The beginning of 2012 had come, and these past few weeks had been the most busy for him. There were currently two projects he had to finish, and it was pretty hard to combine the schedules for both of them.
He couldn't even accept a lot of modelling or advertisement projects because of how busy he actually was. Endorsing products was something very profitable, for both his wealth and popularity, so he wanted to try and continue doing so.
It proved to be hard though, he had no time left to rest. If he didn't have a temporary break from training as a trainee, then he would literally drop dead from fatigue
He really admired Kim Soo-hyun for starring in two projects at the same time, it's very taxing mentally, and physically. Although not for long, this short period of time dedicated to filming only was not something he particularly enjoyed doing.
He naturally had been cast in The Thieves as Zampano, and as Lee Hwon in Moon Embracing the Sun. He was following in Soohyun's footsteps right now, and he was going to continue doing so. He had even surpassed him in some aspects already.
It was amazing to see the actors and actresses he had amired/liked when he was on set. In the Thieves, he had Jun Ji-hyun from My Love From the Star, and in TMETS he had Kim So-hyun, his favorite actress in the past.
A lot of idols secretly had a crush on Kim So-hyun, she was adored way too much on variety shows by the guys.
She was a bit too young now though, she was born in 1999, so she was about 13 currently. He would become a victim of a pedophilic disorder if he continued having more thoughts about her.....
There were also a few more awards he had won for Dream High in other award shows.
He had won the Best New Actor again in the 4th Korea Drama Awards. He had also won the Popularity award there. He didn't have to contend against an idol there, so winning wasn't as hard.
He won the Hallyu award in the SKY PerfecTV! Awards.
He also won the Best New Actor and the Popularity award yet again at the KBS Drama Awards. He and Suzy also won the Best Couple award.
Even the public looked at him and Suzy favourably.
And finally, his own OST had won the Song of the Month award at Cyworld Digital Music Award.
A lot of these awards were the ones Soohyun had won in the past. He had won everything except the Best New Actor and Popularity awards in the Baeksang Awards, he wasn't even nominated for the Best Actor award.
While he himself had also almost won everything he had been nominated for, except for the popularity, and Best Actor award in the Baeksang Awards.
An astonishing feat, but he wasn't satisfied yet. He sweared to god that he would win the Best Actor this year, in either the Thieves or TMETS.
Since he starred in The Thieves and not Soohyun, the role was made to fit him better, hence the script had some minor changes. He was thankful for that, he enjoyed acting a role fit for him more than the ones that don't fit him at all.
The Best Actor award was the most honorable award an actor could receive aside from the Daesang (Grand Prize). Winning it would mean that you are one of the most well-known actors with the most ability in that specific year.
Since Moon Embracing the Sun is about to air, his popularity will once more rise, and this time it will rise even faster than before.
Especially with the older generation, since this drama was more aimed at that age category. The Thieves was aimed at both, only young children wouldn't watch it. He would become a household name after it they had finished airing, and it would become easier to score future roles after 2014.
He definitely would be able to contend toe to toe with Lee Min-ho for The Heirs at that point.
*SFX Phone Ringing Sound*
He got an incoming call from JYP. He picked up the phone, and said, "Hey, what's up?"
"Minjae, you have always said you wanted to become a singer right?", he replied.
"Uhm, yes?" 'Now what is this?', he thought.
"Do you want to debut solo soon?"
...
What is this?
"I know that you're busy with filming your dramas and all, but after you've finished filming those, do you want to create your own music?"
Of course he did!
But, he couldn't.
His plans would go down the drain if he began singing solo, that would simply be too much, he probably wouldn't be able to debut with an idol group at that point.
Imagine if IU joined Twice or another girl group out of the blue, yeah, that's not going to happen. He would simply outshine everyone in that group in the beginning, and he didn't want that. Although some of it was inevitable, the other parts he could prevent.
JYP should also know this, then why is he asking this now?
"You know I want to debut in a group right?"
"Yes, but for the time being, that won't work. I have to find other talented trainees to add to the group, and I'm missing about two or three."
"I'm willing to wait."
"Ehh.. Ok then, you sure?"
"Yes."
"Absolutely sure?"
"Yes."
"Al right, I'll talk to you about the details of the group as soon as I have made it."
"Ok, bye."
And they hung up.
He really wanted to sing in front of others, but if he did that, debuting with GOT7 would become impossible.
His dream was to be an idol and a singer, so he'd rather debut solo only if he wasn't busy with GOT7's projects or if it somehow disbanded in the future.
But, he could create songs already, maybe he could even compose music for GOT7 in the future.
That was his plan after all, to make GOT7 more popular than it was before. GOT7 would become the absolute best group visually after he joined, and he hoped it would become the best in other aspects as well.
To do that, it needed a bigger fanbase.
In the past, they didn't really focus on the mainstream sort of music that BTS and EXO focussed on, with the casual beat drop's and EDM style that was mixed in their songs. They had their completely own style, which was very cool in it's own, but it didn't prove to help them that much as they had thought.
If they did both mainstream music and their own style, they would simply become the best. Include martial arts in there, and you got yourself an ideal boy group.
And he was there to make that happen.