The public audition for High Dream, which was expected by reporters to last about two weeks, ended within just a week, raising questions. This wasn’t typical for such events.
"Looks like a catfish showed up."
It was as if a single catfish had appeared out of nowhere and devoured all the minnows. The audition had beco nothing more than a play with the winner already decided.
"But we didn’t see anyone like that?"
If soone of that caliber had participated, the reporters’ radar should have picked it up. Yet, they hadn’t even sensed the presence of the so-called catfish.
But in hindsight, it made sense.
The audition participants sponsored by various agencies were numbered past 2000, so the reporters hadn’t bothered to keep close watch on those with lower numbers.
"Wow... that guy’s really handso."
Except for one reporter.
This was a rookie journalist from DailyHappy, an online dia company that had only just begun to grow. Because they were small, they had to move faster than anyone else. And now, the rookie journalist stared at Kim Dong-hoo, slack-jawed.
Having followed senior reporters to various entertainnt events, his already high standards were now being stretched as he observed the boy who had just started to blossom.
It felt like he was getting a glimpse of a new world. He was just about to rush over and talk to him, to offer his business card, but the boy swiftly left with his friends.
"He’s definitely going to pass."
The journalist imdiately called his senior.
"Hey, I think I’ve sniffed out a scoop." -"What? Are you crazy? Stop talking nonsense." "..."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The punching bag made rough noises, but it barely shook, hinting at the power behind the blows.
"Dong-hoo, you’ve definitely improved. You should go into MMA. UFC, you know? Stun Gun! You could totally be like him!"
Baek Sang-ha, the gym owner, marveled.
"Striking, grappling, whatever. Should we book a match? Maybe start by taking out the nearby gyms?"
Having watched Kim Dong-hoo since elentary school, Baek Sang-ha was convinced.
‘That kid is a future champion, no doubt.’
He could even see it in his mind—a smiling Kim Dong-hoo holding championship belts in multiple weight classes. He wanted to turn that vision into reality as soon as possible.
But the world doesn’t always go the way you want it to.
"Master, I don’t think I’ll be able to co for a while."
Boom!
Baek Sang-ha froze as if struck by lightning.
"Wh-what? Why can’t you co? Is it because I taught you CQC?" "No, that’s not it..." "Dong-hoo, I told you, the more diverse your combat skills, the better. I taught you that for experience... Yeah, it was intense, but..." "No, Master, listen-" "Is it because of the taekwondo lessons? Dong-hoo, I know the movents are big, but if you want a finisher, you need kicks in your arsenal..." "Master! That’s not it! I passed the audition!"
At those words, Baek Sang-ha fell silent.
Audition? What audition?
‘Now that I think of it, he did ntion trying out for a drama.’
Wait, he actually did that?
‘I thought he was just saying that to test .’
I thought he wanted to see if I was really serious about pushing him to the top of the UFC. But no, he was serious.
"So I won’t be able to co for a while. I’m sorry."
Boom!
That day, Baek Sang-ha’s world crumbled.
Standing 193 cm tall, weighing 130 kg, and once prid to challenge for the UFC heavyweight division, Baek Sang-ha—whose shark-like appearance could make children cry just by looking at him—was left speechless.
"...This can’t be happening."
After the character director, Shin Young-sook, sent Kim Dong-hoo his acceptance text, writer Lee Min-ha received confirmation of the casting and imdiately resud writing.
To be precise, she was pouring out the words. She completely overhauled the entire script as if possessed.
"It’s not just about the struggles and hardships of the main characters; we need to showcase their musical talents, too."
Various types of music. Popular music was important, but it didn’t make sense for an arts high school to only have those kinds of students.
"He’s going to be such a fresh character."
His height and build, unusually large for a 14-year-old, posed no issues. His slightly youthful voice? Who cares about that when he can sing rock?
The key was that he was incredibly handso and a good actor.
Tatatatata!
It took 10 days to complete a character tailored specifically for Kim Dong-hoo, one that only he could play. It took 4 days to fine-tune the script. In total, after 14 days of effort, Lee Min-ha rushed to the KBC broadcasting station.
"The final script is ready. Let’s go with this."
Finally, the final draft was born.
"Shall we do the script reading?"
The mont Lee Min-ha had been waiting for was approaching.
The day I was notified about the script reading.
"What happened? Did you fail?" < "Yeah, I didn’t get an acceptance ssage."
When Kim Soo-jin asked , I lied on purpose. There was no particular reason; I just wanted to play a little joke.
‘We’ll see each other at the script reading anyway.’
I figured a joke this small was harmless. With that in mind, I opened the script that had been mailed to .
Written by Lee Min-ha
That’s all it said on the first page, but a wave of excitent swept over . Just days ago, I was living like a regular person, but now I had a script in my hands, preparing for a reading.
‘Actually acting it out is going to be different though.’
Even with the perks I’ve been given, morizing the script was a whole different matter. So far, all the acting I’d done had been short-term gigs.
‘Now I’m becoming a real actor.’
To do that, I needed to fully imrse myself in the script. A nerve-wracking mont.
Ding!
My phone chid.
The ssage was from [SIMS - The Real Life], the app that provided with my perks.
-[For smoother script morization, we’ve added an “Imrsion” feature.] -[When holding the script, say “Imrsion” to activate this feature.]
A new feature update?
‘There’s no reason to hesitate.’
I might as well try it out imdiately.
I grabbed the script.
"Imrsion."
And at that mont, my world changed.
In the end, Mom broke the jar.
"I can’t live in this house anymore!"
The grandmother, who always fussed over how expensive a single earthenware pot was and how many millions of won the fernted soybean paste inside was worth, was silent. Twenty years of enduring life as a daughter-in-law had finally worn Mom down.
Father, who foolishly believed that as long as he provided money, the family would function automatically, was no help. Grandma, who deluded herself into thinking her son was always the victim, was no better.
A fool and a hedgehog.
My mom was slowly being crushed between them.
Her escape button was the jar. She opened it to check for maggots, just as she always did. But this ti, when Father offhandedly questioned why she even bothered, she exploded.
Her scream of "Who do you think I’ve been doing this for?" echoed throughout the neighborhood. More shouting followed, and the conclusion ca from Mom’s mouth.
"A lady of a noble family? Don’t make laugh! I’ve never been treated as a daughter-in-law, always as sothing worse than that damned jar! Why should I stay here?!"
Crash!
More jars were shattered. By the end, it was impossible to tell who had broken them. Several had been destroyed.
And that day, sothing inside shattered too.
Crack.
It felt like a part of had broken.
"Jae, let’s go."
Jae. Lee Jae. That’s my na.
I think I used to have another na. But when we left the house, I lost it.
"This will be our ho from now on."
The day we entered a naless basent villa, my mom looked down at with a weary smile. She was exhausted from having abandoned the past and bracing for the future. Maybe she had lost sothing in that house, too.
‘Ah.’
That was the first ti I thought I needed to protect her. I needed to beco famous. I needed to make a lot of money.
And I chose music as the path to get there. If I beca a brilliant idol, I could earn ridiculous amounts of money.
At the sa ti, sothing began to grow inside . An emotion I couldn’t na.
That feeling whispered to whenever I saw other parents picking up their kids after school.
Don’t associate with those people. You’re different from them, so don’t get involved.
From that point on, the feeling nad itself "contempt."
Contempt was always by my side.
It was there when I won the school music award, even though I’d never attended a music academy. It was the only thing with .
‘Talentless losers.’
Why did those worthless people always smile like that? Were they truly happy just because their parents smiled at them for getting a participation award?
‘What’s so great about not even winning a real prize?’
I couldn’t understand. It disgusted .
Crash!
At ho, sothing was always breaking.
"Mom."
I didn’t even have the energy to be surprised anymore. As long as no one got hurt, it was fine. Cleaning up the broken pieces had beco second nature.
‘Where could I beco famous for my music?’
It would be great if I could start earning money in high school.
That’s when I discovered Eunha Arts High School.
I’d heard that if you got in on a special scholarship, you could study and make money at the sa ti. With a few school music awards under my belt, I easily got accepted as a special scholarship student.
That’s when I first encountered rock. It wasn’t popular, so I didn’t choose it as my main focus, but belting out those powerful notes seed to release all the knots inside .
‘I’ll probably drop this too, eventually.’
That was what I thought until I t those disgusting people. They babbled about dreams and hopes, a bunch of inferior losers sticking together in their pathetic little group.
High Dream?
How could those bottom-tier students possibly dream of anything big?
‘These people don’t belong in this school.’
I wanted to get rid of them. I wanted to prove a point.
In the end, talent is the only thing that matters.
I wouldn’t feel better until I crushed them beneath .
Crash.
Another breaking sound echoed.
‘It’s fine.’
I didn’t care. Cleaning up broken pieces was sothing I was used to.
Whoosh!
The scene of clearing away broken pieces faded, and I returned to reality.
"What... what just happened?"
What had just happened?
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