046. What the Life of a Star Is Like?
“Uh… huh?”
“Mr. Yeonwoo is never going to your agency, so stop bothering him.”
“Wow. That’s harsh. You kick your friend with your foot?”
“Friend? Who? You?”
Hearing those three short phrases, Lee Juha clicked his tongue.
“Damn. So that means stop it, huh? Your personality feels like it’s gotten even filthier.”
Grumble, grumble.
Juha casually tied Kwon Sunghyun to a word that did not suit him at all. But seeing that he did not add anything more, it was clear he subtly knew not to cross the line.
“You do not have an agency, so I guess you do not have a manager either. Yesterday, Mr. Kwon’s manager came along, so I thought for sure you two were in the same agency. Then how am I supposed to contact you? Ah. Yeonwoo, you can just message me on KakaoTalk directly.”
After saying that, Lee Juha quickly slipped away.
“Then I’m going! Contact me on KakaoTalk! Ah, you do not have to come on the show for sure, so if you get bored, message me on KakaoTalk too!”
Just like when he came, Lee Juha disappeared in an instant.
“Mr. Yeonwoo.”
Kwon Sunghyun called out to Yeonwoo.
“I recommend blocking that lit…. no, that guy. He is not a bad person, but his personality is a little annoying. He is the type who will bother you a lot.”
“Yes, well…”
He definitely looked like he was about to say “little bastard” just now, did he not?
“To be honest, I was a little surprised. I listened to yesterday’s broadcast too. So I expected it, but I did not know that guy would come barging in the very next day.”
“Yes. I was surprised too.”
Common sense said, what kind of person barged into the house of someone they had just met the very next day?
“Still, it would not be bad to become familiar with him. If that music-crazed bastard said that much… if you are thinking of going that way, that guy will help too.”
“Is that so?”
Well. The Enchanting Vocal Cords was an ability stat he had acquired from Lee Juha. If he wanted to use that ability more freely and skillfully, it might be better to learn from the original source himself.
Kwon Sunghyun looked at Yeonwoo as he nodded.
“It is really good that Mr. Yeonwoo is gaining recognition, but…”
He added in a slightly tired voice,
“It is a little upsetting that strange things keep attaching themselves and coming along…”
But only for a moment.
Quickly smoothing away the trace of fatigue, Kwon Sunghyun spoke to Yeonwoo as usual.
“The reward trip schedule got fixed. I got a call asking me to check whether it is all right.”
Since he had no agency and no manager, it seemed they had contacted Kwon Sunghyun’s manager, just like before.
“You could have just told me over the phone.”
Or sent the manager.
There was no need for the expensive Kwon Sunghyun to come in person.
“I also had something to collect from Mr. Yeonwoo.”
“…?”
“I need your passport.”
Only then did Kwon Sunghyun reveal the reason he had come to find Yeonwoo first thing in the morning.
Lee Juha’s uninvited appearance had interrupted him before he could bring up the main point.
Yeonwoo asked back,
“Why do you need my passport?”
“Well, because we need it to reserve the lodging and book the plane tickets.”
“Ah.”
Right. Come to think of it, they had said the reward trip would be overseas.
Where was it again? Europe, was it…?
It was fine that they were getting a reward because the drama had done well.
But there was a problem.
“I do not have one.”
“What?”
“My passport. I do not have one.”
“You… do not have a passport?”
“Yes…”
How could he possibly have something like that?
In reality, Yeonwoo had never gone abroad. He had not even gone to Jeju Island, which said enough on its own.
It was not that he rejected foreign countries just like Heungseon Daewongun1, but somehow it had just ended up that way.
“Mm… you might not have one… that is okay. That can happen…”
Kwon Sunghyun said calmly.
“Still, thankfully, there is still a bit of time before departure. If we do it right away, it should be fine. What does your schedule look like today?”
“I do not have anything in particular…”
“Then let’s move right away. You obviously do not have passport photos either, right?”
“How did you know?”
He had even gotten his resident registration card made with a quick photo booth in the subway. Naturally, he had no idea where those ID photos from back then had gone.
Saying, “I somehow felt that would be the case,” Kwon Sunghyun stood up at once and urged Yeonwoo on.
“Let’s get moving. I think today is going to be short.”
The place Kwon Sunghyun took Yeonwoo to was a familiar studio.
“Mr. Yeonwoo!”
Apparently he had already been contacted, because a familiar person greeted Yeonwoo noisily.
“It has been way too long! I watched the drama too! I had no idea you would show up like that in it. Goodness. Your face was glowing brilliantly… it is a good thing I got to you first, really. Otherwise, seriously…”
The person who had first offered Yeonwoo a modeling job.
And the person who had allowed Yeonwoo to acquire Frame Composition.
The famous photographer Park Dae-il.
Woof, woof!
[Oh my. It’s Meong. Long time no see, right? Looks like you remember me? Oh my goodness, what a good one. This time I am not even a pigeon and you still recognized me. Good one. Good one!]
Beside Writer Park, still smiling brightly and wagging his tail, was Meong, who was practically no different from a guardian angel.
“By the way, that photo of yours was the most popular. Even I thought it came out so artistically… there were so many people who wanted to buy it that it was hard to refuse. I did send you an invitation, but after seeing you in the drama, I figured you must’ve been busy. It was a shame, but I will send you an invitation to the next exhibition too, so make sure you come then. But. You do not have that pigeon today?”
“He left.”
“Gasp… sorry…”
At Yeonwoo’s brief answer, Writer Park covered his mouth.
“It is fine. He left comfortably…”
That was the problem, how comfortably he left.
The moment the child spirit came out of the body, the pigeon had looked as if it had no idea why it was here, gone “Coo, cooook?” once, then spread its wings and flown away as if nothing was wrong.
Though maybe because it had eaten and lived too well during that time, it had looked a little strained while flying away…
“I see. Right… yes… not being in pain, and closing your eyes peacefully, that is best. Was it a street pigeon? The ones that live outside originally go quickly…”
Writer Park, having firmly misunderstood, tried his best to comfort Yeonwoo.
Yeonwoo did not bother correcting the misunderstanding.
How was he supposed to explain that the ghost inside it had come out, and the animal had come back to its senses and returned on its own to where it originally belonged?
“Mm… right. So you came to take passport photos…?”
At the pitiful change of subject, Kwon Sunghyun nodded.
“No, not profile photos, but passport photos, all of a sudden? Or did I hear wrong when you said profile photos?”
“Passport photos is right.”
“Really? Why?”
“Mr. Yeonwoo says he does not have a passport.”
“…Ah.”
You really do not have one?
The look in his eyes seemed to ask that.
What is wrong with not having a passport?
The Heungseon Daewongun living and breathing inside him was trying to awaken.
“Profile photos can be taken anytime…! As for me, I would much rather take a photo that is going to go into a passport I will use for ten years!”
For some reason, it sounded like he was just saying whatever came to mind.
The passport photo shoot moved along quickly.
Because he did not need any additional abilities like expression acting or Frame Composition.
“That’s it. Look straight ahead. Do not close your eyes. Lower your chin a little. As expected, you are doing everything on your own even without me saying much!”
With the heavy shutter sound, the work was finished.
After waiting a little, the assistant brought out the printed photos.
Accepting them, Kwon Sunghyun smiled softly and hurried Yeonwoo along again.
“All right. Now let’s go to the district office.”
With Writer Park seeing them off, the car the two had gotten into moved quickly again.
“The timing might be a little tight. If I had known earlier, I would have applied sooner.”
“I do not think I necessarily need to go myself…”
“No. If a lead like Mr. Yeonwoo does not go, then who is receiving the reward? And this trip. I am looking forward to it quite a bit myself.”
Kwon Sunghyun’s sleek car pulled smoothly to a stop in the parking lot.
“Wear this.”
“What is it?”
What Kwon Sunghyun held out was a pair of dark sunglasses.
“Now there might be people who recognize you, so it does not hurt to be careful.”
Yeonwoo had appeared in a drama that had recorded ratings over forty percent.
But lifespans were already coming in on their own, and until now he had not had much reason to go outside because of the drama shoot.
I do not particularly have anyone to meet, either…
If he had friends or acquaintances, that might be different. But since life ran perfectly fine on its own even without him going outside, there was no reason for him to leave the house.
So what Kwon Sunghyun said did not really click for him.
Still.
Well. There is no harm in listening.
One of the things Yeonwoo had learned.
When it came to work, Kwon Sunghyun was more professional than anyone.
Normally, he was like a big dog with a screw loose, but when it came to work, Kwon Sunghyun was reliable.
But… this somehow feels useless.
Inside the district office, there were unexpectedly a lot of people even though it was daytime on a weekday.
The moment he stepped into the district office, Yeonwoo felt the air stir.
[The sunglasses do not seem very useful…? Well, of course. There is no way a top star like our Actor would be hidden by just a pair of sunglasses.]
Whether he felt people’s gazes or not, Kwon Sunghyun led Yeonwoo toward the Civil Affairs Passport Division.
“R-r-right, p-please fill out the documents h-here…”
The clerk, whose pupils were visibly trembling, guided them through the paperwork.
There seemed to be a lot of things to fill in.
What is “English spelling of name,” now?
Was this for real, getting stuck from the very beginning?
After carefully filling out the documents with a serious face, Yeonwoo let out a sigh.
“Hoo… I thought you just had to go on a trip. Apparently you need a lot of things even to travel.”
“Thankfully, for somewhere like Europe, you do not need to get a separate visa, so it is a little better. For U.S. places like Guam or Hawaii, you need a visa… though these days it has mostly been replaced by electronic visas, but in the past, you even needed an interview.”
“A visa…?”
He did not know exactly what it was, but he understood well enough that it sounded troublesome.
Seeing Yeonwoo’s expression, Kwon Sunghyun laughed briefly.
“Usually, an agency handles this kind of thing on your behalf. That is one of the reasons agencies exist in the first place.”
“Is that how it is?”
“Yes. It is surprisingly convenient.”
“Hm…”
Hearing that, it somehow made sense.
“Even for something like a passport, if you fill out the authorization form in advance, you do not have to come to the district office yourself.”
“That does sound nice.”
“Right?”
Kwon Sunghyun smiled brightly.
“They take care of your schedule from beginning to end too, so there is nothing for you to worry about yourself. They send stylists and makeup artists too, so it is easier to focus only on acting. In my case, I just look through all film synopses and drama scripts myself anyway, but for other actors, those get filtered first, so they can receive works that are relatively verified and involve less risk.”
It seemed like he was quietly explaining, but then Kwon Sunghyun’s gaze suddenly sank with weight.
“But now that I think about it, it is a little regrettable. Stylists… I feel like I could just keep doing it myself like I have been. We would not need to hire road managers separately either… since I had been thinking of taking a break for a while anyway…?”
That was strange.
Before the drama, he was sure he had said he needed to work because he had been resting too long, but now he was talking about taking a break again?
It was strange, but that was not what mattered to Yeonwoo.
“An agency. I will think about it positively.”
“I do not think you really need to…”
“No. Mr. Kwon Sunghyun’s explanation was very helpful.”
Apparently, he had taken it too lightly.
There is no need for me to go on a trip in the first place, but if this had been an overseas shoot…
It was a simple matter of common sense, but sometimes those things did not occur to you.
Kwon Sunghyun’s manager was quite helpful too, going back and forth to the set.
Because of the nature of filming, the times for coming and going were often irregular.
Sometimes an afternoon shoot went on until dawn.
Had not yesterday’s radio appearance ended in the early morning too?
It really would be convenient to have one.
- Heungseon Daewongun (1820–1898) was the 19th-century regent of Korea’s Joseon Dynasty who enforced a strict isolationist policy (“hermit kingdom”) to protect Confucian traditions and national sovereignty against Western encroachment. He authorized the persecution of Catholics, rejected foreign trade, and fought off French and American naval expeditions. ↩︎
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