Become a Star
chapter-64

In Huntsman, only the killers were allowed to tear off the name tags of the victims. Tearing off the name tag of any of the clients would get them disqualified from the game. Ji Sung-Jin got disqualified for tearing off the name tag of one of the clients, Ha-Hwa, resulting in Woo-Jin having to struggle all by himself.

Woo-Jin was initially cautious from not knowing the other client’s identity. However, following Ji Sung-Jin’s disqualification, he threw away his hesitation and tore off the other players’ name tags. So in that sense, Ji Sung-Jin had somewhat done his part.

On the other hand, the clients and victims had to find the safe[1] before the killer caught them. The client would win if he found the safe before the killer caught all the victims, and the victims would win if they found the safe before the clients did without being caught by the killer. Last but not least, the killer would win if he managed to eliminate all the victims before either team found the safe.

However, Woo-Jin had ripped off the last victim, Kim Jung-Guk’s name tag by a hair’s breadth right before Kang Min-Ho found the safe.

— I was shocked when I saw Genie kicking the wall before spinning once in the air during his fight against Kim Jung-Guk.

└ You weren’t the only one. Even Kim Jung-Guk had become like a paper tiger in front of Genie oppa. I was totally blown away when they swarmed in from all directions to grab Genie oppa, and he grabbed Lim Kwang-Soo’s shoulder to leap before running away. Even my brother was stunned after complaining the entire time since I started watching Huntsman after hogging the TV remote.

— I think it was certainly a good thing he appeared on Huntsman. Previously, I tried to pique my mom’s interest and told her about Genie, but to no avail. However, when she watched Huntsman today, she inquired about him and told me to inform her about Genie’s upcoming movie or drama. Previously, when I told her to watch Glooming Day with me, it had fallen on deaf ears.

└ There is nothing better than going on variety TV programs and acting in dramas to make your face known to the public. But I wonder what made CEO Jang change his mind this time around and tell Woo-Jin to go on Huntsman.

└ They must have been really desperate to send Genie on a show that’s already lost its appeal.

— To the commenter above, what you’re saying is kind of weird, though? What’s there for Genie to be desperate about?

└ To be honest, I may be a fan of Genie, but many things that happened previously on Do You Know Us? were too forced and fake. He pretended to run into the waste paper old man by chance, and even things on Huntsman were scripted – do you think Kim Jung-Guk would get caught that easily? Everybody knows that they were secretly colluding, and it’s a well-known fact that they must have reshot the scene if it didn’t turn out well. In any case, as a fan, I’m kind of disappointed that they’re excessively trying to get the public’s attention.

It was a recognized fact that not everybody in the same group would feel the same way. However, everybody who had joined the Fancafe had some sort of basic affection for Woo-Jin. It was an irreplaceable first principle. However, members trying to ignore this principle started appearing in Wish Baragi.

— Sometimes, this place is like a nest of fanaticism. Regardless of how good Genie is, let’s fangirl over him in moderation. I don’t even know if the fans here are half as caring and devoted to their families as they are to Genie.

└ It’s only been two weeks since you joined and you are already writing such comments the minute you got promoted? What audacity!! Don’t worry about others, but if you have time and love in your heart to write something like this, you must be really good to your family, huh?

└ Of course, I am! Which is why I’m saying that you guys are pathetic. Can’t you guys have some self-restraint like me and keep it cool? Is it that hard to be rational?

— Yeah, it’s hard! Everyone, please don’t feed the troll. Let’s be cold to the asshole, who likes to play it cool.

A self-proclaimed fan appeared to nitpick on Chae Woo-Jin and spoke ill of all of his fans, riling up the other fans to start a fight with her. But, just as it was about to happen, a mod quickly appeared, calmed down the angry barags, and warned that member.

Despite that, that member became more annoying and continued writing controversial comments on the bulletin board in a bid to stir the fans up. However, unlike the first time around, nobody paid her any attention. They ignored her existence as though she were invisible and scrolled past her comments without mentioning them at all. Just because it was the internet didn’t mean it was any different from a tree falling in the forest—unperceived and unheard.

The poster’s originally hateful and mocking comments eventually turned to pleadings full of anxiety and humiliation. By this time, the mods had gathered all the comments about Chae Woo-Jin that the problematic member had uploaded to other sites. Whenever somebody posted something slanderous about Chae Woo-Jin, the barags scattered over the internet would collect all the possible information and material about the original poster. Even though it was impossible to inspect every single person who had joined Wish Baragi, there were quite a few cases where they had caught some members posting such comments when they ran a check. And they got lucky this time.

— Well, you aren’t even an incredible person – you’re just a nobody, who stirs trouble on other sites [2]. Even if you write negative things about Woo-Jin here, it isn’t going to reinstate the reputation of XX as the most handsome man in Korea. You think you’re very cool for stealing your parents’ money to buy gifts for that person and are proud of what you’ve done. And for that, I’ll give you the middle finger. We will live happily and well with our warm hearts and reject someone as ‘cool’ as you. Even though our time together was short, it’s been terrible, so let’s not cross paths ever again.

After posting the clearly-worded announcement, the mod sent a message to the problematic member and banned her. No one cared about her after exposing her past doings because the peace that came after the brief disturbance was beautiful. Right now, the most important thing was that there wasn’t a single loach turning the water cloudy in this place.

Woo-Jin’s ultimate victory after overcoming a series of bad luck was the most joyful occasion for the barags. But, more importantly, their family members’ interest in the actor Chae Woo-Jin after watching Huntsman made them happy. Even though their greed of wanting to keep Chae Woo-Jin to themselves still lingered, their desire for him to thrive even more was bigger.

— By the way, didn’t Genie’s face look very haggard? Seeing him so active seems like he is in good health, but how should I put it…? His face looked exhausted.

└ It must be very taxing to go to school and shoot a drama simultaneously. A friend of mine attends Korea University, and I heard that Genie has been missing his classes. So he has piles and piles of reports to complete. Additionally, midterms are starting next week. T_T

└ Genie oppa, please give birth soon~! [3]

└ Um… It’s ‘get well soon.’ When you say ‘give birth’...it means Genie is going to spawn something… ;;

└ Anyhow, we should send him some black garlic extract to nourish his body.

As soon as a fan mentioned black garlic extract, the other barags nodded in unison. They quickly gathered other barags’ opinions, agreeing that black garlic was the best because it suited his taste due to his love for garlic and its accompanying health benefits.

— There were many controversial things in the trailer they played during the press conference, but it seems as though Genie had shot that particular scene without a stunt double.

└ No way! Even if that’s the case, they must have used CGI. Did he shoot it in front of a green or blue screen?

└ It looked too realistic to be a green screen, and the change in angles and composition were very dynamic – it would cost a lot of money to get them done one by one using CGI, and it would be very laborious too… ;;

└ Could it be made possible because of the significant increase in budget thanks to CEO Jang investing in the drama?

└ They definitely didn’t use a green screen. From what I’ve heard, they were shooting a drama at that building at dawn on the Friday when Genie had shot his action scenes. It’s said that a person hooked to wires had jumped from one building to another and had even descended the wall of the building, but they didn’t know if it was Genie himself or a stunt double.

The thing that the reporters at the press conference were most curious about was the most important thing to the barags. However, the production director and actors’ lips were sealed, so there was no way for them to get the truth. The only thing they could do was hope they would air that part as soon as possible so they could watch the behind-the-scenes video.

***

Woo-Jin had to take his midterms on the week they aired the first episode of City of Shadows. Until now, he missed his classes to shoot the drama, but he couldn’t do that for his exams. They had clearly stipulated in the contract that he wouldn’t be shooting during the five days of his midterms. However, Production Director Park acted as though he had no intention of honoring it.

“Are you out of your mind! Do you think it’s reasonable for the main lead to be absent from the shoot for five days?”

“That’s why I worked longer hours to shoot the scenes in advance, no?” Apart from the day of the press conference, Woo-Jin had worked through his breaks and continued shooting over the past two weeks to make up for his five-day absence. Woo-Jin wasn’t ashamed to demand these five days of absence as he had saved everybody’s time by getting the action scenes right in just half a day, as opposed to other people who spent a couple of days instead.

“Drama is a race against time! Do you think that editing the drama footage until a few minutes before it airs and then making sure it airs on time has nothing to do with you?”

"I think we should shoot the scenes where Louie doesn’t appear during those five days. I have shot all my scenes up to episode 6. I had also shot some scenes for episodes 7 and 8. However, aren’t there several scenes in episodes 5 and 6 that haven’t been shot yet?

Woo-Jin was referring to Choi Joon’s younger brother, Choi Kang, who would be appearing from episode 5 onwards. It was time to complete episodes 5 and 6 that were missing Choi Kang’s scenes. Also, judging from Production Director Park’s personality, he would most likely reject most of Lee Min-Soo’s scenes in the beginning. So it was better to set plenty of time aside and start shooting now instead of waiting till the episode’s air date was right around the corner.

“The actor who will be playing Choi Kang said he can’t do it because he still isn’t ready yet, remember?”

“Are you saying that you’ll wait patiently for the actor who’s unprepared but won’t give me five days even though I’ve been doing well thus far?”

Production Director Park Jong-Hyuk was very different from the directors that Woo-Jin had worked with so far. Directors Moon Seung-Kwon and Choi Yi-Geon had continued to keep in touch with Woo-Jin consistently even after they had finished shooting the movie. They had communicated with Woo-Jin enough to keep their relationships going.

However, Production Director Park Jong-Hyuk didn’t have such expectations because he had only seen Woo-Jin as an actor instead of someone he wanted to interact with. Hence, Woo-Jin also wanted to have nothing more than a professional relationship with him.

“How can you compare the main lead to a supporting character!”

“Even though our screen time is different, as long as he has a part, it has to be filmed someday, and that’s a fact. I don’t think it’ll be a problem if you tell him to shoot right away tomorrow.”

“He’s not ready yet….”

Even though it was frustrating to wait for Lee Min-Soo, Park Jong-Hyuk thought it would be better for Lee Min-Soo to start shooting a little later, when he would be able to perform better, even though they were behind schedule. So, he had delayed Lee Min-Soo’s schedule as much as possible, though his prejudice against idols and distrust in Lee Min-Soo also played a part in this decision.

“I’ve done my best for the drama, so I think it’s only right for you to ensure my bare-minimum needs are taken into consideration., I won’t be coming here for five days starting tomorrow, so how you make use of that time is at your discretion. I don’t think it’s my jurisdiction or responsibility.”

Production Director Park Jong-Hyun couldn’t get used to Woo-Jin’s stubborn attitude, as the latter had always obeyed him regardless of what he had asked. Woo-Jin’s passion for the drama led Park Jong-Hyuk to believe that he could easily pressure Woo-Jin by being a bit more insistent. He hadn’t expected Woo-Jin to come on this strong. This new side of Woo-Jin made him suddenly feel a sense of disconnect from the old, obedient Woo-Jin.

Being familiar with such reactions from people from a young age, Woo-Jin spoke flatly.

1. Strongbox for valuables. ☜

2. The writer described her as a loach, as loaches turn the water cloudy. ☜

3. 낳다 (to give birth) sounds exactly like 나다 (get well). ☜