When I Opened My Eyes I Was a Superstar

Do Wook was puzzled.

“Acting awards? TBN doesn’t have a separate award ceremony for it, right?”

This was one of the consequences due to the belief that a cable station inevitably had a lower brand value compared to a public television station.

TBN, which was a cable broadcast station, had established a music award show, but they didn’t have enough programs or fame yet to have an acting or entertainment program award show.

“Well, it’s not you…”

Manager Oh Baek Ho awkwardly showed Do Wook the cellphone screen.

On the screen, there was an article stating Seo Jun was nominated for the MVC Acting Awards’ Best New Actor award.

“Ah…”

It was something he could have easily predicted.

Among the MVC dramas this year, the most successful drama was ‘Sun and Moon Lovers’. Most of the MVC acting awards would definitely go to the cast of ‘Sun and Moon Lovers’.

Among the Best New Actor award nominees, Seo Jun was the most popular. On top of that, his acting wasn’t bad, so him winning the Best Actor award was as good as guaranteed.

There was a reason why Manager Oh Baek Ho called Do wook as soon as he saw the news of Seo Jun. Manager Oh Baek Ho now knew to some extent that Do Wook was keeping tabs on Seo Jun. M2M was one of the groups Manager Oh Baek Ho was keeping a close eye on as the person in charge of KK.

Furthermore, Do Wook and Seo Jun were especially compared by the public that went deeper their their groups.

Manager Oh Baek Ho exchanged a look with Do Wook.

“We can just win the Best New Actor award at the Baeksong Award Show next spring.”

‘Baeksong Art Awards’, ‘Baeksong’ for short, was an award show for pop culture people including TV and movies.

Especially when it came to the TV division, unlike each broadcast station’s award ceremonies that only gave awards to their own programs, it was an award ceremony covering the best shows and actors from all the channels so it, in a way, held a lot of prestige.

“It’d be great if I could win it.”

“Anybody can tell it’ll be you. After Seo Jun gets the Best New Actor award, Ara will propagandize like crazy…don’t pay too much attention when that happens.”

“Of course.”

Manager Oh Baek Ho nodded his head at Do Wook’s response.

Manager Oh Baek Ho knew that Do Wook wouldn’t get discouraged by something like that, he said it in advance just in case.

If Seo Jun got the Best New Actor award before Do Wook when M2M was falling behind KK, they would be able to release articles outright saying Seo Jun crushed Do Wook.

Even if it weren’t said outright, it was absolutely possible that they’d publish articles that had one or two lines to subtly imply it.

“What a shame. Next time let’s go with public tv, Do Wook!”

“But ‘Get Ready 1999’ was incredibly popular, so this year was Do Wook’s year! Everybody knows it even if you don’t get the award.”

Kim Won and Ahn Hyung Seo, who had been listening from nearby, each interjected.

They were trying to cheer Do Wook up, but it wasn’t baseless. Even in reality, most people probably thought that.

***

It wasn’t just the people around Do Wook who thought that.

It started with the fact that Lee Jin Ri wanted to perform with Do Wook. Additionally, a little later, Do Wook was invited to be a presenter at < Biryong Film Festival >, the most prestigious film festival in Korea.

It meant a lot that Do Wook, who was an idol group member and a rookie actor who just debuted in a drama, was chosen as a presenter for < Biryong Film Festival >, a festival for filmmakers. You could see that Do Wook was recognized as this year’s hottest topic in all fields.

After finishing the KK concert in Hong Kong, Do Wook had to buy a new ticket for an earlier flight than the other members and return home early.

It was the day he was to attend < Biryong Film Festival > and present the ‘Popularity Award’.

“Film festival…”

Movies were very unfamiliar to Do Wook.

He was always very interested in music, and drama was a genre that even Do Wook could easily enjoy at home. However, movies had a different feel.

The only films Do Wook had seen were movie specials shown on Korean Thanksgiving or Lunar New Year, or movies shown at the company as a group during his time at Q Entertainment.

He had no interest in independent films, and movies felt like they had more of a barrier than dramas.

He at least was starting to understand movies a little more these days after attending KNUA and completing differing assignments.

Honestly, the more he learned about movies the more he couldn’t stop thinking that it was a profound form of art.

There were definitely areas, especially in the acting world of his professors and its values, that were hard for Do Wook to come across for now.

In the end, however, Do Wook thought that the basic framework of dealing with ‘people’ was the same whether it was a song, drama, or movie.

After checking his wardrobe at the shop and getting his makeup done, Do Wook arrived at the movie festival venue.

Today Do Wook was more dressed up than ever before. He had worn a suit many times living the life of a singer, but this suit was different from the suit he wore as an idol that tried to play up his youth, starting from its shape.

His hair also had pomade without a single bang missed. HIs clearly defined features were shining even more.

When he looked out from the van, he could see the road with the red carpet laid out. In front of it were many reporters and fans waiting to see the red carpet.

Regardless of what actor was standing on the red carpet, flashes were going off restlessly.

Soon after, Do Wook got out of the car and got ready to walk on the red carpet.

“It’s your first time on the red carpet, right?”

“Yes. It’s interesting to see it in person after only seeing it on screen.”

“You have to come back later as an award recipient.”

“It’d be nice if that happened.”

After having a light conversation with Manager Oh Baek Ho, Do Wook got out of the van. Flashes started to go off in Do Wook’s direction.

Cameras from the broadcast station that came to cover the event were on him too.

When Do Wook appeared on the red carpet, the fans who had gathered got twice as loud.

It was mostly fans of actors, but there were also quite a few KK fans who came to see Do Wook.

Even fans of other actors became interested in Do Wook, so the response was inevitably bigger than when other actors had arrived.

“Why is he so handsome?”

“What the, his face is totally epic.”

“Who is that?”

“What? You don’t know him? It’s Kang Do Wook! KK!”

“Hurr, Seeing him like this, it’s hard to recognize him. He’s an idol? He could be a normal actor.”

“Yeah. The drama he did last time was a hit, is he not going to do another project?”

Everytime Do Wook walked down the red carpet, the nearby bystanders dropped their jaws in admiration.

The reporters were also admiring Do Wook’s looks, which put most actors to shame, while they pressed their camera shutters.

There were people who worked on entertainment broadcasts and entertainment reporters who had seen Do Wook many times already, but there were also many movie reporters who were seeing Do Wook in person for the first time.

People were also thinking that if Do Wook could also act, his looks were more than enough to expand into movies.

“Kang Do Wook? Was he in any movies?”

When the person from the movie magazine ‘Daily Move’ who was in charge of the camera asked, the editor and journalist next to him replied,

“Ah, he’s a presenter. For the Popular award.”

“The view is picture perfect.”

“He’ll probably get recruited for movies too. Although he has the barrier of being an idol…”

“He’s going to do movies?”

“But I heard he’s attending KNUA. He’s even got into KNUA, there’s no reason he can’t do movies.“

While the photographers were getting over their surprise that he was attending KNUA, actor Choi Min Suk, the most renowned actor from KNUA, and Do Wook ran into each other in front of the red carpet photo wall.

“Please stand together~!”

“Two of you next to each other!”

“Over here!”

“Please look this way too! Do Wook!”

The shutter sounds started to get to an incredibly fast speed. The reporters predicted that the picture they were taking right now would result in the highest click count among the pictures from today’s red carpet.

Choi Min Suk didn’t particularly have a lot of young fans on the internet, but he was a national actor. And Do Wook was currently one of the most popular celebrities on the internet among young people.

The harmony between the two of them was very unusual and was enough to arouse interest.

The person who greeted Choi Min Suk when he was about to move on after taking pictures at the photo wall was Do Wook, who had arrived a little later.

Do Wook went towards Choi Min Suk and greeted him warmly.

Choi Min Suk, who initially looked at Do Wook oddly when Do Wook greeted him, eased up and welcomed Do Wook.

For a brief moment he didn’t recognize who it was, but he soon realized that it was the person he had chosen from the interview and a student in the class he was teaching.

“You’re here too? Didn’t you say you hadn’t done a movie yet?”

With a stiff expression, Choi Min Suk had a ‘Tiger Teacher’ kind of look, but Do Wook, who was already used to Choi Min Suk’s expressions, could tell that Choi Min Suk was happy to see him in his own way.

Do Wook replied with confidence,

“Yes. I was given the opportunity to attend as a presenter.”

“Really? That’s good.”

Choi Min Suk nodded his head and was about to leave the photo wall. He was just trying to give Do Wook a turn but reporters insisted they stand next to each other.

After taking a picture together, the two of them headed towards the award ceremony venue out of consideration for the actors behind them.

Before even 10 minutes had passed, articles with pictures of the two of them and pictures of just Do Wook started to get posted on the internet.

Photos of the stars who attended the film festival and stood on the red carpet were constantly being posted. Nevertheless, the photos of Do Wook were recording high clicks as the reporters predicted.

< Master and student on the red carpet, a national actor and an idol meet! >

< Getting involved in movie festivals too! Kang Do Wook attending as a presenter >

< Was Kang Do Wook this handsome? >

On top of that, the content of the articles were all positive.

Do Wook walking down the red carpet with his hair slicked back became one of the rare pictures KK fans saved to keep forever.

It wasn’t just the fans. Even other people noticed Do Wook was drawing more attention than most of the movie actors.

-Choi Min Suk a bauss, chills. Kang Do Wook’s networking is impressive

-He attends KNUA haha

-What the heck Kang Do Wook. How did he get more handsome?

-Is it because of his wardrobe?

-He slicked all his hair back but he’s still like incredibly…he could even shave his head

-He could be Kim Won Bin’s protégé

-Totally overreacting lolol

-You don’t know Kim Won Bin during his prime?

-He’s not handsome as a sculpture like Kim Won Bin, but don’t you think with Kang Do Wook’s level, he has a shot at aiming for Kim Won Bin’s position?

-Why was Kim Won Bin suddenly brought up? Kang Do Wook fans stop commenting

-I’m a guy but…it’s true that Kang Do Wook is good-looking

-I’m not comparing them but he is as handsome as Kim Won Bin

-Kang Do Wook isn’t on the same level as Kim Won Bin, don’t you think?

-Nobody said he is. We’re saying he’s that good-looking.

-It’s an undeniable fact that he’s handsome

-It’s not like I can make him my husband

-No fun

-Choi Min Suk..sir…Thank you for your always incredible acting..

The comments on the article even brought up top actor ‘Kim Won Bin’, who was well known for being as handsome as a sculpture, out of the blue. Opinions were divided, but regardless, it was honestly not bad that an actor of ‘Kim Won Bin’’s level was mentioned.

Afterwards, when Do Wook presenting the Popularity Award was broadcasted, Do Wook dominated the trending search along with the winner of the popularity award.

Do Wook, who was the presenter, was getting as much interest poured onto him as the actor who won the award at the movie festival.

Even from the perspective of the directors or actors who attended the movie festival, Do Wook’s looks and vibe was enough to attract attention. And thus, his first time as a presenter was successfully coming to a close.

***

Two days later. Do Wook went down to the rehearsal hall and was warming up in preparation for his performance at the award ceremony with Lee Jin Ri. Today was the day Lee Jin Ri was to come to HIT Entertainment’s rehearsal hall.

It had been determined that for the sake of confidentiality, rather than Do Wook going out in public, where he had fans constantly following him, Lee Jin Ri coming to him would be better.

Gu Chul Min told Do Wook, who was stretching alone in the rehearsal hall, that Lee Jin Ri would arrive soon.

Do Wook stopped warming up, took out his cell phone, and sat on the chair as he waited for Lee Jin Ri.

Do Wook, who was looking at his cellphone, saw his face adorning the home page.

Yesterday Seo Jun received the New Actor award at the MVC Acting Awards as expected. And, as Manager Oh Baek Ho expected, Do Wook’s name was also mentioned in the article.

However, what was posted on the home page wasn’t Seo Jun’s face, but Do Wook’s face. A column posted with the subject ‘Stars who will make this award show season hotter’ went viral and even made it on the home page.

The column was referring to several stars, but the main star was of course Do Wook.

And on the trending list was Lee Jin Ri.

Surprised, Do Wook clicked on “Lee Jin Ri” that was trending on number 1. In second place was another famous person, an M2M member.

< Lee Jin Ri, this time 12-year age gap! >

< ‘Call me nuna*’ Lee Jin Ri, in a relationship with a famous younger M2M member? >

(TL Note: Nuna is what guys call older women. Literally means “older sister” but it is not only used for actual family.)

< Lee Jin Ri’s new beau is... famous idol group M2M member...! >

Lee Jin Ri’s scandal article had been published.

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