Become a Star

It was concluded that ‘The Wind That Blows From You,’ sung by Chae Woo-Jin, would be the ideal fit for the theme song of Louie and Lee Yoo-Ra’s love. Because of his relationship with Seol Moon-Young, the sound supervisor couldn’t give them a flat refusal and delicately evaded the matter by saying he would think about it, but he had no intentions of having anyone else but Chae Woo-Jin sing the theme song. To begin with, it was a song meant to be sung with Louie’s emotions, and since Chae Woo-Jin was an amazing singer, there wasn’t any reason not to choose him, even if they had a famous K-pop idol singer as one of the options.

“The song is good.”

“Do you think you will be able to sing this theme song? If it’s too difficult, you don’t have to do it.” As Woo-Jin studied the sheet music, Kang Ho-Soo reminded him that he always had the option of saying no. However, Woo-Jin shook his head, looking very interested and captivated by the song.

“I like it. The wind that blows from you doesn’t reach me, and the waves that blow from me push you away – just like the situation between Louie and Lee Yoo-Ra. I think it would sound perfect if I sing it in a calm, low voice, just the way Louie whispers.”

He liked the song, but more importantly, the song that represented Louie’s feelings seemed like a continuation of acting out his character. It felt as if Louie’s character would be incomplete if he didn’t sing it, so he really wanted to be the one to sing the song. After seeing Woo-Jin’s positive response, Kang Ho-Soo checked the notebook in his hand and told him that he would discuss the recording schedule with the sound supervisor.

Kang Ho-Soo continued, “A telecommunication company wants you to do a one-off commercial for them, but the CEO thinks that adding on a commercial shoot to your schedule would be too much, so we’ve decided to postpone it for now. The client happily accepted the suggestion, and we’ve made a verbal agreement to schedule it for the end of the year. Would that be okay?”

The client was more enthusiastic about using Chae Woo-Jin as a model than they had expected. In fact, they were the ones to take the initiative of suggesting to CEO Jang their willingness to wait if it meant that Chae Woo-Jin would be able to do the commercial. To seal the deal, they brought up the verbal contract when CEO Jang said they would think about the commercial only after the drama was over. Naturally, with CEO Jang pushing the contract signing to a later date, Kang Ho-Soo was now trying to read Woo-Jin’s expression subtly.

Commercials were a very sensitive matter to celebrities. Since it was going to be Woo-Jin’s first commercial, Kang Ho-Soo couldn’t help but worry about what his reaction would be. When it came to verbal agreements, nobody knew if they would be actually honored until it happened. However, Woo-Jin didn’t show much interest in it – he was much more enthusiastic about the theme song. In fact, he was rather against shooting a commercial under current circumstances, thinking the idea to be rather terrible. So Kang Ho-Soo was relieved that Woo-Jin was fine with shooting it at a later date.

“And last but not least, we still have the Berry Rose issue….” Kang Ho-Soo brought up this matter with much difficulty. Somehow, it felt that this was the main issue he wanted to address today. Woo-Jin shifted his gaze away from the sheet music and looked at Kang Ho-Soo upon hearing the name of the girl idol group that he had recently discovered by chance.

After Do You Know Us? was aired, Woo-Jin’s friends had given him a hard time about it for quite some time as they were astounded by the fact that he didn’t know who Berry Rose was. In particular, Hyun-Min was mourning his lack of awareness of the fact that when he called Woo-Jin, his telephonic voice had momentarily shared space with Berry Rose’s members. Hyun-Min had almost grabbed Woo-Jin by the collar when the latter had asked him what the point of knowing girl groups was when he had been discharged from the army.

“Are they by any chance nitpicking on how I didn’t recognize them?”

“Of course not. But after that, there were a lot of suggestions from different parties to cast both you and Berry Rose together, saying that it would be good for you to work with them. Even when we said it would be difficult right now, they wouldn’t let it go and asked about collaborating once you’re free after the drama ends. Of course, that’s provided if the hype still remains until then.”

There had been several attempts to cast Chae Woo-Jin and Berry Rose together in variety TV programs and invite them to various events. As Berry Rose was currently very popular, they had responded positively to those suggestions. The problem here was Woo-Jin. He had been using the drama’s filming as an excuse for the time being, but he wasn’t in a position where he could continuously reject them either.

“What did the CEO say?”

“He said that you can do whatever you want, and he won’t stop you as he did in the past, but because of that, things have gotten rather awkward. Back then, we could have used the CEO as an excuse, but people know that he has loosened up a little these days. If you reject them, you might come across as being rude. Even though you didn’t recognize Berry Rose the first time around, if you keep disregarding them, it would really seem like you’ve ‘ignored’ their presence.”

It would have been best not to be entangled with them at all from the beginning, but they had already gotten involved with one another unintentionally. More importantly, the root of the problem was that the people were eagerly anticipating Chae Woo-Jin and Berry Rose’s reunion. If Woo-Jin were to reject these offers while Berry Rose responded positively, it could make Woo-Jin seem disrespectful. It wasn’t that serious yet, but it was still a cause for concern.

“Do I have to meet all six members of Berry Rose?”

“You don’t have to! It’s enough to meet the girls you met back then – Da-Young and Cho-Hee.” For some reason, Kang Ho-Soo was somewhat reluctant to let Woo-Jin meet the other Berry Rose members. Since Woo-Jin only had to meet the two members he had met before instead of all six members, he had no reason to refuse. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but he seemed to know how disappointing it felt to not be recognized by another celebrity.

“When the drama is over, please help me set it up.”

“You’re going to do it?”

“If the hype dies down, just let it be. If not, I think it’ll be better to just meet with them at least once. It’s better than having people talk about us repeatedly.” Kang Ho-Soo nodded and agreed with Woo-Jin. At this moment, he just hoped that people would forget about Chae Woo-Jin and Berry Rose as time passed. However, exciting gossip like that did not die down that easily. Additionally, it might be too optimistic to hope for that since one of them was doing well in his drama, while the others were doing well in variety TV programs and producing popular music.

The fourth episode of City of Shadows received a rating of 14%, and finally, The Blue Castle’s Master’s seemingly solid rating fell to 16%. The rapid development at the beginning of the drama had slowed down after the episodes shot abroad had ended. These episodes had taken up most of the production costs, and the remaining episodes were shot in Korea, leading to a decrease in the hype about the drama.

Many people even said they couldn’t sympathize with the passionate love between the male and female leads of The Blue Castle’s Master. The viewers pointed out that they had fallen in love too quickly, and the process of risking their lives for love was too forced. On the other hand, the mood on the set of City of Shadows was lively, and the cast and crew members were greatly encouraged due to the steady rise in the show’s ratings.

There was a negative reaction towards the news about Lee Min-Soo appearing on the drama from episode 5 onwards, as people were unhappy about an idol appearing in a well-made drama with good acting. Nevertheless, many people felt that it was a good thing that Lee Min-Soo was the one chosen instead of other idols. After improving his acting skills, Lee Min-Soo was slowly establishing himself as an actor. More importantly, the comments about how his acting was decent enough for a supporting role had been effective. Although it was a public opinion started mainly by Blue Fit’s fans, it was not exactly wrong.

On the day episode 5 aired, Blue Fit’s fan club, Blue Hole, sent a food truck to the filming site. It was an all-you-can-eat food truck that had various foods, including popular meat and side dishes, as well as desserts. Naturally, the actors and staff members were very pleased.

“The fans of idols are truly something else.” Park Yeon-Ah was amazed, as though she had seen a whole new world after looking at the photo of Lee Min-Soo along with the words, ‘Please take care of our oppa!’ printed on the wrapping paper of each disposable wet towel. However, the individually wrapped cutlery and cup holders also had Lee Min-Soo’s face printed on them, making her feel a little uncomfortable. She had to turn them slightly before use so that the picture was out of sight. Even the napkins had Blue Fit’s logo and a caricature of the members printed on them.

“It’s nice to enjoy these perks and treatment because we’re working with an idol.” Despite saying that, Kang Min-Ho added that it wasn’t a big deal and fans of famous celebrities would do the same thing too.

“Ohh~! Speaking from experience?”

“Of course! I’ve had quite a bit of experience with food trucks like this one. But why am I crying?” Kang Min-Ho pretended to wipe away his non-existent tears and expressed his concerns to Woo-Jin, sitting in front of him. “Your fans said they would be preparing lunch boxes tomorrow. But looking at what Lee Min-Soo’s fans are doing today, will they be alright?”

The situation had become kind of strange because the supporting actor, Lee Min-Soo’s fans had pulled such an act a day before the main lead’s fans did. Kang Min-Ho was a little worried that people might compare tomorrow’s lunchboxes prepared by Woo-Jin’s fans to the over-the-top food truck from today. Either way, it was because Woo-Jin’s fans did not have as much experience as the fans of an idol active over the last three years and were slower too. If both fandoms paid tribute on two consecutive days, people would naturally compare them to one another even if it weren’t their intention.

“What’s wrong with that? It feels like I’m eating out, so I like it. To be honest, I’m starting to get tired of eating the regular food we get these days.” Woo-Jin had been tired of eating the usual food from the food trucks at the drama’s filming site recently. After all, it was different from eating home-cooked food, so the more he ate, the more tired he got of the food. Putting his personal feelings towards Lee Min-Soo aside, even though the food provided by his fans was not the same as home-cooked food, it was different from the usual food they had, so he thought it was good too.

“I’m really glad you like it. They’re airing the episode I’m in today, so my fans have specially prepared the food truck for me for this occasion. As it turns out, I heard that your fans have prepared food for tomorrow?”

Woo-Jin smiled at Lee Min-Soo, who was smiling with a clueless look on his face. Regardless of the sequence, Woo-Jin was just thankful that his fans had prepared food for them. When he first heard that his fans were planning to deliver lunch boxes to the filming site, he was pleasantly surprised. Woo-Jin was genuinely happy that his fans were so thoughtful and took good care of him and his co-workers, even though he was still a nobody.

Lee Min-Soo’s fans probably felt the same way too. Regardless of what Woo-Jin thought of Lee Min-Soo, for his fans, Lee Min-Soo was definitely someone worth putting in all the effort. That thought itself deserved full respect. It didn’t matter who did it first or whose fans spent more money.

“I saw your fans earlier and thanked them for the food, but truly, thank you. I didn’t have much of an appetite these days, but thanks to you, I got to eat such great food today.”

“That’s right. Meat is always glorious! I’ll be eating well, thanks to you.” “Thank you~!” Park Yeon-Ah and Kang Min-Ho took turns to thank Lee Min-Soo, and the latter nodded. He sat down next to Woo-Jin with an awkward look on his face and started by asking for their understanding and cooperation with something.

“I don’t know how they knew about it, but I heard that Lee Jin-Ah from TNB’s Entertainment Plus will be coming here for an interview after finding out about the food truck. Would that be okay?”

“Of course, it’s okay. It’s free publicity. What's not to like?” As soon as Kang Min-Ho spoke on their behalf, Park Yeon-Ah nodded. Naturally, everybody’s gazes shifted towards Woo-Jin after that.

“What’s wrong with that?” Woo-Jin asked once again as he looked at them with his round eyes while eating a piece of chicken thigh. He wondered if there was a reason for Lee Min-Soo to ask for his consent because someone from an entertainment program was coming to interview him.

“You’ve never watched Entertainment Plus before, right?”

“I’ve seen it before, although not very often….” Woo-Jin’s voice became softer and softer as he felt there was something he didn’t know about.

Based on what Woo-Jin had already known, ‘Entertainment Plus’ was a TV program going on for the past two years, but he didn’t watch it when he was serving in the military, and he didn’t have time to watch it lately. It was not exactly a show that he would watch, but he roughly knew that it was a program that reported news related to the entertainment industry.

“There’s a reporter named Lee Jin-Ah from that program – she’s a little loud and noisy. She’d try to get information from everyone and interview people here and there, badger them to show off their skills and talents.”

“Ah~! I think I’ve seen her before.” Woo-Jin now recalled who she was and looked coldly at Lee Min-Soo. Even though he made it seem as though he could do nothing about it, a variety TV program wouldn’t send someone over without reason. ‘He has already set it up in the first place, so why is he doing a silent protest against that reporter?’

“In Entertainment Plus, Lee Jin-Ah is the funniest reporter, and she’s good at conducting interviews. Her segment probably has the highest ratings,” Park Yeon-Ah answered on Lee Min-Soo’s behalf and added that it was the law of capitalism.

From the perspective of an interviewee, Lee Jin-Ah was the most annoying interviewer, but the producers always sent her to important places that were highly sought after by the viewers. If she had come because of the food truck prepared by Lee Min-Soo’s fans, it also meant that Blue Fit’s Lee Min-Soo was very popular.

“But do I have to show off my skills? Can I not do it?”

“If you don’t, Lee Jin-Ah will make you do something like the ‘Did you make kongnamul muchim~!’ gag [1]. Kang Ho-Soo had met Lee Jin-Ah before; he shook his head, feeling sick of her as a person. Since Entertainment Plus was on cable, there were times when it had gone too far. Despite being criticized, they would just brazenly cross the line as long as they got good ratings. Even though it was good for publicity, it was not a pleasant coverage.

1. Kongnamul muchim (콩나물 무침) is a Korean soybean sprout side dish. It was a famous line used by comedian Lee Ju-Il back in the 80s. ☜