Become a Star

“There’s no need for you to memorize and calculate everything. You just have to memorize the scenes by takes, and we’ll guide you every time,” the advertising manager said to Woo-Jin.

Woo-Jin smiled briefly while glancing at the advertising manager, who told him that it would be easy as long as he followed directions. He found it funny that the manager talked about it so easily when he would be the one acting it out.

After doing some simple calculations, Woo-Jin turned off the video and looked closely at the sword that he’d been holding the entire time so he could get used to it. It was heavier than he thought and needed more time to get used to it. The blade was light, but the sword's balance wasn't right because the handle was heavy from all the fancy decorations, so he needed more time to get used to it. Still, the decoration on the handle wasn’t pointless as it represented the telecommunications company’s logo. When he held the sword upright and looked at the overall design, it was an amazing commercial item.

Woo-Jin walked in front of the green screen, calculated the movement and time for each take, and considered the springboard that was painted green and the location of the mini stairs. During all of this, he was still holding onto the sword.

“You have to draw the sword while carrying it on your back, so it probably won’t be easy. If you can’t do it after practicing a few times, it’ll be better if we just took out the sword completely from the start and have you appear without it.” When the martial arts director said that after walking up to Woo-Jin, the advertising manager standing next to him nodded as if they agreed.

“Drawing the sword is important, but this is the highlight.”

The storyboard contained a scene where the model killed a robot by drawing the sword. It looked very cool and stylish in martial arts novels and cartoons. The advertisement manager could only smack his lips in disappointment when considering the possibility that the scenario might not get played out. However, Woo-Jin knew that drawing a 120-centimeter sword that rested on his back was naturally a difficult task, and it wasn’t something he could do just because he was pressured.

Woo-Jin glanced at the two people still discussing the sword draw and started swinging the sword in his hand. Once he got used to the sword, he naturally sheathed it into the scabbard on his back. When it made a clear ‘click’ sound, the two people who had been talking looked back at Woo-Jin.

Just like his nickname, he fulfilled their wish when their eyes met. When he naturally drew the sword and began sword dancing, the advertising manager’s face brightened up, and the martial arts director looked as if Woo-Jin met his expectations.

“Mr. Chae Woo-Jin, I came to know you after hearing a lot of things about you, but you’re good at swords too! I guess you learned how to use it before.”

Rumors about Chae Woo-Jin had widely spread among the martial arts directors. From Death Hill to City of Shadows, the director had heard many stories from the people who worked with Woo-Jin. Even among the action stars, their opinion about Chae Woo-Jin was so good that they didn’t feel pressured working with him. So when he showed how skilled he was with the sword, the martial arts director released a sigh of relief and was happy.

Even though Woo-Jin had to learn the actions and movements required in every take from the martial arts director, the act itself wasn’t difficult. The important parts for this shoot were the precise timing and knowing where exactly to look. Before officially starting the shoot, they first took the still cuts that would be used in posters and life-size cutouts. Woo-Jin did many different poses like holding the sword in his hand or arrogantly holding the sword in one hand like a cane, etc.

After finishing the still cuts, they continued the shoot in front of the green screen. Woo-Jin was required to do everything by himself in an empty space, so he focused all of his senses.

“Take one, ready, action!”

Take one was a scene that was seven seconds long. A man looked forward as he walked proudly and confidently through a complicated yet glamorous city. But then, he looked up to the sky when he heard a sound. His eyes stared at a white bird flying through the gray sky.

As Woo-Jin was mentally drawing the CG scenes that he had seen earlier, he didn’t forget to count the time in his head. Before starting the shoot, he had counted the numbers and matched the time as per his calculations. It didn’t have to be perfect since it was simply a basis for an estimate, so his acting didn’t have any hesitation.

When he arrived in the front of the building, which was his destination, the bird circled around him and flew far away. After turning his attention away from the bird flying away, Woo-Jin walked into the building, and according to the CG video, as soon as he entered, the robots would approach to attack him.

‘First, I’ll attack the one on the top, right side, and then after penetrating the robot’s chest that’s on the left side….’

The first robot held up its sword and attacked from the top, and at that moment, Woo-Jin performed the blade dance and cut the robot’s waist. A couple of fragments started flying, and another robot used its fist and attacked Woo-Jin’s chest. He grabbed the robot’s wrist with his left hand and twisted it before kicking the robot and making it fall. After stepping on the fallen robot, he jumped into the air, grabbed the sword with both hands, and struck it straight down, causing the robot’s body to shatter as it was split in half.

The broken parts flew all over the place like dust. Soon, they connected, and it started changing into birds. The four birds created from the robot’s broken parts circled above Woo-Jin’s head and attacked him simultaneously. Within that short time, Woo-Jin thought it wouldn’t look cool if he simply just struck them while swinging his sword like the martial arts director told him to do.

Woo-Jin knew that once the scene was corrected using CG, even the boring actions could be made to look stylish and cool, but the actions shown on the storyboard were generic actions that often appeared in other game commercials. There were too many cliches for a commercial meant to be number one without an equal.

After grabbing the sword’s handle and swinging it a few times, Woo-Jin remembered a double-edged sword technique used when fighting against enemies that were attacking all at once. He moved quickly. Rather than an attack, it was more of a sword technique, but he didn’t nitpick its use, as no one present would question his use of double-edged sword skill. He didn’t have the experience to reenact it precisely but was able to at least imitate it.

Out of the robot birds attacking from the four directions, he pierced the bird he was supposed to kill first. Then, he swung his sword again after turning it and crossing over, making the pattern look like the infinity symbol. He moved his body in a flashy movement as he swung his sword. It was an attack meant to lower his enemies’ concentration. If he was fighting an actual person, it was a move that would cause his opponent to lose their spirit and throw them off guard. The attack wasn’t practical and was used for its stylish moves and that was the biggest reason why Woo-Jin chose it.

As the shattered robot birds broke in the air, they flew like the snow, and with Woo-Jin in the center, he displayed an evil smirk and became an arrogant, absolute being.

After catching his breath for a little bit, Woo-Jin raised his hand and asked the director to say cut.

“Cut!”

When the director quickly gave the cut signal, the staff ran towards him. Woo-Jin took the towel handed to him and took a breather while wiping the sweat from his forehead. Since there were a lot of physical movements, he had consumed a lot of energy and was slightly out of breath.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m a bit tired because it’s been a while since I’ve done intense actions. How was my adlib earlier?”

When Woo-Jin asked the director about the action that wasn’t on the storyboard, the director gave the okay sign. Who wouldn’t like it? They couldn’t request more from the actors because the actors wouldn’t be able to keep up, not because they didn’t want to include it in the storyboard.

Woo-Jin pushed back the hair from his forehead that came down while drinking water and then stopped his action midway. His tidy hairstyle had become messy now.

“Should I redo my hair?”

“No, your current hairstyle is fine since it’s flowing down naturally. Your hair became loose while you were swinging the sword around and the way it was flying naturally looked very stylish.”

After hearing the visual director’s explanation, Woo-Jin stopped touching his hair. Thankfully, he had stopped right before brushing his hair with his fingers, and he released a sigh of relief. When his breathing became somewhat calm, he got his makeup fixed, and after looking at the style, the shoot resumed.

When Woo-Jin approached the grand and glamorous doors, they opened automatically and he followed the path to a throne at the end. Holding his sword with his right hand, Woo-Jin sheathed it with a clean motion into the scabbard on his back. He approached the throne, then turned to look at the camera. His narrowed, arrogant eyes slowly curved, and a charming smile appeared on his face. The way he raised his chin a bit and looked as if he was looking down resembled the gaze of an absolute being that was looking down at the world. With a face full of superiority and confidence that no one could follow, he looked down at the world; however, he wasn’t a cruel or cold-hearted king. The mercy that he showed in an instant was enough to bewitch people, and they had no choice but to fall for it, and just like that, he used his cold charisma and beautiful smile to seduce the world.

Woo-Jin then turned around without hesitation and walked towards the throne, and the camera filmed his back. The scene originally ended there, but he saw the mini stairs that were removed from the green screen. The stairs were used in an earlier scene where he had to walk on a staircase, and it was now moved to the side. The height of the stairs happened to be similar to the throne, so Woo-Jin walked up to it and sat on top of the stairs as if he was sitting on a chair.

The throne in the CG video had an armrest, and in the area where he believed the armrest was going to be, he pretended to place his elbow on it and then supported his chin with his left hand.

Woo-Jin smiled as if it was signaling that the arrogant absolute being’s reign was starting now.

***

Woo-Jin was tired after studying at the library, so after gathering his hat, mask, and scarf, which were now necessities, he exited the lounge.

Even though it was winter, people would look at him strangely if he wore a mask and scarf inside the library where the heater was on. Fortunately, it was peak flu season, so even with the slightest cough, people willingly stayed away, and thanks to that, no one recognized him so far.

More than that, Woo-Jin wasn’t the only person wearing a mask, so it was even more liberating. He realized he was thinking like a celebrity when he started worrying about what to do once winter passed.

Rubbing his eyes under his glasses with a finger, Woo-Jin sat in a corner of the lounge. It was a bit loud, but even with the music playing inside the lounge shop, this much noise was white noise to him.

The long chairs with backrests were arranged in a back-to-back seating in a row. So even if Woo-Jin sat in the corner, the seats in front and next to him were already filled. Woo-Jin lowered his head as much as possible and pulled his hat down.

Just then, Hong Kwang-Ho’s ‘Walk on Aimlessly’ sung by Hanryang Doryeong, who had already won twice, was playing through the lounge speakers. A group was sitting in front of Woo-Jin, and one of them suddenly lifted their head.

“Hey, be quiet!”

As soon as she heard the song, she interrupted her friends in their conversation and placed a finger on her lips, telling them to quieten down. When the song ended, the girl released a light sigh and wriggled her body with satisfaction, and when Woo-Jin looked at her, he nervously curled forward.

“This is a really good song! How can his high notes be so clear?”

Hanryang Doryeong had sung the song in a much higher tone than the original song, and because his voice was powerful and clear, the listeners didn’t feel distressed even when they heard his high notes, and instead, it helped them feel relieved. It was impossible to know what his limits were as he sang both high and low notes freely and captured the hearts of his listeners. Some reviews even suggested that the scariest thing about him was that he didn’t let go of the hearts he captured until the song’s end.

“I’m Choi Hee-Jung’s fan, so I’ve been looking forward to the day she makes a comeback, but I didn’t think she was going to fail like this. Also, I’m not lying when I say this, but when I listen to Choi Hee-Jung’s song and then listen to Hanryang Doryeong’s, I definitely feel a difference in their skills. Even though I’m her fan, I started realizing that I couldn’t deny the truth.”

In yesterday’s episode of The King of the Masked Singers, Hanryang Doryeong beat Choi Hee-Jung, who was known to be the queen of the ballad, and won twice. Choi Hee-Jung expected to have power for a long time by appearing in The King of the Masked Singers, but it was absurd how she failed to meet expectations. Although her fans felt really disappointed, there was a clear difference in their skills, to the point that she couldn’t deny the results so it couldn’t be helped.

“It was fascinating how Hanryang Doryeong managed to guess all the people who appeared on the show. Do you think the staff told him ahead of time?”

When Woo-Jin heard her, he almost shook his head unintentionally.