Become a Star

“Chae Woo-Jin, have you also been dumped before?” What surprised Kim Woo-Hyung was the conclusion, rather than the confession about Woo-Jin’s previous relationship.

“Unfortunately.”

“Why?”

“There’s only one reason why people break up. Isn’t it because they don't love the other person anymore?”

“You mentioned that you got dumped earlier. So, what about you?” Instead of saying that they broke up, Woo-Jin chose to use the word ‘dumped’. In other words, it meant that there was a possibility Woo-Jin might still be harboring romantic feelings for his former lover.

“It was hard for me back then because I wasn’t ready to accept the break up. But judging by how I’m able to talk about it calmly now like it’s nothing, it seems like I’m completely over her now.” There was no sign of pain on Chae Woo-Jin’s smiling face. It was nothing more than recounting a past experience.

“By any chance, do you think she regretted breaking up with you?”

Kim Woo-Hyung’s question made Woo-Jin think about what Lee So-Hyun had previously said about starting over again. After hearing him call her a bitch, she started to behave strangely. She brought her boyfriend, who had already graduated, to a school gathering and bragged about the diamond ring he had given her in front of Woo-Jin. It was as though she was confident that she could hurt Woo-Jin through her actions. In the past, Woo-Jin wouldn't have understood her behavior and would have gotten flustered. But now that he understood it to a certain extent, he found her actions rather interesting.

“She’s not the type of person who would dwell on a relationship after it has ended. And be it in the past or present, the fact that I’m Chae Woo-Jin hasn’t changed. There’s no reason for her to revisit old feelings. This story ends here. It’s already been years since we’ve broken up; it’s rather unexpected and meaningless to bring it up.

And on that note, Woo-Jin concluded his love story. There were a lot of people throwing questions at him; even though this was a topic that had to be brought up at least once, Woo-Jin didn’t want it to become the main topic of discussion. Kim Woo-Hyung quickly caught on and stopped asking any more questions about his love life.

“Shall we get back to our original goal?”

“Publicity?”

“Chae Woo-Jin, it seems that you’re not coy at all. Since you’re here for publicity purposes, why didn’t you appear on this program earlier? It has already been a few days since the release of Red Enemy.” The movie was released three days ago and Street Date would only be aired in two days, so it couldn’t be considered as a true publicity stunt.

“Kwon Eun-Mi and Oh Ha-Na appeared on the show last week, so I thought it would be good for me to be on the show this week.”

In truth, Kwon Eun-Mi and Oh Ha-Na had already appeared on Street Date together and promoted the movie. However, the production crew had asked both of them to convince Chae Woo-Jin to appear on the show, so the two women kept badgering Woo-Jin, saying that there was nothing bad about promoting the movie. Ultimately, Woo-Jin decided to appear on the program as well. Woo-Jin and Kim Woo-Hyung left out all the details of this cumbersome process; they simply looked at each other and laughed it off.

“Last week, both of them said they had a very hard time shooting Red Enemy. How was it for you? According to them, you looked very relaxed, and they said they were very envious of you.”

Kwon Eun-Mi, in particular, had to relearn the geonmu again and had a very difficult time. On the other hand, Woo-Jin had personally done all the paintings and calligraphy works himself without anybody’s help on top of the geonmu. Yet, Kwon Eun-Mi and Oh Ha-Na said he never once looked like he was struggling, so they were envious and impressed.

“That’s the result of me trying my best to look relaxed.”

“I watched the movie yesterday. You did the paintings and calligraphy yourself without relying on a stand-in. It was really thrilling to watch the scene where the camera zoomed in from a long shot to a close-up. When we grab the brush, it shakes and ink drips onto the paper; how did you write so clearly? Additionally, I heard your handwriting and paintings were exactly the same as Prince Myeong-Hwan’s remaining pieces!” asked Kim Woo-Hyung, who was feeling excited. Woo-Jin then replied with a relaxed smile on his face.

“I didn’t sleep at night and kept practicing. You can think of it as something similar to a swan paddling [1]”

“Are you trying to say that you kept practicing and training behind the scenes in order to look relaxed and elegant?”

“Of course. Is there anything in this world that can be easily obtained? I’m not that perfect.” Woo-Jin bragged about his hidden efforts while throwing a couple of lies into the mix. Regardless of how much he remembered about Prince Myeong-Hwan’s life, it was not easy for him to perfectly execute a skill he once had the moment he picked up the brush. He did spend his time practicing every evening, so Woo-Jin proudly publicized his hard work.

“Nevertheless, working hard doesn’t always equate to getting the results you want. It differs from person to person right? Frankly for me, even if I try my hardest, I don’t think I’d be able to do it.”

“Everybody has their own talents. If it doesn’t work out, then you’ll just have to find something else.”

“You didn’t say something didactic like ‘Keep trying till the very end’, huh.” Kim Woo-Hyung then told Woo-Jin to work on building a positive image, and asked if he was suggesting that people should give up.

“After I debuted, what I heard other people say was that I was lucky, and that I was born with many talents so I can easily do anything. I’ve always agreed with them. However, it’s just a synergistic effect of my talents being compatible with my dream. If I had dreamed of becoming a scientist or a doctor, I wouldn’t have needed those talents. Perhaps it would have just ended up being a hobby, and nobody would have told me I was lucky, or that I could do anything easily because I’m talented.” Woo-Jin wasn’t lucky because he was talented – he was lucky because his talents were suited for his dream.

“And I’m not telling anyone to give up easily. I’m trying to say that you need to be clear about what you’re good at, as well as what you want to do. If people are aware of that, they’ll feel less tired and not give up. Talents are just shortcuts; I just wanted to urge everyone not to overlook other ways of achieving their goals because they were only fixated on shortcuts.”

When Woo-Jin was writing his novel, he realized that he wasn’t very good at it. Nonetheless, his novel was popular on the site because he had knowledge from his past life as a writer. It was knowledge that helped him, not talent. Anybody could acquire knowledge by accumulating experience and effort. In order to do that, one had to first acknowledge and accept the fact that they had no talent. However, many people go through unnecessary hardships because they were not able to accept it and end up wasting a lot of time.

“In that sense, you’re a lucky man, Chae Woo-Jin.”

“I believe so. And fortunately, I’m not lazy, so I’ve been trying my best to improve.”

“Ohh~! It’s nice to feel your confidence and sincerity.”

“I’m still a 24 year old with a lot of dreams.”

“You still have dreams?” As someone in his mid-twenties, Woo-Jin’s life was just starting. However, the current Chae Woo-Jin already had it all. As long as he was disciplined and didn’t cause any scandals, he would most likely continue enjoying his fame and popularity for many years to come.

“I’ll probably be dreaming till the day I die, no?”

“Are you still a young man who dreams?”

“My wish is to continue dreaming even when I’m old.”

“As an actor, are you afraid of getting old?” It seemed natural for anyone with a special and beautiful appearance like Chae Woo-Jin to be afraid of getting older, even if they were still young. Hence, it seemed rather strange for him to casually talk about getting old.

“Kwak Eun-Hyuk said the older I get, the more roles I’ll be able to play, so it’ll be fun. Naturally, there will be a limited number of roles I can play after a certain point. But wouldn’t it be fun since they are roles I haven’t taken on when I was younger?”

“It seems like all you think about is acting.”

“I’m happy and grateful now because I get to do what I like.” After that, Chae Woo-Jin continued to talk about acting.

When they reached the square in the middle of downtown, they stopped walking and looked around. It was now time for them to talk to the general public and ask them questions about Chae Woo-Jin.

“Now, let me ask a question. The person who gets it right will have the chance to make a wish to Chae Woo-Jin. Of course, only wishes that can be fulfilled here and be aired on TV will be accepted.” Sometimes, there were people with unreasonable wishes, so Kim Woo-Hyung made the rules clear right from the beginning.

“How many more productions does Chae Woo-Jin have to act in, in order to become Korea’s poster boy for unrequited love?”

During an interview last year, it was said that Woo-Jin had been acting as characters who experienced unrequited love, and that he was on the path of becoming Korea’s poster boy for unrequited love. Woo-Jin responded that he would only accept the title after he had done thirty such roles. Coincidentally, all the characters he had played thus far had unrequited love.

“Twenty five!” The answer was derived after subtracting the number of productions Chae Woo-Jin had been in from thirty. After a brief pause, someone had answered the question correctly. When Kim Woo-Hyung said it was correct and beckoned to them, a man in his thirties came forward.

“Surprisingly, the person who answered correctly is a man. I’m already looking forward to hearing your wish.” Kim Woo-Hyung handed him the microphone. Feeling embarrassed, the man took out his phone and told them his wish.

“To be honest, my wife is currently pregnant. I heard that looking at beautiful people will have a good prenatal effect on the child.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“Of course. My wife is Chae Woo-Jin’s fan.”

“But still, aren’t you jealous?” Kim Woo-Hyung looked at the happy man and asked out of curiosity. It was rare to see a husband who was willing to take a photo of a male celebrity whom their wife liked for the sake of their unborn child.

“It’s embarrassing, but my wife still finds me as lovable as ever even after looking at Chae Woo-Jin. I came here to buy tteokgalbi [2] from a nearby restaurant that we frequent because she was craving it, but I'm happy now that I have another gift for her.”

The happy smile of the man who had taken a selfie with Woo-Jin was contagious. Woo-Jin congratulated his wife for having such a good husband. He then shot Kang Ho-Soo a meaningful look. The latter was standing at the back with the bodyguards. He was trying to tell Kang Ho-Soo to follow the man and buy him tteokgalbi. Kang Ho-Soo fully understood what Woo-Jin meant without exchanging words; he nodded and followed the man.

Thereafter, Kim Woo-Hyung asked two more questions. The second person who had gotten the right answer wanted to look Woo-Jin in the eye for a minute, and she wrote down what she wanted Woo-Jin to say to her on a piece of paper before handing it over to him. After reading it, Woo-Jin coughed repeatedly. After one minute had passed, he looked at her earnestly and recited the line.

“Remember – today at 8:12, for a minute, it was just the two of us.”

“Aaaaaa~!” The girl jumped for joy and fell backward, shocking the crowd. Even though she got a few scratches on her forehead, she shook her arms as though it was nothing. She faced the camera and made a finger heart, expressing she was fine.

The last person who got the right answer was a male student.

1. The writer’s trying to say that swans move gracefully on water but we don’t see their feet paddling hard beneath the water surface. ☜

2. Grilled short rib patties. It’s a Korean beef dish made with minced beef short ribs. ☜