Superstar From Age 0

Unlike the Yeoul Hall, where the light switch was behind the stage, the Mirinae Hall had a separate lighting and sound room on the second floor at the opposite end of the stage.

This was where the background music would also come from, so Kim Chae-yeon, the leader of the music team, was busy moving around.

Park Min-hyung, who was rolling his eyes, looked outside the glass window.

He could see the stage and the audience seats at a glance, since he was sitting on the second floor.

Under the bright lights, Lee Sol, the leader of the art team, was waving her arms and explaining the position and size of the background.

He could also see the actors checking their movements while listening to her.

Seo-jun senior pointed at the stage floor and said something.

It was probably a warning to be careful of the revolving stage.

Of course, there would be no need for the revolving stage to move during the play, but it seemed better to know in case of an emergency.

Then he pointed at the direction of the audience seats.

There were cameras installed in various places that Seo-jun senior pointed at, for monitoring purposes.

Half of them were school cameras and half were Seo-jun senior's cameras.

The third-year seniors from the acting team said that Seo-jun-senior had more cameras at his house.

“Good! Min-hyung. Come over here.”

Park Min-hyung, who was lost in thought, flinched at Kim Chae-yeon's call and quickly moved.

“Yes, yes!”

“Seo-jun marked the script for you. You just have to press the switch according to the numbers marked here. The ones with lines drawn like this mean you have to turn them off.”

As Kim Chae-yeon said, there were numbers written clearly for each part of the dialogue, indicating which lights to use.

Park Min-hyung thought that Kim Chae-yeon-senior would be in charge of the lighting, of course, so he felt a bit puzzled by her long explanation, but he soon nodded and listened carefully.

“Let's check the lights first.”

Click, click.

The lights on the stage changed by Kim Chae-yeon's hand.

Red, blue, yellow, etc.

Seo-jun and the kids on stage moved their heads around and checked how the lights shone on them.

Seo-jun, who was holding a script in one hand, picked up a microphone that was lying on one side and lifted it toward the lighting room.

“This is the microphone switch.”

Kim Chae-yeon pressed the microphone switch and said.

[The microphone is on.]

Kim Chae-yeon's voice came out through the speaker to the stage. She turned on the microphone skillfully with a machine, probably because she often played music at Mirinae Hall.

[Ah- ah-. Okay.]

Seo-jun said as he looked at the lights and stage.

[Chae-yeon. Turn on the blue ones.]

[All of them?]

[Yeah. One by one.]

Click, click.

The stage turned blue every time a sound was made. Seo-jun's eyes sharply examined the direction of the lights and how they fell on stage.

[Good. Next is red.]

[Got it.]

Kim Chae-yeon answered Seo-jun's words and looked at Park Min-hyung.

“Do you want to try?”

“Ah, yes!”

His hand was a bit sweaty.

He took a deep breath and turned on and off the red lights in order.

The lights turned on one by one on stage and Seo-jun nodded satisfactorily.

“As expected from our school. They installed everything exactly as I wanted.”

“The manager here came from Milky Way Galaxy Center.”

“Oh…”

Everyone exclaimed at Han Ji-ho's words. They felt more confident just by hearing Milky Way Galaxy Center's name.

Seo-jun smiled and said.

“Then let's start practicing right away.”

“Yeah!”

The kids on stage came down so they could see better.

When no one was left on stage, Kim Chae-yeon turned off some of the lights behind the audience seats so that they could move around easily, and turned off all other lights as if it were a real performance.

And after a moment.

The stage lit up as if to signal the start of a play.

[Creak-crack-]

Along with a strange noise from the speaker, a scientist in a white gown appeared on stage where only paper was used to roughly indicate the background. It was Kim Joo-kyung.

***

The actors acted on stage.

The background was not installed yet and they wore costumes but did not have makeup on.

The background music and sound effects did not match the acting and there were some parts that stood out.

But they were still the golden generation.

Watching their third-year seniors’ acting, they were more focused than looking for flaws.

And the most eye-catching one among them was,

of course, Lee Seo-jun.

Kim Chae-yeon could not take her eyes off Seo-jun's aura that filled the audience seats.

It was always a powerful aura, no matter when she saw it. That's why she was a bit late to turn on the lights.

No.

She almost missed it.

Before Kim Chae-yeon realized it, there was a hand that moved first.

Click.

The light came on.

Seo-jun's acting continued under the light.

Only then did Kim Chae-yeon raise her head in surprise.

Park Min-hyung, a first-year student from the art department who was next to her, was staring intently at the stage.

He did not seem to notice that Kim Chae-yeon was looking at him, as he only looked at the stage, the script, and the lighting machine alternately.

He did not even blink his eyes, and Kim Chae-yeon could feel that he was focused on the stage. But the lights turned on and off, moved, and matched the script at a similar timing.

He was a bit clumsy at first, trying to find the numbers of the lights and follow the dialogue, but he was doing very well for his first time.

‘…Is this his calling?’

She wondered if he should pursue a career in stage lighting.

Meanwhile, the practice continued.

The third-year seniors’ acting, which was not the same as what they saw in the practice room, but on stage, overwhelmed the first and second-year students from the acting team.

They made many mistakes, but the practice did not stop.

And until the last part, although the timing was a bit off, the lights turned on and off clearly.

He seemed to be immersed in Seo-jun's acting, but Park Min-hyung's expression was really focused.

Kim Chae-yeon had often seen a similar look in some people's eyes.

Sometimes, in the eyes of her friends who played music with passion.

And almost always,

in Seo-jun's eyes when he acted.

She thought it was not a desire to overcome his shortcomings, but a will to create a more ‘perfect’ picture as an artist.

Did she have that look in her eyes too?

Kim Chae-yeon, who was thinking for a moment, smiled and opened her mouth.

“Min-hyung. How about you do the lighting?”

“Y-yes!?”

He finally came to his senses and let go of the lighting machine with a startled expression.

***

“So you decided to let Min-hyung do the lighting?”

“Yes. Chae-yeon said she liked it too. She said she wanted to watch the play without worrying about the lighting.”

Ahn Da Ho nodded his head at Seo-jun's words as he held the steering wheel.

“That makes sense. The team members can't see the stage properly, right?”

“They’re all busy preparing for the play… So I thought it would be nice if we could take turns watching it when we have a real performance.”

Ahn Da Ho smiled slyly and opened his mouth.

“You were thinking of having a real performance?”

“Haha. Well…”

Seo-jun looked away awkwardly and looked out the window. The scenery around him was passing by quickly.

“I think we can do it if we don't make any mistakes.”

“Yeah. Who else can do it if not your team? You can do it even if you make mistakes.”

Ahn Da Ho laughed heartily and said.

“Oh, is Grace okay?”

“She seems to have calmed down a bit… But she said there's no Eclipse movie in her heart.”

Seo-jun answered with a bitter smile at Ahn Da Ho's question.

A few hours after [Eclipse] was released worldwide at the same time,

Grace, who had been holding back her anger when she saw Seo-jun and Charlie's messages saying they watched the movie, went berserk.

At that time, seo-jun and Charlie, who were Korean and French respectively, thought they had heard all kinds of curses from an American that foreigners could not understand.

“She said she endured it without saying anything because she didn't want to spoil it.”

“Yes. It was something that didn't need to be spoiled, though.”

Of course, seo-jun and Charlie had guessed that [Eclipse] would not be good in a bad way.

They could tell by the atmosphere that Grace had when she came back from watching the movie at an internal screening as the sister of the original author.

‘I didn't know it would be this bad.’

[Eclipse], which was released at the end of November, was taken down from theaters in less than a month with a reasonable suspicion that they had spent all their production costs on publicity. Thanks to that, Marina Studio's movie, which was released around the same time, gained some profits reflexively.

There were movies that succeeded and movies that failed, but it was bitter when it involved a friend and his family.

Seo-jun, who was looking out the window for a moment, saw the hotel getting closer and adjusted his neatly dressed clothes to get ready to get off.

“But why are you having an interview during play practice? Isn't this your first time?”

Ahn Da Ho and Team 2 usually did not take any schedules when Seo-jun was preparing for a work, so he was more curious. He wondered where the interview would be published.

“Hahaha.”

Ahn Da Ho only laughed without answering his question.

***

“Ta-da!”

“TA-DA!”

As soon as he opened the door of the hotel room, seo-jun widened his eyes at what he saw.

“No.”

He heard a familiar laughter at his bewildered expression.

“Why are Rachel and Evan here?”

It was Rachel Hill and Evan Block.

“Hi! Jun! Long…time no see?”

“We saw each other in May. At Cannes.”

“Ahaha. Right, right.”

Rachel Hill, who spat out even the exclamation in a Korean way, smiled brightly and dragged Seo-jun into the room. Evan Block and Ahn Da Ho greeted each other with a smile.

Seo-jun, who was dragged by Rachel Hill, turned his head and looked at Ahn Da Ho. He did not seem surprised at all, which meant he knew about it.

He suddenly remembered Ahn Da Ho's smile when he refused to answer his questions.

“You…!”

Seo-jun's eyes narrowed at the situation and Ahn Da Ho looked away with a smile. Evan Block laughed at Seo-jun's expression.

“He must have hidden it well.”

“He did. With Team 2.”

Everyone laughed and sat down, except for one person who was clearly fooled.

“Here, Jun. Try this. It's delicious.”

“This too.”

In front of Seo-jun, who thought he was coming for an interview and dressed up nicely, there were delicious snacks. On one side, there was a fresh orange tart, and on the other, a sweet chocolate tart.

They must have thought that he would feel better if they gave him something to eat, since they had seen him since he was young.

‘How old do you think I am…?’

He didn't refuse to eat, of course.

“But why are we here?”

He mumbled with a forkful of orange tart in his mouth. Evan Block smiled brightly and answered his question.

“I'm here to give a lecture.”

“Wow. A lecture? Where? When?”

He wanted to hear a lecture from the actor nicknamed Analyst, Evan Block. Seo-jun's eyes sparkled and the three adults chuckled. He narrowed his eyes at their reaction.

“…What? Are you hiding something again?”

Evan Block and Rachel Hill said with a smile.

“We’re giving it at Mirinae Arts High School.”

“The day before your graduation performance!”

“We heard about it at Cannes and we couldn't wait.”

“We also want to see your friends!”

“And if we attend the special lecture, we can watch the graduation performance, right?”

“They say the food at Mirinae Arts High School is good!”

He dropped his fork on the table as he listened to their words that came out without any order. Along with the sound of the fork falling, seo-jun's eyes trembled and turned to Ahn Da Ho.

Ahn Da Ho said with a smile.

“That's right.”

He seemed a bit detached.

Well, who wouldn't be surprised to hear that Hollywood actors came to Korea to watch a high school student's play?

Ahn Da Ho must have been shocked too when he first heard it.

“Are you really coming all the way to Korea to watch the play?”

“Yup! We’ve never seen your play before.”

“But we’ve worked together on a movie.”

“A movie is a movie and a play is a play!”

That was true.

Seo-jun and Evan Block nodded without realizing it at Rachel Hill's words.

“You would come to see us if we did a play in America, right?”

That was also true.

Seo-jun nodded and burst into laughter.

“Wouldn't it be easier to watch it with the invitations I’ll give to the team for the official performance?”

“We heard from Da Ho, but the special lecture sounds fun.”

“We want to see your friends too!”

“And the official performance is at Milky Way Galaxy Center, right? We heard that there are too many people there.”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho agreed with Evan Block's words. Milky Way Galaxy Center was a place where performances were held every day and every hour, so there was no way it would be empty.

He felt a bit drained and leaned back on the sofa.

‘Brown Black hyungs are coming too, and Evan and Rachel too.’

They all seemed to expect his play, which made him feel a bit pressured, but also happy.

“Ah.”

Seo-jun remembered something. The three people tilted their heads.

“There's something you have to see before you watch the play.”

“Us?”

Ahn Da Ho seemed to have noticed something too.

“Oh, that?”

Evan Block and Rachel Hill looked confused with question marks floating above their heads.

Seo-jun smiled mischievously.