Become a Star

“You’ve been lucky. Oh Ha-Na? What she did is simply adorable, nothing extreme. Even though she seems sly, she’s still young which is why she asked you to go out with her and acted romantically. Just wait until you meet an older fox because there are more foxes that’ll be impatient about not being able to take you to bed to satisfy their lust.”

The fox that Song Jae-Hee was referring to could be a shortened word for female actress or she could actually mean the animal,[1] but no matter the interpretation, it all meant the same thing. Song Jae-Hee wanted to tell Woo-Jin that women weren’t the only beings he should watch out for, but seeing how Woo-Jin seemed shocked already, she thought maybe it would be too much to tell him that.

“I heard that our agency warned them to manage her better, but the fact that Oh Ha-Na expressed interest in you openly shows that her agency isn’t really disciplining her,” she explained.

“Then…”

When Song Jae-Hee saw that Woo-Jin understood what she was saying, she nodded. “Because you could actually fall for her. The two of you don’t have a big age gap and when a pretty girl like her starts flirting, it’ll be difficult for an energetic young man to stay still. It’ll be good if you two date, and if you don’t, they’ll know your weakness. There may be people behind Oh Ha-Na who is instigating her,” she said.

No one knew how the public would react if they did start dating, but from Oh Ha-Na’s point of view, she had nothing to lose. Being Chae Woo-Jin’s girlfriend was worth boasting about because of his position and worth. If things went well, they could show off their synergy by being labeled as a compatible couple.

“But what did you mean by weakness?” Woo-Jin asked.

Woo-Jin knew very well that there were many celebrities that used scandals, but he wondered what kind of weakness Song Jae-Hee was talking about when they hadn’t even started dating.

“Well, this is a bit embarrassing to say…”

Song Jae-Hee looked around, and after confirming that there wasn’t anyone around within earshot, she continued talking.

“If you and Oh Ha-Na don’t start dating but form that kind of relationship, then her agency could have a weakness to use against you. You know that there are celebrities who changed to a random agency, right? There’s a reason why they change agencies despite being offered a contract that’s worse than before.”

For celebrities who made a living based on their image, if the agency knew their weakness, it was really easy to push them around. It was something that Woo-Jin had never thought about, so he was surprised, but he couldn’t deny that possibility.

“Then what about Oh Ha-Na? If her agency used that kind of method, then nothing good will come out of it,” Woo-Jin said.

If the things that Song Jae-Hee said came true, then Oh Ha-Na wouldn’t gain anything from it.

“Don’t you think it would be more profitable for the agency if they caught a big fish like Chae Woo-Jin even if it meant that they would have to sacrifice Oh Ha-Na? Keep in mind that there are agencies that use women to bait top celebrities. There are those who conspire with the CEO of the agency and actively engage in those activities, but there are many women who get used unknowingly,” she explained.

Thinking that it was too early to tell him all this, CEO Jang Soo-Hwan and Kang Soo-Ho had never told him anything. They believed Woo-Jin was still an innocent young man and it was too early to tell him about the darker side of the entertainment industry. But Song Jae-Hee, who acted with Woo-Jin before, didn’t consider him to be a little boy.

“Don’t be relieved just because the other person is a man because there’s a lot of bisexual men in the industry. Also, even if it isn’t an issue about sexuality, there’s a possibility that they may drug you when you go out to drink together. There are also scumbags that invite people to parties, and after secretly putting drugs in the drinks, they start manipulating them,” Song Jae-hee said.

There was no one like that among the actors that Woo-Jin worked with so far, so he hadn’t experienced anything like that, which was why his agency hadn’t mentioned it.

Not only did Woo-Jin not have a chance to meet anyone on the blacklist that he had to be careful of, but his agency and Kang Ho-Soo were doing a good job at blocking it from their end. Since they were doing such a great job, Song Jae-Hee didn’t particularly need to talk about it. But since the issue with Oh Ha-Na came up, she took the opportunity to talk to him about it anyway.

From a woman’s point of view, Chae Woo-Jin was a cool and desirable man. Even though she was in a relationship, he was objectively a charming man, so it was understandable for young girls to fall for him.

“Right now, everyone sees you as a desirable person,” she said.

Whether it was because of pure desire or his commercial value, Chae Woo-Jin’s current net worth was very high. If there was something they had to give up in order to have him, they would be willing to throw it away without hesitation. Seeing how Woo-Jin himself didn’t realize it, Song Jae-Hee felt frustrated.

“It’s a jungle out there,” Woo-Jin said.

“You’re right. A jungle looks beautiful from afar,” Song Jae-Hee said.

Woo-Jin nodded sadly when Song Jae-Hee said that they were living in a place like that and it was their fate for not being able to escape that.

As soon as the set was ready, the filming began. Filming a movie in a familiar place with an unfamiliar crew was a whole new experience. This electrifying feeling was one of the reasons why they couldn’t escape the jungle.

“I’m asking this just out of curiosity, but where were you and what did you do last night between 8:25 p.m. and 10:08 p.m.?” he asked.

The young man had lived a sheltered life and thought that everything would go the way he wanted. However, for the first time in his life, things didn’t go his way after meeting this person which put him in a difficult position.

“Look, Mr. Park Kwang-Heon! We broke up three months ago, so why do you keep monitoring me?”

“Monitor? How is that monitoring? It’s protection!” Park Kwang-Heon yelled.

Park Kwang-Heon was actually nagging about how dangerous it was for a woman to be alone at night in a rough world like this.

“That’s why I’m asking who you were with and what you did with them. That’s all you need to tell me,” he said.

Every gesture the man made was elegant. He knew exactly what expression and action to take to give him the most elegant look. He looked at the woman from a calculated angle and slightly narrowed his beautiful eyes. The woman deliberately shook her head and closed her eyes because she felt like she was going to fall in love with his charming eyes that weren’t overbearing.

“Just stay out of my life! I’m scared of your mother and I don’t like your suffocating obsession over me either!”

“It wasn’t an obsession…” he told her.

With tearful eyes, the man turned his head after hearing what his ex-girlfriend said. After elegantly taking out a handkerchief and wiping away his tears, the man patted his chest with his left hand. Once he calmed down, he looked back at the woman. Seeing his wet eyes and innocent crying face would make people think that there wasn’t another man like him. It was a good method to make anyone fall for his trap, but thankfully, the words he spoke broke that innocent image.

“You’re too menacing, insincere at times, and often ignorant,” Park Kwang-Heon said.

“You’re the one that followed me around saying that you liked me!”

The woman gave up on being polite towards the man.

“No, no. It means that I loved you despite those qualities. That I, Park Kwang-Heon, loved you, Lee Chae-Ryeong. Aren’t you thankful?” he asked.

Park Kwang-Heon looked at Lee Chae-Ryeong as if he just couldn’t understand her. As if he was asking her how she could reject someone like him.

“I’m not thankful at all. Even if it isn’t with you, I’m going to meet a great man and live a happy life with him, so let’s finally put an end to this,” she said.

“And where will you go to meet a man that’s better than me? No, is there a man in Korea that’s better than me?” he asked.

Lee Chae-Ryeong was at a loss for words when she saw Park Kwang-Heon questioning her with wide eyes. Her eyes started scanning through him from his long stretched out legs to his lean body and finally stopped on his beautiful face. Despite having long, wavy hair, there probably wasn’t a man in Korea, no, in the entire world, that looked as good as him, which caused Lee Chae-Ryeong’s eyes to slightly shake. Not only was his appearance perfect, but he was rich as well.

“I already know that I’m perfect without you staring at me like that. My reflection in your eyes is causing even me to be breathless,” Park Kwang-Heon said.

However, his mental state wasn’t normal because he said those words seriously without changing his expression.

“So tell me, what did my Chae-Ryeong do during the 103 minutes that I wasn’t able to protect you. Did you do something you shouldn’t have done and now, can’t tell me? Like meeting another man, walking while holding hands with that man, kissing that man, or doing something more than that… how could you do that to me?”

That continuous delusion of his was a problem too. After coming up with a theory, he would come up with a strange conclusion and then get angry.

“How can your feelings change so quickly when it’s only been 97 days since we broke up. You even used your body like a dirty…!”

Lee Chae-Ryeong didn’t want to listen to him anymore, so she grabbed the cup of water in front of her and splashed the water at his face.

“Please come to your senses!”

With her cold criticism and the water that dripped down from his hair and face, Park Kwang-Heon closed his mouth and eyes. The water ran down his hair and dripped down from his chin. When he opened his eyes slowly and looked to the front, his eyes started to change. As if a dangerous beast had woken up, the atmosphere surrounding him started to become dangerous. When he shook his head, the clear water drops that were on his hair scattered all over the place while shining like jewels. When he used his right hand to push back the hair that was covering his forehead, his good-looking forehead appeared and his beautiful face shined even brighter.

“You’re making a mistake,” he said.

“...”

Lee Chae-Ryeong flinched after hearing Park Kwang-Heon’s quiet voice. With a frightened face, she carefully checked his condition because she overdid it.

After wiping his wet face with his hand, Park Kwang-Heon looked down at his hand for a moment. After lightly licking the water that was running down from his hand to his wrist, he glanced at Lee Chae-Ryeong. His sensual and beautiful smile was like a scene in a commercial and this caused Lee Chae-Ryeong to become breathless for a moment.

“The water makes me look good,” Park Kwang-Heon said.

He wasn’t lying. Lee Chae-Ryeong, who was sick and tired of him, forgot how to breathe and was staring at him with a blank expression.

“Even you think I’m beautiful, right?” he asked her.

Lee Chae-Ryeong realized it from the moment she sat across a man with a smile so beautiful that it could bewitch someone. She realized that she needed to date anyone she came across the moment she left his place. If she didn’t do that, she knew there was no way for her to escape this man. She needed to escape before she fell for this beautiful beast again.

“Cut!”

As soon as the director gave the signal, Hwang Yi-Young wiped Woo-Jin’s hair with a towel. Even though the inside of the cafe was warm, the irregular weather of early spring could cause Woo-Jin to catch a cold, so she had to be careful.

“Woo-Jin, your cringe acting was great!” Hwang Yi-Young said.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” Woo-Jin asked.

“It’s a compliment, I swear!” she said.

The character Woo-Jin played was different from his previous characters, so Hwang Yi-Young enjoyed watching it. She was confident that Woo-Jin was the only person who could act out a crazy, narcissistic man in a sexy way.

While Woo-Jin was wiping his face with the towel, the director and the camera director were talking while watching the replay.

“I was worried that it could turn out to be a ridiculous scene if things went wrong, but I was worried for nothing. As expected from Chae Woo-Jin. He made it convincing so that Lee Chae-Ryeong will have a reason to try to find a boyfriend because she’s afraid that she’ll fall for Park Kwang-Heon even more.”

A charming and crazy man was really dangerous. This movie was about the rational Lee Chae-Ryeong trying to find a boyfriend after coming to that realization.

“Even though he’s dangerous, anyone would be greedy for a charming man like him. Wouldn’t it be less convincing if she gave up?”

The camera director was worried that the audience was going to react differently because of how well Woo-Jin acted out the role. This scene was originally supposed to be comical, but Park Kwang-Heon turned out to be so charming that he may actually become more popular than the male lead.

“Desire followed by destruction is dangerous, so when we film the upcoming scenes, we can focus more on that.”

Woo-Jin appeared behind the two at some point and added his opinion. He suggested that they put more emphasis on Park Kwang-Heon’s dangerousness in the remaining scenes, which caused the directors to look at Woo-Jin and then at each other.

Woo-Jin’s hair that was still wet shined black, making him look like a jewel. Will they be able to quench the desire of those who covet this jewel? For some reason, they felt like they couldn’t. When the two directors scouted Chae Woo-Jin for a special appearance, they realized that they made a big mistake when selecting the male lead for this movie.

“Then, we’ll leave that to you.”

Despite that, the director smiled at Chae Woo-Jin and asked him to do as he suggested. The director ended up becoming one of the people that desired Chae Woo-Jin.

1. The Korean word for female actress is 여자 배우, which becomes 여우 when shortened. 여우 also means fox in Korean. ☜