Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 521:

Chapter 521

As Seo-jun followed Jason Moore, he spotted Professor Benjamin at the entrance of the building. Seo-jun’s face brightened, and Professor Benjamin smiled warmly.

“Long time no see, Jun.”

Seo-jun put down his paper bag and hugged Professor Benjamin with a smile. Professor Benjamin chuckled and patted Seo-jun’s back.

“How have you been, professor? You look healthy as always.”

“I am always healthy.”

They exchanged greetings and moved inside the building.

“By the way, Jason. Was that true what you said earlier? That you recommended me?”

“Half true?”

What did he mean by half true? If he recommended him, he recommended him.

Seo-jun tilted his head. Professor Benjamin smiled and Jason Moore explained.

“One of our orchestra members had to drop out. His wife and son live in the US, and they had an accident yesterday.”

‘Oh…’

Seo-jun looked sympathetic and nodded.

“Are they okay?”

“They didn’t get hurt too badly. But he said he wanted to stay with them for a while.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Jason Moore and Professor Benjamin agreed with Seo-jun’s words.

“So we had to fill in one violinist, and I thought of you, Jun. You were in Paris, and I knew you were good enough.”

“Really? You want me to do it?”

Really? Me?

Seo-jun looked flustered, and Jason Moore snorted and said.

“If you want to.”

“What?”

“I want you to do it if you want to. You know there are four concerts in Paris, right?”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded. He had planned to go to the last concert with his friends.

“Three of them will be done by another violinist. There are many great violinists in Europe.”

There were also many famous musicians who were willing to introduce good violinists.

Jason Moore contacted some of the violinists he knew and got their confirmation.

“I want you to do the last performance. That way, you’ll have enough time to practice.”

The orchestra performance was about 30 minutes long.

For Seo-jun, ten days would be enough.

“Hmm.”

Seo-jun seemed to be lost in thought, and Professor Benjamin said with a smile.

“You can say no, you know. I already explained to the new violinist. I said there was someone I wanted to play with, but it might not work out because of the schedule. If that happens, I asked him to do the last performance as well.”

“Is that okay?”

It seemed like they were being too pushy.

“The new violinist is Jason’s friend. He’s actually curious who Jason wants to play with.”

Oh.

Seo-jun looked at Jason Moore, who raised his eyebrows.

“What’s with that look?”

“No, nothing.”

Contrary to his words, Seo-jun looked at him as if to say ‘Jason has a friend too.’

Jason Moore brushed his hair and said.

“Anyway, you have to talk to your company and you have a travel plan, so think about it and let me know by tomorrow morning.”

“Okay, I will.”

Seo-jun nodded, and Professor Benjamin said with a smile.

“Then let’s stop talking about the concert for now… Is this your first time at the Paris Music Hall, Jun?”

“Yes.”

“Then how about a quick tour?”

“Oh, I bought some cookies, but let me just put them away and I’ll go with you, professor. Jason. Is there a place to leave the cookies?”

“You can leave them in the practice room… This is the one we’ll use.”

Seo-jun placed the boxes of cookies on a small table next to the water dispenser in the corner of the practice room. He looked around the large practice room and then moved to see the Paris Music Hall.

***

That evening.

The kids voted for Seo-jun to participate in the concert.

“It sounds like a good idea. Didn’t you think about busking for a while?”

“Did you hear that from Ji-ho?”

“Yeah. Busking might be troublesome, but performing wouldn’t be so bad. Of course, if you want to.”

Ji-woo said, and Ji-yoon and Mina nodded. They felt bad that they were having fun while Seo-jun was okay with it.

“You don’t have to practice all day, right? Then you can practice in the morning and afternoon, and watch a play or a musical in the evening.”

“Right.”

Seo-jun pondered.

“Isn’t this the first time we hear Jun play the violin?”

“I think so.”

Korea, US, France.

They lived in different countries, so when they met after a long time, they were busy having fun. 

They didn’t have time to listen to Seo-jun’s violin performance. Charlie and Grace said they wanted to hear it.

“We’ve never seen him play on stage, right?”

“We’ve seen it in movies, though.”

That’s right.

The last time Seo-jun played the violin on stage was at his middle and high school graduation ceremonies. His childhood friends who went to different schools had never seen it.

“It’s an orchestra violin, so it might not stand out that much…”

“But I still want to see it… Oh, I’m not forcing you, though.”

Mina said, and the kids nodded. They felt like anything they said would sound like pressure.

Seo-jun smiled at his friends’ expressions.

He was half convinced by Jason and Professor Benjamin’s offer, and when he heard his friends’ opinions, he decided to do it.

“Then I’ll give it a try.”

Oh!

The kids cheered and started to chatter again.

***

Cocoa Entertainment, actor Lee Seo-jun’s dedicated team 2 office.

The team 2, which seemed to have less work after their actor left for a trip to Europe, was still busy because of the new office building and the organizational restructuring.

Team leader, Ahn Da Ho, was looking at the remodeling images and camera models for the office and practice room that the actors would use.

He considered the opinions of the team 2 staff a lot for the office, since it was a space where they could work comfortably. For the actors’ practice room, he based it on Seo-jun’s practice room.

“Should I prepare some low-cost cameras too…”

The cameras that Seo-jun used in his practice room were expensive and difficult to handle, since they were bought based on the directors’ recommendations. He thought he should also have some cameras that the rookie actors could use comfortably at home without feeling burdened.

As he was looking at various things, his phone rang. It was Seo-jun.

“Oh, Seo-jun.”

“Are you busy, Da Ho hyung?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Ahn Da Ho put down the documents he was looking at and answered with a smile. He glanced at the clock on his desk that was set to Paris time. He had prepared it as soon as Seo-jun left.

“What’s up? Isn’t it dawn there?”

It was 2 p.m. in Korea, but it was 7 a.m. in Paris.

“Oh, right. I woke up early today.”

Seo-jun’s voice sounded excited. He seemed to have something fun to tell. Ahn Da Ho reached for the mouse. He searched for flights to Paris.

‘The fastest flight is…’

It was a reflexive action as a manager who had gone to the US abruptly for the documentary [We Are In The Ocean].

“What’s going on?”

“Well, Da Ho hyung. I met Jason.”

Seo-jun told him about his meeting with Jason Moore. Ahn Da Ho’s hand, which was moving the mouse to search and book a flight to Paris, slowly stopped.

“Hmm. So you’re not appearing on any broadcast, right?”

“No. I’m just going to play the violin in the orchestra. I can’t wear a hat, but there are other violinists besides me, so it’ll be hard to recognize me if I sit among them.”

“Everyone will be looking at Jason anyway, and you’re only doing the last performance, so no one will expect you to be there.”

“Right.”

Besides, the audience for a classical concert would probably have different interests, and some of them might not even care about the actor Seo-jun Lee.

“It sounds fine to me.”

“Right?”

Seo-jun’s voice sounded mixed with laughter.

“Then can I do it?”

“Would you not do it if I told you not to?”

“Haha. No. I’ll do it.”

Ahn Da Ho laughed and heard Seo-jun’s laughter.

***

Paris was quiet in the dawn.

Ahn Da Ho’s voice came from across the phone.

“You’re not recording it, are you? That’s a shame. I can’t see it.”

Come to think of it, Ahn Da Ho hadn’t seen Seo-jun play the violin on stage since [Over The Rainbow].

‘He couldn’t come to the graduation ceremony.’

Seo-jun scratched his cheek. It seemed like his friends were more interested in his violin performance than he thought.

“Um, I’ll ask Jason if he’s recording it.”

“Okay. Then take care and have a good trip. Contact me right away if you think you’ll get caught. It’s okay even if it’s dawn.”

“Okay, I got it.”

Seo-jun looked at the blue sky and remembered something. He activated one of the symbols on his body and a notification window popped up in front of him.

“Da Ho hyung.”

“Yeah?”

Ahn Da Ho, who was waiting for Seo-jun to hang up first, answered.

“How’s Blue Moon doing these days?”

“Blue Moon?”

Why Blue Moon all of a sudden?

He sounded puzzled, but he also seemed to be looking for something with a click.

“They’re busy with the summer festivals, going around here and there.”

“What about the album preparation?”

“They have to move to the new office, so they’re busy. They’ll probably start working on it in earnest from September.”

September seemed okay.

“Okay, thanks, Da Ho hyung.”

“What’s going on?”

“I was just wondering how they were doing.”

“You sound like you’re a member of Blue Moon. You’re not switching to an idol, are you?”

“Hey, no, hyung.”

He laughed and ended the conversation with a smile.

[(Line)Orchestra Conductor’s Connection-Middle-Low Level-]

The musical skills of the connected beings vary up to three times depending on their bond with the conductor.

The bond between the conductor and the connected beings and the bond among the connected beings are expressed in numbers.

Maximum connection: 10 (5/10)

The opaque notification window that seemed to sparkle today made Seo-jun’s face full of smiles turn pale in an instant. He crossed his arms and sighed.

“Yeah, well. I kind of expected it.”

It was not a normal concert, but an orchestra performance. And the spirit tree would have raised the level of the ability somehow.

‘I don’t have to use it, but…’

But he didn’t know when he would have a chance to play with an orchestra again, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a higher level of ability. He also wanted to make Jason’s concert more successful.

‘Blue Moon might have a hard time.’

When Seo-jun deactivated the ability, Blue Moon would have to perform without the help of [(Line)Orchestra Conductor’s Connection] until Seo-jun returned to Korea and used the ability again.

They might even fall into a slump because of the sudden drop in their skills, but Seo-jun trusted Blue Moon.

‘They did well for a year without the ability when they debuted.’

Blue Moon spent a year without the ability, and another year with the ability. Now they had to stand on the stage without the ability again.

‘When they realize the difference, they will surely shine beyond the limit of the orchestra, like the Brown Black hyungs.’

He thought of his hard-working hyungs and friends and smiled brightly.

***

After having breakfast, Seo-jun contacted Jason Moore right away. He said he wanted to join the orchestra, and Jason Moore told him to come to the practice room at the Paris Music Hall where they met yesterday.

“Seo-jun, have a good practice.”

“You guys have fun today too.”

From Ji-yoon, who was excited to go to the booths of publishers from all over the world, to Ji-woo, who would see a neurosurgery operation, and Mina, who was looking forward to learning new dishes, they all left the accommodation and Seo-jun headed to the Paris Music Hall.

A little later.

Jason Moore, who came out to greet him as he did yesterday, took Seo-jun to the practice room.

The door of the practice room was open, and the inside was full of music stands and chairs. And there were musicians with instruments everywhere, as many as the number of stands and chairs. It was a small orchestra of 40 people, but it looked more because of the large instruments.

Knock knock-

The musicians turned their heads at the sound of Jason knocking on the door. There was someone next to Jason. A new musician, perhaps.

They were surprised by his young appearance, but among them, there were some violinists and a few other musicians who were shocked for a different reason. 

There were also some comments like ‘I’ve seen him somewhere…’

“This is the violinist who will play with us in the last performance. His skills are guaranteed by me and my teacher, so don’t worry.”

Jason Moore tapped Seo-jun’s shoulder and said, and Seo-jun smiled and greeted them.

“Hello, I’m Seo-jun Lee. I look forward to working with you until the concert.”

…???

At Seo-jun Lee’s introduction, which omitted whether he was an actor or a violinist, the people who just realized and the people who already knew let out a gasp of astonishment.