Superstar From Age 0

SBC Broadcasting Station was buzzing with the news that came in last night.

“How lucky is Working Man to have…”

“Right? It's the only variety show that Lee Seo-jun appeared twice.”

“Three times, actually. Remember when he came for a short time during the Reinvestigation filming?”

He barely showed up, but the ratings were amazing.

The people who remembered that event all sighed with the same thought.

“I wish he would come to our show…”

Strangely enough, these conversations were not only happening in the variety department, but also in the drama department.

“When are they airing the Babel Tower episode?”

The Babel Tower team was busy preparing for the unexpected promotional opportunity.

“Next week! They’re editing it right away!”

“What's the vibe of the show? I want to make a teaser with a similar atmosphere!”

“Hold on! I’ll find out right now!”

They wanted to make a captivating Babel Tower promo video and air it right after Working Man, hoping to attract the viewers who would flock to see Lee Seo-jun.

“If half of the Working Man viewers watch it…”

The first episode ratings would be much higher than expected. That's why the Babel Tower team looked very happy as they ran around.

The other PDs and assistant directors looked at them with envious eyes.

“Babel Tower will definitely get promoted.”

“Right. I didn't know Choi So-yeong and Lee Seo-jun were that close.”

It was just last night's news and it was a variety department's matter, so not many details were known, but it was reported that Lee Seo-jun appeared because of Choi So-yeong's friendship.

“But if they're that close, wouldn't he do a cameo for her?”

Someone shook their head and answered.

“He won't. If you’re a director who wants to make a hit, you would have asked Lee Seo-jun's group actors for such an offer at least once. But look. There's no work where Lee Seo-jun did a cameo.”

“Maybe Reinvestigation was his first and last?”

Everyone nodded their heads as they recalled the drama Reinvestigation that Lee Ji-seok starred in ten years ago.

“Lee Seo-jun needs both friendship and quality to appear in a work. He's very picky about his works.”

“Even for a cameo?”

It was just a brief appearance, so why did he need to choose his works?

“Because it's still a work that goes into Lee Seo-jun's filmography.”

“Look at Lee Seo-jun's filmography. It's perfect. You know. Starting from Shadowman…”

As if they memorized it, one PD listed Lee Seo-jun's filmography and everyone gasped in admiration.

“And there's not a single flop.”

“Right. It's amazing when you put them together like this. I've heard that Lee Seo-jun has a good eye for works since a long time ago…”

It was really amazing how he could pick only good works so easily.

“Sigh. I want to be in his filmography too.”

“It would be even better if I became friends with Lee Seo-jun during filming and joined his group.”

Everyone agreed with sincere expressions.

“What are his criteria for choosing works? Artistry? Popularity? Unique themes?”

“If we knew that, we would have already casted Lee Seo-jun and more.”

Then they all thought the same thing.

‘I can't tell anyone even if I knew.’

***

Two days later, sunday.

SBC variety show Working Man aired.

“Hahaha!”

As usual, working Man made people laugh and ended its broadcast. Then, the preview for next week came on.

Some changed the channel to watch something else and some waited to see who would appear next week.

“Are you changing it again?”

The younger sibling defended the remote control from Song Yu-jung's footwork.

“Just wait a bit. I want to see who's coming.”

“Well, it must be some new drama promotion.”

As Song Yu-jung said, the preview for Working Man showed the actors of the new drama Babel Tower.

They introduced each actor and showed some scenes that would arouse curiosity for next week's episode.

“But the preview is strangely long.”

“Right.”

When they thought it should have ended and gone to commercials by now,

The screen turned black.

The words [Next Week Preview!] were still written in one corner of the screen, so it didn't seem like a malfunction.

Song Yu-jung and her sibling opened their eyes wide.

“A broadcast accident?”

“Oh no!”

As Song Yu-jung, her sibling, and the viewers who were watching Working Man from their homes were about to check their phones,

White letters appeared on the black screen.

[Have you seen actor Lee Seo-jun?]

“…?”

They didn't understand the sentence for a moment and their eyes grew bigger and their mouths opened wide.

“What!?!?”

——————–

A group of freshmen walked towards the A building where the acting department's OT was held, a little away from the students who were chatting.

“How many of us got in from our school?”

At Park Si-young's question, Yang Ju-hee counted the names on her fingers. First, the seven of them here, plus Jung Bo-ram, Kim Haun… All ten fingers were folded and then one hand opened.

“Maybe 14.”

“That's a lot, right?”

“Out of 38, 14 are from Mirinae Arts High School, so that's a lot. And there are also seniors who retook the exam, so there might be more from Mirinae Arts High School.”

At Yang Ju-hee's words, seo-jun and the others nodded their heads in awe.

“But doesn't it feel like we’re just going to high school because we’re from the same school? Is it just me?”

The others laughed at Han Jinho's words. They all had that thought at least once before coming to Korea Arts today.

“I feel a bit awkward not wearing a uniform to school.”

Jeon Seong-min looked at his own clothes and his friends’ clothes alternately.

They were not the same design uniforms, but different colors and shapes of casual clothes.

“I felt the same way. I was wondering what to wear this morning.”

Everyone nodded at Kim Joo-kyung's words.

They talked about this and that with their friends and then the topic shifted to Working Man.

“You guys were also on the preview yesterday.”

At Seo-jun's words, Kang Jae-han nodded.

“Yeah. We barely passed by, right?”

“My parents didn't recognize us because it was so brief.”

Everyone burst into laughter at Han Jinho's words.

***

Room 301, A building.

The freshmen who arrived earlier turned their heads reflexively whenever the door opened.

They didn't know when Lee Seo-jun would come, so it was a reflexive action.

After turning their heads a few times, Lee Seo-jun finally appeared.

“Oh, you’re here.”

“You guys always hang out together.”

Kim Haun, Jung Bo-ram, and the Mirinae Arts High School seniors who were already there greeted Seo-jun and his friends with a smile.

The Mirinae Arts High School seniors who got in after retaking the exam also exchanged greetings with them.

‘I want to say hello too!’

The freshmen who came from other schools as regular students, as well as those who took the exam several times, glanced at Seo-jun and his friends.

They were more curious because they were the topic of Working Man yesterday.

“Hello!”

While they were just looking around, time seemed to have passed quickly.

The front door opened and a group of people came in.

The freshmen straightened their backs and sat down at the appearance of people who looked like seniors.

“Hello. I'm Hwang Do-yoon, the president of the acting department in my third year, and I’ll be in charge of today's OT.”

Hwang Do-yoon greeted them with a smile in front of 38 freshmen.

The rest of the people also introduced themselves.

They were the student council of the acting department who were responsible for this OT.

“Since some of you got in as regular students and some of you took the exam several times and some of you challenged your dreams, we’ll use honorifics for this OT. You should also be careful not to speak casually to someone who turns out to be three years older than you!”

As laughter erupted among the student council members, hwang Do-yoon said with a smile.

“That's my personal experience.”

Hwang Do-yoon stood in front of the podium. The student council members handed out guidebooks.

“Our acting department OT will end today. First…”

Hwang Do-yoon briefly explained about the OT.

It included information about the school such as course registration and graduation, greeting professors, having a short conversation among freshmen, and having a party with seniors afterwards.

Some freshmen nodded at the words that they didn't have to participate, and sneaked a glance at Seo-jun. Seeing that, hwang Do-yoon somehow thought that the attendance rate would be 100% and opened his mouth.

“Let's put everything else aside and explain the most important thing, course registration. You’ll be busy with all kinds of stories later, so you need to know this for sure. I don't know about anything else, but I have to explain this clearly before I go.”

The freshmen opened their eyes wide at Hwang Do-yoon's words.

“There are credits and major requirements, general requirements written in the guidebook that we gave you.”

Seo-jun looked at the guidebook.

It was a bit fun to make your own timetable, unlike high school where everything was fixed.

“If you don't have enough credits, you'll have to take summer or winter classes or pay more tuition and stay longer in school, so plan well and try to finish in four years.”

“Yes!”

Hwang Do-yoon smiled and continued.

“As it says on the guidebook, course registration is in two days, and it starts at 9 a.m. You can change your classes freely until the last day of course registration, so think carefully. Now I’ll show you how to register for courses. First, log in to the school website.”

A beam projector image appeared behind Hwang Do-yoon.

When he logged in to the Korea National University of Arts website and clicked on the pop-up window, the course registration screen appeared.

“When you enter the course registration page, there's a syllabus file here.”

Hwang Do-yoon pointed to a button that said download syllabus. When he clicked on the button, a syllabus filled the screen.

“You can check the syllabus like this and see what day, what period, and how long the class is. You can make your timetable according to your preferred days or times. If you don't want to come to school on Monday or want to take classes four days a week, you can squeeze in more classes on other days. This is called a free period.”

Oh.

The freshmen's eyes sparkled at the idea of taking classes four days a week.

“Of course, the content of the lecture is also important. You’ve all heard it, right? The terrifying rumors of group projects in college.”

Seo-jun and his friends, as well as the freshmen nodded their heads repeatedly.

“Our acting department is similar. It's even easier to miss because of schedules like filming.”

-??? : I have an independent film shooting today, so I have to skip.

-??? : I got a sudden filming schedule…

-??? : I have an audition…

A familiar Banana Talk message window appeared on the screen.

Seeing that, hwang Do-yoon smiled faintly.

“That's my personal experience.”

“Ah…”

A regretful sigh came out from somewhere.

“So you have to read the syllabus carefully and choose your classes. The acting department professors don't have many group activities, but there are some who don't care about that in general education courses. It's also a good idea to listen to stories about lectures from seniors at today's party.”

The freshmen nodded their heads.

“Then I’ll tell you what to watch out for when making your timetable. First of all, lunchtime.”

Everyone focused on the word food.

At the same time as Hwang Do-yoon's words, timetables that were circulating under the name ‘failed timetables’ appeared on the screen.

“There's no lunchtime in college. So if you fill up your schedule like this from first period to last period, you won't have time to eat. You might end up eating only triangle kimbap during breaks. Of course, this is also my personal experience.”

Ah…

A sigh came out from somewhere.

“So think carefully about when you’re going to eat when you make your timetable.”

The freshmen nodded their heads seriously.

“And everyone. Korea National University of Arts campus is pretty big, right?”

“Yes.”

“So you have to look carefully at the classroom and building when you choose your classes. If you choose wrong classes, you'll have to run from here.”

Hwang Do-yoon pointed to the building at the bottom of the campus map on the screen.

“To there.”

And he moved his finger along the road up to the building at the top of the map.

“For one semester.”

“…”

“Sweating profusely.”

“…”

“This is also my personal experience.”

Somehow, the freshmen's eyes looking at Hwang Do-yoon seemed pitiful.