Rebirth: King to Superstar

Joon-won was sitting on a bench in the bus station, waiting for the bus to arrive. He asked the guy behind the counter when the next bus to the Jade mountains was and he told it was going to take another 20 to 30 mins for it to arrive. So he sat on a bench looking at all the buses coming and going out of the station on different platforms. 

Feeling a little hungry, he looked around and walked up to a small shop. He bought 2 bottles of water, a couple of energy bars, chips, and also 3 curry buns that were freshly made inside the store. Sitting on the bench, he kept everything inside his bag except a curry bun and a water bottle. So, he sat there alone, eating a decent-tasting curry bun while waiting for a bus to arrive. 

As he was waiting, he decided to give Min-Seok a call. If he knew him enough from the memories and his talks with him during the last 2 months, he knew the guy must be shaking with nervousness since morning and probably did not even sleep because of the results which were about to come in a few hours. The time was 9 now and the results would be out at 1 in the afternoon. 

The phone rang a few times before he heard Min-Seok on the other side.

[What are you doing Joon-won? Did you have breakfast? How was your shooting yesterday? Was the director pleased with it?] And he heard the usual barrage of questions, but this time with a voice that was a bit more tired. He could tell Min-Seok was doing his best to cover it up and not show it too.

"I'm fine, dad. The shooting went really well, too. The director praised me and told me he will give more scenes than expected so I'll be staying here for another week to shoot even those scenes. But all this aside, it looks like you aren't doing that well." 

He heard a nervous laugh on the other side before Min-Seok tried to push it away.

[The director praised you and you'll be getting more scenes to act too? That is great Joon-won. I'm proud of you. And what are you talking about? I'm not tired at all. I'm perfectly fine. I took a day off today as Yun-hee's results are coming out and so I'm resting at home. Everything is fine.]

"I'm not a kid anymore, dad. You can't hide it from me anymore. It looks like you are tired and I can tell even if you are trying to hide it. Were you awake the entire night thinking about the results?"

He heard an audible sigh before Min-Seok said. 

[Looks like you really grew up to be a fine adult. I am just feeling a bit nervous about the results, that's all. Everything is fine. I'll sleep after seeing the results. So don't worry.] As he tried to reassure Joon-won. Min-Seok felt a bit proud too to see Joon-won grow up. Joon-won for him was always a bit unruly in nature and was worried about him when he sent him to the city. But it looked like the city had changed him for the better recently.

"Alright then be sure to sleep after seeing the results no matter what they are. You can't lose sleep for something like this. I'm sure the results are going to be perfectly fine too. Alright?"

[Yes, Yes. I will. Now tell me, what are you doing? Do you have a shooting today too?]

"No, the director gave me 2 days off because they need to make changes to the script if they are going to add a few scenes for me. I'm now at a bus station waiting for a bus. I planned to take a hike up the Jade mountains since I don't have much to do here. I heard it's only a 1-hour ride on the bus."

[Oh, the Jade mountains? A few of my colleagues actually went there during a few holidays too. They showed me all kinds of pictures. The scenery is very good up there. Be safe when you do it. Don't get hurt when hiking, it's your first time too.]

"Yes, Yes. I will be safe. Don't worry much. I'll send you guys a few pictures for now and the three of us can go there when you have a few holidays. What is Yun-hee doing?"

[Yes, let's go when I get a few holidays. It can be a small mini-vacation for us. And that girl is still asleep. It looks like she completely forgot about the results and is happily enjoying her sleep.]

"It's ok, let her sleep. She won't be able to sleep after she gets into a university with all her studies. Did she say anything about which University and group she is taking?"

[No, that girl still didn't tell me anything about it. I tried to ask her yesterday, but she said to wait till the results come out and that she will give a hint about the university. She said she will tell the name and group she will be taking only when she gets accepted there. She seemed pretty confident that she'll get accepted too.]

"Well, we can't do anything about that. Just let her be then." And both continued to talk.

And as the guy behind the counter said, the bus arrived after 25 minutes. So, he quickly cut the call with Min-Seok and after showing his ticket he got in. As soon as he got in, the first thing he saw were people dressed in hiking attire. It looked like everyone was on their way to enjoy a good hike. It only took people 2 to 3 hours to hike up the mountain and was a very easy course too. So he saw a few old people too on the bus. 

Joon-won then took his seat and looked outside the window as the bus moved after 10 minutes. He noticed the bus was almost full, too. He just continued to look outside the window, enjoying the scenery. It didn't take long for the bus to get outside the city and what was left was plain fields once again. He could see a few farmers already working on their fields and felt a bit of appreciation for their hard work.

After 30 minutes, he heard a few whispers and noticed people looking out the window, pointing outside. So he also looked out and noticed that the mountains were getting clearer. Joon-won noticed it was also getting misty as they got closer and it was also getting colder. Luckily, he wore a jacket and still felt warm. 

After another 30 minutes, they reached the base of the mountain and everyone got off the bus. Joon-won looked around and noticed many cars were parked and a few people were going back after their time there. He continued to look around and noticed a map of the mountain and also the paths to the top. 

He walked closer and took a clean look at the map. The map was simple, it told which paths beginners could take and if people wanted to be adventurous, there were tougher paths too. He also saw the symbol representing where the cabins which Hea-Jung told him were. They were quite near and so he just decided to go there first and book himself a room before they are all taken. He walked towards the cabin and reached there after a few minutes. 

Joon-won walked up to the reception and asked the lady, "Are there any cabins left for a single person?" He asked for a single person because he noticed there were actually a variety of cabins and the biggest one actually was two floors and had 4 bedrooms. He didn't need that. So, he asked for the single bedroom ones which came with a small living room, bedroom, and a bath. 

The lady nodded and checked her computer before giving him a nod.

"Yes, there are a few available. Which price range do you want? There is supreme which would be 4000 Kros a night, The Business class version which would be 2500 Kros a night and a normal version would be 1000 Kros a night."

He smiled and took out his card before saying he would take the business class one. He didn't want to spend an absurd amount of 4000 for a night, but could also not gamble on how bad the normal ones would be. So the middle option looked optimal. It only took the lady a few minutes as she took out a key card and showed him the way.

After a few minutes, he was in his room with a satisfied look. The room wasn't bad and he was happy with what he got for 2500 Kros. 

"Should I go now? Or take a quick nap before going there." He murmured to himself and got an answer from the system.

[I suggest you go to the top of the mountains now. Just get up and start moving. You will regret your entire life if you don't move now.]