Superstar From Age 0
Chapter 244

Chapter 244

Youngwook Publishing was a small publisher that published books of various genres and gathered talented new writers to produce books for a niche audience.

They were proud of being a publisher where book lovers gathered and published books of minor genres.

But that was a past story. 

As the number of people who read books decreased, the books of minor genres lost their place even more.

When the new writer’s book that they prepared with all their might did not show much results, opinions arose that they should stop discovering new writers and focus more on established writers.

Lunchtime.

The employees who were eating lunch at a nearby restaurant exchanged stories. 

“Did you hear about the book concert? Only ten people showed up. And three of them were reporters.”

“Two of them left in the middle. The article was also very small.”

“How much money did they spend on promotion…”

They sighed more because it was their workplace. 

As their appetite dropped due to the depressing story, one employee brought up another topic.

“By the way, it seems like The Jury will become a bestseller soon.”

“A bestseller? That’s too much. It’s not that level yet. Do you know how hard it is to become a bestseller? It’s like concrete there.”

The bestsellers sold better as time went by, and the books below them were hardly able to become bestsellers in this field.

“But The Jury is doing really well.”

“And they’re making it into a play, right?”

“They’re recruiting actors now. Once they get the actors, it’ll be smooth sailing. And it’s a must-read book for teenagers. They’ll promote it a lot at school, right?”

“The book will sell like crazy, right? No need for extra promotion.”

“And if it becomes famous as a play, they’ll make it into a movie too.”

Movie adaptation.

Youngwook Publishing had no work that was famous enough for that. 

It was a story that they couldn’t even dream of. 

The editors who tried hard to swallow their sighs mentioned the names of famous actors.

“Isn’t there a really famous actor? Like Lee Jiseok?”

“Lee Seojun too.”

“Is there a role for Lee Seojun in The Jury?”

“Hmm. Is there?”

As they were holding a cup of coffee each and returning to the publisher, two figures caught their eyes. 

It was the new writer Choi Daye and her editor Kim Hyungwon, who had high expectations.

“Choi Writer came again?”

“It’s been four days already, right? Why does she come every day?”

They sighed deeply as they asked Choi Daye, who looked like she was worried about whether it was a dream or reality, and Kim Hyungwon, who was struggling to answer. 

They couldn’t hear them well from afar, but faint voices reached their ears.

“It’s not a dream. I saw it too, and Choi Writer saw it too.”

“But there’s no photo… and no contact…”

“Don’t worry. It’s not a place where they can decide in a day or two. They must have a lot of contracts and other schedules. I’ll let you know as soon as I get a call!”

“…Okay. I understand.”

Choi Daye, who drooped her shoulders, turned around and left the front of the publisher. 

An editor asked Kim Hyungwon, who was sighing heavily.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Uh… nothing. She just asked me if we could do more promotion.”

Kim Hyungwon lied because he couldn’t say that Lee Seojun’s play offer wasn’t confirmed yet. The employees nodded in understanding.

“Take good care of the writer.”

“Yes. I will.”

Kim Hyungwon quickly answered.

Everyone went inside and Kim Hyungwon took out his phone that didn’t ring. 

He recalled the book concert six days ago, which was like a dream.

“…Was it really a dream?”

Just like Choi Daye, who had been wondering for days whether it was a dream or reality, Kim Hyungwon also started to get confused. Maybe he and Choi Writer wanted [Mirror]’s success so much that they had such a dream.

“Oh, I have to go to the meeting.”

Kim Hyungwon sighed heavily and went inside.

***

Youngwook Publishing meeting room.

All the employees of Youngwook Publishing gathered in the narrow meeting room.

“I think we need to change the genre and get some established writers.”

The president spat out his saliva at the editor-in-chief’s words. 

Half of the employees nodded in agreement and the other half had vague expressions. 

They didn’t like it, but they understood.

“But the reason why our publisher was founded…”

“The publisher has to survive first, whether we discover new writers or publish books of minor genres. You know how the book we published this time turned out.”

At the mention of [Mirror], the president rubbed his temples tiredly. 

It was a good book, but why didn’t anyone care? 

The president’s head was complicated.

“If we go on like this, we’ll go bankrupt. I like our publisher’s books too. I wish there were more books of various genres, more books of various writers. But we have to survive first,”

“Excuse me…”

The editor-in-chief and the president, who were about to speak, turned their heads. 

[Mirror]’s editor, Kim Hyungwon, was raising his hand with an anxious face.

“I’ll be right back from the bathroom.”

“…Go ahead.”

He couldn’t even get angry because he was speechless.

At the president’s words, Kim Hyungwon quickly got up and headed out of the meeting room. 

In Kim Hyungwon’s hurried hand was a phone.

The editor-in-chief sighed lightly and continued his speech. 

He introduced some established writers who had a fixed fan base and suggested ways to reduce various costs.

“Of course, it’s not easy because they have their own publishers…”

It was a long and long story, but no one in the meeting room lost their concentration. 

They were people who gathered because they loved books, but money was an important thing.

“Established writers do have stability,”

“President!”

The meeting stopped again because of Kim Hyungwon, who burst into the room opening the door. 

The editor-in-chief and the president looked at Kim Hyungwon with annoyed eyes. 

They were nice people, but they had lines that they had to keep. 

The employees shrank their necks, thinking that there would be a loud noise.

Just as the editor-in-chief was about to open his mouth, Kim Hyungwon shouted.

“It’s Lee Seojun!”

“What?”

“Actor Lee Seojun!”

They couldn’t understand the name that they didn’t even think they would hear here and now. 

The president straightened his back and looked at Kim Hyungwon. 

The people who were only rolling their eyes also turned their heads and looked at Kim Hyungwon.

Kim Hyungwon, whose face was flushed with excitement, couldn’t contain his excitement and shouted loudly.

“Lee Seojun wants to put on [Mirror] as his graduation performance!”

Everyone just stared blankly at Kim Hyungwon’s face. 

They couldn’t interpret the sentence that penetrated their ears. 

They didn’t understand from the first word.

‘Why is Lee Seojun coming out here?’

After a moment of silence.

The president, who barely understood Kim Hyungwon’s words, unknowingly dropped the pen he was holding. 

The pen that fell on the table rolled down and fell to the floor.

Thud.

The meeting room exploded with the sound of the pen falling.

***

A few minutes ago.

Kim Hyung-won, who received a text message from Anh Da Ho in the middle of a meeting, went outside using the restroom as an excuse and called Anh Da Ho back. 

He heard the answer.

“Wow!!”

Kim Hyung-won, who shouted with joy, was about to go back to the meeting room when he remembered the person he had met in front of the publishing house a while ago. 

He felt sorry for the slumped shoulders of his back.

“Ah! Author!”

He thought of Choi Da-ye, the author who was eagerly waiting for this good news as much as he was. 

Kim Hyung-won quickly contacted Choi Da-ye.

-Yes!

As soon as he called, he heard an immediate reply. 

He seemed to have been looking at his phone all the time, just like Kim Hyung-won, who had not let go of his phone for six days.

Kim Hyung-won laughed out loud at Choi Da-ye’s trembling voice mixed with expectation and worry.

“Author! We got it! The play!”

-!!!

Kim Hyung-won dropped his phone far away from his ear at the scream that sounded like a scream.

It was the first time he heard Choi Da-ye, who was usually quiet, make such a loud noise. 

His ears were temporarily numb from the huge cheer, but Kim Hyung-won could only laugh.

‘Well, it makes sense! It’s Lee Seo-jun!’

Guaranteed success. World-class recognition.

The clothes he wore, the things he had, the instruments he played, the food he ate, etc.

It was not one or two things that became a hit just by having Lee Seo-jun’s name attached to them.

“Now your book is also included in that!”

-This is not a dream, right?!

“Of course not! Oh, I have to go back to the meeting now… I’ll let you know as soon as I get a confirmation!”

-Yes!

Neither Choi Da-ye nor Kim Hyung-won were worried.

Who would refuse to have Lee Seo-jun make and promote a play based on their book?

Kim Hyung-won tried to calm down his heart that was rolling on the bright road ahead and opened the door of the meeting room with a confident step. 

He felt a thrill at the faces that turned around at once.

He wanted to enjoy this attention for a moment, but he couldn’t stand his itching mouth.

“Lee Seo-jun wants to do [Mirror] as his graduation performance!”

The meeting room went wild at Kim Hyung-won’s loud voice.

There was not a single person who calmly sat in their seat. 

Not only the staff around him, but even the president who was in the farthest corner ran out to where Kim Hyung-won was in one step.

“What are you talking about?!”

“Really, really Lee Seo-jun?”

“The Lee Seo-jun who starred in Shadowman?”

“Yes! That Lee Seo-jun!”

They couldn’t believe it even after hearing the answer.

The meeting room was noisy like a fish market.

“Why did Lee Seo-jun suddenly pop up?”

“Graduation performance? What is a graduation performance?”

“Mirror? Mirror? Why did he leave all the other books and choose Mirror, which failed?”

“Why did he contact you instead of the publishing house?”

“Wait. Everyone be quiet.”

The meeting room became quiet at the heavy voice of the president. But it seemed like they could hear what they wanted to say in the silence. 

The president, the editor-in-chief, and the staff all had flushed faces with excitement.

The president asked with a trembling voice.

“Tell me from the beginning.”

“Well…”

The president, editor-in-chief, and staff couldn’t close their mouths at Kim Hyung-won’s story.

“The student who asked you to participate as an audience in the book concert was Lee Seo-jun?”

“He said he enjoyed reading the book you gave him for free?”

“He asked if he could do a play after getting an autograph from the author?”

“No, no, what kind of coincidence is that…!”

The more they heard, the more unbelievable it was.

“…Hey. Tell me honestly. Is this a hidden camera?”

They were so incredulous that they looked around for a nonexistent camera in the meeting room.

Until lunchtime, they were envious of the names of actors who seemed to appear in [Juror]’s play, but they couldn’t speak at the situation that changed in just two hours. 

They never imagined that the name they spat out with envy would come back like this.

“Lee Seo-jun really makes a play with our book?”

“Yes.”

The people who asked Kim Hyung-won questions alternately answered happily once or twice, but now they were getting tired and quickly got to the point.

“So Cocoa Entertainment asked us to reply as soon as possible…”

“Reply…! Yes. We have to reply.”

The president, who couldn’t come to his senses because of the unexpected luck, sighed. 

He was not the kind of president who would let go of this huge opportunity.

He looked calm on the outside, but he didn’t know what was inside.

The president opened his mouth.

“Contact them right away. Tell them it’s okay.”

“Yes. I got it!”

Kim Hyung-won ran out of the meeting room with a bright face. The president, who was watching him, turned his eyes to the staff who were still excited.

“Let’s make this the topic of today’s meeting.”

They were having a meeting that would determine the fate of Hero Publishing, but the president who was trying to make a decision, the editor-in-chief who was leading the meeting, and the staff who were listening with serious expressions didn’t care.

They all quickly sat in their seats and looked at the president with shining eyes.

“How are we going to use this opportunity?”

At the president’s words, opinions popped out without thinking.

“Let’s put Lee Seo-jun’s picture on the book cover! It would be even better if it was a scene from the play!”

“And on the dust jacket, let’s put his usual appearance!”

“Let’s also make bookmarks and posters!”

“First of all,”

A meaningful voice from the editor-in-chief came between the voices of the excited staff. 

It was a voice that captivated people’s attention with just one word, as if something was overflowing.

“How about preparing an English version of [Mirror]?”

…!

The meeting room exploded again at the editor-in-chief’s words.