When I Opened My Eyes I Was a Superstar

“An act? That’s not the vibe I got…”

“You have experience now, how can you be so naive? You know how this field is.”

The male reporter said in a scolding way to what the female photographer said. Hesitantly, the woman tried to refute, but the man’s mind was too firmly made up.

In the end, the woman shook her head in defeat.

“Reporter Choi. I guess you really don’t like Kang Do Wook!”

“It’s not that I don’t like him, I don’t like any idol.”

“How are you going to be an entertainment journalist like that?”

“That’s why I do it. Because I don’t like them.”

A strong sense of malice could be felt from the tone. The smoke from the cigarette was drifting down the stairs.

Do Wook anticipated that today’s interview would be rough. At that moment, Gu Chul Min, who had finished parking, was heading towards the building entrance.

Do Wook purposely made his presence known while going down the stairs.

“Right. Let’s head in, Reporter Choi. It’s time.”

“Ah, but I want to smoke one more cigarette.”

“Are you going to conduct the interview while smelling like smoke? Even you have at least that much decorum.”

The woman said, perhaps noticing someone was nearby. The man called Reporter Choi soon put out the cigarette, perhaps having checked the time.

You could hear the two people open the studio door and go inside.

“Huh? Do Wook. Why are you standing here instead of going in?”

Gu Chul Min, who had arrived at the stairs, asked quizzically.

“Ah…I was suddenly lost in thought.”

“Lost in thought? Let’s hurry inside.”

“One second, Chul Min.”

“Huh? Huhh?”

Gu Chul Min, who was about to leap up the stairs, stopped when Do Wook said that. He made an expression as if asking why, but Do Wook didn’t give a clear answer.

Do Wook, who was keeping Gu Chul Min there, said, “Let’s go up,” after a little while and let Gu Chul Min go.

Gu Chul Min, not knowing what was going on, headed towards the studio entrance for now.

The inside of the studio was very busy. Setting up filming equipment was in full swing.

Today’s photo shoot and interview was conducted by ‘News Patch’, a medium specializing in entertainment. More than the photo shoot, it was the interview that was the focus.

’News Patch’ was a medium that a person who worked as the director of the entertainment department in the major newspaper agency ’Seoul Newspaper’ created, under the ambition of developing an online media specializing in entertainment in the current online era.

It hadn’t been around long, but it had had a significant impact on the entertainment industry as a media outlet specializing in entertainment.

The first article from ’News Patch’ was an article about the romantic relationship between two top celebrities. The public was impressed by the news of their romantic relationship, which even had a photo included. It was just like the “paparazzi” you only see in Hollywood.

From then on, ’News Patch’ quickly established itself as the top entertainment-related media by exposing a variety of top celebrities scandals one after another.

At the same time, they were also notorious for tirelessly pursuing scandals by digging into the backgrounds of celebrities who might make good headlines.

They invaded people’s privacies, to the point that there were criticisms even among netizens, but News Patch articles usually were #1 in views.

Since profitability was more important than morality to a profit-seeking company, ’News Patch’ endlessly produced scandal articles. Still, on the other hand, they also published things like advice columns like a relationship specialist magazine would.

‘Moving forward they expand their scope more and more…’

The eyes of the female staff, who had been busy, opened wide when Do Wook entered.

“Hello.”

“Oh my! Do Wook, you’re early!”

The person in charge greeted Do Wook with a bright face. Behind them, the photographer approached Do Wook as she greeted him and asked for a handshake.

“Hello, Do Wook! I’m Kim Yee Soo, I’m in charge of the photos today.”

Hearing her voice, she was the woman who was having a conversation with Reporter Choi earlier. The woman did not seem to have any particular animosity toward Do Wook. Rather, she was fond of him.

Do Wook smiled softly and grabbed her hands.

“Ah, hello. Thank you in advance for taking good photos.”

“I think your pictures would come out well even if I took them with my eyes closed!”

Do Wook laughed when the photographer said that. There was a friendly atmosphere, with the staff that was nearby jesting that the photographer liked Do Wook too much.

After getting his clothes and hair ready, Do Wook followed the person in charge’s instructions and stood in front of the camera.

The contents of today’s article photoshoot and interview had the concept, “Let’s meet the true Kang Do Wook,” so Do Wook had prepared according to the concept.

He looked innocent and lively with barely any makeup on and just a little color on his lips.

Unlike his performance outfits, the outfit for the shoot was comfortable. Of course, even though they looked comfortable, the clothes sent by stylist Han Jung Ah were all clothes from well-known places in the fashion world.

“We’ll do the front shots first!”

Following the photographer’s instructions, Do Wook stood straight, crossed his leg, put one hand in his pocket, and struck a pose.

“Good! Smile a little more please. Your head slightly to the left. Good!”

When Do Wook turned his head, the photographer kept exclaiming, “Good.” The other staff were blushing as they spectated Do Wook’s shoot.

Gu Chul Min was also looking at the set with a pleased expression. Among them, the man who came late and was in the back with his arms crossed was the only one with a glum expression.

‘Is that him?’

Do Wook quickly looked at the man before looking at the camera lens again.

“Do Wook! We’ll take the side pictures now.”

“Ok.”

“Your nose is so sharp. The lines are so defined.”

“Haha, thank you.”

Do Wook turned to the side as he thanked the photographer.

Surrounded by a warm atmosphere, the photo shoot for the article concluded successfully.

The problem was the interview with ‘Reporter Choi’ that was to follow. The person in charge escorted Gu Chul Min and Do Wook to the table that was set up in the room next to the studio.

The room was well decorated in a cafe style. Before Do Wook could sit, Reporter Choi came in.

“I’m Choi Sung Jun.”

“Nice to meet you, sir! How is the person who was originally going to come? I heard he’s unwell.”

Despite the cold introduction, Gu Chul Min answered pleasantly.

Originally, another reporter from ‘News Patch’ was going to interview Do Wook. They had already exchanged the list of interview questions and had been introduced, but he suddenly got into a car accident so it was changed to a different reporter.

“Yes. He was in a small car accident two days ago. You don’t have to worry too much.”

“Ah, I see. I look forward to working with you.”

Reporter Choi Sung Jun explained to Gu Chul Min. Perhaps thinking that Gu Chul Min wasn’t an idol but simply the manager, he wasn’t that cold to Gu Chul Min.

However, he still gazed at Do Wook coldly.

‘This could become a headache…’

Do Wook thought as he sat down. There was only one table, so Do Wook and Gu Chul Min sat side by side, and Reporter Choi Sung Jun sat opposite of them.

Reporter Choi Sung Jun opened his laptop and started asking questions.

“You’re currently ranked first and second in the charts. First off, congratulations. Please tell us how you feel.”

The first question was easy.

“Other than ‘I’m happy’….I don’t think there’s more I could say. Thank you so much to the fans who gave me so much love. Also thank you to the members and staff who made the album possible.”

“I see.”

Reporter Choi Sung Jun was, as expected, expressionless. As he wrote down the answer, It was clear that he thought everything Do Wook said was a stereotyped pretense.

“Is there a girlfriend whom you wish to thank?”

“What?”

Gu Chul Min was more surprised than Do Wook was at the sudden question. Reporter Choi Sung Jun smiled and said to Gu Chul Min,

“I’m kidding. I threw that in to try to lighten the mood. I don’t want this interview to be too obvious.”

“Ah…”

Gu Chul Min immediately shut up. He couldn’t make a big fuss over nothing for no reason. Instead, Do Wook smiled as if he thought Reporter Choi Sung Jun’s joke was funny.

“On top of being Number 1 and 2 in the charts, you composed ‘Darling’, which is one of your title songs. To my knowledge, you’ve personally written and composed many songs for KK albums too…”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Do Wook maintained eye contact with Reporter Choi Sung Jun as he answered. So far, it was the same question he had received in advance.

“The money from the music must be substantial. Around how much do you earn?”

However, Reporter Choi Sung Jun was changing the nuance of the question strangely. Do Wook smiled as he answered this time too.

“Haha, I’ve never done the exact calculation.”

“Even at a quick glance it looks like it’d be enormous.”

“I wasn’t thinking about profit while making the song…”

“I heard both your parents are professors. I guess because you were born with a golden spoon you’re more about the art than the money?”

Do Wook stayed quiet for a moment and smiled. In these situations, it was best to deal with it with an ambiguous smile rather than respond with words.

When Do Wook didn’t seem like he’d easily give a different answer, Reporter Choi Sung Jun snickered and moved on to the next question.

After that, it continued with easy questions. It was things like what he did first when putting together a performance and what made him become a singer.

“You speak very well. Even though you’re young,”

Reporter Choi Sung Jun jabbed.

Gu Chul Min felt sorry for Do Wook, who was even putting a stop to the parts Gu Chul Min should have stopped as Do Wook answered. There were a few questions that Manager Oh Baek Ho could have taken care of if he had been with them.

However, Gu Chul Min, who didn’t have experience as a manager yet, did not have a good sense of how much he should step in.

The times Gu Chul Min tried to step in and cut parts he thought weren’t right, Do Wook signaled with his eyes that it was ok.

‘If the manager steps in and stops it for no reason, there may be more backlash,’

Do Wook thought as he looked at Reporter Choi Sung Jun who was full of malice. He didn’t quite understand it.

There was something too deep-rooted to be considered malice simply due to prejudice against idols. Listening to the tone of the speech, it seemed that there was malice not only towards Do Wook but also other idols.

‘Choi Sung Jun…who is that.’

Do Wook searched his memory as he briefly stopped answering and drank the drink in front of him.

‘I definitely get the feeling I’ve seen him before. I think I’ve heard his name before too…’

However, he couldn’t remember at all. The question suddenly popped up in Do Wook’s mind if he was someone related to his time as ‘Kim Bo Myung’. He thought that because there were parts that were missing when he tried to recall the memories of his time as ‘Kim Bo Myung’.

However, he promptly shook his head.

‘No. The only things that are missing are facts like Kim Bo Myung’s personal information. Then who is it…?’

Reporter Choi Sung Jun started asking questions again, so Do Wook had to stop trying to recall his memories.

After exchanging a few more questions, the interview was concluded. It wasn’t a very good atmosphere, but at least it ended without Reporter Choi Sung Jun being too offended.

Nothing good would come out from having a problem with the reporter when the article was already set to be published.

Even though it ended like that, it was questionable whether reporter Choi would write the article in a positive way.

“Ah…Do Wook, thank you for your hard work.”

“No no. Thank you for your hard work as well.”

After exchanging goodbyes with the staff, Gu Chul Min and Do Wook went back to the car.

Among the interviews he had done since his debut, this one worried him the most and was definitely a difficult interview. Do Wook also thought to himself that these kinds of situations would happen more and more in the future.

‘The more popular you are, the more antis there tend to be…’

However, it was important that the majority of their image was good. It was a matter of dominance.

In the car on the way back to the rehearsal hall, Do Wook silently looked out the window.

***

< KK Kang Do Wook, exclusive interview ① Born with a golden spoon...”I compose without worrying about money...” >

< KK Kang Do Wook, exclusive interview ② “Respect the value of luxury brands” >

< KK Kang Do Wook, exclusive interview ③ The song received from Lee Kwon Woo...’It fits me better than anyone” >

The next day, three articles of the interview from just the day before were published.

The articles that had a lot of pictures were in many ways the very meaning of ‘vain’.

-Kang Do Wook. I didn’t know, but I guess he’s pretty extravagant?

Negative comments started to get posted on the article.

For the first time, Do Wook was in the trending search keywords for a negative issue.

—

Next chapter: In what ways could the reporter have twisted Do Wook’s words that people are starting to think negatively of him???