Superstar From Age 0

After all the classes were over.

Seo-jun headed to the first practice room where team 436 was supposed to gather, along with Kim Joo-kyung, han Jinho, and Kang Jae-han.

“Seo-jun, are we going to practice from today?”

“No. I don't know if everyone has other plans, so today we’ll just say hello and choose a team leader.”

Seo-jun answered Kim Joo-kyung's question.

“There might be some people who made appointments without expecting to pass.”

“That makes sense.”

The three nodded at Seo-jun's explanation.

When Seo-jun arrived at the first practice room, he scanned the faces of the people who came in.

There were some members of Mirror, the team he worked with in middle school, and some students who were from the same art school as Mirror but not on the same team.

There were also students from other middle schools.

“Hi, chae-yeon.”

“Hi.”

Kim Chae-yeon, the music team leader of Mirror at the time, greeted Seo-jun with a smile.

“Where's the art team leader?”

“He couldn't participate because he has an overseas exhibition.”

“Oh…”

Kim Chae-yeon exclaimed.

It was amazing that a student had an overseas exhibition, but there was also regret in her voice.

“It's more comfortable with people you’ve worked with before…”

“That's true, but… isn't it fun to meet new styles?”

Kim Chae-yeon nodded at Seo-jun's words.

Anyway, they would work separately by teams, so there was no particular problem for Kim Chae-yeon, who was on the music team.

“You’ll do all the hard work anyway.”

“Hahaha.”

Seo-jun laughed it off as the team leader who had to combine music and background.

The students came in one by one.

Kim Young-chan and Park Yeon-ji, first and second-year acting students, came in stiffly with nervousness.

Seo-jun and the third-year students greeted them warmly.

“Welcome.”

“Nice to meet you!”

“H-hello!”

Like Alice in Wonderland, Kim Young-chan and Park Yeon-ji looked around the practice room nervously.

It was a familiar practice room for acting classes, but today it seemed new, strange, and cool.

“Sit here.”

“Yes!”

The students in the first practice room were roughly divided into art, music, and acting teams.

Park Min-hyung, a first-year art student, was sitting with his friends when he saw his seniors who were on the same art team as him during Mirror and smiled happily.

The music students also gathered with their seniors and juniors who were from the same academy and chatted away.

“Chae-yeon noona, you were on Mirror team, right? Can you see the acting team perform often?”

“Hyung. How is Lee Seo-jun sunbae's acting in real life?”

“Min-hyung. I saw the graduation performance, but was the rehearsal that amazing too?” 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Most of the conversations were about Seo-jun.

The students who worked with him during Mirror told stories about that time with a smile.

“They’re all here.”

Seo-jun checked the number of people and got up from his seat.

He emitted a bit of aura and the noisy practice room quieted down quickly.

Everyone's eyes were drawn to Seo-jun.

The Mirror team members who were familiar with Seo-jun and the students who were not also looked at him with sparkling eyes as if they were seeing a shining star.

The third-year acting students admired him. He always had a cool presence no matter when they saw him.

Seo-jun smiled and opened his mouth.

“Hello. I'm Lee Seo-jun, a third-year acting student. Thank you for applying to MOEB-436.”

Clap clap clap.

Applause sounded.

The first-year students who rarely saw Seo-jun reacted more enthusiastically.

Seo-jun smiled softly and said.

“Then I’ll speak casually from now on. We’ll be working together until the graduation performance in December, and for the official performance after that. Um. I'm not the only one aiming for an official performance, right?”

Seo-jun's words made laughter erupt.

“No. We’re also aiming for an official performance!”

“Let's make the official performance a hit!”

The second-year and third-year students who had more experience answered with a smile.

The first-year students clapped their hands lightly with nervous eyes.

An official performance sounded nerve-wracking, but it seemed possible with Lee Seo-jun sunbae leading them.

Seeing those first-year students, seo-jun said.

“You don't have to feel too pressured. If you have any difficulties or problems, just tell me or your seniors. Whether you’re on the acting team, music team, or art team.”

“…Yes!”

He was on Mirror, which had an original novel, so he didn't have to worry about leaks, but 436 was a creative play that needed caution.

Kim Joo-kyung saw the worried students and said with a smile.

“You don't have to worry too much. Seo-jun knows how to avoid spoilers for the people who will watch the play. You know that, right? Even during Mirror, there were many people who didn't read the novel. You just have to be careful not to leak it as much as possible.”

Kim Joo-kyung's words made the students sigh in relief.

Seo-jun watched his friends who gave poison and medicine to the students as if they had practiced and smiled quietly.

It was nice to have some help.

“Then that's it for today! See you all tomorrow!”

The preparation for the graduation performance began.

***

-How can we not see Seo-jun's acting skills…!

=It was fun to watch them in short clips, but it's a pity.

-Can't they make it public at Korea National University?

=That would be too much.

=22 That's crossing the line.

-But why don't they release the video of the practical test? Yeoul Arts High School and Mirinae Arts High School do it.

=They usually don't. ATR Foundation is the exception.

=22 If they release it, there will be controversies like why did he get accepted, I think he's better, etc.

=333 It might be okay for middle school or high school… but college is a bit;;;

=444 This is a country that doesn't even let planes land on the day of the college entrance exam. Our country??

-But if you have broadcasting experience, can't you go through a special admission?

=Right. Don't actors and idols go to college like that? Celebrity admission… or something?

=?? They don't call it celebrity admission.

=+)Talent admission. They select based on external activities with public credibility (actor, singer, athlete, etc.) or awards. They also recognize school experiences (activities, awards).

=That's why there's a push for high school awards.

=Wow… I see.

-Seo-jun is… he has both external activities with public credibility (acting in many works) and awards (Golden Globe, oscar, cannes Film Festival), so he’ll probably get accepted in one shot.

=(This comment has been deleted)

=Summary of original comment: It's easy for celebrities to go to college.

=? What do you mean easy? Don't you see how hard he worked to build his career?

=??? : He won an Oscar to go to college easily. Hmm. He also prepared a Golden Palme d’Or Award because it seemed insufficient.

=???What kind of college is it that he wants to go so badly????

=22 Seo-jun's acting skills are enough to get accepted even if he just applies.

=333 His grades are also good, I heard.

-But Korea National University doesn't have talent admission.

=Oh… what if they don't?

=They just take the same test as everyone else and get in.

=But they don't release the video of the practical test??

-Conclusion) We can never see Seo-jun's practical test video.

***

“This is how the beginning part will go.”

Seo-jun told Kim Joo-kyung.

“I want to make the audience feel that the scientist is an alien.”

“Okay.”

Kim Joo-kyung, who played the role of ‘scientist’, also listened to Seo-jun's explanation with a serious face.

“So at first, you spit out some weird words like an alien language. Then it changes to Korean as if you’re tuning the radio frequency.”

“How about doing it in a foreign language? Wouldn't it be fun to interpret if you put some meaning in a language that people don't know well?”

Seo-jun thought for a moment at Kim Joo-kyung's suggestion and shook his head.

“This will be released on YouTube after the official performance. People from that country will be able to see it too. Wouldn't they dislike it if we use their language as an alien language?”

“Hmm. Maybe.”

“I wouldn't be immersed if I saw a foreign movie where aliens speak Korean. Korean is not an alien common language either.”

“Ah.”

Kim Joo-kyung was convinced by Seo-jun's explanation.

It wouldn't matter much if foreigners who didn't know Korean watched it, but if Koreans who understood and used Korean watched such a movie, it would be funny no matter how serious the content was.

“That makes sense. For the alien language… how should I do it?”

“It's short anyway, so a simple combination of ABCD is fine.

‘ABCD’ sounds bright, so… maybe EU sounds better?”

“Like ‘GNEUDR’?”

“Yeah. A bit slowly.

‘GEU-CRUSH-’ like that, mix the order and add final consonants. It doesn't have to be EU sounds either, I think anything would be fine.”

Kim Joo-kyung nodded at Seo-jun's test.

“Got it. But if I just spit it out, it’ll be hard to say the same thing every time during the performance.”

“We’re going to record this, so you only have to do it once. We’ll also add machine sounds and distort the voice to make it as alien as possible. We just have to match the timing well when it changes from alien language to Korean.”

“That's no problem!”

Kim Joo-kyung nodded and wondered what sounds would suit the ‘scientist’ better.

Seo-jun put down the script and looked around the first practice room.

Han Jinho, Kang Jae-han, Kim Young-chan, and Park Yeon-ji were sitting apart in the spacious practice room, looking at their scripts without disturbing each other's voices and acting.

The first practice room was assigned to Team [436], and everyone gathered here after school.

Of course, it was only the acting team, and the music team was in their assigned music practice room, and the art team was in their assigned art room.

They communicated with each other by phone and sometimes Seo-jun visited them personally.

Seo-jun checked on his phone if there were any problems with the other teams and started to focus on his own acting practice.

He was busy because of situations other than acting, but he felt a sense of accomplishment that he and his teammates were making everything from scratch.

After the acting practice, during the break time.

The acting team chatted while eating sandwiches and juice bought with the graduation performance support fund from Mirinae Arts High School.

Park Yeon-ji and Kim Young-chan, who were nervous, also seemed to feel comfortable in this place and started talking first.

“You're all applying to Korea National University, right?”

“Well, yeah.”

The 3rd graders laughed as if they had given up.

Park Yeon-ji and Kim Young-chan, who would face the entrance exam next year and the year after, sparkled their eyes.

“I finished applying for early admission a while ago and submitted all the documents like self-introduction letters or high school transcripts.”

“I guess the music and art departments are the same. The test date hasn't been announced yet, right?”

“Yeah. We’ll have to adjust our schedule when it comes out.”

Seo-jun answered Kim Joo-kyung's question.

Considering everything from early admission to college entrance exam, and then practical test after that, it was inevitable that the 3rd graders’ activities would be limited.

That's why there were fewer 3rd grade applicants than during [Mirror].

‘I guess they applied considering that too.’

Seo-jun also planned to think enough about his teammates’ schedules as a team leader.

He thought that except for the acting team, the music team and the art team would probably be centered around 1st and 2nd graders.