Superstar 797
by Cristae“Yeah, that’s how it was.”
It had been a long time ago, but he still remembered.
Even the fact that he had felt no sorrow in that farewell—because he knew that the white wolf was him, and he was the white wolf.
Seo-jun smiled as he slid the Book of Life, Albino Wolf, back into the shelf.
He’d taken it out and skimmed through it because it was the first life that came to mind when he thought of “wolf,” but it didn’t quite fit since he had to act as a “werewolf,” not a wolf.
“Besides, I can already guess the powers.”
Probably something like protecting family or a pack.
Or maybe a defensive ability tied to territory. Anyway, Seo-jun was pretty sure it wouldn’t be some stereotypical wolf-related power.
“More importantly…”
A random, fun thought crossed his mind.
“Where does my pack end?”
Well, there were family and relatives, friends and acquaintances, the Sprouts, and the audience who watched his work. He couldn’t leave out Ourang and Loki either.
“…Huh?”
As he folded each finger while thinking about these precious people (and whales) who brought a smile to his face just by recalling them, Seo-jun blinked.
“…Chief, I think I’m in trouble.”
At this rate, the whole Earth might end up being his territory.
Blue surpasses indigo.
Seo-jun had taken the Chief Wolf’s advice too well, overflowing with love and affection.
Jihoo: A reward?
At Jihoo’s message, Seo-jun rolled his eyes.
<Not exactly a reward, I just want to treat the fans better?
Jihoo: Isn’t that basically a reward?
Jiyoon: Seo-jun, you’ve already been great so far. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing!
Jio: 22. You don’t even cause any trouble.
Mina: How about uploading some unreleased footage?
Unreleased footage, huh.
Seo-jun scratched his cheek, then tapped on his phone.
Jiyoon: That’s a great idea!
Mina: Baby footage?! That must be adorable!
While messaging with his childhood friends, Seo-jun stepped out of his room and asked his parents, who were chatting in the living room.
“Mom, Dad, do you have any videos of me as a baby?”
Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun, who were eating tangerines, tilted their heads at the question but answered without hesitation.
“Of course we do.”
“Why?”
“I was thinking of uploading one on YouTube.”
Will the quality be okay, though? It’s pretty old…
Seo-jun muttered to himself, and his parents’ eyes sparkled.
“It’s fine! Totally fine! We update them every few years!”
“And we’ve got them backed up on the cloud, an external hard drive, the computer, and the laptop—so even if one goes down, we’re covered!”
Like the four royal archives that preserved the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun had backed up the family’s precious memories in multiple places.
“They’re important videos—we have to take good care of them!”
Haha.
Seo-jun couldn’t help but laugh at his sparkling-eyed parents.
Before long, the now-excited Seo Eun-hye and Lee Min-jun were chatting animatedly.
“Then how about we watch baby Seo-jun videos tonight?”
“Sounds great! Ahh. So nostalgic. Feels like he was that small just yesterday…”
And so, while picking out a video to upload to YouTube, the family spent the day taking a sentimental trip down memory lane.
The Sprouts, thrilled after the perfectly wrapped-up WTV Awards, had returned to their daily lives while eagerly waiting for Seo-jun’s next project.
“Sure, Seo-jun was on the news not long ago.”
“Yeah, but no one saw that coming…”
Among those Sprouts, Im Yena and Song Yoo-jung chatted with laughter.
“I’ve kind of gotten used to it—him being on the news.”
“Which you shouldn’t, really… but it’s Seo-jun, so.”
The two giggled at the same time.
Other celebrities’ fans would probably panic and ask what kind of scandal had happened if their idol showed up on the news, but Sprouts? They’d probably just say, “Oh? What happened this time?” and turn on the news calmly. Then, they’d scan the blurry CCTV footage, trying to catch a glimpse of Seo-jun and furiously take screenshots.
“What should we watch today?”
“Hmm…”
The two Sprouts rolled around on the bed, trying to pick a Seo-jun project to watch today.
They’d decided to watch something from his childhood.
Because while there would be plenty of works from adult Seo-jun in the future, the ones from his childhood were all there was. Each one was a precious gem.
“Shadowman series—we’ll have to binge from the first one, so pass.”
“Same for My Clinic, too many episodes. Gotta take a day off to watch that.”
“Let’s go with Spring first, then Retrial. And Evil Spirit. Sound good?”
“Perfect!”
No matter how many times they watched them, Seo-jun’s works never got old. With eyes gleaming, Yoo-jung and Yena powered on the projector and pulled down the screen.
The children’s play Spring appeared on the white screen.
Middle schoolers Choi So-young and Lee Da-jin came into view. And then, Seo-jun’s voice.
“Too bad we only get his voice.”
“I know, right? Eight-year-old Seo-jun was sooo cute…”
It was a bit of a shame that it was only his voice, but still—it was Seo-jun.
Even as a child, his outstanding acting captivated every audience member.
Next, they watched Retrial.
It was a long-running drama, but they were only watching the episode with Seo-jun’s cameo.
As the scene played, Yoo-jung spoke in awe.
“This episode alone is like a piece of history.”
It featured soccer player Choi Si-hyuk, now active in Europe, actor Lee Ji-seok, still busy with projects, and little Seo-jun, who had become a global superstar.
Especially—
“Toothless Seo-jun is too cute…”
It was a video all the more precious to the Sprouts because of that.
After bingeing Seo-jun’s works all morning, having lunch, and jumping back into viewing mode, Yoo-jung and Yena queued up Evil Spirit, Seo-jun’s first Korean movie appearance.
“Should we watch 48 Hours after this?”
“Yup. Let’s do it!”
And so they watched Evil Spirit, where baby Seo-jun appeared as a smart yet majestic little shaman. Then came BrownBlack and Joon’s 48 Hours, where the baby stayed calm while the adults ran around in chaos.
“Baby Seo-jun is just too adorable…”
“This is my grave. The culprit is Seo-jun.”
Kyaaah!
They groaned with love as they saw baby Seo-jun, smiling brightly among the younger BrownBlack members (who were younger then than Yoo-jung and Yena are now). He was so cute and lovable, it was genuinely heartbreaking that there were only a few videos of baby Seo-jun out there.
“Should we email Cocoa Entertainment?”
“About what?”
“Tell them to release the hidden videos. The CEO’s his uncle—he’s gotta have at least one or two on his phone!”
Not that they actually would.
But in their hearts, Yena and Yoo-jung wanted to send hundreds of emails.
And if they could send a letter to Seo-jun’s parents, they’d write long, heartfelt pages about how adorable and lovable baby Seo-jun was.
“I could fill ten A4 pages in 10-point font.”
“Me too. Without using spaces.”
“…Okay, now that’s kinda terrifying.”
Yoo-jung and Yena burst into laughter.
“Let’s just watch the Elephant ad.”
“Formula ad at our age…”
“Not gonna watch it?”
“Who said that?!”
Right as they were groaning and melting over baby Seo-jun hugging a formula can with an elephant on it, smiling brightly and shouting “Kyaaa!”, a notification popped up. A new video had just been uploaded to the YouTube channel [JUN].
“! What? What is it?!”
“Wait a sec!”
The two Sprouts leaned in close to the laptop, eyes sparkling.
“A new video’s up!”
“No way! Is it a vlog? Or a teaser for his next project?”
Thinking it might be adult Seo-jun, they clicked—
and out popped baby Seo-jun.
Tiny, tiny baby Seo-jun.
On screen, a chubby infant Seo-jun was munching away on his little fist like it was a snack, and the two Sprouts stared with their mouths wide open.
To be able to watch this scene, this big, from the beginning?
It felt like they’d been hit by a surprise attack. A devastating, critical hit that left them with just 1 HP.
They held their breath as they watched baby Seo-jun put his plump little fist in his mouth and chew—nom nom, mmm—and as soon as the video ended, they put their hands together and closed their eyes tight.
“…Seo-jun’s mother, father—thank you.”
“Truly, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.”
[Actor Lee Seo-jun releases baby video on YouTube channel!]
[This baby will grow up to be a global superstar!]
[Baby Seo-jun already a superstar? Clothes, toys, teething rings all sold out!]
- Seo-jun discovering his right hand is too cute ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
= I was wondering when the left hand moment would come, and boom, he found it right away ㅠㅠ
= Seo-jun’s been smart since he was a baby ㅠㅠ
= His little legs stretched out so straight too ㅠㅠㅠ- When he grabbed both feet with those tiny hands, I literally had to cover my mouth ㅜㅜㅜ
= 22 He’s so round and squishy I can’t ㅠㅠ
= Rolling around like a dumpling lmaoo
= Fist meat… his little fist meat is too cute ㅠㅠㅠ- I bought the head-bump cushion. My hand clicked “Buy” on its own.
= I got the starfish. Or is it a star since it’s yellow? lol
= 22 I don’t even have a baby around me but the flappy flappy was too cute to resist…
= I bought the angel outfit. Gonna put it on my dog.
= lololol- But like, babies don’t even have muscle strength at that stage???
= Seo-jun had insane strength and stamina even as a baby.
= Should’ve gone into sports… (says the regretful baseball fan)
= Look at those legs—he should’ve played soccer… (regretful soccer fan)- Everyone’s crying, and it’s hilarious lol
= The Sprouts are full-on sobbing rn lol
= And thanking Seo-jun’s parents while doing it lol
= Thank you for giving birth to Seo-jun + for filming this + for uploading it lol
= His childhood friends said uploading it would be a great idea!
= Thank you, childhood friends ㅠㅠ
= I’ll cheer hard at your next match! Park Ji-oh!!->> “This baby will grow up to be a global superstar!” << headline tho lol
= 22 And in elementary school, no less.
= 33 Ends up winning an Oscar.
- Even the ad effect of baby Seo-jun is insane.
= There’s stuff we can’t buy because the company went under, but nothing’s not sold out lol
= OMG lol discontinued products are getting re-released
= He’s really shaking up the market lolol
–Ah… I’m just so happy ㅠㅠ
=22 Me too, as a Sprout, I’m so happy ㅠㅠ
=33 I feel full even without eating, hehe
Unfortunately.
A meeting that would turn the Sprouts’ happiness into despair in an instant was underway at Cocoa Entertainment’s Team 1 Office—dedicated solely to actor Lee Seo-jun.
“A… f-fan signing event?”
The rookie staffer of Team 1 was so shocked that their voice cracked without even realizing it. The rest of the team simply smiled. Because they understood.
Unlike fan meetings, where an actor stands on stage and fans watch from the audience—making it possible to expand capacity depending on the venue—fan signings involve meeting fans one-on-one and briefly exchanging words. That meant the number of fans who could be seen at once was pretty much fixed.
“The artist team said they usually meet about 100 fans.”
“…One hundred…?”
“…Did you say one hundred?”
At Choi Tae-woo’s words, everyone stared into space with unfocused eyes.
One hundred.
100, they said.
“…How many Korean Sprouts are there again?”
“Heh.”
Instead of a response, a hollow laugh rang out from somewhere. Even the one who asked didn’t expect an answer. Anyone could tell—not even a toddler would think that number would cut it.
And that wasn’t even including just the Korean Sprouts. International Sprouts were definitely going to apply for this fan signing.
But 100 people? That was basically lottery odds.
While the Team 1 staff were silently despairing, Choi Tae-woo added,
“Seo-jun said he’d like to do it for about three days.”
“If it’s three days… 300 people?”
“Haha. Three hundred. Yup… three hundred…”
Thankfully, the number had increased—but still, only 300.
Who the heck was that supposed to satisfy…?
As Team 1 stared blankly in collective existential crisis, the deputy team leader clapped sharply—smack!—and spoke.
“Let’s start by finding a suitable venue.”
At that, the staff managed to gather their scattered minds.
This was Team 1—dedicated to actor Lee Seo-jun.
If it wasn’t illegal or a safety risk, whatever the actor wanted, they would make it happen.