Ring ring— The phone alarm blared terrifyingly just as the morning sun began to pour in. Moo-young rubbed his eyes and barely managed to haul himself upright. Sprawled beside him, belly flopped out in deep sleep, lay Jun-ho.
"Im Jun-ho. Get up."
"Urgh..."
Moo-young shook his shoulder, but there was zero response.
It had already been three days since wrapping the shoot with Enbin. They'd used Jun-ho's house as a base over the weekend to knock out all the reshoots. Now it was time to trade the set for the classroom.
"I'm heading out first. Don't blame me if you're late for work."
"Euuung..."
No helping it—he threw on his clothes and slipped out of Jun-ho's room.
Bathrooms off every bedroom, a hallway that stretched on forever. Why the hell does he wanna move out of a place like this?
Gurgle. The scent of meat thickly filled the spacious house.
Stepping into the kitchen, Jun-ho's parents greeted him with beaming smiles.
"Up already, Moo-young?"
"Morning, Uncle, Aunt."
"Classes start today, right?"
It was a scene straight out of a fairy-tale book. A lavish breakfast spread, the whole family gathered cozily around the table.
Jun-ho's father set down his newspaper and asked with gentle warmth.
"Yeah. The OT period's over, so now I gotta actually show up."
The OT window for dropping or swapping classes. Otherwise, he'd have tanked his attendance score from day one.
"Lucky timing, huh? Imagine if shoots clashed with exams."
"Totally. Episode one saved my ass."
"No more gigs lined up?"
"Nah, I'm all done."
"Seoyeondae's brutal—you'll have to grind. Place packs in nothing but top high-school hotshots. No tutoring gigs yet?"
"Posted some ads, but crickets. Guess freshmen with zero experience don't cut it."
"I'll float it to my buddies."
"Hehe, appreciate it."
They say leisure comes from a full wallet and carbs. Jun-ho's hearty parents were kindness personified. Moments like this hit Moo-young with what a real family even meant.
"First class—fuel up proper."
Beef graced the table, bought with Moo-young's debut fee of 300,000 won.
So many people to thank, but Jun-ho topped the list.
"Eat without me."
"Aigoo, hush. Meat's best torn into together."
They'd shared food, clothes, even beds like kin—and back when they were broke high-school kids. All possible because Jun-ho's folks backed them 100%.
"Dorm life starts today? Swing by anytime. Craving home cooking, Auntie's got you."
Moo-young loaded rice with beef and kimchi, chatting away with his parents. Enbin in the flesh, set vibes, upcoming schedules.
"Omnibus format, so Enbin's still grinding. Might greenlight extras based on buzz, but who knows."
"First ep drops..."
"Friday, probably."
"Got it. Uncle'll smash that like button. Haha. A celeb pal—what a trip."
"Just polite chit-chat. Haven't heard since."
Eh, swamped most likely. Truth was, they'd swapped a few SNS messages. But replies dragged, then dried up.
Moo-young scraped the bowl clean to the last bite, grinning.
"We'll cross paths at the wrap bash after editing. Bet on it."
"Boozing with stars—Moo-young's made it."
"Pfft, come on. Enbin doesn't even vibe celeb. Kinda like Jun-ho, maybe? Haha."
"...The hell? Smearing me?"
Shuffle shuffle. Jun-ho shuffled out, scratching his stuffed gut.
Moo-young nodded. "Aristocrat through and through."
"Yaaawn—! Scarfed? Let's roll. I'll drive."
"You skipping breakfast?"
"Yup. Downstairs—chop chop."
Jun-ho snagged an apple from the table.
His mom let out a deep sigh, worry spilling over.
"Diet from nowhere. Hasn't touched home food in forever."
"Diet? Jun-ho?"
"News to you? Apparel firms use the baby of the office as fitting models—cuts costs. Aunt says my cousin's all skin and bones now, tsk tsk."
The same guy hand-feeding Bora meat—how the mighty fall.
Moo-young clucked his tongue, grabbing his jacket.
"Aunt, Uncle—huge thanks."
"Careful out there."
"Visit lots, Moo-young."
"Will do. Off I go."
A quick bow, then he bolted for the door.
Jun-ho hunched in the driver's seat, zombie-eyed, gnawing his apple.
Thud— Car lurched off the second he buckled in. Handling screamed exhaustion: painfully slow.
"You good?"
"Nope. Diet's murdering me. Why do people do this shit?"
"Quit it. You're plenty fine."
"Wanna, but company's going all-in this season. Celeb model for portal ads. Fitting measurements? Instant axe."
"You doing it?"
"Not solo—whole crew on chicken nuggets. Line's super skinny."
Rough, but fit him—no quit talk.
"Model's who?"
"JB—variety darling rising fast."
Beats me. Jun-ho side-eyed him, muttering.
"Treasure not packing on pounds eating whatever. Bora's probably in hell too. Sniffle. Shared suffering—fate. Fate."
"Our Bora? Kill me now."
"Celeb models? Meh. Not worth the hassle. You or Bora'd kill it."
Moo-young snapped his head around. Models schmodels, but...
"Pay like what?"
"Tier-dependent. Temper expectations—I pitched you, got shot down. I'm peon of peons there."
Tch. Shame. Modeling—standing for camera like acting? Nah, different beast?
He snatched the half-eaten apple from Jun-ho's hand and chomped.
"Friend discount DC. Anytime, lemme know."
Sounded fun to try once. Jun-ho snorted a laugh, switching lanes. Seoyeondae gates loomed ahead.
"Sure sure, real generous. Itching to pose? Hit up campus model calls."
"Those real?"
"Student like you should know—dorm or lecture hall?"
"Uh... lecture hall."
Timing sucked. Hadn't peeked at dorm since term start—meant to detour, but no dice.
"Drop here."
"Roger. Break a leg."
"You shed those pounds."
Vrooom— Jun-ho cranked the window, waving goofily.
Showbiz, fashion—pretty faces hide grind.
Here? Hanbom Hall 501?
"Basics of Global Culture"—freshman major must. Meaning mostly classmates.
Moo-young's heart jittered as he eased open the back door.
Click.
"Post-class, that new cafe by the back gate?"
"One sip and tears!"
"Hahaha! Bull!"
Rowdy lecture hall. High school redux, minus uniforms.
Moo-young awkwardly scanned for empty seats.
Everyone's tight already.
Just a week in, but OT, matriculation, class OTs done. Plenty time to buddy up—if you showed.
"Anyone sitting here?"
Not buzzcut like him, anyway.
The chatting guy turned. "Uh..."
Total stranger. First peer like this, first that tall.
As he trailed off, Moo-young awkward-smiled apology. "Sorry. Taken?"
"Ah, no. Yeah, taken."
"Thanks."
The group hushed, sneaking peeks.
Awkward vibe seeped in, muting the buzz.
"...?"
Moo-young stared ahead, sensing weirdness, glanced side to side.
What the—?
Overt stares, sly side-eyes galore. His pupils quaked in confusion.
Why? Sudden silence?
Shit, campus outcast? Loner vibes?
Mind raced wild. Skipping OT and matriculation = pariah? No way.
He stiffened, praying for class start.
Guy next door ventured: "Senior?"
First-year major, but not exclusive.
"Nah, new admit—"
"Classmate? First time seeing you? Skipped OT and matric? Name? Age first."
"Hey. Dept pres here, veep that side. Retook college entrance."
"No dialect—not local Seoul?"
Signal given, chatter exploded anew. Whispers on him, greetings flung.
Girls nursing college dreams squealed inwardly. Thank you! Youth drama real! Poster Today's University model had nothing on this side profile.
They ogled, recalling freshman welcome bash date.
Click.
"Good morning! Extra rowdy today."
Prof swept in, chipper greeting. Amid average builds, one guy popped. Instinct screamed: noise culprit.
"OT wrapped, right? Attendance hits scores today. Roll call—Kim Ga-rang!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇"—and that's a wrap for today."
"Thank you, sir."
"Thanks!"
"Assignments due—don't slack."
Grueling two-and-a-half hours. Used to hour-longs, this drained him dry.
Moo-young face-planted on desk, rubbing weary eyes.
"Moo-young. Next lecture?"
"Nah."
Dept pres crew beside him, packing bags, grinning like it was fate.
"Lunch together then."
"Cafeteria virgin? It's killer."
"Dorm guy? Cafeteria's dorm-adjacent—grab and go."
Their lead smoothed intro to dept mates.
Moo-young bobbed head nonstop, grateful. "Sweet."
Finally flicked on phone powered off all class.
Shoved in pocket—
Bzzz— bzzzzz— bzzz— bzzzzz— Missed calls and texts detonated.
He halted trailing friends. ...The fuck? Enbin 18 missed? Unknowns 7. Team Leader 4?
Fired off reply to latest: Team Leader.
Rang couple tones—picked up.
📞 Team Leader"Moo-young! Tied up?"
"In class. What's the emergency?"
📞 Team Leader"Enbin and his agency freaking—can't reach you, looped me in. Call 'em ASAP."
Moo-young peeled from group, clutching phone tight. Voice quivered sugar-sweet with dread—bad bad.
📞 Team Leader"...Yeah. And Friday's upload? Pushed. Indefinite maybe."
"What? Why?"
📞 Team Leader"Not on us—it's Enbin. Kid's halting all activities. Some video leak?"
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Read 164 more chapters ahead on NovelDex!
https://noveldex.io/series/rookie-but-one-in-a-million-actor
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