Rebirth: King to Superstar

Joon-won looked at Hye-Su as she continued to walk and then at the phone before sighing at his bad luck. She was just about to talk as he tried to make things right, but the phone call just had to interrupt the scene and make her walk away. He didn't know if he would get another moment to talk with her. Letting out another sigh, he answered the phone to see two anxious faces, which made his frustration lessen a little.

Min-Seok was the first to burst out the questions out of the two. "Joon-won, what happened? Are you fine? Why did you drop your phone suddenly like that? Why was your face so pale when earlier? Is everything alright over there? We'll get on the first train in the evening to come there. So tell us." 

Joon-won looked at both of them and replied, "I'm fine. Do not worry. You do not need to come here at all. I was just a bit tired, and the phone slipped from my fingers earlier. Nothing important. You are just thinking too much. Anyway, are the results out? I think they are, aren't they? So how did it go?" And slowly continued to walk. He didn't want to be behind Hye-Su. 

Yun-hee was the first to speak this time, as she grabbed the phone from Min-Seok and walked away. She said, "Brother it's ok to tell us. Tell us what happened? Your face was so white as if you got the scare of your life. Did you see a ghost or something? We can handle it so tell us." Joon-won was almost beside Hye-Su as Yun-hee said that and he heard a snicker from Hye-Su. His face became a bit red, and he replied. He could also hear Min-Seok shout in the background that everything is going to be ok. 

"Don't talk nonsense. Things like ghosts don't exist. I was just a little tired and out of breath. That's all. I should not have even answered the call. Now tell me about the results of the exam. Which university are you planning to take?" He just wanted to get over this topic as quickly as he could. He didn't want to lose face when he was trying his best to make a good impression on Hye-Su.

Noticing he was serious, Yun-hee told in a solemn tone, "Your sister has probably topped the entire town. I did it. But we couldn't even enjoy the result because of you. Even dad was even more nervous after seeing your face that he probably did not even register my results properly." 

Joon-won looked at her and congratulated her with a smile, "That's great. You really did it. And don't worry about dad. He'll realize it after he cools down a little. He is just being overly anxious again. But damn, you really did great. I only thought you'll get a good score, not a great score. So tell me now, which University did you apply to?" 

Yun-hee dropped the solemn expression on her face and said in a cheeky tone, "Now you gotta wait a week or two for the university. I'm 100 percent sure that I'll get accepted to the university I applied to, but still, nothing beats seeing the acceptance letter in our mailbox. So wait till that day. But I'll tell you I'm going to take business management as my course. Imagine me as a boss lady." She acted as if she had glasses on and pushed them up with a smirk.

Joon-won thought for a second when he heard her take business management and remembered his colleague, Gah Soo. She was even studying the same course in a pretty reputable University in the city. He decided to ask her a bit about the course to get to know more about it.

So he nodded and replied, "Well, that's great. I have a friend who studies the course at a university here. So I'll ask how the course is. I'm sure you put much thought into it before choosing the course, but me getting to know more is not something bad. Anyway, open the door now. I can still hear dad's anxious voice and I'm sure he wants to talk a little." He thought the mischief was enough for the old man behind the door. 

Yun-hee just nodded with a strange expression, but he couldn't see it properly as she turned the phone towards the door as it opened. As soon as the door opened, Joon-won saw an anxious Min-Seok walking up and down the hallway. 

Min-Seok noticed the door open and immediately grabbed the phone from Yun-hee's hand before telling her, "How can you grab the phone away like that? I was talking to him." But his stern face didn't last long as he ignored her and looked at Joon-won. 

"Joob-won, are you really ok? Tell me if you aren't. I can come there at night. It's only a few hours' journey to the Jade mountains from here." The man was still concerned for him. 

Joon-won sighed and said, "Dad, I'm really fine. See, I am even going back now. You know what, wait. Hye-Su, can you hold the camera for me?" As he tried to show himself but just decided to ask Hye-Su to hold the phone so that Min-Seok could see him and feel alright. 

Hye-Su looked at the phone for a second before sighing and taking it in her hand. She didn't know what happened to her, but she felt a bit close to the guy. He was a crude mannerless bastard in her eyes, but she wanted to get to know him a bit better and that was also the reason she was about to reply to his request to have a new start earlier. She originally just wanted to silently get down the mountain without even seeing his face once, but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen due to reasons she can't understand.

So taking the phone into her hand, she just turned the screen towards him as it was still on the front camera and she had no interest in looking at his father either. 

"See dad, I'm completely alright. Everything is completely fine. I'm even going down the mountain now. Are you happy now? Don't get stressed because of small things. I was just tired from not eating anything and the long hike up the mountain. Now I had a nice lunch and am ok." As he took back the phone from Hye-Su and he didn't forget to whisper her a thank you too.

Hye-Su gave him a small nod before she continued down the mountain. After showing himself, Min-Seok seemed relieved as he said, "That's good. Seeing you pale like that earlier was very scary for both of us. I'm happy to see you are alright." 

Joon-won nodded and replied, "That's good. Now congratulate Yun-hee too. The results were fantastic like I told you. I'll order both of you some dinner tonight as a gift for her, so don't cook anything today. Don't be quick to deny it. U have money to give her a small gift for the good work she did. So you also congratulate her a bit. Alright then, I'll be going now. I still have a long way to go. I'll call at night once again." Min-Seok nodded and did not cut the call before telling him to be careful once again.

Joon-won finally became relieved as the call ended before he pocketed the phone and this time kept it silent. He didn't want another call to disturb his time with her. He didn't try to start a conversation immediately and instead just continued to look around while he sneaked a few glances at her trying to find the perfect time to start one.

As he tried to find the perfect time, he noticed the mid-way rest point came up. He smiled a little and turned towards her before saying, " Do you want some juice? I'll go buy some juice, I also want some." Pointing at one of the shops. Hye-Su looked at him for a few seconds before giving him a small nod. 

Joon-won's face instantly became brighter as he asked her to wait for a second before he sprinted towards the shop. But as soon as he stood in front of the juice section, he faced a problem. He didn't know what juice she liked. He definitely didn't want to go back and ask, as she might just tell him to forget about it and continue walking down. So he did the next best stupid thing. He brought one of each juice there was. In the end, he bought a total of 15 juices he found in the shop.

He walked out with a huge bag in his hand, making Hye-Su, who was waiting, bewildered. He came closer and took out his juice before sticking the bag out towards her and said in the best straight face he could manage at that time, "Here, I didn't know what juice you liked. So I bought one of each kind. You can have the entire bag too. I drink little juice."