Become a Star

On the day Life Depicted aired its first episode, the viewing rate was around 5%.

With Yoon Seong-Hwan, Park Mi-Hyun, and Chae Woo-Jin’s appearance on the show, the rating was unimaginably high for broadcast television but only somewhat decent for cable television.

In the first place, the show’s concept itself made it difficult to get higher viewing rates. This had been pointed out by many people even before the episode aired. In addition, the trailer made the show seem like a documentary, causing the viewers to have lower expectations and reducing the hype. People even joked that the channel was purposefully destroying their audiences’ expectations as a marketing strategy to impress them later on.

Nevertheless, the show had garnered a lot of attention since the celebrities set to appear on it were rarely seen on the small screen. In reality, the rating was so low for the first episode because people were waiting for online reviews. If the show received a good evaluation, they planned on watching it as well.

The first episode started off with the cast members attending their first planning meetings after getting selected for the show. Unfortunately, there were no opportunities for the three cast members to get together for the meeting, so each of them had met the director and production crew on different days and discussed the show.

—Is there really nothing? I won’t ask for a detailed script, but please tell me you have a synopsis or something of the sort!

Park Mi-Hyun exclaimed at the director’s news about the lack of script. Her outburst contrasted a lot with Yoon Seong-Hwan’s charismatic reaction. He had simply frowned slightly and said, ‘how easy.’

Lastly, Chae Woo-Jin simply stated that he had already been informed of it and calmly listened to the crew’s explanation. In fact, they asked Woo-Jin whether he was really okay with it because of his extremely ordinary reaction.

Although this channel usually broadcasted documentaries, Life Depicted was still a variety show. And no matter how realistic they wanted to make it, a variety show could not function properly without a script. This was common sense even if one didn’t participate in variety shows very often. That was why Park Mi-Hyun was so dumbfounded.

—I was informed of it when signing the contract. Didn’t you say then that I needed to figure out what to do myself?

Chae Woo-Jin faced the crew with a naive expression that was just begging to be duped. He didn’t seem to suspect the crew or the information he was provided.

It was true that they had told the actor in advance, but the director couldn’t help but ask whether Woo-Jin had not doubted their words even the slightest. Only then did Chae Woo-Jin look shocked.

—Wait, does that mean you do have a script?

He looked lively and excited for the first time since the beginning of the meeting and stared at the crew with a beaming gaze. The director met those eyes that screamed ‘please give me the script now’ and awkwardly denied it in response. He had just asked Woo-Jin for the sake of it.

Woo-Jin’s expression darkened instantly, which was edited in slow-motion in the episode.

The flames of excitement that brightly burned in his eyes got extinguished, and the lips that curled upwards quickly reversed in position. It was an extremely theatrical reaction. This was when people realized that Woo-Jin’s composed attitude from the beginning was merely a facade.

The three cast members agonized a lot throughout the planning meetings about how they would film the show and came up with individual solutions vastly different from one another. The two more experienced actors knew exactly what their audience would want to see and quickly scheduled the filming dates.

On the other hand, Woo-Jin was completely clueless about what to do. He asked his two seniors what their concepts were when their filming was over and asked the production crew for different opinions several times.

In the end, he had to schedule the filming day without a proper idea in mind as they couldn’t push it back anymore. Fortunately, Woo-Jin had come up with a concept a few days before the shooting began.

—I will simply behave as I usually do at home, so please don’t hesitate to ask me any questions throughout the filming if there’s anything you’re curious about.

Even though he had never participated in interviews outside of when he was promoting his movies and shows, Woo-Jin declared that he would take this opportunity and answer any questions with no exceptions.

Since there were already several shows with similar concepts, his portion of Life Depicted could end up dull and boring if his answers were basic. But since the interviewee in question was the Chae Woo-Jin, nothing else mattered.

—Can we really ask you anything we want?

The director asked suspiciously, to which Woo-Jin nodded.

—It’s your freedom to ask any questions you want, and it’s my choice whether I decide to answer or not.

Woo-Jin finally smiled cheerfully as if he had finished his homework, and a load of pressure was lifted off his shoulders.

***

The actual Life Depicted began with each cast member waking up in the morning in their respective homes.

Due to his low blood pressure, Yoon Seong-Hwan couldn’t do much for a while when he woke up. He stayed seated on his bed for some time, blankly staring at the air, until he finally stood up and got out of his covers.

It was a vastly different appearance than his usual firm and steadfast behavior on camera. Nevertheless, he did vocal and physical exercises on a daily basis to begin his mornings, showing how he took thorough care of his health and voice as an actor.

The perfect enunciations and clear voice in his plays were the results of his earnest and diligent practice. In fact, he was always dynamic and vigorous during the usual exhausting rehearsals.

Although his charisma was overflowing on the stage, Yoon Seong-Hwan was a gentle and helpful advisor to his juniors behind the scenes and dedicated much time to them.

Due to his public image as a tough guy, many people assumed he would be an oppressive and intimidating senior, but he completely blew those assumptions away and showed a very unreserved attitude.

—They’re simply my colleagues. It’s not like I can achieve anything on my own in this industry. But these people keep calling me Teacher instead of Senior!

One of Yoon Seong-Hwan’s issues with acting was that the younger generations called him Teacher, even though he considered everyone his equal and colleagues. At some point in his career, he looked back on himself and realized that he had gotten old. But what could he do against the passing of time?

Meanwhile, Park Mi-Hyun’s mornings started later than most people. Her sleeping schedule was inconsistent as she had finished filming a movie recently and had no more work to do. She woke up late in the morning… could this even be called morning anymore? Despite the sun being high up in the sky, she had forced herself to wake up ‘early’ as she was conscious of the filming.

However, what bothered her these days in her life wasn’t the irregular lifestyle but her last role, which still influenced her mentally.

—It’s always like this for me. Once I start playing a specific role and get in their mindset, it’s difficult to get out of it afterward.

Even though the production crew hadn’t asked anything, she quietly grumbled to herself. Her manner of speaking and behavior was the exact same as the character she had most recently played. Park Mi-Hyun mumbled to herself again in a vexed voice, saying that things couldn’t continue like this.

Throughout the shooting, Park Mi-Hyun’s hair was unkempt, and she didn’t wear make-up; she was showing her true, untouched face. Her argument was that she never wore make-up when at home. In fact, even her clothes were baggy for the sake of comfort.

Because of her late morning rise, Park Mi-Hyun prepared one big meal to serve as breakfast and lunch and showed her excellent cooking skills to the camera.

—It’s all for the sake of enjoying life.

Even though she was eating alone, Park Mi-Hyun served the dishes on beautiful plates and decorated them as a formality. She never chose a random cup to drink from; it was all about the overall aesthetic.

After cleaning the house and starting the washing machine herself, she had somewhat digested her brunch, so she began exercising. She also didn’t forget to complain about how she couldn’t let down her guard and be careless about her health. Otherwise, she would immediately gain weight, or so she claimed. In fact, Park Mi-Hyun was constantly moving her body and working out without ever taking a break.

Even the viewers were astonished by how dynamic, and demanding Park Mi-Hyun’s routine was. After watching her exercise, people finally realized why she never seemed to gain any weight.

Finally, it was Chae Woo-Jin’s turn. As the youngest cast member, Chae Woo-Jin had a secondary identity as a student alongside his job as an actor. Thus, he woke up earlier than everyone else.

As the alarm rang at 6AM, Chae Woo-Jin’s body sat up like a machine. He turned off the alarm with swift movements as if it were second nature. He then massaged his face, but his expression remained blank.

Suddenly, Woo-Jin jolted in surprise as he noticed the camera in his room. A confused look spread across his face until he finally remembered it was the unmanned camera set up for the shooting and lightly bowed to it.

The messy hair and the action of scratching his cheeks all exuded a refreshing and youthful sensation befitting his age. Unlike his usual appearance as dignified and somber characters on screen, the atmosphere around him was light-hearted and vibrant.

“Why do you have numbers labeled on your cosmetics?”

Chae Woo-Jin had washed and was about to put on make-up in front of the mirror when the director suddenly asked him.

Woo-Jin chuckled lightly. He found it amusing that the very first question he was asked during filming was about his make-up. As he had filmed the commercial for Rosie Cosmetics a few days ago, all of the products he was currently using were from that company.

He realized that he was unintentionally advertising the products but didn’t pay too much attention to it as Rosie Cosmetics was already going to sponsor the show to get some product placements. Thus, he wouldn’t get in trouble for his actions. Woo-Jin calmly and nonchalantly responded.

“My fashion coordinator made those. I didn’t know much about make-up and made a mistake once, so she doesn’t trust me anymore.”

As he focused on answering the question, Woo-Jin subconsciously grabbed the product labeled ‘1’ and spread the skin toner on his face.

“Urgh!”

He had temporarily forgotten that he shouldn’t use the toner right after shaving. Woo-Jin grimaced at the stinging pain and turned to the camera.

“I usually make mistakes like this.”

Even though the toner’s bottle clearly had a second label, ‘Not after shaving,’ Woo-Jin had made a mistake due to a moment of carelessness.

In return, Woo-Jin now felt completely awake. He then made his way to the kitchen on the first floor and skillfully cooked an egg sunny-side-up, sliced some fruits, and spread some jam on toast. But for some reason, he prepared two portions of breakfast.

“That’s for my sister. She’ll wake up soon and come downstairs for breakfast.”

Woo-Jin commented that he simply went and prepared breakfast for Woo-Hee since he was already in the kitchen.

“You seem very accustomed to preparing breakfast.”

The director said with a doubtful expression. He assumed Woo-Jin never cooked for himself since it looked like he was born and raised in a wealthy family.

“Well, I guess I am. It would be too difficult and exhausting for my mother to juggle work and household chores simultaneously. So I started helping out and tried to be more independent until it became second nature.”

Although they had recently hired a housekeeper to help out with the chores, the habits from Woo-Jin’s old lifestyle couldn’t be so easily overwritten.

Moreover, Woo-Jin didn’t want his mother to wake up early and prepare breakfast for her grown-up children when she had to leave for work.

Thus, the easiest solution was to have the housekeeping lady prepare the ingredients the previous evening and have Woo-Jin cook for his sister as well. In fact, this was much easier compared to their old lifestyle, so it was no trouble for him at all.

As Woo-Jin ate his breakfast, Woo-Hee came downstairs and sat at the table, seemingly half-asleep.

She yawned and stretched for a bit until she made eye contact with the camera facing her. Woo-Hee blinked a couple of times as a confused look showed up on her face.

Only then did she finally remember how the production crew had slept in the guestroom the previous evening. Woo-Hee then bowed to the crew.

“Thank you for your hard work this early in the morning,” she said.

Woo-Hee then turned to her brother.

“You could’ve woken up a bit later today.”

She showed concern towards the crew, who had to wake up earlier than Woo-Jin before addressing her brother and criticizing him.

“We need to fill up the runtime with some content, though.”

“But by waking up early, aren’t you increasing the runtime you have to fill with content?”

“Ah….”

Woo-Jin hadn’t realized that before and started wondering whether he should go to bed early tonight. After a light-hearted conversation throughout breakfast, Woo-Jin returned to his room and sat at his desk.

“Aren’t you going to study at the library?”

The director had assumed that Woo-Jin had woken up early to go to the library and study for the midterms in the following week.

“There won’t be many empty seats left at this hour, and we’ll only bother the people there.”

No matter how much the other students had gotten used to Chae Woo-Jin, his presence always started a commotion, whether big or small.

Woo-Jin had to be careful with his actions and not be a nuisance to others, as not everyone was his fan. So he quietly studied at his desk until it was time to leave for his morning classes.