Become a Star

{This is why I hate aristocrats.}

For a modern American man like Robert, aristocrats were simply characters from fiction books. However, he learned about them in great detail over the past couple of months. The guardians themselves had become aristocrats, kings, and gods after spending hundreds of years living on earth, even if some of them weren’t born into nobility. Perhaps, rather than hating the concept of aristocracy, Robert probably hated the guardians’ lofty authority and their hypocrisy.

{Take a seat.}

Jin pointed to the sofa and offered Robert a seat. Robert sat down on the sofa, and Jin stared at him with folded arms. Feeling pressured by his gaze, Robert sat there awkwardly and looked around the room.

The bookshelves lining the walls were packed with books, and judging from the desk next to the window, it wasn’t hard to guess that they were in Jin’s study. Strangely enough, all of the guardians loved reading.

{Would you like some tea?}

Robert immediately nodded while frowning. Jin was Robert’s last chance. Being thrown out by Jin didn’t mean he would be stripped of his position as the guardian of North America, but he knew better than anyone else that it would make him a sloppy person who hadn’t learned anything.

Additionally, the former guardian of North America was murdered, and Robert himself was less competent than him at his current level of skills. Under these circumstances, his future looked even more bleak and dangerous. He might be a daredevil, but that was predictable to a certain extent. Thus, in order to impress Jin, he nodded even though he didn’t want any tea. He hated tea with a passion because of Angelica, but he was expecting the tea culture in the East to be different from Europe.

As soon as Robert responded, Jin picked up the pot on the desk he was leaning against and swirled it twice. The pot seemed to already have water inside — the sound of boiling water was heard, and water vapor rose from the pot. Even though it wasn’t his first time seeing a guardian do that, Robert would blink and stare in awe every time he saw it.

Robert couldn’t control his power yet, so he would make the mistake of either shattering the pot or freezing it. Looking back, the defining moment that prompted Angelica to kick him out was when he burned her favorite tea set, charring it. As soon as the water boiled, Jin placed the pot down and took out a stick of instant coffee. Robert had only tried black tea and some unknown dried tea leaves that were boiled with water; he carefully observed Jin’s actions with a curious look in his eyes.

Jin tore off one end of the instant coffee stick [1] and poured it into a teacup, followed by hot water. He stirred it with a spoon and gave the cup to Robert. The teacup floated in the air, just like the slippers did earlier on, and gently landed on the table in front of Robert. Meanwhile, Jin poured two servings of instant coffee into his own cup.

Robert held the teacup with a doubtful look and sniffed; he hesitated after smelling the beverage before taking a sip carefully.

{It tastes so good!}

It tasted different from the black tea that smelled like herbs. Instead, it was clearly like coffee. Robert loved the sweet taste so much that he blew on the hot coffee as he drank it. As Robert hastily downed the beverage, he looked at Jin sipping on the coffee elegantly and realized he had made a mistake. Strangely enough, the guardians had always nitpicked about formalities and manners and reprimanded him while correcting his posture.

This time around, he took the initiative to sit up straight before Jin nagged him. However, even though Robert was slouching right now, Jin didn’t make any comment. If it had been another guardian, they would have been lecturing him or flinging objects toward him right away. Robert felt it was strange that Jin wasn’t doing anything about it, so he asked.

{Are you not going to nag me?}

{If I do, will it fix the problem?}

{I….}

Robert scratched his cheek and frowned. He was well aware of his own problem, but it was rather difficult to fix it. Correcting a 26-year habit in one day wasn’t an easy feat.

{There’s plenty of time. And that’s the issue.}

{I beg your pardon?}

{So, there’s no need to be nervous. You’re a guardian from now on, and nothing will ever change that fact. Posture? Speech? You became a guardian in spite of the way you are, so what good are all these things?}

Nobody had said these words to Robert before, so he widened his eyes when he heard them. Robert thought Jin was a straightforward guardian with a lot of common sense. He was very different from the stories Robert had heard from the other guardians. Hence, Robert even questioned if the person standing in front of him was truly the guardian of Asia.

{Are you really the guardian of Asia? Are you someone else by any chance…?}

The guardian of North America had been murdered by some unknown group, so he wondered if this had been the case here as well. He wondered if the real Jin had been murdered and the individual standing before him was an impersonator.

{Even if I’m an impostor, there’s no way out for you. What can I do to someone this weak? Ah, what else can you do apart from dying?}

After being disregarded by Jin, Robert couldn’t control his temper and became furious. Robert gathered a golden ball of energy in his right hand; his body then faded and teleported in front of Jin. He reached out his hand and tried to grab Jin’s neck. However, Jin thwarted his attack with a small gesture. The golden light surrounding his fist scattered, throwing Robert onto the floor. However, the position Robert was in made it seem as though he was bowing and kneeling on the floor.

{Children shouldn’t be disrespectful towards adults.}

The guardian of Asia valued manners and etiquette. He might not care much about the other things, but he couldn’t tolerate being disrespected.

{Ugh, what’s going on?}

{If you’re not smart, you should at least be sensible. Or be competent enough to offset that.}

{Honestly, Every single one of you has a bad temper…can’t we talk after you release me?}

He felt constrained because he couldn’t move his body, but the position he was in was very humiliating in itself.

{I’m guessing you didn’t learn how to apologize when you had done something wrong when you were little, right?}

{Ah, okay. I’m sorry, so release me now!}

Since Robert couldn’t lift his head, he groaned and pleaded with Jin.

{Respectfully.}

{I mean, I…!}

{Respectfully.}

{....}

After hearing Jin repeat the same word, Robert now understood what Dwayne meant when he told him to be careful and watch his behavior. Even though Jin wasn’t picky and didn’t fuss over formalities like the other guardians, he seemed like a person who couldn’t tolerate being disrespected.

{I’m sorry.}

{You don’t sound remorseful.}

{I’m truly sorry. Please~!}

It was getting unbearable because his neck was forcefully bent against his will. His sense of pain had become duller as compared to how it was when he was a human because of his newfound strength and abilities, but it didn’t mean he felt no pain at all. Additionally, the other party was known to have the greatest strength and abilities as the guardian who had lived the longest.

Robert was writhing in pain; as soon as he apologized, Jin relaxed his face and released the pressure he had placed on Robert’s body.

{F*ck you, it hurts like hell!}

As soon as Robert rubbed his neck and blurted out a thoughtless remark, he realized he had made a mistake, so he studied Jin’s face. However, Jin didn’t seem to care about his foul mouth. Robert looked at Jin elegantly sipping on his coffee as though nothing had happened, and spoke.

{Will I ever become as strong as you?}

Even though what Jin did wasn’t a big deal, the victim was well-aware of his strength. The other guardians had subdued him in similar ways, but Jin was the first among them to perfectly subdue him like he did earlier. Robert could sense Jin’s power because of this slight difference. Instead of using words, Jin showed Robert he was the guardian of Asia by displaying his skills once.

{It’s not entirely impossible.}

Robert was expecting him to say something along the lines of, ‘You want to become like me? The audacity!’ but he received an unexpected response instead, so his face turned red.

{Really? How can I become like you?}

Robert asked earnestly. Jin looked at him and replied with a gentle smile on his beautiful face.

{You just have to die and be reborn into a strong and powerful body like mine.}

Robert had a blank look on his face for a moment. He clenched his fists and burned with a fighting spirit. The energy glowing with golden light that had disappeared earlier started to circulate in his fists once again.

{Sit down.}

{Yes, sir!}

Robert then proceeded to sit on the sofa with his hands on his knees as though nothing had happened. Jin looked at Robert and pushed up his glasses with his middle finger. He served Robert some coffee and kindly gave him some taffy.[2]

***

{Cut!}

Director Rayford’s cue marked the end of Woo-Jin’s first filming session. The scene didn’t have any action in particular. They were able to start shooting after rehearsing earlier and end it without having any bad takes.

{Hey, that was awesome, my friend!}

The actor playing Robert, Dustin, went up to Woo-Jin and raised his fist. Woo-Jin clenched his fist as well and gave him a fist bump.

Having been in the U.S. for two weeks, both of them had become very close as Woo-Jin had been traveling to and fro to practice the action scenes with Dustin on set. Since the actors of the movie came from various countries, it was said that the production crew selected people who did not discriminate or had any prejudices against people of other races as much as possible during the casting process. Thus, the world-famous star, Dustin Evan, was friendly to Woo-Jin when they met each other for the first time.

Naturally, that didn’t mean that everything had gone smoothly from the beginning. Woo-Jin and Dustin were about the same height. Dustin thought the handsome Woo-Jin was younger than him for quite some time. Hence, he even laughed at the director and asked where he found a high school student to cast in his movie. After all, it was difficult to determine Asians’ age by looking at their faces.

When he found out later that Woo-Jin was only five years younger than him, he couldn’t believe it and exclaimed ‘Oh my god’ in one corner. He grumbled about how he truly thought Woo-Jin was a high school student. Woo-Jin was also shocked after hearing those words. He looked in the mirror and pondered for a long time, wondering how he could have been mistaken for a high school student. He didn’t have a small build, and neither did he look young, so he was quite concerned, not knowing how Dustin came to that conclusion.

Dustin apologized to him after that, saying he was fascinated by his youthful looks because of his bright and clear skin. Failing to get a headstart because of that, Dustin chose alcohol for his next attack. He suggested drinking together and having a good time since Woo-Jin wasn’t a minor, but ultimately, he used it as a chance to brag about his alcohol tolerance level. Woo-Jin wanted to end it with some wine, but Dustin recommended whiskey instead, and it changed to vodka at some point. They drank a copious amount of alcohol that truly seemed enough to kill a person with the amount they consumed.

If it were just the two of them, Woo-Jin could have found a way to get out of it, but it was a celebratory party held to welcome him. Since they rented the entire bar, and the production crew and other actors were present, he was forced to stay till the end as the party was held for him. The circumstances made it hard for him to come up with excuses and leave halfway. He didn’t know how he managed to consume every single drink that was offered to him.

Woo-Jin had to use the mental cultivation technique to maintain his sanity as he drank. He didn’t even like alcohol in the first place. Whenever he left halfway to go to the bathroom and used the mental cultivation technique for a short time there, it neutralized the alcohol in his body, allowing his body to become lighter. The technique rapidly broke down alcohol in his body and discharged the impurities in the form of urine.

Because of this, Dustin’s attack of making Woo-Jin drunk at all costs backfired. Looking at how Dustin was completely drunk and passed out with a pathetic look in his eyes, Woo-Jin clicked his tongue. And then, he sat next to Dustin’s limp body and took a selfie as evidence.

The next day, Dustin’s eyes shook violently for a brief moment when he saw the photo of himself melting into the sofa and Woo-Jin smiling at the camera with a clear gaze next to him. Dustin had sat next to Woo-Jin right from the beginning. He had continued offering drinks to Woo-Jin and saw him drink with his own eyes, so he roughly knew how much Woo-Jin had drank the day before. Hence, when he next saw Woo-Jin, he exclaimed that Woo-Jin was the real deal.

He acknowledged Woo-Jin’s drinking skills and started calling him his friend from that day onwards. Even though Woo-Jin hated it and rejected him, Dustin liked that he found a drinking buddy who could drink well. Naturally, it was a one-sided claim on Dustin’s part.

{Let’s drink to celebrate us finishing the shoot smoothly.}

{No.}

Even though they had a five-year age gap, it didn’t matter who had seniority here in America. Perhaps, that was why Woo-Jin wasn’t as polite and civil as he was back in Korea and had a tendency to be a little more comfortable with the other party.

{You’re hurting my feelings with that firm rejection.}

{You disinfect your wounds with alcohol so often, so what’s there to worry about?}

Even though Dustin didn’t drink daily, from Woo-Jin’s point of view, Dustin was dangerously fond of alcohol. Nonetheless, since they were in the midst of shooting a movie, his alcohol intake had been reduced to a great extent.

Dustin started out as a teen star and had now grown into an internationally recognized actor. Woo-Jin came to learn that he used alcohol as a way to relieve stress. Perhaps that was why Kang Ho-Soo told him it was fine to be friends with him, but it would be good to keep some distance from him.

Dustin had a cheerful disposition; he had chosen alcohol as his panacea in the Hollywood jungle. He liked to drink, but he enjoyed hanging out with a group of people very much, so his drinking problem showed no signs of improvement. Even though he wasn’t a non-functioning alcoholic or a drug addict, the moment he couldn’t live a day without alcohol, it would lead him to his downfall at any moment.

{I really don’t like to drink alcohol.}

Even if Kang Ho-Soo hadn’t expressed his concerns, Woo-Jin was firm in his tastes and preferences. Regardless of how famous the other party was, he flatly rejected him.

{But you’re so good at drinking, though?}

{Just because I’m good at drinking doesn’t mean I like it. Do you want to go to a cafe with me instead?}

As soon as Woo-Jin suggested going to a cafe to have a cup of americano, it was Dustin’s [3] turn to have a serious look on his face.

1. Previously, Jin offered him tea, but here he’s making instant coffee. It was left as the original was written. ☜

2. Jin was subtly telling him, ‘f*ck you.’ The term 엿 먹어 means ‘f*ck you,’ and it’s directly translated as ‘eat taffy.’ Note that Korean taffy (yeot) is a traditional confectionery. ☜

3. The raws had this as Robert, but since Robert is Dustin’s character, I believe it may be a typo. ☜