Chapter 145
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: The Public Service Announcement
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0-Year-Old Superstar Chapter 145
As it was a drama, albeit a short one, it required experienced child actors. Therefore, the audition notice from Gureum was sent to specialized child actor agencies and acting schools.
With a single exception.
***
What exactly did Cocoa Entertainment's Team 2, the dedicated team for actor Lee Seojun, do?
When they arrived at the office in the morning, they would sit down and first check the articles and comments about Lee Seojun.
“There are a lot of posts anticipating *Shadowman 3*.”
“Many fans are also saying they’re waiting for his next project.”
Perhaps because he was young, had a good image, and the title of "Hollywood actor" carried significant weight, all the articles were positive, making their job a pleasant one.
Their next task was to print the scripts and synopses that had arrived the previous day. The printer worked rapidly as the staff collected and organized the printed materials. Then, a meeting would begin, centered around Team Leader An Daho, who would be explaining the projects to Seojun directly.
“This production company keeps sending them. It’s been ages since they were put on the blacklist…”
“Isn’t this one pretty good?”
“I’ll take a look at it too.”
After weeding out synopses from directors, writers, and production companies on their pre-compiled blacklist—individuals who could negatively impact a project—they would score the remaining submissions, setting aside those that made them frown just by reading them. The approved ones were then placed in a box to be sent to Seojun via Team Leader An Daho.
Given the sheer volume of projects they received, this part of their job took the most time.
Next up was commercials.
As Lee Seojun was famous worldwide, a single commercial could target the global market. Thanks to this, an enormous number of appearance offers flooded in daily. And not just from Korea, but from all over the world.
The problem was, with his fame came the responsibility of choosing commercials carefully. Team Leader An Daho and the Team 2 staff, who were usually content with just filtering out reasonably decent scripts and synopses, became extremely cautious at this stage.
They would search for information about the product and the company, checking reviews and articles.
“It says here they found carcinogens in this.”
At the employee’s words, everyone shook their heads.
If that padded jacket had been sold worldwide through Seojun’s commercial… the thought alone was horrifying. It wouldn’t have been Seojun’s fault, but even the smallest spark of controversy could have ignited. Considering Seojun’s influence, that small spark could have easily turned into a massive blaze.
“I think it would be better if he just stuck to dramas and movies and didn’t do any commercials.”
The members of Team 2 agreed with the sentiment. Once again, very few commercial proposals passed the team's sharp scrutiny that day, and not a single one was ultimately chosen by Seojun.
After sorting through all the emails and mail from the previous day, it was time for internet surfing.
From websites frequently used by actors and production companies to online cafes and blogs, they all silently searched for the word “Audition.”
[Commercial Audition]
[Theater Audition]
[Independent Film Audition]
They scoured through occasional articles and posts, looking for auditions. Though, there were more posts about audition experiences and acting school promotions than actual audition notices.
“There’s an audition notice here!”
An employee’s face lit up as they clicked on the post. It was on a site dedicated solely to audition announcements.
“It’s a public service announcement for the Fire Service Agency. Did we get this, Team Leader?”
Team Leader An Daho, who was checking the company email, shook his head. There was nothing even beginning with the letter ‘F’.
“No, we didn’t.”
“I’ll print it then.”
The employee who found the notice started the printer. With a whirring sound, several pages were printed. The members of Team 2 each took a copy to read.
[Fire Service Agency Public Service Announcement Audition Notice]
[Age Requirement: 12-13 years old (5th-6th Grade)]
[Production Company: Gureum]
The commercial production company, Gureum, was not on their blacklist. The audition was on a weekend.
The staff reviewed the notice with practiced ease.
“The age range is perfect for Seojun. Why didn't they send it to us?”
“Well, it’s probably because of his appearance fee.”
After Seojun won the Golden Globe and Oscar, an American media outlet had calculated ‘Seojun Lee’s Appearance Fee.’
In Hollywood, where a film with a budget under 100 billion won was considered low-budget, Seojun Lee’s estimated fee was more than enough to stun Korea.
“It’s a bit much to take that at face value…”
“The situations in Korea and the US are different, so his fee would be set differently, of course.”
The members of Team 2 nodded in agreement.
There were occasional cases where companies, intimidated by his unimaginable fee, didn’t even bother sending an offer.
Of course, such cases were very rare. Whether it was a play or a musical, if Seojun starred in it, they could easily turn a profit through VOD or streaming services.
‘Thanks to that, the number of places that just throw scripts and synopses at us, banking on the increased investment Seojun’s appearance would bring, has also grown.’
Some would ramble on with half-baked plans of what they would do if Seojun were to join. The mere thought of it made him sigh.
An Daho spoke up.
“This is a public service announcement, so they probably can’t generate any profit from it. I imagine that’s why they didn’t send it.”
“It’s nice that they’re not pressuring him for a talent donation, at least.”
Everyone shared a bitter smile at that remark. It reminded them of a time when some association had tried to force a talent donation out of him.
An Daho looked down at the paper. Seeing audition notices posted online always brought back memories of that time.
His actor, who had chosen a different project because it seemed fun, instead of one from the list of surefire hits.
“I don’t know if Seojun will choose this audition or not, but I’d rather not have a repeat of the children’s play ‘Spring’ situation.”
“Exactly. The whole point of Team 2 is to support Seojun. For him to be finding his own audition notices completely defeats the purpose.”
Since then, the members of Team 2 never carelessly dismissed any audition notice or synopsis.
Among them, of course, were some that reeked of scams, but weeding those out was Team 2’s job.
“Alright, let’s check it out.”
At An Daho’s words, the staff stopped their chatter and examined the audition notice.
“Plus point for seeming like it will be properly made.”
“Plus point for it being a Fire Service Agency public service announcement. We probably don’t need to do a background check.”
“It’s a commercial, but the runtime is 5 to 10 minutes. Seems like a web drama. Plus point for having a story.”
“There’s no synopsis in the notice. We’ll need to check on that.”
“I’ll email the production company.”
“As soon as we get the synopsis or script from them, we can send it over to Seojun.”
While one employee sent an email to the production company Gureum, the rest of Team 2 resumed their search for audition notices.
***
As usual, Seojun was pulling scripts and synopses from the box An Daho had brought, skimming through the titles when his eyes suddenly sparkled.
“Oh.”
He had spotted a paper at the very bottom. It was marked with three stars.
“A public service announcement for the Fire Service Agency.”
“Why? Are you interested?”
“Yes. We had an evacuation drill at school last week.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
Seojun spoke as he read the audition notice and synopsis.
“I got interested after that and looked into it a bit. Like how to evacuate from places other than school. But it turns out there are a lot of problems.”
“Problems?”
“Places where you’re supposed to evacuate to the roof but the door is locked, or places where the emergency bell is broken and goes off all the time, or where the emergency exit is locked and can’t be used in an emergency.”
An Daho nodded at Seojun’s words.
“True, some places lock the rooftop doors, saying it’s dangerous.”
“Besides, our school is special for holding drills twice a year. I heard other schools don’t do it that often.”
An Daho recalled the disaster drills at Maesil Elementary School.
The evacuation drills were established by the principal who had been appointed a few years before Seojun enrolled. The drills, with varying difficulty levels for students from first to sixth grade, seemed like they would be very helpful for the children.
‘Although you’d only know if it’s truly helpful when an accident happens, and you don’t want an accident to happen at an elementary school.’
Some things were better left unknown. Simply not panicking when the emergency bell rang would be helpful enough.
“This looks pretty good.”
An Daho, who had been lost in thought, snapped back to reality at Seojun’s words.
“Really? You want to do this one then?”
“Yes. I want to.”
Seojun nodded.
Taking the paper from Seojun, An Daho looked over the notice. This audition was for a public service announcement with a small budget and no potential for other revenue, so they might be hesitant to cast Seojun, considering the cost. However…
‘If Seojun wants to do it, I have to make it happen.’
An Daho, manager to actor Lee Seojun, grinned. A talent donation was one option, but if he did it once, requests would come pouring in from all over.
‘Then I’ll have to use another method.’
“Seojun. You don’t mind the appearance fee, right?”
“Right.”
“Then shall we use that name?”
That name?
Seojun tilted his head for a moment, then his eyes lit up.
“You mean Na Jin?”
“Yeah. Since this is a public service announcement, the production budget probably isn’t very big. The fee for Na Jin, who only has experience in a children’s play, would be more appropriate than the fee for the award-winning Lee Seojun.”
Seojun burst into laughter at An Daho’s words.
“Ahahaha. Should we do that?”
Lee Seojun and Na Jin.
It was a simple trick, but a good one.
***
Audition applications piled up on the conference room table. The planning team members, who now had to begin the document screening, sat down with ambiguous expressions.
“We sent them the synopsis, but… what do we do if an application actually comes in?”
Ever since the day the email from Cocoa Entertainment arrived, the employees at Gureum had been agonizing over how much they would have to pay if Lee Seojun appeared in their ad, even looking up old speculative articles about his fee.
The amount was beyond their imagination, and the conclusion they always reached was…
“Would a talent donation be out of the question?”
A talent donation.
“Since it’s a public service announcement, it might not be entirely impossible.”
“But if we’re the ones to suggest it, wouldn’t that feel like we’re coercing him?”
At that, everyone let out a groan.
“Well, whether it’s a talent donation or an appearance fee, we first need to receive an application from Lee Seojun. If there’s no application, we’re just counting our chickens before they hatch.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with the planning team leader’s words.
“Alright, let’s begin the document screening!”
“Yes, sir.”
In the quiet conference room, the sounds of rustling paper and pens scratching against it filled the air.
“There are a lot of child actors in this age group. Most have at least two projects under their belts.”
“It’s because of the child actor boom that Seojun Lee started.”
“There are still plenty now. A lot of people want to start their kids from a young age like Seojun Lee. And a lot of kids want to become actors too.”
Everyone nodded.
In the midst of this, the planning team leader, who had spotted a particular application, froze. It seemed as if he had stopped breathing.
An employee sitting nearby tilted their head in curiosity and looked at the application the team leader was staring at. That employee also froze.
Kim Jihyun, who was sitting next to them, looked on, bewildered by their reactions. She craned her neck to see the application and read it slowly from the top.
“Name, Na Jin. Age, 13.”
The name and age were nothing special. There were many people with the same name in the world. But when this particular project was added to the mix, it could only point to one person.
“Experience, Children’s… Play… ‘Spring’…?”
The attention of everyone in the office shifted to Kim Jihyun. The eyes of the team leader, the other employee, and Kim Jihyun, who were all staring blankly at the application, widened.
“…What?”
“…What did you say?”
The questions from the other employees didn’t even register. As if slowly coming back to their senses, the employee and the team leader began to chuckle.
“Ah, hahaha. Team Leader, your eyes must be getting bad too. Want to get glasses together?”
“…I guess so. I’m seeing things. Maybe I should get some herbal medicine.”
The three’s hollow laughter ended abruptly, followed by a brief silence. The employees who had been sitting down shot up from their seats and rushed toward the team leader.
“For real!? Is it really Lee Seojun!?”
“Na Jin. Isn’t Na Jin Lee Seojun’s stage name?”
“Well, it’s not exactly a stage name, but still! How did this happen?! If he was going to send one, why send it as Na Jin and not Lee Seojun?”
“Don’t you think someone might be playing a prank?”
“…! You’re right!”
Everyone nodded at the most plausible theory. The employee who suggested it picked up their phone.
“I’ll call Lee Seojun’s agency.”
“The phone number is right here, though?”
“How can you trust that?”
“Ah.”
A quick internet search for Lee Seojun’s agency brought up Cocoa Entertainment’s website and phone number.
The line rang. In the silent office, everyone listened as the call was answered.
The expression of the employee on the phone grew more and more puzzled. With everyone in the office dying of curiosity, the employee hung up and spoke with a pale face.
“…It’s really Lee Seojun.”
“…Amazing! Lee Seojun is going to be in our commercial!”
Amidst the cheering employees, the team leader was lost in thought.
“But the fact that he deliberately submitted the application as Na Jin, not Lee Seojun, does that mean he wants us to consider them separately?”
“Seeing as he only listed the children’s play ‘Spring’ as his experience, I think that’s the case.”
“In that case, Na Jin’s appearance fee…”
“We’ll have to discuss it with Cocoa Entertainment, but it should be fine if it’s less than Lee Seojun’s, right?”
The team leader’s face lit up.