Rebirth: King to Superstar

"Why was I scared of that newbie? I am the hero. I should have a brave character. But I got scared of the new actor just by hearing his voice? I will steal this show. I'll be the best on the stage out there. Just you wait, I'll put you in your place with my skills." Dokgo Ki clenched his fists after noticing Joon-won walk out of the room. 

Unknown to him, he already placed the opponent above him and is trying to catch up to him. His words were just for encouraging himself and deep down he knew he already lost the moment he flinched and felt scared on stage.

Joon-won was now outside the theatre and noticed 10 minutes had already passed by and he is yet to decide where to eat some lunch. He opened the phone and looked up the nearby restaurants but had to close the tab after noticing the insane prices next to the dish. So after having a rude wake-up call of how poor he really was, he looked up the nearest fast-food restaurants and noticed there was a Wacdonalds down the street.

'So fast food today. The prices are insane in the restaurants around here. I can eat a whole meal near the house for 2 or 3 small dishes here. The dishes themselves don't look that appetizing in the pictures. A rude awakening that I'm poor.' he could only grumble and walk down the street.

It didn't take him long to reach the shop and saw a small line at the counter. It was a normal lunch hour rush and he had no problem waiting a couple of minutes if he could get something good to eat. After getting his food, he looked around the store and saw all the seats were full. So he got out and walked back to the theatre. The theatre had a few benches placed to the side at the space in the front and as the weather wasn't that bad; he found a good bench right under a tree and had his burger and fries. 

"Even though this is bad for health, I understand why people crave for it so much here. It's got a unique taste, is cheap and comfortable to eat. Once in a while, it's not that bad, I guess." Looking at the wrapper to his side. He quickly drank the juice he brought and kept it aside. 

Joon-won noticed there were still 15 minutes left till their break was over and he just sat out for a while. As he sat there in silence, he thought about how important the drama was going to be once again. He had the same thought so many times, and it made him feel like the first time he ever stepped on a stage, both thrilled and scared. He was scared because of the chances something might go wrong and his first step into the industry won't be as impactful as he hoped.

Due to that scared feeling, he started keeping more effort into his acting, letting out his emotions run a bit wild. Being on the stage, he wasn't able to hold it back in the morning and he knew it resulted in scaring everyone, not only the middle-aged man that was in front of him. He noticed Dokgo Ki at the back, flinching and the female lead clutching her hand. 

Those were signs of how things might go wrong, and that made him more conscious. These were all beginner problems and after being out of drama for decades, he was feeling them again. 

"Let's take a deep breath and get everything together. I know once this one goes well, the rest will follow through. It's just this one drama, that needs to pave the way for the rest of the dramas and movies which will follow through." Closing his eyes, he talked to himself. Once he performs one drama well, he will get the hang of it back and there wouldn't be problems like the ones before anymore. 

He checked the time again and noticed it was already time and got inside the building. This time they would do it with costumes. So he went right into the changing room with his bag and wore one of the suits. This time he didn't have much of a problem wearing it and walked into the backstage when he was done. 

The rest of the actors were also all dressed up and ready for practice. Everyone looked at him for a second as he stood out the most due to the suit he was wearing. The rest had normal clothes or formal wear but not a suit, so it caught people's eyes. Joon-won didn't mind the stares and just sat beside Kar Jung, who was wearing his butler uniform.

"How many more reversals would we have today?" Joon-won turned and asked the old man beside him. 

Kar Jung leaned back in his chair and said with a shrug, "Until San Min is comfortable with the performance. We generally have two more if everything goes well, but she can make us stay for another if it was like this morning. So, try to control your emotions and not scare the other actors. Your scenes are generally the ones which are stopped the most and you know it's because the other acts can't react to those sudden emotions which come out." Making Joon-won nod. 

The day went on as San Min corrected lesser mistakes than before in the rehearsals, making some people exhale in relief. Joon-won tried to control his emotions better, making the flow of his scenes better and not throw off the other actors from their flow. As the day continued the group got better and by the end of the 2nd practice, it was already 7 and everyone was tired, hoping San Min would let them go for the night. 

San Min walked into the backstage with the same expressionless look she showed the entire day and looked at everyone's nervous expressions before saying, "Alright, that's it for the day. Make sure you guys are ready for tomorrow and be here in time. I don't want anyone late. Alright, let's perform well tomorrow." She clapped her hands while nodding, and everyone followed her. 

"Now, anyone who wants tickets for their family members go to my assistant now and you can get them from her." Pointing at her assistant behind her, who was holding a roll of tickets. These were the tickets they sold on the spot tomorrow, unlike the one which can be booked online. The desperate customers can get these tomorrow early morning.

After San Min exited the room, a few people walked out of the room, while a few people surrounded the assistant for tickets. Joon-won waited for a little so that the crowd around the poor assistant to go down a little and noticed Kar Jung didn't leave yet. 

"Are you not going home early today?" Joon-won turned to ask the old man. He would be the first person out to be with his wife as early as possible, but now he didn't get up from his seat yet and was kinda concerned.

Kar Jung frowned a little, and he replied, "No, I need a ticket for tomorrow. My wife called me earlier and wants to come tomorrow to watch how you act. If you don't make her feel satisfied tomorrow, I'll crush you." He raised his fist to show how serious he was, to which Joon-won just shrugged. 

After the crowd died down a little, both of them walked to the assistant, who had the same expressionless face as her boss. Joon-won asked for two, one for him and one for Kar Jung. After getting the tickets both of them went their separate ways and Joon-won standing in front of the theatre, took out his phone and sent Jung-hwa a picture of the ticket, and asked to meet at the front of the university to give it to her. 

She sent a quick reply saying she will be there and just call her when he is near the university gates. After giving her a confirmation, he walked to the bus stop and hopped on the one he took regularly and sat on the same seat as it was empty as always, with only a few salarymen who were either drunk or sleepy. 

He sent Jung-hwa a message when he was 10 minutes away from the university and got down to see she was there, panting. He didn't get why the girl ran. Instead of walking, he could have waited a few minutes. Taking out the ticket from his pocket, he handed it to her.

She grabbed the ticket from his hand and said while taking a few deep breaths, "One of my aims while coming to the city was to watch dramas in all the big drama houses here before my time in the city ends. Now my first big drama house ticket is from you, for free. I once again feel glad to have you as a friend." With a wide grin on her face.