Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 493

The sun had set, and the evening was dark.

Park I-deun, holding the youngest child Harang who was sobbing, watched the car that was getting farther away.

Seo-jun had left.

He seemed to have a little argument with the second team leader on the driver’s seat, but the second team leader won and took the wheel. 

Seo-jun sat on the passenger seat with a regretful face. 

It was the first time Park I-deun saw the second team leader smile so contentedly.

“Teacher… left…”

Harang, who liked Seo-jun more than anyone else, was comforted by Park I-deun, who said in a playful voice full of mischief.

“Oh my! You’re so heavy! You ate so well that you became this heavy!”

“Hee… hee hee hee!”

As Park I-deun rubbed his face, Harang, who had been crying, started to laugh as if he was ticklish.

The empty seat of Seo-jun was filled with the children’s energy. 

The children who ate well had more strength than ever, and the production team gave them indoor physical education classes that they had postponed. 

The children who used up their energy happily fell asleep as soon as it was nine o’clock.

And as always.

With a dim light on the table, the villain group, no, the [Chick Class] teachers gathered.

“What are we going to do tomorrow?”

“Well…”

The participants were afraid of tomorrow after using Seo-jun, the cheat key. 

They used everything from the squirrel Pipo story to Seo-jun’s character voice imitation and Seo-jun’s mukbang to feed them dinner today.

Kim Ja-young, who counted them one by one, tapped her forehead.

“Really, what are we going to do tomorrow?”

The midnight meeting was attended by a new villain, no, a new character Kang Su-jeong PD and the main writer. 

The atmosphere of the participants became heavy at the possibility of replacing the children.

They were headache-inducing for not eating, but they had already grown fond of them. 

The participants wanted to stay with these children until the end.

“…What if we show Seo-jun’s mukbang?”

Everyone frowned at Park I-deun’s words as they remembered what happened.

“We tried that on the first day and failed.”

“I never thought he would eat until 20 months…”

Seo-jun’s mukbang was naturally included in the ‘all kinds of methods’ that the participants and production team thought of.

Park I-deun spoke again at the negative reaction. 

His expression was serious under the light, just like when he suggested the last method a week ago.

“Not that. Didn’t you see how the kids ate like they were possessed today? Maybe Seo-jun’s mukbang has some effect?”

The three participants recalled how Seo-jun ate.

He ate neatly and tidily, and deliciously. He didn’t eat as excitedly as the children, but he fit in with that home party-like meal.

“…But isn’t that just because he’s handsome?”

Everyone laughed at Jeong Na-hee’s words.

It made sense when they thought of Seo-jun who sparkled.

“Handsome or not, I think it’s worth a try. We don’t have any other way anyway and we have to feed them tomorrow morning.”

“Or maybe another teacher can eat with them? Maybe they don’t eat well because they only eat with each other.”

“That could be possible.”

Until the children could eat well.

The meeting of the kind villains continued.

***

And the next morning.

The participants used all kinds of methods to get the children who were playing happily from morning to sit at the table. Jeong Na-hee decided to sit with them and eat breakfast together.

“At least Myung-jin eats well.”

“Yeah.”

Whether it was because of Jeong Na-hee or for some other reason, Myung-jin started eating well again.

“But Myung-jin was originally a good eater…”

Kim Ja-young, Park I-deun, and Heo Un-seong looked at the four children running around in the yard. 

The way they ate well last night seemed like a dream.

Harang, who followed his older siblings around with a laugh, came up to Park I-deun. 

He stretched out his arms familiarly and Park I-deun smiled and lifted him up with a “whoosh”.

“Harang, aren’t you going to eat?”

“I want to eat with Teacher.”

“With me?”

“No! Teacher Junie!”

“…Harang, you’re too firm. You don’t want to eat with me but with Teacher Seo-jun?”

“Yes!!”

Harang nodded his head vigorously with a determined face like a pumpkin.

Park I-deun laughed at his cuteness and looked at the production team. 

The production team nodded and installed a large monitor on the table where Seo-jun sat yesterday. 

They were the last resort and almost desperate measures that they prepared.

“Then, do you want to eat with Teacher Junie?”

“Yes! Yes!”

Park I-deun turned on the monitor and played the video and put Harang in his seat.

Jeong Na-hee and the children who were eating with the most delicious expression, Kim Ja-young, Heo Un-seong, and the production team were not expecting much. 

Park I-deun was the only one who was nervous.

The video that was edited to cut the front and back was played.

“Teacher Junie!”

“It’s Teacher!”

Harang and the three children who were sitting at the table smiled brightly at Seo-jun who appeared on the screen. 

Seo-jun on the screen also smiled brightly.

[I’ll eat well.]

[(Teacher) The invitation of the gourmet orc is activated.]

Seo-jun on the screen ate neatly and deliciously. It was understandable why Jeong Na-hee said he was handsome.

 He shone so brightly.

“…Are the kids coming?”

The three participants turned their heads at Heo Un-seong’s words.

Surprisingly, the children who were playing started to gather around the table one by one. 

The production team also opened their eyes wide and filmed the children without missing them.

They came to the table without being coaxed, scolded, or asked. It was like magic.

“Give me some rice!”

“I’m going to eat five bowls of rice!”

“It’s five bowls, not five pieces!”

The atmosphere at the table was as lively and noisy as yesterday.

The participants’ faces brightened as they helped the children with their breakfast, wiping their hands. 

Kang Su-jeong PD, the main writer, and the staff couldn’t close their mouths.

“…No, what’s going on?”

“It works, right? PD Kang. Then we don’t have to replace them, right?”

At the main writer’s words, Kang Su-jeong PD was lost in thought.

She couldn’t conclude that Seo-jun’s mukbang had an effect, but she couldn’t say it was a coincidence either. 

There was also a well-known effect of baby mukbang.

‘Maybe it’s because he’s actor Lee Seo-jun.’

She analyzed that it was the result of his excellent acting skills, captivating charm, and outstanding appearance.

But it was too amazing to be just that.

She decided to leave the detailed analysis to other experts and thought about the program first.

“Can you copy the video?”

“Actor Lee Seo-jun’s mukbang? Yes.”

The assistant director nodded.

“Let’s make copies of this and give it to the kids’ parents. Tell them to try it when they feed the kids.”

“…That’s a good idea!”

The main writer understood the PD Kang Soo-jung’s idea right away.

“Once is a coincidence, but when coincidences pile up, they become inevitable consequences of a cause. If the mukbang works, we won’t have to replace the kids.”

“Right! There are baby mukbangs too, so it won’t be weird if another one appears!”

“But we can’t be too complacent, so let’s keep an eye on the kids who didn’t make the cut.”

The main writer nodded at PD Kang Soo-jung’s words.

“Oh, by the way, did you tell the station that actor Lee Seo-jun is appearing?”

“I told them right after I finished talking with his manager yesterday. They kept asking me if it was true. I never expected to get a call from the director.”

He wondered if SBC [Working Man] had been this chaotic too, as the station was buzzing with his phone calls.

He told the CP first, and the CP was so surprised that he shouted “Lee Seo-jun is coming?!” The PDs who heard that rushed in and yelled “What!? Lee Seo-jun?! Is it real?!”, “Now! Can we interview him now?!” and so on, making his ears ring.

The commotion even brought out the entertainment director, who asked “Can you cast him as a regular… or not?”

“I don’t think he can be a regular, so I told him I would try to extend his screen time as much as possible.”

“How much can you extend it?”

“I think four episodes might be the limit. Oh, by the way. I want to change some of the content for episode 2.”

“Episode 2?”

The main writer blinked his eyes. PD Kang Soo-jung nodded and said.

“If Lee Seo-jun’s mukbang2 really works, I mean.”

“Haha. What is mukbang2?”

The main writer laughed and listened to PD Kang Soo-jung’s words.

***

That evening at 9 p.m.

KBC aired [Chick Class in the Forest].

First, the four cast members who would become the teachers of [Chick Class] gathered and greeted each other. 

They also showed their individual cams of studying through books and expert advice.

The filming location was a house on a hill with a slight slope. 

The front yard was covered with green grass, and the back was dense with trees. On the right side, there was a place where animals lived, and on the left side, there were playground equipment for children.

Next, the seven children who would become the students of [Chick Class] were introduced one by one as they arrived at school. 

From six years old to three years old. They varied in age.

-They’re so cute!

-Except for Heo Woon-seong, they all look like they’ve never played with kids before

-The kids all cry when their parents leave

They shed tears like chicken droppings while waving their hands at their parents’ goodbye. They looked pitiful and adorable.

-And then they play right away with each other

-Kids are quick to cheer up

They saw the cast members running around anxiously as the kids played happily as if they had never cried. Except for Heo Woon-seong who had a daughter, they all studied hard before coming, but they looked clumsy at handling children.

-Park Ee-deun seems to play at the same level as the kids There’s more than 10 years of age difference

-Ee-deun plays well with the kids

=22 He only plays with them

=33 He even tries to cry with them when they cry

The viewers were satisfied with the improved music class where Kim Ja-young played the keyboard and Park Ee-deun taught the children how to play harmonica.

Next was Heo Woon-seong and Jung Na-hee’s storytelling.

-An actor does storytelling? What a waste of talent

=Where can I find such a high-quality kindergarten?

-I got immersed in the story without knowing;;

-It would be nice to edit this separately and show it to my kids

It was a peaceful, joyful, and happy show.

-The kids eating are the cutest

=222 They really eat well.

-Look at their chubby cheeks

-How does that fit in one bite!

=Kids eat more than you think

KBC monitoring room.

PD Kang Soo-jung, who was checking the viewers’ reactions on his phone, let out a light sigh.

He couldn’t not include the eating scene, so he edited only the parts of the three kids who ate well and sent it out. 

If you only looked at the editing, it seemed like the rest of the kids had eaten and were playing happily. It was the power of editing.

“So, PD Kang. How many episodes are you planning to include Lee Seo-jun’s screen time?”

“There’s not much footage of him, so it’s impossible to include him until the end. The best I can do is to put him in until episode 4.”

The director, who wanted to include as much screen time as possible, was disappointed.

He had no idea how many companies had contacted him to advertise as soon as he announced that Lee Seo-jun was appearing. 

Today’s episode 1 was over, so there were only 2, 3, and 4 episodes left for Lee Seo-jun’s effect to work.

PD Kang Soo-jung opened his mouth at the director’s regretful expression.

“But I’ll try to put in as much as I can. I think there will be a good source too.”

PD Kang Soo-jung thought of the mukbang2 that would show results within next week.

If it really worked, he was going to scrap the plan he had in mind.

“Good! Then it’ll work! By the way, when does Lee Seo-jun first appear? He should be in the preview for this episode, right?”

“That’s… oh, there he is.”

PD Kang Soo-jung and the director turned their heads to the screen. 

The preview for the next episode was on.

[Chick Class in the Forest]

[Next Episode Preview]

Under the dark light.

The backs of the four cast members were shown. It looked like a meeting of villains in a comic book, with a heavy and serious atmosphere. 

The sound was muffled and hard to hear, but they seemed to be discussing something earnestly.

-What Suddenly they’re like villains?

-Villains always have meetings like that

-Wasn’t this a healing show?

-Are they having a surprise party or something?

=Oh! That might be it.

Park Ee-deun, with a shady face, opened his mouth.

[Then…let’s use our last resort.]

The three nodded heavily.

Park Ee-deun picked up his phone. 

Tap tap! Tap tap! 

He tapped on the phone screen and then put it to his ear. 

His face, which had been serious and stiff, softened as if he was about to cry.

[Seo-jun!!]

Park Ee-deun’s voice echoed in the monitoring room.

[Next week!]

[000 came to Chick Class in the Forest!]

-…Huh??

-…What did you say???

-If they just played Park Ee-deun’s voice, I might have heard it as Se-jun or Se-zun or something But they clearly wrote <<Seo-jun!!>> in the caption

=His name isSe-junSe-zun

-At this point, isn’t 000>>>Lee Seo-jun?

=22 Even if I pass by, I can tell it’s Lee Seo-jun.

=33 First grade elementary school dictation level.

=44 Answer : Lee Se-zun

=55 You’re wrong X O

-Wow. So Lee Seo-jun appears next week? I have to watch!!

-…Ah…as expected. They cast Park Ee-deun for this reason. Park Ee-deun is not a regular on public broadcasting, so they squeezed in our Seo-jun. Did they renew his contract and do whatever they want with his agency? Our Seo-jun is busy filming Babeltop

=…???