Superstar From Age 0

Unlike ordinary high schools, where things got easier after the college entrance exam, the office of Mirinae Arts High School was still busy, as there were still some schedules left for the early admission process.

Especially, the music and art departments had to deal with the students who wanted to go to foreign universities, and they had to adjust their movements according to their schedules and admission procedures.

On the other hand, the acting department was relatively relaxed, as most of the students either went to domestic universities or jumped into the actor's life right away.

The students’ college aspirations, their first choice, Korea National University of Arts's early admission, was already over, and the regular admission was not yet started because the college entrance exam scores had not been announced.

The early admission schedules after the college entrance exam also started mostly after the scores were released.

The first-year teacher of the acting department handed a cup of citron tea to Jung Si-woon, the homeroom teacher of class 3-1, and asked him.

“Mr. Jung, have you seen the new Marina Studio movie?”

“Ah, thank you. Yes, I saw it as soon as it was released.”

Jung Si-woon nodded and answered as he took the warm citron tea.

It was already late November.

It had been more than a week since Marina Studio's new hero movie was released.

There were some teachers who didn't like hero movies, but they were in the acting department, so they needed to know what kind of atmosphere the new movies had.

‘Well, they might say that we don't need to care about Hollywood movies…’

But he had a Hollywood star in his class, and thanks to that star, it became easier for Korean actors to go to Hollywood.

So he naturally cared about it in many ways. Maybe one of his students would become another Hollywood star.

It sounded like a dream, but things didn't always go as expected in this world.

Besides, Jung Si-woon liked hero movies with cool CG and flashy action scenes, so he watched them every time.

Likewise, the first-year teacher who liked hero movies sighed and said.

“Didn't this movie feel a bit disappointing like Phantom?”

It was a sigh full of regret as a fan of hero movies.

“It did. But it was still fun.”

“People who saw Marina Studio's hero movie for the first time in season 2 say it's okay… but I guess season 1 is always the most fun for series.”

The first-year teacher's words made Jung Si-woon nod.

“That's why season 2 came out.”

That was true.

If season 1 hadn't been successful, season 2 wouldn't have come out either.

“Is this what they call ‘leave when you get applause’?”

“It's only been two episodes, what are you talking about? Maybe if there's another movie where heroes come together like Assemble, people will react differently.”

Jung Si-woon leaned back on his chair.

“Maybe we’re too used to hero movies.”

The CG that made him marvel.

The action that made him lose his mind.

And the stories of the characters that he couldn't help but immerse himself in.

When he saw them for the first time, he had no expectations and nothing to compare them with, so they impressed him deeply. But once he got used to them, he felt bored because he had high expectations and season 1 as a great comparison.

At Jung Si-woon's words, the first-year teacher smiled bitterly and nodded.

“That's why it's not easy to create new works.”

“The more successful they are, the more so.”

They talked about various things about Marina Studio's new hero movie, and then moved on to talk about the movie that would be released tomorrow.

A movie based on a best-selling novel.

[Eclipse]

It was a movie that used the novel title as its movie title.

“The preview reactions were not good.”

“Isn't that usually the case when there's an original work?”

If they went to see the preview before the release, they either had a favorite actor among the cast or liked the original novel.

If they were fans of the original novel, their eyes would be more critical when they saw the movie adaptation.

And because of that, movies with original works usually started with anger from the original fans.

Of course, if they could satisfy even those original fans’ hearts, then their success was guaranteed. But there were only a few movies that could do such a splendid visualisation.

Jung Si-woon's words made the first-year teacher shake his head vigorously.

“It's not just that. They say it's like they only took the material and didn't even read the novel.”

“Heh…”

Jung Si-woon widened his eyes at the sharp reaction.

The first-year teacher looked at the novel [Eclipse] on his desk and said gloomily.

“I also enjoyed reading the original work, so I was looking forward to it a bit… but I guess I have to lower my expectations and go see it.”

As a teacher of the acting department, he knew how difficult it was to visualise a work and he couldn't judge it rashly before seeing it himself. But if the people who went to see the movie because of the original work and the cast were all saying the same thing, then the movie [Eclipse] was doomed.

The first-year teacher sighed.

“They were both expected works of this year…”

Drrr.

Then, the office door opened.

The teachers’ faces brightened reflexively as they looked at the office door. Jung Si-woon, who also smiled brightly, opened his mouth.

“Seo-jun, what's up?”

Seo-jun smiled and headed to Jung Si-woon's seat, his homeroom teacher.

“It's about the lighting for the Mirinae Hall stage.”

“Ah, right. Sit here for a moment.”

Jung Si-woon put Seo-jun on his chair and looked for the necessary documents among the materials.

The first-year teacher asked with a smile.

“Seo-jun, do you want some citron tea?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Seo-jun smiled and took the paper cup with warm citron tea.

The sweet citron tea filled his mouth with warmth.

“Ah, and congratulations on getting into Korea National University of Arts.”

“Thank you.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly.

A few days ago, Korea National University of Arts's admission announcement came out.

If there were no marking errors, the score would be enough to pass the exam without any problem, so the people who met Seo-jun congratulated him on his admission to Korea National University of Arts in advance.

“Here it is.”

Jung Si-woon found the document and handed it to Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun, I think what you asked me before is possible. This paper lists the lights that can be installed on the stage, and they are the ones from the Mirinae Hall warehouse and the ones that can be brought from the Milky Way Galaxy Center.”

As Jung Si-woon briefly explained the lights on the document, seo-jun looked closely at the model names and sizes of the lights written on the paper and listened carefully.

There were also lights that he thought would be good to use while preparing for the play.

‘As expected of our school!’

It was a product quality worthy of a school that could bring in the same equipment as the Milky Way Galaxy Center, which had one of the best stage facilities in Korea.

“The ceiling support of the Mirinae Hall stage has a weight limit, so this is about how many lights you can install. Think carefully and if you still think it's not enough, you can also consider installing them on both walls or on the floor.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun nodded at Jung Si-woon's words. He didn't want to cause an accident by exceeding the weight of the support either.

“You can decide on the lights by next week. It would be good if you also decide on where to install them, but if it's difficult, you can talk to me. Here. You just have to draw the direction and position of the lights on this picture.”

“Yes. I got it.”

Jung Si-woon handed Seo-jun a paper with a simple black-and-white drawing of the Mirinae Hall stage and a list of lighting equipment.

“How about the clothes? Are you making them well?”

Jung Si-woon, who had to check on the situation of the children's graduation performance, asked Seo-jun, who was looking at the paper again. Especially, he couldn't help but be interested in team [436], who said they would make their own clothes.

“Yes. We did the first fitting yesterday.”

The first fitting was a process of adjusting the clothes to fit the body after roughly shaping them. After that, the actual costume production began.

“Can you make it on time?”

“You don't have to worry.

The costume team is really good.

It was only the first fitting, but there wasn't much to fix, and it seemed like they could wear them right away after smoothing out those parts.”

Seo-jun smiled and said, making Jung Si-woon nod.

“It's the first time I've seen kids who make their own clothes… so I'm worried a lot. If you think you’re going to be late, let me know right away.”

It was a familiar phrase that made Seo-jun blink his eyes and smile. It was what he had said to the costume team kids.

“Yes. I will.”

As soon as their conversation ended and Seo-jun was about to get up from his seat, Jung Si-woon opened his mouth.

“Ah, seo-jun. There's a special lecture in December.”

‘Why a special lecture all of a sudden?’

Seo-jun tilted his head and answered.

“? Yes.”

“Unj… ugh…”

Jung Si-woon wrapped his side and bent over.

Seo-jun widened his eyes and looked at the first-year teacher who probably made that attack.

The first-year teacher who met Seo-jun's eyes laughed hoarsely.

“No, no. Seo-jun. Go ahead. You have to practice!”

“…Yes. Then I’ll go.”

Seo-jun rolled his eyes as he looked at Jung Si-woon, who was groaning while holding his side, and the first-year teacher who was laughing hoarsely. Then he bowed quickly and left the office.

The office was quiet for a moment.

The teachers who were listening to Seo-jun's footsteps opened their mouths at once when they couldn't hear any sound.

“Mr. Jung. You said it was a secret.”

“No, why did you bring up the special lecture there?”

“We’re also itching to talk about it!”

The teachers scolded Jung Si-woon, who almost asked Seo-jun when the special lecture instructors would come.

***

[The Evaluation Institute announces today's college entrance exam marking results!]

[Focus on college entrance exam grade cut!]

[College entrance exam score report, online issuance also possible]

[Movie ‘Eclipse’, did you even read the original novel??]

[Original novel movie success VS failure!]

-I don't have to take it three times!!

=Oh! Congratulations!

=I'm taking it again.

=…Oops.

-I heard from someone that Lee Seo-jun got into Korea National University of Arts.

=?? No one here thinks Lee Seo-jun will fail.

=22 He's good at his regular grades too.

-Congratulations on your admission! Seo-jun!!

=Can we see Seo-jun on the KNUA campus now?

=I've never seen Seo-jun in real life, so I doubt he's really real.

=22 I'm not the only one who feels that way.

=333 Maybe we’re being fooled right now.

=To get rid of this doubt, we need a fan meeting from Coa soon!

-Wow… wow… Eclipse…

=Normally, this would be a comment of admiration, but this time it's full of ambiguous meanings.

=Ambiguous: Interpreted in more than one meaning. (College entrance exam. I still have some knowledge left.)

=I really can't say anything because I'm speechless.

-The reporter is also mocking it. Did you even read the original novel???

=They didn't.

=22 If they did, they couldn't make it like this.

-Movie Eclipse summary: A collaboration of character collapses and character collapses.

=I only saw this and thought it was very different from the novel, I didn't read the novel so it's okay! I went and saw it, but there was a character collapse in the movie too???

=Character collapse (novel character) and character collapse (movie character) collaboration.

-This is also really… amazing.

=Yeah, yeah. There was a character collapse in a movie that was only two hours long.

=Beginning: I can never forgive you!

End: I understand. I forgive you.

=LOL. Well, if the development was like that, I could understand it. But there was no persuasiveness at all.

-It felt like watching a weekend drama.

=222 They would be enemies for life, but at the end they apologize, regret, forgive, understand, and have a happy ending with tears.

=It would be a sweet potato ending.

-They should have left it to Lee Seo-jun.

=22 He adapted Mirror when he was in middle school.

=But this is not an adaptation.

=Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just a different movie with the same material.

-The movie critic was talking about other movies and sighed when he mentioned Eclipse.

=LOL. It was funny because it was a genuine reaction.

=He didn't even know he said it.

-Which company made this? How did they think of releasing this?

=Is it only like this in our country? Are the reviews in other countries good?

=(Link to foreign movie review site) It failed.

=Wow…

***

While people were buzzing about [Eclipse], the [436] team of Mirinae High School was busy preparing for the graduation performance that was approaching.

Behind the stage of Mirinae Hall.

Seo-jun and the team leaders checked the costumes made by the costume team and made sure that the sound recorded by the music team came out properly.

“Let's do the background installation later. For now, let's just check the movement and music timing.”

“Got it.”

“Actors, tell me right away if there's anything uncomfortable when you move.”

“Okay!”

“Seo-jun. Do you want to check the lights now?”

It was not the art team who was in charge of the background, but Kim Chae-yeon, the music team leader, who said that. The kids who had heard the story from middle school laughed softly. Seo-jun also smiled and said.

“Yeah. Let's do that too. Min-hyung, go with Chae-yeon.”

“Huh!? Me?”

Park Min-hyung, who was checking the actors’ clothes, flinched and lifted his head. Seo-jun smiled and nodded.

“Look around and tell me if you have any good opinions.”

“Yes!”

Clap!

Seo-jun clapped his hands and shouted loudly.

“Then let's start the stage rehearsal!”

There were strong answers from everywhere.