I Accidentally Became A Superstar

In the end, Sangwon played the main character of the father, while Hero was his son. Zeno thought Hero was the best at it when they had a mini-audition.

Sangwon, on the other hand, didn’t really have a choice but to appoint himself as such because he was the oldest one. Hero was the youngest, and paired together, they had that instant father-son contrast the script needed. Risa, being the oldest woman among them, played as Sangwon’s wife.

She resisted at first, but her professionalism prevailed in the end.

They had a kid actor too—someone the staff had arranged to bring in. He looked like he was about to cry the moment he stepped into the set.

His name, according to the clipboard, was Yeon. A wiry little boy, maybe six at best, with huge eyes and a tiny body that looked too small for the oversized shirt he wore. He was only supposed to be there for the first part of the story, playing the child version of Hero’s character.

But Yeon looked terrified. His hands trembled whenever Sangwon raised his voice, and when he was told to stand in front of them, he froze.

“Seriously?” Sangwon clicked his tongue after the fifth attempt. “He can’t act again?” His arms folded.

Risa frowned. “He’s just a kid.”

“This kid is delaying us,” Sangwon shot back.

The boy’s eyes welled up, and within seconds, fat tears rolled down his cheeks. His small shoulders shook as his sobs echoed across the set. The sound made a couple of crew members exchange awkward glances.

“Great,” Sangwon muttered, dragging a hand down his face. “So now, I’m the bad guy.”

The others shifted uncomfortably, murmuring under their breaths. No one moved to comfort the child. Yeon was inconsolable, and no amount of coaxing from Risa or Hero seemed to calm him.

Zeno, who had been standing silently near the back, pursed his lips. He hated this sort of noise—the piercing shrill of a child’s crying—but something tugged at him. Maybe it was memory or the annoying pull of something he thought he buried years ago. Either way, he stepped forward.

The kid froze the moment Zeno’s shadow fell over him. Yeon’s big eyes lifted, widening even more as he stared up at him. Children were always like that with Zeno. They could detect the off-ness about him, the fact that he wasn’t entirely human. He didn’t even need to do anything; they simply knew. And Yeon, sensing that unfamiliarity, only cried harder.

“Hey,” Zeno said. “Stop crying, kid.”

Sangwon scoffed from the side, clicking his tongue again. “Do you really think that’s going to work?”

Zeno ignored him. He let out a soft sigh and slowly lowered himself, kneeling so he was at the boy’s eye level. It was strange, this movement. To the rest of the team, Zeno always seemed like he wouldn’t be good with kids.

The boy sniffled, hiccupping. His lips trembled, and he looked ready to bolt.

“Listen,” Zeno started off. “No one’s asking you to be perfect. You’re not going to get in trouble here.”

Yeon blinked, tears still rolling, but the breathless sobs began to taper off.

Zeno tilted his head slightly. He remembered things he didn’t want to remember—small shoes by the door, a laugh that once filled rooms, a son who looked at him with both love and hatred in equal measure. He had known how to do this once. He knew because he had lived it.

“You see that guy?” Zeno jerked his chin toward Sangwon, who raised an eyebrow. “He’s not your real dad. You don’t have to obey him. You can become mischievous instead.”

That caught the boy’s attention. Yeon hiccuped again, his sobs fading into curious sniffs.

“In the beginning of this story,” Zeno continued, “the kid hates his dad. It was always like that because the father wasn’t around. He wasn’t present. That’s you, right? You don’t like that man?”

Yeon’s lower lip quivered. He looked at Sangwon, who frowned impatiently, then back at Zeno. Slowly, the boy nodded.

“Me too,” Zeno said plainly.

The bluntness startled everyone around them. A small smile appeared on Yeon’s lips, staring at Zeno with wide, uncertain eyes.

“You don’t have to act scared of him,” Zeno went on. “You can out-act him. You can make everyone believe you hate him more than anyone else. That’s your job. And you can do it better than him.”

Yeon’s eyes brightened, the tears halting. His small fists clenched at his sides.

“Can you do it now?” Zeno asked.

The boy hesitated, then gave a firm nod. “Yes.”

With that word, Yeon looked at him with a shy, crooked smile that was also filled with determination.

Zeno felt the corner of his own lips tug upward, and before he could stop it, he smiled back.

The rest of the group stared, wide-eyed. Hero’s jaw dropped. Risa pressed her hands against her mouth.

“So cute!” Risa whispered, her voice squeaky.

“I didn’t know Zeno was good with kids,” Hero muttered, dumbfounded.

Zeno ignored their statements and stood, going back to his position. “Focus,” he called out to everyone.

The cameras rolled and the scene began.

“I don’t want to go to school!” Yeon declared, voice louder than expected. “It’s useless!”

The boy was a natural at disrespect, his tiny arms crossed, lips pursed like a miniature rebel.

Sangwon froze for a second, unprepared for that level of cheekiness. His jaw clenched.

“Cut the act. Say it properly,” Sangwon snapped, breaking out of character. “Do it again with less attitude.”

But Yeon stepped up, ignoring him. “I said, I don’t want to go! School is boring!”

“Cut,” Zeno called out.

“Professionalism,” Zeno said simply, lips quirking into the faintest smirk as he leaned against a prop table. “Again! Sangwon, don’t lose your professionalism. You’re delaying us.”

Sangwon narrowed his eyes before closing them, letting out a deep breath. Zeno’s smirk only widened.

With that, they went back to the scene, and fortunately, it didn’t take long before they had the take.

“Alright, everyone, good job,” Zeno called out. “That’s a wrap for the first part of the story! Let’s meet again tomorrow.”

Just as he was helping the other actors pack up, he felt someone grab his pant leg. Zeno frowned, looking down at Yeon, who was looking up at him with shining bright eyes.

“Thank you, mister!” he beamed.

Zeno felt his chest constrict in an unfamiliar way. There was a warmth rising, something dangerously close to melting.

No. Absolutely not.

Zeno forced a cough, quickly averting his gaze. His ears betrayed him, though, flushing red. He muttered under his breath, gruff but strangely gentle, “Go.”

But Yeon only hugged tighter, refusing to let go as though Zeno was the safest place on set.

And around them, the crew tried not to squeal too loudly, whispering to each other about how cute the scene had become.

Source: .com, updated by novlove.com