Superstar From Age 0

The acting department's third-year students gathered in the largest special room of the practice hall since morning, in order to attend a special lecture.

“They’re going to do it all in one day.”

The students widened their eyes at Yang Ju-hee's words.

“Today?”

“Yeah. From first to third year. Everyone.”

“So that's why they're starting from the morning.”

“But why are they doing the special lecture today when we have the graduation performance tomorrow?”

“Yeah, seriously.”

Eum.

Seo-jun scratched his cheek, unable to say that the lecturers would be bothered in various ways if it was known that they were in Korea, so they planned to leave as soon as possible after watching the graduation performance without any exposure.

‘But I think everyone will know by today or tomorrow who the guest lecturers are…’

Seo-jun smiled softly as he watched his friends guessing who the lecturers were. He caught the eye of his homeroom teacher standing in front of the door of the special room.

‘Come to think of it…’

The special lecture had been scheduled since the beginning of the second semester, so it seemed that the teachers had been hiding it for months.

‘Wow. That's impressive. Teacher.’

‘Ha ha. What.’

Jung Si-woon laughed, realizing from Seo-jun's gaze that he knew.

He almost spilled the beans, but well, he thought this was a successful surprise lecture.

Jung Si-woon, who was standing at the entrance, sparkled his eyes as he saw the two actors walking from the other side of the hallway with the guidance of the head teacher of the third year.

It was Jung Si-woon's first time seeing Hollywood actors (except Seo-jun) up close.

“Then listen well to today's special lecture. It's a very rare opportunity.”

Question marks popped up over the heads of the students at Jung Si-woon's words. Only Seo-jun smiled quietly.

“Please come in.”

At that, the lecturers who would be in charge of today's special lecture showed themselves.

“Nice to meet you. We are the third-year students of Mirinae Arts High School's acting department.”

“Hello! How many of you know us? Raise your hands!”

The students froze at the fluent Korean and familiar yet unfamiliar faces of the two foreign actors.

It was as if time and space had frozen altogether.

“Huh? You don't seem to know us.”

“Should we go back?”

The surprised Rachel Hill and Evan Block pointing his finger at the door made the special room explode.

“Wow!!!”

“Ahh!!!”

“What, what is this?”

The second-year students who were in the classroom closest to the special room were startled by the loud scream.

It was louder than when Seo-jun appeared on TV.

In the midst of such a scream, seo-jun was being shaken by his friends.

He was glad they didn't grab his collar.

“Why didn't you tell us!?”

“Evan Block! Rachel Hill!”

“Ahh!”

Han Jinho felt like he had erased Korean from his head.

“But didn't you see them when you filmed Escape?”

Jeon Seong-min, who was also excited by the appearance of the superstars, asked.

The child actors who appeared in [Escape] shook their heads vigorously.

It seemed like they would make a sound with how hard they shook their heads.

“That was a secret filming!”

“We couldn't even see Evan Block's ‘?’!”

“But we have his autographed long padding!”

The students exclaimed at Kim Joo-kyung's words.

“Come on, kids. Turn off your local broadcasts.”

The third-year students, who were more excited than ever, closed their mouths one by one at Jung Si-woon's words. But their eyes were still sparkling.

Evan Block and Rachel Hill smiled as they watched the cute reactions of the kids.

“Nice to meet you. I'm actor Evan Block.”

“Hello. I'm actoress Rachel Hill.”

The students cheered and clapped again.

“We are very happy to meet you. We have done interviews and broadcasts before, but this is our first time giving a lecture. So today, rather than a lecture, we would like to talk about what kind of place our filming site is.”

“Of course, if you have any questions about acting or filming, please feel free to ask!”

The students snapped out of their admiration for the two foreign actors’ Korean skills that were no less than Koreans and clapped their hands.

As Evan Block and Rachel Hill sat down, a special lecture by Hollywood stars began for the first time since Mirinae Arts High School was founded.

***

“Hey hey hey hey!”

Park Yeon-ji and her friends from second year acting department were eating their lunch, which seemed more colorful and delicious than usual, when they felt a familiar feeling.

They turned their heads. It seemed like this happened three months ago.

The face of the friend who ran over was red, not just flushed, but burning.

“Is there anything bigger than Park Yeon-ji joining Seo-jun's team?”

“It doesn't seem like it.”

“Her acting skills are growing day by day…!”

Park Yeon-ji and her friends clapped their hands and turned their attention.

“But what was that scream earlier?”

“The teacher didn't say anything either.”

“Hey! If someone comes, at least pretend to know!”

“Yeah. Yeah. What's going on?”

The friend who was bragging didn't know what to do at Park Yeon-ji's words.

“Do you know who I just saw?”

“How would we know?”

“Oh my god… Oh my god…!”

He seemed to be the best at acting in our school.

Park Yeon-ji and her friends were about to put a piece of cheese steak in their mouths when the friend shouted.

“Rachel Hill and Evan Block are here!!”

“…?”

Park Yeon-ji and her friends, as well as the students around them, stopped at the sudden names.

Then, wow!! A scream-like cheer came. The sound that seemed to be getting closer and closer to the cafeteria made their hearts beat faster.

It was like the music that played before Shadowman appeared.

“Rachel Hill and Evan Block are coming to the cafeteria right now?!”

The friend's voice, which was not sure whether it was a scream or a cheer, passed by their ears, and they heard familiar voices through the speaker in their raw form.

“So this is where Jun eats. Is it similar to the drama?”

“Oh! Hi, kids! What's on the menu today? Is it good?”

Evan Block looked around the cafeteria and Rachel Hill spoke friendly to the first-year students sitting at the table near the entrance.

The first-year acting students Kim Young-chan and his friends stared blankly at Rachel Hill.

“…Am I dreaming?”

Park Yeon-ji said without realizing it.

There was no news of their visit to Korea, but Hollywood stars were here, at our school.

“…It seems like I'm dreaming the same dream.”

The friend next to him muttered.

It was a strangely fantastical sight.

“Evan. Rachel. Here are your trays.”

There was someone who shattered that fantasy.

The reason why Evan Block and Rachel Hill were here was somewhat understandable, the one who provided the cause.

The one and only Hollywood star of Mirinae Arts High School, Lee Seo-jun handed over two cafeteria trays to the Hollywood stars, Evan Block and Rachel Hill.

It looked like a photo shoot, but the cafeteria trays that didn't match at all, and the familiar cafeteria windows and walls gave a strange sense of reality.

“…They must have come because of Seo-jun senior…!”

That was the trigger.

The kids realized that it wasn't a fantasy or a dream, but something that made sense.

They snapped out of it one by one, and soon cheers erupted from the mouths of not only the acting department, but also the music and art department students.

Park Yeon-ji and her friends realized what the loud noise they heard during class earlier was as they cheered.

***

A few hours later.

“That was fun! The kids were so cute!”

“They were frozen stiff, though. The third years were okay because they had Jun.”

Rachel Hill and Evan Block walked with smiles on their faces.

They had finished all the special lectures up to the first year and were on their way to the parking lot.

“I'm glad you enjoyed it. The kids liked it too.”

Lee Seo-jun smiled brightly as he walked with them.

“Yeah? That's good to hear.”

“I'm looking forward to tomorrow's performance! The actors are coming too, right?”

“Yes. And the directors and writers too.”

Evan Block and Rachel Hill laughed.

“They’re going to be surprised, aren't they?”

“Yeah, seriously. But Jun. No articles yet? Or am I just not finding them?”

“No. Not yet.”

Seo-jun answered as he browsed through the Korean sites familiarly to see if there were any articles.

He had asked the kids to keep it a secret until tomorrow, but he didn't expect them to keep it so well.

“Isn't it because of Jun? Jun's story doesn't get out much either.”

“Well. I guess the kids here are very nice.”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek at Rachel Hill and Evan Block's words.

‘That's because of my ability.’

But on second thought, rachel Hill's words seemed right.

The Mirinae Arts High School kids might have gotten used to not talking about Seo-jun's story in their daily lives.

“But there will be articles tomorrow, right?”

“Yes. A lot of people will come. And reporters too.”

The families of the students, of course, and also the officials of ATR Foundation would come.

And reporters would come to take pictures of the actors who came to watch the graduation performance as guest lecturers.

“Well, they won't be able to enter Mirinae Hall anyway. They’ll have to stay at the entrance of the building.”

They arrived at the parking lot as they talked.

In the parking lot, there were Cocoa Entertainment's second team staff who had been taking care of the two Hollywood stars while they were in Korea.

“Then wrap it up well. Jun. See you at dinner.”

“We’ll prepare a lot of delicious food with Eun-hye and Min-jun!”

Seo-jun nodded his head with a smile at Evan Block and Rachel Hill's words. They had decided to have dinner together at Seo-jun's house tonight.

“Okay. I'm looking forward to it. Drive safely.”

He watched until the car left the parking lot and headed to the waiting room assigned to Mirinae Hall.

He had to check one last time before tomorrow's graduation performance.

The waiting room for [436] team was a little smaller than practice room 1, but it was big enough for all [436] team members to enter, and there were costumes for the actors to wear, makeup supplies and wigs for makeup, and long mirrors.

“Is this… a dream?”

“I saw Rachel Hill…”

“The special lecture went by too fast…”

“I know. It was over in a blink of an eye. I don't remember anything.”

The [436] team members seemed out of it. The other kids in the classroom probably weren't much different.

Seo-jun smiled and clapped his hands loudly!

Kim Joo-kyung, who came to his senses first, asked Seo-jun.

“Seo-jun. How did actor Evan Block and actor Rachel Hill come? Do they have filming or schedules?”

“They came to see our play.”

Seo-jun said lightly as if it was nothing.

“Oh, th…?”

The team members nodded their heads as if they understood, then froze again.

They came to see our play.

“…Play? They’re coming tomorrow too?!!”

“Yeah.”

The startled kids didn't know whether to be happy or unhappy about the fact that they could see the Hollywood actors again, or the fact that they had to show their play in front of them.

Seo-jun smiled and said.

“Just relax. Uncle Jong-ho… I mean, senior Kim Jong-ho is coming too. And senior Lee Ji-seok too.”

…Ah. That's right.

The kids realized that not only the two actors, but also the actors, directors, and writers who gave the special lectures were all coming.

As much as they were happy to have famous people come, they felt pressured.

“And when you do the official performance, people you don't know will come too.”

When he said that, they felt strangely lighter, but their shoulders were heavier.

“Senior Joo-kyung. Is it better to have people we don't know? Or seniors?”

Park Yeon-ji asked Kim Joo-kyung, who scratched his head.

“Well… People we don't know are paying to see it, right? Isn't that more important?”

“I guess so. I would hate it if I paid for a play and it was lame.”

The team members nodded their heads in agreement and showed their professionalism. Seo-jun also smiled and looked at his friends.

That was the end of all the preparations.

***

And on December 23rd.

Two days before Christmas.

It was the day of Mirinae Arts High School's graduation performance.