Superstar 826
by Cristae“Ah, that’s right.”
“That’s right? You forgot?”
At Grace’s words, Seo-jun laughed awkwardly.
“With the award ceremony and training, I just totally forgot.”
He knew March had come—his birth month—and he had even been looking forward to how the sprouts would celebrate it. But he didn’t realize tomorrow was the actual day.
“Time really flies.”
Because he came to the training center daily regardless of schedule (and the training progressed faster than expected), he had lost track of the day and date for a while.
At Seo-jun’s exclamation, Grace and Laura Welton burst into laughter, realizing he really had forgotten.
“Aww. If we knew, we would’ve kept it secret and thrown a surprise party tomorrow.”
“That would’ve been hard. Won’t your fans start sending birthday messages at midnight? And your friends, too.”
That was true.
His phone would’ve been flooded with birthday messages the moment he turned it on.
Grace nodded and added, smiling. That’s why she had congratulated him a bit early.
“You said you’re taking the day off tomorrow, right? No party or anything. I wanted to congratulate you in person.”
Oh, right. Seo-jun had taken a day off to fully enjoy whatever event the sprouts had prepared for him.
Scratching his cheek, Seo-jun spoke up.
“I was planning to just have a simple dinner with a few close people instead of a party…”
Before the Welton sisters could pout about not being invited, Seo-jun continued.
“I forgot to invite you.”
Ha. Ha. Ha.
Seo-jun laughed as if he had given up, and the Welton sisters—who were looking at him with disbelief—ended up laughing too.
Feeling embarrassed, Seo-jun sighed and asked,
“Would it be okay if I invite you now, Grace, Laura?”
“Of course!”
“We’ve got time.”
Seo-jun smiled at their cheerful response.
“I should reach out to the others too.”
Invite anyone who might be free.
Now then, who was still in LA?
As Seo-jun fell into thought, he suddenly felt a gaze.
Turning his head, he saw Dan Kendrick, Brian Goodell, the other actors he trained with, and the trainers all staring at him with sparkling eyes. Even Director Wilma Evans, the New Age reps, and the stunt director had joined them.
Seo-jun smiled brightly and said,
“Tomorrow’s my birthday. If you’re free, please come. I’ll prepare lots of good food.”
Waaaah!
The entire dining hall stirred with Seo-jun’s invitation.
March 10th, 12 a.m. Korea time.
And 16 hours behind, March 9th, 8 a.m. LA time.
— Seo-jun! Happy birthday!!
Just like every year, at the stroke of midnight, [From Sprout] and social media were flooded with birthday messages for actor Seo-jun Lee.
— Okay. Time to log off early.
=The one day a year when all social media addicts voluntarily log off early LOL
=There’s no point surfing SNS or the internet. It’s all birthday messages for Seo-jun ㅠㅠ LOL
=22 My favorite artist is a sprout too, so all they posted today was about Seo-jun.
=33 Same with my SNS friends LOL
=44 I’m starting to feel weird for not being a sprout… haha
— Even celebrities are posting birthday wishes for Seo-jun.
=+Hollywood actors, too. (Time difference makes them a bit late)
=This is what a superstar’s birthday looks like!!
And just like every year, Seo-jun began reading the messages from his sprouts with a big, happy smile.
“Having a birthday in LA has its perks.”
Finishing breakfast early and settling on the living room sofa, Seo-jun scrolled through his phone.
If he were in Korea, he would’ve stayed up all night reading the messages. But being in LA meant he could start reading them in the morning sunlight (at 8 a.m.), which he appreciated.
‘Well, I’ve got enough stamina to stay up anyway, but still.’
Good things are still good.
“When are you going to post your reply?”
Choi Taewoo, holding a cup of coffee, sat across from Seo-jun, who had happiness written all over his face.
Seo-jun often posted letters or messages on [From Sprout], but on his birthday, he always made sure to thank the sprouts for remembering.
From the very beginning—when [From Sprout] first started.
Meeting Choi Taewoo’s eyes, Seo-jun smiled brightly.
“I’m going to post it after I take a proof photo.”
Today, Seo-jun’s radiant, joy-filled face looked even more handsome than usual.
“Yeah? So, where are we going?”
“I’ve got the route planned like this.”
Excited, Seo-jun tapped on his phone and showed the screen to Choi Taewoo.
The map of LA had various spots checked—marked by Seo-jun himself.
“Starting here, then moving like this… I’ll have lunch here. What do you think, Taewoo hyung?”
From his house to places like the seaside Sea Save Center, the bustling Hollywood Boulevard, shopping districts, Dodger Stadium, and more—
Places Seo-jun had visited and hadn’t visited yet. All lined up in a neat, long path.
“Looks good.”
Choi Taewoo, who would accompany Seo-jun all day, nodded.
The route had no overlaps, and since Seo-jun knew LA better than he did, he trusted him to plan it well. All he had to do was take the photos.
“When do you want to leave?”
Now, where did he put the camera?
Having studied both photography and videography to capture Seo-jun’s daily life (just like Ahn Daho had), Choi Taewoo thought while asking.
Seo-jun smiled radiantly.
“Right now!”
……Huh?
Didn’t you just finish breakfast? It’s still only 8 a.m.?
Blinking in disbelief, Choi Taewoo could only laugh and nod at Seo-jun’s bright face.
A little while later—
Seo-jun and Choi Taewoo got into the car, packed and ready to go.
Bodyguards, dressed inconspicuously, also boarded a separate car and followed behind.
‘Normally, Seo-jun could go alone…’
But today’s destinations might need a little more control.
Thus, the two vehicles rolled out of the LA house’s parking lot.
Their first destination:
Kings Market.
Kings Market.
The largest Korean market in the U.S.—run by Seo-jun’s aunt, Nara Kim.
Thanks to that—
— Kings Market is holding a three-day sale starting today!!
=At Kings Market? Didn’t they just have a sale?
=I think there was one at the start and end of February too?
=It’s Seo-jun’s birthday!!
— Why does Seo-jun’s birthday mean a sale at Kings Market??
=Because the CEO is Seo-jun’s aunt LOL
=Whoa. He’s got a golden spoon, huh?
=Not a blood aunt. She’s the sister of Brown Black’s Kevin Kim (real name: Kim Man-se), and she’s been close to Seo-jun since he was a baby.
— For broke international students, this is like a dreamㅠㅠ
=22 Seo-jun days = Kings Market sales.
=33 I only look forward to his movie releases, award shows, and birthdays.
— Wasn’t the February sale because he got nominated for the Oscars LOL
=That was super cheap too, but after he won, they did a full three-day discount like they didn’t care about profits. I stocked up. (Fridge and pantry pic) I could survive a zombie apocalypse.
=I bought a ton of essentials too. (Receipt photo the size of a scroll)
=Kings Market is out of stock LOL (Empty shelf pic)
=Auntie, your scale is insane LOL
Yes, her events were that legendary.
And so was this one.
“We’re here.”
At Choi Taewoo’s words, Seo-jun, in the passenger seat, looked out the window. The signature wide parking lot of an American supermarket, filled with cars, came into view.
“There are fewer people than I expected. I thought it’d be packed with the sale going on…”
Seo-jun had expected a full lot even this early in the morning—but it was surprisingly empty. Their two vehicles were able to park side by side in an inconspicuous corner.
Taewoo chuckled and said,
“Remember when you won Best Actor? They had a massive sale for three days.”
Seo-jun nodded.
The day after the Oscars.
He remembered Aunt Nara bursting into the LA house, shouting, “Our Seo-jun won Best Actor!! Twice!!” Then immediately adding, “SALE! IT’S SALE TIME!!” as her secretary looked on in despair, then quietly accepted her fate.
Seo-jun smiled softly at the memory.
“People bought so much back then. They say not many will show up for this sale.”
Ah.
Seo-jun nodded again.
“It hasn’t even been two weeks.”
“Exactly.”
Wearing a cap low over his eyes, Seo-jun stepped out of the car with Taewoo holding the camera. The casually dressed bodyguards trailed them at a short distance, blending in with the morning crowd.
Few people, early hours, open space.
Looking around, Seo-jun smiled. At least for now, it seemed he wouldn’t be recognized.
“Let’s take that proof shot, Taewoo hyung.”
“Alright. Let’s do it.”
Their first stop was the side of the Kings Market building. Normally used for ads or promotions—
But today was different.
“……Waaah!”
Seo-jun’s jaw dropped as he looked at the wall.
More precisely, at the huge image covering it.
A swirling shadow that looked like it could come alive.
A firm grip on a black sword. A crisp, flawless uniform.
Sharp but shining eyes staring forward—
Knight Jin.
“Oh?”
From a distance, Seo-jun spotted something and moved closer.
He had heard something had been set up at Kings Market for his birthday, but not what exactly. He hadn’t looked into it either—wanting to see it for himself.
So he thought this Knight Jin photo was the event.
But it wasn’t.
“This is…”
Seo-jun stepped in so close he was almost stuck to the wall.
He could see the pixels that made up the image of Knight Jin.
Or rather—little notes with birthday messages from his sprouts.
— Seo-jun! Happy birthday!
— Happy birthday! JUN!
— /Hope you make lots of happy memories this year!/
— /Really really love you, Seo-jun oppa!/
— /Always act joyfully!/
“Wow…”
Overwhelmed, Seo-jun could only whisper that one word as he stared at the black letters.
He took a few steps back.
Knight Jin came into view.
All those sprout-written messages made up the image of Knight Jin.
It felt like his fans’ love was pouring into and surrounding him.
“Wow… this is… seriously…”
Unable to speak more, Seo-jun leaned back in and began reading each printed message.
Messages in Korean, English, French, Spanish, and many more.
Some were duplicates—but that made it even better.
‘They didn’t delete the same ones, meaning they included every single sprout’s message as-is.’
With sparkling eyes, Seo-jun moved along the wall, reading each note.
He stood on tiptoe to catch the ones up high, and crouched to read the ones below.
Even the bodyguards, watching quietly, held back laughter at how intently he read them.
Time passed.
Thanks to all the speed reading he’d honed from studying scripts and life books, Seo-jun reached the end quickly.
“Seo-jun, did you finish reading?”
As he finally peeled his eyes off the wall, Taewoo asked. Seo-jun shook his head.
“No. Not the ones up there.”
He’d read all the visible ones, but not the ones too high up. With his good eyesight, he figured he could back up and read them.
Taewoo laughed and said,
“Let’s move on. We’ve got lots left to see.”
Oh.
Right.
This event wasn’t only happening here.
Thanks to the passionate support of Aunt Nara Kim—
Kings Market branches all over the U.S. and abroad were hosting events.
As well as places like the Sea Save Center and Dodger Stadium, where Seo-jun had been.
With official permissions, places like LA Music University’s Brown Hall, nearby parks (the OverRay1 busking location), and OverRay2 film locations (venues, parks, wheat fields in New York, Chicago, Kansas City) were participating too.
‘I won’t have time to visit other states since there’s a party tonight and a schedule tomorrow.’
Seo-jun briefly looked disappointed—then his face lit up.
“Let’s go, Taewoo hyung! I want to see all the ones in LA!”
Even just reading sprout messages and seeing their photos would make the whole day fly by.