Chapter 164:
Chapter 164
It reminds me of our debut.
Ian, who had learned various martial arts moves and wire action at Action School, finally had some free time.
Of course, he didn’t just play around during his free time.
[Where are you going?]
‘To the practice room.’
[Again?]
‘I’m still lacking.’
Ian went to the basement of his agency to practice his script in the practice room before going to the drama reading.
As he was going down the stairs, the hallway was noisy. The trainees who were about to debut were getting drinks from the vending machine.
‘Was their group name Fever?’
As Ian entered the hallway, Lim No-eul, who had spotted him, spat out the drink he had just taken a sip of.
“Cough, cough… Hello, hyung!”
“Oh, hi No-eul. Hey, guys. Long time no see.”
The trainees looked at Ian with envy in their eyes. Ian felt awkward under their gaze and smiled first.
“You guys are debuting, right? You’ve worked hard. Your concept is awesome.”
“Yes, hyung. Thank you.”
“Congratulations. I heard Show-K is hosting your debut show, right? Ah, I wish I could go, but I have a shooting schedule…”
“No, hyung.”
Somehow, their eyes seemed more intense when he smiled. Was it his imagination? Ian felt strange when he met the eyes of the trainees who were shy around him. He was not used to being a senior.
“No-eul, you’ve come a long way since you collapsed on stage…”
“Ah, hyung, don’t bring up my dark past!”
Lim No-eul stomped his feet as he remembered that time. Behind him, there was a trainee he hadn’t seen before. Was he the rumored trainee who had risen to the debut team in a short period of time?
“Hello.”
“Hi. You’re Lee Ha-yan, right?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“There was a buzz in the company that a trainee like me joined.”
“Me?”
How good must he be at singing to surpass the long-term trainees who had been waiting for their debut? He was one of the people he was looking forward to in the future.
“That’s right, we wouldn’t have a main vocal without him.”
“No, we wouldn’t have debuted at all without a main vocal.”
Following Ian, the other trainees praised Lee Ha-yan, who looked flustered.
[You guys are not arrogant, and neither are they. Where did this company find these guys?]
‘I know, right? It’s amazing.’
The Awi members were also not arrogant. Ian smiled warmly as he looked at the fresh-faced trainees before their debut. That was the most exciting time.
‘It’s a good time.’
[Are you already old? Well, if you add your previous life…]
‘Shut up.’
Ian patted Lim No-eul’s shoulder and said.
“You guys are busy, right? I won’t hold you up any longer. I came here to practice too. Congratulations on your debut, and see you later.”
“Yes, hyung!”
The trainees bowed their heads and greeted him. As expected of a company that valued manners, their greeting was already like a drill.
‘Geez, it’s awkward. Did Black Rush feel like this when they saw us?’
[Probably.]
Ian felt goosebumps on his arms. He turned his back and headed to Awi’s dance practice room.
Behind Ian, the trainees whispered.
“Wow, shit… He’s so handsome.”
“Shh, hey, we can’t swear anymore.”
“Oh, right. But how can you not swear when you see that face? And he’s so nice. He always buys us snacks.”
“Totally agree.”
“Shh, don’t say shit or totally either. Mouth, mouth. Do you want to die?”
“Hyung, you’re saying it too!”
The trainee who was going to be the leader of Fever slapped the mouths of the other trainees who swore.
Lim No-eul’s indignant voice faded away. At the end of the hallway, there were Lee Joo-hyuk and Park Jin-hyuk’s studios.
‘I guess they’re here too, since they’re heading to the recording studio.’
He wanted to say hello to them, but unfortunately he didn’t have time. Ian entered Awi’s dance practice room with his worn-out script.
‘It reminds me of our debut.’
Ian closed the door of the practice room and chuckled. Awi also had to manage their swearing before their debut, and Lee Joo-hyuk would discipline them like that. They would also bet on each other and crack down on it.
‘How about we pay 500 won every time we use profanity?’
‘500 won is too weak, let’s add 5 minutes of plank every time we swear.’
‘5 minutes of plank? That’s totally possible.’ ‘Shut up.’
‘What? You think you can beat me? Hey, Kim Joo-young, I’ll smash your head.’
‘What? My head? Hey, Jo Tae-woong, you lie down too.’
‘Idiots.’
‘What? Idiot? Hey, Choi Ian, stand next to Jo Tae-woong.’
‘Why is idiot an insult!’
It was fun back then… Ian, who was lost in his memories for a moment, stretched out his arms.
“Ah! I want to be on stage too.”
He groaned along with his stretch. He opened the script and started to focus. It was time to concentrate.
***
Time passed, and it was the day of the script reading for ‘Z-Day’. ‘Z-Day’ was a blockbuster drama with a production cost of over 3 billion won per episode. That’s why there were quite a few reporters who were expected to attend the script reading.
“Oh? It’s Myung-jin hyung. Long time no see, hyung.”
So Ian went to the shop early in the morning to get his hair done. Kim Myung-jin handed him a coffee he bought nearby.
“Dong-soo hyung went to Tae-woong.”
“His grandmother’s place? It takes a long time to get there.”
“I was going to go, but it’s Tae-woong. Dong-soo hyung insisted on going himself.”
How thoughtful. Ian drank his coffee and leaned back on the seat.
“They might hire more road managers when you guys start your activities.”
“Oh, then will you finally become a team leader?”
“I’m still far from that. Dong-soo hyung will be a manager.”
“Isn’t Dong-soo hyung late? He’s been working since Black Rush’s road days, right?”
Park Dong-soo actively took on tasks that could be delegated to Kim Myung-jin. It was because of his active personality.
“That’s right, he should move up. Dong-soo hyung is getting married too.”
“Oh, with the director? Did they set a date?”
“Yeah.”
Kim Myung-jin decided to tell him everything since Ian seemed to know everything already. He turned his back and looked at Ian’s face when the car stopped for a moment.
“But how did you know?”
“There are ways to know. Hyung, look ahead. The light changed.”
“You’re a shaman…”
Ian had been watching them closely whenever he ran into them since Jin told him. The atmosphere was not good, and he felt like he would have noticed it even if Jin hadn’t told him.
“Do the others know?”
“Who knows? I’ll have to ask them.”
Ian immediately opened the group chat. There were over 100 unread messages, and since Jo Tae-woong came back from his grandmother’s place, everyone had been waking up early and chatting in the group chat.
(Ian5) We need to prepare a congratulatory song – 10:11
(Park Jin-hyuk3) All of a sudden? – 10:11
(Lee Joo-hyuk3) Who’s getting married? – 10:11
(Ian5) Dong-soo hyung and Director Seo are getting married – 10:11
(Seo Da-mi2) ? – 10:12
(Dancing King Kim Joo-young2) ??? – 10:12
The chat room was filled with question marks. Everyone was using emoticons as if they wanted to show off their new ones.
(Hyun-hyun3) What’s with the giant emoticons, have some manners – 10:16
(Jo-tan4) I didn’t know – 10:17
(Jo-tan4) I’m usually the first one to tell you these things – 10:17
Jo Tae-woong was usually the first one to notice these things. He had connections with the company people and always told them the news first.
(Hyun-hyun3) lol – 10:18
(Hyun-hyun3) That’s why you should come back to Seoul soon – 10:18
(Jo-tan4) ?? – 10:18
***
‘Where are you going?’
[I don’t find reading fun. I’ll go see the filming site.]
As soon as Ian got out of the van, Jin disappeared like smoke. Ian didn’t think much of it since Jin sometimes disappeared to clear his mind. Ian entered the building lobby with Kim Myung-jin and an office worker who was in the building noticed him and gasped.
“Gasp!”
“Hello.”
Ian greeted him with a smile out of habit. The employee who had gone out to buy coffee stared blankly at Ian as he passed by and then belatedly picked up his phone.
“Hey…!”
As Ian was about to close the elevator door, someone called out and he pressed the door open button repeatedly. Someone came into the elevator panting. Kim Myung-jin stepped back and Ian smiled and bowed.
“Hello.”
“Hello.”
It was Kim Min-jae, who played the role of Nao Shin, the main character of ‘Z-Day’. Kim Min-jae was shy around new people, but Ian talked to him as if he had seen him yesterday. They had a lot of scenes together, so it was better to get along quickly.
“I heard you had an accident. Are you okay?” Ian asked.
“Uh, yes.” Minjae replied.
“Car accidents can have long-lasting effects, you know.” Ian said.
Minjae was one of the candidates for the role of Chuntaek in “Heebin’s Husband”. In his previous life, he would have been confirmed for the role, not Ian. But he had a car accident and lost the opportunity to Junseo.
“Yes. I wasn’t hurt that much, though…” Minjae said with a slightly nervous face.
‘Wow, his face is flawless. No blemishes at all.’
He had watched “Heebin’s Husband” from his hospital room and felt bitter about the role he missed. He was also jealous of Ian, who gained a huge popularity as Chuntaek.
‘He seems nice, too…’
He couldn’t hate Ian, who had a smile that melted his heart. He felt ashamed of his own feelings.
“You’re 25, right? You’re my hyung.” Ian said.
“You can speak casually to me.” Minjae said.
“Then you can call me comfortably, too.” Ian said.
As they entered the reading place, the reporters murmured and clicked their cameras.
“They’re here.”
“They came together?”
Ian bowed to them and Minjae followed suit. Some of the reporters muttered to themselves.
“Kim Minjae is greeting us all.”
“That’s rare.”
Minjae was a model-turned-actor who had a solid reputation and career in the modeling industry. He was born with talent and a wealthy family, so he had a high self-esteem and confidence. He didn’t feel the need to impress the reporters, and he disliked them after meeting a rude one when he started acting.
“He doesn’t look bad next to the model.”
“Even if you take random shots, they look like pictorials. Pictorials. Are you uploading them now?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t provoke him and just praise him. Choi Ian has a different click rate.”
The reporters were busy taking photos and uploading articles of the blockbuster drama and the rising star Ian.
Ian greeted the other actors and looked up at the noise. The director, Park, and the writer, Lee, were coming in.
“Are you all here?”
“Let’s introduce ourselves briefly before we start the reading.”
Ian’s role was technically a villain, but he was almost a co-lead with Minjae. Park sat in front of Minjae and Lee sat in front of Ian. They faced each other.
Park and Lee introduced themselves briefly, and then it was Ian and Minjae’s turn. The reporters pressed their shutters eagerly.
“K, I’m Ian, playing the role of Kim Junhee. Nice to meet you.”
After the other actors introduced themselves, there was a brief silence. Park clapped his hands and lightened the mood.
“Shall we start the reading, then?”
He gestured to the assistant director, who opened the script.
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