Rebirth: King to Superstar

Joon-won looked at the phone in his hand before sighing to himself. He feared what happened to the little girl in his memories he received to make her work in a place like that. He felt angry towards the girl after he heard she has been working for nearly a month. Those kinds of places were dangerous, especially for women, who get trapped and can not escape later on. 

He sighed a couple of times throughout the conversation, knowing how dumb the original Joon-won was. He couldn't appreciate the good family god gave him, which many out there didn't have the privilege to have, including him. He learned about the problems the house was facing and it was pretty serious if even a high schooler who has the most important exams coming up could not help but panic and take things into her own hand. 

He can't talk about this with Min-Seok as the man will try to deny it and bear the complete burden on his two shoulders like how has been doing it for as long as he remembers, Min-Seok worked his ass off as a single father to keep the family afloat and provide education for both of them. 

Now the family didn't have enough money for both of them. Yun-hee was far more talented and smart and it would be the most horrible mistake they can do if they don't send that girl to university. He can't mention this to Min-Seok and has to provide money for her studies. 

One year of university tuition was generally about 100k and can be paid in portions throughout the year. Now his bank account had only around 25k and that is nowhere enough. Along with tuition, they also need to take care of her living conditions, which are dorm rooms. Those take some more out of their pockets. 

Joon-won felt a huge headache coming, thinking about all this financial stuff. He never faced this problem. Before becoming a king, he only had to take care of himself and he would do odd jobs to live and after becoming the king he forgot about the existence of money. 

He looked at the script on the table and knew this audition might be the solution for all his problems. Even a minor role would get him 50k and that's enough for lessening the burden for them. He clutched the script and started to take it more seriously. The audition was tomorrow, and he needed to be completely prepared to take it on. 

He went through the entire script a few times and as he did; he received a message from Jung-hwa. He saw it was about how she parted ways with her sister and that the boss of the store left her after giving a small warning, making him sigh in relief. 

He thanked her and told her he will give her a party after she returns as thanks. After chatting with her for a few seconds, he returned to the script. He was almost done with it and practiced harder to nail the role.

The day went by and he slept early after eating some dinner, which he cooked up. 

The next day started normally as he went out for his normal jog in the morning. He could feel his body was getting more energetic and fit, as he could push himself further. He wondered if he should join a gym to build a few muscles. Even though he was fit, his body was still lean, and that needed to change. He checked his weight and noticed he only went up by a few grams. 

He shook his head and decided he could do all that after getting some money and solving the current problems at hand.

Returning home, he took a quick bath before eating breakfast and walking out of the apartment, listening to music. He reached the shop, changed his clothes, and got to work. He asked Eum Kyung about a few books to read. Eum Kyung was quick to respond when it came to books and told a few of his favorite books.

Joon-won wanted books to relieve some of the stress he is slowly accumulating. Books were the perfect way for him as they provide some peace. Both of them talked for a few seconds about books and movies before Eum Kyung got off his shift and Joon-won became busy with the customers. 

After Gah Soo got behind the counter, he took a rest and simply listened to some music while looking out if any customer needed help. After the rush hour was done and Gah Soo sat beside him, he handed her a bottle of water.

Drinking a few mouthfuls of water, she turned towards him and asked, "So today is the big day, huh. Do your best and get that role. Oh, if you get it tell me which actor you beat for it." 

He knew she was talking about the audition and replied while giving a nod, "Thanks, but it's not like it's fixed that I'll get a role. I might not get it too." Shrugging his shoulders while decreasing her expectations. 

"Well, don't be so negative about it. Who knows, you might get it. So go and give the audition with full confidence." Patting his shoulder. He just nodded and changed the topic to something more neutral. He learned a lot about the finance side of the world from her and was glad that he did. 

According to her, there were many opportunities for him to earn money, but he needed money to earn money. Investing needed money and he didn't have that at the present. The more he talked with her, the more he realizes she was very good at what she learned and knew many things about the market. She also did her own investing in small amounts and earned some money from it. 

They continued to talk till his shift ended and he quickly changed his clothes before walking out of the building and stopped at the door outside when he saw a red sports car with a woman in the driving seat. 

Hea-Jung took off her glasses and said while waving her hands, "Little brother, it's been a day since the last time I saw you. Did you practice your script perfectly? I hope you did because if you didn't as you didn't even want me to help you with it. Anyway, come in, I don't want to hold the traffic because of you."

'Hold the traffic?' He thought, stunned by her last sentence. He looked to the left and then to the left and saw a deserted road. This side of the city had almost no cars and this young lady is telling about holding the traffic because of him. 

He shook his head and replied, "Yes, yes. Anyway, are you planning to come with me to the audition?" he didn't plan to ask how she got to know the timings because he knew it was easy for her to find out from her uncle. But she was going to come with him to audition, too. Why?

"Yeah, I am going to come. That's why I'm here, to pick you up. Let's quickly go eat and go there. The clock is ticking. Your audition is at 2." waving her hand to get in. He nodded and got in the car as she drove away from the supermarket. 

As they drove away, they didn't notice Gah Soo listening to them from the inside, with her eyes and mouth wide open. She looked at them driving away and thought, 'The two are really close. The rich miss also came to pick him up even after how he is. Is Joon-won a rich scion who works in normal jobs like in the movies?'

Her thoughts started to go wild as she thought, 'Should I ask him if he really is a wealthy man who is working a normal job to know about things so he could take over a massive business empire in the future? Is it dangerous of me to know all this?'

If Joon-won heard her thoughts, he would have rolled his eyes until his eyes would fall off. Gah Soo loved online dramas and the concept of secret and cool CEO ones especially. She thought Joon-won was also one of them who is living a normal life as a trial period.

'Wait, no-no. My obsession with dramas is clouding my judgment. Hahaha, how can he be one of those scions in the movies? He already told her she was the one who got him the audition opportunity in a way. So it's natural for the young miss to take care of him. I'm just thinking too much. Well, let's get back to work' As she realized and snapped out of her endless thoughts. She slapped her cheeks and continued working.

As Gah Soo finally concentrated on work again, the red sports car stopped in front of a restaurant for a quick eat before it makes its way towards 'Glorious Production'.