Chapter 60
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: A Cameo and a Misunderstanding
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“Ahem.”
Lee Jiseok’s deliberate cough brought the two back to their senses. PD Choi Minsung and writer So Eunjin slapped their own cheeks, trying to get a grip.
“Ah, we were talking about the cameo, weren't we?”
“If actor Lee Seojun agrees to appear, we would be more than grateful!”
“But, it’s a role with very few lines that only appears once. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”
Seojun nodded and replied.
“Jiseok-hyung gave me the script, so I’ve read everything that’s out so far. My mom and dad said it looks really fun, and I enjoyed reading it a lot too.”
*He said it looks fun!* Writer So Eunjin clasped her hands together, trying to rein in her racing thoughts. *A Hollywood actor said my script looks fun!*
“I also enjoyed the director’s previous drama in the U.S., so I’m sure your directing will be great.”
PD Choi Minsung covered his mouth with his hand. *He saw my drama! And he thinks my directing will be great!*
They felt like the most successful fans in the world. Watching the two overwhelmed individuals, Lee Jiseok shook his head.
“And since the great actor Jiseok-hyung is in it, I decided to do the cameo.”
Lee Jiseok, who had been trying to act nonchalant, was finally moved as well. *Seojun said I’m a great actor!*
Having moved the three of them with his words, Seojun sipped his juice as if nothing had happened.
The emotional moment, which felt like it would last forever, quickly came to an end as staff members began to appear on set one by one for the shoot.
“For now, let’s keep actor Lee Seojun hidden until filming.”
“You can just call me Seojun.”
“Gasp.”
At Seojun's words, the two were overcome with emotion, silently crying out his name in their minds.
“Th-Then. Should Seojun stay with Mr. Jiseok’s manager? That would be best, right?”
“We can just say he’s Mr. Jiseok’s nephew.”
“Yes. Understood!”
Seojun pulled down the cap he had been wearing and ran over to manager Yoon Sung-oh, who was standing in a corner checking Lee Jiseok’s schedule.
PD Choi and Writer So couldn’t take their eyes off Seojun’s retreating back.
“He’s so cute!”
“I know. How can he deliver such performances with such an adorable face?”
“There’s a reason they call him a genius.”
“Mr. Jiseok! You’re amazing. How did you get actor Lee Seojun—no, Seojun—to come?”
At PD Choi’s question, Lee Jiseok smiled and said.
“You heard his reasons earlier. That’s probably the truth.”
“Uh… really?”
The two, who had thought it was just polite praise, if not entirely empty words, asked with surprised faces.
They had been happy even thinking it was just polite praise, but it was genuine? Lee Jiseok shrugged and said.
“If he hadn't liked the script and the directing, he would have just refused, even if it was my request. He’s a kid who loves acting that much.”
“Wow…”
Hearing that made Seojun, who was sitting next to manager Yoon Sung-oh and observing the set, seem different. Lee Jiseok spoke in a low voice.
“Let’s put on a proper show for him in today’s shoot. Show him what filming a drama is like.”
“Pardon?”
“Who knows, Seojun might find it fun and decide to star in a drama for his next project. If that happens, you can brag to everyone else. That it was thanks to us that an actor like Lee Seojun took an interest in dramas.”
The two’s eyes widened. Lee Jiseok smiled. He had thought about it while watching Jin Natra in *Shadowman 2*. He wanted to act opposite Seojun again. It could be a drama, or it could be a movie.
“That might even be your next project, writer and PD.”
PD Choi Minsung and writer So Eunjin’s eyes sparkled. If Lee Seojun were to star in it, anyone would jump at the chance to invest, and any broadcast station would give them a primetime slot. Success would surely follow.
No, forget all that—roles they wanted Seojun to play were popping into their minds one after another. Both of them began to rummage through the stories they had kept locked away in their hearts.
“I like the sound of that.”
“I agree.”
The three adults whispered to each other as if plotting a secret operation.
Watching them, Yoon Sung-oh shook his head. *I want to film with Seojun again!* It was a phrase Lee Jiseok had been repeating constantly ever since watching *Shadowman 2*, and one he was still muttering now.
“That hyung has got it all wrong again.”
“All wrong?”
Seojun, who had been pondering which snack to eat, turned his head to look at manager Yoon Sung-oh sitting next to him.
Yoon Sung-oh grinned. While Lee Jiseok had been wondering why Seojun didn't do dramas, Yoon Sung-oh decided to just ask him directly.
“Seojun, why don’t you act in dramas?”
Seojun rolled his eyes in thought before opening his mouth.
“There haven’t been any scripts I liked. Besides, the roles are all pretty similar, so I feel like it wouldn't have to be me.”
Seojun picked a snack and tore open the bag. As the bag opened cleanly, Yoon Sung-oh applauded his skillful technique.
“So you’d star in a drama if you liked the story?”
“Yes. But why do you ask?”
“Jiseok-hyung thinks you’re not interested in dramas.”
Seojun, munching on a snack, shook his head. *That’s not it, though?*
“He wants to film with you again, but if you only do movies, the chances of your casting overlapping are lower. So he said that if you also did dramas, the scope would widen, and the probability would increase.”
“Couldn’t he just ask me?”
Seeing Lee Jiseok, who had finished his makeup, enter the set, Seojun spoke without thinking.
Lee Jiseok, dressed in a police uniform, spotted Seojun and waved. Seojun waved back.
Yoon Sung-oh smiled.
“Hyung can’t force you to be in a movie you don’t like. And there’s a chance he might not like the movie you choose to be in. He just hopes that by coincidence, you both happen to choose a good movie, and it turns out to be the same one.”
The rehearsal began. As he watched the people moving around the set, Seojun listened to Yoon Sung-oh’s voice.
“Jiseok-hyung knows you’ll definitely refuse something you don’t like. And he’ll refuse what he doesn’t like, too. But he thinks that if those refusals pile up, an invisible gap might form between you two. That’s just how people’s hearts work. You might understand, but you still feel a little disappointed. And eventually, you drift apart. Jiseok-hyung doesn’t want that to happen.”
Seojun nodded. He didn’t know Jiseok had been thinking that. *I want to film with Jiseok-hyung again, too.*
“Then what should I do?”
“Well. I guess we have to leave it to fate. Even if we schemed in secret, if Jiseok-hyung found out, he’d feel sorry. He’d think he was making you go through trouble because of his own greed.”
“Jiseok-hyung is so complicated.”
“Hahaha. He’s just sensitive.”
PD Choi and Writer So gestured to them. The main shoot was about to begin. To draw Seojun into the world of dramas, the three had decided to show him everything from up close.
At their beckoning gesture, Seojun and Yoon Sung-oh, his temporary guardian, stood up from their seats.
“Just keep doing the acting you want to do.”
Yoon Sung-oh said. Seojun looked up at him.
For five years, Yoon Sung-oh had been by Lee Jiseok's side as his manager. He recalled the similar look in both Lee Jiseok's and Seojun's eyes.
It was the look of actors who liked, craved, and loved acting.
“Jiseok-hyung will never leave this world. He’ll keep acting for 10, 20 years, even when he’s old. You will too, right?”
“Yes. I’m going to do it for a long, long time.”
“If you both keep acting for that long in the same place, you’re bound to meet on the same project eventually. In a world this small, don’t you think you’ll meet at least once?”
As he spoke, Yoon Sung-oh burst into laughter. Come to think of it, this world was smaller than one might think.
“Later on, you two might even get sick of it, saying, ‘Why are we in the same project again?!’”
“Hahaha. You might be right.”
Seojun laughed at Yoon Sung-oh’s words. Unlike now, when roles for child actors were limited, once he grew up and started taking on adult roles, that could very well happen.
“What? Why are you laughing?”
Lee Jiseok, who was doing a final check of his script before filming, asked as he saw the two laughing, but they both clamped their mouths shut as if by agreement.
***
The day of the cameo shoot for the drama ‘Re-investigation.’
For the cameo shoot, Director Choi Minsung decided to film with only a minimal, trustworthy crew.
When Lee Seojun appeared alongside Lee Jiseok in a quiet alleyway, the staff members who hadn't known until then gasped.
“Honestly, I kind of expected it when they said they saw a play together… but it was real.”
The lighting director said to the camera director. The camera director nodded as well.
Director Choi wanting to keep an unremarkable cameo shoot secret, Writer So grinning while churning out script pages, and the fact that Lee Jiseok had brought the child actor himself—they had suspected it from the start.
“It’s really Lee Seojun.”
Late April. After a month and a half in theaters, *Shadowman 2* surpassed 10 million viewers and concluded its run.
Perhaps because a Korean actor was in it, the audience numbers were higher than for other Marine Company films.
“...Didn’t *Shadowman 1* also surpass ten million?”
*Shadowman 1* had surpassed ten million thanks to the ‘Tear Challenge’ and the ‘Shadowman vs. Greenwing’ effect. Its global success had Marine Company seriously considering another showdown plot.
“Wow. Is he already a double ten-million actor? No, wait. He was an extra in *Shadowman 1*… or was he?”
“If *Shadowman 3* comes out, he’ll definitely be a double ten-million actor. Anyone can predict that one will pass ten million.”
The people whispering nearby nodded in agreement.
“How’s school? Is it fun?”
At Lee Jiseok’s question after he finished his makeup, Seojun sighed. The filming prep wasn’t quite done yet, so they had to wait a little longer.
“Hardly anyone recognized me at the entrance ceremony, but after *Shadowman 2* was released, I think everyone who saw the movie recognizes me. My friends from kindergarten are fine, but my other classmates and the older kids are going crazy.”
“Why? Are they asking for your autograph?”
“They’re asking me to get autographs from Shadowman and Richel, on top of my own.”
The teachers were doing a good job of managing it, but it made him wonder if he should go to an arts middle school.
Then again, if he had to miss a lot of school for filming, an arts middle or high school might be better. Lee Minjun and Seo Eunhye also fell into deep thought. Since there were still six years left, they decided to think about it slowly.
At Seojun’s words, Lee Jiseok couldn’t help but speak up. Autographs from Evan Block and Richel Hill.
“...I’d like to get those too.”
The staff members standing around, pretending to work while listening to their conversation, also nodded.
“I can’t. They said if I do it once, everyone will ask for it. I can give my own autograph, but they told me to say I can’t get other people’s.”
“That’s true. Who taught you that?”
“My uncle.”
“Ah. Your uncle is the CEO of Cocoa Entertainment, right? Come to think of it, don’t you need to find an agency soon, Seojun? Cocoa Entertainment doesn't have any actors, right? Do you want to join my agency?”
Yoon Sung-oh, who had been checking schedules on his phone, shot his head up. *That’s a good suggestion for once, hyung!* He looked ready to pull out a promotional booklet for the agency from his bag and start his pitch, making Lee Jiseok click his tongue.
Still, his agency was a good one compared to others.
“There are lots of actors, and I’m there too. The facilities are great.”
Seojun tilted his head, then shook it.
“I’ve decided to go with Cocoa Entertainment. They’re looking for a manager for me right now.”
He had already signed the contract at home. Of course, since he was a minor, his parents and legal guardians had also signed it perfectly.
Seo Eunchan, who had gleefully taken the contract, immediately hung Seojun’s picture on the first-floor wall. Then he began the search for Seojun’s manager.
“Really? That’s a shame.”
He had thought they might become labelmates, so it was a bit disappointing. Listening in, Yoon Sung-oh also put the booklet back in his bag with a look of disappointment.
“Actor Lee Jiseok! We’re starting the shoot.”
At the assistant director’s call, Lee Jiseok stood up from his seat. His solo scene was up first. Seojun’s scene was next.
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