Become a Star Chapter 26

Death Hill was rated PG-15 – film intended for audiences 15 and over.

Death Hill, a blockbuster planned to be released as a summer hit, had received a lot of attention from the public since the early stages of production because it was a movie directed by Moon Seung-Kwon. It was so popular that there were speculations from the beginning that  the movie would attract approximately 10 million viewers, so the PG-15 rating was a green light for the movie. 

Since there were quite a number of violent scenes that were associated with the dark side of society, they were greatly concerned about the rating they would receive. There were even rumors about how the investors had put a lot of pressure on Director Moon and demanded that he edit a number of scenes for the sake of receiving a favorable rating. Needless to say, Director Moon did not accept their request, and the scenes were edited according to his own wishes, making the movie a director’s cut. 

Fortunately, the outcome was satisfactory. Considering that a blockbuster had to get a PG-15 rating at the very least if they wanted it to become a big hit, the rating they received could be said to be rather beneficial. 

However, despite the favorable rating, the people who were going to bring down the success of the movie were none other than the two main leads. Although Kang Hee-Joo was originally one of the top actors in the country who was a great actress, recently, her performance had been rather poor. More precisely, a lot of people had been saying that she did not have an eye for good screenplays. The screenplays of the films were sloppy and unrealistic, and had been flops, that’s why she was worried that it might be the same for Death Hill.

As for the male lead, Park Min, there was only one issue with him – his lack of acting skills. Park Min was famous for having a lot of female fans. Whenever his movie was released, a basic review and rating would be out as well, and every single time without fail, there were always criticisms about his acting skills. The movie was not made solely for Park Min’s fans. The main issue was how many audiences they would lose because of Park Min, who was expected to perform poorly.

It was only natural that people’s expectations about how well Death Hill would be received at the box offices would be significantly lower than it was at the beginning because of these concerns. Nonetheless, the very good looks of the main leads would be pleasing to the eyes. 

There was no doubt that Moon Seung-Kwon was a very talented director, who had poured a lot of money into the cost of production. Because of that, people were also optimistic that to a certain extent, their expectations would be met. That’s why as soon as the official teaser was uploaded to the internet, the number of views increased exponentially. 

The scene of the expected hardship of the pitiful and beautiful female lead, as well as Park Min’s good looks, caught the eyes of the people everywhere. Also, although the alley action scene only appeared briefly, it stirred excitement among the viewers and piqued their curiosity.

“He’s Park Min, right?”

The female students who were sitting at a cafe with their friends, watching the teaser of Death Hill, shared their opinions with one another. And there was the brawl scene in the alley but it was too short and the face of the man in that scene, which looked somewhat similar to the male lead, couldn’t be seen clearly, so it sparked a heated debate. 

“Park Min is not that tall. He’s probably shorter than 5’11 (180cm).”

“Indeed, Park Min isn’t that short, but he’s not as tall and slim as the man in the teaser.So then, who is he? If he’s not the male lead, then who’s the guy that appeared in the action scene in the trailer?” 

“Park Min probably used a stunt double. Isn’t he known for using a stunt double in action scenes? He’s always openly talking about how one has to take care of their own body.”

“Hey! Don’t criticize my Park Min! His face is like a national treasure. If there’s a scar on that face tare you going to take responsibility for it?” one of the girls responded agitatedly as she refuted her friend’s statement. As If this was something that happened frequently, her other friends agreed with her unenthusiastically.

“Yes, yes. You’re right.”

“Park Min’s face alone is a national treasure. It’s true that he’s at a level where he shouldn’t be criticized for not wanting to do action scenes.”

“If only he was good at acting… You know what, he’s not a terrible actor. He’s good enough. Even though he always takes on the same type of roles - the handsome, kind and righteous guy, it’s fine since he’s good to look at.” 

In conclusion, they praised their friend’s ‘oppa’ and avoided the debate by saying that he could get away with everything because he was handsome. All of them knew how their friend, who was a member of Park Min’s fan club and cried out ‘oppa’ enthusiastically to him while showering him with gifts, felt about Park Min. 

“Nevertheless, it’s a good thing that it’s rated PG-15. I’m happy because I’m 18 years old~! When the movie is out, it’ll be my treat, so we have to watch it together.” 

“It’s okay. I was already planning to watch even if Park Min wasn’t the male lead. Besides, you’re going to watch it multiple times anyway. Save your money.”

Feeling touched by their friendship, the girls embraced one another. While that was happening, one of them glanced over at a man sitting across from them.

“Oh my god! Hey, look over there.”

When the three girls turned around and looked where their friend was pointing at, there was a gorgeous man who was the epitome of the word ‘wow’. 

The man was wearing a pale yellow T-shirt, and black slacks that exposed his ankles. That shade of pale yellow was difficult for even women to pull off but it accentuated the man’s fair skin and caused him to give off youthful vibes. At first, his clothes drew their attention to him, but his appearance made them unable to keep their eyes off of him. 

He looked as though he had monolids, but his double eyelids seemed to appear whenever he blinked. Whether he had double eyelids or not, his big and bright eyes caught people’s attention at first glance. 

He had the highly sought-after ‘greek nose’ with a straight nose bridge that was neither too high nor too low. He looked really good possibly because of his ‘seagull-shaped’ youthful lips.

His face was small enough while still being proportionate to his body, and his facial features were in perfect harmony. Even though he was a man, people were amazed by how beautiful he was. His neatly trimmed bangs covered his forehead in a tidy manner, and his overall style was perfect. His slim fit pants accentuated the silhouette of his legs, and the gray belt that was barely visible also accentuated his incredibly lean waistline.

The four female students were somewhat in a trance as they wondered how a person like him could actually exist in real life. Even someone's ardent fan, who would usually ridicule the thought of a person being a national treasure on par with Park Min, couldn't help but think that as well.

At this time, they saw a female student wearing their school uniform approaching the table that the man was sitting at, before sitting down. 

“Isn’t that Chae Woo-Hee from Class 3?”

“She’s that Chae Woo-Hee? The prettiest girl in this district, the one who’s the top student in the entire school?”

“I think so. How common are girls as pretty as her?” 

“What… Chse Woo-Hee has a boyfriend?”

As soon as Woo-Hee sat down, she pouted. They were also females, but she still looked very lovely and pretty when she pouted. One of the girls argued that if the person Woo-Hee was trying to act in a cutesy manner in front of smiled brightly at her, he had to be her boyfriend. Her friend shook her head in response. 

“I don’t think that’s the case. Take a good look. That guy looks exactly like Chae Woo-Hee. They are the male and female version of one another. If you look at their faces, you can tell that they’re siblings.”

“What kind of brother and sister are so sweet to one another? I have a younger brother, but we never act like that.”

“I have an older sister, but I agree. We’re like enemies.”

Just as the girls shook their heads after seeing the friendly atmosphere between Woo-Jin and Woo-Hee, which was non-existent in other real-life siblings’ relationships, the man grabbed Chae Woo-Hee’s cheeks and pulled them. Woo-Hee then tried to do the same to him, but was blocked when she reached out her hand. Woo-Hee looked rather funny as her right hand flailed about in the air. 

“They do look like siblings.”

“This feels more realistic. Even then, Chae Woo-Hee still looked pretty even when he pulled her cheeks.”

“She’s not just pretty, she has great hair too… Oh! Someone said that Chae Woo-Hee has an older brother who goes to Korea University. My friends who saw him made a big deal about how handsome he was. I think that’s him.”

“In that case, should we go over there and pretend we know Woo-Hee?”

Hearing the suggestion of their friend, the girls’ eyes gleamed for a moment, but shortly after, they had a sullen look on their faces. None of them were close enough to talk to her. 

“Most importantly, even though we know who Chae Woo-Hee is, she probably doesn’t know who we are.”

Chae Woo-Hee was the top student of their school, and she was known as the prettiest girl in their school district. She was so well-known that every single person in school knew who she was, but that was not the case for these girls. Additionally, they had never been in the same class as Chae Woo-Hee. 

Ultimately, they decided to secretly take pictures. They took pictures of Woo-Hee and her brother while they pretended to take selfies. They wanted to brag to their other friends about it later on, so they wanted to have some evidence. 

“Regardless of what we say, they’re not going to believe us. I’ve also heard people saying that Woo-Hee’s older brother was very handsome, but I didn’t know he was this good-looking. However, he’s not photogenic.”

“It’s not that he’s not photogenic – the camera simply cannot capture his good looks. Check this out. I took a quick photo and it turned out great. But the real deal is so much better.”

Even in those photos, Woo-Hee, who looked prettier than they did after using Photoshop or a photo-editing app, looked much better in real life. She had heard that some celebrities looked worse on screen, but she felt that it was not applicable to the current situation. She had already prepared an excuse if her friends’ would not believe her if she told them about it. But in truth, Chae Woo-Hee’s appearance alone was enough evidence. She could simply explain that he was similar to Chae Woo-Hee. However, she could not control her desire to share that face that was on another level, with several people, reacting in advance and swaying their opinions first. Even though he was not their biological brother, she wanted to brag about him. At this moment, Park Min had already disappeared from the mind of his passionate fan. 

~

The moment Woo-Hee saw Woo-Jin at the cafe in front of the school, she frowned and puffed up her cheeks. “Woo-Jin, why are you dressed like that? Do you think someone in the reserve forces could dress like that and become a freshman at college?”

“I’m not wearing this because I like it. The wardrobe stylist told me to wear it,” replied Woo-Jin.

“Still, we are going to mom and uncle’s engagement dinner tonight, so you should dress up.”

Woo-Jin’s mother ultimately accepted the uncle’s proposal. Even though they had already met each other, it was still their engagement party after all. Woo-Hee pouted because she felt that her brother was not properly dressed for the occasion. 

“I was planning to do that too. However, my stylist said that if I wear a suit, I would look too mellow and mature. Because of me, our mother might end up looking older. It’s only natural for people to think she’s old because her son looks old. Additionally, uncle has no children and he’s the same age as mother. Hence, she recommended this outfit which exudes a youthful and bright ambience, if I want our mother to have an image of a young mother who has children who still need to grow up.” 

Whether she understood Woo-Jin’s long explanation or not, Woo-Hee nodded.

“In conclusion, you’re trying to say that you are an old-looking reservist. You’re an extremely old person who would make our mother look old if you did not try hard enough to look younger!”

“I wonder who’s saying such a nice thing?”

Woo-Jin grabbed Woo-Hee’s cheek with his right hand and pulled hard, and made a sound of him snapping his teeth. Woo-Hee tried not to lose and counterattacked, but it was unsuccessful. 

“Ooh, can you release your hand? This is my territory. There are kids from my school over there. What am I going to do if they recognize me? Ha, it’ll be so embarrassing.”

“Do you know them?”

“No.”

“In that case, they don’t know you either. Don’t be so full of yourself.”

Hearing Woo-Jin’s cold judgment, Woo-Hee glanced over at her schoolmates. She felt embarrassed because they were busy taking selfies and talking to each other. Woo-Hee smiled sweetly at her brother.

“Because you’re my older brother, I might have become as narcissistic as celebrities. Is it contagious?”

“It didn’t happen to me, though,” responded Woo-Jin.

“That’s what everyone says in the beginning,” retorted Woo-Hee.

Woo-Jin, who had been teased by Woo-Hee as she smiled slyly, eventually grabbed her mouth instead of her cheek. Woo-Hee flailed about for a bit before raising her hands as a sign of surrender. Looking at her, Woo-Jin smiled and let go of her mouth. Instead, he messed up her hair while under the pretext of stroking her hair. At this moment, the siblings continued pranking each other as per normal, unaware that they were being watched by the girls who were pretending to take selfies. 

~

The engagement dinner was not as formal as Woo-Hee had expected. The four people met with each other in a room of a luxurious traditional Korean restaurant. They were awkward around one another, but they were very excited. 

1. Seagull-shaped lips are really popular in Korea - it makes one look youthful and more approachable, as though one is smiling because of the upturned lip corners.

2. One of the girls who was secretly taking pictures

Chapter end