Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 258

The teachers at Yeoul Arts Middle School were surprised by the high number of successful applicants.

Its amazing, even though they didnt get any extra points for being in the same foundation.

Besides, some of them changed their career paths to regular high schools or to production instead of acting.

There were various reasons for each student.

Among those who did not apply for Mirinae High School, some were afraid of Seo-juns and other students talents and left, and some became interested in music or art classes and changed their career paths.

If we exclude those students, the acceptance rate would be even higher.

The ones who failed are not bad either

It must mean that there were a lot of talented third graders who applied.

The teachers nodded their heads.

Simply put, out of the top 40 child actors in the country, 21 were from Yeoul Arts Middle School.

***

Ju Kyung, Jae Han, Ji Ho, and Ju Hee also passed. Seong Min and Si Yeong, who are preparing for the graduation performance with me, also passed.

Really? Thats great.

Now that the music and art students have finished their exams, we can start preparing for real. Ugh. Its going to be so much fun!

How long can you rent the school practice room?

Seo-jun and his parents were eating apples and chatting in the living room.

Today, Kim Jong Hos talk show that he filmed to promote the play Juror was going to be aired.

Its starting.

Kim Jong Ho, who played the father role, Choi Chan Young, who played Park Kyung Won, and the actors who played the lawyer and prosecutor roles were sitting side by side on the stage. 

The MC, who was asking and talking about the play Juror, its casting process, and rehearsal situation, opened his mouth.

There is an interesting statistic.

The MC smiled as he flipped through the cue cards.

Do you know that the reading population has increased significantly in the second half of this year? Especially, the sales of Juror and Mirror have exploded. The online novel Waiting for a Star is also selling a lot of e-books.

Kim Jong Ho and the actors, and Seo-jun and his parents who were watching on television, laughed as if they knew why.

[Reading population increases suddenly! What is the reason?]

[Buy Mirror and Juror along with other books!]

[From neighborhood bookstores to large bookstores! Bookstore outing!]

[Publishers and bookstores are busy! Lets find out this months events!]

-I read some books this year thanks to Seo-jun.

=22 I went to bookstores a lot last year when I never went before.

-Buying other books while buying Mirror lol

-Juror was interesting.

=Waiting for a Star was not bad either?

=22 It was childish but I cried a lot when I read it at night lol lol

=What about Mirror?

=No one would have read it. They said they would read it after watching the play lol lol

=Its really amazing lol lol Why cant they read it after buying it!

-I havent bought Mirror yet. I think Ill read it if I buy it because Im curious.

=22 Me too.

=There seem to be quite a few people like that. But shouldnt we buy it by December? Wont it be sold out all at once when the graduation performance gets closer?

=The publisher must be prepared too.

-We dont need a reading promotion policy. Just let Seo-jun upload a two-minute video once a month.

=lol No other promotion needed lol lol

-Anyway, publishers and bookstores are enjoying Seo-juns special effects until the end of the year lol lol

***

In mid-November, when Yeoul Arts Middle Schools Mirror team was practicing hard,

the play Juror opened at Eunha-su Center.

The first day of the play Juror was scheduled for the friends and acquaintances of the actors and staff, as well as general audiences.

The entrance for the invited seats is this way.

The staffs voice directed the friends and acquaintances of the actors and staff to move their steps.

Seo-jun, Lee Ji Seok, and Park Do Hoon, who received invitations from Kim Jong Ho, also headed to the theater. The managers of the three actors followed them.

Seo-jun. Did you buy flowers?

Theyre in the car. Ill bring them after the play. What about you, Do Hoon hyung?

Me too. Theyre in the car. Its uncomfortable to watch the play with them.

Park Do Hoon nodded his head at Seo-juns words and stepped into the theater. 

Lee Ji Seok, who was following Seo-jun and Park Do Hoon, tilted his head.

Seo-jun. Why dont you ask me?

I thought you wouldnt buy them, Ji Seok hyung. Right, Do Hoon hyung?

"Yeah. Hyung buying flowers for Jong Ho uncle "

Seo-jun and Park Do Hoon laughed at the unimaginable scene. Lee Ji Seok wondered if he should go and buy some now.

Seo-jun, who was laughing softly, looked at the audience seats and tilted his head.

Huh?

When he entered the theater, he saw that the first three rows of seats near the stage were blocked and no one could sit there, and the next few rows were invited seats, and behind them were general audiences. 

Lee Ji Seok also tilted his head at the strange situation. 

Seo-jun quickly took out his invitation and checked his seat.

Ji Seok hyung, Do Hoon hyung. Its over here.

Seo-jun and the two actors sat in the center of the invited seats where they could see the stage best. 

The managers of the actors sat behind them.

The seats are nice.

But why cant we use the front seats?

Maybe theyre going to use them for the performance? Sometimes there are plays that involve the audience seats.

But Juror wasnt like that

Lee Ji Seok didnt know either, so he tilted his head at Seo-juns question. 

While they were wondering, the invited seats were filled up and the general audiences also came in one by one.

Park Do Hoon, who looked around the full audience seats, smiled and said.

Thanks to Seo-juns promotion, its sold out.

Seo-jun and Lee Ji Seok also smiled.

I heard that from Jong Ho uncle too. Theyre thinking about extending the performance

It must have been unintentional, but it was a perfect noise marketing.

The three actors chatted with each other.

The eyes of the friends and acquaintances of the actors and staff who were sitting in the invited seats turned to them. 

They covered their faces with hats and masks, but they could recognize Lee Ji Seok and Park Do Hoon. 

And one more person. 

They couldnt tell at a glance why, but if they knew that Lee Ji Seok and Park Do Hoon were there, they had to figure out who the actor was.

Wow. Its Seo-jun.

Hey, Kim Su Han. Seo-jun is here.

Kim Su Han, who stretched his neck and looked at where his friends were pointing, looked at the stage with a regretful face as he heard the beep sound of the start.

***

The black curtain slowly rose up.

Wow.

Whoa.

Seo-jun, Lee Ji Seok, and Park Do Hoon exclaimed at the stage that appeared as the curtain rose.

The stage composition of Juror was unique.

It was as if they had made another stage on top of the stage, making it higher.

Lee Ji-seok nodded as if he understood.

Thats why they didnt use the first three rows. The stage is too high, so you have to look up if you sit in the front seats.

The second floor stage was decorated as a courtroom.

The jury box where the protagonist of the novel sat was on the far left, with nine jurors of different genders and ages. 

The prosecutors seat was next to it, and the judges seat was in the center of the stage. 

The defenses seat was on the right.

Those who had read the novel tilted their heads. 

The Jury was a novel that alternated between the courtroom and the imagined reenactments of the past by the judge, the prosecutor, and the defense.

But do they only show the courtroom scenes? What about the scenes at home or at the hospital?

Good question.

As Seo-jun, Lee Ji-seok, and Park Do-hoon wondered, the trial began with the judges appearance.

The prosecutor stepped forward in front of the judges seat and gave a brief overview of the case. 

Then he stepped back, and the front part of the wall that looked like a simple platform under the second floor stage split open to both sides.

Wow!

Seo-jun and the two actors exclaimed with sparkling eyes. 

The other audience members were also surprised and widened their eyes.

When the first floor stage opened, a living room of an ordinary house appeared. 

When the front door opened, it seemed that the floor of the second floor stage also opened, as there was a hole in the center of the second floor stage.

The prosecutors seat on the left, the judges seat in the center, and the defenses seat on the right.

It was as if they were looking down at the living room from the courtroom.

Amazing, right?

Yeah. This way, they can easily create other locations too.

Park Kyung-won, who was sitting in the defendants seat, got up and walked back. 

There seemed to be stairs leading to the first floor stage behind the defenses seat. 

In the meantime, he changed his clothes from his defendants outfit to casual clothes.

Wow.

Kim Jong-ho, who played Park Kyung-wons father, came out.

His distorted face with bloodshot eyes and fierce aura filled the theater. 

Seo-jun and the two actors, who had been admiring the stage direction, closed their mouths and stared at the actors performances.

Park Kyung-won fought with his father and stabbed him without hesitation, as the prosecutor claimed. Bright red blood splattered and his father died. 

The door of the first floor stage closed.

The defense attorney who stood in the center of the stage defended his client. The door of the first floor stage opened again, and this time Park Kyung-wons father died by accident because of Park Kyung-wons mistake.

The jurors, prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys watched it from above on the second floor stage.

I thought they would just make another stage on one side

The director is amazing.

The audience members were immersed in the trial process and past reenactments that flowed smoothly. 

They marveled at how accurately they recreated each situation according to what the prosecutor and defense attorney said.

The witnesses stories continued. Whenever there was an important story, without fail, the door of the first floor stage opened and showed either Park Kyung-won or his father with a witness.

The second floor stage was a courtroom.

The first floor stage was a past reenactment.

It could have been a confusing structure, but with appropriate adaptation and brilliant acting by the actors, it made everyone wonder about the truth of the case.

Seo-juns eyes turned to the jurors.

They were the most important role in the book, but they became the least important role because the audience members became the jurors themselves. But the actors who played the jurors were working hard.

Park Won-kyung answered all the questions obediently as in the novel. Both unfavorable and favorable ones. 

The prosecutor and defense attorney gave their final arguments.

The defendant committed a premeditated murder!

This case was nothing but an unfortunate accident!

Their loud voices echoed throughout the theater. 

The audience members also nodded along with either the prosecutor or defense attorneys opinions.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The jurors opinions were delivered and the judge opened his mouth. 

The judge sided with the defense. 

The contrast between the angry prosecutor and the happy defense was striking.

After the trial ended, Park Kyung-won, who was about to leave through a door prepared next to the defenses seat, looked at the audience seats and said,

Why are you crying?

In that sentence, there was a cold satisfaction that his plan had ended successfully.

He sneered at the people who were fooled by his plan.

The audience members spat out a sigh of disgust at Park Kyung-wons appearance, realizing that the prosecutor was right.

Hmm.

It seemed that either the director or the actor interpreted him as a smart and crazy person like Joo-hee. 

It was different from his interpretation, but it was a great work, so Seo-jun clapped his hands with all his might.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The audience members couldnt take their eyes off the fight and the past reenactments that were different from the prosecutor and defense attorney. 

They gave a big applause to the actors who showed their best performances.

Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon also smiled satisfiedly and clapped their hands.

It was fun. They did a good job adapting it.

Yes. It had a different charm from the book.

Then lets go give Uncle Jong-ho a bouquet of flowers!

At Seo-juns words, Lee Ji-seok and Park Do-hoon laughed and got up from their seats.

***

Song Mun-seok, the author of the novel The Jury, sat at a small table set up next to the lobby of the Milky Way Center.

He had come to watch the play The Jury. 

A publishing company employee who came with him asked.

Mr. Song, how was it?

It was fun. They kept the important parts well and the stage direction was good too. The actors were beyond words.

Right? Especially Kim Jong-ho and Choi Chan-young did well. I got goosebumps at the last line.

Ah, the last line.

Song Mun-seoks face clouded over with satisfaction.

Maybe because of the false report that Lee Seo-jun was cast, but there was a sold-out line and even inquiries for extension performances. Maybe it will be made into a movie. Oh, Mr. Song, Ill be back after taking a call.

Okay.

The publishing company employee who was excited by the unexpected success left, and Song Mun-seok took out a coin from his pocket and put it in the vending machine. 

He wanted to drink something cold to ease his stuffy chest.

He took out a can of soda and sat down on a chair.

Thats when it happened.

The last line?

Yeah. I think its a bit different from my interpretation.

Really? Whats your interpretation?

Song Mun-seoks hand stopped as he was about to drink soda. 

He listened to the voice.

Hmm. A crazy person without emotions? I think Park Kyung-won doesnt understand peoples feelings at all.

Song Mun-seok trembled at the interpretation that seemed to look into his mind.

He doesnt understand why people cry or laugh, so he answers all the questions from the prosecutor honestly, no matter if they are unfavorable or favorable to him. He doesnt care what verdict is given either. The last line is also him asking why they are crying because he really doesnt understand.

Song Mun-seok got up from his seat. Soda full of carbonation spilled over the table. 

The publishing company employee who came back after taking a phone call ran over in surprise. 

He grabbed Song Mun-seok who was looking for the owner of the voice.

Mr. Song! Your clothes!

Just, just a moment.

First, wipe this with this Mr. Song?!

Song Mun-seok ran towards where the voice came from, but there were many people in the lobby after the play ended. 

Men and women, children and adults. Song Mun-seok looked around the lobby quickly.

The publishing company employee followed Song Mun-seok with a bewildered expression.

Whats wrong? Mr. Song?

No, nothing. Its nothing.

Oh, I just got a call from the publishing company. They said they want to produce your work into a drama

The publishing company employees voice faded away. 

Song Mun-seok looked around the lobby with a longing look in his eyes.