A group of students gathered at the Milky Way Center. Kim Suhan, who had come to see the first performance, had brought his friends along.
"It's really amazing!"
"I thought I was going to faint just watching it!"
The other three friends shook their heads at the two people who were using all sorts of gestures to convey how amazing it was.
"Come on, what's there to see in a children's play?"
"If it's really boring, I'll take you to the PC room!"
"Ramen cup?"
"Deal!"
The students, who were happily entering, thinking about what they could get from each other, suddenly stopped in their tracks. One student said,
"Can we at least watch quietly?"
The lobby of the Milky Way Center was filled with children and their parents.
"Me too, Mr. Cheongryong! I want to see you!! Heeju bragged a lot! He even bought a pearl of wisdom!!"
"Mr. Cheongryong! Mr. Cheongryong!! We need to make a wish!"
"Pearl of wisdom!!! Buy me a pearl of wisdom!!"
The atmosphere in the lobby was divided into three groups.
The first group consisted of children who were happily showing off the pearls of wisdom they had bought as souvenirs to their friends who had never seen them before. These were children who had seen the first performance and had come to the Milky Way Center with their parents to meet Cheongryong and make a wish, as they now had a pearl of wisdom.
The second group consisted of children who were throwing tantrums. These were children who had come because of their friends at kindergarten or elementary school who had bragged about it. They had come not so much for the play but to buy a pearl of wisdom.
The last group consisted of children who had been brought by their parents on the recommendation of an acquaintance. These children were not interested in the play or the pearls of wisdom.
The students, whose ears hurt from the high-pitched voices of the children, covered their ears and headed for the ticket counter. Kim Suhan, who seemed to have been bothered a lot by the children, asked a tired-looking staff member,
"Are there any tickets left?"
"What are you looking for?"
"Children's play, Spring."
The friends who had come with Kim Suhan, thinking it was strange for someone his age to be watching a children's play, looked away as if they hadn't heard, but the staff member who had seen the play and Kim Suhan talked without any hesitation.
"Yes, there are still seats available."
"Then, I'll take five tickets, please."
"Did you see the first performance?"
"Yes, I even bought a pearl of wisdom."
"What? You bought a pearl of wisdom? Are you a kid?"
"Hehehe. You'll end up buying one after you see it, too."
In the back, children were shouting, "Pearl of wisdom! Mr. Cheongryong!" and since Kim Suhan had also bought a pearl of wisdom after seeing the first performance, the three friends were completely flabbergasted.
"What kind of play is this to cause such a commotion?"
* * *
When everyone entered the theater, the audience seats were half full. The students, who had expected a noisy crowd from the children's chatter, let out a small sigh.
It seemed that the parents were trying to calm the children, but the excited children were unlikely to listen.
In the children's hands were the blue pearls of wisdom that had been sold before the performance due to the children's insistence.
Most of the children were giggling and playing with the pearls, but those who had been dragged by their parents had empty hands.
"Really, you don't have to buy it? All my friends bought it."
"It's just a bead. I'll buy you a car later!"
However, the child didn't realize that he would regret it in less than an hour.
A squeaking sound was heard, and soon the theater went dark.
Before the curtain even rose, the sound of thunder and lightning shook the audience.
"What's that?"
The audience, who had come to see the play again after the first day, turned their heads toward the direction of the sound, surprised by the different start from the first performance.
Seo Jun, standing on one side of the stage, smiled slightly and turned on the microphone.
[(Light) Blue Dragon Hatchling's weak aura is activated.]
[Hehehe.]
A sobbing sound was heard.
It was neither a child's nor an adult's voice, and the strange feeling coming from somewhere made the children, who had been excitedly chatting, and the adults, who had been tired of trying to calm them, close their mouths as if they had been zipped up.
[My pearl of wisdom...!]
With those words, the stage and the audience became one. From then on, it was the same as the first day's performance.
The audience was so engrossed in the play that it felt like their souls had left their bodies and were floating on stage. They didn't take their eyes off the stage, their bodies tense.
When Spring was in danger, they reacted as if they were in danger themselves, and when Spring cried, they cried with her.
Then, Cheongryong appeared.
The sight of Cheongryong breaking through the screen made everyone sink into their seats as if trying to get away from him. His large, sharp eyes blinked. The atmosphere was both terrifying and sacred.
[It's too noisy!]
The childlike voice of Cheongryong shattered the tension.
Seo Jun, excited by his new interpretation of the character, continued his performance. Somewhere in his body, he was becoming a Blue Dragon, and his senses, especially his hearing, had increased several times. Through Seo Jun's ears, he could hear the audience's breathing clearly.
Huh!
Hiiik!
Phew.
All of these reactions were created by his acting. Seo Jun shouted as if he had really become a young Cheongryong, or rather, the Blue Dragon Hatchling who possessed the power.
[It's too noisy!]
"Mr. Cheongryong! Please help!"
[I can't help! I don't have my pearl of wisdom!]
Despite the voice of Cheongryong, which seemed to be throwing a tantrum, strangely, the sacred and otherworldly feeling remained. This was the power of the [Light Blue Dragon Hatchling's weak aura], which made the difference in 'levels' apparent.
"Here! It's a pearl of wisdom!"
[My pearl of wisdom! Thank you! I'll grant you one wish!]
"My wish is..."
And that immersion moved the children who had been watching the stage in a trance. A few children, who still had trouble distinguishing between reality and the story, jumped up from their seats, holding their pearls of wisdom above their heads, just like Spring.
"Make me get a lot of pocket money!"
"Let me eat pizza tomorrow!"
"I want to go to the amusement park!"
The sudden situation made the audience stir. Choi So-young wondered if she should continue her lines. In that brief moment, Seo Jun, whose hearing had become sharper, smiled and said,
[Sure! Does anyone else have a wish?]
The playful voice of Mr. Cheongryong made the quick-witted music director lower the volume of the background music.
Soft music filled the theater, and the children, encouraged by Cheongryong's words, held up their pearls of wisdom and made their wishes.
The children who hadn't bought pearls of wisdom stomped their feet in envy, watching their friends excitedly make their wishes.
"Make my mom get better soon!"
"Let me skip after-school classes tomorrow!"
Wishes from the children could be heard from all over. The murmurs of the adults, who were whispering to themselves, also reached Seo Jun's ears.
The noisy voices of the children quieted down, and Cheongryong's gaze turned to Spring.
[What about you?]
"I have a wish too! Please make it rain!"
[Sure! I'll grant all of them!]
Ahahaha! With the bright laughter of Cheongryong, it started to rain.
The curtain fell, and director Park Ji-soo, the staff, and the children all rushed to Choi So-young and Seo Jun.
"You both did great! Wow, really great!"
"I never thought you could say things like that! Both So-young and Seo Jun! I thought the stage would fail!"
"It's all thanks to Seo Jun."
Choi So-young passed the credit to Seo Jun, who had continued the play with improvisation in the sudden situation, unlike her, who had been flustered.
"You also did a great job matching it."
Seo Jun shook his head. It was truly remarkable that he had understood his intention, not progressed the story, and responded appropriately to his improvisation.
"You both did great!"
With the applause of director Park Ji-soo, everyone backstage clapped for the two actors. Seo Jun, seeing his teammates rejoicing with one heart and one mind, smiled widely, feeling a tickling sensation in his chest.
Ah, it's so good.
After washing off their makeup and changing clothes, the children gathered in the rehearsal room. They reviewed what had happened on stage and decided to meet to discuss the next performance.
"Should we add a time for making wishes in the next performance?"
"That's a good idea!"
"Let's tell the director and the music director!"
"Should we change our lines a bit too?"
Thus, the lines of Cheongryong and the other characters were slightly changed based on the children's suggestions.
Sometimes Cheongryong was like a child, sometimes like a grandfather, and sometimes like a real god. Various versions of Cheongryong emerged from the children's mouths.
While the backstage was warm and friendly, the lobby of the Milky Way Center was even noisier than before the performance.
Before the performance, the children who had passed by the booth without much thought started throwing tantrums when they saw the blue, sparkling pearls of wisdom.
"Pearl of wisdom! Buy me a pearl of wisdom!"
"I want to make a wish too!"
The parents, who had given up trying to calm them, bought the pearls of wisdom, and the children happily held them up. Among them was the child who had asked for a car.
"Mr. Cheongryong! Please grant my wish!"
"Please grant it!"
"Let's come again! We need to make a wish!"
Encouraged by the children's cheers, the sea-blue pearls of wisdom were sold out one after another. Among them were the three friends who had criticized the purchase of the pearls of wisdom. They all seemed to be enchanted, each picking up a pearl of wisdom.
"Hey, I really don't know what this feels like."
"Me too. I know it's a made-up story, but it feels like it's real somehow."
"Whether he grants the wishes or not, if there were a dragon, it would probably feel like this."
Everyone seemed to be unable to shake off the voice of Cheongryong from their minds. Just thinking about it made their bodies stiff with tension.
"But, did you see this?"
"What?"
Kim Suhan held up a pamphlet. It had the photos, names, and ages of the actors, from Choi So-young, who played the lead role of Spring, to the actors who played the woodcutter and the hunter. He pointed to one of them. Under the picture of Cheongryong, it read:
[Cheongryong, played by Na Jin / 8 years old]
"..."
"Wow?"
"Is that? An 8-year-old's voice?"
Not only the students but also the adults who had seen the pamphlet looked back and forth between the theater, where the sacred Cheongryong was, and the pamphlet.
Kim Suhan and his friends, who had seen both the dignified and the quirky but cheerful performances of Cheongryong, looked even more surprised and said,
"Is he a prodigy?"
"Kids these days are really talented."
"But it was a bit different from the first day's performance."
"On the first day, Cheongryong seemed a bit like a grandfather, but this time, he was like a child."
"Also, the feeling of being completely immersed from the start was great."
"Definitely, the fun of a play, which can change with each performance, is different from a movie or drama that's edited and finished."
"Will the next performance be different too?"
Hearing the conversation of the friends who had seen the first performance, the other three decided to come to the next performance and invited more friends.
Students from Juyoung High School, who were looking for a cheap and good play for their summer homework, gathered at the Milky Way Center.
* * *
"Really fun!"
Seo Jun's words made Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-joon burst into laughter.
These days, Seo Jun was eagerly waiting for the performance days. He marked the performance dates on a large calendar and counted down the days with excitement.
The other children were the same. When they gathered in the rehearsal room, they were in such a frenzy of laughter that it was chaos.
"My dad liked the grandfather Cheongryong."
"My mom liked the child Cheongryong."
"I like them all!"
The play 'Spring,' which changed slightly each time, had many repeat viewers from the first day to the last week of the run.
How did they know? The viewer, through a staff member, sent a sign with seven performance tickets to Seo Jun.
He first sent Na Jin's signature but wanted to send a signature with the name Seo Jun later.
"Is the audience always full these days?"
"Yeah! There's not a single empty seat!"
After the third performance, which had a designated time for making wishes, a review was posted online.
[Title: Children's Play 'Spring' - Must See!]
The children's play 'Spring' at the Milky Way Center - must see!
It's a really great play.
Especially, after the play, if our child does something good, we give them a pearl of wisdom - which is divided into three pieces!
If they collect three, Cheongryong will grant a wish, so they're working harder than collecting praise stickers.
Thanks to this, they eat well, clean up their toys, and read books diligently. These days, they're only looking for books about Cheongryong, but there aren't many.
Of course, for wishes that are too difficult to grant, we say, "Cheongryong probably can't grant that," using Cheongryong as an excuse. Sorry, Cheongryong.
Show this to children for whom praise stickers are no longer effective!
Thanks to the review posted on a mom's cafe, not only were there many children, but the play also became popular among students, and recently, many teenagers and adults have been coming.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, thrilled by the continuous sell-out records, distributed materials to journalists.
[Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Sponsors, Children's Play 'Spring' - Sell-Out Streak!]
[Seasoned Child Actor Choi So-young Leads 'Spring'!]
[Indispensable Child Actors Have Arrived!]
[8-Year-Old Na Jin - Talented Voice Actor!]
[Second Lee Seo-joon of the Voice Acting World - Na Jin!]
-These days, they call anyone who's a bit famous the 'second Lee Seo-joon.'
-You can't compare things that aren't comparable. It's just a play for kids, it's bound to be childish.
=Kids are working hard, so give them some praise. The one who put that title is the journalist.
With the final performance approaching, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism hoped for an extension, but the 'Spring' team all shook their heads.
The children were about to start school, and the adults wanted to spread the word about Lee Seo-joon as soon as possible.
* * *
And the final performance day of the three-month-long stage arrived.
Final.
That one word weighed heavily on the actors of 'Spring.' Seo Jun looked at the faces of his older brothers and sisters gathered in a circle in the rehearsal room.
We won't be gathering to eat snacks or changing the lines for the next performance together anymore.
Someone sniffled. Without a word, everyone's eyes turned red. Seo Jun's eyes also turned red, and his vision blurred with tears.
It was too fun, exciting, and happy for three months, making it hard and sad to part. Even though it wasn't forever, it was unlikely that this team would stand on stage together again, which made Seo Jun even sadder.