Rebirth: King to Superstar

Joon-won looked around the room and saw all the actors with their scripts in their hands. Everyone was in the backstage, waiting for San Min to call them up and start the practice. It was 10 and Joon-won got there by 9:45 after his gym session was done. He thought he came early, but to his surprise, there were many people already waiting for the practice to start. 

He also brought his costume with him as, after lunch, which was at 2, they would have to wear their costumes too. For morning practices they would use the props, and in the evening it was both. Joon-won was now taking a few deep breaths to get his mind to calm down a little. After a long time, he will be going on a proper stage, unlike the exam one that was more of an obligation. 

After a few more minutes, as the clock in the room struck 10:30, they heard the assistant call them up to the stage to start the performance. Joon-won stood up with both Kar Jung and the female lead as they walked onto the stage. As soon as they did, they saw a wooden desk with lots of things on it, like a penholder, a few files, and other related stuff. He also saw a very fancy and comfy-looking chair behind the desk. The desk was to the right side of the stage, facing to the side. There were also two chairs on the opposite side of the desk.

"Now come on, take your places quickly, so that we don't delay this much more. Let me tell you now, I don't want much fumbling or other stuff when it comes to the dialogues. I want everything to be clean. Alright, come on now, get going." San Min ordered them while clapping her hands. 

Joon-won didn't need to be told twice as he walked up to the desk and sat on the chair. The chair was indeed very comfortable, and he relaxed a little. Kar Jung went behind him and stood at his side with both his hands behind his back. The female lead was sitting in one of the chairs opposite to him. 

San Min clapped once again and shouted, "Alright then let's start."

All three of them nodded, and Joon-won took a deep breath before closing his eyes. His expression changed as a small smile appeared on his face. He opened his eyes and looked at the hero as if she was his everything and said, "You do not need to work. I have enough wealth for us to live happily after our marriage. You should instead take this time to go around shopping for the wedding." His voice was low but very caring.

As soon as he completed his dialogue, the stage went silent. It was time for the female lead to tell her dialogue and he was waiting for it, but it never came. He looked at the girl who sat there, stunned, with her mouth wide open. Now he was confused by the reaction and looked to the side towards Kar Jung, who had a frown on his face. Kar Jung coughed, and it finally woke her up, but she stumbled her lines and her face became red. 

"What are you doing? Why did you freeze like that on stage? It's not your first time being on a stage. Be better than the young man in front of you, it's his first time on a stage." they heard a shout from the audience and knew San Min didn't like what just transpired. 

The girl nodded and murmured, "But you never told me he was this good." and closed her eyes. She could feel everyone's stare was on her and it was building pressure on her. Seeing the guy's eyes before her and the tone of his voice as he told his dialogue, was a little too much for her and made her feel as if he was really her boyfriend. It was very embarrassing for her.

She coughed a little before she was ready and gave everyone a nod. San Min nodded and said, "Alright, don't make that same silly mistake again. Joon-won, start from the beginning again." 

Joon-won nodded and with the same expression and tone he spoke out his dialogue. This time the girl was able to respond, "No, it's ok. I want to work and not be dependent on you. I want to have my own individuality and be known through you. So let me work, I even have enough credentials for it." as she pushed a few documents towards him.

Joon-won didn't even look at the documents she pushed and just continued to look at her with the same loving eyes and said with the same tone, "Alright, I will not stop you if you really want to work. I'll place you in a relatively easy team and you can work there. Is that ok?" 

The female lead's expression eased and said, "Thank you."

Joon-won nodded and turned to his side before saying, "Old Man Jian, assign her a suitable position."

Kar Jung nodded and said, "I'll get it done young master." and that was the end of the first scene in the drama. Everyone stood up and looked at San Min, waiting for her remarks. 

San Min looked at the three and said, "Kar Jung, you were good as usual. Joon-won you were on the spot, just continue like this for the rest too. Hana, you weren't up to the standards. You are fading away in the background and as the female lead that isn't acceptable. You need to push your presence harder and ascertain yourself. Just do better in the next scenes."

All three nodded and Joon-won and Kar Jung just went back as Hana, the female lead stayed on the stage for the next scene. She had to most scenes in the drama so her time on the stage was also the most. 

Joon-won sat back in his seat and noticed a few people making their way up. It was their turn. Kar Jung looked at Joon-won and said, "You were quite good up there. I thought you will stutter and pause a lot. Great going kid, just continue like this and you'll be ready for the movies in no time."

Joon-won nodded, and the practice continues, Joon-won and Kar Jung were both mostly in the backstage until their scene with the female lead once again at the end of the first half of the drama. 

Then came the important part and as he practiced a lot of times, he went on stage and performed. The stage for the part where he finds out was simple. Only a bench on one end of the stage and a few cardboard cutouts of bushes and trees on the other. 

His expression and dialogues came out perfectly and then from there he transitioned smoothly into the scene with Kar Jung at his home. Everything was perfect and on point. Seeing him act made many people in the backstage doubt their entire acting career. Everyone was older than him, but he was visibly better than everyone. 

After a while it was for another important scene, the confrontation. Joon-won had one leg on another while his head rested in his hand on the armrest, looking at the people who were standing before him with a smile on his face, as if he was looking down on them. 

A middle-aged actor who played the role of the heroine's father walked up to the table and banged it while telling dialogue, "Sir, I need a reason. Why did you fire me? What is going on? Why are you making it tough on my daughter? I thought we were supposed to be family members and everything was alright. The marriage is only a few days away and you are pulling these kinds of actions out now?" 

Joon-won looked at him and said with the same smile on his face, "Who do you think you are? Tell me, who do you think you are?" as his eyes went cold, and the temperature dropped a few degrees. Tension built up in the room, making a few people sweat.

The middle-aged man stood there with his eyes wide open, along with his mouth. He had a dialogue, but he was stammering. He looked really scared at the moment. San Min, who sat in the audience from morning frowned at the scene. 

"Hey, start talking properly. What's with that? Why are you so scared? You don't need to act that much, that you can't even speak out your lines. Do it properly, if you don't want to be thrown out." She was getting sick of it. She had to correct many things since morning and now people refused to speak.

Her voice seemed to do the job as the man jolted awake and bowed to San Min while apologizing. He swiped some sweat off his forehead and cursed under his breath