Rebirth: King to Superstar

Early in the morning, Joon-won was already in front of the gym. He looked around the quiet street with the sun slowly showing itself and the regularly busy streets, empty. The gym was very active despite the time. He could hear grunts and shouts from inside, like before. He came in a better outfit and walked in. This time the front desk wasn't empty and a young boy was sitting in the chair, playing games on his mobile.

Joon-won walked up to the guy and knocked on the table. The guy looked up and quickly kept the phone down before asking him, "What can I do for you?" 

"The boss asked me to meet him today so I can start my week's free trial. Is he in?" He pointed at the door on the right. 

The guy nodded and said while standing up, "Yeah, he is in. Let me check if he is busy or not." And went to the door before giving it a knock. 

He went in and came out after a second before giving him a wave. 

"Go in, the boss was expecting you." Joon-won nodded and went into Choe Kwan's office. The office was pretty small with certificates and a few trophies on the shelves and walls. There were also a few pictures with some people he didn't recognize. 

Choe Kwan pointed at the seat opposite to him and asked Joon-won to have a seat. He smiled and poured Joon-won a glass of water before he said, "Are you ready to start your free trial?" Joon-won nodded and Choe Kwan called in the guy from the front desk. 

When the guy came in, Choe Kwan said, "Go and call Dong Kun over. Tell him the boss is calling him." The guy nodded and went out of the room.

"I'll ask one of my trainers to help you out with your training this week so you can understand how the services are because you want to take this package even after the trial. Dong Kun is a certified trainer and also won a few bodybuilding championships in the region. So don't worry, he is good for a beginner like you."

Joon-won nodded and the same man he saw yesterday came in with a wide grin on his face and hands on his hips. 

"What's up, boss. The little guy at the desk told me you called. What can I do for you?" Joon-won thought the guy couldn't be any more cheerful. He looked like a walking ball of energy. 

Choe Kwan nodded and said, "Yes, Dong Kun, I called you in because there is a customer. This is Joon-won and he is going to start his free trial today and wants a trainer. I recommend you in hopes that you can show the way. Treat him well." Pointing at Joon-won across from him. 

Dong Kun finally noticed Joon-won and said, "Sure, boss. I'll turn this skinny frame into pure muscles in no time." Flexing his muscles a bit. 

Choe Kwan nodded and looked at Joon-won with a smile before saying, "You can follow him this week and he'll be responsible. If you are fine with it and want to continue, you can come to me after the week. Alright?"

Joon-won nodded before standing up and turning towards Dong Kun, who still had a smile on his face. Joon-won wondered if he had face cramps for a second. 

"I'll be in your care, Mr. Dong." He said respectfully. He didn't want to get slapped with those big muscles for being disrespectful. 

Dong Kun nodded and said, "Yes, I'll also be in your care. Just call me Dong Kun instead of using Mr in my name. It doesn't suit me at all. Come let's get going. We need to start your training." And walked out of the room. Joon-won thanked Choe Kwan once again before following Dong Kun to the gym.

The gym had quite a lot of people working out, even at the time he came in. He noticed a few ladies walking upstairs on the side. Dong Kun took Joon-won to the side and said, "Well, the first thing I suggest you do is to gain weight. I mean, if you don't have at least a bit of fat to turn into muscle, it's useless to do all this. So I suggest you eat something which gives you protein, like eggs or fish. Eat more of these kinds of food, exercise regularly and before you know it, you'll have a few muscles to show off." 

Joon-won nodded and continued to listen to what Dong Kun had to say as both of them went through various exercises in a one-hour span. Dong Kun was a wonderful hype man. He taught everything about the exercise and what the main purpose was before they did it. The first day was more about Dong Kun understanding how Joon-won's body really was and how to improve it further.

After an hour, Joon-won was standing outside of the gym with Dong Kun in front of him, covered in sweat and muscles screaming in pain. 

Dong Kun still had a smile on his face and said, "That session was good. Now I have a general understanding of where we can start with your fitness. But the main important thing is for you to eat more and gain some weight. If you take in some protein and carbohydrate foods which give you energy, it's good. Take an ice bath if possible after reaching home. It will help with the muscle pain."

Joon-won gave him a thin smile despite fighting through the pain and said, "Yes, the session was good. Thanks for the help, Dong Kun." And walked away slowly. He felt his body might break off if he went any faster. 

Reaching home, he directly went into the bathroom and turned on the cold water. He went to the fridge and brought some ice he had and dumped it all in. After taking off his clothes and taking in a few breaths, he went all into the water. He couldn't help but groan at how uncomfortable he felt. 

He could feel it working, but it was still very uncomfortable. The day went on as Joon-won ate a heavy meal with eggs like he was asked to and dragged his weak body to the store. He wanted to sleep, but that wasn't particularly good for him. 

During a break, he took out his phone and opened the script Jung-hwa sent him. He read through the whole script and felt it was ok. It wasn't as good as the script he had but was way better than the one Roh Jo wrote. It was on the right level of difficulty for someone like Jung-hwa who needed more practice with expressing the right emotions.

He sent a quick text to her telling it was good and that she should do her best. By the time his shift ended, his body felt a little better as he got some rest in the store and quickly took a cab to the drama house after having a few snacks. He didn't want to be late for the audition at any cost. 

Luckily the driver was experienced with the city and took Joon-won through a lot of shady roads to get to the drama house in 30 minutes. He paid extra to the guy and walked in. The audition was going to be on stage and they needed to be in the backstage waiting to be called up. 

Joon-won took a seat to the side and saw most of the people were already there. Everyone was looking at their scripts, some were trying their dialogues. He also took out his script and went through the lines once again before closing his eyes. Closing his eyes helped him to calm down as he canceled everything around him. 

He woke up when someone shook him and saw it was Kar Jung. Kar Jung pointed at his script and said, "What did you do to that script? Once give it to me." And he just passed it over. Those were his notes and weren't much of a big deal.

Kar Jung was shocked when he saw the script. Most of the script was underlined or circled with notes written beside them about the character. Reading the notes made him understand what Joon-won was thinking and how he perceived every character. He also saw a few notes on the butler and knew Joon-won understood even that role to some extent. 

He handed the script back and said, "No wonder you are so good. That script tells so much about you and how you do things." 

Joon-won shrugged, "It is what it is." 

Kar Jung nodded and remained silent until the assistant came over. She looked at all of them and told them to be ready to be called upon the stage. They were first starting with the villain role and that the boss was already in the seat to evaluate everyone.