Superstar From Age 0

After Seo-jun returned to Korea, Jonathan Will, the director, confidently started working on the script with the completed synopsis.

He had to add dialogue, scene descriptions, and action directions to the synopsis, which only briefly summarized the important parts of the plot.

The script had to be about 90 to 120 minutes long, although it could be longer if necessary.

“Would this line be better here…?”

It had only been a week, but he had a lot of confidence in the script that was based on the synopsis, which was created after heated discussions, meetings, and fights (?) with the genius actor. He was sure that other people would like it too.

“How about this? I wrote it like this.”

Among those other people, there was also the genius actor in Korea.

“It’s good.”

Seo-jun nodded lightly after reading a few pages of the script that Jonathan sent him. Jonathan smiled brightly at his reaction.

After that, Jonathan sent Seo-jun the script every time he finished a scene, which was quite often.

“I did it like this for this scene…”

“It’s nice. You expressed it well.”

But,

“What about this scene? Is it a bit weird?”

“No. It’s perfect. Jonathan.”

Strangely enough,

“Ugh. Jun. Isn’t this dialogue a bit weird?”

“It’s fine.”

He only heard the same answer to all his questions.

Jonathan blinked his eyes as he looked at the script that he had just sent to Seo-jun. The letters that filled the monitor screen looked like garbage.

“…What is this?”

“It’s good. Jonathan. I have to eat dinner now, so I have to hang up. You should go to bed soon. It’s dawn in LA right now. It’s good that you’re working hard on the script, but take care of your health too.”

Seo-jun’s answer was incredibly light.

That made Jonathan Will feel uneasy.

***

“Jun only says it’s good when he used to say no when we were writing the synopsis?!”

Jonathan said with a desperate expression. He was so anxious that his legs were shaking.

“He’s definitely disappointed! The synopsis was good, but the script is trash! It’s terrible no matter how I write it! He doesn’t care anymore because he’s given up on me!”

He was now tearing his hair with both hands and mumbling to himself. If there was a table, he would have banged his head on it.

“Ugh! I disappointed Jun… This movie is ruined! It’s ruined!”

Ryan Will listened to Jonathan’s lament with one ear and ignored it with the other. His eyes didn’t even leave the book he was reading.

As expected. He came for nothing.

But he was his nephew, so he felt like he had to say something.

“If Jun says it’s good, then it’s good.”

“No way!”

He was immediately contradicted.

“No, how can this be good? It’s so lame! Look, uncle. This dialogue here. Wow! How did I write this? Even the script I wrote in middle school was better, don’t you think? Oh, should I just use that? That might be better, right? What should I do? Ugh! I’m screwed! I’m screwed…”

Ryan Will looked at his nephew, who was rolling on the floor, and said.

“Get out.”

***

“/Do I have bad writing syndrome…/”

“/Bad writing…/ What?”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek at the English that came from the other side of the phone.

The person he was talking to was one of the staff members of Marina Studio’s [Jin Natra Series (tentative title)] team, who was in charge of taking care of the writer and director Jonathan Will.

When Seo-jun was having a fun (?) meeting with Jonathan at Ryan Will’s mansion in LA, he helped them by gathering the necessary materials and expert advice.

That staff member contacted Cocoa Entertainment to check on Jonathan Will’s current state and get some advice. Since it was about the script, he thought it would be better to talk to Seo-jun, so he was talking to him now.

“Sometimes you think your writing is bad. Even if other people say it’s good, you feel like everything you write is weird.”

He knew that because he had some friends who were writers.

‘I’ve tried it a few times too.’

He wasn’t as bad as Jonathan, but he had some doubts about whether he did his best when he adapted [Mirror] and wrote the script for [MOEB-436].

“Ah, I see. That happens quite often.”

He finally heard a voice that seemed to understand. It was no different in America.

“So, do you really think Jonathan’s script is good?”

He answered with a smile at the question that was mixed with worry.

“Yes.”

And he added with a sincere voice.

“Please tell him that I would have gone to LA right away if I thought it wasn’t good.”

The staff member, who knew that Seo-jun wasn’t joking, finally relaxed and said with a laugh.

“Okay. I’ll tell him that. Thank you for your time. Jun.”

“Don’t mention it. Please contact me anytime if you have any problems. And don’t worry too much, because sometimes you think your writing is the best.”

He wondered if that time would be more problematic.

Seo-jun was about to hang up the phone with a small smile, thinking that he might have to go to LA for real.

“Yes, I understand. Oh, by the way, I should tell you this in advance since I contacted you.”

The staff member continued. Seo-jun tilted his head.

“A short video with a hint of Jin Natra 1 will be added as a cookie video, not a trailer.”

“Cookie video… Do you mean the movie that comes out in January?”

“Yes. Mad Hatter.”

The new hero of season 2, [Mad Hatter]

The movie was scheduled to be released next January, which was about a month away by date.

Seo-jun’s eyes widened at the faster-than-expected schedule.

He wondered if [Jin Natra 1 (tentative title)] would really be released next year.

“That’s pretty fast.”

“Ha. Ha. Ha. We’re in a hurry too.”

If season 1’s focus was RedBone, season 2’s focus was Jin Natra.

The staff member swallowed the words that everyone at Marina Studio thought so and said with a smile.

“So you might have to come to America, so I’m telling you in advance.”

“Okay. Please contact the agency when it’s confirmed.”

“Okay. Thank you very much for today. Jun.”

Seo-jun smiled at the sincere and polite farewell of the staff member.

***

Cocoa Entertainment, actor Lee Seo-jun’s exclusive practice room.

“We haven’t heard from them yet, but there might be filming in the first semester of next year.”

“Yes. I think so too.”

Seo-jun nodded at Choi Tae-woo’s words.

“I wanted to film during the summer vacation, though.”

From what the staff member said, it seemed that Marina Studio was very determined to release [Jin Natra 1 (tentative title)] next year.

‘I was going to take classes in the first semester of sophomore year…’

As expected, it was not easy to balance filming and studying.

But he wanted to do well in both, so he had no choice but to think of other ways.

He could get attendance credit for his classes by appearing in works, but that would defeat the purpose of enrolling in KNUA.

“I guess I’ll have to take summer courses.”

“That’s right. Oh, does KNUA have online courses? If they have online courses, you can take them from America too.”

Seo-jun blinked at Choi Tae-woo’s words. He hadn’t thought of online courses, since he was in the acting department, which had a lot of practice.

“Just a moment. I’ll ask.”

Seo-jun took out his phone.

For this kind of thing, it was best to ask Yang Ju-hee, who was well-informed.

-Yang Ju-hee: Yeah, but they’re for 3rd and 4th year students.

The answer was quick.

-Yang Ju-hee: Are you trying to take online courses?

-Yang Ju-hee: You’re filming again, aren’t you? Lol

She was good at deducing too.

Seo-jun laughed and sent a reply.

-Yang Ju-hee: Yeah, it’s not like only 3rd and 4th year students can take them.

-Yang Ju-hee: It means you have to be at that level to take them.

-Yang Ju-hee: No, the course content and exams are super super hard, so they’re not very popular.

It must be really hard if the word ‘super’ was used twice.

-Yang Ju-hee: But you don’t have to worry, lol.

-Yang Ju-hee: Do you want me to send you the list of online courses for general education?

-Yang Ju-hee: Ok

Seo-jun looked up from his phone.

“I think I can take them in the first semester.”

“That’s good.”

Choi Tae-woo sighed as if he was relieved. Then he asked Seo-jun with a worried look.

“But won’t it be hard to take classes while filming?”

“It’s okay.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly, confident that he wouldn’t lose to anyone in terms of stamina.

“Tell me if it’s hard.”

“Yes. Tae-woo hyung.”

“Then let’s move on to the next topic… about the fan meeting.”

He came to Cocoa Entertainment today not only for Marina Studio’s business, but also to have a meeting about the fan meeting.

Seo-jun listened to Choi Tae-woo’s words with an excited face, looking forward to the fan meeting that he hadn’t had in a long time.

“It’s scheduled for three days, from Friday to Sunday, February 15th, 16th, and 17th. The fan meeting announcement will be in early January and the ticketing will be in mid-January. The venue is also decided.”

Seo-jun looked at the inside and outside, the stage and the audience seats of the fan meeting venue that Choi Tae Woo handed him on a PinePad.

‘February…’

He wondered what would happen if it suddenly snowed or a cold wave hit.

Seo-jun, who was worried about the trembling Sprouts, decided to look for a suitable ability in the Library of Life. Well, he thought it would be fine as long as the weather was not too cold to be considered abnormal.

“Since it’s cold, I hope you take good care of the fans so they can enjoy and go home happy.”

“Okay. I got it.”

“But you know that Jin Natra 1 is coming out in February, right?”

“Yeah. They’ll be so surprised.”

As Choi Tae Woo said, Seo-jun laughed at the thought of the sprouts who would be shocked by the news of the fan meeting and Jin Natra 1 (tentative title) in the new year.

***

A few days later.

After finishing his last exam and starting his winter vacation, Seo-jun was reading a script as usual.

He couldn’t appear in a new work because of the filming of Jin Natra 1 (tentative title) that would be around the first half of next year, but if he liked a script, and if the production team was okay with it, he could schedule it after the filming of Jin Natra 1 (tentative title).

Of course, the production team would be willing to postpone the filming for years if Seo-jun agreed to appear.

Then his phone rang.

He smiled unconsciously at the name on the screen.

“…You heard it, right?”

It was Jonathan Will.

He sounded embarrassed, as if he had come to his senses.

“Yes.”

“Ugh…”

He was sure he was clutching his head.

“Did you have a hard time?”

“Well, how should I put it… I felt insecure and doubtful when I had to write alone without anyone telling me what to do…? Something like that.”

Seo-jun put down the script he was reading and said with a smile.

“Don’t worry. Jonathan, you’re writing well.”

“…Yeah. I heard. You would have come to LA right away if you didn’t like it.”

The manager must have told him well.

He heard a small sound from the other side of the phone. It was a laugh, though it had a bit of disappointment.

“When I heard that, I remembered the week I spent with you, Jun. I realized how close I was to being torn apart when I thought about it. My God! I was digging my own grave…! That’s what I thought.”

“Hahaha.”

It seemed that the time that was enjoyable for Seo-jun was hard for Jonathan.

Well, he thought it might be possible, considering how Jonathan looked like a half-dead corpse at the end.

“It was heaven compared to then! It was easier to write when I thought that.”

“That’s why you didn’t send me any scripts for a while.”

Jonathan, who used to send him a few pages of script and call him, stopped contacting him after the manager’s phone call.

“I was a bit disappointed…”

“Ah.ha.ha.ha.”

Jonathan, who almost got torn apart again, laughed awkwardly, and Seo-jun also burst into laughter.

“So, is the script finished?”

“No, it’s not finished yet. But I decided on the title and wanted to let you know.”

‘Oh.’

Seo-jun’s eyes widened with admiration.

“The title! I was wondering when it would come out.”

“Right? I was thinking about using the hero’s name as the title like other hero movies, but I thought this would be better for this movie. Marina Studio also liked it because it had continuity.”

Seo-jun Lee’s eyes sparkled at the explanation of Jonathan Will, the director.

“What is it?”

Across the phone,

He heard the director’s voice and the actor repeated it in a low voice.

[Shadow & Knight]

It was the title of the movie where a new hero was born.