Become A Star

Chapter 22

At the end of the message, Ji-Ah had attached the link to the company’s website, where a short introduction of her was written, just in case Woo-Jin was doubtful or suspicious of the text message. It seemed like she had mentioned doing a video call so he could match her face to the picture on the website. In any case, if he were to personally make a trip down to their office, he would be able to learn the validity of this text message, so it was not a big deal. What surprised Woo-Jin was the content of the message. It was surprising that DS was interested in him but even harder to believe the part where she said they wanted to discuss moving forward together. He thought that even if DS contacted him, he would have to audition first, and then make a decision before signing the contract.

That was a reasonable guess on Woo-Jin’s part as an unknown rookie without any achievements yet. He had never imagined receiving a call from them, offering to sign a contract and discussing working together. He even read the message a couple of times to see if there was anything hidden between the lines. After checking Kwon Ji-Ah’s face on the website, Woo-Jin replied to her message, telling her that he was free to do a video call right now.

***

After speaking with Kwon Ji-Ah on Sunday, things moved quickly. Without going through any other parties, Woo-Jin had a private one-on-one interview with DS Entertainment’s CEO Jang Su-Hwan directly on Monday.

“You look better in person.”

That was CEO Jang Su-Hwan’s first impression of Woo-Jin. He had thought that Woo-Jin was very good-looking, after looking at his videos and photos countless times prior. However, those videos and photos could not be compared to how Woo-Jin looked in real life — he looked so perfect in person. He was dressed unfashionably and plainly, but if he were to receive the same amount of treatment and care as the other celebrities, he would definitely stand out.

“Oh my, scrutinizing one’s appearance is a habit of mine; it comes with my job. Have a seat. We haven’t signed the contract yet but it’s fine if I speak casually to you, right?”

“Yes, I’d prefer that too.”

“Hmm, you have a nice voice too. It’s a pity we don’t get to hear such a nice voice on Glooming Day.”

In his usual relaxed and confident body language and voice, CEO Jang Su-Hwan frankly evaluated Woo-Jin. Perhaps he was satisfied with his decision — the look on his face softened and his smile grew bigger.

“You must have been very surprised to receive our call, right?” asked Jang Su-Hwan.

“Yes,” replied Woo-Jin.

“What were your first thoughts? You can be honest.”

It was uncertain what kind of answer CEO Jang was expecting, but he had a strange look on his face. It seemed as though he wanted to hear what Woo-Jin thought of DS.

“I could not tell if the people in your agency were insane or if I was delusional and unable to comprehend what I was reading. Are you really going to sign a contract with me?”

They were immediately offering to sign a contract with him without asking him to audition first, and it was DS, of all agencies, who contacted him first. He would be crazy if he blindly believed that.

“That’s right. If you want to sign with our agency, we will sign the contract right here, right now.”

“Without an audition?” asked Woo-Jin.

“I don’t know about you, but there isn’t any issue on my end because I have already seen your portfolio.”

It had been almost two months since G&C’s CEO Choi recommended Chae Woo-Jin to him. Over the course of those two months, CEO Jang Su-Hwan hadn’t just been thinking it over.