Superstar From Age 0

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: AgRoseCrystal

Chapter 603

The last peaceful night.

Seo-jun clasped his hands together and then spread them apart like opening a book. 

A flat and wide stone slab appeared from the patterns engraved on his palms. It was a fragment of the record stone that Seo-jun had written with a pen.

<Except for Seo-jun’s acquaintances, people think that actor Seo-jun and soldier Seo-jun are different people.>

Seo-jun touched the sentence written on the fragment of the record stone.

Swoosh-

As he swept his hand over the letters, they began to disappear one by one. The fragment of the record stone returned to its smooth and flawless appearance as the letters vanished.

And when the last letter was erased by Seo-jun’s hand,

[The world record engraved on the fragment of the record stone will be deleted.]

Click.

It was the moment when ‘actor Seo-jun’ and ‘soldier Seo-jun’, who had been separate entities until now, were connected.

***

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-

The soldiers who woke up to the sound of the bugle washed and tidied up, finished the morning roll call and the morning report, and then moved to have breakfast.

The daily military life.

Since it was a day that repeated like a squirrel running on a wheel, and their bodies reacted automatically, the soldiers thought that they would have a familiar and unchanging day like yesterday, as they received their meals and sat down.

“It’s delicious as always.”

The soldiers who exclaimed while eating a breakfast that seemed like a special meal. The members of the 4th squad that Seo-jun belonged to were the same.

“Honestly, it tastes better than the food outside.”

Everyone nodded with a strange expression at the words of the new private. It was because they didn’t want to admit that the military food was better than the outside food, but they had no choice but to admit it once they put it in their mouth. R̃

“I heard that the military food was so bad until I came to the army.”

“It’s bad in other places. Only here is like this.”

“Don’t you think you’ll miss the food when you’re discharged?”

“…”

Everyone agreed silently.

Jang Hyun-jun, a private first class, looked at the squad members and this sergeant. It seemed that no one had noticed this sergeant’s identity yet.

‘Was it not time yet?’ 

He wondered.

“Sergeant! There’s a movie that was released recently, you know…?”

The private first class Park from the next squad (who liked movies and got along well with this sergeant) tried to talk to this sergeant, but when he turned his head and saw this sergeant’s face, he dropped his tray on the floor with a shocked expression.

Crash!

A loud noise echoed in the cafeteria.

“What’s wrong? Why are you like that?”

“What happened?”

Everyone looked surprised and looked at where the sound came from. Some people got up from their seats. The White Tiger unit didn’t have much noise like this since Seo-jun sergeant came, so that was why.

While the other soldiers got up and checked the situation, the private first class Jang Hyun-jun, who knew everything, watched with a pounding heart.

The private first class Park, who dropped the tray, had no mind to care about such things.

He was going to have a short conversation with this sergeant, who he got along well with, about the movie that was recently released and was doing well at the box office. 

It was a movie starring Lee Da-jin, an actor from Seo-jun’s group, and it was ranked first in the box office and the most talked about. Plus+, there was still the Academy Award-winning [Dandelion], so he was going to talk enthusiastically about the topic of ‘There is definitely something about the actors of Seo-jun’s group’.

But,

‘…Why is Seo-jun here?’

Why was the person of that group here?

He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but it was a handsome face and aura that didn’t seem like there would be anyone who looked alike.

So,

“… Seo-jun”

’… actor? Sergeant?’

What should he call him, the private first class Park, who was full of confusion, felt a light tap on his shoulder. 

The sergeant of the next squad did that. 

Even though it was a free atmosphere of the White Tiger unit, it was not a good thing to call the name of a superior.

“Hey, you crazy. What’s wrong? I’m sorry. He must have eaten something wrong.”

“…Kim, Sergeant Kim. Th, this sergeant is…!”

The private first class Park pointed at Seo-jun with his trembling finger. The sergeant Kim, who was about to fold his finger, heard the private first class Park’s voice.

“He, he seems to be an actor…!”

“…What?”

“Actor! Actor Seo-jun! The Academy Award winner! The Cannes Film Festival winner! Jin Natra of Shadowman! Survivors! Flow Away! Fire!”

“? What are you talking about?”

Sergeant Kim looked at the sergeant with a frown.

They were from different squads, but they were assigned to the unit at a similar time and had seen each other for a long time. They had also talked a lot, so if this sergeant was actor Seo-jun, he wouldn’t have missed it. Besides, their names were not even the same.

“Even if I’m not interested in the entertainment industry, I know Seo-jun…Huh?”

‘…Huh?’

The sergeant Kim’s eyes slowly widened.

The other soldiers who heard the conversation between the private first class Park and the sergeant Kim were the same. They all dropped their spoons and chopsticks without knowing and looked at this sergeant, who was laughing, with trembling eyes.

There was a strange silence.

‘Is it right? It seems right? But really? It’s Sergeant Seo-jun, right? Wow. Their names are the same. Well, I knew that, but… Crazy! Why didn’t I know?’

It seemed like they could hear those voices even though no one opened their mouth.

The members of the 4th squad also looked like they couldn’t believe it.

Seo-jun laughed at that sight.

He had released his ability last night, but since they had spent a long time together, they became familiar with each other, so it seemed difficult to notice without any clues, but the private first class Park seemed to have given that clue.

As the soldiers faced Seo-jun’s relaxed laughter and were about to scream,

“Se, Sergeant Seo-jun!”

The cafeteria door opened and a voice called Seo-jun.

“The, the battalion commander is calling you!”

The officers seemed to have noticed it now.

***

Around the time when the White Tiger unit was noisy because of Seo-jun’s identity being revealed.

The living room of a house.

The mother who had breakfast and was organizing the album said to the man.

“Don’t you have any pictures from when you were in the army?”

“Just a moment.”

The man who had been discharged three months ago went into his room.

“Hmm. You were cute when you were a baby, too, oppa.”

The sister, who was in the second grade of middle school and had a school anniversary today, was looking at the old pictures next to her mother.

“Here.”

The man who came out of the room handed over the picture.

“They all look handsome and healthy, don’t they?”

“Right?”

It was a picture of the 4th squad of the White Tiger unit, ten members who were wearing military uniforms. Well, he didn’t want to remember the military life, but the squad members were good enough people that he wanted to keep in touch with them even outside.

Especially the Sergeant.

The one he wanted to introduce to his sister if he had one…

“Hey. They’re all old men!”

…He felt sorry for the Sergeant, so he didn’t say that.

The man opened his mouth to say something to his sister, who kept calling him an old man.

“What do you mean by old man, when I’m your oppa?”

“Everyone becomes an old man after going to the army!”

“…”

‘Well, yeah.’

To a middle schooler, everyone would look like an old man.

But he still felt hurt by the word old man and said.

“The Lee Seo-jun you like also became an old man after going to the army.”

“Are you crazyyyy!? My Seo-jun oppa is not like that!!”

His sister screamed with a loud voice, making him and his mother cover their ears.

“…Mom. Shouldn’t we send her to vocal training?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

She had a perfect diaphragmatic breathing.

“Hmph!”

She snorted and looked at the photo he brought. They all looked similar in their military uniforms…huh?

She leaned in closer to the photo, as if to get inside it. She squinted, blinked, moved the photo away and closer, very busy.

Her mother tilted her head at her behavior.

“You called him an old man, why are you acting like that?”

Her oppa smiled at her mother’s question. He had expected her to react like that since he brought the photo. His sister, who had plastered her room with handsome celebrities, wouldn’t miss it.

“There’s one handsome guy there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. The most handsome guy in our unit was in our squad. He had a good personality too, so he was famous in our unit. Even the officers liked him a lot.”

While the mother and oppa were talking, the sister tried to see the photo better by shining it on the light and opening the window to catch the sunlight.

“Calm down. Daughter. Sit down now.”

“Yeah. You’ve seen enough.”

At the words of her mother and oppa, she slowly lowered the photo and looked at her oppa with a blank face.

He noticed a hint of betrayal and expectation in the eyes of his young sister, who he had always found cute even though she was a bit wild. He blinked his eyes.

“Why, why are you looking at me like that?”

His sister tried to calm herself down by breathing in and out, and opened her mouth.

“Understand me, oppa.”

“…Huh?”

He never thought the word oppa could be so creepy.

There seemed to be a strange force in his sister’s voice.

“I know, I know. You can’t tell anyone. I know that very well. But I’m family. No, wait. Even family might need to keep it a secret. The army is like that. But I wish you had told me a little bit.”

He blinked his eyes at his sister’s incomprehensible words.

“I would have kept it a secret, and I wouldn’t have asked for anything. If you thought I was a fan without any sense… I feel a bit betrayed, but… I could have met him at the visit… I could have sent him letters and gifts…! Well, it’s okay. Yeah. It’s okay.”

She didn’t notice her mother and oppa staring at her blankly, and said the main point with a not-so-okay expression.

“You got his autograph, right?”

“Huh?”

“Autograph, you got it, right? You must have. You know the pictures in my room, you know how much I like him… You couldn’t have not gotten it. You spent more than a year with him… Right?”

Her voice was calm, but her eyes looked crazy.

He backed away from something that was coming out of her small body. And he opened his mouth without knowing.

“Wha, what autograph?”

She pointed at one person in the photo with the photo in her hand. It was the most handsome Sergeant in his unit. He was probably a corporal by now.

“This person, Seo-jun oppa.”

…?

He blinked his eyes.

“How do you know him?”

“What?”

“How do you know Sergeant Lee Seo-jun?”

“…What are you talking about? Who in Korea doesn’t know Seo-jun oppa?”

“Oh? Is that so? Isn’t he Lee Seo-jun, the actor? He went to the army?”

“I guess so! I just found out too. Wait, mom. If he’s a Sergeant, when did he go?”

“Let’s see. About a year ago.”

“Wow! That long ago?!”

As his mother and sister talked, he looked at the photo again.

As they said, actor Lee Seo-jun was there in his military uniform. But he’s Sergeant Lee Seo-jun, right? He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but he was still actor Lee Seo-jun and Sergeant Lee Seo-jun.

‘…Wow. Crazy. How did I not recognize him?’

He realized it then and opened his mouth wide.

“Oppa. Oppa. You got his autograph, right?”

Not only his sister, who was a Sprout, but also his mother, who had enjoyed watching [Spring Has Returned], had expectation in their eyes. He had no choice but to swallow his dry saliva.

***

That morning, similar situations happened all over the country.

Among the people who had spent their military life in the White Tiger unit, those who happened to see a photo of actor Lee Seo-jun thought, ‘Where have I seen him before…?’ and then realized, ‘Wow! He’s Sergeant Lee Seo-jun?!’ and checked the photos they took in the army and repeated ‘…Crazy!’ over and over.

And they told their families and friends, acquaintances about it. On the internet, posts like ‘I was in the same unit as Lee Seo-jun…’ started to appear one by one.

-Lee Seo-jun went to the army???

-What the hell???

-ㅁㅊ. The article is out.

At the same time, the article that was waiting at Cocoa Entertainment was also released.

[(Exclusive) Actor Lee Seo-jun, secretly enlisted! Currently in military service!]

Korea was turned upside down.