Become a Star

It was fascinating to see layers of social walls between people get torn down via the get-together. They had done nothing but eat, drink, and sing together, but it felt like people had entered the first stage of interpersonal relationships already.

Whenever Woo-Jin was face-to-face with the staff who had grown friendlier to him, he would smile awkwardly and bow. As he did so, a middle-aged veteran actor tapped him on the shoulder and spoke to him in a friendly manner. When Woo-Jin greeted him as politely as he could, the veteran actor gestured it away.

“You don’t have to greet me so stiffly. You said that your name is Woo-Jin, right? Let’s have some drinks together the next time we’re free.”

The veteran actor smiled as he gestured in the manner of drinking from a shot glass in the air. The actor was not the first who had asked Woo-Jin to be his drinking partner today. It made Woo-Jin wonder whether he made a good drinking buddy. He had never liked alcohol to begin with, and most of his friends shared similar tastes as him. Yesterday’s drunkenness had been an isolated event, as far as he knew. Even if it wasn’t, everybody who was there was too bad at holding their liquor, and they were not in a position to tell anyone what had happened later on. He did not even know much about his drinking habits, so when he did look back on yesterday’s event, he did not exactly remember having any weird drunk behavior. Thus, he was skeptical as to why other people wanted to drink with him at all.

Even though he drank and sang till dawn, he felt refreshed when he woke up in the morning. His body was getting healthier and feeling lighter with each passing day, as he had been practicing the inner energy mental cultivation technique. Hence, he later approached the staff who were moving the audio equipment and started helping out.

“Hey, we said we’re fine here.You overexerted yourself yesterday too, shouldn’t you be conserving your energy?” asked one of the staff.

“I felt oddly energetic when I woke up this morning. Besides, I don’t have many scenes to shoot today, so I don’t have anything to do,” answered Woo-Jin.

“Well, you did sing with all your might till dawn yesterday, but how is it that your skin looks better?”

Hearing the words of a staff member, the rest of them turned to look at Woo-Jin. It was not an overly tight schedule, but since the shooting schedule was crammed into one month, days of continuous shooting were frequent. Even if actors were energetic in the beginning, their skin became drier and drier as the days went by, making it more difficult to do their makeup. However, strangely enough, Woo-Jin’s skin was becoming clearer and healthier. The makeup artist in charge of doing Woo-Jin’s makeup even said that it was better for him to go without any makeup.

“It’s good to be young,” said one of the staff.

“When I was his age...no, not even then,” another staff member added.

Regardless of how much the staff member thought about it, she realized that youth might not be the answer to everything, and scratched her head awkwardly.

“Looking at you, Mr. Woo-Jin, I can tell that you’re polite and kind. But still, out of curiosity, you weren’t a bully or delinquent back when you were in school, right?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Recently, people have been talking about how a popular singer bullied a classmate back in high school, causing the victim to commit suicide.” Having taken a liking to Woo-Jin, the staff had asked as he seemed to be worried that Woo-Jin’s past mistakes might come back to haunt him.

“Something like that happened?” asked Woo-Jin.

Even when Woo-Jin was done with shooting, he did not have the time to take a proper break, what with analyzing characters or watching how other people acted. Whenever he returned to his room, he would be busy doing exercises and practicing the cultivation technique to maintain his health, and would pass out right after. It was like he had built a wall around him, keeping worldly affairs out of his life. As a result, he did not know much about recent entertainment news.

If one were to look at people who became celebrities, they would find that more often than not, those people were born with different talents from ordinary people. They had been extraordinary since they were little - there was no other way to express it other than putting it plainly that they were born with it. Hence, there were several cases where these people had used their abundance of talents in school to do bad things.

Even though Woo-Jin had never bullied anybody, the victim’s story hit close to home. As he was about to ask for more details about how a person could make such an extreme choice, his phone rang. After checking the name of the caller, Woo-Jin’s face lit up.

“Oh~ Jung Hyun-Min, it’s you!”

-...why are you acting like this? Why are you pretending to be so nice?

Even though they had been best friends since middle school, Jung Hyun-Min pretended it was not true. In today’s language, he was what people called a ‘tsundere’. People like him would get mad and insist, ‘I don’t care about that person at all!’, but that would not last long.

- What, are you being bullied there? Did you get excited hearing my voice because you’re feeling lonely and are struggling? Which bastard is it? I’ll head over there and kick their ass.

As always, the tsun-tsun act did not last for long. The same thing had happened previously. Back then, Woo-Jin could not tell his family that he was being bullied by his fellow members in the group. However, when he saw Hyun-Min’s face, he broke down and told the latter everything he had been holding in. At that time, Hyun-Min paid for Woo-Jin’s hospital bill, went to the group’s dorm, and raised hell on them. Because of that, the discord within the group came to light; the agency learned about it, and several things happened after that, but it was always true that Hyun-Min was someone he could rely on. The existence of an ally who was always on his side regardless of what happened made him feel warm on the inside.

Most importantly, everything worked out for the better in the end, so it was even better.

“No, that’s not it. I’m just very happy to hear your voice after a very long time.”

- Don’t like me too much. I’m already taken, so if you keep going for me, you will be the one getting hurt later on.

Hyun-Min had started dating recently, and was now playing hard to get.

“That’s true. So, would you like to tell me why a busy person like yourself has called me?”

- My mom has been asking me why you haven’t been coming by these days. She’s been nagging me about how much she wants to hear you play the piano. You’re a supporting actor, what are you staying on the set so long for? Why are they making you work so hard, huh?

Since Hyun-Min had a piano in his house, Woo-Jin would practice playing piano there. His mother really enjoyed Woo-Jin’s performances. His older sister had played the piano up until she was in high school before ditching it entirely, and left the piano sitting uselessly in the house. After listening to Woo-Jin play, his mother used to joke about how springtime had come once again for the piano.

“Even if I’m not shooting any scenes, I’m still observing. From my point of view, that’s also studying in a way.”

- That’s good then. Honestly, my mom said that if you are going to continue playing the piano, she wants to give Chirp Chirp to you. It’s better for it to be used as an instrument by someone else, than keeping it around at home as a mere decoration.

Hyun-Min did not like the sound of the piano, or to be precise, his sister’s playing of the piano. Hence, he named their piano ‘Chirp Chirp’.

“The piano? It’s very expensive though.”

Even though the younger daughter of the family played the piano as a hobby, Hyun-Min’s family was rich, and so, they bought a high-end piano for her. It had been sitting in the corner of their house for several years as a decoration, but it was still a good piano from a well-known brand. Even if it was sold as a used piano, it would still fetch a rather decent price.

- Even if it’s expensive, it’s still nothing but a white elephant in our house. Even though my mom likes hearing you play the piano, she said that it is very inconvenient for you to travel back and forth to practice at my house. Since it’s an upright piano, it doesn’t take up much space, so you can put it in your room. The only issue is soundproofing, but since you aren’t living in an apartment, it should be fine.

Hyun-Min recalled Woo-Jin’s room, and had already calculated the space that Woo-Jin needed for the piano and was only worried about soundproofing. However, since it was a solid house that was well-built, the soundproofing was not that bad. After figuring those things out, Hyun-Min had called it a day.

Woo-Jin, on the other hand,was left in a daze, unable to come to his senses. Even though Hyun-Min said that the piano was a white elephant, it was not easy to give an expensive piano away that casually.

Although Hyun-Min’s family was wealthy, they could only afford to buy things of the highest quality for their own children. They were not that rich to the extent they could give away an expensive piano that was worth millions of won to their children’s friends without hesitation. However, Hyun-Min’s mother loved Woo-Jin’s piano performances, and had made the final decision to give him the piano. Even though it was enjoyable for her to be able to listen to the beautiful music, she felt sorry for Woo-Jin every time he went to their house to play the piano. Hence, she felt that it was better to leave the piano at his house where he could play instead of commuting to and fro to practice. That was because she knew that Woo-Jin, whom she had known since he was a child, would play the piano consistently unlike her daughter.

- I just wanted to let you know first. I will take care of the rest.

“What do you mean, take care of the rest?”

- I’ll take the responsibility to move Chirp Chirp to your room, and if there’s a problem with soundproofing, I’ll ask your landlord and get permission from her.

“Let’s do it together after I’m done with the shoot.”

- It’s better to get it done as soon as possible. Since your landlord likes me, I will talk to her really nicely. Ha, it’s such a pity that everyone’s into me, I think I’m such a sinner.

With that statement and a hearty laugh, Hyun-Min hung up the phone. It seemed likely that the landlord would give them permission to do it. She had seen Hyun-Min hanging out with Woo-Jin over the course of several years, and she was very fond of the former. Surprisingly, she liked listening to classical music too. She strongly believed that everybody should be able to play at least one instrument. She had also told them not to worry about playing the piano or any other instruments and encouraged them to play any instruments they wanted. With that in mind, Hyun-Min proceeded with his plan with confidence.

“Your friend said he’s giving you a piano?” asked Choi Yi-Geon as he popped up next to Woo-Jin.

Woo-Jin was startled and drew back.

“Director? By the way, what happened to your face?” asked Woo-Jin.

As always, Choi Yi-Geon was neatly dressed in a suit, but his dark circles were more pronounced and his skin was particularly rough.

“It’s been a while since I’ve gone off as far as I did yesterday. Your skin is glowing though. Is it because you’re young?”

Choi Yi-Geon mumbled to himself, as he gently stroked his face with the palm of his hand. It’s so rough when I touch it. This is heartbreaking.

“Anyway, I unintentionally overheard your conversation. Do you play the piano as well?”

“I just started learning not too long ago, but my friend’s mother said that she wanted to give me their piano. I’m very thankful for it.”

Woo-Jin smiled embarrassedly, as he thought about how he should call Hyun-Min’s mother soon to thank her.

“After hearing you sing yesterday, I realized that you’re very good at singing. Yet you can play the piano as well, and your friend’s mother likes you so much that she’s giving you a piano. You are well-loved, aren’t you?”

Choi Yi-Geon omitted the words, ‘by God’, when he said that.

Looking at Woo-Jin staring back at him with puppy-eyes, Choi Yi-Geon asked confidently, “You are the youngest child in your family, right?”

“I’m the eldest son.”

“That’s not possible. You must be the youngest!”

“I’m the eldest and I have a younger sister.”

“And all this happens?” Choi Yi-Geon screamed at the injustice.

Apart from Woo-Jin, who cocked his head to the side because he did not understand why Choi Yi-Geon was reacting this way, everyone else around them understood his reaction.

After the filming had ended yesterday, Choi Yi-Geon wanted to order pork ribs at the charcoal-grilled ribs restaurant. G&C’s CEO Choi had given him a credit card, but it was her personal credit card and not just any corporate credit card. So, he had no intention of using it recklessly. Choi Yi-Geon knew how to keep boundaries.

However, because of Chae Woo-Jin, his original plans were thwarted. Chae Woo-Jin looked around the restaurant, and as clueless as he was, he told them in a clear voice that it had been a long time since he had eaten beef.

The get-together itself was held to comfort Woo-Jin, or to remove the awkwardness around him in the first place. Though Choi Yi-Geon had decided in his mind that the dinner was for Chae Woo-Jin beforehand, as soon as he heard Woo-Jin’s words, he had frozen on the spot.