Superstar From Age 0

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.