Superstar 810

Body sculpting.

It was a rite of passage for actors preparing for movie shoots, and the origin of the meme Park I-deun joked about—“Before the deposit vs. After the deposit.”

There were two main reasons for body sculpting: either to bulk up for action films to show off a strong and dependable physique, or to slim down in order to portray a weak and unstable character.

Just like when Seo-jun had lost weight through dieting while playing the sickly Jeong Ga-ram in the film [Let It Flow].

Hoo— hoo—

Wearing tight clothes to accentuate his moving muscles, Seo-jun exhaled in rhythm as he bent and extended his arms on the pull-up bar. His back muscles contracted and relaxed repeatedly with each motion. His core, kept rigid due to his straightened lower body, was just as engaged.

Back during [Shadowman 3], Seo-jun was still young and had a decently toned body from consistent workouts, so there had been no need to bulk up.

Even in [Over the Rainbow 2], where he had a shirtless scene, he played a violinist, so there was no need for excessive muscle. And in [Shadow & Night], even though he played a baseball player and hero, there was no shirtless scene, so again, no need to bulk up.

“Though I did work out just enough to fit the hero costume before the shoot.”

This time was his first real, serious muscle-building effort.

But it wasn’t to the level of a typical action movie protagonist who could dent car doors or break walls with bare hands—a heavily muscled, hulking figure.

Seo-jun’s role was a werewolf.

The character inherently had power beyond human limits, so a body with “flexible and compact muscles” would be sufficient. Not bulky, but believable enough that such strength and speed could be drawn from that frame.

It also fit the character concept.

“He’s a wolf, not a bear.”

Thinking of a wolf sprinting on all fours, Seo-jun smiled faintly.

Meanwhile, the training session with Kim Hyun-gyu—introduced through a chain of referrals from a Hollywood trainer—continued.

Seo-jun stayed perfectly focused, maintaining flawless form without signs of fatigue. With each repetition, the separation between his muscles became more pronounced.

“That’s it for today.”

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”

Having finished the day’s workout, Seo-jun took a shower and got into the car where Choi Tae-woo was waiting.

“How was it?”

“It was good.”

Though it had been quite a while since he started working out like this, Choi Tae-woo always asked with concern.

Seo-jun chuckled at the thought that if Tae-woo had been his manager during [Let It Flow], he and Ahn Da-ho would’ve been equally anxious.

“You’re eating well, right?”

“Yes. I’m eating a balanced diet.”

The dieting would begin after arriving in the U.S. Since he planned to head over early for action training, there was plenty of time.

“Tae-woo hyung, we’re going to the U.S. in March, right?”

“Yeah. Filming starts in April.”

February for the fan meeting. March for heading to the States. April for filming.

“Hope time flies quickly.”

Seo-jun grinned, his days filled with exciting things.

---

Saturday, February 1st.

The wind was still cold, and in some places, fresh white snow was falling.

People realized a whole month had passed since the new year started, even though it felt like just yesterday they had resolved to make this year count.

–“Wait, January’s already over?”

= “Why is time going so fast?”

= “At this rate, the year will pass without me doing anything, again lol (not funny)”

–“Wow. My resolution lasted like 3 days again, sigh”

= “Did it even last 3 days tho?”

= “Youuuu……”

–“What’s going on today? The subway is packed. It’s winter, but it’s hot. If it were summer, I’d have died.”

= “It’s Lee Seo-jun’s fan meeting today. There’s an article too. (link)”

= “Ahh! (understood)”

= “Got it! (makes sense now)”

= “Avoid that area’s public transport until tomorrow haha”

–“Last year’s fan meeting was really fun. Wonder what it’ll be like this year.”

= “Right? When he appeared as his characters (older versions) and played music, I seriously wanted to give a standing ovation.”

= “I clapped just from reading the reviews lol”

= “He probably won’t do that again since it was last year.”

–“What’s Seo-jun’s next project?”

= “No clue. Since there are no rumors, maybe he’s taking a break this year?”

= “……Seo-jun? Taking a break?”

= “You can refute that with just his name lol”

= “Exactly lol”

–“No rumors = normal if it’s Seo-jun.”

= *“Right?? The director of *Escape* was so frustrated that he told staff to leak something because the secrecy was too tight, still cracks me up lol”*

= “Escape’s director: ? Why are there STILL no leaks?”

= “LOLOL”

–“Even so, if Seo-jun isn’t doing any projects (long gap) = military (or something equally serious)”

= “LOL military rumors are always hilarious”

= “He wasn’t there, but also he WAS there, lol”

While Seo-jun was buzzing online, he was also causing a stir offline.

“I… I can’t believe I’m actually at Seo-jun oppa’s fan meeting…”

A sprout who still looked like a student, teared up as she looked at the venue in front of her.

“It’s not ‘already selected’?!”

The way she poured her feelings out with her whole body made other sprouts teary as well. They were all warriors who had defeated the ultimate enemy: “This seat has already been selected.”

“We’re handing out slogans!”

“Anyone want to trade Seo-jun photos?”

As always, the event venue was abuzz even before the fan meeting started.

The student sprout from earlier, Kim Min-jung—who was the niece of 1st-gen sprout Lee Mi-yeon—darted around with sparkling eyes and lively steps.

“I’ll take one of these.”

“Yes, here you go.”

She bought something from the official merch booth—even though she already had it—as a keepsake.

“Gasp! July-nim?! I didn’t know you were a foreigner!”

“Haha. I speak some Korean.”

She met foreign sprouts she had chatted with online and had non-stop conversations (in Korean).

“You drew this yourself?”

“Yes… It’s kinda bad, right?”

“No! It’s super cute!”

She exchanged fan-made unofficial merch with passing sprouts,

“Want one of these? They’re cookies from a famous bakery.”

“Thank you! Hold on—I brought chocolates too!”

They exchanged snacks and sweets.

“This place is amazing…”

The fan meeting hadn’t even started, yet she already felt like crying. It was basically heaven.

‘I bet my aunt felt like this too.’

Min-jung thought of her aunt, Lee Mi-yeon, who had handed her allowance money with a regretful expression after failing to get a spot in both fan signing and fan meeting events. She promised to enjoy it to the fullest on her behalf.

Chatting joyfully with newly-met sprouts like lifelong friends, Min-jung felt her heart swell and her vision blur when staff announced that it was time to enter.

She was finally going to see Seo-jun oppa.

And from such a close seat, too!

As she followed the line and reached her seat, she found herself holding a paper bag from Cocoa Entertainment filled with merch and snacks.

‘How did this get in my hand?’

She couldn’t remember receiving it.

‘No, get it together.’

She had to snap out of it.

Otherwise, she might zone out and miss every second she should be imprinting Seo-jun oppa’s face into her memory.

With firm resolve, Min-jung pulled out her light stick.

It was the sprout stick—Mini-me Seo-jun with blue hair sat on a throne, a blue full moon glowing behind him.

The sprout sitting beside her asked with sparkling eyes.

“Did you become a fan through Blue Moon?”

“Yes. I used to be a fan of another idol group…”

The other sprout nodded.

“Lots of people are like that.”

After Seo-jun’s [Blue Moon] stage, many idol fans became sprouts. Some followed only actor Seo-jun, others stayed idol fans and followed Seo-jun too.

Any sprout was a sprout.

“As long as they don’t cause trouble.”

The 12-year sprout smiled at the 5-year sprout, Kim Min-jung. Given Seo-jun’s long career, 5 years still made her a newbie.

“I love the Blue Moon stage too. I hope he performs again.”

“Me too! Though I do like Seo-jun oppa more as an actor!”

Though she had become a fan through “idol Seo-jun,” she’d come to love “actor Seo-jun” even more after watching his works. The surrounding sprouts all nodded proudly in agreement.

As the chatting died down and everyone was seated, the venue darkened.

“It’s starting!”

The sprout sticks, all linked to a central controller, lit up like a wave, cascading in colors like a rainbow before turning solid blue.

Sprouts’ eyes gleamed.

“Blue Moon?!”

“Is it Blue Moon?!”

Kim Min-jung gaped at the stage. Seeing [Blue Moon] live—her heart felt like it might leap out of her chest.

Then—

All the sprout sticks went dark.

Thump!

“…Huh?”

It was a sound completely unlike the intro of the [Blue Moon] stage they’d seen hundreds, even thousands of times.

But the song was familiar.

It was that famous and trendy.

Blue Moon’s [EXIT].

A song with intense choreography that had gone viral among singers and dancers for challenge videos.

…Why this song?

Everyone wondered the same.

On the dark stage,

Thump! Thump!—a door-knocking sound played, followed by the creak of a door opening. Then someone began walking out.

Flash!

A single spotlight lit the center of the stage.

The figure walked into the light and stepped forward.

He entered the spotlight without hesitation, revealing himself.

The sprouts’ heads tilted upward, cameras followed—eyes widened as they took in the man’s appearance.

Tight black leather pants, an oversized white shirt, and a black leather harness strapped over it.

Gasp!

The sound of someone inhaling echoed—not from just one place.

Still, eyes and cameras didn’t waver.

A black choker adorned his pale neck, and then—the man’s face.

Expressionless lips. A sharp, defined nose. Deep and intense eyes. Shimmering black pupils. Hair as dark as the night sky.

Sprouts locked eyes with those black pupils.

Then, with a cool face, he gazed at the audience—

And smiled.

The tension snapped.

Sprouts who had been frozen let out shrill screams before they even realized.

——!!

Amid roaring cheers, actor Lee Seo-jun’s fan meeting began.