washing his face, opened his mouth.

“…Then let’s lower our standards a bit.”

“…Let’s put aside the actors who passed in the previous round for now. We don’t know if there will be an actor who will fit our hearts among the actors in the back.”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

The directors nodded.

Chapter 161

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Chapter 161

“Next.”

At the director Woo Jeong-han’s word, the next actor entered.

He bowed and made eye contact with each person.

“Hello. I’m Kim Ho-young.”

“Okay. Kim Ho-young, actor. Let’s see your acting first.”

Kim Ho-young bowed his head deeply again and opened his mouth after exhaling.

A warm light filled his stiff face.

The audition role was Kim Naegwan, a loyal official who served Sejong, Munjong, and Danjong.

He had taken care of baby Danjong like his grandson.

He served Sejong when he was twenty, Munjong when he was in his late thirties, and Danjong when he was forty.

Kim Ho-young spoke.

“Your Majesty. Please rest in your chamber.”

Kim Ho-young’s voice was gentle as he bent his waist slightly.

He looked at him like a grandson, but he did not forget that he was his superior.

There was love and distance in Kim Ho-young’s eyes and gestures.

“Oh.”

Director Woo Jeong-han looked over Kim Ho-young’s resume.

He had filmed several independent films when he was young and had a long hiatus. But his acting skills were that good.

Kim Ho-young straightened his back after finishing his acting.

“Why did you stop acting?”

“I needed money.”

Everyone nodded at Kim Ho-young’s answer.

They all knew that many people left this world because of money.

And they also knew why those people came back to this world.

In the end, they couldn’t let go of acting.

They had regrets, and their eyes unknowingly turned to this world.

That’s why director Woo Jeong-han didn’t ask for the reason.

He just checked the application lightly.

Candidate passed.

Now he had to look at the works that Kim Ho-young had done and evaluate them.

Next to director Woo Jeong-han, there was an actor who had a miserable past life because of that regret and came back.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

He felt like he knew what director Woo Jeong-han meant by an actor who wanted to act.

The actors he thought were okay until now didn’t attract him that much.

He had seen some good scripts and thought that any of them would be fine, but a script that he liked just appeared.

‘There might be better actors…’

When he chose a work, there were times when there were better works, but Seo-jun chose the work that he liked.

Seo-jun always wanted to act the script that he liked the most.

He wanted to act with that actor.

‘Passed!’

Seo-jun drew a big circle on Kim Ho-young’s application.

***

[December 20th, Brown Black’s 12th anniversary fan meeting!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun appeared at Brown Black’s fan meeting!]

-Fan meeting was so fun! I felt the otherworldly chemistry between Brown Black and Lee Seo-jun againㅋㅋ

-Even if they get older, they are still kids when they meet their best friends… Brown Black and I have one thing in commonㅎ

-Hwang Ye-junㅋㅋ He missed the lyrics while making eye contact with Seo-jun in a charismatic songㅎ

-Brown Black cursed him with their eyesㅋㅋ It was so funㅎ

-I watched 48 Hours too short, but that kid who was young… He grew up so much!

-I’m glad Seo-jun told us about Brown Black!

[December 25th, Actor Lee Seo-jun’s fan meeting!]

[This time it’s us! Cheers for the appearance of Brown Black and White!]

-It was an awesome fan meeting! It was worth ticketing!

-I can’t believe I saw Seo-jun acting in front of me!! It felt really different.

=ㅇㅇ I wish he did a play!! I’m sure I can watch it from the first to the last show!

=I’m jealous! Jealous!

=22 I went to the PC room but failed… Why is ticketing so hard!

-Brown Blackㅋㅋ They talked back to Seo-junㅎ

-I’ve never been so jealous of Brown Black and White.

=22 I guess Seo-jun hangs out with them oftenㅠ I want to go too!

[December 29th, SBC Entertainment Awards, Actor Lee Seo-jun invited!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, SBC Entertainment Awards, Best Guest Award winner!]

[December 30th, MBS Acting Awards, Actor Lee Seo-jun invited!]

[December 31st, KBC Acting Awards, Actor Lee Seo-jun invited!]

-SBCㅋㅋ Seo-jun at the Entertainment Awardsㅋㅋ

=I laughed when I saw the articleㅋ Entertainment Awardsㅋㅋ

=Reallyㅋㅋ They made a new award to keep Seo-junㅋ

=But this is 100% netizen voting. The new award wasn’t even announced, but the number of votes was like watching WTV Film Festivalㅎ

=Seo-jun’s fan club and Working Man fans voted and promoted hard!

=ㅎㅎ I’m one of them

-Seo-jun sitting at the Working Man table was funnyㅎㅎ

=Working Man’s SNS also posted picturesㅎ It was the second time they met, but they felt like strangers as if they met for the first timeㅋㅋ Seo-jun did the mission so well that they only greeted each other briefly after it was over

=The production team didn’t expect that eitherㅋ

=22 I thought they would be caught in the middleㅎ

-MBS started the second part by playing the Golden Globe Awards and Seo-jun congratulated themㅎ

=The applause was amazing

-KBC had Seo-jun as the rookie award presenter. He got an award from Seo-jun! I’m jealous!

=The winner’s arm was shaking. He looked like he was going to cry.

=He must have criedㅎ

=ㅇㅇ He cried. He said he couldn’t believe it because he got an award from actor Lee Seo-jun, and asked if this was a dreamㅎㅎ He cried.

=I would feel the same. He got a rookie award from an actor who won an Academy Award. He’s very famous. A superstar. Is this a dream?

[January 1st, Lee Seo-jun’s New Year’s greeting on YouTube! “Happy New Year!”]

[January 5th, Danjong (tentative title) crank-in!]

-Happy New Year!

-I hope you stay healthy in the new year! I’m looking forward to your great movie!

-Finally, you started filming! Danjong!

-But how long will it be a temporary title? Let’s name it first!

=ㅇㅇ It will be really canceled at this rate.

***

“The title is out.”

At director Woo Jeong-han’s words, the eyes of the people gathered in the conference room turned to one place.

Many people were happy that the title was decided, but more than anyone else, the publicity team leader who had to promote it was happy.

Director Woo Jeong-han wrote a big letter on the whiteboard in the conference room with a black marker.

[Rebellion]

“It’s rebellion.”

“Rebellion. As in treason?”

“Yes. The rebellion of a rebel.”

The people nodded.

“It’s a good title.”

Although one-word movie titles were trendy, everyone nodded in agreement because the movie wouldn’t fail just because of its title.

‘As long as the director likes the name, it’s fine.’

No one would object if it wasn’t for Lee Seo-jun, the star of this movie.

“I like it too!”

Seo-jun said with sparkling eyes. Then there was no one left.

“Now we can finally get rid of the tentative title.”

The publicity team leader, who was really annoyed by the word ‘tentative’ attached to the article title, smiled and called the staff in the publicity office with his phone.

“The title is decided! It’s Rebellion. Rebellion! The rebellion of a rebel!”

The publicity team staff who got the press release checked by the publicity team leader sent it to the reporters.

The reporters quickly wrote articles based on the press release sent by the movie production company, Danhong.

[Lee Seo-jun’s next work, Rebellion!]

[Finally, the name is decided, Rebellion]

-Is Lee Seo-jun’s next work not Danjong?

-It’s Rebellion. Danjong was a tentative title.

-A fake title?

-A temporary title!

-Rebellion… Is it rebellion as in treason?

-From Danjong’s perspective, it is treason.

-Now we can call it by its title. It feels like it’s being madeㅋ

“The timing is good!”

“That’s right. Just when we have the ritual, the title is decided.”

The people gathered in the conference room laughed and talked.

Today was the day of the ritual before filming Rebellion.

Unlike usual, where there was a long table, there was a ritual table set up on one side of the empty conference room.

There were colorful foods on the table, and in the center, there was a smiling pig’s head. There was a mat in front of the table for bowing.

Seo-jun looked at the pig’s head placed in the center of the ritual table with a curious face. The pig looked like an orc.

“Do you stick money in there?”

“Huh? Is this your first time doing a ritual, Seo-jun?”

Seo-jun nodded at the director of photography’s question. The art director counted on his fingers and recalled the movies that Seo-jun had starred in.

“Shadowman and Over The Rainbow were filmed in America, so you didn’t do a ritual there, right? And maybe you didn’t do it for The Royal Physician because it was a drama.”

“People don’t do it these days anyway.”

“Evil Spirit must have done it, right? Director Choi Dae-man believes in that kind of superstition. Right, Ji-seok?”

Choi Dae-man. Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok laughed at the name they hadn’t heard in a long time.

“Yes. We did a ritual for Evil Spirit too, but Seo-jun didn’t film from the beginning. He only filmed for a few days at the end.”

Lee Ji-seok’s words made everyone nod.

“So this is really Seo-jun’s first time doing a ritual.”

“Yes!”

“It’s your first time doing a ritual. Can we make this into an article?”

The publicity team leader’s eyes sparkled. When Ahn Da Ho nodded, the publicity team leader picked up his phone and shoved it into his pocket and headed for the conference room door and shouted.

“Camera! Camera! Wait a minute! We’re going to film!”

Then he ran to the publicity team office.

Everyone laughed at the sight of the publicity team leader running like an arrow.

“Shall we wait a little longer then?”

“Then I guess I’m not late.”

A low voice came from the conference room door. Seo-jun and the people looked at the door. Everyone was surprised and jumped up from their seats.

“Teacher Park Woon-yeol!”

It was Park Woon-yeol, who played Kim Jong-seo.

Park Woon-yeol, who looked like a neat old man, lifted his hat and greeted them.

“You’re not scolding me for being late, are you?”

“No! Welcome!”

“Hello!”

Big greetings came from everywhere. Startled by the appearance of their senior, Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok also bowed deeply.

“Hello. I’m Lee Seo-jun!”

“Nice to meet you. You’re really good at acting. Ji-seok, long time no see. You didn’t contact me much, but you were keeping this great actor to yourself.”

“Ahaha. I’m sorry. I’ll contact you more often. Teacher. Please sit here.”

Lee Ji-seok quickly brought a chair over. Park Woon-yeol’s seat was prepared next to Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok.

“I enjoyed the movie. I especially liked the violin performance, so I’ve been listening to it a lot lately.”

“Thank you!”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at Park Woon-yeol’s compliment.

“My granddaughter also likes it a lot, so can I ask you for an autograph later if you have time?”

“Of course!”

Seo-jun smiled and nodded. He was envious and impressed by the fact that he had been an actor for a long time. Seo-jun also wanted to act for a very long time like Park Woon-yeol.

Park Woon-yeol looked at Lee Ji-seok. Lee Ji-seok flinched at his gaze and shrugged his shoulders.

“You should contact me more. Jong-ho also said you don’t contact him much.”

“Jong-ho hyung too. Why do you tell that to the teacher?”

“I like being treated comfortably. Seo-jun, feel free to contact me too.”

“Yes! I will!”

The three main actors of the movie Rebellion were all gathered. Director Woo Jeong-han captured the scene of the three in one shot.

Lee Ji-seok, Lee Seo-jun, and Park Woon-yeol.

Looking at the three actors who were having a friendly conversation, it was hard to imagine them as Prince Suyang, Danjong, and Kim Jong-seo.

“But then again, they change completely when they start acting.”

“Right?”

Then the conference room door opened with a bang. It was the publicity team leader holding a camera high. The publicity team leader, who was excited by the unexpected publicity material, opened his mouth with a bright face, but rolled his eyes at the calm conference room atmosphere. Then he met Park Woon-yeol’s friendly smile.

“Camera! I came to find… Teacher Park Woon-yeol is here… Hello!”

The people in the conference room laughed.

“Let’s do the ritual then!”

Everyone got up from their seats at the director of photography’s words.

[Movie ‘Rebellion’, video of the ritual scene for wishing success released!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, his first ritual in his life!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun “Please make the movie successful!”]

[Park Woon-yeol, Lee Seo-jun, Lee Ji-seok! The movie ‘Rebellion’ with only great actors is expected!]

-Seo-jun’s first ritual!

-Well, he wouldn’t do a ritual overseasㅎㅎ

-Is it my imagination that Seo-jun looks nervous?

=22 He seems awkward because it’s his first timeㅎ

=He’s watching what other actors are doing closely

=He’s cute!

-There are a lot of comments in foreign languages. They’re asking what they’re doingㅎ

-Are they asking if it’s his next work? What is that pig’s head? They keep askingㅎ

=That scene won’t be in the movie anywayㅋㅋ

-Phew. I explained it to them hard.

=…Did you really explain it properly?

=ㅇㅇㅇ I told them it’s Korean witchcraft. Wishing for the movie’s success.

=It’s not wrong, but… The word choice is a bit…

=ㅋㅋKorean witchcraftㅋㅋ

Chapter 162

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 162

The set of the historical drama.

The staff were busy moving lights, cameras, props, and other equipment for the first shooting that would take place soon.

Director Woo Jeong-han was easy to work with because he followed the script as planned, but that was only when everyone did their job properly.

Especially on the first day, he had a habit of checking everything more carefully than usual, which the staff knew well.

They were on their toes, ready to impress him.

But there was a subtle excitement in the set.

The staff who were carrying the equipment had itchy mouths.

“I never expected to shoot with Lee Seo-jun.”

“Me neither. I’ve worked with other actors with Director Woo, but this is the first time I’m looking forward to it so much. It’s my first time shooting with a Hollywood star!”

“Same here. Who here isn’t? But… do you think we can get his autograph?”

“We have a lot of shooting days, so maybe we can? I heard he gave them to the staff of his previous drama…”

“Shouldn’t we leave Seo-jun alone?”

The two staff who were whispering to each other were startled by a loud voice that interrupted them.

It was the cinematographer.

He gave them a stern look and they nodded quickly.

“Yes, of course!”

“We’ll keep our mouths shut!”

The other staff who were sneakily watching the two and the cinematographer felt a pang of guilt and focused on their tasks as the cinematographer scanned the set slowly.

The assistant director approached the cinematographer and spoke to him.

The cinematographer opened his mouth.

“He may look young, but Lee Seo-jun is a pro. It’s not good to keep your distance from him, but it’s worse to look down on him and treat him lightly. You should also manage the staff well.”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

The assistant director smiled.

“When you see Lee Seo-jun’s acting, you’ll forget that he’s a kid.”

The cinematographer nodded in agreement.

***

A while later, Lee Seo-jun arrived.

“Hello!”

His bright greeting warmed up the set. The staff paused their work and looked at him with bright smiles.

“It’s really Lee Seo-jun.”

“He’s handsome, but he looks more normal than I thought.”

“Yeah.”

Lee Seo-jun, who turned off his superstar aura for the shooting, greeted the cinematographer and the assistant director and then greeted the other staff as well.

“Hello!”

“Nice to meet you!”

The staff also smiled and greeted him back.

Lee Seo-jun walked around the set and went to Kim Ho-young, who had arrived earlier and was studying the script carefully.

“Hello.”

“Oh, hello.”

“Please speak comfortably. We have a lot of scenes together.”

The king and his minister had many scenes together. They were almost ‘always’ together.

Kim Ho-young nodded awkwardly at Lee Seo-jun’s words.

“Seo-jun… you can speak comfortably too.”

“Okay. Uncle Ho-young…”

Lee Seo-jun smiled. Kim Ho-young also relaxed his face and smiled.

Soon after, Director Woo Jeong-han and Park Woon-yeol arrived.

Kim Ho-young was moved by the fact that he could act with such amazing actors after a long hiatus.

He bowed his head with a grateful expression.

“I hope we have a good shooting today. Sir.”

Lee Seo-jun also quickly greeted him.

“Nice to meet you!”

“Likewise. Let’s do our best.”

When all three actors who would shoot today arrived, the set became busy again.

Director Woo Jeong-han checked the set and the cameras and talked with the cinematographer.

Lee Seo-jun smiled brightly.

He liked the practice room, but he liked the lively set more.

Park Woon-yeol, who was watching Lee Seo-jun’s sparkling eyes, turned his gaze and saw Kim Ho-young looking at the set with a similar expression.

Park Woon-yeol smiled at the sight of his two junior actors who loved acting.

He felt that this movie would be a great work.

“The dressing room is this way!”

At the words of the art team staff, the actors headed to the dressing room.

The first actor to come out of the dressing room was Lee Seo-jun.

He wore a black hat called ikseon-gwan and a red dragon robe.

He was a young king, so he didn’t need to wear a beard.

He only did some simple makeup and came out.

He tapped his clothes and asked Ahn Da Ho.

“How is it, hyung? Do I look good?”

“You look really good.”

Ahn Da Ho smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Lee Seo-jun giggled.

Ahn Da Ho took out his camera and took a picture.

Lee Seo-jun tilted his head and Ahn Da Ho said.

“I’m going to post it on the fan cafe later.”

“Can you do that?”

“You just have to show it to Director Woo and then you can post it.”

“Then, wait a minute.”

He wanted to take a more cool picture for his fans.

Lee Seo-jun sighed.

[The (Good) Fallen Wings of the Zoin Tribe King – Intermediate is activated.]

[The (Good) Fallen Wings of the Zoin Tribe King – Intermediate]

You can use the power of the wind.

The last king who shared the downfall of his country shows his spirit.

The king of the Zoin tribe who ruled the sky.

But he was defeated by other races and fell. All the royal family fled and the bastard who stayed in the palace until the end inherited the throne.

He lacked ability, but he was a more noble king than any other royal family in his heart. He protected his people and the palace until the end.

And.

Here.

The king appeared.

He was a king for all his people.

He was the king of the sky.

To block the cold wind outside, the set was tightly closed. But a wind blew in the set. The wind that moved softly flowed to one place.

Like an invisible whirlwind, the wind mixed with the king’s aura surrounded Lee Seo-jun.

From head to toe.

Lee Seo-jun was covered with shining wings of the king.

The staff who had been watching Lee Seo-jun since he came out of the dressing room widened their eyes at the change in atmosphere.

They were glad they had finished their work, otherwise they would have dropped what they were holding.

It was such a shock.

Director Woo Jeong-han, who was talking with the cinematographer and the assistant director, also turned around at the pressure he felt.

The cinematographer and the assistant director were already staring at Lee Seo-jun with blank faces.

Director Woo Jeong-han’s eyes grew big.

It was different from when he acted with Lee Ji-seok.

It was different from the audition video.

He was not the young king who was oppressed by his uncle and shrank back.

He was a complete,
one and only king.

While everyone was amazed, Ahn Da Ho, who had gotten used to Seo-jun’s practice, took pictures diligently.

The only sound that echoed in the huge set was the camera shutter.

Click.

When the shutter sound stopped and Seo-jun paused his acting, the heads of the people who were watching him started to turn.

The staff members took a deep breath.

When Seo-jun entered the set, the lighting staff who had said he was more ordinary than expected bit his lip.

Ordinary?

He would have killed for ordinary!

“You know what they say.”

“What do they say?”

“That the seed of a queen is different.”

The art team staff nodded at the art director’s words.

“Actually… maybe it is different?”

The staff members who heard the art director’s words nodded their heads repeatedly.

They all knew it wasn’t true, but Seo-jun’s acting was so impressive that it made them think so.

***

“We’ll start shooting now.”

The bustling atmosphere of the shooting site calmed down at the loud shout of the assistant director.

Seo-jun’s body tensed as he sat on the fluffy cushion.

Park Woon-yeol, who sat in front of Seo-jun, and Kim Ho-young, who stood near the door, also focused.

“Ready, action!”

Lee Hong-wi had lost his father just a while ago.

What woke him up from his crying was the throne that his grandmother and grandfather had tried to protect, the proud seat of the king.

Kim Jong-seo, the loyal subject of his grandfather, bowed his head respectfully in front of Lee Hong-wi, who sat solemnly despite his grief.

“Your Majesty. From now on, you are the sky of this country. I will do my best to assist you, so please be strong.”

“Thank you. Prime Minister.”

Lee Hong-wi wiped away his tears and forced a smile as he opened his mouth.

“I am still young and ignorant. You have to teach me a lot, Prime Minister.”

“Yes. Your Majesty.”

Lee Hong-wi felt a little relieved by Kim Jong-seo’s presence, which reminded him of his grandfather because he was a servant who had served his grandmother.

Kim Nae-gwan smiled warmly as he watched Kim Jong-seo and Lee Hong-wi.

“Cut. Okay!”

As soon as the okay sound came out, Seo-jun’s mood changed.

Park Woon-yeol laughed at the clear change.

He thought he was amazing just by his works, regardless of his age, but seeing Seo-jun’s acting in person was even more amazing.

Woo Jeong-han, the director who smiled contentedly at Seo-jun’s acting, looked at Kim Ho-young, who was wearing an official uniform.

His acting in an independent film was not this good, but it seemed that his social life and experience during his hiatus had a lot of influence on his acting skills.

It was a good thing that he bloomed again.

‘I’ll be active a lot from now on.’

A good actor had appeared. Woo Jeong-han shouted loudly.

“Then we’ll shoot the close-up shot.”

At Woo Jeong-han’s words, the cameras went up to the set.

On the set, once again, the same acting unfolded.

***

“Ready, action!”

Late at night.

The candle flickered.

Lee Hong-wi rubbed his sleepy eyes and relied on the candlelight to read down the petition that came up today.

Kim Nae-gwan, who was restless, opened his mouth.

“Your Majesty. Please go to bed now.”

“Just a little more. A little more.”

He understood the problem and gave the right answer.

That was what a king should do.

But as a twelve-year-old Lee Hong-wi, understanding the problem was all he could do.

Lee Hong-wi groaned as he read the petition and rubbed his stiff eyes.

Kim Nae-gwan said again with pity.

“Your Majesty. You have to go to bed now so that you can wake up on time tomorrow.”

“Uh-huh. I got it.”

Lee Hong-wi knew that he couldn’t change overnight.

Kim Nae-gwan’s face brightened at Lee Hong-wi’s nodding words.

The candlelight flickered with the hard-working young king and the loyal subject who assisted him.

“Cut! Okay”

The shooting of both scenes ended without any NGs.

Woo Jeong-han checked the time and said something to the assistant director. The assistant director nodded and shouted.

“We’ll have lunch now! It’s a food truck sent by Seo-jun’s fan cafe. Let’s eat well and shoot hard!”

“Thank you!”

There was applause from among the staff members.

Seo-jun smiled and bowed politely.

There were pizzas stretching out, fresh salad pasta, spicy kimchi, hearty soybean paste stew, and fluffy rice. Sweet shrimp chili, sweet and sour pork, and deliciously colored dongpo pork.

Western, Korean, and Chinese food trucks were lined up.

The staff members’ faces brightened as they received the food.

They took whatever they wanted and laid it out on the table.

It was a feast.

They quickly put the food in their mouths.

The staff members’ expressions relaxed for a moment.

The delicious food stimulated their sense of smell and taste.

They couldn’t believe they were eating lunch during the shooting.

“It’s really good! Is this from a hotel?”

“Yeah. It’s famous for being delicious. I wanted to go there once, but I didn’t think I’d get to eat it like this!”

“Seo-jun’s food truck from his fans is different.”

“Just look at the number of people.”

There was also an overseas fan cafe, but Seo-jun’s main activity area was Korea, and his Korean fan cafe was the most famous.

When they heard the news of his role in this movie, [Sprout] rolled up their sleeves.

-We didn’t think about it during the drama, but we have to do it this time!

-We have a lot of members, so we can send pretty good food even with little money.

-The overseas fan cafe also said they would send some, so we might be able to send it several times.

-It would be nice to send some hot packs or thermal products too.

Although too many cooks spoil the broth, there was no noise from the fans who wished that Seo-jun would finish the shooting safely, comfortably, and strongly.

[Notice: Movie set food truck support.]

We are planning to support a food truck for Seo-jun’s movie set.

We will open a fundraising account at 8 p.m. on Thursday, and the support account will be automatically closed when the target amount is reached.

To collect more fans’ hearts, you can donate up to 10,000 won per person.

Thank you.

-…Why do I feel like last year’s fan meeting ticketing?

-I can’t believe it’s so hard to give money.

-Do I have to go to a PC room again?

-Seo-jun doesn’t accept giftsㅠ I want to send him something like thisㅠㅠ

-If we combine the firepower of overseas fans, we can send it throughout the shootingㅠ I’m worried that he might tell us not to send it if we send it too often.

=I’m sure the staff will handle that wellㅠ

He had heard stories, but Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at the three amazing food trucks.

He also liked the messages from the fans written here and there.

He read each one as if he was engraving them in his eyes.

Seo-jun’s cheeks turned red. He was so happy.

“Seo-jun. Let’s take a proof photo.”

“Yes!”

At Ahn Da Ho’s words, Seo-jun in a dragon robe stood in front of the food truck.

Ahn Da Ho took a picture of Seo-jun’s careful expression as he chose his side dishes.

He put the food he had chosen on the table and Seo-jun posted a thank-you note with a picture on his fan cafe.

[This is Seo-jun! Thank you all! I’ll eat well!]

Chapter 163

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 163

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, filming a rebellion scene!]

[With the food truck sent by his fans! Lee Seo-jun in a dragon robe!]

The reporters who were watching the fan cafe quickly posted articles, unaware that Seo-jun was sitting at the table.

Park Woon-yeol and Kim Ho-young, who were already seated, greeted Seo-jun.

“It’s delicious, right? Teacher?”

“Yes, it is. The vegetable salad is also tasty.”

Seo-jun and Park Woon-yeol smiled and ate the vegetable salad.

Kim Ho-young, who was sitting at the same table, looked awkward, but he slowly joined the conversation.

“How was the Hollywood shooting?”

“The set was amazing. When we filmed Shadowman, they made part of Central Park.”

“Wow.”

Park Woon-yeol and Kim Ho-young widened their eyes at the scale.

Seo-jun continued excitedly.

“They also made Over the Rainbow Park.”

“Is it different from where you busked?”

“Yes. The place where I busked was next to LA Music Academy, and the park where we filmed was on the set.”

Then, the phone rang. .

It was Kim Ho-young’s phone.

Kim Ho-young was surprised and took out his phone.

He had turned it on for a while because it was lunchtime, but somehow they knew, and the timing was good.

What should I do? Kim Ho-young looked troubled, and Park Woon-yeol said.

“Answer it. It might be an urgent call.”

“Yes. I’ll answer it quickly.”

Seo-jun nodded as well.

“Then, excuse me for a moment.”

Kim Ho-young got up from his seat and moved away from the table to answer the phone.

Seo-jun smiled as he heard the voice of a girl shouting from across the phone.

“Dad, are you really filming with Lee Seo-jun!”

“Yes. I told you so.”

“Can’t you send me a picture? My friends don’t believe me.”

“Dad is working right now…”

Besides, it was only the second time he met him, and if he asked for such a favor, others would ask for it too.

He didn’t want to be a burden rather than a help. Kim Ho-young’s daughter understood his reluctant voice.

“Um. If you can’t, then there’s nothing I can do.”

Still, she couldn’t hide all her disappointment.

Hearing his daughter’s disappointed voice, Kim Ho-young rolled his eyes and saw the food truck.

“Do you want me to send you a picture of the food truck?”

“Food truck?”

“Yes. It’s the food truck that Lee Seo-jun’s fans sent him. He took a picture and posted it on his fan cafe. Wouldn’t that be proof if it’s the same?”

His daughter, Ji-soo, talked to her friends. They were noisy. Ji-soo said in a happy voice.

“They said it’s okay! Hurry up and take a picture and send it to me!”

“Okay.”

“Dad, good luck with filming! I love you!”

“I love you too.”

Kim Ho-young smiled brightly at his daughter’s words and took pictures of the food truck diligently.

He looked at Lee Seo-jun’s picture in the article and took pictures from the same angle and different angles.

The staff and Park Woon-yeol tilted their heads at Kim Ho-young’s behavior.

Only Seo-jun, who had sharp ears, knew why and chuckled.

Kim Ho-young returned to the table with a smile and explained his situation.

“My daughter asked me to take a picture of where I work, so…”

Kim Ho-young rubbed his neck as if he was embarrassed.

Seo-jun laughed as he knew the truth.

He thought he should take a picture with him later for Ji-soo, who understood her dad.

Park Woon-yeol nodded.

“I see. How old is your daughter?”

“She’s in fourth grade now.”

Kim Ho-young smiled softly as he thought of his daughter.

“That must make your acting more affectionate.”

Park Woon-yeol nodded, and Kim Ho-young scratched his head and laughed.

“As I researched about Danjong, I realized how hard he must have been as a child. It helped me a lot to act as if you were my daughter.”

“That’s a good way too.”

Kim Ho-young smiled brightly at Park Woon-yeol’s words.

Park Woon-yeol added one more thing.

“But don’t get too immersed in your role. A role is a role and an actor is an actor. You need to keep enough distance.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Kim Ho-young nodded, but he didn’t seem to fully understand.

It was better to learn this by experience than by words.

Park Woon-yeol, who had a calm smile, turned his head and looked at Seo-jun.

He knew that this kid had an amazing acting skill that was unbelievable.

“Seo-jun is in sixth grade, right?”

“I’ll be a middle schooler when I graduate this week. But the entrance ceremony is still far away.”

“Graduation?”

“Yes. They have the end-of-vacation ceremony and the sixth-grade graduation ceremony together.”

“I see. Congratulations on your graduation.”

“Thank you.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly.

Everyone smiled warmly at the friendly atmosphere of the actors.

Lunchtime was over and they started preparing for the next shoot.

“Next scene, please.”

The assistant director’s voice was heard. The actors went to their places.

Seo-jun sat on the mat, Kim Ho-young stood in his place, and Park Woon-yeol settled in his place.

Park Woon-yeol adjusted the fake beard on his chin and asked.

“Are you cold?”

“I have a heat pack here. What about you, teacher?”

“The set is warm, so I’m fine.”

Seo-jun lifted the mat he was sitting on slightly and showed it.

Park Woon-yeol saw the heat packs on the floor covered by the mat and nodded.

The atmosphere was still like a grandfather and a grandson, and the staff checked the script.

“This scene shouldn’t be so friendly…”

“Right. They usually get emotional before shooting.”

The staff opened their mouths little by little, and the friendly director’s voice covered them.

“Ready-”

The two actors who were chatting with smiling faces changed their expressions in an instant at the director’s shout. Kim Ho-young, who was standing on one side of the set, couldn’t catch up with the change.

The set was silent with the immersion of the two actors.

They couldn’t even swallow their saliva.

The director, who was looking at the screen, shouted.

“Action!”

Lee Hong-wi sat down and unfolded the scroll that Kim Jong-seo handed him.

It had a description of the office and three names written vertically.

Lee Hong-wi read each letter slowly.

Kim Jong-seo said in a heavy voice.

He was still dignified despite being over seventy years old.

“Please choose the official who will be the prime minister. Your Majesty.”

Lee Hong-wi’s eyes didn’t move from one place as he looked at the scroll.

Splash.

It was as if Lee Hong-wi’s toes touched a cold wave, he shrank. But as if it was a mistake, the cold droplet soon disappeared.

He wiggled his toes that no one could see and opened his mouth.

“Prime Minister. What is this yellow dot?”

Kim Jong-seo sat stiffly and opened his mouth.

Once again, he heard the sound of water splashing.

An inexplicable atmosphere descended.

“I present to you the talent I recommend. He is not only skilled, but also has a good character. He will be of great help to you.”

Lee Hong-wi looked at Kim Jong-seo.

He was the minister who served Halbama.

He was the minister whom Abama trusted.

Lee Hong-wi nodded his head as he blinked his eyes.

“Very well. Then, I will choose him.”

Splash.

The black water surged up to Lee Hong-wi’s feet and disappeared.

“Cut! Okay!”

And just like that, the mood of the two actors changed.

They threw away their serious faces and started chatting friendly again.

Kim Ho-young and the staff looked at Lee Seo-jun and Park Woon-yeol with surprised eyes.

The mood change was faster than lightning.

Kim Ho-young suddenly thought.

‘Is this, the distance from the role?’

The two actors were free to immerse and detach themselves.

Even if they were smiling brightly, they could get angry and cry as soon as the shooting started.

‘Can I do that too?’

No.

Feeling a burning thirst in his throat, Kim Ho-young looked at the two actors.

The acting he saw in front of him was what he had to aim for.

Kim Ho-young blamed himself.

He was not only getting fame from this movie.

He realized how stupid he was.

‘Let’s learn from them.’

Kim Ho-young’s eyes met the actor who made the world cry.

***

The day of the graduation ceremony at Maesil Elementary School.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun headed to Maesil Elementary School with excitement.

“I can’t believe we’re graduating…”

“Time flies so fast.”

The couple looked at the parents who were gathering in the auditorium with moved faces.

The other parents were also excited about their children’s graduation ceremony.

“Did you make a reservation, at the Chinese restaurant?”

Seo Eun-hye smiled at Lee Min-jun’s words.

She remembered the day when she ate jajangmyeon with her younger brother Seo Eun-chan and her mother at her graduation ceremony a long time ago.

“Yes. Mom and Eun-chan will arrive on time too.”

“Mom and dad are coming too. It’s been a while since we all ate out together.”

The couple chatted as they waited for their son.

***

“It’s graduation day. It feels a lot different from kindergarten.”

“We have to go to middle school now. We have to wear uniforms and take exams.”

The children’s faces became gloomy at Ji-woo’s words.

They liked becoming adults, but they hated exams.

“Seo-jun doesn’t have a perfect attendance award.”

“I didn’t expect it either. When did he ever miss a day?”

The children laughed at Seo-jun’s words.

There were diplomas and awards on the children’s desks.

From awards that most of them could get, like perfect attendance, to awards that only those who excelled in certain subjects could get.

There were also small awards that the homeroom teacher gave to the children.

“A great doctor award.”

Ji-woo said.

“It says ‘I hope you become a great doctor’.”

Ji-woo, who dreamed of becoming a doctor, smiled brightly.

The children who had not decided on their future dreams yet learned what they were good at through the awards.

Lively Ji-ho, diligent Ji-yoon, mature Mina.

The homeroom teacher had been watching the children closely for a year.

“This is mine.”

Seo-jun showed his award.

“A cool actor award.”

[Cool actor award]

Maesil Elementary School 6th grade 2nd class Lee Seo-jun

We hope you continue your awesome activities.

Homeroom teacher.

He didn’t get a perfect attendance award, but he got a cooler one.

Seo-jun packed his award, graduation album, and other things in his bag.

When the children were finishing their last packing, the homeroom teacher called each one of them and said goodbye.

The children’s eyes welled up with tears at the teacher’s words.

And it was Seo-jun’s turn.

“I’m sure the kids will want to take pictures with Seo-jun after the graduation ceremony, but what do you want to do? If you don’t like it, I’ll make an exit for you.”

Seo-jun smiled as he blinked his eyes.

“It’s the last time. It’s okay. Of course, I can’t take pictures with everyone though.”

“Okay. How about taking pictures with two classes each for 5th grade and 6th grade?”

“Yes. That’s fine.”

The class was small and there were not many students anyway.

Seo-jun and the homeroom teacher laughed.

“Thank you for everything.”

Seo-jun was grateful to the homeroom teacher who treated him as one of the students, not discriminating him.

“Me too. Thank you for working hard on your school life.”

The homeroom teacher smiled and said, not knowing how thankful he was for not ignoring the children because he was famous, and getting along with everyone.

“Take care in middle school.”

“Yes!”

The homeroom teacher opened his mouth after checking that all the kids had packed their stuff.

“Alright, shall we go?”

The sixth grade second class kids moved with their teacher.

They passed the hallway where they used to run around during breaks, and used the stairs in front of the library where they had evacuation drills.

Past the third grade classrooms, the second grade classrooms, and the first grade classrooms.

Seo-jun, who remembered more clearly than the others, saw the images of his friends laughing and running in the hallway like a fantasy.

He had spent six years in this school.

There was no place without memories.

He didn’t remember everything, but the other kids looked gloomy too.

With a mixed feeling, the sixth graders headed to the auditorium where the graduation ceremony would be held.

The sixth graders appeared in the auditorium of Maesil Elementary School.

The kids’ eyes turned to the parents who were gathered at the back.

“Mom and dad!”

The kids waved their hands as they met their parents’ eyes.

Seo-jun also found his mom and dad and smiled brightly as he waved his hand.

The couple also waved their hands hard to Seo-jun.

There was a beautiful bouquet of flowers in his mom’s arms.

There were sixth and fifth graders in the auditorium, and the fifth graders clapped for their seniors who were graduating.

The other grades had already finished their closing ceremony and went home. Ji-ho chuckled at the bored faces of the fifth graders.

“I also wanted to go home quickly when I was in fifth grade.”

The fifth graders who would be in this place next year attended the graduation ceremony as a preview.

That’s why some of the emotional fifth graders looked at the sixth graders with vague faces.

The fifth grade representative who would be the student council president next year gave a farewell speech, and the sixth grade student council president gave a reply speech.

“If Seo-jun had run, it would have been Seo-jun for sure.”

Seo-jun laughed at Ji-yoon’s words.

“I was busy filming.”

They listened to the teacher’s words, and heard the impressions of the student council who worked hard this year, and slowly the graduation ceremony came to an end.

“This concludes the graduation ceremony of Maesil Elementary School.”

At the end of the principal’s words, the kids and parents applauded.

The kids who left great memories at school cried with their friends who they had to part with as they went to different schools, and also took pictures with their phones.

“Let’s take a picture too.”

The kids who had already cried enough when they moved smiled brightly and held up their cameras.

“One, two, three. Kimchi!”

Snap,

Kim Ji-yoon, Mina Owen, Park Ji-woo, Park Ji-ho.

They took pictures with their baby friends whom they would never forget for life.

‘Well, it’s not like we can never meet again.’

As he checked the picture and smiled, Seo-jun saw a bright bouquet of flowers in front of his eyes.

He looked up and saw his mom and dad smiling brightly.

Seo-jun smiled like a flower.

“Mom, dad!”

“Let’s take a picture with mom and dad too.”

“Yes!”

He took pictures with his mom and dad, his classmates, and his teachers.

He also took pictures with his friends who were in the same class in fourth and fifth grade but separated in sixth grade.

When the fifth and sixth graders who had nothing to do with Seo-jun looked at him with envious eyes, Seo-jun’s homeroom teacher grabbed the microphone.

“Lee Seo-jun has agreed to spare some time for us. We’ll take pictures with two classes each for fifth grade and sixth grade.”

The unexpected photo time made cheers fill the auditorium.

The homeroom teachers of each class moved.

The fifth grade first and second class kids who were cheering quickly gathered together like they did when they took group photos.

Seo-jun sat in the center and made a V sign with two fingers.

After taking all the pictures and saying goodbye to his friends, Seo-jun stood on the playground with his mom and dad and looked at the school.

The huge school looked exactly like it did six years ago at the entrance ceremony.

That made it easier to remember.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun looked at the school with longing eyes.

“It feels like it was just yesterday that we had our entrance ceremony.”

“I know. Seo-jun was so small when he entered, but he’s already graduating. Time goes by so fast.”

Seo-jun, who was holding the bouquet that his mom and dad gave him, said.

“When I had my entrance ceremony, it felt so big, but now it doesn’t look as big as it did then.”

“That’s because Seo-jun has grown so much.”

“When did he grow this much?”

Lee Min-jun ruffled Seo-jun’s hair. Seo-jun laughed out loud. The couple also smiled brightly.

“Oh, we’re going to be late for our appointment. Let’s go quickly.”

“Okay!”

As Seo-jun left the school gate with his mom and dad, he turned his head and looked at the school.

Maesil Elementary School.

He said goodbye to the school where he would never have to go to or leave again.

[Actor, Lee Seo-jun. Graduated from elementary school!]

[Fans’ congratulatory messages, “Seo-jun, congratulations on your graduation!”]

Chapter 164

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 164

After the graduation ceremony, Seo-jun enjoyed a long winter break until the entrance ceremony of Yeoul Art School in March.

He was able to film even on weekdays.

“Are you okay with filming during winter break?”

“Yes! Filming is so much fun!”

Ahn Da Ho, who was driving, smiled at Seo-jun’s excited voice.

Seo-jun looked out the window.

Today, there were many scenes with extras, so the parking lot of the filming site was bustling.

“Seo-jun is here.”

The staff of Rebellion stirred at Seo-jun’s arrival.

Lee Seo-jun and his manager entered through the entrance of the filming site.

The staff, who were smiling brightly, handed flowers to Seo-jun.

It was a graduation celebration event that they had prepared themselves.

Each flower that bloomed brightly gathered and filled Seo-jun’s arms.

It became a huge bouquet.

“Seo-jun, congratulations on your graduation!”

“Actor Lee Seo-jun, congratulations!”

He had heard a lot of congratulatory messages from his family, friends, and fans, and now he heard a lot from the staff as well.

The boy with the flowers, Seo-jun, smiled brightly at the sincere congratulations.

“Thank you!”

Ugh!

The staff were hit hard by the effect of the bouquet.

They clutched their hearts at Seo-jun’s sparkling face.

Seo-jun laughed out loud at their intense reaction.

The staff looked at the friendly star actor, and the extras who were rolling their eyes and looking around also congratulated him as they passed by.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and thanked them.

Park Woon-yeol and Kim Ho-young, who had arrived earlier, handed Seo-jun a flower that the staff had given them.

Seo-jun laughed out loud and carefully put the bouquet aside.

The noisy celebration ended and the filming began.

Director Woo Jung-han shouted.

“Ready, action!”

“Your Majesty, please come in!”

With a loud cry, Lee Hong-wi walked into the royal tent.

The courtiers bowed their heads in unison.

He was afraid of the heavy atmosphere of the royal tent, but Lee Hong-wi held his head high.

He had to lead the country with these people now.

He hid his trembling hand by clenching it into a fist and Lee Hong-wi climbed up to the platform.

When he climbed up to the platform, he could see the ministers better.

In the closest place, among the ministers, he saw Kim Jong-seo’s familiar face and sighed with relief.

He sat down on the throne.

The ministers raised their heads.

They all sighed inwardly at the sight of the young king who seemed to be crushed by the huge throne.

There were no naive courtiers who showed their feelings on their faces.

They all hid their hearts and did their jobs.

“We need to set up a temporary office for the funeral.”

The first thing Lee Hong-wi had to do was King Munjong’s funeral.

A temporary office was set up to lead King Munjong’s funeral and officials were appointed to take charge of it.

“Please appoint Yun Sa-ro as the chief officer of the temporary office.”

When someone raised an issue, Samjeongseung gave an answer.

He asked Lee Hong-wi as well, but Lee Hong-wi, who did not understand it deeply, could only nod his head.

He didn’t know who Yun Sa-ro was, but he knew that a person in charge of the temporary office was needed.

‘If it’s someone recommended by Left Prime Minister, it should be fine.’

Lee Hong-wi’s eyes turned to Kim Jong-seo as he listened to the ministers’ talk.

The discussion of the ministers continued. Lee Hong-wi listened hard and his shoulders drooped slightly.

The country’s problems were as difficult as he expected, and the solutions were harder than he expected.

Lee Hong-wi swallowed a sigh that seemed to come out.

He knew the cause and the answer, but that answer was from a book.

Lee Hong-wi knew very well that in reality, the desired answer was different from that in a book.

Lee Hong-wi looked down at his feet from his high position where he looked down at the ministers.

He felt like water was moving at his feet.

The black water that stayed at his toes slowly rose up to his ankles.

Lee Hong-wi thought.

This water was a burden that felt like an illusion.

How could he get rid of this cold water, this burden?

Lee Hong-wi remembered what his grandfather and grandmother had said.

‘Learn.’

Lee Hong-wi’s eyes sparkled as he looked down at the ministers.

‘Learn and learn again.’

He wanted to be a great king.

He wanted to be a benevolent parent of his people.

Like his grandfather and grandmother who were excellent.

Lee Hong-wi straightened his shoulders that were going down with disappointment in himself.

He straightened his posture and listened to the ministers’ talk.

‘I’ll remember this well and ask Left Prime Minister or other ministers later.’

A few people who noticed the change in Lee Hong-wi’s mood watched him quietly.

***

The filming of Rebellion went smoothly.

Today’s filming was scheduled to film scenes with Seo-jun and Kim Ho-young in the morning, and scenes with Lee Ji-seok in the afternoon.

It was the first time that Prince Suyang and King Danjong filmed a scene together.

“Ready, action!”

King Danjong, who was sitting on the throne, unfolded the royal letter.

The king’s figure, who slowly moved forward, made Kim Nae-gwan, who had served three kings, smile with satisfaction.

He was young, but he was a heavenly being to anyone who saw him.

He was a kind and gentle king.

Kim Nae-gwan quietly wiped away his tears of emotion and focused on the royal letter with King Danjong.

The camera screen was filled with the sight of Kim Nae-gwan and King Danjong.

Director Woo Jung-han shouted.

“Cut! Okay!”

At the sound of the cut, Seo-jun quickly got out of King Danjong, and Kim Ho-young slowly calmed his mind.

He felt warm when he saw Danjong working hard.

He looked like his daughter.

“Is this the end of the morning filming?”

Director Woo Jung-han answered Seo-jun’s question.

“Yes. There weren’t many NGs, so it ended quickly.”

“When will we start filming outside?”

As Seo-jun and Director Woo Jung-han talked, Kim Ho-young turned on his phone as usual at lunchtime.

“Oh…”

[Missed calls 5]

His heart sank. He had a bad feeling.

Kim Ho-young checked the missed calls.

The person who called him was Kim Ho-young’s daughter, Kim Ji-soo.

Kim Ho-young’s hand holding the phone trembled.

He called his daughter with a trembling hand.

He remembered his daughter who left in the morning, smiling brightly and saying that she was going to play with her friends.

“Ji-soo… Ji-soo…”

The staff who were talking about what to have for lunch looked at the actor who looked bad.

Seo-jun and Director Woo Jung-han also looked at Kim Ho-young.

He didn’t notice their eyes and clung to his phone.

After several attempts, someone answered the phone.

“Ji-soo!”

Kim Ho-young shouted loudly.

***

Two hours ago.

“Ji-soo!”

“You’re here already!”

Kim Ji-soo smiled brightly at her friends.

“Look at this. A picture of my dad and Lee Seo-jun.”

“Really! It’s Lee Seo-jun!”

Kim Ji-soo showed them her phone screen with Lee Seo-jun and Kim Ho-young on it.

Ji-soo and her friends laughed out loud.

“A new coin karaoke has opened here.”

“We have to go if it’s new!”

Ji-soo and her friends, who had conquered the neighborhood coin karaoke, stepped into the new coin karaoke.

The problem happened when they were singing their hearts out.

Eeeek!

The sound of the emergency bell drowned out the sound of the song and the microphone.

The children stopped moving in surprise.

A suffocating silence fell over the karaoke room.

The idol music and the emergency bell sound mixed together to create noise.

Kim Ji-soo was the first one to snap out of it among the frozen children.

[The memory of learning from the Moss tribe is activated.]

She remembered the public service video ‘One Step’ from the fire department as if she was playing a video.

She was influenced by the calmness of the children in the video.

Kim Ji-soo opened her mouth.

“Let’s get out of here first.”

“Okay!”

The children quickly left the room.

In the hallway, there were children who were confused and children who were calm.

It was a weekday morning, but there were quite a few children because it was winter break.

“First, we need to call 119…”

“I’m doing it!”

One of the children raised his hand and said.

He was holding his phone to his ear with one hand.

Ji-soo nodded her head.

“Then let’s go to the entrance.”

“If you have tissue or a handkerchief, wet it and cover your mouth.”

Even though they were strangers, some of the children stepped up and led the confused children.

They came out of their rooms with water bottles and wetted the children’s handkerchiefs, tissues, or sleeves.

‘And…and…’

Ji-soo remembered ‘One Step’ that she had watched with her dad.

She felt like she knew why the children in ‘One Step’ moved so hard.

She was scared.

But she wanted to see her dad more than being scared. She didn’t want to leave her dad alone.

She recalled Lee Seo-jun’s firm eyes in the public service video.

“There might be people who can’t get out of their rooms, so check them as you move.”

“If the doorknob is hot, don’t open it.”

The child who had called 119 followed Ji-soo’s words.

Eeeek!!

Ignoring the loud noise behind them, the children checked the empty rooms as they headed to the entrance.

It didn’t take long to check them as there were about ten children moving quickly.

“We can’t go this way.”

When they arrived at the entrance, they saw a sweaty part-time worker of the coin karaoke.

The part-time worker said with an anxious face.

“There’s a fire on the lower floor.”

The part-time worker checked the escape route as soon as he heard the emergency bell.

He wanted to evacuate the customers after confirming where the fire was.

“The smoke is coming up from below, so I don’t think we can go down using the entrance or the emergency exit.”

The only adult’s words made the children look uneasy.

Ji-soo thought.

‘Then do we have to go into a karaoke room like in ‘One Step’ and block the gaps and wait?’

Which room should we go to? Ji-soo looked back.

[The memory of learning from the Moss tribe is activated.]

Sighing, the part-time worker calmed his complicated mind and remembered the roof key that his boss had put in his drawer.

The building owner had locked it, but he copied one after watching ‘One Step’ last year.

The part-time worker quickly took out the key from his drawer.

“Let’s go to the roof. I have a roof key.”

“Yes!”

The adults moved aside when they saw Ji-soo holding up the key.

Ji-soo opened the roof door.

A cool breeze blew over to people who escaped from the smoke. But soon they smelt a charcoal smell mixed in that wind.

When everyone got on the roof, someone said.

“The smoke might come up here, shouldn’t we close the door?”

Someone else’s words made children shout.

“The hyung hasn’t come yet!”

“No!”

The children’s loud voices stopped any further words.

Black smoke that escaped through windows on fire rose up to sky. People who evacuated to the roof moved away from the smoke.

Someone called their families, someone called the fire station. There were sounds of relief and desperate cries for help on the roof.

Ji-soo and her friends also called their families on their phones and waited for part-time worker.

“Why isn’t he coming?”

“Yeah.”

They looked at the stairs anxiously when they heard footsteps.

“Hyung!”

It was part-time worker who covered his mouth with Ji-soo’s handkerchief.

He collapsed on floor exhausted. But there was a smile on his face.

“There was no one in bathroom.”

“That’s good!”

The children smiled brightly.

And in a few minutes, over loud emergency bell sound, over dark smoke, a loud sound came.

It was red fire truck that ran faster than the flames to save everyone.

Chapter 165

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Chapter 165

“Ji-soo!”

“Dad!”

“Why did you call me so many times? What’s wrong?”

“Um, I’m at the hospital…”

“Hospital?”

Kim Ho-young’s shout drew the attention of the people around him.

“Where, where are you? Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m not hurt. They just did some tests.”

“Why… why did they do tests?”

“There was a fire at the place I went to. But we evacuated quickly, so no one was injured.”

Fire.

The damned thing that had taken his wife away a few years ago had reappeared.

Kim Ho-young felt his legs give out and collapsed on the floor.

Seo-jun and Director Woo Jeong-han rushed to his side.

“No one was hurt. We all got out safely. Don’t you remember? The One Step we saw together?”

Kim Ho-young’s trembling fingers touched the phone screen.

The voice of the girl on the other end of the phone became louder as the speaker mode was activated.

One Step?

Seo-jun, who was trying to calm Kim Ho-young down, blinked.

“At first, I was too scared to move, but then I remembered it and I was able to evacuate right away. I soaked a handkerchief in water and covered my mouth and nose, and then I went to the emergency exit.”

“Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

Kim Ho-young’s voice was almost a sob as he spoke to his daughter.

The girl on the phone sounded more cheerful as she replied.

“Yes, I’m totally fine!”

“What about your friends?”

“They’re all fine too. They’re just crying because they’re relieved to see their parents.”

“Oh, should I go too?”

Kim Ho-young said that and looked at Director Woo Jeong-han and Seo-jun with a startled expression.

Filming was not something that could be done by one or two people.

It required many staff members and actors to coordinate their schedules, so changing the plan was not easy.

Especially for a rookie actor like him, who was neither as famous as Seo-jun nor Lee Ji-seok.

He couldn’t ask them to wait for him.

He felt conflicted as he thought about his daughter who was at the hospital.

He couldn’t go right away because of his situation.

Kim Ho-young bit his lip.

Seo-jun noticed Kim Ho-young’s dilemma and winked at Director Woo Jeong-han as he opened his mouth.

“Director, didn’t you say that the afternoon filming schedule changed?”

Seo-jun’s perfect acting made Director Woo Jeong-han wonder if he had really said that.

Then he realized what Seo-jun was trying to do and quickly played along.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Ho-young, the afternoon filming scene has changed.”

Seo-jun’s flawless acting was wasted on Director Woo Jeong-han, who ruined it with his awkward acting.

Seo-jun gave him a sour look.

‘Director Woo should never act.’

The staff members shook their heads at Director Woo Jeong-han’s performance. But they seemed to understand the situation.

It was not uncommon for the filming schedule to change due to the director or other circumstances.

Since it was the director and the lead actor Seo-jun who said so, the staff members didn’t make a fuss about it.

“Well, these things happen.”

“I was surprised that this movie filming went so smoothly.”

There were hardly any NGs with Seo-jun, so they often finished earlier than expected.

Even if they postponed the afternoon filming, they could catch up soon enough.

Besides, Kim Ho-young looked miserable.

The staff members had also experienced difficulties with their families because of work.

Seo-jun grabbed Kim Ho-young’s hand.

Kim Ho-young’s shaking hand slowly calmed down.

“It’s a scene that only Ji-seok hyung and I can film. We decided to film the original scene on another day. So go ahead and see your daughter.”

“Ah…”

“The next filming day, we’ll finish early and make up for today’s part by not making any NGs. Right?”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Kim Ho-young, who felt a lump in his throat.

His stomach churned.

Anh Da Ho brought Kim Ho-young’s luggage and Director Woo Jeong-han called a taxi.

Kim Ho-young got up from his seat and bowed deeply to everyone on the set.

He knew that Seo-jun and Director Woo Jeong-han were lying, but he couldn’t refuse their kindness when he thought about his daughter at the hospital.

“Thank you all so much.”

Seo-jun and Director Woo Jeong-han gestured for him to hurry up.

Kim Ho-young got in the taxi and pressed his eyes that felt like they were about to spill tears.

He called his daughter.

“…Ji-soo, I’m coming now.”

Seo-jun watched the taxi drive away with a satisfied expression and returned to the set.

He had done a good deed, but he still had to apologize for changing the filming schedule without permission.

“I’m sorry.”

Seo-jun apologized to Director Woo Jeong-han, who smiled and waved his hand.

“No, it’s fine. I was going to send Ho-young anyway.”

He felt sorry for not being able to send Kim Ho-young right away.

‘I couldn’t just send him without considering Seo-jun and Ji-seok’s schedules.’

He thought for a moment and then said.

“Well, since this happened, why don’t we actually change the schedule?”

“Can we do that?”

Seo-jun widened his eyes at his words.

“There’s a scene where Danjong and Grand Prince Suyang meet here without Kim Naegwan. It’s a short scene, so it won’t take long. But it’s better than doing nothing.”

“Yes, that sounds good.”

The filming schedule really changed.

The lunch break was delayed a bit due to the unexpected incident, but the staff members headed to the food truck to eat.

A staff member who had received his lunch looked at his phone with chopsticks in one hand.

“But shouldn’t there be news about the fire?”

“Kim Ho-young’s daughter said she was fine…”

A staff member who was holding his phone in one hand and chopsticks in the other searched the internet news.

It was not hard to find because there were many articles about it.

“Today at 10 a.m., a fire broke out in a five-story building in OO-dong. The fire started on the second floor and prevented people from going down to the first floor.”

“Wow, how did they escape?”

“They evacuated to the rooftop. Only one person was slightly injured, and everyone else was safe.”

“That’s a relief.”

The staff member who was browsing through various articles stopped his hand.

He blinked.

He tilted his head.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, this… why is this here?”

The staff member showed his phone screen.

[The One Step that saved countless lives!]

The staff members who read the article gasped.

***

“Did she say she wasn’t hurt?”

Lee Ji-seok asked as he listened to Seo-jun’s story.

Lee Ji-seok had arrived at the set earlier than expected.

So he ate lunch with Seo-jun.

My goodness.

Kim Ho-young’s daughter was involved in a fire accident.

He looked worried as he spoke to Seo-jun. Seo-jun quickly answered him.

“She sounded fine on the phone.”

“Kim Ho-young must have been shocked.”

“Yes. Director Woo called a taxi for me because he said he couldn’t drive.”

Lee Ji-seok nodded.

There were hardly any parents who could keep their sanity when their child was in danger.

“It’s better not to drive when you’re like that. You might cause more trouble.”

“Are you okay with the change of the shooting scene?”

“I’m fine. This is the only thing I’m doing right now, so I have plenty of time.”

At that moment, the phone of Ahn Da Ho, who was eating lunch at the same table, rang.

It was a message from Cocoa Entertainment’s second team.

News! News! KBC!

“Who is it?”

“It’s the second team. They’re telling me to watch the news.”

Ahn Da Ho turned on the KBC news on his phone. Seo-jun, Lee Ji-seok, and Yoon Sung-oh looked at the phone.

[Fire accident in OO-dong!]

The news title showed a man in a patient gown.

He kept avoiding the camera’s gaze and scratching his cheek.

[You were the last one to evacuate, right?]

“Yes.”

[Why did you do that?]

“Well, the karaoke rooms have CCTV installed, so you can tell if there’s anyone inside, but the bathrooms don’t have CCTV. I went to check if there were any customers in the bathroom, just in case.”

[What do you think helped you to evacuate calmly?]

“Maybe, it was thanks to One Step.”

One Step.

Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok blinked.

“One Step? Is that the video Seo-jun filmed?”

“…Here?”

The reporter who was interviewing the woman seemed confused.

[One Step?]

“Yes. I’m a fan of actor Lee Seo-jun.

The man, who didn’t know that Lee Seo-jun was watching his interview live, smiled brightly.

“I’ve watched all the videos that Lee Seo-jun appeared in, and I’ve watched One Step several times. I remembered it and I was able to move calmly.”

The next interviewee was a child who had called 119.

[How were you able to evacuate calmly?]

“Uh… When we had a fire drill at school, they showed us One Step. I only saw it once, but when the alarm went off, I suddenly remembered it. I followed what Lee Seo-jun did and covered my mouth and looked for the exit.”

Some other people also said that One Step helped them to stay calm.

The other staff members must have seen the news too, because the set became quiet.

Director Woo Jeong-han and the cinematographer were also absorbed in their phones.

That’s when it happened.

A familiar face appeared on the TV screen.

“It’s Uncle Ho-young.”

“Huh? You’re right.”

The reporter was about to interview a girl in a hospital gown behind him, but Kim Ho-young’s face appeared in a hurry.

The staff members who recognized him also opened their mouths.

“Ji-soo!”

“Dad!”

Kim Ho-young, who was about to run over to his daughter after hearing her voice, hesitated for a moment when he saw the camera and the reporter, then ran over in surprise.

“W-what’s going on here?”

“They’re interviewing us for the news! They’re asking us how we evacuated well.”

“Yes. There were no serious injuries, and everyone evacuated well. We wanted to share how you did it with many viewers, so we’re interviewing you right now.”

The reporter said to Kim Ho-young, who was flustered.

Kim Ho-young sighed in relief as he held his daughter’s hand and stepped back.

He looked at his daughter with his eyes and saw relief on his face.

“She seems fine.”

“That’s good.”

Seo-jun, Lee Ji-seok, and the staff members smiled at Kim Ho-young’s expression.

The reporter asked Kim Ji-soo.

[What helped you to evacuate calmly?]

“It was thanks to One Step.”

The girl on the TV screen, Kim Ji-soo, said in a lively voice.

[One Step?]

“The video that Lee Seo-jun appeared in. When the alarm went off, I remembered it in my head. I did what the kids did in the video and covered my mouth and looked for the exit.”

The reporter asked without thinking.

The woman who evacuated last was a fan of Lee Seo-jun, the child who called 119 had seen the video at school.

This child must have had a similar reason too.

The reporter didn’t realize that this was an amazing scoop.

He didn’t know that he would get a bonus for this one sentence.

[Why did you watch One Step?]

“My dad is in the same movie as Lee Seo-jun! So we’ve been looking for movies and dramas that Lee Seo-jun appeared in and watching them together. We saw One Step then!”

The people who were watching the news, the people who were in the hospital, the reporter, and the cameraman all stopped moving for a moment.

Did they hear that wrong? Who and where did he appear in?

Their doubts faded away by the voices of the children from the next bed.

“That’s right! Ji-soo’s dad is in the same movie as Lee Seo-jun!”

“They even have a picture together!”

Ji-soo’s friends, who were on the next bed, chattered.

The reporter’s head slowly started to turn.

[W-wait, so you’re saying that Ji-soo’s father is filming a movie with Lee Seo-jun? You mean, Rebellion?]

“Yes! Today was a shooting day too.”

The cameraman unconsciously turned the camera lens to the side as Ji-soo spoke proudly.

Kim Ho-young’s bewildered face was reflected.

“Oh my.”

Seo-jun widened his eyes as he grasped the situation.

He had hoped that the public service video would save many lives.

He had used his ability more effectively for the people than for acting.

But he didn’t expect to feel its impact so close.

Seo-jun’s ability, Seo-jun’s acting, had saved Uncle Ho-young’s daughter.

‘No, maybe not saved…’

Wouldn’t she have been able to evacuate safely even without the video?

He thought of that possibility, but his lips still curled up.

He was really happy.

It was a happy thing to help someone he didn’t know, but he had helped someone he knew.

He couldn’t help but be happy.

While Seo-jun was feeling proud, Director Woo Jeong-han’s phone rang.

The cinematographer’s phone rang.

The phones of the people on the set started ringing.

[Production company Danhong, PR team leader]

Director Woo Jeong-han answered the phone with a blank face.

-Director Woo! Is that Kim Ho-young, who plays Kim Naegwan, on the news right now!?

“Yes.”

“Is that really Kim Ho-young’s daughter!?”

“Yes.”

“Kim Ho-young’s daughter said she was able to evacuate because she watched Lee Seo-jun’s video!?”

“…It seems so.”

“Awesome!”

[The reason why everyone could evacuate safely from the fire accident in OO-dong! One Step!]

[The fire department’s public service video! It worked wonders!]

[The part-timer who stayed until the end! Praised by netizens!]

[What a coincidence?! The connection between actor Lee Seo-jun and actor Kim Ho-young!]

[Actor Kim Ho-young, “I’m grateful to the fire department who made the public service video, and to Lee Seo-jun who gave me an unforgettable performance.”]

-I saw smoke from my house too, and I thought some people would be seriously injured, but I’m so glad they weren’t.

=I’m happier that everyone is safe.

-Public service video. It really works.

=22 I thought it was useless too… But it really worked.

-Part-timer. So coolㅠ I wouldn’t have been able to do that.

=The person who found the roof key was also himㅠㅠ

=The boss who copied the roof key is also awesomeㅠㅠ

-Lee Seo-jun and Kim Ho-young are in the same movie and Kim Ho-young’s daughter is safe because she watched Lee Seo-jun’s video? There’s no such thing as a movieㅎ

=MBS Surprise material?ㅋㅋ

=A fire broke out in OO-dong! Kim Ho-young’s daughter was at the scene of the fire!

=Fortunately, Kim Ho-young’s daughter was able to evacuate safely!

=How did this happen!

=A year ago. A public service video was broadcasted.

=It turned out that the star of that public service video was none other than the star of the movie that Kim Ho-young was appearing in!

=It was actor Lee Seo-jun!

=ㅋㅋSolidarityㅋㅋ

-But it’s amazing that they all remembered One Step.

=I guess Lee Seo-jun’s acting was that impressive.

-Isn’t this a must-watch video for life?

=Seems like itㅋㅋ I have to watch it again.

=Me too. I have to watch it until I memorize it.

As people reacted explosively, the public service video ‘One Step’ was broadcasted again on each channel.

Chapter 166

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Chapter 166

“You forbid us from visiting the lower officials?”

Lee Ji-seok, who had become the Grand Prince Suyang, said with a fierce tone.

The ministers closed their mouths at his aura.

A cold silence filled the set.

***

An investor who came to see the filming of Rebellion asked the staff who was guiding him.

He was the foreign branch manager of Plus+ Korea.

The plan was to upload the movie to Plus+ as soon as it ended in theaters.

There were many other streaming sites, but Plus+ offered to invest an amount that exceeded expectations and promised not to interfere at all.

Still, he was curious about the progress and wanted to see the filming site from Plus+, so Director Woo Jeong-han set the date for today.

‘The best people are those who give a lot of money and don’t interfere.’

“What is visiting the lower officials?”

“Oh. It means that a low-ranking official goes to the house of a high-ranking official. In such a situation, they can exchange bribes, so it has been prohibited since ancient times. That situation is when the king is young and fears that other princes will gather power, so he forbids them from going.”

“I see.”

It was natural for the king to be wary of his bloodline.

Especially if the king was young and his relatives were adults.

The branch manager of Plus+ Korea stroked his chin.

‘It’s because it’s a historical movie…’

It required some background knowledge.

‘The Royal Physician’ felt more like a daily life of the Joseon royal family than historical content, so it didn’t need much background knowledge.

But Rebellion was different.

It needed political situations and background knowledge.

‘Then I’ll just make one more.’

If they wanted to watch the movie more perfectly, they would surely want to watch a program that explained the background knowledge.

If they were fans of Lee Seo-jun.

The branch manager’s head spun.

‘The Royal Physician Special was good.’

He thought it would be nice to make something like that.

His eyes turned to the set. Heo Ui-gwan, who was cold in The Royal Physician but only gentle to Prince Seongnyeong, was shouting fiercely.

‘I worried for nothing.’

The branch manager also worried that The Royal Physician’s image would be projected on Rebellion, but there was only Grand Prince Suyang who coveted his nephew’s throne.

***

Grand Prince Suyang continued his words.

His voice sounded like a wolf growling, and everyone shuddered.

“By forbidding us princes from visiting the lower officials, you are doubting us. It can’t be His Majesty’s will if he suspects his closest relatives after ascending the throne.”

Grand Prince Suyang’s gaze turned to Hwangbo In, the Prime Minister.

“Or, is His Majesty isolated and in need of help?”

Was it that the Prime Ministers were trying to drive a wedge between the king and his relatives?

Hwangbo In and the ministers were startled by Grand Prince Suyang’s words. Seeing them, Grand Prince Suyang spoke with a pitying expression.

It was a sincere expression of pity.

“We princes are trying to overcome this precarious situation with all our hearts and strength, together with you ministers. How can you be suspicious and jealous of us? Prime Minister Hwangbo.”

***

‘You’re just plotting treason!’

The pitying expression made the staff more angry.

They had grown fond of Danjong while filming with Seo-jun. And since Ji-seok was as good an actor as Seo-jun, they couldn’t help but empathize.

Sometimes even Ji-seok’s manager Yoon Seong-oh looked at Ji-seok with a sharp look. It was a look that wanted to punch him.

“Ji-seok… You’re really good at acting. How can every gesture be so infuriating?”

“Right? I want to punch him.”

“We’re like this, but the audience will be shocked. They’ll all come thinking of The Royal Physician…”

The staff whispered as they watched the actors continue their act.

***

“I punched him.”

Seo-jun laughed at Yoon Seong-oh’s words.

Ji-seok, who was sitting in front of him, rubbed his side.

It was a half-serious punch that packed a lot of weight.

Yoon Seong-oh opened his mouth.

“Hyung. Stop pretending to be hurt. I hit you softly.”

Ji-seok, who had been acting pitifully in front of Seo-jun, shrugged his shoulders.

“Hmm. Did I act that well?”

“Especially today, you were more wicked.”

“That’s good!”

“Ahahaha.”

Seo-jun laughed loudly, and Ji-seok, Yoon Seong-oh, and Ahn Da Ho also burst into laughter.

The staff, the branch manager and secretary of Plus+ Korea watched them with a smile.

The morning filming was over and Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho came for the afternoon filming.

The branch manager, who was going to leave after watching the morning filming, postponed all his schedules for today when he heard that Seo-jun was coming.

***

While the set and props were being prepared, Seo-jun, who had changed into a dragon robe, said.

“I went to get my uniform today.”

Ji-seok, who had a wound makeup on one cheek, nodded.

Ji-seok, who had finished his makeup for the next filming, looked like he had been in a sword fight.

It was an awkward sight, but the actors drank warm tea comfortably.

Their managers, Ahn Da Ho and Yoon Seong-oh, took pictures of their actors chatting on their phones.

“A uniform. A uniform? You look like a real middle schooler. Where did you get it?”

If Seo-jun got his uniform there, other parents and kids would be interested.

It was an advertisement without spending money.

It was a good deal for the uniform brand.

“There’s a uniform shop in front of the school. It’s not a brand, but Yeoul Art Middle School has a small number of students, so they buy it together there. The school also gives subsidies, so it’s cheap.”

“If it’s a group purchase, isn’t the size fixed?”

“You can get it altered.”

Ji-seok laughed at Seo-jun’s clear answer.

“When is the entrance ceremony?”

“March 4th. They just have the entrance ceremony and class assignment and then it’s over.”

“Our Seo-jun is already a middle schooler. It feels like it was just yesterday when you were little.”

Ji-seok recalled the little boy from Evil Spirit. You’ve grown up well.

You’ve grown up well.

He felt proud of Seo-jun’s growth even though he wasn’t his parent.

Director Woo Jeong-han and the branch manager watched the two actors.

“What scene are you filming this time?”

“It’s the story of the night of Gye-yu Jeong-nan. The scene where Danjong and Grand Prince Suyang meet. Have you seen Seo-jun’s acting video?”

“Oh. I did. He was amazing even though he was wearing casual clothes and had no co-star.”

“We’re going to film that.”

The branch manager nodded repeatedly at Director Woo’s words. This time, they had proper costumes, backgrounds, and co-stars. He wondered how amazing the scene would be.

“Does it take some time to start filming?”

“Huh?”

Director Woo tilted his head at the branch manager’s question.

“Don’t the actors need to get into their emotions? They’re so close, but they have to create a tense atmosphere between them. It must take some time, right? Oh, of course, I think it will be a great scene. Because it’s Lee Seo-jun and Ji-seok Lee’s acting.”

Director Woo chuckled at the branch manager’s words.

“It will be over soon. You’ll have to watch closely.”

“Huh?”

***

“Filming starts!”

The assistant director said and Seo-jun and Ji-seok got up from their chairs.

“We’ll do our best. Hyung.”

“Yeah. I practiced a lot too.”

Seo-jun and Ji-seok smiled wickedly at each other.

Yoon Seong-oh shook his head at the sight of the two actors.

They had such a big age gap, but they had a rivalry.

He found this relationship funny, but also hoped it would last long.

Seo-jun sat down and Ji-seok, who was standing at the end of the set, picked up a prop.

It was a sharp sword that dripped red paint.

Director Woo Jeong-han, who had been checking the actors, shouted loudly.

“Ready-!”

In an instant,

The branch manager felt like he was time traveling. It was supposed to be a set that only made part of the palace that was needed, but he couldn’t see any modern parts.

Only Seo-jun and Ji-seok.

No, Danjong and Grand Prince Suyang.

A heavy silence fell on the set.

It was indoors, so there was no way to hear it, but it seemed like he could hear the sound of a cold wind.

‘I’ve seen it many times, but… today is even more amazing.’

He had to watch closely, so the cinematographer had to brace himself not to miss a single moment.

The other cameras were the same.

On top of the tension that was like a tight rubber band, Director Woo Jeong-han shouted.

“Action!”

It was a failure.

Danjong closed his eyes.

Prime Minister Kim Jong-seo couldn’t bring soldiers because of the public’s eyes, and Grand Prince Suyang was the same. But maybe because Kim Jong-seo was the one who had the power now, he had to be more careful of the people’s eyes than Grand Prince Suyang. Maybe he was careless.

Whatever the reason, the result came out.

Danjong failed.

A scream came from outside. He didn’t know if Kim Naegwan, who had always been by Danjong’s side, was dead or alive.

The palace maids screamed.

He shouldn’t have heard it, but he seemed to hear a thud-thud of heavy footsteps.

Ah.

Danjong bit his lip. His two fists clenched on his knees trembled.

The fact that he could enter the king’s chamber so recklessly meant that there was a problem with Kim Jong-seo and Hwangbo In, who Danjong could rely on somewhat.

He was scared.

He was scared of his uncle.

In his chamber where he could only reveal his true feelings, Danjong closed his eyes tightly.

Tears seemed to come out. But Danjong didn’t cry and slowly opened his eyes.

They were full of regret. He had more regret than fear of his uncle.

“It’s over…”

The country he dreamed of was over.

He wanted to be a king after his grandmother and mother, who were queens.

He wanted to make a country for the people, a peaceful world.

“I haven’t even started yet…”

He had just started to learn, he had just started to express his will.

That was too bitter and resentful. It was unfair.

“If I had a little more time…”

A dark night.

The candle in Danjong’s chamber flickered. Danjong’s eyes turned to the door.

He saw a shadow of a person behind the paper window.

Thud!

The door of his chamber, which had never been opened so roughly before, swung open wide.

Danjong’s body jerked at the loud noise.

The traitor entered with blood dripping from him.

“Are you here, Your Majesty?”

It was a calm voice as always.

As if nothing had happened, as if he was just asking how he was doing.

Danjong’s eyes shook at the sight of blood. Grand Prince Suyang looked fine with blood all over him, but Danjong’s face turned pale.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

With a face that didn’t look sorry at all, Grand Prince Suyang said.

“There were some troublemakers who tried to take Your Majesty’s place. I rushed here in case something happened to Your Majesty, so I had no choice but to come in this state.”

The leader of the troublemakers laughed haughtily.

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty.”

He felt goosebumps from his toes.

Ah, ah. This must have been his uncle’s true face.

“I took care of them all without missing one.”

And when you’re done with you, it’s over.

Grand Prince Suyang stopped laughing and looked at Danjong.

It was a sharper look than the bloody blade he held.

They’re all dead.

Ah ah.

Everything.

Everything is over.

Even if he didn’t die here, it was clear that he was over as a king.

His head felt dizzy and he almost collapsed.

Danjong bit his cheek inside his mouth. But he couldn’t end it without any resistance.

Danjong’s eyes shone.

“I…”

Danjong spat out his words like blood to the beast-like man who was looking at him.

“I am the king of this country. Uncle.”

Grand Prince Suyang’s eyebrows twitched.

“Uncle.”

At that call, Grand Prince Suyang, who would later become Sejo, clenched his mouth.

Maybe he remembered the days he had lived in hiding.

He had passed those days and now he could finally stretch out.

He looked at Danjong with a fierce look.

“Listen well. I won’t kill you.”

He said it as if he was chewing each word.

“I’ll make this a disaster and make sure no one talks about it, and I’ll take the throne in a very legitimate way.”

Grand Prince Suyang grabbed Danjong’s collar.

Danjong’s eyes said, you’re still a traitor anyway, and Grand Prince Suyang yelled angrily.

“No matter how much you annoy me, I won’t kill you and become a traitor, so stop bothering me! Lee Hong-wi!”

Danjong’s pupils shook for a moment.

Chapter 167

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Chapter 167

A moment of silence passed, and Director Woo Jeong-han shouted.

“Cut! Okay!”

As soon as they heard Director Woo’s voice, Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok relaxed their faces and started to chat.

The perfect time travel was shattered in an instant.

The staff and the branch manager, who had been staring blankly, began to regain their senses.

Slowly, modern objects came into their sight.

The facade of the perfect palace was exposed, the cement floor was visible, and the wires on the floor, the dazzling lights, the cameras with large lenses, and the people wearing padding that did not match the hanbok.

It felt like their vision, which had only seen Danjong and Suyang Daegun, was slowly widening.

The staff, who had been immersed in the two actors’ performances, felt a sense of incongruity with the surrounding environment.

It was like finding a modern object in a historical drama they were watching.

A flaw in the gem. But that incongruity was only for a moment.

“Wow… That was no joke.”

“Right? Both actors are really good at acting. It feels different from watching them on television.”

“I thought Suyang Daegun was really swinging his sword.”

The staff nodded their heads in agreement.

“I was so nervous when Danjong answered back sharply.”

They were staff who had read the script.

They knew what lines would come out here.

They read the script and wondered what kind of acting Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok would show.

But the acting they saw with their eyes was beyond imagination, no, something they could not have imagined.

As they watched the two actors act fiercely in front of them, they wondered if this was the line they had read.

The lines that they had skimmed through seemed to be stuck in their ears as if they were alive.

‘This is a rare privilege.’

The art director smiled.

Who could see such acting with their own eyes?

It was a privilege only for the staff here.

‘This is Lee Ji-seok’s audition video acting.’

He understood why he had high standards when he saw Kim Naegwan’s acting.

With this kind of acting, he would want to gather better actors and make a perfect work.

The art director’s hands were itching.

For a moment, it felt like he was really in the palace of Joseon.

The set and props he had made blended perfectly.

He did not expect such a synchronization rate.

He felt like his hidden craftsmanship was revived.

It was too late to tear down and rebuild the set and props as they had already filmed for two months. But there was still some filming left.

The art team leader decided to make it more perfect.

The lighting staff said.

“I was really worried.”

“Worried?”

“When they act separately, it’s fine, but when they act together, I thought they might remind me of The Royal Physician. They looked so friendly before filming… But I guess it was a needless worry.”

The staff’s eyes turned to one place.

The other staff’s eyes also turned there.

The two people who seemed to be standing on a sharp blade until a moment ago were laughing and talking about how real this blood looked and what it was made of.

“How can they change so quickly when they start filming… Isn’t that amazing?”

The staff also nodded their heads and agreed.

***

The branch manager of Plus+Korea wiped his cold sweat with his handkerchief. Director Woo Jeong-han, who checked the footage, looked at the branch manager and smiled slyly.

“Short, right?”

The branch manager nodded his head and said.

“It really felt like a blink of an eye. But it also felt very long.”

The two actors’ performances made his heart flutter while making him unable to take his eyes off them.

When he watched them, every movement seemed to be engraved in his head so clearly, as if he was there himself, feeling tense. But when it was over, it felt too short that he wanted more.

His heart was still pounding and his hands felt sweaty.

The branch manager exhaled and said.

“I saw a post on the internet.”

“A post?”

“It said that Danjong’s story was too sad to watch it multiple times.”

Director Woo laughed.

This foreign branch manager who spoke fluent Korean even knew the word ‘multiple times’.

“Yes. I’ve seen it a few times too.”

“I think I would watch it several times just to see this scene.”

Director Woo smiled at the compliment.

A movie that the audience would watch multiple times.

There was no greater compliment for a movie director.

“Thank you.”

“It’s a shame that there are so many viewers who have to watch this scene with subtitles. I can’t tell them to learn Korean.”

He felt sorry for having to move his eyes to the subtitles to read them.

To turn his eyes away from such a wonderful performance, it was a pity.

‘I’m so glad I studied Korean.’

He was proud of himself when he was young and studied Korean hard.

Thanks to that, he came to the Korean branch and got to see this scene with his own eyes.

He thought it was a stroke of luck.

And he would be able to watch and listen and understand Lee Seo-jun’s Korean works in Korean in the future.

“But dubbing is a bit…”

Danjong and Suyang Daegun speaking English.

For the sake of expansion, it was inevitable, but he couldn’t help but frown. Director Woo’s words made the branch manager nod his head.

This was a scene that came out of the actor’s voice, accent, tremor, and breath.

If they dubbed it, they wouldn’t be able to feel even 50% of the emotions that Koreans felt.

Of course, subtitles wouldn’t make them feel the emotions perfectly either, but they would be higher than 50%.

“I know. We’re planning to put subtitles only. I was just saying it’s a pity.”

The branch manager smiled at Director Woo’s relief.

There were many people in the English-speaking world who were unfamiliar with subtitles, but the branch manager was not worried.

There was a work that had been uploaded with subtitles only and had been successful.

“Those who have seen The Royal Physician will all watch it. They have no choice but to watch it.”

The Royal Physician was influenced by Shadowman. That alone attracted many viewers.

‘It was like that back then… And now, there’s no need to say more.’

Lee Seo-jun now was more than that.

More people were open-minded and waiting for Lee Seo-jun’s work.

A historical movie of a foreign country, unfamiliar to them.

From the palace to the costumes, to the language.

They had never seen or were not used to them, so they felt awkward, but they wanted to try it because it was Lee Seo-jun’s work.

That’s why the views of The Royal Physician, which had been two years since its release, kept increasing.

That was,
the power of a superstar.

The branch manager smiled at the expected success.

“To be honest, I don’t think I can read the subtitles while watching the two actors.”

“That’s possible.”

Maybe subtitles were not a big problem.

It was a performance that captivated their eyes.

With their movements alone, with their expressions alone.

They might miss the subtitles while watching the performance.

“I really enjoyed watching the filming today. Please contact me if you need any production costs.”

The branch manager of Plus+Korea left the filming site with a bright face. In his hand, he held a signed paper from Lee Seo-jun.

***

The filming of Rebellion went smoothly.

They finished filming all the indoor scenes, and now it was time to film the outdoor scenes.

Director Woo Jeong-han decided to film shorter outdoor scenes rather than large-scale scenes that could have many NGs until the weather got warmer.

Today was the day when Danjong, who became Sangwang, left Gyeongbokgung, his royal residence, and moved to a new place, Changdeokgung.

Danjong and Kim Ho-young, who finished their makeup, sat side by side on chairs with their names on them.

The staff were busy running around.

They tried to stay as quiet as possible so as not to interfere with them.

“It’s a bit cold, but it’s nice to be outside.”

“Me too.”

Seo-jun nodded his head at Kim Ho-young’s words.

“Here, Ji-soo told me to give this to you. It’s a hot pack.”

“Please thank her for me. This is yuja tea made by my grandmother. It’s delicious.”

“Thank you.”

Kim Ho-young handed Seo-jun a hot pack and Seo-jun handed Kim Ho-young a yuja tea.

The two actors sitting side by side caught the eyes of the staff and the extras.

“Did you see Surprise? Isn’t it amazing?”

“I saw the article and Surprise too. It was really amazing.”

Seo-jun, who had good ears, chuckled inwardly as he drank his yuja tea.

Last Saturday, MBS’s show that delivered amazing stories of the world, ‘Surprise’, broadcasted Seo-jun and Kim Ho-young’s story.

The production company, the director, and the staff were all happy because it was a promotion for the movie.

‘My parents liked it too. My grandparents said it was amazing.’

According to Uncle Ho-young, his daughter and her friends were so excited that they talked about it everywhere.

Uncle Ho-young said he was glad that there was no trauma left from the fire accident.

The only one who felt embarrassed was Seo-jun, who received compliments for making a public service video well.

‘I intended to do it, but I didn’t save them directly…’

He sighed inwardly and heard a new story.

Kim Ho-young’s interview was posted on the internet.

“Uncle, did you do an interview too?”

“The promotion team asked me to do it. It was hard because it was my first time, but it was good.”

“Good?”

“Yeah. When I first acted, I wished it would be like this. This was exactly what I dreamed of. Acting in the same work with famous actors, doing interviews here and there. Every day is amazing and thrilling and fun.”

Seo-jun understood his feelings very well as a former extra actor and a superstar now.

He smiled happily and poured some yuja tea into Kim Ho-young’s cup as a celebration.

“Should we take this?”

“Good idea. Take it.”

The promotion team leader sparkled his eyes.

A photo of Danjong and Kim Naegwan wearing padding and drinking yuja tea side by side was quickly uploaded on the internet.

***

The day came.

A new king appeared and Danjong became Sangwang.

He had to leave Gyeongbokgung, the king’s residence.

Danjong stepped out of Gyeongbokgung with a pale face.

His legs trembled and his feet were heavy.

He felt like it was not his body.

“Sniff.”

Kim Naegwan and the court ladies who were attending Danjong shed tears.

His heart ached at the sight of the empty seats. During the Gyeyujeongnan, the people who blocked Suyang Daegun’s invasion died and not many were left.

Danjong came down the stairs and looked around.

The palace was already in Suyang Daegun’s hands.

There were few people who cried for him.

Most of them had cold expressions or avoided his eyes.

Danjong looked at the palace he had come out of, Gyeongbokgung.

There was his grandmother and his mother and where he had been.

He was intimidated by its grandeur, but soon became familiar with it.

He couldn’t take his eyes off it.

Every tile, every pillar, every window paper.

He looked at them in detail, slowly, as if to engrave them in his eyes, as if to dream of them, as if to draw them.

He saw petitions there, cared for the people, listened to the opinions of his officials, worried, agonized, laughed, cried, felt angry, happy, studied, missed, decided, achieved, and worried.

And finally,
was driven out.

Danjong bit his lip.

Tears seemed to flow out, but he was a king.

A king who was driven out, but he couldn’t show his tears to anyone.

His throat was sore.

His eyes were burning.

His chest felt stuffy as if it was blocked.

Many thoughts crossed Danjong’s mind.

The longing for his parents who had gone first and the lament for his fate that had become like this.

The guilt for the people who had died and the resentment for Suyang Daegun.

“Please…”

He swallowed all those feelings and opened his mouth.

It was a wet, trembling voice, but everyone pretended not to notice for the young king who tried to keep a calm expression.

“Please, be a virtuous king. Uncle.”

He didn’t know if he would hear it directly or through someone else, but Danjong said so.

At that word, another cry broke out from the people who were attending Danjong. Even those who avoided their eyes bit their lips and bowed their heads.

They wished only for the safety of the young king’s future.

Chapter 168

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Chapter 168

“Great job!”

After finishing the shooting for the day, Seo-jun greeted the staff and actors.

The people who were preparing for the next shoot smiled and said.

“Bye, Seo-jun!”

“Good luck with your entrance ceremony tomorrow!”

“Thank you!”

Seo-jun answered with a bright smile and headed to the parking lot with Ahn Da Ho.

As soon as they got in the car, Ahn Da Ho turned on the heater.

The warm and quiet car made Seo-jun’s expression soften.

“We should arrive by 3 o’clock if we go now.”

“Yes.”

“Are you ready for the entrance ceremony?”

Seo-jun’s car started moving. He leaned back on the seat and spoke in a drowsy voice.

“Yes. I have my uniform, my bag, and my stationery.”

“What about your textbooks?”

“They will give us the textbooks after the entrance ceremony.”

“You’re already a middle school student.”

Ahn Da Ho felt both happy and nervous.

He had always thought that Seo-jun would stay young forever, but he was already a middle school student.

In three years, he would be a high school student, and in another three years, he would be an adult.

‘Seo-jun as an adult…’

Ahn Da Ho glanced at Seo-jun through the rearview mirror, who had his eyes half-closed.

He smiled as he imagined Seo-jun as an adult.

He thought that Seo-jun would be an even more amazing adult than Ahn Da Ho could imagine.

The car was warm and quiet.

The sound of a violin flowed from the speaker, like a lullaby.

Seo-jun listened to the violin sound with his eyes half-closed, and soon realized who was playing it.

“Ahn Da Ho hyung. Is this violin piece by Jason?”

Ahn Da Ho laughed at Seo-jun’s quick recognition.

“Yes. He hasn’t released it yet, but he sent it to me first after recording it. He said he wanted to hear your opinion secretly. But you figured it out right away.”

“I can’t miss Jason’s violin.”

He could hear the traces of the sparkling violin fairy.

Seo-jun closed his eyes and enjoyed the violin performance.

The calm violin sound seemed to soothe his heartbeat.

“What’s the title?”

“In A Dream. It was composed by Professor Benjamin and played by Jason Moore.”

“I see.”

[In A Dream].

It was a really good piece, as expected from the two musicians.

The fluffy violin performance was like a dream, just as the title suggested.

“It would be perfect as a lullaby.”

Seo-jun’s voice stretched slowly.

His eyelids that were half-closed became heavier.

Just as his eyes were about to close completely,

Bang!

Seo-jun’s phone rang.

He came to his senses and rubbed his eyes as he took out his phone.

It was his friends.

Ji-yoon: Tomorrow is the entrance ceremony!

Mina: I know, right? It feels weird to wear a uniform.

Ji-ho: My mom told me to wear it properlyㅋ She said the uniform is expensive.

Ji-woo: You should wear it properly. Do sports in your gym clothes.

Ji-ho: Yes, ma’am.

Mina: Is Seo-jun still shooting?

Bang, bang, his phone kept ringing as he held it.

Seo-jun sent a message to his friends.

The sleepiness that had crept up on him was gone by now.

<No. I just finished and I’m on my way home.

Ji-woo: It’s still daytime, you finished early?

Lately, there were more days when he finished earlier than planned.

Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok practiced together whenever they had time, so they had good chemistry.

‘And Teacher Park Woon-yeol is good as always, and Uncle Ho-young has improved too.’

Seo-jun felt that the other actors were also getting more immersed in their roles.

‘I wonder why?’

Seo-jun tilted his head.

Seo-jun didn’t realize that his and Lee Ji-seok’s acting made the other actors immerse themselves in their roles as well.

They just acted fiercely like loyalists and traitors, and he thought they were good at acting and sparkled his eyes.

Ji-yoon: I’m looking forward to the movie.

Mina: Me too. There are articles coming out all the time.

Ji-woo: There are many places talking about Danjong on TV too.

Ji-woo’s message made Seo-jun laugh.

Unlike My Royal Physician, which was a KBC drama, the movie was not limited to any broadcasting station, so there were broadcasts related to Danjong everywhere.

Mina: There was a travel program about Danjong’s exile place

Ji-yoon: I saw that too! It was so sadㅠㅠ Danjong died when he was 17. He was only 3 years older than usㅠㅠ

Ji-woo: There was also a story about King Sejong. He gave work to his royal relatives, and their influence lasted until Danjong’s time.

Mina: There was also an opinion that King Sejong was sick and had no choice but to entrust work to his royal relatives.

<They said that King Munjong was not a weak king either. He was strong enough to resist Prince Suyang.

Ji-yoon: If King Sejong and King Munjong had stopped Prince Suyang properly, Danjong wouldn’t have diedㅠ

Ji-ho: What? Am I the only one who didn’t watch it?

Ji-woo: You went to soccer class then. You said it was boring and played games during the rerun.

Ji-ho: Oh.

<ㅋㅋㅋ

The kids laughed. Seo-jun also smiled and continued to message his friends.

***

March 4th.

The day of the entrance ceremony for most middle schools.

There was one school that was especially excited.

Even though there was still time until the entrance ceremony, students and parents were gathering at Yeoul Arts Middle School.

A child who ran to see the class assignment shouted loudly.

His cheeks were flushed with excitement.

“Mom! Lee Seo-jun is in class 1! He’s in the same class as me!”

“Really!? That’s great!”

The child’s parents took him to the class with a happy face.

The family that seemed to fly to the classroom caught the eyes of other parents.

“I hope my son is in the same class as Lee Seo-jun too! There’s a class assignment list over there. I’ll go check it out.”

“I’ll go check it out. You stay here.”

“Class 1. Please, class 1!”

There were students who were in class 1 with Seo-jun, but there were also students who were in class 2 without him.

Half of the children who checked their classes came back with disappointed faces.

“Ah, I’m in class 2. I’m not in the same class as Lee Seo-jun.”

The parents comforted their children who came back disappointed.

“Yeoul Arts Middle School only has two classes, so you can still get along with him even if you’re in different classes.”

“But… We won’t be able to act together unless it’s a group lesson.”

“You can be in the same class with him in second or third grade, not just in first grade.”

The students who checked their classes headed to their classrooms with tense faces, but the parents who headed to the auditorium had very excited faces.

They were parents who had become friends after attending the same acting academy and passing the entrance exam together.

“They say that there aren’t many parents who go to middle school entrance ceremonies. We weren’t planning to go either… But when else would we see Lee Seo-jun?”

“I know, right? Our relatives wanted to come too… But they said only family members could come in the announcement.”

“It would be a mess if our relatives came too. They would bring cousins and uncles.”

The parents nodded as they recalled their relatives who asked if they could go to the entrance ceremony with them.

They were more interested in seeing Seo-jun than their own children’s entrance ceremony.

***

Yeoul Arts Middle School, first grade, class 1.

As the door opened, the eyes of the children sitting in the classroom turned to the door. But when they realized that the person who came in was not their target, they sighed with a mix of disappointment and nervousness.

Kim Joo-kyung, who flinched at the piercing eyes, sat down at her seat with her name on it.

She put down her bag and looked around the classroom.

There were more children than she expected.

‘I thought I came really early…’

Last night.

Joo-kyung couldn’t sleep well because of her nervousness about entering middle school.

Will I make friends? Will the teachers be nice? How will the school be? Will I be able to follow the lessons?

She tossed and turned with all kinds of worries until she gave up sleeping and just got up.

‘My mom and dad must have felt the same.’

They were so excited to see Seo-jun in person that they couldn’t sleep well either. They had gone to the public service video shooting with their acting academy teacher, so they always regretted not seeing him.

The whole family got up early, got ready early, and arrived at school early.

‘So I thought there would be only one or two people…’

But there were almost half of the 20 students in the classroom.

She was lost in thought when she noticed the stares pouring at her.

They realized that she was ‘that’ Kim Joo-kyung who appeared on One Step at once.

“Hi!”

The child sitting next to her greeted her. Joo-kyung also smiled and greeted back.

“Hi!”

“I’m Yang Ju-hee. You’re Kim Joo-kyung, right? The one who appeared on One Step?”

“Yes. That’s me.”

Yang Ju-hee looked at Joo-kyung with admiration.

Unlike Yang Ju-hee, who had appeared on print ads or short plays, Kim Joo-kyung was a really famous child actor.

And she had acted with Lee Seo-jun.

“I think I would be too nervous to act with Lee Seo-jun. You’re amazing.”

“To be honest, I was too. I was so nervous.”

“How is Lee Seo-jun’s acting in real life? Is it different?”

Joo-kyung was about to answer when the door opened again.

The children thought it wouldn’t be him this time either, but they couldn’t help turning their heads reflexively.

Their eyes widened as they saw the face of the child who came in.

“Seo-jun!”

It was really,
the Hollywood star, Lee Seo-jun.

Seo-jun also noticed Joo-kyung.

He smiled brightly.

“Hi, Joo-kyung! We’re in the same class?”

Wow…

The children who saw Seo-jun’s real face for the first time opened their mouths and stared at him blankly.

Seo-jun wanted to get along with his new friends, so his aura was bursting out of his body.

It was a warm and pleasant aura, like the sunlight, that created sparkling lights.

Someone whispered.

“…Do I see a halo?”

“Is that the celebrity aura?”

“Oh my… He’s really handsome.”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek at the children’s reactions.

He was used to his classmates since he had been with them since first grade in elementary school, but the children here looked at him more like a celebrity than a fellow first grader.

It felt a bit awkward.

‘Well, I’ll get used to it soon.’

He shrugged his shoulders and asked Joo-kyung.

“Did you come early?”

“I couldn’t sleep well yesterday. It’s my middle school entrance ceremony. And I’m in the same school as you. My mom and dad were so nervous that they got ready early in the morning.”

“You came with your parents?”

“Yeah. They went with the teacher when we were shooting. They said they really wanted to see you, so they didn’t even open their store.”

“Their store?”

“Yeah. They bragged about it all day yesterday. That we’re in the same school as you. And that they might see you at the entrance ceremony. The customers were so jealous. They said they were more interested in seeing you than my entrance ceremony.”

Seo-jun laughed at Joo-kyung’s words.

The children looked at Seo-jun and Joo-kyung with sparkling eyes.

The superstar, Seo-jun, was amazing, but so was Kim Joo-kyung, who was chatting happily with him.

Chapter 169

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Chapter 169

Seo-jun, who had a conversation with Joo-kyung, looked around to find his seat.

The kids shrank their shoulders whenever Seo-jun’s eyes met theirs.

It seemed that his image as an actor was stronger than the recognition of being in the same class.

Especially, the first-year students of the acting department at Yeoul Arts High School had a stronger admiration for Seo-jun because they were learning to act.

Who would have thought that a Korean actor who was not even twenty years old would star in a Hollywood movie, make his name known to the world, win a Golden Globe Award, and even receive an Academy Award?

It was something that no one could have imagined before the actor ‘Lee Seo-jun’ appeared.

Seo-jun sat down awkwardly with a smile as the classroom became quieter and quieter.

‘Well, I’ll just say hello first.’

Seo-jun spoke to the kid sitting next to him.

“Hi. I’m Lee Seo-jun.”

The kid, who didn’t expect Seo-jun to greet him, looked at Seo-jun with a surprised face for a moment and quickly answered.

“Ah, hello. I’m Kang Jae-han. Nice to meet you!”

“Me too. I saw your audition video. You’re good at acting.”

“Huh? You saw it?”

“Yeah. It was your own creation, right? It was very impressive.”

Seo-jun recalled Kang Jae-han’s audition video uploaded on YouTube.

He was a little nervous, but when he started acting, he looked completely immersed in his role.

Of course, there were some flaws, but considering his age, he did well.

‘That’s why he passed.’

Seo-jun’s words made Kang Jae-han’s eyes widen.

‘How did he know that?’

He uploaded it on YouTube, but compared to the views of Seo-jun’s audition video, it was like the difference between the sun and a firefly.

‘One of those views was Lee Seo-jun?’

Kang Jae-han took a deep breath and stopped.

Wow. Wow.

The kids who were listening to their conversation exclaimed.

Joo-kyung, who was joking around with Yang Ju-hee, quickly approached Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun. Did you see mine too?”

“Yeah. I saw it first.”

At Seo-jun’s words, Yang Ju-hee, who was behind Joo-kyung, said.

“Hello. I’m Yang Ju-hee.”

“Hello. I’m Lee Seo-jun.”

“Nice to meet you. I’ve seen all the works you’ve been in. You’re really good.”

Ju-hee’s words made Joo-kyung and Jae-han nod their heads.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and answered.

“Thank you.”

“But… Kang Jae-han? Was that what you said?”

‘Hello.’ Ju-hee waved her hand lightly, and Jae-han also waved his hand slightly.

“I guess you saw it because you know Joo-kyung, but did you have a reason to watch Jae-han’s video? Did you watch it because he was better than the others?”

It was a statement that would have made headlines like [The child actor chosen by Hollywood star Lee Seo-jun!] if reporters had heard it.

Ju-hee’s words drew the kids’ attention to Seo-jun and Jae-han. Jae-han forgot to breathe again.

“Ah.”

“Ah?”

At the sight of Ju-hee and the kids who wouldn’t miss a word, Seo-jun scratched his cheek awkwardly and smiled.

“Well, I watched them all…”

“What do you mean by all…”

Ju-hee opened her eyes wide.

“You watched all the audition videos?”

Ju-hee’s words made the kids look surprised.

Seo-jun rolled his eyes at their intense reaction and answered.

“Yeah. All of them. Thirty-six.”

The kid who had his phone in his hand quickly entered the YouTube [Yeoul Arts] channel.

Out of 40 admitted students, 37 had posted their audition videos. One of them was Lee Seo-jun, himself, so he had seen all 36 of them.

“…36.”

A silent exclamation came out. Joo-kyung sparkled his eyes.

Joo-kyung had seen a few of them, but he never thought of seeing them all.

The kids were the same.

Ju-hee asked the question that the other kids wanted to ask.

“Did you see mine too?”

“Yeah. It was ‘Here We Meet Again’, right? You played Yuna.”

“…Oh my god.”

Ju-hee looked at Seo-jun with a surprised expression.

She didn’t expect him to remember the content as well.

He didn’t just glance at it.

He watched it carefully.

The other kids who heard their conversation lit up their eyes.

Someone raised his hand and said.

“Did you see mine too?”

“Yeah. You played Su-hyuk in ‘Let’s Meet Here Tomorrow’, right?”

The kid didn’t answer, but from the expression on his face, which was wide open, he could tell that Seo-jun’s words were correct.

Another kid raised his hand.

“What about mine?”

“I really liked it. I never imagined that Spring would show up.”

“And mine?”

“It was ‘Treasure Hunt in the Theater’, right? I couldn’t find the video anywhere, so I looked for the script. Do you know where the video is?”

Oh my god.

Seo-jun remembered all the kids’ audition videos.

He answered diligently to the kids’ questions.

Ju-hee, who was watching Seo-jun answer all the kids’ audition videos, poked Joo-kyung in the ribs.

“Do you have to do that much to become a Hollywood star?”

“No. I don’t think even Hollywood stars do that much.”

“He’s really amazing. Lee Seo-jun.”

He had a dazzling celebrity aura, a handsome face, and this unbelievable greatness beyond imagination.

She felt that he was really different from ordinary people.

Finally, Seo-jun confirmed all the kids’ audition videos and laughed weakly.

The three who didn’t post their videos seemed to be in class 2.

“It sounds weird to say this… but why did you watch them all?”

At Kang Jae-han’s words, Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, I might end up working with them in the same work someday. I was curious how they acted.”

“Then, when you act with other actors, do you also look for their previous works?”

At Ju-hee’s question, Seo-jun nodded his head.

“I try to find them if I can. It’s hard to find all the works of actors who have a lot of works, so sometimes I only watch a few of their recent works. But the audition videos were short, less than two minutes, and it was during the vacation, so I could watch them all.”

“I see.”

“Do you watch Hollywood actors’ works too?”

The kids perked up their ears at the mention of Hollywood.

It might be a pipe dream, but there were some kids who wanted to break into Hollywood.

And here, there was an actor who had achieved that pipe dream early on.

“Yeah. I watched Paul and Catherine’s works too.”

“Wow…”

“How is filming in Hollywood? Is it very different from Korea?”

“Well, there is a difference in production costs, so the scale seems to be bigger in Hollywood. The sets are also huge.”

“I see.”

The kids were absorbed in Seo-jun’s stories.

Seo-jun looked at the kids with sparkling eyes and told them some interesting stories as if he was telling an old tale.

“I want to see the Natra spaceship too.”

“A party with Hollywood stars…”

The children still had their dreams, but they seemed more comfortable around Seo-jun.

He smiled softly at them.

Then, the classroom door opened.

A student in a school uniform appeared.

He looked like a second or third grader.

He opened his mouth nervously.

“Is… is there a student named Seo-jun Lee here?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun raised his hand, and the student was startled.

He continued.

“You have to go now. You are the representative of the new students for the entrance ceremony.”

“Okay. I understand.”

“Seo-jun, good luck!”

Joo-kyung cheered him on, and the other kids also said some words of encouragement.

Seo-jun waved his hand and followed his senior to the auditorium.

***

“I brought Lee Seo-jun, the new student.”

The second grader who had brought Seo-jun alone with his overwhelming aura said in a tired voice.

It was not easy to handle the pressure.

The broadcasting club students who were busy with adjusting the equipment, the lights, and the scripts all turned their heads to the door.

Then, they were mesmerized by Seo-jun’s dazzling appearance.

Seo-jun chuckled.

It was the second time he saw this reaction today.

“Hello. I’m Lee Seo-jun.”

As if blinded by Seo-jun’s halo, the students who had barely opened their eyes came to their senses at his greeting.

The broadcasting club president got up from his seat and welcomed Seo-jun.

“Oh, oh. Hi.”

The president, who was a third grader in acting department, could not help but tremble in his voice.

Oh my god.

It’s really Lee Seo-jun! Lee Seo-jun!

They never thought they would be in the same school with him until last year!

The students who had lost their minds at his greeting regained their composure and…

“I’m a violin major! How was playing Stradivarius?”

No, they didn’t.

The music department students who knew his amazing playing skills were also staring at Seo-jun blankly.

He knows Professor Benjamin Morton and violinist Jason Moore!

And he plays violin so well!

The eyes of the acting and music department students sparkled.

They seemed ready to bombard him with questions any moment.

The art department vice president, who was not affected by Seo-jun’s influence, signaled to the art department students.

They covered the mouths of the other department students next to them.

With a somewhat calmer atmosphere, the vice president smiled gently and greeted him.

“Hi. I’m Lee Ji-hyun, the vice president of the broadcasting club. I’m a third grader in art department. The kids were dying to see you. They almost fought over who would go get you. But I understand why when I see you in person. You have a different vibe from ordinary people. Would you like to be a model for my drawings? I’m the best at sketching in our school.”

Lee Ji-hyun, the art department vice president, casually revealed her intention.

“Vice president!”

“Hey! Ji-hyun! I’m first! Seo-jun, please play Over The Rainbow with me!”

“W-would you like to do a play with us?”

Seo-jun laughed at the chaotic atmosphere.

He was flustered by their enthusiasm, but playing music and being a model for drawings sounded fun.

And acting was not something he had to think about.

As long as the work was good, he was ready to accept it whether it was a play or a movie.

“Come on. Enough of that. We have to prepare for the entrance ceremony.”

A low voice was heard.

They turned around and saw a man who looked like a teacher standing there.

“Oh, sir. You came too early.”

“It’s already time. President, start broadcasting.”

“Yes.”

At the teacher’s words, the students with regretful faces started to move.

The president handed Seo-jun an oath paper.

“Here’s the oath paper. When it’s your turn, greet the principal and read it while looking at the audience seat. There’s also a microphone, so it’ll be easy to find your spot.”

“Okay. I got it.”

Seo-jun nodded his head, and the president looked at him with a longing face and started his work.

[In a moment, we will begin Yeoul Art Middle School’s 11th entrance ceremony. All students from each class should gather at Yeoul Hall with their homeroom teachers. We repeat.]

The voice of the president who had been nervous before was clear and crisp on the microphone.

He was perfect in his pronunciation, tone, and speed of reading the script.

‘He’s really a third grader. I have to do well too.’

Seo-jun, who had taken a seat guided by the second grader, read the oath paper.

***

[We will now begin Yeoul Art Middle School’s 11th entrance ceremony.]

The new students, the second and third graders, the parents, and the teachers clapped their hands.

The multipurpose hall of Yeoul Art Middle School, which consisted of a stage and an audience seat, was called ‘Yeoul Hall’, but the students and staff called it simply ‘auditorium’.

This was where the students’ plays were performed and concerts were held.

The entrance ceremony began with the opening speech of the principal of Yeoul Art Middle School, followed by the introduction of the guests, the national anthem, and the admission declaration.

[Next, we have the oath of the new student representative.]

The teachers and the first graders of acting department who knew who the new student representative was stirred.

The others were curious, but they soon closed their mouths when they saw the new student who appeared from the side of the stage.

There were exclamations and applause everywhere.

“It’s Seo-jun Lee!”

“Seo-jun Lee was the new student representative!”

Two people were especially busy among those who were trying to get a better look at him.

They were Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who had been looking for Seo-jun among the first graders.

“No wonder, I couldn’t find him anywhere!”

“Honey. Camera. Camera!”

“Here it is. I have to take a good picture.”

Seo Eun-hye sparkled her eyes and took a picture of Seo-jun with her camera lens.

She had been taking pictures of Seo-jun for more than ten years. ‘Leave it to me!’

Seo-jun bowed to the principal and turned around to face the audience.

He opened the oath paper in his hand.

A light flowed from his body, creating a glittering aura.

Every movement of his was like a painting, and the art department students’ eyes sparkled.

Their hands were itching.

“Oath.”

Seo-jun’s calm voice echoed in the auditorium.

The people who had been talking to each other – students, parents, teachers – all shut their mouths.

They were captivated by his voice alone. It was like hearing a famous line from a movie.

They wished it was longer, but the oath was short.

“New student representative, Lee Seo-jun.”

As soon as Seo-jun finished his brief oath and bowed his head, applause erupted.

Chapter 170

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Chapter 170

[Title: Lee Seo-jun is in our school!]

I’m a third-year student in the music department of Yeoul Arts Middle School.

I wanted to go to Yeoul Arts Middle School because it has good facilities and support, but… since middle school is compulsory education, they can’t charge tuition fees, so there are not many arts middle schools (arts high school tuition is expensiveㅠ)

So the competition is fierce, and my rivals are the best of the best in the countryㅎㅎ (the first and second place winners of the concours also appliedㅋ) I won’t tell you my grades.

Honestly, I didn’t care much about Lee Seo-jun’s admission because it was a story of the acting department. I thought he would go somewhere…

Two years ago, in October.

The premiere! Over the Rainbow!

Professor Benjamin Morton, Jason Moore, and a Stradivarius! I think I’ve seen this movie 10 times!

I was amazed by Professor Benjamin Morton’s music, the violin performance, the Stradivarius, and then, really, I almost fainted when I heard that Lee Seo-jun played it. (He’s better than me)

So I became interested in him. Lee Seo-jun seems to do well even if he changes his major to violinㅎ

Anyway, today was the entrance ceremony… It seemed like all the parents of the first-year students came. (My mom and dad asked me why they couldn’t go as parents of current students. They are both fans of Lee Seo-jun, so of course they couldn’tㅎ)

I tried to find him among the first-year students in the auditorium, but I didn’t see him. So I was talking to my friend that it was strange,

On the stage, ta-da!

He was the representative of the new studentsㅎㅎ.

He came out wearing our school uniform… I didn’t know our school uniform looked so classy. I thought Lee Seo-jun bought a uniform that was made by artisans stitch by stitch. (By the way, our school has a group purchase)

He made such a cool appearance, walked up to the stage, bowed to the principal (really, everything was classyㅎ) opened the oath of admission, and it was like watching a speech at an international organization.

It was bright everywhere, but I thought only Lee Seo-jun had a spotlight on him. He was shining alone.

His voice was so good that when he said ‘oath’… it was quiet as a mouseㅎ I wished the oath of admission was longer for the first timeㅎ

That’s how the entrance ceremony ended.

The conclusion is,

Lee Seo-jun is in our school!!

-?? The entrance ceremony ended with a freshman representative oath?

=ㄱㅆ : There was more after that… but I forgot. Today my memory is only about Lee Seo-jun’s oath.

=ㅋㅋ I understand ㅋ

-Isn’t Yeoul Arts Middle School uniform pretty? I heard the material is good too.

=ㄱㅆ : ㅇㅇ It’s good, but Lee Seo-jun’s uniform looked better. It looked like a luxury suit rather than a uniform.

-I’m in the art department… and I’m drawing Lee Seo-junㅋ His drama and movie are amazing too, but he himself is shocking. He’s handsome. He has a different vibeㅋ He really shone by himselfㅋ

=ㄱㅆ : Just one picture.

=Just one picture…

=ㅎㅈㅁ…

[Title: A story I heard from a friend who is in the same class as Lee Seo-jun]

I heard from a friend who is in the same class as Lee Seo-jun that he is really amazing.

Yeoul Arts Middle School has 36 audition videos (excluding Lee Seo-jun’s) and he said he watched them all.

It’s a two-minute video, so you might think it’s not a big dealㅋㅋ but the problem is that he remembered all of them. He got at least 19 people in his class rightㅎ

+He also got right what drama and what role they played.

-Wow. That’s how you succeed.

-I would watch one or two at most during vacationㅎ

=22 It’s hard to watch them all. And he remembers them too, amazing!

-It’s different from elementary school. Stories like this come up too.

=Well, it would be strange if they didn’t. I don’t know about other child actors, but Lee Seo-jun level would be known for every move.

-Doesn’t he do anything at school?

=Even if they take measures, it will spread quickly.

Ahn Da Ho looked through the reviews of the entrance ceremony and the articles that came up everywhere.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, admitted to Yeoul Arts Middle School!]

[Lee Seo-jun, the representative of the new students at Yeoul Arts Middle School!]

[Lee Seo-jun in a school uniform, now a middle school student!]

[See the photos of Yeoul Arts Middle School entrance ceremony!]

The entrance ceremony was yesterday, but there were still articles today. There were a lot of comments too. Not only in Korea, but also overseas fans congratulated Seo-jun on his admission.

“Team 2’s work will increase.”

They must be checking all the sightings of Seo-jun, looking for rumors, correcting irrelevant articles right now.

‘There won’t be any big trouble.’

Seo-jun had been fine without any trouble for six years in elementary school.

Ahn Da Ho thought that middle school would be better since there were more people than elementary school. But he still planned to do everything he could.

Ahn Da Ho put down his phone and said to Seo-jun.

“I told you to be careful at school, but it’s hard to stop it completely. But if nothing special happens, there won’t be much reaction.”

“Right?”

Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

He showed his skills yesterday because it was the first meeting, but he didn’t plan to use any mana in normal times.

If he did that, the other kids would treat Seo-jun not as a celebrity, but as a friend, just like in elementary school.

‘But it won’t be as easy as the friends I got used to for six years. Hmm. Should I engrave my ability on the school building?’

Yeoul Arts Middle School was big because it had good facilities.

He couldn’t cover it all, so he had to engrave his ability only on the places where the first-year students often go.

‘That way I can supply mana too.’

Seo-jun searched his memory for a book that had such an ability.

Unless it was a suitable ability with the title (Creation), he couldn’t engrave it on the wall even if it wasn’t a top-notch ability.

‘I need to find it in the new library…’

He wondered how long it would take to find the right ability, and it seemed far away.

‘I need a search… a search function.’

Why didn’t his previous lives, who were great magicians, archangels, and archdemons with great abilities, create a search function?

Seo-jun made a sad face and blamed his previous lives that he didn’t even remember.

“Seo-jun! Let’s change clothes!”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun stopped thinking and got up from his seat at the staff’s call.

He left the future to the future Seo-jun and decided to enjoy the shooting now.

He got up from his seat with excitement and Ahn Da Ho thought of something.

‘I wonder if Seo-jun will hit puberty?’

These days, there are many kids who go through puberty in high grades of elementary school, but Seo-jun seemed to have not hit puberty yet.

Ahn Da Ho sat on a chair and looked at Seo-jun who was getting makeup done and searched ‘puberty’ on his phone.

The period of storm and stress, physical changes, emotional changes, cognitive changes, egocentrism, etc.

Terms that seemed familiar popped up.

‘I guess the most important thing is… emotion?’

Irritability, rebellion, friends, quarrels, growth.

‘Seo-jun being irritable, rebellious, quarreling…’

It was hard to imagine for Ahn Da Ho who had only seen the bright Seo-jun. But he thought he should think of some ways to deal with it with Seo-jun’s parents.

Seo-jun, who had experienced countless reincarnations and destroyed worlds, was reading the script of Rebellion without knowing Ahn Da Ho’s worries.

He had gone through the stormy times of his previous lives.

***

As the weather cleared up, the outdoor shootings that had been postponed were resumed.

Today, they were going to film the coronation ceremonies of Danjong and Sejo.

Both ceremonies took place in Geunjeongjeon, so they decided to shoot them on the same day.

The first scene to be filmed was Danjong’s coronation ceremony.

“Ready, action!”

The ceremony began outside the empty hall where Munjong’s body was laid.

The officials and relatives in mourning clothes, and Lee Hong-wi, who had taken off his mourning clothes and put on the royal ceremonial robe, bowed to Munjong’s body.

The ritual officer who offered incense said,

“Prostrate, rise, stand up.”

Lee Hong-wi followed his words and prostrated, then stood up and bowed.

The relatives of the same clan as Grand Prince Suyang and officials like Kim Jong-seo also bowed like that.

The funeral-like ceremony ended and they moved to Geunjeongjeon for the real coronation ceremony.

Just like Sejong’s coronation ceremony when he was a royal physician, the civil and military officials and relatives lined up in rows in the courtyard of Geunjeongjeon.

“Ascend to the throne.”

The ritual officer said with a bow.

Lee Hong-wi looked at the throne that his grandfather and father had ascended with a dark face.

He wanted to back away from the pressure that was different from Pyeonjeon, but he endured it.

He felt the gaze of the civil and military officials behind him and climbed up the stairs.

He was becoming a real king now.

‘Grandfather, father, mother. Please help me.’

He prayed earnestly as he moved his feet.

He put a prayer in each step, a fear in each step, and slowly moved forward.

The beads on the crown he wore on his head clinked as he moved.

He reached the top and exhaled, then turned his body to look down at the courtyard of Geunjeongjeon.

Thump.

His heart dropped to the floor at the pressure of the civil and military officials he saw.

The pressure from above was beyond his imagination.

He felt like he couldn’t breathe.

He moved his stiff legs and sat on the throne.

He straightened his back and placed his trembling hands on his knees.

Lee Hong-wi knew well.

This was not a place where he could shrink because he was young.

He recalled his grandfather and father’s dignity and fixed his expression.

[(Pre) The Wings of the Fallen King of Jo-in Clan are activated.]

Seo-jun didn’t use much pre-abilities. Not yet. Lee Hong-wi at this moment was just Lee Hong-wi who followed Sejong and Munjong’s appearance.

[[(Pre) The Wings of the Fallen King of Jo-in Clan – Intermediate] temporarily lowers its rank.]

[(Pre) The Wings of the Fallen King of Jo-in Clan (Low) are activated.]

It was possible to adjust the rank temporarily after becoming able to use intermediate abilities.

Until now, when he activated his abilities, they didn’t work if he had less mana than needed, but after opening the door to the intermediate library, he could adjust the rank of his abilities according to the amount of mana.

‘Of course, I can’t raise it, but… this is something.’

Small wings like sparrow wings sprouted from Seo-jun’s back and fluttered.

The king’s spirit that flowed like a breeze along with the wings wrapped around Seo-jun.

A faint king’s spirit flowed out from Lee Hong-wi who sat on the throne.

The spirit spread to Geunjeongjeon with the wind.

The actor who played Tongchan was the first to feel that thin dignity.

“Salute!!”

The relatives and civil and military officials placed their left hand over their right hand and clasped their hands together on their forehead.

And they shouted in unison as they did three years ago at the young king’s coronation ceremony.

“Long live!”

Again, Tongchan shouted.

“Salute!!!”

There was a storm of blood, and the young Sangwang was still in the palace.

The officials who were gathered here guessed what would happen next.

They called it Jeongnan, a loyalist of rebellion.

The rebels who defied heaven smiled at the sky.

The loyalists who lost their king to rebellion closed their mouths and lowered their heads.

“Long live the King!!”

A loud shout echoed through the set.

“Cut, okay!”

There were many people to shoot, so he thought there would be one or two NGs, but it ended in one go.

There were still close-up shots and bust shots left, but they seemed to be over soon.

Director Woo Jeong-han, who was estimating the shooting time, asked the assistant director.

“Tell the costume team to prepare Sejo’s ceremonial robe.”

“Yes! I got it!”

The assistant director ran to where the costume team was, feeling like he would get off work early today.

***

“Ready, action!”

Grand Prince Suyang, wearing a ceremonial robe, got off the palanquin and walked briskly toward the throne.

Unlike Lee Hong-wi, who moved slowly with a trembling heart, he walked with no fear at all.

His steps showed his will to lead Joseon in the future and his satisfaction with finally taking this place.

Everyone held their breath at Grand Prince Suyang’s atmosphere, which was opposite to Danjong’s.

Seo-jun silently applauded Lee Ji-seok for his great acting.

As Grand Prince Suyang sat on the throne, Tongchan shouted.

“Salute!!”

The relatives and civil and military officials placed their left hand over their right hand and clasped their hands together on their forehead. And they shouted like they did at Danjong’s coronation ceremony.

“Long live!”

Again, Tongchan shouted.

“Salute!!!”

There was a bloodbath, and the young king was still in the palace.

The officials who were here knew what would happen next.

They called them Jeongnan, the loyalists of rebellion.

The rebels who defied heaven looked at the sky and smiled.

The loyalists who lost their king to rebellion shut their mouths and bowed their heads.

“Long live the King!!”

Between the loud shouts,

A man who defied heaven appeared.

It was King Sejo.

Chapter 171

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Chapter 171

Park Young-jin looked around nervously.

He was in the middle of a rural road, where cars and people were scarce.

He had no idea which direction to go.

The cameraman and the youngest PD laughed at Park Young-jin’s plight.

“I can’t believe I’m left behind! Left behind!!”

Park Young-jin, who couldn’t even start, looked pitiful.

Or maybe it was part of the plan.

The youngest PD soon told him the direction to the filming location.

Park Young-jin started walking that way.

A road with no cars or people.

Park Young-jin sighed at the bleakness.

“How long will it take?”

“About two hours on foot.”

“…Please, someone, pass by…”

Park Young-jin clasped his hands and prayed.

After walking for a while, his prayer seemed to be answered.

He heard a car sound from behind.

Unlike Park Young-jin, who brightened up, the youngest PD looked disappointed and turned around.

“It’s a car! Can I hitch a ride?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you too sad?!”

Park Young-jin and the two others stood by the road and waited for the car.

Please, let there be an empty seat.

Park Young-jin widened his eyes at the sight of a rather large car.

A tourist bus that he never expected to see on this country road.

And it seemed like there was more than one.

Tourist buses and cars following them.

The three of them blinked their eyes in confusion.

Then, the window of the driver’s seat of the first tourist bus went down.

“What are you doing here… Oh? Aren’t you Park Young-jin?”

“Yes. Hello. I’m filming for Working Man right now. Can I get a ride?”

“Wait a minute.”

The driver stopped the car and got up from his seat to go to the back.

The youngest PD whispered to Park Young-jin.

“Do you think it’s a group tour?”

“Maybe.”

Meanwhile, the cameraman filmed the cars behind the tourist bus with his camera.

Two buses and a small bus, and a black car that looked expensive even at a glance.

“Hyung, isn’t that car a luxury car?”

“Huh?”

Park Young-jin turned around at the cameraman’s call.

The car looked familiar. Where did he see it… As Park Young-jin was about to recall, the driver said.

“It’s okay.”

“Wow! Thank you! Where should I get on?”

The tourist bus, the small bus behind it, or the last car.

The driver smiled at Park Young-jin’s question.

“You can get on the last car.”

“Okay! Thank you so much!”

Park Young-jin walked happily to the end.

The youngest PD and the cameraman also followed him with a smile.

“When we did the pre-survey, there was no car passing by.”

“I told you I’m lucky!”

“Right. I should call the PD. We might arrive sooner than expected.”

The youngest PD took out his phone as they reached the door of the last car.

Park Young-jin kept tilting his head.

“This car looks so familiar…”

“It looks like there are only a few of them in Korea.”

“That’s what I’m saying. I’ve seen it in real life, not in a picture… Where…!”

As Park Young-jin was about to continue, he remembered where he had seen this car.

This! No way!

He looked shocked as if he had seen a ghost.

The cameraman, who was filming Park Young-jin’s face, turned his head and then quickly pointed his camera at the car.

The black car door slid open.

Under the shining sun, someone came out of the car.

The cameraman was startled and his camera shook.

Park Young-jin recognized the face and shouted.

“That’s right! Seo-jun’s car!”

“Ahaha. Hello!”

Seo-jun’s cheerful laughter was heard.

The youngest PD, who was talking to the PD on the phone, turned around at the noise.

“Yes. PD. We might arrive sooner than…!”

And there, he saw an actor’s face that he never thought he would see here.

While the youngest PD stared blankly at Seo-jun and Park Young-jin greeting each other, the PD on the other side of the phone asked him.

“So you think you’ll arrive sooner? Or not?”

“…PD”

“What?”

“We hit the jackpot.”

“What? Why?”

“Hyung got a ride from someone,”

“Then you’ll come early. I need to adjust the schedule…”

“The owner of the car is Lee Seo-jun.”

“?? What?”

“Lee Seo-jun. Actor Lee Seo-jun!”

The PD, who had paused for a few seconds to process the youngest PD’s words, screamed like a banshee.

Seo-jun and Park Young-jin’s ride together was not long.

They had to part ways at a fork in the road because they had different destinations.

The [Working Man!] production team, who had rushed to meet them at the fork after receiving the youngest PD’s call, filmed Seo-jun and Park Young-jin.

“Uncle! Have a safe trip!”

“Seo-jun, do well in your filming! I’ll definitely watch your movie! I’ll promote it hard too!”

“Thank you! PD, cameraman, please be careful!”

The youngest PD, who was waving his hand vigorously with a bright face, whispered to the main PD.

“Did you film it well?”

“Yes! I got permission. The manager said it’s okay to broadcast it!”

“You lucky guy! Good job!”

They expected a high rating for this episode.

They all smiled and waved at the departing team.

***

After the unexpected encounter, the filming team arrived at their destination, Maejukru, and quickly prepared for the shooting.

Seo-jun and the actors also changed their clothes and finished their makeup.

“Ready, action!”

Danjong stood at Maejukru with a lonely back.

He was trying to console his gloomy heart by looking at the scenery as he did yesterday, when Kim Naegwan and Kangdol ran to him.

Kangdol cried out with tears in his eyes and said with difficulty.

“Let’s run away. Your Majesty! Let’s hide somewhere, whether it’s Geumgangsan or Baekdusan!”

“Don’t call me Your Majesty.”

“That’s not important! Let’s run away!”

“Yes. Your Majesty! Kangdol is right. We have to leave quickly. Kangdol knows this road well, so hurry up!”

Danjong sensed it from their words.

“Did my uncle… order you?”

“That tiger-faced bastard…!”

Kangdol shouted angrily at Danjong’s words.

That tiger-faced bastard had driven out the benevolent Danjong and seized the throne.

He also killed the loyalists and exiled Danjong.

He felt his blood boil whenever he thought of that traitor.

Kim Naegwan’s face turned even paler than before.

“…Your Majesty. You have to leave here quickly!”

I see.

Danjong looked at Kim Naegwan, who was beating around the bush, and got a clear answer.

He looked at the blue sky. Many faces came to his mind. Danjong smiled faintly.

“So this is how it ends.”

Where did I go wrong?

That was what he always thought about on his way to Yeongwol.

What if I had done this or that?

He resented his father and mother who had left him first.

He also blamed his grandfather who had entrusted him to his uncle Seo-yang. But they were all useless thoughts.

The end he had anticipated had come.

He couldn’t sleep easily since the night he arrived in exile.

He tossed and turned every night, imagining the worst day.

Maybe it wouldn’t come, he thought. But then, that day really came.

The cries of Kangdol and Kim Naegwan reached Danjong’s ears, who was lost in his thoughts.

“Let’s run away already!”

Kangdol and Kim Naegwan were ready to carry Danjong and run away at any moment.

Danjong felt their sincere hearts and laughed. It was a laugh that seemed to crumble at any moment.

Danjong also wanted to run away.

He was only 17 years old.

He still had a long life ahead of him. But what held Danjong back was the duty that had weighed on his shoulders since he was born.

He had experienced many things and knew very well what Sejo would do.

He would blame the negligence of the governor and punish him, and turn Yeongwol upside down, looking for accomplices or helpers.

“If I run away, he will turn the whole world upside down like this.”

“Your Majesty…”

Danjong saw smoke rising from afar. It was Kangdol’s village.

There were children laughing and people working hard there.

“This place won’t be safe either.”

They were the people he had saved. Danjong smiled warmly.

“As a former king, I have to protect my people.”

Kangdol and Kim Naegwan bowed their heads in front of the king who thought of his people.

“Cut, okay! We’ll take a break and start filming again!”

At the friendly director’s words, Kim Ho-young, who played Kim Naegwan, and Park Cheonil, who played Kangdol, wiped their tears.

Unlike the two who were slowly calming down, Seo-jun, who had been their kind king, was stretching with a smile.

“Seo-jun, what do you want to drink?”

“Hmm. Lemon tea.”

As Seo-jun sat down on a chair after finishing his stretching, Ahn Da Ho asked him. Ahn Da Ho opened the thermos with lemon tea and poured it into a cup.

Seo-jun took a sip of the warm lemon tea and smiled comfortably.

His surroundings were quiet today. Lee Ji-seok and Park Woon-yeol, who had come to watch the afternoon filming, also kept their distance from Seo-jun unlike the last filming when they chatted with him.

Ahn Da Ho handed him the script and Seo-jun read it quietly.

To avoid disturbing Seo-jun, the staff and the actors also looked at him from a distance.

Of course, they couldn’t stare at him openly and only glanced at him secretly.

“Don’t you wonder what kind of acting he will do?”

“Yes. I think he will do well, but I’m curious how well.”

At Park Woon-yeol and Lee Ji-seok’s words, the supporting actors nearby whispered.

“Will he do well? He only has one line and it’s all expression acting…”

“He’ll do well. That’s why those actors came to see him.”

“I wish I could talk to him once.”

The supporting actor who played soldier 1 said and the actor who played soldier 2 said.

“I want to see his acting. He’s an actor who has filmed Hollywood movies too. I want to see how he acts in front of my eyes.”

The supporting actors who had grown from extras to famous actors nodded at the young supporting actor who played soldier 2.

“We don’t know when we’ll get this chance again. We have to watch carefully.”

“I’ve seen other actors’ acting while doing extras too, but I wonder how different it will be.”

The supporting actors talked about Seo-jun. Normally, Seo-jun would have felt embarrassed by hearing their conversation with his sensitive hearing, but not today.

He had nothing in his quiet mind but the script. He focused on the script and imagined the acting he would perform in his head.

A few moments later, the filming began.

“Ready, action!”

Danjong knelt down in the yard of Gwanpungheon, his residence in Yeongwol.

Kim Naegwan and Kangdol, who shouldn’t be here, hid behind a tree and sobbed.

“Nosan-gun is plotting something with Geumseong-daegun…”

The governor appeared with a medicine and said something, but Danjong didn’t hear it.

Danjong stared blankly at the medicine. The black medicine looked like cold water in a dream.

The governor finished his words and stepped back a few steps.

He had heard the rumors that circulated in the palace.

Everyone kept their mouths shut, but they knew.

The story of how his uncle had ousted his nephew and taken his place.

He felt like he was doing something wrong by giving the medicine to Danjong, who had been a rightful king.

He remembered the words of those who had trembled in fear, saying that he would be punished by heaven for disobeying the king of heaven.

A heavy silence fell on Gwanpungheon.

Everyone’s eyes were on Seo-jun.

In the silence where even the birdsong disappeared.

Seo-jun’s facial muscles moved slowly.

The black medicine slowly rose from Danjong’s feet.

He felt like he was sinking into a sticky swamp.

He couldn’t get out.

He felt his feet getting cold and was afraid.

He had anticipated and prepared for this day since he left the palace. But it was only a thought.

The death he saw with his own eyes was terrifying enough to make him nauseous.

Why do I have to die?

Danjong’s eyes were filled with fear and doubt.

Why did my grandfather entrust my uncle with the regency?

Wasn’t it forbidden from ancient times to give a position to a relative who could be the king’s biggest enemy?

Why did my father die so early? If only he had lived a little longer, a little longer, and guided me.

Danjong bit his lip. His eyes were full of resentment and anger.

Why couldn’t I run away? If I had run away with Kim Naegwan, I could have lived. I wanted to live more too.

What is the king’s duty? What are the people?

He wanted to lash out at everything.

Why do I have to take care of the people? Why do I have to go through this?

Danjong closed his eyes tightly.

I should have ignored the people and run away!

No.

His tense face relaxed slowly.

No. That was a lie.

Danjong loved his people and his country. He wanted to be a great king like his grandfather and father.

He didn’t have much power, but he had done everything he could with his life.

He risked his life to stop Suyang’s rebellion, and he didn’t run away to protect the innocent people.

Danjong,

He had done his best as a king.

Danjong smiled softly and looked at the sky.

“…Didn’t I do well?”

At that, Kim Naegwan and Kangdol burst into tears without knowing.

Hearing the cries of the people who loved him, Danjong slowly reached out for the medicine.

“Cut, okay!”

Before Seo-jun’s hand touched the bowl of medicine, the friendly director shouted cut.

At that sound, Seo-jun blinked his eyes and stopped his hand in mid-air.

The assistant director ran over and snatched the medicine away like a hawk catching its prey.

‘Huh, what’s going on?’

Seo-jun tilted his head as he looked at the empty table.

“Wasn’t I supposed to drink the medicine?”

“No, you don’t have to. The script said so, but I think it’s better to stop here.”

It wasn’t good for the audience to be too immersed in the movie.

Especially if it was death.

The director knew the right balance.

Seo-jun looked disappointed at his words.

‘But that was delicious…’

It looked black and unappetizing, but so were cola and chocolate.

Seo-jun decided to ask how to make it later.

Meanwhile, the staff and the actors were wiping their tears.

“If he had drunk the medicine, we would have cried our eyes out.”

“Assistant director. Nice!”

“That young kid drinking poison…”

“I heard he was actually strangled by a servant…”

“What!?”

Everyone was surprised by the staff’s words.

“There are many stories about Danjong’s death. There are poison theories, suicide theories, murder theories.”

“That’s so pitiful.”

Park Woon-yeol wiped his tears with a handkerchief.

Lee Ji-seok also sniffed his nose.

“They say you cry more when you get old.”

“Everyone is crying. What are you talking about. It’s because of Seo-jun’s acting,”

“Yeah. He expressed anger, resentment, doubt, everything with just his face. He’s really an amazing actor.”

“Right?”

Lee Ji-seok smiled as if he had been praised too.

Seo-jun joined their conversation.

He had a thermos in his hand.

He had asked the staff for the fake poison recipe and got a whole thermos of lemon tea from Ahn Da Ho, who had a red nose.

‘Well, lemon tea is good too.’

“Teacher. Do you want some lemon tea?”

“Sure. That sounds good.”

“What about me?”

“Just wait a bit.”

Seo-jun handed him a cup of lemon tea and sat next to them, sipping his lemon tea.

Park Woon-yeol smiled and said.

“Is this the last filming?”

“Yes. If there’s no additional filming, this is the last one.”

“Then let’s do our best until the end.”

And so, the filming in Yeongwol, Danjong’s exile place, came to an end.

Chapter 172

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 172

The last filming of Rebellion was held at Gangnyeongjeon.

“Seo-jun will act with you, even though he won’t appear on the screen. It’s more realistic to act with someone who’s actually there than to pretend that someone is there.”

“Okay. I understand.”

Lee Ji-seok nodded at the director’s words.

“When you act, Seo-jun, give off a strange vibe. Do you remember when you filmed Evil Spirit?”

He said that and scratched his cheek.

He had filmed Evil Spirit when he was six years old and it had been seven years since then.

How could he forget?

Contrary to the director’s worry, Seo-jun remembered it vividly.

“I remember!”

The director was amazed by Seo-jun’s words and continued.

“I want you to act like that, with a weird atmosphere.”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun nodded his head. He had read the script and chosen a suitable ability.

“Then let’s start filming!”

[(Evil) The Fallen King of the Bird Tribe’s Feather – Lowest Grade]

You can use the power of wind.

The spirit of the last king who shared the downfall of his country appears.

How could he not have any fear or resentment?

The last king of the bird tribe who stayed in the castle until the end had hesitated and worried a lot.

The grudge that the king of the bird tribe had harbored remained as an ability. It was the lowest grade because it was a remnant, but it was enough.

Seo-jun, who wore a dragon robe, sat on a throne in Gangnyeongjeon.

“Ready,”

He heard the director’s voice.

Seo-jun took a deep breath.

He had to be careful when using evil abilities, so he focused more than when he used good abilities.

Now,

[(Evil) The Fallen King of the Bird Tribe’s Feather is activated.]

It was time to act as Danjong, who would be stuck with Sejo forever.

“Action!”

At the same time, an ominous aura spread over the throne of the traitor who dared to defy heaven.

***

“It’s on again.”

Park Seong-won sighed as he saw the preview of [Working Man!] that he had seen many times while flipping through TV channels.

[The left behind Park Youngjin! Who is his savior!?]

The last filming of Rebellion was held at Gangnyeongjeon.

“Seo-jun will act with you, even though he won’t appear on the screen. It’s more realistic to act with someone who’s actually there than to pretend that someone is there.”

“Okay. I understand.”

Lee Ji-seok nodded at the director’s words.

“When you act, Seo-jun, give off a strange vibe. Do you remember when you filmed The Evil Spirit?”

He said that and scratched his cheek.

He had filmed The Evil Spirit when he was six years old and it had been seven years since then.

How could he forget? Contrary to the director’s worry, Seo-jun remembered it vividly.

“I remember!”

The director was amazed by Seo-jun’s words and continued.

“I want you to act like that, with a weird atmosphere.”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun nodded his head.

He had read the script and chosen a suitable ability.

“Then let’s start filming!”

[(Evil) The Fallen King of the Bird Tribe’s Feather – Lowest Grade]

You can use the power of wind.

The spirit of the last king who shared the downfall of his country appears.

How could he not have any fear or resentment? The last king of the bird tribe who stayed in the castle until the end had hesitated and worried a lot.

The grudge that the king of the bird tribe had harbored remained as an ability. It was the lowest grade because it was a remnant, but it was enough.

Seo-jun, who wore a dragon robe, sat on a throne in Gangnyeongjeon.

“Ready,”

He heard the director’s voice.

Seo-jun took a deep breath.

He had to be careful when using evil abilities, so he focused more than when he used good abilities.

Now,

[(Evil) The Fallen King of the Bird Tribe’s Feather is activated.]

It was time to act as Danjong, who would be stuck with Sejo forever.

“Action!”

At the same time, an ominous aura spread over the throne of the traitor who dared to defy heaven.

***

“It’s on again.”

Park Seong-won sighed as he saw the preview of [Working Man!] that he had seen many times while flipping through TV channels.

[The left behind Park Young-jin! Who is his savior!?]

SBC’s promotion was annoying not only Park Seong-won but also many others. There were many posts on the internet.

-If it’s nothing special, I’ll spam their board. I’m serious.

=22 I can memorize their ads from beginning to end now. Just stop it.

-How much do they have to do to not get spammed?

=Seo-jun level?

=?? Just say you want to spam them. Do you really think they met ‘by chance’? It’s all planned and scripted.

=22 Seo-jun level is not enough. He should just come out.

And then [Working Man!] aired.

In front of Park Young-jin, who was running around in the countryside, a huge tourist bus appeared. He had expected at least a car, but the viewers were speechless at the sight of the bus.

-?? Tourist bus?? Tour. Ist. Bus?

-I should just go spam them now

=22 Me too

But there were more cars behind the bus. The last car looked different even on the screen.

-???

Shining in the sunlight, someone came out of the car. The camera shook as if it was surprised. Park Young-jin shouted as he saw his face. The viewers screamed in earnest.

-Seo-jun!?!

-The real Seo-jun!?

-Seo-jun came out? Where?!

-So that’s why they did so much advertising…

Seo-jun’s appearance on [Working Man!] was short, but Park Young-jin promoted it hard. He bragged to the members whenever he could, and shouted during the games.

“Look at this! Look!”

“…It sounds like you’re swearing.”

“Hahaha. Have you ever ridden in the same car with Seo-jun? I have!”

“Ugh.”

Choi Soohee and Jung-hoon, who were sincerely jealous and angry, targeted only Park Youngjin.

Park Young-jin ran away laughing.

He promoted hard as he promised with Seo-jun.

“Look at this! Look!”

[Who is the star that met the left behind Park Young-jin?!]

[Why are you here? The superstar that no one expected!]

The editing of Rebellion was finished and an internal screening was held for the actors and staff.

The director sat next to Seo-jun and said.

“We’re planning to release it in America too.”

“America?”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho’s eyes widened.

The director smiled brightly and nodded.

“Yes. It will only be shown in theaters where there are many Koreans, but still. It means a lot to have a simultaneous release in America. To be honest, I think some people will come to see it anyway.”

‘I see. Then Na-ra, Rachel, and Evan can see it sooner.’

He thought of his friends who had considered coming to Korea because the upload of Plus+ was too slow. Na-ra and Evan would enjoy it, but Rachel, who was learning Korean, would find the historical drama difficult.

“Did you decide on the American distributor?”

“Plus+ agreed to help us.”

He wondered if he should introduce them to Marina Studio, but Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho nodded at the director’s words. Plus+ was one of the investors.

“Director. When will the trailer come out?”

“I finished editing it yesterday. It will probably be uploaded at midnight tomorrow.”

The internal screening was a success and the production company Danghong released a press release.

[June, Rebellion’s grand opening!]

[Simultaneous release in America? Under negotiation!]

[The story of Danjong and Sejo, re-released!]

[Another historical drama by Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok! The fans of The Royal Physician gathered again!]

[Tonight at midnight! Rebellion trailer will be uploaded on YouTube and Plus+!]

[The wait that started from the audition! Rebellion is opening!]

[Will the scenes from the audition video appear?!]

[TV ads start tomorrow!]

-Wow. YouTube? Plus+? Which one should I watch?

-We’ve been waiting for seven months since November!

-But it was nice to get some hints in between lol

=Yeah lol November was the audition video, January was the food truck photo, February was the unexpected encounter lol March was Lee Seo-jun’s entrance ceremony, May was the trailer!

-The shooting photos were amazing. To see Seo-jun wearing a dragon robe!

=22 He was wearing a padding so it looked oddly modern lol

-Do you think the audition video will appear?

=Even if it doesn’t, the atmosphere will be similar

-Time is too slow.

=It’s only 9 o’clock.

=10 o’clock!

=11 o’clock!

=12 o’clock!!

Park Seong-won refreshed the YouTube channel [Rebellion] as soon as it was midnight.

“It’s out!”

There were many people like him, so the views went up in an instant, but Park Seong-won didn’t care.

He was already immersed in the trailer.

The screen was filled with gray stones.

It was a stone road.

The camera slowly moved forward, showing the stone road. Why are they only showing the floor?

He tilted his head, and Park Seong-won remembered a similar place.

When people heard that Lee Seo-jun was filming a historical drama, they smelled money and started to appear one by one.

Travel products related to Danjong were created, characters were made, novels and history books that explained the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty in modern language were published.

The officials of Gyeongbokgung Palace also didn’t miss this opportunity and held a coronation ceremony event. Sometimes a young king, sometimes a bearded king sat on the throne. Anyone could tell they were Danjong and Sejo.

Park Seong-won also read the most popular history book ‘The Life of Danjong’ and visited palaces such as Gwanghwamun and Gyeongbokgung Palace and watched the coronation ceremony.

“This is in front of Geunjeongjeon, right?”

Large stones covered the ground.

It was a familiar place for historical dramas.

It was where Sejong’s coronation ceremony was held in The Royal Physician.

It was Geunjeongjeon.

The screen changed.

Top, bottom.

It was split into two screens.

The feet of two people walking on two stone roads were shown.

They wore the same shoes, but the sizes were different.

The top one had small feet, and the bottom one had big feet.

He walked hesitantly.

He walked confidently.

Boom!

With a loud drum sound, a song that seemed to be the OST of Rebellion played.

The two screens slowly moved up from their feet.

He fidgeted with his hands nervously.

He felt the strength in his clenched fists.

The lower garments of the two people were shown.

His lips were tight with tension.

His lips curled up with satisfaction.

The crowns of the two people shook.

He looked ahead with tense eyes.

He looked around with ease.

The camera that had zoomed in on the two kings moved away.

The screen showed them sitting on the throne, with Geunjeongjeon in full view.

The screen that showed the two kings turned around and showed the officials who filled the courtyard of Geunjeongjeon.

A loud sound was heard.

“Long live!!”

“Long long live!!”

With that shout, the screen flipped over.

Between the beads of the crown, the faces of the two kings were shown.

A calm and confident gaze.

A rough and ruthless gaze.

A will that bloomed in fear.

The screen turned black.

A brush with white ink wrote rough letters on it.

[Rebellion]

[Opening in June!]

Park Seong-won was amazed by the trailer he was watching.

From their footsteps to their hand movements and gazes.

The comparison between the top and the bottom showed the differences between Danjong and Sejo more clearly.

“And the last one was definitely Sejo on top, right?”

Just like the words ‘Rebellion’, the trailer was full of the feeling of rebellion.

“Should I watch it again?”

Park Seong-won clicked on replay.

The people who watched the trailer did the same.

-The trailer feels like a rebellion.

-Until the officials came out, the top was Danjong and the bottom was Sejo, but after they came out, the top was Sejo and the bottom was Danjong.

-The chills when they shouted long live. Sejo lived long enough to match long live, but Danjong died young.

-The trailer is crazy… The directing is amazing.

-But there’s less of The Royal Physician vibe than I worried about?

=22 What’s The Royal Physician? It’s just Danjong and Sejo lol

-I wish it was June already!

Chapter 173

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 173

As June approached, Korea became more and more lively.

-Isn’t this the first time Lee Seo-jun is the lead in a Korean work?

=What about The Royal Physician?

=Strictly speaking, that was Heo Ui-gwan’s lead role.

-Rebellion is a two-top of Danjong and Sejo, but Danjong is the center, so he’s the lead.

-Oh. It’s really his first lead role?

-lol It’s funny. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor, but in Korea, he’s just getting his first lead role lol

-Congratulations on your first lead role! As a fan of Seo-jun, I have to jump for joy N times!

=N times? You mean 2N times!

=Math out of nowhere?

The entertainment reporters didn’t miss this interesting story.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, his first lead role in a Korean movie!]

[His first lead role movie, will it be a hit?]

[Tomorrow, Rebellion press screening!]

[Confirmed to open in LA, USA! Simultaneous release in America and Korea!]

[Next week, Rebellion advance booking starts!]

-It’s weird to say this to an actor who won an Oscar, but congratulations on your first lead role!

=22 lol I never thought of that. First lead role lol Congrats lol

=He really doesn’t go the normal way lol He carves his own path lol

-The press screening reporter… I can feel your excitement lol

=Envy… You get to see it before the opening…

-Oh. Simultaneous release!

=Thx thx I came here as an exchange student this year and I was wondering if I should go to Korea.

=Are you in LA?

=No no I have to drive there but I’m planning to go with a group. Better than flying lol

-Advance booking! Good seats! Advance booking!

=22 I want to see it on the first day. No spoilers please.

=Read the history book lol

The press screening of Rebellion was held.

The director and the lead actors, Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok, Park Woon-yeol, who were used to such occasions, sat comfortably in their seats.

Next to them, Kim Ho-young sat alone with an awkward expression.

Until June, the director and actors who had gathered people’s attention were showered with flashes.

They heard their names being called from here and there. Seo-jun smiled familiarly and turned his head from side to side.

Before the movie screening, the director picked up the microphone.

“I first became curious about Danjong’s life because of Nosa-gun Ilgi.”

Seo-jun also knew about [Nosa-gun Ilgi].

He had thought that there were only two diaries in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, Yeonsan-gun Ilgi and Gwanghae-gun Ilgi, but Danjong Sillok was actually [Nosa-gun Ilgi] until Danjong’s name was restored and became [Danjong Sillok].

“Nosa-gun Ilgi is a diary, so unlike the annals that required strict security, I thought there was a high possibility of modification. Especially, I was bothered by how they glorified and exaggerated Sejo to justify his rebellion, and how they slandered Sejo’s enemies.”

The director paused.

“In every work, Danjong had to live as a weak character who always followed Sejo. Maybe he will continue to do so. But was Danjong’s personality really like that? He didn’t have favorable circumstances, but didn’t he try to overcome them? I don’t think so. Through this movie, I want to show you Danjong’s efforts that were hidden by Sejo’s lies.”

The reporters and staff were captivated by the director’s words.

“This movie may be all fiction or all truth. We will never know the truth of that old time. Just think that there could be such a Danjong in the hidden truth, and watch it with that in mind.”

Clap clap clap-

Applause erupted.

[Director Woo Jeong-han, “I want to show you Danjong’s efforts.”]

[Nosa-gun Ilgi? Danjong Sillok?]

[How much should we trust the distorted Danjong Sillok?]

[Lee Ji-seok, “I tried to get rid of Heo Ui-gwan’s image.”]

[Lee Seo-jun, “I practiced with Ji-seok hyung.”]

[Park Woon-yeol, “They are both great actors.”]

[What kind of Danjong is this? I’m curious about Rebellion!]

[Tomorrow, Rebellion finally opens!]

***

Lim Yeon looked at the crowded movie theater and said.

“It feels like I just watched the trailer… and it’s already opening…”

“? You watched it yesterday too, right? And today too.”

Lim Yeon laughed at Park Seonga’s words.

“Don’t you know a joke?”

“Stop wasting time and let’s go get the tickets.”

“Okay.”

Lim Yeon took care of the tickets, and Park Seonga took care of the posters.

Park Seonga quickly grabbed two of each poster.

The staff had prepared enough copies, and as the posters ran out, they refilled them.

There were four posters in total, two versions with two each.

One of them was like the trailer, with the top and bottom split.

The posters with [Danjong/Sejo] and [Sejo/Danjong] had the upper bodies of the two actors wearing dragon robes.

The other one had the pictures of [Danjong] and [Sejo] sitting on the throne.

Danjong sitting neatly and Sejo sitting lazily contrasted each other and looked more cool.

Lim Yeon applauded Park Seonga who had collected all the posters.

They were about to wait and admire the posters for a while, when a theater staff shouted.

“Hall 1, hall 1, Rebellion screening will start soon! Please enter quickly!”

They rolled up the posters carefully without wrinkling them, and moved with the people heading to hall 1.

***

A dark night.

Snowflakes fluttered in the wind.

The screen that showed Gwanghwamun slowly moved to the inside of the opening gate.

It showed the guards in gold armor, and the officials moving around.

The screen moved around the palace, showing different places.

It showed a palace building.

It was hard to tell which palace it was from the outside, so Lim Yeon blinked.

A caption appeared.

[Gangnyeongjeon (the king’s bedroom)]

‘If it’s the king, is it Danjong?’

The audience focused more, expecting Lee Seo-jun to appear.

The screen didn’t go inside Gangnyeongjeon, but only showed the outside.

It was dark everywhere, but there were candles lit inside the palace.

The candles inside Gangnyeongjeon flickered.

The light of the candles created shadows on the paper windows.

A shadow that seemed to be sitting, and a shadow that seemed to be crouching in front of it.

The sitting shadow looked smaller than the crouching shadow.

‘Who is Danjong with?’

Without knowing who they were, the camera moved back as if rewinding, and arrived at Gwanghwamun again.

Boom!

The wide-open Gwanghwamun gate closed firmly.

***

With a sad background music, the Gwanghwamun gate opened.

The inside of the open gate was bright, unlike before. The palace was lit by the sun, and people were bowing their heads or kneeling on the ground.

“Long live!”

A voice was heard.

“Long live!”

A child’s cry was heard among the loud shouts.

“Daddy mommy!”

Lee Hong-wi crouched in front of his father’s dead body and burst into tears.

Hyebin Yang, Sejong’s concubine, also wiped her tears at the sight of Lee Hong-wi crying.

But Lee Hong-wi, who would become the king, couldn’t stay in sorrow for long like a child from a commoner’s house.

The heavy duty on his back made him stand up from his grief.

The high-ranking officials appointed by Munjong, such as Kim Jong-seo, assisted Lee Hong-wi.

While preparing for Munjong’s funeral, Lee Hong-wi also prepared for his coronation ceremony.

Geunjeongjeon.

Lee Hong-wi sat on the same place where Sejong and Munjong had sat.

The civil and military officials bowed their heads and shouted.

“Long live!”

Lee Hong-wi clenched his trembling hands and looked ahead with the crown on his head.

“Long long live!”

The faces of Grand Prince Suyang and Kim Jong-seo, who shouted long long live, were shown.

The first thing that Lee Hong-wi did after becoming the king was to banish the high-ranking officials who supported him, following the advice of the high-ranking officials.

The news reached Grand Prince Suyang.

“He bans us?”

The audience leaned back on their seats at his growl.

He bans us from visiting him, which means he distrusts us.

This is not his will. Perhaps, he is isolated and needs our help.”

They were trying to sow discord between the king and his relatives.

Grand Prince Suyang’s words startled Hwangbo In and the other officials.

He looked at them with a pitying expression. It was a sincere, genuine pity.

“We are trying to overcome this precarious situation with all our heart and strength, together with the officials. How can he suspect and reject us instead? Uijeong.”

In the end, the ban was lifted. People started to visit Grand Prince Suyang’s house again, and that was the beginning of a dark future.

Lee Hong-wi ascended to the throne and time passed day by day.

The audience frowned at the scroll of personnel recommendations that Kim Jong-seo handed over.

He might know better than Lee Hong-wi about talents, but it didn’t look good to push his recommendations so unilaterally.

Lee Hong-wi did his best.

He participated in the royal council and listened to the opinions of the officials.

He also attended the civil service examination without fail.

He read petitions at night, studied, and worked hard.

‘He’s admirable, but…’

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga looked at Lee Hong-wi with a subtle expression.

To the eyes of the audience, Lee Hong-wi still looked young.

Maybe that’s why he was pushed aside by Grand Prince Suyang, they thought.

“What is that, Kim Naegwan?”

What caught Lee Hong-wi’s eye was something that Kim Naegwan had been holding since a while ago.

At Lee Hong-wi’s words, Kim Naegwan hesitated and handed over something.

It was a piece of yellow cloth.

He bowed his head and said.

“It’s a petition that I brought.”

“A petition?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Lee Hong-wi unfolded the cloth piece.

There were black letters written on it with charcoal.

[Please save our village.]

He swallowed his saliva at the crooked Hunminjeongeum letters.

“What happened?”

“…A plague broke out in the village. The officials ran away and didn’t send proper petitions, so no one else knew about the situation. A lone survivor came out of the village and arrived in Hanyang yesterday…”

“Arrived?”

“He was wandering around in front of the palace… and got caught. A sympathetic soldier delivered his petition to me, and I received it.”

Lee Hong-wi looked at the petition and asked.

“Where is he now?”

“He was released soon, but he is still wandering around the palace.”

“I want to meet him.”

At Lee Hong-wi’s order, the meeting took place.

The man who didn’t expect to meet the king knelt down as soon as someone came out.

He was trembling so much that it was obvious at a glance.

Lee Hong-wi examined the kneeling man. His old clothes were torn in many places, and his exposed skin was full of bruises.

He must have suffered a lot to come to the capital in a hurry to save his village.

“Is there a plague in your village?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Please save our village.”

He saw a ‘subject’ that was different from the officials.

Unlike the officials who made his head spin with their stern expressions and sharp tongues, he looked simple and weak.

But he wasn’t completely weak.

He ran all the way to the capital to save his village.

He lingered around the palace, knowing how scary it was, hoping to get some help.

He begged him to save his village, even in front of him, the king.

Lee Hong-wi faced his duty as a king for the first time.

He was the first subject of mine, of Joseon, that he had ever seen.

He was the one that his daddy mommy tried to protect, and that he had to protect.

Lee Hong-wi,

[(Good)The wings of the fallen king of Joseon are activated.]

No, Danjong said in a soft voice.

“I’ll send doctors and medicine right away. Thanks to you, we have a chance to save everyone. You did well. You did very well.”

At the kind voice of the king, at the warm hand of the king holding his, the man cried.

He had gone to many places to save his village, but he was the first one who said he would save them.

He survived.

He made it.

Relieved, the man cried like a child.

Danjong smiled and looked at the man crying.

His attendants and guards bowed their heads without realizing it.

It was the day when the young successor, who didn’t know ‘the heart of a king’ even at his grand coronation ceremony where the civil and military officials bowed their heads, became a true king.

And a few days later, Danjong smiled kindly as he read the letter of gratitude from Kangdol, the man that Kim Naegwan had introduced him to.

Days later, reading the thank-you letter from the man, Kangdol, delivered by the royal attendant Kim, King Danjong smiled affectionately.
The crooked lines of Hunminjeongeum, the script created by his great-grandfather, seemed to hold a deeper meaning, as if his ancestor was praising him.
His face shone with longing and pride.

A warm wind seemed to blow in the theater.

The audience’s hearts beat faster at Danjong’s appearance, who was more merciful than anyone else.

He was a real king.

Anyone could see that he was a king.

Who else could be a king if not him?

“Your Majesty.”

Grand Prince Suyang appeared.

…!

Lim Yeon almost cursed without knowing it.

She knew how this story would end, so her blood pressure rose every time Grand Prince Suyang appeared.

It seemed like other audience members felt the same way, as faint curses were heard.

“Welcome, uncle.”

Danjong greeted Grand Prince Suyang.

Kim Jong-seo was the only official that Danjong could rely on among his subjects, while Grand Prince Suyang and Anpyeong Daegun were the only relatives that Danjong could rely on among his kin.

Grand Prince Suyang laughed and chatted with Danjong with a gentle smile.

His eyebrows twitched slightly at Danjong’s change.

The perceptive Grand Prince Suyang quickly noticed Danjong’s transformation.

Grand Prince Suyang left the palace after talking with Danjong.

His steps were heavy as he walked toward the outside of the palace.

The audience’s breaths also slowed down with his steps.

Silence filled the theater.

It wasn’t a horror movie, but tension ran from their toes.

The camera that only showed Grand Prince Suyang’s back slowly moved forward.

“Ah!”

The audience gasped and buried themselves in their seats.

Grand Prince Suyang’s face was twisted like a demon.

TL Note:

Hunminjeongeum, also known as “Teaching of the Proper Sounds for the People,” refers to the original writing system devised by King Sejong the Great of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. This system later evolved to become modern Hangul. The document Hunminjeongeum was created to allow the common people, who were illiterate in Hanja (Chinese characters), to accurately and easily read and write the Korean language. It was officially announced on October 9, 1461

Chapter 174

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 174

The world looked different to Danjong, who had become a true king.

He noticed the tension among the ministers and the glares of Kim Jong-seo and Grand Prince Suyang.

He realized that the cold water that had been pushing him was not his own burden, but a warning.

Late at night.

In his spacious palace, in his bedroom where he could reveal his true feelings, he spoke to Kim Naegwan, the most trustworthy person he had.

“The Left Prime Minister is recommending his people for vacant positions, and Suyang Uncle is demanding excessive rewards for his people.”

The cold and dark water was a warning that there were traitors who coveted his throne. It was the instinct of Danjong, who was born, raised, and became a king as a king, that sent him the warning.

Kim Naegwan looked at Danjong with pity.

“…Your Majesty.”

“The Left Prime Minister has been in the position of a minister since my father’s time, and he still has power as a senior minister, so he doesn’t want the king to change.”

Danjong was calm even in his anger.

“I have to be wary of Uncle Suyang.”

Danjong, who had become a true king, came to that conclusion.

The conclusion was quick, but Grand Prince Suyang’s move was quicker.

Kim Jong-seo, who didn’t expect him to act so fast, was attacked, and Grand Prince Suyang and the traitors stormed into the palace.

The cruel smell of blood reached Gangnyeongjeon.

While Kim Naegwan went to stop the traitors, the screams got closer.

‘They’re coming.’

Danjong bit his lip.

The door of his bedroom opened with a bang! Grand Prince Suyang appeared with a bloody sword in his hand.

The theater was silent.

The audience was captivated by the nerve-wracking confrontation between the two.

It felt like they were peeking into a scene from history, and they were afraid that if they uttered a word, this precarious standoff would break.

They clenched their mouths shut.

Grand Prince Suyang snarled, showing his teeth.

“Listen well. I won’t kill you.”

He spat out each word as if chewing them.

“I’ll make this a legitimate succession, and silence any dissent, and ascend to the throne rightfully.”

Grand Prince Suyang grabbed Danjong’s collar.

He shouted angrily at Danjong’s eyes, which said that he was nothing but a traitor.

“No matter how much you provoke me, I won’t kill you and become a rebel, so stop annoying me! Lee Hong-wi!”

For a moment, Danjong’s pupils shook.

Just one day.

The coup that turned the sky upside down was over.

Grand Prince Suyang took over the key positions.

He contrasted himself with the depressed Danjong and the loyalists, giving them rewards.

The senior ministers were killed, and Anpyeong Daegun, who was Grand Prince Suyang’s rival, was exiled.

Before Danjong could do anything, Grand Prince Suyang blocked all his paths.

To eliminate the influence of Sejong’s consort, Hyebin Yangssi, whom Danjong relied on, Grand Prince Suyang made his own person, Song Hyunsu’s daughter, Danjong’s queen.

There was a lot of resistance since it was still Munjong’s mourning period, but Grand Prince Suyang didn’t care.

That wasn’t all. By Grand Prince Suyang’s order, Hyebin Yangssi, Geumseong Daegun and many other relatives, palace ladies, and servants were all made criminals and exiled.

“Take care of yourself. Your Majesty.”

“Choisanggung too… Choisanggung too be well…”

When Danjong finally showed tears, everyone turned their heads and shed tears.

They knew that this exile would not end well.

In the end, Danjong, who had to send away his precious people one by one, made a decision.

He decided to step down from this position before more people got hurt.

Under Gyeonghoeru.

By Danjong’s order, Grand Prince Suyang and the ministers gathered.

As if sensing something, the atmosphere was heavy.

Danjong looked at Grand Prince Suyang and the civil and military officials with his head down and opened his mouth.

“I inherited the great work of my father at a young age, and stayed deep in the palace without knowing anything about the internal and external affairs of the country, and caused many troubles to the nation.”

He couldn’t bring himself to say words like wicked mob or traitors.

The people who died or were exiled to protect him were not such people.

The loyalists who remained swallowed their tears at Danjong’s words.

Grand Prince Suyang and the loyalists bowed their heads and hid their expressions.

“To stop any further turmoil, I decided to hand over this heavy position to Uncle Suyang.”

Let’s end this here. Uncle. Whether he understood Danjong’s hidden words or not, Grand Prince Suyang just obeyed and shouted.

“Please take back your order! Your Majesty!”

Grand Prince Suyang cried with fake tears, making Danjong’s face darker. He was a truly remarkable uncle.

The ministers also pleaded for him to take back his order.

How many of them were sincere?

Danjong’s face became cloudy.

Seongsammoon, who brought the jade seal, sobbed.

Under the quiet Gyeonghoeru, Seongsammoon’s cry seemed to represent Danjong’s heart.

Danjong bit his lip and lifted the jade seal with his trembling hand, handing it over to Grand Prince Suyang.

“Please, please lead this country well.”

At those words, Grand Prince Suyang’s face hardened.

He saw a sharp look in his fake tears.

He hated Danjong, who cared more about the country than himself.

Even that merciful heart seemed like a ‘king’s leisure’ that he couldn’t have, and Grand Prince Suyang felt his guts twist.

The eyes of the one who was the king and the one who became the king met.

That’s how Grand Prince Suyang became the king.

In just three years.

The splendid coronation ceremony that changed the sky of Joseon was over, and Danjong moved his residence.

Sejo laughed at Danjong’s last words and told him to leave Gangnyeongjeon.

“Seonggun? Seonggun! Yes! Be my Seonggun! But Lee Hong-wi. It won’t be the same for you!”

The attendants outside shuddered at his cold words.

The audience also closed their mouths and immersed themselves in the movie.

Lee Ji-seok? Lee Seo-jun? Seongnyeong Daegun? Heo Ui-gwan?

None of them came to mind.

It was just Danjong and Grand Prince Suyang.

“…They failed.”

“Yes.”

Danjong heard the news from Kim Naegwan.

Kim Jil’s last attempt with his secret agents failed.

Sejo was torturing the related people himself.

Whether it was because Sejo didn’t stop it or not, the news kept coming.

“Seongsammoon was dignified, they say.”

“Yes…”

“Park Paengnyeon called him ‘nari’, they say.”

“Heuk…”

Seongsammoon didn’t bow his head even under cruel torture.

Park Paengnyeon called Sejo ‘nari’, a derogatory term.

In front of the rebels, the six servants had no shame at all.

Danjong shed tears and prayed for the souls of those who died.

“Depose the former king as Nosan-gun and expel him from the palace!”

Sejo’s order fell and Danjong left the palace and went to Yeongwol.

Danjong’s face was filled with fear as he left the palace, which he had never left since he was born.

In Yeongwol, far away, Danjong met a commoner.

He was Kangdol, who lived in a village near Yeongwol.

He avoided the eyes of the watchers and came to Gwanpungheon.

The stories of the village that Gangdol told him were the only things that comforted Danjong’s heart.

But that small happiness didn’t last long either.

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga cried at the sight of Danjong sitting in front of a dark medicine.

He didn’t say a word, but they could tell his complicated feelings by his expression alone.

He wouldn’t run away for the sake of the people.

Where was such a sad thing?

Danjong smiled softly and looked at the sky.

“…Didn’t I do well enough?”

At that one sentence, finally, cries broke out in the theater.

The effort to cover their mouths so as not to disturb the viewing was all in vain.

Ah.

You did well. You did your best.

You tried hard. You really tried hard.

That’s all I can say, Lim Yeon could only cry for Danjong, who didn’t cry.

What if this kind child had become the king?

What if he had lived longer? It was a past that had already passed, but she couldn’t get rid of that thought in her head.

Among the cries of the audience,

The screen slowly moved away from Danjong, who reached out for the medicine.

The faces of Kim Naegwan and Kangdol, who were crying, were shown, and the villagers who heard the news looked miserable in the direction of Gwanpungheon.

The children that Danjong saved and tried to protect ran around laughing without knowing anything.

The screen showed Yeongwol below.

Here, the king who missed the palace and his family changed his name.

He was only 17 years old.

The screen showed an official riding a horse on the ground. The horse ran fast even in the setting sun, and entered the capital.

The official told Geumgun the news, and Geumgun told Naegwan.

Naegwan approached Sejo, who was about to enter Gangnyeongjeon, and whispered to him. Sejo’s lips twitched.

He tried to lower his lips that were about to rise, but he couldn’t stop them.

Finally, finally he died.

The spark that would surely burn Sejo someday finally disappeared.

Now he was truly a legitimate king.

A king that no one could oppose.

“Uhahahaha!”

In the end, Sejo laughed out loud for the first time in his life, as if he was pouring out his heart.

It felt like his lifelong inferiority complex was bursting out.

His loud laughter was delivered to the audience through the speakers.

The audience who cried at Danjong’s death felt distant for a moment.

How could he laugh at someone’s death like that?

It gave them goosebumps.

They wished someone would avenge the young king’s injustice.

Sejo stopped laughing and entered Gangnyeongjeon with a satisfied face.

He walked briskly to his bedroom.

The camera that followed his back caught something falling from the sky.

It was a small and white snowflake.

The screen paused for a moment and followed Sejo’s back again.

Sejo walked through the corridor and opened the door of his bedroom, where the maids had already lit the candles.

This was the place where only the king could stay, the king’s treasure.

Sejo’s satisfied face slowly changed.

Lim Yeon, who glared at Sejo with resentment, noticed the change.

So did the other audience.

Sejo seemed to forget to breathe.

His lips that were softly raised hardened and slowly went down.

His eyes that were half-smiling widened and opened as wide as they could.

His face that was rosy turned pale in an instant.

Sejo’s face started to tremble.

His hands, his feet,

His legs, his body,

They started to shake as if he had met an earthquake.

“Lee… Hong-wi…!”

The audience covered their mouths at Sejo’s scream-like words.

The screen didn’t show the inside of the bedroom, but only Sejo and a part of the bedroom.

Even so, the audience felt it.

The strangeness inside the bedroom, the horror that Sejo felt.

The audience shivered at Sejo’s expression and the ominousness that came from inside the bedroom.

The dead king had returned.

As the true king returned, all the emotions that had burst out doubled and tripled, and bound Sejo like thick chains.

Sejo, no, Grand Prince Suyang collapsed as if his legs lost strength.

“How… How can this be…!”

The camera that filmed him slowly backed away.

It passed through the corridor and showed the outside of Gangnyeongjeon.

It snowed.

It snowed as if mourning the king’s death.

Two shadows were reflected on the paper window.

A small shadow sitting and a large shadow crouching.

They were Danjong who died and Grand Prince Suyang who lived.

Chapter 175

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 175

“I’m glad I came to study in LA.”

Choi Yoo-seong’s friends laughed at his words.

Today was the premiere of the movie, and Choi Yoo-seong and his friends had decided to go watch it together.

They had booked the movie tickets online and were about to leave.

Lawton, who was holding the steering wheel, opened his mouth.

“It’s a bit strange to watch a movie with subtitles, but Jun played for us at our school, so we have to go see it.”

“His popularity increased a lot after that. The professors also loved him.”

“It’s good for us too. Our school’s reputation went up.”

The students who were about to graduate nodded their heads.

If they said that it was the school where ‘Over the Rainbow’ was filmed, they instantly got people’s attention.

And if they were among the people who saw the solo concert, people listened to their stories eagerly.

“But the busking was more amazing than the solo concert.”

“Ah. Me too.”

Natalie and Choi Yoo-seong, who had seen the eighth week busking, improved their skills surprisingly fast.

It was as if they had broken through a limit that had been blocking them.

Some of the other students from their department who were there also experienced that.

It was more of a change in the amount of emotion they put into their performance than a technical improvement, but the sensitive music students reacted sensitively to the small change.

Not only the students, but also the professors who taught them did the same. When they noticed that their students’ skills improved noticeably, they wondered what caused it.

The common factor was that they were students who were at the busking site.

They watched the eighth week busking video over and over again, but they couldn’t find the cause.

Many students sighed regretfully at that news.

Even if it was a coincidence, it was an improvement in skill.

They wanted to believe in it even if it was a coincidence, as they tried hard and practiced to get ahead.

“I wonder if he’ll do busking again.”

“Even if he does busking, he won’t do it here, right?”

“That’s true.”

Everyone agreed with Natalie’s words.

Before they knew it, LA Music College Park became a must-visit tourist spot in LA. People always crowded around the place where Seo-jun Lee did busking, and students who majored in instruments came and took pictures.

Of course, most of them were violin majors.

“There are some people who take pictures for money at our school. They even lend violins.”

Megan said and Natalie sighed with a sigh. She thought of the violin again.

“Why?”

“Because I play the violin.”

Natalie’s words made the three of them widen their eyes.

It had been two years since Over the Rainbow was released.

“Still?”

“Yes.”

Natalie’s violin.

The violin that she wanted to give to the boy who played the violin, but ended up becoming the star of the eighth week performance.

When the video was released and people learned about Natalie and Choi Yoo-seong, people started to show up one by one, wanting to buy the violin.

Lawton nodded. The car was playing ‘Gray’s Concerto’.

“I get it. People pay a lot for celebrities’ stuff, let alone a violin used by an Academy Award-winning actor. And the story behind how you played that violin is very touching.”

The protagonists of that story, Choi Yoo-seong and Natalie, smiled awkwardly. A year ago, some passersby would recognize them.

“At first, it was a little more expensive than the violin… but after Jun won the Academy Award, the price skyrocketed.”

“How much?”

Natalie’s answer filled the car with silent astonishment.

Natalie sighed.

“It’s been a year and the price doesn’t seem to go down.”

“Is the violin still at Whale Studio?”

Natalie nodded at Megan’s question.

She was afraid that thieves might steal it because of the rising price of the violin, so she entrusted it to Whale Studio, which had tight security. Whale Studio offered to pay her rent.

“It’s probably on display in the lobby now?”

“That’s right. It’s here.”

Choi Yoo-seong searched for Whale Studio on his phone.

Natalie’s violin was on display in the center of the lobby, along with the violin that appeared in ‘Over the Rainbow’, under the spotlight in the photos taken by tourists who visited Whale Studio.

“Whale Studio also said they wanted to buy it…”

“That might be the best option. Since it’s Whale Studio, they might use it well in relation to the movie.”

Natalie agreed with Megan’s words.

She thought it might be better to sell it to Whale Studio, which had a connection with Seo-jun Lee, than to be harassed by people in the future.

Meanwhile, Choi Yoo-seong and his friends arrived at a parking lot near the theater.

It was released simultaneously in LA, but there were few screens. This theater was the closest one from their school.

“Wow.”

Choi Yoo-seong blurted out in Korean without realizing it.

His friends also laughed bitterly.

Lawton locked the car door and opened his mouth while rubbing his neck.

“I thought there wouldn’t be many people… since it’s a historical movie from an unknown Asian country with subtitles…”

“I honestly came to see it because I was worried it would flop in America.”

“That was a needless worry.”

The front of the theater was crowded with people.

The most visible people were Asians.

They seemed to be Koreans, as Korean could be heard from here and there.

But it wasn’t just Asians.

There were also many whites and blacks.

From what they heard, some people came from other cities outside of LA.

“I wonder if it’s like this everywhere else?”

“I saw on SNS that it’s crazy.”

It wasn’t just this theater.

People flocked to the few theaters in the US where Rebellion was showing.

There were also many posts on SNS.

-…What’s going on today? Why are there so many people?

=It’s (Rebellion)’s opening day.

=(Rebellion)? What’s (Rebellion)?

=Seo-jun Lee’s movie. The actor who played Heo Ui-gwan in The Royal Physician also stars in it.

=Oh. The Royal Physician! Is it The Royal Physician 2?

=I don’t think so.

-I tried to buy a ticket at the theater, but there were too many people:(

-I never thought I would watch a foreign movie on the opening day.

=Same. And it’s not even dubbed, it has subtitles. Seo-jun Lee is amazing:))

Sold out. Sold out. Sold out.

The four of them sighed in relief at the flashing red lights.

“We did well to book online.”

“We almost missed it today.”

Choi Yoo-seong and his friends entered the theater with relief and grabbed their posters.

The monitor inside the theater was showing Rebellion’s trailer.

Natalie, who had watched the trailer countless times on YouTube, asked.

“Yoo-seong. What does (Rebellion) mean? I thought it was the protagonist’s name, but I guess not.”

“It means to rebel. To revolt against something.”

“Oh.”

“I’m glad Yoo-seong is Korean. He can explain things I don’t know. But I wonder how other people will watch it. My mom and dad are going too. I don’t know if they’ll enjoy it.”

Choi Yoo-seong smiled and said.

“Then I’ll tell you about this site.”

“Site?”

“Yeah. It seems like the movie production company made it.”

Choi Yoo-seong sent his friends the site link. His friends marveled at the neat screen design.

[Learn more about (Rebellion)]

-Before watching (Rebellion)

-After watching (Rebellion) (contains spoilers)

There were two categories.

“It’s like a guide for people who don’t know much about Joseon. Of course, there are as few spoilers as possible. Even if they explain unfamiliar words or culture with subtitles, it’s different from understanding and watching the movie.”

“There’s also a language setting.”

“They made it with Plus+.”

“Oh. Plus+.”

His friends nodded at the appearance of the streaming site that spread all over the world. It must have been easy to find translators with Plus+.

“I should send it to my parents.”

“It’s also explained in the pamphlet, but the site has pictures too, so it’s easy to understand. And detailed.”

“Then I should read this before watching the movie.”

[Learn more about (Rebellion)-Before watching] and the pamphlet was carefully read by Choi Yoo-seong and his friends, and they entered the theater. They sat in their seats with popcorn, nachos, and drinks.

Soon the theater darkened and the screen lit up.

Boom!

An unfamiliar oriental gate appeared.

A strange castle and two shadows reflected on a white paper were seen.

Someone whispered.

“Is that a castle?”

“It seems like it.”

“Is that paper? Not a door?”

“More importantly, when will the protagonist appear?”

They seemed to have not watched The Royal Physician either.

Choi Yoo-seong scratched his cheek.

‘Will they keep talking?’

Damn. A spoiler on the first viewing…

Lawton and Natalie, who were sitting next to him, also seemed to sigh lightly. Choi Yoo-seong tried to ignore them and focused on the movie again. He was planning to watch it multiple times anyway.

Rebellion began with the death of the previous king.

Kim Jong-seo appeared, then Grand Prince Suyang, then Lee Hong-wi joined the coup.

And at some point, the voices that were whispering what is this, what is that, stopped.

It was a scene where the young successor met the poor people and became a true king.

The young Danjong smiled kindly, and the theater was silent for a moment.

Wow.

Is this what they call the aura of a prince?

Natalie admired.

The young king of a foreign country was benevolent and compassionate.

She wanted to keep watching the young prince’s future,

‘To rebel. To revolt against something.’

Choi Yoo-seong’s voice popped into her head out of nowhere, and she had a bad feeling.

No way?

Soon that ominous feeling became reality.

The man who was related by blood to the young prince, Grand Prince Suyang, showed a fierce expression that gave her goosebumps.

The Koreans who knew well about Danjong and Suyang’s story clasped their hands with a gloomy expression.

‘Here it comes!’

Unlike the Koreans who were prepared, every single foreigner blinked in confusion.

The background music changed.

The music was full of tension, and the noise in the theater decreased, and the audience’s breathing slowed down.

The hands that were eating popcorn and nachos slowly stopped.

The small noises that were heard here and there also stopped.

And then, the rebellion began.

Natalie, Megan, and Lawton gaped at the man who stepped into the king’s chamber.

No? Why?

Wait? What?

The only one among the four who watched the situation calmly (of course, the confrontation between Danjong and Suyang was tense) was Choi Yoo-seong, a Korean.

The situation worsened endlessly.

He became the King of Sacrifice, gave up his throne, and was exiled as Lord Noryang.

He seemed to live peacefully for a while, but then he was poisoned.

The three foreigners and one Korean shed tears.

They were crying like faucets out of pity, and the man who killed the king and was related by blood, laughed with a crooked smile.

They all looked at the man who became king with disgusted eyes.

‘Someone please kill that XX.’

And then, like divine punishment, the dead king appeared.

For a moment, they felt something chilling and unknowingly sympathized with Sejo.

A small shadow sitting down and a large shadow cowering.

It was the dead Danjong and the living Suyang.

The movie ended.

The theater brightened and the four people who were drained of energy leaned back on their seats, wiping their tears.

The ending credits rolled up and Rebellion’s OST played.

It was a sad and beautiful melody.

Natalie, who wiped her tears with the tissue that Choi Yoo-seong prepared in advance, sighed deeply and said.

“Ah, I cried too much.”

“They really act well. ‘Lee Ji-seok’, right? Jun is good too, but Lee is also good.”

“Jun and Lee Ji-seok are both LEEs.”

The three of them laughed weakly.

They were exhausted from crying. It was a faint laughter.

Lawton looked around after wiping his tears with a tissue.

He saw Koreans who took out tissues from their bags and wiped their tears, and shared the remaining tissues with the people around them.

The Korean audience seemed to have brought tissues with them.

“It’s a historical movie… It’s something that really happened, right? The Koreans all brought tissues.”

“Well, Danjong’s story is famous. If you’re Korean, you would have come prepared to cry. And the actor who played Danjong was Lee Seo-jun. Of course, they probably didn’t expect to cry this much.”

The four people who left the theater sat in a cafe and moistened their throats with drinks while taking a break.

The aftertaste of the movie made their bodies ache.

Megan, who was drinking sweet chocolate, entered the [Learn more about (Rebellion)] site.

“There’s also a link here that says to watch it after viewing.”

“Really?”

They all took out their phones at Megan’s words.

[Learn more about (Rebellion)]

-Before watching

After watching (contains spoilers)

-About Noryang Diary

-Danjong and Sejo in Noryang Diary

…

They quietly read one by one.

The images of Danjong and Sejo in Noryang Diary became those of the two actors. That made them feel a lot of dissonance.

“The image is very different from the movie.”

“History is the record of the winners.”

Lawton and Megan nodded at Natalie’s words. Choi Yoo-seong, who had searched a lot about Danjong before the release, was looking at the Korean reactions. Korea was also noisy.

“There’s something called Annals of the Joseon Dynasty.”

“Huh? There’s such a thing here?”

Choi Yoo-seong, who was leisurely looking at the Korean reactions, turned his eyes at Megan’s words.

“Yeah. It’s here. It’s amazing that they have this much data from that long ago.”

“There are also a lot of comments about the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. They wrote even what the king told them not to write, that’s amazing.”

“It’s a UNESCO World Heritage.”

Uh… uh?

Choi Yoo-seong blinked at the reactions of his three friends.

Chapter 176

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Chapter 176

“Wow. Why is this year so busy?”

“Well, at least we got the contract, so it’s okay…”

Ring-

“…not okay.”

The office of Cocoa Entertainment’s second team was once again bustling with calls for Seo-jun’s casting.

All the phones in the office were ringing and the email inbox was about to explode.

The staff’s cell phones were also receiving texts from everywhere.

“The opening score was one million, right? We expected it to be popular, but it’s crazy when we see the results.”

“Isn’t it doing well in the US too?”

Ahn Da Ho nodded at the staff’s question.

“According to Kings Agency, it’s sold out every day, and more people than expected are watching it, not just Koreans.”

“It must be thanks to The Royal Physician.”

“I guess so.”

Korea was no less noisy than the US.

SBC was eagerly rerunning Working Man!, where Seo-jun made a surprise appearance, and other broadcasters were digging into The Diary of Noh San Gun.

The historians who had anticipated another boom like The Royal Physician when they heard about the production of Rebellion had been researching Danjong and Sejo for months.

Thanks to that, many new stories came out.

‘History’, which had been away from the public’s interest, was making Korea stir.

There would never be a better time to make their name known.

And these broadcasts would not stay in Korea alone.

The historians recalled ‘Korean medicine’, which had been a sensation with The Royal Physician, and their determination was ignited.

As everyone expected, the viewership ratings were quite good because people who watched the movie Rebellion became curious about Danjong and Sejo.

“When will the plus videos be uploaded?”

The ‘Reb+ Plus’ that was planned to be produced by Plus. From light topics like words used in historical dramas to heavy ones like the culture and legal system of that era.

Reb+ Plus was planned to be produced in several episodes.

“I heard they will upload it soon because the US box office is better than expected.”

The staff of the second team nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

“Reb+ Know was good, Reb+ Plus will be similar, right?”

“I guess so. Oh, team leader, did you check this too?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Ahn Da Ho took the script from the staff.

The filming was over, and it was time to look for Seo-jun’s next work again.

***

[Rebellion opening score 1 million!]

[They are totally different from The Royal Physician! The two actors in the movie Rebellion!]

[The shining performances of Lee Ji-seok and Lee Seo-jun!]

[Everyone, bring tissues to the theater! It reminds us of the tear challenge of Shadowman1!]

[What was the truth in history?]

[The Diary of Noh San Gun. How much of it is true?]

[The reviews of tears pouring out from the first day of release!]

[Is this a historical drama or a horror movie? The chilling final scene.]

[Reb+ Know website! Visitors surge!]

-I’m one of the million.

=Maybe two. I watched it twice in a day lol

-Are Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok from The Royal Physician and the two actors from Rebellion just namesakes?

=22 agree lol Or maybe they are actually on bad terms (just kidding)

=There was no need to worry at all. They were just Danjong and Suyang.

-Did you all bring tissues?

=Yup. It’s weird for Koreans not to bring tissues when it’s about Danjong lol

=I cried hard too.

-I haven’t heard of the tear challenge for a long time.

=This time, the tears just came out T_T

-I watched this and then The Diary of Noh San Gun, and they felt completely different. Sejo was written so gloriously and I got angry when I saw Danjong and Noh San Gun being treated badly lol

-The final scene. No joke.

-Lee Ji-seok’s acting was amazing, but I felt weird just by looking at Chimsa.

[Simultaneous release in the US!]

[Rebellion screening theaters. Sold out every day!!]

[It wasn’t just Koreans. Even foreigners who didn’t know much joined the queue!]

[Watch first, learn later, and watch again! How foreigners watch unfamiliar historical movies!]

[Danjong’s diary, The Diary of Noh San Gun, and The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty!]

[Let’s learn about the UNESCO Memory of the World, The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty.]

[Plus+ ‘Reb+ Plus’ uploaded!]

-Really sold out?

=Yup. I live in LA and it was sold out from the first day lol. I thought people wouldn’t watch it much so I didn’t book in advance and ended up watching it at the last time lol

=My friends watched it twice. Reb+ Plus. It was well made.

-I never imagined that The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty would become so popular lol

-The Royal Physician was just a daily life story… well, not really, it was too sad. Anyway, I watched it comfortably… but here, everyone is dying and it’s a mess. There are quite a few foreigners who are curious about what the original history was like.

-There was a broadcast that explained The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty during Taejong’s reign when The Royal Physician was on lol. It had English subtitles lol

=Lol Taejong lol. Should Plus+ make some money?

=Lee Seo-jun is raising the national prestige like this lol. I didn’t expect The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty to come out here lol

=22 I didn’t think foreigners would be interested in The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. It’s more amazing because they are not history students but ordinary people.

-Oh. Reb+ Plus. Should I watch it?

***

“I’ve been getting a lot of curses lately. They say Heo Ui-gwan wasn’t my real self. They say Heo Daegam was my bloodline so I betrayed him in the end. My parents also said they were annoyed because I acted too well.”

Lee Ji-seok’s words made Kim Jong-ho and Park Do-hoon burst into laughter.

Sizzle.

Delicious ribs were placed on the grill.

It had been two weeks since Rebellion was released. The four actors from The Royal Physician gathered together.

“Well, at least it ended with consolation.”

Because of Sejo’s atrocities, Lee Ji-seok, who played his role too well, received mixed praises and curses from people.

But everyone cursed him and then remembered the scene where he seemed to receive divine punishment at the end and gave him words of comfort.

“Me too.”

“Huh?”

Seo-jun said.

“I also heard from my friends to forgive you moderately.”

“Hahaha!”

In the end, Kim Jong-ho let out a big laugh. Laughter filled the private room.

Park Do-hoon also laughed and put a well-cooked rib in front of Seo-jun.

“It’s crazy everywhere. Seo-jun is really amazing.”

“Didn’t they increase the number of theaters in the US too?”

Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun nodded at Park Do-hoon’s words.

“Yeah. They also released it in other countries.”

“My friend in France was so happy that he got to watch it in the theater.”

“You have a friend in France?”

“Yes. A friend I met at a Halloween festival a long time ago.”

“Oh… I remember. A werewolf?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun nodded.

He remembered the message from Charlie, who said he didn’t have to wait for Plus+ to upload and would watch it soon.

Park Do-hoon marveled.

Historical dramas, which were quite a high barrier for foreigners, were being screened not only in Korea but also in the US and around the world.

“Has there ever been a historical drama in our country that was this famous?”

“There was. A drama.”

Kim Jong-ho answered Park Do-hoon’s question.

The three actors who starred in that drama burst into laughter.

Kim Jong-ho opened his mouth with a pleased face.

“We paved the way with The Royal Physician, so we can’t do less than this.”

“Right. We have to do better.”

Seo-jun’s cheerful answer made another round of laughter.

***

The screen was filled with the face of a man who was now familiar.

“Hello. I’m Moviegoer.”

-Moviegoer hi!(Roughly means hi Moviegoer)

-Hi Moviegoer!(Roughly means hi Moviegoer)

“Today, I’m going to review the movie Rebellion.”

-I watched it six times this time!

-Lol lol I watched it three times lol. It was too emotionally exhausting. But it was fun T_T

-I’ll be in double digits if I watch it tomorrow!

“I watched it more than five times too. Well, then. First, the trailer.”

As Moviegoer clicked the mouse, the trailer of Rebellion flowed on the screen.

Along with the majestic music, the sound of Cheonse, Cheoncheonse echoed.

“The trailer was good from the start. It was Danjong on top and Sejo on the bottom, and then the screen changed and it was Sejo on top and Danjong on the bottom. It was a trailer that matched the title very well. There were posters too, right? I got both versions.”

-Me too lol

-They seemed to prepare enough at the distribution company lol

-The other versions were good too. Solo pictures.

“They were good too. The poses of the two kings were different, so it was more impressive. Of course, I got them too.”

-Thrifty Moviegoer lol

-Me too lol

“Rebellion starts with two shadows.”

-Who would have thought those shadows would do that.

-At first, I thought it was Danjong and Kim Jong-seo.

What appeared on the screen were two shadows drawn by Moviegoer himself.

His younger sister, who often saw his drawing skills to express things in pictures because of copyright issues, laughed and said.

-You really can’t draw.

Moviegoer gave a bitter smile.

“You sound just like my sister. Well, you all saw it, so let’s just skip it.”

-Yup

-I’ll imagine it myself. I watched it four times.

“I thought it was Kim Jong-seo at first too. I also thought of Suyang Daegun, but… I only had a slight doubt. Then the story begins with the closing of Gwanghwamun Gate and the death of Munjong.”

A picture of Danjong’s coronation ceremony appeared on the screen. It was part of the trailer.

“Honestly, Danjong’s coronation ceremony was also a bit weak in terms of charisma. I wondered if that was why he lost his throne to Suyang Daegun.”

-Yup, me too

-He was pitiful and admirable for trying hard, but… he felt more like a prince than a king.

-22

“But, that wasn’t it. Of course, a king needs power that makes all his subjects bow their heads, but there was something more important. That was his meeting with Kangdol. His heart for caring for the poor people was what a king needed. I liked seeing Hunminjeongeum here.”

-It showed well that he was the successor of Sejong.

-Yup, the reply was good too.

“Yes. I felt proud too when I saw Kangdol’s reply. And then he awakened… can I say that?”

-Lol awakened lol

“Yes. He awakened and faced Suyang Daegun’s reaction, which was terrifying. He probably knew it. That Danjong would soon become a powerful king.”

-It was really scary.

-I never imagined Lee Ji-seok would make such a face.

-I couldn’t even make a sound lol. The theater was silent too lol.

“Yes. It was. And Suyang Daegun moved quickly. The scene that was similar to Lee Seo-jun’s acting video, the night of Gyeoyujeongnan.”

-T_T I wanted to see this but I didn’t want to see it either.

-It was similar, but more nerve-wracking.

-I thought he would cut him with a sword.

-But why did Danjong make Suyang Daegun angry?

Moviegoer nodded his head.

“If Suyang Daegun killed Danjong in anger, that would be treason. Suyang Daegun’s justification was ‘Kim Jong-seo and Anpyeong Daegun’s rebellion’, but if Danjong died here, it would be a false justification. Surely, the nobles all over the country would resist.”

-Justification is important.

“Besides, he killed Kim Jong-seo, but Anpyeong Daegun was still alive. If Anpyeong Daegun got a legitimate justification from the forces that resisted all over the country, Suyang Daegun would be finished. Danjong decided that it would be better for Anpyeong Daegun to become king than for Suyang Daegun to become king.”

-Danjong was so smart T_T He really risked his life to stop the rebellion T_T

-Suyang Daegun held back well.

“Suyang Daegun was born as Sejong’s second son and always compared to his first son Munjong. And his brother became king. While his brother became king, Suyang Daegun himself would have had to live and die like an ordinary relative if he wasn’t his father or brother’s son. His resentment and inferiority complex must have piled up.”

-And then Munjong died.

“Yes. If only his young nephew wasn’t there, the succession candidates would have been Suyang Daegun and Anpyeong Daegun. Unlike Munjong, who had a strong royal authority, Danjong was very weak.”

Moviegoer, who remembered the pitiful Danjong, said.

“I liked this line the most in this scene.”

-Which line?

“The line where Suyang Daegun shouts Lee Hong-wi.”

-? A name?

-Just a name?

“There is more meaning in the three letters of Lee Hong-wi than you might think.”

-??

-I thought so too!

-?? What is it?

Moviegoer laughed.

“Everyone. Do you know what Pihwi is?”

Chapter 177

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Chapter 177

-…Does it sound familiar?

-I think I heard it in history class.

Korean and Chinese characters appeared on the monitor.

[피휘避諱]

“It means this. Avoiding the use of Chinese characters that were used in the names of kings or high-ranking people in the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties.”

-Ah. I remember. They said that if the commoners or servants used the same characters as the king’s name, they couldn’t use those characters at all. So they deliberately chose rare characters for the king’s name.

“Yes. The kings of Joseon usually used difficult characters that people didn’t use for their names. They usually had a one-character name with the surname ‘이李’, but Lee Hong-wi was an exception. Do you know the name of King Sejong?”

-Lee Do!

“Yes. The name of Prince Suyang was Lee Yu. Usually two characters, right? Lee Bangwon of Taejong was also three characters, though.”

The Moviegoer continued.

“People usually didn’t call the royal family by their names. Prince Suyang was called Uncle Suyang instead of Lee Yu, and Prince Seongnyeong was called Seongnyeong instead of Lee Jong. That’s how precious the names of the royal family were in Joseon. And if that’s the case for the royal family, how much more for the king’s name.”

Everyone recalled a scene from the movie.

-…!

-Could it be…

“Yes. Lee Hong-wi. Sejo revealed his true intentions from then on. Danjong must have known it too. Who would dare to commit such a rudeness as to call the king’s name casually?”

-I thought he was just calling his name. Why? When my mom gets angry, she calls me by my full name.

-222 Me too.

-I knew it!

-It’s more creepy when you know it.

“And his relationship with Kangdol was also touching, right? Of course, this story is fiction, but still. Danjong was exiled to the village of the people he had saved and saw their lives firsthand. I hoped that it would be a little comfort for Danjong.”

-But were there any people who mourned when Danjong died?

-ㅇㅇ His reign was too short.

-ㅠㅠ It’s too pitiful if there was no oneㅠ

“There were only a little over three years of his reign, but there must have been some people who survived by his name. Even if you look at the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, there are records of epidemics and natural disasters.”

-No San Gun Diary?

-Isn’t that distorted a lot?

The Moviegoer nodded.

“I don’t know where and how much No San Gun Diary was modified, but I think natural disasters and epidemics are true. Those things are not related to Jeongnan, after all. Anyway, if there were such people, they would have mourned Danjong’s death like Kangdol’s village.”

-ㅠㅠDanjongㅠㅠ

-If he had taken poison, I would have cried my eyes out.

They were lucky that they didn’t show it directlyㅠㅠ

-Even without showing it, I cried a lotㅠㅠ

-The dialogue was so sadㅜ

-Danjong: …Didn’t I do well enough?

-…Stop making me cry.

-ㅠㅠYou did very well. You really did.

The Moviegoer’s eyes were moist too. He had seen it more than five times, but it always made him shed tears.

“Me too. I wanted to praise him and tell him he did well.”

The chat room was flooded with tears.

-I’m planning to go to Yeongwol this summer vacation. I want to visit Danjong’s exile place and pray at his tomb.

-22I also went to Seongnyeong’s tombㅎㅎI’m going to Jangneung too.

-Jangneung?

“That’s the name of Danjong’s tomb. He was recognized as a king only during Sukjong’s reign. That’s nice. I should go to Yeongwol for a trip when I have time.”

-An unexpected Yeongwol trip.

-But they said they were already preparing in Yeongwolㅎ

-Really?

-ㅇㅇ They said they were preparing hard since Lee Seo-jun announced his role. They are planning to have various events like Danjong Festival. If you go to Yeongwol County website, you can see the event schedule.

-Are you related?

-…No comment.

A public official from Yeongwol County was also watching the Moviegoer’s video. The Moviegoer smiled and continued.

“Let’s leave the Yeongwol story here and go back to the movie review. As in The Royal Physician, they didn’t show his death scene directly in this role either. Maybe the director anticipated that the shock would be immense if they showed Danjong’s corpse.”

-I knew it would be a big deal if they showed it in the movie, when I heard that his corpse was abandoned… Luckily, they didn’t show it.

-It was shocking even without showing it. I cried a lot.

-22 Until Sejo smiled, I thought, let’s kill that bastard and die together. But…

-Divine punishment came down.

-Divine punishment… Scary.

As he read the comments, the Moviegoer felt goosebumps on his arm.

He still felt a chill when he remembered it.

“After Danjong died, the news reached Sejo. Lee Ji-seok’s acting was so, so good that I really wanted to hit him, but there was a divine punishment for him. I also thought it might be a divine punishment from heaven while watching the movie. For a moment, I felt sorry for Sejo.”

-Lee Ji-seok’s acting was really good.

-But, it wasn’t just Lee Ji-seok’s acting… The inside of the bedchamber was scary.

-Agreeㅎ

“Yes. Lee Ji-seok’s acting full of horror and fear was impressive, but the inside of the bedchamber was really something, a strange feeling. I heard from someone who knew someone, that Lee Seo-jun was sitting in the bedchamber. He didn’t appear on the screen, but he acted with Lee Ji-seok. They said it was amazing during the shooting.”

-…No wonder!

-I thought so.

-But is Danjong alive?

“No. He’s dead. Maybe, when Sejo called him Lee Hong-wi, it was that. A kind of hallucination caused by his inferiority and guilt.”

-? He killed him and felt guilty?

-He’s playing both the drum and the gong?

-Right. He didn’t even have that much resolve?

The Moviegoer laughed at the witty comments.

“He must have had some resolve. He planned and pushed that far, he must have had some resolve. But the reality was different. In Joseon era, they said that the king was given by heaven. You must have seen it in The Royal Physician, it was an era when they believed in gods more than science. Imagine killing heaven with your own hands.”

-Fact 1) It was an era when they looked at divination when they were sick.

-Fact 2) It was an era when they held rituals to cure diseases.

“He didn’t know it when Danjong was ‘alive’ during Sunwon and No San Gun’s reigns. He probably thought it didn’t matter if he died or not. But he realized it after he really died.”

-Guilt?

“Guilt might be one of them. But I think the biggest thing was probably fear. The bedchamber of Gangnyeongjeon was where the previous kings stayed. It was where Sejong, Munjong, and Danjong stayed.”

-…Huh?

“Maybe, the hallucination that Sejo saw was not only Danjong. He saw Danjong, and his brother Munjong, and his father Sejong. How much would Sejo think of Munjong and Sejong in that place? Not only in the bedchamber, but everywhere in the palace, he would have to think of Danjong. Oh!”

The Moviegoer stopped talking and widened his eyes. The chat room exploded at his frozen expression.

-Why?

-Why why?!?

The Moviegoer came to his senses and swallowed his saliva.

“By the way, in the opening part… Didn’t the camera move around everywhere?”

-…?

-Could it be…?!

The chat room paused for a moment. The camera that had shown the palace, which they thought was just an introduction. They felt a shiver down their spine.

“…Maybe they were all the places where Sejo saw Danjong?”

The Moviegoer’s words made the chat room explode again.

-How can there be ghosts in a historical drama?! Ghosts?!

-How can they live in such a place!ㅠ

-ㅎㄷㄷJust get out of Gangnyeongjeon?

-I would burn the palace if I were himㅠㅠ

“Do you think he would leave the place that he killed his nephew and took over for? The place he wanted so much, he would leave it for some nonsense?”

-It’s too scary to call it nonsenseㅜㅜ

“Well, he wouldn’t die right away. But he probably saw hallucinations at night, even if he was fine during the day. He wouldn’t know it when he was healthy, but when something bad happened, when he got sick, when death approached, he would always think of his sin.”

-I felt sorry for Sejo in the last scene.

-Me too. I pitied Sejo.

-Divine punishment is scary. I should never do bad things.

The Moviegoer who had felt sorry for Sejo nodded.

“It’s not a satisfying punishment, but I don’t know how much comfort it would be to see him suffer like that.”

-I don’t know about the original history, but the last scene of the movie was like hell.

-Satisfyingㅎㅎ

-I wonder how he could sleep in such a place.

-Me too. I think I would wake up screaming every day.

“And the last scene and the first scene are connected. It’s like a Mobius strip. Scary. Divine punishment.”

The Moviegoer’s words made everyone laugh. He opened his mouth again.

“To be honest, before I saw Lee Seo-jun’s acting video, I thought Danjong was just a weak young king. He seemed like an extra who briefly appeared in Sejo’s story. But he wasn’t.”

The Moviegoer looked at the poster. The young king was sitting on the throne.

“It was not someone else’s life, but his own. Danjong’s life, hidden by Sejo, had joy and sorrow, fulfillment and frustration. He was a benevolent king who cared for his people in his role, and a diligent king who studied hard to become a great king. Maybe we have taken a step closer to the truth we didn’t know through this movie. As Director Woo Jeong-han said.”

-It could all be fiction.

-Or it could all be true.

The Moviegoer smiled contentedly.

“Rebellion, it was a great movie.”

***

Director Choi Dae-man scratched his head as he looked at the monitor. The site he was looking at was a movie community site.

Of course, Rebellion was still in theaters, so there were mostly stories about Rebellion.

No.

“There were only stories about Seo-jun, not Rebellion.”

The people who cried, laughed, and were moved by Lee Seo-jun’s works were already curious about his next work.

-Will Seo-jun do a drama this time since he did two movies?

-Drama would be better. Longer to watchㅎ

-I hate waiting for a week ㅠ Movies are better.

-It’s easier to rewatch movies.

-So you don’t rewatch The Royal Physician?

-I do. I’m working hard on it.

-I want a play. I hope he makes a surprise appearance somewhere.

-22 I want to see Seo-jun’s acting in person

-333 I’m thinking of working as a staff for his next work

-Someone else might think the same. They can just cast him later if they get along well.

-Seo-jun seems to work with his connections.

-Even if it’s a series, it’s all connected by Lee Ji-seok.

-The Royal Physician cast Seo-jun first, right?

-The Royal Physician’s writer was the same as the drama Reinvestigation. Seo-jun also appeared as a cameo and became friends with the writer. He also met Director Sarah Roth at the wrap-up party of Shadowman 2.

-So he appears in the works of people he knows?

-He has done that so far, so he probably gives more points to the works of people he knows.

Director Choi Dae-man sighed.

“If that was the case, my work wouldn’t have been bashed so much.”

He couldn’t resent The Royal Physician, which was a drama that had gone against his work.

It was a drama that set an unprecedented record for a Wednesday-Thursday drama. Seo-jun’s eye for works was accurate.

“It wasn’t a flop, but…”

Director Choi Dae-man’s work was a decent movie.

It broke even, and he could probably get an investment for his next work easily.

“But I want to work with Seo-jun.”

There were many good actors, but few who blurred the boundary of the camera. Seo-jun’s acting was realistic, as if he had entered the actual place.

Director Choi Dae-man read the comments again.

-But what does it matter to us? I just wish Seo-jun’s work would come out soon.

-But it probably won’t come out this year or next year.

-Yeah. He should rest first rather than doing movies or dramas.

-He worked hard for three years. He did Over the Rainbow two years ago, awards last year, and Rebellion this year.

-ㅇㅇ I hope he rests well and works hard on filming again.

“Right?”

Seo-jun was not very active compared to other actors. Maybe it was because he had to go to school and he was young.

“Rebellion was filmed this year and half a year has already passed.”

Director Choi Dae-man scratched his head and looked at his work.

He saw a script that had been edited dozens of times.

“Should I try anyway?”

Five works that had been rejected by Seo-jun.

Today, Director Choi Dae-man challenged him again without giving up.

Chapter 178

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 178

Rebellion, which had caused a stir in Korea, was released, but Seo-jun was living a normal school life.

Except for the occasional students who looked at him with bitter eyes in the hallway, his life was no different from April and May when the filming was over.

After the fourth period, math class ended and it was lunchtime.

Joo-kyung and Ju-hee headed to the cafeteria with giggles.

Seo-jun and Jae-han also laughed.

It was already the third time that senior students who looked like third graders stared at Seo-jun with bitter eyes.

One of them even rubbed his arm as if he had goosebumps.

When the seniors moved away, Joo-kyung opened his mouth.

“They must have seen the movie. They all have similar reactions.”

“Right. They must think of the movie when they see Seo-jun. They either feel sorry for him or get scared by remembering the last scene.”

Ju-hee nodded.

“I also watched the Moviegoer’s review and I was surprised that the historical drama turned into a horror movie. I never imagined that he would interpret it that way. I watched it again after seeing his review, and I was tense from the beginning.”

“The Moviegoer’s review also had English subtitles, so it’s a mess overseas.”

Jae-han’s words made Seo-jun nod. He had heard that too.

The comments said that they didn’t know that there was such a meaning in that short scene that they thought was just an introduction of the palace.

From The Royal Physician to No San Gun’s Diary, to The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. Some people said that they were studying Korea while watching Seo-jun’s works.

“Seongnyeong and Danjong’s era must be very famous overseas.”

“Reb+ Plus was also fun.”

“Oh, I watched that too.”

Seo-jun and his friends stood in line behind the other students.

The cafeteria was not crowded since there were not many students.

The kids in front of them were familiar faces, so they exchanged light greetings.

The second and third graders inside the cafeteria looked at Seo-jun with a smirk, but the first graders seemed to be used to him.

Something caught Seo-jun’s eye as he looked around the cafeteria.

A symbol that no one else could see sparkled on one wall of the cafeteria.

‘I’m glad I carved it in the cafeteria too.’

Once a day.

One of the places he had to visit when he came to school was the cafeteria.

Besides, he had to eat with the second and third graders, so it was more necessary.

Seo-jun smiled contentedly and checked the mana left in the symbol.

‘I’ll have to refill it today.’

Seo-jun emitted mana to replenish it, and listened to his friends’ stories.

They were talking about Reb+ Plus.

“I researched everything from Munjong’s Annals to No San Gun’s Diary, to Sejo’s Annals. And legends and folktales too. It was amazing.”

“Wasn’t it nice that they showed us edited scenes from Rebellion? They edited the interesting scenes so well, I wanted to watch the movie again.”

“Me too. It was thrilling.”

The kids laughed.

“By the way, our history teacher said he would teach us about Gye Yujungnan next time… It will be fun…”

“I think I’ll get Danjong right on the test.”

“Me too.”

The kids in front and behind Seo-jun agreed with Joo-kyung’s words and nodded.

The line got shorter and it was Seo-jun and his friends’ turn. Food piled up on Seo-jun’s plate one by one.

Today’s lunch menu was Toowoomba pasta with wedge potatoes, salad, soybean paste soup, pork neck steak.

There was also rice and apple juice in a pack for dessert.

The kids’ eyes sparkled at the delicious-looking menu that seemed like it came from a restaurant.

“Our school is awesome!”

They sat down at an empty seat and picked up their spoons.

They reached for their favorite food first.

Seo-jun scooped up a spoonful of soybean paste soup and drank it.

The well-seasoned soup suited Seo-jun’s taste.

“Ah, delicious!”

“The pasta is good too!”

Seo-jun and his friends devoured their lunch happily.

It was delicious and they were at an age where they could eat anything, so they finished their lunch quickly.

They cleaned up their empty plates and left the cafeteria with apple juice in their hands.

“It was delicious today too.”

“Right. The school food is so good.”

Ju-hee and Joo-kyung drank the apple juice that came out as dessert with satisfied expressions.

Seo-jun and Jae-han also nodded their heads as they sipped their apple juice.

“The plum juice at the cafeteria was good, but this is even better.”

“Our elementary school cafeteria was not so great.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t bad, but it was plain. The side dishes were always the same.”

As they walked and listened to Jae-han’s story about his elementary school cafeteria, they saw the Yeoul Arts Middle School bulletin boards on each floor.

[Yeoul Arts Middle School Bulletin Board]

It was a place where students could post announcements about volunteer activities, events, club promotions, and other matters.

Unlike the bulletin board in elementary school, where only teachers could post, the Yeoul Arts Middle School bulletin board had more posts by students.

Seo-jun and the kids’ eyes sparkled as they stood in front of the bulletin board.

“There are a lot of posts today.”

“Yeah. There weren’t many last week…”

Until last Friday, there were only announcements by teachers and posters for outside events, but today, Monday, the bulletin board was full of papers.

New crisp papers caught Seo-jun’s eye.

They were announcements that had not been posted for long.

There were colorful and decorated announcements, and neat ones with black letters.

The announcements seemed to show the personalities of the students who posted them.

There was a common word in the announcements: ‘graduation’.

“It looks like the third graders are preparing for their graduation performance.”

Seo-jun, who was sucking in apple juice, scanned the bulletin board.

‘Graduation performance…’

The third graders of Yeoul Arts Middle School invited all the students and guests to Yeoul Hall the day before graduation and showed them a performance.

The music department had a concert, the art department had an exhibition, and the acting department had a play.

Of course, they didn’t have to do a graduation performance. But considering that it would be uploaded to the YouTube channel [Yeoul Arts Middle School], which had a lot of subscribers, doing a graduation performance was good for their future.

‘There are people who cast after watching the graduation performance.’

It was also good to write on their self-introduction when they entered high school.

Feeling the sweet apple taste in his mouth, Seo-jun read each announcement. It was a graduation performance that he might do when he became a third grader.

He wondered what kind of performances there were.

He rolled his eyes around, and heard his friends’ conversation.

“Besides, our school is getting a lot of attention these days. Both in Korea and abroad.”

“It’s thanks to Seo-jun. People who watched the movie also watch Seo-jun’s skill videos, and there are people who watch other skill videos after that. There are even kids who get English comments.”

“I got an English comment on my video too.”

“Really? That’s amazing!”

The kids were impressed by Jae-han’s words.

Jae-han smiled shyly at Seo-jun and the kids’ applause.

“So I heard that there are more graduation performances than usual.”

“I see.”

Seo-jun nodded his head as he listened to Ju-hee’s story.

“The art department seniors also use a lot of acting department students as models for their graduation works.”

“I guess it’s because they have expressive skills.”

There was also an announcement from the art department on the bulletin board.

‘Come to think of it, they asked me to model at the entrance ceremony.’

He thought it was just a passing remark since he didn’t hear anything after that.

If the art department seniors who were worried about when to ask him heard that, they would have cried out loud.

Seo-jun was thinking calmly.

“The acting department seniors also recruit a lot of students from other departments.”

“They recruit from the art department to help with the stage background or props, and from the music department to get suitable music for the play.”

“It sounds very professional.”

“I wonder if we can do it too.”

Ju-hee answered Jae-han’s question.

As the class president, she had heard a lot of stories from running around.

“First graders can join as assistants, but only from the second semester. That’s why the teachers haven’t taught us yet. Usually, they watch how it’s done from the first grade, then prepare a short performance in the second grade, and then prepare a proper graduation performance in the third grade. They usually prepare for six months, but some seniors prepare for more than a year.”

“I see.”

“While preparing for the summer vacation, they also recruit first graders who can help in between the second semester. That’s why only second and third graders are recruiting now.”

Seo-jun nodded his head as he listened to Ju-hee’s story and read each announcement on the bulletin board.

There were various plays, from one-person plays where only one person stood on the stage, to two-person plays where two people had a dialogue, and to plays where many people acted.

Various plays were looking for participants.

Of course, the target was only second and third graders.

“I should look at what kind of announcements there are and find one that I can join in the second semester.”

“I’ll take a picture and send it to you later.”

“Oh, thanks.”

Joo-kyung took out her phone and stopped Jae-han who was about to take notes of the announcements.

Some schools collected students’ phones, but Yeoul Arts Middle School didn’t restrict phones much as long as they were not used inappropriately.

The phones were useful for recording their acting, capturing a sudden inspiration, or taking pictures of beautiful scenes.

“Jae-han. Hold the paper for me.”

“Okay.”

Jae-han held the paper so that it would be well captured by the camera, and Joo-kyung held her phone.

Click click, as the shutter sound was heard, Seo-jun and Ju-hee talked.

“But it would be easier if they posted it on the school website. Why do they stick it on the bulletin board?”

Ju-hee shrugged her shoulders at Seo-jun’s question.

“I don’t know.”

“Finding audition announcements is also part of an actor’s job.”

A strange voice suddenly interrupted them. Seo-jun and the kids turned their heads to where the voice came from.

Behind them, there was a female senior student.

She was about to answer the questions of the chick-like first graders who were crowded in front of the bulletin board, but when she saw their faces, her heart sank.

It was Lee Seo-jun.

‘Oh my god!’

Oh. Lee Seo-jun. It’s Lee Seo-jun!

She tried to hide her trembling heart and opened her mouth calmly.

It was an act worthy of a Yeoul Arts Middle School acting department third grader.

“Hi?”

“Hi, hello?”

The kids greeted the unfamiliar senior awkwardly.

“Can you move aside for a moment?”

“Oh, yes.”

Jae-han and Joo-kyung moved aside slightly.

The female senior student who looked like a senior tore off a sheet of paper that was stuck on the bulletin board.

?

Question marks appeared above the kids’ heads.

The senior student smiled and spoke to the bewildered juniors.

“This one is closed.”

The kids’ eyes widened.

“…Already?!”

“Yeah. Most of them started recruiting this week, but our team started recruiting last week. And the recruitment period just ended.”

The recruitment period on the announcement that the senior showed them was indeed until noon today. The kids blinked their eyes.

“Really?”

The senior tried to hide her expression that was about to melt at the sight of the surprised juniors.

She couldn’t stop her eyes from going to the superstar Lee Seo-jun.

She had seen him passing by sometimes, but this was the first time she saw him up close.

And they were even talking.

‘I have to brag to my friends!’

The senior quickly hid her fluttering heart and spoke softly.

“Checking audition announcements often is also part of an actor’s job. If you space out, you’ll miss all the good roles and good works. Besides, our school also finds audition announcements for outside works that match our age and posts them on the bulletin board. You have to move fast because there are cases where you miss them. Usually, you should look at the bulletin board at least once a week. Of course, except for special cases, first graders can only do outside activities from the second semester. The teachers will tell you more about it then.”

Seo-jun was impressed.

It was similar to what Team 2 did at school.

For the kids who didn’t have a manager or an agency, it was easier to look at the audition announcements on the school bulletin board than to search online.

The kids who realized that fact were also impressed.

“I see!”

“Thank you.”

The senior received the kids’ greetings and headed to her class as if she was flying.

Joo-kyung opened her mouth as she watched the senior disappear in an instant.

“She’s a nice senior, right?”

“Yeah. We should tell the others too.”

The kids nodded their heads at Ju-hee’s words as the class president.

Seo-jun had noticed the senior’s flinching expression, but he pretended not to know and agreed with Joo-kyung’s words.

Chapter 179

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 179

While Seo-jun was studying hard at school, Team 2 of Cocoa Entertainment was busy handling the flood of calls.

Ring, ring, they answered the phone and listened to the caller’s request.

The requests were mostly the same.

Some broadcasting station or production company was filming something and wanted him to appear.

Or it was an interview request from a magazine or a newspaper.

“Yes. There is nothing decided yet.”

“We are reviewing it.”

They answered mechanically, and the caller’s heart burned.

The movie had recorded ten million in Korea alone, and despite being a historical drama, it was a huge hit overseas.

They could make a huge profit by filming just one episode.

The advertising fees and overseas exports.

They didn’t even have to open up overseas export channels.

There was already a streaming site, Plus+, that was used all over the world.

The process and the result were perfect. There was no such thing as a rosy path. But the start was not difficult, but hopeless.

The golden goose that would be a jackpot if they caught it was not caught at all.

‘If only I could catch it, I’m confident I can raise it well and get golden eggs!’

They had no choice but to contact Cocoa Entertainment, since the usual high appearance fees or threats didn’t work for them.

Team 2 didn’t have much to say either. They were just there to help actor Lee Seo-jun, and the decision was all up to him.
One of the staff members who had just hung up the phone opened his mouth.

“Some writer said this last time.”

Everyone listened with one ear and answered mechanically.

Their hands didn’t stop taking notes of the caller’s words.

“‘Is this really going to actor Lee Seo-jun?’”

“Oh. Me too. They must think we’re cutting it off at our company.”

“Well, usually agencies would do that…”

Team 2 shrugged their shoulders.

For movies or dramas, Team 2 had a very narrow range of choices.

A poor production company would become a solid one if Lee Seo-jun appeared, and a poor investment situation would be solved if he was there.

Most other problems could be solved with Lee Seo-jun’s name.

In that situation, there were few scripts that they could reject.

“Really looks like a scam.”

“We’re filtering out the ones that look like scams, but…”

Team 2 sighed.

The work was entirely up to Lee Seo-jun’s will.

The only programs that Team 2 could get involved in were entertainment and culture shows, but in the end, Seo-jun decided on them too.

So Team 2 staff members just diligently wrote down the names and dates of the programs that called them.

Anh Da Ho collected the hastily written notes and checked the rankings of the programs in the file where he had organized domestic broadcast programs.

Broadcasting station, program name, PD, cast, ratings.

He had already collected and organized a lot of information, so he didn’t need to do any extra research unless it was a new program or the PD had changed.

When the phone calls that had been pouring in calmed down, they had to look at the synopses and scripts that came in by email. Half of Team 2 staff members received phone calls, and half looked through the printed synopses and scripts.

“Back to the sea of synopses.”

They felt their eyes ache just by looking at the stacked papers.

“It was easier when he was filming.”

“Yeah. They probably didn’t send them when he was filming, but they started sending them right after the release.”

After the release, the synopses and scripts that had stopped coming in during filming started coming in again.

A Team 2 staff member who was rating scripts as usual found a familiar name.

“This is Director Choi Dae-man’s work.”

“Really?”

Team 2 staff members and Anh Da Ho knew Director Choi Dae-man well.

He was the director who filmed Seo-jun’s first commercial and his first Korean movie ‘Evil Spirit’. And,

“This is his sixth time.”

He was also the persistent director who sent his sixth synopsis after being rejected five times.

But it wasn’t anything special at Team 2. It was an opportunity to film with superstar Lee Seo-jun. An opportunity to gain wealth and fame. What’s six times? There were many people who tried ten times or twenty times.

“Well, who here isn’t like that?”

“But there are also directors who send the same script over and over again. Director Choi Dae-man always sends different stories, so it’s amazing.”

“And he has a connection with Seo-jun too.”

“Is this a new work?”

The staff member who held Director Choi Dae-man’s synopsis turned over a page. Flap flap. They talked while taking a break for a moment.

“What was his last work?”

“I think it was a historical drama…”

“Wasn’t that the one before?”

“Hmm. Was it?”

Team 2 staff members shrugged their shoulders.

When Seo-jun was studying hard at school, Team 2 of Cocoa Entertainment was busy handling the flood of calls.

Oh.

Blood is draining out.

My blood.

Red blood.

My heart is pounding.

Seo-jun’s eyes flickered as he saw the red blood.

“Yes. It’s done. Press it hard until the bleeding stops.”

The nurse who had injected the needle into his inner arm put a band-aid on it. Seo-jun came to his senses as he stared blankly at his blood draining out.

“Thank you.”

“Please fill out the questionnaire when the bleeding seems to stop.”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun got up from his seat and gave it to Jae-han.

Jae-han, who was having his blood drawn for the first time in his life, as far as he could remember, walked awkwardly to the chair with a pale face.

There were mandatory health check-ups for first graders in middle school and high school, set by the country.

They had to do the health check-ups at a hospital affiliated with the school, and Yeoul Arts Middle School was no exception.

The deadline was October.

After school, Seo-jun decided to get a health check-up at a nearby hospital with Jae-han. Luckily, there were not many people at the hospital, so they had already finished other tests such as X-ray and physical measurement, and only blood collection and questionnaire were left.

Seo-jun pressed the band-aid and looked at Jae-han, who looked like he was about to cry.

He felt like laughing at the sight of Jae-han, who was frowning and scared.

“It doesn’t hurt that much.”

“It looks like it hurts a lot. The needle is so sharp…”

The needle for blood collection sparkled as it caught the light.

Jae-han swallowed his saliva and turned his head away from the sharp needle.

‘Let’s not look. If I don’t look, it won’t be scary… It won’t be scary… It’s scary!’

He closed his eyes and was very scared as the nurse tied a rubber band around his arm.

Thump thump thump. His heart felt like it was going to jump out of his mouth.

“Have you never had blood drawn before?”

“Uh-huh.”

Jae-han opened his eyes slightly at Seo-jun’s question and thought.

He thought it was his first time.

“Is this your first time… Have you done it before, Seo-jun?”

“Yeah. I did it at the clinic.”

“Oh. I saw that. You were on The Royal Physician special, right?”

He remembered watching it with his mom and dad, who talked about how to be healthy like Seo-jun.

The Royal Physician.

Seo-jun acted very well then too.

He couldn’t believe that the grand prince in the television was the same age as him, a third grader.

The grand prince made many people laugh and cry with his gestures and steps.

Korea was in an uproar, and most of the people around Kang Jae-han loved the grand prince.

Kang Jae-han, who was only a third grader, was no exception.

The grand prince was dazzling, and he even asked his mom and dad if the real grand prince lived in the palace.

He felt so real.

Of course, that awesome grand prince…

He felt like tears would come out even now when he thought about it.

Kang Jae-han started acting after that.

He nagged his mom and dad to enroll him in an acting academy and practiced hard.

That’s how Jae-han became a fifth grader, and then a sixth grader.

Facing middle school entrance, he applied to Yeoul Arts Middle School, which gave him the best support among many arts middle schools.

He applied with half a mind that he wouldn’t make it because of the fierce competition rate, but he passed with a bang.

Jae-han would never forget that day when he got the acceptance call.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, accepted to Yeoul Arts Middle School!]

He would have never imagined that he would become friends with the grand prince who shone on television, in the same school, in the same class.

Friend.

It was a word that felt familiar but still made him nervous.

Jae-han smiled faintly.

“Yeah. I’ve been doing it once a year since then.”

“Did you not do it this year?”

“I didn’t do it because they said they would do a health check-up at middle school.”

“I see.”

As Jae-han nodded his head at Seo-jun’s words, the nurse pulled out the needle from Jae-han’s arm.

“There. It’s done.”

“Oh, already?”

Jae-han opened his eyes wide, and Seo-jun laughed ha ha ha.

The nurse smiled as she put a band-aid on Jae-han’s arm.

She was surprised to see the actor Seo-jun in such a small hospital, but she admired how he chatted with his scared friend.

“Don’t rub it, or it will bruise. You have to press it firmly.”

“Thank you.”

Seo-jun and Jae-han finished their blood tests and sat on nearby chairs to fill out the medical forms.

“No problem. No problem.”

Seo-jun wrote at almost the speed of light, while Jaehan read carefully down the page.

While waiting for Jae-han, Seo-jun sent a banana talk to Da Ho.

He had already told Da Ho hyung yesterday that he would be late because of the health check-up.

<Da Ho hyung, I’m done with the health check-up.

Okay? Are you going home right away?

<I’m going to eat tteokbokki with Jae-han.

Got it. Contact me when you get home.

<Okay.

Jae-han finished reading and checking the last page and looked up.

“I’m done.”

“Okay, then let’s go eat tteokbokki.”

They submitted their forms and left the hospital.

Seo-jun and Jae-han headed to a nearby snack bar.

They ordered tteokbokki and fried food, and soon they got hot tteokbokki and fried food. Seo-jun took a bite of the spicy tteokbokki and opened his mouth.

“Ju-hee and Joo-kyung said they’re going to look for audition notices from summer vacation. Are you going to audition too, Jaehan?”

Both of them said they would start looking for audition notices from summer vacation, not the second semester.

‘Most of the acting majors would audition…’

There was nothing better than gaining experience by actually filming or performing on stage.

But among the class, there were surprisingly some kids who only wanted to focus on acting classes.

That wasn’t bad either.

It meant they knew their weaknesses and wanted to improve them.

‘I wonder what Jae-han will do?’

Jae-han, who was munching on fried food, nodded his head.

“Yeah. I’m going to apply for auditions when I see notices.”

Seo-jun, who thought Jae-han would rather take acting classes than audition, asked with sparkling eyes at his unexpected answer.

“Drama? Movie?”

“I’m planning to apply for both. I’ve never filmed anything before.”

A child actor with no filming experience.

It wasn’t anything special.

There were many aspiring child actors, but not many roles for them.

There were quite a few kids like that in the acting department of Yeoul Arts Middle School.

“Really? That’s good. You have to try different things to find out what suits you.”

Jaehan smiled brightly at Seo-jun’s reply and asked.

“When are you going to start a new project?”

It was a question mixed with a little fan’s heart, waiting for the next work of his favorite actor.

Seo-jun tilted his head.

“Well, I guess I’ll do it if I find a work that I like. But I don’t know when that will happen.”

“A work that you like? What kind of work do you like?”

“Um…”

Seo-jun dipped the fried food in the tteokbokki sauce and said with a smile.

“Something fun.”

Chapter 180

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 180

Soon after Seo-jun arrived home, Ahn Da Ho came over.

As always, he placed the paper box he brought on the living room table and smiled involuntarily.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the paper box like he had received a gift.

‘How can he enjoy reading scripts every day?’

Seo-jun’s love for scripts was amazing.

Ahn Da Ho opened his mouth.

“This is what came in last week.”

“Thank you, Da Ho hyung. What do you want to drink? Juice? Coffee?”

Ahn Da Ho hesitated for a moment at Seo-jun’s question.

It was a dilemma he faced every time he visited Seo-jun’s house.

Seo-jun understood his hesitation.

Seo-jun’s house had a lot of drinks and snacks from various countries.

His aunt from America would send boxes of them, and when he had overseas shootings, his actor friends like Rachel Hill and Evan Block would also send him snacks and drinks from those countries.

Seo-jun would share the delicious snacks with his grandparents, Uncle Hee-sang, Uncle Chan, and his school friends.

He would also take them to Cocoa Entertainment.

When he had shootings, he would also distribute them to the actors and staff.

Thanks to that, the break rooms on each floor of Cocoa Entertainment were filled with snacks and drinks from all over the world.

The employees could go to the break room anytime they felt bored and choose their favorite snacks and drinks from the many options.

They smiled brightly.

But the singers who had to prepare for their comeback and the trainees who had to control their weight could only look at the break room with tears in their eyes.

Some people even had Cocoa Entertainment’s snacks as their first food they wanted to eat when their activities ended.

Seo-jun, who didn’t know such facts, shivered at the sight of the snacks that kept coming even after he had dealt with them.

He told his aunt and friends that he couldn’t eat them all, but they still sent them saying that he could give them to his friends.

Seo-jun also tried to repay them by sending Korean snacks and drinks, but he couldn’t stop the onslaught of gifts from his numerous acquaintances alone.

He smiled bitterly as he thought of the snacks that would come again.

“Do you have coffee?”

“Just a second. I have something that a friend sent me from France.”

“From France? Is it Charlie?”

“Yes, it was re-released in France. I heard they cried a lot while watching it. They said it was a gift for Danjong and sent him snacks, drinks, and various things.”

Soon, warm French coffee for Ahn Da Ho and tomato juice for Seo-jun were placed on the living room table.

Seo-jun smiled as he took a sip of the bright red tomato juice.

It was made with love by his parents this morning, with tomatoes prepared by Lee Min-jun and blended by Seo Eun-hye.

Ahn Da Ho and Seo-jun sat in their usual seats to read the scripts while sipping their drinks.

“Here’s a list of variety shows. Tell me if there’s anything you want to do.”

Ahn Da Ho handed Seo-jun a list of variety programs that was on top of the paper box.

The list had the names of the programs, the topics and directions that Seo-jun would be involved in if he appeared on them.

There was also Working Man, along with many other shows from different networks.

The topics ranged from quizzes to cooking.

‘It would be fun to try them once, but,’

Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

“I don’t really want to do them right now.”

“Okay. Then.”

Ahn Da Ho nodded at Seo-jun’s words. Seo-jun laughed at Ahn Da Ho’s straightforward answer.

Next were thin synopses.

Unlike the casual way he skimmed through the variety show list, Seo-jun read the synopses with concentration.

The only sound in the quiet living room was the rustling of papers as Seo-jun turned them.

‘This one is not good. This one too… I don’t like this one either.’

Seo-jun read the scripts without saying a word. But even without speaking, the manager could tell what the actor was thinking.

The gestures of Seo-jun’s hand turning the pages quickly, his twitching eyebrows, his pouting lips.

‘Doesn’t he like any of them this time either.’

Ahn Da Ho didn’t expect to find such a work overnight either.

‘It hasn’t been long since he finished filming the movie…’

But even so, Ahn Da Ho wondered if Seo-jun would like that work.

A thin synopsis that he had put at the very bottom of the paper box that contained lists, synopses, and scripts in order.

Ahn Da Ho hoped that Seo-jun would pick up that synopsis.

Seo-jun’s eyes widened at the familiar name.

“This is Director Choi Dae-man’s work. Is this his sixth one?”

“You remembered?”

“Of course. He’s Director Choi Dae-man.”

He was the director of Seo-jun’s first commercial, and they also worked together on a movie.

It would be strange if he forgot.

‘Besides, he always showed me new stories.’

He was a good director, but business was business, and life was life.

He had turned down his offers before, and if he didn’t like this one either, he would turn it down again.

He was a cold-hearted actor who flipped through the pages of the synopsis without hesitation.

On the white paper, there were the names and images of the characters, their backgrounds, and the plot of the work.

Seo-jun’s face, which had been expressionless as he read, showed a reaction.

Ahn Da Ho, who had been quietly watching Seo-jun’s face, noticed it too.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled and his face came to life as he read the synopsis.

His face brightened as if he had a halo around him.

Ahn Da Ho thought. This is it!

“I want to do this!”

Ahn Da Ho smiled brightly at the sight of the actor smiling brightly.

***

Director Choi Dae-man’s house, living room.

Director Choi Dae-man was sitting in front of his computer.

He was browsing through various websites without any thought when a notification popped up on the corner of his monitor that a new email had arrived.

Director Choi Dae-man flinched and jerked his body. But his face showed no expectation.

“It must be spam.”

He thought so, but he couldn’t stop his hand from heading to his inbox.

A faint hope and anticipation stirred in him.

[(Ad) Today’s shopping! Wet wipes×30…….]

But it was an advertisement email as expected.

Director Choi Dae-man sighed as he looked back and forth between his inbox full of spam emails and his phone that had been silent all day.

“Did I get rejected again?”

He scratched his head and got up from his computer.

He sat down at the table in the living room.

There were papers full of black ink and papers that were still clean around him.

“What should I write next?”

He had to write a new work since this one seemed to be wrong too.

He liked to sketch out his initial ideas by hand, drawing diagrams and setting up relationships.

He put a clean sheet of paper on the table and picked up a pen.

Ding-dong-ding-dong-

Then, he heard the sound of the door lock opening.

Bang! A man who opened the front door came in and sighed as he saw Director Choi Dae-man sitting on the floor leaning against the sofa in the living room.

Since Director Choi Dae-man liked to sketch out his ideas by hand and write scripts on his computer, it seemed like he had been rejected again.

“Hyung. Did you get rejected again?”

It was Park Jae-min, the assistant director who had been with him since Evil Spirit.

It had been eight years since they filmed Evil Spirit. Park Jae-min, who used to speak formally to him, had become close enough to speak casually with him.

He even knew the password to his house.

“Yeah.”

“Shouldn’t you do a decent work by now? You’ve been hanging on to that one because you filmed it with Seo-jun, but you haven’t done any filming since then.”

It had been four years since he released his next work that was rejected by Seo-jun, when he was a rookie.

Director Choi Dae-man had been producing new synopses almost once a year.

Assistant director Park Jae-min put a big bag on the kitchen table and clicked his tongue.

“Your imagination is amazing. How do you come up with them so easily?”

“I have a notebook of ideas that I wrote down a long time ago. It’s not too hard to write synopses, not scripts.”

“Still, you’re not doing it half-heartedly.”

Director Choi Dae-man gave a bitter smile at Park Jae-min’s words.

Park Jae-min opened the big bag and took out the containers of side dishes one by one and put them in the refrigerator.

Park Jae-min’s parents ran a side dish shop, so he bought from them every time.

He was a regular customer and knew them well, so he sometimes delivered them himself.

“Well, you do what you want. You’re making good money as an advertising director, so who am I to say anything.”

“Why don’t you go independent?”

At Director Choi Dae-man’s words, Park Jae-min said as he put the clean containers back in the bag.

“I think you’ll work with Seo-jun again someday. I’ll go independent after I get close to him. Maybe he’ll appear in my work later.”

Park Jae-min was as optimistic as Director Choi Dae-man.

Director Choi Dae-man chuckled.

“Seo-jun has such a good eye for works… He had three consecutive hits with The Royal Physician, Over the Rainbow, and Rebellion. He won’t appear just because you’re close to him.”

“I guess so.”

Director Choi Dae-man and Park Jae-min knew well that it was not true, even though there were many rumors on the internet that it was all about connections.

“He makes enough money following you around.”

Director Choi Dae-man’s name became known in the advertising industry after Seo-jun’s first commercial became a hit.

He had been making more name for himself in the advertising industry than in the film industry for the past four years, and Park Jae-min was also doing advertising work with him.

“Just don’t forget your main job. Your main job.”

At Park Jae-min’s faint words, Director Choi Dae-man fell into thought.

His main job.

The movie director who scratched his head opened his mouth.

“Fine. I’ll make a new synopsis… Let’s work on this one.”

“The first one you’re going to cast is Seo-jun, right?”

Director Choi Dae-man gave a bitter smile at Park Jae-min’s matter-of-fact words.

“For real. I’ll film it even if he rejects me.”

“Okay. Okay.”

Director Choi Dae-man picked up his pen again and focused on the paper. Park Jae-min, who was familiar with Director Choi Dae-man’s house, sat down in front of the computer and browsed through various websites.

July.

The movie Rebellion, where Seo-jun showed his acting skills, was still hot. It had been a long time since it surpassed ten million viewers, and everyone was wondering how much more it would make.

Park Jae-min read the articles about Seo-jun and the netizens’ predictions for his next work and nodded his head.

In the corner of his monitor, he saw a notification that popped up discreetly.

It was an email alert.

“Hyung, look at this…”

Park Jae-min, who was scratching his cheek, clicked on the notification.

He was looking at the notebook of ideas while Director Choi Dae-man was immersed in his new synopsis.

‘Well, it must be spam.’

He looked at the email without much thought and stiffened.

Sender. [Cocoa Entertainment]

At those five letters, Park Jae-min’s heart felt like it was going to jump out of his mouth.

His eyes, which had been shaking, slowly rolled to the side.

He saw the words in the long email that stood out to him.

Director Choi Dae-man. Synopsis.

I read it well.

Actor Seo-jun. Appearance decision… Decision?

Appearance decision!

He read the email almost like a recitation and opened his mouth with difficulty.

“Hyung! Look at this!”

Director Choi Dae-man, who had been focused, lifted his head with a bewildered look.

He saw Park Jae-min’s face, which was flushed with excitement.

He was smiling so wide that his mouth seemed to tear, and he raised his arms and shouted.

“Wow! Wow!”

Director Choi Dae-man narrowed his eyes.

That kid… Did he drink?

Park Jae-min came to his senses and shouted at Director Choi Dae-man, who was looking at him with a cold gaze.

“It’s here! It’s here!”

“What’s here?”

“Email…!”

Ring.

Then, Director Choi Dae-man’s phone rang.

The two heads turned to the phone that was ringing loudly. Park Jae-min’s flushed face and excited gestures, and the phone that rang for the first time today.

Something clicked in Director Choi Dae-man’s heart, which also started to beat hard.

Finally,

He got a call from actor Seo-jun.

Chapter 181

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 181

Cocoa Entertainment’s 3rd floor conference room.

Ahn Da Ho greeted Director Choi Dae-man and Assistant Director Park Jae-min with a smile.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ahn Da Ho, the manager of actor Lee Seo-jun.”

“Hello. I’m Director Choi Dae-man.”

“I’m Assistant Director Park Jae-min.”

The three of them exchanged greetings and sat down.

Seeing them looking around for Seo-jun, Ahn Da Ho opened his mouth.

“Seo-jun is at school today because it’s the graduation ceremony.”

Ahn Da Ho smiled as he remembered Seo-jun’s message full of regret.

“Oh, I see.”

Director Choi Dae-man nodded and took out a pile of papers from his bag.

Cocoa Entertainment contacted him a week ago. Since then, Director Choi Dae-man and Assistant Director Park Jae-min had been working hard to prepare the treatment and part of the script.

“This is the treatment for the movie, and this is a little bit of the script that I made.”

Ahn Da Ho smiled with satisfaction at the treatment that was longer than a few pages of synopsis, and the script that was slightly thicker.

It showed the overall scenes of the movie in detail, divided into about 10 chapters.

“I was worried that the synopsis was too short, but thank you.”

“We might change it later, but we plan to shoot according to the treatment for now.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Ahn Da Ho took the treatment and the script to show Seo-jun, who would come to the company after finishing his graduation ceremony.

“Then we need to find a production company… Do you have any place in mind?”

At Ahn Da Ho’s words, Director Choi Dae-man flinched and shivered. His eyes rolled to the side. Ahn Da Ho tilted his head.

“Director?”

“Well…”

Director Choi Dae-man rubbed his neck.

He had thought of production companies, distributors, and other cast members for his first three attempts. He had written synopses with excitement, imagining production companies, distributors, and actors that suited his taste. That was three times.

But after all three failed, Director Choi Dae-man thought, ‘Let’s get Seo-jun’s confirmation first!’ and didn’t have any place in mind.

“We’re fine with wherever Seo-jun is comfortable with.”

At Director Choi Dae-man’s words, Ahn Da Ho tapped his chin.

The production companies that Seo-jun had worked with in Korea were: Movie Dream for Evil Spirit, Wave for The Royal Physician, Cloud for the advertisement, and Danhong for Rebellion.

Cloud was an advertisement production company and Wave was a drama production company, so they were out of the question. Danhong would be busy for the whole year because of Rebellion, so the only one left was Movie Dream.

“How about Movie Dream?”

If he asked…

Director Choi Dae-man recalled Movie Dream, the production company he had worked with for Evil Spirit.

It was a production company that allowed him to make a rare exorcism movie in Korea. It was also a good place that listened to his stubbornness until the end and spent a month and a half looking for a good location. He had also worked with them for his next project.

Director Choi Dae-man nodded. Assistant Director Park Jae-min also agreed by nodding his head repeatedly.

“That’s fine. There too.”

“Shall we go with them then?”

It was easier than expected to decide on a movie production company.

There was no point in weighing pros and cons, since there were hardly any Korean production companies that had experience in making zombie movies. They were all similar, so it was best to work with a place where he had worked comfortably before.

‘Besides, as long as there is a budget, even a small production company can do anything.’

Ahn Da Ho and Director Choi Dae-man smiled without worrying about the investment money.

“Then I’ll contact them.”

At Director Choi Dae-man’s words, Ahn Da Ho nodded.

After finishing the meeting and leaving Cocoa Entertainment, Director Choi Dae-man looked for Movie Dream’s planning team leader Lee Hansol’s contact on his phone. Park Jae-min took the wheel.

“Hyung. Where are we going?”

“Hmm. Let’s go to Movie Dream.”

“Okay.”

As the car started to vibrate, Director Choi Dae-man sent a message to Lee Hansol.

<Lee team leader. Long time no see.

Oh, Director Choi! Are you planning to make your next project?

A reply arrived almost instantly, as if he had been staring at his phone all day long.

“Ah…”

Director Choi Dae-man rubbed his neck at Lee Hansol’s message.

<How did you know?

You only contact me when you have something to do.

<I’m sorry.

It’s okay. But are you planning to make your next project?

<Yes. I thought it would be nice to work with Movie Dream again.

Oh… You don’t know yet.

“Hmm?”

Director Choi Dae-man’s fingers stopped as he was sending a message. Park Jae-min asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, Lee team leader’s reaction is weird.”

The car stopped at a signal. Park Jae-min leaned forward and looked at the phone screen. A message from Lee Hansol appeared.

<We went bankrupt.

“…!?”

A noisy barbecue restaurant.

Former Lee Hansol, current unemployed Lee Hansol followed the restaurant staff to a private room with a hollow laugh.

“Lee team leader!”

“Director Choi! Long time no see.”

“Ahahaha. Don’t emphasize that it’s been a long time.”

“It’s been four years, of course it’s been a long time.”

Director Choi Dae-man and Lee Hansol sat down. They also greeted Park Jae-min, and then Lee Hansol drank soju. Uh, uh. Director Choi Dae-man and Park Jae-min looked at Lee Hansol, who was really pouring soju down his throat, with a bewildered expression.

“Well… Lee team leader… Movie Dream went bankrupt?”

“CEO Park, that bastard… He ran away with all the company’s money after gambling.”

“All of it?”

“Yes. He sold all the movie rights that the company had and ran away. We couldn’t make movies, and we had no money to pay the employees, so they all left.”

Lee Hansol gritted his teeth and said.

“He even sold the rights to Evil Spirit, which starred Seo-jun!”

“…That one!”

The one that was still airing and making money?!

Director Choi Dae-man and Park Jae-min were shocked.

“Uh, where?”

“…Plus+.”

Director Choi Dae-man and Park Jae-min sighed in relief. It was a lucky thing, if anything.

Lee Hansol held up his soju glass and said.

“So you’ll have to look for another place to make your movie.”

“What about the other staff…?”

“Some of us are still unemployed, and some have found new jobs.”

He had been staring at his phone all day, but it was not like he had anything else to do as a jobless person. Feeling sorry for him, Director Choi Dae-man placed some grilled meat in front of him, which he had ordered in advance.

“Can’t you start over?”

“Well, the company name still exists. We just need someone to buy it. But, there’s not much left, so the acquisition cost is almost nothing. The problem is finding work. Who would entrust a movie production to a company whose president ran away?”

“People would trust you, Team Leader Lee.”

Director Choi Dae-man had been able to scout locations for so long thanks to Team Leader Lee Hansol’s efforts. Lee Hansol smiled faintly at Director Choi’s compliment.

“Huh. Thank you.”

“Why don’t you buy the company, Team Leader Lee?”

“Well… I could, but…”

“I’ll invest too.”

Lee Hansol’s eyes sparkled at Director Choi’s words.

There were quite a few cases of directors setting up their own production companies in Chungmuro. After all, the production companies made more money than the directors themselves.

“Are you sure? It could go bankrupt.”

“There’s a good movie. A very profitable one. As for the rest, we’ll figure it out later.”

“A good movie?”

Lee Hansol saw Director Choi Dae-man and Assistant Director Park Jae-min’s faces shining in the light. He blinked.

‘Where have I seen this face before?’

He tried to recall his memory. A vague feeling of something familiar.

A long time ago, Director Choi Dae-man had shouted with joy that he had cast someone. Lee Hansol’s eyes widened.

“Uh…?”

“We have a movie in preparation. We’ve already secured one lead actor.”

“Uh…?”

“You must have seen him too, Team Leader Lee.”

“Eh?”

Finally, when Director Choi Dae-man uttered the name of the actor, Lee Hansol screamed like a banshee.

He decided to buy the production company, Movie Dream, and contacted the former employees. Team Leader Lee Hansol, who was now the CEO, drank soju with a happy heart.

“You still have a way with words, Team Leader Lee. No, should I say CEO Lee!”

“Please drink more, Assistant Director Park! It’s on me!”

“Do you have money?”

“Well… I’ll break my savings!”

The private room was filled with lively conversation among the three people.

Director Choi Dae-man opened his mouth.

“The investor was recommended by Cocoa Entertainment. They offered the most money and didn’t interfere with anything. They said it was good.”

“Cocoa Entertainment’s recommendation!”

Cocoa Entertainment. Anyone who wanted to work with Lee Seo-jun knew his agency. It was almost like Lee Seo-jun himself had recommended it, so Lee Hansol looked at Director Choi Dae-man with shining eyes.

“Where is that?”

***

Plus+ Korea branch.

In one of the conference rooms, Movie Dream’s CEO, Lee Hansol, waited nervously for the investor representative.

He wasn’t worried about being rejected.

He had plenty of other options for investment.

He just couldn’t believe what was inside his bag.

No one here would ever guess what it was.

Lee Hansol chuckled nervously.

If it was any other movie, he would have been running around looking for investors and worrying about the production cost. But he felt very relaxed.

After a short wait, the investor representative came in.

They exchanged greetings and started the conversation.

The investor representative spread out the synopsis and treatment on the table and showed a cold reaction from the start.

A zombie movie in Korea?

Movie Dream was known for its interest in non-mainstream genres, but it seemed like they were pushing it too far this time.

They would have to do makeup for every shoot, and they couldn’t afford to have sloppy acting from the extras.

They would obviously need CG, and not to mention the setting…

The investor staff who were discussing whether to invest or not, and how much to invest if they did, shook their heads.

The investor representative spoke.

“A zombie movie. We know about Movie Dream very well. You have some recognition in non-mainstream genres, but your profits haven’t been that high for the past few years, right? Barely breaking even…”

They sold off their movie rights too.

‘Well, even Hollywood studios sell off their rights when they’re desperate… It doesn’t matter… But their president ran away because of gambling… They changed their president, but still…’

The investor representative scribbled something on a paper and glanced at Lee Hansol’s face.

Despite his cold reaction, Lee Hansol was smiling calmly and nodding all the time.

The investor representative felt awkward and beat around the bush.

“Of course, breaking even is impressive in this field. You could make more profit if you use our service. How much do you want to receive from us, Movie Dream?”

“Before that…”

Lee Hansol lowered his voice.

The investor representative tilted his head.

“Mr. Lee.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know who our lead actor is?”

“? No. It wasn’t on the documents you sent us. Did you already secure a lead actor? I hope it’s a famous one. That would increase the investment amount.”

A famous actor.

He couldn’t stop his lips from curling up at that word.

Lee Hansol smiled brightly and said.

His mouth seemed to zoom in as he moved.

The investor representative asked, puzzled by the unfamiliar word.

When he heard the name of the actor again, he froze on the spot.

Hahaha. While Lee Hansol was smiling brightly, the investor representative realized.

This was not something he could handle in his position.

He immediately reported it to the Plus+ Korea branch manager.

“Wow! A zombie movie! With Lee Seo-jun!”

The branch manager jumped up from his seat.

Oh my god!

Wow!

What the!

He mixed American and Korean reactions as he was shocked.

He took a breath and sat down again.

“A zombie movie in Korea. You made a historical drama that no one knew about, and it was a hit. Now you’re making a zombie movie. Are you planning to sweep the whole world’s money?”

He still had some excitement on his face, but he calmed down.

Lee Hansol sighed in relief.

He expected him to be excited, but not this much.

He was glad he could get the investment easily.

“So, about the investment…”

But, the branch manager’s calmness was a trap.

While Lee Hansol was relieved, the branch manager’s mind was spinning.

The historical drama Rebellion had made more profit than expected, and it was soon to be uploaded on Plus+.

The revenue from the movie investment plus the revenue from Plus+.

That alone was satisfying, but.

They were preparing a zombie movie!

Wasn’t it a movie where action spoke louder than words?

It made him sweat like One Step, a disaster movie, or maybe it made him hold his breath like Rebellion, where people fought for their lives on the edge of death and life.

And,

The branch manager swallowed his saliva.

And, it was Lee Seo-jun’s first action movie!

‘Wow! That’s right. His first action movie!’

It would be released before Shadowman 3, which had 100% action scenes.

It would be Lee Seo-jun’s first action movie.

The branch manager’s eyes sparkled.

“Let’s do it! Let’s do it! What do you need? It’s a zombie movie, so you need a special makeup team, right? We have one too. If we ask the headquarters, they’ll come right away. If you don’t like them, we’ll bring the most famous makeup team in the world!”

The branch manager started to rave again.

Lee Hansol backed away until he hit the sofa backrest.

He buried his back into it as if it would dig in.

“Props? Should we bring in a Hollywood art team? Staff? We’ll bring in any experts you want! Funding? Use as much as you want! Location? Renting? Why bother? Let’s build it! With the latest technology, it’ll be done quickly. Just tell me what you need! Anything you need, anywhere you want, we’ll get it for you.”

The branch manager spoke without taking a breath.

He looked like he would get a meteorite if they asked him to, by bidding or robbing NASA.

Anywhere… He probably meant not just Korea but the whole world.

Lee Hansol shrank at the sight of the branch manager’s blue eyes.

‘The scale of Americans…’

He was scared because he looked like he would do anything.

Chapter 182

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 182

“…That’s what he said. He was so scary, he looked like he could do anything.”

On the evening of the day the investment meeting ended.

Lee Hansol, director Choi Dae-man, and assistant director Park Jae-min met again at the same barbecue restaurant they had visited before.

Director Choi Dae-man tilted his head at Lee Hansol’s words as he was about to drink some soju. .

Huh?

“I heard from the manager that he only gave us the investment money quietly.”

Assistant director Park Jae-min, who was grilling meat next to him, nodded repeatedly.

“He didn’t say much except for coming to see the filming once.”

Lee Hansol, who was chewing on his food, said.

“I heard that too. He said he didn’t know what we needed for a historical drama. He said it would be better to leave it to director Woo Jeong-han, who knows more about it than anyone else.”

Director Choi Dae-man and assistant director Park Jae-min agreed with him.

There was no one who could use the things needed for a historical drama more professionally and efficiently than director Woo Jeong-han, the master of historical dramas.

“But our work is a zombie movie. The US is the place to go for zombie movies, and they also have Plus+ Original zombie dramas.”

“Oh, that was fun. The makeup was not awkward at all.”

Park Jae-min’s words made Lee Hansol nod.

It was popular not only in the US but also in Korea.

“He said he got excited for a moment because it was something he knew well.”

He got excited for a moment?

It felt like they had to start over from the beginning. But the vice president never took back his words.

He blinked his blue eyes and waited for Lee Hansol’s words.

Lee Hansol swallowed his saliva.

The maximum budget that Lee Hansol had discussed with director Choi Dae-man was 20 billion won.

That was blockbuster-level in Korea.

But it seemed like they were going to shoot a Hollywood blockbuster movie in Korea.

To be a blockbuster in Hollywood, they needed at least 100 billion won.

It was five times the budget they had expected.

“100 billion won!”

The private room was quiet as a mouse.

Only the sound of grilling meat could be heard.

Director Choi Dae-man and assistant director Park Jae-min swallowed their saliva.

Lee Hansol felt like he was sweating cold sweat even now.

A few hours ago, Lee Hansol had answered that he would consult with the director and ran out of Plus+ Korea office.

“Wow. I didn’t expect him to run away when I said I would give him money.”

Lee Hansol drank some soju.

He felt ridiculous when he thought about how he had run out like that.

“…Can’t we take it? He said he would give us a lot. It would be fun if we could make it like Hollywood, with bangs and booms!”

Park Jae-min’s words made director Choi Dae-man scratch his cheek.

It was better to have more money for production than less.

But this was a commercial movie.

It was not a business that would bring back as much profit as they spent, and no matter how much money they poured in, they could still fail miserably.

“It would be nice to take it. But we have to think about the profit as a commercial movie. If we spend 100 billion won and can’t even break even, our company will go bankrupt.”

The investor of Movie Dream Production, director Choi Dae-man’s words made Lee Hansol nod.

Park Jae-min tilted his head. But didn’t they have Seo-jun as their guarantee?

“Wouldn’t we be fine with Seo-jun?”

“Seo-jun’s fans will watch it once. But we have to make them watch it multiple times with our work. If we fail with Seo-jun in it, my directing career is over.”

“Our company too.”

Director Choi Dae-man opened his mouth.

“Let’s take a moderate amount of investment money. If we take too much, we might waste it on unnecessary things.”

Lee Hansol nodded. Director Choi Dae-man sighed inwardly as he drank some water.

“To be honest, I don’t have the courage to spend that much money, and I feel like I might ruin the work if I get carried away.”

The budget that director Choi Dae-man had thought of for this movie was only 20 billion won…(that was the maximum), director Choi Dae-man gasped and shook his head vigorously. No, only? 20 billion won is not only!

Director Choi Dae-man drank some cold water and cooled down his inflated mind. He felt like he had already gotten carried away.

Anyway, he thought that if he changed the script and synopsis too much by adding this and that with 100 billion won, it might become a mess.

“And I feel like Seo-jun might not do it if the script changes too much.”

Director Choi Dae-man had failed five times to cast Seo-jun, and he felt that if the script and synopsis changed too much, Seo-jun might not accept it.

Oh. That can’t happen!

Lee Hansol, who was startled by the possibility of losing the actor who would be the main contributor to the box office, quickly nodded.

“Yes. I understand. Let’s go with 20 billion won!”

While the two were talking, Park Jae-min, who had been stuffing himself with meat wrapped in lettuce, said.

“Then what about the camera? There’s a camera they use in Hollywood. The cinematographer’s bucket list is to shoot with that…”

Director Choi Dae-man’s hand, which was about to pick up some meat, trembled.

Camera!

He hadn’t thought of that. He had always thought of shooting with what he had.

Director Choi Dae-man also knew about the camera that was on the cinematographer’s bucket list. He liked the color of the movies shot with that camera.

“And there’s also the expensive audio equipment we couldn’t use. That one. The sound director would love it!”

Director Choi Dae-man frowned.

He knew that too.

The recording equipment that captured even the smallest sounds that the director wanted to express.

Director Choi Dae-man imagined the scenes shot with the expensive camera and recording equipment in his head.

‘Damn, it would look amazing.’

Director Choi Dae-man, who was chewing on his meat, looked at Lee Hansol.

Lee Hansol understood director Choi Dae-man’s eyes and nodded.

Park Jae-min, who had stimulated director Choi Dae-man’s greed with a few words, smiled satisfied.

It seemed like the filming equipment for this movie would be no less than a Hollywood movie.

**

Time passed as director Choi Dae-man made the official script from the synopsis and treatment.

The children who had entered summer vacation were enjoying their summer vacation, and Rebellion was uploaded to Plus+ after being taken down from the theaters.

Yang Ju-hee: I auditioned!

Kim Joo-kyung: Me too! But it was a different audition from Ju-hee’s.

<I hope you both get in!

Kang Jaehan: I’m still waiting for the document reviewㅠ I hope the results come out soonㅠㅠ

The first graders of Yeol Arts Middle School were busy.

They studied hard at acting academy, applied for auditions and went to interviews.

Seo-jun, who was working hard like his friends, also had a lot to do.

He checked the script that was gradually increasing and prepared for filming during his summer vacation.

Rachel: Are you not coming to America this summer?

He received a message from Rachel Hill.

Last summer vacation, he had gone to America for a short trip.

He watched Jack’s baseball game, met Evan and Rachel, and had a lot of fun talking to them.

He usually went to America for vacation unless something big happened, so she asked if he was coming this time.

Seo-jun, who was stretching his body, sent a reply.

<I have something to prepare for filming before shooting. I’m busy learning that.

Evan: Are you already preparing for your next work?

<Yes. I got a good work.

Rachel: What? What kind of work is it? Is it a Korean movie?

<Yes. I’m shooting with director Dae-man.

Evan: Dae-man!

Rachel: I know that!

Evan: I’m looking forward to what kind of movie it is. Is it another exorcism?

Seo-jun laughed at Evan’s question.

<It’s a zombie movie.

Rachel: !

Evan: !

The surprise of Hollywood actors Evan Block and Rachel Hill, who had never starred in a zombie movie before, seemed to reach them.

***

Lee Hansol, who became the head of the film production company Movie Dream, solved the problems one by one.

He first rented an office and contacted the employees.

The number of employees who accepted the reinstatement was small, but Lee Hansol was satisfied.

It was because most of the employees he thought were essential agreed.

“Hello.”

“It’s been a long time, everyone.”

The employees who came to the new office with awkward faces gathered in the conference room.

They were all familiar faces, but they felt awkward after meeting again in a few months.

Lee Hansol broke the ice first.

“I’m glad to see you again. I didn’t expect this to happen.”

“You’ve been promoted a lot. Team leader. No, you’re the boss now!”

The employees laughed at the words of the staff member who had been the mood maker of the publicity team before the change of the head.

Lee Hansol also smiled comfortably at the softened atmosphere.

“Thank you for trusting me and coming back. I know you’re all worried about what’s going to happen next, but Movie Dream is fine. Let’s do our best as we have done so far.”

The employees applauded Lee Hansol’s words.

“From today, Movie Dream will start producing a new work.”

“…Already?”

The employees blinked their eyes.

They thought it would take at least a few months to find a new work.

They didn’t expect to get a new project so soon.

Lee Hansol nodded.

“It’s a work by director Choi Dae-man, who worked with us before. He helped me when I took over the company.”

If it was director Choi Dae-man, then the work would be easy and he had skills, so they wouldn’t lose money at least. Maybe they could become a solid company again. The employees’ eyes sparkled.

“What’s the genre?”

“Is it another niche genre?”

The only thing that made them anxious was that Movie Dream’s movies were not very popular genres.

Lee Hansol said.

“The title of this work is Escape.”

The employees swallowed their saliva.

Escape? Escape from what?

Was it a disaster movie?

That wasn’t bad. Disaster movies were quite popular if the CG was good. But because of the CG, the production cost was high and there were pros and cons.

Or was it a prison escape movie?

Then most of the scenes would be inside the prison.

The production cost would be much lower, but the spectacle would not be flashy and the box office would depend entirely on the script and the actors’ performances.

The brains of the employees who had been hardened by unemployment moved quickly.

They all thought about various possibilities when Lee Hansol said.

“It’s a zombie movie.”

…What?

The employees looked at Lee Hansol with blank faces.

With a smile on his face, Movie Dream’s head Lee Hansol said again.

“It’s a zombie movie.”

At that moment, all the employees in the conference room thought of the same thing.

‘…We’re doomed!’

Lee Hansol barely held back his laughter at the faces of the horrified employees.

It was a fun prank no matter how many times he did it.

‘There’s still more to surprise you.’

“And the lead actor is Lee Seo-jun.”

…? Lee Seo-jun?

How long has it been since he finished filming?

There were many things they wanted to say, but they couldn’t say anything.

Their mouths just twitched.

One of the employees spat out a very small voice.

“…Boss.”

“Yes?”

“…Did you get scammed?”

!

An exclamation mark appeared over the heads of the employees who heard the question.

Their messy minds became clear with that word.

That’s right! Scam! It’s a scam!

The eyes of the employees looking at Lee Hansol became sharp.

‘Our team leader… How hard must he have been…’

Lee Hansol lost his words at their eyes.

He didn’t expect them to think it was a scam.

‘Well, there are people who often scam using Lee Seo-jun’s name…’

The employees clenched their mouths at Lee Hansol’s silence.

It’s really a scam!

“It’s okay. Team leader, no, boss. We’ll find a new work soon!”

“You didn’t sign a contract yet, did you?”

“You’re our boss, so you’ll be fine.”

“Do you want me to call the police?”

The employees who concluded that it was a scam tried to find a solution to save their jobs that had just returned, while Lee Hansol pressed the remote control he was holding without saying anything.

A picture of someone appeared on the screen that had been prepared in advance.

In the light projected from the projector, all eyes were on one place.

The employees’ eyes grew as big as they could.

Gasp!

The publicity team staff who was about to call the police dropped his phone without knowing it.

No one reacted to the sound of the phone falling.

They just stared blankly at the screen.

“No…”

“Is that… real…”

In the silence that seemed to hear a needle drop, Movie Dream’s head Lee Hansol opened his mouth.

It was a more chilling voice than ever.

“This is the lead actor of Escape, Lee Seo-jun.”

A boy’s face was on the screen.

He was holding a long bow and pulling the string near his lips with a serious expression.

It was actor Lee Seo-jun.

Chapter 183

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Chapter 183

Elves.

What are elves?

In most fantasy stories, they are a race that has beautiful appearance, can manipulate spirits, lives in harmony with nature, and uses bows as their main weapon.

In his countless past lives, Seo-jun had encountered races that shared the same name but had completely different personalities. However, half of the ‘elf lives’ that he experienced were similar to that concept.

“Hehehe.”

Seo-jun, who went to bed early today, looked at the door of the Library of Life and let out a suspicious laugh.

One of the protagonists of ‘Escape’, the character that Seo-jun would play, was ‘Go Ju Won’, a middle school archery club member who always ranked first in the national youth tournament.

He was amazed when he found out that the role he would play was an archer.

It was a rare profession in both fiction and reality.

Seo-jun, who enjoyed various sports as hobbies, had never tried archery before.

But he was confident.

“Elves mean bows! Bows mean elves!”

Not only Seo-jun, but his aura was more sparkling than usual, as if it was showing his excitement for the [Basic Breathing of (Sun) Elves] that he had practiced since he was a baby.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and entered the library.

There were many books and bookshelves of life, but Seo-jun did not stop and walked towards somewhere. Unlike his usual self who carefully looked at the titles of each book, he walked without hesitation.

The library that was combined with other libraries of life was spacious.

Seo-jun, who wandered around the large library, arrived at his destination.

He stood in front of a bookshelf with a happy but empty face.

“…It’s really easy to find.”

He glanced briefly and saw that there were many abilities related to ‘bows’.

The bookshelf in front of Seo-jun was a shelf where elf lives were gathered.

Not only this bookshelf, but all the bookshelves around here were ‘elf lives’.

Just on this bookshelf alone, 30% of the abilities were related to ‘bows’, and now all he had to do was choose a suitable book from here.

He had worked hard to find the right ability until now, wandering around the library of life here and there, but it was too easy to find the ability this time, so Seo-jun laughed emptily.

“I really need a search function.”

But Seo-jun still didn’t have the ability to change the library of life.

He thought of the huge doors that were tightly closed and the abilities that would be inside them.

When he could use the ability to touch the library of life,

“I have to add a search function first.”

Seo-jun firmly resolved and did his job again.

He took out books related to ‘bows’ from the bookshelf where elf lives were full.

There were similar abilities as well as different abilities among many lives.

He liked some abilities, but he liked the abilities of the lives he read later more.

He found the bookshelf easily, but

“It’s hard to choose because there are so many types!”

Seo-jun looked at the books he had picked out in the first round with a bored face.

There were still many books he hadn’t read yet, but they were already piled up as high as his sitting height.

At a glance, it seemed like more than 10 books.

“Hmm. What should I do?”

This one looked good, and that one looked good too.

Seo-jun, who sat among many lives, fell into trouble.

***

A weekday morning when there were few people.

An outdoor archery range in the suburbs.

Cocoa Entertainment rented an outdoor archery range for a few hours.

Cho Young Hoon, an archer who was hired by Movie Dream Production Company to help with filming, unknowingly applauded at their scale.

Seo-jun bowed politely in a neat sky-blue tracksuit.

“Hello! I’m Lee Seo-jun. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Cho Young Hoon. Nice to meet you too.”

“Please speak comfortably. Sir.”

Cho Young Hoon also smiled brightly at Seo-jun’s words.

“Have you ever tried archery before?”

“No. I tried Korean traditional archery for a while when I was filming as an extra.”

He was younger then and couldn’t even shoot an arrow. He just fiddled with it a few times.

“Then you have to learn from scratch.”

Cho Young Hoon started training right away after talking briefly and figuring out Seo-jun’s skills.

Ahn Da Ho, who was standing on one side of the archery range, brought equipment that fit Seo-jun.

They were equipment recommended by Cho Young Hoon and used by most middle school archers.

Cho Young Hoon checked Seo-jun’s equipment and explained them one by one.

“This is an arm guard that protects your wrist. You can wear it over your clothes.”

He wore a hard arm guard under his elbow.

It was summer, but Seo-jun wore long sleeves to protect his body from the hard bowstring.

“This is a finger protection that protects your fingers.”

A black finger protection was put on Seo-jun’s fingers.

He clenched and unclenched his hand a few times.

He was excited by the unfamiliar archery equipment.

Cho Young Hoon, who felt his mood, continued to explain with a smile.

“This is a chest guard. You can get hurt if the string gets caught on your clothes.”

He wore a triangular chest guard on his chest and put on the equipment one by one.

Cho Young Hoon nodded his head after checking everywhere.

“Good. Then let’s practice holding the bow first.”

“Yes!”

Cho Young Hoon brought a long bow that was on one side.

It was a bow prepared by Movie Dream Production Company for Seo-jun.

“It’s a model from a company that most middle school players look for. I heard you’re going to use this for the movie shooting too. It might be awkward at first, but you’ll get used to it later.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded.

Cho Young Hoon had already heard what he had to teach Seo-jun.

He didn’t know the details of the movie, but he said that there was a scene where he had to shoot an arrow, so it would be enough if he had the correct posture.

So Cho Young Hoon taught Seo-jun the basic posture of archery, from stance to release, slowly.

“Oh…”

It didn’t take long, but Cho Young Hoon was amazed.

He had heard a lot of stories about Seo-jun.

He was very good at sports like soccer and taekwondo, and he was also proficient in violin that he learned for a year.

He admired that there was such a talented child, but he didn’t expect it to extend to archery.

“Seo-jun, do you want to try it by yourself?”

“Sure!”

Seo-jun held his posture as Cho Young Hoon taught him.

It was a bit different from the way of the elves, but the essence did not change.

‘Balance yourself, lightly. And breathe.’

He spread his feet wider than his shoulders and balanced himself.

He took out an arrow from the quiver on his thigh and put the tip of the arrow on the string.

He put the string on his right hand fingers and lightly held the bow with his left hand.

The bow was still pointing down until then.

He exhaled lightly and lifted the bow up and aimed at the target with the tip of the arrow.

He maintained his breathing so that his posture would not be distorted and slowly pulled the string toward his body.

Then the string was pulled tightly near his lips.

Cho Young Hoon unknowingly applauded at Seo-jun’s perfect posture.

Even Ahn Da Ho, who knew nothing about archery, could see that he looked like a pro.

Ahn Da Ho asked Cho Young Hoon.

“Is Seo-jun good?”

“Of course. It’s not just good. He’s really good. His posture is no less than a player.”

The bowstring that had been pulled tightly slowly returned to its original position.

Seo-jun, who hadn’t learned how to shoot an arrow yet, returned to his original appearance.

Cho Young Hoon’s eyes sparkled at his appearance.

“Can I let Seo-jun shoot an arrow?”

“Will he be okay?”

“It’s okay. He’s wearing protective equipment well and he’s so accurate that he won’t get hurt.”

“Then let’s ask Seo-jun.”

At Cho Young Hoon’s suggestion, Seo-jun nodded his head quickly.

He had been practicing his posture diligently as his teacher and Da Ho hyung told him to, but his hands were itching.

Cho Young Hoon checked the equipment again for safety.

He firmly fastened the chest guard and arm guard to prevent injury from the released string and said.

“Do you see the 15m target over there?”

He saw a colorful target in the distance. There was a sign that said 15m in front of it.

“Yes.”

“Let’s aim for that first.”

Seo-jun nodded and stood in his place.

His heart was pounding.

He calmed his breathing and spread his legs naturally to balance himself.

He picked up an arrow and placed it on the bow.

He inhaled and gently lifted his upper body with the bow.

Hoo.

He aimed at the target with the arrow that said 15m and exhaled lightly, pulling the tight string back without hesitation.

He never took his eyes off the target.

The string that was close to his lips and chin pressed against Seo-jun’s cheek.

‘Focus.’

[Basic Breathing of (Sun) Elves] eliminated Seo-jun’s trembling.

The distant target seemed to zoom in like a camera, becoming bigger and bigger.

Seo-jun stood still, and Cho Young Hoon and Ahn Da Ho held their breath.

It was definitely his first time, but he looked like he had been handling a bow for years.

In the silence where even the sound of insects and birds was quiet, Seo-jun moved.

He let go of the fingers that were carefully holding the string.

Shoo- The sound of wind cutting through the air and thud!

The sound of an arrow sticking into the target was heard.

Cho Young Hoon shouted reflexively.

“Ten!”

He shouted and seemed more surprised than himself.

Ten? He hit ten on his first try?

Cho Young Hoon’s eyes shook.

“…Is that all X-TEN?”

He uttered an unbelievable truth with difficulty.

X-TEN, hitting the center of the target.

It used to be where the camera was in the previous Olympics.

Cho Young Hoon had hit it a few times when he was in good condition, but… Oh my god.

“Seo-jun, try one more time. I’ll record it on video this time.”

“Are you sending it to mom and dad?”

“Yeah. They’ll both be curious.”

“Yes! Please take a cool picture. Da Ho hyung!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Ahn Da Ho’s words and moved his hand to the quiver again.

‘I have to show it to mom and dad, so I have to do better!’

Unlike Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho who were excited, Cho Young Hoon, who had seen many archers, lost his words at their peaceful conversation.

‘No, he hit X-TEN consecutively on his first day! And at different distances!’

He moved his mouth slightly, and Cho Young Hoon barely spat out a word.

“…What kind of movie are they trying to make?”

With this kind of skill, wouldn’t it be enough to make a movie about conquering the world with archery?

He wondered.

Chapter 184

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Chapter 184

[Intermediate Archery of the Elf Archer – Lower Intermediate]

This is the intermediate archery skill of the elf archer.

You can use a bow and arrows skillfully.

Your accuracy, stability, concentration, stamina, and vision are increased.

Some parts of your body become elf-like.

The bow symbol engraved on the back of Seo-jun’s left hand, which held the bow, sparkled.

It was not one.

There were three symbols in total.

They were the symbols of the abilities of the basic archery (lowest grade), lower archery (lower grade), and intermediate archery of the elf archer.

Unlike usual, there were more options, so Seo-jun decided to use the abilities alternately.

‘It’s a waste to use only one when there are so many!’

When Jo Young Hoon first taught him, he used the basic archery ability and used the lower archery ability up to 30m.

From 50m, he felt that the lower archery was a bit too much, so he used the intermediate ability as well.

‘Archery and basic breathing are a good match.’

[Elf’s Archery] was compatible with [Elf’s Basic Breathing].

Other abilities from other lines also showed better effects when used with [Elf’s Basic Breathing].

But maybe because they were abilities of the same elf race, unlike the other abilities that improved slightly, it felt like they had risen by one grade.

Seo-jun smiled as he looked at the arrow stuck in the center of the target far away. Ahn Da Ho filmed Seo-jun with a camera, and Jo Young Hoon shouted excitedly.

“Ten! A ten at 70m! This one must be an X-ten too! Seo-jun, let’s go to the Olympics! You’ll definitely get a gold medal!”

Oops.

He was so excited that he forgot to control himself.

His heart was thrilled every time an arrow stuck in the target as if he had never shot a bow before.

He couldn’t help himself.

‘Is this what it feels like to hunt?’

He liked the feeling of a sharp arrow hitting the target with a thud. Seo-jun smiled as he moved his right hand that held the arrow a few times.

“Ahahaha. I like acting more.”

Jo Young Hoon, who unknowingly asked him, didn’t think Seo-jun would do archery either.

‘I would be happy to help him if he did…’

Jo Young Hoon, who went to retrieve the arrows stuck in the target, let out a regretful sigh.

He had never seen such accurate and beautiful X-tens before.

The arrows were stuck right in the center of all the targets that Seo-jun had aimed at.

Just like all the teachers who taught Seo-jun, Jo Young Hoon looked at Seo-jun with a lingering look.

“It’s such a shame…”

He shot arrows and retrieved them several times.

Seo-jun also tried shooting without using any abilities, and used lower archery on the 50m target where he had hit an X-ten with intermediate archery.

The time they rented the outdoor archery range flew by quickly.

“Teacher! Goodbye!”

“Okay. See you on the next practice day.”

“Yes!”

After finishing archery practice, Ahn Da Ho handed Seo-jun a pile of papers.

It was the script that Director Choi Dae-man had been working on until yesterday.

“How is it? Is it okay?”

Ahn Da Ho asked cautiously as Seo-jun read the script.

According to what Ahn Da Ho had read first, unlike what was written in the synopsis, the order of scenes had changed.

There were also some changes in the flow of characters.

Seo-jun nodded his head without any change in expression.

“Yes. It’s okay because it didn’t change much. It’s better to use better scenes.”

“Director Choi would be happy to hear that.”

Seo-jun smiled at Ahn Da Ho’s words. Director Choi Dae-man checked his homework like a teacher every time the script changed slightly and let him know.

“Please tell him that he can write comfortably and freely.”

Seo-jun, who was already captivated by the zombie movie, was generous.

He thought he would accept it without any complaints unless it was a really messy script.

‘I don’t think Director Choi would write such a messy script.’

He was not just any director.

He was Director Choi Dae-man of Evil Spirit.

He didn’t think Director Choi would waste such an opportunity that he had worked so hard to get.

Ahn Da Ho laughed at Seo-jun’s words.

“Okay. I’ll tell him that.”

Seo-jun’s thoughts were conveyed to Director Choi Dae-man through Ahn Da Ho.

Director Choi Dae-man, who was sitting in front of his laptop with his arms crossed, decided to scale up his script a little more.

***

In mid-August, when Seo-jun’s summer vacation was coming to an end.

He received news that the script was completed from Director Choi Dae-man.

He made an appointment to have dinner with the director to celebrate the completion of the script.

“We’ll have a short meeting as well. President Lee Hansol will also be there. If you have any opinions, say them.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded his head at Ahn Da Ho’s words in the passenger seat.

To avoid attracting attention, he borrowed a company car. It was a bit awkward because it was not the car he usually rode, but he soon got used to it and enjoyed the passing scenery.

The car stopped soon. Seo-jun tilted his head at his destination.

“Da Ho hyung. Isn’t this a hotel?”

“Yes.”

It was a five-star hotel. He thought he would go to Director Choi Dae-man’s house or the movie dream production company… He blinked his eyes at the shiny exterior.

Ahn Da Ho went to park while Seo-jun, who had pressed his hat down, looked around the hotel as an ordinary teenager. People wandering around. They didn’t seem to think that there was actor Seo-jun here.

A little later, Ahn Da Ho came back. The two entered the hotel and headed straight for the elevator. Seo-jun asked.

“Is Director Choi here?”

“Yes. He was in a can.”

Ahn Da Ho chuckled. Seo-jun tilted his head.

“A can?”

“It means locking yourself in one place and writing all the time. Eat and write, eat and write, sleep and wake up and write again.”

“…Do you write all day?”

Seo-jun’s eyes shook.

“Director Choi said he wanted to do that. He got inspired by watching the archery video, but he couldn’t get it out of his head.”

“Ah.”

Seo-jun nodded his head as he remembered the reply that Director Choi Dae-man sent, saying that he looked like a real archer.

“He said he couldn’t write at home, so he initially planned to rent an office at Movie Dream, but it was too noisy there because of the movie production.”

Besides, the office that Movie Dream rented was small. There was no room to make a separate workspace for Director Choi Dae-man.

“What about Cocoa Entertainment? There are spare meeting rooms and soundproofing is good too.”

Wouldn’t it be good for writing?

Ahn Da Ho nodded his head at Seo-jun’s question.

“I asked him too, but he refused, saying that everyone would be nervous.”

“I see. So he’s writing at a hotel?”

“It seems that the vice president of Plus+ heard that he was looking for a workspace. He said that writing is a very important part of making a movie, so he recommended a hotel.”

‘Recommended…’

The vice president of Plus+Korea had paid in advance and suggested it. Ahn Da Ho chuckled as he recalled President Lee Hansol, who admired him, saying, ‘As expected of an American…’

“Director Choi said he would rather go to Cocoa Entertainment when he heard that the workspace was a hotel suite, but Assistant Director Park persuaded him.”

Lee Hansol was more than welcome.

Director Choi Dae-man, whose face turned pale with pressure, tried to rent a meeting room at Cocoa Entertainment. But Park Jae-min, who was confident in his speech, coaxed him with various stories such as ‘When else would you go to a hotel?’, ‘This could also be used for the movie’, and so on.

In the end, Director Choi Dae-man’s workspace became a hotel.

Seo-jun burst into laughter at that story.

“So he’s been working at the hotel ever since.”

Ding-dong-

As they got off the elevator, Lee Hansol, who had arrived earlier, greeted them.

“Welcome. Actor Seo-jun. Manager.”

“Hello. President!”

They followed Lee Hansol to the living room, where Director Choi Dae-man and Assistant Director Park Jae-min were.

Park Jae-min looked radiant as if he had eaten and slept well, but Director Choi Dae-man looked pale as if he had burned out.

“Hi. Seo-jun!”

“Hello. Assistant Director!”

“Seo-jun… are you here?”

“Director. Are you okay?”

Director Choi Dae-man smiled weakly at Seo-jun’s concern.

“I’m fine. Do you want to see the script first?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun was excited by the word script and sat on the sofa. Director Choi Dae-man handed him the printed script with sparkling eyes.

Seo-jun opened the first page of the script with a look of anticipation.

While Seo-jun was focused on the script, Ahn Da Ho and Lee Hansol, who had a short conversation, also received scripts from Park Jae-min.

Director Choi Dae-man looked at the three people who were reading the script with an anxious face. But his eyes were shining.

‘I thought I wouldn’t be able to write until I got here…’

At first, he felt burdened by the clean and shiny hotel room.

He thought he wouldn’t be able to write a single line, but it was a needless worry.

Director Choi Dae-man got used to the hotel faster than he expected, and with Park Jae-min’s help, he was able to focus entirely on writing the script except for eating and sleeping.

By then, he didn’t care where he was anymore. No, rather, it helped him a lot.

The different environment helped him write out the scenes that were stuck in his head.

The wide-open scenery and the night view that sparkled with lights that he couldn’t see at home gave Director Choi Dae-man a new sensation.

That’s how the script for Escape was completed.

Director Choi Dae-man looked at Seo-jun nervously.

He was confident in his script.

He thought Seo-jun would like it too. But he couldn’t help being nervous.

Seo-jun’s eyes moved without rest.

They followed the text down, turned the paper over and headed down again.

Soon, the endlessly turning papers stopped.

When Seo-jun’s hand stopped, everyone’s eyes turned to Seo-jun.

Director Choi Dae-man swallowed his saliva and asked.

“How is it?”

Seo-jun smiled brightly.

“I like it! It’s really fun!”

The outline didn’t change much and the scale got bigger, but there were definitely some changes from the synopsis. But he liked the changed script better.

‘I want to shoot it.’

He wanted to start shooting right away and his butt twitched.

The adults could tell that his words were sincere by his sparkling expression.

Director Choi Dae-man sighed in relief at Seo-jun’s reaction.

Park Jae-min smiled and handed Director Choi Dae-man a cold water.

While Director Choi Dae-man drank cold water and sighed, Seo-jun opened the first page of the script again and read it slowly.

He understood the story by focusing on the dialogue and actions of Go Joo Won, the role he would play.

While checking the script and thinking about the characters and locations, Lee Hansol opened his mouth.

“There are some foreign characters in the script. Should we contact an agency?”

Director Choi Dae-man nodded his head as his face relaxed.

“Yes. Please do that.”

“It would be better if they can speak Korean, right?”

“It would be easier to communicate if they can.”

At the mention of finding foreign actors, Seo-jun raised his head from reading the script.

“Director.”

“Hmm?”

“Can I recommend someone for that role?”

Lee Hansol and Director Choi Dae-man widened their eyes in surprise. Ahn Da Ho and Park Jae-min, who were ordering food at the hotel restaurant, also looked at Seo-jun.

“Recommend? Who? Do I know the actor?”

Wondering if he had met a good foreign actor while filming something else, Director Choi Dae-man, Park Jae-min, and Lee Hansol listened carefully to Seo-jun’s answer.

‘If it’s Seo-jun’s recommendation, it would be good, right?’

Who could it be?

They recalled the faces of the foreign actors they knew and waited for Seo-jun’s answer with a relaxed mind.

Unlike them, Ahn Da Ho, who knew Seo-jun’s range of activities well and knew most of the people Seo-jun knew, had a hunch.

Ahn Da Ho, who thought he was used to the title of a superstar’s manager, trembled.

Without knowing the manager’s agitation, Seo-jun answered brightly.

“Evan Block and Rachel Hill!”

“…”

As expected!

Ahn Da Ho took a deep breath, and the three people seemed to not understand Seo-jun’s words yet and had blank faces. 1%, 2%, 10% They slowly began to understand Seo-jun’s words. Slowly, their eyes and mouths grew bigger.

No, who?

The appearance of unexpected characters made silent astonishment flow from the three people.

Seo-jun, who thought they would like it, tilted his head at the vague reaction of the adults.

“Director?”

At Seo-jun’s call, Director Choi Dae-man asked in a trembling voice.

“Seo, Seo-jun… who?”

“Evan Block and Rachel Hill!”

Chapter 185

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Chapter 185

Director Choi Dae-man, Assistant Director Park Jae-min, and Lee Hansol, the head of the production company, were speechless.

They had only thought of foreign actors in Korea, but these were people they had never imagined.

“They both said they wanted to appear in Korean works when they came to Korea last time.”

Seo-jun, who seemed to enjoy the idea of having fun, eagerly promoted the two Hollywood actors.

Ahn Da Ho had a detached expression since Evan Block’s name was mentioned.

‘Hollywood actors in my movie? All of a sudden?’

It was something he had never thought of until 30 minutes ago. Director Choi Dae-man’s hand holding the script was shaking visibly.

‘No, that can’t be. They’re Hollywood actors. Aren’t they very busy?’

Seo-jun had a lot of free time because he had to go to school, but the two actors could be different.

Director Choi Dae-man tried to think realistically and opened his mouth with difficulty.

“Um… aren’t Evan Block and Rachel Hill busy?”

“I sent them a message yesterday and they said they’re on vacation. They’re planning to shoot Shadowman 3 next year, so they don’t have any filming schedules for this year. They have some minor things to do, though.”

Seo-jun answered perfectly with a bright smile.

‘There’s no way out for you, director’ Seo-jun’s smile seemed to say. Director Choi Dae-man swallowed his saliva. Really? Is this happening? His eyes were shaking wildly. Unlike Director Choi Dae-man, who was lost in shock, Assistant Director Park Jae-min regained his senses and was calm.

No,

‘I did well following Hyung!’

He was dancing inwardly.

My goodness.

A Korean movie with three Hollywood actors, even if he participated as an assistant director, his name value would skyrocket for sure.

Lee Hansol, the head of the production company Movie Dream, also slowly connected his thoughts.

‘Seo-jun alone would be a huge hit, but Evan Block and Rachel Hill’s appearance… Is this movie crazy?’

Lee Hansol clenched his mouth.

He felt like screaming at the huge profit he could imagine.

If he told this news to the branch manager of Plus+Korea, he would also scream like a banshee.

Hehehe.

He had always been amazed by the branch manager’s scale, but he never thought he would pay him back like this…

He felt relieved.

Seeing the faces of the three people who failed to control their expressions, Seo-jun guessed their thoughts.

Ahn Da Ho was always letting Seo-jun do whatever he wanted.

Seo-jun smiled and continued.

“Director, what do you think? If you’re okay with it, I’ll send the script to Evan and Rachel right away. Oh, of course, Evan and Rachel might refuse.”

“!”

At Seo-jun’s last words, Director Choi Dae-man’s shaking hand stopped.

Assistant Director Park Jae-min, who was dancing inwardly at the prospect of a rosy future, and Lee Hansol, who was imagining the huge profit and the branch manager’s surprised face, also stopped moving.

‘That’s right?’

Why didn’t they think that they might refuse?

Assistant Director Park Jae-min and Lee Hansol’s faces were filled with immense disappointment.

Director Choi Dae-man sighed unconsciously.

It was a sigh mixed with relief and disappointment.

‘Why do I feel so sorry after dreading it so much?’

He must have unknowingly expected it while being afraid of Hollywood actors’ appearance.

Director Choi Dae-man looked at the script in his hand.

It was crumpled because he gripped it too hard when Evan Block and Rachel Hill appeared.

[Escape]

It was a script that he had worked hard on and written diligently.

Director Choi Dae-man felt a doubt about his work.

‘Will this appeal to Hollywood actors?’

He felt like he was on trial.

He felt sweaty in his hand as if he was showing the script to Seo-jun.

Seeing Director Choi Dae-man’s troubled look, Seo-jun quietly waited for his answer.

Seo-jun liked ‘Escape’. He wanted to recommend it to Evan and Rachel.

It was a good work.

It would be a good movie if good actors participated.

Director Choi Dae-man carefully unfolded the crumpled script.

He looked at Seo-jun as if he knew he had been looking at him all along.

Their eyes met.

‘Ah.’

Director Choi Dae-man realized who the actor in front of him was.

There was already a Hollywood actor who chose his work.

His work was not that bad. He felt relieved at that thought.

“Then can you contact them?”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Director Choi Dae-man’s answer.

“Yes.”

Now it was fifty-fifty. Hoping for a good answer, Lee Hansol said.

“We need to translate the script into English…”

“I’ll do it. I’m good at English.”

Everyone nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

After the storm of Evan Block and Rachel Hill passed, the dishes they ordered for dinner arrived a while later.

They finished preparing for dinner and sat down.

The adults, who looked tired, started to eat the delicious food.

“I don’t feel like I did much, but I’m exhausted.”

“It’s probably because you were so nervous.”

Everyone nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

Unlike the adults who were physically and mentally exhausted, Seo-jun was in a happy state, thinking that he might be able to act with Evan Block and Rachel Hill after receiving the completed script.

‘This salad is delicious!’

Crunch crunch.

He would have eaten steak or meat dishes normally, but… he strangely craved vegetables lately.

‘Am I becoming more elf-like?’

His ears didn’t grow long like elves, and he didn’t feel his body changing, but it seemed like something inside him had changed.

There were elves who ate meat, but the elves in [The Archery of the (Good) Elf Archer] only ate vegetables.

‘But I don’t completely stop eating meat.’

The chicken in the chicken salad was still delicious.

The crispy fried chicken with sweet and sour dressing.

Seo-jun happily sucked in the chicken salad.

The adults saw Seo-jun eating deliciously.

They all reached for the chicken salad without knowing it.

Lee Hansol took a bite and exclaimed.

“This is delicious.”

“I know, right? I ate it yesterday too, but why is it so good?”

Director Choi Dae-man and Park Jae-min, who had been staying at the hotel all along and eating all kinds of hotel food, shook their heads and didn’t stop their hands.

The chicken salad kept decreasing in the adults’ hands.

‘Hmm. Eat something else.’

Seeing the chicken salad plate empty, Seo-jun turned his eyes and reached for the salmon salad.

Seo-jun had been eating vegetables well lately, and Ahn Da Ho ordered various vegetable dishes when he ordered dinner.

The soft salmon, dressing, crispy lettuce and vegetables made Seo-jun smile happily.

Then the adults who emptied the chicken salad plate targeted the salmon salad next.

They did that several times.

Seo-jun and the adults who ate all the generous food looked satisfied.

“Is this hotel food always this good? I want to pack some if possible…”

“It seemed especially good today. It was a bit bland until yesterday. That’s why we bought some cup noodles.”

Lee Hansol pointed to a corner of the living room.

All kinds of cup noodles were piled up there.

“If you contact them in advance, they will pack it for you.”

“Then I’ll order one.”

“Me too. I’ll take some to my mom and dad.”

The adults smiled warmly at Seo-jun’s words.

After a while, they spent some time resting and digesting with some trivial stories (there were many stories about Evan Block and Rachel Hill). Lee Hansol opened his mouth.

“I looked for a special makeup team in Korea.”

They could change anything else, but the ‘zombie’ theme would not change, so they could look for it before the script was completed.

“I looked for a special makeup team in Korea, but I think we need to hire a lot of them because there are a lot of zombies and the makeup takes a long time. And I think we also need a special makeup team to oversee the other teams.”

The people who were drinking their preferred tea nodded.

Seo-jun, who chose orange juice, also agreed.

Lee Hansol handed out the list he had prepared in advance.

From the number of staff to the dramas, movies, and other works they had done.

There were also pictures of the makeup they had done to show their skills.

“Director Choi, which team do you like the most? I think we can choose that team as the main team.”

At Lee Hansol’s question, Director Choi Dae-man, who was looking at the pictures, scratched his cheek.

They all looked good and did well.

“Hmm. What I had in mind was something like Death Wall…”

Death Wall.

At that word, Seo-jun and the three people looked up at Director Choi Dae-man.

Assistant Director Park Jae-min felt a strange sense of betrayal as he realized what kind of ‘zombie’ Director Choi Dae-man wanted.

“You’re afraid of Hollywood actors, but you’re okay with Hollywood makeup teams?”

“No. I wasn’t at first, but since the branch manager of Plus+ said he would help…”

Director Choi Dae-man avoided Park Jae-min’s eyes.

He thought it would be enough with the skills of the domestic makeup teams until he wrote the synopsis, but he became a little greedy while working on the script.

“Death Wall… Death Wall…”

Ahn Da Ho and Seo-jun recalled the zombies of Death Wall.

Death Wall.

It was a Hollywood zombie movie that barely escaped the R rating.

It showed vividly how people turned into zombies slowly, like a ‘zombie’ documentary.

Seo-jun didn’t care much about how disgusting the zombies were, as he was a former zombie who had been born several times as a low-level undead by mixing in graves and by the magic of a black mage.

He had even put back his popped-out eyeballs and sewed his torn belly by himself. He didn’t think it was disgusting because everyone around him were similar zombies.

‘Death Wall is not that bad.’

There were worse ones.

He remembered his zombie friends who played with their own heads in the Library of Evil.

Unlike Seo-jun, who was calm, the internet was buzzing at that time. Death Wall was a movie that showed how people turned into zombies slowly, like a ‘zombie’ documentary.

Lee Hansol, who remembered the zombies of Death Wall, exclaimed in shock.

“It can’t be R-rated. Director!”

“No. Just the vibe. Just a similar vibe. The background is a hospital, so if the makeup is too light, it doesn’t feel like a zombie movie. Just moderately heavy.”

At Director Choi Dae-man’s words, Lee Hansol calmed down. But he didn’t forget to repeat it again.

“It can’t be R-rated. Director!”

Anything else was fine, but R-rated was absolutely not allowed.

It would drastically reduce the number of viewers.

“I know.”

Director Choi Dae-man nodded, and Lee Hansol sighed with relief.

Assistant Director Park Jae-min, who was looking at various pictures, said.

“So there’s no team that suits your taste here?”

“It’s hard to compare because they’re not zombie makeup pictures… but I’m a bit disappointed.”

The three people fell into thought.

Then Seo-jun opened his mouth.

There was a very easy and certain way.

“How about hiring a Hollywood special makeup team as the main team?”

“…Hollywood?”

Hollywood here?

The branch manager of Plus+Korea had mentioned it before, but he had never thought about it since then. Lee Hansol looked surprised.

Director Choi Dae-man brightened up at the words he had been waiting for.

Park Jae-min looked at him coldly with icy eyes.

He was afraid of Hollywood actors, but he was okay with Hollywood makeup teams… He was such a weird hyung.

“Plus+ will help us too. We can make a better movie with their help. Isn’t a Hollywood special makeup team okay?”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and created a second ‘Hollywood special makeup team storm’ after the first ‘Hollywood actor storm’.

Chapter 186

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 186

“Evan! Are you going to do it?”

Rachel Hill’s voice came through the phone.

Evan Block dropped the phone that he had been holding close to his ear.

He could tell at once what decision Rachel Hill had made by her excited voice.

“Did you talk to Jun?”

“Yeah! I read the script too. A zombie movie! It sounds so fun. You read it too, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you analyzing the character now?”

Evan Block’s body flinched at Rachel Hill’s words.

He unconsciously looked down.

On the wide desk, a script that he had printed himself was spread out.

It was the script of the Korean movie, Escape.

It was the script that he had received today, but it was already colorful, with a lot of things written on it.

With a bright-colored highlighter, he marked the lines of the role that he would play if he filmed the movie, analyzed the directions, and composed the character.

He recalled the character’s past, thought of his habits, and imagined his image in his head.

That’s how a character was born.

‘Did I seem so simple to Rachel that she could figure me out.’

Evan Block lost his words and Rachel Hill’s cheerful voice came into his ears.

“Right? I’m right, aren’t I? You can’t just pass up a good script.”

“…Yeah. I was analyzing it.”

“Ahahaha.”

Rachel Hill’s laughter was always contagious, but today it was even more so.

Evan Block put down his pen and washed his face.

“Are you going to appear too?”

“Of course! I studied Korean hard too!”

“There are no Korean lines in the script…”

“That’s why I’m a bit disappointed, but there’s the director’s directing! I finally get to use Korean in real life!”

“You talk to me too, don’t you?”

“You’re not Korean.”

Evan Block made an awkward expression at Rachel Hill’s cold words.

“I have to surprise him when I go to Korea.”

Rachel Hill imagined Seo-jun’s face being shocked by her fluent Korean.

“So are you going to do it? Are you going to say yes?”

“I’m going to do it. It sounds fun.”

It didn’t seem like it would take long to film since it was a short part. It was also novel to act with Seo-jun in a different work than the Shadowman series.

“When are you going to go? I packed everything already.”

“…Already? The script just got finished and they haven’t even cast the other actors yet?”

It would be a long time until filming then. Evan Block said at Rachel Hill who scratched her cheek.

“Yeah. You have to sign a contract too, and they have to prepare too.”

“Then I guess I have to reply to Jun first.”

Rachel Hill tapped her phone excitedly.

***

The day of Yeoul Art Middle School’s entrance ceremony.

Good news arrived from America.

Rachel: Yay! I’ll do it!

Evan: Me too. It sounds fun.

He had just finished getting ready for school and was about to leave when he received a message from Evan Block and Rachel Hill. Seo-jun smiled broadly and quickly told his mom and dad and called Ahn Da Ho.

“Da Ho hyung! Evan and Rachel are going to appear!”

“Oh, really?”

Ahn Da Ho calmly accepted the news of the two Hollywood actors’ appearance.

Other people might think it was impossible, but Ahn Da Ho somehow felt that this would happen when Seo-jun brought up the two actors’ names.

“Then we have to let the others know too. I’ll do it.”

“Okay!”

Ahn Da Ho decided to only inform some of the people involved until a concrete plan was made.

Cocoa Entertainment’s 5th floor conference room.

It was close to the president’s office and used for the most important meetings.

The 2nd team staff who entered the 5th floor conference room for the first time shrank their shoulders and sat down.

Soon, Kim Su-ryeon, the head of the PR team, and Seo Eun-chan, the president, entered the conference room.

They were called because of something related to ‘actor Lee Seo-jun’.

When everyone who called them came in, Ahn Da Ho stood up.

“It’s something related to Seo-jun?”

Seo Eun-chan asked and Ahn Da Ho nodded his head.

“Yes. Evan Block and Rachel Hill seem to be appearing in the movie that Seo-jun is filming.”

“…Yes?”

The 2nd team staff, Kim Su-ryeon, and Seo Eun-chan, who were worried that something had gone wrong, lost their words.

Ahn Da Ho briefly told them what had happened at the hotel.

Seo Eun-chan clenched his lips at the story of how the two actors appeared because of Seo-jun’s recommendation.

His nephew, who was a Hollywood star, was also amazing in the scale of his accidents.

***

The ‘unimaginable news’ also reached Lee Hansol, the representative of the production company Movie Dream, and Choi Dae-man, the director of Escape.

<I’ll text you first.

<Evan Block and Rachel Hill have decided to appear.

<For now, I’ll contact the two actors’ agencies and…

Lee Hansol and Choi Dae-man, who were looking at the location photos they had just received from the location manager, forgot to breathe at the hot news.

It was so hot that they felt like they would get burned.

How do you breathe? When do you blink? Where do you put your tongue?

They felt like their bodies were not their own. They felt like everything was moving separately.

“Wow.”

Was this a dream or reality?

They were stunned by something they had never imagined.

Lee Hansol called Ahn Da Ho.

No matter how many times he asked, the answer was the same.

The director Choi Dae-man, who was listening on speakerphone, felt goosebumps on his arm.

It was real. It was real.

The two actors were really appearing in his movie.

He bit his lip at something he had never thought of.

He imagined the two actors in his head.

A better scene, a better background.

His head was filled with images that came to mind.

In the meantime, Lee Hansol, who had hung up the phone, made another call.

“Branch manager!”

It was the branch manager of Plus+Korea, the investor of Escape.

Lee Hansol smiled cheerfully and said.

His voice was more excited than ever.

“Evan Block and Rachel Hill are in our movie!”

“…Yes?”

“Evan Block and Rachel Hill!”

There was silence on the other side of the phone.

Lee Hansol looked at the phone screen to see if the call had been cut off. But the call time was still ticking.

Director Choi Dae-man also listened carefully.

“…!!!”

Soon, the branch manager’s furious voice came out.

He seemed to have lost his mind, as he spoke in English instead of Korean, using all kinds of harsh words.

Lee Hansol laughed heartily at the huge noise.

That’s right! This was the reaction he wanted.

He spoke with a satisfying smile.

“And there’s the special makeup team you said you would help us with.”

“No! No! Wait a minute! Tell me more about Evan Block and Rachel Hill. Is this real? This is the kind of news that people wouldn’t believe even if it was an official article!”

Lee Hansol agreed with the branch manager’s words, as did Choi Dae-man, who was sitting quietly next to him.

[Seo-jun x Evan Block x Rachel Hill, appearing in a Korean movie!] People would only comment that it was April Fools’ Day.

Lee Hansol smiled and told him the story of that stormy day.

He also mentioned the Hollywood special makeup team.

The branch manager, who had been listening to Lee Hansol’s story without a word, opened his mouth.

He spoke as if he was making a vow, with a heavy voice.

“We’ll prepare the best special makeup team.”

It was very reassuring.

***

After the big storm passed, the pre-production of the movie ‘Escape’ began.

“First, let’s talk about the main actors other than Lee Seo-jun.”

“We sent the script to the actors that Director Choi suggested, but there was no reply.”

“I got a reply, but they said they were on a break.”

“I kind of understand. It’s a rare genre in Korea, and it has never been a hit before.”

“But we have a terrifying secret weapon.”

The staff who thought of the shining Seo-jun laughed wickedly.

The meeting continued without any words from Lee Hansol and Assistant Director Park Jae-min.

The staff didn’t know yet, but they had a second secret weapon: Evan Block and Rachel Hill.

Hehehe.

The villainous laughter that filled the meeting room stopped.

Someone sighed.

“So we still don’t have any actors cast.”

“It might be better to lower the age range of the characters a bit.”

“Or raise it.”

The staff nodded their heads.

“And we also need to find extras for zombies.”

“Zombie movements are unique, so it would be hard to act on the spot.”

“It would be nice if we could practice separately for at least a month.”

“But do we have a teacher who can teach zombie movements?”

Park Jae-min answered the staff’s question.

“There’s a dance genre called bone breaking.”

A screen slowly came down on one wall of the meeting room.

Bone breaking. The name itself was terrifying.

The staff who watched the video opened their eyes wide. The joints of the people moved in strange directions.

Oh my god… There was such a dance?

“Isn’t that too hard for the extras?”

“We cast members of a bone breaking dance team. They will play the main zombies.”

The staff nodded their heads.

“Then what about the background location…”

The staff who was talking looked at an empty seat and stopped talking. It was where Director Choi Dae-man should have been sitting.

The other staff nodded their heads without saying anything.

It was his third work.

Director Choi Dae-man still went around looking for locations himself.

Lee Hansol smiled and spoke.

“Director Choi will find us a good location. What’s next?”

“The friends who belong to the same archery club as Go Joo Won. We need to cast child actors since they are middle school students in the movie.”

“Let’s do an audition for that.”

“Yes. I’ll post an announcement right away.”

The meeting continued after that.

***

After the first period class ended, the kids slumped on their desks.

They all had tired faces.

It was because they hadn’t recovered from the summer vacation yet.

“Doesn’t it feel like vacation went by too fast?”

“I know. I couldn’t enjoy it because I was preparing for auditions, and then I failed them too.”

“I didn’t expect Joo-kyung to fail either.”

Joo-kyung, who had been lying on her desk, sprang up at Jae-han’s words.

She was still angry and couldn’t stay still.

“It was all rigged! I hope they go bankrupt!”

“Do they look like they’re going bankrupt? There’s only one article about it.”

Ju-hee sneered as she showed her the only article she could find.

Joo-kyung sat back down at Ju-hee’s words.

“What are we going to do now? It’s all over. What now?”

Jae-han said.

“I guess I’ll just help out with the graduation performance. The audition competition is too fierce…”

“Now that it’s second semester, we can do it too.”

“Let’s go check out the bulletin board after lunch.”

“Yeah.”

After having a delicious lunch, Seo-jun and his friends headed to the bulletin board.

Someone was standing in front of Yeoul Art Middle School’s bulletin board.

Seo-jun and his friends quickly greeted the person they recognized.

“Teacher, hello!”

“Hello. Did you all come to see the bulletin board?”

“Yes!”

The teacher smiled brightly at the kids. He was about to post a new announcement.

“This is an audition I just found.”

“What kind of audition is it?”

“It’s a zombie movie.”

The kids’ eyes widened at the teacher’s words.

“Zombie? They’re making a zombie movie in Korea?”

“Wow! That sounds fun.”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at the word ‘zombie’.

He had heard that they were going to hold auditions for child actors, but he didn’t expect it to be posted on Yeoul Art Middle School’s bulletin board.

‘It’s amazing to see it like this.’

He never thought he would see the audition announcement for the movie he was starring in at school.

He felt curious and read the audition announcement that the teacher had posted.

“You can’t recognize their faces if they’re zombies.”

“That’s true. But it’s also rare to play a zombie role, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. A zombie movie in Korea… It’s amazing.”

“It seems like a good opportunity to study their movements…”

The three friends who read the audition announcement had sparkling eyes.

Seo-jun hoped that his friends would have some good news.

***

Soon, rumors started to spread that a ‘Korean-style zombie movie’ was coming out.

Chapter 187

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 187

It all started when director Choi Dae-man sent out the script of ‘Escape’ to the actors and actresses he had chosen as the main cast candidates, and their agencies.

Kim Tae-in, who was ranked first among the main cast candidates, looked at the script with a displeased expression.

He was not as good as Lee Ji-seok in terms of acting skills, but he still had decent talent.

‘His personality is just terrible.’

His manager, who knew Kim Tae-in’s character well, fidgeted nervously with his feet. Lee Ji-seok was said to have a very good personality…

“A zombie movie?”

“Yes. It’s being produced by Movie Dream.”

“You want me to do this? Have you ever seen a successful zombie movie in Korea?”

The manager quickly shook his head.

“No, no.”

“Zombie movie? This is not even Hollywood. And the director is Choi Dae-man? Who is that?”

“He’s the director of The Evil Spirit, the movie that Lee Seo-jun starred in.”

That was the reason why the agency didn’t reject it and passed it on to Kim Tae-in. But Kim Tae-in’s agency didn’t have high expectations either.

They just wanted to create some buzz by associating with ‘Lee Seo-jun’.

“Lee Seo-jun?”

Even Kim Tae-in, who was known as the king of the world, couldn’t help but be interested in that name.

Even though it was only him and his manager in the room, Kim Tae-in lowered his voice.

“Is Lee Seo-jun in it?”

“…No.”

Kim Tae-in spat out a curse and threw the script on the floor.

“Then you want me to do a movie that doesn’t even have Lee Seo-jun?”

“Should I tell them you’re not doing it?”

“Of course! Don’t ask me stupid questions! Find out about Choi Min-sung PD’s next project! Secret is over, he must be preparing for his next work soon!”

The drama ‘Secret’ was the next work produced by PD Choi Min-sung and writer So Eun-jin after ‘The Royal Physician’.

It didn’t achieve as much popularity or ratings as ‘The Royal Physician’, but it still ranked first in its time slot.

The consecutive hits of ‘Reinvestigation’, ‘The Royal Physician’, and ‘Secret’ started to create a reputation for them as star PD and star writer.

“Yes!”

The manager quickly answered and left the seat with a grumble.

The zombie movie was a big hurdle.

Kim Tae-in rejected it and other actors and actresses also declined one by one.

There were many people and agencies related to those actors and actresses.

It would have been strange if the news didn’t leak out.

After that, the script that was looking for an owner, the extra casting, and the child actor audition announcements made the movie and entertainment industry buzz.

Some actors and actresses were amazed by the unique theme of zombie movie, but more people shook their heads.

“Movie Dream is really losing it.”

“The president ran away and they decided to go bankrupt.”

“They don’t even have a confirmed main cast yet, but they’re holding auditions.”

“Do they have investors? Or not?”

And then the rumor spread to the general public, and small articles started to appear.

[A Korean-style zombie movie is coming out!]

-Wow! Korean-style zombie? It’s doomed.

-? In Korea? Zombie?

-But this seems to be the only article? There’s no news about who’s starring in it.

-Did they just throw it out there? Let’s make a zombie movie? > Netizen reaction: It’s doomed. > Oh well, let’s not make it then!

=222 I agree. It’ll probably disappear soon lol

Korean-style zombie movie.

Everyone’s attention was drawn to the genre that no one had ever succeeded in. Some people just found it interesting and amusing that there was such a thing as a ‘Korean-style zombie movie’, but the maniacs who loved zombie movies dug deeper.

-Who’s the production company?

=Movie Dream.

=Oh. I know them. They make non-mainstream genre movies. Their movies are good.

=That’s old news. They sold all their movie rights. They even sold The Evil Spirit with Lee Seo-jun.

=They sold The Evil Spirit? Wow? There’s really a place that cuts off its golden goose here?

-Who’s the director? Who’s the scriptwriter? Who’s the main cast?

=Nothing has been revealed yet. They only announced that they’re holding auditions.

-I would have promoted it like crazy if it was a zombie movie. It seems like it’s going to fail anyway… But with this kind of article and comments, other people might not even know that there’s such a movie, right?

=222 That’s why it’s going to fail.

=Yeah. Even if they start promoting now, I wonder if it’ll get any attention… Why are they so quiet?

-How much is the production cost? 10 billion? 15? Don’t tell me… it’s not less than 10 billion, right?

=I hope they spend some money, even if it’s not Hollywood level…

-What is the investor doing, with this kind of promotion and no complaints?

=ㅋㅋThey must be new to movie investmentㅎ

=222 That’s why they invest in zombie moviesㅎㅎ

=…It’s sad to be a minor genre fan.

=…222ㅜ

=Sorry.

When the internet was very slightly buzzing about the zombie movie, good news arrived at Movie Dream production company. The eyes of Lee Hansol, the representative, and the staff shone.

“We widened the age range and… we caught such a big fish.”

“I’m really grateful that Kim Tae-in rejected it.”

“He kicked his own luck away, right?”

The first actor who agreed to star in the movie appeared. And he was amazing. Director Choi Dae-man, who heard the news on his phone, was also happy to hear the name of the actor. Lee Hansol, the representative, took the contract and left the company. The staff went back to work.

“Kong Seo-yeon must be regretting it.”

“She must be scared because of the non-mainstream genre movie she did before that failed miserably.”

The next work she starred in was a hit, but it was a mainstream movie.

That was a big reason why Kong Seo-yeon hesitated to do this zombie movie.

Non-mainstream movie failed, mainstream movie succeeded.

Then it was natural to think that this non-mainstream zombie movie might fail too.

A staff member who liked Kong Seo-yeon sighed with regret.

“I watched that movie and director Choi Dae-man chose her because of that… It’s such a shame.”

“Right. She could have filmed with Lee Seo-jun…”

“So could the other actors and actresses.”

The staff nodded.

After Kong Seo-yeon, they sent the script to three more actors and actresses. But they all refused.

Then they widened the age range and sent the script to five more actors and actresses. The third rejection call had just arrived.

“What if this doesn’t work either?”

“Well, the representative and the director will figure it out.”

Then, the phone rang.

The staff who answered the phone said yes, yes.

He answered and then widened his eyes.

He slowly smiled brightly.

The other staff held their breath at his reaction.

“Yes. I understand!”

He hung up the phone and shouted with a big smile.

“He accepted!”

“Who is it?”

“Actor Lee Da-jin!”

The staff gasped at the name of the actress.

The news of Lee Da-jin’s appearance was quickly delivered to Lee Hansol.

He walked back to the conference room with a light step after hanging up the phone.

“Sorry for the interruption.”

In front of Lee Hansol, who sat down, was the actor who would play the role of Im Jang-woo.

Lee Hansol picked up the contract signed by the man and spoke before he could ask.

“I just got a call from another lead actor who agreed to join.”

He had just heard that Lee Seo-jun would play the role of Go Ju-won.

The man smiled with satisfaction at the unexpected news and asked.

“Are you talking about Yeon Jae-hee?”

Lee Hansol nodded.

“Yes. I just got a call from Lee Da-jin’s agency saying that he would join.”

The man’s eyes widened.

He started with a small laugh, which soon turned into a loud laughter that filled the conference room.

Lee Hansol also smiled faintly.

Lee Seo-jun, Lee Da-jin, and himself.

“This is quite a fate.”

The man, Kim Jong-ho, said cheerfully.

***

The day of the audition for the child actors of the movie ‘Escape’.

The production company, Movie Dream, suggested that Seo-jun participate in the audition as a judge, but Seo-jun shook his head.

Because,

Joo-kyung: I’m nervous!!

Ju-hee: Me too!!

Jae-han: Why are we right next to each other?

<LOL Maybe you submitted your applications at similar times.

His friends were participating in the audition.

‘I would judge fairly, but…’

People’s eyes are like that.

If Seo-jun participated in the judging and his friends passed, he would surely hear some bad words.

‘And it’s more likely that they will hear it than me.’

Compared to Seo-jun, who was recognized for his acting skills by the ‘world’, his friends were still learning and lacked acting skills.

‘It’s better not to cause any trouble in the first place.’

So he refused to be an audition judge.

Joo-kyung: I’m first!

Ju-hee: There are some kids from our class too. And some from class 2.

Seo-jun received a flood of messages from his nervous friends. There must have been some kids from class 1 and class 2 who passed as well.

Jae-han: T_T The kids from class 2 are good.

Joo-kyung: What about me? Am I bad?

Ju-hee: Yeah! Are you ignoring class 1?

Jae-han: Nooooo

Jae-han: Seojun T_T Please be nice to Joo-kyung and Ju-hee T_T T_T

<Please understand, you two generous peopleㅎ

Joo-kyung: Fine.

Ju-hee: Okay.

Seo-jun laughed at his friends’ messages.

“Seo-jun. The break is over.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun, who was sitting on a chair and tapping his phone, got up from his seat at Cho Young Hoon’s call.

Today was the day to practice archery.

He skillfully took out an arrow from the quiver and raised his bow.

‘It’s more like a hobby than practice.’

He let out a light breath and released his fingers.

Thud!

“Ten!”

It was a pity that such a talent could not do archery, half regret.

But he’s really good today too, half admiration.

Cho Young Hoon’s voice filled with mixed feelings echoed in the archery range.

***

“Boss.”

“…Yes.”

“I think we have to take care of Evan Block and Rachel Hill’s affairs in our company.”

Seo Eun-chan nodded heavily at Ahn Da Ho’s words. It was something he had thought of since the day Ahn Da Ho told him about the two actors’ appearance.

“Evan Block and Rachel Hill’s agencies contacted us through Kings Agency. They probably thought we would take good care of them since we have connections and we are also Seo-jun’s agency who works in Hollywood.”

“…I expected that to happen.”

Seo Eun-chan sighed inwardly.

They were two Hollywood stars, who were about to shoot a huge blockbuster next year. They were popular before, but their popularity soared when Evan Block spoke Korean at an event for Assemble 2.

From small things like meals during shooting to big things like public opinion management.

It was hard enough to find a trustworthy place in America where they often worked, let alone a foreign country they had never thought of going to shoot a movie.

A completely unfamiliar country where even sending competent staff would not guarantee proper care. And they couldn’t open a branch for a movie shoot that might happen only once.

It was a similar situation to when Cocoa Entertainment took care of Seo-jun’s Hollywood activities.

Back then, there was a perfect and reliable solution called Kings Agency, which was created and managed by Na-ra Kim. This time, too, there was a very suitable and certain solution.

An agency that knew their actors well enough to trust them, had experience in taking care of Hollywood actors, and was famous and powerful enough to be known by the general public in Korea.

“That’s our company.”

Seo Eun-chan washed his face. Ahn Da Ho shrugged his shoulders and answered.

“After the contract, the two agencies will send us the information directly without going through Kings Agency. From the schedules of the two actors to their preferences, tastes, and anything else that needs to be taken care of.”

Once again, he cursed his nephew who caused such a huge trouble. Seo Eun-chan decided to do his best and raise the reputation of Cocoa Entertainment.

Thanks to Seo-jun, Brown Black, White, and Red Crown, there was nowhere else to go up.

“Boss.”

“First of all, team 2 will be short of staff. Take some people from Brown Black team who are on break and from White who are doing solo activities.”

He didn’t mention Red Crown who were busy with their activities.

“Leave Seo-jun’s monitoring to those staff and postpone Seo-jun’s script classification for now. He won’t be able to see them anyway because of the shooting.”

“Yes. I understand. I’ll keep the scripts that arrive in the conference room.”

If there was a team that had the tightest lips in Cocoa Entertainment, it would be team 2, which was dedicated to actor Seo-jun. It was because they had placed long-time and trustworthy employees in Cocoa Entertainment. And they were very careful when hiring new people.

“Team 2 members will take care of Evan Block and Rachel Hill from now on.”

A bolt from the blue came down to team 2.

Hollywood star, Seo-jun. They had experience in taking care of him.

The team members who heard the boss’s order from Ahn Da Ho looked at him with blank expressions.

“No, no… Seo-jun and those two actors are different.”

“That’s right. Seo-jun is comfortable because we’ve known him since he was little and he didn’t need any special care even though he was a Hollywood actor. All we had to do was monitoring and scoring scripts…”

And he was still young enough not to have any rumors.

The team members who couldn’t help but escape from reality even though they knew it wouldn’t work received a word from Ahn Da Ho.

“The boss said he would give you a bonus.”

“We’ll do our best!”

Their voices were full of spirit.

Ahn Da Ho thought of Evan Block and Rachel Hill he met in America.

He would be able to figure out more details when he received more information from their agencies, but they seemed to get along well with Seo-jun, so he thought they wouldn’t have to worry too much.

“I don’t think you need to worry too much.”

“Team leader. I… can’t speak English.”

“Me neither… I only know test English… not practical…”

“Evan Block speaks Korean well.”

He knew that. Anyone who took care of Seo-jun would know that.

“I have foreigner phobia…”

“Me too… I have a disease that makes me unable to meet foreigners…”

They knew it wouldn’t work, but They couldn’t help but escape from reality. Ahn Da Ho said one thing to them.

“You’ll get used to it.”

Chapter 188

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 188

The waiting room for the child actor audition of ‘Escape’.

Kim Joo-kyung, Yang Ju-hee, and Kang Jae-han were tapping their phones.

Some of the other kids were also checking their acting skills that they had filmed at the academy, or going outside to talk with their guardians and relieve their tension.

They could hear some murmuring sounds from inside the audition room, but they couldn’t hear them clearly.

The audition was to give three applicants a designated script and have them memorize it for 10 minutes, then randomly decide the order and show their acting.

“I wonder if the designated script will be hard.”

Ju-hee shrugged her shoulders at Joo-kyung’s question.

“Maybe it will be something we know? They won’t give us anything too weird since we’re child actors. I think the zombie role might need some practice though. But they’ll teach us that if we pass.”

Joo-kyung and Jae-han nodded at Ju-hee’s words.

“Oh, the kids from class 2 are here too.”

They waved their hands at the familiar faces that had just entered, and the kids from class 2 also greeted them.

“The kids from class 1 are here too.”

“Are they the ones who hang out with Seo-jun?”

The kids from class 2 whispered to each other as they sat down. The three people who were closest to Seo-jun were quite famous in Yeoul Arts Middle School. Kim Joo-kyung was popular because of ‘One Step’, Yang Ju-hee had a wide network as the class president of class 1, and Kang Jae-han had many kids who liked him as a younger brother.

“I guess Seo-jun didn’t apply this time.”

“Well, he just finished filming his role not long ago.”

The kids from class 2 who were glad that one of the roles was already taken flinched.

Kim Joo-kyung and Yang Ju-hee, who seemed to be sending messages to each other on their phones until a moment ago, quietly moved to both sides of Kang Jae-han and slapped his back hard.

Kang Jae-han twisted his body as if his back was burning, and tapped his phone with his trembling hand as if sending an SOS signal. The SOS signal seemed to work as Kim Joo-kyung and Yang Ju-hee moved back to their original seats with bright faces.

The kids in the waiting room chuckled at the situation that looked like a comedy skit.

The atmosphere in the waiting room seemed to relax a bit.

But that soon changed.

The door of the audition room opened and three applicants came out with a staff member.

The staff member’s appearance made the next three applicants who would be called wait with stiff expressions.

The staff member glanced at the paper and called out the next numbers.

“Jae-han, we’ll go first.”

“Good luck!”

It was Kim Joo-kyung and Yang Ju-hee’s numbers.

All three of them had received their numbers in order, but they couldn’t see the audition together.

Joo-kyung and Ju-hee were in front, and Kang Jae-han was alone in the back.

That’s why Kang Jae-han, who had to show his acting alone, was more nervous than the two who were going to audition together.

“Don’t be too nervous.”

“Do you want one more hit?”

Kang Jae-han quickly shook his head at Joo-kyung’s gesture of spreading her palm.

Seeing Jae-han’s reaction, Joo-kyung and Ju-hee smiled and headed to the audition room, and Kang Jae-han picked up his phone again.

<Ju-hee and Joo-kyung went in.

Seo-jun: Really? I’m on my way home right now.

<You finished early?

Seo-jun: I have an appointment today.

Seo-jun: Is your back okay?

<ㅠ Their hands are so spicyㅠㅠ

Kang Jae-han made a sad face at Seo-jun’s question.

The burning sensation was gone, but he still felt the touch of their palms on his back.

Seo-jun: ㅋㅋ Good luck on your audition.

<Okay!

Kang Jae-han let out a sigh and waited for his turn.

***

“Is it your audition day today?”

Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s question as he sat in the passenger seat.

“Yes. There are some kids from our school too.”

“I hope they pass.”

“But there are only a limited number of spots…”

“Five archery club members, right?”

“Yes.”

“Only five can pass. It must be fierce.”

Seo-jun nodded.

He hoped his friends would pass.

He briefly prayed and asked Ahn Da Ho.

“Da Ho hyung. Do you know who the lead actors are?”

“Yeah. You know them too, Seo-jun.”

Seo-jun pondered at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

He knew most of the actors. He knew the actors from Jo Juyeon’s group, of course, and even the names of the extras who had memorable roles or good acting skills.

‘If they’re not just actors I know by name, they must be actors I’m close with. Who are they?’

As Seo-jun was lost in thought, Ahn Da Ho smiled and said.

“It’s Lee Da-jin and Kim Jong-ho.”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

“Da-jin hyung and uncle Jong-ho?!”

He didn’t expect that at all.

Ahn Da Ho chuckled at Seo-jun’s surprised voice.

“Yeah. I was surprised too. They both didn’t know that you were in ‘Escape’, but they ended up acting in the same work.”

“Really?”

He couldn’t believe it.

Uncle Jong-ho and Da-jin-hyung.

“Really. According to Lee Da-jin’s side, he wanted to do a ‘fantasy’ work like this after the children’s play Spring. But there aren’t many works with fantasy elements. So he kept doing other works, but then ‘Escape’ came out and he agreed right away.”

“Wow!”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

Lee Da-jin.

He was the friend of the protagonist Choi So-yeong and the hunter in the children’s play Spring, and the cheerful hyung who was the MC at the fan meeting.

‘He’s good at acting too.’

Seo-jun smiled brightly.

“What about uncle Jong-ho?”

“Kim Jong-ho said he wanted to try fantasy too, since he had done modern works. And then he got the script for ‘Escape’ and agreed.”

The king in Naegwon who was Seongnyeong Daegun’s father, Taejong. Seo-jun laughed as he remembered him bickering with Lee Ji-seok.

…Ah!

Seo-jun burst into laughter as he remembered something.

“So that’s why uncle Jong-ho called me today!”

**

The marbled beef with snowflake-like patterns was placed on the grill.

As the beef sizzled, Kim Jong-ho smiled smugly.

Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon, who were sitting across from him, looked at Kim Jong-ho with subtle eyes.

Kim Jong-ho had been smiling like a deflated balloon since a while ago.

“Uncle. Did something good happen?”

“Why are you buying us all this beef, hyung?”

“Just wait a minute. I’ll tell you when Seo-jun comes.”

‘That’s weird.’

Lee Ji-seok frowned as he saw Kim Jong-ho smiling and occasionally sending him a provocative look.

“Hello! Uncle Jong-ho, Ji-seok hyung. Do-hoon hyung. I’m here!”

“Seo-jun, come on in!”

“How have you been?”

“It’s been a while, Da Ho.”

The door of the private room opened and Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho came in. Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho greeted the three actors and sat down at the same table. The three actors seemed to have come without their managers.

They briefly talked about their recent situations, and then Kim Jong-ho cleared his throat and opened his mouth.

“Ahem. Do you guys know who I’m filming with?”

Lee Ji-seok, who had just put a piece of cooked beef in his mouth, tilted his head.

“Why do I have to know that?”

“Are you filming your next work, uncle?”

Unlike Lee Ji-seok, who was snarky, Park Do-hoon asked with a smile.

‘That snarky bastard. Be more like Do-hoon.’

Kim Jong-ho made an annoyed expression and then smiled again.

“I’m filming with Seo-jun!”

At that, Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon were surprised and looked back and forth between Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho.

“Seo-jun, are you doing your next work?”

“Already? It hasn’t been long since you finished your role.”

“There was a good work that I wanted to do. So I decided to do it.”

Seo-jun answered, and Kim Jong-ho laughed out loud.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to do, and Seo-jun chose it too!”

Ignoring the boastful Kim Jong-ho, Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon racked their brains.

“What is it? A movie? A drama? What were the scripts that came in lately?”

“Right. What was it? I don’t think there was anything with a child actor in it.”

They couldn’t think of anything that would suit Seo-jun’s taste.

“It’s a zombie movie. The title is Escape.”

At Seo-jun’s words, Lee Ji-seok’s eyes widened as he recalled the rumor that was floating around.

“…You mean the zombie movie that hasn’t cast the lead role yet? You’re going to shoot that?”

“They said it would flop, but… it turned out to be a sure thing.”

Park Do-hoon was also surprised.

With Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho’s appearance, it seemed like it wouldn’t flop even if they held a ritual for it.

“But why aren’t they promoting it?”

Kim Jong-ho smiled smugly at Lee Ji-seok’s question and said.

“That’s their marketing plan. They’re going to make a lot of noise with negative reactions and then slowly leak the rumor that Seo-jun is filming.”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho nodded at Kim Jong-ho’s words.

“It has to be noisy for it to be noise marketing or whatever. Uncle Jong-ho. This was almost buried.”

Park Do-hoon was right.

Unless they liked zombie movies, people didn’t care. If it was a normal movie, it would have flopped by then.

But Park Do-hoon, who said that, soon tilted his head.

“But why am I not worried?”

“Why worry? Proper promotion can be done after the filming is over. Even if Seo-jun is buried deep, he’ll come back to life in no time.”

Kim Jong-ho spoke proudly as if he was bragging. Lee Ji-seok looked displeased and said.

“But why didn’t I get the script?”

“Director said he wanted to see a different combination for your role…”

“Who’s the director?”

“Director Choi Dae-man.”

“…”

For a moment, Lee Ji-seok felt a sense of betrayal.

Wasn’t he on good terms with him as they worked together on his first project?

Lee Ji-seok took out his phone and tapped it hard.

The recipient must have been Director Choi Dae-man.

Everyone laughed at his sight.

“Then why didn’t you send me one?”

“You look too young for the role, Do-hoon.”

“Oh, too bad. I could have filmed with Seo-jun. Hyung and uncle are filming with Seo-jun, but I can’t. Let’s do it next time, Seo-jun.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun quickly nodded at Park Do-hoon’s face full of regret.

Lee Ji-seok put down his phone as the other party didn’t answer.

He looked at Kim Jong-ho who was giggling.

His face clearly showed a mocking expression as if he was teasing him.

Lee Ji-seok’s expression worsened.

‘I knew it. This guy bought me beef.’

“So that’s why you called me today.”

“Yeah. How much did you brag about filming with Seo-jun?”

He heard it so much during and after the filming that he almost got sick of it.

“Let me brag too. Jealous? You’re very jealous, right?”

Kim Jong-ho, who was high on drugs, and Lee Ji-seok, who had an angry expression, made Seo-jun, Ahn Da Ho, and Park Do-hoon laugh.

He had a feeling this would happen ever since he heard about Uncle Jong-ho’s appearance from Da Ho hyung.

“Seo-jun. How’s your preparation for filming?”

“Yes. I’m playing an archer, so I’m learning archery.”

“Are you good at it?”

“Hehe. Yes. The teacher said I’m good. Do-hoon hyung, did you decide on your next project?”

“Not yet. I’m still looking for something I like.”

While Lee Ji-seok and Kim Jong-ho were bickering as usual, Seo-jun, Ahn Da Ho, and Park Do-hoon had a friendly conversation.

When they were talking,

“Do-hoon!”

Lee Ji-seok called Park Do-hoon.

Seo-jun and the two people turned their heads to Lee Ji-seok.

Kim Jong-ho, who had been teasing Lee Ji-seok, blinked his eyes at the sudden call.

Where did his angry face go?

Lee Ji-seok laughed wickedly.

“Let’s join them too.”

“…What?”

“As cameos!”

“…Huh?!”

At Lee Ji-seok’s words, the three people, and even Kim Jong-ho who had been giggling, stared blankly at Lee Ji-seok who was laughing.

***

“I found it!”

“I can’t work with Director Choi again. He’s not human.”

“Uhahahaha.”

The location manager’s words didn’t seem to reach him, as Director Choi Dae-man ran around and examined the building in detail.

He liked the exterior, but the interior could be different.

‘I can fix the inside.’

The location manager, who was panting, picked up his phone. Director Choi Dae-man, who had fallen into his own world, didn’t seem to have any intention of contacting the production company.

He looked down at the hard road he had climbed up and caught his breath.

“Yes. Director. We found it.”

“You found it quickly.”

“There aren’t many buildings that fit the criteria. It’s just a matter of looking around the candidates. It’s a bit small, but I think it’ll be fine if we change it here and there for filming.”

‘It was hard to find the candidates though…’

It was better than wandering around the countryside for The Ghost, which had become a must-see tourist course by now.

“Where is it?”

The location manager explained the location. It was a bit far from Seoul, but not too far. There was a pension nearby, so it was good for accommodation and meals.

“That’s good. How about vehicle access? Is there a parking lot?”

“There is a road, but it needs to be repaired. The parking lot looks like a mess with garbage since they didn’t clean it up after the typhoon in the summer.”

“Okay. Let’s fix it. Make a new road very sturdy, and make a parking lot too.”

The location manager looked around.

He saw the place that used to be a parking lot and the asphalt that was cracked. It would be fine if they fixed it. They wouldn’t make it a mess again by restoring it after changing it,

‘The owner will be pissed.’

Then, Director Lee Hansol said over the phone.

“Then contact the owner of the building.”

“Yes. Renting it? It’ll be hard to restore it after making the background.”

“No.”

Director Lee Hansol chuckled.

“Buy it. The building.”

“…Yes?”

“The fire department did a good job.”

His eyes sparkled as he thought of the ‘One Step’ tour that had become almost a mandatory tourist course by now.

“Let’s make one of those too.”

Chapter 189

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 189

Special Makeup Team, Dohwa.

They were one of the top three special makeup teams in Korea, mainly working on the production of movies, dramas, and plays.

Of course, since there were not many works that used special makeup, they also took on some ordinary makeup jobs.

“Did you hear? There’s a zombie movie coming out.”

At someone’s words, the others who were lying on chairs or sofas nodded their heads.

As befitting of the free-spirited Dohwa team, they were spending their leisure time in a company that looked more like a cozy cafe than an office, drinking cool beverages.

Since they had to travel around different movie sets, drama sets, etc., the only time the Dohwa special makeup artists gathered at the company was when they had no work.

Those who were not here must be busy working right now.

“I heard that too… Is it true?”

“I’ve always wanted to do something like that!”

It was a topic that they could not be indifferent to as special makeup artists. They opened their mouths one by one with interest.

“I’m confident that I can do well… But I’m worried that it might look cheap.”

“But judging by the fact that we haven’t received any requests from our side, are they not doing it? Aren’t we the best in Korea in terms of skills?”

“Even if we’re not the top… It would be hard to make a zombie movie without us.”

They nodded their heads at the proud words.

The team had not been formed for a long time, but they were confident in their skills.

It was because of their skills that they had gained this much recognition in such a short time.

They were chatting about zombie makeup when the office door opened.

It was Kim Sowon, the team leader who created Dohwa.

“You’re here. Are you all gathered?”

“No. Some are missing because of work.”

Kim Sowon nodded his head and said.

“I’ll have to tell them when they come.”

“Oh. Did you get a job?”

A special makeup artist who brightened up asked around.

He laughed at the sight of his colleagues who were sprawled out like they were in their own home.

One, two, three… He counted the number of special makeup artists.

His eyes widened. Half of the special makeup artists belonging to Dohwa were here.

“Half of them are here, but is this not enough for the job?”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Kim Sowon at his words. With this many people, they could handle most of the work.

Then it meant that it was not an ordinary job.

Someone exclaimed in surprise.

“Are they really making a zombie movie? In Korea?”

“Wow. Making zombies was my dream!”

The special makeup artists looked at the team leader with sparkling eyes.

Kim Sowon, who should have been the happiest and most excited, smiled as if he had given up.

They blinked their eyes at his expression. What was that reaction?

“That’s right. They’re making a zombie movie. And we’re going to work with them too.”

Someone raised his hand sharply.

“But do they pay well? The rent must be huge, and they need a lot of people. If we go alone, we have to give up other jobs.”

“Sowon! I have to pay off my card debt.”

“I’m out of living expenses too!”

Kim Sowon laughed bitterly at the cries of his team members who sounded like baby birds asking for food.

Baby birds were at least cute.

“They gave us a generous advance payment.”

“Really? Does that mean the investor has a lot of money?”

“I heard from an actor I know that it’s going to flop? What’s going on?”

‘Yeah, they have a lot of money. They’re Plus+.’

He couldn’t forget the shocking meeting he had in his head.

In the conference room of Movie Dream Production Company, there were several other special makeup teams besides Dohwa.

They all looked at each other in surprise.

They’re really making it.

A zombie movie.

They thought so and estimated the cost when Kim Sowon heard some astonishing stories.

At first, he was surprised by the fact that making a zombie movie was true.

Second, he was surprised by the fact that the investor was Plus+.

They must have enough money, he thought with relief, but the surprise was not over yet.

Third, he was surprised by the fact that Kim Jong-ho and Lee Da-jin, actors who appeared in My Doctorate Degree Holder Husband, a mainstream drama, were starring in this non-mainstream movie.

And finally…

Kim Sowon recalled the memory of the conference room.

“And we have to gather and take lectures from next week.”

“…Lectures? What lectures?”

“Special makeup lectures.”

“Us?”

Kim Sowon lifted one corner of his mouth and smiled at the reaction of the special makeup artists who were full of pride.

They would surely say that they wanted to take the lectures after hearing this story.

And then they would wait for it every day like a child waiting for a picnic day. Just like he did.

“The production company brought in the Mirror team.”

“…What?”

They stiffened their heads like meerkats at the name they never expected to hear here.

The team leaders they met at Movie Dream Production Company all did the same. Kim Sowon was no exception.

His heart thumped.

“They brought in the Hollywood special makeup team, Mirror. And even Jena Trade! Take this opportunity to learn well. If you catch Jena Trade’s eye, you might even go to Hollywood, you know.”

Jena Trade. And the special makeup team, Mirror.

The Korean special makeup teams were turned upside down by those two names.

***

“Jena Trade? She’s good.”

“She’s good?”

Rachel Hill said in a bright voice.

“Special makeup can be suffocating, you know. It feels like you’re wearing a mask or something. But when Jena Trade does it, there’s not much of that. It’s easier to move your face when you act than other special makeup.”

“I see.”

“And the special makeup doesn’t look awkward at all. It looks real. Even if you ask her to make a very strange creature, it’s very natural.”

She said that and named some of the works and characters that Jena Trade and her team Mirror had done special makeup for.

Seo-jun recalled the characters.

Most of the characters that Rachel Hill had mentioned were ones that even Seo-jun, who had seen and experienced various creatures, thought were natural.

‘I think she would be good at making monster dolls…’

It was Jena Trade and her team Mirror’s skills that even Seo-jun acknowledged.

“But calling Jena Trade too, that’s very serious, huh?”

“They had a hard time at Plus+.”

He wondered how much money it would take to bring in the best special makeup team that had enough demand in Hollywood to Korea.

He laughed bitterly at the amount he couldn’t even guess.

“By the way, I heard that the actors who are in My Doctorate Degree Holder Husband are also starring in it?”

“Yes.”

That’s how it happened.

The day when Uncle Jongho gathered them to tease Ji-seok.

That very day, the cameo offer was delivered to the production company, and eventually, with the welcome of Movie Dream Production Company and Plus+ Investment Company, the cameo appearances of Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon were decided.

“It’s going to be so fun with the Hunter actor who came out in Spring!”

Seo-jun rolled his eyes at Rachel Hill’s excited voice.

It would be fun to surprise them on the set, but he was also worried that they might be too shocked to act properly.

‘Or maybe, would they be more nervous after knowing? They might worry a lot until the shooting day.’

He pondered for a moment and came to a conclusion.

It would be better to meet them beforehand and have a chat. He thought it would be nice to invite some other people as well.

“Do you want to meet them?”

“Of course I do! I’ll ask Evan too.”

“Haha. They’ll all love it.”

He imagined the faces of his acquaintances who would be surprised and smiled brightly.

***

Lee Da-jin: I can’t believe I’m shooting with you!

<We’re acting together again! Da-jin hyung.

Lee Da-jin: We were in the same play, but we never got to match our timing, so I was so sad!! I thought I would never get to do it in my life.

Seo-jun laughed at Lee Da-jin’s message.

<Did you see the script, hyung?

Lee Da-jin: Yeah! There’s a scene where I appear with a foreign actor… I have a foreigner phobiaㅠㅠ

<Didn’t you say you were learning English?

Lee Da-jin: These days, there are often characters who use English in movies or dramas. I thought it would be nice if my pronunciation was natural, so I learned it, but, ugh. English is hard.

<It’s a Korean movie, so the foreign actors should be able to speak Korean too.

He hid the fact that those foreign actors were Rachel Hill and Evan Block.

Lee Da-jin: That’s true? When will the shooting start? I’m so excited.

<Me too. Let’s do our best. Hyung.

Lee Da-jin: Yeah!

***

The news of passing Escape’s audition came.

Out of the five archery club members, two from Class 1 and one from Class 2 of Yeoul Arts Middle School were selected, and the other two were from different schools.

“Ju-hee, Jae-han. Congratulations.”

Ju-hee and Jae-han passed and Joo-kyung failed. Ju-hee and Jae-han couldn’t be completely happy at the news of Joo-kyung’s failure.

‘This kind of thing will happen more often in the future…’

It was a sad thing that they couldn’t get used to.

What should they say to comfort her?

They wondered, but Joo-kyung, who they thought would be down, was still cheerful.

No, she looked even happier.

They blinked their eyes at Joo-kyung’s smiling face.

“I got to shoot as an extra!”

Seo-jun and his friends widened their eyes.

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s not a noticeable role like an archery club member, but I get to act as a zombie too.”

Ju-hee and Jae-han brightened up at Joo-kyung’s words.

“That’s great!”

“We’ll all shoot together!”

It was really good news, and Seo-jun and his friends finally rejoiced with all their hearts.

The homeroom teacher who appeared for morning attendance smiled and said.

“We have someone who got confirmed for shooting in our class.”

Not only Joo-kyung, but some of the other Class 1 students who participated in the audition also got to participate in the shooting as extras.

“If you want to practice together, tell me. I can rent a practice room at school. It’s okay whether it’s lunchtime or after school. It’s the same for other kids too.”

“Yes!”

“If you need help, ask any teacher regardless of grade. If they’re not busy, they’ll help you.”

As expected of our school.

The kids marveled at the school’s support.

“Teacher Jung Si-woon said he’ll teach us after school, so if you’re interested in zombie acting, go to Practice Room 3 after school.”

“Yes!”

After school. Practice Room 3.

Jung Si-woon, who had judged their skills during the audition and was in charge of acting classes for first graders, opened his mouth as he looked at the kids who were sitting in a circle on the floor.

“Ju-hee, Jae-han, Jinho. Three of you passed, that’s amazing. Do you need to practice a lot?”

“Yes!”

Yang Ju-hee, Kang Jae-han, and Han Jinho from Class 2 answered.

“What about the others? You’re also shooting, right? Don’t take it lightly just because you’re extras. There might be a director who will pick you for the next work after seeing your acting.”

“Yes!”

Joo-kyung and the kids answered confidently.

“Those of you who came here are smart. Zombie movies are rare, but it’s a good experience to practice the movement once.”

The kids who came to learn a new kind of acting that they were not familiar with also said a word to Jung Si-woon.

“First of all, let’s watch the scenes I edited and think about how the zombies move in other works.”

From Death Wall that Director Cho Dae-man had mentioned before to Plus+‘s original zombie drama.

The kids focused on the video that only showed the zombies’ movements.

“This is when the slow zombies started to change. I don’t know what the movie that’s coming out will be like, but it probably won’t be much different. This one is more thrilling and tense.”

If they had been slow zombies all along, they might not have known, but there had already been new zombie works with a different speed.

People wouldn’t think that zombies were slow anymore.

Jung Si-woon continued.

“One thing to keep in mind when acting as a zombie is makeup. You’re wearing thick makeup, so your facial movements might be different from usual. Of course, since you’re a zombie, you don’t have to do much facial acting, but it will feel different from usual.”

The kids listened to Jung Si-woon’s voice without missing a word.

Jung Si-woon’s explanation and demonstration followed. Even without makeup, his eerie movements made the kids swallow their saliva.

“Okay. Who wants to go first?”

The kids looked at each other.

They were all reluctant to be the first one to show their lacking acting to their friends.

It was one thing to practice other kinds of acting that they had learned at the acting academy, but it was another thing to do zombie acting that they had never done before.

As he was wondering, Jung Si-woon noticed Seo-jun, who was shining his eyes alone.

His eyes seemed to be asking him to order him right away.

Jung Si-woon groaned inwardly.

‘If Seo-jun goes first, the kids will lose their spirit…’

He deliberately avoided Seo-jun’s sparkling eyes and said.

“Let’s start with the ones who passed the audition.”

At Jung Si-woon’s words, Han Jinho, Kang Jae-han, and Yang Ju-hee tensed up and straightened their backs.

The three of them did their awkward zombie acting and Jung Si-woon gave them some advice.

The other kids also did their acting once, and there was one kid left.

“Now it’s Seo-jun’s turn.”

At the teacher’s call, Seo-jun got up from his seat.

The kids’ eyes sparkled and Jung Si-woon also tried to hide his face that was clearly filled with anticipation.

Seo-jun exhaled.

Maybe. Maybe he had prepared a skill for this.

He didn’t think he would ever use it for real, though.

He hoped that his acting would help his friends.

Seo-jun stood in front of the kids who were sitting in a circle.

It felt like there was a spotlight on him alone.

It was always like this when he took acting classes with them.

It had been a semester already, but he felt like he would never get used to it.

The kids swallowed their saliva.

[(Evil) Undead’s Evening Exercise-Lowest Level is activated.]

[(Evil) Undead’s Evening Exercise-Lowest Level]

It is an evening exercise created to loosen the stiff joints of the undead who resurrected from the grave.

Flexibility, activity, and agility are greatly reduced.

Your movement becomes slow.

Caution: You are very vulnerable to holy power.

Seo-jun’s arms, legs, head moved very slowly in a strange direction.

It seemed like all the joints in his body were moving separately.

Despite his slow movement, he felt more tense than the zombies who ran at a terrifyingly fast speed in the video.

The kids who watched Seo-jun’s acting, especially the three who had to shoot the zombie movie as archery club members and Kim Joo-kyung and some others who would act as zombies as extras, focused on Seo-jun’s acting without even noticing their sweaty hands.

To learn more from the world-class actor, the kids blinked their eyes.

Chapter 190

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Chapter 190

The Hollywood special makeup team Mirror received some questions from the director.

The director’s face turned pale as he saw the endless printouts of the questionnaire.

“Do I have to fill out all of this?”

“Yes. The zombies that are not visible on the screen will be done by Mirror’s discretion, but the ones that transform from human to zombie, like the archery club members or the doctor, will be shown quite clearly. We need to know your intention to avoid inconsistency. That’s what they asked me to tell you.”

An employee of Plus+ Korea who spoke fluent English translated Jena Trade’s words over the phone.

His smooth interpretation skills showed why he was recommended by the branch manager.

He heard some mumbling over the phone and then opened his mouth to translate.

“Especially, since the background is a hospital and there are many patients with injuries, we need more detailed settings. For example, it would be strange to make a wound on the arm of a zombie patient who had brain surgery.”

The director nodded at the obvious statement.

He had already envisioned all the scenes in his head, so he knew what kind of zombies he wanted to put on the screen and how they should move.

He just felt overwhelmed by the idea of writing down all those questions on paper.

“Please finish it by next week when they come to Korea.”

Jena Trade hung up and the employee of Plus+ Korea said.

“Director. It will take time to translate your answers, so you should send them by email as soon as possible.”

The director, who was a bit relaxed by the one-week deadline, quickly nodded.

***

The film crew was the first to notice something strange.

Some scenes required special makeup, but the production company and the director decided to be ambitious.

“Let’s contact Dohwa Team.”

They got rejected.

They said they had already signed a contract with someone else.

“Then let’s go for RIO!”

RIO also refused.

The eyes of the production staff and the director shook as they looked at each other.

“Then, what about Stan?!”

The last of the top three.

Stan also declined.

They blinked at the third rejection.

“…What’s going on?”

-Does anyone know where Dohwa, RIO, and Stan went?

=Where are they?

=Special makeup teams. Top three in Korea. I heard they are rejecting all incoming requests because they have already signed a contract with someone else.

-I think they went to shoot a zombie movie?

=222 They are casting extras and auditioning child actors, and they have already decided on supporting actors. It seems like they are really shooting it. There is not much news though.

=Who are the main actors?

=It hasn’t been announced yet

=???

-They hired all three of them? Wow. They must have spent a lot of money on production.

-They should hire some main actors with that money first.

-This is a rumor, but I heard Jena Trade and Mirror came to Korea for the zombie movie.

=Who are they?

=Hollywood special makeup teams. Top notch.

=? They brought Hollywood special makeup teams here?

=How much do they have to spend to bring them hereㅋㅋ

=They don’t even have main actors yet and they have Jena Tradeㅋㅋㅋㅋ

***

The questionnaire that Jena Trade gave was also delivered to Bone Breaking Dance Team.

The leader of Bone Breaking Dance Team laughed as he received the document that detailed the characteristics of each zombie.

“Haha. This is crazy.”

A zombie with a cast on his right leg had to move accordingly.

A broken bone wouldn’t heal just because he became a zombie. But he wouldn’t feel any pain either, so there was an additional note that he wouldn’t completely ignore his right leg.

The leader scratched his head.

“Should I think of a robot?”

A robot whose replaced leg parts don’t fit well and rattle.

He roughly imagined the movement in his head and turned over the paper.

There were more zombies like that.

He had to create zombie movements according to these settings.

“Shouldn’t we make it easier?”

“Easier than this? That’s totally basic movement.”

“We have to start from the basics.”

On one side of the practice room, some members of Bone Breaking Team were filming simple zombie movements that even ordinary people could follow and sending them to the extras.

The members who were already familiar with Bone Breaking Dance discussed what was considered ‘basic’ for ordinary people.

The leader closed his eyes tightly as he skimmed through the documents.

No wonder they paid so much money…

“I might really die…”

He sighed at his bleak future, but his teammates didn’t seem to notice his speed.

They were all excited about shooting a movie, something they never imagined doing when they only participated in dance competitions.

“Hey. I told my parents about this, okay? Let’s do our best.”

“Me too. They thought it was a joke when I said I was in a movie.”

“Me too! My mom loves this zombie stuff. She might be really surprised if she sees me as a zombie.”

The leader looked at his noisy teammates and wondered what to do with these carefree guys.

***

The branch manager of Plus+ Korea asked Lee Hansol with an excited face.

“How far have you progressed?”

“We have cast all the necessary roles, and the construction is going well.”

Everything that had to be done in the pre-production process was finished.

Jena Trade and Mirror Team arrived in Korea and cooperated with the special makeup teams to assign the zombies they would make up.

Bone Breaking Dance Team filmed the basic zombie movements that anyone could follow and delivered them to the extras.

The props and the shooting locations were also made according to the plan.

The branch manager smiled with satisfaction as he listened to Lee Hansol’s explanation.

“Now we will start shooting from next week.”

“Then they’re coming?”

Lee Hansol also smiled brightly and answered.

“Yes. They’re coming tomorrow.”

“…Tomorrow?”

The next evening, a plane from the United States arrived in Korea.

***

The bustling Incheon International Airport.

Among the people wandering around, some were foreigners, so no one paid attention to a group of foreigners who had just arrived.

“It’s been a year since I came to Korea!”

“I know, right.”

Rachel Hill and Evan Block, wearing casual clothes and hats, and their managers and bodyguards.

Unlike the tense entourage, Rachel Hill and Evan Block were calm.

Then, someone waved his hand.

There were two men standing there, and one of them was a familiar face.

Rachel Hill and Evan Block brightened up.

It was Seo-jun’s manager, Ahn Da Ho.

“Welcome. Hill. Block.”

“Long time no see. Da Ho.”

“I didn’t expect to see you again in Korea. I thought I would see you in the US.”

Rachel Hill and Evan Block smiled faintly at Ahn Da Ho’s words. Until a few months ago, they thought so too.

“First of all, we have arranged a place for you to stay. You can stay there during the shooting.”

“Is it a hotel?”

Ahn Da Ho shook his head at Evan Block’s question.

“No, it’s a regular house that we rented for a while. It’s a detached house, so you won’t run into any residents. The hotel has too many people coming and going, so there’s a risk of being exposed. You two are our secret weapons.”

“What about this?”

“Oh, this is the head of the security team.”

“Nice to meet you.”

The bodyguards behind the managers looked at the security team leader. They had to cooperate with him while they were in Korea. The bodyguards exchanged greetings with a smile, while Ahn Da Ho led the group to the car.

“The bodyguards can follow the security team leader. We have prepared vehicles for you.”

“Thank you.”

Ahn Da Ho got into the driver’s seat and Evan Block, Rachel Hill, and two managers got into the car.

They looked around the car as they sat down.

It was a car that showed signs of living everywhere. There was a neatly folded blanket, and small cute dolls and scary-looking dolls were well arranged. There were also other things that revealed the personality of the car owner. Rachel Hill and Evan Block couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

It was obviously Seo-jun’s car.

Rachel Hill looked around and said.

“I thought there would be scripts piled up, but there aren’t any.”

“There were. I just put them away for now.”

The two actors smiled and nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words. It sounded like something Seo-jun would do.

They chatted as they drove, and Seo-jun’s car and three security vehicles arrived at the place where the two Hollywood stars would stay.

“Here we are. You can use this house and the one next to it. There are several rooms, so the bodyguards can use them too.”

“That’s nice.”

It was a small but cozy house with a garden, so Rachel Hill and Evan Block were pleased.

They were discussing which house they would stay in, when someone appeared in front of them.

“Welcome! Evan, Rachel!”

“Seo-jun!”

Rachel Hill and Evan Block smiled widely at Seo-jun’s appearance.

Not only Seo-jun, but also Seo Eun-hye, Lee Min-jun, and Seo Eun-chan were there.

“It’s been a long time, everyone.”

“Min-jun. Eun-hye! You two are here too! Nice to see you, Eun-chan!”

Rachel Hill and Evan Block greeted the couple warmly, while the president of Cocoa Entertainment who would take care of their activities in Korea and the two actors’ managers also exchanged greetings.

Seo-jun, who had finished his speech, said.

“I wanted to have a welcome party for you, but you have to adjust to the jet lag. I’m just going to have dinner tonight. Is that okay?”

“I was tired until a while ago, but I’m fine now. I think I can party!”

Everyone laughed at Rachel Hill’s cheerful voice.

“It’s better to eat and rest quickly than to overdo it on the first day. You have to shoot later.”

“That’s true. We can party later.”

Evan Block and Seo-jun agreed with Rachel Hill’s reluctant nod.

“Let’s eat first then.”

Seo-jun led the way.

As they entered the house following Seo-jun, they saw people welcoming them at the entrance and dropped the gifts they were holding in their hands without realizing it.

‘…Seo-jun. Friends?’

They were not middle school students who liked snacks, but Hollywood stars Evan Block and Rachel Hill who they didn’t know what to buy as gifts.

Chapter 191

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Chapter 191

Evan Block and Rachel Hill arrived in Korea the day before yesterday and rested at their accommodation until yesterday.

Seo-jun, who usually went to his home or Cocoa Entertainment’s practice room, came here and played with the two actors.

“They’re replaying Working Man.”

“I want to watch!”

Seo-jun spread out the tteok-twi-sun (rice cakes, fried food, blood sausage) he bought on the table, and laughed at Evan and Rachel, who were conversing in Korean.

The two actors had adapted to Korea in just two days.

Seo-jun also sat down next to them.

Rachel Hill, who was eating the tteokbokki eagerly, asked.

“Jun. What’s for dinner today?”

“Grandma said she made bulgogi for us.”

Seo-jun’s grandmother had rolled up her sleeves and cooked for his friends who came from across the ocean.

Rachel Hill slowly interpreted Seo-jun’s words and nodded as if she understood.

“Grand-ma. I know! She’s Eun-hye’s mother, right?”

“That’s right.”

Wow!

Rachel Hill, who had been learning Korean for a year, was pleased with her small achievement.

Meanwhile, Evan Block, who had taken the Korean proficiency test in the US and was fluent in Korean, spoke casually.

Of course, it was in fluent Korean.

“Bulgogi sounds delicious. I’ve tried it at a Korean restaurant in the US, but I wonder if homemade is different.”

“Grandma’s secret sauce makes it delicious.”

“I’m looking forward to that.”

“Secret? What’s the secret?”

And then it was dinner time.

Mom and dad brought a whole pot of bulgogi that grandma made.

It wasn’t just bulgogi.

They had brought enough food for the bodyguards as well, with the help of Seo Eun-chan.

Everyone gathered around the table like a big family.

Evan Block, who was eating grandma’s delicious bulgogi, smiled and said.

“We’re meeting them tomorrow, right?”

Rachel Hill also looked excited with a bright face.

“The Royal Physician team. I wanted to meet them!”

“Da-jin also comes.”

“Hunter! The hunter! I watched his works after that too.”

Rachel Hill smiled broadly.

“I brought gifts too!”

“Me too.”

At Evan Block and Rachel Hill’s words, Seo-jun recalled the gifts that Rachel Hill gave him on the first day.

‘There were so many of them…’

“You brought more?”

“They were small enough to fit in my suitcase.”

“What are they?”

At Seo-jun’s question, Rachel Hill smiled brightly and said.

“It’s a secret!”

***

The day of the promise.

Four Korean actors and two Hollywood actors faced each other at the entrance of the accommodation.

The slightly long standoff made Seo-jun look at the wrapped items on the floor and then look up at the four actors again.

There was no color on the faces of the four actors.

Seo-jun smiled faintly.

They seemed more surprised than he expected.

What should he say, what should he say first?

Lee Ji-seok, who was only opening his mouth slightly, finally spat out a word.

“Seo-jun…”

“Yes?”

“You said they were friends…?”

At Lee Ji-seok’s question, Seo-jun smiled and answered.

“They are friends. Very close ones.”

“…I see.”

Well, he didn’t have a little intention of making them misunderstand by introducing them as ‘friends’.

Hahaha. Their surprised faces were too funny.

Uncle Jong-ho looked like he was seeing something absurd, and Do-hoon hyung looked like he was out of his mind.

Da-jin hyung looked like he was about to cry, and Ji-seok hyung looked like he was slowly grasping the situation.

Rachel Hill, who was always cheerful and pleasant, broke the frozen atmosphere. She was happy to talk to Koreans other than Seo-jun.

“Hello! I’m Rachel Hill. Nice to meet you!”

“Eek!”

A strange sound was heard from the sudden attack of Rachel Hill’s Korean.

The eyes of the four actors who were shaking violently went to Evan Block next to Rachel Hill and then back to Rachel Hill.

“But I heard that Evan Block speaks Korean…”

Lee Da-jin muttered as he heard Rachel Hill say.

“I learned it too. Am I good?”

“…Very! Ah, hello. I’m Lee Da-jin!”

Lee Da-jin met a Hollywood actor for the first time in his life and bowed 90 degrees with his nerves on edge.

At his greeting, Rachel Hill also smiled and bowed slightly.

Rachel Hill and Lee Da-jin exchanged very polite greetings while Evan Block reached out his hand to Kim Jong-ho.

“Hello. I’m Evan Block. It’s really nice to meet you.”

“…Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Jong-ho.”

Kim Jong-ho hesitated between ‘my name’ and ‘I am’ to introduce himself.

He still had half of his mind in shock.

It felt like he was watching a dubbed movie, seeing a foreigner speak natural Korean. It didn’t feel real.

The four actors who regained their senses a little bit greeted Evan and Rachel.

Lee Da-jin, who shook hands with Evan and Rachel, held up his right hand with his left hand and exclaimed with an emotional face.

“I’ll never wash this!”

The four actors were beginning to recognize the situation when Seo-jun picked up the items that had fallen to the floor.

One of them was a black plastic bag, but the plastic bag was small or there were many snacks, so the corners of the snack bags peeked out.

“But what is this?”

“Oh, this is a gift…”

The four actors, who received the gifts that had fallen from Seo-jun’s hands, turned pale in an instant.

Snacks, stationery, diary, wristwatch.

The four actors looked up at the Hollywood actors who were shining brightly.

The three Hollywood actors who tilted their heads at their expressions seemed to have lost their minds again.

If they knew this would happen, they would have bought something else!

“Seo-jun…”

Lee Ji-seok called Seo-jun. It was a call mixed with resentment.

“Yes?”

“You said they were friends…?”

Not only Lee Ji-seok, but Kim Jong-ho, Park Do-hoon, and Lee Da-jin also looked at Seo-jun with resentful eyes.

Huh? What?

Again from the beginning?

Seo-jun tilted his head at the four actors.

***

Hahaha.

There was no end to laughter from the actors who gathered at the restaurant for dinner.

Rachel Hill was laughing almost to tears and Evan Block couldn’t stop laughing either. Seo-jun also shrugged his shoulders and laughed.

“You thought they were middle schoolers?”

“I thought they were your friends of the same age, since you said they were your friends. So I searched the internet to find them, but I never expected them to be these two.”

Kim Jong-ho shook his head regretfully.

“Seo-jun never brought any friends to the filming. He never asked for any autographs either. So we thought we would show him our cool acting skills this time and dressed up like this…”

Seo-jun laughed at Lee Ji-seok’s words.

No wonder the four of them looked more dressed up than usual.

“Hyung. My friends are more interested in idols than actors. Oh, of course, the kids at my school might be different, but most of them like idols more.”

“Oh, is that so?”

‘Yeoul?’ ‘Art Middle School.’ Rachel Hill and Evan Block whispered quietly.

“Yes. I’m in the acting department. They also passed the Escape audition.”

Oh.

At the unexpected news, the actors’ eyes focused on Seo-jun’s words.

Yum, he bit a piece of tteokgalbi and smiled. Since the Escape story came up, it was time to drop the second big bomb.

Seo-jun gave a look, and Evan Block and Rachel Hill also smirked.

Lee Da-jin asked about Seo-jun’s friends.

“That’s great! What roles do they play?”

“They appear as Go Ju Won’s friends in the archery club and as patients.”

“I see. They must be acting as zombies.”

“Yes.”

As he nodded, Lee Da-jin met Evan Block and Rachel Hill’s eyes.

‘Come to think of it, we know, but they don’t know yet!’

He realized that fact and quickly explained.

“Escape is Seo-jun’s next work, it’s a zombie movie. No one knows yet because there hasn’t been any news articles. Oh, this is a secret until the news comes out. That’s their marketing plan.”

Evan Block smiled and said.

“We know too.”

“Oh, Seo-jun must have told you.”

At Kim Jong-ho’s words, ah, the three actors nodded as if they understood.

They smiled meaningfully at the sight of them.

The four actors tilted their heads and Rachel Hill opened her mouth.

“We’re also appearing in it. Escape.”

“…What?”

“We’re really happy to be filming with you.”

At Evan Block’s words, the four actors who were bewildered stopped moving as if they were struck by lightning.

The chopsticks that were picking up food stopped in mid-air.

A silence mixed with astonishment flowed through the restaurant that was noisy with laughter and conversation.

“Uh, so you mean… you’re appearing in it? In Escape? A Korean movie?!”

Lee Da-jin said, and not only Lee Da-jin who asked, but also the three actors opened their mouths wide.

Their eyes that were shaking violently again went to the Hollywood actors who were laughing wickedly.

Evan Block said.

“Jun introduced us to it. We liked the script too, so we decided to appear in it. We’ll only have a short appearance, but please take good care of us during filming.”

At that, the four actors turned their heads like zombies with broken brains and looked at Seo-jun who was laughing hehehehe.

Seo-jun smiled brightly as he met their eyes of astonishment.

“You must be very surprised, right?”

The four actors thought of the same thing at his mischievous face.

‘It’s not just surprising.’

They swallowed their saliva as they imagined Korea going crazy after Escape was released.

After finishing their stormy dinner, Evan Block and Rachel Hill ate the snacks that Lee Ji-seok bought and enjoyed looking at the cute gifts for middle schoolers.

“This is cute!”

“How does it write?”

The two actors laughed ha ha ho ho as they looked at the gifts.

Seo-jun also laughed along with them until someone poked his side with a finger.

“It’s all because of you, Seo-jun…”

Lee Da-jin and Park Do-hoon, who had unintentionally given gifts that would only be given to middle schoolers to their favorite Hollywood actors, couldn’t even look at the two actors who were enjoying their cute gifts.

They just poked Seo-jun’s side with their fingers resentfully.

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok also supported them with the same feelings.

Hmm.

It didn’t hurt, but being poked in the side felt like his conscience was pricking him. To be honest, he didn’t even think they would buy gifts for his friends.

Seo-jun raised his hands as if surrendering.

“I’m sorry.”

At that, they stopped poking him and Park Do-hoon whispered softly.

“If you tell me what Evan Block and Rachel Hill like, I’ll forgive you.”

“Me too!”

Lee Da-jin also shouted softly, and Lee Ji-seok and Kim Jong-ho also shone their eyes.

Seo-jun nodded with a smile at their expressions.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill, who had taken good care of the gifts they received from the actors (the four actors’ eyes shook greatly, but the two didn’t notice), handed over the gifts they brought from the US to the four actors.

Evan Block’s gift was a luxury fountain pen, and Rachel Hill’s gift was,

“Oh my god…!”

“Swalin Arnham?!”

It was Swalin Arnham’s autograph and a short letter.

The four actors looked at Rachel Hill with emotion as they read the short letter that said he had watched The Royal Physician and the children’s play Spring.

“To be precise, my gift is his autograph. He said to give you this letter when he heard that I was going to meet you.”

The four actors touched the letter paper with more emotion.

‘I have his autograph, but I want a handwritten letter too.’

Seo-jun looked at the four letters with a longing eye.

Chapter 192

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Chapter 192

Saturday.

On the way to the filming site.

Joo-kyung: Wow. Our movie stars are Kim Jong-ho and Lee Da-jin!

Ju-hee: I saw it too! The article just came out!

Jae-han: I got a call from the academy!

“Da Ho hyung. Uncle Jong-ho and Da-jin hyung are in the news for the movie.”

“They said they would release the press release today, so I guess it’s out now.”

Joo-kyung: Real-time search! It’s on the real-time search!!

NEW. Zombie movie Escape

NEW. Kim Jong-ho Lee Da-jin Escape

NEW. Escape Choi Dae-man

……

1.Blue Dragon Film Awards

[Korean-style zombie movie, ‘Escape’!]

[Director Choi Dae-man takes the helm!]

[Lead actors, Lee Da-jin, Kim Jong-ho!]

-Ah. It’s a Choi Dae-man movie. The CG in Evil Spirit was good, so this might be good too.

=The CG in Evil Spirit still looks amazing after several years.

=That ghost… god…

-Korean zombie movie… uh… I’m excited but also not excited.

-I hope the makeup is not awkward.

=I heard a rumor that they hired a Hollywood special makeup team…

=Is that rumor still going on? So is it true? Or not?

-Oh, Lee Da-jin and Kim Jong-ho. Then it must be worth watching.

=They both have good eyes for choosing works.

=But they are from Spring Play and The Royal Physicianㅎ

=Oh yeah. They are. They both seem to be close with Lee Seo-jun.

=I want to be close with Seo-jun too.

Seo-jun looked over the articles and read his friends’ messages again.

Ju-hee: It’s amazing that it made it to the real-time search!

Ju-hee: Until yesterday, it was buried.

Ju-hee: My mom asked me if this was really happeningㅎ

Jae-han: Me tooㅎㅎ They told me to just quit the academy, but I got a call just now.

Jae-han: They said to work hardㅎㅎ

Joo-kyung: It finally feels like we’re filming a movieㅋㅋ

Joo-kyung: But Go Ju Won hasn’t come out yet?

Go Ju Won.

As his role was mentioned, Seo-jun quickly typed a message while fiddling with his phone.

<We’re filming soon.

Ju-hee: Yeah. There’s only a few days left!

Jae-han: Zombie acting is hardㅠ

Joo-kyung: I’m so nervous. Kim Jong-ho and Lee Da-jin are in it too, everyone will watch it!

Jae-han: I guess so;;

<This is a secret…

Joo-kyung: What is it?(A rabbit emoticon with sparkling eyes)

Ju-hee: What is it, what is it?

<I’m filming too.

<Escape. I’m Go Ju Won.

<Good luck with the filming!(A bear emoticon sending a finger heart)

With a bear sending red hearts like crazy, the messages that were coming right away stopped. In the silent chat room, only the round bear was flying hearts.

But that was only for a moment.

Ding-!

Ding-!

Ding-!!!

With the loud notification sound, Ahn Da Ho laughed.

“Did you tell your friends?”

“Yes. They’re sending me tons of messages.”

Seo-jun burst into laughter at his friends’ fierce reactions.

***

“What!?”

“What, what’s going on?!”

As a scream came from their daughter’s room, mom and dad rushed in. Even as mom and dad came in, Yang Ju-hee didn’t notice and stared at her phone with a blank face.

“Filming? Escape? Go Ju Woon?! Go Ju Won, you mean?!”

Still in a state of shock, the lead of Escape, Go Ju Won was Lee Seo-jun?!

Heh, heh, heh. Laughing, Yang Ju-hee started to tap her phone with her fingers.

Her parents quietly closed the door at the sight of their daughter who was laughing scarily and not stopping her hand.

“She said she was filming a movie… She must have been under a lot of stress.”

“I guess so. We should make her something delicious tomorrow.”

“But if Kim Jong-ho and Lee Da-jin are in it, the movie will be a hit, right?”

“I hope so.”

The parents who were restless about their daughter’s movie that was not even mentioned finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It was not only Yang Ju-hee, but also Kim Joo-kyung and Kang Jae-han’s houses.

As the messages piled up slowed down, Seo-jun finally entered the group chat. He skipped over hundreds of shocked messages and read the ones from his friends who had somewhat regained their senses.

Ju-hee: Are you crazy?!

Joo-kyung: Go Ju Won. Go Ju Won, you say?!

Jae-han: Oh my god…

<ㅎㅎㅎㅎ

Ju-hee: Lee Seo-jun. Let’s see at school!

Joo-kyung: You haven’t tasted our hands yet?

Jae-han: Me too, just one…

<ㅈㅅㅈㅅ This is a secret until the article comes out.

Jae-han: So that’s why you learned archery.

Ju-hee: You had so many sports to learn that I thought this was another one!

Joo-kyung: It was Go Ju Won!

After that, for a while, the messages from his friends who couldn’t get out of the shock continued.

***

“? Director. Are you sick?”

The staff asked as the filming director shook his head with a blank face. Even though there was the expensive camera that he had always wanted in front of him, he looked like his mind was elsewhere.

It wasn’t just him.

The art director and the sound director also looked at Director Choi Dae-man and Assistant Director Park Jae-min with blank faces.

They had expressions that seemed unbelievable.

That’s when it happened.

Clank The door opened.

Whish!

The directors’ heads turned. Director Choi Dae-man and Park Jae-min, who had been calm, couldn’t hide their nervousness either and unknowingly looked at the entrance.

“Oh, sorry.”

The head of Plus+Korea raised his hands and spoke as all eyes were on him.

Representative Lee Hansol, who came with him, also apologized as if he understood the disappointed expressions of the directors.

Disappointed and nervous.

The staff who were moving the luggage smirked at the messy expressions of the directors.

Director Choi Dae-man greeted Lee Hansol and the head of Plus+Korea.

“Oh, you’re here?”

“Yes. I was curious. I’ve never seen those actors filming before.”

“I’ve seen them a bit… But this situation is new to me. And Lee Seo-jun is not coming either?”

“He’s not filming today.”

“How was it when you met him yesterday?”

Lee Hansol’s eyes sparkled.

Yesterday, Director Choi Dae-man and Assistant Director Park Jae-min met the two actors.

They were more nervous because Seo-jun, who was close to them, was not there as he went to school, but they didn’t even notice how time passed as they talked about ‘Lee Seo-jun’ and ‘Evil Spirit’.

“It still feels like a dream.”

It was still a good time to remember.

And as they talked, a good idea popped up.

‘Thanks to that, the directors are not in good shape.’

Assistant Director Park Jae-min laughed.

Today’s filming was unofficial before the official first filming.

Director Choi Dae-man called people who could be trusted and had heavy mouths for practice filming before crank-in.

He told some of them in advance.

‘But… Did I say it for nothing?’

Director Choi Dae-man scratched his cheek at the sight of the blank-faced directors.

He thought it would be better to be nervous now than to freeze later when it came to work.

But he had to tell the directors who had to film the ‘good idea’ himself.

Ding-

He got a text from Manager Ahn Da Ho.

Seo-jun has arrived.

Joined the actors. Coming in now.

“Director Song!”

“Huh!”

Director Choi Dae-man’s call made the filming director tense up and he quickly prepared to film with the camera on his bucket list.

He turned on not one, but all the cameras that were installed here and there.

***

The filming director’s hand trembled as he touched the filming camera.

He had never imagined that he would achieve the dream that he had briefly dreamed of when he was a young twenty-year-old.

He bit his lip hard as if he would scream at any moment.

“Director Kim! Director Park!”

At Director Choi Dae-man’s call, the sound director and the lighting director moved themselves.

Their hands also shook.

They were screaming inside at the situation that was about to happen.

Who would have thought that this day would come in their lives!

Their hearts were pounding so hard that they thumped.

The art director, who had nothing to do, just rolled his feet.

“Put down what you’re holding.”

“Huh?”

“Put down what you have in your hands on the floor so you don’t drop it.”

The staff tilted their heads at Assistant Director Park Jae-min’s words, but they put down the luggage and props they were holding.

“/What?/”

“/He said to put down what we have in our hands./”

The leader who could speak English enough for daily conversation answered Jena Trade’s question.

Jena Trade and the Mirror team also put down the papers they were holding at his words.

The few staff who had nothing in their hands, the special makeup team Mirror and Jena Trade, and the leader of the Bone Breaking dance team only blinked their eyes with a grim expression as they watched the directors prepare for filming.

Director Choi Dae-man called them saying that he would do a ‘real practice’ before crank-in.

He even told them which scene they would film today for ‘practice’ and told them to prepare for special makeup and zombie acting.

Jena Trade and the Mirror team, who had a lot of filming experience, were normal, but the leader of the Bone Breaking team, who was filming a movie for the first time, thought that it was because it was his first time and prepared comfortably, but the situation was strange.

When they felt an inexplicable tension, clank, the door opened.

The head of Plus+Korea and Lee Hansol, and the directors swallowed their saliva.

The large camera lens that the filming director was moving himself pointed at the entrance.

The filming of the making film that would be uploaded on YouTube after Escape was released began.

It was an idea that came up in a short meeting yesterday.

The staff who were rolling their eyes with an inexplicable tension relaxed with a sigh as they saw the people coming in.

“Oh. Actor Kim Jong-ho is here.”

“And actor Lee Da-jin too.”

“Huh? What’s actor Lee Ji-seok doing here?”

“And actor Park Do-hoon too?”

They were normal people who came in even though they were tense.

It was unexpected that Kim Jong-ho and Lee Da-jin, who were the lead actors, and Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon who followed them came in, but it was not enough to be nervous.

But the directors’ tension did not ease.

The camera lens never left the entrance.

The four actors who knew that they were filming a making film came out with as meaningful expressions as possible and moved slightly to the side.

“Huh?”

The staff who were talking about why Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon were here blinked their eyes.

Was it a hallucination?

They rubbed their eyes and looked again, but the three people who came in through the entrance did not change.

Two foreigners who slowly took off their sunglasses and a boy who radiated a dazzling aura.

Everyone stared blankly at the three people who exuded the aura of stars even in casual clothes.

Their minds stopped for a moment at the appearance of the stars they never thought they would see here.

Like an old computer that slowly ran, they very slowly inputted the appearance of the three people into their brains, and they couldn’t even breathe when they realized their identity like a bolt of lightning.

They would have dropped anything they had in their hands if they had anything. They were so shocked.

Jena Trade and the Mirror team, who were familiar with Hollywood actors, also widened their eyes at the sight of the actors they never imagined seeing in this place.

The leader of the Bone Breaking team, who was excited by Lee Ji-seok’s group alone, looked like he had lost his soul, and the head of Plus+Korea and Representative Lee Hansol had moved faces, while Director Choi Dae-man and Assistant Director Park Jae-min, who had met briefly yesterday, held their pounding hearts.

The lights shone on the three actors.

Lee Ji-seok and Kim Jong-ho moved away from the lights and smiled as if they found the people’s reactions amusing.

Lee Da-jin and Park Do-hoon also smiled slightly.

The sound director puckered his dry lips and wondered what kind of background music would suit the making film. Maybe heavy music would be good.

No, light music would be good too.

He thought of various classical music and pop songs in his head, and something came to his mind.

‘No, Shadowman’s OST would be good!’

Boom!

“Hello!”

It was Lee Seo-jun, who became a Hollywood star at a young age with the Shadowman series.

“Nice to meet you.”

It was Evan Block, who became a hero for people all over the world with the Shadowman series.

“Please take care of me!”

It was Rachel Hill, who became a global star by appearing in the Shadowman series.

It was the appearance of the Shadowman team.

Director Choi Dae-man opened his mouth with a proud smile at the staff who were looking at the three Hollywood actors with blank faces.

“This is actor Lee Seo-jun, who plays Go Ju Won.”

Oh my god.

The staff’s eyes grew bigger. Jena Trade and the Mirror team, who did not know Korean, asked the dance team leader, but he did not hear anything.

“And these are actors Rachel Hill and Evan Block, who will appear as cameos.”

Oh my god. Oh my god.

The staff opened their mouths wide at the truth they had doubted. Jena Trade and the Mirror team, who understood ‘cameo’ even though it was Korean pronunciation, were also shocked.

Is it April Fools’ Day or a hidden camera?

They couldn’t believe that Hollywood actors would appear in a Korean movie.
Director Choi Dae-man then said very seriously.

“Please keep it a secret until it is released.”

Oh my god!!

Chapter 193

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Chapter 193

A heavy silence fell over the set.

Those who knew in advance and those who didn’t all stared blankly at the three Hollywood stars who appeared out of nowhere.

The actors smiled slightly at their expressions.

“Did we look like that too?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded with a smile at Da-jin’s question. It seemed that the surprise was successful.

Seo-jun, Evan Block, Rachel Hill, Kim Jong-ho, Lee Ji-seok, Park Do-hoon, Lee Da-jin.

The seven actors looked like they were shining just by standing there.

The filming director moved the camera as best as he could to capture them, even though his mouth was dry.

“Welcome.”

Director Choi Dae-man greeted the actors. He had met them yesterday, but it felt completely different to see them on the set. He realized that he was really going to film with these actors.

“Director Choi. Thank you for having us today.”

“Not at all.”

Evan and Rachel exchanged greetings with Director Choi and he introduced them to the head of Plus+Korea and Representative Lee Hansol of Movie Dream Production. The two people were speechless with emotion.

“It seems like we’re being left out?”

“Well, I would be too if I saw Rachel and Evan.”

Park Do-hoon laughed and replied to Lee Ji-seok’s remark.

Oops, Director Choi quickly introduced Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon to the others.

“Actors Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon will also appear as cameos.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Please take care of us.”

The staff’s eyes shook again at the news of the cameo appearances of the two actors who they thought just came to see Kim Jong-ho and Seo-jun.

‘Is this movie crazy?’

It was not enough that Seo-jun, Kim Jong-ho, and Da-jin were the leads, but also Evan Block, Rachel Hill, Lee Ji-seok, and Park Do-hoon, such amazing actors were appearing.

There were people who pinched their cheeks to see if it was a dream or reality in a situation they had never imagined.

The leader of the Bone Breaking dance team, who had seen Hollywood actors for the first time, was still in a daze.

The martial arts director, who had discussed the movement of zombies with him during the pre-production period, also lost his words.

Meanwhile, Evan Block and Rachel Hill greeted the people they knew.

“Hello!”

It was Jena Trade and Mirror team, who had worked with them on the Shadowman series.

“Hi!”

It was Seo-jun’s parents, who had met them at Seo-jun’s housewarming party.

“Hey!”

It was Seo Eun-chan and Ahn Da Ho, who had been in contact with them for a long time.

They hugged each other warmly and exchanged a few words.

The staff watched them with envy and admiration.

They looked like old friends rather than Hollywood stars and Korean staff.

After greeting everyone briefly, Evan Block and Rachel Hill stood next to Seo-jun.

The seven actors lined up in front of the camera.

The filming director adjusted the angle and focus carefully.

Director Choi Dae-man cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone.

“Hello everyone. I’m Director Choi Dae-man of Escape.”

He paused for a moment and continued.

“I’m sure you’re all surprised by the sudden appearance of these actors. But I have something more surprising to tell you.”

The staff held their breaths. What could be more surprising than this?

Director Choi Dae-man smiled brightly and announced.

“This is actor Lee Seo-jun, who plays Go Ju Won in Escape.”

“/Evan! Rachel! What’s going on here?/”

“/It’s been a long time, Jena. I never imagined I would see you here./”

Evan Block’s words made Jena Trade and the members of the Mirror Team laugh.

“/That’s what I should say. My goodness. Are you in a Korean movie? As a cameo?/”

“/Thanks to Jun, I got to see a good script./”

Rachel Hill said with a smile. Jena Trade’s eyes sparkled.

“/Me too!/”

“/What?/”

“/I came to see Seo-jun Lee too. And make some money while I’m at it./”

“/Me?/”

Seo-jun, who was standing next to Evan Block and Rachel Hill, tilted his head.

“/Yes! I saw your werewolf transformation./”

The people who could speak English with Seo-jun tilted their heads at Jena Trade’s words.

“/Wow. I never thought you could create such an atmosphere with such a shoddy makeup./”

“/Shoddy…/”

It was a word that would have made uncle Hee-sang sad. But then again, if you think about it, it might have looked shoddy from the perspective of a special makeup artist.

‘After all, it wasn’t even makeup on the day, it was just a hoodie with wolf ears on it.’

“/So I wanted to try makeup too. With you, Jun./”

“/As a werewolf?/”

“/Anything is fine. Werewolf, zombie, or any other creature. I think you can express more than what I imagined./”

That’s right.

It was a word that touched Seo-jun’s heart. Seo-jun smiled as he looked at the red-haired Jena Trade who had sparkling eyes.

“/But there is no scene where I turn into a zombie in this movie./”

“/…That’s the problem. Well, if there is a makeup scene in the next movie, please call me and the Mirror Team./”

“/Okay. I will./”

The branch manager of Plus+ Korea clenched his chin. Somehow, Jena Trade and the Mirror Team, who didn’t seem very interested even if they paid a lot of money, moved for another reason.

‘It’s amazing that it’s Seo-jun Lee.’

This movie, Escape, seemed to revolve around Seo-jun.

***

The staff were busy preparing for the shooting. They realized that this shooting was not ‘practice’ anymore, so they looked more tense than before.

“Are we really shooting with Hollywood actors?”

“Wow. I never even dreamed of this…”

“Me neither.”

The staff looked excited as they moved around.

Some of them stiffened when Evan Block and Rachel Hill looked at them, and some of them hid behind the set. But their eyes never left the two actors.

“Wow. Rachel Hill is speaking Korean too.”

“Evan Block is amazing too. He sounds like a Korean.”

The staff were eager to announce the appearance of the two actors. Director Choi Dae-man reminded them of the precautions once again.

“Please keep the appearance of Evan Block and Rachel Hill, as well as Lee Seo-jun, Lee Ji-seok, and Park Do-hoon, a secret. Not even your family or friends.”

Seo-jun found it amusing.

‘It was like this when I filmed Evil Spirit too…’

Back then, they also hid Seo-jun’s appearance until they revealed it. The trailer of Evil Spirit, which was similar to the cookie video of Shadowman 2, became a hot topic.

“Now that I think about it, it was like that back then too.”

Lee Ji-seok seemed to have the same thought. Evan and Rachel showed interest, so Lee Ji-seok and Seo-jun told them the story. Kim Jong-ho, Park Do-hoon, and Lee Da-jin also listened with interest.

***

“We’re starting the shooting!”

Assistant Director Park Jae-min’s voice was louder than usual.

The shooting that they thought was ‘practice’ turned out to be more important than the real shooting.

It was the most important shooting ever for the directors, who focused more than ever.

Shooting with Hollywood actors.

It was something that might be impossible for the rest of their lives if not today.

The staff and directors all held their breaths and looked at the set.

The two Hollywood actors who were standing on the set felt strangely distant.

Even though they were right in front of them, it felt like there was a huge glass window blocking them.

“Doesn’t it feel like watching a TV show?”

“Right? Or a Hollywood movie.”

They felt so unreal that they had such thoughts.

The two actors who were checking their scripts for the last time made the staffs and actors’ eyes sparkle.

The actors who were sitting on chairs stared at the two actors who dominated the surroundings just by standing there.

They were going to see Hollywood actors act in person.

They wondered what their acting would be like.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill handed their scripts to their managers and gave a signal.

The noise in the shooting site stopped and everyone watched silently.

Director Choi Dae-man shouted.

“Ready, action!”

Several computers and piles of papers.

A woman with long blonde hair tied loosely and wearing a white gown read the papers in her hand with a thoughtful face.

No matter how many times she looked, the contents on the paper did not change.

“/This is crazy! This is insane!/”

Professor Maria threw away the papers that were piled up. She felt like she was going to faint, but she couldn’t.

“/This is…!/”

I read the documents and this paper.

The documents that I researched and wrote, and the ones that were mixed in by someone’s mistake, all pointed to one thing.

“/Professor Maria./”

When Professor Maria was looking through the documents, shouting ‘It can’t be’, a man with a relaxed face called her.

Professor Maria glared at Samuel, who was standing at the entrance, with a fierce look.

Samuel blinked his blue eyes a few times and knocked on the door that was wide open.

“/Oh, I forgot to knock./”

“/Samuel! Is this true?!/”

“/Hmm. What do you mean by ‘this’?/”

Samuel, who was wearing a neat suit and had his hair neatly combed back, and Professor Maria, who was wearing a white gown and had her messy blonde hair tied loosely, looked at each other.

“/This… this research!/”

Professor Maria stuttered as she spoke, as if she felt goosebumps.

“/Oh, the research./”

“/Didn’t you say you were looking for a way to completely kill X?! This is… this is… different from what you said!/”

Samuel blinked a few times, as if he didn’t know anything.

He looked around the messy lab and clenched his chin.

Every movement of his was ‘Evan Block’s analysis’, as the actors who knew that fact sparkled their eyes.

“/As expected. You are too smart, professor. I think we did well to entrust this matter to you. I should give a bigger bonus to the headhunter./”

“/Samuel! This is not the time to joke…!/”

“/I’m not joking. Professor./”

Samuel, who never lost his smile since he entered the lab, showed his coldness for the first time. Professor Maria flinched at his icy voice.

“/Professor Maria. What do you think is missing for those who have money, power, and fame? Do you know what they fear the most?/”

She knew that they knew about her brother’s military service.

The Ministry of Defense, of course, and even higher up.

They couldn’t have been unaware of the appearance of virus X.

And yet, the fact that they were so quiet meant that they all had similar thoughts to that man.

They thought they could handle virus X and its variants with the current technology.

‘That’s impossible…!’

Professor Maria glared at Samuel and the people behind him with a piercing look.

“/Professor Maria. All you have to do is research a vaccine to eliminate virus X for your brother’s sake. There is another team that analyzes your data and creates new substances./”

Unlike her, who had been experimenting with donated corpses and several Xs, she shuddered to imagine what that ‘team’ had done with her research data.

Samuel, who had bowed lightly, walked toward the entrance and looked back.

“/Oh, I came to say this… but I forgot./”

Samuel said with a gentle smile.

“/A new X has been discovered in South Korea. So we’re going there, and I hope you’ll join us. We have a hospital and a lab owned by our company, so you can continue your research there./”

His blue eyes gleamed fiercely, as if he wouldn’t let go of his prey who had stepped into the swamp of money.

Chapter 194

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 194

“Cut, OK!”

Director Choi Dae-man’s voice echoed in the set.

The people who were watching the scene as if they were watching a TV show came to their senses.

Wow.

They wanted to clap if it wasn’t for the quiet atmosphere.

The staff and actors Park Do-hoon and Lee Da-jin looked at the two actors with sparkling eyes.

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok wondered how they would have acted if they were in their shoes.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill, who were standing on the set, seemed to have discussed beforehand and monitored the scene with Director Choi Dae-man while exchanging some comments.

Lee Da-jin and Park Do-hoon shuffled their feet.

They wanted to go but they weren’t sure if they could. Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok felt the same.

The actors’ eyes turned to Seo-jun.

Seo-jun, who liked people who liked acting, smiled and said.

“Shall we go too?”

“Can we?”

The actors brightened up at Seo-jun’s words.

“It’s okay.”

The four actors, who had the youngest but reliable Seo-jun in front of them, quietly headed to the monitor.

The feeling was different between seeing it in person and seeing it on camera.

As the actors moved their positions, the branch manager, CEO Lee Hansol, and other directors also quietly moved their steps.

Even with the crowd of people, CEO Lee Hansol clenched his fist at the monitor screen that was visible.

It was a wise move to change it to a large monitor because of the fact that Hollywood actors were appearing.

It was like watching a TV show, the faces of the two actors filled the screen.

It was a full shot, so it was hard to see the detailed facial expressions of Evan Block and Rachel Hill, but just by their relaxed and tense movements, respectively, one could understand the situation of the characters.

“Am I walking too fast?”

Evan Block, who was almost dissecting his own appearance on the screen, opened his mouth.

The staff and directors flinched at his words.

They still weren’t used to the Korean of the Hollywood actor.

“I think it’s just right.”

“I think it would be better if I got more angry, what do you think, director?”

“Hmm. I wish your voice would tremble more.”

It was a scene that got an OK sign, but Evan Block and Rachel Hill wanted it to be more perfect.

Director Choi Dae-man, who was satisfied enough with just having the two actors appear, also explained his desired image in detail as they asked for his opinion earnestly.

“I see.”

“That sounds good.”

Director Choi Dae-man’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the Hollywood actors listening to his opinion attentively.

There were some actors who had accumulated some experience and didn’t like anyone interfering with their acting.

It was true for Korean actors, but what about Hollywood actors who had gained popularity worldwide?

‘Of course, not all of them are like that…’

There was a lot of difference between a movie director who hadn’t even gotten along with a Hollywood star.

And it was just a cameo shoot.

He thought it would be hard to express his thoughts to Evan Block and Rachel Hill.

He also took their words asking for his opinion yesterday as mere courtesy. But it wasn’t.

He smiled slightly at the sight of the Hollywood actors looking at him with serious faces.

His chest felt tight.

Before he knew it, a staff member who was filming the making film captured that moment.

The shooting director quietly advised him from behind the staff.

“Cool.”

“Right?”

Lee Ji-seok admired the two actors who tried to do their best even for a cameo shoot.

Seo-jun acted as if he had received a compliment and was proud of himself.

“They’re really amazing.”

The faces that were smiling softly disappeared, and Lee Da-jin’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the two actors monitoring seriously. Park Do-hoon nodded his head repeatedly.

Lee Da-jin and Park Do-hoon’s hearts were overflowing as they grew up watching the Shadowman series and the Assemble series.

There were many people like that here.

They all looked at the two actors with shining eyes.

It seemed like they had finished their discussion, and Director Choi Dae-man shouted.

“Let’s go one more time!”

In the end, they decided to shoot again. The actors and directors in front of the monitor dispersed and the set was reset.

The staff who checked Evan Block and Rachel Hill’s costumes trembled.

They didn’t have much thoughts in their blank state, but after watching the shoot, they realized it was real.

‘Really, Evan Block and Rachel Hill are in our movie!’

There was no doubt that Korea would be turned upside down when this fact was revealed.

***

The first shoot ended and the second shoot began.

A little away from the ‘U.S. O.W.C. Laboratory’ set, a ‘Hospital Single Room’ set was prepared.

While Director Choi Dae-man and the staff checked the set, Park Do-hoon, who clenched the script with both hands, shook his body and looked around the shooting site without rest.

He was wearing a thin patient gown, but he didn’t seem cold because he had outerwear on.

Seo-jun, who tilted his head because it was unlike Park Do-hoon who was always quiet, asked.

“Do-hoon hyung. Are you okay?”

“No!”

As if he had been waiting for him to ask, Park Do-hoon spat out his inner thoughts.

“I’m so nervous! I didn’t shake this much when I took the college entrance exam! I didn’t shake this much when I took the practical interview! What should I do? Can I do well? I was worried a lot since I met them, but I think I can’t do it! I think I’ll make a lot of NGs! What if I ruin today’s shoot, Seo-jun!?”

“Uh…”

Seo-jun, who was caught by Park Do-hoon, rolled his eyes.

‘Um. I was also very excited when I shot with Swalin Arnham… But I don’t think it was this bad?’

Kim Jong-ho, who saw Seo-jun standing blankly while being held by Park Do-hoon and Park Do-hoon’s face turning almost pale, shook his head and said.

“…He seems to have lost his mind.”

“Right. But Seo-jun is also a Hollywood actor, isn’t he?”

“He must have been too depressed to think about that when he shot The Royal Physician.”

Lee Ji-seok, who had to shoot with Evan Block this time, was calm, but Lee Da-jin, who had to match with Rachel Hill in the next shoot, seemed discouraged by Park Do-hoon’s words.

“I’m doomed… NG… because of me…”

Seo-jun, who was wondering if he should use his wrist ability to calm down Lee Da-jin and Park Do-hoon who fell into a panic state, looked at one place.

“Oh, Evan.”

At that call, Park Do-hoon, who was trembling and explaining his current state incoherently, saw Evan Block who came back after changing into a new suit and took a deep breath.

“Huh?”

Evan Block, who was adjusting his suit, and Rachel Hill, who received some snacks from her manager, tilted their heads at the eyes of the actors who gathered around them.

“Do-hoon hyung and Da-jin hyung are really looking forward to shooting with Evan and Rachel.”

“!”

Seo-jun!

Park Do-hoon and Lee Da-jin screamed inwardly.

It was true that they were looking forward to it, but they were also scared and afraid.

They couldn’t do anything but look at Evan Block and Rachel Hill with trembling eyes as they had already said it.

At that remark, Evan Block and Rachel Hill’s eyes widened. And then both actors smiled brightly like flowers.

At that sight, Park Do-hoon and Lee Da-jin clutched their chests. Gasp. The staff who were watching the actors’ faces grinned and gasped.

“We’re looking forward to it too.”

“Let’s work hard on the shoot!”

At Evan and Rachel’s words of expectation, Park Do-hoon and Lee Da-jin forgot about their fear and answered loudly with their hearts full.

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

***

A single room with curtains drawn. Park Do-hoon lay down in a patient gown.

“Hee.”

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok shook their heads at Park Do-hoon’s giggling.

“Jong-ho hyung. Do-hoon’s condition seems to be getting worse.”

“Leave him alone. He’ll come to his senses when he makes an NG. You should prepare for the shoot too.”

“Okay.”

Lee Ji-seok, who wore a black suit and had earphones in his ears as a bodyguard, headed to the set. He briefly met eyes with Evan Block and couldn’t completely hide his nervousness.

‘At least the kids made a fuss, so it’s this much.’

Otherwise, he would have been shaking like Park Do-hoon and Lee Da-jin. But it was good.

Shooting with Hollywood actors, it was a hard experience to have.

Probably. Kim Jong-ho, who didn’t have a scene with the two actors, was also actually very sorry.

Then Lee Ji-seok’s eyes caught Seo-jun, who was sitting on a chair and talking with Rachel Hill.

‘If Seo-jun heard me, he would have said he was a Hollywood actor too.’

But Seo-jun was different from the other actors.

He was so close to Seo-jun that he sometimes forgot that he was a ‘Hollywood actor’.

‘But I can never forget that Seo-jun is a great actor.’

Lee Ji-seok chuckled and adjusted his clothes, then said to Park Do-hoon, who was still giggling.

“Do-hoon, don’t giggle too much.”

“Yes.”

At Lee Ji-seok’s words, Park Do-hoon took a deep breath and exhaled.

He calmed down his excitement and pleasant tension and recalled the role he had taken.

Oh. Park Do-hoon’s face turned pale in an instant.

The staff who were disappearing from the camera screen that illuminated the set.

“If the previous shoot was like a TV show, this one is like a real Korean movie, right?”

“It’s because Park Do-hoon and Lee Ji-seok are here.”

“It’s strange to see Evan Block there. Right?”

The staff tilted their heads at the amazing but incongruous composition. Could this work?

They were worried that the actors and the screen would be out of sync and prepared for the shoot.

Seo-jun focused on this shoot more than ever.

It wasn’t all good just because Hollywood actors appeared. If the audience felt alienated, it would be worse than not appearing.

‘But…’

He didn’t know about the other actors, but if it was Evan Block, if it was Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon, they could do it well enough.

Everyone’s eyes turned to the set as Director Choi Dae-man shouted loudly.

“Ready,”

Park Do-hoon swallowed his saliva and tried to erase his gloomy face. He started to act out his expression.

“Action!”

The man lying on the bed yelled. All kinds of curses flew out of his mouth.

The bodyguard standing in front of the hospital room door made eye contact with Samuel and awkwardly smiled.

Samuel entered the room with a smile, as if nothing was wrong.

The man who was spitting curses and Samuel locked eyes.

Park Do-hoon, who played the role of a rude third generation chaebol, trembled.

Aaah. The next line, the next line!

“You bastard, you…”

Park Do-hoon bit his tongue and stopped.

After a brief silence, Director Choi Dae-man shouted.

“Cut, NG!”

“I’m sorry!”

Park Do-hoon shouted involuntarily, as if he had messed up his line.

Everyone understood his feelings and didn’t say anything.

Park Do-hoon was so excited, but his first line in his first scene with Evan Block was a curse.

They all looked at Park Do-hoon with pity.

Hmm.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek. He didn’t expect him to do well from the start.

‘He’ll do better once he gets used to it.’

Lee Da-jin looked as if she had caused the NG, with a nervous face. Rachel Hill and Kim Jong-ho smiled softly.

“Park Do-hoon. You stuttered?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

Park Do-hoon, who was lying on the bed, covered his face with both hands and said.

His ears were bright red, which he couldn’t hide.

Maybe he felt everyone’s sympathy, his hands that covered his face were also trembling.

“Come on! Let’s focus more!”

The shooting started again. Lee Ji-seok and Evan Block, who had entered the hospital room, went outside and Park Do-hoon breathed in and out, calming himself down.

“Ready,”

‘This is acting. This is acting. If I can’t do this properly, they’ll be disappointed.’

He thought of the two actors who smiled brightly and said they were looking forward to it.

Park Do-hoon’s eyes sparkled.

He couldn’t disappoint his favorite actors.

Park Do-hoon’s mood changed and Seo-jun smiled slightly. It seemed like Brother Do-hoon got used to it quickly.

“Action!”

Park Do-hoon looked at the foreigner who entered the hospital room. The person in front of him was not a Hollywood actor, Evan Block, but just an employee from O.W.C.

The man who wouldn’t have been rude to anyone yelled fiercely.

“Who the hell is that?!”

“/I’m sorry for making you wait. Sir. I’m from O.W.C./”

Park Do-hoon focused on his acting, and Evan Block delivered his lines in response to Park Do-hoon’s acting.

Lee Ji-seok, who stood like a solid wall, interpreted.

“O.W.C.? When the hell are you going to make the drug!”

“/Oh./”

Samuel raised both hands with a smile.

His gestures were very American.

Evan Block used the American-style gestures that Director Choi Dae-man, a Korean, couldn’t express, at the right places.

“They have good chemistry.”

It was a short scene, but they had made their judgment.

Kim Jong-ho’s words made Seo-jun and Rachel Hill nod.

Without any sense of incongruity, a work that was neither a Korean nor an American movie was being born.

Director Choi Dae-man, the branch manager, and Lee Hansol noticed that fact. Director Choi Dae-man’s eyes twinkled.

“/It’s still under experiment…/”

“Bring it to me right now!!”

The man looked like he would rush over at any moment by his words, but he could only glare fiercely and grind his teeth.

He was a new client who became unable to move anything below his neck due to drunk driving on the day Samuel and Professor Maria arrived in Korea.

Samuel, who always bowed down in front of money, continued his words with the loud voice as background noise.

The bodyguard calmly interpreted Samuel and the man’s words.

“/So I have a proposal for you./”

The man who was snickering asked.

“…A proposal?”

“/We have a drug that we are developing right now, and it has shown some effects. There are still some side effects, though./”

“Side effects?! You want to use that on me?! Are you crazy!!”

“/Just some minor side effects. It’s better than your current state, isn’t it?/”

The man wanted to escape from this prison-like state.

He was a man who had traveled everywhere without any trouble two months ago.

And now he could only move his neck.

The man who was muttering curses answered.

“…Fine.”

“/Thank you./”

Samuel smiled with a friendly face as he came out of the hospital room.

Aaaah, the man who couldn’t control his anger screamed and the bodyguard hurriedly called the doctor.

Samuel took out his phone and called somewhere.

“/I got a good test subject. He’s sane and in good physical condition. He can’t move his limbs, so he might be better than a normal test subject. Yes. Please prepare the drug./”

Samuel’s eyes sparkled with satisfaction.

“Cut! OK!”

Director Choi Dae-man shouted loudly.

Park Do-hoon, who was lying on the bed in tension, collapsed as if he had lost his strength.

He felt like he had never used this much energy for such a short scene.

‘I feel like I have a lump on my shoulder. I’m tired.’ He thought as he lay down, but when he saw Evan Block and Lee Ji-seok talking and heading to the monitor, he jumped up.

“Me too!”

Seo-jun and the actors also got up from their chairs and headed to the monitor.

“Do-hoon, you can curse more.”

“Here? Well, I’ll do it if you say so…”

Park Do-hoon looked at Evan Block at Lee Ji-seok’s words. Evan Block smiled and said.

“I think it’s fine?”

“If Evan says so! I’ll do it!”

“You…”

Park Do-hoon’s words made Seo-jun and the actors laugh, and Lee Ji-seok ruffled Park Do-hoon’s hair roughly.

The stylist who looked at the actors with sparkling eyes screamed inwardly at Park Do-hoon’s messy hair.

The actors and director who were chatting in Korean were all captured in the making film.

Chapter 195

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Chapter 195

The last shooting for today was with Lee Da-jin, Rachel Hill, and Evan Block.

Lee Da-jin took a deep breath with a pale face.

He had taken a herbal pill in the morning, but it seemed to have no effect as her heart was pounding. He had to act with two Hollywood actors from the first shooting.

“Da-jin, fighting!”

“You can do it!”

“…Yes!”

Lee Da-jin nodded his head in response to Seo-jun and Park Do-hoon’s cheers.

He changed his clothes and went to the set.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to curse at the two actors like Park Do-hoon did, so he sighed in relief.

“Good luck, Da-jin.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

Lee Da-jin answered with a lot of spirit.

The ‘Korean lab’ was made by removing all the American items from the ‘American lab’ set and moving the positions of the desk, computer, and other items.

The skilled art team staff moved things around and soon, a similar but different lab of Professor Maria appeared.

Director Choi Dae-man looked at the screen and nodded his head.

He shouted loudly.

“Ready, action!”

“Jae-hee. Over here.”

The people who were watching the shooting bit their lips at Rachel Hill’s line.

Seo-jun also smiled widely.

The original line was in English, but Rachel Hill spoke Korean well and had a good pronunciation, so they changed it to Korean.

‘Maybe, when Escape is released, everyone will be surprised.’

Like a Russian doll, like an onion that never ends no matter how much you peel it.

Escape was a movie full of surprises from beginning to end.

“Yes!”

Jae-hee, the graduate student, rolled his eyes and moved the papers to where Professor Maria pointed. He had been working as an assistant for Professor Maria for two months already, and he was amazed by her.

‘Does a genius learn a language in two months?’

“Jae-hee. Can you find me the analysis data?”

“Yes!”

Jae-hee had been working part-time at the O.W.C.

Foundation’s lab since two months ago.

He didn’t know why he was here when he had nothing to do with this field… but he had no choice but to do what his supervisor told him to do as a graduate student.

‘At least they pay well.’

It was better than being under that stingy supervisor. Otherwise, he would have been writing papers for someone else.

They paid well, and Professor Maria was kind too. The work was easy, although she didn’t know what it was. It was just,

“/I’m here, Professor./”

“Tsk.”

Professor Maria clicked her tongue. She didn’t like that slimy man who called himself a secretary. As always, he opened the door without knocking or calling on the intercom.

‘Why did they install a door lock then?’

Jae-hee put down the paper he was holding and headed out of the lab. He closed the thick door that was installed for security and waited until the secretary came out.

When the secretary came, Jae-hee had a break time.

Then he went back in and rearranged the papers that the secretary had messed up.

Today was worse than usual. He threw something and broke the monitor. Professor Maria was sitting on a chair with her head down.

“Professor…”

Professor Maria was mumbling something. ‘No. Zombie. Virus. Infection.’ Jae-hee blinked his eyes at the incomprehensible words and quietly cleaned up the lab.

“Cut!”

Haaah.

Lee Da-jin collapsed as the tension was released. Rachel Hill smiled and said.

“You did well, Da-jin.”

“…It wasn’t an okay cut.”

“Well, it’s strange to get an okay in one take. You can do better in the next shooting. Shall we go and see what was lacking?”

“…Yes!”

***

The next day.

The second day of unofficial shooting.

Unlike yesterday, the indoor studio was busy.

The art team and the makeup team were moving around and working hard.

“Blood! Blood!”

“/Here!/”

“Thank you, John!”

Jena Trade and the makeup team had a lot of interactions with the art team of Escape while working with the Korean makeup team after arriving in Korea.

It was because the zombie makeup and the background had to match.

They compared the blood prepared by the art team and the blood prepared by the makeup team with the help of an interpreter and discussed which one was better.

They talked about the stickiness, hardness, color, and amount of blood on the wall, floor, and zombies.

They also exchanged many other stories and learned to communicate with short words.

Today’s shooting was the time to realize their previous meetings.

The art team and the makeup team moved with full spirit.

Especially, the art team was determined to make a set that would impress even Hollywood actors.

“Do we spray it? Really spray it all?”

The youngest staff of the art team asked, holding a barrel full of red liquid. The art team staff gathered their heads and shared their opinions.

“No! Wait… Isn’t this too much for one person?”

“Isn’t this just right? The human body is 70 percent water.”

“But not all of that water is blood.”

“Besides, it’s not like blood explodes from the wound when you get bitten…”

They had a set picture, but it always changed on site.

The youngest staff of the art team looked at his seniors who were passionately discussing with a sheepish face.

He looked around the studio with a barrel full of blood in his hand and saw an actor and a manager entering through the door. It was Seo-jun.

“Actor Seo-jun! You’re here already?”

“Yes. I wanted to see the makeup process.”

“The makeup team is over there!”

“Thank you.”

He bowed his head and headed to where the makeup team was. The youngest staff cheered inwardly. He got a thank you from Seo-jun!

The makeup team was busy putting out the materials needed for the special makeup on the table. Jena Trade, who was looking at the paper with the sketch of today’s special makeup, noticed Seo-jun.

“/Oh, Jun. You’re here?/”

“/Jena. Hello! Rachel and Evan are coming too. They’ll be here soon./”

The leader of Bone Breaking Dance Team, who was sitting awkwardly on a chair to get zombie makeup, opened his mouth when he met Seo-jun’s eyes. He wanted to talk more with him since he only greeted him briefly yesterday.

“Oh, hello. Actor Seo-jun.”

“Hello. I saw Bone Breaking Dance and you guys were amazing.”

“Ah, really?”

“How long have you been doing this?”

The leader scratched his cheek shyly as he talked with Seo-jun. Seo-jun moved a little away from the table and took a seat.

“Can I watch the makeup process?”

“Sure.”

The leader answered Seo-jun’s question and looked at Jena Trade.

“/Can I watch the makeup process?/”

“/Of course!/”

Jena Trade and the makeup team smiled and agreed when Seo-jun asked with sparkling eyes.

“Have this first.”

“It’s mini fish-shaped bread. Isn’t it cute?”

Evan Block and Rachel Hill came in with paper bags full of fish-shaped bread.

They handed out the bags to the staff and headed to where Seo-jun was sitting.

“Can we watch too?”

“Sure!”

The leader wondered if he had to ask for permission from him. He scratched his cheek at the polite request of the Hollywood actors.

“Thank you.”

Evan Block and Rachel Hill also sat in front of him. The leader was happy to chat with them about various things, starting from Bone Breaking Dance. He had always wanted to talk more with them.

When everything was ready, Jena Trade opened her mouth.

“/Let’s start then!/”

The first zombie special makeup of Escape began.

The leader rolled his eyes at the unknown things that came up on his face.

The zombie makeup was new to Evan Block and Rachel Hill too.

They looked at the zombie with interested eyes.

The staff also had a lot of interest in the first zombie makeup.

It was probably because they could see every wound clearly under the bright light.

They would get used to it as the shooting progressed, but for now, they couldn’t help but squint their eyes.

“Wow… I’ve had enough for today.”

“Right? We have to keep seeing this from now on?”

The adults frowned, but Seo-jun smiled at the zombie that was becoming more familiar.

After deciding to shoot a zombie movie, he read not only the books of the elves’ lives, but also the books of the undead and zombies from the Library of Evil.

As he read the books and practiced zombie acting at school, he vaguely remembered their lives and felt like a new story.

“Jun has a strong stomach.”

“You know what stomach means?”

“I learned it from watching zombie movie reviews!”

Seo-jun and Evan Block laughed at Rachel Hill’s words.

***

“Ready, action!”

Samuel, dressed in a suit, looked at his watch and headed to the ‘Life Extension Team’.

There were many teams in this lab, but all the experiments were finished by the ‘Life Extension Team’, which was the core of this project.

He shrugged his shoulders at the tightly closed door. He entered his fingerprint on the door lock.

If only.

If only he had tried to contact the lab through the intercom next to the door lock.

If only he had paid a little more attention as the person in charge of this project and the one who appeared in various labs without notice.

Could he have stopped it?

Beep-

The thick door opened.

The dark office.

“/Professor./”

Samuel opened his mouth as he looked for the light switch.

He felt something smelled rotten, but he didn’t care since there were various chemicals here.

He groped the cold wall with his hand to find the light switch.

“/You should sleep at your place…/”

Grrrrr.

He stopped talking at the strange sound.

“/Professor?/”

Samuel had seen the test subject before. But at that time, the test subject’s eyes were covered with a blindfold and his mouth was gagged.

If Samuel had ever seen the test subject without the control device, he would have run out of the lab right away.

[O.W.C.’s management is perfect.]

That thought created a flaw.

Click.

Samuel turned on the light, trying to figure out the situation.

!!

How did he not notice it when it was so close?

Right in front of Samuel’s eyes, there was something covered in blood.

Under the bright light.

It was the ‘doctor’ who stood there.

A monster wearing a ‘white coat’ that was stained with blood and flesh.

Could a human joint move like that?

Its arms and legs moved in directions that seemed impossible.

It was a strange movement.

Something inhuman was in front of Samuel’s eyes.

Grrrrr.

Fear filled Samuel’s face.

“/No, no…!/”

The zombie rushed toward the prey with hot blood flowing.

“Cut! Okay!”

The leader, who was about to attack Evan Block, stopped.

Evan Block’s face, which was full of fear, quickly returned to normal.

He seemed to have gotten used to it, but the zombie that appeared right in front of him was still scary.

Rachel Hill smiled at him.

“/Were you scared?/”

“/Um. A little?/”

“/How can you be scared by such makeup? You’ve done all the zombie movies./”

Evan laughed at Rachel’s teasing.

“Then let’s shoot the close-up shot.”

A large camera was set up in front of the leader.

Wow. The leader, who had never seen such a big camera before, scratched his cheek and realized that he was wearing makeup and put his hand down.

Park Jae-min, the assistant director, said to him.

“Just relax. You’re very scary even if you just stand still.”

“Really?”

“Very!”

Park Jae-min raised his thumb and the leader loosened up.

Yeah. They would edit it well anyway.

The shooting started, and Park Jae-min turned off and on the light.

The zombie that appeared in the darkness was definitely impressive,

“/Scary! Evan! Is that a little?! That’s super scary?!/”

Rachel Hill said.

Evan Block laughed. Lee Da-jin and Park Do-hoon also shivered. Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok pretended not to and wiped their sweaty hands.

The staff also swallowed their saliva.

Hollywood special makeup was amazing.

“Wow.”

In the shooting set full of surprised people, Seo-jun was watching the scene he just shot with sparkling eyes.

The face of the zombie that suddenly appeared was spine-chilling.

‘Dad wouldn’t be able to watch this.’

Seo-jun suddenly thought that.

***

Director Choi Dae-man had one last scene to shoot today and he asked Seo-jun.

“I have a favor to ask you for the next scene… Is that okay?”

“Me?”

Seo-jun tilted his head at Director Choi Dae-man’s words. The next scene was something that the staff could do as well.

“You know the last scene of the role? The one that came out in the trailer.”

“Yes.”

“You were there then. I want you to create that atmosphere… Is that okay?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun understood Director Choi Dae-man’s idea and his eyes sparkled.

‘That sounds fun.’

At the news of Seo-jun’s shooting, not only the dance team leader, but also Jena Trade and the mirror team, and the staff prepared for the shooting quickly with shining eyes.

Seo-jun smiled with blood-stained shoes on. They were a bit big, but not enough to interfere with his acting.

The shooting preparation was done in no time.

All they needed was a hallway and a door.

Seo-jun stood behind the door.

“Ready, action!”

Director Choi Dae-man’s voice echoed loudly.

Chapter 196

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Chapter 196

Human imagination was amazing, so they could imagine a boa constrictor that swallowed an elephant from a picture that looked like a hat, and a lamb from a simple box drawing.

Seo-jun, who was looking down at his shoes stained with blood that looked like roses, thought of ‘The Little Prince’ that he learned in Korean class.

‘Hmm. Maybe the Little Prince was special.’

Seo-jun tilted his head, recalling the protagonist who was incredulous.

Anyway, that’s how amazing human imagination was.

In many works, they expressed cruelty, sadness, fear, and so on indirectly rather than showing the direct scenes.

It was a good direction because it could make the audience, each individual, imagine the worst situation for themselves rather than showing them the scene outright.

‘That’s probably what Director Choi Dae-man wants.’

“Seo-jun, are you ready?”

“Yes!”

He heard Director Choi Dae-man’s voice from across the door.

“The door looks thick, but it’s thinner than you think, so don’t worry if it gets dented. We have several spare ones, so just relax.”

“Yes!”

‘Then I’ll hit it hard!’

Seo-jun lifted up the bag-like thing that the assistant director handed him.

This ‘bag’ was a device that would replace ‘Samuel’s body’.

It was a small square sandbag with a handle attached by the art team.

It made a louder noise than hitting the door with a human hand, and it would dent a wider area as if a real person hit it.

‘It will get crumpled a lot if I hit the door with this.’

Seo-jun thought of the faint memory of the zombie and the stories he read in the Book of Life, and thought about where and when to hit the bag.

‘I won’t hit it at the same timing like a machine. The prey (human) is alive and struggling, so the timing and the attack method should be different.’

He also had [(Evil) 9th Infected Zombie’s Smell-Low] that he found for school practice and [(Good) Intermediate Angel’s Fan-Intermediate] that could cancel out that ability.

[(Evil) 9th Infected Zombie’s Smell-Low]

It is the smell of the zombie that was infected 9th.

It slightly increases the anxiety of the prey (human).

The ability becomes stronger in an enclosed space.

[(Good) Intermediate Angel’s Fan-Intermediate]

A warm wind blows.

It has a certain chance of freeing the targets from abnormal states.

It has a strong effect on low and intermediate magic.

He quickly finished thinking about how to act and grabbed the bag strap like a handle with both hands like a zombie targeting its prey and shouted.

“I’m ready!”

From the other side of the door, Seo-jun’s voice was heard.

The camera lens shone on the door of the Life Extension Team’s lab.

The closed door looked like an ordinary door.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill, and the four actors looked at the set with expectant eyes, knowing how realistic Seo-jun’s acting was.

What kind of acting would he show this time?

Even though they roughly guessed, he always showed more than that, so the actors’ eyes sparkled with interest and anticipation.

“Ready,”

Director Choi Dae-man’s voice rang in the shooting set.

“/He’s good at acting, but… can he do well in this situation?/”

“/How can he act without showing his face?/”

Jena Trade and the mirror team, who had seen many zombie movies, looked at the set with a mix of curiosity and doubt.

Hearing their words, the dance team leader, who hadn’t removed his zombie makeup yet, smiled softly.

Jena Trade and the mirror team seemed to have not seen the role reversal.

‘If they had seen it, they wouldn’t have said that Seo-jun’s appearance was not important.’

“Action!”

As Director Choi Dae-man’s shout ended, the shooting set became quiet.

It was quiet.

It was so silent that Park Jae-min, the assistant director, who wondered if Seo-jun had heard the ‘action’ sound properly, was about to move.

Bang!

A loud noise came from behind the door.

The echo was louder than expected.

It must have started. The staff recalled the instructions written in the script.

[The Life Extension Team, the lab door shakes. With a bang sound, it seems like the zombie is eating Samuel. Unfortunately, Samuel’s breath was tenacious, and his heart kept producing hot blood, exciting the zombie.]

Bang!

Another noise rang out. The eyes of the people who held their breath were drawn to the closed door.

The lab door that the art team staff worked hard on looked thick, but it was thinner than expected.

As if to prove it, as if a person’s body hit from behind the door, the bottom of the door popped out a little.

‘So, that’s Samuel and the zombie’s…’

Someone swallowed their saliva.

The door and the other side of it, which were ordinary until a while ago, changed the atmosphere with just two loud echoes.

And somewhere, a strange smell came out.

From behind the door, Seo-jun’s voice was heard.

The camera lens shone on the door of the Life Extension Team’s lab.

The closed door looked like an ordinary door.

The faint smell that came out couldn’t fill the wide shooting set and disappeared through the ventilation fan. But some of it remained.

A slight anxiety made people nervous and scared. A staff who sniffed his nose a few times muttered.

“Is it because I saw the zombie makeup just now? It’s really scary.”

“Right? Me too.”

Bang!

As if they heard their whispers, another noise came out.

The staff who opened their mouths to make a sound unknowingly shrank their necks like lizards.

Their shoulders tensed up and their hands sweated.

Ordinary people who were used to comfortable and safe modern life.

Their survival instinct that had been dull started to slowly rise.

Bang!!

A louder noise than before made some staff unconsciously step back.

They were ready to run away at any moment.

The shooting set that was tense became quiet again.

Hoo, hoo.

People’s rough breathing was heard.

They felt their breath was too loud and quickly covered their mouths with their hands.

Their hearts beat wildly.

There was something dangerous behind the door.

Then someone swallowed their saliva.

Bang!

The top of the door popped out a little.

Bang!

The bottom of the door popped out a little.

Bang!

The bottom of the door caved in.

A brief lull.

The silence lasted long.

The staff who clenched their mouths felt their backs soaked with cold sweat and loosened their stiff hands when

Bang!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!

With continuous loud echoes, the door that should have been closed tightly dented without mercy and shook as if it would open soon.

“Eek!”

A zombie that was raging to cut off its last breath.

Even though they couldn’t see it, they imagined that scene and screams came out from here and there.

The shooting director was also surprised and the camera shook greatly, but Director Choi Dae-man who looked at the set rather than the monitor couldn’t even care about it.

He asked for it but he didn’t expect him to show it so perfectly. He unconsciously admired Seo-jun’s acting that improved more and more.

Boom!

The thick door that was the last barrier split in half.

The locked door didn’t fit with the frame and squeaked open.

The people who curled up their bodies unknowingly backed away.

When they heard his breathing, they felt like he would jump out at any moment, so they stopped breathing.

Their eyes kept watching the door and their hands searched for anything that could be a weapon.

At that tense moment,

Between the last line of defense, the door, a shoe stained with wet blood appeared.

Gulp.

Someone’s swallowing sound seemed very loud.

Their hands clenched the weapons they held. They were full of the desire to run away as soon as possible.

When would he come out, would he come out at all. Should they run away.

While swallowing their saliva, holding their trembling hands with weapons as if their lives depended on it, the staff who were puzzled by the zombie that didn’t come out.

“Director, is it NG?”

The door opened and Seo-jun peeked out his head.

They were stunned by his fresh face.

[(Good) Intermediate Angel’s Fan is activated.]

With a warm wind blowing from somewhere, their frozen brains started to work slowly.

Huh?

Uh.

Oh!

“Ugh!”

This was a shooting?!

The startled staff looked at the brooms and sticks they were holding without knowing and threw them to the ground with another surprise.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill also put down the folding chairs they were holding.

Lee Ji-seok and Kim Jong-ho also groaned and put down the fire extinguishers they were holding on the floor and relaxed their stiff shoulders.

Lee Da-jin and Park Do-hoon seemed to have relaxed and sat down on the chairs. They were holding their phones as if they were about to throw them.

Clang.

Clatter.

Something fell from here and there.

“/Wow…/”

Jena Trade and the mirror team, who had seen many zombie movies and special makeup works, were no different.

John, a member of the mirror team, put down the special makeup knife he was holding on the table and called Jena Trade.

“/Jenna. Your hand./”

“/Huh? Oh, sorry!/”

Jena Trade was startled by John’s gesture and carefully put down the iron pipe she was holding.

She had unknowingly taken out one of the legs of the collapsible table and held it.

“/Seo-jun Lee. He’s amazing./”

“/He can do that much without makeup. If he had makeup on, it would be incredible!/”

“/…Then it would be a disaster?/”

John shivered as he imagined that.

While they were talking about Seo-jun’s acting, Jena Trade’s eyes caught the dance team leader who was still in zombie mode.

They shrank their bodies like lizards at the sight of the zombie who was sitting as if his legs had lost strength.

They were not the only ones, the staff who saw the zombie passing by also gasped and sighed in relief when they realized it was makeup.

“/…Let’s remove it quickly./”

“/Yeah./”

***

They shot again because the camera shook in the middle.

He used [(Evil) 9th Infected Zombie’s Smell-Low] before and adjusted the amount of magic this time.

[The grade of [(Evil) 9th Infected Zombie’s Smell-Low] temporarily decreases.]

[(Evil) 9th Infected Zombie’s Smell-Lowest] is activated.]

Maybe that’s why, this time they didn’t go as far as looking for weapons. But they still nodded their heads and gave him a thumbs up for his acting.

They watched the two shots and Director Choi Dae-man said to Seo-jun who was monitoring with him.

“The first one is better, but… it’s not good to be too strong either. Let’s go with the second one. It has to blend in with the other zombies. If it’s too strong from the beginning, the zombies that come later will look bland.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded at Director Choi Dae-man’s words.

That evening.

“…I can’t watch this.”

Lee Min-jun covered his face with both hands and sighed after hearing Evan Block and Rachel Hill’s praises for his son’s acting such as ‘it was amazing’, ‘it was scary’, ‘the zombie acting was great’.

“Cheer up! I’ll tell you when the zombie comes out. Just close your eyes and watch.”

“…Then it will be scarier with just the sound…”

Seo-jun, Lee Eun-hye, Evan, and Rachel laughed at Lee Min-jun’s words.

***

The weekend passed by like a flash thanks to the shooting, and Monday came.

The friends who had been waiting for today all weekend rushed to Seo-jun like zombies as he opened the classroom door.

“…Your hands are really spicy.”

Seo-jun twisted his body from his friends’ back smashes.

“So what happened?”

Joo-kyung asked in a small voice. Only these three knew about Seo-jun’s appearance, and he planned to tell the rest of the kids when the shooting got closer.

‘Should I tell Jinho in advance?’

Han Jinho from class 2 was also an archery club member with Ju-hee and Jae-han, so he had a scene to shoot with Seo-jun.

‘Jinho, your name is similar to Ji-ho, so I feel close to you.’

Joo-kyung asked and Ju-hee and Jae-han’s eyes sparkled.

Seo-jun also answered in a small voice.

“Director Choi Dae-man sent me the synopsis and I agreed. I was the first one.”

“Then it’s true that the Hollywood special makeup team came?”

“Who’s the investor?”

“Yes. The Hollywood special makeup team is also participating, but it’s still a secret. They plan to use it for promotion. The investor is Plus+.”

“Wow. This will be a huge hit too.”

The kids’ eyes shone at the news of the hit of his works. Ju-hee and Joo-kyung high-fived and looked happy.

“Is there anything else you’re hiding?”

“…I’ll say no comment.”

“There is!”

“This is something you have to find out later to enjoy it. You can look forward to it.”

They couldn’t even imagine the scale of what Seo-jun, who was known to the world, said was worth looking forward to. They wanted to ask him what it was right away, but they tried hard to suppress their curiosity.

“Ugh. I’m curious but I’ll wait.”

Jae-han said and Ju-hee and Joo-kyung also nodded.

“Oh, by the way, you’re attending, right? Congratulations in advance.”

“Huh?”

Seo-jun blinked at Joo-kyung’s words. Jae-han and Ju-hee also smiled and congratulated him.

“Attending? What?”

The three kids looked puzzled at Seo-jun’s confused expression and answered.

“The Blue Dragon Film Awards.”

Ah.

That was it.

He had forgotten about it because he was immersed in Escape.

‘Maybe that’s what Da Ho hyung wanted to talk about.’

In November, when the cold wind blew.

It was the month when the film festival, the Blue Dragon Film Awards, which was created for the qualitative improvement and development of Korean cinema, was held.

Chapter 197

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 197

“Da Ho hyung. Are you talking about the Blue Dragon Film Awards today?”

Seo-jun asked as he fastened his seat belt. Ahn Da Ho widened his eyes.

“How did you know?”

“My friends told me.”

“I guess so. The acting department must be very interested in film festivals and award ceremonies.”

The nominee list had not been announced yet, but there were some rumors on the internet. Ahn Da Ho nodded his head and started the car.

“The nominee list is supposed to come out tomorrow. According to the data sent by the organizers, you are on many of the candidate lists for Best Actor.”

“Everyone must be really happy.”

The director, the actors, the staff.

Seo-jun smiled brightly as he thought of the people he would meet after a long time.

***

Seo-jun stabbed an apple with a fork and spoke with a regretful expression.

“Are you both going back to America now?”

“The filming is over.”

Evan Block nodded his head as he took a bite of the apple.

While Seo-jun was at school, the cameo scenes of the two Hollywood actors were all finished. They said they gave autographs and took pictures with the staff and directors who were full of regret.

Of course, keeping it a secret was a must.

“I didn’t think much when I saw the script, but now that I filmed it, I feel a bit sad that we don’t have any scenes together.”

“Me too. It would have been nice if we had some scenes together.”

Evan Block smiled at the regretful faces of Seo-jun and Rachel Hill. He felt the same way.

“But if we stay any longer, people might find out that we came to Korea.”

Seo-jun chuckled at Evan Block’s words.

“Isn’t it dangerous to go to convenience stores now?”

“The part-timer looked suspicious when I went there earlier.”

It was a 24-hour convenience store near their accommodation. Evan Block and Rachel Hill often visited the store.

At first, they were flustered by the foreigners and responded in poor English, but as they got used to them, they also looked at their faces.

If only the man spoke Korean well, they would be more convinced, but the woman also spoke Korean well, so they wondered if they were wrong, but they looked similar, so the part-timer did not let go of their suspicion, the two actors said.

“But there’s no news article yet, so I guess they think we’re just look-alikes.”

“Who would think that Hollywood actors are here?”

“I’m so curious about people’s reactions when the movie comes out. It’ll be a riot if they find out that we went here and there, right? I took a lot of pictures.”

The three actors laughed like mischievous kids.

Seo-jun and the couple, the two actors had taken pictures of various places.

How surprised would they be, how happy would they be.

The conversation of the three actors who imagined people’s reactions soon led to a new topic.

“The Blue Dragon Film Awards?”

“Yes. It’s an award ceremony that takes place in November, but only for Korean movies.”

Seo-jun said as he bit into a crunchy apple.

If it was this year’s Korean movie.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill smiled as they thought of the movie that was released just a few months ago.

“You’ll get Best Actor for sure.”

“Hehehe.”

They had seen the list that was sent by the organizers to Cocoa Entertainment and then to Seo-jun by Ahn Da Ho. It was easier to find an award that he was not nominated for than one that he was.

The Blue Dragon Film Awards had categories such as Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best New Actor and Actress, Best New Director, Best Cinematography and Lighting, Best Music, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Art Direction, and Best Technical Achievement.

“I was nominated for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor.”

He was also nominated for Best Cinematography and Lighting, Best Music, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Art Direction, and Best Technical Achievement.

Evan and Rachel Hill thought for a while and asked.

“When is the award ceremony?”

“I want to go and see it if I have time…”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes and searched on his phone.

“It’s in three weeks. It’s still far away.”

“That won’t work.”

“We can delay it for a day or two, but three weeks is too much.”

Rachel Hill and Evan Block looked at Seo-jun with regretful faces.

“I wanted to congratulate you in person when you receive the award.”

“It’s okay. Please congratulate me when I receive it next time.”

The two actors smiled at Seo-jun’s cheerful words. Rachel Hill looked at the clock and checked the time. There was still time until dinner.

“Then how about we have a pre-celebration party? I don’t know what award you’ll get, but you’ll definitely get one!”

Seo-jun and Evan Block nodded their heads at Rachel Hill’s suggestion.

Seo-jun called his mom and dad and told them that they were having a party for this reason. Seo-jun smiled slightly. Somehow, every day felt like a party since the two came to Korea.

When they were preparing food for the early celebration party, Rachel Hill who was kneading cookie dough for dessert said with a regretful voice.

“By the way, you said you have a ritual tomorrow? I wanted to try a ritual too…”

“I’m not going either this time. There are quite a few other people coming too.”

Evan Block, who also wanted to experience doing a ritual, opened his mouth.

“Hmm. Then how about we try it when we film Shadowman 3? Director Ryan doesn’t believe in superstitions, but I think he’ll let us do it if we want to.”

Rachel Hill nodded her head repeatedly with sparkling eyes at his words.

“Let’s use a doll or a picture instead of a real pig’s head. That’s gross.”

“But the ritual is a bit complicated. You have to read a prayer and bow. It might be hard to do it officially in the US, don’t you think?”

Rachel Hill smiled widely at Seo-jun’s words. She already seemed to have made up her mind.

“It doesn’t have to be perfect, right?”

Evan Block agreed.

“I bet Marina Studio would be the first to suggest it if they knew about this superstition. Besides, it also means wishing for safety during the filming. There are other action scenes besides Jun’s, so maybe Director Ryan and Marina would be all for it.”

Although they were old and used a lot of CG work, so there were no difficult or strenuous action scenes, they could get hurt in ordinary filming if they were unlucky.

“/It’s not scientifically proven, but it’s human nature to feel uneasy and keep thinking about it if you know there’s such a superstition. If that happens, they’ll eventually want to do it./”

Rachel Hill laughed like a villain after saying a long sentence in English instead of Korean.

‘Hmm. Is that so?’

Evan Block and Rachel Hill’s words made Seo-jun, the actual person involved, tilt his head, but Ahn Da Ho, who wanted to borrow the power of superstition for the actor’s safety, sparkled his eyes.

‘Ritual…’

He thought he should ask the movie directors he knew for detailed methods and procedures.

***

The next day.

Articles that stirred up the internet from the morning came out.

[Movie Rebellion, multiple nominees for the Blue Dragon Film Awards!]

[Rebellion, nominated for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography and Lighting, Best Music, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Technical Achievement, a total of 10 categories!]

-As expected of Rebellion.

=As expected of Rebellion222

-It’s faster to find what they’re not nominated for than what they are.

-They’ll get all the awards they’re nominated for.

-Holy. Did you see the Best Actor nominees?

=?? Isn’t it Lee Seo-jun?

[Blue Dragon Film Awards, Best Actor nominee. Actor Lee Seo-jun!]

[Blue Dragon Film Awards, Best Actor nominee. Actor Lee Ji-seok!]

[Yesterday’s colleagues are today’s enemies! The competition between Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok!]

[Best Actor! Who will get it?]

-Seo-jun for Best Actor!

-Lee Ji-seok is also nominated!

-Wow. A family feud? I expected Lee Seo-jun, but Lee Ji-seok too!

-Lee Ji-seok did well too. From now on, Prince Suyang is Lee Ji-seok lol

-He did really well for a supporting role. This movie wouldn’t have been made without any one of them.

-But it’s too bad that only one of them can get it.

-Is there no joint award? Can’t they both get it?

=I think there used to be one. But not lately.

=And wasn’t there never a case where two people from the same movie got it?

=The judges must be having a hard time lol

-I vote for Lee Seo-jun.

“Everyone is on Seo-jun’s side.”

Kim Jong-ho read the comments on the article with a satisfied expression. Lee Da-jin, who was sitting next to Kim Jong-ho, smiled slightly.

“Are you on Seo-jun’s side too, senior?”

“Of course. Ji-seok did well too, but Seo-jun did better. Everyone saw Over the Rainbow, and no one even thought that Danjong and Gray were similar.”

“Some people did mention Heo Uigwan, though.”

Most of them didn’t, but there were a few who brought up Heo Uigwan.

“Just a little bit.”

Kim Jong-ho emphasized ‘just a little bit’. He lost his composure whenever he met Ji-seok, but he admitted what he had to admit.

Kim Jong-ho stroked his chin and said.

“That’s normal. No, with this much attention, it’s a perfect image transformation.”

A life performance. A life work.

They were good words and something every actor wanted to hear, but there was also a downside of having a fixed image and a character that influenced the next work.

Kim Jong-ho was still sometimes called Taejong, and Lee Da-jin was often called Hunter when he was young.

The reason why Lee Da-jin was not called Hunter now was probably because he had grown more than before. When they were growing teenagers, kids changed every day.

Kim Jong-ho opened his mouth as he looked at the ritual that was being prepared.

“I guess I’ll be called Im Jang-woo again when Escape comes out.”

“Me too, I guess.”

Now that they were grown up, they wouldn’t grow much anymore, and if they took care of themselves, their faces would stay the same.

Their skin or wrinkles, or minor places would change as they aged, but their faces on the screen would stay the same for quite a long time.

‘Escape will be a hit. A huge one.’

A lot of people would see it, and many times, repeatedly.

That meant that Yeon Jae-hee in Escape would be exposed to a lot of people.

Now that they were grown up. It was hard to change their image with any external changes.

Yeon Jae-hee’s image in Escape would be almost fixed. Maybe they would never get out of Yeon Jae-hee for the rest of their lives.

‘There’s no need to be afraid of having a fixed image.’

Lee Da-jin said as if making a resolution.

“I’ll do my best to act in the next work too.”

“That’s right.”

The solution was to act hard.

Kim Jong-ho smiled at the young actor’s words.

“Then let’s start the ritual!”

At that shout, Director Choi Dae-man, Assistant Director Park Jae-min, the branch manager of Plus+Korea, the representative of Movie Dream Lee Hansol, the lead actors Kim Jong-ho and Lee Da-jin.

And the staff who had been with them during the secret filming and the staff who would be filming with them from now on gathered in front of the ritual.

***

[The scene of the ritual for the Korean-style zombie movie, ‘Escape’!]

[Actor Lee Da-jin, “It will be a really fun movie.”]

[Actor Kim Jong-ho, “A movie worth looking forward to.”]

[Director Choi Dae-man, “A movie like a gift for the audience.”]

-Oh. They’re starting filming.

-But they’re doing it fast. I heard they were making a zombie movie not long ago?

=They didn’t promote it lol

=22 They must have prepared it beforehand, but we wouldn’t know if there’s no article.

-But is that a foreigner in the back? Or not?

=Yeah. Where did I see him?

=A foreigner? Where?

=Oh oh. I found him. He’s the branch manager of Plus+ Korea. No need to worry about the production cost.

=Ah. Right. Foreigners love zombie movies, right? That’s why they invested.

=22 Even if it doesn’t do well in Korea, they can upload it on Plus+. They’ll make up for the production cost.

-But don’t they usually use words like fun or gift for zombie movies?

=They usually use ‘fun’ for comedy movies

=And ‘gift’ for touching movies.

-…Hmm…Is it a tearjerker?

=ㅠㅠ Putting a tearjerker in a zombie movie? Is that possibleㅠㅠ?

=I was going to watch it, but a tearjerker is a bit…

-Are Lee Da-jin and Kim Jong-ho playing father and son?

=…Looking at Kim Jong-ho’s face, it seems possible.

-A gangster dad goes to save his son…

=That sounds plausible222

-But they really suck at promoting. They haven’t even posted the plot yet lol

-lol Look at the information they’ve released so far. It’s ridiculous haha

[Escape]

Genre: Zombie movie (Korean style;;;;)

Production company: Movie Dream (Survived after going bankrupt once/Sold the rights to Seo-jun’s Evil Spirit lol)

Investor: Plus+Korea (Probably for Plus+ upload)

Director: Choi Dae-man (Evil Spirit director/Broke even on his second work)

Special makeup team: Maybe one of the top three in Korea (or Hollywood special makeup team?<rumor)

Cast: Kim Jong-ho, Lee Da-jin (<<<The only thing to trust lol)

Plot: Not revealed lol

-…Is this the amount of information for a movie that’s going to start filming tomorrow?

-The only thing to trust is Lee Da-jin and Kim Jong-ho

=2222

=3333

Chapter 198

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 198

It was the day that Evan Block and Rachel Hill left.

They wanted to go to the airport together, but they decided to say goodbye at the accommodation because there were too many people.

Seo-jun handed over the food and gifts he had packed and hugged Evan Block and Rachel Hill tightly.

They also hugged Seo-jun, who had grown a lot, but still looked like a young child.

“See you at the filming of Shadowman 3.”

“Take care, Jun.”

“Have a safe trip. It was really nice to meet you.”

Evan Block and Rachel Hill also greeted Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye, and shook hands with Ahn Da Ho and Seo Eun-chan, who had worked hard.

“Thank you for having us.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“It’s all thanks to my nephew’s good connections.”

Everyone laughed at Seo Eun-chan’s words.

They didn’t expect that the job that started with Seo-jun’s recommendation would grow so big.

But there was still a bigger job left.

The real storm would come after the release.

They laughed as if they had given up, thinking of the phone calls and messages that would pour in.

Now that they had finished supporting the two Hollywood actors, Cocoa Entertainment’s second team planned to enjoy a long paid vacation until the release of Escape, after finishing their work at the Blue Dragon Film Awards.

Evan Block smiled and said to Seo Eun-chan, who was laughing.

“I look forward to working with you again.”

“…Yes?”

Seo Eun-chan tilted his head as he watched Evan Block and Rachel Hill get into the black-tinted car.

[Title: Evan Block, Rachel Hill look-alike foreigners in spring.]

I work part-time at a convenience store in a residential area, and I see foreigners who look like Evan Block and Rachel Hill in spring.

There are not many foreigners here, so I was surprised at first (I don’t speak English haha) but they both spoke Korean well.

I thought it might be Evan Block if only the guy spoke well, but the girl also spoke well… so I guess not.

They seemed to come for a few days, but now they don’t come anymore. Who were they?

-What were they wearing?

=ㄱㅆ: They wore baseball caps with hoodies over them, masks, and just training pants. I never saw their faces clearly.

=…Both of them?

=ㄱㅆ: Yes

=Their outfits are too… I also wear like that when I go to the convenience store in front of my house haha

=They don’t seem like 22. Maybe they are just foreigners living in that neighborhood?

-Maybe they came from another region to visit Seoul for a while? Like Airbnb or something.

=That makes sense. Foreigners all look similar haha

-What did they buy?

=ㄱㅆ: Various things. They seemed to explore the convenience store every time they came and bought different things.

The post had a crazy number of views because of the title ‘Evan Block and Rachel Hill’, but soon lost interest from people because of the ‘shabby outfits’ and ‘fluent Korean’.

A few months later, the witness account of the two Hollywood actors became buried.

***

Clunk clunk.

The car rattled on the unpaved road.

“They’re filming in this mountain?”

“Isn’t it too far?”

“They said it’s close for an outdoor set.”

Ju-hee was grumbling as she headed to the Escape set with her parents.

The navigation showed that the set was getting closer.

Ju-hee’s dad tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

“I wonder if there’s a proper parking lot here.”

“Yeah… Oh? There’s a new road from here?”

The unpaved road ended and a neatly paved road appeared.

The still vivid asphalt showed that it had not been long since the construction was done.

The car followed the clean road to the set.

The road was neat, but so was the parking lot.

The spacious and clean parking lot had several large vehicles parked, but there were still plenty of spaces left.

“It feels like we came to a tourist spot. It’s so neat and well done.”

“It feels like we need to buy tickets or something.”

If it weren’t for the staff moving their luggage, it would have felt like that. Ju-hee got out of the car and looked around, then spotted her friend under a tree avoiding the sun.

“Jae-han!”

“Ju-hee! You’re here?”

“Why are you outside instead of inside?”

“I felt a bit claustrophobic because I was nervous.”

“I see. These are my mom and dad. And this is Kang Jae-han, my classmate!”

“Nice to meet you. You’re the one who filmed with her?”

“Yes. Did you come alone?”

“No. My mom dropped me off. She had something to do, so she left right away.”

“Then do you want to go back with us later?”

Ju-hee’s mom asked, and Jae-han smiled and said.

“It’s okay. I have a friend who will give me a ride.”

“You have another friend who’s filming with you?”

“There’s Han Jinho in the next class.”

‘There’s one more person, but…’

Ju-hee smiled mischievously, imagining her parents’ surprised faces.

Without knowing their daughter’s thoughts, Ju-hee’s parents looked around the set.

They had been here a few times thanks to Ju-hee, but it always felt new.

It felt even more so because it was a zombie movie set.

Then, someone spoke to them.

“Hello. I’m Han Jinho’s mother, the child actor.”

“Oh. Hello.”

“I heard you’re in the same school as Jinho.”

Han Jinho’s mother started the conversation, and the guardians of the child actors gathered in one place.

The guardians talked about the articles about Escape, the lack of publicity, and the reliable lead actors.

“They’re here? These are the kids I filmed with for the commercial last time.”

“Nice to meet you.”

The five child actors also greeted each other.

Bang!

Then, Jae-han, Ju-hee, and Jinho’s phones rang at the same time.

The three kids’ eyes sparkled as they looked at their phones.

“They’re here!”

“Huh? Who’s here?”

It seemed that they had contacted the inside as well, as people who were inside the building started to come out to the parking lot.

When Choi Dae-man, the director, and Park Jae-min, the assistant director, came out, the staff who were moving their luggage looked at them.

The guardians made a fuss.

“Jinho! Isn’t that the director? I think I saw him in an article?”

“Ju-hee! Don’t you have to greet him?”

“Not yet.”

“Huh?”

“They’re coming!”

Everyone was looking at Choi Dae-man, the director, but there were people who were looking at the entrance of the road.

They were the people who knew who was coming now.

Then, a black car appeared at the entrance of the road.

The large car was black-tinted, and it looked expensive even at a glance.

A car that people of a certain profession often drive around.

“Isn’t that a celebrity car? Who’s coming today?”

“Yeah. It looks really expensive.”

The staff and guardians whispered as the car smoothly parked on one side of the parking lot.

Choi Dae-man and Park Jae-min headed there. Everyone looked at them with curious expressions as Choi Dae-man opened his mouth.

“I’ll introduce them first.”

The car door opened and someone showed up.

Ju-hee and Jae-han waved their hands with bright smiles at their friend’s appearance.

Jinho, who had heard about Seo-jun’s appearance yesterday, explained to the other child actors who were stunned by his appearance.

The staff who were moving the luggage, the staff who were looking out the window, Ju-hee’s parents and guardians, they all stared blankly at the actor who got out of the car.

Director Choi Dae-man opened his mouth with a smile.

“This is the lead actor of Escape, Lee Seo-jun.”

“Hello, I’m Lee Seo-jun. I look forward to working with you!”

!!!

A silent shock swept through the set.

The lead actor of Escape? Lee Seo-jun?

“…Ju-hee, did you have another lead actor?”

“Yes. There’s a role called Go Ju Won that Seo-jun is playing.”

“My daughter… you knew?”

They only blamed their daughter for hiding this fact for a brief moment.

They were still stunned by the appearance of the superstar from an unexpected place.

They finally realized what Ju-hee said and cheered silently.

If we just post that Lee Seo-jun is in this movie, it will be a hit!

Should we do that? I think one post on the cafe would be enough!

Photos. Let’s take photos too!

The guardians, who were full of enthusiasm to promote the movie, were told by Director Choi Dae-man about the promotion plan and asked to be careful not to leak anything about Seo-jun.

He also told the staff who were still in a daze.

The guardians were disappointed by Director Choi Dae-man’s words, but they were not worried about the box office at all.

Rather, they looked around with sharp eyes, afraid that someone might reveal the secret.

We have to keep it a secret. That way it will be more successful!

Yes! That’s how Spring Play became a hit.

They were well aware of the story of Spring Play, a children’s play that had Lee Da-jin in it.

And they also knew how sweet the reward was for keeping Na Jin’s secret.

I hope we can be like Lee Da-jin!

Lee Da-jin, who has been active as an acting actor since then.

The most successful actor among the child actors, except for Seo-jun.

And behind that was Spring Play, a children’s play that hid Na Jin’s secret.

Dreaming of becoming the second Lee Da-jin, the guardians zipped their mouths.

***

After the introduction, Seo-jun headed to Jae-han and Ju-hee who were waving their hands eagerly.

“You both came early?”

“I was so nervous that I woke up too early.”

“Me too. My mom and dad didn’t sleep well either.”

Seo-jun and Jae-han laughed at Ju-hee’s words.

“Oh, Jae-han. Da Ho hyung said he can drop you off at your house on his way. Do you want him to drop you off at your house?”

“Thanks. That would be nice.”

“It would have been nice if we came together too….”

“Think about the eyes that swarmed when Seo-jun got out of the car earlier. I was shaking too.”

“Really?”

“Didn’t you see? They all looked at Seo-jun only.”

Seo-jun tilted his head at Ju-hee’s words.

“Hmm. I’m always like that, so I don’t know?”

This superstar…!

Jae-han and Ju-hee poked Seo-jun’s ribs at his cheeky words.

Seo-jun and the kids burst into laughter.

The kids who saw them laughed and grabbed Jinho’s arm.

They were happy but also scared to act with Lee Seo-jun, a Hollywood actor.

“Jinho.”

“Yeah?”

“I think I forgot all my lines because I’m nervous.”

Jinho nodded sympathetically at his friend’s words. He felt the same way when he first acted with Seo-jun.

Practice was the best thing to do in this situation.

“Then shall we go practice together?”

“Can we?”

“Seo-jun, can we practice together for a bit before filming?”

“Yeah!”

Seo-jun nodded his head readily at Jinho’s words.

“Assistant director!”

Park Jae-min, who was about to follow Director Choi Dae-man into the building, turned his head at Seo-jun’s call and approached him with a curious look.

He called the assistant director! The kids’ eyes widened.

“Seo-jun, what is it?”

“Do you have an empty room where we can practice our script with my friends?”

Park Jae-min thought for a moment and told him about an empty room.

He also told him about the place where the staff were using as a lounge.

“There are snacks and drinks too. You can eat as much as you want. If you practice hard and make a good movie, we’ll be happier.”

“Thank you.”

Park Jae-min smiled warmly at Seo-jun’s thanks and looked at the kids.

The kids swallowed nervously.

“Seo-jun’s friends? There are some actors from Yeoul Arts Middle School, right?”

“Yes. I’m Yang Ju-hee!”

“Kang, Kang Jae-han!”

“Han Jinho!”

The three kids bowed at the mention of Yeoul Arts Middle School.

Seo-jun introduced the other child actors from different schools.

Park Jae-min listened to the kids’ confident introductions and opened his mouth.

“If you’re Seo-jun’s friends, your acting must be amazing… Ouch!”

“Hello! Director!”

Thanks to Director Choi Dae-man’s smash and Seo-jun’s loud greeting, the kids didn’t hear what the assistant director was about to say.

‘Nice timing! Director!’

‘Sorry. This kid has no filter.’

The director and the actor exchanged a brief eye contact and laughed.

They introduced the child actors to the director.

The kids saw Seo-jun, who was chatting with the director like a friend, as a real top actor.

“By the way, Kim Joo-kyung is also Seo-jun’s friend, right?”

“Yes. She applied for this audition but failed.”

“I guess it’s because the disaster situation is similar. She looked too much like Han Geul-im.”

Seo-jun nodded his head. He thought so too.

“But she’s good at acting, so she’ll pass other works.”

“Yes. I’ll tell her.”

“Okay. You can relax until filming.”

Director Choi Dae-man smiled at the tense child actors and dragged Park Jae-min into the building.

Park Jae-min, who was rolling his eyes, closed his mouth at the fierce look of Director Choi Dae-man.

“Be careful what you say. Seo-jun is Seo-jun, and kids are kids. Do you think actors like Seo-jun are common?”

Park Jae-min nodded his head gloomily. He was short-sighted.

“Tell the other staff to be careful too. Kids get hurt by a light word at this age. Do you want them to quit acting forever because of your words?”

“Ugh. Sorry.”

“Not to me. Be nice to the kids.”

“I got it.”

Park Jae-min nodded his head at Director Choi Dae-man’s words.

Chapter 199

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Chapter 199

Park Jae-min, the assistant director, called a nearby staff member.

“Go to the first floor and get the kids. We’re starting to shoot.”

“Yes!”

The kids meant… Lee Seo-jun!

The staff member, who had been grumbling about being sent to do trivial tasks like going to the parking lot, ran quickly to the first floor with a flushed face.

The other staff members looked enviously at his back.

The staff member ran down the stairs, skipping two or three steps at a time, and stopped in front of the door where the child actors were.

He had met many actors while working on various sets, but he had never been so excited as he was now.

He took a deep breath and knocked.

“Yes!”

A voice answered and the door opened wide.

He saw the children sitting together on chairs.

Among them, two kids were staring blankly at Seo-jun.

The staff member met Seo-jun’s eyes and stiffly replied.

“Uh, we’re starting to shoot now. I think you should go up.”

The children looked at the clock and widened their eyes.

“Seo-jun was so good at acting that we didn’t even notice the time.”

“Let’s go up quickly.”

Jae-han and Jinho took care of the two kids who were still gazing at Seo-jun, while Seo-jun and Ju-hee gathered their scripts and coats.

They looked strangely united.

The children followed the staff member to the upper floor.

The passing staff members changed their expressions to surprise when they saw Seo-jun, and the children laughed.

The two kids who had been staring at Seo-jun seemed to regain their senses and quietly admired him.

“He’s really good.”

“I know. It’s different from watching him on screen.”

They still remembered how Seo-jun’s aura changed as soon as he started practicing.

He was drinking cocoa and rehearsing his lines in the break room, but he seemed like a different person when he acted.

Amazing!

Seo-jun felt like the back of his head was being pierced by the children’s sparkling eyes, and he unconsciously rubbed it.

The children who had been smiling at the staff’s reactions gradually became nervous as they approached the set.

The lights, the big cameras, the people filling one wall.

This is the real shooting.

They stopped in front of the door with tense faces, and Choi Dae-man, the director, greeted them.

“Did you practice well?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun answered as their representative, and Choi Dae-man nodded.

“You can change your clothes and get your makeup done in the next room. They’ll give you clothes when you go in.”

“Yes!”

The children who played archery club members changed into school uniforms, while Seo-jun changed into a hospital gown.

The guardians who came up also took care of their children in the room. They couldn’t get close to them during shooting, so this was the only time they could see them.

“Don’t be nervous. Just do as you practiced. Jinho.”

“My daughter. Don’t get too excited.”

Jae-han was also contacting his mom on his phone.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho smiled warmly as they watched the children and their guardians.

“You were good from the start when I took care of you, so I couldn’t even say anything like that.”

“I was good from the beginning.”

“…Was it from William? Do you remember?”

“Hee.”

Seo-jun smiled meaningfully, and Ahn Da Ho stroked his head with a playful expression.

***

“We’ll start shooting now.”

Park Jae-min’s voice rang out.

The movement that had been preparing for shooting noisily slowly subsided.

Seo-jun leaned back on the hospital bed in a patient gown. In front of the bed, there was a paper that said [Go Ju Won/Male/14 years old].

Choi Dae-man checked Seo-jun’s image on the monitor and shouted.

“Ready, action!”

The sound of birds came from outside the window.

Go Ju Won blinked his eyes a few times at the shining sunlight.

It was already his fifth day of hospital life.

He got used to it by now. No,

“Aaah! I’m bored!”

Being quiet wasn’t his style.

The boy who had been looking out the window with a faint look disappeared, and there was a kid who tossed around on the bed with his back arched.

Then, the door of the ward opened.

“Your voice can be heard outside. The soundproofing here is not good.”

“See? He’s not Go Ju Won if he stays quiet.”

“I’m soda.”

“I’m Fanta! Pineapple flavor!”

“My allowance…”

The friends who came in without knocking looked at Go Ju Won who was wriggling on the bed and smiled brightly.

He was wearing a patient gown, but he didn’t look sick at all.

“You came? I thought I was going to die of boredom!”

The kids who were trying to check Go Ju Won’s condition with worried eyes lost their words at his appearance.

“Go Ju Won… what are you doing?”

“Yoga! Bow pose!”

“…Do you have to relate everything to archery, even yoga?”

“Crazy guy.”

The kids laughed at Han Jinho’s shaking his head.

Go Ju Won, who had been holding his body in a curve by grabbing his ankles with his arms stretched back, also burst into laughter and released his pose.

“If you’re bored, play games on your phone.”

“It got confiscated because I was stressed.”

“Go Ju Won can’t play games anyway.”

“I feel like my stomach is going to explode when I see him play.”

The kids’ laughter filled the ward. Go Ju Won laughed sincerely for the first time since he was hospitalized.

“Oh. I brought this.”

“What is it?”

He had been curious from the start. What was in the basket-like bag.

He thought it was snacks or drinks, but seeing his friends drinking from the fridge next to the bed, he thought it wasn’t.

“Ta-da!”

Kang Jae-han took out something from the basket.

Go Ju Won’s eyes slowly widened as he recognized what it was.

His pale cheeks turned red.

He unconsciously opened his mouth and smiled like a fool.

He smiled so brightly, like a person in love.

“My bow!”

What came out of the basket was the archery bag that Go Ju Won had left at the archery club.

Jae-han took out another bag and tried to say, “I brought arrows too.”

But he couldn’t open his mouth.

There was a brief silence, and Choi Dae-man shouted.

“Cut! NG!”

“…I’m sorry!”

He had just been praised, but he caused an NG.

Choi Dae-man waved his hand at the dejected Jae-han.

“No, we were all mesmerized too,

“Still…”

“If you do well in this shoot, it will be fine. And Seo-jun is…”

It was just a short acting, but it had a different impact. Seo-jun’s love that showed on the surface was terrifying. Director Choi Dae-man, who was lost in thought for a moment, opened his mouth. But Go Ju Won was also such a character.

A boy who loves archery fiercely.

“Just keep going.”

“Yes!”

After that, there were a few situations where the child actors forgot their lines because of Seo-jun’s sparkling eyes, but the shooting ended safely.

“How was it?”

“Did you get a lot of NGs? Was it hard?”

The guardians appeared with tired faces and asked the children. The shooting place was small and the door was closed, so they couldn’t see anything.

“Mom.”

“Yeah?”

“Seo-jun is really good.”

They thought he was good, but the actual shooting was more amazing.

The children who realized that nodded their heads vigorously.

He loves archery more than acting.

A boy who loves archery so much.

“Are you going to quit acting and do archery?”

The shooting was over and the tension was gone. The children chattered. If Seo-jun’s fans around the world heard their questions, they would have cried out loud.

“No. That’s just acting.”

“How can you make such an expression with acting… It’s unbelievable.”

Seo-jun laughed at the children’s questions.

This shooting didn’t require any skills.

It was just a matter of showing his love for acting.

Seeing the children think like this, he must have been quite successful.

He felt like he was recognized for his love of acting, and Seo-jun smiled contentedly.

***

The shooting of the movie ‘Escape’ went smoothly.

Sometimes they shot in outdoor locations, and sometimes they shot in indoor sets.

“I went to shoot yesterday!”

Joo-kyung said with a bright smile.

It was a scene with Joo-hee and Jae-han.

They were playing patients who passed by when the archery club members went to visit Go Ju Won’s hospital room.

“Then you’ll be shooting as a zombie soon.”

“Yeah. They said I’ll be shooting as a zombie next time!”

The children lowered their voices.

“They said it’s a Hollywood special makeup team, and when I searched it up, they were really good. Jena Trade? She’s also very famous.”

“It’s my first time doing special makeup, and I’m worried that I might touch my face without knowing it.”

“Me too. What if it tickles?”

“Can you act well?”

Seo-jun tilted his head at the children who were only worried about special makeup.

The children smiled meaningfully.

They had seen and remembered Seo-jun’s acting that made the practice room silent every time they practiced zombie acting after school.

“We learned from watching Hollywood actor Lee Seo-jun’s acting! We can do it!”

“It won’t be perfect, but still.”

“As long as you don’t feel awkward, it’ll be fine. If the actor thinks it’s weird, the viewer will feel the same way.”

The children nodded at Seo-jun’s advice.

The time of battle in Escape was getting closer.

***

The special makeup artists from Dohwa got on the bus sent by Movie Dream.

“It’s finally shooting time!”

“It’s really happening! A zombie movie.”

The special makeup artists who couldn’t hide their excitement were happy even though they were going to work.

It felt like they were going on a picnic.

“Did you see the sketch that Mirror Team gave us this time?”

“Wow. I didn’t even think there could be more improvement, but still.”

The blood and wound makeup had decreased, but the alien feeling had increased.

“It felt like they saw a real zombie and drew it. I guess Hollywood is different after all.”

Everyone nodded at Kim Sowon, the team leader’s words.

Meanwhile, the bus arrived at the shooting site.

The Dohwa team members were surprised to see a clean road in the suburbs and a parking lot with empty spaces even though there were so many cars.

“Dohwa. Are you the special makeup team? You can go to the auditorium on the first floor.”

They moved to the auditorium on the first floor following the shooting site guide map (why do they have this?).

There were people bustling around in the clean and white building. They were extras who had practiced basic movements and Bone Breaking Team. Some of them were checking their movements and routes with the martial arts director.

“All these people are playing zombies?”

They thought it would be like a picnic, but work was work.

What caught Dohwa’s attention were RIO and Stan, Mirror Team, who were preparing to do makeup for the actors in the auditorium on the first floor. They all greeted Dohwa warmly. It was convenient to have many colleagues when there was a lot of work.

Soon after, Jena Trade, who had laid out the materials for special makeup on the table, stood in front of everyone.

The special makeup artists who had learned Mirror Team’s techniques and stole their know-how with their eyes shone their eyes.

They had been together for a short time, but they would be together during the shooting. Jena Trade, who looked at the special makeup artists softly, opened her mouth.

“Let’s get started.”

***

Hospital lobby.

Zombies were running wild. Cameras were shooting here and there, and blue screens were set up for CG work.

In that reality and fantasy, there were zombies that stood out among the planned routes.

The camera of the shooting director, who moved freely unlike the other fixed cameras, moved according to Director Choi Dae-man’s gesture.

The zombies that made strange noises moved in school uniforms or patient clothes.

They were not fast and violent like adult actors.

They were not bizarre like Bone Breaking Team.

But they had an atmosphere that captured the eyes.

It looked like they were imitating ‘real zombies’ that they had seen somewhere.

‘There is a difference between drawing an elephant after seeing it and drawing it after hearing its description. And…’

He thought of the ‘zombie’ that was in the inner part of the laboratory during the private shooting.

It seemed similar to that too. Director Choi Dae-man was not the only one who thought so.

The shooting director and Park Jae-min also looked surprised. But there was a difference.

‘The sun and fireflies?’

But fireflies also sparkled to people.

The extras who saw the child actors stiffened their bodies without knowing it. It was a good thing that it was a rehearsal, since they were scared by zombies that had nothing to be afraid of.

“Let’s do it again!”

Preparing for the rehearsal, Director Choi Dae-man looked at Jena Trade and Mirror Team who ran to the child actors who were smiling and looking at each other’s makeup.

The staff in charge of Mirror Team, who could interpret, ran to Director Choi Dae-man.

“They said they modified the special makeup of the child actors. What should we do?”

Jena Trade explained in English to the bewildered actors and looked this way.

Director Choi Dae-man nodded his head and agreed.

It seemed like they had found fireflies too.

“Let’s take a break for a while!”

During the break, Director Choi Dae-man replayed the rehearsal video. The acting of the actors on the screen was impressive.

“…They are amazing.”

He didn’t know why he thought ‘Seo-jun’s friends are different.

Chapter 200

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Chapter 200

The bow used in archery competitions is called a recurve bow.

A recurve bow is assembled by connecting the handle, or the ‘riser’, to the upper and lower limbs, and then attaching the bowstring to the ends of the limbs.

After that, the ‘stabilizer’ that extends vertically from the riser and other devices are added to complete the archery bow that can be seen in the Olympics.

“Ta-da!”

Wow!

The staff who were preparing for the shooting clapped their hands at the sight of Seo-jun, who had assembled the archery bow in an instant.

“It’s easier than I thought.”

“What about disassembly?”

“That too.”

Seo-jun removed the various devices, took off the bowstring, and detached the two limbs from the riser. He laid them out as they were at first.

Another round of applause followed.

It was a simple assembly for Seo-jun and the archery players, but it was amazing for those who saw it for the first time.

Director Choi Dae-man and assistant director Park Jae-min entered the noisy hospital room. Today, there were two shootings: one in the morning with only Seo-jun and one in the afternoon with extras. They came to talk to him in advance, as some of the extra actors might arrive during the shooting.

“Don’t bother our actor.”

“Hey. You too, director.”

The staff looked around nervously. Director Choi Dae-man spoke to Seo-jun, who was laughing.

“Today will be a bit busy, can you do well?”

“Don’t worry.”

The most reliable actor smiled brightly.

***

“Ready, action!”

A scream was heard.

Sitting on the bed, playing with the archery bow that his friends had brought him, assembling and disassembling it repeatedly, Go Ju Won blinked his eyes.

He looked at the half-open window.

The blue sky. The high sun. And screams.

There was noise coming from outside.

It was a loud and desperate scream that could be heard all the way here.

“Did an accident happen?”

But he didn’t hear any ambulance sirens. Was it a drunkard who was causing trouble? Go Ju Won got off the bed, put on his slippers, and walked toward the window. The screams continued without stopping.

Men’s. Women’s.

Children’s. Elderly’s.

Screams.

He felt that something bad was happening outside.

Go Ju Won tried to put his trembling hand on the window frame, but missed.

He clenched his fist a few times and then put his hand on the window frame properly. His head felt tense with anxiety. He took a deep breath and leaned his body on the window frame and looked out.

Go Ju Won’s gaze went down.

His face, which had been mixed with anxiety and curiosity, slowly turned pale and ashen.

His eyelids trembled at the sight that he couldn’t believe even after seeing it. His fingers on the window frame were also shaking with nervousness.

Go Ju Won’s pupils shook violently.

“…!”

He seemed to have forgotten to scream as he collapsed on the floor with his legs giving out.

“Cut, OK!”

At Director Choi Dae-man’s voice, the staff’s vision widened. It felt like their ears had been unplugged after being muffled.

But the silence was not broken. While Seo-jun and Director Choi Dae-man were monitoring, one of the staff muttered.

“Did we turn off the scream sound?”

“Yeah.”

They didn’t turn on the sound of people screaming, as it would distract Seo-jun.

Men’s. Women’s.

Children’s. Elderly’s.

Screams.

“Why do I feel like I heard them?”

The staff rubbed their arms with goosebumps.

***

A wooden bat weighs about 900g.

A bow weighs about 3kg.

Seo-jun always got an OK with one shot, but he couldn’t expect the same from the actors who acted with him.

Besides, they had to shoot from full shots to bust shots, close-up shots, and from different angles. They didn’t know how many times they had to repeat the shooting.

Then, of course, Seo-jun’s arms and shoulders would be strained by swinging the bow like a bat.

“So this is the fake bow made by the art team.”

The bow that Assistant Director Park Jae-min handed him was light. It felt awkwardly lighter than the real bow. Seo-jun felt the weight of it as he touched it here and there.

“Is it made of wood? It feels like a wooden bat.”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure what material it is… But it’s light, right? And it looks exactly like that bow. The art team put a lot of effort into making it.”

Seo-jun nodded his head as he held the lower limb of the fake bow and swung it around like a bat.

“I have to be careful when I act.”

“What do you mean?”

“It doesn’t have any weight, so I might swing it too hard. Then it won’t look like a real bow.”

It would ruin the immersion of the audience. Seo-jun pulled the string of the fake bow and realized that it was different from the real bow in terms of tension.

He plucked the string of the fake bow a few times and thought to himself.

‘But I think I can shoot it if I do well…’

The elves’ bows were not made of wood either.

Of course, the wood that was used to make the bows was not ordinary wood, but something special.

Park Jae-min understood what Seo-jun meant.

“Oh. Like those fake boxes that often appear in dramas?”

“Yes.”

They say they are heavy in their lines, but the viewers can see that the actors lift them easily and that they bounce lightly when they fall to the ground.

They realize that there is nothing inside them.

‘That’s what props are like.’

“But we’ll use the real bow for important scenes, so don’t you think it’ll be fine?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded his head, but his eyes stayed on the fake bow.

He had to think about how to act with it. He wanted to make it look like a real bow even in scenes where he used a fake one.

***

“Ready, action!”

It’s a zombie.

Go Ju Won barely calmed down and crouched in front of the window, peeking out with his head sticking out.

He looked here and there and looked again,

“It’s really a zombie!”

He was about to scream, but he was startled by his own voice and covered his mouth with his hand.

It was hard to tell if zombies existed in reality, but when he saw people biting each other and turning into the same creatures, he was sure they were zombies.

Go Ju Won, who didn’t know what to do, looked around the room and found a bow on the bed.

A weapon!

It was a bow that could be disassembled into several parts, but it looked more reliable than ever. Go Ju Won quickly grabbed the handle of the bow, the riser, that was placed on the bed. It was a small part, but it gave him some peace of mind.

He sighed and looked around.

A single room.

“Maybe I’ll be fine here?”

There was water in the bathroom, snacks and bread from his friends, and fruits from his parents.

“If I lock the door and block it with furniture…”

As he looked for furniture to block the door, Go Ju Won realized something.

“My friends!”

He had friends who were laughing and chatting with him until a while ago.

Friends who had been close since he joined the archery club. Friends who cared for him and visited him in the hospital.

Go Ju Won bit his lip nervously and lifted his head.

They hadn’t left the ward for long, so maybe he could find them if he went out now.

Maybe they could wait together in a safe place until someone came to rescue them.

His black eyes, which were shaking with anxiety, burned like flames.

Go Ju Won quickly put on his clothes.

He layered thin clothes and wore a tracksuit over them, as if he had seen a zombie movie.

Go Ju Won’s preparation didn’t end there. He laid out the equipment in his archery bag on the bed.

He put on a finger tab on his hand and a chest guard on his chest. He wore an arm guard on his arm and another spare arm guard on the opposite arm.

With smooth movements like flowing water, Go Ju Won assembled his bow.

He attached wings to the top and bottom of the riser that would be the handle and connected strings to the ends of the wings. Then he assembled other equipment such as a sight. He stopped his hand.

“What if zombies come close… I might have to swing it.”

He hesitated for a moment and removed the stabilizer.

The stabilizer was a device that prevented shaking and balanced the bow when shooting, but it was longer than the lower wing.

There was a long rod attached to the handle of the bow below the lower wing, like an ‘ㅏ’ vertically,

“If I swing it with this, I’ll be in more danger.”

He swung his bow in the air a few times and looked at his bow with a regretful expression.

“It’ll bend like this… If I get out of here, I’ll have to ask mom to buy me a new one.”

He thought of the new product that came out recently and tried to calm his trembling heart.

He also took the arrows that his friends had brought him.

He put some of them in a quiver so he could take them out right away, and put the rest in his bag.

To avoid interference with his movement, he slung the quiver over his shoulder instead of attaching it to his thigh.

“Did I get everything? Oh, where’s my phone?”

He remembered his confiscated phone and bit his lip. He shook his head.

“It’s okay. There are phones outside too.”

Maybe someone else who was still fine had contacted the police.

“Let’s go get them.”

Go Ju Won, who was fully prepared, tried to calm his pounding heart and stood in front of the closed ward door.

***

While Seo-jun was filming, one by one, child actors from the archery club appeared and headed to the special makeup room on the first floor.

The extras who would appear with them also followed the staff’s guidance to the special makeup room.

Jena Trade’s face brightened at the appearance of child actors.

The child actors rolled their eyes at the sight of Hollywood special makeup team leader who was spitting out English diligently.

The staff who was in charge of interpretation smiled and said.

“Come this way.”

“Yes!”

A few moments later, the special makeup that the Mirror team had worked hard on was finished.

The zombie with a torn arm by Jena Trade looked more realistic and alien.

Jena Trade and the Mirror team smiled with satisfaction.

“It’s scary no matter how many times I see it.”

“I think I’m getting used to it now.”

The extras who were waiting for their makeup next to them shook their heads as they looked at the child actors who were huddled together after their makeup.

They knew how well those kids had acted as zombies in the previous filming.

Then, the end of the corridor became noisy.

There were screams of astonishment and admiration, strange shrieks, and voices trembling with excitement.

The extras’ eyes were drawn to the source of the noise.

The child actors knew who it was and giggled.

It was Lee Seo-jun.

He appeared with an aura, wearing a tracksuit and various things like an archery player.

Everyone unconsciously opened their mouths wide.

“Hello!”

Lee Seo-jun greeted them and Park Jae-min, the assistant director who came with him (they didn’t even know he was there), explained something.

The extras’ mouths opened even wider. Park Jae-min didn’t forget to warn them to keep the secret and left with Lee Seo-jun.

The kids who were watching Lee Seo-jun with a smile tapped their phones.

Joo-kyung: Where are you?

-Seo-jun: I just came to say hello. They said everyone would be surprised and couldn’t film if they knew before filming started. I still have filming left.

-Ju-Hee: Good luck with filming!

-Seo-jun: Your makeup was well done. You looked like real zombies!

-Jae-han: There were a lot of people, how did you find us?

-Seo-jun: You’re wearing school uniformsㅋㅋ

-Jae-han: Ah!

The first floor special makeup room became lively with Lee Seo-jun’s appearance.

“Crazy. Is Lee Seo-jun really the lead actor?!”

“It’s unbelievable that there’s a Hollywood special makeup team, but Lee Seo-jun is the lead? This movie will be a hit.”

“Did Lee Seo-jun bring the Hollywood team?”

“It seems like it.”

The extras were excited by the unbelievable news.

Even those who came for part-time jobs, and those who really loved acting, showed signs of excitement by the unexpected appearance of the actor.

A star who could turn people’s hearts upside down with just his presence.

“He’s my friend after all.”

The kids smiled proudly as they watched the adults who were excited.

Chapter 201

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 201

“Ready, action!”

Grrrr.

First floor of the hospital.

Under the flickering lights, zombies were swarming.

The extras who were acting as zombies moved according to the rehearsed routes, but the child actors outshone them.

Some extras learned from the child actors’ performances, while others gave up early.

That was how they continued their zombie acting.

‘But how long do we have to wander around?’

There was no sign of Seo-jun Lee, who was hiding behind the wall.

There should have been some movement or sound, but only the camera and the director who had to capture Seo-jun and the zombies in one angle were visible.

‘Don’t we have to find our friends by looking at Seo-jun?’

To do that, he had to stick his head out from behind the wall, so there was no way that the zombies’ eyes wouldn’t see the tip of Seo-jun’s head.

‘I wanted to see Seo-jun’s acting…’

The child actors were doing so well, how good would Seo-jun be!

Everyone was curious and stared intently at the corner.

Of course, they couldn’t keep looking at that place because they had planned routes and movements.

They turned their heads, but their eyes glanced at the corner as much as possible.

As Seo-jun’s figure didn’t show up at all, everyone wondered while doing their best zombie acting, when,

“Cut! OK!”

…What?

At the director Choi Dae-man’s words, the zombies who were wandering around stopped moving as if they were broken.

What did he say? Cut? OK?

Not only the child actors, but also the zombies were bewildered when Seo-jun and the filming crew came out from the narrow corner as if nothing was wrong.

Director Choi Dae-man and Seo-jun’s bright faces confirmed that they really got an OK sign.

As everyone blinked their eyes with questions, Director Choi Dae-man and Seo-jun took their seats in front of the monitor for monitoring.

Seo-jun’s friends, who were child actors, also headed towards the monitor.

The large monitor prepared by CEO Lee Hansol allowed even the extras behind them to see a little bit.

On the screen.

Go Ju Won found his friends who had turned into zombies among the zombies.

He looked at his friends with a sad and unbelievable expression several times.

Why couldn’t we see Seo-jun’s face? Go Ju Won peeked out his head to look at his friends as if it was strange.

Ju-hee blinked her eyes a few times as she saw the shiny back of his head sticking out from behind the wall and opened her mouth.

“But why couldn’t we see Seo-jun?”

The other kids nodded their heads in agreement. Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders and answered.

“I avoided them.”

“…What?”

“I can’t be caught by zombies. So I avoided them all.”

The people twisted their heads at Seo-jun’s answer. Jae-han asked.

“How?”

“I can roughly tell the range of their vision by looking at their faces.”

“…Huh?”

“It was easier than I thought because the routes and movements were fixed.”

Unlike Seo-jun who spoke lightly as if it was really easy, the kids, the extras next to them, and the staff were speechless.

‘So you mean, you avoided them all by looking at their faces?’

Seo-jun smiled brightly as if he was satisfied with his acting.

Jinho nodded his head as if he understood something as he remembered a scene that came to his mind.

“Oh, I see.”

“What?”

“Working Man.”

Working Man?

The people who were blinking their eyes and recalling their memories had exclamation marks over their heads.

Ah!

They all remembered Seo-jun’s figure solving missions by looking at the camera lens angle. It seemed that he had developed that amazing skill even more.

***

As more scenes with Seo-jun and zombies appeared, more people knew about Seo-jun’s appearance.

The actors were surprised and warned them to keep it a secret.

“Good job everyone!”

After the filming ended, Director Choi Dae-man scratched his head.

Assistant Director Park Jae-min and CEO Lee Hansol also looked at the busy staff, special makeup team, actors, child actors’ guardians with subtle expressions.

“…To be honest, I didn’t expect them to keep it up so well.”

It had been three weeks since they started filming.

The three people who thought that rumors about Seo-jun would spread like wildfire within a week after they started filming laughed bitterly at the quiet Korea for three weeks.

The people who knew about the promotion plan wondered when the internet would explode and how much it would turn upside down.

They surfed the internet several times a day with anticipation.

Would it be search sites first? Or movie boards? Or communities? Maybe fan cafes? They waited for the delivery with excitement.

When it passed a week and reached three weeks, the Escape staff realized.

Maybe this… won’t explode.

One of the staff, CEO Lee Hansol, sighed.

“We underestimated it.”

Director Choi Dae-man agreed.

“The target is a Hollywood actor, and the investor is a big one that even brought a Hollywood special makeup team. They probably thought it would be a big deal if they said something wrong.”

They didn’t expect that it wouldn’t even spread as a rumor. The promotion plan that was going smoothly stopped for a while.

“But we can’t keep it quiet forever. It might be quiet until the release at this rate.”

The three people who agreed with CEO Lee Hansol’s words gathered people.

***

A noisy pork belly restaurant.

Kim Suhan and his four friends gathered in one place.

Kim Suhan, who was listening to his friends’ daily stories, exclaimed.

“You filmed a movie?”

“Yeah. Just an extra.”

Somehow, Kim Suhan chose his career in the film industry, and his four friends who helped him make independent films without money or people became familiar with this field.

They did part-time jobs as film staff or extras while attending college, and two of them decided to be extras again this time.

A movie?

People at the next table unconsciously listened to the topic that was a little different from their daily lives.

Kim Suhan, who was still interested in the film industry even in the army, asked.

“A zombie movie, right? Escape?”

“Yeah. A zombie role.”

The word Escape made the voices of the people near the table lower. Some people searched for Escape on their phones.

“A zombie movie sounds interesting. I heard from Director Park Jung-woo that they even brought a Hollywood special makeup team. I guess they have a lot of production costs.”

The friends laughed at Kim Suhan’s bright face, who found his path in a theater he went to without any thoughts.

He would never have dreamed of it when he was a high school student.

Hollywood?!

The rumor was true, according to the search results.

Not only the table next to them, but also the people at the other tables started to close their mouths.

Their eyes were on their phones, and their ears were on Kim Suhan’s table.

“When I first saw the extra notice, I thought it was just an ordinary movie.”

“They didn’t promote the movie much. I thought it would be buried, but then Kim Jong-ho and Lee Da-jin were cast…”

“They’re good actors.”

The customers who were secretly listening nodded their heads.

“Did you do well in filming? Can you recognize your face as a zombie?”

“It’s a group scene, so it’s hard to tell.”

“That’s a shame. Oh, then is the Hollywood special makeup team story true? You might have seen them when you did the zombie makeup.”

Kim Suhan, who asked without thinking, and the two friends who had worked hard as zombie extras looked at each other.

They remembered Director Choi Dae-man’s voice asking them to spread rumors about Seo-jun’s appearance.

“This is a secret…”

Secret!

The owner of the pork belly restaurant turned down the volume of the TV with a remote control.

The pork belly that was sizzling on the grill was lifted up again.

The people who were talking, the office workers who were clinking their glasses with loud noises, and the part-timers who were running around stopped making noises.

The pork belly restaurant that was silent seemed completely cut off from the noisy outside.

Kim Suhan and his two friends were surprised by the situation, but the two friends didn’t care and continued to talk. Rather, they welcomed this situation.

They spat out the lines they had prepared as if they were acting.

There was no camera, but it was fun.

“The Hollywood special makeup team story is true.”

“Mirror. They’re the top in Hollywood. Jena Trade’s team. Seo-jun was there.”

“Really?!”

If it weren’t for Kim Suhan who jumped up at Seo-jun’s name, the customers would have screamed.

The customer, the owner, and the part-timer all looked at Kim Suhan’s table with blank expressions.

‘Why does Seo-jun come up here?’

What? What? Seo-jun? Did he say Seo-jun?

Some people searched for Seo-jun’s whereabouts on their phones, and some doubted if they were lying.

They were stunned by the appearance of an unexpected actor.

It was a powerful name that made them forget that they were listening secretly.

The one who made the pork belly restaurant silent again was Kim Suhan, who was excited by his favorite actor’s appearance.

“Why did Seo-jun go there? What was he doing?”

Kim Suhan’s momentum that seemed to jump over the table made his friend smile and say.

“Seo-jun seemed to be filming a movie.”

Filming a movie!

Those four words made the pork belly restaurant explode silently.

Not only the pork belly restaurant, but also stories like that spread everywhere.

***

[(Notice) Let’s gather information about Escape. (Rumors ok)]

There’s a Korean zombie movie coming out… I have to write this notice because there’s not enough information about Escape.

Please write anything you know! (_ _) bow

-The background seems to be a hospital.

=Thanks!

-They recruited child actors. According to the comment above, they need patients of various ages.

=Thank you!

-What about the Hollywood special makeup team story?

=Plus+ Korea invested, so they might have brought them.

-A resident near the filming location (my grandma lol) saw Seo-jun!

-One of the child actors is a Yeoul Elementary School first grader.

=The comment above and above. Isn’t he just visiting his friend?

=222 Seems like it

-I heard a witness story that he saw Seo-jun at an archery range.

=Why do you keep linking Escape and Seo-jun? I wish Seo-jun was in Escape too, but there’s no way!!

=222 Seo-jun must be busy tomorrow because of Blue Dragon Film Awards?

=No no no no It keeps popping up!!!

=Wow wow wow. Really!!!

=There are so many witness stories!?!?

=What’s going on!?!

[My friend works as an extra and saw Seo-jun!]

[I heard from my friend who went to work as an extra for a zombie movie! He said Seo-jun was there!]

[I heard from an insider at a pork belly restaurant. He said Seo-jun was filming.]

[My friend works at a food truck and saw Seo-jun at the filming site!]

[I know someone who works at a film production company, and he said he saw Seo-jun at the company!]

The day before Blue Dragon Film Awards.

The internet was flooded with Seo-jun witness stories like a downpour.

Chapter 202

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 202

Tomorrow was the day of the Blue Dragon Film Awards.

The term Blue Dragon Film Festival was more commonly used, but it was actually an awards ceremony, not a festival.

“Ugh. I wrote film festival again.”

A junior reporter corrected the article title from film festival to film awards and uploaded it again. He chuckled at the articles that were coming up.

“It’s Lee Seo-jun everywhere.”

“Well, he starred in a movie that surpassed ten million viewers and did well overseas. He even sparked interest in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. And both of the leads are nominated for best actor awards. It would be weirder if it was quiet.”

Most of the entertainment reporters in Korea had Lee Seo-jun’s name in their article titles.

The comments were also positive.

It was rare to have articles that had high views and mild comments.

Before writing the next article, the junior reporter browsed the internet for a while and stopped his hand.

“…Huh?”

He saw a post that claimed to have witnessed something.

He read the post and the comments.

There was a link.

He clicked on it and saw another witness account. He read the comments.

There was a link.

He clicked on it and saw another witness…

He quickly searched for Lee Seo-jun’s name on a large online community.

He only took a few breaths and blinked a few times, but there were posts pouring in like a huge wave.

And, those posts were all different.

That meant that many people had seen Lee Seo-jun, and that it was close to the truth.

The senior reporter looked at his junior who was staring at the monitor screen intently.

His eyes seemed to reflect the monitor screen.

The senior reporter glanced at his junior’s monitor.

Meanwhile, some reporters had already seen those posts and wrote articles with exclusive tags.

Other reporters followed suit.

“Hey, hey, hey! Lee Seo-jun! Write an article about Lee Seo-jun!”

The senior reporter shouted.

“Lee Seo-jun is filming his next movie!”

***

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, filming his next work?]

[Lee Seo-jun spotted at the set of Escape!]

[Hollywood special makeup team! They really came to Korea!]

[Let’s find out more about Escape!]

[The protagonists of Escape, Kim Jong-ho, Lee Da-jin, and Lee Seo-jun?]

A rainstorm became a stream, a stream became a river, and a river became an ocean.

He had expected things to change overnight, but he didn’t expect such a good effect.

The second team of Cocoa Entertainment, who came to work with determination, was busy answering the phone calls that poured in.

The production company of Escape, Movie Dream, was in the same situation.

Lee Hanson politely declined the requests for investment.

Unnecessary investors would only cause conflicts of opinions.

He hung up the phone and it rang again.

Lee Hanson smiled.

“I wonder if the Blue Dragon Film Awards will be okay.”

The organizers of the Blue Dragon Film Awards were fine.

SBC, which would broadcast the awards ceremony live, was also ecstatic.

Even though it was an annual event, some people watched it and some people didn’t.

Nowadays, there were replays and edited videos available online, and articles would pop up in minutes about who won what.

But this year was different.

Lee Seo-jun, who had become a Hollywood star and made his name known worldwide, was nominated for an award.

Lee Ji-seok, who had co-starred with him and gave a brilliant performance in the same movie, was also nominated.

More people than usual were interested in it, and now there was this topic.

“I can hear the sound of ratings going up… Hey! Check the stage carefully! It’ll be a mess if someone falls!”

If it was Lee Seo-jun or Lee Ji-seok who fell, it would be an even bigger storm.

The staff and officials who were more nervous than usual prepared the stage diligently.

***

[Click on the red carpet! Lee Seo-jun, Lee Ji-seok, Park Woon-yeol, and director Woo Jeong-han!]

[The end of part one of the Blue Dragon Film Awards! The movie Rebellion! Wins awards for lighting, music, screenplay, editing, art direction, and technical achievement!]

[The movie Rebellion wins six categories so far!]

-Seo-jun looks good in a suit! He grew up so much! He looks bigger than when he played Rebellion.

=Maybe it’s because he’s still growing?

=Grow more!

-As expected of Rebellion. They won all the categories they were nominated for.

=But they deserved it.

-Who’s performing for the part two celebration?

The first part of the Blue Dragon Film Awards ended and the second part began.

The ratings didn’t decrease, but increased instead.

SBC was also smiling broadly.

The producers who knew the reason for the ratings showed Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok on camera as the viewers wanted.

Whenever the camera captured them, Seo-jun and Ji-seok smiled brightly and waved their hands.

Park Woon-yeol, who won the best supporting actor award, was on stage, and it was time to present the best director award.

“The winner of this year’s best director award is!”

Seo-jun quickly raised both hands to clap.

So far, Rebellion had won a total of seven awards, including Park Woon-yeol’s best supporting actor award.

The only ones left were best film, best director, and best actor.

Seo-jun looked at the man sitting next to him.

Director Woo Jeong-han was nervously squeezing his hand.

“Director, go ahead!”

“You have to get the trophy!”

The two lead actors urged him on. Director Woo Jeong-han got up awkwardly and headed for the stage.

It was not his first time winning the Blue Dragon Film Awards for best director. But he looked as nervous as if it was his first time, or even more so.

Seo-jun, Ji-seok, and Park Woon-yeol didn’t find his awkwardness strange.

Ten years.

It was a story that he had kept in his heart for ten years.

It was a work that he might have had to bury for a few more years if there was no actor named Lee Seo-jun.

He thought it would be understandable that he was so nervous.

Director Woo Jeong-han clenched and unclenched his fist as he walked to the stage.

He had been happy since the day Rebellion was released, no, since the day he started filming with Lee Seo-jun.

He was really happy that his dream of ten years had come true.

‘So I thought I would be fine…’

His hands and feet trembled as if he was a rookie director receiving his first award.

Director Woo Jeong-han barely took the trophy with his shaking hand and stood in front of the microphone.

He saw the actors and staff of Rebellion clapping hard for him in his eyes. He felt a bit more relaxed.

“I’m really happy to be here. Rebellion is like a child to me, a movie that I cherished for ten years. It feels like my child is receiving an award. That’s why I might be more nervous. I sincerely thank everyone who worked hard for Rebellion, the staff, the actors, and everyone who supported us. Especially… actor Lee Seo-jun.”

Director Woo Jeong-han’s eyes met with Seo-jun’s, who was sitting next to him.

Seo-jun, who was ready to clap hard when the speech was over, blinked.

“If it wasn’t for actor Lee Seo-jun, this movie could have been delayed longer or never made at all.”

Director Woo Jeong-han smiled softly and said.

“Thank you for acting as Danjong for your audition. Seo-jun.”

There was laughter everywhere. Seo-jun and Ji-seok also laughed heartily.

The beginning of Rebellion, a movie that surpassed ten million viewers, did well overseas, and spread the story of the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty and Danjong, was a child’s audition video.

The people and viewers who knew that fact laughed.

-That’s rightㅋㅋ The audition video of Yeoulㅋㅋ

-There was a fuss about making it into a movie.

-I was one of themㅎ I still remember the title.

-Danjongㅋㅋ

The laughter-filled best director award ended and it was time for the best actor award.

“I’ll introduce the nominees for the best actor award!”

Five boxes appeared on the big screen.

Three actors were introduced and only Seo-jun and Ji-seok were left. Ji-seok’s face appeared on the screen first.

And soon after, Seo-jun’s face appeared.

It seemed like the two boxes were connected because they were sitting next to each other, and everyone laughed.

If they tilted the camera slightly, Seo-jun would appear on Ji-seok’s camera and Ji-seok would appear on Seo-jun’s camera.

“The winner of the Blue Dragon Film Awards best actor award is!”

The MC shouted loudly.

-Lee Seo-jun, Lee Seo-jun!

-Danjong, Danjong!!

The viewers who were watching the Blue Dragon Film Awards also waited for the announcement with anticipation.

There was silence in the awards hall, and the MC paused for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Lee Seo-jun from Rebellion!”

Applause erupted.

The reporters wrote down their articles, and Seo-jun got up from his seat with congratulations from Ji-seok, Park Woon-yeol, and director Woo Jeong-han.

The camera lens captured Seo-jun smiling brightly as he headed for the stage.

Seo-jun held the trophy and bouquet and stood in front of the microphone.

“Hello. I’m Lee Seo-jun. I didn’t know that things would get this big because of that audition video.”

There was laughter. Seo-jun continued with a smile.

“It may have started with me, but without the help of many people, we couldn’t have made such a great movie as Rebellion.

I sincerely thank everyone who worked hard for Rebellion!”

Seo-jun bowed deeply and applause poured out.

***

[Actor Lee Seo-jun wins best actor award at Blue Dragon Film Awards!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun wins his first best actor award in Korea!]

[The movie Rebellion wins best film award! ‘The coolest movie of the year!’]

[The movie Rebellion wins 10 categories: best film, best director, best actor, best supporting actor, best lighting, best music, best screenplay, best editing, best art direction, and best technical achievement!]

-Congratulations on your first Korean best actor award!

-Seo-jun! Congratulations!

-As expected of Rebellion! Amazing. They won all 10!!

And an hour later, Cocoa Entertainment released a press release.

The entertainment reporters who were waiting anxiously for the news after the Blue Dragon Film Awards quickly received the press release and wrote their articles.

[Cocoa Entertainment announces ‘Actor Lee Seo-jun stars as the lead in Escape’!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun confirms his next work!]

[Escape, Kim Jong-ho, Lee Da-jin, and Lee Seo-jun!!]

[Let’s find out more about Lee Seo-jun’s next work! Escape!]

-He’s really doing his next work.

-I was going to skip it because it looked lame, but if Seo-jun is in it, the immersion will be the best.

-Won’t Seo-jun be unrecognizable as a zombie?

=But in other works, he feels more like a ‘character’ than ‘Seo-jun’… I don’t know if I should say that I can’t recognize him or that I canㅎ

=222 He’s too good at actingㅎ

-But zombie acting is hard to do well, so maybe I can recognize him?

=I wonder. What does it feel like to do zombie acting well? Cruelty? Disgust?

=I don’t know… But Seo-jun will do well

=222 Seo-jun will do well in anything

-Omg. Evan Block and Rachel Hill congratulated him.

=He won an award at a Korean ceremony and Hollywood actors congratulated him;;;

=As expected of Seo-jun…!

[Evan Block]

[Jun! Congratulations on winning the best actor award at the Blue Dragon Film Awards!]

[Rachel Hill]

[I couldn’t watch it live, but I’m watching the clips! Congratulations on your award!]

The news of Seo-jun’s award was spread overseas by the two Hollywood stars’ SNS posts.

And the articles containing the news of the award were translated by Seo-jun’s overseas fans.

-Blue Dragon Film Awards? What’s that?

=A Korean film awards ceremony. He won for Rebellion.

-Oh. Congratulations. Jun! 🙂

-I heard he’s filming his next work. It was written with the awards article.

=A Korean movie… A historical drama?

=Nope. A zombie movie!

Chapter 203

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 203

The day after the Blue Dragon Film Awards.

There was no shooting for Escape today, as a courtesy to the actors who attended the ceremony.

Seo-jun, who had been replying to congratulatory messages from his acquaintances since last night until this morning, settled in one corner of the living room and did not budge.

The trophies made his heart flutter no matter how many times he looked at them.

From left to right, he looked at the trophies in order and smiled with a hehe at his favorite one.

It was not the Golden Globe trophy or the Oscar trophy that had caused a worldwide sensation.

[WTV Film Festival / Notable Actor Award]

This red popcorn box-shaped trophy, which Seo-jun received for the first time in his life, was the superstar Seo-jun’s favorite trophy.

‘No, it’s the first award I’ve ever received in all my lives.’

Seo-jun looked at the WTV Film Festival trophy and recalled the memories of that time, then smiled with a hehe at the Blue Dragon Film Award trophy he had just received.

The new one was also very nice.

“Mom. Doesn’t this look like a gold medal?”

“It does. It looks just like an Olympic gold medal.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun smiled softly at Seo-jun, who couldn’t take his eyes off the cabinet with the new trophy. Seo-jun, who was looking at the Blue Dragon Film Award trophy with a proud face, remembered something.

“Dad. Should I post a picture on the fan cafe? And say thank you.”

“Shall we? I’ll take a picture for you.”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun took out the Blue Dragon Film Award for Best Actor from the cabinet and smiled brightly at the camera.

***

A picture of Seo-jun holding a trophy was posted on Seo-jun’s fan cafe [Sprout]. Seo-jun’s bright smile and the golden trophy sparkled.

[Thank you for cheering for me! I won an award!]

Along with the fans’ comments, Seo-jun’s picture quickly became an article.

Seo-jun’s Best Actor Award and his next work.

Among the endless articles about Seo-jun, it achieved a lot of views.

[Actor Seo-jun, “I won a Blue Dragon Award!”]

-Blue Dragon won a Blue Dragon Award!

=That’s right. He was Blue Dragon!

-I see the cabinet behind him. It’s so dazzlingㅎ

=WTV Film Festival, KBC Newcomer Award, SBC Entertainment Awardㅎㅎ

=And here are the surprising Golden Globe Award and Oscar Awardㅎㅎ

=Now he has a Blue Dragon Award too!

-He only needs Daesang and Baeksang Arts Awards now.

=1 hit 3 pitchesㅎ

=1 stone 3 birdsㅋ

=But there’s another Seo-jun movie next year?

-……The film industry must be having a hard time. He’s just a natural disaster. The damage is huge and there’s no way to stop it.

=They have to rethink their release datesㅎ

=But it’s better to avoid him. I’m only going to watch Escapeㅎ

=222 I’m going to jump on Nth round.

=333 I’ll watch it diligently.

-How come Escape didn’t do any promotion? They just need ‘Seo-jun’ and the reporters will do it for them.

=ㄴㄴ It seems like surprising us was their promotion planㅎ

=I agree with the above comment. I was really shocked.

They had no idea that there was still more to be surprised about.

***

The day of Escape shooting.

Seo-jun headed to the parking lot when he heard that Kim Jong-ho had arrived.

“Uncle. Hello!”

Kim Jong-ho smiled with a sly grin as soon as he saw Seo-jun getting out of his car.

Then he went back into his car and came out with a big bouquet of flowers.

“Seo-jun. Congratulations on your award.”

Seo-jun hugged the big bouquet that Kim Jong-ho gave him and smiled brightly.

“Thank you. Uncle. Is this for me?”

“I couldn’t give it to you at the ceremony. I bought a bigger one than Ji-seok’s.”

Kim Jong-ho smiled contentedly at Seo-jun’s happy face and shook his head unknowingly at the name that came out of his mouth.

Unlike Seo-jun, who was pleasing in every way, he was a guy who irritated him in every way.

Seo-jun laughed at Kim Jong-ho and Ji-seok’s competition and said,

“What did Ji-seok hyung say?”

“He bragged so much about winning 10 awards. I almost got earwax from listening to him. He didn’t even win one himself.”

Kim Jong-ho rubbed his ear with his pinky finger and Seo-jun burst into laughter.

Kim Jong-ho lifted one corner of his mouth and said,

“Let’s win one next year too. A Blue Dragon Award.”

“Yes! Let’s work hard and win an award. Uncle Kim Jong-ho!”

The two actors, who were known for their acting skills, casually uttered the words that other filmmakers would have begged them to tone down.

***

The rehearsal began.

The shooting was planned to take place simultaneously in two places.

Seo-jun and Director Choi Dae-man were on the third floor corridor, and Kim Jong-ho, Assistant Director Park Jae-min, and Director of Photography were on the ground.

Zombies appear and Detective Im Jang-woo evacuates civilians.

Go Ju Won on the third floor sees them.

He shoots an arrow at a zombie that attacks a civilian behind Im Jang-woo.

“Of course, we’ll do CG work here. You just have to act as if you’re pulling the bowstring.”

Seo-jun nodded at Director Choi Dae-man’s words.

The rehearsal started and the two actors’ performances flowed like water.

Seo-jun pulling the bowstring tightly after spotting a zombie.

The sharp arrow did not leave the bow, and the rehearsal ended.

Director Choi Dae-man was lost in thought.

‘It would be nice if I could include the release scene as well, but…’

He was not very satisfied with just pretending here.

He had practiced archery a lot, and he also had the ability of an elf.

Seo-jun said to Director Choi Dae-man, who looked regretful.

“I think I can shoot that far. Director.”

Seo-jun’s words made Director Choi Dae-man and the staff widen their eyes.

“That far?”

“Where Uncle Kim Jong-ho is.”

Director Choi Dae-man and the staff looked out the window, outside the building where Kim Jong-ho was standing.

Kim Jong-ho, who was talking to Assistant Director Park Jae-min and Director of Photography, looked up at the third floor when he felt their gaze.

Seo-jun waved his hand and Kim Jong-ho responded.

“You can shoot from here to there?”

If Seo-jun could shoot an arrow from here to there, it would make a good scene. It didn’t matter if the direction was similar.

“Are you pushing yourself?”

Director Choi Dae-man looked at Seo-jun once, then at Ahn Da Ho behind him.

Ahn Da Ho, who knew Seo-jun’s archery skills, smiled softly.

“It’s okay. It’s not that far!”

“….Not that far?”

“When I practice archery, I shoot at 70 meters. This is closer than that.”

70 meters.

Director Choi Dae-man, who was estimating the distance between the third floor and the ground, clenched his chin.

He was leaning toward one side.

“But archery is done on flat ground. Can you shoot downward?”

“Yes!”

For an elf who hunted on trees, it was a piece of cake. Seo-jun felt a vibe that he would get permission and his eyes sparkled.

The director couldn’t refuse without even trying when the actor wanted to do it. Director Choi Dae-man, who was fully convinced, nodded his head.

“Let’s practice first.”

“Yes!”

Director Choi Dae-man contacted Park Jae-min below. He explained the situation and asked him to prepare.

“Jae-min, do you have a mannequin? The one without makeup. Put it in the zombie’s position.”

The mannequin was specially prepared by the movie dream production company.

It had a softer surface than a normal mannequin, so it didn’t break easily, and it was easy to shape because the joints could move.

When the real fight started, this mannequin would become a real zombie with special makeup, and it would take all the attacks from the main actors.

-Okay. I got it.

Assistant director Park Jae-min headed to the first floor warehouse.

Kim Jong-ho and the cinematographer, who heard him, smiled slightly and called the people around them.

In the meantime, Park Jae-min took out a mannequin and placed it well in the position where the zombie would attack Kim Jong-ho.

Then he retreated into the building, rattling in case he got hit by a blind arrow.

Seo-jun stood in the position where Go Ju Won would stand.

In front of Seo-jun, a large window was wide open, and a mannequin was standing in the middle of the parking lot. That was Seo-jun’s target.

He’s going to hit that from here?

Seo-jun’s story spread quickly.

The staff and the extras were interested in the exciting story and looked out the window one by one.

Of course, they didn’t go outside.

“Shall I shoot, director?”

“Go ahead.”

Seo-jun lifted his bow.

With a real bow that he used for archery practice, unlike a fake bow, it was heavy.

A heavy bow and a distant target.

The elf’s senses engraved in Seo-jun’s body danced.

The target is one place.

Seo-jun’s eyes became fierce.

[(Line)The intermediate archery skill of an elf archer is activated.]

The special makeup artists also gathered to watch the unexpected event.

Seo-jun’s face was reflected in Jena Trade’s eyes.

It felt like a fresh forest scent was flowing from somewhere.

When everyone was quietly looking at Seo-jun, Ahn Da Ho noticed something strange.

He looked different from when he was at the archery range. What was different? He thought as if he was looking for a wrong picture, then he realized.

‘Oh, stabilizer!’

There was no device to balance the bow. Then the bow would shake, and the arrow might fly off somewhere because of the vibration.

“Seo…”

Before he could call out Seo-jun!, an arrow flew out.

The arrow flew without a single shake and hit the mannequin with a thud!

“Wow! He really hit it?!”

“The arrow is so fast!”

Applause erupted. Park Jae-min, who was checking the situation, went out again.

The mannequin fell back on the asphalt-paved floor.

He thought it was amazing that he hit the mannequin from above, and Park Jae-min checked the mannequin and swallowed his saliva. Surprisingly,

“Crazy…”

“What’s wrong?”

Park Jae-min, who had to tell where he hit it, was quiet, and director Choi Dae-man asked.

“He hit it…”

“What?”

“He hit its left eye!”

Left eye.

Director Choi Dae-man and Kim Jong-ho’s eyes widened. And so did the staff who remembered the script.

In the script, Go Ju Won hits the zombie’s left eye at this time.

People looked at Seo-jun with surprised faces. Seo-jun smiled sheepishly.

When everyone applauded his amazing skill, Ahn Da Ho knew alone that he didn’t have ‘stabilizer’, which other players used for his perfect archery skill. He thought for a moment and opened his mouth.

“Seo-jun.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s keep archery as a hobby and continue acting. Got it?”

“? Yes.”

He tilted his head at the obvious statement and soon nodded with a smile.

***

“This way!”

Detective Im Jang-woo shouted softly.

The stunned couple followed Im Jang-woo with tears in their eyes.

‘What’s going on here!’

The situation had changed strangely while he was trying to leave after threatening the gangster and his gang who were hospitalized here.

The cars that were trying to leave the hospital hit, crashed, and smoked each other.

Im Jang-woo sensed something strange and tried to intervene and clear the traffic, but traffic was not the problem.

“Rrrrrr!!”

“Ahh!”

The woman screamed and Im Jang-woo kicked the zombie that was rushing at him.

The man quickly supported the woman.

He had been hitting, pushing, and knocking down the zombies that showed their teeth. He was running out of strength.

“Let’s go inside the building quickly. I can’t guarantee that there won’t be any monsters inside the building, but…”

“Yes…”

He was busy taking care of the ordinary couple and didn’t notice the zombie approaching from behind.

Maybe it was because this patient had a serious wound on his neck and came to the hospital.

The zombie approached making a growling sound as if scratching his throat.

When he was about to bite Im Jang-woo’s shoulder with his mouth wide open,

“Mister! Behind you!”

Im Jang-woo was surprised by the sudden voice of a child and understood the words. He tried to cover the couple and fall to the ground, when something flew past him.

Thud!

There was a chilling sound of something being pierced.

“Cut! OK!”

Everyone moved at director Choi Dae-man’s shout.

Seo-jun, who shot the arrow, lowered his long bow, and people applauded Seo-jun’s cool bow skill.

Among the noisy people, the ordinary couple and Im Jang-woo didn’t move.

They were still in the same position as they were dodging the zombies.

No one paid attention to those three people.

Park Jae-min, who went to check the zombie that fell back after being hit by an arrow, marveled.

He hit it in the left eye again.

“He’s really good. Seo-jun.”

“Seo-jun is good at sports.”

Im Jang-woo, no, Kim Jong-ho said with a smile.

Im Jang-woo is two.

Im Jang-woo who still didn’t move and Kim Jong-ho who was smiling.

The staff moved for the next shoot.

Im Jang-woo and the ordinary couple who were still were lifted by the staff’s hands and moved.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho, who were watching from the third floor, looked curiously.

Before Seo-jun shot the arrow, Im Jang-woo and the ordinary couple turned into mannequins with special makeup.

Even if Seo-jun shot well, they didn’t know what kind of accident would happen.

“It really looked like Uncle Jong-ho. Doesn’t it look like a figure? A bit big though.”

“Actors make figures these days too.”

Seo-jun also had some offers. ‘Lee Seo-jun’ was good, and so were Jin Natra, Seongnyeong Daegun, werewolf, and Gray Vainy.

He refused because he didn’t like the quality.

Ahn Da Ho thought for a moment while Seo-jun was distracted, and then the next shoot proceeded.

Chapter 204

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Chapter 204

Kim Suhan’s friend, who was disguised as a zombie, lay on the floor.

His padded jacket was torn to shreds, and his ribs and arm were exposed to the bone from being bitten by zombies.

A piece of an archery arrow was stuck above his closed left eyelid, making it look like it had pierced through.

He felt a chill even looking at himself.

He was playing the role of a zombie hit by Go Ju Won’s arrow.

‘I should be easy to find.’

Unlike his other friends who were probably swarming somewhere else, he had been chosen for this role because of his height.

He wondered if he could brag about this to Kim Suhan and his friends. He chuckled as a zombie.

“Action!”

He stopped laughing and hardened his expression at the sound of the assistant director’s voice.

Even if it was a part-time job, it was still a job. It was time for him to become a brain-dead zombie.

“Ready, action!”

Clack!

As soon as he heard the sound, Im Jang-woo looked behind him.

There was a zombie right behind him.

He broke out in a cold sweat.

His heart sank and his head felt dizzy, but he had no time to lose his focus because of the horde of zombies rushing at him.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

Im Jang-woo and the couple had learned that zombies were sensitive to sound while they were escaping.

The sound of car engines, the screams of people.

Whenever there was a loud noise, zombies always flocked to it.

‘Mister, behind you!’

It was a loud voice that could be heard even from here.

There must have been zombies inside the hospital as well.

The kid wouldn’t be safe either.

Im Jang-woo worried about the kid as he swung down the broom he was holding at the zombie.

If they hit their brain, they stop moving. Aiming for the zombie’s head was Im Jang-woo’s instinctive attack, remembering the zombie that looked really dead after not moving at all.

Im Jang-woo pushed aside his worry for the kid and ran with the couple to where there were fewer zombies.

Im Jang-woo and the couple fought off the zombies and ran to the entrance.

Im Jang-woo looked around cautiously and glanced at the third floor where the kid had been standing.

The kid who shot the arrow seemed to know that too and hid himself, not showing up.

Im Jang-woo and the couple quickly went inside.

And they quickly found a place where they were blocked from all sides.

The three people who entered the nearest room on the first floor realized that there were no zombies there. The couple collapsed on the floor exhausted, but Im Jang-woo tightened his slackened nerves again.

“I’ll go up to the third floor and check. You two stay here.”

He didn’t know how long they could last in an office without a bathroom or water.

Im Jang-woo swallowed his words.

The couple also realized what he meant and looked anxious.

It was the day his wife was discharged from the hospital.

They didn’t expect this misfortune to happen. Would it have been better if they had left the hospital sooner?

If it wasn’t for the detective they met in the parking lot, they would have been turned into monsters without a fight.

“Detective!”

The couple hesitated as they grabbed onto him. Im Jang-woo, who had no gun and was just a slightly stronger ordinary person in front of zombies, gave them infinite trust because of his ‘detective’ title.

“That kid might be too late already. So…”

Im Jang-woo’s expression turned cold as he looked at the couple who might have already become another monster.

He had to hold out until his fellow detectives and police officers arrived, but that didn’t mean he would stay in a corner by himself. He didn’t care if the couple didn’t help him. But he didn’t want them to stop his actions either. Besides, the kid had saved them.

The couple lowered their heads at Im Jang-woo’s cold gaze.

If it wasn’t for the kid, Im Jang-woo would have been killed, and then they would have died too.

“Please stay quiet and hide here. I’ll go up and see.”

“Where are you going?”

“To the third floor…?”

A cheerful voice of a kid interrupted Im Jang-woo’s serious expression.

The three adults were surprised and looked behind them. They didn’t know when he had opened the door and came in, but they saw him locking the door.

“Mister. Why aren’t you locking the door? They’ll come in soon.”

They were speechless at his natural appearance. He looked like he had been living here for days. The adults just listened to what he said.

“It’s better to go up to a ward than here. The wards have separate bathrooms. We’ll have to find food separately though.”

Im Jang-woo, who had regained his senses a bit, looked at the kid.

The kid, no, the middle schooler had an archery bow on his shoulder, and a black bag and a quiver with arrows on the other shoulder.

He looked out of place in his thick clothes that seemed to be layered, and the equipment that archers only wore on TV, compared to the three adults in normal clothes.

The only thing they had in common was that they all had blood on their clothes.

Im Jang-woo, who was only blinking his eyes, opened his mouth.

“How did you get here from the third floor?”

That was what he was most curious about.

It might have been easier to move around in the hospital with many rooms than outside with nowhere to hide, but it was the same that they didn’t know when a zombie would pop out of any room.

The kid smiled brightly at his question. Ahem.

He coughed and took off the bag with the remaining arrows from his shoulder and unzipped it.

And he opened it wide.

“I have 12 cell phones from God!”

There were colorful cell phones there.

A transparent case cell phone, a character case cell phone, a caseless cell phone…

At a glance, they didn’t look like they belonged to the kid.

The surprising thing was that they were all wrapped in white bandages.

Theft?

Im Jang-woo shook his head reflexively. His occupational disease popped up from time to time.

“There are 13?”

His wife jabbed him in the ribs at her husband’s silly remark.

The kid smiled broadly.

“One is mine. It’s inconvenient to carry it around when I shoot arrows. I might drop it while running away.”

“Well, okay. But why the cell phones?”

“Shut your mouth.”

The husband closed his mouth at his wife’s fierce glare.

She was worried that he might have heard what they said earlier.

He must have been out of his mind then.

To say that to such a young kid… The wife’s face shadowed and the husband also looked down as if he felt guilty.

“I’ll start now. Go up the stairs right away.”

The kid held up his cell phone.

The cell phones that were confiscated along with his own cell phone in the nurse’s office.

And the cell phones that had lost their owners and were lying in the hallway.

He only found the ones that weren’t locked and registered their phone numbers.

The kid looked at the name that popped up on his contacts list.

[Yellow pickled radish case]

That’s why the name was like that.

All the cell phones in the shelter had been modified by Go Ju Won.

He blocked the speaker and set the ringtone volume to medium. He didn’t want to attract any zombies from afar by setting it to maximum.

He also turned off all the phones, locked or not, in case they rang at a bad time.

He only turned them on right before using them. He felt sorry for the owners of the phones and the callers.

The cell phone with a yellow pickle case.

Go Ju Won remembered the missed calls piled up on it and clenched and unclenched his fist a few times before pressing the call button.

Zombies and blood.

An apocalyptic scene where no human voice could be heard.

-Baby lion, tu-tu-ru-tu-tu! Cute, tu-tu-ru-tu-tu! In the jungle, tu-tu-ru-tu-tu! Baby lion!

The cheerful nursery rhyme filled the bloody hallway.

His wife, who had been hospitalized for obstetrics, crumbled her face.

Her husband bit his lip hard.

Go Ju Won hardened his face for the first time since meeting the adults.

He had turned on and off the music quickly, so he didn’t pay attention to what song it was.

The only one who didn’t flinch at the nursery rhyme was detective Im Jang-woo, who had faced all kinds of cruel and unforgivable crimes.

“Kid. Let’s go up.”

“…Yes.”

“Let’s go up.”

The zombies rushed toward the cell phone and Im Jang-woo led the way up the stairs.

The couple and Go Ju Won followed him.

Behind them, they heard a ringtone that children would like.

That cell phone would never ring again, crushed under the zombies’ feet.

Second floor.

Im Jang-woo gestured and Go Ju Won turned on his phone and handed it to him.

Im Jang-woo threw it with all his strength.

-I can’t leave you behind. I turn around once more

This time, a ballad.

“How many floors do we have to go?”

“Fourth floor.”

Everyone nodded at Go Ju Won’s words. They thought it was easier than expected to avoid the zombies and moved their steps.

They climbed up to the third floor and reached the fourth floor. Im Jang-woo gestured again and Go Ju Won smiled.

“It’s okay. I have something prepared here.”

“What?”

Go Ju Won showed him his phone.

[In front of the right stairs on the fourth floor]

Go Ju Won pressed a button and music sounded from the opposite side of the stairs they were on.

The zombies, sensitive to sound, screamed and ran toward where the sound came from.

Im Jang-woo and the couple looked at the phone with a blank expression. It wasn’t a call button this time.

“What is that?”

“A Bluetooth speaker.”

It was a music play button.

They heard Red Crown’s song from afar, and the adults opened their mouths wide.

“Cut! OK!”

Director Choi Dae-man’s voice echoed.

Kim Jong-ho, who had relaxed his tension, nodded his head repeatedly.

“A Bluetooth speaker… The speaker company must be mad. But Seo-jun, isn’t that song by Red Crown? They’re in the same agency as Seo-jun.”

Kim Jong-ho asked casually, still listening to the song from the polar bear speaker, but Seo-jun was startled and pressed the pause button. The music stopped, and the staff who were preparing for the next shoot moved their steps with regretful faces.

“Haha. It just happened to be like that.”

Seo-jun smiled awkwardly and said.

‘If it affected my acting, I would have refused.’

Director Choi Dae-man, who liked any popular song, told Seo-jun to choose one of the songs in the top 10 of a music site.

He got a call from Seo Eun-chan who heard about it.

It wasn’t strange for a middle school student like Go Ju Won to listen to Red Crown’s popular songs, Seo Eun-chan said, and Seo-jun nodded slightly.

Midnight -Red Crown

He was going to choose number one anyway, but he felt uneasy as if he had done something for Eun-chan’s uncle.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

Kim Jong-ho searched for a music site with a smile.

He would have chosen Red Crown’s song too, even if he was Seo-jun.

Midnight -Red Crown

Red Crown’s Midnight was still number one.

“But do they need any promotion when they’re number one for four weeks?”

“Right? I thought so too, but my uncle didn’t seem to think so.”

Seo-jun tilted his head as he remembered Eun-chan’s uncle who laughed over the phone.

Chapter 205

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Chapter 205

“I want to go with you.”

Im Jang-woo frowned at Go Ju Won’s words.

It was what he heard as soon as he said he would go out instead of Go Ju Won.

“Aren’t you scared?”

“Mister. You know you would have died without me, right?”

“Yeah. I’m grateful for that.”

Go Ju Won smiled slyly. But Im Jang-woo was not done talking.

“That doesn’t mean I’m taking you with me.”

In this situation, where even adults were trembling with fear, how could this kid, who was barely a middle schooler, look so calm and composed? Im Jang-woo’s detective instincts kicked in since Go Ju Won showed up on the first floor.

‘Is he escaping from reality, having a hero complex at his age, or maybe…’

“This is not a game and you could die.”

A shadow crossed Go Ju Won’s face.

He didn’t think of this situation as a game, but he wondered if he was escaping from reality right now.

He had seen his friends turn into zombies, he couldn’t go back to his hospital room, and the adults he met barely relied on him, a middle schooler.

Then he fought zombies and saw Im Jang-woo, who was protecting people.

When he finally found an adult he could lean on, Go Ju Won’s heart, which had been trying to lighten the mood by enduring the fear that was eating away at his body and mind, was slightly exposed.

“…I know that.”

Go Ju Won tightened his grip on the bow. It was his own bow, but it felt like a memento of his friends.

“But if I stay here quietly, I’ll really…”

He felt like he would die.

If he didn’t do anything, if he just sat here quietly, he remembered the faces of his friends who had turned into zombies.

He heard their voices blaming him for not coming to save them sooner.

He knew they weren’t like that, but Go Ju Won’s heart was weak.

‘It’s because I was sick. It’s because they came to visit me.’

He felt like his chest was burning with guilt, but Go Ju Won smiled and talked more brightly.

The brighter he appeared on the outside, the more his heart sank.

He couldn’t help but save the people who were still alive and looked like his friends because of the guilt and pressure that piled up every second.

“So I want to go too.”

Only then did Go Ju Won’s expression look like that of a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder. He looked fine on the outside, but rotting inside. Im Jang-woo knew well what the end of such people was like. He knew what they left unsaid.

Go Ju Won’s face, driven by the pressure to do something, made Im Jang-woo sigh.

“…Ju Won.”

“Or I’ll go by myself.”

Im Jang-woo groaned and rubbed his forehead at Go Ju Won’s declaration.

He had heard how this kid had wandered around the hospital by himself and saved two people before meeting Im Jang-woo.

Im Jang-woo looked at one side of the room.

He saw people sitting on mattresses that were laid on the floor from the hospital beds.

They had opened the door for him when Go Ju Won texted them earlier, but they seemed to be very scared by the situation.

The couple who had barely found a safe place and relaxed were no different.

The only ones who wanted to move were Im Jang-woo, whose detective instincts had surfaced, and Go Ju Won, who was escaping from reality because of guilt.

In this hopeless reality, Im Jang-woo touched his throbbing forehead and looked at the bow that Go Ju Won was holding.

This middle schooler who only seemed strong had a very useful weapon.

‘It’s not possible…’

But the problem was that this weapon could only be used by Go Ju Won.

If he took Go Ju Won with him, there was a higher chance of saving more people and returning safely than if Im Jang-woo moved alone. But then this kid would be in danger.

‘But this guy said he would go anyway.’

Leaving behind the adults who couldn’t rely on him and going by himself. Driven by guilt and pressure, he would wander around the hospital.

Im Jang-woo gave up after struggling for a while.

“…You have to listen to me well.”

“Yes!”

Go Ju Won smiled brightly.

“Cut, OK!”

Director Choi Dae-man shouted loudly.

***

Today’s shooting was about Go Ju Won and Im Jang-woo leaving their room to save people and get food, and meeting Yeon Jae-hee at the garden cafe on the third floor of the main building.

O.W.C Hospital was shaped like a ‘D’, with the upper building being the main building, the side building being the east wing, and the lower building being the center.

Go Ju Won was hospitalized on the seventh floor of the center, and the place they were using as a shelter now was a room on the fourth floor of the east wing.

They had to save their precious phones and arrows that they couldn’t get more of, so most of the fights were close combat.

Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho, as well as the stuntmen zombies and the action director, coordinated their moves.

“You have to hit this spot exactly.”

“Yes.”

The action director pointed to the arm of a stuntman who was playing a zombie.

Seo-jun nodded seriously.

“Then move this way, dodge the zombie that runs at you here.”

The action director showed them the final test himself.

Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho, who had been practicing at the action school whenever they had time, remembered the order and were confident that they could do well. But they still focused on the action director’s movements as if they were engraving them in their brains.

This kind of action scene was something that could hurt someone if anyone made a mistake.

Fortunately, it was not a long take that had to be filmed in one go, but a scene that was filmed one cut at a time, so it wasn’t that hard.

“Then we’ll start shooting!”

They finished rehearsing perfectly and moved on to the actual shooting.

“Ready, action!”

“Let’s only use our phones when we really need them. We might not be able to get more.”

“Yeah. And the arrows too.”

Im Jang-woo carried Go Ju Won’s arrow bag on his shoulder.

The quiver with ten arrows and the bow were still held by Go Ju Won.

Im Jang-woo, who had broken the legs of the hospital beds and made a few weapons, walked ahead and tapped his jumper pocket with two phones that had no power left.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Music flowed from the Bluetooth speaker. Zombies came rushing in, and they left the fourth floor, which was no different from a safe zone. Go Ju Won looked at his call log a while ago.

Third floor.

[Phone without case]

He pressed the call button and heard a faint sound. Relief showed on Go Ju Won and Im Jang-woo’s faces.

‘We saved one phone with this.’

The two looked at each other and went down.

They didn’t go outside right away. They went into a nearby room and looked out the window for zombies.

They looked for the best place to throw their phone.

Im Jang-woo took out one phone from his bag. Go Ju Won found the number on his phone.

Im Jang-woo opened the window and threw it with all his might.

The bell rang, and zombies near the stairs between the main building and the east wing roared and ran out.

The side door of the main building on the first floor where zombies had left.

It was now a place that even Go Ju Won didn’t know.

Im Jang-woo held a steel pipe, and Go Ju Won gripped a bow.

And a few minutes later.

Im Jang-woo understood why Go Ju Won had turned off his phone.

“What a shitty timing…!”

He muttered lowly as he swung his steel pipe at the zombie’s temple. With a thud, the zombie fell to the ground.

He didn’t utter the hopeful phrase ‘Did I kill it?’ He didn’t have time for that.

He kicked away the charging zombie and hit another one with the steel pipe in his left hand.

They had barely entered the first floor of the main building when a phone rang inside.

Someone outside the hospital must have called someone inside. He understood their worried feelings, but it was a problem that it happened to be Im Jang-woo and Go Ju Won’s side.

The small bell sound attracted the zombies, and they saw two fresh prey in their sight.

And this was the situation now.

Go Ju Won killed four zombies with his bow. It was an impressive rapid fire, but it was not enough to take care of the remaining zombies. A fight between six zombies and two humans ensued.

“Ju Won… Are you… okay?”

“No… I’m not…!”

They had to attack the zombies between their words, so it was hard to finish a sentence.

As they had discussed in the ward, Im Jang-woo and Go Ju Won leaned against the wall and fought off the zombies.

Im Jang-woo dealt with the close-range zombies, and Go Ju Won shot the long-range ones with his bow.

Unlike Im Jang-woo’s steel pipe that only stopped the zombies’ movements for a moment, Go Ju Won’s arrows pierced through their brains and made them fall completely.

But it was not easy for Go Ju Won to shoot arrows.

He needed a proper distance to pull the string.

He had no choice but to hit the zombies with the lower wing of his bow and shoot them when he had some space.

Im Jang-woo and Go Ju Won’s eyes were tense.

Their movements became faster.

They had to run away before more zombies came hearing the noise.

“Duck!”

Go Ju Won reflexively crouched down and Im Jang-woo smashed the zombie’s cheekbone with all his strength.

He felt goosebumps at the sound of breaking bones, but he didn’t have time to react.

Go Ju Won quickly retreated to where there were no zombies and took out an arrow from his quiver and shot it right away.

It was a swift attack, like water flowing.

They killed ten zombies in total, and there were only two exhausted humans standing in the hallway. Im Jang-woo took a breath and opened his mouth.

“…Let’s collect the arrows first, then hide and rest.”

“…Okay.”

The arrows were precious but irreplaceable.

The detective and the middle schooler picked up the arrows one by one, like farmers harvesting in autumn.

“Cut, OK!”

Director Choi Dae-man’s voice rang out.

The staff moved busily to shoot close-up shots.

The zombies hit by Seo-jun’s arrows had their right or left eyes pierced through.

Some of them had arrows stuck deep inside their heads, as if they were shot from close range with great force.

They couldn’t help but admire his accurate shots.

“Seo-jun, shouldn’t you really do archery?”

“Did you see him shooting earlier? He shot one and then another right away. Wow. I’ve never seen anything like that. I thought I was watching a movie!”

“…This is a movie.”

“No, I mean it looked like an edited scene!”

The staff who were amazed by Seo-jun’s archery skills disappeared with the zombie mannequins, and the extras who played zombies appeared.

They were going to shoot more facial expressions than actions for close-up shots.

“Ready, action!”

The camera with a large lens zoomed in on Seo-jun, Kim Jong-ho, and the zombies’ faces.

The staff and the camera director moved around in front of the zombies and actors, so it was less cool than shooting full shots of zombies running towards them.

It felt like reality intruded on the desperate apocalypse.

Zombies and staff. A blood-stained steel pipe and shining lights.

It was an incongruous and light atmosphere, but there was one place that was different.

Go Ju Won and Im Jang-woo on the monitor.

Even though the camera lens was right in front of them, Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho acted as if they had met real zombies, just like when they shot full shots.

Every drop of sweat, every glance, every movement of their eyebrows seemed sincere.

The zombies also seemed immersed in their acting, ignoring the camera and opening their mouths wide with a kyaah! sound.

“…They’re really amazing.”

The eyes of the extras and staff didn’t leave Go Ju Won on the monitor.

Chapter 206

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Chapter 206

“Seo-jun!”

“Da-jin!”

Lee Da-jin ran towards Seo-jun with a wide smile and grabbed his hand.

They spun around in circles. Seo-jun also smiled brightly and spun with him.

The staff members smiled warmly at the sight of the two actors spinning around in the middle of the parking lot.

They all knew about the children’s play Spring connection.

“Okay, let’s go over there and finish. The parking lot is dangerous.”

Lee Da-jin’s manager gently pushed Seo-jun and Lee Da-jin inside.

He knew well that he couldn’t stop the high-spirited Lee Da-jin.

It was better to let him enjoy it enough for everyone’s sake.

Seo-jun laughed at the subtle resignation.

“The Hollywood makeup team and our makeup team are really amazing. I watched a lot of zombie movies and prepared myself, but I was still surprised by the zombie makeup.”

“Me too. The wounds looked so real, didn’t they?”

“Yeah, yeah. The ones with bones showing were kind of gross.”

Seo-jun admired the makeup that was comparable to the real zombies he remembered.

They chatted about various things until Seo-jun said.

“Hyung, the fans sent us a coffee truck. Do you want some coffee? There are cookies and bread too.”

There was enough for even the extras.

“Coffee truck!”

Lee Da-jin’s eyes lit up.

He had eaten breakfast, but he had separate stomachs for rice, bread, and dessert.

“I wonder what they have. There must be orange juice.”

“Hahaha.”

Seo-jun’s favorite juice.

It was the drink that Seo-jun’s fans paid most attention to when they sent him a coffee truck or a food truck.

Seo-jun led Lee Da-jin to the coffee truck.

As if coming from the coffee truck, everyone passing by seemed to have a cup of orange juice with a hint of orange.

“It’s popular. Orange juice. Well, it must be more delicious than other drinks because they care more.”

“They make it fresh here.”

“Orange juice?”

“Yes. Da Ho hyung told me. They have juicers too.”

Seo-jun showed Lee Da-jin a picture of the coffee truck sent by Ahn Da Ho.

There were three juicers in the most visible place.

Lee Da-jin tilted her head.

The brands of the three juicers were all different.

“Why are the brands different?”

“Well…”

Seo-jun smiled and explained to Lee Da-jin.

When [Sprout] posted an announcement for sponsoring a coffee truck, someone suggested to squeeze fresh orange juice for Seo-jun, his favorite drink.

Everyone agreed unanimously and bought oranges with high sugar content.

They also bought or rented juicers to send to the coffee truck that didn’t have any.

Somehow, several juicer companies heard about it and offered to sponsor them, but the fans refused.

-It would be an advertisement if they take pictures.

-Yeah, they might use Seo-jun’s name and picture for advertising purposes.

They didn’t know when ‘the juicer from Seo-jun’s fan cafe’ would turn into ‘the juicer that Seo-jun uses’. But they couldn’t not buy juicers either, so they chose three companies with the best reviews.

Lee Da-jin chuckled.

As expected, the superstar and his fans were different.

“They refused that? Seo-jun and his fans are really amazing.”

“Right? They are all awesome.”

Seo-jun grinned proudly.

“Well, my fans are more amazing though.”

At Lee Da-jin’s remark, Seo-jun stared at him intently.

Lee Da-jin didn’t back down either.

It seemed like sparks were flying somewhere.

Soon, the two actors who loved their fans, Seo-jun and Lee Da-jin, started to brag about their fans.

“They donate every time it’s my birthday. Aren’t my fans so kind?”

“Me too! They donated and volunteered on my birthday.”

“They also watch my movies a lot. And they write detailed reviews that I like.”

“My movies too! They watch them a lot and post many reviews!”

“They also send me a lot of letters! I have this much piled up at my agency and home!”

“Me too! They all write by hand!”

“They come from all over the world!”

“That…”

Lee Da-jin was speechless at Seo-jun’s words.

“That doesn’t count! You have to exclude the number of people!”

“Each one of them is a precious fan. How can I exclude them?”

Lee Da-jin lost his words again at his reasonable argument.

“You, you!”

Kim Jong-ho, who arrived late, frowned at Seo-jun who was smug and Lee Da-jin who was arguing with him.

A moment later.

After hearing the story from his two junior actors, Kim Jong-ho laughed and joined the fan bragging.

“My fans have been active for over 20 years.”

At his words, Lee Da-jin raised both hands in defeat.

Seo-jun hesitated for a moment. Should he count from his mukbang days or from when his fan cafe was created? But Seo-jun was only 14 years old.

He couldn’t beat 20 years no matter what.

‘What about the fans from my first life… No, that wouldn’t work.’

He didn’t even know if he had any fans, let alone explain that.

So Seo-jun also raised both hands.

“Hahaha.”

The winner of the fan bragging was Kim Jong-ho.

***

“Ready, action!”

The office was full of papers.

It seemed to be used as a conference room, with a large table and papers scattered all over it.

The three people who decided to take a break there were filling their stomachs with fruits and bread from the cafe kitchen and talking.

The man and the child were discussing whether to go back or look around more, while also reading the papers piled up on the table, looking through the drawers and the room for weapons or anything useful.

The man who joined this team by chance was sitting on a chair, trying to calm his racing heart.

Yeon Jae-hee.

A graduate student who had been working part-time for two months.

Je had an important experiment today, so his work hours were delayed. He was enjoying the sun at the rooftop cafe on the third floor, drinking coffee and eating cake.

When they couldn’t find anything useful, Lim Jang-woo and Go Ju Won also sat down.

They talked about various things until Yeon Jae-hee brought up his guess.

Lim Jang-woo scratched his head after hearing it.

“So you’re saying these are zombies.”

Yeon Jae-hee and Go Ju Won nodded repeatedly.

“And the research center that studies this zombie virus is the one behind here? The life extension research?”

This time, only Yeon Jae-hee nodded.

Lim Jang-woo crossed his arms. His whole body was saying ‘I don’t believe it’.

“You want me to believe that?”

“What are you going to do if you don’t believe it? Detective, have you ever seen a disease where you become ‘that’ when you get bitten by ‘that’?”

“No.”

But to say it’s zombies… Lim Jang-woo spat out as if sighing.

“That’s too much like a movie.”

“Sometimes reality is worse than movies.”

Yeon Jae-hee blinked at Go Ju Won’s words.

It was not something that a middle schooler would say.

Lim Jang-woo didn’t know Go Ju Won’s situation, but he knew that he had a lot of stories bottled up inside.

He looked at Go Ju Won with a bitter expression for a moment, then turned his head to Yeon Jae-hee.

“So you want to go to the research center?”

“Yes. I think there might be a solution there.”

Yeon Jae-hee tried to recall.

He didn’t know the details because it was not her major, but he had been sorting and reading the documents for two months.

He was confident in English.

He thought he had misinterpreted the words that seemed to come out of a movie, but now that the situation was like this, the answer was clear.

Life extension research using those things that were dead but moving.

And Professor Maria was researching a drug to stop them.

“I think the drug that the professor was researching was to stop the zombies. And there were several prototypes of the drug. Don’t you think one of them might help with this situation?”

“What if it doesn’t help?”

“Then we can’t do anything about it. But… if we can at least get the professor’s research data, it would be a great help. We can share it with the people outside the hospital, right?”

Lim Jang-woo didn’t know anything about science, but he liked Yeon Jae-hee’s opinion. If they just take the data, the smart guys will figure it out.

“Good. Where is the lab with the prototype and the data?”

As if he was going alone, Lim Jang-woo asked and Yeon Jae-hee quickly said.

“I’ll go too. It’ll be easier for you, detective, if I guide you.”

Yeon Jae-hee was scared.

But he was more scared of the fact that O.W.C, who should know about this situation, had no reaction. Maybe, really, he was the only one who had a clue about this situation.

If there was no solution, the zombie situation would spread more and more and her family and friends might be in danger too. He had to stop it as soon as possible.

“Besides, I didn’t mean to, but I think I’m involved in this accident too. If I take some documents, they’ll at least give me some credit.”

Yeon Jae-hee said with a forced smile.

Lim Jang-woo nodded heavily at that.

“I want to go too.”

A young voice made Lim Jang-woo and Yeon Jae-hee turn their heads. They expected Go Ju Won to say that, but Lim Jang-woo looked determined not to let him go this time.

“You…”

He was about to say no when he swallowed his words.

Go Ju Won was crying. He couldn’t make any sound and his clothes were stained with blood. He wiped his face with his palm that was wounded from shooting arrows hastily, but his tears wouldn’t stop.

If he could make some noise, he would have cried out loud. He choked back his sobs, but his tears flowed like a broken faucet.

He found out what made his friends like that. There seemed to be a solution too. He knew very well that his friends couldn’t go back to normal. But, but…

“…I can’t… leave them… like that.”

He looked back several times as he went down the stairs.

He hesitated between the people who were evacuating in the opposite direction.

His steps slowed down and his shoulders stiffened.

The short hesitation became a long time.

It didn’t take long to get to his friends… but it wasn’t fast either.

After seeing his friends who had become zombies, Go Ju Won regretted his hesitation.

He felt a heavy guilt choking his throat and pressing down on his chest.

‘Stupid Go Ju Won. Coward Go Ju Won.’

So this was a small atonement.

His friends… were they zombies now?

Shadows fell on Lim Jang-woo and Yeon Jae-hee’s faces.

They didn’t know he had such a situation.

They couldn’t guess all of Go Ju Won’s feelings, but they knew it wasn’t an ordinary one.

They were also moving for their families and acquaintances outside the hospital.

Their heads were complicated.

‘He’ll follow us.’

‘I think so too.’

‘…Maybe it’s better to take him with us.’

They remembered Go Ju Won proudly showing off his twelve phones.

His strength to shoot zombies with a long bow.

His sensitivity that was sharper than anyone else’s. His archery skills were beyond words.

The two adults gave an answer they wouldn’t have given if it wasn’t for this emergency situation.

“Okay. I got it.”

“Let’s go together, Ju Won.”

At their words, Go Ju Won swallowed his tears and nodded repeatedly.

Lim Jang-woo stroked Go Ju Won’s head and Yeon Jae-hee patted his back.

Detective Lim Jang-woo, archery club member Go Ju Won, graduate student Yeon Jae-hee.

The destination of the three people with different occupations and ages was decided.

It was the O.W.C research center, which was suspected to be the source of this situation.

“Cut, OK!”

Director Choi Dae-man shouted.

Ahn Da Ho handed a wet towel to Seo-jun, who was sobbing.

His face cooled down as the cold air touched his hot face from the tears.

They took a short break until Seo-jun’s eyes went down.

Lee Da-jin and Kim Jong-ho had a lump in their throats at Seo-jun’s acting.

Lee Da-jin seemed to remember something as he sucked in 100% organic orange juice.

“Oh. Seo-jun, you said you have a year-end performance at school?”

Kim Jong-ho, who was drinking warm coffee, asked with interest.

“Seo-jun’s school is Yeoul Arts Middle School?”

“Yes. It’s next Friday.”

Seo-jun answered with a towel over his eyes.

Oh.

Lee Da-jin and Kim Jong-ho’s eyes sparkled.

“Are you performing too, Seo-jun?”

Lee Da-jin asked with anticipation and Seo-jun answered.

“No. Only second and third graders do it. First graders only assist, but I can’t do it because of Escape filming.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Yeah.”

Lee Da-jin and Kim Jong-ho looked genuinely disappointed.

“But you can’t come anyway, Uncle Jong-ho and Da-jin hyung. The year-end performance is only for family and school staff.”

Lee Da-jin and Kim Jong-ho smiled slyly, but Seo-jun couldn’t see it because he had his eyes covered.

“There’s always a way.”

“Yeah. So if you have any plans to perform, tell me in advance.”

“Tell me too, okay? You got that?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded without thinking at Lee Da-jin and Kim Jong-ho’s urging.

Chapter 207

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 207

“Ready, action!”

After crying his eyes out, Go Ju Won avoided the gazes of Yeon Jae-hee and Im Jang-woo, feeling embarrassed.

The two of them looked at him with a fond expression.

“Let’s get ready then.”

Following Im Jang-woo’s advice, Yeon Jae-hee adjusted his outfit. He wrapped himself as tightly as possible to avoid getting wet, while still being able to move comfortably.

He also swung the iron pipe that Im Jang-woo gave him with all his strength.

Go Ju Won texted the people in the hospital room about their situation.

He didn’t say that they had found a solution, but that there were too many zombies and it would take some time to get back.

It wasn’t a lie.

They were planning to go outside now.

The sun was still high in the sky, and the streets were filled with people who had turned into zombies when they tried to leave the hospital.

It was more dangerous than ever.

Go Ju Won’s finger hovered over the phone and typed a sentence.

[Don’t wait for us.]

Go Ju Won sent the text and turned off his phone.

He didn’t send it to his mom and dad.

He had nine phones left. Eighteen arrows left.

Maybe there was no medicine.

Maybe they would turn into zombies on their way.

Maybe they would turn into zombies on their way back.

Maybe the medicine wouldn’t solve the situation.

Maybe someone would come to rescue them before they found the medicine.

“Let’s go then.”

Despite all that, the three of them decided to head to the research lab.

“Cut! OK!”

***

[The sound of the bell! “Happy New Year!”]

[See your fortune for free]

[The nominees for the Grand Film Festival will be announced tomorrow!]

[The red days of this year! When is a good day to take a vacation?]

[When will the movie Escape be released?]

-Happy New Year!

-My fortune is good this yearㅎㅎㅎ

-Oh. It made it to the Grand Film Festival nominees!

=Of courseㅎㅎ

-Vacation days! Vacation days! I need to make Monday a holiday!

-When is Escape coming out?

=They’re still filming.

=I wish they would release it soon!!

The filming of Escape continued even after the new year.

Kim Jong-ho’s fans sent a food truck with rice cake soup, and Lee Da-jin’s fans sent a coffee truck with cookies shaped like money.

The yellow 50,000 won bill cookies were the most popular.

“But why did Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon send these?”

A staff member who was eating a bun tilted his head.

It was colder than usual today, so he was hungrier than usual, but Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon had sent buns and steamed dumplings.

“…I don’t know?”

A staff member who knew about their cameo appearances sneaked a glance away.

“Maybe they’re friends with Kim Jong-ho and Lee Seo-jun?”

“Then what about those?”

“…I don’t know?”

Along with the two actors’ snack trucks, there was something else.

They said to dress warmly and work hard, and black long padding jackets arrived in the same number as the staff members and extras.

The staff members and extras who received the jackets looked at the back of them.

The word [Escape] was written on them.

It looked like someone had written it by hand, and there were two types of handwriting: neat and clumsy.

“…Don’t they usually write it in English?”

“I don’t think I’ll wear this unless it’s for filming.”

“But this doesn’t seem cheap? It’s really warm.”

The Korean word on the back was awkward, but everyone was satisfied with how warm it was.

People wearing jackets with [Escape] on them were everywhere.

Anyone who looked could tell that this was the filming site of Escape.

Seo-jun, Kim Jong-ho, and Lee Da-jin arrived early and waited in the actors’ waiting room so they wouldn’t interfere with the filming.

Thanks to the warm heater, their [Escape] jackets were hanging on the wall.

There was no one else, but Kim Jong-ho lowered his voice and asked Seo-jun, who was eating a bun and blowing on it.

“Evan and Rachel sent these, right?”

“Yes. They sent clothes instead of food.”

“And the writing on the back?”

“The neat one is Evan’s and the crooked one is Rachel’s.”

At Seo-jun’s words, Kim Jong-ho and Lee Da-jin looked at the writing on the jackets on the wall.

They smiled warmly at Evan’s neat handwriting and Rachel’s clumsy handwriting.

“I got Evan’s.”

“I got Rachel’s. Aw. I love it!”

“But why Korean?”

“Yeah. It would be better if they wrote it in English!”

At their words, Seo-jun laughed.

“They said it looked weirder to them to write ‘Escape’.”

“…Ah. I see.”

It might seem normal to Koreans to write [Escape] rather than Escape, but to the two American actors, [Escape] looked better than the foreign letters of Escape.

“I’m glad it’s not [Escape].”

Lee Da-jin sighed in relief and Seo-jun burst out laughing.

“Ahahaha. It was originally [Escape]. You don’t know how hard I had to persuade them.”

“…Oh my god.”

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Da-jin’s eyes widened and then they both laughed.

***

“Ready, action!”

Swish!

“You… You’re doing this on purpose, right?”

“Hehe. It was a mistake.”

Im Jang-woo barely dodged the long bow and swung his iron pipe, muttering under his breath.

“Stop shooting arrows. You can’t even hit a zombie that’s close by. If you shoot arrows, I’ll get hit!”

At Im Jang-woo’s words, Go Ju Won shot an arrow defiantly.

Hit!

He smiled brightly at the sight of the zombie falling backwards.

“Hey. Close combat and long range are different.”

“What’s so different?”

“I’m good at long range. You’re good at close combat.”

“What about me?”

“Hyung… Healer? Supporter?”

They talked in small voices while still moving.

Yeon Jae-hee secured the distance and Go Ju Won attacked.

Im Jang-woo guarded and blocked the zombies that attacked them by surprise.

They didn’t try to kill the zombies all at once. They had to save their phones and arrows in a situation where they had to cross a wide open space.

Their coordination, which had been clumsy at first, gradually improved, and by the time they did, they could see the research lab at the end.

“Did you get the vaccine?”

“Yes, here it is.”

Yeon Jae-hee divided the vaccine into several places.

He could lose it by accident or the container with the vaccine could break while fighting zombies.

And in the worst case scenario, not all three of them might make it back to the main building.

The vaccine had become more precious than their lives.

“This one is for Ju Won. This one is for the detective.”

“Okay.”

The three of them, who had swept up the vaccine and the data on zombies, decided to make some Molotov cocktails before leaving. Im Jang-woo’s past experience came in handy.

“Molotov cocktails…!”

Yeon Jae-hee and Go Ju Won’s eyes sparkled, and Im Jang-woo coughed awkwardly.

They poured alcohol into a beaker and tore up a lab coat to make a wick. It was like a cottage industry: Im Jang-woo filled the beakers with alcohol, Yeon Jae-hee put in the wicks, and Go Ju Won tore up the lab coat and handed it to Yeon Jae-hee.

“So how are we going to spread the vaccine? It seems like it would take too long and we don’t have enough arrows if we do it like before. And we don’t have much vaccine either.”

“If we take them down one by one, it’s no different from just killing zombies with arrows.”

To test the vaccine, they dipped Go Ju Won’s arrow in the vaccine and shot it at a zombie.

It must have been a staff member here, since it was wearing a lab coat.

Yeon Jae-hee recalled the data he had examined while experimenting.

“It seems like we can dilute it with water since it’s water-soluble. It says it gets absorbed as soon as it touches any part of the body. Of course, it might take some time to completely stop the zombies like we did in the experiment.”

He wondered how long it took for the zombie they experimented on to stop completely.

Im Jang-woo was trying to remember the time in his head when Go Ju Won opened his mouth.

“…Water gun?”

At Go Ju Won’s words, Im Jang-woo and Yeon Jae-hee avoided eye contact.

They had thought of that too since he said they could dilute it with water.

“It’s hard to find a water gun here, let alone use it. We need to think of another way.”

“But sir, won’t the Molotov cocktails start a fire? The police don’t even come, let alone the fire trucks. I think we’ll die before the zombies do…”

At Go Ju Won’s worried words, Im Jang-woo said as he filled up alcohol.

“These days, the fire extinguishing system is well done, so it goes out quickly.”

“…Shouldn’t it not go out quickly?”

“Then we’ll only use them outside. We used four phones and lost five arrows on our way here.”

At Im Jang-woo’s words, Go Ju Won nodded his head.

He hoped he could find his arrows on his way back.

Yeon Jae-hee was quiet.

He stopped moving his hands as the pieces of cloth for wicks piled up with beakers.

Go Ju Won and Im Jang-woo looked at Yeon Jae-hee.

“Jae-hee?”

“Hyung?”

Yeon Jae-hee was staring blankly at the sky, no, the ceiling.

The ceiling was also covered in blood, as if the blood that had spurted out had reached there.

But where his eyes were looking was not there.

The bright lights and the round device between them.

Im Jang-woo’s eyes widened.

“Sprinklers!”

“We can spray the vaccine all over the hospital with those!”

“It might affect the zombies outside too, but if we deal with the zombies inside the hospital first, we can take care of more than half of them!”

“I think we can lure the zombies outside into the hospital after we deal with the ones inside. By then, the floor will be soaked with vaccine. If we just knock them down on the floor…”

The expressions of the three brightened in an instant.

It seemed like they could wipe out all the zombies in the hospital in no time.

Go Ju Won, who was smiling brightly, opened his mouth with an ah.

“But where is the water for the sprinklers?”

“Yeah, we have to spray that water with the vaccine first.”

At Go Ju Won and Im Jang-woo’s questions, Yeon Jae-hee chuckled.

“Do you know what my college major was?”

“No?”

“Building facilities. It has nothing-nothing-nothing to do with medicine or viruses!”

It was so unrelated that Yeon Jae-hee felt wronged.

Building facilities…?

Go Ju Won, who was still a middle school student and far from college, blinked his eyes.

“There are people who manage things like fire extinguishing devices, electrical wires, pipes, and such in apartments or large buildings. That’s the major that teaches that. I learned it too.”

Go Ju Won and Im Jang-woo turned pale.

“Then you must know a lot about sprinklers!”

“Of course!”

Yeon Jae-hee smiled confidently.

***

And time passed, and in early February.

An article came out.

[(Exclusive) Movie Escape finishes filming!].

Chapter 208

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 208

“Great job, everyone!”

The final scene marked the end of the filming for Escape.

From the extras to the staff, from the makeup artists to the special effects team, everyone clapped their hands with bright smiles.

The branch manager of Plus+ Korea and the CEO Lee Hansol, who had come to watch the last scene, also applauded enthusiastically.

They were both wearing black long padding jackets.

“Not everyone is wearing them, though.”

The branch manager looked around the set.

About a third of the people on the set were wearing black long padding jackets, while the rest were in different clothes.

It might have been uncomfortable to wear long padding jackets while moving around and working, but

“Well, it’s because of the design. It has Korean letters on it. I might have hesitated a bit if it said [Escape] on it. Of course, I would have worn it anyway.”

He couldn’t deny that the design had a lot to do with it.

“I just hope they don’t throw them away.”

“They won’t throw them away. They’re warm. They might just remove or cover up the letters on the back.”

“Those letters are real, you know.”

The branch manager and Lee Hansol chuckled wickedly like villains.

Then they caught eyes with Seo-jun, who was going to change his clothes.

Seo-jun greeted them with a bright smile when he saw their familiar faces, and they waved back with friendly smiles.

They kept waving until Seo-jun disappeared, then they got down to business.

“We decided to restore the sets of the scenes that we filmed elsewhere here. There are quite a few empty rooms left. We’ll also keep the break rooms that the actors and staff used, and we’ll set up a snack bar.”

“I see.”

The branch manager nodded and suddenly remembered a scene.

“What are you going to do with that?”

“Oh, that.”

Lee Hansol knew exactly what he meant by ‘that’.

“We’re going to leave the lab door that Seo-jun acted in alone at the very end of the building. We’ll decorate the inside of the room like a lab after the zombie outbreak.”

Lee Hansol grinned.

“We’re going to install a speaker in the corner and play the sound that we recorded for that scene. Don’t you think it’ll be popular in the summer?”

“I guess so.”

The branch manager smiled contentedly as he imagined the completed ‘Escape Theme Park’.

***

[Exclusive: The filming of Escape is over!]

An exclusive article came out, followed by many more articles.

It showed how much interest there was in it, as it stayed on the real-time search for a few hours.

-It’s overrrrr!!

-Well, there’s still some work left, but it’s overrrr!!

-This is no jokeㅎ

-They’re bringing in a Hollywood CG team too?

=The investors must have spent a lot of money?

-So when is it coming out?

-ㅎI’m going to see the previewㅎ

=I’m not good at this, but I’ll try!

=Hey. How do you apply for the preview?

=You have to wait for the announcement first.

-Summer vacation plan: 1 Escape per day

=2 Escapes per day!

***

“Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year!”

Seo-jun bowed in his hanbok, and Eun-su, who had been staring at him with sparkling eyes, also bowed down on the floor.

The skirt of her hanbok fluttered.

Eun-su turned her head sideways while her head was on the floor and looked at Seo-jun.

‘Oppa. When are you getting up?’

She turned her head completely towards Seo-jun and peeked at him.

The adults and Seo-jun who were lying down smiled at her.

It was frustrating to stay still at an age when she wanted to run around and play.

Eun-su wanted to finish her bow quickly and play with her oppa.

Seo Eun-chan, who took a picture of Eun-su moving her tiny feet, gave a signal and Seo-jun got up.

Seeing that, Eun-su also got up with a bright smile. Kim Su-ryeon, Seo Eun-hye, and Lee Min-jun laughed.

The grandmother also smiled widely at the cute sight of her grandson and granddaughter.

“Oh, my. Our puppy. She knows how to bow!”

“Right? Our Eun-su. She’s amazing!”

“Wow! Eun-su is awesome!”

The grandmother’s praise, Seo Eun-hye’s praise, and Seo-jun’s applause made Eun-su’s cheeks turn red.

Her lips twitched and her chest thumped.

“Yup! I’m good! I want to do it again!”

She had been restless a moment ago, but she seemed to have forgotten it. She was excited and stood in front of the grandmother again.

“Uh! Eun-su. You can’t do it twice!”

Seo Eun-chan quickly stopped Eun-su from lying down again. A loud laughter erupted.

Today was Lunar New Year.

The long holiday had begun.

“This is Seo-jun’s New Year’s money. This is Eun-su’s New Year’s money.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you!”

Eun-su ran to Seo Eun-chan with her New Year’s money and bragged.

The adults and Seo-jun smiled as they watched the four-year-old run in her hanbok skirt.

“Dad, I have this much money!”

“Oh, my. Our Eun-su is rich!”

“Right? I want to eat chocolate!”

“Do you? Where is the chocolate?”

He didn’t know why chocolate came after New Year’s money, but Seo Eun-chan was swayed by his daughter’s cuteness and walked to the kitchen with her.

Seo Eun-hye opened her mouth without realizing it as she watched Eun-su holding Seo Eun-chan’s hand.

“I’m glad Eun-su doesn’t look like Eun-chan.”

“Cough!”

Lee Min-jun spat out the sweet rice drink he was drinking, and Seo-jun burst out laughing, as did Kim Su-ryeon and the grandmother.

They didn’t say it out loud, but they all thought so.

Seo-jun asked Eun-su, who had eaten chocolate.

“Eun-su, what do you want to play?”

“Cheongryong play!”

At that, Seo-jun and the adults widened their eyes. They didn’t expect that name to come up here.

“Cheongryong play?”

“Yeah! It’s where you make a wish to Cheongryong!”

“Yeah, let’s do that. If it’s Cheongryong play, no one can do it better than oppa in the world!”

The adults chuckled softly at the obvious statement.

Eun-su’s eyes sparkled. She trusted her oppa Seo-jun, who always played with her funnily.

“Really?”

“Of course! Just wait a second.”

“Seo-jun, there’s a Cheongryong doll in Eun-su’s bag.”

Thinking that it might be useful for the play, Seo Eun-chan told him where the doll was. Seo-jun, who was thinking of an excuse to go to the room, smiled and answered.

“Got it!”

Seo-jun entered the room where Eun-su’s bag was and quickly used [Spring Bear’s Hibernation] to get [Spring Blue Dragon Hatchling’s Weak Peer] from the Library of Life. Then he took out the Cheongryong doll from Eun-su’s bag.

“It’s good to see you again.”

The ability seemed to think so too, as the mark on his neck twinkled.

Seo-jun didn’t forget to lower his intermediate ability to the lowest level. It was an act for his sister only.

[Spring Blue Dragon Hatchling’s Weak Peer-Lowest Level is activated.]

Eun-su, who was waiting for Seo-jun with her butt wiggling, looked at Seo-jun’s hand that came out of the room.

The Cheongryong doll that had the mana of the blue dragon emitted an aura.

Although it was small because it was a doll, the soft beard and the shiny scales looked real.

“Wow!”

Eun-su’s eyes shone at the sight of Cheongryong in front of her.

“Cheongryong, Cheongryong. Please grant my wish!”

[Okay. What is your wish?]

“…It’s really Cheongryong!”

She couldn’t believe that it had the same voice too.

Eun-su screamed with joy. It was different from her dad’s awkward imitation.

Eun-su and Seo-jun, who were excited by the old Cheongryong act, played happily with Cheongryong play.

“Cheongryong, Cheongryong! Please make it rain!”

[Oh no. I can’t grant your wish without my Yeoui-ju.]

Yeoui-ju!

Eun-su jumped up from her seat and clenched her tiny fists and shouted.

“I have it in my bag!”

[Oh? Do you?]

“Yes!”

Eun-su ran to the room and brought Yeoui-ju.

Seo-jun granted Eun-su’s wish after that (he sprayed some water lightly with a sprayer), and hid the Yeoui-ju in the room.

Eun-su and Seo-jun looked for Yeoui-ju together and granted another wish.

The adults shook their heads at the luxurious role-playing game.

“Eun-su has been hooked on ‘Spring’ lately.”

“Where did she see it?”

“They showed it at kindergarten. They said it’s perfect for making kids quiet, so they always show it on the first day.”

Kim Su-ryeon said and everyone laughed.

“She said Cheongryong is her favorite in the world. She even went to the Milky Way Center.”

“Eun-su doesn’t know that Seo-jun is the real Cheongryong.”

“She’ll know when she grows up, but not now.”

Seo-jun granted Eun-su’s wishes whenever she asked.

The smiles never left their faces as they made small and fun wishes that a four-year-old would make.

The adults also smiled as they watched the laughing children.

Seo Eun-su, 4 years old.

She met ‘the real Cheongryong’ without knowing it, and became a successful fan.

“…There’s no such thing as a luxurious role-playing game like that.”

Suddenly, reality hit him.

The president of Cocoa Entertainment, which Seo-jun belonged to as a superstar, said and the adults burst out laughing.

***

March, when flowers bloom.

Seo-jun became a second-year student at Yeoul Arts Middle School.

The classes were rearranged and Seo-jun became class 1 with Han Jinho and Yang Ju-hee, while Kang Jae-han and Kim Joo-kyung became class 2.

“They said it was more fierce than last year.”

“I heard that too. Our practical exam was two days long, but this time it was three days long.”

“Just by simple calculation, it doubled.”

The students who gathered at Yeoul Hall for the entrance ceremony chattered. Not only the acting department, but also the art and music departments, especially the violin section, had a different level of attention than usual.

“Seo-jun, look over there.”

“Huh?”

Han Jinho, who was sitting next to Seo-jun, called him.

Seo-jun, who was listening to Ju-hee’s excited talk about the end-of-year performance, looked at the direction that Jinho pointed.

A boy was standing among the first-year students, waving his arms vigorously at Seo-jun.

The kids next to him also looked at Seo-jun with sparkling eyes.

Seo-jun smiled brightly at the familiar face.

“It’s Han-seok!”

“That’s the kid you co-starred with in One Step, right?”

“Yeah. He didn’t tell me which middle school he was going to, but it turned out to be our school!”

Seo-jun waved back and Kim Han-seok smiled brightly and waved even more vigorously.

It seemed that he had already made some friends, as the first-year students crowded around Kim Han-seok and Yeoul Hall became noisy.

“He really knows Seo-jun!”

“It’s Seo-jun sunbae-nim, not Seo-jun!”

“I can’t believe I’m in the same school as Seo-jun sunbae-nim!”

After calming down the excited first-year students and parents, the entrance ceremony of Yeoul Arts Middle School began.

After the entrance ceremony, the second-year class 1 students headed to their classroom.

They greeted their homeroom teacher and decided to choose a class president.

“Then the class president is Yang Ju-hee.”

She seemed to have been waiting for this moment. Yang Ju-hee shouted.

“I’ll do my best! Who wants to do the end-of-year performance with me!”

The kids blinked their eyes for a moment before they understood what Ju-hee meant. Some of them raised their hands. The homeroom teacher laughed at the cheerful class president.

“What about you, Seo-jun?”

“I have a filming schedule.”

The kids and the teacher sparkled their eyes at Seo-jun’s words. Han Jinho, who was sitting next to Seo-jun, asked.

“Are you filming Shadowman 3?”

“Yeah. I think it’ll start around fall.”

Wow.

An exclamation came out of the kids’ mouths.

“You’ll meet Evan Block!”

“And Rachel Hill!”

The homeroom teacher thought of the attendance days set by law and the special activity days allowed by Yeoul Arts Middle School in his head for a moment and said.

“Let me know when you have your schedule. I’ve prepared for it, but if the filming is longer than expected, I’ll have to find a way.”

“Okay. I got it.”

A new grade, a new class, new friends. When they got used to it, it was April.

Chapter 209

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 209

There were many ways to promote a movie.

Internet articles, interviews with actors and directors, TV ads, online ads, and appearances on TV shows were some of them.

Especially, the variety shows were calling Cocoa Entertainment like crazy.

“We just need one! Just one of them!”

If they could get Lee Seo-jun, it would be a hit.

If they could get Kim Jong-ho or Lee Da-jin, they could ask them about the episodes during the filming and get some stories about Lee Seo-jun.

The writers and the PDs were trying their best to use their connections and contact everyone they could.

“Uh. Lee Seo-jun. He’s not available this month?”

“What? Why?”

“Why not!?”

The production staff who were busy making calls looked up at the PD’s words.

They all had eyes that looked like they wanted to eat someone alive.

“…He has exams.”

“Exams? TOEIC? TOEFL? Korean language proficiency test?”

“Lee Seo-jun is good at English, he doesn’t need to take those.”

“Is it a Korean history exam?”

“Is it a computer certification?”

“Oh. How about that?”

The noisy production staff quieted down as the PD spoke.

“He has midterms.”

“…What?”

“Middle school. Midterms. Exams.”

The PD showed the laptop screen to the production staff.

The word [midterms] on the academic calendar of Yeoul Arts Middle School seemed to be unusually large.

Was it just their imagination?

The production staff’s faces darkened.

As the team became silent, the other teams became interested.

The story spread and spread, and the variety teams that could have Lee Seo-jun on their shows all became gloomy.

“Oh. Lee Seo-jun is a middle school student…”

“…Midterms are important, right?”

“He needs good grades to go to high school, right?”

“Isn’t Lee Seo-jun good enough to get a free pass?”

“That might be true, but it might not be.”

Lee Seo-jun and his family probably thought so too.

“…So he’s not available in April.”

“Wait. There are finals too, right?”

“…They are also in the second semester.”

Faced with an unexpected obstacle, the variety department fell into silence.

They were not the only ones who found out about Yeoul Arts Middle School’s academic calendar.

The reporters who were watching Lee Seo-jun also wrote articles about the interesting word ‘midterms’.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, his first midterms!]

[Midterm exam period for middle school students! A superstar taking exams!]

-I wonder if this is worth writing an article about… But he’s already at the age of taking midterms.

-He’s not in 7th grade, but 8th grade? When I was his age, I was in elementary school…

=222ㅎㅎㅎ

-But does Lee Seo-jun study well?

=He seems to have a good memory from memorizing scripts.

-I have exams too. It’s amazing that Lee Seo-jun is taking exams tooㅎ

=I’m a high school student, but it’s really amazingㅋㅋ

April.

It was time for the 8th and 9th graders of Yeoul Arts Middle School to put down their scripts, instruments, and brushes.

Lee Seo-jun said he wanted to focus on the exams until they were over, and Anh Da Ho patted his shoulder with a proud expression and headed to the office.

Lee Seo-jun went into his room and laid out his textbooks and workbooks on his desk.

He sat down on his chair.

Lee Seo-jun didn’t want to be obsessed with acting just because he liked it.

He wanted to do well in both school and acting. He didn’t want to neglect other things because of acting.

“Seo-jun, let’s eat dinner.”

“Okay.”

Lee Seo-jun, who was solving workbooks in his room, came out at his mother’s call.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun looked at their son who was eating dinner with a strange look.

They felt proud and sorry to see him studying like other kids, but also having less time for acting practice because of it.

“Are you only going to practice for 30 minutes today?”

“Yeah. Just 30 minutes before bed.”

“You can do more if you want. You’re doing well in your studies anyway.”

He did his homework diligently.

Lee Seo-jun didn’t go to any private academies because he was busy with acting and learning interesting sports.

He studied hard at school.

“It’s okay. It’s my first exam, so I want to do well.”

How admirable.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun smiled at Lee Seo-jun’s words.

Lee Seo-jun ate the fruit that came out as dessert and chatted.

He said there were some kids who were nervous because it was their first exam, and some who looked familiar because they went to academies.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun also talked about this and that.

When Lee Seo-jun was about to go back to his room, his mom and dad said.

“But if you want to act, just do it. Don’t worry about your grades.”

“We want you to do what you like.”

Lee Seo-jun smiled brightly and hugged his mom and dad tightly.

“Mom and dad. Thank you.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun also hugged Lee Seo-jun tightly.

Two weeks passed, and the exam day came.

Among the tense kids, Lee Seo-jun solved the problems with a relaxed expression.

The teacher who was supervising looked at him as he solved the problems without hesitation.

He didn’t seem to be guessing.

‘But he doesn’t take much time either.’

He solved the problems as if he knew them all.

The teacher became curious about Lee Seo-jun’s grades that would come out in two weeks.

The three-day exam was over, and Anh Da Ho brought the scripts that had piled up for two weeks.

The amount of scripts that came in for two weeks was small, probably because they heard about Lee Seo-jun’s midterms.

Anh Da Ho put down the box and looked at Lee Seo-jun with a certain look.

Lee Seo-jun smiled when he saw that look.

His mom and dad had the same look when he came back from the exam.

They wanted to ask him how he did on the exam, but they weren’t sure if they could ask. Their faces stiffened to hide their expressions.

“I did well on the exam.”

“Really?”

“Yes. There were a lot of questions I knew, so I solved them comfortably.”

They were all questions he knew.

Lee Seo-jun grinned, and Anh Da Ho finally smiled brightly.

Lee Seo-jun read the scripts and synopses that Anh Da Ho brought.

He felt like he had returned to his normal life after the exam.

He hummed a song as he read the scripts, and Anh Da Ho smiled.

“By the way, when is Escape coming out?”

Anh Da Ho packed the scripts and synopses that Lee Seo-jun had read back into the box to take them back to the office.

“The CG work is done and the editing is almost done. I think it will be around June.”

“June, huh.”

“Oh, and they’re not having a preview.”

What plans do you have for June? I wonder if I should go with my friends. Seo-jun, who was thinking about it, widened his eyes at An Da Ho’s words.

“Are you not having a screening?”

“Yeah. There will be an internal screening for the people who know about Rachel and Evan’s appearance, but they are not planning to have a public or press screening.”

Seo-jun nodded.

“So they want to keep it a secret until the release.”

“No matter how much they ask them to keep it a secret, their mouths will be itching since Evan and Rachel are in it. I feel the same way.”

Seo-jun laughed at An Da Ho’s words.

***

May.

Ding-ding-ding

Seo Eun-hye, who was preparing Seo-jun’s snack, smiled at the cheerful sound of the door lock today.

She said that the report card would come out today, and she was worried that he would be disappointed if his grades were not good, so she prepared his favorite snack.

‘But he seems fine.’

The door opened with a bang. Seo-jun, who was carrying his backpack, came in with a bright smile.

“Mom! I got a hundred!”

“Wow! Really? Korean? English?”

He read the script well, so Korean. He learned English since he was young.

She thought that those two subjects would be better than the others.

She was about to call Lee Min-jun, who was at work, with the good news of a hundred points.

Seo-jun rolled his feet and waited for the phone to connect quickly.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

It’s dad!

Seo-jun opened his mouth quickly with sparkling eyes.

“All of them!”

“Seo-jun… what?”

-Eun-hye? Seo-jun?

“I got a hundred on all subjects!”

Seo-jun’s voice reached across the phone.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun blinked their eyes for a moment and shouted at the same time.

“…What?!”

“…What?!”

That night, a hasty celebration party was held for Seo-jun’s amazing achievement of getting full marks on all subjects.

The family members who ran over as soon as they heard the news smiled broadly.

“Oh my. Our puppy. He’s smart too.”

“Hahaha. A hundred on all subjects! A hundred on all subjects!”

“How did you not miss a single question? You did well calmly.”

Seo-jun blushed and giggled at the praise from his grandparents and grandmother. He was happy when he received an award for acting, but the praise from his family was no less than that.

***

A few days later.

The article that everyone had been waiting for came out.

[Escape to be released in mid-June!]

[Kim Jong-ho, Lee Da-jin, Lee Seo-jun’s movie! Escape to be released in mid-June!]

[No screening for Escape?!]

[No audience or press screening! Why?!]

-I thought it would be released in July or August… June?

=So you don’t like it?

=When did I?!

-I knew my luck was crap before I even tried it haha

=22lol How unlucky do you have to be to fail without even winning?

=It feels like being dumped without dating…

-Where is the production company? Where is the distributor?

=The production company is Movie Dream. But Escape has been like this from the start lol

=Why is the promotion like this? I can do better than this!

-I was looking forward to talking with the audience…! They stole our chance to meet Lee Seo-jun!

-So you’re not going to watch it?

=…So when is it released?

-The last article title… The reporter knows my mind lol

[Escape to be released simultaneously in Korea and the US!]

[Escape to be released simultaneously in 24 countries including the US, Germany, UK, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Canada!]

-Ah… you… Why go this far?

-The power of Plus+ Korea was amazing.

=?? Isn’t this because Plus+ headquarters stepped in?

=The power of Plus+ Korea that could move the headquarters was amazing.

-But isn’t it too sudden to release it worldwide?

=22 I thought it would increase by one or two more than ‘Rebellion’ because Seo-jun is in it and it’s a zombie movie. But suddenly 24 countries?

-But Shadowman 3 will be released worldwide at the same time, right?

=That’s a Hollywood movie. And there are many fans from 1 and 2.

=When is it coming out? Shadowman 3ㅠ

-The poster for Escape is out!(link)

At the same time, the poster for Escape came out.

First, individual character posters.

The back of Go Ju Won was visible.

He looked like he was looking somewhere while holding a bow covered in blood and using a wall as a shield.

The hand that was leaning on the wall showed how much Go Ju Won wanted to escape.

The image of Im Jang-woo holding the steering wheel was visible.

He looked like he had made a heavy decision, biting his lips and turning the steering wheel hard. It made him swallow his saliva.

The image of Yeon Jae-hee rummaging through the data was visible. Even though it was a still photo, it looked like Yeon Jae-hee’s hand was flipping through the data. His eyes were shining with fear as he examined the papers.

And a group poster.

Unlike the serious character posters, all three of them were smiling comfortably in the photo. The bloody background looked out of place.

[Escape poster revealed! Three posters with three colors!]

[Archer Lee Seo-jun, detective Kim Jong-ho, graduate student Lee Da-jin!]

[Escape trailer revealed!]

-The poster is cool. I’ll take all four!

-The actors and their jobs match well lol

-Does Seo-jun shoot well with a bow too?

=According to eyewitnesses, he shoots very well. Bullseye lol

-The trailer seems like an extension of the poster. There is no new plot revealed.

=It feels like going to watch a movie without knowing anything lol

-Release it soon!

[Escape pre-booking starts! Right away?!]

[Escape pre-booking rate, 90%! Mostly sold out!]

-lol I think I know why they cast celebrities with ticket power in movies.

=I agree. The promotion was so powerful that I wondered if they spent any money on it… 90% lol

=It was a movie that people had to gather information about.

-I know someone who said this.

=??? What did he say?

=It’s best to watch Escape on the first day.

=Isn’t that true for any movie? If you don’t want to get spoiled?

=How do you get tickets for the first day when most of them are sold out?

=I. Go. Country. First day. Watch. Escape.

=lol crazy lol

=Is it worth doing that? lol

Chapter 210

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 210

The day before Escape’s release.

The internet was buzzing about Escape all day long.

[Escape Forum]

-Why didn’t they have a preview screening?

-Are you still going to watch it?

-I think there’s something fishy about it.

-But the reporters who are supposed to write articles haven’t seen the movie either lol. They have no clue.

-That’s why the entertainment reporters went to the theater lol.

-How did they get the tickets?

-There were some bad seats left. I think they got those.

-Well, they don’t need to watch the movie well to write articles.

-I want to see spoilers before I watch the movie. I made a pre-Escape (spoiler) board. Write spoilers there.

The next day.

The theater was crowded from the morning.

“You made it.”

“Vacation day!”

Lim Yeon’s words made Park Seonga’s eyes sparkle.

Park Seonga, who was a salaried worker, had used her precious vacation day to watch the movie today.

“I got tickets for the first day. I couldn’t miss it!”

“Let’s get the posters first. I already printed the tickets.”

They grabbed the posters that were generously prepared, and gave up on popcorn and drinks since it was Lee Seo-jun’s movie. It was a zombie movie, after all.

They still had about ten minutes until the movie started, so Lim Yeon and Park Seonga sat on their seats and watched the excited people around them.

It was fun and amazing to feel that they were going to watch a movie that no one had seen before, and that no one in the world knew about unless they were insiders.

“It’s nice to be here on the first day.”

“We don’t have to worry about getting spoiled since there was no preview screening.”

Once this movie was over, there would be [spoiler alert] posts everywhere, and the story would spread.

“Most people will keep quiet, but it will still leak somewhere.”

“That’s why it’s better to be here on the first day.”

As they waited for a while, it was time for the movie.

“Screen 8! Those who are going to watch Escape, please enter screen 8!”

With the staff’s guidance, many people who came to the theater headed to screen 8 at once. Lim Yeon and Park Seonga also headed to screen 8 with excited hearts.

They sat on their seats written on their tickets, turned off their phones, and leaned back on their chairs. They tried to calm their pounding hearts and watched the ads that filled the screen.

The ads ended and an evacuation guide video played.

They would have ignored the guide video if it was in the past, but those who had watched ‘One Step’ impressively turned their heads and checked the emergency exits.

Soon, the theater darkened,
and logos of distribution companies and production companies appeared.

The name of Plus+ as an investor also appeared.

‘Plus+?’

Not Plus+ Korea?

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga, who knew well about Escape, widened their eyes.

Come to think of it, it was netizens who guessed that it was Plus+ Korea, not Escape’s side.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter where.’

What they were curious about now was the movie.

Everyone silenced themselves and looked at the big screen.

***

A camera angle that was hitting the ground from the sky showed a black car coming in.

The car that ran smoothly alone showed how wide and deserted this land was.

The camera followed the car and showed a tightly closed door.

[USA-O.W.C Research Institute]

?

USA from the start?

Lim Yeon and the audience blinked their eyes.

After a brief pause, the door opened.

The car entered through the heavy door.

There were guards with guns everywhere.

The car stopped at an underground parking lot.

The driver’s hand opened the back door of the car and a man in a suit got out.

His face was not shown.

The man walked slowly and opened the door with his fingerprint and password.

He entered inside.

The camera followed behind him as he crossed a space surrounded by state-of-the-art facilities.

People who looked like staff bowed their heads toward him.

He was completely different from his relaxed back view.

He greeted them with a gesture and headed to the elevator.

The place where he arrived was an underground laboratory.

The screen changed.

Several computers and piles of papers.

A woman with long blonde hair tied loosely in a white gown read down one paper after another with a thoughtful face.

The content written on paper did not change no matter how many times she looked at it.

Huh?

The theater with hundreds of people stopped for a moment.

Everyone looked at the screen with the same expression without exception as if time had stopped except for the screen.

“/Are you crazy! This is crazy!/”

The woman threw up all the papers that were piled up.

Huh?

As if the air had stopped, no one could breathe.

The audience’s eyes grew as big as they could.

Their pupils shook violently. Someone opened their mouth wide.

“/Professor Maria./”

Someone called Maria, who was looking at the papers and shouting ‘It can’t be’, professor.

If the camera didn’t turn, they wouldn’t be able to see it.

Lim Yeon and the audience turned their heads unknowingly.

It seemed like they could see the owner of the familiar voice if they turned their heads.

The man knocked on the door that was wide open with a smile.

“/Oh, I didn’t knock./”

“/Samuel! Is this true?!/”

“/Hmm. What do you mean by ‘this’?/”

Samuel, who was wearing a neat suit and had his hair neatly combed back, and Professor Maria, who was wearing a white gown and had her blonde hair tied loosely, looked at each other.

?

!

!!!

“Ah!?”

A loud scream came from somewhere in the theater.

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga thought that this was a noise that they couldn’t help but understand.

They felt like they would scream too, so they covered their mouths with their hands.

They were screaming inside.

‘Ah! Are you crazy!?’

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga were dizzy. They couldn’t breathe and their hearts were pounding so hard that they felt like they were going to burst. They had goosebumps from head to toe.

They never imagined that they would see them here,

Hollywood stars, Evan Block and Rachel Hill.

The movie continued without regard for the audience who were shocked.

/“As expected, Professor, you are very smart. I think we made a good decision to entrust this matter to you. We should give a bigger bonus to the headhunter.”/

/“Samuel! This is not the time to joke…”/

/“I’m not joking, Professor.”/

‘Did I enter the wrong movie theater?’

Everyone was so confused that they didn’t even know where they was.

No, why are those actors here? A new Hollywood movie?

The theater was in an uproar at the unexpected appearance of the actors. Some people were taking out their phones to share their surprise and shock, and some were talking to their neighbors.

‘This is bad.’

Lim Yeon wanted to talk to Park Seonga, who was sitting next to her, but she held back.

She glanced at her and saw that Park Seonga also had a complicated expression.

‘I need to watch it again.’

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga looked at the screen with a detached expression, ignoring the noisy people and the phone lights everywhere.

The Hollywood stars were still acting.

/“Ah, I came to say this, but… I forgot.”/

Samuel said with a gentle smile.

/“There’s a new X discovered in South Korea. So I’m going to Korea, and I hope you’ll join me, Professor. We have a hospital and a research center owned by our company, so you can do enough research in Korea.”/

Samuel’s blue eyes shone fiercely.

[Two months later]

[Korea]

There was a person lying in a lavishly decorated VIP room.

And a foreigner and a bodyguard who appeared.

Oh my…

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga wanted to close their eyes tightly.

The surprise gift was not only the Hollywood actors.

They looked at Park Do-hoon, who was cursing with a dumbfounded face, and Lee Ji-seok, who was standing stiffly.

Oh my…! They were less surprised than the Hollywood actors, but this was also not easy to handle.

The man shouted angrily.

“Who the hell is that?!”

“I’m sorry for making you wait, sir. I’m from O.W.C.”

“O.W.C.? When will the drug be ready?”

“Oh.”

Samuel smiled and raised his hands.

“It’s still in the experiment…”

“Bring it right now!!”

“So I have a suggestion for you.”

The man who was snickering asked back.

“…A suggestion?”

“We have a drug that we’re developing right now, but it’s quite effective. There are still some side effects, though.”

“Side effects?! You want to use it on me?! Are you crazy?!”

“Just a little bit of side effects. Wouldn’t it be better than your current condition?”

The man who was muttering curses answered.

“…Fine.”

“Thank you.”

Samuel still smiled with a friendly face and came out of the room. Aaaah, the man who couldn’t control his anger screamed and the bodyguard hurriedly called the doctor.

Samuel took out his phone and called somewhere.

/“I got a good subject for the experiment. He’s sane and in good physical condition. He can’t move his limbs, so he might be better than a normal subject. Yes. Please prepare the drug.”/

Samuel’s eyes sparkled with satisfaction.

Samuel, who had obtained the consent of the subject, contacted O.W.C headquarters.

The news of the ‘experiment’ was also passed on to others who were in charge of the same work as Samuel.

It was also passed on to other laboratories that were studying virus X.

Who would be the first to create a goose that lays golden eggs?

The competition for money became fierce.

Samuel, who had informed Professor Maria of the experiment, set a date.

He left the ‘subject’ in one of the rooms of the laboratory and headed for the life extension team.

He shrugged his shoulders at the closed door. He entered his fingerprint on the door lock.

Beep-

The thick door opened.

In the dark office.

/“Professor.”/

Samuel groped for the light switch on the cold wall.

/“You should sleep in your quarters…”/

Grrrrr.

He stopped talking at the strange sound.

/“Professor?”/

Samuel had seen the subject himself. But at that time, the subject had his eyes covered with a blindfold and his mouth blocked.

If he had ever seen a subject without a control device, Samuel would have run out of the laboratory right away.

[O.W.C.’s management is perfect.]

That thought created a flaw.

Click.

As he tried to figure out what was going on, Samuel turned on the light.

!!

How did he not notice him when he was so close?

A zombie covered in blood and with flesh bitten off everywhere appeared under the light.

The audience flinched at the zombie’s face filling up the screen.

The theater was quiet for a moment, but there was no power to lead it on.

The Hollywood makeup team Mira and Jena Trade worked hard on the makeup, and the leader of the Bone Breaking dance team performed as a zombie, but the theater was still noisy.

It seemed that they were not as shocked as they expected, since they came to watch a zombie movie.

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga’s eyes met.

It was hard to focus on the movie in this state. They thought it would be better to watch it again from the beginning when it was quiet, rather than listening to this noise for two hours.

‘Did I watch it on the first day for nothing?’

But they would have regretted it if they had heard about the surprise appearance of ‘Evan Block, Rachel Hill, Lee Ji-seok, Park Do-hoon’ by word of mouth. Lim Yeon and Park Seonga.

And the audience who were quietly closing their mouths, wondering whether to leave or not,

The camera screen changed.

The door that Samuel had just entered was shown.

Only the tightly closed door filled the screen, but somehow it felt like it was capturing the attention of the people.

The audience who were hesitating looked at the screen.

There was no background sound or sound effect.

The speaker was quiet.

There were also some people who were still stunned by the attack of ‘Evan Block, Rachel Hill, Lee Ji-seok, Park Do-hoon’.

And some people were tapping their phones to spread the news outside.

But that was only for a moment.

With the prolonged silence and the feeling of something, one by one, their eyes turned to the screen.

It was quiet.

Too quiet that they wondered if something was wrong.

When,

Bang!

There was a loud noise from behind the door.

The echo was bigger than expected.

Bang!

The noise rang again.

It was just a thumping sound, but it sent chills down their spines.

Someone swallowed hard.

The audience was captivated by the two loud thumps.

Thump!

The dazzling appearance of the actors distracted the audience from their surroundings.

Their minds went blank.

Those who were chatting with their neighbors shut their mouths.

The audience members who were holding their phones dropped them in shock and shrank their necks.

The phone lights disappeared one by one.

The darkened theater became quiet as if it was covered by a heavy darkness.

When everyone’s eyes turned to the screen, another one.

Thump!!

The speakers on all sides of the theater seemed to convey the impact of hitting the door.

Some of the audience members leaned back.

Their hearts pounded.

On the other side of the door.

There was something dangerous.

They buried themselves in their seats, held their friends’ hands tightly, and closed their eyes.

But they heard the sound.

Thump!

The top of the door popped out slightly.

Thump!

The bottom of the door popped out slightly.

Thump!

The bottom of the door caved in.

A brief pause.

The silence dragged on.

Was it over?

They were hunched over, sweating in their hands, looking at the screen. Lim Yeon and Park Seonga, and the rest of the audience, looked up at the screen with a shaky posture.

And then,

Thump!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Thump thump thump thump thump thump!

Along with the continuous loud thumps, the door that should have been tightly closed was crushed mercilessly and seemed to open at any moment.

“EEK!”

“GASP!”

A zombie that was raging to cut off the man’s last breath.

Even though they couldn’t see it, they imagined that scene and screams erupted here and there.

Boom!

The thick door that had been blocking the way between the audience and the zombie was split in half.

The locked door was misaligned with the frame and opened with a creak.

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga covered their mouths with their hands, afraid that their breathing would be heard.

The others did too, as if they had forgotten about the cameo appearances that had surprised them.

They didn’t think of Evan Block or Rachel Hill.

That kind of interest only appeared after they were sure of their own safety.

Hoo, hoo.

They heard breathing that they couldn’t tell if it was theirs or someone else’s. Their hearts beat fast.

They felt like they could hear their own heartbeat.

A deathly silence flowed.

At that moment, when a tense atmosphere filled the theater.

Between the door that was like the last line of defense, a shoe stained with wet blood appeared.

It was just a quick step forward, but everyone flinched as if it would jump out at them any moment.

They clenched their fists so hard that it hurt.

Was this what it felt like to have your heart tighten?

Thud thud thud thud their hearts beat.

It was scary and creepy and strange.

But even so, in a strange atmosphere, the audience turned their heads but kept their eyes on the screen.

Was it a wariness toward the enemy that threatened their lives, or a curiosity to see something strange for themselves?

They couldn’t tell.

What would appear there?

The audience watched the screen without breathing or blinking.

And then,

The scene changed.

Birds flew around, green trees and a well-kept garden were visible.

They heard people talking and car engines running.

A white ambulance was visible and doctors who were enjoying a short break were visible.

Even children who cried because they didn’t want to go to the hospital looked peaceful.

It was a scene of everyday life.

But unlike the silence that seemed to hear people’s heartbeats just before, they heard lively noises.

As they heard sounds full of vitality, the audience members who had been tense let out a sigh of relief with frustration and relief from their stomachs.

They couldn’t believe they had been so tense that they kept looking at that door.

“Ugh…”

They lost strength because they were too tense. They leaned back on their stiff bodies in their seats.

They opened and closed their hands that were numb from clenching too hard, and drank water while still looking at the screen without taking their eyes off it.

A scene of everyday life.

But they knew it wasn’t peaceful, not peaceful.

They thought of the zombie that would cover this peace and shivered again.

A single appearance.

And it wasn’t even a scene where his face appeared.

Seo-jun’s acting had dragged them into Escape’s world like he did at the children’s play in Spring.

The movie had only started 10 minutes ago.

Just like Escape theaters were noisy in many ways, outside theaters were not quiet either.

[Escape Bulletin Board (Spoilers)]

-When will the post go up?

-The fastest time is just starting. There’s still 2 hours left until it ends.

-I couldn’t get a seat today, so I’m going tomorrow… I’m dying of curiosity.

-Did Seo-jun act well?

-He must have done really well.

-This is crazyyyyy

-??What??

-The production company is crazyyyy!!!

-Ahhhhhh

-The worldddd

-I want to scream but it’s a theater so I’ll do this insteadttt

-…Why are you all like this?

-SNS is no joke either. It’s a mess.

-But they don’t say why.

-It’s only been 10 minutes since the movie started, what the hell is going on?

-Are you all on your phones while watching the movie?

-Wow. The theater is amazing.

-The world, the world, the world!

-I want to say it but I can’t!

-22 You have to see this for yourself!

-Tell me, I’m okay with spoilers.

-Yeah, this is a spoiler-friendly board.

-No way! You can’t spoil this!

-You have to see it in the theater!

-Cover your ears and eyes and go to the theater!

-?How do I go to the theater then?

-No wayyyy you have to see it without knowing.

-222Please…

-Ahhhhh he’s back!!

-Here!!!

-What kind of zombie?

-How’s the Hollywood team zombie?

ㄴHoyyngheere

-???

-Hey?

-Myㅠkeyboarㅜ

-Hey???

-??Why did the posts suddenly stop?

-Maybe they got eaten by zombiesㅎㅎ

-What’s going on??

-Ahhhh! I want to see ittttㅠㅠ

-The people who went to the countryside were the winnersㅜ

Chapter 211

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 211

[O.W.C Hospital]

A large hospital surrounded by walls.

Cars came and went through the wide-open main gate.

The road split into two directions after passing the security booth at the gate, leading to the aboveground and underground parking lots.

The camera followed the cars ahead.

An ambulance entered with a siren.

Main building.

East wing.

Center.

The ambulance that came through the main gate stopped in front of the center.

The stretcher bed made a rough noise as it hit the ground.

Medical staff rushed out and pulled the stretcher bed toward the sign that said emergency center.

The center, which was the first thing to see when entering the hospital, was crowded with people.

A little away from the emergency center, on the first floor lobby, children in uniforms were seen walking and chatting.

The camera followed the people and got on the elevator.

Just an ordinary and ordinary hospital.

A monotonous daily life.

In front of such peacefulness, the audience’s hearts seemed to relax slowly.

The face of Im Jang-woo, who had a grim look, appeared.

He was lying on a bed, threatening a man who looked like a gangster at a glance.

The face of Yeon Jae-hee appeared.

He was on the rooftop of the main building shaped like an L on the second floor.

He was leisurely drinking coffee and eating cake at the garden cafe on the third floor.

The face of Go Ju Won, who greeted his friends with a bright smile, also appeared.

His friends and the audience laughed at Go Ju Won’s quirky appearance.

Especially, the audience smiled unknowingly at Go Ju Won’s face, which sparkled as he saw the bow.

It was an enormous destructive power that made them forget all the horror before.

But such peacefulness was only for a moment.

The audience swallowed their saliva as they saw the man lying on the bed.

“When will it start?!”

The heart rate monitor attached to the man’s body for the experiment made a beep sound.

The man’s heart rate rose and fell according to his heartbeat.

The only sound in the hospital room that was located in the laboratory was the man’s voice and the heart rate monitor sound.

“Why isn’t it coming?!”

Oh.

The audience clenched their fists.

They were more nervous about the hospital room door that was tightly closed behind him than the man who was spitting out curses.

Another.

Something strange was felt outside the hospital room door.

It seemed that the charm of sweet and salty was shown here, and their hearts that had relaxed comfortably were pulled tight.

The audience sitting in their seats unknowingly took a defensive posture.

The man felt that strangeness too, and he stopped shouting.

The only sound that echoed in the hospital room was the heart rate monitor that showed his condition.

Beep- beep-.

Strange.

There was no sound, but they felt something approaching.

The man tried to find out what was going on outside somehow, but all he could do was shout or look at the door that wouldn’t open.

But that was only for a moment. When both methods didn’t work, he just pricked up his ears and listened to the sound coming from outside.

The audience did the same.

They couldn’t move from their seats, and they felt a subtle sympathy for the man who couldn’t move his limbs.

The camera angle, which seemed to have no intention of moving, only showed the inside of the hospital room.

Like a rabbit chased by its natural enemy, they pricked up their ears and focused their attention on the sound coming from the speaker.

Fortunately or unfortunately, he wasn’t alone here.

There were bodyguards besides the team leader who was sent by Samuel.

Mumble mumble.

A noise like a voice blocked by a soundproof wall was heard.

The man and the audience stretched their necks and listened to the sound.

Their expressions were different from those who focused on the sound.

The man’s face full of unknown fear and the audience’s face waiting for known fear.

And then,

“Aaaah!!”

A scream loud enough to break through the soundproofing was heard. It wasn’t one or two.

“What is it! What is it?!”

He wanted to run out right away, but all he could move was above his neck.

He held his breath.

He hoped that it would just pass by this hospital room.

Beep beep beep.

Bang!

Something hit the hospital room door.

Beep beep beep.

Bang!

Beep beep beep.

His heart beat loudly.

Bang!!

The door fell down.

Bodyguards covered in blood with torn suits stood in the hallway.

He knew at a glance that they were not normal.

The smell of blood vibrated.

A groaning sound was heard.

Ah- ah…!

Dead bodies ran toward him with bright eyes under bright lights.

Hunting zombies in bright places was fast, aggressive, and creepy.

The zombies surrounding him looked like black shadows of death.

“Aaaah!”

A painful scream of the man was heard,

Beep beep-

And the sound of his heart stopping was heard.

Only then.

There was no sound.

As the stimulus disappeared, the zombies moved to where the sound came from again.

Below.

The heads of the zombies turned at once.

There was a sound from below.

The real spread began after the man’s death.

The security guard who was guarding the laboratory was bitten.

He left his colleague who was caught by the zombies and screamed, and ran away.

He was barely bitten by the tip of his finger, but warm blood flowed without a break.

Fortunately or unfortunately, his heart was still beating.

The security guard ran out and headed to the hospital emergency center.

“Who bit you?”

“A, a person!”

“…A person?”

The emergency room doctor tilted his head as he checked him.

The virus X killed his heart gradually.

“It’s not a person, is it? I’ll disinfect you for now. Nurse Jung!”

A doctor in a white gown turned around and called a nurse.

“Yes!”

The nurse answered and looked up at the doctor who called her.

Her face turned pale as if bleached.

“Doctor!”

“? What… Aaaah!”

In the meantime, a security guard whose heart had stopped and turned into a zombie bit the doctor’s shoulder.

The patient and the doctor next to him tried to stop the security guard.

The bitten doctor stepped back, holding his shoulder.

The nurse ran to the doctor.

“Disinfectant! Why is there so much blood… Aaaah!”

The nurse who ran to the bitten doctor was bitten on her hand.

The patient and the doctor who were holding the security guard were also bitten.

“What… What is this?”

That’s how the doctor, patient, nurse, and family members were bitten and bit others.

Someone rang the emergency bell.

Security personnel gathered at the emergency center in an emergency situation.

While the emergency center was in chaos, sturdy zombies that poured out of the laboratory attacked people who were heading to the garden and parking lot.

Those who were lightly bitten and still had human hearts beating reflexively looked for doctors or nurses.

They also ran away from people who behaved strangely while stopping their wounds.

No one thought that they would be infected because of their wounds.

The wounded people also still had ‘consciousness’.

The situation that started in the emergency center was conveyed to the center lobby.

The faces of the children in school uniforms who were about to leave the center blurred.

“Ju Won. He must be very sick.”

“Yeah. He gets worse when he gets serious. He was like that before the match too.”

The image of Go Ju Won, who was more nervous than usual, came to mind. The children sighed.

“But I’m glad we brought our bows today.”

“Yeah. You can’t take archery away from Go Ju Won.”

“Let’s come again next week.”

“Yeah!”

And they saw people running out of the emergency center.

They had blank faces and screamed as they ran away.

The people in the lobby looked at the emergency center with anxious expressions, not knowing what was going on.

The zombies that chased after their prey attacked those people.

The children who had promised to come again next week were no exception.

They tried to save their friends, but they ended up being eaten themselves.

People ran and zombies chased them.

The camera did not follow them beyond the angle.

It focused on the children lying on the floor.

The arms and legs of the children in school uniforms twitched.

It was a movement that was completely different from the breaking dance team that was at the center of the camera.

Their joints and limbs did not move in strange directions.

They just got up after being crushed by other zombies.

But it felt different from other zombies.

Realism.

It felt like something they had only seen in pictures was right in front of them.

The audience held their breath as they watched something outside of a human being born.

Someone who was bitten escaped, took an elevator, got in a car, and ran away.

Someone took their family and got in a car.

They called the police on their cell phone, got bitten, and screamed.

It was Avant garde.

Im Jang-woo, who was about to leave, shook his hand as he headed to the parking lot.

People ran out of the emergency center. Behind them were bloody people chasing them.

Old people, patients, and children who were slower than zombies were bitten.

They behaved strangely again.

There were also parents who couldn’t let go of their children and were bitten themselves.

“…Shit!!”

Im Jang-woo’s body moved first, too surprised to think.

This damn occupational disease!

He pushed away a zombie with his leg and handed over a child he saved to his father.

He didn’t have time to receive thanks and ran to another victim.

His body moved and his head started to move.

‘…You change when you get bitten.’

Detective Im Jang-woo scanned the hospital quickly.

O.W.C Hospital surrounded by high walls higher than people.

There were only two entrances: the front door and the back door for staff.

He didn’t know that investigating in advance for fear that a gangster who was hospitalized with a fake illness would escape would be so helpful.

“Kyaaah!”

“Mommy!”

“Euaaang!”

“Aaah!”

There were many people who needed to be saved in front of him, but Im Jang-woo did not hesitate and ran back.

He searched his pocket and took out his car key.

In the meantime, people who escaped from zombies and fell down next to Im Jang-woo, families of children who couldn’t stand still, men who shouted for help, women who reported on their cell phones passed by him.

Im Jang-woo ran to his car, got in quickly, and started it.

He turned the steering wheel without caring about the cars in front and behind him.

Screech!

Im Jang-woo bit his lip and stepped on the accelerator.

Im Jang-woo’s car avoided people and zombies and headed for the front door.

‘You can’t let people out of the hospital!’

Im Jang-woo ran to his car, got in, and drove to the front door.

In the meantime, several cars had left the hospital.

Another one. Im Jang-woo spotted a private car trying to get out of the hospital.

Screech!

Im Jang-woo’s car blocked the front door, almost hitting the private car.

“What are you doing!”

The driver of the blocked car shouted.

He was also anxious, looking back constantly.

“Get out of the way!”

“You can’t go out!”

“Shit! I said get out of the way!!”

The driver glared at Im Jang-woo, who didn’t seem to budge.

He decided to just step on the accelerator.

He comforted his wife and child sitting next to him with a light voice.

He tried hard to shake off the memory of his child being bitten by a monster.

“Just wait a little. Let’s get out of here. We’ll get treated when we get out…!”

The wife sitting next to the driver was in a strange state.

The wife who was holding the child attacked the driver.

“Euaaah!”

Red blood splashed on the front window of the car.

The man’s scream pierced Im Jang-woo’s ears.

‘Thank goodness.’

It would have been a disaster if that family had gone out.

He didn’t know why he thought that way.

He bit his lip.

He was dizzy, not even an hour had passed. But he couldn’t just sit here.

His car alone was not enough to block the front door, which was too wide.

Im Jang-woo ran to close the front door, praying fervently.

He hoped that none of ‘those things’ had gone out of the hospital that had left earlier.

Im Jang-woo’s fight made the audience hold their breath.

The expressionless face as he ran to his car.

The expression of relief for a moment, then guilt on his face.

And then moving again.

They understood.

It was already a mess inside the hospital with few people, but they didn’t know if this situation would spread outside, to the city, region, and country.

‘But could I make that decision?’

They would have been too busy running away to be the first to leave the hospital.

Im Jang-woo closed the front door firmly.

He also drove other cars to block the front door.

He ignored people’s screams.

Im Jang-woo moved silently to block the entrance.

It was easy to find cars with keys in them.

They all ran away and became zombies.

Im Jang-woo searched inside the car, biting his lip.

He had experience catching violent criminals, so he could handle one or two ordinary zombies.

“Jen… Jang!”

That didn’t mean it wasn’t hard.

Im Jang-woo sweated and drove cars that could be driven in front of the front door.

He didn’t know if he could stop people who stepped in cars and tried to escape, but he might be able to stop zombies who ran out blindly.

After repeating the cycle of driving and getting zombies with the car, Im Jang-woo gasped for breath. He wanted to rest for a moment, but he saw people running away in the distance.

“…This damn occupational disease…!”

Im Jang-woo got out of the car after checking for zombies around him.

He had locked the people inside the hospital for the sake of those outside, and now he ran to save the people inside.

***

The zombie outbreak that started from the emergency center had spread to the east and main buildings.

The main building was closer to the laboratory than the other buildings, so the zombies from the laboratory also attacked the main building.

Yeon Jae-hee, who was moving with the fleeing people, recalled the data he had been working on.

Virus. Life extension.

Yeon Jae-hee’s face paled at the unbearable truth. His steps slowed down. Screams and cries were heard. A heavy weight piled up in Yeon Jae-hee’s heart and stopped his steps.

***

Go Ju Won, who was in a ward on the seventh floor of the center, also witnessed the situation.

Go Ju Won, who had finished preparing for everything, hesitated for a moment in front of the ward door.

The nurses and patients looked at him with strange eyes as he came out of the ward in a strange outfit.

It seemed that they had not heard about it yet. Go Ju Won took a cell phone from a nurse and headed downstairs.

Go Ju Won went down.

The atmosphere changed from the third floor.

Screams were heard and people were running upstairs.

The patients, doctors, and nurses on the third floor who were bewildered.

Go Ju Won briefly stopped and looked at the people running in the opposite direction, then moved his steps again with a stern face.

Unlike the people coming up, Go Ju Won went down to the second floor.

The ceiling and walls were still clean as if they had not reached this staircase yet.

Go Ju Won, who was about to run to the central staircase on the lobby side,

“Aaaah!”

He quickly hid his body at the scream.

His breath was fast.

He was about to face the zombies he had seen from afar. Go Ju Won clenched his bow tightly.

The audience also held their breath and curled up their bodies.

Something ran by. It was a person.

And behind him, a horde of zombies chased him.

Go Ju Won closed his eyes tightly.

The screams of the fleeing people were heard.

“Get out of the way! Get out of my way!”

“Aaah! Mom! Dad! Aaaah!”

The voices of the people stimulated the zombies and made them gather to the staircase where Go Ju Won had just come down.

In that gap, Go Ju Won moved his steps.

Go Ju Won, who was looking for his friends while avoiding zombies, met a zombie for the first time.

Go Ju Won looked at the zombie crawling on the floor with a pale face.

A wrinkled face between bloodstains.

It was an old man. He didn’t know him.

Grrrrr.

The zombie spat out a rough cry and crawled toward its prey.

Go Ju Won stepped back without knowing it.

The zombie had no legs.

It seemed that they were eaten by other zombies or crushed by running zombies.

Even in such a situation, it showed its teeth and came to him with a look that was not like a ‘person’ at all.

The ceiling and walls stained with blood.

The screams of people.

The zombies showing their teeth.

The enemy was clear, but that human-like appearance… He couldn’t help but hesitate.

He hesitated for a moment and bit his lip as he pulled out an arrow.

He didn’t tremble when he first held a bow, but his hands holding the bow handle and arrow shook noticeably.

Even so, Go Ju Won aimed his bow at the crawling zombie.

Did he ever feel scared, hard, miserable, and sad while archery?

A red mark was stamped on his happy memories. But Go Ju Won didn’t stop his hand even though he trembled.

“…I’m sorry.”

He had to go save his friends.

Bang!

Hit.

It was not a happy hit.

Go Ju Won looked at the arrow stuck in the zombie and closed his eyes tightly, then pulled out the arrow.

He frowned at the unpleasant sensation.

The audience made the same expression as him.

Ew.

“…Arrows are hard to get. But I wish I had something to clean them with…

The audience agreed with Go Ju Won’s words.

After attacking once, it was easier to make up his mind than before.

He hid himself and attacked zombies that were alone and shot arrows.

Go Ju Won slowly headed to the lobby like that.

Everyone clasped their hands and cheered for Go Ju Won, who was struggling in a different way from Im Jang-woo.

Lim Yeon’s eyes were moist. But Go Ju Won’s friends were already… The audience looked at the boy who was trying hard with pity.

Go Ju Won found his friends in the lobby on the first floor. Go Ju Won’s eyes shook greatly.

His already bad complexion turned white.

Ah. He was too late.

He couldn’t believe it, he looked at it several times.

He shed tears at the sight of his bloodstained friends. He bit his lips to keep the sound from coming out and cried.

‘What should I do now? What should I do now?’
He couldn’t save his friends, and there was nothing he could do in this situation as a middle school student.

Anyway, everyone would be eaten by zombies… He almost gave up, his eyes were dim and blurred.

Someone’s cell phone came into his eyes.

Ah.

‘It’s Jinho’s.’

He stared blankly at the cell phone covered with a case and wiped his tears and got up.

‘I have to tell Jinho’s parents.’

‘I have to tell my friends’ parents too.’

‘…And I have to apologize.’

Sniff. He blew his nose and picked up his bow.

He pulled out an arrow and shot it where it seemed to make the loudest noise.

The arrow flew into the air and broke the vending machine glass and collided with the cans loudly.

The zombies ran to the vending machine at the sound.

In the meantime, Go Ju Won snatched his friend’s cell phone.

He had to get the arrow back from the zombies, but he didn’t care if it was for his friend’s cell phone.

He carefully took his friend’s cell phone and headed back to his original ward to reorganize.

All the elevators were up, and he had no choice but to use the stairs.

People’s screams were still heard.

He avoided the zombies that were drawn to the sound and Go Ju Won changed direction and headed up.

“Shit!! Get this out of here!!”

And he faced a dismal reality on the stairs between the sixth and seventh floors.

He knew it would happen.

The audience’s faces became fierce as they cheered for Go Ju Won, who did not give up and evacuated again.

They felt their blood pressure rise as if they were watching a disaster movie with sweet potatoes.

“Are you bitten?!”

“I’m not bitten!!”

People who had brought a lot of beds and furniture blocked the stairs.

The people on the seventh floor who felt relief and vigilance, and the people below the seventh floor who had anxious expressions on their faces.

Loud voices flew everywhere.

“Anyway, you can’t come in here! Go somewhere else!!”

Swearing came out.

A beating came out.

People who climbed on beds and people who blocked them with long sticks were mixed together.

Go Ju Won, who looked at those adults with a cold face, clenched his bow on his shoulder and moved to another place.

***

-It’s crazy in the theater too ㅎ

-The reactions are all the sameㅋㅋ They’re so surprised!! > Surprised! > Zombies appear > ㅎ더ㅔㅂㄷ > No answer

-But how can they not say anythingㅎ

-222 I would have blown them all up.

-Ahhh! I’m dying of curiosity!! I hope the reviews come up soon!!

Chapter 212

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 212

Im Jang-woo, Go Ju Won, and Yeon Jae-hee, who joined them from the third floor of the main building, headed to the laboratory.

The three of them searched through Professor Maria’s lab and found the vaccine.

They also obtained the materials to make Molotov cocktails.

They decided to use the sprinklers to spread the vaccine and each of them had their own task to do.

Yeon Jae-hee handed over some of the vaccine and all the data to Go Ju Won and left the room with Im Jang-woo with a grim face.

Go Ju Won locked the door and placed a few chairs in front of it.

Im Jang-woo and Yeon Jae-hee went to the basement.

They killed, pushed, and kicked the zombies.

“It’s definitely harder without Ju Won! … It’s exhausting!”

“They keep getting up! … Yeah!”

Im Jang-woo and Yeon Jae-hee took a break in a small office after fighting off the zombies.

They drank some water to moisten their throats and soaked their weapons in the water mixed with the vaccine.

“Ah. Read this.”

“This?”

Im Jang-woo took out a piece of paper that he had stuffed in his pocket.

It was a paper that he had found in the conference room before going to the laboratory.

Yeon Jae-hee took the crumpled paper.

It was someone’s medical chart written in English.

“… Is this Ju Won’s?”

“Yeah. He must have been sick enough to be hospitalized… But he seems fine from the way he moves, right?”

Yeon Jae-hee read down the paper.

He didn’t know much about medical terms, but he managed to translate them with the English dictionary on his phone.

His eyes widened as he looked at the chart.

‘What? What kind of disease is it?’

Lim Yeon hadn’t forgotten about Go Ju Won’s friends.

A serious disease.

How could he have such a disease when he moved so well?

If it wasn’t for the first part where he came out wearing a hospital gown, she wouldn’t have even noticed that he was sick.

Go Ju Won, who was left alone in the room, fiddled with his bow a few times and rubbed his eyes with both palms.

Im Jang-woo and Yeon Jae-hee left the office and ran to their destination.

The hospital was large, so was the water tank.

They lifted up a large lid that looked like a manhole cover and sprinkled all the vaccine they had brought.

Next was the control room.

While Im Jang-woo smashed the head of a zombie that was in the control room, Yeon Jae-hee touched the blood-stained equipment.

The main building where the water tank was located, the east wing, and the center where there were most zombies.

He made all the sprinklers attached to every building except for the isolated laboratory work at once.

“It’s done!”

“Then let’s spray it!”

“Yes!”

Yeon Jae-hee pressed the activation button.

A few seconds later, the sprinkler attached to the ceiling of the control room started working.

Im Jang-woo and Yeon Jae-hee checked on the zombies’ condition.

They were still intact (?) zombies, but they would stop moving as time passed.

Yeon Jae-hee looked at the monitor with a bright expression while soaked in water from the sprinkler.

“Uh… Uh!?”

Why? Why?

The audience who were happy to see the ending soon were startled by Yeon Jae-hee’s reaction.

And then, the screen turned back to where Go Ju Won was.

The sprinkler in Go Ju Won’s room was also working and water was pouring down.

Go Ju Won smiled brightly and laughed. To Go Ju Won, this water was proof that Jae-hee hyung and uncle Jang-woo had safely reached the water tank and that he could bring his friends back.

The camera briefly showed Go Ju Won who was soaked wet and smiling brightly without any hesitation, then moved to show a cell phone on his desk.

The cell phone that was set to silent mode blinked. Go Ju Won quickly picked up his phone.

-Ju Won!

“Jae-hee hyung! There’s water!”

He smiled brightly and purely like a flower.

Uh.

The audience clutched their hearts at his smile.

“Ju Won! I’m sorry!”

Go Ju Won’s heart sank as he heard his apology before he could even ask why. Yeon Jae-hee blurted out before he could say anything.

“It must be broken. Even if I use the manual device, I can’t make the center sprinkler work at all! If you don’t activate the center sprinkler right now, only the main building and east wing will get water from the water tank with the vaccine!”

Go Ju Won jumped up from his seat. He put his phone on his shoulder and moved quickly. He grabbed his arrows, his phones to throw, and his Molotov cocktails. It was a matter of seconds.

“What do I have to do?”

“I’m really sorry!”

Yeon Jae-hee and Im Jang-woo ran while fighting the zombies. There was still time left until the effect of the medicine kicked in, until the zombies stopped completely.

Go Ju Won removed the chairs that he had placed in front of the door while listening to Yeon Jae-hee.

“Do you have a lighter and a Molotov cocktail? Go to the bridge on the third floor that connects to the center and set it on fire! If you activate one sensor, the sprinklers in the entire center will work! You have to do it as fast as possible!”
“How long can we use the water from the water tank?”

Im Jang-woo asked as he lifted a zombie’s jaw with a steel pipe.

“Less than five minutes left!”

No matter how fast Go Ju Won was, he couldn’t run from the first floor of the main building to the third floor of the main building, east wing, and center that were full of zombies in less than five minutes.

“… But we have to try as much as we can.”

“Yeah. Let’s go quickly!”

Im Jang-woo pulled Yeon Jae-hee and pushed away the zombies.

“Hyung.”

They heard Go Ju Won’s voice over the phone.

“I just have to set it on fire, right?”
“… What are you trying to do?”

“Shoot arrows. To the center.”

Im Jang-woo shouted out loud.
“Don’t you dare shoot any arrows!”

He was too worried about the zombies coming at them to care about anything else.

It was a reflexive scream.

“Uncle?”

“You were hospitalized because of stress-induced vision loss!”

“… How did you know?”

“I found your medical chart. If this gets worse…”

A disease that could lead to blindness.

It wasn’t a normal vision loss, but a condition that had no known cause.

He was going to find out the cause while he was hospitalized.

The screen went back to before the sprinkler started working.

Yeon Jae-hee read the paper with trembling eyes.

“Go Ju Won. 14 years old. Archery prodigy… Stress-induced vision loss… Blindness possible…”

Only then did the audience remember Go Ju Won’s appearance.

Go Ju Won who couldn’t grab the window frame properly. Go Ju Won who swung his bow at Im Jang-woo.

The reason why his archery club friends said he had a serious disease.

Oh my god…!

It wasn’t fear or a joke about zombies.

They all shut their mouths.

He didn’t hesitate this time.

Water poured down from the sprinkler.

It soaked his hair and ran down his cheeks.

“My disease is not like normal people who wear glasses when their eyes get worse.”

Go Ju Won moved while shooting arrows at zombies with his archery skills.

His vision blurred. His sight flickered.

“It suddenly gets blurry and I can’t see anything. You don’t know how surprised I was when I couldn’t see during class.”

He spoke lightly, but they imagined how scared Go Ju Won must have been.

“Stop it! Don’t shoot any arrows! You’re stressed out!”

Im Jang-woo shouted at the phone. The noise attracted more zombies. Go Ju Won laughed.

“No, you’re wrong.”

“What?”

Go Ju Won ran from the first floor to the third floor of the main building and came out to the garden on the third floor.

The second floor of the main building was protruding like an L shape, and the roof of the second floor, which was also a spacious terrace for the third floor, was decorated like a garden.

There were some empty spaces in the garden surrounded by wooden fences.

There was no ceiling here, so the sprinklers in the flower beds were working.

The zombies that were soaked in water wandered around.

There were few of them, but he couldn’t let his guard down.

“I didn’t want to use this…”

[ Jinho ]

His friend’s phone that he picked up from the center lobby.

He looked down at the phone with a bitter face and threw it to a corner of the garden.

He pressed the call button.

Bang!

The OST of Escape played.

The zombies flocked to the phone. Go Ju Won stood at the closest place to the center.

The phone blinked.

Oops. He must have hung up when he called Jinho.

“Go Ju Won!”

“I’m sorry. I hung up because I needed to use the phone.”

“Forget that, don’t shoot any arrows!”

Go Ju Won smiled.

“It’s okay.”

He felt his vision stabilize as he gripped his bow tightly.

His sight became clear and refreshing as if the sun was rising in the dark night sky.

He smiled brightly while holding his bow.

“I feel less stressed when I hold my bow.”

“…What?”

Go Ju Won took out a Molotov cocktail from his bag and lit it.

He smashed it on the ground without any hesitation.

Flames rose up.

“I feel comfortable and happy when I shoot arrows. I don’t have any thoughts and my mind is empty.”

“You almost hit me when you swung your bow earlier!”

He took out a wick from another Molotov cocktail and wrapped it around the arrowhead.

He left the sharp part of the arrowhead exposed. He put the arrow in the fire.

It caught fire after a while.

The arrowhead burned brightly.

“It’s different between swinging and shooting, uncle.”

Go Ju Won’s phone fell from his hand.

Stance.

He stood with his feet comfortably apart.

He paid attention to his basic posture as he did when he first held his bow.

‘One chance.’

Nocking.

He put the flaming arrow on the string.

His left hand that held the bow near the fire was hot. But his heart was calm and his mind was clear.

‘Is it more than 70m? Or less?’

Jinho’s phone was stepped on by zombies’ feet.

The zombies’ attention shifted to Go Ju Won who was standing in front of the railing as soon as the bell sound disappeared.

The sprinkler in the garden was working, but there was still time left until the effect showed up.

“Go Ju Won!”

“Ju Won!”

He found his target and his eyes sparkled.

I won’t be late this time.

The sun was setting next to Go Ju Won. He was stained red, either by blood or by sunset light.

He concentrated more than ever.

His vision was clearer and sharper than ever.

He didn’t hear any sound.

Not the OST, not the zombies’ screams, not the shouts from the phone.

A silence that seemed to hear his heartbeat. But it wasn’t a fearful feeling like when he saw zombies.

Rather, it felt refreshing and the audience unconsciously held their breaths and looked at Go Ju Won.

Drawing.

He suppressed his emotions and maintained his breathing while keeping his posture straight and slowly pulling back the string.

The string felt heavier and lighter than ever.

Anchor.

The string lightly pressed against Go Ju Won’s cheek.

The blood washed away by sprinkler water, but Go Ju Won’s face showed his hardships.

He looked tired but his eyes were shining.

And, release!

He let go of the string as if he let go of all his worries and feelings.

It was a perfect release more than ever.

Thud!

The arrow left the bow and pierced through the open window and hit the door of a ward.

The wooden door burned up in an instant.

The temperature around rose and smoke started to come out.

And then,

The sensor of the closest sprinkler activated.

Swoosh!

Water started to spray from the sprinklers.

Not only on the third floor of the center, but from all the sprinklers in the entire building.

Go Ju Won looked at the third and fourth floors where the sprinklers were activated.

He could see water pouring down from the windows.

Then he looked at the first floor where his friends were.

Five minutes.

His phone, which he had set an alarm for, had not rung yet.

Tears streamed down Go Ju Won’s face.

…He wasn’t late this time.

Kyaah!

Zombies rushed at him.

Go Ju Won felt the tension that he had been holding all day loosen.

His vision darkened with relief.

He had no chance to escape from the zombies that were getting closer and closer.

“Go Ju Won!”

With a sound of something breaking, he heard Uncle Jang-woo and hyung Jae-hee’s voices. He felt a warm touch that was different from the zombie’s arm.

Go Ju Won smiled and lost consciousness.

“Ju Won!”

Im Jang-woo quickly caught Go Ju Won as he collapsed.

The vaccine that had spread through the zombies’ bodies finally worked.

The zombies in the third floor garden stopped moving.

The zombies in the main building and the east wing were probably in the same state, and it would take some more time for the center where the sprinklers were activated.

The sprinklers suddenly turned on and people’s voices were heard from outside.

And silence without the chilling screams.

The survivors who were confused by the sudden situation peeked out of the window and looked down.

“Go Ju Won!”

The third floor garden that was in a mess. Im Jang-woo and Yeon Jae-hee, who didn’t even realize that the zombies had completely stopped, checked Go Ju Won’s condition while calling his name.

The red sunset that looked like blood was replaced by a warm orange sunset.

[A few days later]

“Our Ju Won looks so good with glasses!”

“Really? I feel a bit awkward…”

“No! They suit you very well!”

Go Ju Won, who wore glasses, smiled shyly. He still had a bow in his hand.

“Don’t you have to go to another room, hyung?”

A spacious hospital room.

Im Jang-woo, Go Ju Won, and Yeon Jae-hee were sitting on the bed. They only had minor injuries, but lying on the bed was also a hardship.

“We went into the research center, so we’re under quarantine. There’s already a mess and no rooms available… I’m fine.”

“I want to go to another room.”

Im Jang-woo’s words made Go Ju Won and Yeon Jae-hee laugh out loud. They laughed at everything he said.

“But what will happen now?”

Im Jang-woo had desperately stopped the zombie outbreak, but it only ended with a few zombies. But the situation got worse when people who mistook them for emergency patients moved them to nearby hospitals. Im Jang-woo sighed.

“I really wanted to faint when I heard that…”

The government mobilized the military to seal off the hospitals and places where zombies were.

The internet was in chaos, there were traffic accidents, fires, and it was hard to tell people from zombies.

Then he got a call from a detective.

He said he had found the cause and solution of this incident.

He said he would send a helicopter.

Im Jang-woo picked up Go Ju Won who had fainted and went to the rooftop with Yeon Jae-hee, passing by the zombies that had stopped moving and clearing away (?) the survivors.

The survivors who were on the upper floors of the main building flocked to see the helicopter, but the soldiers only waited for the detective and his party.

Im Jang-woo, Go Ju Won, and Yeon Jae-hee escaped from the hospital using the helicopter. Of course, the rest of the people in the hospital would be out soon.

Go Ju Won, who had lost consciousness, was taken to a hospital for treatment and Yeon Jae-hee and Im Jang-woo were interrogated after emergency treatment in a quarantined place. After that, they met their families. Go Ju Won, Yeon Jae-hee, and Im Jang-woo cried their eyes out at their healthy families and their families did too.

Im Jang-woo, who had met his family in the morning, lay down on his bed.

“I guess they’ll figure it out with the medicine and the research data. Maybe it’ll be fine if they spray it like rain.”

“I wish you’d stop asking me that. I think I’ll be discharged soon… The first thing I’ll do when I get out is eat some cake.”

“I want to do archery!”

“…Ju Won. Don’t you ever get tired of that?”

The conversation of the three people soon drifted to other topics.

The camera that was capturing the comfortable scene of the three people left the isolated ward and went down the stairs.

The camera showed the black-suited officials and the white-coated doctors, and then focused on the TV in the lobby.

[The news of finding a vaccine for ‘Virus X’, also known as the zombie outbreak, has been announced. The government said it would start production immediately based on the data and vaccine found at the research lab of ‘O.W.C Hospital’, the first source of infection in our country.

…The virus X, which has spread to not only the U.S. but also Russia and Europe, is still uncertain when it can be completely eradicated.

…The buildings related to O.W.C. around the world, which are the cause of the zombie outbreak, are all sealed off, and most of the people involved are expected to be infected with virus X. However, there are also opinions that there are many places that have not been revealed yet, so for a while…]

The announcer’s voice faded and the screen went black.

The audience, who had been tense in case zombies suddenly appeared, breathed a sigh of relief as the theater brightened up.

Escape, which had made their hearts flutter with its sweet and salty charm for two hours, was over.

Ouch.

There were groans from here and there.

It was the sound of the audience stretching their bodies that had been curled up under the pressure of zombies.

“But I feel like I forgot something?”

“? What?”

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga, as well as the audience, felt a nagging feeling as they massaged their stiff bodies. They felt like they had forgotten something, but their memory was faint because they were too immersed in the movie.

“…What was it?”

As everyone tried to recall, the ending scroll came up with the actors’ names written in Korean.

[Samuel played by Evan Block]

[Professor Maria played by Rachel Hill]

[Chaebol 3rd generation played by Park Do-hoon]

[Security team leader played by Lee Ji-seok]

“Uh. Evan Block!”

“Rachel Hill!”

Everyone’s mouth dropped open.

And then the cookie video came up. No, it was not a video, but a picture.

A picture of Evan Block, Rachel Hill, Lee Seo-jun, Kim Jong-ho, Lee Da-jin, Lee Ji-seok, and Park Do-hoon together appeared at the end of the ending scroll.

“Aaaaaah!!”

The theater exploded with the screams of the audience who came to their senses.

Chapter 213

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 213

The door of the theater opened.

The people who were waiting for the next showtime craned their necks and looked at the faces of the audience who came out of the theater.

They all knew about the ‘strange reactions’ that had been posted on the internet for two hours.

“Oh my god. Are they crazy?”

“How much money did they spend?”

“I never imagined I would see this in a Korean movie.”

The audience who came out of the theater were very excited.

They didn’t speak loudly, but they kept whispering to each other or explaining to someone on the phone. Their behavior gave a strange sense of anticipation to the people who were waiting.

‘It must be something amazing.’

The people who saw Lim Yeon and Park Seonga talking eagerly with sparkling eyes entered the theater full of expectations.

And soon after, they opened their mouths wide and stared at the screen.

“…Crazy. Did you guys know?”

“No.”

They felt goosebumps all over their bodies.

They all came out of the theater with excited faces.

They were so surprised at first, and then they were so focused on the movie that they barely ate the popcorn and drinks they bought.

“I never expected those actors to appear…”

“But what’s more amazing is that I totally forgot about them when the movie ended.”

“The immersion… was no joke.”

Immersion.

Kim Suhan and his friends suddenly remembered seven years ago.

The child actor’s performance that captivated both the children who were making noise with Zombies’s roar and the adults who were not interested.

“It was no joke back then too.”

“That zombie. It was Seo-jun.”

“Ugh. It’s still scary to think about it.”

They all shivered at the scenes that came to their minds.

The people who were waiting for the next showtime looked at Kim Suhan and his friends’ reactions with curiosity.

What was going on inside the theater?

***

The media was also in chaos.

Some people were regretting hearing the spoilers, but most of them grabbed their phones and called with shining eyes.

“That’s why they didn’t do any broadcast promotions! Do you have any contact with Lee Ji-seok’s agency?!”

“No! It seems like they’re on the phone! But I think I wouldn’t reveal it either!”

“Are they insane?! How come no one knew that those two came to Korea? What about Lee Da-jin?!”

“Same here! I want to see the movie too!!”

The veterans who mixed their opinions and comments with their impressions looked at the youngest writer who blinked his eyes.

“I want to see it too! What are you doing here?”

“Uh… There’s a post that’s getting popular.”

“A post?”

The PD and writers who were constantly calling Park Do-hoon’s agency looked at the youngest writer’s laptop.

[Title: Evan Block, Rachel Hill and a foreigner who looks like them.]

-…You really saw them…

-Why didn’t you recognize them!

=ㄱㅆ : ㅠㅠRachel Hill spoke Korean very wellㅠㅠ You saw it in the movieㅠㅠ

=That’s not acting, but real skill?

=ㄱㅆ : ㅠㅠIt’s trueㅠㅠ

-How could you not know if they spoke that much! They’re Rachel Hill and Evan Block!

-I feel sorry for you. You saw them right in front of you! You even talked to them!

=ㄱㅆ : ㅠㅠㅠ

-So what did Evan Block and Rachel Hill buy?

=ㄱㅆ : Well…

!

The main PD leaned his head forward as if he was going to enter the monitor. His eyes sparkled in the light of the monitor.

“There was something like this?”

“It was buried when it first came up, but it seems like it started to get popular after Escape was released.”

“Oh my god. Writer Lim! Can you find out where this is?”

Writer Lim, who was calling Park Do-hoon’s agency, answered.

“I think I can find out if I look for it… Are you going to send out a broadcast?”

“…Is that impossible?”

“Isn’t this a spoiler too? The forum will go crazy. The other broadcasters and media outlets must know by now. Look at the articles that came out so far.”

Writer Lim changed the screen on the monitor and showed it to the main PD.

[The reason why you must watch Escape!]

[Spoiler alert! What you need to know before watching Escape!]

[The movie beyond imagination, Escape!]

There were many articles about Escape, but there was no ‘E’ for Evan Block or ‘R’ for Rachel Hill.

They were all watching each other. Who would be the first to take the lead. The first one to spill the beans would get all kinds of curses, but the second one would be fine.

“…They’re amazing.”

The main PD swallowed his saliva.

But it was too wasteful to just keep this good topic for a few weeks. The PD and writers who were in trouble saw the youngest writer raise his hand.

“Um… How about Shadowman?”

“Shadowman?”

“Not Escape, but Shadowman. Just loosely connect them. The cast is the same, right?”

“Uh…?”

That’s not bad.

The PD and writers looked at each other. They had a good reaction and the youngest writer continued to speak.

“Anyway, since it’s already revealed that Seo-jun is the lead, just show some clips of him with Evan Block and Rachel Hill.”

“Oh!”

And on the second day of Escape’s release.

The scheduled TV program changed.

[OCM, Shadowman1, Shadowman2, Assemble1, Assemble2 special broadcast!]

[WTV, WTV Awards rerun!]

-Huh? Suddenly?

-Are they hinting that Shadowman3 will come out next year?

-Hehehehe.

=Hehehehe.

-???Why are you like that???

-There are many eyes that don’t know here.

=Just sell one. I’ll buy it expensive.

Those who knew knew, and those who didn’t know didn’t know.

The broadcasters’ actions began.

The other broadcasters who didn’t have any footage related to Evan Block and Rachel Hill sent out footage related to Seo-jun.

[MBS, Golden Globe Awards rerun!]

[SBC, Working Man Seo-jun episode rerun!]

[KBC, The Royal Physician rerun!]

-It’s really a promotion for Escape without Seo-junㅎㅎ

-They didn’t even do this much when he won an award. It’s amazing.

-Oh. That’s not it…

=Shh. They don’t know yet!

=Yeah. Let’s spare them. They don’t know.

-??What is it that they don’t know?

=They don’t know Escape.

=22 If you can, watch it soon.

=333 There are so many clues in the worldㅎㅎ They can’t enjoy themㅎ

As the comments said, there were many clues in the world.

[Evan Block]

Escape was fun. I don’t know who Samuel is, but he was a good actor!

I hope we can act together next time.

#Escape#Korean movie#Who is Samuel?#He was as good as me;)

[Rachel Hill]

Escape. It’s written [탈출] in Korean and pronounced [Escape] in English!

Professor Maria! She’s such a cool character!

#Escape#Korean movie#Who is Maria?#She spoke Korean very well:)

[Ryan Will]

I want to make a hero movie with Samuel and Maria someday.

They both impressed me with their acting.

#Escape#Korean movie#Hero movie

-Wow. Evan Block praised him? He must be really good.

-Right. It’s a Korean movie. Then he’s Korean?

=No. That’s not itㅋㅋ

-Rachel Hill learned Korean? Is she good?

=She’s very goodㅋㅋ She could even star in a Korean movieㅋㅋ

-Ryan director too. Are they both Korean actors?

-Noㅋㅋ You guys are too muchㅋㅋ

[Escape Forum (Spoiler)]

-(Evan Block, Rachel Hill, Ryan Will SNS link)

-The Shadowman team is having fun togetherㅋㅋ

-Reallyㅋㅋ Ryan director is filming this year. Shadowman3ㅋㅋ

-Seo-jun would be perfect if he had SNS

-Seo-jun doesn’t do SNSㅎ

Oh my god!!

I see why they said they were crazyㅎ There’s no way they wouldn’t be!!

-You’re watching the movie now?

-I was also very surprised(reminded)

Oh. Zombies! They made them very well!

But they have less impact than the actors?

-You’re hereㅋㅋ

-That’s not the problemㅋ

Whaㅔ;ㅣㅂ;ㅈ

-You got eaten by a zombieㅎㅎ

-But it’s still scary to think about itㅎㄷㄷ

***

Yeoul Arts Elementary School was noisy.

Many of the kids who were interested in movies had seen Escape.

And of course, they couldn’t help but be interested in the fact that the kids who went to the same school were in it.

The Escape they saw was shocking.

“Oh my god. Oh my god!”

The students and teachers who saw Escape said ‘oh my god’ with a surprised expression when they saw Seo-jun.

Jinho, J00-kyung, Ju-hee, and Jae-han, who were in Escape, also dragged Seo-jun to a corner with trembling eyes.

“What is this?”

“Hehehe.”

“This is not hehehe!”

“Evan Block and Rachel Hill came?”

“To the set?”

Seo-jun shook his head at the kids who asked with sparkling eyes.

“No. They filmed it at the indoor set.”

“Ah, I see.”

“I wanted to meet them once…”

The children looked disappointed, but Seo-jun smiled and said.

“They gave you long padding jackets at the shooting site, right? Those were from Evan and Rachel.”

The children’s eyes widened and their cheeks slowly turned red.

“Really!?”

“They wrote the words on the back themselves. Well, they printed them, but still.”

“Wow!”

The children’s faces sparkled like flowers.

“I put mine in the corner!”

“Dry cleaning! I have to call my mom!”

“I’m going to hang it on the wall as soon as I get home!”

“That’s a good idea! Make sure the words are visible!”

Seo-jun blinked at the children’s reaction.

“This summer?”

The black long padding jacket hanging on the wall looked hot just by looking at it.

“What does it matter? It’s signed by Rachel Hill and Evan Block!”

Seo-jun shrugged at the sight of the excited children. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a signature, but if his friends liked it, then it was good.

***

The internet had turned into a battlefield.

It was a very fierce war of invisible swords and shields.

Those who spoiled the movie and those who got spoiled.

-Someone wrote an Escape spoiler in the bathroomㅠ

-It’s too inhumane to write it on the test paper while grading!?

-I heard it in front of the theaterㅠㅠ

-I was trading second-hand goodsㅠㅠ The verification post was a spoilerㅠㅠ

And those who were still blocking with shields.

-Aaaaaaaah. I can’t hear. I can’t hear!

-Uaaaaaaah. I can’t see. I can’t see!

-I survived today! I blocked my ears and didn’t look at the internet!

=You’re on the internet nowㅎ

-The real-time search terms are dangerous too!

-ㅠㅠ There are mines everywhere.

-I want to see it on the screen too…!

And two weeks passed.

Everyone who wanted to see the movie had seen it, or so they thought, and those who kept their secrets shouted out loud, “The king’s ears are donkey ears!”

[Why is he here? The unexpected stars who appeared in ‘Escape’!]

[00 00 and 00 0! Special appearance in Escape!]

[Escape cameo 4!]

[What’s going on?! The stars who cameoed in Escape!]

[Escape theme park opens! Reservation only!]

-I almost fainted when I saw his face in the theater.

=Me too. I was so shocked that I couldn’t speak.

=I kept laughing nervouslyㅎㅎ

-But isn’t the article title too obvious? 00 00 and 00 0?

=The number of letters is clearly Evan Block and Rachel Hillㅋㅋ

-I didn’t expect Park Do-hoon and Lee Ji-seok to be there too.

-It’s Seo-jun’s network.

-His network is amazingㅋㅋ

-Escape theme park?

=I want to go and see… but how will it be…?

=Then watch the broadcast first. Moviegoer said he filmed it.

=Really? Escape theme park experience?

Chapter 214

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 214

“Hello, this is Moviegoer.”

Moviegoer greeted the camera.

-It’s cold!

-Long time no see!

“Yes, it’s been a while since I did an outdoor broadcast. There’s no reason to broadcast outside when I’m reviewing movies.”

-Over the Rainbow was really impulsive lol

-That was a Lee Seo-jun movie and this is also a Lee Seo-jun movie.

-Are you in a car? On your way to Escape?

“Yes, I’m on my way to Escape Theme Park. Have you all seen Escape?”

-Yes, it was awesome

-I saw it on the first day

-I watched it five times!

Moviegoer smiled at the comments saying they watched it multiple times.

“I watched it eight times. I was lucky to see it on the first day, so I didn’t get spoiled. How about you?”

-I saw it on the first day too!!

-On the second day!

There were comments from people who got spoiled and people who didn’t.

-I heard that Evan Block and Rachel Hill were in it, but I thought it was a joke. I didn’t even know it was a spoiler after hearing it lol. I found out after watching the movie.

-Me too. I couldn’t believe it.

-I saw Evan Block and Rachel Hill’s SNS and thought they were new actors. But they were both so funny lol

-I also heard that Evan Block and Rachel Hill were in it. I couldn’t believe that they were Lee Seo-jun’s connections. But…

“But?”

Moviegoer and the viewers were interested in one comment.

-And there’s also Davis Garrett and Swalin Arnham!

-…What?

-lol You believed that?

-I did. It’s Lee Seo-jun. When I saw Evan and Rachel in the movie, I thought Davis Garrett and Swalin Arnham would also appear, so I waited for them throughout the movie.

“They didn’t appear.”

-I was really looking forward to itㅠㅠ

-lol

-But I couldn’t even imagine that they would appear.

“Me neither. When I first saw them, I thought they hired actors who looked alike. That’s what I thought.”

-That’s probably why they released it simultaneously overseas.

-It’s crazy in other countries too lol

-I went to see a Korean movie and Hollywood actors came out lol

-But they wouldn’t be more surprised than us.

-Now that it’s revealed, I wish they would tell us some episodes during the shooting haha

-I wish the actors would come out and do some variety shows!!

“There was a scene that made me forget about Evan Block and Rachel Hill’s appearance, right?”

-From there on…

-Chills

-I’ve never seen a real zombie, but he moved like one.

“It was his second time to make such a heavy atmosphere without showing his face.”

“I looked at the ending credits and he was listed as ‘Zombie Beyond the Door’.”

-Seo-jun!

-Lee Seo-jun!

-Only Lee Seo-jun!

“Yes, it was actor Lee Seo-jun. He showed his acting skills in his role and also showed us the real zombie in Escape.”

-It was fun to watch

-It was sad, scary, and touching. He did it all by himself haha

“Ah, we’re here. This is the Escape filming site. Escape Theme Park.”

Moviegoer got out of the car and showed the surroundings with his phone camera. He avoided the side where other people were and turned the camera to the side where there were fewer people.

“The parking lot is spacious. It’s by reservation, so I think everyone who comes at their scheduled time can be accommodated. There are also bus spaces.”

-Is today the first day of opening?

“Yes, today is the first day. Shall we go in then? I’ll review Escape while looking around the filming site.”

He checked his reservation and passed the entrance.

After walking a little bit, he saw another entrance.

It was the entrance of O.W.C Hospital.

The entrance of O.W.C Hospital was blocked by crumpled cars.

There was a path for people to pass through between them.

It was not a straight line, but a winding road made of cars.

The car at the front was Im Jang-woo’s car.

The car that blocked him had bloodstains all over the front window.

Moviegoer and the viewers marveled at it as he filmed it with his camera.

“Wow, they recreated it exactly. It looks like they brought real cars.”

-Are they the same cars?

-Im Jang-woo was amazing.

“The pamphlet says they are not real cars but models. Wow, they are amazing. The crumpled cars and bloodstains look so real. It feels like zombies will pop out any minute.”

-It must be fun!!

-I love this kind of stuff!

“Then let’s keep going.”

Moviegoer got out of the winding cars. The people who came today were also excited by the realistic filming site.

“The building of Escape Theme Park is similar to the hospital in the movie. It’s named Center, East Wing, and Main Building in a D shape. The difference is that the hospital building was tall, but the Center is three stories high and the East Wing and Main Building are two stories high. The laboratory set is in the Main Building.”

-Oh, then the rest is CG?

-Probably. It would be hard to make or rent a real hospital that high.

“The pamphlet says to go around in the order of Center, East Wing, and Main Building. That would be easier to move around too. Then let’s go inside the Center first. First, the emergency center.”

The first thing he could see was the emergency center, which showed the horrible situation of the zombie outbreak.

The ceiling and walls were covered with blood.

The beds and broken objects were in a mess, and there was a single shoe and broken glasses left alone.

And there were models of the security guard who escaped from the laboratory and the doctor who was bitten by him.

-Wow.

-The zombies look real too.

The filming site that recreated a scene from the movie, and the yellow police line that blocked the intrusion of tourists, gave them a sense of reality.

“Then next is the lobby. You can’t leave out the story of Go Joo Won’s friends when you talk about the lobby.”

-Yes, they acted well.

-They looked like real zombies.

-Wasn’t it because the director did a good job with them?

-They acted well, so the director did a good job with them.

“They did really well. They were the second most zombie-like zombies after ‘Zombie Beyond the Door’. Of course, if you talk about strange movements, the Bone Breaking Dance Team was amazing too, but the zombies that I remember for a long time were the child actors’ zombies.”

Moviegoer turned his camera lens to the lobby. The lobby was also as messy as the emergency center. In the middle of it, there were zombies wearing school uniforms. The viewers marveled at the sight of zombies that seemed to be frozen behind the yellow police line.

“They look like they’re going to move any minute. They are collaborative models of Hollywood special makeup team Mirror Team.”

-Wow. Scary.

-It looked like it could move at any moment.

-But I don’t think Go Ju Won could have saved his friends even if he ran right away. Then it’s not his fault, right?

“Well, that’s true. But people’s hearts are not always rational. He probably just keeps thinking about his own mistakes.”

Moviegoer looked around and spotted a place.

“This is where Go Ju Won looked at his friends. They couldn’t install a police line here, so they didn’t make a model. That’s too bad. He shot an arrow from here to that vending machine over there.”

Everyone laughed at Moviegoer’s awkward pose.

“Ahem. Then let’s go to the second floor.”

After touring the entire second floor, Moviegoer went up to the third floor. The third floor corridor of the center was flooded with water in some places.

“This is… sprinkler water, I think. Oh. There are arrows here too.”

-Wow. There are burn marks on them.

-They’re totally black!!

-I want to go too!

Moviegoer looked at the arrows and then at the wide-open window beyond. The rooftop of the main building across was decorated like a garden. There was a hole in the wooden fence that surrounded it.

Moviegoer exclaimed as he looked at the rooftop garden.

“Go Ju Won’s model is over there!”

-Ju Won!!

-Wow!! Let’s go see!

“Let’s look around first and go there at the end. Next is the east wing.”

The east wing had the shelter that Go Ju Won made, the Bluetooth speakers hanging on the wall, and the bed model that blocked between the sixth and seventh floors in the movie. Here, it was blocked between the second and third floors of the east wing.

Moviegoer looked up blankly at the bed wall that came up higher than expected.

“…It looks more hopeless when you see it in person.”

-Those bastards!!

-I understand they were scared, but they should have let in living people!

As he walked along the second floor corridor of the east wing to go to the main building, Moviegoer looked out the window. There were a couple, Im Jang-woo, and a zombie with an arrow stuck in its left eye standing there as if they were about to collapse.

“Im Jang-woo’s model is over there. Wow. This is the second floor, but it’s not far from here, is it? He shot an arrow from the third floor and hit there, that’s amazing. Lee Seo-jun’s archery skills are not ordinary.”

-Awesome.

-But isn’t it edited?

-Right. Maybe they edited it somehow?

“No. I heard this from someone related, but Lee Seo-jun actually shot from the third floor to there himself. The arrow stuck there and the model are the same ones they used for filming.”

-Wow! That’s amazing!

-Moviegoer has some connections too.

-222 That’s why I only watch Moviegoer reviewsㅎ

“Ahahaha. Thank you for watching.”

Moviegoer headed to the main building.

“This is the hospital room where Park Do-hoon played the chaebol third generation. There’s also a Park Do-hoon model here.”

The model lying on the bed had a scrunched-up face as if he was listening intently. Moviegoer and the viewers shuddered as they remembered that scene.

-Park Do-hoon did well too. I was 200% immersed in him.

-222 I didn’t know it would be so scary to not move your body.

-I wish Lee Ji-seok had more screen time.

-Lee Ji-seok should stop being with Lee Seo-jun now??

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

“That’s right. I’ve never felt so suffocated by a theater seat before. There was nowhere to run and nothing to do, I felt like I knew what it was like. I don’t think I’ve ever relied on my hearing as much as I did then.”

-222 The beeping sound was my heart;;

-I wanted to turn off the machine, but I didn’t know it would turn off like that.

-Rest in peace, chaebol third generation.

“Next is…”

The escape theme park was small, but there was a lot to see as it recreated every scene from the movie.

They couldn’t just pass by any prop or place. Moviegoer examined every trace left on the ceiling and walls, every dropped phone, every steel pipe prop.

-…You could make a guidebook?

-Was there such a scene? Why don’t I remember?

-As expected of Moviegoerㅋㅋ

There were also places in the theme park that were not filming sets.

“This is Escape’s special makeup room. This is where all those zombies were born.”

Special makeup room. There were also models of the places where the staff and actors used during filming, such as the lounge. Moviegoer looked around the rooms and pointed to one side with sparkling eyes.

“This is the waiting room for the main actors. Lee Seo-jun, Kim Jong-ho, Lee Da-jin used this room!”

-Wow. That’s interestingㅎㅎ

-I want to go there once.

“There are pictures of the actors here too! And scripts… Oh, they’re blank inside. You can take pictures here too! Oh. Long padding!! Evan Block and Rachel Hill wrote on it themselves! Uh… You can wear it too!”

Long padding that fit the sizes of [Lee Seo-jun], [Lee Da-jin], and [Kim Jong-ho] were hung on the wall. Moviegoer smiled brightly and wore Kim Jong-ho’s long padding and took a picture so that the writing was visible.

-We can’t see your faceㅋㅋㅋ

-Just turn your head. Just your head! We can see the writing!

-I want to take a picture too!!

-I saw this on a secondhand market. There was an article too. I don’t know who bought it, but it was a jackpot!

-The seller deserved it. The price is different now.

“I’m proud that Rachel Hill is learning Korean. It makes me feel good.”

Moviegoer smiled happily as he took pictures.

“Shall we go to the rooftop garden?”

-Agreed! Let’s go see Go Ju Won’s model!

-Agreed!! Ju Won!!

As he was about to leave the lab and go up to the rooftop, something caught Moviegoer’s eye. There was a staff member standing at the end of the hallway. Behind the staff member, there was a wall blocking the hallway.

“Is there something behind there? Shall we go there?”

-??? Sure!

-Is there a room we haven’t seen?

Moviegoer approached the staff member. The staff member greeted him with a smile.

“Can we look around here?”

“Yes. You can. Have you seen Escape?”

“? Yes.”

-He ran 8 times!

-He’s going to see it again tomorrow!

The staff member smiled meaningfully.

“This is a place where you can experience zombies, but if you’re scared, you can come out right away.”

“?”

-What?

-What? What?

-Why? Scary??

Moviegoer entered the door with a nervous face and a camera.

The inside was similar to other places.

A dead-end hallway and a door.

Under the bright light, the camera lens and Moviegoer’s eyes looked around the room.

There was faint sand under Moviegoer’s feet. It was a sensation he couldn’t feel.

[(Line/Production)Desert Butterfly’s Memory Mirage-Medium Level is activated.]

Moviegoer and the viewers’ eyes widened.

“This is…”

-It’s the lab!

-O.W.C. lab!

The viewers who had run N times quickly recognized this place.

The hallway and ceiling with a different tone from the hospital wallpaper. And the crumpled iron… door?

“…What?”

-Run!

-Moviegoer, run!

-Ahhh! Is this what zombie experience is!?

The comments flooded in, telling him to run.

The people who had run N times and the people who had only seen it once knew where this was.

Moviegoer realized that the air had become heavier and it was hard to breathe.

It felt like the atmosphere had changed.

Visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory senses.

The senses that he had felt 8 times poured over him.

Moviegoer’s hair stood on end.

Then.

He heard a sound.

Thud!

“Eek!”

-Ah!

-Ahhhh!

-Ahhhhhh!

Moviegoer was startled and fell to the floor.

The camera that fell to the floor tilted sideways.

The crumpled iron door looked like it was lying on the floor from behind the monitor. It was the same iron door as before, except for the direction, but Moviegoer and the viewers shrank their shoulders.

The sound definitely came from behind the door.

Moviegoer didn’t even realize that he had dropped the camera. His eyes were as wide as they could be.

There were zombies behind the door.

He felt the same pressure as when the ‘zombies behind the door’ appeared in Escape. Cold sweat ran down his back.

-Did anyone hear that?

-NN I heard it too.

-Holy crap.

-Camera! Pick up the camera!

Moviegoer, who had been frozen for a few seconds, carefully got up as he felt the air lighten.

And he picked up the camera properly.

-Moviegoer, are you okay?

-Zombie experience is too scary…

“Uh… Yes. I’m fine. It wasn’t that scary because it was shorter than the movie.”

-…You were screaming just now.

-ㅋㅋYou even dropped the camera.

-Fake Moviegoerㅋㅋ

Moviegoer smiled awkwardly at the teasing comments.

Ugh. His spine was still tingling, but there were viewers watching him live right now.

This would definitely be a black history.

Moviegoer shed invisible tears in his heart.

“Shall we go to the next place?”

-Aren’t you going in?

-The door is open!

-Let’s go in! I was curious because it didn’t show up in the movie!

Moviegoer turned his head away from the slightly open door, but eventually raised both his hands and feet.

“…Please save me.”

The comment section was filled with ㅋㅋㅋ.

***

The day before Escape theme park opened.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho visited the theme park again after touring it with the actors a few days ago. The staff who were finishing up for tomorrow’s opening blushed when they saw Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun, where do you think you dropped your picture?”

“I think it was in the zombie experience room.”

“Really?”

As Ahn Da Ho went to call a staff member to open the zombie experience room, Seo-jun apologized in his heart and vowed to do better.

‘I’m sorry. Ahn Da Ho hyung!’

But he was disappointed with the zombie experience room. Even uncle Jong-ho and Ji-seok hyung, Do-hoon hyung, and Da-jin hyung who experienced it with him seemed strangely let down.

‘It only has sound and no screen, so it’s about 40% of the movie.’

That was enough for CEO Hansol, but for the actors who had seen Seo-jun’s acting in person, it was unsatisfying. Seo-jun felt the same way. So he decided to use his ability.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho followed the staff’s guidance to the zombie experience room.

The crumpled iron door opened wide.

Ahn Da Ho and Seo-jun carefully searched through the lab that was covered with blood and a mess.

No, only Ahn Da Ho searched.

Seo-jun pretended to search around and headed towards the crumpled iron door.

And he put both his hands on it.

A sand-colored butterfly pattern was engraved on the iron door. It was a pattern that only Seo-jun could see.

[(Line/Production)Desert Butterfly’s Memory Mirage-Medium High Level is activated.]

[(Line/Production)Desert Butterfly’s Memory Mirage-Medium High Level]

Within range, target (iron door) will implement the target’s memory for 10 seconds.

You will feel the sensations (visual, tactile, olfactory, auditory, gustatory) you felt at that time.

Caution: Everything will disappear if you leave the range.

‘The range is the zombie experience room.’

The invisible sand that flowed from the butterfly pattern covered the floor of the zombie experience room. Now, anyone who stepped on this sand and saw the iron door would feel something similar to what they felt when they watched the movie.

Seo-jun smiled satisfied.

“I found it! Seo-jun. Here.”

“Thank you so much. Ahn Da Ho hyung.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly with gratitude and apology as he took the family photo from Ahn Da Ho.

Chapter 215

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 215

Escape’s third week of release.

The making-of film for Escape was released on Plus+.

It showed how Evan Block and Rachel Hill got the script, how Seo-jun personally translated it, and how they secretly came to Korea.

-Ahhh, I used to work at that convenience store!

=LOL, I saw the article.

=You must be so regretful.

The viewers laughed at the staff’s surprised reactions when they saw the three actors on the set.

-I was like that too.

-Me too. I was so shocked that I couldn’t even scream.

It also showed Evan Block and Rachel Hill acting, and Park Do-hoon, Lee Ji-seok, and Evan Block acting together.

The Korean staff and director were working hard around them.

-…How do I put it? The actors and staff are all Korean, but only those two are foreigners. Is this how it feels when a Korean actor goes to Hollywood?

=I don’t think it’s the same. They have different star power.

=22 It’s lucky if they don’t get ignoredㅠㅠ

=Seo-jun is amazing for winning an award there.

-But it’s really… amazing to see Evan Block and Rachel Hill there.

It also showed the actors having a meal together, and Evan Block and Rachel Hill going out and filming various places in Korea. Seo-jun often appeared with a black bag full of snacks.

-Ddeok-twi-sunㅋㅋ He’s like my little brother. Buying delicious food.

-They must be really close. Seo-jun’s grandmother even sent food.

-Right. I thought it was because they were all actors at the award party, but seeing this, they must be really close.

The making-of film continued even after Evan Block and Rachel Hill left Korea.

It showed Seo-jun shooting an arrow and hitting the left eye of a zombie on the third floor.

The staff around the camera were surprised and checked the script.

-Ten! Ten! X-ten!

-The staff were all surprised too.

-Oh my god. Did he hit it according to the script?

It also revealed that the highlight scene of the movie was not edited, but Seo-jun really shot it.

The arrow on the third floor of the theme park center was the one that was stuck during filming.

Of course, the fire was CG.

-Wow… Seo-jun is really amazing. The distance was closer than in the movie, but still impressive!

-Do archery. Do archery.

=Seo-jun is born to be an actor. He wouldn’t have learned archery if it wasn’t for the movie.

The making-of film boosted Escape’s popularity again.

The incredible cameo of Evan Block and Rachel Hill, the creepy zombies made by the Hollywood special makeup team, and the captivating acting of all the actors.

Among them, the most noticeable one was obviously the young but great superstar who made all this possible.

[This is what you call Seo-jun’s brigade!]

Someone joked on a show.

The entertainment industry, where almost everything is made by connections and friendships unless you have a needle-like talent sticking out of your pocket.

It was natural to choose a known actor over an unknown one when the box office was at stake.

For the sake of their next work’s success, famous writers and directors had their own favorite and trusted actors.

The term ‘brigade’ was used to collectively refer to those acquaintances who often worked together with star writers, star directors, etc.

[Seo-jun’s brigade! I want to join too!]

After that story came out, everyone’s attention turned to ‘Seo-jun’s brigade’.

Who would be in Seo-jun’s brigade? Everyone gave their opinions on this interesting topic.

-Seo-jun’s brigade. Who do you think will be in?

-First of all, Lee Ji-seok.

=22 No matter what anyone says, Lee Ji-seok is number one.

-Kim Jong-ho, Park Do-hoon, Lee Da-jin. Director Choi Dae-man.

-Based on their cameo appearance in Escape, Evan Block, Rachel Hill.

-Director Choi Min-sung and writer So Eun-jin?

=Director Woo Jeong-han too.

-Do we include idols from the same agency?

=Let’s include them. They would all come if Seo-jun calls them. They can also use them for OSTs.

=+)Brown Black. White. Red Crown.

-Wow… If you get Seo-jun, you get all these too.

-++Incredible box office, incredible revenue

-No wonder everyone is looking for Seo-jun only.

It showed how far his influence reached if you just got ‘Seo-jun’.

There were still many candidates left, which made it even more terrifying.

[Title: Let’s find out about the connections of an ordinary middle school second grader these days!]

Marina Studio/Whale Studio

Plus+ Korea branch manager (a fan of Seo-jun)

Director Ryan Will/Director Sarah Roth

Music industry: Benjamin Morton/ Jason Moore

Everyone! These are the connections of a middle school second grader!

-If they are acquainted, isn’t Davis Garrett possible too? He came to the after-party.

-The Swalin guy too. He might get close while filming Shadowman 3.

-Ordinary is deadㅎ

It was an amazing network no matter how many times you looked at it.

***

Park Do-hoon: Ji-seok hyung and I were completely buriedㅠ

Lee Ji-seok: I knowㅠ

Seo-jun laughed at the Banana Talk message. Thanks to the awesome cameo of Evan Block and Rachel Hill, the two were completely buried.

Kim Jong-ho: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Uncle Jong-ho was mocking them, and hyung Da-jin was too busy with his college assignment to even read the message. He said he had a group project for a liberal arts course. Seo-jun, who didn’t know the horror of group projects, shrugged his shoulders.

<Cheer up, guys!

<Do-hoon hyung, everyone said you acted well.

Lee Ji-seok: What about me?

<Ji-seok hyung, you appeared too brieflyㅎㅎ

Kim Jong-ho and Park Do-hoon sent ㅋㅋㅋ diligently at Seo-jun’s message. They talked about the making-of film and Escape theme park while laughing, and then Park Do-hoon sent a message.

Park Do-hoon: Oh. Seo-jun. Did you see this?

Park Do-hoon: (A picture of sparrows sitting on a model of Go Ju Won)

Lee Ji-seok: What is thisㅋㅋ

Park Do-hoon: (A picture of magpies sitting on a model of Go Ju Won)

Kim Jong-ho: What birds?

Park Do-hoon: (A picture of a horned lark sitting on a model of Go Ju Won)

Park Do-hoon: This bird is an endangered wild animal class 2.

Park Do-hoon: There are many more. Sometimes eagles and eagle owls come out too.

Kim Jong-ho: It’s amazing, even though the set is near the mountain?

Lee Ji-seok: What’s the cause?

Park Do-hoon: It’s unknown.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek, knowing the cause.

As expected, Jena Trade and the Mirror Team were skilled.

‘They were too good, actually.’

Jena Trade and the Mirror Team said they were inspired by Seo-jun’s archery skills and created a model of Go Ju Won after many trials and errors.

They said they smelled the fresh forest scent from Go Ju Won’s appearance.

They wanted to recreate that.

The staff and actors, as well as Director Choi Dae-man, tilted their heads at Jena Trade’s sparkling eyes, but Seo-jun understood what she meant.

‘I knew they were good, but I didn’t expect them to express Go Ju Won’s atmosphere as well.’

Especially when they reproduced Go Ju Won’s appearance while using [Intermediate Archery of the (Sun) Elf Archer], the model of Go Ju Won exuded traces of an elf. It was a very faint trace that people could not feel, but Seo-jun could.

‘I didn’t know that faint trace would affect the birds.’

Seo-jun admired Jena Trade’s talent as he looked at the pictures of the birds flocking to Go Ju Won’s model.

Park Do-hoon: So a lot of people who study birds came.

That’s right.

The power of the elves was amazing.

<How about the plants in the rooftop garden?

Park Do-hoon: Plants? Well. They don’t seem to have anything strange…

Seo-jun sighed in relief at Park Do-hoon’s answer. Fortunately, it seemed that they lacked the power to affect the growth of plants. If it was the power of the elves, the grass and trees would have grown lushly in less than a week.

‘It’s lucky that it’s only birds.’

It was a bit uncomfortable that they were endangered species, but it would be a good thing if their numbers increased thanks to the power of the elves.

‘…It would be a good thing, right?’

Seo-jun looked at the picture of the horned-legged bird on the screen with a subtle expression.

***

[Escape Theme Park. YouTubers flock to the zombie experience zone!]

[This is the best horror experience! Escape Theme Park!]

[Not in order of pamphlets? A new escape experience route!]

[The birds that hover around Go Ju Won’s model. What is the cause?]

-It’s hard to get a reservation here;;;

-But I want to go. It looks fun on YouTube.

=222 Take pictures and look forward to the zombie experience!

-But is it scary if you only hear sounds?

=These days, even the doors rattle. That makes it scarierㅋㅋ

=Later, they hire zombies to scare people.

=Wow! That sounds fun!

-If you do the zombie experience first and then explore the escape theme park, it’s 100% immersive.

=22 It feels like you’re in a movie. You get nervous even by shadowsㅎ

=That’s why there were so many people who did the zombie experience first!

-(A picture of an eagle flying around Go Ju Won’s model) I worked hard to take this!

=It looks like a real hunterㅎ

=The model doesn’t look cheap at all. The eyes are good too.

=22 The model doesn’t look awkward at all.

-It’s big and well made. As expected from Hollywood special makeup team!

-I want to shrink this and put it in my room.

=Who would make it for me! A company that starts with ‘Mon’ and ends with ‘ter’!(Shaking)

=22 MonstX, fighting!!(And their previous works too!)

=333 I trust MonXter! I have money ready! (Bear emoticon shaking house papers)

“Hmm.”

Kim Hee-sang, the president of Monster Company, who was summoned by the passionate comments, scratched his chin.

***

Cocoa Entertainment was bustling as usual.

Escape was still showing in theaters and had an unexpected hit both in Korea and abroad, so there were many entertainment requests from broadcasting stations.

A few days after Escape was uploaded on Plus+, an email arrived for Ahn Da Ho, who was working in Team 2 office while Seo-jun was at school.

[Marina Studio]

“It’s here.”

Ahn Da Ho’s expression became subtle as he looked at the monitor.

The end of the movie series that made him enter the entertainment industry was approaching.

The beginning of everything.

The movie that contained Seo-jun’s growth, Shadowman’s last part shooting schedule finally came out.

***

After class ended, Seo-jun checked his phone and his eyes widened for a moment before narrowing again.

“It’s out.”

Ahn Da Ho: Shadowman3 schedule is out.

Ahn Da Ho: I’ll tell your teacher.

<Okay.

Seo-jun replied to Ahn Da Ho and looked at the schedule again. The shooting started in November and was scheduled to end in early February.

It felt far away considering that it was July now, but there were only seven months left.

Early February.

It was the end of the Shadowman series.

As the end approached, Seo-jun felt uneasy.

He was happy to shoot Shadowman3, but he felt sad to think that this shooting was the last of the series.

Maybe it was because he had been with them since he was young.

He tried to shake off his bitter feelings and headed to the teacher’s office.

“Teacher.”

“Oh. Seo-jun. What’s up?”

The homeroom teacher’s eyes widened at the unexpected face.

They were kids who rarely visited the teacher’s office unless there was a big problem.

‘Ah. Is it entertainment shooting?’

Or they would come when they had a schedule.

The homeroom teacher thought of Seo-jun’s attendance.

He would miss a lot of days in the second semester because of Shadowman3 shooting, so it was important to earn attendance days even for a day.

“The shooting schedule for Shadowman3 came out.”

“…Really?”

It came out.

Yeoul Arts Middle School’s teacher’s office became quiet in an instant.

Seo-jun felt the bitter feelings in that silence.

It seemed that other people also felt sorry and happy like him.

‘They all like Shadowman that much.’

“Shooting starts in November, but I have to go early for two or three weeks because of the action scenes. The departure date is not confirmed yet, but I thought I should tell you in advance.”

The homeroom teacher thought of Seo-jun’s attendance, which he had been thinking about since the beginning of the year, and felt it anew.

He remembered watching Shadowman1 with his friends when he was in college and doing a crying challenge, and being surprised and happy by the appearance of a Hollywood star named ‘Lee Seo-jun’ when he became a teacher and watched Shadowman2.

And the story that continued with Assemble1 and 2.

He felt the end approaching and his nose tingled.

“Hmm. Then it will be around early October… You won’t be able to take the midterm and final exams in the second semester.”

Seo-jun entered the school and talked with the education office to prepare an alternative for attendance.

The homeroom teacher sat Seo-jun next to him and explained carefully.

First, they tried to fill in the attendance days with ‘special activities’ as much as possible, and the rest of the attendance days were replaced by homework given by each subject teacher.

The teachers would send homework to Seo-jun’s email and he had to do it by the deadline.

“If you think you’ll be late because of shooting, send me an email. I can extend the deadline.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded his head.

“The performance evaluation will also be well considered by the teachers. And for the midterm and final exams… It’s a pity, but only 80% of your first semester exam scores will be reflected. But Seo-jun’s first semester score is perfect, so even if it’s 80%, it’s 80 points, so it’s enough to go to high school.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

It was a rule that applied to other students as well, but

‘How many child actors are there who go abroad for months to shoot besides Seo-jun.’

The teachers looked at Seo-jun’s back as he left the teacher’s office and thought.

***

And in early October.

A few days after Escape, which had an unexpected hit both in Korea and abroad, was uploaded on Plus+, Seo-jun boarded a plane to America with Seo Eun-hye and Ahn Da Ho.

Chapter 216

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Chapter 216

Inside the plane flying over the Pacific Ocean.

Seo-jun read the script in his hand once again.

He had already memorized everything, but he couldn’t help looking at it.

Several scripts that were worn out from reading too much.

This stiff script was a new one that he printed out before leaving the country.

Flap.

Seo-jun opened the first page again and read the lines in his mind, spitting out the dialogue.

He was careful with every line that came to his mind.

He didn’t film other movies carelessly, but the Shadowman series had a special meaning for Seo-jun.

The first movie of ‘Lee Seo-jun’.

‘I like all the other works, but Shadowman is my favorite.’

Seo-jun smiled and turned the pages.

***

The plane that Seo-jun was on arrived in LA.

There was a small incident where the immigration officer recognized Seo-jun, but Seo-jun smiled at the officer’s face, who seemed to have gained the world with a handshake.

“I’ll definitely watch your movie!”

“Thank you.”

With the cooperation of the airport, Seo-jun, Seo Eun-hye, and Ahn Da Ho got into the car prepared by Kings Agency.

The accommodation for the movie shooting was prepared by Marina.

Seo-jun and the two people who got on the car left the airport and two security vehicles followed them.

“You don’t have to worry about safety because the security guards will stay with you at the accommodation. The action training center is not far away, so it will be easy for you to go. You have a schedule from the day after tomorrow, so rest well until then and let me know if you need anything.”

The Kings Agency employee who was driving said.

Ahn Da Ho, who took care of Seo-jun, checked the location of the training center again.

He had checked it on the internet map in Korea, but it didn’t hurt to check again.

He asked about everything from the operating hours of the training center to other places to use outside of operating hours, restaurants near the training center, Korean restaurants with good reviews, 24-hour convenience stores and hospitals.

He had researched them beforehand, but he asked again just to make sure.

The Kings Agency employee answered everything without missing anything with a smile.

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye admired the two people who were constantly exchanging conversations in the front seat.

“They are both amazing.”

“Da Ho hyung is really cool.”

The novice manager who couldn’t speak English was now fluent in English and talking with local staff.

A few years ago, when Seo-jun was young, he dreamed and wished for a veteran manager like Yoon Sung-oh, who was Lee Ji-seok’s manager.

It was exactly that.

Seo Eun-hye whispered softly.

“Do you think mom doesn’t have to follow Seo-jun anymore?”

“Hey. I like being with mom.”

Seo Eun-hye laughed at Seo-jun’s aegyo.

It took quite a long time to get to the accommodation because the land was big.

They were amazed by the bigger than expected accommodation for a moment.

The sun had completely set and they were about to take a break after filling their stomachs with bread.

Seo-jun and the two people were surprised by an unexpected guest.

“Ta-da!”

“Jun. Welcome.”

As soon as they opened the door of the accommodation, Rachel Hill and Evan Block were waiting under bright lights.

They greeted him just like Seo-jun did when they came to Korea.

“Rachel! Evan!”

He was surprised but very happy to see them.

It was almost a year since he met them after Escape.

He often texted and called them, but it was a different feeling to meet them in person.

“How did you two get here?”

“We heard you were coming, so we had to come no matter how busy we were.”

Hehe.

The two actors hugged Seo-jun with a big smile and greeted Seo Eun-hye and Ahn Da Ho who were behind him.

After exchanging brief greetings, Evan Block and Rachel Hill led them inside.

“Come on. Are you hungry? We prepared some food.”

“There’s Korean food too! You two come quickly.”

The two people’s eyes sparkled at the word Korean food.

They were a bit tired from traveling for a long time.

The in-flight meal in first class was fine, but they still wanted hot Korean food.

“It’s a new place that hasn’t been open for long, but this restaurant has good reviews.”

“We prepared ‘simply’ in Korean style.”

Everyone laughed at the food that filled the table contrary to their words.

Seo-jun’s face was full of smiles on his first day in LA with familiar faces.

***

After resting for two days, Seo-jun’s schedule began.

Seo-jun’s first schedule in America was a meeting with director Ryan Will.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho headed to the action training center where they were supposed to meet Ryan.

“The operating hours are from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and they don’t allow more than that for safety reasons. There are outdoor and indoor training grounds, and there is also a swimming pool for underwater action scenes. It seems like the facilities are well-equipped.”

“Wow. It must be huge.”

“It’s right next to Hollywood.”

Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

Supply follows demand.

This place, the action training center, not only trained stuntmen, but also introduced suitable stuntmen to production companies and filmed action scenes together.

Not only that, but Hollywood actors who were ambitious about action or actors who had a lot of scenes where they showed their faces in action scenes also trained here and filmed.

Most of the stuntmen who appeared in the Shadowman series were affiliated with this place.

“Seo-jun, there it is.”

“Wow!”

At Ahn Da Ho’s words, Seo-jun leaned his forehead against the glass and looked out the window.

Large buildings that looked like gyms stood side by side.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill also learned here.

The main character of the movie had a lot of intense action scenes and Evan Block performed most of the scenes himself, so he started training a few months ago.

Rachel Hill also started training a month ago.

Seo-jun had less action scenes and easier movements than the two, so he was given three weeks.

‘I’ll catch up soon!’

What kind of fun training was waiting for him?

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the action training center that was getting closer.

***

Action Training Center Main Building.

Director Ryan Will and Jonathan Will, who were waiting in the conference room, greeted Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho.

They exchanged brief greetings and sat down.

“I watched Escape. You did well in action.”

“Hehehe.”

Seo-jun smiled shyly at director Ryan Will’s compliment.

He liked the compliments from other directors, but he felt the most touched by the compliment from his first director.

“The action scenes in Shadowman 3 are more complex and longer than Escape. But don’t worry, I’ll adjust them well for you.”

“Don’t worry! It sounds really fun!”

The three people who had spent a long time with Seo-jun nodded their heads at Seo-jun’s sparkling eyes.

They knew Seo-jun’s acting ambition well.

“Please take good care of him, Mr. Da Ho.”

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

Seo-jun pouted at director Ryan Will and Ahn Da Ho’s words.

The director smiled slightly at his childish look and opened his mouth.

“Jun. Let’s just take a tour today and start training tomorrow. I have someone to introduce you to.”

“Introduction?”

Seo-jun blinked and thought for a moment, then exclaimed “Ah!”

Ryan Will and Jonathan laughed.

Seo-jun’s face, which had been pouting, brightened up.

“My stuntman?”

Seo-jun’s stuntman.

The actor who would perform the intense action scenes of Jin Natra instead.

He remembered the stuntman who looked similar to Evan Block when he filmed Shadowman 2.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

“That’s right.”

Ryan Will nodded and bought some time.

“He must be training right now. Shall we go see him?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun nodded his head repeatedly at Ryan Will’s words.

On the way to the training ground from the main building.

Seo-jun said to Jonathan.

“Oh, by the way. Jonathan. I watched your movie. Congratulations on the award.”

It seemed like yesterday when he heard that he became independent, but director Jonathan Will had already improved his skills enough to win an award at a film festival.

He congratulated him on the phone during the awards ceremony, but he wanted to say it in person.

Jonathan shrugged his shoulders at Seo-jun’s congratulations.

“Thanks. But it’s just a nomination, nothing much.”

But he couldn’t hide his joy, as his lips curled up.

Ryan Will snorted at his dishonest nephew.

He knew how happy he was when Jonathan Will won the award. It was a huge fuss.

“But are you filming with us this time?”

Didn’t he say he was independent?

At Seo-jun’s question, Ahn Da Ho also looked at Jonathan curiously.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho were surprised for a moment when they saw Jonathan Will in the conference room.

They were more happy than surprised, though.

“Just this once. My uncle asked me to.”

“Director Ryan?”

When Seo-jun looked at him, Ryan Will, Jonathan’s uncle, coughed.

“…Yeah. It’s because Jonathan is quite good.”

“What do you mean good? You just think I’m easy to exploit.”

At Jonathan’s words, Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho smiled and looked at Ryan Will.

They asked him if it was true with their eyes.

Ryan Will rolled his eyes and looked away.

“I don’t choose someone just because they are comfortable…”

At his uncle’s compliment for the first time, Jonathan’s eyes widened.

He always wondered if he was doing well after becoming independent, but this one sentence cleared all his doubts.

Director Ryan Will chose him to participate in the filming of Shadowman 3 because director Jonathan Will was doing well.

Ryan Will turned his gaze back to the group and stroked the heads of his nephew who had grown up and the actor who had grown up.

***

The time of praise passed and a subtle silence flowed.

The actor, the master, and the young director felt awkward at the long silence, when Ahn Da Ho, who had been a step away from the awkward atmosphere, opened his mouth.

There was a smile on Ahn Da Ho’s face.

“Shall we move on?”

“Let’s do that.”

“Yes!”

“This way!”

As if they had been waiting for those words, they all answered at once and finally had to laugh.

***

[Actor Lee Seo-jun leaves for filming Shadowman 3!]

[The last of the Shadowman series. Shadowman 3!]

[The first movie of actor Lee Seo-jun, Shadowman series!]

[The story that can’t be left out when it comes to Lee Seo-jun!]

-Ah. He’s leaving.

-I’ve been waiting for Shadowman 3, but now that they’re starting filming, I feel nervous.

=22 I want to see it but I don’t want to see it too.

-It’s been almost 10 years. I watched Shadowman 1 when I was in middle school and now I’m a college student.

-The beginning of superstar Lee Seo-jun is Shadowman after all.

-I still remember how surprised I was when I saw the cookie video, but it’s already the last one.

Chapter 217

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Chapter 217

Action Training Center, A3 Training Ground.

The place was bustling with shouts, screams, and sounds of impact from all over.

There were four stuntmen and their trainers scattered around the spacious training ground.

The stuntmen for Shadowman, Bel Natra, Tul Natra, and Jin Natra.

“Three, two. One!”

At the trainer’s signal, a man hanging from a wire jumped down from the second floor.

He didn’t just fall to the ground, but plunged like a spear onto the mat below with a fast speed, as if he was targeting a prey.

The trainer, who was watching him without blinking, shook his head at the man’s body leaning to the side after landing.

“Yeon. You put too much force on your shoulder. If your body is stiff, you’ll get hurt easily.”

“I’m sorry.”

Kim Jae-yeon scratched his head.

He must have stepped on his foot wrong when he landed.

His body lost balance and almost fell to the side, but he didn’t collapse thanks to the wire.

Kim Jae-yeon straightened his body in an awkward manner.

“Is your ankle okay?”

At the trainer’s question, Kim Jae-yeon rotated his ankle.

Three times to the right and three times to the left.

He checked his ankle, knee, and leg with ease and nodded his head.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“Be careful. Your body is not just yours anymore.”

The trainer took off the wire vest from Kim Jae-yeon and joked half-seriously.

“Marina, Shadowman, Director Ryan. And even the Shadowman fans all over the world. They’re all waiting for the release. I know you’re happy to be filming Shadowman, but it’s all for nothing if you get hurt.”

“Yes. I know. I’ll be careful until the filming.”

“Nope. Be careful until the filming is over. The most dangerous thing is during filming. There are always some actors who get complacent because they’re used to filming.”

Kim Jae-yeon nodded at the trainer’s firm words.

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Then. Take a break and let’s do it again.”

Kim Jae-yeon caught his breath at the resting place set up on one side of the training ground.

The trainer handed him a towel and a water bottle.

Kim Jae-yeon wiped his sweat with the towel and drank some water.

He exhaled.

“Calmly and flexibly. Don’t forget that.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

The other stuntmen around him looked bored at the trainer’s words, but for Kim Jae-yeon, every word was precious.

The trainer left for another stuntman and Kim Jae-yeon was left alone.

He took a moment to catch his breath and closed his eyes.

His heart was pounding.

It was so loud that it seemed like it would be heard outside his body.

He didn’t know if it was because he was tired or because he was so happy to play the role.

‘It’s been months since it was decided…’

He still couldn’t calm down his excitement. He smiled softly at himself.

‘But it’s Shadowman. Marina…!’

No one knew how much he cried and laughed when he heard the audition results.

He had nightmares every day until he signed the contract that it was a mistake, an error, or that another stuntman was chosen instead. It was really a day of heaven and hell.

Kim Jae-yeon opened his eyes and clenched and unclenched his hands.

He could feel his body stiffening clearly.

If he trained like this, he would surely get hurt.

‘Be careful.’

His body was not just his own anymore. But Kim Jae-yeon didn’t fully believe that.

It wasn’t that there was no one else to replace him just because he was hard to replace.

The Shadowman side didn’t say anything, but Kim Jae-yeon knew that there would be at least two more people who could substitute for him if he got hurt.

‘I have to be careful to keep this position.’

Kim Jae-yeon made up his mind and calmed down his pounding heart.

“Yeon! Director Ryan is here!”

“Yes!”

At the trainer’s call, Kim Jae-yeon jumped up from his chair.

His heart that had just calmed down started pounding again at the director’s call.

***

“Director Ryan. Jonathan. Would you like to have dinner at my house tonight if you’re okay?”

After the awkward atmosphere subsided, Seo-jun asked.

“Dinner?”

“Yes. It’s like a welcome party, Evan and Rachel are coming too.”

They had decided to rest for two days and have dinner together tonight.

Seo-jun asked Director Ryan and Jonathan, remembering his mother’s words to ask them too.

Seo-jun’s question made Director Ryan and Jonathan nod their heads.

“I have to greet them anyway, so I’ll go.”

“I’ll go too.”

The two answered readily and Seo-jun took out his phone.

“Just a moment.”

His mother didn’t know that Jonathan was there, so Seo-jun had to text her.

<Director Ryan is coming!

<Jonathan is here too, so he’s coming with us!

-Really? Then I have to prepare more food!

Seo-jun contacted Seo Eun-hye while Ahn Da Ho was talking to Director Ryan for a moment, they arrived at the A3 training ground.

“Shadowman is using the A3 and A4 training grounds, but A3 is for the main actors and their stuntmen, and A4 is for the other stuntmen. Jun, you’ll train here from now on.”

Jonathan explained and Ahn Da Ho asked.

“Is there a set time for using it?”

“It’s the same as the training ground usage time. For high-difficulty actions, you can only do them when the trainers are there, but Jun doesn’t have anything that difficult, so you can use it as you please.”

At that, Seo-jun smiled with satisfaction.

The door of the A3 training ground opened.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho looked around the training ground with admiration.

The training ground was wide and high.

There were also unknown machines and devices everywhere.

It was similar to the Korean Action School, but also different.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

“It looks like a hero’s training ground.”

“To an ordinary person, there’s no difference between them and heroes.”

Director Ryan waved his hand at the trainer who met his eyes and continued.

“From tomorrow, Jun will train here too. First, he’ll learn the basics and then how to wield weapons and match the choreography.”

After looking at Seo-jun for a moment, Director Ryan said.

“Basic training will be boring and wielding weapons and matching choreography won’t be all fun either. It’ll be much more exhausting and harder than you think. Your body might not follow you as you want.”

He listed the things that Seo-jun might experience as if to scare him, and Jonathan and Ahn Da Ho looked at Seo-jun. They thought he would be a little scared, but Seo-jun’s face was calm.

“It’s okay. Even middle schoolers train hard if they’re professional athletes. I’m a professional actor too.”

Seo-jun was willing to accept even the hardship for acting.

No, he enjoyed and was happy even with the hardship.

At his answer that sparkled his eyes even more, not only Director Ryan but also Jonathan and Ahn Da Ho laughed.

“But who is my stuntman?”

There were three people who looked like stuntmen, but one of them was Evan Block’s stuntman whom he had seen during the filming of Shadowman 2, and one of them was Rachel Hill’s stuntman. The man with an unfamiliar face was bigger than Seo-jun.

“You’ve seen these two, right? That actor is Tul Natra’s stuntman. Oh, by the way. Jin Natra’s stuntman is Korean.”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho widened their eyes at Jonathan’s words.

“Korean-American?”

“No. He came from Korea three years ago.”

As soon as Jonathan finished speaking, Seo-jun saw two people walking from the corner of his eye.

He spotted Director Ryan first and was about to greet him, but the two people were surprised to see Seo-jun.

They didn’t seem to know that he was there.

Jonathan introduced them with a smile.

“This is Aiden, the trainer who will handle Jin Natra’s action. He will also train you before filming and guide you during the action scenes.”

“Hello. I’m Seo-jun Lee. I look forward to working with you.”

“I’m Aiden. Nice to meet you.”

Aiden, who had hidden his surprised expression, reached out his hand. Seo-jun also shook it with a smile.

“This is Jae-yeon Kim, the stuntman for Jin Natra.”

“Hello. I’m Seo-jun Lee.”

“Jae-yeon Kim, or Kim Jae-yeon, is my name. I hope we get along well.”

“Please speak comfortably. We’ll train together from now on.”

At Seo-jun’s words, Kim Jae-yeon hesitated for a moment and smiled awkwardly.

“Then, should I?”

“Can I call you hyung?”

“Of course. Seo, Seo-jun.”

Seo-jun…!

He never imagined this would happen until he came to America, no, until he dreamed of becoming a stuntman.

His family and friends in Korea would have been shocked if they heard it.

His face turned red with excitement.

Kim Jae-yeon tried hard to hide his fluttering heart, but the actors, managers, directors, and trainers who had good eyesight because of their profession noticed it at a glance.

After greeting them, Kim Jae-yeon started training again with Aiden.

He gathered his scattered concentration, thinking that Seo-jun was watching him. He moved his body.

Wow.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at Kim Jae-yeon’s splendid movements.

***

That evening.

The Shadowman team gathered at Seo-jun’s place.

The dishes made by Seo Eun-hye, Rachel Hill, and Evan Block filled the large dining table without any gaps.

“Was the center fun?”

“Yeah! It was so fun. Oh, there was a stuntman for Jin Natra. He was Korean.”

“Really?”

Seo Eun-hye widened her eyes at the word Korean.

She had never met a Korean because of filming while she was following Seo-jun through various works in Hollywood.

Evan Block, who was eating dumplings he made himself, nodded his head.

“I saw him during training and he did better than I expected. He seemed diligent too, since I ran into him every day I had training.”

Rachel Hill, who was eating samgyeopsal wrapped in lettuce, tilted her head at Evan Block’s words.

“Huh? You too? I think I saw him every time I went there too. Does he train every day? It’s not good to work too hard either.”

She looked worried. She didn’t know if Kim Jae-yeon had any signs of fatigue.

“He looked fine.”

“How did you find him?”

At Seo Eun-hye’s question, Jonathan, who was cutting a large piece of steak and chewing it in his mouth, answered.

“We auditioned him. It was hard to find someone with exactly the same physique and silhouette as Jun, so we chose the most skilled person among those who had the most similar silhouette. We also considered Jun’s growth spurt. You can trust his skills.”

Ryan Director looked at Seo Eun-hye’s face and said.

“He seemed to have no problem with his personality either. I liked what I saw at the training ground. The trainer also gave him a good evaluation.”

He had chosen him carefully because he would train and film with Seo-jun. He even used Marina to check him out in various ways, in case he would have a bad influence.

“I saw him too and he seemed like a nice person.”

At Director Ryan and Ahn Da Ho’s words, Seo Eun-hye smiled with relief.

“That’s good to hear. Seo-jun-ah. Ask him next time you see him. Let’s have a meal together sometime.”

“Yeah! Okay.”

Seo-jun, who was inhaling spaghetti with meatballs, nodded his head.

“You’ll start training tomorrow. It’ll be really hard at first? Are you ready?”

At Rachel Hill’s words, Seo-jun burst into laughter.

His flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes showed his anticipation for tomorrow’s training.

“It sounds like it’ll be really fun.”

Everyone laughed at his expression.

Chapter 218

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Chapter 218

“Gosa?”

Richard Bowen, the vice president of Marina Studio, asked. Phelan Park nodded.

“Yes. It’s Director Ryan Will’s request.”

“What is that?”

Phelan Park, a Korean-American, explained what gosa was.

“It’s a Korean superstition. When there is an important event, such as making a movie, a drama, or starting a business, they pray for it. For movies, they pray to finish the filming without accidents and to have a good box office.”

When he first heard it, Phelan Park thought he had misheard. But he didn’t. It turned out that it was quite common in Korea to do gosa before filming a movie. Rebellion and Escape also did gosa, according to the articles.

He vaguely remembered that when he was young, his grandfather used to offer sacrifices before opening his store.

He also recalled the memory of crying in surprise when he saw a smiling pig’s head that his grandfather had somehow obtained.

Phelan Park’s explanation was roughly understood by Richard Bowen, who leaned back on his chair.

“Well, if it’s necessary for the movie, then do it. If Director Ryan wants to do it, then let him. The meaning is also nice. It will be good publicity in Korea, right?”

“Yes. Even without publicity, everyone will watch it.”

Richard Bowen and Phelan Park smiled, not worried about the box office of Shadowman 3.

They then briefly discussed the pre-production of Shadowman 3.

Most of it would be handled by Marina Studio’s Shadowman 3 production team, but the most important thing when the schedule was delayed was the production cost.

For a blockbuster like Shadowman 3, a day’s delay would cost a huge amount of money.

When the filming of Redbone 2 was postponed for several months due to an accident, they had to produce Shadowman 1 and Greenwing 1 instead. That said it all.

That’s why Richard Bowen received reports from time to time.

‘Well, luckily both of them exceeded expectations in terms of box office.’

He never expected that those movies would become series and grow to be comparable to Redbone. He expected more revenue from Shadowman 3 than Redbone.

“The location coordination is almost done and the set production is going smoothly. The actors are well managed and there are enough security personnel to block the paparazzi. It seems like everything will go as planned until the crank-in.”

It was ten years ago, but there was a lot of emphasis on paparazzi prevention. It was not unreasonable.

Marina Studio had been meticulous about the safety of the actors ever since.

“Good. Don’t let your guard down during filming either.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Phelan Park’s report ended and Richard Bowen opened his mouth.

“By the way, what about that matter?”

Richard Bowen asked with anticipation in his voice. Phelan Park shook his head.

“He said he’s not interested.”

“Well, I knew it.”

Richard Bowen sighed heavily.

***

Seo-jun entered the A3 training room and blinked at the sight before him. He looked at the clock on the wall.

The red digital clock showed [09:12].

‘I thought I came early…’

There was someone who came earlier than him.

Ahn Da Ho had quickened his pace following Seo-jun’s back.

They also looked at Kim Jae-yeon, who was stretching, with surprised eyes.

They had left early in the morning because of Seo-jun’s urging, but this side seemed to be diligent as well.

Kim Jae-yeon, who was Jin Natra’s stuntman, did not notice Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho’s appearance as he concentrated on each stretch.

Seo-jun approached Kim Jae-yeon and greeted him.

“Hello. Jae-yeon hyung.”

“Ah, hello. Seo-jun.”

Kim Jae-yeon greeted him awkwardly with a startled look on his face.

“You came really early. Aiden said he would come at 10 o’clock.”

“Ah, I usually come at 9 o’clock. Seo-jun, you came early too? Isn’t your class starting at 10 o’clock?”

Seo-jun’s first training started at 10 o’clock and so did his trainer Aiden’s work hours.

Kim Jae-yeon seemed slightly nervous by Seo-jun’s appearance and asked him a question.

Seo-jun smiled brightly.

“That’s right. But I was so excited that I woke up early.”

“I see.”

“Do you have training today too?”

“No, I don’t have training but I wanted to practice a bit.”

“I see. Jae-yeon hyung. Where is the dressing room? I want to change my clothes but I didn’t hear yesterday.”

Seo-jun showed him a bag with his workout clothes in it.

“Oh, it’s over here.”

Kim Jae-yeon got up from his spot and led Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho to the dressing room.

There was a dressing room and a shower room attached to each training room.

“You need to register your fingerprint here. Didn’t you get a card or something?”

Ahn Da Ho remembered the card that Jonathan gave him before he left the center yesterday.

He took out a black card that said ‘Action Training Center’ from his bag.

“Here it is. I got it yesterday.”

“You’re number 10. You just need to scan the card and register your fingerprint.”

Kim Jae-yeon stood in front of the 10th cabinet and skillfully scanned the card on the door lock.

A beep sound and a fingerprint image appeared.

“You can use your thumb or index finger.”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun, who was standing next to Kim Jae-yeon, put his index finger on it.

With a beep sound, the door of the 10th cabinet opened. The inside of the cabinet was as simple as the outside.

Wow.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

He closed the door and scanned his index finger again.

The door opened with a beep sound.

Kim Jae-yeon handed the card to Ahn Da Ho.

“You can give the card back to the assistant director later.”

“Assistant director?”

Seo-jun, who was scanning his index finger again, blinked his eyes.

Kim Jae-yeon looked at him with a puzzled expression on his face.

“Uh… Jonathan Will, the assistant director.”

Kim Jae-yeon’s words made Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho gasp in surprise.

“Jonathan was the assistant director!?”

“Really!?”

Kim Jae-yeon nodded awkwardly at Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho’s questions.

Wow.

Seo-jun smiled brightly as he heard the same answer again.

He felt like it was just yesterday when Jonathan was a middle school student.

He was already an assistant director.

He still remembered vividly how Jonathan looked like a sad middle school student when he heard the children crying.

He was an assistant director now.

“Why didn’t Jonathan tell me? I should have bought him a cake yesterday!”

“Right. We didn’t even give him a present.”

Seo-jun was so happy that he stomped his feet.

***

Jonathan was standing in front of Seo-jun, who had changed into his workout clothes.

Seo-jun smiled brightly. Jonathan tilted his head at Seo-jun’s sparkling appearance.

“I don’t think you told me how to use the card yesterday, so I called mom and she said she already left. Did Kim teach you?”

“Jonathan! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Huh? Tell you what?”

“That you’re the assistant director!”

“Oh…”

Jonathan scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“Well, the assistant director who worked with uncle left to shoot another movie. And since uncle is the director, it would look like I got in through nepotism if I became the assistant director.”

“Hey. Don’t you know your uncle? Do you think Ryan Will is that kind of person?”

He didn’t need any time to think.

“No, he’s not.”

Seo-jun nodded at Jonathan’s words.

“Right? But if you’re the assistant director, it means Ryan Will trusts your skills a lot, doesn’t it?”

“Is, is that so?”

“Wow! Jonathan, you’re amazing!”

Jonathan’s face turned almost red as fire from Seo-jun’s praise.

He didn’t think much about it since he was doing the same thing as in Shadowman 2, but he realized that it wasn’t the case.

He worked comfortably with the staff and Marina Studio who he knew, but he had more things to do and more decisions to make.

Huh?

Jonathan Will blinked a few times and recalled his memories.

‘Is this an important position?’

Ryan Will would have slapped his forehead if he heard that.

***

After Jonathan received the card and left the A3 training ground, trainer Aiden came to work.

While Seo-jun was training, Ahn Da Ho settled in the resting area.

Ahn Da Ho’s PinePad was full of work from Kings Agency.

It was because Seo-jun Lee’s arrival in America for Shadowman 3 was revealed.

Ahn Da Ho’s eyes were busy with the work pouring in from everywhere.

Aiden changed into his training clothes and called Seo-jun and Kim Jae-yeon.

He examined Kim Jae-yeon’s body and asked.

“Jae-yeon. Any pain?”

“No.”

“How’s your condition?”

“Fine.”

Aiden nodded after checking Kim Jae-yeon’s wrists and ankles, which were prone to injury.

Stretching before and after exercise was also important for someone who exercised all day long.

‘I wish he could rest for a day a week.’

But ever since he found Kim Jae-yeon exercising alone in the park on his day off, Aiden decided to keep him in his sight.

“Then let’s do today’s quota slowly.”

“Yes.”

Aiden’s gaze turned to Seo-jun.

“Shall we start with a test for Jun?”

“A test?”

“Ryan Will gave me a detailed breakdown of Jin Natra’s action scenes.”

Aiden handed over a stack of papers to Seo-jun, who read the contents down.

Kim Jae-yeon, who was stretching before the actual exercise, knew what those fluttering papers were.

They were the action scene storyboards of Jin Natra in Shadowman 3.

“I discussed it with the martial arts director. They are divided into levels 1 to 5.”

“I see.”

Seo-jun nodded as he scanned through the storyboards. They seemed to be arranged by the difficulty of the action scenes.

“1 is the easiest and 5 is the hardest action. 4 and 5 will definitely be done by Jae-yeon.”

Seo-jun also wanted to do level 4 and 5 himself, but he knew that was his own greed.

“We’ll decide today whether to test up to level 2 or level 3. We also have to make a training schedule. Of course, it can change during training if your skills improve quickly.”

“Yes.”

“Then shall we start with stretching?”

Stretching was the beginning and end of every exercise. Seo-jun nodded at Aiden’s words.

Aiden and Kim Jae-yeon were impressed by Seo-jun’s stretching.

He was young and flexible, but he was better than they expected.

Aiden recalled Seo-jun Lee’s profile that he received from Ryan Will. It seemed that Seo-jun had learned more than one or two sports.

Kim Jae-yeon remembered the [Seo-jun Lee is a sports genius theory] that was floating around on the internet.

He was offered to be a national representative for taekwondo when he learned taekwondo, for soccer when he learned soccer, and for archery when he filmed Escape this time.

The ‘actor’ Seo-jun Lee.

“He might be able to handle level 3 action scenes without much trouble.”

“Yeah?”

“He was rumored to be a ‘sports genius’ in Korea. He was offered to be a national representative whenever he learned a sport.”

“Oh. A national representative? He must have good athletic sense.”

Aiden chuckled as if it was a joke.

Kim Jae-yeon scratched his cheek. He only half-believed it himself. The test would reveal whether it was true or not.

“Then let’s start with a grip test.”

“Yes!”

Aiden handed over the grip strength meter to Seo-jun.

He measured his right and left hand grip strength alternately and looked at Seo-jun with a surprised face.

“…Next is flexibility.”

He had already confirmed it during the stretching phase, but Seo-jun’s flexibility was amazing.

He looked like a gymnast who had trained for years. His movements caught the eyes of Kim Jae-yeon and other stuntmen who were training.

“They say kids are flexible, but not that much, right?”

“Yeah.”

The test didn’t end there.

Balance. Agility. Reaction speed. Stamina.

“Wa, wait a minute.”

Aiden, who had planned to do a simple test at the A3 training ground, was shocked by Seo-jun’s athletic sense.

He couldn’t believe the numbers he wrote down.

Aiden opened his mouth with difficulty.

“There’s a proper measurement room in the main building.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s go there and get tested. Measured.”

Seo-jun nodded eagerly, curious about what the measurement room looked like.

Chapter 219

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Chapter 219

Seo-jun, Aiden, and Ahn Da Ho headed to the measurement room in the main building.

Wow.

Ahn Da Ho and Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at the amazing machines that looked like they were used in hospitals or by professional athletes.

Aiden explained.

“Sometimes stuntmen get injured while filming movies. We use the data from the precision measurement room to see how badly they are hurt and what areas they need to focus on for rehabilitation.”

The Action Training Center was a place that supplied stuntmen for Hollywood blockbusters that had flashy action scenes.

The training facilities were good, and they also had a good rehabilitation program for stuntmen who were injured during filming.

One of them was the precision measurement room, which compared the past and present information to suggest a direction for rehabilitation.

“Then let’s start measuring from the beginning again.”

“Yes!”

With the help of the measurement room staff, Seo-jun checked one by one.

Ahn Da Ho, who was watching through the glass window, asked.

“How are they measured?”

“They are scored from 1 to 20. 20 is the highest score. The stuntmen are adults, so it’s based on adult standards. Jun is 14 years old, right? Then the highest score would be around 13 or 14.”

Aiden smiled.

“It’s hard to get a perfect score as an actor. Even among stuntmen, 20 is rare.”

“I see.”

But Ahn Da Ho, who knew Seo-jun’s athletic sense, thought he might easily get a perfect score.

“What if he gets a perfect score?”

Aiden laughed as if he heard an interesting joke.

“We have to train him right away. Baseball, football, basketball. He needs to grow more physically, but he’s still in his growth phase and if we train him from now on, he’ll be a superstar for sure.”

And then time passed and the results came out.

The measurement room staff who printed out the results, trainer Aiden who had some expectations, and Ahn Da Ho who was looking forward to it were all speechless.

Seo-jun took the paper and smiled brightly.

He was curious about the test and did his best, and the result was good.

“Da Ho hyung! I got a perfect score!”

It was a perfect score. And,

‘…not 14 points, but 20 points?’

It was 20 points, the adult standard perfect score. And it was for all the tests.

Everyone was shocked by the record that had never been seen before at the Action Training Center, while Seo-jun was happy to see the graph that reached the ceiling.

“I have to tell mom and dad!”

Ahn Da Ho couldn’t help but blink his eyes as Seo-jun’s athletic sense was revealed in numbers.

Aiden tapped his forehead. His hand holding the paper trembled.

‘Is this the athletic sense of a 14-year-old? I would understand if he was an athlete who trained since he was young… Where did he learn this? In Hollywood? No, but is this something you can achieve by training? He’s only 14…!’

He looked up at Seo-jun who was resting and then looked at the paper again. He blurted out without knowing.

“…Wouldn’t this cause a commotion if it was made public?”

Aiden didn’t think it was a joke anymore that he was offered to be a national representative.

***

The test that was supposed to be short took longer than expected.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho spent the whole morning on the test and went out for lunch.

“Did you enjoy your lunch?”

“Yes! How about you, Aiden?”

“I ate something simple too.”

Aiden’s face looked somewhat exhausted but relieved after skipping lunch and making a plan for three weeks with the test results.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled as he waited for the test results. Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho thought that level 3 was obvious, but they didn’t know what Aiden thought.

“I think you can shoot up to level 3.”

“Yes! I’ll do my best!”

Aiden gave a bitter smile at Seo-jun’s happy face.

Level 3 is nothing.

If he had this physical condition as an adult, he would have trained him up to level 5.

He was debating whether to include some scenes from level 4 or not, but he sighed and proceeded as planned.

“Your basic physical condition supports you and level 1 is an application of level 2, level 2 is an application of level 3. You should be able to learn them all in three weeks.”

If he memorized the scenes from the storyboard and repeated them, he would be able to master them perfectly before filming.

“Yes!”

Aiden nodded at Seo-jun’s enthusiastic face.

“Good. Today is level 1. I’ll show you a demonstration first.”

Level 1 was about swinging weapons lightly and dodging attacks.

“In the case of villains, they attack ordinary people. They won’t be hit by the clumsy attacks of ordinary people, so they just dodge them lightly. That looks cooler.”

Aiden showed how to dodge lightly by tilting his head left and right. Seo-jun laughed at his action.

“Action is more intense when you have an equal opponent. We’ll learn that later.”

“Yes.”

“Jin Natra’s weapons are shadows, so it’s a bit vague. They stretch and shrink, and the length and shape vary from sticks, spears, to swords. It would be hard if they were real weapons, but they are props, so it should be fine.”

Besides, his physical condition was good.

He shook his head inwardly and brought two sticks that he had prepared in advance.

He handed one to Seo-jun.

The stick was lighter than expected.

“First, swing it.”

From top to bottom.

Aiden slashed the air with the stick.

A whoosh sound was heard from the fast speed.

Next, he slashed diagonally from the upper right to the lower left.

And then the opposite, diagonally from the upper left to the lower right.

Wow, Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

Aiden put the stick on the ground and asked.

“Jun. Did you learn swordsmanship too?”

“Yes. I don’t do it now though.”

“Just think of it as a wooden sword, even though it’s a bit longer. Level 1 is about swinging sticks, spears, and swords. It might be boring to do it for a week, but you have to stop at the exact spot so that you don’t hurt your opponent. It hurts even if it’s a prop.”

“Yes!”

Then Aiden switched between sticks, spears, and swords and showed him the scenes from the storyboard.

“Jun has to act too. CG will be added here.”

Seo-jun listened carefully to Aiden’s explanation for each storyboard.

“Here, the police shoot.”

He even called Kim Jae-yeon who was training alone for a while and acted out the scenes himself as Jin Natra or an ordinary person.

Seo-jun nodded as he compared them with the storyboard.

Stick, sword, spear.

Jin Natra’s weapon kept changing in each storyboard. The scenes where CG would be added looked a bit embarrassing to Ahn Da Ho, but Seo-jun imagined the scenes in his head and his eyes sparkled.

“Okay. This is level 1. How do you feel?”

“I think it’s okay. The timing is the problem.”

“Yeah. The timing is the problem whether it’s level 1 or 5. We practice together to match the timing. I plan to get you familiar with the weapons first and then practice the storyboard with Jae-yeon.”

“Yes!”

Aiden smiled thinly at Seo-jun’s cheerful answer.

“Let’s just swing lightly today.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

And in less than two hours, Aiden scratched his head.

“…Am I doing something wrong?”

Was he wasting an amazing athletic genius?

Just two hours.

Seo-jun, who was swinging a stick, was almost a master of stick skills.

The other stuntmen, including Kim Jae-yeon, applauded him fervently.

Maybe it would take less than a week to learn level 1.

***

On the way home after the first day of class.

Ahn Da Ho, who was holding the steering wheel, opened his mouth.

Black security vehicles followed them front and back.

“How was it?”

“It was so much fun. Aiden said I did well. So we decided to learn both swords and spears tomorrow.”

“I could see that you did well too. The last part where you threw and caught the stick while spinning it, that was no joke. Where did you see that?”

He only taught him how to spin the stick with both hands and one hand, but Seo-jun did more than that.

Ahn Da Ho laughed as he recalled Aiden’s face that was frozen when he saw Seo-jun spinning and throwing the stick in circles.

“I saw it in a movie. A Chinese movie.”

“Chinese movies do have a lot of martial arts.”

Seo-jun made some gestures as if he was swinging the stick in the air, feeling the sensation still in his hand, and leaned back on the seat.

“But Da Ho hyung. Why didn’t Director Ryan send me the storyboard?”

Seo-jun asked with a hint of dissatisfaction.

“He probably thought you would practice in advance. If you got the storyboard, you would have asked your dad to send you to action school right away.”

“That… is true.”

Hmm. He probably would have done that.

“If he didn’t send you to action school because he was worried about you getting hurt, you would have practiced by yourself in the practice room.”

“Haha.”

“And if you got hurt, that would be a big problem. Director Ryan made a good decision.”

“Hahaha.”

He couldn’t say that he wouldn’t get hurt or that he would heal quickly even if he did, so Seo-jun just smiled awkwardly.

***

After finishing his homework and sending an email to his teacher, Seo-jun went to bed.

As soon as he laid his head on the fluffy pillow, [Winter Sleep of Summer Bear] engraved on the back of his head activated automatically.

He fell asleep in less than 10 seconds.

Seo Eun-hye covered her son with a blanket and smiled.

Seo-jun opened his eyes.

In front of him was the Library of Goodness. Behind him was the Library of Evil.

He stood in the middle and moved his feet. It was towards the Library of Evil.

“I hope I find it today.”

The power of evil had such a strong aftermath that he could open the library door up to intermediate level, but he didn’t use it.

Fortunately, [Temporary Decrease of Skill], which became possible when he could open the intermediate door, also worked for the power of evil.

Seo-jun looked around at the books in the Library of Evil.

“I wish there was something like Bubble Goblin…”

The power he used when he filmed ‘Evil Spirit’.

[(Good)Bubble Goblin’s Teasing Kim Seo-bang -Low Level-]

The energy of Bubble Goblin bursts out.

You can change the shape of the energy.

With the power of shaman bells, you can very rarely predict Kim Seo-bang’s future.

Activation: Kim Seo-bang, let’s play

Cancellation: End of teasing Kim Seo-bang

Director Choi Dae-man and Lee Ji-seok, as well as a few staff members who saw the golden bubble fire that looked like a god at that time, wanted to see visible energy like that.

“Just like Jin Natra moves his shadows.”

Seo-jun’s eyes shone.

He wanted to finish Jin Natra’s last story with style. He stretched lightly and buried himself in the pile of books again.

***

“Huh? That’s strange?”

The security guard lifted his hat slightly and looked at the man who passed through the front gate.

“Kim? Why are you so late today?”

“The bus broke down. I walked from there.”

“That’s too bad. You must be tired.”

Kim Jae-yeon thanked the security guard for his consolation and hurried to the A3 training ground.

It had been a week since Hollywood actor Lee Seo-jun trained.

In the meantime, Seo-jun and Kim Jae-yeon became quite close.

‘I got invited to his house today too. Is it okay to be this happy?’

Good things kept happening to him since he became Jin Natra’s stuntman. He had enough money and he enjoyed the training every day.

‘Today’s bus accident, well. Sometimes you need bad luck too.’

He couldn’t help but laugh and found something.

“Huh?”

Unlike usual when there were few people around, the A3 training ground was bustling.

The center staff and stuntmen gathered around and surrounded the center of the training ground.

He quietly entered the training ground and found the Shadowman team’s stuntmen who were looking at the center.

Seo-jun’s manager Ahn Da Ho was also there.

“What’s going on?”

Kevin, who had become close with him as Shadowman and Jin Natra, answered.

“Oh. Jae-yeon, you’re here? Rachel and Evan are here.”

“They must have finished their schedule.”

“They said they don’t have any schedule until crank-in.”

“But why are you all gathered here?”

Kevin laughed.

“A little while ago, Evan and Jun matched their moves, and it was amazing, so everyone came to watch.”

“Really?”

They all came to watch just because two actors matched their moves?

Kim Jae-yeon was puzzled by Kevin’s words. Kevin sighed and said.

“I’m worried about myself too… but Jae-yeon. You should work harder too.”

Kim Jae-yeon tilted his head at Kevin’s worried words.

Chapter 220

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Chapter 220

“Where’s Jae-yeon?”

“I don’t know. Is something wrong?”

The empty A3 training ground felt awkward, so Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

He had gotten used to seeing Kim Jae-yeon warming up first every week.

“He’ll be here soon. We agreed to have dinner together tonight. Let’s stretch until Aidan arrives.”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

Seo-jun changed his clothes in the locker room and came out to do some light exercises and stretching.

His eyes and hands were drawn to the staff, sword, and spear that were lying on one side, but he decided not to touch them without the trainer.

“But you’re making fast progress. You’re already halfway through level 2.”

As Seo-jun was stretching, Ahn Da Ho, who was also warming up for exercise, said.

His body was stiff and sweaty from a simple stretch.

Seo-jun, who was almost stuck to the floor like a mollusk, chuckled at Ahn Da Ho’s appearance.

“Aidan said he would finish it in two weeks.”

“Then you’ll have plenty of time before filming.”

It wasn’t like they were doing it every day for a week. They had days off, and Seo-jun’s learning speed was impressive enough to make Aidan revise his plan every day.

“You’re already here?”

A familiar voice was heard. Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho looked at the entrance of the training ground. Seo-jun smiled brightly at the welcome faces.

“Evan! Rachel!”

“Hi, Jun.”

“Jun! You came early!”

It was Evan Block and Rachel Hill in their workout clothes.

“Did you finish your schedule?”

“Yeah. I don’t have anything else to do until the end of filming.”

“Me too! I wrapped it up nicely.”

“Now we can practice together. How’s the training?”

Seo-jun answered Evan Block’s question with a smile.

“It’s fun.”

“I knew it would be.”

Evan Block thought that Seo-jun, who liked and was good at exercising, would also enjoy action practice.

Rachel Hill smiled slightly and asked.

“How far have you learned?”

“Up to here.”

Seo-jun brought the script. It was a script that was worn out from being read so much.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill widened their eyes at the part that Seo-jun pointed out. It was the middle part of level 2, the second action scene between Shadowman and Jin Natra.

“That’s fast, isn’t it? Isn’t that really fast?”

“Yeah.”

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders and sparkled his eyes at the surprised faces of the two actors.

“Evan. Do you want to practice this scene?”

Jin Natra, Seo-jun’s words made Shadowman, Evan Block think for a moment.

‘The trainer taught him this scene, which means he passed the previous part.’

“Hmm. Let’s ask them when they come.”

“Okay!”

As they were talking and stretching, the trainers and stuntmen appeared in the training ground. They greeted each other briefly and asked Aidan for permission. Aidan nodded.

“It should be fine if you slow down a bit. You two have to match each other anyway until filming. Jun is so fast at learning that he can practice with other actors from time to time.”

With the trainer’s permission, Rachel Hill quickly brought the staves to Seo-jun and Evan Block.

The other trainers, stuntmen, and actors also gathered around with interest.

Seo-jun and Evan Block stood apart with their staves.

“Let’s start slowly.”

“Okay.”

The first exchange was not much different from practice.

Seo-jun and Evan Block moved slowly as if they were at 0.3 speed.

The sound of their staves colliding was not loud either because they were so slow.

The trainers and stuntmen evaluated the two actors with sharp eyes.

“They’re pretty good for their first time matching, aren’t they?”

“It could be because they’re slow, but it’s good that they don’t hesitate.”

“Evan has been practicing for months, but Jun is really good too.”

Their movements flowed smoothly as if they were dancing together, dodging and attacking.

When the first exchange ended, Seo-jun sparkled his eyes and said.

“Evan. Let’s go a little faster.”

His cheeks were flushed red from excitement.

Evan Block looked at Aidan at Seo-jun’s question.

Aidan nodded and Seo-jun smiled brightly.

It was only 0.5 speed anyway.

Evan Block’s speed was that much, so Seo-jun couldn’t move faster either.

Bang!

Clack!

But it made a decent sound.

The sound of hitting hard and the staff shaking from the impact.

Seo-jun smiled as he gripped the staff with both hands.

Evan Block also smiled at Seo-jun’s good performance.

They repeated the same scene with increasing speed.

Rachel Hill and other stuntmen left their seats to do their own training, and Aidan was still watching the two actors.

They took a break for a moment.

Seo-jun, who was sitting on the floor and catching his breath, opened his mouth.

“Let’s do it properly this time. Evan.”

“Properly? The speed is already normal, isn’t it?”

“As Jin Natra and Shadowman.”

The action itself was fun, but he wanted to do it while acting.

‘It would be more fun that way!’

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

Evan Block thought for a moment at Seo-jun’s suggestion and nodded.

“Then let’s do that.”

“Let’s skip the dialogue.”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun and Evan Block faced each other.

Seo-jun straightened his waist and shoulders and looked down at Evan Block as if he was wearing stiff armor like a knight.

[(Evil) Death Knight’s Chivalry-Medium is activated.]

[(Evil) Death Knight’s Chivalry-Medium]

You are an imperial knight resurrected by the power of a necromancer.

You exude the strict dignity of a knight.

Your swordsmanship skill increases when using a sword.

[Caution] Living creatures in the range become dull due to fear.

[Caution] Living creatures in the range are captivated by your magic.

He couldn’t use his ability like this.

Seo-jun didn’t hesitate and adjusted his magic. The black magic that wrapped around Seo-jun’s body like armor gradually faded.

[The grade of [(Evil) Death Knight’s Chivalry-Medium] is temporarily lowered.]

[(Evil) Death Knight’s Chivalry-Low is activated.]

[(Evil) Death Knight’s Chivalry-Low]

You are an imperial knight resurrected by the power of a necromancer.

He exuded the dignity of a strict knight.

His skill with the sword increased as he used it.

A faint magic flowed out of him.

And the two actors became Jin Natra, the villain, and Shadowman, the hero.

“Huh?”

Rachel Hill was the first to notice the changed atmosphere.

She had seen Shadowman and Jin Natra up close before.

She stopped her coordination with the stuntmen and trainers, and they all looked at where Rachel was looking.

Seo-jun and Evan Block were in their positions.

They had the same posture as before, but something was different.

Everyone blinked their eyes and looked at the two actors.

Shadowman, who had defeated countless soldiers and chased after Jin Natra, and Jin Natra, who was about to leave.

Their ready stances were different as their next actions would be different.

Without any dialogue, Evan Block swung his staff.

Seo-jun was far enough to avoid being hit, but it was the scene where a shadow extended by CG would head towards Jin Natra.

‘Dodge.’

Jin Natra dodged Shadowman’s shadow by stepping back with his right foot.

Jin Natra, who became Seo-jun, swung his staff towards Evan Block’s side.

Bang!

The staves collided.

It was as planned, as in the script, that Evan Block blocked it.

For a moment, Seo-jun and Evan Block’s eyes met.

This was where a close-up shot would be inserted.

Seo-jun swung his staff again, striking from the opposite side.

Evan Block blocked the attack as if he had been waiting for it.

Shadowman, who only blocked Jin Natra’s barrage of attacks.

Seo-jun moved his hands busily, holding the staff short and then long.

Of course, he thought and thought again to make sure that the coordination was accurate so that Evan Block would not get hurt. But he did not forget that he was Jin Natra.

Clack!

Bang! Bang!

Several exchanges of offense and defense followed.

The people who watched them swallowed their saliva.

Evan Block smiled.

Seo-jun seemed to be immersed in his acting.

The Seo-jun who had sparkled his eyes before had disappeared, and Jin Natra with a cold gaze was in front of him.

He felt a chill down his spine.

It was not because Seo-jun’s staff was scary.

Action scenes required more trust than anything else.

They needed certainty that the action would proceed in a predetermined order.

And Evan Block believed that Seo-jun, who was immersed in his acting, would coordinate accurately.

‘More than that…’

It was the atmosphere. Seo-jun’s atmosphere.

It felt like Seo-jun’s heavy darkness-like atmosphere had invaded Evan Block’s feet.

This was Jin Natra.

‘No, did he get stronger?’

Evan Block blocked Seo-jun’s staff again and thought of Jin Natra in Shadowman 2.

And he thought of Jin Natra who forcibly inherited power in Assemble 2.

Jin Natra was getting stronger.

He was amazing.

He did not expect him to act out the grown-up strength as well.

Evan Block’s eyes became serious. He could not afford to lose.

Bang!

Shadowman and Jin Natra clashed.

The fight that seemed to end started again from the beginning.

“Wow…”

They were not Seo-jun and Evan Block, but Jin Natra and Shadowman.

There was no CG and their costumes were different, but their eyes and expressions were the same.

“They are amazing, aren’t they?”

“That’s why they are professionals.”

The stuntmen and trainers who were watching them in awe slowly came to their senses when the two actors returned to their original positions and created some distance.

And they admired them.

There was no different action from before, but it was thrilling.

Bang! Bang!

The sound of two staves hitting each other echoed in the training ground.

People who were lurking near the training ground because they heard that Evan Block, Rachel Hill, and even Seo-jun Lee were there flocked to the sound.

They could not resist their curiosity even though they knew they should not. Besides, they knew a little bit about Seo-jun’s physical abilities.

They half-did not believe it because of his amazing record.

As more people gathered, the training ground became noisy, but Seo-jun and Evan Block’s concentration did not waver.

Once again.

Bang!!

Two shadows collided.

***

“Let’s stop here.”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly after finishing a rehearsal session.

He felt a little sweaty, but he was fine.

He felt refreshed because he could move his body freely and act as well.

[(Intermediate)Angel’s Fan-Intermediate is activated.]

Seo-jun smiled happily as he purified his magic.

“I think we can shoot this scene well. Right, Evan?”

“Yeah. Let’s practice some other scenes later.”

“Okay!”

The short rehearsal stage ended and people quickly dispersed.

Seo-jun, who was wiping his sweat with a towel that Ahn Da Ho gave him and drinking water, found Kim Jae-yeon among the remaining people.

“Jae-yeon hyung. You came late today. Is something wrong?”

He always had a bright face, but today he had a dark shadow on it.

Kim Jae-yeon, who was about to shake his head at Seo-jun’s concern, opened his mouth after some hesitation.

“I think I can’t follow your acting even if I can do the action for you. I think the difference will be obvious. What should I do?”

Huh?

Seo-jun tilted his head as he did not understand, and Kim Jae-yeon decided to show him.

Kim Jae-yeon called Kevin, Evan Block’s stuntman.

Kevin, who understood Kim Jae-yeon’s thoughts, nodded his head willingly at Kim Jae-yeon’s request.

Kim Jae-yeon and Kevin stood facing each other like Seo-jun and Evan Block did before.

They also knew the action of this scene.

Kim Jae-yeon swung his staff towards Kevin’s side like Seo-jun did.

And Kevin blocked Kim Jae-yeon’s attack like Evan Block did.

The same exchange of offense and defense as before followed. Everyone could tell that it was the same action.

That was not Jin Natra.

***

After dinner, Kim Jae-yeon went home with the food that Seo Eun-hye packed for him.

He had no car, so the bodyguard who stayed with him took him home.

“Another problem arises when I find a useful ability.”

He could not ask Seo-jun to tone down his acting because of the stuntman’s acting.

“I have to find a solution since I’m not only shooting Shadowman 3 with the stuntman.”

Seo-jun, who wanted to shoot many and various genres of works in the future, quickly lay down on the soft bed, covered himself with a blanket, and closed his eyes.

Chapter 221

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Chapter 221

It had been three days since Evan Block and Rachel Hill joined the action training.

During that time, Evan Block, Rachel Hill, and Seo-jun had more opportunities to coordinate with each other.

The practice sequence was mostly similar.

They started with a slow speed to check each other’s timing and gradually moved faster.

Then they practiced several times at normal speed and acted out their characters.

[(Evil) Death Knight’s Chivalry – Intermediate is activated.]

[The grade of [(Evil) Death Knight’s Chivalry – Intermediate] is temporarily lowered.]

[(Evil) Death Knight’s Chivalry (Low) is activated.]

The people who watched Seo-jun’s captivating performance and Evan Block’s matching performance were amazed.

Kim Jae-yeon was also amazed.

And he examined Seo-jun closely.

He had been thinking about it since that day, but it seemed that the best way to learn was to follow Seo-jun’s performance from head to toe.

‘I don’t know if I can do it by copying him, though.’

But as he continued to observe, he began to notice some points that he had not seen before.

Seo-jun’s movements when attacking Evan Block looked stiff as if he was wearing armor.

His every movement seemed to be fixed in a mold.

Not only Seo-jun, but also Evan Block and Rachel Hill seemed to change when they acted and fought together.

‘But it’s not like their actions are different…?’

Kim Jae-yeon, who wrote down the details of Seo-jun’s performance on his script, wrote down his question and looked at Seo-jun again as if analyzing his performance.

***

A short break after practice.

Seo-jun, who was stretching lightly and drinking water, asked back Kim Jae-yeon’s question.

“Why are my movements stiff?”

“Yeah. You’re pretty smooth when you’re just practicing.”

Oh.

Seo-jun widened his eyes at Kim Jae-yeon’s words.

Stuntmen tended to focus more on action than acting.

That made it hard to pay attention to the character’s acting as well.

‘I don’t need to do detailed acting for a character whose face doesn’t even show up.’

That was what he thought as a stuntman. But then he started to study the character.

Seo-jun liked Kim Jae-yeon, who was trying hard in his own way.

He had also found a suitable skill in the library last night, so he thought he should use it later.

“You mean the overall movement is similar, but the movement is a bit stiff. Like a soldier.”

“Not a soldier, but a knight.”

Seo-jun said with a smile.

“A knight?”

Kim Jae-yeon tilted his head at Seo-jun’s words. What knight?

Seo-jun explained with a smile.

“Jin Natra’s father is the king, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then what is Jin Natra, who is the son of the king?”

“Uh… a prince?”

Kim Jae-yeon blinked his eyes at the unexpected fact.

It felt both fitting and unfitting to call Jin Natra a prince.

“What does that have to do with the movement?”

“Who do you think taught martial arts to the prince?”

“Well…”

Kim Jae-yeon widened his eyes at the answer that came to his mind in an instant.

Who would teach the prince?

Someone who could enter and leave the palace, who was close to the king’s bloodline, and who could be trusted enough to be in charge of security.

Someone who protected the palace, escorted the king’s bloodline, and carried out orders. A knight.

“So that’s why he’s a knight!”

Seo-jun nodded his head.

“Yes. He learned from the palace knights since he was young, so Jin Natra’s movements are bound to be stiff. Rather than stiff, that’s the ‘standard’ of a knight.”

Jin Natra, who learned from the knights’ teachings that had been passed down for generations.

Kim Jae-yeon suddenly remembered what the action director and Aiden had said.

With manners and dignity.

He didn’t understand what they meant then, but he understood after hearing Seo-jun’s explanation.

Kim Jae-yeon suddenly wondered.

“What about Bell Natra? She seems very free in her movements for someone who learned from a knight as well.”

Rachel Hill and Evan Block, who were listening next to him, made surprised expressions. Seo-jun smiled satisfiedly.

‘Jae-yeon hyung. You really looked closely.’

“Jin Natra is still inexperienced, so he follows the ‘standard’, but Bell Natra has a lot of combat experience, so she has more leeway.”

“What about Shadowman?”

“Shadowman didn’t have anyone to learn from, so he’s completely ‘practical’. He can be even more free than he is now.”

Ooh.

Before they knew it, the stuntmen and trainers were listening to Seo-jun’s story.

“A clash between a free mercenary and a formal knight, huh?”

“It’s like a novel. The story of a real prince who was a mercenary and a fake prince who was a knight.”

The stuntmen who were talking about Jin Natra and Shadowman looked at Rachel Hill, who opened her mouth.

“But Kim, you noticed well.”

“Right. I thought you might notice Jun’s acting because it’s eye-catching. But you even noticed our acting…”

Evan Block also nodded his head in admiration.

Seo-jun, who felt more pleased, smiled brightly and called Kim Jae-yeon, who was writing down Seo-jun’s story on his script.

“Jae-yeon hyung.”

“Hmm?”

“It looks like you have something stuck in your hair.”

“Really?”

Seo-jun reached out and pretended to peel off something that was stuck in Kim Jae-yeon’s hair, planting a seed.

[(Good) Spring Zelkova’s Mimicry – Intermediate]

You mimic the atmosphere of the target you want to imitate.

You need enough information about the target.

It takes a lot of time to mimic.

The tree-type monster, Spring Zelkova, mimics the trees around it.

From the sprout to the thick stem, the branches, the leaves, and even the atmosphere (personality).

It hides among the trees and sometimes preys on people, or becomes a copy of a rare plant and helps people.

Of course, the effect of the copy is reduced.

[(Good) Spring Zelkova’s Mimicry – Intermediate is activated.]

[Target: Jin Natra / Synchronization: 15/100]

Thanks to the information he had collected in advance, a sprout had already grown on his head.

When this sprout grows into a complete spring zelkova, he will be able to mimic Jin Natra’s atmosphere.

Of course, he had to give it enough water and sunlight. The water and sunlight of the spring zelkova were observing, analyzing, and imitating the movements of the target.

If there was not enough information, it would wither.

“Seo-jun. Did you get it?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly as he lowered his hand over Kim Jae-yeon’s head.

From now on, it all depended on Jae-yeon hyung’s efforts.

***

Time passed, and director Ryan Will, who had been busy preparing for the filming, showed up at the action training center for a mid-term check.

“Let’s see how much you’ve practiced.”

“Yes.”

Evan Block and Seo-jun stood in the middle of the training ground.

The door was tightly closed, so there was no chance of people crowding in like last time.

Seo-jun and Evan Block, who had been smiling at each other, quickly hardened their faces.

[(Evil) Death Knight’s Chivalry – Intermediate is activated.]

[The grade of (Evil) Death Knight’s Chivalry – Intermediate is temporarily lowered.]

[(Evil) Death Knight’s Chivalry (Low) is activated.]

Clang!

Two spears collided.

Director Ryan watched the fight between Seo-jun and Evan Block. He felt the same thing that Evan Block had felt: ‘Jin Natra’s growth’.

Clack!

The stronger Jin Natra and Shadowman clashed again.

According to the script, Seo-jun’s Jin Natra had dignity in every step, and Evan Block’s Shadowman had a wild movement.

Clang!

The knight and the mercenary who collided with a loud noise retreated.

The difference was clear from their steps, and director Ryan smiled with satisfaction.

He gave a brief comment to Seo-jun and Evan Block who finished acting, and Kim Jae-yeon approached him.

“Um… Director. Can you take a look at me too?”

He was worried if he could say such a thing, but he really wanted to get an evaluation from director Ryan.

Kim Jae-yeon said with difficulty.

Director Ryan nodded willingly. He had often heard praises of Kim Jae-yeon from Seo-jun and the two actors.

“Should I be your partner? Kim?”

“Thank you!”

Kim Jae-yeon bowed his waist without knowing it.

Evan Block, who was familiar with the Korean-style greeting, naturally accepted it.

Seo-jun looked at the tree that grew over Kim Jae-yeon’s head and headed to director Ryan’s side.

It was only a few branches with buds, but it would grow lush as the filming progressed.

[Target: Jin Natra / Synchronization Rate: 53 /100]

‘It’s over 50.’

Seo-jun smiled at the letters that only he could see. Jae-yeon hyung worked really hard. It seemed like only a week had passed, but he already exceeded the mid-point of 50%.

‘He didn’t show much until now…’

But he would definitely show a difference after 50%.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Kim Jae-yeon and Evan Block faced each other.

Kim Jae-yeon swallowed his saliva and thought of Seo-jun’s Jin Natra.

[(Good) Spring Zelkova Tree Mimicry is activated.]

A faint magic that had no effect on his body, but looked real, flowed out of Kim Jae-yeon.

To be precise, it was from the spring zelkova tree above Kim Jae-yeon’s head.

It was a replica, so the effect was weak, but the weak black magic became a clear mark on a blank paper.

Evan Block’s eyes widened at the changed atmosphere of Kim Jae-yeon. This stuntman was following Seo-jun, no, Jin Natra amazingly well.

‘Well. He can’t beat the real one.’

Evan Block smirked. This level of Jin Natra couldn’t stop Shadowman.

Clang!

Kim Jae-yeon moved as he recalled Jin Natra’s movements that he had studied.

The spring zelkova tree that only mimicked the target’s atmosphere couldn’t affect him. The knight-like posture and the standard movement were all the results of Kim Jae-yeon’s efforts.

Clang!

The sound of two spears colliding echoed in the training ground.

“Good.”

Director Ryan, who had been closely watching Kim Jae-yeon and Evan Block’s fight, exclaimed.

He was a stuntman who gave him three out of five points at the audition, but now he deserved five points. He was enough with just action, but he understood the character and followed the actor’s acting as well.

Director Ryan’s eyes shone.

“He may lack as an actor, but he is the best as a stuntman.”

“Jae-yeon hyung really worked hard.”

He asked Seo-jun about character interpretation and asked Ahn Da Ho for help to film his own scenes. He watched them every day.

There were some stuntmen who wondered if he needed to do that much, but Kim Jae-yeon didn’t stop.

“He will do better when filming.”

Seo-jun looked at Kim Jae-yeon’s head. He looked forward to seeing the spring zelkova tree grow lush.

***

That evening.

Director Ryan and the Shadowman team decided to have dinner together.

“Please give me this.”

“Yes. I got it!”

The staff who took the order left the private room with a bright face.

“What were you thinking, director?”

Seo-jun and Evan Block’s eyes turned to director Ryan at Rachel Hill’s question. Director Ryan recalled what he had thought.

“I was going to show Jun’s face between the scenes where Kim acts instead. Whether it’s a bust shot or a close-up shot. Jun’s acting was so impressive that it would last for a while.”

He thought he could mix Seo-jun and Kim Jae-yeon’s scenes. He had made the script and the storyboard with that in mind. He was director Ryan Will.

“I never thought it would turn out like this.”

It sounded like a complaint, but director Ryan was smiling.

He didn’t know if he had to change all the scenes he had prepared for a long time, but he was satisfied.

The skills of the actor and the stuntman had improved, and that would have a good effect on the work.

‘Maybe there will be better scenes…’

He thought there would be no changes for Shadowman 3, which he had prepared for a long time, but it seemed that things didn’t go as planned.

“But Jun.”

Rachel Hill called Seo-jun.

“Yes?”

“Did you grow again in a month?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun smiled proudly. He was in his growth spurt.

“I’m glad I picked a stuntman who matched your height to grow.”

Director Ryan sighed with relief.

The stuntman audition a few months ago.

He calculated Seo-jun’s growth rate and picked Kim Jae-yeon, who had a similar silhouette to Seo-jun at that time, but was a few centimeters taller.

“If I had picked someone who fit Jun’s height at that time, the stuntman would have been smaller than the actor.”

By the way, if he kept growing at this rate, he wondered if he had to prepare more costumes for filming. Seo-jun laughed at director Ryan’s worried look.

“But I think I’ll grow slower now.”

“Can you control that?”

“I have a feeling.”

Seo-jun laughed as he thought of [(Good) Slime’s Digestion Ability], which would be quietly placed in the Library of Life.

Chapter 222

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Chapter 222

“Jun!”

“Jack!”

Seo-jun smiled widely at the sight of Jack Smith, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time.

With only two days left until the crank-in, the Shadowman team decided to take a break from work and have some leisure time.

They expected to be very busy once they started filming, so they all enjoyed their vacation as if it was their last.

Seo-jun also came to meet Jack Smith to enjoy his vacation.

He could have met him enough during his action training, but Jack Smith was busy with baseball training at that time.

“Come on in!”

Jack greeted Seo-jun with a smile.

The Smith family had moved once because of Jack’s school.

Seo-jun, who had been to this house with a yard before, entered the house familiarly.

Jack greeted Anh Da Ho and brought some drinks.

“Wow. You really look like a baseball player now.”

Seo-jun admired Jack Smith’s appearance, who was taller than his peers.

Jack Smith, who was only a year older than Seo-jun, seemed to grow bigger every time he saw him.

“Well, this is the basic level.”

Jack’s shoulders shrugged at Seo-jun’s compliment.

Seo-jun, who knew how hard he had worked to build up his physique, laughed.

“It feels like yesterday when you cried for my doll.”

At Seo-jun’s words, Jack blushed and covered his face with his large palms.

“…That was 10 years ago and you still remember it?”

“Of course.”

They had grown up like brothers, living next door to each other.

Jack also remembered Seo-jun when he was younger.

He also remembered how he always stuck to him.

“My mom and dad said the same thing. How much I cried, how you gave me your doll with pity even though you were a year younger, how I always followed you when you went out to play.”

They fought sometimes, but they forgot about it as soon as they turned around and went out to play together.

“They said I grew up so strong thanks to your mukbang.”

“Hmm. That’s not wrong.”

Jack laughed at Seo-jun’s words.

The two of them shared their stories that had piled up over time.

Their school life, their friends’ stories.

They were trivial stories and they had exchanged them through messages, but it was more fun to talk face to face.

Jack looked up at the clock while they were talking happily.

“Shall we change our clothes then?”

Seo-jun also looked at the clock and nodded.

“Yeah. Let’s do that. But wouldn’t it be better to come to my house if we’re going to dress up as zombies? Jonathan would have lent us some materials if we asked him.”

“That’s too professional.”

Jack chuckled as he took out the bright red face painting paint he had bought in advance.

“This is just a small festival.”

Today was the last day of October.

The festival day of ghosts and spirits, and things beyond human.

It was Halloween.

Seo-jun and Jack decided to dress up at home and go out.

Anh Da Ho and the bodyguards also dressed up simply.

They changed into the blood-stained clothes they had prepared with great care a few days ago and came out.

Seo-jun blinked his eyes when he saw Jack.

“What is that?”

“A baseball player bitten by a zombie.”

It seemed like he reused his old baseball uniform, as Smith’s name was written on the back.

Seo-jun narrowed his eyes as he looked at the baseball uniform covered in red paint.

“…Do you have to show off that you’re a baseball player even now?”

“What are you then?”

“A patient bitten by a zombie. The Escape version.”

He tore and painted his O.W.C. hospital gown that his dad sent from Korea with his mom.

“Well done. You picked well. You’ll never get caught.”

“Huh?”

Jack smiled satisfiedly as he spoke and Seo-jun tilted his head.

“No, sit here. Let’s do your face too.”

“But wouldn’t it be better to cover my face if there are a lot of people? With glasses or a mask or something.”

He was confident that he could hide his identity even without covering his face, but it would be unsettling for others to see him.

His mom, who heard about the Halloween festival, recommended him to wear a half-mask like the Phantom of the Opera.

At that, Jack shook his head as he smeared red paint on Seo-jun’s face at random.

“Zombies are the least noticeable today.”

“Huh?”

“Doing something else will make you stand out more. There. Done. Do me too.”

“? Okay.”

Seo-jun took the brush and painted Jack Smith’s face with red paint.

He recalled how he did makeup when he filmed Escape and moved the brush skillfully, making him look like a real zombie.

Seo-jun used Jack Smith’s face as a practice ground and looked in the mirror to fix his own makeup.

Seo-jun and Jack, Anh Da Ho and the bodyguards, who finished their makeup, got in the car and headed to the Halloween festival.

Seo-jun and Anh Da Ho, who were looking at the people walking outside the window, had strange expressions on their faces.

“…Are these people all zombies?”

“Yeah.”

Jack laughed at Seo-jun’s surprised look.

Most of the people heading to the Halloween festival were wearing clothes with bright red blood stains all over them. Since those clothes were usually worn by zombies, it meant that they were all dressed up as zombies.

‘And… they look similar to hospital gowns?’

Seo-jun looked back and forth between his O.W.C. hospital gown and the clothes people were wearing and found another strange point.

“Their faces are fine? Only their clothes look like zombies… Are they the new ghosts of LA?”

Jack shrugged his shoulders at Seo-jun’s question.

“There are face painting booths at the festival. They probably plan to do their faces there too. You came here after doing it at home because you would be exposed right away if you got it there.”

“I see.”

As they parked the car and headed to the festival, Jack was right.

There were face painting booths everywhere.

People with messy clothes were standing in line, laughing and joking.

It seemed like more than half of the people who participated in the Halloween festival were dressed up as zombies.

“Kyaaa! Zombies!”

“Ahahaha!”

The children who looked at each other and laughed, dressed up as zombies, made Seo-jun tilt his head.

“Didn’t witches or vampires used to be popular?”

‘I did a goblin.’

Baby Seo-jun was a little sad because no one recognized him.

Of course, he soon forgot about it and had a blast playing with the monsters.

Then, Seo-jun, who was lost in his memories, felt Jack Smith poke his side.

“It’s because of you.”

“…Me?”

That’s when it happened.

[I can’t let this moment pass by.]

“Huh?”

He heard Korean.

It was a song he knew well.

“This song…”

“It’s Midnight.”

“Midnight… Jack. How do you know?”

It was Midnight by Red Crown.

The sound of the song made the people dressed up as zombies turn their heads to where the song was coming from.

They all moved in the direction of the song.

Grrrr.

As the adults moved, the children also followed them with a grrrr sound.

Those who had not yet received makeup were stomping their feet.

Grrrrr.

It was a spectacular sight to see a horde of zombies moving in the same direction without any signal or anyone’s words.

It was so powerful that it made the bodyguards who were guarding Seo-jun back off.

Seo-jun and Anh Da Ho, who felt like they had entered a movie, looked at the zombie horde with a flustered expression. In the meantime, many zombies were moving in one direction.

“…What is this?”

“What do you mean? It’s Escape.”

“Huh?”

Jack Smith explained with a smile.

It all started with a post.

Someone posted a message while talking about the LA Halloween festival.

[Title: Anyone want to play Escape at LA Halloween!!!]

Zombies: The more, the better.

Im Jang-woo, Yeon Jae-hee, Go Ju Won: The three of them have to wander around together.

Jang-woo and Jae-hee have water guns! Ju Won has a toy bow!

Of course, Ju Won also has to shoot water guns!

-Oh my…! How did they come up with this idea…!

-I want to be a zombie!

-Me too!

-Oh. I have to do Hunters with my friends.

=Hunters?

=Im Jang-woo, Yeon Jae-hee, Go Ju Won!

-The writer’s favorite is Go Ju Won, right? Only his name is Ju Wonㅋㅋ

Seo-jun and Anh Da Ho opened their eyes wide at Jack Smith’s story.

“Escape play?”

“Yeah. The post that started as a half-joke got explosively popular. People are coming from other states too.”

“Wow.”

“There were also some rules added.”

-Let’s make some rules while we’re at it.

-ㅇㅇ When you get hit by a water gun, freeze for 3 minutes!

=Isn’t 3 minutes too long? Let’s make it 30 seconds!

=OK!!

-No running because you might get hurt and there are a lot of people!

-Only shoot people who have marks on them because they might not want to get wet.

=Or we can set up zones.

=That’s good! I’ll tell the organizers! It would be nice to mark them separately.

-I can do zombie face painting, do you need me?

=Yes! Definitely!

=Me too! Please come!

When the organizers saw the people’s reactions, they were speechless.

They prepared in advance, wondering if they would really come or not.

They expanded the venue, secured parking lots, asked nearby restaurants for food.

“What about the zombies?!”

They needed an event that would satisfy so many zombies.

“Music! Let’s play music!”

[Title: Announcement from LA Halloween.]

This is an announcement for the zombies who are participating in the Escape event.

If you follow the songs that came out in Escape, you will find candy and stamps.

If you bring more than five stamps, you will get a zombie cookie.

Caution: There are also trap songs. Be careful not to get them wrong!

-Wow! I’m going for an all-clear challenge!

-The organizers are fastㅎ

-LA. They know how to have fun… I’m jealous.

“Whoever posted it must not have imagined this many people would come.”

Jack Smith looked at the bustling zombie horde with a distant look. Seo-jun and Anh Da Ho also nodded their heads without knowing it.

After that, Korean songs and songs from Escape flowed out from various places in the LA Halloween festival.

When the song started, the zombies stopped moving at once. And they perked up their ears and listened to see if the song was right or wrong.

And when a song from Escape came out, they all headed in the direction where the song was coming from.

They had happy smiles on their faces, but they were no different from zombies who were sensitive to sound.

“Anh Da Ho hyung. We could film a zombie movie here, right?”

Anh Da Ho agreed with Seo-jun’s words.

[The forgotten-]

Another song came out.

A zombie who perked up his ears opened his mouth.

“Is this a Korean song? Should we go that way?”

“No, it’s a Korean song but not this one. It didn’t come out in Escape.”

“Really?”

Every now and then, other Korean songs came out like traps.

The zombies who went in the direction of the sound looked at the X mark in front of them and laughed while tapping their foreheads.

It was a fun event even if they got it wrong.

“There he is! Go Ju Won!”

At that voice, Seo-jun and Jack Smith, Anh Da Ho, and the bodyguards flinched.

Seo-jun thought he had entered acting mode for a moment.

“There’s Im Jang-woo too! So cute!”

“Yeon!”

The ones who shouted were the little hunters who disguised themselves as Go Ju Won, Im Jang-woo, and Yeon Jae-hee.

The little Go Ju Won, who held a toy bow, wore an armguard, a chest guard, and a quiver on his shoulder. He was accompanied by the little Yeon Jae-hee, who held a plastic molotov cocktail, and the little Im Jang-woo, who held a newspaper pipe.

“They are cute, but… did they watch Escape?”

“It’s not for all ages, so they probably didn’t.”

But they were cute enough, they thought.

The excited little hunters headed to one side. Seo-jun and Anh Da Ho burst into laughter when they saw the name written in front of the area divided by a yellow police line.

[O.W.C. Hospital]

When the children shot water guns at the zombies inside the [O.W.C Hospital], the zombies either dodged or pretended to freeze when they got hit.

The children laughed and the wet zombies also laughed.

On one side, zombies who wore zombie makeup were talking about zombies. The blood-stained lab coats made them look like O.W.C. researchers.

“There’s no clear criterion for turning. Some people get infected quickly when they get bitten and some take longer.”

“Maybe it depends on where they get bitten?”

“I think it might take longer if you have a good immune system. The elderly patients turned into zombies pretty fast.”

“What’s the difference between a security guard and a doctor?”

They didn’t know if they were enjoying the Halloween festival or having a zombie debate.

Then Seo-jun saw a white paper.

[O.W.C. Research Center]

It was not a sign like [O.W.C Hospital], but a paper taped to the wall.

It seemed like it was made by the zombies who were debating there, not by the organizers.

The zombies and people who passed by saw the paper fluttering and laughed. Seo-jun and Jack Smith also cracked up.

After touring around the Halloween festival, Seo-jun felt like he understood why Jack said his zombie makeup wouldn’t stand out.

There were zombies who wore O.W.C hospital clothes everywhere.

Not only that, but the children who dressed up as ghosts, witches, and so on also persuaded their parents to turn into zombies.

“This is crazy. Escape.”

“Right. Escape was so popular. It still is.”

He knew it was a huge hit from the revenue that Movie Dream told him, but seeing the impact directly with his eyes felt more real.

[A baby lion, tu tu ru tu tu! Cute, tu tu ru tu tu! In the jungle, tu tu ru tu tu! A baby lion!]

A song that anyone who watched Escape would never forget came out of the speaker.

The zombies who were hesitant about other songs also moved right away this time.

“Jun. Let’s go too.”

“Yeah!”

Seo-jun and Jack Smith also joined the zombie crowd with a smile.

***

[LA! Zombie horde appears?!]

[The second O.W.C Hospital! The second O.W.C Research Center! LA branch!]

[The Pied Piper, no, music! A flash mob of zombies!?]

[Is this how it goes up? The songs from Escape are on the chart!]

[Escape in Halloween festival!]

-Wow. That looks fun! I want to do it too!

-I want to be Go Ju Won!!

=Face?

=…I’ll be Im Jang-woo.

-The kids are cuteㅎㅎ

-It really looks like The Pied Piper. They all flock togetherㅎ

-It’s amazing how many articles there are, but it seems like foreigners also watched Escape a lot.

=222 There was a foreigner who posted an analysis of zombies. There was also an analysis of the vaccine. There were opinions on life extension too… It looked like he was related to the field.

=Here comes science again…

-What can I say? I feel like we lost to LA.

=22 Why are they having more fun than us?

=333 Let’s do it too! Halloween! Escape play!

=ㅠㅠ Halloween is already overㅠㅠ

=…Let’s do it next year.

-Moviegoer. I was planning to participate in LA Halloween, but I couldn’t go because of diarrheaㅋㅋㅎㅎ I can’t leave my hotel room.

=Moviegoerㅠㅠ You seem to have bad luck.

=Let’s do it in Korea next year. Moviegoerㅠㅠ

-Hey. Did you see this?! (YouTube channel [JUN] link)

[Title: I went to LA Halloween festival!]

“Hello. This is Lee Seo-jun. Today is my day off from action training, so I went to the Halloween festival with my friend.”

Seo-jun, who wore zombie makeup, said with a smile.

“I was really happy that you all loved Escape so much. I also participated in the Escape event and got eight stamps and a zombie cookie. The zombie cookie was delicious.”

He showed the half-eaten zombie cookie that had its upper body missing.

“The little hunters were cute and the O.W.C Hospital and the O.W.C Research Center were really fun. I laughed all day today.”

His cheerful mood could be felt through the video.

After he briefly shared his festival review, Lee Seo-jun’s video ended and comments appeared.

-Wow! I saw that hospital uniform!

=…Everyone wore hospital uniforms.

=There were a lot of hospital uniforms.

-I think I saw him! There was a big guy next to him, a bodyguard?

=A friend?

-Oh. I looked at the picture and it looks like Jun.(A zoomed-in picture of Lee Seo-jun who was faintly captured.)

=It looks like him?!

-Oh. I have Jun in my video!

=Let’s see!

=Here!(YouTube link)

Unlike the American reactions, who were surprised and happy by the superstar’s surprise appearance, the Korean reactions were flooded with tears of pity.

-Oh my…

-Oh… Moviegoer, what are you going to do…ㅠㅠ

-He really has bad luck…

-This is the real fan who can’t meet his idol.

=222 Fans can’t meet their idols.

-Moviegoer posted. He got a critical hit and can’t do the broadcast tomorrowㅋㅋㅠㅠ

=Critical hit! Critical hit! Critical hit!

=Moviegoer. Do you have any HP left?

Chapter 223

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 223

November 2nd.

It was the first day of filming for Shadowman 3.

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye got in the car to leave their accommodation for the first shoot.

“Good morning.”

The bodyguard who was sitting in the driver’s seat greeted them with a smile.

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye also smiled brightly and greeted him back.

“Thank you for your help today.”

“Don’t worry. I’m the best driver in the security team.”

The bodyguard had won a fierce competition to drive Seo-jun’s car. He hummed a tune in his mind as he started the engine.

Seo-jun, who had buckled his seat belt, looked at the driver’s seat.

It felt strange that Anh Da Ho was not there as usual.

“It feels weird without Da Ho hyung.”

Especially since Anh Da Ho always accompanied him during filming.

“He’s busy preparing for the ritual with the staff from Kings Agency. There’s nothing we can do about it.”

“I knew Da Ho hyung was preparing for the ritual, but he’s doing it with the staff? Do they know about the ritual?”

Seo Eun-hye answered Seo-jun’s question with a smile.

“Na-ra said they had a ritual every time they opened a new branch of Kings Market. It’s been a tradition since their grandfather’s time. They used to work at Kings Market, so they’ve seen it a few times.”

“I see.”

Well, there were some Korean staff at Kings Agency, so it must have been easier to prepare.

“How many people do you think will come?”

The filming was scheduled for the afternoon. In the morning, they were going to have a simple ritual at the set.

“I don’t know. I told them to come if they were interested. I don’t think there will be that many, though.”

“Really?”

Rachel and Evan might have been curious about Korea since they were learning Korean, but other people might not have much interest.

A few minutes later.

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye arrived at the set and widened their eyes.

“…There are a lot of people?”

There were more people gathered at the set than they expected.

***

Anh Da Ho, who had received a call from the bodyguard, entered the set with Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye.

On one side of the set, there were folding screens and an altar that they didn’t expect to see in America. Rice cakes and fruits were neatly placed on top of the altar.

The staff who had finished preparing were taking pictures with curious expressions.

“Da Ho hyung. Is everything ready?”

“Yes.”

He had asked several directors carefully, but it still felt awkward.

Anh Da Ho read the ritual procedure he had written down once again.

“Seo-jun will read the congratulatory message. One of the staff from Kings Agency will translate it for you, so pause between sentences.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll take care of hosting and burning the message.”

They had practiced hard in the parking lot of their accommodation.

Seo-jun nodded at Anh Da Ho’s words.

Seo Eun-hye said.

“I think Seo-jun and Da Ho should bow first, since most people probably don’t know how to do it.”

Seo-jun and Anh Da Ho agreed.

“But where’s the pig’s head?”

Wasn’t that the most important part? Seo-jun tilted his head and Anh Da Ho laughed.

“Rachel brought it.”

“…A pig’s head?”

“A doll!”

A pink pig nose suddenly appeared in front of Seo-jun’s eyes.

It was a soft and squishy pig nose that looked like it would be fun to touch. Seo-jun blinked his eyes.

When he rolled his eyes, he saw the eyes and ears of the pig doll.

He looked up and saw who was holding the pig doll.

Rachel Hill was smiling brightly.

“Rachel! You’re here?”

“I came with Evan and Mr. Swalin.”

Evan Block and Swalin Arnham were standing behind Rachel Hill. Seo-jun smiled widely.

While Seo-jun was talking to them, Rachel Hill placed the pig doll in the center of the altar as she had seen in YouTube videos.

The staff who were taking pictures tilted their heads.

“What’s with the pig doll on the table?”

“Yeah, what is it? A decoration?”

A passing staff member from Kings Agency explained with a smile.

“Normally, they put a pig’s head there.”

“…A pig’s head?”

They couldn’t imagine what it would look like. Some of them searched it online.

The images that came up showed altars with pig heads.

They were real pig heads.

The staff who lost their color laughed softly at their expressions.

“They usually put a smiling pig head, but that seemed too ‘Korean’ and I thought the other staff might feel uncomfortable, so I changed it to a doll.”

“…Good call.”

If they had seen the real thing… The staff shook their heads.

The pig in the picture was grinning.

***

A little later.

Anh Da Ho raised his voice.

“Then we’ll start the ritual. Some parts will be in Korean. Please understand.”

The people who were going to participate in the ritual gathered in front.

Rachel Hill and Evan Block came forward with excited expressions. Ryan Will, the director, and Jonathan Will, the assistant director, also stood in front with half-curious expressions. Fallon Park, who came from Marina Studio, headed to the front. There were also some staff who didn’t mind bowing.

“I never thought I’d do this here…”

Kim Jae-yeon, the stuntman, scratched his cheek and stood in front.

He had explained to the stuntmen and the martial arts director, who were also superstitious and cared about safety more than anyone else.

Seo-jun, who was going to bow first and read the congratulatory message, stood in front and the atmosphere became calm.

[(Sun)Orc Priest’s Prayer-Intermediate is activated.]

[The ritual begins.]

[(Sun)Orc Priest’s Prayer-Intermediate]

A prayer that was offered to the gods before a battle with enemies.

You must follow the ritual procedure of (burning incense>praying>burning fire).

The concentration, mental power, and healing power of the participants will increase during the battle depending on the number of prayers.

Prayers: 0

Deadline: 4 months

The prayer of the orcs who had placed the skull of their greatest ancestor on the altar and offered a ritual.

It was a skill that increased the concentration to avoid enemy attacks, the mental power to make correct judgments without getting excited at any time, and the healing power to recover quickly even if injured.

It was a skill that would be very useful during filming.

Seo-jun smiled contentedly as he found the perfect skill.

He briefly rolled his eyes and looked at the ‘ancestor’s skull’ that was placed on the altar.

‘…Is a pig doll okay?’

There was no mention of it in the skill conditions, and it seemed to work fine, but he felt uneasy looking at the smiling pig doll with red cheeks.

‘I should have asked Uncle Hee-sang.’

No, then he would have brought a real orc head.

Seo-jun felt troubled as he looked at the cute pig doll.

Anh Da Ho lit a fire on the candle that was on the altar.

He then lit an incense stick.

A thin smoke rose from the tip of the incense stick.

Wow.

Some people unconsciously exclaimed. They held their breath.

Anh Da Ho bowed three times right after lighting the incense stick.

‘Please let Seo-jun film safely during this shoot.’

He didn’t care if it was superstition.

Anh Da Ho prayed sincerely.

His manager’s earnest bow, filled with concern for his actor, captivated everyone’s attention.

The people who had felt like it was a small event became solemn.

[Prayers: 1]

[(Sun)Orc Priest’s Prayer-Intermediate], the smoke of the incense, and Anh Da Ho’s bow blended together. It felt like a heavy energy settled in the set.

Anh Da Ho, who had bowed, stepped down and Seo-jun stood in front of the altar.

‘Please let no one get hurt and finish filming safely.’

[Prayers: 2]

He bowed three times and Anh Da Ho handed him the congratulatory message.

It was written in Korean with a black pen on a white paper that was easy to burn.

“November 2nd.”

Seo-jun opened his mouth.

The atmosphere was more solemn than he expected, and everyone’s eyes were on him.

“Director Ryan Will and all participants of the movie Shadowman 3 respectfully announce to the heavens and earth that we are filming the movie Shadowman 3.”

Seo-jun’s calm voice echoed, followed by the voice of a staff member from Kings Agency who translated it. The congratulatory message was slightly modified, but everyone was silent.

“O heavens and earth.”

A strange aura emanated from the priest’s body.

“Please watch over our movie Shadowman 3 and protect us from all evil spirits and gods during the production period. Please let us finish filming without any accidents.”

It was a solid and heavy voice that expressed his wish for the soldiers who were facing a battle.

“Please let our movie Shadowman 3 achieve an amazing box office record from the first day of release and become a masterpiece that will last in history.”

It was a voice that reminded him of the glory that would come after the battle. The people felt their hearts flutter at the glory that seemed to come true just by praying for it.

“Please accept our humble food and drink and respond to our sincere devotion.”

He somehow reminded him of the little shaman of evil spirits.

“November 2nd. Director Ryan Will and all participants of the movie Shadowman 3.”

Seo-jun folded the congratulatory message he had read and got up.

“Then, please come up if you want to bow.”

At Anh Da Ho’s words, Rachel Hill, Evan Block, Ryan Will, and Jonathan Will stood on the mat with awkward but serious expressions.

“I practiced, but I’m nervous.”

“Do we do it three times?”

“Yes. Just relax.”

At Seo-jun’s words, they exhaled.

Seo Eun-hye, who noticed their worried expressions as they tried to time their rise for the second bow, smiled and said.

“Do you want me to join you?”

“Yes!”

They brightened up at her words. Seo Eun-hye smiled softly.

Jonathan Will stood next to Seo Eun-hye and they bowed together. The four people followed their timing.

‘Please let us finish well.’

He had dreamed of this series for a long time. Director Ryan Will sincerely hoped for it.

Somehow, he felt his mind calm down just by praying like this.

[Prayers: 3]

‘Please let everyone be safe.’

Seo Eun-hye wished for the safety of the stuntmen, Swalin Arnham, Evan Block, Rachel Hill, her son ,and friends.

[Prayers: 7]

‘Please make it a good movie.’

Jonathan hoped that his uncle’s dream would come true.

[Prayers: 8]

Seo-jun barely held back his laughter as he watched them bow sincerely.

It was nice that they prayed earnestly, but all four of them couldn’t catch the timing to get up for the second bow.

They looked around awkwardly, just like Eun-su did on New Year’s Day.

The five people who had bowed stepped down and this time, Phelan Park led Marina Studio staff to bow.

They all tensed up and looked at Phelan Park.

[Prayers: 16]

Next was the stuntmen’s turn.

Kim Jae-yeon bowed awkwardly under the gazes from all directions. Finally, the staff and the Kings Agency staff also bowed.

[Prayers: 43]

43 people.

There seemed to be some people who prayed with them while watching from the sidelines.

‘That should be enough, right?’

Seo-jun smiled contentedly.

The last step was to burn the congratulatory message.

Anh Da Ho held the message and a lighter in his hand after clearing the nearby objects that could catch fire.

“Then I’ll burn the message.”

Seo-jun watched as the fire caught on the end of the message.

A red flame burned and a notification popped up.

[The ritual is over.]

[(Sun)Orc Priest’s Prayer-Intermediate is activated.]

The congratulatory message burned quickly along the paper.

As they watched the message burn, Seo-jun’s eyes were elsewhere.

Only he could see the aura that resembled the flames from the message, exploding and embracing the prayers.

Seo-jun smiled satisfied at the aura that headed towards the stuntmen, who would be in the most danger during filming.

***

[Shadowman 3, crank in!]

[Shadowman 3, hold a ritual! “Safety, success, box office!”]

[Shadowman 3, replace pig’s head with pig doll!]

[Marina, upload Shadowman 3 ritual scene on YouTube!]

[What is this? Foreigners’ ??? comments pile up!]

-…???

=Koreans are also ‘???’. Why are you holding a ritual?

-Right. There aren’t many Koreans in Shadowman 3, right? How did you know?

-Seo-jun?

=No, it’s Rachel Hill. It was on Rachel Hill’s SNS. She brought a pig doll instead of a pig’s head.

=How did Rachel Hill know…

=She learned Korean, which was amazing enough. And a ritualㅎㅎ

=Lol pig doll.

-But they all do it very seriously.

=Right. It felt like a small event before the ritual started, but it became solemn after thatㅎㅎ

=It made me solemn too.

=I prayed too. Please make Shadowman 3 a hit!

-Seo-jun’s voice is nice.

=22 It reminds me of The Evil Spirit.

=If it was that god, he would grant Seo-jun’s wishes.

=You want this? Here you go! This too? Of course! Wait! This might be useful too…(mumbling) This is good too, don’t you like it? Not this but that? Ugh! Just take everything!(all kinds of good things pouring out)

=Lololol

-I wish he came to our store and read a congratulatory messageㅎㅎ

=Then it would really be a hit.

Chapter 224

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 224

“Wire! Wire!”

“Where should I put the chroma key?!”

“Are all the stuntmen here?”

The set of Shadowman 3 was bustling since morning.

The staff were busy preparing for the shooting.

The staff with walkie-talkies gestured here and there.

They saw two people in their sight.

“Oh, Seo-jun! Welcome!”

“Hello.”

“Good luck with the shooting today!”

“Thank you.”

The staff who were familiar with Seo-jun greeted him as he headed to the set.

Seo-jun also smiled brightly and did not hide his happy mood.

He and Ahn Da Ho widened their eyes as they passed through the open door of the studio, which was not yet ready for shooting.

The place where they stepped was an ancient temple.

There were rows of straight pillars, and colorful patterns were engraved on the ceiling and floor.

Unlike the white marble of the temples in Greece, it was a sand-colored pillar, but it suited better. If you followed the path, there was a huge door at the end.

There were modern things like wires, lights, cranes, etc., but the ancient temple that filled the studio occupied Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho’s sight.

The staff who passed by smiled at the two who were looking around with blank faces.

The staff also gazed at the completed set when they first saw it.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho finally exclaimed at the huge set.

“Wow. It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

The Hollywood set seemed to break its own record every time they saw it.

They were about to look around the set more, but Jonathan greeted them as usual.

“Come on. Seo-jun. You came early?”

“I wanted to come early. Jonathan. The set is really cool.”

Jonathan shrugged at Seo-jun’s words.

“You don’t know how much effort I put into making this from concept art to production. I was more picky than usual because of Director Ryan, who checked everything carefully.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

Jonathan chuckled at Seo-jun’s words. Jonathan also remembered saying something similar when he filmed Shadowman 2.

“Well, but it’s cooler than the memorial hall.”

“Right?”

Seo-jun turned his head and looked at the set.

It reminded him of the Library of Life, and he wanted to look around more, but the staff were covering the set with a bright green cloth.

The chroma key was installed on the ancient temple that looked mysterious.

Jonathan smiled and said at Seo-jun’s regretful expression.

“It was supposed to be installed before you came, but the chroma key installation is not done yet. The wire line got tangled up.”

That’s why they looked busy.

“I’m glad I came early. I almost missed this amazing set.”

“Haha. That’s good. I’ll have to tell the chroma key team and wire team.”

Seo-jun nodded his head, and Jonathan continued.

“They’re really sorry. They worked hard to prepare, but they delayed the work because of them. Well, no matter how perfectly you prepare, there’s always something wrong with this job, so you don’t have to be sorry. But if you say that you could see this amazing set thanks to them, they might feel a little better.”

As he spoke, Jonathan looked at the chroma key team and wire team.

Seo-jun blinked his eyes at Jonathan’s quick eyes.

When he filmed with Jonathan before, he was just doing errands or helping out here and there, but now he was different.

He even cared about the feelings of the staff who made mistakes.

He looked like a real director. It seemed that Jack Smith was not the only one who grew up fast.

“Jonathan.”

He heard someone calling Jonathan on the walkie-talkie.

“Yes. Wait a minute. It won’t take long. You can finish it by the time Seo-jun is ready. I’ll go check it out.”

“Okay.”

Jonathan waved his hand and disappeared. He looked more mature than usual. Seo-jun felt strange but proud of him.

“Let’s get ready too.”

“Yes. Ahn Da Ho hyung.”

***

Seo-jun came out after changing into Jin Natra’s clothes and finishing his makeup.

As Jonathan promised, the chroma key installation was done.

The green-covered ancient temple looked completely different from before, and Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho paused for a moment without thinking.

“You’re lucky you saw it earlier, right?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know it would change so much.”

They felt grateful to the chroma key team and wire team who made mistakes earlier because of the different atmosphere.

On the set where everything was ready for shooting, stuntmen wearing wire vests were rehearsing.

“One, two, three!”

At the signal, a stuntman hanging on a wire was pulled back and buried in a green chroma key.

Wasn’t the wall behind him hard?

He looked closely and saw that it was installed with a soft mat.

“Stuntman 2!”

“Yes!”

The stuntman who was called rolled on the floor.

Then some were dragged by wires and hit the chroma key on the wall and door, and some rolled on the floor.

The martial arts director and Director Ryan checked the order, direction, and appearance of the stuntmen and talked.

Meanwhile, the stuntman team leader who managed the stuntmen gave advice to each one.

“Make sure you stretch well!”

They took a break for a moment to check for the next rehearsal.

Director Ryan, who was rubbing his sore eyes, saw Seo-jun who was ready.

Director Ryan and Seo-jun made eye contact and smiled.

“Hello. Director.”

“Seo-jun. You look good.”

“Right? It’s comfortable because there’s nothing uncomfortable.”

Director Ryan nodded at Seo-jun who was wearing Jin Natra’s clothes and stretching this way and that.

“Let’s do the final rehearsal!”

This time, they rehearsed with Seo-jun. The stuntmen flew here and there according to Seo-jun’s lines, gestures, and martial arts director’s signals.

“Good.”

Director Ryan, who watched the rehearsal, said.

“Let’s start shooting.”

Assistant Director Jonathan Will shouted loudly.

“Shooting starts!”

***

There was one thing that was most important on Natra planet.

The time stone, the source of life for the Natrans who lived on Natra planet.

The place where this white time stone was stored was the underground temple of Natra palace.

Someone stepped into this underground temple, where even the king of Natra planet, Tul Natra, could not enter unless it was a designated day.

[The Knight’s Code of the (Evil) Death Knight – Intermediate level is activated.]

[The level of The Knight’s Code of the (Evil) Death Knight – Intermediate level is temporarily lowered.]

[The Knight’s Code of the (Evil) Death Knight – Low level is activated.]

Who would dare to intrude into this sacred underground temple?

The temple knights, who were guarding it leisurely since there had never been such an incident in the long history, turned their heads at once.

They felt a huge power coming from the stairs leading to the temple.

The knights sensed something strange and straightened their posture.

The stuntmen wearing knight costumes were tense.

They had turned their heads without realizing it a while ago.

The staff outside the set were the same.

They saw the actor who drew people’s attention with just his appearance, and Director Ryan’s eyes sparkled.

The intruder’s figure was revealed.

The temple knights relaxed a bit at the familiar face, but they couldn’t hide their discomfort at their own nerves that were tight.

They had a bad feeling.

Jin Natra, who wore a black formal suit that he only wore for official ceremonies, walked along the path lined with pillars.

His black cloak fluttered slightly with his steps.

The large camera lens reflected Jin Natra’s shadow and Jin Natra, shaking with the light on the wall.

They felt their hearts pounding as Jin Natra took a step forward, and the staff swallowed their saliva.

“Jin.”

What are those guys guarding the entrance doing?

A knight who cursed inwardly blocked Jin Natra’s way.

“You can’t come in here.”

Even if he was the king of Natra planet, he couldn’t go there unless it was a designated day.

Jin Natra, who was not even a successor yet, but only a candidate, had no right to enter the temple.

They didn’t point their weapons at him, but the knights’ eyes were unanimous.

‘He’s not even a Natran, just a candidate…’

The knight who blocked Jin Natra’s way gave him a sour look.

And then,

Bang!

He hit the wall.

“!”

He didn’t have time to react.

Jin Natra’s shadow grabbed his ankle and swung him like catching prey.

The knight who hit the wall didn’t move, as if he had lost consciousness.

The wire team staff trembled.

He had told them not to make mistakes, but he almost missed the timing while watching Seo-jun’s acting.

‘But…’

The wire team staff looked at Seo-jun’s feet.

He looked at it again, which had made him regain his senses.

‘Didn’t the shadow move?’

The knights showed clear hostility and made swords and spears out of shadows. The sharp black blades flew towards Jin Natra.

His expression didn’t change even when the blades were pushed in front of his neck.

A heavy tension settled in the ancient temple.

“Get out of my way.”

Jin Natra’s shadow swept over the knights like a wave.

The staff outside the set held their breath.

There was nothing.

There was nothing, but the stuntmen who showed the planned action looked like they were really attacked.

They knew it was just being pulled by wires and hitting the chroma key on the wall, door, and floor, but they couldn’t erase that thought.

A stuntman hit the soft green chroma key mat with a thud! It looked like the soft green chroma key cushioned the stuntman safely, but for some reason, it seemed like they heard a loud bang! in their ears.

Some of them exchanged glances among many staff members.

“…Why does it look like there’s a shadow?”

Seo-jun Lee, no, Jin Natra’s shadow grew bigger and attacked all the temple knights.

Jin Natra opened the huge door in front of him.

“Cut, OK!”

Director Ryan’s voice rang out loudly.

A warm wind blew with the OK sound.

The stuntmen who were awkwardly rolling on the floor after being attacked by Jin Natra got up one by one.

The stuntmen who were pulled by wires and hit the wall also came down slowly to the ground.

The stuntmen who stepped on the floor felt some aftereffects from being pulled by wires, even though they expected it.

They stretched lightly.

The first one who hit the green chroma key wall twisted his ankle a few times.

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

“Ah, no…”

“What?! You got hurt?”

The stuntman team leader who was checking this and that for the next shooting reacted to his words.

Everyone lowered their heads at his sharp ears.

The stuntman waved his hand.

“I’m not hurt. I’m fine!”

“Be careful. You can’t get hurt.”

“Yes!”

The team leader pointed at his own eyes with his index and middle fingers and then pointed at him. It was a gesture that meant he was watching.

The stuntmen smiled awkwardly.

“But why?”

“Well, I thought someone really grabbed my ankle. But I guess not.”

He felt something lightly wrapping and squeezing his ankle, but it seemed like it was just his imagination.

Seo-jun, who heard the stuntmen’s story, scratched his cheek.

[The Shadow Art of the (Evil) Mashad – Intermediate Low level]

It is the shadow art of the parasitic demon race, Mashad.

You can manipulate shadows freely.

[Caution] It consumes magic power if you use it for a long time.

[The level of The Shadow Art of the (Evil) Mashad – Intermediate Low level is temporarily lowered.]

[The Shadow Art of the (Evil) Mashad – Low level]

It is the shadow art of the parasitic demon race, Mashad.

You can manipulate shadows freely.

Mashad is a demon race that parasitizes on living creatures’ shadows.

The longer they stay in the shadow, the more they slowly erode the creature from the toes.

They eventually devour them up to their hair.

‘Hmm. It seems like some people have seen it, right?’

Seo-jun looked at Director Ryan who was monitoring.

With [The Prayer of the (Good) Orc Priest], Director Ryan’s concentration was high.

Maybe he would make a better CG than ‘Evil Spirit’ if he saw the shadow.

Chapter 225

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 225

“Hmm.”

Seo-jun looked at the green ball that looked like a chroma key ball in front of him and made a sound of displeasure.

‘It’s greener than I thought.’

There was a chroma key, but unlike the other scenes where there was an opponent, this scene only had Seo-jun.

Seo-jun had to fight with this green ball and an invisible enemy.

There was no dialogue and the co-star was an inanimate object.

‘After the CG work, it will be a cool scene, but… the raw footage will look like I’m making a fuss by myself.’

There was no background sound or sound effects.

An actor who acted alone in a quiet studio.

It was a scene that revealed Seo-jun’s pure acting skills.

Seo-jun smiled bitterly and fiddled with the round and bright green ball.

Jonathan and Ahn Da Ho exchanged worried voices at the sight of Seo-jun, who looked troubled.

“Is this scene hard even for Jun?”

“It’s probably because this is his first time doing a scene with so much CG. Escape had some CG too, but they mostly used zombie mannequins.”

The roles had almost no CG and Over the Rainbow had no CG at all, they brought real audiences to perform.

Jonathan recalled.

“Shadowman 2 also had little CG in Jun’s scenes.”

“The previous works were the same.”

Ahn Da Ho heard that in ‘Evil Spirit’, which he wasn’t in, Lee Ji-seok was with him as a co-star and Director Choi Dae-man used a mechanical device to make a burning talisman.

The strange wormhole chroma key from ‘Shadowman 1’ long ago was behind him, so he didn’t have to worry about it.

“Don’t worry.”

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders and spoke after hearing the two’s conversation.

“There are more scenes like this as chroma keys and CG are used in movies, and you can’t leave out scenes like this in superhero movies.”

Seo-jun fiddled with the chroma key ball.

He touched it thoroughly without missing any spots.

The soft chroma key ball was squishy.

“Some fantasy movies have actors act alone without a co-star. I can do well too.”

‘And I have abilities.’

Seo-jun decided to use his ability that only he could see.

[(Good/Production) Firefly Goblin’s Light-Low Rank]

It is the light of a goblin born from a firefly lantern.

It shines brightly in the dark.

Production method: 5 minutes of contact

An ability that just shines brightly.

It probably rose from the lowest rank to the low rank because it could be produced.

[0:41]

[0:40]

The time decreased.

Finally, five minutes passed and the ability was activated.

[(Good/Production) Firefly Goblin’s Light-Low Rank is activated.]

The green chroma key ball shone brightly.

***

“We’ll start shooting!”

Jonathan’s voice silenced the studio.

Director Ryan raised his voice, imagining the scene that would be made with CG.

“Ready, action!”

[(Evil) Death Knight’s Swordsmanship-Low Rank is activated.]

Jin Natra opened the door of the temple.

In the middle of the temple was an altar. Jin Natra walked towards the altar.

A shiny white orb floated above the altar with a fancy pattern engraved on it.

It was a time stone.

Jin Natra’s eyes sank coldly as he looked at the time stone on the altar.

Seo-jun’s eyes sank coldly as he looked at the chroma key ball fixed on the altar.

It was an awkward and embarrassing shoot without background sound or CG, but the staff who were used to superhero movies with a lot of CG did their jobs as usual.

Jin Natra reached down in front of the altar that reached his waist.

[(Evil) Marshed’s Shadow Art-Middle Low Rank is activated.]

[[(Evil) Marshed’s Shadow Art-Middle Low Rank] rank temporarily decreases.]

[(Evil) Marshed’s Shadow Art-Low Rank is activated.]

Black shadows swayed and stretched up to Jin Natra’s hand.

The shadow turned into a sharp sword.

Jin Natra gripped the hilt of the sword with both hands and stabbed the shiny white time stone without hesitation.

The green chroma key ball and Seo-jun’s sword touched each other.

That’s when something strange happened.

[(Good/Production) Firefly Goblin’s Light-Low Rank is attacked by magic!]

[(Evil) Marshed’s Shadow Art-Low Rank attacks good energy!]

[(Evil) Death Knight’s Swordsmanship-Low Rank attacks good energy!]

Magic and good energy collided.

Seo-jun frowned at the real shock wave that passed through his hand.

‘I didn’t expect this to happen!’

He thought it would be okay to use both good and evil abilities together, but it seemed not.

The good energy and magic in Seo-jun’s source maintained balance thanks to the help of the Library of Life.

Seo-jun, who didn’t know that, realized only now that the good energy and magic that left his body were enemies that couldn’t coexist in the same sky.

‘Now that I think about it, I was able to get rid of the remaining magic in the studio with the middle rank angel’s fan.’

That was probably the remnants of magic after using the ability, so there was no notification.

What do I do? Seo-jun, who was holding the sword trembling from the recoil, had that thought for a moment.

‘…But isn’t this a good thing?’

If he thought about it well, it wasn’t a bad thing.

Seo-jun smiled inwardly with satisfaction at the sight of himself becoming more realistic than before and put more strength into his two hands holding the sword.

It didn’t take him a few seconds to think that.

“Ugh!”

The time stone, the core of Natra planet, had an enormous amount of energy.

The sword tip was only slightly stabbed, but the white time stone spewed out white energy as if to defend itself.

Jin Natra pushed the sword harder toward the time stone that was shining brightly from the recoil.

The energy turned into wind and shook Jin Natra’s body, who was stabbing the sword. Jin Natra’s hair and cloak fluttered in the energy.

Jin Natra, who opened his eyes slightly in the fierce wind and dazzling light, did not withdraw his sword.

He ignored the shock wave that was transmitted to his fingertips and pushed the sword harder.

It was scratched a little.

Jin Natra, who felt like his feet were being pushed back, stepped forward instead.

Jin Natra’s shadow supported Jin Natra’s legs and back.

“Ugh!”

At that moment, when Jin Natra was trying to break the time stone,

“He’s really different as an actor.”

“I can’t do it.”

The staff who were quietly watching Seo-jun’s acting raised their hands. Jonathan and Ahn Da Ho were able to shake off their worries.

Seo-jun was immersed in acting despite the green chroma key ball and the wind from the fan far away.

It seemed like they could feel the light and waves of the time stone that were not visible on the monitor.

“I want to see it with CG.”

Everyone nodded at someone’s words.

[(Good/Production) Firefly Goblin’s Light-Low Rank is destroyed by magic!]

Bang!

The light of the time stone, which had been shining white, faded and was finally pierced by the sword.

The winner of the long fight was Jin Natra.

Jin Natra, who had tried his best to break the time stone with all his strength, breathed heavily with his messy hair.

He brushed his hair roughly and looked at the shattered time stone that fell on the altar. He placed the largest piece back on the altar.

Woo woo.

The broken time stone shone white again and slowly floated in the air. But it couldn’t exert its full power. Jin Natra, who was looking at the time stone shining with an unstable white light, gathered the remaining pieces and headed outside the temple.

“Cut, OK!”

At the sound of OK, Seo-jun, who had stopped [(Evil) Death Knight’s Swordsmanship] and [(Evil) Marshed’s Shadow Art], activated his ability as usual.

[(Good) Middle Rank Angel’s Fan-Middle Rank is activated.]

A warm wind blew and extinguished all the remnants of magic.

‘Hmm. As expected, there is no notification.’

Seo-jun, who had scratched the ball, looked at the chroma key ball that had been stabbed by the sword.

The firefly-shaped pattern that he had engraved inside the chroma key ball was gone.

‘Well. Thanks to that, I was more immersed.’

Maybe it was an illusion that he thought the firefly goblin was crying.

He felt sorry and wondered what kind of books the library would like as he prepared for the next shoot.

Then, Jonathan, the assistant director, shouted.

“We’ll shoot the bust shot!”

Not only the bust shot, but also the close-up shot was left. Seo-jun clasped his hands and prayed.

‘…Just two more times, please!’

Again, twice more, he had to break the book’s firefly goblin with magic. It seemed like it was crying.

***

“Ready, action!”

The knights and ministers of Natra headed to the royal hall at the sudden summons.

They wondered if Tull Natra, who had been bedridden, had finally recovered or if something else had happened.

They opened the door of the royal hall with complicated expressions.

The large door opened and a wide and splendid royal hall appeared.

One of them who had been spitting out their worries stopped walking.

“…Jin?”

The heads of Natra people turned to one place.

At the end of the royal hall, someone was sitting on the throne that should have been empty.

The boy who became Tull Natra’s son and a successor candidate while not being a Natra person.

It was Jin Natra.

[(Evil) Death Knight’s Swordsmanship-Low Rank is activated.]

A heavy silence flowed throughout the royal hall.

“Get off that seat right now!”

The knight commander who served Tull Natra closest pulled out his sword from the shadow and raised his voice. The knights also raised their swords and spears.

[(Evil) Marshed’s Shadow Art-Low Rank is activated.]

Jin Natra, who was sitting on the throne, got up and held a black sword.

The wire team staff watched the studio without breathing.

A small mistake could cause a big accident.

When Seo-jun Lee attacked the knights, they controlled the wires in order.

A stuntman pulled by a wire flew to the wall and was buried in a chroma key mat.

A stuntman who was hit by Seo-jun Lee’s planned attack rolled on the floor.

Seo-jun Lee and the stuntmen worked well together.

Jin Natra knocked down all the knights with his attack.

“H-how…?”

They couldn’t believe what they saw.

The ministers thought of something.

Tull Natra who couldn’t get up from his sickbed and Jin Natra who became stronger.

One of them blurted out something he remembered about forced succession.

“That’s why I told you we should kill him…”

‘Now!’

A minister wearing a wire vest was pulled back.

It was almost at the same time as Seo-jun Lee turned his head.

There was no sound of NG.

The wire team celebrated for finishing this scene perfectly.

Jin Natra looked at Natra people who bowed reluctantly.

He told them about the broken time stone.

They lost their words at his story of breaking not only forced succession but also time stone.

“How dare you even touch the time stone! What are you trying to do?!”

“Well.”

Jin Natra played with time stone pieces like toys without caring about their anger, resentment, and fear.

“Revenge?”

Clang clang.

The sound of broken time stone pieces hitting each other echoed in their ears.

Jin Natra said indifferently.

“Due to the unstable time stone, Natra’s time will change irregularly. A fast morning, a slow day, an evening that passes in the blink of an eye. And people will age. Much faster than now. Tens of times, hundreds of times.”

Natra people’s hearts sank.

They knew what he meant without saying more.

Natra people who lived for hundreds of years would fall into fear without knowing the cause of the sudden change.

“If you want to stabilize Natra,”

Their eyes turned to the white time stone piece in Jin Natra’s hand.

They needed those pieces to restore Natra to its original state.

Jin Natra smiled thickly at their eyes filled with hatred, anger, and fear.

“Kneel.”

It was not just the meaning of kneeling.

He meant to make him the king.

The knights and ministers closed their eyes tightly.

They, as well as their families, friends, and this land, were held hostage.

They bit their lips hard enough to bleed, but they had no choice but to kneel in front of the new king for the sake of Natra people who lived their daily lives.

Jin Natra looked at Natra people who bowed and closed his eyes and opened them again.

His pupils were black as pitch and shone sharply.

It was a cold gaze that made goosebumps even by passing by.

Jin Natra, who became the king, gave his first order.

“Gather the technicians and scholars.”

It was the beginning of revenge.

“Cut! OK!”

Chapter 226

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Chapter 226

“Ready, action!”

As Jin Natra said, the unstable Time Stone brought changes to the planet Natra.

The bright sunlight woke him up, but soon the sunset was falling, and when he tried to sleep in the dark night, the scorching sun was above his head.

Not only the Natrans, but also the livestock and plants they raised could not adapt to the whimsical time.

Every day was anxiety.

Everyone looked at the sky with worried faces, wondering how long this phenomenon would last.

Those who knew the cause could only follow Jin Natra, who was holding on to their lifeline. The only thing that could solve this natural disaster was the pieces of Time Stone that Jin Natra had.

For that reason, there were those who bowed their heads reluctantly, and those who tried to please the current ruler.

The Natra palace, where they were mixed, was precarious like a thin ice.

Jin Natra, who seemed to do anything right away, was surprisingly living a quiet life. He handled his work skillfully, thanks to the successor classes he had taken.

The madman who even shattered the Time Stone was quiet… The knights and ministers around Jin Natra were more anxious about that.

It was like the calm before the storm.

Jin Natra, who took over the king’s office, was also dealing with incidents and accidents caused by the unstable time cycle as usual.

“Your Majesty. Bell… Natra’s spaceship is coming.”

Now that the king was decided, Bell Natra, who was nothing more than a successor candidate, was no longer called ‘Lady Bell’.

The knight stuttered a little at the unfamiliar title.

Jin Natra looked up from his paperwork.

A light flickered in his dead black eyes, which made him wonder if he was alive.

The knights and ministers bowed their heads unknowingly at that look.

The madman seemed to be moving.

“Do you want me to catch her?”

The other successor candidates were all forcibly stripped of their shadows, and those shadows became the energy of the Time Stone.

They were candidates who barely kept their thin lives, like the former king who was imprisoned in the king’s bedroom.

“No.”

Jin Natra smiled leisurely.

“Pull out all the guards in the palace.”

“Ah, no. Then…”

“Pull them out.”

“…Yes.”

The knights bowed their heads at Jin Natra’s firm words.

And soon after, a knight ran in.

“Your Majesty! Tul Natra is gone!”

One of the few loyal knights of Jin Natra knelt down in front of him and reported.

Even though he heard that Tul Natra, who had been imprisoned in the king’s bedroom with a thin lifeline, had disappeared, Jin Natra showed no sign of surprise.

Jin Natra put down his pen comfortably and got up from his chair and walked toward the window.

Beyond the large window, a spaceship flying at high speed was visible.

It was a familiar spaceship after his own.

The knights behind Jin Natra also knew whose spaceship it was.

‘That’s why I opposed the order to pull out the guards…!’

Would he blame them for not guarding properly?

The knights remembered Jin Natra’s tremendous power and became thoughtful. They clenched their sweaty hands and waited for Jin Natra’s order.

Jin Natra looked at Bell Natra’s spaceship being attacked by dozens of spaceships in the blue sky where the sun was high.

He smiled and said as he still looked out the window.

“If you can’t catch her in two hours, come back.”

“Yes!”

Only the knights who would escort him remained and everyone else ran outside.

A moment later, dozens of spaceships flew up into the sky where the sunset was falling.

Dozens of spaceships attacked Bell Natra’s spaceship flying away.

Bell Natra’s spaceship dodged the attacks like dancing.

Jin Natra watched Bell Natra’s spaceship being attacked and his spaceships attacking the daughter of the former king with a smile.

“Cut! OK!”

***

Early morning.

Seo-jun woke up from his sleep.

He opened his eyes with still blurry eyes and looked at the clock on the wall.

It was 6:40 am, 20 minutes earlier than 7 o’clock when his alarm went off.

‘Should I wake up later?’

It wasn’t time to get up yet.

He blinked his eyes a few times and buried himself deep in his warm blanket.

Needless to say, Shadowman 3 had more weight on hero Shadowman than villain Jin Natra.

So Seo-jun had a lot of free time during his shooting period of over three months.

‘But it’s not enough to go back and forth to Korea.’

Seo-jun had no shooting today and rolled around on his bed.

‘I don’t have any shooting today so I’ll rest a bit and do my homework… If I have time left, should I go to the set? Or should I go to Jack’s school? It would be nice to go for a walk in a nearby park or watch a new movie…’

He spent 20 minutes in a daze and soon it was 7 o’clock.

He got up quickly before the alarm went off and turned off the alarm. He yawned loudly and headed to the bathroom.

He went downstairs after washing up and Seo Eun-hye, who was preparing breakfast, greeted him with a bright smile.

She quickly wiped her wet hands and pushed her phone to Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun, look at this.”

“Huh? What is it?”

There was an article on the phone that Seo Eun-hye handed him.

“Wow.”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened.

There were many other articles as well.

Seo Eun-hye also laughed out loud at the sight of Seo-jun smiling happily at the good news.

“Eun-chan asked me to shoot some comments and send them to him.”

Seo-jun burst into laughter at the sight of his mother, who looked happier than himself.

“Okay. I’ll send it now.”

“Fix your hair a little!”

“Okay.”

He put down his phone and headed for the mirror to fix his roughly dried hair.

The phone screen on the table flashed.

[Escape Seo-jun, Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Actor Award!]

***

“I won the award!”

As soon as he saw the article, Seo-jun, who had scheduled his day today, was at the Shadowman 3 set.

The scene to be shot today was a scene where Shadowman Mack and Bell Natra and Tul Natra, who escaped to Earth, appeared, so all three actors were there.

“Congratulations, Jun.”

“Thank you.”

“Jun, congrats.”

“Let’s have a party!”

Seo-jun giggled at Swalin Arnham’s compliment.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill also congratulated him with a smile.

Seo-jun quickly showed them his phone.

“There’s one for Evan and Rachel too.”

“Huh?”

“Look at this.”

[Blue Dragon Film Awards, Special Cameo Award! Evan Block and Rachel Hill win!]

Evan Block and Rachel Hill were surprised to see the phone screen.

Swalin Arnham tilted his head at the Korean he didn’t understand.

Seo-jun translated for him and said with a smile.

“They said there are trophies too. I know your addresses, so I’ll send them to you when the trophies come to Cocoa Entertainment.”

“Um, do we really need to do this?”

“I guess not.”

Rachel Hill was about to continue, when Jonathan, the assistant director, shouted.

“Let’s start shooting!”

Swalin Arnham, Evan Block, and Rachel Hill got up from their seats and Seo-jun waved his hand.

“Good luck with the shooting!”

***

“Ready, action!”

Tul Natra and Bell Natra escaped from the pursuing Natra army and hid on Earth.

The only person they could rely on was Shadowman named Mack, who lived in a small apartment.

While Tul Natra, who was forcibly inherited from, was adjusting to his new body, Bell Natra pushed the two awkward people out.

“Don’t you have anything you want to do with your father? Do it now!”

Mack pushed the wheelchair where Tul Natra was sitting and headed to a nearby park.

Mack, who didn’t know why Bell Natra and Tul Natra came here, couldn’t take his eyes off Tul Natra, who claimed to be his biological father.

Tul Natra also couldn’t look at Mack properly, who was his son. In the awkward atmosphere, Mack opened his mouth first.

“So…”

He couldn’t say the word ‘father’.

Since he left the house, Tul Natra had been pouring all his nerves behind him.

Mack barely spat out a word and closed his mouth again.

The park was full of people’s laughter.

Mack, who was quietly pushing the wheelchair, licked his lips and said with difficulty.

“…Do you want to play catch ball?”

Catch ball was something that every American kid would try with their family at least once.

Mack, an orphan who could only envy his school friends who hated playing catch ball with their dad, had always wished for it.

“…Catch ball?”

Tul Natra asked in a puzzled voice and Mack shivered. His hands holding the wheelchair were sweaty.

‘No, is catch ball too lame? Well, it is kind of lame for this age…’

When Tul Natra didn’t answer, Mack said hastily.

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t like it!”

Tul Natra hesitated a little and opened his mouth.

“…What is catch ball?”

Tul Natra didn’t know what catch ball was, so Mack explained it with his whole body and quickly bought a ball.

Since Tul Natra’s body was still weak and he couldn’t throw hard, he didn’t need a glove.

He was excited and smiling brightly. Mack’s face made even Tul Natra, who didn’t know the meaning behind the action of catch ball, feel a pang in his chest.

Mack’s face under the sparkling sun was indescribably touching when he saw it properly for the first time.

The colorful ball flew in a round arc from Mack to Tul Natra, from Tul Natra to Mack. The people walking in the park smiled at the sight of the affectionate father and son.

“Mack!”

A man who seemed to know Mack appeared and Tul Natra stopped his hand that was about to throw the ball.

“Who are you? Are you volunteering?”

The man who knew that Mack volunteered at a nursing home asked in a low voice.

But Tul Natra’s hearing was still sharp.

Tul Natra, who wanted to accept whatever Mack introduced him as without burdening him, turned his gaze away.

By chance or not, there was a family playing catch ball like Tul Natra and Mack. Mack followed Tul Natra’s gaze and looked at them and pursed his lips.

“No.”

“Huh?”

“He’s my father.”

Mack, no, Muel Natra said.

The father could only bury his face in his wrinkled palm at the words of his son whom he finally found after more than 100 years.

“Cut, OK!”

***

“It’s cliché, but it’s catch ball.”

Evan Block said as he threw the ball to Rachel Hill and everyone laughed.

There was no better cliché than catch ball to show the love of family in everyday life.

It was cliché but very effective.

“Yeah. It appears in many other movies too.”

Rachel Hill caught the ball from Evan Block and threw it to Swalin Arnham as she spoke.

“How was the shooting, Jun?”

Swalin Arnham caught the ball and threw it to Seo-jun.

Seo-jun smiled at the feeling of the ball in his hand.

“It was fun. Chroma key was a bit unfamiliar though.”

Seo-jun threw the ball to Evan Block.

“I felt that way when I filmed Shadowman 1.”

“I still feel a bit awkward.”

Evan Block caught the ball and threw it to Rachel Hill.

Rachel Hill threw it to Swalin Arnham. Swalin Arnham threw it to Seo-jun.

“But thanks to CG, we can express more scenes in movies. It’s a good thing.”

“It’s harder for actors to immerse themselves though.”

“You’re just being modest while doing well.”

The actors laughed at Evan Block’s modesty and Swalin Arnham’s words.

The proposer of this square catch ball was Swalin Arnham.

“I was feeling a bit sore from sitting and lying down all the time.”

Ryan, the director, nodded his head with a smile at Swalin Arnham’s words, who jokingly rubbed his back.

They chatted and played catch ball, and time flew by.

“It seems like the shooting preparation is almost done.”

“Shall we stop here then?”

At Seo-jun’s words, Swalin Arnham stopped his hand that was about to throw the ball.

The three actors handed the ball, which was a prop, to the staff and moved to fix their makeup.

Seo-jun, who didn’t appear in the scene, followed them.

“By the way, when will the article come out?”

“They said they would release it when everything was confirmed.”

Evan Block answered Rachel Hill’s question.

“It’s going to be a big deal.”

“I think so too.”

Swalin Arnham nodded his head at Rachel Hill’s words and thought of what would happen soon. He laughed like a villain.

***

Two weeks later, an article that turned Korea upside down came out.

[(Exclusive) Shadowman 3, confirmed to shoot in Seoul, Korea!]

Chapter 227

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Chapter 227

[(Exclusive) Shadowman 3, confirmed to be filmed in Seoul, Korea!]

-…???

-What? What does this mean?

-They’re filming Shadowman 3 in Korea?

-Is it just a brief appearance?

=Maybe. Like in Shadowman 1, when they showed the global damage caused by the strange wormhole.

=…There was no Korea in Shadowman 1. It didn’t even show up for a second.

=222 I watched Shadowman 1 like crazy, but I didn’t see even a K of KOREA.

-Korea must have become a big enough market for them to care about itㅠㅠ I’m touched.

=I agree. Filming overseas also has a promotional purpose.

-Even if they don’t do this, I’ll watch it multiple times, but if they come to film here, I’ll watch it three times more!!

=Why three times more?

=Shadowman once, Seo-jun twice, Korea filming three times.

=Wow. Then I’ll also watch it three times more.

-Articles are out.

As soon as the exclusive article came out, dozens of articles followed.

The views went up as fast as the exclusive article.

[Shadowman 3 filming in Korea!]

[Marina Studios announces Shadowman 3 filming in France/Korea!]

[Shadowman 3 filming in Paris, France and Seoul, Korea!]

-They’re really filming in Korea!

-They’re going to France too.

-Oh. Then they’ll appear quite a lot, right?

-Where are they filming?

-If they film on the road, maybe we can see them. Can’t we see them through the windows of the buildings?

=They’ll probably block the road… The traffic will be badㅠㅠ

-The location is out!

[Shadowman 3 filming in Gwanghwamun Square and Gyeongbokgung Palace area]

-Wow. Gwanghwamun Square! Gyeongbokgung Palace!

-Huh. Gyeongbokgung Palace will appear in Shadowman 3?

-I never thought I’d see our palace in a Hollywood movie!!

-Will Admiral Yi Sun-sin and King Sejong also appear?

=ㅋㅋㅋI hope they look cool!

-But if they film in Gyeongbokgung Palace, it’ll be easy to control and hard to see.

=222 They just have to block the tourists.

-Gwanghwamun Square might be possible to see.

=ㅋㅋㅋYou want to see from the buildings?

-Will Seo-jun come if they film?

=He should…

=Isn’t it just Shadowman?

=Why can’t we see him when he’s a Korean actorㅋㅋ

Korea was turned upside down by the news of Shadowman 3 filming. Not long after the articles came out, most of the real-time search terms were occupied by Shadowman 3.

Shadowman 3 filming in Korea

Shadowman 3

Shadowman 3 location

Lee Seo-jun Shadowman 3

Rachel Hill

Evan Block

Swalin Arnham

…

As soon as the article came out, the Seoul City Hall and related officials who gave permission for filming were flooded with calls like a downpour.

The civil servants who filled the city hall thought of Seo-jun’s agency with tired faces as they heard the ringing phones and saw the city hall bulletin board being updated in an instant.

“…Do they always do this?”

“They’re crazy.”

***

Unlike Korea, which was in chaos, Seo-jun was enjoying a leisurely afternoon after finishing his filming like the eye of a storm.

“Wow. The article must be out.”

Seo-jun sent replies to his friends while eating snacks on the sofa.

Ju-hee: Are you really filming in Korea?

<Yeah. The date of entry is also set.

<But it’s a secret.

Joo-kyung: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Jae-han: Will you come to school then?

Seo-jun tilted his head at Jae-han’s message.

“Da Ho hyung. I can’t go to school, right?”

Sitting in front of Seo-jun, Ahn Da Ho was looking at the messages from the team 2 staff who were crying.

-Team leader Ahn! Save us!

-We’re all dying here!

-ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-The president is here too!

They were so busy that they still had time to send messages, which meant they were getting used to it.

‘I guess they don’t want to get used to it…’

<Cheer up!

<(Chicken gifticon)

<(Pizza gifticon)

He sent a lot of food and answered Seo-jun’s question.

“It’ll be hard anyway, since we’re all moving together and the filming date is not that long. I think we’ll run out of time if we do interviews and filming for promotion.”

There would be some time for jet lag and rest, but not enough to go to school.

Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

<I don’t think I can go.

Jae-han: I see. That’s too bad.

Ju-hee: Our end-of-year play is on YouTube!

Jinho: Watch it! We worked hard!

Joo-kyung: Our class did it too!

<I’m really curious! I’ll definitely watch it!

“Then the first place we’re going is France.”

“That’s right.”

A friend who comes to mind when you think of France.

Just then, a message arrived on Seo-jun’s phone.

Charlie: You’re coming to France!?

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Charlie’s message.

***

And a few days later.

A plane arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport.

It was the plane carrying the staff, director, and actors of Shadowman 3.

“Evan Block!”

“Rachel Hill!”

“Lee Seo-jun!”

The three actors waved their hands at the welcoming crowd that gathered at the airport.

“Seo-jun! Over here!”

Seo-jun turned his head at the sound of Korean.

Korean students who were studying in France had made placards to welcome Seo-jun.

They never expected to see the superstar they couldn’t see in Korea in a foreign country like France.

Seo-jun smiled broadly and bowed to them, who were shouting his name with flushed faces.

“Hello!”

“Kyaaah! Seo-jun!”

The crowd erupted in screams and cheers at Seo-jun’s greeting.

That scene was captured by the reporters’ cameras.

The photos of the Shadowman team that appeared in the French media reached Korea as well.

[Shadowman 3 arrives in France!]

[Welcome crowd gathers at Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun has grown up!]

-He really has grown up.

-It’s been almost a year since he filmed Escape.

=22 But it’s only been six months since it was released.

=Is he in eighth grade? Kids these days grow up so fast.

-I saw Seo-jun in France that I couldn’t see in Korea!ㅠㅠ

=22 He even said hello!

=333 We made eye contact!!

=I’m so jealousㅠㅠ

After taking a day off to adjust to the time difference, Seo-jun and the Shadowman team prepared for filming and did interviews for promotion.

Of course, those interviews were quickly translated and delivered to Korea as well.

And on the day of filming in Paris.

The Champ de Mars, where the Eiffel Tower could be seen, was temporarily closed off.

“Move quickly!”

“Where’s the prop box?!”

“Extras, please come this way!”

The staff who were used to overseas location filming moved quickly for a fast shoot.

The extras who were secretly cast looked at the three actors sitting on chairs with sparkling eyes.

After finishing all the preparations for filming and having a short break, the actors spent their time in their own ways. Seo-jun was sending messages on his phone.

<I wonder if we can meet 🙁

Charlie: I know, right. I’m near the square, but.

Charlie: There are so many people hereㅋ

Charlie: They all came to see Shadowman.

<ㅋㅋㅋ

“Jun. We’re starting soon.”

“Okay.”

At Rachel Hill’s words, Seo-jun quickly sent a message to Charlie.

<I’m going to film!

Charlie: Good luck!

The extras filled the square sporadically as tourists and locals.

Jonathan checked the route once more and gave an OK sign. Ryan, the director, opened his mouth.

“We don’t have much time to film, so let’s focus.”

The staff and actors nodded at Ryan’s words.

“Ready, action!”

Paris, France.

The blue Champ de Mars where the Eiffel Tower could be seen.

It was a peaceful day as usual, filled with locals who came out for a walk and tourists who came to sightsee.

“Huh, what’s that?”

It was like that until they appeared.

Black objects that filled the sky.

The people who were lying on the grass leisurely got up from their seats. As they recalled the familiar objects from their memories, someone shouted. It was a scream.

“Natra!”

Aaah!

And that scream spread to the people like water ripples.

Just two years and six months ago.

The invasion of Natra and the horror of the strange wormhole were still in people’s hearts.

An emergency broadcast soon flowed from French television.

The emergency broadcast that started in France also flowed from broadcasting stations in various countries around the world.

Along with the images of people running away from Champ de Mars, the images of spaceships landing on the square were shown.

People who remembered those who disappeared through the strange wormhole held hands with their precious ones next to them.

Phones rang with calls from people looking for their loved ones.

Parents who sent their children to school ran to school anxiously.

Natra made the whole world uneasy just by appearing.

From the largest spaceship, Jin Natra came down.

He looked at the people running away.

He looked at the earthlings who hugged their families and lovers tightly and ran away.

Jin Natra’s expression did not change at all.

“Set up the wormhole.”

“Yes!”

Something came down from the spaceship that Jin Natra was riding.

It was a huge machine.

The technicians and scholars who came down from the spaceship installed a wormhole generator in the square.

While they were doing that, a new spaceship appeared in the sky.

The knights and soldiers were confused by the appearance of the unknown spaceship.

Bell Natra.

She was the daughter of the former king, who was a strong candidate for the next successor.

Jin Natra gave another order to the knights and soldiers who were shaken.

“Stop Bell Natra.”

The knights who knew that Jin Natra had the Time Stone protected him like a shield.

The soldiers who knew nothing had no choice but to follow.

Meanwhile, the technicians and scholars moved.

A large wormhole generator was installed in the middle of the square.

The four legs of the machine dug into the ground.

They stretched into the ground as if to fix it completely.

“…It’s done. Just set the coordinates and place the Time Stone here.”

At the scholar’s words, Jin Natra climbed up on top of the wormhole generator.

He set the coordinates familiarly and placed his hand on the spot where he had to put the Time Stone.

A black shadow rose behind Jin Natra.

The scholar’s eyes widened as he looked at Jin Natra.

Black cracks, like branches, were growing from Jin Natra’s neck to his ears.

Vroom.

The machine activated as Jin Natra’s power was injected.

The machine that was vibrating loudly shot a light into the air.

Inside the spaceship that had just landed in Paris Mars Square, Bell Natra looked up at the blue light that soared into the sky.

“…What is that?!”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s a wormhole!”

Shadowman, who would wake up even in his sleep if he heard the word wormhole, quickly turned his head and glared at the air that was wavering.

The blue light that looked like a line drawn in the air was getting bigger and bigger, as if it was about to open.

Shadowman, who was looking back and forth between Jin Natra, who had his hand on the machine, and the wormhole that had not opened yet, shouted out as he took out a window from the shadow.

“How can we stop it?!”

“It’s a bit big, but it’s not a strange wormhole, so we just need to destroy the machine or stop the energy injection!”

At Bel Natra’s words, Shadowman ran out of the spaceship.

Bel Natra followed him. But it wasn’t so easy to run there.

Natra soldiers with black windows blocked Shadowman’s way, who was trying to get to Jin Natra.

“Get out of the way!”

Shadowman and Bell Natra quickly knocked down the soldiers and moved forward.

Vroom!

Shadowman became anxious at the gap that seemed to open.

His movements became bigger and his wounds increased because of his anxiety.

Bell Natra shouted at him, who was trying to regain his reason.

“It’s okay! It’s not a strange wormhole! Even if you disappear into the wormhole, you can open it again if you know where the other side is!”

Bell Natra shouted slowly to Shadowman.

“We can save them!”

At Bell Natra’s words, Shadowman came to his senses and moved quickly again.

Bell Natra bit his lip instead of sighing with relief at his appearance.

He said that, but.

The problem was where the other side of that wormhole was.

If it was a volcanic or icy area, they could die before they could even go to save them.

But Bell Natra swallowed his words at the sight of Shadowman, who was no longer getting hurt.

Vroom!

The sound of the machine vibrating grew louder.

Jin Natra’s black shadow, which had been injecting energy, swayed even bigger. Jin Natra’s expression twisted as if he was in pain.

A moan escaped from him. But the amount of energy being injected did not change. It seemed to have increased rather.

The wind blew from the energy wave.

The scholar brushed his hair back and his eyes shook.

The black branches that had spread from Jin Natra’s neck had reached half of his left cheek.

Finally, the wormhole that had been like a blue line slowly began to open.

The blue energy flickered like flames. Bel Natra opened his mouth wide at the sight of the landscape that appeared between the gaps.

“No way!”

Bel Natra exclaimed.

“It was Natra!”

The other side of the wormhole was Natra planet. If it was Natra, they could safely rescue people.

Bell Natra felt both glad and dizzy at the familiar sight.

“Why did you connect Earth and Natra?!”

Shadowman, who had knocked down two soldiers, shouted.

“I don’t know either!”

That was the problem. Why did Jin Natra connect Earth and Natra?

While Bell Natra was lost in thought, Shadowman reached in front of the wormhole generator and looked up at Jin Natra.

“Jin Natra!”

“You’re here. Hero.”

Jin Natra smiled softly at the arrival of the hero who came close to his nose.

“Cut! OK!”

Chapter 228

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 228

A wormhole with blue energy flickering behind Jin Natra appeared.

He could see a city on the planet Natra on the other side, which meant it was fully operational.

Shadowman felt his heart tighten at the sight of Jin Natra, who had grown so much.

It had only been a year and six months for Shadowman, who lived on Earth, since they met at Central Park, but he could tell that more time had passed for Jin Natra, who lived on Natra.

And he could imagine how hard and painful it must have been for him during that time.

That’s why he felt betrayed by the fact that Jin Natra was the cause of the wormhole.

“Why, why did you create the wormhole?

You should hate the wormhole more than anyone else.”

Jin Natra smiled at Shadowman’s words.

“Revenge.”

“What?”

“Revenge. Didn’t Tul Natra go to you?”

Shadowman and Bell Natra flinched.

Jin Natra’s smile became darker.

He took his hand off the machine, confirming that the wormhole was fully open.

He spoke calmly, despite the cold sweat. A black branch that filled half of Jin Natra’s cheek looked like a blood vessel.

“I decided to take away everything that he cherished, just like he did to me.”

“Everything he cherished?”

“There are many things.”

Jin Natra walked down slowly and reached out his shadow.

The shadow that used to be Tul Natra’s shadow swayed and turned into a spear.

“Tul Natra’s shadow.”

Shadowman didn’t understand what he meant for a moment, but then he remembered Tul Natra’s weakened state and looked at Bell Natra behind him.

Forced succession!

He was weakened by forced succession!

Bell Natra nodded at Shadowman’s gaze and turned his head to look at Jin Natra again.

There was denial mixed with sadness and guilt in his expression.

He still believed in Jin Natra.

Bang!

The spear hit the ground with a loud noise, drawing the attention of the two people. Jin Natra spoke.

“Tul Natra’s country, servants, people.”

Shadowman and Bell Natra were overwhelmed by the black spaceships that filled Jin Natra’s surroundings.

Shadowman recalled that day two years ago and frowned at the helplessness that came back to him.

Bell Natra, who had never been in such a situation before, stepped back without realizing it.

“Tul Natra’s children. Bell Natra and… Muel Natra.”

The sharp end of the spear pointed at the siblings. Jin Natra grinned, showing his teeth.

“And even Earth, which Muel Natra loves. Everything.”

“Jin Natra!”

At the word ‘Earth’, Shadowman reached out his shadow without thinking.

Jin Natra dodged Shadowman’s shadow by stepping back.

And then he attacked Shadowman.

Unknowingly, William, no, Jin Natra, no… Shadowman bit his lip as he blocked Jin Natra’s spear that flew toward his side.

‘I don’t know.’

He didn’t know anymore. Whether the person in front of him was William, who he had to save, or Jin Natra, who he had to fight.

He hesitated every time he thought of William, who had lost his parents and suffered on Natra, while thinking that he had to attack.

He attacked every time he saw Jin Natra’s eyes burning with revenge, while thinking that he had to save him.

Their hearts clashed.

The hero who decided to save him, Shadowman opened his mouth.

“William.”

“I told you. My name is Jin Natra.”

The wind blew between them.

The spaceship that was far away came closer to the ground.

The entrance of the spaceship opened and the knights came down and surrounded Shadowman.

Jin Natra put the spear in his hand into the shadow and turned around.

“Cut! OK!”

The Shadowman team finished shooting from full shot to bust shot and checked the time.

They started to pack up the sets and props they had installed here and there.

The three actors also removed their makeup and changed their clothes. In the meantime, Anh Da Ho brought Charlie over from behind the control line where he had been peeking around.

“This is my friend Charlie.”

“Hi! I’m Charlie!”

“Hi! I’m Rachel Hill.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Evan Block.”

“I know! I’ve seen all of Shadowman. And Escape too.”

Charlie shook hands with them and smiled brightly.

“We’re going to eat now. It’s a bit early for dinner, but if you’re not busy, do you want to join us?”

Charlie looked at Seo-jun at Rachel Hill’s invitation. Seo-jun smiled brightly and Charlie nodded quickly.

“Sure!”

Private room of the hotel restaurant.

While Rachel Hill and Evan Block left their seats for a moment, Charlie asked Seo-jun with an excited face.

“Where’s your manager?”

“Da Ho hyung is in contact with Cocoa Entertainment. We’re going to Korea in a few days, so I guess he has a lot of things to do.”

Anh Da Ho was in contact with Cocoa Entertainment and director Ryan and assistant director Jonathan were checking the footage they shot today and seeing if there were any scenes to shoot tomorrow.

They had monitored it, but they didn’t know if they missed anything.

‘I don’t know if I need to bring Jonathan along.’

Jonathan, who was assistant director, sighed that he was hired to be exploited.

Seo-jun smiled and asked Charlie.

“Did you call your dad?”

“Yeah. He’s coming to pick me up later. He wants to see Rachel Hill and Evan Block too.”

“Ahahaha. What about me?”

“Of course. He wants to see you too.”

Charlie told him how much the people in the neighborhood wanted to see Seo-jun.

“What? Why are you two having a fun conversation by yourselves?”

“Yeah. What are you talking about?”

Evan Block and Rachel Hill came in. Seo-jun and Charlie laughed as they looked at each other.

The food they ordered was set up and the private room was filled with laughter.

“So you met at the Halloween festival.”

“Oh. I saw that too. The werewolf transformation.”

“It was cooler to see it in real life. It became a legend at our Halloween festival.”

“A legend, huh.”

Seo-jun waved his hand, feeling embarrassed. Charlie quickly denied it.

“No, it’s really a legend. There were some people who tried to imitate it, but no matter how much they used machines, the smoke was faint and the shadow shape was vague. It was very clumsy. So everyone was curious how they could shoot such a video.”

‘Well, you can’t do it with machines.’

It was thanks to his ability that he had thick fog and shadow shape.

Seo-jun quietly chewed his steak while Rachel Hill, Evan Block, and Charlie discussed seriously whether it was because of the weather.

“Moviegoer?”

“He’s a YouTuber who first broadcasted Gray Vainey’s world tour. He’s Korean.”

“He’s the one I guided at Halloween.”

Oh. Rachel Hill and Evan Block sparkled their eyes. They took out their phones and saw Charlie (only his voice, though) in Moviegoer’s video.

They chatted about various things and time flew by.

“Seo-jun. Long time no see.”

“Long time no see. Sir.”

Charlie’s dad, who came to pick up Charlie, hugged Seo-jun and shook hands with Evan Block and Rachel Hill. Charlie smiled at his dad’s happy face.

***

[I saw Seo-jun at the airport in France! I wanted to see more, but I couldn’t because he was leaving. ㅠㅠ]

#Seo-jun#France#Shadowman3#KoreaShooting

“It’s out!”

A reporter shouted, and the sound of clicking mice was heard everywhere.

[Actor Seo-jun leaves France!]

[Shadowman3 leaves France!]

[Shadowman3 leaves France for Korea shooting!]

The articles that had been written in advance were uploaded in an instant.

“Find out when the flight from France arrives in Korea!”

“Yes!”

While everyone was busy moving, a new post came out.

[I’m not on the same plane as Seo-jun. Too bad. I’ll go to Korea first and wait!]

#Is it the plane behind me?#Seo-jun#Shadowman3

The reporter who shouted ‘It’s out’ turned pale at the post that followed. The departure on SNS was not Seo-jun’s departure, but the owner of SNS.

“Ah! No, no! Seo-jun didn’t leave!”

“Hey! You…”

The reporters quickly deleted their articles at the scream-like shout.

The youngest reporter blinked his eyes at the embarrassing situation.

The netizens who were reading the articles were also dumbfounded.

-So did he leave or not?

=I don’t think he did yet.

-These trash reporters. They write articles so carelessly.

-I feel like I’ve been seeing departure articles all day longㅎ

-Anyway, come safely. Seo-jun!

***

After 12 hours of flight, Seo-jun and the Shadowman team arrived in Korea.

Wow!!

As the actors of Shadowman showed up, the airport was filled with cheers.

There were not only fans of the three actors, but also reporters, so flashes went off everywhere.

A large camera lens that broadcasted live on YouTube showed the three actors.

-He’s here!

-He really came!!

-Korea shooting!

The cheers got louder as the three actors waved their hands, but they didn’t get too excited.

[(Active) The calming scent of apple blossoms is activated.]

A sweet scent of apple blossoms filled the airport.

“Seo-jun’s fans are amazing!”

Seo Eun-chan and Team 2 staff members, who had been waiting at the airport since before Seo-jun’s plane arrived, exclaimed.

They were worried about the large crowd and even called security guards from the company, but Seo-jun’s fans were Seo-jun’s fans after all.

“Seo-jun! Good luck with shooting!”

“Jin Natra fighting!”

“Shadowman3 hit big!”

“Evan, Rachel! Good luck with shooting!”

The scene of Shadowman team entering Korea was broadcasted live on YouTube. People who were watching them enter Korea from home or work also left comments.

-But isn’t it bad to cheer for Jin Natra?

=ㅋㅋ Yeah. Jin Natra is a villain.

-No, wait. If Jin Natra wins, Shadowman won’t end, right?

=Oh! Oh! That’s right!

=Jin Natra fighting!

=Hang in there! Jin Natra!!

=Do it until Shadowman10!

***

“Wow!”

They got out of the airport amid cheers and got into Seo-jun’s car.

It looked like it had been cleaned up, but there was still a trace of Seo-jun’s life. Rachel Hill sank into the large and spacious seat and smiled.

“Seo-jun’s car. It feels so familiar.”

Chapter 229

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 229

Thursday, 6 a.m.

The vehicles carrying the staff of Shadowman 3 arrived at the parking lot of Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The staff, wearing thick padding, and the Korean staff who helped with the filming in Korea got out of several cars.

“Move quickly!”

“Where’s the drone?”

“Lights over here! Put a mat under it and secure it!”

They had to prepare the set early in the morning because they only had time to shoot in the morning, and they had to be more careful because the filming location was a cultural heritage site.

The staff paid attention not to leave any scratches on the floor.

Of course, the intense battle scenes were planned to be filmed separately at the ‘Gyeongbokgung Palace set’ built in LA.

Vroom.

The drones flying high in the sky filmed the serene palaces without any tourists or staff.

The cultural heritage officials who came out early in the morning to manage Gyeongbokgung Palace and assist with the filming admired the rising drones.

Ryan, the director who came with the staff, was checking out various places of Gyeongbokgung Palace with a camera-mounted drone with the drone director.

They discussed in detail how to shoot the palace when the sun rises and how to move the drone.

Jonathan, the assistant director, listened to Ryan’s words and took notes in his notebook.

“Are you going to drop a spaceship here?”

A cultural heritage official who was wandering around Ryan’s vicinity looking for something to help said that and peeked at the monitor that Jonathan’s finger was pointing at.

He saw a familiar building.

‘Wow. The kitchen!’

The kitchen behind Geunjeongjeon on the right was where the palace maids made food.

…Is Natra’s spaceship going to fall here? The cultural heritage official’s eyes shook.

Ryan, who was looking at the monitor, nodded his head.

“Yeah. This is where it falls first and then we’ll drop it in the pond. We’ll break this place a bit.”

“Yes!”

The pond that Ryan mentioned was the pond behind Geunjeongjeon on the left, and the place he said to break was Sujeongjeon right next to Geunjeongjeon.

The cultural heritage official who imagined Gyeongbokgung Palace collapsing in Ryan’s words finally realized that Gyeongbokgung Palace was really appearing in a blockbuster movie.

“Is there any more place to break…”

Of course, he didn’t mean to really break it, but the cultural heritage official who was listening behind Jonathan and Ryan shivered at their fierce conversation.

He couldn’t imagine how Gyeongbokgung Palace would look like in Shadowman 3.

***

“Ready, action!”

Bell Natra’s spaceship landed on the ground as if it crashed.

The ticket office inside Gwanghwamun Gate was crushed by the spaceship.

Fortunately, due to the commotion in Gwanghwamun Square, the staff and tourists had evacuated.

“Damn…!”

A blue light rose above Geunjeongjeon. Bell Natra and Shadowman jumped out of the spaceship without hesitation as the wormhole generator started working.

Outside were Natra’s knights and soldiers. Shadowman and Bell Natra knocked down the knights and soldiers who rushed at them without hesitation, passed through Heungnyemun Gate, crossed Yeongjegyo Bridge, and entered Geunjeongmun Gate.

Geunjeongjeon.

Jin Natra and the wormhole generator were on top of the stairs.

“Jin!”

Bell Natra tried to shout when he found Jin Natra, but he noticed something.

The black branch-like pattern that was barely visible now covered half of Jin Natra’s cheek, spreading over his entire left cheek, reaching his left eye and forehead.

“Jin, your face…!”

Bell Natra was shocked. What is that?!

While Bell Natra was flustered by Jin Natra’s face, Shadowman stepped forward.

Above their heads, Natra’s spaceships were attacking each other.

A fallen spaceship crashed into Gyeonghoeru Pond, causing a splash of water.

“Really,”

Shadowman said with difficulty.

“Do you really want to destroy both Earth and Natra?”

Jin Natra laughed.

“Yes.”

Jin Natra didn’t stop injecting energy into the wormhole generator while he spoke.

The black vein that covered a quarter of Jin Natra’s face slowly grew longer.

A black shadow flickered behind Jin Natra, who raised his hand over the wormhole generator.

“Jin Natra!!!”

Shadowman’s voice echoed through Geunjeongjeon.

He wanted to save him.

He really wanted to save him.

Shadowman clenched his teeth and pulled out a spear from the shadow.

And,

He realized that stopping him now was ultimately saving him.

Shadowman ran towards Jin Natra. Natra’s knights blocked his way.

Shadowman knocked down the knights who tried to stop him while Jin Natra successfully created a wormhole.

A blue flame shot from the wormhole generator and opened a gap.

It was Natra’s ice desert.

The gap that opened slightly quickly grew in size.

Jin Natra’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the second wormhole that had grown as big as the one in Paris.

“Stop right now!”

Shadowman ran towards Jin Natra, pushing away the knights.

Jin Natra, who had successfully created a wormhole while the knights bought him time, didn’t stay still either.

He created a spear from the shadow and jumped over the wormhole generator.

He aimed at Shadowman, who was at the bottom of the stairs of Geunjeongjeon, without any hesitation.

Jin Natra stabbed down at Shadowman with a sharp spear.

Shadowman raised his spear to block Jin Natra’s attack.

Bang!

The sound of the two spears colliding was unbelievably loud.

The impact caused a gust of wind.

The sand on the stone floor of Geunjeongjeon was swept away by the wind in an instant.

Meanwhile, Natra’s spaceships were still attacking each other.

The spaceships hit by laser guns fell onto the palace and the wall.

Bell Natra ran to the wormhole generator with a scholar who had told her about Jin Natra’s plan in a babble.

“Remove the Time Stone quickly!”

“Yes, yes!”

She felt the shock wave of Shadowman and Jin Natra fighting.

Bell Natra blocked the knights while the scholar stood in front of the wormhole generator, trembling.

“Here, here you take the Time Stone…”

It wasn’t there.

The Time Stone piece that should have been shining brightly should have been here.

“…It’s not here…”

“What? What do you mean?”

“…The Time Stone is gone.”

The scholar’s pupils shook.

“Then… how is that thing moving?”

Bell Natra’s voice trembled as she looked at the wormhole showing its majesty above the Eastern palace.

“Stop it now!”

“Well. That’s hard for me too.”

Shadowman and Jin Natra’s fight became more intense.

They had been attacking each other with long spears through the window, but as they got closer, the spears turned into swords.

The sharp blades aimed at each other.

But Jin Natra did not target vital spots like the neck or heart directly.

Shadowman found a glimmer of hope in his hesitation.

The two sharp blades clashed.

As they got close enough to see each other’s pupils, Shadowman opened his mouth in a hoarse voice. He knew when these black eyes used to sparkle.

“Let’s go back to our parents, even now.”

“…”

Clang!

Shadowman dodged Jin Natra’s sword that came down with more force than before.

Jin Natra’s sword fell to the stone floor.

The stones on the floor shattered.

“I’ll explain everything.”

Bang!

The swords collided and created sparks.

“Our parents are waiting for you.”

The two people who had distanced themselves from each other naturally turned their swords into spears again.

Jin Natra swung his long spear and attacked Shadowman.

“And… Tul Natra misses you a lot.”

Did he even hear him?

Jin Natra did not stop his attack despite Shadowman’s words.

The fight between Shadowman and Jin Natra became more intense, and the stones that were set up in the palace were swept away.

Bell Natra and the scholar tried to destroy the machine or stop the energy injection somehow.

Bang! Crash!

Bell Natra’s sword hit the wormhole generator.

“Why, did, they, make, it, so, sturdy…!”

“…Jin did. Until it wouldn’t break.”

The scholar recalled the time when he and his colleagues worked hard to make a very sturdy wormhole generator while shedding tears.

“Find the energy source quickly!”

“Yes!”

As they continued their fierce attack and defense, Jin Natra suddenly staggered.

That was when Shadowman’s troublemaker shadow made a move.

Crash!

Jin Natra, who couldn’t avoid Shadowman’s shadow attack that had a will of its own, was thrown back.

He had let his guard down because he thought Shadowman would never attack him strongly.

Jin Natra didn’t even dream that Shadowman’s shadow had a will of its own and could move differently from Shadowman’s thoughts.

Because of that, Jin Natra, who was hit hard, crashed into the wall.

The stones and tiles on the wall broke from the force of the attack. The wall collapsed.

Jin Natra’s body fell to the ground with it.

“Jin!”

“William!”

Bell Natra and Shadowman, who had stopped destroying the wormhole generator and were looking for the time stone with the scholar, shouted as if they were screaming. Surprised Shadowman quickly ran to Jin Natra.

That was when it happened.

A black shadow spread out like a wave from under Jin Natra’s body, who had lost consciousness.

The black shadow that swayed like a wave quickly increased its size.

It was a huge shadow that covered most of the palace floor and sky that had been messed up by the fight.

It was a pressure that made me unconsciously step back.

“What, what is this…?”

Bell Natra and the Natrains were shocked by the sight of the huge shadow they had never seen before.

This was something that even Tul Natra in his prime couldn’t do.

Shadowman, who had hardly seen other Natrans’ shadows, just thought that Jin Natra’s shadow was very strong and worried about Jin Natra’s condition.

The shadow of Shadowman, who had caused trouble, was startled and stuck to the ground.

Bell Natra, who was looking at the black shadow that covered the palace sky with a thoughtful face, shouted.

“…What have you done? Jin!”

“This is, this is…!”

The scholar, who had been staring at Jin Natra’s shadow that covered the palace sky with blank eyes, turned his head sharply.

It was towards the still-operating wormhole generator.

“No way…!”

“Jin! Are you okay?!”

When the scholar realized something, Bell Natra and Shadowman found Jin Natra getting up while shaking off the stones on his body.

As soon as Jin Natra regained consciousness, the black shadow that covered the palace floor and sky disappeared into Jin Natra as if it was sucked in.

Jin Natra took a deep breath as if he was swallowing his shadow and opened his mouth.

“…I’m going back.”

“Yes!”

Before Shadowman and Bell Natra could grab him, Jin Natra got on his spaceship.

Vroom.

Above the palace.

The wormhole connected to Natra was still operating.

“…Bell.”

The scholar called Bell Natra and Shadowman who were looking at Jin Natra’s departing spaceship.

“…I found out how to stop the wormhole.”

Shadowman and Bell Natra felt uneasy at the dark face of the scholar who had breathed a sigh of relief at the good news.

“Cut, OK!”

***

The same day in the afternoon.

The staff at the Gyeongbokgung Palace ticket office came to work late because of the filming of Shadowman 3.

“Can you believe that was the real Evan Block?”

“I couldn’t imagine it, even though I talked to him.”

Who would have expected that the Hollywood actors who came to Korea for the promotion of Assemble 2 and Lee Seo-jun would wear hanbok and visit Gyeongbokgung Palace?

The staff who had guided them then said with a regretful face.

“And I didn’t even know he spoke Korean so well back then.”

“Well, yeah.”

“But you’re the first Korean besides Lee Seo-jun to have a conversation with him in Korean, right?”

“That’s true.”

The staff who entered the ticket office and sat down at their seats prepared to work while chatting.

“I bet people will ask questions today.”

“Me too. Did you see Shadowman? Where did they film it?”

“Did you see Lee Seo-jun too? How long did he stay?”

It was the same when it was revealed that the Hollywood stars had visited Gyeongbokgung Palace during Assemble 2.

Some people made an ‘Assemble 2 course’ by looking at other people’s proof photos and videos of the actors on the internet and YouTube.

“Amazing. Our people.”

“Yeah.”

A little later.

The first customer who came to the ticket office said.

“Excuse me, did you see Shadowman?”

***

[The economic effects of filming Shadowman 3 in Korea?]

[Seoul City, “An estimated economic effect of 90 billion won and a national brand value increase effect of 2 trillion won from filming in Korea”]

[Shadowman 3 filming in Korea. What is the promotional effect?]

[The blockbuster Shadowman 3 filming causes a stir]

-ㅎㅎ I knew this story would come upㅎ They always talk about economic effects for everything.

-Is it really that much of an economic effect from just a movie filming?

=Shadowman 3 is a worldwide release. If only 0.01% of those people come to travel, it’s a jackpot!

=222 There will be a lot of tourists.

-I went to Gyeongbokgung Palace today and I couldn’t tell where they filmed it.

=22 They must have installed cameras and lighting equipment, so I thought there would be some tracesㅎㅎ

=333 I expected some clues too. I searched everywhere but there was nothing.

=Even if there were traces, they would have been erased by people’s feet. There were so many people today.

=There were really a lot of people;;;

Chapter 230

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 230

“Cut! OK!”

The staff who had been watching in silence cheered silently with their arms raised to the sky at the sound of director Ryan’s voice announcing the end of the shooting.

They looked at the clock and saw that they had finished earlier than scheduled. Jonathan exclaimed excitedly at the early wrap-up.

“Good job, everyone! Let’s pack up quickly!”

No matter what job it was, leaving work was a happy thing.

The staff quickly gathered the filming equipment that had been installed in the Geunjeongjeon Hall and organized the long wires that had been stretched out.

Seo-jun, who was about to change his clothes, burst into laughter at the sight of the staff moving as if they were about to fly.

Rachel Hill and Evan Block also laughed.

When they came out after changing their clothes, most of the things were already cleaned up.

The staff were meticulous enough to clean up everywhere without any complaints from the Cultural Heritage Administration staff.

Seo-jun smiled at the sight of them picking up everything from the paper with the most important continuity drawn on it to the candy wrappers they ate as snacks.

It seemed that the people who came to Gyeongbokgung Palace today would not be able to find any traces of the Shadowman team.

A little way away, director Ryan and Jonathan were talking.

Director Ryan nodded his head and Jonathan ran towards the staff who were finishing up with a bright face.

Seo-jun asked director Ryan.

“What’s going on?”

“He said he wanted to take a picture together. Well, I thought it would be nice to have a souvenir, so I told him to come over if he wanted to take a picture. What do you want to do, Jun?”

“Sure!”

Seo-jun quickly nodded his head at director Ryan’s question.

It was rare to have a chance to take a picture with the movie staff, especially foreign crew members, with Geunjeongjeon Hall as the background.

It would be a picture that would be mentioned at least once whenever Hollywood movies were filmed in Korea.

‘I can’t miss it as an actor!’

There seemed to be many staff who had the same idea as Seo-jun, and the staff who had finished cleaning up gathered in front of Geunjeongjeon Hall one by one.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill, who had changed their clothes and came out, also joined in.

When the actors’ managers and Korean staff joined in, Geunjeongjeon Hall became crowded.

One of the Cultural Heritage Administration staff who had been watching the Shadowman team from a distance ran outside with his phone in his hand as if he had realized something.

The director should be here for this!

Director Ryan gestured to Jonathan who was operating the camera at that sight.

“Then let’s take it quickly before the government officials come.”

Everyone chuckled at director Ryan’s words.

It was easier than expected for such a meaningless commemorative photo to become someone’s ‘great achievement’.

Jonathan, holding the camera, shouted loudly.

“Then I’ll take a picture!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly next to director Ryan.

Click!

The bright smile of the Shadowman team was captured on camera.

The shooting of Shadowman 3 in Korea ended today.

***

Seo-jun, Evan Block, and Rachel Hill got into Seo-jun’s car after leaving Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The other cars that had filled the parking lot of Gyeongbokgung Palace left one by one. The car with the three actors also headed to the hotel.

“We have free time until we leave, right?”

“It’s not like we’re leaving tomorrow afternoon.”

The Shadowman team, who had finished everything in Korea, was scheduled to leave Korea by plane tomorrow afternoon and head to LA.

“What are you going to do, Evan and Rachel?”

“We’re going to Escape Theme Park.”

Rachel Hill’s eyes sparkled at Seo-jun’s question.

She handed Seo-jun an A4 paper she had brought with her.

It seemed like she had printed it at the hotel.

[(Recommended) How to Experience Escape Theme Park]

“This is supposed to be the most popular experience method in Korea. So Evan and I decided to go see it like this. Director Ryan and Jonathan are also coming.”

“Isn’t Theme Park reservation-only?”

“Hehehe.”

Rachel Hill laughed like a villain. Evan Block scratched his cheek.

“Movie Dream’s representative invited us. He said he wanted us to stop by Theme Park at least once as a reward for appearing as a cameo.”

“That’s nice. They made it really well.”

“I have to see Bird Nest Go Ju Won too!”

“Hahaha.”

Seo-jun laughed at Rachel Hill’s words.

The model of Go Ju Won where all kinds of birds flocked was now called ‘Bird Nest Go Ju Won’.

“What are you going to do, Jun?”

“I’m going home for a while.”

Subin and Eun-su were coming.

The two babies who were giggling when they met Seo-jun seemed like yesterday, but Subin, who was six years old, and Eun-su, who was five years old, didn’t know how much their activity level had increased. But they were still cute siblings, so Seo-jun couldn’t help but smile and adore them.

“That’s good too.”

“Oh, Evan. Rachel. Do you want to go see a play tomorrow morning?”

“A play?”

“Yes. A theater group I know put up a new work. The plot is quite interesting.”

Evan Block’s eyes sparkled at Seo-jun’s words.

He seemed to be more attracted by the idea of seeing a Korean play performed by Koreans in Korea.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

He looked like he was ready to leave right away, so Seo-jun and Rachel Hill stopped Evan Block.

“Tomorrow. Tomorrow.”

“Now we have to go to Theme Park!”

And that evening.

Seo-jun’s house.

“And so, Dream went to Cheongryong…”

Squeak- squeak-

Seo-jun stopped reading the fairy tale book.

Subin and Eun-su, who had been excited since they saw Seo-jun, finally calmed down.

Seo-jun got off the bed and tried to cover the two kids with a blanket, when the door of his room opened slightly.

It was Seo Eun-chan, Seo Eun-su’s dad, Seo-jun’s uncle.

“Are they asleep?”

“Yes.”

“Phew.”

The sigh of relief that came out without knowing was quite big, so Seo Eun-chan quickly covered his mouth.

Seo-jun smiled and covered the two kids with a blanket.

The spacious bed was big enough for the 6-year-old and 4-year-old kids to sleep comfortably.

When he came out with Uncle Chan, the adults were looking only at Seo-jun’s room.

Seo Eun-chan said.

“Sleep well.”

“Good job, Seo-jun.”

“You worked hard.”

Seo-jun burst into laughter at the sincere words of the adults.

The adults who gathered in the living room after the kids fell asleep talked to each other.

Most of the stories were about Kim Subin and Seo Eun-su. From kindergarten stories to their close friends, and everyday stories.

Seo-jun also enjoyed listening to the stories of his cute siblings.

“Subin is going to learn violin from next week.”

Kim Hee-sang’s words made Seo-jun and his parents, Seo Eun-chan and Kim Su Ryeon, marvel.

“Is it her mother’s bloodline?”

“I guess so.”

Kim Subin’s mother, pianist Choi Soohee, shook her head modestly.

“It’s because of Seo-jun.”

“Seo-jun?”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes as he was suddenly called out while eating a tangerine.

“I showed him Over the Rainbow.”

Oh.

Everyone nodded their heads unknowingly at Kim Hee-sang’s words.

No one knew how many kids had picked up violin bows after Over the Rainbow was released.

The music academies were filled with kids, and there were even articles about it. It was really amazing.

“But didn’t Over the Rainbow come out a while ago?”

“He watched it often before. But this time it was different. He didn’t move from his seat until the movie ended.”

Kim Subin, who was watching ‘Gray Vainy’ playing on the screen, was mesmerized.

“I was worried if he was even breathing.”

At Choi Soohee’s words, Seo Eun Hye and Lee Min-jun simultaneously thought of a kid who often did the same thing as Kim Subin.

Their son, Lee Seo-jun.

When mom and dad looked at him, Seo-jun, who was peeling a tangerine, tilted his head.

‘No way. It can’t be.’

Would a 6-year-old kid decide his future already?

“Isn’t it okay? He wants to learn.”

“Kids usually want to imitate something cool they see. Subin might be like that too.”

Seo Eun-chan and Kim Su-ryeon’s words made Seo-jun nod his head as he put a tangerine in his mouth.

“That’s right. He might change his mind when he grows up.”

At Seo-jun’s words, the adults looked at Seo-jun. And then they realized.

Right here.

A 6-year-old kid who filmed Shadowman 1 and has been digging only one well of acting ever since, actor Lee Seo-jun.

“Subin and Seo-jun are not even siblings… How…”

“Will Eun-su be like this too?”

Seo Eun-su, who was now 4 years old.

Seo Eun-chan and Kim Su Ryeon were afraid of what would happen two years later when she turned 6.

As bedtime approached, the Kim Hee-sang couple and Seo Eun-chan couple went home. Subin and Eun-su, who were sleeping well, were going to be taken home tomorrow morning.

Seo-jun spread a blanket under the bed where Subin and Eun-su were sleeping. He searched for articles about Shadowman 3 on his phone and read the comments.

-Today I went there too. There was not a single piece left. Do they always clean up so well after filming a movie?

=It depends. Some places are messy and some are neat.

=Shadowman 3 probably cleaned up well because of security reasons.

=There were Korean staff too. Who will spoil it for us?

=Welcome to the country of lawsuits, America 🙂

=Sorry;;;

Then he received a message from the Shadowman team about Escape Theme Park.

Rachel: Bird Nest Go Ju Won! (A picture of Go Ju Won with a crow on his head)

Evan: I signed in the padded lounge.

The two actors who had seen Seo-jun’s acting directly were more interested in other things than the zombie experience,

Ryan: …You did well.

Jonathan: Scary!! Why is it so scary!?!!

The two directors who had only seen the movie were speechless at the unexpectedly intense zombie experience.

Seo-jun chuckled softly at the reaction of the two directors.

As he sent a message to their impressions, Kim Subin, who was sleeping in Seo-jun’s bed, was having fun with someone in his dream.

***

Seven years ago, Wind Theater Group, which started to gain fame with the recommendation of Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok, put up many works on stage starting with ‘Our Neighborhood’. The theater group that had only seven members grew so much that there were quite a few actors who appeared in dramas and movies from ‘Wind Theater Group’.

Among them, the most famous ones were director Kim Seong-gn, Han Ji-ah, who was the heroine at that time, and Kim Sung-woo, who was the youngest member of the group.

“It’s nice not to sell tickets outside anymore.”

“You’ve lost your original intention. You’ve lost it.”

“…Isn’t it a bit too much to call that original intention?”

Han Ji-ah and Kim Sung-woo bickered. The members who were preparing for the performance laughed at their usual sight.

Director Kim Seong-gn also thought of the old days suddenly.

“If it wasn’t for Seo-jun back then, we might have gone bankrupt.”

…He opened his mouth to say that and the members started to distance themselves from him.

“Director is fine and all. But when that story comes up…”

When that story came up, he would talk endlessly from breakfast that morning to the moment when Lee Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok left. Han Ji-ah, who saw the members shaking their heads, opened her mouth.

“Director. We have to prepare for the performance.”

“That’s right.”

Kim Seong-gn checked the clock and scratched his cheek.

“Then…”

Kim Seong-gn stretched his hand forward.

Han Ji-ah and Kim Sung-woo put their hands on Kim Seong-gn’s hand familiarly.

The members who had finished preparing also gathered and put their hands on top.

A ritual that had become a jinx for Wind Theater Group since some point.

“Our Neighborhood people!!”

“Fighting!!”

***

To watch Wind Theater Group’s work ‘Our Neighborhood People’, Seo-jun, Ahn Da Ho, Evan Block, and Rachel Hill headed to Eunha Su Center.

“Cheongryong!”

Rachel Hill, who was wearing a black wig and a hat, ran to the Cheongryong model, spitting out fluent Korean. Seo-jun and Evan Block, who were wearing masks and hats, followed her.

“You can line up here.”

“Thank you.”

There was a separate line for taking pictures, which showed how popular the Cheongryong model was.

They also took pictures with Cheongryong and looked around Eunha Su Center and sat in their seats just before the play started.

A moment later.

A beep sound signaled the start of the play and the curtain rose.

“Gold bars! Gold bars!!”

The play ‘Our Neighborhood People’ started with Han Ji-ah’s scream. It was a story of people in a mansion called Our Mansion who got tangled up with each other trying to get the gold bars that were found in the basement of the mansion.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill, who could understand well even without an interpreter, were immersed in the play. Seo-jun also watched the stage with sparkling eyes.

***

“Excuse me. Director Kim Seong-gn. Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Oh. Yes.”

The members of the Wind Theater Group, who were taking a break for the afternoon performance after the play ended, opened their mouths as they watched Kim Seong-gn, who left the dressing room at the call of the Eunha Su Center staff.

“Did you see the audience today? There were some people who were watching very hard, right?”

“I saw them too. They were very noticeable from the stage.”

“Right? Maybe they are actors?”

“They wore masks and hats. They looked like actors.”

“Maybe they are aspiring actors. Maybe they came to see us because they want to join our theater group.”

“Maybe! I also watched Wind’s works very hard because I wanted to join here!”

Everyone smiled warmly at the cute new member’s words.

Then, the door of the dressing room opened. It was Kim Seong-gn.

“Director?”

Kim Seong-gn, who looked dazed, slowly stepped aside, and a boy wearing a hat and mask appeared. Oh, he was in the audience earlier…

The boy slowly took off his hat and mask.

“Huh?”

Han Ji-ah and Kim Sung-woo felt like they had seen this scene before.

It was seven years ago, the day that changed the fate of Wind Theater Group and the two of them.

“Huh, huh?”

As the two of them couldn’t even utter a word, the members were puzzled when their attention shifted to the back.

Seo-jun smiled and introduced the two people behind him.

“Hello. I’m Evan Block.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Rachel Hill!”

The appearance of two Hollywood actors made Wind Theater Group’s dressing room explode.

***

[Shadowman 3, safely finished filming in Korea!]

[Shadowman team left by plane at 4 pm today!]

[Fake? Real? The signatures of Evan Block and Rachel Hill left at Escape Theme Park!]

[Why here? Shadowman team appeared at Eunha Su Center!]

[The connection between Wind Theater Group and actor Lee Seo-jun!]

-There were a lot of people at the airport when they left.

=As always, Seo-jun’s fans were orderlyㅎㅎ

-They went to Escape Theme Park? Evan Block and Rachel Hill?

=Yeah, yesterday.

=Someone posted a before & after picture of the wall. There are signatures and noneㅋㅋ

-Lolㅋㅋ Rachel Hill posted a picture with Go Ju Won model on SNS.

-There are quite a few foreigners who come to Escape Theme Park, so you might not notice them.

=222 There are a lot of foreigners.

-But there aren’t many foreigners who go to see Korean plays, right?

=Evan Block and Rachel Hill speak Korean well.

-Eunha Su Center? They went to Eunha Su Center? I went to Eunha Su Center today and saw Wind’s play!? They were in the same theater!?

=222 Me too, I saw it today? They might have sat next to me?

=333 Who cares about the person next to them when watching a play…!

-Huh. They also posted a picture with Cheongryong on SNS.

-They wore wigs, hats, and masks so I couldn’t recognize them!

=And they wrote in Korean tooㅋㅋ Who would think they are Hollywood actors?

Chapter 231

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 231

The filming of Shadowman 3 continued even after the new year.

It was exhausting to keep filming, but fortunately, both the staff and the actors were putting more effort as the end of the filming approached.

“It’s strange that we didn’t get hurt at all during this filming, right?”

“There was no accident either.”

“There were some minor mistakes, but definitely less than other shootings.”

The staff and stuntmen who were preparing for the shooting chatted in wonder.

It was very smooth, even for a smooth shooting.

“Is it because of that?”

“Because of what?”

“The ritual… the ritual we did on the first day of crank-in?”

“Did you go see it?”

“Yeah. I was curious.”

The staff who attended the ritual blabbered, and the stuntmen who were a little away nodded their heads.

“Right. Is it really because of that?”

“Hmm.”

Kim Jae-yeon, who was watching today’s action scene on video, scratched his cheek at Kevin’s question, Evan Block’s stuntman.

“Maybe it’s just a coincidence? In Korea, there are often accidents even after doing rituals.”

“Really? I was going to suggest doing it again before the next film shooting. Oh, Jun. You’re here?”

“Hello!”

Seo-jun greeted the staff and stuntmen and smiled softly at Kim Jae-yeon’s words. [(Good)Oak Priest’s Prayer] was working well enough.

“Jae-yeon hyung. Hello.”

“You’re here, Seo-jun?”

“What are you doing?”

“I was watching the scene we’re going to do today.”

Seo-jun sat next to Kim Jae-yeon. Kim Jae-yeon showed him his phone. On the phone screen, Kim Jae-yeon and Evan Block were practicing the scene.

“Jae-yeon hyung. Are you nervous?”

“…Yeah. I made six NGs at Gyeongbokgung Palace scene.”

After finishing the shooting in Korea, the Shadowman team filmed action scenes freely at the Gyeongbokgung Palace set made by Marine Sa.

The scene that Kim Jae-yeon had to do there was jumping over the wormhole generator with a wire and stabbing a spear on top of Shadowman and being attacked by Shadowman’s shadow and crashing into the wall.

There, Kim Jae-yeon made six NGs. There was an NG where the wire got tangled, so it wasn’t entirely Kim Jae-yeon’s fault. It wasn’t a big mistake, so Director Ryan shot it again without much fuss.

But each of those NGs made Kim Jae-yeon feel discouraged.

Seo-jun’s eyes moved to Kim Jae-yeon’s head, which was nervously shaking his legs.

The spring zelkova tree planted on Kim Jae-yeon’s head was very lush, unlike Kim Jae-yeon’s mind.

[Goal: Jin Natra / Fairy Tale Rate: 89%]

‘It went up quite a bit.’

Maybe today’s shooting would exceed 90%. The 90% area was something else, so Seo-jun smiled contentedly and said.

“You’ll do well.”

“…Thank you.”

Kim Jae-yeon was grateful even for empty words.

Seo-jun, who had a little conversation with Kim Jae-yeon, found Swalin Arnham who had just appeared.

Seo-jun smiled brightly.

His smile seemed to shine, and Kim Jae-yeon and the stuntmen squinted their eyes.

‘He’s a superstar after all.’

Seo-jun quickly ran to Swalin Arnham.

“Hello!”

“Hi, Jun. We’re shooting together from today, right?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun smiled broadly at Swalin Arnham’s words.

He had been looking forward to shooting with Swalin Arnham for so long.

It was sad that it wasn’t that long.

“I’m really looking forward to it! I’ll do my best!”

At Seo-jun’s sparkling appearance, Swalin Arnham burst into laughter.

“Yeah. Let’s do our best.”

“Yes!”

***

“Ready,”

[(Evil)Death Knight’s Chivalry-Middle Level is activated.]

[The level of [(Evil)Death Knight’s Chivalry-Middle Level] is temporarily lowered.]

[(Evil)Death Knight’s Chivalry-Low Level is activated.]

[(Evil)Mashed Shadow Art-Middle Low Level] is activated.]

[The level of [(Evil)Mashed Shadow Art-Middle Low Level] is temporarily lowered.]

[(Evil)Mashed Shadow Art-Low Level] is activated.]

Seo-jun’s appearance on the green chroma key was ominous.

No, it was no longer Seo-jun Lee standing there, but Jin Natra.

He was more immersed than expected.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill, who were standing in front of him, and Swalin Arnham, who had just appeared, tensed up without knowing.

“…What happened?”

Swalin Arnham answered Evan Block’s question.

“He said he would do his best.”

“…It’s terrifying.”

Seo-jun, who had been waiting and waiting for shooting with Swalin Arnham, was amazing.

How happy he must be inside, he smiled so satisfyingly that Evan Block and Rachel Hill, who were startled by Seo-jun’s immersion, relaxed their breaths and looked at Jin Natra.

“We can’t lose either.”

Seeing the three actors immersed, Director Ryan shouted loudly without any delay.

“Action!”

“I told you.”

Jin Natra, who was standing on the wormhole generator installed in New York Central Park, smiled.

Half of Jin Natra’s face was covered with black branches. And the branch on his chin was cracked and a white light was leaking out.

“I’ll take away ‘everything’ that is precious to you.”

At Jin Natra’s words, Tul Natra’s eyes slowly widened. His heart beat so hard that it hurt with anxiety. His whole body trembled.

Ah…!

Why did he realize it now?

Tul Natra finally realized that the boy in front of him was also included in the ‘precious things’ that Jin Natra was talking about.

Tul Natra’s pupils shook as he looked at Jin Natra.

Tul Natra, who had been relieved in one corner of his mind that Jin Natra would live well after finishing his revenge on himself, gasped at the words of his precious son who used his life for revenge.

How could… He didn’t know that Jin Natra would try to ruin him too.

“Father.”

At the call of father that he heard for the first time in a long time, Tul Natra shed tears without knowing.

“Bell.”

Bell Natra screamed silently.

“Shadowman.”

Shadowman looked at Jin Natra with trembling eyes.

“Choose.”

Jin Natra smiled broadly.

“Will you surrender? Earth and Natra?”

This was Jin Natra’s revenge.

If he didn’t kill Jin Natra, Earth and Natra would collide in the wormhole.

To save Earth and Natra from the wormhole, he had to kill Jin Natra, the source of energy.

The answer was obvious.

That’s why it was a cruel choice.

“Jin Natra!”

Bell Natra sobbed and shouted.

“Your father who is still alive after being forcibly inherited from.”

He thought it was Jin Natra’s lingering attachment that Tul Natra, who should have died from the forced inheritance, could recover enough to fight.

“When you gave up chasing us when I was saving father.”

She thought it was not enough resentment to kill their father when he called the soldiers back at the time when they was about to be caught.

“Why didn’t you attack New York where we were right away?”

She thought it was hesitating not to attack New York where Tul Natra and Shadowman, whom he hated the most, were.

“You lured us here!”

She thought he still considered them as family.

But it wasn’t.

She finally understood Jin Natra’s actions and Bell Natra burst into tears.

“Was it for this? Jin?”

“…Jin.”

Tul Natra, who was staggering in shock, leaned on Shadowman and barely spat out a word.

Jin Natra spread his arms wide.

He smiled brightly and innocently like the young and naive Jin Natra of that time.

“Father. Will you make me unhappy again?”

“Shadowman. Will you not save me again?”

“Bell. Will you abandon me again?”

Each word of Jin Natra stabbed the hearts of the three people.

A heavy guilt overwhelmed them.

“Now. Choose.”

Woo woo woo!

Jin Natra, who was smiling brightly, raised his hands to the wormhole generator. Black shadows swayed behind Jin Natra’s back like dancing.

The wormhole generator, which received Jin Natra’s energy, shot blue flames into the air. And the last wormhole opened.

It was Natra Kingdom, where precious memories and painful wounds were mixed.

“Cut, OK!”

***

The next shooting was a scene where the three people fought with Jin Natra who went berserk.

As there were many scenes where Jin Natra ran wild, Kim Jae-yeon’s role as a stuntman was important.

Seo-jun acted until just before the action scene, and Kim Jae-yeon continued the action as he was.

When Kim Jae-yeon’s action ended, Seo-jun immediately followed up with acting.

[Goal: Jin Natra / Fairy Tale Rate: 90%]

A thick fake magic flowed from Kim Jae-yeon’s Jin Natra, who achieved a fairy tale rate of 90%.

He wasn’t as good as Seo-jun, but it was enough to impress Evan Block and Rachel Hill, who had been watching Seo-jun’s Jin Natra for a long time, and Ryan director.

The other staff also paid attention to Seo-jun’s stuntman, Kim Jae-yeon.

He was good at action as a stuntman, but they didn’t know he could capture the atmosphere as well.

Kim Jae-yeon’s body and mind, which had been shrunk by the eyes of surprise, slowly relaxed. As he relaxed, Kim Jae-yeon’s action became more lively.

“Cut, OK!”

Seo-jun also smiled with satisfaction at Ryan director’s OK sound that seemed satisfied.

****

“Ready, action!”

Jin Natra’s shadow grew bigger.

The shadow that looked like an illusion without form only showed its presence in the hands of the Natrans.

The shadow that became like a wave turned Central Park upside down.

The three people dodged the shadow that swept over like a tsunami, overturning trees and land.

And the battle began.

As Tul Natra revealed himself, the substitutes who had no choice but to bow their heads to Jin Natra began to waver.

Already a third of the spaceship was destroyed in Korea and half of it went to Bell Natra.

Tul Natra’s appearance took away more spaceships from Jin Natra. There were only a few spaceships left for Jin Natra.

The power difference was clear, but Jin Natra’s shadow was better than that.

The shadow that dyed the ground black rose like a needle and pierced through the spaceships.

The spaceships flying in the air were fixed as they were. Some of the spaceships exploded because their engines were penetrated.

Shadowman and Bell Natra tried to stop Jin Natra by jumping around on the overturned trees and spaceships, but the power difference was clearly visible.

Kwoong!

A loud vibration rang out.

The scientist who was left on the spaceship shouted.

-It’s a sign of collision!

There wasn’t much time left.

Tul Natra, who had been hesitating to see Shadowman and Bell Natra, moved first.

He had tried to persuade him until now, but he only realized that it was useless.

Then he wanted to finish it with his sinful hands.

He didn’t want Bell or Muel to feel guilty.

Tul Natra, who bit his lips, attacked first, aiming for Jin Natra’s heart, who couldn’t control the power of the Time Stone he absorbed.

***

Bell Natra’s spear pierced Jin Natra’s right shoulder-

Shadowman’s shadow pierced Jin Natra’s right thigh-

And Tul Natra’s sword pierced Jin Natra’s left chest-

Bell Natra’s hand holding the spear trembled.

Bell Natra couldn’t bear to look at Jin Natra in front of her.

Her jaw clenched with pain trembled.

Tears blurred her vision.

Shadowman, who was holding Jin Natra to help Tul Natra’s attack, gently laid down Jin Natra, who seemed to lose strength, with trembling hands.

While Tul Natra ordered the Natrans, Bell Natra quickly treated him.

Jin Natra, who was looking at them with a blank stare, slowly closed his eyes.

He looked like he fell asleep, like he was in his mother’s arms, with a comfortable face.

***

Early February.

The last part of the Shadowman series, Shadowman 3, finished shooting.

Chapter 232

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 232

Early February.

The last day of shooting for Shadowman 3.

The actors gave their best performance and Ryan, the director, shouted.

“Cut!”

There was no word that should follow after cut, but the actors and staff just looked at Ryan Will, the director.

This scene was perfect.

It must be OK. But no one rushed Ryan, the director.

There was still a lot of work left to finish the movie, but unless there was a reshoot, there would be no more shooting.

Now it was the last time for Ryan Will, the director, to say OK.

The last time.

There was staff who had been with him since Shadowman 1 and staff who joined in Shadowman 2.

They all looked at Ryan Will, the director, with emotion and regret.

The staff also liked the Shadowman series, but not as much as Ryan Will, the director, who started this series.

Seo-jun Lee, who debuted with Shadowman, Evan Block, who was loved as Shadowman for a long time, Rachel Hill, who met a perfect character, and Swalin Arnham, who joined for the first time but understood Ryan’s mind, also waited silently.

Ryan Will, the director, felt a heaviness in his chest as he looked at the set where the actors stood with complex expressions.

He was about to achieve his dream that he had dreamed of since he was a young boy who knew nothing.

His eyes reddened and Ryan Will, the director, uttered the word he had been waiting for a long time.

“…OK!”

Is this how it feels to achieve your dream?

His voice was heavy but light, happy but sad.

Yet it was full of satisfaction and emotion that he had done it.

Seo-jun raised his hands and clapped loudly.

Evan Block, Rachel Hill, Swalin Arnham also did.

The cinematographer who had been with him since Shadowman 1, the art director, and the staff also applauded together.

Clap clap clap!!

Ryan Will, the director, smiled brightly at the applause.

It was the same smile he had when he was a little Ryan Will who watched ‘Shadowman’ alone.

Jonathan Will, who admired such an idol, shed tears and clapped his hands until they hurt.

***

When the actors changed their clothes and the set was cleaned up, Seo-jun called Jonathan.

“Jonathan. Can you give this to the staff?”

“What is this?”

Seo-jun took out a white envelope from a bag full of white envelopes and handed it to Jonathan.

Jonathan opened the envelope and was surprised to see the paper inside.

“It’s a hotel restaurant voucher!”

“It’s for two people. There are two vouchers in each envelope so you can go with up to four people.”

“Who should I give it to?”

Do you have any staff you are close with?

Seo-jun answered Jonathan’s question.

“Everyone. The directors and stuntmen and staff too.”

“…Everyone?”

“That’s why I brought so many.”

When Jonathan went to distribute the envelopes to everyone in the Shadowman team, Seo-jun headed to the actors.

“Here you go.”

Evan Block, Rachel Hill, Swalin Arnham opened the envelopes that Seo-jun gave them.

“This is a Michelin starred restaurant!”

“I went there before and it was delicious.”

“Thank you. Jun. Do you want to go together tomorrow?”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at Swalin Arnham’s words.

“Yes! Sure!”

Rachel Hill and Evan Block also nodded their heads with wide smiles.

Ryan Will, the director, who received the envelope late also agreed to go together.

Jonathan distributed white envelopes to everyone in the Shadowman team.

The stuntmen including Kim Jae-yeon, the cinematographer, the art director, and the staff received envelopes with vouchers.

“Jun gave this as a gift.”

Oh! He’s a superstar!

The staff cheered when they opened the envelopes and saw the name of the restaurant.

“I wanted to go to this restaurant!”

“I heard their dishes are delicious this season!”

Kim Jae-yeon looked at the voucher.

He had some extra money from this movie shoot so his family was coming to America for a trip in a few days.

He searched on his phone and found out that it was a two-star Michelin restaurant.

‘I’ll go then.’

He smiled thinking about how surprised his family would be.

And if he said that Seo-jun gave it to him, they would be even more surprised.

Then Kevin, the stuntman for Shadowman, asked Kim Jae-yeon.

“Jae-yeon. We’re going tomorrow. Do you want to come?”

“No, I’m going with my family next week.”

“Really?”

Kevin thought for a moment after Jae-yeon’s refusal and opened his mouth again.

“We’re five without Jae-yeon anyway. And it’s for two people so there’s one spot left. We’ll use the ticket from the person who’s left. Do you want to come with us?”

“Can I?”

“Sure. It’s an empty spot.”

Kim Jae-yeon nodded at Kevin’s suggestion. It wouldn’t be bad to go once and check out the atmosphere of the restaurant.

***

‘I didn’t know it would turn out like this!’

Kim Jae-yeon sighed without realizing it as he pulled the crushed car door with all his strength. But he didn’t stop his hand.

There was a person who had lost consciousness right in front of him.

“Jae-yeon! There’s someone here too!”

“Just wait a minute!”

The road was a mess.

A car that was driving fast in the rain flipped over and several cars crashed into it.

A large tourist bus fell over and slid on the rainwater.

Kim Jae-yeon’s group barely avoided the accident.

It was a close call that still made him dizzy when he thought about it.

“Where’s the ambulance?!”

“I called them but it might take a while!”

It was lucky that it was raining.

It would have been a disaster if there was an explosion here.

But that didn’t mean there was no risk of explosion.

There were as many risks of explosion as there were cars here.

The stuntmen and those who could move helped the people.

They knew how to deal with emergency situations that happened on the set as they performed dangerous action scenes.

“One, two!”

Not only the stuntmen, but also the people who helped them took pictures of them with their smartphones.

The stuntmen shone the most.

They looked stronger than people of similar physique and they didn’t look tired at all even though they must have been.

The stuntmen didn’t panic when they saw people bleeding and unconscious and moved them to a safe place.

They also moved again after rubbing their shoulders with their intact arms when they felt cut by sharp fragments while trying to save people trapped in cars.

Red aura flowed from the bodies of the stuntmen who moved busily in the rain.

It was the power of [(Good)Orc Priest’s Prayer] that increased mental, concentration, and healing abilities, which still had a few weeks of validity left.

Soon, sirens wailed and ambulances arrived.

The stuntmen who had given first aid to the people were taken away by the ambulances.

The police controlled the road.

Kevin, who was drinking water someone had handed him, smiled awkwardly and said.

“Um. Should we go now?”

“Our clothes are like this?”

“…Maybe not?”

They looked like miserable wet rats.

Their well-dressed clothes were ruined.

The stuntmen sighed in unison.

“Let’s go next time.”

Kevin, who was looking at his phone with regretful eyes, spat out the water he was drinking.

[Shadowman stuntmen save people!]

[Real-life superheroes! Shadowman team!]

[Kevin, who plays Shadowman, and Jae-yeon Kim, who plays Jin Natra!]

[Villains in the movie? Heroes in real life!]

“This, this…!”

The Shadowman stunt team, who had only wanted to have a delicious dinner at a Michelin three-star restaurant, were speechless at the articles that flooded the internet.

***

10 minutes ago.

A post went up on the internet.

-There was a car accident here! Multiple collisions!

-Are you okay?

-Someone saved me right away, so I’m fine. It’s raining, so there won’t be any explosions.

-Have the police not arrived yet?

-But is it true? Upload a video.

-Wait a minute.

-(Video of the car accident scene)

-Those people have been saving people since a while ago.

-Wow. Amazing.

-They’re doing first aid too? Are they medical staff?

-Huh? Isn’t that Kevin?

-Kevin? Who’s that?

-Shadowman stuntman! There’s also Bell Natra’s stuntman!

-How do you know?

-I have a restaurant near the training center. They stop by sometimes. There’s also Jin Natra’s stuntman and Tul Natra’s stuntman!

With one comment, the car accident that was supposed to be just a news item became known everywhere.

There were people who reported the facts accurately and people who only used sensational words.

The incident was divided into two: ‘Shadowman stuntmen car accident’ and ‘Shadowman car accident’.

As soon as ‘car accident’ and ‘Shadowman’ were mentioned together, Marina Studios went into a frenzy.

Richard Bowen, who remembered the Redbone 2 incident, grabbed his neck as his blood pressure rose sharply.

He was glad that the filming had ended yesterday.

‘What if director Ryan got hurt?’

There was still a lot of work left even though the filming was over.

For a smooth release, Richard Bowen momentarily thought of directors who could replace Ryan Will.

Sarah Roth, who directed Greenwing and Over the Rainbow, George Roberts, who directed Assemble 1 and 2.

“The director and the actors are at the restaurant.”

While he was thinking of many directors’ faces, Phelan Park, who had contacted Ryan Will, said.

He was relieved.

After checking the situation, it turned out that it was not about the actors.

Richard Bowen sighed in relief and said.

“Send out a press release first.”

“Yes.”

A few minutes later.

Articles related to [Shadowman, car accident!] appeared and soon articles related to [Shadowman stunt team saves people!] appeared. And within two minutes, articles related to [Shadowman, car accident!] were deleted all at once.

***

As comments about Shadowman increased, each actor’s agency also started to assess the situation.

The managers who were having dinner with the actors at another table sensed something from their ringing phones.

They didn’t have time to ask for permission and go somewhere else to answer the phone.

They quickly answered the phone and looked at the table where the director, assistant director, and actors were with unexpected news.

Ahn Da Ho, who informed Kings Agency that Seo-jun was at the restaurant, quickly contacted Seo Eun-hye.

“Yes. There might be articles about a car accident involving Seo-jun, but he’s at the restaurant. Yes. Please tell his father in advance. Yes. Yes.”

The next one was Seo Eun-chan, the president of Cocoa Entertainment in Korea. It was 6 p.m. in LA time, so it was still 10 a.m. in Korea.

If they were a little late, all kinds of speculative articles would have appeared.

Cocoa Entertainment translated Marina Studios’ press release and released it first.

Thanks to that, only articles about Shadowman stuntmen appeared in Korea.

-Did Shadowman get into a car accident?

=??? That’s what they said about the stuntmen.

=They didn’t get into an accident either. They said they saved people from a car accident?

=Oh;;;; Really? Sorry

***

Seo-jun and the actors asked their managers to bring the stuntmen to their hotel.

And they rented a hotel room for them to rest comfortably.

“Rest well. We’ll pay for the expenses.”

“You’re really heroes.”

“You’re really cool!”

The stuntmen nodded their heads with embarrassed faces as they scratched their cheeks at Seo-jun’s sparkling eyes.

All six of them got different rooms from the actors.

The stuntmen who changed their wet clothes gathered at the restaurant.

They didn’t need to show the meal vouchers they had received from Seo-jun as if they had already told them.

The stuntmen picked up their spoons quickly as their stomachs growled at the warm soup on the table.

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to eat… It’s delicious!”

“Right. It’s nice because it’s warm.”

“Let’s rest until tomorrow afternoon. You all worked hard today.”

The stuntmen, who didn’t even think about the reporters who would flock to the hotel tomorrow, smiled brightly.

The next day.

Information about the car accident was reported.

[No deaths! The power of Shadowman stuntmen!]

[Three seriously injured, surgery successful!]

[The courage and dedication of Shadowman stuntmen!]

Seo-jun, who was packing his luggage at the hotel to go back to Korea, read the article and said.

“That was a close call.”

It would have been a lot of people killed or injured in a car accident if it weren’t for the stuntmen and [(Pre)Oak Priest’s Prayer] that helped them.

‘I thought it would only help with filming…’

He didn’t expect it to be used like this.

He smiled contentedly at the picture of Kim Jae-yeon, who was awkwardly being interviewed in front of the hotel lobby.

“Right.”

Anh Da Ho, who was helping Seo-jun pack his luggage, nodded his head.

He still felt cold sweat when he thought about it.

It could have turned from [Shadowman car accident] to [Actor Lee Seo-jun car accident] in an instant.

It was a stormy day that they barely survived.

Chapter 233

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 233

Mid-February.

Actor Lee Seo-jun returned to Korea.

[Shadowman 3, filming finished!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, back home!]

[When will it be released? Shadowman 3 filming completed!]

-Yeah, when will it be released?

=Superhero movies use a lot of CG, so the post-production will take some time.

=But the Marina CG team is excellent, so it might be faster than expected.

-Seo-jun is back!!

-I’m glad it ended without any accidents.

-There was something like an accident, though.

=I saw someone’s summary of it. The Marina’s response speed was no joke.

=Article without verifying the facts > Marina’s article in less than 30 seconds > Spreading false information? OK, you’re sued > All deleted lol

-It’s reassuring to have a company like that.

=Marina has a trauma from a car accident.

=That’s why Shadowman and Greenwing were born. It’s ironic.

-But I didn’t know that Jin Natra’s stuntman was Korean. And not even a Korean-American.

=222 It’s amazing. He must have been chosen for his skills.

=333 It’s the last part, so they must have paid more attention.

-Ugh. I want to see it soon!

While Seo-jun was enjoying his winter vacation with his friends, the CG team that was in charge of Shadowman 3’s CG work was busy working.

The leader of the Shadowman 3 CG team scratched his chin.

Since Shadowman and Natra’s weapons were shadows, there was a lot of CG work to do.

Besides shadows, there were also wormholes, the scenery inside Natra’s wormhole, the filming of Gyeongbokgung Palace and Paris, and the merging of the set and location shots.

They also had to work on the spaceship and the scene of its destruction.

“Do we really start working on this scene?”

“Yes.”

“Well, okay.”

The team leader nodded at the firm words of director Ryan and brought up one of the many shots on the monitor screen.

Jin Natra was lying on a pile of rocks in the monitor.

A runaway black shadow spewed out from Jin Natra and covered the oriental buildings in the sky and the ground.

It was a scene that showed that.

Director Ryan recalled ‘that thing’ that was still vivid in his memory.

The shadow that spewed out from Jin Natra during the filming at Gyeongbokgung Palace and on the set, filling up the studio.

And its vivid and realistic movement.

At that time, director Ryan unknowingly moved the camera to capture the swaying shadow.

The movement of the shadow that looked like a fantasy was slightly different from the movement of the shadow that he had only imagined.

Maybe this is how the ‘real’ Natra’s shadow would move.

He thought he was half-dreaming at that moment.

When he checked the footage after the filming and the shadow disappeared, there was no trace of the shadow, but he still remembered it clearly when he saw the footage.

Director Ryan wanted to put ‘that thing’ he saw into the movie as it was.

The team leader who was taking notes on the script while listening to director Ryan’s detailed requests stopped his hand at some point.

He didn’t see [(Evil) Marshed’s Shadow Art] like director Ryan did. But as a professional CG artist, he had more imagination than other people.

‘This…’

Seo-jun Lee, who played Jin Natra, was lying on a model pile of rocks on the screen.

The camera that was filming Jin Natra slowly moved back and showed the palace.

Director Ryan’s finger moved along with the screen.

He could see a swaying shadow filling up the sky that was clear.

The team leader’s eyes blinked.

‘It’s too perfect.’

There was no excess or lack of space on the monitor for adding CG shadows.

It was just right.

‘It looks like the camera is moving back to match the speed of the shadow flowing out. As if it was filming a real shadow coming out of Jin Natra.’

As he continued to listen to director Ryan Will’s demands, which were surprisingly detailed, he drew pictures for each scene.

The team leader could tell what kind of scene director Ryan wanted.

“Please work on this scene first.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“Then I’ll explain the next scene.”

After that, director Ryan Will practically lived in the CG team during post-production.

The team leader wondered if he should pay director Ryan’s salary.

Director Ryan Will put aside everything else and requested to work on Seo-jun Lee, or rather Jin Natra’s CG first.

It was something they had to do sooner or later anyway, so the team leader agreed without much fuss.

As they finished working on Jin Natra’s CG, the CG team felt a strange feeling.

“It’s weird. It feels different from the shadows we made in Shadowman 1 and 2, doesn’t it?”

“Senior, you too? I watched Shadowman 1 and 2 yesterday and they looked a bit lacking.”

It was a new feeling of shadow that had never appeared in Shadowman 1 and 2.

It was not a shadow that was intangible and people didn’t care about, but a shadow that could materialize and Natra always cared about, a shadow that had presence.

“I think we can do this for other scenes too…”

As they were working on Jin Natra’s scenes, they felt like they could imitate the feeling of the shadow to some extent.

If they could give this feeling to the other Natra’s shadows as well, they might be able to make more impressive CG than Shadowman 1 and 2.

‘Is this why he asked us to work on Jin Natra first?’

The team leader admired director Ryan’s foresight, while the youngest member of the CG team asked his senior who was sitting next to him.

“But senior. Don’t you sometimes see something black on the monitor?”

“…You too?”

“It’s similar to what the director asked for, so it’s easy to work with, but… Isn’t it creepy? It disappears when you look again.”

“Ugh. I hate ghosts…”

Soon, in Korea, the story of the second ghost spirit, Shadowman 3, which would be known as a ghost story, began to spread slowly.

***

Friday, March 9th.

It was a day like any other.

Seo-jun, who became a third-year student, went to school with the sparkling eyes of the first-year students, attended school classes with his friends, and wondered about the end-of-year performance with his friends who asked him to join them.

It was an ordinary day.

But there were people who had been waiting for this day only.

They woke up in the morning, went to work, worked, ate lunch, worked, and went home.

It was an ordinary day, but they were waiting for midnight.

-It’s 8 o’clock!!

-If I watch Working Man and One Step and Over the Rainbow, it’ll be 12 o’clock.

-I’m going to watch the edited version of The Royal Physician!

-I’m going to watch Rebellion and Escape again.

-Anyone going to watch Shadowman 1 and 2?

Actor Lee Seo-jun’s fan cafe, [Sprouts], was buzzing. There were always a lot of posts on [Sprouts], but today there were so many pages that they scrolled down every time they refreshed.

-It’s not a lot of money… Is it okay?

=The amount doesn’t matter! The message is enough!

-Is there a format for the message?

=No! Just write whatever you want!

Some people watched movies, some watched dramas, and some spent time. The entertainment reporters who joined Seo-jun’s fan cafe also kept an eye on the situation.

And time passed, and it was 11:59 p.m. on March 9th.

-3!!

-2!!

-1!!

March 10th, 00:00 in Korean time.

Not only Seo-jun’s fan cafe, [From Sprouts], but also SNS was flooded with a single message.

[Happy birthday, Seo-jun!]

[Happy birthday! JUN!]

Not only the Korean fan cafe, but also the overseas fan cafes started to post congratulatory messages.

SNS was filled with overwhelming messages that became news articles.

The reporters moved quickly to catch up with the late-night topic.

[Today, March 10th! Actor Lee Seo-jun’s birthday!]

[Seo-jun, happy birthday! The congratulatory messages that fill up SNS!]

[The protagonist of the worldwide congratulatory messages?!]

-It’s not a lot of money… Is it okay?

=The amount doesn’t matter! The message is enough!

-Is there a format for the message?

=No! Just write whatever you want!

Some people watched movies, some watched dramas, and some spent time.

The entertainment reporters who joined Seo-jun’s fan cafe also kept an eye on the situation.

The next day.

Seo-jun woke up from his sleep and reached for his bedside table.

He tried to check the time on his phone, but there was something that caught his eye first.

“…Huh?”

He blinked his eyes a few times at the huge pile of messages and tapped on Banana Talk.

They were all messages from his acquaintances.

Evan: Jun, happy birthday.

Rachel: Look at this! It’s crazy here too!

Rachel: (link)

Kim Jong-ho: Happy birthday.

Lee Ji-seok: Happy birthday! Hollywood stars have a different scale lol

Park Do-hoon: There are a lot of articles too!

Lee Da-jin: !!Happy birthday!!

Ji-woo: Already asleep?

Mina: Seo-jun goes to bed early.

Ji-ho: Happy birthday!

Ji-yoon: We also posted at 12 o’clock lol

Joo-kyung: Happy birthday!

Jae-han: Wow. Seo-jun’s fans are amazing!

Jinho: I know. There are still posts coming up (link)

Ju-hee: There are a lot of articles too! (article)(article)(article)

His friends sent him congratulatory messages along with articles and links to [Sprouts] fan cafe.

Seo-jun exclaimed as he checked the articles and posts one by one.

“Oh my god.”

He opened his eyes and saw that Seo-jun’s fans from all over the world were celebrating Seo-jun’s birthday.

***

“Look at this. ‘Thank you for giving birth to Seo-jun.’”

Seo Eun-hye laughed cheerfully as she looked at her phone.

“I’ll recommend an audition for you. There are also posts thanking me for that.”

Lee Min-jun, who was sitting next to Seo Eun-hye and looking at the comments, was also immersed in the fans’ congratulatory messages.

It was already a few hours later, but the internet was still buzzing with Lee Seo-jun’s birthday.

Along with Shadowman 3, it showed no signs of cooling down.

“Seo-jun’s fans are really amazing. They said they would donate at 12 o’clock.”

The couple, who planned to rest at home on the weekend, received an unexpected gift.

Seo-jun, who had just posted a thank-you message on the fan cafe, also laughed at the sight of his mom and dad smiling brightly.

-Seo-jun posted a message!

-ㅠㅠSeo-jun said thank youㅠㅠ

-He said he never had such a happy birthdayㅠㅠ Our Seo-junㅠㅠ

-But our gift is not over yet!

-Seo-jun! Look forward to the second gift!

At noon, when the sun was at its highest point in the sky.

Lee Seo-jun’s fan cafes from all over the world sent donations to their respective charities in Seo-jun’s name.

Proof photos were posted everywhere.

[Congratulatory messages from fans around the world!]

[Congratulatory messages, traveling around the world!]

[Fans’ congratulatory gifts for Lee Seo-jun!]

[A mountain made of sand grains. Lee Seo-jun’s fans’ donations!]

-Seo-jun, happy birthday!

=22 Please keep acting in the future!!

-Seo-jun Lee’s fans… scary… no, amazing.

-It seems like there’s nothing but Seo-jun Lee’s birthday messages on SNS.

=No, there’s something else.

=?

=Thank you for giving birth to Seo-jun!

=Lol, true. Without them, there would be no Seo-jun.

-There are also messages for Aunt Na-ra. They thanked her for taking Seo-jun to the audition. They said they would go to Kings Market today as a sign of gratitude lol

=222 Today is the day to shop at Kings Market haha

-You guys are so funny lol It’s funnier because it’s sincere lol

=222 We are all sincere (calligraphy)

-Hey… have you seen this? [link]

=…What is this??

=!!!

Seo-jun and his parents, who were enjoying the comments, found a [link].

They clicked on the link without saying anything, following the surprised replies.

A shocking article title appeared.

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders after quietly looking at his phone screen for a moment.

“Well, I didn’t think I’d never know.”

“Me neither. But I didn’t expect it to be revealed today.”

“Eun-chan has more work to do.”

Seo-jun, Seo Eun-hye, and Lee Min-jun laughed at Seo Eun-hye’s words.

Seo-jun Lee’s fans’ donations were not in one place.

They donated to reliable organizations everywhere and a reporter who interviewed those organizations uploaded an article.

[(Exclusive) Seo-jun Lee donated his entire fee for Over the Rainbow! “For the Grays of the world!”]

The shocking article was quickly spread around the world as the world’s attention was focused on Seo-jun Lee’s birthday.

-Oh my god… He did this and he didn’t say anything until now?

=222 It was four years ago. It would have been buried forever if it wasn’t for the reporter.

-He’s an angel! My favorite actor is this amazing!!

-If it were me, I would have written that I donated this much on my forehead and walked around.

=222 He would have been interviewed by the world-class media.

-Fans donate, actors donate. Why are you all so nice?

=It’s not that we’re nice, it’s that Seo-jun doesn’t accept any gifts so we can only donateㅠㅠ

=He doesn’t accept anything?

=He accepts lettersㅎㅎ I’m sending them diligently.

The ‘Seo-jun, happy birthday!’ that filled up SNS died down after the 12 o’clock donation.

Of course, posts continued to appear on [Sprouts].

[I’ve been a fan since Shadowman 1!]

[I became a fan after watching the children’s play Spring!]

[Thank you for filming Over the Rainbow!]

[I hope Shadowman 3 has a great ending!]

Seo-jun forgot about reading his favorite script and read every congratulatory message that poured in.

The congratulatory messages, no, congratulatory letters on [Sprouts] were long.

How they became fans of Seo-jun, their favorite movies, movie reviews, how Seo-jun’s movies changed their lives. Each post was filled with the fans’ hearts and Seo-jun felt overwhelmed.

Seon-gi flowed out of Seo-jun’s body as he stared at his phone.

He seemed to be too happy to care.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun could tell that Seo-jun was happier than ever, even though they couldn’t see his seon-gi.

“I can’t keep this to myself!”

Seo Eun-hye smiled and picked up her camera at the sight of Seo-jun shining brightly.

[Title: Seo-jun reading congratulatory messages]

The photo of Seo-jun taken by his mom and dad was so bright that it made the fans’ hearts ache.

The photo alone showed how happy and grateful Seo-jun was.

The comment section of the post became a sea of tears.

Seo-jun’s photo became the main screen of [Sprouts] and Seo-jun’s fans had to hold their hearts every time they entered [Sprouts].

-Today is Seo-jun’s birthday but why do I feel like I got a birthday gift?

-It’s too good… my heart is…

-I have to take a deep breath every time I enter the cafe lol

-But I love it so muchㅠㅠ

Chapter 234

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 234

After the happiest birthday ever, the days went back to normal.

Seo-jun came to his room after dinner and stared at the application form he brought from school with a pen in his hand.

[Graduation Performance Application Form]

The pen in his right hand spun around.

“Hmm.”

He hesitated to write his name right away because he didn’t have a script that he liked to perform on stage. But he wanted to do a play.

Seo-jun decided to stop worrying and wrote his name on the application form.

“If I want to do it, I’ll do it!”

He thought he would have to look for a script hard until the summer vacation when he would start preparing for real.

He filled out the application form happily, humming a tune.

“Oh, right. Uncle Jong-ho and Da J-jin said they would come to see my performance.”

He remembered what Kim Jong-ho and Lee Da-jin said and picked up his phone.

<I’m doing a graduation performance. Can you really come?

Lee Da-jin: You are!

Lee Da-jin: Don’t worry! I have a good way!

Kim Jong-ho: Yeah. I’ll definitely come to see it.

‘How are they going to see the end-of-year performance that only school staff can see?’

He finished the application form, sent a message to Kim Jong-ho and Lee Da-jin who said they would come to see his performance, and thought for a moment.

He shrugged his shoulders.

‘They must have a way since they said they would come.’

***

“Who’s the guest lecturer this time?”

As they headed to the largest practice room 1 of Yeoul Arts Middle School, Kang Jae-han asked and Seo-jun and the kids recalled the guest lecturers who came in their first and second year.

“Actor Kim Jung-min came too.”

“And Director Park Joo-eun.”

“And some writers.”

The guest lecturer class of Yeoul Arts Middle School was held once every two weeks.

They invited actors, directors, writers, and staff who participated in special shootings to listen to their stories.

It was one of the reasons why Seo-jun entered Yeoul Arts Middle School.

‘I missed the second semester classes because of filming.’

The filming of Shadowman 3 was fun, but he regretted missing the guest lectures.

They entered practice room 1 and saw the acting class 3-1 students already there. They greeted each other warmly and sat down.

The kids whispered.

“Last year, the martial arts director of Escape came too.”

“Really?”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened at the familiar name.

“They said martial arts are essential for filming.”

“We practiced the action that Seo-jun did too. They even brought the mannequin they used for filming?”

The kids told Seo-jun about the guest lecturers who came in the second semester of their second year.

Directors, writers, actors, staff, stuntmen.

They were not famous people.

They were people who would say ‘Oh, that drama director?’ when they heard the title of their work.

But they were also people who were more likely to work with them when they got roles. They couldn’t work with star directors or star writers from the beginning.

Yang Ju-hee said.

“But it seems like more famous people are coming since Seo-jun entered our school. Not super famous actors, though.”

“They must be busy. Jinho, who do you want to come?”

As they talked about who they wanted as guest lecturers, Seo-jun and the kids closed their mouths at the opening door.

The teacher who taught acting class 3 arrived at the practice room.

“Then I’ll introduce you to our guest lecturer. Please come in.”

The teacher smiled and said, and someone came in through the open door.

Huh?

Seo-jun blinked his eyes at the familiar face and smiled brightly.

Unlike Seo-jun, who was full of joy, the acting class 3 students were speechless at the appearance of an actor they never expected to see here.

“Hello. I’m actor Kim Jong-ho.”

Actor Kim Jong-ho appeared as a special guest lecturer at Yeoul Arts Middle School.

When the kids were too surprised to say anything, Kim Jong-ho made eye contact with Seo-jun and smiled with a mischievous expression.

Seo-jun also waved his hand slightly with a happy heart.

Kim Jong-ho greeted the kids and started his lecture.

He explained the most basic aspects of acting in a way that was easy for them to understand and also talked about what was important when filming.

“You all go to auditions a lot, right?”

“Yes!”

“This is something that happened when I was judging an audition…”

Seo-jun heard stories he didn’t know from Kim Jong-ho’s mouth.

The kids listened attentively to the exciting and vivid stories from the scene.

The actor’s story was very different from the kids’ perspective.

Uncle Jong-ho was good at acting, but also good at teaching.

Kim Jong-ho not only lectured, but also watched the kids’ acting.

It was a sudden acting, but the acting class kids were always preparing for auditions, so they had some free acting to show.

Some of them couldn’t do well because they were nervous, but most of them were satisfied with Kim Jong-ho’s guidance.

The special guest lecture ended and the acting class kids left practice room 1 with happy faces.

“We’ll go first!”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho stayed until the end and talked.

“Uncle Jong-ho. How did you come here? You didn’t tell me, so I was surprised.”

Kim Jong-ho laughed playfully, remembering Seo-jun’s face that looked really surprised.

“I told you. I’ll come to see your performance. If I come as a guest lecturer, I can see the end-of-year performance. It’s hard to make time because I have to teach all grades 1, 2, and 3.”

“I see. Is Da-jin coming too?”

“Da-jin will probably come in two weeks.”

So this was their way.

‘Not bad.’

No, it was a great way.

The kids were happy to have a good class, and Uncle Jong-ho could see the graduation performance.

Seo-jun thought of his friends who would be surprised to see Lee Da-jin in two weeks and decided to keep his mouth shut until the next class.

And two weeks later, a special guest lecture.

Lee Da-jin entered through the wide-open door.

“Wow!”

“Hyung! I’m a fan!”

The kids cheered at the appearance of Lee Da-jin, who was sweeping everything from Escape to commercials.

It was a completely different reaction from when Kim Jong-ho came, and Seo-jun burst into laughter.

Lee Da-jin was closer in age to them and the kids asked him questions comfortably.

Lee Da-jin talked as if he was telling his peers about his filming stories.

Lee Da-jin’s lecture had empathy and more relatable advice.

“Don’t be discouraged just because you’re a child actor!”

“Yes!”

The second special guest lecture also pleased the kids.

Park Do-hoon: I heard from Da-jin.

Park Do-hoon: I want to see Seo-jun’s play too!

Lee Ji-seok: I heard too.

Lee Ji-seok: Jong-ho hyung…!

Kim Jong-ho: LOL

He expected Lee Ji-seok to argue with Kim Jong-ho as usual.

It was a common pattern, so Seo-jun, Park Do-hoon, and Lee Da-jin just ignored it.

Lee Da-jin: So you’re both going to be guest lecturers?

Park Do-hoon: Yeah, luckily they haven’t decided on the lecturers yet.

<Then come in two weeks?

Park Do-hoon: Yeah, I think I’ll go first.

Two weeks later, Park Do-hoon appeared at Yeoul Arts Middle School.

Park Do-hoon told them about his days as a child actor.

And he also told them another story.

The slump he had when he was in The Royal Physician.

The kids widened their eyes at his story.

He was in a slump when he acted so well?

Park Do-hoon talked about the ‘change’ that these kids would face someday.

“Changing your image from a child actor to an adult actor is hard. It’s not just other people’s eyes, but you won’t like yourself either. So you try to do too much to transform perfectly.”

“Then what should we do?”

“The most important thing is to know objectively how your acting is. You have to accept that this is your best right now and take roles that suit you. That’s how you change little by little.”

Park Do-hoon’s lecture gave them a lot to think about.

The kids left practice room 1 with serious faces, deep in thought.

Park Do-hoon smiled at Seo-jun.

“It’s amazing to see Seo-jun in a school uniform.”

“Really?”

“You look like a professional actor on the set, but you look different when you laugh and chat with your friends. So this is how Seo-jun lives at school.”

He sounded like a parent somehow. Seo-jun chatted with Park Do-hoon and left practice room 1. Yang Ju-hee asked him.

“Seo-jun.”

“Yeah?”

“Is actor Lee Ji-seok coming in two weeks?”

“…How did you know?”

Seo-jun asked with a deflated face, hoping to surprise his friends.

“How can I not know when this happens?”

“Really?”

Kim Joo-kyung nodded and agreed with Yang Ju-hee’s words.

“It seems that most of the guest lecturers who are coming will also come to see your graduation performance. The director and writer of The Royal Physician, the director of Rebellion, the director of Escape, and so on.”

The lectures by directors and writers were also helpful for the kids, so Yeoul Arts Middle School didn’t refuse them. No, they welcomed the star directors and star writers with open arms.

Kim Jong-ho, Lee Da-jin, Park Do-hoon, Lee Ji-seok, and the directors and writers.

The names of the special guest lecturers that came out of Seo-jun’s mouth were more dazzling than ever.

Unlike the guest lecturers from last year who would say ‘Oh, that drama writer?’ when they heard the title of their work, they were amazing people whom they could recall successful works just by their names.

“…I have to prepare hard for the graduation performance.”

The kids swallowed hard at Seo-jun’s words that most of the special guest lecturers might come to see his graduation performance.

And two weeks later.

The day of actor Lee Ji-seok’s special guest lecture.

The release date of Shadowman 3 was announced.

[Shadowman 3, coming in June!]

-Ahhh!! I’ve been waiting!

-It’s really coming out. I waited a year for a day.

-I want to see it so bad but I don’t want to cryㅠㅠ

-It’s the last time I’ll see Shadowman, Bel Natra, and Jin Natraㅠ

-I have to see it on the first day! Advance booking!

Following the release date of Shadowman 3, new articles were uploaded.

[Shadowman series, re-released!]

[Assemble 1, 2 re-released!]

[Meet Shadowman at the theater!]

[Let’s review! Shadowman series!]

[Let’s learn about the world of Shadowman series!-Interview with YouTuber Moviegoer]

-? Not TV but theater? I’m glad I can see it on a big screen but it’s amazing.

-It’s been a long time since I saw Shadowman 1 in theaters.

-Almost 10 years ago. It was freshㅎ

-There must be some kids who don’t remember Shadowman because they were too young. If you’re 20 now, you were 10 when Shadowman 1 came out.

=10 years old…… I wonder if they rememberㅋㅋ

-They must have seen it on TV reruns, but the theater is different.

=The shocking appearance of William!

=I never thought that actor would grow up so well;;;

-Wow. Should I do the crying challenge again?

The promotion of Shadowman 3, which started in earnest, was unexpected.

“…What is this?”

Park Sung-won, who was planning to spend a whole day watching the Shadowman series and Assemble series, opened his mouth wide at the internet article.

He thought the four movies would be re-released on the same day, but they weren’t.

[Shadowman! Coming on May 15th!]

[Shadowman VS Greenwing! What’s your choice?]

[Vote with your ticket! We’ll give you a hero figure and a small gift!]

-??? What is this???

-There’s no ‘1’ in Shadowman 1!

=This is that. The title when they didn’t have a series plan!

-They’re also voting???

=Wow! The figures and gifts are the same as back then!

-Oh my! They’re even doing TV ads…!

=The ads are also the same;;;

-What’s with the voting?? Did Shadowman 1 and Greenwing 1 have a vote??

=22 Shadowman 1 and Greenwing 1 were released on the same day?

=333 I’ve never seen anything like this before?

=……The three above. How old are you?

-Ahem. You see. These two movies were released by the same production company at the same time.

=They were filler movies for Redbone 2, which didn’t have a series plan yet……(wistful)

=No one would have known they would be this big……(proud)

-…I was going to watch it on VOD at home, but how can I not go to the theater when they do this much!

-Vote! Shadowman will win again!

-Greenwing is also released?

=The theaters are few, but it seems to be released.

-Some nostalgia trip they’re doing.

Chapter 235

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 235

Seo-jun and his parents recalled that day when they saw the advertisement of Shadowman and Greenwing on TV.

The little actor who was ready to run to the theater with his feet tapping.

He was so cute that even now, they couldn’t help but smile.

“So this is how they promote it.”

Seo-jun’s admiration was met with nods from his parents.

“It must be a memory for those who experienced it, and a wonder for those who only heard about it.”

“Is Greenwing also re-released?”

“Yes. There are fewer screens, but it’s out.”

“Then shall we go see it together again?”

“Agreed!”

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye smiled brightly at Lee Min-jun’s suggestion.

***

Joo-kyung: Wow. They did this?

Ju-hee: I saw it on the internet, but it was like this.

Jinho: We were 6 years old then lol

Jae-han: It’s amazing.

Jae-han: Doesn’t the audience decrease if the same production company releases them at the same time?

<This was the first time they had such a competition, so it became a hot topic and both of them were successful.

<They both became series, right?

Joo-kyung: That’s awesome!

Ju-hee: Did you see this? lol

Ju-hee: (Picture of Shadowman re-release theater)

Ju-hee: Everyone came in their clothes from 10 years ago lol

***

“I tried to remember as much as I could…”

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga burst into laughter when they saw each other’s outfits.

They couldn’t remember what they wore 10 years ago, so they tried to match them as much as possible with the clothes they wore back then.

“It really feels like 10 years ago, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

It seemed that the time travel event suggested by someone appealed to people’s hearts, as not only Lim Yeon and Park Seonga, but also the adults who came to relive their memories of Shadowman were dressed similarly.

The children who came to see Shadowman with their friends looked at the adults who seemed to have turned back time with curiosity.

“Look. The pamphlet is the same too.”

The two picked up and opened the pamphlet that was stuck in.

On one pamphlet, the left side promoted Greenwing and the right side promoted Shadowman.

Greenwing in green and Shadowman in black.

Below that, they wrote down the director’s history.

Park Seonga laughed as she read the pamphlet.

“The awards history is also the same as before. Greenwing’s director has a longer list.”

“Oh. Now that you mention it, didn’t we talk about that?”

“Ah… The underdog?”

Seo-jun, who had replaced his slime bag with a hat with a slime badge on it, perked up his ears at the voice that came in.

‘Now that I think about it, someone said that back then too…’

Mom wondered where she heard that word from and was amazed.

In a strangely similar situation to that day, Seo-jun smiled and said.

“Back then, Greenwing was sold out so we saw Shadowman first, but this time Shadowman is sold out.”

“People still want to see it even though it’s a re-release.”

Lim Yeon nodded at Park Seonga’s words.

The two gave up on popcorn and drinks early and sat in their seats waiting for the theater to open.

“But you didn’t bring any tissues?”

“No.”

“You might cry a lot, why didn’t you bring any? Do you want to borrow some?”

“We didn’t know about the crying challenge back then. If we want to travel back in time, we have to do it properly.”

“Oh… That’s true.”

Park Seonga was convinced by Lim Yeon’s words. Park Seonga put the tissues she had in her bag.

Ah.

Their conversation must have been quite loud, as people dressed like 10 years ago looked at their tissues and nodded their heads before stuffing them into their pockets and bags.

And two hours later.

Shadowman ended.

“Shadowman is over. Please take your belongings and leave. Tissues are prepared in front of you.”

The theater that revived the memories of 10 years ago had prepared several boxes of tissues in front of the exit in advance.

As soon as the theater staff finished speaking, one person showed up.

“Sob. I… hoo… sob sob… can I have some…”

“Here you go.”

“Thank you… sob sob…”

After that, the rest of the audience came out. Some of them were crying after watching Shadowman.

Some took tissues while crying, some came out with their friends’ support.

“This time, you’re the one crying, Seonga.”

“Sniff sniff… William is so pitiful…!”

Lim Yeon burst into laughter at the sight of Park Seonga crying.

Unlike 10 years ago, when they were surprised and confused by the sudden sea of tears, the people who cried, the people who didn’t cry, and the people who watched them were all familiar.

“Dad…”

“Sniff sniff.”

“Last time Seo-jun cried. But this time, you’re crying.”

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye shook their heads at Lee Min-jun’s crying.

While mom was comforting dad, Seo-jun looked at the ending scroll that appeared on the screen.

[SEO-JUN LEE]

As before, the white letters seemed to sparkle.

He didn’t cry this time, but Seo-jun still couldn’t take his eyes off his name.

***

“Hello! This is Moviegoer!”

-Moviegoer hi!

-Wow. The quality… is it okay?

“I took out the camera I used 10 years ago, but… um. I think this is too much. I’ll be satisfied with the clothes and hair style.”

Moviegoer changed the camera after fiddling for a moment.

Moviegoer and the viewers were satisfied with the improved quality.

“I came back with the same clothes and hair style as I wore 10 years ago when I reviewed Shadowman 1.”

-lol You did it right lol

-I went to the theater today and everyone was wearing their clothes from then.

-The theater I went to was all old-fashioned. Not everything changed, but the props were old.

“Then let’s ban any future stories from now on. We are in 10 years ago.”

-lol Okay lol

Moviegoer reviewed Shadowman from his perspective now.

There were stories that he couldn’t tell in his review 10 years ago.

And then came the story that everyone was waiting for.

“Of course, I think you all watched it with great emotion. It’s William! I don’t know how well he acted or how much he cried. So I did some research to find out who the child actor who played William was.”

-lol I’m really curious who it is lol

The comment section became a sea of laughter.

Moviegoer also chuckled and opened a window on the screen.

William [SEO-JUN LEE]

“He was a Korean child actor! I wondered if he was a Korean-American or a Korean, and how to find out. By the way,”

-We don’t know that Moviegoer’s sister is a fan of Brown Black’s first generation.

-We don’t know that she becomes a piano teacher in the future lol

-lol lol lol

Moviegoer said with a smile.

“…My sister is a fan of Brown Black. She said, ‘Huh? He looks like Seo-jun?’ Seo-jun. Seo-jun Lee. Aren’t they the same? So I asked her, and guess what!”

Moviegoer opened two windows on the screen.

There was a picture of Seo-jun holding a milk bottle with the logo hidden, and a picture of baby Seo-jun with Brown Black.

“He’s Korean! And he’s a star who appeared in commercials and YouTube shows! His name is Lee Seo-jun!”

-lol lol

-lol lol lol

-(A bear emoticon clapping wildly)

Moviegoer and the viewers burst into laughter at the sight of baby Seo-jun’s cute face.

-Wow. His eyes are so clear that he has the aura of a superstar.

-222 will grow up to be a great actor lol

-He’ll do a few more superhero movies lol

-He’ll be a blue dragon and then a general lol

-He’ll make people cry a lot lol

-He’ll win a lot of awards too haha

-He’ll be good at violin and archery too.

It wasn’t just them who went back in time.

[The youngest Korean Hollywood actor, Lee Seo-jun!]

[Number one again this year! The music powerhouse, Brown Black and Hollywood actor Lee Seo-jun met in the past?!]

[The child actor chosen by Marina!]

-Are the reporters on a nostalgia trip too lol

=But it’s fun lol

-The timing is perfect. Brown Black is really making a comeback and topping the charts lol

=They’re number one for three weeks!

-Wow. I’m good at reading faces, and he’s going to succeed.

-He’s good at acting, so maybe he’ll do a mystery next?

=He’ll suit a little shaman role lol

-Then he’ll do a play.

=I’ll go see it this time TT

-I have to buy Cocoa Entertainment stocks…!

=Cocoa Entertainment…! Or the movie production company…!

As one movie after another was re-released, people’s outfits quickly became closer to ‘now’. It was as if they had fast-forwarded time.

KBC aired the drama [The Royal Physician], MBS aired the Golden Globe Awards, OCM aired the Academy Awards, and SBC aired [Working Man! Lee Seo-jun Edition].

-Next is Over The Rainbow after The Royal Physician!

=Over The Rainbow means world tour!!

***

There was an unforgettable name for the world tour.

People flocked to Moviegoer’s channel.

“Everyone.”

And YouTuber Moviegoer met the expectations of his viewers.

-I won’t be able to do movie reviews for a while!!

“I won’t be able to do movie reviews for a while. Oh, do you have any lines to say first?”

-lol I’ve been waiting for this lol

-One hundred percent waited for this lol

-Wait. This is not the time!

-[YouTuber Moviegoer announces his retirement today.]

-Ah. No. Then what will we watch for movie reviews?

-Side Leaf Channel is fun!!

“Hey! Don’t promote other YouTubers!”

-lol lol lol lol

-It’s amazing how well they match after watching them for more than 10 years lol

Moviegoer thought that they matched better than he expected, and laughed awkwardly.

He opened his mouth again.

“I’m going to collect tickets for Over The Rainbow abroad!”

Moviegoer smiled brightly.

“So,”

Moviegoer got up from his seat. He looked comfortable in his pants and shirt.

-His clothes are the same as before lol

-His carrier is the same too lol

“Let’s start the travel show! I hope you enjoy it!”

Moviegoer opened his carrier.

Instead of travel items like clothes or toiletries, there were boxes of board games inside.

[World Tour Monopoly-3 years and older]

-lol crazy lol

-Mono lol poly lol

-The idea is good lol

“I was going to use the Monopoly that’s sold in stores, but I couldn’t find one that had all the countries I visited. So I changed the names of the countries on the Monopoly board. Everything else is ready-made.”

-I appreciate your effort lol

-The quality is good!

“Now, I’ll put mini souvenir tickets on the countries I visited. I made these tickets too!”

Mini souvenir tickets that looked like they were shrunk from the ones in the frame were placed on 12 countries, such as [Czech Republic], [France], [USA], [Korea].

The dates and seats written in tiny letters were different.

-Moviegoer, please sell me one!

-Me too!

-Please sell me one!!

-lol So where are you going first?

Moviegoer read the comments and smiled brightly.

“I don’t know either! I have to roll the dice!”

Moviegoer threw the dice with excitement.

***

-Moviegoer is traveling around the world with Monopoly lol

=He’s stuck on an uninhabited island and can’t get out lol

=He needs an even number but it’s not coming out lol

-Side Leaf Channel is doing domestic Monopoly lol

=There are too many places to go here, so he’s been spinning for a few rounds lol

=Side Leaf Channel has 17 tickets, right? lol

-…Wow. It’s amazing when you watch it all at once.

-The award ceremony scene is still touching TT

[Assemble 2 opens on May 30th!]

There was no need to say where. Every broadcasting station aired [One Step]. They had nothing else to broadcast.

“Wow. Seo-jun doesn’t do dramas?”

“I know, right? We don’t have anything to send out this week.”

“It would have been nice if he did a variety show at least!”

The broadcasting stations that enjoyed high ratings for five days while Assemble 1 was screening sighed with regret.

-You have to watch Yeoul’s audition video and guess his role!

-The last Escape!!

=222 Escape is the last one!!

Like a countdown, four movies went up and down the theaters.

[Shadowman 3, opens on June 5th!]

[The end of time travel! People who returned to ‘now’!]

[Shadowman 3 pre-booking starts!]

-Wow. It’s already opening day after following Seo-jun’s filmography?

-It was fun. Time travel haha

=22 The YouTubers also reviewed what was popular back then according to the movie re-releases.

=The broadcasting stations also released edited versions of variety shows from back then. It reminded me of the old days haha

-It felt a lot different from when I watched it before. Maybe because I grew up.

-It was sad that it ended, but it was fun.

-The end of time travel is a battlefield. The battlefield of pre-booking lol

-I’ll see it on opening day!

=222 You have to see this in advance.

***

And on June 5th.

Shadowman 3, which would mark the finale of the Shadowman series, opened.

Park Sung-won clenched his trembling heart and headed to the theater.

Everyone who headed to the theater had a familiar face.

They loved the Shadowman series so much that they had successfully booked tickets through the tough pre-booking process.

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga were there too.

“Ah. I’m so excited.”

“Me too, my heart is pounding.”

They were looking forward to and worried about what kind of story would unfold.

They hoped it would be a happy ending.

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga grabbed the poster of Shadowman 3 and waited anxiously for the door of the screening room to open wide, looking at the clock and the closed door alternately without saying a word as usual.

“Theater 3, Theater 3, Shadowman 3 will start soon! Please enter quickly if you are watching!”

People moved their steps to see the last of Shadowman series.

Chapter 236

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 236

“Father.”

The boy knelt down and held the hand of the pale man lying on the bed.

He looked at him with a cold gaze.

“I want to destroy your happiness, just like you did to me.”

The fingers of the man, Tul Natra, twitched in the boy’s grip.

“So, give me everything.”

The boy, Jin Natra, controlled the shadow at his feet to move slowly according to his will.

“Your country too.”

The flag of Natra hanging on the wall was swallowed by the black shadow.

“Your throne too,”

The king’s bedroom was slowly engulfed by the dark and deep shadow.

“Your power too,”

The black shadow that was eroding from all sides of the bed approached Tul Natra who was lying on it.

“Everything.”

The black shadow covered Tul Natra.

Boom!

Boom!

The screen showed the twisted shadow and Jin Natra’s back, then turned black.

***

The knights guarding the door of the underground temple turned their heads to follow the camera’s gaze toward the stairs.

Boom!

Jin Natra’s OST started playing.

A pair of black shoes appeared on the stairs made of sand-colored stone.

The camera slowly moved up.

The audience also looked up.

Boom!

Jin Natra, wearing a black uniform and a cold face, was coming down the stairs.

He looked much older than before, showing that time had passed.

He was just walking, but it made them feel suffocated.

Lim Yeon unconsciously swallowed her dry saliva.

The temple knights blocked Jin Natra’s way.

The audience could feel the coldness in their eyes and thought of the indifference and discrimination that Jin Natra had faced,

Bang!

But before they could finish their thoughts, one of the knights was slammed into the wall.

!!

Did he just grab his ankle with a shadow and throw him?!

The audience was shocked by Jin Natra’s ruthless attack.

Some of them covered their mouths with their hands to stifle a scream.

The knights showed their clear intention to fight and created swords and spears with their shadows.

The sharp black blades flew toward Jin Natra. Jin Natra’s shadow swept over them like a wave.

The weapons of the knights in thick armor did not even touch Jin Natra.

Bang!

Another knight was thrown into the wall.

Oh.

The audience unconsciously clasped their hands together.

They hoped that the knight would be safe.

Jin Natra, who had knocked down the temple knights, headed toward the altar with a splendid pattern.

A white time stone was floating in the air.

Jin Natra reached out his hand and his shadow wavered and turned into a sword.

He gripped the hilt of the sword with both hands and stabbed the white time stone without hesitation.

“Ugh!”

The time stone, which was only slightly pierced by the tip of the sword, emitted a white energy as if to defend itself.

Jin Natra’s hair and cloak fluttered in the energy.

Jin Natra, who squinted his eyes in the strong wind and dazzling light, did not withdraw his sword.

His feet, which seemed to be pushed back by the counterforce, stepped forward instead.

Jin Natra’s shadow supported his legs and back.

“Ugh!”

The white light that filled the temple and the black shadow that pierced it like a wedge.

The fight between the two beings, which was not an intense action scene but still made them sweat in their hands, ended with

Crash!

Jin Natra’s victory.

***

The royal palace of Natra, in Alhyun Hall.

Jin Natra, who was looking at the bowing Natrans, closed his eyes and opened them again.

His eyes were as black as pitch and shone sharply.

His gaze, which seemed to freeze anything it touched, made Park Seonga politely clasp her hands together.

She was scared but strangely could not take her eyes off Jin Natra.

‘He’s a villain but he has some dignity.’

Park Seonga watched Jin Natra sitting in his office and doing his work.

He looked like he would cause trouble at any moment, but he surprisingly lived a quiet life.

It was around then that Bell Natra, who had been wandering around the universe looking for the red time stone, came to the royal palace of Natra.

“I’m here! Oh? Nanny. You look a bit old since I last saw you?”

“Oh my. Bell! Come over here quickly! Something terrible happened while you were away.”

The nanny told her about Tul Natra who had collapsed and Jin Natra who had taken his place.

She said that it was all because of Jin Natra that she looked so old now.

“I don’t know how he did it but it started right then.”

Bell Natra listened with disbelief on her face and called for the captain of the knights who guarded Tul Natra.

“Father collapsed? Jin took his place? What are you talking about? The other heirs wouldn’t just let that happen!”

The captain of the knights also had wrinkles on his face that were not there before.

Bell Natra felt uneasy at his strange appearance.

The captain, who had a bitter expression, told her the real reason that only the high-ranking officials knew.

The broken time stone.

The stronger Jin Natra.

And the heirs who became ordinary people after losing part of their shadows.

“His Majesty Tul was not forced to abdicate but…”

“Jin would never do that!”

Bell Natra could not believe it and headed to the king’s bedroom.

She saw Tul Natra lying there with a pale face.

Tul Natra, who was thin and lifeless, did not look like the stern king of the past.

Could Jin really do that?

Bell Natra’s faith was shaken when she saw her father who was barely alive with a simple treatment.

“…Nanny. Help me.”

“Yes. Bell.”

Bell Natra took Tul Natra to her spaceship and left the palace.

Soon after, Natra’s spaceships started chasing her.

Bell Natra bit her lip at the attacks pouring down on her.

“…Father. What should I do now?”

She looked at Tul Natra lying in the healing capsule and swallowed her tears.

Jin Natra, who was watching Bell Natra’s spaceship being attacked and his spaceships attacking the daughter of the former king, smiled.

‘Our little Jin is gone now…!’

The audience, who loved the cute little Jin Natra while watching the Shadowman series, shed tears in their hearts at the sight of Jin Natra, who became a cynical villain.

Tul Natra and Bell Natra escaped from the pursuing Natra army and hid on Earth.

The only place they could rely on was Mac, the Shadowman, who lived in a small apartment.

The three of them tried to overcome their awkwardness. While treating Tul Natra’s body, Bell Natra did not lower her guard. One day, as usual, an alarm went off.

“Those are Natra’s warships.”

Natra’s warships, which had hidden their presence with stealth mode, were approaching Earth.

“Where are they going?”

“I don’t know. I can’t connect to their communication…”

Shadowman and Bell Natra were on high alert. On the screen, they saw small spaceships pouring out of the huge warship.

Was it because of Bell Natra’s skill or because ‘someone’ didn’t stop them, Bell Natra easily found out Natra’s destination.

Shadowman opened his mouth when he saw the destination that appeared on the large hologram globe.

“It’s France.”

Soon, Bell Natra’s spaceship rose up. Tul Natra, who could now walk, saw them off.

***

Paris, France.

A Natra warship appeared over the Mars Square where the Eiffel Tower was visible.

“Jin Natra!”

“You’re here. Hero.”

Jin Natra smiled softly at the arrival of the hero who came close to him.

A black branch that filled half of Jin Natra’s cheek looked like a vein.

Huh? What’s that?

The audience noticed the black thing on Jin Natra’s cheek. But before they could think about what it was, Shadowman and Jin Natra clashed.

Shadowman, who only defended, and Jin Natra, who attacked.

The audience felt sorry for Shadowman, whose face was occasionally shown in close-up.

“William.”

“I told you. My name is Jin Natra.”

A wind blew between them.

The spaceship that had been away came down near the ground.

The entrance of the spaceship opened and the knights came down and surrounded Shadowman.

Jin Natra put the spear he was holding in his hand into the shadow and turned around.

The knights, who seemed to attack at any moment, did not move as if they were guarding the wormhole generator.

“Jin Natra is moving! Let’s follow him!”

“…Okay.”

Shadowman got on Bell Natra’s spaceship.

He was about to sigh heavily, wondering what would happen next, when he saw a strange face that met his eyes.

“…Who is this?”

“A scholar who was with Jin. He was next to the wormhole generator so I brought him.”

“…Bell brought him by force.”

“I need to figure out what Jin is up to.”

What was he doing?

Shadowman smiled faintly at Bell Natra’s typical behavior and sat down on a chair.

Bell Natra broke through the security that ‘someone’ had deliberately weakened and started chasing after Jin Natra.

“So what is he going to do, William?”

“Wil…liam?”

“…I mean Jin Natra.”

The scholar scratched his chin and explained at Shadowman’s question.

“Jin intends to use the wormhole generator to collide Earth and Natra. When the size of the wormhole exceeds a certain range, Earth and Natra will be affected by each other’s gravity. The landmasses of the planet with weaker gravity will move to the planet with stronger gravity. Like meteors falling.”

The collision of Earth and Natra.

Shadowman and Bell Natra swallowed their saliva.

The audience also swallowed their dry saliva at the serious story that was more than they expected.

“Eventually, the side with weaker gravity will be torn apart by the wormhole and the side with stronger gravity will be destroyed by the enormous landmasses pouring out of the wormhole.”

“Is that possible?”

“If there is enough energy to increase the size of the wormhole, it is possible. And Jin has that energy source.”

“…Time stone!”

Bell Natra answered with a scream-like voice.

The scholar nodded his head.

“It’s broken, but it’s enough.”

“Why did you make such a thing?!”

The scholar sighed heavily at Shadowman’s question.

He had been talking lightly until then.

“We didn’t know at first. When we found out, we tried to stop him but Jin had taken the lives of Natrans as hostages. We had no choice.”

“How can we stop him?”

“They need to install three wormhole generators. You can either remove the energy source or… destroy the machine.”

The scholar spoke a little vaguely at the end, but Bell Natra and Shadowman did not notice.

“Good. The next destination is here!”

The destination appeared over the familiar continent next to the shining peninsula on the hologram globe.

[KOREA 한국]

The audience unconsciously held their breath at the caption.

It’s finally here!

Bell Natra’s spaceship chased after Jin Natra’s spaceship.

The soldiers who witnessed Bell Natra were shaken.

“Bell is better than Jin who is an Earthling.”

The soldiers and lower-ranking knights who hated Jin Natra most turned their spaceships around and headed toward Bell Natra at their superiors’ order to attack her.

They didn’t know why they were doing this when they hated Jin Natra who was an Earthling.

They didn’t know about the time stone incident.

The lower-ranking knights tried to turn their spaceships around.

“Attack.”

The higher-ranking knights clenched their teeth and aimed at their subordinates’ spaceships at Jin Natra’s command.

The sky from France to Korea became a battlefield.

The spaceships that turned to Bell Natra’s side and Jin Natra’s spaceships attacked each other.

The black spaceships destroyed and were destroyed without distinguishing friend from foe.

Buildings were destroyed and smoke rose.

The audience stared blankly at the spectacular battle unfolding in a familiar place.

While they were escaping, Bell Natra’s spaceship landed quickly.

Bell Natra looked at the screen with a pale face.

The camera followed Bell Natra’s gaze and looked ahead.

A wide square with a straight line, two statues, and tall buildings appeared.

Gasp!

The audience unconsciously closed their mouths at the sight of Korea that finally appeared.

It was Gwanghwamun Square.

The Gwanghwamun Square on the screen was familiar but unfamiliar.

When the audience was looking at Gwanghwamun Square with curiosity,

Bang!

A spaceship flew past Bell Natra’s spaceship and crashed into a building.

!

One of the audience unconsciously clenched his hands.

It was his company building.

He wished that aliens would invade every Monday when he went to work, but they really did.

The two sides did not stop fighting in the sky above Gwanghwamun Square. Spaceships that fell from the sky crashed everywhere.

The audience widened their eyes at the familiar place where a dazzling battle was taking place.

Uh, uh…!

The audience clenched their fists at the sight of a spaceship falling toward the statue of King Sejong.

They watched the spaceship fall without breathing or blinking.

Crash!

A cloud of dust rose with a loud noise. The audience who had been staring at the dust as if they could see through it breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the half-destroyed spaceship crashed right next to the statue of King Sejong.

‘This… is bad for my heart…!’

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga leaned back on their seats with a groan.

Bell Natra avoided the battlefield and headed to where Jin Natra’s spaceship was.

Jin Natra’s spaceship was hovering over the Geunjeongjeon Hall.

The audience swallowed their saliva at the sight of Gwanghwamun and the palaces behind it that finally appeared.

It was strange and amazing to see a spaceship floating over the familiar Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Bell Natra’s spaceship landed as if it crashed into the ground.

The ticket office inside Gwanghwamun was crushed by the spaceship.

“Damn it…!”

A blue light shot up from the Geunjeongjeon Hall.

Bell Natra and Shadowman ran out of the spaceship as they saw the wormhole generator starting to work.

Shadowman and Bell Natra knocked down the knights and soldiers who rushed at them without hesitation and passed through Heungnyemun Gate, crossed Yeongjegyo Bridge, and entered Geunjeongmun Gate.

Geunjeongjeon Hall.

Jin Natra and the wormhole generator were on the stairs.

A spaceship crashed into the pond of Gyeonghoeru Pavilion and water splashed.

“Jin Natra!!!”

Shadowman’s voice echoed in Geunjeongjeon Hall.

While the knights were dealing with Shadowman, Jin Natra opened the wormhole.

Above the sky of Geunjeongjeon Hall, a blue flame flickered in the wormhole and a cold ice desert appeared.

Jin Natra and Shadowman collided.

The shadows of the two changed their shapes from spears to rods to swords in a blink of an eye.

The audience’s eyes were forced to turn away from the fiery battle.

The scholar who was examining the wormhole generator shouted in panic.

“…The time stone is gone.”

“Then… how is that thing moving?”

Bell Natra’s voice trembled as she looked at the wormhole that was showing its majesty over the Eastern palace.

“Stop it now!”

“Well. That’s hard for me too.”

Two sharp swords met.

“Let’s go to our parents now.”

“…”

Crash!

“I’ll explain it to you.”

Bang!

“They’re waiting for you.”

Jin Natra and Shadowman’s fight became more intense.

The stone pillars that stood in Geunjeongjeon Hall were swept away by the fight, but Geunjeongjeon Hall remained intact without a scratch.

Bell Natra and the scholar were struggling to destroy the wormhole generator on the stairs of Geunjeongjeon Hall.

In the middle of a fierce exchange, Jin Natra suddenly staggered.

Shadowman took advantage of that moment and his shadow mischief made a move.

Boom!

Jin Natra couldn’t avoid Shadowman’s shadow attack that had a mind of its own and was thrown back.

!!!

The audience opened their mouths without knowing at the sudden shadow attack and again at Jin Natra’s flying figure.

Jin Natra hit the wall hard.

The stones and tiles of the wall broke from the forceful attack.

The wall collapsed. Jin Natra’s body fell to the ground with it.

“Jin!”

“William!”

Bell Natra and Shadowman ran to Jin Natra in surprise.

That was when it happened.

A black shadow spread out like a wave from Jin Natra’s body and under him.

The black shadow that swayed like a wave quickly increased its size.

It was an enormous shadow that covered most of the ground and sky of Geunjeongjeon Hall that was ruined by the fight.

It was such an overwhelming pressure that they unconsciously stepped back.

The audience was also overwhelmed by the shadow.

They could only stare blankly without blinking or breathing.

The darkened theater for showing movies seemed like a part of the shadow that came out of it.

The audience in the theater lost their minds and only looked at the screen.

Jin Natra, who regained consciousness, got on his spaceship and returned to his warship.

“…Bell, I found a way to stop the wormhole.”

The scholar who got on Bell Natra’s spaceship opened his mouth.

“It seems that Jin absorbed a piece of time stone.”

“He can do that?”

Bell Natra looked puzzled. The scholar nodded his head.

“Natrans can’t break or absorb time stones, but Jin is an Earthling.”

“…I see.”

“He must have put his hand on the wormhole generator to inject energy.”

“What’s that on Jin’s face?”

“…Jin’s body can’t handle the energy of the time stone. His flesh is cracking. If his whole body cracks, eventually…”

Shadowman, who had been listening quietly, jumped up and headed toward the scholar.

Shadowman showed his teeth and asked.

“So what’s the solution?”

“…I don’t know. But maybe your majesty knows! There’s a library that has been passed down from king to king!”

Shadowman looked at Bell Natra who was looking for the last wormhole generator.

“Did you find it?”

“No. He doesn’t seem to want to go now. Maybe he was hit hard by the attack earlier.”

At that, Shadowman stomped on his own shadow.

The mischievous shadow that sensed its master’s mood stuck to the floor with a droop.

“Then let’s go to our father.”

“Okay.”

Bell Natra couldn’t help but sigh at the news that Jin Natra was in danger while she was glad that Shadowman called him father.

Chapter 237

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 237

Tul Natra sighed as he spoke with a pensive face after hearing the story.

“…There’s no way.”

“What?”

“There’s no way to restore a body that’s already broken…”

Bell Natra quickly asked, with a trembling voice that sounded like grasping at straws.

“What about the Red Timestone?”

“The power of the Timestone that Jin absorbed is superior, so even the Red Timestone is impossible. Bell. You know this too. The Red Timestone and the Blue Timestone are just ‘fragments’ of the Timestone.”

At Tul Natra’s words, Bell Natra buried his face in his palms.

Shadowman looked out the window with shaking eyes.

His clenched fists trembled with force.

Then, an alarm sounded.

The scholar who had been rolling his eyes on the floor tapped the keyboard and said.

“Uh… The last generator seems to be nearby.”

Tul Natra, who had been staring at the floor, lifted his head.

“I’ll go with you.”

The wormhole generator was installed in Central Park.

Tul Natra’s appearance caused a stir among the Natrans.

Jin Natra smiled at the arrival of the three. Half of Jin Natra’s face was covered with black branches.

And the branches on his chin were cracked and white light was leaking out.

“I told you.”

“I’ll take away ‘everything’ that’s precious to you.”

Tul Natra’s pupils shook.

“I can’t leave out ‘Jin Natra’ from that.”

The audience and Lim Yeon, who had been hoping it wasn’t true, unconsciously opened their mouths.

Who would dare to risk their own life for revenge?

“Choose.”

Jin Natra grinned.

“Will you give up? The Earth or Natra?”

The answer was obvious.

That’s why it was a cruel choice.

The audience realized from Bell Natra’s words that everything was Jin Natra’s plan.

They couldn’t even be surprised anymore. How much did he calculate from where to where?

He smiled brightly and innocently like the young and naive Jin Natra who knew nothing.

“Father. Will you make me unhappy again?”

“Shadowman. Will you not save me again?”

“Bell. Will you abandon me again?”

Jin Natra’s words pierced the hearts of the three.

A heavy guilt weighed on them.

“Come on. Choose.”

Woo woo woo!

Jin Natra, who had been smiling brightly, raised his hands to the wormhole generator.

As the last wormhole was created, Jin Natra’s shadow grew in size.

A wave of shadow with substance overturned Central Park.

The shadow swept over the trees and the ground like a tsunami, and the three dodged it.

And the battle began.

Jin Natra’s shadow, which had dyed the ground black, rose like a needle and pierced through the spaceships.

The spaceships flying in the air were frozen in place.

Bang! Kwaang!

The sound of exploding spaceships was heard.

Shadowman, Bell Natra, and Tul Natra ran around on top of the spaceships and overturned trees, trying to stop Jin Natra, but the difference in power was evident.

Kwoong!

A huge vibration rang out and the scholar who was left in the spaceship shouted.

-It’s a sign of collision!

There wasn’t much time left.

Tul Natra moved first as he saw Shadowman and Bell Natra still hesitating.

Tul Natra bit his lip and attacked first, hitting Jin Natra’s body, which was cracking due to his inability to control the power of the absorbed Timestone.

Following Tul Natra, Bell Natra also attacked Jin Natra.

Jin Natra, who had been attacked several times, revealed his power of Timestone.

The black crack on Jin Natra’s face spread.

White light flowed out from between the black cracks.

The white light and shadow met and turned into a huge shadow.

A giant wave of shadow engulfed them.

The three quickly retreated to the top of a spaceship and rushed towards Jin Natra again.

This time, Shadowman’s attack hit him.

Kwaang!!

Jin Natra with the power of Timestone was no match for them.

The vibration of the wormhole grew bigger and bigger, and they became anxious at their ineffective attacks.

Once more here.

Shadowman’s shadow played an active role. While the three drew Jin Natra’s attention, Shadowman’s shadow hooked Jin Natra’s ankle and threw him away.

Kwaang!!

Jin Natra was buried in a building beyond Central Park, and shadows spewed out from him.

It was more terrifying than the shadow that had appeared in Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Jin Natra slowly got up as he regained his senses, but the swaying shadow showed no sign of being absorbed.

Tul Natra bit his lip.

In the end, Jin Natra’s body couldn’t handle the energy of the Timestone.

The energy of the Timestone, which was trying to tear apart Jin Natra’s body and spread out, was held back by Jin Natra’s shadow.

Jin Natra’s shadow wrapped around his body like a bandage.

Even in that state, Jin Natra ran towards the three.

His power was too strong for them to handle, but fortunately or unfortunately, their attacks were working little by little.

Jin Natra was already having a hard time controlling the power of the Timestone that was raging inside him. He was moving in pain as his body was falling apart.

“Uaaaaa!!!”

Jin Natra’s scream of pain pierced the ears of his sister Bell Natra, his father Tul Natra, and the hero Shadowman.

Bell Natra’s spear pierced Jin Natra’s right shoulder-

Shadowman’s shadow pierced Jin Natra’s right thigh-

And Tul Natra’s sword pierced Jin Natra’s left chest-

They penetrated.

Bell Natra’s hand holding the spear trembled.

Bell Natra couldn’t bear to look at Jin Natra in front of him.

Her clenched jaw shivered.

Tears blurred her vision.

Tul Natra, who had helped his attack by plunging into his son’s arms and aiming for his heart, was crying with his face ruined by tears.

As Jin Natra’s breathing slowed down, the wormholes that filled the sky began to shrink.

The wormhole generator that had been making a loud noise stopped moving.

It was because the energy source had disappeared.

The wormholes that had filled the sky disappeared, and the weapons of the three that had pierced Jin Natra turned back into shadows.

As the weapons that supported him disappeared, Jin Natra’s body fell to Shadowman and Tul Natra.

“William!”

“Bring the healing capsule!”

“Jin! Wake up! Don’t lose consciousness!”

Shadowman, who had been holding Jin Natra as he fell, carefully laid him down on the floor.

While Tul Natra gave orders to the Natrans, Bell Natra quickly performed first aid.

Jin Natra, who had been looking at them with a blank stare, slowly closed his eyes.

He had a peaceful face, as if he was asleep, as if he was in his mother’s arms.

***

The healer looked at Jin Natra, who was breathing faintly in the healing capsule, and said.

“We need to extract the Timestone that was absorbed by Lord Jin.”

“How?”

The audience, who could barely see Jin Natra’s face in detail in the calm scene rather than the action-packed one, clenched their mouths at Jin Natra’s face, which was cracked like a porcelain doll.

“We need His Majesty’s shadow. It must have been His Majesty’s shadow and the shadow that was forcibly inherited that prevented the collapse of his body so far.”

“What do you mean?”

“The bodies of Earthlings absorb shadows infinitely. The bodies of Natrans can only absorb a certain amount. Lord Jin’s body was trying to absorb the ‘power’ of the Timestone, but His Majesty’s shadow blocked it.”

The treatment room was silent.

“…If you give Lord Jin more of His Majesty’s shadow, his body will become similar to that of a Natran, and then the remaining ‘powers’ that he can’t absorb will come out.”

We can collect them and take them to the underground shrine, and then Natra will return to normal.

“Then William won’t be able to live as an Earthling anymore?”

The healer shook his head at Shadowman’s question.

“Then we can use the Red Timestone to turn back time. The Timestone works for Natrans too. But there are two problems.”

“Problems?”

The healer couldn’t look at Tul Natra with a blank expression.

“The first is… The shadow that was absorbed by Lord Jin will disappear if we turn back time.”

“I don’t care.”

Tul Natra answered without hesitation at the healer’s words that he would lose most of his shadow.

He was willing to give up his own life to save his son.

“What’s the second?”

“He may have lost his memory due to the shock… He may not be fully conscious.”

The three’s expressions clouded at that. Shadowman looked at Jin Natra lying in the capsule.

He might lose his memory. Shadowman remembered Jin Natra smiling brightly.

‘But it wouldn’t be a good memory for William.’

There were times when it was better to forget.

Tul Natra and Bell Natra thought the same.

They didn’t know if this was the right time.

The three who didn’t say anything for a while opened their mouths.

“Then I’ll prepare a one-year Red Timestone as soon as possible.”

“No.”

Tul Natra looked at Bell Natra.

Bell Natra nodded at her father’s gaze and handed something over with moist eyes, but with a gentle smile.

“Ten years. This is the biggest Red Timestone I could get.”

The red gemstone, which looked like a heart in a box, sparkled in the light.

The screen that had been shining on the Red Timestone slowly darkened.

The audience waited for the next story without breathing.

If it ended here, they would storm into Marina.

Their eyes shone fiercely as they stared at the black screen.

After a moment of silence that felt long, a sound came from the speaker.

Thud thud.

Someone’s footsteps were heard.

The camera slowly moved back.

What they thought was a black background was Shadowman, Mack’s back.

Music was heard.

It was a soft and calm piano sound.

Shadowman, who only showed his back, was holding something precious and walking.

With every step he took, two small feet and sneakers dangled from his arms.

Ah ah.

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga, and the audience clenched their mouths.

Shadowman carefully placed the child next to the front door of a house.

It was the house of a couple who had not even thought of moving, hoping that their lost child would return.

Sniffle.

A sobbing sound came from somewhere. Lim Yeon’s eyes also reddened as if she was in sync with it. But she never took her eyes off the screen.

She didn’t want to miss a single moment even with her blurred vision.

Shadowman placed a teddy bear next to the child after laying him down.

‘William’ was an old teddy bear that Jin Natra had cherished, but it showed clearly that time had passed differently on Earth.

Tul Natra wished for the child to grow up bright and cheerful and gave him sneakers as a gift.

Bell Natra wished for the child to live warmly and gave him a sweater as a gift.

Shadowman wished for the child to make new memories,

“I hope you get along well with this friend too.”

He gave him a new teddy bear as a gift.

He placed a clean teddy bear next to the child and got up from his seat.

He looked at the child’s peaceful face and opened his mouth.

“…I’m sorry I’m late.”

Shadowman pressed the doorbell and left.

Ding dong.

-Yes. I’m coming.

The camera followed Shadowman’s back. The sound of the door opening was heard.

Bell Natra and Tul Natra, who were standing around Mack’s car and waiting anxiously, stared at Shadowman’s back.

Their eyes were full of sadness, joy, longing. And the hope that the child would be happy.

-…William! Baby!

Shadowman, Mack turned around.

The camera also showed there.

A long time ago, a child who had lost his parents snuggled into his mother’s warm arms.

Warm sunlight settled down.

***

The child opened his eyes groggily. Someone appeared in the child’s sleepy vision.

There were three people, and one of them spoke.

“Jin? Jin. Are you awake?”

“No…”

It was a young voice full of sleepiness.

The people in his blurry vision stopped moving.

The child smiled innocently and said.

“William is William…”

“That’s right… William.”

At the reliable man’s voice and gentle touch, William fell asleep again. A faint voice brushed his ears. It was a voice that sounded like crying.

“…I’ll take you to your mom and dad this time.”

Chapter 238

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 238

Boom!

Boom!

The cookie video ended and the Shadowman OST started playing.

White letters appeared on the black screen.

[Ryan Will]

[Evan Block]

[Seo-jun Lee]

[Rachell Hill]

[Swalin Arnham]

The names of the director, actors, and staff disappeared one by one, but the audience could not leave their seats.

Sniffles could be heard here and there, and some closed their eyes and enjoyed the Shadowman OST.

Their eyes were also red.

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga wiped their tears, regretting not bringing tissues.

“…Do you think there are more cookie videos?”

“Hmm. I don’t think so. Even if there are, they probably have nothing to do with the Shadowman series.”

“That’s true.”

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga’s voices were low.

They would probably feel the end of the Shadowman series that they had been following for a long time when the ending scroll was over and the lights in the theater turned on.

They liked the ending.

They couldn’t think of any other ending that would be better.

They were satisfied enough, but they felt sorry that the Shadowman series was over.

That’s why they didn’t want to get up from their seats.

“I’ll watch it again, but I want to stay until the end for now.”

“Me too.”

Eventually, when the last logo of Marina Studio appeared on the ending scroll, the audience got up from their seats.

Everyone had a bittersweet expression on their faces.

***

The people who were waiting for Shadowman 3 were excited to see the audience from the previous show coming out.

“We watched Shadowman when we were in eighth grade, right? I never thought we would watch the same movie until now. I wonder how it ends.”

“Well, it’s a hero movie, so maybe it’s a happy ending?”

“For whom?”

For Jin Natra? Or for Shadowman?

Kim Suhan scratched his cheek at his friend’s question.

“Both… would be nice, but it would be hard, right?”

The hero and the villain had conflicting goals.

He wondered how he would have unfolded the story if he were in charge.

Kim Suhan, an aspiring movie director, was lost in thought.

“Oh. They’re coming out.”

The audience started to come out of the theater.

The next show’s audience, of course, but also those who had to watch other movies because of the sold-out tickets, and even the theater staff, all looked at one place.

“…Is this another crying challenge?”

It wasn’t like Shadowman 1 where they cried out loud, but they all came out of the theater with sniffles.

Strangely enough, unlike the crying challenge where only 10% cried, most of them had red eyes.

‘It doesn’t seem like they’re crying because they’re sad.’

Kim Suhan tilted his head as he was sensitive to people’s expressions due to his job.

No, there seemed to be some sadness, but also satisfaction and emotional.

Their expressions were too complex to define with one word.

“Hey. Let’s go in.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Kim Suhan stopped looking at people’s faces and moved his feet at his friend’s call.

His friend smiled and said.

“But it seems like the ending was good, right?”

“Yeah. No one seems angry.”

He was glad it wasn’t a cliffhanger.

***

[Shadowman 3 pre-booking rate, 97.7%!]

[Shadowman 3 pre-booking, over 2.1 million tickets sold, breaking records!]

[Shadowman 3 opens today! What will be the opening score?]

[Shadowman 3, how long will it take to reach 10 million viewers?]

-Wow. Look at the pre-booking rate. Everyone must have wanted to see it so badly… Me tooㅋㅋ

=Me too. I’m one of the 2.1 million. I’m really looking forward to it.

=222 Me too.

-Don’t expect too much or you’ll be disappointed. Just expect moderately.

=That’s easier said than doneㅠㅠ I watched Shadowman 1 again after the re-release and I can’t help but expect more.

-I hope it’s not a cliffhanger.

=I trust director Ryan!

-I’m watching it tomorrow because there are no tickets todayㅠ

=Me too. I wanted to watch it in a good place but it was sold out.

-Now I can’t even go online, right? I have to be careful of spoilers since it’s the last episode.

=Please…!

-It won’t take long to reach 10 million viewers.

=22 The shortest record is 14 days.

=Even if 1 million people watch it every day, it will take 10 daysㅎㅎ.

“***

“Hello. This is Moviegoer.”

-Yeongha!

-Yeongha-goer fighting!

“Today’s review is about the last episode of the Shadowman series, which took as long as 10 years to finish.”

-10 years. That’s amazing.

-I was 20 years old when I watched Shadowman 1ㅎㅎ I’m already 30…ㅎ

-Time seems to fly by. It feels like yesterday when Davis Garrett had an accident. I remember the chaos back thenㅋㅋ

“Yes. It was really chaotic back then. I was looking forward to it too, but then they said that Shadowman and Greenwing were coming out instead, so I was a bit disappointed.”

-Especially Shadowman. Greenwing was quite popular, but Shadowman was really obscure.

-I didn’t even know it existed.

-Well, the comic was out of print anyway.

-I heard that the comic is coming out again these days.

-Oh! Really?

Moviegoer stopped the viewers from going off topic and continued his talk.

“And now, Shadowman has made three movies and closed the curtain. Have you all seen it?”

-ㅇㅇ I watched it as soon as it opened.

-Me too!

-It’s been two weeks alreadyㅎ There won’t be anyone who hasn’t seen it.

“Then let’s talk about it from the beginning.”

Moviegoer showed a scene from the cookie video on the monitor.

It was the moment when Jin Natra’s shadow enveloped Tul Natra.

“The first start of the movie was the forced succession scene that came out in the cookie video. The cookie video was impressive, but the shadow’s power was more impressive when I watched the movie, right?”

-CG team. They’ve been sharpening their knives.

-The cookie wasn’t bad eitherㅋㅋ

“There’s an interview about the shadow CG, right?”

-I saw it tooㅋㅋ

-Ghost 2ㅋㅋ

The interview with the CG team and staff was translated and appeared on the monitor screen.

“After watching Shadowman 3, there have been testimonies of seeing real moving shadows everywhere. Director Ryan said he saw them too. Some were shocked to see the same shadows they saw during filming.”

-Maybe the ghost followed Seo-jun to America.

-Seo-jun’s popularityㅋㅋ

-Or maybe it’s just an American ghost that attached itself to Seo-jun?

-222 Gold, black. The colors are different too.

-…Whatever it is, it’s creepyㄷㄷ

“Yes. It’s a scary story… But, whether there are ghosts or not, Shadowman 3 was a hit.”

-It reached 10 million viewers in just 12 days ㅎㄷㄷ

“Yes. It reached 10 million viewers in just 12 days. The opening score was also amazing. 1.5 million! It broke the record for the opening score too!”

-Seo-jun has another 10 million movie.

-It would be faster to find a movie that’s not 10 million.

-Ghost?ㅋㅋ

“It’s also doing well overseas. I guess it might be the best performing hero movie among Marina Studio movies. I’m looking forward to how much profit they will make.”

-I spent a lot on that.

-222 Me too! I ran for the eighth time!!

-I ran for the sixth time!

“I ran for the eleventh time.”

Moviegoer laughed at the unexpected Nth battle and continued his review.

“Next, let’s look at the action scenes. The CG was great, but the stunts were also realistic, right? Actor Seo-jun Lee was amazing, of course. He’s good at sports, so maybe that’s why he learned so fast in just a month from October when he left for the US to November when they cranked in?”

-He could be a national representative for anything…ㅋ

-I know someone who said Seo-jun is really good at sportsㅎ

-He’s also good at acting, so it’s hard to take him outㅠㅠ

-Jin Natra was so terrifying that I was scared even though I didn’t do anything wrongㅋㅋ

-22 I couldn’t breathe. I was afraid he would be annoyed by my breathing.

-Why are you being politeㅋㅋㅋ

-Are the reporters okay?

-ㅋㅋI was worried about them flying away when I saw them.

“From what I heard, it was an amazing shooting with no injuries more than any other movie. There might be a new jinx among the stuntmen called ‘death’ in the US. There are pictures of Seo-jun and the director, actors, and stuntmen bowing to the death scene.”

-Deathㅋㅋ

-Seo-jun promoted Joseon Annals last timeㅋㅋ This time it’s deathㅋㅋ

-Hey, is that Korean guy Jin Natra’s stuntman?

“Yes. He’s Jin Natra’s stuntman, Kim Jae-yeon. He did all the scenes where Jin Natra was attacked.”

-Wow. Really?

-I thought I could tell Seo-jun’s double.

-22 Seo-jun has a unique vibe.

“Yes. To be honest, I thought so too. You mean the vibe of his ‘character’, not ‘Seo-jun’, right?”

-ㅇㅇ Evilness? Jin Natra’s own vibe. There’s something like that.

-That’s why I was worried when I heard about the stuntman… It was a needless worry!

Moviegoer nodded his head.

“I couldn’t tell where they used a double. Throughout the movie, there wasn’t a single moment when he wasn’t ‘Jin Natra’. I would like to tell Kim Jae-yeon to try acting.”

-Right. He seems like he can act well.

-He would succeed if he could act like that.

They talked about Kim Jae-yeon for a while and Moviegoer returned to his review.

-Why didn’t he go to the underground temple right after the forced succession?

“He probably needed some time to make Tul Natra’s shadow completely his own. If he moved recklessly, he would have self-destructed before his plan was completed. And thanks to the long time it took, Jin Natra was able to appear in a formidable way.”

-He was no joke from when he came down the stairs.

-The real villainㅋㅋ

-His shoes were scary tooㅎㄷㄷ

-But I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I kept looking at him.

“A villain who is bad but attractive. I did too. How did you feel when Korea came out?”

When Korea became the topic, the chat room exploded.

Everyone poured out their feelings when Korea came out in the chat.

Moviegoer read the fast-rising comments quickly.

-I cheered from when the subtitles appeared on the screen! Of course, in my mindㅋㅋ

-I was so excited when it was marked on the map!!

-My company collapsedㅋㅋ

-Oh. Me tooㅋㅋ I went to work every day saying it would go bankrupt, and it really didㅌㅋㅋ

-But it was close when the spaceship fell.

“Ah. I know. I was nervous that it would fall on King Sejong’s statue or Admiral Yi Sun-shin’s statue.”

-I clenched my fist when it fell next to King Sejongㅋㅋ

-22 My heart dropped.

-They don’t seem to destroy important buildings in movies.

-ㅇㅇGwanghwamun, which was in the front, was fine too.

-The stone steps were swept away and the wall collapsed, but the Geunjeongjeon building was pretty intact.

“It seems like they adjusted it a bit for the Korean audience, even though the content was about alien invasion. If you look at Redbone 2, where New York was destroyed…”

Moviegoer and the viewers shook their heads as they recalled the miserable New York.

“It would have hurt my heart if Gwanghwamun and Geunjeongjeon were destroyed too.”

-But it was kind of funny that the spaceship fell next to King Sejong.

-Why??

Moviegoer blinked his eyes and waited for the next comment.

-King Sejong encouraged science and astronomy research, right? Don’t you wonder what he would have said if he saw a spaceship?ㅋㅋ

-Maybe he would have extracted alien technology.

-He would have written a lot of books too.

-??? : Welcome→ to↗ Joseon’s↗ palace→ stranger↘

-??? : Oh ho. Is this Natra’s ship?

-Natraㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-The feeling changes with just one vowel changeㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Moviegoer and the viewers burst out laughing at ‘Natra’.

Chapter 239

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 239

“Okay, then Natu… I mean,”

The chat room was filled with ‘lol’ at the moviegoer’s slip of the tongue.

The moviegoer chuckled at his own mistake and cleared his throat before continuing.

“Let’s talk about the most important core of Natra, or rather, this ‘Time Stone’ that is located in the underground temple of Natra. It is very important for Natra. It is the planet’s core and the power that maintains the planet and the lives of the Natrans.”

-But the security is weak.

-Isn’t Jin Natra strong?

-No, no, there are only guards. Don’t they need to install some security devices?

“According to the official setting, the Natrans cannot do anything with the Time Stone. They can’t destroy it or absorb it. Rather, the failed successor candidates are absorbed by the shadows. So it’s important, but the security is poor.”

-Well, if the aliens want to get the Time Stone, they have to go through this route (Natra planet > royal palace > underground temple > Time Stone!), but they would be smashed before entering the palace.

-True. The ancestors probably never thought that their descendants would adopt an alien as their son.

“Yes. That’s why there was no way to deal with the situation of Jin Natra in the king’s library, you know, ‘the alien’s body collapse due to the Time Stone’.”

-It never happened before.

-It’s a relief that they found a way to deal with it this time.

“Then let’s go back to the movie story. The second wormhole was installed in Korea, and the first wormhole’s location was Paris, France.”

-That’s right.

-Scholar lol

The viewers laughed as they recalled the scholar who spouted out information. The moviegoer nodded.

“Bell Natra brought the scholar from France.”

-Honestly, I didn’t see Bell Natra fighting with Shadowman, so I thought he couldn’t fight because he was a Natran.

-Me too lol But that wasn’t it lol

-Brought? Brought?

-Moviegoer sir. Let’s be honest lol

-??? : Dragged?!! Forced!!

The moviegoer shook his head at the viewers’ protests.

“Yes. Dragged. This scholar who was kidnapped by Bell Natra played a very important role.”

-His mouth is too light.

-He answers everything he is asked lol

-…But I think this scholar is also part of Jin Natra’s plan.

-22 He seemed to know a lot of information.

-333 That’s why he spilled it out.

“I thought so too. If I were him, I would have brought a loyal and tight-lipped scholar. To prevent it from reaching Shadowman. But Jin Natra’s plan was not that. He probably picked a cooperative scholar and brought him.”

-Very thorough.

-Jin Natra… Scary kid…!

“He made the wormhole generator sturdy for the purpose of making only one way to stop the wormhole, which is ‘defeating Jin Natra’.”

-Jin Natra: (Bang!) It broke? Make it again!

-Scholar 1: If you give us more time and budget…!

-Scholar 2: He broke it again…

-lol

“And he also composed the power of the Natran knights and soldiers who came to Earth almost equally. He divided them into lower-ranking knights and soldiers who would be shaken by Bell Natra, and higher-ranking knights who would follow Jin Natra’s words fairly well.”

-Perfect for attacking each other.

-Wow. How do you stop a kid who is strong and smart?

“Finally, all his plans were revealed in Central Park… or should I say, everything went according to his plan.”

-Shadowman and Tul Natra, Bell Natra mental breakdown.

-I didn’t even think of Jin Natra as Tul Natra’s precious thing when I saw the cookie video. He said he would take away his precious thing, but who would put his life on the line for that?

-22 I thought it would be either Natra planet, Bell Natra, or Shadowman at most.

-I thought he would just invade Earth with a Natran spaceship and take care of all three of them after Bell Natra ran away with Tul Natra to Earth.

“That’s ironic. If Jin Natra knew that he was in Tul Natra’s precious thing, he must have been loved by Tul Natra very much.”

-Well. He must have felt betrayed enough.

-He jumped N times and annoyed the Natrans too.

-22 There were also some who said he should have killed Jin Natra.

-Honest. If it weren’t for Tul and Bell, Jin Natra would have been just an alien.

-He grew up well in Shadowman 2 though.

-He must have been bitter. He might look fine on the outside, but you never know what’s inside a person.

“The real battle began when they met Jin Natra in Central Park. As always, Marina’s CG was awesome. The shadows were much more lively and heavy than in the first and second movies. It felt like they were real shadows.”

-Agree.

-The technology must have improved a lot.

-Well, it’s been years.

“Jin Natra took the first hit from Tul Natra’s attack. Until then, Shadowman’s party only made defensive attacks. Of course, Jin Natra was the same. He didn’t want to kill them.”

-That’s more cruel…

-??? : Do you choose, Earth or Natra?

-I thought to myself at that time, “Isn’t that scale too big??!!”

-Memo) The fight of the whales is too big in scale.

-Hey, you adolescent!!!

-Memo) Jin Natra: Adolescent. You’re dead.

-I’m having a hard time with kimchi stew VS soybean paste stew.

-Soybean paste.

-Kimchi.

“Soybean paste stew. I like clam soybean paste stew.”

-You lol

-Memo) Moviegoer likes clam soybean paste stew.

The moviegoer, who had gone off track and laughed and chatted, continued his review.

“Then let’s go back to the movie story. From here on, the real fight begins. What I felt when I jumped 11 times was that Jin Natra and Shadowman had different fighting styles, which made it fun to watch.”

-Fighting styles?

“If you look closely when they fight, Jin Natra seems to have some kind of formality. His posture is straight and his movements are smooth, you know, elegant. But Shadowman feels instinctive. He rolls on the ground and uses not only shadows but also fists, but Jin Natra mostly manipulates shadows.”

-Oh. That’s true?

-Why different?

“I think it’s because of the environment they grew up in. Jin Natra was a prince and Shadowman was a commoner. The prince Jin Natra learned martial arts such as swordsmanship from the knights and the commoner Shadowman had no place to learn, so he fought roughly.”

-Ah, he was a prince? lol

-The king’s son lol

-Jin Prince lol (A rabbit emoticon laughing and clapping on the floor)

-Lee Seo-jun plays a lot of royal roles.

-Our Daegun mama even invaded the aliens!

“It’s fun to see how different their fighting styles are. In the middle of the battle, Shadowman’s troublemaker shadow causes a mess here.”

-I was shocked at first, but not this time.

-Me too. I had a feeling this would happen.

“Because of that, the energy of the Timestone goes wild inside Jin Natra’s body, who lost consciousness for a moment. Was it a survival instinct? Jin Natra’s shadow wraps around his collapsing body.”

-I thought it was ‘Shadowman VS Jin Natra’, but it was ‘Timestone VS Jin Natra’

-It’s self-destruction.

-It hurt me when Jin Natra screamed.

-222 It gave me goosebumps.

“Eventually, Jin Natra falls under the attack of Shadowman, Bel Natra, and Tul Natra. It was heartbreaking to see how they felt when they attacked Jin Natra.”

-ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-Tul Natra cried so muchㅠㅠ

-But what about the healer’s story? The difference between Earthlings and Natrans?

“To put it simply, Earthlings are uncontrolled parking lots. Even if the parking lot is full and there is a risk of an accident, they just cram in the cars and see what happens.”

The moviegoer showed a picture he had prepared in advance. His younger sibling drew it for him. It was cute. The square parking lot was full of crushed cars.

“On the other hand, Natrans are controllable parking lots. They have shadows from birth – of course, they can’t use them before inheritance. The shadows control the parking lot like parking attendants. So they can block the entrance and exit of cars.”

There were orderly parked cars in the square parking lot, and shadows wearing hats were holding red guide rods and blocking the cars trying to enter from outside.

-The pictureㅋㅋ It’s easy to understandㅋㅋ But cuteㅋㅋ

-Parking lotㅋㅋ

-Shadowㅋㅋ Parking attendantㅋㅋ

“What the healer meant was that Tul Natra’s shadow controls Jin Natra’s parking lot. Until now, Tul Natra didn’t have enough shadows to take out the cars, but if he injects more shadows, he will have enough parking attendants to drive out the cars from Jin Natra’s parking lot. Those cars are the energy of the Timestone.”

-Oh, I see.

-I was curious about that! Doesn’t Jin Natra’s shadow seem to have a self-awareness?

-Huh? Really?

-It moved when Jin Natra lost consciousness.

The moviegoer also recalled Jin Natra’s shadow that wrapped around Jin Natra like a bandage when he was collapsing.

“I was also curious about that. Maybe Jin Natra had some consciousness left, or maybe his shadow developed a self-awareness. But we can’t know now. The story is over.”

-ㅠㅠㅠ

“But I liked that point. That Tul Natra’s shadow saved Jin Natra several times.”

-A good fatherㅠ

-But a kidnapper.

-Shut up…!

“And after a long fight, the child who had been away from his parents for a long time could finally go home. I cried without knowing it since the residential area appeared.”

-ㅠㅠ I cried too.

-He’s so small. William ㅜㅜ

-Sneakers, sweater, two teddy bears ㅠㅠ

-I wish the new teddy bear’s name was Jin.

-22 I hope William (teddy bear) and Jin (teddy bear) get along well

-I see why they promoted it as a re-release.

The moviegoer nodded his head.

“It was definitely immersive to watch the 1st and 2nd episodes again and then watch the 3rd episode. Do you know that? The place where Shadowman, Bell Natra, and Tul Natra looked at William for the last time. It’s where Shadowman looked at William’s mother in Shadowman1.”

-Huh?

-Was it?!

-What did I watch…!?

-I’m crying again like this ㅠㅠㅠ

“The cookie video was also good. It showed that Jin Natra, no, William lost all his painful memories and became pure William again.”

-No way. I almost had a heart attack when he came out.

-I almost fainted when William came out.

-He was so cute that I wanted to break the apartment!!

-I watched [48 Hours] for the first time in a long time.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

“Shadowman series ended like this.”

-Bittersweet ㅠ

-I think they will do it again in a few years ㅠ

The moviegoer said with a smile, feeling the same as the viewers.

“A Natran who grew up on Earth due to a tragic accident, Muel Natra. An Earthling who grew up on Natra due to a tragic accident, William. Mack, who had someone to rely on. Jin, who had no one to rely on. Shadowman, who had someone to hold his hand. Jin Natra, who had no one by his side.”

The viewers’ chat slowed down as they recalled the Shadowman series with the moviegoer’s words.

“Jin Natra, who gave up his life in the end, and Shadowman, who finally saved the child. I hope William and Muel Natra will be happy with their family.”

-Be happy ㅠㅠ

-ㅠㅠ I’ll miss you!

“Then, since we have some time left, let’s have a question time. I’ll answer what I know.”

-Me! Me! What about the restoration of Gyeongbokgung Palace?!!

-Our company needs some restoration too.

-222 I hate going to work, but I need to make money ㅠ

The moviegoer answered the question he had expected and looked up in advance.

“Our water lord Redbone has solved everything. Fortunately, there were no casualties because the evacuation order was issued in advance, and those who were injured while taking pictures without fear were able to heal with the Timestone using the excuse of the latest treatment.”

-I think I got a disaster text.

-22 I already got dozens of them.

-Well, they fought so openly from France to Korea, how could they not know ㅋㅋ

-The countries on that road must have been in trouble.

-[Central Safety Measures Headquarters: Natra has invaded. Please evacuate to the shelter.]

-??? : …Is it April Fools? Is this text real?

-I never thought I would find out about an alien invasion by a disaster text.

-Are the Natrans okay?

“I think there weren’t that many casualties here because it’s a country with a red Timestone. They can turn back time before they get hurt.”

-But if there are… they would be the ones who tortured Jin Natra.

-222 Our Jin is not that weak.

-He probably picked them carefully.

-Revenge like Jin Natra.

-Is Tul Natra still the king of Natra?

-Yeah. He’s weak now.

“Maybe it will take a long time to recover his original strength, and he will have to take some responsibility for what happened to ‘Jin Natra’, so he might step down.”

-Huh. Then who’s the next king of Natra?

The moviegoer scratched his cheek.

“All the other candidates were turned into ordinary people by Jin Natra absorbing their shadows into the Timestone, and Jin Natra, who was a strong candidate, became an Earthling. Muel Natra, his son and Shadowman, doesn’t even know ‘N’ of Natra. Well, there’s only one left.”

Someone posted a comment on the chat window. The moviegoer and the viewers laughed at the voice that played naturally.

-Bell Natra: Me? I’m the king?!?!

Chapter 240

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 240

Shadowman 3 was causing a stir not only in Korea but all over the world.

Thanks to the re-release of the series, it had gained a new audience who were too young to watch it 10 years ago.

-I didn’t know it was so fun when I was young! XD

-Me too. I couldn’t watch it when I was 8!

-It was really good to see it in the theater.

As time passed, the revenue of Shadowman 3 became more evident, and Marina Studio sighed with regret.

On the other hand, there was a place where people were cheering.

“There are so many people…!”

“There are a lot of foreigners too.”

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga looked around with surprised faces. Gwanghwamun Square, Gwanghwamun Gate, and Gyeongbokgung Palace were crowded with people.

The nearby restaurants and convenience stores were also full of customers, and the food trucks that opened for a while were also bustling with customers.

The internet was also buzzing with the promotional effect of Shadowman 3, but it was even more amazing to see it in person.

“…Can we see everything today?”

Lim Yeon looked around with bored eyes.

“Hey! A spaceship!”

Park Seonga pointed with her finger and spoke, and Lim Yeon and the people around them looked in that direction.

“Wow…!”

As Park Seonga said, there was a spaceship there.

A big building right next to Gwanghwamun Square.

Just like in Shadowman 3, where a spaceship crashed into the building, Natra’s spaceship was printed on the window.

Even the broken glass window looked exactly like the movie, and people were taking pictures with admiration.

“There’s one over there too!”

There were pictures of spaceships everywhere, just like in the movie.

“Seonga. Look at this!”

Lim Yeon found something and gestured to Park Seonga.

What Lim Yeon had found was a ‘ㄱ’ shaped structure.

It was a long structure that followed Gwanghwamun Square on the right and left.

The people inside were all looking up at the sky.

“If you take a picture from below like this, it looks exactly like the movie!”

Park Seonga also looked up like Lim Yeon.

Wow!

The ceiling was made of transparent plastic roof, and there were small black spaceships stuck on it like stickers.

They looked like glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling.

And since the transparent plastic ceiling reflected the blue sky, they could see the blue sky and white clouds flowing between the black spaceships.

It looked like Natra’s spaceships were floating in the sky.

“Some of them are attacking here. There’s even smoke?”

The spaceships stuck on the ceiling were not all the same.

Jin Natra’s spaceship, Bell Natra’s spaceship, soldiers’ spaceships and spaceships being attacked, Natra’s warships and more.

They varied in type and condition.

As they walked slowly looking at the sky, it looked like spaceships were attacking each other in the sky above them.

Park Seonga and Lim Yeon found Jin Natra and Bell Natra’s spaceships and quickly took out their phone cameras.

The end of the ‘ㄱ’ structure was King Sejong’s statue.

Next to King Sejong’s statue was a smaller model of a spaceship that crashed into it like in the movie.

The broken surroundings seemed to be made of models as well.

Although it was smaller than the movie, there were many people taking pictures in front of the similar scenery.

“Let’s take a picture too!”

After taking some pictures, they headed to Gyeongbokgung Palace.

There were many people here too.

They lined up at the ticket office to buy tickets.

“Oh. It’s William.”

“Huh?”

Park Seonga turned her head quickly at Lim Yeon’s words.

William, Lee Seo-jun? But it wasn’t him.

“…It’s a bear doll.”

“That’s right. William.”

Lim Yeon laughed.

Park Seonga looked at the bear doll that was moving away with a regretful face.

“But someone bought it. I couldn’t buy it because it was sold out…”

“They’re selling all over the world. William’s sweater and sneakers are also selling like crazy.”

They chatted for a while and then the long line got shorter.

They bought tickets and entered inside, where there were many people taking pictures everywhere.

“Shall we take some too?”

Lim Yeon and Park Seonga took out their prepared photos from their bags.

A photo of a spaceship crashed into Gyeonghoeru Pond, a photo of a spaceship fallen into a soju bar, a photo of a wormhole in the sky above Geunjeongjeon and Jin Natra and the wormhole generator below, a photo of the wall that collapsed when Jin Natra hit it, and so on.

They were photos captured from the released Korean footage.

The strange thing was that they were all cut in half vertically or horizontally.

“Let’s start with Geunjeongjeon.”

“Okay.”

Lim Yeon, who had a camera, held up a photo of Geunjeongjeon and the wormhole that was cut vertically and headed towards the real Geunjeongjeon. The camera screen showed both Geunjeongjeon and the photo.

“I think we need to go back a little. The size doesn’t match.”

Park Seonga carefully pulled Lim Yeon back.

After walking a few steps, Geunjeongjeon, which was bigger than the photo, became smaller and changed to the same size as the photo.

They smiled at the perfect fit of the photo and the scenery.

“They filmed it here!”

“Hurry up and take a picture.”

At Park Seonga’s urging, Lim Yeon matched the Geunjeongjeon in the photo with the one behind it like a puzzle.

She made sure that the roof edge and the stairs on the floor were not misaligned, and snapped a picture.

The left side of the photo was Geunjeongjeon in reality, and the right side was Geunjeongjeon with the wormhole generator and Jin Natra standing next to it, and a wormhole floating in the sky.

They were glad they had captured a scene where Jin Natra was standing on the left.

They looked at the photo of the shooting site with shining eyes.

“Let’s go take pictures somewhere else!”

“Yeah!”

***

[Title: I went to Gyeongbokgung Palace! (Shadowman 3 filming site!)]

I heard this kind of certification shot is popular these days, so I did it!

(Reality: King Sejong’s statue / Movie: The spaceship crashed next to it.jpg)

(Reality: Building / Movie: The spaceship crashed into the building.jpg)

(Below Geunjeongjeon/Above Wormhole.jpg)

(Reality: Gyeonghoeru / Movie: The spaceship crashed into the pond.jpg)

(Reality: Wall / Movie: The collapsed wall under Jin Natra.jpg)

There are more than this!

-I don’t know who started it, but there are a lot of people taking pictures like this.

-I’m going to take some too!

-But there are not many scenes I can capture because of copyright.

-People are also taking pictures in France and Central Park. (link)

-You can also take pictures like this. It’s so nice that they filmed in Korea.

=But I want to go to France and Central Park too. LOL

-There are so many tourists in Gwanghwamun Square and Gyeongbokgung Palace.

=22 The Seoul City also allowed food trucks there.

=The blue barbecue food truck is delicious.

=Thx thx

-You didn’t fly here right after watching the movie, did you?

=Maybe you came here while you were in Korea?

=Anyway, Gwanghwamun Square and Gyeongbokgung Palace are awesome lol

-A teddy bear!! I want to buy William too!

=I want the sweater. But it was sold out, so I bought a similar one.

=In summer?

=I can wear it in winter!

-Shadowman 3 is no joke haha

[Marina, Shadowman 3 making film will be uploaded at 8 p.m. today!]

[Shadowman 3 making film, from bloopers to cookie videos!]

-Ahhh! Making film! It must be so fun.

-I saw the bloopers, but there are cookie videos too!

-I was curious how they filmed the cookie videos!

=22 They couldn’t make it with just CG.

***

“Wow! It’s up.”

8 p.m.

Seo-jun and his parents sat in front of the television.

They had connected the television to YouTube in advance, and a title that said [Making film of Shadowman 3] appeared on the screen.

-It’s starting!

Not only Seo-jun and his parents, but everyone who liked the Shadowman series watched the making film on their laptops and phones.

Even those who couldn’t get home watched the making film on buses and subways.

The already released blooper scenes passed by and showed the set where they filmed Shadowman. Everyone marveled at the elaborate underground temple, Natra palace, spaceship, and Geunjeongjeon sets.

-Copy+paste. The Geunjeongjeon is exactly the same.

-They really made all this.

-Hollywood scale…

They wondered what the green chroma key ball placed on the central altar of the ancient temple was. Then they briefly showed the scene of Seo-jun acting without CG and the video after CG work.

-Was that the timestone? That green ball?!

-He acted like that with that?

-…He’s really immersed.

They also showed the scenes of Seo-jun and other actors reading scripts and waving their hands at the camera, and the staff focusing on filming.

They also showed the rehearsal of stuntmen flying from Jin Natra’s attack.

And then,

The screen turned black with a caption that said [9 years ago].

-Oooo!

-Finally, is it coming?!

Seo Eun-hye, who was eating a melon, sparkled her eyes.

“9 years ago means when Seo-jun filmed Shadowman 2, right?”

“Yeah. He did additional filming then.”

The day when Ryan Will, Evan Block, Rachel Hill, and Melissa Walton gathered and filmed after all the filming of Shadowman 2 was over. It was such a secret filming that only a few staff participated.

“That’s what the actors and staff took turns filming.”

“Really?”

Seo Eun-hye’s eyes turned to the television as she heard Lee Min-jun’s words.

Seo-jun and Evan Block appeared on the screen full of 7-year-old Seo-jun, and Rachel Hill’s playful voice was heard from the camera side.

“Jun. You know this filming is a secret, right?”

“I know!”

The 7-year-old Seo-jun in the screen sparkled his eyes and smiled brightly. Seeing her cute son’s face for a long time, Seo Eun-hye smiled unknowingly.

“That expression is that, right? The expression of being happy because there is a new filming even though it’s over.”

Is my face that easy to read?

Seo-jun rubbed his cheeks with his palms a few times and nodded his head.

“Yeah. I was really happy.”

“You haven’t changed much from then to now.”

Seo-jun and his parents laughed.

Meanwhile, Seo-jun’s fans were pounding the floor with their fists as they saw Seo-jun’s chubby cheeks at age 7.

They thought they could see 7-year-old Seo-jun, but he was cuter than expected.

-7-year-old Seo-jun! So cute!!

-This is my grave…!

-Marina, thank you for leaving this video! Thank you. Overwhelming thank you!

They showed Seo-jun and two actors sitting at a table eating sandwiches and juice with a camera fixed somewhere. The fans groaned again at the sight of Seo-jun eating yum yum as if it was delicious.

“Who do you think will play Tul Natra?”

“Hmm. Who do you want to play him, Jun?”

“Swalin Arnham!”

Without any hesitation, Seo-jun sparkled his eyes and answered, and Evan Block and Rachel Hill burst into laughter.

-Oh. So that’s why Swalin Arnham became him?

-It’s not just because of Seo-jun, but I’m glad it turned out the way he wanted!

-Seo-jun is so cute…!

Melissa Walton, who played William’s mother, also appeared and greeted Seo-jun and the two actors.

Seo-jun, Evan Block, and Melissa Walton talked and went to change their clothes.

The first to appear was Seo-jun, who wore sneakers without heels and became shorter than Jin Natra in ‘Shadowman 2’.

He wore a sweater and pants that he wore in Shadowman 3 and sneakers.

Everyone clenched their mouths at the sight of Seo-jun who came out wearing sneakers.

-Did they really decide the ending from then on?!

-They kept quiet for 9 years… The staff are amazing.

-Ryan, the director who made this plan, is amazing too.

Soon, Evan Block appeared in Mac’s disguise.

“You’ve gotten smaller. Jin Natra was this big.”

“I’m William now!”

Evan Block in Mack’s disguise and Seo-jun in William’s disguise talked and laughed.

Rachel Hill also joined them and laughed.

-Uh. It looks like Shadowman, Bell Natra, and William.

-This kind of threesome…!

-They all have to be happy!

The making film of Shadowman 3 ended with a warm scene of three actors. Comments quickly increased on the black screen.

-No…! Show me more…!

-Show me more cute Seo-jun!

As if they heard the wishes of the viewers, the screen lit up.

Seo-jun appeared in the camera angle as if he had finished filming and changed his clothes.

He tilted his head at the camera facing him, and his appearance was clearly shown.

Soon, Rachel Hill’s playful voice was heard.

“Jun. Do you have anything to say to the future viewers?”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes at Rachel Hill’s question and smiled bashfully.

His fans grabbed their hearts at his sparkling aura.

“I hope you enjoyed Shadowman 3.”

“Anything else?”

Seo-jun thought for a moment at Rachel Hill’s question, rolled his eyes shyly, blushed his cheeks, smiled and said softly.

“Uh… I wonder if I’m doing a lot of activities.”

The 16-year-old Seo-jun who saw the 7-year-old Seo-jun on the screen smiled brightly.

‘I was curious if I would be active as an actor in the future because I only filmed Shadowman 1, Evil Spirit, and Shadowman 2 at that time.’

‘Even if I want to, I can’t do it if there is no suitable role.’

Besides, Seo-jun received his first award, heard the word superstar, and had a fan meeting after Shadowman 2 was released.

The young Seo-jun in the making film had not experienced it yet.

‘Don’t worry.’

The 16-year-old Seo-jun looked at the trophy rack decorated in one corner of the living room.

He felt proud of himself as he saw the glittering trophies and smiled softly.

‘I’m doing well.’

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun also looked at the young Seo-jun and the grown-up Seo-jun alternately and smiled warmly.

“And I hope you enjoy my other works too if I film them!”

The 7-year-old Seo-jun clenched his fists and spoke with sparkling eyes, and Seo-jun’s fans choked up and shed tears.

-ㅠㅠ You’re doing a lot of filming!

-We wish you did moreㅠㅠ

-You’re getting awards and doing well.

-He probably didn’t even think about the Oscar at that time.

=22 He didn’t know he would become a superstar then.

-Our Seo-jun is so greatㅠ He grew up so well!

Chapter 241

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 241

It was July, and the scorching sun was pouring down.

The summer vacation of Yeoul Arts High School had begun.

Seo-jun packed his bag with books, notebooks, and writing tools, and looked at the paper on his desk.

It was a list of summer homework assignments that the school had given out.

There was no daily diary to write like in elementary school, but there was one group activity.

It was to read one of the recommended novels for teenagers and have a book discussion.

He had to write down his own impressions of the book, his changed thoughts after the discussion, and his group members’ opinions, and submit them.

Seo-jun’s group 3 decided to meet today, less than a week after the start of the summer vacation, to finish their homework early.

It was because the summer vacation was the best time to go around and watch auditions.

Seo-jun put his bag on the floor and put on his horn-rimmed glasses without lenses.

He felt awkward wearing glasses, except when he was filming for Escape.

He looked at himself in the mirror and adjusted his glasses a few times, then smiled and put on his usual black hat.

‘If I use my ability here, people will hardly notice me.’

Seo-jun looked at the pattern shining on the back of his hand and picked up his bag from the floor.

“I think I can rest from Wednesday to Sunday.”

“Hmm. That’s quite a lot.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who were looking at the calendar in the living room and discussing where to go for their summer vacation, looked up at the sound of the door opening.

They smiled at Seo-jun, who had finished getting ready to go out.

They had already heard that he was going to do his homework with his friends.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Yeah.”

Lee Min-jun looked at his watch.

“It’s not even 11 o’clock yet. Didn’t you say you were meeting your friends at 2 o’clock?”

“There’s a bookstore next to the cafe where we’re meeting. I’m going to look around.”

“What about lunch?”

“There are a lot of restaurants nearby, so I’ll buy something.”

“Don’t just snack on something. Eat well.”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun adjusted his hat again and put on his sneakers.

He grabbed the door handle.

“I’ll be back!”

“Okay.”

“Be careful!”

***

There was a bookstore right next to the cafe where Seo-jun was meeting his friends today.

It was a large bookstore with branches nationwide, so it was big and crowded.

Seo-jun pressed his hat firmly and opened the door of the bookstore.

Ding.

As he entered the bookstore, the air conditioner cooled down his hot body. Seo-jun enjoyed the cool breeze for a moment and moved inside.

“Let’s see what they have.”

Seo-jun sighed lightly and stood in front of a bookshelf full of short stories.

Even though the first semester had passed and it was summer vacation, Seo-jun still hadn’t chosen a script for his graduation performance.

There were scripts from famous plays that had been published, and plays that his seniors at Yeoul Arts High School had performed before, but he didn’t like any of them.

He even considered writing a script or a synopsis based on one of Cocoa Entertainment’s works.

But since the other kids also had to perform, the graduation performance time was not that long.

He had to either shorten the story or only put up the climax part on stage.

He didn’t like that idea either, so Seo-jun decided to wait for now.

‘I should find something soon…’

He had to gather the kids who would perform with him, make the stage, and practice.

He felt a little anxious as he felt that he didn’t have much time left. He took out an ability from Life’s Library last night.

[(Line) Dandelion Fluff’s Fate – Low Grade]

Dandelion fluff will find your fate for you.

Range: 200m

Of course, there had to be someone within 200 meters who was connected to him by fate, and he had to be careful not to miss the small white dandelion fluff that flew in the wind.

Maybe because it was low grade, the distance was only 200 meters.

‘I guess I’ll have to wander around all summer.’

Seo-jun scratched his cheek and turned his head.

He read down the novels as he flipped through them.

As he was doing so, he felt someone’s presence.

“Excuse me, student.”

“…Yes?”

“Do you like books?”

Seo-jun stepped back slightly at the man’s question.

‘I didn’t expect to hear that in a bookstore…’

And he found Seo-jun who was using an ability that made him less noticeable.

He must have been looking for someone to talk to no matter what.

The man’s will was palpable.

‘But still.’

He should avoid strangers.

Seo-jun closed the book he was reading and tried to leave, but the man quickly handed him a business card.

“Can you please join us for a book concert in 10 minutes?!”

“Uh…”

“I’m not a suspicious person. I work for a publishing company! You can ask the bookstore staff here. I’m doing it right next door. This is the book! It has nothing to do with religion!”

The man spoke earnestly, and Seo-jun noticed something.

A tiny dandelion fluff, like dust, fluttered in the wind and landed on the book that the man was showing him.

The dandelion fluff settled on the book as if it was its place.

‘So fate can be an inanimate object too.’

‘I’m glad I found it sooner than I thought… But what kind of book is this?’

He could have bought the book that the man showed him and gone to the cafe, but he saw the desperate look on the man’s face and checked his phone.

The publishing company employee brightened up at Seo-jun’s gesture and quickly opened his mouth.

“You can leave in the middle if you want!”

“Then I’ll do that.”

“Thank you!”

Seo-jun took the book and the man said.

“You can sit anywhere you want, it’s first come first served. And this book is not for sale, so you can take it with you. And when the time comes, please read a few pages in advance…”

The publishing company employee went on to explain various things and then moved on to find other audience members.

Seo-jun watched the man walk away and looked at the book he had given him.

A yellow dandelion that had bloomed and rooted itself was swaying on the cover of the book.

[Mirror]

Seo-jun turned over the cover of the book, which depicted a woman looking at a mirror.

‘Hmm.’

He was sorry to his parents who told him to eat well, but he thought he would have to eat lunch at the cafe.

***

“…I think I’m going to die.”

The author of [Mirror], Choi Da Ye, was shaking her legs.

She didn’t get seasick even when she rode a boat on the waves, or carsick even when she rode a car, but she felt nauseous and dizzy just sitting on a chair.

Her face was pale enough for the bookstore staff to ask if she was okay.

And yet, how did she have the guts to hold a book concert?

It was because this was her last chance.

She had been working on her novel for years, and when it finally got published as a book, she was happy, but it was buried without being noticed.

She had dug her own grave with her book, and this was the only chance that the publisher and the editor had barely managed to get for her to promote it.

Maybe if she got a line in an article, someone would be interested.

She rented the smallest space in a large bookstore and set up a promotional event called a book concert.

‘…But no one will care.’

The empty seats in the audience haunted her mind, and Choi Da Ye felt sick.

She felt sorry for the publisher and the editor who had told her that her novel was really interesting and had tried their best until the end.

“Ms. Choi, it’s time to start.”

“Oh, yes!”

At the call of the bookstore staff, Choi Da Ye jumped up.

She took deep breaths and walked to the place where the book concert would be held.

The place was small.

There was a chair and a small table with a water bottle in front of it, and 20 chairs were placed opposite it.

Choi Da Ye sat down on her chair, trembling and unable to look at the audience.

She slowly looked ahead.

!

There were about 10 people sitting in the audience.

They were of different ages and genders.

Three of them were reporters invited by the publisher.

She was relieved to see more people than she expected, and managed to calm her shaking heart.

She had imagined the worst case scenario of having no one in the audience.

Unlike the satisfied writer, the publisher’s staff who was watching the writer and the audience sighed quietly.

It was a small number despite distributing books everywhere.

“Let’s start talking with Choi Da Ye, the author of [Mirror].”

The event was small, so the publisher’s staff acted as the host.

“Ms. Choi, can you introduce us to [Mirror]?”

“…[Mirror] is a story about a female protagonist who is a psychiatrist and meets three people. The three stories seem separate but are connected.”

The staff asked questions and Choi Da Ye answered them.

The reason for writing [Mirror], whether there was a similar situation in reality, whether there was an event that served as a model.

As the questions and answers continued between the two, two people who were bored got up from their seats.

And one person who checked his watch left. Two of the three reporters shook their heads and left.

The 10 people were halved in an instant.

A shadow fell on Choi Da Ye and the publisher’s staff’s faces.

As people left one by one, the hearts of those who remained also wavered.

“Should we go too?”

“I feel too sorry to leave now…”

They were not interested in [Mirror] or Choi Da Ye, as they were forced to come. The staff sighed inwardly when a boy wearing a black hat and horn-rimmed glasses raised his hand.

“Yes, you there, student.”

“I have a question for Ms. Choi.”

“Yes, yes?”

Choi Da Ye asked back in surprise.

“A question?”

“Yes. I’m curious about what you think of the female protagonist.”

Choi Da Ye calmly answered his question.

The boy’s question did not end there.

He asked questions endlessly as if he had prepared them in advance.

Seeing a reader who asked detailed and deep questions about her book, Choi Da Ye also became excited and explained her intentions and thoughts.

The questions and answers that went back and forth like ping-pong made the reporter and three audience members who remained flip through the book they received from the staff and nod their heads.

“It sounds interesting when I hear it like this.”

“I know. I should read it carefully later.”

The book concert ended with a better atmosphere than expected, even though there were only five people left. Choi Da Ye signed the books with a happy face for the reporter and three readers.

The three audience members, as well as the reporter who filmed Choi Da Ye signing, left, and it was finally the boy’s turn.

“Thank you for reading it.”

Choi Da Ye smiled brightly at the boy in the black hat.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t read it properly because I was in a hurry.”

“Huh?”

Choi Da Ye and the publisher’s staff next to her tilted their heads at his words. The boy who had helped them finish this book concert well smiled.

“You gave me a book earlier.”

“…Oh!”

The publisher’s staff finally remembered that he had given a book to this student just 10 minutes ago.

Choi Da Ye tilted her head.

The boy continued to speak with a smile as the staff gave him a wink.

“The book was interesting. Please sign it.”

“Yes? Yes!”

“But I have something to ask you…”

“What is it?”

She wanted to grant him anything if she could. The boy smiled faintly at Choi Da Ye’s sparkling eyes.

“Can I make this into a play?”

“A play?”

She was taken aback by something she had never thought of before.

The editor, who had been thinking about the second rights or contracts, realized that the person in front of him was a student.

“Where are you doing it?”

“It’s my school graduation project.”

“Oh…”

Choi Da Ye was relieved, unlike the editor who nodded his head with a disappointed expression.

A play that did not make any money was fine. Of course, they could not write the script for him…

“We’re going to upload it on YouTube.”

“Oh. Then you can’t…”

It was likely that the content would be leaked if the play was uploaded on YouTube, since they would probably use the same plot as the book.

‘But it’s not like the book is selling anyway…’

Choi Da Ye wanted to see her novel reborn as a play.

The staff also thought that this might be a promotion. But it had to be well-made.

“Hmm. What school are you in?”

“Yeoul Arts Middle School.”

‘He was a middle school student.’

He looked like a high school student because he was tall.

Yeoul Arts Middle School. Choi Da Ye’s eyes widened.

“Isn’t that Lee Seo-jun’s school?”

“That’s right. Do you think Lee Seo-jun will act in it too?”

“That would be really nice.”

The publisher’s staff and Choi Da Ye joked with a smile.

The two had already made up their minds.

“Well, we can’t decide on our own, and we have to have a meeting at the publisher.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll persuade them for sure.”

“I’ll help too.”

The boy, who had been silent for a while at the kind words of the writer and the staff, slowly took off his black hat.

As his face slowly appeared, Choi Da Ye and the publisher’s staff’s eyes widened.

The boy took off his horn-rimmed glasses and smiled.

“Hello. I’m Lee Seo-jun.”

Choi Da Ye and the publisher’s staff stopped breathing and opened their mouths wide.

The owner of the name they had just joked about was right here.

Actor Lee Seo-jun smiled brightly and said.

“I want to make this into a play…”

“Please do!”

“Please do!”

His words were not even finished when they answered.

A meeting at the publisher? Content leakage? They didn’t care.

“Please make it!”

Choi Da Ye and the publisher’s staff’s eyes burned with passion.

Lee Seo-jun smiled awkwardly.

Chapter 242

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 242

Bing!

Seo-jun took out his phone at the sound of the Banana Talk notification.

-Jinho: Where are you?

-Joo-kyung: Everyone’s here except you.

-Jae-han: Cafe, second floor. Seminar room 3.

-Ju-hee: What drink do you want?

<I’m on my way.

Choi Da Ye and the publisher’s employee, Kim Hyung-won, stared at Seo-jun, who moved without making a sound. Seo-jun smiled and spoke after sending a message to his friends.

“I have an appointment. I’ll contact you later if you give me your phone number.”

“Yes, yes!”

“Here it is!”

Seo-jun took the business card that Kim Hyung-won handed him with a trembling hand.

He put on his glasses and pulled down his hat. Choi Da Ye and Kim Hyung-won were amazed by his aura that was felt even through the disguise.

They wondered how they could not recognize him until now.

“It was really fun today.”

He said that and bowed his head.

The actor Lee Seo-jun left the room with his bag.

Choi Da Ye and Kim Hyung-won just stared blankly at the back of the superstar who appeared and disappeared like the wind.

“Excuse me, you have to clear out now.”

They must have been lost in thought for a long time. They came to their senses when a bookstore employee came in.

“…It wasn’t a dream, was it?”

“…It might have been a dream.”

Choi Da Ye and Kim Hyung-won had to pinch themselves to make sure they were not dreaming of Seo-jun who vanished without a trace.

***

“One orange smoothie, please.”

He ordered a drink and received a vibrating bell.

Seo-jun headed to the seminar room on the second floor.

He knocked on the door of seminar room 3 that Jae-han had sent him.

“You’re here!”

“Come on in!”

The kids from group 3 welcomed Seo-jun who entered the seminar room.

Group leader Yang Ju-hee, Kim Joo-kyung, Kang Jae-han, Han Jinho, and Lee Seo-jun.

They were all drawn by lottery, but it was amazing that they gathered like this.

“It’s only 1:30, isn’t it too early for everyone to come?”

The kids laughed and answered Seo-jun’s question as he sat down.

“It’s better than being late.”

“I just happened to come early.”

“Then, since Seo-jun is here too, shall we start the discussion now?”

The kids shook their heads at Jae-han’s question.

“We agreed to start at 2 o’clock.”

“Let’s start at 2 o’clock.”

The kids wanted to do their homework as late as possible.

They all answered at the same time and laughed at their own reactions.

“Then what are we going to do?”

“I’m going to eat lunch. I haven’t eaten yet.”

The kids’ eyes widened at Seo-jun’s answer.

They were at an age when they would be hungry as soon as they turned around.

It was shocking to hear that he hadn’t eaten lunch.

“What? You didn’t eat because you were busy?”

“I stopped by the bookstore and watched a book concert.”

“Book concert?”

“First of all, you should buy lunch for yourself, Seo-jun. They say the sandwiches here are good.”

“Okay.”

The vibrating bell rang just then.

He went down to the first floor and got his orange smoothie.

He ordered two sandwiches and four small cakes.

The food was ready quickly unlike the drink that took quite a while.

He returned to the seminar room and put the tray with the drinks and food on the table.

“It would be weird if I ate alone, so let’s eat together.”

“Oh! Thank you!”

“Thank you, Seo-jun.”

The kids picked out the cake they wanted and grabbed a fork.

Seo-jun also bit into his ham cheese sandwich.

It was delicious as Ju-hee said.

“You were so cute when you were little.”

“I saw it too. Your cheeks were chubby.”

They cooed.

Seo-jun just ate his sandwich without saying anything. He thought he was cute when he was seven years old, but he felt awkward to say it himself.

“Then you must have known the ending.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“How did you keep it a secret for nine years? I would have bragged about it to my friends if I were you.”

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders as he drank his orange smoothie.

“It’s more touching to reveal it now than to say it then. If I had said it then, it wouldn’t have been as touching as now.”

“That’s true.”

“And the ending could have changed due to a leak.”

“The ending could have been a sad one.”

Sad ending.

The kids tilted their heads as they ate the sweet cake.

They couldn’t imagine a sad ending for the Shadowman series.

Maybe it was because they had already seen the awesome ending.

“What would it have been like?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Jin Natra would have died.”

“That seems likely, right?”

The topic of the kids who were talking about the sad ending changed quickly.

“Which high school are you going to?”

Seo-jun finished his ham cheese sandwich neatly and tore open the package of the chicken sandwich.

He bit into it.

“Well, Mirinae High School is the best, I guess.”

The kids nodded at Jinho’s words.

Mirinae Art High School, a school of ATR Foundation, just like Yeoul Art Middle School.

The kids excitedly talked about the information they knew about the high school they wanted to go to the most.

“Our school has a similar curriculum, but it’s better.”

“Right. The students can make their own works just like here, but if the works are good, they can have an official performance.”

“If it’s a movie, they can screen it at an affiliated theater.”

“And that’s for a fee!”

“They can also use the Galaxy Center, which is bigger and better than our auditorium.”

“I really want to go there!”

It was like a dream that the works made by the students could be on stage and screened at theaters.

And they could also make some profit, although not much.

“But the evaluation is harsh, too.”

The kids nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

They couldn’t put up low-quality works as they had to pay for them.

They wanted high-level works that were beyond high school students.

“Still, there’s no other high school that supports us like this.”

“Yeoul Art Middle School entrance exam was fierce, but Mirinae High School entrance exam will be even fiercer.”

“The second semester will be busy. Graduation performance and high school entrance exam… What kind of acting should I do this time?”

“That’s right. It’s hard to choose a free acting piece.”

“Isn’t Seo-jun doing another movie?”

“Ahahaha.”

Seo-jun just laughed at his friends’ words.

‘There’s no way that would happen again, right?’

***

They had filled their stomachs and it was almost 2 o’clock. The kids started their summer vacation homework.

Seo-jun and the kids took out the book they were going to discuss, the notebook they were going to write down the discussion, and the writing tools from their bags and put them on the table.

“I might not be able to write down everything, so I’ll start recording now.”

“Okay.”

Ju-hee took out her phone and started recording.

“Let’s decide on the topic of discussion first.”

“I think it would be good to choose whether Park Kyung-won’s verdict was fair or not as the topic.”

“Do you mean we should act as jurors? I like that.”

“That sounds good, but… who thinks the verdict was fair?”

The kids raised their hands at Ju-hee’s words. Joo-kyung, Jae-han, and Jinho.

“Only Seo-jun and I think it was unfair, huh. It’s well divided.”

3 : 2

Ju-hee smiled brightly at the opinions that were divided well for discussion.

“Then let’s start the discussion. Let’s hear from those who think it was fair first.”

Among the three, Joo-kyung raised his hand first.

***

[Juror]

It was a story that unfolded from the third-person observer’s point of view of the protagonist, who was a juror in the trial of ‘Park Kyung-won’, who killed his father by mistake.

Since it was a trial seen from the perspective of a juror, the only information that the readers could know was what the prosecutor and the lawyer said and how the witnesses and ‘Park Kyung-won’ answered their questions.

As the prosecutor and the lawyer argued, the image of ‘Park Kyung-won’ that the protagonist juror had in mind changed slightly throughout the trial.

[A brutal planned murder]

[An accidental incident]

As the confrontation between the prosecutor and the lawyer intensified, ‘Park Kyung-won’ looked like a completely different person in the juror’s imagination. The book described that change.

‘It was interesting.’

It seemed like a complicated story, but thanks to the writer’s skill, it was easy to understand.

Seo-jun, who was thinking about something else for a moment, listened to his friends’ voices again.

Maybe it was because they were acting students, but they were different from analyzing characters.

They paid attention to every sentence in the novel and analyzed it.

Joo-kyung argued that the verdict that reduced his sentence due to his past of being abused was fair.

“He shakes his hand under the prosecutor’s pressure. Maybe it’s because of guilt? Park Kyung-won knows his mistake well enough.”

“I think differently. Look at what the doctor who testified as a witness said.”

As if she had prepared in advance, Ju-hee opened a page with a post-it on it.

“His hand just shakes because of stress. And Park Kyung-won is a crazy bastard who uses that for his trial. Maybe he even faked his hand tremor.”

Ju-hee’s rebuttal made Jinho raise his hand.

“I don’t think he’s that bad of a guy. He answers honestly throughout the trial. He obediently answers all questions, even those from the prosecutor that are unfavorable to him. Doesn’t that show his attitude of acknowledging and reflecting on his mistake?”

Jae-han and Joo-kyung nodded at Jinho’s words. Ju-hee tapped her forehead.

“Ugh. No, that’s all part of Park Kyung-won’s plan, don’t you see?”

‘It’s amazing.’

Seo-jun looked at his friends who were passionately expressing their opinions.

Even though they read the same book, their character interpretations were slightly different.

Even if they had the same opinion.

Joo-kyung’s ‘Park Kyung-won’ seemed to have courage to live again, while Jae-han’s ‘Park Kyung-won’ seemed to have given up on everything.

Jinho’s ‘Park Kyung-won’ looked a bit fierce.

‘Ju-hee thinks Park Kyung-won went crazy after being abused.’

He was smart enough to use his abused past to get a lighter sentence, which was Ju-hee’s ‘Park Kyung-won’.

The different interpretations were interesting and he smiled slightly. Seo-jun supported Ju-hee’s opinion.

“I think Park Kyung-won is weird too.”

But Seo-jun’s ‘Park Kyung-won’ was not exactly like Ju-hee’s.

Seo-jun talked about ‘Park Kyung-won’ that he had thought of.

There were explanations that made them nod and explanations that made them tilt their heads.

Incomprehension.

Not understanding.

Park Kyung-won did not understand people from the beginning.

Why do they cry and laugh, hurt and get annoyed, get angry and hit and resent?

He did not understand emotions, so everything was just a tiring and exhausting thing for his body.

“That doesn’t mean his body was fine. Something would break if he kept getting shocked. That’s why his hand shook during the trial.”

Joo-kyung, Jae-han, and Jinho nodded slightly at Seo-jun’s explanation.

They looked a bit wronged.

“I don’t know. It sounds like there’s something to argue against when I hear it…”

“But it seems right when I see Seo-jun’s acting.”

“Convincing with acting… Scary guy.”

Only Ju-hee, who was on the same side as Seo-jun, clapped her hands excitedly.

“As expected of the ace of the acting department!”

Chapter 243

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 243

After the reading discussion, Ju-hee sent the recorded file to the kids’ phones.

Seo-jun took his notebook where he wrote his impressions during the discussion.

Now, all he had to do was organize his notes and the recording, and one of his summer homework assignments would be done.

“We finished earlier than I thought.”

“That’s because we all prepared well.”

“But what was that book concert you mentioned earlier?”

The kids looked at Seo-jun curiously at Joo-kyung’s question.

“I was looking at books in a bookstore when a publisher’s employee asked me if I wanted to see a book concert. It sounded fun, so I went. There was no time for lunch, though.”

“Why did they have a book concert at that time?”

That was because the book was on the verge of flopping, and it was hard to find a place at any other time, but Seo-jun and the kids didn’t know that.

Jae-han, who loved books, sparkled his eyes.

“Who was the author? Do I know them?”

“It was their debut work.”

Seo-jun took out [Mirror] from his bag.

The cover had Choi Da Ye’s signature in black pen.

Jae-han quickly took the book and examined it.

“A rookie author, huh? How was the book?”

“It was interesting. I got a signature too.”

Seo-jun said he enjoyed reading it, and the other kids became interested too.

While they were looking at the book, Jinho quickly searched for Mirror on his phone.

“There are no reviews on the internet.”

“I guess it’s not a very popular book.”

“Hmm. But the plot seems interesting. Seo-jun, can I borrow your book?”

Jae-han seemed intrigued by the plot that Jinho showed him.

“Sure.”

He was planning to buy another copy anyway, since he wanted to keep the signed one and use the other one for adaptation.

Besides, he had to show it to Da Ho hyung first, who had to talk to the publisher.

Jae-han smiled brightly and put [Mirror] in his bag.

“So what do you want to do now?”

The reading discussion, which was the reason they gathered today, was over, but it was too early to go home.

Ju-hee asked, and Jinho raised his hand.

“Let’s go to an escape room. There’s a new one nearby. They have various themes.”

He must have searched it already, because Jinho’s phone screen showed the escape room website. Among the many themes, one stood out.

“Uh… this one?”

“Hahaha. What is this?”

“Let’s try this one!”

A zombie-themed escape room game.

The name was [Escape].

Seo-jun and the kids burst into laughter at the familiar name.

***

After the weekend, on Monday.

Seo-jun’s manager, Ahn Da Ho, visited Seo-jun’s house earlier than usual since it was summer break.

“Da Ho hyung. Do you want to read this?”

As usual, he put down a box with scripts and received a book from Seo-jun.

[Mirror]

[Author: Choi Da Ye / Publisher: Hero]

The signed copy he got from Choi Da Ye was lent to Jae-han, and the book he gave to Ahn Da Ho was a new one he bought after parting with his friends.

‘I never imagined there would be only one copy left in stock.’

If there were no books in the warehouse or they were sold out in the meantime, he wouldn’t have been able to show it to Da Ho hyung today.

“What’s this book?”

While Ahn Da Ho examined the book, Seo-jun took out the synopses and scripts that Ahn Da Ho brought and put them on the table.

He smiled contentedly at the six scripts and picked one of them.

“I applied for a graduation performance.”

“Right.”

Ahn Da Ho and Team 2 were also helping Seo-jun find a work to perform for his graduation, so they knew well.

“I want to do this one.”

“This book?”

“Yes. It was interesting.”

Ahn Da Ho looked at the book with mixed feelings.

He and Team 2 had been looking for it so hard, but Seo-jun found it first.

He felt sorry for not doing his job as a manager and an agency, but also relieved that they found it anyway.

“Hold on. I need to call Team 2.”

He had to let the poor staff who were wandering around Daehakro return as soon as possible.

“Yes. Team Leader Ahn.”

“Seo-jun found a work for his graduation performance, so tell everyone to come back.”

“Oh? Did you find it?”

“Wow!! You found it!”

“Team Leader Ahn is different! How did you know Seo-jun’s taste and find it?”

“Should we have a party today?”

The noisy cheers of Team 2 staff over the phone reached Seo-jun as well. Ahn Da Ho said in a heavy voice.

“…Seo-jun found it.”

“…Ah, I see. Okay.”

The noise died down in an instant at Ahn Da Ho’s words. Seo-jun laughed and said.

“What does it matter who found it?”

“No, it does. This is a matter of pride as a manager and a dedicated team. You don’t know how happy Team 2 was when they recommended Escape and the role and you chose them.”

“Really?”

That’s true.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

He felt sorry for Da Ho hyung, who was working hard as a manager, but he still had something to say.

“You know what, Da Ho hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“I asked the author and the publisher’s employee. The author agreed, but the publisher said they had to discuss it.”

Ahn Da Ho, who was about to read [Mirror], put down the book and lost his words at Seo-jun’s words, who took away Team 2’s job of getting the author’s permission.

He looked at Seo-jun, who was rolling his eyes on the opposite seat, and opened his mouth.

“…Do I have to thank you for not getting the publisher’s permission? Are you trying to do Team 2’s job too?”

“Ahahaha.”

Half sorry, half unbelievable.

Ahn Da Ho couldn’t help but laugh along with Seo-jun, who laughed awkwardly at his emotions.

“So when did you go to the publisher? When did you meet the author?”

“I didn’t go to the publisher.”

Seo-jun told him what happened at the bookstore.

Ahn Da Ho looked at the book and Seo-jun alternately and exclaimed sincerely.

“How lucky you are. How did you meet them?”

‘It seems like the works are coming to Seo-jun themselves.’

It seemed like the works were finding the actor who would make them shine the most.“Ahahaha.”

Seo-jun thought so too.

‘I’m glad I found the ability in the Library of Life.’

If it weren’t for [(Pre)Dandelion Fluff’s Fate], he might have thought they were weird and passed them by.

“But I’m glad you found it.”

The later he found it, the less time the actors who would share the stage with Seo-jun had to practice.

He remembered how Seo-jun was worried about that.

“So you have to find the actors, the stage props, and the music too?”

“I’m planning to find the actors as soon as the second semester starts. There aren’t many roles, so I think I can choose them quickly.”

Ahn Da Ho smiled awkwardly at Seo-jun’s words.

‘That won’t be easy, will it?’

He didn’t tell Seo-jun, but Cocoa Entertainment received several calls asking what Seo-jun’s graduation performance work was.

‘They must be parents of second or third graders in Yeoul Arts Middle School, right?’

Or maybe academy staff.

They heard that Seo-jun applied for a graduation performance, but they didn’t know what work it was, so they wanted to study the roles early and secure a spot for their son, daughter, or student.

There were about 80 students in Yeoul Arts Middle School’s acting department’s second and third grades.

Probably at least half of them would apply for Seo-jun’s graduation performance, according to Team 2’s opinion.

‘It’s too early to tell him now… I’ll have to tell him before school starts.’

Thinking that, Ahn Da Ho listened to Seo-jun’s plan with sparkling eyes.

“There’s no set background, props, or music for the stage, so I have to choose everything from scratch. I have some music in mind that I thought of while reading the book, but I don’t know if it will suit the play.”

Except for the original work, this play was like a blank sheet of paper that Seo-jun had to decide from start to finish.

It was a disadvantage and an advantage that he had a lot to think about and decide.

‘It will be hard, but fun.’

He was happy just thinking about how to decorate the stage.

“Will you adapt it yourself?”

He had to change the novel into a script for a play.

He had to separate long sentences into narration and dialogue, change and compress the story to suit the play, cut out unnecessary parts, and arrange them to fit the play.

Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s question.

“Yes. I want to try it myself during summer break.”

“It seems like you have plenty of time.”

“I’ve seen a lot of scripts and I have the original work, so it should be easier than creating something from scratch. And I have a lot of people to ask for advice.”

There were directors and writers. If necessary, he could ask the Wind Theater Group too.

“Okay. Let me read it first.”

“Okay.”

While Ahn Da Ho read [Mirror] slowly, Seo-jun read down the six scripts.

‘Hmm.’

His perspective changed when he thought about directing the stage play.

He would have closed some scripts right away if they had boring plots or awkward dialogues, but he paid more attention to the direction of each scene than the story.

‘Wouldn’t this be better than that?’

Seo-jun drew a line on the first page of the script with his pen.

He could picture the scenes in his head with the movies and dramas he had seen so far.

He changed a full shot to a close-up shot, hid an intense character’s emotion, and hinted at the culprit’s identity faintly.

After modifying fifteen pages like that, he read them from the beginning and smirked.

‘It’s a mess.’

He laughed when he saw how messy it was. It felt like he scribbled on a picture that was already completed in its own way.

‘Well. I didn’t expect it to be done in a day.’

He relaxed his tense muscles with a laugh. It was harder than he thought to apply what he knew right away.

“Hmm.”

“Is it not going well?”

Ahn Da Ho asked with a smile as he watched Seo-jun while reading his book.

He must have seen a lot of works and scripts by now, but it was still difficult to put them into practice.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek and smiled sheepishly.

“Well, I didn’t think it would be done in a day.”

“Right. Take your time. You have plenty of time.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun started writing something on his script again. He spun his pen around as if his head was complicated. He flipped through some pages and then opened the first page again.

He realized that this was a script for a movie, not a play.

Shooting from right to left, full shot to close-up shot, cutting and pasting scenes after shooting them all, movies and plays that had to be performed from start to finish on stage in front of the audience had different directions.

“Da Ho hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you have the scripts for the plays you showed me?”

“Yeah. They’re in the company’s warehouse.”

Ahn Da Ho nodded at Seo-jun’s question.

He had collected a lot of scripts for the graduation performance, except for a few that Seo-jun liked, they were all in Cocoa Entertainment’s warehouse.

“Can you bring them to me?”

“All of them?”

“No, just the ones based on novels.”

“Okay. Got it.”

While Ahn Da Ho contacted Team 2, Seo-jun went into his room and looked through the scripts on his bookshelf.

It was a bookshelf with scripts of movies, dramas, plays, and other works that Seo-jun found interesting and cool.

Seo-jun took out the scripts of the plays that he liked the direction of.

He could do a better job of adapting [Mirror] if he analyzed how they adapted novels into plays, and what kind of direction suited the plays he liked.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled as he picked out one script after another.

He thought this play would be really fun too.

Four days later.

Considering the secondary rights, legal issues, positive and negative effects of YouTube exposure, and the promotional effect of the play on the book, Team 2 of Cocoa Entertainment dedicated to Lee Seo-jun was able to draft a contract.

Only after a rough contract was made did Ahn Da Ho, Seo-jun’s manager, contact Kim Hyung-won, an employee of Hero, the publisher of [Mirror].

Chapter 244

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 244

Hero Publishing was a small publisher that published books of various genres and gathered talented new writers to produce books for a niche audience.

They were proud of being a publisher where book lovers gathered and published books of minor genres.

But that was a past story.

As the number of people who read books decreased, the books of minor genres lost their place even more.

When the new writer’s book that they prepared with all their might did not show much results, opinions arose that they should stop discovering new writers and focus more on established writers.

Lunchtime.

The employees who were eating lunch at a nearby restaurant exchanged stories.

They all had shadows on their faces.

“Did you hear about the book concert? Only ten people showed up. And three of them were reporters.”

“Two of them left in the middle. The article was also very small.”

“How much money did they spend on promotion…”

They sighed more because it was their workplace.

As their appetite dropped due to the depressing story, one employee brought up another topic.

“By the way, it seems like The Jury will become a bestseller soon.”

“A bestseller? That’s too much. It’s not that level yet. Do you know how hard it is to become a bestseller? It’s like concrete there.”

The bestsellers sold better as time went by, and the books below them were hardly able to become bestsellers in this field.

“But The Jury is doing really well.”

“And they’re making it into a play, right?”

“They’re recruiting actors now. Once they get the actors, it’ll be smooth sailing. And it’s a must-read book for teenagers. They’ll promote it a lot at school, right?”

“The book will sell like crazy, right? No need for extra promotion.”

“And if it becomes famous as a play, they’ll make it into a movie too.”

Movie adaptation.

Hero Publishing had no work that was famous enough for that.

It was a story that they couldn’t even dream of.

The editors who tried hard to swallow their sighs mentioned the names of famous actors.

“Isn’t there a really famous actor? Like Lee Ji-seok?”

“Lee Seo-jun too.”

“Is there a role for Lee Seo-jun in The Jury?”

“Hmm. Is there?”

As they were holding a cup of coffee each and returning to the publisher, two figures caught their eyes.

It was the new writer Choi Da Ye and her editor Kim Hyung-won, who had high expectations.

“Writer Choi came again?”

“It’s been four days already, right? Why does she come every day?”

They sighed deeply as they asked Choi Da Ye, who looked like she was worried about whether it was a dream or reality, and Kim Hyung-won, who was struggling to answer.

They couldn’t hear them well from afar, but faint voices reached their ears.

“It’s not a dream. I saw it too, and Writer Choi saw it too.”

“But there’s no photo… and no contact…”

“Don’t worry. It’s not a place where they can decide in a day or two. They must have a lot of contracts and other schedules. I’ll let you know as soon as I get a call!”

“…Okay. I understand.”

Choi Da Ye, who drooped her shoulders, turned around and left the front of the publisher.

An editor asked Kim Hyung-won, who was sighing heavily.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Uh… nothing. She just asked me if we could do more promotion.”

Kim Hyung-won lied because he couldn’t say that Lee Seo-jun’s play offer wasn’t confirmed yet. The employees nodded in understanding.

“Take good care of the writer.”

“Yes. I will.”

Kim Hyung-won quickly answered.

Everyone went inside and Kim Hyung-won took out his phone that didn’t ring.

He recalled the book concert six days ago, which was like a dream.

“…Was it really a dream?”

Just like Choi Da Ye, who had been wondering for days whether it was a dream or reality, Kim Hyung-won also started to get confused. Maybe he and Writer Choi wanted [Mirror]’s success so much that they had such a dream.

“Oh, I have to go to the meeting.”

Kim Hyung-won sighed heavily and went inside.

***

Hero Publishing meeting room.

All the employees of Hero Publishing gathered in the narrow meeting room.

“I think we need to change the genre and get some established writers.”

The president spat out his saliva at the editor-in-chief’s words.

Half of the employees nodded in agreement and the other half had vague expressions.

They didn’t like it, but they understood.

“But the reason why our publisher was founded…”

“The publisher has to survive first, whether we discover new writers or publish books of minor genres. You know how the book we published this time turned out.”

At the mention of [Mirror], the president rubbed his temples tiredly.

It was a good book, but why didn’t anyone care?

The president’s head was complicated.

“If we go on like this, we’ll go bankrupt. I like our publisher’s books too. I wish there were more books of various genres, more books of various writers. But we have to survive first,”

“Excuse me…”

The editor-in-chief and the president, who were about to speak, turned their heads.

[Mirror]’s editor, Kim Hyung-won, was raising his hand with an anxious face.

“I’ll be right back from the bathroom.”

“…Go ahead.”

He couldn’t even get angry because he was speechless.

At the president’s words, Kim Hyung-won quickly got up and headed out of the meeting room.

In Kim Hyung-won’s hurried hand was a phone.

The editor-in-chief sighed lightly and continued his speech.

He introduced some established writers who had a fixed fan base and suggested ways to reduce various costs.

“Of course, it’s not easy because they have their own publishers…”

It was a long and long story, but no one in the meeting room lost their concentration.

They were people who gathered because they loved books, but money was an important thing.

“Established writers do have stability,”

“President!”

The meeting stopped again because of Kim Hyung-won, who burst into the room opening the door.

The editor-in-chief and the president looked at Kim Hyung-won with annoyed eyes.

They were nice people, but they had lines that they had to keep.

The employees shrank their necks, thinking that there would be a loud noise.

Just as the editor-in-chief was about to open his mouth, Kim Hyung-won shouted.

“It’s Lee Seo-jun!”

“What?”

“Actor Lee Seo-jun!”

They couldn’t understand the name that they didn’t even think they would hear here and now.

The president straightened his back and looked at Kim Hyung-won.

The people who were only rolling their eyes also turned their heads and looked at Kim Hyung-won.

Kim Hyung-won, whose face was flushed with excitement, couldn’t contain his excitement and shouted loudly.

“Lee Seo-jun wants to put on [Mirror] as his graduation performance!”

Everyone just stared blankly at Kim Hyung-won’s face.

They couldn’t interpret the sentence that penetrated their ears.

They didn’t understand from the first word.

‘Why is Lee Seo-jun coming out here?’

After a moment of silence.

The president, who barely understood Kim Hyung-won’s words, unknowingly dropped the pen he was holding.

The pen that fell on the table rolled down and fell to the floor.

Thud.

The meeting room exploded with the sound of the pen falling.

***

A few minutes ago.

Kim Hyung-won, who received a text message from Ahn Da Ho in the middle of a meeting, went outside using the restroom as an excuse and called Ahn Da Ho back.

He heard the answer.

“Wow!!”

Kim Hyung-won, who shouted with joy, was about to go back to the meeting room when he remembered the person he had met in front of the publishing house a while ago.

He felt sorry for the slumped shoulders of his back.

“Ah! Writer!”

He thought of Choi Da Ye, the Writer who was eagerly waiting for this good news as much as he was.

Kim Hyung-won quickly contacted Choi Da Ye.

“Yes!”

As soon as he called, he heard an immediate reply.

He seemed to have been looking at his phone all the time, just like Kim Hyung-won, who had not let go of his phone for six days.

Kim Hyung-won laughed out loud at Choi Da Ye’s trembling voice mixed with expectation and worry.

“Writer! We got it! The play!”

-!!!

Kim Hyung-won dropped his phone far away from his ear at the scream that sounded like a scream.

It was the first time he heard Choi Da Ye, who was usually quiet, make such a loud noise.

His ears were temporarily numb from the huge cheer, but Kim Hyung-won could only laugh.

‘Well, it makes sense! It’s Lee Seo-jun!’

Guaranteed success. World-class recognition.

The clothes he wore, the things he had, the instruments he played, the food he ate, etc.

It was not one or two things that became a hit just by having Lee Seo-jun’s name attached to them.

“Now your book is also included in that!”

“This is not a dream, right?!”

“Of course not! Oh, I have to go back to the meeting now… I’ll let you know as soon as I get a confirmation!”

“Yes!”

Neither Choi Da Ye nor Kim Hyung-won were worried.

Who would refuse to have Lee Seo-jun make and promote a play based on their book?

Kim Hyung-won tried to calm down his heart that was rolling on the bright road ahead and opened the door of the meeting room with a confident step.

He felt a thrill at the faces that turned around at once.

He wanted to enjoy this attention for a moment, but he couldn’t stand his itching mouth.

“Lee Seo-jun wants to do [Mirror] as his graduation performance!”

The meeting room went wild at Kim Hyung-won’s loud voice.

There was not a single person who calmly sat in their seat.

Not only the staff around him, but even the president who was in the farthest corner ran out to where Kim Hyung-won was in one step.

“What are you talking about?!”

“Really, really Lee Seo-jun?”

“The Lee Seo-jun who starred in Shadowman?”

“Yes! That Lee Seo-jun!”

They couldn’t believe it even after hearing the answer.

The meeting room was noisy like a fish market.

“Why did Lee Seo-jun suddenly pop up?”

“Graduation performance? What is a graduation performance?”

“Mirror? Mirror? Why did he leave all the other books and choose Mirror, which failed?”

“Why did he contact you instead of the publishing house?”

“Wait. Everyone be quiet.”

The meeting room became quiet at the heavy voice of the president. But it seemed like they could hear what they wanted to say in the silence.

The president, the editor-in-chief, and the staff all had flushed faces with excitement.

The president asked with a trembling voice.

“Tell me from the beginning.”

“Well…”

The president, editor-in-chief, and staff couldn’t close their mouths at Kim Hyung-won’s story.

“The student who you asked to participate as an audience in the book concert was Lee Seo-jun?”

“He said he enjoyed reading the book you gave him for free?”

“He asked if he could do a play after getting an autograph from the author?”

“No, no, what kind of coincidence is that…!”

The more they heard, the more unbelievable it was.

“…Hey. Tell me honestly. Is this a hidden camera?”

They were so incredulous that they looked around for a nonexistent camera in the meeting room.

Until lunchtime, they were envious of the names of actors who seemed to appear in [Juror]’s play, but they couldn’t speak at the situation that changed in just two hours.

They never imagined that the name they spat out with envy would come back like this.

“Lee Seo-jun really makes a play with our book?”

“Yes.”

The people who asked Kim Hyung-won questions alternately answered happily once or twice, but now they were getting tired and quickly got to the point.

“So Cocoa Entertainment asked us to reply as soon as possible…”

“Reply…! Yes. We have to reply.”

The president, who couldn’t come to his senses because of the unexpected luck, sighed.

He was not the kind of president who would let go of this huge opportunity.

He looked calm on the outside, but he didn’t know what was inside.

The president opened his mouth.

“Contact them right away. Tell them it’s okay.”

“Yes. I got it!”

Kim Hyung-won ran out of the meeting room with a bright face. The president, who was watching him, turned his eyes to the staff who were still excited.

“Let’s make this the topic of today’s meeting.”

They were having a meeting that would determine the fate of Hero Publishing, but the president who was trying to make a decision, the editor-in-chief who was leading the meeting, and the staff who were listening with serious expressions didn’t care.

They all quickly sat in their seats and looked at the president with shining eyes.

“How are we going to use this opportunity?”

At the president’s words, opinions popped out without thinking.

“Let’s put Lee Seo-jun’s picture on the book cover! It would be even better if it was a scene from the play!”

“And on the dust jacket, let’s put his usual appearance!”

“Let’s also make bookmarks and posters!”

“First of all,”

A meaningful voice from the editor-in-chief came between the voices of the excited staff.

It was a voice that captivated people’s attention with just one word, as if something was overflowing.

“How about preparing an English version of [Mirror]?”

…!

The meeting room exploded again at the editor-in-chief’s words.

Chapter 245

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 245

“Wow. Is that Lee Seo-jun’s manager? He looks so cool.”

A man with a gentle smile walked in with Kim Hyung-won, the editor-in-chief of [Mirror].

He wore a black suit and looked different from the tired managers who appeared on TV.

He exuded a professional aura from head to toe.

The employees of Hero Publishing, who were gathered in a place where they could see the hallway leading to the conference room, admired his appearance.

“I guess Hollywood actors have cool managers too. Doesn’t he look like he works out?”

“Right? He must have been to Hollywood too.”

“Of course he has. He filmed Shadowman 3 last year.”

Lee Seo-jun’s manager entered the conference room.

The employees who were staring at the closed door of the conference room straightened their backs.

“I heard he’s been Lee Seo-jun’s manager for a long time.”

“How did you know that?”

“My daughter is a fan of Lee Seo-jun. When I asked her about his manager, she told me everything. She said he’s a very nice person.”

“Did you… tell her?”

“No! What if it gets out and he says he won’t do it?”

“Right? I quit drinking three days ago.”

“Why did you have to quit drinking?”

“I have a habit of repeating what I heard when I drink. I don’t know when or where I might say something.”

A sales team employee shivered.

“I dreamt that I woke up after drinking, I saw an article on the internet that said [Actor Lee Seo-jun, starring in the play ‘Mirror’!]. The search rankings and articles were all over the place and the company was in chaos.”

“Wow…”

The editors and employees let out an involuntary sigh at the situation they didn’t want to think about.

“And then right away, another article came out that said [Actor Lee Seo-jun, graduation performance canceled!]. If that happens, I think I’ll have to kneel down in front of the company and apologize.”

“That’s right. You did well. Don’t drink anymore.”

The rumor that ‘Lee Seo-jun will quit the project if his identity is revealed’ had become an urban legend that ‘it never happened but it might happen’.

The origin of that rumor was probably Team 2, who had launched a campaign to silence the parents and staff of the child actors when Seo-jun, or rather ‘Na Jin’, starred in the children’s play Spring eight years ago.

If Team 2 and Ahn Da Ho knew this fact, they would have exclaimed, ‘That’s a long-lasting effect.’

“I hope they had a good talk…”

“It’s win-win, sir! Manager!”

The Hero Publishing employees clasped their hands and looked at the conference room with sparkling eyes.

A long or short time passed.

Soon, the door of the conference room opened.

Lee Seo-jun’s manager, who had a friendly smile on his face when he entered, bowed slightly as he met the eyes of the employees who were huddled together and left the publishing house.

The president and editor-in-chief who came out of the conference room with him saw him off.

“…Did it go well?”

“I don’t know.”

The employees who had been holding their breath until the manager left ran to the president and editor-in-chief.

“President! Editor-in-chief!”

“What happened?!”

“We thought of making photo cards, posters, bookmarks, and more!”

“We even found a suitable production company!”

The employees looked at them with eyes like baby birds waiting for food.

The president opened his mouth with a sigh full of regret.

“He said no to the book cover and band.”

“…What?!”

“And no to any other related products either.”

“…Whaaat?!”

“Why did he say that? Didn’t you offer him enough money for promotion?”

“I did. But he said money doesn’t matter.”

The president sighed sadly.

“He said Lee Seo-jun chose the book because it was really fun, but if he took money for promotion, there could be misunderstandings. And he’s not doing the play alone, but with his peers. The kids might not think so, but their families might. He said they wanted to prevent any complaints that might arise later.”

The employees nodded their heads with disappointed expressions.

It was a reasonable reason.

“So we can’t promote him at all?”

“No. That’s not it. We can put his name on the book band. And if we write an article about the book concert, it will get a good response.”

The employees breathed a sigh of relief.

They thought they couldn’t use Lee Seo-jun’s effect at all.

“What about overseas?”

“That too. We can only put his name on the book band.”

The sales team employees thought hard.

They came up with various band designs and phrases that would be most effective.

“But when can we promote him as Lee Seo-jun? The play hasn’t been made yet…”

“Right?”

They wanted to put a band that said [A novel made into a play by Lee Seo-jun], but they didn’t have any evidence to show, since the play hadn’t been made yet.

“So I have an idea…”

Everyone’s eyes were on the editor-in-chief.

He was the person with the most insight in this situation.

Even the president perked up his ears.

The publishing house was on fire for the first time in a long time with the editor-in-chief’s whispering voice.

***

A Team 2 employee who was buried in work like a normal manager noticed Ahn Da Ho entering the office.

He tilted his head at his neat appearance, which was different from his usual casual clothes.

“Huh? Where are you going today, Team Leader Ahn?”

“Oh. Are you going on a blind date?”

Ahn Da Ho, who had taken a USB and a list of programs that Team 2 had prepared from his desk, shook his head with a smile.

“No. I went to Hero Publishing this morning.”

“I knew that, but I didn’t know you went dressed like that. You must have been really serious.”

“I wanted to intimidate them a bit. I had a hard time dealing with them since this morning.”

Ahn Da Ho smiled awkwardly.

“Well. They must have been disappointed. They could have made a fortune by selling all kinds of goodies.”

“I thought it would be better than going casually.”

He was glad that the conversation went better than he had worried because of his clothes.

“Are you going straight to Seo-jun?”

“Yes. I found a rehearsal video of a play that he might need right now. I’ll go ahead then.”

“Okay.”

When Ahn Da Ho left the office, Team 2 employees opened their mouths with a smile.

“Team Leader Ahn is amazing. He must have nothing but Seo-jun on his mind.”

“Right? He even learned self-defense in case there were no bodyguards. And he’s still doing it.”

“He also has an emergency medical certificate.”

“He got that a long time ago. He probably got it right after Team 2 was formed.”

That was when Seo-jun was in middle school, or rather when Ahn Da Ho and Seo-jun first met.

It was almost eight years ago, and no one was surprised.

“He also studied nutrition when Seo-jun entered middle school. He said he had to grow well during this growth period. He also said he had to feed him well during filming.”

“That’s why you can keep working with Seo-jun, right?”

“Oh, by the way,”

One of the employees who had worked with Ahn Da-ho for the longest time in Team 2 remembered something.

“Seo-jun’s contract was until this year, I think…”

At that, all the Team 2 employees gasped.

***

Thud!

Lee Min-jun stabbed a large watermelon with a kitchen knife.

He rotated the watermelon as he sliced it, and the round fruit was cut in half.

“Seo-jun has been staying in his room even after he came back from vacation.”

“He still doesn’t skip his acting practice, though. He has plenty of time since it’s summer break, so it’s not a problem, right?”

“But half of his break is already over.”

“Time flies so fast.”

Half and half again.

Lee Min-jun cut the red flesh into neat squares and stacked them in an airtight container.

The perfectly fitting pieces looked like he had done this more than once or twice.

“Do you think we can watch Seo-jun’s graduation performance?”

“The students who are performing can invite their families, according to the notice.”

“Really? That’s good.”

In the meantime, one whole watermelon was neatly dismantled.

“Okay, we’re done. Bring a plate to Seo-jun, too.”

Lee Min-jun set aside some watermelon for the three of them and put the rest in the refrigerator.

Seo Eun-hye picked up one of the two plates of watermelon that Lee Min-jun had left and knocked on Seo-jun’s door.

“It’s Mom, can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

Seo Eun-hye opened the door slightly and smiled at the sight inside.

“It looks like a writer’s room, not an actor’s room.”

“Hmm. It is a bit messy, isn’t it?”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek as he put down his pen.

“I don’t think it was this bad when I was studying for exams.”

Seo Eun-hye looked around Seo-jun’s desk area.

Seo-jun’s large desk and its side were already filled with piles of paper.

The script and novel of the original work.

The play and book adapted from the novel.

The scripts and videos of plays that he liked.

Papers and pens with various notes.

It seemed chaotic, but it was a space that Seo-jun had organized in his own way.

Seeing the plate of watermelon, Seo-jun quickly gathered the papers that were spread out on one side of his desk.

Seo Eun-hye placed the plate on the empty spot and asked.

“How much have you done?”

Seo-jun stabbed a square piece of watermelon with a fork.

“I have a rough outline. But it’s hard to express what’s in my head in writing.”

“Yeah?”

“I think I know why Director Choi Dae-man got canned. My head is getting dull from staying here all the time. So I’m going to work at Cocoa Entertainment’s practice room tomorrow.”

Seo Eun-hye laughed at Seo-jun’s words.

The story of Director Choi Dae-man getting canned at a five-star hotel during Escape was always amusing to hear.

“What did the writers and directors say?”

Seo-jun’s adaptation was more interesting than he expected.

He told his acquaintances that this happened and they might ask him about it later, and they all seemed curious.

He also received requests to show them when it was finished from more than one or two people.

Unlike acting, which he wanted to show to anyone and everyone, showing his adapted script made him feel a little shy.

So Seo-jun wanted to make his script more perfect.

“I’m going to show it to Ji-seok hyung later.”

“That sounds good. Ji-seok is experienced in theater. Then work hard.”

“Yeah! Thanks for the watermelon.”

After Seo Eun-hye left, Seo-jun put a piece of watermelon in his mouth and turned his eyes back to his desk.

The open book [Mirror].

The middle part of Mirror was worn out more than the others because Seo-jun chose the second story out of the three stories in Mirror.

Of course, he didn’t ignore the first and third stories or the overall story.

The scenes, lines, and descriptions that Seo-jun wanted to include in his play were marked with colorful colors.

From scenes with low importance to scenes he wanted to emphasize.

They were clearly distinguished and easy to see.

Seo-jun first extracted the lines from the book and arranged them in order.

He inserted the characters’ feelings expressed in sentences into the descriptions.

He added appropriate lines, movements, and descriptions where they were awkwardly connected or cut off.

Once he had a rough frame, he added various stage effects.

He checked the types of stage effects at Yeoul Hall, where he submitted his graduation performance application, and watched last year’s Yeoul Middle School graduation performance on YouTube to get a sense of the atmosphere.

“It’s different from Spring.”

The children’s play Spring that he performed at the Eunha-su Center.

He was only interested in acting back then, but he sometimes saw the adults who were making the stage.

He remembered clearly how the shoddy Cheongryong and the props and stage effects changed into something dazzling with money poured into them.

“But I can’t change the machines.”

The graduation performance was different from a play that was performed dozens of times on the same stage as one work.

Not only Seo-jun’s play, but also other kids’ plays had to go up, so he couldn’t change the stage equipment at will.

“But our school’s stage equipment is good.”

It was better than most small theaters because it was the same ATR Foundation as the Eunha-su Center, and it came down to Mirinae High School and Yeoul Middle School.

Seo-jun looked at the monitor where a play was playing and the list of stage equipment at Yeoul Hall for a moment and picked up his pen.

“Then I’ll use this here.”

Seo-jun’s script, which was full of his ambition, was slowly modified for various realistic reasons.

Chapter 246

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 246

Seo-jun got out of the car with his bag. As he closed the car door, the window on the passenger seat went down.

Lee Min-jun, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, smiled and said.

“Call mom when you get home tomorrow.”

“Okay!”

“Don’t give your hyungs and uncle a hard time, okay?”

“I won’t. I’m not a kid.”

He would be a high school student next year, but he still looked like a little kid in Lee Min-jun’s eyes.

Lee Min-jun smiled softly and nodded.

“Have fun then.”

“Be careful, dad.”

Waving his hand at Lee Min-jun, Seo-jun turned around and headed to Lee Ji-seok’s house.

He entered the password that Lee Ji-seok had told him and took the elevator. Seo-jun took out his phone.

<Ji-seok hyung!

<I’m at the entrance of the apartment!

<I’m in the elevator!

<I’m in front of the door!

Ji-seok: …

Ji-seok: Is this how you send messages?

<LOL

<It’s summer.

Beep.

The sound of the door lock was heard and the front door that was in front of Seo-jun opened.

“Press the doorbell. The doorbell.”

Lee Ji-seok was standing there in a comfortable outfit. Seo-jun smiled and said.

“Wasn’t it fun?”

“Do you play like that with your friends? Middle schooler?”

“Ahahaha. Yes.”

He looked like he had fun with his hyung too, as he chuckled.

Seo-jun followed Lee Ji-seok into his room and put down his bag.

Then, Kim Jong-ho, who was lying on the sofa, and Park Do-hoon, who was doing a 1,000-piece puzzle he got from a fan, greeted him.

“Seo-jun is the last one.”

“Yeah.”

“Uncle Jong-ho! Do-hoon hyung! When did you come?”

“We came early in the morning.”

Lee Ji-seok looked at them with a bored face.

They acted as if it was their own house.

He felt annoyed.

“We had nothing to do so we came early.”

“Me too. Seo-jun, are you hot? Do you want me to lower the temperature?”

“I’m fine.”

Park Do-hoon handed him an orange juice.

After drinking the cold orange juice, he felt refreshed.

Of course, the air conditioner in the living room also helped.

When Seo-jun seemed to catch his breath, Kim Jong-ho got up from the sofa.

“Shall we look at the script first?”

“Yeah. I’ve been curious for a month.”

Uncle Jong-ho, Ji-seok hyung, Do-hoon hyung too. They looked eager to read it. Seo-jun scratched his cheek shyly.

“It’s in my bag. I’ll get it.”

“Okay. Hurry up.”

While Seo-jun went to get the script from his bag, Kim Jong-ho got up from his seat and sat in front of the table.

Park Do-hoon and Lee Ji-seok also sat around the table.

‘What is a sofa to Koreans? Why don’t they sit on the sofa they told me to sit on?’

Seo-jun quickly came back with the script and saw the three actors sitting on the floor and an empty fluffy sofa.

He soon joined them on the floor.

“I copied it at the company.”

“As expected from our Seo-jun!”

One script per person.

When Seo-jun brought four scripts, Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok, who were growling at each other, smiled brightly.

The three actors turned to the first page as soon as they received the script from Seo-jun.

“I’ll read it well.”

“But have you read the original work?”

“I read it as soon as you told me. But it was harder to find the book, right?”

“Me too. I barely bought one from a warehouse.”

“They said it’s not a very popular book.”

“Really?”

“I see.”

The actors were absorbed in reading the script.

Seeing that they were interested, Seo-jun closed his mouth quietly.

The sound of paper flipping was heard.

The actors looked at the script with sharp eyes.

Seo-jun felt nervous and fidgeted with his fingers.

‘Did the directors feel like this too?’

He couldn’t help but look at their expressions as they turned each page.

Do-hoon hyung who nodded while reading, uncle Jong-ho who had no change in expression as if he was focused, Ji-seok hyung who occasionally stopped at one place.

He couldn’t figure out what they meant and felt anxious.

It wasn’t a long play so it didn’t take long to read the script.

Lee Ji-seok, who finished reading first, opened his mouth.

“You wrote well.”

“Really?”

“It’s your first time writing a script, right? You did a great job.”

“Yeah. You really did well.”

Kim Jong-ho and Park Do-hoon also agreed with Lee Ji-seok’s words. Even though there was a source novel, it was quite good for a first script.

“But that doesn’t mean there’s no problem.”

“What is it?”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

He came to Lee Ji-seok’s house today to find the ‘problem’.

He didn’t feel disappointed by the problem, but wanted to fix it.

The three actors smiled at his attitude.

“There’s too much explanation.”

“Explanation?”

Seo-jun looked at the script again.

Hmm. Is that so?

He tilted his head and Lee Ji-seok continued.

“It’s like your acting style. You wrote the lines for the psychiatrist and other characters assuming that you would act them, right?”

‘…How did he know?’

Seo-jun rolled his eyes and nodded.

“What do you mean by that?”

Park Do-hoon asked and Kim Jong-ho, who was flipping through the script again from the beginning, also nodded.

“For example, this line of the psychiatrist. You wrote everything from the direction of her eyes to the movement of her hands and feet with one word ‘calmly’.”

As Kim Jong-ho said, Seo-jun’s script had some lines that contained the intention of the adapter, but also some lines that made him wonder ‘why this much?’.

“Doesn’t it look like Seo-jun would act like this if he played the psychiatrist?”

Park Do-hoon read the line again. He imagined Seo-jun acting as the psychiatrist with the line and it came to his mind naturally.

‘I see.’

The director envisioned the best scene possible.

He cast the actors who suited the scene and edited it until it was perfect, even if it took several NGs.

The best scene that Seo-jun, an actor with great acting skills, could think of was when he played the psychiatrist and all the other characters.

‘He’s too confident, but Seo-jun is too good at acting.’

A work filled with actors who had ‘Lee Seo-jun level’ skills, from the main character to the extras.

‘…I want to see it.’

He thought so involuntarily.

While Park Do-hoon imagined the scene where the villain Jin Natra and Go Ju Won with a bow faced each other, Lee Ji-seok and Kim Jong-ho spread the script on the table and checked it with a pen.

“Here. There’s too much interference.”

“Here too. I get what you mean, but you can do it with just eye contact.”

There was at least one red check mark on every page.

Seo-jun groaned.

“Is it that bad?”

He looked like a puppy with droopy ears.

Seo-jun asked and Lee Ji-seok shook his head and answered.

“You’re so good at immersing yourself that the main character and the other characters have clear differences. It would be a perfect play if you just act like this.”

Seo-jun wrote down every movement he would do if he played each character, from one to ten.

It would be a perfect play since Seo-jun was recognized for his acting.

“But it would be hard for them to digest.”

It was hard enough for Lee Ji-seok to follow the detailed lines.

It was like fitting the actors into a perfect frame.

‘I guess I can manage the first scene somehow, but after that… well…’

It would be difficult to maintain the first atmosphere until the end of the play.

“Besides, don’t you hate acting with this kind of script?”

In short, the script that Seo-jun wrote was a script that had no freedom for the actor from beginning to end.

“Hmm.”

Seo-jun took the script again and nodded.

He was satisfied with writing his own acting that he wanted to do, but he would have refused if Anh Da-ho brought him such a script.

He wanted a perfect script and it was a perfect script, but only for himself.

“I need to fix it.”

“But I think the story flow is smooth. There’s no dialogue that stands out either.”

“I need to think more about how to use props.”

Lee Ji-seok, Kim Jong-ho, and Park Do-hoon told Seo-jun what he needed or what he should change in his script.

They gave him advice so that he could choose his own way.

Seo-jun nodded earnestly and wrote it down.

“No way! You can’t do that! You won’t be able to see behind!”

“But this is necessary! Besides, Yeoul Art Center is small enough to cover everything!”

Well. He knew this would happen.

“Then shall we eat?”

Park Do-hoon smiled and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner as they argued every day without fail.

Lee Ji-seok and Kim Jong-ho also rolled up their sleeves and helped with dinner.

The beef sirloin was placed on the heated electric grill.

Sizzle.

Kim Jong-ho, who held the tongs, flipped the meat at the right timing.

He put the cooked meat on Seo-jun and Park Do-hoon’s plates and focused on grilling again.

Lee Ji-seok grumbled as he ate the cooked beef by hand.

“By the way, there was another play based on a novel, right?”

“Oh, I got the script. It was The Jury, right?”

“I got it too. Did you accept it?”

Lee Ji-seok shook his head at Park Do-hoon’s question.

“I’m going to start my next work soon. How about you?”

“No. I declined too. Seo-jun, did you get the script?”

Seo-jun, who was wrapping lettuce wraps, nodded.

“Yes. I read the original work, but there was no suitable role for me. The judge and the prosecutor, and the lawyer are all older and minors can’t be jurors either.”

“That’s true. How about uncle?”

“I signed a contract.”

Seo-jun put a lettuce wrap in his mouth and widened his eyes.

Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon also stopped their hands that were serving meat.

Kim Jong-ho smiled slyly and said.

“I’m playing Park Kyung-won’s father.”

“That suits you well.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s perfect.”

“You brats!”

The three actors laughed at Kim Jong-ho’s words.

“Then we have to go see it. Shall we go together?”

“I’m fine with that.”

Seo-jun nodded at Park Do-hoon’s words. Lee Ji-seok, who was about to answer after eating a spoonful of soybean paste stew, opened his eyes wide.

“Why is this so delicious?”

Lee Ji-seok’s reaction made Kim Jong-ho curious and he also tasted the soybean paste stew.

He was surprised.

“That’s true. It’s really delicious!”

“Seo-jun made that.”

“Huh?”

“Seo-jun has a Korean cuisine certificate too.”

Park Do-hoon’s words surprised Lee Ji-seok and Kim Jong-ho again.

They looked at Seo-jun and he laughed.

***

A few days before the second semester of Yeoul Art Center.

“I’m done!”

Seo-jun looked at the neatly printed script with emotion.

[Mirror]

[Original work: Choi Da Ye]

[Adaptation: Lee Seo-jun]

He finally completed the script for Mirror.

Chapter 247

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 247

September.

The second semester of Yeoul Arts Middle School began after the summer break.

Unlike usual, Seo-jun arrived at school early in the morning and put his bag down in the classroom.

He took out a file from his bag.

Inside the file, there were several flyers that Seo-jun had made at home.

“Should I start from the first floor?”

Seo-jun left the empty classroom and posted the flyers on the bulletin boards of each floor.

The students who came to school early saw the senior standing in front of the bulletin board and tried to pass by quietly, but they stopped when they realized that he was Seo-jun.

“What is he doing?”

“It looks like he’s posting something.”

The students who were excited to see Seo-jun after his power had faded during the summer break, calmed down a bit and became curious about what he was doing.

When Seo-jun finished posting the flyers on the first floor and went up to the second floor, the students rushed to the bulletin board.

A crisp A4 paper without any wrinkles stood out.

“Wow.”

[Recruiting members for graduation performance]

[Team leader: Lee Seo-jun, 3rd grade, class 2]

As soon as the flyer was posted, Yeoul Arts Middle School was in an uproar.

“Ahhh! He finally posted it!”

The students who had been glancing at the bulletin board every day since Seo-jun submitted his application for the graduation performance in March, took pictures of the flyer and uploaded them to their group chat.

Some of them ran to their class in surprise.

The students who were on their way to school or just got on the bus also widened their eyes at the flood of messages.

It didn’t take long for the news to spread throughout Yeoul Arts Middle School, which had three departments and two classes per grade.

The art department, music department, and acting department were all in a frenzy.

Even the teachers’ office was buzzing.

“Teacher! Seo-jun senior posted his flyer! I’ll be back soon!”

The second grade class president ran out of the teachers’ office with a gleam in his eyes.

The homeroom teacher admired his agile figure.

“He’s amazing. I’ve never seen him run like that.”

The teachers laughed.

“But Seo-jun finally decided.”

“I thought he would cancel.”

There were cases where students canceled their graduation performance applications.

When they couldn’t find a suitable script or actors to work with, when their work was too much for Yeoul Hall to handle, when they ran out of time to practice and their team fell apart, there were various reasons since it was a voluntary performance by the students.

“I’m really looking forward to this graduation performance.”

“Me too.”

“But what is Seo-jun’s work?”

***

“Mirror?”

“What is Mirror?”

They were glad that Seo-jun senior posted his flyer, but they didn’t know what the work name was, so the second grade students tilted their heads.

“Seok! What is Mirror?”

Then the question always turned to Kim Han-seok, who was closest to Seo-jun senior.

“Hold on.”

<Sis! What is Mirror?

Joo-kyung: It’s a book! Seo-jun adapted it from a book!

Joo-kyung: Wow… How did he think of adapting a book?

Joo-kyung: There’s no talent bug like him!!

“Wow.”

“What is it? What did she say?”

“It’s a novel. He adapted it from a novel.”

“Wow… That’s crazy…”

The information that spread from acting department 2nd grade class 2 soon covered Yeoul Arts Middle School.

While Yeoul Arts Middle School was amazed by Seo-jun’s overflowing talent,

Seo-jun, who was sitting in his seat, was anxious for a different reason than when he adapted it.

‘Why isn’t anyone coming?’

It was almost time for homeroom, but no one came to apply.

He thought some of his classmates would apply, but they were all looking at their phones.

Ju-hee, Joo-kyung, Jinho, and Jae-han were no different.

He wondered if something happened that he didn’t know about, so he took out his phone, but nothing was different.

He put his phone back in his pocket and a shadow crossed his face.

‘It’s not a difficult song…’

The music department students who would be in charge of the background music too.

‘It’s easy to make backgrounds…’

The art department students who would make the backgrounds and props too.

No one came.

‘Did I fail?’

He expected that he wouldn’t be able to find a work he wanted or adapt it, but he never thought that he would fail because he couldn’t find people.

A white paper appeared on Seo-jun’s desk as his face darkened more and more.

“Seo-jun. Here’s my application.”

Seo-jun, who was looking at his desk with a serious expression, slowly lifted his head and looked at Jae-han.

Superstar Lee Seo-jun smiled brightly, unlike ever before.

He seemed to see flowers and halos in the background.

His aura drew the attention of the students who had been looking at their phones.

“Jae-han, thank you! But… I might not be able to do the play.”

“Huh?”

Seo-jun, who had breathed a sigh of relief that he had one more actor, pursed his lips at the still insufficient applications.

“It seems like the others are not interested. Da Ho hyung said that half of the 2nd and 3rd graders would apply, so I was a little worried… I guess I worried for nothing. No one is coming. What if I can’t do the play?”

The day after he finished adapting.

Anh Da Ho told him that he might have to audition for at least 40 people, so he half-expected it and made an audition schedule.

He felt embarrassed that he had drunk too much soup with just one applicant.

This was a blanket kick situation.

He would kick the blanket before going to bed.

He would kick the blanket in the library of life.

If his next life saw Seo-jun’s book, it might be in the top 10 of his black history.

Seo-jun’s words made Jinho, who was sitting next to Seo-jun, let out a bitter laugh.

“That’s because they’re all looking up what Mirror is.”

“Still. I wrote down the character names and genders and images…”

“They all know how high your standards are. Do you think you’ll give them a proper look if they apply hastily? What if you say ‘Let’s audition right now’? They’ll be dead meat.”

Hmm.

He was right, so Seo-jun closed his mouth.

“I’m buying the book right now too. Just wait a few days for the audition.”

Ju-hee, who had been furiously tapping her phone, blinked her eyes and said.

“Me too. Ugh. This is sold out too.”

“There’s no place that has the book! Does this publisher want to sell books or not?!”

The other students who were holding their phones also complained.

Seo-jun blinked his eyes at their reactions. Huh?

“Are you all buying the book?”

“Yeah. So extend the application period a bit.”

Ju-hee said with a flash in her eyes and Seo-jun nodded his head with a bewildered expression.

Jae-han, who was the first to submit his application, scratched his cheek and said.

“I was able to apply now because I borrowed the book from you and read it. Otherwise, it would have taken me a few days.”

“Is that so?”

‘So they weren’t uninterested.’

Seo-jun felt relieved and smiled.

“Lucky you. You got to read the book.”

Joo-kyung envied him and Jae-han shook his head.

“But I still have to buy the book. Who reads a novel and thinks, ‘I have to memorize this character’s lines’ or ‘I have to analyze and act this character’? I read it very comfortably.”

“That’s true.”

“Who thinks of making a play out of a book… There is someone who does.”

Joo-kyung, Jae-han, and Jinho looked at Seo-jun, who laughed awkwardly.

“Ah! This is sold out too!”

“Ahhh! I bought it!”

“Wait, where are you?!”

“Address, address!”

Seo-jun felt like he had caused a commotion and quietly put Jae-han’s application in the file.

**

“Mom! Mom! Mom!!”

The mother sighed at her son’s scream as he returned from school.

“You didn’t go to acting school…”

“Seo-jun senior!”

The son who rushed in uttered the magic word that could calm his mother’s anger.

The mother who was about to explode ran to her son.

“Why Seo-jun senior!”

“He posted his flyer for the graduation performance!”

“Finally!”

The name that was mentioned at least once a week by her son since he entered Yeoul Arts Middle School.

Seo-jun.

She heard that he applied for the graduation performance in March, but he didn’t post the flyer even after the first semester and the summer break.

The mother’s eyes sparkled.

“Did you apply?”

“No!”

The mother grabbed the back of her son’s neck at his quick answer.

“…My sweet son. Why didn’t you?”

“I don’t know the work!”

“…Didn’t you do all kinds of things at the academy?”

She heard that he practiced various works, even ones that middle schoolers shouldn’t do.

Or not. Should she change his acting school?

The son opened his mouth when the mother was seriously considering it.

“Seo-jun senior made it himself!”

“…What?”

“He adapted it from a novel and made it into a play!”

Adapted? By himself?

It was a skill that didn’t seem like a senior who was only one year older.

Well, he did have a career as a Hollywood actor.

“Wow… But why didn’t you apply?”

“I wanted to, but Han-seok said that if I auditioned poorly, I wouldn’t catch his eye. He might even hate me. He said that even if I failed the audition, I would leave a good impression on Seo-jun senior if I acted well, so I didn’t apply!”

“Son.”

“Yes?”

“Be friends with Han-seok.”

“Yes!”

He was already friends with him, but he had to be closer!

The mother stroked her son’s head, who was nodding vigorously.

How could her son be so innocent?

“Oh right! Mom, I need some money!”

“Why do you need money?”

“He said the original work was a novel. I’m going to buy the book at the bookstore! It’s sold out online! Everyone in my class is going to buy the book too!”

“…You should have said that first!”

The mother jumped up and grabbed her handbag with one hand and her son’s hand with the other and ran out of the house.

“The places near the school must be sold out by now. We have to go far away. Son. Buckle up!”

“Yes.”

The son unknowingly held onto his seat belt with both hands as he saw his mother burning with passion.

***

“S…soda. Cough. Give me soda.”

“That’s weird. This alcoholic doesn’t drink alcohol.”

Despite his friends’ teasing, the employee of Hero Publishing House avoided the green bottle full of alcohol and drank from the long green bottle of soda.

“Why are you so different when you’re both green?”

“…What’s wrong with you? Just have one drink.”

“No! I can’t get drunk!”

“Oh. Just try one drink.”

The employee who had resisted temptation and returned home quickly washed up and went to bed.

“I wish it was November already…”

Then he could drink as much as he wanted.

It was only September now, and he sighed sadly and fell asleep.

The next morning.

“I can’t get drunk!!”

The employee jumped up.

His face was pale with cold sweat.

He had a nightmare.

His friends poured him alcohol and he drank it as if it was delicious.

The scene changed and he was in front of a microphone at what looked like a press conference, babbling to reporters.

He even saw the villain mode Jin Natra glaring at him from behind the reporters.

“Phew. I wish they would reveal it soon.”

He scratched his head and looked at his phone to check the time.

It was the weekend, but he woke up too late,

[Missed calls 43]

[Text messages 82]

[Banana Talk 325]

“…Huh?”

His heart sank.

He felt a chill down his spine and shivered.

His face was covered with cold sweat.

His hands and feet were sweaty.

“…!!”

What if the nightmare he had was not a dream?

He couldn’t even utter a word and reached for his phone with trembling hands. He tapped on the search site app. He couldn’t bring himself to check Banana Talk and text messages.

‘I’m sorry, boss! Editor-in-chief!’

How long did he have to repent for his sins, he wondered as he looked at his phone with his eyes barely open.

He didn’t need to search or try to find anything.

It was written right in front of him in large letters.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, starring in the play ‘Juror’!]

“I’m screwed… Huh?”

The employee blinked his eyes.

“Huh??”

Chapter 248

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 248

A few days before the article came out.

An acting academy near Yeoul Arts Middle School.

The instructor wrote down the characters of the second story of the novel [Mirror], which he had obtained with difficulty, on a large whiteboard.

The students from Yeoul Arts Middle School looked at him with shining eyes.

“Is this role going to be played by Lee Seo-jun?”

“Yes.”

The instructor and the students from Yeoul Arts Middle School were watched by students from other schools.

Elementary school students who had just finished a dead-end class asked the middle school students.

“Are those hyungs and noonas taking a special lecture separately?”

“No.”

If it was just an ordinary lecture, they would have joined them right away, but this time it was hard to do so.

The middle school students looked at the students from Yeoul Arts Middle School with envious eyes.

“I heard that Lee Seo-jun is doing a graduation performance at Yeoul Arts Middle School.”

“Really?!”

The elementary school students’ eyes sparkled at the words of the middle school students.

They knew a lot about Yeoul Arts Middle School because they had chosen it as their first choice for admission.

Even if they entered Yeoul Arts Middle School, they wouldn’t be able to go to school with Lee Seo-jun, but it would be a cool title to be a student of the middle school that Lee Seo-jun graduated from.

“What kind of work is it?”

The elementary school students listed the graduation works of Yeoul Arts Middle School that were uploaded on YouTube. The middle school students shook their heads and pointed to the whiteboard with their fingers. The elementary school students’ heads turned in unison.

“It’s based on a novel. I heard that Lee Seo-jun adapted it himself.”

“He must have had a lot of help from the writers and directors he knows.”

The elementary school students admired the whiteboard filled with letters and the students from Yeoul Arts Middle School who were taking notes with serious expressions.

***

-My friend’s sister’s friend’s friend goes to an acting academy where a lot of Yeoul Arts Middle School kids go, and they say Lee Seo-jun’s next work is a play.

The rumor that started with one comment soon covered the internet.

-What? A play? A play?!

-Is it true?

-But it doesn’t seem like it’s true when it spreads like this.

=No, no, it’s true. I heard it too.

-It hasn’t opened yet, right?

-It could be like Spring, where only his voice comes out.

-What is it? Should I look for it?

Saturday night.

The reporters who had been wandering around the internet without anything to do on weekdays and weekends to find something to write about also caught their eyes.

“A play…”

Unlike video media like movies or dramas, where many people can watch, in the case of plays, the number of audience members who can watch is limited, so fans of actors had to work hard to get tickets.

“And there’s also the charm of being able to feel the actors’ acting right in front of your eyes.”

If it was Lee Seo-jun, who hadn’t done a play since the children’s play ‘Spring’, if it was Lee Seo-jun, who was recognized by the Oscar Award, he would attract more attention than other actors.

Not only fans, but even ordinary people who were not interested in plays would think about going to see him once.

The reporters who found their prey blinked their eyes and searched the internet.

-They say it’s based on a novel.

=A novel?

-There are some plays based on novels, right?

“A novel-based play?”

Another hint popped up.

The reporter looked for plays based on novels. From bestsellers to fairy tales. He searched thoroughly for anything that might suit Lee Seo-jun, who was unpredictable, from roles where only his voice appeared to unusual roles.

“This?”

Among them, he saw a familiar name.

[Meet the novel ‘Juror’ as a play!]

Also known as Lee Seo-jun’s troupe.

“…Kim Jong-ho?”

The eyes of the entertainment reporter sparkled.

Actor Kim Jong-ho.

***

From Sunday morning, articles began to appear.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun appears in the play ‘Juror’!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun and actor Kim Jong-ho on stage!]

[Lee Seo-jun’s second play!]

[Let’s learn more about the teen must-read book ‘Juror’!]

[Is it planned murder or an accident? All judgments are up to you, the reader!]

-Wow! Seo-jun is doing a play!

-What kind of play is it!! I have to go see itㅠㅠ

-I’ll buy tickets!!

=222 I’ll buy it… They’re not selling yet. Sell them quickly!!

=…It seems like it’s going to be a ticket war;;;

-Kim Jong-ho and him together? It must be fun!!

-Isn’t it Kim Jong-ho’s first play in 10 years?

=It’s Seo-jun’s first in 8 years!

=I have to see itㅠㅠ I don’t know when he’ll do it againㅠㅠ

-Wow. If you’re a fan of Kim Jong-ho and Seo-jun… It’s a jackpot.

-Juror? What’s the story?

=The protagonist is a juror. He only listens to the stories of the prosecutor and the lawyer and makes a judgment, but it feels like he really became a juror.

=I recommend reading the book!

=Oh. But what role is Seo-jun playing?

=…I don’t know?

***

“What the hell is going on?”

Seo Eun-chan got out of the car with a puzzled face.

His wife Kim Su-ryeon went on a trip with her friends for two days and one night, and his daughter Seo Eun-su was going to sleep at Seo-jun’s house, so he got up leisurely with the intention of slacking off, but the whole world was in an uproar over the appearance of an actor he didn’t know about.

He rushed to Cocoa Entertainment after checking the messages and missed calls that piled up, but Cocoa Entertainment was also in chaos.

The team leader Ahn Da Ho, who came to work in a hurry, as well as the staff of Team 2, who were in charge of actor Lee Seo-jun, were busy dealing with the confirmation calls from the reporters.

“What’s going on here?”

Seo Eun-chan asked Ahn Da Ho first to figure out the situation.

“It seems that the reporters heard about Seo-jun’s play, but they sent out articles without confirming with the company.”

“Why are they sending out articles without confirmation and making a fuss…”

Seo Eun-chan gritted his teeth at the reporters at Ahn Da Ho’s words. Sighing, Seo Eun-chan asked again.

“But why aren’t they sending out correction articles?”

“That’s because we’re not sure either…”

“What do you mean?”

Anh Da Ho, the manager of Team 2, which was in charge of Lee Seo-jun, and the team members were unsure about Seo-jun’s appearance? Seo Eun-chan frowned and Anh Da Ho, who had a gloomy face, handed him a phone.

“This is the first article that came out. The rest seem to have followed this one.”

Seo Eun-chan looked at the article that Anh Da Ho handed him.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, will he take the stage of the play ‘Juror’?]

It was true that he was preparing for a stage play, it was true that it was a play based on a novel, and it was true that Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho were close, but the rest were just guesses by the reporter.

This speculative article was the cause of this situation.

Seo Eun-chan, who couldn’t understand why it had grown so big when it could have been solved by issuing a correction article early, opened his mouth.

“But Seo-jun didn’t say anything, did he? You didn’t hear anything either, right, Team Leader Ahn?”

It was Seo-jun who would have said that he would appear if he did. Anh Da Ho, the manager, and the staff of Team 2, who were dedicated to Seo-jun, should have known in advance.

“Well…”

Anh Da Ho and the staff of Team 2 shrugged their shoulders.

Unlike their usual lively atmosphere when they were not very busy, they looked depressed and Seo Eun-chan blinked his eyes.

“It’s time for Seo-jun to renew his contract now.”

“…Right?”

There were only about three months left until the end of this year.

‘I should get signatures from my sister and brother-in-law soon…’

Seo-jun was still a minor and needed a guardian’s signature.

He wondered if he should go get it today, and Anh Da Ho’s voice came to his ears.

“What if he’s planning to sign with another company and doesn’t tell us?”

“…What?”

‘What are you talking about?’

Seo Eun-chan stared blankly at Anh Da Ho and the staff of Team 2 at Anh Da Ho’s words. The staff of Team 2, who thought they had hit the nail on the head with Seo Eun-chan’s reaction, opened their mouths with gloomy faces.

“Seo-jun doesn’t say anything either…”

“The president doesn’t bring up the renewal either.”

“Isn’t Seo-jun talking to another agency?”

“Or maybe he’s making his own agency.”

Anh Da Ho’s face became more gloomy at the mention of a one-man agency.

As it became the second semester of his senior year, Team 2 had a lot of discussions about Seo-jun’s renewal.

The main opinions were that even if he was his uncle, he couldn’t be completely satisfied with the contract he made when he was young, and that he might have changed his mind now, or that he might have received better offers from other agencies.

Seo Eun-chan asked incredulously at the words of Team 2 staff.

“Why didn’t you think he would renew?”

“He would have told us sooner if he did.”

The date of renewal was approaching, but neither actor Seo-jun nor president Seo Eun-chan said anything.

They say you know ten miles under water but not one mile into people’s hearts.

Only Anh Da Ho and the staff who looked at the two decision-makers were anxious.

They looked cold even though they were acting as usual.

Every day they worried about what to do if Seo-jun went to another company or if they had to go to another team.

In this situation, an article about an actor they ‘didn’t know’ came out.

When they first saw the article ‘Juror Appearance’, they felt like their hearts dropped as if it was evidence of a failed renewal.

The reason why they couldn’t write a correction article until now was because they wondered if Seo-jun had an appearance that he didn’t tell them.

“If more appearance articles and correction articles come out, there will be rumors of discord and it will damage Seo-jun’s image.”

At Anh Da Ho’s words, Seo Eun-chan muttered with his mouth twitching and finally spat out one word.

It was the name of one person who could blow away all these worries and anxieties.

“…Seo-jun?”

“He doesn’t answer the phone.”

As Anh Da Ho answered with a gloomy face, the staff of Team 2 quietly looked at the monitor as if they were deflated.

In this situation, he didn’t even answer the phone as if he was avoiding it, so Anh Da Ho and Team 2 had no choice but to be anxious.

At Anh Da Ho’s words, Seo Eun-chan ran out of Team 2’s office and got into the car parked in the parking lot.

“Seo-junaa!!”

Seo Eun-chan, who thought it was 100% renewal and didn’t even mention the ‘r’ of renewal, had no choice but to head to Seo-jun’s house right away.

***

“Eun-su broke it.”

“Hehehe.”

At Seo Eun-chan’s question of why he didn’t answer the phone, Seo-jun handed him a smartphone with a shattered screen.

Eun-su, who had peeked out from behind Seo-jun, looked at her dad, who almost collapsed at the entrance, with a smile.

“Daughter…!”

The reason for the loss of contact was his daughter, Seo Eun-su, who had fallen asleep at Seo-jun’s house last night while playing.

***

After leaving Eun-su to Seo Eun-hye, Seo-jun got in Seo Eun-chan’s car and headed to Cocoa Entertainment.

Seo-jun’s eyes widened at the story that Seo Eun-chan kept babbling.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“We were wondering if it was true that you were going to another company, as we couldn’t call you or my sister and brother-in-law. You waited until I came. Why didn’t you call me when your phone broke? The articles keep coming out.”

“I thought you would take care of the correction article yourself. Besides, it’s Sunday today.”

That’s why he thought the correction article was late.

“I didn’t think you’d be worried about that.”

Seo-jun sighed lightly.

The decision-makers, actor Lee Seo-jun and president Seo Eun-chan, took it too lightly, and Anh Da Ho and Team 2 took it too seriously.

Seo-jun arrived at Cocoa Entertainment and entered Team 2’s office.

Anh Da Ho, who spotted Seo-jun, got up from his chair awkwardly and the staff of Team 2 looked surprised and looked at Seo-jun.

They all looked a little worse for wear as if they had a lot of worries in that short time.

Looking at Anh Da Ho and the staff of Team 2, who had been with him for eight years, Seo-jun smiled more brightly than ever and said.

“I’m not going anywhere else.”

They didn’t know how long they had been waiting for that word.

Anh Da Ho and the staff of Team 2 looked at Seo-jun with teary eyes.

Seeing their faces as if they were about to cry, Seo-jun teased them with a playful face.

“Even if I go somewhere else, I have to go with Da Ho hyung and Team 2, everyone. I’m sorry to my uncle.”

“Lee Seo-jun!”

“Ahahaha.”

Seo-jun’s refreshing laugh made Anh Da Ho and the staff of Team 2 smile brightly as they let go of their worries.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, no plans to appear in the play ‘Juror’!]

[Lee Seo-jun, scheduled for Yeoul Arts Middle School graduation performance!]

[Yeoul Arts Middle School graduation performance made by students!]

[How to see Yeoul Arts Middle School graduation performance in person!?]

[The novel chosen by actor Lee Seo-jun, ‘Mirror’]

-Ah. It wasn’t true…

-I can’t see the graduation performanceㅠ

=It will be on YouTube.

-I wanted to see it in personㅠ

-But the reporters are writing articles too recklessly.

-It’s weird that the correction article was a bit late this time?

=222 What’s up with Cocoa Entertainment?

=Maybe because it’s Sunday?

-Mirror? I have to read it.

=But there is no book.

=??

=There is no book!

Chapter 249

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 249

“Oh my god…”

The sales team was shocked by the articles about Lee Seo-jun’s appearance in Juror, but only for a moment.

They felt relieved that it was not the horrible scene they had imagined and sent messages to each other.

-Lee Seo-jun is on Juror!!

-Wow. Doesn’t that mean our book will be buried?

-I know. This is just a graduation performance.

-What about all the preparations we’ve done?

-Well, at least our book will be on YouTube… Maybe it’s not so bad?

-…Do you think it won’t be on Plus+?

-Oh no. We’re doomed.

They received calls from everywhere to come up with a new marketing plan as Mirror might be overshadowed.

-Editor: Just come.

They all seemed to have come to work on the weekend.

The last message made the employee get up and get ready for work.

It wasn’t the worst I had imagined, but it seemed to be close to it.

As I finished getting ready and was about to leave the house, my phone rang.

I thought it was the publisher and looked at the phone screen.

There were messages and banana talk messages pouring in between the calls.

“What’s going on now?”

I swallowed my saliva and went online.

[The novel ‘Mirror’ chosen by actor Lee Seo-jun]

“Wow.”

I started to get confused whether this was the best or the worst.

***

“Life doesn’t go as planned, but it’s not easy to change this much in a few minutes, right?”

The employees nodded at the editor’s words.

“Maybe because he’s an actor, his changes and reactions are blockbuster-level.”

“Can we… talk with unplugging the phone lines?”

Hero Publishing House conference room.

The president nodded at the ringing phone sound that seemed to pierce through the wall.

With his permission, the employees who were sitting near the door ran out and unplugged the phone lines.

Everyone sighed with relief as the publishing house became quiet.

“I expected this to happen, but it seems worse than I expected.”

The president rubbed his temples as if he could still hear the bell sound.

“So what’s our plan?”

“That’s right. I thought it would leak out from the school side, but it’s faster than I expected.”

“Let’s start with the meeting first.”

The employees closed their mouths and the editor opened his mouth.

“We can continue with the plan to put a QR code on the book cover and link it to the YouTube video. We have Yeoul Arts Middle School’s consent and we plan to show a screen that says ‘in preparation’ until the video is uploaded.”

Whether they read the novel first and watch the play, or watch the play first and read the novel, QR code would make it easier for people to access it.

“We have to release the book now, right?”

“Yes. We tried to stock up as much as possible, but… It’s earlier than planned, but I think this is a good time since there’s already an article.”

The president nodded with a regretful face.

It was a plan to stock up as much as possible and release them all at once when Lee Seo-jun’s play news came out, and put them on the bestseller list. But it was a little early.

“It would have been enough if it was October.”

“That’s right.”

It was still mid-September.

It was only a two-week difference, but the employees also looked regretful.

They knew how hard it was to make one bestseller.

“It’s already happened, so we can’t help it. Now we have to discuss how to supply books for the increased demand… No,”

The president laughed bitterly and changed his word.

“For the explosive demand.”

***

Choi Ki, a culture reporter, shook his legs and called again.

The recipient was Kim Hyung-won, the person in charge of Mirror.

He was one of the people he knew who could make this situation a bigger issue.

“I wish he would just give me an interview… He must be getting a lot of calls from everywhere.”

He had been holding his phone for an hour, but he couldn’t get through.

He decided to call until Kim Hyung-won answered his phone and held his breath at the breaking connection sound.

-Hello?

Kim Hyung-won’s voice came from across the phone.

“Finally got through!”

-Hello, Mr. Choi. Thank you for your article on Book Concert.”

“Thank you very much. The article is getting a lot of views right now.”

It was an article he posted two months ago, but people somehow found it and read it.

“But how did you get in touch with actor Lee Seo-jun? Can you tell me a little bit?”

“Haha. You should know, Mr. Choi.”

“…Yes?”

Choi Ki tilted his head at Kim Hyung-won’s words.

He had already decided to make an article on the Book Concert after the meeting, so Kim Hyung-won could answer comfortably.

“Do you remember the student who asked a lot of questions? The male student with a black hat.”

“Um. I remember.”

Choi Ki, who was holding his phone, glanced at the ‘Mirror’ he had read while calling Kim Hyung-won.

The trace of Book Concert with Choi Da Ye’s signature.

He felt a thrill that he had already got the book that others were looking for.

“He was impressive because he asked a lot of questions when no one else did. I became interested in Mirror because of the conversation between the author and the student. I couldn’t see his face well, but he should be in the picture I posted on the article.”

Come to think of it, he recorded it to deliver the Book Concert vividly.

He wrote the Q&A between Choi Da Ye and the student by listening to the recording.

‘Where did I put that recording…’

He thought it would get a lot of views if he organized it and made it into an article.

‘I have a picture too… Where did I save it?’

As he was looking for this file and that file with his mouse, he heard Kim Hyung-won’s excited voice.

“That student is Seo-jun.”

He had just opened the file [(July)Mirror/Choi Da Ye/Book Concert Data] and clicked on one of the pictures at the front. Choi Ki’s mouth opened wide.

“…What?!”

He looked at the side profile of the student with a black hat that appeared on the monitor screen and his eyes shook.

***

[Meeting with Choi Da Ye, the author of Mirror.]

(Book Concert photo)

(Photo of getting a signature after Book Concert)

(Writer and reader, summary of Q&A)

-Wow, I’m reading this because there are no books.

-They had a book concert two months ago.

-But the readers ask good questions. It seems like it would be fun to just read the questions and the writer’s answers.

=222 The readers must have read the book diligently.

-I want to read the book, but there are no books!

People who were looking for information about the novel ‘Mirror’ that Seo-jun chose saw an article about a book concert. It was a short article with two pictures, but the Q&A between the writer and the reader strangely stimulated people’s curiosity.

-Wow, the publisher doesn’t seem to want to sell books. There are no books in the bookstore.

-There are only articles about the book concert.

-That too, copy+paste of the first article. There is no other information.

Park Sung-won chuckled and sent a banana talk to his friends.

<(A picture of the cover of Mirror with writer Choi Da Ye’s signature)

<I went to the book concertㅋ

-You? A book concert?

-ㅋㅋWhere did you get the edited pictureㅋㅋ

<It’s trueㅋㅋ

<There were not many people, so I thought about leaving in the middle, but I’m glad I stayed until the end.

-…Did you only have five people?

-People left in the middle.

“Hmm?”

Park Sung-won recalled his memory.

Five out of ten people left in the middle and five remained in their seats.

A man who looked like a reporter holding a camera, two women who seemed to be friends. A male student in a black hat who asked questions diligently. And himself.

<ㅇㅇ 5 people + writer + host

<One of them seemed like a reporter.

-Wow. Wow…

-Did the male student in the black hat keep asking questions?

-He spoke well and confidently?

-Did he have any aura?

<I don’t know about aura… but the kid in the black hat was smart.

<If it wasn’t for him, I would have left in the middle.

<But how did you know?

-Wow… this is crazy.

-Look at this. (link)

[(Exclusive) The day when writer Choi Da Ye of Mirror met actor Lee Seo-jun!]

<A small space, seven readers and three reporters, and one writer met.

At first, only the host and the writer talked to introduce ‘Mirror’.

Three readers and two reporters left their seats as if they were bored. (This reporter stayed until the end!)

(A picture of ten people sitting)

(A picture of five people sitting)

The space where half of the ten people left was filled with awkward air. The other readers also wondered if this was how the book concert would end, but! A student in a black hat raised his hand with a snap! (Unfortunately, there is no picture.)

His voice was loud enough to be heard in this small space, but unfortunately, he didn’t notice it at that time.

(Recording file)

Writer Choi Da Ye kindly answered the passionate reader’s questions with a trembling voice.

The conversation between the writer and the reader was so interesting that even this reporter became interested in the book.

(Omitted)

A few minutes ago, we received a surprising news from Hero Publishing House.

The student in the black hat who seemed like an ordinary student who liked books was ‘actor Lee Seo-jun’!

No matter how many times we asked, we got the same answer. (It was really actor Lee Seo-jun right next to me!)

(Omitted)

It was a person we never expected to meet here, so even writer Choi Da Ye and the publisher staff were surprised at that time. We will reveal more details in an interview with writer Choi Da Ye.

(A picture of getting a signature after the book concert)

(B-cut picture of student in black hat 1)

(B-cut picture of student in black hat 2)

(B-cut picture of student in black hat 3)

-No way. Why did Seo-jun pop out here?

-Wow… The reader who kept asking questions was Lee Seo-jun?

-I’ve been looking for Seo-jun from start to finish… The male student was Seo-jun…ㅋ

=22 I was wondering when Seo-jun would come out.

=333 I wondered why there were only stories about the book concert…ㅎ

-But the reporter’s inner thoughts are too funnyㅋㅋ He wrote his experience instead of an articleㅋㅋ

=I like it because it’s like behind-the-scenesㅎ

-Calm-excitement-shock-sudden calmnessㅋㅋ

-Wow. I just went to a book concert and found out that Lee Seo-jun was there.

-There are recordings and pictures. This seems to be the only material this reporter has.

=22 It’s like a treasure that no one else has.

=Even if he releases one picture a day, the views are guaranteed.

-The number of views is no joke. Everyone seems to be looking at this.

-I like this side of Seo-jun. It’s like his real life.

=22 He was ‘actor’ Lee Seo-jun until now, but this feels like ‘student’ Lee Seo-junㅎ

-The two reporters who left first are in trouble.

=That’s right. They missed the scoop right in front of them.

-Wow. I was there.

=Tell us more!!

=I went with my friend, but everyone left, so I was going to leave too. But someone asked a question, so I thought I’d listen for a bit. The conversation with the writer was interesting, so I watched until the end.

=But who would have thought that Lee Seo-jun was there. My friend and I are freaking outㅎ I wanted to get a signatureㅠㅠ

=Is this a success or a failureㅋㅋ

=That’s right. He was right next to me and I heard his voice, but I didn’t recognize himㅋㅋ

-I have to see the writer’s interview.

=22 I’m curious how Lee Seo-jun came to the book concert.

“Wow…”

Park Sung-won, one of the participants of the book concert, couldn’t finish his sentence.

***

Monday.

Unlike other schools that were buzzing about Seo-jun’s graduation performance, Yeoul Arts Middle School focused on Seo-jun’s audition that would last all week.

After all the classes were over, Seo-jun sat alone in a classroom he borrowed from the teacher.

He planned to hold auditions in this classroom all week long.

Today was background & props. Tomorrow was music.

From Wednesday to Friday, it was actors.

As expected by his competent manager, Ahn Da Ho, there were a lot of applications for the audition, so Seo-jun had to set the actor audition for three days.

Seo-jun looked through the applications of the students who applied for background & props on the desk.

Most of them were art students, but there were also some acting students.

When it was time to start the audition, Ju-hee, who went to the next classroom as a waiting room, opened the door and asked.

Thankfully, his friends agreed to help with the audition.

“Seo-jun, shall we start?”

“Yeah.”

Seo-jun nodded and Ju-hee went to the next classroom and called out to the first child in line for the audition.

“Number one, right?”

“Yes!”

“You can go now.”

“Thank you!”

At Ju-hee’s call, the child jumped up.

The first-year art student who had never seen Seo-jun up close before had a more nervous heart than when he took the entrance exam and entered the classroom.

“Hi, I’m Jung Min-hyung from class 1-5 of art department!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at his cheerful voice.

Chapter 250

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 250

“Wow. Why am I so nervous?”

The music and the students’ pounding hearts drowned out the sound of their breathing.

The other instrument majors seemed to be somewhat sane, but the violin majors looked like they were about to faint.

Especially the freshmen, who hardly had any chance to meet Seo-jun, were more so. One of them even took a tranquilizer, but his face was still pale.

“Senior… I think I’m going to die.”

“Me too. It feels like I’m being judged by Grey Vainy.”

“…Me too.”

That was not to say that the juniors who had joint classes with Seo-jun were in good shape.

“Just think of it as a role. It’s just a role, right?”

Jinho, who was helping with the audition on Tuesday, said cynically, and the music majors who had become close through the joint classes blinked their eyes.

“Grey Vainy! Grey Vainy! The number one on the Billboard Classic Chart!”

“The genius violinist who was praised by Jason Moore and Professor Benjamin Morton!”

“How can you say it’s just a role after hearing Over the Rainbow?!”

“Didn’t you see the busking version that sent shivers down your spine?!”

Jinho shrugged his shoulders at the backlash of the juniors.

“You guys are just roles, but our acting majors are judged by Lee Seo-jun, the actor who played that ‘Grey Vainy’ and won an Oscar.”

“Ah…”

He was not being cynical, but resigned. The music majors’ eyes dimmed.

“No wonder. The acting majors looked like they had no focus…”

“If I were in their shoes, I would feel the same if Jason Moore judged me.”

“Wow. I just got goosebumps!”

It was no joke to be judged by someone who was making a name for themselves in their field worldwide.

“Let’s be kind to the acting majors this week.”

Everyone nodded at the junior’s words. Jinho, who rubbed his arms with a sour look at the affectionate eyes of the music majors, said.

“So just relax. You’re ten times better than us anyway.”

***

“How was it today? It was music, right? How was the audition?”

Seo-jun recalled his memory at Ahn Da Ho’s question.

“They were fine for other instrument majors, but the violin majors seemed particularly nervous. Jinho said it was because of Grey Vainy.”

Ahn Da Ho smiled slightly. He knew that people who wanted to hear Grey Vainy’s violin performance sometimes sent emails to Cocoa Entertainment. There were not only ordinary people who liked music, but also famous overseas classic record companies.

Seo-jun declined them all because he was not interested.

“Really? Then they must have made a lot of mistakes?”

“They did at first, but I thought I wouldn’t be able to pick anyone for the violin part if I left them alone, so I talked to them, praised them, and talked about the violin.”

Seo-jun said with a cheerful smile.

“It felt like I was giving a lesson rather than judging.”

“A lesson from Grey Vainy. They must have loved it.”

“They did look happy.”

It was not just happy, but ecstatic enough to brag about it on their phones as soon as the audition was over, but Seo-jun did not notice because he was listening to other students’ performances.

“Oh, by the way. I wanted to tell you this today.”

“What is it?”

Anh Da Ho said with a smile. Seo-jun’s eyes widened as he heard the story.

Today’s lunch menu was crispy pork cutlet and mushroom soup, juicy meatball spaghetti and fresh orange juice, and golden garlic bread.

Everyone liked the menu, so they moved their hands and mouths busily without talking as usual.

After satisfying his appetite and drinking orange juice, Seo-jun asked.

“But why are you all only auditioning for ‘Mirror Team’? Aren’t you doing any other plays?”

Ju-hee, who knew everything, answered Seo-jun’s question.

“Everyone’s first priority is to get into Mirror Team. If they fail the audition, they’ll go back to their original teams right away.”

“Me too.”

Jinho also nodded his head.

Ju-hee and Jinho had teams that had been preparing for plays since the first semester.

Seo-jun tilted his head.

“Is that okay? What about your original teams if you join our team? You must have gotten roles if you’ve been preparing since the first semester.”

“You can’t cast all of us in your play even if you do it yourself.”

Seo-jun nodded at Jinho’s words.

It would take over an hour even if they only said one line each.

“So we discussed it. As soon as the acceptance announcement comes out, we’ll pick new actors and practice.”

“Whether I get accepted or someone else does, we agreed to understand each other. Well, I can’t help how they feel inside.”

“Of course, there were some who didn’t like the idea of losing an actor in the middle, so they only gathered those who didn’t apply for Seo-jun’s team and made a separate team.”

Jae-han and Joo-kyung also nodded as if they knew.

“You guys are really thorough.”

Seo-jun marveled at the students who had thought of Plan B.

***

After all the school classes were over, the actor audition began.

The first order of the randomly assigned actor audition was the second year.

“Nice to meet you!”

They had seen his face around, but they never imagined they would be able to talk to him so closely.

The second year finished introducing themselves, and Seo-jun’s eyes sharpened.

It might be a school event, and a play made by students only, which might seem like a cute prank to adults, but Seo-jun was never unserious in the genre of acting.

The second year student, who had auditioned with a vague hope of becoming him, swallowed his saliva unknowingly at the change of atmosphere from senior Lee Seo-jun to actor Lee Seo-jun.

The acting majors who had taken acting classes with Seo-jun for three years would have been incredulous at his attitude.

“Then, please explain the character you want to play.”

“Yes, yes!”

The second year student spat out what the instructor at the acting academy had analyzed for him.

***

“Today was the actor audition, right? How was it?”

“It seems like the Dawn Acting Academy is popular among the kids.”

Unlike yesterday, when he judged the music audition, Seo-jun answered Ahn Da Ho’s question without needing time to think.

“…Huh?”

He asked how the audition was, but he did not understand the answer that came back from Seo-jun.

Seo-jun smiled bitterly as he looked at Ahn Da Ho’s puzzled face.

“They had similar character analyses. It was as if someone had given them the exact answer.”

“Ah. I see.”

He finally understood.

It seemed that the students had followed the same analysis that the instructor of the ‘Dawn Acting Academy’ had done.

“Did you like the analysis of that academy?”

“I would have liked it if…”

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders.

“They relied too much on the book for their interpretation. You have to hide what you need to hide and reveal what you need to reveal for a twist. But they all acted like they had something up their sleeves.”

He probably didn’t include the instructor’s opinion to give a hint of a twist to the audience.

“It must be hard to ignore it once you know the twist.”

“But you have to forget it when you act.”

“Then, did you not like anyone in today’s audition?”

“No. But I picked some candidates anyway, just in case this goes on until Thursday and Friday.”

***

On Thursday, when the second audition for ‘Mirror Team’ was held.

The students who had already finished their auditions had bright faces, and those who had to audition in a few hours only looked at their scripts or scripts they had made themselves.

“Lee Seo-jun senior. Wasn’t he scary?”

“I know. If it wasn’t for Han-seok’s advice, I wouldn’t have been able to say anything.”

He was glad he practiced hard and went there.

If he had gone there with a light heart, he would have been crushed by Seo-jun senior’s aura and wouldn’t have been able to say a word.

He decided to get closer to Han-seok, and a friend who was auditioning today asked him.

“Why? Did he get angry?”

“No. He didn’t say anything, but he looked at me really seriously. Did I tell you about my Escape audition last year?”

You did. Dozens of times.

But everyone kept quiet and listened to his audition review.

“It was more piercing than when Director Choi Dae-man and other directors stared at me. It felt like he was going to dissect and analyze every aspect of my acting!”

“Yeah. Maybe because he’s an actor too, his way of looking was different from directors or writers.”

“…He’s not an actor like us, is he?”

“Right. It’s like the difference between heaven and earth.”

The music majors who entered the practice room for joint classes with the acting majors tilted their heads as they heard the story of the second year acting majors.

“He was very kind to me?”

“Me too! He fixed my violin posture and even looked at everything from plucking strings to using bows! I got praised by my teacher in class today!”

“Me too! He liked it when I said I liked Grey Vainy best!”

The second year music majors who heard the story of the second year acting majors who had auditioned smiled brightly and told their own stories.

Monday and Tuesday.

What happened in one day that made such a difference?

“How about art?”

“Huh? He was kind to us too?”

“Lee Seo-jun senior. He knows art well.”

The art students who had taken the background & props audition on Monday also did not have much difference from the music students.

“Why is there such a difference?”

“Did he have a bad day on Wednesday?”

“Oh no. I hope he’s in a good mood today.”

“And tomorrow!”

The second year acting majors who were auditioning today and tomorrow held hands and prayed.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Seo-jun’s judging appearance, which was clearly different, also reached the ears of the third year acting majors.

“Well, it’s nothing.”

“They don’t know Seo-jun well yet.”

Unlike the first and second year students who wondered what the cause was, the third year students shrugged their shoulders and fixed their eyes on the novels and scripts again.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek at his friends’ reactions.

‘Hmm.’

He couldn’t say anything, but he felt strange.

***

Kim Han-seok, who came late to the acting practice room because of a teacher’s errand, tilted his head at his friends’ stories.

“Seo-jun hyung wasn’t in a bad mood, was he?”

“Huh?”

“It was an acting audition on Wednesday. So he judged seriously. He judged more casually on Monday and Tuesday because it wasn’t acting.”

“Then what about today?”

“? I told you. Seo-jun hyung doesn’t go easy on acting.”

The second year acting students swallowed their saliva at Kim Han-seok’s words.

***

Thursday evening.

The promised interview with the author of Mirror, Choi Da Ye, was uploaded.

[Interview with Choi Da Ye, the author of Mirror]

[The novel ‘Mirror’ chosen by Lee Seo-jun will be on sale from Saturday!]

[Mirror, finally available to read!]

[Play first? Book first? For those who are in a dilemma!]

-Wow. That’s no joke for their first meeting. Is this a hidden camera?

-How can you just talk to anyone at a book concert with no audience and that turns out to be Lee Seo-jun?

=Editor-nim. Buy a lottery ticket.

=22 If you have that kind of luck, buy a lotㅠ

-How can he ask such questions after reading a book in 10 minutes?

=Speed reading is no joke.

=Maybe because he’s an actor, he reads a lot of scripts.

-But the author and the editor must have been shocked.

=ㅋㅋ It was like Lee Seo-jun was right next to me!

-I’m going to buy it at the bookstore right away on Saturday.

-Me too. I’m in a dilemma. Should I read the book before watching the play?

=I asked Hero Publishing.

=Oh. What did they say?

=The play hasn’t come out yet, so they can’t tell me anything.

=ㅋㅋ That makes sense butㅋㅋ it’s ridiculousㅋㅋ

-I’ll buy the book anyway, but I think I’ll wait until I watch the play.

=22 You never know when it will be sold out, so I’ll buy the book but read it after watching the play.

=333 It’s a play with Lee Seo-jun, so it would be fun even if I know the twist, but I think it would be more fun if I don’t know it.

=4444 I need to seal it somewhere until December.

-Huh. Is this also after 8 years?

=Right. What was my ID again…

=??What??

=(Link)

[(Exclusive) WTV Film Festival voting starts next Saturday!]

After the birthday event in March that swept the world, Lee Seo-jun’s fan club [Sprouts] (which had a formidable firepower) started to move again, only playing quietly in the fan cafe.

Chapter 251

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 251

Lee Seo-jun’s official fan club [Sprouts].

[Sprouts] started from a fan cafe that was created 10 years ago.

The people who made that fan cafe were having a conversation in a small cafe.

“I never dreamed it would grow so big…”

One of the three administrators who was browsing the fan cafe on their phone, nicknamed [Sprinkler], made a bored expression at the number of members that was vastly different from back then.

Nicknamed [Sunshine], who was drinking a beverage with a lot of whipped cream, smiled brightly.

“It was so funny back then! You made the fan cafe while crying after watching the movie.”

The person who made Lee Seo-jun’s fan cafe while crying after watching Shadowman1, nicknamed [Sob Sob], didn’t realize that Sunshine was teasing him and drank his coffee with a proud face.

“He didn’t care about celebrities and only studied, but he said ‘This actor will succeed. I’ll make it happen!’ while making it. His voice and expression were very serious, but he kept crying. How funny was that? I haven’t forgotten anything even after 10 years!”

Sunshine laughed out loud.

“I thought he wouldn’t do anything like fangirling.”

“Me too! He didn’t do it before, but when he did, he got hooked so fast. Who would have thought that the small fan cafe would be recognized as an official fan club and even apply its name to the fan club. Amazing. Sob Sob.”

“Leave your name in the cafe and what is Sob Sob. But why am I Sprinkler?”

“What do sprouts need to grow well into trees? Of course, good soil, bright sunshine, and cool water! You’re in charge of cool water!”

“No. Out of all the things you could have chosen, why Sprinkler?”

“Because it’s funny?”

Sprinkler poked Sunshine’s side hard.

Ouch!

Even though there was a sound, Sob Sob didn’t pay attention.

As always, he entered the fan cafe on his phone.

A picture of Seo-jun smiling brightly at the fans’ birthday celebration event in March decorated the first screen of the cafe.

It was a picture that made him smile whenever he saw it.

[I edited the book concert photos!]

[I went on a tour with Lee Seo-jun (domestic)]

[I’m sharing Seo-jun’s wallpaper!]

Many posts were created and comments were added in an instant.

Sob Sob felt his chest tighten at the lively activities of the fans.

Sob Sob, who was almost the first official fan of Seo-jun except for his acquaintances.

The fan cafe [Sprouts] that Sob Sob made after watching Shadowman1 had been around 10 years since it was created.

As Seo-jun continued to work on various genres of works, Seo-jun’s fans also diversified.

From children fans who liked ‘Spring’ to middle-aged fans who liked ‘The Royal Physician’ and ‘Rebellion’.

Thanks to Plus+ who welcomed the movies that were released worldwide and Seo-jun’s works, there were also many foreign fans.

Fans of various nationalities and ages were active around the official fan cafe.

Sob Sob, Sunshine, Sprinkler.

[Sprouts], which had only three people, grew up so well.

“But Cocoa Entertainment helped us a lot, so we could balance our daily lives. I was worried about how to do it when I got a job.”

“Right! Of course, I’m a freelancer!”

“Oh, the one who doesn’t have to go home?”

“…You sometimes hit the nail on the head.”

Sprinkler’s words made Sunshine look like he was hurt.

“But it’s true! I have to stay up all night today!”

“That’s not something you should say so brightly?”

Sprinkler made an absurd expression when Sob Sob’s phone rang.

Gray Vainy’s composition, no.1

As the beautiful melody of the violin sounded, the three people turned their eyes to Sob Sob’s phone.

[Cocoa Entertainment Team 2]

“Oh! What is it?”

“Is it because of the book sale on Saturday?”

“It must be! We’re going to be the most chaotic! I’m going too!”

“I have to post an announcement.”

While Sunshine and Sprinkler were talking, Sob Sob answered the phone.

He greeted them with a gentle smile, but his expression slowly hardened.

Sunshine and Sprinkler held their breaths.

“Yes. I understand.”

Sob Sob looked serious enough to be intimidating. Sunshine and Sprinkler started to worry if something big happened to Seo-jun.

“Did something happen?”

“What is it?”

Sob Sob looked at his phone for a moment and turned his head to look at his friends.

What would he say?

They swallowed their saliva and waited.

Sob Sob, who had a serious expression on his face, slowly opened his mouth.

“The WTV Film Festival voting starts next Saturday.”

“…Is that something to be so serious about?!”

“Phew! Thank goodness…!”

Sprinkler shouted and Sunshine collapsed.

Sob Sob answered with the same serious expression, even at his friends’ reactions.

“Of course. Seo-jun’s award is in our hands.”

Relieved that it wasn’t an accident, Sunshine quickly got up and clenched his fists.

“Right! How much did we suffer when he was nominated for the Golden Globe and the Academy! We wouldn’t have worried so much if we had voting rights! This time we can vote!”

“That’s right. We won’t just sit back and watch like last time.”

“I couldn’t sleep until the awards ceremony!”

“Don’t worry. You’ll be able to sleep well this time.”

“Calm down, both of you.”

Sprinkler, who was making a serious expression and talking to Sunshine, opened his mouth.

“We have to post an announcement first. So that Seo-jun can definitely get the award.”

It was obvious, but Sprinkler was also a fan of Seo-jun.

***

[Announcement: The novel ‘Mirror’ will be on sale from Saturday!]

[Announcement: Seo-jun will not appear in the play ‘Juror’.]

[Announcement: Only related people can watch Yeoul Arts Middle School graduation performance.]

[Announcement: Yeoul Arts Middle School graduation performance will be uploaded on YouTube.]

A new announcement appeared on Lee Seo-jun’s fan cafe.

[Announcement: The day has finally come.]

Unlike the usual announcements that could tell the content by just looking at the title, it was an announcement that could not tell its meaning.

It was a title that even felt Sob Sob’s seriousness.

[Announcement: The day has finally come.]

“I posted it.”

Sob Sob’s house, which was closest to the cafe.

Sprinkler, who was making a background image to decorate the main page of the fan cafe, read Sob Sob’s announcement and nodded his head vigorously.

“Everyone will wonder what’s going on.”

“Look at the comments.”

“Huh?”

Sprinkler looked at the comments on Sob Sob’s face, who was smiling contentedly.

-It’s finally this day.

-I’ve been waiting for this day!

-I guessed it from the title!

“…I don’t know anymore.”

Sprinkler turned his head back to his laptop.

“I posted an announcement too!”

Sunshine shouted. Sprinkler sighed and read Sunshine’s announcement.

[Announcement: How to vote for the WTV Film Festival!]

Sprinkler tapped his forehead.

‘Well. Fine. It’s always like this when he writes an announcement.’

He tried to ignore it and focused on his work.

“…Huh?”

Sob Sob, who was sitting in front of the computer, tilted his head. Sprinkler, who was about to turn away, opened his mouth.

“…What’s wrong?”

“The WTV website is down.”

“Wow! Really?! It’s really down!”

“Hmm. Is it because of us?”

“I guess so! It must be because of us!”

Sprinkler looked a bit proud and Sunshine looked innocent. Sprinkler typed on the keyboard with a face that was about to cry.

[Announcement: The WTV Film Festival voting starts next Saturdayㅠ]

-Sprinkler seems to have a weak heart, but he has a punch.

=22 Next Saturday we can break the siteㅋㅋ

=I’ll do my best to break it!

-Voting! Voting! How can you give us a chance to vote as a nation of voting!

-You don’t know how frustrated I was when I couldn’t help him with the Golden Globe and the Oscar!!

=22 Agree. If it was a voting format, we wouldn’t have been so desperate.

-Let’s make sure that Seo-jun can enter the awards ceremony with confidence that he will win the WTV Film Festival!

=222 Let’s do it!!

A little later.

Sprinkler’s announcement seemed to have an effect, as the WTV website was back to normal. He breathed a sigh of relief and uploaded the background image he had been making to the fan cafe main page.

8 years ago, 8-year-old Seo-jun holding a red popcorn-shaped trophy and smiling brightly.

It was one of the fans’ favorite pictures that showed Seo-jun’s joy and happiness when he received his first award in his first and current life.

“It was so nice then!”

“Right. I want to see it again.”

Sunshine and Sob Sob remembered that day 8 years ago.

They were surprised when they found out during the fan meeting, and they mobilized their family and friends to vote, and informed and encouraged them to vote on other sites.

They were so happy when they finally saw Seo-jun holding the trophy and smiling brightly.

“We have to work hard this time too.”

9 days until the WTV Film Festival voting.

This time, all the sprouts from around the world were planning to join forces.

***

[Next Saturday WTV Film Festival voting starts!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, nominated for ‘Best Villain Award’ and ‘Best Acting Award’ as Jin Natra!]

[The first awards ceremony in 8 years! What are the chances of winning?]

[9 days left! Let’s find out how to vote for the WTV Film Festival!]

[WTV website access denied! What is the cause?]

-Sprouts.

-Sprouts.

-Lee Seo-jun fan.

-…Me?

-ㅋㅋWhy do you all knowㅋㅋ

=There was an article about the announcement there.

=It seems like reporters are spying on fan cafes.

=It’s clear that the announcement had an effect, now it’s accessible.

=The cause revealed like thisㅋㅋ

-Sprouts is no joke.

=22 They’re usually quiet, so you don’t even know if they exist, but when they do something, it’s chaosㅋㅋ

=333 The birthday event was really amazing.

-Wow. It’s on the real-time search!

=I get why Lee Seo-jun and WTV are thereㅋㅋBut Sproutsㅋㅋ

=22 Why is it hereㅋㅋ

Lee Seo-jun

WTV Film Festival

WTV Film Festival voting

WTV voting method

NEW Sprouts

NEW Lee Seo-jun fan cafe

***

The writer of ‘Mirror’, Choi Da Ye’s interview and the WTV Film Festival made a fuss on Thursday, and it was Friday. Today is the last day of the audition for the ‘Mirror team’.

The last order of the audition.

Seo-jun, who was sitting still and feeling dull, moved his body around and smiled brightly at the sight of his friend who opened the door and came in.

“Did you wait long?”

“No. I was practicing and it went by quickly.”

Jae-han, who smiled softly, scratched his cheek.

It was awkward to see Seo-jun sitting in front of him. It was more so because the application form that Seo-jun was holding was his.

“It’s a bit awkward to see you like this.”

“I think I’m used to it.”

He was comfortable with the first and second graders who didn’t have much friendship, but the third graders were all close, so they were awkward when they came into the classroom.

Of course, when they started acting, both the third graders and Seo-jun forgot their awkwardness and focused.

Seo-jun opened his mouth first.

“Nice to meet you. Please introduce yourself.”

“Haha. Hello. I’m Kang Jae-han from class 3-2.”

Jae-han, who smiled lightly, responded to Seo-jun’s words playfully.

“You really look like a director.”

“The others said that too.”

Seo-jun lifted his pen over Jae-han’s application form at Jae-han’s words.

“Then let me hear your interpretation of the role you want first.”

Jaehan sighed lightly and opened his mouth at Seo-jun, who looked at his friend with a friendly look and changed his eyes to a professional one in an instant.

Chapter 252

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 252

Saturday morning.

It was early, but the bookstore was crowded with people.

People were lining up at the bookstore?

It was a curious sight that made the passersby look twice.

One of them couldn’t resist asking one of the people in line.

“What’s this line for? Is there a signing event today?”

“No, it’s not a signing event. We came to buy a novel that’s on sale today.”

“Is it a famous novel?”

“The author is a newcomer and the book is not a bestseller, but…”

Lim Yeon smiled.

“The person who recommended it is a famous actor.”

“Oh. Who is it?”

“Lee Seo-jun.”

“What?”

That’s how the line grew.

***

Inside the bookstore.

The bookstore staff who came to work early today stopped moving the boxes of books next to the counter and looked at the situation outside.

“Wow! It’s getting longer!”

“Is it like this at other bookstores?”

“I heard that people are lining up at other bookstores too, but not as many as here.”

One of the staff checked the photos posted on SNS and shook his head.

There were people lining up at other bookstores too, but not as many as here.

“Well, if I were them, I would come to our bookstore too.”

“Me too. I’m planning to buy the book later.”

The bookstore staff knew why people came all the way to this bookstore.

“Lee Seo-jun came to our bookstore!”

This bookstore was the one that hosted the book concert for the novel ‘Mirror’.

That’s why Lee Seo-jun’s fans wanted to buy the book here.

The staff who were estimating the number of people outside and the number of books sent by Hero Publishing House nodded his head.

“But it doesn’t seem like we’ll run out of books.”

“The book concert was in July, right? They must have stocked up since then.”

“That’s why they didn’t release the stock until now.”

The staff who divided the entrance into two parts to distinguish between those who wanted to buy ‘Mirror’ and those who came to the bookstore for other reasons said with a regretful face.

“I was at the bookstore at that time, but I didn’t see him.”

“Me too. I was working hard!”

“I wonder if he was caught on CCTV…”

They all looked at the CCTV on the ceiling with regretful faces.

“I didn’t know that CCTV footage was kept for 30 days.”

“Me neither.”

They chatted while working hard. Thanks to their busy movements, they were able to finish all the preparations before the opening time of the bookstore.

“Okay. Let’s open the bookstore door now.”

The staff who took a break for a moment scattered and got ready to greet the customers.

Soon, the bookstore door opened wide. The people who were in line entered the bookstore.

“Welcome. If you want to buy ‘Mirror’, please go straight to the counter.”

“Please line up here in a row.”

Following the staff’s words, those who went straight to the counter picked up one or two books with a white band around them.

They paid for their books and quickly exited the line.

The line quickly shortened and it was Lim Yeon’s turn soon.

She also picked up Park Seonga’s book, who couldn’t come today, and briefly looked at the book while others were paying.

The white band with black letters and a square pattern, and a single sentence written on it naturally drew Lim Yeon’s attention.

[Looking into Lee Seo-jun’s Mirror[■]]

There was no sentence that could arouse more curiosity than this.

Lim Yeon unknowingly took out her phone and scanned the QR code with her camera.

Not only Lim Yeon, but everyone who had a book in their hands scanned the QR code with their phones.

[Preparing.]

“Oh, right.”

Lim Yeon sighed with a disappointed face.

It was still late September.

There was still a long time until December when Yeoul Arts Middle School’s graduation performance would be uploaded on YouTube.

***

[Title: I bought ‘Mirror’ (novel) … but I’m hesitating.]

I’ve been hesitating for an hour whether I should read it or not.

I haven’t even opened the cover yetㅋ

The band on the book has a QR code that seems to say ‘Watch Lee Seo-jun’s play!’. How can I not hesitate?

It would be fun to watch it knowing what it is, but it would be more fun to watch it without knowing anything.

Me too;;;

=22 I went to the bookstore early in the morning and bought it, but I can’t read itㅋㅋ It’s ridiculous even for me.

=333 Seriously. I don’t know what I’m doing with this book in front of meㅋㅋ

=444 I’m dying to know what Lee Seo-jun saw and chose this book!

I’m not going to read it!

= Why? Do you have a reason?

= Think about The Royal Physician and Rebellion. How much fun would it be for foreigners who don’t know our history. If you don’t know, the emotion is doubled!

= … I’m convinced.

=22 Wow. I was hesitating, but I was convinced in an instant.

=333 I just sealed the book. Let’s stay away until December!

But it wouldn’t be bad to read it.

=22 Think about The Royal Physician and Rebellion. Even if you knew, you felt the same emotion, right? If Lee Seo-jun acts, it would be touching even if you know.

This is really a matter of personal preference.

[Title: I was fooled by the QR code of ‘Mirror’ (novel).]

The QR code on the band was amazingㅎ

I knew the play wasn’t out yet, but I scanned it anyway. And then I got [Preparing]ㅋ

Can’t they at least upload a practice video…

But the QR code is convenient.

The problem is that the phone screen is small.

-?? You can watch it on your phone and then on your computer, right?

= You have to watch this kind of thing on a big screen for the first time.

-The best thing is to see it live… ㅠ

= Insider. I want to be an insider of Yeoul Arts Middle School!

***

The weekend passed and Monday came.

The list of successful applicants for the Mirror team was posted on the bulletin board of Yeoul Arts Middle School.

The kids who were happy and those who were disappointed mixed and looked at the bulletin board.

“Class is over and go to practice room 5!”

Jung Min-hyung, a first-year student in the art department who proudly put his name on the list of successful applicants, shone his eyes.

After school, the Mirror Team gathered in the fifth practice room they had rented until the graduation performance.

The Background & Props Team, the Music Team, and the Actors Team were all there.

Seo-jun smiled as he looked at the kids sitting together.

“Let’s do our best until the performance!”

“Yeah!”

“Thank you!”

“We’ll work hard!”

Seo-jun grinned at the enthusiastic responses of the kids and handed out the scripts he had bound by numbers at Cocoa Entertainment.

“This is the script, and it would be nice if you could read it by tomorrow. The Background & Props Team and the Music Team too. I’ve already decided on the background, props, and music for each scene in the script. Of course, if you have any better suggestions, I’d love to hear them.”

“Okay.”

“Got it.”

The leaders of the Background & Props Team and the Music Team nodded.

“And if the actors have any better ideas, please let me know.”

That’s how the preparation for the graduation performance began.

***

[WTV Film Festival Voting Begins!]

[Let’s Learn How to Vote for WTV Film Festival!]

[Site Crash on the First Day?]

[Thankfully Safe(?) WTV Homepage!]

[WTV, “Trying Our Best!”]

[Sprouts, “Voting by Country.”]

-Oh. It started.

-I found my ID! I’ll go right away!

=LOL I think I saw your post.

-Will the site crash? (Thrilling!)

=22 Came to watch LOL

-WTV: Trying our best to defend!! Please be gentle!!

=Sprouts: Be prepared for a week.

=LOL Is this a war LOL

-So which country is voting today?

=The first day is our country. The last day is America.

=Then I’ll do it today too!

=22 Me too!!

=333 I was going to do it tomorrow, but I feel like I have to do it today!

=WTV: NOoooo!

The voting for WTV Film Festival began.

To prevent the WTV site from crashing due to the influx of fans from different countries, Sprouts decided to divide the countries by days and conduct the voting accordingly.

“I didn’t know it would turn out like this…”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek, thinking it was a good idea.

Not only Seo-jun’s fans, but also ordinary people followed that method.

“Why are they all voting today?”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun laughed at Seo-jun’s question.

“Because it’s fun.”

“Dad, do you want to do it today too?”

They voted too.

They had been looking for their IDs and passwords that they had used eight years ago until yesterday, but they both seemed to have found them.

“Ah, I have to vote too.”

It was a bit embarrassing to vote for himself, but it would be more unfair if he didn’t get an award because of one vote difference.

‘Well, I don’t think I’ll lose.’

He felt confident as he saw his fans encouraging him to vote.

No matter who his opponent was, he didn’t seem to lose.

Thanks to his reliable fans, Seo-jun was able to vote with a fluttering heart without any anxiety.

Bing!

Seo-jun’s phone rang just as he finished voting.

Lee Ji-seok: Voting done.

Kim Jong-ho: Voted.

Park Do-hoon: Done!

Choi So-yeong: Is today right? (Voting proof shot)

Lee Da-jin: Me too! (Voting proof shot)

Mina: Voted!

Ji-woo: I felt like I had to do it today too.

Ji-ho: 222

Ji-yoon: Me too!

Charlie: Unfortunately, today is not France’s voting day.

Charlie: I’ll vote right away on the day after tomorrow!

Grace: I’m in America so it’s the last dayㅠ

Grace: I’ll definitely do it!

Evan: The last day is fine, right?

Rachel: Yes!

Evan Block and Rachel Hill, as well as other acquaintances in America, all sent messages saying they would vote on the last day.

The messages didn’t stop there.

Jason: Jun. WTV Film Festival? Voting.

Jason: Teacher and I are in Paris right now. Do we have to vote on the day after tomorrow?

Benjamin: I thought it was by nationality, but Jason has a different opinion.

“Jason and Professor Benjamin too…”

He never dreamed that Jason Moore and Professor Benjamin, who were performing in Paris, would know about the ‘day system’.

Seo-jun laughed happily at the influence of [Sprouts] beyond his imagination and sent a reply.

<The day after tomorrow or the last day is fine!

<Thank you all for voting!

***

Early October.

Seo-jun and his family packed their luggage to attend the WTV Film Festival.

They skillfully took out their own carriers and folded the clothes that suited the LA weather in October and put them in the carrier.

“Is this enough for clothes? Do I need to pack more?”

“No. I think we have enough clothes now.”

“Dad. Do I need this too?”

“Oh, put that in the carrier too.”

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye, who had finished packing their own luggage, helped Lee Min-jun, who was still packing his luggage.

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye had little luggage because they would return right after the WTV Film Festival, but Lee Min-jun had a lot of luggage because he had to go on a two-week business trip to America after the WTV Film Festival.

Seo-jun looked at Lee Min-jun, who had packed his last luggage, and smiled.

“I hope it turns out well.”

“It’ll be awesome with Jena Trade and Mirror Team participating. Of course, it’ll be a bit pricey.”

Seo-jun nodded at the mention of Hollywood special makeup team, Jena Trade and Mirror Team. They were really good at making the most popular Go Ju Won model at Escape Theme Park.

‘And with Uncle Hee-sang’s skills added, it’ll be really cool.’

Seo-jun giggled as he recalled the concept art that Lee Min-jun showed him.

***

[Actor Lee Seo-jun to Attend WTV Film Festival!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun Departing Today!]

[Shadowman Team Reunites! WTV Film Festival!]

[WTV Film Festival, Live Broadcast on WNET!]

-He left today!

-This must be the last time. Shadowman Teamㅠ

-ㅠㅠBut I’m glad they all got awardsㅠㅠ

=Did the results come out?

=No no no. But look at the buzz, isn’t it a sweep for Shadowman 3?

-Wow. Shadowman Team figures are out!

=(Article link)!!!

Chapter 253

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 253

Figures.

Models of characters from comics, animation, movies, games, etc. that are scaled down and made of plastic, metal, and other materials.

-Wow. Figures? Are they taking reservations?

-Not yet. They haven’t even announced which characters are coming out. They just said they’re planning to make them.

-Shadowman and Bell Natra figures are already out. So if it’s the Shadowman team…

-It must be about Jin Natra and Tul Natra!!

-Jin Natraaa!!

-But Shadowman series is over now. Who’s going to buy them now?

-Me!!

-You don’t think we’ll never see Shadowman series again, do you?

-333 If you don’t buy them when you can, you’ll regret it later.

-But which Shadowman is it? 1 or 2 or 3?

-That’s true. Jin Natra is completely different in 123.

-Wow. What if they make a figure of William from Shadowman 1?

-No way. What if they make a figure of good Jin Natra?

-It would be awesome to collect all 123 Jin Natras haha

-I wish they also made an ending version of William in 3!!

-Villain Jin Natra figure would be cool.

-22 His force would be no joke!!

-I feel like I would have nightmares lol

-Let’s also put William figure next to it lol

-But… can we afford them?

-Why?

-There are too many Seo-jun fans…!

-22 They must be going crazy too?

[Sprouts]

-Seo-jun figures!!

-Omg. To meet baby Seo-jun and little Seo-jun and teenage Seo-jun!!

-It’s not confirmed yet.

-But isn’t the fact that there’s such a story mean that they’ll make them someday?

-Ahhh! I wish they also made figures of Prince Sungnyeong’s mama and Gray and King Danjong and werewolf version!

-222 And Go Joo Won too!! I would buy him even if my bank account is empty if he’s like the model in Escape Park.

-They said that was made by a Hollywood special makeup team… It must be very expensive.

-I’ll start saving from now on!

-I have a feeling that they’ll have limited quantities.

-222 Maybe it’s first come first serve.

-This… will be a huge bloodbath.

“This is going to be huge, isn’t it?”

Kim Hee-sang and Monster’s employees broke out in cold sweat at the reactions of the internet and Sprouts to the casually thrown remark.

“Who said that? That Shadowman series would lose its popularity after it ended and it wouldn’t be that fierce.”

The people in the meeting room looked at Kim Hee-sang.

“It was you, boss.”

“I’m sorry.”

Kim Hee-sang laughed awkwardly and continued.

“It’s Seo-jun’s first figure, so we tried to focus on quality rather than quantity.”

And Kim Hee-sang wouldn’t tolerate anything shoddy from Monster.

“So you called the Mirror team too.”

“I just asked through Cocoa Entertainment, but I never dreamed they would say yes.”

Marina Studio made the concept art and Mirror team painstakingly created the real thing.

Monster planned to simplify the work and mass-produce it.

“Of course, that mass production won’t be easy either.”

To increase the quality, human hands were needed, and that meant higher prices and lower quantities.

“And we also need to limit the number of copies.”

The joy of owning something that others can’t have.

That was the charm of limited edition.

“But… we have to increase it, right?”

“Yes.”

The employees in the meeting room nodded firmly.

The popularity of Jin Natra, who they thought would lose his appeal after the Shadowman series ended, was not so weak.

Kim Hee-sang returned to his office after the meeting and sent an email with the contents decided at the meeting to Lee Min-jun in America.

<Please take care of this.

Lee Min-jun: … You this…!

“It’s good to have a trustworthy friend.”

Hehehe. Kim Hee-sang smiled wickedly and picked up another document, leaving everything in America to Lee Min-jun.

***

“You can choose from these three outfits. The alterations will be done right here.”

While Lee Min-jun was reading the email Kim Hee-sang sent him, Seo Eun-hye and Seo-jun looked at the outfits prepared by Kings Agency for the awards ceremony.

“They look better than in the pictures, don’t they?”

“Yeah.”

Seo-jun nodded at Seo Eun-hye’s words.

They had already chosen three outfits from the pictures Kings Agency sent them when they were in Korea.

“Then I’ll try this one on and come back.”

Seo-jun went to put on the first outfit, and Seo Eun-hye asked the agency staff.

“But he’s grown a bit since we sent the size last time. Is that okay?”

The agency staff smiled.

“There are staff from the three brands waiting. They also sent us several outfits of the same design but different sizes. I’m sure they’ll fix it to fit Jun perfectly once he chooses the design.”

Seo Eun-hye’s eyes widened at the words that skilled people were waiting for Seo-jun.

“They’re waiting?”

“Yes. In the next room.”

Of course, they had divided the rooms so they wouldn’t run into each other.

The Kings Agency staff didn’t expect that the brands would send people separately for Seo-jun Lee, not for the urgent alterations for the WTV Film Festival.

‘And all three brands.’

The agency staff stuck out their tongue inwardly as Seo-jun came out wearing an outfit from ‘Reden’.

“Mom, is this okay?”

Seo Eun-hye and the agency staff looked at Seo-jun.

“Wow! It suits you well!”

***

“Oh, Reden is here too.”

“…Hive?”

“Aresis is here too.”

The three most popular clothing brands in the world gathered in one place, despite Kings Agency’s efforts to separate them.

Hive, Reden, Aresis.

The staff from the three brands looked at each other.

They were the employees who came with the designers.

They were familiar with each other since they worked in the same field.

“I’m glad we came. It would have been a disaster otherwise.”

The designer from Reden sighed in relief and sat down.

The designer from Hive, the oldest brand among the three, spoke up.

“I thought this kind of ‘effort’ would influence the outfit choice, but it’s meaningless if we all come.”

“If we didn’t come, it would have been worse. Seeing that Hive came too, Seo-jun Lee must be really amazing.”

The designer from Reden smirked at the designer from Hive.

“He is amazing. Seo-jun Lee is an actor who can promote to teens and twenties, who didn’t have a suitable model until now.”

“That’s true. It’s hard to find a superstar with more influence than Seo-jun Lee among teen stars. His image is good too. If we maintain a good relationship with him from now on, we can continue to work with him in his twenties and thirties.”

Everyone nodded.

“There’s also a brand that grew thanks to Seo-jun Lee here.”

The staff from Reden and Hive looked at one side.

“We’re always grateful for that.”

The designer from Aresis smiled and said.

“Well, it’ll be tough this time.”

The designer from Hive said, and the designers from Reden and Aresis smiled faintly. Their smiles were friendly, but their eyes were fiery as they faced each other.

***

[WNET, live broadcast of WTV Film Festival today!]

[WTV Film Festival, actor Seo-jun Lee nominated for ‘Best Villain’ and ‘Best Acting’!]

[Hollywood star, what outfit will Seo-jun Lee wear on the red carpet?!]

-Waiting! Live broadcast

-It’s been 8 years already. That little kidㅠㅠ

-I watched the WTV Film Festival 8 years ago on WNET yesterday, and Seo-jun was so small lol

=22 But he was so cute when he gave his acceptance speechㅠ

=Please look forward to Shadowman 3!

=ㅠㅠ We can’t hear that anymore.

=I wish he surprised us. Please look forward to Shadowman 4!ㅠㅠ

-8 years ago, he wore Aresis. It was amazing. It was a really small new brand back then haha

=22 Aresis grew big thanks to him too.

=I wonder what he’ll wear this time.

=Hive and Reden also designed specially for ‘Seo-jun Lee’.

=Wow… that’s impressive.

***

A large car was parked at the end of the red carpet.

The camera that was broadcasting to the whole world turned to the car.

Who would appear this time?

They waited with pounding hearts, and then the car door opened.

It was Evan Block, who had slicked back his black hair completely.

“Kyaaa! It’s Shadowman!”

“Evan Block!”

He waved his hand with a smile to the fans and stepped aside.

Evan Block made room, and then a calm boy with his hair down came out of the car.

Flash flashes went off, and the light seemed to shine on Seo-jun.

The fans screamed and cheered again at his sparkling appearance and aura.

“Jin! Jin Natra!”

“Seo-jun!”

He waved his hand with a bright smile as he heard his name.

Ahhhh!

As the two actors smiled at each other in response to the cheers, they stood in front of the open car door.

They stretched out their palms upward as if escorting someone inside the car, like knights guarding the door.

Their elegant gestures made the fans unconsciously open their mouths.

Rachel Hill’s hands appeared over their hands.

Evan Block and Seo-jun Lee escorted Rachel Hill as she slowly stepped onto the red carpet.

Evan Block, Rachel Hill, Seo-jun Lee.

The shining actors looked stunning in their outfits, and their aura was amazing.

The fans who saw them in person and the people who watched them on TV were amazed.

-Wow… they’re so cool.

-He did an escort, Seo-jun really grew up big.

-That’s true. He was too young to do that 8 years ago lol

Ahh!

As the performance of the three actors set fire to the red carpet,

“…Can we get out now?”

“Seriously.”

Swalin Arnham and Ryan Will, who were ready to get out of the car, laughed with a mix of joke and sincerity.

“Swalin! Director! Aren’t you coming out?”

“Teacher!”

At Seo-jun and Rachel Hill’s call, Swalin Arnham and Ryan Will also got out of the car.

When all five members of Shadowman team appeared, another scream erupted.

Rachel Hill and Seo-jun smiled.

“It’s the end of the series, so we have to go together!”

“I love it!”

The Shadowman team greeted the fans and walked on the red carpet.

Seo-jun waved his hand to the fans, his face full of joy. But he wasn’t as excited as he was back then, when he was young and radiating aura.

‘It’s amazing.’

He was nervous every step he took 8 years ago, but he wasn’t that nervous now. He was still excited and happy.

“Shadowman team! Nice to meet you!”

The reporter with a microphone greeted the Shadowman team with a bright smile.

After a short interview, the Shadowman team entered the awards hall and sat down. Even as he sat down, Seo-jun’s eyes kept looking outside where the photo zone was.

“Hmm.”

“What’s wrong, Jun?”

“I feel a bit sorry.”

The four people looked at Seo-jun.

“8 years ago, I said ‘Please look forward to Shadowman 3’, but I can’t say that anymore.”

“Oh, right.”

“I felt like something was missing too.”

Evan Block and Rachel Hill also looked sorry.

Ryan Will, who was satisfied with the series, smiled softly and Swalin Arnham, who had filmed many movies for a long time, looked at the three actors as if they were cute.

Chapter 254

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 254

As they shook off their disappointment and chatted about various topics before the start of the WTV Film Festival, Rachel Hill’s eyes sparkled.

“By the way, Jun. How is the play preparation going?”

At Rachel Hill’s question, Evan Block, Director Ryan, and Swalin Arnham also perked up their ears.

All four of them had heard about the play from Seo-jun.

Two weeks ago, they had read the script of ‘Mirror’, which Seo-jun had translated himself.

The translation was not that hard, since he planned to add English subtitles when he uploaded the video on YouTube.

“Great. But I have an exam in October. The kids who are practicing with me are also worried about the exam, so we’re only doing readings for now.”

“Exam?”

“It’s a high school entrance exam. It’s an art school, so they have to take an acting test too.”

“Oh, right. The role started from the audition video, right?”

Seo-jun nodded at Evan Block’s words.

“Yes. But from November, I’ll be able to focus only on the play.”

“I wish it was December already!”

All four of them looked forward to Seo-jun’s second play.

As they waited while talking, a loud bang went off. A cheer came from the audience and the WTV Film Festival began.

The WTV Film Festival started with a performance by the most famous band of the year.

The drums pounded hard, the vocals were heavy, the guitars were flashy, and the bass was solid.

Along with them, colorful fireworks burst from all sides and firecrackers exploded.

Seo-jun watched the performance with enthusiasm, just like he did eight years ago.

The amazing performance ended and the MC grabbed the microphone.

Surprisingly, it was the same MC as eight years ago.

As he waited for the audience to calm down, he looked around and turned his gaze to the Shadowman team.

As his eyes met Seo-jun’s, he smiled brightly.

He didn’t know if WTV had deliberately called him, but he clearly remembered the first start of this superstar eight years ago.

As if he sensed the MC’s friendly feelings, Seo-jun waved his hand and the MC continued with a grin.

The two of them were broadcasted live.

-He aimed for it. He aimed for it lol

-WTV is awesome lol

-Seo-jun looks like he hasn’t changed at all since eight years ago haha

The MC briefly introduced the WTV Film Festival and announced the names of the winners one by one.

“The most charming actress award of this year!”

Behind the stage, a screen showed Rachel Hill and other actresses’ faces. The audience shouted out their roles. The loudest name was Bell Natra.

“Rachel Hill!”

Seo-jun and the others clapped as Rachel Hill got up from her seat.

“Congratulations!”

“Thank you, Jun!”

Rachel Hill went up to the stage with a smile and received a popcorn-shaped trophy and a bouquet of flowers.

She opened her mouth to say her acceptance speech in front of the microphone.

“It’s really nice to be called the most charming actress of this year. I hope I can be the most charming actress not only this year but also next year and beyond. It was a fun and happy shooting with the Shadowman team. I want to thank all the fans who voted for me.”

Rachel Hill’s speech ended and a voice came from the audience.

“Princess!”

“Princess Bell!”

Rachel Hill smiled and went back to the microphone at that voice.

She knew that people were speculating that Bel Natra would be Natra’s next king.

“Earthlings. Please take good care of my brother William and Shadowman!”

Wow!

Laughter erupted everywhere.

The WTV Film Festival was light and fun, just like its various and interesting awards.

The Shadowman team greeted Rachel Hill with a smile as she returned with her trophy.

“Then what should I say?”

“I should think about it too.”

Evan Block and Seo-jun thought with a smile on their faces.

The laughter died down and the MC opened his mouth.

“Don’t worry, Princess Bell. William and Muel Natra have become very famous actors. There is no earthling who doesn’t like them.”

Laughter erupted again.

“Next, we will present ‘the best hero award’!”

The MC took out a card from an envelope and smiled meaningfully.

“Well, I thought he was an actor, but his real identity was a superhero! The best hero award!”

“Evan Block!”

The people burst out laughing. Seo-jun, Rachel Hill, and Evan Block also laughed.

-Is he an actor or a superhero lol

-By day an actor, by night a hero?

-He must be busy lol

Evan Block received his trophy and bouquet with a smile on his face that didn’t go away.

“Everyone. Please don’t worry about Bell Natra. I’m very happy.”

Evan Block smiled and continued.

“It’s been 10 years since Shadowman Part 1. I’m really happy to be able to greet you like this. 10 years. It’s a long or short time. I feel the same as then, but our William has grown up.”

The camera lens pointed at Seo-jun.

Surprised by being caught on the screen, Seo-jun opened his eyes wide and then smiled brightly and waved his hand.

“I don’t know what kind of 10 years it was for you, but I was really happy while filming Shadowman. I sincerely hope you enjoyed watching Shadowman too.”

Evan Block bowed and applause erupted.

-Ah. It really feels like the end.

-Right. No one is saying to look forward to it.

-But Shadowman and Bell Natra will probably appear in the Assemble series, right?

=22 The one who probably won’t appear is William.

-William…

“Next is ‘the best villain award’.”

At the MC’s words, the audience and the viewers also raised their hands as if they were expecting the award.

Behind the stage, a screen showed five candidates.

Among them, one actor’s face stood out for being young even after 10 years.

Maybe it was because the other actors had thick facial features, as befitting ‘the best villain award’, that the still young face stood out more.

The MC smiled and opened his mouth.

“He was like that eight years ago, but his voting rate is still no joke. Everyone, please give him a round of applause. Eight years ago, at this place, he received ‘the most notable actor award’. The young actor has returned. He became an amazing actor as you all paid attention to him, just like the name of the award. The best villain award winner is!”

Even before the MC spoke, applause erupted.

Seo-jun’s name and Jin Natra’s name popped up everywhere.

“The terrifying villain who tried to destroy both Earth and Natra, Jin Natra played by Seo-jun Lee!”

Seo-jun’s name was called and cheers erupted.

Jin Natra, William, Seo-jun Lee.

People shouted out the names they liked.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who were sitting in the audience, also clapped with a wide smile and Ahn Da Ho also smiled brightly and took a picture of Seo-jun’s close-up on the screen and sent it to Cocoa Entertainment’s president and staff.

Seo-jun went up to the stage with a bright smile.

He was dazed and stunned back then, almost satisfied with one award. But now he was different.

He was a greedy person who wanted more works, more awards, and more love.

He hugged the popcorn-shaped trophy and the bouquet of flowers that bloomed brightly.

“Hello. I’m Seo-jun Lee.”

Seo-jun’s first greeting was in Korean, as his trademark.

“It’s been eight years since I came up on this stage. The place and the MC are the same, so I feel like I’ve gone back to that time. But time has passed and I’ve grown a lot. I want to tell you how much I love you, who have loved Shadowman without a break for such a long time.”

Cheers and applause rang out.

He was about to turn around and leave after finishing his speech, but he went back to the microphone.

The camera lens captured Seo-jun.

The audience and the viewers held their breath.

It seemed like Seo-jun had a message for the ‘earthlings’, just like Rachel Hill and Evan Block did.

Seo-jun, no, William smiled brightly.

It was a pure and gentle smile.

A smile full of happiness.

A sincere voice.

“Please tell my beloved father and Bel. I’m happy now. Please tell the reliable Shadowman. I’m not lonely anymore.”

The award hall was silent for a moment, as if time had stopped.

Ryan Will, the director, Swalin Arnham, Evan Block, and Rachel Hill looked surprised and then smiled softly.

This was ‘William’s words’.

The young William, who had grown up, was delivering his message.

They thought they would never see it again, but they saw a very short behind-the-scenes of Shadowman, just like a special cookie video.

The audience who saw it directly and the people who watched the WTV Film Festival exclaimed in awe.

-I didn’t expect to see it here.

-He grew up so well.

-This is the real happy ending!

-Seo-jun’s sense.

-But his acting skills are still amazing;;

-222 He changes in an instant;;

-But isn’t this a setting error? William’s memory…(nope)

-Let’s say it’s a parallel world.

Seo-jun went down from the stage and the winners of other categories were announced.

Seo-jun and the Shadowman team also congratulated the actors with applause.

And finally, the last order came.

The MC took out a card from an envelope and straightened his shoulders.

“A little while ago, I didn’t expect to see this actor’s acting with my own eyes. It was a very impressive acting skill that silenced this large award hall in an instant. The Golden Globe and the Academy also praised his acting skills and gave him trophies. We can’t miss out on that! The best acting award winner is!”

Even before the name was called, applause erupted. Seo-jun Lee’s name was shouted from the audience.

The MC shouted loudly with the loud voices.

“Seo-jun Lee!”

Seo-jun received his second award and headed to the stage. Cheers and applause came from the audience.

“Hello. I’m Seo-jun Lee.”

He opened his mouth to say his second acceptance speech after looking around the award hall for a moment.

“I felt it when I entered the award hall today. I can’t say ‘please look forward to Shadowman series’ anymore. When the shooting ended, I might have thought in the back of my mind that we would shoot again in a few years.”

The people listened to Seo-jun’s voice attentively.

“My first movie appearance was Shadowman and my first challenge of villain acting was also Shadowman.”

It was also because of Shadowman that he opened two libraries that he had never opened at the same time in his long previous lives.

“My first award was also Shadowman. It was ‘the most notable actor award’ that I received here at WTV Film Festival. No one would know how happy and grateful I was.”

‘Really.’

It was an award that he finally received after going through many previous lives.

The people who didn’t know his long story would never know how happy ‘Seo-jun’ and ‘the first life’ were.

“I was really happy while filming Shadowman. It was the most enjoyable movie, a very important movie in my life, and a movie that I will never forget.”

The actor, Seo-jun Lee smiled brightly.

“I sincerely thank you for loving my most beloved Shadowman.”

Seo-jun bowed and applause erupted.

They felt how much he loved Shadowman, loved it, and would love it.

“That’s nice. Director.”

“Yes. That’s nice.”

Swalin Arnham said and Ryan Will smiled broadly.

They couldn’t hate it when the actor they worked with loved the movie so much.

***

[Hollywood actor Seo-jun Lee wins ‘the best villain award’ and ‘the best acting award’!]

[8-year-old Seo-jun Lee and 16-year-old Seo-jun Lee on stage!]

[A surprise cookie?! Shadowman appears at WTV Film Festival! Bell Natra! William!]

[WTV Film Festival, actor Seo-jun Lee with two trophies!]

[Actor Seo-jun Lee’s most beloved movie, Shadowman!]

-Seo-jun, congratulations on your award!

-I watched it without worrying this time haha

=Me too. It was different from the Golden Globe and the Academy lol

-I didn’t expect to see a cookie at the film festival!

=Bell Natra and Shadowman and William… It was really good.

-He was great in Grey Vainy too, but he really changes.

=22 He’s really amazing.

-It’s really over. Shadowman.

=He might appear in Assemble, but Shadowman series is over.

=William is gone too.

=I have to console my empty heart with a figure!

=22 When will it come out?!

Chapter 255

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 255

[Hollywood actor Lee Seo-jun returns to Korea!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun chooses ‘REDDEN’! Astronomical advertising effect!]

[REDDEN, “A design only for JUN!”]

-Seo-jun is here!

-I thought he would wear Aresis again, but he chose Redden.

=Redden’s official SNS has a lot of photos of Lee Seo-junㅋ

-Redden, huh… Should I buy something?

=ㅋㅋThe advertising effect is realㅋㅋ

***

Seo-jun took a day off to adjust to the jet lag after returning from the US and went to school the next day.

Everyone he met in the morning congratulated him.

After all the classes were over, he went to the practice room and was greeted by his mirror team members.

“Seo-jun, congratulations on your award.”

“Senior, congratulations on your award!”

“Thank you.”

The first and second graders, who had felt distant from Lee Seo-jun, also congratulated him with sparkling eyes.

Seo-jun smiled and handed out the snacks he brought from the US.

Seo-jun and the kids sat together and ate snacks while chatting.

“What did you guys do while I was away? The third graders must have been busy with the entrance exams.”

“The music department practiced songs for the background music!”

“Uh… The background team was looking for props!”

The second grader from the music department answered Seo-jun’s question cheerfully.

The second grader from the art department followed right after.

The third graders from the music and art departments smiled and said.

“I don’t know why it’s so fun to do other things than practicing our skills.”

“Me too. I keep coming here to watch the kids.”

“But skills are more important. You guys have skill tests this month too.”

“The acting department has bigger problems.”

The actor team, the third graders from the acting department, Kang Jae-han, Yang Ju-hee, Jeon Seong-min, and Park Si-young, who had dark circles under their eyes, stuffed a piece of snack into their mouths with a blank expression.

“Who would have known that the competition rate for Mirinae High School’s acting department would be so fierce.”

Seo-jun recalled the article he read in the US at the words of the third grader from the music department.

[Which school will actor Lee Seo-jun attend during the entrance exam period?]

[Mirinae High School’s acting department, which belongs to the same ATR Foundation as Yeoul Arts Middle School, has a competition rate of 13.55:1!]

[Mirinae High School, 542 applicants for 40 seats in the acting department!]

[Art high schools across the country are worried about overlapping applications due to Mirinae High School’s application status!]

-Oh. Is it already time for high school entrance exams?

-Do you think Seo-jun will really go to Mirinae High School?

=There is a high possibility. A lot of Yeoul Arts Middle School students apply to Mirinae High School.

-Is Mirinae High School good?

=It’s very good. It’s a school established by ATR Foundation in the same year as Yeoul Arts Middle School. It has more autonomy and support than Yeoul Arts Middle School. And it’s cheapㅎ

=It’s popular too. If you make a good work, they will put it on stage for a fee. And that’s at Eunhasu Center! They also hold exhibitions for paintings and sculptures and concerts.

=But it’s not easy.

-There are many actors, idols, and artists who graduated from Mirinae High School. Lee Da-jin and Choi So-yeong are also from Mirinae High School.

=Now Lee Seo-jun will join them too.

-Wow… The competition rate is insane.

=It’s been insane since two years ago. When we were in third grade, we knew that Seo-jun might come in as a freshman.

=ㄴㄴㄴThe competition rate for college acting departments is almost 150:1, so 13:1 is like pharmacy.

-Aren’t all the talented actors among the third graders in the country going to Mirinae High School?

=There were signs of that since two years agoㅋㅋ

-I was a bit bored because all the actors in movies and dramas were familiar faces, but it will be crazy when they become adults.

-ㅋㅋThe golden generation?

=You can call them that (serious)

=The third graders from Yeoul Arts Middle School are good at acting. Kim Joo-kyung from One Step is going to be in a drama next week.

=I work in the broadcasting industry, and there are many third graders from Yeoul Arts Middle School among the child actors who passed the audition.

=222 There are even directors who only want third graders from Yeoul Arts Middle School.

=The parents and agencies of child actors also know how good the third graders from Yeoul Arts Middle School are. It’s weird that the competition rate is only 13:1.

=Wow…

-They have the influence to change the rules of other art high schools;;;

=222 Seo-jun’s influence is no joke;;

-Will they show the skill test on YouTube again?

=Mirinae High School also shows it like Yeoul Arts Middle School. Of course, if the student agrees.

=Seo-jun will agree for sure!

=I want to see it!

-But what if it’s like the opposite again?

=ㅋㅋㅋThen I’m happy!

=22 We’re happyㅋㅋ

***

The teachers of Mirinae High School’s acting department gathered before the skill test.

It was a meeting to decide who would judge the skill test, but it was more noisy with other topics.

“He’s really coming to our school. Lee Seo-jun.”

“I know. I’ve never seen him in person, but I never dreamed of seeing him like this.”

“Mr. Jung, you taught Seo-jun when he was in first grade, right? How was it?”

Jung Si-woon, who had judged Yeoul Arts Middle School’s skill test and taught Seo-jun acting when he was in first grade, shrugged his shoulders.

It was common for teachers to move from Yeoul Arts Middle School to Mirinae High School or vice versa, as they belonged to the same ATR Foundation.

Jung Si-woon also came to Mirinae High School a year ago.

“It’s hard to say that I taught him. He was already a good actor before that.”

“An actor, not a student?”

“He’s too good at acting to be called a student. When I taught him in first grade, I couldn’t find anything to correct, I just watched him mesmerized. Now that two years have passed, he must be even better.”

The other teachers nodded at Jung Si-woon’s words.

Well, what could they teach an actor who won the Golden Globe and Academy Awards, which no Korean actor had ever received?

“Phew. It’s going to be hard to teach him.”

Shadows fell on the teachers’ faces.

“Mr. Jung. Do you have any tips?”

“We can’t just stare at his acting all the time.”

“Think of it as exchanging opinions rather than teaching. Not as a freshman student, but as an actor.”

“…Can we exchange opinions with a Hollywood actor who won an Academy Award?”

How should they deal with that?

Everyone’s face turned serious.

It felt like they were looking at themselves three years ago.

Jung Si-woon smiled and said.

“Just treat him as a good actor. He’s normal when he’s not acting.”

‘He’s terrifying when he’s acting.’

That was something they had to experience for themselves.

Everyone was worried about how to treat Seo-jun (no one thought he would fail) as they talked about various things.

Then, the topic of the acting department entrance exam, which easily surpassed the historical competition rate, came up.

“Ah, by the way, it would be better for Seo-jun to take the exam at the very last.”

The teachers of the acting department, who were already tired of watching the performances of over 500 students, tilted their heads at Jung Si-woon’s words.

“Why?”

“If you see Seo-jun’s performance, youwon’t like the performances of the students who come after him. He’s good for his age, but Seo-jun has a different impact, so you only see the flaws.”

“Ah…”

“I tried to be as objective as possible when I scored him in the middle school practical exam, but I can’t say that Seo-jun’s performance didn’t affect me at all.”

The teachers nodded.

“That happens quite often. It must be the same for other schools.”

“Right. It’s not like the order is based on skill, and we can’t tell them to do worse after seeing someone good.”

“It’s not just acting, but music and art too, right? If they see a performance or a work that is above the standard, the judges’ eyes will get higher and the criteria will collapse.”

“But we can’t push back the order of the good students either.”

“Well, it’s true that we have to judge as fairly as possible as judges…”

They all sighed.

“Seo-jun is out of the norm.”

If they do well within the expected range, they can maintain the standard, but if they do better than imagined, their eyes get higher and the standard crumbles.

“So it would be better to put Seo-jun’s order at the end.”

“I guess so.”

The teachers agreed with Jung Si-woon’s words.

“Now that you say that, I’m more curious about Seo-jun’s performance.”

“Me too. But there are only three seats for judges on Friday…”

This year’s practical exam at Mirinae High School was held from Monday to Friday, unlike the usual two-day exam due to the enormous number of applicants.

Since three people couldn’t judge all the practical exams for five days, they decided to assign different judges for each day.

‘If Seo-jun is the last one… Friday!’

Friday was the only day when they could see Seo-jun’s performance in the five-day practical exam. The teachers’ eyes sparkled at the opportunity to see Seo-jun’s performance right in front of them.

“Then let’s decide now.”

Jung Si-woon, who didn’t participate in this practical exam because of his work experience at Yeoul Middle School, took out a box.

There were neatly folded pieces of paper inside. The teachers took turns picking one and prayed fervently.

“Come on!”

“Ah…!”

“Sigh…”

The winners were three.

It was a very fair lottery.

***

Time passed and it was the last week of October, Monday.

Seo-jun looked around at his friends’ empty seats when he arrived at school.

The practical exam at Mirinae High School was held for five days from today.

Many students skipped school altogether and went to Mirinae High School for their morning exams.

Kim Joo-kyung’s seat was also empty.

“I hope Joo-kyung does well.”

Jae-han said and Jinho nodded.

“Of course. She’s in a public broadcast drama now. She’s so good at acting that there’s no way she’ll fail.”

“She’ll do well.”

Seo-jun and Ju-hee also nodded.

Joo-kyung: Done with the practical!

Ju-hee: Good job!

<You did well!

Tuesday.

Joo-kyung came to school after taking her exam yesterday and Jinho was absent.

“Jinho will do well too.”

“He doesn’t seem to know what nervousness is.”

“That’s true.”

Seo-jun and his friends laughed cheerfully.

Jinho: Finished!

<Good job!

Jinho: But they recognized me lol

Joo-kyung: How could they not lol

Ju-hee: You know how many people watched Escape lol

Jae-han: lol

<lol

Wednesday.

Jinho came to school and Ju-hee and Jae-han’s seats were empty.

Since Jeon Seong-min and Park Si-young from Mirror Team, who were actors as well, were taking their Mirinae High School exam today, the first and second graders prayed hard for their seniors.

“Please let all our seniors pass!”

“…Why are you doing this to me?”

“You’re the god of acting!”

The juniors prayed to Seo-jun with playful faces.

Seo-jun smiled at the juniors who had become close enough to joke with him.

“Should I take a picture and send it?”

The third graders from the music and art departments giggled.

(A picture of the juniors praying)

Ju-hee: Done!

Jae-han: Finished!

Ju-hee: What is this lol

Jae-han: Tell them I’m really grateful!

<You both did well!

<(An emoticon of a bear holding a light stick)

Thursday passed and it was Friday.

Today was the day Seo-jun took his practical exam.

Seo-jun, who had his practical exam in the afternoon, decided to leave after lunch.

As he packed his bag to leave early, his friends said to him.

“Seo-jun, do well and come back!”

“I don’t think you’ll fail, but don’t be complacent.”

“Do you think Seo-jun will ever act badly?”

“…Oh. Right.”

They all nodded at Ju-hee’s words. Seo-jun smiled and said.

Chapter 256

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 256

The waiting room for the practical exam at Mirinae Arts High School.

The students who were assigned to the last time slot started to enter one by one.

The guardians were not allowed to enter the waiting room, so they could only give their nervous children some last-minute advice and encouragement at the door.

“I’m here!”

“You came early, huh?”

There were no numbers on the chairs, so the students who were close to each other sat together.

Some students were reading their prepared scripts to ease their anxiety, while others were chatting in low voices to distract themselves.

“Do you think we’ll take the exam with Lee Seo-jun?”

“I wonder. There was no sighting of him online, right?”

“Yeah. None of the students from the previous time slots saw him either.”

“Then he must be in our time slot.”

One student sighed lightly.

“I hope he’s not right in front of me.”

The boy who was sitting right behind the two students shuddered.

“Why?”

“Because if the person in front of you does well, it leaves a strong impression.”

“That’s true.”

The other students in the waiting room unconsciously listened to their conversation.

“Can you imagine how impressive Lee Seo-jun’s acting would be? The person who goes after him would get a low score even if they do well.”

“…Do you think so?”

“The teachers might be impartial, but they can’t be completely unaffected.”

The boy who was sitting behind them sighed inwardly.

Exam number 541, Woo Jae-hyuk.

Three years ago, his exam number was 275, right after Lee Seo-jun’s 274.

After the practical exam, Lee Seo-jun got accepted to Yeoul Arts Middle School and even starred in a blockbuster movie called ‘Rebellion’, while Woo Jae-hyuk failed to get into Yeoul Arts Middle School and went to a regular middle school.

‘Of course, it’s not Lee Seo-jun’s fault….’

He would be lying if he said he didn’t have any resentment in his heart.

Why did he have to apply to the same school as him, why did he have to take the exam on the same day as him, why did he have to be right before him?

But that resentment soon disappeared.

It was after he saw the videos of the students who got into Yeoul Arts Middle School on YouTube.

He was stunned by Lee Seo-jun’s performance.

He wondered how shocked and amazed the teachers who saw him in person must have been.

He thought that anyone who followed Lee Seo-jun would inevitably be compared to him, no matter how well they acted.

And he realized something else as he became a middle school student and auditioned for various works.

There were child actors who were better than him even in small plays.

And among those child actors, there were some who didn’t get cast.

That’s when Woo Jae-hyuk realized how harsh the world he was standing in was.

This world was like that.

The person who auditioned right before you could be an Academy Award winner, or your rival could be a Cannes Film Festival winner.

‘…Well, those actors wouldn’t audition for these roles anyway.’

Woo Jae-hyuk laughed bitterly as he thought of Lee Seo-jun, an exceptional top star.

If it wasn’t for the entrance exam, he would never have to audition with Lee Seo-jun.

That meant that his competitors were not easy either.

A world full of people who had better skills than him.

So Woo Jae-hyuk decided to hone his skills more.

‘I won’t be overshadowed by Lee Seo-jun or anyone else!’

That was his determination, but he still prayed hard in his heart when he applied for Mirinae Arts High School.

‘I’m not good enough yet, so please let Lee Seo-jun be behind me!’

He submitted his application form as soon as possible, but he never dreamed that they would randomly decide the order of the practical exam.

‘The probability of Lee Seo-jun being behind me is lower than the probability of him being among the 20 people in front of me.’

But at least he wouldn’t be right before him like in Yeoul Arts Middle School.

‘…Right?’

Woo Jae-hyuk was trying to read his script that wouldn’t sink into his head because of his nervousness when the door of the waiting room opened.

“I’ll wait for you in the car. Call me when you’re done.”

“Okay. Da Ho hyung.”

A man who seemed to be his guardian and a familiar voice were heard.

The students in the waiting room looked up at the sound of a voice that was similar but different from what they heard on media.

“Holy crap. It’s Lee Seo-jun!”

It was Lee Seo-jun.

The students who saw him for the first time, as well as Woo Jae-hyuk who saw him for the second time after three years, gaped at the sight of the real star.

Lee Seo-jun smiled faintly at their dumbfounded reactions and sat on an empty chair.

“Excuse me…”

“Hm?”

One of the students who was near Lee Seo-jun bravely spoke to him.

Wow!

The eyes of the other students sparkled.

“Can I ask you what your exam number is?”

Lee Seo-jun tilted his head and answered.

“? It’s 542.”

“! I see! Thank you! Oh, finish reading your script!”

“? Okay.”

542!

‘He’s the last one!’

Woo Jae-hyuk and the other students breathed a sigh of relief.

And then they all took out their phones.

<Lee Seo-jun is here!

The internet started to buzz with sightings of Lee Seo-jun.

***

“Hello! I’m exam number 541, Woo Jae-hyuk!”

The teachers gathered their strength for the last practical exam.

To be honest, exam number 542, Lee Seo-jun, was almost guaranteed to pass, so the real final exam was this 541 student.

They smiled gently at Woo Jae-hyuk who was very nervous and opened their mouths.

“Please introduce yourself and do a free acting.”

“Yes!”

Woo Jae-hyuk relaxed a bit after introducing himself and prepared for his free acting.

‘My score might not be completely unaffected by Lee Seo-jun.’

He looked at the camera that was recording and took a deep breath in and out.

He was going to act as one of the characters from a youth play.

The teachers nodded their heads as they watched Woo Jae-hyuk’s performance.

They didn’t expect much from him since he didn’t have many works under his belt, but he did very well.

They forgot about scoring for a moment and just watched his acting.

“Thank you!”

Woo Jae-hyuk bowed deeply after giving his best performance and left the exam room.

The teachers put on serious expressions and gave him his score.

“Come to think of it, there weren’t many students who acted as the characters that Lee Seo-jun did.”

“They must have realized it.”

Three years ago, there were no students who acted as the characters that ‘Lee Seo-jun’ did in the YouTube videos of the students who got into Yeoul Arts Middle School.

“There’s already a perfect answer, so showing a different acting would only make them look inferior.”

‘Are they stubborn or blind?’

They wondered about the students who still chose to act as those characters.

It seemed like both of them had the skills.

The teachers shook their heads as they recalled the students who acted as Danjong and Go Ju Won.

“Even if they have a different interpretation, it’s hard to get a decent score if they’re not as good as ‘Lee Seo-jun’s acting’.”

And now it was time for the perfect answer, ‘Lee Seo-jun’.

***

“Number 542. Come in.”

“Yes.”

Lee Seo-jun entered the exam room.

The teachers who had finished scoring all the students felt relieved and relaxed a bit, but they tensed up again as they saw Lee Seo-jun coming in.

They tried to hide their anticipation and kept a straight face, but their eyes were shining.

They were not in the posture of judges, but of spectators who came to watch a very short play for two minutes.

“Hello. I’m number 542, Lee Seo-jun.”

He was the last student of Mirinae Arts High School, and the surest candidate to pass, as expected by the teachers, Lee Seo-jun himself, the other students, and everyone else.

“Please introduce yourself and do a free acting.”

The second grade teacher smiled brightly and said.

It was a smile that seemed to erase all the fatigue that had accumulated from the morning and afternoon exams.

The other two teachers were no different.

“Yes.”

Lee Seo-jun nodded and introduced himself.

His introduction was longer than when he took the Yeoul Arts Middle School exam.

The content was similar, saying that he loved acting and wanted to continue working hard on his projects, but he had more works and awards to mention.

The teachers almost clapped their hands at the works and achievements that flowed out of Lee Seo-jun’s mouth.

It was hard to believe that this was only a 16-year-old’s resume.

“Then I’ll start my free acting.”

Lee Seo-jun’s words made the teachers swallow their saliva.

Would it be a tense acting like in Yeoul Arts Middle School exam, or a cold villain acting like Jin Natra in Shadowman?

The three of them held their breath and only looked at Lee Seo-jun in front of them.

His face turned pale in an instant.

His trembling eyes that looked at someone, his lips that tried to smile as usual. But his heart was burning.

The boy struggled to speak.

“…Do you like Yoon Seon-woo?”

The boy tried to keep his voice from shaking.

He looked at the surprised girl with warm eyes, with wounded eyes.

“You like Yoon Seon-woo, right? You’re happy when he’s happy, right? You’re sad when he’s sad. Your heart beats so fast when he holds your hand that it feels like it’s going to break, and it hurts so much when he turns his back on you, right?”

How do you know that, she seemed to ask with a puzzled face.

He maintained the smile that he always showed to her, but his face eventually crumbled.

How could she not notice when he said so much?

That meant that her attention was entirely on Yoon Seon-woo.

He clenched his heart that felt like it was being squeezed by pain.

He had always smiled at her.

He spoke like her reliable friend as usual.

“Go now. Yoon Seon-woo is still at the airport.”

His eyes followed her grateful expression and her leaving figure.

He didn’t blink until she became a dot and faded away.

His vision blurred.

The pain and sorrow that he had been holding back burst out.

“…I feel the same way.”

He barely uttered a word and his chin trembled.

Tears wetted his pale cheeks.

He poured out his heart that he had hidden until she left.

In a place where no one could hear him, he confessed like that.

“…I’m happy when you smile. I’m sad when you’re sad. I’m happy when you’re happy. My heart beats so fast when you hold my hand that it feels like it’s going to break, and it hurts so much when you turn your back on me that it feels like my heart is being crushed.”

He grabbed his chest hard.

His pain seemed to be visible as much as the wrinkles on his clothes.

“It hurts so much right now that I feel like I’m going to die.”

It felt like time had stopped.

It was painful to breathe.

He wanted to hold her back many times.

He wanted to confess many times. But he didn’t do that.

“I don’t have any greedy thoughts…”

Yoon Seon-woo liked her too, so it would be a happy ending if he gave up his love.

He was satisfied as long as she was happy.

“So… Just once. Just once.”

He remembered.

That dazzling and radiant smile.

The smile that made him unable to take his eyes off her for a single moment, the smile that made the whole world look beautiful.

The smile that she gave to Yoon Seon-woo.

“Please smile at me like that.”

The tears that ran down his cheeks fell from his chin to the floor.

***

“Thank you.”

He returned to his normal face and wiped his tears with a tissue that he had prepared in advance.

The boy who gave up his love for the happiness of the person he loved turned into an ordinary boy who came to take the exam in an instant.

‘He’s not ordinary.’

The teachers who were mesmerized by his first word came to their senses at Lee Seo-jun’s words.

“Oh, yes. You did well. You can go now.”

They watched him bow and leave the exam room.

The three teachers thought the same thing at the same time.

‘Is he really in love with someone?!’

Chapter 257

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 257

Lee Seo-jun’s acting is special.

He makes the character seem real, as if he brought them to life.

‘Lee Seo-jun’ disappears and only the ‘role’ remains.

It was the same for Prince Seongnyeong, Jin Natra, and Gray Vainy.

He was not Lee Seo-jun, but Go Ju Won and King Danjong.

Because his acting was so perfect, people distinguished ‘Lee Seo-jun’ from the characters above.

They might imagine Lee Seo-jun in those roles when they still had emotions from watching the movie, but they did not think that ‘Lee Seo-jun’ would destroy the earth or that ‘Lee Seo-jun’ was Gray Vainy.

Because those characters were stories that were far from ‘reality’.

But what if.

Lee Seo-jun acted as a ‘student of his own age’. Would people be able to distinguish between the role and Lee Seo-jun?

Of course, Lee Seo-jun himself and his acquaintances knew the difference between the role and Lee Seo-jun, but the three teachers who judged him did not.

The look of real love in his eyes, the wounded expression, the earnest voice.

The teachers were amazed by Lee Seo-jun’s acting, which seemed more real than reality.

“…It’s acting, right?”

“It seems like acting, but it also seems like not…?”

“Whether it’s acting or making it real, he’s really good. I feel like I didn’t even breathe while watching.”

The teachers were still thinking about Lee Seo-jun’s acting after the free acting was over.

“Oh, this is not the time.”

“They must be waiting.”

The teachers got up from their seats and headed to the conference room next to the staff room.

There were other acting teachers sitting in the conference room.

“You’re here!”

“Let’s see it quickly!”

While connecting the camera to the projector beam, one teacher asked the three teachers who judged Lee Seo-jun.

“How was it?”

“It was amazing. He had a different presence when I saw him in person.”

“Oh. What kind of acting was it?”

“You’ll see it faster if you watch it yourself.”

The three teachers who already knew smiled leisurely.

“Then let’s start.”

The light came out of the projector beam and a blank test room filled the white screen.

Soon Lee Seo-jun opened the door and entered.

Jung Si-woon smiled fondly at his student who had grown up so much.

Lee Seo-jun introduced himself and started his free acting.

Jung Si-woon’s eyes sparkled at Lee Seo-jun’s changing atmosphere.

When students act as students, they usually reflect their own selves in their acting, but Lee Seo-jun was perfectly ‘in character’.

The teachers’ hearts ached at the boy’s eyes that were dripping tears but looked wounded at the camera.

Some teachers even reddened their eyes.

The boy’s unrequited first love was bitter just by looking at it.

Lee Seo-jun’s acting ended and the video turned off.

The teachers who were watching with their mouths open came to their senses.

“…He’s good.”

That was the first word that came out.

“But…maybe he was thinking of someone he really likes and acted?”

“I thought so too. He didn’t change his atmosphere as much as other characters, maybe because of that?”

“Really? I thought he changed his atmosphere a lot when he started?”

“It’s because his role is a student.”

The teachers’ eyes gathered at Jung Si-woon’s voice.

“A student?”

“Yes. For example, think of it like this.”

Jung Si-woon continued his words.

“Let’s say Lee Seo-jun is blue. Jin Natra is black, William is yellow, Danjong is green, Prince Seongnyeong is light green. Lee Seo-jun changes his color like this every time he acts and paints his own color on the work.”

Oh.

The acting teachers nodded their heads at the easy analogy.

“But this time, ‘Choi Eun-yul’’s acting is very similar to blue. Something like sky blue or navy blue. Or maybe a more similar color…”

Jung Si-woon took out his phone and searched.

“Midnight blue, cerulean blue, royal blue, cobalt blue…there are many kinds. Anyway, the color of the character ‘Choi Eun-yul’ is similar to ‘blue’, so it looks similar to ‘Lee Seo-jun’.”

“Then if he does something similar to ‘blue’ in the future, that is, if Lee Seo-jun plays a role like an ‘actor’ or a ‘student’, won’t people be confused?”

It wasn’t like that now, but in the past there were people who sincerely thought that actors who played villains were bad.

That was also ‘image fixation’.

Jung Si-woon shook his head.

“Think about how designers can distinguish colors well. It’s familiarity. You’ll be able to distinguish between midnight blue and blue if you get used to it. It’s just that this video is too short, you’ll be able to tell the difference if you watch it for 10 more minutes. Lee Seo-jun’s acting is so perfect that you can easily tell that they are different.”

“That’s true.”

The three teachers who judged him nodded their heads.

When they looked at the video again, Lee Seo-jun’s appearance before and after acting was different.

They were surprised at the time, wondering if Lee Seo-jun had someone he liked, but Lee Seo-jun who was acting was ‘the boy’ himself.

“Besides, there won’t be anyone who will only watch Lee Seo-jun’s acting once. You’ll be able to tell the difference after a few times. Except for the dull ones.”

Everyone nodded their heads as if they understood Jung Si-woon’s words.

Then a second-year teacher asked.

“But Choi Eun-yul, do you know this work?”

“Ah. This is a teen drama that MBS did. It was probably a web novel as the original.”

“Oh. Really?”

“Yes. The actor who played ‘Choi Eun-yul’ couldn’t act, so the script was changed in the middle and it ended up as a flop. I don’t know how he got the original script. I heard rumors that Cocoa Entertainment collects all kinds of scripts, but I guess it’s true.”

The acting teachers tilted their heads.

They said it was a failed drama, but Jung Si-woon knew too well.

“How do you know so well?”

At one teacher’s question, Jung Si-woon smiled brightly.

“I was the male lead.”

***

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, passed Mirinae High School in advance!]

[Mirinae High School passers announced! So when are the practical videos?]

[Mirinae High School practical videos, scheduled to be uploaded tomorrow!]

[Practical videos, scheduled to be uploaded at 6 pm today!]

-It’s here!!

-Practical videos! Practical videos!

-No!! I have to work overtime today!!

=…Today is Friday? It’s Friday nightㅠ

-Why does no one care about passing?

=? There’s no way Lee Seo-jun would fail, right?

=22 Even if you doubt other things, this is acting, right? How can Lee Seo-jun fail?

-Seo-jun! Congratulations on passing!!

-What kind of acting did he do this time?

=I have no ideaㅋㅋ

=He did a 10-year-old movie for Yeoul Middle School practical test, right? Maybe this one is also pretty old?

=Whatever it is, I’ll wait!

As soon as it was 6 p.m. on Friday, the videos of the practical skills of the pre-announced successful candidates were uploaded on YouTube.

[541st, Woo Jae-hyuk]

[542nd, Lee Seo-jun]

Seo-jun’s video was at the very end, probably in order of the exam numbers.

What kind of acting would he show this time?

People clicked the play button with excited faces.

***

Bang!

Startled by the loud noise from inside the room, the assistant writer flung open the door.

There was So Eun-jin, a writer who had made a name for herself as a star writer after her debut novel, banging her head on the desk.

“Ms. So! What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Should I call 119, 119?!”

“I’m f-fine…”

“You’re not fine at all?! You looked so happy just a while ago, saying you would find some ideas by watching Seo-jun’s practical video, but you became so depressed in less than 10 minutes?!”

So Eun-jin, who didn’t even notice the assistant writer’s frantic state, shed tears inwardly.

‘How could I have seen this here…!’

The novel she had posted on the internet half-jokingly and half-seriously when she was in high school, following her friends who were reading and writing everywhere.

It became popular and published, and then popular again and made into a drama,

The online novel [Waiting for the Star].

So Eun-jin, who was the original author and a senior in high school at the time, could only stare blankly as the drama became a mess, starting with her most beloved character ‘Choi Eun-yul’.

That resentment became the motivation for So Eun-jin to become a drama writer.

‘Waiting for the Star’ was So Eun-jin’s first work and the one she wrote with the most joy without thinking about the readers or anyone else, but that was also the problem.

‘It’s my dark history!’

So Eun-jin raised her head again and looked at the monitor.

Her forehead was red and the assistant writer made a fuss again, but So Eun-jin only moved her mouse.

‘But Choi Eun-yul is so Choi Eun-yul…!’

It was as if Choi Eun-yul, whom she had only imagined in her head, had really appeared.

As soon as she pressed the play button, Seo-jun moved on the screen.

The speaker played Choi Eun-yul’s voice and both the assistant writer and So Eun-jin were captivated by Seo-jun’s acting.

“Ms. So.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you know what this work is?”

So Eun-jin touched her forehead at the sight of the assistant writer who seemed to have fallen in love with Choi Eun-yul who was shedding tears.

‘There must be more than one or two people like this.’

She thought of those people who would look for the drama and then look for the original novel.

As the original author, So Eun-jin felt happy but also complicated as if she was exposing her diary to the world.

And if the cause was superstar Lee Seo-jun, the aftermath would be enormous.

‘Seo-juuun!’

***

While everywhere was buzzing with Seo-jun’s practical video, there was a gloomy place.

November.

It was the high school seniors who were fighting for college entrance exams.

“Hey, Seo-jun’s practical video is out.”

Break time.

Holding her phone hesitantly, her friend Lim Yeon said to Song Yu-jeong who tilted her head.

“Why don’t you watch it? It’s not even two minutes long, right?”

“I keep replaying it. The college entrance exam is in less than two weeks and if I watch it now, I’ll watch it until I get sick of it. But I don’t get sick of it and that’s the problem.”

She entered YouTube and clicked on Seo-jun’s video.

Now all she had to do was press the play button.

Lim Yeon groaned as she moved her finger back and forth.

“Really?”

At Song Yu-jeong’s calm words, Lim Yeon tilted her head.

“Yu-jeong, don’t you like Seo-jun?”

“No, I do…”

Song Yu-jeong scratched her cheek.

“Well. His works are fun and I always watch them when he appears and I’m happy when he gets an award but he feels too famous and distant. Like he’s not from this world? And I’ve been watching him since he was very young so I feel familiar with him and he feels like a brother. It’s hard to explain in words.”

“There are people like that too.”

Not everyone who liked Seo-jun was a passionate fan.

There were people who jumped from one fandom to another and people who only watched him once.

Lim Yeon, who respected individual preferences, sparkled her eyes and pushed her phone to Song Yu-jeong.

“Then watch this and tell me your thoughts! No spoilers!”

“Do I have to do that?”

“Yes, yes!”

“…Okay. Fine.”

The future Song Yu-jeong would have grabbed the collar of the present Song Yu-jeong who was holding Lim Yeon’s phone and told her not to watch it now, but to watch it after the college entrance exam!

Without knowing anything about the future, Song Yu-jeong took the earphones and phone from Lim Yeon who was smiling brightly. She put on the earphones and pressed the play button.

“So… Just once. Just once.”

A soft voice was heard.

It was a voice that revealed tenderness and loveliness that could not be hidden by the effort to act calm.

“Smile for me too.”

Song Yu-jeong stared blankly at Seo-jun who was shedding tears.

His eyelashes fluttering with the blinking, the tears rolling down his cheeks, his forehead twisted with pain.

And Seo-jun’s sparkling black eyes that were in love.

The time that was less than two minutes felt like it stretched to two hours.

Song Yu-jeong unknowingly pressed the play button again.

“Smile for me too.”

Her heart pounded with every word of Seo-jun, and her head spun with every movement of his.

Song Yu-jeong forgot to breathe and pressed the play button again.

“? Yu-jeong? Song Yu-jeong?”

Idol fan for 8 years.

19-year-old Song Yu-jeong had her first crush on an actor.

***

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, shedding tears.]

[The aftermath of Lee Seo-jun’s crush from everywhere!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, now capable of romance?]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, charming even when crying!]

[The work chosen by Lee Seo-jun, the first online novel drama ‘Waiting for the Star’!]

-The first articleㅋ It definitely got some attention.

-Seo-jun cried! He cried!

=ㅠㅠ He’s handsome even when he cries! No, he’s more handsome because he cries!

-My friend also had a crush. She only likes idols but she joined the fandom right awayㅎ

=22 My friend tooㅋㅋ

=333 I admit. Crushㅎ How can I not join when he asks me to smile while cryingㅠ

-I’ve been waiting for this day! Romance! Seo-jun doing romance!

=He’ll probably do some romance works soon.

=But Korean dramas are like doctors dating and detectives datingㅋㅋ

=Korean drama-love=0 ㅋㅋ

-Where did they find this classic;;;

=22 Waiting for the Star…;;; My dark history;;;

=333 I still have the book at home.

=444 I secretly read it and cry these daysㅋㅋ

-But what is Waiting for the Star?

=…To see a generation gap here…

=(Link) It’s a masterpiece. Read it!

-Don’t watch the drama. The sub male lead is ruined. Just watch Seo-jun’s practical video.

Chapter 258

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 258

Out of the 40 students in the third year of acting at Yeoul Arts Middle School, 21 passed the entrance exam for Mirinae High School.

The teachers at Yeoul Arts Middle School were surprised by the high number of successful applicants.

“It’s amazing, even though they didn’t get any extra points for being in the same foundation.”

“Besides, some of them changed their career paths to regular high schools or to production instead of acting.”

There were various reasons for each student.

Among those who did not apply for Mirinae High School, some were afraid of Seo-jun’s and other students’ talents and left, and some became interested in music or art classes and changed their career paths.

“If we exclude those students, the acceptance rate would be even higher.”

“The ones who failed are not bad either…”

“It must mean that there were a lot of talented third graders who applied.”

The teachers nodded their heads.

Simply put, out of the top 40 child actors in the country, 21 were from Yeoul Arts Middle School.

***

“Joo-kyung, Jae-han, Jinho, and Ju-hee also passed. Seong-min and Si-young, who are preparing for the graduation performance with me, also passed.”

“Really? That’s great.”

“Now that the music and art students have finished their exams, we can start preparing for real. Ugh. It’s going to be so much fun!”

“How long can you rent the school practice room?”

Seo-jun and his parents were eating apples and chatting in the living room.

Today, Kim Jong-ho’s talk show that he filmed to promote the play ‘Juror’ was going to be aired.

“It’s starting.”

Kim Jong-ho who played the father role, Choi Chan-young who played Park Kyung-won, and the actors who played the lawyer and prosecutor roles were sitting side by side on the stage.

The MC, who was asking and talking about the play ‘Juror’, its casting process, and rehearsal situation, opened his mouth.

“There is an interesting statistic.”

The MC smiled as he flipped through the cue cards.

“Do you know that the reading population has increased significantly in the second half of this year? Especially, the sales of ‘Juror’ and ‘Mirror’ have exploded. The online novel ‘Waiting for a Star’ is also selling a lot of e-books.”

Kim Jong-ho and the actors, and Seo-jun and his parents who were watching on television, laughed as if they knew why.

[Reading population increases suddenly! What is the reason?]

[Buy ‘Mirror’ and ‘Juror’ along with other books!]

[From neighborhood bookstores to large bookstores! Bookstore outing!]

[Publishers and bookstores are busy! Let’s find out this month’s events!]

-I read some books this year thanks to Seo-jun.

=22 I went to bookstores a lot last year when I never went before.

-Buying other books while buying ‘Mirror’ lol

-‘Juror’ was interesting.

=Waiting for a Star was not bad either?

=22 It was childish but I cried a lot when I read it at night lol lol

=What about Mirror?

=No one would have read it. They said they would read it after watching the play lol lol

=It’s really amazing lol lol Why can’t they read it after buying it!

-I haven’t bought Mirror yet. I think I’ll read it if I buy it because I’m curious.

=22 Me too.

=There seem to be quite a few people like that. But shouldn’t we buy it by December? Won’t it be sold out all at once when the graduation performance gets closer?

=The publisher must be prepared too.

-We don’t need a reading promotion policy. Just let Seo-jun upload a two-minute video once a month.

=lol No other promotion needed lol lol

-Anyway, publishers and bookstores are enjoying Seo-jun’s special effects until the end of the year lol lol

***

In mid-November, when Yeoul Arts Middle School’s Mirror team was practicing hard,
the play ‘Juror’ opened at Eunhasu Center.

The first day of the play ‘Juror’ was scheduled for the friends and acquaintances of the actors and staff, as well as general audiences.

“The entrance for the invited seats is this way.”

The staff’s voice directed the friends and acquaintances of the actors and staff to move their steps.

Seo-jun, Lee Ji-seok, and Park Do-hoon, who received invitations from Kim Jong-ho, also headed to the theater. The managers of the three actors followed them.

“Seo-jun. Did you buy flowers?”

“They’re in the car. I’ll bring them after the play. What about you, Do-hoon hyung?”

“Me too. They’re in the car. It’s uncomfortable to watch the play with them.”

Park Do-hoon nodded his head at Seo-jun’s words and stepped into the theater.

Lee Ji-seok, who was following Seo-jun and Park Do-hoon, tilted his head.

“Seo-jun. Why don’t you ask me?”

“I thought you wouldn’t buy them, Ji-seok hyung. Right, Do-hoon hyung?”

“Yeah. Hyung buying flowers for uncle Jong-ho… ”

Seo-jun and Park Do-hoon laughed at the unimaginable scene. Lee Ji-seok wondered if he should go and buy some now.

Seo-jun, who was laughing softly, looked at the audience seats and tilted his head.

‘Huh?’

When he entered the theater, he saw that the first three rows of seats near the stage were blocked and no one could sit there, and the next few rows were invited seats, and behind them were general audiences.

Lee Ji-seok also tilted his head at the strange situation.

Seo-jun quickly took out his invitation and checked his seat.

“Ji-seok hyung, Do-hoon hyung. It’s over here.”

Seo-jun and the two actors sat in the center of the invited seats where they could see the stage best.

The managers of the actors sat behind them.

“The seats are nice.”

“But why can’t we use the front seats?”

“Maybe they’re going to use them for the performance? Sometimes there are plays that involve the audience seats.”

“But Spring wasn’t like that…”

Lee Ji-seok didn’t know either, so he tilted his head at Seo-jun’s question.

While they were wondering, the invited seats were filled up and the general audiences also came in one by one.

Park Do-hoon, who looked around the full audience seats, smiled and said.

“Thanks to Seo-jun’s promotion, it’s sold out.”

Seo-jun and Lee Ji-seok also smiled.

“I heard that from uncle Jong-ho too. They’re thinking about extending the performance…”

“It may have been unintentional, but it was perfect noise marketing.”

The three actors chatted with each other.

The eyes of the friends and acquaintances of the actors and staff who were sitting in the invited seats turned to them.

They covered their faces with hats and masks, but they could recognize Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon.

And one more person.

They couldn’t tell at a glance why, but if they knew that Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon were there, they had to figure out who the actor was.

“Wow. It’s Seo-jun.”

“Hey, Kim Suhan. Seo-jun is here.”

Kim Suhan, who stretched his neck and looked at where his friends were pointing, looked at the stage with a regretful face as he heard the beep sound of the start.

***

The black curtain slowly rose up.

“Wow.”

“Whoa.”

Seo-jun, Lee Ji-seok, and Park Do-hoon exclaimed at the stage that appeared as the curtain rose.

The stage composition of ‘Juror’ was unique.

It was as if they had made another stage on top of the stage, making it higher.

Lee Ji-seok nodded as if he understood.

“That’s why they didn’t use the first three rows. The stage is too high, so you have to look up if you sit in the front seats.”

The second floor stage was decorated as a courtroom.

The jury box where the protagonist of the novel sat was on the far left, with nine jurors of different genders and ages.

The prosecutor’s seat was next to it, and the judge’s seat was in the center of the stage.

The defense’s seat was on the right.

Those who had read the novel tilted their heads.

The Jury was a novel that alternated between the courtroom and the imagined reenactments of the past by the judge, the prosecutor, and the defense.

“But do they only show the courtroom scenes? What about the scenes at home or at the hospital?”

“Good question.”

As Seo-jun, Lee Ji-seok, and Park Do-hoon wondered, the trial began with the judge’s appearance.

The prosecutor stepped forward in front of the judge’s seat and gave a brief overview of the case.

Then he stepped back, and the front part of the wall that looked like a simple platform under the second floor stage split open to both sides.

Wow!

Seo-jun and the two actors exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

The other audience members were also surprised and widened their eyes.

When the first floor stage opened, a living room of an ordinary house appeared.

When the front door opened, it seemed that the floor of the second floor stage also opened, as there was a hole in the center of the second floor stage.

The prosecutor’s seat on the left, the judge’s seat in the center, and the defense’s seat on the right.

It was as if they were looking down at the living room from the courtroom.

“Amazing, right?”

“Yeah. This way, they can easily create other locations too.”

Park Kyung-won, who was sitting in the defendant’s seat, got up and walked back.

There seemed to be stairs leading to the first floor stage behind the defense’s seat.

In the meantime, he changed his clothes from his defendant’s outfit to casual clothes.

“Wow.”

Kim Jong-ho, who played Park Kyung-won’s father, came out.

His distorted face with bloodshot eyes and fierce aura filled the theater.

Seo-jun and the two actors, who had been admiring the stage direction, closed their mouths and stared at the actors’ performances.

Park Kyung-won fought with his father and stabbed him without hesitation, as the prosecutor claimed. Bright red blood splattered and his father died.

The door of the first floor stage closed.

The defense attorney who stood in the center of the stage defended his client. The door of the first floor stage opened again, and this time Park Kyung-won’s father died by accident because of Park Kyung-won’s mistake.

The jurors, prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys watched it from above on the second floor stage.

“I thought they would just make another stage on one side…”

“The director is amazing.”

The audience members were immersed in the trial process and past reenactments that flowed smoothly.

They marveled at how accurately they recreated each situation according to what the prosecutor and defense attorney said.

The witnesses’ stories continued. Whenever there was an important story, without fail, the door of the first floor stage opened and showed either Park Kyung-won or his father with a witness.

The second floor stage was a courtroom.

The first floor stage was a past reenactment.

It could have been a confusing structure, but with appropriate adaptation and brilliant acting by the actors, it made everyone wonder about the truth of the case.

Seo-jun’s eyes turned to the jurors.

They were the most important role in the book, but they became the least important role because the audience members became the jurors themselves. But the actors who played the jurors were working hard.

Park Kyung-won answered all the questions obediently as in the novel. Both unfavorable and favorable ones.

The prosecutor and defense attorney gave their final arguments.

“The defendant committed a premeditated murder!”

“This case was nothing but an unfortunate accident!”

Their loud voices echoed throughout the theater.

The audience members also nodded along with either the prosecutor or defense attorney’s opinions.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The jurors’ opinions were delivered and the judge opened his mouth.

The judge sided with the defense.

The contrast between the angry prosecutor and the happy defense was striking.

After the trial ended, Park Kyung-won, who was about to leave through a door prepared next to the defense’s seat, looked at the audience seats and said,

“Why are you crying?”

In that sentence, there was a cold satisfaction that his plan had ended successfully.

He sneered at the people who were fooled by his plan.

The audience members spat out a sigh of disgust at Park Kyung-won’s appearance, realizing that the prosecutor was right.

‘Hmm.’

It seemed that either the director or the actor interpreted him as a smart and crazy person like Ju-hee.

It was different from his interpretation, but it was a great work, so Seo-jun clapped his hands with all his might.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The audience members couldn’t take their eyes off the fight and the past reenactments that were different from the prosecutor and defense attorney.

They gave a big applause to the actors who showed their best performances.

Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon also smiled satisfiedly and clapped their hands.

“It was fun. They did a good job adapting it.”

“Yes. It had a different charm from the book.”

“Then let’s go give Uncle Jong-ho a bouquet of flowers!”

At Seo-jun’s words, Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon laughed and got up from their seats.

***

Song Moon-seok, the author of the novel The Jury, sat at a small table set up next to the lobby of the Milky Way Center.

He had come to watch the play The Jury.

A publishing company employee who came with him asked.

“Mr. Song, how was it?”

“It was fun. They kept the important parts well and the stage direction was good too. The actors were beyond words.”

“Right? Especially Kim Jong-ho and Choi Chan-young did well. I got goosebumps at the last line.”

Ah, the last line.

Song Moon-seok’s face clouded over with dis-satisfaction.

“Maybe because of the false report that Lee Seo-jun was cast, but there was a sold-out line and even inquiries for extension performances. Maybe it will be made into a movie. Oh, Mr. Song, I’ll be back after taking a call.”

“Okay.”

The publishing company employee who was excited by the unexpected success left, and Song Moon-seok took out a coin from his pocket and put it in the vending machine.

He wanted to drink something cold to ease his stuffy chest.

He took out a can of soda and sat down on a chair.

That’s when it happened.

“The last line?”

“Yeah. I think it’s a bit different from my interpretation.”

“Really? What’s your interpretation?”

Song Moon-seok’s hand stopped as he was about to drink soda.

He listened to the voice.

“Hmm. A crazy person without emotions? I think Park Kyung-won doesn’t understand people’s feelings at all.”

Song Moon-seok trembled at the interpretation that seemed to look into his mind.

“He doesn’t understand why people cry or laugh, so he answers all the questions from the prosecutor honestly, no matter if they are unfavorable or favorable to him. He doesn’t care what verdict is given either. The last line is also him asking why they are crying because he really doesn’t understand.”

Song Moon-seok got up from his seat. Soda full of carbonation spilled over the table.

The publishing company employee who came back after taking a phone call ran over in surprise.

He grabbed Song Moon-seok who was looking for the owner of the voice.

“Mr. Song! Your clothes!”

“Just, just a moment.”

“First, wipe this with this… Mr. Song?!”

Song Moon-seok ran towards where the voice came from, but there were many people in the lobby after the play ended.

Men and women, children and adults. Song Moon-seok looked around the lobby quickly.

The publishing company employee followed Song Moon-seok with a bewildered expression.

“What’s wrong? Mr. Song?”

“No, nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Oh, I just got a call from the publishing company. They said they want to produce your work into a drama…”

The publishing company employee’s voice faded away.

Song Moon-seok looked around the lobby with a longing look in his eyes.

Chapter 259

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 259

The waiting room at the Milky Way Center.

“Then, senior! I’ll go ahead!”

“Okay. Don’t drink too much, you have a performance tomorrow.”

“Yes!”

The actor Choi Chan-young, who played the role of Park Kyung-won, bowed his head with a bright face and left the waiting room.

“I got goosebumps at the end. You were amazing.”

“Huh. Really?”

“The stage direction was also impressive. This play is going to be a hit.”

The voices of Choi Chan-young’s friends, who seemed to be outside the slightly open door, were heard.

Kim Jong-ho and his manager both smiled at the excited voices.

“But why are these guys not coming?”

“Should I call them?”

“No. They’ll be here soon.”

Kim Jong-ho, who grumbled for a moment, sat on a soft sofa and waited for someone while reading the script again.

Knock knock.

He heard a familiar voice and closed the script with a smile.

His manager also opened the door of the waiting room with a smile.

In front of the door, there were two shining actors and one actor who was good at acting but not so good at personality.

“Uncle Jong-ho! We’re here!”

“We enjoyed the play today.”

Seo-jun and Park Do-hoon gave Kim Jong-ho a bouquet of flowers with a smile.

He looked unbalanced with two big bouquets of flowers on his grim face, but Kim Jong-ho was very happy.

“Thank you both.”

“Hey, hyung? Can’t you see me? I’m here too.”

Kim Jong-ho didn’t care about Lee Ji-seok, who was fidgeting in front of him, even though he was good at acting but not so good at personality.

Lee Ji-seok’s manager, Yoon Seong-oh, laughed at the familiar sight and handed Lee Ji-seok a paper bag he was holding.

Lee Ji-seok smiled and took out what was in the paper bag.

“It’s a happy day for Jong-ho hyung to be on stage for the first time in 10 years. How can we miss champagne! I bought the most expensive one from the store.”

Wow!

Seo-jun and Park Do-hoon looked at him with a surprised expression, but soon nodded as if they expected it.

There was a reason why they got along well for a long time despite their bickering.

“Ji-seok, you bought this? That’s unusual.”

Kim Jong-ho said while stroking his chin.

It was a curious voice, but his lips curled up slightly, showing that he liked the champagne gift.

“I can’t drink it.”

Seo-jun pretended to slump his shoulders as he was underage. Lee Ji-seok laughed and said.

“You can drink it too, Seo-jun. It’s non-alcoholic.”

“…Then it’s not a gift for me, is it?”

Non-alcoholic champagne. That was just a soda.

Kim Jong-ho looked at Lee Ji-seok as if to say that’s right.

Lee Ji-seok shrugged his shoulders with a playful face.

Then Seo-jun and Park Do-hoon, and the managers laughed at the familiar sight of the two actors.

“Then let’s go have dinner.”

“Can we go with you? Don’t you have a dinner party or something on the first day of the play?”

At Seo-jun’s question, Kim Jong-ho recalled the actors who left for a celebration party with their families and friends after finishing the first performance successfully.

They all stopped by the waiting room to say hello to Kim Jong-ho.

“There are a lot of families and friends of the actors today. It’s the first day, so they should spend some quality time with their families. We can have dinner on the last day of the play.”

At Kim Jong-ho’s words, Seo-jun nodded his head.

“Then where should we go?”

“I have a place reserved.”

At Lee Ji-seok’s words, Park Do-hoon raised his hand.

The actors and managers moved to the passage that only staff could use, not to the lobby of the Milky Way Center where the audience was.

“Should we go in one car?”

“Then let’s take my car.”

“Shall we?”

The three actors got into Seo-jun’s car, which was the biggest among the actors’ cars.

Lee Ji-seok’s manager, Yoon Seong-oh, decided to go with them and Park Do-hoon and Kim Jong-ho’s managers decided to go home.

And Yoon Seong-oh drove Lee Ji-seok’s car to follow them.

Ahn Da Ho got into the driver’s seat.

The four actors who sat facing each other fastened their seat belts.

Kim Jong-ho carefully put the flowers next to him so they wouldn’t get damaged.

He hesitated for a moment and then coughed and asked.

“So, how was the play?”

At Kim Jong-ho’s question, the three actors opened their mouths as if they had been waiting.

“They all did well. There was no one who stood out and the dialogue modulation was good for the play.”

“The emotions of the actors were consistent. Even when the audience’s eyes were on the first floor stage where they reenacted the past, the atmosphere of the courtroom on the second floor remained the same.”

“That’s right. They all looked focused even though they might have been distracted. And it wasn’t easy to act the same scene twice with different atmospheres, but they acted convincingly for both the prosecutor’s and the defense’s arguments.”

Kim Jong-ho smiled at the compliments that poured out. They were serious actors when it came to acting, so it was a reliable evaluation.

“Chan-young did well. The other actors too.”

He recalled the police officer who left the courtroom with Park Kyung-won at the end without saying a word, the jurors who looked at the trial with a grim or sobbing face, and the judges who looked down with dignity.

And the witnesses who testified with a tense tone as they recalled their memories.

“They all practiced hard.”

It was a good thing to be talked about, but it was a burden to be talked about more than he imagined.

The actors felt more pressure as the opening day approached, as the play became more popular due to the false report of ‘Lee Seo-jun’s appearance’.

The only way to overcome the pressure was to practice harder.

Kim Jong-ho, who held the center of the actors who practiced day and night with anxious faces, thought of his three friends who were talking happily about the jurors.

His heart seemed to have widened a little as he spent time with actors who loved acting.

Maybe he could give some advice to his junior actors again.

He smiled, thinking that Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon would be happy if they heard it.

“I think we became closer than usual when we do plays.”

Kim Jong-ho smiled contentedly and said, thinking of the juror team actors who practiced hard.

The three actors who loved acting also smiled brightly.

“You’re hyung’s favorite actors… It’s been a long time, right?”

“That’s right. Introduce us next time, uncle Jong-ho.”

“I want to meet them too.”

“Okay.”

Kim Jong-ho nodded his head.

They were all good actors, so they would get along well soon.

***

[The play ‘Juror’! Amazing stage design!]

[Actors Kim Jong-ho and Choi Chan-young, showing off their brilliant acting skills!]

[The past seen from the courtroom! Who is the director?]

[Prosecutor? Defense? Whose argument was right?]

[The author of the novel ‘Juror’, Song Moon-seok’s other novels to be dramatized?]

[The play ‘Juror’, sold out every day!]

-Wow. The stage was no joke. They made a whole new stage.

=Wow… You saw it? I’m jealous.

=Friendship chance. It was an invitation seat.

=You have such connections… ㅠ Well. Tell me more.

-_______ >> Pro Judge Def

=ㅣ_ㅣ_ㅣ >>ㅣ_ㅣLiving roomㅣ_ㅣ

=I thought it was just a stage, but it opened like this. The audience was noisy when it opened.

=When the door closed and opened, it changed to a hospital, living room, and outdoor.

-They didn’t let the audience sit in the first three rows because of this stage direction.

=So that’s why my seat was gone!!

=I don’t care if my neck hurts! I want to see it!

-The direction was great, but the actors were also good.

=Kim Jong-ho is obvious, but Choi Chan-young, who played the main character, was also good.

=I got goosebumps at the end!

=The novel ended ambiguously with whether it was the prosecutor or the defense, but the play decided on the prosecutor’s side and made a twist.

-Why don’t they broadcast this? ㅠ

**

After school.

Before starting the mirror practice, Seo-jun looked over the script and stage direction of the mirror.

After watching the play ‘Juror’, which was also based on a novel like the mirror, he saw some parts that he wanted to change.

But after thinking for a moment, Seo-jun closed the script.

He couldn’t change anything more unless he could use the stage alone.

‘Mirror is not that kind of story anyway.’

He thought it would be better to do as planned.

Before starting the practice, Yang Ju-hee, who was talking and laughing with the music team kids, joked.

“What about music? We can’t do it live, right?”

“Absolutely not.”

The third-year music major who was in charge of the music team shook his head firmly with a pumpkin-like expression.

The Yeoul Hall where they had their graduation performance had a space between the stage and the audience seats.

It was a space where an orchestra could play along with an opera performance.

Ju-hee’s suggestion was to have the music team play there and give live background music along with the play.

The music team kids also shook their heads vigorously.

“Why?”

When Kang Jae-han tilted his head, the music team leader laughed.

He remembered when he first met Seo-jun and the actor team who had a late class today.

“Seo-jun is too good at acting!”

The music team and background team kids nodded their heads.

They couldn’t forget that scene on the first day.

“Ready, action.”

Seo-jun’s words made him fall into it along with the actor team kids.

The familiar practice room turned into a stage with spotlights in an instant.

The kids stopped playing music or making backgrounds and stared blankly at the actors.

The actors who acted with all their strength as if they were really on stage even though it was practice.

It was so powerful that they thought to themselves that this was why people went to see plays.

‘…Are they practicing for the first time today?’

‘I see why they are called the golden generation.’

‘I laughed so hard when I heard that… I don’t think I can laugh anymore.’

The music team and background team kids swallowed their saliva as they watched the actors who created a beautiful color by turning their surroundings into black and white.

“If we play live, we have to watch the play and match the timing. I think I’ll be mesmerized by your acting and can’t even conduct.”

If the timing of the music was wrong, it would create a discord with the play.

Seo-jun, who was momentarily tempted by Ju-hee’s words, weighed the pros and cons of live performance and came to a conclusion.

‘Let’s record as planned.’

Meanwhile, Jung Min-hyung, a first-year art major who had a late class today, arrived while the kids were congratulating the third-years.

“I’m sorry I’m late!”

“No, it’s okay.”

When all of the mirror team kids gathered, Seo-jun got up from his seat.

“Then let’s start today’s practice.”

There were less than four weeks left until the graduation performance.

Chapter 260

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Chapter 260

Two weeks before the graduation performance.

The music team gathered at the recording studio of Yeoul Arts Middle School to record the last song for the play.

The music team leader and the seniors, who were checking the sheet music for any unsatisfactory performance, gave the juniors a break as they looked tired.

While tuning their instruments, someone spoke.

“Mirror, they started selling it overseas, right?”

“Yeah. Seo-jun’s foreign fans are buying it like crazy.”

“I saw a review by someone who read both the Korean and English versions. They said the translation was good.”

The English version of the novel ‘Mirror’ began to sell overseas.

As Seo-jun’s foreign fans bought the book, the sales increased and it entered the rankings.

As it entered the rankings, more people became interested.

And as the news of a Korean novel selling well overseas came out in articles, even those who were not interested searched for the book at least once.

Just like in September, the novel ‘Mirror’ was selling like wildfire in December.

“It’s still selling a lot these days. The publisher must be busy.”

“Ugh. I’m nervous that so many people will watch our play.”

At the first grader’s words, the second and third graders shivered.

They had only participated in competitions at the national level, but soon they would be playing for the whole world.

“I’m glad it’s a recording.”

“As Ju-hee said, it would have been a disaster if it was live.”

“How about the acting team… They must be trembling.”

The kids thought of Seo-jun and the acting team who were practicing hard in the practice room and nodded their heads.

“Then let’s start recording.”

“Yes!”

At the music team leader’s words, the kids answered cheerfully.

While the music team was working hard, the background & props team was also busy.

In the warehouse connected to Yeoul Hall, there were props and items for each team that would go up on the graduation performance.

The background team leader, who stood at the place designated for ‘Mirror Team’, checked one by one with a checklist.

“Costumes!”

“They’re all here!”

The costumes that five actors would wear were hanging on hangers.

Jung Min-hyung, a first grader who checked for any tears or dirt, shouted.

“Props!”

“They’re all here!”

From large props to small ones that added details to the play.

The second grader who borrowed or made what they needed shouted.

“Furniture?”

“They said they’ll send it next week.”

The third grader who found and arranged furniture that was hard to make and not available at school answered.

A checklist with no empty space.

The background team leader smiled contentedly at the perfect preparation.

“Now let’s practice moving them. Seo-jun gave us a layout. We have to practice if we want to move them on stage within 10 minutes.”

“Yes!”

One week before graduation performance.

The kids who were performing could skip morning and afternoon classes.

“They’ll open Yeoul Hall from tomorrow, so we can practice on stage. The time is divided by teams, so we can only do it then.”

At Seo-jun’s words, Mirror Team nodded their heads.

“Then let’s practice in the practice room and rehearse on stage.”

“I’m nervous about rehearsing?”

“Let’s borrow a camera from the teacher and record and monitor it.”

The acting team kids agreed with each other and Seo-jun turned his eyes to look at the music team and background team.

He looked at the music team leader and background team leader alternately and opened his mouth.

“We need someone to adjust the lighting and background sound effects.”

The music team had finished all their work and the background team had only one thing left to do: decorate the stage on graduation day.

Then it would be hard for background team leader.

“Chae-yeon, can you do it?”

“Uh. I’m not confident but I’ll try.”

Kim Chae-yeon, music team leader and piano major, nodded her head.

It would be better than playing live while watching the play anyway.

The background team leader cheered for Kim Chae-yeon.

“You’ll get used to it by tomorrow and do well on that day.”

“…I wonder if I can get used to it.”

And the next day.

The first rehearsal on stage for ‘Mirror’ began.

Seo-jun, who was sitting on a chair with his head down waiting for spotlight to turn on, lifted his head at the light that didn’t turn on.

He looked at the side of the stage and saw that the music team leader who seemed to have come to her senses looking flustered.

‘Hmm. It would be nice if Chae-yeon could get used to it and match the timing but if not I’ll have to think of another way.’

Seo-jun and the acting team kids comforted the music team leader who couldn’t match the timing.

Meanwhile, the music team and background team who had finished everything and were watching rehearsal from audience seats silently rubbed their arms with goosebumps.

The kids understood the music team leader who couldn’t match the timing.

No, they had no choice but to understand.

“Wow. How can they do better than practice?”

At background team leader’s words, the kids nodded their heads incessantly.

***

[December 26th, Brown Black 15th Anniversary Concert Scheduled!]

[WNET, Brown Black 15th Anniversary Documentary to be Broadcast!]

[Tomorrow, December 23rd, Yeoul Arts Middle School Graduation Performance!]

[When will Yeoul Arts Middle School Graduation Performance be uploaded on YouTube?]

-Wow. Brown Black is already 15 years old?

=Seo-jun is 16 years old, so haha

=LOL you can tell by Seo-jun’s age LOL

-I think Seo-jun will appear in the documentary.

=22 If it’s a 15th anniversary special, they’ll start from their debut days. Seo-jun can’t not appear.

-I can’t believe it’s graduation performance tomorrow!

=It’s time to take out the sealed book!

=I’ll read it when it’s uploaded on YouTube. When will it be uploaded?

=Looking at the dates of the uploads so far, it seems like it’ll be up within a week.

=Too slow…!

-But I don’t like the editing.

=22 It’s definitely a play, so the camera is always fixed. You can see the actors’ faces, but there’s no close-up like in dramas or movies.

=Can’t help itㅠㅠ

***

December 23rd. Graduation performance day.

Lee Ji-seok, who was able to attend the graduation performance as a related person of Yeoul Arts Middle School with a special invitation lecture, got into Park Do-hoon’s car.

In Lee Ji-seok’s hand was a bouquet of flowers that bloomed brightly in winter.

“Do-hoon. Are you going to Jong-ho hyung?”

“Yes.”

“How about leaving hyung out?”

“Ahahaha.”

Park Do-hoon, who let Lee Ji-seok’s words pass through one ear, drove the car.

He headed to Kim Jong-ho’s house and Lee Ji-seok shrugged his shoulders and opened his mouth.

“Do you know? Yeoul Arts Middle School graduation performance is for three days.”

“Really?”

“The first day is a play by the acting department, the second day is an exhibition by the art department, and the third day is a concert by the music department.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Should I tell Jong-ho hyung to change the date to tomorrow?”

“Hahaha.”

“You little brat!”

Lee Ji-seok was startled by Kim Jong-ho’s voice and raised his head. Park Do-hoon’s phone was on speaker mode.

The caller was [Uncle Jong-ho].

“…When?”

“Just now.”

“…You’ve grown up a lot. Our Do-hoon.”

Lee Ji-seok covered his ears at the gurgling voice of Kim Jong-ho coming from the phone.

**

One by one, the parents and guests gathered at the Yeoul Hall of Yeoul Arts Middle School.

Park Do-hoon’s car stopped at the guest parking lot. The three actors got out of the car with three bouquets.

“When is Da-jin coming?”

Park Do-hoon answered Lee Ji-seok’s question.

“He said he’s on his way.”

“He better hurry up. They close the gate at 1 o’clock.”

“Yes.”

The three actors were about to head to Yeoul Hall when they spotted familiar faces.

Three people who were chatting happily.

“Isn’t that Director Choi Dae-man?”

“Director Woo Jeong-han and PD Choi Min-sung are here too?”

The directors of Rebellion, Escape, and The Royal Physician were smiling and talking.

The three directors also noticed the three actors. They greeted each other with smiles and then Park Do-hoon asked.

“I heard that Writer So Eun-jin also gave a special guest lecture. Didn’t she come?”

“Oh, she said she ran into someone she knew.”

As PD Choi Min-sung said, Writer So Eun-jin was surprised to see a familiar face and followed him.

“…Actor Jung Si-woon?”

The teacher named Jung Si-woon turned around at the sound of his name. He was surprised to see a familiar face and then smiled brightly.

“Oh, Writer So Eun-jin. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m really glad to see you too!”

“I saw it in the article. I didn’t expect you to become a drama writer. I’m watching your drama too.”

He had read an article that said [The original author of the novel ‘Waiting for the Stars’, So Eun-jin, writer of The Royal Physician!].

“I also saw it in the article. I saw that you were a teacher at Mirinae High School…”

She had read an article that said [Where are the actors of the drama ‘Waiting for the Stars’ now?].

There was no picture, but there was a screenshot of the drama, so she could recognize his face.

“Oh, there are a lot of people coming to the graduation performance, so sometimes the teachers help out.”

“I see. Do you… not act anymore?”

Jung Si-woon smiled at Writer So Eun-jin’s question.

“I do. It’s a small theater company, but I sometimes go on stage.”

“What theater company is it? I really want to see it!”

The original author who met the actor who was the only one who acted exactly like the character she had imagined in her mind lit up her eyes.

***

“A camera, you say?”

“Yes. If there’s no one assigned, can I take it?”

Director Woo Jeong-han’s words made Jung Si-woon scratch his cheek.

He was talking to Writer So Eun-jin on the way to Yeoul Hall when he ran into the three directors and three actors.

He introduced himself as a teacher and Director Woo Jeong-han’s eyes sparkled.

“I’ve seen the graduation performance videos uploaded on YouTube. You only use three cameras, right?”

The graduation performance videos on YouTube were bland videos that only showed the stage without any camera techniques such as close-ups from the front, right, and left.

“Yes. There’s no one in charge of video. We only shoot the whole stage and don’t capture the actors’ expressions or detailed movements.”

That probably would have been the same for this play with Seo-jun acting.

The directors and actors thought ‘What a waste…!’ at Jung Si-woon’s words.

Jung Si-woon also admitted that this time.

Seo-jun would surely shine even in a bland video, but if he had proper camera techniques, he would have a more amazing scene.

Director Woo Jeong-han said what he had been thinking since he saw Yeoul Arts Middle School’s graduation performance videos.

It would be hard to do it alone, but there were two more people here.

“How about we hold the cameras?”

“What?”

“Front, right, left. Just three people.”

Director Woo Jeong-han pointed to himself in front, Director Choi Dae-man on the right, and PD Choi Min-sung on the left.

Oh.

Director Choi Dae-man and PD Choi Min-sung nodded their heads.

Lee Ji-seok, Park Do-hoon, Kim Jong-ho, and So Eun-jin also looked surprised and then nodded as if it was okay.

They had different styles, so it would be hard to edit, but they would do it well.

“What about…”

Director Choi Dae-man quickly helped Director Woo Jeong-han as Jeong Si-woon hesitated.

“Of course, we’ll film all the other teams’ stages as well.”

Jung Si-woon said he would consult with the other teachers and left.

The directors smiled at Jung Si-woon’s half-convinced attitude.

“I was thinking of holding the camera myself… I didn’t know you were thinking the same thing, Director Woo.”

“The video was too static.”

PD Choi Min-sung, who felt relieved, suddenly remembered something and opened his mouth.

“But isn’t three cameras too few? Director Woo?”

If it was a movie, they would have shot it twice, but this was a play that they could only do once. They had to shoot both the full shot and the close-up shot at the same time.

One camera for the full shot, one for the close-up shot. At least two cameras. The places were front, right, and left, so they needed at least six cameras.

Director Woo Jeong-han shrugged his shoulders.

“I have a camera in my car. I brought the best camera of the right size.”

“I have two cameras in my trunk too.”

The two movie directors who were full of thoughts of filming Seo-jun had excellent preparedness. PD Choi Min-sung scratched his cheek.

“I guess I’m the only one who didn’t bring one.”

“Do you want to borrow one? I have three.”

“Then thank you!”

PD Choi Min-sung nodded at Director Woo Jeong-han’s words.

Chapter 261

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 261

The seven teams that would perform on stage today were having their final rehearsals in their respective practice rooms.

The first team to go on stage was the one with Jinho, who was busy preparing for the upcoming show time.

The next team was the one with Ju-hee.

The second team was also practicing passionately, not falling behind the first team.

And after four teams finished, it would be the mirror team’s turn.

“Let’s check everything calmly, we still have some time.”

The kids nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

As they were working hard in front of the stage, the acting teacher of the third grade came to see them.

The teacher gathered the team leaders in the hallway and said something, and the six team leaders all looked at one person.

At the end of their gaze was Lee Seo-jun, who had gathered the directors.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek at his friends’ stares.

He also thought that the graduation performance video uploaded on YouTube was bland, but he never dreamed that things would turn out like this.

The teacher smiled and opened his mouth.

“Until now, we’ve been uploading the graduation performance in the same way, but since it’s come to this, there were a lot of opinions that it would be okay to change it from this year. So I’m thinking of inviting some directors to film it for you next year. If you’re okay with it, why don’t you leave this year’s filming to the three directors?”

The team leaders went back to their practice rooms and told the kids what they had heard, and they unanimously agreed to entrust the filming.

The teacher nodded as if he expected that and said.

“Then do you all have your scripts? Mark the parts that you think would be best filmed, or that you want to emphasize, and give me one copy each. I’ll make copies and deliver them to the directors.”

“Yes!”

The kids who were nervous about the performance until a while ago gathered around their team’s script with excited faces.

***

The school gate closed at 1 p.m.

It was to prevent outsiders from entering.

Reporters who were looking for prey hovered around the gate, but they couldn’t get inside.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who arrived a little early and looked around Yeoul Arts Middle School, sat in the seats marked on the tickets Seo-jun gave them.

The seats on the tickets were random, but they were lucky enough to get a central seat where they could see the stage well.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Seo-jun’s play.”

“Right. It was when he was in first grade, so it’s been eight years.”

“Seo-jun only did voice acting in Spring play. This is the first time I’ve seen a play where Seo-jun clearly appears, so I have to take a picture of him in makeup later. I was disappointed that he was in plain clothes back then.”

Seo Eun-hye smiled brightly with a camera in her hand.

Lee Min-jun nodded with a smile and noticed some people standing on the stairs of the auditorium.

“Isn’t that Director Choi Dae-man? Why is Director Choi Dae-man there?”

“Huh? Director Woo Jeong-han and PD Choi Min-sung are there too?”

They had heard that famous directors who gave special lectures would come to see today’s graduation performance, but they didn’t know why they were holding cameras there.

Not only the couple, but also the parents of acting students tilted their heads.

***

As everyone took their seats, including special guest lecturers, parents of acting students, and high-ranking officials from ATR Foundation, the students entered Yeoul Hall.

The acting teacher of the first grade led the first and second graders of acting to their seats.

The seats for the kids were right in front of the stage where Yang Ju-hee joked earlier, but there were no chairs there.

Now folding chairs were placed there.

The seats near the entrance were left empty for the kids who would finish their plays.

The teacher looked at the first and second graders of acting and said.

“This is the best seat. You can hear even the breath of the actors and see their movements and tremors best. Acting first grade.”

“Yes!”

“Acting second grade.”

“Yes!”

“Watch and learn from your seniors’ acting.”

Their seniors who made a name for themselves in the world and their seniors who took classes with them for three years.

The eyes of acting kids sparkled like stars.

“Yes!!”

***

While everyone was finding their seats, the three actors spotted Lee Da-jin who had just entered Yeoul Hall.

Lee Da-jin greeted So Eun-jin, a writer he met for the first time, and looked surprised when he saw three directors talking with each other while looking at Team 1’s script on the stairs of the auditorium.

“Wow. How did you get to meet those three?”

“The video will be pretty good too. I’m glad Seo-jun can leave his play in a cool video.”

“Six of them.”

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok smiled satisfied. Park Do-hoon, Lee Da-jin, and So Eun-jin laughed at the two actors who got along well at times like this.

***

The broadcast announced that the graduation performance would begin at 1:30 p.m.

There was also a story that there would be a break time for the next team to prepare after each team’s play ended.

“There’s a break time.”

“Well, it would be hard to watch seven in a row.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun nodded.

[The first order is acting third grade Han Jinho, Kim Soo-yeon…]

The description of Team 1 flowed through the broadcast and Yeoul Hall darkened.

The names of the actors who appeared as actors, as well as the names of the music and art students who helped them, were all mentioned without omission.

[Please give them a round of applause.]

A loud applause sounded and the curtain slowly rose.

***

“Let’s go and get ready now.”

The teacher told the mirror team that Team 6 had gone on stage.

Seo-jun and the kids who were having their final rehearsal in Room 5 left the practice room and headed to the waiting room next to Yeoul Hall.

The background team checked the props again and the music team leader checked the music while the actors changed their clothes.

They all had to change their clothes because they were wearing uniforms.

“Min-hyung picked these clothes. They really suit the play.”

“I think so too.”

Seo-jun agreed with Ju-hee’s words.

Seo-jun gave a rough idea of the color and shape, but the clothes that Jung Min-hyung brought matched perfectly with the play and the characters.

“Thank you!”

Jung Min-hyung’s cheeks turned red with emotion at his seniors’ compliments.

Everyone laughed at the cute first grader.

That’s how the mirror team relaxed their nerves while Team 6’s performance ended and applause rang out.

The curtain came down and only the last order was left.

The lights in the theater turned on and there was a short break while Team 6’s stage was cleared and Team 7’s stage was set up.

“This way!”

“Min-hyung! Where do I put this?”

“That goes over there!”

“Here?”

“Yes!”

The background team leader and the first grader divided the stage in half and directed it.

They checked every single decoration on the wall without missing anything.

Jung Min-hyung, who was checking the checklist and comparing it with the photos taken during rehearsal, shouted.

“Seniors! We’re done!”

“Yeah. We’re done here too.”

The background team kids who had finished their work perfectly smiled and came down from the stage.

There, all of the mirror team’s music team and actor team kids were gathered.

“Ew. Do we really have to do this?”

The background team leader shivered.

“Why? I like it.”

The third grader of music team smiled as if it was fun.

“Me too!”

“Who knows when we’ll get to do this again!”

The first and second graders also sparkled their eyes.

Seo-jun, the proposer, smiled and reached out his hand.

The indispensable thing for a play.

On top of Seo-jun’s hand, Yang Ju-hee’s hand, Kang Jae-han’s hand, Park Si-young’s hand, and Jeon Seong-min’s hand went up.

And the music team, the background team kids also stretched out their hands.

“You all worked hard for the whole second semester.”

The kids also opened their mouths at Seo-jun’s words.

“Show us a cool play.”

“Let’s surprise everyone!”

“It’ll be awesome if you do it like rehearsal!”

The actors and Seo-jun smiled at the sparkling eyes of their friends and juniors.

“Leave it to us.”

The mirror team kids laughed happily at Seo-jun’s reliable words.

“One, two…!”

“Mirror team, fighting!”

***

The curtain that hid the stage had not risen yet.

But even though it was still break time, the expectation of Seo-jun’s play filled the Yeoul Hall with a silent anticipation.

From team 1 to team 6, the kids who had just been on stage also took their seats in the empty seats and looked at the stage.

The team 6 kids were still in their costumes.

The mirror team’s music team and background team kids also sat down.

The first and last stage. Maybe a stage that they would never see again.

Choi Dae-man, director, Woo Jeong-han, director, and Choi Min-sug, PD, captured the stage with the curtain down in their camera lenses.

This silence mixed with anticipation was worth filming.

The three directors held their breaths and tried to slow down their heartbeats and maintain their composure as much as possible.

They knew Seo-jun’s acting that captivated everyone’s eyes, so they couldn’t help but be nervous.

They wanted to capture the heat on stage and the hearts of the audience without any disturbance in their cameras.

[This is a play based on the novel ‘Mirror’, by acting department 3rd year Lee Seo-jun, Yang Ju-hee, Park Si-young, Jeon Seong-min, music department 3rd year Kim Chae-yeon… and art department 1st year Jung Min-hyung. Please give them a round of applause.]

Finally.

A loud applause filled the Yeoul Hall and the curtain slowly rose.

The stage had turned into a familiar hospital.

It seemed that they used half of the stage, as only the right side of the stage was lit.

The audience’s eyes turned to the right.

The right side of the stage was decorated as a lobby where patients waited and applied.

There were soft sofas for patients to sit and wait, and a counter where a nurse was standing.

Park Si-young, who played the nurse role, was organizing charts at the lobby counter.

Ring.

Then the phone rang.

The nurse who was organizing the charts answered the phone and pretended to talk, but no voice was heard.

And shortly after.

Ding dong.

A bell rang and the nurse at the counter greeted the person who came out from the end of the stage with a smile.

“Are you here? Doctor.”

Yang Ju-hee, wearing a sky-blue striped shirt and jacket, smiled and greeted her.

“Yes. Did you have lunch?”

“I just ate. Oh, doctor. There’s a patient waiting for you in the clinic.”

“Oh, really?”

The doctor nodded her head at the nurse’s words and headed to the center of the stage.

It was where it met with the completely dark left stage.

When Yang Ju-hee pretended to open the door, squeak, a sound of opening the door was heard and a light shone on the left side of the stage as well.

The audience’s eyes finally turned to the left side of the stage.

The left side of the stage was a clinic with a doctor’s desk and a monitor.

Unlike ordinary clinics that only have small chairs, there were sofas and tables on the stage clinic.

The sofa was placed in a ┌ shape so that it could be seen well from the audience seats.

A man wearing a white fluffy sweater sat on the sofa facing the audience seats with his head slightly bowed.

When the doctor stepped inside, the light on the right side of the stage, which was a hospital lobby, went out.

The audience focused entirely on the clinic.

Feeling her presence, the man raised his head.

He was a young man with a gentle face.

“I’m sorry I’m late. It was lunchtime.”

“No, no.”

“Just a moment.”

The doctor who naturally entered inside took off his jacket on a hanger and put on a white doctor’s gown.

She put a stethoscope around her neck and sat on an upper seat on the sofa.

The audience quietly looked at Yang Ju-hee’s side profile sitting on the sofa and Lee Seo-jun.

‘Is it because it’s the beginning? It’s ordinary?’

The doctor picked up the chart prepared on the table in front of the sofa and took out a pen from his gown pocket.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Jeong Chae-won. What’s your name?”

“Hello. I’m Kim Jin-woo.”

“Can I call you Jin-woo?”

“Yes. Doctor.”

Kim Jin-woo smiled gently as softly as his voice.

His slightly curly hair and slightly smiling expression seemed to show Kim Jin-woo’s personality.

Jeong Chae-won also smiled at the comfortable atmosphere.

She got up from her seat and went to one side of the clinic and brought two cups of tea.

“This is a tea I received as a gift recently. It smells good and tastes good. Would you like to try it?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Kim Jin-woo took the cup of tea from Jeong Chae-won and fiddled with the warm cup and put it down on the table.

“Did you come to our hospital because… you have something to worry about?”

“…Yes.”

A slight shadow crossed Kim Jin-woo’s face, who had been smiling softly.

He looked pitiful, trying to smile. Jeong Chae-won asked kindly while drinking tea.

“Can you tell me if it’s not too hard for you?”

Kim Jin-woo nodded his head.

The reason he came here in the first place was to get help from an expert.

He leaned forward slightly, hunched over, and fiddled with his hands, then hesitated a little and opened his mouth.

“Lately… there are people who are trying to kill me.”

“…I see.”

Jeong Chae-won opened her mouth after a pause and nodded her head.

Kim Jin-woo, who felt a moment of silence, said with a bitter face. He looked like a wet puppy.

“It’s not a lie. Doctor.”

Kim Jin-woo’s expression was not one of accusing or resenting Jeong Chae-won for not believing his words.

He just looked a little sad that he got this reaction even at the last place he visited.

Jeong Chae-won’s eyes changed a little.

She became interested in Kim Jin-woo’s reaction, which was not stubbornly insisting.

“Who are the people who are trying to kill Jin-woo?”

“I don’t know two of them very well.”

“Two of them? Then is there someone else?”

“Yes. That person… I know who… where he is.”

Jeong Chae-won tilted her head.

“Then why don’t you report it to the police? I’m a psychiatrist, so I can’t help you.”

Kim Jin-woo sighed heavily and licked his lips before barely spitting out the words.

“I did.”

“Yes?”

“…Another me… is trying to kill me.”

Chapter 262

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 262

Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Kim Jin-woo’s words made Jeong Chae-won lean forward.

She had a hunch why Kim Jin-woo came to the psychiatric clinic instead of the police station.

Kim Jin-woo, who had uttered his words with difficulty, seemed to feel relieved as his face brightened up.

Jeong Chae-won clicked her pen.

“Can you tell me more about it?”

“Yes. That’s why I came here.”

Kim Jin-woo spoke calmly.

“I’m not sure when it started. It could have been a long time ago or since the day I noticed it.”

“How did you notice it?”

“One day, I realized that I was sleeping more. My sleeping hours increased from seven to eight, nine, ten hours. I overslept and was late for work sometimes.”

Lee Seo-jun’s soft voice echoed through the auditorium as it reached the microphone.

Every word he said was engraved in the audience’s ears.

The gentle music played by the music team made Lee Seo-jun’s voice more clear.

“Maybe you were just tired?”

“Yes. That’s what I thought at first. So I went to the hospital. They said it was stress-related and I decided to quit my job and take a vacation. But,”

“But?”

“…The situation got worse.”

Kim Jin-woo’s voice was filled with fear as it spread throughout the auditorium.

His voice trembled.

He clenched his hands tightly until his veins popped out and struggled to recall that day.

Jeong Chae-won also held her breath at the fear in his voice.

“The next day, right after I felt relieved, I lost consciousness. It wasn’t even midnight, but in broad daylight.”

“…You fainted more than once.”

“Yes.”

Anxiety swirled on Kim Jin-woo’s calm face. It was a shaky voice full of fear and nervousness, enough to tell even from the back seats where his expression was not visible.

“Since then, I lost consciousness every day at irregular times. When I woke up, there were more strange things happening.”

“How long did you lose consciousness?”

“Ten minutes, thirty minutes, one hour, three hours. It wasn’t consistent either.”

Kim Jin-woo wiped his dry mouth.

His stifled breathing came out of the microphone and speakers.

The auditorium was silent.

The only sounds that could be heard were from Kim Jin-woo and Jeong Chae-won.

Everyone held their breath and looked at the stage.

“Was there anything else?”

“…The things that were always in their place were moved to different places and the blankets that I tidied up were messed up. The clothes that I cleaned were dirty and there were foods that I didn’t eat in the fridge.”

“Wasn’t it possible that someone broke in?”

“That’s what I thought too. So I installed a CCTV camera.”

Kim Jin-woo, who had been speaking fairly calmly, gradually turned pale as if he was anxious.

He felt nauseous whenever he thought of that day.

Jeong Chae-won pushed a cup of tea to Kim Jin-woo, who seemed to have lost his mind halfway.

Kim Jin-woo didn’t seem to notice the cup of tea at all.

“That day, as usual, I fainted. I thought the front door would open. But it didn’t.”

It was a voice that sounded like he was dying.

“My body twitched.”

He seemed to recall that moment as he looked at the air instead of Jeong Chae-won.

His speech was interrupted and his eyes wandered around.

“My hand moved and
my upper body lifted and

I got up.”

Kim Jin-woo’s eyes met the audience’s at the end of his gaze.

It felt like they made eye contact with him.

The first and second year students of the acting department buried themselves in their chairs without breathing.

The chairs were hard because they were foldable, but they had no time to care about that.

Kim Jin-woo conveyed the horror and fear, the creepy chill that he felt at that time.

“The ‘thing’ that was sitting down
got up from its seat
and stood on two feet.”

The fear of something unknown.

Kim Jin-woo’s hand shook as he recalled that moment.

“The ‘body’ wandered around the house. It used my phone, watched TV, ate food that I didn’t eat, wore my clothes, laughed, and talked.”

The tremor from his fingertips spread to Kim Jin-woo’s body. He looked like he was about to cry.

“But, but I had no memory of any of that.”

“Was it only for one day?”

“No. It has been like this ever since then until now. It happened yesterday too. And I don’t know when it will happen today.”

He was exhausted just by telling his story. Kim Jin-woo wiped off his cold sweat.

Jeong Chae-won, who looked at him with pity, spoke in a calm voice.

“Jin-woo. What can I do to help you?”

Kim Jin-woo bit his lips and clenched his heart tightly. Many wrinkles appeared on his white sweater.

“…I want to get rid of ‘it’.”

Why did this thing come and ruin my life?

Why does it try to take over my life?

Jeong Chae-won nodded as she sensed the resentment, injustice, pain, and fear in his words.

“Let’s do some tests first. The results will come out in two days, so come back then.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Kim Jin-woo got up from his seat and headed out of the clinic.

He nodded to the nurse and disappeared to the side of the stage.

Jeong Chae-won wrote something on the chart.

The nurse, who had been looking around the clinic for a while, pretended to turn off the light by pressing the switch.

‘Now!’

The music team leader, who was hiding next to the stage, turned off the lights according to the cue.

At the same time, the lights on the stage went off.

“Ugh!”

As soon as he came in, Seo-jun quickly took off his soft sweater and straightened his gray shirt.

Kang Jae-han and Jeon Seong-min, who were waiting, stuck to Seo-jun and messed up his neat hair.

Seo-jun, Jae-han, and Seong-min had smiles on their faces as they enjoyed the thrill of the play that required quick movements unlike movies or dramas.

“Good. It’s over. Chae-yeon!”

“Yes!”

When Seo-jun called after he was ready, Kim Chae-yeon, the music team leader, turned on the light switch.

Seo-jun, who was smiling until a moment ago, hardened his face.

Jae-han and Seong-min nodded and gave him a thumbs up as they saw Seo-jun immerse himself in an instant.

Pitch-black darkness.

After a while, the lights came back on.

Jeong Chae-won was sitting on the sofa in the clinic.

The nurse was also looking at the chart at the counter.

Bang!!

The sound of the door opening roughly was heard.

Kim Jin-woo popped out from behind the stage and collapsed on the floor.

His white sweater that indicated the passage of time had changed to a gray shirt.

His calm and neat appearance was gone and his slightly curly hair was a mess.

He looked desperate at a glance.

The nurse came out from the counter and grabbed Kim Jin-woo who was sitting on the floor.

“Patient! Are you okay?!”

“Doctor!! Doctor!!”

It was a voice full of fear and confusion. He looked around anxiously as if he was uneasy about something.

Kim Jin-woo’s trembling body could be felt even though the nurse was holding him.

Jeong Chae-won, who was in the clinic, came out to the lobby because of the noise.

And then she found Kim Jin-woo and the nurse on the floor.

Surprised, Jeong Chae-won quickly ran to Kim Jin-woo.

“What is this! Mr. Jin-woo? Mr. Jin-woo? Are you okay?”

“Doctor!! Doctor!!”

Kim Jin-woo looked for Jeong Chae-won like a child looking for his mother.

His precarious appearance was somehow eerie.

How scary was Kim Jin-woo’s enemy that he showed such a miserable and powerless look?

It was more shocking because it contrasted with his neat appearance just before.

The first and second year students of acting department who were watching Seo-jun’s expression, eyes, breathing, and trembling without blinking from the front seat, as well as the audience who were watching from a far distance from the stage, swallowed their saliva.

Kim Jin-woo screamed.

“He knew it!!”

The audience got goosebumps from Seo-jun’s voice that came through the speaker.

The fear in it was conveyed to the audience as it was.

The four actors who were watching from the staff seats, writer So Eun-jin, and even the directors who were watching Seo-jun through the camera focused on the stage without breathing.

“Mr. Jin-woo. Calm down.”

Jeong Chae-won, a psychiatrist, moved calmly.

She took Kim Jin-woo, who was full of fear, to the clinic with the help of a nurse.

Kim Jin-woo seemed to feel relieved to see Jeong Chae-won and moved obediently.

Jeong Chae-won sat Kim Jin-woo on the sofa.

Kim Jin-woo muttered with a pale face while shaking his legs and fiddling with his hands in front of his teacup.

“He knew it. He knew it. What should I do…? No. I’ll lose it if I do this. No. This is my body. Why did this happen to me? What did I do wrong?”

It was a monologue.

It was a low voice that murmured.

But every word that Seo-jun uttered reached the ears of the audience without missing a single letter.

Seo-jun’s delivery was good and also because of the tension that filled Yeoul Hall, the audience’s hearing was better than usual.

“Mr. Jin-woo. Who is he?”

“It’s me! Me!!”

Kim Jin-woo shouted unknowingly and looked surprised as he met Jeong Chae-won’s eyes.

He seemed to realize that he had become nervous because of unbearable fear.

Guilt appeared on Kim Jin-woo’s face.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Really. I…”

But he couldn’t shake off his anxiety and kept shaking his legs and hands.

Kim Jin-woo’s head moved around as if he was looking around the clinic.

It should have been inside the clinic, but this was the stage.

The audience who were facing Seo-jun shivered every time they met Seo-jun’s anxious eyes.

Seo-jun’s anxiety and fear seemed to be contagious.

“No. It’s okay. Mr. Jin-woo. Take a deep breath first.”

Kim Jin-woo followed Jeong Chae-won’s words.

It was just a deep breath, but even that deep breath was so captivating.

“He saw the CCTV.”

Kim Jin-woo, who barely calmed down, opened his mouth with difficulty.

“He saw the CCTV. He smiled while watching the CCTV. He smiled arrogantly. He seemed to know that I couldn’t do anything. He didn’t even try to hide himself.”

Kim Jin-woo shivered. Jeong Chae-won said in a calm but pitying voice.

“So Mr. Jin-woo’s other personality knows Mr. Jin-woo’s situation. What about you, Mr. Jin-woo? Do you know ‘his’ situation?”

“No. No. I don’t know.”

Kim Jin-woo curled up as if he was crouching.

“I don’t know. Why did this happen to me? What is he trying to do by doing this? What is he trying to do by taking away my life? What if he attacks other people like he did to those two people? Doctor. Please help me. Please help me.”

Jeong Chae-won nodded at Kim Jin-woo’s pitiful voice.

“Yes. I’ll help you.”

“Thank you, thank you…”

“First, I’ll give you some medicine. If you take the medicine and talk to me, we can find the cause.”

Medicine.

The audience felt dissatisfied but also had to nod at the doctor-like answer of the psychiatrist.

The audience also thought that there was no special way to treat ‘dissociative identity disorder’ other than medicine and counseling.

‘They can’t do exorcism or something.’

The doctor, Jeong Chae-won, was just doing what she could.

“Yes…”

Kim Jin-woo seemed to think so too, or he looked relieved because someone believed his story and nodded his head with a rather relieved face.

Jeong Chae-won looked at Kim Jin-woo leaving the clinic with pity.

Kim Jin-woo walked with his shoulders drooping as if he had lost his energy.

He looked powerless even when he walked with the help of a nurse and received a medicine bag and disappeared next to the stage.

Jeong Chae-won sat on the sofa and was lost in thought.

The nurse made a phone call with someone.

The voice was not heard. Jeong Chae-won wrote something on the chart.

The nurse pretended to press the switch and turn off the light again.

Behind the stage.

There was another commotion in a place that was not visible from the audience seats.

Seo-jun quickly took off his gray shirt and put on a black polo shirt that covered his neck.

While Kang Jae-han calmly brushed Seo-jun’s hair, Jeon Seong-min put a gauze on Seo-jun’s left cheek with a prepared gauze.

“Done!”

“Chae-yeon!”

“We have to get ready too!”

Seo-jun stood close to the stage so that he could go out right away, and Jae-han and Seong-min who appeared this time also breathed out and stood behind him.

Kim Chae-yeon pressed the light switch.

Chapter 263

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 263

Darkness.

The lights were off for a bit longer than before, but soon they came back on.

The stage was lit up.

In the clinic, Jeong Chae-won was busy with her computer and the nurse was doing her job.

Ding.

A sound was heard and Seo-jun, who was standing at the end of the stage, entered the hospital lobby. Seo-jun had changed into Kim Jin-woo.

Kim Jin-woo walked into the hospital with a light step. The nurse was surprised to see his cheek covered with a white bandage, but quickly hid her reaction and opened her mouth.

“Patient. You’ll have to wait a little…”

“Yes. I understand.”

Kim Jin-woo nodded and sat on a lobby chair. The chair faced the clinic, so the audience could only see his side profile.

Kim Jin-woo picked up a book that was on the seat next to him. Despite his injured cheek, he seemed cheerful and relaxed, as if he could hum a tune. The nurse, who was watching him read, quietly left.

Flap.

A page turned.

Seo-jun captivated the audience with just sitting and reading. The audience, who were immersed in Seo-jun’s acting, didn’t notice that the light in the clinic where Jeong Chae-won was had turned off.

Flap.

Another page turned.

The light in the lobby dimmed. But the light that shone on Seo-jun was still bright.

Fla-

Another page was about to turn, but it stopped. Kim Jin-woo’s hand that was turning the page stopped. His head also drooped down as if he had lost his strength. His shoulders sagged and he didn’t move at all. He looked like he had no energy left in his body.

He should have moved, he should have tilted his head. Someone next to him should have quietly asked, ‘What’s wrong with him?’

But no one,

No one could take their eyes off Seo-jun who wasn’t moving. They couldn’t open their mouths. They couldn’t turn their heads away from Seo-jun who was sitting on the chair as if someone had fixed him there.

‘Something…’

Something was happening.

Kim Jin-woo’s movement had stopped, but it felt like something was happening inside him.

No one knew why they thought that, why they felt that way.

The hall was so quiet that even the sound of a needle dropping could be heard.

The background music that had been flowing softly stopped, but the audience didn’t notice.

A white spotlight shone on the stage, on Seo-jun.

The first-year acting students who were sitting in the front row saw Seo-jun’s face. It was a small movement that they couldn’t notice at first.

Kim Jin-woo’s index finger twitched.

It looked like it took a lot of effort.

The movement that started from his index finger slowly spread to his other fingers.

Soon, the movement became big enough for the audience in the back row to see.

Kim Jin-woo’s arm,

His shoulder, his foot,

His calf, his thigh,

His head twitched.

He shivered.

The spotlight made Seo-jun’s movement more visible to the audience.

The three directors filmed Seo-jun with their cameras. Choi Dae-min, who was sitting on the left where Seo-jun’s face could be seen best, zoomed in on Seo-jun.

Seo-jun’s acting through the camera was more detailed. Choi Dae-min didn’t blink his eyes so he wouldn’t miss a single moment.

Kim Jin-woo’s trembling became more intense.

There was no pattern and it seemed like every movement was out of sync.

The audience who were holding their breath realized what was happening.

Right now, two personalities were fighting inside Kim Jin-woo’s body for control.

Who would be the winner of this fierce fight?

As they watched with bated breath, Kim Jin-woo’s movement stopped. He was soaked in cold sweat without even getting up from his chair.

“…Doctor…”

Kim Jin-woo’s faint voice echoed through the hall through the microphone.

“Doctor… Doctor…”

He sounded exhausted and sobbing, looking for his doctor.

The audience glanced at the dark clinic where the doctor was supposed to be.

They tilted their heads and looked back at Kim Jin-woo.

His body relaxed as if he had regained control, Kim Jin-woo reached into his pocket with his trembling hand and took out his phone.

Kim Jin-woo, who had been bowing his head all this time, finally lifted it up.

He looked tired and lifeless.

He moved with difficulty.

He looked like burnt ashes as he moved slowly.

He put his phone to his ear.

“I’m here…”

He barely uttered a word and dropped his head again.

The sound of his phone falling to the floor rang through the hall.

The audience blinked their eyes.

Just now, that was… Which personality was that?

Kim Jin-woo? Or another one?

They didn’t have time to think as the light in the lobby turned on.

The light in the clinic also turned on.

The nurse who had returned guided Kim Jin-woo into the clinic.

Kim Jin-woo, who had looked like he was asleep, got up from his seat.

He looked lively, unlike a few moments ago when he seemed like he would collapse.

“Welcome. Jin-woo.”

“Hello. Doctor.”

Jeong Chae-won handed Kim Jin-woo a cup of tea and asked him a question. Kim Jin-woo answered with a gentle smile. Jeong Chae-won smiled back.

“It doesn’t seem to be getting worse. That’s good.”

“Yes. The medicine you gave me seems to be working well.”

“Then let’s continue with this medicine…”

Ding!!

Then, the hospital door opened roughly.

Two men entered, 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 Jeong-hwan, limped in and Jeon Seong-min, who played Kim Jae-woon, supported him.

Kim Jin-woo, who was smiling and talking with Jeong Chae-won, turned his eyes to the two men who entered the clinic.

His eyes widened for a brief moment and then he smiled softly.

“Who are they?”

Jeong Chae-won got up from her seat.

Kim Jin-woo followed her and introduced the two men.

The two men were looking at Kim Jin-woo from head to toe.

“Oh, doctor. This is Oh Jeong-hwan, a doctor from the hospital I went to before I came here. And this is Kim Jae-woon, a detective who is a friend of Oh Jeong-hwan.”

Jeong Chae-won’s eyes widened. Kim Jin-woo scratched his cheek and approached Oh Jeong-hwan and Kim Jae-woon.

“I was going to tell you, doctor and detective. The medicine that Jeong Chae-won gave me worked well. I’m more lucid now and I can stay awake longer.”

He smiled brightly and approached them.

Oh Jeong-hwan and Kim Jae-woon’s faces hardened as they saw him coming closer.

Kim Jae-woon stepped in front of Oh Jeong-hwan.

And he punched Kim Jin-woo’s face with his fist.

Bang!

Kim Jin-woo fell and the nurse screamed. The audience also gasped at the sudden situation.

Jeong Chae-won was shocked, but she quickly went to Kim Jin-woo who was covering his face and crouching down.

“Jin-woo! Are you okay?! Jin-woo! What are you doing!”

Jeong Chae-won shouted and Oh Jeong-hwan opened his mouth with a sad face. There was sorrow on Oh Jeong-hwan’s face.

“I’m sorry, doctor. But that’s not Jin-woo, that’s his second personality.”

“Excuse me?”

“He has a split personality!”

As Detective Kim Jae-woon shouted, Jeong Chae-won froze.

She couldn’t see Kim Jin-woo’s face, who had fallen after being hit by the detective.

He was crouching and blocking Oh Jeong-hwan’s way.

She looked back and forth between the two men and Kim Jin-woo.

Oh Jeong-hwan calmly explained.

“Kim Jin-woo, who you have been counseling, has a split personality. The real Kim Jin-woo has been in therapy with me for six months.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well…”

Oh Jeong-hwan sighed.

“The split personality took over Jin-woo’s body and committed crimes. Jin-woo knew that and told me he would rather be admitted to a mental hospital.

The split personality knew what Jin-woo was doing and ran away.”

Surprised, Jeong Chae-won looked at Kim Jin-woo.

“Then why did he come to me…?”

“He probably wanted to use you to take over his body. I don’t know the exact method, though.”

“It would be better for you to get away from him right now.”

At Detective Kim Jae-woon’s words, Jeong Chae-won stood up from her seat. But her expression looked confused and doubtful. She didn’t seem to believe what Oh Jeong-hwan and Kim Jae-woon had said.

The gentle and innocent Jin-woo had a split personality?

The audience felt the same way.

He smiled so sweetly, trembled and feared the other personality. Kim Jin-woo had a split personality?

The audience, who had felt the horror of the other personality with Kim Jin-woo, couldn’t believe it easily.

“Really…!”

Thud!

A loud noise echoed in the auditorium.

Someone grabbed Jeong Chae-won’s wrist as she was about to ask again.

She stiffened.

There was only one person who could do that, since the two men and the nurse were far away.

It was Kim Jin-woo’s hand.

He had been crouching with his face hit by the detective.

With that one movement, the auditorium fell silent.

A ‘Kim Jin-woo’ vibe that had never been seen before weighed heavily on the auditorium.

It was a coldness that made goosebumps rise.

Tension rose from the toes.

Kim Jin-woo slowly lifted his head.

Jeong Chae-won was in front of him, and beyond her were the seats of the audience.

The audience swallowed their saliva at the sight of Kim Jin-woo slowly lifting his head.

Finally, Kim Jin-woo lifted his head and
smiled.

As if he was amused.

As if he was regretful.

His pale face looked like white porcelain.

He didn’t look human.

His black eyes sparkled like beads.

“I’ve been caught?”

Just one word.

The audience gasped at that word.

They felt a chill as if they had encountered something unknown.

And they sighed in relief that his eyes were not directed at them.

They felt like they were stealing a glance at Kim Jin-woo’s gaze toward Jeong Chae-won.

Jeong Chae-won stepped back in surprise, but Kim Jin-woo didn’t let go of her wrist.

He held it tighter and slowly got up from his seat.

Jeong Chae-won trembled in shock.

The audience, who also received the same shock as Jeong Chae-won, held their breath and shrank their shoulders.

They unconsciously clenched their wrists.

The silence that lasted for a moment was broken by Oh Jeong-hwan.

He seemed familiar with this atmosphere as he looked at the split personality with a cold gaze.

Detective Kim Jae-woon also looked at him coldly.

“Where is Jin-woo?”

“Long time no see, doctor.”

“Where is Jin-woo!?”

“I’m Jin-woo.”

“Not you!”

At Detective Kim Jae-woon’s shout, Kim Jin-woo shrugged his shoulders and rubbed his cheek that had been hit by him.

There was a gauze on his cheek.

“It hurts, you know. Why did you have to hit me here?”

His voice, which had been soft and sweet, seemed to have been sold somewhere as ‘Kim Jin-woo’ chuckled and spoke.

Every word was filled with undeniable malice.

It was thanks to the ability he had used since he became a split personality.

[(Evil) Song of the Red Sea Siren – Intermediate >> Low]

It is the song of a siren living in the red sea.

You control your target with your song.

An incomplete song only leaves faint magic behind.

It wasn’t a song but a dialogue, so the song wasn’t complete and only magic remained.

The voice, which was the most important thing in a play, was delivered to the audience through speakers.

‘Kim Jin-woo’ spoke with a smile.

“How did I stop him from holding a knife and saying he’d rather die? I hit him and found out that my fist was pretty strong. You must have been in a lot of pain, too, doctor.”

Oh Jeong-hwan’s legs twitched.

“Well, thanks to that, I got to take over this body.”

“What?”

“You didn’t think he was still there, did you? And I didn’t know he contacted you guys in the meantime.”

Seo-jun slowly reduced his presence as he spoke his lines.

The focus was not on him right now.

That’s why the audience’s attention shifted from ‘Kim Jin-woo’, who was laughing and shrugging his shoulders casually, to Jeong Chae-won, who was standing next to him.

Jeong Chae-won, who had heard the shocking truth, seemed out of her mind. Her wrist, which was held by the split personality, hurt.

Her hand trembled and her legs wobbled.

No one on stage except the audience noticed Jeong Chae-won’s condition.

Her eyes of fear turned to the teacup on the table.

Jeong Chae-won’s hand, which was not held by Kim Jin-woo, reached for the teacup.

The audience’s eyes widened.

Hot tea spilled over Kim Jin-woo’s face.

As the hot liquid poured over him, Kim Jin-woo reflexively let go of Jeong Chae-won’s wrist and covered his face with both hands, screaming.

The audience shrank their shoulders at the scream mixed with pain.

It was an inevitable reaction even though they knew it was cold water.

Jeong Chae-won came to her senses. She clenched her freed wrist and backed away.

“Ah, no… I didn’t mean to do this…”

“Jeong Chae-won! …‘Doctor’! Step back. I’ll take care of it!”

The nurse blocked Kim Jin-woo and Jeong Chae-won.

Oh Jeong-hwan and Detective Kim Jae-woon also ran over and grabbed Kim Jin-woo.

While Oh Jeong-hwan checked Kim Jin-woo’s wound, Detective Kim Jae-woon said.

“It’s okay. It doesn’t look like he’s hurt that badly.”

He still glanced at Kim Jin-woo from time to time.

“Really? Yes…”

“We’ll take Jin-woo with us.”

“But…”

“It might be better for him to get hurt like this. His split personality is so aggressive…”

Detective Kim Jae-woon said with a bitter expression.

“He was going to be admitted anyway, so he’ll be fine now.”

“Yes…”

Kim Jin-woo, who didn’t lift his face until the end and groaned in pain, disappeared from the stage, or rather the end of the stage, as if he was carried by Oh Jeong-hwan and Detective Kim Jae-woon.

While Jeong Chae-won stared blankly at him, the nurse picked up the phone. This time, a voice was heard.

“Yes. Yes. He needs to be admitted because he is too aggressive.”

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

Chapter 264

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 264

…It was unsettling.

That was the emotion that the audience felt simultaneously after watching the play ‘Mirror’.

From the beginning to the end of the play, the audience thought that the protagonist was Kim Jin-woo, who had a split personality.

They focused all their attention on him.

He appeared with a gentle impression and won the hearts of the audience.

He showed his horror-stricken face and earned their sympathy.

He showed the struggle between his two personalities through his shadow.

And when his identity was exposed, it was spine-chilling.

He was the character who captivated the audience with the most impressive performance,

‘…Why do I feel like I was deceived?’

A strange silence filled the Yeoul Hall.

But not everyone felt that way.

From the front seats, where the students were sitting, applause erupted.

They had flushed faces, as if they were excited.

They chattered loudly.

Especially the acting majors, they looked thrilled.

“Creepy…! I get it now!”

“Wow. They did it like that!”

“Unbelievable. They paid so much attention to the props! Did you see that!?”

“Isn’t Lee Seo-jun senior amazing at acting? It’s like he really has another personality!”

“The other seniors were great too! Especially Yang Ju-hee senior…!”

Lee Da-jin, who couldn’t catch up with the students’ reactions, tilted his head.

He was puzzled.

He turned his head to ask the three actors and the writer next to his about this uneasiness.

They must have watched the stage with the sharpest eyes.

‘Seo-jun’s acting is good, but his adaptation is a bit vague.’

But it seemed that the others had different thoughts. Kim Jong-ho, Lee Ji-seok, Park Do-hoon, and writer So Eun-jin had sparkling eyes.

“They used the props well. I didn’t notice until halfway through because they were so familiar.”

“The split personality acting too. It was clear which one was the second personality, from the speech to the atmosphere.”

“The control of intensity too. The whole play focused on Kim Jin-woo, but at the last part, it shifted to Jeong Chae-won. It seemed like Seo-jun and the kids deliberately held back their power.”

“The movement was flawless and the shadow acting was impressive too. Ugh. I want to see the video soon!”

They poured out praises, as if they had no trace of discomfort.

Lee Da-jin blinked his eyes and opened his mouth.

“Am I the only one who feels a bit disappointed by the ending? Aren’t you unsettled?”

The three actors and writer So Eun-jin looked at Lee Da-jin, then glanced at the parents’ seats and the students’ seats.

The parents who praised the acting but felt uneasy about the loose ending, and the students who were stunned by watching and realized everything.

Kim Jong-ho’s eyes widened as he noticed the difference between the two groups.

“…You didn’t read the book?”

“The book? Oh, if you mean Mirror, I haven’t read it yet because I wanted to read it after watching the play.”

“Huh. Really?”

“Why? What is it?”

“Did you read the book, Writer So?”

At Park Do-hoon’s question, Writer So Eun-jin nodded.

“Yes. I was curious because Seo-jun chose it. I had to restrain myself.”

Kim Jong-ho said to Lee Da-jin, who looked at him anxiously, after looking at the parents’ seats and students’ seats again.

“The parents didn’t read the book and the kids did.”

“The kids must have read it because they had auditions.”

Lee Da-jin asked nervously at Lee Ji-seok and Kim Jong-ho’s conversation.

“What’s in the book that makes you say that?!”

“It’s mind-blowing.”

The three actors and writer smiled meaningfully.

***

Seo-jun wiped off the water on his face with a towel that he brought backstage after finishing his performance.

He had been hit by it several times during practice, so he was able to get hit cleanly.

Meanwhile, Jae-han and Seong-min, who came backstage with him, breathed out and calmed their pounding hearts.

“You both did well.”

“Seong-min did better than me. I thought he really hit Seo-jun when he fell.”

“It was Seo-jun who fell well. Action is hard.”

Seo-jun and the kids laughed.

They felt elated after finishing their performance.

Meanwhile, the curtain fell.

Kim Chae-yeon, who operated the switch to lower down curtain as leader of music team, sat down with a sigh of relief.

“It’s finally over…”

She looked exhausted as if she had lost all her energy.

Seo-jun and the kids raised their thumbs at her.

“Your timing was perfect today.”

“I think I did better than during practice?”

“Really? That’s good!”

Kim Chae-yeon also smiled brightly at the kids’ words.

She was worried that she might lose her focus after watching Seo-jun’s performance, but she snapped out of it whenever she needed to.

While Kim Chae-yeon was talking with the kids, Seo-jun took the glyph.

The word ‘Now!’ floated above Kim Chae-yeon’s head and was absorbed by Seo-jun’s hand.

[(Line)Hobgoblin’s Telepathy-Low]

It is the telepathy of a hobgoblin.

Only five times. Only five letters.

Times: 3/5

‘I didn’t use it much because Chae-yeon did well.’

Seo-jun smiled brightly.

The curtain was completely down, and Si-young and Ju-hee, who had finished their last lines, appeared with excited faces.

“I didn’t make any mistakes!”

“Me neither! I think I did the best today!”

“It seems we’re really stronger in real situations.”

The actors and Kim Chae-yeon talked with bright faces.

***

[The graduation performance of Yeoul Arts Middle School is over!]

[When will the graduation performance be uploaded on YouTube?]

[Why are you guys here?!]

[The directors who filmed the graduation performance?!]

[Leave the filming and editing to us! Lee Seo-jun’s squad is on the move!]

-It’s over!

-Upload it quickly!!

-QR code quickly!!

-Wow. Director Woo Jeong-han, Director Choi Dae-man, PD Choi Min-sung, and writer So Eun-jin?

=There are actors too.

=…It would be weird if they weren’t thereㅎ

-LOL

-It’s not a special project or anything, but the directors are going to the middle school graduation performance LOL

=22 The video must be amazing.

=But aren’t they fighting? The three directors have different directing methods.

=It’s okay if they fight as long as the result is good LOL

=222 Please edit and choose the best directing!

-The review is up!

-(link)

[Title: Yeoul Arts Middle School Graduation Performance Review (No Spoilers)]

I understand why they call the third graders of Yeoul Arts Middle School the golden generation.

It was a graduation performance worthy of the golden generation.

Are they really middle schoolers LOL

Anyway, from number 1 to number 6, the other plays were fun too.

I recommend watching them.

Well, I guess the most interesting one is number 7. The Mirror Team lol

They all did well. Really well.

Review over!

…Not really, I have something to say after the play.

After watching the play ‘Mirror’, I felt uneasy. I felt like I was missing something.

So I read the book ‘Mirror’ that I brought with me. There were other people who brought books too lol.

Everyone else left, but I was reading the book in Yeoul Hall and got kicked out. But even as I left Yeoul Hall, I couldn’t take my eyes off the book.

…Wow …It was no joke.

After reading the book, I felt goosebumps all over my body.

How could such a book be buried…!

After reading the book, I kept remembering the scenes from the play. But there was a limit to what I could remember, so I wanted to see the video as soon as possible and examine every detail.

The play was impressive enough, but it also made me want to read the book. How do you say it?

I hope everyone reads the book after watching the play.

-…I’m jealous.

-Are you a parent? A staff member?

=You don’t have to be a parent. You can also bring up to two siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc.

-I read the book first… Is that bad?

=ㄱㅆ : If you read the book, you can see better. You won’t feel this uneasiness lol. Every movement and every line seems like a foreshadowing. It feels like you’re being fooled by more than just words.

=…What do you mean?

=ㄱㅆ : You have to see it lol

-I hope it’s uploaded soon!

***

A few days later.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho packed lunch boxes and headed to the editing room.

“Director Woo Jung-han always uses this place when he works on movies, but he lent it to us for a while.”

“I see. It’s my first time in that editing room.”

Seo-jun, who was excitedly heading to the editing room, smiled brightly when he saw writer So Eun-jin waiting in front of the editing room door.

Writer So Eun-jin smiled back at Seo-jun, but soon sighed and shook her head.

“They haven’t been home for four days already.”

Four days?

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho looked at writer So Eun-jin with surprised expressions.

“All three of them?”

“Yeah. The video for team 6 came out quickly, so I thought team Mirror’s would come out soon too. But they’ve been stuck in the editing room since then. They were arguing loudly at first.”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho looked at each other.

They remembered what they had heard about the directors fighting over their directing methods. Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

“Then we’ll just deliver the lunch boxes and English scripts and leave.”

“For English subtitles?”

“Yes.”

“I trust Seo-jun’s translation.”

Writer So Eun-jin said with a small smile.

Seo-jun translated not only the script for ‘Mirror’, but also the scripts for other kids’ plays.

He hoped that many people would watch his friends’ plays too.

Writer So Eun-jin knocked on the door of the innermost editing room among several editing rooms.

The door that had been tightly closed opened after a few knocks.

PD Choi Min-sung’s face appeared, looking haggard as if he had stayed up all night.

“Oh, Writer So.”

“Seo-jun and his manager are here.”

“We brought lunch boxes. Have you eaten?”

“Uh, not yet.”

PD Choi Min-sUng’s eyes unconsciously moved to one side.

Seo-jun, Ahn Da Ho, and writer So Eun-jin followed his gaze.

Three convenience store lunch boxes were still wrapped in plastic on one side of the door.

“You didn’t eat?!”

Writer So Eun-jin’s eyes widened as she saw them.

“…We were busy. We’re almost done!”

“You said that yesterday too!”

“Well…”

PD Choi Min-sung rolled his eyes.

“…We scrapped it.”

Writer So Eun-jin put her hand on her forehead.

“You’ve scrapped it 10 times already…”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho smiled at the sight of the two.

“Then you must be hungry. Please eat quickly.”

PD Choi Min-sung nodded at Seo-jun’s words and turned his body toward the inside of the editing room.

“Director Woo! Director Choi! Dinner, no, breakfast…”

It was too bright to be dinner and too late to be breakfast for Seo-jun, who should have gone to school. Writer So Eun-jin sighed and corrected PD Choi Min-sung’s words.

“…Lunch.”

“…Please have lunch.”

And then two zombies appeared.

They were Director Woo Jeong-han and Director Choi Dae-man.

They looked like they had no appetite, but they ate the food from the famous restaurant that they had gone out of their way to get.

They were the three directors who ate hastily.

“Please eat slowly.”

“Thank you, Seo-jun. But didn’t you go to school today?”

Writer So Eun-jin handed over the cake she had bought for her and shrugged her shoulders with a smile.

Writer So Eun-jin shook her head vigorously.

“It’s Sunday today.”

“…It’s already Sunday?”

They didn’t even know how time passed when they were stuck in the editing room. Writer So Eun-jin said with a stern face as she saw the three directors looking confused.

“The deadline is tomorrow.”

“…Haha.”

“Can’t you extend it a little bit, Writer So?”

“I’m sorry. I’m not a school official.”

At that, the directors’ hands sped up as they ate.

“But why did you scrap it 10 times?”

Director Choi Dae-man, who was the first to finish his lunch box, opened his mouth at Seo-jun’s question.

“If the play was just a play itself, we could have finished editing it sooner. But the twist is in the book, right?”

Seo-jun nodded.

“The play successfully made people open the book,”

There were people who read the book on the spot after watching the play.

Director Woo Jeong-han smiled.

“We have to make it that way too.”

“And Seo-jun threw foreshadowing everywhere. We wanted to emphasize every single one of them. But if we emphasize too much, it would be obvious, and if we hide it more in the background, but still make it noticeable, we thought there would be a better composition. So we ended up like this.”

“We didn’t expect it to take this long though.”

“I see.”

PD Choi Min-sung, who had emptied his lunch box, smiled.

“Don’t worry. It will be done by the deadline.”

“Yes.”

***

As promised by the three directors, on Monday at 3 p.m.

The edited videos of seven teams arrived at Yeoul Arts Middle School.

[Today at 5 p.m., Yeoul Arts Middle School graduation performance uploaded on YouTube!]

[The book band of the novel ‘Mirror’! Scan the QR code!]

[The bookstore is crowded from morning! What book is in people’s hands?!]

[The play ‘Mirror’ also has English subtitles!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun looks into the Mirror[■]!]

-Wow! Finally!

-QR code [Preparing] is goodbye now!

-If there are English subtitles, foreigners can watch it too?

=Seo-jun has a lot of overseas fans, so he must have prepared in advance.

=5 p.m. is 1 a.m. in LA lol 4 a.m. in Washington lol

=But people who want to watch will watch lol

-I’m waiting with the book next to me.

=222 I’ll read it right after watching the play!

=I’m out to buy the book. I don’t know if I can buy it before 5 p.m. lol

=You should have bought it in advance.

=Then I might read it before watching the play;;;

At 5 p.m.

The videos of Yeoul Arts Middle School graduation performance were uploaded on YouTube.

Seo-jun Lee’s fans who were waiting overseas and Seo-jun’s fans who were waiting in Korea clicked the play button with sparkling eyes.

Not long after the video started, the first comment was posted.

It was in English.

-/Do psychiatrists use stethoscopes in Korea?/

Chapter 265

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 265

The Moviegoer settled in front of the television after finishing the movie review shooting.

He liked to watch his favorite movies and dramas when he was busy, but he used the best television and speakers to enjoy the works in the best condition.

Except for the YouTube shooting equipment, they were the most expensive things in this house.

The Moviegoer placed the novel ‘Mirror’ that he had not read yet next to him on the couch.

He was well-informed about various things and he had not missed the reviews of Yeoul Arts High School’s graduation performance.

“Is it not five o’clock yet?”

He looked at the clock and there were only a few minutes left until five.

The Moviegoer browsed through some websites that he often visited to kill time.

From the sites where movie insiders posted their articles, to the sites where ordinary people also wrote about movies, from rookie sites, to foreign movie sites, theater-related sites, drama-related sites, and large communities.

They were all filled with posts waiting for Seo-jun’s play.

There were also many posts saying that they couldn’t watch it because they were at work or that they would secretly watch it while working.

Some friendly companies even said that they would watch it on the screen in the conference room.

The real-time search terms were already occupied by ‘Lee Seo-jun’ and the play ‘Mirror’, and articles poured out.

If an ordinary play had become such a hot topic, it would have been a mess, but

“Hmm. It’s peaceful.”

It was natural for ‘Lee Seo-jun’ to have this much firepower.

“Ah, right. This is not the time.”

He was admiring the views with his occupational disease, but he came to his senses and pressed the play button.

The screen was filled with a stage with a curtain down.

The play ‘Mirror’ began with a silence mixed with anticipation.

[This is the performance of the acting department’s third-year students Lee Seo-jun, Yang Ju-hee, Park Si-young, Jeon Sung-min, and music department’s third-year student Kim Chae-yeon… The stage was designed by art department’s first-year student Jung Min-hyung, and the play is based on the novel ‘Mirror’. Please give them a round of applause.]

Applause sounded.

“The sound quality is good too? Is it because it’s Yeoul Arts High School?”

He expected the sound quality to be poor because it was a school play, but it was better than expected.

The Moviegoer looked at the screen with a satisfied expression.

The curtain rose and the whole stage was revealed.

The light turned on at the left side of the stage.

It was a hospital lobby that looked familiar to anyone.

A nurse came out and answered a phone call.

No voice could be heard.

The Moviegoer leaned forward.

‘Seo-jun wouldn’t put this scene in for no reason.’

But he didn’t know why.

His eyes sparkled as he looked at the television.

A woman in a sky-blue striped shirt came out.

The nurse smiled and told her that there was a patient.

The camera that was close-up on the nurse and doctor changed and showed the whole stage.

The left side of the stage that was hidden by darkness lit up.

It was an office.

Someone was sitting in there.

The name of the psychiatrist was Jeong Chae-won.

The patient’s name was Kim Jin-woo.

The Moviegoer briefly glanced at the stethoscope around Jeong Chae-won’s neck and then immersed himself in the play.

He was shocked when the split personality appeared and he felt a chill down his spine when he heard the explanation of how the other personality was discovered.

The expression of Kim Jin-woo, which could not be seen in a play, was clearly shown through the camera.

His chin and lips trembled and his eyes blinked rapidly.

He frowned as if he was about to cry.

The Moviegoer couldn’t take his eyes off the most precarious part, Kim Jin-woo’s eyes.

He unknowingly clasped his hands together.

He had forgotten about the ‘voice that could not be heard’ that appeared at the very beginning of the play and was absorbed in it.

The stage darkened and brightened.

Kim Jin-woo rushed in.

His shirt had turned gray and he looked messy.

“He knew!!”

The Moviegoer swallowed hard as he listened to the conversation between the precarious Kim Jin-woo and the calm Jeong Chae-won.

He felt his hands that he had clenched tightly were damp and wiped them on his pants.

And once again, the stage lights went out.

From then on, the Moviegoer could only stare blankly at the television.

The first screen showed only Kim Jin-woo sitting in the lobby.

The camera that was shining on Kim Jin-woo, who was not moving at all under the bright white light, passed by his bowed head and followed the shadow that appeared on the floor.

The shadow that stretched out in a straight line grew bigger when it met the wall of the hospital lobby.

The screen that was close-up on the large shadow slowly moved back.

As the shadow shrank, Kim Jin-woo, who was receiving the bright white light, appeared at the end of the screen. But still, the shadow was big and Kim Jin-woo was small.

That’s when it happened.

When the two personalities showed their faces outside, Kim Jin-woo’s body began to twitch.

When Kim Jin-woo’s fingers moved, the shadow’s fingers moved.

When Kim Jin-woo’s arm moved, the shadow’s arm moved.

As Kim Jin-woo struggled, the large shadow behind him also swayed.

It seemed like the two personalities that were not visible were fighting fiercely, but on the other hand, it seemed like he was watching Kim Jin-woo’s situation where he couldn’t get away no matter how hard he tried.

‘Because shadows and bodies are like that.’

And then, the situation changed quickly. Two men appeared and talked and a detective suddenly punched Kim Jin-woo’s face.

Kim Jin-woo collapsed and Jeong Chae-won screamed and Oh Jeong-hwan explained.

His wrist was grabbed with a snap!

“I got caught?”

The Moviegoer flinched at the close-up face of the second personality.

The second personality was smiling.

As if he was having fun.

As if he was regretful.

His pale face looked like white porcelain.

He didn’t look human.

His black pupils sparkled like beads.

Unlike the audience who had looked away a little, Woo Jeong-han, who was holding the front camera, captured Seo-jun’s face perfectly.

Thanks to his professional spirit, the Moviegoer who met eyes with the second personality from the front felt a shiver down his spine.

Jeong Chae-won’s wrist that was tightly held felt like his own wrist.

After that, the situation turned quickly again.

Jeong Chae-won, who was sick of fear, poured tea water on the second personality and nurses, doctors, and detectives checked on his condition.

The doctor and detective took him away to the end of the stage and Jeong Chae-won stared blankly at them.

The Moviegoer who was watching with his mind blanked by the fast-paced situation heard the nurse’s voice in his ears.

“Yes. Yes. He seems to have a very strong aggressive tendency so he needs to be hospitalized.”

As soon as the curtain fell, he picked up the book that he had left next to him as if he had been struck by lightning.

[Mirror]

He never dreamed that this ordinary cover with a woman looking at a mirror would catch his eye so much.

***

[Title: Only for today! Review of ‘Mirror’!]

“Hello. This is Moviegoer… No, Playgoer!”

-lol Playgoer lol

-Is this how you make another one?

The Moviegoer laughed along with the viewers.

“No, this is just a special case. I made a movie review channel because I like to analyze the hidden messages, the foreshadowing, the breadcrumbs in the movies. But as I watched the play ‘Mirror’, I saw breadcrumbs everywhere and I couldn’t help myself.”

-Playgoer, how many times did you watch ‘Mirror’?

-I watched play-novel-play-novel-play-play…

-222 You’re watching it a lot

“I’ve been watching the book and the play alternately from 5 p.m. yesterday until now. I’m glad I filmed the video in advance, otherwise I would have had to skip the broadcast.”

-It’s only been a day since ‘Mirror’ was uploaded and the reviews are crazy.

-Yeah, I saw a lot of analysis posts.

-Analysis posts are fun! I’ve been reading them since yesterday.

-It’s not like you have to go to a movie theater or anything and it’s short, so a lot of people watched it.

-222 The views are also insane.

-333 All Koreans watched it.

-Didn’t YouTube crash? lol

The Moviegoer and the viewers laughed at the last comment.

Before starting the actual review, Moviegoer and the viewers chatted about this and that.

“I heard from someone who heard from someone that Seo-jun did both the adaptation and the stage direction himself.”

-Wow. Seo-jun is amazing!!

-His acting was great too.

-22 It wasn’t even a horror movie but I got goosebumps.

-When he fought with his two selves, it was crazy.

-Jin Natra must be using shadows in his plays now lol

The Moviegoer and the viewers burst out laughing at the Jin Natra joke.

“But it was really impressive how he fought with his two selves. Since it’s a play, they couldn’t do any CG work, so if the movement of the shadow was Seo-jun’s intention, it’s really amazing.”

-It was just a shadow cast by the light, but it looked like he was really fighting with Kim Jin-woo.

-Amazing. Seo-jun.

“Those who watched the play might have seen it differently. The good thing about video is that you can stretch it out and edit it from different perspectives. They edited several scenes together to emphasize the impressive scenes. The scene where he fought with his two selves might have been shorter in the play.”

-But still, there’s something about a play. It feels like it touches your skin.

-Video feels like it has a filter on it.

-I want to see that scene in person!!

The Moviegoer nodded sympathetically.

“Me too. But thanks to the three talented directors who worked together, this amazing video was created. If it wasn’t for them…”

The Moviegoer shook his head in admiration.

-Yeah, until last year, Yeoul Arts Middle School’s performance videos were just decent, ordinary.

-222 This year’s videos are all awesome. The other students’ plays are fun too.

“Yes. I also watched them when I took a break and they were all good.”

The Moviegoer checked the number of viewers and time of the live broadcast and said,

“Then let’s start the review. I’m going to do both the novel and the play, but I’ll start with ‘Mirror’. The setting is a psychiatric hospital. Kim Jin-woo comes to see a doctor. His first appearance was neat and innocent, so I was fooled too.”

-222 He was shaking so much that I felt sorry for him.

-His acting was so good that I got scared too.

-He looked so nice lol

-I didn’t know he was Kim Fake!

The Moviegoer laughed.

It had only been a day since it was released, but there were already different names for the two Kim Jin-woo’s, or rather, the original personality and the second personality.

“Yes. For convenience, let’s call the original personality Kim Real and the second personality Kim Fake.”

-lol Who came up with that lol

-Kim Real, Kim Fake. It fits perfectly lol

“As you watch the play, you can see various breadcrumbs, but the easiest one to notice is the color of Kim Jin-woo’s clothes. White, gray, black clothes gradually dyed by Kim Fake, making you think he was Kim Real.”

-But he wasn’t.

-Kim Fake. He acted so well;;;

-The lines are creepy when you know he’s acting.

-22 ‘He’ or ‘this’. They’re all referring to himself.

“He probably copied what he saw from inside when Kim Real went to Oh Jeong-hwan six months ago and asked for help. Maybe he was also Kim Fake when he looked at the camera and smiled during CCTV.”

-Creepy;;; How can he act like that?

-I guess he also pretended to mess up his hair and scream…!

-But I was fooled by Seo-jun’s acting lol

-22 He was so good that I got scared.

-I believed him…! Kim Fake!

“I was impressed by Seo-jun’s direction while analyzing the play. A play is something that has an audience in front of the stage. Unless it’s a participatory play, you have to act as if you’re excluding the audience as much as possible, but you can’t ignore them completely. That’s why the actors look at the audience and talk and the props are facing the audience.”

The Moviegoer took a sip of water and continued.

“You also have to arrange the movements so that they can be seen well by the audience. Maybe the movement of Kim Fake moving to the side of Kim Real after being hit by the detective was also planned.”

The Moviegoer showed something on the monitor screen and pointed to ‘>’ and said,

“This mark indicates the direction of the gaze.”

[Audience(>)-Jeong Chae-won(>)-Kim Fake(<)]

“Kim Fake, who grabbed Jeong Chae-won’s wrist, raises his head. In this composition, the audience can clearly see Kim Fake’s face. Jeong Chae-won moving slightly to the side was also for that effect. It was to show the audience how his expression changed drastically when he turned into Kim Fake.”

-Seo-jun is the best!

-Seo-jun!! Seo-jun!!

The Moviegoer smiled at the chat window that was quickly rising.

“After that, the situation changes quickly. Jeong Chae-won attacks Kim Fake and the doctors, detectives, and nurses surround him as if to protect Jeong Chae-won. Kim Fake is soon taken away by people’s hands and disappears and the play ends with a bit of uneasiness from the nurse’s last words.”

-Jeong Chae-won, who punished the criminal, is awesome!

-…I used to think that.

-I didn’t know Jeong Chae-won would stab him in the back…!

“Me too. I thought Kim Jin-woo was the protagonist when I watched the play, but when I read the book… He wasn’t. I was speechless after reading the book. When I watched the play again, it looked different.”

-It feels new every time you watch the play after reading the book;;;

“The play is a great work even if you just watch it, but you can learn more facts if you read the book. Then let’s analyze ‘Mirror’ again with the novel that threw us into a world of chaos and horror. It would be better if you read the novel first before you come.”

-I read it!

-I read it right away!

-Let’s start quickly!

“Yes. Then let’s start the second review. You all probably know this, but to tell you the conclusion first, the protagonist is Jeong Chae-won,”

-Shocking ending! The truth is?!

-Dum dum dum dum!!

The Moviegoer paused for a moment and opened his mouth.

“She suffers from schizophrenia, which mainly causes delusions and hallucinations.”

Chapter 266

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 266

“Schizophrenia. You’ve heard of it, right? The symptoms of schizophrenia include delusions, hallucinations, and auditory hallucinations. They are trapped in fantasies that someone is trying to kill them or that they are being watched. The problem is that most schizophrenic patients do not recognize their own illness.”

-Who would have thought that was the beginning of the mirror.

-I was mind-blown while reading it.

“Let’s talk about the novel first. The novel Mirror consists of four parts: three stories and the last story that connects them. The protagonist is Jeong Chae-won. I thought Kim Jin-woo, the character played by Lee Seo-jun, was the protagonist, but he wasn’t.”

-That’s why I was surprised.

“The three stories are told from Jeong Chae-won’s perspective, and the last story is told from the author’s perspective.”

-Jeong Chae-won…!

-How could you betray me like this;;

“I didn’t expect this kind of twist either. I trusted Jeong Chae-won too much because she was the protagonist.”

-Me too. Why didn’t I think something was wrong with her?

-Maybe because the background of the second story was a mental hospital.

“The three stories from Jeong Chae-won’s perspective are ordinary. They are very ordinary stories of a psychiatrist, Jeong Chae-won, meeting three patients. The first patient has an eating disorder, the second patient, played by Lee Seo-jun, has dissociative identity disorder, and the third patient has antisocial personality disorder, a sociopath.”

-I thought psychiatrists must have a hard time while reading the book.

-Me too. But it wasn’t true.

-Who would have guessed that the real patient was Jeong Chae-won!

-It hurt so much when she stabbed me in the back!

Moviegoer nodded his head sympathetically with the viewers’ feelings.

“Yes. The last episode. The three stories from the author’s perspective were completely different.”

-It turned out that the patient was the doctor and the doctor was the patient.

“Yes. That’s right. The three stories were actually Jeong Chae-won’s stories of going to the first mental hospital, the second mental hospital, and the third mental hospital. In the end, she was hospitalized because of her violence, and Jeong Chae-won’s identity was revealed.”

-Delusions are scary.

-So are hallucinations and auditory hallucinations.

-If you read the novel again from the beginning, you can see how solid Jeong Chae-won’s world is.

-Because that’s her ‘daily life’.

“The first patient with an eating disorder, that is, the doctor who treated Jeong Chae-won for the first time, collapsed after drinking the tea that Jeong Chae-won gave him.”

-I was really shocked.

-And in Jeong Chae-won’s world, he became a vomiting patient with an eating disorder.

“Let’s talk about the second doctor, that is, Dr. Kim Jin-woo played by Lee Seo-jun later. The third doctor, the patient with antisocial personality disorder.”

-Jeong Chae-won made him a patient with personality disorder because he didn’t listen to her.

-Well, the first doctor got into trouble after drinking what Jeong Chae-won gave him, and the second doctor got hot water poured on his face. I would be cold too.

-Extreme job!

Moviegoer smiled bitterly at the viewers who analyzed on their own.

“Yes. She finally got hospitalized in the third hospital thanks to the cold judgment of the doctor. The novel ends with a scene of Jeong Chae-won walking to the ward and the third doctor looking at her. It was a book with a chilling twist.”

-True.

-It was really creepy to read!

-Now for the play!! The play foreshadowing!!

“Yes. Let’s talk about the play ‘Mirror’. As I explained before, it is a play adapted and directed by Lee Seo-jun himself. It is based on the second story of Mirror. I will review both Mirror’s second story and the play together.”

-Who was the nurse at first?

-I don’t know. I couldn’t hear her voice.

-Was this something Seo-jun added?

“Yes. Maybe he added it because if he only put in the second story, Mirror’s twist would end without any connection. He wanted to give ‘dissonance’ to the audience.”

-True. If you only see the second story, it’s just an ordinary story of a patient with dissociative identity disorder.

-The twist made both the novel and play more interesting.

-What do you think, Moviegoer?

“I think I know after watching both novel and play repeatedly. This might be either Jeong Chae-won’s first mental hospital or her family telling her about her visit.”

-Oh. They are explaining about Jeong Chae-won.

-So they adjusted to Jeong Chae-won who thinks she is a ‘psychiatrist’!

“Yes. That’s right. I didn’t notice at first, but there were many strange things in the book. First of all, a patient who enters the consultation room without a doctor.”

-I didn’t even think it was weird.

-I just thought he was already in there because it was a play.

-Who would have thought that was part of the direction.

“It turned out that this patient Kim Jin-woo was the real ‘doctor’. It’s not strange for a doctor to wait alone in the consultation room when a patient comes.”

-The pure white sweater too. It must have been a doctor’s gown.

-I thought he was pure Jin-woo at first. He looked like an angel, so I thought he wore white.

-That’s also a correct interpretation in ‘Jeong Chae-won’s world’.

-But the problem is that it was all hallucination.

“Jeong Chae-won, the patient, greets the nurse familiarly and enters the consultation room and puts on a doctor’s gown. Here, the sky-blue striped shirt. Doesn’t it look like a patient’s gown?”

Moviegoer showed Jeong Chae-won’s picture and a patient gown image on the monitor screen. There was a slight difference, but they were similar.

-It looks like that when you know it, but it just looks like a pretty outfit when you don’t.

-I can’t wear sky-blue striped shirts anymore.

“And Jeong Chae-won and Kim Jin-woo talk. The ‘truth’ is probably Jeong Chae-won’s nonsense that Dr. Kim Jin-woo observes. There is another noticeable prop here.”

-[Do psychiatrists use stethoscopes in Korea?]

-When I saw this comment, I got goosebumps. When I looked again, she really had a stethoscope all along.

-It was really scary. It wasn’t even a horror movie…!

“Yes. Let’s unravel the stethoscope story, or rather, the stethoscope foreshadowing.”

He smiled lightly and continued.

“Why would a psychiatrist wear a stethoscope? It’s not strange to have a stethoscope with a pure white doctor’s gown, but if the doctor is a psychiatrist, it becomes strange.”

-I didn’t feel anything strange at all.

-But after reading the book and the comments, I kept looking at it while watching the play.

“This is also an element that Lee Seo-jun added. It’s not in the novel, but it’s a foreshadowing that can only be used in a play that can be seen visually. The stethoscope. This is the most clear device that tells you that the world of the play is not real. When you realize the stethoscope, you start to doubt the doctor, the patient, and even the play itself.”

-But why didn’t anyone notice?

“Because they were used to it. A pure white doctor’s gown with a stethoscope. From children to adults. Isn’t that the first image that comes to mind when you think of a doctor? Maybe if the background of the play wasn’t psychiatry, it would have been the most ordinary outfit.”

-Now I only see stethoscopes.

-I can’t believe I didn’t notice even though it was hanging around her neck.

“Then let’s leave the stethoscope story here and move on to the next one. What you need to know here is that Kim Jin-woo is actually a doctor and Jeong Chae-won is a patient.”

[Kim Jin-woo=psychiatrist]

[Jeong Chae-won=patient]

The descriptions of the two people appeared on the monitor.

“Dr. Kim Jin-woo leaves and the nurse turns off the light. Jeong Chae-won stays in the hospital. I think this means hospitalization. Maybe she was hospitalized for a day or two to check her condition.”

-Wow…!

-I didn’t know that;;;

“Lee Seo-jun did a great job directing the stage. I can’t praise him enough. Since it was a school event, Mirror probably didn’t have the environment to build such a set. He used a fixed set as much as possible and sprinkled various foreshadowings.”

-Seo-jun…!

-Our Seo-jun!!

“Next, let’s look at the color of Dr. Kim Jin-woo’s clothes. In Jeong Chae-won’s world, it was the erosion of Kim Fake, but it actually meant something else. From white to gray, from gray to black. It could mean either Dr. Kim Jin-woo’s condition or Jeong Chae-won’s condition.”

-Wow. It’s getting worse!

-The worst situation!

-Jeong Chae-won’s symptoms must have been too severe for Dr. Kim Jin-woo to handle!

“Yes. That’s why Dr. Kim Jin-woo, the nurse, and two more people appeared. In Jeong Chae-won’s world, they were another psychiatrist and a detective, but their real identities were different in the novel. They were the people who came to transfer Jeong Chae-won to the third hospital.”

-Delusions are so scary!

-Shocking;;;

“It was a frightening situation for Jeong Chae-won. Dr. Kim Jin-woo told her about the transfer and introduced the two men. The two men moved to take Jeong Chae-won away. Jeong Chae-won panicked and struggled. Then Dr. Kim Jin-woo got hit by Jeong Chae-won’s hand and Jeong Chae-won made the two men his enemies as if she was a doctor again.”

-Wow…

-??? : Jin-woo! Are you okay?! Jin-woo! What are you doing!

-Holy.

“And Dr. Kim Jin-woo tried to make Jeong Chae-won understand despite his injury, but in Jeong Chae-won’s world, Dr. Kim Jin-woo had already become a traitor. The betrayal manifested as Kim Fake, the second personality.”

-That’s why she splashed water!

“Yes. Jeong Chae-won, who was seized by fear, poured tea water on Dr. Kim Jin-woo’s face. Dr. Kim Jin-woo screamed in pain.”

-The scream gave me goosebumps.

-Seo-jun acted so well;;

“Another ‘strangeness’ appeared here. There was one place where the nurse’s dialogue stood out, right?”

-Yes, teacher!

-She called her ‘Dr. Jeong Chae-won!’ but there was a subtle gap.

-The round speech bubble seemed to change into a square one.

-222 It was out of place.

“That was probably the nurse calling ‘Dr. Kim Jin-woo’. It was a ‘dissonance’ that could only be heard in a play, not read in a novel. The acting of Park Si-young, who played the nurse, was very good.”

-That’s why the nurse’s voice stood out!

-She wasn’t calling Jeong Chae-won, but the real doctor!

-Oh my god!

Moviegoer showed a picture of the play captured on the monitor screen. It was a scene of the nurse and two men heading towards Kim Jin-woo, who fell after getting tea water on his face.

“If you look closely here, they are not protecting ‘Jeong Chae-won’ but ‘Dr. Kim Jin-woo’. The man who turned into a detective is still wary of Jeong Chae-won. This is also an expression that can only be used in a play that is hard to express in a novel.”

-It’s really subtle. When I first saw the play, I thought they were protecting Jeong Chae-won, but it looks like they are guarding him.

-22 To think that he made this with such consideration… Amazing!

“And in the end, the two men tried to take Dr. Kim Jin-woo to the emergency room as soon as possible, while the patient who lost her mind and the nurse who informed the third hospital of the patient’s aggressiveness appeared and ended the play.”

-??? : Yes. Yes. He is so aggressive that he needs to be hospitalized.

-…The nurse was talking about Jeong Chae-won’s aggressiveness, not Kim Fake’s.

-I thought she was talking about Kim Fake;;;

-She just poured tea water on his face… I didn’t even think it was Jeong Chae-won.

“There were foreshadowings in the play that led to the novel. If you watch the play and don’t read the novel, you will miss these wonderful foreshadowings.”

-I have to watch it again.

-I have to watch the play again after reading the review!

-Moviegoer! Was it also a foreshadowing that Dr. Kim Jin-woo never drank tea?

-222 Jeong Chae-won kept offering tea but Kim Fake didn’t drink it.

-I thought of Persephone’s myth when I saw that.

-Oh! The goddess who had to stay in the underworld for three months a year after eating the food of the underworld?

-Wow. Does it mean that he would be fixed in Jeong Chae-won’s world if he drank it?

-Or did he really die?

-That’s in the book!

“Yes. If you read the novel, you will know that the first mental hospital doctor collapsed after drinking the tea that Jeong Chae-won gave him.”

-Did he die?

“He didn’t die. Dr. Kim Jin-woo knew that and didn’t drink it.”

-It was so scary to see Jeong Chae-won keep offering tea after reading that.

-Was Dr. Kim Jin-woo trembling because of that?

-! That seems right!

“It was a fun and creepy play with twists until the end. It was even better with the novel. The actors’ performances were also good. It was an acting skill that I couldn’t believe they were middle schoolers.”

Moviegoer calmly finished his speech.

“Yang Ju-hee, who played Jeong Chae-won, Lee Seo-jun, who played Kim Jin-woo, Park Si-young, who played the nurse, Kang Jae-han, who played Dr. Oh Jung-hwan, Jeon Seong-min, who played the detective. And the students of Mirror team who prepared the music, background, and props. Thank you so much for showing me a wonderful play.”

Chapter 267

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 267

[Theater-Novel-Theater! The hidden clues in the play ‘Mirror’ summarized!]

[The interpretation of the play ‘Mirror’ by the moviegoer, no, the theatergoer]

[The novel Mirror! Sold out everywhere!]

[You only watched the play? You have to read the novel to see the real thing!]

[Kim Jin-woo, Kim Fake! The actor Lee Seo-jun who played the dual personality!]

[It turns out there was a real protagonist!]

[Real schizophrenia symptoms? Let’s dig into the symptoms in the mirror!]

-…It was a story of shock and horror.

=222 The play and the novel were both shocking.

-I can’t believe such an interesting book was about to fail…!

-I’m going crazy. The identity of the stethoscope that I didn’t care about was so shocking that I’m looking at every prop like licking it;;;

=22 I’m analyzing every prop in the background.

=333 The music too. I’m analyzing everything from the title to the composerㅋㅋ

=444 I’m reading every sentence of the novel seriouslyㅋㅋ

-I really want to see it for myself.

=Me too. I want to see the scene where the two personalities fight and reveal their identity!

=I want to see the scene where Kim Fake acts like he’s sick of horror.

=When I first saw him, I felt sorry for him, but when I found out he was Kim Fake, he was scary;;;

=Ahhhh!! I want to see everything!!!

-I only wanted to watch Lee Seo-jun’s play, but I couldn’t help but buy the book.

=222 I didn’t want to buy it, but I couldn’t help but read it.

=333 Lee Seo-jun’s sales power is amazing.

-Mirror: The story of a patient who doesn’t know she’s a patient.

=But if the delusion is that well implemented, it would be hard to know that you’re a patient.

=22 Because you see hallucinations and hear voices.

=333 Because that’s the ‘truth’ for Jeong Chae-won.

-Hmm… Maybe I’m living in a world like this too.

=I suddenly feel anxious tooㅎ

***

KBC Broadcasting Station, Entertainment Department.

The manager of Red Crown, a girl group from Cocoa Entertainment, came to meet the PD of the entertainment department to discuss Red Crown’s appearance on a variety show.

After various meetings, they decided to proceed with the schedule without the main vocal who was injured by falling on the stage.

The manager, who was busy moving around to adjust the schedule due to an unexpected accident, sighed heavily.

“Manager Jung!”

The manager, who had reported to Cocoa Entertainment and was heading to another broadcasting station, turned his head at someone’s call.

When he turned around, he saw someone smiling at him.

It was the PD of the cultural program that Red Crown had appeared on.

“Oh, PD Park. Long time no see.”

“What a coincidence to meet you here. It’s such a great coincidence!”

The PDs and writers of the cultural department who followed PD Park groaned.

What are they going to do with that acting?

“Ahahaha. You must be doing well these days! Red Crown is popular and you’re traveling around a lot…”

‘I heard Lee Seo-jun’s play went well!’ He was about to continue his sentence, but PD Park stopped when he saw the writers making an X sign with their arms and looking panicked.

“Oh, one of the members got hurt…”

PD Park closed his eyes tightly at the manager’s words. Pre-research. He should have done some pre-research.

“Oh… I see.”

He wondered how to say it for a moment, then decided to just blurt it out.

“We have a program in our cultural department that introduces books, and I think Lee Seo-jun’s play would be perfect for it. Don’t you think?”

“Ah.”

The manager understood why PD Park called him. Well, this wasn’t the first or second time this happened, so he automatically answered like an answering machine.

“Lee Seo-jun’s work is handled by Team 2. You should contact our company.”

“Haha. They seem to be very busy over there.”

He didn’t even know if they read his emails or phone calls properly.

The manager of Red Crown, who had no authority over Lee Seo-jun’s work, was about to refuse when he heard another voice.

“The cultural program won’t have a good time slot.”

PD Park flinched and looked at where the voice came from. The PD of the entertainment department was walking over with a smile on his lips from the parking lot.

“Manager Jung. We have an entertainment program that changes its theme every two weeks. The theme this week is theater, and I think Lee Seo-jun’s play would go well with it. The Wind Theater Group, which is related to Lee Seo-jun, is also scheduled to appear.”

“We can arrange a special broadcast!”

The PD of the drama department appeared from the opposite side. He was out of breath, as if he had run over.

“You guys are only thinking of putting it in an existing program, but our drama department will give you a separate time slot!”

“No, we can also arrange a separate broadcast!”

The PD of the entertainment department sneered at the PD of the drama department.

“Our drama department director said to ask if there’s any time you want. You can choose whatever day and time slot you want!”

“What! PD Jung! Hurry up and contact the director!”

The noisy broadcasting station lobby.

The manager of Red Crown couldn’t move a muscle because of Lee Seo-jun’s work.

***

Two days after the play Mirror was uploaded on YouTube.

The Mirror team gathered again in the fifth practice room.

“Pizza’s here!”

“Chicken! It’s at the front gate. I’ll go get it!”

“What about the kids who went to buy drinks and snacks?”

“They’re on their way!”

Everyone was excited and prepared for the party by laying newspapers on the floor.

Ju-hee, who was leading the preparation, checked the time.

They had permission from the teacher until 5 o’clock.

“We only have two hours to use the practice room, so let’s have fun!”

“Two hours is enough to have fun and spare!”

“But what about Seo-jun?”

“I’m here.”

Seo-jun, who had just arrived, answered and put down the box he was holding on the floor.

The second-year students rushed to the box and surrounded it.

“Senior. What is this?”

“Can we open it?”

“Yeah.”

The second-year student from the art department who had a cutter knife cut the tape and opened the box.

“Wow!”

“This is Hotel E, right?”

“Yeah. I tried it last time and it was delicious. I bought some of this and that.”

“As expected of senior!”

“As expected of Lee Seo-jun!”

The Mirror team kids sparkled their eyes.

From snacks to chicken, pizza, and Hotel E dishes.

The kids smiled brightly at the party full of food they wanted to eat.

Seo-jun also laughed happily in the noisy atmosphere.

“Senior. Did you see Moviegoer’s review?”

“Yeah. It was no joke. I thought the color of the clothes had two meanings, so not many people would notice.”

“Right? I didn’t know either until I heard your explanation.”

“But Moviegoer must be a real fan of yours.”

“Right. He even joined the fan club, didn’t he?”

The kids laughed at the music team leader’s words.

The topic of the conversation was the play Mirror, the novel Mirror, and people’s reactions.

“Did you see that?”

“What?”

“The morning broadcast. They edited it and uploaded it on YouTube. Wait a minute.”

The actor team, Park Si-young, took out his phone. He went to YouTube and clicked on a video.

A man in a white gown appeared. The actor team, Jeon Seong-min, laughed at the sight of his eyes naturally going to his neck.

“Now I check the stethoscope whenever I see a doctor.”

“Me too! I can’t help but look at their necks!”

“Me too.”

The kids laughed out loud. Park Si-young pressed the play button while laughing with them. The sound came out of the phone speaker.

[Then let’s meet a professor of psychiatry.]

The doctor on the screen greeted and applause sounded.

The kids who were looking at the phone screen tilted their heads.

“…This looks familiar somehow.”

“Right.”

“It looks like something else! The Royal Physician Plus and Rebellion Plus!”

At that, the Mirror team kids opened their eyes wide.

“That’s right!”

There was a moment of silence and the practice room was filled with laughter.

“Wow. That’s amazing.”

“Right. I never thought this kind of broadcast would come out.”

“Me neither. I knew Seo-jun had a lot of influence, but this kind of broadcast came out in two days!”

The kids who were interested in the video gathered around the phone.

[First of all, before talking about schizophrenia, I’ll talk about eating disorders. Eating disorders are more than you think…]

The professor on the phone screen went on and on.

“I wonder if they’ll talk about dissociative identity disorder next?”

“Then it’ll be sociopath and schizophrenia at the end.”

“But isn’t this too obvious for a broadcast?”

The kids chatted with the doctor’s explanation as background noise.

“But it’s interesting.”

“Right. There are some facts that I didn’t know.”

“I think it would feel different if I watch the play or read the book again after watching this broadcast.”

“As expected. KBC makes good broadcasts like this.”

They watched until dissociative identity disorder and multiple personality disorder, then lost interest in the video and reached for food again.

They each took a bite of their favorite food and chatted.

“By the way, the novel. It became a bestseller, right?”

“Yeah. It was number one for three months in a row, October, November, and December.”

“Wow!”

Applause and cheers erupted at the success of the original novel. Seo-jun and the kids chatted happily together.

“Oh yeah.”

Seo-jun suddenly opened his bag as if he remembered something.

The Mirror team kids looked at him curiously as he opened his bag.

In Seo-jun’s hand was a stiff envelope.

“I was going to tell you later, but I think now is better.”

“What is that? A letter?”

“Yeah. A letter from Choi Da Ye, the author. She said it’s for the Mirror team.”

“Ohh!”

“What does it say?”

“She said thank you for making such a wonderful play. She said she couldn’t take her eyes off for a moment. She said it was like seeing Jeong Chae-won’s world and it was more amazing than her own novel.”

“Woah!”

“She said she cried because everything was so cool, from acting to background and props, to music.”

The kids were touched by Choi Da Ye’s sincere letter. The sensitive kids even teared up.

Seo-jun smiled and continued.

“And she said if you send her your address and name, she’ll send you a signed book. Send it to me on Banana Talk. And I’ll copy the letter and share it with you.”

“Yeah!”

“I’ll send it right away!”

The kids were excited and took out their phones.

“And…”

Seo-jun’s story wasn’t over yet.

The kids who were writing their addresses looked up at Seo-jun’s voice.

Seo-jun made a playful face and dragged on before saying.

“Evan and Rachel enjoyed watching the play. They said you all acted well.”

“…Ahh!”

The actor team kids screamed like a scream at Seo-jun’s words. The music team and the background team kids also opened their eyes wide at the appearance of Hollywood actors.

Seo-jun smiled.

“Ryan and Sarah directors also enjoyed it.”

“What! Director Sarah too?”

“I thought they would watch it, but I didn’t expect them to actually watch it! Eek. What do I do! I’m so happy!”

The actor team kids chattered with flushed faces.

Even Jeon Seong-min, who had a calm personality, looked lost with sparkling eyes.

The music team and the background team were happy with the actor team’s reaction.

“Wow. Hollywood actors and directors watched your play!”

“That’s amazing!”

Seo-jun’s eyes moved to the music team this time. The music team kids blinked their eyes at Seo-jun’s gaze.

“Jason and Professor Benjamin also watched the play. They said the music was well matched.”

“Wow!”

The violin majors screamed.

The instruments were different, but they were also impressed by the famous musician’s appreciation.

“Professor Benjamin said he recommended it to his friends. His friends also enjoyed it.”

Seo-jun listed the names of Professor Benjaminr’s friends one by one. When the name of the pianist he admired most came out of Seo-jun’s mouth, the music team leader, Kim Chae-yeon, screamed and the others were speechless.

“I’m crazy…”

“They really listened to my music!?”

“I should have worked harder!”

The excited music team looked at the background team.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek at their sparkling eyes.

Unfortunately, Seo-jun had no connection with the art world.

The only thing he had was the special makeup team.

‘But Professor Benjamin and Jason’s friends are not only musicians.’

They had a lot of acquaintances as they traveled around the world for a long time.

Painters, sculptors, designers, etc.

The background team kids also cheered at the names of their role models that came out of Seo-jun’s mouth.

They didn’t show their skills like the actor team or the music team, but they were really happy with this much.

Seo-jun smiled at the happy kids.

It was a fun party.

***

[Happy New Year! I hope you all stay healthy this year!]

[The ratings of the year-end awards ceremony! Record low!]

[‘Mirror Syndrome’ Is this my delusion or reality?]

-Happy New Year!

-I can’t believe it’s already a new year!

-I spent so much time watching Seo-jun’s playㅋㅋ

=I know, right? It felt like it passed by in a flash.

-I didn’t care about the awards ceremony.

=22 The play and the novel and the analysis articles were so much more fun.

-The ratings of the awards ceremony are pitiful.

=That’s why the broadcasting station staff were trying to get Seo-jun so hard.

=222 There was a rumor that Red Crown’s manager was surrounded by them in KBC Broadcasting Station lobbyㅋㅋ

=Red Crown? They’re from the same agency, but why did they go to another manager?

=Cocoa Entertainment is already a mess… It’s too hard to get a word in.

=…Staff?

=…ㅎ

-Mirror syndromeㅎㅎ I also start to look at the stethoscope whenever I see a doctorㅎ

=ㅋㅋ I went to the internal medicine and stared at the stethoscopeㅋㅋ

Chapter 268

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 268

January.

From last year to this year, from December to January.

The first day of the new year when the sun and the moon change.

The staff of a large bookstore in New York were busy moving around.

They had closed the store last night and removed the Christmas decorations and cleaned up here and there, but there was still some finishing touches left.

“We have to finish before we open!”

“Yes!”

They all answered loudly to the manager’s words.

They changed the decorations for the new year, cleaned up, dusted off the books at the front, and checked for any torn pages.

The bookstore staff came from various backgrounds, as New York was a city where people of different races lived and worked.

Among them, there was a noticeable person.

An Asian who was still on probation and looking for her tasks while wandering around.

The manager smiled and opened his mouth.

“Soo-jin!”

“Yes!”

“Here’s the bestseller list. Check if there are any missing or misplaced books.”

“Yes!”

Soo-jin Kim, a Korean who was studying at a university in New York and working part-time at the bookstore, eagerly took the paper as soon as she got a task.

Then she headed straight to the bestseller corner, which was the best spot in the bookstore.

“First place… correct, second place… correct.”

The book that ranked first on the bestseller list was placed in the most eye-catching spot, and next to it was the book that ranked second.

Oh, dust.

Kim Soo-jin’s eyes caught a familiar book cover as she dusted off the cover with her hand.

“Wow!”

Kim Soo-jin didn’t participate in the cleaning last night because she was working in the morning shift, so she didn’t know about the new bestsellers until a few minutes ago.

She thought that the book title on the bestseller list was a different book with the same title.

“…It’s not misplaced, is it?”

Kim Soo-jin’s eyes turned to the bestseller list.

The familiar book title and the author’s name that she wondered why she hadn’t seen before.

It was the original novel of the play that Kim Soo-jin had read, watched, admired, and gasped.

[Mirror]

[Author: Choi Da Ye]

[Looking into Seo-jun Lee’s mirror[■]]

From the cover design to the QR code on the book band, it was a Korean novel, Mirror, that was exactly the same as the one in Korea.

It had made it to the American bestseller list.

Kim Soo-jin exclaimed over and over again at seeing a Korean book in a faraway country.

“I think this is the first time I’ve seen a Korean book on the bestseller list since I came to America!”

he checked the bestseller list with an excited face, but Kim Soo-jin’s eyes kept glancing at Mirror.

he checked all the books and stood in front of Mirror again.

She felt sorry that the book was placed without any decoration.

he wanted to convey her feelings of admiration and astonishment to the customers who would buy this book.

“Hmm.”

‘I can’t move it because it’s placed in order from first place.’

Kim Soo-jin thought for a moment and smiled slyly as she turned her body back.

“Manager!”

A little later.

The bookstore opened.

People who loved books came to the bookstore from early on.

They looked around the bestseller corner first, which was the most noticeable spot in the bookstore.

“I guess these are this month’s bestsellers.”

“What’s interesting? Huh? What’s this QR code?”

“I’ve read this one and this one… QR code?”

They found a book that stood out among the bestsellers.

The book titled Mirror had a QR code on its book band unlike other books.

The QR code on the book band definitely caught people’s attention.

Some people reflexively took out their phones when they saw it, and some people picked up the book.

“Looking into Seo-jun Lee’s… mirror?”

A man who was stroking his chin and looking at the QR code, book band, and synopsis on the back of the book opened it.

Some people also opened it.

Unlike those who read books, those who scanned QR codes with their phones tilted their heads at the video that started.

Some people turned off their sound at hearing applause from their phones, and some people plugged in their earphones.

The curtain rose on screen and showed a stage.

“A play?”

People tilted their heads.

“Wait a minute. Don’t read it yet.”

“Huh?”

A woman who was about to open the book stopped her hand at her friend’s call.

Her friend’s eyes were pointing to one side of the bookshelf.

“What’s wrong?”

“Look at that. I guess I didn’t see it because it was small.”

People who heard her friend’s voice also stopped their hands.

“What’s wrong?”

“You have to watch the play before you read the book.”

“A play?”

The woman and the people’s eyes turned to where her friend pointed.

At the end of it, there was a small white paper attached to the bookshelf of the novel Mirror.

[1. Scan the QR code and watch the play Mirror.]

[2. Read the novel Mirror.]

Kim Soo-jin, a bookstore employee who was looking around, frowned at seeing people gathered in front of the bestseller corner.

She wanted to promote it more brightly and splendidly, but there were other books too, so this was the limit.

“But it’s better than nothing, right?”

“Soo-jin!”

“Yes!”

Kim Soo-jin ran quickly at the manager’s call.

***

[Novel Mirror Reviews]

-Watch the play! Watch the play first!

-:( I read the book first! It was still fun, but! It would have been more fun if I had watched the play first.

-Everyone. Try this. Play-novel-play!

-Scan the QR code!

-I went to a bookstore that told me in advance, so I watched the play first! 🙂 I’m so glad!

=Is it New York Bluehole Bookstore?

=Yeah. You too?

=Yeah. The notice was a bit small, so I read it a bit, but luckily I was able to watch the play without seeing the twist!

=Me too! I don’t know who it is, but thank you very much! 😉

***

[Brown Black 15th Anniversary Documentary Scheduled to Air!]

[Novel ‘Mirror’ on the US Bestseller List!]

[Play ‘Mirror’ Views Explode!]

[The Notice of Mirror on New York Bluehole Bookstore!]

-Did you see the schedule for BrBl documentary?

=They’re trying to get ratings by having Lee Seo-jun appear.

-Wow. A Korean novel on the US bestseller list?

=The play seemed to have contributed to the promotion.

=There was a QR code on the book cover, so it was easy to access.

=I don’t read books, but I had to watch this one.

=I’m American, but not only Mirror, but also other Korean novels are selling well.

=…This is no joke!

-It’s a guide for Mirror. Well, people who don’t know Seo-jun would watch the play after reading the book.

=It’s true that until now, we only sold to Seo-jun’s fans or people who were interested in his work, so we didn’t need much explanation, but now we have to sell to the general public, so we need to take some measures.

=How about putting a guide along with the book cover?

=22 A guide would do.

-You’re amazing as an exchange student! It’s not easy to give such an opinion!

=Thanks to the manager tooㅎ

***

“They made it to the US bestseller list, that’s amazing!”

“Do Americans watch our play too?”

“Do you think only Americans watch it? The whole world is watching.”

The children gathered in the classroom of grade 3-2 chatted with excited faces. Seo-jun also enjoyed talking with them.

“Our play got a lot of views too.”

The other teams who were in team 1 with Jinho also smiled and nodded.

The people who watched the Mirror team’s play also became interested in the other children’s plays.

Among them, there were some children who caught the eyes of directors or writers with their impressive acting.

Jinho, Ju-hee, Jae-han and some other children received audition offers.

“Are you all going to audition?”

The children nodded at Seo-jun’s question.

“Of course. It’s winter break, so we have plenty of time.”

“Right. After today’s graduation ceremony, we’ll be free until the entrance ceremony in March.”

Graduation ceremony.

The children who were happily talking about this and that drooped their shoulders at the mention of it.

Especially, the expressions of those who were going to high schools other than Mirinae High School were dark.

Would they be able to do well in high school?

The children who were full of worries looked at Kang Jae-han who quickly opened his mouth.

“It’s already graduation. Time flies, doesn’t it?”

“Right. It’s been three years.”

“But I think we spent these three years very well.”

The children nodded at Kim Ju-kyung’s words.

“When I was in elementary school, I didn’t even do any movie or drama filming, but when I entered middle school, I appeared in movies and did plays. It was so much fun.”

“Me too. I didn’t get to meet Evan Block or Rachel Hill, but I’m so happy that I got Padding!”

Jae-han and Ju-hee said with a smile and Jinho said with a laugh.

“I never dreamed of becoming friends with Hollywood star Seo-jun…”

“Me too!”

“I didn’t know we would become this close before entering school!”

Seo-jun just scratched his cheek at his friends’ words.

Three years.

It was a shorter time than elementary school, but they became closer because there were fewer students in the acting department.

Seo-jun looked at his friends who could continue acting together or go to different schools and walk different paths.

There was no point in trying to change the mood as everyone looked like they were about to cry.

They could contact each other by phone anytime, but the word ‘graduation’ gave them a heavy feeling.

Seo-jun looked at his friends for a moment and sent a banana talk to his homeroom teacher on his phone.

***

The graduation ceremony of Yeoul Arts Middle School.

As time approached, the parents and families of the third graders arrived at the school one by one.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun also headed to Yeoul Hall where the graduation ceremony would be held.

“Only two people can enter the graduation ceremony like the entrance ceremony.”

“There’s not enough space for all the families outside to come in.”

“That’s true.”

As people entered Yeoul Hall one by one and took their seats, soon the third graders came in and sat down in the front row where folding chairs were placed.

As the children came in, the parents’ seats became noisy.

They were busy looking for their children.

Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye also stretched their necks and looked at the seat of grade 3-2 of acting department.

They searched hard for their son who always shone wherever he was, but they couldn’t see him.

“Seo-jun is not here?”

“Is he a third grade representative like when he entered?”

“Oh. That could be.”

Seo Eun-hye nodded at Lee Min-jun’s words.

Then she quickly prepared the camera.

Soon.

The graduation ceremony began.

After the opening ceremony and the national anthem, there was a congratulatory speech by the principal.

“Three years ago, you graduated from elementary school and entered Yeoul Arts Middle School. And now you are graduating from this school. And you will become freshmen again.”

The principal looked around the children who were looking at him.

“It may be a place you have never been to and it may be scary. But everyone. Think back to three years ago. It was scary then too. You must have worried if you could do well in a strange place with strange friends. But look around now.”

The children who met their friends and teachers’ eyes as they looked around smiled softly.

“Good friends, good teachers, familiar school. Everything that was unfamiliar became familiar. You all did well. You will do well in high school too. Your middle school life was happy and fun, and your high school life will be happy and fun too.”

The principal’s speech ended and applause rang out.

[Next, we will have a farewell speech from the second grade representative and a reply speech from the third grade representative.]

At the announcer’s words, the second grade representative and the third grade representative appeared at the end of the stage.

The second grade representative was Kim Han-seok and the third grade representative was Yang Ju-hee.

The third graders were surprised for a moment and nodded their heads.

“Ju-hee was the third grade representative.”

“Ju-hee did go around everywhere for three years. It’s rare that a second grader was the team leader for the year-end performance. Usually it’s a third grader.”

“There’s no one in the three departments who doesn’t know Yang Ju-hee.”

“The teachers must know her too.”

The children who sent applause after the farewell speech and reply speech tilted their heads.

“Then where did Seo-jun go?”

[Next, we will have a congratulatory performance for graduation.]

Congratulatory performance?

The eyes of the students and parents turned to the stage.

Somehow they all thought of the same thing.

Seo Eun-hye and some parents switched their cameras to video mode. When a student appeared from the end of the stage.

It was Seo-jun.

“Wow!!”

There was a cheer and applause from the students and parents at the violin in Seo-jun’s hand.

The teachers and ATR Foundation staff also had excited faces.

Seo-jun received cheers and applause as he walked to the center of the stage.

The stage lights went out and only one light followed Seo-jun.

In the center of the stage, under the spotlight, Seo-jun bowed slightly.

Once again, cheers and applause erupted.

“Wow! Violin!!”

“Seo-jun!”

“Seo-jun!!”

Especially loud were the cheers of violin majors and acting department students.

Seo-jun smiled slightly and put his chin on the violin.

At the same time, silence fell over Yeoul Hall, which was full of cheers and applause.

A silence so quiet that even breathing sounds seemed to be heard.

The violin majors looked at Seo-jun with sparkling eyes.

The heavy silence was pierced by the sound of violin.

‘Over The Rainbow’ echoed in Yeoul Hall.

Excitement.

Joy.

Despair.

And brilliance!

Seo-jun played the violin with all his heart for his friends who were graduating now.

White feathers fell from the sky that was tightly blocked by the ceiling.

The white feathers that came down softly disappeared as they touched the children.

[(Line)Generous Baby Angel’s Feather-Low Grade- is activated.]

[(Line)Generous Baby Angel’s Feather-Low Grade]

It is a feather from a generous baby angel’s wing.

It makes people’s hearts a little cleaner.

You can give a small blessing once a day.

To your friends who are going to different schools, good luck

Chapter 269

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Chapter 269

He remembered the excitement he felt when he first held a script, a brush, and an instrument.

He recalled the days when he was happy with his growing skills.

Even when he was desperate in the face of a daunting slump.

He hoped to finally bear a brilliant fruit!

Brilliant!

The violin melody filled the Yeoul Hall and seemed to swirl around the audience’s bodies.

It felt like all the joy in the world came rushing at once.

It was different from listening through a video and listening in person.

Even the teachers and the ATR Foundation staff were lost in the performance.

There were two people who had different reactions.

‘He improved again.’

Only Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who often listened to Seo-jun’s performance from the closest distance, enjoyed the performance leisurely.

Seo-jun’s violin skills had increased rapidly. It was thanks to his diligent practice with Jason Moore and Professor Benjamin Morton through messages and videos.

The violin performance that filled the Yeoul Hall ended and everyone forgot to speak for a moment.

They wanted to savor the lingering emotion.

Seo-jun took the violin off his chin and spotted his mom and dad among the countless parents.

He smiled brightly at his mom holding a camera and his dad holding a bouquet.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun also noticed that and smiled.

Seo-jun bowed and headed to the side of the stage.

Then, one by one, they came to their senses and opened their mouths. Applause and cheers rained down like rain.

“Wow. That was amazing.”

“I heard him once before, but today’s power was no joke.”

“Ugh. I have to watch Over the Rainbow when I get home today!”

“Me too!”

The parents also wanted to take this emotion home with them. The students, parents, and teachers all clapped and cheered.

***

After finishing the performance, Seo-jun was greeted by his music teacher and homeroom teacher.

Seo-jun smiled and handed the violin to his music teacher.

“Here you go, teacher.”

“I listened well. It’s my violin, but it felt completely different. I was really surprised.”

The music teacher said with admiration as he received the violin from Seo-jun.

It was a violin that he had played for quite a long time, but it felt different from the melodies he had played.

He thought he was playing at 100%, but it turned out that there was a different melody hidden in the violin.

The music teacher looked at his violin with sparkling eyes, while the homeroom teacher looked at Seo-jun with a pleased face.

“I didn’t know you had such a thought,”

The homeroom teacher’s smile deepened as he heard the belated cheers and applause.

“It seems like it will be a great memory for the kids.”

The homeroom teacher patted Seo-jun’s shoulder.

“Take care when you go to high school. I look forward to your work.”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at the sincere words of his homeroom teacher. Meanwhile, the applause died down and an announcement came out.

[Next, we will award diplomas.]

“Go ahead now.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun bowed and headed to the audience seats of Yeoul Hall. The music teacher and homeroom teacher smiled warmly as they watched his back.

***

The diploma awarding ceremony was only for each class president and vice president.

While the students went on stage to receive their diplomas, Seo-jun found his seat and sat down.

The seat of Class 2 of Acting Department 3rd grade was closest to the entrance.

“Oh, Lee Seo-jun.”

“I thought you disappeared, but you prepared this event?”

Their hands clapped, but their mouths moved.

Seo-jun grinned and clapped hard.

Yang Ju-hee, the class president of Class 2 of Acting Department 3rd grade, and Kang Jae-han, the vice president, received their diplomas from the principal.

“It’s a graduation gift. Some of you are going to other schools.”

“It was a great gift.”

Another student who was going to a regular high school said, and other students’ eyes became moist.

Maybe because they were actors.

They had a different sensibility.

Seo-jun’s eyes also became wet as he thought so.

While other students comforted their crying friends, Yeoul Middle School graduation ceremony quickly ended.

[Lastly, we will sing the school song.]

The students of Yeoul Middle School sang the school song that they had become familiar with for three years.

It was the last time they sang it.

***

After the graduation ceremony ended, students and parents went out of Yeoul Hall.

Some headed to classrooms and some headed to playgrounds.

There were people everywhere in playgrounds and buildings.

“Seo-jun, congratulations on your graduation.”

“Thank you, mom and dad!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly as he hugged the bouquet that Lee Min-jun handed him.

Seo Eun-hye took pictures diligently.

“I was surprised. You can play the violin.”

“I just thought everyone would be sad because it was the last time, so I asked the teacher and he said it was okay.”

It was a sudden event, but seeing that his friends’ faces were sad but not gloomy, he felt relieved.

“Seo-jun oppa!”

“Seo-jun hyung!”

Seo-jun’s name was called, and not only Seo-jun and his parents, but also other students and parents looked that way.

Two small children ran over.

Subin and Eun-su, holding small bouquets.

Seo-jun smiled brightly at the appearance of his cute siblings.

“Subin! Eun-su!”

Subin and Eun-su ran to Seo-jun and hugged him.

While the two children were with Seo-jun, Seo Eun-chan, who brought the two children, handed two cups of hot coffee to Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun.

Seo Eun-hye smiled and greeted her brother.

“Did you come?”

“Yeah. When did the graduation ceremony end? Am I late?”

“No, it just ended. You came right on time.”

“The customers at the cafe started to get up one by one, so I followed them out.”

Only two family members could enter Yeoul Hall where the graduation ceremony was held, but they could wait outside as much as they wanted.

After the graduation ceremony, other families started to appear one by one to take pictures.

Seo Eun-chan also followed them from a nearby cafe.

“Did you wait long at the cafe?”

“No, about 10 minutes? I left home according to the time when the graduation ceremony would end.”

“Good job.”

While Seo Eun-hye and Seo Eun-chan were talking, Lee Min-jun took the camera from Seo Eun-hye and kept taking pictures of Seo-jun and the two children.

Then, Lee Min-jun noticed the bouquets that the two children were holding.

“Subin, Eun-su. You have to give Seo-jun hyung a bouquet.”

The two children who were laughing with their favorite Seo-jun hyung (oppa) looked at him with a surprised expression.

They looked back and forth between the small bouquets they were holding and Seo-jun.

“Oh! Seo-jun hyung! Congratulations on your graduation!”

“Congratulations!”

“Subin, Eun-su. Thank you!”

Seo-jun smiled happily as he took the bouquets.

Subin and Eun-su smiled shyly.

He soon caught the eyes of the children who were easily distracted by new things.

Especially, Subin’s eyes sparkled.

“Hyung. Is this a uniform? I want to wear a uniform too!”

“Subin. Do you know what a uniform is?”

“I know! It’s what the middle school hyungs wear!”

To Subin, who was entering elementary school this year, middle school was a distant and high grade.

“Subin. Seo-jun hyung is not a middle schooler anymore, but a high schooler. Isn’t that amazing?”

“High schooler!”

Subin’s eyes sparkled at Seo Eun-chan’s playful words.

As Eun-chan said, high schoolers seemed more impressive than middle schoolers.

To Eun-su, who was holding Seo-jun’s hand and playing with him, it didn’t matter whether he was a middle schooler or a high schooler.

“I want to wear a uniform too!”

“Hmm. Do you want to try wearing my blazer?”

“Yes yes!”

Subin wore Seo-jun’s blazer.

Subin’s two hands were hidden by the large blazer of Seo-jun.

Still, he laughed happily as if he was having fun.

Lee Min-jun quickly took a picture of Subin with his phone camera and sent it to Kim Hee-sang.

“Doesn’t it suit you well?”

“If Subin keeps playing the violin, he can come to Yeoul Middle School too.”

“Right. Will he be Seo-jun’s junior?”

“Come to think of it, wasn’t Subin from Maesil Elementary School?”

“Oh, then he’s already an elementary school junior.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun chatted and laughed. Seo Eun-chan held up the camera.

“Subin, Eun-su. Let’s take a picture.”

“Yes! Kimchi!”

“Kim-chi!”

Subin wearing Seo-jun’s blazer, Eun-su holding Seo-jun’s hand tightly, and Seo-jun holding three bouquets in his arms smiled brightly.

***

“Did you take pictures with all your friends?”

“Yeah. I took a lot.”

While Subin, who was entering elementary school this year, and Eun-su, who was still in kindergarten, were looking around the school with Seo Eun-chan, Seo-jun took a lot of pictures with his friends.

He guessed that his Banana Talk would be full of pictures sent by his friends.

“Then let’s go home since Eun-su and Subin seem tired.”

Seo Eun-hye said and Seo-jun nodded.

Lee Min-jun handed the phone call from Kim Hee-sang to Subin while carrying Eun-su who was almost asleep.

“Where did you park the car?”

“There was a paid parking lot over there. I parked there.”

Seo Eun-chan and his wife had agreed to take one car in advance.

So Seo Eun-chan answered Seo Eun-hye’s question, who came by taxi.

They all followed Seo Eun-chan to the gate.

At the back of the family walking slowly, Seo-jun looked back before leaving the gate.

He saw families and students who were still taking pictures.

The playground where he ran around during physical education classes, Yeoul Hall where he performed with his friends, the windows of the classrooms where he took classes, the cafeteria where he ate lunch, the building where the practice rooms were, the teacher’s office where he often stopped by for attendance,

“…”

He saw Yeoul Arts Middle School where he had spent three years happily.

Just as he had never been to Maasil Elementary School after becoming a middle schooler, he would have no reason to come to Yeoul Arts Middle School now.

Even if the mana engraved on the wall ran out, there would be no chance for it to recharge.

“…”

He wasn’t as sad as when he graduated from elementary school when he was young, but he felt a little heavy in his chest.

The couple and Seo Eun-chan waited quietly for Seo-jun who was looking back at Yeoul Arts Middle School.

Seo-jun soon turned around with a bright face. Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun smiled softly at him and saw him blush.

“Let’s go home.”

“Yeah.”

Instead of starting the car that he had brought from work earlier, Seo Eun-chan took out his phone.

“By the way, uncle.”

“Huh? Why?”

Seo Eun-chan turned his head and looked at Seo-jun who was sitting in the back seat as he was about to start the car.

“I played the violin today.”

“Huh?”

“I also recorded it on video.”

“…Huh?”

Seo Eun-chan froze as he smiled warmly at his daughter Eun-su who was sleeping soundly after eating well.

“Oh, I recorded it too. I haven’t seen it yet, but I hope it came out well. Should we check it now?”

“Shall we?”

Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun smiled quietly as Seo Eun-hye took out the camera.

Seeing the happy family, Seo Eun-chan laughed bitterly and instead of starting the car, he took out his phone.

The aftermath of the play Mirror was not over yet, and it seemed like Cocoa Entertainment would be in trouble again.

***

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, graduated from Yeoul Middle School!]

[The sound of ‘Over the Rainbow’ echoed at the graduation ceremony!]

[A long-awaited performance! Lee Seo-jun’s Over the Rainbow!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, violin performance fancam!]

-Seo-jun! Congratulations on your graduation!!

-Wow. Other people’s kids grow up so fast.

=22 He’ll be a high schooler in March.

=And an adult in three years.

=…It’s really fast.

-Over the Rainbow! The graduation ceremony video is out!

=They filmed it from all sides!

=Honestly, I would have filmed it too.

=It’s also on Channel [JUN]!

=There are also a lot of Seo-jun’s graduation photos on Sprout!

=A bouquet of flowers for Seo-jun! Thank you. Mom! Dad!

-He’s not even an idol, but he has a fancam lol

=But the views are rising faster than most idol videos lol

-I like that there are more videos. Plays and violin performances.

=I sometimes watch his busking videos these days, but this is not the Gray Vainy version.

=222 It’s the Lee Seo-jun version.

=I love this kind of atmosphere difference lol

=I have to watch Over the Rainbow + busking again!

-I envy those who heard it in person.

=Right. And the parents of Yeoul Middle School students must have seen the play in person too!

=Wow… That must be nice.

***

“What are you doing?”

At the words of writer So Eun-jin, Yu Cheonga, an assistant writer who was tapping the keyboard hard, screamed and got up.

If it was a laptop, she would have closed the monitor, but unfortunately this was a desktop.

Yu Cheonga, who was moving around in front of the monitor, soon gave up and smiled awkwardly.

“Um, writer. When did you come?”

“Just now. Didn’t you hear me knock?”

Yu Cheonga sighed inwardly.

‘I was so focused that I didn’t even notice the writer coming in.’

This was the studio.

A place where writer So Eun-jin, Yu Cheonga, and another assistant writer worked together.

Yu Cheonga rolled her eyes at So Eun-jin’s playful expression and opened her mouth.

“…Did you see it?”

“No. I didn’t see it. It looked like a script. What were you writing that you didn’t notice me coming in?”

“That’s… I was preparing for a contest.”

“A contest? Is there a broadcasting station that does contests?”

So Eun-jin tilted her head.

“No. There isn’t yet, but I just prepared in advance. I think it’s better to prepare and edit beforehand than to write hastily.”

“Then don’t you need feedback?”

“…Yes?”

“Who are you going to ask for advice when you have a professional writer here?”

So Eun-jin grinned and Yu Cheonga teared up.

“…Writer!”

“Quick, print it out and bring it to me.”

“Yes!”

Yu Cheonga handed the script that had just come out of the studio printer to So Eun-jin. So Eun-jin sat down and read Yu Cheonga’s script.

It was a short time for So Eun-jin, but for Yu Cheonga, it was longer than ever.

Every time the paper fluttered, Yu Cheonga felt her heart drop to the floor.

So Eun-jin laughed as she read the dialogue.

Yu Cheonga couldn’t tell if that calm smile was good or bad and swallowed her saliva.

She tried hard to calm her nervous mind and looked at So Eun-jin who put down the script on the table.

‘Is it okay? Or is it bad?’

So Eun-jin looked at Yu Cheonga’s tense expression and opened her mouth.

“You can graduate now.”

Writer Yu Cheonga clamped her mouth shut.

Chapter 270

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Chapter 270

“Of course, just because I like it doesn’t mean it can be made into a drama right away.”

The writer So Eun-jin said, and the writer Yu Cheonga, who tried to calm down her overwhelmed feelings, nodded in agreement.

To make this script into a drama, they needed a broadcasting station that would air the drama, a PD who would turn the script into a video, staff who would work together on the filming, and actors who would play the characters perfectly.

“All I can do for you is to introduce you to the PDs who are looking for scripts.”

Dramas were not easy to make, as they required a lot of money, time, and manpower for each project.

Even if they won a contest, it was common for dramas to not be produced even after waiting for three or four years.

“Your script has to appeal to the PD and the broadcasting station.”

Even if she was a star writer like So Eun-jin, the title of ‘So Eun-jin’s assistant writer’ would only arouse enough curiosity for the PDs to take a look at the script.

That curiosity had to lead to drama production, and for that, Yu Cheonga’s script had to be good.

“I’m happy enough that you like it, writer!”

So Eun-jin smiled brightly at Yu Cheonga’s words.

“But there are some places that I think need some revision. Can you come over here, Cheonga?”

“Yes!”

Yu Cheonga picked up a pen. She listened to So Eun-jin’s story with sparkling eyes and drew red lines on the script.

***

Today was the day when Brown Black’s 15th anniversary documentary was aired.

“Hyung! Where’s the fork?”

“Over there.”

Yu Cheonga looked around everywhere at the landlord Hwang Ye-jun’s words, but she couldn’t see even a ‘F’ of the fork.

“Over there? Where’s over there?!”

“Here it is.”

“…I didn’t see it before…?”

There was a fork where Hwang Ye-jun pointed.

Yu Cheonga scratched her cheek and took the fork to the living room.

A living room with a large television, a fluffy sofa, and a wide table.

Hwang Ye-jun, who sat on the floor like an ordinary Korean instead of on the sofa, cleared his throat with a playful face.

“Snacks!”

“Here they are.”

Yu Cheonga, who was also sitting on the floor, took out snacks from a plastic bag and laid them on the living room table.

They were snacks that Brown Black members liked and snacks that Seo-jun liked.

“Beverages!”

“I put cola, cider, and orange juice in the fridge.”

Kevin Kim, who grew up in America and was in charge of beverages, was lying on the sofa.

Hwang Ye-jun smiled contentedly.

“Seo-jun!”

“Hyung. Seo-jun is not a preparation,”

Ding-dong.

“…He’s here?”

“Seo-jun!”

The timing was too good, and Yu Cheonga and Kevin Kim burst into laughter.

Hwang Ye-jun smiled happily and opened the tightly closed door.

Seo-jun was standing in front of the door with a warm padding and a scarf.

“Come in. Isn’t it cold outside?”

“No. Da Ho hyung gave me a ride, so I came warmly. Here’s tteokbokki. I also bought fried food and sundae. Oh, there’s also kimbap.”

Seo-jun showed them a bag containing tteokbokki from a famous restaurant.

“That looks delicious! Give it to me.”

Hwang Ye-jun smiled and took the bag. Seo-jun took off his scarf and entered inside.

He tilted his head at the sound of laughter.

“Hyungs, why are you laughing?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Seo-jun. Hang your clothes over there.”

As Yu Cheonga said, Seo-jun was about to hang his padding when he looked around the living room and made a puzzled expression. Kevin hyung, Ye-jun hyung, Si-yoon hyung were there, but one person was missing.

“Seo-jin hyung didn’t come?”

“He said he’ll be late because of recording.”

Kevin Kim, who took the bag from Hwang Ye-jun and set up the food that Seo-jun brought on the living room table, answered Seo-jun’s question. Seo-jun nodded his head.

“Oh. Seo-jin hyung said he’s releasing a solo album this year.”

Park Seo-jin, the leader and main vocalist of Brown Black, was also active as a solo artist and decided to release a solo album this year.

“Yeah. The composition was done by Seo-jin hyung and Ye-jun hyung.”

At Yu Cheonga’s words, Hwang Ye-jun, who had just stabbed a tteokbokki with a fork, made a V with his left hand and smiled. Seo-jun giggled.

“Well, he must be having a hard time leaving the recording studio because he thinks he can do better.”

“That’s right. We always do that when we record.”

The three people who had recorded and recorded again, hoping that the songs they released to the public and fans would be better, nodded their heads.

“Sometimes the last song we sing is really good, and then we can’t do better in the next recording.”

Seo-jun also nodded at Kevin Kim’s words.

There were times when they pushed themselves too hard, thinking that they could make a better song, a better acting, a better scene with a little more effort.

“Will Seo-jin hyung come today?”

“He said he’ll come before the documentary starts.”

Seo-jun lifted his head and checked the time.

They had set the meeting time early, so there was still time left before the documentary started.

“Then what should we do until then?”

At Seo-jun’s words, Hwang Ye-jun, the landlord, jumped up from his seat.

“I have a board game. Let’s play that!”

Hwang Ye-jun brought the board game.

It was a four-player game, so they each picked one piece.

Kevin Kim, who looked at Seo-jun and the two people who were waiting for the start with excited faces, opened his mouth.

“It’s boring to just play, so how about the winner decides the menu? Not today, but next time we meet.”

Hwang Ye-jun’s eyes sparkled.

“Ooh! Hanwoo! Hanwoo!”

“That sounds good. I wanted to eat lobster.”

“I like Korean food.”

“Hmm. Michelin?”

Seo-jun and the three people’s eyes met. Sparks flew.

They started a bloody war for their desired dinner menu.

***

“I’m here.”

Park Seo-jin, who finished recording, arrived.

He entered the house by pressing the familiar password and blinked his eyes at the sight of Seo-jun and the three members sprawled out in the living room.

“What? Why are you guys like this?”

Seo-jun was lying face down on the sofa with his face buried in it, and Hwang Ye-jun and Yu Cheonga were lying on the floor in a big shape with exhausted faces.

Kevin Kim was curled up in a corner of the living room.

“…We played the game too hard.”

“…We’re tired.”

There was definitely a board game on the living room table.

Park Seo-jin asked.

“You played a board game and ended up like this?”

“We made a bet.”

“A bet? Who won then?”

Seo-jun, who was lying on the sofa, raised his hand with a flash.

He worked hard.

Park Seo-jin burst into laughter at the pride that emanated from his arm that was lifted up bravely.

“Seo-jin hyung. Let’s go eat Korean food next time.”

“We eat Korean food every day!”

“I wanted to eat lobster!”

Seo-jun, who got up from the sofa, and Hwang Ye-jun and Choi Si-yoon, who were sprawled in the living room, said with regretful faces.

“It was a bet for food. But why is Kevin over there?”

“Uh…”

Seo-jun and the two exchanged a sly look and looked at Kevin Kim’s back.

“Kevin hyung lost first.”

“We gave him another chance, but he lost again.”

“About five times?”

No wonder Kevin Kim’s shadow seemed darker.

***

“It’s time to start.”

Seo-jun and Brown Black, who had regained their energy, took their seats in front of the television.

Choi Si-yoon brought snacks and Kevin Kim brought drinks and prepared them on the table in advance.

“The ratings will go up a lot since Seo-jun appeared, right?”

“That’s right.”

“The internet is buzzing too.”

Hwang Ye-jun was checking the internet reaction on his phone.

-Watching live! I’ve been waiting for today!

-There’s a lot to watch these days. Goodㅎ

-Ads are annoying.

-It’s a popular show.

-Oh. It starts!

The documentary began with Brown Black’s first start.

A long time ago, before Seo Eun-chan took over Cocoa Entertainment, four people were dancing in an old practice room of their agency.

Seo-jun and Brown Black marveled at the young faces that appeared on the screen.

“We were so young.”

“Ugh. The dance!”

“I can’t watch it.”

Seo-jun chuckled at his hyungs’ reactions.

He didn’t mind seeing himself when he was young, since he had starred in works like 48 Hours, The Royal Physician, Shadowman 1 and 2. But it seemed different for Brown Black.

There was also a story that could not be left out in Brown Black’s story.

Park Seo-jin on the screen said with a smile.

“Boss, it was three months after our manager got a job. He said that cute babies were popular on YouTube, so we talked with our manager and members about YouTube entertainment. So we contacted them.”

Park Seo-jin laughed as he thought it was still funny.

“It was our manager’s nephew.”

It was well known to those who were interested in Brown Black and Seo-jun that Cocoa Entertainment’s president’s nephew was Seo-jun.

“Nobody knew that it would last until now.”

A brief clip of [Brown Black and Jun’s 48 Hours] flowed. Brown Black dancing and singing at the playground and a baby wearing a rabbit ear hat watching them, and soon a man appeared and got an autograph and disappeared.

“That was a big deal because of the aggro.”

“He became Kim Su-ryeon’s team leader’s brother-in-law.”

“You never know what life will bring you.”

And then that stage came. Brown Black’s debut stage on WTV music show.

“It still looks good even now.”

“I don’t know how I did it back then.”

The highlight part showed the pollen exploding. The young faces of Brown Black were captured on the screen. Seo-jun smiled softly at their faces that still shone brightly.

Hwang Ye-jun on the screen said with a smile.

“A singer who was supposed to appear first couldn’t make it, so we got to go up among many rookies.”

And that choice was the best choice for both the broadcaster and Brown Black.

The legendary debut stage of a rookie idol that is still legendary.

Kevin Kim said in a low voice.

“That was the start of Brown Black.”

Thanks to the December music show and 48 Hours, Brown Black became famous.

Fans gathered and they won first place on music shows and received music awards.

Brown Black watched themselves receiving music awards with tears in their eyes on the screen and Choi Si-yoon said with a regretful face.

“We couldn’t get the rookie award because we debuted in December.”

“But we got the music award right away next year.”

“That’s true, but… Rookie award is an award that you can only get once, so I’m sorry.”

Cocoa Entertainment went bankrupt but came back to life with the help of Seo Eun-chan and Seo-jun and signed a contract again. Good days continued.

Choi Si-yoon on the screen said.

“I thought there was a limit at some point. I wondered if this was our limit of skill. We didn’t say anything, but we were worried.”

But they surpassed what they thought was their limit. From an orchestra that matched each other to a group with individual personalities.

“It was the fan meeting stage. I think it was thanks to the fans.”

The numbers that were above Brown Black’s heads in the old footage disappeared after the fan meeting.

Seo-jun smiled at Choi Si-yoon’s words on the screen. If it was thanks to the fans, it was thanks to the fans.

‘I’m also a fan of my hyungs.’

And Brown Black held their 15th anniversary concert.

A fan who liked them since their debut, a fan who didn’t become a fan for long but really liked them, a fan who sang Brown Black’s song at their wedding.

Fans who met as Brown Black’s fans and even got married.

Brown Black, who watched the interview of the fans who were waiting in line to enter with a smile, closed their mouths one by one.

It was a different feeling from reading the posts on the fan cafe that they saw on the screen with flushed faces.

Wow!

As they received cheers from countless fans, the documentary ended with a back view of Brown Black going up on stage.

Brown Black looked at their backs going up on stage, which they couldn’t see well on stage, on the television screen.

It was a face full of thoughts, recalling the past and thinking about the future.

Seo-jun waited for his hyungs with a gentle smile.

***

[Brown Black 15th anniversary documentary broadcast!]

[From Brown Black’s debut to 15th anniversary concert!]

[Brown Black, “Thank you for loving us!”]

[Brown Black, “Please continue to support us!”]

[MBS, lowest ratings among three and four dramas! Is this okay?]

-I cried while watching the documentaryㅠ

-15 years. Amazing.

=22 It’s amazing that they could continue their activities without any big fights for 15 years and keep learning music.

=Are they going to set a record?

-I wanted to go to Brown Black’s concert!

=I went with my friend and their live performance was crazy. I became a fan right awayㅎ

=How did you get the ticket;;;

=You have a really good friend!

-The legendary debut stage is still amazing even now.

=22 It’s like this even now, but how shocking it must have been back then.

=The one who went up backstage then was East… Wing or something?

=West Wingㅎ

-MBS drama is boring

=22 The new one that started this week is also not good. It’s always the same.

“MBS drama is boring. The new one that started this week is also not good. It’s always the same.”

MBS drama department.

The meeting room was silent at the cold voice of the director.

“The new Monday-Tuesday drama that started the day before yesterday, what percentage is it?”

“…2 percent.”

“Wednesday-Thursday?”

“3.6 percent.”

“KBC Monday-Tuesday, Wednesday-Thursday?”

“21 percent, 16 percent…”

“Huh. Monday-Tuesday is 10 times different?”

The director laughed bitterly and rubbed his forehead.

He was about to say that SBC Monday-Tuesday was 12 percent, but that was also 6 times different, so it didn’t help.

He could only keep his mouth shut in this miserable situation.

Chapter 271

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 271

“Still, the weekend is decent…”

“Yeah, decent enough. But that’s only two days out of the week. The rest is a mess!”

The chief producer (CP) in charge of the weekend drama shouted at the director’s words.

The director, who had been boasting around the CPs, took a breath to calm down and opened his mouth.

“Who are the writers that are available these days?”

“There are So Eun-jin, Lim Hye-ryeong, and Oh Young-chul.”

The writers they were talking about were the star writers who could guarantee high ratings.

The writer who had the best ratings in the recent drama scene was So Eun-jin.

The director sighed at that.

“Why can’t we get a star writer like So Eun-jin?”

“So Eun-jin works with an outsourcing production company, Dandelion, that is close to KBC…”

The dramas produced by Dandelion almost always went to KBC.

It seemed to have become a solid rule since the hit dramas Reinvestigation and The Royal Physician.

They would probably supply dramas to MBS if they paid more, but they wouldn’t let go of the golden goose they caught from KBC.

But it was too risky to throw in more money for production without any guarantee that the drama would be worth it.

“Then we have to find another way.”

A name popped up in the director’s head.

If star writer meant So Eun-jin, star PD meant Choi Min-sung.

And Choi Min-sung was also known to the public because of the play Mirror last December.

He was perfect for promoting the drama.

‘But…’

Choi Min-sung was a member of Dandelion.

“Ugh.”

He tried to suppress the anger rising inside him and lifted his head after a moment of thought.

“What about the other writers?”

“Lim Hye-ryeong is not answering and Oh Young-chul is working on his new work.”

They all seemed to have tried hard to find out. The CP who had worked with Oh Young-chul when he was a PD answered the director’s question.

“How’s the script?”

“The plot was good. It had Oh Young-chul’s unique style and charm that could attract viewers.”

The other CPs’ faces brightened a little at that.

“If it’s Oh Young-chul’s drama, there should be some good actors to cast.”

“That’s right. We can finally breathe a sigh of relief.”

“Is Writer Oh on our side?”

“Yes. As long as we pay him a reasonable fee, we can sign a contract as soon as tomorrow. But he’s still working on the script, so it might take some time until the broadcast.”

The Director spat out a curse at the CP’s words.

He was in a hurry to show some results because of the pressure from above.

He had momentarily forgotten that there was a preparation period until making a drama.

“How long do you think it will take?”

“Maybe…”

The CP thought for a moment.

Oh Young-chul was fast with his hands, so both the synopsis and the script would come out quickly. And it would be easy to cast actors for a star writer’s work. The hardest part would be finding a filming location, but since it was a romantic comedy genre, it wouldn’t be too difficult.

‘If we film a few episodes before the broadcast.’

“I think it won’t be possible until May at the earliest.”

“May…”

There were only three months and a few weeks left.

The director and CPs racked their brains.

“Can we schedule Writer Oh’s drama right away in May?”

“Well, we can’t do that for the Wednesday-Thursday time slot that starts broadcasting from next week. If we put it on Wednesday-Thursday, we can start broadcasting from June.”

“June is too late. We need to show results as soon as possible.”

They all fell into deep thought at the director’s words.

“What about Monday-Tuesday?”

“The current one ends in March and the next one is scheduled to air from April to July.”

The director thought for a while and opened his mouth.

“What about after Monday-Tuesday? Is there anything planned?”

“Yes. They should be preparing by now.”

“Then let’s move that to Wednesday-Thursday. And put Oh writer’s work on Monday-Tuesday.”

“Then Monday-Tuesday will be empty in April.”

The CP who was talking and the other CPs realized what the director was thinking.

Sometimes, short dramas were made to fill in the gaps when the schedule didn’t match.

One month in April, two episodes per week.

A total of eight episodes.

They just had to make an eight-episode drama.

“Who will take it?”

They all avoided his gaze.

An eight-episode drama scheduled for April broadcast.

Neither script nor actors were decided yet, and there were only two months and a few weeks left for production.

‘I have to find a decent script first…’

‘If there was a decent one, it would have been made into a drama already.’

‘I wonder if there are any actors who will star in an eight-episode drama.’

Who would be the PD who could handle this situation well?

The director gently coaxed the CPs in the heavy silence.

“I won’t pressure you for ratings. Just make something decent. I’ll give you a reasonable budget.”

The meeting room was still silent.

One of the CPs who had been lost in thought opened his mouth.

“What about putting in some one-act plays?”

“One-act plays?”

It was a word he hadn’t heard in a long time.

They had gradually decreased and disappeared after losing the interest of the viewers.

Now, only KBC was broadcasting them.

“If we make eight one-act plays, we can do them at the same time.”

“Not bad, but…”

“There are some rookies who can do it.”

The CPs thought of the assistant directors under them. It was too much to ask them to do a 16-episode or 24-episode drama from the start, but a one-act play would be suitable.

“But isn’t eight too many? The staff are limited too…”

“What if we make four with two episodes each or two with four episodes each?”

“Hmm.”

It seemed reasonable.

The director and the CPs’ minds began to lean in one direction.

* * *

“Are you cleaning up by yourself again?”

Gong Hee-chan, a seven-year assistant director, smiled faintly at the familiar voice. Kim Dan-bi, a four-year assistant director, sighed at his sight.

“Let me help you. What do I need to do?”

“It’s okay. I just have to move this.”

“Isn’t this Park senior’s job?”

“Kyu-min is busy too… It would be nice if someone who has time does it.”

“Yeah.”

‘He must be busy sticking to the PDs.’

She swallowed her words and helped Gong Hee-chan.

Maybe that’s why there was a rumor that Park Kyu-min would be promoted first. In terms of skills, Gong Hee-chan, who was smiling in front of her, was the best.

‘Gong senior has such a good eye for scripts…’

All the scripts that Gong Hee-chan liked had excellent results.

The drama that was currently getting 21% ratings on KBC was one of them.

‘But he’s too nice, or rather, too naive…’

He was okay with anything and everything.

He didn’t seem to know how to get angry properly.

“Hey! Gong Hee-chan!”

Speak of the devil.

Hmm.

Kim Dan-bi looked at Park Kyu-min who was standing far away and shook her head.

It was a sorry comparison to the handsome and reliable tiger.

***

“So we decided to air your drama on Monday-Tuesday in April.”

The assistant directors, Gong Hee-chan and Park Kyu-min, widened their eyes at the CP’s words.

“Uh… Us, both of us?”

Not just me, but him too?

The CP tilted his head at Park Kyu-min’s words.

“Yeah. Why? Don’t you like it? It’s your promotion.”

Park Kyu-min quickly answered at the CP’s words.

“No, I like it!”

“I didn’t expect it to be decided so suddenly…”

Gong Hee-chan scratched his cheek.

He had expected to be promoted soon, but he didn’t expect it to be decided so abruptly.

The CP smiled and continued his words while looking at the assistant directors who were eager to find scripts and go into production.

“One episode per week and four weeks of broadcasting. So four episodes per work.”

“Four episodes.”

“You have to find scripts and actors right away since it’s April broadcast. But you must have one or two scripts or genres that you want to make into your promotion work by now, right?”

“Yes!”

Gong Hee-chan and Park Kyu-min answered right away.

How could they have only one or two scripts that they liked while working as assistant directors?

There were times when they were snatched away by other PDs before they could produce them, and they were anxious that someone would take away the scripts that hadn’t been produced yet.

‘Which one should I do?’

Gong Hee-chan’s eyes sparkled as he thought of the scripts that flashed through his mind. Park Kyu-min glanced at him secretly.

“I won’t expect any ratings from you, so just do it comfortably. But don’t ruin the ratings we have now. This is a rare opportunity, right? You have a reasonable budget and you can broadcast four episodes with a complete story without any rating pressure. How great is that?”

The CP smiled as he watched the assistant directors who wanted to find scripts as soon as possible.

“You guys are graduating from assistant directors now. Do well. Gong Hee-chan PD, Park Kyu-min PD.”

Gong Hee-chan PD and Park Kyu-min PD smiled brightly at the CP’s words.

***

“Will it open today?”

Seo-jun, who visited the Library of Life again today, lightly pressed the door of the Library of Life with his palm as usual without any thought.

He thought it would be silent as it was yesterday.

But it wasn’t.

Woong woong.

The door of the library started to hum as it sensed Seo-jun’s mana through his hand.

“Oh?”

He was startled by the sudden sound and tried to pull his hand away from the door, but he stopped moving when he saw the shining door.

The light spread from where Seo-jun’s hand touched.

The huge door that seemed to be three stories high was filled with mana and glittered.

It seemed different from the doors that opened normally up to intermediate level.

“That’s because of body measurement earlier…”

Seo-jun wondered if there was a search function now.

“Please. Please!”

He was hoping for it so much, but the library door that had been showing off its splendid glitter became quiet.

And then the huge door slowly opened outward.

Seo-jun stepped back a few steps from the heavy opening door of the library.

Finally,

The door of the library with high-level abilities opened.

“But more than that, search function!”

He left his emotions behind and quickly entered the library.

He wanted to turn everything upside down to find the search function and blinked his eyes as he entered.

Seo-jun couldn’t take more than a few steps and had to stop there.

His eyes shook at the sight in front of him.

“…Yeah. I needed this too.”

Seo-jun couldn’t hide his disappointment at the things in front of him.

A soft chair that seemed to fit Seo-jun’s body perfectly, a wooden desk with beautiful patterns carved on it, and a bookstand and bookmark prepared for reading.

Snacks to quench his thirst and fill his stomach.

Plants that emitted fresh air and writing utensils that seemed to fit his hand perfectly, and even glasses that would reduce eye fatigue.

It was a place optimized for reading.

He walked with a limp and sat on the chair.

The soft chair supported Seo-jun’s body.

The chair at home was a good chair too, but this chair seemed to be in a different dimension.

“…It fits perfectly.”

He wondered if it was made with elf magic, dwarf technology, or some other race’s ability, but the chair was really good.

Seo-jun put his arms on the desk and rested his chin.

The height of the desk was so perfect that he could only laugh.

“Was that body measurement earlier…”

He laughed and looked around.

There were countless bookshelves lined up just like the other levels of the library. The size of the books was similar to the books in reality, which was convenient for Seo-jun to read, unlike the huge door.

“There are a lot.”

But there were fewer than the books of life he had read so far.

He guessed that the number of lives in each level was like a pyramid, with the lowest level being the most and the highest level being the least.

“There are still many books I haven’t read…”

There were more books he hadn’t read than the ones he had read.

He could read dozens of books a day from the lowest level lives that had short lives and only a few pages, but from the intermediate level and above, where they lived longer lives, the number of pages increased and it was hard to read even a few books.

He had to read one life thoroughly to get the ability, so he had to choose carefully when he first picked a book.

He could end up with a different ability than he intended even after reading it all.

“So,”

The desk and chair were things he hadn’t wished for, as he had always sat on the floor of the library and read the books of life,

“I asked for a search function…”

He wondered what the previous lives were thinking when they made it like this.

Chapter 272

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 272

“Da Ho hyung.”

“Hmm?”

Ahn Da Ho, who was drinking the warm yuzu tea that Seo-jun had prepared, looked up at Seo-jun’s call.

Seo-jun, who was sitting in the living room and staring blankly at the blue window, looked somehow detached today.

‘Is he feeling complicated because he became a high school student?’

He hadn’t entered high school yet, but he had graduated from middle school, so he was no different from a high school student.

‘He only has three years left until he becomes an adult, and he has to prepare for college entrance exams, so I guess he would feel complicated. But Seo-jun seems like he will continue to be an actor even after he becomes an adult, so he doesn’t have to worry about his career, right?’

There was no need to worry about image transformation, which was a stumbling block for child actors transitioning to adult actors, with Seo-jun’s acting skills.

He also had no shortage of scripts coming from Hollywood or Korea.

Rather, Cocoa Entertainment’s Team 2 was worried about the explosive amount of works that would come in after Seo-jun became an adult in three years.

It was because the range of roles that an adult actor could play was much wider than that of a minor child actor.

‘Or maybe he’s going through puberty that he didn’t have in middle school.’

Seo-jun, who had gone through puberty that humans couldn’t even imagine, would hardly have any puberty left, but Ahn Da Ho, who didn’t know that fact, unknowingly straightened his posture and waited for Seo-jun’s words.

He was confident that he could answer well as much as he had studied adolescent psychology in advance.

Don’t panic at any absurd question.

Answer sincerely.

Acknowledge that he is no longer a child but a person with his own personality.

Ahn Da Ho recalled the sentences written in the book and waited for Seo-jun to open his mouth.

“How do you make a search function?”

“…Huh?”

As expected.

He couldn’t keep up with the thoughts of an adolescent teenager.

Nevertheless, Ahn Da Ho tried to follow Seo-jun’s thoughts and said.

“Do you want to make something like a search site? But that would be hard for you to do alone, right? Are you going to do it with your friends?”

“Of course. It would be hard by myself.”

It was a library made by reincarnators with top-notch abilities.

And not just one, but several of them had poured their blood and sweat into it.

It was impossible for Seo-jun, who had just opened the door to the advanced library, to make something in the library of life.

‘I tried though…’

Last night.

Seo-jun read a book that had a search ability among the advanced abilities. And he tried to use that ability, but it didn’t work at all.

Crackle crackle.

The ability that stretched out in all directions to find the search term he instructed broke into pieces as it hit the bookshelves of the library.

Remembering the sight, Seo-jun chuckled.

It seemed like he had to find and read them one by one until he opened the door to the top-notch library.

‘But even if I open the door to the top-notch library, I’m not sure if I can make something like a search function…’

The current ‘Lee Seo-jun’ didn’t know anything about magic’s ‘ㅁ’ and had no special abilities other than acting. He had a hunch that it would be impossible to change the library of life even if he opened the door to the top-notch library.

‘…Well. It’s better than having a desk and a chair.’

It was much better than the hard floor.

Huhuhu.

Ahn Da Ho said as he saw Seo-jun looking far away and smiling.

“Do you want me to look for an academy?”

“It’s okay. I was just curious how they made search sites like that. You know how they find things for you when you type in a word. I thought that was very convenient.”

Ahn Da Ho was half-convinced by Seo-jun’s explanation. He was planning to find a good academy as soon as he was half-convinced.

He thought so and took out synopses and scripts from the box he brought.

He didn’t like seeing Seo-jun looking so detached and blank.

“Shall we read some scripts?”

Scripts coming up on the table.

Seo-jun smiled brightly at more works than usual.

Ahn Da Ho also smiled at Seo-jun’s sparkling face.

As always, scripts were the best way to blow away Seo-jun’s worries and stress.

“Is this today’s?”

“Yeah. There are a lot of them because it’s vacation. There are also many plays.”

“What is this?”

Seo-jun tilted his head at the book list behind the list of entertainment show offers.

As the title said, it was a list of books with their names, brief summaries, authors’ names, and publishers’ names.

“There have been a lot more since the Mirror play was uploaded. They want you to read the books and make them into plays if you like them. They will give you the play rights and the production costs will be covered by the publishers.”

“Ah. It’s for promotion.”

“That’s right. They think they will make more money by having you promote them than spending money on it.”

“Hmm.”

Seo-jun read down the book list. From books he had read to books he had never seen before. There were books of various genres.

“There are old books and new ones that have just been published.”

“I see.”

He left out books that had issues such as hoarding, poor treatment of authors, plagiarism, etc., but Ahn Da Ho didn’t need to tell Seo-jun that and kept his mouth shut.

“But I’m not really interested in adaptation.”

“Do whatever you want.”

Seo-jun put down the book list and turned his attention back to the scripts and synopses.

As soon as Seo-jun picked up a synopsis and started reading, Ahn Da Ho also picked up his phone and checked the entertainment news.

Flap flap.

The sound of paper turning was heard.

As always, it was a peaceful and quiet living room.

***

[MBS Monday-Tuesday drama, ratings 1.8%!]

-M company is doomed lol

-It was already on the edge at 2 percent, but it dropped.

-1.8 percent. Is this cable?

=Isn’t this the national anthem rating?

=The national anthem rating is about 0.3 lol. It still has room to go down.

=It will probably keep dropping until the last episode.

[MBS, four-part drama scheduled to air in April!]

[MBS, the debut work of two PDs!]

[MBS, can they increase their ratings?]

***

“Wow. What’s the point of spreading articles? There’s no reaction.”

“Right. How can there be no comments on the first one?”

Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo, who were buying coffee from the cafe on the first floor of MBS Broadcasting Station, grumbled as they looked at the articles on their phones.

Kim Dan-bi sighed and put her phone in her pocket.

Kim Dan-bi looked up at the sky.

The cloudy sky seemed to show the future of MBS.

“My intuition is ringing.”

“What?”

Choi Hyun-woo’s footsteps stopped at Kim Dan-bi’s words.

He looked at Kim Dan-bi with a nervous face and waited for her words.

Her intuition, which had developed while working as an assistant director, was sounding an alarm today.

Kim Dan-bi said with a serious face.

“It’s the same feeling as when the main actor had an accident. Or when the writer’s script file disappeared.”

Kim Dan-bi shuddered.

“I have a bad feeling about this. Something big is going to happen, and not in a good way!”

Kim Dan-bi’s words made Choi Hyun-woo sigh in relief. He then scoffed at her serious expression.

“Your intuition is crap.”

“No, it’s not!”

Kim Dan-bi protested, but Choi Hyun-woo shrugged and continued.

“The lead actor’s accident was just a minor fender bender, so he was only a bit late for filming. And the writer had a backup file for the script, right?”

Not to mention, the scene that they filmed on the day that Kim Dan-bi mixed up the call time turned out to be one of the best scenes in the drama.

And by a stroke of luck, they had a backup script for that episode, which received rave reviews from the viewers.

“It was when you said you had a good feeling that things went wrong.”

Choi Hyun-woo counted on his fingers the “accidents” that happened.

“A supporting actor got fired for drunk driving, so we had to reshoot his scenes. The final cut got accidentally replaced with a rough draft, so we had to redo some parts. A light fixture fell and broke, so we lost a whole day of shooting.”

It wasn’t Kim Dan-bi’s fault, but every time she said something positive, something bad happened. The other PDs who worked with her begged her not to jinx them.

“Today is really bad, I’m telling you!”

“Yeah, yeah. Maybe we should buy some lottery tickets.”

Choi Hyun-woo ignored her as he walked away.

Kim Dan-bi followed him, ranting loudly.

A moment later.

“You know that’s the work I’ve been eyeing for a long time, right? What are you going to say? You stole the script from my desk and signed the contract before me? How gullible do you think I am?”

“But that bastard has a good eye for scripts.”

“He’ll find out soon enough.”

The voice of Park Kyu-min from the emergency exit stairs made Choi Hyun-woo whisper quietly.

“…You better watch your back.”

Normally, he would have gloated and said “I told you so!” But even he felt sorry for his senior in this situation. Kim Dan-bi could only stare blankly at the stairs above. She never imagined that her bad intuition would lead to her respected senior Gong Hee-chan losing his work.

***

A noisy barbecue restaurant.

Sizzle, sizzle.

The sound of meat being cooked on the grill filled the air.

“Are you crazy?”

Kim Dan-bi twisted the cap of the soju bottle with gritted teeth.

Then she gulped down the alcohol on an empty stomach.

“Haha.”

“Is this the time to laugh?”

“Gong senior. This time, you were really, no, very wrong.”

Even Choi Hyun-woo chimed in with a comment. Gong Hee-chan gave a bitter smile.

“How could you let him take away the script you chose!”

“How did he find out?”

“Park senior has a loose mouth, you know. He was blabbering on the emergency exit. I don’t know who he was talking to, though.”

Kim Dan-bi nodded at Choi Hyun-woo’s words. If they hadn’t gone to the emergency exit to avoid being seen by Park Kyu-min, they wouldn’t have known either.

“What happened?”

“Hmm.”

Gong Hee-chan recalled what happened in the morning.

“I went to see the writer in the morning, but he said he already signed a contract with Kyu-min. It seemed like they did it last night.”

“What did Park senior say?”

“Hmm. He said he knew about it for a long time.”

“Do you believe him?”

“Hmm… No.”

At first, he thought it was just a coincidence.

He thought Park Kyu-min also liked the work and acted faster than him.

But Gong Hee-chan’s job was to be sensitive to people’s emotions and thoughts.

He couldn’t afford to miss any details in an actor’s expression or gaze.

That’s why it wasn’t hard for him to read Park Kyu-min’s face and eyes.

He saw his smug look that said “What are you going to do about it?”

He felt doubtful about his own kindness.

Kim Dan-bi chewed on the pork belly as if it was Park Kyu-min himself.

“Why are you just sitting there?”

“He already told the CP and the writer contracted Kyu-min first anyway. There’s no proof that I chose it first.”

He was burning inside as well, but he didn’t want to show it in front of his juniors.

He just laughed it off.

It was already too late to change anything, and he had no evidence.

He drank some soju to ease his bitter feelings.

Seeing his pitiful state, Kim Dan-bi raised her hand.

“We’ll be your witnesses!”

“I’ll pass.”

Choi Hyun-woo’s words made Kim Dan-bi spit out the soju.

“Traitor!”

“Yeah. And you’re an idiot.”

“Are you on Park senior’s side?! Ugh. I don’t even want to call him senior!”

“Good. Now you can call him PD.”

“Is that better!”

“Come on. Both of you, drink some water and calm down.”

Gong Hee-chan gave them some water while they bickered. Choi Hyun-woo drank the cold water and said calmly.

“It’s not the first time that someone steals an idea or a script here. Assistant writers get their ideas taken by the writers, and even if they do all the work, the credit goes to the PDs.”

“But still…”

“And this situation is even harder to prove. It’s just two PDs who had the same script in mind, and one of them signed the contract first. To others, it would look like Gong senior was just unlucky. They might even blame him for not signing faster.”

“Ugh. I should have recorded it earlier!”

Kim Dan-bi said, and Gong Hee-chan smiled faintly. Thanks to her fiery temper and loyalty, he felt a bit better.

“The most urgent thing is to find a script.”

“Yeah. I’ve been asking around, but there are only short plays or long ones. It’s hard to find a four-part script.”

“Find something better than what Park senior took!”

“That’s easier said than done.”

He knew a good work when he saw one, but he couldn’t predict how successful it would be.

The work that Park Kyu-min stole was really good.

It was perfect for a four-part series, and it had a unique premise that would attract the viewers.

He felt angry again.

He drank another shot of soju and said with a sigh.

“That was the best one among the four-part scripts. I don’t know if I can find anything better.”

At his words, Choi Hyun-woo suggested.

“What about shortening a long one?”

“Or stretching a short one into four parts?”

The juniors nodded at each other’s ideas. Gong Hee-chan agreed.

“Then let’s widen our scope a bit.”

“We’ll help you look too! We’ll crush Park senior with our ratings! Justice will prevail! Burn, Park Kyu-min!”

“Is this a shonen manga? You don’t win by crushing him with ratings.”

As they watched the two juniors argue, Gong Hee-chan took out his phone from his pocket. It vibrated with a text message.

<Looking for a new work?

It was from the lighting director of the drama he worked on before.

Chapter 273

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 273

MBS Drama Department.

PD Park Kyu-min and the CP in charge of the four-part project were having a conversation.

The CP’s eyes widened and he laughed cheerfully as he looked at the paper that PD Park Kyu-min showed him.

“Wow, you’re amazing. You’re already casting actors? Hee-chan said he hasn’t even decided on a work yet.”

The CP scanned the list of actors and commented on the notable names.

They were not all leading roles, but they were all talented actors.

They seemed willing to appear in PD Park Kyu-min’s debut work if the work was good enough, and they also had good acting skills.

The CP nodded his head, feeling that PD Park Kyu-min had been preparing for this work for quite a long time.

It was a project to fill in a month, but it was going better than expected.

The CP was satisfied and decided to help the diligent PD as much as he could.

“Let me know if you need any help.”

“Yes!”

As the CP left his seat, PD Park Kyu-min also smiled and moved to another place.

And somehow, without knowing it, assistant director Kim Dan-bi, who had been hiding and listening, quietly got up.

***

“PD Park. He’s already casting actors!”

PD Gong Hee-chan, who had just finished talking with the lighting director, and assistant director Choi Hyun-woo, who was next to him, looked up and saw Kim Dan-bi running towards them.

“He’s good at finding out things.”

“That’s right.”

Kim Dan-bi, who seemed to be out of breath from running, caught PD Gong Hee-chan’s curiosity.

Who would PD Park Kyu-min have chosen?

PD Gong Hee-chan scratched his chin.

He also had some actors in mind after reading the script.

‘…Come to think of it.’

PD Gong Hee-chan suddenly remembered the papers he had left on his desk along with the script.

‘…No way.’

PD Gong Hee-chan’s eyes twitched as Kim Dan-bi mentioned the names of the actors.

Choi Hyun-woo, who didn’t notice PD Gong Hee-chan’s serious expression, asked.

“Who’s there? Any top stars?”

“Of course not!”

Kim Dan-bi answered Choi Hyun-woo’s question and listed the names of the actors she had heard.

PD Gong Hee-chan’s pupils shook with each name.

“He chose well for someone who stole PD Gong’s work.”

Choi Hyun-woo admired the list of actors like the CP did.

He thought he was a trashy PD who only stole other people’s scripts, but he seemed to have some ability.

“Right? The roles fit them perfectly, don’t they? No, no. We can’t let PD Park succeed! PD! We have to find a script qui…”

Kim Dan-bi, who was admiring the actors, came to her senses and looked at PD Gong Hee-chan.

“…PD?”

PD Gong Hee-chan’s face was pale.

***

They didn’t have a script yet, so the three of them were able to leave work early.

Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo bought beer and dinner and headed to PD Gong Hee-chan’s house.

Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo gasped as they heard PD Gong Hee-chan’s story.

Kim Dan-bi finally spat out.

“Are you kidding me?!”

Kim Dan-bi cursed at Park Kyu-min and said with a dark face.

“PD, why did you leave such an important thing on your desk?”

“…I know. Why did I do that?”

PD Gong Hee-chan drank his beer bitterly.

He felt like he had been stabbed in the stomach.

He never imagined that he would take not only the script but also everything else.

“He’s already starting filming… We haven’t even chosen a work yet.”

Kim Dan-bi said with a gloomy face. Choi Hyun-woo nodded in agreement and asked PD Gong Hee-chan.

“What did the lighting director say?”

“He said it was a one-act play script. I told him it was a four-part series and he said he would contact the writer.”

“Is it hard to change a one-act play script into a four-part series?”

Kim Dan-bi asked and PD Gong Hee-chan and Choi Hyun-woo thought about it.

“That depends on the writer’s ability. If the one-act play is too perfect, it might be impossible to extend it.”

“But who is the writer? A radio drama writer? A screenplay writer? Or someone who won a contest somewhere?”

The writer of the script that Park Kyu-min took was a screenplay writer who had written a few short films and had good works.

Kim Dan-bi’s eyes sparkled and PD Gong Hee-chan rolled his eyes.

“He’s also a debutant.”

Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo laughed and drank their new cans of beer.

“Hehe. We’re doomed.”

“Huhu. I agree.”

“No, no. Both of them are debutants, so maybe the viewers will find it more fresh… maybe?”

“It’s so fresh that the drama will go to the sea.”

“Flap flap?”

Choi Hyun-woo’s words made Kim Dan-bi burst into laughter.

They both seemed to have given up completely.

They laughed as if they were laughing, and cried as if they were crying.

PD Gong Hee-chan, who was looking at his juniors with a bitter smile, took out his phone that was ringing.

It was the lighting director who introduced him to the writer.

“Yes. Director.”

Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo, who had heard everything even though they had given up, perked up their ears and looked at PD Gong Hee-chan.

“I told him it was a four-part series and he said he could revise it. I’ll give you his contact number, so do your best.”

“Thank you!”

“Well, I owe both sides, so it’s not good for me. I have to do the sales myself as a freelancer.”

The freelance lighting director laughed cheerfully.

PD Gong Hee-chan also laughed at his gesture of making excuses because he was worried that it would be a burden on him, even though he didn’t have to do any sales because he was called everywhere for his good skills.

“Let’s have a meal sometime. I’ll treat you.”

“Sure. I like beef. Buy me beef if you hit the jackpot.”

“Yes!”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, but So Eun-jin is the assistant writer.”

“…What?

“It’s a one-act play, so So Eun-jin and PD Choi Min-sung liked it, but I don’t know about a four-part series. But she has basic skills, so she won’t fail completely. If you hit the jackpot, it’s hanwoo?”

The lighting director chuckled and hung up.

Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo, who had been listening without breathing, tilted their heads.

“…Is this a good thing?”

“I don’t know. The one-act play was good, but I’m not sure about the four-part series…”

“Let’s read the script first.”

Saying that, PD Gong Hee-chan sent a text message to the number that the lighting director gave him.

<Hello, this is PD Gong Hee-chan.

<Can I call you now?

“Yes! Hello! This is Yu Cheonga!”

***

The next day.

A quiet cafe.

PD Gong Hee-chan arrived earlier than the appointed time and was staring at the thing in his hand without drinking the beverage next to him.

In PD Gong Hee-chan’s hand was the script that So Eun-jin’s assistant writer, Yu Cheonga, had sent him by email.

He had talked to the writer on the phone just yesterday, but the script was already worn out as if he had read and analyzed it all night.

“It’s perfect as a one-act play.”

PD Gong Hee-chan scratched his chin.

It seemed that the writer had revised it a lot. The script had a clear beginning, middle, and end.

‘I have to add more stories to extend it into a four-part series. That means I have to add new elements…’

He didn’t want to force in new characters because the one-act play was too precious.

‘What should I do?’

He had read and analyzed the script with Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo yesterday, but he couldn’t think of anything.

PD Gong Hee-chan was groaning when the cafe door opened.

Yu Cheonga, who looked nervous, looked around the cafe and spotted a man reading a script.

She ordered a drink at the counter and approached the man.

“Excuse me, are you PD Gong Hee-chan?”

“Yes, I’m Gong Hee-chan.”

“Hello, I’m Yu Cheonga.”

They both felt awkward introducing themselves with their PD and writer names.

They smiled awkwardly as their eyes met and sat down.

Yu Cheonga’s eyes caught the script that PD Gong Hee-chan was holding.

It was her script that didn’t even have a title yet, and it was worn out.

She smiled softly at the sight.

Her drink came out and they started talking seriously.

“As I told you, the broadcast date is April. It’s a Monday-Tuesday 10 p.m. drama and it will air once a week. There’s another work airing with us, so we don’t know yet if it will be on Monday or Tuesday.”

She knew this from the phone call, but Yu Cheonga nodded her head.

“I have to finish it well if it’s once a week.”

“Yes. There has to be an impact at the end of each episode to keep the viewers interested until next week’s broadcast.”

Yu Cheonga wrote it down in her notebook.

PD Gong Hee-chan continued.

“When do you think you can finish the script?”

“Oh, I thought of this yesterday. What do you think of putting this in the drama?”

Yu Cheonga took out a bunch of papers from her bag.

PD Gong Hee-chan took the printed papers.

Yu Cheonga said nervously.

“I thought we needed new elements to make a one-act play into a four-part series.”

“Yes, that’s right. Your one-act play is very well-made.”

Yu Cheonga smiled shyly at PD Gong Hee-chan’s words.

“So I tried to put them in, but they might not fit well because I wrote them in a hurry. Please read them with consideration. Of course, they can be modified.”

She had stayed up all night writing this.

“Okay, I understand.”

PD Gong Hee-chan read down the papers that Yu Cheonga gave him.

As Yu Cheonga said, it was a rough story that she wrote in a hurry, but PD Gong Hee-chan realized what she was thinking.

“This would be fun. It doesn’t ruin the original story, but it also makes the viewers more emotionally involved. There will be more scenes to add as well.”

PD Gong Hee-chan’s intuition shouted. This would be a hit. He had to get it.

Yu Cheonga’s face brightened at his words.

“Then let’s do this.”

“Who are you thinking of for this role?”

PD Gong Hee-chan asked and Yu Cheonga rolled her eyes and opened her mouth.
“Lee Seo-jun.”

PD Gong Hee-chan’s mouth dropped open at Yu Cheonga’s words. His hand trembled as if there was an earthquake. Yu Cheonga scratched her cheek and said.

“Of course, they have to agree first.”

“…Yes… Of course.”

PD Gong Hee-chan grabbed the cup in front of him with his shaking hand.

He was glad he ordered a cold drink today. If it had been hot coffee, he would have burned his hand.

The cup shook with his hand. But he was thirsty, so he couldn’t put the cup down.

He managed to take a sip and said.

“Yu Cheonga. You’re really… amazing.”

Even though they were both debutants, So Eun-jin had worked with a lot of top actors, so she was different from him.

He felt that way, but he also felt drawn to Yu Cheonga’s words.

Somehow, it felt like it would be okay.

No, it felt like it would be perfect.

‘It might be hard to find other actors… But it’s a debut work.’

He didn’t have to worry about ratings and he would get some support, so he could try anything.

He remembered the CP’s words.

‘Is this what Dan-bi meant by going to the sea?’

He thought of Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo, who would be really surprised and flap their arms when they heard this story.

PD Gong Hee-chan smiled and said.

“Let’s keep this between us until we cast them.”

“Yes. They might not be casted.”

The writer and the PD who met each other’s eyes burst into a cheerful laugh.

Chapter 274

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 274

To be honest, both writer Yu Cheonga and PD Gong Hee-chan knew that it was almost impossible to cast Lee Seo-jun.

They just thought of him as the best actor for the role.

Writer Yu Cheonga shrugged her shoulders with a smile.

“I’m planning to send it to Cocoa Entertainment as soon as the synopsis is finished. But I don’t think it will really happen. The difficulty is like picking a star from the sky, right?”

“Lee Seo-jun is a superstar, so it’s like picking a real star.”

PD Gong Hee-chan and writer Yu Cheonga laughed at each other.

Half-serious, half-joking, they felt more relaxed. PD Gong Hee-chan opened his mouth.

“Then let’s prepare a second option too.”

The second option was actually their original plan.

The probability of Lee Seo-jun accepting the first option was 0.0001%.

The probability of the second option being accepted was 99.9999%.

Writer Yu Cheonga, who was full of humor, also nodded with a serious face.

“What about the other roles? Should we audition for the child actor of the male lead?”

“Auditioning might take too long. It might not be bad to just offer it to the candidates.”

“That’s true. Then let’s pick some candidates. Do you have any child actors in mind?”

Writer Yu Cheonga and PD Gong Hee-chan got along well.

Writer Yu Cheonga’s eyes sparkled.

She had seen writer So Eun-jin and PD Choi Min-sung’s working style right next to her, so she knew how well they matched.

‘Maybe we can become a great combo like them!’

Writer Yu Cheonga smiled brightly.

***

Two days later.

Writer So Eun-jin’s studio.

Writer Yu Cheonga decided to work here because it was more familiar than other places.

And she had just finished the synopsis.

PD Gong Hee-chan: Good!

PD Gong Hee-chan: You can send it right away.

<Okay!

With PD Gong Hee-chan’s okay, writer Yu Cheonga sent the synopsis to Cocoa Entertainment’s second team with a bright smile.

Writer So Eun-jin, who was watching writer Yu Cheonga press the send button, admired their courage.

“You’re amazing, but so is that PD.”

At that, writer Yu Cheonga smiled brightly.

“I think I get along well with PD Gong. The synopsis work went smoothly. I think I can write the script quickly too.”

“But you should have a plan B ready. The chances of Seo-jun being cast are very low.”

Writer Yu Cheonga nodded.

“I talked with PD Gong about it. The probability of casting Lee Seo-jun is like picking a star from the sky, so if we don’t get an answer in a week, we’ll send an offer to the child actors right away.”

During the week they waited for Cocoa Entertainment’s answer, they planned to finish preparing everything perfectly so they could start filming as soon as the casting was done.

A star from the sky.

Writer So Eun-jin nodded at writer Yu Cheonga’s metaphor.

“Well, it’s winter break, so you can find a child actor quickly.”

“Right? The male lead and the child actor have to look alike too, so I’ve found a lot of candidates.”

Writer So Eun-jin smiled at writer Yu Cheonga’s appearance, which looked more like a drama writer now.

***

Cocoa Entertainment’s second team office was always noisy with synopses, scripts, and casting offers that piled up.

The aftermath of The Mirror Play and Graduation Performance was still there.

The second team staff deleted the talent donation emails from various associations as usual, printed out the synopses and scripts that were sent in file format, and wrote down the casting offers that came by phone on a list.

After finishing one round of work, they moved on to the next one.

“This director has a bad reputation, right?”

“Oh, I heard that too. He abuses the actors terribly.”

“The scriptwriter is wasted.”

That’s how one work was eliminated.

“This one is not bad, right?”

“The director and writer have good reviews and the production company is decent too.”

“The script is pretty fun too.”

That’s how one work went into Seo-jun’s script box.

“What is this…?”

A staff member who was flipping through a new synopsis stopped his hand.

He looked at the front page and then the back page with disbelief and read through the script and checked the director and writer and broadcaster again.

He knew more directors and writers than most actors and staff because he had been doing this job for a long time, but these were names he had never seen before.

It was not a strange thing.

Some novice directors and writers also sent their works hoping for Seo-jun’s name value.

He had to pass it on to the next staff member, but he kept holding it and the others became interested one by one.

Even Ahn Da Ho, who was reviewing the last works, looked up.

“What is that?”

“Hollywood? Is it from Hollywood?”

The second team got excited when a script came from Hollywood.

It was more influential than making a Korean work, so it was scary to deal with the aftermath, but it was really nice to see the actor they supported working globally. But in the end, they didn’t get Seo-jun’s choice and went straight to the warehouse.

A staff member who was peeking at the synopsis from the next seat shook his head.

“It’s not a Hollywood script. It’s written in Korean.”

“Then what is it?”

Everyone was interested and the staff member who came to his senses put the synopsis on the table.

Ahn Da Ho, the team leader, also read the letters written on the second page.

There was only one name filled in among the empty spaces.

[Male lead (child): Lee Seo-jun]

“…Wow?”

Ahn Da Ho and the second team staff couldn’t take their eyes off of it.

“Seo-jun is…the child actor of the male lead?”

“Our Seo-jun is a child…!”

They couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

“Seo-jun is a child actor, but. A real child actor came.”

“This is really rare, right?”

“That’s right. There was no offer for a child role after he won the Academy Award for Over the Rainbow…”

That was in February of sixth grade.

They admired Seo-jun’s career again, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role when he was in elementary school. (‘Over the Rainbow’ was filmed when he was in fifth grade.)

“One year in sixth grade, three years in middle school, that’s already four years ago.”

“He’s about to become a high school student, so I knew his roles would be more diverse, but I didn’t expect this…”

“Me neither. It’s too wasteful to put Seo-jun in a role with little weight.”

The second team staff nodded.

“Who is the director?”

Ahn Da Ho, who was reading the synopsis, tore off a few pages from the front and handed them to the staff.

“The broadcaster is MBS, the writer is Yu Cheonga, and the director is Gong Hee-chan.”

The drama information was also written there. The staff of the second team lost their words at the information that it was a four-part drama.

“What, what is this?”

“A four-part? A four-part drama?”

Meanwhile, one of the staff members called MBS and asked about PD Gong Hee-chan.

“PD Gong Hee-chan, he’s there.”

“Really?”

“There’s an article here too. A four-part drama in April. It’s his debut work.”

Another staff member found a buried article with few views or comments.

The staff member next to him searched for writer Yu Cheonga.

The second team staff, who moved like water while supporting Seo-jun, did so.

“Writer Yu Cheonga has no articles at all. It seems like there are no other works either. It’s also her debut work as a writer.”

The second team staff were amazed at the fact that both the writer and the director were debutants.

“That’s the spirit of a newbie…”

“No matter how new they are, to think of casting Seo-jun as a child actor… The writer and the director are amazing.”

Ahn Da Ho, who was reading the synopsis, nodded.

“The plot is not bad.”

“Oh, is it? He’s a child actor, though.”

Ahn Da Ho shrugged his shoulders.

“Whether he’s a child actor or a minor role, if Seo-jun wants to do it, he does it.”

“Then should we find out more about the writer and the director?”

“Let’s do that. They’re debutants, but there must be some staff or actors who know them from their assistant days. It should be easy to find out.”

“What about writer Yu Cheonga?”

“She’s a drama writer.”

Ahn Da Ho thought of one drama writer he knew.

***

Even though it was winter break, Seo-jun’s schedule didn’t change.

He read scripts leisurely and watched new movies and dramas, and soon time passed and Ahn Da Ho came home.

“Welcome back. Da Ho hyung.”

Ahn Da Ho smiled brightly at Seo-jun, who looked at him eye to eye when they stood face to face. He had grown so much that he could see his crown when they met just the other day. But Seo-jun’s expression when he received the script box was still the same, so Ahn Da Ho’s smile became deeper.

“Did you see the snow outside?”

“Yes. It was snowing a lot.”

Snow was falling outside the living room window. White fluff-like snow fell. Seo-jun put down the script box and went to the kitchen to prepare some warm yuzu tea. Ahn Da Ho took off his coat and hung it up.

“I thought it wouldn’t snow this winter because it was warm.”

“I heard on the news that spring will come early this year.”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho sat in front of the living room table and chatted over warm yuzu tea.

“If spring comes early, this summer will be very hot.”

“Filming in summer will be hard.”

From one thing to another.

Ahn Da Ho laughed at Seo-jun, who only thought about acting and filming.

Seo-jun blurted out reflexively and laughed when Ahn Da Ho laughed.

After laughing for a while, Ahn Da Ho took out a script and synopsis from the script box.

“Speaking of news, did you see that there will be a meteor shower tonight?”

“Yes. That’s why I’m going to see the stars with Eun-su and Subin tonight. My family is going too.”

“Really? Have fun. I heard it’s going to be amazing.”

“I’ll take some nice pictures and send them to you.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

***

Fluttering.

Time passed peacefully as usual.

Seo-jun put down the synopsis he had read and picked up the next one.

[Working title: Spring]

[Director: Gong Hee-chan]

[Writer: Yu Cheonga]

[Broadcaster: MBS]

‘MBS. A drama.’

Come to think of it, it seemed like a long time since he had done a drama.

Seo-jun thought of the last drama he had done. Hmm?

‘The only one was The Royal Physician?’

Reinvestigation was a cameo appearance, so The Royal Physician was all there was.

‘I did more movies than I thought.’

Seo-jun scratched his cheek and looked for his name among the roles as he turned the first page. And his eyes widened at one place.

[Male lead (child): Lee Seo-jun]

“A child actor for the male lead?”

“Oh. Are you reading that? Yeah. It’s a child actor.”

“It’s been a long time since a child actor came in, right?”

“That’s right. It’s been four years.”

“It’s been four years already.”

It had been four years since he received an offer for a child role, but Seo-jun had never played someone else’s child role before.

‘There was no child actor I liked.’

He recalled the works that had come before and read down the synopsis with sparkling eyes.

He read the female lead’s lines, the male lead’s lines, and the lines of the role he would play.

The synopsis was short, but Seo-jun liked this work just from that.

Ahn Da Ho, the manager of actor Lee Seo-jun, quietly watched the actor reading the synopsis.

The interest that had crept into Seo-jun’s face at the fact that he was a child actor grew more and more.

Ahn Da Ho smiled quietly and waited for Seo-jun’s answer, looking at his sparkling eyes and moving eyebrows.

Seo-jun finished reading the synopsis and looked up at Ahn Da Ho.

Ahn Da Ho anticipated what words would come out of Seo-jun’s mouth.

It would be strange if he didn’t know, since Seo-jun’s eyes were shining.

“Da Ho hyung. I want to do this.”

“Really? Okay. Oh, by the way, Seo-jun.”

“Yes?”

Seo-jun, who was about to read the synopsis again with more focus on his role, looked up at Ahn Da Ho’s call.

Ahn Da Ho said with a playful face.

“That writer of the synopsis, she’s writer So’s assistant writer.”

“…Really?”

Seo-jun was surprised by the appearance of an acquaintance and looked at the writer’s name on the synopsis with wide eyes.

***

Writer So Eun-jin opened her mouth in surprise at the words she heard over the phone.

“He decided to do it?”

“Yes. It was fun. It seems like it would be really fun to act too.”

“Cheonga will be surprised if she hears this. Okay. Seo-jun, can you tell your manager that I’ll let him know?”

“Yes. But it’s really amazing.”

“Me too. I’m realizing how small the world is these days. I never thought that Seo-jun’s teacher would be my first work’s lead actor, and that Seo-jun would choose my assistant writer’s work as his next work.”

Writer So Eun-jin laughed at her words over the phone.

“Right. Seo-jun. Send me some pictures too.”

“Okay. I’ll take some nice pictures and send them to you.”

She hung up with Seo-jun and called writer Yu Cheonga, who was probably meeting with PD Gong Hee-chan for a meeting.

“You could even pick a star from the sky.”

If it was hard for people to go up to the sky, then the star from the sky would come down by itself.

Like a shooting star.

“Come to think of it, meteorites were expensive too.”

“Hello? Writer?”

Writer So Eun-jin smiled happily at the voice of the writer who had created a work that caught the superstar’s heart.

“Cheonga. A shooting star granted your wish.”

Chapter 275

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 275

A few hours ago.

“Come in!”

Writer Yu Cheonga led the three people inside.

PD Gong Hee-Chan and assistant directors Kim Dan-Bi and Choi Hyun-Woo looked around the studio with curious faces.

“So this is where Writer So Eun-Jin works.”

“I’ve seen other writers’ studios, but this one has a cafe-like vibe.”

“There are drinks and snacks too. Help yourselves.”

The two assistant directors brightened up at Writer Yu Cheonga’s words.

PD Gong Hee-Chan, who was looking around the studio, asked.

“But are you sure we can use this place?”

“Yes. Writer So Eun-Jin said she doesn’t have any plans for her next work yet, so the studio will be empty for a while. She said it’s better to have someone use it than leave it vacant.”

Writer Yu Cheonga guided them around the studio.

The three people followed behind Writer Yu Cheonga.

“This is Writer So Eun-Jin’s room and this is where we, the assistant writers, work. This is the meeting room we’ll use.”

On one side of the meeting room, there was a large whiteboard with a character relationship diagram for the drama written on it, presumably by Writer Yu Cheonga beforehand.

PD Gong Hee-Chan, who was looking around the meeting room, smiled with satisfaction.

“Nice.”

They could have used the meeting room at MBS, but they were short of rooms there too, so they had to hold meetings in an open office corner or at a cafe on the first floor.

Kim Dan-Bi and Choi Hyun-Woo also smiled happily and nodded their heads.

It was the perfect place for them: quiet, clean, and with snacks.

“Shall we start today’s meeting then?”

At PD Gong Hee-Chan’s words, the three people sat down and spread out their materials on the table.

They continued the meeting from the first scene with the script for episode 1 that Writer Yu Cheonga had completed.

PD Gong Hee-Chan, who was in charge, of course, and assistant directors Kim Dan-Bi and Choi Hyun-Woo also asked various questions to bring out the drama scenes that were in Writer Yu Cheonga’s head.

Writer Yu Cheonga also thought carefully and answered them.

There were some questions that she could answer easily and some that required a bit of thinking.

But thanks to having attended the meetings with Writer So Eun-Jin and PD Choi Min-Sung, she found it easy to express herself verbally.

“Then let’s end here for episode 1. When will episode 2 be ready?”

“I’ve written about half of it. I think it’ll be done by the day after tomorrow.”

They were having a meeting when someone’s phone rang.

“You should turn it off when you’re having a meeting.”

“Uh… I think it’s your phone, senior.”

At Choi Hyun-Woo’s words, PD Gong Hee-Chan shuddered and shook his body.

As Choi Hyun-Woo said, the owner of the ringtone that was ringing in the meeting room was PD Gong Hee-Chan.

He only realized that it was his phone then and hurriedly took out his phone, and for some reason, Writer Yu Cheonga also flustered around with a startled face.

At their sight, Kim Dan-Bi and Choi Hyun-Woo tilted their heads.

PD Gong Hee-Chan smiled awkwardly at his juniors’ eyes and looked at his phone.

Hmm.

“…070.”

“It’s insurance.”

“Isn’t it a loan?”

Whether it was insurance or a loan, he had no intention of checking it out. PD Gong Hee-Chan hung up the phone.

Phew.

PD Gong Hee-Chan and Writer Yu Cheonga sighed at the same time.

Then they looked at each other with surprise.

Kim Dan-Bi smiled meaningfully at the awkward eye contact between the writer and the director.

“I have a good intuition.”

“You have a bad intuition.”

“Why? I was right last time!”

“…”

Choi Hyun-Woo closed his mouth at the correct statement.

Kim Dan-Bi, who was about to shrug her shoulders at Choi Hyun-Woo’s silence, also realized that PD Gong Hee-Chan was at the end of her intuition and drooped her shoulders.

She wished she had a bad intuition this time.

The meeting that had been interrupted resumed.

Choi Hyun-Woo, who was taking notes of the decisions made in the meeting, asked PD Gong Hee-Chan.

“We need to recruit staff members. Do you have any cinematographers in mind? I think we need to contact them soon.”

“Hmm.”

PD Gong Hee-Chan stroked his chin.

The cinematographer he wanted to work with had gone to Park Kyu-min’s team.

Kim Dan-Bi and Choi Hyun-Woo, who knew that, quietly watched PD Gong Hee-Chan’s expression.

He always had a slight shadow on his face whenever Park Kyu-min’s name came up, but now he didn’t even see the slightest bit of a shadow.

He seemed to like Writer Yu Cheonga’s work enough to not have any regrets about the stolen work.

The two assistant directors smiled at each other.

“I do have a cinematographer in mind, but he’s a thriller specialist. I need to think about it again.”

“That’s right. We can’t mix thriller with romance.”

“We need to create a floral background, but if we make it look like there’s something there, the viewers won’t be able to let go of their suspicions until the end.”

Writer Yu Cheonga, who had seen the captured images of the drama that PD Gong Hee-Chan had shown her, also nodded her head.

This cinematographer should just stick to shooting thrillers.

“Then, shoot…”

The ringtone rang again.

The same ringtone as before. It was PD Gong Hee-Chan’s phone.

Writer Yu Cheonga and PD Gong Hee-Chan, who looked at their phone screens like lightning, made Kim Dan-Bi and Choi Hyun-Woo blink their eyes.

They seemed to be waiting for some important contact that they couldn’t miss.

With the ringtone as the background sound, PD Gong Hee-Chan and Writer Yu Cheonga looked at their phone screens and drooped their shoulders.

“031…”

“It’s spam.”

“It’s a loan ad.”

At the two assistant directors’ words, PD Gong Hee-Chan sighed and flipped his phone over.

The meeting resumed again.

Choi Hyun-Woo asked Writer Yu Cheonga.

“We need to secure a shooting location. Do you have a high school in mind that you modeled after?”

“Well, there was a high school that helped me when I was planning, but… It doesn’t have to be there.”

Kim Dan-Bi and Choi Hyun-Woo’s faces lit up.

It was better to have a model than to imagine a background from scratch.

“It doesn’t matter if we can’t secure that school. It will help us find a similar shooting location. If not, we’ll have to take some pictures.”

Writer Yu Cheonga told them the high school she had modeled after.

“The school uniform there is pretty too.”

“Hmm. Yeah, we don’t need to design a new one for a four-part drama. I’ll print out the school uniform pictures. Senior, please check them.”

“Okay.”

While Choi Hyun-woo was using the printer and computer on one side of the conference room to print out the school uniform photos, Kim Dan-bi asked.

“So, we need to cast the actors, right? Do you have any actors in mind?”

It seemed that Choi Hyun-woo was in charge of the filming location and props, while Kim Dan-bi was in charge of the actors.

“We have some candidates that we discussed with the writer before.”

PD Gong Hee-chan spread out the papers that he had piled up on one side of the table.

From the photos of child actors to adult actors, they were the candidates for the characters in the drama.

Kim Dan-bi was impressed.

“Wow. That’s great. We just need to make some calls then!”

As she checked the candidate actors for each character, Kim Dan-bi tilted her head.

“Senior. There’s no child actor for the male lead, right?”

“Ah, that’s because…”

Then someone’s phone rang.

It was the third time they heard a ringtone, so they all reflexively looked at PD Gong Hee-chan, but it was a different ringtone.

Without realizing it, Writer Yu Cheonga, who had also looked at PD Gong Hee-chan, noticed the ringtone and smiled awkwardly as she took out her phone.

“It’s my phone.”

It wasn’t a loan or insurance call like PD Gong Hee-chan’s.

[Writer]

It was a call from Writer So Eun-jin.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Writer Yu Cheonga went outside the conference room and answered the phone.

“Hello. Writer?”

“Cheonga. A shooting star granted your wish.”

“…Yes?”

She was dumbfounded by the incomprehensible words that suddenly came to her ears. Writer So Eun-jin’s laughter sounded like heavenly bells in Writer Yu Cheonga’s ears.

“There’s a way to get a star from the sky.”

“Yes?”

“You just need to catch a star that falls into your hand. Like a shooting star.”

“What do you mean…?”

What was this about a star from the sky? A shooting star?

She didn’t understand what it meant and just blinked her eyes. Writer Yu Cheonga’s mind was struck by lightning.

She remembered the conversation she had with Writer So Eun-jin five days ago as if it was a vivid video.

“I talked to PD Gong as well. The chance of casting Lee Seo-jun as an actor is like getting a star from the sky, so if there’s no answer in a week, I’m going to send an offer to the child actors right away.”

…!!

Writer Yu Cheonga opened her mouth wide.

The chance of getting a star from the sky.

And the shooting star that fell into her hand.

She felt goosebumps from her toes to her back. She felt like her hair was standing on end.

She clenched her hand holding the phone.

Her eyes were filled with dazzling light and her mind was distant.

Writer So Eun-jin’s cheerful laughter sounded like heavenly bells in her ears.

“Seo-jun wants to do your drama.”

The brightest star in the sky fell into Writer Yu Cheonga’s hands.

“I was surprised too. I didn’t expect Seo-jun to want to play a child role.”

Uh, so… is this really true?

Writer Yu Cheonga’s thoughts didn’t come out of her mouth.

She was so shocked that she forgot to breathe.

Writer Yu Cheonga just listened to Writer So Eun-jin’s story without moving as if time had stopped.

“I didn’t tell you this, but I got a call from Cocoa Entertainment 2nd team a few days ago. They asked me if you were Yu Cheonga, who debuted at MBS. I told them you were my assistant writer, but it shouldn’t have affected their choice. Cocoa Entertainment 2nd team doesn’t share that kind of information with Seo-jun.”

No. I don’t know if I’m listening or just letting it pass by.

“Tell PD Gong too.”

At the familiar name, Writer Yu Cheonga came to her senses.

Her mouth that had been wide open opened even wider. Her chest was so full that it felt nauseous. Her eyes were hot. Her body was trembling.

“Cheonga? Yu Cheonga?”

“Kyaaa!”

Writer Yu Cheonga’s scream filled the studio.

Was this what the face of the happiest person in the world looked like?

She looked like she was about to burst into tears, but she also felt her joy clearly.

The sound from outside made PD Gong Hee-chan open the door of the conference room and come out.

He found Writer Yu Cheonga jumping up and down and screaming with excitement.

“I’ll call you later.”

“Kyaaa!”

“She’s not even listening.”

PD Gong Hee-chan approached Writer Yu Cheonga, who was only laughing, with a dazed look on his face.

“Writer?”

“Waaah!! PD! PD!”

PD Gong Hee-chan unconsciously stepped back at the sight of Writer Yu Cheonga, who seemed to be in a frenzy.

Writer Yu Cheonga followed him.

She giggled and flashed her eyes.

“PD! Big news! Big news!”

Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo, who had been peeking through the open door of the conference room, listened carefully.

They had only met Writer Yu Cheonga three days ago, but they had never seen her so excited.

“He’s in! He’s in our drama!”

At Writer Yu Cheonga’s words without a subject, an exclamation mark appeared over PD Gong Hee-chan’s head.

PD Gong Hee-chan’s eyes slowly widened. At the same time, his mouth opened wide.

He was so shocked that his body shivered.

Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo, who didn’t know anything, felt frustrated.

“No, what’s going on?”

“Who’s in our drama?”

As Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo grabbed and shook PD Gong Hee-chan’s arm and clothes, he finally came to his senses and stuttered.

From deep inside his stomach, he uttered a voice full of ecstasy.

“We have a child actor for the male lead, right?”

“Yes.”

“I think he’s cast. Right, Writer Yu?”

“Yes! I got a call from Writer So!”

He didn’t know why Writer So Eun-jin called him instead of the number he wrote on the synopsis, but PD Gong Hee-chan smiled at Writer Yu Cheonga’s words.

“Hahaha.”

PD Gong Hee-chan and Writer Yu Cheonga’s laughter filled the studio.

“It’s so frustrating! What is it really?”

“Lee Seo-jun.”

“Eh?”

Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo blinked their eyes at the familiar yet unfamiliar name.

“The child actor for the male lead is Lee Seo-jun.”

“Uh… Lee Seo-jun?”

They heard it, but it didn’t register in their minds.

Choi Hyun-woo asked hesitantly.

“Was there a child actor named Lee Seo-jun among the actors?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of him…”

If there was a child actor with the same name as the Hollywood star Lee Seo-jun, there would have been articles about it, but they didn’t remember seeing any.

Trying to escape from reality, they desperately looked for another answer while ignoring the obvious one.

PD Gong Hee-chan smiled at their attempts.

Well, he couldn’t blame them.

He himself felt like he was dreaming right now.

“It’s the Lee Seo-jun who won the Academy Award.”

…What, are you kidding me?

At PD Gong Hee-chan’s confirmation, Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo finally realized what he meant and screamed in the editing room.

“Are you crazy?! Why is he here?!”

“This is the child actor for the male lead! Not the male lead, but the child actor!”

“I don’t know why he’s here either. Maybe our writer Yu’s work was just that good.”

PD Gong Hee-chan and writer Yu Cheonga laughed. Seeing their expressions, it seemed like it was true.

Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo opened their mouths wide.

They already had goosebumps on their arms.

“So you’re saying that Lee Seo-jun is really going to be in our drama?!”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

“Wow. Wow! Writer Yu, you’re amazing!”

“Hahaha. Our drama is going to be a hit!”

“Let’s eat beef today! Beef!”

A loud cheer erupted.

***

Unable to work because of the unbelievable news, the four of them decided to have dinner early.

As Kim Dan-bi suggested, they went to a nearby barbecue restaurant to eat beef.

The staff who brought the side dishes tilted their heads at the sight of the four people who were smiling from ear to ear as they entered the store.

The beef sizzled on the grill as Choi Hyun-woo, who had been laughing softly, opened his mouth.

“Kim Dan-bi.”

“Yeah?”

“Your intuition sucks.”

At Choi Hyun-woo’s words, Kim Dan-bi, who would have normally gotten angry, nodded her head with a smile on her face.

“I know. I said it was bad, but it turned out to be great.”

“Yeah. That work and that actor are incomparable.”

“Hahaha. I feel lucky somehow! Our drama is going to be a hit!”

At Kim Dan-bi’s words, Choi Hyun-woo and PD Gong Hee-chan dropped their chopsticks without realizing it.

Kim Dan-bi also covered her mouth in surprise after saying that.

Only writer Yu Cheonga, who didn’t know about Kim Dan-bi’s curse, tilted her head.

“…Oh. Dear God.”

Not only the three of them, but also writer Yu Cheonga who heard the story from PD Gong Hee-chan.

With a grill full of beef in front of them, the four of them clasped their hands together and prayed.

The customers around them looked at them with curious eyes.

Chapter 276

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 276

The next day.

MBS Drama Department.

The CP in charge of the four-part drama, who had stepped out of the meeting to answer a phone call, spotted PD Gong Hee-chan in his office.

“Gong Hee-chan!”

PD Gong Hee-chan, who was looking for some documents at his desk, lifted his head.

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

“Yes.”

The CP and PD Gong Hee-chan headed to the vending machine area. The CP was about to hand a can of coffee to PD Gong Hee-chan when he noticed his hand.

PD Gong Hee-chan’s hand was full of photos of actors. The CP tilted his head. He saw some actors who were hard to cast even for big-budget dramas, let alone a four-part drama.

The CP shrugged his shoulders and got straight to the point. He had to go back to the meeting as soon as possible.

“I got the script well. It’s from So Eun-jin’s assistant writer, so it should be good. The story is also nice. Kyu-min’s part is a thriller and Hee-chan’s part is a romance, so it won’t be boring.”

“Yes.”

The CP was proud of the two assistant directors, no, the two PDs who were doing well on their own.

“But what about the actors? Did you secure the filming location? The staff? Kyu-min is starting filming tomorrow… If you don’t hurry up, you won’t be able to film. All the good staff might go to Oh Young-chul’s drama.”

PD Gong Hee-chan nodded at the CP’s concern.

It was something he couldn’t hide forever anyway, and he had to let the higher-ups know if he wanted to sign a contract with Lee Seo-jun.

“I was going to tell you that.”

PD Gong Hee-chan smiled brightly and the CP blinked his eyes. He had seen Gong Hee-chan smile often, but he had never seen him smile so brightly.

“Hmm. You can’t quit in the middle.”

The CP joked and PD Gong Hee-chan laughed and said something.

The CP’s eyes slowly widened. The can of coffee in his hand fell to the floor. Fortunately, it was empty, so no coffee spilled. Instead, it seemed like his mind had escaped.

“You… You… You…!”

The CP’s index finger pointed at PD Gong Hee-chan and trembled. He couldn’t even speak properly.

“…You crazy bastard!”

Contrary to his harsh words, the CP’s face was filled with joy.

***

Bang!

“Director!”

The door of the meeting room opened with a loud noise.

The drama department director and the CPs who were having a meeting to find actors with ticket power for Oh Young-chul’s drama frowned and looked at the door.

The CP of the four-part drama was standing there.

“Weren’t you going to answer the phone? Why? What’s going on?”

“Let’s talk about that later. Oh’s drama casting is more important.”

“That’s not the problem.”

The CP’s trembling voice made everyone look at him with curiosity.

“Gong Hee-chan! Our PD Gong Hee-chan!”

“Stop wasting time. Just say it.”

The director snapped at the CP who was dragging on.

“He cast Lee Seo-jun!”

The meeting room fell into a heavy silence at the CP’s words.

Their faces twisted as if they didn’t understand.

Why is Lee Seo-jun suddenly coming up here?

They thought.

“What are you talking about?”

“Why is Lee Seo-jun coming up here all of a sudden?”

“Is that Lee Seo-jun actor the same one we know?”

As questions poured out, PD Gong Hee-chan, who was standing behind the CP, answered.

“Yes. It’s Hollywood actor Lee Seo-jun. We haven’t signed a contract yet, but we got a confirmation of his appearance.”

The meeting room exploded at PD Gong Hee-chan’s words.

***

“Hahaha. We don’t have to worry about ratings anymore!”

They pushed aside Oh Young-chul’s drama casting that they said was urgent and laughed and chatted with excitement.

They couldn’t stop smiling.

Their mouths hurt from smiling so much, but they were happy.

The director said with excitement in his face.

“Lee Seo-jun. How much do we have to pay him per episode?”

“Top tier. More than top tier, I guess?”

“Yes. It’s been seven years since he did a drama, but he has a lot of achievements in movies too.”

“Even if we pay him that much, we’ll get more than that from advertising revenue.”

“That’s right. If we think about airing for 12 weeks, we can pay him generously and still have some left over.”

“Yes!”

As they saw the elated director and CPs, the CP and PD Gong Hee-chan looked at each other and smiled awkwardly.

The CP sighed lightly and poured cold water on the people who were calculating the advertising revenue and the appearance fee of actor Lee Seo-jun.

“Director. This is a four-part drama. And it airs only once a week.”

At the unexpected words, the meeting room fell into a heavy silence.

The meeting room exploded again.

This time, it was bad.

The CPs screamed.

“Lee Seo-jun is coming out and it’s only four parts? Just four parts?”

“We want to make it 50 parts even if it’s 24 parts, but four parts?”

“And only once a week?”

“Even if we rerun it, it’s nothing compared to Inside Me.”

“We wanted to make a special broadcast like KBC!”

The CP who was thinking of various broadcasts to make after recalling how KBC made money and ratings with Inside Me Plus screamed.

PD Gong Hee-chan scratched his cheek and said.

“Our drama is a romance, so there’s not much to show anyway.”

“Lee Seo-jun’s first romance is nice, but… Why is it only four parts?”

“Who did this? Who came up with this plan?”

Everyone in the meeting room looked at the director at his words. The CP of the four-part drama sighed again and said.

“If it wasn’t for this plan, Lee Seo-jun wouldn’t have agreed to appear.”

“…I guess so.”

The director and the CPs slumped their shoulders.

They were happy that Lee Seo-jun was appearing, but why couldn’t they really be happy?

“It would have been nice if it was at least 16 parts…”

The director, who was nervously shaking his legs, raised his head and called PD Gong Hee-chan.

“PD Gong.”

“Yes?”

The CPs, who were disappointed by their conversation, slowly lifted their heads.

They looked much more exhausted than a few minutes ago.

They had been going back and forth between heaven and hell. The director asked with a serious face.

“Can’t you extend it?”

The CPs’ eyes lit up at the director’s words.

“Yeah! Let’s extend it. We extended it from a one-act play to a four-part drama, right? Then let’s make it 24 parts!”

Before PD Gong Hee-chan could open his mouth, the CPs said as if they were competing.

“If 24 parts is not possible, then at least 16 parts!”

“Who was the writer again?”

“So Eun-jin’s assistant writer.”

“Then maybe we can extend it to 16 parts? So Eun-jin has done a lot of long stories too.”

“That’s right. Maybe So Eun-jin can help us extend it more.”

“But what if Lee Seo-jun doesn’t want to do it if we extend it?”

One CP’s words silenced everyone.

“…Do you think he won’t?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know why Lee Seo-jun chose this work. A little modification… I don’t know if extending four parts to 16 parts is a little modification, but anyway, if he liked this work enough to allow some modification, he would do it, but if he liked the work as it is now, he wouldn’t.”

“Hmm.”

They groaned at the reasonable words.

“24 parts is too long… How about eight parts? If not, six parts?”

Someone’s words made the director call PD Gong Hee-chan.

“Gong Hee-chan.”

“Yes.”

“First, talk to the writer and ask how much they can extend the script. Keep the same quality as now, but increase the quantity. Five parts or six parts are fine.”

The director grabbed PD Gong Hee-chan’s shoulder.

“Extend it as much as you can.”

“Ah. Yes. I understand.”

“And take the revised script to Lee Seo-jun. If he still says no, then just, just…”

The director swallowed his tears.

“We’ll go with four parts.”

Sniff.

The MBS drama department meeting room was filled with the sound of swallowing tears.

It was because of the poor soundproofing or maybe because their voices were too loud, but they could roughly hear what they were saying outside the meeting room.

The assistant directors and PDs outside the meeting room couldn’t close their mouths at the news they couldn’t imagine.

***

Cocoa Entertainment.

Actor Lee Seo-jun’s practice room.

Ahn Da Ho, who was organizing photo cards, asked Seo-jun, who was sitting in front of him and signing photo cards.

“Seo-jun, how was the meteor shower yesterday?”

“It was amazing. It really poured down like rain. The shining ones looked like fireworks too.”

The meteor shower last night rained down like light.

Even people who were filming or taking pictures with their phones or cameras unknowingly exclaimed at the falling stars that shone brightly one by one.

“It looked amazing even from the photos you sent me. Was it more amazing than that?”

“Yes. It’s more amazing when you see it for real.”

Seo-jun nodded his head continuously but didn’t stop signing photo cards.

Another photo card had Seo-jun’s signature on the bottom right corner.

The photos on the photo cards were taken by his parents and Anh Da Ho so far.

Seo-jun’s young appearance when he was filming Shadowman, his appearance wearing a gondrypo and a padding jacket, his appearance talking with actors with a serious face, his appearance eating food from a food truck sent by fans.

His appearance playing the violin, his appearance practicing archery, his appearance reading scripts, his appearance smiling brightly while reading fans’ letters and so on.

They were photos of Seo-jun that couldn’t be seen in dramas or movies because he hadn’t immersed himself yet and showed ‘Lee Seo-jun’ instead of ‘character’.

“It’s been a while since you had a fan meeting, right?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly.

He wanted to meet his fans after seeing Brown Black’s 15th anniversary concert.

His manager and agency gladly agreed to his sudden request.

“This is going to be crazy. A drama and a fan meeting? Wow.”

“Oh, Da Ho hyung. Can I do a play at the fan meeting? Mirror. My friends said it was okay.”

“That’s good. Mirror has a simple background, so you don’t need to install anything.”

“I think we just need to pay attention to the lighting a little bit. And the Brl hyungs said they would help me practice singing. I’m thinking of singing and playing the violin too.”

“Oh.”

A play, a song, and a violin.

Anh Da Ho, who was thinking of the [Sprouts] who would go crazy at this news, wondered if even foreign fans would come.

Then, there was a knock on the door.

Seo-jun stopped signing and Ahn Da Ho got up from his seat and opened the door.

It was a Cocoa Entertainment employee.

“Team leader Ahn, there’s an MBS PD who wants to see you. What should I do?”

“MBS?”

Ahn Da Ho and Seo-jun blinked their eyes.

“Ah, is it PD Gong Hee-chan?”

“That’s right. Did he come to sign the contract already? He’s fast.”

Seo-jun said as he remembered the news he heard yesterday.

The employee nodded his head.

“No. No, it’s not.”

“What?”

“It’s PD Park Kyu-min.”

Park Kyu-min PD?

They tilted their heads at the unfamiliar name.

Chapter 277

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 277

“Manager Anh!”

As soon as he left Seo-jun’s practice room and headed to the conference room on the first floor, one of the team 2 staff members ran towards him and Seo-jun.

It seemed that the lobby staff had informed not only Anh Da Ho but also the team 2 office about Seo-jun’s matter.

The team 2 staff member who ran quickly stopped next to Anh Da Ho and asked.

“Is there a PD named Park Kyu-min at MBS?”

“Yes. He is a PD affiliated with MBS and he will be joining the same project as PD Gong Hee-chan.”

That Park Kyu-min was from MBS was already confirmed by the lobby staff, but Anh Da Ho checked again.

There were people who came with fake IDs. Even if their goal was not Hollywood actor Lee Seo-jun, this place had amazing singers like Brown Black, White, and Red Crown.

“By ‘joining’, do you mean the four-part drama?”

“Yes. He is planning to shoot the thriller genre with PD Gong Hee-chan, who is his colleague from the same entrance year.”

The team 2 staff member read the banana talk messages that gathered all kinds of information in an instant.

The team 2 staff members who had put aside their other work for the sudden arrival of the broadcasting station PD were quickly contacting here and there to find out about PD Park Kyu-min.

The team 2 staff member who was reading the banana talk messages told Anh Da Ho, who was walking ahead, what he had found out.

‘Wow.’

Seo-jun admired the professional manager and staff.

He had never seen them like this when they worked with him, but they seemed to be working like this when Seo-jun was not looking.

‘It’s probably because Da Ho hyung moves like he’s not there when he’s with me.’

That didn’t mean he didn’t support him. He prepared everything in advance and stepped back one step to observe the situation without disturbing the filming crew and actors.

He was a cool manager.

Seo-jun followed Anh Da Ho with a bright smile.

“I heard that the PDs have a good reputation. They do their work on time and are diligent.”

“But…”

“But?”

At Anh Da Ho’s question, the team 2 staff member read the banana talk messages further down.

Seo-jun, who was following behind, pricked up his ears.

“The ratings from the assistant directors or staff are not so good. Especially, the ratings from the supporting actors and child actors are bad.”

“I see.”

People who treated their superiors well but looked down on their subordinates.

It was a type that could be easily encountered in social life, but it was a bit different if child actors were involved.

Anh Da Ho frowned slightly.

“And they have a filming tomorrow.”

“A filming?”

Seo-jun asked as he got on the elevator with Anh Da Ho and the team 2 staff member. The team 2 staff member nodded and opened his mouth.

“Yeah. The project that they are joining starts filming tomorrow. They already have everything from staff to actors ready, so I don’t know why they came here. It doesn’t seem like they came to cast Seo-jun.”

“I wonder why they came.”

Anh Da Ho and Seo-jun tilted their heads.

Ding dong.

The elevator arrived at the first floor. Anh Da Ho, who got off the elevator, told Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun, you stay here.”

“Can’t I go in with you?”

“We don’t even know why they came, so no. I’ll go in and let you know.”

He didn’t mind if it was a good story, but if it was a bad one, he planned to filter it out and tell Seo-jun.

Seo-jun nodded at Anh Da Ho’s serious expression.

“Then I’ll go to the basement practice room.”

“Don’t scare the trainees too much.”

“It’s okay. They’re all from our school, right? Just think of it as making friends in advance.”

Anh Da Ho smiled faintly as he thought of Mirinae’s new and current students who would be in the basement practice room.

Unlike the trainees who burst into cheers like screams when Seo-jun went to the basement practice room, the atmosphere in the conference room where Anh Da Ho and PD Park Kyu-min were was heavy.

“I’m Anh Da Ho, Lee Seo-jun’s manager.”

“I’m Park Kyu-min, a PD from MBS drama department.”

The two briefly greeted each other and sat down.

Anh Da Ho looked over PD Park Kyu-min. He was quite confident for someone who barged in suddenly, but Anh Da Ho’s eyes turned cold. However, he soon asked with a smiling face.

“So what brings you here?”

“I heard that Lee Seo-jun is going to appear in our broadcasting station’s drama.”

Anh Da Ho pretended not to know anything about Park Kyu-min and responded appropriately to his words.

“Oh, yes. He is planning to do that. You seem to know about it too, PD.”

“Yes. But when I found out, it was so absurd that I had no choice but to come here like this.”

PD Park Kyu-min shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Our Lee Seo-jun is only doing a four-part drama! He should do at least 24 episodes. If you leave it to me, I can make it 24 episodes, or at least a 16-episode mini-series. It’s his first drama appearance in seven years, so he should show his face more!”

“Hmm. A 16-episode series?”

Anh Da Ho’s reaction seemed positive, so PD Park Kyu-min continued.

“Besides, he’s going to be an adult soon, so he needs to change his image well. A drama with more popularity than a movie that only some people watch will help change people’s perception of him. He needs to prepare from now on. There are many actors who failed to grow as adult actors because their child actor image remained. Oh, of course, I don’t mean Lee Seo-jun.”

Anh Da Ho’s eyes twitched slightly as he smiled.

“I heard that he is playing the male lead’s child role. He’s not even the main character, but the male lead’s child role. How can that be for Lee Seo-jun, who has been playing the main roles until now? I don’t know who chose it, but really. I’ll talk to the writer and have it changed to a different character.”

Lee Seo-jun himself chose it.

‘If they put in a different character, they would have to rewrite the whole work, wouldn’t they?’

Anh Da Ho thought for a moment and opened his mouth.

“Wouldn’t that delay the broadcast in April?”

“We can film it quickly.”

PD Park Kyu-min said that as if Anh Da Ho nodded his head without giving any particular answer.

But Anh Da Ho’s inner thoughts were different from his outward appearance that showed no reaction.

He didn’t like the tone of ‘filming’ or the word ‘quickly’.

It was probably because of his actor who loved filming the most.

Anh Da Ho’s evaluation of Park Kyu-min hit rock bottom.

“What about PD Gong Hee-chan, who is in charge of the drama now?”

“Does a drama get canceled in a day or two? It changes if they say so from above. I’m better than PD Gong Hee-chan. I have everything planned out. I’ll catch him coolly if Lee Seo-jun comes out.”

“I see.”

He said all kinds of things, but his purpose was one.

Anh Da Ho sent PD Park Kyu-min back with a proper response. PD Park Kyu-min had a good feeling somehow at Lee Seo-jun’s manager who never lost his smile.

Seo-jun, who had just come up from the basement practice room laughing and chatting with the trainee hyungs, saw PD Park Kyu-min’s happy back and asked Anh Da Ho.

“What did he come for?”

“Hmm.”

Anh Da Ho’s smile deepened.

“Somehow, Seo-jun became the eye of the storm.”

The eye of the storm was peaceful as usual, but the surroundings were noisy.

Seo-jun tilted his head as Anh Da Ho told him PD Park Kyu-min’s intention.

“He wants to direct ‘Spring’?”

Spring was the tentative title of the drama that PD Gong Hee-chan was directing and Seo-jun was starring in. Seo-jun blinked.

“Didn’t you say he has a filming going on right now?”

“That’s because Seo-jun is not there. How amazing would it be if Seo-jun appeared in his debut work. That’s why he must be thinking of stealing the director’s position.”

Seo-jun frowned at Anh Da Ho’s words.

“Can you change that as you please?”

“You are the boss here, Seo-jun. Who wouldn’t listen to you if you say you prefer Park Kyu-min over Gong Hee-chan as the director? Especially when he’s not a famous or experienced director, but a newbie.”

Anh Da Ho’s smile deepened.

“Besides, if you extend the four-episode drama to 24 episodes, the broadcasting station would be happy and you would also like having more scenes, right?”

At those words, Seo-jun understood the situation and turned his head to look at Anh Da Ho.

Brother Da Ho. He was smiling, but it didn’t seem like he was happy or pleased. It was the first time he saw this side of him.

“Our Seo-jun is not the type to hesitate over the amount of scenes. He said he would generously extend it to 16 episodes? Our Seo-jun can captivate the viewers with just one scene. And image transformation? Do you think Seo-jun can’t do that? Why are you so careless about the most important filming? It seems like you’ve been belittling Seo-jun since a while ago… Is it just me or…”

Anh Da Ho muttered in a low voice, and Seo-jun blinked his eyes.

‘Da Ho Hyung. Are you angry?’

It was unfamiliar and fascinating to see him for the first time.

***

Park Kyu-min, who returned from Cocoa Entertainment, asked CP for the synopsis of ‘Spring’. Choi Hyun-woo, who was watching him, informed Gong Hee-chan.

Gong Hee-chan, who had a relapse of his trauma, tried to calm his trembling heart and called Park Kyu-min to the emergency exit.

“It’s good for you. You can do your thriller and I can do this.”

Park Kyu-min, who bragged about his story of going to Cocoa Entertainment, chuckled and shook the synopsis of ‘Spring’.

Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo, who were shocked by his story, held their foreheads. This must have been Kim Dan-bi’s curse.

“Don’t say anything from now on.”

“…Okay.”

Kim Dan-bi reflected. She decided not to say anything about her intuition or anything else.

Meanwhile, Park Kyu-min continued his words.

“You can start filming right away since I prepared all the actors and staff according to your list. Wow. Gong Hee-chan. You can film comfortably thanks to me. Oh, and did they say they finished the script for episode 1? Let me see that. I have to prepare for filming too. And give me the writer’s number too.”

Gong Hee-chan, who was trying to calm down his breath, exploded.

“You bastard!”

Gong Hee-chan, who thought he was lucky and naive, couldn’t help but get angry this time.

Park Kyu-min tried to shake off Gong Hee-chan’s hand that grabbed his collar, but Gong Hee-chan’s strength was stronger as he got more emotional.

Park Kyu-min cursed as he felt his collar being grabbed.

“Isn’t it because you’re incompetent that you casted Seo-jun and only made a four-episode drama? And a child actor? Seo-jun is a child actor? Hey. People passing by would laugh. You should have persuaded the actor to change his role.”

“So you barged into Cocoa Entertainment?!”

“Barged in? That’s a bit harsh.”

Park Kyu-min’s words made Kim Dan-bi, who was hiding behind him, grab her neck. Choi Hyun-woo tried hard to calm Kim Dan-bi down.

“It’s a sacrifice. A sacrifice. Don’t you think it would be better for everyone if you increase the amount of episodes from four to 16, no, 24? The broadcasting station would be happy and so would the actor.”

“Do you think I don’t know what you’re saying outside…!”

Gong Hee-chan gritted his teeth.

“Look. Seo-jun’s manager said he would think about it too. It’s his first drama appearance in seven years. It would be much better than a four-episode drama. If he suddenly appears in a low-quality four-episode drama, his image would be bad too.”

“Are you crazy?! When did Seo-jun ever fall behind!”

Gong Hee-chan looked at Park Kyu-min as if he was looking at a madman. What kind of image did he have of Seo-jun in his head?

He couldn’t believe it and lost his strength in his hand that grabbed Park Kyu-min’s collar. Park Kyu-min straightened his clothes and said.

“Seo-jun was a great actor until now. But he’s going to be an adult soon. If he can’t properly transform his image as a child actor, it’s over for him. Do you know how many child actors who were called geniuses disappeared? Do you think Seo-jun won’t be like that? He only has a few years left until he becomes an adult. You have to film him before he loses the bait of being a Hollywood actor.”

Uh.

Gong Hee-chan grabbed his neck at Park Kyu-min’s words.

Park Kyu-min thought that Seo-jun would not succeed as an adult actor. He believed that his prediction was certain and looked at Gong Hee-chan.

“…You’re insane.”

Gong Hee-chan left Park Kyu-min at the emergency exit and returned to his seat. He decided to find a solution first. He was more anxious when he heard that Seo-jun’s manager had a good reaction.

‘Should I go to Cocoa Entertainment too? No, I don’t think I should… Then maybe I should ask the writer to convey my words to So Eun-jin. But what if Park Kyu-min really takes over?’

Anyway.

He should have hit that crazy bastard.

Gong Hee-chan, who was groaning in pain, was different from Park Kyu-min, who postponed filming for a few days and was at peace.

If he brought Seo-jun and made a 24-episode drama, he would be a hero of the drama department and his future would be bright.

That’s when it happened.

“Gong Hee-chan!! Park Kyu-min!!”

The director’s scream echoed in the MBS drama department office.

Gong Hee-chan, who was tearing his hair out trying to find a solution, and Park Kyu-min, who was reading the synopsis of ‘Spring’, jumped up from their seats reflexively.

“What the hell did you do!”

The director’s face turned red with anger as he shouted with all his strength. All the employees in the office shrugged their shoulders.

“Seo-jun said he won’t do it-!!”

Everyone in the office stopped breathing at the shocking news. It felt like their hearts stopped too. Gong Hee-chan and Park Kyu-min’s eyes shook.

“Come up to my office right now!!”

The director’s voice echoed loudly, and Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo swallowed their dry saliva.

Park Kyu-min’s crazy act wasn’t the end of Kim Dan-bi’s curse.

Chapter 278

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 278

After PD Park Kyu-min left, Ahn Da Ho returned to the practice room with Seo-jun and picked up his phone.

He got up from his seat.

Seo-jun, who was holding a pen to resume signing, tilted his head.

“Da Ho hyung, who are you calling?”

“Oh, the CP of this drama. I think I need to explain the situation and ask if they know about it. Whether it was PD Park’s personal action or MBS’s opinion.”

He had to know how to deal with it next.

‘It’s probably a personal action, though.’

Seo-jun understood Ahn Da Ho’s thoughts and asked.

“Do you know the CP’s phone number?”

“I have to know the phone numbers of the people involved in the drama that Seo-jun is filming. But even if not, I have almost all the phone numbers of the broadcasting station staff. They keep contacting me from everywhere, saying they want Seo-jun to appear.”

That’s why he had to update his contacts every day, even if he didn’t want to.

‘Such a great actor…’

He recalled PD Park’s attitude, which seemed to look down on such a great actor.

Ahn Da Ho smiled brighter than ever and said.

“I’ll call and come back. You keep signing.”

Was it an illusion that his smile seemed dark? Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s unusual appearance.

A moment later, Ahn Da Ho came back after talking to the CP on the phone.

Seo-jun, who was putting the signed photo cards in a box and taking out a new bunch of photo cards, straightened his posture and asked.

“Da Ho hyung. How did it go?”

“The CP didn’t seem to know…”

Ahn Da Ho recalled the CP’s voice, which sounded flustered and panicked.

It was a sincere voice that was surprised.

“But that doesn’t mean MBS has no responsibility at all.”

Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

It was because MBS failed to manage their assigned PD.

“But it seemed like there was a director next to the CP.”

“Oh.”

Seo-jun widened his eyes at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

“It might be a bigger deal than I thought… but they can’t just push my actor in with their own greed.”

If he didn’t show this much action, there might be people who would look down on Seo-jun, who would be acting for a long time.

He had to get angry when he needed to, so that they wouldn’t treat him like a pushover.

“It’s the first time it’s been such a mess from the start.”

Seo-jun sighed and Ahn Da Ho smirked.

“I know. I tried to make you work with good people, but I didn’t expect this to happen out of nowhere.”

There were many works and many PDs and writers.

Among them, there must have been good people as well as greedy people like Park Kyu-min.

He tried to avoid those people and showed results with Ahn Da Ho and the 2nd team staff, but this time he was unlucky.

“No one could have expected this.”

Who would have known that another PD who was working on another project would suddenly butt in?

Even with Seo-jun’s consolation, Ahn Da Ho’s heart was heavy.

He sighed deeply and his eyes sparkled.

“Let’s see what MBS does.”

Da Ho hyung still seemed angry.

Seo-jun looked at his manager with curiosity, seeing him angry for the first time.

And since he was angry for him, Seo-jun smiled softly.

He picked up the pen again and scratched his cheek with the tip of the pen and said.

“But can we film this?”

Seo-jun wanted to do this work.

But it seemed like it would be a mess if it started like this.

He was willing to accept some shortcomings since it was an entry-level PD and writer, but he didn’t expect it to be such a disaster.

“Of course we can.”

Seo-jun, who had slumped his shoulders, looked at Ahn Da Ho at his voice.

His manager was smiling confidently.

“You want to do this, right? Then it’s the job of the agency and the manager to make it happen. And set it up perfectly.”

The actor also smiled brightly at his reliable manager.

“Let’s see what they do first.”

“Huhuhu.”

If it doesn’t work out, he’ll take writer Yu Cheonga and go to another broadcasting station.

Ahn Da Ho laughed like a villain, thinking of something that would have shocked MBS if they knew.

Seo-jun clapped his hands at Ahn Da Ho’s appearance.

‘My manager is awesome!’

***

“What did you do that made Lee Seo-jun say no!”

The CP who was on one side of the director’s office also had a stiff face and stood up.

PD Park Kyu-min, who couldn’t sit still at the director’s scolding, opened his mouth.

“No, I thought it would be better for the broadcasting station to extend it to 24 episodes…”

PD Park Kyu-min’s words continued. The director, who was listening quietly, opened his mouth.

“Yeah, sure. Better for the broadcasting station.”

The director’s words brightened PD Park Kyu-min’s face. But his face darkened in an instant at the director’s words that followed.

“If you succeeded!”

The director’s voice echoed in the director’s office.

“Don’t you know? Rebellion is only a revolution if you succeed, otherwise it’s treason!”

The director slammed his desk a few times.

“If it was another actor, you could just forget about it! This project was just a plan to fill up one month of April from the start! You can just find another actor! But Lee Seo-jun is coming!”

If he didn’t know, he didn’t know.

Until a few minutes ago, he had Lee Seo-jun’s favorite work in his hands and he could have seen the golden goose’s toes, but now he couldn’t even see the golden goose at all.

No, that would be lucky, he might hate him so much that he would never appear on MBS for the rest of his life.

‘Well, it probably won’t be that bad…’

The director sighed heavily. He felt bitter to report this to the higher-ups. He had just informed them of Lee Seo-jun’s appearance and it was overturned right away.

The director, who was heated again, twisted his face and looked at PD Park Kyu-min.

PD Park Kyu-min, who had turned pale, looked down at the floor.

“Why did you go to Cocoa Entertainment without saying anything! How much do you think they’ll make fun of our drama department!”

Oh my god.

How much did he look down on Cocoa Entertainment and Lee Seo-jun to barge into their company and say that he would extend it to 24 episodes and change the PD?

‘…Of course, it would have been a jackpot if he had succeeded.’

What came back was a phone call from team leader Ahn Da Ho.

He wouldn’t have cared if it was a team leader from another agency, but team leader Ahn Da Ho was Lee Seo-jun’s first manager and the closest supporter of Lee Seo-jun who had been supporting him without any discord until now.

“Go do your own thing! If you ever mention Lee Seo-jun’s ‘Lee’ again…!”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Get out!”

PD Park Kyu-min, who had turned pale, left and the director took a deep breath.

Even though he wasn’t scolded, PD Gong Hee-chan shrunk his shoulders and stood quietly.

The director looked at PD Gong Hee-chan and opened his mouth.

“Gong Hee-chan!”

“Yes.”

“Go apologize with Jin-myeong.”

Kim Jin-myeong.

The CP of the 4-episode project and the one who received Ahn Da Ho manager’s phone call and was sighing heavily in one corner of the director’s office.

“Since we can’t avoid having him on the show, let’s make sure he doesn’t get attached to us. If Park Kyu-min says he wants an apology, call him right away.”

“Okay. I understand.”

At that moment, PD Gong Hee-chan’s phone vibrated briefly. The director and the CP flinched.

“…What is it?”

“Cocoa Entertainment?”

At the words of the director and the CP, PD Gong Hee-chan looked at his phone screen.

Kim Dan-bi : This time for sure!

Choi Hyun-woo : I recorded it!

Kim Dan-bi : (Emergency exit recording file)

Choi Hyun-woo : Fighting!

PD Gong Hee-chan, who seemed to be hesitating for a moment, raised his head and looked at the director. The director and the CP felt uneasy at the grim expression of PD Gong Hee-chan.

“Why? Did Cocoa Entertainment tell you not to come at all?”

“Did they refuse to accept your apology?”

“…PD Park Kyu-min, what about his disciplinary action?”

The director and the CP blinked their eyes at the unexpected question.

It was not uncommon for a contract to be overturned just before signing with an actor, so it was not a matter of disciplinary action. Of course, since the cause was PD Park Kyu-min’s personal behavior, he had to take some responsibility, but there was no severe punishment.

If the drama that Lee Seo-jun was supposed to star in was PD Park Kyu-min’s work, it would have been enough to replace the PD, but PD Park Kyu-min’s work was a different one.

‘Why did that kid covet someone else’s drama…!’

That’s why things got more complicated.

The CP, who had a headache, opened his mouth.

“We haven’t decided yet, but why?”

“Please consider this as well.”

PD Gong Hee-chan put his phone on the table.

The director and the CP looked at the phone screen with curious eyes. PD Gong Hee-chan pressed the play button and PD Park Kyu-min’s voice came out of the phone.

“It worked out well. You do your thriller and I do this.”

“I’ve prepared everything according to your list, from actors to staff. Wow. Gong Hee-chan. You’ll have an easy time shooting thanks to me. Oh, and did you say you finished the script for episode 1? Let me see that. I have to prepare for shooting too. And give me the writer’s number too.”

The director and the CP looked back and forth between PD Gong Hee-chan’s face and the phone screen. They grabbed their necks.

“Is this real?”

“Yes. The thriller that Park Kyu-min is doing. It’s my work.”

At PD Gong Hee-chan’s words, the director tapped his forehead and the CP washed his face dryly. The work that they praised so much was PD Gong Hee-chan’s work in front of them.

“From where to where?”

“From script to actor, staff composition.”

“…That’s everything!”

CP exclaimed at PD Gong Hee-chan’s words. The director clicked his tongue.

“This bastard… This… He’s a troublemaker who doesn’t know what he’ll do when he gets more experience.”

He stole someone else’s work and tried to steal it again by breaking into a top-notch superstar’s agency with his personal behavior.

He was already reckless when he was just starting out, but he didn’t know what kind of abuse he would do when he gained more experience.

The director and the CP’s faces became serious.

“Gong Hee-chan.”

“…Yes.”

PD Gong Hee-chan, who had his hands clasped together, swallowed his saliva. He had shouted to protect this work and his future work, but he didn’t know if he did well.

The director said in a heavy voice.

“Go get Park Kyu-min.”

“Yes.”

PD Gong Hee-chan left the director’s office and headed to the office. He called PD Park Kyu-min, who was shaking his legs nervously. Park Kyu-min cursed at being called by the director again and headed to the director’s office with a tense face.

PD Gong Hee-chan followed Park Kyu-min and turned his head.

On one side of the office where tension flowed, assistant directors Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo were standing.

PD Gong Hee-chan nodded his head as he met their eyes.

Choi Hyun-woo and Kim Dan-bi lit up their eyes and clenched their fists tightly.

“Nice!”

“But we lost one and gained one.”

“That’s right. But what we lost is too big. I wanted to see Lee Seo-jun in person!”

Kim Dan-bi agreed with Choi Hyun-woo’s words and nodded his head.

***

Seo-jun put down his pen and stretched.

He had been signing all afternoon, but there was no sign of the box full of photo cards getting smaller.

“But there are so many photo cards. I can’t finish them today.”

“Take your time. You just have to do it until the fan meeting.”

Ahn Da Ho, who put orange juice in front of Seo-jun, smiled.

“We’ll give them to the fans who come to the fan meeting and also draw lots for the fans who can’t come. And also to the overseas fans.”

It was hard for foreign fans to come to the fan meeting in Korea.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

“Then I have to do a lot! Ahn Da Ho hyung. Can’t you make more photo cards? They look scarce!”

Ahn Da Ho laughed at Seo-jun’s excited expression.

“We can’t give them all, you know.”

It was then.

There was a knock on the door.

Seo-jun, who was drinking orange juice and humming while preparing to sign, and Ahn Da Ho, who was about to take out new photo cards, stopped their movements.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho looked at each other.

They felt a bad vibe.

Ahn Da Ho opened the door of the practice room.

The lobby staff they had seen a few hours ago was standing there with an awkward smile.

Chapter 279

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 279

There was one person who knew nothing about the situation that MBS was going through all day long, between heaven and hell.

The drama writer, Yu Cheonga, was humming and typing on her keyboard.

“Hehe.”

She couldn’t stop smiling.

The writer So Eun-Jin, who had stopped by the studio for a moment, chuckled at the sight of Yu Cheonga, who was giggling.

“Is it that fun?”

“Oh, writer! When did you come?”

“Didn’t I knock?”

Yu Cheonga scratched her cheek.

She felt like this had happened before… So Eun-Jin seemed to notice that too and advised her.

“It’s good to be focused when you work, but you should also look around sometimes. You never know what might happen.”

“Yes!”

Yu Cheonga answered cheerfully.

“How’s the work going?”

“Good. I got a call from the PD at lunchtime. He asked me if I could extend it. So I’m rewriting the synopsis.”

“That’s nice.”

The broadcasting station usually wanted to extend the broadcast of a work that had a good response from the viewers.

‘Of course, this time it’s thanks to Seo-Jun.’

So Eun-Jin smiled and asked Yu Cheonga.

“How much are you going to extend it?”

“There was a part that I cut out when I changed the one-act play to a four-part series. I think it will be longer if I put that in.”

“The broadcasting station will like that.”

So Eun-Jin and Yu Cheonga smiled brightly, unaware of the chaos that was happening at the broadcasting station.

Yu Cheonga, who had been smiling brightly, soon became gloomy.

“But I don’t know how actor Lee Seo-Jun will react. I hope he likes it…”

“So you’re not going to write it?”

“No! I’m still going to try. PD Gong said that if it doesn’t work, we’ll just shoot it as a four-part series. I don’t know if this is enough, though.”

“I think that’s a good strategy. It’s better to decide for sure now than to extend it after the drama shooting starts. Besides, Seo-Jun has a passion for his work, so if he likes the extended synopsis better than the four-part series, he’ll gladly shoot it.”

“Really?”

Yu Cheonga’s eyes sparkled and So Eun-Jin said with a smile.

“Why do you think Seo-Jun uses the pen name Na Jin? He wanted to take a step forward in children’s theater even though he used such a name. He also created his own work that he wanted to do like the play Mirror. It’s rare to find an actor who does so much for his acting.”

So Eun-Jin recalled the actor who had acted with all his might in both The Royal Physician and Mirror.

“Seo-Jun, no, actor Lee Seo-Jun is not just a good actor, but a scary actor who has a passion for his work. Since he liked your script, work hard.”

“Yes!”

Yu Cheonga gained confidence as well as pressure and typed on her keyboard incessantly.

It seemed to flow smoothly somehow.

So Eun-Jin watched Yu Cheonga for a while and then left the studio with a gentle smile.

Some time passed and Yu Cheonga took her hands off the keyboard.

“Done!”

And she immediately picked up her phone.

<PD Gong!

<I think I can extend it.

<I rewrote the synopsis, should I send it to Cocoa Entertainment?

It was 5:12 p.m.

The mark that had disappeared in less than 10 seconds until yesterday did not disappear even after several minutes.

Yu Cheonga tilted her head.

She stretched her stiff body and drank a cup of coffee before PD Gong Hee-Chan’s message arrived.

Gong Hee-Chan: Oh, writer.

Gong Hee-Chan: Sorry for the late reply.

Gong Hee-Chan: Please send it to me first.

<Okay! Got it!

***

“Excuse me.”

PD Gong Hee-Chan, who had sent a message to Yu Cheonga and came back, sat down on his chair with a tense expression.

The CP who was sitting next to him opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“PD Park Kyu-min has been dropped from this project.”

“Is it because of us?”

This project meant PD Park Kyu-min’s debut. He couldn’t make his debut, which was a harsher punishment than expected.

Ahn Da Ho frowned. He wanted PD Park Kyu-min to be punished, but it had to be reasonable. Excessive punishment could have a negative impact on Seo-Jun.

‘PD Park Kyu-min might use the media.’

The CP quickly raised his hand at Ahn Da Ho’s serious expression.

“No! It’s a punishment that was decided after considering other issues. I can’t tell you the details, but… it’s definitely not because of actor Lee Seo-Jun. You don’t have to worry about anything. PD Park Kyu-min won’t be able to do anything stupid.”

He had the decisive evidence of the recording, so PD Park Kyu-min couldn’t do anything. PD Gong Hee-Chan also nodded his head repeatedly and agreed with the CP’s words.

Ahn Da Ho, who had been scrutinizing the expressions of the CP and PD Gong Hee-Chan with a sharp gaze, nodded his head.

It seemed like they wouldn’t tell him anything more since it was an internal matter of the broadcasting station.

“I see. I understand.”

“I’m really sorry for this incident.”

“I’m sorry!”

“It’s not something that the CP and PD Gong should apologize for. You two didn’t know anything.”

The CP and PD Gong Hee-Chan sighed in relief at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

“Then who will direct the other four-part series? I heard it’s a thriller…”

He felt like Seo-Jun would be curious rather than himself. The CP smiled awkwardly and answered Ahn Da Ho’s question.

“I will do it.”

He hadn’t directed anything since he became a CP, but he had no choice but to do it in this situation.

It was too much for a debut PD to handle the chaotic atmosphere of the shooting site, and it was impossible to entrust it to PD Gong Hee-Chan, who was the owner of the work ‘Spring’.

“If it’s CP Kim Jin-myeong, it will be a good work.”

“Thank you.”

The CP and PD Gong Hee-Chan, who had been looking at each other alternately, opened their mouths.

“We were too hasty in deciding to refuse the appearance. It was only a day after we decided to appear in the drama, and another PD came to our company and asked us to replace him. It was the first time we experienced something like this, so we were a bit excited.”

The CP and PD Gong Hee-Chan shuddered at every word of Ahn Da Ho. His voice was soft and his face was smiling, but why did his heart hurt so much?

“…I’m sorry.”

“But this time, PD Gong is definitely in charge, so we’ll think about the drama appearance again with the actor and let you know.”

The CP and PD Gong Hee-Chan, who had been crouching down to the floor, looked up in surprise. Was it a delusion to see hope in those words?

“Then…!”

“Of course, it’s not confirmed.”

“I understand. Thank you!”

PD Gong Hee-Chan smiled brightly. The CP also curled up his lips and shouted inwardly, when Ahn Da Ho said with a smile on his face.

“But what’s this 24-part series story? Was it PD Park Kyu-min’s unilateral opinion, or… MBS’s opinion?”

“…!”

The CP and PD Gong Hee-Chan crouched down again, sweating coldly, wondering if this was what it felt like to go back and forth between heaven and hell.

***

“So writer Yu Cheonga is writing something new.”

“Right now?”

“Yeah. She said she finished the synopsis. Should we ask her to send it?”

Seo-Jun, who had been practicing his acting in the practice room after signing the remaining photo cards for tomorrow, tilted his head at Ahn Da Ho’s words, who had met with the CP and PD Gong Hee-Chan.

“How much did she extend it?”

“Six episodes. She added two more.”

“Hmm. That doesn’t seem like a big change in the content… Can I read it?”

“Of course.”

Ahn Da Ho tapped his phone and headed to the printer installed in the practice room.

His phone vibrated and he touched it a few times, and the printer started working.

“When do we have to answer?”

“They said they want it within four days at least. The sooner, the better. MBS seems to be busy with this and that.”

“I see.”

Ahn Da Ho collected the papers that came out of the printer and asked.

“Do you want to read the synopsis here and go? Or do you want to read it at home?”

“I have dinner plans with my hyungs today. We made a bet.”

“A bet?”

“Yeah. The winner gets to choose the menu, and I won. We’re going to eat Korean food.”

Seo-Jun smiled and said.

“So I’ll read it here until my hyungs come.”

“Okay. Call me if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

The printer stopped and Ahn Da Ho handed the synopsis to Seo-Jun.

Seo-Jun sat on a chair with sparkling eyes and read the synopsis while Ahn Da Ho left the practice room and headed to Team 2’s office.

Team 2’s office was like a battlefield since lunchtime when PD Park Kyu-min came. They tried their best to find out information about PD Park Kyu-min using their connections. Ahn Da Ho smiled at the sight of the exhausted Team 2 staff.

“You all worked hard today.”

“Did you come, Team Leader An? It feels harder than when Seo-Jun’s work was announced.”

“That was when we were receiving, and there was mostly good news. This time we were asking, and it wasn’t a good thing either.”

The staff nodded at one staff’s words.

“But I’m glad it ended well.”

“But why did they suddenly change the PD? What’s going on?”

At the staff’s question, Ahn Da Ho opened his mouth with a stiff face.

“We have to find out from tomorrow. It doesn’t seem like a good thing, so we should gather some data before it gets involved with Seo-Jun. MBS said it was okay, but we can’t just trust them and sit still.”

“That’s true.”

The staff, who knew well about the situation in the entertainment industry where things that didn’t exist could happen, nodded their heads with serious faces at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

“But let’s call it a day and go home today.”

The staff smiled brightly at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

***

Two days later.

PD Park Kyu-min was in a coma and MBS Drama Department was on thin ice.

It wasn’t because of PD Park Kyu-min, but because of the department head who was roaming around the office like a lion looking for prey.

“Did you get a call?”

“No, not yet.”

The department head, who had heard about the conversation at Cocoa Entertainment from the CP and PD Gong Hee-Chan, went back and forth between heaven and hell every day, wandering around PD Gong Hee-Chan’s vicinity instead of his office.

The stress of the staff who stayed in the office increased in such a situation.

There were also some staff who deliberately avoided showing up in the office.

“Did you get a call?”

“…No, not yet…”

“Department head. Please go to your office. If you ask every 10 minutes, PD Gong can’t work.”

At the CP’s words, the department head nodded his head as if he had no choice and turned around to go to his office. If only PD Gong Hee-Chan’s phone hadn’t rung.

They had called PD Gong Hee-Chan’s phone several times in two days to make sure it wasn’t broken, so they were familiar with the ringtone.

The department head who was about to go back to his office, the CP who was leading him, and even the staff in the office all looked at PD Gong Hee-Chan in surprise.

PD Gong Hee-Chan swallowed his saliva and looked at his phone screen. Everyone guessed by looking at his ecstatic face.

It’s Cocoa Entertainment!

The department head gestured quickly. Answer it, answer it quickly!

PD Gong Hee-Chan answered the phone.

“Yes.”

“Yes yes.”

Everyone held their breath as PD Gong Hee-chan only answered.

Kim Dan-bi, who was about to say something, was stopped by Choi Hyun-woo.

‘Don’t say anything, whether it’s good or bad.’

‘Sorry.’

Kim Dan-bi nodded her head at Choi Hyun-woo’s blinking eyes.

“Yes. I understand.”

As soon as the call ended, the department head approached and asked.

“What did Cocoa Entertainment say?”

“…Actor Lee Seo-jun agreed to appear. In six episodes!”

PD Gong Hee-chan’s words made MBS Drama Department explode.

“Don’t touch this project. Don’t even touch it!”

The department head’s roar made the drama department office, which was about to cheer, quiet as a mouse.

Choi Hyun-woo and Kim Dan-bi quickly put their arms back in, which they had stretched out to cheer.

“Whether it’s PPL or investment or networking or squeezing in! If you get involved in this, be prepared to have a hard time at work.”

The department head, who had been hurt once, roared like a lion protecting his cub.

PD Gong Hee-chan, who had finally been able to make his debut work after going around and around, smiled brightly.

Chapter 280

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 280

At the end of January.

The drama department of MBS was busy with preparations.

Kim Jin-myeong, the CP who replaced Park Kyu-min, started the shooting of the thriller ‘Tomorrow’.

The actors and staff were puzzled by the sudden change of direction, but they had no choice but to do their jobs in the tight schedule.

The director and other CPs were happy with the increased length of six episodes and tried to find the best time slot for the broadcast.

“Let’s put Jin-myeong’s work on Monday and Hee-chan’s work on Tuesday.”

“Then Monday will end two weeks earlier… Should we air episode 5 and 6 in the last week?”

The director frowned at that suggestion.

“Seo-jun’s appearance will be a hot topic for a whole week with just one episode. If we do that, we will lose a week of buzz. It’s better to air one episode per week.”

“Then it might be a good idea to fill Monday with a special program or a making film.”

“Or we could find another PD to join…”

The director and CPs groaned at that idea.

“We already put a new PD in April to broadcast Oh Young-chul’s work, and now we have to put another new PD to broadcast Seo-jun’s work? This is not even a Mobius strip…”

They couldn’t air a making film for two weeks, so they had to think of something else to fill the empty two weeks.

***

Meanwhile, PD Gong Hee-chan and writer Yu Cheonga were sitting nervously in the meeting room on the third floor of Cocoa Entertainment.

Gong Hee-chan, who was sipping coffee, glanced at Yu Cheonga, who looked a bit pale, and said in a low voice.

“I’m sorry, writer Yu.”

“No, it’s okay.”

Yu Cheonga smiled brightly after hearing the story from Gong Hee-chan two days ago and suffering from anxiety.

“It’s not your fault, PD Gong. And Seo-jun agreed to appear! And it’s six episodes!”

Seeing Gong Hee-chan’s apologetic face, Yu Cheonga tried to sound more cheerful. It was easy to do so. She was really happy.

“But I hope you’ll let me know right away if anything big happens in the future. This drama is not only your work, but also mine. We have to solve problems together!”

“Yes, I understand.”

Gong Hee-chan nodded seriously.

At that moment, the door of the meeting room opened.

It was actor Seo-jun and his manager Ahn Da Ho.

Gong Hee-chan and Yu Cheonga’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the actor they were finally meeting.

Seo-jun also smiled brightly at the sight of the writer and director he was finally meeting.

“Hello, writer. PD.”

Seo-jun bowed politely and Gong Hee-chan and Yu Cheonga bowed back.

They seemed like nice people at first glance, so Seo-jun smiled.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho took their seats opposite Gong Hee-chan and Yu Cheonga.

They decided to have a meeting today as well as signing the contract.

“Here, this is the contract.”

Gong Hee-chan took out the contract from his bag and handed it to Ahn Da Ho.

Gong Hee-chan swallowed nervously as Ahn Da Ho scanned the contract with his sharp eyes.

They tried to write it as favorably as possible for Seo-jun after what happened at MBS. But it was still a contract, so they couldn’t sign it carelessly.

Ahn Da Ho read through the contract and nodded slightly.

“Okay, I’ll review it and send it back by tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Ahn Da Ho and Gong Hee-chan exchanged heavy words about the contract while Seo-jun and Yu Cheonga chatted in a friendly atmosphere.

“Here are the scripts for episode 1 and 2.”

Yu Cheonga took out two scripts from her bag and placed them in front of Seo-jun. Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the scripts.

“They’re already out.”

“They came out smoothly. The rest of the scripts will be out soon too.”

Yu Cheonga said with a smile.

Seo-jun laughed heartily at her slightly nervous expression.

Yu Cheonga clenched her heart inwardly.

“Just speak comfortably, writer.”

“Should I… do that?”

Yu Cheonga answered awkwardly in an even more nervous voice at Seo-jun’s words.

Ahn Da Ho finished packing up the contract and joined the meeting.

They read through the scripts for episode 1 and 2 and discussed them with the actor, writer, and PD.

“There are some elements that I added when I changed it from a one-act play to a four-episode drama, and that’s the past part where Seo-jun appears. The story became richer by adding the past part to the present part.”

Yu Cheonga said with a smile.

“I had an idea that came to me when I added the past part, but it seemed like it would be too much for a four-episode drama, so I took it out. But now I get to use it.”

“The synopsis was interesting. I’m looking forward to the script too.”

Seo-jun’s words made Yu Cheonga smile even more.

The content of the four-episode drama was like this.

A 30-year-old woman who is tired of her work suddenly remembers her first love one day.

Her innocent first love.

She meets a man who resembles that boy and recalls her old memories by his actions.

Eventually, she ends up with him.

But as the length increased to six episodes, Yu Cheonga added another character.

“Finding the real male lead!”

Yu Cheonga said excitedly. Seo-jun and Gong Hee-chan also smiled.

Another male lead appeared.

The woman also remembers the boy from her first love by his actions.

She is torn between the two men.

Who is the boy from my real first love?

“You have to act confusingly here. You can do it well, Seo-jun.”

“It would be nice if you could mix half of the vibe of male lead A and half of the vibe of male lead B… Would that be difficult?”

Seo-jun shook his head at Yu Cheonga and Gong Hee-chan’s words.

“No, it sounds fun.”

It was an acting he had never done before. He was really happy to do a new acting.

If it had been a four-episode drama, he would have had to act as the male lead only, seamlessly transitioning from a child to an adult. But as it became a six-episode drama, he got to do a more interesting acting.

“It would be good if you could show the vibe of male lead A in the parts where he is emphasized, and the vibe of male lead B in the parts where he is emphasized…”

Gong Hee-chan trailed off, thinking it was a difficult request, but Seo-jun nodded without hesitation.

“Yes, I think I can do that.”

Seo-jun’s confident look made Gong Hee-chan and Yu Cheonga’s eyes sparkle.

As expected, Seo-jun was a reliable actor.

Seo-jun thought for a moment and opened his mouth.

“Then I have to analyze the character, but I also have to observe the acting of the actors who will play the adult roles.”

“Actors?”

Not characters?

Gong Hee-chan and Yu Cheonga tilted their heads at Seo-jun’s words.

Seo-jun nodded and answered.

“The actors who will play the adult roles might have a different interpretation of the character than mine.”

“Would there be much difference? It’s the same character.”

Yu Cheonga tilted her head, but Gong Hee-chan, who had been to various sets and helped with actor auditions, understood Seo-jun’s words.

“That’s true. When I think about it, even in actor auditions, each actor had different emphasis or intention for the same lines. There are as many character analyses as there are actors in one audition. There are almost no completely different ones, but there are differences from subtle to noticeable. We choose the actor who matches the director and writer’s intention among those interpretations.”

“Really?”

Yu Cheonga, the writer, looked surprised and Seo-jun smiled and said.

“Depending on the character analysis… I mean, if the actor who plays male lead A acts as 1, I might act as 2. Then there will be a difference of 1 between the two acts. If the analysis is very different and I act as 3, 4… or even 9 instead of 2, there will be a difference of 8. That will make the atmosphere difference between the child and adult roles even bigger in the drama.”

1 and 2 were similar, but there was still a difference of 1.

But if the character analysis of the adult and child actors was exactly the same, there would be no difference at all in their acting.

“I want to eliminate even those subtle differences.”

The actor who wanted to act his role as perfectly as possible sparkled his eyes.

They had never met such an actor before.

Yu Cheonga and Gong Hee-chan stared blankly at Seo-jun without realizing it.

Ahn Da Ho, who was familiar with him, looked proud of his actor.

“I want to become the character itself in the work. So if the actor who plays male lead A acts as 1, I will also act as 1.”

At Seo-jun’s words, Yu Cheonga and Gong Hee-chan unconsciously opened their mouths.

They thought Seo-jun would be able to create a similar vibe to some extent, but they didn’t know he would pursue perfection to this extent.

Gong Hee-chan put his trembling hands together as if to calm himself down.

Yu Cheonga looked at the script she wrote and Seo-jun alternately with her shaky eyes.

What kind of acting is he trying to show?

Will my direction and script be enough for his acting?

The writer and director felt that the actor sitting in front of them was a really great actor.

They suddenly felt pressured.

The writer and PD who were making their first work swallowed dryly.

Seo-jun sensed their pressure from their stiff expressions and spoke in a soft voice.

“If you don’t mind, could you please shoot the present part first? That way I can watch the adult acting and act accordingly.”

Gong Hee-chan came to his senses and nodded. But his voice was still trembling.

“Ah, that’s what I was thinking anyway. The present part has more scenes, so you can come and watch when we shoot and get used to it.”

“Yes, thank you. But…”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

“Just speak comfortably, PD.”

Gong Hee-chan realized that he had been speaking formally without knowing it.

“Ah, I didn’t realize…”

Gong Hee-chan’s feelings were also understood by Yu Cheonga.

‘…How can I speak comfortably when he’s so amazing!’

He was younger than them, but he looked more like an actor than any other actor. The great actor who couldn’t be called a child actor anymore called Yu Cheonga.

“Writer.”

“Yes… Yeah?”

Yu Cheonga answered awkwardly at Seo-jun’s call. You’ll get used to it soon, he thought and asked with sparkling eyes.

“Have you decided on the title yet?”

Seo-jun’s question made Ahn Da Ho and Gong Hee-chan look at Yu Cheonga too. They had been calling it ‘Spring’ for now, but it was time to decide on a title.

Yu Cheonga flinched at everyone’s gaze and opened her mouth carefully.

“Um. I did decide… but…”

“What is it?”

“What is it?”

Seo-jun and Gong Hee-chan’s eyes shone.

“…‘Spring Has Returned’.”

***

Unlike the thriller ‘Tomorrow’, which started shooting perfectly prepared, the romance ‘Spring Has Returned’ had nothing ready yet. But no one in MBS drama department was worried.

Gong Hee-chan, who told the CP the title, picked up his phone and called someone. Kim Dan-bi was in charge of casting actors, Choi Hyun-woo was in charge of sets and shooting locations, but he had to help too.

“Can you help me with that… lighting director?”

After leaving out Park Kyu-min’s work and telling him that Seo-jun would appear in six episodes, Gong Hee-chan briefly moved his phone away from his ear at the loud voice coming from it.

“What?! You’re shooting with Seo-jun? How did that happen?!”

He was the one who introduced Yu Cheonga to him not long ago, but he didn’t expect things to get this big.

“Don’t I have to buy you beef for this?”

“Haha. I should buy it for you. I’ll buy you two servings.”

“Well, I’m free right now, so of course I’m happy! Should I go right now?!”

He called the lighting director who introduced him to Yu Cheonga.

“You’re shooting with Seo-jun? Can I do it?!”

The shooting director who had been walking only the romance path came running, and

“I’ll do it! Art team!”

The experienced art director raised his hand.

It was so easy to find staff, or rather, so many skilled staff came to him that Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo, who joined Gong Hee-chan’s team first, pretended to cry and held onto Gong Hee-chan.

“Don’t let us go. Senior!”

“We’ll do well!”

“…Just do the casting.”

“Yes!”

After a storm passed, the MBS drama department was peaceful.

Chapter 281

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 281

“We’ve cast all the supporting roles.”

PD Gong Hee-chan nodded at the report from assistant director Kim Dan-bi.

Kim Dan-bi’s eyes moved to Gong Hee-chan’s hand, where a paper with neat handwriting was held.

“Oh? Did actor Lee Seo-jun sign the contract?”

“Yeah. It just came in.”

“So it’s really confirmed! By the way, I told you that the drama was extended from four to six episodes, right? Everyone was happy, but some people were also puzzled.”

“I guess so. It’s not every day that a new producer’s work has suddenly increased.”

Most of the supporting actors were cast before Lee Seo-jun was hired.

They all agreed to join the four-episode drama without hesitation, even though it was directed by PD Gong Hee-chan.

Since Gong Hee-chan had carefully chosen them, he decided to keep them as they were.

“What roles are left now?”

“We’ve decided on the female lead and her child role. Only male lead A and male lead B are left.”

Gong Hee-chan looked at Kim Dan-bi with a curious expression.

“…No one accepted male lead A yet?”

“I tried to offer it to actor Kim Tae-in, but… he said no. So did the other actors.”

Male lead A, who was the protagonist of the four-episode drama.

It seemed that no one wanted to play the main character in a four-episode drama, even if it was directed by PD Gong Hee-chan.

“Well, they said they had schedules, but… they probably didn’t think it was worth it.”

At Kim Dan-bi’s words, Gong Hee-chan made a face that didn’t know whether to be happy or sigh.

“I was wondering how to explain that male lead B appeared out of nowhere… but I guess I don’t have to. It’s better this way. Let’s change it to an actor who matches Lee Seo-jun’s image.”

Gong Hee-chan thought of the actors who were in the same age range as Lee Seo-jun.

Once the child role was confirmed, the image of the adult actors was easy to grasp.

Gong Hee-chan wrote down his first to last choices for male lead A and B.

“Yes! But can we announce that Lee Seo-jun is joining now?”

Gong Hee-chan stopped his pen and thought for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah. Let’s do that. That will increase the chances of acceptance. Here, take this.”

“Yes!”

Kim Dan-bi ran to her seat with the list of actors that Gong Hee-chan gave her.

She picked up the phone and dialed a number.

The ringtone went on for a while before someone answered.

“Ah! Is this the agency of actor Park Do-hoon?”

***

“Huh! Team leader!”

The agency of actor Park Do-hoon.

The staff member of team 1 who received a call shouted for the team leader of team 1.

The team leader, who was talking with a casting manager of a movie production company, frowned.

He silently mouthed while holding his phone to his ear.

“What?”

“Park Do-hoon got an offer…”

The team leader scowled at the excited face of the staff member.

He was also on the phone with a movie production company about Park Do-hoon’s casting.

And it was for the main role of a blockbuster movie!

There was no casting offer that could beat this one,

“Lee Seo-jun joined!”

…or so he thought.

The team leader and the staff members in the office looked surprised.

The staff member who received Kim Dan-bi’s call looked proud.

“Ah, yes. Just a moment. I’ll call you back later.”

The team leader quickly hung up and asked.

“What are you talking about? Lee Seo-jun joined what?”

“Yes! MBS is making a drama and they hired Lee Seo-jun. He even signed the contract!”

“MBS? Then… is it writer Oh Young-chul’s drama? No, that’s a rom-com, so there’s no room for child actors, right?”

“No, not that one.”

“Not writer Oh Young-chul? Then what is it?”

“A special project. The four-episode drama.”

The team leader wrinkled his brow at the staff member’s words.

“…Didn’t you say that was by PD Gong Hee-chan and Writer Yu Cheonga? And I heard that one of them got scrapped and CP took over? Wasn’t that a thriller?”

“Well, I heard that thriller writer did some work before… but maybe Lee Seo-jun agreed to do it because CP is directing it?”

“Maybe. That could be it.”

The staff member quickly shook his head.

“No. It’s not a thriller. It’s a romance. By Writer Yu Cheonga. And it got extended to six episodes.”

“Well, of course they have to extend it if Lee Seo-jun is in it. It’s surprising that they only added two more episodes. But Writer Yu Cheonga…”

The team leader fell into a dilemma.

It was a blockbuster movie, but that was something he had to see after it was released.

There were movies that flopped even with a huge budget. But if Lee Seo-jun was in it, it would at least be a hot topic.

‘Besides, Lee Seo-jun never had a flop.’

A 100% box office hit.

He was a superstar who could make even his audition video for middle and high school entrance exams a huge sensation.

The team leader’s dilemma didn’t last long.

“Let’s get the synopsis first. And give it to Do-hoon too. Well, I’m sure Do-hoon will say yes. But what role is Lee Seo-jun playing?”

“Uh… well…”

The staff member who had been confident until now scratched his cheek and said.

***

“A child role!”

“Our Seo-jun is playing a child role!”

A regular spot for them, the barbecue restaurant.

Five actors gathered in one place after hearing the news that Park Do-hoon and Lee Seo-jun were working on a new project together.

Lee Ji-seok and Lee Da-jin opened their mouths wide in surprise. Kim Jong-ho felt the same way.

Only Park Do-hoon and Lee Seo-jun, who had heard from their agency beforehand, and the person himself, Lee Seo-jun, looked calm.

Of course, Park Do-hoon was also very surprised when he first heard the news.

“Isn’t this the first time Seo-jun is playing a child role?”

Lee Seo-jun nodded at Kim Jong-ho’s question.

“Yes. That’s why I was more attracted to it. I haven’t received any child roles since I did Over the Rainbow.”

“Of course. Who would offer a child role to an Academy Award-winning actor?”

Lee Ji-seok said, and Lee Da-jin admired.

“The writer and the PD are amazing too.”

“They must be the type who like to challenge themselves. They probably didn’t even know if he would accept it.”

Everyone nodded at Kim Jong-ho’s words.

“It’s amazing, really. Seo-jun is playing the child role of someone. I’ve never done a child role since I started with theater… Neither did Jong-ho hyung. Did Da-jin and Do-hoon do it?”

At Lee Ji-seok’s question, Lee Da-jin and Park Do-hoon nodded repeatedly.

“I only did it a few times, but Do-hoon hyung did it a lot, right?”

“Well, I’ve been doing it since I was young.”

“Right. In the past, whenever there was a flashback scene, it was almost always Do-hoon.”

Everyone laughed at Kim Jong-ho’s words.

“That became a poison and I suffered a slump too.”

Park Do-hoon, who didn’t care about it anymore and could joke about it, said.

“Well, you overcame it, so that’s good!”

Kim Jong-ho and Lee Ji-seok smiled with satisfaction.

Even while eating the cooked meat, the five actors’ mouths didn’t stop.

Of course, the topic was the drama ‘Spring Has Returned’ that Park Do-hoon and Seo-jun were filming.

“So, I’m planning to perfectly imitate both the vibe of Male Lead A and Male Lead B.”

The four actors gasped at Seo-jun’s unexpected words.

“That would be the most convincing child acting if you can do that… But isn’t it hard?”

“Right. This is not just acting as a character, but acting as an actor who acts as a character. It seems harder than creating something from scratch.”

Lee Da-jin and Kim Jong-ho agreed with their words.

If Seo-jun had created a character himself, the viewers wouldn’t know the character and could think that it was originally like that. But if he acted as an existing person, he could reveal that he was someone else from a small habit.

“I guess you can’t help but show your own image as an actor, but are you going to capture that too, Seo-jun?”

“Yes. That way, the viewers won’t feel any discomfort. Even if I can’t help my appearance, people have different vibes, right?”

Seo-jun nodded and answered Lee Ji-seok’s question.

Seo-jun knew his own outstanding appearance.

To become an actor, one needed an objective perspective more than anything else, and Seo-jun was more objective than anyone else.

“Seo-jun is handsome indeed.”

The three actors looked at Seo-jun at Kim Jong-ho’s words.

They had seen him since he was young, but his dazzling appearance made them admire him every time they saw him.

Lee Da-jin smiled with a happy face at the sight of his younger brother who grew up well even during the hormone-raging period.

“That’s right. His voice is good too. And he’s tall.”

“With that face, the adult actors have to be pretty cool too, right?”

Kim Jong-ho, Lee Da-jin, and Lee Ji-seok’s eyes turned to Park Do-hoon who was sitting across from Seo-jun. Park Do-hoon smiled awkwardly at the attention on him. The three actors’ eyes sharply compared Seo-jun and Park Do-hoon.

“Um… Isn’t Do-hoon hyung good enough?”

“Yeah! Do-hoon hyung is handsome too!”

“They look good together.”

The three actors gave their approval and Park Do-hoon sighed in relief. The four actors laughed at his reaction.

“Who is the other male lead?”

“Actor Kang Tae-young.”

“Isn’t Kang Tae-young okay too?”

Kang Tae-young.

An actor in the same age group as Park Do-hoon who will play Male Lead B in ‘Spring Has Returned’.

“Do-hoon hyung. Have you ever acted with Kang Tae-young?”

“We’re in the same age group, but I’ve never met him.”

“I did once. When I did a drama.”

“How was he?”

Seo-jun and Park Do-hoon looked at Lee Ji-seok with sparkling eyes. Lee Ji-seok answered in a slightly trembling voice.

“He was kind of… dog-like.”

“…Dog?”

Seo-jun and Park Do-hoon tilted their heads.

***

A few hours ago.

Actor Kang Tae-young’s house.

Kang Tae-young’s manager sat on the sofa and looked at his actor who was showing off a synopsis of a work that he hadn’t even been casted for.

[MBS, tentative title ‘Spring’]

The manager sighed at the familiar title.

“Where did you get that from?”

“I asked Team Leader Oh to get it for me!”

“Don’t you really want to do a four-part series? They didn’t even cast you because your image doesn’t match?”

“If I can’t be the lead, I’ll do a supporting role. So please ask them. If there’s any room left.”

The manager rubbed his forehead at Kang Tae-young’s words.

“Why do you want to do that PD’s work so much?”

“The PD helped me when he was an assistant director. He’s a very nice person, so I vowed to be in his debut work. This Kang Tae-young! I always repay my favors!”

The manager shook his head at Kang Tae-young’s bright smile.

“You’re getting old, you should calm down a bit, don’t you think?”

“Hyung. The day I calm down is the day the sky falls.”

“Fine. Do whatever you want.”

The manager unknowingly agreed with Kang Tae-young’s words and gave up.

He took out his phone.

Just then, the phone rang.

It was the agency he was about to call.

The manager tilted his head and answered the phone.

“What is it?”

-Team Leader!!

It was a scream-like cheer.

The manager dropped the phone far away and put it back to his ear.

Kang Tae-young also looked curious and perked up his ears at the voice that could be heard outside.

-MBS called a while ago!

Kang Tae-young’s eyes sparkled at the sound of MBS.

‘Hyung! Four-part series! Four-part series! PD Gong Hee-chan!’

He opened his mouth and said.

“Any role is fine, even a cameo!”

“…He said he’s okay with a cameo.”

“No! No! It’s the lead role! MBS wants to cast Kang actor as the lead role in PD Gong Hee-chan’s work!”

“Didn’t they say your image doesn’t match?”

“They added a new character! But that’s not important!”

“Lee Seo-jun!”

Along with a scream-like cheer, the staff’s excited voice came through.

Even among them, the name of three syllables was clearly heard.

The manager and Kang Tae-young looked at each other.

“…What?”

“Actor Lee Seo-jun is in it!”

The manager and Kang Tae-young opened their mouths wide at the news from the phone.

“Holy! Big hit!”

Kang Tae-young’s eyes sparkled.

“Hyung! Did you hear?! Lee Seo-jun! I’m seeing a Hollywood actor for the first time! Should I prepare a gift? What does Seo-jun like? Wow! I’m filming with Lee Seo-jun too! I really like Jin Natra! Of course, I also love Gray Vainy and other works!”

As if he could see a tail that shouldn’t be seen spinning like a propeller, the manager pressed his forehead with his thumb and index finger.

“…Should we quit?”

The manager unknowingly blurted out his true feelings, thinking of his actor who would bother Lee Seo-jun.

Chapter 282

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Chapter 282

“Bro! Let’s sign the contract right now!”

“Shut up. Ji-woon, explain this to me. What role is actor Lee Seo-jun playing and what role is Tae-young playing?”

“Well, actor Kang will play the role of male lead B.”

“Male lead… B?”

Manager Joo Yong-jin frowned. If he’s the male lead, he’s the male lead. What’s with the B?

He seemed to read his question and the staff on the other side of the phone continued.

“There are two male leads, A and B. The synopsis doesn’t reveal who the real male lead is yet.”

“Then let’s skip that. What about actor Lee Seo-jun? I read it and there was no role suitable for him.”

At Joo Yong-jin’s words, Kang Tae-young’s eyes sparkled.

“You read it too!”

“…Yeah. Ji-woon, what is it?”

As a manager, he had to read it when his actor wanted to do it.

But Joo Yong-jin changed the subject as he felt embarrassed by Kang Tae-young’s happy expression.

“He’s a child actor. The child version of the male lead.”

“…Uh…”

“Awesome!”

Unlike Joo Yong-jin, who touched his forehead at the unexpected role, Kang Tae-young was scanning the synopsis of ‘Spring’ again with shining eyes.

Since he was the first love in the heroine’s memory, the child version of the male lead was described as beautiful and precious enough to make her happy just by remembering him.

“I was wondering who could do it, but Seo-jun is perfect for it!”

Kang Tae-young, who seemed excited, sighed and said.

“I got it. Send me the synopsis.”

“Yes!”

The phone hung up and Kang Tae-young, who didn’t know what to do with his joy, was lost in thought while Joo Yong-jin had a serious expression on his face.

“Why are you so serious, Yong-jin hyung? Isn’t it great that I get to act with Seo-jun? We should accept it right away! What if someone else takes it?”

“Let’s think about it a bit. Actor Kang.”

“Yes. Manager.”

As Kang Tae-young sat down, Joo Yong-jin took out the synopsis that his agency had sent him.

He gave one copy to Kang Tae-young and read the other one himself.

[MBS / Spring Has Returned]

[PD: Gong Hee-chan]

[Writer: Yu Cheonga]

He turned over the cover of the synopsis and saw the names of the cast members.

[Male Lead A: Park Do-hoon]

[Male Lead B:]

[Child Version of Male Lead: Lee Seo-jun]

“Male lead A is actor Park Do-hoon. I’ve never met him before, so I was curious! Come to think of it, he’s from Lee Seo-jun’s agency! Ugh. I want to join Lee Seo-jun’s agency too!”

“Tae-young, focus.”

At Joo Yong-jin’s words, Kang Tae-young rolled his eyes and shut his mouth.

After a while, Joo Yong-jin put down the synopsis and sighed. Kang Tae-young pouted his lips.

“Why are you so serious since earlier? Some people can’t get this opportunity and are going crazy…

“Do you know what it means to act as an adult version of Lee Seo-jun?”

“…What does it mean?”

What am I going to do with this kid?

Joo Yong-jin sighed heavily and opened his mouth.

“First of all, let’s look at the appearance.”

“Appearance?”

“Lee Seo-jun is handsome, right?”

At Joo Yong-jin’s question, Kang Tae-young’s eyes sparkled.

“Seo-jun has been famous for his beauty since he was a baby! When he smiled with a milk bottle in his arms, I thought my heart would stop! It was the first time I was shocked by a baby!”

“That…”

“And what about 48 Hours! I’ve never been so jealous of Brown Black! Oh my god! A bunny ear hat! His cheeks were red and chubby that I wanted to squeeze them, his hands were so small that he had to hold a wooden block with both hands. Why was crawling so cute! If he was my brother, I would have loved him so much!”

“Tae…”

“He did so well in his first acting! That acting skill was his first acting… Even a genius actor couldn’t do that! He has a once-in-a-thousand-year talent! Our Seo-jun is the best!”

“…I made a mistake.”

At Joo Yong-jin’s words, Kang Tae-young laughed.

Kang Tae-young.

Occupation: Actor. Age: 28.

He was a sprout that had been green since he threw a tantrum on the living room floor, asking his mom and dad to give him a sibling like the one in the Elephant Milk commercial.

“Let’s get to the point if you’re done bragging.”

“I still have more to say… Yes!”

He still had a lot to say about Shadowman1, but he obediently closed his mouth at Joo Yong-jin’s sharp eyes.

“Okay. So, Lee Seo-jun grows up to be you.”

“Wow! That can’t be!”

“…”

“Seo-jun has to grow up more handsome than me!”

You… really…

Joo Yong-jin touched his forehead.

He had a lot to say, but he didn’t know what to say first.

He just ignored him.

“First of all, there’s a difference in appearance. But it’s a drama, so the viewers will probably accept it since you’re handsome too.”

‘There will be some people who won’t accept it.’

Joo Yong-jin swallowed his sigh.

“The production team must have considered that and cast you and actor Park Do-hoon.”

At Joo Yong-jin’s words, Kang Tae-young nodded obediently.

“Next is acting. There are some dramas where the child actors did well, but the adult actors couldn’t act and the immersion was ruined. But here, Lee Seo-jun is in it. How much do you think you’ll be compared?”

Joo Yong-jin persuaded him.

“Besides, what you want is not a role opposite Lee Seo-jun, right? This has separate parts for the past and the present, so you won’t even act together.”

There was no change in the expression of the actor who didn’t react to his words. Joo Yong-jin sighed.

“…Do you really have to do this? It’s hard to get a good response from this.”

At Joo Yong-jin’s worried words, Kang Tae-young smiled happily.

“You know my motto. If I care about other people’s eyes, I’ll do something weird. So I say what I like and what I don’t like…”

“Shut up. You’re a celebrity.”

At Joo Yong-jin’s words, Kang Tae-young shrugged his shoulders.

“I want to do this work too. I have to repay PD Gong’s favor. I got to be in the same work as Lee Seo-jun. When will I get this chance again?”

“That’s true, but…”

Joo Yong-jin, who was rather convinced by Kang Tae-young, scratched his head and nodded.

“Fine. It’s your reputation that’s at stake, so do as you please.”

“Ah, hyung!”

“What, why, what.”

He knew that they would go through this together anyway.

Kang Tae-young smiled innocently and Joo Yong-jin shook his head and contacted his agency.

“Yeah. Tae-young said yes.”

“Yes! We’ll contact you right away!”

Meanwhile, Kang Tae-young read the synopsis again.

“The title is Spring Has Returned? If I shorten it, it’s Bomdol? Bomdol, bomdol. I want to eat bomdong. Hyung, let’s eat bomdong kimchi with boiled pork!”

“Oh my god. You’re crazy.”

The next day, in the morning, after all the actors were cast.

“An article will be out in 30 minutes!”

Kim Jin-myeong, the chief producer who had left the filming site to another PD and stayed at the broadcasting station, shouted.

He was busy with various things, such as filming the thriller ‘Tomorrow’ and taking care of the four-part project.

“Everyone, be careful what you say. You might get contacted by reporters you know.”

The staff nodded at Kim Jin-myeong’s words.

It was better not to reveal that the casting was almost ruined by someone’s actions.

“Then let’s enjoy the Lee Seo-jun effect!”

He didn’t care about the low ratings of the Monday-Tuesday and Wednesday-Thursday dramas anymore.

From now on until the end of the drama ‘Spring Has Returned’, MBS drama department would only have a rosy path.

“Spring has returned to us too!”

“Did we ever have spring?”

They shed a tear at the fact that pierced their bones.

Soon, the press release sent by MBS entered the mailboxes of the entertainment reporters.

And one reporter who was habitually scanning his mailbox saw Lee Seo-jun’s name and jumped up from his seat.

“Lee Seo-jun is here!!”

The reporters who were doing different things stopped their work and checked their mail right away.

They prepared to write an article and picked up their phones.

Then they pressed the numbers of MBS officials who they had hardly contacted when the ratings were low.

“Oh, hello. PD! Long time no see!”

“I just received a press release…”

The MBS officials who received the phone calls and the reporters who made them were busy moving.

They typed on their keyboards while holding their phones on their shoulders.

And the article was uploaded.

***

“By the way, I got a casting offer a few days ago.”

A peaceful day.

One of the staff members who was working as usual remembered something.

His hands and eyes were working, but his ears were focused on the staff member’s voice.

“Where from?”

“MBS.”

“MBS means writer Oh Young-chul’s work?”

“No. A four-part project. You know how our team leader said when I reported it to him. ‘Our Tae-in is not at that level.’ Remember?”

The staff members laughed at the team leader’s imitation by the staff member.

“But MBS was too much. Even if he’s the lead, our actor is too good for a four-part project.”

“I know, right.”

While the staff members were chatting, there was one staff member who was alone looking at the entertainment news.

He was a new employee who was in charge of monitoring.

‘A four-part project…’

He couldn’t join in the conversation, but he listened and searched for MBS’s four-part project.

He didn’t expect much from seeing other people’s reactions, but he was surprised to see that there were a lot of articles…?..!

“Um… The project that got an offer… Was it a thriller? A romance?”

“Uh? Um. It was a romance…”

Bang!

The team leader of actor 1 team opened the office door roughly and came in.

He was breathing heavily and his face was red.

He looked like he had run from somewhere and his face was covered with sweat.

He didn’t even wipe his sweat and his eyes wandered around the faces of the staff members and headed to the staff member who received the casting call.

The staff member who was about to answer the new employee stiffened at the team leader’s ominous vibe.

The team leader walked up to him with big strides and opened his mouth.

“Was it a thriller or a romance that MBS offered?”

The eyes of the staff members in the office turned to the new employee.

The new employee turned pale as he heard the faint answer of the staff member.

The staff member realized that something had happened by seeing the new employee’s face change.

“It wasn’t a romance, right?”

If it wasn’t a romance but a thriller, it would have been a pity but they could have gotten over it. But if it was a romance?

They might have missed a golden opportunity for their company.

“Wait. No. Was it a romance?”

If it was a romance, and if they hadn’t finished casting yet, there might still be a chance left.

The team leader’s mind wavered.

The staff member opened his mouth cautiously.

“It was a romance but…”

“What!? Call them! Call them now!”

“Who, who should I call?”

“MBS! Call them back!”

While the team leader and staff member were making calls, other staff members crowded around the new employee.

“What’s going on?”

“Do you know why?”

“That…”

Suddenly surrounded by attention, the new employee swallowed his saliva.

“Actor Lee Seo-jun is appearing in MBS’s special project drama. It’s a romance work. And it’s been extended from four parts to six parts.”

“…Oh my god!”

Such a high-level actor?

The staff members’ eyes turned to the team leader.

The anxious team leader yelled.

“Why aren’t they answering the phone!”

***

“It’s already starting to go up!”

“The firepower is different.”

“The past articles are also getting a lot of views.”

Just like the phones of the staff members at MBS drama department were ringing, the phones of Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo, the assistant directors, also started ringing.

Especially, they received a lot of emails and texts because they had personally made the casting calls.

They smiled crookedly at the names that appeared on their phone screens.

“Where are you?”

“Kim Tae-in’s agency. You?”

“Lim Ye-yoon’s agency.”

They were both actors they had offered to cast.

Of course, they refused when they heard it was a four-part drama on MBS. They met eyes and shrugged their shoulders as they answered the phone.

“Yes. Hello.”

“Yes. What can I do for you?”

They didn’t want to answer, but they weren’t going to make only one drama, and they couldn’t afford to alienate the actors’ agencies that were indispensable for dramas.

“Yes. He’s really in it. Well, it wasn’t confirmed yet at that time, so I couldn’t tell you.”

“What can I do? You said you wouldn’t do it, so I already signed a contract with another actor…”

While receiving the phone calls, Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo sat down at their seats and checked the internet reactions.

As soon as they entered the site, they saw the article that was on top.

[MBS special project drama, actor Lee Seo-jun confirmed!]

Chapter 283

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Chapter 283

[Let’s find out about the MBS special drama!]

[MBS 4-part thriller ‘Tomorrow’]

[MBS 6-part romance ‘Spring Has Come’]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun in the 6-part romance ‘Spring Has Come’!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun as the child role of the male lead!?]

-???

-Why Lee Seo-jun all of a sudden?

-No, the male lead’s name is Ayeok, right?

=22 That’s not it.

=I don’t think so;;; He’s really the child role of the male lead;;;

=Oh my god……!

-But romance? Romance?!

=Is this because of his acting video!

=222 I thought it might happen, but I can’t believe it’s real!

-But I don’t know the PD or the writer?

=The writer was an assistant writer for So Eun-jin. I don’t know about the PD ㅎ

=Wow. Then it might be worth watching?

=I guess so. Writer Yu Cheonga must have some skills.

-Seo-jun is doing romance now that he’s grown up.

=I’m happy just imagining it ㅎ

=But a child role…….

[The actors in MBS 6-part romance ‘Spring Has Come’!]

[MBS ‘Spring Has Come’ Park Do-hoon X Yoon Hye-in X Kang Tae-young cast confirmed!]

[Who are the child actors? Lee Seo-jun X Jung Bo-ram!]

-Wow. Park Do-hoon, Kang Tae-young?!

-Yoon Hye-in is not at that level either, right? Didn’t they say PD Gong Hee-chan and Writer Yu Cheonga?

-The most shocking thing is Lee Seo-jun,

=I know. Lee Seo-jun out of nowhere;;

-……Wow. The article came out less than an hour ago and it’s already on the real-time search.

=Everywhere else is talking about Lee Seo-jun’s child role ㅋㅋ

=I can’t believe it even if I see it in an article.

-It doesn’t matter if it’s 6-part or 24-part, Seo-jun can do whatever he wants…… But Seo-jun as a child role.

=22 I want to see it but I don’t want to see it.

-Jung Bo-ram can act pretty well, right?

=I think so. Child acting is not easy either?

***

The MBS drama department was noisy.

The loud ringing of phones filled the drama department.

The staff’s cell phones also started to ring loudly.

There was no sign of peace.

“Yes. Not yet. Yes. It’s a school uniform but…….”

Assistant director Kim Dan-bi was glued to her phone.

Her colleague Choi Hyun-woo was the same.

The phone was hot from the endless calls.

“No, that’s not something I can decide…….”

“I’m sorry. Spring Has Come is a different team.”

“I’ll pass on your message, but…… Please send me your information first.”

Writer Yu Cheonga, who came to the MBS drama department at the call of PD Gong Hee-chan, looked around the office with a blank expression.

PD Gong Hee-chan, who was behind writer Yu Cheonga, scratched his head at the unchanged atmosphere of the drama department.

“What’s going on…… Did something happen?”

“It’s about our drama, sponsorship and advertising inquiries. Especially, most of them are PPL.”

“Uh…… I don’t know much about it. Is this normal?”

Writer Yu Cheonga, who was new to drama production, tilted her head.

PD Gong Hee-chan smiled bitterly and shook his head.

“It’s not ‘normal’. It’s just that the actors are who they are…….”

Writer Yu Cheonga understood what PD Gong Hee-chan meant and exclaimed.

“Wow. I didn’t hear anything like this from writer So. Amazing. Seo-jun.”

“It might be different from writer So’s time. Um. Let’s go to the conference room first.”

Writer Yu Cheonga, who was puzzled by his words, followed PD Gong Hee-chan to the conference room.

The conference room that PD Gong Hee-chan led was empty, but the paper towers on the table were noticeable.

She wondered what they were and PD Gong Hee-chan spoke to her.

“Sit here.”

“Ah, yes.”

Writer Yu Cheonga, who was surprised, sat down and PD Gong Hee-chan closed the conference room door.

The phone ringing still sounded even though the door was closed. PD Gong Hee-chan shook his head and sat down.

“As I was saying, actor Lee Seo-jun was famous back then, but now he’s an Academy Award winner and this is his first drama.”

“That’s right.”

Writer Yu Cheonga nodded and PD Gong Hee-chan sighed.

“Besides, this drama is a modern one, so it’s more chaotic.”

“A modern one?”

“My Royal Physician was a historical drama, so even if they wanted to sponsor, they could only do things like hanbok or traditional accessories. But modern ones are different. Do you remember how much the phone, Bluetooth speaker, and even the archery bow that Go Ju Won used in Escape sold after the movie was released?”

Writer Yu Cheonga recalled.

“……I think I saw some news about that. Oh, now that I think about it, I bought a Bluetooth speaker too.”

It was as sturdy as the one in the movie and she was still using it well.

Writer Yu Cheonga’s words made PD Gong Hee-chan nod.

“All the movies that actor Lee Seo-jun starred in were historical, hero, and musical ones, so they couldn’t get the full promotional effect. But this time it’s different.”

PD Gong Hee-chan’s voice became serious and writer Yu Cheonga swallowed her saliva.

“Think about it. How many things will actor Lee Seo-jun use in the drama? Shoes, clothes, bags, stationery, food…… Well, we can’t use cell phones because it’s the past. But there’s a way. We can use old cell phones from big companies.”

PD Gong Hee-chan continued.

“The ratings will go up with actor Lee Seo-jun’s appearance. The viewers won’t change the channel because they don’t know when the past scenes will come out. Then the modern part will come out. The modern part is more free. It’s an adult role, so you can put anything from cars to cell phones, clothes, accessories, cosmetics…… You can put everything in every passing scene!”

As PD Gong Hee-chan’s words got longer, writer Yu Cheonga’s face hardened.

There were so many dramas ruined by PPL.

The content was stretched and the mood was completely changed by unnecessary PPL ads that had nothing to do with the plot.

It might have been okay if it was a long drama with one or two odd ones, but this was a 6-part one.

She wanted to make it more carefully because it was short.

‘……But I guess there’s no choice for the production cost.’

The actors were who they were, so the casting fee might have been more than the budget.

A shadow crossed writer Yu Cheonga’s face.

PD Gong Hee-chan, who didn’t notice her expression, opened his mouth.

“So just do whatever you want!”

“Haa. There’s no way…… What?”

“Choose whatever you want… Huh?”

Yu Cheonga, a writer who had slumped her shoulders, and Gong Hee-Chan, a PD who was very excited, met eyes.

“…What is that?”

Seeing the blank look on Yu Cheonga’s face, Gong Hee-Chan blinked a few times and then shrugged his shoulders.

He placed some of the paper piles that were on the table in front of Yu Cheonga.

Yu Cheonga’s eyes followed Gong Hee-Chan’s hand.

“These are the PPL and sponsorship products that we have received so far. Please pick the ones that are similar to the props you have in mind.”

Gong Hee-Chan spread out the papers on the table.

There were pictures and descriptions of various products from different angles.

Yu Cheonga’s eyes shook as she looked at the papers.

Gong Hee-Chan was not done talking.

“Some companies are offering to provide products from old to new for brand advertising, and some are offering to provide vehicles as needed. If there is a product that is not here, let me know and I will try to negotiate with them.”

“…”

Yu Cheonga opened her mouth wide at the incredible words.

Gong Hee-Chan smiled slyly.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it? We get the production cost separately and we can also choose the things we need like this. This must be the first time this has happened. Oh, this is a cosmetic product. Please check this too. And if you have any designs or brands in mind for bags, clothes, or shoes, please let me know. If they are not here, I will at least ask the companies.”

…Unbelievable.

Yu Cheonga opened her mouth wide at the unprecedented effect of Lee Seo-jun.

***

Seo-jun’s eyes were on the television.

The drama he was watching was a work where Kang Tae-Young appeared as a supporting actor.

It was already his third time watching it.

As if he didn’t want to miss a single movement, Seo-jun’s eyes observed Kang Tae-Young from head to toe.

Kang Tae-Young’s lips uttered a line on the screen.

Seo-jun’s lips uttered the same line as he watched.

When Kang Tae-Young’s eyebrows twitched slightly, Seo-jun’s eyebrows also twitched slightly.

Seo-jun’s expression slowly changed to match Kang Tae-Young’s expression.

Seo-jun’s movements, which were imitating Kang Tae-Young on the screen, slowly began to follow Kang Tae-Young.

When Seo-jun’s movements, which were lagging behind by one beat, tried to move at the same time as Kang Tae-Young on the screen.

Ding dong.

The doorbell rang.

Seo-jun, who was about to breathe in sync with Kang Tae-Young, blinked his eyes a few times and shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ll do it later, what is it?”

Seo-jun paused the drama with the remote control and got up from his seat. He headed toward the entrance.

Ahn Da Ho appeared on the intercom screen.

Seo-jun smiled brightly.

“Welcome. Da Ho hyung.”

“What were you doing?”

“I was watching a drama. A work by actor Kang Tae-Young.”

“…Didn’t you say you watched that yesterday?”

At Ahn Da Ho’s words, Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders and said,

“Once is not enough.”

“That’s impressive.”

“But what brings you here?”

Seo-jun brought two cups of warm lemon tea and placed them on the table.

Ahn Da Ho took a sip of the warm lemon tea and opened his mouth.

“I got a message from the assistant director saying that they need to fix the school uniforms, so they asked me to measure your clothes size and send it to them. They usually wear ready-made clothes, but since it’s a drama, it would look better if they fit your body.”

Seo-jun nodded his head at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

“Do I just stand up and measure?”

“Yeah.”

Seo-jun got up from his seat and Ahn Da Ho measured him with a ruler.

He wrote down each size that the costume team wanted on his phone.

“Did you watch all of Kang Tae-Young actor’s works?”

“I haven’t watched all of them, just the recent ones. I think the old works might have different acting methods.”

“I see.”

“And I think I have an idea of what kind of feeling he has since I acted with Do-Hoon hyung before. And I also watched his works, so I think I only need to watch them a few times.”

He didn’t say he wouldn’t watch them at all.

Everyone thought Seo-jun was an actor with a genius talent, but Cocoa Entertainment 2nd team, Ahn Da Ho, and his family knew how hard Seo-jun was working behind the scenes.

Ahn Da Ho smiled warmly and asked,

“Did you watch Jung Bo-ram actor’s drama?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded his head at Ahn Da Ho’s question.

Jung Bo-ram, who he was going to act with this time.

She was the same age as Seo-jun, not from Yeoul Arts Middle School, but from Mirinae Arts High School.

The audition video that was uploaded on YouTube came to Seo-jun’s mind.

‘She did pretty well.’

One of the 19 kids out of 40 who were not from Yeoul Arts Middle School.

They were the friends he would spend three years with if nothing else happened, so Seo-jun had looked for the works they had appeared in.

‘I didn’t know I would act with her so soon.’

Jung Bo-ram had appeared in three dramas and a few plays, but he had watched the dramas, but he couldn’t watch the plays because there were no videos left.

“Couldn’t you find the plays?”

“We’re looking for them too, but it seems like there aren’t any.”

“That’s too bad.”

Seo-jun made a regretful expression as he stood straight to measure the length from his shoulder to his arm.

Ahn Da Ho, who was measuring with a ruler, felt the same way.

“Are you going to watch Yoon Hye-In actor’s work?”

Seo-jun and Yoon Hye-In, the main actress, had a few scenes where they met, but they were almost passing by.

Seo-jun thought for a moment at Ahn Da Ho’s question and nodded his head.

“Yes. I think it would be better to watch it.”

Even if it was a very short scene, Seo-jun was willing to watch the same work several times if it helped him act together.

Ahn Da Ho wrote down the last size on his phone and opened his mouth.

“And the script reading schedule has been set.”

“Really? When is it?”

Seo-jun’s face sparkled and Ahn Da Ho said,

“It’s scheduled to be held at MBS Broadcasting Station in two days. But they are planning to release it as a drama promotion article, so there might be reporters in front of the broadcasting station.”

Seo-jun, who was already focused on the script reading, asked and Ahn Da HoAn Da-Ho smiled and answered.

“I see… But how far are we going to read the script?”

Chapter 284

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 284

“Hello!”

As he opened the door of the meeting room to prepare for the script reading of ‘Spring Has Returned’, assistant director Choi Hyun-woo turned around at someone’s greeting.

“…?”

He was surprised to see an actor who shouldn’t be here at this time.

He looked at the clock, then at the actor, then at the clock again.

“Uh… Kang Tae-young?”

Choi Hyun-woo stared blankly at Kang Tae-young, who had arrived an hour earlier than the scheduled time and was smiling brightly.

Joo Yong-jin, who was standing behind him, groaned and rubbed his forehead.

“You’re here already?”

“Yes. I didn’t have any schedule today. Oh, can I help you? Do I just put them down one by one?”

Before he knew it, Kang Tae-young had taken some of the scripts that Choi Hyun-woo was holding and placed them on each seat.

Choi Hyun-woo followed him in surprise.

“It’s okay! I’ll do it!”

“Hey. It’s faster and better if we do it together. Do I also put a bottle of water on each seat?”

“No, you shouldn’t do that…”

Choi Hyun-woo looked anxiously at Kang Tae-young’s manager, Joo Yong-jin, as he saw Kang Tae-young putting a bottle of water on each seat as well.

It was not a big deal for Kang Tae-young to help the assistant director, but it would be awkward for the assistant director if the bosses saw this.

Joo Yong-jin opened his mouth.

“Tae-young. You’re making him uncomfortable.”

“…I’m sorry. I’ll just help with this!”

Kang Tae-young quickly put the remaining bottles of water on the table and smiled brightly.

Choi Hyun-woo chuckled.

“Thank you for your help.”

He felt relieved that the actor he was going to work with seemed like a nice person.

He had seen many actors who had good images but were different in reality.

With Kang Tae-young’s help, the scripts and water bottles were arranged.

Now he had to put name tags on each seat.

Choi Hyun-woo folded A4-sized papers with printed names into triangles and placed them on each seat.

[PD Gong Hee-chan]

[Writer Yu Cheong-a]

As the names of the two people were placed on the top seats, Kang Tae-young’s eyes sparkled. He followed Choi Hyun-woo again. Park Do-hoon and Yoon Hye-in’s name tags were placed opposite each other.

“Where is my seat?”

“It’s over here. Next to Park Do-hoon.”

He was just about to put Kang Tae-young’s name tag down.

There was a paper with Seo-jun’s name written under Kang Tae-young’s name tag.

Kang Tae-young couldn’t hide his excitement and looked at Choi Hyun-woo folding Seo-jun’s name tag into a triangle.

He saw Choi Hyun-woo about to put Seo-jun’s name tag next to Kang Tae-young’s and smiled brightly.

Choi Hyun-woo didn’t see it because he was busy putting down the name tag, but Joo Yong-jin saw it clearly.

Is that what a successful fan looks like?

He hoped he wouldn’t cry when he saw Seo-jun in person.

As Joo Yong-jin was thinking that, the door of the meeting room opened.

Assistant director Kim Dan-bi was startled by the sight of Kang Tae-young and his manager who had arrived early and blinked her eyes.

“Oh, Kang Tae-young? You came early!”

“Ah, yes.”

Kang Tae-young scratched his cheek.

He couldn’t sleep well last night because he was so excited about going on a picnic.

He felt like he had stayed up all night with his eyes open.

He waited for a long time after preparing everything in the morning, but time didn’t seem to pass, so he just came early.

Even I could feel how excited I was.

Choi Hyun-woo tilted his head and asked Kim Dan-bi.

“What’s up?”

“Seo-jun’s seat, move it to the opposite side of Park Do-hoon and Kang Tae-young.”

Choi Hyun-woo tilted his head at Kim Dan-bi’s answer.

“Move it? Why?”

“He said it would help his acting. Anyway, that’s what he asked for. Gong sunbae also agreed.”

“I see. Okay.”

Since the PD in charge agreed, Choi Hyun-woo nodded and reached for Seo-jun’s name tag.

It was placed next to Kang Tae-young.

Kang Tae-young, who was stunned by Kim Dan-bi’s sudden words, only moved his lips as he watched Seo-jun’s name tag being taken away by Choi Hyun-woo.

Did I just say that out loud?

“…Hello?”

Seo-jun greeted him a beat late, surprised by Kang Tae-young’s fierce reaction.

“Uh, uh. Nice to meet you… Seo-jun…”

He had watched Seo-jun’s works and fangirled over him, so he was used to calling him ‘Seo-jun’.

He raised his voice in embarrassment.

Seo-jun laughed at Kang Tae-young’s expression.

“Just speak comfortably.”

“…Should I?”

Seeing Kang Tae-young’s sincere joy, Seo-jun and An Da-ho smiled. They could tell what Kang Tae-young was thinking just by looking at his face.

“Seo-jun, call me hyung too!”

“Okay. Tae-young hyung.”

“…!”

Kang Tae-young’s face brightened more than ever as he was called hyung by Seo-jun.

He excitedly led Seo-jun to his seat as if it was his own home.

“Sit here. Do you want this for water? I brought yuja tea, do you want some? How’s the temperature? Are you cold?”

Seo-jun blinked a few times at the barrage of questions and smiled brightly.

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it then. The temperature is perfect. Tae-young hyung.”

“Yeah? I’ll bring you the yuja tea right away. It’s really good, we make it at home. I have other flavors at home too, you know? I’ll bring some when we film. Oh, can I come and watch when you film?”

While Seo-jun and An Da-ho were getting used to Kang Tae-young, Joo Yong-jin was satisfied with his rather calm appearance.

He looked much more composed than a few days ago when he was rambling about Seo-jun.

If Kang Tae-young knew what Joo Yong-jin was thinking, he would have said how could he say such things in front of him, and that he would die of embarrassment.

***

Seo-jun and Kang Tae-young, who were laughing and chatting for a while, turned their heads at the sound of the door opening.

It was Go So-ram, the actress who played the female lead’s child role, but she looked exhausted for some reason.

The man who looked like her manager behind her also seemed drained.

“Hoo…”

She had heard that there were reporters, but she didn’t expect to be interviewed as well, not being a Hollywood star like Lee Seo-jun or a rising star like Kang Tae-young.

She recalled the reporters who were flashing their eyes and sighed as she entered the meeting room with her manager.

She came early thinking that she would be early, but she didn’t expect to see other actors already there.

And they were Lee Seo-jun and Kang Tae-young!

“Hi, I’m Go So-ram, who plays the child role of the female lead!”

She greeted them cheerfully, and Seo-jun and Kang Tae-young also smiled and greeted her back.

With Go So-ram as the start, the actors of ‘Spring Has Come’ arrived one by one.

They all looked tired from being harassed by reporters as they entered the broadcasting station, but they had happy expressions.

They expected it to be a hot topic, but it was more than they imagined.

“It’s all thanks to Lee Seo-jun.”

“Right. I didn’t expect to be interviewed too… Oh? The article is already out.”

The entertainment news was full of articles about the script reading of ‘Spring Has Come’.

There were interviews with not only Lee Seo-jun, Yoon Hye-in, and Go So-ram, but also all the actors who participated in the script reading today.

“Our article also has quite a lot of views!”

“Kang Tae-young and Park Do-hoon haven’t arrived yet. Ugh. Lee Seo-jun must be in the meeting room, right? I’m a huge fan…!”

The actors who secretly agreed with that opened the meeting room door with eager faces.

Most of them seemed to have arrived, as the meeting room was noisy.

The actors who just entered looked at the front.

As expected, there were Lee Seo-jun, Yoon Hye-in, Go So-ram… Kang Tae-young?

They all had puzzled expressions at the face of an actor they didn’t expect to see.

Joo Yong-jin sighed as he saw that. He came too early and couldn’t even meet the reporters.

‘I hope there are some articles about Tae-young… Will there be any reporters when we leave?’

Kang Tae-young, who didn’t know what Joo Yong-jin was worried about, had already exchanged phone numbers with Seo-jun and was smiling happily with the happiest expression ever.

***

“Oops, I’m the last one. Sorry for being late.”

The owner of the last empty seat, actor Park Do-hoon, entered the meeting room with a smile.

PD Gong Hee-chan nodded his head as he heard that most of the actors had arrived early.

He came to the meeting room earlier than planned.

“No, you’re not late. There are still 15 minutes left. Everyone came early as if they had an appointment, but it’s not that Park actor is late.”

Everyone laughed at PD Gong Hee-chan’s joke.

They could have been late or arrived on time, but they all came earlier than the scheduled time.

Seo-jun waved his hand as he saw Park Do-hoon sitting down.

Park Do-hoon also smiled and greeted him back.

“Then, since everyone is here, we’ll start the script reading a bit early. We’ll also start filming now.”

There was applause at PD Gong Hee-chan’s words.

At the same time, the lights on the cameras that were installed turned on, and some of them focused on the actors, one on the whole meeting room, and one on PD Gong Hee-chan.

PD Gong Hee-chan smiled brightly and stood up from his seat.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Gong Hee-chan, the director of ‘Spring Has Come’. It’s my first work, but I’m confident that it will be the most memorable drama of my life. I look forward to working with you all.”

PD Gong Hee-chan sat down and writer Yu Cheonga, who was sitting next to him, stood up.

The camera moved to the side and showed writer Yu Cheonga.

“Hello. I’m Yu Cheonga, the writer of ‘Spring Has Come’. It’s my first work, but I’ll write the script perfectly before filming, so don’t worry and do your best!”

The greetings of PD Gong Hee-chan and writer Yu Cheonga ended and the actors also stood up and briefly introduced themselves.

“Then, let’s start from the first scene of episode 1.”

The drama began with a loud scream.

The female lead, Kim Seo-yeon’s boss was yelling at Kim Seo-yeon, and Kim Seo-yeon just bowed her head.

The sharp voice of the boss and the subdued voice of Yoo Hye-in, who played Kim Seo-yeon, echoed in the quiet meeting room.

Assistant director Kim Dan-bi read the script and the actors delivered their lines.

As expected, they were well-chosen actors. PD Gong Hee-chan and writer Yu Cheonga had satisfied expressions as they watched the actors who did well on their own.

It was a normal script reading, where they acted as if they were filming while looking at the script.

Park Do-hoon, who played Lee Hyun-sung, opened his mouth.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Hyun-sung.”

He continued his lines with a stiff voice and a rigid expression.

***

The camera director who was filming Seo-jun tilted his head.

Unlike the other actors who were looking at the script, Seo-jun’s eyes were on Park Do-hoon who was delivering his lines.

‘But now…’

The camera director’s eyes moved from Seo-jun’s face to Park Do-hoon’s face, and from Park Do-hoon’s face to Seo-jun’s face.

‘Is he mimicking him?’

Seo-jun was imitating Park Do-hoon’s expression, who was acting passionately despite it being a script reading.

Chapter 285

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 285

Seo-jun had been watching the works of Park Do-hoon and Kang Tae-young lately.

He avoided historical genres, since the dialogue was different in tone and style.

He focused on modern works, such as “Spring Has Returned”.

Park Do-hoon had joined a new movie after filming “Escape”.

The movie was released after “Escape” and rode on its popularity, becoming a box office hit.

Park Do-hoon had taken a break for almost a year after that.

Kang Tae-young had just finished a drama a few months ago.

Seo-jun watched the movies and dramas that were closest to the current acting skills of Park Do-hoon and Kang Tae-young, but he was not satisfied.

“That’s a different character.”

Park Do-hoon’s character, the male lead A, Lee Hyun-sung.

Kang Tae-young’s character, the male lead B, Choi Yoo-won.

What Seo-jun wanted was the two characters played by the two actors.

But watching their previous works was not entirely useless.

There were times when the actors’ own expressions remained in the characters they played in various works.

Unless they specified a unique way of walking or limping (such as having a hasty personality and fast steps), their habits would show up in small details, such as how they walked.

“Or when they were sad.”

The actors had different ways of expressing sadness in the same scene.

Park Do-hoon’s character would be quietly sad.

He would not make any sound, but only shed tears and beat his chest.

Paradoxically, his quiet sorrow would touch the viewers’ hearts.

Kang Tae-young’s character would burst into tears.

His heart-wrenching cries would pierce the viewers’ ears and chests.

The emotions that lingered in their ears would captivate them.

“Of course, it depends on the character’s personality.”

To prevent the character from collapsing in the work, the expression method would vary depending on the personality of the character they played. But unless it was a very detailed script, it was usually like that.

As he observed various works, Seo-jun felt like he knew a little about Park Do-hoon and Kang Tae-young’s acting styles.

But he had never seen Park Do-hoon and Kang Tae-young play “Lee Hyun-sung” and “Choi Yoo-won”, so it was hard to capture their feelings and atmosphere.

The “Lee Hyun-sung” and “Choi Yoo-won” that Seo-jun imagined from analyzing Park Do-hoon and Kang Tae-young were just his imagination after all.

“That’s why I asked them to change seats.”

Usually, the main actors would sit near the PD and the writer.

And since there were female lead, male lead, and child actor, he thought they would sit separately by gender.

And as he expected, his original seat was next to Kang Tae-young.

“I can’t observe them properly if I sit there.”

He couldn’t see their movements in the script reading, let alone their expressions. It would be a waste of opportunity.

Seo-jun smiled as he looked at Park Do-hoon and Kang Tae-young’s faces, where he could see even their eye movements.

He thought he made a good choice.

And then it was Park Do-hoon’s turn to start.

As expected, Park Do-hoon’s Lee Hyun-sung was different from his imagination.

He seemed to have improved his skills during his one-year hiatus.

That’s why acting was fun.

When he thought he was good, he would surprise him with even better skills.

Seo-jun’s shining eyes scanned Park Do-hoon’s movements.

The subtle movements that reflected Lee Hyun-sung’s personality, who did not change his expression much.

The twitching eyebrows.

The narrowing pupils.

The trembling lips.

He listened carefully to Park Do-hoon’s voice, determined not to miss a word.

The pauses between words in his dialogue.

The gap between sentences when he spoke the next line.

The timing of his breathing.

Park Do-hoon’s way of speaking as Lee Hyun-sung.

He killed even his own breathing sound and focused all his attention on Park Do-hoon’s acting.

***

Park Do-hoon smiled inwardly as he finished his lines and adjusted his breathing.

He still felt Seo-jun’s hot gaze on him.

He felt goosebumps on his arm hidden by his sleeve from that sharp look that dissected his every move.

It was like the eyes of a predator looking at its prey.

He didn’t know how hard he tried not to make any mistakes because of that.

“Hoo.”

Park Do-hoon let out a deep breath.

He remembered Seo-jun’s words that he would capture his atmosphere when they met last time.

He thought Seo-jun could do it.

“That’s why I expected to be observed… but his eyes were hotter than I thought.”

He expected him to pay attention to his tone or expression, but at this rate, he seemed to act even his breathing sound.

“I should have known and practiced harder…”

He wanted to see Seo-jun capture his acting, but at the same time, he hoped Seo-jun would struggle with his acting.

“I can’t let him imitate me easily. I have to work harder.”

There was no winning or losing, no absolute standard in acting, but that made Park Do-hoon more reluctant to lose.

***

“I wish I could.”

Kang Tae-young’s seat was next to Seo-jun’s opposite side, and next to Park Do-hoon, so he could see Seo-jun’s gaze on Park Do-hoon clearly.

He was envious of Seo-jun’s serious look at Park Do-hoon’s acting.

As a fan and as an actor, he liked and respected Seo-jun.

Kang Tae-young’s shoulders sagged.

He thought they had become close enough to exchange phone numbers, but he was no match for Park Do-hoon, who had known him for years.

But he couldn’t stay down.

“…I have to do my best!”

As his turn approached, Kang Tae-young looked at the script with a serious expression.

He didn’t even imagine that Park Do-hoon had goosebumps on his arm from Seo-jun’s gaze that he envied.

“Hello.”

Kang Tae-young realized something was wrong when he uttered his first line.

He felt a gaze from somewhere.

It felt like all the nerves in his body were standing up.

He flinched for a moment, but continued his acting.

“I’m Choi Yoo-won, the one in charge of this commercial shoot.”

Despite the staring sensation, Kang Tae-young continued his acting while looking at the script.

The most important thing right now was acting.

He had practiced hard since he received the script, so that Seo-jun would not be disappointed.

He clenched his teeth inwardly, but outwardly, he was completely acting as “Choi Yoo-won”.

***

“Hyung is doing well too.”

Seo-jun thought as he watched Kang Tae-young’s acting.

As he watched Park Do-hoon’s acting, Seo-jun carefully examined every detail.

He did not miss a single thing when Kang Tae-young acted either.

Choi Yoo-won, who had a friendly personality, was expressive and emotional.

Unlike Lee Hyun-sung, who was as restrained as possible, he was a perfect match for Kang Tae-young, who was also rich in emotions in real life.

‘And yet, he is completely Choi Yoo-won.’

As Seo-jun analyzed, Kang Tae-young’s acting did not show any of his own feelings.

Apart from his emotions, there were some ‘Kang Tae-young’s habits’ that showed up because of his shorter acting experience compared to Park Do-hoon and Seo-jun, but that was fine.

Seo-jun also dissected every aspect of Kang Tae-young’s portrayal of Choi Yoo-won.

The eyes that smiled softly.

The lips that curved into a smile.

The gentle tone of voice.

The pauses between the lines.

As he observed, Seo-jun unconsciously mimicked Kang Tae-young’s expressions.

The camera director swallowed his dry saliva at Seo-jun’s face that captured Park Do-hoon’s acting before and Kang Tae-young’s acting now.

He did not know why he did that, but he felt that it was not ordinary.

***

It was Kang Tae-young’s turn.

He felt the same gaze again and remembered a similar one.

‘It’s like the gaze of an acting teacher who checks homework.’

The movement of his steps.

The tips of his fingers, the expression of his emotions, the timing of his breathing, the direction of his gaze, his facial expressions.

He felt a gaze that scrutinized and analyzed everything.

It was time for Choi Yoo-won to look around the room.

Kang Tae-young, who had memorized the script already, looked around the room as if he was Choi Yoo-won.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, he met Seo-jun’s sparkling eyes.

‘How long has he been watching me?’

He momentarily liked the sight of Seo-jun looking at him with shining eyes, but soon realized the sharpness in his gaze.

He realized what that ‘acting teacher-like gaze’ was.

It was Seo-jun.

Actor Lee Seo-jun was observing and analyzing him.

He swallowed his saliva at the sharp gaze that watched him from head to toe, or even the way he breathed in and out.

He felt a chill down his spine.

Why did he think of that gaze as ‘acting teacher-like’?

That was the gaze of a predator who wanted to devour Kang Tae-young’s acting.

He felt sweat on his palms and goosebumps on his arms. Once he noticed it, he could not stop paying attention to it.

A normal person would have stopped acting because of the nervousness, but Kang Tae-young was different.

Why did he feel more excited for some reason?

He tried hard to calm down his restless heart.

He was not a fan who liked Seo-jun’s works, but an actor who wanted to act with him and show him his skills.

He wanted to show him how well he could do.

He opened his mouth more seriously than ever as an actor Kang Tae-young.

***

“Let’s take a 10-minute break!”

At the words of PD Gong Hee-chan, everyone put down their scripts.

The actors who spoke a lot drank water and beverages from the bottles on the table.

Some went to the bathroom and some went outside to get some fresh air.

Seo-jun wrote down what he had extracted from Park Do-hoon and Kang Tae-young’s acting on the script and Park Do-hoon checked what he needed to think about again.

Kang Tae-young, who had successfully finished reading his part, smiled and read the next part.

The camera director called PD Gong Hee-chan.

He watched the recorded scenes several times and called writer Yu Cheonga. She admired what she saw on the screen.

PD Gong Hee-chan returned to his seat and asked Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun. I saw you imitating Do-hoon-ssi and Tae-young’s acting on camera… Is that right?”

The actors sitting nearby looked puzzled at PD Gong Hee-chan’s question. Kang Tae-young looked up at Seo-jun.

‘He imitated my acting?’

Seo-jun nodded and answered.

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Hmm. Is that why? You said you would act exactly like the adult roles.”

Writer Yu Cheonga asked and Seo-jun opened his mouth.

“Yes. I watched Do-hoon-hyung and Tae-young-hyung’s previous works, but their characters were different so it was hard. So I was observing them while reading the script. Um. I guess it showed on my face without me knowing.”

He did not notice because he was focused and observing.

He smiled shyly and everyone blinked.

“Observing? What do you mean by acting exactly like the adult roles?”

Yoon Hye-in asked and Seo-jun smiled and said.

“I mean, I will act exactly like Do-hoon-hyung and Tae-young-hyung. The child actor and the adult actor are different, so there is a gap, right? I want to minimize that difference with my acting. I want to capture the atmosphere and the acting of the adult roles.”

“…Is that possible?”

Everyone widened their eyes at the unheard-of story.

Park Do-hoon smiled and asked Seo-jun.

“How about it, Seo-jun-ah. Can you show us a little bit?”

“Tae-young-hyung, I still have some more analysis to do… But Do-hoon-hyung, I can do it to some extent.”

He needed to watch and analyze and practice more, so he could only do the script reading with low completion today.

“But I can do this part perfectly.”

The part Seo-jun pointed to was his first line.

It was not the past part yet, so he was just waiting for his turn.

PD Gong Hee-chan and writer Yu Cheonga, who had been looking forward to Seo-jun’s acting since the first meeting, brightened their eyes.

The other actors were no different.

The camera that had stopped for a moment turned on again.

He had a feeling that he would miss something if he did not record it.

“Then can you try it now?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun readily nodded at PD Gong Hee-chan’s words.

A quiet conference room.

All eyes were on Seo-jun who was sitting.

As if he heard an action sound somewhere, Seo-jun’s atmosphere changed in an instant.

“Hello. I’m Yoo Sung-jin. I came from America.”

A stiff voice and a rigid expression.

A familiar way of speaking.

The lines were different, but someone came to mind automatically.

Everyone’s eyes turned to Park Do-hoon.

Park Do-hoon also widened his eyes at Seo-jun’s acting that resembled him more than he expected.

The only difference was his voice.

‘That means… if he changes his voice…’

Writer Yu Cheonga, PD Gong Hee-chan, the actors and the staff looked back and forth between Park Do-hoon and Lee Seo-jun with astonishment.

Chapter 286

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Chapter 286

Everyone realized what Seo-jun was explaining.

Seo-jun would grow up to become Park Do-hoon.

Of course, it was a difficult thing to do in reality, but it was not impossible if the character ‘Lee Hyun-sung’ became a bridge.

“But how is this possible?”

Yoon Hye-in asked without hiding her surprise.

“Um. To put it very simply, it’s like imitating or mimicking someone’s voice.”

Everyone looked at Seo-jun with a vague expression.

“Imitating or mimicking is also analyzing and practicing someone’s songs and catchphrases. I mean, things like vocalization, voice, timing, and intensity when singing. And some people are so good that you can’t tell who they are if they cover their faces.”

Everyone nodded at Seo-jun’s explanation.

Come to think of it, there was a show that started a few weeks ago that was like that. It was a show where ordinary people who could imitate singers and singers who were hidden had to find the singers.

“But your voice was different, right?”

“Everything else was the same except for the voice. I guess it’s because I have to act as Lee Hyun-sung himself, not as Do-hoon hyung’s Lee Hyun-sung.”

“Can you only do Lee Hyun-sung?”

“No. I can do Choi Yoo-won too, but I’m still working on it… I still need more practice for Lee Hyun-sung besides this line.”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek and smiled, and everyone admired him.

He was only a child actor who had a small role in a six-part drama, with a writer and a PD who were new to the industry, but Seo-jun did not neglect his acting.

That’s why he showed such amazing acting.

The reading resumed after Seo-jun’s acting that surprised everyone.

Seo-jun’s acting that he spit out as an unfinished product was less impactful than before, but everyone nodded their heads involuntarily at the faint feeling of Lee Hyun-sung that they felt in it.

“Then we’ll end the script reading here. Thank you for your hard work.”

As PD Gong Hee-chan said, applause sounded in the conference room.

“Wow. My shoulders are all stiff.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous during a reading.”

Everyone relaxed and stretched.

Since Seo-jun, who was the center of this drama, acted so seriously, they couldn’t relax for a moment after the reading resumed.

“Good job.”

The camera turned off and they started to get up from their seats and leave the conference room.

Jung Bo-ram, who was sitting next to Seo-jun, who was organizing the script, asked him.

“Can you teach me how to do child acting?”

Seo-jun’s words caught the ears of those who hadn’t left yet.

Seo-jun thought for a moment and opened his mouth.

“The way I do it takes some time, so I’ll teach you another way.”

The way Seo-jun did it was to capture the atmosphere and acting of the ‘actor playing the character’ and digest it as his own.

It was a time-consuming method for most actors.

‘It will take too long for Bo-ram… And I’m not sure if it will work well.’

Seo-jun, who was cold-hearted about acting, thought of another way.

“Another way?”

“You make a common habit between the adult and child roles. For example, walking with your right foot first or covering your mouth when you laugh. Or you can laugh while clapping. Eating your favorite side dish first is also possible. Of course, everything has to be based on what the character ‘Kim Seo-yeon’ would do.”

Jung Bo-ram tilted her head.

“Would such small things be noticeable?”

“That’s why you have to think of habits that are natural but also catch the viewers’ eyes.”

“…That sounds hard.”

Seo-jun nodded at Jung Bo-ram’s words.

“It is hard. Even if it’s the same habit, different people have different feelings. Some people brush their hair quickly, while others brush it slowly two or three times.”

It was really amazing how detailed he was.

This was how he came up with the ‘perfect Lee Hyun-sung junior’ earlier.

Yoon Hye-in, who had been thinking for a while, looked at Jung Bo-ram.

“Do you want to try?”

“Huh?”

“He’s going to show such amazing acting over there, we can’t just be buried like this. We have to try something. Don’t you think?”

Jung Bo-ram smiled brightly at Yoon Hye-in’s words.

“Yes!”

“Then let’s analyze the character right away. Writer Yu! Can I ask you later?”

“Of course, that’s fine! Ask me anything.”

Writer Yu Cheonga smiled brightly and nodded her head repeatedly. She had no reason not to help the actors who were working hard for the work.

***

As they left the conference room and headed to the lobby on the first floor, Park Do-hoon asked Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun, do you want to eat something?”

“Yes. Sure.”

Kang Tae-young looked at Park Do-hoon and Seo-jun with envious eyes.

Park Do-hoon laughed at his sour expression.

“Do you want to join us, Tae-young?”

“Thank you! Oh, please speak casually!”

“Okay. Just call me hyung.”

“Yes! Hyung!”

Park Do-hoon and Seo-jun burst into laughter at Kang Tae-young’s bright answer.

***

[MBS Special Project ‘Spring Has Returned’, Script Reading!]

[MBS Script Reading Interview Collection!]

[‘Spring Has Returned’ Lead Actors! Where is Kang Tae-young?]

[MBS Script Reading Video, To Be Broadcast as a Making Film!]

-They did a script reading!

-But where is Kang Tae-young?

=22 He didn’t come?

=No, he came too early. He came earlier than the reporters, so he couldn’t do an interviewㅋㅋ

-I can understand Kang Tae-youngㅋㅋ

=Why?

=Kang Tae-young is a rookie. A real rookieㅎㅎ

=He’s been a rookie since elementary school. There are posts about him from when he was a rookie in the cafe.

-ㅋㅋㅋAre you a fanboyㅋㅋㅋ

=I know, right. How did you meet him?

-Did you go too early because you were excited?

=I can relate. I would have been waiting since the day before.

=222 I would have camped out thereㅎ

-Making film! That sounds fun!

=I’m curious how Seo-jun does the script reading.

=His acting in The Royal Physician was so cuteㅎㅎ I have to go see it again.

-Will he be cute this time too?

=He has experience now, so he’ll be cool.

=22 He has more experience than anyone else, right?

=333 He’s been acting longer than Kang Tae-young.

***

The filming of ‘Spring Has Returned’ began.

Staff members were busy moving around the indoor set.

Kang Tae-young, who had just entered the set, spotted Seo-jun sitting a little away.

He ran over to Seo-jun with a bright face.

“Hi, Seo-jun!”

“Hello, hyung.”

Seo-jun smiled and greeted Kang Tae-young.

“You don’t have a shoot today, Tae-young hyung?”

“I came anyway because it’s PD Gong’s first shoot. He seemed very nervous. So I brought him some calming pills. How about you, Seo-jun? How’s your practice going?”

“It got better after watching you practice, hyung. But the most important thing is the acting during the shoot, so I’m going to come and watch every day from today.”

“Really?”

Kang Tae-young smiled brightly at the thought of seeing Seo-jun every day he filmed.

His face showed his feelings and Seo-jun laughed.

“Then do you want to go eat something after the shoot?”

“Yes. Sure.”

“You two came early, huh?”

They turned their heads at the familiar voice.

Park Do-hoon, who was filming today, was standing there.

“Welcome, Do-hoon hyung.”

“Sit here.”

Park Do-hoon smiled and sat next to Seo-jun.

“What were you talking about?”

“Seo-jun said he’s going to come and watch our acting every day.”

“Really? That makes me nervous.”

Seo-jun and Kang Tae-young laughed at Park Do-hoon’s pretense.

Park Do-hoon looked at Yoon Hye-in and Jung Bo-ram talking in the distance.

“They must be having a hard time.”

“I guess so. It must be hard to balance between the habits and the emotional acting. If they focus on the habits, they might lose the emotions. If they get immersed in the emotions, they might not act according to the habits.”

“It’s easy for us because Seo-jun takes care of everything… I feel a bit sorry.”

Park Do-hoon agreed with Kang Tae-young’s words.

It was an acting that he wanted to try once as an actor, creating a character with a child actor.

“But there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Seo-jun was mixing ‘Lee Hyun-sung’ and ‘Choi Yoo-won’ in his acting.

If Park Do-hoon and Kang Tae-young interfered awkwardly, it would ruin everything.

“I’ll have to try it next time I get a role with a child actor.”

“Me too. It sounds hard but I think it will be good acting.”

Seo-jun smiled at Park Do-hoon and Kang Tae-young’s words.

He liked people who worked hard.

Especially if they were actors.

“Then let’s start shooting!”

The set became busy again at assistant director Kim Dan-bi’s words.

***

That’s how the filming of ‘Spring Has Returned’ continued in the modern part,

And finally, it was Seo-jun’s first shooting day.

Seo-jun’s first shooting location was a bus stop, where they deliberately chose a place where people didn’t come often.

Staff members were busy setting up cameras at the bus stop.

A bus came from afar.

Kim Dan-bi checked the bus number and shouted.

“The bus is here!”

“We’ll set up the lights!”

“Camera!”

The bus stopped in front of the bus stop and staff members got on for shooting inside the bus.

PD Gong Hee-chan and writer Yu Cheonga’s eyes were busy watching the staff move quickly.

“There should be no flaws. They’re already making a fuss because we signed a contract with Plus+.”

“Can’t we edit them out if they show up?”

Writer Yu Cheonga asked and PD Gong Hee-chan smiled bitterly and said.

“You don’t notice them now, but they won’t be easy to spot when editing either. You have to be careful even when monitoring later.”

“I see.”

Writer Yu Cheonga blinked and looked around the set.

It was her first work in her life and it was going abroad through Plus+.

She wanted to make a flawless drama that would stay in her career for a lifetime.

“The water truck is here!”

Kim Dan-bi’s shout was heard.

The lighting director scratched his head and asked assistant director Choi Hyun-woo.

“Didn’t he say he wouldn’t talk about good or bad anymore?”

“Yes. He got burned once, no, three times.”

He lost his work to PD Park Kyu-min once, he heard that Seo-jun was cast twice, and he almost lost his work to PD Park Kyu-min again for the third time.

“Ah, Park Kyu-min?”

“…How did you know?”

Choi Hyun-woo’s eyes widened at the lighting director’s words.

Wasn’t that rumor not spread?

“Park Kyu-min had a thriller, right? Tomorrow. Everyone over there knows, right? Well, not many, but still. People who are sensitive to rumors know it all.”

“Wow… It’s really small here.”

It seemed that Park Kyu-min had told his acquaintances and it spread.

‘Well, he was talking about it openly in the emergency exit.’

“That’s good. It’s not his fault, but if he keeps saying things like that, you can’t help but resent him. I almost had a heart attack when the lighting equipment fell last time.”

“Oh, right. It almost hit actor Kang Tae-young, right?”

The lighting director shuddered at Choi Hyun-woo’s words.

“It would have been a disaster if the actor who hit it big in the previous work got injured in his next work. Luckily, PD Gong saved him. Did PD Gong get hurt then?”

“Yes. But he recovered quickly.”

“I was grateful for that, so I introduced him to writer Yu… ”

The lighting director looked at the actors.

The female leads, Yoon Hye-in and Jung Bo-ram.

The male leads, Park Do-hoon and Kang Tae-young.

“Who would have thought it would be such a hit.”

And there was Hollywood star Lee Seo-jun.

***

“Let’s start shooting!”

The staff and actors moved at assistant director Choi Hyun-woo’s voice.

The extras looked nervous as they stood there and Seo-jun, who had changed into a school uniform, held an umbrella tightly.

Yoon Hye-in, who was sitting on the bus, immersed herself in ‘Kim Seo-yeon’s’ emotions.

“Ready,”

PD Gong Hee-chan’s voice trembled.

It wasn’t his imagination that his voice was more tense than usual.

He seemed more nervous than on the first day of shooting.

Writer Yu Cheonga and the staff held their breaths and waited for the shooting to start.

They sometimes got used to watching the actors’ acting as their job, but today was different.

At the ready sound, the water truck started working.

Artificial rain fell from the sky.

The bus and the bus stop got wet from the rain.

“Action!”

On a rainy day.

Kim Seo-yeon was on the bus.

She had to work until the weekend.

She would have called her friend and cursed her boss if it were normal, but she didn’t have the energy to get angry anymore.

She felt more depressed on such a listless day when it rained.

Kim Seo-yeon, who was sitting by the window on the sidewalk side, looked out the window with lifeless eyes.

The people passing by with umbrellas looked colorless to her.

Her ears were dull as if they were submerged in darkness.

She couldn’t even hear the sound of rain anymore.

It was one of those times when she wanted to close her eyes and forget everything.

The bus that Kim Seo-yeon was on stopped at a bus stop.

She saw a boy and a girl standing at the bus stop.

The bus door opened and only the girl with an umbrella got on the bus.

She looked young and seemed to be a student.

The girl waved her hand as she looked out the window.

The boy with an umbrella outside followed the girl who was walking to the back of the bus to find an empty seat.

He didn’t take his eyes off her as he walked towards Kim Seo-yeon’s side.

The two students smiled without stopping.

They seemed to be reluctant to part as they waved their hands and greeted each other.

The boy’s bright yellow umbrella shook in front of Kim Seo-yeon’s eyes as a result.

For a moment, yellow light spread from the tip of the umbrella to the colorless world.

The wind blew.

The boy tilted his umbrella to block the rain coming in from the side.

The tilted umbrella blocked the boy’s figure from Kim Seo-yeon’s sight.

She didn’t know why.

Kim Seo-yeon couldn’t take her eyes off the umbrella.

The yellow umbrella that hid the boy slowly lifted its head towards Kim Seo-yeon.

Color began to appear in the colorless world around the umbrella.

The boy’s clothes changed from casual clothes to a school uniform because it was a weekend.

Kim Seo-yeon remembered where she had seen that uniform before.

The yellow umbrella slowly lifted its head.

A smooth chin.

Soft lips curled up.

Flushed cheeks.

A straight nose.

And warm eyes that were brighter than sunlight.

Underneath the yellow umbrella,

A boy in love smiled brightly like a newly bloomed flower.

Chapter 287

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 287

Before the shooting began.

The actors gathered behind the PD Gong Hee-chan, who had a monitor.

The writer Yu Cheonga also took a seat with an excited face.

“This is the first time I see Seo-jun’s acting! Hyung. Seo-jun is good, right?”

At Kang Tae-young’s question, Jung Bo-ram, PD Gong Hee-chan and writer Yu Cheonga perked up their ears.

Seeing their reactions, Park Do-hoon smiled softly and opened his mouth.

“He’s much better than at the script reading. You can expect a lot.”

Park Do-hoon’s confident remark made their expectations soar.

They all looked at the monitor with sparkling eyes.

Assistant directors Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo, and some of the staff members also craned their necks to see the monitor screen.

Only the staff members who had to keep their positions looked at the people gathered with regretful expressions.

“Ready, action!”

PD Gong Hee-chan’s voice was heard and everyone looked at the screen.

It rained.

Seo-jun slowed down the speed of opening the umbrella, but the people watching felt it even slower.

The yellow umbrella that slowly rose up, the raindrops that seemed to be visible one by one, the face that slowly appeared. It was suffocating but they couldn’t take their eyes off.

When Seo-jun finally revealed his face and smiled brightly, it seemed like flowers bloomed around Seo-jun, even though the lighting and the set were no different from before.

Silence flowed.

Yoon Hye-in and the cinematographer who saw Seo-jun’s face through the glass window in the bus.

And PD Gong Hee-chan, writer Yu Cheonga, and the actors who were watching through the camera on the monitor.

The staff members who craned their necks to see Seo-jun’s first acting.

The people who were glued to the small monitor all stopped breathing without exception.

Especially, the female staff members didn’t blink their eyes.

They didn’t want to waste any time blinking.

It sounded like all the sounds in the world disappeared and only the raindrops falling to the ground were heard.

The staff members who couldn’t see Seo-jun’s acting because they were far away from the monitor were puzzled by the sudden silence.

The water truck kept spraying water.

They thought they should hear a cut sound soon, but they kept quiet because they didn’t know if this silence was also part of PD Gong Hee-chan’s direction.

Ahn Da Ho, who was holding a towel to give to Seo-jun, laughed at the subtle atmosphere that filled the set.

Do-hoon, who was most familiar with Seo-jun’s acting, was the first to come to his senses.

‘What genre can’t Seo-jun do…’

He admired inwardly and tapped PD Gong Hee-chan’s shoulder.

“!! Cu, cut!!”

PD Gong Hee-chan, who was watching absent-mindedly, was startled by the sudden tap and shouted cut reflexively.

He didn’t even know what he was saying as he spoke honestly.

He came to his senses by his own voice and quickly added another word.

“Okay!”

At the okay sign, Yoo Sung-jin, who was smiling brightly, blinked his eyes a few times and turned into Lee Seo-jun.

Then he smiled and nodded at Yoon Hye-in and the cinematographer who had filmed with him across the bus window.

“My goodness…”

At Seo-jun’s appearance, Yoon Hye-in and the cinematographer exclaimed again.

They clearly saw Seo-jun’s face changing from ‘Yoo Sung-jin’ to ‘Lee Seo-jun’.

Just a moment ago, he was a boy full of love that made Yoon Hye-in forget her age and her heart beat faster. But in less than a second, that boy disappeared like a mirage.

That change was not only amazing but shocking.

It was like seeing a fantasy of first love.

Yoon Hye-in and the cinematographer’s eyes followed Seo-jun who received a towel from his manager and wiped off the water droplets that splashed even though he had an umbrella.

“…I thought I knew enough about Seo-jun’s on-off switch… But even though it’s the same smiling face, it feels so different.”

“Are all actors like that these days? I think this is the first time I’ve been shocked while filming.”

At the cinematographer’s words, Yoon Hye-in quickly shook her head.

“It’s Lee Seo-jun. Lee Seo-jun.”

The time started to flow again at the okay sound.

The people who were watching the monitor also came to their senses one by one.

Writer Yu Cheonga covered her mouth.

“My goodness… No wonder Writer So wanted to work with Seo-jun.”

There was a boy who looked more like ‘Yoo Sung-jin’ than writer Yu Cheonga had imagined.

PD Gong Hee-chan also nodded his head as if he agreed.

He thought he knew enough about Seo-jun’s acting skills after Seo-jun’s casting was confirmed and he watched Seo-jun’s works, but it seemed that it was not enough.

PD Gong Hee-chan, who was replaying the footage, fell into deep thought.

Writer Yu Cheonga, who was sitting next to PD Gong Hee-chan, couldn’t take her eyes off the monitor.

She had all kinds of ideas as if she had found a muse.

She couldn’t use them in this work, but they could be the start of the next work.

She quickly wrote them down in her notebook.

“This would be good for the trailer.”

At PD Gong Hee-chan’s words, writer Yu Cheonga stopped writing.

She opened her eyes wide and only moved her lips.

“…The first episode’s ratings will be no joke.”

***

Assistant director Kim Dan-bi was sitting next to PD Gong Hee-chan and watching the footage on the monitor.

She kept admiring Seo-jun and said a word.

“My first love was in elementary school, but I don’t know why I suddenly see Seo-jun. Even with memory enhancement, he wasn’t that handsome…”

Memory enhancement or memory manipulation.

She seriously wondered and Choi Hyun-woo nodded his head.

“That was definitely shocking. I’m a man and I was surprised by his visuals. And that was without any background music or editing…”

He didn’t know what kind of screen would come out if they edited it on purpose.

“Right. If they add music and effects, it’ll be crazy.”

It would only be a matter of time before Lee Seo-jun, who was the national great guy, became the national first love.

They heard the trailer talk then.

Choi Hyun-woo swallowed his saliva at PD Gong Hee-chan’s terrifying opinion.

“It’ll probably come out at least two weeks before… It’ll be a mess. Well, at least we don’t have to worry about the ratings.”

The two assistant directors who only thought about ratings whether they sat or stood laughed with glee.

That’s how Seo-jun’s first shooting of ‘Spring Has Returned’ ended.

***

Seo-jun’s next shooting was an indoor shooting and it was a classroom set.

Seo-jun, who entered with Ahn Da Ho, greeted the staff members and stopped his steps unknowingly when he saw the extras who were gathered a little away from the set so as not to interfere with the shooting preparation.

Ahn Da Ho smiled slyly at Seo-jun’s blinking eyes.

“This is…”

Seo-jun uttered a groan at the sight of the extras.

The extras greeted him with playful faces at his confused look.

“Hi!”

“We’re here!”

“Hi, Seo-jun!”

“…Why are you all here?”

Kim Joo-kyung, Han Jinho, Kang Jae-han, Yang Ju-hee, and other kids were sitting together.

They had attended the same middle school until a month ago, and they would go to the same high school in a month.

“It’s a reunion of Yeoul Arts Middle School!”

As Han Jinho said that, Yang Ju-hee, who was about to nod her head unknowingly, quickly added.

“No, it’s not. We came here to shoot.”

The kids laughed at Han Jinho and Yang Ju-hee’s words. Seo-jun, who was looking at them incredulously, soon joined them.

Seo-jun took a seat next to the kids.

“But how did this happen?”

At Seo-jun’s question, Joo-kyung answered.

“I got a call from my agency asking if I wanted to do a minor role. It’s vacation time and Mirinae High School is more flexible than Yeoul Arts Middle School, so I said yes.”

The others nodded and chimed in.

“Besides, it’s a four-part series on public broadcasting.”

“You have to show your face well to get the next work.”

True.

If the school was the background, there had to be student extras.

And if they needed child actors, the best ones were from the golden generation of Yeoul Arts Middle School.

It was rather strange that there were no friends in places where child actors were needed.

Jae-han smiled and said to Seo-jun, who was nodding his head.

“But I saw an article saying that you’re in it. So I asked the manager to keep it a secret.”

“We wanted to surprise you.”

Seo-jun looked back at the words of his friends who were full of mischief. He smiled at Ahn Da Ho’s face that was full of prank.

“Yeah. I was really surprised.”

As Seo-jun was having a pleasant conversation with his friends, the child actress for the female lead, Jung Bo-ram, arrived.

Seo-jun called out to Bo-ram, who had just entered the set.

“This is Jung Bo-ram, the child actress for the female lead. She also entered Mirinae High School with us. And these are my friends from Yeoul Arts Middle School. They’re all going to Mirinae High School too.”

At Seo-jun’s introduction, Bo-ram and his friends greeted each other with smiles. They were all nice kids and became friends quickly.

“Then we’ll go get ready for shooting.”

After talking with his friends for a while, Seo-jun and Bo-ram started preparing for shooting.

They changed into uniforms and came out after putting on makeup.

The shooting preparation was almost over.

“We’ll start shooting!”

The voice of assistant director Choi Hyun-woo echoed in the set.

The kids who were already wearing uniforms went into the set and sat in their places that the assistant director had told them beforehand.

“It feels like we’re really at school.”

“Except for all the cameras around us.”

The kids laughed at Joo-kyung’s words.

Thanks to the child actors who laughed at anything, the set was full of energy.

Kim Dan-bi said that all the shooting preparations were done and PD Gong Hee-chan raised his voice.

“Ready, action!”

Kim Seo-yeon, the class president of 2nd grade 1st class, was chatting with her friends.

“It’s already winter… And we’re seniors!”

“I hate college entrance exams.”

The kids giggled inwardly at Yang Ju-hee and Kim Joo-kyung’s lines that were full of sincerity.

The staff, PD Gong Hee-chan, and writer Yu Cheonga admired their natural acting as if they were saying their own words.

Then, the front door of the classroom opened and the homeroom teacher came in.

The kids closed their mouths at the appearance of the homeroom teacher.

The homeroom teacher looked around the quiet kids and said.

“Today we have a transfer student in our class.”

At the homeroom teacher’s words, the kids opened their eyes wide and whispered to their seatmates.

“What? We’re seniors already?”

“There are still people who transfer now?”

“Well, it’s better than transferring when you’re a senior.”

Kim Seo-yeon, who nodded at Yang Ju-hee’s words, sensed something from the homeroom teacher who kept making eye contact with her.

She felt like she would have to take care of the transfer student as the class president.

‘I hope he’s a good kid.’

It was a burden to transfer in many ways. You had to make new friends and catch up with the lessons.

And soon there would be final exams.

Kim Seo-yeon understood how the transfer student felt and decided to be nice to him.

Kim Seo-yeon’s thoughts showed on her face and the camera captured Jung Bo-ram’s acting perfectly.

The transfer student who had been looking around the classroom with a stiff face opened his mouth.

“Hello. I’m Yoo Seong-jin. I came from the U.S.”

Wow. Amazing.

The kids exclaimed.

They knew he transferred from somewhere else, but they didn’t expect it to be the U.S.

Their eyes sparkled.

He was handsome and he came from the U.S., so he caught their attention at once.

“Then, Seong-jin… Seo-yeon.”

“Yes.”

At the homeroom teacher’s call, Kim Seo-yeon, the class president, raised her hand.

Seong-jin, who had been looking around the classroom since he came from the U.S., looked at Kim Seo-yeon who was sitting by the window.

The transfer student Yoo Seong-jin and the class president Kim Seo-yeon’s eyes met.

It was their first meeting.

Chapter 288

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Chapter 288

Even though he didn’t have any scenes to shoot today, Kang Tae-young dropped by and exclaimed at Seo-jun’s acting.

Just yesterday, Lee Hyun-sung was smiling brightly, but today he was sitting next to Kim Seo-yeon with a stiff expression.

“He really looks like Lee Hyun-sung after shooting the modern part.”

Park Do-hoon nodded at Kang Tae-young’s remark.

“Indeed.”

“Our Seo-jun is amazing! He did well yesterday, but he’s doing great today too!”

Kang Tae-young was watching the set with an excited expression, as if he would wave a cheering stick vigorously if he had one.

Park Do-hoon shook his head at Kang Tae-young, who seemed to restrain himself a bit in front of Seo-jun, but showed his fanboy side everywhere else.

“Well, the fans must know it too…”

Probably everyone among the staff knew it.

“Cut, okay!”

In the meantime, the first scene was finished.

Seo-jun, who had returned from Lee Hyun-sung to Lee Seo-jun, waved his hand at Kang Tae-young and Park Do-hoon who were standing on one side.

Park Do-hoon waved back slightly, while Kang Tae-young almost swung his arm as he waved back.

Seo-jun laughed, and his friends looked at where Seo-jun was looking.

“Oh. It’s Park Do-hoon senior!”

“Kang Tae-young senior is here too!”

“Speaking of which, Kang Tae-young senior is a fan of Seo-jun, right?”

“He’s been a fan since elementary school.”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek awkwardly.

As ‘Spring Has Returned’ became a hot topic, the actors also started to get more attention.

Some reporters were looking for any scoop to increase their clicks, and they found something that they didn’t care about before.

Some of the actors who were young or had not been acting for long were fans of ‘Hollywood Star, Lee Seo-jun’ when they were ordinary people.

“But it became a huge issue when a fan got to shoot with Seo-jun.”

Everyone nodded at Yang Ju-hee’s words.

There were several articles with the title ‘Fanboy Kang Tae-young’.

There was also a list of celebrities who revealed that they were fans of Seo-jun in interviews.

“We’re starting to shoot!”

Seo-jun and the kids, who were chatting about this and that, prepared for the shooting again at the assistant director’s shout.

***

There were many scenes to shoot in the classroom, so there was still a lot left to shoot today.

Yu Cheonga, the writer, sent a lot of scripts so that they could shoot everything at once without having to set up the set multiple times.

‘Usually, the emotional lines are different in the first and second half, so it can be confusing.’

PD Gong Hee-chan smiled as he watched the footage. Seo-jun and Jung Bo-ram would do well, so he could focus on editing after shooting quickly.

“Then we’ll start shooting the next scene!”

The staff moved busily at Kim Dan-bi’s words.

The actors also took their places on the set.

Seo-jun sat next to Jung Bo-ram.

PD Gong Hee-chan raised his voice after checking that everyone was ready.

“Ready, action!”

Lee Hyun-sung sat next to class president Kim Seo-yeon as there was no shooting today.

As soon as the homeroom teacher left the classroom, the kids from the front and back seats and even those who were far away came closer to Lee Hyun-sung with curious faces.

“Where did you come from in America?”

“Are you good at English?”

“He must be good at English since he lived in America!”

“Have you been to Hollywood?”

Questions poured out at the mention of a transfer student from America. But there was no answer from Lee Hyun-sung. Kim Seo-yeon quickly opened her mouth as the silence lingered.

“He must be nervous since it’s his first day. I would be scared too if you all came at me like this!”

The kids nodded their heads and went back to their seats at Kim Seo-yeon’s words.

Kim Seo-yeon sighed inwardly and looked at Lee Hyun-sung, who was sitting with a blank expression. His face didn’t look much different from when he first entered the classroom.

‘I don’t think we’ll get along very well.’

But she thought she should treat him well until he adjusted.

She sighed again and tried to prepare for the first class by taking out a textbook from her desk drawer.

She stopped when she saw Lee Hyun-sung’s trembling hand.

“Cut! Okay!”

***

A few days later.

The outdoor shooting was decided to be done at the high school that Yu Cheonga, the writer, used as a model.

Fortunately, the school also gladly gave permission.

However, since there were high school students who took classes even during the vacation, they decided to shoot on weekends when the students didn’t come to school.

“It’s Lee Seo-jun!”

“Wow. I never thought I’d see him…”

Some teachers seemed to have come to watch after hearing about the shooting.

While the staff were clearing the surroundings, Seo-jun, Jung Bo-ram, and the child actors started preparing for the shooting.

“Ready, action!”

Kim Seo-yeon, who was heading to the cafeteria with her friends as usual, stopped in her tracks.

“I’ll eat with Seong-jin.”

“Seong-jin? The transfer student?”

“He doesn’t talk much…”

“Well, he probably doesn’t have anyone to eat with since he just transferred today.”

Kim Seo-yeon’s friends nodded at her words.

Kim Seo-yeon parted ways with her friends and headed to the cafeteria with Yoo Sung-jin.

She chattered to Yoo Sung-jin, who was awkwardly following her and getting his meal.

“Is this your first time having school lunch? How is the school lunch in America? Do they really serve pizza? Or burgers?”

“…”

“Our school has something delicious on Wednesdays, but the other days are not so good.”

Kim Seo-yeon sat down with her tray and smiled as she pointed at one of the side dishes. Yoo Sung-jin’s eyes followed her finger.

“But this is good, so try it.”

Yoo Sung-jin stared at the spicy pork stir-fry for a moment before picking up his chopsticks.

She thought he wouldn’t know how to use chopsticks since he came from America, but he held them in an 11 shape, which looked natural.

‘His fingers are pretty.’

His hands somehow caught her eye.

She glanced at her own hands and then at Yoo Sung-jin, who was putting the spicy pork stir-fry in his mouth.

She had been watching him all morning because she was worried about him.

She felt like she could read his expressionless face a little bit.

He smiled faintly at Kim Seo-yeon’s words.

Kim Seo-yeon also burst into laughter.

They looked at each other and smiled.

There was a faint pink atmosphere between them, or so it seemed.

The staff admired the acting of the two actors.

“They were so awkward in the cafeteria, but they changed the mood so quickly.”

“Right? It’s amazing that they can act like this even when everyone is watching them.”

“That’s why they’re actors.”

The staff whispered quietly so as not to interfere with the audio. Everyone around them agreed with their heads.

“Cut, okay!”

PD Gong Hee-chan, who was staring at the monitor without blinking, shouted.

***

The next scene was in the library.

The staff moved the equipment to the library and set it up.

Seo-jun and Jung Bo-ram read the script and followed the emotional line of their characters.

They quickly sorted out their emotions from the cafeteria scene and brought out the emotions that suited the current scene.

The scene they were shooting now was when Kim Seo-yeon and Yoo Sung-jin became closer and Yoo Sung-jin also got along well with the other kids.

“Seo-jun, Bo-ram. Are you ready?”

PD Gong Hee-chan asked after checking that the shooting was almost ready.

“Yes.”

“Me too.”

Seo-jun and Jung Bo-ram answered PD Gong Hee-chan’s words. PD Gong Hee-chan nodded his head.

“Ready, action!”

Yoo Sung-jin approached Kim Seo-yeon, who was sitting alone.

“Here, drink this.”

“Oh! Thank you.”

Kim Seo-yeon smiled brightly at the peach drink that Yoo Sung-jin handed her.

It was her favorite drink.

Kim Seo-yeon and Yoo Sung-jin sat side by side on a stand and looked at the playground.

It was lunchtime, so there were students who occupied the playground and students who were sitting here and there chatting.

The second grade class one students who were walking around to digest their food spotted Yoo Sung-jin and Kim Seo-yeon sitting together.

“Oh. Kim Seo-yeon. Yoo Sung-jin.”

“Are you two dating?”

They teased Yoo Sung-jin and Kim Seo-yeon with playful eyes. Kim Seo-yeon shrugged her shoulders.

“Why? Are you jealous?”

“Nah. No way.”

The friends left Kim Seo-yeon alone at her words.

“They always ask me that when I’m with a boy.”

“You too?”

“Of course! There’s nothing more fun than talking about love!”

Yoo Sung-jin chuckled at Kim Seo-yeon’s words.

Kim Seo-yeon also laughed out loud.

They looked at each other and smiled.

There was a faint pink atmosphere between them, or so it seemed.

The staff admired the acting of the two actors.

“They were so awkward in the cafeteria, but they changed the mood so quickly.”

“Right? It’s amazing that they can act like this even when everyone is watching them.”

“That’s why they’re actors.”

The staff whispered quietly so as not to interfere with the audio. Everyone around them agreed with their heads.

“Cut, okay!”

Possible additional sentences:

PD Gong Hee-chan, who was staring at the monitor without blinking, shouted.

***

“The next scene is in the library.”

Jung Bo-ram said as she drank some water. Seo-jun nodded as he closed his water bottle.

The staff moved the equipment to the library and set it up.

Seo-jun and Jung Bo-ram read the script and followed the emotional line of their characters.

They quickly sorted out their emotions from the cafeteria scene and brought out the emotions that suited the current scene.

“Um. Yeah. A little.”

Jung Bo-ram hesitated for a moment, then decided to be honest.

She thought it would be better to listen to Seo-jun’s advice, since he had more experience in shooting than her.

She opened her mouth hesitantly.

“The shooting time is shorter than the others, but there are a lot of emotional changes in the same place.”

“That’s true. The school is the background, so we shoot a lot at once.”

And since the past part was connected by Kim Seo-yeon’s flashback, they also had to cut it short and go on.

“From being indifferent to being very fond of each other to being a little fond of each other. It’s hard to adjust. I don’t even know if I’m doing well right now.”

She sighed again at her words. Seo-jun smiled.

“Don’t worry. You’re doing well.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really. You don’t get any NGs and you match well with me.”

Jung Bo-ram’s face brightened at Seo-jun’s words.

“I feel relieved when the world’s Lee Seo-jun says that.”

She let out a sigh of relief as if exaggerating.

Seo-jun laughed at her expression.

***

“Ready, action!”

One day before the final exam.

Yoo Sung-jin had a hard time adjusting to the school curriculum, which was different from the American one, so he decided to study with Kim Seo-yeon, the class president.

He rolled his eyes and opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

He was worried that Kim Seo-yeon’s grades would drop because she was helping him, since she was planning to go to college early.

“It’s okay.”

She smiled softly as if she liked his cute look of concern.

She continued to speak.

“The test range is up to here, so ask me if you don’t know anything.”

She opened the textbook and showed Yoo Sung-jin the test range.

He looked serious as if he wouldn’t miss a word.

“This is my note. I’ll ask you if I don’t know any English words. And just so you know, I’m bad at math, so don’t bother asking me.”

She said with a mock-serious tone.

He stared at her blankly for a moment and then smiled and nodded.

“I’m good at math, so it’s okay.”

“Really? Then teach me some.”

The library that they borrowed from the teacher.

Kim Seo-yeon and Yoo Sung-jin sat face to face and started studying for the exam.

Scratch scratch.

The sound of pencil lead and paper touching was heard, and warm sunlight shone through the window.

Yoo Sung-jin lifted his head and looked ahead.

He watched Kim Seo-yeon studying with a serious expression and smiled softly.

She lifted her head and looked ahead.

He brushed his hair lightly as if the problem was difficult and she looked at him with a smile.

They looked at each other without knowing it,

And finally, their eyes met.

It felt like time stopped.

It felt like their hearts dropped.

They couldn’t breathe or do anything but look at each other.

Ah.

It was their first love.

Chapter 289

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Chapter 289
When Seo-jun and Jung Bo-ram were filming, a staff member from the art department who was watching the set from afar said to his colleague.
“Don’t you sometimes see those actors?”
“Those actors?”
“Those who get so immersed in their acting that they mistake it for real.”
The colleague nodded, understanding what the staff meant.
“Yeah, sometimes. Those actors.”
The youngest staff member, who was listening attentively for his name to be called, looked at the two staff members.
“They mistake their acting for real?”
“They get caught up in the emotions when their co-star is too good at acting or when they are too invested in their role. They delude themselves.”
“But it’s just acting?”
The two staff members who had been working in this field for a long time laughed at the innocent question of the youngest staff member, who was brought along to do errands for them.
“Well. For example, when Kim Jong-ho plays a villain, he still looks scary even after the shooting is over.”
“Yes. He was scary even on TV.”
“I might unconsciously back away if I met him in person.”
The youngest staff member nodded repeatedly.
The art staff continued.
“If such bad emotions linger, how much more would good emotions linger?”
“Oh. Is that why some actors who play lovers in the work become real lovers?”
“That’s right.”
The art staff nodded. The colleague tilted his head.
“But why do you suddenly bring that up?”
“Well. Seo-jun is good at acting, right? Too good.”
The three heads turned to the set.
Despite the huge camera lens right in front of them, Seo-jun and Bo-ram’s fresh love acting was so amazing that it looked rather unrealistic.
Their playful gestures made them involuntarily smile.
The youngest staff member who was giggling suddenly covered his mouth.
“…Then there could be dating rumors?”
Dating rumors about Seo-jun.
It seemed like the aftermath would be enormous even if he thought about it for a moment.
The art staff shook his head at the barely audible voice of the youngest staff member.
“No. The opposite.”
The OK sign came from PD Gong Hee-chan.
The atmosphere of the two actors, who were full of pink just a moment ago, changed in an instant.
It was a sight that amazed them every time they saw it.
“I don’t know how they can have no emotions left after acting so well. It’s really amazing.”
“That’s true. Seo-jun is famous for being good at switching on and off, but…”
The staff members looked at Bo-ram with strange eyes as she smiled innocently while monitoring with Seo-jun and PD Gong Hee-chan.
“…Is she an acting genius too?”
***
“Bye. Bo-ram.”
“Seo-jun, you too.”
Today’s shooting was over.
Bo-ram greeted Seo-jun and got into the car.
The manager who was sitting in the driver’s seat looked back and said.
“Good job. You don’t have any schedule tomorrow, so just rest well.”
“Yes.”
Bo-ram smiled and fastened her seat belt.
The manager saw Seo-jun’s car leaving the parking lot.
He tapped the steering wheel with his fingers a few times and hesitated before opening his mouth.
“…Are you okay with acting with Seo-jun?”
“? What do you mean?”
“No, I mean. That thing.”
He rolled his eyes and sighed.
“…Don’t you have any romantic feelings?”
Bo-ram burst into laughter at the manager’s words.
Hahaha.
Her laughter filled the car.
The manager touched his forehead.
“This is why I didn’t want to ask you.”
She laughed so hard that she almost cried and said.
“Did they ask you at the company?”
“Yes. I told them I couldn’t feel anything like that when I saw them filming, but they said they didn’t know people’s hearts and told me to ask you.”
“There’s nothing. Nothing at all. Not even 0.001 percent.”
“I knew it. Bo-ram. Call the team leader and tell him. He didn’t seem to believe me at all.”
The manager started the car, remembering the loud voice of the team leader.
Bo-ram picked up her phone and called the team leader.
“What?! How can there be no attraction at all?!”
The words that there was not even 0.001 percent seemed to arouse more suspicion.
“The script is like a real video! How can you not have any feelings when you see it right in front of your eyes? There are so many people who became Seo-jun’s fans with that video!”
Bo-ram and the manager shook their heads as they heard the team leader’s voice from afar.
“Well, I guess I would have thought so too if I hadn’t seen it myself.”
“That’s true.”
“Why not? Is Seo-jun different from his image in real life?”
Bo-ram answered with a smile at the team leader’s question.
“No. He’s exactly like his image. He’s a handsome guy who is kind and loves acting. So… It’s a lie to say that I don’t get nervous, but that’s only during the shooting.”
“…What?”
“Seo-jun is so good at acting that the role and the actor are so! Clearly! Perfectly! Different.”
The manager nodded in agreement as Bo-ram emphasized.
“There’s a look in Yoo Seong-jin’s eyes when he looks at Kim Seo-yeon. It sparkles and looks very happy. You’ll see it in the drama too, team leader. The director said he captured it very well.”
She would be lying if she said she didn’t feel anything after seeing the yellow umbrella scene.
‘Who wouldn’t like that?’
But she knew for sure in the next day’s shooting.
She couldn’t delude herself even if she wanted to, because of the changing eyes right in front of her.
The eyes of love and the eyes of no love.
It was a clear difference, like black and white.
“So when I know that look, I can clearly tell the difference between Seo-jun’s eyes after the acting.
He smiles the same, but it’s completely different.”
The change in Seo-jun’s eyes in a second was shocking.
To be honest, ‘Yoo Sung-jin’ and ‘Lee Seo-jun’ felt like completely different people. If she felt attracted to someone, it would be ‘Yoo Sung-jin’, not ‘Lee Seo-jun’.
***
“Really?”
“You don’t know how much I beg you.”
Seo-jun laughed at Jung Bo-ram’s words.
His mom and dad looked curious too.
He wondered if it was because of this reason.
It was natural to be curious about acting with a girl of his age, especially a romance.
‘Da Ho hyung is watching me on the set, so he knows that there is no such thing, but mom and dad don’t.’
He decided to tell them today that there was nothing like that.
He smiled as he imagined his parents’ bored expressions.
“We have to worry about dating rumors now. I didn’t care about that when I was young.”
“I know. He’s an adult once he finishes high school.”
“Speaking of which, next week is the entrance ceremony. Time flies.”
Jung Bo-ram nodded at Seo-jun’s words.
They were talking about various things about Mirinae High School when they heard the assistant director’s voice.
“We’re starting filming!”
At the shout of the assistant director, Choi Hyun-woo, Seo-jun and Jung Bo-ram got up from their seats.
***
The filming of ‘Spring Has Returned’ went smoothly,
And March came with flowers.
March 2nd.
The entrance ceremony for elementary, middle, and high schools across the country was held.
Mirinae High School, where Seo-jun was going to enter, was also scheduled to have an entrance ceremony today.
The staff of Mirinae High School guided the parents directly to the Mirinae Hall where the entrance ceremony would be held at the school entrance and allowed only the students to enter the school.
“Then we’ll go ahead.”
He waved his hand at his parents who were heading to Mirinae Hall and looked at the paper posted on the bulletin board in front of the main gate.
‘Art department, music department, acting department…’
He found the acting department on the bulletin board and was about to lower his eyes when he felt a movement around his shoulder.
“You’re in the same class as me. Class 1-1.”
It was Han Jinho.
“Really?”
“Joo-kyung and Si-young are also in the same class.”
After that, familiar names came out one after another.
Well, 21 out of 40 students were from Yeoul Art Middle School, so by simple calculation, 10 of them were acquaintances.
“I looked at the names on the bulletin board and it seemed like they split them exactly 10 and 9.”
Seo-jun nodded at Han Jinho’s words.
Perhaps, the teachers had divided them appropriately so that the students from Yeoul Art Middle School would not be clustered on one side.
“It’ll be fun to have new kids.”
“I know. They had fresh reactions on their way here.”
Even as they walked here, the students and parents from Yeoul Art Middle School greeted Seo-jun familiarly, while the students and parents from other middle schools looked at Seo-jun with surprised eyes.
Han Jinho laughed at Seo-jun’s words. He could imagine it without seeing it.
“Let’s go in then.”
“Okay.”
As he walked with Seo-jun to the class 1-1 classroom, Jinho opened his mouth.
“Have you been to Mirinae Hall?”
Seo-jun shook his head regretfully.
“No. It was closed when I took the practical exam.”
There were two auditoriums in Mirinae High School, one was Miru Hall, a performance hall of the same size as Yeoul Hall that only students could use, and the other was Mirinae Hall, a large performance hall that sometimes rented out to outsiders.
“I just went there and it was bigger than Yeoul Hall. The facilities were also good.”
“Really?”
Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled. He had seen the exterior when he visited Mirinae High School, but he had not seen the interior.
He had not been to Mirinae Hall, but he had seen the performances of Mirinae High School on YouTube and knew how good it was.
“I watched the videos on YouTube and it looked like it would be really fun to do a play there.”
“Don’t you want to go to the Milky Way Center too?”
“It would be nice to do both.”
Han Jinho nodded and smiled at Seo-jun’s words.
“But when does the drama promotion start? It airs on the first week of April, right?”
“They said they’ll start TV ads in two weeks.”
As he chatted with Han Jinho and headed to the classroom together, Seo-jun occasionally looked around at Mirinae High School, which was bigger than Yeoul Art Middle School.
He was worried that it was bigger than Yeoul Art Middle School when he took the entrance exam, but he had a chance to find better abilities when the door of the advanced library opened earlier this year.
‘But there are so many people I know…’
He knew a lot of people in not only the first grade but also the second and third grades.
They wouldn’t be so surprised to see Seo-jun, so he thought intermediate abilities would be enough.
It’s not because they seemed hard to find.
“Oh, Seo-jun! Hi!”
“Jinho is here too!”
When they entered the class 1-1 classroom, Kim Joo-kyung and her friends welcomed Seo-jun and Han Jinho.
“Hi.”
When Seo-jun greeted them with a smile, two reactions appeared.
Seo-jun could tell at once who was from Yeoul Art Middle School.
It was because half of them greeted him normally and half of them were surprised.
The kids who experienced Seo-jun’s aura for the first time looked at him blankly.
Seo-jun smiled brightly at those kids.
He knew their names and faces even though they hadn’t introduced themselves yet, because he had seen all the videos uploaded on YouTube.
He talked about the YouTube practical videos and greeted his new friends in class 1-1 when the classroom door opened. It seemed like a student from second or third grade.
The senior opened his mouth nervously.
“Is… Lee Seo-jun here?”
“Yes.”
When Seo-jun raised his hand, the senior was startled.
Kim Joo-kyung blinked her eyes as she watched him.
Huh.
It seemed like a scene she had seen somewhere before.
“Lee Seo-jun is the freshman representative, so… you have to go now…”
“Okay. I got it.”
As Seo-jun followed the senior out, Kim Joo-kyung and other students from Yeoul Art Middle School exclaimed.
“He’s both middle school and high school freshman representative, that’s amazing.”
At that, other kids also shone their eyes.
They realized that they could see the entrance ceremony of Yeoul Art Middle School, which only remained as a postscript, in person.
***
“I wonder if Seo-jun is also a representative this time.”
“Probably.”
Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye sat in the parent seats of Mirinae Hall with cameras in their hands.
They brought the best cameras that could capture Seo-jun clearly wherever he was.
They waited for a while and then the door of Mirinae Hall opened and the third and second graders came in.
And finally, the freshmen who entered this year came in by department and stood side by side in front of the audience seats.
Lee Min-jun looked for familiar faces among the kids.
He couldn’t see Seo-jun near Han Jinho and Kim Joo-kyung in class 1, or near Kang Jae-han and Yang Ju-hee in class 2.
“Seo-jun is not here after all.”
“He must be the freshman representative again.”
Lee Min-jun and Seo Eun-hye waited for the entrance ceremony to begin with a smile that they couldn’t hide.

Chapter 290

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Chapter 290

Yeoul Arts Middle School audition number, 275

Mirinae High School audition number, 541.

And,

Mirinae High School, first year, class 2, Kim Haun.

Kim Haun, who had entered his dream school, looked around with excitement.

He walked along the long road, with Mirinae Hall on his right and Miru Hall on his left.

He saw students and parents saying goodbye to each other.

“Kim Haun! Mom and dad will go check it out too!”

“I hope you’re in the same class as Seo-jun!”

Kim Haun waved to his parents who entered Mirinae Hall.

He followed the long road and saw some kids who looked like freshmen.

As he walked, he saw a wide playground and a big school at the end of the road.

“This is Mirinae High School…!”

Kim Haun tried to calm his pounding heart and headed towards the crowd of kids in front of the school gate.

“Go! I hope I’m in the same class as Seo-jun!”

“Hey. You’re in class 2.”

“Seo-jun is in class 1.”

“Jinho and Joo-kyung are also in class 1.”

He could tell who was from Yeoul Arts Middle School and who was from another middle school just by listening to their conversations.

Kim Haun also looked at the temporary bulletin board.

‘Acting department, class 1…’

The names were written in alphabetical order, but Kim Haun’s name was not there.

“…Ah, I’m in class 2.”

He was disappointed that he couldn’t be in the same class as Seo-jun, but Kim Haun soon headed to class 2 with a cheerful heart.

He greeted his classmates and followed the teacher’s instructions to go to Mirinae Hall.

He saw some kids who looked like they were in class 1 and looked for Seo-jun among them, but he couldn’t find him.

“I guess Seo-jun is the freshman representative again.”

“Yeah.”

He heard Yang Ju-hee, who played the detective Jeon Seong-min and the female lead in Mirror, and Kang Jae-han, who appeared in Escape, talking.

Freshman representative.

He remembered reading a review about it on the internet.

As Kim Haun was recalling his memory, an announcement came on to signal the start of the entrance ceremony.

[We will now begin the 14th entrance ceremony of Mirinae High School.]

The freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and parents applauded.

The ceremony started with the opening speech by the principal of Mirinae High School, followed by the introduction of guests such as the director of ATR Foundation, the pledge of allegiance, and the declaration of admission.

[Next, we will have the oath of the freshman representative.]

[Freshman representative. Acting department Lee Seo-jun.]

Just by hearing his name, the atmosphere in the large Mirinae Hall changed.

It was quiet before, but now it was a silent filled with anticipation and excitement.

A student with a shining aura walked out from the side of the stage.

The door of the advanced library opened and a layer of aura wrapped around Seo-jun’s body, creating a sparkling aura.

The hall erupted with applause at Seo-jun’s appearance.

Seo-jun bowed to the principal and turned around to face the audience.

He opened the oath paper he was holding in his hand.

“Oath.”

Kim Haun stared blankly at Seo-jun on stage.

It was different from the two brief encounters he had before.

“We, 120 freshmen, solemnly swear to abide by the school rules, study hard, and do our best to achieve our dreams.”

Seo-jun’s voice echoed throughout Mirinae Hall.

The stage was bright without a trace of darkness, but it seemed like only Seo-jun’s figure facing the audience was highlighted.

He couldn’t help but look at him and listen to him.

“Freshman representative, Lee Seo-jun.”

As Seo-jun finished his short oath and greeted them, a sigh of regret and applause erupted.

He lifted his head and smiled brightly. He looked different from what he saw on TV or screen.

‘…That kid is superstar Lee Seo-jun.’

Really, he was a sight that suited the spotlight.

***

In mid-March, when he was getting used to his new school life,

Song Yu-jung, who barely passed the entrance exam for her desired university and department after watching Seo-jun’s audition video a few days before the college entrance exam and becoming a fan, and Lim Ye-na, who saw Song Yu-jung’s situation and sealed off her audition video until the day of the college entrance exam, met at a cafe.

“I still sweat when I think about it.”

Song Yu-jung, who had a hard time taking the college entrance exam, started to fangirl over actor Lee Seo-jun very quickly.

She had experience as an idol fan, so she was confident.

Someone said that.

High school seniors who finished the college entrance exam are invincible.

She started to fangirl over actor Lee Seo-jun with her arms raised. But Song Yu-jung soon had a sad face.

“What do actor fans buy with their money?”

Lim Ye-na, who came to the cafe with Song Yu-jung, laughed and said.

“They buy what they see and see again. But Seo-jun has a short hiatus and he uploads some videos on YouTube, so he has more fan service than other actors.”

“He doesn’t do L app or SNS. Idols appear on music shows several times a week, but actors don’t have such programs and they don’t have any spoilers.”

Song Yu-jung, who had seen her idol on the screen as an idol fan, was frustrated by the lack of spoilers other than his works.

“Actor fans. Amazing.”

“You’re an actor fan too. Hehe.”

“I guess so. I’ve watched it so many times that I can memorize the lines.”

“Hmm. Hmm. Very good.”

Lim Ye-na smiled satisfiedly at the sight of a proper actor fan.

“But in two weeks, Spring Has Returned will air, right? Just wait a little longer.”

“Yeah, that. Why don’t they promote it?”

“They’ll start soon.”

As Lim Ye-na, a pro actor fan, said, the next day, the promotion for MBS special drama ‘Spring Has Returned’ and ‘Tomorrow’ began.

[MBS special drama teaser, tomorrow at 9:55 p.m.!]

[Spring Has Returned teaser, airing tomorrow!]

[Spring Has Returned & Tomorrow. Finally, the teasers are airing!]

-…Do they usually write articles about teasers?

=Not really.

=This is the power of Lee Seo-jun.

-Is this worth waiting for?

=?? I’m going to watch it.

=222 Me too.

-But when he was in The Royal Physician, he didn’t appear in the teaser at all.

=…I’m nervous…

-Tomorrow looks interesting too.

=It’s a thriller and it’s only four episodes, so it won’t drag on.

=My heart will be thumpingㅎㅎ

-They’re going to get a lot of ads for this.

=It seems so. They should have thought of this two months agoㅋㅋ

-Ads for the teaser… That’s novelㅋㅋ

=But well, the teaser is over in a flash anyway. You have to wait a few minutes before.

=22 Then you’ll naturally watch the ads before too.

=It’ll be effective.

And on Thursday night, at 9:55 p.m.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na watched TV at their own homes. They had to look at the TV, so they were talking on the phone.

“I didn’t expect you to come home so soon after living alone for less than two weeks.”

“I can’t help it. The TV here is bigger.”

“That’s true! It’s better to watch on a big screen!”

Song Yu-jung nodded in agreement.

She was able to take control of the remote control because it wasn’t time for the drama yet.

Her mother looked at her with a subtle expression.

She wondered why she was acting like that in front of the TV just to watch an ad… Her mother shook her head at her daughter who didn’t change even after going to college.

‘Well, she used to watch ads with idols in them all the time.’

Her mother, who had been looking at Song Yu-jung with a sour eye, also sat on the sofa to watch the 10 p.m. drama.

“Turn it to channel 7 as soon as it’s 10 o’clock.”

“I know. Mine will be over soon anyway.”

The conversation between the mother and daughter reached across the phone.

“Mom! Hello! I’m Ye-na!”

“Hi. Long time no see. Are you watching TV too?”

“Watch it, mom! It’s going to be really fun!”

“…The ad?”

Song Yu-jung was amazed by her friend who was talking naturally with her mother. Lim Ye-na, a pro salesman, tried to pull her mother in too.

KBC 10 p.m. drama for her mother, Song Yu-jung who became a fan of an actor for the first time. Lim Ye-na, a pro salesman. The eyes of three pairs turned to the TV.

-Is it starting?

=No, not yet!

=I can’t believe I’m waiting for a teaser.

-What if Seo-jun doesn’t show up again?

=…If he doesn’t show up, I’ll spam MBS websiteㅎ

=222 There must be something since they wrote an article about it.

-Oh, it’s starting.

=The start is Tomorrow.

The teaser for the thriller drama ‘Tomorrow’ played.

“Wow. Is it a time loop story?”

“What’s a time loop story?”

“A day repeats itself. And until it’s resolved, tomorrow doesn’t come. That’s why the title is Tomorrow.”

“That sounds interesting.”

“Yeah. PD Kim Jin-myeong is good at this kind of thing. It’s fast-paced. It could be boring since it’s the same day as the background, but if it’s directed by PD Kim Jin-myeong, it’ll be fine.”

…Huh? Talking about drama and suddenly PD?

Song Yu-jung and her mother tilted their heads at Lim Ye-na’s words from the phone.

“Um. The writer is not completely unknown. He has some works. But he doesn’t seem to end with a cliffhanger. The synopsis is good and there are some rookies, but the actors are well-matched too?”

“It would have been nice if Seo-jun filmed this too!”

He spouted out explanations as if he had researched them beforehand.

“…You’re scary.”

“Hehehe. Actor fans usually pay attention to these things. And besides, it’s a different time slot, but it’s the same project, so they might be compared. You have to research what kind of work it is.”

Lim Ye-na said with a smile.

“Aren’t idol fans like that too? You wish someone composed for them or something. Producing? You wish they worked with someone who suits them well. That kind of thing. And you also check out other groups that are making a comeback together.”

“Okay. I get it.”

Song Yu-jung nodded her head.

Lim Ye-na laughed and her mother looked at her with thin eyes. She had no idea what she was talking about.

“Oh. It’s over. It’s starting now.”

Lim Ye-na’s words made Song Yu-jung and her mother look at the TV. The title ‘Tomorrow’ appeared below the air date, day, and time.

[MBS special drama]

[Tomorrow]

[Airing on Monday at 10 p.m.!]

-Spring Has Returned airs on Tuesday, I guess.

“That’s right.”

Soon, the word ‘Tomorrow’ disappeared and the screen turned black and then brightened up.

A familiar window appeared in black and white.

She saw buildings and signs passing by through the window.

Raindrops fell on the window as if it was raining.

“Is this inside a bus?”

“It looks like it. The screen is the main character’s point of view, I guess.”

“Black and white is unusual.”

“But is there no sound?”

His mother’s words made Song Yu-jung turn up the volume with the remote control.

He heard a noise that sounded like a bus. It wasn’t that there was no sound, but it was very low.

Was it a broadcast accident? Before I could even ask, the bus screeched to a halt.

They saw two people standing at the bus stop. A female student with a folded umbrella got on the bus and a male student followed her, walking towards the camera outside the bus. The male student, who had a bright face, lowered his umbrella to the side, as if the wind was blowing.

The screen was filled with the umbrella.

And then,

♬

A sweet melody sounded. Yu-jung had turned up the volume, so she heard it clearly. At the same time, color started to appear from the tip of the umbrella that filled the screen.

She didn’t know why, but it seemed like the atmosphere in the video changed at that moment.

From the center of the black-and-white screen, yellow began to spread like paint.

Song Yu-jung, her mother, and Lim Ye-na on the other side of the phone all stared blankly at the screen.

The yellow umbrella slowly lifted up.

The hand holding the umbrella was visible.

The neat uniform was visible.

The smooth jawline was visible.

The soft lips that curved up were visible.

And then,

And then, a title written in elegant cursive appeared.

[MBS Special Drama]

[Spring Has Returned.]

[Airing on Tuesday at 10 p.m.!]

Song Yu-jung, who had been watching without blinking or breathing, screamed at the words on the screen.

“No! Why did it stop here!?”

“Why does it end here!?”

Lim Ye-na’s voice came across the phone like a shriek.

***

-Are they crazy? Why did they stop there!? Why did they end there!?

=22 If they’re going to show something, show it all!!

=333 I couldn’t breathe while watching!

=4444 I was really focused on watching!

-They didn’t even show him at all in the previous teaser, and now they only show half of him…

=Thank goodness. He’ll probably show up more in the next teaser!

=…You’re really optimistic. You are.

=It’s better than not showing him at all.

=222 I agree. Where’s the other half?

-But it went by too fast.

=22 It really passed by in a blink of an eye.

=When will they upload the next teaser?

=Upload it to YouTube quickly. MBS! Work harder MBS!

=Upload it quickly. So I can watch it over and over until the broadcast!

=22 I’m so happy to have new videos to watch!

=I’ll watch it 294207 times!

-Is this what teasers are supposed to be like!?

=They’re probably trying to create some buzz by showing off Lee Seo-jun.

=22 This will all come back as more viewers for the broadcast.

=MBS is smart lol

-I think tomorrow’s episode will be fun and Spring Has Returned will be fun too.

=MBS drama department finally did some work this spring.

-Wow… Lee Seo-jun’s presence is… lol

=His handsomeness is oozing out even from his profile lol

=I felt like I could tell who was behind the umbrella even though it was hidden lol

-I really liked how the color appeared on the screen when Lee Seo-jun showed up.

=222 I couldn’t take my eyes off it.

=The music too. At first, I thought it was a broadcast accident because the sound was so low. But it wasn’t. The sound became normal when the color appeared.

-Is this romance…? Does my world only move when you’re here?

=Ooh, that’s good!

=Memo) My world only moves when you’re here.

=Can I use this phrase in my novel?

=Yup yup yup lol

=Thank you!

=Lol. You changed your profile pic lol

Chapter 291

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 291

[MBS Special Project, The Trailer is Unbelievable!]

[Looking Forward to the Four-Part Drama ‘Tomorrow’!]

[MBS Website Temporarily Down, What’s the Cause?]

[MBS Special Project Drama Trailer Uploaded on YouTube!]

[MBS, ‘Spring Has Returned’ Trailer, Views Explode!]

[Is There a Wind of Short Dramas?]

[The Revival of One-Act Plays? In April, KBC and SBC Also Schedule One-Act Plays!]

-Wow. They uploaded the trailer schedule… Why didn’t they upload it on MBS YouTube?!

-MBS website crashed lol

=Hurry up and upload it on YouTube lol

=Seriously, please upload it soon. It’s annoying to see it in bits and pieces haha

-YouTube is up!!!

=Wow!!! Look at the views lol

=Everyone must have been waiting on MBS channel haha

-I feel like I can watch it over and over again.

-Did they accidentally release the next scene too?

-Someone hack MBS please…

=22 MBS knows what’s coming next…!

-Wow. Look at the damage KBC and SBC are taking from Lee Seo-jun’s work.

=They must have been holding on until the trailer for Spring Has Returned came out, thinking ‘Maybe this work too…?’ But after the trailer came out, they must have felt a sense of crisis that the ratings would be skewed haha

=222 But they seem to be prepared. They released articles right away.

***

Ahn Da Ho brought a big box to Seo-jun’s house. Seo-jun opened the door and his eyes widened when he saw the box that Ahn Da Ho was carrying.

‘Are these all scripts…?’

Seeing Seo-jun’s eyes sparkle at the sight of the box, Ahn Da Ho smiled and said.

“These are not scripts.”

“…I knew it.”

His expression did not look like that at all. Ahn Da Ho smiled at Seo-jun’s disappointed expression and put the box down on the living room floor.

Seo-jun looked at the box with curiosity.

“Then what is it, Da Ho hyung?”

“A gift from America.”

“Fan letters?”

“I don’t know? Open it quickly… Oh, wait a minute. Seo-jun. Let’s film this.”

Ahn Da Ho took out his phone and prepared to film until Seo-jun’s eyes did not leave the box.

“Okay. Open it.”

At Ahn Da Ho’s words, Seo-jun quickly grabbed a cutter and tore off the tape that was wrapped around the box.

He opened the box and there were six more boxes inside. Seo-jun’s hand hesitated at the sight of the boxes filled with boxes.

‘…It’s not a matryoshka, is it?’

He thought of the Russian traditional dolls that had dolls inside dolls, and even smaller dolls inside them.

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders and quickly took out one box and cut off the tape with a cutter.

“Wow…!”

Inside the brown box was a familiar face. Seo-jun’s mouth opened wide.

Wow, he could only utter an exclamation.

Ahn Da Ho filmed Seo-jun’s reaction with a smile.

“…Oh my god!”

He had only opened one box, but Seo-jun’s reaction was intense. Ahn Da Ho opened his mouth at that.

“Open the others too.”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun carefully put down the box he was holding and cut off the tape of another box carefully.

He had cut off the tape with a swift motion before, but now he was completely different.

Ahn Da Ho could not help but chuckle.

“Da Ho hyung! What are these?”

“These are from Marina Studio. They are figure samples, I guess? Or candidates?”

“Candidates?”

“They are concept arts of Jin Natra that Marina Studio chose, and Monster Studio and Mirror Team made figure samples out of them. They picked out the ones that had good quality and could be made into products. These are the ones that got eliminated.”

Seo-jun asked in surprise.

“They got eliminated even though they are so cool?”

Jin Natra running wild with half of his face covered in black lines and three people trying to stop him.

Tul Natra with a painful face and Shadowman with a complicated expression, Bell Natra holding back tears that seemed to fall at any moment.

The dynamic movements of the four characters that seemed to move at any moment, and the wounds that were hurt and torn everywhere. And even the shadows of the three people piercing Jin Natra, and Jin Natra’s shadow on the floor seemed to sway at any moment.

And next to it was a figure of Jin Natra pushing his sword into a white time stone to break it.

A black shadow and a white wave surrounded the center where Jin Natra was.

His hair, which had been calm due to the recoil, was pushed back and his smooth forehead appeared.

He seemed to move at any moment.

He could not believe that these figures, which seemed to reproduce the scenes from the movie perfectly, were eliminated.

“They were so cool that they took a lot of work. So it’s hard to mass-produce them, I guess? Especially, these six were the ones that they thought they couldn’t make into products while making them.”

The initial image was simple, but as they made it, they wanted to reproduce the movie as it was and poured their hearts into it.

And this masterpiece was born.

Jena Trade and Kim Hee-sang shook their heads in admiration when they saw the finished product.

They sent it as a gift to Seo-jun.

“I see.”

Seo-jun nodded his head with a regretful expression.

Ahn Da Ho finished filming and handed Seo-jun a few sheets of paper that he brought with the figure.

“You don’t have to be so sorry. The ones that will be sold are also good. Monster Studio and Mirror Team and Marina Studio worked hard on them.”

Seo-jun looked at the paper that Ahn Da Ho handed him.

“These are pictures of the figures that will be sold. How are they? Aren’t they good?”

Seo-jun looked at the pictures slowly and nodded his head with a smile.

“That’s right. These are also cool, right?”

They were simpler than the figures he had seen, but the quality was good.

“They will start promoting on Monday. They will be posted on Monster Studio’s website and articles are also planned.”

“I hope they sell a lot.”

“They won’t sell because they are out of stock.”

Ahn Da Ho shrugged his shoulders at Seo-jun’s words and continued.

“And the second reason I came here is that I’m going to announce the fan meeting today.”

At Ahn Da Ho’s words, Seo-jun thought for a moment and opened his mouth.

“Da Ho hyung. Can I post this?”

“That would be even better. Anyway, today’s announcement is just to let them know that there’s a fan meeting. The details of the fan meeting will be posted in a few days.”

“Then I’ll post it!”

Ahn Da Ho nodded and Seo-jun came out with his laptop.

He entered [Sprout] cafe familiarly and his eyes widened when he saw the cafe’s main page. He didn’t know when it was made, but there was a picture of Seo-jun smiling under a yellow umbrella. The surroundings were black and white and only Seo-jun was colored. It looked special.

[Our world moves because you are here.]

It was a catchy phrase.

He chuckled and entered [Cocoa Entertainment/Notice] board. He clicked on the write button and wrote a post.

[Title: Sprouts! See you in May!]

[Author: Lee Seo-jun]

[Sprout] exploded with the sudden news of the fan meeting.

***

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, Announces Fan Meeting in May!]

[Lee Seo-jun “See you in May!”]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun’s Fan Meeting Ticketing? Picketing!]

-TT Seo-jun is having a fan meeting!! It’s been a long time TT

-I couldn’t go last time either, but this time it will be more fierce…

=22 It’s going to be crazy;;;

-I hope the venue is big enough for me to go, but if it’s too big, I won’t be able to see Seo-jun well, so I hope it’s small. Haha I’m going crazy haha

-It’s going to be Lee Sun-joa anyway, right? Let’s just think we can’t go.

=222 How on earth can I buy tickets…

***

“That’s it for today’s review of Redbone 4. Wow. The Redbone series is over already.”

-Bittersweet TT

-Shadowman ended and Redbone ended TT

-Isn’t Assemble also ending with 3 this year and 4 next year?

“That’s right. They need to come up with a new hero to lead Marina Studio before that. Well, let’s leave that worry to Marina Studio. We still have some time left, so let’s check out some new news from Marina Studio.”

-Fi. Gu. Re!

-Shadowman figure!

-It finally came out!!

“Technically, it’s a sales preview. Let’s go to Monster Studio’s website. I haven’t seen what characters they have or what they look like yet.”

“Monster Studio is a brand that specializes in monster-themed dolls & accessories. It’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s Lee Seo-jun’s brand, as he always has one or two of their products whenever he takes a picture. As you can see from the name, all of their products are designed with monsters. They have a variety of target groups and products, from children to adults. I have quite a few of them too.”

-Did you get sponsored by them?

-But I have some too.

-222 The material is good and sturdy, so it’s perfect for kids’ toys.

-But the early products were a bit maniac haha

-Twin Head Troll lol

-I saw that on Seo-jun’s mukbang too. He must have liked it since he was a baby.

-…Where???

“Anyway, let’s get back to the point. If you go to Monster Studio’s website, you’ll see a pop-up window right away.”

[Marina Studio ‘Shadowman Series’ Figures Coming Soon!]

“Wow. The pop-up window alone looks good.”

Moviegoer pulled his chair closer to the computer screen.

“I’m going to buy it no matter what, but I’m really curious what they look like. It’s a collaboration between Monster Studio and Marina Studio, Jena Trade and Mirror Team!”

-Really, how do I wait until this comes out TT

-I already decided what to buy.

-What are you going to buy? I’m still undecided…

-I’m going to buy everything.

-…! That makes sense!

-lololol

“I haven’t seen them yet. No spoilers please. Let me click on the pop-up window first.”

Moviegoer clicked on the pop-up window. A new screen appeared. There were four links with a cool background.

[Shadowman][Bell Natra]

[Tul Natra][Jin Natra]

“The models are four. I wish they had the spaceship too… It would be cool to make a diorama with Gwanghwamun or Gyeongbokgung models, don’t you think?”

-Ooooh. That would be!

-Won’t they come out as Lego products haha

-I have to buy that too lol

“Let’s look at the Shadowman figure first.”

[Shadowman3-Shadowman]

[Shadowman3-Bell Natra]

“I already have Shadowman and Bel Natra figures, but they are different from the costumes in Shadowman 3, so I’m not sure. And looking at the pictures, it seems like Jena Trade and Mirror Team put their hands on them.”

-Definitely, the quality is better than 1 and 2.

-It feels like they paid attention to the details.

He hesitated for a moment and nodded his head.

“I’ll buy both. It’s better than regretting not buying them.”

-As expected of Moviegoer. There’s no retreat in fandom haha

-He’s at the level of going on a world tour right after watching the movie, what’s a figure or two haha

-Please upload a review video when you get the figure!

“Sure. I’ll upload a figure review video. Let’s look at the Tul Natra figure next.”

[Shadowman3-Tul Natra]

It was a scene where Tul Natra was ready to fight, looking at someone with a shadowed face. His eyes, his tightly closed lips, they seemed to reveal Tul Natra’s feelings.

-Is this the scene where he sees Jin Natra in Central Park?

-I think so.

-To recognize this in one go… How many times did you watch the movie lol

“Um. I’ll buy this too.”

-Do I hear the sound of my bank account becoming empty?

-222 My empty account TT

“Next is Jin Natra, but… I’m kind of scared to click on it.”

He said that, but Moviegoer didn’t hesitate for a second and clicked on Jin Natra’s link.

“There are four of them. It’s nice to have a lot of figures, but I feel like crying when I think of my bank account that will be empty.”

-Well, there are three series, so…

-Yeah, they came out all at once.

-You’re going to buy them all anyway haha

The first thing he saw was a very cute figure.

[Shadowman1-William(with bear doll(William))]

Moviegoer and the viewers smiled warmly at the sight of William holding a bear doll and smiling brightly.

-It’s when his mom called him.

-Yeah, when he got up after sitting down.

-I have to buy this!

“I have to buy this, it’s the starting point of Hollywood actor Lee Seo-jun. Wow. I feel like crying just looking at it.”

He looked at the picture on the screen and clicked on the next figure.

[Shadowman2-Jin Natra]

It was Jin Natra who had grown up and was touring Central Park with Shadowman.

His expression was noble and warm.

The chat room was filled with tears from the viewers who knew how he would change.

-TT Jin Natra TT

-He hasn’t turned dark yet TT

-A dark version would be nice too haha

-Won’t the dark version come out next time?

-Are you going to buy this too?

“I have to. It’s a series, so it would be nice to put it right here, don’t you think? I have a lot of space to display them.”

Moviegoer pointed to the display case he had prepared since the announcement of the figure production.

-You already prepared it?

-Very thorough preparation.

The next thing that came out was the Shadowman 3 version.

[Shadowman3-Jin Natra(Natra Planet)]

Jin Natra in a black uniform and cloak, holding a spear made of shadows in one hand.

He looked down on everyone with a cold gaze.

It seemed to capture him exactly as he was in the movie.

-It’s when he fought with the knights in front of the underground temple!

-As expected of Mirror Team!

-I want to buy this…!

[Shadowman3-Jin Natra(Earth/Erosion)]

The floor that was deeply sunk by Jin Natra’s power and the shadows that looked like they would sway at any moment even though they were clearly solid.

The black line that covered half of Jin Natra’s face and the white thread inside it.

His expression and eyes that were both painful and fierce.

Moviegoer and the viewers were amazed by the atmosphere that they felt through the screen.

“It’s when he fought in Central Park. Wow. Really. It’s like they recreated the movie exactly.”

-No joke…!

-They even drew the white line inside the black line!

-His expression and eyes… Wow… Is this a figure?

And the last figure.

Moviegoer and the viewers were speechless for a moment when they saw the picture.

And then the chat room was flooded with cries.

They felt the same emotion as they did then.

-I’m going to buy this TT TT TT

-I’m going to buy everything TT TT TT!

-I don’t care about anything else, but I have to buy this! T T

[Shadowman3-William(with gifts)]

William leaning against the familiar front door and sleeping, holding an old bear doll and a new bear doll in his arms.

And two gift boxes next to William.

His pink cheeks that looked soft and his black hair that seemed to sway in the wind. The happy smile on his face made Moviegoer nod his head.

“…Yeah. I have to buy this for sure.”

-…Are you crying?

-Moviegoer is crying!!

-Breaking news) Moviegoer cries!

“Sniff, I’m not crying!”

The chat room was full of teasing despite his words.

Chapter 292

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 292

[‘Shadowman Series’ Figures Coming in May!]

[William & Jin Natra! The Entire Series Figures!]

[Marina Studio × Monster Corp × Mirror Team, A Perfect Synergy!]

-This is insane. I want to buy them all.

-You can feel the vibe just by looking at the photos. Mirror Team did a great job.

=Monster Co. too. They made such high-quality figures.

-I wish Seo-jun would make figures for his other works too.

=22 I really want to collect them all in order now that Shadowman 1 is out.

-What’s going on in May? Figures and Seo-jun’s fan meeting.

=May is still during Spring Has Returned, right?.. What’s going on indeed.

=It feels like getting a Children’s Day gift even though I’m not a child.

-I have a lot of expenses in May already… But I can’t help it. I have to start saving money from now on!

=222 If you don’t buy them now, you’ll regret it later.

-As a fan of Seo-jun, I have to buy the figures of his first work.

=And 3 William is so touching that I have to buy it, Jin Natra before corruption is so admirable that I can’t help but cry seeing him grow up right in that situation, and Jin Natra after corruption is so overwhelming that I have to buy it.

=You mean you’re buying them all.

***

Today was the shooting day for the modern part of Spring Has Returned.

As usual, Seo-jun and Jung Bo-ram appeared on the set.

“Seo-jun is unbeatable when it comes to popularity.”

Park Do-hoon said with a smile and Seo-jun laughed shyly.

It had been a week since the news about the fan meeting and the figures came out, but the internet was still buzzing.

“I think it’s because of the unboxing video I uploaded on YouTube a few days ago. I didn’t know people liked figures so much.”

The high-quality figures that recreated the scenes from the movie without being sold aroused the desire of Shadowman fans.

“I want them too…”

Kang Tae-young groaned as he looked at the photos of the figures that Seo-jun sent him.

“…Seo-jun. Are you really not selling them?”

Kang Tae-young asked cautiously and Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

The phone calls and inquiries to Monster Co. were so many that Uncle Hee-sang and Dad were having a hard time.

According to Da Ho hyung, Marina Studio was also crazy.

“If they do sell them, I think they will be hard to make, so the quantity will be small. Maybe they will sell them by limited reservation.”

“…I’m unlucky, so I won’t get them.”

“Cheer up. They said they will sell other versions later. Tae-young hyung.”

“Seo-jun.”

“Yes?”

“Can I come over to your house and see them?”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and answered Kang Tae-young’s timid question.

“Of course. You can come anytime.”

Kang Tae-young was so excited that he grinned.

“Then how about next week? Let’s watch the first broadcast together!”

“You’re crazy. His parents are there too. How can he stay up late?”

Yoon Hye-in said and Kang Tae-young realized his mistake.

“And the first broadcast is reserved by Director Gong at a restaurant.”

“I didn’t hear that?!”

Kang Tae-young’s eyes turned to his manager Joo Yong-jin. Joo Yong-jin shook his head vigorously. He had definitely told him. It was Kang Tae-young who was too excited about the figures and fan meeting and ignored him.

***

Monday of the first week of April.

MBS special project drama, 4-part series ‘Tomorrow’ aired.

[MBS Special Project Drama, ‘Tomorrow’ Ratings 10%!]

[A Great Start! The Highest Ratings Among 4-Part Series!]

[The Spillover Effect of ‘Spring Has Returned’?]

[An Exciting Plot! Will ‘Tomorrow’ Come Next Week?]

-It was fun.

-They all acted well and it was interesting.

=22 The actors were perfect. The directing was good too.

[Tonight at 10 p.m., MBS ‘Spring Has Returned’ First Broadcast!]

[Seo-jun’s First Drama Comeback in 7 Years! What Will Be The Ratings?]

[Who Is The Real First Love? Park Do-hoon or Kang Tae-young?]

[‘Spring Has Returned’ Trailer, When Will The Next Scene With The Yellow Umbrella Be?]

-Wow. Finally they’re doing it.

=I’ve been waiting for this since February!

-It’s been 7 years since his comeback… Time flies.

=He did a lot of movies. This is his second drama.

-Oh. It’s 8 o’clock now!

-It’s 9 o’clock!

-Wow. There are a lot of ads.

=They must have sold them all. And all to big companies.

=1,000% they sold them all. It was like this during The Royal Physician too.

-Will they show the next scene of the trailer today?

=No way. They’ll probably save it for the last episode for the hype.

=They don’t need to do that to make us watch it.

-Finally the ads are over!

=It’s starting!

**

An office where everyone is holding their breath.

The team leader of Planning Team 3 is furious and a woman is bowing her head in front of him.

“How many times is this!”

The team leader yelled at Kim Seo-yeon and she kept her head down.

That ad plan was outdated.

It didn’t fit the internet ads.

The celebrity was expensive and had a different target audience.

She had a lot to say, but what was the point of saying it?

Kim Seo-yeon wondered if the rejected plan was really hers.

It would be better than this, the client prefers this, how could you make such a plan, from the font to the content.

The team leader who was involved in everything was angry in front of her.

He would interfere with anything that seemed profitable and take credit for it, but he would back off when it failed.

It wasn’t the first or second time.

She had no choice but to nod obediently when the team leader told her to come to work on the weekend.

“Get out!”

“Yes. I’m sorry…”

She didn’t even know why she had to apologize.

She was just too used to it and didn’t think much about it.

Kim Seo-yeon bowed again and went back to her seat.

There were many sympathetic eyes around her, but Kim Seo-yeon didn’t notice them at all.

Kim Seo-yeon came to work on the weekend as the team leader said and did enough work for weekdays.

She got off work and got on the bus home.

She wasn’t angry that she had to work on the weekend.

She just wondered how long she had to live like this.

Kim Seo-yeon looked out the window with a blank expression.

‘Maybe… I should get into an accident. Then I wouldn’t have to go to work…’

The bus stopped at a station. It was drizzling. A girl got on the bus and a boy outside smiled at her.

They looked happy. Their lively faces contrasted with Kim Seo-yeon’s lifeless one.

The wind blew. The boy’s umbrella tilted.

Kim Seo-yeon’s eyes were dyed yellow. The OST of Spring Has Returned played.

The yellow umbrella slowly rose up.

A smooth chin. Soft lips curled up.

Flushed cheeks. A straight nose.

And warm eyes that were brighter than the sun.

Under the yellow umbrella.

A boy who was in love smiled brightly like a newly bloomed flower.

Kim Seo-yeon stared blankly at the boy.

-Wow…

-…Oh my god.

The viewers also stared blankly at the boy.

They were speechless at the boy’s smile that filled the screen.

She blinked a few times and the bus was moving again.

Kim Seo-yeon quickly stuck to the window and looked outside.

She saw a boy with a yellow umbrella waiting for the bus. But it wasn’t him.

“…Who is he?”

Kim Seo-yeon thought about who he was. She searched her memory like looking for a needle in a haystack, but nothing came up.

“…Is he a celebrity? He has a perfect visual for an ad model.”

She laughed at herself for thinking about ads even at this time. She felt a little better with her hollow laugh.

She didn’t know if it was because of the boy she just remembered.

Her good mood lasted for a week and then it hit rock bottom again.

She went to work feeling hopeless and heard that the team leader had changed as soon as she entered the office.

“So suddenly?”

“They didn’t say why, but maybe there were too many reasons.”

Kim Seo-yeon and her co-workers nodded at the same time.

He would go home when he said he was going out, and he would meddle in other people’s plans and take their results. Someone must have reported him with resignation in mind.

Then, the head of HR came with someone.

Kim Seo-yeon and her co-workers widened their eyes at the appearance of a stranger.

The head of HR introduced him.

“This is Lee Hyun-sung, who will be in charge of Planning Team 3 from today.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Hyun-sung.”

His cold voice and stiff expression reminded Kim Seo-yeon of an unexpected memory.

A memory of a classroom that felt unfamiliar now.

She was chatting with her friends when a transfer student came in with the homeroom teacher.

The transfer student looked around the classroom with a hard face and opened his mouth.

“Hello. I’m Yoo Sung-jin. I came from America.”

Wow. Amazing.

There were murmurs from here and there. They knew he transferred from somewhere else, but they didn’t expect it to be America.

The kids’ eyes sparkled. He was handsome and he came from America, so he captured their attention at once.

“Then, Sung-jin… Seo-yeon.”

“Yes.”

Kim Seo-yeon raised her hand at the teacher’s call.

The transfer student from America, Yoo Sung-jin, looked around the classroom and his eyes met Kim Seo-yeon’s, who was sitting by the window.

The new team leader Lee Hyun-sung and Kim Seo-yeon’s eyes met.

Then, Kim Seo-yeon realized who the boy in the bus was.

He wasn’t a celebrity she saw passing by, or a fantasy she imagined because she was too tired.

‘Yoo Sung-jin.’

He was Kim Seo-yeon’s first love.

***

She heard from her colleague in HR and came back to her seat.

The co-worker next to her recited the information about Lee Hyun-sung.

“He came from America. He was headhunted. They were planning to make a new planning team for overseas ads, but he will adapt here first and then recruit new employees and make a new team. No wonder… Even if there was an internal report, they wouldn’t change it so suddenly, but maybe it’s because they had a new team leader coming. He’s 32 years old… Oh? He’s the same age as you, Kim?”

At the word ‘same age’, Kim Seo-yeon unconsciously thought of the team leader.

Lee Hyun-sung, who looked like her first love. Somehow, the fact that he came from America bothered her more.

“…But his name is different.”

***

A new proposal for an ad came in after the new team leader arrived.

It was from a rival company of the one that rejected her plan a while ago.

She sighed inwardly at the similar product photos, when Lee Hyun-sung spoke to her.

“Would you like to take this job, Kim Seo-yeon?”

“…What? Oh, yes. I’ll do it.”

Kim Seo-yeon looked at the job she was given unexpectedly.

She couldn’t rewrite the plan that the previous team leader had ruined, so she had to start from scratch.

“Why did he give this to me?”

“I know, right? The team leader must know that this is a rival ad of the one we got rejected…”

“He knows?”

“I heard he checked all the recent ad plans. Yours must have been there too.”

“I wonder why he chose me then.”

Was he trying to make her fail twice?

A shadow crossed Kim Seo-yeon’s face.

***

“Can I sit here?”

“Uh. Sure.”

Cafeteria.

Lee Hyun-sung, the team leader, took a seat in front of Kim Seo-yeon.

She ate her lunch awkwardly facing Lee Hyun-sung, and his hand holding chopsticks came into her sight.

He had pretty fingers, she thought, and remembered an old memory.

***

“You should try this. It’s good.”

Yoo Sung-jin, who had been staring at the spicy pork without a word, picked up his chopsticks.

She thought he wouldn’t know how to use chopsticks since he came from America, but he held them in an 11 shape and looked familiar.

‘He has pretty fingers.’

Her eyes were drawn to his hand for some reason.

She glanced at her own hand and held her breath at Yoo Sung-jin, who was putting spicy pork in his mouth.

Was it because she had been looking at him all morning?

She felt like she could read his expressionless face a little.

He smiled a little.

Kim Seo-yeon smiled back.

***

‘I thought he had pretty fingers.’

She thought of Yoo Sung-jin whenever she saw Lee Hyun-sung.

“I thought you could do well.”

“…What?”

She heard his voice and looked at Lee Hyun-sung.

His expressionless face continued.

“I thought you might be curious why I picked you. I heard that we got an ad proposal from a competitor of the product we’re working on. The plans were still there. I saw the original plan that you made.”

Kim Seo-yeon stared blankly at Lee Hyun-sung.

The original plan.

That was the plan that had her thoughts before the previous team leader messed with it.

“It was good. Of course, we have to make a new plan since it’s a different company, but I thought you could do well.”

Kim Seo-yeon felt like Lee Hyun-sung’s cold face was smiling a little.

***

She prepared the plan with anxiety and it pleased the client.

She sighed with relief and went to find the CF director who would take care of the shooting.

“Hello. I’m Choi Yoo-won, the director in charge of this shooting.”

Choi Yoo-won greeted her with a gentle smile and Kim Seo-yeon shook his hand with a smile too.

Chapter 293

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 293

One hour before the first episode of ‘Spring Has Returned’ aired.

Seo-jun and the others arrived at the restaurant to watch the first broadcast together. He tilted his head as he looked at the place.

“Da Ho hyung. Is this it?”

“Yeah.”

“It looks familiar…”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek as he recognized the entrance of the old-looking store.

He opened the door and went inside.

Ding, a bell rang and the staff and actors who were already seated looked at the entrance.

They cheered up when they saw Seo-jun. He smiled and greeted them as he heard their voices.

“Seo-jun is here! Bo-ram is already here too!”

“Hello, writer.”

Seo-jun smiled at Yu Cheonga, the writer who seemed excited as her first work was about to be broadcasted nationwide in an hour.

“Writer, did you ask Writer So Eun-jin about this place?”

“How did you know? She said the TV is big and the food is good, so I came here.”

“I came here when ‘The Royal Physician’ aired for the first time.”

The staff and actors who were eating and drinking while listening to Seo-jun’s words widened their eyes.

“This is where the legend began…”

“The 40% ratings…”

The old-fashioned interior seemed more elegant somehow.

The assistant directors Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo touched the wall and prayed.

“Please let us have a hit too!”

“Please give us high ratings!”

Everyone laughed at their antics. The door opened and Park Do-hoon and his manager came in. Seo-jun greeted Park Do-hoon with a smile.

“Do-hoon hyung, you’re here?”

“You were already here?”

“I just got here too.”

Then, Kang Tae-young and Yoon Hye-in followed them.

The two actors exchanged greetings with everyone and sat down at the table where Seo-jun, Jung Bo-ram, and Park Do-hoon were sitting.

The lighting director looked around and said with a smile.

“Director Gong is at the broadcasting station. Everyone who should be here is here, so our writer who is debuting today should say something, right?”

“Hmm. Should I?”

Yu Cheonga, who would normally decline, seemed to be in a good mood today as she stood up right away.

She held a beer glass and looked around.

The grateful actors and staff looked at Yu Cheonga.

“Debuting writer, debuting director, you must have had a hard time, right? We couldn’t have filmed so smoothly without you guys. Thank you so much. Director Gong must feel the same way too. You all worked hard since February until now. And please keep up the good work until the end of filming! Spring Has Returned, fighting!”

“Spring Has Returned, fighting!!”

Clamor.

The people who didn’t worry about ratings at all laughed and chatted happily.

“Spring Has Returned! It’s starting!”

Everyone’s eyes turned to the TV at Choi Hyun-woo’s words. The long and tedious commercials ended and the opening screen and OST that Director Gong worked hard on came out.

***

Time passed and ‘Spring Has Returned’ ended with a scene of Kang Tae-young and Yoon Hye-in smiling and greeting each other. The people who were watching the drama looked at one place.

“Ratings!”

“It must be over 10%, right?!”

“It’s 10% tomorrow, it must be over that!”

Yu Cheonga, who was on the phone with Director Gong, switched to speaker mode.

-!!!

Cheers erupted from across the phone.

It was so loud that Director Gong’s words couldn’t be heard properly.

The assistant directors Kim Dan-bi and Choi Hyun-woo heard the voices of the drama department head and CPs among them.

MBS drama department seemed to be in a festive mood already.

The staff and actors who kept their mouths shut looked for Director Gong’s voice among them.

-…Writer! 21! 21%!

“…Wow!”

“21% for the first episode!”

They cheered louder than expected at the high ratings.

Seo-jun and Jung Bo-ram, who were going to go home after hearing the ratings, also smiled brightly.

***

[‘Spring Has Returned’ first episode ratings hit!]

[Overwhelmingly number one in its time slot with 21%!]

[Crazy ratings! This is Lee Seo-jun’s effect!]

[Full version of preview released from episode one! A smile beyond imagination!]

[Full version of Yellow Umbrella uploaded on YouTube! Exploding views!]-They all acted so well that I was annoyed.

=I was waiting for Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung to appear. Former team leader, you’re too good at acting.

=Yoon Hye-in too. She looked like a worn-out office worker.

-But there’s no such handsome team leader in reality.

=222 The reality of working on weekends as an advertising planner is amazing.

=I feel like the two above comments are not laughing.

-I thought the umbrella scene would come out in the last episode, so I was going to binge watch it, but it came out in the first episode?

=I know, right? I was going to binge watch it since it’s only one episode per week… I guess I’ll just follow the live broadcast.

-I really screamed in reality when Seo-jun appeared.

=22 I was watching it in my room and my parents ran over.

=333 Me too.

-I couldn’t even scream.

=22 I just stared blankly.

-We might have different reactions, but we’re probably watching the clip video over and over again.

=How did you know?

-Ratings. They’re really amazing.

=MBS must be having a party.

‘Spring Has Returned’ was a hot topic all week long.

The clip video of the scene behind the yellow umbrella was uploaded and the main page of [Sprout] changed.

The views of the clip video increased tremendously.

-But didn’t they say they were looking for their first love? It’s too obvious that it’s Lee Hyun-sung.

=22 When I see Yoo Sung-jin, I feel like he’s Lee Hyun-sung. It’s amazing.

=The cafeteria scene too. It felt like Yoo Sung-jin grew up and became Lee Hyun-sung.

=It’s better because their first meeting was similar.

-Then is Kang Tae-young the sub-male lead?

=Maybe? When — and – are together, — wins, right?

=What does that mean?

=Oh… generation gap.

=Usually, the male lead is rude. Cold city man, only warm to my woman, something like that?

=And the sub always smiles and then fades away with a sad smile.

-I get sub-syndrome because of that.

=222 I don’t understand. Why do you like rude male leads?

=…Because they’re male leads?

=That’s why Spring Has Returned is Lee Hyun-sung too.

=Then it’s not about finding their first love?

=We’ll have to see the next episode.

=Why is it only one episode per week…!

And on Tuesday.

The second episode of ‘Spring Has Returned’ aired.

Kim Seo-yeon’s work seemed to be going smoothly.

She thought everything would be fine as long as the model came and filmed.

Her phone rang.

It was a call from the model agency.

She pressed her forehead as she talked.

A car accident…!

“Ah…”

She felt dizzy.

All her hard work was gone. She couldn’t think straight.

Her ears were ringing and she couldn’t move.

Nothing went right.

Why did these things happen to her?

She thought her life would be easier when she switched from the former team leader to Lee Hyun-sung, but now she felt like everything was falling apart with this incident.

Choi Yoo-won, the director who was looking around the set, spotted Kim Seo-yeon with a pale face.

“Kim assistant! Assistant! Seo-yeon!”

Kim Seo-yeon came to her senses at Choi Yoo-won’s voice.

“What’s wrong?”

“…The model got into a car accident… What should we do?”

She couldn’t think of anything.

She didn’t even know why she was acting like this.

She was just overwhelmed. It was hard.

Choi Yoo-won noticed Kim Seo-yeon’s panic and spoke.

His voice was calm and gentle.

“Seo-yeon, you have backup models, right?”

“Yes… at the company…”

“Let’s call one of them who has time.”

Kim Seo-yeon nodded slowly at Choi Yoo-won’s words.

She contacted her junior and waited for the documents.

She saw someone she didn’t expect to see here.

She saw Lee Hyun-sung at the end of the hallway and remembered Yoo Sung-jin standing at the end of the school hallway.

Kim Seo-yeon at eighteen smiled brightly at him unlike now.

“Sung-jin! The art room is this way.”

“…Okay.”

Yoo Sung-jin seemed to smile slightly as he looked at Kim Seo-yeon.

“Here you go.”

She heard a deep voice and snapped out of it.

She took the paper from Lee Hyun-sung.

“What are you doing here, team leader?”

“I’m the only one who had time. I called them on my way here. Let’s start filming as soon as they contact us.”

Lee Hyun-sung’s phone rang as he spoke.

He winked at Kim Seo-yeon and answered the phone. Kim Seo-yeon sighed in relief.

**

Lee Hyun-sung left and the filming continued.

She felt relieved as the filming went smoothly.

She felt exhausted as she sat on a chair.

She thought she had been pushed to the limit.

“I could have thought of it if I tried a little…”

Choi Yoo-won, who saw Kim Seo-yeon looking troubled during the break, walked over to her.

“Seo-yeon, are you okay?”

Kim Seo-yeon lifted her head at his voice. She saw Choi Yoo-won under the light. She widened her eyes.

“Are you okay?”

She remembered Yoo Sung-jin’s worried eyes.

Kim Seo-yeon at eighteen smiled at him.

“It’s okay. I just didn’t sleep well because I was studying yesterday.”

“You still have some time before the exam, but you’ll collapse if you push yourself too hard.”

“I know. I should go to bed early today.”

“Just sleep now. I’ll wake you up when the teacher comes.”

Kim Seo-yeon chuckled as she rolled her eyes for a moment.

“Should I do that?”

She lay down on her desk.

She was adjusting her posture comfortably and breathing slowly when she felt Yoo Sung-jin’s gaze on her.

Her nape felt hot.

She felt embarrassed for some reason and moved her feet slightly before stopping.

She seemed to fall asleep like that.

And here.

Another man who reminded her of Yoo Sung-jin, Choi Yoo-won.

***

After the second episode of ‘Spring Has Returned’ ended, the viewers’ reactions exploded and the internet was filled with comments full of question marks.

MBS was celebrating as the drama became a hot topic every time it aired.

-?? What is this? Why does Yoo Sung-jin suddenly look like Choi Yoo-won junior?

=22 Yoo Sung-jin’s smile is exactly like Choi Yoo-won’s, right?

=333 So it’s not just me who felt that?

-Wow… Wait a minute. Who is the male lead then? Lee Hyun-sung? Choi Yoo-won?

=It was obvious that it was Lee Hyun-sung until last week… But this changes everything.

=222 This changes everything. Now I see why they said they were looking for their first love.

-I think it’s amazing that episode 1 had Lee Hyun-sung vibe, episode 2 had Choi Yoo-won vibe. If you cut out only the past parts, there’s no discomfort in Yoo Sung-jin’s appearance. Yoo Sung-jin+a kind of vibe?

=That a is too amazing. How can he look like both Lee Hyun-sung and Choi Yoo-won?

=As expected of Lee Seo-jun…

=He’s scary now…

***

[MBS special drama, thriller ‘Tomorrow’ final episode ratings, 16%!]

[‘Tomorrow’, highest ratings for a four-episode drama!]

[Next Monday, ‘Tomorrow Special’ special broadcast!]

[‘Spring Has Returned’ episode 4 ratings 28%!]

-Lee Hyun-sung ten spoons, Choi Yoo-won ten spoons. Mix them well with a young vibe and voila, Yoo Sung-jin!

=That’s exactly how it feels.

=Or maybe Lee Hyun-sung when serious, Choi Yoo-won when smiling.

=It’s amazing how the vibe changes like that.

=Two adult roles for one child role? I didn’t understand why but now I don’t understand. He’s so good at it.

-So who is the male lead? Lee Hyun-sung? Choi Yoo-won?

=It’s obviously Lee Hyun-sung. Lee Hyun-sung!

=It’s obviously Choi Yoo-won. Choi Yoo-won!

=Why does it have to be Lee and Yoo? Shouldn’t it rhyme with Hyun-Yoo/Sung-Won?

=The child’s name is Yoo Sung-jin, right? Yoo/Sung!

=Oh. That’s right.

-I think they’re both different routes of Yoo Sung-jin. Yoo Sung-jin evolves into either Lee Hyun-sung or Choi Yoo-won.

=Evolution. Is Yoo Sung-jin 2B?

=Yoo Sung-jin 2B story.

=Yeah, Lee Hyun-sung is the evolution of the stone of humanities. Choi Yoo-won is the evolution of the stone of art.

-Where can I get the stone of humanities? I want to evolve him into Lee Hyun-sung!

=I want the stone of art.

-But don’t you think if you evolve him well with the stone of art, he’ll turn into Seo-jun?

=…Wow… How do you evolve him like that?

=222 That must be really hard.

Chapter 294

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 294

On Saturday afternoon, the same week that the fourth episode of ‘Spring Has Returned’ aired.

Kang Tae-young was sitting in front of his computer, nervously shaking his legs and switching between his computer and phone screens.

He had tried several times to simulate the ticketing process with his mouse.

He felt that the site was slowing down, and it was not just his imagination.

“Spring Has Returned is almost number one in the plus rankings in other countries, so you’ll have a lot of overseas schedules starting next week… Kang Tae-young. Are you listening?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“…You don’t seem to be listening at all.”

Today was the day of actor Lee Seo-jun’s fan meeting ticketing.

He had prayed to every god in the world yesterday, and he had placed purification water and a talisman on his computer this morning.

He had made a huge fuss, and Joo Yong-jin remembered his expression with a small smirk.

“Should I book a schedule for you on the day of the fan meeting?”

“No!”

“…You’re good at listening to this kind of thing.”

Kang Tae-young looked at him with desperate eyes, and Joo Yong-jin sighed and nodded.

***

A few days ago, the filming of ‘Spring Has Returned’ was over.

Seo-jun had enjoyed every day, watching the modern part of the filming on weekdays and filming the past part on weekends.

He felt empty after the filming ended.

“I want to film more-”

“Then should I bring you some new offers next week?”

Seo-jun shook his head at Ahn Da Ho’s question.

“Hmm. No. After the fan meeting. I have midterms in May.”

He spoke with a regretful voice, holding a script in his hand.

It was not a new work, but a script for the play ‘Mirror’.

“But you already memorized all the lines for Mirror, didn’t you?”

“Well, yes, but… Every time I do a play, it feels different. What if I make a mistake by going on stage without looking at the script?”

Seo-jun smiled brightly.

“I want to show my best side to my fans.”

He wanted to show his fans the most amazing play.

“Oh, I made plans to practice with my friends after the midterms. Until the fan meeting.”

Ahn Da Ho nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

“Okay. Where? Where are you going to practice?”

“Can we use the company’s practice room?”

“Of course. I’ll let the staff know.”

Seo-jun quickly sent a message to his friends.

They seemed excited by the thought of seeing Brown Black, White, and Red Crown at Cocoa Entertainment.

‘…Who’s at the company?’

Seo-jun rolled his eyes.

The Brown Black guys were on a break and didn’t come to the company.

The White guys were doing individual activities and hardly came to the company.

The Red Crown girls were on a world tour and not even in Korea.

<It seems like there’s no one there?

-Yang Ju-hee: …You said it was market dayㅋ

-Park Si-young: I’m a Red Crown fan so I knewㅎㅎ

As he exchanged messages with his friends, Ahn Da Ho looked at his watch and said.

“By the way, it’s almost time for ticketing to start.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. At 5 o’clock sharp. I hope the site doesn’t crash…”

And at 5 o’clock.

The ticket sales site for actor Lee Seo-jun’s fan meeting opened.

Fortunately, thanks to the solid preparation of the sales company, the site did not crash.

It just sold out as soon as it opened.

“It’s sold out already?”

“That’s what they say.”

It hadn’t been long since he looked at his watch and thought it was 5 o’clock when he heard the news from Cocoa Entertainment. Seo-jun was surprised.

-Yang Ju-hee: Wow. It’s sold out. There’s an article too.

-Kang Jae-han: Wow… So many people are going to see our play?

-Park Si-young: We have to practice hardㅎㅎ

Then a new message notification popped up on his phone screen.

Seo-jun opened the message full of tears from Kang Tae-young.

-Kang Tae-young: I got a ticketㅠㅠ

-Kang Tae-young: Not me, but Yong-jin hyungㅠㅠ

-Kang Tae-young: This is why I’m bad at being a fanㅠㅠ

Seo-jun was about to reply when he received more messages from Kang Tae-young.

‘Tae-young hyung is really fast.’

-Kang Tae-young: Yong-jin hyung said he’ll give me the ticket!

-Kang Tae-young: Let’s meet at the fan meeting!! Seo-jun!!

-Kang Tae-young: (A puppy emoticon waving a light stick)

Seo-jun laughed at the sight of Kang Tae-young, who seemed really happy even through the messages.

***

[Actor Lee Seo-jun’s fan meeting in May, sold out as soon as it opened!]

[This seat is already taken, today is Lee Sun-jo!]

[Lee Seo-jun, fan meeting sold out!]

-It was a ticket war again…

=Did you succeed?

=Noㅠㅠ

-As soon as I logged in, it said sold out… How do people do this?

-I want to goㅠㅠㅠ

-I succeeded!!!

=I’m jealousㅠㅠ

=How do you do it?

-Since I can’t go to the fan meeting… I’ll just watch the drama.

=I can only watch it on 22 TVㅠㅠ

=At least we have Spring Has Returnedㅠ

=But Spring Has Returned ends in two weeks.

=ㅠㅠㅠ

The weekend was buzzing with Lee Seo-jun’s fan meeting ticketing and Monday came.

Since ‘Tomorrow’, a four-part series, had already ended, ‘Tomorrow Special’ was broadcasted, containing special footage of Tomorrow.

It matched some of the interpretations that had been floating around on the internet and also explained the foreshadowing that the viewers didn’t know.

After ‘Tomorrow Special’ ended, an advertisement for Oh Young-chul’s rom-com drama was broadcasted.

-It was a fun drama after a long time.

-MBS seems to be working now.

=22 Oh Young-chul’s work seems to be fun.

=If it inherits the ratings of Tomorrow and Bom-dol, it will be a hitㅎ

-I wish tomorrow would come soon! I want to see Bom-dol!

And then Tuesday.

Spring Has Returned episode 5 was broadcasted.

The shooting of the conglomerate advertisement took place over several days.

When the shooting was about halfway done, Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung called the staff and Director Choi Yoo-won with a serious face.

“Drunk driving?”

What kind of bad luck was this?

The last model was a victim of a traffic accident, and this model was a drunk driving offender.

Kim Seo-yeon rubbed her forehead.

The faces of the other staff members also became serious.

It was different from last time when they could change the model on their side.

At that time, it was an advertisement that mainly focused on the ‘product’, so it was possible to replace the model that was used as a background.

But this time, the advertisement model was a fairly famous idol.

It was a situation where a sigh came out involuntarily.

Director Choi Yoo-won and Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung looked at Kim Seo-yeon.

The two remembered Kim Seo-yeon, who had been pale and exhausted by a similar accident not long ago.

But unlike the worried eyes of the two, Kim Seo-yeon did not fall into a panic state like before.

“Should I contact the advertiser right away, Team Leader?”

“Director Choi. How long will it take to reshoot if we find a new model?”

Kim Seo-yeon, who was trying to quickly resolve the situation instead of falling into panic, made Director Choi Yoo-won and Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung smile unconsciously and then glared at each other.

Kim Seo-yeon, who didn’t know anything about the nervous war between the two men, went on with her work like Kim Seo-yeon when she was eighteen years old, bright and cheerful.

She contacted the advertiser, had a meeting with other staff members, rescheduled the shooting, and hired a new advertisement model.

Despite being busy, she sparkled as she worked. The episode 5 ended with the scene of Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung and Director Choi Yoo-won looking at Kim Seo-yeon’s shining figure.

-Doesn’t Kim Seo-yeon seem much brighter than episode 1?

=22 Honestly, she had no life in her eyes on the bus in episode 1.

=The panic scene in episode 2 too. It’s more pitiful because I know what kind of feeling it is. It’s like something that she had been holding back exploded.

=Don’t you feel that way when you take a test? You’re so nervous that you can’t think of anything. And when the test is over, you remember everything and feel more wronged.

=ㅇㅇ I really want to cry when I take a testㅎ

-I think I know why Kim Seo-yeon became brighter. Reality is so harsh and hard, but she heals herself with Yoo Sung-jin’s memories that sometimes come to mind.

=22 I think so too. I’m also working at a company while remembering my trip.

=I’m watching dramasㅎ

-Doesn’t Kim Seo-yeon seem to be finding her original personality?

=22 If you look at the past part, Kim Seo-yeon used to be a very bright kid, but her personality changed because she got worn out by society.

=Me too. I wasn’t like this beforeㅎ

=Me too. I had a different personality when I went to schoolㅋㅋ

“Spring Has Returned episode 5 ratings 28%!”

Cheers erupted from MBS drama department as they watched the real-time ratings trend.

“We should have extended it to 24 episodes!”

Kim Jin-myeong CP and Gong Hee-chan PD laughed at the regretful words of the department head.

“Then we wouldn’t have gotten these ratings now.”

“The drama is fun too, but I think the issue is Lee Seo-jun.”

The department head nodded his head with a regretful face, remembering Park Kyu-min PD’s work.

“How’s the preparation for Spring Has Returned Special?”

“There are so many good scenes that I’m having trouble deciding what to cut out.”

The department head thought for a moment after hearing Gong Hee-chan PD’s words and said.

“Then why don’t we extend it and broadcast it in two parts? I think we can put a lot of ads in it.”

“…It’s not that much footage.”

“Oh, really?”

Kim Jin-myeong CP and Gong Hee-chan PD awkwardly smiled at the department head’s sincere regret.

***

Monday 10 p.m. of the sixth week.

[Spring Has Returned Special] was broadcasted.

The viewers were amazed by Lee Seo-jun’s appearance at the script reading.

He didn’t know because he was concentrating and observing.

He smiled shyly as if he was embarrassed.

Everyone blinked their eyes at him.

-He’s so cute when he mimics the expressions!

-He’s so cute when he smiles… but he casually tells such amazing stories.

-This is why Lee Seo-jun is Lee Seo-jun. He can do it when he practices.

-Is this the secret of acting? I want to follow him but I can’t.

-He’s just a child actor, but he works so hard to this extent.

-…Is this the same as voice imitation and impersonation?

=ㄴㄴ It’s like that in simple terms.

-But don’t we distinguish the singers by their singing styles because they are famous and we hear them often? Lee Hyun-sung and Choi Yoo-won are not that stuck in our heads.

=That’s why Lee Seo-jun is amazing. He does something impossibleㅎ

=As expected of Lee Seo-jun…!

Next, the shooting scene came out.

The shooting site for the past part.

Even though it was just looking at them, the viewers were delighted by Lee Seo-jun and Jung Bo-ram’s shooting that was going on around them with a huge camera, dazzling lights, a microphone for recording, and countless staff members standing around.

-They shoot in such a place. Do they concentrate?

-I always think that actors who act in such situations are amazing.

As soon as PD Gong Hee-chan’s words ended, the pink light faded away and the viewers rubbed their eyes and exclaimed. The scene where they were flirting just before was like a mirage.

-Is this business…!

-ㅋㅋ The difference between on and off is like thisㅋ

=They’re friends but they have no feelings for each otherㅋㅋ

=They’re friends from the same classㅋㅋ

-I knew Lee Seo-jun had a difference between on and off, but Jung Bo-ram is good too.

Next was the shooting site for the present part.

Even though it wasn’t the past part, the viewers tilted their heads at Lee Seo-jun and Jung Bo-ram’s appearance on camera.

As if to answer their questions, Park Do-hoon spoke to the camera.

The camera showed Lee Seo-jun and Jung Bo-ram sitting on chairs and watching Kang Tae-young and Yoon Hye-in’s shooting.

They were young actors with traces of youth left, but their eyes were as mature as adults.

The viewers nodded their heads and admired Park Do-hoon’s proud voice.

Chapter 295

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 295

Song Yu-jung sat in front of the television as usual, chatting with Lim Ye-na on the phone.

“Did you hear that Seo-jun’s sneakers sold out as soon as they were released?”

“Yeah. Even though they only showed them briefly, people still managed to find and buy them. I had to go around several offline stores to get mine.”

“I wish they would restock them soon.”

“Me too. I want to buy a few more pairs, but I wonder when they will be available.”

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na talked excitedly while watching the MBS channel that was still airing commercials.

“Has it started yet?”

And Song Yu-jung’s mom.

“No, not yet.”

“Hi, auntie!”

Lim Ye-na, a professional saleswoman who had succeeded in getting the sneakers, greeted Song Yu-jung’s mom over the phone.

“Mom, Ye-na got Seo-jun’s sneakers.”

“Really?”

Song Yu-jung’s mom widened her eyes.

The drama ‘Spring Has Returned’ that had been airing from April to May had shown an amazing promotional effect.

From the first episode, the products that appeared on the show were sold out.

Especially the sneakers that Seo-jun wore.

They were so popular that even the sneaker brand that had prepared them was surprised by the demand.

“I heard on the news that the sneakers were out of stock in no time…”

“Ehehehe.”

Lim Ye-na laughed sheepishly.

As they continued to talk about this and that, the commercials passed by quickly.

“It’s starting!”

The familiar opening scene that they had watched too many times on replay went by and the last episode of ‘Spring Has Returned’ began.

***

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“No?”

Kim Seo-yeon raised her voice at her mom’s question as she was getting ready for work.

As soon as she heard her mom’s words, she unknowingly thought of someone else besides Yoo Sung-jin.

“What do you mean by boyfriend!”

“Your voice sounds brighter. It’s been a long time since you talked to me for this long.”

Kim Seo-yeon stopped in her tracks as she was heading towards the entrance.

“Whenever you call, you sound so depressed and say nothing’s wrong, you’re fine, you’re busy and have to hang up.”

“That’s because… I was really busy.”

“Are you not busy now?”

She was busy.

She was busier than ever.

But somehow, she felt more relaxed than before.

“Anyway, you look better now. I’m curious who changed our daughter like this. Introduce him to me soon. Dad is curious too.”

“No, I don’t have a boyfriend!”

Kim Seo-yeon laughed at her mom’s cheerful voice.

“That’s right.”

She wondered when she became able to laugh like this.

At the end of Kim Seo-yeon’s gaze, there was a yellow umbrella standing upright.

***

“Let’s take a break for a moment.”

In the middle of the shooting, Director Choi Yoo-won called for a break time.

The models who had been smiling brightly bowed and headed towards one side of the set.

Kim Seo-yeon explained the storyboard and the points that needed improvement to the models.

The models who were hastily cast were from a rising idol group that was chosen by the client among many storyboards that came out of the planning team 3 meeting.

“It’s a relief that we finished shooting today. The new models did well too. The agency people are all hardworking too.”

“That’s right.”

Director Choi Yoo-won answered the staff’s words, but his eyes never left Kim Seo-yeon.

Then someone else entered Director Choi Yoo-won’s sight.

It was Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung who was looking at Kim Seo-yeon like him.

One of the planning team staff called Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung.

Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung turned his head to the side.

Kim Seo-yeon, who was explaining to the idols, looked around and saw Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung talking with the staff.

Seeing their appearance, Director Choi Yoo-won, who was more sensitive to people’s eyes than anyone else here, gave a bitter smile.

***

The shooting resumed.

Kim Seo-yeon looked at the idols who were being filmed and turned her head.

She could see Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung who was looking at the set with a serious expression.

Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung felt Kim Seo-yeon’s gaze and turned his head.

Kim Seo-yeon was startled and tried to turn her head away, but for some reason her head didn’t move.

Her body seemed to freeze.

Kim Seo-yeon felt like she had seen this gaze somewhere before.

Scratch scratch.

The sound of a sharp pencil and paper touching each other and warm sunlight shining through the window.

Yoo Sung-jin looked up and looked ahead.

He watched Kim Seo-yeon, who was studying with a serious expression, with a gentle smile and lowered his head.

Kim Seo-yeon looked up and looked ahead.

She looked at Yoo Sung-jin, who was brushing his hair lightly as if the problem was difficult, with a smile and lowered her head.

Like that, without knowing each other, they looked at each other.

And eventually,

Their eyes met.

Ah.

It was their first love.

***

“Well, thank you all for your hard work today.”

“Everyone, please be careful on your way home!”

“Don’t get caught in the rain!”

The dinner of planning team 3 and the shooting staff who had successfully finished the shooting ended.

“Seo-yeon. You did a great job.”

“Director, you too. You really worked hard.”

Director Choi Yoo-won smiled bitterly at Kim Seo-yeon’s bright smile.

“Then, please be careful.”

“Director, please be careful on your way home.”

One by one, they started to head home after Director Choi Yoo-won. Someone asked Kim Seo-yeon.

“Deputy, how are you going home?”

“Oh, I’m going to take the bus from here.”

“Then let’s go together.”

Kim Seo-yeon nodded at Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung’s words.

They walked side by side to the bus stop.

It was raining.

It wasn’t too late and they didn’t drink much.

Kim Seo-yeon, who was walking with a clear mind with Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung, thought of that day.

That day, she was on her way back from the library after studying with Yoo Sung-jin.

They walked next to each other with their umbrellas.

She felt happy just by walking with him.

Kim Seo-yeon got on the bus first.

“Kim Seo-yeon!”

“Huh? Why?”

She couldn’t open the window because of the rain.

There were quite a few people on the bus and an announcement was playing on the speaker.

Kim Seo-yeon, who was eighteen years old, leaned against the window and sat down.

She saw Yoo Sung-jin through the glass.

The wind blew.

The yellow umbrella tilted to block the wind.

Soon, the yellow umbrella lifted its head.

Underneath it, the boy she loved,

He smiled so lovingly.

Kim Seo-yeon, who stopped breathing at that sight, couldn’t hear his voice.

It could have been because of the sound of the bus engine, the voices of the people on the bus, or the broadcast from the speaker.

The bus started moving and she saw Yoo Sung-jin waving his hand.

“…I’ll have to ask him tomorrow. What he said.”

Kim Seo-yeon, who was eighteen years old and had her cheeks flushed, leaned her forehead against the window and smiled softly.

But Kim Seo-yeon couldn’t ask him.

Because,

Yoo Sung-jin left like that.

***

It was drizzling.

Kim Seo-yeon opened her mouth as she remembered the teacher who announced Yoo Sung-jin’s transfer.

“‘Lee Hyun-sung’ team leader.”

She emphasized his name more than usual. It must have been because of her mood.

“Yes?”

He stopped walking at Kim Seo-yeon’s question and slowly turned his head.

Kim Seo-yeon looked at him with a tense face.

It was raining.

They bought two transparent umbrellas from a convenience store and raindrops fell on them.

He smiled under them.

On that rainy day,

He smiled like the boy who smiled outside the bus.

“It’s been a long time. Seo-yeon.”

***

Kim Seo-yeon and Lee Hyun-sung entered a nearby cafe.

They put their umbrellas in the umbrella stand at the entrance and took a seat by the window.

Lee Hyun-sung ordered peach drinks and coffee as if he was used to it.

“I have a lot of questions…”

“Ask me anything.”

“…When did you know it was me…?”

He turned his head slightly at her casual speech.

“On the first day we met, I thought you looked similar and I was doubtful, but when I heard your name was also Kim Seo-yeon, I became curious. And then I found out you were that Kim Seo-yeon.”

Just like Kim Seo-yeon looked at him and thought of Yoo Sung-jin, Lee Hyun-sung must have thought of Kim Seo-yeon when she was eighteen.

Kim Seo-yeon nodded her head.

“Hmm. Can I ask why you gave me that project? You knew I got rejected for a similar product planning before.”

She was talking about the first project that she failed.

“I thought you would do well even if you failed once, because you were the Kim Seo-yeon I knew.”

“People change. It’s been 14 years already.”

She laughed and cried with her friends, had a pure love, helped others, was lively and confident when she was eighteen. But after spending a lot of time, going through hardships, despairing and being disappointed in herself, she became a miserable thirty-two-year-old Kim Seo-yeon.

Lee Hyun-sung smiled bitterly at her words and nodded his head.

“The original plan was good, so I thought you would do well without any interference.”

Kim Seo-yeon touched her cup as she asked him what she really wanted to know.

“…Why did you leave without saying anything?”

On Sunday, they said goodbye and on Monday, she had to hear about Yoo Sung-jin’s transfer at school.

They didn’t even take their final exams that they studied hard for together.

Lee Hyun-sung’s face clouded over.

“It was similar to why I transferred to Korea.”

“…What was it?”

It was a question that eighteen-year-old Kim Seo-yeon didn’t ask Yoo Sung-jin.

She refrained from asking because she wanted to be considerate of his stiff attitude.

“My parents divorced when I was in elementary school. My mother stayed in Korea and I followed my father to the US. When I became a high school student, my father remarried and sent me to Korea, to my mother.”

It was a notification without any discussion.

Yoo Sung-jin had no choice but to take the plane ticket that his father handed him with his trembling hands.

“I was a minor, so I had to follow.”

Kim Seo-yeon suppressed the urge to curse.

Lee Hyun-sung seemed to notice her expression and smiled faintly.

He didn’t know how long it took him to be able to smile like this.

“It was the same that day. This time, my mother sent me to the US. When I came home, my luggage was already packed and everything was ready.”

He couldn’t do anything against his mother’s cold eyes.

He wanted to stay with Seo-yeon and take the final exams and grade them and graduate and study and take the college entrance exam and go to college and maybe even longer, longer…

On the bus to the airport, Yoo Sung-jin cried.

“I wanted to contact you, but… I wasn’t in my right mind then.”

His life in the US wasn’t good either.

Lee Hyun-sung, who had become hardened at thirty-two, swallowed his words and looked at Kim Seo-yeon.

“But thanks to you, I was able to endure that situation.

You were my spring.

And I knew the warm spring, so I could withstand the cold winter.”

Kim Seo-yeon’s eyes trembled at his hot, rather than warm, gaze.

“So when I found out you were Kim Seo-yeon, I hoped you would smile brightly like before.”

Lee Hyun-sung couldn’t forget the dark face of Kim Seo-yeon he saw on the first day.

He wanted to bring her back to her old self.

The lively, affectionate, and bright eighteen-year-old Kim Seo-yeon.

“But that was also my selfishness.”

He left for the US without saying goodbye to his friends because of his parents’ selfishness.

He changed from Yoo Sung-jin to Lee Hyun-sung and remained a man. He smiled bitterly.

“Trying to make you live brightly could also be a burden for someone. So I decided to just help you from afar.”

At first, he felt like meeting an old friend. The memory of fourteen years ago was too old and his feelings were faded.

But Lee Hyun-sung soon fell in love with Kim Seo-yeon again.

And today, at the shooting site, they realized that they fell in love with each other again, just like they did fourteen years ago.

“Ah, I wanted to do it more coolly…”

He didn’t expect Kim Seo-yeon to ask him like this. He paused from washing his face and looked at Kim Seo-yeon.

“Seo-yeon. Kim Seo-yeon.”

Lee Hyun-sung smiled shyly but didn’t take his eyes off her.

She heard his soft call and her heart pounded.

“I like you.”

Ah.

She thought she knew.

What Yoo Sung-jin muttered outside the bus.

The words she couldn’t hear that day.

Under the yellow umbrella.

The boy who was in love smiled like a blooming flower.

‘Seo-yeon. I like you.’

Kim Seo-yeon remembered Yoo Sung-jin’s appearance from Lee Hyun-sung and Choi Yoo-won’s appearance, and she recalled her old memories with Yoo Sung-jin’s memory as a start.

She realized that there were days in her life that were happy and warm like this.

She had forgotten the happy memories buried under the busy and hard ‘now’.

Kim Seo-yeon’s life wasn’t always hard.

The past that she looked back on with Yoo Sung-jin’s memory gave her the strength to live again.

She could say what she couldn’t say then, now.

“I like you too.”

Kim Seo-yeon, who was thirty-two years old, smiled brightly like she was eighteen years old.

Lee Hyun-sung also smiled brightly like the boy that day.

Under the yellow light of the cafe.

Their faces, sitting across from each other behind the glass window, were reflected on the screen.

The hard winter had passed,

And finally returned.

Our spring.

Chapter 296

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 296

Director Choi Yoo-won’s head turned to look at Kim Seo-yeon and Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung alternately on the television screen.

Song Yu-jung and her mom held their breath and couldn’t take their eyes off the screen.

Kim Seo-yeon and Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung didn’t notice each other’s glances, but Song Yu-jung and her mom couldn’t hide their rising smiles at the tense atmosphere.

A bitter smile appeared on Director Choi Yoo-won’s face.

“Ahhhh…”

A miserable voice came from the phone. Song Yu-jung realized that Lim Ye-na was ‘Eo-nam-yoo’.

“I knew this would happen…!”

It sounded like she was almost wailing.

Song Yu-jung chuckled at her friend’s lament.

It was a victory for ‘Eo-nam-sung’.

She was satisfied with the fact that the male lead was fixed as Lee Hyun-sung and smiled. She looked at the clock.

“Wow. It’s already half over?!”

“Already?”

Her mom was surprised and looked at the clock too.

It felt like they had only watched for five minutes, but it was already 30 minutes past, and there were only 30 minutes left for Spring Has Returned.

They wished time would stop so they could watch more.

The drama continued without knowing the anxious hearts of Song Yu-jung and her mom.

A boy said something outside the bus window.

The girl’s cheeks turned red and she leaned her forehead on the glass.

Song Yu-jung and her mom, who were watching the sweet scene of the two kids with a warm smile, and Lim Ye-na on the other side of the phone, were shocked by Kim Seo-yeon’s narration.

[Because Yoo Sung-jin had left.]

***

[It’s been a while. Seo-yeon.]

Song Yu-jung covered her mouth at Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung’s gentle voice.

The soft vibe of Yoo Sung-jin that often appeared in Director Choi Yoo-won was also coming from Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung.

“Ahhhh…!”

A different reaction came from the phone. It sounded like she was hitting the sofa or cushion with frustration.

Then, Lee Hyun-sung told his past story about Yoo Sung-jin.

Yoo Sung-jin appeared on the screen, carrying a suitcase and a bag, boarding a bus to the airport.

“What, he didn’t even take you to the airport?!”

“What about our Sung-jin…?”

Yoo Sung-jin, who sat down, looked out the window with a blank face, then

[After taking the final exam with Seo-yeon, grading it, sending off the seniors, studying, taking the college entrance exam, going to college, and maybe even longer, longer… ]

He sobbed quietly.

Song Yu-jung and her mom’s eyes were moist. They could hear Lim Ye-na sniffling too.

The screen that showed Yoo Sung-jin crying slowly changed to show Lee Hyun-sung smiling calmly.

“I’m Eo-nam-yoo…!”

Song Yu-jung and her mom laughed at Lim Ye-na’s words.

***

[Seo-yeon. I like you.]

Song Yu-jung clenched her teeth at Yoo Sung-jin’s confession.

“What do I do. I like him so much…!”

She thought she had blurted out her inner thoughts.

It was Lim Ye-na. She could hear her hitting something again on the phone. She seemed to be ready to tear down the apartment. Song Yu-jung would have rolled around on the living room floor too if it wasn’t for her mom. Instead, she hugged the cushion in her arms tightly.

[I like you too.]

The screen zoomed out from the two people and showed Kim Seo-yeon and Lee Hyun-sung inside a glass window from outside the cafe. The yellow umbrella that was blocking them before was gone, and they were smiling at each other.

The OST of Spring Has Returned played and a caption appeared.

[Thank you for watching ‘Spring Has Returned’.]

“It was a good drama! I have to watch it again soon!”

Song Yu-jung nodded at Lim Ye-na’s words.

“Me too. I have to watch it from the beginning.”

She decided to watch it with Lee Hyun-sung as the center this time. She heard her mom’s voice in her ear.

“Honey. Buy me VOD.”

“Heh. I already bought up to episode 5.”

***

“Spring Has Returned, highest rating 34%! Average rating 31%!”

Cheers filled MBS drama department.

“Wow, it really reached 30%!”

“In this day and age, 30% for a 6-episode drama!”

“Did Spring Has Returned have a wrap-up party? It must be crazy there!”

“They had a dinner after the first episode and said it was too early, so they decided to go on a reward vacation instead.”

“Well, it’s only been a month and a half since they aired 6 episodes, right?”

The noisy drama department.

The director called PD Gong Hee-chan aside.

“The edited version?”

“Yeah. Yoo Sung-jin’s appearance scenes are uneven, right?”

“Yes. They are.”

It was because Yoo Sung-jin appeared according to Kim Seo-yeon’s memory, so it wasn’t broadcasted in the order of time like 12345, but in a jumbled order like 13245.

PD Gong Hee-chan scratched his cheek.

“I tried to match them as much as possible… but it’s not perfect.”

“Let’s edit them in order. From when Kim Seo-yeon and Yoo Sung-jin met to when they broke up. That will give the viewers more immersion. I’ll take care of everything else, so just try editing it.”

PD Gong Hee-chan rolled his eyes.

‘I wanted to edit it with Seo-jun as the center.’

PD Gong Hee-chan nodded reluctantly with a frozen face.

“Yes. I understand.”

The director smiled brightly at PD Gong Hee-chan’s agreement.

***

[MBS special drama ‘Spring Has Returned’, average rating 31%!]

[Only 6 episodes? A full-packed 6 episodes!]

[The rebellion of 6 episodes! The highest rating of the year!]

[Sold out, sold out, sold out! The advertising effect of Spring Has Returned!]

[The best overseas brand promotion effect! Plus, reaching the top spot in overseas rankings!]

-It’s like living alone in the world. Rating 31%ㅎㅎ

=There aren’t any dramas that go over 30% these days, right?

=That too, 30% for a 6-episode dramaㅋㅋ

-Spring Has Returned. The advertising effect is amazing too. The yellow umbrella sold a lot too.

=I bought a yellow umbrella tooㅎ But I can’t buy Seo-jun’s sneakers and bag because they’re out of stock.

=All the other stuff is sold out tooㅎㄷㄷ I heard everything that appeared in Spring Has Returned sells a lot.

-Ah… I have to buy the figure…! I have to save money…!

=Me too. I feel like I spent too much money this month. My bank account is emptyㅠㅠ

-Was the cafe at the end a chain?

=Nope, an individual cafe.

=There must be a lot of customers there too.

=22 Couples will take a lot of pictures like Spring Has Returned.

-I guess other countries watch Spring Has Returned a lot too.

=22 There were a lot of overseas reactions when it was live too.

=Yeah, I live abroad and the reaction here is no jokeㅎ

=A lot of people watch it lightly because it’s short, but they get visual shock from episode 1ㅋㅋ

=I guess so if they don’t watch the trailerㅋㅋ

[The male lead is finally decided! It’s 000!]

[Eo-nam-sung? Eo-nam-yoo? Who is the male lead?!]

[Who is the first love that was decided in the last episode?!]

[The nation’s first love, actor Lee Seo-jun!]

-Let the trumpets sound! Eo-nam-sung!

=I screamed when he said ‘It’s been a while’ㅋㅋ

=I fell for him when he relaxed his expression and spoke more comfortably after saying he was Yoo Sung-jinㅋㅋ

-Lee Hyun-sung looked like Yoo Sung-jin when he smiled.

=To be honest, Seo-jun probably acted as Yoo Sung-jin after seeing this Lee Hyun-sung.

=22 When I see it like this, I can only say he’s amazing.

-I knew this would happenㅠㅠ

=22 I recognized him when he had the same last name as Choi. ㅠㅠ

=The same last name as Choi?

=Lee Seo-jun’s audition video Choi Eun-yulㅠ Spring Has Returned Choi Yoo-wonㅠ

=The writer of Spring Has Returned was an assistant writer for So Eun-jin, so I was more nervousㅠㅠ Is he a sub againㅠ

=We have to cure this sub disease.

=He couldn’t even confess, he was so similar to Choi Eun-yulㅠ

-…But honestly, I was attracted to Lee Hyun-sung at the end too.

=Get this traitor out of here!!

-I cut out Seo-jun’s ‘I like you’ separately.

=!!Please send it to me!!

=22 Please send it to me!

-I have to change my name to Seo-yeon.

=22 I changed mine to Yu-jung, but Kim Seo-yeon is better.

-The nation’s first love Lee Seo-junㅋㅋㅋ

=But Seo-jun had too much impact.

=222 I still get mesmerized no matter how many times I watch it.

=When I think of first love, I think of Yoo Sung-jin.

[MBS special drama edited version, scheduled to air next Monday!]

[MBS pilot variety show, ‘Looking for Your First Love!’ scheduled to air!]

-What is the special edited version?

=They said it’s a Yoo Sung-jin edited version.

=Yoo Sung-jin edited version?

=In the drama, Yoo Sung-jin appears according to Kim Seo-yeon’s memory, so he appears briefly and in a messy order of time. They edited it in chronological order.

=…Are you an insider?

=ㅎㅎㅎㅎ

-What is the pilot variety show?ㅋㅋ

=Don’t they usually do pilot shows for Lunar New Year or Chuseok specials?

=MBS really knows how to milk usㅋㅋ

[Title: Spring Has Returned) Why Lee Hyun-sung is the only choice.]

The proportion of Kim Seo-yeon recalling Yoo Sung-jin through Lee Hyun-sung and Choi Yoo-won varies by episode.

In episode 1, there was only Lee Hyun-sung, and in episode 2, there was more Choi Yoo-won.

In episodes 3 and 4, they were similar, and in episode 5, there was more Lee Hyun-sung.

In episode 6, as you know, there was only Lee Hyun-sung.

You can tell it’s Lee Hyun-sung by the proportion aloneㅎ

+) I also calculated the flashback time length just in case, and Lee Hyun-sung has more.

-Wow. That’s true?

=It was similar until episode 4, so we fought hard, but it got stronger from episode 5ㅎ

-Look at the effortㅋㅋ He even calculated the timeㅋㅋ

***

Monday 9:30 p.m.

[Spring Has Returned – School Days] aired.

It showed scenes from when Yoo Sung-jin transferred to the school to when they ate together in the cafeteria, and how Kim Seo-yeon approached him and softened his prickly thorns.

Unlike the original drama, the edited version flowed in chronological order and made the viewers more immersed.

-It’s so good to see it in order like thisㅎ

=22 I have to watch Spring Has Returned again after this.

-But when I saw Yoo Sung-jin crying on the bus, it was so pitifulㅠㅠ

=Why am I crying while watching something happy?ㅠ

-But Yoo Sung-jin must have had a hard life.

=22 His parents sent him to Korea and then to the US, it was crazy.

=He said his father remarried, so he must have lived with a lot of pressure in the US too.

=Our Sung-jin grew up wellㅠㅠ

-The PD who edited this is new, right?

=22 I thought he just glued it together because it was an edited version, but he directed it well to fit the edited version.

=333 The directing was good. In the past, Kim Seo-yeon and Yoo Sung-jin were separated by the bus window, but in the present, they were together in the cafe. And they were both in one screen inside the glass window, so it was nice.

=It was also natural when they switched to flashback scenes when Lee Hyun-sung and Choi Yoo-won appeared.

=The PD’s name is Gong Hee-chan? He seems to do well in his next work.

-The writer is also new, right? I’m glad she didn’t flop.

=22 I was worried that she wouldn’t be able to do it because of the pressure from Lee Seo-jun, but she did well.

=The characters were also charming.

=Writer Yu Cheonga! I’m looking forward to your next work!

-What do I watch on Mondays and Tuesdays now?

=Yeah. I’ve been waiting for Tuesdays for six weeks, so I didn’t have Monday blues, but I think it’s coming back.

=How about Oh Young-chul’s drama? It looks good for episode 1.

=Then let’s watch that.

Even though it wasn’t a lot of content, [Spring Has Returned – School Days] had an amazing rating and made MBS buzz again. As planned by the director, Spring Has Returned’s rating was transferred to the next work. He didn’t know what the Tuesday rating would be, though.

“Lee Seo-jun! Let’s get Lee Seo-jun!”

The shout of MBS drama department that had experienced the Lee Seo-jun effect and,

“Lee Seo-jun! Catch Lee Seo-jun!”

The desperate shout of KBC and SBC drama departments that had their Monday-Tuesday ratings blown away echoed.

Chapter 297

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 297

Seo-jun entered the classroom with his bag.

The atmosphere was very different from the usual noisy one.

There were students who were reading their textbooks with tense expressions, and others who seemed to have given up already.

Seo-jun realized that today was the start of the midterm exam period.

‘It’s completely different from yesterday.’

Yesterday, they were so lively that it didn’t feel like they had exams the next day. But in one day, the students’ faces changed.

Seo-jun greeted his friends who looked drained and sat down.

Han Jinho, who sat next to him, was already lying on his desk as if he wanted to escape from reality.

“I don’t want to take the exam… Why do we have to take exams?”

“To go to college?”

Seo-jun gave a logical answer and a big sigh came out of the students’ mouths.

They were now high school students and they had to go to college in three years.

“It seems like we still have a lot of time…”

“Three years will pass quickly.”

The students nodded with agony at Kim Joo-kyung’s words.

They had felt the same way in middle school.

They wondered when they would graduate when they were freshmen, but they graduated and became high school students in no time.

Park Si-young, who was flipping through her textbook, opened her mouth.

“Besides, high school entrance exams are different from college entrance exams. We only have to compete with our peers for high school, but college is different.”

The students’ first choice of college was Korea National University of Arts.

It was a school that anyone who wanted to pursue a career in art would want to go to, with its professors, alumni actors, and directors who were all famous.

“There must be people who are taking a gap year to go to Korea National University of Arts, and people who found their dreams late and are trying to get in.”

The students nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

There was no age limit for college admission.

They didn’t know what talents were hidden in those who tried late, so they couldn’t estimate the skills of their competitors who would take the exam with them.

“By the way, Ju-hee said that the second and third graders are also studying hard. She said it would be hard if we take the exam with them after they take a gap year.”

“That’s true. We might have to take the exam with them.”

They felt it was real.

“…We have to work hard.”

“Yeah.”

The students who came to their senses took out their textbooks and notes for the subjects they would take today and started to skim through them. Seo-jun also took out his notes that summarized the scope of today’s exam and read them down.

***

“Collect the OMR cards from the back.”

At the teacher’s words, the students in the back row got up and walked forward with their OMR cards.

The teacher sorted out the OMR cards by their numbers and opened his mouth.

“You worked hard for three days taking exams. The teachers will explain the answers next week, so bring your test papers and don’t play too much today. Go home early.”

“Yes!!”

The teacher nodded his head at the loud answer of the students.

He could see their smiling faces already.

It was obvious that they would go out and have fun before going home.

The teacher left the classroom and the students laughed and talked or checked each other’s test papers.

“Are you selling figures tomorrow?”

“Yeah. They start selling at 10 a.m.”

Seo-jun nodded his head at Han Jinho’s question.

It was 10 a.m. tomorrow in Korea, and other countries would start selling within two days.

‘I hope they sell a lot.’

Marina and Mirror Team.

And dad, Hee-sang uncle, and Monster Company employees.

They all worked hard to increase the quantity while maintaining the quality.

‘I hope they succeed as much as they worked hard.’

Han Jinho smiled faintly.

“It’s good that they’re selling this week. If it was last week, my mom wouldn’t let me go.”

“Don’t you buy it online? Do you want to go in person?”

Seo-jun tilted his head and Han Jinho nodded.

“Yeah. It takes some time for delivery online. I’m not good at waiting for this kind of thing.”

“I’m going too. Do you want to go together?”

“Sure.”

Kim Joo-kyung asked and Han Jinho gladly agreed.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek at the conversation of his two friends who were models of the figures.

“Hey! I want to go too!”

There were more friends who joined in.

“Hey! The kids from class 2 are going too!”

It seemed that it had spread to the next classroom already.

“The art students are going too?”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes at the increasing number of people.

It was good that the figures sold well, and it was good that they liked the Shadowman series.

‘…But why do I feel embarrassed when they do this?’

It didn’t seem like they were teasing Seo-jun.

Kim Joo-kyung frowned at the growing crowd.

“Isn’t it hard to buy the figures if we all go to one place?”

“Then let’s just gather with the ones who live nearby.”

“That sounds good.”

The students who were serious about buying the Shadowman series figures started to talk with serious faces.

Seo-jun wondered whether to laugh or not.

“Seo-jun, are you going too?”

“Hmm.”

‘Uncle Hee-sang said he would give me a few of each kind, but…’

“Yeah!”

It seemed fun to buy them in person.

***

Saturday.

The day of selling the Shadowman series figures.

“Hello, this is Moviegoer!”

-Oh. Did you go to buy the figures?

-Yeah. It seems like they’re opening soon.

-You must have come early, judging by how far ahead you are in line!

“Yes, I came out early in the morning and waited! I thought I was the first one, but there was someone who came before me.”

Moviegoer smiled and filmed his back.

He didn’t show the faces of the people, but he made sure to show that there were a lot of people.

“A lot of people came after me too. There were students who came with their friends and couples too. Of course, there were also many people who came alone. The line is getting longer as I speak.”

They could hear the cheerful voices of the students who seemed to have come with their friends. There was also a student who wore a black hat with a Monster Company’s popular product, slime badge.

-I think I should go out soon too.

-They said they had enough stock, but… The line is longer than I thought?

-I’m getting nervous;;; I have to go out quickly!

“The number of viewers is decreasing. I guess some of you are leaving now. Are you already in line if you’re still here?”

-ㅇㅇ I’m already in lineㅎㅎV

-ㅋㅋme tooㅋㅋ

-I came alone and didn’t know what to do until they open, thanks for the live ㄱㅅ

“Shall we kill some time until they open then?”

He talked about this and that and time passed quickly. The line grew longer in the meantime.

“It’s 10 a.m. now. We’ll finally see them in person!”

-Are you filming inside too?

-I bought it online so I’m curiousㅎ

-Please show us inside too!!

“Yes. I’ll ask the staff. Please wait a moment.”

The sound was turned off and the screen went down.

Moviegoer went out and asked the staff who was checking the number of people in line.

The staff nodded his head.

The camera went up and the sound started to come out.

“They said it’s okay to film. I can’t film the customers, of course. That’s obvious! Well then, let’s go in!”

To prevent the store from getting too crowded, the Monster Co. staff let in a certain number of customers first.

The first group of customers looked around the store with awe and admiration.

The Monster Co. offline store was decorated entirely with Shadowman.

There were display cases with figures arranged according to the order of the Shadowman movies, from 1 to 3.

Besides the figures, there were also other official merchandise on display.

“This display case has the Shadowman from Shadowman 1 and the William figure that is on sale this time. It makes me want to cry when I see them in person. Our William…!”

-Bear dollㅠㅠ

-Williamㅠ So cuteㅠㅠ

-His cheeks are pinkㅠ The coloring is amazing.

The posters and paintings on the wall were also newly made for this figure sale event, stimulating people’s desire to own them.

“I’ve never seen this poster before, I want it! Oh. This one too?! I guess I’ll look for something familiar.”

-Do they sell posters?

-22 Sell posters tooㅠㅠ

-Huh? What is that figure in the center?

“The center?”

Moviegoer’s eyes moved to the display case in the center.

He didn’t know why he noticed it just now.

The people who came in with him were looking at the display case with sparkling eyes.

“This is!!”

Moviegoer’s camera captured the figure.

“Isn’t this the one that Seo-jun received as a gift? It was uploaded as an unboxing video on YouTube.”

The staff of Monster Co. answered the customer’s question with a smile.

“Yes. That’s right. We borrowed it from Mr. Lee Seo-jun for a while. There are six figures on display, from store 1 to store 6.”

“I see.”

Moviegoer looked at the figure in the center display case again. He could feel how much effort was put into making it, both in size and quality.

It showed Jin Natra lying on the ground with rocks on top of him, and even the wall and floor of Gyeongbokgung Palace were reproduced.

The most eye-catching thing was the shadow that covered everything. Everyone was amazed by its overwhelming expression. The black shadow seemed to break through the display case at any moment.

“…They don’t sell this, do they?”

“No. Unfortunately, there are no plans to sell it.”

The customers nodded their heads with regretful faces and moved their steps to buy the figures.

“It seems like they were able to borrow it because Mr. Lee Seo-jun is a major shareholder of Monster Co. It looks more awesome in person than in the YouTube video.”

-As expected, a major shareholder of Monster Co.

-ㅋㅋMonster Co. is good at their jobㅋㅋ

-I want to see them all, but store 3 is in Busan and store 4 is in Daejeonㅋㅋ

-Stores 5 and 6 tooㅋㅋ Outside Seoulㅋㅋ

“Hmm. Can’t help it.”

It took him a second or so. Moviegoer smiled brightly after a brief hesitation.

“Shall we go on a nationwide tour?”

-I knew itㅋㅋ

-He didn’t even hesitateㅋㅋ

-Less shocking than going abroadㅋㅋ

“I don’t have any schedule today or tomorrow anyway. I’ll buy the figures quickly and leave them at home and then leave! I’ll broadcast live, so please let me know about local restaurants!”

-I’ll take care of Busan! I’ll tell you about local restaurants!

-If you go to a restaurant, will you meet moviegoers?

-Sudden fan meeting?ㅋㅋㅋ

“Ha ha. That’s right. Then let’s buy some figures now.”

Moviegoer who was filming inside without disturbing anyone headed to the sales counter to buy some figures.

He could choose one poster from among those hanging on the wall for each figure he bought.

Moviegoer smiled brightly and bought all the figures and all the posters, carefully putting them in a paper bag with Monster Co.’s mark on it.

“Then I’ll do a figure review in a few days. Let’s go on a nationwide tour quickly!”

He left the store with paper bags full of figures in both hands, passing by some students who were chatting happily.

“He’s finally out.”

“There are so many people! They must all be Shadowman fans.”

Seo-jun, who had attached a slime badge to his black hat, smiled warmly at his friends’ words. He felt touched that so many people still liked him even after Shadowman series ended.

After waiting for a long time, Seo-jun and his friends entered the store. They were dazzled by the sight.

There was a part decorated like Natra’s spaceship interior and another part decorated like Central Park. Seo-jun was also amazed by the decorations, as he had never seen them before.

Han Jinho, who was looking around the store, tapped Seo-jun’s side and pointed to the figure in the center. He didn’t mention Seo-jun’s name, afraid that people would notice.

“Isn’t this the one you got as a gift?”

“Yeah.”

“But why don’t they sell this? They could raise the price and sell it, right?”

“They said this one was rejected because the shadow was more central than Jin Natra. And there. The part where the shadow covers the sky. They said that’s weaker than it looks and there’s a high risk of breaking during delivery. It would be a disaster if you open the box and find the shadow in half.”

Seo-jun’s explanation made Han Jinho and his friends nod their heads repeatedly.

They would have been very disappointed if they had received a broken figure after having high expectations.

After admiring the figure in the center enough, Seo-jun and his friends headed to the sales counter to buy some figures.

There were four staff members standing in a row, so the customers could get out quickly.

Seo-jun and his friends also lined up. Seo-jun, who was standing in the middle of his friends, was lost in thought.

‘I promised to give one to Uncle Hee-sang as a gift, so I’ll just buy William from Shadowman 1…’

He thought he would reduce the number of figures for other people to buy if he bought more than one.

He chose William from Shadowman 1 because it was his first scene ever and it was special to him.

He suddenly wondered what his friends would buy and asked Han Jinho, who was in front of him.

“Jinho, what are you going to buy?”

“All of them.”

He answered without hesitation and with a serious expression. Seo-jun burst into laughter at his appearance.

***

[The World Now) Shadowman series figures on sale now!]

[Monster Co., from store 1 to store 6, high-quality figures on display!]

[Monster Co., “6 figures, planned for overseas exhibition!”]

[I waited since dawn! I bought a figure for the first time! People who bought figures!]

[Shadowman series figures, sold out queue!]

-They sold a lot overseas too.

=22 I waited in line and bought three.

=Some stores sold out early;;;

-There was nothing left in May. But I’m happy with the posterㅎ

-I didn’t expect them to give postersㅎㅎ

-But the figure that Seo-jun received as a gift is really beyond quality.

=22 I wish they sold that one. They said they have no plansㅠㅠ

=Even if they sold it, it would be expensive and first-come-first-served, so I don’t think I can buy itㅎ

-Moviegoer went to Busan to take pictures of figuresㅋㅋ

=His usual execution;;;

=The Busan figure is that one. The cookie video. The scene where Jin Natra forcibly inherits Tul Natra’s shadow.

=It looked crazy in the unboxing video, but it looked even more amazing in person.(Busan resident

=That one is too big to sell. There’s a bed and a wall thereㅎ

-I went there leisurely because they said they had enough stock, but they were all sold outㅠㅠ The internet is also sold outㅠ

=To be honest, there were a lot of people buying them;; I think there were quite a few people who bought figures for the first time this time.

=22 A new buying group has emerged. I could have bought it if it was normal.

-There are definitely resellers.

=22 Those who resell…!

Chapter 298

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 298

It was the last Sunday of May.

Today was Seo-jun’s fan meeting.

He planned to fix his hair and makeup again at the venue, but Seo-jun checked his appearance in the mirror, adjusting his hair and clothes.

He felt a different kind of excitement than when he was filming.

Ahn Da Ho, who checked the time, called Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun, let’s go now.”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun left the house with Ahn Da Ho and got in the car.

Ahn Da Ho turned on the music as he grabbed the steering wheel.

Seo-jun tapped his feet and sang along to the familiar song.

It was a song by ‘White’, a group under Cocoa Entertainment, the same as Seo-jun.

He was going to sing it at the fan meeting today.

As he was singing, Seo-jun suddenly remembered something and asked Ahn Da Ho.

“Hyung, did you move all the gifts?”

“They should have moved them by now.”

“Do you think we have enough?”

“We have some extra, so don’t worry.”

Ahn Da Ho said with a smile.

“Seo-jun, you just focus on having fun with your fans.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at his reliable manager’s words.

***

A car arrived at the fan meeting venue with Kang Tae-young, who wore a hat and a mask, and his manager Joo Yong-jin, who looked tired and yawned.

Kang Tae-young got out of the car and said to Joo Yong-jin.

“Hyung, I’ll call you when it’s over.”

“Don’t take off your hat and mask.”

“I know.”

“If you get caught, go straight to Seo-jun. I already contacted his manager.”

“I know.”

“Do you have a schedule tonight, so hurry up… Kang Tae-young. Are you listening?”

“…No! Hyung, see you later!”

Kang Tae-young, who couldn’t wait any longer after seeing the sprouts gathered in front of the fan meeting venue, ran to the venue.

Joo Yong-jin watched his back and rubbed his forehead.

“Seo-jun’s photo cards for you!”

“Slogan for those who applied!”

“Transparent photo cards from The Royal Physician!”

The front of the actor Lee Seo-jun’s fan meeting venue was bustling.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na, who came to the venue with ease after finishing their college midterms, also went around and got free goods and bought official goods.

Song Yu-jung’s eyes sparkled as she filled her paper bag with her fandom spirit.

“A light stick. Is there no light stick?”

The light stick was the flower of goods.

There was nothing cooler than a light stick that shone brightly with a central control device.

Song Yu-jung scanned the fan meeting venue sharply.

Lim Ye-na shook her head.

“Some actors have them, but most don’t. Seo-jun doesn’t either.”

“…Should I make one?”

“Are you going to wave it while watching the drama?”

Lim Ye-na chuckled.

“You won’t have time to wave it when you watch Seo-jun’s work.”

That was true, so Song Yu-jung nodded. But as a former idol fan, she couldn’t give up on the light stick.

She dragged Song Yu-jung around the venue while thinking.

“But they do accept gifts at fan meetings.”

Song Yu-jung, who was resting for a while after walking around diligently, asked Lim Ye-na. Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na had paper bags in their hands with gifts for Seo-jun. Lim Ye-na answered Song Yu-jung’s question.

“This is something that each individual prepares a little bit, so I guess Cocoa Entertainment is okay with it. We’re not giving him anything too expensive either.”

“But he doesn’t do fan meetings very often either.”

They were startled by a sudden voice that interrupted them.

Lim Yeon smiled brightly and handed badges to them.

“Here, take these.”

A long time ago, on Seo-jun’s first fan meeting day.

She received a badge from a fan who walked ahead of her with a baby picture of Seo-jun from Elephant Milk shooting on it.

“Thank you!”

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na took the badges with sparkling eyes.

They looked just like her in the past, so Lim Yeon smiled warmly.

“Let’s cheer for our Seo-jun hard!”

“Yes!”

“Um, excuse me. Can I have one too…?”

A man wearing a hat and a mask came up to them and hesitated for a moment.

Lim Yeon looked at him and nodded.

He had products from Monster Co., which Seo-jun wore, all over his clothes.

And his shoes were sneakers that Seo-jun wore in Bomdol this time.

He didn’t look like an unwelcome guest or someone who would sell them to others.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you! Here! I’ll give you this!”

The man, who took the badge with a baby picture of Seo-jun, brightened his voice and handed out three photo cards from his paper bag.

They were pictures of Seo-jun smiling brightly in a ‘Bomdol’ uniform. Lim Yeon, Song Yu-jung, and Lim Ye-na clutched their hearts.

He was just a Sprout who loved Seo-jun, even though he covered his face.

“Thank you!”

“See you later!”

The man, who cherished the badge, ran around and exchanged free photo cards and goods with other fans.

The fans who hesitated a bit because of his masked face recognized the photo cards and sneakers that he offered and relaxed.

“Are the photo cards a bait…?”

“That’s smart.”

Lim Yeon left to find Park Seonga, and Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na cherished the badge with the baby picture of Seo-jun.

“But I’ve never seen this image before.”

“Is it a hidden picture?”

The Sprouts who received the photo cards from the man tilted their heads.

***

Knock knock.

Seo-jun, who was practicing singing in the waiting room, raised his voice at the knock.

“Come in.”

At Seo-jun’s words, the door opened and the Mirror Team, actors Yang Ju-hee, Kang Jae-han, Park Si-young, and Jeon Seong-min came in with excited faces.

“Wow. There are so many people out there.”

“It’s Seo-jun, so he has to do this much! There are probably more fans who couldn’t come.”

“Did you ride our Bubble car?”

“It’s a celebrity car. It was really nice.”

The waiting room became noisy in an instant. The staff of Team 2 who came in with Ahn Da Ho and the Mirror Team smiled.

The kids who took a break in the waiting room opened their bags and took out their scripts.

They were nervous even though they practiced until yesterday.

Seo-jun also took out his script.

“Shall we do one last practice?”

“I don’t know if I can do well with more audience than the graduation performance.”

“We have rehearsal time, so it’s okay. Of course we can’t do everything, but we can do some parts.”

The kids nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

“Then let’s do the hardest part.”

“Which part is the most difficult?”

“I think it’s when we all appear together.”

Seo-jun nodded at Jeon Seong-min’s words.

They were fans of Seo-jun, so they had seen both the novel Mirror and the play Mirror.

And they repeated it several times.

They had to make the play Mirror feel natural and yet alien, knowing the twist.

“Yeah. Let’s rehearse that scene. We practiced considering the twist, so we just have to do as much as we practiced.”

The children nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

Seo-jun and the children did a script reading in the waiting room and went up to the stage that was ready.

They checked their movements and acted out the last scene.

“Ahhhhhh!!!”

The staff and agency employees who were watching the rehearsal stage of the Mirror team rubbed their arms with goosebumps.

Kim Jin-woo, who had water from a teacup on his face, was screaming in pain.

“…I’ve seen it a lot on YouTube, but it’s different from seeing it in real life.”

“Besides, this is just a rehearsal. The real stage will be more amazing.”

“I wish I could watch it if it wasn’t for work…!”

They expressed their admiration, but their eyes did not leave the stage.

There were actors who filled the wide stage with their presence with every line and movement.

***

“We’re entering!”

“Take a gift! One per person!”

The entrance began.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na received paper bags from the staff with excited faces. They couldn’t see it here, so they hurried to the seats. Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na, who sat down, opened the paper bags.

“Is this a photo card?”

“Open it!”

At Lim Ye-na’s enthusiasm, Song Yu-jung held her pounding heart and carefully opened the paper envelope.

I have to keep this envelope too!

She gently took out the card inside and saw a picture of baby Seo-jun smiling brightly. There was Seo-jun’s signature in the corner of the photo.

“I’m jealous! 48 hours Seo-jun!”

Lim Ye-na’s eyes sparkled at Song Yu-jung’s photo card.

According to the analysis of fans who watched 48 Hours over and over again, it seemed to be baby Seo-jun from a scene that was not edited out.

Lim Ye-na also quickly took out her photo card.

“Is that Choi Eun-yul?”

Song Yu-jung stared blankly at the photo card that came into Lim Ye-na’s hand.

It seemed that they took new photos for this photo card, Seo-jun, no, ‘Choi Eun-yul’ was smiling softly in the photo wearing the same clothes as in the audition video.

Even if they liked the same actor Lee Seo-jun and liked different works, they had their favorite character and work.

Song Yu-jung, who became a fan of Choi Eun-yul, and Lim Ye-na, who became a fan of 48 Hours, looked at each other and silently handed each other their photo cards.

The suspicious man, Kang Tae-young, who was sitting next to Lim Ye-na, looked at them enviously.

‘Please. Please…!’

Kang Tae-young held the paper envelope with the photo card and closed his eyes and prayed.

He slowly took out the photo card.

The bright smile of Prince Sungnyeong mama appeared.

Kang Tae-young clenched his mouth.

Kang Tae-young’s favorite was Prince Sungnyeong mama.

***

He felt an atmosphere of excitement in the audience.

Behind the curtain, Seo-jun smiled as he sat on a chair prepared on the stage.

‘I hope you all liked it.’

He chose photos that had not been released from among the photos taken by mom, dad, and Da Ho hyung for this signed photo card with eight photos.

It was hard to choose because there were so many photos.

He hoped that everyone would not be disappointed and that they would be their favorite roles.

‘Tae-young hyung. Did he come?’

He remembered Kang Tae-young, who asked if he could use a photo taken during ‘Spring Has Returned’ filming as a photo card. He wondered how it turned out.

He was nervous even though he had other thoughts.

A pleasant tension enveloped his body. Seo-jun tapped his feet a few times nervously.

‘…It can’t be helped.’

Seo-jun smiled softly as he held the microphone.

He wanted to do better and show off his cool side.

He wanted to be loved by his fans and liked by the public.

Seo-jun was infinitely weak in front of people who loved him and his acting.

He took a deep breath as he noticed the atmosphere on the other side of the slowly fading curtain.

‘Good.’

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled as he wrapped his violin around him.

[(Line) Elf’s Basic Breathing is activated.]

[(Line) One-legged Harpy’s Song is activated.]

[(Line) One-legged Harpy’s Song-Intermediate]

You can produce high and low notes that are not possible due to your physical structure.

Your voice becomes sweet.

Your musical skills improve.

Your volume is amplified.

The one-legged harpy, who was hunted for its strange appearance and sold to the circus, was able to return to where it originally lived with its beautiful song.

It was a song that turned even the greedy noble’s heart.

Seo-jun activated his ability and turned off the microphone.

‘It’s better to listen directly than to listen through the speaker.’

Seo-jun signaled to the back and the curtain that was blocking the front slowly rose.

***

The curtain slowly rose.

The chair in the center of the stage and Seo-jun sitting on the chair were visible.

Seo-jun, wearing black shoes, black slacks, a white shirt, and holding a microphone, half-sitting on the chair.

The lights that lit up the entire stage slowly gathered to Seo-jun.

The cheers erupted at the sight of Seo-jun shining alone under the white light.

Seo-jun smiled at the fans’ reactions.

The music flowed.

The prelude flowed and Seo-jun, who had turned off the microphone, opened his mouth near his mouth.

‘…The speaker is too good?’

They could only think that far as Seo-jun’s voice pierced their ears.

The fans, the staff nearby, and the related people were immersed in Seo-jun’s song without exception.

The song with lyrics saying that he was happy to meet you and that he wanted to be happy together made the fans’ eyes red.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na, who were surprised to recognize actor Kang Tae-young sitting next to them, soon forgot about Kang Tae-young’s ‘g’ and immersed themselves in the song.

Seo-jun’s sweet voice echoed in the fan meeting hall.

With his vocalization honed by acting and theater, his excellent musical sense, his delicate emotional expression, and his ability added, he was no less than a singer.

Behind the stage, a little away, Yang Ju-hee admired.

“Seo-jun would have succeeded if he had been an idol.”

At Yang Ju-hee’s words, both the Mirror team children and Cocoa Entertainment employees nodded their heads.

Especially, the employees who had worked in the singer team thought so too.

The song ended and the fan meeting hall was immersed in afterglow.

Seo-jun looked around the audience filled with fans for a moment and smiled brightly.

“Hello. Sprout fans. I’m actor Lee Seo-jun.”

Soon cheers rang out.

Seo-jun shone more than ever today.

The cheers were louder than ever at Seo-jun’s sparkling appearance.

“I’m really grateful that you came today. On my way here, my manager hyung told me. He said I should just have fun with my fans. So I’m going to have fun today. I hope you all have fun and enjoy today too. Um. I’m going to do this fan meeting without an MC today…”

Seo-jun smiled and walked forward.

“Please understand if I don’t do well. I’m really happy to see you Sprouts for a longer time.”

The Sprouts held their hearts at Seo-jun’s eye smile.

The second curtain behind Seo-jun slowly came down as he signaled behind him and as Seo-jun approached the audience in front of him, the Sprouts sitting in row 1 stopped breathing without knowing it.

Lee Seo-jun today shone more than ever.

They thought it was a plain black slacks and white shirt, but it wasn’t.

It was Kim Jin-woo’s clothes, a doctor with a double personality, no.

The news of an unexpected play made the fan meeting hall explode.

***

A notice was posted on [Sprout] when the fan meeting was about to start.

It was a notice for sprouts all over the world, not just Korea.

[Notice: We are giving away photo cards with Seo-jun’s signature by lottery. Please apply by next week.]

And eight sample photo cards were uploaded.

They were pictures of him from babyhood to now, and they were photos that had not been released.

-Only one? One per person?

-Oh…just sell a photo bookㅠㅠ

=222 Something like a growth albumㅠㅠ

=33 It’s nice that it’s free, but I don’t like it for the first timeㅠ

-One per person… and it’s a lottery…

-I want them more because they are new photosㅠ

Chapter 299

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 299

“Yes, yes. He’s too aggressive, so he needs to be hospitalized.”

The curtain fell after the nurse’s last line.

The fans, who had watched the twist several times, came to their senses and cheered.

The curtain rose slowly again.

The actors, standing side by side with Seo-jun in the center, bowed to the audience.

The fans applauded and cheered for the wonderful play.

“Actor Lee Seo-jun.”

Seo-jun, holding a microphone, called his name and bowed.

“Yang Ju-hee, Kang Jae-han, Park Si-young, Jeon Seong-min.”

The actors bowed to the audience as Seo-jun called their names one by one.

The applause continued and Seo-jun spoke to the fans.

“Please wait a moment. I’ll change my clothes and come out soon. My hair is a mess right now…”

Seo-jun smiled sheepishly as if he was embarrassed by his messy hair.

The audience laughed along with him.

There were shouts of “You’re cute!” and “It’s okay!” from everywhere.

The curtain fell again and Seo-jun and the kids went backstage.

Seo-jun looked at his friends.

They all had flushed faces as if they were still immersed in the play.

Seo-jun smiled brightly.

“Thank you for coming today.”

“What are you talking about? We got paid too.”

“Thanks to you, I could buy a figure.”

Seo-jun and the kids laughed at Kang Jae-han’s words.

“Then have a good fan meeting.”

“We’ll go ahead!”

“See you at school tomorrow.”

The friends headed to the dressing room to remove their makeup and change their clothes.

Seo-jun quickly changed his clothes too.

A stylist approached him and fixed his hair and makeup with swift skills.

Meanwhile, the staff cleaned up the stage. Only a chair was left on the neatly cleared stage.

Seo-jun, wearing a yellow sweatshirt, came back with a neat appearance and sat on the chair.

***

“It’s so different to see it in person than on video…”

“I would have been so regretful if I couldn’t come today.”

The fans chatted about the play Mirror while they waited.

The curtain rose again and Seo-jun was sitting on the chair.

His eyes, which had been fierce and sharp just a while ago, were now warm and gentle.

The fans were amazed by his on-off switch once again.

They cheered and clapped.

This person, this actor was the one they liked.

Seo-jun looked at each fan’s face as if he was scanning the audience.

He smiled and spoke.

“Did you all enjoy it?”

“Yes!”

“It was great!”

There were comments about the play from everywhere.

Seo-jun grinned as he heard them directly with his ears and saw them directly with his eyes.

***

“The next part is a quiz. The quiz questions were posted by the Sprouts who couldn’t participate in the fan meeting on the cafe.”

Seo-jun read the cue card and burst into laughter.

“They wrote in the comments that you’ll never get it right.”

The audience also laughed.

They seemed to be jealous of the Sprouts who were here.

Well, they had every reason to be jealous.

They were so happy that they couldn’t stop smiling.

“The quiz will be only O X questions. If it’s O, raise your right hand. If it’s X, raise your left hand. Until there are ten minutes left. Then let’s start with the first question!”

The Sprouts listened carefully to Seo-jun’s voice.

“The car number that the kid testified in Reinvestigation was 4812. If it’s right, raise your right hand! If it’s wrong, raise your left hand!”

There were sighs from everywhere.

They didn’t expect a drama that he cameoed in to come out.

It was definitely a question to reduce the number of people.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na shook their heads.

“We have to guess.”

“Yeah.”

They wondered whether to choose a wrong number or a right number for a moment and raised their right hands.

Kang Tae-young also raised his right hand.

Seo-jun looked around the audience and smiled.

“The answer is O. Sprouts who raised your right hands. You got it right. Keep your hands up.”

There were sounds of regret and joy mixed together.

“Then here’s the second question. In My Royal Physician, the name of the village where the plague broke out was Ogyeri. If it’s right, raise your right hand. If it’s wrong, raise your left hand!”

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na raised their left hands without hesitation.

Kang Tae-young did the same.

“The question must have been easy. It wasn’t Ogyeri but Muwolri. The answer is X!”

The questions continued and eventually ten people remained.

Lim Ye-na and Song Yu-jung parted after hesitating until the end.

“Ugh. I’m jealous. Have a good time!”

Lim Ye-na smiled brightly and headed to the stage as Song Yu-jung saw her off.

Seo-jun hugged each of the ten fans who came up to the stage with a bright smile.

***

The first part of the fan meeting ended and it was break time.

The Cocoa Entertainment staff distributed snacks.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na opened their eyes wide as they received the lunch boxes passed from the side.

“Is this a snack?”

“It looks like a meal.”

The salad, cube steak, and various fruits cut into bite-sized pieces from a famous hotel filled the fans’ stomachs.

“It’s delicious!”

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na, who kept admiring, looked at the person next to them.

They remembered someone they had forgotten for a while because they were absorbed in the fan meeting.

Kang Tae-young, who was eating the cube steak with a fork, smiled at their gazes.

Joo Yong-jin told him to go to Seo-jun right away if he got caught, but Kang Tae-young wanted to enjoy the fan meeting more in this place.

“…Please keep it a secret.”

“Yes, we will. But don’t you want to see Seo-jun?”

It was break time, so he could sneak out pretending to go to the bathroom and no one would notice.

‘I would have done that!’

“I came here today as a Sprout. I want to meet Seo-jun as a fan.”

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na nodded with a strange understanding.

‘Then let’s treat him as a fan of Seo-jun too!’

“I almost lost my heart when Seo-jun came out singing!”

“Right? Our Seo-jun is good at singing too!”

“How did you know the answer to the quiz that came out as an example?”

“I was curious after watching it so many times, so I counted. But it wasn’t 73, it was 74. I counted twice.”

“I see.”

The ordinary chatter of the three Sprouts continued.

***

The second part of actor Lee Seo-jun’s fan meeting began.

The fans noticed a box on the table.

They had seen the box before.

Seo-jun, holding a microphone, smiled and spoke.

“Everyone, do you know this box? Yes, this box contains the questions that you wrote when you entered. I wonder what kind of questions they are. I’ll draw them quickly.”

Seo-jun put his hand in the box and picked a question.

The fans looked eagerly to see if their questions were drawn.

He read the first question with a tilt of his head.

“‘Seo-jun, I want to make a light stick. What do you think?’ You wrote.”

Wow!

The audience was stirred by the unexpected question.

“Light stick!”

“Huh. Is that yours, Yu-jung?”

“Yes! I didn’t expect it to be drawn!”

Unlike the excited fans, Seo-jun tilted his head.

He had seen how light sticks were used at the concerts of Cocoa Entertainment singers.

It was cool to see the light sticks flashing in the same color with a central control device.

“But do actors have light sticks? I’ve seen the light sticks of BrBl or White or Red Crown. But they are singers.”

Seo-jun’s question was met with voices saying that there were some.

“When do you use the light stick for actors?”

“At fan meetings!!”

Well, it would be weird to wave a light stick while watching a work at home or in a theater.

“Do you want a light stick?”

Seo-jun had never thought about it, so he didn’t know if he would like it or not.

The fans were the ones who would buy and use the light stick, so he asked them.

The audience unanimously gave the same answer to Seo-jun’s question.

“Yes!”

“Let’s make it!”

‘If the fans want it, I should make it.’

Seo-jun smiled brightly at the overwhelming approval.

“Light stick! Let’s make it! The company must know how to make it since they have light sticks for my seniors. And since the president is my uncle, he might do it if I ask him. If not, I’ll use my power as an investor.”

Seo-jun said with a playful face.

The fans also laughed.

An Da Ho smiled and texted the singer team about the light stick.

The singer team had no weekends or weekdays, so someone would answer him.

As soon as he thought that, he got a reply.

‘For the design… should we hold a contest?’

The efficient manager was already thinking about the design.

“Then next question! ‘What are you going to do this summer vacation?’ You asked. I’m going to America for summer vacation.”

Wow.

There were exclamations from the audience.

“Are you filming a Hollywood movie?”

“Is it a new work?”

Seo-jun shook his head at the fans’ questions.

“No. It’s just a vacation. I’ll meet some friends and have some fun and come back. One of my friends plays baseball. We agreed to go watch a baseball game. Then next question!”

Seo-jun answered sincerely to the fans’ questions.

Which work was his favorite, what role was hard for him, if there were any memorable episodes.

There were also questions about his preferences, such as his favorite songs or works.

“This doesn’t seem like a question? ‘Seo-jun, can you do a bite heart?’ You asked. Bite heart… I’ve seen Red Crown noonas do it. Is it like this?”

He put the microphone on the table and made a round shape with both hands and bit it to make a heart shape.

The fans screamed at Seo-jun’s image filling the screen.

Seo-jun also laughed at their reaction.

That’s how both the fans and Seo-jun had a happy time.

“It’s already this time. I didn’t know time was passing because it was so fun.”

There were sighs of regret from the audience at his words.

Seo-jun felt the same way, but he smiled even more brightly.

“It’s really nice to meet you, fans who love me so much. I hope you had a good time too. Sprouts, thank you for always supporting me. Please love me more in the future. I love you too!”

The spotlight shone on Seo-jun standing on the stage.

He smiled broadly and looked around the audience where the fans were sitting.

He brought the microphone close to his mouth.

[(Sun)Elf’s Basic Breathing is activated.]

[(Sun)One-legged Harpy’s Song is activated.]

The fan meeting ended with Seo-jun’s song that touched the fans’ hearts.

***

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, gifts for fan meeting success!]

[Actor Kang Tae-young, posts a picture of Lee Seo-jun’s fan meeting on SNS!]

[Actor Kang Tae-young, proves himself as a Sprout!]

-Did you have fun at the fan meeting?

=It was awesome!

=I wish I could have gone too.

=Let’s just read the reviews. (link)

-I wish I could have won the photo card lottery.

=I want to win even with my bad luck.

-Did Kang Tae-young go as an invited guest?

=No, he bought a ticket. He just watched from the audience.

=He got through the ticketing… He’s a true fan of Seo-jun lol

[Title: A brief review of Seo-jun’s fan meeting]

There was no MC, so it felt like just playing with Seo-jun. It was really good lol

Seo-jun was so cute even when he made mistakes for the first time…! (Apartment bang!)

+)To the Sprout who wrote the bite heart question… I sincerely pray that everything you do goes well!

-When he made a mistake, Seo-jun would laugh it off with a hehe, and the Sprouts would fall for him lol

=It’s his first time, so he can make mistakes!

-Bite heart lol A question disguised as a mission lol Seo-jun was really cute lol

=Bite heart…! Someone please upload a picture or a video…

Chapter 300

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 300

July.

Two months had passed since the fan meeting in May, and summer vacation had arrived.

“What do your friends do during summer break?”

Seo Eun-hye asked as she dragged his suitcase. Seo-jun answered.

The students of Mirinae High School spent their break in two ways: internal lessons and external lessons.

Those who were satisfied with the school lectures went to school, and those who needed extra tutoring went to academies.

“Our school has good instructors, so internal lessons are enough. Some people do both internal and external lessons if they feel like they need more. But they also have to audition and film if they have any projects, so I think they’re all very busy.”

Special lectures, auditions, filming.

They seemed busier than during the semester, and the group chat was already full of crying friends.

“I see.”

“What about you? What are you going to do?”

Seo-jun asked as he looked for the exit. Seo Eun-hye smiled.

“I’m going to spend some time with you and your dad.”

Seo-jun and his parents had come to America as he had told his fans.

They were going to stay with Na-ra Kim for their vacation.

“But I heard that acting majors don’t go abroad much.”

“Really?”

Seo Eun-hye tilted her head at Seo-jun’s words.

“Unlike other majors, acting majors have to keep working in Korea unless they have a special case. And it’s hard to work abroad if you can’t act well in other languages.”

They chatted as they left the airport, and they saw a familiar face.

“Welcome!”

“Auntie Na-ra!”

Na-ra Kim, who was still cheerful, hugged Seo-jun and his parents.

They had decided to stay with Na-ra Kim for their vacation.

They had talked a lot on the phone, but it was the first time they saw her in person in a year, so Seo-jun and his parents smiled brightly.

***

Seo-jun and his parents arrived at Na-ra Kim’s mansion and unpacked their bags in the room they always used.

“It’s still the same here.”

Seo-jun looked around his room.

The overall atmosphere hadn’t changed, but the small accessories and bedding were different every time.

He smiled at Na-ra Kim’s meticulousness as he organized his clothes.

He went down to the dining room after unpacking, and there was already a lot of food on the table.

His parents soon came down as well.

Na-ra Kim and Seo-jun and his parents took their seats comfortably.

“This is a famous tofu place in LA.”

“It’s delicious!”

“It is. I don’t think it was here last year. It must be new.”

The four of them ate dinner and talked about things they couldn’t say on the phone or messages.

Na-ra Kim, Seo-jun, and his parents all enjoyed their dinner with smiles.

***

The next day.

Seo-jun and his parents, who had adjusted to the time difference, went to meet their friends as they had planned in Korea.

Seo-jun also came to Rachel Hill’s mansion to meet Rachel Hill and Evan Block.

“Ta-da!”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened at the photo card that Rachel Hill showed him. Evan Block shook his head pitifully.

“I applied for it too! There’s a signature here too.”

It was definitely Seo-jun’s signature. Rachel Hill waved the photo card proudly.

“Evan also applied for it, but he didn’t get it.”

“Seo. Jun. Sign this for me.”

“Evan Block!”

Rachel Hill screamed at Evan Block’s calm request.

Seo-jun laughed at the sight of Evan Block trying to trick Rachel Hill and Rachel Hill’s reaction.

“It’s the version without a signature.”

The photo card that Evan Block held was the version without a signature, which was sold at the request of the fans who wanted to sell it.

They only charged for the production cost and shipping fee, and they were selling it all the time at [Sprout].

“Isn’t it too cheap?”

“It’s just right. I was going to give it away for free at first. But then someone said that people who don’t really want it would buy it too if it was free.”

Evan Block and Rachel Hill nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

“I bought them too. All eight of them.”

“It was nice to see Jin Natra from Shadowman 2 again.”

The photo card that Evan Block had was a picture of Seo-jun taken in front of a snow leopard cage when he was filming Shadowman 2.

He remembered playing there for a while after filming, and he smiled.

“The snow leopard liked you.”

Maybe it felt like a kin because of his ability.

“Oh, Jun. Did you see Jonathan’s independent film?”

“No. It wasn’t on Plus+ or any other site. I asked Jonathan for it, but he said he was too embarrassed to show it to me.”

Seo-jun pouted his lips.

“…He doesn’t want to show his movie to Jun. Does Jonathan want to cut ties with Jun?”

Evan Block’s serious joke made Rachel Hill laugh out loud.

Seo-jun opened his mouth at the sight of Rachel Hill crying with laughter and Evan Block being serious.

“Is that my image?”

“Yes!”

“Yeah.”

Seo-jun eventually laughed at the two actors’ firm words.

Rachel Hill, who had laughed enough, said.

“I got it. Let’s watch it together later. I don’t know why he’s so timid. He might not win any awards.”

“Maybe it’s because he’s always had good results, but this time it was different.”

“That can’t be helped. Even Director Ryan Will didn’t always win awards when he made independent films.”

Who didn’t know about the Shadowman series and Director Ryan Will?

‘He even revealed it on Pamphlet and used it for publicity.’

Director Ryan Will didn’t seem to care about such results then or now, but Jonathan apparently did.

They talked about this and that, and then Rachel Hill’s eyes sparkled.

“Then let’s have a party since we haven’t seen each other for a long time!”

“That’s good. The filming of Assemble 4 is over, so Davis must be resting these days. Call Wyatt too.”

“Ryan and Sarah, the directors, too!”

“And Mr. Swalin!”

That’s how Seo-jun’s welcome party was hastily arranged.

***

The same day, in the afternoon, at Rachel Hill’s mansion.

Seo-jun Lee’s friends from the film industry gathered in one place.

Catherine Miller, who co-starred with him in Over the Rainbow, went on a family trip abroad, and Paul Oden was in New York and couldn’t come.

“I was planning to meet him next week.”

They didn’t expect a welcome party to be held so suddenly.

Sarah Roth, the director who nodded at Seo-jun’s words, looked at the people who attended.

“It looks like we have a gathering of Marina Studio heroes.”

“Indeed.”

Seo-jun was chatting with Sarah Roth, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, when Rachel Hill said with a bright face.

“We’re going to have a screening of Jonathan Will’s independent film now!”

Jonathan Will, who was standing next to Rachel Hill, smiled sadly and resignedly.

“Oh. A movie?”

“Those festival films haven’t been released yet, right?”

The actors and directors, who looked interested, took their seats one by one.

Jonathan Will touched his forehead as he saw Swalin Arnham talking with Ryan Will and Sarah Roth.

Seo-jun took a seat next to Jonathan Will.

“…I should have just sent it to you.”

Seo-jun nodded satisfactorily at Jonathan’s words.

He knew that things would get this big if he didn’t show his work, so he thought he would obediently show it to him from now on.

“But what did Rachel say?”

“She said it’s hard to get feedback from these actors and directors unless it’s an occasion like this… You can learn a lot from the perspective of an actor and a director.”

Seo-jun nodded at Jonathan’s words.

He guessed why Jonathan agreed to this sudden screening.

“Then let’s start!”

The light came out of the beam projector and the image appeared on the screen installed on the wall.

The actors and directors were immersed in Jonathan’s independent film.

When the movie ended and the short critiques of the actors and directors were added, Jonathan Will, who was prepared, was torn apart.

Seo-jun also joined in the criticism.

“Jun… You too…!”

“Haha.”

He hoped that this advice would help him become a better director.

***

“What are you going to do now, Davis?”

Davis Garrett shrugged his shoulders at Seo-jun’s question.

Assemble 4 was already filmed, so now all the series were really over.

“I’m going to take a break and think about it. I guess after filming a series movie, your image gets fixed, so I’m thinking of trying something completely different rather than solidifying my image with something similar.”

Rachel Hill asked.

“Like romance?”

“That would be nice too.”

“Now that Redbone is over and Assemble will end next year, there won’t be any more hero series?”

“Didn’t you hear? Marina Studio is making new hero movies.”

Wyatt Carter said at Evan Block’s words.

The eyes of Seo-jun and the actors were drawn to Wyatt Carter, who was holding a big beer mug.

“Oh my. You guys didn’t know?”

“I guess I lost interest in Marina Studio news since the series ended.”

Evan Block agreed with Rachel Hill and Davis Garrett.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at the word new hero movie.

“Well, I heard it at a drinking party.”

Wyatt Carter laughed with alcohol.

“Just like when they made Redbone 1, they’re planning to make hero movies from scratch and make them into series. They’re going to gather new heroes and make something like Assemble. A new generation of heroes is coming.”

“Then the kids nowadays will grow up and cheer for the new heroes. Just like we did.”

The actors nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

“They’re smart for sure. When the second generation ends, they’ll make the third generation?”

If Redbone, Greenwing, Shadowman, and Assemble were the first generation, then the next heroes would be the second generation.

“They have to make good characters as well as choose good actors.”

“True. If it weren’t for us, they wouldn’t have been so successful.”

The center of the first generation, Davis Garrett, who played Redbone, said and the heroes gathered in one place laughed.

Ryan Will and Sarah Roth, the directors who contributed to the box office success, also smiled faintly.

“Let’s take a picture! Jun! Directors too! Come over here!”

At Rachel Hill’s lively words, Seo-jun and Ryan Will and Sarah Roth moved their seats.

Wyatt Carter and Davis Garrett, Swalin Arnham and Evan Block also stood in front of the camera. Jonathan Will stood next to Seo-jun.

“One, two, three!”

***

[Rachel Hill]

[(Picture) Hero Assemble!]

#Bell Natra #Jin Natra #Tul Natra

#Shadowman #Redbone #Greenwing

Rachel Hill’s SNS reached Korea.

-Wow. Seo-jun must be in America.

-Wow. Is this Seo-jun’s network?

-They really gathered all the heroes.

-Ryan and Sarah, the directors, are there too!

-I can tell Rachel Hill’s love order by the hashtags lol

=22 I saw the comments and went back up lol

-I guess we won’t see them anymore.

The internet was buzzing and articles were uploaded.

Even though he was not in Korea, Seo-jun’s influence was still there.

“What. It’s just like this.”

The staff of Cocoa Entertainment, who were in charge of Lee Seo-jun, answered the ringing phone as usual.

***

Two days later.

In front of Na-ra Kim’s mansion.

He waited for a while in the warm sunlight with a hat on and a familiar car stopped in front of the gate.

As Seo-jun approached the car, the window on the passenger seat went down and a friendly face appeared.

Jack Smith waved his hand.

“Get in quickly.”

“Is that how you greet me? Hello. Eric.”

“Welcome. I wish Jack was half as good as Jun.”

Seo-jun, who got in the back seat, laughed at Eric Smith’s words.

The Smiths’ car that picked up Seo-jun started.

Jack Smith looked back.

“I saw Rachel Hill’s SNS. It was crazy as soon as you came to America.”

“It’s always like that.”

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders at Jack Smith’s words. Jack Smith snorted at the relaxed superstar.

“Let’s just watch the game today. I’ll hit a home run.”

“You always say that and then you don’t.”

“I’ll hit one today!”

Eric Smith laughed at the childish fight of the two boys.

They were grown up now, but they still looked like brave little Jun and crybaby little Jack to Eric Smith.

Chapter 301

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 301

The car drove into the parking lot of the baseball stadium.

The lot was half full.

Seo-jun got out of the car and looked around the stadium.

He asked Jack Smith.

“Who are you playing against?”

“A baseball club from the next town. It’s a practice game.”

“The school tournament ended in May.”

Eric Smith said and Seo-jun nodded.

“I know. Jack kept whining about losing in the finals.”

“Hey!”

Jack, who was taking out his bag from the trunk, shouted and Seo-jun and Eric Smith laughed.

After laughing, Eric Smith checked the time.

He was supposed to come with the other players on the club bus, but Jack came separately to pick up Seo-jun.

The club bus was parked, so it seemed that Jack’s team had already arrived.

“Jack. You should go in and warm up now.”

“Okay? Jack. Go ahead.”

Evan Smith said and Seo-jun waved his hand.

“Jun.”

“Hmm?”

Jack, who was scratching his neck, opened his mouth as he saw Seo-jun tilting his head.

“Can you check my stance for me?”

***

Seo-jun, wearing a cap, sat in the stands.

The baseball stadium in America seemed to have good facilities.

And there were quite a few spectators for a friendly match between high school students.

‘Maybe it’s because this is a country with a Major League.’

Eric Smith, who sat next to Seo-jun, took out a cold water from his bag and handed it to Seo-jun.

It was obvious that it would get hot sitting in the roofless stands.

‘But it’s less hot than Korea.’

Seo-jun took a sip of cold water.

“Jack becomes childish when Jun comes. I don’t know how mature he pretends to be usually.”

“Really? He used to stick to me like glue just like the other day…”

“Oh. You remember that too. Jack was scared back then. But he had a weird taste for Hee-Sang dolls.”

Seo-jun laughed at Eric Smith’s words. Other kids hated Kim Hee-sang’s dolls that felt strangely realistic, but Jack Smith loved them so much that he threw a tantrum.

“And now Jack is the fourth batter…”

“We were all surprised at first. We didn’t know he was that good.”

Eric Smith’s face was full of pride as he said that.

Seo-jun also smiled happily at his friend’s growth.

They were waiting for the game to start when something caught Eric Smith’s eye.

“The scouts are here too.”

“Scouts?”

“Yeah. See those people over there wearing sunglasses and acting cool?”

Eric Smith pointed to one side of the stands with his finger.

As Eric Smith said, there were people wearing sunglasses sitting there.

Some of them had cameras too.

Seo-jun widened his eyes.

“Oh. That’s amazing. I’ve never seen those scouts before.”

“They came quite a lot, huh? Maybe there are many players worth watching today.”

“Including Jack?”

Seo-jun said with a smile and Eric Smith also smiled and said.

“Yeah. Including Jack.”

-Play ball!

The umpire’s voice echoed throughout the stadium.

At that sound, Seo-jun’s eyes turned to the stadium, leaving the scouts behind.

The scouts were amazing, but more important was Jack’s game.

-Strike!

The game started with Jack’s baseball club on defense.

***

“Hmm?”

“What is it?”

The scout tilted his head. His colleague who was filming the game asked him.

“That man. Isn’t he Jack Smith’s father?”

“Yeah?”

Jack Smith, who had outstanding skills for his age, was also a promising player among the scouts.

That’s why they watched his games and also looked into his family.

‘He seemed to be in a slump since the finals in May.’

He would be a good player if he overcame his slump.

If not, this would be the end for him.

The cold-eyed scout looked at Eric Smith’s side.

“Who is that boy sitting next to him?”

“I can’t see him well because he’s wearing a hat… but he looks like an Asian?”

“Jack Smith’s mother was Korean, right?”

“Yeah. A relative maybe?”

Clang!

As they heard a pleasant sound, the scouts looked at the stadium.

The player who was standing on second base and Jack Smith who swung his bat were excitedly running home.

“Jack!!!”

“Smith!!”

It was Jack Smith’s two-run homerun.

“Jack! Awesome!!”

“That’s my son!!”

Seo-jun and Eric Smith jumped up and shouted Jack’s name at the homerun that exploded from the bottom of the first inning.

As if he heard their voices, Jack stopped walking and turned around as he entered the bench.

Seeing his father and childhood friend waving their arms in the stands, Jack Smith also smiled brightly and waved his hand.

***

Clang!

The scouts marveled at the baseball flying cleanly.

“Jack Smith is in good condition today, huh?”

It was Jack Smith’s solo homerun.

That’s how the game ended today.

“3-0. He scored all the points by himself with a two-run and a solo…”

“He must have completely gotten out of his slump.”

“Yeah. He seems mentally stable too.”

The scouts looked at Jack Smith, who was waving his arms vigorously in the stands.

***

Clang!

Six glasses collided in the air.

“Congratulations on getting out of your slump!”

“Congrats!”

A celebration party was held for Jack, who had safely escaped from his slump.

The table was full of delicious dishes and Seo-jun’s family and Smith’s family sat down.

They had met often since they were babies, so it was a familiar dinner gathering.

“He hit it so hard from the bottom of the first inning!”

Seo Eun-hye, Lee Min-jun, and Maria, who came after the game, listened to the exciting game story with interest.

Jack, who was in a good mood and had played a game, was hungry and sucked in the dishes with a smile.

“And he finished with a solo homerun!”

Eric Smith made a swing gesture and laughter grew louder. Seo-jun smiled and said.

“The scouts were only looking at Jack.”

“Today’s MVP was our Jack!”

The happy laughter filled the house.

After the pleasant dinner, Maria, who was eating dessert brought by her parents, opened her mouth.

“Jun. How about staying at our house tonight? Jack has a day off tomorrow, so it would be nice to go out together.”

Jack also looked forward to it.

Seo-jun looked at Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun. The couple smiled and Seo-jun nodded his head.

“Let’s go up. Jun!”

“Yeah!”

Seo Eun-hye shouted as she saw Seo-jun and Jack heading to the second floor with excited faces.

“Don’t stay up too late, you two!”

“Okay!”

“We won’t!”

Lee Min-jun smiled and said.

“Do you believe them? Should we stop them?”

***

Seo-jun’s eyes flashed white as he sat on the chair.

[The White Snake’s Eye of the Village Councilor-Middle Low Grade is activated.]

He could see the muscle movements of Jack Smith, who was holding a bat and taking a swing stance in the middle of the room.

As the center of gravity shifted from right to left, he could see which muscles were strained, and whether the shoulders, elbows, wrists, etc. that held and swung the bat moved smoothly and without strain.

[The White Snake’s Eye of the Village Councilor-Middle Low Grade]

You can look into the body (muscles) of a living being.

You can find imbalanced places.

A village councilor saved a dying baby snake and brought it back to life.

It was his first time treating a snake, so its black scales turned pure white, but that was a blessing.

‘Thanks to that, I gained this sense.’

In the white snake’s sight, he could see the bones, muscles, blood vessels, etc. of a person clearly.

The village councilor became famous thanks to the white snake, who could look into the body of a person and find places that were injured.

‘I can’t do that much now.’

Maybe because only the eyes of the white snake were transmitted among its many senses, he couldn’t see as finely as the white snake, but his ability was useful.

Seo-jun blinked a few times and looked at Jack, who was taking a swing stance.

“You look fine?”

“You look fine? Not like that. Look carefully. Is my balance okay? I feel like I’m leaning a bit more than during the game.”

“Your balance is fine. You’re good.”

Seo-jun nodded at Jack’s question.

At Seo-jun’s words, Jack sighed and repeated his stance several times to remember it.

Seo-jun watched Jack Smith swinging his baseball bat.

Seo-jun didn’t know much about baseball, but he knew well about the body, movement, and balance of a person.

[The Dog of Hwangbo Se’s Youngest Son-Low Grade], [The White Snake’s Eye of the Village Councilor-Middle Low Grade], [The Whiskers of Sacheondang’s Pharmacy’s Three-Colored Cat-Middle Low Grade], etc.

They were abilities related to martial arts.

Seo-jun joined Jack’s training since he came to America and played baseball with Jack Smith.

‘It was more like just throwing and hitting than baseball.’

What would kids do properly?

He felt sorry for Jack Smith’s clumsy stance with a baseball bat, so he started teaching him one by one and it continued until now.

‘There was also video calling.’

Seo-jun, who was in Korea, checked and corrected Jack Smith’s posture by video call or video.

It was amazing that Jack Smith trusted Seo-jun’s words more than his own.

‘I fixed his center of gravity that was leaning a bit in the parking lot today.’

He sometimes told him about parts where he put too much force and asked Jack.

“But why do you still listen to me even though you’re older than me?”

“Well. You know. The school director or coaches don’t interfere much with the players’ postures.”

Seo-jun nodded his head.

Unlike Korean high school players who were taught textbook-like postures, American high school players’ postures were left to their own discretion.

That’s why each player had different batting stances.

“Then why don’t you ask your club? They would teach you more professionally than me?”

“Hmm. I think you’re good at sports too. Soccer, basketball, baseball, you name it. It’s a shame that you’re not a real baseball player, but you like acting more so I can’t help it.”

Jack put down his bat and sat on the bed.

He was always the first to learn and do well in any play.

“So I thought about why you’re so good at it and it felt like you’re not good at sports but good at using your body. You know which muscles to use and how to use them more efficiently without injury and naturally.”

Jack smiled at Seo-jun.

“I tried studying pro players’ videos too… but it was definitely better to do as you said. It felt more comfortable and effective for my body. The director said so too.”

Jack chuckled and said.

“‘Jack! Smith! What did you see!’ He was shocked. He said my old form was better.”

Seo-jun laughed at Jack’s imitation of his director.

“So I’m going to listen to you well from now on. So let’s go to the batting cage tomorrow. I need to try it for real.”

“Yeah. I haven’t been to the batting cage for a long time, so it sounds fun.”

“Didn’t you go in Korea?”

Jack tilted his head at Seo-jun’s words.

“There aren’t many works with baseball as a theme, so I was busy learning other things. I also filmed. That was more fun.”

He snickered at that.

He still didn’t know what fun he had in life except for acting.

If Seo-jun knew, he would have said the same thing to Jack. You don’t know what fun you have in life except for baseball.

“So, do you want to play a game? This looks fun. It’s about aliens and you control the aliens with AI. They learn and chase you even if you hide. Dad and mom were scared just by hearing it and didn’t want to play with me, so I was waiting for you.”

“That sounds fun?”

Seo-jun and Jack, who liked Kim Hee-sang’s monster dolls since they were babies, looked at each other and giggled.

***

The next day.

Seo-jun and Jack stayed up late playing games and slept, so they ate breakfast a little late.

Maria and Eric rolled their eyes at the sight of Seo-jun and Jack, who were laughing as if it was funny.

Seo-jun and Jack looked at each other and laughed even more.

Maria and Eric also smiled at the sight of the two kids.

After a late breakfast, Seo-jun went outside.

‘Do I have to take a bus to go to the batting cage? Will Eric take me?’

As he wondered how to get there, Seo-jun saw Jack Smith, who had come out first.

He was smiling next to a black car he had never seen before.

“Come on! Get in!”

“…What?”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes at the sight of Jack laughing and tapping the car that was scratched all over.

Chapter 302

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Chapter 302

“Come on! Get in!”

“…What?”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes at the sight of Jack, who was laughing and tapping the car with scratches all over it.

A car he had never seen before.

Jack Smith, who was smiling sheepishly.

Eric and Maria, who were nowhere to be seen.

‘Judging by the atmosphere…’

Seo-jun’s eyes narrowed.

“…Jack, you drive?”

“Hahaha!”

Jack Smith burst into a hearty laugh and took out his driver’s license.

“I got it as soon as I turned 16!”

Seo-jun took the driver’s license from Jack and looked at it carefully.

He reflected it in the sunlight and tilted it sideways.

After examining the driver’s license thoroughly, Seo-jun looked back and forth between Jack and the driver’s license.

‘…It’s not a fake, is it?’

Jack Smith shouted at Seo-jun’s doubtful gaze.

“It’s not a fake!”

“How did you know?”

“Your eyes! You’re an actor, so you can see very well!”

Come to think of it, in California, you could drive from the age of 16.

Seo-jun looked at Jack’s driver’s license again.

‘Jack turned 16 last year, so he could get it, but…’

Still, Seo-jun couldn’t believe that Jack Smith was driving.

‘It feels like Subin, who just started first grade in elementary school, or Eun-su, who is still in kindergarten, grew up and told me they were driving.’

“Our little Jack…!”

“Our little Jack… I’m older than you by one year! Oh, just get in.”

At Jack’s urging, Seo-jun got into the passenger seat with a nervous expression.

Jack Smith, who had a large build, sat in the driver’s seat.

Seo-jun fastened his seat belt and clenched his hands tightly.

This… isn’t this dangerous?

Seo-jun’s gaze turned to Jack Smith, who was inserting the car key.

‘Maybe it would be better to knock him out here.’

He saw the back of Jack Smith’s round head.

If he was [Hwang Bo Se’s youngest son’s pet dog], he could have solved it with one blow.

‘Jack’s ability was brought out for training purposes… but I have other abilities too, so I can make him fall asleep without any aftereffects.’

Jack started the car with a humming tune, unaware of Seo-jun’s increasingly fierce thoughts.

Contrary to Seo-jun’s anxiety, the car started smoothly.

‘Is it okay? Is it okay?’

Seo-jun watched Jack Smith grab the steering wheel with ease and loosened his grip on the seat belt a little.

He didn’t trust Jack’s skills.

‘If it gets really dangerous, I’ll have to escape with Jack.’

Seo-jun had already given up and started to think of ways to escape.

Then Eric Smith came out.

“Where are you guys going today?”

“We’re going to the batting cage and then to the beach.”

“Really? Have fun.”

“Eric!”

Seo-jun called out to Eric Smith, who was about to go into the house.

Eric Smith turned around and saw Seo-jun sitting in the passenger seat.

“Jack, can he drive well?”

“Well, he won’t die.”

“Haha!”

Eric Smith and Jack Smith laughed cheerfully.

Eric’s joke rather reassured Seo-jun. Seeing Eric’s calm demeanor, he seemed to be good at driving.

“Then we’ll be back soon.”

“See you later.”

The car left the Smith house and ran on the road.

Seo-jun looked at Jack Smith driving leisurely with curiosity.

At Seo-jun’s gaze, Jack smiled and said.

“Don’t worry. I’ve been driving for a year already. I wouldn’t put a superstar in a beginner’s car.”

‘I practiced hard to give him a ride when he came back, but the car ended up like this.’

But it was only the outside that looked like this.

The car was sturdy.

And he had just passed a safety inspection a few days ago.

“I still don’t trust you. Our little Jack is already driving…!”

“Little…”

It was a nickname that didn’t suit his current size at all. Jack wrinkled his nose and asked Seo-jun.

“How old do you have to be in Korea to get a license?”

“18 years old. I can get one after my birthday in two years.”

“You answered right away?”

“There are sometimes scenes where I drive in my works. I have to prepare in advance.”

Jack laughed at Seo-jun’s answer.

“I knew it.”

Contrary to his anxiety, Jack Smith drove quite well.

Seo-jun finally relaxed and leaned back on his seat.

He felt a little stiff from being tense.

“Where is the batting cage?”

“We’re almost there. The new place has a good pitching machine. It has a lot of courses and you can go up to 100 miles per hour.”

Seo-jun nodded at his words.

***

Bang!

“Good job!”

Jack Smith, who hit 10 balls in a row, pressed the stop button and came out with a big smile.

Seo-jun, who was standing outside, smiled warmly.

“It’s been a while since you did it, too.”

“Should I?”

At Jack’s words, Seo-jun smiled and grabbed the baseball bat.

He swung the baseball bat lightly a few times and pressed the start button and took his position.

The pitching machine threw the ball at a fast speed.

It was the speed that Jack, a baseball player, had hit, but neither Seo-jun nor Jack were worried.

Seo-jun watched the ball until the end and shifted his weight from right to left, swinging the bat.

The bat moved smoothly in a circle.

Bang!

Seo-jun and Jack both laughed heartily.

“It’s fun to do it after a long time!”

“You said you didn’t do it in Korea, but you seem to have gotten better?”

“Really?”

“One more ball is coming.”

At Jack’s words, Seo-jun took his position again.

Once again, he moved his weight to his left leg and swung the bat.

The ball flew fast with the force of the bat pushing it to the end.

Bang!

Seo-jun hit 10 balls in a row like that.

He looked at the ball flying to the end and Jack Smith opened his mouth.

“Do you feel more comfortable now? Jun. Do you want to go faster?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go up to 100 miles per hour then.”

Jack smiled mischievously and Seo-jun also grinned as he fiddled with the bat handle.

“Okay.”

***

“Jack Smith?”

The scout stopped at the familiar face.

It was his day off today, but he couldn’t help but move his feet when he saw the batter entering the batting cage.

“Shall we see how he practices?”

He might see a different side of him than in the game.

The scout, who was following Jack Smith, spotted the Asian boy he had seen yesterday.

They seemed to be relatives since they were together yesterday and today.

The scout followed the two into the batting cage and took a seat on one side.

He could see Jack Smith and the boy well through the green netting.

First, Jack Smith swung the bat.

“Your condition is good today?”

His posture was stable.

Usually, in American high schools, the batting stance was left to the players’ discretion, so each player had a different stance.

Among them, there were players who hit with a wrong stance, and players who hit with a stance that suited their body.

‘But Jack Smith is different.’

Despite being a high school student, Jack Smith’s balance of upper and lower body was perfect as if a pro had taken care of him.

His batting stance was also like that.

A stance that was unique to Jack Smith, that seemed to fit Jack Smith.

‘I thought he had a personal trainer, but he didn’t have anyone in the end.’

Once again, the ball that Jack Smith hit flew into the air.

Oh, this one is a bit.

As soon as he thought that, the boy with the hat who was standing outside said something to Jack Smith.

He couldn’t hear it because it was a small voice.

The scout strained his ears.

“Good. Try hitting it like that.”

“Okay!”

The conversation must have ended by then. The scout sighed and looked at Jack Smith.

Jack Smith swung the bat.

The ball that flew at him hit properly and flew to the other side.

‘It seems better than before?’

It was good before, but his posture seemed better now.

He hit 10 balls like that and came out, and the boy with the hat went inside and took his position.

“His posture is good. Is he a Korean high school player?”

There was a separate part for Asian scouts, but the scout analyzed the boy as if it was his occupational disease.

Bang!

The scout’s eyes stopped with the loud sound that echoed in the batting cage.

He heard Jack Smith’s voice faintly saying ‘As expected of Jun!’.

“…He’s good?”

He did well enough to compare with Jack Smith.

‘No, wait. He did well enough to compare with Jack Smith?’

The scout’s eyes twitched.

Wasn’t Jack Smith the best hitter in this area among high school players?

The scout’s trembling gaze turned to the boy with the hat.

He hit 9 balls like that.

Inside, outside, below, above.

The boy hit all the balls that flew in various courses without missing any.

Before he knew it, the scout had grabbed the green netting and stuck to it.

He swallowed his saliva.

‘Why did I find such a player now?’

Of course, it was a batting cage, so it could be different from a real game, but just from what he saw now, he thought he would make a name for himself in high school baseball.

The scout took out his phone while thinking of the Asian players he knew.

In the meantime, Jack Smith and the boy took turns at bat.

The speed of the ball got faster and faster and the course changed more diversely.

Bang!

Then, a louder sound than ever before rang out.

He didn’t know when the ball flew and when he hit it.

It probably wasn’t an ordinary speed that he usually saw.

“100 miles! I knew you could do it Jun!”

“It felt… a bit faster this time.”

“A bit? This is not a bit fast!”

The two laughed happily at their conversation.

The scout opened his mouth wide at their relaxed attitude.

***

“Shall we go eat lunch now?”

“There’s a new burger place nearby. It’s delicious.”

“Burgers are good.”

Jack, who was walking ahead of Seo-jun, noticed a man who was stuck to the netting and lost in thought.

The man’s gaze was on Seo-jun.

Jack moved his steps to block Seo-jun as if to protect him.

‘I came here at a time when there were fewer people because of Jun… but one person should be okay.’

He thought so, but still stood next to Seo-jun as they left the batting cage.

Seo-jun opened the car door and got out as soon as they left.

Jack quickly handed Seo-jun his hat.

“Thanks!”

He didn’t know what it was, but Seo-jun wouldn’t move so hastily for no reason.

Jack shouted to Seo-jun who was about to run away wearing his hat.

“I’ll park and come right away!”

“Okay!”

Seo-jun answered and pressed his hat down firmly and ran towards the beach.

Not only Seo-jun, but also people on the beach started to gather one by one in one place.

Seo-jun arrived at his destination and looked at it while catching his breath.

He heard the sound of rough breathing getting weaker.

The people who gathered took out their phones and filmed it.

Jack, who parked quickly and ran over, stood next to Seo-jun as if to block him from moving around.

And he let out a breath that was either admiration or sigh at the sight that came into his view.

“Jun… this is…”

A little boy who had squeezed into the front with a toy sand shovel opened his mouth wide at the huge thing in front of him and shouted.

“Mom! A whale!”

A whale as big as Jack Smith’s car was lying on the sand.

Chapter 303

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 303

What are the chances of meeting a whale when you come to the beach?

And not on the sea, but on the sand.

People were stunned by the appearance of the whale they never imagined.

Some took out their phones and filmed it.

The whale seemed to have been washed ashore by the high tide and could not return to the sea with the low tide.

It was left on the sand with only a few puddles around it.

Seo-jun walked slowly and examined the whale.

The whale, which seemed to have lost consciousness, was breathing with difficulty.

Seo-jun noticed that the whale’s skin was drying up under the hot sun.

He thought he had to do something about it before looking closer.

Seo-jun spoke to Jack, who was standing behind him.

“Jack. You said you had towels in the car, right?”

“Yeah. But they’re for after training, so there’s only four at most.”

Jack answered with a regretful expression.

Four towels.

That was not enough to cover the whale as big as a car.

Seo-jun nodded with a grim face.

“Can’t help it. Just bring what you have. The whale’s skin can’t dry out. And something to shade it from the sun… I guess you don’t have anything like that?”

Jack thought for a moment after hearing Seo-jun’s words and shook his head.

“I don’t think I have anything like that… I’ll just get the towels first.”

“Thanks.”

The people who were chatting quietly at the unexpected appearance of the whale also heard Seo-jun and Jack’s conversation.

They saw Jack running to the parking lot and Seo-jun carefully checking on the whale.

They started to speak one by one.

“Excuse me… We have a big beach mat. How about we use that to cover it?”

“I have some towels too.”

“Bro! Use this!”

Seo-jun smiled and thanked them.

“Thank you. Can you help me a little bit?”

“A little bit? We have to save the whale together!”

A large middle-aged man’s voice made everyone nod in agreement.

“First, we’ll soak the towels in water and put them on top of the whale. And use whatever you can to shade it.”

The people followed Seo-jun’s words and moved.

There were many towels on the beach.

Everyone ran to the sea without hesitation, soaked their towels and brought them back.

The whale’s back was completely covered with wet towels.

Meanwhile, Jack came back with the towels he had gone to get.

He was panting from running back and forth.

He looked at the wet towels covering the whale and the four towels in his hand alternately and opened his mouth.

“…I guess I didn’t have to go?”

“Haha. Yeah.”

Seo-jun, who was tying beach mats and branches with ropes, laughed at Jack’s words.

Jack shrugged his shoulders and quickly joined in making the shade.

“One, two!”

They erected the poles they were holding at once.

The beach mats they brought to lay on the sand were tied to branches and tent poles, forming a shade for the whale.

Seo-jun and the people sighed at the sight of the whale covered with shade and wet towels.

“Is this enough shade?”

“Now we just have to keep spraying water so that the towels don’t dry out.”

The woman who generously offered her beach mat agreed with Seo-jun and the others.

“I brought some buckets!”

“Me too!”

The people knew what was needed without Seo-jun telling them.

They asked nearby stores or people for buckets they brought for playing in the sand.

Splash!

Sea water in buckets poured over the towels covering the whale.

“Here!”

“Let’s go one more time!”

The sea water was a bit far from where the whale was.

From the sea to the whale, people formed a human chain and passed buckets from side to side.

Jack, who was closest to the whale and spraying water, swallowed a sigh and spoke to Seo-jun.

“This won’t do, will it? Did you contact the manager?”

“Yeah. I called him right after you left. He said he contacted the rescue team. I don’t know when they’ll come, though.”

They continued their conversation while working.

Seo-jun and Jack’s hands did not stop.

The whale seemed to regain some consciousness under the shaded sun and sprayed water.

“It opened its eyes!”

As the little kid who was cheering enthusiastically said, the whale’s black eyes blinked weakly.

The people cheered at that sight.

Their bodies were tired, but their spirits were high.

Seo-jun and Jack’s faces brightened up too.

Seo-jun’s pupils shone white.

[(Line) The White Eyes of Village Representative is activated.]

Seo-jun’s face blurred.

It seemed to have regained consciousness, but its movements were weaker than when they first found it.

Especially, the movement around its lungs was slowing down.

‘And it looks like it’s injured?’

The muscles on its belly that touched the sand did not look normal. It did not look serious, but in this situation, even a small wound was dangerous.

Jack, who was close to the whale, also noticed its condition.

“It seems to have trouble breathing, right?”

Seo-jun nodded.

“It’s because of gravity. In the water, they are less affected by gravity. But whales live in the water all the time, so they hardly feel the force of gravity.”

They did not stop their hands while talking.

Unlike the others who were exhausted from passing buckets and switched places, the two boys were still energetic.

The two boys who took the lead in moving when they found the whale.

That’s why people’s eyes were on them.

‘I think I’ve seen them somewhere?’

Seo-jun examined the whale with his ability and sprayed water where it was most needed.

“But now they’re on land and they’re feeling the full force of gravity. They’re bearing their full weight.”

Seo-jun and Jack’s clothes were soaked with water.

They did not have time to fix their crooked hats as they sprayed water.

More people gathered at the sight of the people surrounding the huge whale.

They were surprised to see the whale covered with makeshift tents and towels.

They took turns with the people who were tired of moving buckets.

From children to adults.

They could not leave their seats with pity at the sight of the sagging whale.

“That means their organs are pressed by their fat. Especially their lungs are pressed and they have trouble breathing.”

That was why whales that came up to breathe on the sea died of suffocation on land.

“I see.”

Jack’s face cast a shadow.

“They have to get here before it stops breathing completely…”

Seo-jun looked at the sea and then at the whale again.

The black eyes that slowly opened and closed looked pitiful.

Jack asked.

“Do you think it’s a baby?”

“Yeah. It should still be with its mother…”

Splash!

Another bucket of water poured over the whale.

The people who heard Seo-jun’s story also shared their own.

“Can we pull it with a car?”

“I don’t know. It looks too big for that…”

“I think a car is not enough to get it to a depth where it can move.”

The answer was still the rescue team.

While the people waited for the rescue team, Seo-jun used his ability to keep the whale alive.

He made it breathe forcibly and circulated its blood, but this was only an emergency measure.

They had to hurry up and get the rescue team.

The large, gentle eyes blinked with difficulty.

Seo-jun felt more sorry for it because of the book of life he had read recently.

***

“We patrol like this twice a week.”

The boat with the name SEA SAVER on it cut through the water.

The woman in an orange life jacket smiled as she saw the dolphin pod in the distance.

The large camera lens pointed at Kate O’Hass, the team leader of Sea Saver.

The PD of the documentary opened his mouth to ask a question.

“These days, the beach…”

“Team leader. We got a report!”

Kate reflexively grabbed the radio that was buzzing and the PD quickly shut his mouth.

“Where?”

“They found a whale at Midman Beach. It’s on the sand and as big as a medium-sized car. It’s not a dolphin!”

“Jess! Go to Midman Beach!”

The Sea Saver, which changed direction, made the documentary PD and camera director and staff who wore life jackets sit firmly.

They had experienced such dispatches several times during the four days of filming the documentary about Sea Saver, who rescued marine life.

“Of course, I don’t know how much ratings this will get…”

The sea that covers 70.8% of the earth.

And the creatures that live in the sea.

Sea Saver, who protects them.

But as time went by, people’s interest grew distant.

That’s why Sea Saver decided to produce a documentary to draw people’s help and worked together with ABS Broadcasting.

“Tell the reporter!”

Kate walked quickly toward the boat on board Sea Saver.

“Shade it from the sun and keep spraying water!”

“Um… They seem to be doing that already?”

“What?”

Kate tilted her head at the words of her team member who walked beside her. The team member handed her his phone.

“They’re live on YouTube right now.”

***

[We’re saving a whale at Midman Beach! Live broadcast!]

-Can they save it like that?

-I don’t think so.

-Two dolphins died last week.

-It’s bigger, so it’s harder.

Tom, who passed a heavy bucket full of seawater to his side, raised his hand and someone who was waiting behind him took his place and started moving buckets to his side.

Tom sat down on the sand.

Next to him was his friend who had been moving buckets with him until five minutes ago.

Tom rubbed his tingling arms and opened his mouth.

“When will they get here?”

“They said several people reported it, so they’ll come. They’re uploading it on YouTube, so it’ll be a big deal if they don’t come.”

“I can’t believe they’re filming this… Should I admire them or…”

Tom clicked his tongue in displeasure. His friend shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, thanks to those videos, people nearby came.”

As his friend said, there were more people than before.

Thanks to that, the people who helped first could rest.

“Besides, aren’t they amazing?”

“Yeah.”

The two boys who stood at the front and sprayed water on the whale.

There were six directions where water was sprayed, but while the other four directions changed people, the two boys were still standing there firmly and checking on the whale’s condition and spraying water.

Their shirts and pants were soaked, but they didn’t seem to care.

They only admired them.

“They have amazing stamina. Are they athletes?”

“Yeah. I think I’ve seen the one on the left somewhere.”

Tom scratched his chin as he looked at Jack Smith’s face.

And somehow he felt like he had seen the boy on the right somewhere too.

‘But he’s really shiny.’

Whether it was because of the water droplets that bounced off from hitting the whale or because he was deeply moved by their actions, it seemed like there was light coming from both boys, especially from the one on the right. He wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

There was something about them that caught their eyes. But before they could think deeply about it, Tom and his friend’s attention turned elsewhere.

There was a cheer from one side.

“Oh! A boat!”

“Sea Saver is here!”

“Mom! A boat is here!”

The beach was bustling with people’s cheers.

Seo-jun and Jack also turned their heads for a moment and looked at the sea.

A large boat appeared on the wide and blue sea.

[SEA SAVER]

The white letters on the boat were visible.

“They’re finally here!”

“Yeah. It seems like the timing is right.”

Seo-jun and Jack smiled brightly as their eyes met.

Sea Saver approached the beach.

A small boat appeared from the Sea Saver that stopped at a certain distance. The white boat made a white spray and ran at a fast speed.

It was a dramatic scene like in a movie. Cheers and applause erupted from everywhere.

-They’re here!!

-That’s so cool!

-Wow. I thought I was watching a movie!

The people who got off the boat that arrived at the beach were Kate and the Sea Saver team members.

Some people flinched at the sight of the person with a camera behind them, but they did not stop their hands moving buckets.

Kate shouted in a loud voice.

“I’m Kate O’Hass, the team leader of Sea Saver Rescue Team. I sincerely thank you for your help. From now on, please leave it to us, Sea Saver!”

There was another round of cheers and applause

Chapter 304

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Chapter 304

Sea Saver acted quickly.

“Time is life! We have to move it while it’s still holding on!”

“Yes!”

Kate swiftly checked the whale’s condition.

It took time to get there by boat.

It might have been a long time for a baby humpback whale, even if it was not a large adult.

They were lucky that people helped them and bought them some time.

‘But it doesn’t look like it’s having too much trouble breathing.’

It was a miracle.

“There seems to be a wound on its belly.”

“On its belly?”

Kate turned around at the sudden voice.

A boy with a black hat and wet clothes spoke with a worried, but relieved face.

“It looked like the whale was moving a bit strangely earlier.”

“I see.”

‘That’s not something you can tell by just looking…’

Especially for an animal like a whale, which ordinary people rarely see, it was not easy to grasp its movements so well.

Kate O’hass nodded her head as she thought so.

“Okay. I’ll be careful when I move it.”

“Yes. Please save it.”

The boy soon went into the crowd.

He was a boy who left a strange impression.

Meanwhile, the team members returned the towels that covered the whale to the people.

Some of them took out a large special cloth from the boat and wrapped the whale with it.

And finally, they sprinkled water on the whale. One of the team members asked the people.

“Can you help us lift its tail?”

“Yes.”

The people nodded their heads.

The documentary PD continued filming the unexpected good scene.

It was a scene that could be used for both news and documentary.

“One, two!”

While the people lifted the whale’s tail, a Sea Saver team member wrapped a band around the part closest to its body.

There was a sturdy ring attached to the end of the band.

Sea Saver used the people’s strength to wrap bands around the tail, both fins, and the head of the whale.

Then they connected new ropes to the iron rings at the ends of the four bands.

While checking the whale and giving instructions, Kate explained to the people who had worked hard to save the whale.

“Now we’re going to tie ropes to the rings on the bands and connect them to that boat over there and pull it towards the water. It won’t put too much pressure on the whale.”

The people sighed in relief at Sea Saver’s perfect treatment. Kate smiled slightly and picked up the radio.

“Jess! Get ready to pull as soon as we connect the ropes!”

“Roger!”

“Everyone, please step back!”

Under Sea Saver’s instructions, no one stood in a straight line between the whale and the sea.

But around it, people began to fill up. People who came after watching YouTube, people who came after hearing stories.

People flocked to see the whale returning to the sea.

Seo-jun and Jack exchanged glances at the increasing number of people.

Some people looked at Seo-jun differently.

He seemed to have left quite an impression by spending his time helping the whale.

“Thanks for the mat.”

Seo-jun said to Susan, who had lent him a beach mat.

Jack also greeted the people who had brought buckets with him.

“You’re not going to watch until the end?”

The people who had helped from the beginning looked at Seo-jun and Jack.

Jun smiled and said.

“Yes. It’s been too long.”

“I see. You guys did a great job too.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

As they shook hands with the people they had become close with in that short time, the boat moved.

The rope that had been slack between the boat and the whale tightened.

“Oh. It’s moving!”

The whale wrapped in cloth slowly moved towards the sea.

Seo-jun and Jack also moved towards the sea with Sea Saver team members and people.

“Bye! Whale!”

“Be careful!”

The cheerful voices of children were heard sporadically. Some adults also said goodbye and took their last commemorative photos.

And finally, the whale’s body was completely submerged in water.

Wow!!

A cheer full of joy burst out from everyone, but soon subsided.

The whale that went into the water did not move at all. It just slowly followed by rope. Everyone held their breaths and looked worriedly at it. Some children teared up.

“Is that okay?”

Jack, who was wiping his hair with a dry towel he couldn’t use earlier, walked backwards as he looked at sea.

Seo-jun also glanced back occasionally as he wrung out water from his T-shirt.

The Sea Saver rescue team leader seemed to remember Seo-jun’s words about wound on whale’s belly, as movement of whale was not very fast.

“Where did you park your car?”

“Over there in the parking lot. Oh. It’s going into water.”

They came out of the sand beach and went up the road, they could still see the whale from here.

Along with some spectators, Seo-jun and Jack watched it.

The whale slowly went into the water.

Kate and Sea Saver team members, and people also moved towards the sea.

“Wow…!”

The tail that had been completely submerged in water, not covered by cloth, gently rose above water.

The whale was still small, but it was a whale.

Splash!

The tail made a loud noise as it hit water.

The spray of water made by the whale’s tail collided with sunlight and sparkled in the air.

Wow!!

Everyone, adults and children alike, cheered at that thank-you-like spray.

Seo-jun and Jack smiled broadly as they watched it from the road.

***

“I’ll leave now,”

“Are you going to the center?”

“Yes. It’s still a baby, so it needs to gain some strength before being released. There’s also a report that it has a wound on its belly, so I have to check that too.”

Kate O’Hass put down the radio and looked back.

People applauded as they saw Sea Saver.

Kate smiled and said.

“It’s thanks to you who took care of the whale until we arrived. We couldn’t have saved that baby humpback whale without your help.”

“So that was a humpback whale.”

“I didn’t even know what kind of whale it was.”

Tom and his friend’s words made everyone nod with a smile.

The documentary camera captured the scene.

It was a tired look that didn’t match the beach for vacation, but it was more touching because of that.

“What will happen to the whale now?”

“It’s still a baby, so it will rest and recover at the Sea Saver center for a few days. If it has any wounds, we’ll treat them too. Then it will return to the sea. We’ll find the best place for the humpback whale.”

“Sea Saver center… Can anyone go there?”

Kate nodded at someone’s question.

The Sea Saver center opened its doors to the public to encourage marine animal protection.

“Yes. The Sea Saver center is open for tours, so you can see it if you come during the tour hours.”

“Mom! Let’s go!”

“Why not?”

They couldn’t miss seeing the whale they had saved with their own hands.

As people were talking, Tom’s friend spoke up.

“Huh? Where did they go?”

Susan, who was untying the rope that tied the branches and beach mats, smiled and said.

“Oh, they left earlier. They said they had to go home because it was getting late.”

“Really? They worked the hardest… It’s a shame. I should have told them they could take a tour.”

Most people agreed with his friend’s words.

“Those kids?”

PD and Kate tilted their heads at the people’s reactions.

Susan folded the beach mat neatly and said proudly.

“They were the first ones to move when we saved the whale. They suggested making a shade and spraying water. If it weren’t for those kids who took the initiative, we would have been in a mess.”

“They were also amazing in stamina. They kept moving from when we found it until the rescue team arrived.”

“They were nice kids. They were like heroes.”

PD’s eyes sparkled.

The kids who moved first to save the whale.

They were more likely to attract people’s attention because they were not adults.

It seemed like a good scene to put in the documentary if he could interview those kids.

“Who are those kids,”

“Aaaah!”

Someone screamed.

It was Tom, who was carrying a bucket.

His friend, who was standing next to him, looked at him in surprise.

Tom didn’t notice the people’s eyes on him and shouted at his friend.

He looked like he had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

“It was Seo-jun Lee!”

“…What? What are you talking about?”

“I remembered when you said hero! That kid! The one with the black hat!”

Tom was almost grabbing his friend’s collar now.

He had thought that the sparkling aura he saw when he was moved by the boy’s actions was an illusion of his eyes.

The handsome face that looked familiar and the soft voice that sounded familiar.

He was too busy saving the whale and he never imagined that he would see the superstar right next to him, saving the whale with him.

“It was Seo-jun Lee! Jin Natra! Gray Vainy! Go Ju Won!”

Tom’s voice echoed on Midman Beach.

Midman Beach seemed to stop for a moment.

Even if they didn’t know Seo-jun Lee, they couldn’t help but know the names that followed.

Jin Natra, Gray Vainy, Go Ju Won.

…!!

A silent shock descended on Midman Beach.

From Susan, who gave them the beach mat, to the people who were saving the whale with them right next to them.

The people who saw the boy with the black hat and talked to him opened their mouths wide enough to swallow an egg.

After a moment of silence, screams erupted everywhere.

“Oh my god…!”

“How did I not recognize him?!”

How could they not recognize his face under the hat!

“Seo-jun Lee…! I’m a real fan…!”

“I mean, I knew he was in LA, but how did he show up so suddenly?!”

“Wow! Seo-jun saved a whale!”

From fans who regretted not recognizing their favorite star right in front of them, to people who were really surprised by the superstar’s sudden appearance, to people who took out their phones and told their family and friends that they met Seo-jun Lee.

Midman Beach became noisy.

On the other hand, there were people who seemed to be in a different world.

The Sea Saver and the documentary crew blinked their eyes at the situation they couldn’t understand.

“…Seo-jun Lee is an actor, right?”

“That’s right. Why is he suddenly coming up?”

And Tom’s voice didn’t just echo on Midman Beach.

It was broadcasted to the whole world through YouTube channels that were live streaming the situation on Midman Beach.

-Seo-jun Lee is here!!

Chapter 305

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Chapter 305

Song Yu-jung was on the verge of tears as she looked at her phone.

She was watching a video that Lim Ye-na had sent her, titled [Midman Beach, Whale Rescue in Progress!].

She couldn’t take her eyes off the screen, where people’s murmurs and splashes of water were mixed with shaky images.

<It’s more touching because it’s liveㅠㅠ

-Lim Ye-na: ㅠㅠ I hope the rescue team arrives soonㅠㅠ

As soon as Lim Ye-na’s message arrived, the screen turned to the sea.

A boat with SEA SAVER written on it was approaching the shore.

-Lim Ye-na: ???

<Why?

-Lim Ye-na: It’s SEA SAVER, the place where Sae-sak donated.

-Lim Ye-na: On Seo-jun’s birthday.

<Oh. It must be a good place.

With the arrival of the rescue team, Lim Ye-na and Song Yu-jung were able to watch the video with relief.

Song Yu-jung relaxed her tense body and sprawled on the sofa.

-Lim Ye-na: ㅇㅇ Everyone did a lot of research and chose this place.

-Lim Ye-na: When I hear Seo-jun’s story, I miss him.

-Lim Ye-na: Let’s just watch this and go.

As Lim Ye-na said, SEA SAVER appeared like a hero in a movie and quickly prepared to lead the whale back to the sea.

More than the skillful movements of SEA SAVER, there was someone who caught Song Yu-jung’s attention.

<But there’s a guy wearing a black hat over there.

The black hat that had been silently doing his job near the whale since Song Yu-jung started watching the video.

-Lim Ye-na: ㅇㅇ

<He looks familiar somehow.

-Lim Ye-na: ㅋㅋ You can see his face even though he’s wearing a hat?

<Just… He seems like someone I’ve seen before. Is he Korean?

-Lim Ye-na: He seems like it.

And finally, the whale returned to the sea.

The spray of water that it left as a sign of gratitude looked like a scene from a movie.

The YouTube chat was filled with tears of emotion.

The explanation of the SEA SAVER team leader followed and a translation was immediately added to the chat.

That’s how the ‘whale rescue operation’ ended warmly.

At that moment, a heavy scream of a man was heard.

-What?! What is this all of a sudden?!

-What happened!?

The YouTuber turned the camera to where the sound came from, surprised.

A black man with a terrified expression was yelling at someone next to him.

The person next to him looked confused by the sudden situation.

-Lim Ye-na: Wow. Are they fighting?

[I remembered because he was a hero! That kid! The one who wore a black hat!]

The man’s voice came out clearly. Someone translated it right away.

Black hat? Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na blinked their eyes.

[It was Seo-jun Lee! Jin Natra! Gray Vainy! Go Joo-won!]

There was no need for translation for this one.

The YouTube chat was silent as if it had been muted. Everyone was too surprised to type a single letter.

…!

Song Yu-jung covered her mouth with her hand at the names that stuck in her ears.

She thought he caught her eye for some reason.

‘But I didn’t know it was Seo-jun!’

***

The SEA SAVER and documentary crew were stunned when they heard the situation from people.

“…Seo-jun Lee? The one who played Jin Natra in Shadowman and won an Academy Award?”

“That’s what they said! Wow. Now that I think about it, I wonder why I didn’t notice!”

Susan, who was explaining to the PD, looked at her friends with an excited face as she remembered something.

“By the way, I shook hands with Jun earlier!”

“Really? Lucky!”

The PD looked around.

Midman Beach was buzzing with excitement because of the unexpected appearance of a superstar.

The people who were filming videos were rewinding them to find Seo-jun Lee and those who had talked to Seo-jun Lee were chatting with their friends with excited faces.

The PD realized that this was an amazing opportunity.

‘That boy was Seo-jun Lee…’

He recalled the boy who told the that the whale had an injury.

He thought he had an impressive vibe.

Then, they received a radio call from the boat.

“Team leader! I think we should leave now?”

“…Yeah. Okay. We’ll leave right away.”

At Kate’s words, the SEA SAVER members who were buzzing around also started to move.

The PD and the camera director were left on the beach as SEA SAVER boarded the boat.

The boat made white waves as it headed towards SEA SAVER.

The PD, who was watching the small whale and the boat, turned his body and asked the people who were excited.

“Can I ask you for an interview?”

There was no way that the media would miss such a topic.

A whale rescue video was rare but not unheard of. But it was the first time that a Hollywood actor appeared in it.

“Besides, he didn’t even reveal his identity and left like a real hero!”

Without saying anything, the media and newspapers immediately sent people to interview at Midman Beach and obtained the rescue video and edited it.

Then they sent it to the news right away.

***

Smith’s house.

Seo-jun, who had taken a shower with warm water, widened his eyes at the news that was playing on the TV that Jack had turned on.

“…The news is already out?”

Jack, who had half-buried himself on the sofa, said.

“Yeah. It came out as soon as you went in.”

“Really? Korea must be crazy too.”

“It seems like it.”

Jack, who had learned some Korean when he was young when Seo-jun learned Korean from Seo Eun-hye, handed him his phone.

“It’s all about your name.”

Jack laughed as he spoke, and Seo-jun sat on the sofa and looked at his phone.

The entertainment section of the portal site was filled with articles about Lee Seo-jun.

[Lee Seo-jun, the actor who helped the whale rescue operation?]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun! He saved a whale!]

[Why did actor Lee Seo-jun go to Midman Beach?]

-Wow… I almost had a heart attack watching YouTube.

=22 I was wiping my tears at the heartwarming ending, and then my tears suddenly dried upㅋㅋ

=333 I was watching the video and saying, “Live well, whale.” And then suddenly it’s Seo-junㅋㅋ

-People seemed really surprised.

=The first person who recognized him grabbed his friend’s collarㅋㅋ

=But I would have been surprised too. I go to the beach for fun, and suddenly a whale appeared, and I am busy carrying buckets of water to save the whale, and then I realized that the person next to me is Lee Seo-junㅋㅋㅋ

=The person next to me was Lee Seo-junㅋㅋ

=I would have been shocked just by seeing himㅋㅋ let alone talking to him without knowing itㅋㅋ

-Why is it Lee Seo-jun? Isn’t he in America?

=Look at this. (link)

=…?? He saved a whale in America?!

“Hmm. The company must be crazy too.”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

He tried to hide it, but he was so focused on helping the whale that he failed to hide it perfectly.

“Jun, there’s an interview coming up.”

At Jack’s words, Seo-jun’s eyes turned to the TV.

The news showed Midman Beach, where he had been just 40 minutes ago.

In the video, a California resident, a little boy and his parents were interviewed with excited faces.

They were familiar faces.

“He was the first one to run to the whale.”

“I gave him a towel!”

The next one to appear was a black man.

“At first, I thought he was just an ordinary person, but his vibe changed gradually. I thought he looked familiar, but… Oh my God! It was Jun! I watched Escape so many times, how could I not recognize him!”

Seo-jun and Jack laughed at the caption that said [Tom/The first person who recognized Lee Seo-jun].

“As you can see in the video, if it wasn’t for Lee Seo-jun, we wouldn’t have been able to move so systematically. He made a shade for the whale, covered it with a towel, made a human ring and sprayed water with buckets.”

“He also seemed to have great stamina. I didn’t see him rest at all.”

Susan and her friends also gave interviews.

“They are all nice people.”

“Yeah.”

He was the most famous one and got the spotlight, but everyone who was there was a great hero.

“Do you have anything to say to Lee Seo-jun?”

“Yes! Jun! The whale is going to SEA SAVER center!”

Susan said with a smile in the video. Seo-jun listened carefully to her voice.

“SEA SAVER center is open to the public and you can visit it! I hope you can see the whale again!”

***

The stormy day passed and the next day.

He got a call from Ahn Da Ho in Korea.

A documentary?

“Yeah. They’re filming until the whale goes back to the sea.”

“Hmm.”

Seo-jun tilted his head.

“But weren’t they filming a documentary already? Is it okay for me to show up suddenly?”

“So they’re thinking of releasing this documentary separately. They’re making two of them. The original one and the one with you in it.”

SEA SAVER didn’t care as long as it had a good publicity effect, and ABS broadcasting station only cared about ratings and buzz.

“And SEA SAVER is one of the places where your fans donate on your birthday.”

“Oh. Now that you mention it, I remember seeing it.”

Every year on Seo-jun’s birthday, Sae-sak donated to SEA SAVER.

Seo-jun thought about it.

It was a sudden filming, but it seemed okay.

He wanted to see the whale he saved go back to the sea as Susan said, and he wanted to look around SEA SAVER center that his fans donated to.

‘I think my fans would be proud to see the center they donated to in the video.’

It also seemed fun to film a different genre than movies or dramas, a documentary.

“Okay, hyung. I’ll do it. The documentary.”

“Okay. I’ll let them know right away. But the whale’s condition is not very bad, so they’re going to start filming right away. But it’s not going to be all day, so don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

He didn’t have any plans for the next few days anyway.

Ahn Da Ho and Kings Agency started to move.

The ABS broadcasting station that was producing the documentary also released an article.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, decided to film a documentary in America!]

[The story of the hero who saved a whale continues!]

[ABS’s special documentary! Actor Lee Seo-jun appears!]

-!! Seo-jun is filming a documentary?

-He couldn’t not do it, honestly.

=222 I think they could make a movie out of this material ㅎㅎ

=ㄴㄴ It’s too short for that. A documentary is more suitable.

-Seo-jun’s one cut is amazing. No one could recognize himㅋㅋ

=Just look at Working Manㅋㅋㅋ

-I don’t watch documentaries because they’re boring.

=22 But I think I have to watch this one.

-What is SEA SAVER?

***

“Wow. Team leader! Our center and Lee Seo-jun are the only topics on SNS!”

The SEA SAVER members were shocked by the sudden appearance of a Hollywood star and the reactions that followed.

“I thought people wouldn’t be interested in this kind of environmental protection story even if a Hollywood star appeared…”

“And the donations are pouring in too?”

They rained down from Korea like rain.

The team members swallowed their saliva at the donations that were piling up in real time.

“…I feel kind of pressured.”

“Me too.”

SEA SAVER wondered what kind of person the star who received so much love from his fans was.

And the next day.

“Hello. I’m Lee Seo-jun.”

The Hollywood star, Lee Seo-jun, appeared at SEA SAVER center.

Chapter 306

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 306

The day before the shooting.

The world was still buzzing about Seo-jun Lee’s whale rescue.

Especially ABS Broadcasting, which was also involved in the documentary shooting, aired Seo-jun’s past videos and revealed that his fans had donated to SEA SAVE.

“ABS Broadcasting’s parent company is MarineSaya.”

“Really?”

Na-ra Kim’s words surprised Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who were looking at the television.

On the screen, a video edited around Seo-jun, who was wearing a black hat, was playing.

“So they’re airing this much because he’s an actor who starred in their company’s movie?”

“Well, I guess that’s part of the reason. It’s not bad news, it’s good news.”

Oh.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun nodded their heads.

Meanwhile, ABS Channel showed a new video.

It was a different angle from the one that had filmed the whale from afar, a closer shot of the whale rescue.

“But there are really a lot of people who filmed it.”

Seo Eun-hye exclaimed.

There were also a lot of videos uploaded on YouTube with titles like ‘Myde Whale Rescue Video (Feat. Seo-jun Lee)’.

Each broadcasting station collected those videos and edited them to air.

“Well, it’s rare to see a whale on the beach. Oh, this one shows Seo-jun well?”

“Huh? Did you call me?”

Seo-jun, who was buried in the sofa and tapping his phone, turned his head at Lee Min-jun’s voice.

The couple and Na-ra laughed at his look.

“No, I didn’t call you.”

“Seo-jun, what were you doing?”

“I was talking to Da Ho hyung. He just got on the plane.”

“Really? If he leaves now… he’ll arrive at dawn?”

Seo-jun nodded at Seo Eun-hye’s words.

“I don’t think I can go with Da Ho hyung since we have to go early in the morning for the shooting.”

A lot of people flocked to SEA SAVER Center today.

The production team had to change the shooting time because of the unusual crowd.

They felt that this many people would come tomorrow and the day after as well.

The decided time was early in the morning.

‘Da Ho hyung, you have to adjust to the jet lag.’

Da Ho hyung was sorry, but he decided not to follow him for a day.

He didn’t know what would happen even in perfect condition, let alone when he was tired.

“Shall we go with dad for the first time in a while?”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Lee Min-jun’s words.

“Okay!”

***

The day of the documentary shooting.

Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun left their house at dawn and arrived at SEA SAVER Center.

[SEA SAVER CENTER]

There were two parking lots in the three-story building with a sign that said SEA SAVER Center.

One was a large parking lot for visitors who came to tour, and the other was a parking lot for staff or emergency vehicles.

As soon as the car that Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun were in entered the staff parking lot, a camera that had been waiting in advance shone on them.

The staff notified the PD inside the building that Seo-jun Lee had arrived.

Soon, several cameras and people appeared.

“Nice to meet you. I’m the PD in charge of the documentary.”

“Hello. I’m Seo-jun Lee.”

The PD and Seo-jun greeted each other and Lee Min-jun also greeted them.

Seo-jun’s eyes went to the person next to the PD.

It was a face he had seen briefly but couldn’t forget.

Kate smiled and reached out her hand.

“Nice to see you again. I’m Kate O’Hass, the team leader of SEA SAVER Rescue Team.”

“I’m Seo-jun Lee. Please call me Jun.”

They shook hands lightly and Seo-jun also smiled.

The camera captured their scene.

It was where the two heroes who couldn’t be left out of the whale rescue met again.

“Please call me Kate. I’ll be with you during the shooting.”

“Okay. Thank you for your cooperation.”

“I should thank you.”

Kate smiled softly and took Seo-jun and Lee Min-jun inside SEA SAVER Center.

Except for the first greeting, the PD stayed out of the angle.

***

Kate took Seo-jun to an office near the staff entrance first.

And she handed him a card necklace and a piece of clothing.

It was an ID card with [Seo-jun Lee] written on it and a sea-colored T-shirt with a white circle representing the earth and a whale tail as SEA SAVER’s mark on the right side.

“From today until the end of the shooting, Jun is also a member of SEA SAVER. You will be responsible for taking care of the animals in the center. Here are your ID card and uniform. The dressing room is over there.”

“Okay. I’ll change quickly and come back.”

Seo-jun came out of the dressing room after changing his top and put on the staff ID card that Kate handed him.

Kate continued to speak.

“It suits you well. Then I’ll introduce you to the center and the team members first. They’re all scattered around because of work. You’ll meet them all as we go around.”

“Okay. I understand.”

Kate stopped walking as they were heading to the center entrance.

Seo-jun, who was walking next to her, stopped and tilted his head.

Kate opened her mouth with a serious expression.

“I wanted to tell you and your fans. Your donations have been a great help to SEA SAVER. Thank you very much.”

Seo-jun smiled shyly but proudly at Kate’s sincere gratitude.

My fans are the best.

***

Seo-jun and Kate arrived at the center entrance.

It was the first place where visitors started their tour, so there were various designs of pamphlets.

“I’ll introduce you to SEA SAVER Center.”

Kate picked up a pamphlet and handed it to Seo-jun.

Seo-jun read the pamphlet while listening to Kate’s explanation.

The pamphlet told the story of how SEA SAVER was created, how the center was built, and what activities they had done.

Seo-jun was amazed by the number of marine animals that SEA SAVER had rescued.

“SEA SAVER Center is a marine animal sanctuary that was made by blocking a bay. We used nets so that we can restore it anytime.”

Bay.

It was a term for a place where the beach was curved like a crescent moon.

By connecting the two ends and blocking them, they could use the wide sea as an advantage.

“The sea side is much bigger than the building on land because we treat, care for, and release marine animals.”

Oh.

Seo-jun nodded his head as he looked at the map on the pamphlet.

“The building we’re standing in now is the center, and the sea side is the sea hall.”

SEA SAVER Center consisted of one basement floor and three above-ground floors.

“The basement and first floor of the center are where SEA SAVER’s offices and relatively recovered marine animals are. The second and third floors are where more seriously injured marine animals are hospitalized. Since they can get stressed by small noises when they’re hurt, we only open the first floor, basement, and sea hall to the public.”

Kate moved her feet and continued to explain.

Seo-jun and the camera followed her.

The first floor of the center had small marine animals swimming in tanks.

“Do you only get injured animals at the center?”

Kate shook her head at Seo-jun’s question.

“No. Animals from zoos or aquariums also come here. They send them from places that went bankrupt or couldn’t keep them anymore. This one is one of them too.”

Kate pointed to a dolphin that was swimming leisurely behind the glass wall.

“Her name is Molly. She came from a zoo.”

The dolphin, Molly, noticed Kate and Seo-jun and came to the glass wall.

She looked like she was smiling broadly.

Maybe it was because of reading the book ‘The Superior Life’.

Molly spun around in front of the glass wall, showing her joy with her whole body.

Seo-jun, Kate, and the production team smiled at her cute appearance.

“She’s cute. When will Molly go back to the sea?”

The one who answered Seo-jun’s question was a SEA SAVER team member who came to check on Molly’s condition.

“Molly needs to gain more weight before she goes back to the sea.”

“Weight?”

Seo-jun looked at Molly again.

She did look thinner than the dolphin in the next tank.

“Molly is too light right now. My goal is to make her twice as heavy as when she came to the center.”

Seo-jun laughed at the team member’s eyes that seemed to sparkle with madness.

There was a dolphin enlarger here.

***

[Molly/Dolphin]

[Toby/Seal]

[Cooper/Turtle]

As he looked into each tank on the first floor and heard about their stories, Seo-jun asked Kate.

“Do you always name them?”

Kate nodded with a smile.

“Yes. Other people ask me too. Why do you name them when you won’t see them again after sending them back to the sea?”

Kate looked at Toby, a young seal that she had rescued from a beach in California.

Toby’s wounds were healed, but they still looked painful.

When Kate touched the glass wall, Toby pressed his head against it.

The surrounding became quiet at their silent communication.

“When we name them, we can recognize them as one life. We don’t think of them as just one dolphin or one seal, but as Molly or Toby, and get closer to them.”

Kate smiled softly and continued.

“Of course, some of them recover and go back before we get used to their names. But that’s a really good thing.”

The passing team members nodded their heads in agreement.

The camera captured their expressions.

Seo-jun looked at those SEA SAVER team members with a smile.

‘It’s a good place.’

He felt that SEA SAVER really loved and cared for the animals.

“Shall we go see him now?”

“Him? Ah…”

Before he could ask who he was, Seo-jun felt like he knew who it was.

Kate smiled at him.

“I didn’t name him yet because I heard you were coming. The baby humpback whale that you saved is not badly injured, so he’s in the sea hall.”

Kate and Seo-jun moved their steps toward the sea hall.

“So it was a humpback whale.”

“Yes. They usually go to cold high-latitude regions in summer, but I don’t know why only this baby stayed here. He might have been left behind when they moved their habitat.”

“I heard that there are a lot of whales found on beaches these days. What do you think is the cause?”

As Seo-jun Lee’s whale rescue became a hot topic, the news aired about previous accidents.

Two weeks ago, two dolphins died on the beach, and before that, more than a hundred dolphins appeared on the beach.

Without discriminating between species, large whales, small seals, and other animals were stranded on the shore.

Kate sighed at Seo-jun’s question.

“There could be many reasons. The whale got lost when he was left behind, or he couldn’t get out of the water by mistake. Lately, I think… it’s because of the weather.”

“The weather?”

“It’s unusually hot this year.”

Seo-jun nodded his head.

“Yes. Winter ended early and spring and summer started early.”

That’s why the shooting of ‘Spring is Back’ in February and March was easier than expected because of the warm weather, and they were worried about the summer shooting that was expected to be extremely hot.

“I think it will continue like this. As the temperature of the earth rises, the temperature of the sea also rises, and as the temperature of the sea rises, the direction of the currents inevitably changes.”

Kate gave a bitter smile.

“Currents are very important for marine animals. They have to swim and live their whole lives, but it’s a big deal if they lose their way. What if they go north instead of south following the warm current?”

Seo-jun thought for a moment and opened his mouth.

“Hmm. They can’t adapt?”

“Yes. It’s not like the north will stay warm just because it was hot for a few days. If the rest of the days are cold, the animals will die without adapting.”

Everyone nodded their heads seriously at Kate’s serious words.

The weather change that they didn’t care much about was having a huge impact on unseen places.

‘Weather…’

Seo-jun came to his senses at Kate’s bright voice.

“Okay. Now I’ll show you SEA SAVER Center’s pride, the sea hall.”

Kate opened the door to the sea hall with a smile.

Chapter 307

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 307

Outside the center, the warm sunlight poured down.

The sun did not feel as pleasant as usual, perhaps because of Kate’s explanation a while ago.

Seo-jun shielded his eyes from the dazzling sunlight with his palm and admired the blue sea in front of him.

Kate spoke proudly.

“This is the pride of SEA SAVER, the Sea Pavilion. The Sea Pavilion is a place where marine animals that are used to small tanks can get used to a larger space and colder water before they are released into the sea. They train here to adapt to the sea and then we send them off. Some of the bigger ones also stay here.”

Seo-jun looked at the Sea Pavilion as he listened to Kate’s explanation.

The Sea Pavilion, connected to the sea, was divided by a white path fixed in the middle of the wide sea and many movable paths.

And on those paths, a few SEA SAVER team members were standing sparsely.

“It looks like branches.”

The white path looked like a straight tree trunk and the brown paths connected to the white path looked like branches that sprouted from the trunk.

And the branches met to create several spaces.

“In each of those enclosed spaces, there are marine animals that will soon go out to sea.”

Just then, a dolphin jumped up from one of the sea tanks that had been created that way.

The water droplets that rose into the air sparkled as they met the light. Seo-jun, as well as the production crew, exclaimed in admiration.

It was an impressive sight that showed how healthy the dolphin was, enough to make anyone marvel.

“Those brown paths can move. We make spaces of appropriate sizes for each child. But sometimes we can’t keep up when there are too many animals to protect. Shall we go closer?”

Kate handed Seo-jun a life jacket. The production crew also put on life jackets one by one. Seo-jun tightened the belt of his life jacket and asked.

“Why do we wear life jackets?”

“Because there is a risk of falling into the water by mistake since it’s next to the sea, and sometimes playful children bite and pull on our clothes.”

Ah.

Seo-jun nodded at Kate’s words and tightened his life jacket belt firmly and adjusted his clothes so that they wouldn’t stick out.

Kate smiled slightly at his appearance and led him to the closest place to the entrance of the Sea Pavilion.

There, a SEA SAVER team member was throwing lively fish into the air.

A sleek dolphin made a beep sound and jumped out of the water to catch its prey.

The team member who greeted Seo-jun introduced the dolphin with a smile.

“His name is Loki. He was washed up on the shore with a big wound on his fin. He’s all healed up now and strong.”

Loki, the dolphin, seemed curious about the new people and approached Seo-jun and the production crew.

After going back and forth in front of them for a while, Loki slapped the water with his tail and made a beep sound.

The spray that resulted from it splashed onto Seo-jun and the production crew.

Loki opened his mouth wide and looked like he was laughing with his belly at Seo-jun and the people who got wet lightly.

The person in charge who was closest to Loki and got wet by seawater shrugged as if he was used to it and threw a fish over there to divert Loki’s attention.

“He’s the biggest prankster in our center.”

The person in charge seemed resigned.

He looked like a prankster indeed, and Seo-jun laughed and asked.

“When will Loki go back to sea?”

“Probably around the same time as the baby humpback whale you saved.”

Loki, who was about to return to sea soon, jumped into the air with a beep sound.

Everyone smiled at his lively appearance.

“The baby humpback whale is staying right next to Loki.”

Kate pointed to right next to where Loki was.

The area surrounded by brown paths was bigger than Loki’s area.

“As you said, Jun, he has a wound on his belly, so we are treating him. We’ll send him back to sea when he heals enough and regains his strength. We’re expecting it to take about four days.”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek at Kate’s words.

He didn’t think he would see him again when he told them about the whale’s wound because he thought he wouldn’t see him again.

The PD’s eyes sparkled.

He had been filming Kate and the SEA SAVER team members since they got off the boat, so there were no scenes where Seo-jun was properly filmed.

So he needed some special information that wasn’t uploaded on YouTube about Seo-jun at that time, and something very suitable appeared.

The PD who had been quietly filming opened his mouth.

“Did you say he had a wound on his belly?”

“Just…”

Seo-jun smiled awkwardly.

“When I first found him and sprayed water on him, I saw some awkward movements.”

“It must have been hard for an ordinary person to notice. Jun. Were you interested in whales before?”

Seo-jun nodded at Kate’s question.

“I had a dream where I saw a giant whale a while ago.”

‘It wasn’t a dream, but a life from a previous life.’

It was a book from the advanced library that contained the life of a whale.

He lived a long, long life, so the book was thick. As he continued to read the life of the whale, he became curious about the real whales.

“I wonder what kind of whale it was, so I looked it up in books or on YouTube. That’s how I learned a bit about whales. But I couldn’t tell them apart when I saw them in real life.”

“What kind of whale did you see in your dream?”

“It looked similar to a white beluga whale.”

They briefly talked about the whale he saw in his dream, and then Seo-jun and Kate’s conversation stopped.

The back of the baby humpback whale that Seo-jun had saved appeared on the water surface.

Soon, a V-shaped jet of water spouted from his blowhole on his back.

“He came up to breathe. Humpback whales have two blowholes, so the water spouts out like this.”

The baby humpback whale, who had spouted water coolly, stuck his head out of the water slightly.

Seo-jun smiled contentedly at the vivid sight of the whale.

He looked much more lively than when he was lying limp on the sandy beach.

The baby humpback whale seemed to look around for a moment and then noticed the people.

For some reason, everyone there thought that the baby humpback whale looked surprised with his eyes wide open.

The surprised-looking baby humpback whale came right in front of where the people were standing. Seo-jun was among the people. The whale’s left eye stared at Seo-jun.

“It’s amazing. He seems to know that Jun saved him.”

“Yeah.”

The small production crew nodded at their conversation.

‘It must be because of mana.’

Seo-jun bent his knees and looked into the baby humpback whale’s eyes.

After a while, he raised his head and looked at Kate.

“Can I touch him?”

“Of course.”

Seo-jun’s hand touched the baby humpback whale.

The PD waved his hand and the staff stepped back.

Kate also moved out of the camera angle.

The baby humpback whale and the superstar who met again.

A dazzling aura seemed to flow from both the baby humpback whale and the superstar.

[(Pre)The village councilor activates the eyes of a hundred snakes.]

Seo-jun checked the condition of the baby humpback whale and smiled.

“I’m glad. You look healthy.”

As if he understood his words, as if he sensed the mana that Seo-jun had sent, the baby humpback whale started to sing.

Woo woo woong!

It was the only warmth that had helped him endure the hard time, that had kept his collapsed lungs and almost stopped heart moving, when he was stranded on the shore.

“Jun must be his favorite. Humpback whales like to sing, so they make sounds like this when they are happy.”

The scene of the superstar who seemed to communicate with the baby humpback whale was captured on camera.

Woo woo woong! Woong!

The baby humpback whale’s song continued for a long time.

Seo-jun and the others listened carefully, as they had never heard a whale’s cry so close before.

Seo-jun got up from his seat and said with a smile.

“He must have recovered a lot, since he can sing like this.”

“He is special. He recovered faster than the other animals we rescued from the shore.”

It must have been thanks to the mana that Seo-jun had given him.

Woo woo woong!

The baby humpback whale cried.

The staff tilted their heads at the different feeling.

It sounded like he was whining to Seo-jun who had gotten up.

Kate and Seo-jun also noticed that and laughed.

The dolphin Loki, who was in the next area, peeked his head out.

“Jun. Why don’t you name him?”

“Name him?”

“You saved him, after all.”

Seo-jun thought for a moment.

He looked at the baby humpback whale who was still singing with a disappointed tone.

Woo woo woong! Woong!

Seo-jun opened his mouth.

“/We/”

“‘Uri’? Is that Korean?”

“Yes. It means we in English.”

“We… Uri.”

Kate repeated it several times and asked.

“Is there a reason why you named him that?”

Seo-jun smiled and said.

“I didn’t save him by myself. I was able to rescue him because there were people there at that time. Not just me, but everyone, that is, ‘we’.”

“That’s nice. We. Uri.”

Kate felt affection for the baby humpback whale from the meaningful name and the PD found another highlight and smiled broadly.

***

Leaving behind the baby humpback whale Uri, Kate and Seo-jun headed to the basement floor.

“I heard you open the basement floor to the public. What’s there?”

“Just wait. You’ll see for yourself.”

Kate smiled mysteriously.

Seo-jun tilted his head.

He followed Kate down to the basement floor and opened his eyes wide.

Loki, the dolphin he had seen in the Sea Pavilion, was behind the glass wall.

Loki opened his mouth at Seo-jun’s surprised expression.

He looked like he was laughing out loud.

The dolphin’s high-pitched cry seemed to be heard.

“Here…”

“This place is connected to the Sea Pavilion. The ones in the Sea Pavilion closest to the center, that is, the ones who are just adapting to the sea environment like Loki and Uri, need a lot of care. We can’t always wear equipment and go into the sea, and we need to take care of them in the evening or at night too. You can see Uri here too.”

As Kate said, right next to where Loki was, there was Uri, the baby humpback whale, who turned his back with a sullen look.

Everyone burst into laughter at his sight.

“I never thought I could feel a whale’s emotions…”

“Me neither. I can feel them all like this.”

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders and laughed as he sent out mana.

Uri felt a bright and warm aura and turned around.

He looked surprised as if he had just noticed Seo-jun behind the glass wall.

Uri quickly swam to the glass wall and turned sideways.

Uri’s left eye looked at Seo-jun.

Woo woo woong!

He looked happy and everyone laughed again.

***

Woo woo woong!

The baby humpback whale’s cry was heard.

Beep beep beep!

The dolphin’s cry was heard.

After looking around other areas on the basement floor and returning to where Uri was, Seo-jun and Kate blinked their eyes and opened their mouths.

“Kate. Doesn’t Loki seem to be teasing Uri?”

“Yeah.”

While Seo-jun and Kate were elsewhere, something happened between Uri, the baby humpback whale, and Loki, the dolphin, who were separated by a thin net in their areas.

They were going back and forth as if they were having a standoff.

Loki looked relaxed while Uri looked annoyed, so the production crew had to rub their eyes.

A passing SEA SAVER team member explained with a smile.

“Loki crossed the path and went into Uri’s area. He swam around in front of Uri, who was looking for Jun, and bothered him, then went back to his own area. How could he not get angry?”

“Really?”

Seo-jun and the production crew opened their eyes wide.

They had heard that he was a prankster, but they didn’t think he would cross into someone else’s area.

Everyone was surprised, while the PD prayed that the scene was captured by the camera installed in the Sea Pavilion.

‘Well, the area is a boundary made by humans, so Loki might not know.’

He must have thought it was just a nuisance that got in his way, since he had lived in the wide sea.

“Huh. He’s not even half the size of Uri, but he has such guts…”

Everyone nodded at one staff’s remark.

Kate smiled at their expressions and said.

“It’s rare, but it happens. That’s why we have to arrange the areas well so they don’t clash. I think Loki just wanted to play with him. That’s why Uri doesn’t seem too angry.”

They looked at Uri and Loki who were crying woo woo woong! beep- across the thin net. Seo-jun looked worried.

“I understand that he wants to play with Uri, but… Loki. You’re done if Uri hits you with his tail.”

Everyone laughed at Seo-jun’s sincere concern.

Chapter 308

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 308

Seo-jun and Kate went up to the second floor, which was not open to the public.

The door of the SEA SAVER Center opened accordingly.

Only a limited number of people could enter because of the stress of the animals.

“This is where we keep the sea turtles we rescued from the beach.”

Kate pointed to a place where small baby sea turtles were swimming leisurely.

There was also sand on one side.

“We got a report that a mother turtle laid her eggs in a pile of trash.”

“What about the mother turtle?”

Seo-jun looked around, but he couldn’t see the mother turtle who would take care of her babies.

Kate smiled bitterly and answered Seo-jun’s question.

“We tried to save her… but she had too much plastic in her stomach. It was too hard even with surgery.”

Seo-jun’s face clouded at her words.

It was a pity.

***

That night. The Library of Life.

Seo-jun put down the book he was reading and rummaged through the shelves.

“I think it was here somewhere?”

He had read so many books that he didn’t remember where he put them.

He had shelves for abilities that he used often and abilities that seemed useful for filming, but he didn’t have a separate place for the ability he needed now.

“It would be nice to have an ability that is useful when the rescue team goes out to sea…”

He had already found an ability that enhanced healing power for the SEA SAVER Center.

Seo-jun quickly flipped through the books, looking at their titles.

He could roughly guess the abilities by just looking at the titles.

“Maybe a mermaid for a water-related race?”

Seo-jun muttered “mermaid” repeatedly as he searched through the books.

***

The third day of documentary filming.

Seo-jun headed to the SEA SAVER Center early in the morning.

Ahn Da Ho, who had been with him since yesterday, took the wheel.

Unlike the first day, there was no one to greet him today.

‘No.’

Seo-jun smiled faintly as he saw the camera director who had taken his place behind him and stood in front of his assigned cabinet.

He put on a SEA SAVER hat and changed into a T-shirt.

He also hung an entrance card around his neck.

He was now a SEA SAVER team member.

“Hello!”

“Hello… Jun?!”

Seo-jun greeted the passing SEA SAVER team members and headed to the aquarium with a bucket full of fish.

The door of the SEA SAVER Center opened accordingly.

Only a limited number of people could enter because of the stress of the animals.

“Hi, Loki.”

Beep!

Oooong!

The feed-in-charge Seo-jun smiled and took out a fish that was jumping in the bucket and threw it to Loki, then to Uri.

Loki and Uri, who seemed to imitate Loki, ate them well.

He laughed at their sight.

He stroked Loki once and Uri once, then headed inside the center.

He fed the baby turtles and checked on other animals while confirming the ability he had engraved on the center yesterday.

‘It’s working well.’

Seo-jun smiled softly.

The clam-shaped patterns that filled the floor of the center sparkled.

***

Kate, who was waiting for Seo-jun to enter the office, smiled and said.

“Shall we try some rescue activities today?”

“Yes, please.”

Seo-jun and the SEA SAVER rescue team moved to board a boat.

They walked out of the side door of the center and saw the boat they had seen at Midman Beach.

Kate introduced it with a bright smile.

“This is SEA SAVER. It’s a boat we can’t do without.”

“It’s awesome!”

Seo-jun and Kate boarded SEA SAVER.

They put on life jackets and received guidance on emergency boats and SEA SAVER’s interior.

The documentary crew followed them as if they were filming for the first time and filmed SEA SAVER.

Seo-jun followed the guidance and touched various parts of SEA SAVER’s interior as if he was stamping his handprint.

A small mermaid-shaped pattern remained where Seo-jun’s handprint was stamped.

[(Line/Production)Siren Race’s Siren-Medium Level is being produced.]

[14/30]

‘I just need to stamp 16 more.’

***

The sea looked wide, big, and blue from the boat.

Seo-jun looked around and said.

“It must not be easy to do rescue activities in a place like this.”

“That’s right. We need to see something to move… but it’s hard for us to know unless it floats on the surface.”

At Kate’s words, Seo-jun smiled faintly and sent his line energy. The line energy spread from Seo-jun and soaked into the patterns engraved on SEA SAVER.

[(Line/Production)Siren Race’s Siren-Medium Level is activated.]

[(Line/Production)Siren Race’s Siren-Medium Level]

It informs the existence within the range of ability of the danger of marine animals within a certain range.

The range that can be saved depends on the ability of the existence within the range of ability.

‘SEA SAVER or SEA SAVER can’t go under the sea.’

It was enough to save only as far as SEA SAVER’s ability could reach.

‘And it doesn’t activate for natural phenomena like eating and being eaten.’

Seo-jun was satisfied with the ability he had found after searching for two days.

The shining patterns connected in a circle and wrapped around SEA SAVER. Because of that, the team members who were on SEA SAVER felt different from Seo-jun.

“But… maybe it’s because the weather is good today, but I feel like I can sense the sea better.”

As if agreeing with Kate’s words, they all looked around the sea with a strange feeling.

The sea that they had only looked at helplessly with their many experiences seemed to feel the bottom of the sea.

It was like when you learn a foreign language and suddenly your ears open up.

“That’s right…”

Kate’s eyes darkened as she looked at one spot in the sea.

“…Why do I feel like there’s a rescue target over there?”

Kate’s sense, which was different from others because of her long rescue experience, was second only to Seo-jun.

She was the best among the team members.

Kate thought it was strange, but she didn’t stop her hand that moved unknowingly.

She took out a radio and opened her mouth.

“Jess!”

“Yes!”

“Slow down! Diving team! Get ready!”

“Yes!”

It was a situation where nothing was visible, but no one objected to Kate’s instructions.

Only the documentary crew blinked their eyes with a bewildered expression.

Seo-jun looked at the busy rescue team with a pleased face.

“Team leader. Can we follow you?”

The PD asked and Kate shook her head.

“We’ll go down first and see.”

While the diving team went into the sea, Seo-jun tapped the white boat, SEA SAVER, lightly on the railing.

A small pattern in the shape of a siren sparkled.

It was the ability of the siren royal family who ruled the vast sea and protected the creatures living in the sea.

There was no ability that suited SEA SAVER better than this.

“Team leader! It’s a whale caught in a net!”

The diving team contacted them. Kate asked.

“Do we need to take it to the center?”

“No. It looks a bit tired, but it has no wounds, so I think we just need to untangle the net.”

“Then be careful.”

“Yes!”

At the anxious PD’s expression, Kate nodded and attached a team member.

Seo-jun wanted to go with them, but it was not easy to go into the sea without professional training.

He had no choice but to wait on the boat.

An underwater camera plunged into the sea.

Everyone quietly watched the surface of the water where the boat and diving team seemed to be, when,

“That was fast? Did they fail?”

The diving team came up to the surface earlier than Kate expected.

The worried Kate saw the rescue team members waving their arms vigorously on the boat.

The radio rang.

“Mission complete!”

Cheers erupted.

***

“Usually we don’t know until they come up to the surface. But today we noticed even though it was quite deep. Thanks to that, the whale’s condition was not bad either.”

The diving team member interviewed in front of the camera.

His flushed face looked sincerely happy and Seo-jun smiled contentedly.

“It’s peaceful.”

“That’s right.”

Kate and SEA SAVER team members enjoyed the sensation of the sea that was different from usual.

The world looked new to them.

“I feel like I’m in a really good condition today.”

Seo-jun, who was watching a pod of dolphins in the distance with a relaxed mind, and Kate.

Then one of the team members raised his voice.

“Midman Beach! Dozens of dolphins stranded!”

At the familiar name, SEA SAVER, Seo-jun, and the production crew widened their eyes.

They were startled for a moment. Kate grabbed the radio.

“Jess! Go to Midman Beach right now!”

“Roger!”

SEA SAVER turned smoothly on a curve.

The SEA SAVER team members who were on it ran around.

The cameras filmed them as if they had seen something similar before.

“Dolphins 57!”

It was Midman Beach where Hollywood actor Seo-jun Lee had been.

His influence was still there.

Dozens of YouTube videos popped up and everyone watched them without stopping their steps as they heard the scream of a team member who had been watching YouTube videos.

“That’s a lot!”

“It’s not even a hundred!”

“Prepare the boat!”

They needed more people than 57.

Kate turned around and looked at Seo-jun, who had stepped back so as not to interfere with the team members.

“Jun! It’s not a difficult task!”

“I’ll go!”

“Thank you!”

Kate continued to prepare for rescue and Seo-jun looked at his manager who had been standing where he was.

“Ahn Da Ho hyung…”

He looked at him with sparkling eyes and Ahn Da Ho shrugged his shoulders as if he had no choice and checked Seo-jun’s life jacket tightly and checked his own life jacket again.

Seo-jun’s eyes widened.

“Ahn Da Ho hyung is going too?”

“We need one more person, right?”

Seo-jun laughed at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

“Midman Beach is right ahead!”

“Get ready to get off the boat! Jun, hide your presence like last time!”

“Don’t worry! I’ll make sure no one recognizes me!”

Acting was what Seo-jun did best.

The PD clasped his hands at Seo-jun Lee’s confident smile.

“Jun! We’re filming right now! The viewers have to recognize you!”

…Oh! That’s right!

He made an expression as if he realized it and the PD felt uneasy.

“Well…! Just do it like you did on [Running Man!] please!”

“Yes! Don’t worry!”

***

“Mission complete!”

SEA SAVER safely returned 57 dolphins to the sea and returned to SEA SAVER.

Two boats bobbed on the waves.

They had returned all 57 dolphins to the sea without missing one.

SEA SAVER was tired but everyone smiled brightly.

“But no one recognized Jun even though he was there.”

“That’s right. Where is Jun?”

“Oops! Did we leave him behind?!”

***

[What’s going on? California Midman Beach! Another whale stranding!]

[California Midman Beach! 57 dolphins stranded!]

[SEA SAVER on the move! Was Lee Seo-jun there?]

-Is this a sign of the end of the world?

=222 57 dolphins wow

=I’m glad they saved them all

-SEA SAVER was on the move, but I don’t think Lee Seo-jun was there.

=He must have been at the center. Why would he come out to sea?

-But if it was Lee Seo-jun, he would have been among them.

=222 You know if you watch [Running Man!] lol

=333 He did that on Midman Beach video too

-He’s really good at hiding his presence.

=He’s too good that there are no sightings lol

****

“We saved 57 of your friends today.”

Beep!

Oooong!

On the empty aquarium corridor.

Seo-jun crouched down and looked at Loki and Uri and said.

Loki was still swimming in Uri’s area today.

Seo-jun laughed at Loki’s relaxed appearance.

“Loki. How about staying here today? The team members worked hard.”

He said to Loki, but he didn’t know if he understood.

He smiled at Loki’s cheerful smile as always.

The mischievous Loki had jumped over several areas that SEA SAVER had separated him from and came into Uri’s area, they said.

The baby humpback whale, Uri, also seemed familiar with Loki, a dolphin.

They seemed to have become close in a short time.

Seo-jun stroked Uri.

He didn’t forget to send his line energy.

Uri sang happily at the warm line energy.

Uri’s wounds were almost healed and he had enough strength.

“From tomorrow, you’ll be able to live in a much wider sea than here.”

Tomorrow.

The baby humpback whale, Uri, and the dolphin, Loki, will return to the vast sea.

Chapter 309

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 309

The last day of the documentary shooting.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho left their house early in the morning.

“Isn’t it too early to go?”

Seo-jun smiled faintly at Ahn Da Ho’s question and said.

“Today might be the last day we see Loki and Uri. I thought we could see them longer if we go early.”

He looked up at the dark dawn sky, which had not yet seen the sun rise.

He seemed to have a lot of thoughts.

‘Well.’

He sometimes wondered if the stray cats he fed on the street were doing well, let alone the whale he saved and named.

He might meet the stray cats again if they were safe and wandering on the same street, but it was not easy for Seo-jun, who lived on land, to meet again with the whale that roamed around the vast sea.

“Some of the SEA SAVER people come earlier than me.”

“They must be switching with the night shift workers.”

The dark night sky seemed to reflect Seo-jun’s mood. He felt uneasy.

“Da Ho hyung. Will Uri be okay?”

Uri was still a baby and had no adult humpback whales to take care of him. Could he survive in this rough sea alone?

‘…But I can’t keep him with me forever.’

He wondered if he should send him back to the sea or protect him continuously.

SEA SAVER also said that this was their constant dilemma.

“They said they would take him to where the humpback whales often go. If he’s lucky, he might join a pod.”

“I hope so.”

Seo-jun nodded at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

***

When Seo-jun arrived at the SEA SAVER center, he greeted his team members and headed straight to the aquarium with a bucket of fish.

“Hello. Uri. Loki.”

The baby humpback whale Uri and the dolphin Loki were at the end of the white path, closest to the sea.

This area was where the animals that were about to return to the sea stayed.

They said they moved them after Seo-jun left yesterday.

Loki’s caretaker, who followed Seo-jun, said.

“I thought Loki would go out on his own since it’s only one net away from the sea, but he stayed well.”

Seo-jun and the crew laughed at that.

To be honest, Seo-jun was a little worried that Loki, who was free-spirited, might have left for the sea without a word.

“Loki must have known that today is the last day.”

Loki’s caretaker nodded repeatedly at Seo-jun’s words.

“Loki is very smart.”

He looked proud, like a parent bragging about his child.

Seo-jun and the others laughed, and Uri and Loki seemed to laugh along. That’s how it felt.

When Seo-jun and Loki’s caretaker threw fish, Uri, who was swimming in front of Seo-jun, whined and ate the fish.

Loki ate the fish by jumping gracefully above the water as always.

“There’s no dolphin as talented as him.”

The caretaker spoke with a slightly sad tone, as if he was facing a farewell.

“It’s a farewell that I always experience, but it’s both happy and sad.”

They gave them their last feed and did their final health check.

The caretaker tried to check Loki’s fin, but Loki teased him by pretending to show it and then hiding it again while squeaking.

“Uri.”

When Seo-jun called Uri, Uri focused on him.

When Seo-jun flipped his palm, Uri flipped his body and showed his white belly.

“Uri is also very smart, right?”

Everyone laughed quietly at his superstar-like pose.

Seo-jun felt embarrassed but proud as he looked at Uri’s belly where there were still scars. Thanks to the ability engraved at the center, the wounds healed quickly and now only faint marks remained.

“They say humpback whale belly patterns are like human fingerprints.”

Seo-jun patted Uri’s back and said.

“Will I be able to recognize you when we meet again?”

Whoo-whoo-whoo!

Uri cried. It seemed like he understood what Seo-jun meant and smiled slightly.

***

The sky that was dark until they came to the center started to brighten up little by little.

As the sky turned blue, Loki’s caretaker, who had barely checked his wound, got up from his seat and said.

He was soaked from being splashed by water, but he still looked calm.

“Jun. Let’s go in now.”

“Hmm. I’ll stay a little longer.”

Seo-jun couldn’t take his eyes off Uri and Loki.

The caretaker nodded and left first.

He seemed to think that Seo-jun needed more time for this first farewell.

“Here, wear this.”

“Thank you. Da Ho hyung.”

Ahn Da Ho gave Seo-jun a coat he brought with him, thinking that he would stay for a long time.

Seo-jun put on the coat and sat down at the end of the white path.

He wanted to say goodbye to them one last time, so Ahn Da Ho and the camera stepped back a little.

Uri and Loki looked at Seo-jun and swam around happily.

Seo-jun’s side profile looked like a painting as he watched them.

The bright dawn sky and the twinkling stars made it look even more so.

***

Seo-jun wanted to give a gift to Uri, who had to survive alone until he met other humpback whales, and Loki, who was going back to the sea with Uri.

He looked at his two palms.

The giant whale pattern of the sea light filled his palms.

It was the ability that Seo-jun got from the Library of Life last night.

‘All the other abilities bounced off when I put this ability in my body.’

He was a little surprised by the abilities that bounced off in all directions, just like when he first accepted magic.

It seemed to be because it was a high-level ability.

‘It must be like this when I use other high-level abilities.’

He thought he had to be careful and think well when he used high-level abilities, since he could only use one at a time.

Seo-jun slowly sent the life book that was in his origin to the giant whale pattern.

A very long life book that was as long as his life.

A huge being that swam across the sky of the planet and let various races stay on his wide back.

Seo-jun became interested in whales after reading this life book.

Whoo-whoo-whoo!

Most of the mana in Seo-jun’s origin flowed into the giant whale pattern.

He felt like he had used up most of the mana in his origin with this one activation.

‘The ability of the upper-middle class, which was just below the upper class, was not this much…’

It seemed that there was a huge gap between the upper-middle class and the upper class.

The whale pattern that kept absorbing mana finally sparkled.

[(Seon)Wandering of the Continental Whale – Upper Class is activated.]

A huge natural energy emerged from the sparkling whale pattern and embraced Seo-jun.

The planet of the continental whale was made of hot fire.

If one got out of the continental whale, they would fall into a hot fireball, which was the core of the planet.

It was a world where no one could live except on the back of the continental whale.

Also, the continental whale swallowed the hot flames that flowed from the core of the planet and exhaled clear air through the blowhole on its back.

The continental whale, which provided land to walk on and clean air to breathe, was like a god.

It was where all beings lived and walked on, and if the continental whale died, the beings living on it would lose their place to live.

Therefore, most races prayed and offered sacrifices to the continental whale, hoping that it would live long.

[(Seon)Wandering of the Continental Whale – Upper Class]

It restores the polluted environment to the most suitable environment.

It bestows blessings on the beings of Cetacea.

‘Blessings to the closest beings of Cetacea.’

Seo-jun looked at Uri and Loki.

In the world of the continental whale, the animals of Cetacea who received the blessing of the continental whale grew large and strong.

If they received more blessings for a longer time, they could even become another giant continental whale.

‘It won’t be that much in this world.’

Seo-jun wished that Uri and Loki would grow up healthy and strong in a clean and good environment.

***

The camera director, Ahn Da Ho, and some staff members who were filming a picture-like scene of a superstar and two whales held their breath without realizing it.

At some point, Seo-jun Lee’s atmosphere had changed.

It was an atmosphere that even Ahn Da Ho, who had been with Seo-jun for a long time, was surprised by.

The camera director swallowed his saliva.

He felt a strong presence from Seo-jun Lee.

It was like when he first filmed a documentary, when he met a giant whale passing under SEA SAVER.

The awe that made him just stare at it, the overwhelming feeling that shook the ground.

It was a different kind of aura from what he felt during filming, an aura of a superstar.

‘Somehow… he looks divine.’

Seo-jun’s movement of reaching out to Uri and Loki felt heavy and slow.

It was as if a very huge being was moving very slowly to touch a weaker creature.

Uri and Loki also seemed to be staring blankly at Seo-jun unlike usual.

It seemed like everything stopped for a moment, even the sound of the world.

At that moment, when such an overwhelming atmosphere was about to continue,

The wind blew.

The wind that embraced the power of the continental whale compressed around Seo-jun spread out in all directions.

A staff member’s hat flew away in the wind.

He was startled and went to pick up his hat. He looked up at the sky as he picked up his hat and got up.

“Wha-what?”

Ahn Da Ho and camera director who were staring blankly at Seo-jun came to their senses at his voice and turned their eyes. They followed his gaze looking at the sky. Ahn Da Ho and people’s heads looked up at the sky.

Their eyes widened and their mouths opened wide.

It was a whale.

A giant whale made of white clouds floated in the sky.

It was huge at a glance. It was this big even from afar, how big would it be if it was close? Everyone stared blankly at the whale cloud in awe.

[(Seon)Wandering of the Continental Whale – Upper Class]

As soon as they heard a loud voice in their heads,

Woo woo woo-

They seemed to hear a huge whale’s cry that shook the ground from somewhere.

LA

Many tourists flocked to Midman Beach, which became a tourist attraction with the appearance of a Hollywood star. The place where there were baby humpback whales was already crowded with people taking pictures.

Then someone looked at the sky with a blank face.

“…What is that?”

At his astonished voice, as if UFO had appeared, other people also looked up at the sky. And they all opened their eyes wide and took out their phones to take pictures and videos.

Korea

“Ugh! It’s hot!”

Kim Suhan, a director who was filming an independent film, drank water gulp by gulp. His friends who appeared as actors also lay down on the park bench with tired faces.

“Wow… It’s so hot even in the morning.”

Even if he turned on a mini fan, the air was so stuffy that it didn’t cool down. But it was better than nothing.

“The humidity is 90%. They say the weather is crazy these days, but it really seems to be crazy.”

“Hey. Director. Let’s change the filming date.”

“No…”

Kim Suhan, the director, said with a gloomy face at his friend’s words.

“I have to submit it to the film festival…”

The two friends sighed.

“I’m going to die of heat before filming.”

There were also people who came out for a morning walk in the park where Kim Suhan was filming. They seemed to expect a cool weather in the morning, but they shook their heads as if the walk was less than expected because of the hotter than expected weather.

Only some kids ran around without caring about the heat. A kid who was playing with his friends and laughing loudly shouted.

“Mom! Whale!”

What whale in the middle of the city?

And the kid’s finger was pointing to the sky.

People who were thinking of going home because of the hot weather and people who were sweating and running around also looked up at the sky following the kid’s finger.

“Huh… What is that?”

From head to tail, from both fins to tail.

It was a cloud in the shape of a whale without any distortion.

A huge whale cloud flew across the blue sky like a real whale.

At that amazing and overwhelming sight, everyone stared blankly at the sky with amazed eyes.

“Wow…”

People who were going to work, people who were on buses, people who looked up at the sky for a moment. Everyone gazed at the whale cloud wandering in the blue sky in awe.

And then the wind blew.

The weather that had been stuffy seemed to cool down a bit.

Chapter 310

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 310

The huge whale-shaped cloud that was floating above the SEA SAVER Center drifted westward with the wind.

It seemed to move slowly but swiftly, as if it was a real whale swimming in the sea.

Everyone in the SEA SAVER Center, as well as those nearby, looked up and watched the whale cloud.

People took out their phones and snapped pictures with astonished faces.

Their mouths, which were wide open, closed only after the giant cloud whale disappeared through the other fluffy clouds.

“Wow… I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“Me neither. I feel like today is going to be a lucky day!”

“Wait! Did you record it?”

“Yep! Of course I did!”

The PD said, and the cameraman who had a professional spirit showed his camera with a smirk.

“Let’s send it to the station right away… No, wait. Since it’s such a big cloud, other people must have taken pictures too. It would be better to put this video in a documentary.”

While the PD checked the recorded video, Seo-jun clenched and unclenched his hands.

Uri and Loki’s eyes did not leave the remnants of the continental whale that had vanished beyond the sky.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek at the noisy reactions of the people.

‘…Was that a bit too much?’

But he thought this ability was the best.

For the SEA SAVER Center, who was worried about the weather, and for Uri and Loki, who had to live in the sea from now on.

With the ability of the continental whale, the atmospheric environment of the earth would return to a few years ago.

The temperature, which was higher than before, would return to its original level, and spring and autumn, which were disappearing, would come back.

It was up to people whether they would be happy and preserve the miraculously restored atmospheric environment or just be curious and continue to pollute it.

Seo-jun took a deep breath and exhaled.

It was a refreshing morning air.

***

After a noisy time and breakfast, Seo-jun and SEA SAVER started to move.

It was time to return Uri and Loki to the sea.

SEA SAVER’s boat, SEA SAVER, appeared in front of the aquarium.

Next to SEA SAVER was another boat that looked more like a square tank than a boat.

“That’s a transport ship.”

“A transport ship?”

“When we release marine animals into the far sea, we take them with a transport ship. Do you see the line connected to SEA SAVER? It’s the same line we used to rescue Uri. We connect it to the transport ship and SEA SAVER pulls it.”

“I see.”

“It’s a device that opens up four walls when activated, so that animals can return to the sea more comfortably.”

Kate made a gesture of clasping her hands together and then spreading them wide. It looked like a flower blooming.

“I see.”

Seo-jun nodded his head as he understood Kate’s gesture. But he tilted his head at the only transport ship.

“Do you usually carry two animals on one ship?”

Kate smiled softly at his question.

“Loki seems like he would escape if we move him alone on a transport ship, so we’re going to put him on a bigger boat with us.”

Seo-jun laughed at Kate’s words. It seemed like something Loki would do.

“Now we have to move Uri and Loki to the transport ship… Can you help me, Jun?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun headed towards Uri and Loki.

“Uri! Loki! Come over here!”

Seo-jun and Loki’s caretaker guided Uri and Loki to enter the transport ship where one wall was open.

Uri and Loki obediently swam towards the transport ship at their guardians’ gestures.

The caretaker sent a signal when they confirmed that they had entered well, and then one side of the transport ship that was open slowly rose up.

“Just bear with it for a little while.”

Oooong!

As if telling him not to worry, Uri cried out.

***

Uri and Loki were loaded onto the transport ship, and Seo-jun and SEA SAVER also boarded the boat.

Soon SEA SAVER departed for its destination.

The lines connected to SEA SAVER were pulled tight, and the transport ship was slowly dragged along.

Uri and Loki, who seemed a bit confused at first, soon got used to it.

Seo-jun watched them from above SEA SAVER.

Kate smiled bitterly at Seo-jun’s gloomy back and said,

“Jun. This area is where humpback whales pass by most closely in recent times. It’s close to SEA SAVER Center. The weather is good, so it won’t take long.”

“I see.”

Seo-jun looked at the map that Kate showed him and soon took his eyes off it.

He didn’t think he would meet them again even if he remembered where they were releasing Uri now.

‘Let’s look at them as much as we can now.’

Seo-jun looked at Uri and Loki who were playing well again.

As Kate said, they arrived at their destination soon.

“Team leader! We have arrived.”

The radio rang and SEA SAVER stopped in the middle of the sea.

The transport ship that was connected to SEA SAVER and dragged along also stopped moving.

Now, if they pressed the switch, the four walls of the transport ship would open wide and Uri and Loki would return to the sea.

Kate smiled and said to Seo-jun, who looked sad.

“Jun. Do you want to go down and see?”

“Can I?”

“As long as you wear a life jacket and follow the safety rules… You can follow the rules, right?”

Don’t lean out of the boat, don’t panic if you fall into the water, relax your whole body if you go underwater, etc.

Seo-jun recalled the rules that Kate had told him before boarding SEA SAVER and smiled gratefully.

“Yes! Of course!”

A small boat came down from SEA SAVER onto the water surface. It was the same boat that had come to rescue Uri.

On the boat were Kate and Seo-jun, Loki’s caretaker and a production crew with a camera, and a few team members.

As the boat approached the transport ship, the four walls of the transport ship slowly opened.

Oooong!

Beep!

Uri and Loki looked bewildered by the suddenly widened view.

Loki was the first one to get out of the transport ship, as he was more curious.

As soon as Loki got out of the transport ship, Uri also moved gently towards the sea.

Then they saw Uri and Loki diving and surfacing in the water.

Uri and Loki, who peeked their heads out of the water, spotted Seo-jun and came closer to the boat.

Seo-jun, who had been watching them without blinking since the transport ship opened, checked Uri and Loki’s remaining blessings of the continental whale and smiled.

“Uri. Loki. You have to grow up strong and healthy.”

Oooong.

As if he knew it was the last time, Uri’s eyes did not leave Seo-jun.

“Loki. Don’t play too much. You might get hurt if you bump into a boat while playing with people again.”

The caretaker scolded Loki, who was spraying water at him as a prank. Seo-jun chuckled at the cause he had just heard.

It sounded like something Loki would do.

Beep!

Was it his way of saying he understood? Loki cried out loudly.

Oooong!

As if saying goodbye for the last time, Uri cried out.

Seo-jun felt sad even though he was happy, and forced a smile.

It was his first time saying goodbye without promising to meet again in this life.

Seo-jun gently pushed Uri’s back with his hand.

Oooong.

As if sensing their farewell, Uri and Loki cried as they slowly moved away from the boat that Seo-jun was on.

“That kid really doesn’t look back, does he?”

At the caretaker’s words, Seo-jun, who had only been looking at Uri, followed his gaze.

Loki was already far away, jumping above the water surface.

Oooong!

Uri followed him.

“They must have become really close.”

“They are both cetaceans, but… a dolphin and a humpback whale. It’s amazing.”

The two caretakers of Uri and Loki looked at the two whales with sad eyes.

They tried to watch them for a while, but Uri and Loki were no longer visible, as if they had dived into the water.

“Shall we go back then?”

At Kate’s words, Seo-jun nodded his head.

That was when.

Seo-jun noticed something coming up from under the water at a fast speed.

“Everyone, hold on to the boat!”

Everyone reflexively grabbed the boat at Seo-jun’s voice.

They didn’t know what was going on, but they had to be careful of anything on the water.

And then,

Splash!

White droplets of water rose up to the sky.

Everyone forgot to blink and stared at the air.

There was something black and white in the middle of the huge splash.

It rose up from the sea to the air, drawing a beautiful curve.

From head to tail, it was very clear.

Still small, but soon to be bigger than anyone else,

“Uri!”

It was Uri, the humpback whale.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and shouted.

Uri fell back to the water surface.

The baby humpback whale made a loud noise as it hit the water.

The small boat shook from the impact.

The people in the boat held on to it tightly.

“It’s breaching!”

The caretaker, who was soaked in water, exclaimed with an excited face.

The others were no less thrilled.

The camera director tried his best not to miss a moment.

Breaching.

The act of whales rising high above the water surface.

They could easily see pictures of whales rising above the water on the internet, but it was their first time seeing it so close.

“No one knows why whales breach yet!”

Kate said with a bright smile, holding on to the boat tightly.

“This must be a sign of gratitude!”

Seo-jun agreed with her words.

“Come again!”

At Seo-jun’s voice, everyone held on to the boat tightly.

The people on SEA SAVER also looked at the boat. Several cameras were filming Uri’s figure.

Once again.

The baby humpback whale rose up from the water as if doing a high jump, rotating towards its white belly.

White droplets of water poured down over the boat.

“Huh? Loki!”

Everyone was amazed by Uri’s magnificent breaching when a relatively small splash rose next to him.

It was Loki, the dolphin.

As if following Uri, Loki also rose above the water surface and made a white splash.

Splash!

“It’s cute because it’s small.”

“Ugh.”

Seo-jun and the others laughed at the caretaker who couldn’t argue with Kate’s words.

That’s how Uri and Loki rose above the water several times.

Seo-jun’s eyes never left Uri and Loki.

It was a truly wonderful thank you gesture.

***

That evening.

The news came out.

“Wow. That cloud went all the way to Korea?”

Seo Eun-hye, who was eating dessert after dinner, made a surprised expression.

Lee Min-jun and Na-ra Kim also looked at the television with interest.

Seo-jun, who was exchanging messages with his friends, also looked up.

Behind the announcer, a world map appeared and red arrows were drawn on it.

Pictures of the whale cloud taken by people from all over the world were attached along the arrows.

“I saw it too, and it was really amazing.”

Na-ra Kim said, and Lee Min-jun nodded his head.

“It was a sight to marvel at.”

They wouldn’t have missed it if it hadn’t passed by at midnight.

There were rumors on the internet that some countries even sent fighter jets.

“It even has a name now. Moby Dick.”

Moby Dick.

Seo-jun smiled contentedly.

It was a cool name that suited the continental whale.

***

[What is the meaning of the whale cloud in the sky?!]

[First sighting of whale cloud on California beach!]

[From America to Europe and East Asia! The movement path of the whale cloud!]

[Why did the whale cloud ‘Moby Dick’ appear?]

-…Is this a sign that Earth is going to end?

=I’m starting to get nervous;;;

-How can a cloud shape last that long?

=No way. It would have dispersed by the wind.

=Just like a typhoon can’t go around the Earth.

-What’s in California?

=Now when you think of whales, you think of California.

=Yeah, I feel like I have to see whales if I go to California lol

-Speaking of whales, I wonder when Seo-jun’s documentary will air?

=I hope it airs soon.

=But isn’t it an American broadcast, so we can’t watch it?

=No, I think we can watch it in Korea too.

=222 The broadcasting stations are competing hard for it lol

=I wonder who will win haha

Chapter 311

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Chapter 311

Two days after the shooting.

Ahn Da Ho stopped by Na-ra Kim’s mansion.

“They decided to split the documentary into two parts and broadcast them separately.”

“Two parts?”

Seo-jun tilted his head at Ahn Da Ho’s words.

“Yeah. The first part is the one with you, with a bit of a variety show vibe, and the second part is the documentary without you. They plan to edit the first part in a lighter tone and go deeper into the second part.”

Oh.

Seo-jun nodded.

That way, they could satisfy both the people who didn’t watch documentaries and the people who wanted to see serious documentaries.

“That’s a good idea.”

“The ABS station is also happy to get two programs from one shoot. They’re already getting a lot of offers for advertising because it’s such a hot topic.”

“I see.”

Ahn Da Ho’s words made Seo-jun smile.

“I was worried about how to watch it in Korea. If it’s uploaded on Plus+, I can watch it comfortably in Korea!”

Seo-jun had no idea how fiercely the broadcasters in Korea were competing to buy his documentary.

Ahn Da Ho had heard some news from across the ocean.

The companies that wanted to put ads in also kept an eye on which station Seo-jun’s documentary would go to.

“And the PD said he wanted to ask you to do the narration for both parts.”

Seo-jun tilted his head.

“I’m going back to Korea next week. They have to edit the documentary footage and write a script that matches the video… Will there be enough time?”

It would take quite some time to edit, let alone one part, but two parts.

‘Good scripts don’t come out easily either.’

Ahn Da Ho smiled and answered Seo-jun’s question.

“He said it wouldn’t take that long.”

Ahn Da Ho recalled his conversation with the PD last night. The PD shouted when Ahn Da Ho told him that he was going back to Korea next week.

‘It won’t take that long!’

He had planned to take a break after the shooting and then start editing, but the PD quickly changed his schedule. He couldn’t miss the ratings, buzz, and various benefits that would come from Seo-jun’s narration.

‘Yeah. I can sleep later.’

Ahn Da Ho smiled faintly as he remembered what the PD had muttered faintly over the phone.

Seo-jun thought for a moment and nodded.

“Then I’m fine with it.”

Narration.

He wanted to try it because he had never done it before.

Ahn Da Ho smiled and said at Seo-jun’s acceptance.

“And there’s one more proposal that came in.”

“A proposal?”

“Yeah. Seo-jun, do you want to throw the first pitch?”

First pitch?

Seo-jun blinked at the unexpected suggestion.

***

The day before.

The LA Dodgers’ promotion team leader pointed his finger at Seo-jun’s name that filled the internet.

“From Hero Assemble to whale rescue to documentary shooting, and even whale clouds. It’s been a week of Seo-jun Lee, huh? But what does Seo-jun Lee have to do with whale clouds?”

At the promotion team leader’s question, one of his staff smiled and said.

“Well, I guess Seo-jun Lee is the most famous person related to whales right now. He’s at the center of attention for various reasons, and then there’s a cloud like that. It’s bound to be a topic.”

“And it’s even more chaotic because of that whale cloud circling the earth.”

“There are also a lot of products and events related to whales. Whale tours have also increased a lot, they say.”

The promotion team leader scratched his chin at his staff’s words.

The promotion team had to be most sensitive to the world’s attention.

There were ads related to ‘whales’ popping up everywhere, and there was a good opportunity right in front of them when the center of attention was in California, especially LA.

“Hmm. Then should we join in too?”

“Huh?”

The staff who were talking about watching Seo-jun Lee’s documentary tilted their heads at the promotion team leader’s words.

“We have a home game in a few days.”

“Yes.”

“How about bringing Seo-jun Lee as the first pitcher for that game?”

Oh.

Oh!

The promotion team staff’s eyes sparkled at the promotion team leader’s suggestion.

***

After lunch, two scouts returned to their office and looked at one desk and hesitated, backing away.

“Philip, why is he like that?”

The two people’s eyes were on Philip, a scout who was lying on his desk as if he was dead.

Was he sleeping or fainting?

Only Philip’s seat seemed to be covered with dark clouds.

“He went through all the names of high school players in East Asia four or five days ago, and he’s been like that ever since. What did he say? Jack Smith was friends with Seo-jun Lee! He was a Hollywood actor! He screamed like that.”

At that, his colleague spat out his coffee.

“Ah. I saw that too.”

Seo-jun Lee’s whale rescue videos went up on YouTube, and the people who were in those videos also got attention.

There were people who appeared in the news interviews, and people who revealed themselves on SNS.

The one who got the most attention was the big boy who was around Seo-jun Lee, wearing a black hat.

At first, he was suspected to be Seo-jun Lee’s bodyguard, but then people who knew the boy started to appear.

He was a famous high school player, so there were quite a few people who recognized him.

The scouts also quickly figured out that the boy was Jack Smith.

“But are Jack Smith and Seo-jun Lee really friends? Not just passing by and rescuing whales together?”

The scout shook his head.

“There was an interview during Over the Rainbow that said that. Seo-jun Lee lived in LA when he filmed Shadowman1. He lived next to Jack Smith, so they have been friends since they were young.”

His colleague exclaimed.

“Wow. The kid who lived next door was a superstar… It’s like a novel.”

“Well, he was just a kid back then.”

“That’s true.”

The two scouts chuckled.

“But how did you know he lived next door? That story didn’t come up in the interview, did it?”

“Jack Smith is also getting a lot of questions from his fellow players. Well, I guess I’d be curious too if my friend’s friend was a superstar. But Jack Smith is cutting them off well, so he doesn’t say anything more.”

His colleague nodded.

Whether it was a baseball player or an actor, the biggest threat to a superstar was the stories that came out of the mouths of their acquaintances.

Even if there was no clear evidence that the information was true or false, the fact that they were ‘friends of the star’ gave people some kind of confidence.

“So they’re selling that kind of information too… He’s a good friend. Oh, do you know? The promotion team is trying to get Seo-jun Lee to throw the first pitch.”

“Oh, that would be nice, right? He’s the center of attention right now, and there are a lot of Koreans in LA, so a lot of people will come. And Seo-jun Lee has a lot of fans too…”

The scout who was thinking for a moment said with a slightly sour face.

“…It seems like more people will come than I expected?”

***

Scout Philip had found a gem that had not been polished yet when he followed Jack Smith to the batting cage a few days ago.

He went straight to the office and searched through all the data of high school players in East Asia, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find the player he saw at the batting cage.

Philip sighed as he put down the last sheet.

“…Is he not a high school player?”

He could be a pro player or a second-team player. Or maybe just an ordinary person. Philip scratched his head.

“It’s hard to find him if he’s an ordinary person…”

He had no idea where to start looking. But he felt guilty as a baseball fan to just leave him alone when he showed such talent.

“He definitely has the potential to be a superstar.”

Scout Philip trusted his own eyes.

He got up again to print out the list of East Asian players.

Then, one of the scouts in the office exclaimed.

The eyes of the people in the office turned to him.

“Seo-jun Lee showed up at Midman Beach!”

“Seo-jun Lee?!”

The employee who was a fan of Seo-jun Lee screamed and jumped up.

He looked like he was ready to run to Midman Beach right away.

“I knew he was in LA, but he went to Midman Beach.”

Everyone picked up their phones with interest. The internet was already in chaos.

Philip also picked up his phone to take a break and looked around.

And he stopped breathing when he saw a certain picture.

He couldn’t even blink.

His whole body stiffened and he could only stare blankly at his phone.

“Whale rescue, huh… That’s amazing.”

“But who’s that next to him? Doesn’t he look familiar?”

“Yeah, he does. If we know him, he should be a baseball player. Oh, isn’t that Jack Smith? Philip! This is Jack Smith… Philip?”

Two boys came into Philip’s pale sight.

Jack Smith in the same outfit as today and the boy who he thought was a gem covered in mud, but was actually a polished gem-like actor, Seo-jun Lee.

***

Since then, Philip seemed to have lost all his motivation.

He couldn’t hide his regret.

He walked around with his shoulders drooping, but still did his work diligently, so the scout team leader just shook his head silently.

Bang!

Philip banged his head on the desk after finishing all his work for the morning.

“Damn… It would have been better if he was an ordinary person…”

If he was an ordinary person, it would have been hard to find him, but he could have persuaded him to take a test somehow. But,

“He’s a Hollywood actor!”

A Hollywood actor, and one who won an Academy Award at such a young age and was recognized for his acting skills!

The potential for superstardom that Philip had imagined was being displayed elsewhere.

And amazingly! Magnificently!

As he was so frustrated, Philip heard his colleagues’ conversation.

First pitch?

He lost a talented hitter to Hollywood and was frustrated, so Philip jumped up from his seat. The two scouts who were surprised spilled some coffee.

“First pitch?!”

“What, what?”

“What’s going on?”

Philip shouted.

“Seo-jun Lee should be hitting, not pitching!”

The two scouts blinked at Philip’s sudden outburst.

***

“So you’re suggesting hitting?”

The promotion team leader said with an expression that wasn’t very pleased at Philip’s words.

Philip’s story had reached the promotion team leader through one of his staff.

The promotion team staff also had their eyes sparkling at the interesting story.

Wow.

He followed Jack Smith and saw a talented hitter, but it turned out to be Seo-jun Lee?

These kinds of behind-the-scenes stories usually sold well.

If Seo-jun Lee agreed to hit, they could spread this story as publicity, but unlike the staff who thought so, the promotion team leader said.

“But even if the pitcher throws well, most people can’t hit it well. People are watching and if he can’t hit it, it won’t be good for Seo-jun Lee’s image either. I think we’ll get scolded for making him hit for no reason.”

“Even if he throws the first pitch, he has to practice, so can’t we just ask him to hit once when he comes to practice?”

The promotion team leader scratched his cheek at Philip’s words.

“Hmm. If we add the story, hitting would be perfect for publicity… Alright. Then let Seo-jun Lee choose between pitching and hitting, whatever.”

Philip’s face brightened at the promotion team leader’s words.

“But you know that Seo-jun Lee has to agree first, right?”

***

“Let’s do it!!”

It was deafening.

Seo-jun dropped his phone far away.

Jack Smith was screaming on the other side of the phone.

“You throw well! You have great control!”

If Philip had heard that, he would have been shocked. He could hit well and pitch well too!?

“You said you could learn to throw quickly!”

Jack laughed as Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

“They said I can choose between pitching and hitting, whatever I want.”

“Both are fine since you’re good at both! Hitting would be nice too. Hit a home run! Wow. You’re going to LA Stadium before me…”

“Isn’t it different from you? You’re a player and I’m just a pitcher.”

“Still, it feels weird. How should I put it… It’s like I’m making a cameo in a movie?”

Seo-jun laughed at Jack’s words.

“That would be really weird.”

“Right?”

Jack also chuckled.

“So are you pitching? Or not?”

“I said I’d do it because it sounds fun.”

He had already agreed before he could tell Jack.

Jack shouted at Seo-jun’s words.

“I’ll definitely come to see you! Oh, wait. Will your pitching be on the news? Wow… I hope I can get a ticket?”

Seo-jun laughed at Jack’s sincere concern.

Chapter 312

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 312

“Hello.”

The practice field became lively as Seo-jun Lee appeared with a bright smile.

“Nice to meet you, Lee!”

Robert, a pitcher, and Hayden, a batter, from the LA Dodgers’ promotion team greeted Seo-jun, who would join them for today’s training.

Philip, a scout, also welcomed him.

There were no reporters yet, as they had not announced Seo-jun’s pitching news.

There was only a filming team that would capture Seo-jun’s practice scenes for the press release.

“I look forward to working with you today.”

“So do we.”

After exchanging greetings, Seo-jun, Robert, and Hayden started to warm up.

They looked like they had some experience in exercising, as they stretched skillfully.

The two players watched Seo-jun with curious eyes.

“Jun. Have you ever exercised before?”

“Just as a hobby.”

Seo-jun answered Robert’s question with a smile.

Hayden seemed to recall something and said.

“I heard you have a friend who is a baseball player. You must know how to swing a bat, right?”

“Yes. He taught me in detail yesterday.”

“Then, since pitching might take longer than hitting, why don’t we start with pitching?”

Seo-jun and Robert nodded at Hayden’s suggestion.

They finished stretching and Hayden took his place at the catcher’s seat.

Seo-jun and Robert stood a little ahead of the mound.

“Let’s start from here and slowly increase the distance.”

“Okay. I got it.”

Robert showed him an example first.

He showed his hand holding the baseball to Seo-jun.

His index and middle fingers were holding the seams of the baseball horizontally.

Seo-jun tried to hold the baseball in the same way.

“A fastball would be better for throwing accurately into the catcher’s glove. It flies straight to the home plate and it’s not that hard to control.”

“Yes.”

“It’s windup, kicking, stride, release in order.”

Windup, the pitching preparation posture.

Kicking, lifting the pivot foot up.

Stride, stepping on the ground with the other foot.

Release, letting go of the ball from the hand.

He showed each posture slowly to Seo-jun and then moved quickly.

The baseball flew out of Robert’s hand and hit Hayden’s glove.

Seo-jun clapped his hands and Robert said with a smile.

“You don’t have to throw too hard. Focus on control rather than speed. Don’t worry if it’s near the catcher’s glove, he’ll catch it well.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“Shall we try throwing lightly then?”

Seo-jun nodded at Robert’s words and took his stance.

He thought he would throw once and then correct his posture.

First, windup.

It was natural to be awkward if it was his first time doing it, but there was no sign of that from Seo-jun.

Robert and Hayden, who was wearing a catcher’s mask, widened their eyes.

The next movements followed quickly.

Kicking,

Stride,

And release!

Seo-jun stepped on the ground with his lifted foot and shifted his weight forward.

Then he swung his arm and threw the ball.

The baseball flew out of Seo-jun’s hand and hit Hayden’s glove without much speed.

Everyone looked at Seo-jun and the catcher’s glove with surprised faces.

“Jun. Can you throw harder?”

Robert, who was standing near Seo-jun, asked him with shining eyes.

Seo-jun looked relaxed even after throwing the ball, as if he hadn’t used all his strength yet.

Seo-jun answered Robert’s question with a smile.

“Yes.”

“Then why don’t we try from the mound? Let’s raise the speed a little bit. Control is… as long as it’s near the catcher, Hayden will catch it well.”

Seo-jun nodded at Robert’s words.

This time, they decided to throw from a longer distance, from the mound.

As Seo-jun was about to throw again, the promotion team leader called a team member and ordered him to bring a speed gun.

Every record like this would become a press release and a topic of discussion.

‘It would be even better if it was an outstanding record.’

Robert gave some advice to Seo-jun and he adjusted his posture again.

He threw the ball once more.

He stepped on the ground more heavily with his pivot foot and put more strength into his arm.

The ball flew faster than before and went straight into the catcher’s glove.

The distance was longer but the speed was faster and the control was perfect.

Robert, who was staring blankly at that scene, turned his head and looked at Seo-jun.

“Jun. Have you ever played baseball in Korea?”

“No. I just played with my friend.”

“Do you have any interest in playing baseball…? You seem good enough.”

“Hahaha.”

Seo-jun laughed as Robert looked him up and down.

His pitching posture was natural and flawless, and his control was perfect. His speed was faster than Robert expected.

‘And… he still looks relaxed.’

Robert wanted to ask Seo-jun to throw harder, but he couldn’t make a unreasonable request to an actor who was not a player. He just swallowed his words.

That’s how Seo-jun threw a few balls from the mound.

Windup, kicking, stride, release.

Seo-jun’s natural pitching motion looked like a player’s practice rather than an actor’s pitching practice.

The baseball flew out of Seo-jun’s hand at a fast speed and hit the glove. Robert scratched his ball and said.

“I think you don’t need to practice pitching anymore.”

He didn’t have to throw 100 miles, he just had to throw enough to get into the catcher’s glove.

The promotion team agreed with Robert’s words.

They thought it would take a few hours, but it ended too soon.

At Robert’s words, Hayden took off his catcher’s mask and got up from his seat.

“Shall we try hitting now?”

“Yes.”

“I heard from the scout that you hit some balls at the batting cage.”

Seo-jun looked at Philip at Hayden’s words. Philip, who was surprised, smiled awkwardly. Seo-jun smiled slightly and nodded.

“Yes. I go there sometimes with my friend.”

“Then let’s see how you swing first and then check it out.”

“Okay.”

Robert stood on the mound.

“The speed is about 140. The location is right in the center.”

“Yes!”

He had only hit balls from a pitching machine or thrown by his friends, but this was his first time hitting a real pro player’s ball.

Seo-jun was a little nervous, but it was a pleasant thrill.

He clenched and unclenched his two hands holding the baseball bat, then exhaled.

He looked at Robert on the mound.

“Is this a practice or a game?”

The people who were watching from a distance looked back and forth between Robert on the mound and Seo-jun at the batter’s box.

They understood why Seo-jun had a serious expression on his face, but they were puzzled by Robert’s tense expression.

He looked like he was playing a real game.

There was an inexplicable tension in the practice field.

Soon, Robert took the windup posture.

“The most important thing is not to take your eyes off the ball.”

Seo-jun repeated Jack’s words in his mind and his eyes never left Robert’s hand holding the baseball.

Robert swung his left leg and his right arm.

The baseball flew out of his hand and hit the catcher’s glove before it even met the bat.

Seo-jun pushed the bat up as it was.

Bang!

Everyone except Manager Ahn Da Ho, who knew Seo-jun’s athletic ability well, and the two players, had no idea that Seo-jun would hit the ball from the first practice.

They could only stare blankly at the white ball flying in the air.

Robert on the mound also followed the ball with his eyes.

“I knew it.”

He laughed incredulously and turned his head to look at Seo-jun.

“That was close.”

A pitcher had to read the batter’s mind and throw the ball where he couldn’t hit it.

He was momentarily confused by Seo-jun’s eyes that never left the ball and his feeling that he would hit it somehow.

He felt ridiculous for thinking of him as a ‘batter’ while looking at a Hollywood actor.

He almost threw the ball not to the center as promised, but to the outside of his body, and even faster.

And another person.

Hayden, who had been admiring Seo-jun’s posture since he took his stance, asked him.

“Have you ever played baseball in Korea?”

“No. I just played with my friend.”

“Do you want to play baseball? You seem good enough.”

“Hahaha.”

Seo-jun laughed at Hayden’s sparkling eyes.

“I think I know why you wanted to see him hit.”

The promotion team leader swallowed his bitter voice.

He had watched baseball for a long time, so he had a good eye for it.

He was surprised when he saw him pitch, but he was even more surprised when he saw him hit.

‘It would be better if he hit well and had some behind-the-scenes stories.’

The promotion team leader’s heart leaned toward hitting, which looked more spectacular and could be seen from any seat.

Everyone admired Seo-jun’s hitting, which was so splendid that it made them doubt if he was really a Hollywood actor.

It continued like that. Robert threw faster balls, but Seo-jun hit them all without missing any.

“Is he an actor by profession and a baseball player by hobby?”

They couldn’t help but think that as they watched the white ball fly over the fence with a loud sound.

Robert looked at Seo-jun and asked him.

“Jun. Are you okay with other courses?”

“Hmm. As long as you avoid my body, I think it’s fine.”

He could hit any ball, but since he was filming, he didn’t want to cause any trouble.

“Don’t worry about control.”

It wasn’t a game where he had to strike out the batter.

Robert smiled warmly as if he was looking at a talented young player… No, that’s not right.

He smiled happily as if he was looking at a talented junior without realizing it.

Hayden also felt the same way and gave some advice to Seo-jun’s stance.

Seo-jun Lee’s pitching and hitting practice turned into a practice-like practice between him and the two players.

Seo-jun threw the ball and Hayden hit it back.

Robert threw the ball and Seo-jun hit it back.

As Robert threw faster balls, the distance of Seo-jun’s hits increased.

Bang!!

They knew by that sound.

This one is going over.

Robert, Seo-jun, and Hayden looked up at the sky.

The cameras and people’s heads also looked up at the sky.

“Wow…!”

Finally, everyone let out a sigh mixed with admiration as the baseball went over the fence.

They looked at Seo-jun with regretful eyes, as if his talent was wasted on acting.

Ahn Da Ho gave him a sports drink to quench his thirst. Seo-jun asked Robert and Hayden.

“Do you think I can hit a home run if I do it like before?”

“Oh. You want to hit a home run?”

Hayden asked him back and Seo-jun said with a smile.

“I don’t know if I can or not, but I want to try.”

They had a feeling that Seo-jun might really hit a home run with his bright smile.

***

[Actor Lee Seo-jun hits at LA Stadium!]

[Lee Seo-jun will hit at LA Stadium tomorrow!]

[Not pitching, but hitting? Influenced by his friend?]

-? Why so suddenly?

-But seeing the recent buzz, I’m not surprised.

=22 There are also many whale-related products. Lee Seo-jun should come out.

=I saw a whale-shaped cake. It was delicious.

-It will be a topic until the documentary comes out.

=It will be a topic even after the documentary comes out.

-Our Seo-jun is hitting… Is he going to hit a home run?

=I think he will.

=With Seo-jun’s athletic ability, anything is possible.

-I want to go to LA and see him!

=22 I can’t believe I can see Seo-jun in my neighborhood!

***

On the day of the LA Stadium home game.

Many people were interested in Lee Seo-jun’s hitting news and that interest led them to the LA Stadium.

A black man sitting in the driver’s seat stuck his head out of the window and looked around.

“….Is this a parking lot or a road?”

“Can we get to the stadium today?”

Tom and his friend, who had rescued the whale with Seo-jun, looked at the cars filling the road with bored eyes.

Chapter 313

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 313

The road that looked like a parking lot started to move slowly.

Tom and his friend breathed a sigh of relief and drove along the slightly cleared road to LA Stadium.

“We did well to leave early.”

“Right. I didn’t expect so many people to come. It’s only like this when there’s a very important game…”

They would have missed their seats if they had left later.

Tom, who barely got a seat, looked up at the sky with a curious face.

The sky was blue and the weather was pleasant.

“It was so hot until a few days ago.”

“Right. The weather got better all of a sudden.”

The words about the record-breaking heat and heat wave also disappeared.

The fact that the weather forecast was completely different from a week ago and that the meteorological office and climate scientists were confused and didn’t know why was quietly spread.

No one knew the cause of the weather change, but the improved weather made watching baseball more comfortable.

“But, do you think Lee can do well? He looked good in the video that LA Dodgers posted, but…”

There must have been many people who became interested after watching that practice video.

Seo-jun Lee, who could pitch and hit well. But there were also many comments that it was thanks to editing because it was a short video.

Tom shrugged at his friend’s words.

“He’ll do well.”

“How do you know?”

Tom, who was a fan of Seo-jun Lee, smiled slyly and said.

“Jun is good at everything. He did most of the action scenes in Shadowman 3 himself unless they were really difficult, and he did the same in Escape. He’s good at soccer and archery too.”

“But baseball is a bit different, isn’t it?”

“Just wait and see.”

Jun would show them a very cool performance.

***

The two commentators sitting in the booth glanced at the paper that LA Dodgers gave them.

It was an introduction to Seo-jun Lee, who would hit, and the order of hitting.

They also added some stories depending on the occupation or age of the celebrities who pitched.

If they were from politics, they would be more serious, if they were from entertainment, they would be more funny.

The two commentators tilted their heads as they skimmed through the paper.

“The content is fine, but… can Seo-jun Lee do this well?”

“Right.”

The success or failure of today’s hitting event seemed to depend on Seo-jun Lee.

***

Jack: There are so many people!

Jack: I wouldn’t have been able to come if it wasn’t for the VIP seats.

<LOL Can you see the batter’s box well?

Jack: Yeah, I can see it well.

Jack’s family and couple, and Na-ra Kim came to LA Stadium with the tickets that LA Dodgers gave to Jun.

They came separately for a simple practice, but they planned to go back together.

Seo-jun, who was wearing an LA Dodgers uniform, put down his phone.

His heart was pounding.

He was sitting in the waiting room, but he could feel the excitement of the whole stadium.

There were also many posts on SNS that informed about the situation at LA Stadium.

56,000 seats sold out.

Not all of them came to see him, but he was a little nervous to face such a large crowd for the first time.

He leaned back on the backrest and smiled slyly.

It was a pleasant nervousness.

“Seo-jun. It’s time.”

“Yes!”

And time passed and it was time to hit.

Seo-jun headed to the batter’s box with Ahn Da Ho and his staff’s guidance.

The applause poured down as Seo-jun appeared in an LA Dodgers uniform and equipped with gear for safety.

The cheers calling Seo-jun Lee and Jin Natra kept ringing.

Seo-jun greeted them by waving his hand and taking off his helmet.

When the camera zoomed in on him, his image appeared on both sides of the scoreboard.

There was an involuntary exclamation at Seo-jun’s aura.

His image was also delivered to the viewers through YouTube and broadcasting stations that had broadcasting rights.

-ㅠㅠSeo-junㅠㅠ

-I can’t believe I’m seeing Seo-jun in Americaㅠㅠ

-He looks like a baseball player in a uniform.

-I wish Seo-jun was a baseball player. I would go to every game lol

-222Same lol

“Let’s do well.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun fist-bumped with Robert, who went up to the mound. Seo-jun also stood in the batter’s box.

The commentator introduced Robert and Seo-jun Lee.

[The batter that Robert will face is now entering the batter’s box. Number 17 Seo-jun Lee. This is his debut stage. Lee’s main job is a Hollywood actor and he is showing great results in his main job.]

The people laughed at the commentator’s words.

[He saved a whale a few days ago and now he came to save LA Stadium. As expected, the stadium is full from the start. The popularity of a Hollywood actor is amazing.]

[He’s not just a Hollywood actor. He’s a superstar. We hope that Seo-jun Lee will show us more amazing works in the future, and the game begins!]

Seo-jun wrapped his hands around the bat and took his stance.

The stance he learned through practice came out naturally, and Hayden, the catcher, nodded as if it was natural, and the umpire behind the catcher exclaimed, oh.

Jun! Jin Natra! Lee Seo-jun! Seo-jun!

He shivered at the voices that came from everywhere.

It was more so because it was his first time meeting so many people in person.

‘It’s more than I thought…’

Front, back, left and right.

He liked the situation where all these people who filled LA Stadium were looking only at him.

So he got more excited.

He didn’t know how many of his fans were here, but he wanted to show them a cool performance.

‘It’s rare to stand in front of so many people as an actor.’

[(Line)The basic breathing of an elf is activated.]

Seo-jun’s aura sparkled more and everyone’s attention was drawn to him.

When the umpire shouted.

[Play ball!]

Countless people held their breath.

Robert raised both arms lightly.

[Robert’s windup!]

And he stepped forward and threw the ball toward the catcher.

[First pitch! It’s fast!]

[Can he hit this?]

The commentators and the audience were startled by the faster-than-expected ball. How can he hit this?

Before they could think, crack!

The baseball hit the catcher’s glove.

[Ah. It was too fast after all.]

[Robert, he seems to have forgotten that this is hitting.]

Ah.

A sound full of regret filled the stands. That image was delivered to the viewers through the camera.

-That was too fast.

-22 How can you hit that when it just whizzes by?

“Wouldn’t it be faster if you hit it from the batter’s box?”

“How do you feel?”

The place where he could feel the reaction of the audience.

Hayden asked Seo-jun from the batter’s box.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and answered Hayden’s worried question.

“It’s okay. It’s what I planned. I’m glad it’s the reaction I expected.”

“Really? Okay then.”

Hayden chuckled and sent a signal to Robert.

[Here comes the second pitch. Robert winds up!]

[This one should be slower, right?]

[Yes! He throws!]

The ball flew fast.

Seo-jun couldn’t even swing his bat and the baseball was sucked into the catcher’s glove.

The audience looked puzzled at the number on the scoreboard.

[Wow. It’s faster than the first pitch.]

[I wonder if Robert thinks this is a real game.]

-?? How can you call our Seo-jun a hitter and do this?

-22 If you’re going to do this, don’t call him.

-? Do you want to be buried under six feet??

Robert, who didn’t know about the fierce conversations on the internet, pulled down the brim of his baseball cap and enjoyed the tense atmosphere.

‘It’s been a long time since I felt this pressure…’

It felt like everyone in the audience was an enemy.

That made him smile even more.

He liked the plan of the superstar who turned even a simple hitter event into a drama.

[Robert winds up in a two-strike situation!]

A silence fell over LA Stadium.

Everyone seemed to be watching without breathing.

Although the audience was far away, he felt like he could feel their eyes, movements, and breaths as if it were a play.

[He throws!]

Robert swung his right arm and threw the ball.

[It’s faster?!]

Even the commentators who knew what kind of event it was leaned forward unconsciously.

And,

The hero’s attack always works at the end.

Seo-jun stepped hard on his left leg that he had lifted lightly, shifted his center axis from right to left, and swung his bat with both hands as hard as he could.

The white ball hit the catcher’s glove before it was quickly swung by the baseball bat.

Bang!!

A pleasant sound echoed through LA Stadium.

The sound that made him feel electrified from head to toe and his hair stand on end.

Before he could think of anything, people’s heads moved in a circle following the baseball that flew into the air after hitting the bat.

People who got up from their seats without knowing saw the baseball flying toward third base.

It looked like a slow-motion video.

Their mouths opened wide and their eyes widened as much as possible.

They were sorry for the two pitches that he couldn’t hit because they were too fast, and they were happy to clap if Seo-jun hit a hit or even a home run.

[It’s over!!]

[Home run!! Home run!!]

The excited commentators’ shouts echoed through the stadium.

Home run! It was a home run.

People who came to their senses shouted with all their might.

The white ball crossed the fence and went into the glove of a boy sitting in the audience.

He felt a heavy sensation in his glove that he had raised unconsciously when the ball came.

The boy’s bewildered expression and Seo-jun’s bright smile as he took off his helmet were shown on the scoreboard, and another cheer erupted.

[Seo-jun Lee!! Debut stage, first home run!]

[The speed was faster than before, but it was a home run!? Amazing!]

[Anyway, it’s a hitter home run!!]

[Is this the first time a home run has come out of a hitter?!]

LA Stadium exploded with an unexpected Hollywood star home run.

The commentators who knew in advance that he would miss two pitches and hit a hit or a home run on the third pitch were also too excited to talk nonsense.

They didn’t expect him to hit a home run because Seo-jun’s hitting skills had to be good for it to go as planned.

The game hadn’t started yet, but the audience waved their uniforms and shouted at the superstar’s play.

[If there was a 17 LEE uniform, it would have been sold out today!!]

[I want that uniform!!]

When Seo-jun Lee, who took off his helmet, returned home after turning first base, second base, and third base, another cheer poured out.

He smiled brightly with his cheeks red from cheering and waved his hands vigorously.

***

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, a perfect hitter that can’t be seen anywhere else!]

[Home run at LA Stadium!? Actor Lee Seo-jun player!]

[Is he an actor or a baseball player? Actor Lee Seo-jun home run!]

[Signed on the home run ball! Lee Seo-jun home run ball, buy posts everywhere!]

-Lee Seo-jun is the best!!

-But can an actor hit a home run? It doesn’t look like he practiced much from his schedule.

=LA Stadium is smaller than other stadiumsㅎ

=+)The speed was fast, but the pitcher threw it well for him to hit.

=+)Lee Seo-jun also hit well. His friend is a player, so he must have gained skills from playing with him.

=+)ㅇㅇHe timed it wellㅎ

-Wow. I was cursing the pitcher for being too fast until the third pitch… He hit a faster ball and it was a home run?

-I think he deliberately didn’t hit the first two pitches.

=22 If he hit the first pitch, it would have been over, but he dragged it to the third pitch and hit it, so everyone was surprised. Shockedㅋ

=ㅇㅇIt’s not even a real game, but my heart was poundingㅎ

-I knew they were friends when they smiled at each other after the end.

=I was cursing until he threw the third pitch. Sorry Robertㅎㅎ

-I was watching on my phone and I was so surprised when he hit a home run that I dropped my phoneㅠㅠI still have a contract leftㅠ

=22 It’s not even a real game, but my hands were sweatyㅋㅋ

-Everyone in our apartment seemed to be watching this. When he hit a home run, there was a loud scream from upstairs and downstairs, next door. Of course, our house tooㅎ

=22 I went to work and watched thisㅋ Everyone was secretly watching it and when Seo-jun hit a home run, they all shouted togetherㅋㅋ I also watched the LA Dodgers game.

=But the highlight is Lee Seo-jun’s home runㅋㅋㅋㅋ

=They’re playing it a lot on the news right now… It’s thrilling no matter how many times I watch it!

-As expected, Lee Seo-jun’s athletic ability is ㅎㄷㄷ

=Now the whole world knows!

=Is this the level of athletic ability that gets offered to be a national representative if he only does acting?ㅋㅋ

=??? : How can we lose such an athletic genius to Hollywood…!

=ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-The Jin team was making a fuss about taking Jun instead of himㅋㅋ

=I saw that too. They didn’t expect a no-hit no-run thereㅋㅋ

=/Jun will hit better than you!!/

Chapter 314

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Chapter 314

“Seo-jun is good at narration.”

“I think it’s because he was filming on site with them.”

Ahn Da Ho said in response to the words of a King’s Agency employee who had come to the ABS station with him.

Today was the day to record the narration for the documentary that Seo-jun had filmed.

Through the glass wall, Seo-jun’s voice sounded clear and crisp as he read the script in the recording studio.

[Humpback whales spend the summer in cold polar regions and migrate to tropical or subtropical seas in winter for breeding. Maybe ‘we’ got left behind when they moved to the polar regions.]

“Are you going back to Korea now?”

“Yes. I’m planning to return the day after tomorrow.”

Ahn Da Ho, who had finished his work today with the recording, as well as Seo-jun and Eun-hye, who had finished their vacation, were planning to go back to Korea.

‘There must be a lot of work.’

There were scripts that he hadn’t seen during Seo-jun’s vacation, and he had received many offers for throwing the first pitch at baseball games and kicking off at soccer games since that day when he was a hitter for baseball.

He thought of the work that would be piled up in his office when a Kings Agency employee spoke to him.

“I’ll send you the scripts that came in recently. There were a lot of baseball-related ones.”

“Haha. It’s the same in Korea.”

It was common for scripts or synopses to flood in on a certain topic when it became popular. He had experienced it often, so he wasn’t too overwhelmed.

‘I hope there’s a good work that Seo-jun likes among them.’

Ahn Da Ho looked at Seo-jun in the recording studio.

[Humpback whales can live from 45 to 100 years…]

With a serious face, and sometimes smiling unknowingly when Uri and Loki appeared on the television screen, Seo-jun completed the narration recording.

***

A week after Seo-jun and his mother, and Ahn Da Ho returned to Korea.

The day of the broadcast of the documentary that Seo-jun participated in was approaching.

[Tonight, SBC documentary featuring actor Lee Seo-jun will be aired!]

[SBC, documentary part 1 ‘We Are Now’ airs today!]

[Documentary part 2 ‘In The Sea’ airs next week!]

-SBC has been promoting it hard since five days ago. I’m going to watch it anywayㅎㅎ

=How excited they must beㅋㅋ I heard that the ads were sold out as soon as they got the documentary.

=SBC even changed their broadcast timeㅎㄷㄷ

-Part 1 is where Seo-jun appears, right?

=ㅇㅇ But part 2 also has Seo-jun’s narration… so I have to watch both.

-When does it start! I’m sick of ads.

-It’s because Lee Seo-jun is in itㅎㅎ

-Oh. It starts.

The title [ABS Documentary Part 1: We Are Now] appeared and the screen brightened.

The beginning of documentary part 1 ‘We Are Now’ was peaceful.

It showed the footage of tourists filming Mindman Beach. People swimming, people lying leisurely on mats. The blue sea and the shining sun.

It looked like a scene from a movie.

-The calm before the stormㅋㅋ

-The beginning of disaster movies are always like thisㅋㅋ

As expected by the viewers, soon a tense music played and a car stopped on Dorotga Road. The image quality was not very good, as if it was from a CCTV camera.

And someone got out of the car.

-Is that Seo-jun?

-It looks like Lee Seo-jun!

A boy wearing a hat tightly ran out of the camera’s view. The image changed and showed a boy crossing the sandy beach among the tourists. The viewers could tell how urgent he was from his movements.

-…Wow. Did he see it while driving?

-Looking at his speed, it seems like he got out without any hesitation.

[Mom, a whale!]

A child’s voice and a panting whale appeared. Among everyone who was filming or hesitating, two boys who looked like friends were talking.

The urgency in their voices made others move as well. The scenes of people trying to save the whale were like a movie.

-They are all such nice peopleㅠ

-I saw this live but I still cry watching it againㅠㅠ

At the center of it all was a boy wearing a black hat. He didn’t care about his wet clothes or shoes and sprayed water and checked on the whale’s condition. There was no smile on his face that occasionally showed up.

He was focused on saving the whale, and the viewers watching television also held their breaths unknowingly.

-…He’s amazing.

Then, from afar, a boat from SEA SAVER appeared and cheers erupted. Seo-jun finally smiled a little at the appearance of the boat.

When everyone’s attention was on the whale and SEA SAVER, the two boys who deserved to be called heroes the most left their seats at the end of the various videos.

And the CCTV footage with poor image quality also showed the two boys getting in the car after watching the whale return to the sea.

[It was Seo-jun Lee!]

A man’s voice and surprised people appeared on the screen.

-I was really surprised thenㅎㅎ

-Seriouslyㅋㅋ I was watching it live and I screamed without knowing itㅎ

A brief introduction of Seo-jun Lee followed.

The dramas and movies he starred in, and his awards.

-Looking at this, he’s no joke.

-Isn’t this an American ABS documentary? Korean dramas are also shown?

-My Royal Physicianㅋㅋㅋ

The screen split in two and showed a contrast between Seo-jun Lee in a nice suit holding an award and smiling brightly, and Seo-jun Lee who was serious and didn’t stop for a moment to save the whale even though he was soaked.

-Seo-jun is cool even when he’s serious!!

-The documentary is goodㅠ It shows ‘Lee Seo-jun’ as he is, not as a character or actingㅠㅠ

-222 That ‘Lee Seo-jun’ is so coolㅠ

-I’m falling for him again todayㅠㅠ

The screen slowly darkened and brightened again.

A boy getting out of a car appeared on the screen.

[Hello. I’m Seo-jun Lee.]

With that greeting, the real documentary began.

Seo-jun learned about SEA SAVER and was introduced to the center and met animals with their own stories.

He listened to Kate, the rescue team leader, explain and looked at the glass wall with a serious or sometimes sad face.

The viewers empathized with Seo-jun Lee’s expressions.

-Eat a lotㅠ Mollyㅠㅠ

-Ah. I went to the aquarium yesterday and saw a dolphin showㅠ I’m sorryㅠ

Kate introduced the sea section.

The atmosphere of the documentary changed with the appearance of dolphin Loki.

-Loki is so cute!

-He splashed water everywhereㅋㅋ The staff seemed used to itㅋㅋ

-The center’s official ‘troublemaker’ㅋㅋ

Next to Loki’s section was the baby humpback whale that Seo-jun had saved.

The baby humpback whale couldn’t take his eyes off Seo-jun as if he recognized him.

The viewers also watched in wonder as the baby humpback whale sang woo woo woo as if he recognized Seo-jun.

Kate persuaded Seo-jun to name the baby orca.

[It was because of the people who were there that we could save him. Not just me, but everyone. So, ‘we’.]

[That’s nice. We. Uri.]

-Wow, it was a Korean name?

-It has a good meaning tooㅠ

-Uri… So that’s why the title was ‘We Are Now’.

-The American title is also /URI(We) Are Now/ㅎ

[It was not a good sight when we came back from a tour around the center with Uri and Loki.]

The camera installed in the aquarium captured Loki jumping over to our area with a splash! And that scene was broadcast live.

The viewers who were laughing at Loki’s escape,

[We understand that you want to play with Uri… Loki. But you’re no match for his tail.]

They finally burst into laughter at Seo-jun’s serious tone.

-He’s really nothing compared to their sizeㅎ

-It’s funny how Seo-jun speaks so seriouslyㅋㅋ

-Who’s the escape-dolphinㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The second day showed Seo-jun feeding the young and injured animals.

The baby turtles that followed Seo-jun around and the seal that flipped over at Seo-jun’s hand gesture.

And even the sea lion that didn’t budge moved at Seo-jun’s ability.

The SEA SAVER team members were amazed by his skill, but quickly treated the animals.

-Was Seo-jun’s true calling a zookeeper?

-Actor, baseball player, zookeeper. He can do anythingㅋㅋ

-I also have confidence in raising them well…!

-22 I’ll listen to you well!

-The SEA SAVER team members’ surprised faces and fast hands are hilariousㅋㅋ

-They don’t forget their work like prosㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The third day.

Seo-jun appeared on the screen, heading to the sea on a SEA SAVER.

The viewers admired his photogenic scene of looking at the blue sea for a moment.

The SEA SAVER became busy.

The rescue team leader gave instructions while looking at the sea that showed nothing.

The viewers were puzzled by his actions.

-What? What’s going on?

-I can’t see anything?

Their curiosity was short-lived.

There was a whale tangled in a net where the SEA SAVER dived.

The viewers clapped without knowing as they watched the divers safely rescue the whale and bring it to the boat.

-This is why they’re pros;;;

-Wasn’t there really no sign at all? Can they see underwater?

The peaceful scene returned, and they thought it was over, but it wasn’t.

[Midman Beach! Dozens of dolphins are stranded!]

The SEA SAVER moved quickly at the team member’s words.

-I saw this live!

-Me too. 57 or something? There were so many dolphins on the sand, it was scary enough to give me goosebumps.

At Kate’s request, Seo-jun got on the boat.

The SEA SAVER boat arrived at the beach, stirring up white waves.

The viewers gasped as they saw dozens of black dolphins gasping on the screen.

Oh…

The SEA SAVER worked with the people on the beach to return the dolphins to the sea.

As they broadcasted the people saving the dolphins with Seo-jun in the center, the viewers who were there posted surprised comments.

-Everyone there was shockedㅋㅋ

-It was Seo-jun? I didn’t see?!×100 ㅋㅋㅋ

-As expected, Lee Seo-junㅎㅎ I saw him on Working Man too, he’s no jokeㅎ

The screen darkened and a caption said, last day.

[Today is the day we say goodbye to Uri and Loki.]

Seo-jun’s calm voice was heard.

[So I came a little earlier. I wanted to see them longer.]

Seo-jun changed his clothes and talked to Loki’s caretaker.

They changed Uri and Loki’s area to the one closest to the sea, and the viewers worried about Loki.

-Is he going to escape?

-It’s possible for Lokiㅋㅋ

-Are you leaving without saying goodbye?

-Serial escape-dolphinㅠㅠ

They sighed in relief at Loki playing with Uri.

They had fallen for Uri and Loki before they knew it.

And then that scene came up.

Seo-jun sitting alone at the end of a white road and Uri sticking his head out of the water.

Behind them, the sky began to brighten and twinkling stars appeared.

A time of dog and wolf, not knowing if he was human or beast.

He looked like Seo-jun, but had a strange aura.

The PD who found the footage late put it in without any editing.

The sound of waves, wind, and nothing else.

A silence flowed.

Seo-jun’s hand slowly reached out to Uri and Loki, there was an indescribable wonder in that scene.

The viewers also held their breath and watched.

And then,

The wind blew.

With a sound of surprise, the heavy atmosphere suddenly broke.

The screen tilted up.

The viewers opened their mouths in astonishment at the sudden change of scene.

-Huh? This is here too?

-I heard it was first seen in California… Is this really the first time?

Above Seo-jun, there was a whale cloud that circled the earth.

-It feels familiar somehowㅎ

-Is it because I saw 22 a lot?

The screen changed again and showed them sending Uri and Loki back to the sea.

Splash!

Uri’s magnificent breaching and Loki following him made the viewers laugh with teary eyes.

-I’m crying and laughingㅠㅠㅋㅋ

-I’m glad they’re both healthyㅠㅠ

-Don’t get hurt anymore!

Woo woo!

Beep beep!

Uri and Loki, who sang for minutes after breaching, slowly disappeared into the water.

Seo-jun, who was soaked as he first met them, waved goodbye to Uri and Loki.

His black eyes looked moist even though he couldn’t see them underwater.

[Orcas are called the guardians of the sea.]

Seo-jun’s faint voice was heard.

[They are gentle and help people and animals in danger in the sea. If you are in trouble in the sea, orcas might help you. Someday, Uri and Loki, who have grown up big, might help you too.]

[The sea. It may seem far away because we don’t live there. But there is Uri, the baby orca, and Loki, the mischievous dolphin. It’s where the baby turtles live and Molly returns to.]

[The environment of the sea affects the environment of people as well. We are living in the sea as well.]

Seo-jun’s soft voice was heard.

[Everyone, now ‘we’ are in the sea.]

Chapter 315

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Chapter 315

[SBC, Documentary ‘We Are Now’ Ratings 24%!!]

[The Highest Ratings Ever for a Documentary!]

[The Fantastic Chemistry Between Uri and Loki!]

-It was a fun documentary. It had lessons, emotions, and humor.

=Loki did all the funny parts lol

=The serial escape artist lol

=I laughed more at the cause of Loki’s injury lol He got hurt while playing a prank on a boat full of people lol That’s so Loki lol

=The chemistry between Loki and his handler was also good.

-Seo-jun is popular with both people and animals.

=The baby turtle lol It followed him everywhere lol

=He has a miraculous effect of calming them down.

=People are animals too lol

=Ah, so that’s why everyone was so quiet at the airport!

=…! The mystery is solved!

[An early morning farewell scene that looked like a painting!]

[Even an ordinary documentary became like a scene from a movie!]

-The last day Seo-jun had a great vibe.

=Was it because of the background?

=I can’t express it well, but I just stared at that scene.

-I think there are many people who captured that scene and framed it.

=I did too. It looked like a movie poster.

[The narration for the second part of the documentary ‘In The Sea’ that will air next week is by actor Seo-jun!]

[The whale cloud, the beginning of Moby Dick, SEA SAVER Center?]

[What does ‘In The Sea’ mean?]

-I was amazed by the whale cloud right above Seo-jun’s head.

=How did it appear there? Seo-jun really has great luck.

=He was born to be the center of attention.

=I wonder what he would have done if he wasn’t an entertainer.

=I have a feeling he was an entertainer in his previous life too.

-I have to watch ‘In The Sea’ too. Seo-jun’s voice is so nice.

=I agree. His pronunciation and vocalization are so good. Is it because he’s an actor?

-‘We Are Now’, ‘In The Sea’ are good titles for the documentary.

=I liked the last narration too. It touched my heart.

=It’s true that we can’t ignore the marine environment when 70% of the earth is water.

-Whenever I see the sea, I think of Uri and Loki.

=Me too. I think I’ll look back once. Will Uri always be together with Loki?

=I don’t know. They seem to get along well, but they’re different species…

=They have different lifespans too. Dolphins live for 25 years…

=Our Loki…

[The clothes, shoes, and hat that Seo-jun wore sold out!]

[The number 17 LEE LA Dodgers uniform for sale?]

-I had to buy them because they were really his clothes lol

=Nobody expected Seo-jun to film a documentary, so there was no sponsorship.

-Someone even found out the clothes and hat he wore when he rescued the whale lol

=They’re all organized and uploaded (link)

-Wow. The uniform is for sale?

=Yeah, it’s an event for one month only. You can buy it online and all the proceeds go to SEA SAVER.

=Cool. I have to buy it!

[Seo-jun effect? More events for Sita!]

[The leader of idol group ‘Tail’, “Pitching? No! I’ll hit a home run!”]

-Oh… oh… don’t do this…

-I have to see his frustrated face before the game (sigh)

-I went to watch the game today and Tail’s leader struck out lol

=The stadium was solemn.

=But he did attract attention. The video of his strikeout is going around.

=Wow… he sacrificed himself for publicity…

***

[Title: Review of Documentary Part 1, ‘We Are Now’]

The first part was nice because I could see where I donated from Sprout in a video.

They all looked professional and cared for the animals well.

It made me feel that they were using the donations properly.

They all loved and wanted to protect the animals, so I personally sent some money too.

The second part was that I became attached to Loki and Uri, so I think I’ll think of them once in a while when I see the sea.

Uri is not big but cute as a baby and Loki is a troublemaker so cute lol I didn’t expect to get attached while watching the documentary lol

Anyway, I thought I should protect the environment for Uri and Loki too.

The third part, with my biased review lol

Seo-jun was so cute and cool! He did everything by himself…

Wasn’t he so cool from his first appearance?

He ran to save them first and disappeared without a trace. Is he a real hero? lol

He looked like a guardian of us when he filmed the documentary and he was cute when he fed the other animals and smiled.

And I was moved by his wistful expression when he parted with Uri and Loki lol (I cried a lot)

I liked those moments.

I learned a lot about the person ‘Seo-jun’ who didn’t play a role.

Seo-jun is so good at acting that he disappears when he appears in a work, right?

Of course, it’s because he’s good at acting.

I like that Seo-jun’s acting too.

But I also like ‘Seo-jun’, so I was happy to see him for a long time.

Conclusion) It was a good documentary that gave me lessons and filled my fan heart!

-I totally agree…

-I wish they would upload the replay soon…

-Seo-jun’s English pronunciation is good too… but I want to hear his Korean narration.

-I wish they would upload the full version video too…

-!! ABS YouTube channel uploaded the behind-the-scenes video! (link)

***

A week later.

Along with the start of the second semester at Mirinae High School, the documentary ‘In The Sea’ was broadcasted.

[SBC, Documentary Part 2 ‘In The Sea’ Ratings 11%!]

Part 2 ‘In The Sea’ had no appearance of Seo-jun and had a serious tone, so the ratings were much lower than Part 1, but it was still much better than the average documentary.

School started and Seo-jun returned to his normal life.

As usual, Ahn Da Ho brought a box full of synopses and scripts to Seo-jun’s house and said with a smile.

“Still, SBC is happy because it’s better than most dramas. Oh, SBC asked me if you would be interested in doing the Korean narration, what do you think?”

“I’m fine with it. It would be better for the kids to hear it in Korean.”

It would be better for Subin, who started elementary school this year, and Eun-su, who was six years old, to hear the Korean narration.

Ahn Da Ho nodded at Seo-jun’s willing acceptance.

“Then I’ll set up the schedule.”

“Okay. Oh, Da Ho hyung. I’ll let you know the date of my health checkup.”

Ahn Da Ho took out his phone at Seo-jun’s words.

“Right. I should avoid the day of the health checkup.”

“Yes. It’s in two weeks. On the 16th, at 3 p.m.”

Ahn Da Ho, who registered Seo-jun’s health checkup schedule on the app he used to manage it, asked Seo-jun.

“Is it the same as the one you did in middle school?”

“It’s similar, but the school has some additional tests.”

“Additional?”

Seo-jun smiled and answered Ahn Da Ho, who tilted his head.

“They also do psychological tests. I guess they’re concerned about the stress of college entrance exams. Especially for their school students, who have been following one major path since they were young. They said they might feel anxious about whether they’re doing the right thing or not.”

“I see. They must have a lot of thoughts.”

They had spent a semester at Mirinae High School, where the most talented and skilled children in Korea gathered.

They must have noticed the difference between their own and others’ abilities while taking classes together.

‘Unless they’re like Seo-jun, who’s out of the norm…’

They would feel stressed and insecure if someone who was similar to them suddenly improved a lot and left them behind.

‘It’s better to consult early.’

He knew how many trainees were frustrated in the entertainment industry.

Ahn Da Ho nodded his head seriously.

“And they also check for symptoms of depression or panic disorder.”

It seemed that they also conducted psychological tests for art students who were prone to slump and might perform in front of many people.

“That’s a good school. Is the hospital designated?”

“Yes. It’s connected to Mirinae High School. They do it in order of student numbers.”

“Got it. Then I’ll avoid that day when I schedule.”

“Okay.”

“Then read this first.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and quickly took out a synopsis. He felt relieved from stress as soon as he saw the script.

***

“Seo-jun, what are you looking at?”

Before the class started.

Jinho asked Seo-jun, who was looking at his phone.

“News. There’s an interesting article.”

“What is it? Is it related to movies?”

Joo-kyung, who was sitting in front of him, turned around and sat down.

In their friends’ minds, there was a formula of ‘Seo-jun=acting’.

Seo-jun read the article title with a small smile.

[The air quality has gone back to the past! We have to cherish and protect it!]

[The mysterious weather situation! But it’s a good thing!]

People who felt the change in the weather increased and the scholars who were studying the sudden change started to voice their opinions.

Jinho and Joo-kyung nodded their heads at the article content that Seo-jun read.

“That’s right. At the beginning of summer, there was a lot of talk about record-breaking heat waves, but I haven’t heard anything since then.”

“Yeah. I was worried because I had a filming during summer vacation, but it wasn’t as hot as I thought.”

“Oh. Filming? What did you film?”

Joo-kyung shrugged her shoulders and answered Jinho’s question.

“It’s nothing big, just an independent film. My role wasn’t that big either.”

“An independent film… It must have been hard.”

“It was different from Escape for sure. There were fewer staff and the director helped with carrying things. The filming was fast too, it ended in three weeks.”

Oh.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at Joo-kyung’s words.

He had never filmed an independent film before.

Jinho and Joo-kyung laughed at Seo-jun’s expression.

“You want to film an independent film?”

“Yeah. I’m curious how it would be like.”

He was interested in filming something he had never experienced before.

‘I should ask Da Ho hyung to send me scripts mainly for independent films.’

But Seo-jun’s plan to film an independent film was postponed indefinitely.

He liked a work that came from America too much.

***

USA, a meeting room of a movie production and distribution company ‘Bearound’.

Two men were waiting for someone.

The man in a suit, the team leader of Bearound’s movie planning team, flipped through the script and opened his mouth.

“The most important thing in commercial movies is box office success.”

“…Yes. That’s right.”

The man in a tight suit who seemed uncomfortable fiddled with his shirt collar.

He nodded his head quickly.

“Your script is good. If it meets good actors and a good production company, it will surely be a hit.”

The director Jeffrey Rodex nodded his head again at the planning team leader’s words.

He sighed lightly at his weak appearance.

‘…Should I change the actor now?’

But he didn’t want to give up on the actor who responded to him.

He didn’t know when he would meet such a great actor again. But he couldn’t ignore the stories he had heard about the actor from here and there, so Jeffrey Rodex shook his legs nervously.

The planning team leader sighed at the sight of the director who had to lead the filming.

Then, there was a knock on the door.

“Yes. Come in.”

The door of the meeting room that was tightly closed opened.

He thought it was an employee of Bearound, but it wasn’t.

The appearance of the man they were waiting for made the planning team leader and Jeffrey Rodex stand up from their seats.

The planning team leader reached out his hand to the man.

“Nice to meet you, Garrett.”

The man who shook hands with the planning team leader was everyone’s eternal hero, Davis Garrett of Redbone.

Chapter 316

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Chapter 316

“Nice to meet you, Garrett.”

The planning team leader of Bearound shook hands with Davis Garrett.

Then, Davis Garrett, who seemed a bit nervous, greeted Jeffrey, the director, and sat down across from the two with a smile.

The three of them exchanged some small talk and then got into the main topic.

The planning team leader handed a script to Davis Garrett.

Davis tilted his head.

“I’ve read the script you sent me, but… is there anything changed?”

“Yes, there are some changes.”

Davis nodded at the director’s words and quickly skimmed the script.

It seemed that they had marked it in advance, as there were lines drawn with yellow highlighters here and there.

Most of them were the lines of the role that Davis himself had taken.

It was not a coincidence.

Davis smiled and said.

“I guess you’ve heard about me. Well, I suppose Bearound would have told you too.”

Jeffrey Rodex, the director, nodded his head with a slightly tense face.

The planning team leader said to Davis.

“Then please read it slowly.”

“Okay. Please wait a moment.”

Davis Garrett went back to the first page and started reading the script, focusing on the changed parts.

The sound of flipping pages filled the conference room.

The tension that settled in the conference room made Jeffrey shake his hands and the planning team leader moisten his throat with coffee.

Davis Garrett was one of the most difficult actors to work with.

If Evan Block, the lead actor of Shadowman, analyzed the script and grasped the director’s intention and studied thoroughly to deliver the lines without any error and act in accordance with the script, Davis Garrett, the lead actor of Redbone, delved deeper into the character than the director and studied thoroughly to…

“…rewrite the script.”

The planning team leader sighed inwardly as he saw Davis reading the script with a faint smile on his face.

It seemed like a good sign, but he couldn’t relax.

Evan Block was so meticulous in his actions that he was nicknamed an analyst, while Davis Garrett showed method acting that completely became the character.

If Evan Block planned every detail of his movements and acted accordingly, Davis Garrett found a similar side within himself and understood the character based on that personality.

For example, the way he felt about his family and strangers would be different.

If he played a kind and diligent character, he would treat other characters as if they were his family, and if he played a cold and wary character, he would treat them as if they were strangers.

It was easier to get out of the character because he exaggerated his own personality rather than immersing himself deeply.

The coffee that the planning team leader was drinking slowly decreased.

Davis Garrett often said different lines than what was in the script when he was shooting.

He thought that if he was that character, he would say something different than what was written in the script.

“But that’s the right answer, so the directors can’t do anything about it.”

Redbone 1, which made a box office history for Marina Studio, was the result of that.

“He rewrote everything in the script, right?”

He heard that it would be faster to find the lines that survived from the original script.

As a planning team leader of a production company, it was not a pleasant story.

He wondered if the changed lines fit the plot, if the plot changed due to ad-libs and affected the planned schedule and prepared shooting locations, and how much more money would be needed for the extended shooting period.

The planning team leader tried to sigh without realizing it as he recalled the pile of problems that occurred in succession.

“It would be nice if Garrett liked the revised script…”

Redbone 2, which was delayed due to Davis Garrett’s accident.

He heard that only half of Redbone 2’s script was revised.

It was thanks to understanding Davis Garrett’s interpretation of the character after going through Redbone 1.

“That’s also an advantage of a series.”

He could develop the story without any additional explanation based on the character’s personality set in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

But this movie was a single piece.

The planning team leader looked at his side.

Jeffrey, who had revised his script hard after hearing that Davis Garrett was interested in it, looked almost pale now.

He remembered Jeffrey’s expression when he said he didn’t know if it was right after agonizing over Davis Garrett’s previous characters.

“I hope you can control him well.”

Davis Garrett’s improvisational acting made even the director who created that work nod at his superior interpretation of the character.

He said that he had no choice but to use the scenes where Davis Garrett acted as he pleased even if he felt bitter inside.

“But not everything is good.”

Who would want their hard work to be modified?

Maybe it would be easier to accept for movies like hero movies where there is a scenario ‘team’ with multiple people’s opinions, but for directors or writers who cherish every line and sentence, Davis Garrett was not a very welcome type of actor.

That’s why some people said that he ‘stole’ their work.

“I wonder how Jeffrey feels?”

Jeffrey, who was looking at the actor reading the script without breathing, looked like he would just nod and move on at the shooting site.

The planning team leader’s mind was complicated.

The biggest goal of Bearound was box office success.

The company’s situation was not very good, so they didn’t want to lose Davis Garrett, who had a strong ticket power.

But they also didn’t want to lose Jeffrey, who wrote a work that Davis Garrett liked.

“He won’t sell the script…”

That was the first and last time he saw Jeffrey’s strong side.

Whether the script was overturned by Davis Garrett’s thoughts or proceeded according to Jeffrey’s script, the planning team leader hoped that both the actor and the director would finish the shooting without any trouble.

“Nice.”

Davis Garrett closed the script and opened his mouth.

It was a good answer, but the planning team leader and Jeffrey didn’t let their guard down.

There was a rumor that Davis Garrett also said “nice” when he first saw the script of Redbone 1, which he had ‘rewritten’ entirely.

“Thank you.”

“Shall we look at the contract first?”

The planning team leader and Jeffrey nodded at Davis Garrett’s words.

A little while ago.

Davis Garrett, who had a big fight with a director who loved his script over script changes (it almost went to court), had been writing ‘ad-libs and script changes’ in his contracts ever since.

Davis Garrett, the planning team leader, and Jeffrey worked together to write the contract.

It was Bearound’s standardized contract with Davis Garrett’s and Jeffrey’s requests added.

Jeffrey’s request was normal.

He would make a body that suited the role by the shooting day.

Davis Garrett rubbed his chin and smiled at the detailed numbers.

“It’ll be hard.”

But it was a familiar clause for Hollywood actors who changed before and after payment.

Now this contract would be finalized after being checked and revised by Davis Garrett’s agency and Bearound.

The tense meeting finally came to an end.

The planning team leader relaxed his stiff neck muscles and Jeffrey, the director, leaned back on his chair.

Davis Garrett, who had been looking over the characters and the beginning of the script, spoke to Jeffrey, who seemed a bit more relaxed.

“Director, have you decided on the actor for this role?”

Jeffrey tensed up again and answered stiffly.

The planning team leader, who had been checking the contract again, looked up.

“No, not yet.”

“We’re planning to hold an audition for that role.”

Davis Garrett smiled and asked.

“Can I recommend an actor?”

“…Yes?”

“You’ll like him, director.”

Bearound’s planning team leader and Jeffrey blinked.

He thought of a child actor who he had always wanted to work with, who was young but had an acting skill that overwhelmed adult actors.

Davis Garrett grinned.

***

“An independent film…”

The actor’s request to shoot an independent film came to Lee Seo-jun’s dedicated team at Cocoa Entertainment.

They had to act on it as they were his dedicated team.

The second team moved right away.

They looked for events like screenings at film-related departments, announcements for independent film production, and paid attention to independent film festivals.

As the end of the year approached, independent film festivals were held in Seoul, Busan, Daejeon, and so on, and the number of people who made independent films increased.

That also increased the places that wanted actors.

“It’s not too bad since we used to look for plays only.”

They had to find not only good works but also satisfy the ‘genre’.

The staff members made a strange expression at that.

“But that wasn’t what we found, it was Seo-jun who found a book and adapted it for the stage.”

“It was an unimaginable idea.”

It was the first time they felt so sure about the saying that if you don’t have it, you make it.

“I wonder if he’ll do that again…”

They couldn’t say there was no possibility, so they all kept silent.

“Well, anyway, we have to do what we can. We can’t expand our scope to books or other genres of works.”

They all nodded in agreement.

“Then let’s look hard!”

“Yes!”

They tried to find a good independent film work that suited the actor. A few hours later, Ahn Da Ho contacted them.

***

“I brought everything without genre distinction today. I’ll bring independent film scripts from tomorrow.”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun sat down and took out a synopsis from the box that Ahn Da Ho brought.

Ahn Da Ho sat across from him and turned on his laptop.

The first synopsis was a drama.

Seo-jun read the plot and the character introduction.

He read the director’s and writer’s history written by the second team and recalled the dramas he had seen.

First, the writer.

The writer’s latest work was unfortunately a cliffhanger.

And it collapsed from the early stages.

Of course, there must have been some circumstances for the writer, but looking at this synopsis, the character setting seemed weak compared to the plot, so it didn’t seem like the writer was very skilled.

And the director.

The director’s previous dramas were not bad in terms of directing, but they didn’t seem to suit this work.

The main content was the conflict between characters, but the director’s directing so far failed to capture those subtle details.

‘Of course, he might have improved his skills in the meantime…’

But even Seo-jun couldn’t figure that out.

He put aside the first synopsis and took out the next one.

Meanwhile, Ahn Da Ho was looking for information about independent films on his laptop.

There was almost no information about the personality or shooting style or attitude toward actors of independent film directors, so it was much harder than finding out about commercial film directors.

‘I hope they don’t treat Seo-jun badly…’

No one knew what they would say behind his back.

There were not always good people around, so the second team had to support him more thoroughly.

Time passed by.

“Hmm…”

Seo-jun’s voice made Ahn Da Ho look up from his laptop screen.

He saw Seo-jun holding a script and looking back and forth between himself and the script with a wary look.

Ahn Da Ho blinked at Seo-jun’s unfamiliar appearance.

“What’s wrong, Seo-jun?”

“Um… Well… Da Ho hyung…”

It wasn’t like Seo-jun to say what he wanted or liked without hesitation.

He rolled his eyes awkwardly and smiled sheepishly.

“…I think we can postpone looking for an independent film.”

“Huh?”

He changed his mind just a day after asking for an independent film.

Seo-jun looked embarrassed too as he avoided Ahn Da Ho’s bewildered gaze and looked down at the script he was holding.

A script written in English.

He wouldn’t have seen it if he had been a day late, as it would have been buried under the independent film scripts.

And the production company was major, so the shooting would have proceeded even without Seo-jun, and he might have regretted it later when he saw the script.

‘Well, there might be more works that I couldn’t do…’

There might have been better works among the independent films that the second team would find, but

Life is all about timing.

Seo-jun already liked this script.

Seo-jun hugged the script that could have disappeared if he had been a day late and looked at Ahn Da Ho with a desperate look.

“I… I want to do this.”

Chapter 317

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Chapter 317

Anh Da Ho, who had been looking at Seo-jun for a moment, burst into laughter and said.

“If you want to do it, Seo-jun, you should do it. Then I’ll postpone the independent film. But what kind of work is it?”

Anh Da Ho had read all the scripts that he handed over to Seo-jun, so he was curious about which one of the three scripts in the box it was.

“This one.”

Seo-jun smiled and put the script he was holding on the table.

Anh Da Ho looked at the title on the cover of the script.

[Survivors]

He tried to recall the memories related to ‘Survivors’, such as the plot, the production company, the director, etc., from the sentences of the scripts he had read so far.

Anh Da Ho opened his mouth.

“Is the production company Bearound?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun looked down at the cover of the script.

There was a logo and name of Bearound with a roaring bear shape, and below that were the names of the cast actors who had been confirmed.

“Hmm. For other production companies besides Marina Studio, I asked Kings Agency to investigate and send them over. It seems more accurate and detailed to investigate locally than in Korea.”

Seo-jun nodded at Anh Da Ho’s words.

He didn’t know much about other production companies, unlike Marina Studio, which he had filmed several times.

Among the works that Seo-jun had filmed, only Over The Rainbow was a Hollywood movie other than the Shadowman series, but Over The Rainbow was a Wales Studio work, and Wales Studio was a subsidiary of Marina Studio.

‘I guess they’re not completely unrelated.’

Marina Studio might have influenced when filming Over The Rainbow.

“I asked Team 2 to ask Kings Agency for sure about what to consider…”

The interference of the production company, the personality of the director who will lead the filming, the attitude towards child actors, the filming environment and schedule.

And other evaluations.

When they first received a request for an investigation of the work, Kings Agency frowned at the long list of investigation items that arrived from Cocoa Entertainment Team 2, but now they were sending answers familiarly.

They had done some research once and were updating it a little bit, so it was a little easier now.

Anh Da Ho frowned slightly.

“They said they were worried about the lead actor…”

“The lead actor?”

Seo-jun blinked.

“Davis?”

[Davis Garrett]

He tilted his head as he looked down at the name of the cast actor who had been confirmed on the front of the script.

He had never filmed with him before, but Davis Garrett was a good person.

‘And he’s good at acting.’

He was rather excited to act with him, so Anh Da Ho’s words were only strange to Seo-jun.

“Hmm.”

Anh Da Ho uttered a sound of hesitation for a moment and opened his mouth.

“They say that actor Davis often does improvisational acting.”

“Improvisational acting? Ad-lib?”

‘Isn’t ad-lib okay?’

Ad-lib could create an impressive scene if done well.

Seo-jun didn’t know much about movements, but he followed the script perfectly as far as dialogue was concerned.

“Ad-lib… I don’t know if I should call it that. It seems to be quite famous in Hollywood. Redbone 1 was completely rewritten and Redbone 2 was half modified. And because it’s improvisational acting, it’s hard for the opposite role. Your role will clash with his too, so I’m worried.”

“Wow… Then Davis acted in Redbone 1 with improvisational acting. That’s amazing…”

To Seo-jun, who followed the script exactly, Davis Garrett’s story seemed like another world.

No wonder he sparkled his eyes as he listened to the story.

Anh Da Ho smiled bitterly and opened his mouth.

It seemed that actors and managers had different perspectives.

“It might be faster to ask Evan Block or Rachel Hill. The evaluation of actors who filmed together and those who watched from outside may be different.”

Seo-jun quickly took out his phone.

“I’ll ask them now!”

<Evan! Rachel!

<How is it to act with Davis?

He waited for a reply from both actors, wondering if they were in LA or somewhere else.

Seo-jun looked at his phone from time to time while looking at Davis Garrett’s lines in [Survivors].

Soon after, his phone rang.

He sparkled his eyes at the message that arrived.

Evan: Davis? He’s hard.

Evan: He doesn’t suit me.

Seo-jun’s tail drooped as he saw Evan Block’s evaluation.

Anh Da Ho seemed to know what kind of message came by looking at him alone and said with a smile.

Rachel: I had fun!

Rachel: Maybe because I didn’t know where he would go, I focused more on the role?

Rachel: Oh, I don’t know where he’s going!

Rachel: Davis moves strictly according to the role. It’s easier if you figure that out.

Rachel Hill and Evan Block’s evaluations were different.

Evan: But it’s still hard to guess the dialogue, so it doesn’t suit my acting style.

Evan: And it’s because he’s Davis that he gets away with it. If his acting skills were a little lacking, it would have been a mess.

Rachel: But this side is like /Jangddang/ and feeling, so there are a lot of people who like Davis!

Evan: /Jangddang/? How did you learn such a word?

Rachel: /Hehe Korean dramas are fun./

Rachel: But why Davis all of a sudden?

<Maybe I’ll film with him. I’m curious about what kind of acting Davis does. And Da Ho hyung is worried too.

Rachel: Ahㅋㅋㅋ Is it about Redbone 1?

Evan: …That was because the script was too bad.

Rachel: You can tell how bad it was when Evan says that, right?

He was curious about the script before Davis rewrote it. Seo-jun, who values the script.

Evan: I think it’s okay to try it once.

He was happy with that message and looked at the name of the person who sent the message. It was not Rachel Hill but Evan Block.

<Evan didn’t you say you don’t suit Davis?

Evan: That’s because my acting style doesn’t suit him.

Evan: You don’t know what Davis will be like unless you try it.

Rachel: Yeah! I think Jun will have fun filming with Davis.

<Really?

Evan: Don’t you want to film?

Evan: Then you should do it.

Seo-jun lifted his head and looked at Anh Da Ho at Evan Block’s message.

Anh Da Ho raised both hands at the sight of the star-like sparkling eyes of the actor.

“Okay. I’ll contact Bearound right away.”

“Yes!”

While Seo-jun, who was excited, read [Survivors] again, Anh Da Ho immediately contacted Team 2 and stopped looking for independent films. The staff of Team 2, who heard that Seo-jun liked Hollywood movies, started organizing the materials on independent films that were piled up on the table.

***

“Hello.”

“Nice to meet you, Lee Seo-jun.”

The doctor in charge of the mental health center of the designated hospital of Mirinae High School greeted Seo-jun with a smile.

He was a doctor who had been in charge of many students since Mirinae High School was established and entrusted the mental health center of this hospital with the referral.

Thanks to the students who went into the entertainment industry and were active, it was a place where many other celebrities also used.

“Today we will only do the test and the analysis results will come out next week. There are a few tests that you can do by yourself in the next room. You can do it comfortably and honestly. Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone other than your guardian about the test results.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Seo-jun, who had talked with the doctor, started the test as the doctor told him.

It was not a intelligence test, but a test of his current psychology, so there was nothing too difficult.

Just.

“…You draw well too.”

In the test where he drew pictures of a house, a tree, a family, a person, etc. to check his current psychological state, he drew pictures that could be hung on the wall.

“I take art classes at school.”

Seo-jun smiled at the doctor’s admiration.

The doctor nodded his head, organized the paper, and started the next test.

“I’ll show you a picture. Tell me the animal that comes to your mind as soon as you see it.”

“Yes.”

When the doctor flipped the card, a picture of black paint splattered appeared.

Seo-jun answered ‘butterfly’ at the picture that looked like a burning butterfly.

The doctor nodded his head and wrote something on the paper and flipped other pictures.

Seo-jun answered with things or emotions or animals that came to his mind first.

“Now you can do it by yourself in the next room. It’s a quiet place, so feel free to answer honestly.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Seo-jun took the test papers from the doctor and headed to the next room.

The small room was quiet but cozy, making people feel relaxed.

Seo-jun sat down at the prepared desk and opened the first test paper.

It was to fill in sentences with blanks.

I am happy when I ____.

Seo-jun picked up a pencil and wrote ‘act’.

He filled in 30 sentences at a speed that was neither slow nor fast.

“Done!”

When he finished the first test, Seo-jun opened the next test paper.

About thirty minutes passed like that.

He finished all the tests with multiple choice answers and stretched his body around and went outside.

“Doctor. I’m done.”

“Really?”

The doctor who received the test papers from Seo-jun smiled and said.

“The results will come out next week. Please come again.”

“Yes! Thank you.”

When Seo-jun went outside, Han Jinho, who had finished earlier, got up from his seat.

He had gone into another counseling room at about the same time as Jinho, but Jinho came out first and Seo-jun opened his eyes wide.

“When did you finish?”

“They said not to worry, so I just said what came to my mind and it ended quickly.”

“Did you really say what came to your mind?”

“Yeah. Didn’t you?”

At Jinho’s question, Seo-jun smiled with a subtle expression.

To be honest, when he asked what animal it looked like when he saw a picture that looked like a burning butterfly, he thought of ‘Osmos’, an animal from his previous life that looked exactly like the picture, and when he asked what animal came to mind from a picture that looked like mud scattered around, he thought of how song slime exploded with a loud noise when angry and became like scattered mud.

Seo-jun tried to erase those thoughts and answered with what came to his mind next according to ‘reality’.

“I did it honestly too. But I don’t know how it will turn out.”

At Seo-jun’s worried words, Han Jinho shrugged his shoulders and said.

“It’s over now and there’s nothing we can do about it. Do you want to eat something in front of you?”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

Seo-jun sent a message to Anh Da Ho and his parents that he had finished his health checkup and nodded at Jinho’s words.

***

The doctor analyzed the test papers of the Mirinae High School students who came today.

He wrote down one by one information to tell them at next week’s consultation while recalling their appearance seen by computer-generated results and his own eyes.

And it was [Lee Seo-jun]'s turn.

There was nothing to worry about.

His personality was bright and he was working hard on his own path, so he was less worried than other kids.

His relationship with his family and friends was good, and his happy current appearance was reflected as it was.

There was one thing that stood out among them.

His mind for acting is very strong.

“This is similar to the kids in the acting department…”

He felt that Lee Seo-jun, the actor, sincerely liked what he was doing now, that is, ‘acting’, from various tests.

“…It’s different.”

Even compared to the Mirinae High School students he had been in charge of so far, it was very intense.

Usually, when the name becomes known and famous, the satisfaction level increases and the desperation disappears.

He was an actor who made his name known to the world and even received an Academy Award, but he wanted to try an audition once, a minor role once, compared to other people who wanted to do more and better acting.

Seo-jun’s obsession with acting was evident in every result.

“…Did a ghost who died because he couldn’t act stick to him?”

It felt like he had looked into the source of Lee Seo-jun, the actor who made his whole body tingle with his acting.

Chapter 318

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Chapter 318

Seo-jun Lee, who belonged to Kings Agency, expressed his willingness to star in a movie.

The planning team leader, who had contacted Kings Agency and set up a meeting date, said.

“Seo-jun Lee’s side also accepted it quite readily.”

Some actors had refused to modify the existing script due to Davis Garrett’s appearance, but Seo-jun Lee sent a positive answer shortly after receiving the script.

“Is it possible because he doesn’t know anything?”

He might have made an easy decision if he didn’t know Davis Garrett’s acting style.

The planning team leader scratched his chin and recalled whether he had informed Kings Agency that the script could be modified when he sent it.

“Maybe he heard from Evan Block or Rachel Hill? They both starred in Assemble 4 with Davis, so they would know his style.”

The staff’s words made the planning team leader nod.

“That could be possible. I hope it was a good story…”

The casting was uncertain until the contract was signed.

He hoped to set up the meeting date as soon as possible and that there would be no change of mind until then.

‘Well, there are times when it collapses even after writing the contract.’

He hoped that such a thing would not happen and checked the casting status.

The actor who had signed the contract and confirmed the casting, Davis Garrett.

The actor who had expressed his willingness to star, but had not yet written the contract, Seo-jun Lee.

The planning team leader smiled pleasantly at the names of the eternal hero of Marina Studio and the most beloved villain of Marina Studio.

“They must be quite upset in Marina Studio.”

***

Seo-jun, wearing a black hat, moved to a private room following the staff’s guidance.

It was his regular meat restaurant, so the staff seemed to treat Seo-jun as ordinary as other customers. But he couldn’t completely hide his excited steps.

“Hi, Seo-jun!”

“Are you here?”

As Seo-jun entered the room, familiar people greeted him.

Lee Ji-seok, who was filming a movie these days, Park Do-hoon, Kim Jong-ho, who were on a break, and Lee Da-jin, who was starring in a drama.

“Hello!”

“Come on, sit here.”

“You worked hard to save the whale.”

Seo-jun smiled and took a seat opposite Lee Ji-seok at Park Do-hoon’s words.

“You hit a home run too! I never thought I’d see such a scene live!”

“I bought a uniform too! I brought it today, so please sign it for me, Seo-jun!”

Seo-jun burst into laughter at Lee Da-jin’s words as he tried to take out a uniform from his bag.

“Shall we grill some meat first? They say pork ribs are delicious today.”

Lee Ji-seok picked up tongs and put pork ribs on the grill over charcoal. Sizzle. The well-seasoned pork ribs were grilled crispy on the hot charcoal.

“Are you not doing an end-of-year performance this year?”

At Lee Da-jin’s question, everyone’s eyes sparkled except Seo-jun.

They liked watching Seo-jun’s works on screen, but the theater where they could feel the actor’s breath and presence was more attractive.

They looked like they would immediately go to Mirinae High School as special lecturers if he said he would do an end-of-year performance.

Seo-jun laughed and said.

“I don’t think I can. I’m planning to shoot my next work.”

Unlike the planning team leader’s worry, he hadn’t even met or signed a contract yet, but Seo-jun was already full of thoughts of shooting.

He had been analyzing the script and creating the character he would play since two days after receiving and accepting the script.

He was more careful in character creation than usual because of Davis Garrett’s acting style.

“Next work?”

Park Do-hoon stopped his hand that was wrapping lettuce wraps.

“Was there any interesting script lately?”

If it was a work that Seo-jun liked, Park Do-hoon might have felt quite interested too, but there was no such work among the scripts that came into the company.

“I didn’t hear any rumors at all… If Seo-jun stars in it, it will be a big deal…”

Lee Ji-seok recalled while cutting well-cooked pork ribs with scissors. People were still buzzing about Seo-jun’s documentary. There was no sound of his next work at all.

“Maybe he’s trying to keep it secret until the end like Escape?”

“Yeah. The impact was great as much as he hid it at first.”

Kim Jong-ho agreed with Lee Da-jin’s words as he drank cola.

Everyone stopped eating and focused on Seo-jun.

They knew best how good Seo-jun’s eyes were for scripts.

Seo-jun wrapped a lettuce wrap and ate it vigorously.

He felt that they were all passionate about acting as well.

“Seo-jun, just tell us a little bit.”

“Do you have a script? Can I read it?”

“Who is the director? What is the genre?”

“Who are you acting with?”

Seo-jun smiled and answered the questions from the actors.

“I’m acting with Davis Garrett.”

“…Huh?”

The four actors blinked their eyes at the sudden appearance of a foreign actor.

And a few seconds later.

Lee Da-jin and Park Do-hoon opened their eyes wide.

Lee Ji-seok and Kim Jong-ho also sighed with their mouths open.

“Don’t tell me your next work is… a Hollywood movie?!”

Lee Da-jin, who almost shouted without knowing, covered his mouth with both hands.

It was a closed room, but he thought someone might hear it.

“Yes.”

Another exclamation came out at Seo-jun’s answer.

“Hey, Seo-jun. If it’s Davis Garrett, it’s Redbone, right? Then are you shooting a hero movie?”

“Davis Garrett’s contract ended with Assemble 4, so he won’t be in it anymore.”

Kim Jong-ho answered Lee Ji-seok’s question.

“Didn’t Seo-jun’s contract end with Shadowman 3 too?”

“Well, he can make a new contract if he wants.”

Park Do-hoon and Lee Da-jin also looked puzzled.

They all seemed more interested in Seo-jun’s next work than the meat that was cooking on the grill.

Seo-jun laughed and said.

“It’s not a hero movie, it’s a disaster movie. The title is Survivors.”

“The title alone gives off a disaster vibe.”

The three actors nodded at Kim Jong-ho’s words.

“Survivors… Is it like Escape?”

“It’s a Hollywood movie, so the scale might be bigger.”

“A meteor collision or something?”

Everyone laughed at Lee Da-jin’s words.

“That’s too much.”

Lee Ji-seok moved the cooked meat to the side of the grill with tongs, laughing. Fortunately, it wasn’t burnt.

“But it’s not 0 percent.”

Lee Da-jin nodded repeatedly at Kim Jong-ho’s words.

“There are quite a few Hollywood movies set in space, so you never know. What do you think, Seo-jun? Am I right?”

Seo-jun shook his head vigorously with a smile at Lee Da-jin’s sparkling eyes.

“No.”

“Aw. No way.”

The meal, which had paused for a moment at the news of Seo-jun’s next work, resumed.

Seo-jun briefly explained his next work while munching on the cooked meat.

Park Do-hoon, who was listening with a nod, asked.

“Who is the director?”

“It’s his second commercial film. He has made a lot of independent films. The production company is Bearound.”

“It’s not Marina Studio.”

Everyone laughed without knowing at Park Do-hoon’s words.

It was because they thought it was a Marina Studio film without knowing, since Seo-jun had debuted and built his career with the Shadowman series, which was a Marina Studio film.

“They will need a lot of extras if the setting is a mall.”

Seo-jun nodded at Lee Ji-seok’s words.

“That’s why they are planning to hold auditions. They are going to find extras to appear in the background from around, but they are also looking for my character’s family. The roles of father and mother.”

“Then they will use Asian actors.”

“Yes. They have lines too.”

Kim Jong-ho’s eyes darkened at Seo-jun’s words.

Seo-jun and the three actors, who didn’t notice Kim Jong-ho’s appearance, chatted while eating.

The topic of the conversation moved from Seo-jun’s next work to Lee Ji-seok and Lee Da-jin, who were currently filming.

“Should I try it too?”

Everyone’s eyes were focused on one place at the sudden remark.

Kim Jong-ho, who seemed to be pondering something with a glass of soju in his hand, appeared.

“Huh? What are you going to do?”

Lee Ji-seok tilted his head at Kim Jong-ho’s short remark.

“Audition.”

“Audition… Ah, audition judge? Uncle. Are you joining the next work?”

Kim Jong-ho scratched his cheek and said at Park Do-hoon’s question.

“No. I mean Seo-jun’s next work audition.”

“Seo-jun’s next work is…”

It’s a Hollywood movie.

“And if it’s an audition…”

It’s for Seo-jun’s family…?

Seo-jun and the three actors looked at Kim Jong-ho with blank eyes.

“Well, they are looking for Asian actors, right? I don’t know if they are acting in Korean or English, but I can speak some English too. And it might suit me better to speak awkward English according to my age. If not, I can learn pronunciation from Seo-jun and just spit it out. I can do dialects perfectly if I learn them. And I think I fit the age for Seo-jun’s father role too.”

Kim Jong-ho’s words got longer as he saw the four people’s eyes.

Only then did Seo-jun and the three people realize that Kim Jong-ho was serious.

They opened their mouths wide.

That reaction made Kim Jong-ho smile awkwardly and say.

“Hmm. Going to Hollywood at this age… Is it foolish?”

Seo-jun shook his head quickly.

Foolish?

“No way!”

Not at all!

Rather, it looked really cool.

Kim Jong-ho wasn’t just anyone, but one of the top actors in Korea.

It was a difficult thing to challenge a new place called Hollywood like other rookie actors from the audition.

If Seo-jun’s appearance was revealed, people’s attention would be focused, and even if he kept it secret as much as possible, there was a possibility that Kim Jong-ho’s audition challenge would be revealed.

‘And…’

He didn’t want to think about it, but he could also fail the audition.

‘Then surely bad articles will come up.’

There was no way Kim Jong-ho didn’t think about what Seo-jun thought.

The way to Hollywood, which felt closer than before because of Seo-jun’s activities.

But it was still a rough road with a higher chance of failure than success.

Even now, actors who challenged every year came out and repeated failures.

And it was none other than Kim Jong-ho, an actor with great acting skills.

The impact of failure would not be so small.

It could also damage his image as an actor with great acting skills. But Kim Jong-ho said he wanted to challenge.

There was no actor in this place who didn’t know how great that was.

“Not at all.”

If it was something else related to Kim Jong-ho, Lee Ji-seok would have joked around with him, but he had no intention of ignoring Kim Jong-ho’s challenge.

“Seo-jun. Is there no role for me? No? How about uncle?”

Rather, Kim Jong-ho’s challenge seemed to raise Lee Ji-seok’s challenge desire.

It was a dreamlike thing to hang on movie theaters around the world with Korean works, but it was also a dream of actors to star in Hollywood movies and act with world-class actors.

“That’s awesome!”

“Really!”

Park Do-hoon and Lee Da-jin said with flushed faces. Kim Jong-ho, who was really challenging, looked really great compared to them, who were just thinking about it.

Kim Jong-ho coughed and said, avoiding the sincere eyes of Seo-jun and the three actors.

“Then I’ll try it.”

Seo-jun, Park Do-hoon, and Lee Da-jin smiled broadly at Kim Jong-ho’s shy look.

‘Our uncle is awesome!’

Lee Ji-seok chuckled and said.

“Jong-ho hyung. Don’t cry even if you pass the audition.”

“Hey!”

Everyone laughed at Lee Ji-seok’s affectionate joke.

Chapter 319

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 319

In a cozy counseling room, a doctor, Seo-jun, and Seo Eun-hye were sitting.

Today, Seo-jun came with his mother to hear the results of his psychological test.

“Your obsession with acting is stronger than your peers, but it has a positive impact on your growth and you are handling it well, so it’s fine.”

Seo Eun-hye, who was a bit nervous, asked.

“Isn’t it a problem if he has a strong desire for acting?”

“It depends on the child’s personality. For example, when the parents have the same expectations,”

The doctor’s words caught the attention of Seo Eun-hye and Seo-jun.

“Some children try to meet those expectations. The parents’ expectations motivate them to move. But some children feel burdened by the same amount of expectations. For them, the parents’ indifference might be more effective.”

The doctor smiled and said.

“Acting works positively for Seo-jun. He really enjoys acting and wants to do more. Because of that, he gets to do various activities and experience more of the world.”

Wow.

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye were amazed by the doctor’s words that sounded like a compliment.

“He also has a lot of ambition.”

“Haha.”

Seo-jun laughed as if he was hit by the doctor’s words.

“His stress level is low and he has almost no worries about his career. There are no other problems either, so I have nothing more to say. Seo-jun and his parents should continue as they have been. Keep doing what you love.”

The doctor’s words made Seo Eun-hye and Seo-jun smile brightly.

The doctor also smiled along with the two people who looked alike.

“Oh, Doctor.”

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you something if you have some time?”

The doctor blinked at Seo-jun’s words and checked his watch.

He nodded as he saw that there was still some time left before the next student’s appointment.

Seo-jun’s counseling session ended early.

“I have about 10 minutes left.”

“Thank you!”

Seo Eun-hye, who knew what Seo-jun was going to do, said goodbye to the doctor and left the counseling room.

She looked like she was going to tell Lee Min-jun, who was waiting for the test results, with her phone.

Seo-jun took out a notebook from his bag. It was a notebook where he wrote down the questions he had while analyzing the script.

‘Studying with books or documentaries alone had its limits.’

Because of what Evan Block and Rachel Hill said, Seo-jun was working harder than ever on character creation.

He might have created a past that even the director who came up with the work didn’t think of.

‘But these details are important.’

At a crossroads where he had to choose between a safe but long way or a risky but short way.

He needed the character’s upbringing to decide that.

If the character had a big accident in the past, he would choose the safe way.

If he had something urgent to do at his destination, he would choose the short way.

The character’s history, which was the cause of all his actions, was deep and wide even though it would only be shown in a short moment in the movie.

For a more lively character, Seo-jun worked hard today as well.

Seo-jun read the question at the top of his notebook.

“I’m curious about claustrophobia.”

“Claustrophobia?”

The doctor tilted his head and soon felt overwhelmed by the barrage of questions.

That’s how 10 minutes passed.

“Thank you!”

Seo-jun greeted the doctor with a bright smile and got up from his seat.

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

The doctor drank some water from his mug and exclaimed.

He felt like he sensed Seo-jun’s passion for acting in that short time.

Seo Eun-hye, who was waiting outside the counseling room, smiled at Seo-jun.

“Did you ask everything you wanted?”

“No. The time was too short. And I couldn’t show him my acting either. I wanted him to see how my panic state changes over time and give me some advice. The time was too short.”

The symptoms of panic state varied depending on the person, so even a psychiatrist needed a clear criterion that could be recognized.

Even if it looked plausible to an ordinary person, it might look terrible to an expert.

“Documentaries don’t show the changes of patients over time very clearly. Doctors who have met many patients would know the order of those changes better, so I really wanted to ask.”

That’s why Seo-jun had been waiting for today.

“Do you want me to ask Eun-chan to find another psychiatrist?”

“It’s okay!”

Seo-jun said with a bright expression despite not being able to ask everything to the doctor.

“The Doctor gave me his phone number. He said to ask if I have any more questions.”

The doctor, who saw Seo-jun’s passion, gave him his phone number without knowing it and told him to contact him if he had any more questions.

“Maybe I dug my own grave.”

But maybe he could get an autograph if he answered well?

The doctor, who had a bit of selfishness, coughed and prepared for the next counseling.

***

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho boarded the plane to LA.

They left school early on Friday, went to the US, spent the weekend there, and planned to return to Korea on Sunday evening.

“Monday is a rest day and we’ll go to school from Tuesday. Are you sure you’re not tired?”

Ahn Da Ho, who was sitting next to Seo-jun, asked.

It was because of Seo-jun’s opinion that they could have moved more comfortably.

“I’m fine. The health check-up said I was very healthy.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at his worried manager and said.

“I wonder what the secret of your health is.”

“Hahaha.”

Seo-jun laughed at Ahn Da Ho’s joke. Ahn Da Ho also followed him and opened his mouth.

“Bearound said they will have the first audition in two weeks. The first round is a video audition and the second round will be in the US. The announcement will be uploaded on the audition site today. I also told Kim Jong-ho’s agency.”

Ahn Da Ho lowered his voice when he said ‘Kim Jong-ho’. He didn’t know how the news would leak out even though there were no reporters around.

“Thank you, Da Ho hyung.”

“I hope you get it. It feels weird to see a Korean actor in Hollywood.”

“Me too. I’m nervous.”

***

After taking enough rest at the hotel, Seo-jun, Ahn Da Ho, and the staff from King’s Agency who joined them later headed to Bearound.

“Isn’t it different from Marina Studio, Da Ho hyung?”

“Yeah. This side seems a bit more calm.”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho looked around as they felt a different atmosphere from Marina Studio’s company, which they had visited several times.

If Marina Studio was decorated with colorful colors and had a strong personality, Bearound was decorated with calm colors and had a neat atmosphere.

“Nice to meet you!”

They waited for a while after telling the lobby and soon the planning team leader of Bearound, who was in charge of planning and producing [Survivors], greeted Seo-jun Lee and his manager warmly.

After exchanging greetings with the planning team leader, they followed him to the conference room.

As the planning team leader opened the door to the conference room, he saw a slightly small man sitting there, who quickly got up.

“This is Director Jeffrey Rodex, one of the survivors.”

“I’m Seo-jun Lee. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Jeffrey Rodex.”

Seo-jun and Director Rodex shook hands.

The director’s hand felt a bit cold, probably because he was nervous.

“Then, you two can talk comfortably here. Manager, this way…”

The planning team leader and Ahn Da Ho went to another conference room to write the contract, leaving only Seo-jun, Director Rodex, and an employee from Kings Agency, who had the protective rights of Seo-jun, in this conference room.

The employee from Kings Agency sat a little away from the actor and the director, not to disturb their conversation.

There was silence in the conference room.

Seo-jun looked at the snacks and scripts on the conference table and then at Director Rodex.

The director, who had a stiff expression and was rolling his eyes nervously, flinched when he met his gaze.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and relaxed his posture.

“I enjoyed reading the script. Director Rodex.”

Director Rodex seemed to feel more comfortable and exhaled.

“…Thank you. I also watched your works very well.”

“Please call me Jun. Director.”

“Okay. Jun.”

The atmosphere eased as Director Rodex loosened up and asked.

“Are you okay with acting with Davis Garrett? It must be hard.”

“I heard from Evan and Rachel. He’s not that bad.”

Director Rodex quietly observed Seo-jun Lee.

Did superstars have a different mindset?

Seo-jun Lee looked really happy.

His cheeks were full of vitality, his eyes sparkled, and he had a bright aura.

He looked at Seo-jun, who seemed to have no worries, and wondered.

“Jun.”

“Yes. Director.”

“Do you want to do a script reading? We have time.”

He had already seen Seo-jun Lee’s works, but he wanted to see the acting of this dazzling actor with his own eyes.

‘Of course, he might not have enough time to analyze the character since I sent him the script not long ago.’

He thought he might refuse.

But contrary to Director Rodex’s worries,

“Yes! Sure!”

The magic word of script reading made Seo-jun smile widely.

Director Rodex felt like he saw a halo around the superstar.

Seo-jun, who had a bright expression, opened the script on the table and said.

“Please tell me if there is anything to fix, director.”

“Okay. I will.”

And Director Rodex blinked his eyes only once.

In that short time, Seo-jun Lee’s face, which was full of life as if he had seen a halo, turned pale as if he hadn’t eaten a spoonful of soup.

Director Rodex’s heart pounded as he watched Seo-jun Lee’s acting unfold right in front of him.

***

A while later.

Ahn Da Ho and the planning team leader came back after finishing writing the contract in the next conference room.

Seo-jun smiled at Ahn Da Ho who entered the conference room.

“Da Ho hyung. Are you done?”

“Yeah. Just check it once at Kings Agency and sign it.”

Unlike the planning team leader who tilted his head at Director Rodex’s expression that looked like he had seen a ghost staring only at Seo-jun Lee, Ahn Da Ho quickly understood the situation when he saw Seo-jun holding the script and laughed.

***

On the way to the hotel.

Ahn Da Ho said to Seo-jun.

“I added a clause that there will be no unreasonable filming in the contract.”

“Evan and Rachel said that Davis is not that bad.”

“Still, it’s better to have a safety clause. It’s effective in America.”

‘Well. If Da Ho hyung feels better.’

Seo-jun nodded his head and Ahn Da Ho said.

“And they said they will release an article about your casting next week.”

“That’s fast.”

Seo-jun thought for a moment and lifted his head from reading the script.

“Then my article will come out first and then Uncle Jong-ho will audition?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

If an article came out that he and Davis Garrett were in it, there would be some people who would be interested in even a minor role audition.

Hopefully.

“I hope it doesn’t affect Uncle Jong-ho too much.”

***

And two days later.

While Seo-jun was taking math class at school, an article came out as Bearound had predicted.

[Actor Seo-jun Lee, once again to Hollywood!]

[This time not Marina but Bearound!]

[The actors who appear with Seo-jun Lee are Redbone, Davis Garrett!]

[Jin Natra and Davis Garrett?! An unimaginable combination!]

-Wow! His next work is Hollywood!!

=He pops up from an unexpected place, Hollywood!

=It seems like America is the main stage for the second half of this year.

-Bearound? It’s interesting that it’s not Marina.

-Ooh! Seo-jun Lee and Davis Garrett are in the same movie?

=Redbone has Jin Natra. This is a combination I’ve never seen in Assemble.

=LOL Marinas… Are they crying?

-Isn’t this the first time Seo-jun Lee and Davis Garrett act together?

=I think they had some friendship from various parties.

=They seem to get along well with Evan Block and Rachel Hill.

=I hope they get along well during filming too!

-But what’s the story?

=It seems like a disaster movie.

Chapter 320

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Chapter 320

“Oh? Seo-jun was here?”

“Hi, Eden. Eun-sung. Hello, hyungs.”

The trainees who were exhausted from dance practice came up to the first floor and found Seo-jun sitting in a corner of the lobby.

Their tired faces brightened up when they saw Seo-jun.

Seo-jun laughed at their expressions.

“Are you having a hard time?”

“Yeah. But I feel better knowing that we have a debut schedule for next year.”

Park Eden, a music major in his first year who had gotten a sports drink, said with a smile.

As Park Eden and another music major in his first year, Jung Eun-sung, sat down, the other trainees also surrounded Seo-jun.

The trainees who had been cherishing every second of their break time relaxed and lay down on the sofa.

Their faces looked comfortable.

‘This is a familiar scene.’

It was a continuation of the old days, when Brown Black used to play with Seo-jun at Cocoa Entertainment and kill time during practice.

White also used to make excuses to play with Seo-jun when he visited the company after his debut, when his practice was tough.

Red Crown had been using Seo-jun as a shield to catch their breath since they were trainees.

‘I wish Seo-jun would come every day!’

Seo-jun chuckled as he remembered what the Red Crown sisters had said.

It wasn’t like they played for an hour or two, just 10 or 20 minutes.

They knew that the practice they were doing now would become their blood and flesh, so they only used the ‘Lee Seo-jun’ card when they really needed to catch their breath.

The staff members who knew that also let them go often.

“Is your next work a Hollywood movie?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded at the question of his senior trainee.

An article about the casting of Bearound’s movie had come out.

It was only the beginning of the script, with only two actors cast, but the public seemed more curious about it.

“How’s the Marina Studio reaction?”

The other trainees perked up their ears at Jung Eun-sung’s question.

They were more curious about what was happening across the ocean.

Seo-jun looked at their eyes and said.

“From what I heard, they’re busy with finishing Assemble 4 and making new hero movies.”

As Seo-jun said, Marina Studio was busy finishing Assemble 4 perfectly and opening the curtain for a new season.

They seemed to have no time to care about anything else but box office.

Seo-jun’s words made Park Eden nod.

“Well, they did so well with season 1, everyone must be looking forward to season 2.”

“It’s going to be hard to satisfy them.”

“There aren’t many works that do better than season 1 when they make season 2 or 3. And if they change all the actors, it’s even worse.”

Everyone nodded at the senior trainee’s words.

“But why are you here at the company?”

“A guest came.”

“A guest?”

The trainees tilted their heads as Seo-jun looked toward the entrance.

The person he was waiting for appeared.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and got up from his seat.

“Welcome! Uncle Jong-ho.”

Kim Jong-ho’s appearance stirred up the Cocoa Entertainment lobby.

It was surprising enough to see Seo-jun, who occasionally visited the company, but it was natural for everyone’s eyes to be drawn to the actor they only saw on television.

The trainees who had been talking to Seo-jun were staring at Kim Jong-ho with trembling eyes.

They had seen Kim Jong-ho in dramas and movies since they were young, and he looked like he was on the other side of the television screen.

Seo-jun tapped on the sides of the trainees who were staring blankly and introduced them to Kim Jong-ho.

“These are my seniors who will debut next year.”

At Seo-jun’s words, the trainees who had taken a deep breath greeted Kim Jong-ho with tense faces.

“Hello!”

Kim Jong-ho smiled.

The trainer who had come to get the trainees who had been playing with Seo-jun as an excuse for taking a break was stunned when he saw Kim Jong-ho and Seo-jun.

***

After sending off the trainees, Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho went up to Seo-jun’s practice room.

“This is your practice room?”

“Yes!”

Kim Jong-ho looked around Seo-jun’s practice room.

One wall was entirely made of mirrors, and in one corner there were cameras mounted on tripods.

There were also rails installed on the ceiling, and cameras hung from them.

Kim Jong-ho was amazed by the sight of cameras everywhere.

‘When I was young, I practiced with just one camera and a script anywhere.’

“This can move like this.”

Seo-jun controlled the camera on the ceiling with a remote control.

Kim Jong-ho was amazed again by the camera that moved up and down, adjusting its height.

“It can shoot front and back, left and right. It can also move along the rail.”

“That’s amazing, isn’t it?”

Kim Jong-ho looked at the camera that moved along the rail for a while and then tilted his head.

“This camera… isn’t this the new camera that came to the broadcasting station?”

“Yes! PD Choi Min-sung said this camera was good, so I changed it.”

Kim Jong-ho nodded at the mention of PD Choi Min-sung, who was famous for his visual beauty.

And another camera caught Kim Jong-ho’s eye.

“And this is for movies?”

“That one was recommended by Director Ryan.”

As technology advanced, cameras also advanced.

Depending on the camera, depending on the lens used, the feeling of the actor on the screen was different.

‘Of course, the final editing will determine the atmosphere.’

That was up to the director, so Seo-jun couldn’t do anything about it.

So he decided to do his best to practice until the final editing, which was out of his hands.

“So I change it whenever a new camera comes out. I think I can act better if I know how I look on camera.”

Kim Jong-ho nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

He didn’t use the cameras he didn’t use anymore, but donated them to places that needed cameras.

Kim Jong-ho was impressed by Seo-jun’s words and saw a familiar camera in his sight.

“I’ve seen this camera a lot.”

At Kim Jong-ho’s question, Seo-jun smiled and answered.

“I don’t think I’ll always be shooting with a good camera. So I’m also practicing with the most popular camera.”

“…You’re very thorough.”

Kim Jong-ho sincerely admired Seo-jun’s smile.

***

There were many cameras for dramas and movies, but Kim Jong-ho chose one of the most popular cameras.

“They said they can only use the front camera for audition videos.”

“Really?”

Seo-jun installed the front camera with a regretful face at Kim Jong-ho’s words.

Kim Jong-ho could tell from his familiar movements that Seo-jun had practiced moving cameras more than once or twice.

Seo-jun finished installing the camera and asked Kim Jong-ho.

“Uncle. Did you print out the script? Or you can print it out here.”

Seo-jun pointed to the printer next to the resting place and said.

Kim Jong-ho shook his head and showed him a few sheets of paper in his hand.

He could see short writings in various colors of pens on the inside.

“Here. I brought it.”

“Ah, I see. Then you don’t need any water? I have juice too. Are you hungry? I have cookies and bread, do you want some?”

Kim Jong-ho laughed as he saw Seo-jun, who was about to turn his steps toward the refrigerator on one side, and then changed his mind to get cookies and bread.

He could feel Seo-jun’s restlessness very well.

“Why are you more nervous than me, Seo-jun?”

“Uh. I don’t know why I’m shaking like this.”

“Are you worried that I might fail?”

To be honest, yes.

Uncle Jong-ho’s acting was amazing, but he didn’t know how Hollywood would react.

‘It would be easier if it was Marina Studio, but oh well.’

He thought Director Jeffrey would be fine, but he wasn’t sure about Bearound.

Seo-jun hesitated and opened his mouth.

“…A little?”

The actor who had been acting for longer than Seo-jun’s age and had experienced various things smiled at Seo-jun’s appearance.

“Well, I’m not sure if I’ll pass either… But whatever audition it is, an actor just has to do his best for the role he’s given.”

It wouldn’t be easy, but he had to show an acting that would make the director or the production company think unconsciously, ‘We have to cast this actor’.

“Hoo.”

Kim Jong-ho let out a light breath.

A slight tension ran through his body.

It had been a long time since he felt this way.

He felt like he had gone back to the days when he was a fresh rookie who went around auditioning here and there.

“Let’s start then.”

“Yes.”

A red light came on the camera.

Actor Kim Jong-ho’s head turned toward the camera lens.

***

A few days after Kim Jong-ho submitted his first audition video.

The name of the actor who was newly cast in [Survivors] came out.

“…Milan Chellen?”

Park Sung-won thought that the name that came up in the article was somehow familiar.

“Where have I heard it before… Who is it?”

He thought hard and remembered a two-shot.

Seo-jun and a black actor shaking hands on the red carpet.

“…Ah!”

Everyone expected him to be nominated, but he didn’t make it in the end.

The black actor who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor with Seo-jun, Milan Chellen!

[‘Survivors’ Davis Garrett×Lee Seo-jun×Milan Chellen!]

[How did this combination happen?! I’m curious about the work that captivated the three actors!]

[The most anticipated movies, ‘Assemble4’, ‘Survivors’]

-Milan Chellen! I remember him!

=I watched the video of him telling his daughter that he was nominated againㅠㅠ

=22 I cry every time I watch itㅠㅠ

=I thought it would be nice to work with Seo-jun when I saw him at the awards ceremony, and they met like this!

-Bearound is crazy. How did they cast these three actors?

=22 They seem really determined.

-So when is this movie coming out?

=They haven’t even started filming yet;;;

-Amazing… Everyone is posting that they are looking forward to it even though only the title and three actors are knownㅋㅋ

=That’s because those three actors are no joke.

=At this point, I don’t think there will be any more surprises.

***

A few days later.

When the public’s attention was focused on [Survivors], which cast Davis Garrett, Lee Seo-jun, and Milan Chellen, actor Kim Jong-ho was on a plane to LA.

<I’m leaving now.

Lee Seo-jun: Uncle Jong-ho fighting!

Lee Seo-jun: There will be a staff member from Kings Agency at the airport!

Lee Seo-jun: He speaks Korean well!

<Thank you. Seo-jun.

Park Do-hoon: Uncle! Just show them what you usually do!

Lee Ji-seok: If you pass, Korean beefㅋㅋ

Lee Da-jin: Turn the audition place upside down!

Lee Da-jin: (Cheering bear emoticon)

Kim Jong-ho smiled at the pouring messages.

[The plane to LA will take off soon. Please fasten your seat belts…]

Kim Jong-ho fastened his seat belt and looked out the window.

Hollywood.

The young actors of today might have felt Hollywood close by thanks to the actor ‘Lee Seo-jun’ who was active in Hollywood.

Korean works were released simultaneously around the world and overseas fans increased through a streaming service called Plus+.

That made it even more so.

There were many actors who easily challenged Hollywood because of that.

But Kim Jong-ho’s generation was different.

At that time, Hollywood was an object of longing and actors wanted to appear in Hollywood movies at least once.

Kim Jong-ho also dreamed of such a dream when he was young, watching Hollywood movies that filled the screen.

“Let’s do well.”

He always felt nervous before an audition, like he did when he was a rookie, and he made a resolution to himself like that.

***

“Should I put up some holy water and pray?”

The four actors laughed at Lee Ji-seok’s words.

The four actors who saw Kim Jong-ho off headed to Park Do-hoon’s favorite dumpling hot pot restaurant for lunch. They had a separate room where they could comfortably chat.

“Well, Uncle Jong-ho wouldn’t fail, but… He might be unlucky and have a bad condition on the audition day, or some amazing actor might show up out of nowhere.”

Lee Ji-seok, who sent a light message saying ‘If you pass, Korean beefㅋㅋ’, shook his legs nervously.

Seo-jun, Park Do-hoon, and Lee Da-jin laughed again at his appearance.

“Don’t foreigners have a hard time distinguishing Asian faces? We do too.”

Park Do-hoon put a large meat dumpling on each of the plates in front of Seo-jun and the two actors and said.

“But we can tell Evan Block or Rachel Hill apart. Uncle Jong-ho will be like that too. This kimchi is freshly made every day, so it’s delicious.”

“Thank you. Do-hoon hyung.”

“Oppa. Should we order some kimchi dumplings too?”

“…Am I the only one who’s nervous?”

Lee Ji-seok said in a puzzled voice, looking at the relaxed three actors.

“It’s Uncle Jong-ho, not someone else. He’ll do well in Hollywood too.”

“And it doesn’t seem possible that Uncle Jong-ho would fail, does it?”

Park Do-hoon and Lee Da-jin said with a smile.

“It’ll be fine.”

When Seo-jun said that too, Lee Ji-seok’s trembling legs gradually subsided.

“Yeah. Uncle Jong-ho will do well.”

Chapter 321

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Chapter 321

A staff member of the casting team at Bearound noticed an Asian man entering the headquarters.

He looked nervous and walked awkwardly, so he didn’t seem to be a Bearound employee.

“Are you here for the audition?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Please follow me this way.”

The staff member led the man to the waiting room.

“You can wait in the waiting room and enter the audition room when it’s your turn. You can perform the same script that you used for the first round audition, and there may be some additional requests from the director and the casting director.”

The staff member said in English and handed the man a translated guide in Korean.

He repeated it in English and then in Korean.

The man nodded his head, indicating that he understood.

“Yes. I got it.”

The man sighed and relaxed his tense nerves.

The staff member knocked on the door of the waiting room twice and opened it for him.

The man stepped into the waiting room, wondering who his competitors would be.

He was confident in his acting, but he still had a stiff expression due to nervousness.

However, he had a confident look in his eyes as he entered the waiting room.

Bang!

He closed the door.

…Huh?

The man blinked his eyes a few times and looked at the staff member.

His skin color was different from Koreans, indicating that this was not Korea.

???

That made it even more strange.

The man looked at the Bearound staff member with a puzzled expression, then at the door.

The staff member was also surprised by the man who closed the door without entering.

His brain, which was creaking, finally started to think.

“Uh… inside…”

There’s someone who shouldn’t be here?

That’s what he wanted to say.

‘…No way. I must have seen it wrong.’

Maybe he felt pressured by the fact that he might work with Seo-jun Lee in this movie.

Yeah. That must be it.

He tried to forget the person he just saw and said to the staff member.

Why did you close the door without entering?

That’s what the staff member heard from the man’s words.

“Yes. There’s someone who came before you… I heard he’s an actor who works in Korea.”

Ahh.

He didn’t see it wrong.

The staff member’s decisive words made the man close his eyes.

In the waiting room, there was a chair prepared for him, and a middle-aged actor who was reading the same script as him.

A famous actor who could be recognized by just passing by.

“…Why is Kim Jong-ho here?”

That day, the casting team staff had to see the strange sight of actors who came for the audition closing the door reflexively after seeing the actor in the waiting room.

***

The casting director was flipping through the application forms for the audition when he scratched near his eyebrow at one of them.

[Jong-ho Kim]

“Kim is a famous actor in Korea, shouldn’t he have a separate waiting room? I think he would be recognized by Korean-Americans.”

Not only Korean-Americans, but also the casting director recognized Kim Jong-ho from his audition video.

He had watched Escape and My Royal Physician with interest.

He was also an actor who came to mind when there was a role for a Korean of similar age in his works.

‘I didn’t know he was interested in Hollywood.’

He thought it would be hard for him to work in a new place since he was older than young actors, but it seemed that he was wrong.

“We didn’t collect their phones, so the news will spread soon.”

The planning team leader shrugged his shoulders and said to the casting director’s concern.

“We told him beforehand that he would share the waiting room with others, but he said he was fine with it. Besides, they all seem to have half-decided already, right? If he doesn’t fail, there won’t be any problem even if the news spreads.”

“Well, that’s true.”

The casting director nodded his head.

Kim Jong-ho’s video had received overwhelming attention among many audition videos.

Today was a check to see if he could show that performance again, and if he could do it with a new script instead of an audition script.

‘Well, if he falls below expectations, his spot will go to another actor.’

But the probability of that happening was not very high, as both the planning team leader and the casting director knew, as well as the actors in the waiting room.

“And spreading news means an opportunity to promote.”

“Especially in Korea.”

With Seo-jun Lee and Jong-ho Kim’s appearance, Korea’s box office was almost guaranteed.

As the planning team leader and the casting director chuckled,

In between them, Jeffrey, who had been sitting quietly, recalled My Royal Physician that he watched yesterday.

A gentle father, Taejong, and a cute son Seongnyeong daegun.

‘They would look good together.’

There would be no better father and son.

“Then let’s start the audition.”

At the planning team leader’s words, the door of the audition room opened.

***

Ding.

Park Sung-won reached out for his phone at the alarm that had been ringing since dawn.

‘…It’s not an alarm.’

He used the busking version of ‘Over the Rainbow’ as his alarm sound, and Gray Vainy’s rough performance woke him up nicely.

It was probably a keyword alert that he set up in [Sprouts] because Seo-jun said he was filming a movie called [Survivors].

Usually, trivial stories were posted with search prevention words like ‘sur/viv/or/s’, ‘生survivors’, etc., so the alert didn’t ring unless it was really important.

The last time it rang was when Milan Chellen’s casting news came out.

“What news is it?”

As Park Sung-won was about to pick up his phone,

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

He quickly turned on his phone at the alert that vibrated like a ringing sound.

And he looked at the screen.

[Title: OMG. Survivors is crazy!]

[Title: In Survivors…!]

[Title: He went to the audition for Survivors?]

Dozens of posts were uploaded.

“The important details are all missing.”

He entered the [Sprouts] cafe and saw the notice that was at the top. It was a notice that copied an article.

“…Huh?”

[Notice: (Exclusive) Actor Kim Jong-ho! In the middle of an audition for ‘Survivors’!]

***

[(Exclusive) Actor Kim Jong-ho! In the middle of an audition for ‘Survivors’!]

At LA, where Bearound’s headquarters was located, auditions for the roles in [Survivors] were in progress. Today was the day when Seo-jun Lee’s parents’ roles were auditioned.

And there was an unexpected face there.

(Skipped)

Kim Jong-ho’s agency said, “It’s his first challenge in Hollywood. He’s participating in the audition from scratch in a completely new place. Please support him a lot.” >

As soon as the exclusive article came out at dawn, articles started to pop up.

[Davis Garrett×Lee Seo-jun×Milan Chellen, and… Kim Jong-ho?]

[Pass?! Fail?! Kim Jong-ho in a Hollywood audition!]

-Wow… I thought there would be nothing more surprising while waiting for Survivors;;;

=22 I got goosebumps as soon as I saw the exclusive article.

=33 I never thought I would see Kim Jong-ho in a Hollywood movie.

=444 But it’s a bit of a shame. It would have been fun if he appeared as a surprise like in Escape.

-But he hasn’t passed yet, right?

=Kim Jong-ho would pass for sure.

=You’re being too optimistic, aren’t you? There aren’t many actors who do well in Korea and then settle in Hollywood, right?

=ㅇㅇ Just because Lee Seo-jun is doing well doesn’t mean everyone else is.

=If he fails, there will be a lot of hate articles.

-But it’s amazing just to challenge.

=22 No one does well from the beginning.

-Kim Jong-ho! Please pass!

=Praying for pass!!

-In my opinion, he has a high chance of passing.

=22 It would be good to promote with Escape and My Royal Physician.

=333 Lee Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho would guarantee Korea’s box office, right?

-But Kim Jong-ho auditioning… If I were an actor, I would have left the audition room right away.

=I agree. I would have left without looking backㅎㅎ

=??? : …Why is the final boss here?

=??? : The mid-boss was too weak, so I came out!!

=??? : Excuse me? What about the game balance???

***

There were a lot of messages in the Banana Talk group chat since early morning.

Seo-jun, who had to go to school on weekdays, quickly washed up and grabbed his phone.

He still had some time left before breakfast.

Lee Ji-seok: It seems like the exclusive article was released by Jong-ho hyung’s agency, right?

Park Do-hoon: Right?

<It seems so.

Seo-jun nodded his head at Lee Ji-seok’s message.

It was important to set the mood from the beginning for an exclusive article that speed was life.

Besides, He had done his best, and.

“It was fun.”

At his words, Seo-jun and the three actors smiled as well.

That’s when it happened.

Someone pressed the doorbell.

“Hyung. Do you have someone coming?”

“No. I don’t.”

As they all looked puzzled, the door opened.

“Pass! He said you passed! Jong-ho hyung!”

Kim Jong-ho’s manager, who had followed him to America and took care of him, rushed in.

Kim Jong-ho blinked his eyes at his manager’s flushed face and shouted.

“What?”

“The audition! The Survivors audition!”

“…You mean the result is already out?”

Kim Jong-ho looked as puzzled as Seo-jun and the three actors who understood the manager’s words and smiled brightly.

“Uncle Jong-ho! Congratulations!”

“Hyung! Congrats!”

“I knew you would pass!”

“Party! Shall we have a celebration party?”

As Seo-jun and the three people became noisy, Kim Jong-ho slowly felt the reality.

His puzzled expression gradually turned into a surprised one.

Seo-jun and Park Do-hoon and Lee Da-jin chuckled at his changing expression.

Lee Ji-seok pondered seriously.

“Jong-ho hyung is also going to Hollywood, so maybe I should try too… Hyung are you crying?”

“…I’m not crying!”

Kim Jong-ho snapped at him as if he was stung.

Lee Ji-seok’s expression turned mischievous at that.

Kim Jong-ho seemed to have a premonition of what would happen next.

As always, the two actors bickered and Seo-jun and Park Do-hoon and Lee Da-jin laughed.

***

[Actor Kim Jong-ho! Passed the audition for ‘Survivors’!]

[Davis Garrett×Lee Seo-jun×Milan Chellen and Kim Jong-ho!!]

[Meet Korean actor Kim Jong-ho in a Hollywood movie!]

[Kim Jong-ho and Lee Seo-jun! Once again as father and son!]

[Actor Kim Jong-ho, “Thank you for your support.”]

-Wow!!!

=I’m so happy!!

-I’m used to Lee Seo-jun, but I never thought I would see Kim Jong-ho in a Hollywood movie!

-Isn’t Lee Seo-jun the senior now?

=22 He’s the senior in Hollywoodㅋㅋ

=Seo-jun ah, if you don’t know something, I’ll teach you a lotㅋㅋ

=Please take good care of our actor.

-But if Kim Jong-ho is the father role… Taejong? Is Taejong coming back?

=Daegun mamaㅠㅠ

=Survivors… The title alone makes me anxious…

=22 Really anxious…

Chapter 322

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Chapter 322

Bearound headquarters.

The actors who passed the first round of video audition were gathered in the waiting room.

There were experienced actors who had appeared in dramas or movies, and newcomers who had not been in any works yet.

The familiar faces of the actors made the nearby rookies widen their eyes.

But their eyes did not have the same surprise and awe that the actors who auditioned a few days ago felt when they saw ‘Kim Jong-ho’.

“I saw that kid on TV.”

“Mom, I want his autograph.”

The average age was 10.

Today was the audition for the child actors who would appear in [Survivors].

The waiting room was a bit more lively than usual, unlike the quiet times before.

There were child actors and their guardians who passed the first round, and some children who were bored and chatting with their peers.

Among them, some children were reading the audition script. It was obvious that there was a difference in attitude from the start, so the guardians could not help but sigh.

“We will start the audition now.”

A Bearound staff member entered the waiting room and said that, and then it became quiet.

The appearance of a stranger made the waiting room tense.

“When you enter the audition room, there will be a director and judges, and a camera will be installed in front of them. It is the same model as the one used for filming, and you just need to look at that camera and do the designated acting. The audition content will be recorded as it is.”

“Can the guardians go in with them?”

A staff member nodded at a guardian’s question.

“Yes. But you can’t talk.”

Some guardians who were worried about sending their children alone breathed a sigh of relief.

“Then, number one.”

The staff called out, and the oldest child among the child actors and their guardian headed to the audition room. The second round of audition officially began.

***

“Number five, come in.”

Andrew Walker, who was reading a script full of colorful notes, jumped up from his seat. He had read it so many times that the audition script he was holding was crumpled.

“It’s my turn. Dad.”

“Y-yeah.”

The calm expression of Andrew Walker, who had to show his acting, contrasted with his dad’s restless expression.

“I’ll be back!”

Andrew cheerfully headed out of the waiting room, and his surprised dad quickly followed him.

“No, Andy! You have to go with dad!”

His dad laughed helplessly at the sight of Andrew already standing in front of the audition room.

He was so brave.

When Andrew Walker and his dad arrived at the door, a staff member opened it for them.

Unlike Andrew Walker, who was calm, his dad swallowed nervously.

A huge camera that looked threatening was installed in the center, and behind it were judges sitting side by side.

The serious faces of the adults and the large lens of the camera were enough to scare not only children but also adults.

“The guardian can sit here.”

The staff pointed to a chair near the door, and his dad nodded and sat down.

“Don’t talk.”

Andrew’s dad didn’t know anything about acting.

He had nothing to say.

He just trusted his son and watched over him.

His dad closed his mouth tightly and looked at his son.

The planning team leader sitting on the judge’s seat looked at such a guardian and wrote something on [no.5. Andrew Walker]’s application form.

When filming with child actors, guardians were as important as child actors.

Because depending on the temperament of the guardian, the condition of the child actor could also change.

A guardian who interfered with everything could cause trouble for filming or complain about the director’s direction.

The child actor might not be able to show their full potential because of such a guardian’s pressure.

Number four was like that too.

Despite being told ‘not to talk’, number four’s guardian gave various instructions to the child actor who was scared by the huge camera.

The planning team leader shook his head at the sight of the child actor moving according to the guardian’s instructions.

But it wasn’t good either if they didn’t care about their child actor.

A child actor couldn’t check their schedule properly or adjust their condition by themselves.

‘It’s best to be moderate.’

A guardian who trusts and cares for their child.

If the level of child actors was similar, it would be decided by their guardians.

That was also why they called more candidates than usual this time.

‘I wonder if there is an actor who can show such great acting that any guardian would be fine.’

Like Seo-jun Lee, who captivated the world with one smiling scene.

‘I can’t believe it myself.’

The planning team leader chuckled and looked ahead.

A child actor who was not afraid of a huge camera looked at them with sparkling eyes.

“Please introduce yourself first.”

Andrew Walker straightened his shoulders and spoke confidently.

“Number five! I’m Andrew Walker! I’m nine years old!”

Andrew looked at the judges sitting down, then looked at the camera and continued.

“My favorite actor is Seo-jun Lee!”

***

Even after the midterm exam, the audition for [Survivors] continued.

Seo-jun, who smiled satisfactorily at the test papers with no wrong answers, asked Ahn Da Ho.

“Da Ho Hyung. When will the audition end?”

“It’s almost over. Today they’re going to see the second round of child actors. They might go to the third round too.”

“I see.”

[Survivors] had child actors.

And not just passing extras, but for a long time.

Seo-jun thought of the role that the child actor in the script would play and smiled brightly.

“It’s been a while since I worked with younger child actors.”

Kim Han-seok, who filmed with him in the fire department’s public video ‘One Step’, was a year younger than Seo-jun, but this time they were much younger.

“That’s right. I heard the average age is 10…”

“10 years old means…”

Seo-jun counted on his fingers and made a surprised expression.

“They were born when I was filming Shadowman 2?”

“That’s right. Aren’t they similar in age to Seo-jun’s siblings?”

“Subin is 8 and Eun-su is 6, so… yeah.”

He was going to act with child actors who were similar in age to Subin. It felt strange and interesting.

He had been with older actors until now, but from now on there would be more younger actors.

Seo-jun thought for a moment and decided to stop by the Library of Life.

It was a fake disaster situation made for filming, but he was worried that the child actors might be swept away by the atmosphere of the set and get scared.

‘Oh. Maybe not.’

He wondered what ability would be good for child actors.

Come to think of it, Hollywood might make fake props, but they might use CG to create the background.

Seo-jun blinked as he thought about it.

“What is Kim Jong-ho doing these days?”

“Uncle Jong-ho?”

“There are a lot of requests for casting from Team 2. I wonder if Kim Jong-ho’s agency is not like that.”

Seo-jun giggled at Ahn Da Ho’s question.

“They said it was crazy. The manager said it was the first time he unplugged the phone because it was so noisy.”

He understood how they felt.

The superstar’s manager nodded his head repeatedly.

As the news of Kim Jong-ho’s Hollywood audition success spread, companies and broadcasters were quick to move to get him.

They already knew that Lee Seo-jun had been receiving scripts from Hollywood and had many casting offers (still amazing, but) somewhat familiar, but Kim Jong-ho was the first actor to challenge and pass a Hollywood audition, so he attracted more attention.

Kim Jong-ho was a good enough actor to work only in Korea, but people admired his courage to challenge a new place where he had no fan base.

Lee Ji-seok: You must be getting a lot of ads too, right?

Park Do-hoon: Just from what I heard, there are three.

But Uncle Jong-ho decided to postpone everything until after filming.

Lee Ji-seok: Isn’t it too much?

He understood his joy of being in his first Hollywood movie, but the director would want natural acting that suited the movie, not exaggerated acting that required a lot of effort.

Kim Jong-ho: I know.

Kim Jong-ho: I’m just… studying.

He looked at the acting textbook he had read for the first time and watched his first work to refresh his basic acting skills. Kim Jong-ho acted as if he had become a real rookie actor.

“That’s amazing.”

Ahn Da Ho sincerely admired his determination to do better, the spirit of an actor.

“So I’m going to work harder too.”

Seo-jun picked up his phone and sent a message to someone.

<When are you available, Doctor?

The recipient of the message was the psychiatrist he met during the health checkup.

***

While the actors were working hard for filming, Bearound was also preparing for filming.

The director Jeffrey, who was reviewing the script while imagining the images of the cast, was handed a paper by the planning team leader.

“All this…?”

Jeffrey’s eyes widened.

There was an amount he had never imagined on the paper.

The planning team leader, who didn’t notice his pale face getting some color, said.

“Yes. The response is better than expected. We haven’t announced the cast yet, but we’re getting good offers from everywhere.”

The planning team leader mentioned streaming sites like Plus+.

The countries that wanted to release [Survivors] were also increasing.

“Of course, it will be uploaded on Plus+ much later.”

There was no need to upload it on streaming sites early.

Once in theaters, once on VOD. Then they would upload it on Plus+ at the right time.

‘Plus+ had the best conditions.’

Among several streaming sites, Plus+ was the most passionate.

Maybe it was true that Plus+ really liked Seo-jun Lee. Well, he would too if he made that much money.

He hoped that luck would come to Bearound as well and opened his mouth.

“Especially in Korea, the response is hot.”

Bearound had been monitoring Korea’s reaction since they cast Korean actors.

Most of the posts related to Bearound were full of anticipation and excitement. The SNS mentions were also impressive.

Of course, over time, other topics would push it away and cool down, but Seo-jun Lee and Jong-ho Kim’s popularity would make it rise again soon.

The articles hadn’t been out for long, but the response was so fiery that Bearound increased their production budget. It might even increase more than now.

‘Probably because they saved on publicity.’

But he couldn’t tell the director something that wasn’t decided yet.

“The movie market in Korea is big, so they increased the budget with high expectations.”

The director Jeffrey nodded with a grateful face at the planning team leader’s words.

He trembled at the unexpected amount.

At the same time, he thought of what he could do with this increased budget.

‘…Maybe.’

He looked down at the paper with a budget that seemed more than enough.

“I have to start building the set soon. Tell me what you have in mind and the art team will make it. There will be a meeting with the art team this week. Oh. You’re going to use CG for the set, right?”

“…No.”

“Okay. I underst… What?”

The planning team leader was about to nod his head expecting him to say ‘yes’, but stopped at his unexpected answer.

“Uh… You mean you’re not going to use CG?”

Jeffrey slowly lifted his head and looked at him. The planning team leader felt a chill down his spine as he met Jeffrey’s sparkling eyes.

“Can’t I make them all?”

“…What?”

Chapter 323

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Chapter 323

“Can I make them all?”

“…What?”

The planning team leader blinked and looked at director Jeffrey.

The director, who had bravely spoken up, shrank back.

“…Can’t I?”

The planning team leader wondered if the director’s chilling gaze just now was his imagination, as he looked at the usual timid Jeffrey.

He opened his mouth.

“No, you can. I just don’t know what you mean by ‘all’.”

[Survivors] was a disaster movie, and like any other disaster film, the places that were destroyed were not just one or two.

The life of a disaster movie was the spectacular destruction scenes, and [Survivors] was also planned to have such scenes.

“If you want to film a real building collapsing scene, it might be possible for one or two places.”

They could buy an unused building and remodel it to look similar to the real one, and then collapse it for real.

‘Of course, once the building collapses, it’s over, so they have to film it well in one shot.’

The planning team leader thought of a movie.

A movie where the villain blew up a building in a flashy way, and the explosion scene was not CG but a real explosion.

“There’s also a movie that blew up a real building… Should I look into it?”

The planning team leader’s head spun quickly.

He had to find an unused building and also find an expert who could collapse the building as planned.

He might also need the cooperation of the government agencies.

“No!”

Director Jeffrey, who had never spent so much production cost on the independent films he had made and his first commercial film, shouted with a fascinated face by the ‘Hollywood scale’.

“I want to make a set where the actors can act.”

“A set?”

“Something more realistic, like broken walls, protruding rebar, blinking emergency exits. I want to make it look like they’re really in that place by using the green chroma key as little as possible. From the first scene to the last scene.”

Not building demolition…

The director’s words were barely audible.

Ah.

The planning team leader scratched his chin.

It wasn’t his imagination that he looked disappointed.

He was hoping to create another publicity stunt with the building demolition.

He opened his mouth.

“That’s easy. You just have to tell the art team at the meeting. Of course, for the safety of the actors, the appearance will be realistic but light and soft enough not to hurt them, like styrofoam or special materials.”

“Yes. It’s okay as long as it looks good on the outside.”

At Jeffrey’s nod, the planning team leader imagined the set that would be recreated from the script in his head.

With the excellent art team on board, it would be more realistic than any other place.

“That would make the actors more immersed.”

If the actors who showed great acting skills in front of the green chroma key acted in such a set, they would create a bigger synergy and the image captured by the camera would also be more vivid.

The planning team leader smiled satisfactorily and director Jeffrey cautiously opened his mouth.

“…And I’d like to have some shaking machine devices on the floor of the set.”

“Oh. That would also be realistic and nice.”

At the planning team leader’s admiration, director Jeffrey brightened up a bit and talked about the set he had envisioned.

***

A rare holiday.

The doctor who visited an entertainment agency for the first time looked around the lobby with a slightly excited expression.

Cocoa Entertainment advertised itself as ‘Lee Seo-jun’s agency’ as if it was telling everyone in town, and filled up the right wall of the lobby with posters of works that actor Lee Seo-jun had starred in.

From Shadowman 1, Evil Spirit to Spring Has Returned’s memorable scenes.

When they were all gathered like this, they seemed to sparkle.

The doctor looked around Seo-jun’s posters once and then looked at the photos of idols hanging on the left wall.

Brown Black, White, and Red Crown.

Even a doctor who had no interest in idols had heard their names quite often.

When they were all gathered like this, they seemed like a really amazing company with only a few entertainers under their name.

As he was looking around the lobby for a while, Seo-jun and his manager appeared.

“Welcome. Doctor.”

“Hi. Seo-jun.”

The doctor exchanged greetings with Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho and followed them to Seo-jun’s practice room.

“This is my practice room.”

“It’s my first time going into an actor’s practice room. I’m nervous.”

“Haha. There’s nothing special about it.”

Contrary to Seo-jun’s words, as soon as the door opened, the doctor hesitated to step in.

The Hollywood star’s practice room was full of cameras.

He couldn’t see anything but cameras wherever he looked, and even though he had no aversion to cameras, he felt a little intimidated.

‘It would be hell for someone with camera phobia.’

Seo-jun led the doctor to his seat with a blank face and laughed as he took out a box.

“I didn’t know what to get you, so I bought you a cake from the bakery I like. It’s really delicious.”

He said that and smiled shyly as he took out a paper bag.

“This is the posters of the works I was in. I also signed them. There are also albums and signatures from Brown Black hyungs, White hyungs, and Red Crown unnies.”

At Seo-jun’s words, the doctor smiled brightly.

He seemed to remember that he had casually said that he enjoyed watching Seo-jun’s works.

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it. I’ll hang the posters in the best place.”

He felt a sense of responsibility as he received the cake and the signed posters.

And the doctor knew by now.

All the questions Seo-jun was asking were for his next work [Survivors].

His opinion would influence a Hollywood movie… It was something he had never imagined in his life.

“But I don’t know much about acting… Is that okay?”

“Yes. I just need you to check if there are any exaggerated parts, and how the symptoms worsen and overcome over time. I’m going to act like a real patient.”

Seo-jun said to the doctor, who nodded his head. It seemed doable to him.

Seo-jun moved to the center of the practice room, facing the doctor.

Anh Da Ho operated the camera. Several lenses were aimed at Seo-jun. He didn’t seem to mind the cameras at all, as if he was born to be an actor. It was impressive.

“Let’s start then.”

His words were like a switch that turned down the atmosphere of the practice room.

The ceiling lights were bright, but it felt like only Seo-jun was standing in the dark.

Seo-jun stood there.

He just stood there.

He couldn’t move an inch, as if he was trapped in a tight space.

Soon, his hand moved as if he was grasping at something in the air.

His breathing became faster, and his face was covered with cold sweat.

His eyes were unfocused and dizzy.

The doctor, who was sitting on a chair, almost jumped up without realizing it, but he held back.

He knew that everything he saw was what he and Seo-jun had discussed earlier.

And since the manager, who knew the actor’s condition best, was silently watching, it meant that everything was just an act.

‘But…’

What if it was real?

Seo-jun’s face was pale as he gasped for air.

‘Is that really acting?’

At that moment, Seo-jun collapsed as if his legs gave out.

He curled up on the floor, gathering his trembling limbs.

The tremor that started from his hands and feet spread throughout his body.

It didn’t look like he was controlling it.

And his ragged breathing filled the practice room. It sounded like he was about to faint.

The sound echoed in the practice room and pierced the doctor’s ears.

Finally, the doctor couldn’t take it anymore.

He got up from his chair and ran towards Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun!”

“Yes?”

As soon as his name was called, Seo-jun’s face changed completely.

He looked lively and energetic, as if nothing had happened.

“Uh… Was my tremor too much?”

The doctor was speechless at Seo-jun’s casual question.

He had heard that he was a genius actor, and he thought so too. But he realized that he didn’t fully understand what that meant.

The acting he saw from Seo-jun was on another level.

It was beyond imagination.

Anh Da Ho scratched his cheek at the doctor’s stunned face.

He thought that seeing it with his own eyes would be better than hearing a hundred explanations of how good he was at acting. But that ‘one time’ was too effective.

***

“…Perfect.”

“Really?”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at the doctor’s compliment.

The doctor looked a bit tired after an hour, but he couldn’t help but smile back at Seo-jun’s cheerful expression.

“I think so. I don’t know about other doctors, though.”

“That’s enough for me!”

Seo-jun thought that he could apply what he learned today to his acting, and if there was anything lacking or excessive, Jeffrey would tell him.

“Thank you for today, doctor. I’ll send you an invitation when the movie comes out.”

“Sure. Thank you. You worked hard today, Seo-jun.”

“Haha. It wasn’t hard at all. It was really fun.”

The doctor couldn’t help but recall Seo-jun’s test results when he saw him saying that with sincerity.

Such talent and such obsession… He could only admire him now.

“You did a great job today.”

Anh Da Ho thanked the doctor, who nodded politely.

“Seo-jun worked harder than me. I learned a lot today about how actors act. I think I can give better advice to patients who are actors in the future.”

He seemed satisfied with his own profession as well.

***

After the doctor left Cocoa Entertainment with a paper bag containing Seo-jun’s poster and a cake box, Anh Da Ho asked Seo-jun.

“Do you want me to take you home, Seo-jun?”

“No, I’m going to watch what we filmed for a bit and then go.”

He would watch it again at home anyway, but he wanted to see the first and last videos he filmed right now.

“Then I’ll be back in a bit. I got a call from Kings Agency.”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun and Anh Da Ho did their own things without any hesitation.

Anh Da Ho left and Seo-jun sat on a soft sofa.

He quickly immersed himself in his acting.

He reviewed his acting with a sharp eye, recalling the advice he got from the doctor.

A while later.

Anh Da Ho came back from the second team and called Seo-jun, who was so focused on the monitor that he looked like he was going to enter it.

“Kings Agency called and said that the filming will start on December 4th.”

Oh.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

“Then we have to go to America by the end of November?”

“Yeah. And we have to explain to the school and get attendance approval. It was an application for field experience, right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“I checked before and it seems that you can get more attendance credit for external activities than Yeoul Arts Middle School. You can film comfortably.”

Seo-jun smiled widely at Anh Da Ho’s words.

“And they also decided on the child actor.”

“Really? Who is it? How old is he?”

“His name is Andrew Walker and he’s nine years old.”

Seo-jun thought of the candidates he had expected for the child actor role. But there was no ‘Andrew Walker’ among them. He blinked his eyes a few times and then widened them.

“Wow. Is this his first appearance? If this is his first work, he must be good at acting…!”

“He might be. Or he might have been on a non-filmed theater stage.”

Seo-jun nodded his head at Anh Da Ho’s words.

That’s true. Seo-jun tried to watch as many works as possible, but he couldn’t see all the plays in Korea, let alone in America, where there was more land and people.

“I can’t wait to meet him.”

Andrew Walker.

Seo-jun repeated his name in his mind.

***

At the end of November.

Actors Lee Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho departed for America.

Chapter 324

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Chapter 324

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, Actor Kim Jong-ho Depart!]

[Actor Kim Jong-ho Takes His First Step in Hollywood!]

[Shooting for ‘Survivors’ Begins?]

-Just looking at the articles makes me nervous haha

=22 Good luck with the shooting!

=333 I wish more Korean actors would go to Hollywood!

-Now we have one more Hollywood actor who will ‘return’!

=Well, we’ll have to wait and see if he gets any other Hollywood movies.

=There’s always a jerk like this.

After a long flight, Seo-jun and Jong-ho, the two actors, and their managers got into the car of the Kings Agency staff who came to pick them up.

Anh Da Ho and Jong-ho’s manager Lee Sang-woo checked the articles on the Korean portal site and the contact from their agency.

“Uncle Jong-ho. Hyung received a message from Ji-seok.”

Jong-ho also turned on his phone after hearing Seo-jun’s words, who was checking his phone.

Lee Ji-seok: Have you arrived?

Park Do-hoon: It’s still crazy here haha

<We’ve arrived! I’m checking the articles now!

Lee Da-jin: Where are you staying? A hotel?

Jong-ho felt a bit of regret after seeing Da-jin’s message and asked Seo-jun.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t ask about the accommodation. Seo-jun, what hotel are you staying at? Is it close to the set?”

Jong-ho liked the hotel (recommended by Kings Agency) where he stayed during the audition and nodded his head, thinking that ‘Kings Agency would know best’, when Seo-jun suggested that they stay in the same place.

“Oh, it’s not a hotel. I rented a house.”

“…You rented a house?”

Jong-ho widened his eyes after hearing about the identity of the accommodation that he only learned after arriving in LA.

“Yes. It’s cheaper and more comfortable to rent a house than to stay in a hotel for a long time.”

Jong-ho was momentarily surprised by Seo-jun’s words and stroked his chin.

“A house would be comfortable, but wouldn’t it be small?”

“It’s a two-story house, so it should be fine. Do you want to see the pictures?”

Seo-jun showed Jong-ho the pictures of the accommodation he received from Kings Agency.

Jong-ho and Lee Sang-woo were amazed by the two-story mansion with a garden that looked like it came out of a movie.

“The security is also thorough and there’s a car. Uncle Sang-woo, you have an international driver’s license, right?”

“I got one last time for the audition.”

Lee Sang-woo smiled and said.

“I didn’t get to use it because the Kings Agency staff drove us around.”

“Then you can drive around and sightsee on days when there’s no shooting.”

“I was thinking the same thing. I saw the schedule that Kings Agency sent me and it seemed like we had plenty of time. That’s why I brought this book with me.”

Lee Sang-woo took out a travel book (California edition) that he had prepared with a smile.

There were fluorescent pens and stickers all over it, showing how much he was looking forward to it.

“They say Hollywood usually sticks to the schedule, right?”

Lee Sang-woo’s words made Anh Da Ho nod his head.

“Yes. Unless there’s a big problem with the weather, they usually follow the schedule strictly. They’re very meticulous about that kind of thing.”

“That’s good. In Korea… It’s less common these days, but back then they really shot according to the director’s whim.”

As Lee Sang-woo spoke with a shudder, Anh Da Ho became interested.

Maybe it was because Lee Sang-woo had been a manager longer than Anh Da Ho, but he naturally listened attentively.

“Uncle Jong-ho. If you want to eat Korean food, just let me know. I know all the good places in LA.”

Jong-ho nodded his head with a smile at Seo-jun’s words.

“The sundubu place we went to last time was good.”

“Right? That place is delicious.”

They arrived at their accommodation in no time as they chatted.

It was exactly the same as the big mansion they saw in the pictures.

Jong-ho and Lee Sang-woo were amazed while Seo-jun, Anh Da Ho, and the agency staff got off the car with their luggage as if nothing happened.

It was big, but smaller than Aunt Na-ra’s mansion.

The Kings Agency staff who had unloaded all their luggage from the car opened the door of the mansion and said.

“There’s a caretaker who lives here, so you don’t have to worry about security. You can use any room except the caretaker’s room on the first floor. There’s also a car in the garage, so feel free to use it.”

The staff moved the luggage inside the mansion with the four people and asked.

“Oh, what about dinner? There’s a Korean restaurant nearby, so if I get it now, you can eat it while it’s hot.”

Jong-ho stroked his chin for a moment and nodded his head at the staff’s words.

“I think I’ll sleep a lot if I sleep now, so why don’t we fill our stomachs and sleep?”

“That sounds good.”

Seo-jun and the two managers also agreed with Jong-ho’s opinion.

They each chose a room and settled their luggage.

In the meantime, the Kings Agency staff came back with a bunch of food.

The menu was diverse and tasty, and all four of them were satisfied with their meal.

***

After adjusting to the time difference and waiting for the crank-in day, Jong-ho was traveling around LA with his manager Lee Sang-woo.

They had been together for a long time, so they seemed to have similar tastes and wanted to go to similar places.

Seo-jun asked him to come along, but LA was a place he had visited often, so he shook his head.

Anh Da Ho approached Seo-jun, who was doing his homework in his room.

“A meeting with the lead actors?”

“Yeah. The director asked me if I wanted to meet with the actors. I guess he wants us to get along before shooting.”

Seo-jun nodded his head.

“Well, I only know Davis anyway.”

Milan Chellen had a brief conversation with him at the awards ceremony, and he had never met Vanessa Olsen and Andrew Walker, who appeared together.

“Then I’ll accept it.”

“Okay.”

Anh Da Ho left and Seo-jun looked at the math problem for a while.

He spun his pen and recalled old memories.

Come to think of it, he also met with Ryan, Evan, and Rachel before shooting Shadowman 2.

He hoped that this meeting would be a good one too and focused on the math problem again.

***

Today was the first meeting of the lead actors and director of ‘Survivors’.

The five actors and Jeffrey, the director, decided to have dinner and chat.

Davis Garrett, who left home leisurely, arrived at the restaurant earlier than the appointment time.

He said his name was ‘Bearound’ and the staff guided him inside.

There were already people in the private room.

Jeffrey, the director, Milan Chellen, and a kid, and a man who looked like the kid’s guardian were sitting there.

“You guys came early.”

“Welcome. Davis.”

“Davis. Long time no see.”

Jeffrey got up from his seat and greeted Davis Garrett. Milan Chellen also shook hands with Davis Garrett.

Davis Garrett and Milan Chellen had worked together on a movie before.

“Hello. I’m Andrew Walker!”

Davis Garrett and Milan Chellen laughed at Andrew Walker’s cheerful greeting.

They had read the disappointment on Andrew Walker’s face when Davis Garrett entered as the door opened.

It seemed that he was still a kid who couldn’t hide his feelings on his face. But seeing that disappointment disappear quickly, Davis Garrett liked him too.

“Hmm. A little hurt to my pride?”Redbone, the most popular hero, whispered to Milan Chellen, who was sitting next to him.

“He was like this when I came in too.”

“Yeah? I have a rough idea of who he’s waiting for.”

Davis Garrett and Milan Chellen looked at Andrew with a smirk.

Andrew Walker’s attention was focused on the door.

He was still as a statue, like a dog who heard ‘wait’.

His dad, who was sitting next to him, seemed used to his son’s behavior and chatted with Jeffrey, the director.

“You don’t need to prepare any clothes. We have costumes ready for you.”

“I see. What do we do if Andy gets sick?”

Andrew Walker only looked at the door and Davis Garrett and Milan Chellen made small talk.

Soon, there was a knock on the door.

Andrew Walker’s shoulders tensed up at the same time.

His chubby cheeks turned red and his eyes didn’t move.

He seemed to stop breathing.

The adults smiled and held their breath.

“Hello.”

The person who entered the door was a woman.

It wasn’t the actor he was waiting for, so Andrew’s shoulders drooped in disappointment.

Davis Garrett and Milan Chellen chuckled.

“I’m Vanessa Olsen. It’s really nice to meet you all.”

Vanessa Olsen greeted the actors she met for the first time through this movie shoot.

“I loved your movie. I look forward to working with you.”

“Thank you!”

She was nervous to shoot with a superstar and an Academy Award nominee.

Vanessa Olsen’s cheeks flushed slightly as she sat down, and Davis Garrett smiled and said.

“Now we just need Jun to come.”

As soon as he heard the name ‘Jun’, Andrew turned his head reflexively.

His dad laughed at his son who had become a successful fanboy.

They say a tiger comes when you talk about it, and there was another knock on the door.

Andrew Walker bounced on his seat at the appearance of the actor he had been waiting for.

“Hello!”

He gasped at the sight of Seo-jun Lee, who smiled brightly.

Andrew, who had been greeting everyone cheerfully, froze.

Even Jeffrey, the director, smiled softly and opened his mouth.

“Welcome. Jun.”

“Hello, director! Davis too. Long time no see. Chellen!”

Jun greeted Jeffrey, the director, and Davis Garrett, then shook hands with Milan Chellen, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time.

Milan Chellen also sincerely welcomed Jun’s hand.

“Nice to meet you. Olsen.”

“Call me Vanessa. Can I call you Jun?”

“Yes. Of course.”

After greeting Vanessa Olsen, whom he met for the first time, Seo-jun looked at the boy who stood stiffly next to his chair.

His face showed excitement and nervousness.

“Nice to meet you. Walker.”

Seo-jun bent one knee to meet Andrew’s eyes and reached out his right hand.

Andrew grabbed Seo-jun’s hand with his trembling hand.

His heart pounded as he saw the actor he had only seen on screen in front of him.

“Hi… Hi! Lee! I’m Andrew Walker! Call me Andy! That’s my nickname! My mom and dad call me that too! And, and…”

He couldn’t remember the greeting he had prepared for today.

What was Jun’s first work that he saw? Which movie did he like best among Jun’s movies?

Seo-jun was good at acting and playing violin, so he was learning violin too.

He had so many things he wanted to say, but none of them came to mind.

“And…”

He was usually cheerful and good at memorizing scripts or his favorite books, but this rarely happened to Andrew.

He panicked and started to pout his lips.

He looked like he was about to cry any moment, and the adults didn’t know whether to laugh or comfort him.

Seo-jun saw Andrew’s teary eyes and gently blew warm air into his heart.

He smiled softly and said.

“Hi, Andy. Do you have something you want to say to me?”

At Jun’s words, Andrew bit his lips and nodded his head, holding back his tears.

“Then think about it slowly and tell me. I’ll wait for you.”

The warm air calmed Andrew’s heart slowly.

The adults were surprised by Jun’s skill. He’s good with kids too.

Davis said and Milan Chellen and Vanessa Olsen agreed.

Andrew said the most important thing he had prepared.

“…Can I call you Jun?”

“Of course. Why not?”

Andrew smiled brightly with tears in his eyes at Seo-jun’s words.

His dad laughed at his son who had become a successful fanboy.

After greeting each other, they all sat down.

Thanks to the invisible hands of the adults, Seo-jun sat next to Andrew.

Everyone laughed at Andrew’s bright smile.

Chapter 325

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Chapter 325

A few moments later, the table was filled with the food they ordered.

Milan Chellen smiled slightly as he watched the waiter leave the private room with a bit of excitement.

“I bet the news that we’re here will spread like wildfire.”

“I know, right?”

The actors and the director exchanged various stories as they ate.

They admired how Andrew handled his fork and knife with grace (his dad was proud) and asked Seo-jun how the filming in Korea was.

Seo-jun answered with ease, as it was a question he got every time in both Korea and America.

Davis Garret took a sip of red wine and said.

“Evan and Rachel did a cameo, right? Let me know if you have a good script next time. I think it would be a good experience to film abroad.”

“Haha. Sure.”

The Korean directors would have been shocked to hear such a conversation.

They talked happily about their past or recent works, and time flew by.

“What do you want for dessert?”

At his dad’s question, Andrew hesitated between chocolate and ice cream. Seo-jun noticed and smiled.

“Andy, do you want to split half and half?”

“Can I?”

“Sure.”

Andrew smiled brightly and nodded vigorously.

Andrew’s dad smiled at the close relationship between his son and Seo-jun.

When the dessert came out and Seo-jun and Andrew split the chocolate and ice cream, Davis Garret opened his mouth.

“You all probably know this, but I’m going to do a lot of ad-libs when I film.”

Milan Chellen, who had worked with him before, just smiled, and Seo-jun and Vanessa looked at Davis Garret with a bit of nervousness.

Andrew didn’t know what it meant and blinked.

“The director gave me permission, so I hope you all can go along with me.”

Jeffrey Rodek nodded his head. He was curious.

What kind of improvisation Davis Garret was talking about.

“Um. Does that mean we can also say lines that are not in the script?”

At Seo-jun’s question, Davis Garret nodded his head without hesitation.

“Of course. I’m going to ad-lib, but if the other characters stick to the script, it won’t make sense. Of course, I’m not going to act recklessly. I’ll cover you if you’re having trouble.”

Davis Garret smiled meaningfully.

“Just try to act your ‘character’ as freely as you can. You’ll see what it’s like to not be bound by the script. It’s rare to have such an opportunity where the production company and the director both allow it.”

Freely.

Everyone in the room felt their hearts pounding.

***

Seo-jun had a good time and returned to his accommodation, where Kim Jong-ho and manager Kim Sang-woo had arrived.

“Did you have fun?”

At Kim Jong-ho’s question, Seo-jun smiled broadly and nodded his head.

“Yes. Did you enjoy sightseeing?”

“I think I walked around too much. Sang-woo already passed out. That’s why I told him to exercise more. He’s younger than me…”

Seo-jun chuckled at Kim Jong-ho’s shaking his head.

Kim Jong-ho had been traveling around LA during the day and practicing with the script of [Survivors] at night.

He had so few lines and scenes that he should already know them by heart, but he read them until the script was worn out.

“Take it easy.”

“I am taking it easy. I only look at it at night, what are you talking about.”

Kim Jong-ho flipped a page of the script and opened his mouth.

“When I first got a role with lines, I was really looking at it all day long. I still remember that line. It reminds me of those days. Back then, coming here was my dream…”

The middle-aged actor who was about to fulfill his dream closed his mouth for a moment and looked at the young actor who made it possible.

What kind of luck did he have to meet such a good actor?

He remembered the boy who was fidgeting next to him when he filmed My Royal Physician.

‘I’m glad I switched seats then.’

Kim Jong-ho smiled softly and opened his mouth.

“Seo-jun. I’m going to SEA SAVER Center tomorrow. Do you want to come with me?”

“Yes. Sure.”

Seo-jun readily agreed to Kim Jong-ho’s offer.

He was planning to go there anyway to infuse mana into the symbols he engraved on SEA SAVER Center and SEA SAVER.

‘I didn’t think I’d come here so soon.’

He hoped everyone was doing well.

***

It was December, and [Survivors] began filming.

But Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho didn’t start filming right away.

Since there were five main actors, they had to film their stories first.

First of all,

They filmed the story of ‘Raymond Wish’, played by Davis Garret.

“Wish family, we’re starting filming!”

At the assistant director’s shout, the director and the planning team leader swallowed their saliva.

They didn’t know when and where Davis Garret’s improvisation would pop up, as they had written in the contract and told him at the dinner a few days ago.

“Ready… Action!”

The director, Jeffrey Rodek, shouted action with a heart that seemed to thump.

And fortunately, although some of the lines were different, they were able to film the overall atmosphere similar to the script.

Next, they filmed the story of ‘Jackson Miller’, played by Milan Chellen.

“Miller family, we’re getting ready for filming!”

Milan Chellen and his family of actors appeared in the bustling shopping mall.

Unlike Davis Garret’s filming, which was tense, Milan Chellen’s part was exactly as the script, so the director and the planning team leader were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

“…Hm?”

“What’s wrong?”

“No, nothing.”

The director tilted his head with a strange feeling, even though it was a neat filming.

The next filming was the story of ‘Cynthia Lindberg’, played by Vanessa Olsen.

“Shopping mall staff! Gather up!”

They filmed ‘Cynthia Lindberg’, who worked as a guide at [Galleria Mall], which was the background of the movie, and then they filmed the story of ‘Ian Weaver’, played by Andrew Walker.

“Weaver family! We’re starting rehearsal!”

At the staff’s call, Andrew Walker, who was sitting with his mom and dad, jumped out of his chair.

He put down his crumpled script on the chair and turned around.

“I’ll be back!”

He ran off without looking back, as if he wasn’t scared of his first filming.

The Walker couple sighed and smiled wryly.

“Isn’t our son too brave?”

“It’s so cute how he shrinks in front of Jun.”

“I wish I could see it…!”

Just like Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun did before, they took pictures of Andrew Walker rehearsing.

And finally, they were going to film the story of ‘Lee Hyun-woo’, played by Seo-jun Lee.

Acting as the ‘father of Lee Hyun-woo’, Kim Jong-ho only had a brief appearance in the story of ‘Lee Hyun-woo’ that was being filmed at that time.

From then on, it was entirely the stage of the five lead actors.

Time flew by,
and the day of Seo-jun’s filming came.

The setting of [Survivors] was a shopping mall called ‘Galleria Mall’, which did not exist in the real California, with a movie theater, a restaurant, a small amusement facility, and hundreds of stores from the basement level 2 to the 5th floor above ground.

Seo-jun got out of the car and looked around the filming site.

The staff who were running around with costumes or props and the staff who were busy moving equipment for filming such as lighting machines looked similar, but it felt unfamiliar and new just because it was not a Marina Studio but a Bearound filming site.

“This way, please.”

When Kim Jong-ho, manager Lee Sang-woo, and Seo-jun were looking around with a new feeling, a staff member came out to guide them inside after contacting Ahn Da Ho.

Jeffrey, the director, and the planning team leader, who seemed to be waiting at the door, greeted Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho with their camera lenses.

The two actors smiled when they saw the camera.

This camera must be filming the ‘making film for Korea promotion’ that they heard at the accommodation.

‘They are all smart.’

‘That’s right.’

The two actors exchanged glances and shook hands with Jeffrey.

“Thank you for your hard work today. Jun. Kim.”

“Thank you for having us.”

“We’ll do our best!”

Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho greeted Jeffrey and the planning team leader and looked around the set.

Manager Lee Sang-woo also followed behind them with curious eyes.

The camera followed them.

There was nothing but surprises inside the studio. Lee Sang-woo exclaimed with his mouth wide open.

“/Hyung. This is really amazing./”

“/I know./”

They couldn’t help but admire the set that looked like a part of a huge shopping mall that had been cut out with a knife.

And it wasn’t just one or two stores, but a fairly large set.

“/Are these products on display real?/”

“/Probably not./”

“/But they look like real products./”

Not only the background of the set, but also the products inside seemed to shine brightly.

It felt like they were in a real shopping mall wherever they looked.

“/So they’re going to destroy this place?/”

“/Hollywood scale is no joke./”

Seo-jun also felt sorry for destroying such a nice set as Kim Jong-ho and Lee Sang-woo said.

‘It looks like they worked really hard on it.’

“/Uncle. Are we really going to break this? We can do it with CG, right?/”

“/Or maybe they have prepared another set./”

Seo-jun and Lee Sang-woo nodded at Kim Jong-ho’s opinion. That seemed more likely.

“Kim. Can you spare me a moment?”

“Ah, yes.”

As they were looking around the set, one of the staff called Kim Jong-ho.

“I’m from the costume team. Can you try this on? We got it according to your size, but some of the others said it was too small. If there’s nothing that fits among the spare costumes, we have to get it right away.”

“Okay.”

Kim Jong-ho nodded his head as if he understood some of what he heard thanks to his studies.

“/Uncle. Should I go with you?/”

“/It’s okay. I just have to say if it fits or not. Sang-woo, you stay here too./”

“/Yes./”

Kim Jong-ho headed to the dressing room with the costume team staff.

They must have seen enough of the set, so Seo-jun and the two managers sat down on the prepared chairs and waited for Kim Jong-ho.

“/But what kind of clothes are they?/”

“/Hmm. Should I go and see?/”

Manager Lee Sang-woo, who was a little anxious about leaving his actor alone, quickly headed to the dressing room.

And then he came back shortly after with a chuckle.

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho tilted their heads at Lee Sang-woo’s unexpected reaction.

“/Uncle Sang-woo. What kind of clothes are they that make you laugh like that?/”

“/No, I just thought that the filming crew did a great job of reproducing them./”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho blinked their eyes.

Unless it was a really important prop, there was not much mention of it in the script, so Seo-jun couldn’t guess what kind of clothes Kim Jong-ho would come out wearing either.

After waiting a little longer, Kim Jong-ho came out wearing the clothes.

“/Seo-jun! Look at this!/”

He appeared laughing loudly, and Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho were speechless.

There he was, Kim Jong-ho, wearing a fluorescent orange hiking outfit that looked like a school uniform from his parents’ generation.

Chapter 326

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Chapter 326

Kim Sang-woo burst into laughter again and Kim Jong-ho dusted off his clothes.

The deep orange color with fluorescent orange points as accents was dazzling.

“I haven’t worn such a bright color in a long time.”

“You always wear monochrome clothes. Even when you film, you have that kind of image, so you only wear dark colors.”

“What kind of image is that?”

“A villain?”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho couldn’t hide their admiration at Kim Jong-ho, who had suddenly become a Korean tourist.

He looked perfect from every angle.

He wore the kind of outfit that you could see on the subway.

“Wow… I never expected to see this kind of hiking outfit in an American movie…”

“Is there a Korean in the costume team?”

Ahn Da Ho’s reasonable doubt made Seo-jun nod.

“But it does suit Lee Hyun-woo’s father very well.”

“That’s true.”

The character that Seo-jun would play, Lee Hyun-woo, came to LA, USA with his father and mother.

It was a group package tour full of Koreans.

And the people who would travel with them were mostly older.

“Seo-jun, come over here.”

Seo-jun moved his steps at Kim Jong-ho’s call.

There were extras wearing clothes and shoes prepared by the costume team for filming.

‘I can tell what role they are playing at a glance.’

They were wearing colorful hiking outfits that stood out, and they were the actors who would play the couples in the group package who would accompany Lee Hyun-woo’s family.

While looking for clothes that fit him, Kim Jong-ho introduced the actors.

“They all applied for the role of Seo-jun’s parents.”

The actors who sensed their early elimination due to the overwhelming rival Kim Jong-ho agreed to appear in another role as soon as Bearound asked them after the audition.

The actors who did well in the audition had one line of dialogue.

Everyone was surprised to see Seo-jun Lee, who was already amazing with Kim Jong-ho.

“Hello, I’m Lee Seo-jun.”

They stopped looking for shoes that fit their feet and greeted Seo-jun with bright smiles.

“Oh my, we meet here!”

“I watched your drama!”

“I’m a fan!”

Seo-jun felt like he had really joined his father’s hiking group by accident, seeing the adults in flashy hiking outfits speaking Korean.

“/Nice to meet you, Lee./”

From a Korean-American actor who was more comfortable with English,

“Can you sign for me? My daughter is a real fan.”

To actors who had not been long since they immigrated from Korea.

Various actors greeted Seo-jun.

He felt like he had really come to a hiking group and smiled happily.

“Hello, I’m Joo Jae-eun, who will play the role of mother.”

If Lee Hyun-woo’s father was Kim Jong-ho, a Korean actor who was more comfortable with Korean, Lee Hyun-woo’s mother seemed to be a Korean-American actor who was more comfortable with English.

“Hello, I look forward to working with you today.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and greeted her.

“Oh my. My son doesn’t look like his dad at all, he looks just like his mom.”

Everyone laughed at someone’s cheerful joke.

Indeed, Joo Jae-eun, who had a neat appearance, looked more like Seo-jun’s overall image than Kim Jong-ho, who had a rugged appearance.

The making film camera captured that scene.

One of the actors noticed the camera.

“What camera is that?”

The red light on the camera seemed to indicate that it was filming, but [Survivors] had not even started filming yet.

“Oh, it’s a making film camera for Korean promotion.”

“For Korean promotion?”

“Yes. Everyone is curious about how Uncle Jong-ho will film.”

Seo-jun was used to sending out making films from other works, but Kim Jong-ho was different.

Bearound decided to make a making film focusing on Kim Jong-ho for ‘Korean promotion’ only because they knew how much interest the Korean public had in Kim Jong-ho, who was taking his first step in Hollywood.

It was a scene that revealed how much Bearound valued the ‘Korean market’.

***

When Seo-jun changed his clothes and came back, the studio was crowded with people.

Seo-jun looked around for a while and headed towards Kim Jong-ho, who was waiting after finishing his preparations.

“Uncle Jong-ho. Are you checking your movements?”

“Yeah. It looked like an empty mall with no one around before, but now it looks like a real mall.”

As Kim Jong-ho said, there were extras walking around on the set.

There were combinations that looked like couples or lovers, and there were extras who looked like families with young children.

Everyone seemed busy figuring out their movements around the staff who managed the extras.

Even then, there were people who recognized Seo-jun Lee, who had finished his makeup.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and waved his hand slightly at the occasional glances from this side.

The foreigners who were happy with the reaction of superstar Seo-jun Lee made Kim Jong-ho smile proudly.

“Our Seo-jun is popular.”

“Hahaha.”

Ahn Da Ho and Kim Sang-woo also smiled brightly.

“/Lee family! Korean tourists! We’re going to check your movements!/”

At the staff’s words, Seo-jun, Kim Jong-ho, Joo Jae-eun, and the Korean-American actors in flashy hiking outfits got up from their seats.

***

Director Jeffrey and the planning team leader looked at Seo-jun Lee and the Korean-American actors who were checking their movements on the set.

“Are you sure you can film well with Korean acting?”

It was not easy to put another language in a movie.

Even if they hired a famous Korean-American actor in Hollywood, foreigners who did not know ‘Korean’ could not tell how the actor’s ‘Korean pronunciation’ sounded to ‘Koreans’.

It was different from their ‘native language’, which they could point out the accent or the feeling.

‘That’s why it’s hard for the director to give instructions.’

The planning team leader was worried. Jeffrey smiled slightly.

“It’s okay. I have Jun and Kim.”

Jeffrey looked at the two actors he had asked in advance to evaluate ‘Korean acting’ better than himself.

***

“Is it bad?”

Joo Jae-eun asked nervously, looking at the two actors.

She couldn’t help but ask about her acting in front of two acting masters.

She didn’t want to speak with a poor pronunciation in a movie that Koreans would definitely watch.

“No, it’s good.”

“It’s good.”

Joo Jae-eun smiled brightly at the two actors’ words.

Not only Joo Jae-eun, but also the Korean-American actors who had lines asked for their opinions, and Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho answered them.

They also discussed not only the lines but also the gestures.

The making film camera captured that scene.

***

“/We’re going to start filming!/”

The noisy filming site was silent at the assistant director’s shout.

There were many extras and staff, but it was so quiet that it was scary.

Seo-jun, who stood on the set, looked around.

There were many people standing in their positions in the mall made for filming.

They looked like time had stopped, not moving at all.

Seo-jun really liked this time when everyone was focused on filming.

“/Ready,/”

Only Jeffrey’s voice was heard in the large set.

Seo-jun took a deep breath and,

“/Action!/”

He became ‘Korean tourist’ Lee Hyun-woo.

***

[Galleria Mall]

[South Shopping Street]

The place was full of children’s laughter, lovers’ conversation, and cheerful music.

A group of people appeared in a row.

“Hahaha. So, you see. My son won first place in the national English speaking contest!”

“Grand prize. Grand prize, honey.”

“That’s right. Grand prize!”

The man’s voice full of joy echoed through the south shopping street.

The people passing by glanced at him once.

They were middle-aged men and women wearing colorful clothes.

Galleria Mall was a place where tourists who came to California always stopped by before returning home, so it was a familiar sight.

And they were not the only ones making noise.

When a child’s cry came from somewhere, everyone shrugged their shoulders and paid attention to their families and lovers.

Galleria Mall was a place where you could overlook a little noise for the happy time with your loved ones.

Behind that colorful group, there was a boy walking alone far away.

A high school student who wore sunglasses he bought online before coming to America for his first overseas trip, Lee Hyun-woo sighed deeply and moved away from the group.

“You got the family trip ticket because you won the grand prize!”

“Oh my. I heard that more than a hundred times already. But Hyun-woo is really nice.”

“You raised your son well!”

The parents’ faces brightened even more at their friends’ compliments.

“Hyun-woo! Son!”

‘I don’t know these people.’ He sighed again and walked towards his parents. He knew his parents would be happy because they had never traveled abroad or even domestically before, but their joy was too much.

“They even spread rumors around the neighborhood…”

They almost had a neighborhood party.

But he knew that his parents were really happy, so he just smiled.

“Why? Do I have to translate?”

“No. Dad has this ‘body language’ thing, so it’s okay!”

Everyone laughed at Dad’s ridiculous gesture.

He didn’t know before he came on this trip, but it seemed that his dad had always been like this.

“…Just call me.”

Dad grabbed Hyun-woo’s right hand and spread it wide.

A white envelope was placed on Hyun-woo’s open palm.

Hyun-woo tilted his head at the unknown white envelope.

“Here, pocket money.”

“I have some too. I saved it.”

“Use that too. We’re going back to Korea tomorrow. Buy gifts for your friends and teachers!”

Dad whispered with a grin.

“And for your girlfriend.”

Hyun-woo’s face turned red in an instant.

“My girlfriend?!”

“Huh? Mom said…”

“Mom!!”

Hyun-woo called his mom in embarrassment, and she turned her head with a smile.

Hyun-woo, who had been acting confident, slumped his shoulders and said.

“…She’s not my girlfriend. I just like her as a friend.”

“Oh dear. My son has no courage. You have to be brave like your dad to catch a beauty like your mom.”

“Didn’t you say something different?”

“…Did you hear that?”

Hyun-woo and his dad laughed as their eyes met.

His dad, who had been joking, smiled softly and said.

“Son. You’ve worked hard taking care of your mom and me during this trip.”

“What…”

He couldn’t deny it.

It was a package tour, but the travel agency staff couldn’t solve everything for them.

There were times when they didn’t like the American food, or when they were hungry or sick late at night.

But he was still young and could travel a lot in the future, while his mom and dad had a lot of aches in their legs and backs and couldn’t take vacations easily.

He thought they wouldn’t have many chances to travel like this, so Hyun-woo decided to take care of them before the trip.

He learned a lot from the stories of others who said, ‘You have to give up your own trip when you travel with your parents’.

Hyun-woo looked away from his dad’s gaze with a shy grin.

His dad smiled warmly and held Hyun-woo’s still open hand.

He felt the thickness of the white envelope.

“Your mom and I will stay here with our friends, so you can go have fun by yourself. There’s an amusement park here too.”

“…When did you find out?”

He must have known that Hyun-woo was disappointed that he couldn’t go to the famous amusement park because of the package tour for his parents’ taste.

“I asked the travel agency staff. You know the bus departure time, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Then see you then. Son.”

His dad’s palm that patted Hyun-woo’s shoulder was hot.

Hyun-woo knew well how rough that palm was.

Somehow, Hyun-woo felt his eyes burn.

“The trip was really fun. Thank you.”

“…I’ll send you again next time.”

Hyun-woo felt choked up by his dad’s sincere words and sniffed.

“Yeah. Mom said she wants to go to England. Dad wants to go to Russia. You want to cross the continent.”

His mom and dad had already planned their second and third trips.

Hyun-woo laughed along with them.

His dad smiled and said.

“Have fun.”

“Yeah. You too.”

His dad tapped Hyun-woo’s shoulder and went back to the group.

Hyun-woo looked at the money in his hand.

He thought it was strange that there was something in the white envelope, so he opened it and saw that there was more money than he expected.

He looked at his dad in surprise and saw the adults smiling brightly.

“Hyun-woo! Buy what you want!”

“You said you wanted a smart watch!”

“You’ve worked hard!”

Hyun-woo had joined a package tour with only middle-aged couples by chance.

His mom and dad were happy to make good friends, but Hyun-woo received their affection while also doing some errands for them from time to time.

It wasn’t too hard since it was only urgent things.

Hyun-woo bowed to the adults’ words.

The adults waved their hands cheerfully.

When Hyun-woo moved away a little, they also took out pamphlets in Korean and looked for places to visit.

“/Cut!/”

Director Jeffrey’s cut sound echoed through the set.

The set, which had been quiet except for the voices of the extras and the music of the shops, became noisy in an instant.

Director Jeffrey called Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho.

“/It looks okay to me, but I wonder what you two think./”

He liked what he saw on camera, but he left the ‘Korean acting’ to the two actors.

Seo-jun played back the footage and looked at Kim Jong-ho.

“Here. It sticks out a bit, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. It could be a little more stiff.”

They thought that ‘smart watch’ sounded too ‘American’ for Korean tourists who were not familiar with English.

Director Jeffrey nodded at their comments and announced a retake.

The staff prepared for the retake while Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho taught the Korean-American actor how to pronounce ‘smart watch’ in Korean.

***

“/Ready, action!/”

Hyun-woo wanted to choose a gift for his mom and dad before going to the amusement park.

He held his wallet tightly with his savings and headed to the store he had searched in advance in Korea. It was a store he had found by searching for ‘gifts for parents’.

He planned to check if they had the product, how it looked in real life, and buy it 10 minutes before the bus departure time.

He didn’t want to carry anything while having fun, so he decided to buy his friends’ gifts then too.

The store was not far from where his mom and dad were.

He looked back from time to time to check on his mom and dad, and laughed at his dad’s attempt to speak body language.

“/Welcome./”

The staff greeted Hyun-woo with a smile.

Hyun-woo imagined his mom and dad’s happy faces when they received the gift, and opened his mouth with a bright smile.

“/Do you have…/”

Then,

Boom!!

A loud noise exploded.

The loud bang that made his ears ring startled Hyun-woo, the staff, and the people nearby.

They stopped moving without knowing it.

The cries of the startled children were heard.

The breaths of the people who were confused were felt.

People looked around to figure out what was going on.

Parents comforted their children, and someone took out their phone.

Hyun-woo looked around with trembling eyes in a situation he had never experienced before.

His head turned white and he couldn’t think of anything.

“/…Is it an earthquake?/”

“/No. This is…/”

He didn’t feel the shaking of the ground like an earthquake.

The products on display were still on the shelves.

But,

He felt a slight vibration.

Someone swallowed hard.

“/…It’s an explosion./”

A peaceful everyday life.

A happy moment.

No one could have imagined,

Boom!!

A bomb attack occurred.

Chapter 327

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Chapter 327

“Cut. Okay.”

As Director Jeffrey’s okay echoed in the set, the chaotic set became lively in an instant.

The staff moved busily for the next shooting.

They sent the extras back to their original positions and checked the lights and cameras.

They had filmed the overall scene, and now the cameras went up to the set to capture the actors’ faces closely.

The cameras were supposed to move according to the planned routes, so the extras had to ignore the camera movements that reached Seo-jun Lee while moving along the same routes as before.

“Then we’ll start shooting!”

Everyone stood in their places as before.

The director Jeffrey’s action sounded, and

Bang!!

An explosion sound came from the speaker.

****

After finishing the shooting and coming down from the set, Seo-jun asked Jeffrey.

“Director. Where are we shooting the next scene?”

“Here.”

Jeffrey smiled faintly and said.

The next scene was supposed to be a shopping mall collapsing from a bomb attack and people fleeing in panic.

‘But isn’t it too clean here?’

There was no sign of damage in the neat and clean set.

Seo-jun wondered if they would replace it with CG.

Meanwhile, the staff in charge of the extras checked their current positions and sent them down from the set.

Kim Jong-ho and other actors also frowned as they didn’t hear any instructions to move.

“/It seems like they’re installing chroma key here and shooting./”

“/Really?/”

The actors who were puzzled by the situation saw Jeffrey checking the people who left the set and sending a signal.

At that signal, five cameras went up to the empty set.

Everyone tilted their heads at the cameras that went up to the set without any actors.

The five cameras that went up to the set were not filming people but objects.

Large pillars, wide walls, shelves with products displayed, etc.

Seo-jun blinked his eyes at the incomprehensible situation.

Director Jeffrey said something to the assistant director.

“‘South Shopping Street Collapse 5’ shooting begins!”

At the assistant director’s voice, Seo-jun blinked his eyes again.

He had no idea what was going on.

There was no green chroma key installed, but they were shooting.

Then, the floor of the set where the cinematographer and staff were standing began to shake.

“…Huh?”

Seo-jun covered his mouth with both hands as he let out a voice unknowingly.

But he was not the only one who made a sound.

Kim Jong-ho and Korean-American actors also sighed in admiration.

The cinematographer and staff seemed to have expected this movement and balanced themselves well.

The change was not only in the shaking floor.

A black line appeared on the wall painted white.

From that line, cracks appeared disorderly on the wall, ceiling, and pillars.

The cracks spread from the cracks to all directions.

As if the ground was splitting from an earthquake, chunks of wall cracked and paint flakes fell to the floor.

Following that ominous crack, the end of the set began to collapse.

The intact wall was cut in half and a sturdy pillar tilted sideways.

The display rack rolled weakly due to the shaking of the floor.

Seo-jun’s eyes followed those ‘remnants of explosion’ that piled up irregularly here and there on the set, adding realism.

“It looks real, but it’s made of special materials that are light in weight.”

Seo-jun admired Jeffrey’s words.

The broken pillars and rebar looked real, but they seemed to be fake.

“We shot previous scenes here too.”

Of course, they changed the order, direction, size, and weight of falling objects for each shooting.

“The big things like pillars or walls are moved by these machines, and display racks have rails installed underneath so they won’t move beyond a certain distance. And small props like flower pots will be thrown or rolled by staff so that they won’t be caught by camera angles. The floor will also shake during shooting, so remember that well.”

It was planned that it would shake strongly near where the bomb exploded and feel a slight vibration far away.

Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho nodded at Jeffrey’s explanation.

That’s how a certain section of the set collapsed from end to end.

The set after ‘South Shopping Street Collapse 5’ looked like it had really collapsed from a bomb.

Wow!

As soon as the shooting ended, people who had been holding their breath exclaimed in awe.

Seeing their reactions and Seo-jun Lee’s expression that couldn’t take his eyes off until the end, Bearound’s planning team leader shrugged his shoulders and said.

He had seen it four times already, but he liked this reaction.

“We’re going to do some CG work too, but we tried to make it as realistic as possible.”

‘It seemed easier and faster to blow up a real building.’

But it was better to have this set now that they could restore it and reshoot it.

The planning team leader and art team staff who had worked hard to make this set smiled with satisfaction at the sight of Seo-jun Lee and the actors who were amazed.

That was captured by the making film camera.

“Now you just have to act up there. Do you like the set?”

“Yes! It’s going to be really fun!”

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled.

‘A real collapsing set!’

He could act well in a set full of green chroma key, but he liked it better to act in a set with such devices.

His heart was pounding with excitement.

“The other actors liked it too. We’ll rehearse and shoot before restoring the set. The places close to the actors will be processed with CG, but we’ll use this effect for the rest, so you have to follow your routes exactly.”

“Yes!”

Meanwhile, the set was slowly restored.

They operated the machines backwards to put the pillars and walls back in place and moved the display racks to their original positions.

When they cleaned up the props that fell on the floor, it looked like the original set except for the cracks on the wall.

Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho exclaimed again at the restored set.

“/That’s why Hollywood is Hollywood./”

“/I’ve never seen anything like this before. Uncle Jong-ho./”

Admiration was only for a moment.

Seo-jun, Kim Jong-ho, and Korean-American actors checked their routes again on the set that was working again.

The extras who had relatively simple routes also received several warnings from the staff in charge.

After confirming all the routes, the ‘complete restoration’ of the set began and the art team staff ran around busily.

They operated the machines backwards to put back the large pillars and walls, and moved the display racks and props to their original places.

They painted over the cracked paint on the wall with a quick-drying special paint.

Finally, they replaced the broken props with spare ones and cleaned up the dust that was created by the collapse, and it returned to the original set.

“/Amazing…/”

In just 20 minutes.

Seo-jun and the actors exclaimed at the restored set.

***

“Ready, action!”

Bang!!

Lee Hyun-woo snapped out of his daze when he heard another loud noise.

The first thing that came to his mind was his mom and dad.

He didn’t know if he wanted to rely on them because he was scared, or if he wanted to save them.

He only had one thought: he had to find his mom and dad.

“Mom, Dad…!”

They were not far away. Lee Hyun-woo ran towards the south gate.

Unlike him, the other people ran away from the south gate.

The noise came from that direction.

Black smoke slowly spread and thuds of something falling echoed.

The Galleria Mall’s announcement system started to broadcast.

[Please stay away from the south gate…!]

Lee Hyun-woo pushed through the people coming from the opposite direction.

He was anxious because he couldn’t run because of the people.

The screams of people, the cries of children, the sounds of things breaking, the shouts of “Run!” And the urgent voice from the speaker swirled around Lee Hyun-woo.

He felt suffocated by the deep anxiety.

“…Mom! Dad!”

It was not a long way, but he bumped into this person and that person.

He didn’t even feel the pain when he was hit or stepped on.

Lee Hyun-woo only thought about getting to his parents.

***

The shock of the loud noise lasted only for a moment.

His mom and dad also started to move.

They moved towards where the people were heading, even though they were pushed and shoved by the people behind them.

But the building collapsed faster than the people could run away.

Boom!

A pillar fell in front of them.

His mom fell to the ground in surprise and his dad lifted her up.

A red stain remained on the floor.

He heard a child’s cry.

Everything was chaotic.

They had no time to care about other people.

[Please stay away from the south gate…!]

His mom came to her senses when she felt his rough but big hand holding hers tightly.

“Ho-honey. What about Hyun-woo? Our Hyun-woo?”

“He’ll be fine. The amusement park is on the north side. Let’s just get ourselves out first…!”

Then.

They saw their son running alone through the crowd of fleeing people.

He looked like a lost child, sobbing as he came towards where they were.

He smiled brightly when he met their eyes.

Their hearts sank at their son’s relieved smile.

They saw the darkness behind them, opening its mouth and coming closer.

And their son running towards them from the front.

Their limbs went cold and their vision turned white in an instant.

“Lee Hyun-woo!!”

His dad shouted with a twisted face.

Lee Hyun-woo flinched at his dad’s scream. But his feet didn’t stop moving towards them.

He had to go quickly and help his dad get his mom out of there. He had to help them.

Something big fell from the ceiling.

It blocked their way completely.

People crawled over the debris and ran away.

Thud!

Another one fell.

A scream was heard.

It seemed like it would crush Hyun-woo any moment.

His mom, who couldn’t move, screamed like a banshee.

“Hyun-woo! Don’t come this way! Go back!!”

“Mo-mom…”

“Lee Hyun-woo! Get out of there! Go!”

His dad, who lifted up his mom, gestured frantically at Lee Hyun-woo with his hand.

Lee Hyun-woo felt a bad feeling at his dad’s desperate gesture and moved his feet faster.

He was almost there with his parents.

He heard a scream from behind him.

The sound of collapsing was ominous.

He didn’t know when a shard pierced his leg and his mom whimpered.

The blood gushed out onto the floor.

“Hyun-woo, don’t come here. Please don’t come this way.”

“Honey, please save Hyun-woo. Our Hyun-woo…”

His mom let go of his dad’s hand that was holding hers tightly, trying to send him away.

His dad grabbed her hand again and shouted. His dad’s hand was also shaking with sweat.

“Lee Hyun-woo! Go! Don’t come this way!”

Behind his mom and dad,
the darkness was coming closer with its mouth open.

Lee Hyun-woo bit his lip and ran faster.

He heard a scream.

The speed of collapsing was not normal.

Just a little more, just a little faster.

“Go–!”

Boom!

With a terrible sound, his dad’s reddened eyes and his mom’s immobile face were completely hidden by a fallen pillar.

The stone that blocked his way completely made Lee Hyun-woo feel like he couldn’t breathe.

**

“Kim.”

At Jeffrey’s call, Kim Jong-ho went to Jeffrey’s side.

Kim Jong-ho, who was called by Jeffrey for the first time during the shooting, was nervous without knowing it.

“When you say ‘/go/’, can you say it with an accent on the ‘go’?”

He couldn’t get used to the Korean that came out of a foreigner’s mouth.

Kim Jong-ho, who didn’t understand Jeffrey’s intention even after Seo-jun’s interpretation, asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I heard it earlier and it sounded like ‘go’ as in ‘GO’.”

Kim Jong-ho and Seo-jun nodded at Jeffrey’s words.

“I guess from an American’s perspective, Korean is a foreign language, so they can’t understand the other words, but,”

Jeffrey smiled and said.

“GO! They would understand that word.”

And if you add the father’s sorrowful emotion to that, they would feel closer to the Korean family’s emotion that felt distant.

Oh.

Kim Jong-ho and Seo-jun nodded as if they understood.

“/It sounds like a wordplay./”

“/Yeah, it’s used a lot in ads./”

Go play [GO] have fun.

They remembered an ad copy that looked familiar and laughed.

Chapter 328

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Chapter 328

The assistant director of the survivors glanced at his watch and looked around the set.

The actors had all come down from the set and the set was being restored by the art team staff.

It was fast, but it seemed to take some time until filming.

‘…We don’t have enough time to shoot it again.’

The assistant director, who was calculating the time for a moment, approached Director Jeffrey.

“Director Jeffrey.”

“Yes?”

The assistant director said something to Director Jeffrey, and Director Jeffrey nodded with a regretful expression.

It was better to finish early and prepare for tomorrow’s filming than to extend the filming time awkwardly.

The set was like this, so it took more time to shoot once than usual, and it was fortunate that they had set the filming period generously.

“Let’s end today’s filming here.”

The staff moved at Director Jeffrey’s words.

The art team staff who were restoring the set continued as they were, and the other staff began to organize the equipment.

Kim Jong-ho, who was waiting for the set to be restored while asking Seo-jun which pronunciation was better, ‘Go’ in various versions, blinked his eyes at Director Jeffrey’s words and suddenly realized something and looked around.

“Huh…”

It seemed that only Kim Jong-ho was surprised by this sudden departure, as if it was not a special occasion.

The staff who were organizing the set, as well as the extras and other actors, seemed accustomed to leaving at the same time and moved to remove their makeup.

The manager of a Hollywood star, Ahn Da Ho, also seemed to have expected it and packed his luggage comfortably.

Kim Jong-ho’s manager Lee Sang-woo opened his mouth wide at the situation.

‘No, are they really leaving like this?’

“Good work today.”

“See you tomorrow!”

The Korean-American actors also greeted Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho and headed to the dressing room.

Kim Jong-ho, who greeted them with a bewildered expression, laughed bitterly.

“They keep their filming time like a knife… Seo-jun. Didn’t you feel like you had to keep shooting?”

If there was a director’s comment in Korea, they would have said ‘It feels good’, ‘Let’s not break the flow’ and shot it one more time.

There were many times when Kim Jong-ho’s filming time was extended because he rode the atmosphere while filming.

Seo-jun thought for a moment and opened his mouth.

“If we film late today, there might be a problem with tomorrow’s schedule. The actors’ condition might get worse, and there are a lot of child actors. They are more strict about that here.”

“Oh. That’s right.”

Kim Jong-ho turned his head.

He saw some children among the extras who were leaving the set greeting Seo-jun.

Seo-jun smiled and waved his hand.

“Besides, it’s our first filming day, so we have plenty of time and schedule. We just have to film according to the set schedule, so it’s easier here in that sense. We rest when we rest and we work hard when we film.”

At Seo-jun’s words, Kim Jong-ho sighed and calmed down.

Well. It’s not like his acting skills would go anywhere if he filmed today or tomorrow.

He felt like he was impatient for no reason.

“That’s right. It’s good that I have more practice time.”

“Then let’s go. Uncle Jong-ho.”

At Seo-jun’s words, Kim Jong-ho nodded his head.

***

The next day.

Kim Jong-ho practiced ‘Go’ pronunciation with Seo-jun at the hotel and even checked with Kings Agency staff and bodyguards.

Kim Jong-ho’s lines echoed on the set.

“/Go–!!/”

With Kim Jong-ho’s rough but heartfelt voice, the staff moved the last machine.

As if a huge wall was coming down, the debris that collapsed from the explosion blocked Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho, Joo Jae-eun’s sight.

The dust prepared by the art team staff rose up in clumps in the wind.

The sight of Seo-jun Lee stiffened in the cloudy dust cloud hurt their eyes.

Just by standing still, he seemed to convey how much shock ‘Lee Hyun-woo’ had received.

Everyone held their breath.

“…Cut! Okay!”

Director Jeffrey gave an okay sign.

The quiet set became noisy in an instant. It was more noisy than the last filming. Some staff members looked puzzled as if they didn’t understand.

“…Was it just my feeling that I heard ‘go’ at the end?”

“No. I heard it too. I can’t understand any other Korean…”

The cry of ‘GO–!!’ containing his father’s scream stuck in their ears.

Kim Jong-ho’s scream touched the hearts of the staff and the extras, even though it was an incomprehensible Korean line.

“Kim is a great actor in Korea, I heard. I guess it’s true.”

“You don’t know? He’s the detective who was in Escape.”

Kim Jong-ho and Seo-jun smiled at each other as they heard the staff’s words.

“Do you want to see it?”

“Yes!”

“Let’s do that.”

While Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho were monitoring, the set was magically restored by the hands of the art team staff.

This time, a close-up shot was planned to show the actors’ expressions clearly.

Rails were installed in front of Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho, Joo Jae-eun, and the camera was ready.

“We’re starting filming!”

Even though the camera lens was right in front of them, Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho’s acting did not change at all.

Joo Jae-eun also immersed herself quickly.

Director Jeffrey swallowed his saliva at the actors’ eyes on the monitor screen and shouted loudly.

“Ready, action!”

***

“Be careful. Uncle Jong-ho.”

“I don’t want to go when I see the schedule that came in from the company…”

Kim Jong-ho shook his head as he said with a sour expression, and Seo-jun laughed.

He remembered how Kim Jong-ho got tired of the schedule that manager Lee Sang-woo told him as the days passed in Hollywood.

“There are so many broadcasters to visit and magazines and newspapers too.”

“Haha. Take it easy.”

Kim Jong-ho’s filming was all over yesterday.

He had waited for months before coming to Hollywood, but the filming ended too quickly.

It was like preparing for a trip was more fun and exciting than the trip itself.

Kim Jong-ho, who put his carrier in the trunk, said with a bittersweet expression.

“I expected it to be a short role, but I’m a little sorry.”

“Let’s film together next time. Uncle.”

Kim Jong-ho nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

Well, he wasn’t going to film this movie only.

He might come back here again with another Hollywood movie.

Kim Jong-ho smiled as he looked around the accommodation he was leaving before he got used to it.

“That’s right. Let’s do that. Seo-jun-ah, you too. Do well with the rest of the filming. See you in Korea.”

“Yes. Be careful. Uncle Sang-woo. Uncle Jong-ho.”

Seo-jun hugged Lee Sang-woo and Kim Jong-ho tightly and said goodbye.

It was his first time filming with a close Korean actor in Hollywood, so he was very sorry that it was a short filming.

He hugged Kim Jong-ho as much as he felt sorry.

And soon after.

[Actor Kim Jong-ho, returning home!]

[Actor Kim Jong-ho, finished filming Survivors!]

Korea was buzzing with Kim Jong-ho’s return.

***

The set for this time had moved all the machines that were attached to the wall to new locations.

If there were six sets, two of them collapsed in the first collapse, and now there are four left.

And the machines had installed around two of the four sets in the meantime.

Seo-jun, who noticed that fact, told Da Ho.

“Da Ho hyung. It looks like those two sets are going to collapse today.”

“Yeah. They moved the location.”

How will they collapse today?

Seo-jun, who was looking at the sets with a pounding expression, was called by someone.

“Jun. You’re here?”

“Hello. Milan!”

It was Milan Chellen, who he was going to film with today.

He was the first one to film with among the four main actors.

He seemed to have come early and prepared, as the script in Milan Chellen’s hand caught his eye.

Seo-jun looked at Milan Chellen’s hand and then at his own hand and chuckled. There was a box of cookies in Seo-jun’s hand.

“Do you want some? I bought them for everyone.”

“Thanks, man.”

Milan Chellen nodded his head with a smile at the box of cookies that Seo-jun offered.

The cookies for the staff and extras were being prepared by the staff of Kings Agency.

Sitting side by side on chairs, eating cookies and exchanging lines lightly, Seo-jun and Milan Chellen got up from their seats at the staff’s words that they would start filming.

“Jun. I look forward to working with you today.”

“Me too!”

Seo-jun and Milan Chellen smiled brightly at the filming they had been waiting for since the Academy Awards ceremony.

***

“Ready, action!”

Director Jeffrey shouted loudly.

As the barrier that blocked even a tiny light came down, dust rose.

In the midst of the dusty wind, Lee Hyun-woo, who became dusty, stood still without breathing.

There was a scream from behind him as the explosion seemed to stop for a moment.

There was also a cry.

But why.

Why can’t I hear any sound in front of me?

Lee Hyun-woo’s face turned pale as if all the blood in his body had drained.

[The Vortex of (Evil) Srai-Medium is activated.]

[The Vortex of (Evil) Srai-Medium]

A race that creates a vortex of despair, Srai.

It absorbs the despair of living beings and inflates the size of the vortex.

It absorbs the sound around it.

[Caution] You will fall into deep despair if you touch the vortex.

A race that creates a vortex of despair, Srai.

When they fall into the sea and despair, Srai appear and create a vortex.

The vortex absorbs the sound around it and makes it impossible to ask for help.

There, another despair is born and the vortex grows bigger until it disappears when the living beings around it die and can no longer despair.

[The grade of [The Vortex of (Evil) Srai-Medium] is temporarily lowered.]

[The Vortex of (Evil) Srai-Low is activated.]

An invisible black vortex appeared around Seo-jun.

The downgraded vortex created a deep despair and devoured all the sound around it.

Lee Hyun-woo’s face turned pale as if all the blood in his body had drained.

“Uh, mom… ah, dad!”

Lee Hyun-woo walked forward with trembling hands.

He put his hand on a rough pile of rocks.

“Uh, mom. Dad…”

Lee Hyun-woo started digging out the pile of rocks as if he had forgotten everything else but mom and dad.

He didn’t even notice that his nails were broken by the rough rocks.

As if his despair was reflected on his heart, bright red blood stains remained on the white wall.

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No…

Everyone held their breath and watched him.

They thought they would get used to it after seeing it once, but Seo-jun showed them another captivating performance.

Milan Chellen bit his inner cheek to avoid being swept away by Seo-jun’s despair.

Then, along with a warm wind, sound returned to the set.

Milan Chellen jumped into the set without missing the timing.

“Hey! Snap out of it!!”

There was a hand grabbing Lee Hyun-woo’s shoulder covered in blood.

Lee Hyun-woo gasped as he felt the rough and hot hand.

He slowly lifted his head, remembering the hand that patted his shoulder just a few minutes ago.

A thin hope made his heart beat fast, very fast.

“Ahh,”

“We have to get out of here!”

It wasn’t dad.

His heart stopped at the face of a strange black man.

Chapter 329

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Chapter 329

Seo-jun checked his makeup for the close-up shot.

“Please extend your right hand.”

“Okay.”

A staff member from the art team attached a device to Seo-jun’s wrist.

This device was designed to make a red liquid flow from a thin tube connected to the wrist when a certain pressure was applied to the ten fingers.

This was how ‘Lee Hyun-woo’ bled every time he touched and removed the stones.

The red liquid, the blood-filled pouch, was hidden under the sleeve of the wrist.

The staff member from the art team connected five very thin tubes to the tips of Seo-jun’s five fingers.

Then, he used a tape of the same color as Seo-jun’s skin to stick the tubes.

“Can you press here once?”

As instructed by the staff member, Seo-jun pressed his thumb to his little finger on the table in order.

As a certain pressure was applied, the red liquid stained the table through the tubes.

The staff member said with a satisfied face.

“It comes out well. Now, your left hand.”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun extended his left hand, being careful not to press his right hand.

After attaching the device and checking Seo-jun’s hair and clothes again, the close-up shot began right away.

As soon as the close-up shot started, the set was once again filled with silence.

Unlike the full shot before, this time, the camera lens, the director, and the staff were standing in front of the actors.

It was a close distance that would make anyone uncomfortable, but Seo-jun Lee didn’t seem to care at all.

“…It’s like he doesn’t see the camera at all.”

Seo-jun ignored the camera and staff in front of him and showed Lee Hyun-woo’s despair on camera.

The bloody hand digging into the pile of stones, the tense arms, and the reddened eyes.

The lips that only muttered mom and dad.

The close-up shot that didn’t miss anything made director Jeffrey shiver.

Despair. Abyss.

Sorrow and sadness.

He felt his heart without shedding a tear.

Paradoxically, it showed how much Lee Hyun-woo loved his family.

Milan Chellen came in at a good timing.

The camera slowly turned around Lee Hyun-woo.

Maybe his parents came through another way, there was a light of hope like a thin spider web that would break with a gust of wind in Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes.

Another camera followed the black hand that came over Lee Hyun-woo’s shoulder up to his arm, shoulder, and chin.

The face reflected on the camera was completely different from Lee Hyun-woo’s expectation.

The screen of the camera that was filming Seo-jun Lee once again captured Lee Hyun-woo’s desperate eyes.

The staff who couldn’t see the actors’ acting properly because they were blocked by the director and staff sneaked behind director Jeffrey and peeked at the monitor.

They reddened their eyes at Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes.

***

“We’re going to shoot 5-2 the collapse of the south shopping street!”

As expected by Seo-jun, new machines installed in new locations started to move at the assistant director’s shout.

The place where Lee Hyun-woo’s blood remained vividly was completely buried by collapsing pillars and ceilings.

The lights on the ceiling flickered and turned off one by one.

Thump thump, as if there was a sound that couldn’t be heard, the set collapsed.

The cameras on top of the set captured it all.

“It’s like dominoes.”

Seo-jun whispered quietly since they were going to dub over this scene anyway.

Milan Chellen nodded his head as he checked his movements.

“That’s right.”

That’s how two-fifths of Galleria Mall’s south shopping street collapsed.

***

“Ready, action!”

Jackson Miller ran towards a boy who was left alone while evacuating.

Jackson Miller called out to him and the boy turned around. Jackson Miller flinched when he met eyes with him.

The boy didn’t look well.

“Do you speak English?”

Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes wandered even with Jackson Miller’s gentle question.

Jackson Miller sighed and rubbed Lee Hyun-woo’s cold hands.

He bit his lips hard at the sight of broken nails and blood oozing out of them, and dirt covering him all over.

‘I don’t know what happened but…’

He spat out a bitter sound at the desperate handprints left on that solid wall.

“First… let’s get out of here. Do you understand? It’s dangerous here so we’re going over there.”

Jackson Miller looked back.

There was no sign of collapse behind them yet as lights were still lit on the ceiling.

Some lights were flickering where they were standing because of shock.

He could still hear people evacuating.

“Can you move?”

Thud.

Jackson Miller swallowed his saliva at the debris falling from the ceiling.

He didn’t know if another bomb would go off or the building would collapse due to the impact of the previous bomb.

But he couldn’t leave the boy alone.

Jackson Miller tried to move while supporting Lee Hyun-woo who was out of his mind, but contrary to his thoughts, Lee Hyun-woo didn’t budge with strength in his legs. Lee Hyun-woo’s head didn’t leave the bloody wall and his parents behind it.

“Go, go… sir… go…”

“You speak English. Let’s get out of here quickly. Another bomb might go off!”

“I, I’ll stay here… sir… you go.”

Lee Hyun-woo pulled his hand away from Jackson Miller.

Jackson Miller looked at Lee Hyun-woo’s hand and then at him with a stiff face.

“It’s dangerous here. Let’s get out quickly.”

“I, I’ll stay here…”

He couldn’t leave his parents here.

He tried to turn to the wall again, but Jackson Miller grabbed his shoulder tightly.

Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes reddened at the hot and big hand.

“Think about your family waiting outside!”

Family.

‘Family.’

He bit his lips as if he was going to vomit blood at that word.

He wanted to shout at this kind man who was trying to save him.

‘My family is here!’

‘My parents are waiting for me behind that wall!’

“…!”

He was about to burst into anger, but he couldn’t say anything at Jackson Miller’s worried eyes.

They looked like his dad’s eyes who were worried about him earlier.

He liked those eyes, but they also burned his whole body.

A very hot fireball rose from his stomach, burning his chest and choking his throat.

He felt like his head was burning too.

‘Ah.’

He had to go and help his mom and dad right now…!

He wanted to vomit everything inside him.

He made a groaning sound that couldn’t be a scream, biting his lips and pulling his hair with bloody nails.

Jackson Miller gasped at the sight of Lee Hyun-woo.

‘Why am I the only one left here…’

‘I should have stayed with mom and dad…’

His heart pounded irregularly.

Lee Hyun-woo collapsed on the floor as his legs gave out.

‘It’s my fault.’

‘Why did I suggest going on a trip?’

‘If we had stayed in Korea, this wouldn’t have happened.’

‘Mom. Dad. Where are you?’

‘Why me. Why… why me…’

He trembled all over as thoughts flooded his mind.

He couldn’t breathe and Jackson Miller shouted something at him.

He shook Lee Hyun-woo’s body roughly.

But Lee Hyun-woo couldn’t feel any of it.

‘…Are you alive?’

A huge sense of guilt overwhelmed him like a fierce wave and blocked his breath.

Lee Hyun-woo’s vision went black.

“Damn it…!”

The boy who was groaning and shaking in pain without screaming finally lost consciousness and fell down.

Jackson Miller bit his lips and lifted the boy up in a flash.

***

“…Cut, okay!”

Director Jeffrey’s shout broke the suffocating silence.

Everyone breathed in and out deeply.

Their shoulders felt stiff as if they had been watching with concentration.

“…That was acting, right?”

That was all they could say.

As soon as the okay sign fell, Seo-jun and Milan Chellen came out of the set and the staff members from the art team took turns going up to the set.

“…Is Lee okay?”

One of the staff members who was preparing the set for the next shoot opened his mouth.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the previous shoot and this shoot… his emotional acting was very intense.”

He had seen a few actors like that while working as a staff member of the Hollywood art team.

The actors who had intense emotional scenes were sensitive before and after the shoot, unable to get out of their roles.

“That’s true. If he acts so well that even the viewers are swept away by his emotions, it’s obvious that there will be some repercussions for the actor himself.”

He still felt his heart drop when he thought of Seo-jun Lee’s suffering expression.

“…I hope he’s okay.”

The staff who had similar thoughts looked at Seo-jun Lee who came down from the set.

But contrary to their worries, there was Seo-jun Lee who was drinking orange juice and monitoring with a bright expression.

The staff gasped at Seo-jun Lee’s appearance, who was talking with a smile while looking at the monitor.

“…I guess we don’t have to worry.”

They nodded their heads at that remark.

***

“When we do the close-up, we’ll emphasize this part.”

“That sounds good!”

Director Jeffrey smiled widely as he was satisfied with the shoot.

Seo-jun also smiled brightly and nodded his head.

Only Milan Chellen, whose chest was still pounding, felt like he was in a strange world.

Milan Chellen looked at Seo-jun who was drinking orange juice.

At first, he thought that Seo-jun’s eyes were blurred because he was acting well, but as time passed, he wondered if it wasn’t really dangerous.

He felt cold sweat on his hands when he remembered that scene again.

‘How…’

He would have shouted NG right away if it were him, but Director Jeffrey continued without hesitation.

“Director. Have you ever seen Jun’s acting before?”

“Oh, yes. He showed me at our first meeting. I was so surprised then…”

He shook his head as if he still felt dizzy.

“I almost called an ambulance. But after hearing Jun’s words later, I felt like I understood today’s shoot a little better.”

“What did he say?”

The answer came from Seo-jun who was sitting next to him.

“It’s not me who is suffering from guilt, but ‘Lee Hyun-woo’. It’s ‘Lee Hyun-woo’ who is in pain, so you don’t have to worry.”

Seo-jun’s words made Milan Chellen understand their meaning in the next shoot.

“It’s Lee Hyun-woo who is in pain…”

As Seo-jun said, it was not Seo-jun Lee but ‘Lee Hyun-woo’ who was on the set.

***

“Hello!”

Andrew Walker, Seo-jun Lee’s big fan who had been waiting for today, greeted him cheerfully.

The staff passing by smiled brightly and greeted him back.

“Hi, Walker. Merry Christmas in advance!”

“Merry Christmas!”

Andrew Walker smiled brightly and greeted everyone as he walked by,

“Hi, Andy.”

He froze when he saw Seo-jun who had arrived earlier.

He didn’t move an inch from where he was greeting people.

Seo-jun laughed at Andrew Walker’s appearance.

Chapter 330

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Chapter 330

“Hi, hi! Jun!”

Ice crack!

Andrew Walker, who had been frozen as if he had shouted that, started to move.

He greeted Jun with a hint of hesitation and a lot of excitement.

Seo-jun smiled and tapped the seat next to him.

“Do you want to sit here?”

Andrew Walker, who widened his eyes at Jun’s words, smiled brightly and quickly ran over to sit next to Jun.

“You came early?”

“Well… I was so excited about the shooting today that I woke up a little early.”

He answered with a shy laugh, as if he was embarrassed.

Seo-jun also laughed along and looked somewhere.

Andrew’s mother, who came with him today, was making a number five with her fingers and smiling from a distance.

She must have woken up at five in the morning.

‘…That’s not a little, is it?’

Seo-jun, who had a healthy lifestyle of going to bed early and waking up early, didn’t wake up that early either.

“Then you must be tired.”

“No, I’m fine! I slept well on the way here! I can do it! The shooting! I’ll do my best! I memorized all the script!”

Jun laughed again at Andrew, who was babbling as if he was afraid that Jun would postpone the shooting because he looked tired.

He looked so cute with his tiny fists clenched and his whole body saying that he could do the shooting.

“What are you doing for Christmas, Andy?”

The shooting of [Survivors] was scheduled to take two days off, including Christmas and Eve, and two days off in the new year.

The scenes to be shot in between were not that important or time-consuming.

Andrew, who was excitedly swinging his legs at the thought of talking with his favorite actor Seo-jun Lee sitting next to him, answered Jun’s question.

“I’m having a Christmas party with my friends! How about you, Jun?”

“I’m also having a party with my friends.”

His mom and dad were coming to America for the new year.

He talked to them every day on video calls, but somehow it felt like a long time.

Andrew’s eyes sparkled at Jun’s answer.

“Are they Evan Block and Rachel Hill, Jun’s friends?”

Andrew already had a picture of a superstar party that he had only seen in movies in his head.

He vividly imagined Seo-jun in a stylish suit holding a wine glass.

Jun laughed and shook his head at Andrew’s sparkling eyes.

“No. I’m meeting with friends I’ve been playing with since I was young.”

“I know! Jack Smith, the player!”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened at the name he didn’t expect to come out of Andrew’s mouth.

Andrew Walker, a big fan of Seo-Seo-jun Lee, proudly shrugged his shoulders and said.

“I saw it too! Uri and Loki! The documentaries ‘We Are Now’ and ‘In the Sea’. I also went to the SEA SAVER Center!”

Andrew Walker’s story started with documentaries and went on to Jun’s works.

“My favorite character is Gray Vainy! My mom told me that the first thing I saw was Jun’s ‘Mukbang’, but I don’t remember that because I was too young. My second favorite is Cheongryong. My mom bought me a Yeouiju online too! Oh, I also like Go Ju Won! And Jin Natra too! Eek. I like them all!”

He looked like he couldn’t stand it because he liked it so much.

Seo-jun felt his face turn red and his shoulders shrug at the sight of the fan who was spewing out his feelings.

‘Tae-young hyung would get along well with him.’

He somehow thought of Kang Tae-young, who was in Korea.

The time flew by as he talked with Andrew.

When Jun and Andrew were eating snacks prepared on the set, Milan Chellen and Vanessa Olsen arrived.

And soon after, Davis Garrett arrived on the set.

“It’s our first time acting together, right? I look forward to working with you during the shooting.”

“Me too.”

Jun’s eyes sparkled as he looked forward to Davis Garrett’s improvisation. Andrew’s eyes also sparkled as he looked at Seo-jun Lee.

***

When all the actors arrived, they started preparing for the shooting.

The skilled special makeup team created faint bruises on the actors’ faces and darkened them.

Seo-jun sat down and stretched out both hands.

The biggest makeup for ‘Lee Hyun-woo’ was broken nails and dry dark red blood underneath them.

The brush strokes made it look realistic in no time.

It was amazing every time he saw it.

Especially, the artificial nail on his right index finger was made to dangle as if it was about to fall off, making even the viewers shudder.

“Eek. It looks painful.”

Andrew Walker, who saw Seo-jun’s makeup for the first time, frowned and said.

He knew it was makeup, but he felt sad to see his favorite actor’s hand like that.

The actors who finished their makeup laughed at Andrew’s restless look.

***

“Please let it go smoothly today.”

The planning team leader prayed with his hands together for Davis Garrett’s shooting.

Davis Garrett had shown an acting that didn’t deviate much from the script in the previous shooting, but he didn’t know what would happen next.

“Please, no overtime…”

Unlike the worried planning team leader, director Jeffrey prepared for the shooting with a relaxed expression.

He checked the set and confirmed the routes with the staff.

“Makeup is done!”

The actors, who had not only makeup but also dirt on their clothes, appeared on the set.

If it weren’t for their bright faces and expressions, they would have looked like they had just escaped from a disaster zone.

The planning team leader and director Jeffrey saw Andrew Walker, who was sticking close to Seo-jun Lee and walking timidly, in their eyes.

“He said that since the audition, he must be a real fan of Jun. I wonder if he’ll be distracted by Jun and can’t act?”

He was worried because Andrew Walker had never acted with Seo-jun before.

You might expect that kind of discernment from an adult actor, but it was hard to expect it from a young actor.

He had been worried about it since the audition, but he couldn’t not cast him because he was the most talented among the child actors who auditioned.

“Well, if I were him, I would want to show my favorite actor a cool side of me.”

Director Jeffrey’s eyes met Jun and Andrew, who were smiling and talking to each other.

**

“Ready, action!”

Jackson Miller, who carried the unconscious Lee Hyun-woo, moved along the path where the light came in.

He avoided the debris from the fallen ceiling and watched his step on the cracked floor.

A sign hanging from the ceiling caught his eye.

‘The closest exit from here is…’

He sighed and moved on.

His destination was the east movie theater, which was the closest from here.

As he walked, he spotted a group of people.

He looked at the people who were sitting down with tired faces.

Even when Jackson Miller appeared, they just glanced at him and said nothing.

“Why are you gathered here?”

Jackson Miller asked the person who was closest to him.

She was a woman wearing a Galleria Mall guide uniform on top, but instead of a skirt, she wore training pants.

It was easier to talk to her because there was a boy next to her.

Cynthia Lindberg looked at Jackson Miller once, and then at Lee Hyun-woo who was on his back once, and sighed.

“First of all, put that kid down here. You need strength to get out of here.”

Jackson Miller nodded at Cynthia Lindberg’s words and kicked away some big rocks with his feet.

Cynthia Lindberg also swept the floor with her palm.

The boy next to Cynthia, Ian Weaver, also came over to help.

Jackson Miller put Lee Hyun-woo down on the clean floor and sat down to catch his breath.

He wanted to drink water, but it seemed hard to find it around.

He swallowed his saliva as Cynthia Lindberg spoke.

“A bomb went off in the south shopping area and then another bomb went off in the east gate where the broadcasting room is.”

Jackson Miller took a breath.

That’s why there was no other broadcast after the first announcement.

“The east gate too?”

Cynthia Lindberg’s eyes didn’t leave the boy sitting next to Lee Hyun-woo.

“Yes. And then there was an explosion in the west dining area too. The only exit left is the north gate.”

He had a headache at the news that three out of four entrances had exploded.

“Then why don’t you go north?”

“The way to the north is blocked, so we’re looking for another way. At least the building is sturdy enough that there’s no major collapse.”

But there must have been more than one or two groups like this who were stuck in the mall and couldn’t go anywhere.

Cynthia Lindberg explained as if she understood what he was thinking.

“Is there no communication?”

“I don’t know if it’s because of too much traffic or… or…”

Cynthia Lindberg trailed off. Jackson Miller crossed his arms and sighed, understanding her unspoken words.

“The terrorists wouldn’t have left the base station alone.”

“Yes.”

While the adults were having a serious conversation, the boy, Ian Weaver, looked at Lee Hyun-woo.

Even though he was unconscious and lying down, his pale face and sad expression made Ian Weaver, no, Andrew Walker sad too.

‘No. I have to act.’

Andrew wanted to show his acting to his favorite Jun.

Ian Weaver held Lee Hyun-woo’s injured hand with his small hand, as if he wasn’t afraid of the bloody nails and dangling nails.

“We found a way.”

Former soldier Raymond Wish appeared from a corner, brushing off the dirt on his head.

The people got up one by one with bright faces.

“Where?!”

“Me, me first…!”

“Hey! I got here first!”

Raymond Wish looked around at the shouting people and lifted his head with a heavy sigh.

Lee Hyun-woo’s consciousness came back a little bit as he heard the voices of people who wanted to escape from here.

His back felt cold.

The air was heavy too.

His head slowly turned and he heard people shouting that their young son, daughter, family were waiting outside.

He didn’t want to get up when he heard those voices.

‘Just… just…’

Then he felt a hand holding his cold hand.

It was warm and soft.

He jerked up and lifted his heavy eyelids.

A child with brown eyes was looking at him.

The child smiled brightly when he met Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes,

Thump!

Lee Hyun-woo unconsciously slapped away the child’s hand.

***

“I don’t really hate you.”

“…I know.”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek awkwardly at Andrew Walker’s sullen look.

The actors and even the staff couldn’t help but smile at the two kids who were talking with each other.

Seo-jun’s acting was so realistic that Andrew was depressed as soon as the OK sign fell.

He had been sparkling all day long, but now he avoided Seo-jun’s gaze and slumped down. Seo-jun felt guilty for some reason at the sight of the kid who had been looking at him with bright eyes.

“Andy. That’s Lee Hyun-woo who is pushing Ian away. He’s so hurt that he hates everything.”

“I know that…”

Andrew’s ears and tail, which had been fluttering all day long, didn’t move at all.

“…I know that…”

Andrew knew it was acting too.

If it was another actor, he would have understood and laughed it off.

But it was Seo-jun Lee.

His favorite actor in the world.

He understood it in his head, but his heart hurt.

Andrew didn’t even realize that his eyes were watery.

‘Don’t cry.’

‘It’s acting. Don’t cry.’

He repeated to himself, but his lips pouted out without him knowing.

He hated himself more for his pathetic look and tears came out.

It was a vicious cycle.

“…I really like Jun…”

“I like Andy too!”

Ouch.

Seo-jun hugged Andrew and cooed at him.

‘It feels like cheating, but…’

He also emitted a sparkling aura.

Andrew’s mood slowly softened as he saw the sparkling star.

He finally laughed with a hehe.

Seo-jun also smiled widely at Andrew’s return.

“Kids are so cute these days!”

The people who had been holding their breath and watching them burst into laughter at Vanessa Olsen’s words.

Chapter 331

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Chapter 331

After the white Christmas, the end of the year was approaching.

Korea was buzzing with award ceremonies.

[MBS, Will the 6-episode ‘Spring Has Returned’ Win an Award?]

[MBS, Considering a New Award Category?]

[The Most Talked-About Drama of the Year, ‘Spring Has Returned’]

[The Discovery of New Actors? The 4-episode ‘Tomorrow’]

[Will Actor Lee Seo-jun, Who is Filming the Hollywood Movie ‘Survivors’, Attend?]

-MBS Drama Awards, looking forward to itㅎㅎ

=22 MBS swept the drama scene this year.

=The dramas that aired after Spring Has Returned were also pretty good.

-I bet Seo-jun will win all the viewer-voted awardsㅎㅎ

-MBS is creating a new award category. It seems like it will end this year.

=22 It’s probably for Spring Has Returned and Tomorrow, which boosted the ratings since the beginning of the year. They might not have it next year.

=But they both deserve it. They had more buzz and ratings than the usual 16 or 20-episode dramas.

-ㅋㅋ Tomorrow wouldn’t have gotten this much attention if it wasn’t for Spring Has Returnedㅋㅋ It’s because they aired together.

=Well, I agree a little bit. But Tomorrow was fun too. The actors did well too.

-But Seo-jun won’t be able to come, right?

=He has a filming schedule, so he can’t come. The flight time is over ten hours.

=ㅠㅠㅠ

***

December 30th.

The MBS Drama Awards began.

The red carpet was filled with dazzling actors one by one.

The fans who were watching the red carpet from start to finish, hoping that Seo-jun might make a surprise appearance, drooped their shoulders.

-I guess Seo-jun won’t come after all.

-Seo-junㅠㅠ Work hard on filmingㅠㅠ

[MBS Drama Awards Part 1 Ends!]

[The Acceptance Speeches of the Newcomer Award Winners!]

[The Actors Who Won the Excellence Awards for Monday-Tuesday and Wednesday-Thursday Series!]

-…They’re not giving awards to Tomorrow and Spring Has Returned?

=They said they’ll do it in part 2.

=Well, that makes sense. We’re still watching it tooㅎㅎ

=22 I was going to sleep after seeing Seo-jun win an award… MBS…!

-As expected, there are a lot of adsㅎㅎ

The MBS Drama Awards Part 2 started with an idol performance.

“Hello, viewers. I’m actor Park Do-hoon,”

“Yoon Hye-in.”

Park Do-hoon and Yoon Hye-in, who came out as special MCs, greeted with a smile.

And then Kang Tae-young appeared on the screen.

He was sitting in the audience.

The cheers erupted at the appearance of the main actors of ‘Spring Has Returned’.

[Special Drama Category. Excellence Award.]

The 4-episode Tomorrow and the 6-episode Spring Has Returned were combined into a ‘Special Drama Category’.

A male newcomer award came out from ‘Tomorrow’ and Jung Bo-ram from ‘Spring Has Returned’ received a female newcomer award.

Everyone applauded for Jung Bo-ram, who was smiling brightly.

“Special Drama Category. Excellence Award.”

Park Do-hoon opened his mouth with a smile.

“Actor Lee Seo-jun for the role of Yoo Sung-jin. Congratulations!”

Fireworks went off and Lee Ji-seok, who was asked to receive the award on behalf of Seo-jun, went up on stage.

He received the trophy instead of Seo-jun and spoke in front of the microphone with a smile.

“I’ll receive the award on his behalf and deliver it to him, but we can’t miss his acceptance speech.”

Lee Ji-seok’s words made the PD who was in charge of the drama awards clasp his hands together.

He had checked several times for this moment.

“Please don’t let anything go wrong…!”

While the viewers were bewildered, the screen behind Lee Ji-seok, where [Special Drama Category, Excellence Award] was written, turned black.

[Hello, viewers. I’m actor Lee Seo-jun.]

The screen that had turned black brightened up and Lee Seo-jun appeared.

Some fans screamed at the sight of Seo-jun’s neat hair and bright sky outside the window.

-Is this a video?!

-Wow. Is it live or recorded?

-It looks like live?! It’s dawn in LA right now…!

Some fans who saw Seo-jun’s face shining in the morning sun on the screen screamed.

Song Yu-jung also answered the phone from Lim Ye-na, who called in a flash, and talked enthusiastically about Seo-jun’s glowing appearance.

His face looked more refreshing because it was morning.

[I’m sorry to greet you with a video. This is LA and it’s still morning. But I woke up early and watched the MBS Drama Awards. Congratulations to everyone who won.]

Lee Seo-jun, who had an earphone in one ear, spoke with a smile.

[I think the reason why such a short drama of 6 episodes became so popular was thanks to the interest and love of the viewers. I didn’t expect to win an award because my appearance was too short, but I got it thanks to the viewers. I’m really happy.]

Seo-jun’s sincerity was felt beyond the video.

[Haha. There are so many people I want to thank that it’s a big problem. PD Gong Hee-chan, writer Yoo Cheonga. Thank you for making such a good work. Thank you to all the staff and actors who worked and acted with me. Thank you very much to the viewers who loved Spring Has Returned. I want to show you more amazing acting in the future.]

Lee Seo-jun in the screen smiled brightly.

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, Best Couple Award, Excellence Award Winner!]

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, Netizen’s Choice, Popularity Award Winner!]

***

The new year came and the filming of ‘Survivors’ resumed.

“Hello.”

Lee Seo-jun entered the set.

There seemed to be more staff than usual on the set today.

Seo-jun and Anh Da Ho, who were tilting their heads, approached the set and gasped in admiration.

“The set is bigger today.”

“Yeah.”

Today’s set was different from usual. If the usual set was wide sideways, today’s set was wide sideways and high upwards. The set that was raised by 1 meter seemed to require acting by climbing up the stairs. There were stairs around.

“The cameras and lights are all up there too.”

Seo-jun’s words made Anh Da Ho look up.

As the height of the set increased, the cameras that had to film the actors on top of it, as well as the lights that had to shine a proper light and the microphones that had to record the actors’ voices, had to be installed higher than usual.

Especially, the camera had to go up with the cinematographer who operated it, so there was a machine that looked like a lift.

“They prepared a lot.”

A new voice made Seo-jun turn around.

“Oh, Davis.”

“Hi, Jun. You came early?”

“I like sets.”

Seo-jun smiled shyly and Davis Garrett smiled back.

“Hello!”

Davis Garrett and Seo-jun, who were talking about today’s scene while looking at the set that was being finalized, turned around at the cheerful greeting.

They both smiled already, feeling like they knew who it was by voice alone.

“Hi, Andy.”

Andrew Walker smiled brightly at the sight of Seo-jun Lee and Davis Garrett greeting him with a smile.

***

“Ready, action!”

Boom!!

Before they could even swear at the sound of another bomb, people collapsed to the floor.

The vibration of the floor was not good.

“…Why do we hear the sound from here?!”

The explosion came from somewhere else.

It was not the south shopping district, the west restaurant district, or the east movie theater that had already exploded.

It was not the north amusement park that they thought was the last escape route either.

It was an unexpected place.

It was underground.

People were stunned by the explosion from below and screams were heard.

The vibration of the floor was not good.

Thud thud, something like sand fell from the ceiling and cracks began to appear on the floor and ceiling.

“Oh, God…!”

As a gap cracked open, revealing the gray cement under the white tiles, someone called out to God.

The pillars of the underground were not as sturdy as those of the buildings above ground.

People who had been crouching down in the shaking got up hesitantly.

They had faces that realized that they could not sit still.

They looked around with stunned faces and searched for an exit.

If the explosions so far were to block the entrance, then the explosions from now on were,

“…The building is going to collapse…!”

They were for collapse.

People who had been relieved that they had a chance to live gasped.

A sobbing sound was heard.

A scream was heard.

There were people who said something to Raymond Wish.

There were opinions that they should go to the way Raymond found right away.

Among the people who were struggling to survive,

Lee Hyun-woo, who had been crouching down, raised his hand and covered his ears.

It was hell.

***

Boom!!

A shock that was incomparable to before hit the building again.

The screams of survivors who had been isolated in various places in the south, east, and west echoed in the building, but they did not reach where it was blocked.

The floor where people were standing cracked.

People tried to back away with a scream at an alarming speed, but the floor collapsed faster than their movement.

Ahhhh!!

People who disappeared screaming and those who remained had stunned faces and leaned against the wall.

But the wall was not safe either.

A large wall pushed by the explosion crushed a person who was leaning on it.

People who saw that horrible sight screamed.

“Ian!”

Cynthia Lindberg called out to Ian.

Jackson Miller also watched Lee Hyun-woo, who was crouching in a corner.

But they could not do anything more.

They did not know which part of the floor would collapse or which part of the wall would fall.

The rough breathing of anxious people was buried by the sound of collapsing building.

There was nothing people could do in a huge disaster.

At the moment when Raymond Wish, who had been checking the situation, tried to shout something,

The floor collapsed.

Before people who were standing on it could react,

Dark black darkness swallowed them up.

***

“Cut, okay!”

At Jeffrey’s shout, actors who had been hiding under the set with bated breath peeked out one by one.

The actor who played the role of being crushed by a wall crawled out of a gap prepared under it.

Staff laughed at the sight of actors ‘reviving’ one by one.

The set that was higher than usual was all prepared for this scene.

They laid mats of chroma key color under the set and made the floor collapse at a good timing.

That way, it would look like actors really disappeared into the floor.

The rest would be done with CG.

Vanessa Olsen, who came out of a hole in the set, lightly pressed her hand over her pounding heart.

“I was a little surprised even though we rehearsed. Are you okay, Andy?”

“I had fun!”

Andrew answered cheerfully to Vanessa Olsen’s worry.

Andrew’s flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes seemed to tell his sincerity.

“What about Jun?”

Seo-jun smiled and said.

He missed and enjoyed this dungeon-like set.

These shoddy traps were quite useful when he first made dungeons. But come to think of it, he also fell into shoddy traps a lot.

It was because he lived as both weak and strong.

“I enjoyed it too.”

“…Kids these days are bold.”

Vanessa Olsen shook her head and everyone laughed.

Hahaha.

The planning team leader of Bearound, who followed suit laughing, whispered to Director Jeffrey.

“I think you don’t have to worry anymore.”

Jeffrey director tilted his head at the sudden remark of planning team leader and planning team leader smiled broadly and said.

“It’s what actor Davis Garrett said. You haven’t changed anything so far. He must have liked your revised script. Haha. I think you can relax now!”

“Is that so?”

Jeffrey director’s gaze turned to Davis Garrett.

It was true that he was quiet for someone who had written in the contract that he would modify the script as he pleased.

There were some parts that he changed, but they were not that big.

“Then don’t worry and shoot according to the script!”

The planning team leader asserted with satisfaction at the smooth shooting.

But a few days later.

He realized that it was too hasty.

***

“Can’t you be quiet!”

Raymond Wish shouted angrily.

At his loud voice, Milan Chellen, Vanessa Olsen, and Andrew Walker were startled and looked at Davis Garrett, no, Raymond Wish.

There was Raymond Wish with a twisted face.

Their eyes shook at his face.

It’s different from the script!

“Oh. No…!”

The planning team leader screamed at the accident that happened right after he asserted to Jeffrey director.

The original scenario’s Raymond Wish was calm and cold, but also warm-hearted, and comforted Lee Hyun-woo, who was suffering from claustrophobia.

And he made him regain his senses and gave him the will to live.

In other words, ‘Raymond Wish’ played by Davis Garrett was a typical ‘hero’ in a ‘disaster movie’.

But his personality changed completely with this one line.

‘Can’t you be quiet!’

It was irritation and anger that ‘the hero of the disaster movie’ should never show to ‘the weak’.

If the character’s personality changed like this, they had to change everything from the footage they had shot so far to the contents they would shoot later.

All those thoughts flashed through the planning team leader’s head like lightning.

He had to bite his lips and scream inwardly because Jeffrey director did not shout cut yet.

‘I was careless. I was careless!’

He underestimated Davis Garrett’s reputation.

He should have kept an eye on him instead of being complacent.

He had to revise the script again and adjust the shooting schedule and make the set and find the actors… The planning team leader’s head became dizzy at the thought of working overtime.

‘…But why doesn’t he shout cut?’

The actors must have been surprised by Davis Garrett’s impromptu acting.

They couldn’t continue shooting properly with that surprise, but only screams were heard in the shooting scene, not Jeffrey Rodex director’s cut sound.

‘Screams?’

The planning team leader jerked up his body at the pain-filled screams and slowly looked up at the set.

The other staff and Jeffrey director were already staring at the set with blank faces.

“Uh… uh… ah…!”

Only one person.

An actor who continued acting along with Davis Garrett’s impromptu acting.

Lee Hyun-woo, who ‘got worse by Raymond Wish’s nervous shout’, was there.

It was Seo-jun Lee.

Chapter 332

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Chapter 332

A few hours ago.

Seo-jun arrived at the filming site with Ahn Da Ho.

“Hello!”

Everyone smiled and greeted the actor who always came early.

“Thank you for your hard work today. Jun.”

“Don’t worry! I’ll do my best!”

Seo-jun, who greeted the director Jeffrey, the planning team leader of Bearound, and the staff, headed to the set.

“Wow…”

This set was also more realistic than reality, so it was fun to watch.

‘No, it’s not. It’s hard to see this in reality… It’s like a movie.’

It looked like a cave made of rubble from collapsed buildings.

The debris that seemed to be walls and ceilings formed a cave, and there were sharp iron bars sticking out dangerously.

There were also goods from shops that must have been shiny new products a while ago, crushed under the rocks.

“Doesn’t it look like an ant nest, Da Ho hyung?”

The cave that was narrow and wide without any regularity looked like an ant nest.

“That’s right.”

Ahn Da Ho nodded in agreement with Seo-jun’s words.

It was like looking at a cross-section of an ant nest with one side of the wall made of glass.

Some of the blocked paths were made so that the actors could make their own way, and the set could also be cut into several parts for filming in different directions.

The staff were busy checking the set that was attached and detached.

“Move part 1!”

“Part 1 moving! Back off!”

As one of the staff instructed, the staff around them backed off and one side of the set moved.

Slowly, part of the set separated like a piece of cake and started to move.

“Part 1 moving complete!”

“Part 2 moving starts!”

The staff ignored the falling dust and moved parts 2 and 3 in turn.

“…It’s like a transforming robot.”

Ahn Da Ho chuckled in agreement with Seo-jun’s remark.

Seo-jun, who was watching the set for a while, greeted the actors who came into the filming site.

***

Before filming began.

Davis Garrett glanced over his script.

There were clichés in disaster movies, even though they were twisted a lot these days.

The main character who is the most reliable and tries to save others in a disaster movie.

The supporting character who helps the main character.

The character who causes an accident and puts people in danger.

The selfish character who only thinks about himself.

Among them, Raymond Wish, played by Davis Garrett, was a main character who acted as a leader in escaping from the mall.

‘He’s the kind of character who doesn’t get shot or die even if he does, and moves with fatal wounds and finally saves everyone and becomes a hero.’

[Survivors] was edited to start from when Raymond Wish visited ‘Galleria Mall’ with his family, and then showed the past of the last four people left in the middle until the end.

There, Seo-jun Lee played Lee Hyun-woo, a nuisance character who couldn’t move in time due to mental shock.

Jackson Miller and Cynthia Lindberg were helpers of the main character. And Ian Weaver was a character who symbolized ‘hope in disaster’ that had to be saved.

Even at a glance, Davis Garrett was a little bothered by those roles that anyone could tell.

He knew that clichés became clichés because they were the most stable and popular, so Davis Garrett didn’t completely ignore them.

‘Well, this much is okay.’

Still, Davis Garrett tried to make Raymond Wish’s flat character three-dimensional by occasionally showing subtle actions.

A movement so weak that it could be ignored.

‘I hope someone notices…’

Improvisation also required an actor who could cooperate.

Davis Garrett had failed to show his whole character because of improvisation that didn’t match before.

***

It had been over two weeks since he filmed with Davis Garrett.

During that time, Seo-jun felt subtlety in Davis Garrett’s actions.

Raymond Wish’s footsteps, tone, expression, etc., who acted with Davis Garrett. Raymond Wish on set seemed slightly different from the character he felt in the script.

Lee Hyun-woo, who wore a mask upside down, watched Davis Garrett walking ahead.

‘So…’

Look at that.

He turned on the flashlight he had taken during evacuation and walked through a place that looked like a dangerous cave.

There was a slight haste in Raymond Wish’s footsteps.

Lee Hyun-woo, who was immersed in himself, walked slowly as if he was dragged.

The three actors also walked cautiously step by step according to their roles.

Only Raymond Wish seemed impatient.

Raymond Wish in the script sometimes looked back and checked on people with concern. But Raymond Wish’s eyes when he looked back…

‘Are they a bit cold?’

That Raymond Wish’s appearance that wasn’t seen in the script was very strange, and interesting.

‘Is this what Davis meant by improvisation.’

The history of ‘Raymond Wish’ that was not revealed in the script.

When he was born, how he grew up, what school he graduated from, and how he became a soldier.

Why he had to retire.

It was too trivial and detailed for Director Jeffrey to make, but it was an indispensable story for the formation of the character.

Seo-jun was curious about ‘Raymond Wish’ that Davis Garrett made.

Davis Garrett kept giving signals. But it seemed like no one noticed because it was a signal that could be reversed at any time.

‘Or maybe everyone is too focused on the script.’

Everyone knew how ‘Raymond Wish’ would appear as much as they read the script.

Of course, it was most important to know the script well for filming a movie, but there was nothing less tense than a predetermined future.

So Seo-jun decided to treat ‘Raymond Wish’ walking ahead as a stranger he didn’t know.

He saw him for the first time at ‘Galleria Mall’ today, and he didn’t know if he could trust him or not.

He only knew his name and didn’t know what kind of personality he had.

So Seo-jun erased half of the script he remembered.

He became ‘Lee Hyun-woo’ who didn’t know anything.

And then, clank.

The signal sounded and the floor of the set shook three seconds later.

Seo-jun crouched down and trembled as in the script.

Jackson Miller, Cynthia Lindberg, and Ian Weaver headed to Lee Hyun-woo’s side as in the script.

“Uh… uh…”

Lee Hyun-woo crouched as if he couldn’t crouch any more.

Darkness.

It was darkness.

The black darkness that came with the shaking opened its mouth and ate his mom and dad, and finally came to eat him.

He trembled with fear that filled his head. He breathed heavily and groaned.

“Hey. Are you okay?”

“Breath. Breathe slowly.”

Two people spoke with worried voices, but nothing reached Hyun-woo Lee’s ears or eyes.

Darkness.

Darkness.

Darkness.

“Uh… Uh…”

In a narrow and blocked cave.

Only Hyun-woo Lee’s groaning sound scratched their ears.

It irritated the retired soldier’s nerves.

His heart raced as he remembered his post-traumatic stress disorder from his overseas deployment.

Raymond Wish clenched and unclenched his fists nervously.

His nerves were already on edge from the bomb sounds, the ground shaking, the blood and the screams.

And Hyun-woo Lee’s faint breathing was like a thorn in Raymond Wish’s side.

Strangely enough.

Even though Jackson Miller and Cynthia Lindberg had louder voices, Hyun-woo Lee’s thin breathing bothered him the most.

It gave him goosebumps.

He wanted to rip his ears off.

But still, Raymond Wish endured.

He remembered that Hyun-woo Lee was a young civilian and a weakling.

He endured,

Endured, and endured,

Until he exploded.

“Can’t you shut up!”

The faces of the three actors were startled as they passed by Davis Garrett’s sight.

At the end of them, there was a cowering creature that flinched.

Now it was his turn.

Seo-jun Lee or

Hyun-woo Lee.

His improvised acting would change accordingly.

“Uh… Uh… Aaah…!”

A faint moan was heard.

A scream full of pain was heard.

Ha ha.

This was it.

Davis Garrett was thrilled to the point of shivering.

It was rare to find an actor who matched his improvisation so well from the first time.

He moved his steps toward Hyun-woo Lee, who was having a seizure, with a smug smile on his face.

He couldn’t stop his acting here with an actor who accepted his improvisation so well.

***

Seo-jun Lee thought ‘here it comes’ when he heard Raymond Wish’s shout.

His heart was pounding. He enjoyed the unpredictable improvisation.

But Seo-jun Lee didn’t show his joy outwardly.

He thought and acted like Hyun-woo Lee.

No.

He was already Hyun-woo Lee.

***

Raymond Wish walked toward Hyun-woo Lee with rough steps.

The three actors could only stare blankly at the sudden situation.

Raymond Wish grabbed Lee Hyun-woo’s shoulder and made him lift his head.

Then he grabbed his collar and growled.

The flashlight that fell from Raymond Wish’s hand spun around and the dazzling light scattered everywhere, making them dizzy.

“Shut your mouth! Do you think anyone is fine here?!”

“Huk… Hup…”

Lee Hyun-woo’s breathing was interrupted by Raymond Wish’s loud voice.

His head hung loosely in Raymond Wish’s hand.

His eyes met Lee Hyun-woo’s dead eyes.

His unfocused gaze seemed to say that he didn’t care if he lived or died.

That dark pupil without any light scratched Raymond Wish’s temper.

He felt a deep trauma that he thought he had forgotten or erased while living with his family crawling up from his stomach like a worm.

Raymond Wish’s face twisted fiercely.

The characters created by Davis Garrett and Seo-jun Lee clashed violently and created sparks.

Very hot sparks.

***

Andrew Walker grabbed Vanessa Olsen’s arm.

Vanessa Olsen’s hand covered his slightly trembling small hand.

It was strange.

It was scary.

But,

…it was amazing.

Andrew Walker’s heart thumped.

Davis Garrett and Seo-jun Lee seemed to be in a completely different world.

No, they had been like that until now, but today they were even more unlike the people he knew.

They were just Raymond Wish and Lee Hyun-woo.

The Raymond Wish who seemed to burn himself at any moment and the Lee Hyun-woo who had already died with empty eyes came and went.

Everyone forgot to breathe as they watched the two actors in a scene that they couldn’t see in a normal shooting set.

It was a pity that if the time had been longer, one of the two actors would have raised their hand to stop the shooting or Jeffrey Rodex, who had been staring at the monitor without blinking, would have shouted cut.

Fortunately, there was an actor who had shot with Davis Garrett before.

Milan Chellen, who had been watching the two actors’ improvisation from the closest place, came to his senses.

He knew it would explode sooner or later, but he didn’t expect it to be so sudden.

And he never imagined that they would change their character personalities.

But Milan Chellen didn’t want to make this scene into a wasted scene either.

‘Even if they shoot again, they will do well.’

He smiled softly to himself.

Milan Chellen knew very well that he couldn’t do improvisation like Davis Garrett or Seo-jun Lee.

He just,

“Stop it! This is not the time for this!”

He had no choice but to pull out the appropriate lines from the script by wracking his brain.

It was ironic that it was Raymond Wish’s line.

Raymond Wish, who was about to turn his eyes, caught his gaze and breathed heavily.

He threw Lee Hyun-woo away.

Lee Hyun-woo fell to the ground without a sound and dust rose.

Andrew Walker ran to him in surprise.

In the meantime, Cynthia Lindberg, who had immersed herself in her character, also ran to Lee Hyun-woo with her heart pounding.

An uneasy wind blew among the survivors.

***

Silence fell on the set.

Jeffrey Rodex, the director who barely shouted cut, thought he heard something breaking.

Chapter 333

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Chapter 333

The silence that had weighed down on the set after Jeffrey’s cut was still there.

Everyone was watching Davis Garrett and Seo-jun.

They were especially worried about Seo-jun.

They hadn’t thought much about it when the two actors’ improvisation had passed by like a storm, but they wondered if that state was not real fear rather than acting.

Then, Seo-jun, who had been crouching, slowly got up from his seat.

Everyone blinked their eyes and watched Seo-jun’s movements closely.

“Did I work too hard?”

Seo-jun smiled softly as he moved his slightly stiff body and got up from his seat. But it was also the most thrilling performance he had ever done.

Seo-jun was about to walk away with an excited face when he tilted his head at the quiet set even after the shooting was over.

“Are we not going to monitor?”

Andrew Walker, who had widened his eyes at Seo-jun’s appearance, which looked not only fine but also radiant, quickly ran over and hugged Seo-jun tightly.

“Jun is the best in the world! Awesome! Amazing!”

He felt more than that when he watched the improvisation.

He was frustrated that he could only express it with these words, but Andrew Walker did his best to show Seo-jun’s greatness.

“Andy. Am I not great too?”

Davis Garrett, who had started the improvisation, asked with a smile.

“Davis is great too!”

“…It feels like the modifier has been reduced by half compared to Jun’s…”

Milan Chellen and Vanessa Olsen laughed.

When the staffs were admiring the atmosphere that was so warm and friendly that they couldn’t tell where the storm had gone,

“First of all.”

Jeffrey, who wrote and directed this movie, opened his mouth.

“Let’s talk.”

Someone swallowed their saliva.

***

The actors, the planning team leader, and Jeffrey sat around a monitor and watched the footage that had not yet been decided whether it was NG or OK.

The actors’ expressions did not show any signs of breaking immersion even though it was shot in full shot.

No, they didn’t have time to pay attention to that because they were captivated by Seo-jun and Davis Garrett.

Jeffrey’s eyes kept going to Seo-jun and Davis Garrett’s faces on the screen.

He wanted to film their faces right away.

The light reflected in their eyes, the shaking hair, the breathing, the changing complexion, and the sweat.

That’s why he didn’t want to give up this scene.

“Trauma…”

Jeffrey nodded at Davis Garrett’s words.

“Then in the previous shootings too…?”

Jeffrey recalled the actions and lines that had been modified occasionally.

It wasn’t a big difference, but it made sense when he heard the reason and thought about it.

“Yes. I was going to act alone with the setting that Raymond Wish had ‘a little’ trauma left if Jun didn’t accept it…”

Davis Garrett smiled as he looked at Seo-jun and stopped talking.

“But after shooting today, I think it’s okay to be a more ‘risky’ retired soldier.”

At Davis Garrett’s words, Jeffrey fell into thought.

“I get it roughly.”

“So do I.”

Seo-jun and the two actors also understood Raymond Wish’s behavior.

‘Well, I’ll have to act like I don’t know that when I act.’

At least they got the direction.

Andrew Walker looked at the actors and Director who were talking with sparkling eyes.

The first movie shooting he tried after only doing plays with his friends was full of wonders.

The big and cool set.

The amazing shooting equipment.

The professional staff.

There were so many amazing things, but the most shining ones were the actors.

“Davis. Do you have any more thoughts?”

At Jeffrey’s question, Davis Garrett scratched his chin.

“Well, I have some settings in mind…”

Everyone listened carefully to Davis Garrett’s words.

“I think it would be good to have a control device because trauma can make your eyes go crazy.”

“A control device?”

Seo-jun asked and Davis Garrett answered with a smile.

“The reason why Raymond Wish has to endure his trauma and escape. Honestly, if Raymond goes crazy because of his trauma, everyone will die.”

Oh.

Everyone nodded at Davis Garrett’s words.

“Have you thought of what to use as a control device?”

At Jeffrey’s question, Davis Garrett smiled as he looked at Seo-jun.

No, it was Lee Hyun-woo who was across from him that he looked at.

“Family. How about that?”

Everyone looked at Seo-jun once and then at Davis Garrett again at his words.

“Raymond Wish’s family escapes early thanks to Raymond in the original script. Raymond gets isolated while trying to save someone else.”

The actors nodded at Davis Garrett’s words.

Jeffrey, who understood Davis Garrett’s words first, opened his eyes wide.

“Let’s isolate his family. Not completely save them, but make them like Lee Hyun-woo’s family, who don’t know if they are alive or dead, and give Raymond Wish a reason to escape as soon as possible.”

Jeffrey’s head spun at Davis Garrett’s words.

Not bad.

No.

Good.

The anxiety of his family being in danger and the confusion caused by the trauma.

And the urgency of having to suppress all that and go to save his family.

‘If that’s the case, Lee Hyun-woo, who triggers his trauma, will keep bothering him.’

Will they keep clashing like that?

‘Or…’

Itchy.

He felt like he could think of a development that would come up with a little more thought.

Jeffrey scratched his head hard.

“…Then we’ll have to shoot again.”

The planning team leader said with a groan and Jeffrey nodded and said.

“I think we only need to reshoot the part where Wish’s family gets isolated.”

“…For now…”

There was no word more terrifying than that to the planning team leader right now.

***

“Ready, action!”

He didn’t know how long he had been underground.

The survivors had found a fairly large place to rest for a while during their move.

The old compass in Ian Weaver’s watch that Raymond Wish held in his hand spun around and pointed north.

Raymond Wish was examining the corridor where he had to go with the flashlight, while Cynthia Lindberg’s eyes were busy looking at the products buried in the wall.

Among the products that were broken beyond recognition, there was a brand that appeared frequently.

Cynthia Lindberg, who used to be a guide at the Galleria Mall, recalled the location of the store of that brand.

“This brand is on the third floor in the center.”

“…So we’re still in the center.”

Raymond Wish sighed heavily.

Jackson Miller was speechless that the products from the third floor were here.

He unconsciously looked up at the ceiling.

He had no idea how much it had collapsed.

Ian Weaver, who was next to Cynthia Lindberg, cautiously moved to Lee Hyun-woo’s side.

Jackson Miller followed the others, but every time he stopped for a moment, he was Lee Hyun-woo, who was crouching in the most cornered place.

“Brother. Do you want to eat this?”

Everyone had shared some snacks from Ian Weaver’s bag to replenish their strength, but Lee Hyun-woo didn’t eat alone.

“…”

“This is delicious…”

Ian Weaver came to Lee Hyun-woo over and over again, despite his cold reaction.

In the darkness.

Lee Hyun-woo tried to breathe normally.

He didn’t want to bother them because they were all nice people, but his broken body didn’t listen to him.

Ian Weaver looked at Lee Hyun-woo, who was crouching.

He leaned his body on Lee Hyun-woo softly, who looked like his mother.

A warm heat stuck to Lee Hyun-woo’s side.

Lee Hyun-woo felt like crying because of the small body and warm heat.

***

Raymond Wish breathed in and out several times as if he was suffocating.

He didn’t know how deep Lee Hyun-woo’s trauma was, which happened just a few hours ago, or how deep Raymond Wish’s trauma was, which had been for several years.

But.

Raymond Wish overcame it several times.

So… he could endure this time as well.

He ignored his trembling hands and closed his eyes tightly.

He tried not to look at Lee Hyun-woo, who would be the trigger of his trauma.

He didn’t want to cause trouble in such a narrow and dangerous place because he would lose his mind.

He had a family in the restaurant district… he had to go and save them…!

The desperate voice of Raymond Wish seemed to reach Lee Hyun-woo’s ears faintly.

“Please… please shut up! It keeps ringing in my head and I feel like I’m going crazy!”

Raymond Wish spewed out anger and irritation with his whole body.

But he was still holding back.

The first day he retired and returned home.

He remembered turning his house upside down because of his trauma and swallowed the blood that rose inside him.

He didn’t know what would happen if he lost his mind and made a fuss in such a narrow and dangerous place.

“We don’t have time… to do this…!”

Raymond Wish tore his hair as if he was having a seizure.

There was no trace of the reliable look he had when they first met in that painful appearance.

The three people who were watching Raymond Wish nervously blocked him in front of him.

Ian Weaver quickly covered Lee Hyun-woo, who was having a seizure, as if hugging him.

In front of them, Raymond Wish shouted with a voice that seemed to tear apart, ignoring the three people who were not even visible.

“There’s a family in the restaurant district… I have to go and save them…!”

***

Director Jeffrey scratched his head hard.

“I thought it would explode…”

“Haha.”

Davis Garrett laughed and avoided Jeffrey’s eyes.

“I thought he would have a seizure…”

“…Haha.”

Seo-jun also smiled awkwardly and avoided Jeffrey’s eyes. It was a clumsy evasion compared to Davis Garrett, who had experienced this several times.

“I planned that Ian would stick to Hyun-woo and Hyun-woo would have a seizure and Raymond would make a fuss again…”

Jeffrey tapped his forehead.

“It doesn’t go as planned.”

“If it goes as planned, it wouldn’t be improvisation.”

“You’re good at talking.”

Jeffrey laughed sarcastically at Davis Garrett’s brazen words.

Seo-jun and the actors opened their eyes wide at Jeffrey’s appearance.

They thought he was a weak and timid director who accepted Davis Garrett’s revision without his own opinion, but now he showed his own personality.

The planning team leader, who had been watching Jeffrey’s weak appearance, opened his mouth in disbelief.

Jeffrey also seemed surprised by what he said and opened his eyes wide.

Milan Chellen and Davis Garrett burst into laughter.

“Our Director. You have a personality!”

“Good! Feel free to speak your mind!”

They felt somewhat comfortable and embarrassed by their teasing remarks. Seo-jun, Andrew, and Vanessa Olsen also giggled.

Jeffrey coughed awkwardly.

“Ahem. So what’s next?”

“…Well?”

Jeffrey looked at Davis Garrett and Seo-jun, who scratched their cheeks at his words.

Milan Chellen and Vanessa Olsen laughed again, and the planning team leader tapped his forehead.

“First of all…”

Jeffrey opened the script and checked the scenes to be filmed today.

Jeffrey’s eyes and the pen in his hand moved faster than ever.

It was very different from the passive attitude he had shown so far, just accepting Davis Garrett’s opinion.

“Without touching the lines or actions of other characters too much… let’s delete this part to this part. And move this line over here…”

Davis Garrett and Seo-jun also put their heads together.

“I think it’s okay to leave our lines blank.”

“Rather than leaving them blank, how about setting a direction? Like strong-strong-strong or strong-weak-weak.”

Everyone nodded at Seo-jun’s words, and then,

“…But it still seems like it will collapse.”

They laughed at the worried words of the planning team leader, who was full of anxiety.

Ahn Da Ho, who was watching the situation from afar, scratched his cheek.

“I didn’t expect to see a revised script in America…”

***

In the dark, blocked space.

They only relied on the flashlight, so Lee Hyun-woo’s condition got worse and worse.

Not only the big shakes, but now he had seizures even when they moved the stones to make a passage.

“Ahh!”

The sharp scream that was the only sound in the heavy silence ate away at Raymond Wish’s nerves.

It felt like a bug was buzzing around his ear.

Tick tock.

The three people who were watching Raymond Wish nervously raised their guard.

Even Ian Weaver, who was stuck to Lee Hyun-woo, held his breath.

In front of them, Raymond Wish ignored the three people who were not even visible and shouted with a voice that seemed to tear apart.

“Please… please shut up! It keeps ringing in my head and I feel like I’m going crazy!”

Raymond Wish spewed out anger and irritation with his whole body.

But he was still holding back.

The first day he retired and returned home.

He remembered turning his house upside down because of his trauma and swallowed the blood that rose inside him. He didn’t know what would happen if he lost his mind and made a fuss in such a narrow and dangerous place.

“We don’t have time… to do this…!”

Raymond Wish tore his hair as if he was having a seizure.

There was no trace of the reliable look he had when they first met in that painful appearance.

The three people who were watching Raymond Wish nervously blocked him in front of him.

Ian Weaver quickly covered Lee Hyun-woo, who was having a seizure, as if hugging him.

In front of them, Raymond Wish shouted with a voice that seemed to tear apart, ignoring the three people who were not even visible.

“There’s a family in the restaurant district… I have to go and save them…!”

Family.

Lee Hyun-woo’s breath stopped.

His ears popped as he felt the warm body of the child covering him.

“Please… please…”

Raymond Wish, the most threatening survivor, cowered next to Lee Hyun-woo, the weakest one.

Raymond Wish didn’t care about the stone shards on the floor that cut his skin as he curled up.

“…Be quiet…!”

Silence fell.

Only the sobbing of Raymond Wish and Lee Hyun-woo could be heard.

Ian Weaver realized that his brother’s trembling had subsided.

He heard a murmuring voice.

“…I’m… I’m sorry… I’m sorry… Really… I’m sorry… Sorry… I’m sorry…”

Lee Hyun-woo, whose black eyes regained some light, apologized over and over. He apologized and apologized and apologized until he finally managed to spit out what he wanted to say.

“I’m sorry… It’s not… not my fault… I’m really sorry… I’m sorry…”

Hoo… hoo…

Someone’s whimpering made Jackson Miller and Cynthia Lindberg close their eyes tightly.

It was nobody’s fault.

***

“Cut, okay!”

The director Jeffrey, who had been staring at the monitor with sparkling eyes, shouted.

The actors who had been acting passionately stretched their stiff bodies and prepared for the next shot.

The planning team leader, who had been watching the monitor with Jeffrey, sighed.

He didn’t want to discard any of the scenes, but they had changed too much from the original.

“I can’t even guess how it will end now. Do you have any idea, Director? I feel like my head is going to explode.”

Jeffrey smiled at the planning team leader’s words.

“Yes. I feel like my mind is clear and full of ideas.”

The planning team leader looked at Jeffrey, who spoke in a bright voice.

Jeffrey’s eyes sparkled as he smiled brightly with a cheerful expression.

He was so bright that it was scary.

He shouldn’t think like this, but

‘…Has he gone crazy?’

The planning team leader watched Jeffrey walk out of the set with a very light step.

‘Nah. It must be my imagination.’

Chapter 334

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Chapter 334

After finishing all the shooting for the day, Director Jeffrey headed to the studio that Bearound had prepared for him with a light step.

He recalled a very old memory.

Jeffrey Rodex.

The boy who preferred to read books or watch movies at home rather than playing with his friends who were more physically fit grew up to become a film director aspirant as he wished.

“Nothing beats the safe type, right?”

It was a lecture for aspirants of similar fields such as movies, dramas, plays, etc. by people who were working in the industry and wanted to give some helpful advice.

The film director on the podium answered.

It was a question about what kind of scenario would attract the attention of production companies or investors.

Of course, timid Jeffrey Rodex was just quietly listening to the lecture.

“Why do you think clichés are clichés? If they were not interesting elements, they would have disappeared quickly. They are stories that the public loves and likes so much that they remain as clichés for a long time. Such cliché works can recover their investment as long as they don’t go wrong, so investors and production companies are interested in them.”

The film director looked at the aspirants who filled the lecture hall.

The aspirants had different goals such as movies, dramas, plays, etc. and their eyes sparkled.

How many of these aspirants would be able to make their own works?

And how many of them would be able to make the movies they really wanted?

“The goal of production companies and investors is one thing. Return on investment.”

It was a cold and rational advice for the aspirants who wanted to make their own works.

“Of course, it would be nice if the box office performance was more than the return on investment, but that’s not a common situation. Unless you’re a director with a special talent.”

Jeffrey Rodex swallowed his saliva.

He thought he was not that talented, so he was scared for a moment.

“Making a movie is like gambling.”

It seemed to hit him hard now.

He realized that he couldn’t just think about movies if he became a film director.

“You have to choose the topic that the public likes the most, create attractive characters, and make a story that they can immerse themselves in. That’s not all. You have to choose and cast actors who suit the characters. You have to worry about production companies and investors, and you can’t relax during shooting. You never know when and where and how an accident will happen.”

The film director looked around the aspirants and the lecture hall fell silent.

“That’s what movies are. Even if you make them all, you might not succeed. Then billions of dollars will disappear in an instant. If it’s a Hollywood movie, it would be tens of billions of dollars.”

Billions. Tens of billions.

Jeffrey Rodex felt his heart pounding at the amount he had never dreamed of.

“If you fail for the first time, the next conditions will be harder. You’ll have a failure on your resume. Now, think about it. There are resumes on the desk of a production company. A failed film director, an ambitious rookie director, a box office director. Who do you think they will choose from the perspective of a production company that invests billions of dollars?”

The film director finished his speech after looking around.

“Let’s go back to the first story. If the goal of production companies and investors is to return their investment, how do they make such works? If you add a little bit of specialness to the clichés that the public likes, you can get works that can recover your investment. So, the scenarios that production companies and investors want are safe types that don’t stand out too much.”

It was an ordinary lecture.

The next lecture was by a film director who said ‘push your art to the end’. It was just one of many lectures by directors with different opinions.

But it came differently to Jeffrey Rodex.

“Safe type…!”

Jeffrey Rodex hated bothering others the most and was full of worries that he might lose billions of dollars in investment.

“…Isn’t this too little?”

“It’s enough… isn’t it?”

He also made movies with safe clichés with a spoonful of specialness rather than movies with his own thoughts when he made independent films. Of course, he saved and spared his investment money.

The movies he made won awards at film festivals and his first commercial film also recovered all his investment money.

He felt that the words of that film director stuck in his chest as he continued his life as a director steadily.

Jeffrey Rodex made his second commercial film, [Survivors], with a special twist on the cliché of disaster films.

And he sprinkled his synopsis on production companies and signed a contract with one of them, Bearound.

But then things started to shake from then on.

Davis Garrett, notorious for script changes, said he would appear, and Seo-jun, who he never thought of, was cast.

Thanks to that, everyone was looking forward to his movie even before he started shooting.

‘…And the production cost increased.’

He was dizzy at the huge investment money he had never seen before and spent it on the set.

It was his movie that would lose all that investment money if it failed.

Jeffrey arrived at his studio that Bearound had prepared for him and sat down at the table and opened his laptop. It was a new laptop he bought with the contract money, but he didn’t know why it was so slow to turn on.

That’s how [Survivors] started shooting. Jeffrey was relieved by Davis Garrett’s stable acting that was not much different from his script.

‘…No.’

Jeffrey Rodex honestly expressed his feelings on the [Survivors] file written on the laptop screen that was fully turned on.

[Do your best to act ‘character’ as freely as you can. You’ll see what it means to not be bound by the script. It’s a rare opportunity to have permission from both the production company and the director.]

Freely.

That day. At the dinner table, Davis Garrett’s word resonated not only with the actors but also with Jeffrey Rodex’s heart.

‘I didn’t know then.’

He seemed to have a little expectation for the actors who would act after hearing that.

So he felt a little disappointed and relieved by the actors who shot according to the script.

‘Jun did well shockingly.’

When he saw Davis Garrett and Seo-jun acting out of his ‘stable’ script with different lines, movements, and character personalities, Jeffrey Rodex felt a tingling sensation from his toes to his head.

He was so relieved by his ‘stable’ script that was ruined by the two actors’ amazing acting.

Freely.

Jeffrey didn’t stop his rising lips.

He felt his heart pounding with excitement and grabbed his mouse.

On one side of the monitor, the [Survivors-Original] file was open and on the other side, the [Survivors-Modified] file was open.

“…Good.”

Jeffrey opened a new file. The cursor blinked on a white background.

His hand twitched on the empty screen.

Jeffrey put both hands on the keyboard, recalling what he had shot until today.

What is cliché?

Safe type?

It’s so safe that I’m suffocating!

“I’m going to do what I want…!”

Tap tap.

The Director’s eyes reflected in the light of the monitor sparkled.

Jeffrey Rodex laughed maniacally as he tapped on the keyboard.

A Bearound employee who stopped by when he heard that Jeffrey was in his studio closed the door quietly at the sight of Jeffrey Rodex, who was wrapped in madness.

***

Two days later.

Bearound headquarters conference room.

A stack of papers was pushed in front of Seo-jun and the actors, who were tilting their heads in curiosity because the shooting was postponed for a day at Jeffrey’s request.

[Survivors-Modified2]

Director Jeffrey Rodex, who handed out the stack of papers, looked exhausted. He had dark circles under his eyes, bloodshot pupils, and dry lips.

The actors were surprised by his changed face in just two days.

“Director. Did you stay up all night?”

“Yes. A little. I’m fine.”

Despite his weak appearance, Jeffrey smiled brightly at them. Seo-jun blinked his eyes.

He looked different from before.

Until recently, Jeffrey looked timid and weak, and now he looked even weaker than before. But the atmosphere was different.

Seo-jun’s eyes stopped at one place as he examined Jeffrey.

‘Is it because of his eyes?’

It was a familiar look.

“Oh.”

Davis Garrett, Milan Chellen, and Vanessa Olsen also felt the changed vibe of Jeffrey.

“You must have come up with a good story.”

It was the look of directors who loved and insisted on their own stories.

It was not always a good influence, but it was a necessary mind for Jeffrey.

Milan Chellen, who had seen many directors, said with a smile.

“Yes. I hope you like it.”

“Don’t forget that I have the right to modify it. Director.”

Jeffrey nodded with a groan at Davis Garrett’s playful voice.

“Shall we read it?”

At Seo-jun’s words, everyone opened the script in front of them. Andrew Walker also sat next to Seo-jun and shook his legs as he read the script.

“Oh…”

“…Hmm.”

Jeffrey shook his legs nervously at the actors’ ambiguous expressions.

Even the Director changed the script.

There was no such big accident.

He desperately hoped that the set would not change much and opened Jeffrey’s script.

‘…He must have used the shooting part.’

The front part was written in a brief summary as if he intended to use it as it was until the shooting two days ago.

He was relieved.

The planning team leader sighed and read the next line.

Seo-jun and Davis Garrett were the first ones to finish reading the script.

Davis Garrett scratched his chin as he closed the script. He looked sorry.

“…Is it because of me?”

Seo-jun laughed at Davis Garrett’s words.

He didn’t know the exact reason why Jeffrey flipped over the script, but Davis Garrett’s improvisation seemed to be the cause, so he couldn’t say he was innocent.

Davis Garrett seemed to think the same way.

“Our Director. I thought he was mild… He was just hiding his true nature. I was fooled.”

“Haha. Yeah.”

Jeffrey ran wild in the new script.

“How is it?”

Davis Garrett asked Seo-jun.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and answered.

“I like it. I want to shoot it.”

“I like it too.”

Milan Chellen and Vanessa Olsen nodded their heads.

Andrew Walker stopped shaking his legs and stared blankly at the script.

The lines of the three actors also changed slightly.

“It’s not hard to memorize this much…”

Vanessa Olsen’s eyes turned to one side.

Seo-jun and the two actors followed her gaze.

At the end of their gaze, there was a planning team leader from Bearound sitting there.

Then Jeffrey, who was smiling brightly at the actors’ reactions, also looked at the planning team leader.

He had only paid attention to the actors’ reactions, so he didn’t even notice the planning team leader’s appearance.

And Jeffrey was surprised.

The planning team leader’s face was pale as he looked at the script. It was the first time he saw him like this.

“…Team leader?”

The planning team leader came to his senses and lifted his head at Jeffrey’s voice. He only moved his lips for a while and barely spat out his voice.

“…This won’t work.”

It was a different firmness from before.

Chapter 335

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Chapter 335

“This won’t do.”

It was a different tone of firmness than before.

The Director, Jeffrey, was startled by the rough voice of the planning team leader.

Wasn’t this the same planning team leader who had assured him that he could even blow up a building if the director wanted?

The planning team leader who had obediently accepted Davis Garrett’s revisions.

Jeffrey had not worried about him at all.

He had never expected him to oppose his idea.

‘As expected.’

He knew it.

Not only Seo-jun, but the other actors also seemed to agree with the planning team leader’s opinion.

The enthusiasm that had been burning in Jeffrey’s eyes was half-diminished by the awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere.

The planning team leader sighed as he saw Jeffrey’s confused expression.

He looked tired, as if he had aged ten years while reading the script.

He let out a heavy sigh and opened his mouth.

“This won’t sell.”

Sell.

As much as they spent a huge amount of production cost, they had to think about the profit.

Wasn’t that the role of the production company?

As the representative of the production company in this place, he had no choice but to oppose this content.

Seo-jun, of course, and the other actors who had appeared in many works and seen many works, had noticed long ago that this script was not a very profitable one.

Wasn’t there an audience who was shaking their head here?

Seo-jun smirked at Andrew Walker, who was reading the script again with a surprised expression.

‘It would be fun, but… it would be hard to sell.’

It was bad news for the staff, actors, and Bearound employees who had worked hard for the filming.

He couldn’t go on like this.

Seo-jun looked at the script on the table.

“With these actors, how can it fail?”

Jeffrey’s eyes turned to the actors.

There were actors with ticket power that would make anyone envious.

The eternal hero, Davis Garrett of Redbone.

The most loved villain, Seo-jun Lee of Jin Natra.

Milan Chellen, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Jeffrey looked at them with a desperate expression. Davis Garrett, who had the most influence, scratched his cheek and said,

“It’s nice that you trust us, but… no matter how great an actor is, if the work doesn’t support them, they fail. Director.”

Jeffrey’s eyes shook as he read the hidden meaning in his words. His bright eyes slowly darkened.

“But the script is fine…”

“That’s from an actor’s perspective. I think it might be a bit awkward for the audience.”

Seo-jun nodded at Milan Chellen’s words.

“I think it’s an interesting story, but it’s hard to sell.”

When Seo-jun said that too, Jeffrey looked at [Survivors-Revision 2] in front of him with a disappointed face.

His mind, which had been clear until a moment ago, became cloudy as if dark clouds had covered it.

‘…as expected.’

He should have gone with a safe script.

That director was right.

“Ah… I see… yes… I’m sorry. I wasted your time.”

The actors felt sorry for Jeffrey, who looked completely dejected.

He looked weaker than when they first met.

The planning team leader was about to sigh, but swallowed it.

“Then tomorrow’s filming will be according to the original revision…”

It seemed that Jeffrey’s rampage was over here.

Seo-jun, who was looking at the script while thinking about something, opened his mouth.

“What about a Director’s Cut?”

Director’s cut.

Director’s Edition.

Unlike the movie (regular edition) that contains the intention of the production company, it is a movie that is re-edited according to the Director’s intention after release.

It was a way of recreating a movie that was edited and deleted according to the intention of the production company for various reasons such as box office success, movie running time, or censorship according to the director’s intention.

The actors slowly repeated Seo-jun’s words and changed their expressions.

Usually, they didn’t think about it because the director’s cut was decided after filming everything and clashing opinions between the production company and the director in editing.

“That sounds good.”

“Since it’s a Director’s Cut, it doesn’t matter much about box office success.”

The actors reacted positively to Jeffrey’s desperate eyes. The planning team leader also raised his head at Seo-jun’s words.

“A Director’s Cut?”

“Yes. Since it’s a Director’s Cut, can’t you make it as you please, Director?”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and looked at the planning team leader.

“I don’t know much about business.”

He smiled awkwardly as if he was embarrassed. The planning team leader thought about it.

“A Director’s Cut…”

When he opened his mouth, everyone listened carefully.

“It’s a different situation than usual, but… it seems possible. It’s just my guess, so I can’t guarantee the release, but you can make it as you want, director.”

“What if it can’t be released…”

Wouldn’t there be no one to watch it?

Unlike Jeffrey, who was worried, Seo-jun smiled brightly.

“What about uploading it on Plus+, Director? I’m a little close with the head of Plus+ Korea. I’ll ask him!”

Ahn Da Ho, who was sitting far away, chuckled at Seo-jun’s words.

What kind of favor is that?

If he just casually mentioned that there was a ‘Director’s Cut’ movie starring ‘Lee Seo-jun’, they would come running with their eyes on fire.

And looking at the faces of the actors here, they might get offers from here and there, and maybe even be able to screen it in theaters, contrary to the planning team leader’s worries.

“Then let’s go with the Director’s Cut. Director.”

“It sounds fun.”

The actors looked happy. The planning team leader sighed.

“Everyone. Don’t forget about ‘Survivors’.”

Seo-jun and the actors laughed at the planning team leader’s reminder.

“I hope you focus more on ‘Survivors’. Even if the Director’s Cut is confirmed. Of course.”

“Don’t worry about the filming.”

Seo-jun’s reliable words made the planning team leader smile more comfortably.

Who wouldn’t trust the actors who showed amazing acting on the set?

“And Director Jeffrey.”

It seemed that the ‘Director’s Cut’ story was half-confirmed.

Jeffrey, who was listening blankly, answered in surprise at the call of the planning team leader.

“Yes, yes?”

“Please make the Director’s Cut using the footage of ‘Survivors’ as much as possible, and when you film a different scene from ‘Survivors’, please try to film it within the scheduled time of the actors and staff. If you say you’re going to extend the filming schedule for the ‘Director’s Cut’, there will be resistance.”

Jeffrey’s eyes widened at the planning team leader’s words.

“If you say you’re filming within the original schedule to the top, they’ll probably give you a positive answer.”

Director Jeffrey nodded his head with a stern face at the sight of the planning team leader working hard for the director’s cut.

“Then I have to revise the script.”

“We can’t postpone tomorrow’s shooting.”

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

Jeffrey, who seemed to have regained his motivation, or rather, his passion, gathered the actors and discussed the shooting for tomorrow.

It was now the time for the actors and the director.

***

“Are you not going to give us more time?”

“What?”

The planning team leader turned around at the voice that came from behind him.

It was Seo-jun Lee’s manager.

“I thought Jun’s schedule would be extended because of the Director’s Cut, but you seem to be reluctant to do that.”

Seo-jun Lee’s manager, Ahn Da Ho, asked the planning team leader, who nodded his head and looked at Jeffrey, who was enthusiastically talking about the script.

“There are often directors like him among them. The artist type, I guess. I had no idea he was that type since he agreed to Davis’s revision so easily.”

Something had bloomed between them for some unknown reason.

“Usually, they vent out their desire to make their own movies in independent films and then compromise with commercial films for their popularity.”

Ahn Da Ho nodded his head at the planning team leader’s words.

He understood what he meant.

Unlike independent films that show various topics from various perspectives, commercial films are mostly similar for the same reason: to attract audiences.

“Of course, there are also genius directors who make their own works and achieve popularity at the same time. But those cases are very rare.”

Ahn Da Ho made a face as if he realized something.

“Director Jeffrey is the opposite.”

“Yes. I checked his works before signing the contract, and I didn’t see any signs of that in his independent films or his first commercial film. But I didn’t expect him to explode here…”

He couldn’t imagine it.

He felt dizzy again when he remembered the thrill he felt when he read the Director’s Cut script.

If there was no such thing as a Director’s Cut or if Jeffrey didn’t give up his stubbornness, what would have happened to [Survivors]… He couldn’t even imagine it.

In the worst case scenario, the movie could have been canceled.

‘But before that, we would have replaced the director.’

The planning team leader pressed his forehead and opened his mouth.

“Director Jeffrey must have a lot of things he wants to do now that he has found his art. When that happens, they usually redo their scenes until they are satisfied. If Director Jeffrey shoots all the scenes he wants, neither the actors nor the staff will be able to endure it.”

The schedule would be extended.

That was not good news for Ahn Da Ho, who had contracted Seo-jun Lee until the end of February, or for Bearound, who had planned everything ahead.

“And people usually perform better when they are under pressure.”

Ahn Da Ho finally understood why the planning team leader didn’t extend the schedule.

The planning team leader smiled like a villain.

“Time is tight, money and inspiration are abundant. That’s probably the best way for Director Jeffrey right now.”

The capable planning team leader knew how to deal with people.

***

And the next day.

A meeting was held at Bearound.

They left behind a script that guaranteed popularity and chose a new one.

And when they read the content, they didn’t see any possibility of popularity. But Bearound had to think hard about it because it was a ‘director’s cut’.

“It might be good for publicity?”

“If it’s not a separate shooting time but within the current shooting period… well…”

“Will it affect the shooting of the release version?”

Everyone looked at the planning team leader at that question.

“I’ll show you the edited version of [Survivors] that we’ve shot so far.”

Darkness fell on the white screen.

It was an edited version that collected the best scenes of the actors, excluding the scenes that needed CG work.

Everyone held their breath at Seo-jun and Davis Garrett’s brilliant performances.

They didn’t think that the actors who showed such amazing acting would lose their energy and act poorly for the ‘director’s cut’.

Everyone sitting in the meeting room nodded their heads.

“Then let’s have an internal screening and then decide whether to upload the director’s cut to theaters or not.”

The planning team leader clenched his fist.

The approval for [Survivors]’s director’s cut was granted.

***

“That’s it for today’s shooting. Director.”

To prevent the schedule from being extended further.

The assistant director, who had heard enough from the planning team leader, told Director Jeffrey.

Jeffrey shivered at that.

The production cost from Bearound was beyond imagination, and he had so many ideas from watching the actors’ amazing improvisations…

Time was tight.

“How much time do we have left?”

“Three weeks, two days, and 14 hours.”

Do you want me to tell you the minutes?

The friendly voice of the assistant director seemed to have a hint of the planning team leader’s malice.

Those three weeks, two days, and 14 hours were not entirely for shooting. There were also breaks for the actors and staff.

Ahhhhhh!

Jeffrey pulled his hair and screamed silently at the tight shooting schedule.

He had no choice but to squeeze his brain and come up with the best scenes.

Even if he came up with the best scenes, the two actors would turn them upside down with their amazing improvisations, so he had to come up with new ones.

His head hurt.

His head hurt so much…

But it was fun.

It was so much fun.

He enjoyed being hit by the two actors’ improvisations that he couldn’t even imagine, and he also enjoyed seeing Davis Garrett and Seo-jun Lee shut their mouths and act according to his script after being hit by his script.

He was looking forward to who would win in tomorrow’s shooting.

“Oh. This is too much.”

Even in the midst of such revisions, the two actors and the director did not forget their work.

Jeffrey deleted all his poor lines with the backspace and looked at the laptop monitor again.

Hehehe.

The staff who were cleaning up the set moved away from Jeffrey’s laughing face.

‘That gentle guy…’

Chapter 336

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Chapter 336

“Ah. Feel free to do so.”

Davis Garrett looked as if he had been hit on the back of his head with a hammer. Seo-jun and the other actors were also surprised, but then they understood and burst into laughter.

Lunchtime after the morning shoot.

The actors and director of [Survivors] gathered at one table.

Jeffrey, the director, told them about his recent thoughts on making a ‘director’s cut’ in response to Davis Garrett’s question of how he came up with the idea.

Andrew, who was still young, listened to the story with a blank expression, not understanding anything, but the other actors nodded in agreement.

Especially Vanessa Olsen, who was less known than the other three actors, nodded her head constantly.

“That’s right. There are times like that. When it’s a really attractive work, but it doesn’t seem to be a hit. I’m a little hesitant now, but how much more when I was a rookie.”

It was a busy time for rookies who had to make their names and faces known to many people.

It was the best choice to appear in a hit work that had a high possibility of getting the next opportunity.

“The problem is that you can’t guarantee a hit even if you do that.”

Everyone agreed with that.

Davis Garrett rubbed his chin with a nervous face.

“But that wasn’t what I said to you, director.”

“Haha. I know. I just couldn’t get that out of my mind.”

Jeffrey, the director, smiled and continued.

“But don’t you think my interpretation is pretty good these days?”

“That’s right. There are more scenes where Davis and Jun just follow the script without saying anything.”

Milan Chellen said, and Vanessa Olsen smiled softly.

“Sometimes they look like they’re going to explode when the shoot is over.”

They felt a little stung.

Davis Garrett and Seo-jun rolled their eyes and met each other’s gaze, then laughed.

“I’ve never seen a director like this before. Usually they just accept what I say or completely reject it, but this is the first time I’ve seen a director who modifies the script himself and comes to me for discussion and modification.”

“It’s a bit depressing when the director understands the character better than me.”

Everyone laughed at Seo-jun’s words.

“But usually it’s the actor’s job to follow the script as it is. This is my first time doing this kind of shoot. I’m glad I didn’t have many changes in my lines.”

“That’s right. I can’t do this.”

Vanessa Olsen raised both hands at Milan Chellen’s words.

Andrew, who was eating lunch and listening to the adults’ conversation, also thought for a moment and raised both hands brightly.

“Me too!”

The cuteness of the young actor made everyone laugh again.

“I have a goal now.”

“A goal?”

The actors tilted their heads at Jeffrey’s words after finishing their meal.

“To make a work that is so perfect that Davis and Jun can’t change a single letter.”

Jeffrey’s eyes sparkled as he said that.

Oh.

The actors looked surprised and looked back and forth between Jeffrey, Davis Garrett, and Seo-jun.

Davis Garrett’s eyes widened at the challenge thrown in front of him.

“That won’t be easy, director.”

“I know.”

To meet again as a director and an actor, Jeffrey’s synopsis had to be chosen by the production company, and then it had to appeal to the actors.

And it was hard to make a ‘perfect work’ on the first try, so they had to try several times.

No one knew how long that would take.

Jeffrey smiled brightly and continued.

“But you two are going to act for life, right? And I’m going to make movies for life too. We have plenty of time.”

At that, Davis Garrett looked stunned for a moment, then laughed cheerfully.

“Yes. That’s right. Then I’ll look forward to it.”

As Davis Garrett and Jeffrey smiled at each other, Seo-jun looked awkwardly around with his eyes rolling.

‘Um. I usually act according to the script…’

This [Survivors] was an exceptional case.

‘It was fun to improvise, but there won’t be many co-stars who will accept me like Davis in other works.’

Seo-jun didn’t plan to do ad-libs like he did in ‘Survivors’ even if he did them.

‘Well. But still…’

“I’ll look forward to it too, Director.”

He was curious about what kind of work Jeffrey would make with his determination to make a perfect work, so he decided not to dampen Jeffrey’s enthusiasm and kept quiet.

‘Good script♪ Good script♪’

He felt like humming a tune.

***

The set of [Survivors] changed completely after the talk of ‘director’s cut’.

“If we don’t have time, we’ll use money…!”

Jeffrey said that and asked the planning team leader, who readily agreed.

That’s how twice as many cameras as before surrounded the set.

Half of them were for the theatrical version, and the other half were for the director’s cut. Of course, they could change during editing.

“So many cameras…”

It was a bit unfamiliar to the staff who worked in Hollywood.

“There’s no place where you can’t be filmed if you go on the set, right?”

The cameras were not only on the places where the actors stood, but also on the places that were just backgrounds. So the art team had to work harder to restore them.

“Did you hear that they’re making one more set?”

“One more?”

“Yes. It takes time to restore it when it collapses, so they’re making one more. They shoot here and while they’re restoring it, they shoot on the other set. They said they’re making it exactly the same and hired more art staff.”

“…But they need machines for that too.”

“That’s right. They said they already got all the machines.”

“Wow…”

It was a speed that made them marvel.

***

“Ready, action!”

A silence that seemed to last forever settled in the basement.

No.

They didn’t even know if this was underground or above ground.

Sometimes they walked on flat ground, sometimes they crawled up a hill.

And sometimes they carefully went down.

Just north.

The survivors were slowly moving north, following the needle of the compass.

Raymond Wish, who found and made the way, was at the front, followed by Cynthia Lindberg, Jackson Miller and Ian Weaver, and Lee Hyun-woo.

“…You have a family outside, don’t you?”

Jackson Miller said that and looked back at the boy who had gone to the most dangerous spot at the back.

Lee Hyun-woo, who had said he wouldn’t move unless he was at the end, looked a little more lively than his pale face.

He seemed to be getting better, but he was worried.

Ian Weaver, who was holding Jackson Miller’s hand tightly, also kept looking back.

He wanted to walk with Lee Hyun-woo, but he held Jackson Miller’s hand obediently.

The two of them followed the survivors, not knowing or caring about their gazes.

That’s when it happened.

There was a big shake.

There was no sound of an explosion, but it seemed like the shock had reached here.

The walls around them, which were unstable, shook as if they were going to collapse.

Especially.

The back of Lee Hyun-woo didn’t look good.

“Forward!”

At Raymond Wish’s voice, Cynthia Lindberg and Jackson Miller headed straight ahead.

Ian Weaver, who happened to be looking back, tripped over something and fell. Jackson Miller, who was holding his hand, also lost his balance for a moment.

The hands that they were holding onto each other fell apart.

“…!”

At the same time, a pillar collapsed between Jackson Miller and Ian Weaver.

They would have been crushed if they had been a little late.

Thud!

Boom! Thud!

A wall appeared in front of Ian Weaver, who had fallen face down because of the falling rocks.

Ian Weaver lifted his head in surprise and looked at the wall that was piling up.

Then.

There were two hands that hugged him in surprise.

Ian Weaver turned his head.

He saw Lee Hyun-woo, who was biting his lips to avoid panicking from the shaking.

Lee Hyun-woo bit his lips so hard that blood came out, trying not to lose consciousness.

It hurt. It hurt so much that tears came out.

But Lee Hyun-woo remembered the warmth that was next to him.

He remembered the voice of the boy who talked to him when he was only pushing himself away.

“…Mister!”

The passage that was already blocked up to Lee Hyun-woo’s chest.

Three anxious adults appeared on the other side of the wall.

“Mister!”

Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes met with Jackson Miller, who quickly reached out his hand.

Ian Weaver was pulled over the pillar by Jackson Miller’s hand.

Ian Weaver looked back and saw relief on Lee Hyun-woo’s face.

As Ian Weaver crossed the wall,

Boom!

The surroundings collapsed.

The wall that blocked Lee Hyun-woo and the survivors was already up to Lee Hyun-woo’s chin.

Boom.

The sound from behind was ominous.

The pain that he felt on his lips also faded in the chaos that eroded Lee Hyun-woo’s mind.

His breathing became faster.

The sound and vibration that thumped made Lee Hyun-woo go crazy.

His whole body trembled and he couldn’t keep his balance.

He leaned on the blocked wall and supported his body.

He saw his own hand, which was dirty with dirt and had broken nails, in his blurred vision.

Across the cold wall.

Just like his mom and dad disappeared, he too.

The black darkness slowly grabbed Lee Hyun-woo’s feet and crawled up his legs slowly along his ankles.

A deep fear swallowed Lee Hyun-woo,

“What are you doing?!”

A loud voice rang out and something suddenly entered his sight.

A dirty hand stretched out among the falling dust caught Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes.

Lee Hyun-woo’s head followed the hand up.

There was a narrow space above, unlike the front that was blocked by the collapsing ceiling.

He didn’t see it because his vision was narrowed by panic.

But it didn’t seem like it would last long either.

“Come out this way!”

The owner of the hand was neither Jackson Miller nor Cynthia Lindberg.

It was Raymond Wish with a twisted face.

Lee Hyun-woo reached out his hand unknowingly and grabbed Raymond Wish’s hand.

Then.

It was the hand that he wanted to touch his mom and dad with.

***

“He saved him.”

“Haha.”

Davis Garrett laughed at Jeffrey’s words.

“He came out.”

“Hahaha.”

Seo-jun also laughed off with ease now.

They had seen this scene a lot while shooting [Survivors].

If it had been as it was originally, Lee Hyun-woo would have been isolated alone.

‘I guess it won’t be that easy.’

Jeffrey crossed his arms and thought about the next scene.

The improvisation of the two actors was so familiar that they didn’t even need to touch their foreheads anymore.

“! I have a good idea. Let’s shoot a close-up shot right away and shoot the director’s cut too!”

At Jeffrey’s words, the actors and staff started to move.

While the actors were getting their makeup done again, the staff prepared the second set that was ready in the studio.

“Oh. Director. His leg touched the pillar at the end.”

Seo-jun said among the staff who were dusting off the dirt.

He was dragged by Raymond Wish’s hand like a caught fish when he crossed over the wall when a pillar collapsed and touched Lee Hyun-woo’s leg.

The set that could touch the actors’ bodies was made of soft materials, not just for appearance.

Even if they had failed to escape in time, they would have only felt a slight pressure.

Jeffrey nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

“Then Lee Hyun-woo is injured in his leg… Is it the right one? The left one?”

“The left one.”

“Left. Check.”

Jeffrey and the actors checked the situation and prepared for the next shoot.

***

Time passed, and at the end of February.

[Hollywood actor Lee Seo-jun returns home!]

[Movie ‘Survivors’ shooting ends!]

[When will Bearound’s ‘Survivors’ be released?]

Seo-jun, who had finished shooting [Survivors], returned to Korea.

Chapter 337

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Chapter 337

The [Survivors] team was busy with editing work after finishing the filming.

They thought they would need more time because of the unplanned director’s cut, but thanks to the effects of the two sets and the actors who filmed without much NG, they managed to keep up with the schedule.

The planning team leader of Bearound went to see Jeffrey, the director who was stuck in the editing room as usual.

As expected, he saw Jeffrey inside the [Survivors] editing room, not taking his eyes off the monitor.

It looked like he was working on the theatrical version, not the Director’s Cut.

‘I thought he would do the director’s cut first…’

It was a relief for Bearound, who was waiting for the theatrical version of [Survivors].

The planning team leader, who was standing quietly so as not to disturb him, spoke to Jeffrey when he saw him take his eyes off the monitor and stretch his back.

“Director, how about taking a break?”

“Ah. Should I?”

Jeffrey didn’t seem surprised by the familiar situation and rotated his stiff shoulders. The planning team leader pulled a chair nearby and sat down.

“Is the editing going well?”

“Yes. It’s been a while since I had so much fun editing.”

“When are you planning to do the director’s cut?”

“I’m going to finish the theatrical version first and then edit the Director’s Cut. There is an internal preview scheduled, but I can re-edit the director’s cut after that.”

The planning team leader nodded and said.

“We’ll have to request new music for the director’s cut.”

Jeffrey thought for a moment and opened his mouth.

“How about arranging the music from the theatrical version?”

The planning team leader rolled his eyes.

Other movies’ Director’s Cuts also used the music from the theatrical versions, but after reading [Survivors Director’s Cut_Edit7_8_Final_Final2_End_Real End_Completed], he thought they should make new music for it.

“Wouldn’t it be better to request new ones?”

“No. I think arranging it would be better.”

The planning team leader was used to Jeffrey’s stubborn eyes.

He wondered how people could change so much from such a small cause.

“Okay. Then I’ll tell that to the music director. Should I send him the script for the Director’s Cut?”

There were two ways to work on movie music.

The first was to read the script and make music according to the director’s direction, and then insert it into the video.

The second was to watch the edited movie and make music with reference to the director’s intention.

The script for [Survivors] theatrical version had already been sent to the music director.

Jeffrey, who had been rubbing his chin for a while, opened his mouth.

“Let’s send him the video for the director’s cut.”

“Okay. I got it.”

The planning team leader nodded.

Unlike the filming that had some accidents, the post-production was smooth and he felt relieved.

Jeffrey, who was about to focus on editing again, turned his head and looked at the planning team leader who was about to leave the editing room.

“Oh. By the way, this week is the premiere, right?”

“Huh? Oh. Yes.”

The planning team leader paused for a moment at Jeffrey’s words and answered.

There was only one movie that premiered this week.

“You mean Assemble 4. Yes. It premieres this Saturday.”

April.

[Assemble 4], which concluded season 1 of Marina Studio Hero movies, premiered.

***

In front of a crowded movie theater.

“It’s over.”

Park Ji-ho, who had been running around outside until yesterday because of soccer practice, looked up at Assemble4 posters that covered the theater.

His twin sister Park Ji-hoo, who was sitting next to him, was studying English words.

“It’s about time.”

“But I thought Seo-jun would be in Assemble at least once.”

“He can’t be in it because he’s not a hero. They say Shadowman isn’t even in Assemble 4.”

“I’m just saying it’s a shame.”

Ji-ho took his eyes off Assemble 4 posters and looked around.

It had been two weeks since Assemble 4 premiered.

There were still many audiences because it was a Marina Studio movie.

“We first watched Marina Studio movies with Shadowman 1, right?”

Ji-hoo nodded at Ji-ho’s words.

“We watched it because Seo-jun was in it. Was it when we were 8 or 7?”

“It was when Shadowman 2 came out.”

They couldn’t watch it when it premiered because they were too young and thought they wouldn’t understand it even if they watched it. They watched it later at home.

“Yeah. We watched it at Seo-jun’s house…”

They remembered crying with their childhood friends at Seo-jun’s house.

Since then, they had been following Marina Studio movies.

“We’re here!”

They saw Mina Owen and Kim Ji-yoon running towards them.

They ran over thinking everyone was there, but they didn’t see Seo-jun.

Ji-yoon lowered her voice and said.

“Seo-jun hasn’t arrived yet, I guess.”

Ji-hoo and Mina smiled at that.

“Yeah. He hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Nobody would care if you say Seo-jun here. They would think it’s a common name.”

“But you never know.”

Ji-ho rolled his eyes, feeling embarrassed. They had already talked about Seo-jun without caring about other people’s ears.

“Did they hear?”

“Don’t be scared, you dummy.”

Ji-hoo said and Ji-ho pouted. Ji-yoon and Mina giggled at the twins who hadn’t changed a bit.

“Ji-hoo, are you studying English words?”
Seo-jun: “Why did everyone come so early?”
Seo-jun: “I’m here too! Just wait a bit!”
“Seo-jun has arrived.”
“Did you buy the tickets?”
“Yeah. I got them here.”
As they sat side by side in their chairs, contemplating whether to watch a movie or engage in other activities, they noticed someone in the distance.
It was a student, wearing a black hat adorned with a slime badge.
“Oh, it’s Seo-jun.”
Their friends exchanged knowing glances.
Despite Seo-jun’s efforts to remain inconspicuous, one of the kids quickly spotted him.
Seo-jun beamed as he made eye contact with the children. Their faces lit up in response.
“It’s fascinating how no one recognizes him in situations like this.”
“Exactly. He’s like a hidden gem.”
Although his face was partially obscured by the tightly-worn hat, people’s inability to recognize him never ceased to amaze them.
“But the Seo-jun we see in movies and dramas seems like a different person.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“Of course, it’s our Seo-jun. His acting skills are truly remarkable.”
The reason behind this phenomenon was surprisingly simple.
Childhood friends knew that Seo-jun, despite not being a superstar, was someone worth recognizing.
“Hello!”
Seo-jun, wearing the black hat, arrived last.
All of them had been friends with him since they were babies, greeted Seo-jun with a bright smiles.
***
As they continued sharing stories, the time for [Assembly 4] quickly approached.
“Time’s up. Let’s go watch the movie.”
“Are we having lunch too?”
“Yeah. But we can’t miss the popcorn.”
Although they planned to have lunch, skipping the popcorn was out of the question.
Following Ji-ho’s suggestion, everyone laughed and bought their preferred snacks before heading into the movie theater.
Seo-jun, as always, positioned himself inconspicuously in the middle of the row, ensuring that others wouldn’t notice him. He savored a caramel popcorn, eagerly awaiting the start of [Assembly 4].
“The advertisements are so long.”
“Agreed. Ji-hoo, want some nachos?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll have some too.”
After enduring the lengthy movie ads, the Marina Studio logo finally appeared on the screen.
[Assembly 4]
The beginning of the final chapter.
***
“That was really exciting!”
“Maybe it felt extra intense because it’s the last one. The CG effects were mind-blowing.”
Seo-jun nodded in agreement with Ji-yoon’s assessment.
[Assembly 4] had truly been captivating.
Seeing Davis Garrett from [Survivors] and then experiencing Redbone’s improvisation in [Assembly 4] left Seo-jun curious. Yet, he suspected that, like [Survivors], they hadn’t completely altered the latter part.
Thinking back, it had been a shoot filled with laughter.
However, Seo-jun doubted they’d encounter such carefree filming again.
“Watching it in 4D would be fun.”
“Definitely. Shall we go later?”
Seo-jun, the kids, and even other [Assembly 4] viewers chatted happily, their satisfied expressions reflecting their enjoyment. Some had seen multiple screenings.
“Let’s grab lunch. My friend recommended a place.”
“If it’s a student’s recommendation, we must try it!”
The kids’ eyes sparkled at Mina’s suggestion.
The recommended restaurant served steak and pasta, conveniently not far from the cinema. Located on the third floor of a nondescript building in an alley, it hadn’t gained much fame yet.
Seo-jun and the kids explored the interior, guided by the staff.
The spacious layout and cleanliness impressed them.
“Your friend really found a gem.”
“She has a hobby of creating a map of hidden food gems. Whenever a new place opens, she’s the first to try it.”
The kids marveled at Mina’s words.
As the menu arrived, they ordered various dishes and resumed their lively conversation.
“When is the first movie of Season 2 coming out?”
“I heard it’s in the second half of this year, but the exact date hasn’t been announced.”
Ji-hoo leaned forward, whispering to Seo-jun.
“Seo-jun, do you know?”
“My contract ended. I’m clueless.”
The kids burst into laughter at Seo-jun’s response.
Soon, their food arrived—steaming steak, flavorful pasta, and crisp salad filled the table. Seo-jun and the kids eagerly dug into their plates.
“Delicious!”
“Oh yes, really tasty.”
Ji-yoon enjoyed the pasta, while Ji-ho’s eyes sparkled over the steak.

Chapter 338

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Chapter 338

Sunday afternoon.

After playing with Subin and Eun-su, Seo Eun-chan and Seo-jun put the two kids to bed and came out to the living room.

Seo Eun-chan groaned and flopped down on the sofa.

“Ugh. It’s so hot.”

It was only April, but he was sweating from playing with the kids.

“Uncle. Do you want some ice cream?”

“Yeah. Just one, please.”

Seo Eun-chan turned on the air conditioner and Seo-jun brought two ice creams from the fridge. Uncle Chan had the same taste as mom, so he couldn’t refuse.

They sat side by side on the sofa, each holding an ice cream in one hand. The uncle and nephew looked very comfortable.

“Did you say you’re going to get your ID card?”

“Yeah.”

Seo Eun-chan bit into his red bean ice cream and recalled the day he got his ID card.

“I don’t remember much. It was so long ago. When are you going to apply? It takes some time because you have to scan your fingerprints.”

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders as he bit into his chocolate ice cream.

“I have to go on a weekday because the community center is closed on weekends, but I have school on weekdays, so I have to find a good time. There’s a school anniversary day coming up soon. I’m planning to go then.”

“Really? Do your friends have their ID cards?”

“Mina does. She was born in January, so she made it during winter break. The twins were born in February, but they got their notification in March, so they haven’t applied yet. Ji-yoon was born later than me, but she’s a March baby, so there’s not much difference.”

As he listened to Seo-jun’s story, Seo Eun-chan thought of the little kids he used to play with.

He heard a lot of stories about them through Seo-jun, but he hadn’t seen them in person since elementary school.

They were already old enough to get their ID cards.

Other people’s kids grow up so fast.

‘I wonder when Eun-su will grow up.’

Seo Eun-chan smiled as he thought of his daughter who was sleeping soundly in Seo-jun’s room.

“Then you can ask your friends.”

“I did, but they said not to go when it’s busy.”

“When is the community center not busy?”

“Right?”

The uncle and nephew finished their ice creams and rested in the cool air conditioner breeze.

The house was noisy with the kids’ voices just a while ago, but now it was too cozy in the silence.

“What about the photo?”

“I’m going to take it in front of the community center. There’s a photo studio there, right?”

He looked up the directions to the community center on a map app and saw that there were a few photo studios nearby.

Seo-jun planned to go into any of them and take a photo.

“Or you can take it at a photo studio near home. It just has to be a photo taken within six months.”

“Hmm.”

Seo Eun-chan rolled his eyes at Seo-jun’s answer.

“Seo-jun. Do you want to take it at a photo studio?”

“A studio?”

Seo-jun tilted his head at the unexpected word.

Seo Eun-chan’s eyes lit up.

“Your ID card photo will last for your lifetime unless you reissue it, so it would be nice to have a good photo. And this is an opportunity to take your profile photo too.”

“Profile photo?”

“Yeah. You don’t need it because you have so many offers coming in, but… wouldn’t it be nice to try it this time?”

The president of Cocoa Entertainment, Seo Eun-chan, honestly wanted to throw out an overflowing pictorial proposal, but he didn’t know how Seo-jun felt about pictorials, so he decided to start with a simple profile photo.

“Well…”

Seo Eun-chan opened his mouth at Seo-jun’s hesitant reaction.

Seo Eun-chan knew very well how to persuade his nephew.

“Maybe a director or a writer who sees your different charm in your profile photo will send you an interesting script.”

“I’ll do it.”

Without a second of hesitation, Seo-jun agreed.

Seo Eun-chan looked at his nephew with disbelief and said as if he was talking to a six-year-old.

“Seo-jun. You shouldn’t follow anyone who shows you a script.”

“…I won’t follow.”

Seo-jun answered a bit late and Seo Eun-chan widened his eyes and sat up straight and looked at Seo-jun.

“What’s that pause for? You should say you won’t follow right away.”

“Well…”

Seo-jun rolled his eyes and chuckled.

“What if I go with Da ho hyung?”

“…I’ll have to tell Manager Ahn to stick with you.”

“Haha.”

Seo-jun laughed at Seo Eun-chan’s expression of frustration.

***

“Profile photo.”

The staff of Team 2, the team in charge of Cocoa Entertainment’s actor Lee Seo-jun, gathered for the sudden schedule.

Manager Ahn Da Ho brought up the topic and they each pondered.

Profile photo.

It could mean many things, but for actors, it was a way of saying ‘I have this kind of look’, ‘Please call me if you have a role that matches my image’ to the people in the entertainment industry.

“New actors use it to show their faces and famous actors use it to show their different images.”

“But Seo-jun doesn’t need to show…”

The staff’s eyes turned to the scripts piled up on one side of the office. They were the ones that came in while Seo-jun was filming [Survivors] in the US and after he finished filming.

“They come in well.”

Manager Ahn and Team 2 staff nodded their heads proudly at their successful actor.

“Then should we think of it as a pictorial rather than a profile photo?”

Profile photos usually had simple clothes and props because the focus should be on the actor.

“And the background is simple too.”

“Isn’t that a shame? Wouldn’t it be nice to have an idol-like vibe?”

“If we go for a pictorial, there are many places to work with.”

One of the staff brought a box and opened it. The box was full of papers. They were pictorial proposals that detailed Seo-jun’s concept and the studio’s history.

The staff took out and read one proposal each.

They had read them before, but they didn’t read them as carefully as the scripts because they were out of Seo-jun’s interest. So the pictorial proposals felt new.

“This studio has taken pictures of all the famous idols. The results are good too.”

“This one has overseas shooting too.”

“Seo-jun and emerald-colored beach…”

The staff, who were also fans of Lee Seo-jun, excitedly shared their opinions.

Manager Ahn understood their feelings, but he couldn’t forget the original purpose.

“The first goal of this shooting is an ID photo.”

“…Oh.”

“And the second goal is a profile photo for ‘works’. It shouldn’t be too different from what Seo-jun thinks of as a profile photo.”

They knew that, but the staff made regretful faces and nodded their heads as they slowly organized the pictorial proposals and put them back in the box.

“Maybe Seo-jun will enjoy the photo shoot this time and get interested in the pictorial shoot too.”

At Ahn Da Ho’s words, the staff of Team 2 exclaimed.

“Oh, that’s true.”

“Uh… should we look for scripts that have a photographer character?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to look for scripts that have a model character since he’s the one being photographed?”

“But there aren’t many scripts that have a model character…”

The staff of Team 2 knew Seo-jun very well, since they used scripts as bait to lure him.

“I think it would be better to let him know that photo shooting is also a kind of ‘acting’.”

At one staff’s words, not only Ahn Da Ho but also the other staff gasped in admiration.

“That would definitely be more effective.”

“Then we have to choose a good photographer.”

There were photographers who matched their models to their own image, or who controlled every movement of their models from their fingertips to their toes, just like directors who had different styles.

Photographers also had different ways of handling their models.

“A style that gives a lot of freedom to the model would be good, right?”

Everyone nodded.

It seemed much better for Seo-jun to feel that photo shooting was also a kind of acting.

“Oh. I think we should avoid famous studios this time.”

“Huh?”

“It’s urgent. He has to take his ID photo before the school anniversary day.”

“…Ah. That’s right.”

It was already mid-April.

Most of the popular studios would have already filled their schedules for this month.

If it was Seo-jun’s name, he could take photos at any studio, but then there would be cancellations or rescheduling.

He didn’t want to do that because it could harm other people.

Those things would accumulate and become Seo-jun’s image.

At Ahn Da Ho’s words, the staff of Team 2 nodded.

It would be a bit difficult to exclude famous studios, but they had collected some information about photographers and studios that they thought Seo-jun might take photos someday.

Of course, they had to do more research if they had a candidate.

“Let’s first filter them by looking at their photos and find out their styles. And let’s see if they have any openings this month.”

As the goal was set, Team 2, which was dedicated to actor Lee Seo-jun, moved.

***

-My younger sibling is the same age as Seo-jun, so I unintentionally get to know about Seo-jun’s schedule well lol

=?? What do you mean?

=Things like entering middle school or high school. Koreans grow up in similar paths until college, right lol

=Ah, I see. You mean [sibling=college entrance exam] then [Seo-jun=college entrance exam]?

=Yes yes yes. So I unintentionally found out again. I didn’t look for it on purpose lol

=What did you find out?

=My sibling is getting an ID card.

=…?? …Oh!!

***

“He’s coming out soon.”

At Ahn Da Ho’s words, Seo-jun smiled and said.

“I thought so too. My date of birth is on my profile.”

If you typed ‘Lee Seo-jun’ on a portal site, among many people with the same name, Seo-jun’s profile and agency and photo came up first.

Every little thing about Seo-jun was a hot topic, so it was strange not to be interested.

-Our Seo-jun is already getting an ID card…!

-He’ll probably get a driver’s license soon too.

-It really feels like other people’s kids grow up so fast.

=22 getting an ID card seems like he grew up a lot.

But it didn’t seem like there was an article yet.

“If there’s an article about this, they really have nothing to do.”

“Oh. Da Ho hyung. One just came up.”

“…Do they really have nothing to do?”

But still, Ahn Da Ho’s hand went to the article.

He checked the article and the comments and turned off his phone.

There would be more articles popping up soon, but Team 2 would take care of them.

As Ahn Da Ho put his phone away, the elevator stopped with a ding and the door opened.

The sign of the studio where they were going to shoot today was visible.

“Seo-jun. Let’s go in.”

“Yes.”

***

[Sunset Studio]

Photographer Yoon Jung-won was shaking her legs nervously.

The youngest staff who came to help Yoon Jung-won was also looking at the entrance with an excited face.

“Oh my god… I’m taking photos of Lee Seo-jun… I’m taking photos of Lee Seo-jun…!”

“Unnie. You’re lucky. Stop shaking your legs.”

Yoon Jung-won’s junior, Kim Sang-mi said to Yoon Jung-won who was very tense.

“There’s no more luck to go out from here. I’ve already used up all my luck this year. No. I’m sure I’ve used up 10 years worth of luck!”

“That seems true, but…”

At Yoon Jung-won’s words, not only Kim Sang-mi but also the youngest nodded.

“Anyway, calm down and stop shaking your legs.”

At Kim Sang-mi’s words, Yoon Jung-won pressed down her shaking legs with her hands.

Then her whole body started to shake.

There was no vibrating phone, so Kim Sang-mi sighed.

“But how did we get the photo shoot of actor Lee Seo-jun? I didn’t hear the details because I had an outdoor shoot that day.”

There must have been many photographers who would take photos of Lee Seo-jun. Kim Sang-mi was proud of Sunset Studio, which was gaining popularity, but objectively speaking, there were better studios everywhere.

At Kim Sang-mi’s attempt to change the topic, Yoon Jung-won seemed to calm down a bit and opened her mouth.

“The morning shoot ended late that day, so the kids were having lunch and I answered the phone.”

It was the day when a rookie actor who came to take a profile photo complained about every photo he took, saying it was bad, why the lighting was like that, and they barely finished after adjusting as much as possible.

He kept grumbling until the end, making her grab the back of her neck.

“The phone asked if I could take an ID photo and an actor profile photo. It was a day off, but I thought it was urgent since they needed the photo in three days, so I just said I could do it by myself.”

“Yeah, some famous actors usually schedule their appointments well in advance.”

“So I thought it was a rookie actor, but…”

It turned out to be actor Lee Seo-jun.

Yoon Jung-won started shaking her legs again.

Seeing that, Kim Sang-mi sighed and asked the youngest who came to work on her day off to see Seo-jun.

Her eyes were sparkling, which was not a usual sight.

“Did Cocoa Entertainment bring clothes and stylists?”

“Yes. They’re preparing in the dressing room. I saw them briefly and they had a full set up. They also brought snacks and drinks. They’re so professional. As expected of a Hollywood star…!”

The youngest rambled on with an excited face. Kim Sang-mi felt like whatever Seo-jun and Cocoa Entertainment did, he would say ‘as expected of a Hollywood star!’.

Then the entrance of the studio opened.

The three people’s heads turned to the entrance reflexively.

Two people came in with a staff member who was waiting in the lobby.

Photographer Yoon Jung-won and Kim Sang-mi stared at the boy who came in without blinking. Somehow it seemed like there was a halo around him as he walked.

Every movement of his was like a pictorial. The boy smiled brightly and greeted them.

“Hello.”

It was Hollywood star Lee Seo-jun.

Chapter 339

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Chapter 339

Kim Sang-mi, who was momentarily stunned by Lee Seo-jun’s appearance, tapped Yoon Jung-won’s arm, who was frozen in place.

Yoon Jung-won finally came to her senses and opened his mouth.

“Ah, nice to meet you. I’m Yoon Jung-won, the CEO of Sunset Studio. I’ll be taking the photos today and this is Kim Sang-mi, the writer who will help me with the shooting.”

Yoon Jung-won also introduced the youngest employee and the guide who came with Seo-jun.

After exchanging brief greetings, Yoon Jung-won showed them around the studio.

“We’ll be shooting over here. It’s a white background now, but we can change it to a different color right away.”

Yoon Jung-won pointed to a place where a wooden chair was placed alone and the background was covered with a spotless white color.

There were also large lights and reflectors that were not turned on yet, all facing the chair.

Seo-jun turned his head and looked at the other side.

He saw a camera.

It looked different from the ones used for filming movies or dramas, but he didn’t know the exact model.

It looked similar to the cameras that reporters or fans brought.

There was a set, there were lights.

There was a camera.

Seo-jun felt a little bit of interest in the photo studio, which was similar but different from the movie set.

“First, we’ll take your ID photo and then your profile photo. There are some people from Cocoa Entertainment in the waiting room. They’ll be getting ready for the shooting, so please come right away when you’re done with your makeup.”

“Okay.”

At Yoon Jung-won’s words, Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho followed the youngest employee to the waiting room.

In the meantime, the guide returned to the lobby and Kim Sang-mi and Yoon Jung-won prepared for the shooting.

“I thought I was going to die of nervousness!”

“Me too.”

***

As soon as he opened the door of the waiting room, Seo-jun smiled brightly at the familiar faces he saw.

“Hello.”

“Hi, Seo-jun!”

There were two employees from Team 2 and two stylists in the waiting room.

While the Team 2 employees were talking with Ahn Da Ho, one of the stylists quickly seated Seo-jun on a chair.

In front of him, there were many cosmetics prepared.

The other stylist touched Seo-jun’s hair.

“It’s been a while, Seo-jun.”

“Yeah.”

The two stylists usually worked with ‘White’, but sometimes they worked with Seo-jun when he had schedules other than filming.

The last time they met was last year, so it was really a long time.

“Noona. They said they’re going to take my ID photo first.”

“I know. That’s why I’m not going to put too much makeup on you.”

“I’ll just fix your hair a little bit.”

“Please make me look good.”

At Seo-jun’s words, the two stylists smiled brightly and moved their hands.

Seo-jun gently closed his eyes at the soft brush that brushed his face.

***

When he came out of the waiting room after getting ready, Seo-jun saw the studio in his sight.

The studio had changed completely from when he entered the waiting room.

The lights that were turned off had been turned on.

The bright lights cast a clear shadow of the wooden chair that was left alone on the white floor.

“Actor, you’re here!”

At the voice of the youngest employee who spotted Seo-jun, Yoon Jung-won and Kim Sang-mi, who were checking the camera angle, looked at Seo-jun.

After briefly looking at Seo-jun, who had calmed down from when he entered the waiting room, Yoon Jung-won opened her mouth.

“Please sit on the chair if you’re ready.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun, who was wearing a white shirt, sat on the prepared chair.

He straightened his back and looked at the camera.

Yoon Jung-won looked at the camera.

Seo-jun’s figure was reflected in the camera lens.

His neatly combed black hair sparkled in the light and his white shirt reflected like a reflector, making his face shine more.

“Sang-mi! To the right!”

At Yoon Jung-won’s instruction, Kim Sang-mi skillfully moved one of the lights to the right.

The shadow that had been on Seo-jun’s face disappeared.

“Look straight ahead. Lower your chin slightly. Yes. Look at the camera. Turn your head slightly to the left. Yes yes. Stay still. I’ll take it.”

Click. Click.

The sound of the camera shutter echoed in the quiet studio.

The photos of Seo-jun that were taken appeared on the large monitor screen connected to the camera and passed by in an instant.

Kim Sang-mi and the studio staff, Team 2 staff and stylists all watched the photos with interest.

“…Do we even need to edit them?”

It was an ID photo that didn’t need any touch-ups, but it had a strange charm.

It was not the dazzling actor Lee Seo-jun that they usually saw on television, but a slightly softer feeling.

The photos, which had a static feeling unlike the dynamic videos, felt a bit different to the people.

“Did I do well?”

Seo-jun, who finished taking his ID photo, walked to the front of the monitor with a slightly flushed face.

He had never taken an ID photo in such a ‘studio’ before.

He always took it at a photo studio near his house when he needed one, so he was a little nervous.

“You did great.”

“We can take your profile photo right away, right?”

The two employees from Team 2 and Ahn Da Ho raised their thumbs up at Seo-jun’s smile.

***

They decided to get the most urgent ID photo today.

While the youngest employee edited Seo-jun’s photo to fit the size of the ID photo, Seo-jun and Yoon Jung-won started taking the profile photo.

“You know the concept of the profile photo, right?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded at Yoon Jung-won’s words.

The concept of Seo-jun’s first profile photo was joy and sorrow.

Happiness. Anger. Sadness. Pleasure.

They were the most simple and widely used expressions of emotion.

“We’ll start with joy first. We’ll start shooting as soon as you’re done with your makeup.”

A moment later.

Seo-jun, who was wearing a white sweater, appeared in the studio.

His ID photo and hairstyle didn’t change much, but his hair looked a bit more curly.

Seo-jun, who had let his bangs down, sat on the chair that was placed in the studio.

There was a table in front of the chair.

“We’ll start with a bust shot first. You can use the table freely. If you don’t need it, I’ll take it away. Then we’ll start shooting.”

He waited for Yoon Jung-won to direct his every move like he did when he took his ID photo, but he heard Yoon Jung-won’s voice.

“Please express your joy freely as you think.”

At that, Seo-jun widened his eyes.

Ahn Da Ho and Team 2 employees smiled contentedly.

The reason why Team 2 chose Yoon Jung-won was because of her freedom for the model.

She gave freedom to the model, rather than imposing her own thoughts on them.

She understood and discussed the model’s thoughts and expressions.

Yoon Jung-won’s style suited Team 2’s taste.

‘I was a bit worried when she took my ID photo…’

But thinking about it, ‘ID photos’ had a fixed standard, so she probably gave detailed instructions for that.

Seo-jun blinked his eyes for a moment at Yoon Jung-won’s words and nodded his head.

“Yes. I understand.”

Taking photos for his profile, he realized that it was similar to acting in many ways.

Unlike acting, which expressed emotions through dialogue and movement, photos showed those emotions in a compressed way.

[(Sun)Pollen of the Sun Pine Flower – Intermediate is activated.]

[(Sun)Pollen of the Sun Pine Flower – Intermediate]

It is the pollen from the sun pine flower that the fairies grow.

It enhances the emotions of living beings.

‘Joy.’

A gentle smile settled on Seo-jun’s face.

Joy was reflected in his clear black eyes and his eyes curved into circles.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

A bright and warm happiness spread from Seo-jun.

It was a joy that made anyone who saw it feel their heart swell and smile involuntarily.

Click.

Yoon Jung-won’s fingers moved quickly, momentarily stunned by Seo-jun’s gaze.

He had said it was his first time taking profile photos, so she wondered if he needed some guidance, but it seemed like a needless worry.

“Good!”

Looking at Seo-jun’s expression through the camera lens, Yoon Jung-won felt a bit regretful that he chose photos instead of videos.

She wanted to capture this smile as it was.

‘I’ll capture as much as I can.’

Click. Click.

Click. Click. Click.

Seo-jun put his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together like a prayer, covering his mouth.

Then he thought of the happiest moment he had ever had, among many moments.

When he received his first award.

They say that when you’re too happy and joyful, you cry.

A sparkling tear could be seen at the end of his softly closed eyes.

And next to his hands that were joined together like a prayer, the corners of Seo-jun’s mouth curved softly upward.

Even without dialogue or knowing the situation before and after, anyone could tell how happy Seo-jun was right now.

Click.

Click.

The sound of the shutter filled the quiet studio, where even Yoon Jung-won had closed her mouth.

***

After finishing the first shooting, Seo-jun headed to the waiting room for the second shooting.

Yoon Jung-won, Kim Sang-mi, Ahn Da Ho, and Team 2 employees looked at Seo-jun’s photos that appeared on the monitor from the beginning again.

“He could be a model.”

The guide and the youngest employee who were curious about Seo-jun’s photo shoot and got permission from Yoon Jung-won to lock the door and enter the studio almost cried as they looked at the photos.

They shed tears at every shining image of the actor.

They wanted them! The photos!

“Well, he’s too noticeable to be a model. No, not just noticeable, but he’s stealing all the attention from everything else with his face and eyes. You can’t even see the clothes.”

“Hmm. That’s true.”

The background, props, clothes.

They were all invisible to Seo-jun’s smile and gaze.

Kim Sang-mi nodded in agreement with Yoon Jung-won’s words.

“Manager. All of them are A cuts, so it’ll be hard to choose.”

“Yeah.”

The smile didn’t leave the faces of Ahn Da Ho and Team 2 employees who said that.

“Mr. Manager.”

Yoon Jung-won, who was thinking for a moment while looking at the photos on the monitor, called Ahn Da Ho.

“Yes?”

“Can we add a black-and-white version for the profile photo?”

***

Seo-jun’s profile photo shoot went smoothly.

Yoon Jung-won’s fingers moved busily to not miss any shot.

Kim Sang-mi, who was also a photographer, couldn’t resist her restless fingers and picked up her camera from the third shot, sadness (哀).

“I wanted to take a side shot!”

Yoon Jung-won took the front view and Kim Sang-mi took the right side view.

They quickly set up another background on Kim Sang-mi’s side and resumed shooting.

The two had known each other for a long time and worked well together.

Click. Click.

Ahn Da Ho and Team 2 employees’ eyes moved busily with every shutter sound that increased with each photo.

They had more trouble choosing which photos to release as they liked every one of them.

“We’ll start the last shooting.”

The last shooting was anger (怒).

The background of the studio changed to gray.

Seo-jun stood in front of it wearing a black turtleneck that reached up to his chin.

Seo-jun’s hairstyle had changed a lot from the first one.

He pushed back his hair that had slightly covered his forehead and revealed his neat forehead.

His makeup was also a bit heavier than before.

His image changed completely with just that.

Yoon Jung-won and Kim Sang-mi marveled at Seo-jun’s ability to pull off any concept.

They had been worried that anger would be difficult because Seo-jun had been bright since he entered the studio, but it was a needless worry.

‘…Now that I think about it, Jin Natra was a villain.’

They remembered the scene where he exuded a terrifying aura with his whole body.

It was a needless worry.

‘Anger.’

Seo-jun, who had lowered his gaze, slowly lifted his head.

It was just lifting his head, but the studio became quiet as if something heavy had settled down.

Everyone couldn’t take their eyes off Seo-jun’s movement.

Click. Click.

Yoon Jung-won moved her fingers quickly to not miss Seo-jun’s movement.

Kim Sang-mi also captured his image from the right side with her camera.

Finally, Seo-jun’s eyes met the camera lens that Yoon Jung-won was holding.

…!

Yoon Jung-won’s hand stopped for a moment as he made eye contact with Seo-jun.

He was just looking at her with a blank expression, but she felt goosebumps. His black eyes flickered like flames. She knew that Seo-jun wasn’t angry at her, but she felt a chill down her spine at that intense gaze.

Yoon Jung-won didn’t even realize that she had stopped breathing.

That was only for a moment.

Click. Click.

She came to her senses at the sound of Kim Sang-mi’s shutter that echoed in her ears and moved her fingers again.

Chapter 340

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Chapter 340

The short but long profile shooting for the fourth rage was over.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Seo-jun, who had cleaned his makeup, smiled with a bare face.

Yoon Jung-won and Kim Sang-mi admired him inwardly.

As expected. He didn’t look like someone who had been spewing anger with his whole body until a moment ago.

“No, thank you. You worked hard, actor Seo-jun.”

“I think I took too many pictures every time you moved…”

The overflowing number of photos revealed that.

They smiled awkwardly as they pressed the shutter diligently for a great subject who made them admire any pose he took.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and said.

“The more you take, the more good photos you’ll get. Thank you for taking a lot of pictures.”

Yoon Jung-won looked moved by the star actor’s attitude, which was completely different from the rookie actor who had left only complaining.

Meanwhile, Ahn Da Ho received Seo-jun’s ID photo from the youngest staff member. There was a printed ID photo in a small paper envelope with [Sunset Studio] printed on it.

“I’ll send you the ID photo file along with the profile photo file. Of course, I’ll send you both the original and the edited versions.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“By the way…”

“Yes?”

Ahn Da Ho, who was looking at Seo-jun’s ID photo with a happy face, lifted his head at the call of the youngest staff member. The youngest staff member, whose cheeks were flushed red, opened his mouth.

“When will Seo-jun’s profile photo be released?”

There was a ‘Sprout’ here.

***

After the profile photo shoot on Saturday, it was Monday.

The employees of Team 2, who were in charge of actor Seo-jun, came to work and heard the story from Sunset Studio.

“A black and white version?”

“That’s good! The same picture has a different feel depending on whether it’s color or not.”

“That’s right. Black and white photos have their own charm.”

Ahn Da Ho smiled at the enthusiastic reaction of the employees and said.

“I asked them to make it and send it. Let’s decide whether to release it or not after we see the black and white photo.”

Everyone nodded their heads.

“We’ll definitely post it on the company website… And we’ll have to post it on the fan cafe too, right?”

“Of course. I think it’s better to post it on the fan cafe first.”

If Seo-jun’s fans heard the news and logged in at the same time, Cocoa Entertainment’s website might be temporarily down. To avoid that, it was better to post it here and there so that people could split up.

“And we’ll post it on [Sprout] in each country too.”

“The Sprouts. They’ll be so surprised.”

At that remark, Team 2 employees smiled cheerfully.

The profile photo of Seo-jun that came up without any notice would be like a surprise gift.

The profile photo had not arrived yet, so Team 2 employees started working as usual. Ahn Da Ho, who sat down in his seat, glanced at his watch.

‘He said he would go early in the morning. Is he at the district office now?’

The last week of April, Monday today was Mirinae High School’s anniversary day.

***

At the same time, at the district office.

A civil servant who was working as usual pressed the next number.

Ding-dong, as the sound rang, everyone looked at their papers to check their numbers.

Among them, a boy wearing a black hat stood up from his seat.

“Welcome.”

“Hello. I came to get an ID card.”

“Is this your first time getting one?”

“Yes.”

The civil servant handed him a form as he nodded his head.

“Please fill this out and do you have an ID?”

“Does a student ID work?”

“Of course. Then please fill this out and give it to me. And please give me your ID photo now.”

The boy picked up a pen next to him and wrote down the form.

After writing everything down, he took out an envelope from his bag and took out an ID photo.

“I wrote everything down. Here’s the photo.”

“I’ll check it and go right away to take your fingerprints.”

The civil servant looked at the form and student ID alternately to see if there was anything wrong.

It was Monday as usual, a hard day as usual, a job as usual,

But today was different.

‘His name is Lee Seo-jun. His date of birth is March 10th…?!’

He didn’t pay much attention to people with names similar to celebrities, but he was surprised to notice that his birthday was also the same as his favorite actor and looked up at the student in front of him.

Seo-jun, who was wearing a black hat, smiled brightly.

The civil servant couldn’t even scream at the appearance of the star he never expected to meet here.

A moment later.

Seo-jun, who was wiping off the ink on his ten fingers with a wet tissue, and the civil servant, who looked like his soul had left his body, appeared.

He was too surprised that his mind was half gone, but his body did the usual work of receiving the form and taking fingerprints.

His mouth also spat out the usual sentences.

“Your, your ID card will be issued in three weeks. You can come back then.”

“Thank you.”

The student in the black hat smiled brightly and left.

The civil servant, who was half out of his mind, collapsed in his seat.

His colleague next to him asked.

“You finished taking fingerprints really fast? Usually it doesn’t work well and you have to take it several times.”

It took quite a while for the person in charge to hold the applicant’s fingers and take them one by one.

If it was done wrong, they had to wipe off the ink with a wet tissue and start over from the beginning.

“…I wonder why it worked so well. Maybe I should have made a mistake?”

“Huh?”

The colleague tilted his head at the civil servant’s incomprehensible words.

“That guy just now…”

“Yeah.”

“…was Lee Seo-jun.”

“What?”

“Actor Lee Seo-jun, I mean…!”

The civil servant muttered quietly, afraid that people would hear him.

At that, the surprised colleague widened his eyes and looked at the civil servant who said ‘He was really handsome…!’, then at the form written in neat handwriting, and then at the district office entrance where the boy in the black hat had left.

***

“Ye-na. When do you think Survivors will be released?”

“Well. Since Davis Garrett is in it, it might be hard this year.”

“What? It’s coming out next year?”

“No, Assemble 4 is still playing.”

Assemble 4, which was released in early April, was still playing even now, when a week had passed in May.

“He already has an image set with Redbone. It would be risky to release it with Assemble 4.”

“Ah, true. People who like Redbone might not be able to immerse themselves.”

“Even if it’s not next year… Maybe it’ll come out in the second half of the year at the earliest?”

At that, Song Yu-jung lay down on the sofa.

“Wow. It’s hard to wait!”

“That’s the hardship of being an actor’s fan.”

While Lim Ye-na and Song Yu-jung were giggling,

The phone vibrated.

It seemed like a text message, but it wasn’t.

“Wow! A notice!”

“Wait a minute!”

It was a notification from [Sprout].

Ignoring her friend who was on the phone, Song Yu-jung immediately logged into [Sprout].

And as soon as she clicked on the notice, she covered her mouth at the photo that appeared.

“…Crazy…!”

***

[Notice: We are releasing actor Lee Seo-jun’s profile photos.]

Song Yu-jung steadied her trembling heart and slowly scrolled down.

She didn’t know if her heart was beating so fast because she stopped breathing or because she was out of breath.

The first photo that Song Yu-jung faced first appeared.

Seo-jun, wearing a white and cozy sweater, smiled softly as he looked this way.

His slightly curly black hair looked fluffy.

She couldn’t take her eyes off his clear black eyes and straight nose bridge.

She stared at it for a while without realizing it, then struggled to scroll down.

She wanted to keep looking, but there were still many photos left.

The second photo looked even more holy as he wore a white sweater against a white background.

Seo-jun shone brightly in the white light.

He clasped his hands together as if praying.

He smiled softly with his eyes closed.

There were tears in his eyes, but they must have been tears of joy.

-…Is this where I lie downㅠㅠㅠ?

=I’ll lie down with youㅜㅜ

-I couldn’t breathe as soon as I saw the photo.

-He’s back as the angel worth a million dollarsㅠㅠ

-I’m already dead.

-I can’t leave hereㅠㅠ

In front of a light yellow background.

Seo-jun, who was sitting on the floor, laughed cheerfully as if something was very fun. His black eyes sparkled with interest and his cheeks were flushed red.

His refreshing laugh like a neighborhood friend made the viewer smile too.

The second photo was of Seo-jun sitting on a chair with a backrest turned forward.

He put his arms on the backrest and looked this way with a mischievous smile.

He winked playfully with his face full of mischief.

Song Yu-jung groaned at the sight of Seo-jun.

-I’m lying down here.

=22 I’m lying next to you.

-He looks like a neighborhood friend but there’s no such friend in realityㅋ

-His wink is so cute…!

-I’ve only seen four photos but I don’t know how many apartments I’ve broken!!

=I actually burst a cushionㅎ

=ㅋㅋThe Sprouts are all excitedㅋㅋ

His hair was darkened by the dark blue background, as if he was submerged in the sea.

Seo-jun, who covered his right face with his right hand and looked down, seemed to be holding back his tears.

His eyes were red and his skin was pale.

The contrast between his tears and his moist eyelashes made him look mysterious.

The second photo was of Seo-jun who couldn’t hold back his sadness and shed tears.

He looked straight ahead and his black eyes were filled with sorrow.

They swayed like waves.

His lips were tightly closed as if he was trying not to make a sound.

His nose was slightly red and his eyelashes were wet with tears.

Song Yu-jung couldn’t take her eyes off him.

-It’s so sad… but it’s my taste… I’ll lie down hereㅠㅠ

-I got through the previous photos somehow, but I stopped here.

=22 I realized my taste here…

-(A scream of the heart that I can’t reveal because Seo-jun comes to the cafe often!)

=I agree (serious)

-#Faint #Pure All the keywords I like are here…!

Seo-jun, who covered his chin with a black turtleneck, showed his forehead straight up by pushing back all his bangs.

His makeup was darker than the previous photos, and he looked at this way with anger.

His black eyes flickered like black flames that would burn everything.

His eyebrows were slightly wrinkled and slanted upward, making him feel chilly.

The first photo was of anger that he vented out, while the second photo was of anger that he swallowed in.

This time, it wasn’t a front view, but a side view.

He turned his head slightly and both of his black eyes were visible.

The cold anger in his black eyes seemed to reach out of the screen.

His expressionless face with his lips tightly closed made him shiver and scared, but his heart pounded.

-It’s hot. It’s hot… But I like it! The one below is cold. It’s cold… But I still like it!

-Jawline…! Jawline…! (Bang! Bang! A rabbit emoticon hitting the floor)

-(An image of breaking an apartment)

-(An image of grabbing and shaking someone by the collar)

-I’ll give you all my shy heart that I’ve hidden~!

-I don’t know if my heart is beating because I’m scared or because I like itㅋㅋ

Song Yu-jung, who had been looking at the photos without breathing or blinking, jumped up.

“The phone screen is too small! Computer! Computer!”

That day.

Song Yu-jung and Im Ye-na, who had fallen head over heels for Seo-jun’s profile picture, had forgotten to call each other again.

***

[Title: No. Isn’t the profile picture too much?]

Why are there only eight pictures!!

If you include the black and white versions, it’s only 16 pictures!

(Not that I don’t like the black and white versions. They have their own charm.)

This must be the A-cut, so release the B-cut, no, release all the pictures you tookㅠㅠ

Especially, sadness.(serious)

-Yes. Release them allㅠㅠ It’s too frustratingㅠㅠ

-I like anger. Please release anger tooㅜ

-Happiness……! Happiness is the best!

-And so, the sprouts were divided into four groups……!

[Title: Cocoa. Please make a boy group with these four.]

Cocoa(>>Cocoa Entertainment). I sincerely wish that you would make a boy group with these four.

The name should be Greenwood (green tree).

Cocoa Entertainment always has colors in their names and we are Sprouts.

-I will be a fan for life (serious)

-The names should be Baek Seo-jun, Hwang Seo-jun, Cheong Seo-jun, Heuk Seo-jun.

=LOL the names LOL I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts LOL I choose Cheong Seo-jun (serious)

-Hwang Seo-jun isn’t cute?! Hwang Seo-jun! Hwang Seo-jun!

***

[Actor Lee Seo-jun, first profile picture revealed!]

-Wow……wow……!

-We were the only survivors waiting for this and this came out!

-Cocoa Entertainment did a good job. But do better and give Seo-jun a photo shoot.

=22 Only 16 pictures is nothingㅠㅠ

=333 Give us a photo book…… with 1,000 pages.

=LOL 1,000 pages LOL Reservation 1 (serious)

=Reservation 2 (calligraphy)

……

=Reservation 31 (serious)

-But where is the T-shirt that Seo-jun is wearing in ‘joy’ from?

=Are you going to buy it?

=Yes it’s a couple look with Seo-jun!

=But Seo-jun won’t wear it and only the Sprouts will wear it haha

=Sprout look LOL

-But he’s definitely different from a model. His face comes first before his clothes.

=Right. Lee Seo-jun can’t be a model.

=But the clothes that Lee Seo-jun wore sold really well……

=It’s good that they sell well LOL but it’s weird LOL

-Breaking) A personal fan appears in [Sprout].

=……? [Sprout] is Lee Seo-jun’s fan cafe, right? Lee Seo-jun is one person, how can he have a personal fan……?

=They want to gather Lee Seo-jun’s four pictures and make a group LOL

=Baek Seo-jun, Hwang Seo-jun, Cheong Seo-jun, Heuk Seo-jun LOL Isn’t that name too lazy LOL

=Greenwood LOL But if that group comes out, they will be very popular. They will dominate the music industry.

Chapter 341

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Chapter 341

After finishing his application for an ID card, Seo-jun waited for the issuance date as usual, going back and forth between school, home, and Cocoa Entertainment.

Then he received a piece of news from the United States.

He heard from Ahn Da Ho and quickly picked up his phone to contact Kim Jong-ho.

“Uncle Jong-ho. Did you hear?”

-Yeah. The rough cut of Survivors is done, right?

Two days ago, he got the news that the rough cut of Survivors was finished.

Seo-jun chattered with a bright face.

“It seems like both the theatrical version and the Director’s Cut are done. It was faster than I expected.”

-The Director’s Cut, I heard about it, but I wonder how it will turn out. The internal screening is on a weekday, can you go, Jun?

Kim Jong-ho sounded worried that Seo-jun might not be able to go because of school. Seo-jun smiled widely and said.

“It’s okay. I didn’t have any filming in the first semester, so I still have enough attendance days.”

-Really? That’s good. Then we can go together next week.

“Yes! See you next week, Uncle Jong-ho!”

***

And a week later, on Tuesday.

Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho arrived in the United States on Sunday and headed to Bearound to attend the internal screening of Survivors.

In the car driven by a Kings Agency employee, there were Seo-jun, Ahn Da Ho, Kim Jong-ho, and manager Lee Sang-woo.

Kim Jong-ho asked with a surprised expression.

“You’re leaving on Thursday? Wouldn’t Saturday be fine? You said you were going to miss a whole week because of the screening date.”

“I’m going to the district office on Friday.”

“The district office?”

“Hehe. I’m getting my ID card.”

He said with a somewhat shy expression. Kim Jong-ho and manager Lee Sang-woo widened their eyes.

Somehow, everyone he had known since he was young had this reaction.

“You’re making it already?”

“I don’t remember when I made mine.”

Kim Jong-ho nodded in agreement with Lee Sang-woo’s words.

Seo-jun laughed at the sight of the two adults.

“The district office is only open on weekdays, so I’m going to arrive in Korea on Thursday and go there for a while on Friday. It took some time to apply, but they said it doesn’t take long to issue it.”

“It would be nice to rest on weekends after going to school on weekdays.”

Kim Jong-ho was wondering if he should return early as well, when Lee Sang-woo suddenly opened his mouth with something that came to his mind.

“But it would be a big deal if Seo-jun loses his ID card.”

It would be a big deal for anyone to lose their ID card, but even more so for a celebrity.

At Lee Sang-woo’s words, Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho widened their eyes.

‘I never thought of that…’

He had never lost his phone or card before, so he didn’t think about it.

And unlike phones or cards that can easily change numbers, ID cards have fixed social security numbers, so even if he reissued them, the numbers would be the same.

There were many things he could do with just his name and social security number.

Ahn Da Ho took out his phone with a serious face.

“Can I change my social security number too…”

He thought he should have a plan before losing it.

***

Bearound internal screening room.

It was an important event to check the box office potential of a project, so the planning team leader and Bearound employees were busy running around.

If they received bad reviews here, they might have to edit again or delay the schedule.

‘Well. I’m not worried.’

The planning team leader who had a proud expression for a moment frowned with a dark face.

No.

He wasn’t worried about Survivors-Theatrical Version, but he was worried about what kind of reaction Survivors-Director’s Cut would get.

‘There’s nothing I can do now.’

He sighed and raised his voice.

“Check your seats again!”

Survivors starring Davis Garrett and Lee Seo-jun was a work that Bearound expected, so there were more participants than usual.

There were Bearound executives, of course, as well as actors who participated in the filming, employees from the investment company, and employees from Plus+ who came to see the director’s cut.

A little later.

As the internal screening time approached, the audience arrived one by one.

“/Hello! Director Jeffrey!/”

“/Welcome. Jun. Nice to see you. Kim./”

Director Jeffrey greeted Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho with a bright smile in Bearound’s internal screening room.

The other actors who had arrived earlier also greeted Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho.

“/Jun!/”

Andrew Walker who had just entered shouted at Seo-jun with an excited face. He stopped running when he saw the man standing next to Seo-jun. It was a grim face, but that made it more unforgettable.

“/…It’s the detective!/”

Andrew Walker, who had watched Escape several times, sparkled his eyes at Kim Jong-ho. Kim Jong-ho also smiled at the child actor he had heard a lot from Seo-jun.

***

After everyone arrived, the internal screening began shortly.

The first one to be screened was Survivors-Theatrical Version.

Kim Jong-ho, who was sitting and watching the screen, blinked in wonder.

‘…It’s different from the script?’

It was a short and chopped script to avoid leaking the content, but Kim Jong-ho knew roughly what the plot was.

The beginning of the script was Raymond Wish and his family, played by Davis Garrett.

Raymond Wish was the ‘pearl protagonist’ who was the center from beginning to end.

‘I heard that Jun and I appear in flashbacks…’

But the actual movie somehow started with Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho.

‘It changes sometimes during editing, but…’

He couldn’t understand the situation on the screen even as he watched.

He had heard from Seo-jun that there were a lot of ‘ad-libs’ and the content changed, but he didn’t know it would be this unfamiliar.

‘Hmm. Let’s just watch.’

He decided to think of it as watching a movie he didn’t know and focused on the screen again.

That’s how people who knew the original script like Kim Jong-ho tilted their heads at the changed composition and then focused on the movie, and people who didn’t know the original script like Plus+ employees were immersed in the movie from the beginning.

A while later.

The screening of Survivors-Theatrical Version ended and the screening room brightened.

There was a short break before screening Survivors-Director’s Cut.

The planning team leader got up from his seat and looked around the screening room.

Everyone here was in the movie business and related to movies, so he knew how high their eyes were for watching movies.

He was more nervous than the general audience’s reviews.

‘Director Jeffrey seems satisfied.’

Director Jeffrey, who saw Survivors on a big screen for the first time today, had a bright face and talked with the actors next to him.

The actors’ reactions were also good.

The investment company employees and Plus+ employees also had satisfied eyes and talked with the people next to them.

He could feel good reactions everywhere.

The planning team leader clenched his fist and rejoiced.

“The movie was fun, but… Seo-jun. Didn’t you say it was ad-lib? It’s not ad-lib level. It looks like you changed everything?”

Kim Jong-ho’s first reaction after the movie ended was to laugh at Seo-jun.

“Right?”

“Not right. Right? Wasn’t Lee Hyun-woo the first one to be isolated among the survivors? Why is Raymond Wish, who has to escape at the end, the first one to be isolated?”

Seo-jun laughed and answered Kim Jong-ho’s question.

“Director Jeffrey said that it suits Raymond Wish’s personality better.”

Seo-jun and Davis Garrett, who had seen Director Jeffrey’s script, had no choice but to spit out the lines as they were.

They didn’t know how ecstatic Director Jeffrey was at the sight of the two actors acting according to the script.

Kim Jong-ho chuckled at the stories he had never heard or seen from the set.

“That’s something. I wonder how the set was like.”

“It was really fun. Oh. Uncle. Do you want me to show you the script?”

“The script?”

“Yes. I have from ‘Revision 1’ to ‘Final Revision’. There are some scripts that I didn’t use and some that I filmed.”

There were scripts from [Revision 1] to [Survivors Director’s Cut_Revision 7_8_Final_Final2_Final Final_End_Really End_Completed]. Of course, there were also that many scripts for [Theatrical Version].

“Sure. Let’s read it.”

Kim Jong-ho nodded his head with curiosity at Seo-jun’s words.

There was nothing better than a script to show the feel of the set.

***

The break time passed quickly and it was time to watch [Survivors-Director’s Cut].

The people who had gone outside sat in their seats one by one.

“Do you think Bearound will release this in theaters if the Director’s Cut is better?”

A Plus+ employee whispered to his team leader.

Plus+ was more curious about [Director’s Cut] than [Theatrical Version].

“I don’t know. If they were going to do that, they wouldn’t have invited us.”

It was actually a proposal from the Korean branch, but still.

The team leader turned his head and saw a young Asian boy in one of the seats where the actors were gathered.

It was Lee Seo-jun, an actor that Plus+ was keeping an eye on.

“But usually Director’s Cuts are just a little longer or edited a little differently, right? I wonder if we came here for nothing.”

“…There’s no child actor.”

“Huh?”

The employees of Plus+ looked at the actors’ side at the sudden words of the team leader.

The child actor who had been stuck next to Lee Seo-jun until a while ago was gone.

He felt a chill down his spine.

Either something urgent happened to the child actor or,

“I think a lot of violent scenes were cut out in the theatrical version to lower the rating. Maybe there are a lot of those scenes in this director’s cut. Since Lee is still a minor… It probably means that it’s okay for kids his age to watch.”

“Hmm.”

“Let’s just watch and talk.”

The employees nodded at the team leader’s words.

The screening room darkened and they closed their mouths.

Soon [Survivors-Director’s Cut] was projected on the screen.

Two hours later.

There was only silence in the screening room.

“…”

He didn’t know what he had just seen.

“OMG…!”

The groans that came out from here and there made the planning team leader, who had seen the edited version of [Director’s Cut] beforehand, laugh with a detached expression and make a cross sign with his fingers on his shoulders and forehead.

‘As expected. It can’t be released.’

***

Kim Jong-ho and manager Lee Sang-woo were not just shocked like other people.

They couldn’t take their eyes off the screen even after the movie ended and the screening room brightened.

“/The edited version is better, right?/”

Andrew Walker, who had just left, said with a regretful expression.

Seo-jun also smiled and said.

“/Right? The music was good too. It was more impressive because it was similar to the theatrical version./”

“/Of course, right? Our Director has good sense./”

At Davis Garrett’s words, Director Jeffrey, who was sitting in front of them, laughed cheerfully.

“/Haha. Thank you./”

The only peaceful ones in the screening room filled with shock and horror were the actors who had participated in the filming until the end and knew the content of [Director’s Cut] and a few other people.

“/I expected it, but it was more shocking to see it as an edited version./”

Vanessa Olsen nodded her head at Milan Chellen’s words next to Director Jeffrey.

“/This can’t be released, right?/”

“/I don’t think so. They seem to be in trouble over there…/”

At Milan Chellen’s words, the actors looked at one side.

Bearound executives talking with the planning team leader, Plus+ employees having a serious meeting, investment company employees who seemed to have decided on [Theatrical Version] after hesitating between [Theatrical Version] and [Director’s Cut] and shaking their heads.

It was a chaotic situation.

“/Are you okay, Director?/”

Seo-jun asked Director Jeffrey.

Wasn’t he the one who wanted to release it in theaters so badly?

“/I’m fine. I’m satisfied enough./”

When he first made [Director’s Cut], he wanted to show it in theaters, but his mind changed as he filmed.

Why couldn’t he release it in theaters, why couldn’t he make a hit.

‘I was too greedy.’

He should have adjusted his greed and the public’s demand to fit well.

‘Let’s do better on the next work.’

He said with a truly satisfied expression.

“/Do you know what stained glass is?/”

“/The one in the cathedral?/”

“/Yes. When it’s one piece, it’s just a sharp, irregular piece of glass in various colors, but when they come together, they make a beautiful picture, right?/”

“/Right./”

Seo-jun and the actors nodded their heads.

“/Isn’t our movie just like stained glass?/”

Davis Garrett’s improvisation and Lee Seo-jun’s improvisation.

And with the three actors’ script acting and Director Jeffrey’s overall editing, a very cool work was completed.

“/Then the theatrical version is heaven and the Director’s Cut is hell./”

Everyone laughed at Davis Garrett’s serious expression.

Chapter 342

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Chapter 342

“Why don’t we have a meal together since we’re here?”

At Milan Chellen’s suggestion, the actors and director Jeffrey moved to a nearby restaurant as it was almost dinner time.

The table was full of food and they all started to eat while chatting about various things.

Kim Jong-ho, who was a bit nervous to meet the actors for the first time, also relaxed and joined the conversation with a smile.

“The final cut will be a hit for sure.”

“I hope so.”

Milan Chellen nodded at Vanessa Olsen’s words.

“When do you think it will be released?”

At Davis Garrett’s question, everyone’s eyes turned to director Jeffrey.

This kind of schedule would be better known by the planning team leader, but both Bearound and Plus+ were busy with meetings because of the director’s cut, which was different from the final cut that everyone was satisfied with.

The planning team leader’s face, who seemed to have given up on the people’s cheers, came to Seo-jun’s mind and he smiled softly.

“We’re planning for around summer.”

Director Jeffrey answered, having heard from the planning team leader beforehand.

At his words, not only Seo-jun but also the actors looked surprised.

“That’s fast. I thought it would be autumn at least…”

“You saw the edited version earlier, but apart from a few places that need to be fixed, it’s almost done. It was faster than expected.”

Thanks to their efforts on the set, they were able to minimize the CG work and hire more people for the CG work thanks to Bearound’s financial power.

“I wonder how well it will do.”

“The final cut will be a hit, but…”

‘As for the Director’s Cut…’

Without saying anything, the actors and director exchanged awkward looks and eventually burst into laughter.

***

Seo-jun returned to Korea and headed to the district office the next day.

The civil servant who met Seo-jun again took out Seo-jun’s ID card from among the ones that had been made.

He could find it easily by looking at the handsome photo.

Meanwhile, his colleague next to him, who had been poked in the ribs by the civil servant (it was a predetermined signal), looked at Seo-jun in a black hat with starry eyes.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you.”

Seo-jun bowed and went outside.

He got into the car that was parked in the parking lot.

He came by his own car because he thought it would attract attention if he parked a big car in front of the district office.

Ahn Da Ho, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, smiled at Seo-jun who sat in the passenger seat.

“Did you get it?”

“Yes. Here it is.”

Seo-jun, who seemed a bit excited with his cheeks flushed, handed over his ID card with a photo taken at Sunset Studio.

Ahn Da Ho looked at Seo-jun’s ID card back and forth while Seo-jun fastened his seat belt.

‘The photo came out well.’

It was good that he took it at the studio.

Ahn Da Ho handed back Seo-jun’s ID card and started the car.

“I’m starting to feel that you’re becoming an adult soon.”

“Haha. Really?”

When did he grow up so much?

Ahn Da Ho felt both happy and sad that the little actor who led him to the entertainment industry had grown up so well.

‘I wonder if he’s amazed by his own ID card.’

He looked at Seo-jun who was examining his ID card here and there. But in Ahn Da Ho’s eyes, he still looked like a young child.

***

Early June.

Bearound started to promote [Survivors].

Articles about [Survivors] poured out from not only America and Korea but also all over the world.

[Bearound, ‘Survivors’ scheduled to be released in July!]

[Davis Garrett x Lee Seo-jun! ‘Survivors’ to be released in July!]

[Lee Seo-jun x Kim Jong-ho! ‘Survivors’ to be released simultaneously worldwide!]

[Korean actor’s Hollywood debut?! Kim Jong-ho’s first Hollywood movie, Survivors!]

-Wow. I thought it would be winter at least…

=22 July? July?

=N I need to save money for multiple viewings!!

-Worldwide simultaneous release wow

=That’s Hollywood scale…

=Escape also had simultaneous release in some countries.

=Only about twenty countries.

=Only? It’s amazing that a Korean movie had simultaneous release in foreign countries!

-I wonder if more Korean actors will appear in Hollywood movies now?

=Lee Seo-jun, Kim Jong-ho went there, so why not Lee Ji-seok, Lee Da-jin, Park Do-hoon?

=It’s all thanks to Lee Seo-jun!

-But there are many actors who don’t make it to the final cut even after filming.

=22 Or they appear very briefly.

=333 I guess we have to watch the movie to find out.

Ring.

Phones rang everywhere.

The staff of Kim Jong-ho’s agency had to run around to answer the ringing bells and incoming casting offers.

“Worldwide simultaneous release. That’s Hollywood for you.”

“Right. Escape also had simultaneous release in some countries, but Survivors is going to be released in more than 100 countries.”

They were amazed by the enormous scale.

“Is it okay to promote it like this a month before the release? It must cost a lot…”

“I don’t think they have to worry about money. They must have confidence that they can recover it all with this much promotion.”

They all nodded unconsciously.

“Kings Agency called!”

At the staff’s shout, the team leader of Team 1 quickly answered the phone.

Kings Agency.

Lee Seo-jun’s American agency and also the place that helped Kim Jong-ho a lot while he was appearing in a Hollywood movie.

Manager Lee Sang-woo only had good things to say about them.

From clothes and daily necessities to accommodation and food.

They were so well prepared that it felt like they went on a trip rather than filming, and Lee Sang-woo came back with a glowing face.

Just by looking at that, they could tell how well Kings Agency cared for their actors.

‘Maybe they’ll get some scripts from Hollywood after Survivors is released.’

And maybe Kim Jong-ho would be interested in some of them.

If Kim Jong-ho decided to appear in another Hollywood movie, it would be difficult for his agency to open a branch in America, so they would have to find a new partner among the agencies in America.

‘The best one would be Kings Agency.’

They already worked together once and knew each other’s working style, and they probably had some information and know-how from taking care of Hollywood star Lee Seo-jun, so working with Kings Agency would increase the chances of success.

‘The problem is that Kings Agency only has Cocoa Entertainment actors as their clients.’

He was good at his job and had a lot of information, but he only had three Korean singers and one actor as his clients.

According to a rumor that only those who knew knew, one of the members of Brown Black made it for his American activities, but… As a team leader, he had no way of knowing whether it was true or not.

‘Well. I have to do my best to look good…’

And then, if he sent Kim Jong-ho and other actors one by one, maybe his agency would have an actor who could make a name for himself in Hollywood.

“Seo-jun is our lucky charm!”

The bright voices of the staff reached the team leader’s ears.

‘…I don’t even hope for someone like Seo-jun.’

He sighed lightly and listened to the words of the Kings Agency staff on the other side of the phone.

***

[Kim Jong-ho x Lee Seo-jun! ‘Survivors’ making film released!]

[Survivors, making film released! Wait, why is this here?]

[The Korean hiking fashion that is spreading to the world?]

The making film of [Survivors] was released on YouTube.

Kim Jong-ho’s audition scene, which was kept for record purposes, was also edited very briefly, and Kim Jong-ho’s greeting with director Jeffrey Rodex was also shown.

-Where did all the comments saying that Kim Jong-ho was edited out go!!

=22 They even made a making film centered on Kim Jong-ho?!

=333 They should have promoted it as

-Kim Jong-ho auditioning… It feels weird;;;

=Right. He should be sitting on the judging panel;;;

=I remember when the audition article came out. If it were me, I would have seen Kim Jong-ho and just said he got inㅋㅋ

-They’re all foreigners, so it really feels like Hollywood.

-It’s amazing that there’s Kim Jong-hoㅎ

=But it’s familiar that there’s Seo-junㅎ

=ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

They all laughed again when Seo-jun joined the group of middle-aged men and women in hiking clothes.

-It’s like me stuck between my mom and dad’s friends.

=222 It was so embarrassing back then…

=But if they give me money, I can show some social skillsㅋㅋ

The making film ended with a view of the set of [Survivors] and Seo-jun, Kim Jong-ho, and Korean-American actors going up on the set.

-Wow. The set is no joke.

-I thought it was a shopping mall ad when I saw it.

=22 The shopping mall is so cool that I forgot what I was watching.

-They made it with CG, right?

=They probably did for the collapsing scene.

=…Maybe they really collapsed it in Hollywood.

-But what are those machines next to the set?

=Are they supports for the set?

=They look weird for that.

=That’s Hollywood for you.

=Aha.

=Don’t understandㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The making film of Bearound was broadcast not only on YouTube but also on television.

The Hollywood set with familiar Korean actors was enough to arouse the curiosity of the viewers.

And the ratings went up accordingly, so there was no reason for the broadcasters to refuse.

-I don’t have to worry about Korean acting with Kim Jong-ho (relieved)

=222 I like that there’s Korean, but I hate it when the pronunciation is so bad that even Koreans can’t understand.

=333 Finally, I can hear some proper Korean!

-I wish they showed some filming scenes too.

=You have to watch that in the theater.

-I’m waiting for Survivors!!

=It’s perfect for summer vacation and multiple viewings!

***

And in mid-July.

A few days before the start of summer vacation, Bearound’s [Survivors] was released.

They took their final exams early,

“Yu-jung. What about your report?”

“…It’s okay. It’s due in two days.”

…and headed to the movie theater to enjoy their vacation. Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na had excited faces.

There were a lot of people because it was the first day of release, or because it was Lee Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho’s movie.

It was lucky that they booked in advance.

Lim Ye-na read articles about [Survivors] on her phone. She cared about every article and comment because her actor was in the movie.

[Survivors, pre-sale rate, 80.7%!]

[Survivors, released today! What is the opening score?]

[The movies that were postponed because of Survivors!]

“Some movies were postponed.”

“I would postpone them as much as I could too.”

Lim Ye-na read the article further.

“They say that Survivors already released the making film, so if there’s no big issue, other movies might be released in two weeks?”

“Really?”

[Kim Jong-ho’s first Hollywood debut! How is it?!]

[Father and son, Kim Jong-ho x Lee Seo-jun’s chemistry?!]

“What chemistry? You can tell by just looking at the poster. They already confirmed their chemistry as Taejong and Seongnyeong.”

“Right.”

Lim Ye-na said proudly, looking at the eye-catching article.

Song Yu-jung also nodded and carefully picked up one of the posters of [Survivors].

It was a shopping mall that collapsed in the background, and five actors were standing with their backs turned.

They all looked terrible.

“I can guess what kind of story it is, but…”

At Song Yu-jung’s words, Lim Ye-na shrugged.

Even if they didn’t want to know the story, anyone who had watched a lot of movies or dramas could guess how it would unfold with some small pieces of information.

A collapsed shopping mall.

An extra father and a main character son.

“I can’t watch it without tears.”

“I brought tissues.”

Lim Ye-na smiled and handed Song Yu-jung a tissue from her bag after hearing her words.

“Wow, you’re well prepared.”

“I always carry tissues with me since I cry so much watching Seo-jun’s movies. And this one is a disaster movie, so I think I’ll cry even more.”

Song Yu-jung nodded in agreement and put the tissue in her bag.

“Do you think the previous show is over yet?”

“There’s still some time left. But it’s a shame. The exit of this theater is on the other side, so we won’t be able to see the reactions of the people who watched it.”

“I like watching without knowing anything. Oh, I should avoid the internet too.”

Then they had to wait.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na chatted while looking at Seo-jun’s profile picture that they had downloaded and set as their phone wallpaper.

They sometimes argued about which Seo-jun was the coolest, but it had been two months since the profile picture was released.

After a fierce fight, Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na decided to respect each other’s preferences.

“My taste is Seo-jun.”

“Seo-jun is cool no matter what he looks like.”

The fans of actor Lee Seo-jun, Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na smiled at each other.

A few moments later.

“Screen 6! Those who are going to watch Survivors, please enter!”

The staff shouted.

The people who were scattered around the theater checked the location of screen 6 and got up from their seats. Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na also got up and headed to the theater.

“Here it is.”

“We have a good view!”

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na sat down with excited faces and waited for the theater to darken.

Soon the theater darkened and ads started to play on the screen.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na, as well as the other audience members, checked the location of the emergency exits and escape routes on the screen as usual.

And then on the center of the screen.

The logo of Bearound, the production company, appeared.

Chapter 343

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: AgRoseCrystal
Chapter 343 2

“Surely, they came with friends or family.”

Jackson Miller looked at the two hands that were weakly whimpering in front of him.

None of the ten fingernails were intact and broken.

Moreover, the blood from the wounds on the fingers had dried up.

Beyond that wall,

There must have been people who had to be rescued until his hands became like this.

He probably lost consciousness because of what I said that triggered him.

“I’m sorry.”

As he was walking, Jackson Miller saw a sign hanging from the ceiling.

‘The nearest exit from here is…’

Phew, Jackson Miller sighed and moved his steps again.

His destination was the closest movie theater in the east.

As he moved his steps, Jackson Miller found people gathered.

He looked at the situation with a sigh as he saw the people who were sitting down with tired faces.

Even when Jackson Miller appeared, the people just glanced at him and said nothing.

“Why are you gathered here?”

Jackson Miller spoke to the person who was closest to him.

The woman was wearing a top that was the uniform of a Galleria Mall guide, but instead of a skirt, she was wearing training pants.

It was easy to talk to her because there was a boy next to her.

Jackson Miller put Lee Hyun-woo down on the floor.

“A bomb went off in the south shopping area and then another bomb went off at the east gate where the broadcasting room is.”

“And then there was another explosion in the west dining area. The only exit left is the north gate.”

The audience was surprised by Cynthia Lindberg’s explanation.

They didn’t know that other gates had exploded because they didn’t show the outside situation at all.

That’s why they seemed more immersed in the survivors.

Song Yu-jung couldn’t take her eyes off the screen.

The crowd roared as Raymond Wish found a passage.

Meanwhile, Ian Weaver held Lee Hyun-woo’s hand tightly.

Lee Hyun-woo, who flinched at the warm and tender body temperature, lifted his heavy eyelids.

A child with pale eyes was looking at Lee Hyun-woo.

The child smiled brightly as he met Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes,

Thud!

Lee Hyun-woo slapped the child’s hand without realizing it.

The child should have been surprised, but Ian Weaver sat quietly next to Lee Hyun-woo as if he was used to it.

Raymond Wish calmed down the people and opened his mouth.

“Let’s take anything that might be useful around here. Food is good and so is something to use as a light. If you have time, take some clothes too.”

The people looked around at his words.

The electricity was still on. Some of the lights flickered.

Cynthia Lindberg noticed that Ian Weaver had a bag and borrowed it for a moment.

“I’ll give it back when I find something to use as a bag. You can have the snacks, Ian.”

“Okay.”

Jackson Miller and Cynthia Lindberg put things that seemed necessary in Ian Weaver’s bag.

There were quite a few things that were intact because there were many shops nearby.

There were also water bottles rolling around from the vending machine.

They filled up the small bag and Jackson Miller and Cynthia Lindberg followed the group of survivors with other things.

***

It was impossible to escape easily.

Kwaaang!!

As Raymond Wish was checking out the situation, the floor collapsed.

The people who were standing on it fell into the dark abyss before they could react.

***

After falling underground, the atmosphere was not good.

The flashlight in Raymond Wish’s hand flickered ominously.

The audience was swept away by the atmosphere on the screen and unknowingly held their breaths.

The floor shook and Lee Hyun-woo collapsed.

Lee Hyun-woo’s groaning sound came out of the speaker.

Raymond Wish’s face was close-upped.

Raymond Wish’s trembling hand and arm were reflected on the screen.

It was uneasy.

Lee Hyun-woo’s groaning sound irritated the audience’s nerves and Raymond Wish’s instability made their hearts beat irregularly.

And then,

“Can’t you be quiet!”

“Shut up! Do you think anyone is fine here?!”

Raymond Wish exploded and grabbed Lee Hyun-woo by the collar.

Lee Hyun-woo’s head shook weakly.

The audience clenched their mouths at Lee Hyun-woo’s dead eyes on the screen.

An uneasy wind blew among the quiet group of survivors.

***

“…This is where we came before.”

Cynthia Lindberg sighed deeply at Jackson Miller’s words as he looked around.

It was impossible to go north with a dark basement, blocked passages, and broken signs.

“Maybe… it’s okay to stay here?”

“Until they come to save us.”

Jackson Miller agreed with Cynthia Lindberg’s words.

“There are four floors above us.”

Cynthia Lindberg handed him a water bottle as Raymond Wish took a sip of water.

They couldn’t recover half of the things they had gathered because of the sudden fall.

They had to save everything.

“If the Galleria Mall collapsed completely, we would have to wait for the people outside to break through the four-story wall. And they would also try to find other survivors, so it wouldn’t be fast.”

Raymond Wish couldn’t estimate how long it would take to rescue the survivors upstairs and come down here.

“What about the north?”

“That’s an amusement park, so there’s only one ceiling. And it’s outdoors, so they can bring machines that are needed for rescue nearby, so I think that’s where the search for survivors would be the fastest.”

Raymond Wish’s words made sense.

Cynthia Lindberg sighed lightly as she took the water bottle from Raymond Wish.

“Then the problem is how to get to the north.”

“It would be nice if we had a compass…”

Ian Weaver looked at his wrist at Jackson Miller’s words.

In his faint memory, a quiet hospital room.

The face of the man who put a watch on his arm passed by.

‘Now Ian has to protect Mom.’

Ian Weaver’s gaze turned to Lee Hyun-woo, who was curled up.

“I have one.”

“Huh?”

“A compass.”

The three adults looked at Ian Weaver with surprised expressions.

Ian Weaver took off the watch on his wrist and handed it to Cynthia Lindberg.

Cynthia Lindberg smiled brightly when she found a small compass in the watch.

***

Peace was short-lived.

The anxiety that he had been holding back finally burst.

“Aaaah!”

Raymond Wish exploded at Lee Hyun-woo’s seizure.

Jackson Miller and Cynthia Lindberg blocked Raymond Wish’s way, who looked terrifying with his imposing aura.

Ian Weaver quickly covered Lee Hyun-woo, who was having a seizure.

“Please… please shut up! It keeps ringing in my head and I’m going crazy!”

“We don’t have time… to be like this…!”

Raymond Wish tore his hair out as if he was having a fit.

He looked nothing like the reliable person he was when they first met.

“I have a family… at the restaurant… I have to go save them…!”

Family.

“So please… please…”

“…Just be quiet…!”

Silence fell.

Only the sobs of Raymond Wish and Lee Hyun-woo could be heard.

“…I’m sorry… I’m sorry… really… I’m sorry… sorry… I’m sorry…”

“I’m sorry… it’s not… my fault… I’m really sorry… I apologize…”

Hoo… hoo…

Someone’s whimper came out of the speaker.

The audience couldn’t move a muscle.

They felt their eyes moisten as they saw Raymond Wish crouching in front of Lee Hyun-woo, who had been angry at him.

They also felt uneasy as they saw Lee Hyun-woo, who had been a hindrance to their escape, apologizing endlessly.

Really.

It was no one’s fault.

***

Kuuung!

‘Thank goodness.’

That Ian was alive.

Lee Hyun-woo leaned on the wall to support his trembling body.

On the other side of the cold wall.

Just like his parents had disappeared, he too.

The black darkness slowly crawled up his feet, grabbing his ankles and legs.

The deep fear swallowed Lee Hyun-woo,

“What are you doing?!”

A loud voice rang out and something suddenly appeared in his sight.

It was a hand.

“Come out here!”

Lee Hyun-woo reached out to the hand without realizing it, as he saw Raymond Wish’s eyes in his blurry vision.

Then.

It was the hand that he wanted to reach out to his parents.

Ugh…

Lee Hyun-woo grabbed Raymond Wish’s hand and climbed over the stone wall. Song Yu-jung let out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding.

She felt Lim Ye-na’s movement next to her.

Her eyes were sore from not blinking. But she couldn’t take her eyes off the screen for a moment.

Her palms were already sweaty.

Ian Weaver hugged Lee Hyun-woo, who had collapsed on the floor.

Raymond Wish breathed heavily and moved his stiff shoulders.

Cynthia Lindberg checked Lee Hyun-woo’s bleeding leg and Jackson Miller looked around.

“Can you move?”

“…Yes.”

“Tell me if it’s hard.”

Ian Weaver didn’t want to let go of Lee Hyun-woo.

Jackson Miller lifted Ian Weaver up.

He thought his heart had dropped when he missed this small hand earlier.

“Let’s go.”

Raymond Wish took the lead again.

The survivors followed the narrow path.

Ian Weaver held Jackson Miller’s back and when Jackson Miller got tired, he held Cynthia Lindberg’s hand.

When the road looked a bit dangerous, he was lifted up by Raymond Wish.

Raymond Wish lifted Ian Weaver roughly and walked silently.

Jackson Miller supported Lee Hyun-woo.

The only light they could rely on was a flashlight and a phone light.

The surroundings that were blocked tightly were not good for Lee Hyun-woo, who had suffered a mental shock.

‘He’s not holding on… he seems to have lost his mind.’

Lee Hyun-woo seemed to be half-conscious and only knew how to walk because of the pressure he had endured earlier.

Jackson Miller sighed and squeezed Lee Hyun-woo’s cold hand.

“My family is outside.”

Family.

Jackson Miller deliberately brought up his trigger so that Lee Hyun-woo could find some will to live.

He didn’t know if it would make things worse, but Jackson Miller thought this was the best option right now.

As soon as Jackson Miller opened his mouth, the silent survivors listened carefully.

Lee Hyun-woo also noticed the voice that faintly reached him.

“It’s my daughter’s birthday in a few days. I told her I left my phone behind and secretly came in to buy a present… but I got trapped like this.”

Jackson Miller’s day flashed briefly.

The girl laughed as she saw her dad slap his forehead in surprise at the Galleria Mall parking lot.

The wife also smiled quietly at her husband’s clumsy acting.

“They must be worried sick.”

Cynthia Lindberg opened her mouth.

“I work here. My family must be watching the news at home. My grandmother has a weak heart… I hope she didn’t get too scared.”

Raymond Wish and Jackson Miller looked surprised at Cynthia Lindberg’s words.

There was no mention of Ian Weaver.

“Then… what is your relationship with Ian?”

“I was going to take Ian to the missing center because he was alone. This place is big and there’s always at least one missing person every day. I was going to broadcast it, but…”

“I’m not missing. Mom said she would come if I waited…”

Ian Weaver, who was holding Raymond Wish’s back, opened his mouth.

Raymond Wish frowned and tried to open his mouth as he felt uncomfortable with Ian Weaver’s face buried in his back.

“…But she might not come.”

If it wasn’t for Ian’s words.

The adults closed their mouths.

Lee Hyun-woo, who had regained some consciousness from the word family, also listened to Ian’s voice.

Ian Weaver, who had his face buried in Raymond Wish’s back, continued to speak.

“Mom hates me because I couldn’t protect her from the man. Dad… dad… asked me to protect mom…”

Raymond Wish clenched his teeth.

Yeah.

Why didn’t he realize how strange it was?

That a child who didn’t cry in this situation was good?

Cynthia Lindberg, Jackson Miller, and Lee Hyun-woo realized that too.

Raymond Wish, an adult, and Lee Hyun-woo, who was older than Ian Weaver, couldn’t bear the situation.

How could this little kid endure it?

“I don’t get scared of the dark when I get scolded. I always stay in the closet. Mom is scared of the dark like my brother. She gets hurt by the man every day like my brother.”

Ian Weaver poured out his feelings that he couldn’t tell anyone.

He had a brother who looked like his mom and a man who looked like him, but he had an adult who gave him his back. ‘The man’ couldn’t come to ‘now’, which was tightly blocked, and that gave Ian Weaver a sense of relief.

Lee Hyun-woo stopped walking without realizing it. The adults did the same.

A warm voice filled with warmth sounded in the quiet darkness.

“Mister.”

“…Why.”

“Don’t hit my brother.”

“…I didn’t hit him.”

Raymond Wish felt wronged.

…He had grabbed his collar, but he had never hit Lee Hyun-woo.

“And don’t yell either.”

Raymond Wish obediently shut his mouth.

“I have a bad ear, so I can only hear a little bit, but my brother can hear well, so it must be really scary. I was really scared when I was young too.”

Raymond Wish muttered a curse at the child’s words.

“Let’s take a break and go.”

Raymond Wish, who had lifted him up roughly, gently and carefully put Ian Weaver down on the ground.

Well, even a kind man would be scary to a child.

Ian Weaver ran to Lee Hyun-woo as soon as he got off his back.

He was his brother who looked like his mom.

He pushed him away with a thud and had a pale face like his mom.

He also saved him like his mom.

‘Is Ian happy now?’

Lee Hyun-woo opened his arms a little as he saw Ian Weaver hesitating.

Ian Weaver smiled brightly and hugged Lee Hyun-woo.

He had been in a dark pain for a long time,

Lee Hyun-woo cried at the small but proud warmth.

Jackson Miller and Cynthia Lindberg looked at each other and sighed. They couldn’t say anything to Raymond Wish, who was sitting on the floor with his head down.

They had been through a lot today.

They had survived the explosion, fallen underground, and wandered in the dark.

They had lost many things and people along the way.

They had seen death and despair up close.

They were all exhausted physically and mentally.

But they couldn’t give up.

They had to live.

They had to get out of here.

They had to see their families again.

Chapter 344

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 344 2

Lee Hyun-woo tried to scream loudly, but his parched throat choked him.

‘No…!’

He had no voice.

His heart sank, but he couldn’t give up. Lee Hyun-woo quickly thought of a plan and raised his right arm to grab a stone that was slightly bigger than his fist.

He then groped around for a spot nearby.

He found a place that seemed a bit wide and sturdy.

He hugged Ian Weaver, who had lost consciousness, tightly and smashed the stone against the spot.

Thud!

Once.

Thud!

Twice.

Thud!

Thrice.

He couldn’t make any sound with his dry lips and throat, so this was all he could do. But Lee Hyun-woo didn’t give up.

His struggle continued like this.

He couldn’t hear anything else, only the sound of the stone hitting the wall.

Lee Hyun-woo occasionally checked Ian Weaver’s breathing and then hit the wall again with his right hand holding the stone.

Thud!

Please.

Thud!

There are.

Thud!

People here.

Thud!

…Save us.

Thud!

…Please help us.

Song Yu-jung felt like she heard Lee Hyun-woo’s cry.

The sound of the stone and the wall colliding sounded like Lee Hyun-woo’s cry.

Her vision blurred with tears.

She heard sobbing sounds from everywhere.

If it wasn’t a movie theater, she would have wailed out loud.

A short but long time passed for Lee Hyun-woo on the screen and the audience outside the screen.

Lee Hyun-woo’s strength seemed to fade away as his sound became weaker.

Then.

Plop,

Sand fell down.

Lee Hyun-woo’s face fell.

It was a fear he had experienced and learned.

It was going to collapse.

Lee Hyun-woo dropped the stone in his right hand and hugged Ian Weaver tightly.

His body trembled as he held Ian Weaver.

He was scared.

He was terrified.

He was really… terrified.

It was hard to breathe properly.

The audience also felt the same fear.

Every time sand or dust fell down, they expected the wall to crumble and people to disappear.

When some bigger stones fell on Lee Hyun-woo’s black hair, everyone held their breath.

They felt their hearts stop at the sight of Lee Hyun-woo, who was curled up and shivering in fear.

That’s when it happened.

[Survivors found. Survivors found.]

A heavy voice rang out.

…!!

Song Yu-jung clenched her fists.

If she was at home, she would have cheered loudly.

She felt Lim Ye-na’s movement next to her.

The silent theater seemed to stir.

She felt the silent cheers of the people.

Lee Hyun-woo, who had flinched, slowly lifted his head at the sound of the voice.

He saw something moving through his blurry vision.

He saw light.

‘Ah…’

Lee Hyun-woo shed tears.

He felt like he would lose consciousness at any moment from the relief that washed over him like a wave.

He heard the sound of the rescuers moving.

They cleared the debris and secured a passage.

The sound filled the air. It was not the sound of dying stones, but of lively life.

Tears of emotion welled up in her eyes.

[Are you conscious? We’ll get you out now.]

Lee Hyun-woo, who was holding onto his fading mind, breathed heavily and moved towards the widening passage.

It was narrow, but enough to move.

[Don’t move now…!]

A small hand and arm appeared from below Lee Hyun-woo, different from Lee Hyun-woo’s hand.

The rescuers were speechless for a moment.

[…Two survivors! Bring another stretcher!]

One of the rescuers snapped out of it and shouted urgently in a trembling voice as he saw the twitching small hand.

The rescuer carefully lifted Ian Weaver, who had lost consciousness, out of the hole.

Then Lee Hyun-woo came out.

The rescuers were speechless at the sight of the two children they rescued.

Under the bright sunset, the audience was also silent.

They saw something they couldn’t see in the dark underground.

They shed tears at the sight of Ian Weaver, who had no serious injuries, and Lee Hyun-woo, who had wounds all over his body.

[…Call an ambulance quickly!]

The boy seemed to have some kind of relationship with the child he tried to save, or maybe he just wanted to save him safely.

The rescuers moved more carefully.

The rescuer next to Lee Hyun-woo on the stretcher felt something tug at him and turned to look.

Lee Hyun-woo, who seemed to have passed out, opened his eyes faintly.

The rescuer smiled softly at him.

[The child is fine. He just fainted. We’ll take you to the hospital in an ambulance right away…]

Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes were more intense than anyone else’s, even though his face was pale. Lee Hyun-woo licked his lips. The rescuer who stopped talking bent his knees and listened carefully.

“…Ah… Down there…”

A faint voice was heard.

“…There are people…”

…!

The rescuer gasped and looked at Lee Hyun-woo with trembling eyes.

Lee Hyun-woo spoke with difficulty.

“I, I think it took about 30 minutes to crawl. Her name is Cynthia, Cynthia Lindberg…”

A dry voice was heard.

“And from there, south for 10 minutes… W, west for 5 minutes…”

Lee Hyun-woo didn’t stop talking, and Song Yu-jung covered her mouth.

The audience was shocked.

“…His name is Jackson Miller.”

…Really, this boy only inspired awe.

The rescuer took a deep breath and gestured.

Someone quickly turned on a recorder.

The rescue team became busy.

“And,”

Lee Hyun-woo closed his eyes and breathed hard, then opened his mouth.

“From there, east for 5 minutes, south for 15 minutes… Again east for 15 minutes… South for 5 minutes… His name is Raymond Wish.”

Lee Hyun-woo really wanted to save everyone.

Lee Hyun-woo was sobbing and gasping for air.

A rescue worker spoke to him.

[Don’t worry. We’ll get you out of here soon.]

Lee Hyun-woo finally let go of the rescue worker’s clothes.

On the screen above, his relieved face was shown.

The screen slowly faded to black.

Song Yu-jung sniffed and wiped her tears with a tissue that Lim Ye-na gave her.

She thought the movie was over, but she saw a flickering light inside.

It was Raymond Wish’s eyes.

…He was alive!

The audience stirred as Raymond Wish appeared.

They all seemed to share the same feeling.

Song Yu-jung smiled through her tears.

She didn’t know how much time had passed.

He was lucky that only his lower body was trapped under the rubble.

If he had been crushed, he would have bled to death by now.

He was bleeding a bit, but it wasn’t fatal.

“…Did they make it?”

Raymond Wish breathed weakly.

He honestly didn’t know.

There were more explosions and collapses after that.

That’s when it happened.

A bright white light shone over the rubble where Raymond Wish was buried.

He didn’t notice it as he lay on the ground.

But he heard the sound of rocks rolling.

He tensed up, thinking that it was collapsing again.

He looked in that direction.

The hole that was as big as a fist grew larger.

At the same time, Raymond Wish’s eyes widened.

[Survivor found. Survivor found.]

A rescue worker with a flashlight walked towards Raymond Wish.

[Raymond Wish.]

When his name was called, Raymond Wish stared at the rescue worker with a blank face.

As if they had come to save ‘Raymond Wish’ among the many survivors, the rescue worker’s voice was uncertain.

[Are you Raymond Wish?]

Without knowing why, Raymond Wish nodded dumbly.

***

-Hyun-woo! Oh, my. Our Hyun-woo!

His parents, covered in bandages, appeared on the other side of the PinePad screen.

Seeing his parents’ unharmed faces, Lee Hyun-woo, who was receiving emergency treatment in the ambulance, looked at the PinePad with a dazed face.

“Mom… Dad…!”

-Our son! Are you hurt anywhere?

Lee Hyun-woo nodded repeatedly.

There were many tourists in Galleria Mall who couldn’t be identified right away, so the rescue team used video calls to confirm the survivors.

A rescue worker ran up to Lee Hyun-woo, who was talking to his parents.

[We rescued Cynthia Lindberg!]

[We rescued Jackson Miller!]

The rescue worker told Lee Hyun-woo the news of the rescue with an incredulous voice.

And,

[We rescued Raymond Wish!]

Only then did Lee Hyun-woo feel relieved and burst into tears.

The camera slowly moved back.

Lee Hyun-woo’s crying face became smaller and the ambulance he was in became smaller.

The surroundings slowly came into view.

The collapsed Galleria Mall, dozens of ambulances and fire trucks, busy people and rescue dogs, and survivors being carried to ambulances on stretchers were seen.

The orange sunset lit up the ground.

***

The theater became slightly brighter and the ending scroll appeared on the screen.

[Lee Hyun-woo played by Lee Seo-jun]

[Lee Hyun-woo’s father played by Kim Jong-ho]

Familiar names slowly rose up.

No one left their seats even after the movie ended.

Loud cries were heard from all over the theater.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na also wiped their tears with tissues while sniffling.

Their eyes were swollen by now.

“We have to watch it again.”

“Yeah. Next time we should bring more tissues.”

The ending scroll ended and the screen turned black.

When the cookie video started, everyone who was chatting with their friends shut their mouths at once.

It was a scary unity.

***

On a large desk.

In the center, there was an envelope and a letter.

And next to it, there were also many photos.

Cynthia Lindberg hugging her grandmother tightly.

Jackson Miller having his daughter’s birthday party.

And Ian Weaver smiling brightly with Raymond Wish’s family.

No.

Square by square.

A neat hand holding a sharpie moved over the letter.

Chapter 345

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 345

The OST of [Survivors] played in the background.

It was very short, but it showed a happy ending that was more satisfying than any movie.

The audience had tears in their red eyes as they smiled at the cookie video.

The cookie video was over, and unlike the audience who wanted to enjoy the aftermath of [Survivors], the theater had to move on to the next screening as usual.

The lights turned on in the whole hall and the doors opened.

The audience got up from their seats with regret for the broken mood.

They all looked exhausted from crying and being tense.

“Ah, I didn’t eat any popcorn.”

“My drink is all melted.”

They were so focused on the movie that they forgot they had snacks.

They only found their drinks on the armrests after the movie was over.

Some of them laughed bitterly and replenished their water with the bland drink that melted from the ice.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na threw away their tissues soaked with tears and headed to the exit.

The exit of the theater led directly to the outside of the building.

The audience walked down the stairs with no strength in their bodies.

“Wow, I must have been so tense watching it. I feel drained. My body is so stiff.”

“I cried a lot too. I used up all the tissues you gave me.”

“I know, right? Your eyes are so swollen.”

“So are yours. Do you want me to show you a mirror?”

They both had red and puffy eyes around them, which made them laugh. Lim Ye-na and Song Yu-jung looked at each other and giggled as they walked.

***

[Bearound ‘Survivors’ opening score 1.1 million!]

[The ‘Survivors’ that made the audience cry!]

[Survivors, a story of people who move to survive!]

[Actor Kim Jong-ho, a successful first Hollywood movie!]

-I cried again as expectedㅠㅠ

=22 I knew they would focus on emotions and family values, but I still fell for itㅎ

=333 But I couldn’t help cryingㅋㅋ

=444 Really, from when the bomb exploded and Lee Hyun-woo appeared, tears were streaming down my faceㅎ

-I was waiting at the theater and it was funny how I could tell who watched ‘Survivors’ and who didn’tㅋㅋㅋ

=ㅇㅇ The people who came out of ‘Survivors’ had swollen eyesㅎㅎ

=One of them was me!

-The chemistry between Kim Jong-ho and Lee Seo-jun is…!

=It comes to my mind againㅠㅠ

-Weren’t the actors who spoke Korean good? They all looked like real Koreans and I was immersed.

=22 Really, if they couldn’t speak Korean in this movie, they would have been criticized a lot.

-I already booked N times.

-I hope Moviegoer’s review comes out soon!

=22 He said he would do it in two weeks, so I have to study by watching N times until then!

=333 N times study>>Moviegoer review>>N times review ㅎㅎ

***

[‘Survivors’ 2nd week of release! The heat does not subside! Can it break 10 million viewers?!]

[The theater is full of ‘Survivors’ N times viewers!]

[Tissues are essential! Water is optional! ‘Survivors’ viewing method!]

[Ian Weaver’s wristwatch, sold out!]

[Actor Kim Jong-ho’s hiking outfit, selling well!]

[What did Lee Hyun-woo choose as a gift for his parents?!]

[Lee Hyun-woo sunglasses, sold out!]

[‘Survivors’] had been released for two weeks already, but Korea was still buzzing with [‘Survivors’].

The theater was crowded with people holding tissues and the exit was full of people with swollen eyes.

They were so absorbed in watching the movie that they didn’t have time to eat snacks, so there was even an article that said that popcorn and other snack sales had temporarily decreased. It was normal for things related to [‘Survivors’] to be sold out.

“…I’m glad we postponed it.”

The manager of the movie distribution company sighed with relief as he put down his phone.

He almost released his movie in July, which would have been swallowed by [‘Survivors’].

“It’s still close for two weeks…”

If he delayed it any longer, he might have faced a bunch of movies that were postponed because of [‘Survivors’].

He had to find the right timing.

“Manager!”

An employee ran into the office with a worried face.

The manager could tell by his tone whether it was good news or bad news. His heart sank.

“What, what, what’s going on?”

Bad things came to his mind.

Was it a scandal of the actors who starred in the movie, or an accident of the director. Or a problem with the staff.

“Surviv, survivors are coming out.”

The employee stammered.

“…? They already came out.”

The manager looked at the employee with disbelief as he said that the movie that had swept the theater two weeks ago was coming out.

Something flashed through his mind.

“Oh, you mean SNS? That must be about the second part. I don’t know when it will come out…”

“Director’s cut!”

The employee shouted like a scream.

“…What?”

“Next week, the Director’s Cut of ‘Survivors’ is coming out!”

A scream that would cover the world again erupted from everywhere.

Most of them were movie-related people, which was no secret.

***

Two weeks after [‘Survivors’] was released, a random post appeared on Bearound’s official SNS.

[Bearound]

A new story of ‘Survivors’ is coming to you.

#Survivors #New story #Davis Garrett #Seo-jun Lee

The post caught the eyes of people who were looking for something new about [‘Survivors’].

-A new story?

-Wow! Are they already preparing for ‘Survivors 2’?

=Is ‘Survivors 2’… a possible story.

=I know, right. It would be too unrealistic for a movie if they all met again and fell into danger. Especially Lee Hyun-woo seems to be Korean.

-If they change the actors, it might be possible, right?

=22 The LA bomb terror didn’t only destroy Galleria Mall. It could be the second place that exploded, like a supermarket or LA Dodgers Stadium.

=333 It could also be an outdoor place like an amusement park instead of a closed underground.

=That would be really fun!!

-Or maybe they could change the perspective and make it a story of firefighters or rescuers.

=Wow. Rescuers… that sounds good?

=Well, they didn’t even tell the story of the terrorists.

-I think it would be interesting to see how the US responds to the LA bomb terror in a movie.

=The scale would be hugeㅎㄷㄷ

-But if they change the actors, isn’t it just a new movieㅋ

=22 I don’t think there will be a combination of Lee Seo-jun×Davis Garrett×Milan Chellen×Vanessa Olsen×Andrew Walker.

=333 Honestly, these kind of movies fail when they make a second partㅎㅎ

Everyone’s attention was drawn to the new story of [Survivors].

They kept checking Bearound’s SNS and homepage, wondering when the other story would come out.

But surprisingly, the place that gave them the answer was not Bearound.

The afternoon after Bearound’s SNS post.

The streaming site Plus+ released a press release.

[A new story of ‘Survivors’? ‘Survivors-Director’s Cut’!]

[Plus+, next Saturday ‘Survivors-Director’s Cut’ upload!]

-Wow. Director’s cut!!

-It was a director’s cut. I thought it would take years to release the second part, but it’s next weekㅎㅎ

=22 I’m glad to see it sooner… but. Will it be much different from the theatrical version?

=Director’s cut is also fun! There are some parts that are deleted for the box office in the theater version!

=It’s also fun to compare the theatrical version and the director’s cut.

=I’m watching the theatrical version N times, so I think it will be fun even if it’s similar.

=Well, the actors and the director are the same.

-Moviegoer’s review is postponed!!

-He said he would review after watching the director’s cut!!

-I have to study N times for the director’s cut too!

-But what day is next week? Isn’t Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday all next week?

=22 We have to ask.

=333 Me too.

-I wonder… I think I can hear the chaos of Plus+ marketing team from here.

-Lolㅋㅋ Plus+ homepage crashedㅋㅋㅋ

-It’s on Plus+ SNS! Survivors-Director’s Cut will be uploaded at 01:00!

-Wow! I have to cancel my Friday and Saturday plans!

=I’ll wait from 12:00.

=I’ll wait from 11:00!

And then a late article came out.

[Plus+, next Saturday at 01:00 ‘Survivors-Director’s Cut’ scheduled upload.]

It was a very kind article that told them the minute.

***

Song Yu-jung’s studio apartment.

Song Yu-jung was busy moving around since morning.

“The sound is fine and the TV is connected to Plus+…”

She made all the preparations for watching [Survivors-Director’s Cut]. She looked at the clock.

It was almost 8 a.m.

“It’s been seven hours since the director’s cut was uploaded.”

She had been waiting for today since she heard about the director’s cut. So did everyone who enjoyed [Survivors].

They all cursed at the slow time and waited for Saturday.

“Ugh! Time really doesn’t go!”

It was 8 a.m., which would have been a time to sleep in during summer vacation, but she woke up at 5 a.m. today and felt like this morning was too long.

She would have browsed the internet on her phone to pass the time, but she was afraid of spoilers so she couldn’t even turn on Wi-Fi.

So Song Yu-jung cleaned up her house.

She thought it was a good idea to kill time, but her studio apartment was small and it didn’t take long.

When she had time left, Song Yu-jung suppressed her urge to watch it as soon as possible and waited for Lim Ye-na while shaking her legs.

Ding dong.

“She’s here!”

Song Yu-jung opened the door with a bang.

Lim Ye-na was standing outside with a bright smile, holding some breakfast food.

“Come in quickly!”

She greeted her with a bright smile that showed how much she had been waiting. She looked like she had been waiting for a long time.

Of course, Lim Ye-na had been waiting for today too.

“Sorry. If it wasn’t for my brother’s birthday yesterday, I would have slept here and watched it with you.”

“It’s okay as long as we watch it now!”

Song Yu-jung smiled brightly.

A few moments later.

Song Yu-jung entered Plus+ after having a simple breakfast with the food Lim Ye-na brought. Lim Ye-na sat comfortably next to her and hugged a cushion familiarly.

It was definitely more comfortable than being in a crowded theater.

She didn’t need to search and find it as the first screen showed the backs of five people against a backdrop of ruins.

Just by looking at their backs, they could tell who they were, what kind of stories they had.

Below that were the letters [Survivors-Director’s Cut].

“It looks similar to the theatrical poster, right?”

“I guess so. It doesn’t seem to be much different.”

She clicked on [Survivors-Director’s Cut] and the screen changed.

The names of the director and the actors appeared, along with the running time and the ratings of the people who watched the video.

“Shall we look at the ratings first?”

There must have been a lot of people who watched it since it had been several hours.

Song Yu-jung, who was very sensitive to spoilers, turned her head at Lim Ye-na’s words, who didn’t care about spoilers at all.

“Look and tell me.”

“Okay.”

It didn’t take a few seconds for Lim Ye-na to open her mouth.

“Hmm. I think you can see it too, Yu-jung.”

She sounded surprised. Song Yu-jung turned her head and looked at the television. The screen was full of ratings from people who had watched [Survivors-Director’s Cut] since 1 a.m.

Song Yu-jung’s eyes widened as she saw the ratings.

“…Wow. What is this?”

★★★★★

This is realistic.

★☆☆☆☆

I’ll buy your eyes if you haven’t seen it.

★☆☆☆☆

I should have just watched ‘Survivors’ㅠㅠ

★★★★★

Recommended! I like this better.

★☆☆☆☆

The worst.

It was either 1 point or 10 points.

There was no middle ground.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na swallowed their saliva at the ratings that were polarized.

Chapter 346

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 346

Unanticipated reviews caught Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na exchanging glances.

Tension flickered in their restless eyes, especially at the sight of the two stark words written as ‘the worst.’

“Should we look at it?”

“There are some good reviews too, so maybe it’s okay?”

With Lim Ye-na’s nod, Song Yu-jung pressed the play button with trembling hands.

The Bearound logo appeared at the center of the television screen.

They hugged cushions and pillows, holding their breath in anticipation.

Contrary to their breathless tension,

[California]

[LA]

The director’s cut, starting with these subtitles, was identical to the released version.

The screen showed a peaceful view of LA from the sky, followed by the stylish Galleria Mall.

It then shifted to various locations, eventually focusing on Lee Hyun-woo’s family.

Ian Weaver, who had become lost, and the guide Cynthia Lindberg appeared just before a bomb exploded.

Lee Hyun-woo, who had fainted, and the kind Jackson Miller, met a group of survivors led by the former soldier Raymond Wish.

Ian Weaver clung to Lee Hyun-woo, who resembled his mother.

Moments later.

With a blast, the floor gave way, and five people fell into the underground.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na, who had been on edge despite the familiar progression, gradually relaxed and became engrossed in the movie.

“Ah, this part.”

It was natural for the next part of the story to come to mind before the movie. Knowing what was to come, they became less attentive to the current scene.

Thus, they failed to notice the subtly changed music and the slightly altered color of the screen.

***

An uncertain silence settled underground.

The survivors, following the compass needle given by Ian Weaver, advanced slowly northward.

Raymond Wish, who was leading the way in finding and creating a path, was at the forefront, followed by Cynthia Lindberg, Jackson Miller, Ian Weaver, and Lee Hyun-woo.

“You have a family waiting outside, don’t you?”

Jackson Miller said, looking back at the boy who had moved to the most dangerous position at the rear.

Ian Weaver, holding Jackson Miller’s hand tightly, kept looking back.

He wanted to walk with Lee Hyun-woo but obediently held onto Jackson Miller’s hand.

Whether Lee Hyun-woo knew of their gazes or not, he followed the survivors, always seeming just about to fall behind.

Then it happened.

A great tremor occurred.

There was no sound of an explosion, but the shock seemed to reach them.

The unstable walls around them shook as if they were about to collapse.

Especially.

The area behind Lee Hyun-woo looked particularly ominous.

“Forward!”

At Raymond Wish’s command, Cynthia Lindberg and Jackson Miller immediately moved forward.

Just then, Ian Weaver, who had been looking back, tripped as if caught on something. Jackson Miller, still holding his hand, also lost his balance.

Their clasped hands separated.

“…!”

At that moment, a pillar collapsed between Jackson Miller and Ian Weaver.

Thud!

Boom! Thud!

A wall formed behind the fallen Jackson Miller due to the tumbling rocks.

Jackson Miller turned his head in shock to look at the growing wall.

Cynthia Lindberg and Raymond Wish also looked on with urgent expressions.

“…Huh?”

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na realized the perspective had changed.

In [Survivors – Released Version], the camera had shown Ian Weaver and Lee Hyun-woo from the opposite side of the wall, but this time it focused on the three adults.

The sudden shift in the scene snapped Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na to attention. The screen came into sharper focus, and the drawn-out music of [Survivors] finally reached their ears.

The ominous melody, masquerading as familiarity, burrowed into their ears, accelerating their heartbeats.

A dark foreboding gripped their hearts.

“…Aaahh! Ian!”

The passage was already half-blocked.

Lee Hyun-woo bent over hastily, and his anguished scream echoed through.

It was a raw scream, one of disbelief, sharp enough to raise goosebumps yet laden with a sorrow that could bring tears.

“Ian… Ian!!!”

Lee Hyun-woo’s voice was audible, but the screen showed three adults standing with dazed faces.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na crouched down, a sense of doom creeping up from their toes.

Jackson Miller, his face pale with horror, stammered out his words. His hand, which had just been holding Ian Weaver’s small and warm one, trembled uncontrollably.

“Hyun, Hyun-woo! What’s happening?! Is Ian okay?!”

Aaaaah!!

Instead of an answer, a scream filled with despair resounded. Cynthia Lindberg covered her ears with a face turned ghostly white. It seemed as if the scent of blood was in the air.

Boom!

The surroundings crumbled.

The wall separating Lee Hyun-woo and the survivors had already risen significantly.

Boom.

The sound that followed was ominous.

“No… no…”

Lee Hyun-woo’s sobbing was heard, a sound like scratching at the throat. Yet, that painful noise indicated that Lee Hyun-woo was still alive.

At that moment, neither Cynthia Lindberg nor Jackson Miller moved.

Raymond Wish, accustomed to loss, scowled fiercely and clung to the obstructing wall.

For the first time, the camera crossed the wall with Raymond Wish.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na unwittingly held their breath.

Beyond the wall stood Lee Hyun-woo, hunched over, looking down. He was in a state of disbelief, unable to sit or stand properly.

The sobbing had ceased.

What Lee Hyun-woo was looking at below was not shown on the screen.

But Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na felt they knew what was there.

“What are you doing?!”

At Raymond Wish’s voice, Lee Hyun-woo slowly lifted his head. Gazing at the outstretched hand, Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes remained unlit. Annoyed once again by the vacant stare, Raymond Wish barked loudly.

“Come over here!”

Lee Hyun-woo reflexively reached out and grabbed Raymond Wish’s hand in response to the twisted face and irritable voice.

…Gasp.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na’s eyes widened in shock.

Lee Hyun-woo’s hand, clasped with Raymond Wish’s, was soaked in a red liquid.

The fresh red liquid, which until moments ago must have been inside someone, now stained Raymond Wish’s hand as well.

“…Madness…”

Our Ian…

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na clamped their mouths shut. There was much they wanted to say, but the movie was still unfolding.

Raymond Wish, unconcerned with the bloodied hand, dragged Lee Hyun-woo along.

Lee Hyun-woo, pulled over the stone wall forcibly, slumped to the ground.

‘In this scene, Ian was supposed to embrace Hyun-woo tightly…!’

As expected, that scene did not occur.

Tears welled up in the eyes of Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na.

…Something was amiss.

The small, warm presence that always approached when they sat down, that clung to their side even when pushed or dropped, was no longer felt.

Lee Hyun-woo looked around with an unfamiliar expression.

In his view, Jackson Miller couldn’t take his eyes off the stone wall, Cynthia Lindberg looked at him with anxious eyes, and Raymond Wish was wiping blood off his dirty clothes.

…Blood.

Bright red blood.

Lee Hyun-woo looked down at his hands.

The bright red blood, still seemingly warm, filled his vision.

The recent events flashed through Lee Hyun-woo’s mind—the smell of blood invading his nostrils and the cooling warmth of Ian Weaver.

“…Ugh… Ugh!”

Startled by Lee Hyun-woo’s retching, Cynthia Lindberg hurried over. Jackson Miller, pale-faced, shuddered and looked at Lee Hyun-woo. Raymond Wish’s eyes were fierce as he sighed.

The tremors had subsided, but the atmosphere among the survivors was dismal.

Lee Hyun-woo stared at his hands, which he had wiped but still seemed stained red, while Jackson Miller was tormented by the warmth he had lost moments ago.

Cynthia Lindberg clutched Ian Weaver’s backpack tightly and surveyed the people around her.

“Let’s get moving.”

Raymond Wish, with a cold voice, stood up holding Ian Weaver’s compass.

“After all, those who are alive must continue to live.”

…You shouldn’t be saying that…!

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na felt a sense of betrayal at Raymond Wish’s icy words.

Cynthia Lindberg and Jackson Miller, thinking of their families waiting outside, silently got up.

The only one who didn’t move was Lee Hyun-woo.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“…”

Even at Raymond Wish’s words, Lee Hyun-woo remained silent, looking at his hands still spotted with blood.

Beyond the dark wall, where there was no flashlight, Lee Hyun-woo’s already pale face seemed on the verge of fainting from the shock he had received in just a few seconds.

Raymond Wish clicked his tongue at the sight of Lee Hyun-woo, who seemed to have completely lost his mind, and took Ian Weaver’s backpack from Cynthia Lindberg. He then handed it to Lee Hyun-woo.

Lee Hyun-woo, who had been staring at his palms, now looked at the yellow backpack.

Raymond Wish, a former soldier, knew a good way to snap someone out of it at times like this.

“You take responsibility and deliver this backpack to Ian’s family. They must be waiting for even a piece of Ian’s clothing or a shoelace.”

Family.

The word jolted Jackson Miller, who had been standing numbly with guilt. It was a trigger for Lee Hyun-woo. The situation could have worsened.

“Having a keepsake is better than nothing.”

Fortunately, Raymond Wish’s words brought a little light back into Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes.

Lee Hyun-woo carefully embraced the yellow backpack in his arms.

‘Brother, do you want to eat this?’

Inside the slightly open backpack, a packet of snacks that Ian Weaver used to give was visible.

Tears rippled in Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes. It felt as if he could sense Ian Weaver’s warmth.

As Lee Hyun-woo sobbed and stood up with the backpack, the two people who had been watching Raymond Wish and Lee Hyun-woo took a deep breath.

Their hearts were heavy.

Although it was sad that Ian Weaver had died, as Raymond Wish said, those who were alive had to move to survive.

Cynthia Lindberg and Jackson Miller pushed their guilt to the back of their minds and stepped forward.

The survivors moved along the narrow path.

The atmosphere was heavy with unspoken words.

The heavy silence was broken by an unexpected person.

“Sister…”

“Yes, what is it?”

Cynthia Lindberg answered in surprise to Lee Hyun-woo’s call. Raymond Wish and Jackson Miller also turned their attention to Lee Hyun-woo’s voice.

“Do you know about Ian’s family?”

Lee Hyun-woo, holding Ian Weaver’s backpack close, asked in a faint voice. In a place where no sound was heard except for footsteps, Cynthia Lindberg did not miss it.

“No, I don’t. I work here… Ian was alone, so I was going to take him to the lost and found. This place is so big, and we get a lost child every day. I was planning to make an announcement…”

Ian was a lost child.

Jackson Miller’s face, who had a daughter, also turned grim at Cynthia Lindberg’s story. He unconsciously rubbed his hands on his trousers, still feeling Ian Weaver’s warmth, and then froze.

He felt like vomiting.

“…I see.”

Lee Hyun-woo nodded.

He had suffered from losing his parents, but how scared must Ian have been?

And how desperately Ian’s parents must be searching for him… How sad they would be to hear this news… Lee Hyun-woo’s heart ached.

“…Then Ian’s family must be waiting for him to return…”

Lee Hyun-woo’s gestures with the yellow backpack became even more careful.

Lee Hyun-woo moved, thinking of Ian Weaver’s family waiting for him. It was a heavy step mixed with responsibility and guilt.

***

“…Sigh…”

In a small room, the sighs of two people filled with meaning resonated.

It was the sigh that all viewers of [Survivors – Director’s Cut] let out.

Chapter 347

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 347

How long had three adults and a child been walking?

A low rumble echoed, still unfamiliar to their ears.

The survivors jolted, reflexively lifting their heads.

“Are there still bombs left to detonate…?” murmured Raymond Wish, who had become hyper-alert after losing one of their own.

It felt as if he had returned to the battlefield.

Every direction was a potential threat—front, back, sides, above, and below.

“It seems to be from behind.”

“Let’s move forward.”

Jackson Miller, supporting the injured Lee Hyun-woo, took a step forward.

Raymond Wish moved cautiously, vigilant of his surroundings.

Then it happened.

Whether something was tripped or it was merely the remnants collapsing, it was like a domino effect.

In an instant—

Boom!

Through the rising dust and falling stones, Raymond Wish caught sight of two figures.

Above them loomed a pile of rocks, ready to collapse. His body moved before his mind, driven more by the sensation that arose from the loss of Ian Weaver and the dazed Lee Hyun-woo than a desire to save them.

It was an instinctive reaction, like a professional hazard ingrained in his body.

“…Such bad luck.”

Pushed by something, Jackson Miller fell to the ground, protecting Lee Hyun-woo with all his might, determined not to let go this time.

The vibration subsided, and they slowly got to their feet.

The dust settled.

“…!”

“Raymond!”

The sight that unfolded made the two adults and the boy collapse in dismay.

Raymond Wish lay on the ground, gasping for breath, his lower body buried under a pile of rocks.

From between the stones, a red liquid seeped out.

“…Go.”

“Just hold on for a moment. We’ll get help right away…”

Cynthia Lindberg was frantic, not knowing what to do.

Jackson Miller quickly examined the pile of rocks, his face a mask of panic as he tried to free Raymond Wish.

“…We can clear this…”

Lee Hyun-woo, clutching Ian Weaver’s bag tightly, was pale as a ghost.

It felt like an inescapable nightmare.

Not only the kind Ian Weaver but also the strong and fearsome Raymond Wish had been swallowed by the darkness.

Lee Hyun-woo couldn’t imagine escaping this hell.

Drip-drop.

Sand trickled down, indicating the vibrations hadn’t fully ceased.

“This place will collapse too…”

Raymond Wish’s calm words made the adults close their eyes tightly, then open them again.

Tears seemed imminent, given the dire choice they faced.

Cynthia Lindberg, tears welling up, took a water bottle and some food from the bag that the shell-shocked Lee Hyun-woo was holding.

“We’ll leave some water and food here for you.”

“…Take it with you. My lower half is completely crushed.”

“Here! We’ll leave it! Just… hold on until we can bring back a rescue team.”

Raymond Wish, drenched in cold sweat from the excruciating pain, did not respond.

An unbearable groan escaped from Raymond Wish’s lips.

“Let’s go,” came the whisper.

The first step was the hardest, but the second came easier.

The trio moved in silence, their lips sealed with determination.

“We need to get out and call for rescue.

The faster we move, the higher the chances of saving Raymond,” Cynthia Lindberg said, her voice trembling.

Yet, no one nodded in agreement; their resolve unspoken but understood.

A haunting melody filled the air, a familiar soundtrack now distinguishable by its subtle variations.

The screen had darkened ever so slightly from the [Survivors – Theatrical Release], the colors more vivid against the backdrop of ‘traces of death’ that were nearly invisible in the original cut.

Bloodstains scattered haphazardly, a shoe protruding between rocks, shattered glasses, and torn fabric caught the eyes of Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na.

It was as if the shadow of death extended beyond the television screen.

Cynthia, compass in hand, led the way. Lee Hyun-woo took the middle, and Jackson Miller brought up the rear.

Turning back, Hyun-woo saw Jackson, still trapped in guilt, offering a strained smile.

“I can dodge faster than you with that injured leg.”

Silence.

Clutching Ian Weaver’s backpack, Hyun-woo faced forward again, his face shadowed with worry.

Can we really escape from here?

No, we must stay strong. We will make it out.

Right?

Ian’s backpack felt heavy with significance.

But as always, misfortune wasn’t content with a single visit.

Boom!

A bomb exploded nearby, and Jackson, who boasted he could evade faster, failed to dodge the falling debris.

Hyun-woo, blocked from the path ahead, could only cry as the fate of the man who had saved him remained unknown.

From the beginning until now, the one who had saved him had vanished.

I should have thanked you sooner… Right?

Cynthia Lindberg cradled Ian Weaver’s backpack, comforting the crying child.

Now, she was the only one left to protect the child.

“Let’s go. We must. Quickly, to the rescue team…”

With tears in her eyes, Cynthia swallowed her fear.

***

Cynthia Lindberg, worried that Ian Weaver’s yellow backpack might burden the injured Lee Hyun-woo, took it from him.

“You’re better off carrying this than me with my injured leg,” Hyun-woo said.

“Really? Yes, you’re right.”

With the compass in hand, Hyun-woo limped ahead, and Cynthia, shouldering Ian’s backpack, followed.

“Sister, there’s no path left.”

Hyun-woo’s words, filled with a newfound vigor, allowed Cynthia to breathe a sigh of relief internally.

That must be it.

They had walked a long distance. Perhaps they had reached the end of the basement level one near the north gate, or maybe the path was completely blocked by collapsed debris.

Cynthia chose to think positively.

“Let’s go up!”

“Up?”

“The basement level one isn’t that big. It looks like we’ve almost made it!”

Cynthia Lindberg’s voice, bright and clear, brought a smile to Lee Hyun-woo’s face.

“Really?!”

Hyun-woo’s bright expression took Cynthia by surprise, causing her to flinch and then nod awkwardly with a forced smile.

“So, let’s go up.”

“Yes!”

When the light shone above, they discovered a hole.

Hyun-woo slowly climbed the rocks towards it.

The stones were unsteady, and he stumbled a few times, but he managed to enter the hole safely.

“Can you move?”

“Yes!”

Hyun-woo smiled brightly, his face filled with hope. Cynthia, feeling a surge of strength herself, smiled back.

“Sister! Lift Ian up first!”

“…!”

Cynthia, about to shoulder the yellow backpack and climb, looked up in dismay.

Hyun-woo was smiling brightly, without a hint of trouble. He tilted his head, puzzled by Cynthia’s frozen stance.

“Sister, quickly, Ian…”

Hyun-woo urged, reaching out his hands as if to grasp those of a child.

Cynthia remained motionless, unable to extend her hand.

Disaster struck suddenly.

An explosion sounded.

The pile of rocks Cynthia was climbing crumbled, and she slid down with the yellow backpack. Hyun-woo and Cynthia’s eyes drifted apart.

“Sister! Ian!”

Amidst the collapsing debris.

Cynthia disappeared without a scream.

Hyun-woo couldn’t tear his eyes away from the darkness.

A tremor started at his fingertips, his vision spun, and his heart pounded.

The silence was so profound he felt like vomiting.

He hadn’t saved everyone. Again, he had failed.

And once more, he was left alone.

Just him…

As panic threatened to engulf Hyun-woo, a warm presence enveloped him. Startled, he opened his eyes to find a child with a worried frown.

Ah.

Not yet.

Hyun-woo bit the inside of his cheek as he locked eyes with Ian Weaver. His heart swelled at the sight of Ian, scared and sad, yet thinking of Hyun-woo first.

There was still one person left.

“Let’s go! Ian!”

Now, he was the only one who could protect the child.

“Let’s call the rescue team and come back!”

Hyun-woo forced a cheerful tone.

Seeing Ian Weaver’s brightening expression, Hyun-woo finally understood the hearts of adults.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na couldn’t look away from the screen.

It was a sweltering summer morning, but they couldn’t feel the stifling air. Hyun-woo’s smiling face on the screen sent chills down their spines.

The room seemed filled with a chilling presence.

Hyun-woo crawled through the passage. Young Ian Weaver, not crying, followed obediently, and Hyun-woo smiled fondly.

His face scraped against protruding rebar, and his palms and knees were wounded. The exhausted child would crawl, rest, then move again.

“It’s blocked…”

The narrowing passage was completely obstructed.

The rocks wouldn’t budge, and even the last light from his phone went out.

Darkness.

The all-consuming darkness arrived.

Hyun-woo’s body shook. Good-hearted Ian Weaver looked at him with concern.

“…It’s okay. Don’t worry.”

Contrary to his words, Hyun-woo’s breath quickened. His vision turned pitch black. Ian Weaver burrowed into Hyun-woo’s embrace as his body shook.

The narrow passage was filled just with their presence.

Feeling a solid warmth, Hyun-woo instinctively embraced it.

After so much had happened, both mentally and physically exhausted, Hyun-woo found comfort in the faint warmth mingled with his body heat.

“…Really?”

“…Maybe?”

Hyun-woo smiled faintly.

In the silent space, only one set of breaths could be heard.

—–!

Then, a sound.

Hyun-woo’s eyes snapped open.

There was a sound.

Whether it was the vibration of an explosion or a hallucination, he couldn’t tell. But Hyun-woo wanted to restore the cooling warmth in his embrace.

He wanted to save this child. At least this one.

“…Sa…!”

Hyun-woo tried to shout but only croaked, his throat parched.

‘No…!’

His voice wouldn’t come out.

His heart sank, but he couldn’t give up.

Hyun-woo thought for a moment, then lifted his right arm and grabbed a stone slightly larger than his fist.

He fumbled around in the dark.

Lee Hyun-woo, embracing Ian Weaver tightly, found a spot that seemed sturdy enough and struck it with the stone in his hand.

Thud!

Once.

Thud!

Twice.

Thud!

Thrice.

His lips were parched, and no voice came out, but the sound of the thuds was all he could muster. Yet, Hyun-woo did not give up.

Thud!

Please.

Thud!

Someone’s here.

Thud!

Save us.

Thud!

Please… save us.

Time felt long, though it was short, and Hyun-woo’s strength seemed to wane with each weakening sound.

Then, a trickle of sand fell.

Hyun-woo’s face turned desolate, a learned fear from past experiences.

It’s going to collapse.

He let go of the stone in his right hand and clutched Ian Weaver even tighter.

I’m scared.

So scared.

Truly… terrified.

Breathing became a struggle.

Unbeknownst to him, as he held his breath, larger stones began to fall onto his jet-black hair. Hyun-woo curled up and trembled.

That’s when it happened.

[Survivor found. Survivor found.]

A heavy voice rang out.

Hyun-woo jerked and slowly lifted his head at the sound.

Through his blurred vision, he saw movement.

There was light.

‘Ah…’

Tears streamed down Hyun-woo’s face as a wave of relief threatened to overwhelm him.

The sounds of rescuers moving, clearing debris, and securing the passage filled the world.

[Are you conscious? We’ll get you out now.]

Clutching at the fraying thread of consciousness, Hyun-woo gasped for air in the widening passage and moved. It was tight, but he could move.

[Don’t move just yet…!]

As a small hand and arm, different from the boy’s, appeared below him, the rescuers were momentarily speechless.

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na, too spent to speak, watched the screen with a look of despair.

[…A doll?]

A rescuer, with a puzzled expression, roughly pulled out Ian Weaver, or rather, a baby doll, from the hole.

The half-crushed doll, dirty with blood and dust, seemed to epitomize the horror of the terror attack.

Only then did Hyun-woo emerge.

[Ambulance!]

A rescuer beside the stretcher-bound Hyun-woo turned at the sensation of being pulled. Hyun-woo, who seemed to have lost consciousness, faintly opened his eyes.

The rescuer spoke.

[We’ll get you to the hospital in the ambulance right away…]

Despite his pale face, Hyun-woo’s eyes were more intense than anyone else’s. He moved his lips.

The rescuer, halting his words, bent down to listen.

“…Down there…”

A faint voice was heard.

“…There’s someone.”

…!

The rescuer inhaled sharply, looking at Hyun-woo with trembling eyes.

Hyun-woo continued with difficulty.

“I think I crawled for about 30 minutes. The name is Cynthia, Cynthia Lindberg…”

A parched voice spoke.

“And from there, south for 10 minutes… west for 5 minutes… the name is Jackson Miller.”

The rescuer took a deep breath and gestured.

Someone quickly turned on a recorder.

The rescue team became busy.

“And,”

Hyun-woo, with closed eyes, took a deep breath and spoke.

“From there, east for 5 minutes, south for 15 minutes… then east again for about 15 minutes… south for 5 minutes… the name is Raymond Wish.”

Hyun-woo truly wanted to save everyone.

Tears streaming, Hyun-woo gasped for breath, and the rescuer spoke.

[Don’t worry. We’ll go save them right away.]

Only then did Hyun-woo’s hand, which had been clutching the rescuer’s clothes, let go. The television screen showed Hyun-woo’s relieved face on the stretcher.

***

The sound of machinery drilling through stone echoed.

Stones tumbled down.

As an empty space appeared, a rescuer with a flashlight surveyed the area and picked up the radio.

[…Missing person found. Missing person found.]

The voice was somber.

[…Body found, believed to be Raymond Wish.]

***

The blood-red sunset illuminated the earth.

From above, the camera captured the collapsed Galleria Mall, dozens of ambulances and fire trucks, and the busy movement of people and rescue dogs.

The camera panned down.

A report came through a rescuer’s radio.

[Body found, believed to be Cynthia Lindberg.]

[Body found, believed to be Jackson Miller.]

Just before.

The last report came in.

[Body found, believed to be Raymond Wish.]

The camera passed the face of a rescuer with a heavy heart.

Outside the wide-open ambulance.

A person, seemingly a paramedic, was communicating with someone.

With many tourists at the Galleria Mall whose identities couldn’t be immediately confirmed, the rescue team actively used video calls to identify survivors.

But that was only possible if someone was alive.

“Are there any Asian tourists among the survivors?”

“No. So far, no Asian tourists have been found among the survivors.”

“Damn…”

The paramedic’s gaze turned towards the ruined Galleria Mall.

Having visited the mall before, the paramedic knew how many Asian tourists frequented the place.

“Still no room in the hospital?”

“Yes. There are so many patients coming in…”

Leaving the bitter conversation behind, the camera moved into the ambulance.

Inside, a boy lay treated for emergencies.

The faint sound of Lee Hyun-woo’s breathing through the respirator could be heard.

Slow but steady, Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na anxiously breathed in time with him.

Then it happened.

Beep…

Without warning, the heart stopped.

The cruel sound blared through the speaker, followed by frantic footsteps. But the sound of the stopped heart was louder.

The noises tangled together.

Amidst the cacophony, Hyun-woo’s face filled the screen.

The boy, who had wanted to save everyone and had tried his hardest to do so, wore a smile more content than ever before.

Chapter 348

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 348

USA.

The production company of the movie [Survivors], Bearound.

“How’s the reaction?”

The planning team leader asked the employee who was monitoring the SNS.

“It’s on fire. It’s so heated that there are some posts cursing the production company.”

The planning team leader smiled satisfiedly at the uproar of people that increased every second.

It had been only a day since they uploaded the [Director’s Cut], but the response was tremendous.

-I enjoyed watching [Survivors] and was looking forward to the [Director’s Cut], but I didn’t expect this:(

-Me too. My [Survivors] is only the theatrical version.

-I think I need to reset my memory. I’m going to the theater.

-I liked the [Director’s Cut] 🙂

He couldn’t help but laugh, thinking that all this buzz and interest would lead back to [Survivors].

“What about the ratings?”

The employee who was checking the information coming in real time from Plus+ answered the planning team leader’s question.

It was the views and evaluations of [Survivors-Director’s Cut] with subtitles in various languages.

“There are a lot of 1 stars, but there are also quite a few 10 stars.”

1 star and 10 star.

The people’s evaluations were so extreme that if an article came out, anyone would be curious about what kind of movie it was, and how the [Director’s Cut] and the [Theatrical Version] were different.

“They’re still in theaters, so they’ll head to the cinema.”

They watched the [Theatrical Version] and were satisfied, then wondered how the [Director’s Cut] would be, so they watched it, and then went back to watch the [Theatrical Version] again to cure the aftereffects. And among them, there would be some people who would watch the [Director’s Cut] again.

“It’s like a Mobius strip.”

Everyone laughed at one employee’s remark.

“Oh. Team leader. The interview with Director Jeffrey came in.”

It was Jeffrey Rodex, who had been interviewed several times before and after the release of [Survivors].

It seemed that a new interview proposal had come in as the [Director’s Cut] became a hot topic again.

“Really? I’ll contact him myself.”

And two days later.

The interview with Director Jeffrey Rodex was released.

***

“Hello. This is Moviegoer.”

Moviegoer smiled weakly at the camera.

-You… sigh…

-Sigh… you…

-Hello! Moviegoer!

-? Why are you all so down?

“Haha.”

He laughed at the contrasting atmosphere from the comments.

It seemed obvious what movie they had watched.

“Today, as I promised before, I’m going to review both the theatrical version and the Director’s Cut of Survivors. If you haven’t seen the Director’s Cut yet…”

He stopped talking.

And sighed.

“I can’t tell you to go see it, but I can’t tell you to watch this review without seeing it either… It’s complicated.”

-That’s true. It was kind of a twist…

-I want to stop my past self who saw the director’s cut.

-s… t… a… y…

-But I think I would have been curious and watched it anyway.

-I had a certification exam on Saturday 22nd, but I watched it at 1 am that day… haha (of course I failed lol)

-Ah, I haven’t seen the director’s cut yet! I’ll go watch it now!

-… Don’t cross that river…

-That person seems very cheerful right now, but I think he’ll come back completely deflated lol

-He might not come today lol

-I get why Plus+ uploaded the director’s cut on weekends. The aftereffects are no joke.

-Now that you all say that, I’m curious.

-I’ll go watch it quickly on 22nd!

Some people who hadn’t seen the [Director’s Cut] yet left the live broadcast and some people who were waiting for Moviegoer’s review came in.

Moviegoer looked at the fluctuating number of viewers and opened his mouth when it stabilized.

“Then let’s assume that everyone who is watching this live has seen the director’s cut and start the review.”

Moviegoer sighed lightly and raised his voice.

“First, let me introduce you to Galleria Mall, which is the background of the movie. In the movie, it is set as a huge shopping mall that tourists who come to LA must visit. It looks cool enough to make you want to go once, but it only appears in the beginning.”

-I want to go because it looks cool.

-But I don’t want to go in reality.

-I don’t think there will be any shopping malls with that design in the future lol

“Yes. Me too. I want to go but I don’t want to go. First, here is the south shopping street where Hyun-woo and his family were. And the west restaurant street. Where Raymond Wish’s family was. There was a broadcasting room in the east cinema and an amusement park in the north.”

-Honestly, I wondered why they showed the amusement park in such detail.

-At the end, the balloon went up to the sky. Didn’t that mean escape?

-They also showed the sky. When they introduced other places, it was just the ceiling.

-Oh. That’s true.

“Don’t go ahead of me.”

The viewers laughed at Moviegoer’s scolding. Moviegoer also smiled and continued.

“Yes. I also think that the balloon was a directing that made me think of escape. Unlike other places with four floors above, the north amusement park was a place that came out directly outside. There was another hidden element in the front part besides the balloon. I don’t know if anyone noticed it. If you look closely at the movie, there are things on the pillars or walls.”

-Really?

“Yes. It also appeared briefly when they introduced the south shopping street. You wouldn’t have seen it if you didn’t look closely because people were passing by. Those things were the bombs that would explode later.”

-… What?

-I studied, but I couldn’t see it!

-So that’s why you introduced them one by one.

-Do you think there were bombs in the stadium or the amusement park too?

-I think so!

-But what if the security guard had found the bomb in the east instead of the south first? Would it have exploded there first?

Moviegoer nodded.

“Probably. I guess the terrorists had a goal of freeing their leader, so they couldn’t let the bombs be discovered before the attack. They must have been watching from somewhere. Maybe there was a terrorist among the customers.”

-Oh. That’s why it didn’t collapse all at once.

-It seemed like… there was a lot of time to escape.

-And there were a lot of exploding bombs.

“The terrorists must have known that the negotiation would take a long time. So they wanted to drag it out as much as possible. I think they targeted LA because Hollywood was nearby and there were a lot of tourists, so it would make more global news.”

-Well. If they blew up bombs in New York or Washington, that would be a declaration of war.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

-They would have to do whatever they could to save their own citizens, but wouldn’t it be hard for other countries to tell the US to release the terrorist leader?

-Yeah.

-But it seems like the US can’t ignore the eyes of the world either.

-…Don’t you think they will?

-It’s really complicated.

“But none of that is shown in the movie. Except for the beginning, it’s all from the perspective of the survivors. The survivors don’t know why the bombs exploded, who did it, if anyone outside will come to save them, or how many bombs are left. They just have to escape on their own or wait for rescue.”

-But what if they had stayed still? Wouldn’t they have been rescued?

-I don’t know. There were four floors above them… They might have been crushed before being rescued.

-It really seems like luck. They could have died trying to escape or given up and been rescued.

Moviegoer nodded and continued with the movie talk.

“Let’s talk about Lee Hyun-woo and his family first.”

-Lol hiking clothes lol

-They looked like real Koreans lol lol lol

-Package lol trip lol

“Yes. The Korean tourists who made us laugh from their first appearance. I knew it from the making film, but it was still amazing and funny. Of course, the actors’ acting skills were beyond words. They were Lee Seo-jun and Kim Jong-ho. Wow. I never thought I would see Kim Jong-ho in a Hollywood movie.”

Lee Seo-jun was familiar, but Kim Jong-ho was surprising.

-I was more surprised by Lee Seo-jun being familiar lol lol When did Korean actors become familiar in Hollywood movies lol lol

-They all acted well and I liked it.

-When Kim Jong-ho appeared, I thought it was a Korean movie lol lol

“After the bomb exploded, Lee Hyun-woo headed to where his parents were. It was understandable, but it was frustrating to see him go in the opposite direction alone. There is a scene here that is getting a lot of attention overseas.”

-Is it this one? The mom wants to let go of his hand, but the dad holds on tight ㅠㅠ

-The dad must have struggled a lot too ㅠㅠ He would regret it no matter who he chose.

-I also liked the scene where Lee Hyun-woo saw his parents and smiled with relief. It broke my heart as a viewer…

Moviegoer clicked his mouse with a smile.

An image appeared on the monitor. It was a still cut that was released recently. In a collapsing building, Kim Jong-ho holding Joo Jae-eun’s hand tightly and yelling fiercely.

-Is this the last scene?

-Kim Jong-ho acted well, but… is this worth being a hot topic?

-Yeah.

-Nope. This part is very popular.

-Foreign friend: Koreans might not know because it’s too natural for them, but foreigners who don’t know Korean find this scene very amazing.

Moviegoer said with a smile.

“Everyone. When you watch a movie with subtitles, your eyes get distracted, right?”

-Yeah, when there are important scenes, I can’t miss both facial expressions and meaningful lines.

-That’s why I watch it multiple times lol lol

“But in this scene, there are reviews on SNS that say they could understand Korean without looking at the subtitles. They said they heard something like ‘Go’.”

-Ah. The line here was ‘Go away’, right? Maybe ‘away’ sounded like ‘Go’.

-The power of watching it multiple times lol lol

Moviegoer nodded at the viewers’ guesses.

“Yes. As you expected, the line ‘Go away’ played an important role. But it’s not easy to act in a way that foreigners can recognize even if the pronunciation is the same. If he emphasized ‘away’ with foreigners in mind, it would sound weird to Koreans.”

Moviegoer said with a smile.

“But we heard ‘Go away’ as a natural sentence. It’s not easy to say a line that is natural for Koreans and also understandable for foreigners. Kim Jong-ho is amazing.”

-Ah. I want to watch it again lol lol

-I have to go to the theater again lol lol

-I wish they would sell VOD soon…

-But there’s something about watching it on the theater screen lol lol

“The next characters are Cynthia Lindberg and Ian Weaver. Cynthia Lindberg is an information staff at the Galleria Mall and Ian Weaver was a missing child.”

-ㅠㅠ Our Ian ㅠㅠ

-Missing ㅠㅠ

-That’s so sad ㅠㅠ

“Well, this has nothing to do with the movie, but we’ve seen this similar story before.”

Moviegoer said with a chuckle.

-???

-Really?

“Yes. It was the same when Shadowman Mac and Jin Natra first met.”

-…Bell Natra!

-I didn’t expect to see that name here lol lol

-He was abandoned on Earth then lol lol

-The scale is different;;;

-It was Earth then, and now it’s a mall lol lol

“I just brought it up because there are actors who appeared in both movies.”

Moviegoer’s words made the viewers laugh as they thought of one actor.

“Then let’s go back to the movie and talk about Jackson Miller and Raymond Wish. Jackson Miller looks like an ordinary person and Raymond Wish has a ‘I’m the protagonist’ vibe from the start.”

-But he wasn’t.

-lol lol lol lol

“Yes. Honestly, when I saw the character introduction part for the first time, I thought the roles were roughly decided. I thought Raymond Wish, a former soldier, would use his experience to be the real hero and the others would be helpers. Lee Hyun-woo would be a nuisance character. Of course, Ian was hope.”

-I thought so too. Disaster movies are all like that lol lol

-But the director’s cut was…ㅠ

-Let’s not talk about the director’s cut here.

“But it changed in the middle. Raymond Wish, who seemed mature and reliable, became a bomb that could explode at any time and Lee Hyun-woo became an even more precarious trigger. But the audience couldn’t hate anyone because of the sincerity they expressed.”

-I hate nuisance characters, but I really understood Lee Hyun-woo ㅠㅠ He acted so well that I wondered how painful he must have been to do that ㅠㅠ

-I hated Raymond Wish when he got angry, but I understood him when I heard his story ㅠㅠ

-It seems like the reaction depends on who you empathize with.

“Yes. If you empathize with Lee Hyun-woo, you would hate Raymond Wish and if you empathize with Raymond Wish, you would hate Lee Hyun-woo. But that’s only for a moment. The audience is convinced by the actors’ acting. The characters become ones that you can’t help but understand because of their acting skills.”

Moviegoer’s eyes sparkled.

“And the ones who made a different progress from usual disaster movies were these actors. Davis Garrett and Lee Seo-jun.”

-?? What are you talking about?

-Isn’t it because of the good scenario?

-Yeah. It seems like the director wrote a good script. It feels different from his previous work.

-Aren’t movies dependent on the director?

Moviegoer smiled brightly and said.

“Today, an interview with Jeffrey Rodex, the director of Survivors, came out. It was an interesting interview full of behind-the-scenes stories about Survivors. I’ll share them with you while I do the review today.”

Chapter 349

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 349

-Did you see that article?

-Yeah, I found it online. But it’s in English, so I don’t understand it.

-As expected of Moviegoer. You know about an article that just came out.

-Well, I can’t speak English anyway, so I have to watch Moviegoer’s review.

-22 Moviegoer, please explain!

“Sure. I’ll do my best to explain.”

Moviegoer smiled and opened his mouth.

“Do you remember when I told you about an actor named Davis Garrett? I said he was one of the most difficult actors to work with in Hollywood. That applies to actors, producers, and directors alike.”

-If you don’t know, please watch [Redbone 2 Review]!

-Thank you!

Moviegoer laughed at the natural guidance of his long-time viewers.

“To put it simply, Davis Garrett is an actor who values the atmosphere more than the script. He improvises based on his detailed character analysis and the feeling of the scene. He caused a lot of trouble because of that, but the results were good, so there are many places that deliberately look for him.”

-Could it be… the survivors too?

“Yes. That’s right. According to Jeffrey’s interview, the survivors were originally not much different from a clichéd disaster movie. Raymond Wish and Ian Weaver were supposed to escape and Raymond Wish would join the rescue team and save his family and three others.”

-Wow. The original Raymond Wish was amazing. The Raymond Wish here is like a bomb about to explode.

-Should we change it? LOL

-But it feels like I’ve seen it somewhere before.

-It feels like a movie protagonist.

“Jeffrey said that if he had filmed it that way, he might have had to edit out the stories of other characters because of the running time.”

-That makes sense. The survivors had a lot of scenes just for escaping. If they had to film escaping and rescuing, they would have cut a lot.

-It could have been Hyun-woo or Ian who got edited out.

-Ian ‘Wish’ disappearing!

-He escapes with Ian and then goes back to rescue… He’s amazing.

-But if Raymond Wish had escaped, he wouldn’t have been as tense as Hyun-woo.

-222 The outcome would have been predictable.

“What changed that was Davis Garrett and Lee Seo-jun. As I said in Redbone 2 Review, there weren’t many actors who could match Davis Garrett’s improvisation.”

-Why? Is it because the other person can’t act?

“No. It’s not a matter of acting skills, but of personality. Improvisation requires a stage of creating dialogue, which is hard.”

-I see. It’s not easy to make up dialogue on the spot.

-You have to do both dialogue and action.

“Right. And even if you spit out dialogue somehow, you have to think about how the story will unfold from that dialogue, whether the other actor will accept it well, whether the director will approve it, whether the writer will understand it. There are more than one or two problems to think about.”

-Davis Garrett doesn’t care about any of that LOL

-I want to be like him!

Moviegoer and the viewers laughed together.

“He even wrote it in his contract this time. He said he could modify the script.”

-He’s persistent.

-That’s how you succeed.

“Of course, Davis Garrett doesn’t act recklessly either. If he did, the movie wouldn’t come out. Davis Garrett gauges the skill of his co-star and gives appropriate improvisation. But still, there must have been trial and error until he got an okay. But in this work, there was an actor who accepted his terrible improvisation at once.”

The viewers knew who he was without him saying it.

-Seo-jun!

-Awesome (thumbs up)

-Our Seo-jun…! (clenching teeth)

-The child (I can’t believe it) actor Lee Seo-jun LOL

-Huh. He’s still a child actor LOL

“Yes. Our Lee Seo-jun.”

-Ours LOL

-LOL LOL

-Nice to meet you. Sprout!

Moviegoer scratched his cheek with an awkward face.

He didn’t expect his inner feelings to show up. He was too excited after watching Jeffrey’s interview praising Seo-jun’s acting over and over again.

“Ahem. Anyway, Davis Garrett started improvising suddenly and Lee Seo-jun accepted it right away. Jeffrey said that at that time, Lee Seo-jun was the only one who wasn’t surprised by Davis Garrett’s improvisation.”

-Wow…

-I can only admire LOL

“That’s when Raymond Wish’s personality and position changed and Hyun-woo’s personality and position changed. They slowly changed from the original script to the current survivors. There were a lot of script revisions in this process.”

-They must have revised a lot. There’s a script name in the interview. [Survivors Release Version_Modified7_8_Final_Finish_Finish2_Final2_Final3_End_Really End]

-I suddenly feel close to the Hollywood director LOL

-22 It feels like looking at my assignments on my laptop.

-I can guess how much they revised LOL

“The change was noticeable when the adults fell behind. The original protagonist, Raymond Wish, who was supposed to survive until the end, fell behind first. Then Jackson Miller. And Cynthia Lindberg.”

-I wondered when they would disappear LOL

-I didn’t expect none of the adults to survive.

-How can they do this to the kids…

“That’s how all the adults disappeared and only two kids remained. Escaping was still not easy. It’s not easy for tired kids to crawl through an uncertain escape route.”

-It could take an hour or two.

-And it could collapse at any time…

“There’s a picture I want to show you. It’s a picture that was released during this interview. It’s a picture of the set of the survivors.”

Moviegoer showed a picture on the monitor.

The viewers were amazed by the picture of the set that looked like it was cut out of a cake, or cut out of the collapsed Galleria Mall.

Especially the ant tunnel-like, Hyun-woo and Ian Weaver’s escape route set, there was no green chroma key at all.

They couldn’t help but admire it even if they saw it again.

“I thought it was all CG, but they actually made a set. They said the materials of the set were special, so there was no risk of injury. From here below,”

Moviegoer pointed to the bottom part of the set in the picture.

The viewers who had watched the survivors several times remembered a similar place.

-That’s where Cynthia Lindberg disappeared.

-Right. The dress and the plastic bottle behind it are familiar.

-…Scary. These people…

Moviegoer’s finger slowly moved along the empty corridor.

The twisted corridor was familiar to the viewers.

It was Hyun-woo and Ian Weaver’s escape route.

Moviegoer’s finger reached the end of the set.

“Up to here. Lee Seo-jun and Andrew Walker acted as if they were crawling slowly. This is one scene. The rest of the escape scenes were also filmed in similar sets. And they said there was no set with the same shape.”

-They made it really well.

-I would have used one set for multiple times.

-That’s it. The Hollywood scale…

“And this is the set where we filmed the last escape scene.”

The set that appeared on the monitor was divided into two levels, like a first and second floor.

The first floor was the basement where the survivors were trapped, and the second floor was a part of the collapsed Galleria mall.

Unlike the other sets that had open ends, this one had a blocked passage.

“This is where Lee Hyun-woo and Ian Weaver were. And this much was blocked.”

Moviegoer pointed at the dead end of the passage and then at the thick pile of rocks that covered it.

“They said that during filming, an actor who played a rescue worker climbed up to the second floor and broke through the blocked passage to save the two actors. That made it more realistic.”

-Of course it felt real, they actually rescued them lol

-They must have been really immersed in their roles.

-I want to go see that set in person. Do you think they’ll make a survival course or something?

-It would be nice to take a picture next to 22.

-And wear some ragged clothes and makeup.

Moviegoer smiled at the viewers’ comments and said.

“If Bearound makes such an experience product, I’ll post a review right away. Now let’s get back to the movie story. Lee Hyun-woo and Ian Weaver move through this narrow and dark place for 30 minutes.”

-But don’t they rest a lot in between?

-222 If they do that for 30 minutes, they won’t get very far.

“They probably meant 30 minutes without resting. If they include resting time, the rescue team might go down further than expected. They told them to crawl because they wanted them to consider their speed.”

-Wow… you’re smart.

-I noticed that Lee Hyun-woo kept checking his watch when he restedㅠㅠ

-I thought he was looking at the directionㅠㅠ

-He also looked at the compass and the watchㅠㅠ He was busyㅠ

-But if they don’t escape, it’s all in vainㅠ

-That’s what makes me sad and proudㅠㅠ They try even though they don’t know if they can escape or notㅠㅠ

Moviegoer’s eyes moistened as he saw the chat room filled with tears.

It was a scene that made him choke up no matter how many times he watched or remembered it.

“Lee Hyun-woo tries to cheer up Ian Weaver by acting brightly, just like the adults did. The conversation is also part of that.”

-ㅠㅠ He acted so well that I cried.

-But what does it mean when he says he’ll live with Raymond?

“He probably thought of the worst-case scenario. When Raymond Wish’s family and Lee Hyun-woo’s family are both dead. He said that if we escape, we’ll live together as people who lost their precious ones. We’ll endure the sorrow together. That means don’t give up.”

-ㅠㅠ I’m crying againㅠㅠ

-ㅠㅠㅠ

-I don’t care if Weaver couple dies.

-lol

“As they talk, Lee Hyun-woo loses consciousness right before he hears a sound. I heard it in the theater too, but it was so faint that I almost missed it.”

-I didn’t hear it. Because of the noise (swear swear)

-22 Someone had an alarm set. Just at that moment!!

-I heard it after jumping n times, but still, the first viewing was the most memorable.

-I got goosebumps!

“Lee Hyun-woo, who can’t make a sound, tries to make some noise somehow. How loud would it be when rocks hit each other? I was nervous that it wouldn’t reach outside.”

-Me too. Especially since so many people disappeared like that.

-Fortunately, it wasn’t like that.

He paused for a moment and opened his mouth.

“Survivors found. It still gives me chills when I remember it.”

-22 I was so touched when they said survivors foundㅠㅠ

-I was so grateful tooㅠㅠ

-I would have screamed if it wasn’t a theater lol

-I cried again when Lee Hyun-woo got Ian out first. Just keep cryingㅠㅠ

-I remember againㅠㅠ

“Finally, Lee Hyun-woo, who is carried out on a stretcher, gathers his strength and speaks. He comes up with a way to save everyone he prepared with a thin hope. Honestly, I didn’t think of it at all, so I thought the three adults just gave up.”

-I couldn’t imagine it eitherㅠㅠ

-[A few days later] I thought there would be a caption like that and then a video of them being rescued lol

-22 Even if it was a happy ending, they barely survived.

-As expected, the national English speaking contest winner! He has a really good memory.

-But there’s also that. Direction.

-Direction?

Someone’s comment made Moviegoer nod.

“Yes. Direction. That’s important too. The group of survivors headed north. But Lee Hyun-woo never said north. South. West. East. He changed the direction from the perspective of the rescue team, not the survivors.”

-Wow… that’s true. If the escape route was north-west-north, he would have said south-east-south.

-I would have been too busy to speak;;;

-I wouldn’t have thought of giving directions.

-Raymond Wish’s scene was also touching. And funny lol

-lol He thought he was going to die and then the rescue team came and called his name lol It’s not like they’re taking attendance or something lol

-He must have been confused lol

-He didn’t know it then, but he would be grateful for the escape that Lee Hyun-woo had taught him.ㅠㅠ

“I liked this part the most. Lee Hyun-woo, who first appeared as a nuisance character and barely survived with the help of Jackson Miller, Cynthia Lindberg, Raymond Wish, and the younger Ian Weaver, he eventually saved Ian Weaver with his own will and rescued the three others. It was really great.”

-ㅠㅠThat’s trueㅠㅠ

-Now that I think about it, they saved each otherㅠㅠ

-I need to watch the movie againㅠ

-I thought it was a disaster movie, but it turned out to be Lee Hyun-woo’s growth storyㅋㅋ

The viewers and the audience laughed at the comment that called it Lee Hyun-woo’s growth story.

“The camera then shows the collapsed Galleria mall and the rescue of the survivors.”

The audience said with a smile.

“If they had added a fluttering American flag here, it would have been a perfect American propaganda movie.”

The viewers who understood the audience’s remark burst into laughter.

-ㅋㅋㅋ I know what you meanㅋㅋㅋ

-We have faced this crisis, but we will overcome it (solemn)

-But if you look closely, there is a flag near the rescue teamㅋㅋㅋ

-At least it’s not bigㅋㅋㅋ

“Don’t you think it was in the original script?”

-That’s rightㅋㅋ The escape hero was supposed to be Raymond Wishㅋㅋㅋ

-Raymond Wish is Americanㅋㅋ If they showed him saving the survivors, waving the American flag, and his family, it would have been hilariousㅋㅋㅋ

-Maybe they changed their mind when the hero became Lee Hyun-wooㅋㅋ

-It’s better without it (serious)

-Seriously (calligraphy)

The audience nodded in agreement with the comments.

“I agree. The scene ends with the survivors and shows a perfect happy ending in a cookie video. It was a really good cookie video.”

-Ian Wish ㅠㅠ ㅠ

-I didn’t think much until ‘Ian Wi’ ㅠ ㅠ ㄴ But as soon as I wrote ‘sh’, I cried again ㄴ ㄴ

-The theater subtitles also showed ‘Ian’, ‘Wi’, ‘sh’ one letter at a time.

-22 I thought Ian was doing well until ‘Ian Wi’.

-Who would have thought his last name would change from Weaver to Wish!!

-Be happy with your new family. Ian Wish ㄴ ㄴ

The chat room was filled with tears as the audience changed the topic with a smile.

“The story of the survivors changed completely with the improvisation of Davis Garrett and Lee Seo-jun. I haven’t read the original script, but I like the changed story better.”

-22 Much better.

-333 There can’t be a better story than this.

-Davis did a good job improvising!

-Seo-jun also matched him well!

“But do you know what?”

The audience opened his mouth with a meaningful smile.

“The director Jeffrey came up with a work after seeing their improvisation. It’s called Survivors Director’s Cut.”

The chat room that was buzzing with praises for Davis Garrett and Lee Seo-jun’s improvisation stopped for a moment. The word ‘director’s cut’ seemed to be emphasized more than usual.

After a few seconds of silence, one comment came up.

-…Why does that come up here?

“Okay. Now I’ll start reviewing Survivors Director’s Cut!”

The chat room turned pale at the audience’s smooth transition.

-No! Why does that come up here!?

Chapter 350

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: AgRoseCrystal
Chapter 350

-I have no idea what improvisation has to do with the director’s cut.

-How did the director’s cut suddenly pop up…

-That hell came from improvisation?

-Amazing. Improvisation. It creates heaven and hell at the same time.

Moviegoer laughed at the intense reactions of the viewers. They all seemed to be deeply affected by the Director’s Cut.

-I waited from 1 a.m. on Saturday to watch it and I was depressed all weekend.

-I left a review on Plus+ saying ‘worst’ lol

-I saw that lol It was really impressive lol

-The director’s cut I expected was a restored version of the deleted scenes, but the actual director’s cut was hell itself.

-I liked the director’s cut though.

-222 Me too. Isn’t it more realistic?

-Come to think of it, there were quite a lot of 10 points.

-Respect for taste. I don’t understand, but respect for taste.

-lololol

The opinions of the viewers on [Survivors-Director’s Cut] came in. Moviegoer nodded his head as he read them.

“According to the interview, Director Jeffrey said that he pursued safety when making his works so far. Maybe the original version of Survivors was similar to Jeffrey’s previous works.”

-Oh. So Survivors was different from his previous works because of improvisation.

-It definitely felt very different. “Director Jeffrey said that he had a lot of trouble while filming Survivors because of the improvisation shown by Davis Garrett and Lee Seo-jun. He said that he wondered, ‘Can I do this?’, ‘It should be okay, right?’, ‘Let’s do it!’ and that’s how the director’s cut came out. He said he tried to make it as free as possible.”

-If he does it twice, he’ll kill all the audience.
Moviegoer and the viewers laughed at the sincere comment.

“The director’s cut was also heavily edited. The file name was…”

A name appeared on the monitor.

[Survivors Director’s Cut_Edit7_8_Final_Finish_Finish2_Last_Last_Last_Completed]

“…that’s what it was.”

-It felt distant as a director’s cut, but now it feels familiar again…lol

-What was the original content like? Moviegoer rubbed his chin and recalled the interview.

“The interview didn’t go into details, but it was a worse story than now.”

-…Worse than now?

-…I can’t imagine that.

-Did Raymond Wish go crazy and kill everyone?

The chat room and Moviegoer unconsciously stopped.

“Oh…”

A groan-like admiration came out.

-…Let’s forget it.

-Obliviate!

-Quickly flash it and erase the memory!

-Red sun!

-Isn’t that a hypnotic spell?

After a commotion of memory removal, Moviegoer shrugged his shoulders and opened his mouth.

“What happened?”

The viewers who matched well with Moviegoer’s wit quickly followed along.

-Nothing happened.

-Huh? What happened?

-No no let’s start the review!

“Anyway, the Director’s Cut was made through improvisation and editing. But there was one thing that didn’t change between the original and the edited versions. That is, all the characters die.”

-Yeah. I knew that would happen.

-yep yep yep

Everyone nodded their heads at the cynical comments.

Moviegoer chuckled and continued.

“At first, they wanted to release the Director’s Cut instead of the theatrical version in theaters, but they were opposed by the production company, Bearound.”

-Wow.

-It almost got released…

-Then there might not have been a theatrical version at all.

-Praise Bearound!!

-22 This is something you can’t help but praise!

“That’s right. It would be absurd for the audience to see all the characters die. It’s not a horror movie. There was also a production company opposition and a box office issue, so they eventually made it into a Director’s Cut.”

-Thank goodness.

-Phew. I almost saw Battle Royale.

-Dude. Delete that memory.

-Sorry, sorry.

-Let’s move on quickly!

Moviegoer who laughed softly said.

“Let’s start the real review. The first part of the Director’s Cut is no different from the theatrical version. But at some point, you can see that the music and background color change.”

-I don’t know much about music, but it feels like it sags.

-I’m listening to it familiarly, but when I come to my senses, it’s creepy music lol

-It feels like they made ‘Mom in the Shade of an Island-’ into a horror version lol

-The background color also seems clearer.

“Yes. There are also differences in the directing of the two versions. The change in directing of the Director’s Cut and the theatrical version is revealed when the bomb explodes. The Director’s Cut has a clear color. The blood and human traces that were not visible in the theatrical version are exposed and clearly show the damage of the bomb terror.”

-You can definitely see more blood in the director’s cut than in the theatrical version.

-222 The atmosphere also seems gloomy.

-333 The theatrical version felt like an empty building collapsed because everyone ran away, but the director’s cut felt like a building collapsed with a lot of people.

-There must be dead people stuck between those rocks (chills)… That’s the vibe of the director’s cut.

-It’s spicy indeed.

-The theatrical version was probably milder because of the age limit.

“Not only the directing, but also the content changed. The change in content started with Ian Weaver’s death. I didn’t expect him to die there…”

Moviegoer, who recalled the Director’s Cut while explaining, unknowingly spat out his impression like a sigh.

-22 I was really surprised because I didn’t think of it.

-I was watching it without thinking because it was similar to the beginning, but he died.

-You don’t see his face, but you hear Lee Hyun-woo’s scream and it gives me chills.

-Lee Hyun-woo’s scream soundㅠㅠ

-There was a lot of blood tooㅠㅠ

-I’ve seen a lot of movies with a lot of blood, but it was shocking.

-Maybe it’s because I liked Ian Weaver a lot while watching the theatrical version.

-Ianㅠㅠ

Moviegoer quickly regained his senses and continued the review.

“The timing of Ian Weaver’s death is very exquisite. It is from this point that the survivors start to share their stories and the relationship between Raymond Wish and Lee Hyun-woo softens. We also learn about Ian Weaver’s story.”

The audience listened attentively to the voice of Moviegoer.

“But right at this crucial moment, Ian Weaver dies. Raymond Wish saves Lee Hyun-woo, but his act is not treated as important. Because there was a big problem with Ian Weaver’s death.”

-It was really bleak;;;

-I couldn’t breathe without realizing it.

-??? : The living should live, shouldn’t they?

-I felt betrayed.

-That’s true, but… what about the child who might have been his son in the future…ㅠ

-But Raymond Wish doesn’t know that now.

-Really… timing… life is all about timing.

“And Raymond Wish comes up with a new way to move Lee Hyun-woo.”

-??? : Your family must be waiting for you.

-??? : It’s better to have something to remember him by.

-Really… I screamed when I watched it. Did they not think that the Weaver couple would look for his belongings?

-22 I couldn’t help but swear.

-But they don’t know, so only I feel frustrated.

-I would go crazy and jump around!

“Yes. Ian Weaver died too early, so the survivors didn’t know each other’s stories. Especially, Ian Weaver’s story, which was buried as it was, touched the hearts of the audience.”

-ㅠㅠOur Ianㅠㅠ

-If it was the theatrical version, Hyun-woo would have hugged him and Raymond would have carried himㅠㅠ

-I hate that they think well of the Weaver couple.

-I feel like I ate a whole box of sweet potatoes (frustrated)

-No one comforted Ian until he diedㅠㅠ

-ㅠㅠHyun-woo, who followed Ian around because he looked like his mother, also avoided Ian until thenㅠㅠ

-He died too soonㅠㅜ

-??? : Then you must be waiting for Ian to come back…

-Ahhh!! That’s not it!!

-Isn’t this what they call a misunderstanding?

-It would have been a disaster if it was a novel.

Moviegoer quickly opened his mouth at the burning chat window.

“Then the survivors face another obstacle. Raymond Wish gets crushed by a rock while trying to save Jackson Miller and Lee Hyun-woo. This time, the atmosphere was surprisingly different from the theatrical version.”

-The theatrical version was like ‘I want to save them!’, but the director’s cut felt like ‘Oops, my body moved!’.

-His reluctant feelings were all over his face, it was amazing.

-Davis Garrett is a good actor.

-Jackson Miller also had a completely different vibe from the theatrical version, maybe because of his guilt.

“After Raymond Wish falls behind, Lee Hyun-woo changes. Lee Hyun-woo, who had been holding his bag with both arms, changed to holding it like a small child. He put his left hand under the bag and his right hand around it.”

-I thought he changed because his arm hurt.

-22 I thought that posture was comfortable.

-333 I didn’t pay attention at all. I can’t believe that was a hint!

-But didn’t Hyun-woo’s eyes change from then on? Just like when Ian was there.

-But it was different from the theatrical version again.

-A bit bitter-sweet.

“Finally, Jackson Miller falls behind too. Now only Cynthia Lindberg and Lee Hyun-woo are left.”

-One more left!

-Ian Weaver!

-His bag!

-They really match wellㅋㅋㅋ

The other viewers and Moviegoer burst out laughing at the viewers who matched well. Moviegoer who had been giggling calmed down and said.

“Here Lee Hyun-woo says ‘You’re better off than me with my injured leg.’ and hands over his bag to Cynthia Lindberg.”

-It was cold.

-22 I felt uneasy from then on.

-I had no idea.

-222 I just thought he handed it over.

“Lee Hyun-woo felt that it would be safer for Ian Weaver to walk with Cynthia Lindberg than with him who had injured his leg.”

-Suddenly the atmosphere changed to a horror movieㅎㄷㄷ

-I didn’t notice it at first, but Hyun-woo’s behavior was strange when I watched it again. He acted like he had something.

“And then everything becomes clear. The two survivors reach a dead end. Lee Hyun-woo climbs up first. Who was next?”

-??? : Sister! Please lift Ian up first!

-I got goosebumps from head to toe.

-I almost swore.

-Lee Seo-jun’s smiling acting was no joke.

-222 I felt something sinister from his bright smile.

-I would have gone crazy and jumped on the ktx.

-Honestly. Cynthia Lindberg was too scared to hold him.

“That’s how Cynthia Lindberg disappears too. Lee Hyun-woo, who was lost in thought, shivers with fear of being alone.”

Moviegoer recalled [Survivors-Director’s Cut].

It was still a chilling performance even when he recalled it.

Lee Hyun-woo on the screen was shivering.

At some point, something touched Lee Hyun-woo’s hand. It didn’t matter what it was, whether it was a doll, a cloth, or a bag.

‘Maybe they set it up like that because it would be more shocking to the audience if it was a person.’

As soon as something touched his hand, Lee Hyun-woo stopped shivering.

Lee Hyun-woo pulled it very naturally.

The screen moved along with Lee Hyun-woo’s hand.

Lee Hyun-woo’s behavior was so natural that the audience had no time to think it was strange.

‘I thought he came up with a new way.’

They knew ‘Lee Hyun-woo’ as a smart kid.

“Lee Hyun-woo pulls out the doll that was stuck in the wall very naturally.”

A half-crushed doll came out with Lee Hyun-woo’s hand and Lee Hyun-woo’s face was caught on the screen.

“And he smiles.”

His softly curved eyes, his sparkling black pupils, his lifted lips.

And he spat out a bright voice as if he was worried about Ian Weaver.

-??? : Let’s go! Ian!

-??? : Let’s call the rescue team and come back!

“It was the same line as the theatrical version, but it felt completely different. Lee Hyun-woo’s smile and bright voice, which he tried to make for Ian Weaver, made the viewers shiver instead.”

-I doubted my ears.

-I thought it was a horror movieㅠㅠ

-Hyun-woo’s eyes were crazy…ㅎ

-From then on, Lee Seo-jun’s acting was amazing.

-An explosion of acting skills!

Moviegoer nodded as if he agreed.

“It was such a great performance that I wondered if he was seeing Ian Weaver’s soul that was invisible to my eyes.”

-Me too. Lee Seo-jun acted so well that I thought my eyes were wrong.

-I watched it without breathing.

“And finally, Lee Hyun-woo, who was rescued, also finds a way to save everyone in the Director’s Cut.”

-I didn’t think he would survive after being hit in the back of the headㅋ

-I was a little hopeful. But it wasn’tㅎ

-ㅠㅠㅋㅋ

“The end of the Director’s Cut is directed opposite to the theatrical version. It shows the collapsed Galleria Mall and the rescuers come out. And then you hear the report of the rescuer.”

-As expected, they all diedㅠㅠ

-It was so sadㅠㅠ

-And the paramedic says ‘There are no Asian tourists’ㅠㅠ Not only his parents, but also the uncles and auntsㅠㅠ They must have diedㅠㅠ

-It seems like there are hardly any survivorsㅜ

Moviegoer slowly opened his mouth.

“And the last scene comes out. You see Lee Hyun-woo lying in an ambulance and hear his heart stop. Even in the urgent situation where the paramedics rush in to perform CPR, Lee Hyun-woo is smiling. Very happily.”

While Moviegoer was speaking, the chat window slowly quieted down.

It seemed like they were waiting for someone to speak first.

Finally, when Moviegoer finished speaking, someone who couldn’t resist his instinct to joke posted a comment.

-??? : Bro.

-Ahh…!

-How could you bring that up…!

The comment that came up on the chat window was only two letters, but the viewers’ reactions were not good. Moviegoer opened his mouth with a serious expression at the chat window that exploded.

“I knew you would say that. That joke.”

-It started again after [Survivors-Director’s Cut] came out.

-There’s even an explanation going aroundㅋㅋ

-Shock and horror!

-You bastards!!

In the meantime, someone finished the line.

-??? : He’s smiling?

-Ahhh!!

-Ah Xck it’s a dream! It’s a dream!

The chat window blew up.

Chapter 351

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 351

The so-called dream ending.

It was an ending that reversed everything that had happened before, like magic.

In the case of [Survivors], it turned the perfect happy ending that moved everyone into a dream, and the bad ending that disappointed everyone into reality.

The people’s reactions were more intense.

-When I saw his smile at the end, I had that thought. Maybe the happy release version was not his dream.

-22 Honestly, it’s a bit strange that no one died and survived.

-It’s also strange to survive after being crushed by a rock.

-There are more than one or two things that are unrealistic.

-It’s a movie. A movie.

-But because it’s a movie, everything could be a dream.

-Was it really a dream! Release versionㅠㅠ!

-A dream…! A dream…!

As expected, the chat room was on fire.

Moviegoer intervened appropriately.

“Yes. Unlike the release version, which had a closed happy ending, the Director’s Cut ends ambiguously. If you think of the two versions separately, it doesn’t matter, but if you think of them together, it’s an ending that makes you think a lot. First, a question comes to mind. How far was Lee Hyun-woo’s delusion, who went crazy?”

The chat room stirred again at Moviegoer’s words.

-I don’t think it was a dream. I don’t think Lee Hyun-woo could have made up Ian Weaver’s past.

-22 If he was a normal kid without such a past, he wouldn’t have clung to Lee Hyun-woo.

-Well. Maybe Ian Weaver was just not a sociable kid.

-I think so too. Ian Weaver’s past was probably Lee Hyun-woo’s delusion.

-…Ian Weaver’s past was a delusion?

-…No… I started to doubt the release version (screaming)

-222 Everything started to look suspicious (doubtful)

-I feel like I’m reminded of the play ‘Mirror’.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Moviegoer, do you think it was a dream?

Moviegoer, who briefly recalled the play ‘Mirror’ that had unknowingly given him a stethoscope, smiled and answered.

“If you think of the two movies separately, it could be parallel worlds divided by Ian Weaver’s death, or if you think of them as one, it could be Lee Hyun-woo’s dream.”

-It’s vague.

“That’s because movies are supposed to be interpreted by individuals. A closed story is good, but a movie that gives you something to think about is also good. These kinds of works come to mind when you live your daily life and before you go to bed.”

-Ugh. That’s why I can’t sleep.

-It’s sad enough that it’s a parallel world, but if it’s a dream, it’s sadderㅠㅠ

-I’ll think of it as a parallel world.

-22 If it’s a dream, it seems too hopeless.

-A dream ending is not bad either?

-ㅇㅇ It’s not like it suddenly said it was a dream! It showed how Lee Hyun-woo went crazy in front of us.

-But if I think of it as a dream, I can’t watch the release version anymore.

-Me tooㅠㅠ

“I’ll leave it up to you whether the release version was a dream or a parallel world. Then, the second question of the director’s cut ending. Did Lee Hyun-woo die? Or did he survive? What do you think?”

-He probably survived. There was a beep sound, and some people survive after emergency treatment.

-22 The title is Survivors. It’s ‘survivors’, but at least one has to live.

-I think he died. The title could have been adjusted for the release version.

-True. It would have been weirder if they came out with different names and similar characters and plots.

-He had paramedics right next to him, so he probably didn’t die!

Moviegoer smiled and spoke at the divided opinions.

“Director Jeffrey said in an interview that there was a cookie video for the perfect bad ending in the director’s cut.”

-‘It was all a dream’ ending was so shocking that I’m not even scared anymore.

-I’m confident I won’t cry no matter what comes out now.

-Where is the bad ending when everyone dies?

Moviegoer shrugged and said.

“A joint funeral scene.”

-ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

The chat room that said they wouldn’t cry was filled with tears in an instant.

-A funeral… It suddenly hits me hard.

-I said I wouldn’t cryㅜㅜ

“He said he was going to show the photos of Lee Hyun-woo, Lee Hyun-woo’s parents, Raymond Wish, the Wish family, Jackson Miller, and Cynthia Lindberg.”

-…? Moviegoer. You missed one person?

-Our Ian?

“Come on, let’s think.”

In the interview with Director Jeffrey Rodex, he only talked about the ‘joint funeral’ and the ‘portrait photos’, but Moviegoer went deeper. It was his job to read the hidden intentions of the invisible director.

Moviegoer lowered his voice.

“Who would know that Ian was there?”

-? Lee Hyun-woo was there.

-He died. Joint funeral.

-That’s true.

-Raymond, Jackson, and Cynthia, who went with him, also died.

-The Weaver couple would know.

Moviegoer quickly asked back when he got the answer he wanted.

“Do you think that couple would have come to look for their abandoned child?”

-They might not show up because they were afraid of being asked why they left their child alone.

-…Wow?

-That’s true?

-I wonder if there is such a worst case scenario, but reality is more cruel than movies.

-Can’t they just find the body?

Moviegoer opened his mouth with a meaningful expression.

“Lee Hyun-woo, who was carried on a stretcher, said it. The locations of Raymond Wish, Jackson Miller, and Cynthia Lindberg. But he didn’t say one place.”

The viewers perked up their ears at Moviegoer’s low voice.

“Because he saved that child.”

The chat room froze. They remembered the baby doll that was thrown away like trash in the paramedic’s hand.

-…Wow…

-He already saved him (although it was a hallucination) so he didn’t need to tellㅠㅠ

-Ianㅠㅠ

-But if the rescue team searched carefully, wouldn’t they find him?

“Would Galleria Mall have stayed that way while the rescue team looked for Ian Weaver’s body? The buried bombs could have exploded and collapsed, or a fire could have broken out. Isn’t it often the case that even bodies can’t be found in such accidents in reality?”

-Ianㅠㅠㅠ

-Lee Hyun-woo triedㅠㅠ

-But Lee Hyun-woo wasn’t in his right mind when Ian died, so he might not have remembered the way wellㅠㅠ

-It’s so sadㅠㅠ Ian doesn’t have anyone to cry for him or remember him even after he dies.

-There was no photo of him at the funeral either… No one really knew himㅠ

-He was such a kind child, but he grew up being abused and died without leaving any memory in anyone’s mindㅠㅠ

-He didn’t just die, he disappeared from existenceㅠㅠ

-No one will ever know that there was a sweet and cute child named Ian Weaver.

-He probably didn’t have many happy memories in his short lifeㅠㅠ

-ㅜI can’t stop cryingㅠㅠ

“They originally planned to include a cookie video with this content for the bad ending, but they didn’t. Without the cookie video that showed Lee Hyun-woo’s death for sure, it became unclear whether Lee Hyun-woo was alive or dead.”

-Before editing: Hyun-woo (brain-dead)-cookie video (Hyun-woo’s death)/end of movie/

-After editing: Hyun-woo (brain-dead)/end of movie/cookie video (deleted)

-Oh. Thank you for the explanation.

-I have to forget about the bad ending cookie video. Hyun-woo is too pitiful.

-22 I have to believe that Hyun-woo is still alive.

-But it’s also very sad to be alive alone when everyone else is dead.

-ㅠㅠTears are blurring my visionㅠㅠ

-In the end, they all died, right?ㅠㅠ

-Aren’t they survivors, but survivors (who used to be)?

-Oh…

-Survivors (who used to be).

-The title that pierced through the director’s cut gave me goosebumps.

“The survivors filmed the same day at the same set, both the Director’s Cut and the theatrical version. The same characters, similar plots, similar lines, but they acted with completely different personalities. It was a movie that made me admire the actors’ acting skills once again.”

***

[Plus+, 5th day of upload! How many views for ‘Survivors-Director’s Cut’?]

[Full interview (translated) with Jeffrey Rodex, director of ‘Survivors’!]

[The improvisation of Davis Garrett and Lee Seo-jun!]

[Revision and revision and revision! ‘Survivors’ was made while filming!]

[Parallel world or dream. What is the truth of ‘Survivors’?]

[The new name of ‘Survivors’ director’s cut?]

-Watching the director’s cut again is too hard.

-Honestly, I enjoyed it.

=222 How should I say it. It’s like the sweet and salty of the movie industry.

=You mean spicy and sweet, right?

=And it’s so spicy that you can’t cry…ㅋ

=222 It’s so absurd that I can’t cry eitherㅋㅋ

-It must be a parallel world, right?

=Or a dream?

=Just think positivelyㅎ

-The theatrical version was too hopeful and unrealistic, but the director’s cut was too realistic???

=I decided to only watch unrealistic movies from now on. Movies should be unrealistic!!

=I watched the theatrical version (dreams and hope) and just cried. Our Ianㅠㅠ Hyun-wooㅠㅠ

-I enjoyed watching it. Of course, I’m okay with bad endings because it’s a movie.

=22 Me too. I liked the director’s cut.

=I’m curious about Jeffrey’s next work!

-What’s the new name?

=Survivors (who used to be). It came out on Moviegoer Live.

=I have a bad feeling from the title.

The number of viewers for [Survivors] increased again after more than three weeks since its release. It was obvious that it was the effect of [Director’s Cut].

“The Director’s Cut is also number one on Plus+.”

Song Yu-jung, who was browsing Plus+ and looking around, nodded her head repeatedly at Lim Ye-na’s words.

“It’s number one overseas too! Wow. Yu-jung. Look at this!”

Lim Ye-na pushed her phone toward Song Yu-jung. Song Yu-jung’s eyes went to the screen.

[Title: Did you see Ian Weaver’s story? (Director’s Cut)]

-It’s so frustrating that no one knows Ian Weaver’s story in the director’s cut.

-And in the cookie video (which didn’t come out), they can’t even find his body?

-I hate that more than the dream endingㅠㅠ

-But there’s also Hellgate.

=ㄱㅆ) What is it?

=Ian Weaver’s insurance money.

=ㄱㅆ) Oh…(swearing)

“Wow…crazy…”

“Doesn’t it seem like this could really happen?”

“Right.”

Lim Ye-na, who was sitting next to Song Yu-jung, also read the interpretations and reviews of [Survivors] on her phone.

“Moviegoer’s review was fun, but other people’s interpretations are also fun.”

“Oh, look at this.”

Lim Ye-na pushed her phone again. Song Yu-jung’s eyes went to the phone.

[Movie ‘Survivors’ Fire Pit (Theatrical Version + Director’s Cut)]

-I’m glad mom and dad are alive. I saw a hiking outfit near mom and dad who were video calling. It seems like other tourists also survived.

=The clothes were colorful so they stood outㅋㅋ

-There weren’t many dead people among the people who appeared on the screen, considering that a bomb exploded.

=It’s mild because of that.

=22 I thought they erased the bad stories like blood or corpses to lower the age rating because of the production company… But I didn’t expect that they would put them all together in a spicy version.

=After seeing that, I realized how happy the theatrical version was.

-I just realized that I like happy endings full of dreams and hope.

=22 Happy endings are best when they are closed. No one should ever die!

=I complained when I watched the theatrical version, saying that it doesn’t make sense, that everyone is alive, that it’s too unrealistic… But the spicy version is too spicy?

=222 Spicy haters should just eat mild.

=333 I also wrote that in my reviewㅎ But I apologized in my review after watching the director’s cutㅎㅎ

=444 I never thought they would kill them all.

=555 I didn’t expect Ian Weaver to die so soon. And all the characters who spoke at Galleria Mall died.

-In the end, they showed a scene of rescuers flying in the sky, right? But in the theatrical version, you can see people being carried away by vehicles, but in the director’s cut, there are no vehicles at all.

=Wow… Wow…

-That means there are no more survivors.

“I see.”

Song Yu-jung nodded her head in admiration. She hadn’t paid attention to that scene. Lim Ye-na said excitedly.

“Plus, the sunset color is stronger in the director’s cut than in the theatrical version. It’s totally blood-red!”

“Ew. Let’s watch it quickly.”

Today, the two of them decided to watch [Survivors-Director’s Cut] on a big television at Lim Ye-na’s home. As the logo of Bearound appeared on the large television screen, Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na chuckled and said.

“I was so shocked when I first saw the Director’s Cut that I thought I would never watch it again.”

“You know, spicy taste is addictive.”

Song Yu-jung and Lim Ye-na’s sparkling eyes went to the television.

[California]

[LA]

The white Galleria Mall was visible below.

“I want to see this in a movie theater.”

Song Yu-jung agreed with Lim Ye-na’s words.

***

“Honey. Seo-jun. Look at that.”

At Seo Eun-hye’s words, Lee Min-jun, who was holding the steering wheel, and Seo-jun, who was sitting in the back seat, looked at where Seo Eun-hye was pointing.

A bus was passing by on the passenger seat side where Seo Eun-hye was sitting.

“Public taste is really hard to understand.”

“Right.”

Lee Min-jun agreed with Seo-jun’s nod. Seo-jun didn’t expect this to happen either. Seo Eun-hye smiled and asked Seo-jun.

“Do you think Director Jeffrey is happy?”

“Yeah. He loves it.”

Seo-jun smiled and recalled Director Jeffrey, who contacted him excitedly.

He looked out the window again.

He saw an advertisement poster attached to the side of the bus.

[Now Showing]

[Survivors]

[Director’s Cut]

Chapter 352

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 352

Seo-jun leaned back on his seat and smiled as he looked at the advertisement on the bus.

[Survivors-Director’s Cut], which was uploaded on Plus+, became more popular than Bearound and Plus+ had expected.

He thought that there wouldn’t be many people who would watch it again after seeing the shocking content, but it seemed to have a unique addictiveness.

Seo-jun recalled the information he received from Plus+.

There were some people who didn’t watch it again, but there were also many people who watched it several times.

Around the time when people were interpreting [Survivors] by watching [Survivors-Director’s Cut], Jeffrey’s interview, and YouTubers’ reviews, someone posted an SNS post saying that they wanted to watch [Director’s Cut] in theaters, and audiences from various countries agreed.

Seeing the endless likes and requests, Bearound decided to show [Survivors-Director’s Cut] in theaters for a short period of time as an event.

Of course, the promotion was similar to [Survivors-Theatrical Version].

“The number of viewers is also higher than expected, right?”

Seo Eun-hye asked, and Seo-jun told her what he heard from Kings Agency.

“Yeah. They’re thinking of extending the screening period for a few more days.”

It was a frustrating story for those who were still deciding on the release date of their movies.

[Survivors-Theatrical Version] and [Director’s Cut].

The movie scene in July and August was dominated by [Survivors].

It would have been understandable if it was a series movie that had accumulated fans over the years like Marina Studio, but it was more shocking because it was just a disaster movie.

The movie industry had no choice but to analyze the cause of the huge success.

What helped a lot in the analysis was Jeffrey Rodex’s interview.

Jeffrey’s interview was full of praise for the actors.

He mentioned Milan Chellen, who held the center, Vanessa Olsen, who did her role well, and Andrew Walker, who did not lose to adult actors despite being his first work.

Among them, two actors stood out.

The actors who were praised by Jeffrey, who was receiving a lot of attention from the public.

Davis Garrett and Lee Seo-jun.

Davis Garrett was active in Hollywood, so the Korean movie industry could only aim for one actor.

‘As expected, it’s Seo-jun.’

No matter how good his acting skills were, it was hard to make a movie successful with just one actor.

A script that suits the public’s taste, a director who can direct according to the script, actors who act together, enough production costs.

There were too many things to consider, but he had never failed in any of his works so far.

‘Is he good at choosing works or is he lucky?’

Of course, being lucky was not a bad thing.

Rather, it was the most important factor in this world where each work was like a gamble.

As a movie industry that hoped for a hit, they had no choice but to be interested in Lee Seo-jun, who had become a totem of success.

The influence of that interest made more scripts and synopses come into Cocoa Entertainment.

Seo-jun smiled as he thought of the scripts that Ahn Da Ho would bring home every Monday.

“Dad also went to see it with mom at the theater. It felt different from television.”

“Right? Movies should be watched at theaters.”

Seo-jun nodded his head repeatedly. He had seen [Director’s Cut] with his friends from Mirinae High School.

[Survivors-Director’s Cut], which was shown on a large screen at the theater, had a different impact than a small television screen.

The sound that echoed from the large speakers installed around the theater made the audience’s bodies tremble every time a building collapsed.

The deep and vivid red color that remained captivated the audience’s eyes.

And watching the actors’ facial expressions on a large screen made them hold their breath.

The anxiety, nervousness, and despair that came from the actors’ shaking eyes made the audience shiver.

There were also people who visited the theater again to see that impact.

The screening period was short, so there were more eager viewers.

Among them, there was even a rumor that a YouTuber appeared at both theaters at the same time.

“They say Jeffrey might film his next work with Bearound.”

“Really?”

Bearound was thrilled by the unexpected success of both [Theatrical Version] and [Director’s Cut], which were filmed without additional shooting.

They also heard that they were aiming for Jeffrey Rodex’s next work, which started it all.

They talked about various things related to [Survivors], and they didn’t have much left until they reached their destination.

“We’ll be there soon.”

Seo-jun and Seo Eun-hye looked out the window at Lee Min-jun’s words.

A large building came into view.

It was a familiar place for Seo-jun and his parents.

Milky Way Center.

It was where they performed the children’s play Spring.

“We came here last time to see the play, right?”

“Yeah. It was fun.”

They had visited the place many times after the children’s play Spring to watch plays or musicals.

They parked the car and got out. Seo-jun, who wore a gray hat, made his presence less noticeable than usual.

“There are a lot of people. Seo-jun, let’s take out the bouquets later.”

“Okay.”

At Seo Eun-hye’s words, Seo-jun carefully arranged the yellow freesia and purple lilac bouquets that he had placed next to him.

Meanwhile, Lee Min-jun called someone on his phone.

Yeah, we’re here.

Okay. He nodded his head and hung up.

“They’re inside. Let’s go.”

“It was the annex, right?”

Seo-jun and his parents headed to the Milky Way Center annex where people who looked like families were entering one by one.

They all had colorful bouquets in their hands.

There was a banner hanging in front of the slightly smaller annex than the main building.

[The 8th ATR Violin Competition]

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun looked at the banner with unfamiliar expressions.

Having a son who had been acting as a child actor since he was young and learned various things for acting, they also had many indirect experiences.

“But this is the first time for a competition.”

“Seo-jun doesn’t care much about competitions.”

He played violin and piano as a hobby, but he had never participated in a competition, so Seo-jun himself, and his parents, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, felt a bit strange about competitions.

“If there was an acting competition, he would participate, right?”

Seo Eun-hye smiled softly at Lee Min-jun’s words.

“Seo-jun would want to be first and also curious about the actors he would act with. He would definitely participate.”

“Haha.”

Seo-jun laughed at his parents who knew him too well.

***

The inside of the Milky Way Center annex was bustling with people.

The [ATR Violin Competition] hosted by the ATR Foundation was a large-scale violin competition with elementary, middle, high school, and general divisions.

The competition was large, so there were many finalists and many people who came to cheer for them.

“Don’t be nervous!”

“You’ll do well!”

The participants who were dressed neatly could not enter the waiting room, so they met with their friends and relatives who came to support them in the lobby of the annex.

People who looked like families entered the Milky Way Center annex one by one. Seo-jun and his parents looked around for someone.

“Lee Min-jun!”

Someone waved his arm from the corner of the lobby. It was Kim Hee-sang, who still had a playful face even though he was old.

Next to him, his wife, pianist Choi Soohee, smiled and waved her hand.

Seo-jun and his parents smiled and walked over.

They could only see the cute little Kim Subin in a neat suit when they got closer.

There were so many people.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and waved his hand.

“Hi, Subin.”

Kim Subin, who was holding a violin case between Kim Hee-sang and Choi Soohee, looked at Seo-jun with sparkling eyes.

He seemed so happy that Seo-jun and his parents laughed.

“Hi! Hyung!”

When Seo-jun squatted down and opened his arms, Subin ran over to him with quick steps.

He remembered his mom’s words that it was dangerous to run.

He hugged Seo-jun tightly.

The adults laughed at the sight of the two children who hugged each other tightly.

***

“Hyung. So I’m going to play this part softly and this part strongly. Like this! Ta-ta-tan!”

“Hmm. Sounds good?”

“Really?”

Subin’s cheeks were red as he talked with violinist Gray Vainy, no, Seo-jun, while looking at the score marked with pencils here and there.

The adults talked while watching the two children.

“Subin’s friends didn’t come?”

“Subin’s friends are still young. They might not be able to focus for a long time. It would be rude to disturb other participants when they play, so I couldn’t invite them.”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun realized that they had forgotten something.

Seo-jun was very quiet when he watched plays or movies when he was in second grade or younger.

“When was the preliminary round? We would have come to cheer for him then.”

“Yeah. You should have told us earlier. Wouldn’t Subin be mad that Seo-jun didn’t call him?”

Kim Hee-sang laughed at Lee Min-jun’s words. It seemed that Subin liked Seo-jun more than his dad, so he might have pouted and kept his mouth shut.

“The preliminary round was a video screening, so we couldn’t invite you.”

“Video screening?”

“It’s a big company that hosts it, so there were a lot of participants.”

Choi Soohee added to Kim Hee-sang’s words.

“It’s hosted by ATR Foundation. If you get an award here, you can get extra points when you apply for Yeoul Arts Middle School and Mirinae High School. Of course, you can also get recognized as an experience by other music colleges.”

“Really?”

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun looked around. They could see the serious faces of the participants.

“Then they must be really good, right? Why did you apply for this competition?”

At Lee Min-jun’s words, Kim Hee-sang scratched his cheek.

He had been learning violin since he was six years old, but he had never been interested in competitions until now.

Choi Soohee, who had been playing music for a long time, didn’t ask him because she was afraid that competitions like this would have a negative impact on Kim Subin’s love for violin.

“Well… Subin said he wanted to participate in a competition, so I looked it up. I showed him various competitions, but he wanted to participate in the biggest one.”

Choi Soohee also smiled awkwardly.

“I told him that this is a competition for older kids, a very very big competition… Don’t you have something else you like?”

…Aha.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun looked at Seo-jun and Subin.

Kim Hee-sang and Choi Soohee, who were worried that Subin might get traumatized if he didn’t play well on stage, also looked at the two children.

They were talking excitedly while pointing at the score with their fingers, as if they were having so much fun.

They looked alike.

Chapter 353

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 353

Seo-jun asked Subin, who was nodding his head while looking at the sheet music.

“Subin, did you decide on the order?”

“Yes! I drew lots. I’m the last one.”

At Subin’s words, Kim Hee-sang and Choi Soohee recalled the situation in the waiting room a while ago.

Subin, who was in second grade, was noticeably smaller than the other kids, so he attracted the attention of all the elementary participants and their parents in the waiting room.

And to make matters worse, he ended up being the last one to perform.

“They all looked down on him.”

Kim Hee-sang smirked and whispered so that Subin, who was immersed in the sheet music, couldn’t hear.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

He understood why.

Playing an instrument required experience and practice, so when they were young, they could judge their skills by their apparent age.

Fifth and sixth graders versus second grader.

The difference in the time they had played the violin was visible to the eye.

‘But that doesn’t matter in front of talent.’

Choi Soohee, a pianist who had seen many geniuses while working in Europe, looked at her son.

Even if she wasn’t his mother and evaluated him objectively, Subin was similar to those geniuses.

He learned ten things when taught one, and he mastered them in an instant.

The emotions he expressed in his performance were also amazing.

‘Of course, he has a hard time expressing emotions he hasn’t experienced yet.’

There were different kinds of sadness and joy. Subin, who hadn’t experienced many emotions yet, had a simple view of sadness and joy.

He was a nine-year-old boy whose greatest sorrow was not being able to play with his hyung Seo-jun.

‘His skills have surpassed his age by far… but that’s not just because of talent.’

Choi Soohee knew better than anyone how much Subin loved the violin and practiced hard.

She hoped he would continue to love the violin like that.

Seo-jun smiled brightly and said to Subin.

“You’ll do well as long as you don’t get nervous.”

“Yes! I’ll play in front of people like Gray!”

Subin didn’t care about the ranking of the concours.

He just wanted to share his violin performance with many people like Gray Vainy.

‘There will be a lot of people at this huge competition.’

Subin looked around with his cheeks flushed.

His heart pounded and his breath quickened as he thought of all these people listening to his violin performance.

“Seo-jun hyung. Do you think Gray was also nervous like this?”

At Subin’s words, Seo-jun smiled.

It was a movie from years ago, but he was happy that he had such a loving fan as ‘Gray Vainy’ and ‘Lee Seo-jun’.

“Of course. He was very nervous… but isn’t it fun? Think about how much people will like your performance.”

“Hehe. Yes. I like it.”

Subin giggled and Seo-jun smiled along.

***

Subin folded the sheet music neatly and put it in his violin case. He sat on a chair and swung his legs.

“Hyung, when is Eun-su coming?”

“Eun-su? She’ll be here soon.”

Just then, Seo Eun-chan and his wife Kim Su-ryeon, along with their seven-year-old daughter Eun-su, entered the annex.

When Seo Eun-hye waved at Seo Eun-chan, Seo Eun-chan and Kim Su-ryeon dragged Eun-su, who was trying to run away in another direction, to where the two families were gathered.

“It’s oppa!”

Eun-su’s eyes sparkled at the sight of Seo-jun and Subin clinging to him.

She ran towards them with a whoosh, but was caught by Kim Su-ryeon.

Kim Su-ryeon scolded her with a stern face.

“Didn’t mom tell you not to run where there are many people?”

“Ah, right!”

Eun-su opened her eyes wide and giggled. Then she walked carefully towards Seo-jun and Subin.

Seeing their daughter being too careful this time, Seo Eun-chan and Kim Su-ryeon ended up laughing.

***

Listening to Eun-su’s kindergarten stories and Subin’s school stories, time flew by quickly.

The lobby was half empty as the concours start time approached.

“The violin concours elementary finals will begin shortly! Elementary participants, please go to the waiting room. Audience members, please move to Hall 2!”

Following the guidance of the Milky Way Center staff, people dispersed.

Only one guardian could enter the waiting room, so Choi Soohee, who was accompanying Subin as an accompanist, went to the waiting room with him.

Kim Hee-sang decided to go to the audience seats with Seo-jun’s family.

Unlike the other nervous participants, Subin looked excited and waved his hand vigorously at Seo-jun and Eun-su.

“Listen to my performance well!”

“Yes! Oppa! You have to get first place!”

“Hyung too!”

“Yes. Subin, fighting!”

Subin grinned at Seo-jun and Eun-su’s cheers.

He held Choi Soohee’s hand tightly and headed to the waiting room.

His steps looked light.

Seeing Subin, Seo-jun chuckled at the voice that came from behind.

“…Subin, dad is here too?”

At Kim Hee-sang’s sad voice, the adults and Seo-jun burst into laughter.

Eun-su, who didn’t know why the adults were laughing, blinked her eyes and soon laughed along.

***

While Eun-su was led by her mom to the bathroom, Seo-jun pulled his gray hat down and headed to one side of the lobby.

There were some kids he had been eyeing since earlier.

He quietly approached them and tapped one of them on the shoulder.

“Huh?”

Kim Han-seok, who was talking to his friends, turned around at the unfamiliar touch.

There was a person with a familiar vibe wearing a gray hat.

‘…Who is he?’

He was just blinking his eyes when the hat brim lifted up.

Seo-jun smiled brightly as he showed his face to Kim Han-seok.

“Hi, Han-seok.”

“…Huh?!”

Kim Han-seok was startled by the face he had seen on Plus+ just yesterday.

He was someone he never expected to see here.

“Seo, Seo, Seo-jun hyung…?!”

“Shh!”

Seo-jun quickly put his index finger on his lips. Fortunately, there weren’t many people in the lobby.

Not only Kim Han-seok, but also the other kids from Mirinae High School who heard Kim Han-seok’s voice turned their heads and stared at Seo-jun in astonishment.

They never imagined seeing their senior, whom they had only seen briefly at school, in a place like this.

“Seo-jun hyung, what are you doing here?”

“I came to cheer for my brother who’s in the concours.”

At his words, Kim Han-seok and his friends looked shocked.

Was that something to be so surprised about? Seeing the kids’ reactions, Seo-jun tilted his head.

“…You have a brother, hyung?”

“Not a real brother, but a brother I know.”

“…Oh…”

Kim Han-seok and his friends nodded as if they understood.

The first-year violin major who was going to participate in the concours today asked Seo-jun nervously.

He was curious about the skills of the brother of Lee Seo-jun, who had played so coolly as ‘Gray Vainy’.

“Is your brother in high school? I’m familiar with the faces of the high schoolers who are in the concours… Or is he in middle school?”

“He’s not a high schooler, he’s an elementary schooler.”

“Oh…”

Kim Han-seok and the first graders gasped at the younger brother who was younger than they expected.

The first graders who were carrying violin cases also looked relieved.

Fortunately, he was not a competitor.

Meanwhile, Seo-jun asked a question that he had been curious about since he saw the kids earlier.

“But why are there only first graders? I don’t see any second or third graders.”

He wanted to greet and cheer for the people he knew, but he didn’t see any second or third graders.

A first grader majoring in violin quickly answered.

“The seniors probably participated in this concours last year, so they must have gone to other international concours during this summer vacation.”

“Really?”

There seemed to be an order to participate in the concours.

Seo-jun, who didn’t know much about the music department, nodded his head.

“Senior. Is he a fifth grader? Or a sixth grader? There is a TV in the waiting room, so we can watch too.”

“Seo-jun hyung. We will cheer for you from the audience. What is your brother’s order?”

Seo-jun smiled and answered the kids’ questions.

“He’s in second grade.”

“…What?”

“He’s in elementary school second grade. And the last one to perform.”

The first graders from Mirinae High School were too surprised to blink at the much younger brother.

***

Seo-jun, who had cheered for the first graders participating in the concours today, headed to his family.

Eun-su quickly grabbed Seo-jun’s hand and giggled.

“Did you meet your friends?”

“Yeah. I saw Han-seok and the first graders, so I cheered for them. They are performing in the high school division today.”

“Han-seok?”

Kim Hee-sang tilted his head and Seo Eun-hye opened her mouth.

“He’s the younger brother who had a crush on Seo-jun. He goes to the same school as Seo-jun. They were also in the same middle school, right?”

“Yeah.”

Seo-jun nodded at Seo Eun-hye’s words.

Kim Hee-sang recalled the memory at the word ‘crush’.

Kim Su-ryeon and Seo Eun-chan also remembered Kim Han-seok’s appearance.

“He was good at acting, wasn’t he? Isn’t he in acting department?”

“He said he came to cheer for his friend who majors in violin. So I’m going to watch the high school division too.”

The ATR Violin Concours was divided into elementary, middle, high school, and general divisions, and awards were given after all performances were over.

The participants of the concours could go out after their turn was over and come back by the time of the award ceremony.

Besides, there were breaks between turns, so the audience could come and go comfortably.

It was possible to watch only the division where their acquaintance participated and leave.

At Seo-jun’s words, the adults nodded their heads.

“Then we can go back after having lunch during the middle school division. Let’s ask Subin if he wants to watch the concours too. If he does, let him watch with Seo-jun.”

“I think Subin would say he wants to watch with Seo-jun…”

“That’s right.”

Eun-su caught on to the words ‘watch with Seo-jun’ and raised her hand.

“Me too! Me too! I want to watch with Seo-jun oppa!”

“Honey. Is there a kids cafe nearby?”

Eun-su gasped at Kim Su-ryeon’s words that she had researched beforehand and started to think seriously with a serious expression.

She held her chin with one hand and wondered ‘Seo-jun oppa or kids cafe’.

The adults laughed at Eun-su’s appearance.

“I’ll think about it more!”

“Okay. Think about it while having lunch.”

Eun-su might have made her choice easier after listening to the elementary division performance.

‘It might be a boring time for lively Eun-su…’

As if he knew Seo-jun’s worry, Seo Eun-chan called Eun-su before entering Hall 2.

“Eun-su.”

“Huh?”

Eun-su, who was walking happily holding Seo-jun’s hand, turned around at her dad’s call.

Seo Eun-chan smiled wickedly.

Eun-su was immune to his face that she had seen since she was born, so she didn’t get scared and looked at her dad with round eyes.

“If you get bored listening to music, don’t say anything and hold my hand. Then you can go out with me during the break.”

“I won’t be bored?”

At Eun-su’s words, Seo-jun and the adults smiled faintly. They knew how short the children’s concentration was.

“Still, if you get sleepy or want to play while listening to music, just quietly hold my hand, okay? Everyone is playing hard, so it will be sad if you are noisy. You don’t want Subin oppa to be sad, do you?”

Eun-su rolled her eyes for a moment and imagined Subin being sad. She quickly nodded her head.

“Okay! I’ll hold your hand if I want to go out!”

“Oh, my. Our daughter is so nice!”

As he was about to lift her up with emotion at her not being stubborn and answering well, Eun-su avoided him and hid behind Seo-jun with a giggle.

Seo-jun and the adults also smiled faintly.

***

Seo-jun and his family entered Hall 2 and took seats at the back of the audience.

Kim Hee-sang explained the concours to Seo-jun and the adults who sat in front and behind.

“The elementary division finals play one free piece each. Subin is number 15.”

“It must have been hard to choose a free piece.”

Kim Hee-sang nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

“Soohee had a hard time choosing a piece that suited Subin’s level and preference.”

Choosing a suitable piece for oneself was also a test in this kind of concours.

It made a lot of difference whether the piece matched one’s own playing style or not.

“So what is Subin playing?”

“Mozart Violin Concerto No. 3 First Movement.”

They didn’t know the piece even after hearing the title, so Lee Min-jun raised both hands.

The others were the same.

They all took out their phones and searched for the piece that Kim Hee-sang mentioned.

They also listened to it briefly with earphones.

“…It seems difficult?”

“He practiced hard, so he will do well.”

Kim Hee-sang smiled and answered Seo Eun-hye’s words.

After a while, the audience seats darkened.

The audience who were chatting with each other closed their mouths one by one.

Soon, an announcement came out of the speakers installed in the hall.

[We will now begin the 8th ATR Violin Concours.]

Chapter 354

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 354

[We will now begin the 8th ATR Violin Competition.]

A broadcast requested the audience to turn off or mute their phones so as not to disturb the violin performance.

The audience members moved quietly to avoid interfering with their friends, sons, and daughters who had prepared hard for today.

Soon after, the broadcast resumed as the rustling movement subsided.

An introduction to the ATR Violin Competition, the judging method, and the award section was followed by an introduction of the four judges who would sit on the panel.

A middle-aged man who looked strict, a man who seemed familiar from television, and a violinist who had been most active last year walked toward the panel from the front door.

The audience’s attention was drawn to the judge who followed them.

A woman with reddish hair came in smiling. She looked friendly and seemed to give good scores to all the participants.

“There’s a foreigner too?”

“She’s a professor of violin at Korea National University of Arts and her name is Yulia Winter.”

Kim Hee-sang’s words elicited an exclamation of admiration.

There was also information about the four judges’ careers on the pamphlet that Seo-jun had.

They all had impressive careers and it showed how prestigious this competition was.

The judges took their seats and the curtain that covered the stage went up.

A black grand piano was placed on the wide stage that was clearly visible and bright lights shone on the stage.

It was an empty stage with no one, but the tense atmosphere before the start was felt.

Seo-jun smiled faintly at the feeling that was similar yet different from theater.

He suddenly remembered his past performances as ‘Gray Vainy’.

He looked at his hands that were tingling and saw the abilities he had put in for Subin.

The [(Line) Orchestra Conductor’s Connection-Low] that he used when he dyed his hair brown-black and [(Line) Violin Dream Fairy’s Basic Lesson-Low], [(Line) Goblin Violinist’s Melody-Middle Low] that he used while filming [Over The Rainbow].

He wasn’t trying to use his abilities to make Subin win, but to teach him what he needed to improve after watching his performance.

‘I’ve been teaching his lightly so far, just as a hobby, but…’

Now that he started to participate in competitions, he might want to become a violinist someday.

Seo-jun wanted to help Subin as his hyung.

He clenched his hands lightly and looked up at the sparkling abilities.

[Elementary Division No. 1.]

The broadcast announced and two people appeared next to the stage.

A pianist in a black suit and a girl in a white dress. The pianist headed straight for the grand piano and the girl with a violin also headed for a small mark in front of the piano.

‘She must be nervous, being number one.’

The first order was almost like announcing the start of the competition.

The judges and audience who had not heard any other songs were full of attention to the violin performance.

It was a problem that they became bored with violin performances as they went back, but it was also a burden to receive such attention as the first order.

One of the seats in the audience showed a slight movement.

The families of the participants who couldn’t cheer out loud clasped their hands tightly so as not to disturb their children.

The girl seemed nervous too, as she exhaled lightly and rested her chin on the violin.

She looked tense but didn’t forget her performance, which showed that she was quite familiar with competitions.

And then the first note came out.

The three symbols on Seo-jun’s hand sparkled with music.

One ability that looked angry but listened to music, and two abilities that looked happy.

Seo-jun, whose musical ability was enhanced by the influence of three abilities, smiled softly and listened to the violin sound.

***

Kim Han-seok and his friends were listening to elementary division performances with nervous faces.

Originally, they were going to watch a short performance at Eunhasu Center main building next door or visit an exhibition at the art museum across the street. But they waited to see an elementary student who played violin well and was praised by ‘him’, Lee Seo-jun senior, who will appear last in the elementary division.

Clap clap clap.

The first participant came down and applause sounded.

Kim Han-seok and his friends from acting department who clapped for actors on stage after performances also applauded for first participant who showed excellent performance.

“She’s good for elementary division.”

“Right? Is she going to be number one?”

“The kids behind will be good too, right? It’s national scale. And senior’s younger sibling hasn’t come out yet.”

Kim Han-seok and his friends nodded at their friend’s words.

As soon as applause subsided, broadcast came out right away.

[Please refrain from clapping for next participant.]

Oh.

It seemed like they shouldn’t clap during competition.

After second performance ended, Kim Han-seok and his friends held back their hands that were about to clap.

Other audience members also silently applauded. In the quiet audience,

Clap-!

A clap sounded from somewhere as if someone couldn’t hold back.

Kim Han-seok and his friends shook their shoulders and laughed quietly.

Seo-jun quickly put his left hand between Eun-su’s palms that were about to clap.

His hand and hand met and a clap sounded.

Eun-su tilted his head as if he didn’t know why and Seo-jun explained softly with a smile.

***

Elementary division waiting room.

Unlike other division participants who watched cute elementary division performances on TV connected to stage, elementary division didn’t turn on TV.

It was obvious that they would be more nervous whether the previous order did well or not.

Fifth and sixth graders sat on chairs and looked at scores or pretended to play violin without making sound while doing image training.

Pianists who came with kids also helped them quietly.

Among them, nine-year-old Subin who stood out the most sat upright on a chair and read his score.

He had received a pencil from his mom and checked the places he talked about with Seo-jun hyung.

He looked cute with his legs dangling in the air, but everyone was so nervous that they couldn’t see him except Choi Soohee.

“Number 10 participant! Please get ready!”

The boy who jumped up at the word ‘number 10’ let out a sigh and left the waiting room with the accompanist. There were only four left, excluding Subin, who was the last one.

“It’s almost over, right? Subin. If you get nervous on stage, just look at Seo-jun and Eun-su sitting in the back of the audience and play.”

“Okay!”

He looked a bit nervous, but his sparkling eyes seemed to show how much he was looking forward to it.

‘I’ve never played in front of so many people.’

Subin’s audience had been only Seo-jun’s family, Eun-su’s family, and some relatives.

He felt his heart pounding at the thought of playing for a crowd that listened to his performance.

It was a happy thing that felt like fireworks exploding.

The pianist Choi Soohee knew that well.

“Subin. Let’s show them our best performance.”

“Okay!”

Subin’s cheeks turned red as he nodded.

***

Yulia Winter, a professor of violin at Korea National University of Arts, flipped over the score sheet.

The participants were all good for their age, probably because they were gathered from all over the country.

It must have been thanks to the increased number of applicants than before.

Yulia Winter recalled the cause of that.

‘Over the Rainbow.’

The musical movie [Over the Rainbow] that came out six years ago created a trend called ‘Gray Tour’ and sparked an explosive interest in the violin.

Yulia Winter, who was active in Europe at the time, was also surprised by the performance requests that came from everywhere.

And [Over the Rainbow] was still influential.

The children who watched the movie dreamed of becoming violinists, and the parents who watched the movie encouraged their children to play violin, and the interest in violin continued.

‘Of course, it has decreased over time, but it is still more than before the movie came out.’

If this interest continued, there might be a child who didn’t know his or her talent and accidentally showed off a great talent.

‘When will he or she appear?’

Yulia Winter smiled softly and waited for the next participant.

***

[Elementary Division Number 15]

It was finally the last order of the elementary division.

Eun-su, who had gone out with Seo Eun-chan for a while and came back, sparkled her eyes.

Seo-jun and the adults also listened with smiling faces.

Kim Han-seok and the children who were sitting in front also shone their eyes.

On the wide stage.

A small child with a violin and a pianist in a black suit walked out.

The people blinked in wonder at his small stature compared to the fifth and sixth graders who had come out so far.

The judges who knew the participant’s information in advance also exclaimed silently at his smaller than expected body.

Subin walked dignifiedly to the center of the stage.

Eun-su, who opened her mouth wide at Subin’s appearance, smiled silently and shook Seo-jun’s hand.

The adults laughed at Eun-su’s expression, which was quiet but noisy.

‘If it wasn’t a concours but a concert hall, I would have given him the biggest applause than anyone else.’

Seo-jun frowned slightly at the quiet hall, but soon smiled and looked at Subin.

‘Subin, fighting!’

Subin looked around the audience.

He was a little nervous because there were so many people, but he was happy to think that Gray Vainy had also stood in such a place.

His heart beat fast as he saw a scene that looked exactly like a movie.

‘Me too.’

‘I have to show them my amazing performance too.’

He breathed lightly and rested his chin on the violin.

Seeing that, Choi Soohee pressed the piano keys.

The piano accompaniment sounded and Subin drew his bow long.

The melody of ‘Mozart Violin Concerto No. 3 First Movement’, which Mozart made when he returned to his hometown Salzburg after his Italian trip, filled the hall.

***

‘If I think that the violin fairy is flying around, would it be an illusion?’

The fairy of the baton seemed to be annoyed but also listening attentively, and the goblin violinist seemed to be sitting down comfortably and enjoying it.

Kim Subin’s performance was beautiful.

It had power and strength that no one would have thought would come from his small body.

He played strongly when he needed to be strong, and weakly when he needed to be weak.

His control of dynamics was also great.

His performance whispered softly.

The bright melody matched Subin’s bright expression.

The beautiful melody that flowed from the violin filled the audience seats.

It also matched Choi Soohee’s piano accompaniment.

The judges showed interest in his flawless performance.

The audience who had become too familiar with the 14 violin performances also unknowingly listened carefully.

Before they knew it, their eyes that had looked down on Subin disappeared and they all focused on his performance.

It was enough to make them admire Subin’s performance that captivated the wide hall.

‘It’s not perfect, though.’

Seo-jun listened to Subin’s performance with one ear and evaluated it coldly with the other.

Thanks to his three abilities, Seo-jun’s musical sense, which had been sharpened sharply, pointed out the places that were lacking.

He had some habits that he had gotten used to, and some parts that looked like he needed more practice.

It was a great performance as a hobby, but as a violinist, there were many things to be desired.

‘I’ll have to teach him later.’

This part and… this part.

As he recalled the score he had seen earlier and checked it, something flashed through Seo-jun’s mind.

If it was his usual sense, he would have let it go, but the violin fairy who was flying around and the fairy of the baton who had a keen hunting instinct (so keen that he tried to hunt down a whole world) quickly caught it.

The goblin violinist who was leisurely enjoying Subin’s performance also watched it run around.

A very brief moment.

Seo-jun, who had caught the inspiration that was about to pass by, looked for a notebook and a writing tool in a hurry, but he couldn’t find anything.

‘I can’t help it.’

Seo-jun had no choice but to take out his phone.

He listened to Subin’s performance and turned his head hard.

And he wrote it down one by one.

Chapter 355

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 355

As the first note flowed from Subin’s violin, Yulia Winter’s hand, holding a red pen, stopped.

It was a hand that had been busy moving to score the other contestants’ performances accurately.

Yulia Winter’s head lifted up involuntarily, unaware of her own reaction.

The heads of the other judges also turned towards the stage.

They all failed to hide their surprised expressions.

Under the bright lights.

A young violinist was standing.

His right hand holding the bow and his fingers on the violin strings were moving busily.

He looked the same as the other contestants, but the sound that came out was different.

Yulia Winter felt that everyone in the hall was focused on that young violinist.

The judges, who had heard countless violin performances, also forgot about their scoring and just stared at the young violinist as if they were bewitched.

She had thought of it as a half-joke, but when a real gem appeared before her eyes, Yulia Winter tried not to miss a single note with her nerves sharpened.

She did not take her eyes off the fingers pressing the strings and the bow sliding down.

Maybe it was because she had been thinking of [Over the Rainbow] a while ago.

Yulia Winter felt as if she understood how the director felt when she first discovered ‘actor Lee Seo-jun’.

She was shocked by the talent she had never heard or seen before, and she felt a surge of desire to nurture and introduce that talent to the world.

While Yulia Winter was shining her eyes, the audience was filled with silence, not of boredom, but of listening to the beautiful melody better.

Until contestant number 14, they had compared their sons and daughters who came to cheer them on in their minds, but now they did not have such thoughts at all.

It was as if they had come to a violin recital of a famous violinist. It was a sorry story for their sons and daughters,

‘He’s really good.’

The audience swallowed their admiration that seemed to burst out and listened to the violin melody.

Subin’s violin performance, accompanied by piano accompaniment, reached the waiting rooms of other parts participating in the concours.

The contestants who were smiling at the appearance of the last contestant, who was smaller than the other kids on TV, closed their mouths at the same time.

The middle school part, high school part, and general part were all filled with heavy silence.

Someone swallowed dry saliva and someone’s hands trembled.

The reactions were different, but they all could not take their eyes off the TV.

The contestants knew more about violin than the audience, so they could better understand the talent of that small contestant.

“…Crazy.”

The first-year students of music and violin major at Mirinae High School could barely spit out a word at the performance of ‘Lee Seo-jun senior’s unknown younger sibling’.

Subin’s violin performance that they wanted to keep listening to ended.

The last note lingered for a long time and then slowly stopped.

Silence flowed.

The audience appreciated even that silence as part of the performance.

Subin, whose cheeks were flushed red, took a deep breath and lifted his chin from the violin.

And he bowed politely toward the silent audience.

He was a little sorry that he couldn’t hear applause because it was a concours, but it was okay.

‘I have to ask Seo-jun hyung and Eun-su how it was!’

The piano accompanist, Choi Soohee, also got up from her seat.

Kim Subin’s mother gave him a thumbs up and smiled brightly as he left the stage.

Then,

Clap clap clap!!

Applause poured out from the audience.

Kim Han-seok and his friends couldn’t stand it any longer and let their hands move freely.

Their palms clapping together were hot.

They were sending applause for seeing such a great stage, but their hearts were complicated.

“He doesn’t care about age or anything like that… He’s really talented.”

“I wonder if our friends are okay.”

Kim Han-seok thought of his music friends who were watching TV in the waiting room.

The first-year students of art major smiled bitterly without stopping their applause.

“They won’t be okay. But there are always one or two talented people who suddenly appear in this field. It’s hard to keep going if you care about that every time.”

“That’s true.”

“Well, he can’t go to every event by himself anyway. Let’s just think of him as the Lee Seo-jun senior of music. It would be nice if music grows thanks to his like Lee Seo-jun senior.”

The kids nodded at the words of the first-year student of music and piano major.

***

The middle school part concours began.

The middle school students showed signs of not being able to perform their best under the influence of elementary part 15th performance right before them.

The judges evaluated them coldly even for such performances.

“We had a longer break than scheduled, but I guess it wasn’t enough to recover their mental state.”

“It’s like ‘what was I doing at that age’ when someone with such talent comes out right in front of you.”

“But this kind of thing happens often in international concours.”

The three judges nodded at Yulia Winter’s words.

“Most domestic concours have similar ages participating in similar concours, so they are familiar with each other’s faces and skills. So the winners are also similar. It’s like a frog in a well.”

“A big rock fell into that well.”

Everyone smiled at the violinist’s words.

They thought of the ‘big rock’, elementary part 15th, but there were also middle school students who showed good performances in such a difficult situation.

“There were contestants who calmly showed their skills in such a crisis. With this kind of mentality, their skills will increase quickly.”

“The rankings will change a lot this time.”

“I’m looking forward to the high school part and the general part.”

It was only half over, but it was a very eventful concours.

***

After lunch, Seo-jun and his family headed to the Eunhasu Center annex to watch the high school part concours with Subin.

The menu was Chinese food.

Three families sat around a round table.

Of course, Eun-su and Subin took the seats next to Seo-jun.

They ordered and after a while.

The table was filled with dishes they each preferred.

Eun-su raised her hand brightly.

“I’ll mix it!”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun put a bowl of jajangmyeon in front of her and Eun-su mixed the jajangmyeon with a serious expression.

She made sure that the black jajang sauce was well coated on the white noodles without leaving any gaps.

Subin seemed to be hungry from being nervous and ate jajangmyeon and sweet and sour pork without saying a word.

“Subin. Chew well.”

“Yes!”

Subin, who had black jajang sauce around his mouth, smiled at Seo-jun’s words.

The adults laughed at that sight.

“It feels like a dream to see him on stage earlier.”

“I know, right?”

They all chatted slowly while eating.

“How many places do they give prizes?”

Kim Hee-sang, who was eating jjamppong, answered Lee Min-jun’s question.

“Up to third place. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are given. But there was a time when no bronze medal was given.”

Everyone looked surprised at that.

“The judging criteria must be very strict.”

“But that means it’s a fair concours.”

“That’s right. It’s better than passing someone you know as a judge. This field is no joke.”

Kim Su-ryeon, the head of the publicity team at Cocoa Entertainment who had heard various stories while working there, said and everyone nodded.

***

After lunch, Seo-jun and Subin headed to the Eunhasu Center annex to watch the high school part concours.

“Then we’ll see you at the award ceremony.”

“Bye! Seo-jun oppa! Subin oppa!”

As everyone expected, Eun-su headed to the kids’ cafe.

Her expression was full of regret, but her feet that held her mom and dad’s hands and walked to the kids’ cafe were lively as if she was walking on clouds.

“Subin, do you want to watch the general section too? Or do you want to go to the kids’ cafe after watching the high school section?”

“Hmm.”

Subin, who was holding Seo-jun’s hand and walking, pondered with a serious expression at Seo-jun’s words.

He wanted to listen to the violin performances, but he also wanted to play with Eun-su at the kids’ cafe.

Subin opened his mouth after thinking for a while.

“I want to go to the kids’ cafe!”

“Okay. Let’s do that.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Subin’s decision.

Subin was excited by the thought of listening to the violin performances and going to the kids’ cafe.

Seo-jun moved his feet with Subin in tow.

As they entered the second hall where the door was wide open, they saw the relatives and families of the high school participants sitting in their seats.

Seo-jun and Subin also found a suitable place to sit.

Seo-jun handed a drink to Subin, who was dangling his legs.

Seo-jun’s eyes turned to the people.

They were whispering with the person next to them, but they could be heard well by Seo-jun who had good ears.

“Elementary section? An elementary student did that well?”

“That’s right. My kid was crying and making a fuss.”

They were talking about Subin.

‘There was a TV in the waiting room…’

It seemed that Subin’s performance had affected the participants who were in the waiting room.

He wondered if they felt a great sense of frustration at the difference in skills, especially since they were still middle school students.

“I heard that even the accompanists asked where he goes to school.”

“Really? Which school does he go to? I want to transfer him if it’s in Seoul…”

But people’s conversations didn’t last long.

The short break was over and the high school concours began.

Just like in the elementary section, the judges came in and the curtain went up.

There was a grand piano on the wide stage and the accompanist and participant walked onto the stage.

‘It’s the first order.’

The first order of the high school section was the first-year music major violinist whom he met earlier.

The first note from his violin flowed out and Seo-jun and Subin listened carefully to his melody.

***

[We will now begin the 8th ATR Violin Concours award ceremony.]

The participants who gave up early because of their mistakes on stage and their families left their seats, while those who had some hope stayed in their seats.

The participants sat in the front row of the audience seats so that they could go up on stage as soon as their names were called.

Seo-jun and Eun-su had bouquets in their hands.

Seo-jun had a purple lilac bouquet, while Eun-su had a yellow freesia bouquet and a pink rose bouquet.

“This is Eun-su’s!”

Eun-su gave her pink rose bouquet to her dad who was sitting next to her and hugged her yellow freesia bouquet with a bright smile like a flower.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun also smiled along with Eun-su.

He bought two bouquets because he thought Eun-su would be disappointed if only Subin got one, but he was glad that she liked it.

[Elementary section bronze medal.]

The child whose name was called went up on stage with an excited face.

On stage, there was the director of ATR Foundation holding a trophy and a bouquet.

He was a familiar face to Seo-jun as well, since he had seen him at Yeoul Arts Middle School and Mirinae Arts High School entrance ceremonies and graduation ceremonies.

[Middle school section bronze medal.]

The middle school student whose name was called looked incredulous as he got up from his seat hesitantly.

The people who looked like his family also seemed surprised as they didn’t clap at first.

But soon applause erupted and the middle school student went up on stage with a flushed face.

“Isn’t he one of those who couldn’t make it to the top ranks?”

“Probably. This must be his first time getting an award at a concours.”

Two people who looked like academy instructors were talking.

“Wow. Really?”

“Yeah. Most of the top-ranked kids in this section made mistakes this time. I only watched this section, so I don’t know, but they said it was because of the kid who played last in the elementary section.”

“? Isn’t it the same for all concours to have good kids?”

“That’s what I’m saying. I don’t know what happened.”

Hmm.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

It would be shocking if that good kid was a second-grader in elementary school.

‘And not just good, but shockingly good.’

Our Subin is the best.

He nodded his head with a proud face and turned his head to the stage.

[Elementary section silver medal.]

The child who went up on stage smiled brightly and bowed deeply.

Applause sounded and camera flashes flashed.

[There is no silver medal in the middle school section.]

The audience seats stirred at that announcement.

Especially, the faces of the middle school participants’ families were gloomy.

“Is there no gold medal either?”

“Really…”

The high school and general section silver medals were announced and finally.

Only the gold medal was left.

[Elementary section gold medal.]

Even before the name was called, the eyes of those who watched the elementary section performance were focused on one place.

The judges, who unanimously decided on the gold medal without a second of hesitation, also had excited faces.

Seo-jun and Eun-su prepared to clap, while the adults prepared their cameras.

[Maesil Elementary School 2nd grade. Kim Subin.]

Subin got up from his seat with a bright smile.

The loudest applause so far filled the hall.

As Seo-jun and Eun-su clapped their hands hard, the adults held up their cameras and took pictures continuously.

Subin, who had a beaming smile on his face, walked up to the stage with his short legs.

The director was momentarily surprised by the sight of the small child, but he smiled softly and handed him the bouquet and trophy.

“Congratulations, Subin. Please let us hear your wonderful performances in the future.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

Subin bowed to the director and hugged the bouquet and trophy in his arms.

He looked at the audience seats.

Among the sparkling camera flashes, he felt like he could see his mom and dad, Seo-jun hyung, and Eun-su sitting in the audience seats very clearly.

Subin smiled brightly.

Chapter 356

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 356

After the award ceremony, the contestants who were sitting in the front rows of the audience seats headed towards their companions who were sitting in the audience seats.

The contestants who did not receive any awards left the hall with regretful faces, receiving consolation from their families.

The winners shared their joy with bright faces, receiving congratulations.

“Hyung! Eun-su!”

Subin, who was holding the elementary gold trophy, also ran to the audience seats.

His bright face and his red cheeks that were bouncing up and down showed how happy he was.

Kim Hee-sang, whose name was not called, drooped his shoulders and made the adults laugh.

“I came in first!”

Subin’s face sparkled.

Seo-jun smiled and handed Subin a bouquet of purple lilacs.

“Subin, congratulations. It was a great performance.”

“Subin oppa. Congratulations on first place!”

“Hehe. Thank you!”

Eun-su also gave Subin a bouquet of pink roses that she had.

Subin quickly handed over the trophy and bouquet he was holding to his dad and smiled broadly as he received the two bouquets.

He liked the trophy, but he liked the bouquets he received from Seo-jun and Eun-su more.

“Subin. Where’s mom?”

Our Subin! You did well, you did well!

Subin, who was smiling so much that his mouth reached his ears while being hugged by Seo-jun, Eun-su, and the adults, quickly answered Kim Hee-sang’s question.

“Mom said she’s coming after talking to the professor.”

“Professor?”

“Yeah. Professor Winter.”

It was a name that was unfamiliar but recognizable at once.

The foreign professor who was sitting in the judging seat.

Yulia Winter.

Seo-jun and the adults blinked their eyes at the unexpected name.

A moment later.

The conversation didn’t seem to be that long, as Choi Soohee came back soon.

Choi Soohee’s face looked a bit troubled, but Seo-jun and the adults decided to move their seats for now.

“Let’s eat dinner at our house.”

“Yeah. Let’s have a party to celebrate Subin.”

Kim Hee-sang and Choi Soohee’s words made Subin and Eun-su, who had been with Seo-jun all day long, the happiest.

“Really? Can I go to our house with Seo-jun hyung?”

“Then I want to ride with Seo-jun oppa!”

“Me too!”

The children who didn’t want to be separated from Seo-jun got into one car together and the other cars followed behind.

Subin’s car was full of bouquets and Eun-su had to sit in a car seat, so they naturally got into Eun-su’s car.

Seo Eun-chan took the wheel and Seo-jun sat in the passenger seat.

Seo Eun-hye received a message.

Seo-jun looked back after reading the message.

The two children were chatting excitedly.

“Subin. Eun-su. What do you want to eat for dinner?”

“I want pizza!”

“I want chicken!”

Seo Eun-chan and Seo-jun laughed at the quick menu choices.

***

Dinner was pizza and chicken as the kids wished, and a beef party for the adults.

They ate chicken, pizza, and meat. Everyone seemed to eat more than usual.

After finishing their meal, they had some fruit and chatted.

Of course, the first topic was Professor Yulia Winter.

“Study abroad?”

Seo Eun-chan and Kim Su-ryeon opened their eyes wide.

Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun were no different.

Subin’s dad, Kim Hee-sang, had his mouth wide open.

Seeing her husband’s expression, Choi Soohee smiled and opened her mouth.

“Yes. She said that Subin has enough skills to do well abroad. I think so too. Subin has such talent that he can do well.”

Study abroad.

Choi Soohee, a pianist who had worked in Europe, had been thinking about it for a long time because of Subin’s growing skills.

‘Of course I don’t know much about violin, so I just thought about it…’

But today she heard from Yulia Winter, a professor who knew a lot about violin and taught students.

“She said it’s easier to adapt and learn languages when you’re young.

And the violin goes without saying. If you go, she said she would introduce you to a good teacher.”

Kim Hee-sang frowned at Choi Soohee’s words.

He didn’t want to send Subin away, but if that was the best way for Subin, he felt like he had to let him go.

Especially since there was Seo-jun in front of him who was happy even in America.

‘Subin is a bit different though…’

Unlike Seo-jun, who was active in both Korea and America, Subin would have to spend most of the year abroad.

‘And studying abroad won’t end in a year.’

He wondered if he would have few days to live in Korea if he went abroad for a few years or even continued his activities there.

‘But she said she would introduce a good teacher too…’

After some hesitation, Kim Hee-sang decided to go with it and was about to open his mouth when Seo-jun spoke first.

“What do you want to do, Subin? Do you want to study abroad?”

At Seo-jun’s question, Subin tilted his head and answered while munching on a peach.

“Hyung. What is studying abroad?”

“Um. It’s studying violin in a foreign country. There are many great teachers and excellent performers. And there will be many friends who are learning violin too.”

“Like Rebecca?”

One of the three musketeers of ‘Over the Rainbow’, Rebecca.

Rebecca was also a violin major.

Subin asked at Seo-jun’s nod.

“Will there be friends like Rebecca?”

“Um.”

Subin ate the peach and pondered.

The adults’ eyes turned to Subin.

They realized that they hadn’t asked Subin’s opinion at all, who would have to live abroad for several years if he went to study abroad.

“What about Seo-jun hyung?”

“Me?”

“Yeah!”

“Me…”

He had things to do in America, but would he have anything to do in Europe?

He scratched his chin and thought for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“I’ll stay in Korea.”

“Um. Then I don’t want to go.”

“You don’t? Why? You can learn more violin if you study abroad.”

Kim Hee-sang asked at Subin’s serious answer.

“I like playing with Seo-jun hyung. And I like playing violin with Seo-jun hyung too. And I have friends here and teachers here too.”

“Eun-su is here too!”

Eun-su raised her hand and said, and Subin smiled brightly.

“Right! Eun-su is here too. So I don’t want to study abroad!”

Subin’s words made Kim Hee-sang and Choi Soohee smirk. They couldn’t force him to go if he didn’t want to. Subin would do well even if they sent his abroad later, but…

“…The more he says no, the more I want to send him.”

“Me too.”

They all laughed at the words filled with regret.

***

Seo-jun returned home and opened a blank sheet of music on his desk.

He sometimes composed music as a hobby when inspiration struck, so he always had sheet music ready. But he never shared his compositions with anyone.

‘I don’t know about this one.’

It wasn’t a solo piece, after all.

He chuckled and took out his phone.

He had hastily written down some notes during the concours, so they were out of order and some were just words. But as he looked at the memo and recalled the concours, the melody he had thought of filled his head.

“Hmm.”

He hummed and drew round notes on the five lines.

Three shining abilities blended together to create a new melody.

Seo-jun faithfully transferred it to the sheet music.

His right hand holding the pencil moved smoothly over the sheet music as if conducting.

The protagonists of this piece were Seo-jun and Subin.

Seo-jun put everything he wanted to teach Subin into the score.

He thought of the shortcomings he had seen at the concours, the habits that came out during practice, and drew notes accordingly.

He stopped his pencil for a moment as he carefully drew each symbol and note.

[Should I watch the violin performance of the general division or go to the kids’ cafe?]

When faced with two choices, Subin chose the kids’ cafe.

Seo-jun smiled faintly as he remembered Subin, who was seriously contemplating as if his eyebrows were furrowed.

‘If it were me, I would have watched both the middle school and general divisions.’

If it was a concours related to ‘acting’, ‘second grade Seo-jun’ would have watched from beginning to end without a second thought.

That was the difference between him and Subin.

Seo-jun was able to continue on one path of ‘acting’ from a young age thanks to his many lives.

He could live for nothing but ‘acting’.

‘But Subin is different.’

Subin, who was in hin first life, found everything new and amazing. It was hard for him to live by looking at only one violin like Seo-jun.

‘And that’s not good either.’

He might be different when he grows up, but he was still young.

There were so many fun and amazing things in the world that it wasn’t good to be obsessed with one thing.

‘And besides, people will find out more about Subin soon.’

The article came out today and a few people showed interest.

If he attracts attention again at the next concours, someday his shining talent will be known to the public like a tooth in a pocket.

How long could a young genius survive in the midst of people’s attention and expectations?

Other people thought that actor Lee Seo-jun was an acting genius who walked without a single failure, but Seo-jun had many experiences and failures that people didn’t know about in his first life and his subsequent lives after.

The books of life piled up in the library of life constantly reminded him of that.

Subin, who was in his first life, needed such a presence too.

‘It’s okay to fail and it’s okay to be slow.’

‘It was enough to just love the violin without giving up.’

When everyone expected him to be a genius, someone had to treat him normally.

Seo-jun thought that if it was him, Subin would grow more comfortably.

‘I should introduce him to Jason and Professor Benjamin.’

Especially Jason, who had a similar talent. They might have something in common.

‘Maybe they’ll contact me first.’

Seo-jun smiled as he looked down at the sheet music filled with notes.

He drew the last line on the score.

“***

“Subin, do you want to play this with me?”

“Yes!”

Subin’s eyes sparkled at Seo-jun’s words.

He didn’t even ask what score it was and answered.

Seo-jun laughed at his appearance.

“Aren’t you curious what score it is?”

“I’m curious! But I want to play anything with Seo-jun hyung!”

At Subin’s words, Seo-jun smiled as if he couldn’t stop him and handed him the score.

There was no title on the score, and Subin tilted his head.

“This is a piece I composed because I wanted to play with you.”

“Really?”

He was about to read the first page of the score when he was surprised and opened his eyes wide.

He thought composing was something only amazing people did, but Seo-jun hyung composed it… He was amazing as expected!

Subin’s eyes glittered.

“So I wanted you to play with me.”

“Okay! Let’s do it now, hyung!”

He was so excited that his honorifics changed.

He ran to his room and came back with his violin. Seo-jun also took out his violin from the case he brought.

“Shall we look at the score first?”

“Yes!”

Kim Hee-sang took a picture of Seo-jun and Subin, who were reading the score with their heads together, and sent it to the adults.

<Seo-jun said he composed it

<It looks like they’re playing together.

Choi Soohee: I’m curious what kind of piece it is! I have to see the score later!

Lee Min-jun: I was wondering what he was doing, but he composed it.

Seo Eun-hye: I know. I wonder if he’ll play it for us later.

Kim Su-ryeon: …ㅎㅎ

Seo Eun-chan: Hyung. Can you tell Seo-jun something for me?

Unlike the other adults who were happy to see the cute two kids, Seo Eun-chan and PR team leader Kim Su-ryeon smiled bitterly as if they sensed the future and asked him to relay a message to Seo-jun.

When Subin was nodding his head as he looked at the score, Kim Hee-sang asked Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun.”

“Hmm?”

“Eun-chan asked if you’re going to release it.”

At Kim Hee-sang’s words, Seo-jun smiled and asked Subin.

He composed it himself, but he was going to play it with Subin, so Subin’s opinion was important. Besides, this piece was for Subin.

“What do you want to do, Subin?”

“Hmm. I want other people to hear it too!”

At Subin’s words, Seo-jun nodded his head with a smile.

“Then let’s practice hard and let many people hear it.”

“Yes!”

Kim Hee-sang tapped his phone as he looked at Seo-jun and Subin with a warm smile.

Kim Hee-sang: He said he’ll release it.

At Kim Hee-sang’s reply, Cocoa Entertainment buzzed.

***

The fun summer vacation ended and the second semester began.

Around the time when they got used to the new semester, a new video was uploaded on the YouTube channel [JUN].

[Concerto for Two Violins]

Chapter 357

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 357

[Concerto for Two Violins] First Day of Practice.

Subin’s living room.

Seo-jun, who had his chin on the violin, smiled as he looked at Subin, who was shining his eyes.

“Shall we start practicing then?”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun played the first part of the sheet music.

It was a short part, so it wasn’t hard for Subin to follow.

Nodding his head, Seo-jun listened to Subin’s performance and played the next part when Subin’s performance ended.

And when Seo-jun’s performance ended, Subin started playing.

Like that, as if they were playing a repeat sign, Seo-jun played and Subin followed.

Even though it was the same performance, Seo-jun’s melody was skillful and strong, while Subin’s melody was delicate and cute.

Seo-jun played fast, strong, and stronger, while Subin played slow, weak, and weaker.

They created different feelings by playing with different dynamics.

“Hyung! This is fun!”

Subin smiled and followed Seo-jun’s bow down the violin.

“Really? Then do you want to try this too?”

“Yes!”

Before they knew it, Seo-jun and Subin were playing happily without caring about the practice.

Seo-jun played a new song and Subin remembered it and followed.

Seo-jun played a familiar song and Subin continued the latter part of the song.

Kim Hee-sang, who was filming them, opened his mouth wide.

Subin remembered and played the same melody as Seo-jun’s performance, and even memorized and played the latter part of a familiar song.

It was amazing to see.

Seo-jun moved his long bow to play more complex and difficult songs.

It wasn’t a part of an existing song, but a melody that Seo-jun came up with right now.

Of course, it was too short to be released to the public.

It seemed to be difficult this time, as Subin’s bow hesitated.

He remembered the previous melody, but his hands didn’t follow.

Seeing Subin like that, Seo-jun played the same melody again.

Subin, who was eager to face the difficult performance, followed Seo-jun again.

After repeating it several times, Subin finally achieved a satisfactory performance.

Kim Hee-sang smiled as he saw Subin happy.

“Is it not hard?”

“It’s okay! It’s fun!”

Subin smiled brightly.

He liked succeeding in a difficult performance more than an easy one.

Seo-jun took a break and decided to practice [Concerto for Two Violins] again before moving on to something else.

“Let’s play until the end this time. Subin.”

“It was fun to play around… Okay!”

Seo-jun and Subin looked at the sheet music and started playing.

“Good. Here you have to play longer.”

Along with Seo-jun’s words, Seo-jun’s violin sent out a long note.

Subin also followed his bow movement.

Slowly but strongly.

It was still a difficult technique for Subin.

His lips pouted at the unsatisfactory sound. But he didn’t give up.

“Hyung! One more time!”

“Okay.”

Seo-jun smiled at Subin’s enthusiastic look and said.

Seo-jun played and Subin followed.

The goal of [Concerto for Two Violins] was not only to play perfectly, but also to correct Subin’s bad habits and solve the parts he struggled with while repeating this song.

Kim Hee-sang chuckled as he watched Subin play again and again without giving up even if he made mistakes.

‘He doesn’t need to go abroad.’

Because there was a very great teacher who made practice songs just for Subin right next to him.

After practicing the first part and getting used to it enough, Seo-jun and Subin moved on to the next chapter.

Unlike the previous part where they repeated like a repeat sign, now Seo-jun and Subin played different melodies.

“From here on we have to play differently. Let’s try hard. Subin.”

“Yes!”

Seo-jun and Subin smiled at each other and moved their bows at the same time.

***

A YouTube channel notification popped up.

He had set it to silent mode so that he wouldn’t be disturbed by practice, so violinist Jason Moore noticed it after practice was over.

He turned on his phone after finishing his violin practice and sitting on the sofa to rest.

He had received a message from Professor Benjamin Morton, who was giving a special lecture at an elementary school near his accommodation, asking if he had eaten lunch well.

Jason Moore put a piece of bread on the table in his mouth and sent a reply.

<I ate well.

He didn’t lie.

‘Although the amount was small.’

Jason Moore, who sent the reply without blinking, looked at another notification.

A video had been newly uploaded from one of the few channels he subscribed to.

[Channel ‘JUN’ uploaded!]

[Concerto for Two Violins]

“Concerto for Two Violins?”

Jun uploaded a violin performance on YouTube, which was interesting, but Concerto for Two Violins made Jason Moore’s eyes sparkle.

“Is it Bach’s piece?”

There was a piece called ‘Concerto for Two Violins’ among Bach’s pieces.

Jason Moore rubbed his chin and looked at the video.

It seemed to have been uploaded while he was practicing, as there were already many comments.

“It doesn’t seem to be that long…”

He looked at the playback time and connected the speaker and phone.

He spent a lot of money on sound equipment because he listened to a lot of music.

“Let’s listen to it first.”

As Jason Moore pressed the play button, the video started.

The title and the names of the performers appeared on the black screen.

“Bin.”

It was an unfamiliar name, but it was a name that made him look forward to it.

Bin. Bin.

He said it a few times with his mouth, then closed his mouth at the changing screen.

The names of the two performers disappeared and a picture appeared.

The blue sky and the back of a large and sturdy bird that seemed to look at the sky and a small bird that still looked fluffy with down feathers.

He thought Seo-jun and Bin’s performance scene would appear, but it seemed to mean that they wanted him to enjoy the music completely by replacing it with an image.

He smiled slightly and focused his ears on the melody that came out of the speaker.

The first part was Seo-jun’s performance.

An unfamiliar melody flowed out of the speaker. It wasn’t Bach’s familiar piece.

‘It’s Jun’s original piece.’

Jason Moore smiled satisfactorily and leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes.

He heard a familiar atmosphere in the unfamiliar melody.

It was a slow and simple performance that children would do, but Jason Moore could tell Seo-jun’s skills from that performance.

‘You’re still good.’

Jason Moore was a bit worried about how good the performer named Bin, who played with Seo-jun, would be, since Seo-jun was so good.

‘…Seo-jun wouldn’t have brought just anyone.’

He liked violin as much as acting.

Then, a new violin sound reached Jason Moore’s ears.

“Hmm.”

He reflexively exclaimed in admiration.

Jason Moore, who was leaning back on the sofa, lifted his back from the backrest and tilted his upper body toward the speaker.

The second violin followed the slow and simple melody that the first violin had played. It felt different from Seo-jun, but it showed skill.

Jason Moore’s eyes sparkled.

Bin’s performance ended and Seo-jun’s performance started again.

It was a bit more difficult than the previous performance.

When Seo-jun’s performance ended, Bin’s performance followed, and when Bin’s performance ended, Seo-jun’s performance followed.

The performances that followed became more difficult.

Suddenly, Jason Moore’s gaze turned to the video.

Two birds looking at the sky were seen.

Ah.

He felt like he knew.

Jason Moore chuckled.

A big bird (first violin) was teaching a little bird (second violin) how to fly.

From very easy things like spreading both wings to difficult things like jumping and flying in the sky.

The experienced big bird showed the little bird, who had just been born and was walking around with a chirp, how to move step by step.

And the little bird followed the big bird’s movements.

The repeated melody continued until finally.

The little bird made its first jump.

A strong and thick melody showed an example first and a small melody followed.

It sounded like they were playing hard with two fluffy wings.

The first jump seemed to fail and the sound of the second violin faded away.

The big bird cheered on the little bird.

With that encouragement, the little bird flapped its wings again.

Strongly, strongly, strongly!

Finally.

The little bird flew in the sky.

A long and relaxed note followed in the blue sky above where a big bird and a little bird flew around.

The big bird and the little bird seemed to share their joy and exchanged melodies with each other.

The thick melody of the big bird (first violin) and the cute melody of the little bird (second violin) harmonized like birds’ chirping.

Jason Moore smiled unconsciously at that harmony.

“I see why they showed a picture of birds.”

[Concerto for Two Violins] naturally evoked an image of the music and that image became more concrete and memorable to people thanks to the picture that appeared on the video.

<Teacher. Listen to this.

<Seo-jun composed it.

<(Link)

Jason Moore, who sent a message to Professor Benjamin after watching it, played the video again from the beginning. He felt his fingers itching for some reason.

***

[JUN – Concerto for Two Violins]

-Why did a violin concerto pop up in my notification… Oh right, Seo-jun was a violin prodigy.

=I didn’t see what channel it was when I got the notification, so I wondered when I subscribed to a classical channel lol

=Me too lol

-Who is Bin, the second violinist? He plays really well, doesn’t he?

=I’m curious too. He could have become famous if he revealed his name here. Why did he use a pseudonym?

=Maybe he’s Seo-jun’s friend?

=333 Seo-jun’s friend is also a prodigy wow

-Is this composed by Seo-jun?

=It says composer in more info.

=As expected of our Seo-jun!!

-At first I thought it was a violin practice video because it was simple, but it got amazing as it went on.

=Yeah, it got harder by stages, but I liked how the two performances blended together at the end.

-The picture made me think of the music image perfectly. A little bird following a big bird.

=Big bird: Tweet

Little bird: Chirp

Big bird: Tweet tweet

Little bird: Chirp chirp

That kind of feeling lol

=Right! That feeling!

=What feeling lol that’s lol

=lol lol lol lol

[Actor Seo-jun, second composition! ‘Concerto for Two Violins’]

[Big bird and little bird. A concerto that naturally evokes an image!]

[One day a concert! Actor Seo-jun receives love calls from music industry!]

[Cocoa Entertainment, releases sheet music for concerto!]

[Who is Bin, the second violinist?]

***

Jason: The concerto was good. Send me the sheet music.

Jason: But who is the second violinist?

Jason: He matched well with the cute vibe.

Jason: Do I know him?

Seo-jun smiled and sent a reply to Jason Moore, who sent him messages in a row shortly after he posted it.

<Bin is a younger sibling I know.

<He’s only nine years old, so I composed it to suit his vibe.

<He’s good, right?

Jason Moore’s messages, which had been pouring in, stopped for a moment.

Jason: …9? Nine years old?

Seo-jun laughed at the message that seemed to be flustered.

Chapter 358

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 358

-Benjamin: You’ve been learning violin for three years now, right?

-Benjamin: I think you’re better than Jason was when he was at your level.

-Jason: …

-Jason: I think so too. I’m better than I was back then.

Professor Benjamin joined the conversation.

Seo-jun smiled at the messages from Professor Benjamin Morton and Jason Moore.

Jason Moore had also met the fairy of dreams in his sleep, just like Subin.

But he only got to learn violin from Professor Benjamin Morton after a long time had passed. By then, the blessing of the fairy of dreams must have faded away.

‘But Subin is different.’

He started learning violin right after receiving the blessing from the fairy of dreams.

His talent must have blossomed faster than Jason Moore’s.

‘But I don’t know how it will end.’

It was up to Subin whether he would surpass Jason Moore in the future or not.

He thought of Subin, who was mastering the ‘Second Violin Part’ of [Concerto for Two Violins] and practicing hard to play the ‘First Violin Part’.

He chuckled and typed a message on his phone.

<Do you want to talk to Subin?

-Benjamin: Of course!

Jason: Of course!

They were two violinists who were eager to see a talented kid, just like when they saw Seo-jun playing ‘Gray Vainy’.

“***

“Can you believe it’s already the second semester?”

“We’ll be seniors in a few months!”

The students of Class 1-1 of the Acting Department were restless as they felt the pressure of becoming seniors and taking the college entrance exam.

They were like that even when they were heading to the cafeteria for lunch.

“I feel like time is passing by without me doing anything.”

Yang Ju-hee nodded vigorously at Kim Joo-kyung’s words.

Jeon Seong-min, who played the detective role in Yeoul Arts Middle School’s graduation performance, looked at Seo-jun next to him and said with a smile.

“Seo-jun is busy with composing and playing, though.”

The topic shifted to Seo-jun.

Kim Joo-kyung smiled and scratched his cheek as she said.

“They say they practice a lot with the published score in the Music Department. They say it’s good for practice.”

Jeon Seong-min and Yang Ju-hee also nodded.

“I heard that too. It’s like a practice piece with only difficult techniques. But it’s too good to be called a practice piece, so they’re hesitant.”

“There are also a lot of videos of people playing it with different instruments on YouTube. There were piano, cello, and others.”

“I saw guitar too.”

Videos of people playing [Concerto for Two Violins] appeared one after another shortly after the score was published.

From professionals to people who looked like they just started learning violin.

Seo-jun was really happy that many people liked [Concerto for Two Violins].

“It would be awesome to play it with two pianos!”

“But the original is still the best.”

“I’ll eat separately today.”

Seo-jun said to his friends who were looking for a seat with their trays full of delicious food.

Yang Ju-hee tilted her head.

“With whom?”

“With Han-seok.”

“Oh. Han-seok.”

Their eyes followed Seo-jun’s gaze to the side. They saw Kim Han-seok talking quietly but happily with his friends.

“Are you sure you want to go there? The kids might tease him.”

They all laughed at Jeon Seong-min’s words.

***

“Is Bin the one who won the gold medal in elementary division?”

“Kim Subin from Maesil Elementary School, second grade!”

The first graders of Mirinae High School were gathered and talking.

They were from Music, Acting, and Art Departments.

The common thing among them was that they had gone to ATR Violin Competition.

“Didn’t he play really well?”

“I don’t know anything about music, but I could imagine an image. So I drew a picture.”

“Wow. You’re amazing as expected from Art Department.”

The kids were talking so much that they didn’t know if their food was going into their mouths or noses.

Of course, they didn’t forget to lower their voices.

The first grader from Music Department who won the gold medal in this competition opened his mouth.

“I thought his name sounded familiar.”

“I looked up an article too.”

The first grader from Acting Department took out his phone and showed them a screenshot he had taken.

[Winners of the 8th ATR Violin Competition]

Kim Subin… Subin… Bin …Bin!

When the first video came out, they were all shocked by the truth that fit like the last piece of a puzzle.

“He’s Seo-jun’s brother, so I remembered his name, but I didn’t expect to see him here…”

“Who would believe that the second violinist was an elementary student?”

The two kids who majored in violin nodded at that.

“He was too good for an elementary student.”

“Rather, being an elementary student suited him better in some parts.”

“That must be because Seo-jun composed it, right?”

“Seo-jun is amazing…!”

One of the kids who was admiring him opened his mouth.

“But can we talk about this? There are a lot of people looking for Bin.”

“I know. I can’t stand it. My mouth is itching.”

“Of course not. If Seo-jun wanted to reveal it, he would have written him name.”

Kim Han-seok, who was inhaling his food, said that and the kids’ chatter died down in a small voice.

“…You’re right.”

“I’ll keep my mouth shut with a zipper.”

“Thank you very much.”

A voice that was hard to hear from their friends, a voice that stuck in their ears with a clear pronunciation and a soft tone, was heard. Kim Han-seok and the kids were startled and looked back.

Seo-jun was smiling behind them with a tray.

“Seo-jun!”

“Senior!”

The first graders’ voices drew the attention of the students in the cafeteria for a moment and then disappeared.

Seo-jun had charged the mana as soon as the second semester started, and the pattern on the wall of the cafeteria sparkled.

“Can I sit here for a moment?”

“Yes! Please sit down!”

“Of course!”

At Seo-jun’s question, Kim Han-seok quickly moved aside.

One of the first graders who sat next to Seo-jun and one who sat across from him gave Kim Han-seok a thumbs up.

Seo-jun put his tray on the table and sat down on a chair, looking around at the first graders.

Some of them he had seen at Yeoul Arts Middle School, and some of them he met for the first time at Mirinae High School.

The first graders, who were seeing Seo-jun up close for the first time, looked at him with sparkling eyes. Seo-jun smiled and opened his mouth.

“I see you found out who Bin is.”

“…Yes.”

The first graders answered timidly with Seo-jun’s smiling but piercing face.

They must have known something they shouldn’t have.

Seeing their gloomy faces, Seo-jun waved his hand and said.

“I’m not scolding you. I just wanted to ask you to keep it a secret until Subin grows up a little more.”

“Of course we’ll keep it a secret!”

Kim Han-seok answered with a bright smile, and the other kids chirped like sparrows.

“Me too!”

“Trust me. I’ll keep an eye on the others too!”

“? You’re the one with the loosest mouth. Senior. He’ll only make bubbles if he falls into the water.”

Seo-jun laughed and picked up his chopsticks as the kids chatted.

‘Oh! I was eating.’

The first graders also quickly picked up their spoons. But their eyes never left Seo-jun.

The only one who was relaxed was Kim Han-seok, who had Seo-jun’s phone number.

“But why did you use your real names?”

“Yeah. There must be other people who can figure it out…”

Well.

Who could guess that the second violinist was an elementary student, and a second grader at that?

The first graders wouldn’t have known either if they hadn’t met Seo-jun at the competition.

‘And there are quite a few people named Bin.’

Who on earth is Bin?

There were also YouTube videos of people looking for the mysterious ‘Bin’ who hid his identity.

Many ‘Bin’s in Korea and (because of Benjamin and Jason) abroad as well.

The list, including nicknames, was quite long.

Ahn Da Ho said that there might be articles soon with some candidates and interview requests coming into Cocoa Entertainment.

‘But Subin wasn’t on that list.’

Neither were any elementary students.

He bit into a plump butter-fried shrimp and said.

“I was going to use a pseudonym, but… my brother said he wanted to use his name. And I couldn’t use his real name because it would cause a fuss, so I wrote Jun for myself and Bin for him.”

It was the stubbornness of a nine-year-old who wanted to do everything his hyung did.

“I see.”

Nom nom.

It was hard to tell if the food was going into their mouths or noses as they ate and talked with Seo-jun.

But they slowly emptied their trays.

“Thanks for listening to me. If you have anything you want to ask me, just tell me. I’ll help you out. As long as it’s not too hard?”

The first graders’ eyes sparkled at Seo-jun’s wink.

“Then, can you give me your autograph?”

A first grader from Art Department who wasn’t from Yeoul Arts Middle School asked hesitantly.

“Autograph? Sure. Anything else?”

“Uh…”

The kids pondered seriously at Seo-jun’s ‘anything else?’ Their faces lit up as they opened their mouths.

“I want a poster! And an autograph too…!”

“Which movie poster do you want? I’ll bring it if I have it at the company.”

“I want a light stick!”

A first grader from Music Department said, and the others’ eyes widened.

“Me too! It’ll be sold out as soon as it comes out, I’m sure.”

“Yeah. We’ll never get one.”

“But senior. When will the light stick come out? My sister is waiting for it too.”

“Me too!”

Seo-jun’s eyes widened at their reactions and then he smiled and said.

“Well. I heard they’re working on the light stick design…”

“Really?”

As Seo-jun and the kids were talking, Kim Han-seok, who was watching his friends with a warm smile, noticed his vibrating phone.

He took out his phone from his pocket and saw a text message.

He tilted his head at the unfamiliar number and read the text.

His eyes moved from left to right and down as he read the first sentence. Slowly, Kim Han-seok’s body stiffened.

“…Huh?”

Did he see it wrong?

He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the text didn’t change.

The two chopsticks in Kim Han-seok’s right hand fell on the table.

Seo-jun and the kids, who were discussing which light stick design was the coolest on [Sprout], turned their heads at the sound.

In those few seconds, Kim Han-seok’s face had turned pale.

Seo-jun and the first graders spoke to him in surprise.

“Han-seok. What’s wrong?”

“Did you eat something bad? Did you bite your tongue?”

“Blood! Are you bleeding?”

Kim Han-seok couldn’t answer, frozen in place.

Seo-jun’s face hardened as he tried to find the cause.

He saw Kim Han-seok’s phone in his hand.

“Han-seok. Just a second.”

Seo-jun reached out and took the phone. Kim Han-seok’s trembling eyes followed the phone.

Seo-jun found the text on the phone screen and read it with a serious expression.

The first graders also held their breath and looked only at Seo-jun, who took his eyes off the phone.

[(Web sender) Hello. This is Eunyoung Hospital.]

[Kim Han-seok’s test results require further examination as follows. Please visit a tertiary hospital and get retested and treated.]

Sigh.

Seo-jun let out a sigh of relief after reading the text without breathing.

‘I thought something really bad happened.’

“It’s a retest for a health checkup.”

“…A retest?”

The first graders seemed even more surprised by that. Seo-jun tilted his head.

“Why are you so surprised? Sometimes you get a retest if you’re not fasting, right?”

That happened to Han Jinho last year. He couldn’t stand it and ate something.

It was not something to worry about. Sometimes, a retest request would pop up if you did a health checkup when you were not fasting or after moving your body a lot.

But unlike Seo-jun, who was relieved, the first graders turned pale like Kim Han-seok. Seo-jun blinked, not understanding.

“…Senior. Han-seok already did the retest…”

“…What?”

He asked back at the art department first grader’s words.

He did the retest already?

‘He got a retest twice?’

That’s too much.

Now that he looked at it, the text didn’t say [health checkup] but [test], and instead of [hospital or clinic], it said [tertiary hospital]. A tertiary hospital was a hospital like a university hospital.

“…Han-seok…”

A retest of a retest.

The first graders were filled with all kinds of thoughts in their heads and looked at Kim Han-seok and Seo-jun with cloudy eyes.

Maybe he was coming to his senses, but Kim Han-seok’s face was similar to his friends’.

He looked like he was about to cry any moment, with tears in his eyes.

Seo-jun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at Kim Han-seok and the first graders.

He cared about the health of everyone around him, even the whales he met briefly.

[(Sun)Rover Tribe’s Diagnostic Priest’s Staff-Middle Grade]

You can ‘know’ all the abnormal conditions of the target.

The high priests of the tribe that worshiped the god ‘Roverin’ were divided into two types: healing priests who could heal all abnormal conditions and diagnostic priests who could know all abnormal conditions.

The diagnostic priests’ ability was essential because they could narrow down the range of treatment by accurately identifying the abnormal conditions, as the healing priests used their lifespan to heal.

Treatment is impossible.

Only ‘knowing’ ability.

But its range was very wide, so they could detect even the slightest abnormal condition.

Seo-jun checked on the health of those around him with this ability whenever he had time.

[(Sun)Rover Tribe’s Diagnostic Priest’s Staff is activated.]

Seo-jun checked Kim Han-seok again with [(Sun)Rover Tribe’s Diagnostic Priest’s Staff], but Kim Han-seok was very healthy without any problems.

He couldn’t tell the first graders who looked like they were about to cry, ‘I diagnosed him with my ability and he’s fine’.

‘They would think I’m weird if I told them.’

He felt frustrated and swallowed a sigh. If Seo-jun sighed here, Kim Han-seok and the first graders would burst into tears.

‘Han-seok. You’re perfectly fine.’

Maybe they interpreted his gaze differently.

The first graders and Kim Han-seok looked even more depressed by Seo-jun’s bitter eyes.

Chapter 359

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 359

Seo-jun calmed Kim Han-seok’s mind by letting go of his hand.

The other first-year students were the same.

The kids who looked like they were about to burst into tears at any moment began to calm down one by one with the warm energy.

But their faces were still full of worry, so Seo-jun opened his mouth in a gentle voice.

“It might not be a bad result if you don’t have any pain anywhere.”

“But… I haven’t had much appetite lately…”

At Kim Han-seok’s words, Seo-jun’s eyes went down.

The first-year students and Kim Han-seok also looked down.

They saw a clean and shiny plate that didn’t need to be washed. It was Kim Han-seok’s plate.

…Today’s lunch was unusually delicious.

“Uh… I was a little tired today…!”

“…You said you stayed up late playing games yesterday…”

Kim Han-seok’s face turned red at the words of the first-year student from the acting department.

The kids who saw his expression let out a faint laugh.

Seo-jun patted Kim Han-seok and said in a relaxed atmosphere.

“How about contacting your parents first?”

Kim Han-seok nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

‘This is something.’

He sighed lightly as he watched Kim Han-seok walk away with his worried friends.

He felt sorry for Kim Han-seok, who was suffering.

“I can’t just tell him he’s fine…”

I don’t know if he’ll believe it or not.

He felt like he knew how the protagonist felt when he shouted “The king’s ears are donkey ears” towards the bamboo forest in the fairy tale.

***

And Kim Han-seok, who left school early that day, didn’t come to school for a week.

***

“Seo-jun hyung!”

He heard someone call him as he put his bag down on his seat.

Seo-jun looked up and saw where the sound came from.

He saw Kim Han-seok, who hadn’t come to school for a week.

Seo-jun smiled and opened his mouth.

“You came early?”

“You don’t know how much I wanted to come to school!”

Kim Han-seok looked healthy and smiled brightly as he spoke.

He seemed to have lost some weight because he was so worried, but he was still happy.

“I’m fine! Totally! Super! Really fine!”

Kim Han-seok looked happier than ever, as if he had shaken off all his worries and concerns.

“I know. We talked on the phone yesterday.”

Kim Han-seok: Seo-jun hyung.

Kim Han-seok: I’m totally fineㅠㅠ

He sent a message and called right away.

It was hard to understand him because half of it was crying, but still.

“Hehe. I was scared for nothing for a week.”

Kim Han-seok laughed with relief at the eyes of his friends.

He thought it would be too wasteful if the result was bad.

He went out with his parents here and there for a week.

“We had a party yesterday after the result came out. A beef party! It was so delicious after eating only vegetables and greens for a week.”

They all ate with tears in their eyes.

It was tears of relief.

“Don’t you see the world differently after having such an experience?”

“Yeah?”

“I have to watch Marina Studio season 2 next month, and I have to see how the drama I’m watching ends. And there are so many comics and games I haven’t done yet.”

He smiled politely and said.

“And… I haven’t played the main character yet.”

Was it the same regret for all actors?

Seo-jun widened his eyes at the words that reminded him of someone, then laughed.

‘This guy is also a born actor.’

“That’s what I regretted the most. So I’m going to put on a play on stage at the end of next year. They said it’s hard to apply this year because it’s already over. I’m a little worried because I’ve never done this before… But I want to try it once.”

Seo-jun smiled and ruffled Kim Han-seok’s hair roughly.

“You’ve grown up a lot in a week.”

“Ahahaha.”

Kim Han-seok laughed. It was a happy laugh without any trace of worry or anxiety.

Then, the classroom door opened.

They thought it was a second-year senior, but they saw familiar faces.

“Kim Han-seok!”

“Hey!!”

“We knew you’d be here!”

Kim Han-seok’s friends rushed in. Hello! Good morning!

They bowed to Seo-jun and immediately gathered around Kim Han-seok.

“Why did you come so early?”

“You didn’t come to school for a week, did you like it?”

“You made us worry!”

In the noisy atmosphere.

Seo-jun smiled warmly at the relieved voices of the kids.

***

Saturday.

Han River Park.

It was a weekend and the weather was nice, so people came out one by one. Some walked along the promenade with their families or lovers, and some enjoyed the sun on the grass.

Among those ordinary people, there was a noticeable group.

“Where are the clothes? Where are they?”

“Senior! Is this the scene we’re shooting from?”

“Did you get the props?”

The students of Mirinae High School, who were planning to put on a short film on their graduation stage, were running around.

With the intention of having various experiences, not only the acting department, but also the art and music departments of the first and second grades were there.

“There’s a shadow behind!”

At the director’s shout, the kid holding the light moved back slowly.

Seo-jun, wearing a black hat, looked at the director with curiosity.

The student director, who was holding a camera and checking the angle, was a third-year student from the art department who became interested in video production after doing art.

“I wonder what the scenery looks like to a third-year art student.”

Seo-jun was looking forward to seeing what kind of video would come out, remembering the painting that the director had drawn when he was in second grade.

He turned his head away from the director who was looking around the background.

On the opposite side of the kids preparing for the shooting, there were second and third-year students from the acting department and Kang Jae-han and Han Jinho, who were matching their lines.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek.

He was curious about the small-scale shooting and came to watch, but it seemed like it would take some time for the shooting to start.

‘Even these trials and errors will be experiences.’

He saw the kids working hard for the shooting.

He said he would help if they were having a hard time, but

“I think they forgot I’m here…”

Maybe he was too inconspicuous.

He chuckled and turned his head to the Han River.

A cool breeze and warm sunlight.

He saw people walking along the Han River on a perfect day for a walk.

He saw people running at a steady pace for their health, families who came out for a walk, and happy couples.

“Choco!”

A child holding a leash ran with a chocolate-colored puppy, laughing happily.

The puppy seemed to be very excited too, wagging its tail.

The puppy Choco left footprints on a white paper as it ran.

“…Paper?”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes.

Once he recognized it, he saw other things too.

There were papers that looked like flyers scattered along the promenade.

They were lying around here and there, but they looked like bread crumbs from Hansel and Gretel, stretching out in one direction.

Some people stepped on them as if they were trash, and some avoided them as if they were someone’s belongings.

He blinked his eyes a few times and got up from his seat.

He was going to pick up the trash as a good teenager.

It was not because he saw something that looked like a script on the white paper.

“Is this really a script?”

He smiled brightly without realizing it as he picked up the last paper.

There were familiar script symbols on the paper, such as S# (scene number), NAR (narration).

The boy in the black hat sitting in the middle of the promenade caught the attention of passers-by. But soon they saw the group preparing for the shooting nearby and thought they were together, so they didn’t pay much attention and passed by.

Meanwhile, Seo-jun was reading the contents on the paper. There were names and lines of characters on the paper, but he couldn’t tell what it was about with just one page.

“Hmm. I can’t tell with just one page…”

He read down the second page he picked up while moving his body. He wanted to see the script in order.

‘What should I do?’

He looked at the paper on the ground and in his hand alternately for a moment and then shouted out loud.

“Excuse me!”

A man who was about to step on a paper that looked like a discarded flyer flinched at Seo-jun’s voice.

He moved his foot away from the paper.

Seo-jun quickly ran over and picked up the script that was about to be stepped on.

“I’m sorry! Thank you!”

“Uh, you’re welcome.”

The man looked at the boy in the black hat who picked up the paper carefully and smiled brightly once, then looked at the group that was shooting over there.

He said to his girlfriend.

“I guess it’s their script.”

“I guess so. It’s all over there. It must be hard to pick them all up.”

The two people who had met Seo-jun earlier didn’t even dream that he was actor Lee Seo-jun.

***

His body moved faster than he thought.

He naturally read down the second page he picked up while moving his body.

He decided to just pick up the script that had already moved.

Seo-jun picked up the papers scattered along the promenade like a hamster collecting sunflower seeds.

He looked happy to see a script in an unexpected place.

He brushed off the thick shoe marks on it and smoothed out the crumpled paper.

He looked at each one carefully and sorted them out.

He looked at the script with regretful eyes.

“The order is messed up.”

He tried to sort them by scene number, but he couldn’t figure out what was going on. But he was captivated by the lines of the characters that appeared in the script.

He read one page and picked up another page, looking at the script and floor alternately as he walked.

He saw another page of the script on the floor.

He bent down to pick up the script on the floor, and saw another hand over the white paper.

He widened his eyes at the hand that was not his, and looked up at the person in front of him.

The person in front of him also looked up and saw the papers in Seo-jun’s hand, then let out a small sigh.

“…Thank you for picking them up. I didn’t know my bag was open and I walked with it…”

Hmm.

A stranger appeared.

‘Seo-jun. Don’t follow a stranger who shows you a script?’

He heard Seo Eun-chan’s voice in his head again.

He rolled his eyes at the script in the woman’s hand and the script he was holding. He wanted to see the script in order.

‘…It’s not following, so it should be okay?’

Chapter 360

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 360

Min Hee-kyung entered a movie production company with an awkward face.

She saw the employees running around busily since morning.

She didn’t know who to talk to, and stood there with a puzzled expression.

An employee approached her.

“How can I help you?”

“Uh, I have a script…”

Min Hee-kyung trailed off, and the employee nodded.

As a movie production company, they could guess why she came as soon as they heard the word script.

There were people who didn’t just send their scripts by mail or post, but came to the company in person to persuade them, saying that their stories would make them want to produce a movie.

They had developed a way to deal with them, as some directors showed up and made a fuss.

“There’s another director who came before you. Please wait here for a moment.”

The employee guided Min Hee-kyung to an office.

The office was divided into several tables by partitions.

It seemed like they were used as makeshift meeting rooms.

The partitions were not that big, so the conversations could be heard clearly, but no one seemed to care.

Min Hee-kyung sat down.

She put her bag on the next seat and sighed.

She had sent her script to the movie production company, but there was no reply.

‘…They must have rejected it.’

But she thought she could at least try to convince them, so she came all the way here.

Min Hee-kyung took out the script she brought from her bag.

It was a script that was printed without any wrinkles or smudges on each page.

She was about to start reading the first page when she heard a voice from across the partition.

“This is it!”

Min Hee-kyung unconsciously listened to the confident voice.

The loud voice kept talking.

“Do you know how much buzz Survivors created this summer? They made two endings from one story! And even though the Director’s Cut killed off all the characters that the audience loved, it still made a box office hit and was released in theaters!”

“Yes. It was an unexpected hit even for Hollywood producers.”

A voice that seemed to belong to an employee of the production company was heard.

Unlike the passionate counterpart, it was calm and even boring.

“That’s right! So my script too…!”

“That’s Hollywood.”

The employee’s voice cut off the director’s words.

There was a sneer in his voice, and Min Hee-kyung shrank her shoulders even though it wasn’t directed at her.

“They have Hollywood, Davis Garrett, and Lee Seo-jun. There’s no way they wouldn’t make a hit.”

“My script would also make a hit if top actors starred in it…!”

“And Jeffrey Rodex is a director who successfully finished his first commercial movie. That’s why ‘that’ Hollywood producer worked with him on his second commercial movie. I don’t understand why you don’t mention the director’s ability.”

Along with the employee’s sarcastic voice, there was a sound of paper flipping.

Min Hee-kyung held her breath and moved her body to the right.

“All the characters die in the end. All the scripts and synopses that come in these days are like this. And there are rumors that there are movies that have started filming with similar endings.”

“That’s…”

“Shocking? Sure. But only when it’s the first time. The second time, the third time, everyone expects it. Oh, they’ll all die at the end, right?”

“…The ending where everyone dies is…not new for Survivors.”

“Survivors is the most famous one. Ah. If you can make a better work than that, then go ahead. Then you’ll be the first one.”

There was no voice from the director.

“I’ll review it and contact you later.”

There was a sound of a chair scraping the floor.

Min Hee-kyung straightened her body in surprise.

She saw a man who looked like a director walking past with his shoulders slumped.

She felt anxious that it would be her fate soon.

Soon, an employee appeared and sat down in front of Min Hee-kyung.

There was no greeting, but Min Hee-kyung was too nervous to notice.

“Let me see your synopsis first.”

“Oh, yes!”

Min Hee-kyung handed over her synopsis to the employee who sat down.

She held her breath and watched him flip through each page.

The production company employee frowned as he saw the name written on the first page.

“Director Min Hee-kyung?”

“Yes.”

“Is this your debut commercial movie?”

“Oh, no. It’s my second one.”

Min Hee-kyung clenched and unclenched her fists on her knees. Her palms were sweaty.

“What’s your first work’s title?”

“Our Neighborhood…It is.”

She didn’t say it was a work from six years ago.

The employee who tried to recall the title rubbed the back of his neck.

It seemed like he had never heard of it, so it must have flopped.

“Is that why?”

“…Pardon?”

The employee shook his head and put down the synopsis.

Min Hee-kyung glanced at the script next to it and then at the employee.

She sighed at the script that was not even opened.

“The trend of works has changed these days.”

“…Yes?”

Min Hee-kyung blinked her eyes, and the employee continued.

“As you know, the reason why there was a boom of child actors was because of the superstar Lee Seo-jun. From the main character to the supporting characters, whenever there was a good or important role, they mostly put in a child actor. Just in case Lee Seo-jun would star in it.”

If Lee Seo-jun didn’t star in it, then the role would go to another child actor.

As the demand increased, so did the supply.

There were more child actors who could act well, and there were also more children who dreamed of becoming child actors after seeing them and Lee Seo-jun.

That’s how the child actor boom was created.

“Ah, yes.”

Min Hee-kyung also imagined Lee Seo-jun while writing her script.

No, it wasn’t just imagination.

She hoped that her script would appeal to Lee Seo-jun and that he would star in it.

‘It would be hard, though…’

Min Hee-kyung listened to the employee’s words.

“But Lee Seo-jun’s becoming an adult soon. He’s a sophomore in high school this year, and half a year has already passed. And when he becomes a senior, he might lose a year because of college entrance exams, auditions, or graduation performances at Mirinae High School.”

The employee drank some coffee and cleared his throat.

“He’s so famous that he’ll probably get into the theater and film department, but… Some actors value other experiences and go to different departments after taking the college entrance exam. If Lee Seo-jun does that too, then he’ll hardly be active next year. Then it’ll be either this year or the year after next when he starts filming, but there’s only a few months left this year… And he’ll be an adult by the year after next.”

“…Yes.”

The employee continued.

“He’s been restricted as a child actor for a while, so there weren’t many violent scenes or scenes where he got hurt, and there were no occupational movies at all, and playing a criminal was even more impossible. But those restrictions will be lifted. And he can still play a high school student role at 20. But don’t you think he wouldn’t be interested in playing a high school student role when he’s been doing that all this time?”

Min Hee-kyung slowly nodded her head and agreed.

The remaining time as a child actor.

She had never thought about it before, and her head went blank.

“Some production companies are still sending scripts to Cocoa Entertainment as usual, but most of them are collecting scripts for the year after next, aiming for Lee Seo-jun.”

The employee looked at the synopsis on the table.

The age of the main character written on the first page caught his eye.

18 years old.

She was at the age when she had no choice but to aim for the 18-year-old actor Lee Seo-jun.

A failed director who wanted Lee Seo-jun as the lead.

A faint sneer crossed the employee’s face.

“So our production company only accepts works with adult protagonists.”

The employee pointed out the flaws in the synopsis. There were some parts that Min Hee-kyung had missed and some explanations that didn’t make sense. As she couldn’t find anything good in her synopsis, Min Hee-kyung’s shoulders slowly sank.

“Please change the protagonist to an adult and fix the parts I mentioned and send them to us. We’ll review them and contact you.”

Neither the employee nor Min Hee-kyung believed the words that they would contact her. Even if she revised and sent the script, it might end up in a warehouse or not even be printed.

“…Yes. I understand.”

The employee nodded lightly at Min Hee-kyung’s words and got up from his seat and headed straight to the newly arrived director.

Min Hee-kyung, who was watching his back, sighed and picked up the script and synopsis that had never been opened and went outside.

The sun was high in the sky and it hurt her eyes.

It was so bright that she felt like crying.

***

“…Should I quit?”

Min Hee-kyung, who was sitting on a bench and staring blankly at the Han River, flinched at the words that came out of her mouth without knowing.

It was a word that she had never uttered out loud no matter how hard it was. She felt like it would really happen if she said it out loud.

And she hated everything as she thought.

“…Let’s quit.”

Min Hee-kyung, who had a tired face, slowly moved her hand and took out a script from her bag.

She fiddled with the stapled script that she had carefully printed in case it would get crooked and then peeled it off one by one.

She had to throw it away when she got home anyway.

Min Hee-kyung neatly arranged the scripts that would become waste paper and put them in her bag.

It had been six years since her first commercial film failed.

There were no production companies or people who looked for her anymore.

And when she was rejected for the script that she thought was her last chance, she felt like she couldn’t do anything.

“What should I do now…”

Min Hee-kyung, who was wondering what else she could do besides making movies, saw a group of kids rushing in.

They looked like high school students, chatting and unpacking their equipment that they brought with them.

They seemed to be having fun as they smiled on their faces and some of them looked around with serious expressions for the background.

“It’s a good time…”

Min Hee-kyung, who was staring blankly at the kids for a moment, got up from the bench.

She decided to quit making movies anyway, so she had to go home and think about what to do next.

Min Hee-kyung walked along the promenade to save some money and take a walk.

How long had she been walking?

“Excuse me…”

Someone tapped Min Hee-kyung’s arm lightly as she was wearing earphones.

Min Hee-kyung was surprised and took off her earphones and turned her eyes.

A woman who seemed to have come out for a walk with a dog smiled awkwardly and pointed behind Min Hee-kyung with her finger.

“Is that okay… falling down?”

Min Hee-kyung’s head followed the woman’s finger behind her.

“Gasp…!”

Familiar papers were scattered on the floor.

Min Hee-kyung quickly turned her bag around from her back.

“Oh no…”

The bag was wide open.

She must have lost her mind and forgot to close the zipper of her bag.

The script that was not fixed with a staple flew like flyers and fell on the floor.

“Thank you for letting me know.”

Min Hee-kyung bent down awkwardly to pick up one of the scripts under her feet and stopped.

There was no point in picking it up since she decided to quit making movies anyway.

She hesitated for a moment and then picked up the paper.

“…It’s mine anyway.”

It was easy to pick up the papers that fell on the promenade or nearby grass, but she didn’t know if there were any papers that flew further away.

She just collected them as she saw them and saw a script with a heavy shoe print on it.

She picked it up with pity.

As she went back along the promenade to collect the fallen papers, Min Hee-kyung was about to pick up a paper in front of her when a stranger’s hand came into her sight. She looked up in surprise and saw a familiar pile of papers first.

Oh.

She didn’t have to go all the way back.

“…Thank you for picking it up. I didn’t know my bag was open and I was walking…”

She thanked him involuntarily.

Then she looked up and saw a boy who looked like a student.

He was wearing a hat that covered his face, but he smiled brightly.

Min Hee-kyung smiled back at him without knowing.

***

“You were the director of Our Neighborhood. I saw it. Our Neighborhood.”

‘Would it be okay to talk here instead of following him?’

Seo-jun, who sat on the bench next to her, read the script that he had arranged in order with joy.

There were some gaps here and there, but it was not enough to interfere with reading.

He could tell what kind of story it was from the beginning.

“…Really?”

Where am I, who am I?

Min Hee-kyung blinked her eyes at Seo-jun’s smile. She had ended up sitting next to him on the bench and chatting with him.

‘I feel like I’m possessed by a ghost.’

They had exchanged information about being a director and an actor in a short time and became comfortable with each other.

She decided to quit being a director, but she had nothing else to introduce herself with.

She smiled with a bit of a sting and looked at the boy next to her.

He asked if he could see the script and his eyes sparkled.

She couldn’t refuse.

She gladly showed him the script that she had thrown away and that had been trampled by people.

‘But where have I seen that face before…’

She couldn’t remember even though it seemed familiar.

Min Hee-kyung gave up trying to remember and opened her mouth.

“It must have been boring…”

“Hmm. It was true that the story was monotonous.”

Min Hee-kyung laughed bitterly at Seo-jun’s words.

It was a comment that she had heard a lot after releasing her first work.

The content was composed of one story and it was too boring and predictable.

“But the directing was cool.”

Seo-jun looked at the script and talked about the directing that impressed him in Our Neighborhood.

He really saw Our Neighborhood.

The scenes that she had put her heart and soul into came out of the young actor’s mouth and Min Hee-kyung’s eyes trembled.

Chapter 361

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: AgRoseCrystal
Chapter 361

Seo-jun, who was cold-hearted in front of acting and works, explained to Min Hee-kyung, the director of [Our Neighborhood], the good and bad points of [Our Neighborhood].

“It was six years ago when Over the Rainbow was released. That year, there were many bland movies, so the intense ending left a strong impression.”

He softly explained with examples of the trends and pacing of that time.

Min Hee-kyung nodded as if she was listening to an expert’s lecture.

“I would have acted like this. Then the audience would empathize with the character more easily.”

As if his introduction as an actor was not a lie, he gave an evaluation that balanced the perspectives of an actor and an audience.

Min Hee-kyung looked back at her work six years ago as she listened to his comments.

‘Wasn’t he… an elementary school student back then?’

He knew what she regretted and realized only after hearing people’s reviews of her first work when he was just an elementary school student.

And that was for a failed movie that didn’t even break even or get known.

‘Kids these days are amazing.’

She couldn’t believe that he was still unknown.

‘They say it’s a boom for child actors.’

She had no idea that this level of knowledge and insight was required these days. She was busy with part-time jobs and writing scripts.

How much more would the famous child actors like Lee Seo-jun and Kim Joo-kyung be?

‘Wouldn’t they be incredible?’

Her standards for child actors rose rapidly.

If the active child actors or the so-called golden generation of Mirinae Elementary School’s acting department knew, they would have slapped their foreheads.

Lee Seo-jun is special!

They would have groaned.

Min Hee-kyung, who admired the background knowledge of ‘top actor Lee Seo-jun’, looked at Seo-jun, who was immersed in the script after finishing his explanation.

He read it once and then went back to the beginning, reading it as if he was analyzing every word.

Min Hee-kyung felt tears welling up in her eyes.

No one had ever read her work so earnestly in front of her.

“What do you think from an actor’s point of view?”

She suddenly became curious.

It was a script that would be thrown away when she went home, but what would he think of her scenario as an actor, and a peer of the protagonist?

She decided to quit being a director, so she thought she could accept any review from a third person’s perspective.

‘It’s not the same.’

She felt nervous.

She wasn’t a production company employee who had to stake the movie production on one review.

Min Hee-kyung, who didn’t know at all that the movie production, no, the movie success depended on her words, asked Seo-jun, who scratched his cheek and answered.

“It’s similar to [Our Neighborhood].”

“…Ah…Really?”

Min Hee-kyung’s expression clouded.

“I fixed it, but I guess there are still some left.”

“The director’s delicate and detailed description and the scenery that comes to mind just by reading the script seem better than [Our Neighborhood]. The pacing also seems faster. But…”

“But…?”

“The story is lacking. The development is not twisty but flat… The material is common, so there have been many works with it. So I think the audience will guess the development roughly from the beginning.”

Min Hee-kyung sighed lightly at Seo-jun’s words.

“The story is lacking…”

“It’s boring when the movie progresses with the same deduction as yours. But it becomes special when there is something that the audience never thought of.”

Special.

A movie flashed through Min Hee-kyung’s mind.

“…Like Survivors?”

At Min Hee-kyung’s words, Seo-jun, who starred in [Survivors], rolled his eyes.

“Um…Yes. Survivors started with a clichéd opening, but no one expected Raymond Wish, who was the main attacker, to be eliminated first. And that Lee Hyun-woo, who survived until the end, would help rescue the survivors.”

Min Hee-kyung recalled [Survivors].

She watched all the movies that became hot topics without missing any, even though she was busy with part-time jobs and writing.

She also watched [Survivors], which turned this summer upside down.

“That Ian Weaver was a domestic violence victim was also a special point.”

“I liked that too. There are hardly any supporting characters with such a past in disaster movies. There are sometimes scenes where Mia’s parents run to Mia, who was saved by the protagonist in the last scene, if there is Mia.”

A disaster movie came out of Seo-jun’s mouth in an instant.

Min Hee-kyung nodded at that cliché.

“That’s why the cookie video became a hot topic.”

Seo-jun said with a smile.

“The Director’s Cut is a bunch of exceptions, so it’s better not to analyze it. All of them… Oh, did you watch the Director’s Cut?”

“I did.”

She watched it as soon as it appeared on Plus+.

Seo-jun, who asked in case of spoilers, continued with a smile.

“Ian Weaver died first and Lee Hyun-woo went crazy… And all the characters died, but I didn’t even know it would be released in theaters and do well.”

“That’s true.”

Who would have expected Ian Weaver to die first?

Min Hee-kyung still couldn’t forget that shock.

“So I think it would be good to add some new materials and stories. It doesn’t have to be just one genre. There is also romance thriller.”

“…New story…”

Something.

It seemed to float in her head.

Min Hee-kyung, who was lost in thought, looked at Seo-jun, who took out his vibrating phone from his pocket.

Han Jinho: Where are you? I’m done with filming.

Han Jinho: Are you using invisibility?

Han Jinho: When did you disappear;;;

Seo-jun flinched at the word invisibility. It was similar in the sense that his presence disappeared.

<Already;;;?

<I haven’t seen anything yet?

Han Jinho: Jaehan still has filming left.

<I’ll be there soon.

Seo-jun, who was anxious about the filming that had already passed halfway, got up from his seat.

He had to go and watch the filming now that he had read the script he was curious about.

Min Hee-kyung, who was lost in thought, woke up from her thoughts at Seo-jun’s movement and got up from her seat awkwardly.

Seo-jun, who organized the script he was holding, handed it over to Min Hee-kyung.

“My friends are looking for me. Here’s the script. I enjoyed reading it.”

She felt strange seeing the papers that would be thrown away in the trash can when she went home being treated preciously by someone.

Min Hee-kyung, who took the crumpled script, looked at the unknown child actor with a black hat.

“Then I’ll go and see. Director.”

He bowed and moved his steps. Min Hee-kyung blankly looked at his back.

She suddenly remembered that he called her ‘director’.

She decided to quit being a director, but her heart felt heavy at his words.

That heaviness, the weight of the paper, no, her script in her hand, the new story that floated in her head, stirred Min Hee-kyung’s heart.

Before she knew it, her voice came out first.

“Excuse me!”

Seo-jun, who was about to walk away, turned around at Min Hee-kyung’s call.

“Are you filming over there? Can I go and watch?”

***

Han Jinho: He said it’s okay!

Han Jinho: Can he ask for advice?

Seo-jun got a reply from Han Jinho. He looked at Min Hee-kyung next to him and asked.

“Director. Can I ask for your advice?”

“Well… If you don’t mind a failed director…”

Min Hee-kyung felt embarrassed and moved her steps with Seo-jun, who was tapping his phone.

“Shall we sit here where we can see well?”

“Sure.”

Seo-jun and Min Hee-kyung, who returned to the filming site, sat down a little away so as not to disturb the filming. ‘Han Jinho, who finished filming and rolled up his sleeves to help the staff, waved his hand when he saw Seo-jun.

“I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere…”

Seo-jun answered with a smile at Min Hee-kyung’s words.

“I was in Escape. As Go Ju Won’s friend.”

“Oh!”

Han Jinho had also appeared in many works, but the easiest one to explain was [Escape].

The students at the filming site looked at Seo-jun’s side when they saw Han Jinho. They were a little nervous at the sight of an adult sitting next to him. The children who bowed politely whispered quietly.

“She’s a director.”

“I don’t know where he meets such people.”

[Our Neighborhood] was a movie on the portal site even though it failed.

And it was a commercial movie.

The children were amazed and impressed by a director who might make another commercial movie someday.

“Focus on filming!”

The one who stopped the noisy atmosphere was the third-year director who might be the most burdened.

He didn’t seem to care what Min Hee-kyung, another director, would think of him, or that he was making a movie for the first time instead of a video.

He continued filming as if he didn’t care.

He groaned inwardly at that sight.

‘I’m already burdened enough by Seo-jun…’

How could he not be nervous when an actor who knew more about movies than anyone else came to watch the filming?

He took a stomach medicine this morning and came to the third-year director who tried hard to ignore it.

‘If a good work comes out thanks to Seo-jun and the director’s advice…’

He vowed to endure any burden for this.

The third-year director who shouted action had an attitude that could not be anything but a great artist.

***

“Cut! Okay!”

“NG!”

“Let’s go one more time!”

Min Hee-kyung’s heart fluttered at the shouts she hadn’t heard in a long time. She didn’t feel it when she saw the students preparing for filming earlier.

Min Hee-kyung, who decided to quit being a movie director, turned her eyes away from fear of realizing that feeling.

At the end of her gaze was ‘actor Lee Seo-jun’.

The eyes that looked at what he loved most in the world.

She felt like she had never seen such shining eyes before.

Min Hee-kyung couldn’t take her eyes off Seo-jun’s face even as she apologized for watching the filming.

Seo-jun, who didn’t notice Min Hee-kyung, didn’t take his eyes off either.

He moved his eyes quickly and analyzed every aspect of the actors while also showing his excitement.

That excitement spread like paint to Min Hee-kyung.

In the end, ‘movie director’ Min Hee-kyung gave up on ‘actor who loves acting’.

‘I want this actor to star in my movie’ filled Min Hee-kyung’s head and heart. The new story that floated in her head and the boy’s face merged. The ‘boy’ who pushed out the ‘actor Lee Seo-jun’ that she had wanted so much in her image grew in an instant.

She was really curious what kind of movie an actor who loved acting so much would act in.

Really.

She didn’t understand why he was still unknown.

Min Hee-kyung opened her mouth without knowing it.

“Why don’t you film?”

Why didn’t he film when he introduced himself as an actor and liked acting so much?

He had to appear in many small movies and make his face known so that he could appear in big movies later.

‘…Ah…Can’t he act?’

She regretted it.

He might like acting and have a good eye for works, but expressing that with his body and lines was a completely different thing.

Min Hee-kyung had seen actors who couldn’t express as much as they analyzed.

Seo-jun, who didn’t notice Min Hee-kyung’s apology for watching the filming, answered in a low voice.

“Um. The script is not good enough to make me want to act.”

The third-year director would have cried if he heard that.

But Seo-jun didn’t want to compromise on anything when it came to acting.

He was curious how the movie would turn out, but there were some parts of the script that he didn’t like.

To fix them to his liking, he had to rewrite the whole script.

‘Then it’s not his work.’

She didn’t expect such a reason.

Min Hee-kyung, who had looked at Seo-jun pitifully until a while ago, opened her mouth wide.

Chapter 362

Read all the advanced chapters on Google Docs—get access to 7 chapters for just $5. Contact me on Discord at marctempest

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 362

“…Don’t you think you need to get your face known by acting in this and that work before you can get a big role in a bigger movie?”

“I don’t care if it’s a small role as long as I like the script. And if I like the role, I’ll work harder, right?”

The conversation between Min Hee-kyung, who mistook Seo-jun for an unknown child actor, and Lee Seo-jun, an honest superstar, was slightly off.

“…What if you don’t find a work that you like?”

“Then I’ll wait until it comes out. I’ll also look for plays and dramas.”

Seo-jun, who had scripts coming from Hollywood, thought it wouldn’t be too hard to find a work that he liked.

Min Hee-kyung was worried that he would never get to play the main character if he was so peaceful.

“Senior! Excuse me!”

“Okay. Sure!”

A third-year director called a first-year student.

The first-year student called Seo-jun.

Seo-jun headed toward the third-year director and Min Hee-kyung looked at his back.

Seo-jun, who was showing short demonstrations of acting to the third-year director and actors, was shining.

All the students’ eyes were on Seo-jun.

They didn’t even blink as if they were trying to learn from him.

He must have great acting skills that even his friends acknowledge.

But he’s still unknown.

‘I wish he could show his talent to more people…’

She thought that such an actor shouldn’t be unknown.

Min Hee-kyung decided to take out the awl that she had hidden in her pocket.

And she wanted to film with him, who loved acting and shone like that.

“What’s your favorite movie?”

Min Hee-kyung asked Seo-jun, who came back after giving advice.

“Favorite movie?”

“Yeah. A movie that you wished you could act in.”

Seo-jun blinked his eyes after thinking for a moment and answered.

From very old works to recent ones.

He crossed movies, dramas, and plays, and the ages of the roles were varied.

Min Hee-kyung listened carefully as if she was engraving them in her head.

“But why did you suddenly ask me about movies?”

“I’m trying to write a script that you would like to act in.”

Oh.

Seo-jun’s eyes sparkled at the director’s words.

“Then I’m happy!”

“But I can’t see any commonalities.”

“I like everything as long as it’s fun.”

“That’s the problem. You’re more picky than you think. From classics to recent works… You’ve mentioned all the masterpieces.”

“Hahaha.”

Seo-jun laughed at Min Hee-kyung’s words.

Min Hee-kyung also smiled.

Ah. It’s good.

When was the last time she enjoyed creating a story like this?

“I’ll write a good script for you, so wait for me.”

Don’t change your love for acting even if you’re struggling as an unknown.

Seo-jun tilted his head at Min Hee-kyung’s worried eyes and soon smiled brightly and answered.

“Yes. I will.”

Seo-jun was curious about what kind of script would come out and was only happy.

A little later.

The filming went smoothly with Min Hee-kyung and Seo-jun’s advice and ended with all the kids.

The kids cleaned up the equipment one by one. Seo-jun also rolled up his sleeves and helped.

“Thank you for today.”

“I had fun today too. Be careful on your way home.”

Min Hee-kyung waved her hand with a smile at the kids who bowed their heads.

The kids left laughing and chatting.

Min Hee-kyung looked at them with a pleased face and took out a paper and pen from her bag to write down the story that filled her head.

At that moment,

“Ahh! I forgot to ask his name and contact number…!”

She screamed at the realization that came too late.

***

Movie production company, Dahong.

The production company that made the movie [Rebellion], where Seo-jun played Danjong, was looking at the scripts and synopses that came in today as usual.

It was not easy to find a work that would be successful among the works piled up on one side of the office.

“Really, these days all the endings are like this.”

“That’s how trends are.”

Ever since [Survivors-Director’s Cut] was uploaded on Plus+, endings where all the characters die kept coming out.

“It would be fine if it was once, but now I think they’re all going to die from the first read.”

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement with one employee’s words.

It was boring, but finding a work that would shine brilliantly among the similar scripts was their job, so the eyes and hands of the employees moved busily.

An employee picked up a new script.

He skipped the tentative title and looked at the name of the owner of the scenario.

Depending on whether the owner of the scenario was a director or a writer, the work that the production company had to do would change.

“A director. Min Hee-kyung?”

She didn’t seem to be a director on Dahong’s blacklist, which distinguished directors who were hard to work with, such as abusing actors, ignoring schedules, and mistreating actors or staff.

She wasn’t a famous director like Woo Jeong-han, who decided to produce [Rebellion] without even looking at the script.

The employee thought that he didn’t have to look for a director who matched the scenario since the owner of the scenario was a director.

‘If Director Min Hee-kyung’s skills are not very good, I’ll have to buy the scenario and entrust it to a new director.’

But the director or directing was secondary.

The most important thing was the content of the script.

“Let’s take a look at the script first.”

The employee turned the first page.

There was a brief description of the characters that appeared.

The employee’s eyes stopped at the age of the protagonist.

18 years old.

The employee stared at that number and got up from his seat.

A colleague sitting next to him looked at the employee leaving the office.

“Where are you going?”

“Oh, just to the warehouse.”

Eighteen, eighteen.

Muttering, he headed to the warehouse.

The employee looked at the boxes lying around and sighed lightly and opened the box containing the scripts that the employees had looked at yesterday.

This warehouse was where they kept works that did not meet the movie production standards.

“Eighteen years old. Eighteen years old. When did I see it…”

The employee looked through the scripts from two days ago, three days ago, and the day before.

He turned the first page to check the age of the protagonist and put it back in the box.

“Oh! Here it is.”

And he found the script he was looking for in a box from a week ago.

“Director Min Hee-kyung. It was the same director.”

The employee took the script and left the warehouse.

He returned to his office.

The employee sat down and looked through both scripts.

They were by the same director, but they had different titles.

He read the first page and saw that the protagonist was unchanged, but new characters were added.

The introductions were also slightly different.

A colleague who was curious about his actions asked him.

“What did you bring?”

“Oh. I thought I saw this script somewhere, so I went to look for it in the warehouse.”

“Do you remember all that?”

A colleague asked in astonishment at the employee who memorized the scripts that came in without a break.

The employee smiled and said.

“Of course not. I couldn’t even remember the director’s name… I just remembered the protagonist’s age.”

“Age?”

“He’s eighteen.”

“Oh… that…”

It seemed like an age that was aimed at someone.

The employee noticed the colleague who thought of Lee Seo-jun in an instant and nodded.

“I also remembered it because of that, but the script was not very good.”

“Really?”

Usually, if it was interesting enough, it would go into the [review] box.

Then other employees would have read it too, but judging by the fact that he hadn’t read it, it seemed to be pretty bad.

The colleague’s face, which was excited, seemed to lose some steam.

“But I guess she revised it and sent it back in a week.”

“A week…”

It was a short time to fix a lot of content.

“Do you want to read it? The content is similar to before, isn’t it?”

“It seems like there are more characters and the introduction is quite interesting.”

“Well. I don’t know how much she changed it with the same director and no screenwriter…”

The colleague continued his work, shrugging his shoulders at the sight of the employee starting to read the script.

Some time passed and the colleague looked at the next seat.

The employee was still reading the script.

He wondered if it was another director’s script, but it wasn’t.

If it was boring, he would have skimmed through it and put it in the box, but he was reading every sentence carefully.

The colleague picked up the old script on the desk.

He turned the first page and read the introduction of the characters and the first scene.

Hmm. He seemed to focus a little, but then he flipped through the paper quickly. It was a story that seemed familiar and boring.

He understood why it didn’t go into the review box.

‘It doesn’t seem like it would get much better…’

The time to revise was only a week.

Unless he met the god of movies, it was a short time for a bad script to get much better.

Then, the employee took his eyes off the script. The colleague asked quickly as if he was waiting.

“How is it?”

“It’s amazing.”

“In a bad way?”

“In a good way!”

The colleague straightened his body leaning on the chair at the sight of the employee’s eyes wide open and loud voice.

Then he read down the script he received from the employee.

His eyes and hands that moved without a break stopped.

“…Did she really meet the god of movies?”

Just a week.

The film production company Dahong moved with admiration at the work that had changed as if it had been reborn.

***

Min Hee-kyung sat nervously in the conference room.

She couldn’t even touch the coffee in front of her.

Until she got contacted, she thought it was a voice phishing that caught some leaked information, but she was able to enter Dahong’s office, a real film production company.

The first commercial film production company was not as big as Dahong, so her hands trembled like a rookie director making her debut.

No, maybe she would have been more comfortable with a rookie director who was excited.

Min Hee-kyung, who knew enough about reality after failing once, fiddled with her damp hands.

‘What if they tell me to sell my script.’

Dahong would have done enough research on her too.

‘They must have seen my first work and independent films.’

They might have liked her script, but not her direction.

Min Hee-kyung sighed softly.

‘Then I’ll have to leave.’

There were many production companies besides here.

She didn’t know if they were good places or not.

‘Or maybe I can make it as an independent film?’

Even if it was an independent film, it would cost a lot of money to make a feature film, but Min Hee-kyung wanted to make it.

She had already decided on the protagonist.

An actor who loves acting, wearing a black hat.

Min Hee-kyung wanted to make this film with him.

So she revised her story from the day she came back from Hangang to her home.

She squeezed out ideas until she had a headache and watched works that the boy liked and put her hands on the keyboard. She didn’t have confidence to write such a masterpiece, so she just had to write hard.

She hoped that her script would please him and he would act for her.

‘…Even though I don’t know his name or contact number…’

Min Hee-kyung snorted with disbelief.

She wanted to squeeze herself for being stupid enough not to ask his name or contact number even then.

‘The kids too… Why did they only call him senior, senior and not his name…’

That was because the third-year director was careful not to call Seo-jun’s name in the crowded Hangang Park and asked the first-year to do it instead, but Min Hee-kyung didn’t know that.

Min Hee-kyung was struggling to think of one more hint about the boy when the door of the conference room opened. The planning team leader and staff who would be in charge of this production came into the conference room with bright faces.

“Hello, Director Min Hee-kyung.”

“Ah, hello.”

They exchanged greetings and started the conversation.

The meeting proceeded in a smooth meeting.

Contrary to Director Min Hee-kyung’s worries, Dahong didn’t seem to have any intention of changing the director. She listened to the explanation about the contract terms and discussed the matters related to the production.

She answered the planning team leader’s question about whether she had decided on the places for filming, whether she had a preferred cinematographer or art team.

“Then we’ll look into it for you, director.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Director Min Hee-kyung also answered comfortably as the situation progressed smoothly.

Somehow, she felt like this movie would do well.

“Ah, Director Min. Do you have any actors in mind for the protagonist?”

Director Min Hee-kyung, who was smiling brightly, stopped moving at the words of the planning team leader. Before Director Min Hee-kyung could open her mouth, the staff smiled brightly and said.

“It must be Seo-jun, right?”

“That’s right. He’s exactly eighteen years old. He would like this story too.”

“If Seo-jun acts in it, it’s a guaranteed hit!”

“No need to worry about funding!”

“Plus will definitely invest, right?”

“Of course. They’ll be the first ones to go.”

Even the planning team leader nodded his head with a smile.

Unlike them, Director Min Hee-kyung had a different protagonist in mind.

The actor with a black hat that she thought of for a week while revising her script.

He had already taken over every image in the movie that Director Min Hee-kyung imagined.

She panicked at the sight of the staff who decided to send the script to Coco Entertainment.

If Seo-jun decided to appear, she couldn’t stop him. She felt like she would be swayed if Seo-jun was cast.

She wanted him to act for her because she thought of him while writing.

‘But I can’t say I want a kid whose name and contact number I don’t even know as the protagonist!’

Director Min Hee-kyung shouted.

She hoped that he was good at information and didn’t forget her who he met briefly at Hangang.

“Can’t we have an audition?!”

Director Min Hee-kyung’s shout echoed in the conference room.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Chapter 126
Chapter 127
Chapter 128
Chapter 129
Chapter 130
Chapter 131
Chapter 132
Chapter 133
Chapter 134
Chapter 135
Chapter 136
Chapter 137
Chapter 138
Chapter 139
Chapter 140
Chapter 141
Chapter 142
Chapter 143
Chapter 144
Chapter 145
Chapter 146
Chapter 147
Chapter 148
Chapter 149
Chapter 150
Chapter 151
Chapter 152
Chapter 153
Chapter 154
Chapter 155
Chapter 156
Chapter 157
Chapter 158
Chapter 159
Chapter 160
Chapter 161
Chapter 162
Chapter 163
Chapter 164
Chapter 165
Chapter 166
Chapter 167
Chapter 168
Chapter 169
Chapter 170
Chapter 171
Chapter 172
Chapter 173
Chapter 174
Chapter 175
Chapter 176
Chapter 177
Chapter 178
Chapter 179
Chapter 180
Chapter 181
Chapter 182
Chapter 183
Chapter 184
Chapter 185
Chapter 186
Chapter 187
Chapter 188
Chapter 189
Chapter 190
Chapter 191
Chapter 192
Chapter 193
Chapter 194
Chapter 195
Chapter 196
Chapter 197
Chapter 198
Chapter 199
Chapter 200
Chapter 201
Chapter 202
Chapter 203
Chapter 204
Chapter 205
Chapter 206
Chapter 207
Chapter 208
Chapter 209
Chapter 210
Chapter 211
Chapter 212
Chapter 213
Chapter 214
Chapter 215
Chapter 216
Chapter 217
Chapter 218
Chapter 219
Chapter 220
Chapter 221
Chapter 222
Chapter 223
Chapter 224
Chapter 225
Chapter 226
Chapter 227
Chapter 228
Chapter 229
Chapter 230
Chapter 231
Chapter 232
Chapter 233
Chapter 234
Chapter 235
Chapter 236
Chapter 237
Chapter 238
Chapter 239
Chapter 240
Chapter 241
Chapter 242
Chapter 243
Chapter 244
Chapter 245
Chapter 246
Chapter 247
Chapter 248
Chapter 249
Chapter 250
Chapter 251
Chapter 252
Chapter 253
Chapter 254
Chapter 255
Chapter 256
Chapter 257
Chapter 258
Chapter 259
Chapter 260
Chapter 261
Chapter 262
Chapter 263
Chapter 264
Chapter 265
Chapter 266
Chapter 267
Chapter 268
Chapter 269
Chapter 270
Chapter 271
Chapter 272
Chapter 273
Chapter 274
Chapter 275
Chapter 276
Chapter 277
Chapter 278
Chapter 279
Chapter 280
Chapter 281
Chapter 282
Chapter 283
Chapter 284
Chapter 285
Chapter 286
Chapter 287
Chapter 288
Chapter 289
Chapter 290
Chapter 291
Chapter 292
Chapter 293
Chapter 294
Chapter 295
Chapter 296
Chapter 297
Chapter 298
Chapter 299
Chapter 300
Chapter 301
Chapter 302
Chapter 303
Chapter 304
Chapter 305
Chapter 306
Chapter 307
Chapter 308
Chapter 309
Chapter 310
Chapter 311
Chapter 312
Chapter 313
Chapter 314
Chapter 315
Chapter 316
Chapter 317
Chapter 318
Chapter 319
Chapter 320
Chapter 321
Chapter 322
Chapter 323
Chapter 324
Chapter 325
Chapter 326
Chapter 327
Chapter 328
Chapter 329
Chapter 330
Chapter 331
Chapter 332
Chapter 333
Chapter 334
Chapter 335
Chapter 336
Chapter 337
Chapter 338
Chapter 339
Chapter 340
Chapter 341
Chapter 342
Chapter 343
Chapter 344
Chapter 345
Chapter 346
Chapter 347
Chapter 348
Chapter 349
Chapter 350
Chapter 351
Chapter 352
Chapter 353
Chapter 354
Chapter 355
Chapter 356
Chapter 357
Chapter 358
Chapter 359
Chapter 360
Chapter 361
Chapter 362