Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 217

#217.

“Ah, yes, Chief Director! How have you been? Yes, yes. I was already waiting for Do-jae’s call… Just a moment, I’m inside the studio, so let me go outside to take it. Yes, yes.”

While Jung Gil-joo went to take the call,

Woo-cheol and Kyu-sung exchanged glances.

Currently, there was only one place Do-jae was waiting to hear from.

“Looks like the results are in?”

“Seems so.”

Woo-cheol replied to Kyu-sung’s question.

Both of them were hoping that Do-jae would get the part in .

The members were the first to know that Do-jae also had a talent for acting.

Plus, Do-jae had visuals that were too good to waste on not acting.

It would be a prime example of ‘wasted talent.’

“I really hope he gets it…”

Kyu-sung quietly murmured.

In the members’ eyes, the character of Lee Yu-hoon was perfect for Do-jae.

So, if he were to make his acting debut, they hoped it would be as Lee Yu-hoon.

Of course, Do-jae could debut 멋지게 [admirably/splendidly] in any role at any time, and they weren’t particularly worried about what Do-jae did, but…

They wanted to see Do-jae playing a prince.

Woo-cheol, the only member with acting experience, felt similarly.

Woo-cheol knew how lucky it was for someone acting for the first time to play a ‘role they wanted’ and ‘a role that suited them well.’

Aside from the buzz that had and the fact that the role of Lee Yu-hoon was an unusual lead role for a rookie to take on, Woo-cheol hoped that Do-jae would have that kind of luck.

“I thought it would be a shoo-in, though.”

This time, Kyu-sung agreed with Woo-cheol, saying, “I know, right.”

After Do-jae finished the audition and meeting, the members jokingly congratulated him.

It was because they naturally assumed that Do-jae would land the role of Lee Yu-hoon.

“The atmosphere was good, right?”

“Well, your acting must have been amazing. The acting teacher said there was nothing to teach you, 형 [hyung – older brother or male friend]!”

“How was it? Do you think you’ll get it?”

“The lead in is 형 [hyung – older brother or male friend]!”

At the members’ excited chatter, Do-jae quietly smiled as usual.

However, what followed was something they had never heard before.

“I don’t think I’ll get it.”

Do-jae saying ‘I won’t get it’?

The members, who were setting out the delivery food on the table, froze.

Do-jae always showed a humble attitude regarding his skills, but he was always confident about the results.

“Why? What happened?!”

When Heung-min asked in surprise, Do-jae explained what had happened at the meeting.

“They said I have to do a kiss scene.”

“Oh? Oh…”

The members rolled their eyes, unable to find a suitable answer.

Come to think of it, was a story about the love between two main characters, as the title suggested.

Even though Woo-cheol’s dealt with the same romance, there was a limit because the main characters were minors.

Thanks to that, Woo-cheol finished filming with just a dating scene where he held hands with the supporting female lead.

“Ah. That’s right. A kiss scene… There might be one.”

Woo-cheol scratched his head and muttered with a ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ look on his face.

No matter how much it was acting, and even if the fans could distinguish between public and private matters, a kiss scene was too much for an idol who was at the peak of his career.

Even a light peck was okay, but a kiss scene…

“Huh? Did it change during the adaptation? There was only a kiss in …”

Louie, who had hoped Do-jae would appear in as a drama fan, asked.

Having heard the news of the remake, he had recently ‘re-watched’ all 16 episodes from the first episode, so he remembered it clearly.

“I thought so too. There’s a kiss scene, and the director said he wants us to act for real, not just pretend to act.”

At Do-jae’s words, the members were stunned.

“Then you said you couldn’t do it?”

Ki-joon, who had been listening quietly, asked.

Do-jae nodded.

“Yes. It’s definitely a role I wanted to do, but realistically, it seems impossible to do that kind of acting.”

He could have said he could do it and then tried to coordinate this issue through the company.

As an actor, Do-jae was ready to do anything, but it was like the company was against it.

However, first, Do-jae didn’t want to gloss over the situation with lies, and at the same time, he wanted to make his priorities clear.

The popularity of being a MOST member played a role in Do-jae, who had no experience as an actor, being offered the role of Lee Yu-hoon.

He had no intention of abandoning Kang Do-jae, a member of MOST, for acting, and even if he did his best in his acting activities, he couldn’t harm MOST’s activities.

“I told them that if they cast me, I would do my best, but only to the extent that it doesn’t harm MOST’s activities. I told them honestly.”

Revealing his best without embellishment.

He thought that was the proper etiquette for the writer and director who had worked hard for the work.

It was also an etiquette for the fans who had put Do-jae in that position.

“Ah…”

The members understood why Do-jae said ‘I don’t think I’ll get it.’

“Well, even if it doesn’t work out this time, there will be other good roles.”

“That’s right! There are many dramas without romance, like genre pieces!”

Do-jae chuckled and agreed with Louie’s words.

“That’s right.”

He could challenge romance acting with a love line later.

‘There will be a right time to do that kind of acting.’

Thinking that way, Do-jae didn’t think any more about the results of the meeting.

Even if he went back, Do-jae’s answer was one, and although it was a shame in many ways, he thought it wasn’t meant to be.

He was too busy preparing for the upcoming fan meeting to hold on to his regrets about appearing in for long.

푸하―! [Sound of exhaling]

Do-jae, who came out of the water, took a breath he had been holding back.

Water droplets splashed everywhere around Do-jae as he came out.

Do-jae’s face, which surfaced, was wet, not leaving a single strand of hair dry.

His expression was also stiff, as if it wasn’t comfortable to be in the water all the time.

“Good! Well done, well done. We’re going to go with the scene where you come out of the water like that.”

As the director shouted encouragingly, Do-jae shook his head to get the water out of his ears, calmly rearranged his expression, and nodded.

Seeing Do-jae struggling, the other members on standby became more afraid of underwater filming.

In that way, Do-jae’s filming proceeded again.

After repeatedly putting his head in the water and powerfully emerging above the surface, Do-jae’s filming finally came to an end.

Do-jae came completely out of the water and wrapped his body in a large shower towel.

Water droplets dripped from his ink-black hair.

At that time, Jung Gil-joo, who had gone out to take a call, returned to the studio.

He had been on the phone for quite a while.

Woo-cheol and Kyu-sung, who knew that Jung Gil-joo had gone out to receive a call from the drama production company, widened their eyes.

Everyone thought that Do-jae’s appearance in would be difficult, but they still had a glimmer of hope.

Jung Gil-joo’s face brightened when he found Do-jae coming out of the water.

“……!”

“……Oh!”

At the same time, Woo-cheol and Kyu-sung’s faces also brightened.

Only Do-jae was clueless, staring blankly at Jung Gil-joo approaching him.

“Do-jae!”

“Yes?”

Do-jae answered, wiping the water dripping down his face.

“No, now you’re Yu-hoon!”

“…….”

Do-jae blinked, not knowing what he meant.

“헐! [expression of disbelief/shock] Did Do-jae 형 [hyung – older brother or male friend] get the lead role?!”

Woo-cheol threw down the towel he was wrapped in and 벌떡 [suddenly/abruptly] stood up from his seat.

Jung Gil-joo looked surprised for a moment, as if wondering how he knew, but soon nodded with a happy face.

And he said to the bewildered Do-jae.

“I got a call from the production company. They want to cast you in the role of Lee Yu-hoon!”

“Me?”

“Yes, you! You wanted to do it! Aren’t you happy?”

“I’m happy, but… Why…….”

The contents of the meeting had been passed on to Jung Gil-joo and the company people.

Jung Gil-joo reached out his arm to put his arm around Do-jae’s shoulder as if to tell him not to worry, but then hesitated.

“헉. [gasp] My clothes almost got wet.”

The members briefly burst into laughter.

Instead, Jung Gil-joo tapped the towel Do-jae was wearing a couple of times and continued.

“Originally, they were going to put in a lot of kiss scenes as times have changed, but they’re going to go with the original. They said that it suits the work better.”

“Oh…….”

According to the original, it was just a light kiss.

That level was not much different from the acting he had shown in the second ‘Byulbyul Chicken’ commercial.

It meant that Do-jae could handle it well enough.

“That kind of…….”

Even so, Do-jae thought that the production team (especially director Cha Tae-hoon) would not be satisfied with him.

After all, it meant that there was something more important than the work, so there was no way they would want to cast such an actor.

“They said that the way you show your professional responsibility as an idol was more like a prince. He said that you answered without hesitation, but it seemed like there was already a long 고민 [agonizing/deliberation] in it.”

“…….”

Director Cha Tae-hoon said that to the production company.

Do-jae was momentarily stunned, struggling to accept the unbelievable situation.

He thought he had given up, but when he was cast, he was happier than he thought.

‘I wanted to play the role of Lee Yu-hoon more than I thought.’

It was only natural in a way, as he was confident that he could pull it off better than anyone else, and he also wanted to play the life of a ‘prince.’

“Wow, as expected of Do-jae 형 [hyung – older brother or male friend].”

Woo-cheol admired from the side, and Kyu-sung also 통감 [deeply felt/realized] the fact that ‘people who are meant to be will succeed no matter what.’

“That’s why people need to have persistence.”

Only when Jung Gil-joo said that did Do-jae, who realized that he had been cast, smile brightly.

“It will take a little longer to coordinate the contract and sign it.”

“Yes.”

“Anyway, the first filming is next year, so let’s prepare a lot by then.”

At Jung Gil-joo’s words, Do-jae nodded vigorously.

With the 52-hour work week and changes in the drama filming environment, casting and filming were taking place much earlier than the actual broadcast date.

Thanks to that, Do-jae was able to participate in without any schedule issues.

“Congratulations, Do-jae. That’s great.”

“I wish Louie would come out of the water quickly so I could tell him this news. Congratulations, 형 [hyung – older brother or male friend]!”

Receiving congratulations from Kyu-sung and Woo-cheol, Do-jae was filled with enthusiasm for the new challenge.

***

October 10th.

The area around Jamsil was heating up due to MOST’s one-day-only fan meeting, which would begin in a few hours.

Even those who failed at ‘ticket팅’ [ticketing war] and couldn’t see the fan meeting stage were gathered in groups of three or five, surrounding the stadium and forming a sea of people.

It was because of the event that the MOST members had ambitiously prepared.