Superstar From Age 0

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 539

Ahn Da Ho said he was recovering the file that had gone missing, but the script he took out of his bag was not that much.

Seo-jun, who received a thinner script than usual, looked at the cover.

[Fire]

[Director: Hwang Ji-yoon]

‘She’s the younger sister of Hwang Do-yoon sunbae.’

He had never met her personally or have a conversation, but he had seen her at the student cafeteria.

He also remembered what Jinho had told him.

She had fought with a senior in the lecture called [Literary Analysis from Ancient to Modern Times].

It was probably that senior or his gang who was Oh Seong-tae.

‘I should have remembered his name at least.’

Then he would have been more wary of the name Oh Seong-tae.

Well, it was already settled.

Seo-jun decided to focus on the script. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“Seo-jun. Then I’ll go. I still have things to sort out.”

Ahn Da Ho, who was looking at Seo-jun with sparkling eyes as he read the script, got up from his seat.

He had to sort out the first batch of moving stuff he moved today, check the second batch of moving stuff he would move tomorrow, sort out the office by team, and sort out the office he would use.

‘I have to check the actors’ practice room again.’

There was a lot to do as the actor team grew.

“Yes. Be careful. Da Ho hyung.”

Seo-jun, who saw Ahn Da Ho off, sat on the sofa and opened the script. In the quiet atmosphere, the sound of paper flipping was heard.

[Fire] had a heavier atmosphere than [Unknown Painter] or [The Painter in the Love Room].

It was more like an independent film with the director’s characteristics than a commercial film that suited the public’s taste.

[The Painter in the Love Room] was light-hearted because it was written by Hwang Ji-yoon in middle school.

[Unknown Painter] seemed to have been changed to a lighter atmosphere by Oh Seong-tae, who judged that the heavy atmosphere of [Fire] would not appeal to the public. He also seemed to have erased the ‘Hwang Ji-yoon’s uniqueness’ contained in [Fire].

‘No wonder the story is mixed up.’

It was natural that the overall story was uneven when he tried to force a serious story into a light-hearted atmosphere.

Indeed.

He felt bitter again when he thought about the time he had agonized over it.

Seo-jun sighed lightly and looked down at [Fire], which had not yet reached the end.

“I’ll have to read the ending too…”

Based on what he had read so far, it was a work that he wanted to contact Ahn Da Ho right away and say he wanted to star in it.

It was a quick decision, compared to the three days and nights he had agonized over [Unknown Painter].

“How did it go?”

“It’s all over! Oh Seong-tae won’t be able to show his face anymore! Ah, too bad! It would have been a blast if it was during the semester! You’re not taking a break since it’s still vacation, right?”

Hwang Ji-yoon, who came in laughing, was applauded by Hwang Do-yoon.

“But was the script at Cocoa Enter similar to Oh Seong-tae’s? It would be hard to prove plagiarism if it wasn’t very similar.”

“Very! I thought Oh Seong-tae plagiarized it when I saw it. It was obviously plagiarism.”

Hwang Ji-yoon handed over the two scripts he had brought from Cocoa Enter to Hwang Do-yoon. Hwang Do-yoon, who was looking at the places marked with a highlighter, opened his mouth wide.

“What, what is so similar?”

“Oh Seong-tae is similar to me in middle school. Or maybe I’m a genius!”

“…Let’s say Oh Seong-tae is bad.”

Hwang Ji-yoon, who chuckled, took out a tub of ice cream from the refrigerator with a relaxed face. Her appetite came back as the stress was gone. She also prepared a spoon to scoop the ice cream.

“When a big company patents a trademark, they also make similar names that others can’t use. If the trademark name is Woof Woof, they make something like Woof Woof that looks similar at a glance.”

Woof Woof? We patented that. You can’t use it.

“Now I think I know why.”

‘Unknown Painter? I wrote that in middle school. You plagiarized.’

Although she didn’t intend to, she thought she should write a few more scripts in different versions from now on.

‘This kind of thing won’t happen again.’

Hwang Ji-yoon put a large spoonful of vanilla ice cream in her mouth.

“It’s all thanks to me!”

Praise high school freshman Hwang Do-yoon.

Hwang Ji-yoon decided to think of his enemy as a benefactor for this time only. Just for one second.

“What did they say at Cocoa Entertainment?”

“What?”

Hwang Ji-yoon tilted his head at Hwang Do-yoon, who had sparkling eyes. Hwang Do-yoon asked with a surprised face.

“No, you know Oh Seong-tae wrote Unknown Painter and Seo-jun liked it. But that’s a plagiarized work and you’re the original author, so what did they say to you? Didn’t they ask you to adapt The Painter in the Love Room and shoot it?”

“They did.”

Hwang Ji-yoon nodded and Hwang Do-yoon exclaimed.

“They did?! So?”

“I said no.”

“Good! Well… what? What did you say?”

“I said it indirectly, but I said no. I wrote that in middle school, and it’s similar to Fire, which I’m working on right now.”

Unless she wanted to clone herself, choosing [The Painter in the Love Room] would mean she couldn’t shoot [Fire], and choosing [Fire] would mean she couldn’t shoot [The Painter in the Love Room].

Hwang Ji-yoon said as she ate her ice cream.

“If I had to choose one of the two, I would definitely choose Fire. Even if I chose The Painter in the Love Room, it would change to Fire’s feel if I edited it. So I said no.”

“No, are you crazy? Seo-jun might star in it! Seo-jun!”

Hwang Do-yoon was the only one who was frustrated. Hwang Ji-yoon answered leisurely.

“Well… I don’t know about later, but I’m not that interested right now.”

“…Are you sick? Do you want to go to the hospital?”

Hwang Do-yoon asked again as Hwang Ji-yoon shrugged his shoulders.

“Then what about Fire? Did you tell them you were writing another work?”

“I did. The team leader asked me if I could give him the script, so I gave it to him. I also promised to send him the finished version later. I was curious about the evaluation of the people involved. The team leader was very kind.”

Hwang Ji-yoon, who looked like she had no other ambition while eating ice cream, made Hwang Do-yoon wonder.

“Don’t tell me… you’re going to refuse that too if Seo-jun says he wants to star in it?”

“Well, I wonder if this actor Seo-jun likes it…”

Hwang Ji-yoon wondered if Seo-jun would like it, because the atmosphere was heavier than [Unknown Painter], which she had written with care.

“Even if he says he wants to star in it, I’m going to refuse.”

Hwang Ji-yoon’s words made Hwang Do-yoon open his mouth wide.

“No, really, you’re going to refuse if Seo-jun says he wants to do it? Did you eat something wrong? Is the ice cream spoiled? Wow, this is past the date!”

“The ice cream has the date of manufacture written on it. Idiot.”

Hwang Ji-yoon opened her mouth at the sight of Hwang Do-yoon handing over the ice cream tub with a sheepish look.

“This is my movie.”

Hwang Ji-yoon, who had not yet debuted, sparkled her eyes with a love for her work that was no less than any other director.

“You know, oppa. When money goes into a movie, you can’t avoid the opinions of investors or stakeholders. I really hate that.”

…Was it because of her family background?

He had rebelled against their department and turned it upside down (Hwang Do-yoon succeeded and Hwang Ji-yoon failed). Looking at himself and his sister, who always did what they wanted,

“I can’t let anyone interfere with my movie.”

The word ‘stubborn’ came to mind for some reason.

The next morning.

Hwang Ji-yoon sent the completed script of [Fire]. Ahn Da Ho, who was organizing the second batch of moving boxes that arrived at the new office, forwarded the email to Seo-jun.

“Oh! It’s Tae-woo.”

As they were about to go for lunch, they spotted Choi Tae-woo and the staff of Team 2 clapped and cheered with bright smiles. Choi Tae-woo’s face turned red. The managers who were with him chuckled softly.

“Enjoy your lunch!”

“Yes!”

Ahn Da Ho and Team 2 left.

To replenish their energy, they ordered samgyetang, a chicken soup with ginseng.

“Well, I think it worked out for the best. Director Oh Seong-tae, or rather, Mr. Oh, seemed to clash with you a bit.”

Everyone nodded at Jung Yu-jung’s words.

“He had a commercial vibe, didn’t he?”

“Yes. He talked as if he had entrusted the investment to someone else. He only wanted to use famous actors, and he wanted to hire the top art and cinematography teams, so I felt embarrassed.”

A huge budget, a glamorous cast, renowned art and cinematography teams, a composer who would create memorable music, a publicity team that would make Korea buzz, the number of theaters to release, and the streaming site to upload later.

Oh Seong-tae acted like a master who was returning after a long time, throwing out all kinds of opinions.

Jung Yu-jung smiled and continued.

“But it seemed like he could pull it off, which made it worse.”

Ahn Da Ho and Team 2 laughed at that. They thought Seo-jun could do it too.

“What about the reporters?”

Oh Seong-tae had made such a fuss that they received emails asking for confirmation. The staff who had replied that they were looking at various scripts sighed.

“He told us not to say anything until the contract was written.”

“It would have been a disaster if we had worked with him.”

They all nodded in agreement.

Was it baseless, plagiarism, or a contract breach?

They discussed what would be the best answer while eating samgyetang, when a message came from Seo-jun.

Seo-jun: Ahn Da Ho hyung!

Seo-jun: I want to do this!

“Is it Seo-jun?”

“Ah, yes.”

The staff of Team 2 smiled at Ahn Da Ho’s expression.

“When it comes to Seo-jun, Team Leader Ahn’s face softens. It melts.”

“Me too. I’ve seen him since he was young.”

“Don’t you sometimes wonder when he grew up so much?”

They said with a smile, and Ahn Da Ho brushed his face with embarrassment.

“Seo-jun wants to star in Fire.”

“That’s great! It was good too.”

“I was worried that he would be sulky because of the unknown painter, but I’m glad.”

They agreed with Ahn Da Ho’s words and nodded. Ahn Da Ho sent a message to Hwang Ji-yoon.

Cocoa Entertainment’s new office.

The actor team used the 8th and 9th floors of the 10-story building, where the 8th floor had practice rooms (from one-person to multi-person) and a lounge for the actors, and the 9th floor was the actor team’s office.

After lunch, Ahn Da Ho and Team 2 headed to their respective offices.

When Team 2 got off at the 9th floor and he took the elevator alone to the 10th floor, Ahn Da Ho felt a bit awkward.

10th floor.

It was where the president’s office, the singer team’s 1st team leader’s office, and Ahn Da Ho’s office were located.

They had planned to make a conference room, a lounge, or a practice room with the remaining space, but they gave up when some staff came up to the floor where the president’s office was during their break, and some trainees or actors dared to come up here and practice.

“Seo-jun would come up here, though…”

Ahn Da Ho smiled as he thought of Seo-jun, who had said he liked being on the same floor as the actors.

Ahn Da Ho’s new office was spacious and neat.

In front of the large window, there was a large desk and bookshelf where Ahn Da Ho would work, and a soft sofa and table where he could talk to other people. In the corner of the office, there was a small refrigerator and a snack table where he could put drinks for Seo-jun or other actors.

He had chosen the interior himself, but he felt a bit unfamiliar and rubbed his neck.

“Let’s start with organizing.”

As he was putting the materials and items he had brought from his previous office into the empty bookshelf and drawers, he received a reply from Hwang Ji-yoon.

“Hmm…”

His expression clouded at the reply.

It was written as carefully as possible, but he could feel the intention to refuse.

He was very grateful for the offer of actor Lee Seo-jun.

But this movie was his long-cherished dream, and he was worried about the interference of investors and the attention of the public when Lee Seo-jun appeared.

He didn’t think he could ignore all that, nor did he think he could make a work that would please the investors and the public.

So he thanked Lee Seo-jun for his offer, but he declined. He was sorry,

That was the content.

Ahn Da Ho tapped his forehead.

“Is the Korea National University of Arts film department always so extreme…”

Oh Seong-tae was a big trouble because he went too far to the commercial side, and Hwang Ji-yoon was a big trouble because she went too far to the independent side.