Chapter 173: 173

As soon as Woo-Jin was done with his speech, the sound of applause erupted so loud that it made his ears ring, and the trophy in his hand felt heavy. But, as unexpected as it was, time went by very quickly after winning the award. Before he knew it, his heavy body felt light, and the entire time his heart was beating happily. And everything became perfect the moment The Red Enemy won the Best Picture Award during the final highlight of the film festival.

Woo-Jin thought about the first time Prince Myeong-Hwan from The Red Enemy came into his life. He had avoided him out of his rejection of his past life, as well as the fact that Prince Myeong-Hwan was a narcissistic person. Since it was his past life, he was confident he knew Prince Myeong-Hwan better than anyone else, thereby creating a prejudice. However, Woo-Jin didn’t know a lot about his present self. He had no clue how Chae Woo-Jin would be tomorrow, but would it be different from his past lives?

While portraying Prince Myeong-Hwan, he saw a side of his past life he didn’t know about before. And he came to feel sorry for Prince Myeong-Hwan and became fond of him. Even though Woo-Jin had been getting into character while he acted, he saw the role as something he had to portray; he had never genuinely loved it.

He considered it an exciting challenge only because he saw acting as the main subject and regarded the role as just a tool for acting. And then, as he portrayed Prince Myeong-Hwan, he reflected on himself and learned how to understand and love. He conveyed these feelings to the role he was portraying as well.

Woo-Jin was very familiar with Prince Myeong-Hwan from The Red Enemy, and it was the door that opened up a new world. Thus, receiving the award for his role as Prince Myeong-Hwan in The Red Enemy was very meaningful to him. He didn’t know if he was happy because he had received an award, or that he had received recognition, or both, for that matter. But, as one famous actress said, it was a beautiful night.

***

Chae Woo-Jin didn’t understand why he had won the Popularity Award. He was very curious whether he had any fans abroad who voted for him.

“You didn’t know? You’re very, very popular abroad.” Woo-Jin had a doubtful look on his face in response to Hwang Yi-Young’s reply.

Hwang Yi-Young was dumbfounded after seeing how Woo-Jin acted as though he had just heard the most ridiculous thing ever. She proceeded to show him an international site for his fan club. There were detailed translations of the awards Woo-Jin had received the day before, as well as the details of his speeches. The fans who had mastered Korean because of their love for Korean celebrities had added subtitles to the videos and shared them.

The most popular video clip from the Golden Dragon Film Festival was the one when Woo-Jin won the Popularity Award and clapped his hands while staring blankly at the screen, even though his name was called. Woo-jin had then proceeded to point at himself in disbelief. His fans thought it was very adorable.

Under the video where Woo-Jin asked Kang Min-Ho, his co-star from his drama last year, if he had indeed won the award because he didn’t believe the ladies sitting next to him, dozens of comments from his fans could be seen, saying, ‘I voted for you, Genie!’

On top of the posts about the film festival, there were plenty of other posts where fans summarized the recent episode of Life Depicted and shared their opinions in detail. Since they were all written in Chinese, Woo-Jin could read them without any difficulty.

–– Having learned the piano for 15 years, I can guarantee you that Genie has what it takes right now to become a professional pianist.

└ Not just a professional pianist — regardless of what he does, it feels as though he has been a professional in that field for at least a decade. Frankly, it feels longer than that, but I’m only saying a decade because he looks too young and beautiful.

–– That teddy bear is really cute. The fans who were there that day must have been very upset for failing to recognize Genie. If I were them, I’d become sick after finding out the truth.

└ Some fans did recognize him, just that Genie and his friend used a smokescreen strategy to throw them off. That was how the video of the awful dance came about in the first place. If it were me, I wouldn’t have been able to connect the person dancing in such a manner to the elegant Genie.

└ He looked so cute and pitiful when his body became all limp from exhaustion and when he slept on the floor, snoring away. By the way, what does ‘ajossi’ mean? I don’t really know much Korean — I merely watch the videos. Why did Genie look so shocked when he heard someone say that to him? Since that part is from yesterday’s episode, there aren’t any subtitles yet, so it’s making me feel extremely frustrated.

└ ‘Ajusshi’ means uncle. So it’s completely understandable why Genie was shocked.

Many people had shared their thoughts on the site. Perhaps, these fans abroad had watched the previous day’s episode in real-time. Those fluent in Korean had also translated bits and pieces of the episode for the fans who were frustrated due to the lack of subtitles.

–– By the way, who is the singer Genie met on the streets? I really liked the song Genie was listening to while he was sitting on the road. Please tell me the name of the singer and the title of the song! Also, I don’t know what they were talking about at the restaurant, but I liked how warm the ambience was.

└ The singer's name is Lee Hyung-Jin, and the title of the song is Comma. You can’t download it yet as it hasn't been released, but there are many videos of him singing it live. Additionally, if you knew about his pitiful situation, you wouldn’t think of it as warm. Of course, the friendly and gentle ambience was genuine, and it was nice to look at nonetheless.

└ I’ll put a link here — do check it out if you want to learn more about Lee Hyung-Jin. I’ve always been a fan of Lee Hyung-Jin. I’m very glad the truth about him has been revealed, and I love how Genie is fond of Lee Hyung-Jin, and stood by his side, protecting him. I hope Lee Hyung-Jin joins Genie’s agency.

–– What was the song Genie sang at the restaurant yesterday? Why is it so good?

└ Lee Hyung-Jin wrote the lyrics, and Genie sang it on the spot. It’s so good, right? His fans on the Korean site are going crazy over it too. Everybody wants the song to be officially released as soon as possible. I heard Lee Hyung-Jin is currently in the same agency as Genie! From what I’ve heard, Lee Hyung-Jin mustered up his courage and got himself a beautiful woman(?).[1]

Woo-Jin was shocked to see that the fans abroad knew so much about Lee Hyung-Jin. Despite the distance and language barrier, they kept the fandom going strong and constantly engaged in fandom activities. He was very impressed by their passion and drive.

After meeting with Woo-Jin, Lee Hyung-Jin mustered up his courage and took the initiative to make a trip to DS’ headquarters. CEO Jang Soo-Hwan was thrilled and welcomed him with open arms.

–– Congratulations on winning the Best Supporting Actor Award, as well as the Popularity Award, Genie. I hope that my vote for the Popularity Award made a slight difference. Even though you didn’t win the Best Actor Award, you have plenty of opportunities in the future to get it. I’m always rooting for you from afar.

└ Genie hasn’t gone abroad to meet his fans from other countries. Why doesn’t Genie ever come here when other actors have done so?

└ I know, right? If he doesn’t come, I’ll go to Korea to see him! I’ll be going to Seoul for my next vacation!

└ Even though it’s such a shame, we have to be understanding. Genie just completed a difficult and arduous exam. He needs a break. He had been so busy preparing for his exam that he wouldn’t have thought about going overseas.

Woo-Jin’s fans abroad knew everything about him in detail; their ability to gather intel was so remarkable that it made Woo-jin nervous. He was afraid that his disgrace would travel beyond the seas if he made a mistake here in Korea.

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“They sure are….”

“Regardless of where they are or their nationality, fans are all the same.” Woo-Jin agreed with Hwang Yi-Young’s sentiment and became very curious about one thing.

“I get that I have fans from other countries, but how did they come to know about me? Frankly, our drama didn’t have much success overseas.”

“It wasn’t extremely popular, but its reception wasn’t bad either. Back then, The Blue Castle’s Master was trending abroad initially, but the hype died down shortly after. Instead, people took a liking to City of Shadows. More importantly, Lee Min-Soo from Blue Fit appeared in the drama.”

“Ah!”

At that time, Blue Fit was more popular than Chae Woo-Jin overseas, after all. Naturally, it all started when the fans abroad watched the drama because of Lee Min-Soo. Lee Min-Soo didn’t appear at the beginning of the drama, so the fans were more inclined to watch The Blue Castle’s Master. They were completely uninterested in City of Shadows. The fans abroad only started paying attention to City of Shadows upon Lee Min-Soo’s appearance in the drama.

However, Chae Woo-Jin caught the eye of the people who were clearly watching the drama for Lee Min-Soo. The scene where Chae Woo-Jin and Lee Min-Soo had their private encounter in the middle of the night, with the moon in the background, sealed the deal. Within the dreamy atmosphere, Louie looked sad and beautiful, but he also showed his cruel nature as a killer. At some point, people had fallen in love with him. Lee Min-Soo’s presence had disappeared, leaving behind only the person portraying Louie, Chae Woo-Jin.

“Also, the behind-the-scenes videos have become a hit on YouTube. How do you think the American director, Rayford, came to know about you? He had even come all the way to Korea to cast you in his upcoming movie.”

Hwang Yi-Young looked at Woo-Jin with a pathetic look on her face and questioned why he couldn’t judge how popular he was abroad based on that fact alone. Then, she remarked that smart people surprisingly tended to be very simple-minded in several aspects and clicked her tongue.

“Have you also forgotten that Glooming Day had won the Best Picture Award, along with Best Arts Award overseas? After watching the movie, Louis D.L. liked you so much that he gifted you a suit and even invited you to the next fashion show!”

Reflecting on everything that had happened, the series of events in Woo-Jin’s life had truly captured the essence of the phrase ‘a blessing in disguise.’ When Woo-Jin leaped from one building to another during the action scene, it shocked quite a number of people, and they were upset with him as a result. However, Woo-Jin gained a lot of benefits because of that very scene. He had won the approval of fellow men in Korea, and people abroad had regarded him as a true professional, thereby giving him the opportunity to increase international recognition.

That was the same for Glooming Day. The movie had earned the reputation of becoming a box office flop even before it was released, but it was ultimately very well-received at film festivals overseas. People also got to learn who Chae Woo-Jin was because of that, even though he wasn’t the main lead.

“It’s very surprising and strange to me.”

“A lot of people are talking about how The Red Enemy has been very well-received in the U.S. ever since it was released last week. I was wondering how well Korean historical films would fare in America, but I guess it was well-received because of the beautiful cinematography and, of course, your beauty.”

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Woo-Jin didn’t bother looking at every single article, so Hwang Yi-Young told him about the reviews the movie had gotten overseas. However, Woo-Jin looked at her as though she was a mythomaniac.[2]

“I’m telling you it’s true!”

“Okay, got it.”

Hallyu stars had become increasingly popular in East Asia, so it made sense for fans in these countries to know about him. Woo-Jin had also read an article about how The Red Enemy had been well-received in the U.S., but there were plenty of articles like that. The media tended to overexaggerate whenever a domestic film was released abroad, so he was no longer fooled by them. Instead of blindly listening to what other people were saying, it was best to ignore them and work hard.

“I’m serious. You’re good at English. Why don’t you read the articles for yourself?”

Hwang Yi-Young expressed her indignation and told Woo-Jin to listen to her, but Woo-Jin waved her off. He checked the time and got up. He had martial arts training today. In the added scenario, Jin was a swordsman and a Taekkyeon[3] expert. Even though swordplay and martial arts were vastly different from each other, Rayford had the idea of amalgamating them because he happened to see a group of Taekkyeon practitioners during his trip and instantly fell in love with the art.

Fortunately, Woo-Jin had been taking Taekkyeon classes since last month, before the scenario had been revised, because they had contacted him in advance. He hadn’t encountered it in any of his past lives, so it was a martial art that was very unfamiliar to him. Nonetheless, it was worth learning.

The soft and gentle movements looked simple, but its speed and lethality when attacking were beyond imagination. It was rather showy, so Woo-Jin wondered if that was why Rayford fell in love with the art.

As he slowly prepared for the movie, it was now winter in a blink of an eye.

And finally, it was the first day of production of Guardian Angel. Even though he couldn’t join them initially, Woo-Jin let everyone know about his new challenge via an article.

<Chae Woo-Jin makes a full-fledged Hollywood debut by being a part of LL-Studio’s Rayford Heisler’s upcoming film, Guardian Angel.>

A new season was coming for him.

1. Note that the person who wrote the comment isn’t very good at Korean, hence the direct translation. The original phrase refers to the idiom, ‘none but the brave deserve the fair.’ In other words, Lee Hyung-Jin found success (aka getting into DS) because he was brave enough to approach DS first. ☜

2. A person who’s obsessed with lying or exaggerating. ☜

3. It is a traditional Korean martial art. ☜

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