Become a Star

“Regardless of what I do, the wind from you doesn’t reach me. We walk on the same path, but the waves blowing from me push you away. Let’s bury the dark and sad truth in the shadows….”

Woon Jong-Shin’s eyes widened as Woo-Jin sang. Kang Goo-Ra had a lukewarm reaction, but everyone else admired Chae Woo-Jin’s vocals, which sounded the same as the recorded version. Anybody who had sung along to ‘The Wind That Blows From You’ at least once would know that it wasn’t an easy song to sing.

“You sing really well. You sound so good.”

“Well, you sound decent. Chae Woo-Jin, would you consider going on The King of the Masked Singers by any chance? With your ability….” While Woon Jong-Shin was full of admiration for Woo-Jin’s performance, Kang Goo-Ra only responded that it wasn’t bad.

Woo-Jin returned to his seat and earnestly asked Kang Goo-Ra, “Could you convince my CEO to let me go on the show?”

“Ah…”

“It was tough for me to appear on this show too.” Simply by mentioning CEO Jang Soo-Hwan’s name, Woo-Jin was able to decline any request to appear on variety TV shows without having to say much.

“Well, even if you go on the show….”

“Yeah?” When Woo-Jin expressed his curiosity, Kang Goo-Ra shook his head and told him it was nothing.

“A-Ra doesn’t seem to be in good condition. You mentioned you had a sore throat earlier. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, kind of.” A-Ra smiled broadly. She was a young girl, so the hosts found her very endearing and lovable.

“That reminds me – I heard that A-Ra is known for being a cat lover. Doesn’t Woo-Jin have a cat too?” Woo-Jin responded to Kim Goo-Jin’s question by recounting the story of how he crossed paths with Woo-Sa again. A-Ra then looked at Woo-Jin as her eyes lit up.

“After being apart for twelve years? Wow~! Hearing this story reminds me of our Peanut, who crossed the rainbow bridge not too long ago. Our dear Peanut had also lived with us for twelve years before leaving.”

When Woo-Jin heard that the cat was 14 years old when it crossed the rainbow bridge, he sympathized with A-Ra for the first time and felt upset too. It seemed like he didn’t have much time left with Woo-Sa, so he felt depressed. However, he could also feel A-Ra’s sorrow.

“Butlers [1]! Let’s not do this here.” Woo-Jin returned to reality and continued with the program only after Kim Goo-Jin stepped in.

“It’s time for us to delve deeper and get to know more about Chae Woo-Jin. Is it true that you were an original member of a certain idol boy group and even took part in recording sessions?” As though he was interrogating Woo-Jin, Kim Goo-Jin’s tone and attitude were solemn.

“It’s true, but that’s not unheard of for trainees. It’s common for us to go further along in the process and record songs only to leave the group or agency at the last minute. Hence, it doesn’t matter who the members were before they debuted and released the album.” Woo-Jin proceeded to say that he was nothing special and reacted in a way that implied it wasn’t a big deal. However, as the hosts were aware that Blue Fit’s fans had been targeting Woo-Jin on the internet, they saw it as a problem that needed to be addressed.

“But don’t you feel disappointed? They’re not just idols – they’re Hallyu stars now. You must have felt a little envious to see them do well, right?”

Woo-Jin looked indifferent as he replied, “No.”

“I find it hard to believe! Bring it over.” A staff member brought over a portable lie detector that they had already prepared in advance and placed it in front of Woo-Jin. The user would hook their finger to the machine, which released some electricity to shock them when they told a lie. Woo-Jin was fascinated by it, and when he placed his hand on it, the hosts ran over to him like hounds.

“You were envious of them, right?”

“No.”

Everyone looked surprised to see that the machine didn’t shock him. The hosts said that it might be broken and tested it out on one another. After ensuring that it was working fine, Woo-Jin placed his hand on top of it again.

“In that case, why did you leave at the last moment?” This time around, Woon Jong-Shin was the one earnestly asking the question. From his point of view as a producer, he felt that TM made a huge and regrettable mistake of letting Chae Woo-Jin go. Even though Chae Woo-Jin was a baritone singer, most of Blue Fit’s songs were more masculine in nature, with heavy beats. He would have fitted right in.

“We’re incompatible.”

“Your answer is extremely simple and concise. Could you elaborate~!” Kim Goo-Jin goofed around and pronounced the words in a unique manner, causing Woo-Jin to relax a little and laugh with them.

“It’s just that the ideals that we pursued weren’t aligned with one another. Do I need another reason?”

Even though they asked Woo-Jin a couple of questions regarding Blue Fit, the lie detector didn’t go off. After that, they ran out of questions to ask, so the game of truth ended uneventfully. However, Woo-Jin said it was fun and continued placing his hand on the machine.

“Oh, are you determined to tell nothing but the truth today?”

“Yes!”

“Who is the most beautiful woman in the world?”

“My mothe-...ack!”

Woo-Jin argued that the machine might be broken, but it was pointless. Nevertheless, when he repeated that his mother was the most beautiful woman to him, he was shocked once again.

“So if you had gotten to the recording stage, it would mean that you’re familiar with the idol group’s debut song.”

“Well, somewhat.”

“Could you sing it for us?”

“Why are you making me sing again!”

“I’m not trying to put you on the spot – I just happen to like your voice very much. I want to hear you sing ‘Shining Star.’” The other hosts complained as soon as Woon Jong-Shin made the request, stating that it was his wish to hear him sing that song.

“We kept reminding you to maintain the anonymity of the idol group, but you just revealed the title of the debut song to everyone. Now that it’s already come to this, he’s going to end up singing it. A lot of people had sung that song on our program, so what difference would it make if Chae Woo-Jin were to sing it one more time?”

Because it was such a masterpiece, many celebrities had sung ‘Shining Star,’ claiming it to be their all-time favorite song. And since Woon Jong-Shin also liked the song a lot, whenever a good singer appeared as a guest on the show, he would always get them to sing it. So adding Chae Woo-Jin to the list wouldn’t change anything. Even though his circumstances were ambiguous, the hosts and guests on TV Star tended to go with the flow. The program was relatively flexible, and situations like this were rather common.

“When I first heard you almost debuted as a member of that group, do you have any idea how much I’ve thought about it? How would it sound when you sing ‘Shining Star’ in your deep and husky voice. Everyone, if you want to curse and blame somebody, direct it at me. As you can see, I’m the one who’s forcing Woo-Jin to sing, even though he doesn’t want to.”

Woon Jong-Shin faced the camera and apologized in advance. Because everyone knew he had loved this song for a long time and that he was a collector who liked hearing different people with various voices sing it, his action was understandable. Otherwise, his request would have caused a lot of inconvenience to both Blue Fit and Chae Woo-Jin. Naturally, the production team had already informed Woo-Jin about Woon Jong-Shin’s request beforehand, And Woo-Jin didn’t reject them.

“If I sing it again, it makes me want to break the rules.” Woo-Jin smiled mischievously, but nobody understood what he meant by that. He stood up and grabbed the microphone. After clearing his throat, he started singing Blue Fit’s debut song, ‘Shining Star.’

“I’ll be that person to you. Just wait and see. For the rest of your life, you’ll have to see me outside the world you’ve abandoned….”

As soon as Woo-Jin started singing, everyone became flustered. It wasn’t Chae Woo-Jin’s voice; it was ‘Shining Star’ sung by Blue Fit.

“Ah, ah, ah, ah~ Shining star!”

More precisely, it was the part sung by their main vocalist, Min Si-Hoo. One of the reasons why Blue Fit’s debut song became so popular was the five high notes of the song. When Woo-Jin hit the five high notes, everybody present started getting goosebumps. It was perfect; it sounded exactly the same as the recorded version, as though someone was playing their CD.

After recording ‘Shining Star,’ no one had ever heard the song live because Min Si-Hoo could no longer sing as well as he did due to a vocal cord inflammation. However, that very same version of ‘Shining Star’ was now resonating throughout the studio.

Everybody clapped their hands when the song ended, but they looked confused, as though they didn’t know what they had just heard.

“Fess up! You played Blue Fit’s song, and Woo-Jin lip-synced, right?” Kang Goo-Ra knitted his brows and asked the production team, to which the production director shook his head violently, making an ‘X’ with both arms.

It was true that they had made prior arrangements with Chae Woo-Jin before the show to sing ‘Shining Star,’ but that was all there was to it. Even the production director was equally baffled by the current situation. Chae Woo-Jin’s voice was very unique when he sang. He would use an amazing, husky, baritone voice whenever he sang, which he never used on other occasions. However, that wasn’t the case at all when he sang 'Shining Star.’ He used a different voice that everyone was familiar with.

Regardless of whether the people were panicking or not, Woo-Jin casually sat down and explained in a playful voice.

“Back then, the producer had once told us to imitate each other’s voices, so we’ll be familiar with each other’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s not that I don’t want to accede to Woon Jong-Shin’s request…ack!” As soon as Woo-Jin sat down, Woo-Jin started talking with his hand on the lie detector. When he was shocked by the lie detector, people in the studio burst out laughing. The others didn’t think much of it, but Woon Jong-Shin remained silent without saying a word. His face hardened, and he didn’t even laugh.

“Are you upset because you didn’t get what you wanted? This guy is so narrow-minded!” As soon as Kang Goo-Ra tapped Woon Jong-Shin on the shoulder, he finally came to his senses and forced a smile.

“Even though it was just an impersonation, how can it sound exactly the same as the album version?” That was the reason why Woon Jong-Shin was shocked.

His voice itself was great, but it sounded precisely the same, from the beat to his breathing between the musical phrases and his pitch. Even Min Si-Hoo himself had never reproduced the exact same performance. Unless it was sung by someone else.

Having listened to ‘Shining Star’ countless times, Woon Jong-Shin could be certain of it. The moment he lifted his head with a sharp gaze in his eyes, he made eye contact with the production director. The production director lightly shook his head and covered the sides of his mouth with his hands, and mouthed the words, ‘This is not something we should meddle in,’ to Woon Jong-Shin such that he was the only one who could see him. They would be airing this episode, but it wasn’t TV Star’s responsibility to judge or get to the bottom of this matter.

“It’s been a while since I sang this song, so it’s a little difficult.” When Woo-Jin whined as he held his neck, Kang Hee-Joo handed him a bottle of water. Woo-Jin drank the water and silently watched as Woon Jong-Shin and the production director exchanged signals with one another.

“Looking back, Chae Woo-Jin experienced a lot of coincidences that day. Not only did you meet Berry Rose at the convenience store that day, but you had also run into the elderly man that inadvertently made you the Slipper Young Man. Was it really a coincidence?”

“Exactly. I feel like I’ve used up a life’s worth of coincidences that day.” They switched the topic back to his first meeting with Berry Rose. Many people had speculated that what happened that day wasn’t coincidental and had been scripted.

“Do you usually do good deeds like that?”

“No. I was making my way home after shooting Glooming Day that night. I had been away from home for quite some time. It was one of those days where I felt that the world looked beautiful and I should try to be a good person. I found out later on that people called me the Slipper Young Man, but truth be told, I didn’t do anything. The people who helped the elderly man and gave him hope are the true MVPs. For some reason, I’m the one getting all this attention, so I feel bad and, frankly, very embarrassed. I hope that people will stop talking about the Slipper Young Man.”

Woo-Jin made it clear that he refused to accept any compliments that he didn’t deserve.

1. As mentioned before in one of the s, cat lovers are called ‘butlers’ in Korea. ☜