Rebirth: King to Superstar

As soon as she said that, the room became tense. Joon-won could hear a few people gulping in the tension. He, on the other hand, remained calm. If the person gets nervous or tense right before a big moment like this, it will go bad. He might either forget or fumble on his lines, which is the worst impression he could leave on the evaluator. So being calm was very important for an actor to perform well.

The assistant walked onto the stage and looked at San Min, who had a book in one hand with all the roles written on one side and a pen on the other hand to write the names of the actors. San Min gave her assistant a nod, and the assistant started calling out names.

He called out the first name and almost everyone in the silent backstage exhaled in relief except the person who got called. He stood up and walked up to the stage. Joon-won sat and paid attention to how the competition was and could immediately tell the guy on stage would not be selected. He got the lines wrong in a few places and stammered a bit. The Villain was a very confident man, and this guy wasn't cut out for it.

The audition was only for 2 minutes each and after the two minutes even if the guy was in the middle of his line; he had to get down off the stage. The assistant continued to call people up, but only some were able to deliver the lines perfectly. But even they had a few issues with their body language and emotions.

Joon-won finally found an interesting person, who did the best out of everyone who stepped on the stage and it turned out to be Dokgo Ki. He was naturally arrogant and excluded with confidence, but his delivery and emotions weren't hitting the right heights. They were either too low or too high. When he came back, he looked at everyone with confidence as if he already got the role and sat down.

The last person to get called was Joon-won. He heard Kar Jung wishing him good luck and gave him a nod before walking onto the stage. He looked at San Min as he stood at the center of the stage and waited for her to tell him a scene number.

San Min gave him a nod before giving out a scene number, and it turned out to be the hardest one. It was the one where the CEO finds out about the whole thing behind his back in the park. Joon-won just took a deep breath, kept a hand in his pocket, turned sideways, and started acting.

He performed the same way he acted back at his home, controlled his emotions as much as he could, and delivered the lines perfectly. His expression changed from happy to shock and nothing as he told his lines. San Min, who sat in the seats, had a smile on her face when she saw his acting. She knew what she was going to get from him and could also notice him controlling the boiling emotions inside him to not seem over the top.

The scene ended perfectly in two minutes and San Min gave him a nod before writing his name down next to the villain role. Joon-won got down and sat back in his seat. He could feel a few people looking at him, but he just closed his eyes and got out of the role. He still felt a few emotions and needed a minute to calm himself down.

After opening his eyes he heard Kar Jung, "Boy you improved a lot from that clip we saw the other day. You are on the route to fixing the problems quicker than I thought. If you control the emotions better and continue to do that, it will be more natural by the end of your holidays. So good luck." While patting his back. Joon-won gave a nod and remained silent. He knew he got the role after seeing San Min's expression and so there wasn't anything to worry about.

The next role was for the hero and this time there were even more people and so everyone was given less time to perform. Joon-won had to go up again and perform. He only practiced a very few scenes of the hero and luckily San Min called out a scene he prepared. This time his acting wasn't as intense as before, but it was still good enough.

The audition continued for the next 2 hours, and everyone auditioned. The assistant called up everyone onto the stage because San Min was going to announce the results. Many people were gripping their hands tightly as they stood on stage in front of San Min.

"Alright now all the roles are done. I will start telling who got the roles. First, let's start with the heroine, Ju Iseul. Your acting still needs improvement, and you still didn't get a few things right. You better work on those by Sunday." A woman who had slight makeup and a pretty face stepped to the front with surprise on her face, which died when she got criticized by San Min.

San Min continued to call out names and Kar Jung, like expected, was selected for the butler role. He didn't even put any effort into the other role he was auditioning for. Many people who didn't get selected for both the roles they auditioned for left the stage but still quite several people were on it because the two most important roles weren't yet announced.

"Alright now Kim Joon-won, come to the front. You auditioned for both the hero and villain roles today. Even though one was better than the other, the bad one was still better than the people here. So tell me which roles you want and the remaining role will go to Dokgo Ki, who was second in both the roles." San Min was direct with her words, which shocked everyone, including the assistant. Only Kar Jung, who knew how good Joon-won was, remained calm.

The one who took the biggest hit was Dokgo Ki. He was the one most arrogant and had the most confidence in himself. He didn't like Joon-won after how Joon-won didn't respect him a few days back and so he purposefully took the villain role to audition too. But now according to San Min not only was Joon-won better than him at the villain role but he was also better at the hero role which he wanted since the start. His fists were closed tight and wanted to protest, but San Min cut him off before he even started.

"Dokgo Ki, whatever you want to say, save it. I don't want to listen to your nonsense right now. You are no way near Kim Joon-won when it comes to acting, and that's the truth. So shut it right now. I don't want to get irritated. Now Kim Joon-won. Give me an answer, quick. Which role do you want?"

As soon as he heard that Dokgo Ki's face went green. He didn't even have the right to ask how this no-name guy who came to the drama house only a few days ago was able to take a role from him. According to San Min, he was only the second choice, and Dokgo Ki hated that. He couldn't take out the anger on the boss and so he turned towards Joon-won, who was still standing in the front. He wanted to rip the guy apart for humiliating him in front of everyone. Dokgo Ki could hear a few snickers towards him among the people present on the stage.

Joon-won on the other hand, couldn't care less about the hate he was getting from behind. He looked at San Min and said, "I'll take the villain role boss."

San Min nodded and turned towards Dokgo Ki, who was fuming. She couldn't care less about the arrogant guy and said, "Dokgo Ki, you will take the hero role then. Alright, guys, that's the end of the audition for this week's drama. You all should get your measurements checked by the costumes department so that they can start finding costumes for the roles. So do that before you leave for the day. Guys prepare well and we will meet again on Friday evening for the costume and props check." And walked away, followed by her assistant.

As soon as she disappeared, everyone started to speak. A few people came up to Joon-won and congratulated him. A few people asked if he was free for a few drinks later that day. Joon-won denied the drinks and walked away from the group. He wanted to get his measurements checked and go back home.

There was already a small line by the time he reached the place and started waiting. It took him a few minutes to get into the room and he walked to Pak Shin as his role was a main character.