Chapter 1175: Movie Star (3)

“I’m young, Wooju.”

“Yeah.”

“Of course, I’m not that young anymore. I’m not twenty-one—I’ve already reached the grand age of twenty-two.” 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Hiss—

The youngest sat on the bed and opened a can of beer.

“The mature Wang Jiho, who can drink beer now. Hehehehe.”

“Sure, sure.”

“Anyway, the important thing is that even though I’m younger, I’m still your senior when it comes to acting. Ahem.”

Jiho grinned mischievously and patted the bed.

“Now, hurry up and tell me. Our little baby Wooju. What were you worried about on set today?”

“Acting was really hard.”

“What part was hard?”

I explained what had happened while filming the post-credits scene.

“…Imagining all of you getting hurt was unbearable. It was so hard to pull myself out of the emotion.”

“Hmm.”

“Is there any way to deal with something like that?”

“Did nothing like this happen when you filmed the sitcom?”

“No.”

That had been two years ago—no, I supposed I should say three years ago now.

When I filmed the sitcom My Family Is an Alien in 2016, nothing like that had happened.

Jiho took a sip of beer and popped a peanut into his mouth.

“Now that I think about it, there wouldn’t have been much chance for that. Your role back then was an emotionless agent.”

“That was the role.”

“So this probably caught you off guard. All those emotions suddenly came rushing in.”

“Yeah.”

“But, Wooju.”

The youngest answered seriously.

“That’s just what acting is like.”

“……”

“When you really immerse yourself in a performance, there are times when the emotions make the entire day difficult. Whether it’s method acting or not, that’s simply what acting is. People say acting can never truly become reality, but the emotions you show the audience have to be real.”

“…Then there’s no solution?”

“Nope.”

It had unsettled me because I had never experienced anything like this while playing Kim Wooju, but according to the youngest, it was perfectly normal.

I braced my arms on the bed and tilted my head back.

“Serious acting really isn’t easy.”

“It’s completely different from filming a sitcom or a music video, right?”

Jiho giggled as he asked, and I nodded.

“Yeah. It’s much harder than I expected. I’ll need to prepare myself.”

“But, Wooju.”

“Yeah?”

His eyes sparkled with curiosity as he looked at me.

“You got showered with praise today, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“That means your acting was that good.”

Jiho continued.

“That’s not a talent just anyone has. Catching the emotion and immersing yourself the instant the director says, ‘Ready—action!’ is incredibly difficult.”

“Is it?”

“Yes. That’s seriously amazing.”

When I thought about it, I had always been fairly good at finding the right emotion.

Even onstage, I could usually lock onto the feeling I needed within three seconds and immerse myself in the song.

That was why, back when I was at TJ, an acting instructor had once told me that I showed promise.

Hiss—

“Jiho. Only one can.”

“Today was exhausting.”

I clicked my tongue at the youngest, who was already on his second beer, and held out my hand.

“Pass me a root beer from the refrigerator.”

“You’re drinking beer too?”

“Root beer isn’t alcohol. It’s soda.”

“Oh, the one Junghyun likes because he says it tastes like pine-needle juice?”

I pressed the cold can Jiho handed me against my cheek.

Was it because I had imagined people who were like family to me getting hurt?

I tried to melt away my lingering unease with the cold sensation before opening the can.

Hiss—

My gaze shifted to Jiho, who was reading a script on his tablet across from me.

He normally wore a foolish grin, but whenever he read a script, his delicate eyelashes became perfectly still and heat entered his eyes.

Perhaps it was true that you only saw what you understood.

Now that I had experienced a film set myself, our youngest suddenly seemed even more impressive.

“Jiho.”

“Yes?”

“I’m proud of you.”

“I know. I know you all take pride in me.”

“……”

It was strangely irritating how naturally he accepted the compliment.

The youngest bobbed his head smugly like a roly-poly toy, going, “Hehe~,” and I asked him,

“How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Get into an emotion and then pull yourself back out.”

“It’s difficult for me every time too. But I’m okay because I have all of you.”

Jiho hummed thoughtfully and looked at the ceiling.

“When things get hard, I can come whine to you. Then you all pat me and comfort me. When I say I’m hungry, you buy me something good, and when something difficult happens on set, you listen to me.”

“Hmm…”

“After doing that over and over, I found that I felt better.”

“So the solution is whining.”

“Right. Whiny mode.”

That’s a good method…

Then I asked Jiho,

“Who am I supposed to whine to?”

“Maybe your grandmother…?”

“She doesn’t answer the phone when she thinks I’m going to tell her something she doesn’t want to hear.”

“Ah, my dad does that too. Is it because he grew up as the youngest? Whenever I try to ask him for advice, he tells me he’s busy and hangs up. That’s why Dad ranks even lower than you.”

The youngest clicked his tongue before saying,

“Or since we’re acting partners, do you want to tell me whenever things get difficult?”

“Should I?”

“Yes. Try it once.”

I slowly closed my eyes, opened them again, and entered whiny mode.

“Jiho, today was weally, weally hard for me.”

“It was weally hard?”

“Mhm, mhm.”

“Mhm, what was so hard~?”

“……”

“……”

Something deeply unpleasant seemed to rise from inside me.

Jiho appeared to feel the same way.

“Hey, I don’t think this is right.”

“Y-Yeah. Me neither.”

“……”

“……”

Then we both burst out laughing.

No matter how we thought about it, it was hilarious.

“Still, whenever I have acting concerns like today, I’ll ask you for advice. I think you helped.”

“Hehe. Okay.”

I asked Jiho,

“Come to think of it, I only talked about myself. How was Wonder Comics today?”

“They were nice. Since I’m doing well as a singer in America these days, they seemed to treat me accordingly. But that was about it.”

Jiho thought back to the atmosphere on set.

“I suppose it couldn’t help but feel different from Silver Screen. You were brought in as the relief pitcher, but I joined something that was already succeeding. It felt like, ‘Just lend us your fame and move along.’”

“Hmm. I’m familiar with that.”

“Yeah. Apparently we’ll start filming in London soon… but I’m going to change that atmosphere.”

He was determined to show such excellent acting that he would obtain exactly what he deserved.

I smiled.

I was proud of him.

At the same time, I was also worried.

“Will you be okay filming in Korea at the same time?”

“Yes. I only have a supporting role here, so I don’t have that many scenes. I think it’ll be manageable.”

“Make sure you tell me if it gets hard.”

“…Hmm.”

Jiho seemed to deliberate over something before nodding.

“I will.”

“Good.”

The slight delay in his answer bothered me, but when the youngest immediately smiled brightly again, I simply nodded.

After filming the post-credits scene, we rested in Los Angeles for several days…

“How is this rest?! This isn’t what resting is supposed to be!”

“Ri Hyuk, be quiet and stretch your legs farther.”

“Aaaaaagh!”

“Junghyun, press down a little harder.”

…or rather, we rested in our own way while practicing the choreography for Hot Sauce.

Then, ahead of the event, I tried on outfits in front of the members.

“How is it?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

The younger members shook their heads with an American-style gesture, and I showed them one outfit after another.

In the end, they selected a white shirt and gray vest beneath a suit jacket, topped with a fedora.

“Wow.”

Biju happily raised his phone camera.

“This is it, Wooju. I think this one looks the best.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You look like an old-fashioned jazz musician.”

“This was based on one of the outfits Dad used to wear.”

It was a modern reworking of an outfit my father had worn in the past.

Retro, perhaps.

With the skill of Jimmy Robbins, my fashion partner in France, added to it, it certainly looked impressive.

I spoke with lingering regret.

“This one isn’t bad, but that outfit from earlier…”

“Aaaaaah!”

“Fine.”

“Wear this. Exactly this, Wooju.”

Dressed like a jazz musician, I faced the youngest, who was wearing something similar.

He had on a vest and had casually slung his suit jacket over one shoulder with one hand.

“All right! Biju, hurry and take a picture.”

“Sorry. I’m out of storage.”

“…Someone, anyone, take one!”

Junghyun took a picture out of politeness, while Ri Hyuk took selfies of himself and Jiho enthusiastically struck poses.

Once we finished the final fitting, Jiho and I waved to the others.

“Then we’re off.”

“See you later!”

The moment we left the hotel room, Jiho began bouncing his shoulders.

“Wow. Wang Jiho’s Golden Globe debut.”

“You like it?”

“Yep. Wooju, thank you so much.”

Today’s event was the Golden Globe Awards, a ceremony honoring movies and television dramas.

Originally, only the cast and production staff of Sound of the Sun were attending, but Hollywood award ceremonies allowed nominees to bring a plus-one.

A nominee could bring a family member or friend.

That was why I had decided to bring our youngest, who was genuinely interested in film awards.

“My original goal was to become the first Korean actor ever nominated. Senior Lee Gyeonwoo beat me to it, though.”

“You can go later.”

“Hehehehe. Look forward to it, Wooju.”

I took the excited youngest with me and climbed into the limousine.

When we arrived at the Beverly Hills hotel hosting the ceremony, cheers and the sound of camera shutters greeted us.

“NewBlack!”

“It’s NewBlack!”

Jiho and I stood with our arms around each other’s shoulders in front of the photo wall and answered questions.

“Sunny, we heard that Sound of the Sun is one of the most-nominated works at this year’s Golden Globes. How do you feel?”

“It feels like an unbelievable miracle.”

“Is there any particular award you hope to win?”

“I think I would be delighted to receive any of them.”

“What do you think about the recent controversy regarding the classification of Sound of the Sun…?”

Ah. That.

I had heard that there had been a dispute over whether Sound of the Sun belonged in the foreign-language film category or the Best Picture category at the Golden Globes.

The rules stated that at least fifty percent of a film’s dialogue had to be in English for it to qualify for Best Picture, and since more than seventy percent of Sound of the Sun was in English, there had been no actual issue.

Apparently, some people had simply complained about a movie containing Korean being placed in the Best Picture category.

I answered with a smile.

“I believe it was handled according to the regulations.”

“I see.”

We exchanged brief remarks with the interviewers.

Naturally, since the movie was doing well, there were also provocative questions designed to stir trouble.

“Isn’t Sound of the Sun an American movie distributed by Silver Screen? Some have said that it features too many Korean actors.”

Both the person asking and the person answering knew how absurd the question was.

Rather than painstakingly explaining that Sound of the Sun was technically a Korean-American co-production, I decided to end it neatly.

“Isn’t Hollywood the place that leads and shapes culture around the world? It was done to uphold historic racial diversity.”

“Ah, I… see.”

Go ahead.

Try to argue with that.

I answered with sophistry that would make anyone who objected sound morally suspect, then finished the red-carpet event.

As we entered the main hall, people called out to us from every direction.

“Sunny!”

“Jiho! It’s been so long.”

“Where are the other members?”

We greeted and socialized with people we had met at the Met Gala and various other events.

It felt as though dozens of gatekeepers stood along the short path to my table.

Once we finally finished networking and arrived, a man who had been sitting alone at the table, surrounded by countless Americans, welcomed me with a hearty laugh.

“Yoo’re heeere.”

At Senior Lee Gyeonwoo’s pitiful gaze, I could not help laughing.

Chatter, chatter.

“Gyeonwoo, your performance was magnificent.”

Bustle, bustle.

“Well, look who it is! The shining sun is right here~!”

Clamor, clamor.

“Gyeonwoo, could we take a picture together? Everyone, gather around! It’s time to take a photo with the insanely amazing Sun!”

In response, a hearty laugh rang out.

“Hahahahaha! Hahahaha!”

All the while, an anguished gaze was directed at me.

Save me.

An adult should solve his own problems, Senior.

You little—

This is truly delightful.

There really were a lot of people around us.

Plenty of them approached Jiho and me, since we had risen as stars in the music industry, but Senior Lee Gyeonwoo was the true star of tonight’s party.

Sound of the Sun had achieved tremendous success in America.

And now the Asian star who had played the charismatic Sun Myungjoo was making his first official public appearance. How could the industry figures around him possibly remain calm?

“Whew.”

Senior Lee Gyeonwoo finally managed to catch his breath.

“I thought everyone would swarm you instead if I stayed near you.”

“The circumstances are a little different today. These people see me often, but they’re meeting you for the first time.”

“I…”

“Someone else is coming.”

An elderly American actor approached Senior Lee Gyeonwoo, greeted him with a booming laugh, and took a picture with him.

While that happened, I looked around.

Everyone from Sound of the Sun was in a similar situation.

Director Kim Bora was taking pictures with famous actors at another table alongside her father, while Yeo Eunseon spoke fluent English and calmly socialized with other actors.

They looked like the stars of high society.

It was only possible because Sound of the Sun had become such a box-office sensation.

Just then—

“Oh, Robert!”

A stir passed through the crowd, and industry figures began rising from their seats all around us.

Someone had arrived.

Slicked-back white hair.

A stern, obstinate face.

An elderly man whose expression seemed to have the words I have a terrible personality written across it entered the hall.

“Good to see you all.”

It was Director Robert McGinnis, considered one of Hollywood’s great masters.

While Jiho covered his mouth and whispered, “Whoa,” the veteran filmmaker, who had been accepting greetings, turned his gaze toward me.

“Hello. It’s an honor to meet you.”

“You made an entertaining film. Congratulations.”

After briefly shaking my hand, the old man moved on and sat at another table.

The youngest held out his hand with a devastated expression.

“I-I was going to shake his hand.”

“Ah. Sorry.”

“Aaaaaah… What do I do?”

“Go ask him for a handshake now.”

“Should I?”

Jiho scampered over to Director McGinnis and said something. The director readily shook his hand.

Jiho even took the opportunity to get a selfie, and I laughed quietly as I watched.

Beside me, an actor let out a relieved sigh.

“Whew.”

Director Robert McGinnis’s arrival had caused the industry figures to migrate toward him like a swarm of locusts.

West Hollywood.

It was the other film tied with ours for the most Golden Globe nominations, as well as the strongest favorite for this year’s Academy Award for Best Picture.

Except for one or two categories, it was competing against us in nearly every field.

More importantly, it was the retirement film of a master who had spent over fifty years in Hollywood, so everyone expected it to sweep the awards.

—

“You’ll be doing well if you win even one or two.”

—

That was what our agent, D’Angelo Costa, had told us.

—

“Not because your movie is weak, but because this is Director McGinnis’s retirement film. It has also received overwhelmingly favorable reviews from critics.”

—

That was why I was watching the results with a light heart.

The only reason we were paying such close attention was that the Golden Globes were called the “weathervane of the Oscars.”

Watching the Golden Globes gave you a general idea of which films might win which awards at the Oscars that year.

There were various controversies surrounding the ceremony, including the predominantly white composition of its judges, but it was still one of the most prestigious award shows in the region.

“Wooju.”

“Yeah?”

“What’s a weathervane?”

“……”

As I stared at him in horror, Jiho winked.

“I’m joking. I know what it is.”

“Hey, don’t make jokes like that. They scare me.”

“Hehe.”

Jiho giggled, then suddenly paused and asked,

“Wooju, which character is the ‘vane’ in weathervane?”

“The character meaning direction…”

“Ah. I know the character for direction~”

Beside me, Senior Lee Gyeonwoo made a choking sound as he held back his laughter, and my face burned with embarrassment.

I was thinking that I should make him read some children’s educational comics once we got home when—

[Ladies and gentlemen!]

[The 76th Golden Globe Awards will begin shortly!]

At last, the awards ceremony known as the weathervane of the Oscars announced its beginning.

“Wind, direction… Oh, it means the direction of the wind?”

“……”

“Whoa. That’s amazing.”

“……”

Thank goodness we were in America.