Rebirth: King to Superstar

Joon-won on the other side sighed as he heard her stutter and knew the stupid girl made another stupid mistake. Shaking his head, he continued, "Just don't do this kind of stuff again. It's too much to deal with. If you do something I asked you to not do again, the friendship is over. Got it?" 

Jung-hwa nodded even though she knew he couldn't see and said, "Yes, yes. I'm sorry. I forgot in the heat of the moment when I saw the huge banner. It was so cool to see you on a huge banner like that and I just whipped out my phone unconsciously and before I knew it, I already posted it." 

Joon-won sighed once again and said, "Alright then, go back to the dorms and prepare for your own drama. I need to take some rest now before the next run starts again." Before cutting the call. 

He looked at the chatbox and noticed there were messages from people he didn't even know in the memories he received from the old Joon-won. He saw messages from people like Roh Ji, the class teacher, and also the vice dean. He didn't bother opening Roh Ji's chat box and opened the vice dean's instead. The vice-dean was congratulating him for the accomplishment and also told him he was going to watch the afternoon run of the drama. 

He sent a simple reply thanking him and opened Gah Soo's chatbox. Gah Soo was congratulating him and appreciating his acting. She also sent a few pictures of him during the drama she took after she woke up from the initial shock. He thanked her before forwarding the pictures to his father, who was asking him if the drama was done. 

He received another wave of shock emojis from his father and knew it was probably Yun-hee. The next message was also in all caps, telling her she didn't recognize him in the pictures and that the make-up applied to him made him look handsome. Min-Seok probably snatched the phone back as the next message was in small letters and asking if he had lunch. 

Joon-won talked for a while with both of them before he deleted all the other chat boxes except his father's, Yun-hee, Jung-hwa, and a few others he knew, like the supermarket Co-workers. He deleted even Mo Yang's after noticing his chat was him asking how he nailed an acting role in a huge drama house and if he could get him a job there too.

He relaxed for the rest of the break before the time for the next run. San Min came into the room to tell about how the audience felt and congratulated them. She also encouraged them with another party if even the next run went well. When the time came, Joon-won got up and made his way to the backstage once again with a smile on his face.

The Vice-Dean arrived on time and as he parked his car and walked to the front of the drama house, he noticed the poster which made him come there. He looked at the Joon-won poster by the side and continued to walk towards the line. He had to wait in the line as he could only grab a normal ticket and not a VIP one because he asked for them at the last minute. 

He got inside and got to his seat, which was a bit far from the stage to his liking, but he could only adjust. The curtains opened, and he saw the student once again only after 2 weeks again. He looked the same as before, but when he opened his mouth, the vice dean understood why the guy got the role. 

As the show went on, the vice dean got excited watching a student of the school. If any other student from the same major would see his face, they would be stunned. The vice-dean had a reputation for being strict and fair. He rarely showed a smile and would often criticize when the actors make even the tiniest mistakes.

When the show ended, the vice dean stood up and walked away. He got in his car and looked at the orange sky as the sun was slowly going down and murmured, "We had such a talent in the class and didn't identify it. We are such a failure. He is going to flourish a lot after learning from this place." He sighed and drove away as his thoughts were still on Joon-won's acting. 

On the other hand, Joon-won changed his clothes and was back in his comfortable wear as everyone were in the restroom, waiting for San Min to walk through the doors and tell them the drama was a success. Joon-won felt it was as he could see the expressions of many people during the ending scene and most of them had satisfied expressions on their faces.

Joon-won looked around the room and saw everyone was in groups talking to each other about the drama and what drinks they wanted to try at the party later. San Min walked in with her assistant, shutting down any talks in the room as all of them looked at her, hoping for a good result. 

San Min nodded and said, "Alright guys, the reviews for the drama came in and I have to say, we outdid ourselves this time. We got an average of 4.7 rating this time, which is above our usual results, so this time instead of a pub, like always, we are rather going to an all-you-can-eat 3-star buffet. It took me a lot of connections to get us the entire place, so enjoy it to the fullest." 

Hearing her, everyone gasped in surprise. There were only a few 3-Star restaurants in the city. In the city, the highest was the 5-Star restaurant and there was only one. Joon-won didn't continue to listen and took out his phone instead. He searched up the Royal Blue restaurant he went to with Hea-Jung and Do Hwan a week earlier. He noticed even the Blue Star was a 3-Star restaurant and was impressed with the place once again.

San Min clapped her hands and said everyone to make their way outside, as the drama house had a bus for the people who had no transportation to use because the restaurant was a bit far away. 

Joon-won picked up his bag and walked towards the door of the room with everyone. As he walked out of the room, he heard someone call him from behind and turned around. He noticed it was actually Dokgo Ki who called out to him. Dokgo Ki pointed to the side of the room, asking him to come back inside. 

Thinking for a second, he thought, why not and walked back inside before making his way towards Dokgo Ki. Dokgo Ki looked at Joon-won with his fists clenched tightly. He hated the guy in front of him very much, but he couldn't do anything. First time in his life he felt inferior to somebody who was younger and below him. He wanted to show he was better than him and redeem himself a little, but after getting on the stage earlier today, he realized he was nowhere near his level at all.

"I'm sorry for acting rude to you earlier." He apologized. Even though he was arrogant, he knew his place and after seeing his acting, he knew Joon-won earned his respect.

Joon-won looked at the kid in front of him, who was suddenly apologizing for being rude. He didn't understand what got into the kid suddenly to change so much. But seeing him apologize for something which was that small, he couldn't ignore it. 

So Joon-won nodded and replied, "It's alright. You don't need to apologize for something small like this too. Just show a bit of respect to people, they aren't toys after all. You show respect and people will respect you too, instead of fearing you. If that's it, I'm going to get going." 

Dokgo Ki looked at the guy's back for a second before shaking his head. He felt a little relieved after admitting defeat and after hearing him; he wanted to practice harder. 

Joon-won walked out and just as he was about to get on the bus, he heard Kar Jung call out for him from his car at the side. Even San Min was inside. They were asking him to ride with them again. 

Getting inside the car, San Min said, "You did pretty well today. You were able to keep those emotions in check and not get too involved in it like before. If you continue on this path, you'll get over your problems soon."

Joon-won nodded and replied, "I feel the same way. This practice is helping me more than I thought." His emotions were stable earlier today during the drama, but he was also keeping a constant check on it and that was his next goal, to act such a way he didn't need to think about it during acting.