Become a Star

Woo-Jin was startled when he suddenly heard someone speaking in his native tongue. He turned his head towards the direction of the voice and saw two young men, who appeared to be in their early to mid twenties. They were talking about their vacation. The cemetery was one of LA’s attractions, so it wasn’t rare to see tourists there. However, it was his first time seeing Koreans today.

“This is the final resting place of famous people.”

“I want to meet celebrities who are still alive – not the ones who have already been buried six feet under. Besides, who are these famous people?”

When the unhappy friend grumbled as he pointed at the tombstones and busts here and there, the young man who wanted to visit the cemetery simply scratched his head. As he looked at the names written on the tombstones, he couldn’t find anyone he knew. Apart from Hollywood stars, most foreigners didn’t know much about American movie producers or screenwriters. To these two young men, this place was nothing more than a cemetery where strangers were buried.

“Still, we came all the way here, so let’s take a photo. Since the background is pretty nice, this camera that I bought for myself will get to see the light of day.”

“The background is pretty nice? I hope there won\'t be any ghosts behind us in the photo.”

“What are you, a child? It’s daytime and there are so many people around us. What’s there to be afraid of?”

They were not the only tourists in the cemetery; there were quite a number of other people there. The friend who was complaining also felt that this cemetery didn’t have the usual gloomy ambience that ordinary cemeteries had, and that the relaxing vibes of this aesthetically pleasing space was not bad, so he sat down to take a photo.

Woo-Jin was sitting quite far away from them. He craned his neck and looked at the young men. Woo-Jin felt a little envious of them for traveling together. The experience of having good times and fighting with a close friend during a trip would certainly become an irreplaceable memory.

Seeing fellow Koreans alone made Woo-Jin feel alive in this place, which was quiet and empty just moments ago. In Woo-Jin’s eyes, regardless of how many people there were in the cemetery, they didn’t have as much presence as these two young men. Even though they were clearly strangers, Woo-Jin didn’t regard them as such. While they had no relationship to him, he had formed a small connection with them with these people whom he had met by chance. The one thing Woo-Jin had in common with them was that they came from the same country, and that was what gave their connection meaning.

“Jin must have felt the same way about Robert – a fellow guardian who would be living together with him for a long time, even though they were of different races.”

Woo-Jin looked at the two young men as they diligently took photos, and a smile crept across his face. Even though they traveled to a distant country together and grumbled over their difference in opinions, it was nice to see both of them enjoying this moment. Although they had different thoughts and personalities, the friendship that was formed from their common points had a weight to it that couldn’t be disregarded. It was not a superficial relationship.

“Hmm, maybe I should drink with Dustin.”

Woo-Jin currently had a good impression of Dustin, but in reality, they had nothing in common. It didn’t seem like a bad idea to spend some quality time with him and talk about their characters. As such, their drinking session was unavoidable.

“I’ll think about it when it happens! So what if they’re immortals who have lived for a long time? They also won’t know what tomorrow will bring.”

Woo-Jin got to his feet and brushed the dirt off his bottom before stretching his arms. He wondered if there was anything different about being a guardian. Just like how Woo-Jin was worried about the future, it seemed like these guardians didn’t know what would happen tomorrow either. Both the past and the future were important, but ultimately, they were living in the present.

He wondered if a person would kill themselves if they were to live for a thousand years, clinging onto the past and ruminating on old memories. If one cherished the people who were currently in their lives, instead of harping on remembering people from the past, it would be worth living for a long time. Cherishing the present didn’t mean one had stopped loving the people who had departed.

Woo-Jin came here to think about death, but life was more important. People honored the dead because their lives were meaningful. And they had spent their lives outside this cemetery.

Perhaps Jin felt the same way – life wouldn’t be boring or dreadful if he cherished the present moment he was living in more than the weight of 1000 years worth of memories.

The two tourists were still taking photos; Woo-Jin looked at them with a satisfied smile on his face. He had an affectionate look in his eyes, as though he was looking at his younger brothers; he even craned his neck and watched them as they took photos. Woo-Jin stretched and yawned, feeling at ease.

When Woo-Jin left the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, he had absolutely no idea he had been captured in the background of their photos while looking like that.

***

{Genie?}

Woo-Jin went to a cafe to buy a cup of americano on his way back to the hotel. As he was leaving, a woman recognized him and grabbed his arm. As soon as Kang Ho-Soo took a step forward with a slight frown on his face, she was startled and quickly released Woo-Jin’s arm.

Kang Ho-Soo’s intimidating appearance was effective in America as well. Wherever he went, his intimidating aura made people cower.

{Who are you?}

Judging from the fact that she called him ‘Genie,’ he already knew the answer. Woo-Jin’s fans called him by his nickname, ‘Genie’, which became known in foreign countries as ‘Genie Chae’. Hence, if a foreigner called him ‘Genie’ right away, it also meant that they recognized him as an actor.

Nevertheless, Woo-Jin asked who they were because he found it intriguing. Even though people in the movie industry and other Asians recognized him in America, it was unexpected that many Americans recognized him as well. Whenever this happened, he would double check with them.

{I watched The Red! After watching that movie, I became your fan.}

The Red was the English title of ‘Red Enemy’ in the U.S.. Since it was a historical film, there weren\'t many expectations because the culture and history were unfamiliar to Americans. However, the movie achieved an unexpected success that was unprecedented among Korean films.

The Red was clearly just a movie about the story of a foreign country to Americans, but the feelings of sympathy evoked by the movie, as well as the impression it made, outweighed the unfamiliar background context, leading to its unexpected success.

More importantly, many viewers had said that the main character, Prince Myeong-Hwan, had captivated their hearts. His elegant posture while he painted and did calligraphy; his back view when he walked in the shadow of the moon; and not forgetting the Geonmu he performed at the end of his pitiful life, all these scenes moved the hearts of the audience. They might not have known about the detailed historical facts and Korean culture, but when it came to understanding a person’s life, there weren’t any films or shows that shook their hearts as much as this movie.

The funny thing was that some people watched the movie expecting it to be R-rated because of its title. Even though the movie was completely different from what they had expected, a lot of them ended up enjoying it. Hence, more and more people naturally took an interest in the actor that portrayed Prince Myeong-Hwan, Chae Woo-Jin.

Aftering searching for him online, the first videos they chanced upon were the ones uploaded by his fans, who called him ‘Genie’. Thus, they naturally started calling him ‘Genie’ as well, even though the name ‘Woo-Jin’ wasn’t that hard to pronounce.

{I heard you were shooting a movie in Hollywood, but I didn’t expect myself to run into you. Oh my goodness. Autograph, autograph!}

The woman claiming to be Woo-Jin’s fan was at a loss of what to do next – she turned around with her back facing Woo-Jin in excitement. She only had a small clutch with her. so she didn’t have any paper for him to sign his autograph on. That was why she turned around and asked him to sign his autograph on the white T-shirt she was wearing. Woo-Jin also searched his pockets for a pen because of her sudden request, but to no avail.

“Here.”

Next to him, Kang Ho-Soo took out a thick magic marker from his suit jacket and gave it to Woo-Jin. He always carried that marker with him just in case Woo-Jin needed to sign an autograph at any time and place. Woo-Jin took the marker from him, and he was momentarily in awe of Kang Ho-Soo’s meticulousness.

As soon as Woo-Jin signed on the T-shirt in Korean, the fan smiled brightly as she tried to look at the back of her T-shirt. Even though she couldn’t take a good look at it, the letters that she caught a glimpse of made her feel proud and happy.

Even though she became a fan of Genie, she had almost no opportunity to see him in person because they lived in different countries. It had been a few days since she started wandering around the area in hopes of seeing Woo-Jin, after hearing the news about him shooting a movie in Hollywood.

{Genie! Take this opportunity to settle down in Hollywood!}

That statement stemmed from her own desire to run into Genie like she did today, as well as her support for Genie’s success. Woo-Jin knew how she felt, so he simply smiled without giving a response. She seemed dazzled by how bright and beautiful he looked - she clasped her hands together, while her heart fluttered.

Since she was openly expressing her emotions without holding herself back, Woo-Jin acted a little more enthusiastic than usual. Hence, after taking a photo with his fan and parting ways, Woo-Jin felt rather thrilled.

“It\'s always very fascinating whenever I meet a non-Korean fan in the U.S..”

“I find it even weirder that you find it fascinating.”

After The Red became a hit in the U.S., more and more people became interested in Woo-Jin, who would be appearing in Guardian Angel. Since Woo-Jin was not the first Korean actor to enter Hollywood, the public was generally rather welcoming of this newcomer.

Due to the interconnected network, the exchange of information became more and more rapid, so the number of people who knew about him had exceeded his expectations. This meant that Woo-Jin\'s days of walking along Hollywood comfortably were numbered. Thus, Kang Ho-Soo wanted Woo-Jin to enjoy himself as much as possible while he still could, and tried his best not to interrupt Woo-Jin’s day out.

“At this rate, we might soon be hounded by the paparazzi.”

“That’s kind of scary.” Kang Ho-Soo shook his head immediately and frowned after hearing Woo-Jin’s words.

Seeing how the paparazzi hounded Dustin had already made Woo-Jin and Kang Ho-Soo break out in sweat. Whenever Dustin left the set, the paparazzi would swarm towards him, like a scene from a zombie movie. That was one of the reasons why Woo-Jin didn’t want to hang out with Dustin alone. He was afraid of being swamped with the paparazzi together with Dustin.

Even in Korea, the media-backed paparazzi have emerged recently. But they weren’t as bad as the paparazzi in Hollywood. It wasn’t simply a matter of being able to handle the Hollywood paparazzi’s ‘attacks’. They had no morals, let alone etiquette and conscience. The stars standing before their cameras were nothing more than mere commodities.

“One thing I’m certain of is that Hollywood is scary because of the paparazzi.”

Contrary to the desire of the fan he had just met earlier, Woo-Jin had no intention of settling down in Hollywood. Even though Woo-Jin wouldn’t be hounded by that much paparazzi as compared to Dustin, he didn’t want to live in another country. But it would be a different story if it was for a production.

“Still, this is the best place for you to become a world-famous star.”

Kang Ho-Soo expressed that it wasn’t a bad idea for Woo-Jin to sign a contract with an agency here, and continue to be active in Hollywood. CEO Jang Soo-Hwan had also started to look for an agency in the U.S. just in case new opportunities came knocking at the door. Kang Ho-Soo was afraid of the paparazzi, but he was preparing to overcome his fear with a strong determination for the sake of Woo-Jin, who was on his way to becoming a global star.

“Didn’t you see the fan we ran into earlier? Guardian Angel hasn’t even been released yet, but she already knew who I was because of a Korean movie.” As soon as Woo-Jin got cocky and talked about how there was no need to be obsessed with Hollywood in order to become a world-renowned actor, Kang Ho-Soo subconsciously laughed.

“Strangely enough, this reminds me of the day LL-Studio sent in their offer. Who was the person putting face down on the desk and stamping his feet?”

“I know, right? Who was that?”

Woo-Jin smiled bashfully, thinking about the time when he misunderstood Hugh and Rayford and assumed it was a hidden camera prank, and how he became flustered when he received their offer. He could make remarks about hating the paparazzi and how Korea was great only because he was currently shooting a movie in Hollywood.

{Ah!}

While Woo-Jin was walking and talking to Kang Ho-Soo, he didn’t watch where he was going and bumped into a passerby’s shoulders. As soon as Woo-Jin hurriedly apologized, the other party smiled and nodded before walking off.

{Hold up!}

{What’s the matter?}

As soon as the man whom Woo-Jin bumped shoulders with suddenly stopped, his girlfriend walking next to him asked quizzically.

{Wasn’t Genie the person who bumped into me?}

{Really? I didn’t see his face because I was busy looking at you.}

{It’s definitely Genie! There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize his face.}

The man exclaimed in excitement after failing to recognize Genie earlier. The pair of lovers were fans of Genie, or rather, Chae Woo-Jin. They happened to watch Glooming Day and became fond of Chae Woo-Jin. Recently, they had been obsessed with The Red. His girlfriend intentionally booked a flight to LA for their vacation after learning that Genie was shooting a movie there. They didn’t expect to see him, but as luck would have it, it really happened.

They stopped hesitating, and ran towards Genie, who was walking into the distance.

{Genie!}

As soon as they lifted both arms and waved to Woo-Jin, while calling out to him, Woo-Jin stopped walking and turned around. After taking a good look at him, they were certain he was their Genie.