Chapter 67: 67

<Chae Woo-Jin is an interesting actor>

He has always been a unique individual since his debut. His first role was a supporting character in a blockbuster guaranteed to be a box office hit. Judging from that alone, it might sound glamorous, but his character (loan shark A) was actually just a minor character with only two scenes in the beginning. For those who don’t know, you can judge how minor his role was, given that he had only received 500,000 won (US$500) as compensation back then.

The infamous Director Moon Keung-Kwons’ fickle temperament, along with Chae Woo-Jin’s competence, were the reasons why loan shark A had evolved into a supporting character. Without either one of them, it’s highly likely that the public would not have gotten a chance to meet The Unknown Actor, who was trending this summer. Nevertheless, it would have been impossible for actor Chae Woo-Jin to escape the public eye because, as luck would have it, his second film was released right after his first.

Just as the public was still basking in the hype over ‘The Unknown Actor,’ we got to meet Cha Hyun-Seung, a man with a passion akin to a late-summer heatwave. Chae Woo-jin’s first movie was a typical action film, while his second was a classic romance. He transformed from a fatally charming bad boy into a pure and upright young man in an instant, and it didn’t take long for him to catch the public’s attention. He was simultaneously able to captivate people with all kinds of tastes with these two distinctly different characters.

It was rare for a rookie to establish a solid fan base in such a short time like Chae Woo-Jin did. And this time around, he has once again appeared before us as a killer. He’s taking on the role of the main lead in a drama for the first time after playing supporting characters in the two previous films, making it hard not to harbor expectations as well as concerns. Undoubtedly, Chae Woo-Jin is good at acting. And it’s already been proven that his presence can overwhelm the main characters’ presence, so there was no need to worry about that.

But dramas are different from movies. Thus, there were concerns about how playing a killer as his first leading role in a drama would give the very charming Chae Woo-Jin a specific image. That’s because my idea of a killer did not deviate too much from the audiences’ idea of one.

However, this was a mistake that stemmed from overlooking the fact that City of Shadows was written by Yoo Soo-Min. In this newly released drama, ‘Louie’ did not look anything like the typical killers we usually imagine them to be. Instead, he had an ashen face and pale, chapped lips that would occasionally bleed, and nails that had been bitten to the point of exposing the pink flesh underneath; even his gait was unsteady and unfocused. He was pathetic and weak but beautiful, like a baby bird that had lost its mother. But when he was immersed in work, he would become a cold-blooded slaughterer with a murderous intent exuding from his emotionless face.

Chae Woo-Jin managed to capture the two distinctly different images in one character — Louie — and pulled it off effortlessly. Hence, those concerns were truly unfounded. A sensible actor would find a role that suits them, but an actor who’s good at acting would not mind taking on any role. So, it was absolutely pointless to worry about Chae Woo-Jin being given a fixed image as he’s someone wise and great at acting.

......redacted......

Some time ago, I had described Chae Woo-Jin as a ‘monster rookie.’ Today, I’d like to place the modifier, ‘beautiful,’ in front of that term. Undoubtedly, Chae Woo-Jin looks perfect and beautiful, but that’s absolutely not what I’m talking about. He’s a very adventurous actor who loves taking on challenges. However, he’s not complacent and is not afraid of how he appears in the eyes of the public. When an actor becomes conscious of his appearance, he will get into a rut and fall behind.

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Chae Woo-Jin hasn’t displayed any signs of that thus far. He has been part of only three productions so far, and only four episodes of the drama have been aired, so it may still be too early to give an evaluation. Hence, I acknowledge that this may be a warning disguised as a compliment. Still, the sight of him making progress and taking on challenges is remarkable. And I look forward to seeing more of it.

As a person who makes our hearts flutter as we wait in anticipation for his next character, I dare say he’s beautiful. And on that note, I end my article in the hopes of seeing his beauty for a long time.

(Daily Culture. Choi Il-Jae)

After reading the entire article, Lee Min-Soo could not hold back his anger and subconsciously threw the tablet in his hand to one side. Coincidentally, the road manager happened to open the door and enter the room at the same time, so the tablet hit him and bounced off before tumbling onto the floor. The road manager picked it up and inspected it; luckily, there were no damages. He quietly placed it back in front of Lee Min-Soo.

“Some kind of paid article.”

He wanted to add, ‘Who would believe that?’ but Lee Min-Soo couldn’t bring himself to say it. It might be the case if the article had been written by someone else, but Choi Il-Jae was known for being an anti-lobbyist. Lee Min-Soo knew this fact because both he and his agency had tried to contact Choi Il-Jae several times before, but each time ended in failure.

Lee Min-Soo couldn’t help but feel bad after seeing someone like that publish a favorable article about Chae Woo-Jin. ‘Why does it have to be Chae Woo-Jin of all people?’ Lee Min-Soo was annoyed and on the verge of going insane because he had barely gotten rid of Chae Woo-Jin, but now the latter had reappeared as a drama actor.

“Have you met with the sound supervisor?” Lee Min-Soo asked the road manager about the task's progress that he had entrusted him; he was trying his best to calm himself down. However, the road manager could not give him a straight answer. Judging from his hesitation and lip biting, Lee Min-Soo could already guess his answer and frowned.

“Didn’t they say they’ll get an actor to sing the theme song! Among the actors who sing… Don’t tell me it’s Chae Woo-Jin?”

When Seol Moon-Young heard from the production company’s executive that the drama's theme song hadn’t been recorded yet, he suggested that the sound supervisor leave that task to him. From the beginning, they had planned to get one of the actors to personally sing it to bring out the mood and emotions of the drama. Lee Min-Soo would be an appropriate candidate for that job as Blue Fit’s sub-vocalist, as he had the right skills and qualifications. The sound supervisor didn’t accept Seol Moon-Young’s suggestion right away but expressed that he would think about it. And today, he announced his decision via the road manager.

“The sound supervisor heard Chae Woo-Jin sing ‘Confession,’ and the song…” The road manager was interrupted mid-sentence because a tablet suddenly flew right towards his face. The tablet grazed his face and smashed into the wall before falling to the floor with a loud ‘crack.’ Lee Min-Soo had received several tablets like this one from his fans anyway, so even if he were to break a few, it wasn't exactly a waste. It didn’t matter what it was as long as it had somehow helped him overcome his sudden surge of anger.

“He should have just spent his life living in the shadows. Why did he come back? Why? Why?” Lee Min-Soo slammed his fist against the table, feeling like he was about to go insane. He couldn’t understand why that bastard who was good at studying would come back into the entertainment industry. Lee Min-Soo kept repeating the words ‘If it were me’ and ‘If I were him’ over and over again while he sorted out his feelings and grudges towards Chae Woo-Jin.

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Chae Woo-Jin had always triggered Lee Min-Soo’s inferiority complex. Looking at Woo-Jin made him feel terrible and miserable because it made his average talent seem so insignificant. He used to think he was the most talented in the world when he was younger. As he grew older, he was confident of achieving everything as long as he tried his best. He believed that hard work would always yield the best results and truly did his best every time.

However, he had hit a wall in his last hurdle. Since he was unable to surpass the wall called Chae Woo-Jin, Lee Min-Soo chose to nibble at the bottom of the pillar supporting the wall. In fact, he had removed the pillars supporting the wall on both sides because of how hard it was to knock it down. He thought the wall would naturally crumble and disappear after that, but it ended up becoming stronger and appeared once again. But why now of all times?

When his ardent desire of debuting as a member of Blue Fit became a reality, he felt as though the entire world belonged to him. However, if one were to take a step back and look at the harsh reality, they’d realize that idols were ultimately nothing more than a seasonal business. Additionally, things these days were different from how they used to be – it was a fact that these idols would be treated like garbage after a few years.

Furthermore, regardless of how successful the group itself was, only one or two members would be loved by the public and attain success. The rest of the group members would just be in the background, feeling very anxious over the group’s popularity and being forced to walk on eggshells. Everything would be over for them on the day the group disbanded, as they didn’t have what it took to have a solo career.

Nowadays, those idol groups had been going on temporary hiatus instead of disbanding, but there wasn’t any significant difference between the two for the less successful members. In Lee Min-Soo’s opinion, Blue Fit would not last long as an idol group due to the members' personalities. And as long as the main vocalist, Min Si-Hoo, was in the group, he would have no chance of establishing himself as a vocalist and succeeding in his career.

When he realized that he couldn’t become the most successful vocalist in Blue Fit even without Chae Woo-Jin getting in the way, Lee Min-Soo decided to become an actor and worked hard to get to where he was at today. However, Chae Woo-Jin had once again appeared in his life. And it was also at his most crucial moment.

“I’ve worked so hard up until now! It was so hard for me to get to where I’m at today.”

Although he was the first to be cast in City of Shadows, Lee Min-Soo really wanted to play Louie in the drama. He had lost count of the number of times he had gone to see the writer, Yoo Soo-Min, as well as ask Production Director Park Jong-Hyuk to give him the part. Lee Min-Soo was confident that he could have his way if he left it to them, but they ended up choosing Chae Woo-Jin.

The wonderful Chae Woo-Jin they had chosen left the set for five days to take his exams, forcing Lee Min-Soo to shoot his parts even though he was still in the middle of studying how to act his character. He was so angry that he couldn’t hold it in and went to visit Chae Woo-Jin on the day of the shooting to see the difference between him and Chae Woo-Jin with his own eyes. He thought that he would personally look at Chae Woo-Jin’s acting and laugh at them for choosing Chae Woo-Jin over him. He had wanted to ask them, ‘Did you think that the person you’ve chosen is somebody special?’

And on that day, Lee Min-Soo had once again experienced the same despair he felt back when he heard Chae Woo-Jin’s song in the old recording studio.

“No, it can’t be! I’m not the only one in this tough predicament.” ‘Why is this only happening to me?’ In that moment of frustration, Lee Min-Soo thought about Min Si-Hoo, the person who had joined forces with him to fight against their common enemy, Chae Woo-Jin.

The person more likely to be in a worse predicament was Min Si-Hoo, the leader and main vocalist of Blue Fit. He was the person at the forefront of all the battles. After the war was over and they had each gotten what they wanted, both parties gradually became estranged. They were well aware of each other’s weaknesses and intentions, creating a huge chasm between them, such that they couldn’t become close friends again. Even though there was no loyalty or anything left between them, they could not stand by and watch either side collapse.

“Tell Si-Hoo hyung that Chae Woo-Jin will be singing the theme song of the drama.”

The road manager nodded without knowing the reason behind his instructions. It had been less than two years since he had joined TM, so he didn’t know about the relationship between Chae Woo-Jin and Blue Fit. Hence, he regarded Lee Min-Soo’s volatile reactions towards Chae Woo-Jin as mere jealousy. However, he couldn’t understand why he had to tell Min Si-Hoo about Chae Woo-Jin. Nonetheless, his worry was short-lived; he had learned from experience that doing as he was told was best for him, so he immediately stopped thinking about it.

Lee Min-Soo bit his lip as he thought about Chae Woo-Jin’s singing video he had seen recently. ‘Chae Woo-Jin still sings as well as before, and his song tugged at people’s heartstrings. And now he will be singing the drama’s theme song?’

There had already been a lot of buzz going around because of Chae Woo-Jin’s video where he sang ‘Confession.’ Finding out that Chae Woo-Jin used to be a member of TM was not a big deal. But when the writers found out that he was an original member of Blue Fit and had left right before they debuted, they started to question why. At least, they became more curious about how Lee Min-Soo was better than Chae Woo-Jin, as he was the one who replaced the latter.

Some people had also dredged up the rumors surrounding their debut song from a long time ago. Of course, Lee Min-Soo could argue that he had only done what the management had told him to do, but Min Si-Hoo was an active participant in every aspect.

“It looks like that person is going to wear that ridiculous mask and sing, huh.”

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At this point, Min Si-Hoo had to step forward and show off his abilities as much as possible. He had the skills, so he would be able to do well on ‘King of Mask Singer.’[1] He had to be recognized by the public as a singer with a different charm that set him apart from Chae Woo-Jin, to ensure that the old rumors would not surface.

Lee Min-Soo couldn’t care less about what would happen to Min Si-Hoo, but as long as they were in the same boat called Blue Fit, he couldn’t just stand by and watch the mast collapse. He was well aware that he had to watch over the mast in order to survive and row hard towards his destination. When the boat arrived at the destination, it would then be discarded.

1. It’s a variety show where contestants had to wear masks when they sing to remove factors such as popularity, career, and age that could lead to prejudiced voting. ☜

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