Woo-Jin wondered whether he truly was that bad at acting, and so, he went to look for the article about himself. He turned his head as he became flustered seeing the picture of himself in the article that was full of praise for him. He had to watch the movie at every screening event, but there was one particular scene he could not bring himself to watch, and the picture was from that exact scene - it was the look of despair on Cha Hyun-Seung’s face that everyone praised.

Perhaps if he had been the one to act the way he did in that scene and if Production Director Park had recognized it and rejected it because he knew that it hadn’t been him acting, then Woo-Jin would be able to acknowledge and accept it. But that was absolutely not the case. Woo-Jin had never once used his own emotions or adopted another identity’s personality when he was acting as Louie.

“For me, I know what I did wrong, and everybody knows that too. But what did Woo-Jin do to get his scene rejected repeatedly? Do you know?” This was a question Woo-Jin wanted to know the answer to and Park Yeon-Ah asked Kang Min-Ho for the answer in his stead

“If I knew the answer, I would already be a famous actor by now.” Kang Min-Ho was in the same boat as them – he did not know the answer. After looking at it objectively, subjectively, and from every angle, he still did not know why the production director was dissatisfied with Woo-Jin’s acting. He shook his head as he said that if he knew the reason why, then he would be the god of acting,

“So you’re saying that Production Director Park is the god of acting?”

“At the very least he has an eye for good acting, and he’s good at producing quality content.” Although it was at the expense of the actors’ wellbeing, Production Director Park was known for producing the best results when it came to his work. That was probably the reason why the unnamed idol used their connections with the broadcasting company to take on a role in the drama, albeit a supporting one, when most actors had rejected it. When it came to building an acting career, the best way to spruce up one’s filmography was to work with Production Director Park.

“Who was the one who said that Production Director Park would not be as harsh to the actors like he was before because he was shocked at how difficult it was to cast actors this time?”

“Me!” When Kang Min-Ho proudly raised his hand, Park Yeon-Ah drank her remaining coffee in one go as she glared at him.

“In any case, they’re all X of XX!”

Park Yeon-Ah got up from her seat as she tightly gripped the script that had been in her hand the entire time. She took a deep breath before marching towards the set. From the back, she looked like an armed soldier going into the battlefield. Seeing her like that, Woo-Jin got up from his seat as well.

“Our dear female lead cusses in X’s at every little thing huh. Regardless of how much she filters herself, she has to maintain her dignity.”

“If you interpret it as ‘sun of a beach,’ it doesn’t sound that bad,” said Woo-Jin.

“Huh?” Kang Min-Ho thought to himself ‘What is Woo-Jin talking about?’ for a moment before laughing out loud. He patted Woo-Jin on the back and complimented him for being positive.

“Since you’re already keeping your head up, don’t worry too much about it because you’re really good at acting.”

“If it’s good, why does he keep rejecting my scenes?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps he’s engaging in a power struggle with the actors.”

There were quite a few directors who were intentionally strict and fussy when working with rising actors. It was because if the directors did not establish their authority from the get-go and keep them in line, the actors might let their arrogance get to their heads and ruin the film or drama with their complacency. Furthermore, Production Director Park might also be concerned because, from the start, they had groveled to Woo-Jin since they were determined to cast him in their drama at all costs.

Nobody could deny that the actor who was the driving force behind Glooming Day’s success, a movie that everybody had assumed would become a flop, was Chae Woo-Jin. In the film, Woo-Jin was entirely a neutral party who was not biased towards either side. He took charge and led the main leads with a warm gaze and rationality, neither appealing to their emotions nor being cold towards them.

In other words, it meant that the supporting actor, Chae Woo-Jin, had control over the two main leads. Thus, the last thing that left a strong impression and continued lingering in the minds of the viewers was Cha Hyun-Seung, Woo-Jin’s character. Kang Min-Ho speculated that since Production Director Park Jong-Hyuk had to work with an actor like him, the Production Director might have wanted to get a head start and establish dominance over Chae Woo-Jin by constantly rejecting his scenes.

However, Woo-Jin shook his head firmly. “That’s not the case.”

Although he did not have a lot of experience, he could tell that the two directors he had worked with loved their work with all their hearts. They had brainstormed to come up with ideas on how to get the best results and put in a lot of effort into the process as they did everything in their means to achieve their envisioned results.

And he could see the same passion in Production Director Park Jong-Hyuk. The production director was most definitely not engaging in a power struggle just because he wanted things to go smoothly and not let the drama get ruined by the actors. His sharp gaze did not show a desire to win, but a desire for success, and when he looked at Woo-Jin, his gaze was filled with anticipation, not annoyance or anger.

Production Director Park Jong-Hyuk had seen a problem that Woo-Jin was oblivious to, and was trying his best to fix it but because Woo-Jin himself did not realize that, he kept rejecting the scenes. While it would have been nice if he had told Woo-Jin directly, Woo-Jin believed the Production Director must have had a good reason not to. It could either be a problem that Woo-Jin himself would not understand even if he were to point it out to him, or a problem that was difficult to explain with words.

“It’s really a battle, huh?”

Woo-Jin walked weakly towards the set. Kang Min-Ho’s words were not entirely wrong. Woo-Jin, who had to go back to the battlefield, was a defeated soldier.

***

In September, Woo-Jin had to juggle studying and shooting the drama at the same time and was completely out of it. Because of that, he was unable to enjoy Glooming Day’s unexpected success and only realized that people paid more attention to him than before.

“Woo-Jin oppa, the movie was really good,” one of Woo-Jin’s juniors, who was attending the same class as him, spoke cheerfully after walking up to him. More people were definitely recognizing him and approaching him more than before. Additionally, there were more times he was flustered in school than he was outside of it because his manager, Kang Ho-Soo, was not around during school.

“Thank you.” He was polite towards his junior. He had seen her a couple of times before but did not know her name.

“Oppa~ Please speak casually. Other returning students act very friendly when they see me. It makes me feel sad that you’re so distant.” Woo-Jin gave a slight smile as he responded to the unknown yet affectionate junior who was trying to get into his good graces.

“That’s how I am.” Woo-Jin, who was generally indifferent to the people he did not particularly care about or like, tried his best to smile more widely and be as nice to her as possible. From the moment he stepped into the entertainment world, he could no longer act or do things the way he wanted.

“I’m a bit old-fashioned, so when I feel awkward, it’s not easy for me to speak casually.”

As Woo-Jin said that, he realized that he had a similar disposition as his manager, Kang Ho-Soo, and laughed. He also wondered if the phrase ‘birds of the same feather flock together’ was applicable in their case. In any case, as soon as Woo-Jin laughed, his junior felt more at ease with him.

“No, it’s okay! I really liked your movie, so I wanted to tell you that. You don’t have to feel pressured.”

Seeing how the movie had left a strong impression on her, Woo-Jin finally eased up a little and became more friendly towards her. “It’s not easy to approach a senior first, so thank you for approaching and talking to me first. What is your name by the way?”

“I’m Da-Jung. Park Da-Jung!”

“You’re friendly so I guess you’re true to your name. [1] I’ll try my best to speak casually in the future, but for now, please let it slide.” Park Da-Jung subconsciously nodded at the beautiful smile and gentle voice that greeted her.

After finding out that Chae Woo-Jin was among the students who were returning to school this semester, she predicted that her life on campus would become rosier. However, it had fallen short of her expectations as there were very few opportunities for her to meet Chae Woo-Jin.

Even in the past, Chae Woo-Jin was known for not showing up at events or gatherings. She had heard that apart from a few close friends, he barely interacted with the other classmates, but she did not know that it was to such an extent. The other seniors had also told her that even if she were to meet him in class, there would be even fewer chances for her to talk to him directly. Only after experiencing it herself did she believe it. On top of that, he had recently started to only attend classes and disappeared right after it ended because of the drama shooting. Being able to talk to him like this was a huge opportunity.

At the time she first enrolled in the university, she heard that the most handsome man in school had left for the military. Since it was difficult for anyone to take photos with him if they were not closely acquainted with him, the only photos that were left of him were the ones that were secretly taken Even if they had taken a photo with him, seeing his handsome face next to theirs had overwhelmingly embarrassed them, so they ended up deleting it. All that was left were fuzzy photos that were taken from a distance.

Even though people could still tell from the badly taken photos that he looked handsome, at the time, most of the freshmen had simply dismissed the claims and made fun of them. Due to the various kinds of media, people had extremely high standards. Even if one were to use the power of Photoshop, there were plenty of photos of handsome men from all over the world on the internet. And so, the legend about the most handsome man in school who was not photogenic was treated like an urban ghost story.

When she heard that the actor in the movie, Chae Woo-Jin, was the handsome senior everyone had talked about, she screamed and when she saw him in person, she almost passed out. So that’s him. At this moment, she could not think of anything else and could only bask in his presence as she admired the man before her eyes. Contrary to her expectations, even though she had an advantage in the sense that they were studying the same major and were in the same class, it was not easy for her to approach him. The rumored Chae Woo-Jin was not a very sociable person, and she had to muster up every ounce of courage to say a single word to him. But instead of telling her off, he said she was friendly and even complimented her name; naturally, her voice gained strength.

“I heard that you’re currently shooting a drama. Isn’t it tough juggling both shooting and classes?”

“It's tough.” Woo-Jin immediately made a face, acting like he was dead. He waved his book as he told her that he had to go to his next class. Truthfully, he had scheduled his classes very closely to one another so he did not have time for casual conversations. At that moment, Park Da-Jung looked sad as she took a step back and let him go.

“Ah! I barely spoke to him and didn’t even get an autograph.” When Park Da-Jung looked sadly at Woo-Jin’s retreating back that was disappearing into the distance, her friend shook her head at her.

“We go to the same school anyway, there’s no need to rush.”

“But still!”

“I heard that his younger sister’s friends didn’t even ask for autographs.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Park Da-Jung.

Her friend immediately realized she should not have said that and quickly changed her expression before replying casually, “On the site that I browse, there’s a member whose younger sister is in the same class as Senior Woo-Jin’s younger sister. So that member would sometimes ask for information about him, but she found out that his younger sister’s friends weren’t very interested in getting his autograph since they could get it any time. Seems like they’re pretty calm since they’ve known him for a long time and have hung out with him as well. I guess that’s why they’re not making a big fuss and pretty laid back about knowing him.”

“All of a sudden, the people I seem to envy the most in this world are Woo-Jin oppa’s younger sister’s friends.”

“Even though they’re fascinated by Senior Woo-Jin, I guess they don’t feel like they’re meeting a celebrity since they’ve met him before he debuted.” Park Da-Jung had no choice but to agree with her friend when she said that the younger girls were behaving so well, so they, as adults, had to be as good or better than them.

“By the way, what’s the name of the site?”

Park Da-Jung did not develop much of an interest in him after watching Death Hill, but she immediately fell hard for Chae Woo-Jin in Glooming Day and started fangirling over him. Hence, she was very curious about the site her friend had mentioned earlier. Even if she could see Chae Woo-Jin whenever they had the same class, she also wanted to know more information about him from other people via multiple avenues.

“Umm…”

Her friend’s eyes wavered a bit when she saw how insistent Park Da-Jung was on wanting to know about the site. Whenever someone who had always hidden their secret life as a fangirl had to reveal it, they were momentarily conflicted. However, fangirls had always been welcoming to new fangirls, so the friend’s inner conflict was very brief.

“It’s called Wish Baragi…”

At this moment when the new member of Wish Baragi was born, Woo-Jin was in the midst of a liberal arts class. He had a cup of coffee from the vending machine to combat his fatigue as he rested his head on Hyun-Min’s shoulder, who was sitting next to him.

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1. ‘Da Jung means kind or friendly in Korean. <i class="far fa-hand-point-left">