Kim Heesang sat down with a pleased look on his face.
Anda Ho hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth, taken aback by the natural demeanor of the two people.
She thought she understood why CEO Seo Eunchan wanted to introduce Kim Heesang to her.
"Um."
"Yes?"
"How should we best support Seojun from now on?"
"Hmm."
It was a good question. Kim Heesang, who was also the one best acquainted with Seojun from a different standard than the couple, was the right person to answer.
"First, Seojun doesn't do what he doesn't want to do. He doesn't have many things he doesn't want to do, but he must do what he wants to do."
Kim Heesang recalled the eight months of hardship. Despite the frustration of Seojun's unchanging acting, he never gave up and eventually succeeded, earning Kim Heesang's admiration.
"This is a story only a few people know, but Seojun practiced one script for eight months for the filming of Shadowman 2."
"Eight months?"
Anda Ho's eyes widened.
"Yes. He must do what he wants to do, and he puts in the effort. And as I said, Seojun doesn't care about box office success. He says any script is fine as long as it's fun."
"I see."
Immediately, she thought she should inform Team 2, who were busy selecting hit projects. Anda Ho took out her phone.
"Excuse me, can I make a call...?"
"Yes, go ahead."
She moved to a corner and made the call. Upon hearing Anda Ho's story, all members of Team 2 sighed.
- No way, the CEO left out the most important part!
- First, exclude the ones that will definitely fail... No, exclude only the ones with problematic directors or producers and send the rest.
- Even children's musicals are fine? Then we need to look again!
Team 2 became bustling, and Seo Eunchan, who was in the office, felt a tickle in his ears.
"I'll do this!"
Seojun, who had read all the scripts, looked excited and raised his head.
Anda Ho immediately took out her notebook, and Kim Heesang, munching on snacks he had bought for Seojun, asked,
"Really? What role is it?"
"Cheongryong!"
"Cheongryong?"
While Anda Ho tilted her head in confusion, Kim Heesang nodded.
Seojun's face was more excited than ever. Kim Heesang recalled how Seojun had grown up with a monster doll by his side since infancy.
Perhaps the source of Seojun's acting talent was the incredible puppet shows he used to put on as a baby.
"I knew a day like this would come. I thought he might appear in a Hollywood fantasy movie, but it's happening already."
Seojun enthusiastically described the plot. Kim Heesang nodded, and Anda Ho, who was listening intently to every word, gradually tilted her head to the side.
"Not the lead role? It seems impactful, but the part is smaller than the others."
Surprised by Seojun's story, Anda Ho opened the script.
[Cheongryong (Voice)]
Even upon rereading, there were no action or acting instructions, only voice tone directions.
The script also mentioned that Cheongryong would be a stage prop, and only the actor's voice would be heard.
"Only the voice? Is that okay?"
Despite Anda Ho's question, Seojun continued to nod.
"Yes! I like it."
"Really?"
Anda Ho's eyes turned to Kim Heesang. Kim Heesang smiled and nodded. Seeing the senior manager-like nod, Anda Ho's expression brightened.
"Got it. I'll read the announcement and send the application."
"Yay!"
Finally, they found the next project. Seojun, who was delighted, suddenly thought of something and looked at Kim Heesang.
"But why is it a play with only children?"
"Let's see."
Kim Heesang scrolled through his phone screen.
It was a play planned by the Galaxy Center, a large performance venue in Seoul that hosts musicals and plays.
"A children's play. Many children want to act, but there are no stages for them, so they're creating this play. Since it's their first attempt, they're accepting applications from experienced child actors this time."
"Really! I can do it too!"
"It's not a free play but a paid one, so the practice might be tough, and roles might change mid-way based on the actors' abilities. They recommend inexperienced actors to apply for roles with fewer lines."
There were also various warnings, from physical issues to the possibility of discipline. However, the fact that parents could observe practices at any time was a plus. Of course, interfering with the practice was impossible.
"Since you can't drop out halfway, think carefully before applying."
"A play where children are the main characters, huh."
The word "main character" echoed in Seojun's mind.
"Anda Ho-ssi."
Seojun spoke. Anda Ho, who was reading the announcement with a puzzled look, turned to Seojun.
"I don't want to do this."
"What?"
"Why, Seojun?"
Despite the confusion of Kim Heesang and Anda Ho, Seojun shook his head silently.
* * *
Seojun sighed. Ji Yoon tilted her head.
"Seojun, are you hurt?"
"No. I'm just worried about something."
"What are you worried about?"
The twins, Ji Ho and Ji Oh, sitting in front, turned around. Mina quickly joined the conversation.
"Hmm."
Seojun pondered. How could he explain this to the children in a way they could understand? After some thought, he decided to be honest.
"I'm famous, right?"
"Yep!"
"Seojun is super famous."
The children nodded, recalling the older students who came to find him during breaks.
"If I act in a play, everyone will only watch me, and I'm worried about that."
"But isn't it good if they only watch you? I would be so happy!"
The children agreed, saying they would be happy too.
"Hmm. Ji Ho, Ji Oh."
"Yes?"
"What if everyone only liked Ji Ho?"
That made Ji Oh sob.
"Even Mom and Dad? Only Ji Ho?"
"No. Mom and Dad like both of you. But imagine if only the supermarket uncle and the snack shop auntie liked Ji Ho."
Seojun quickly clarified, and Ji Oh calmed down.
"I don't like that. I want them to like me too."
Ji Ho nodded.
"I want them to like both of us equally!"
"Me too. I want the other actors and me to be liked equally. But I'm worried it might be hard because I'm famous."
The children seemed to understand to some extent.
"Then what should we do?"
"How can we make everyone like us equally?"
The children, who had been thinking hard about this for Seojun during class and breaks, quickly forgot and got ready to play at Seojun's house after school.
Today was a day off from the academy, and they were gathering to play with friends. Of course, they decided to play inside because it was drizzling. Seo Eun-hye drove the children over.
"I brought my top!"
"Me too!"
"I didn't bring mine. I must have forgotten."
"I'll lend you mine!"
Seojun decided to put his worries aside for a day and play hard.
The children ate snacks, played hard, took a nap, and played hard again. Soon, it was evening.
Seo Eun-hye, who had been worried about Seojun's story yesterday, and Lee Min-joon, who had left work early because he was worried about Seojun, and Kim Heesang, who had come along, all felt relieved by Seojun's excited face.
The children sat in a row and watched TV, waiting for the top cartoon to start.
The children's shining eyes made them smile.
"Shall we go home after watching this?"
"Sure!"
Everyone answered in unison to Seo Eun-hye's question.
The three adults also sat on the sofa and watched TV. Kim Heesang spoke quietly.
"We had a similar cartoon, but with a different name."
"Right. We used to play with tops a lot, didn't we?"
While reminiscing, one of the two tops in the match bounced out of the arena and broke into three pieces.
"?!"
"Wow?"
The adults were startled, but the children cheered, saying the protagonist had won. Kim Heesang rubbed his temples.
"In our time, tops didn't break. They just went out of bounds or stopped."
"Right. In our time, when a top broke, it was a really dangerous or serious situation..."
"Wow, I thought my heart would drop."
In the cartoon, the top broke into three pieces every time it hit the ground.
While the children cheered for the protagonist's consecutive victories, the three adults, who had no immunity to the breaking tops, had a serious conversation.
"Isn't it too easy to break? My heart drops every time it breaks into three pieces."
In the adults' nostalgic cartoons, the protagonists would cry bitterly when their tops broke, and the audience would be shocked.
"Does it feel more like it's separating? Maybe they made it deliberately weak?"
"Maybe they just transferred the durability of modern toys."
The protagonist, who had broken the top, the opponent who held the broken top without any reaction, and the children shouting, "Go!" were incomprehensible to the adults.
Suddenly, Kim Heesang spoke.
"Is this a generational gap?"
The adults became solemn.
The protagonist reached the finals. The opponent was wearing a mask, with a different hair and eye color. To Seojun, it was clear:
"Is that Lazy?"
"Really?!"
"Lazy is the villain?!"
It was the protagonist's friend, Ray.
But neither the protagonist, the protagonist's friends, nor the audience noticed. Moreover, the name of Ray, who appeared in the arena, was different.
X.
A new villain had appeared.
"Super fun!"
"X! What a cool name!"
The children chattered excitedly as they followed their parents home. Seojun waved goodbye.
For dinner, they ordered jokbal. Seojun skillfully placed a piece of meat on a lettuce leaf, added shrimp paste and pickled onions, and took a big bite.
"Delicious!"
"Really? Chew it well."
"Okay!"
The adults eagerly served food to Seojun. They didn't know why he decided not to do the play he liked, but they hoped he would forget about it soon.
After finishing the delicious jokbal, Seojun went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He squeezed toothpaste onto his toothbrush and started brushing.
"Ah!"
He shouted.
The three adults, who had been worried about Seojun all day, quickly rushed over.
"Why, why, Seojun!"
"What happened?!"
"Ugh!" Seojun spat out the foam and smiled brightly.
"I have a good idea!"
Seeing Seojun excitedly heading to the living room, the adults followed. The three adults, sitting in a row on the sofa, looked at Seojun. Seojun, with a highly excited face, said,
"Can I hide my name?"
"Name?"
Name? The three adults tilted their heads. What name?
"Yes!"
"Why the name all of a sudden?"
Seeing the serious faces of the adults, Seojun realized he had made a mistake.
He hadn't told them because he thought they would worry about him not being able to do what he wanted due to his fame, but paradoxically, not telling them had caused worry.
Seojun quickly explained.
"Well, it's a children's play, right? Everyone wants to act and be noticed. If I do it, most people will only come to see me. I want all the other children to be noticed equally."
Of course, commercial plays and movies are different. They involve money from many people, and famous idols are sometimes cast to boost ticket sales.
If it were a commercial play or movie, Seojun would have applied for the audition without hesitation.
But this was a play for children.
While they charged admission to support the children's serious efforts, it was less than a regular play.
The Galaxy Center would want all the participating children to be the main characters and receive attention. Seojun hoped for the same and decided to give it up.
"That's true."
The three adults nodded. They knew what would happen if Seojun's name were used for promotion.
The chance to see Seojun perform live. Even if others didn't, the people who cried watching William, those who saw God in The Possessed, and Seojun's fans who felt the chill in Shadowman 2 would definitely come to see him.
To experience Seojun's vivid performance unfiltered by media!
"So, can I apply with a different name?"
In Seojun's mind, 'Ray' and 'X' appeared. Just a name change and a mask were enough to prevent the cartoon characters from recognizing him.
Not just cartoons, but movie makeup and variety shows also used similar techniques.
"You mean use a pseudonym?"
"Pseudonym?"
"A fake name."
"Yes! Pseudonym!"
Lee Min-joon and Seo Eun-hye's words made Kim Heesang click his tongue.
"Seojun is a celebrity, what pseudonym?"
"…Aren't you going home? What time is it?"
"Ahahaha. Stage name. Stage name. Many celebrities use stage names."
Interrupting Seo Eun-hye's scolding, Kim Heesang awkwardly laughed and continued.