Chapter 202: Year End (3)

Translator: Dreamscribe

Inside the recording booth, Kang Woojin, with headphones on, was continuously focused on his vocals, yet.

-♬♪

He himself was feeling it.

‘Something- the emotions have become more intense.’

He realized that his understanding of Cara’s hit song ‘Absolute,’ which he was singing, had deepened. Even though it was a song he had sung numerous times before, he felt a change. The color deepened. The intensified emotions burrowed into his voice.

Kang Woojin’s vocals, his singing ability, had grown even more.

It was okay to say it had developed. While vocal skills and techniques are necessary, emotions play an important part as well. Emotions determine the tone of the vocals. And for Woojin, many roles and their emotions had been imprinted on him.

It was clear that his vocals had undergone a change. Of course, in a positive way.

His voice stretched out refreshingly. However, it was not a cheerful voice. Kang Woojin mixed anger into his vocals the moment he entered the second verse. But it was different from a scream.

As if he’s getting angry on behalf of the listener?

Kang Woojin gradually became immersed. His team, watching him from outside the booth, simply opened their eyes wide and took no action. Both Kang Woojin’s team and the staff of the ‘Kang Woojin’s Alter Ego’ channel. Some had heard Woojin’s vocals before, and for some, it was their first time today.

“······Wow-”

“······”

Regardless of which, they were frozen. As if their souls had been sucked out. Among them, stylist Han Ye-jung, with her eyes wide open and fixed on Kang Woojin, asked CEO Choi Sung-gun, who was standing next to her, in a small voice.

“CEO~nim, it might just be me feeling this way, but Woojin oppa’s vocals. They seem to have gotten better. No, they were definitely crazy before, but now they feel even more extraordinary?”

Choi Sung-gun, also watching Kang Woojin inside the booth, slowly nodded his head.

“…… Yeah. I hear it that way too.”

Though they were not experts, the change was definitely felt. It became more powerful. The question was, when? How? They had never seen him practicing vocals. So, how could that guy have improved?

It wasn’t a biased judgment due to favoritism or care for Kang Woojin.

Look at the global superstar Miley Cara.

‘Including Cara, her team is spacing out too. That says it all.’

Indeed, Miley Cara and her foreign staff were all intently watching Kang Woojin. Especially, the blonde Cara was highly focused. It was as if lasers could shoot out of her blue eyes.

Then.

– Swoosh.

Inside the booth, Kang Woojin took a short breath. It was nearing the end of the song. The relentless vocals and the melody of the song dropped for a moment. Then, Woo-jin’s eyes met Cara’s, who was staring at him. It was a very brief moment. However, the blonde Miley Cara felt her heartbeat in that instant.

It was a different kind of thrill than that of a romantic nature.

‘A hobby singing this intense… and there’s even a bigger gap than watching it on video. Then what about his main job, acting? What would it be like to see his acting in person?’

It was a reaction to Kang Woojin’s charm, his energy, but it was closer to yearning. Or desire.

‘Why he has achieved such an absurd result in just one year, I don’t understand it all, but I get a bit of it. Even just watching him for a moment, I can’t take my eyes off him.’

She wanted to work closely with him, experiencing that ridiculous tension, whether it was for vocals or acting. Regardless, at this moment, Miley Cara’s interest in Kang Woojin was exploding.

At that time.

“Miley?”

Cara, who was spacing out, had Kang Woojin’s voice penetrate her ears. Since Woojin had finished his vocals by then. Only then did Cara suddenly come to her senses.

“Ah- oh, yes. Sorry.”

As if to hide her feelings, Cara brushed her long blonde hair and coughed.

“Ahem, I listened well. It’s several times more powerful and better than what I saw in the videos.”

Following that, her foreign team members also vehemently agreed, and Cara, rolling up her sleeves, got ready. There was no need to delay any longer. Rather, Cara wanted to mix her voice with Kang Woojin’s as soon as possible.

– Swoosh.

Cara, with her blonde hair tied up, entered the recording booth where Woojin was standing. Soon, a scene with the two of them standing side by side was created. Cara’s blonde head was a bit above Woojin’s shoulder in terms of height. Woojin sneaked a glance at Cara next to him without making it obvious.

‘Definitely has an incredible aura. Because she’s an alien? Is it a bit awkward to just say she’s pretty?’

He decided then. Just perceive her as an alien. (TL: Pot calling the kettle black ????)

Of course, Kang Woojin didn’t know. Among the dozens of people in this recording booth, he was the closest to being an alien himself. Cara, sniffing Woojin’s perfume scent from close by, thought so.

‘Isn’t his ability too absurd? It’s like he’s from another planet. Right, he might be an alien. But his scent is so nice?’

Everyone had a similar sentiment and gaze. Then, Woojin murmured to Cara in a low voice.

“Miley, how about you keep your part as is, and for my part, we try it in Korean?”

Meaning, let’s try a duet in English and Korean. Cara, locking her blue eyes with Woojin’s, nonchalantly nodded her head.

“Sounds good, I’m looking forward to it. It feels like a completely new song will come out.”

Both had their parts decided. Now, with the staff outside the booth giving the signal, the song would start. At this moment, Miley Cara suddenly asked Kang Woojin.

“Mr. Kang Woojin, have you ever worked on an album before? Like featuring.”

“No.”

“What about appearing in music videos?”

“Not at all.”

After that, the song started.

Later.

The shooting in the large recording studio with Kang Woojin and Miley Cara was wrapped up after about two hours, and the original song ‘Absolute’ was transformed into a fantastic duet. Of course, both Woojin and Cara’s filming teams got more than just the duet song.

The process leading to the result also produced great footage.

Subtle two-shots of Hollywood superstar Miley Cara and first-year rookie Kang Woojin. Scenes of them conversing or immersed in their work were captured in detail. Just that alone could produce at least five videos.

Naturally, both for Woojin’s side and Cara’s side.

However, the schedule for the two teams wasn’t over yet. They had to move to the rented cooking shooting studio. They needed to hurry due to Cara’s departure schedule. Lunch was skipped, and both Woojin’s and Cara’s teams moved to the next shooting location.

From here, the core was talk and cooking.

“The camera setup is finished, so just need to touch up Woojin ssi and Miley ssi’s makeup and change outfits, and we can start!!”

After spending some time on Kang Woojin and Cara’s hair and makeup, the shooting resumed. The layout was similar to the previous one with Hwalin. Woojin, wearing an apron, took his place in the kitchen area, and blonde Cara sat in front of him. The questions and answers were already set.

Naturally, all conversations were in English.

“”Miley Cara is here on ‘Kang Woojin’s Alter Ego’. Hello, Miley.”

“Pleased to meet you. More importantly, Mr. Woojin, the apron suits you well?”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I’d like to receive that apron as a commemorative gift.”

“I should give it to you then. Do you usually enjoy cooking?”

“Not at all. Ah, there’s a Korean restaurant near my house that I frequently visit.”

“What kind of dish do you eat?”

“Budae jjigae? The one with lots of ham. You asked me to decide on a dish I wanted to eat today, right? I’ll go with budae jjigae. But, Mr. Woojin, are you good at cooking?”

“It’s just a hobby.”

Cara remembered Kang Woojin’s hobby of vocals upon hearing his answer.

“······Hobby. I expect this won’t seem like just a hobby either, but I’m looking forward to it.”

“I’ll do my best. Before that, I heard you have a new movie releasing soon.”

“That’s right.”

“What kind of movie is it?”

The shooting went smoothly. There was nothing particularly problematic to point out. If anything, it could be mentioned that both Kang Woojin and Cara naturally exuded a cool demeanor, making it seem as if they were bickering at first glance?

Later.

– Swoosh.

After the planned talk was concluded, Kang Woojin started cooking. Cara, observing Woojin’s back, couldn’t help but chuckle.

– Tak tak tak tak tak tak tak!!

From the dazzling knife skills in preparing the ingredients to his seamless cooking, his handiwork was impressive.

‘Exactly… what is he?’

Even at a glance, it was the presence of a professional. Miley Cara was shocked multiple times today. Strangely enough, though Hollywood is much larger by comparison, Cara, a mega-star there, was experiencing a new world in Korea.

The Korean actor before her eyes was too unpredictable.

Just a moment ago, he was a singer with a voice that could melt ears, and now, he was a chef captivating her attention with his skills. Then, budae jjigae was placed in front of the blonde Cara, and Woojin’s low voice layered over.

“Please eat.”

Blinking her blue eyes, Cara lowered her gaze to the steaming budae jjigae. But, the quality was vastly different from Korean restaurants in America. Soon, she awkwardly picked up her spoon, scooped up some of the stew’s broth and ham, and put it in her mouth.

“······Ah. I knew it would be like this.”

A spontaneous exclamation escaped Cara’s lips.

“How can you call this fantastic taste a hobby?”

The same day, at night, on an airplane.

Miley Cara, with her long legs crossed, was sitting in a window-side first-class seat. Her golden hair, reaching down to her chest, was tied up, and her face mixed with a suitable amount of fatigue, further highlighting her indifferent image.

Well, it made sense.

Cara had just boarded the plane after finishing the shooting for the ‘Kang Woojin’s Alter Ego’ channel and heading straight to the airport. Hence, she was gazing outside the window somewhat blankly.

At that moment.

“Cara.”

Her manager sitting in the empty seat next to her spoke up.

“How do you find Korea, being your first visit?”

Cara shrugged her shoulders, resting her chin on her hand.

“Well, you know how busy the schedule was. I didn’t have time to enjoy it.”

“That’s true.”

“But today was fun. The most memorable. I was quite shocked.”

“······Kang Woojin?”

At the manager’s question, Cara snickered.

“Honestly, I thought since he does both acting and singing, he’d be similar to me, but today showed he’s completely different.”

“Yeah, I was surprised too.”

“Does it make sense? Such a being seems like something you’d only see in superhero movies, not in real life.”

“Hahaha, a hero?”

“That’s how absurd of an actor he is. There’s no one in Hollywood with that kind of energy.”

“I can’t think of anyone right off.”

“That’s because there isn’t. That’s what makes it even more regrettable.”

“Huh? What do you regret?”

The blonde Cara shifted the direction of her crossed legs and responded.

“That everything I saw today was just a hobby, and I didn’t get to see his real job, acting.”

“Ah- But you said you’ve seen his dramas.”

“Did you not see his vocals today? They were completely different from the YouTube videos. It would be the same with his acting.”

Miley Cara crossed her arms and concluded firmly.

“I’ve decided, I want to work with him. No matter what.”

Determination filled her blue eyes.

Meanwhile.

After finishing the shoot with Miley Cara and having a meeting with the YouTube team, Kang Woojin appeared in the underground parking lot. His expression was calm due to maintaining his persona, but internally, he felt a subtle weariness spreading.

‘Ah, somehow it ended. It was so hectic that I didn’t even think about resting in the void space. Just gotta go home and crash.’

Soon, Choi Sung-gun, following behind Woojin, spoke up.

“Energetic, aren’t you? For you, this kind of schedule is a piece of cake. What do you say? Considering the effort everyone put in today, I was thinking of getting some beef. You’re coming, right?”

Choi Sung-gun’s misunderstanding due to the accumulated misconceptions. Therefore, Woojin, although tempted by the offer of beef, calmly shook his head.

“No, I’m going to go home and read the script.”

“Really? Well, you do have a lot to look at. But that’s so like you, really. Going home to read the script again?”

‘No, actually, I’m going to crash and sleep.’ Woojin muttered to himself when Choi Sung-gun continued speaking.

“Anyway, we’ve climbed a big mountain. Good job. As expected, it’s going to be a bit noisy tomorrow because of the Miley Cara thing. We also have some PR to do. Earlier, it looked like you were exchanging Instagrams with Miley, did you?”

“Ah- Yes. She said we should.”

“Haha, wow- You might be the first Korean actor to become friends with Miley. Articles will definitely pop up soon. Reporters have a knack for sniffing out these things.”

That’s when.

“Oppa.”

Han Ye-jung with her short blue hair was standing in front of a parked van. Suddenly, she opened the van’s back door as if to show something inside, and with her characteristically cold tone, said,

“Ta-da.”

No, was there too little emotion in her voice? Regardless, inside the van, on the chair, there were several suits hanging on hangers, giving off a very luxurious vibe.

Then, Kang Woojin asked calmly,

“What’s this?”

The answer wasn’t from Han Ye-jung but from the stylists who came out of the van.

“What do you mean! Oppa, it’s tuxedos!”

“The fit and style are absolutely insane! We really focused hard when choosing them!”

“There are 4 suits in total! You need different ones for each film festival and awards ceremony.”

“Ah-”

It was the tuxedos he had only heard about. The kind worn by top actors walking the red carpet, which he had only seen on TV or YouTube? Soon, Han Ye-jung continued with the explanation.

“They’re all luxury brands. And we didn’t even have to make sales calls or lift a finger.”

She nonchalantly gave Kang Woojin a thumbs up.

“All the brands were desperate to collaborate with us; we just had to choose.”

Choi Sung-gun, with a broad smile, patted Woojin’s shoulder.

“You’re already getting a lot of sponsorships, but it’s the first time I’ve seen luxury brands rush in like this for a first-year actor. All- because your brand power is so strong.”

“······”

Woojin, who didn’t respond, took a step closer and looked down at the stacked tuxedos. His poker face made it hard to read his thoughts, and Han Ye-jung, just in case, added an explanation.

“We chose the colors and designs to best fit Oppa at first, but if you don’t like them, we can change them.”

“Yeah.”

“But since it’s mainly for the red carpet, black and navy are the best choices.”

Only then did Kang Woojin start to grasp the reality.

‘Wow- shit, the red carpet? Me wearing this?’

Himself walking the red carpet.

Then, the next day, in the morning.

The Blue Dragon Film Awards officially announced the news.

『[Official] This year’s Blue Dragon Film Awards to kick off on December 23rd… Blue Dragon Film Awards organizers say “It will be grandly held, look forward to it”』

The opening on the 23rd, meaning there were only 4 days left.

Meanwhile, in LA.

It was morning in Korea, but afternoon in LA. At this time, inside a large van speeding down Hollywood’s roads, a huge black man frowned deeply as he looked down at the tablet in his hand.

It was the famous Hollywood producer, Joseph Felton.

He turned his head to the bald foreigner sitting next to him. The furrow in his brow was still deep.

“Robert, I think there’s a mistake in the data.”

“······That can’t be.”

“It’s impossible for someone to have such a filmography.”

“You’re looking at it right now.”

Confusion filled Joseph Felton’s face.

“Look, are you telling me to believe that an actor, not even a year into his debut, has broken into Hollywood?”