Chapter 134
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 134
Chapter Title: The Superstar's Homecoming
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“Then, a toast to Jun's award! Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
Aunt Nara had done it. She really gathered the staff from *Shadowman* and *Over the Rainbow*, the actors and directors, King's Agency, and other associates to throw a massive party.
It was a profession where people met and parted ways with each project, so everyone became friends quickly.
“Now, a toast to Director Sarah Rothe and Director Ryan Will!”
I've lost count of how many toasts we've had. Even those who had been happily sipping wine were throwing in the towel. Only the heavy drinkers had gathered at one table, diligently finding reasons to pour down more alcohol.
At the center of it all were Aunt Nara, Greenwing, and Wyatt Carter.
People watching the heavy drinkers down their alcohol with gusto shook their heads. That table was a pit of booze. Getting close would be a disaster. Everyone warily backed away from it.
Those who didn't drink gathered on the opposite side. Seojun, Catherine, and Paul were enjoying the party there.
Catherine and Paul were constantly asking Richel Hill questions. Richel answered them cheerfully.
“You have no idea how surprised I was when Jun's whole aura just changed!”
“Jun must have been a great actor even back then!”
“That's so cool!”
Seojun, who had been listening along, felt the conversation about him dragging on and slipped away with an awkward smile.
“Of course, it all started with his performance as William.”
“That's right! I cried so much!”
Tuning out the voices of his friends and Richel Hill, Seojun sat in a chair and enjoyed the party at his leisure.
In Seojun's hands were the orange juice Daho Hyung had given him and the cookies his mom and dad had brought.
‘They're amazing. Daho Hyung, Mom, and Dad.’
He could feel them glancing at him occasionally, even while talking to others. Under the watchful eyes of Daho Hyung and his parents, Seojun took a bite of a cookie.
‘It's delicious.’
Seojun's eyes sparkled. The cookies, chosen by his parents who knew his tastes well, were truly delicious. I should send some to Jack later. They were perfect for Jack Smith, who still loved sweet things.
“Congratulations on the award, Jun.”
“Thanks, Evan.”
Evan Block sat down next to Seojun.
“Is filming for *Assemble 2* all done?”
“It finished last year. The CG work should be wrapping up now, too.”
“I see. Has the release date been set?”
“Late March or early April, maybe? I don't think it'll be May.”
“That's only a few months away.”
“I have to start the promotional tour soon. I'm dreading all the flights.”
Since it was a worldwide release, there were many countries to promote in. The travel time, the jet lag between countries—just thinking about it was exhausting. Seojun burst out laughing at Evan's words.
“Are you coming to Korea, too?”
“Yeah. If you know any good restaurants, let me know.”
“Okay. Call me when you arrive.”
While Seojun and Evan Block were chatting, Catherine and Paul called out to Seojun.
“Jun! They're playing games over there!”
“Okay, I'm coming!”
“Maybe I'll join in.”
Seojun, who had finished his cookies, and Evan Block, who had been watching the boisterous party, both joined the games. With all sorts of fun games and various penalties, everyone burst into laughter. And so, Nara Kim's cheerful party came to an end.
The next day, An Daho and King's Agency, who had been guests at the party, dove into work. They were busy sorting through the flood of interview requests and broadcast offers, trying to separate the wheat from the chaff.
“The host there isn't great. They ask provocative questions.”
“And this one has a photographer who's known for being very particular. They'll keep shooting over and over until they're satisfied.”
King's Agency did its job thoroughly. An Daho took the filtered list of offers to Seojun. After reviewing the list, Seojun, along with An Daho, listened to the opinions of Nara and the mansion staff before choosing which programs to appear on.
“Then we'll do these.”
“Okay!”
Over five days, Seojun completed three interviews and one talk show appearance before boarding a plane with his parents and Daho Hyung. It was a flight bound for Korea.
* * *
While Seojun was in the U.S., Korea was in a frenzy with "Lee Seojun Award Celebrations Without Lee Seojun."
The name "Lee Seojun" was everywhere—on the real-time search rankings of portal sites, in articles in the entertainment section and beyond, and on placards in front of stores.
[Looking for anyone named Lee Seojun! 30% off!]
[Same age as Lee Seojun (12 years old), toy discount!]
[Bring your CSAT admission ticket! Looking for high school senior Lee Seojun! A total of 70% off!]
Not only that, but television stations were also airing programs about Lee Seojun during primetime slots following the awards ceremony.
[KBC announces special feature on actor Lee Seojun, will rebroadcast *Naeuiwon*!]
[MBS to rebroadcast the Golden Globe Awards!]
[WNET decides to rebroadcast *48 Hours*!]
[OCM to rebroadcast the Academy Awards!]
-Wow. Did the stations coordinate? The times are all different.
-Haha, if they overlapped, the viewers would be split. They have to space them out to maximize ratings.
=[Lee Seojun Broadcast Schedule] I made a timetable!
=Thx thx. Right now... it's time for *Naeuiwon*!
-In terms of sheer volume, *Naeuiwon* will probably be on the most, but for something fresh, it's the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards.
-True. It's fun to rewatch, but I've seen *Naeuiwon* so many times (pretty sure more than ten times, haha).
=I've practically memorized all the lines, lol.
-At the Golden Globes, Seojun flinching is so cute. At the Academy Awards, his red eyes are also cute!
=2222 Why are awards shows this entertaining? lol
-I love that both awards shows are edited to focus on Seojun for the broadcast, hahaha. There are so many cute moments no matter how many times I watch.
-I love the part where the Rainbow child actors are holding hands so tightly ㅠ
-The only downside is that there are just as many commercials.
-(Breaking) Episode 5 of *Naeuiwon* is on now! The Grand Prince is about to appear!
=Going to watch!
While various broadcast stations were enjoying a festival of their own, raking in ratings and advertising fees, one station remained quiet.
It was SBC. With only the "WTV Film Festival Award Interview" to air related to Lee Seojun, SBC could only watch the other stations' festivities with tears in their eyes.
* * *
Seojun returned to Korea.
A large crowd had gathered, but thanks to the preparations made by Cocoa Entertainment and the airport staff, Seojun was able to give a brief greeting to the people from behind a fence before leaving the airport.
‘Though the scent of flowers helped, too.’
Seojun stroked the wrist marked with the pattern of the ability that had filled the airport with the scent of flowers.
“I thought more people would come. There were fewer than I expected.”
“Me too. I thought we might have to use the back exit.”
Seojun and An Daho nodded at the couple's words. Seo Eunchan, who was driving, said with a smile.
“If you had come back right after the awards ceremony, it would have been chaos with all the excited people. These past five days have been insane. There were discount events everywhere, the TV was playing Seojun's movies and dramas, and do you know how many times the awards ceremony clips were shown? The office got a ton of calls, too. A lot of fans came by.”
The Cocoa Entertainment staff and Seo Eunchan had all gone through a lot. If it hadn't been for the bonuses and vacation time Eunchan promised, they would have surrendered within two days.
Seo Eunchan continued.
“Being happy about it is one thing, but if you keep showing it over and over, people get desensitized. As time passed, everyone started to calm down a bit. Even the people who said they would come to the airport calmed down one by one, so fewer actually showed up.”
“Really?”
“Of course, once the news gets out that you're back in Korea, things will flare up again, but it won't be as intense as it was a few days ago.”
Seo Eunchan made a pained face.
“It has to be that way. It's too exhausting.”
Everyone burst out laughing at Seo Eunchan's words.
[First Korean and Youngest Ever to Win Best Actor at the Golden Globes and Academy Awards! Superstar Lee Seojun Returns Home!]
[Actor Lee Seojun Returns to Korea! Greeted by a Welcoming Crowd!]
[Actor Lee Seojun Leaves After a Brief Remark!]
[Actor Lee Seojun, "Thank you for all your support!"]
["I won an award!" Actor Lee Seojun Waves His Oscar Trophy!]
-Lee Seojun's title is so long, lol.
=Can't take anything out of it, haha.
-He's like my daughter, lol. "Mom, I won an awaaard!!!"
=222 Seojun is so cute!!
After returning to Korea, Seojun rested for two days, doing nothing, and then decided to enjoy his winter break.
“Subin! Eunsu!”
“Seojunie hyung-ah!”
“Aahng!”
“So cute!”
Subin, who ran over ignoring Uncle Heesang, and Eunsu, who walked diligently while holding Uncle Chan's hand, were both so cute.
Seojun quickly ran and scooped Subin into his arms. Subin, overjoyed to see his hyung after so long, squealed with delight. Eunsu also walked earnestly, holding his dad's hand. He was slow, but he waddled along with determination.
“Aboo!”
“Our Eunsu is here too!”
Seojun giggled and hugged Eunsu and Subin tightly. The warmth of the babies made him grin foolishly. My little siblings are so cute! Super cute!
“Should we play with the Lich King today? Or the Twin-Headed Ogre?”
“Lich King is good!”
“Eeing!”
“So you both like the Lich King!”
When Seojun handed them a skeleton doll, Subin's and Eunsu's eyes sparkled. Since they would fight over one, Kim Heesang quickly pulled another skeleton doll from his bag and gave it to Seojun. Seojun handed the two Lich dolls to Subin and Eunsu.
“Yay!”
“Aboo!”
Seeing the children hugging the Lich King dolls tightly, Seo Eunchan, Kim Heesang, and Lee Minjun burst into laughter, reminded of how Seojun used to be.
“SBC?”
“Yeah.”
Seojun, who had played with Subin and Eunsu to his heart's content, tilted his head at Seo Eunchan's words.
The two kids, full of energy, played hard with their favorite hyung and oppa before getting tired and falling fast asleep. Even in their sleep, the happy smiles on their faces showed how content they were.
Seojun smiled as he covered Subin and Eunsu with a warm blanket.
While Lee Minjun and Kim Heesang discussed company matters, Seojun talked with Seo Eunchan.
“They were practically begging. Everyone else aired a 'Seojun Special' of some kind, but SBC had nothing.”
Seojun blinked at Seo Eunchan's words. Eunchan explained in more detail.
“After the awards ceremony, KBC aired *Naeuiwon*, MBS aired the Golden Globes, OCM aired the Academy Awards and Seojun's movies, and WNET aired *48 Hours*. MBS is a bit of a stretch, but the ratings were good. They all said the ad revenue was incredible. Except for SBC.”
It was a festival for everyone else.
And SBC had a hunch that this wouldn't be a one-time thing. They could tell just by looking at WNET, which was milking 'Brown Black and Jun's 48 Hours' for all it was worth. Even WNET probably never imagined they'd still be airing *48 Hours* ten years later.
The bigger actor Lee Seojun became, the more valuable his past footage would be. They needed to secure more than the other stations, or at least have a comparable amount.
But they couldn't pressure him either. If actor Lee Seojun were to boycott SBC, the guaranteed ratings, advertisements, and subsequent profits from his appearances would all vanish.
Lee Seojun was only thirteen years old. Who knew if that boycott would last ten years, twenty years, or even longer? The mere thought was dizzying, so SBC had no choice but to offer the best possible conditions and wait for a response.
“The current plan is to appear on one variety show and just do interviews for the rest, but it's been hard to decide.”
For the WTV Film Festival, he had done interviews with all three major terrestrial broadcasters, and for this awards season, Cocoa Entertainment had been coordinating his interview schedule since he was in the U.S.
All the stations wanted a longer broadcast rather than a short interview, so they were in the middle of intense negotiations.
“Among them, SBC is offering the best conditions.”
“A variety show...”
Seojun nodded. He watched them with his parents and talked about fun variety shows with his friends. He wasn't particularly against the idea.
Seojun nodded. Of course, he'd have to choose the right show.
“Is there anything specific in mind?”
Seo Eunchan handed Seojun a piece of paper.
“The Team 2 staff picked out some variety shows they thought you might like. You can pick one from this list, or if there's another one you'd prefer, you can do that too. Whatever you think you'll have fun with.”
As always, Seo Eunchan was on Seojun's side.
“Hmm. What would be good? If it were a movie or a drama, I could just pick one I like, but a variety show... this is difficult!”
Seojun read down the list. It included variety shows not only from SBC but also from other broadcast stations and cable channels.
‘I've seen this one. It was fun... This one is boring. This one is fun, and this one's okay too.’
Unlike with scripts or synopses, which he could decide on quickly, Seojun was lost in thought. With variety shows, one episode could be fun, and the next could be boring. They didn't have a consistent story like a movie or drama.
*Groan*. Seojun, who had been diligently reading the list, looked up at Seo Eunchan.
“Samchon. They all look good, though?”
“It doesn't have to be SBC. Take your time and think about shows from other stations, too.”
Seo Eunchan said it so casually, but if the people at SBC, who were anxiously awaiting a response from Seojun and Cocoa Entertainment, had heard him, they would have grabbed his trousers and begged.
“Okay. I will!”
At Seo Eunchan's words, Seojun went back to slowly reading the list. Seeing Seojun deliberating, Eunchan thought it would take some time for him to make a decision.
But the decision came much sooner than expected.
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