Rebirth: King to Superstar

Hearing her reasoning, Joon-won felt a little stupid at that moment. What she said was true. She could have just asked someone if the practice was over and guess the time it takes to get back to the university. He was also surprised she went through all that to know where it was and if he was free. The Hea-Jung he knew the past 2 weeks was someone who never really cared about what others thought and did whatever she wanted to. 

"Alright, alright. This time it was me who was overthinking stuff. What did you call me for? I don't think it's just about telling me you can figure out where I am." 

"I just called you to wish you luck, you know. It's your first time acting on a huge stage with a quality script, some good actors, and also a huge audience. So, I just wanted to know how you are and if you were ready. Maybe even give you some helpful advice as a senior." He heard her prideful tone once again. 

"Well, thanks for calling me then. It's all good. I practiced enough to get a good hang of the role and today we did all the necessary adjustments for tomorrow. Tell me, how are you? Are you still at the set or back resting?" 

"It's good that you practiced a lot. Many things can go wrong, so you never know, just be a little alert, not too much though, like how you were at the audition. I came back from the set an hour ago. Today it's raining here, so we had to close up quicker than the crew originally planned and now they are thinking about tomorrow's schedule and stuff. So, I'm in my room, bored." 

Both of them continued to talk for a few more minutes and Joon-won told her bye as he reached his apartment. He got into his apartment and locked the door before making his way towards the kitchen. He took out a bottle of juice from the refrigerator and drank some. He loved mango juice and even though he liked a few others; he tried in the store while working. This was the one he loved and so had two bottles with him. 

After a few more mouthfuls of juice, he kept it back and started to cook some food. He made a light meal and sat on the couch to have dinner. As he was having dinner, he heard his phone ring and saw it was from his father, that too a video call. He couldn't help but sigh, thinking about the number of people he talked to in the past 30 minutes, even though he knew why they were calling him. 

He answered the phone while still eating and saw both the faces of the family he had. Min-Seok was the first to speak. "Ah! Joon-won. It looked like you were eating. Shall we both call after a while?" 

Feeling that there was no such need, Joon-won just shook his head, swallowed the food in his mouth, and said, "No need, just talk." 

"Wait, what are you having there? Did you order food from outside? Show us." Yun-hee shouted while pointing at him. Joon-won rolled his eyes and simply switched to the back camera. They saw his simple dinner, rice, and curry. 

"Woah, where did you buy this from? It looks so good. You should get us this if we come there." Yun-hee once again exclaimed loudly while salivating. Joon-won just changed the camera again and heard Min-Seok.

"Joon-won, don't eat outside food so much. Try to cook for yourself more. We don't know how this food is prepared in those restaurants, it's better to be safe than sorry. You'll also save money by cooking food yourself." 

Joon-won shook his head and said, "This isn't from some restaurant. I made this just a few minutes back. I don't eat outsiders food much these days. Most of the time when I'm at home, I cook for myself." Making the call go silent. He looked at the screen and thought it froze. So he tapped on the phone and waved his phone around for any signals while calling out for them.

Just as he was about to cut the call thinking there were connection issues on their side, he heard Yun-hee scream again, "What?! Wait, you said you cooked it yourself? Don't joke around, brother. It's ok to accept flaws as human beings. You won't be able to cook even if we gave you detailed instructions and did all the food preparation for you." And Min-Seok beside her also gave a nod. 

Joon-won looked at both of them with a blank expression, not knowing what to say at how untrusting they were towards him. So he stood up and walked towards the kitchen before showing around the place he didn't clean up yet. He showed them the utensils he used to cook in the sink and also the trash to show them the vegetable peels. 

He didn't hear a single sound until he sat back on the sofa and saw both of them with their mouths wide open. Joon-won just kept the phone on the table and continued to eat, not minding them at all. As he was about to complete, he heard Yun-hee whisper, "Dad, I think this is an imposter. There is no way my brother would be able to cook like that. Should we call the police?"

Joon-won looked at her and didn't know what to say again. They were getting ridiculous as it went on. Min-Seok also ignored her and said, "The city changed you a lot Joon-won. You even learned to cook. I'm so proud of you." Wiping a fake tear off.

"Alright enough of the jokes. So what did you guys call me for?" He finally thought it was enough and got straight to the point. He felt if he allowed both of them to continue, they might not stop, and this call would go on forever. He also had to sleep early for the drama the next day.