When I Opened My Eyes I Was a Superstar - Chapter 178
# 179
It is said that the mountain is high, but (4)
it was because an incident that became a problem came to mind when the number of Korean Wave stars entering China and becoming advertising models for Chinese companies increased.
‘The reason I’m shooting commercials as soon as I can is because I have the capital to defeat General Manager Seo Joong-won… and then achieve my dream. But… you shouldn’t miss out on something important because of that.’
Dowook thought calmly.
We should not lose our purpose or our values in order to make money.
As Lovers from Space became a huge hit, even the mood of the people around them, except for the members and their closest associates, changed a lot.
10 Compared to before, when it was popular among young people in their 20s, it was now truly loved by the nation, so much so that a cloud of people gathered just by passing by on the street.
The broadcasting staff have always treated Do-wook well, but because of Do-wook’s young age, they ‘treat him poorly.’ There was no feeling like that. But not anymore. Everyone treated Do-wook the best and went out of their way to make him look good.
No matter how humbly Do-wook tried to humble himself, people around him were anxious to raise him up.
Do-wook also felt more excited than usual about acting as he filmed dramas, filmed commercials, and interviewed every day in such an environment.
‘I may have been swept up in the atmosphere without realizing it…’
Do-wook calmly rewrote the message.
[Thank you, team leader! However, in the case of Chinese products, please take a close look at the company history and product country of origin. There may be sensitive issues in Korea haha, please.]
After sending the message, Do-wook went out the door of the waiting room.
On the way back, a message notification sound rang right away. Naturally, Do-wook thought it was a message from Team Leader Dae-hyung Lee and checked his phone.
However, the message was from Jeong Yoon-gi.
[Are you busy?]
His tone was as if he was sorry for asking an obvious question. There were group rooms that were used only by members and others that included managers, so sending personal messages was extremely rare. The message came from Jeong Yoon-gi personally.
Dowook immediately wrote a reply with a puzzled mind.
[What’s going on, hyung?]
[No, it feels like it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.] [
There was filming in the countryside until yesterday. How are you preparing the album?
] [Of course. When are you coming back to the dorm?]
[When the filming ends today, at dawn… ]
[Then I won’t be able to see you again haha]
[Yes, there’s really something going on, right?]
[There’s nothing to worry about, just take care of your health and work]
[Thank you, bro haha]
[My mom is making a fuss about getting an autograph from you. You can sign it. [There are a lot of them haha]
It seemed like the message was sent to ask for an autograph. Dowook raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.
***
Dowook, who arrived at his lodgings at 5 a.m. and fell asleep, woke up four hours later to the sound of an alarm. There was filming again at noon and it was time to get up to get ready for makeup.
However, fortunately or unfortunately, the filming schedule from noon was canceled.
This was because Wang Hee-jin, who was somehow managing to keep up with the drama filming and the overwhelming interview schedule, came down with a cold.
Do-wook’s solo filming had already finished filming, and today’s filming was with Wang Hee-jin.
In the midst of a half-asleep state, Do-wook received a call from Nam Da-woo that filming had been cancelled, and he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
It was good to take a break today, but it didn’t mean that the broadcast would be delayed. It was obvious that I would have to work harder another day to film the footage I couldn’t film today.
Anyway, Dowook was able to achieve an average sleep time of eight hours for the first time in a long time.
Dowook woke up from a good night’s sleep again, roughly adjusted his clothes, and stopped by the Hit Entertainment office. Since I had time, I planned to talk about advertising issues with Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung.
“Wow! “Are you here?”
When I entered the fan-marketing team office, Nam Hyo-jin, who was working, greeted me with a blushing face. Dowook bowed his head and said hello.
“Are you here to meet the team leader?”
“yes. “Team leader, are you there now?”
“Yes ah. Assistant Manager Do was already looking for you….”
There was no separate call from Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee, so when Do-wook made an expression of ignorance, Nam Hyo-jin said for a moment and sent a message to Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee.
Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee, who happened to be outside, came in and found Do-wook.
“Mr. Dowook!”
“Sir, it’s been a while.”
“It’s hard to see your face! “I’m watching it as a drama, though.”
“haha. “You found it…”
Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee nodded and guided Do-wook into the office.
When I went to the storage area inside the office, there was a pile of gifts that had arrived for Do-wook. Gifts from fans arriving at the office were sent to the dormitory by Manager Oh Baek-ho, but so many personal gifts arrived that even Manager Oh Baek-ho shook his head.
We decided that it would be impossible to move all of them to the dormitory right away, so we just kept them piled up in the office.
“Ah… this is what Baekho said…”
Do-wook looked at the gifts piled up like a mountain with his mouth open.
“Now that we have fans of dramas, the amount of gifts is unbelievable. Director Oh said he moves it once a week… but I thought it would be a good idea to check with Mr. Do-wook first.”
“yes. thank you.”
Dowook nodded and checked the gifts one by one. There was also a photo book made by capturing scenes from the drama, and there was also a picture of Do-wook drawn directly on a canvas. There was a wide variety of items, from health foods to clothing accessories and shoes, as well as game consoles, hard-to-find CDs for old singers, mechanical keyboards, and mixing machines.
There were even three latest laptops from the laptop company Do-wook uses. There were five identical mobile phones.
Dowook knew the feelings of his fans, so even if he did not use the gift, he would never pass it on to others. However, as there were too many similar gifts, Do-wook was at a loss as to what to do with them.
“Uh… first of all, since the letters are small, it would be good if you send them first…”
Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee nodded at Do-wook’s words.
Nam Hyo-jin, who was standing next to Do-wook as he took care of the letter, raised the corners of his mouth, unable to hold back a smile.
‘As expected, Kang Do-wook! Kyaaa—!’
Although Nam Hyo-jin could not scream out loud, he was already screaming on the inside.
“I don’t think it’s really possible to compare things now with the past. “The Chinese fans are really amazing.”
Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee spoke with admiration, as if she could not keep her mouth shut. Nam Hyo-jin, who was next to him, quickly added.
“Did you hear that a forest named after Do-wook will be created in China through funds raised by fans?”
“Not yet…” It
was the first time Do-wook had heard this news. Even he was surprised at his popularity.
“It looks like Hyojin is really working hard at monitoring.”
Nam Hyo-jin smiled cheerfully at Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee’s praise. In terms of work, he was working hard at monitoring, but in reality, he was being paid to do his ‘virtuous work’.
After a short conversation with the two employees, Do-wook entered Team Leader Dae-hyung Lee’s office. Team leader Lee Dae-hyung, who was in the team leader’s office, welcomed Do-wook.
Meanwhile, Nam Hyo-jin personally brought Do-wook the green tea he had requested.
“Ah, Mr. Dowook. “It’s my first day off in a while, and I’m sorry for making you come to the office.”
Team leader Lee Dae-hyung sat down and started talking.
“no. “It’s my job.”
“That advertisement… After receiving Do-wook’s message, I reviewed it more thoroughly than I originally did. “A product or something.”
“yes. “Have you had any problems?”
“well. If it’s a problem, it’s a problem… but nothing else was wrong. “There are some parts where the 千歲山 health juice takes a bit of time.”
“Which part…”
Team leader Lee Dae-hyung held out the paper he was holding toward Do-wook. The paper had information about 千歲山 health juice. Not only the excellent taste and efficacy of the juice provided by Mt. Cheonjeongsan, but also local public opinion about Mt. Cheonjeong was summarized.
Looking at that alone, we could see that there were no problems at all and that it was a solid company competing for first or second place in the beverage industry and had a very good image.
“If you look at the manufacturer here….”
“Ah….”
“And among the bottled water sold here at Cheonju Mountain, there is a bottled water with the name ‘Changbai Mountain.’”
Dowook nodded.
Since it is a Chinese product, it would be natural for China to label Baekdu Mountain as Changbaek Mountain, but it was questionable whether this would be considered natural in Korea as well. Although it was a Chinese product and the advertisement was to be broadcast in China, Dowook was Korean.
“I wonder if we should even pay attention to this part…”
Team leader Lee Dae-hyung trailed off. This was because it was rare to check such things in the first place. I wasn’t even sure if it was worth bringing up to Dowook. However, because he knew Do-wook, who thinks about as many cases as possible before acting, Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung also spoke.
Dowook has seen countless celebrities tarnish their image and collapse in absurd places. Although it may not be possible to block all factors, Dowook’s idea was to do as much as possible.
The higher you were, the more people paid attention to you, and the more careful you had to be.
“Hmm… Still, just in case, I’ll decline this. “We are advertising drinks in Korea anyway.”
Team leader Lee Dae-hyung opened his eyes wide, as if he was a little surprised by Do-wook’s quick decision. The unit price of the advertisement had already been delivered to Dowook.
“But you must have seen the unit price to reject it…”
The unit price of the Chinese advertisement was completely different from that of Korea. Dowook was in the top 5 in terms of model fees in Korea, but in China, the model fee was set at at least 500 million to 1.5 billion won.
The model fee suggested by Nangsan Mountain was 1 billion won. It was 1 billion won for a 6-month model with two days of shooting. It was not an amount that one could easily refuse out of concern about ‘what if’.
“no. it’s okay. “Wouldn’t there be another advertisement anyway?”
It was an answer that clearly showed where Do-wook’s values lie. Team leader Daehyung Lee felt sorry for himself, but he knew that image cannot be exchanged for money, so he nodded. Moreover, Dowook was just getting started.
As Dowook said, a new advertisement proposal came in today as well.
“Oh, then, since I stopped by…”
Do-wook focused on Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung’s words with a relaxed expression.
***
Do-wook, who returned to the dorm after a meeting with team leader Lee Dae-hyung, was thinking about having dinner with the members at the dorm for the first time in a long time.
Moreover, the thought of sharing the news he heard from Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung to the members made even Do-wook, who was known for being silent and quiet when working, feel itchy.
In the living room, all the members were already gathered except for Taehyung Park.
As soon as the middle door of the entrance was opened, the members’ attention was focused all at once. He soon confirmed that it was Do-wook and urgently shouted Do-wook’s name.
“Do-Wook!”
“Do-wook is here!”
Dowook responded in bewilderment at the sudden response.
“Uh… everyone… I have something to say too…”
“Do-wook. I said I would take the day off today. Come sit down and have a look. “We haven’t been able to talk to you these past few days…”
Jeong Yoon-gi sighed deeply. Dowook furrowed his eyebrows with a bad feeling.
“First, say what you have to say.”
Do-wook wanted to hear what Jeong Yoon-gi said. Seeing Jeong Yoon-gi hesitating, I thought that I should at least speak quickly.
“Oh, this is really good news…”
“Really?”
Kim Won asked back with a strange expression that neither frowned nor smiled.
“We might appear on an American TV show…”
“What?”
The members’ eyes all opened wide. It was unexpected news at a time when it was not an active season. Dowook was equally surprised. Team leader Lee Dae-hyung informed Do-wook that the filming date is currently being discussed and that the schedule will be set as soon as Do-wook’s drama filming is completed.
After entering the Billboard chart, KK’s song was on the chart for about 8 weeks. It was said that the first offer came from a broadcasting company that realized that KK’s global popularity was remarkable.
Everyone couldn’t control their surprise and covered their mouths with their hands or muttered to themselves. It was truly the beginning of KK’s ‘advance into the U.S.’ with his song.
However, the members’ expressions, which had been happy for a moment, hardened again. Dowook urged Jeong Yoon-ki.
“brother. “What’s going on?”
“Well…have you been in contact with Taehyung lately?”
Jeong Yoon-gi’s complexion was very dark.