Rebirth: King to Superstar

Joon-won and Hea-Jung were now in the car on their way to the company after having some small lunch. Joon-won kept his eyes closed as he tried to calm down his nerves a little. Even after the huge amount of experience and confidence he has, it feels like his first audition when he begged a group to allow him to join back when he was poor. 

Today gave him the same feeling and so he closed his eyes and thought about all the different moments in his life that he overcame and how important this one audition was for the future. This would be his first step but also the biggest and longest step into the movie industry.

The car stopped in front of the company and Joon-won checked the time. There were still 20 minutes to 2 and walked in with Hea-Jung. Both of them reached the front desk and saw the same receptionist. The receptionist noticed them and this time it seemed like she knew what they were there for. 

"Miss. Seo, the president informed us that both of you can go to the fourth floor and wait in front of audition room 3." 

Hea-Jung nodded and led Joon-won to the elevator and went up to the fourth floor. They went towards audition room 3 and sat on the chairs placed in front of the room. 

"So, on the scale of one to ten, how nervous are you right now?" Hea-Jung asked him seriously. 

Joon-won thought for a second before answering honestly, "I would say around 6 or 7." 

Hea-Jung was a bit surprised by the answer. She only asked it casually and didn't expect a confident person like himself to be nervous. She giggled a little and replied, "And here I thought you were a robot, with no emotions. Well, it's ok to be nervous. Just don't think about it much even if you fail it and leave it all on the floor before you come out. I still remember failing many auditions before landing this one." Patting his shoulders.

Joon-won nodded and went over his script once again for the last time until he heard a few footsteps coming their way. He looked up and saw Do Hwan coming with two other people. He couldn't see their eyes, as both of them wearing sunglasses. The one right beside Do Hwan and in the middle of the three looked like he was in his mid-forties and the other seemed he was comparatively very young, only in his late 20s. He couldn't identify both of them, but Hea-Jung seemed to identify them as she stood up and he followed her. 

"Director Sun and senior Cho, it's good to see both of you." She greeted both of them with a smile. All three of them smiled in return and stopped in front of her.

First, it was the guy in the middle who replied, "Miss. Seo, just call me Uncle Sun. Your father really helped me out to start my career. How are you doing?" He was the director, Sun Shik. A relatively known director in the industry with a few movies that became popular under his belt. He was also the director of the movie he was auditioning for right now.

"Sister Hea-Jung, you can just call me brother. I see you are still very cheerful. That's good to see." The handsome man replied with a slight smile on his face while taking off his sunglasses. But as he spoke Joon-won could hear some reluctance in his voice.

"I'm doing really well, Director Sun. And 'Brother' Cho, you seem to be very busy lately and whenever I contacted you when I was bored and wanted to play, you didn't respond to the calls and messages." She replied to both of them while being sarcastic with the man surnamed Cho. 

Joon-won noticed the handsome man and identified him. He was an A-listed actor and a pretty famous one at that, especially with females. His name was Cho Deasham. He was more famous for his looks than his acting ability. After hearing her sarcastic remarks, he knew this guy was her play toy whenever she got bored. He felt a bit of pity for the guy. 

Cho Deasham was caught off by her sarcastic remarks and slightly sweated. He was trying to find the right words to reply, but before he could, Do Hwan stepped in and took control over the situation. "Alright Hea-Jung, do not bully Cho Deasham. He is still your senior, especially now that you are entering the industry. So show some respect to him." 

Hea-Jung pouted and turned her head, completely ignoring him. Do Hwan shook his head seeing her ignore his advice and turned towards Joon-won who stood there watching their antics, "Ah, Joon-won you're here early. That's good, we won't have any delays in the schedule then. Anyway, these both are Director Sun and Actor Cho Deasham as you might already know their importance in the film, both of them are here to see your acting skills." Introducing the two men.

"So you must be Joon-won. Picked by Miss. Seo and impressed Do Hwan. Let's hope you are up to par and pass our standards." The director observed him and commented. 

Joon-won nodded and replied, "I'll do my best and show what I got." 

"Oh, you are my junior. Sister Hea-Jung picked you up, so you must be good. Let's hope you pass and we both can work together in the film." Cho Deasham commented and Joon-won replied the same as earlier. He felt strange when he heard Hea-Jung picked him up like a small dog, but didn't mind it much.

"Alright Joon-won, wait here for five minutes and come in when we call for you." Do Hwan nodded at their introductions and asked Joon-won. Joon-won nodded and all three of them made their way inside, leaving Hea-Jung and him alone once again. 

Both of them sat in their seats and Hea-Jung said, "Tch, that Director Sun is very good at boot licking, you know. I don't even know that guy and he wants me to call him uncle." She was a little annoyed by the pest. 

"But Cho Deasham is pretty good even though the only reason he is as famous is because of looks. Well, looks are also a part of being a famous actor so it worked out I guess." She shrugged at the end. Joon-won shook his head and continued to look down on his script. 

She turned towards him and said, "You know it will be pretty good for you if you pass this audition." Making Joon-won look at her as if she was an idiot. 

'What do you mean by pretty good? Of course, it will be good to pass an audition and get a role to act. Isn't that everyone's goal when they come to an audition? Has she lost her thinking skills because she got too bored and now it's finally affecting her.' he thought while shaking his head. 

Hea-Jung caught him shaking his head and said, "It's not like what you think. I said it's good for you because of the movie. If you pass this audition and get to act in this movie, you will have a good start. There are some other movies you could audition and get in to but you will have a harder start because of how bad that movie is. This movie is a guaranteed blockbuster, I mean look at the cast and even the story is pretty good from what I heard. So if you act in a blockbuster movie your value is unique compared to you acting in a terrible movie. Get what I mean?" 

Hearing her, he understood what she meant by telling him it would be good if he got into this movie. It's because of the probable success this movie still gets making him shine in a different light compared to dirty movies. 

He nodded and continued to review his script until they heard the door open. Looking up, they noticed it was a female, and she asked both of them to come in. Taking a deep breath, Joon-won stood up and walked towards the door, along with Hea-Jung. Hea-Jung went before him and as he went in, the door behind him closed and saw that it was a mini stage and judges booth, along with lights and speakers. 

"Ah, come to Joon-won. Go ahead and get onto the stage over there. Once you feel ready, we can start. We will ask you to perform scenes from the script we gave you and judge based on that. Does everything sound good?" Do Hwan explained from the judges' table where all three of them sat and now Hea-Jung dragged a chair and joined them.

Joon-won nodded, and he went towards the stage and got to the center. He could feel the flashing lights and saw all four people in front of him looking straight at him. He felt a bit of pressure, unlike the university exam drama. That was a joke compared to now.

Closing his eyes, taking a deep breath he smiled and said, "I'm ready."