Rebirth: King to Superstar

Joon-won turned around to see a young girl nervously staring at both of them. She was very short and probably would only come to his shoulder if they stood beside each other, and he knew she must be the new employee by the store's uniform she was wearing. The girl was also drenched in sweat because of the hot weather outside. The summer was around, and this time around, the sun was almost right above them. 

The girl looked at Gah Soo, then at him, then once again at Gah Soo before she quickly bowed and said while stuttering, "I forgot something, I'll be right back." And she tried to go right back outside. But before she could, Gah Soo shouted at her.

"Stop right there. What is inside that stupid brain of yours? Come here. This was the guy who worked here in your place the last two months, that's all. Joon-won, this is the new kid I was talking about. Her name is Wu Yeng." 

Joon-won shook his head with a smile and said to Wu Yeng, who looked at him nervously, "Come inside. Don't let Gah Soo scare you. She is a nice person if you get to know her more. My name is Kim Joon-won, nice to meet you." As he put his hand forth for a handshake.

The young girl seemed very anxious as she also stretched out her shaky hand and said, "Nice to meet you too, Joon-won Sunbae. My name is Wh Yeng." Bowing a little at the end. 

Joon-won laughed seeing the frightened girl and just said to her, "It's ok, don't be so nervous. No one here is going to bite you. Just relax; it's a good place to work." And as he said that, he also noticed how the girl looked at Gah Soo for a brief second, especially at the biting part. 

Joon-won looked over his shoulder and said to Gah Soo, "Don't be too strict with the girl Gah Soo. Cut loose a little, and I'm sure she will get the hang of the entire thing. Alright?" Gah Soo waved her hand when she heard him, and so he just walked out with his bag. 

He quickly got home and packed everything in their places before falling on his couch. He took out the TV remote and went through the movies that the app he subscribed to had before settling on one with a Heavenly King as the main lead. This Heavenly King was famously known as the lover boy due to the massive number of Romantic films he acted in. He was also the youngest of all the Heavenly Kings, only being in his late 30s while Dongbang Jea was in his late 40s. His name was Hwa Hajoon. 

The movie started, and Joon-won just laid on the sofa as he watched the movie. As he watched the movie, he understood why this guy became very famous and was known as the Loverboy in public. The main reason had to be his looks. Unlike Dongbang Jae, who looked rough, this guy looked as if he had taken a milk bath every day. The word beautiful was more appropriate than Handsome to this man. He had a pure appearance to himself. This was not to say his acting was terrible, but his looks overpowered it, and his actions couldn't keep up. 

The movie itself was good, it had a common storyline with its inside twist, so it served as a good time pass for Joon-won, who was bored. As the movie ended, he stood up and headed towards the kitchen to cook up some good food. He came back with the food and changed the film to a news program. It was a news channel which talked about the entertainment industry. He continued to eat as he saw the news about Dongbang's new movie. It's easy to tell that these people were trying to squeeze every drop out of this one news topic. There wasn't much news in the industry anyway, so that they couldn't do anything about it either. 

After a while, Joon-won stood up with his empty plate, placed it in the sink, and went to take a rare afternoon nap. He was still tired and felt like a good sleep was coming. 

Waking up at 4, Joon-won took out the clothes he hung up for drying and then made his way out. He needed to go to the mall to buy a few things. The first thing he wanted to buy was a mattress. There would be three people sleeping in the house tomorrow, and so a mattress was needed. Thankfully the mall was quite near to the university, so he quickly made his way. 

Reaching the mall, he went to the shop and bought one which looked durable and comfy. As he bought it and came back to the house, his phone rang, and he noticed it was Jung-Hwa. Picking up the phone, he heard her complain from the other side.

[Joon-won, you came back? You didn't even tell me that you'll come back today. Come, let's go and have dinner, your party. You need to tell me about the entire experience. I even held back a crowd of people who wanted to know how you got into Roses Drama House. Imagine if they get to know you even started to act in movies. I can't imagine the look on both Roh Ji and Hyeong Myung's faces. But, right because we both denied going to the Stat Batch, I heard the teacher allows those both. Do you still want to leave that chance?] 

Joon-won sighed as he heard her ramble until she lost her breath and just said, "Let's meet at the ramen shop tonight at 7. Let's talk then." And cut the call without giving her a chance to reply. 

He set the mattress into an empty cupboard before dialing Do Hwan. He hasn't talked to Do Hwan about his following plans, so he wanted to have a small chat about it. 

[How was your journey, Joon-won? I wanted to call you but held back, thinking you might need some rest today. So, now that you are back tell me about your first acting experience? Was it like how you imagined all this time?]

"Yes, everything was fine. It was more complicated than I imagined. So many people were doing something or the other every second. It was fun. So, are you busy? How is that movie you are producing going on? Did the shooting start?"

[No, I am free right now. As for the movie, they started shooting last week, I think. The crew went to another place to shoot a few scenes before they came back here to shoot again in the indoor sets around town. So did you call to ask me what's next?]

"Yes, I called for that exact reason." 

[Well, there are a few movie crews who were willing to give you a chance in an audition. Most of them are small roles. The best role you got is of the hero's friend in a low budget movie. That's it for now.] 

"Well, I'm not in a place to demand roles or anything too. So what do you say?" 

[Hmm, if you ask me I would say you have two options. One is to take some of these small roles and do them for some exposure and experience. The other option is for you to wait. Wait till the movie you just acted in to release. Because you have an ok role in that, people might recognize you. Now which option you want to take is up to you.]

"I'll tell you my decision in a week or so. I have some work to do this week and will be a bit busy. So let's talk in a week." 

[Sure, just call me when you decide.] And the call got cut. Joon-won could not make a decision yet. Doing small roles is good, but he could also wait now that he had acted.

But there was a problem with that because his role was not too significant to get noticed quickly. So he had to think a bit. Now that the first step in his journey in the entertainment industry is successfully made, he had to carefully plan out the next. Sighing he just leaned back on the couch while his thoughts were swirling around.

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