Beautiful Top Star Chapter 9

Chp 9:

TL: Pineapple

Editor: Isalee

"I'll go and get a contract from the company so make sure Woo Hyuk ssi doesn't go anywhere."

Manager Jung Eui Chan asked Min Hwan for a favor.

After that, he speed walked to the parking lot. He got into the car and debated whether to call the agency or not.

WOW was one of the country's top three companies. He overheard Manager Yoon Dae Sung tell them that he would absolutely bring Kang Woo Hyuk back to the agency and if Kang Woo Hyuk didn't get a contract, then he'd quit on the spot.

There's no way he could let this be.

He didn't want WOW to steal Kang Woo Hyuk away from them.

The 'Tree' agency that Manager Jung worked at was smaller than 'WOW' by more than half. But owner of 'Tree', Ahn Chang Hyun, and his employees viewed WOW as their rivals.

They thought of them as someone they had to beat.

Manager Jung would ask the team leader and general manager, but if they didn't want him, then he'd ask owner Ahn Chang Hyun to try to get approval for Kang Woo Hyuk's contract.

Owner Ahn Chang Hyun was Manager Jung's uncle.

He was his mother's younger brother.

His uncle was nine years younger than his mother. She raised him instead of his grandmother because their mother had pa.s.sed early. So his uncle viewed his mother as his own mother. That's why he couldn't refuse his mother's son.

Whenever Manager Jung was in a dangerous situation, he could always bring his mother to his uncle and he'd agree.

Like every manager, whenever he saw a new and upcoming actor, his eyes would brighten just like a balloon-loving child that won't let go after seeing a balloon.

Even if the child already had a balloon in their hand, they'd always want another.

He'd want another balloon.

That balloon would be so cool that other kids would also want that balloon, and that would drive those other kids crazy with jealousy.

The kids wouldn't be able to help but ask their mothers to buy that balloon.

Manager Jung thought that working at a celebrity agency was like a battleground, but he was able to maintain his calm and work efficiently.

It might seem slow and frustrating, but once he latched onto something he wouldn't let go.

He was able to become the manager of the main character of , Min Hwan, because of his stubbornness and patience. Who was Director Choi?

He was a director who directed many popular and aesthetic movies.

His movies weren't the best in popularity, but everybody admitted that he was one of the best Korean directors.

The main character of Director Choi's movie, Min Hwan, had a chance of increasing his acting skills.

There was another movie that Sul Min Hwan could have played in that was a romantic comedy which would have been an easier role for him, but Manager Jung chose .

Ahn Chang Hyun had given him the romantic comedy script.

Manager Jung didn't want to only do what just made money like others — he wanted to give a chance to the actor that he was managing to grow and mature. It was like planting a tree and making sure that it had a deep foundation.

It was also the opinion of his uncle, Ahn Chang Hyun, who was the business owner. That's why the agency's name was 'Tree'.

was the movie that was chosen for Sul Min Hwan because he was thinking of Min Hwan's long-term goals.

Since he had so much responsibility, he was not even the road manager but today he drove instead of Jo Hae Jin the road manager, because he had some other issues that had come up. [1]

But today he had unexpectedly found a really cool balloon.

It wasn't the first time he'd seen that balloon either. He thought it was a really ordinary balloon. Yet today his opinion changed; he didn't want to miss this opportunity and let go of this balloon. It was a really good balloon.

Min Hwan couldn't help but laugh seeing Manager Jung rush over to the parking lot.

His nickname was 'Young Master'. He never ran around, even if it was busy like he was a young lord.

He's a good manager.

However, Min Hwan was on Woo Hyuk's side more than Manager Jung's.

He hoped for Woo Hyuk to get into a good agency with good job conditions. Therefore he'd be able to good benefits and learn many things from good actors. He wanted him to succeed.

Min Hwan stared at the blue sky and remembered that day from long ago.

If it wasn't for Woo Hyuk, Min Hwan might not even be here today.

When Min Hwan was about to give up acting, Woo Hyuk was the only one who reached out and helped him.

Three years ago, he had no money, no vision, and his agency had closed down. At that time he was in the same agency as Woo Hyuk. He was mocked by another young famous actor, and he was depressed at that time.

Furthermore, he received the news that his mom had cancer.

He needed a lot of money.

He was her only son and he wanted to keep pursuing acting although he was already 30 years old. His parents had already given him so much money.

Every night, Min Hwan called Woo Hyuk who knew about his situation while he was drunk drinking soju and cried about his situation. He called every single day for one month.

Woo Hyuk listened to his cries and they drank soju together.

Then one day, he got a movie proposal. It was like a miracle.

It was the most significant role in his life. The other main character was a famous actor.

He accepted the role without hesitation and used the contract money for his mother's surgery.

He later found out that that role proposal was sent to Woo Hyuk first.

It was Woo Hyuk's best chance but he gave it to him.

That movie was the big point in his career where he started to rise in fame.

He met many great actors and he learned a lot things from them.

How to treat acting. Having an amazing energy while focusing on acting.

They were acting monsters.

Min Hwan realized how immature his acting was when he saw those monsters.

After that experience, his acting skills soared.

When the movie came out, the reception was good and he was able to get many offers for TV dramas.

He heard the truth from the director after they finished filming the movie.

The director had asked Woo Hyuk first, but he told the director that Min Hwan was better than him.

While he was drunk that night, he angrily called Woo Hyuk.

He couldn't say sorry or even thank him properly.

The next day he came to his senses and regretted what he did but there was nothing he could do to change it.

After what happened, he always felt like he owed Woo Hyuk a huge debt.

If Woo Hyuk didn't pa.s.s on that role to him, Woo Hyuk might have met those amazing actors and would have learned many things from them. His acting career would be completely different from today.

Min Hwan became more famous, while Woo Hyuk didn't and only played small roles as extras.

But today, he felt an amazing energy coming from Woo Hyuk's acting.

When he saw his gaze, he wasn't his friend Woo Hyuk. He was the torture specialist.

He was pressured by Woo Hyuk's gaze and even forgot his lines.

He had never made this many mistakes before.

Woo Hyuk was able find out how to act by himself.

Woo Hyuk was better than him.

Even if he didn't try that hard, his acting was very natural.

His acting was naive like a child's.

In the beginning, Woo Hyuk's acting was better than his, but it never improved.

Today was today was different. It was like he was seeing a completely different person.

Min Hwan couldn't see Woo Hyuk due to his hectic schedule.

He wondered what happened to him during the time he didn't see him.

Oh right, when I spoke to him a while ago, sister-in-law was pregnant.

Is that why?

He's going to be a dad.

The weight of responsibility for a new life?

That might be it.

But instead of responsibility, he saw sorrow in his eyes.

It was full of sadness that he never saw in him before.

Did something happen?

As his best friend, I've never seen him sad before.

We need to go out and drink soon.

Woo Hyuk walked over to him.

It would soon be break time.

"Hyung, you're so cool. Aigoo. Look at that sweat!"

White Bear handed Woo Hyuk a towel.

"Why didn't you use a stunt double? Why are you making this difficult for yourself?"

Woo Hyuk couldn't answer him because he was gasping for breath. So he just sat on a box and wiped off his sweat.

White Bear somehow got a big towel and flapped it too cool Woo Hyuk down.

Min Hwan sat down next to Woo Hyuk. He sat with him sat for a while and stared at the sky.

"It feels good acting with you again."

Woo Hyuk nodded his head.

"Woo Hyuk, do you remember?"

We had a part time job as extras during college."

"Of course."

"We were so pathetic back then, right? We were treated like tools instead of humans."

"Those were good times."

"What good times? I don't even want to remember it. We just wanted to make some cash."

"I would've never met you if I didn't have that job."

"Yeah, you're right. That must've been fate. How's your wife?"

White Bear stopped flapping the towel to hear Min Hwan's words.

Woo Hyuk just raised his head and looked at the sky instead of answering.

"Hyung!"

White Bear glared at Min Hwan.

"What?"
White Bear whispered to MIn Hwan.

"Hyuk hyung's baby went to heaven 50 days ago."

Hearing those words, Min Hwan felt something come up in his throat.

Ah, that's the reason.

Now he knew why Woo Hyuk had such a sorrowful face.

He called himself his friend but didn't even know that his wife had a miscarriage after 50 days had pa.s.sed.

"Woo Hyuk!"

"Hmm?"

He couldn't say anything.

He felt like if he said something he would cry.

"If something like this happened, why didn't you tell me? If you called me, I would have definitely come over. Isn't it natural to call a friend and drink?"

"I can't drink soju behind my wife's back. If my sorrow equals one then my wife's sorrow equals 10,000 or 20,000. She was the one that was pregnant."

Woo Hyuk said this while staring at the sky.

Min Hwan realized that Woo Hyuk was a very deep thinker.

There was a lot of things to learn about from this friend. There were the same age and were friends but sometimes he was like an older brother.

I'm thankful that I have a friend like him.

He remembered the time when his mother pa.s.sed away one year ago.

Woo Hyuk stayed at the funeral with him for three days.

When one of the mourners at the funeral got drunk, Woo Hyuk was the one who went to him and calmed him down. [2]

Another person wanted to play Hwatu [3] and Woo Hyuk played with him.

When there weren't any mourners, Woo Hyuk just drank alone.

When there were a lot of mourners there, he gave up his seat to others. When there were no mourners, he was the only one there.

On the dawn of the second day, when n.o.body was there, it there was only Woo Hyuk who was mourning.

Min Hwan was going to go over to him, but his father got to him first.

The two people just drank with each other in silence.

His father was man with little words and Woo Hyuk was also the same kind of person.

They just poured each other cups of soju.

When the funeral was finished, his father spoke to Min Hwan.

"Your friend's name is Kang Woo Hyuk? You must've been a good person in your previous life because you have such a good friend like Woo Hyuk. Be good friends with him."

He remembered his father's words from one year ago.

Min Hwan saw Woo Hyuk's face staring at the sky.

He wanted to ask if he had enough money, but stopped.

Min Hwan knew well enough how well his financial situation was.

He borrowed some money from Manager Jung to give to Woo Hyuk, but he didn't know how to give him the money.

He needed to give it to him without making him feel bad.

His problem wouldn't be solved by giving him some money. He needed to find a good agency that would take care of him.

"Excuse me."

Someone interrupted them.

It was that man who was on the phone saying that he'd do whatever it took to bring Woo Hyuk to his agency.

The man handed Woo Hyuk his business card and introduced himself.

"h.e.l.lo. I'm Yoon Dae Sung from WOW agency."

WOW agency?
Min Hwan was surprised.

It was the top three agencies in the nation.

Ooh. This is getting exciting.

Min Hwan stood up slowly and gave his seat to Yoon Dae Sung.

Min Hwan wanted Woo Hyuk to work in the same agency as him but he also wanted Woo Hyuk to get into an even better agency.

Is Manager Jung still on the phone?

Manager Jung is a very thoughtful individual, but he's a very persistent guy. He usually gets what he wants, but this time I think he's too late.

The late Manager Jung began walking towards them from the car.

Min Hwan pointed to the man talking to Woo Hyuk at Manager Jung while laughing.

If they began fighting over Woo Hyuk, the one with the better contract would win him over.

It will be a scene to watch.

Manager Jung must've been in a hurry.

He must've found out who the person Woo Hyuk was speaking to so he picked up his pace and walked faster as if he was alarmed.

'Manager Jung must've been an actual young lord in his past life, that's why his nickname is 'Young Master'. That's why he never runs even in emergency situations.'

But he's really fast right now.

He's as fast as Usain Bolt.

Translator's Notes:

[1] There are two different types of managers, the driving (road) manager for transportation, and the charge manager who handles scheduling.

[2] In Korea, funerals last three days and three nights. The family members greet the mourners for the three days. Woo Hyuk did that for him also. They prepare a lot of food and drink alcohol with them, which is unlike America where they just have a funeral for one day.

[3] Hwatu -  Korean card game

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