Superstar 787
by CristaeEpisode 787 of Superstar from Birth
A few hours earlier.
Cocoa Entertainment, Team 1 office—dedicated to actor Lee Seojun.
“Yes. If you send the proposal first, we’ll review it and get back to you.”
“We’ll hold an internal meeting and…”
Even though Shadow & Night had finished its theater run and the WTV Awards were over, love calls for Seojun showed no signs of slowing down.
“As expected of a ten-million actor, Shane & Anna surpassed ten million viewers easily.”
“And he made history at the WTV Awards as the first ever joint-winner.”
“Even aside from that, plenty of people are eager to cast Seojun.”
Whether as an actor or guest appearance.
With their star constantly stirring up buzz and popularity, the staff at Team 1 chuckled and shrugged proudly. Manager Choi Taewoo, who was working in the office that day, smiled along with them.
“Seojun’s probably on his way safely, right?”
Bzzz—
A staff member organizing a fresh pile of scripts and synopses from the printer spoke up.
“He’s with Lee Jiseok, so I’m sure he’s fine.”
“He said he’d call when they arrived. By the time, they should be arriving soon.”
Taewoo checked his watch and spoke. Team 1 staff nodded.
“Of course Manager Taewoo even knows the ETA.”
“Truly Ann Director’s prized disciple.”
“Hey, ‘disciple’ is a bit much…”
At Taewoo’s flustered reaction, the Team 1 staff burst into laughter.
“Now I see why Director Ann chose you to manage Seojun.”
“Right? It’s rare to see a manager take such good care of their actor.”
Choi Taewoo, who felt he was simply doing his job, scratched his cheek at the praise.
“Hmm… is that so?”
“Yes! Seojun has no complaints, and Director Ann completely trusts you. That means he has full confidence in you.”
“You’re great at your job, too.”
“Seriously! Your reports are so detailed, they make it easy for us to keep up with what’s going on in the States.”
“Thanks to you, Director Ann had a smooth time too.”
The flood of compliments made Taewoo a bit embarrassed—but also a little proud—as he replied, “Thank you.”
The mood in Team 1’s office was bright.
Determined to become even more helpful to the team, Director Ann, and Seojun, Taewoo refocused and got back to work.
Then, a little later than expected, Seojun called.
“Did something happen?”
—Well, Taewoo hyung… so here’s the thing…
Hmm… ah…
The Team 1 staff had been listening in casually, but now blinked at Taewoo’s odd expression. They assumed it was just a call saying he’d arrived at the theater—so why that kind of reaction?
“Got it. I’ll take care of it. Enjoy the play.”
With that, Taewoo ended the call.
“Did something happen to Seojun, Taewoo-ssi? You looked a bit… off.”
“Well… Seojun and actor Lee Jiseok were on their way to the theater when they helped clean up a road that had been littered with broken soju bottles from a fallen truck.”
…Hmm?
The staff looked confused, so Taewoo explained a little more.
“They were wearing hats and masks, but there’s a chance they might show up in the news.”
“…Ahh.”
Understanding the situation now, the staff nodded. Then they couldn’t help but laugh.
“Of course Seojun can’t just go anywhere normally.”
“He’s basically walking headline material.”
“If he were just a regular person, wouldn’t people be saying, ‘That guy’s on the news again’?”
Honestly, they probably would.
—Didn’t that guy get a Brave Citizen Award before?
==Right? I think he saved a pregnant woman or something?
==This time it’s something else, lol
==He’s been on the news so much, it’s all blending together, lol
—At this point, he should just become a cop?
==With that face? Staying a celebrity sounds better.
==Can’t believe I’m a fan of a civilian!!
==Please debut!!
Those kinds of comments seemed inevitable.
“He’d probably end up a celebrity anyway.”
“With Seojun’s looks…”
Everyone chuckled and nodded in agreement.
And yet, even while laughing and chatting, the Team 1 staff were typing away at full speed, eyes scanning their monitors sharply.
“I’ll start drafting the press release.”
“I’ll search to see if any footage has been uploaded online or on YouTube.”
“I’ll report this to Director Ann.”
Seeing how quickly the Team 1 staff moved made Choi Taewoo feel like he needed to work even harder too. But as the on-site manager, there wasn’t much for him to do at the office right now.
“Then I’ll head to the meeting room and review the new scripts we received.”
“Sure! Hope you find a gem.”
As he picked up the thick stack of synopses and scripts, the staff chimed in with good wishes.
“Hope Seojun likes the one we choose!”
“Seriously. You’ve got a gift for digging up hidden masterpieces…”
“We’ll count on you, Taewoo!”
Encouraged by their cheers, Taewoo, arms full of scripts, headed to the meeting room on the same floor.
Although labeled as a “meeting room,” it was well soundproofed and more often used for reading scripts and synopses than holding meetings.
Inside the quiet room, Taewoo set down the hefty stack of materials on the table and sat down. After rubbing his tired eyes, he started reading the top script.
Hwa, an indie film that had performed like a commercial hit.
Over the Rainbow: For My Friend, an OTT series that had dominated music charts.
Shinjeon Project, a university festival event that sparked massive buzz.
And the globally successful Shadow & Night.
These were the works Seojun had starred in since Taewoo joined the company.
He looked at the stack of scripts before him. Somewhere in this pile was the next one.
Of course, Seojun didn’t care much about box office numbers. If it was a good piece, he was happy to look at scripts that hadn’t even started casting yet, or ones that only had a rough synopsis.
But—
“Human hearts don’t always follow logic.”
Having worked at a previous company where he witnessed how the industry looked down on struggling actors and their teams, Taewoo couldn’t help but hope that Seojun would never stumble and would continue walking a flower-strewn path.
Even if Seojun himself didn’t care whether it was a flower path or a thorny one.
“Or maybe… he’s the kind of person who turns even a thorny path into a flower path.”
Smiling faintly at the thought, Taewoo pressed his temples against a creeping headache and flipped the first page.
Just like when he’d chosen Hwa, he wanted to find a script that would make his actor smile that bright, joyful smile again.
A few hours later, back at the Team 1 office—
“Come to think of it, didn’t Taewoo-ssi take home a whole box of scripts yesterday?”
One of the staff looked up from their screen and asked.
“He did. And I heard he read them all.”
“Wow! He really works hard. Reading a whole box must’ve taken all night.”
Someone else spoke up, puzzled.
“I think I saw Taewoo-ssi taking home another box the day before that…”
Another staff member added,
“And he brought the same amount home three days ago, too. Said he finished them all…”
Silence fell over the office.
The Team 1 deputy team leader suddenly shot up from their seat.
“…Wait. Are you telling me Taewoo’s been staying up for days, reading scripts nonstop?!”
Immediately, the deputy rushed to the meeting room—
And there, slumped over a script, was Choi Taewoo—collapsed, face down on the table.
“Taewoo-ssi!!”
The call from Team 1’s deputy informing him that Choi Taewoo had collapsed left Seojun shocked and flustered.
Up until now, thanks to his ability, no one around him had ever fallen ill, which made the situation all the more unsettling. In the life of “Lee Seojun,” this was the first time someone close to him had collapsed.
Sure, even ordinary people would be alarmed to hear someone they knew was suddenly unwell—but still.
“Seojun, stay calm for now.”
“Ah, yes.”
Kim Jongho helped steady Seojun. In response, Seojun inhaled deeply, then exhaled, quickly regaining composure. Even though this was a first in this life… in a past life, he had once lived where death was a daily occurrence.
Maybe that’s why it rattled him so much more.
Life could be tough and resilient—and yet so fragile and easy to lose.
Then, Team 1’s deputy’s voice came through the phone.
—It’s not anything serious. Just overwork. He’ll recover after a few days’ rest. So don’t panic too much.
It seemed they had already gone to the hospital and finished all the necessary checkups before contacting Seojun.
“Phew. Okay.”
As Seojun let out a sigh of relief, Jongho, Jiseok, and Sungwoo also relaxed, realizing it wasn’t a critical situation.
“Yes. I’ll head over now. Yes. Alright.”
With that, Seojun ended the call.
“I think I should go first. Uncle Jongho, Jiseok hyung.”
At Seojun’s words, both men nodded.
“Yeah.”
“How are you getting there? Want me to drive?”
“Daho hyung’s coming to pick me up. He’s almost here. And Taewoo hyung’s not seriously ill—it’s just fatigue. A few days of rest and he’ll be fine.”
“Thank goodness.”
The three of them sighed in relief again.
“Sorry I can’t join for dinner.”
“It’s okay. We can meet next time. It was a last-minute plan anyway.”
“Yeah. Don’t worry about it.”
Seeing Seojun looking apologetic, Jongho and Jiseok reassured him. They knew that out of everyone, Seojun was likely the most disappointed and anxious.
Not long after—
“Seojun!”
“Daho hyung!”
Ahn Daho had arrived.
“Then I’ll get going.”
“Take care.”
“Give my regards to Manager Choi.”
After bidding farewell to Jongho, Jiseok, and Sungwoo, Seojun and Daho headed to the car.
“What exactly happened?”
As soon as he buckled his seatbelt in the passenger seat, Seojun asked. Daho started the engine and explained.
“He’s been staying up late reading scripts trying to find your next project. His body’s healthy, but the doctor said he’s been under a lot of stress. With fatigue at this level, there should’ve been some visible signs, but apparently, the doctor found it strange that there weren’t.”
“Ah…”
He’d been checking his physical health, but hadn’t thought about stress.
‘Even with the effect of Seongi’s blessing, I guess it only helped up to a point…’
The stress and fatigue must’ve pushed him beyond that limit, and even a healthy body couldn’t endure anymore.
Ironically, maybe the reason no one noticed was because he looked fine on the outside.
If he’d had dark circles or looked exhausted, Taewoo hyung or others would’ve sensed something was wrong sooner.
What an ironic situation.
Seojun and Ahn Daho entered Choi Taewoo’s hospital room.
Taewoo was placed in a private room for better rest.
But instead of being comfortable, Taewoo looked visibly uneasy in the expensive single room. And seeing Seojun and Daho arrive only made him squirm even more. He felt like a burden—what a mess.
Seojun’s face clouded over at the sight of Taewoo in a hospital gown, hooked up to an IV.
“Taewoo hyung. Are you okay?”
Taewoo flinched, attempting to sit up, but quickly lay back down when both Seojun and Daho firmly told him, “Stay down.”
“Yeah. I’m okay. They said I just need one day of rest.”
Watching him prop himself up, Seojun spoke, clearly worried.
“There’s a limit to how hard you should work, hyung.”
“…Sorry.”
“I get that choosing the next project is important, but how can you stay up late reading scripts every night?”
“…I’m really sorry…”
“Even if you’re healthy, you still need to take care of yourself. Don’t you think I’d be worried if something happened to you?”
“I sincerely apologize…”
…He was worried, right?
As Seojun scolded and Taewoo drooped under the guilt, Daho couldn’t help but chuckle softly.