Superstar From Age 0

Late evening.

A meeting room in Dahong, a movie production company.

“I think the protagonist is obvious.”

Everyone nodded at Director Min Hee-kyung’s words.

The directors who had judged the audition stayed until late at night for casting.

Director Min Hee-kyung looked at the application forms piled on the desk with her eyes faintly glowing red.

“Shall we decide on the next role then?”

The directors sitting around passed their checked application forms.

Various names came out of the directors’ mouths.

Kim Joo-kyung, Yang Ju-hee, Jeon Seong-min… It was hard to choose one among them, as there were many child actors who performed well.

“These days, there are no new actors who can act this well… I wish they would grow up faster.”

The casting director, who had to go around and find new and talented actors who suited the work and role, looked at the application forms he had gathered on one side with honey dripping from his eyes.

They were not cast for [Working Title: Travel], but they were child actors who caught the casting director’s eye.

“There are more works being made, but the actors who can act well are still the same. They are too familiar and their images are fixed… It would be nice to have more options with these new faces.”

The casting director smiled brightly.

“I want to take a copy, but… that’s not possible, right?”

“No. It’s not allowed because of personal information.”

The casting director shrugged his shoulders and wrote down the actors’ names, features, and acting skills briefly on his phone’s memo pad.

If they continued to act, he could find them by just knowing their names and faces.

‘You never know what will happen with these brief encounters.’

Meanwhile, the meeting continued.

***

After the weekend when [Working Title: Travel] audition was held, Monday.

Dahong, the movie production company that confirmed the protagonist, was busy from the morning.

“Send the contract to Cocoa Entertainment.”

“Yes!”

Dahong started with securing the protagonist, who was essential for the movie.

They thought it would be Actor Lee Seo-jun 99.999%, so they had talked with his manager about various things, but they had not officially written a contract, so they had to write a contract first.

“Contact the actors who passed the audition too.”

“Yes!”

Dahong was quick to act even though the audition was just yesterday.

The employees moved faster than usual.

The planning team leader checked the weather on his phone.

It was mid-October now.

“It will be hard to shoot if it gets colder.”

They had to start shooting before it got colder.

He thought of the staff and actors who would suffer and wished they could have met the script sooner.

His face was full of regret.

“Team leader! Should I contact Plus+?”

The planning team leader, who couldn’t take his eyes off the weather forecast, lifted his head at the employee’s words.

‘Can’t help it.’

The planning team leader also saw the script before revision.

It would have been hard to cast Actor Lee Seo-jun with that script.

‘If he liked it after reading it by the Han River, he would have started shooting already.’

If it was the script that Actor Lee Seo-jun brought himself, there would have been many movie production companies that would have applied for it with their arms wide open, and there was also a strong investor called Plus+, so he said. But then Dahong might not have been able to produce it.

The planning team leader of Dahong folded his regret and opened his mouth.

“Yeah. Contact them right away and make an appointment.”

“Yes!”

There was still a lot of work left.

“We started booking shooting locations!”

As expected from a movie with a tentative title of Travel, this movie had a lot of outdoor shooting.

It was more important than ever to find shooting locations.

They had to consider not only how well the background matched with the work, but also how manageable it was to avoid interference when shooting.

‘Especially since the actor is Lee Seo-jun.’

He imagined people flocking in and felt dizzy.

They had to be more careful than other outdoor shootings. He thought he should talk to Cocoa Entertainment.

“What about Actor Kim Jong-ho?”

Dahong had put up several actors who suited the role in [Travel] since Actor Lee Seo-jun said he would participate in the audition.

Among them was the role of the father of the protagonist, and everyone in the planning team chose Actor Kim Jong-ho.

“There’s no one else but Actor Kim Jong-ho!”

“Although there is still an image of Survivors left, it’s not a big problem.”

If the father and son had a bad relationship, it would have been different, but in [Travel], like in [Survivors], they had a good relationship. Rather, the family-like image from [Survivors] could help [Travel].

“He came back alive after a hard time, but he has a terminal illness…!”

The employees’ sobbing faces made Kim Jong-ho the first choice candidate.

The planning team leader, who was scratching his head, answered with a regretful face.

“He’s shooting a movie right now.”

“A movie? I didn’t see any news about it?”

The planning team leader, who thought Kim Jong-ho would definitely appear, opened his eyes wide.

“The news was supposed to be released today. It seems like it was a sudden casting. They seemed to regret it too.”

We really regret it too.

The planning team leader tapped his forehead.

“If it’s not Actor Kim Jong-ho, who should we use?”

“Right.”

They were stuck in an unexpected place. The planning team leader, who scratched his head hard, mentioned other candidate actors.

The employees’ hands moved quickly.

Then, the office door opened with a bang.

The employee who came in had a bewildered look on his face.

“Team leader! Someone from Plus+ is here.”

The planning team leader blinked his eyes and looked at the clock. He saw the minute hand that had not even made one round.

“…Didn’t we just contact them?”

It seemed like it was less than an hour ago.

Did they wait in front of the company? He even wondered about that.

***

Mirinae High School was noisy from Monday morning.

It was because of the acting department that had auditioned over the weekend.

The second year class one of the acting department was no exception.

“Did you do well on the audition?”

Jeon Seong-min answered Yang Ju-hee’s question.

“So-so? I applied for the protagonist role, but they asked me to do other roles too. It was lucky that I prepared for other things too. How about you?”

“I applied for a supporting role from the start. But I think I did as much as I could. How about you, Seo-jun?”

“Um. I did my best.”

The kids nodded at Seo-jun’s words.

Lee Seo-jun’s doing his best.

To the friends who had taken acting classes with Seo-jun so far, it was the most frightening word.

‘He really works too hard.’

They tried to practice with Seo-jun, thinking that their acting skills would improve, but it was too hard and they gave up with both hands and feet.

“You must have done well.”

“You must have done really well.”

The kids asked Seo-jun with a smile.

“When will the audition results come out?”

“Well, they usually come out within a week…”

“I had to wait for two weeks last time.”

“Did you pass?”

“No.”

The kids quietly closed their mouths and rolled their eyes at Jeon Seong-min’s words.

Jeon Seong-min shrugged his shoulders and said.

“Well, it’s not like I only failed once or twice.”

“Right. There are so few child actors anyway.”

“They say there were even fewer in the past.”

The kids, who recovered quickly, chatted noisily.

“It feels weird to wait for Seo-jun’s audition results.”

“Right?”

“He’ll definitely pass, but still. Oh, by the way, when did you audition? I asked the other kids, but none of them said they saw you.”

Seo-jun answered Yang Ju-hee’s question.

“I was in the last time slot. I auditioned with Haun.”

“Wow. You met him again?”

The kids knew about Seo-jun and Kim Haun’s story because they had talked about their practical exams after entering Mirinae High School. Kim Haun, who was wrapping his head around math homework, lifted his head when his name was called.

“Did you call me?”

“You auditioned with Seo-jun in the same time slot?”

“Yeah. Kim Han-seok from first grade? He auditioned with us too.”

After saying that, Kim Haun turned his attention back to his math homework.

Kim Joo-kyung’s eyes shook at Kim Haun’s fast-moving pen.

“…Did we have homework?”

Kim Joo-kyung’s question made Seo-jun and the kids’ faces surprised.

“…Yeah. Didn’t you do it?”

“I must have forgotten!”

Kim Joo-kyung, who was shocked, quickly returned to her seat.

Seo-jun and his two friends looked at Kim Joo-kyung and Kim Haun with pity and turned their heads to the clock. There wasn’t much time left until the first math class.

***

“Amazing. Kim Joo-kyung. Kim Haun.”

Seo-jun and the kids clapped their hands.

Kim Joo-kyung collapsed on the desk after finishing the math class safely.

Kim Haun was in a similar state.

Seo-jun and the kids laughed at the two kids who looked like they had lost their souls.

“The second period is English?”

“Math followed by English… The timetable is crazy.”

Seo-jun put his English textbook on the desk when he heard a scream-like sound from somewhere.

The surprised kids looked that way.

One of the kids in the class was looking at his phone.

“What’s wrong?”

“…The audition… The results are out.”

“…What? Already?!”

The classroom became noisy in an instant. Everyone was busy turning on their phones that they had turned off during class.

“They auditioned yesterday and the results came out today?”

“I guess Seo-jun will be the protagonist, but what about the other roles?”

“Ahhhh. I want to see it but I don’t want to see it!”

The news spread to class two as well, and the next classroom became noisy too.

Soon, the first and third grades would also be noisy.

Seo-jun also took out his phone. He had received a text from Da Ho hyung.

Ahn Da Ho Hyung: [Working Title: Travel] Audition passed!

Ahn Da Ho Hyung: Congratulations!

Ahn Da Ho Hyung: They said they also sent the passing news to other actors.

Ahn Da Ho Hyung: Do you have any friends among them?

Audition passed.

The emotion he felt from that word was a little different from what he felt when he got accepted to school.

He felt excited as if he had become a rookie actor and was cast in his first work.

He couldn’t take his eyes off his phone. Yang Ju-hee asked Seo-jun.

“Did you pass?”

“Yeah.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and nodded his head. Yang Ju-hee and Jeon Seong-min smiled widely too.

“Congratulations!”

“Congratulations. This is the first time I congratulate you on passing an audition.”

“Right. You always get casted.”

“Should we have a party to celebrate your audition passing?”

Jeon Seong-min’s words made Seo-jun smile with a slightly embarrassed look on his face.

He was lost in thought at his friends’ conversation, which seemed like they would really have a party.

If there were actors who passed, there were also actors who failed.

Most of the kids received a rejection notice.

“I failed.”

“Me too. Is there anyone else besides Seo-jun in our class?”

At Seo-jun’s passing news and the kids’ failing news, Kim Haun, who had been lying on the desk, also took out his phone.

He wanted to see it but he didn’t want to see it either. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

He hesitated for a moment and then turned on his phone after hearing Kim Joo-kyung’s failing news.

[This is Dahong, a movie production company.]

Kim Haun’s eyes widened as he read the text that started with that.

He was out of breath.

He stopped moving and the kids who noticed him slowly moved behind him.

And they saw the text.

The kids shouted in surprise.

“Kim Haun passed!”

“Wow!!”

At the noisy second year class one, the English teacher who was standing in front of the classroom door scratched his cheek.

“The first grade teacher said the same thing… Why do they always do this during English class?”

The English teacher entered the classroom and the second grade kids scattered to their seats like startled sparrows.

***

After finishing lunch and leaving the cafeteria, Kim Han-seok ran up to Seo-jun with a bright smile. His friends waved their hands at Seo-jun and Kim Han-seok and headed to the snack bar.

“Hyung! I passed!”

“Congratulations.”

Seo-jun also smiled brightly and congratulated Kim Han-seok.

“Oh, congratulations on passing too, hyung! I got the script earlier and I thought I would only appear briefly, but it seems like a pretty long role. My role is Kwon Yoon-chan, who is the same age as you! I have to talk to you informally!”

Kim Han-seok laughed happily and Seo-jun followed suit.

Then Seo-jun and Kim Han-seok’s phones rang at the same time.

The two looked at each other and took out their phones.

Ahn Da Ho Hyung: Seo-jun.

Ahn Da Ho Hyung: They said they will only shoot the first scene this Friday.

Ahn Da Ho Hyung: Can you do it?

Ahn Da Ho Hyung: [First shooting script.hwp]

Seo-jun blinked his eyes and clicked on the script.

He quickly read the script down. And he recalled the content of [Working Title: Travel] that he had read.

“Hmm. Han-seok. What’s your character’s name?”

“Kwon Yoon-chan… Why…”

Kim Han-seok’s eyes didn’t leave his phone either.

It seemed like his agency also sent him a text with the same content as Ahn Da Ho Hyung.

Soon Kim Han-seok lifted his head. His bright face darkened in an instant.

“Hyung. What do I do? I don’t think I can analyze my character by Friday…”

“That’s right. It’s the scene where we meet for the first time… We have to analyze it properly and shoot it.”

The tone of acting in the first part that was roughly analyzed and the latter part that was properly analyzed might not match.

The two looked serious, while their friends who had bought a bunch of snacks from the snack bar to celebrate Seo-jun’s audition passing were stunned enough to drop their snacks.

Seo-jun tapped his chin.

He had received the script in advance and was able to analyze his character quickly.

‘If there is no time, I can use the method of using Life’s Library.’

But Kim Han-seok had just received the script and he was not skilled enough to analyze his character as fast as him.

He looked at Kim Han-seok’s shadowed face and thought for a moment.

Then Seo-jun opened his mouth.

“Han-seok.”

“Yes?”

“Do you want to practice with me at my house after school?”

Kim Han-seok’s eyes widened at Seo-jun’s words and then he understood what Seo-jun meant and nodded his head repeatedly.

Practicing acting with Seo-jun and his brother!

“Yes! I want to! I want to do it!”

Seo-jun smiled brightly and said.

“We don’t have much time, so it might be hard, but let’s do our best.”

“Yes!”

Kim Han-seok smiled brightly, while the second year seniors who were jealous of him didn’t seem to notice at all.