Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 101

After the Orche Halloween Festival ended, videos taken by the audience started to appear on YouTube.

The Orche channel also uploaded some videos, from the contest participants to the performances.

It wasn’t a very famous festival, but thanks to the sponsorship of Monster Co. and the attendance of Seo-jun, it even made the news in Korea.

There were people who were waiting for the videos and reviews.

[Title: Orche Halloween Festival Review]

I’m a student studying in Paris. I went to Orche because I heard that Seo-jun might come. There were more people than I expected. Anyway, I stopped by the Monster Co. booth, but Seo-jun wasn’t there. I couldn’t find him even if I tried, because everyone was wearing masks and animal costumesㅜ

But the festival was fun. There was an event called Monster Contest, and everyone did well. Especially, the werewolf who came up last… After watching it, I realized that it was probably Seo-jun.

The people who read the review looked for the werewolf in the YouTube videos. The most viewed video was the one uploaded by Orche.

[Monster Contest Winner! Number 13, werewolf Transformation.]

-Wow, amazing. Compared to the other videos, he’s short, so he doesn’t seem like an adult.

-He looks like a kid. But did he do modern dance or something? He’s really good.

-He used the lights, smoke, and shadows well. If the smoke was thin, there wouldn’t be any shadows and it would have been lame, but the weather was on his side.

-I feel like I’ve experienced something like this before. Is it déjà vu?

=I feel like I know. When Seo-jun doesn’t show up, some kid becomes famous and that’s Seo-jun himselfㅋㅋ

The Orche video was fixed at one point, so people looked for other videos. They were shaky, but each video had different parts that were well captured, and soon a post titled [The Order of Watching the Werewolf Videos] appeared.

-But you can’t see his face because of the wolf mask. Is it really Seo-jun?

-Who else has that level of acting skill at that age?

-I don’t know. Maybe another genius.

Seo-jun or not, the controversy reached Cocoa Entertainment. Eun-chan sighed at the constant ringing of the phone and headed to Seo-jun’s house.

The couple and Seo-jun, who were busy sorting out the gifts and luggage they bought in Paris, greeted Eun-chan.

“This is uncle’s gift!”

“…Slime?”

“It looks like uncle!”

It was a stuffed animal that they bought at the Halloween festival, not a product of Monster Co. Eun-chan, who was playing with the soft slime stuffed animal, sighed and said.

“…Didn’t you say it was a family trip?”

“Yeah! It was so fun!”

Eun-chan couldn’t help but smile at Seo-jun’s sparkling eyes. Well. Yeah. As long as it was fun.

“Sis. Can you give me the videos you took?”

“Do you want me to upload them on the fan cafe?”

“I thought it was just a small festival, but if Seo-jun went, it’s a legend.”

Eun-chan smiled bitterly and turned on his laptop. Eun-hye showed him the videos.

“Why are there three videos?”

“This one is taken by Seo-jun’s friend’s sister, this one is taken by his friend’s parents. This one is taken by Min-jun. They have different parts that are well captured in each video. I thought it would be better to edit and upload them since we’re uploading them anyway.”

“Hmm. That makes sense.”

Eun-chan watched the three videos. They were short, so he could see them quickly, and they were as Eun-hye said.

“Got it. I’ll have to go to the company and do it.”

Eun-chan returned to the company and handed over the videos to the PR team. The staff gathered and made the best edited version. At the end of the video, they added a few photos of Seo-jun taken at the festival.

The video was uploaded to the fan cafe right away.

-Wow! It was Seo-jun after all!

-He’s cool even without showing his face!

-The pictures are so cute too! Is that also a Monster Co. outfit?

And as soon as Seo-jun’s video was uploaded, articles started to pop up. Seo-jun and his parents, who had finished sorting out their luggage and were watching the video uploaded by Cocoa Entertainment, marveled at the lightning speed.

“They’re really fast.”

[Actor Seo-jun, attends Orche Halloween Festival!]

[Family trip and Monster Contest Winner!]

[Real Werewolf?! Actor Seo-jun!]

-As expected… I knew it.

-He really did well. He looked like he lived with wolves for years.

-I’m a zookeeper (wolf handler) and the shadow in the acting is totally wolf-like. How do you do that?ㅋㅋ I think I can’t do it as well as him.

-Seo-jun is good at both dragon and wolf. It’s not easy to do something like thisㅋ

***

After the Halloween festival, everyone returned to their normal lives. Peaceful everyday life. But this year, somehow, it was more noisy after the festival.

“Charlie! Charlie!”

The door of the restaurant opened with a bang.

The vampire boss who ran the wine shop came in with a surprised face.

The restaurant, which had been deserted by tourists, was filled with Orche citizens again.

They all knew each other, so they just picked up their forks.

Charlie, who was smiling while looking at the photos he took with Jun on his phone, raised his head at the sound of his name.

“What? Uncle?”

“Your friend! The one who was wearing the werewolf costume!”

At the mention of Seo-jun, charlie jumped up. Charlie’s dad, who was wondering what was going on, came out to see.

“Jun?”

“Yeah. Your friend Jun!”

The people who were eating also remembered the kid with the wolf head who was with Charlie throughout the Halloween festival. He was a kind and cute kid.

They clearly remembered the performance he showed at the contest.

“Didn’t he do really well?”

“Yeah! I didn’t know the kid could do that well.”

“Don’t you think he’ll be a great actor if he acts?”

“That’s right…”

“He’s a Hollywood star, you know!?”

“…?”

Everyone stopped their forks that they were bringing to their mouths at the man’s words. Did I just hear what I heard, the people blinked and looked at the man.

“Did you drink wine in the morning?”

“Go home and get drunk.”

Before Charlie’s dad, who hated drunkenness, could open his mouth, the customers opened their mouths first.

“No, really!”

The man with a flushed face insisted, but everyone shook their heads. Charlie’s dad, who was about to say ‘get out’ in a quiet voice, didn’t make a sound.

The customers looked at Charlie’s dad. They were puzzled by his smiling face. Charlie opened his mouth proudly.

“You just found out? I knew it from the festival. That Jun is a Hollywood star!”

“Really? It was true?!”

“I have his autograph here!”

Charlie showed them the photo on his phone. [To my werewolf friend, charlie. Seo-jun Lee] The man who was doubtful of the autograph screamed.

“I’ve never seen a Hollywood actor in my life! He was so close, but I couldn’t shake his hand!”

The one who was puzzled by the man’s agony was the customers.

“Charlie. What are you talking about? What did he say then?”

The grandfather who gave orange juice to Charlie and Seo-jun asked. Charlie smiled brightly and answered.

“He’s a Hollywood actor! The Jin Natra who was in Shadowman! Seo-jun Lee!”

“…What!?”

Even those who hadn’t seen Shadowman knew that there was a movie called Shadowman. And that it was a huge hit. They all stared at Charlie with wide eyes.

The city hall staff who had been informing them of the progress from behind the stage touched his forehead. He was a Marina fan who had seen everything from Redbone 1 to Assemble 1.

He knew Seo-jun Lee and Jin Natra very well, deep in his bones. Tears blurred his vision.

“…I’m a huge fan! I knew it! I thought he was a great actor! I never thought he would come here.”

He saw him right in front of his eyes! Seeing the frustrated staff, one by one, they realized that the little wolf they had seen was a real Hollywood actor.

“Last year he was a theater actor and this year he’s a Hollywood actor. I’m scared of who will come next year.”

“Will he come again next year?”

“What’s the name of the movie?”

“But how did you know, uncle? That Jun is a Hollywood actor!”

At Charlie’s words, they all closed their mouths and looked at the man.

“It was on YouTube. The video had Jun being a Hollywood actor and the last contestant of the contest. The views are no joke right now! It also announced our festival. To the whole world!”

“…!”

To the whole world! His last words echoed throughout the restaurant. Maybe next year it would be a huge festival. The citizens of Orche swallowed their saliva.

***

“Damn assignment!”

Grace’s family returned to New York and went back to their normal lives. Laura Welton, a high school student, was wringing her head over a writing assignment.

She had to write a short story, but she hadn’t written a single line yet. The screen was blank and the cursor blinked.

“Ugh. Come on, brain.”

She banged her head on the desk, looking for a good idea, when her sister Grace popped into her head like lightning. Her sister who had gone missing and the two kids who had found her!

“Grace!”

“Yeah?”

“Can I write a story about you going missing at the festival?”

“Uh!”

Grace, who had been watching television, frowned. Laura begged her.

“I’ll change the names and appearances! I have to turn it in by this week!”

“…Hmm.”

“I’ll buy you three New York cheese tarts!”

“Five!”

“Okay!”

Was money the problem now? Laura smiled brightly and headed to her room, then turned back.

“Can I put in Jun and Charlie’s story?”

“You have to ask Jun and Charlie for that.”

“Can you ask them for me?”

“Two tarts!”

“Okay!”

[ My sister is doing an assignment and she’s writing a short story.

[ Can Jun and Charlie be in it? The Halloween festival story is the motif.

[ She said she’ll change the names and appearances.

-Charlie: I’m fine!

-Jun: Me too!

-Jun: Can I see it when you’re done?

-Charlie: Me too! I’m curious!

Laura watched Grace tapping on her phone and felt relieved. Wasn’t there a time difference overseas? Would they answer if she contacted them now? Should she wait a little longer? The assignment was due tomorrow!

Grace looked up and looked at Laura.

“Sis! Jun and Charlie said they want to see it when you’re done!”

“Okay!”

Laura answered in an instant and went back to her room. The notebook screen was blank.

“Okay. The female protagonist is a witch and the male protagonist is a werewolf.”

Laura wrote down the story in an instant. She added a little bit of imagination to what had actually happened.

A witch who got lost and a werewolf who found her. The ending was also like the Halloween festival, where the witch met her family.

The writing assignment was over in no time, as if the previous difficulties were a lie. She felt empty after all the trouble.

A few days after she turned in the assignment, the writing teacher called Laura. Laura Welton sat in a chair with an awkward face, and the writing teacher, tyler, smiled kindly and said.

“Welton. Do you want to write this as a novel?”

“Huh?”

“It’s so interesting. I wonder what it would be like if you added some other stories and wrote it as a novel.”

“Oh. I’ve never thought about it, but writing is a bit…”

She had a hard time coming up with a short story, let alone a novel. She was in the dark.

Tyler, who saw Laura refusing, hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth.

“Then, how about replacing this semester’s writing assignments with this?”

“Okay!”

To get rid of the writing assignments for now, Laura Welton voluntarily entered the pain of creation.

“No. I can’t think of anything!”

It was hard enough to write a short story, but a novel was harder and harder. She couldn’t stretch out the story of finding Grace, and she couldn’t think of any other episodes.

She wanted to write a romance novel, but she didn’t know how to connect the protagonists and grow their feelings.

Laura Welton read the novels she borrowed from the library and pondered.

“The problem is the characters’ past.”

The past would be the start of the event or accident. Laura wrapped her head.

Then, there was a knock on the door. It was Grace. She peeked her head through the open door and opened her mouth.

“Sis, do you want to watch TV with me?”

“TV? What are you doing?”

“Jun’s drama. It was on Plus+.”

At Grace’s words, Laura Welton looked at the blank notebook screen. She didn’t think anything would come out.

“Okay, let’s cool off.”

Laura and Grace sat on the sofa.

The opening screen of The Royal Physician filled the TV screen connected to the notebook.

They ate snacks from the kitchen and Laura asked.

“What kind of drama is it?”

“There were a lot of comments saying not to spoil it, so all I know is that it’s a Korean historical drama.”

“Really?”

The first episode was a scene of a man treating someone. The English subtitles not only had the characters’ dialogue, but also explained some knowledge that foreigners might not know, making it easy to immerse themselves.

When Laura and Grace were watching The Royal Physician, their parents who had gone out and came back also joined the drama.

The Welton family forgot about the programs they usually watched and got hooked on The Royal Physician.