Become a Star

Nowadays, it was only a matter of time for famous celebrities to further their careers abroad, and indeed, several actors had done so by appearing in Hollywood movies. It was nothing new, but it was absolutely not something to be taken for granted. Korea had so many actors, but only a handful of them had appeared in Hollywood productions. Naturally, acting in a movie didn’t mean an actor would suddenly emerge as a global star, but it definitely was a stepping stone.

“What is the movie about? Are hero movies popular these days?”

“It’s similar. It’s a fantasy movie about guardians protecting each continent. Needless to say, the main character is the Guardian of North America.”

The guardians of each continent, simply referred to as Guardian, were clearly human beings at first. They were then selected to be a Guardian, whose role was to defend their continent for hundreds of years without aging or dying. That was the premise of the movie. Then one day, the Guardian of North America disappeared for an unknown reason, and a new Guardian was chosen among humans.

“Originally, a Guardian would normally choose a successor to take over their position and die after they had fulfilled their mission, but in the movie, the Guardian of North America was suddenly murdered without having any time to do that. So the movie is basically about the guardians of other continents confronting the forces that are trying to kill them while taking turns to teach the new Guardian of North America.”

To put it simply, the main story was about the birth of a hero, but the deep understanding of each continent’s culture and the stories of the beings who had lived hundreds of years as humans were interesting.

Naturally, Jin was the Guardian of Asia. That was why the Chinese and Japanese investors had been strongly recommending actors from their own countries and aimed at being a part of this movie. They wanted someone from their country to be the Guardian of Asia and the symbolism that came with it.

Hugh and Rayford seemingly had said something about destiny after hearing Woo-Jin’s name at the cafe the other day because it sounded just like ‘Jin.’ Additionally, Woo-Jin’s nickname was ‘Genie,’ so they were excited either way, but Woo-Jin had a different interpretation. Just thinking about it made Woo-Jin’s face turn red, so much so that Woo-Jin couldn’t fully rejoice about his current situation.

Today, Woo-Jin had to attend a red carpet event in one of the suburbs, and in the evening, he had to do a street interview for an entertainment program.

“You’ll be very busy today, so get some shut-eye whenever you can.”

However, his heart had been racing since this morning, so rather than feeling tired, his mind was becoming clearer and clearer. Ultimately, Woo-Jin gave up on getting some sleep. Instead, he took out his phone and browsed the internet. He didn’t play any games, nor frequented any websites, so he simply clicked on random articles and read them. Just then, a familiar name among the entertainment articles took him by surprise.

<Shameless Lee Hyung-Jin>

Lee Hyung-Jin was a hyung Woo-Jin had known since his TM days. They had left TM at around the same time, and he had made a successful debut in the first half of last year. However, he was kicked out of the entertainment industry after being accused of instigating his friends to bully a friend in high school and subsequently driving his friend to commit suicide. Lee Hyung-Jin’s incident allowed Woo-Jin to see the ugly side of TM, and his vigilance against them made him join DS without any hesitation.

Woo-Jin hurriedly clicked on the article bearing that forgotten name in its headline. There was a video of Lee Hyung-Jin busking on the street; people were jeering and throwing trash at him, condemning him. The person recording the video was also cursing at him without holding himself back. Nonetheless, Lee Hyung-Jin finished singing the entire song before bowing and thanking the listeners.

After watching the video, Woo-Jin locked his phone and closed his eyes. His palpitating heart was making him feel varied emotions. Lee Hyung-Jin’s voice still had the power to make one’s heart flutter. And he still hadn’t given up — even though people jeered and threw trash at him, he continued singing till the end.

Woo-Jin didn’t know if he was feeling very frustrated because he understood how Lee Hyung-Jin felt when he couldn’t bring himself to stop singing halfway, or if he felt sad because he really valued Lee Hyung-Jin’s singing. Regardless of the reason, Lee Hyung-Jin was singing on the streets in the cold, and he didn’t do anything to deserve being jeered by people. Lee Hyung-Jin was such a pitiful singer, to the point where it felt extremely unfair.

***

“The star of today’s Street Date! Who could it be?” Reporter Kim Woo-Hyung of Entertainment Report took a look at the crowd who came to see him and asked out loud.

Kim Woo-Hyung was the leading reporter of Entertainment Report, such that whenever people mentioned the name ‘Kim Woo-Hyung,’ Street Date would come to mind. Seeing as he was downtown with a camera in the late evening, he was shooting Street Date. Nobody knew who the guest for today was, but people still flocked over to watch. That was the case because the celebrities appearing in the segment were generally more famous and popular than the average celebrity.

After hearing Kim Woo-Hyung’s question, people started throwing out names of celebrities they wanted to meet since they didn’t have any information about today’s guest. It was slightly after 8 p.m., so most people on the streets were in their twenties and thirties, with more or less the same ratio of men to women. Thus, the names that were heard varied from actors to singers.

However, everybody knew for a fact that several actors had appeared on the program to promote their movies and dramas. Hence, the quick-witted people singled out the main leads of the recent movies and dramas.

“Chae Woo-Jin!” A man in his early twenties cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled.

At that moment, screams and cheers were heard from all sides, but people weren’t exactly having high expectations of seeing Chae Woo-Jin there. Every week, whenever they filmed the program, the audience never failed to mention Chae Woo-Jin’s name.

The other day, they did a special feature on Chae Woo-Jin on Entertainer Report. They showed a scene where people were screaming Chae Woo-Jin’s name after Kim Woo-Hyung asked that same question like he did every time before Street Date started. It happened more than once or twice. The program host had invited Chae Woo-Jin to appear on the program at least once because of that. But that was half a year ago.

“What did you just say? Chae Woo-Jin?” When Kim Woo-Hyung said that, looking aghast, everybody’s faces fell. They quickly gave up hope and said he would probably not appear this time around again. In other words, they had resigned to fate, thinking there was no way they would be this lucky today.

“However! You guessed correctly today. Today’s guest is a prince who was once a loan shark, a teaching assistant, a killer, and a third-generation chaebol — it’s Chae Woo-Jin!” After Kim Woo-Hyung exclaimed, with perfect timing, Woo-Jin came out of the building across the street where he had been hiding the entire time.

The crowd turned their bodies around, and their gazes followed the lights and camera. Before they knew it, Chae Woo-Jin was standing there. Their screams and cheers echoed through the buildings, traveling quite a distance. Woo-Jin was less than 50 meters away from Kim Woo-Hyung, but the clamoring crowd was very difficult to restrain. If the bodyguards hadn’t paved the way for him by cautiously blocking the crowd, it would have been almost impossible for Woo-Jin to meet Kim Woo-Hyung today.

Hands were stretched out from all directions, grabbing him and waving to him. Woo-Jin finally arrived in front of Kim Woo-Hyung, looking somewhat different from what he did a couple of minutes ago when he first appeared. His tidy hair was scattered all over the place; it was unkempt. Woo-Jin adjusted his camel half coat that was slipping down and exposing his shoulder and swept his hair back with his fingers. He didn’t forget to check his surroundings as well. The crowd had gotten a lot bigger than when he was observing from the other side, and they were blocking the entire path, becoming even bigger in an instant.

“Wow! Since Chae Woo-Jin is the guest for today, so many people have gathered here right away. Oh, the people in the building over there are watching, right? Please wave at them.” Woo-Jin looked in the direction where Kim Woo-Hyung was pointing at; people in the commercial building across the street were rushing to the windows, looking their way. Woo-Jin glanced over at them and waved, causing loud cheers to echo once again. It was so loud that it felt as though the ground they were standing on instantly shook like there was an earthquake.

“Ever since I started hosting Street Date, I’ve never seen such a massive crowd or heard such loud cheers on the streets.”

“Neither have I.”

Woo-Jin had met fans in confined spaces before, but it was his first time seeing such a big crowd filling up the entire street. People flocked to the recent event at the department store, but they didn’t scream as loudly, probably because they were indoors.

“Oh~! Aren’t you used to such reactions by now? It seems like this happens a lot wherever you go.”

“A lot of people must have gathered here because we’re in the middle of recording the show. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.” Not that it had never happened before, but rather, the crowds were not as big and wild.

In Woo-Jin’s experience, with a few exceptions, the public seemed to be more daring and reckless when there were cameras around. Perhaps, they were confident that celebrities had to watch how they treated the general public when the cameras were rolling and wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight. It was a completely different ambiance from how it was in their everyday life, where they behaved appropriately and respected Woo-Jin’s privacy.

“Are we able to walk?”

Walking down the street, looking at the stores, and talking to people was the beauty of Street Date. However, it seemed difficult to inch forward in the current state.

“Why don’t you try raising your arms like Moses[1] and say ‘Clear the way!’”

“Clear the way! Like this?” Woo-Jin followed Kim Woo-Hyung’s instructions before looking back at him and asking. Kim Woo-Hyung held back his laughter and pointed to the front. Before he knew it, people had cleared the way for them and stood on both sides, just like Moses’ miracle. Woo-Jin quickly lowered his arms and thanked the people.

“Shall we get started on Street Date now?”

“It’s the first time my heart isn’t fluttering during a date.”

“Shall I make your heart race?” Kim Woo-Hyung asked meaningfully. He was confident of putting Chae Woo-Jin on the spot at any time with embarrassing questions.

“I’m sorry, I made a mistake. I’m very excited and happy right now.” As soon as Woo-Jin raised both his hands and surrendered, Kim Woo-Hyung laughed.

“Umm, if it’s the first time your heart isn’t fluttering during a date, does it mean you’ve been on several exciting dates before?”

“I’m not that young. Of course, I’ve been on dates before.”

“Ohh~! You’re honest.”

“Well, it’s not like it’s anything terrible.”

“What about now?”

“Frankly, I haven’t dated anyone since I got dumped before I went into the military.”

Kim Woo-Hyung widened his eyes in surprise after hearing Chae Woo-Jin’s confession. Even though they had shown him the questionnaire before the recording, the answers to these questions were at Chae Woo-Jin’s discretion. It was a routine question that had to be asked, so even if the guest didn’t want to answer it, they still had to do it. It was a question about love and relationships.

Even though they had expected Chae Woo-Jin to give an evasive answer since it was entirely up to him, he had chosen to deal with it head-on instead.

1. Biblical reference to Moses parting the Red Sea. ☜