Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 155

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 Wasnt 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. Jeong 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-juns role was impressive. But that also overshadowed Danjong(Yi Hong-wi). I didnt know he could express Danjong(Yi Hong-wi)s lines like that.

The two teachers agreed with Jeong Si-woons words.

They still felt their throats tighten as they recalled the fiery confrontation.

It wasnt 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 kings 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-juns 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 didnt 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.

Theyre 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 Ju-kyung!]

-Congratulations on passing!

-Seo-jun would obviously pass!

-Hell be a middle schooler next year! Other peoples kids grow up so fast!

-Oh. This! Isnt that Kim Ju-kyung?

=The one who was in One Step? Shes 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 Ju-kyungs acceptance posted by a fan.

Ju-kyung also applied to Yeoul Art Middle School.

Seo-jun quickly took out his phone and sent a message to Kim Ju-kyung.

<Ju-kyung, congratulations on passing! Were in the same school!

Seo-jun, you too, congratulations! I never thought Id be in the same school as Seo-jun.

<Me too But why didnt I see you?

I took the exam on the first day.

<I took it on the second day. I guess thats why I didnt see you!

<Im so happy were in the same school

Me too!

After sending a message to Kim Ju-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.]

Im 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. Theres 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?

= : I wanted to see Seo-juns video

=Thats right! Seo-jun must have taken the practical exam too!

=Of course he passed, but Seo-juns acting! I want to see it!

-But where does it come out?

= : Yeoul Art Middle School YouTube channel! They also upload performance videos every year besides practical exam videos.

-Whats the writers video? I want to see it

= : I wont reveal it

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-juns video.

[No. 274, Lee Seo-juns 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 cant help but follow Seo-juns 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 didnt feel like this kind of dialogue.

=22 In Seo-jun, Danjong(Yi Hong-wi) was a weak character. He didnt 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 everyones 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-juns 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-juns 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 couldnt imagine more.

=Yeah, can you think of any child actor who can compete with an adult actor now? No, right? Thats 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 dont 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 act 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

=Youre right. Now that I think about it, its just a sweet potato field.

=Yeah, Seo-jun has a king-like aura but the situation around him doesnt 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.

Its 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 Im Min-joon got used to it and turned his head to check the messages from his friends.

Seo-joon, will you do the movie if you get an offer?

Hmm. If I like the script, Ill do it.

Okay. You do what you want.

The parents who didnt want to pressure him nodded and changed the subject.

Seo-joon. 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 cant think of anything when you suddenly say gift

Look. Nara 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 Nara Kim.

Nara: Acceptance gift, elementary school graduation gift, middle school entrance gift, and Seo-joons birthday is in March, so birthday gift too! Four gifts! Seo-joon, what do you want?

Rachel: What? Only four?!

Nara: Wait! There was also a Christmas gift! Should I send a New Years gift too?

Rachel: Lets do that!

Evan: Ill send something moderate.

Seo-jun laughed at the excited messages from Nara and Rachel and the calm message from Evan.

Hmm. I dont really want anything because I get gifts every year

But he didnt know that more gifts would come if he didnt say anything. To escape from the gift hell of Nara and Rachel, Seo-jun was in trouble.

Hmm. Can you buy me a camera and a monitor for the house were moving to?

I want to buy that for you, mom. I got recommendations from Ryan director 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-joon nodded and wrapped his head.

***

Cocoa Entertainments second team was busy. 

The printer kept spitting out paper.

They keep coming in.

They must be very busy over there too.

An Da-ho looked at the printed paper. As Seo-joons 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.

Its 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 An Da-hos hand, the second team staff nodded.