Rebirth: King to Superstar

The next day Joon-won was at work alone, it was the first time he was working alone and that was also on a Sunday. Gah Soo took a break, as he was willing to come in. She had assignments to complete and exams to prepare for. As he was taking some rest after a horrible rush hour, he noticed the door open and internally groaned a little. He looked over the counter and noticed it was the boss, Gim Da, who came in. 

He stood up and wished Gim Da, "Boss, good morning." 

Gim Da nodded and replied, "Joon-won, come into my office before you take your leave today. I'll transfer your weekend bonus and I also have something to talk about." Joon-won nodded and Gim Da continued into the store. 

Joon-won didn't what the boss wanted to talk about and honestly, he didn't think it was something bad. He always came to work on time, do his shift, and also never received any Karens, as they called them, to complain about him. If the boss wanted to fire him, he would feel a little confused, but not sad. After all, it's all business and now he had some money compared to before.

The shift continued on and the next worker, who he had never met, got on. He excused himself and went to change his clothes. It was already 1:30, and he had to go to the drama house quickly to catch at least the 2nd time they perform.

After changing his clothes he didn't forget to meet Gim Da. Joon-won knocked on his door and entered after hearing Gim Da's permission from the other side. He got in and closed the door behind before walking up to the table and standing quietly after seeing Gim Da was going through a few files. 

"Oh, take a sit Joon-won. I'll just finish checking these files quickly and get to you."

Joon-won nodded and took a seat. After a few minutes, Gim Da placed the file down and took out his phone. He checked his phone and as he placed it down, Joon-won heard his phone vibrate in his pocket. It was a notification. 

"I just sent you the bonus. Thanks for coming in today, Joon-won. Gah Soo has some semester exams coming up, and she took the Sunday off after knowing you were going to be here. That's a great help." Joon-won nodded and waited for Gim Da to continue. 

"I wanted to talk about how long you think you are going to work here. When you joined you said you were short on money and would work till you get an acting role. Now you are going to a drama house and I can see that will take a lot of time for you. So I wanted to ask if you had any plans of quitting the job? If you do, then I might need a heads up in advance."

"Now do not take this in a bad way. I'm asking only you because you have a short-term goal. Now, look at Eum Kyung. He writes novels and would probably work here until he sells enough copies of his book to keep his life afloat. Which isn't anywhere near as of now. Or even Gah Soo, she is still in her 2nd year of university and would probably work here until she graduates."

Joon-won nodded when he heard Gim Da. The shop was in short of workers and if Joon-won would suddenly quit, the shop owner might not suddenly find another worker instantly. And what he said was also true. Both Eum Kyung and Gah Soo would work here for a long time because of their circumstances, while he would only work until he landed a role. 

"Boss, what you said is true. Right now I'm learning from the drama house after working here every day so that I can land a role quicker. But if y byou need an approximate time of when I might land a role, then it would probably be the end of the summer vacation, which is at the end of June." 

Joon-won had confidence in himself that he may fix all the problems he has by the end of summer. If summer goes by then it would take more time because of his next semester's classes and the job. So the end of Jube was his present target. 

Gim Da nodded and said, "By the end of June you say. Alright then, I'll be sure to have a lookout for any new employees. You should tell any of your friends if they want a part-time job that the store is open for applications. Also, tell me at least 2-3 days before you might end the job. Don't be abrupt about it." 

Joon-won nodded and assured the man before Gim Da excused him. After the talk, he went right to university and took a cab to the drama house. The drama house this time was very different. There were banners and stalls. They crowded the whole entryway as the next show was about to begin. 

Joon-won didn't enter the line and simply walked up to the front. Many people saw him and started making complaints. 

"Look at that kid. He is walking to the front as if he owns the place. The security guard at the front will kick his ass to the back of the line." 

"Yeah, he is probably new here and doesn't know that the Roses drama house doesn't give special privileges to anyone. Poor guy." 

Joon-won ignored all of them and walked to the security guard. Before the guard could shout at him, he took out a card San Min gave him before leaving her office yesterday and showed it to him. It was a pass for the actors who work in the drama house. The guard verified it and let him in. 

"What? He sent him in? Hey, is the famous Roses drama house going back on its words to be fair to everyone?"

The crowd started making a scene after seeing Joon-won go in. The security guard looked at all the people with a calm expression and said, "He is an actor working for the drama house. Is anyone of you also working for the drama house? Step right here and show me your pass." 

The crowd instantly went silent after hearing him and remained calm. Joon-won heard the complaints from the inside and could only shrug his shoulders. Many people would doubt him if he said he was a person working here because most of the workers would come early in the morning at 8 to set everything up for the first show at 10. 

He looked around and saw a few workers cleaning up the place after the last show. He walked towards the costume room and saw everyone was there, unlike yesterday. They were all eating their lunch and saw Joon-won walked in. 

Gim Tae greeted him while still having food in his mouth, "Oh, you finally came. I thought you'll come early in the morning like us. You missed one show already." 

"Yeah, I had work today too, so I had to miss it. Also, finish your food before you speak." 

Pak shin pointed at Joon-won's table and said, "If you didn't eat yet then that's your portion. We were given 5, and that's yours." 

"If you don't want it, I'll take it." Gim Tae, who swallowed his good, exclaimed while eyeing the container on his table. 

Joon-won just grabbed the container and opened it before he started to eat. He did not have anything after breakfast and was hungry. He didn't have time like the other days to have lunch before coming, so was lucky there was some here. 

Joon-won quickly went through the food and asked while throwing the plastic container in the dustbin, "How was the first show?" 

"Oh, it went well. There weren't any problems at all and it looked like everyone liked the performance once again. It was a full house." Do Ryung replied.

Joon-won nodded and said, "That's great. By the look of people outside it might be another full house." And everyone nodded but was not surprised. It was expected that for a drama house like theirs, anything but a full house was disastrous. 

Time passed by and it was almost time for the next performance. Everyone made their way to the backstage to be ready in case of any costume emergencies. The backstage was full of people running around and San Min was giving out orders from the side. All the actors were silent and waiting for the performance to start. 

Joon-won and the group were sitting to the side watching all this, and he noticed Kar Jung sitting alone with his eyes closed. When it was time San Min clapped her hands, gaining everyone's attention, and said, "Alright guys, let's end this performance like the one before and have a wrap-up party." Everyone made sounds in agreement and the actors walked out.