Become a Star

Park Yi-Yeon swallowed his saliva. He had returned to a strangely silent house after spending three days at work. He had forgotten that today was Thursday because he had been so busy with work. He looked at the time and it was already well past 10 p.m.

“Where is Grandfather?”

“Where else would he be at this hour?” answered Park Yi-Yeon’s mother as she chuckled while she took his briefcase from him. The reason why the whole house was tense at 10 p.m. every Wednesday and Thursday surfaced in Park Yi-Yeon’s mind.

“He is really not honest with himself.” continued Park Yi-Yeon’s mother. It was true that her father-in-law's feelings dictated the mood in the house, but this time, they weren't on edge because he was angry, but because they were pretending not to see the feelings he was hiding

Park Yi-Yeon straightened his slightly loosened necktie and adjusted his clothes before going to the place where his grandfather used as his private living room. He knocked on the door but there was no answer, so he opened the door slightly before entering. He saw his grandfather sitting on the sofa watching a drama with his arms crossed. Park Yi-Yeon couldn’t help but shake his head.

“I’m home, Grandpa.”

“Okay, you’ve worked hard.” The grandfather offered a few warm words of encouragement to his grandson whom he hadn’t seen in three days, but his gaze was still fixated on the TV. Previously, he wasn’t bothered by the fact that the TV was small and old since he only watched the news. However, he had gotten a new TV to replace the old one, and it was also high-definition and of the latest model.

“I don’t see Woo-Jin,” said Park Yi-Yeon. He took off his blazer and sat comfortably next to his grandfather as he watched the drama.

“He’ll appear soon.” As soon as his grandfather said that, Park Yi-Yeon’s cousin, Woo-Jin, appeared on the screen. Louie appeared to be dark and gloomy in the drama, which was in stark contrast with Woo-Jin’s usual pure and handsome appearance. This strange contrast caused the viewers to feel distressed.

Even if they hadn't met for a while, Woo-Jin's personality had always remained the same, so Park Yi-Yeon couldn't help but feel that it was awkward and strange every time he saw his younger cousin on TV. Thus, Park Yi-Yeon could not get used to seeing Woo-Jin on TV because it was awkward and strange. The Woo-Jin on TV was clearly his cousin, but he looked like a completely different person, and his face would look different at times too.

The viewer's protective instinct was stirred up after seeing Louie’s dangerous yet beautiful appearance on screen. Park Yi-Yeon had thought Woo-Jin was handsome, but he had never once thought that Woo-Jin was beautiful. Chae Woo-Jin was evidently more handsome in real life, and yet, Yi-Yeon couldn’t help but think that Woo-Jin looked strangely beautiful on TV.. Park Yi-Yeon’s colleagues did not know about his relationship with Chae Woo-Jin. Sometimes they would make him cringe by singing praises of Woo-Jin in front of him. It was amazing how they had time to watch the drama amidst their busy schedules, and Louie was unusually popular amongst the masses.

“That’s an additional murder charge. At this point, he should be severely punished,” said Park Yi-Yeon sternly, as he watched Louie flee the scene in the drama after murdering someone.

His grandfather had been watching the drama with a displeased look on his face the entire time. He nodded his head and said, “But if he does it right…” Judging from his unspoken words, he was confident that Louie could get away with it if he handled it correctly.

“Grandpa, our country is governed by the law. I don’t think you should say something like that in front of a prosecutor.”

“What did I say? You’re making a false accusation.” His grandfather feigned ignorance, so Park Yi-Yeon stealthily threw some bait at him.

“But there is a way for him to escape. If he gets a good lawyer…”

“Right?”

“...”

“...”

The grandfather and grandson duo looked at each other silently for a moment before turning their heads back to watch TV. Park Yi-Yeon shook his head disapprovingly as he watched Louie flee to the rooftop.

“Isn’t he just asking to be caught if he walks around like that without covering his face?”

“If they cover his face, the ratings of the drama will drop.”

“Ah…”

Park Yi-Yeon’s grandfather especially loved the Chae siblings because they resemble their mother, who in turn resembled their grandmother. His grandfather’s unchanging love for his grandmother was the reason why he did not give in to numerous temptations before and after her death. Thus, Park Yi-Yeon thought that was the reason why he was complimenting Woo-Jin’s looks. But objectively speaking, Woo-Jin was a handsome man. As much as he wanted to ridicule his grandfather’s opinion, he decided to accept reality.

There was a girl among the judicial apprentices that he had taken a liking to. However, he heard that she joined the Fancafe a while ago after becoming Woo-Jin’s fan. She had expressed that it was her wish to see Chae Woo-Jin in person with her own two eyes. He wanted to tell her that ‘Chae Woo-Jin and I are cousins’, but he held himself back.

Park Yi-Yeon asked her confidently, ‘Doesn’t Chae Woo-Jin share some resemblance with me?’, since he had heard a lot of people say that back when they were younger. However, all he got in response from her was a laugh that he wanted to erase from his memories. She was more cold-hearted and rational than anyone else at work, but her eyes gleamed with excitement when she talked about Chae Woo-Jin. He could sort of understand that exposing the criminal’s face was their way of providing fan service to people like her.

“Oh, oh~ oh!” While Park Yi-Yeon was recalling those bitter memories, the scene where Louie jumped from one building to another was shown on TV. However, it looked so realistic that Park Yi-Yeon wondered what was going on. They had shot the scene where he rappelled down the building from the ground floor, and it was a dynamic composition. They switched between close-ups and long shots, creating a very realistic scene.

“Technology has improved a lot these days.” Park Yi-Yeon hesitated momentarily as he looked at his grandfather’s side profile. His grandfather believed without a doubt that it was all CGI, but on the other hand, Park Yi-Yeon didn’t think that it was CGI. He assumed that Woo-Jin had used a stunt double.

“Come to think of it, they aired a different footage from the one they showed at the conference. That one was good but this one is definitely better. Oh yeah! They said that they would be releasing a behind-the-scenes video, so check to see if it has been uploaded.” Judging from what his grandfather had revealed, he was pretty much telling Park Yi-Yeon that he knew a lot about Woo-Jin’s drama. Nevertheless, he pretended to be uninterested and spoke indifferently.

“Is it uploaded?” Seeing the credits roll after Louie’s disappearance into the concrete jungle after his successful escape, Park Yi-Yeon visited the drama’s website on his phone.

“I heard that they tend to upload the behind-the-scenes videos right after the episode ends.”

The production team behind the City of Shadows had put in a lot of effort into the behind-the-scenes videos for the viewers who wanted to continue basking in the afterglow of the drama after the episode had ended. They wanted to show the fun and friendly ambience on set to the public, while thanking the actors who got along with each other, and also because they took great pride in the drama that they had worked hard on.

Just like what his grandfather said, they had already uploaded the behind-the-scenes video on the website. Park Yi-Yeon went to the living room to look for a tablet after seeing his grandfather frown when he tried to pass his phone to him. Naturally, his grandfather’s face gradually hardened as he started to watch the video on the slightly bigger screen. Even Park Yi-Yeon was wiping the sweat from his forehead as he watched from the side, all while studying his grandfather’s face.

Everything looked so massive when watching the behind the scene’s video as they looked at the building with a bird’s eye view. However, Woo-Jin was not nervous at all when he jumped from the railing. Before he jumped, he had a bright smile on his face as he talked about the military, just like a child before going on a ride at an amusement park.

“Ugh!” Park Yi-Yeon leaned back and moved away from the screen as watching that video made him weak in the legs. He probably reacted that way because Woo-Jin was his cousin – he wasn’t just an actor. It was good that the shoot was completed without incidents. Otherwise, it would be terrible by just imagining the worst-case scenario.

If even Park Yi-Yeon himself had already felt that way, then what about his grandfather? Park Yi-Yeon was busy looking at him from the corner of his eyes. Nonetheless, he was still too inexperienced to understand his grandfather’s emotions by studying his facial expression.

After watching the lengthy video, his grandfather sighed and handed the tablet back to Park Yi-Yeon. “Your aunt must be worried. She has a fragile heart, and if she watches something like that…” Regardless of how much he loved his grandchildren, his children always came first. The reason why he loved Woo-Jin so much was because Woo-Jin was the child of his daughter, who was the apple of his eye. Even though Woo-Jin had acted in a dangerous scene, it was fine since he safely completed it. However, Park Hyun-Man was worried if his daughter would be upset after watching it.

The reason why he strongly opposed her decision to get a divorce back then was because he cared for her. Park Hyun-Man was old, so he had an old-fashioned mindset. But setting aside his values, he thought that it was rash of her to divorce her husband because he had an affair since many other men did the same thing. Park Hyun-Man thought it was a normal occurrence.

Park Hyun-Man tried to persuade his daughter to turn a blind eye to it just this once. He had also advised her that all men were the same, and history would repeat itself if she married someone else. Nothing would change unless she was planning to stay single and live alone. He wasn’t defending his cheating son-in-law, he was just saying that he was no different from other men. Park Hyun-Man said all this even though he only had eyes for his wife, and did not fall for any temptations even after her death.

For someone who had spent his lifetime devoted to only one person, divorce was an unfathomable concept. His daughter had developed her own set of values stemming from her parents’ marital bliss, and he prioritized social norms over her values. Park Hyun-Man claimed to have opposed it for his daughter’s sake and used her as an excuse, but in reality, he just wanted to avoid humiliation. Park Hyun-Man had placed his in-laws’ interests before his daughter’s happiness. He realized later that all he was doing was to force her to turn a blind eye to her ex-husband’s wrongdoing by telling her that everyone else was the same.

Park Hyun-Man thought that his daughter would end up caving and coming back to him after experiencing hardships since she had a sheltered childhood. Even though he deliberately got mad at her and tried to intimidate her, it did not break his daughter’s resolve. It was quite a shock for him as Park Hyun-Man was used to getting what he wanted, and it made him even angrier. Thereafter, the divorce was no longer of any importance to him – he was simply angry that his child had the audacity to disobey him.

Park Hyun-Man came to his senses after some time passed. He had realized how old-fashioned and hardheaded he was, but it was already too late. Park Hyun-Man could always apologize if he regretted his actions, but it was not easy since he was a stubborn old man. In the meantime, his grandchildren had grown up and his daughter had remarried.

In terms of qualifications, his second son-in-law had paled in comparison to his first son-in-law. However, Park Hyun-Man was glad because his second son-in-law was a genuine person. His daughter was wise enough to make the right choice, unlike him who chose a piece of trash. Once again, he reflected on his mistakes.

The more mistakes Park Hyun-Man realized that he had made, the more courage he lost. Park Hyun-Man was unable to gather the courage to approach his daughter because he himself knew the weight of his past wrongs. He felt sorry towards her for being a foolish father who could only worry about her behind the scenes, and he was ashamed that he didn’t have the courage to come forward to ask for her forgiveness.

Park Hyun-Man handed his phone over to his grandson and gestured for him to make a call. “Call CEO Jang.”

Park Yi-Yeon hesitated for a moment because there were too many CEO Jangs. “Which CEO should I call?” He had an idea of who it was but he needed confirmation.

“Who else could it be? The guy named Jang Soo-Hwan!” Park Hyun-Man gnashed his teeth in anger, saying that Jang Soo-Hwan should have taken proper care of Woo-Jin since he was in charge of him. Instead, he let him shoot such a dangerous scene, which was going to shock his daughter.

“He’s not picking up the phone. It’s too late now, we can call again tomorrow in the morning…”

“Keep calling until he picks up.” Park Yi-Yeon became the awkward middle man after hearing his grandfather’s firm reply. He called Jang Soo-Hwan several times but it kept ringing. He did not pick up the call.

“Send him a message. Tell him that if he doesn’t pick up the phone, I’ll go to his house right now to look for him.”

After Park Yi-Yeon sent the text message as instructed, they finally heard CEO Jang Soo-Hwan’s voice coming from the other end of the line when they called him again.