Rebirth: King to Superstar

"Yeah, I'll audition for the hero role, too. But I feel the role isn't matching how I am and am not interested in it. But as I told you guys before, no one will get the role I land my eyes on in an audition. So are you going to go back home now?" Joon-won replied. He was confident. 

"Alright, I know your skills are very good in theatre but do not forget the main reason you came here in the first place. You came to take those skills to the next level. So practice with that in mind. Solve your problems so you can go out there and audition for roles in movies, not in a theatre. And yes, I am going home now. I want to take some rest." 

Joon-won nodded and decided to also go back home. He did not want to practice in a crowded place like this. He liked peace when he goes through the script and understands the role for the first time. 

Joon-won took the bus back home again and decided to get some workout done before he started going through a script. He changed clothes and went out for a jog. His body felt better after he started getting reps done. Compared to two weeks back, his body was obviously fitter, and he started to wonder if he should go to a gym. 

He got back home from the jog, did a few more exercises, and went into the bath. He scrolled through his phone to see any gyms nearby he could afford. He found one in no time near the park he jobs up to. He decided to go there the next day when he goes for his early morning jog. 

He got out of the bath and wore some fresh clothes before sitting on the couch with the script and pencil in his hand. As he was about to start going through the script, he received the text message from Jung-hwa. She was asking if he was free and wanted to hang out because her day at the drama house finished. 

After thinking for a few seconds, he agreed. He wanted to know what she was up to and if the drama house was good. She immediately replied and asked if they could meet in front of the university after 30 minutes. He sent a quick alright and kept the script down with a sigh. He could check the script after coming back for a few hours before going to sleep. 

He checked the time and noticed it 5:30. He had to go to the university gate at 6. He was feeling a little hungry and decided to take out a bag of chips from the closet, a little snack to get him going at least till dinner. 

After 15 minutes passed by he got up, wore his shoes, and got out. He reached the gate on time and looked around before noticing she didn't arrive yet. He waited another 2 minutes before hearing his name from behind and turned around. Sure enough, it was the girl he helped out when he first arrived. 

"Joon-won you look better only after a week. You don't look so skinny and malnourished anymore. Good to see you are eating well." She patted his back with a smile. 

"Yes, Jung-hwa, it's good to see you are still cheerful, like always. How were your holidays?" as he moved away a bit from all her excessive patting. 

Jung-hwa shrugged and replied, "They were fun, I guess. It was relaxing after a whole week of grinding for the final exam. How was your week?" 

"We can talk about that later. A lot happened. So where do you want to?" he found it awkward standing in front of the university gate where there are people constantly going in and out. 

"Let's go to the university park, then. There aren't many people around at this time there. So it should be fine." 

Joon-won nodded and both of them made their way towards the park. As Joon-won said, it was mostly empty with only a few couples and students playing games. Both of them sat on a bench to the side and Jung-hwa said. 

"Your sister is really a nice person, unlike you. Both of us talked a lot over the weekend after that incident and we both even exchanged phone numbers."

Joon-won ignored her first sentence and asked, "You both exchanged phone numbers? When did both of you become that close to talk a lot?" 

"Of course we became close. We also met once after that incident on Saturday because I was coming back here. She is a nice and hardworking girl. She is studying a lot and is very smart. I was shocked to see how different both of you are." 

Joon-won nodded and said, "Yes, she is very smart. It's good to hear that she is not wasting more time than she already had. Well anyway, how was your day at the drama house? Was everything fine?" 

Jung-hwa nodded and replied, "Of course everything was fine. The owner of that drama was an old lady and according to her, Mr. Hwan seemed to help them out big time when they were in need. That's why she agreed to take me in. There were also many awards on her shelf and it looked like she was pretty well known in the theatre industry."

"That's good. It looks like she has quite some experience then. Don't waste the opportunity. Who knows, if you improve, you can try out a few auditions with confidence. What did she tell you to do? Like, did she assign any tasks?" 

"Yeah, she is an awesome woman. She also told me her husband was an actor in a few movies and both of them started the drama house together. He passed away a few years ago and now she is running it. Both her kids are also actors and play side character roles in movies."

Joon-won nodded, and she continued, "She did tell me to try out auditioning for a performance next week. The drama house has performances every 2 weeks and yesterday was the latest one. So she told me to get the script tomorrow and audition on Friday with the other people there."

"That's good. With your current skills, you can give an audition for a drama performance. She also is giving a lot of time to the actors there. Use these 4 days and get to know the character you are aiming for completely. Just remember the advice I gave you and you should be fine. Also, something important, learn how to act in movies more because there is a lot of difference between what they teach here and what the outside world really needs." 

He understood that not every drama house has the manpower and capacity to put up performances every week like Roses. This was also better for Jung-hwa who took her time in understanding the characters to have performances every other week."

"Yeah, yeah. I didn't ask us to meet so that you could lecture me like this. The boss of my drama house and you are so similar. Anyway, now tell me about your week. By the message you sent me yesterday past midnight, it looks like you are having a blast." Joon-won understood she was talking about the party last night. 

"The week was a rocky ride for me. First with the audition rejection, due to a few problems, I didn't know about my acting, and then I joined the drama house after all the roles for the performance on Sunday were given out. So, I had to help out by making costumes for the actors."

"The party yesterday was because it was some kind of tradition in the drama house that they party after every successful Sunday. So as a newbie, I didn't want to reject it. That's why I missed your calls and messages." He sighed at the end to make it more dramatic and sad. 

Just like he thought, Jung-hwa fell for it and patted his back before consoling him, "It's ok Joon-won. As your friend, I won't hold it against you anymore. Just start focusing on the problems they told you have in the audition. I am sure you will fix them in no time and get a movie role. How was your day today?"

Joon-won felt bad a little seeing how she really fell for it. He was an old man tricking a little girl. If anyone knew that the king was doing such a thing in his old world, he wouldn't even dare to show his face out in public. But oh well, he was only a university student here and nothing more. 

"Today was fine. I woke up hungover after the party and then went to the drama house to get the script for this week's performance. I got the script and as I was about to start going through it, you called."