Chapter 64
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: A Stage Name
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Kim Heesang sat down with a satisfied smile.
Seeing how comfortable they were with each other, An Daho hesitated before speaking.
He thought he understood why President Seo Eunchan had offered to introduce him to this man, Kim Heesang.
“Um.”
“Yes?”
“How should I best support Seojun from now on?”
“Good question.”
It was a good question. And the person to answer it was Kim Heesang, who knew Seojun best from a different perspective than his parents.
“First of all, Seojun won't do anything he doesn't want to. Not that there's much he dislikes. And if there's something he wants to do, he absolutely has to do it.”
Kim Heesang recalled the eight months of grueling practice. He felt a sense of respect just thinking about how Seojun never gave up, even in the face of frustratingly stagnant acting, and eventually succeeded.
“This is something only a few people know, but Seojun practiced with a single script for eight months to prepare for filming *Shadowman 2*.”
“Eight months?”
An Daho's eyes widened.
“Yes. That's how much he has to do what he wants, and he puts in the effort. And as I said, Seojun doesn't care about box office success. As long as it's fun, he says any script is fine.”
“I see.”
He felt he had to tell Team 2, who were probably busy picking out blockbuster hits, right away. An Daho took out his phone.
“Um, may I make a quick call...?”
“Yes, of course.”
He then stepped into a corner to make the call. After hearing what An Daho had to say, everyone in Team 2 let out a collective sigh.
-Seriously, the President left out the most important part!
-Okay, let's send everything we previously excluded, except for the ones that look like they'll bomb... no, just the ones with really problematic directors or production companies.
-A children's musical is okay too? Then we need to start searching again!
Team 2 became a flurry of activity, and back in the president's office, Seo Eunchan's ears started to itch.
“I'll do this one!”
After reading through all the scripts, Seojun looked up with an excited expression.
An Daho immediately pulled out a notebook, while Kim Heesang, munching on a snack he’d bought for Seojun, asked.
“Oh yeah? What role is it?”
“The Blue Dragon!”
“Blue Dragon?”
Unlike An Daho, who tilted his head in confusion, Kim Heesang nodded.
Seojun's flushed face looked more excited than ever. Seeing that happy expression, Kim Heesang remembered how Seojun, even as a baby, had always kept a monster doll by his side.
Baby Seojun had put on such incredible puppet shows that Kim Heesang sometimes wondered if playing with dolls as a child was the source of his acting talent.
“I knew this day would come. I thought he'd end up in a Hollywood fantasy movie, but to think it's happening already.”
Seojun excitedly explained the plot. Kim Heesang nodded along, but An Daho, who was listening intently so as not to miss a single word, found his head tilting further and further to the side.
“It's not the main character? It's impactful, but the screen time seems less than the other roles.”
Flustered by Seojun's explanation, An Daho opened the script.
[Blue Dragon (Voice)]
Reading it again, he saw there were no stage directions for actions or acting, only detailed instructions for the tone of voice.
The script also noted that the Blue Dragon would be a stage prop, so only the actor's voice would be featured.
“...It's only your voice. Are you okay with that?”
Despite An Daho's question, Seojun just kept nodding.
“Yep! I like this one.”
“...You do?”
An Daho's eyes turned to Kim Heesang. Kim Heesang chuckled and nodded. At this gesture from the senior manager-like figure, An Daho's expression brightened.
“Alright. I'll read the announcement and send in the application.”
“Yay!”
He had finally found his next project. Overjoyed, Seojun suddenly had a thought and looked at Kim Heesang.
“But what kind of play is it that only has kids?”
“Let's see.”
Kim Heesang read from his phone screen.
It was a play organized by the Eunhasu Center, a place with a fairly large theater in Seoul that hosted musicals and plays.
“A children's play. They say it was created because there are many kids who want to act but don't have a stage to perform on. But since this is the first time they're trying it, they're making a special exception and also accepting applications from experienced child actors.”
“Oh, I see! So I can do it too!”
“It's not a free play, it's a paid one, so the practice might be tough, and roles could change midway depending on the actor's ability. They recommend inexperienced actors apply for roles with fewer lines.”
There were all sorts of other warnings as well.
From physical stamina issues to the possibility of disciplinary action. Still, it won the parents' hearts by allowing them to observe rehearsals at any time. Of course, interfering with practice was not allowed.
“It says you can't drop out midway, so think carefully before applying.”
“It's literally a play where children are the stars.”
The stars.
An Daho's words flashed through Seojun's mind.
“Daho hyung.”
Seojun spoke up. Hearing the slightly heavy tone in his voice, An Daho, who had been diligently reading the announcement, looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“I'm not going to do this.”
“What?”
“Why? Seojun.”
Despite Kim Heesang and An Daho's bewildered attempts to coax him, Seojun just shook his head without a word.
* * *
Seojun sighed. Jiyoon tilted her head.
“Seojun. Are you sick?”
“No. I just have something on my mind.”
“What is it?”
The twins, Jihu and Jio, sitting in front, turned around in their seats. Mina quickly joined the conversation.
“Um.”
Seojun thought for a moment. How could he explain this so the other kids would understand? After pondering, he decided to just be honest.
“You know how I'm famous.”
“Yeah!”
“Seojun is super famous.”
The children nodded, thinking of the older students who still came to see him during recess.
“I'm worried that if I do the play, everyone will only watch me.”
“Isn't it good if they only watch you? I'd be so happy!”
At Jiyoon's words, the other kids agreed they would like that too.
“Um. Jihu. Jio.”
“Yeah?”
“What if people only liked Jihu?”
Jio, who quickly empathized with the scenario, started to tear up.
“Mommy too? Daddy too? They only like Jihu?”
“No. Mommy and Daddy love both Jio and Jihu. I mean, what if just the man at the supermarket and the lady at the snack shop only liked Jihu.”
Seojun quickly added the explanation, and Jio, looking calmer, said.
“...I don't like it. I want them to like me too.”
At Jio's words, Jihu also nodded.
“I like it when they like me and Jio the same!”
“Me too. I want people to like me and the other actors just the same. But I'm worried that's going to be difficult because I'm famous.”
The children seemed to half-understand.
“Then what do we do?”
“How can we make everyone like us all the same?”
The kids thought hard about it for Seojun's sake during class and recess, but as soon as school was over, they forgot all about it and excitedly got ready to go play at Seojun's house.
Today was a day off from academy, a day to play with friends. Of course, since a light rain was falling, they decided to play indoors. Seo Eunhye came to pick them up in her car.
“I brought my spinning top!”
“Me too!”
“I didn't bring mine. I think I forgot.”
“You can borrow mine!”
Seojun decided to set his worries aside for the day and just play hard.
The children ate snacks, played hard, took a nap, and then played hard again. Evening came quickly.
Seo Eunhye, who had been worried since hearing the story yesterday, Lee Minjun, who came home early because he was worried about Seojun, and Kim Heesang, who had tagged along, all felt relieved seeing Seojun's excited face.
The children sat in a row, watching television. They were watching the spinning top cartoon that was on.
A smile naturally formed on the adults' faces as they watched the children's sparkling eyes.
“Let's go home after this is over, okay?”
“Okay!”
Everyone answered Seo Eunhye's words in unison.
The three adults also sat on the sofa and watched the television. Kim Heesang spoke quietly.
“We had a similar cartoon back in our day, though the name was different.”
“That's right. We used to spin tops like crazy, didn't we?”
They were watching intently, reminiscing, when one of the two battling tops was knocked out of the arena,
and shattered into three pieces.
“?!”
“What the?”
Unlike the startled adults, the children cheered, shouting that the main character had won. Kim Heesang wiped his face with his hands and said.
“The tops didn't break in our day. They'd just get knocked out of bounds or stop spinning.”
“Right. Back then, when a top broke, it meant it was a really dangerous or serious situation...”
“Wow. My heart almost stopped.”
After that, the tops in the cartoon continued to easily separate into three pieces whenever they hit the ground.
Unlike the children who cheered for the protagonist's winning streak, the three adults, who had no immunity to the sight of separating tops, talked with serious faces.
“Aren't they breaking too easily? Every time one splits into three pieces, I feel like my heart is going to drop.”
In the cartoons of the adults' memories, the protagonists would cry their hearts out when their tops broke. The spectators in the cartoon would also be horrified.
“It feels more like they're separating than breaking? Did they make them weak on purpose?”
“Maybe they just copied the durability of the actual toys these days.”
The protagonist who broke it, the opponent holding the broken top so casually, and the children shouting "Go!"—none of it made sense to the adults.
Suddenly, Kim Heesang spoke.
“Is this the generation gap?”
The adults grew solemn.
The protagonist reached the finals. His opponent was wearing a mask, but with that hair color and eye color... to Seojun's eyes, no matter how he looked at it,
“Is that Rei?”
“It really is!”
“Rei was the villain?!”
It was the protagonist's friend, Rei.
But neither the protagonist, his friends, nor anyone in the audience recognized him. What's more, the name Rei used in the arena was different.
X.
It was the appearance of a new villain.
“That was so fun!”
“His name is X! What a cool name!”
The children chattered away as they followed their parents home. Seojun waved goodbye to them.
For dinner, they ordered jokbal. Seojun skillfully placed a piece of meat on a lettuce leaf, adding salted shrimp and pickled onions. Taking a big bite,
“Delicious!”
“It is? Chew it well.”
“Okay!”
The adults diligently passed food to Seojun. They didn't know why he'd decided not to do the play he liked, but they hoped he would forget about it soon.
After finishing the delicious jokbal, Seojun went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. As he squeezed toothpaste onto his brush and started brushing,
“Aha!?”
he shouted.
The three adults, who had been keeping a close eye on Seojun all day, rushed over.
“What, what is it, Seojun!”
“What's wrong?!”
Ptooey! Spitting out the foam, Seojun beamed.
“I thought of a great idea!”
He rinsed his mouth and excitedly headed for the living room, the adults following behind. The three of them sat side-by-side on the sofa and looked at Seojun. With a thrilled expression, Seojun said.
“Can I hide my name?”
“Your name?”
Name? The three adults tilted their heads. Why his name all of a sudden?
“Yep!”
“Why your name, out of the blue?”
Seeing the serious looks on the adults' faces, Seojun realized his mistake.
He hadn't told them because he thought they would worry about him being unable to do what he wanted because of his fame, but paradoxically, not telling them seemed to have made them worry more.
Seojun quickly explained.
“Well, the children's play is a play for kids, by kids. Everyone wants to do a great job acting and get noticed, but if I do it, most people will probably just come to see me. I want the other kids to get just as much attention.”
Of course, commercial plays and movies were different. A lot of people's money was on the line, and sometimes famous idols with ticket power were cast in movies just for the box office draw.
If it were that kind of movie or play, Seojun would have submitted an audition application without a second thought.
But this was a play for children.
They charged for tickets to encourage a serious attitude from the kids, but the price was lower than a regular play.
The Eunhasu Center would surely want every child performing to be a star and receive attention. Seojun wanted that too, which was why he had given up.
“That's true.”
The three of them nodded. It was obvious what would happen if they promoted the play using Seojun's name.
The chance to see Seojun's acting right before their eyes. Even if others didn't, the people who cried watching William, those who saw a god in *The Possessed*, and the fans who felt that chill in *Shadowman 2* would definitely come.
To experience Seojun's raw, unfiltered acting!
“So, can't I apply under a different name?”
'Rei' and 'X' came to Seojun's mind. Just by changing his name and covering his face, the people in the cartoon couldn't recognize him.
No, it wasn't just in cartoons. It happened with makeup in movies and often on variety shows too.
“So you want to use a pseudonym.”
“A pseudonym?”
“It means a fake name.”
“Yep! A pseudonym!”
At Lee Minjun and Seo Eunhye's words, Kim Heesang clicked his tongue.
“Seojun is a celebrity. What do you mean, a pseudonym?”
“...Aren't you going home? Do you know what time it is?”
“Ahahaha. It's a stage name. A stage name. Lots of celebrities use stage names.”
Cutting off Seo Eunhye's nagging, Kim Heesang continued with an awkward laugh.
A stage name!
Seojun's eyes sparkled.
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