Chapter 59
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: A Cameo Appearance
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“It’s really them!”
“Actor Lee Jiseok and Actor Lee Seojun!”
“Is this a dream? It has to be a dream!”
Though there were only seven members in the troupe, their reaction was immense. Their eyes sparkled as they gasped for breath.
Seojun and Lee Jiseok considered taking a step back from their intense reactions. Yoon Sungoh tensed up as well.
Smack! Kim Sungon slapped the back of Kim Sungwoo, who was closest to him. Thankfully, the sharp sound brought everyone back to their senses. They caught their breath and calmed down.
“Ah, uh, hello, Actor Lee Seojun. I’m a huge fan.”
Seojun smiled and shook the hands of each actor, who offered them with trembling fingers.
Ignoring his stinging back, Kim Sungwoo had already found a clean sheet of paper and was asking Lee Jiseok and Seojun for their autographs.
“A picture! Let’s take a picture too!”
“Give it to me. I’ll take it for you. I’m not a big fan of being in pictures.”
“Oh, thank you!”
Hearing Yoon Sungoh, Kim Sungon, who had been wondering if he should step out of the photo, offered his thanks.
A picture of the seven theater actors with Seojun and Lee Jiseok was taken on Kim Sungon’s phone. Then, another picture was taken with Lee Jiseok’s phone.
“Sunbae. Please send it to me too.”
“Me too!”
Kim Sungon uploaded the picture to their BananaTalk group chat.
Everyone downloaded it with joyful expressions. After getting his phone back from Yoon Sungoh, Lee Jiseok also sent the picture to Seojun.
“Uhm…”
Kim Sungon asked,
“Is it okay if we post this online? For promotional purposes.”
“I’m fine with it.”
Unlike Seojun, who answered without much thought, Lee Jiseok, who had experience dealing with fame, scratched his cheek.
“We don’t mind, but if you use celebrities for promotion, things will get that much harder. Seojun, in particular, has been getting a lot of attention lately, so even more eyes will be on you.”
One misstep, and it might be impossible to recover. Kim Sungon smiled and said.
“This is the third day we’ve performed on stage without an audience. You were the only ones who came to see our play today. If we had no audience again today, we might have had to pull this production entirely. One of our members might have even quit theater. But we love theater. We want to keep doing it. So we can overcome this.”
All the members of the Wind Theater Company nodded. Han Jia spoke with a determined expression.
“We’ll work hard so that the people who come because they trust you two won’t be disappointed.”
Listening to them, Seojun tilted his head. Why were they so worried about just posting a photo? Seojun was puzzled.
Seojun was still not used to the life of a star, the daily routine of a celebrity.
‘I should ask Jiseok hyung later!’
And so, the conversation about the photo ended. Kim Sungwoo, the one who had sold them the tickets, spoke up cautiously, but with the boldness of the youngest member who had just become an adult.
“Uhm…”
“Yes?”
“If there was anything lacking in our play, please teach us!”
It was something everyone wanted to ask but couldn’t. Everyone here, except for Seojun, knew that Lee Jiseok had started in theater before debuting in dramas. Lee Jiseok glanced at his watch without realizing it.
‘I have to take Seojun home…’
Seojun, sensing his thought, raised both hands.
“I’m curious too!”
“Shall we talk for a little while before we go, then?”
The troupe members cheered at Lee Jiseok’s reply.
***
The internet was abuzz over a photo posted on social media two days ago.
[#LeeSeojun #LeeJiseok #MyNeighborhood #Play]
[Title: Just came back from watching ‘My Neighborhood’]
I’m a Lee Seojun fan who searches his name every day. I saw the photo less than 10 minutes after it was posted. The moment I saw it, I ran out! There must have been others like me, because the tickets were almost all sold out, but I managed to get a ticket for the very last showtime!
Sold out right after me! Heheheh.
I had a lot of time to kill, so I looked around the shops near the small theater and got something to eat. There must have been a lot of people like me, because it was crowded everywhere. The owner of the restaurant I went to said that it suddenly got busy and that they hoped it would stay that way.
Anyway, when I went into the small theater, the audience seating was small and the stage was super close. When you buy tickets, it’s first-come, first-served, and they have numbers like 1, 2 written on them, which is awesome. You can sit in the same seats Lee Seojun and Lee Jiseok sat in. They even marked the chairs. The people who got those seats were going crazy taking pictures.
But, a lot of people came after me, so I think they’ll move to a bigger theater soon. You should probably go and grab a seat quickly lol.
The play was fun. I kept laughing lol. Everyone was laughing a lot haha.
And after the play, there was a talk with the actors, and everyone asked about Lee Jiseok and Lee Seojun. The actors must have expected it, because they rattled off their answers.
>>Lee Seojun, Lee Jiseok, and their manager all enjoyed the play. At first, we didn’t know it was them. We found out when we took the picture. Lee Jiseok and Lee Seojun had lunch at the cold noodle place right in front. Lee Jiseok gave us some advice on the play. Maybe because he hasn’t done theater before, Lee Seojun learned along with us haha.
+That cold noodle place is where I ate. But the owner didn’t seem to know that Lee Seojun and Lee Jiseok had been there.
-Ah, learned along with them lol. That’s cute haha.
-The tickets for the day sell out in 30 minutes there. I failed again today. I hope they move to a bigger place soon…
=They said they’re looking for one now. But they have a contract period, so it’s probably not easy to just move.
-The cold noodle place must be crazy busy too. Businesses in that neighborhood were struggling lately, everyone was worried. They were saved thanks to those two.
-I didn’t really like it. They just kept trying to force laughs, and the acting wasn’t great. I don’t know why it was recommended.
=It wasn’t a recommendation. They just watched a random play and took a picture together.
=Me too. I wouldn’t have watched it if not for those two.
-Isn’t this paid promotion? Their skills weren’t even that good.
-I thought it was fun lol. Felt like all my stress just melted away lol.
=I agree. But everyone only cared about Lee Seojun and Lee Jiseok, so they only asked the actors about them. I wanted to ask more about the play.
=It was a bit much that everyone only talked about that. The actors were good. I’m looking forward to their next work.
-It has its pros and cons. Still, it’s a chance to get their name out there, so it could be a great opportunity for the troupe. They need to make fans with this production and carry them over to the next one.
Sitting in Lee Jiseok’s car, Seojun read through the comments on his phone screen.
Two days ago, after giving the troupe advice and leaving the small theater, Seojun had asked Lee Jiseok a question.
Why did they have to worry about posting a single photo online? After a moment of thought, Lee Jiseok had told him he would understand if he waited a little.
And now.
Seojun, who was in Lee Jiseok’s car to observe a drama filming, listened to his explanation.
For two days, he and Yoon Sungoh had gathered the comments they thought were safe enough for Seojun to see and showed them to him.
Even though they had carefully curated them, he had worried about whether he should show them at all, but explaining with words alone felt insufficient. Lee Jiseok couldn’t take his eyes off Seojun’s face.
And Seojun simply nodded without any particular reaction. When kids use the internet or watch N-tube, malicious comments are something they inevitably see, despite the supervision of parents and adults.
‘This is nothing.’
Lee Jiseok let out a sigh of relief and continued.
“People are curious about what celebrities and famous people eat, watch, and do. Fans, especially, are even more interested. In your case, Seojun, there aren’t many sightings of you, and you’re an actor who’s even been in a Hollywood movie, so people will be very interested in even the smallest things. Look, there are already news articles, right?”
Just as Lee Jiseok said, the internet was flooded with all sorts of articles about his and Seojun’s meeting, the play they watched, an introduction to the play, and even an interview with the owner of the cold noodle restaurant.
One reporter even used the headline ‘The Play Highly Praised by a Hollywood Actor!’ to bait clicks.
Seeing the headline, Seojun tilted his head. It wasn’t wrong, but it felt overly exaggerated.
“In theater, actors see the audience’s reactions in real-time, so it’s immediately obvious if it’s fun or not. If people go with high expectations because of articles like these and the play doesn’t meet them, it’s not good for the troupe. Plus, the theater is already small, so if a crowd suddenly rushes in because of our names, will the actors even be able to perform properly while being swamped by people? That’s what I was worried about.”
“I see.”
Seojun nodded. He looked at his phone screen again.
[Hollywood Actor, Lee Seojun, Highly Praises Play!]
[The Play Watched by Lee Jiseok and Lee Seojun is Different!]
[The Play Chosen by Star Actors that Captures Both Fun and a Moral!]
They were truly headlines that couldn’t help but raise people’s expectations. The members of the Wind Theater Company from two days ago came to Seojun’s mind.
People who loved theater. Could they really live up to the public’s inflated interest?
“Hyung, do you think they’ll be okay?”
“They have to overcome that pressure. They said it themselves, didn’t they? That they could overcome it. If they can get through this trial, they’ll become a great theater company.”
Lee Jiseok said, patting Seojun’s head, which was full of worry.
“Seojun. Celebrities like us have to be a bit more careful than regular people. A carelessly posted photo, a carelessly spoken word—you never know what kind of trouble it can cause.”
Seojun nodded at Lee Jiseok’s words. As if by occupational hazard, Manager Yoon Sungoh spoke without thinking.
“Seojun, you don’t use social media, right?”
“No, I don’t!”
“Don’t start. It’s the root of all evil.”
***
Director Choi Minsung and writer So Eunjin of the KBC Monday-Tuesday drama ‘Re-investigation’, which was set to air at 10 PM starting next week, tilted their heads.
“What?”
“Seojun says he’ll do a cameo.”
Director Choi Minsung and writer So Eunjin stared blankly at Lee Jiseok’s triumphant face.
They knew about the cameo. There was a role that would be fine for any child actor, even a famous one.
During the script reading, the director and writer were discussing who would be good for it during a short break.
The lead actor, Lee Jiseok, who was sitting next to them, must have overheard, because he said he knew a good actor and would bring them, so they told him to go ahead.
Anyone would have been fine. It was truly a one-off role. But since Lee Jiseok was strict about acting, they trusted his judgment on their performance.
“…What?”
Director Choi Minsung and writer So Eunjin asked again. What kind of nonsense was this popular actor spouting? Was it April Fools’ Day? The two of them counted the days and shook their heads. April Fools’ was long past.
Lee Jiseok grinned and stepped aside.
“Ta-da!”
A child appeared from behind Lee Jiseok, shouting, “Ta-da!”
Director Choi’s and writer So’s eyes went wide.
Theirs were jobs that required them to be the most up-to-date on trends in Korea. How could they not recognize this face!
It was Lee Seojun.
The real Lee Seojun, the one they had seen in movie theaters, on the big screen!
With Seojun appearing right in front of them, Director Choi Minsung, who had seen Shadowman 2 four times, and writer So Eunjin, who had joined Seojun’s fan cafe, truly clutched their hearts.
Still, they couldn’t take their eyes off the brightly smiling Seojun.
“*Gasp!*”
Lee Jiseok laughed as he watched the two of them, mouths agape and smiling brightly.
“He said it’s his first time at a drama filming, so he came to observe. That’s okay, right?”
“What? Oh, yes, yes. Yes!”
“Of course! It’s more than okay!”
The two, who had been nodding repeatedly at Lee Jiseok’s question, suddenly came to their senses.
“Wait. Juice. There should be some juice here!”
“Isn’t juice too sweet? Doesn’t he have something special he eats while managing his health?”
“Ah, ah. Right. Then what should we give him…”
They had come to their senses, but in another way. Watching the two of them fidget, Lee Jiseok thought, *They weren’t like this with me. Seojun really is amazing.*
“First, let’s sit down.”
“Yes. Yes. Right. Actor Lee Seojun’s legs must be tired.”
“Aren’t the chairs too hard!? A cushion! A cushion!”
Writer So Eunjin left the set to find a cushion. Seojun and Lee Jiseok blinked. In the meantime, Director Choi Minsung had also disappeared to get some snacks. Only the two of them were left on the empty set.
“…I don’t need a cushion.”
“It seems like everyone really likes you…”
It wasn’t long before the two returned.
Writer So Eunjin came back holding three plastic-wrapped cushions, and Director Choi Minsung, who looked like he’d raided a convenience store, returned with armfuls of snacks and drinks. They finally managed to calm down and sit in their chairs.
As Seojun sat on a cushion and drank his orange juice, both of them watched him with moved expressions. Tears welled up in their eyes.
You have to be happy, Jin Natra!
#