Become a Star

“How did the move go? I should have helped out.”

“You should rest when you’re not working. Besides, we left everything to the moving company, and they took care of everything, so my younger sister and I just sat around since we had nothing to do.”

After his mother’s wedding, Woo-Jin and Woo-Hee moved into the new house that Choi Min-Woo prepared. Both their mother and Choi Min-Woo had gone on their honeymoon, but arrangements had been made prior to that, so the siblings had nothing to do. They simply needed to set a date for them to move.

Nonetheless, Kang Ho-Soo apologized for not being able to take care of it personally. He thought differently from Woo-Jin, who felt that such matters did not fall within the job scope of a manager. Contrary to Woo-Jin’s initial impression of him, he was extremely attentive, kind and reliable. But because of that, Woo-Jin was often put in an awkward position as he tended to go above and beyond while carrying out his duties.

“Your mother’s wedding was both beautiful and lovely. If I get married, I’d love to do something similar, if possible. Even if I were to scale it down, it would still cost me a fortune to do something similar,” said Hwang Yi-Young with a blissful look on her face, as she fixed Woo-Jin’s hair while recollecting that day.

It was a small wedding where only Woo-Jin’s uncle and his family, as well as close friends, had attended. However, it was a rather fancy wedding that was meticulously planned and executed down to the last detail. Looking at his mother’s wedding elicited strange emotions in him. More than anything, Woo-Jin wanted his mother to be happy.

“I heard that my mother was very thorough with the wedding preparations.”

“Come to think of it, you mentioned that your mother was the one who designed the shoes that became a huge hit after Kim Hye-Young wore them in ‘Cinderella’s Dream’, right?”

“Yes, but my mother didn’t actually watch that drama.”

During the production of the drama, she had received a commission and collaborated with them to design the shoes. However, when it was being broadcasted, she did not watch ‘Cinderella’s Dream’. Instead, she watched another drama during that time slot. This was because during the design process, Kim Hye-Young had given her so much grief that she was appalled from just looking at Kim Hye-Young’s face for a period of time. She was just happy enough with the outcome of the shoes that she had personally designed without seeing it appear on TV.

“So what are her future career plans? She’s now the wife of the CEO of Brisingamen, right? I feel that it would be a waste if she quit her current job since she’s very talented, but things could become complicated if she works for another company as a designer.”

“The company that my mother worked at is affiliated to my father’s company, so it’s a little awkward. My mother was fine with it, but the boss felt kind of bad, so she decided to quit and now she is working at my father’s company as a designer.”

His mother had gotten married right after college before she could accumulate life experiences. She did not want to leave her previous company as she was proud of the job which she had found after the divorce. Most importantly, she liked her job. Hence, she had no intention of giving up her job as a designer to become someone else’s wife.

“In that case, wouldn’t the employees of your father’s company feel uncomfortable?”

“Designers tend to be very individualistic. Her co-workers at her previous job were not uncomfortable – only the boss felt that way. Fortunately, the boss of Brisingamen is my father, so it doesn’t matter.”

“That makes sense. Nobody would say anything if the boss’ wife wants to work there. But what will she be doing at a jewelry company if she’s a shoe designer?”

“She had always been interested in becoming a jewelry designer. She won an award at a contest, which gave her the opportunity to become well-acquainted with my father.”

Woo-Jin was still not familiar with the word ‘father’, hence, he stuttered every time he said it. He ended up covering his red face with both hands. Seeing Woo-Jin act like that, Kang Ho-Soo smiled in silence, while Hwang Yi-Young called him cute while bursting out in laughter.

“Woo-Jin has to get used to using the word ‘father’ a little more. If you stutter in front of your father, that would be kind of cute.”

“That would be bad because Woo-Hee is the cute one in our family. The moment I start acting a little cute, she would kick up a big fuss, telling me not to invade her territory.”

“Woo-Hee! Is that pretty girl not interested in becoming a celebrity?”

Even though she had heard about Woo-Jin’s younger sister from Kang Ho-Soo, it was Hwang Yi-Young’s first time seeing her at the wedding. She looked at Woo-Hee in admiration and repeatedly wondered why their family had such great genes, while thinking about how unfair life was.

More often than not, although siblings of celebrities resemble each other, they usually give off the impression that they paled in comparison when it comes to appearances. Hence, it was difficult for them to enter the entertainment industry and succeed, since they looked similar and would not come across as looking unique, coupled with the fact that they did not have any exceptional talents. Thus, the public would be rather blasé towards them. This is similar to the reason why most of the celebrities who tried to manipulate the media into portraying them as the second version of another famous celebrity ended up falling off the grid eventually.

However, Chae Woo-Hee was different. While she resembled Woo-Jin, she gave off a vibe that was distinctly different from Woo-Jin’s with her feminine charms. And unlike her brother, she looked like a smart, good-looking girl who could bewitch men. She gave off her own unique vibes while resembling Woo-Jin, so there was no need to determine who was the better looking one. Hwang Yi-Young heard that Woo-Hee excelled academically as well. When she met Woo-Hee in person, she could tell that she was a fine child, who was polite and very cute.

“Her dream is to become successful through academics,” replied Woo-Jin.

“Well, it makes sense since your mother’s side of the family is filled with intellectuals… Perhaps you and your mother are mutants.”

Hwang Yi-Young only learned about Woo-Jin’s family background after she had attended the wedding. Woo-Jin’s grandfather was the CEO of a well-known law firm in Korea, and his uncle was the Public Prosecutor General. Despite severing ties, would blood ties truly get broken? That did not seem to be the case judging from what his cousins had said at the wedding.

“Your grandfather was very angry when he heard about the news of you debuting as an actor. However, what’s funny is that I heard he kept clippings of the articles about you.”

“That will only be resolved if Auntie Eun-Soo takes a step back. It’s obvious that based on Grandfather’s personality, if the other party does not take back their words, he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to do anything. He kept the old photos of you and Woo-Hee in his wallet even though they’re already worn out because he misses the both of you. Even though he told us to never contact you again, he was very mad at me a few days ago. He asked me why, as your olden cousin, I didn't stop you from going into the entertainment industry. Even today... “

After quietly eavesdropping on the conversation between Woo-Jin and his cousins, Hwang Yi-Young concluded that his grandfather was just an old man who was protesting stubbornly. He was simply waiting for her to come forward to apologize and reconcile with him first. He was no longer angry – he was just waiting for her to make the first move. The problem was that Woo-Jin’s mother, Park Eun-Soo, was similar to him in that regard. The war of nerves between father and daughter had been going on for more than ten years because of their stubbornness.

“What if your grandfather opposes you being in the entertainment industry later on?” asked Kang Ho-Soo. Woo-Jin responded by shaking his head gently.

“It wouldn’t matter. I’d feel sorry towards my grandfather but I’m not going to listen to what he says, especially when my parents are not against it.”

After meeting with his uncle and cousins, Woo-Jin learned that the conflict between his mother and his grandfather was not as serious as he had thought, but that was it. He was happy for his mother, but it did not mean that he would give his grandfather any power over him.

Woo-Jin was not worried about his grandfather, who originally had very high expectations for him for not understanding his decision to enter the entertainment industry and opposing it. After his parents’ divorce, he had stopped considering his biological father as his father, and his love for his grandfather had also dwindled significantly.

Regardless of whether it elicited hatred or anger in his grandfather, there was nothing his grandfather could do to make Woo-Jin cower. Woo-Jin did not care about his hopes and wishes. Hence, he could not care less about being told to give up on his dream in order to improve his relationship with his grandfather in the future. Woo-Jin thought that it was okay for him to continue living without regrets, which was how he had been living his life till now. He had nothing to do with his grandfather till date, and there was no need to change that.

Upon hearing Woo-Jin’s unexpectedly cold answer, even though Kang Ho-Soo could understand where he was coming from, he could not shake off his complicated feelings. While he was worried about the opposition from Woo-Jin’s grandfather, he also felt that he could be the perfect shield for Woo-Jin. Truth be told, who would dare to harm the grandson of Park Hyun-Man, the CEO of Rome law firm? It was evident that even though he was a double-edged sword, he certainly would not harm Woo-Jin.

“By the way, does CEO Kim of TM know the identity of your grandparents?”

As Kang Ho-Soo started getting information about Chae Woo-Jin, this was something that he had always been curious about. If he had known, CEO Kim would never have offered Woo-Jin the sponsorship deal. But then again, there were all kinds of people in the world.

“Probably not. I did not mention it in the first place, and furthermore, he’s not someone who would thoroughly look into the trainees’ background. He had always told me that I should spare a thought for my mother who had gone through a lot of hardship, and asked me if I would succeed in this industry with no connections.”

TM's CEO was a very tactless person. He was disorganized and impulsive as well. The way he treated people was not much different from his personality, so he was very apathetic towards people whom he deemed as inferior beings.

“Somehow...he does seem like that kind of person.”

“I feel like I’m being left out right now. What are you talking about?” asked Hwang Yi-Young. She did not know as much about Chae Woo-Jin as compared to Kang Ho-Soo, so she did not understand what they were saying and complained about being excluded. They were evidently talking about TM, but she could not read in between the lines.

“By the way, why am I getting my hair and makeup done now if we’re going to a photo shoot?”

While Hwang Yi-Young was feeling excluded, Woo-Jin was feeling entirely baffled and curious. He would be getting his hair and makeup done again by the staff before the photo shoot, but right now, Hwang Yi-Young was meticulously touching up his hair.

“You know that’s the same as asking women why they wear makeup to work? Also, I’m not exactly doing your hair right now. I’m just applying some hair tonic for the abuse you’ll be putting it through today,” snorted Hwang Yi-Young. She was applying the tonic on his hair, disregarding her act of styling his hair meticulously.

Woo-Jin was having his first photo shoot today. The photos would be featured in ‘Biltman’, a magazine whose target audience was women in their 20s to 30s. Although they were trying to promote a classy image for Woo-Jin, that was not the main point; it was the fact that Kim Jun-Yeol was going to be the photographer of today’s photo shoot.

He was someone who only took photos of what he wanted, and he had a natural talent for capturing the most beautiful moments of people. Be it laughing, crying, showing anger, or any other emotion, he had always captured the most beautiful side of his models, and the photos ended up looking beautiful without fail. Even an ugly and distorted face would turn into a work of art when being photographed by Kim Jun-Yeol.

He was so well-known to the point that people even said that if one wanted to take photos of their most beautiful moments, they should go to Kim Jun-Yeol. There were several people who wanted Kim Jun-Yeol to take pictures of them, but not everyone was chosen, including Woo-Jin.

His agency had sent in a request to him to take photos of Woo-Jin for his profile, but he had turned them down nicely. It did not come as a surprise because Kim Jun-Yeo was too good to be taking photos for a rookiel. His agency had sent in a request just to try their luck, but they did not expect much. Hwang Yi-Young was the only one who held a grudge. However, the opportunity for her to get even came by very quickly.

Kim Jun-Yeol, of all people, was the photographer working on the photo shoot for Biltman. It was also said that Kim Jun-Yeol was the one who personally chose Chae Woo-Jin and insisted that he wanted him as his model, to which the magazine had accepted.

In this situation, Kim Jun-Yeol had the power over everyone else, including models and the magazine company. In truth, the photo shoot had already been done with another actor, but Kim Jun-Yeol decided to scrap it while he was editing the photos because the model did not match the concept of the shoot. He insisted that he could not publish such trash. That was the story behind why they were doing a photo shoot for the August issue of the magazine that would be published in ten days time.

While the stubborn Kim Jun-Yeol’s change of heart could be expected to some extent, it was necessary to get a headstart. If one were to compare Woo-Jin in Death Hill to his current self, he was nothing but a complete rookie back then. If Kim Jun-Yeol had picked Chae Woo-Jin as his model after watching only his movie, Hwang Yi-Young’s true intention was to completely catch him off guard by showing him the current Chae Woo-Jin.