"I am resigning"
In the spacious office, a tall toned man wearing a white tee with black jeans matching his luscious hair was bowing at the elderly CEO.
"Are you sure you want to resign Kim Ji-Woo?"
The company he is resigning from is a bar located in Seoul. It was a medium to large sized bar and often hosted small events and gatherings. The 26 year old had been working there after completing his mandatory military service. Slowly raising his head, his eyes calm with glimmers of excitement staring at the CEO. He spoke in a low and calm tone.
"Yes, CEO. Working here was an extremely valuable experience for me but now I want to move forward and try to chase after my dream."
The CEO stood up, much smaller in size, with thinning grey hair, looking up from the envelope placed on the desk towards Kim Ji-Woo.
'Would you look at that. I never thought I would see the day he finally shows me such a soft and relaxed face.'
Soon a single tear ran down the frail CEO's face. After wiping it, he reached out his hand and let out a warm smile.
"I'm so happy for you and I want you to know that you have my full support. Also know that you will always have a place here to come back to."
Grabbing his hand and firmly shaking it, with a calm expression on his face,
"Thank you for everything over the years CEO."
Kim Ji-Woo then turned around and left the office. After giving his farewell to his colleagues, he swiftly left the building. He sat down at the bus stop opposite the building.
The black marble tiling covering the walls on the outside. The bright neon lights as well as the street lamps bouncing light off of the shiny exterior giving off a warm, modern and inviting environment. On the outside, it seemed like an established high end bar where a lot of celebrities would go in and enjoy themselves.
'I didn't expect that devil disguised in human clothes would actually let me go'
However to Ji-Woo who worked inside the bar, he could only describe the place as hell. The extremely long and gruelling work hours, the countless times where he had to clean the entire bar by himself while his seniors were sat around doing nothing but watching USquare on their phones the entire time. The manager who constantly berated him over every little thing that he did wrong. Not to mention the forced overtime with no overtime pay. He couldn't even think about planning a holiday since he wasn't allowed any annual paid leave and any leave he had requested would immediately get denied by his tyrannical manager. Ji-Woo felt extremely powerless working there.
-Click , -Creak, -Click
Kim Ji-Woo opened the door to his tidy and organised small studio apartment. Launching himself onto the bed, laying there with his smile stretching from ear to ear thinking to himself.
'I'm finally a free man!'
Ji-Woo lets out a long sigh.
'Alright. Let me call the gang up and get drunk tonight.'
At that moment.
-Ring, Ring, Ring
His phone started buzzing. Kim Ji-Woo sprung up from his bed and went to get his phone from the kitchen table. Checking who was calling him, his eyes had lit up. Soon a warm voice pierced his ears.
"Hello Ji-Woo"
Pacing around the room Ji-Woo answered.
"Hello Mom. How have you been?"
"I've been doing well. How have you been?"
"Well I'm feeling much better now."
Ji-Woo pulled out a chair from the table and sat down.
"Hey mom. I finally left my job today."
"..Sigh... I know we talked about it during your graduation ceremony but are you sure it was the right decision for you to do? How will you live on your own now in Seoul without any money?"
"It's alright. I have saved around 10 million won from the past 5 years as I took on loads of tutoring jobs and I had money left over from my part time job. It should last me for some time."
"Ok. I trust you Ji-Woo so what are you planning to do next?"
"For right now, I want to take it easy and see if I can get into a law firm after a short break."
"Ok, just make sure you look after yourself and keep healthy. Also remember Ji-Woo, you can always come back home if it become to much for you to handle.
"Don't worry mom. I will be fine."
"Ok then. I love you Ji-Woo."
"I love you too mom. Oh, and make sure to tell Hyun-Mi that she needs to study hard and get into Korea university otherwise I'm going to stop giving her an allowance."
"Oppa, I can hear you since mom put you on speaker phone and I am working hard. Instead worry about your jobless self instead!"
"Okay got it. See you guys at Christmas."
After hanging up, Ji-Woo sat there pondering what he was going to do next.
-Ring, -Ring, -Ring,
Someone with a stern voice spoke hesitantly.
"Hey Ji-Woo. Errm... Just wanted to call and ask if you wanted to go out for some BBQ and drink with us?"
"Since when have I ever gone out with you guys, let alone gone drinking?"
"Yeah I know. I was asking in case you changed your mind. I'll let the others know you are not going?"
"So where are you guys meeting ?"
"The one near my apartment."
"What time?"
"9pm"
"Alright see you there at 9pm. Don't be late."
"Huh.. What!?"
"I'm joining you guys today so make sure you're not late."
"Hell yeah! See you then."
Several hours later, Ji-Woo had arrived at the restaurant. The last time he went out drinking with his friends was over 6 years ago, before he had started his mandatory military service. Checking over his outfit one last time, he opened the door and entered the barbeque restaurant. Scanning the restaurant, he saw 3 people around a round table with meat sizzling away at the centre.
"Ah. Ji-Woo! Over here"
The person waving his hand at Ji-Woo was his best friend Lee Min-Ho who had been friends with him since middle school. He was wearing a brown aviator jacket and wore a white tee and black cargo pants. Sat on either side of Lee Min-Ho were Ji-Woo best friends he had made during his time in Law School at Korea University, Kim Si-Won and Park Jun-Woo. Both were incredibly smart and had placed second and third in the entire cohort.
[Lee Min-Ho]
"Perfect timing. The ggot deungshim just finished cooking so take a seat and let's eat"
Ji-Woo pulled out the red stool and sat down. The ggot deungshim has a perfect charr and crust on the outside with a blush pink interior. Once cut into pieces, it got piled onto Ji-Woo's plate.
[Kim Si-Won]
"We didn't get to congratulate you on getting first place properly so here's your reward."
Ji-Woo cracked a smile on his face. Raising his shot glass filled to the brim with soju.
[Kim Ji-Woo]
"Jjan!"
-clink - clink - clink
Everyone threw back the shot of soju in near perfect harmony. Later on into the night while Si-Won and Jun-Woo were having a heated argument, Ji-Woo was staring at his shot of soju contemplating whether to tell his friends that he had quit his part time job. After a few minutes, he had organised his thoughts and decided.
'Screw it. What's the worst that they can harass me about?'
Ji-Woo spoke in a sombre voice.
"Hey guys! I have something I need to confess."
Lee Min-Ho jokingly said.
"Did you kill someone?"
"No, why would you think that?"
"You had a very worried expression on your face after finishing the first bottle of soju so I thought you might have committed a crime."
"NO! Errk… Why was I ever friends with you in the first place?"
"Because I look too handsome and irresistible."
"Pfft.. As If! You're still single and no one has ever confessed their feelings for you."
"Hey! That's friendly fire! You're in the same boat as me."
"Shut up! At least I had a few girls ask me out on a date."
Ji-Woo retorted. Then calmly and nonchalantly saying
"Anyway no, I just want to let you guys know that I finally left my part time job and quit tutoring."
"The workaholic quitting his job. Nice joke dude."
"No, I am serious. I quit my part time job."
Everyone stared at him in shock. After processing the nuke Ji-Woo had just dropped, Min-Ho leaped up.
"Wait…What?!?" WHEN!?"
"Today in the early afternoon"
"Congratulation! Finally you left that shitty place"
After everyone patted Ji-Woo shoulders and congratulated him, Min-Ho sat back down and asked Ji-Woo
"What are you going to do now?"
"I haven't decided yet but I'm going to take a break and decide in the meantime."
"Sounds good but are you not going to become a lawyer?"
"I don't know"
"What's the point if you aren't going to put it to good use?"
"True."
Park Jun-Woo then chimed in.
"If you ever feel like working as a lawyer, I can ask our CEO to hire you and since you did better than both of us he would more than likely welcome you with open arms."
"Yeah we can both put in a good word for you."
"I will think about it but right now, I just want to take a break and relax."
Soon everybody raised their glass and celebrated Ji-Woo leaving his trashy part time job. After downing a few shots, Lee Min-Ho looked at Ji-Woo who had a flushed face at this point and asked.
"Hey, do you still want to become an actor by chance?"
"To be honest, I was considering it as one of my options. I was going to look around and see if I can attend an acting school or try my luck and participate in an open audition during my break."
"Then how about you come and join me for my audition? I ended up getting past the first stage of Super Rookie Actor that is being held on SBC and wanted someone to come with me for moral support. It will also give you an opportunity to have a look at what auditioning is like."
"Sure, just text me the date and address."
Two weeks later, early in the morning Ji-Woo had met up with Min-Ho at the theatre where the Super Rookie Actor show was being held. While waiting in line outside to get into the audition, Ji-Woo asked
"Hey. So what exactly is this show about?"
Lee Min-Ho looked at Kim Ji-Woo stunned.
"Did you not do any research into it?"
"Nope."
"What have you been doing these past 2 weeks?"
"Eating. Working out. Playing games. Sleeping"
"The entire 2 weeks?"
"Pretty much yeah. I was finally able to relax, plus I'm not participating in the show so there really isn't a point in looking up about it."
"Fair point. Alright, the show is about finding talented rookie actors. There are 3 rounds. In the first round you send in a headshot photo, cv and a video of yourself acting for 5 minutes into the show and then the 3 judges decide whether you move onto round 2."
"How many people passed? "
"There are only 200 spots available."
"And you're somehow one of them."
"Hey! You're here to boost my ego, not bring it down."
"Yeah yeah I know. Anyway what happens in round 2 and 3"
"If you ask nicely, I will answer your question."
"Your majesty Min-Ho, please enlighten this insolent commoner about what happens in the next few rounds?"
"Haha. Never thought you would do that."
"Didn't you tell me to boost your ego today."
"True. Since you asked so nicely, In round 2, you get given a script and you have a minimum of an hour to analyse and memorise the script. Sometimes it can be way longer but it depends on how smoothly it goes. Once the hour is up, they will call out your name and you will then go perform it in front of the judges. Only 5 people can move onto the third round."
"What!?! Only 5 from the 200?"
"Yeah, it's rough. It's only because in round 3 each contestant has to select and perform a play and each play lasts around 1 hour."
"Oh. That makes a lot of sense but that's really harsh. What does the winner get?"
"They get ₩2,000,000 and is pretty much guaranteed to get signed by an agency."
"Alright make sure to treat me to something good once you win."
"Too much of a boost. Tone it down a bit."
"Why? Unless you end up missing your audition you should be fine. I've seen you acting when I went to see your theatre group play and it was good."
"Thanks. Can you help me practice?"
"You didn't need to ask."
"Next Please!"
It was now their turn. They were walking up towards the short statured women.
"Good Morning. My name in Lee Min-Ho"
Pushing up her glasses.
"Give me one moment to find your name. In the meantime, could you please sign this NDA agreement."
"Sure. Can my friend read what is in the agreement?"
"Yeah no problem"
Min-Ho hand the contract over to Ji-Woo and whispers into his ear,
"Please read over it for me."
"Sure"
A few minutes later Min-Ho signs the agreement. The staff member hands over his audition number and goes on to explain what the day consists of before handing over the script.
"Please follow the signs to waiting room"
"Thank you."
Soon the pair found themselves standing in a grand hall with rows upon rows of plastic chairs neatly arranged.
'Holy shit. This place is massive'.
"Hey Ji-Woo, let's sit over there."
An hour has passed since they sat down and the once empty hall was now packed with people.
"Hey Ji-Woo, I need to go to the toilet."
Ji-woo looked up from his phone and turned towards Min-Ho. He noticed him clutching at his stomach. His face was covered in sweat and had turning red.
"Min-Ho, are you okay?"
"I'm really nervous and getting bad stomach pains."
"Yeah go ahead. I will call you when it's your turn."
"Thanks"
Min-Ho sprinted out of the hall clutching his stomach. Soon after he left, the muscular assistant director came out of the audition room.
"Next contestant is number 33, Min-Ho!"
'What is this timing?!'
-Ring ring, Ring ring, Ring ring
5 minutes had passed and he couldn't get a hold of him..
"Last chance for contestant number 33?"
Ji-woo had no choice. He walked up towards the assistant director with an intense stare.
"Hello. I'm Min-Ho's friend and he is currently using the bathroom."
"Well if he isn't here in the next minute then he is disqualified."
"Could you please delay it for another 5 minutes?"
"I can't. We have a very tight shooting schedule."
"Then is it possible for another contestant to fill in until he's back."
"I can't. The next contestant still has 8 minutes of preparation time remaining."
"Could you please ask if its possible to wait a bit longer?"
"Alright. Let me go ask the director."
"Thank you"
The assistant director went back into the audition room. After 5 minutes, the assistant came out of the audition room alongside a woman in her mid thirties who was staring intensely at Ji-Woo.
'He's good looking.'
"Hello. Are you Min-Ho's friend?
"Yes my name is Kim Ji-Woo."
"Would you like to be a part of the show?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'll let your friend take the audition late only if you are willing to take part in the show."
'Huh?'
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Authors Message
Just going to post this first chapter and if people like it a lot and this gets good reception I might post more chapters.