A Star's First Step
I heaved a long sigh as I left the thirtieth salon.
While Deok-su practiced, I had been dashing around Seoul in search of a hair stylist for his hair. Today, though, my efforts had been in vain.
“Argh!”
Irritated, I kicked a stray trash can that had been rolling around the salon.
I had already achieved image improvement through sheer force, and I had proven his potential enough to secure a contract with JMT.
“I’m sorry. We already have a lot of clients.”
“It’s tough. We get so many picky clients…”
But no matter how much I highlighted Deok-su’s strengths, the hair stylists stayed firm in their refusal.
After all, even if it wasn’t Deok-su, stars were queuing up at their doors.
“When are you going to start following trends instead of lagging behind like this!? The rumors are too slow!”
I muttered loudly from a hidden spot, then walked away with a heavy heart.
Suddenly, my phone rang.
I glanced at the name on the screen and froze for a moment.
“Yes, Team Leader Moon.”
“Did you find a hair stylist?”
Moon A-rim’s abrupt question left me speechless.
I wanted to say I hadn’t found anyone, but my pride wouldn’t allow it. I also couldn’t lie and claim success.
But Moon A-rim was far too sharp to miss the clue.
“Deok-su is probably on the blacklist now. Top stylists won’t want to take on someone like that easily.”
“I know. Still, it’s better to keep looking than to sit idle…”
“I’ll send the contact. Call them. He’s young, but his skills are top-tier. Do as you see fit, or handle it however you want.”
The call ended abruptly, and a moment later a text arrived.
“Jang Hyeok-geon…?”
I stared at the screen for a long while, standing in place.
Ding-ding-ding—
Deok-su’s phone vibrated wildly on the table.
“Ah, ah…”
“Deok-su. Your phone is ringing nonstop today.”
Professor Kim Hyeok-jung, who had been pressing on Deok-su’s stomach, clicked his tongue and stepped back.
Deok-su reached for the phone, but Professor Kim stretched and spoke first.
“Take your time. We’ve already done enough.”
After the professor left, Deok-su sat in the corner and opened KakaoTalk.
Yuina [Starving-starving-starving-starving-starving-starving-starving-! Meat meat meat!]
Hanna-kyung [You’re still on your break? Stomach rumbling nonstop… Fans are shaking!]
Emili Jung [If you eat meat, you won’t gain weight.]
Kang Min-ji [Zero calories when hit by meat.]
.
300+
The alert cheered Deok-su on.
Messages from Turnshine members.
At first they had kept their distance, but after the director incident they summoned him to the group chat and refused to let him leave.
He had tried to exit multiple times, only to be dragged back each time.
Now he was trapped in the room with nowhere to go.
Kim Deok-su [The notifications won’t stop. Don’t you all have schedules?]
Yuina [Huh? It’s Opba Deok-su! Opba, Yuina’s starving. T.T]
Hanna-kyung [Opba-nim! I want food too.]
Kim Deok-su [China has lots of good stuff.]
Emili Jung [Just send your card number.]
Kim Deok-su has left the chat.
Kang Min-ji invited Kim Deok-su.
Kang Min-ji [Ah… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…]
Kim Deok-su [You’re the worst.]
For a while Deok-su chatted with his juniors through KakaoTalk.
The conversations were a new joy for him.
At first the Turnshine members had kept their distance, but now they poured out everything to him.
Hanna-kyung [Opba, is that a scar? The stench from Gang-ji yesterday was intense.]
Kang Min-ji [What are those two arguing about now? You smelled it too yesterday…]
Emili Jung [Guys! Don’t cross that line!]
Kim Deok-su [Fans should know about this too.]
Kim Hyeok-jung approached while they were still talking. He held a notebook he hadn’t shown before.
Deok-su turned off his phone and stood up.
“Today is the first episode of Moment, right?”
“Yes. What’s this notebook for?”
Kim Hyeok-jung simply showed him a notebook without a word.
He opened it to find a script with unfamiliar lines and countless notes scribbled everywhere.
It was a record of every drama Kim Hyeok-jung had appeared in, plus the lessons he had learned while monitoring.
“It’s better to write down what you feel while monitoring. No need to follow any format.”
“Whoa. I had no idea such things existed.”
“Even exam students make answer sheets. This is similar.”
In other words, an acting error notebook.
The notebook held every ounce of Kim Hyeok-jung’s acting years.
“This is a treasure of yours, Teacher. Even showing me this…”
“Just take it and use it.”
Deok-su’s heart grew heavy.
He had always said that sharing such insights wasn’t something friends did. Yet Kim Hyeok-jung had shown him everything.
“Don’t expand it. You’ll understand nothing right now.”
Of course, it still felt emotional.
That evening, back home, Deok-su spread an empty notebook on the dining table.
His small TV, which had always been fine, felt inadequate that night.
He had worked so hard and wanted to watch properly, but the equipment couldn’t keep up.
“Mom. Watch with me. Why…”
“I’m tired from working so much. I’ll sleep early.”
Jeong-mi closed the door behind her. It was her way of giving him space to focus on the monitor.
The faint sound of Deok-su’s phone coming from beyond the door made him feel even guiltier.
‘I’ll do better from now on.’
Episode 1 of Moment began.
Vibrant inserts and the roles of Lee Jin-ho and Kang Se-a flowed smoothly.
‘Jin-ho and Se-a really act well.’
The fellow actors laughing and talking together looked completely different on screen.
Deok-su jotted down their pronunciation, tone, and mannerisms.
About thirty minutes in, he appeared in the scene drinking at a bar.
His mocking smile and the way he waved money felt awkward and oddly familiar.
‘His expressions are too exaggerated. Is he only focusing on immersion?’
Even after the drama ended, the monitoring continued.
Deok-su kept rewinding his own performance late into the night.
The cost of staying up late was high.
“Opba. Your eyes are swollen.”
Lee Hui-yeong, who had come to pick him up, placed cold spoons on Deok-su’s eyes and face.
“Opba. You don’t know how much the first episode rating was, do you?”
“How much?”
“8.7%.”
For the first episode it was decent, but not as high as expected.
Deok-su felt a twinge of regret.
“Really…”
“Still, most reactions were positive. Opba, you haven’t checked the comments, have you?”
“I was monitoring.”
“What did they say?”
Hui-yeong hesitated before continuing.
“The most common comment was how well you acted. But there’s one thing bothering me…”
“What?”
“Some people mentioned the voice change. Kim Deok-su.”
Deok-su burst out laughing.
That was exactly what it meant—he had looked like a real delinquent.
A tiny regret that he couldn’t show it.
“Today must have been important.”
“There was a lot of screen time today, wasn’t there? You appeared with Hae-jin too…”
That night, Episode 2 aired.
Yu Ha-jin’s fierce performance as a nameless singer being mocked, and Jin Dong-ho’s cold, guilt-free murder of that singer, were broadcast.
Viewers were enraged by the nameless singer’s desperate flight and the way Jin Dong-ho carried out the murder without remorse.
“He crossed the line!”
“S*x, that stare is giving me chills… he almost got beaten to death.”
“Just say Kim Deok-su already. That’s a real psychopath!”
“I thought it was just a voice change. The person has changed…”
“That actress looked genuinely terrified. But the fake death scene was too real…”
└I actually saw it in a dream
└Thanks for the reward
“Who is that actor? He looks pretty cool. I’d love to kill Kim Deok-su for killing him like that…”
“The intense after-effect is giving me chills. leechangyeon.com
└I reported the fishing!
└You’re too intense! lol
.
.
Rating: 9.9%.
Episode 2’s rating fell just short of 10%.
Yet the moment Episode 2 ended, new search terms exploded across the internet.
People were confused whether Kim Deok-su had acted or whether the character was real.
Interest in his co-star Yu Ha-jin also surged, and her name climbed the search rankings.
“There hasn’t been a quiet day lately!”
“Kim Deok-su… why did he renew the contract when it was like this before?”
“No… before it was just asking for articles to be posted…”
“Aaaah!”
The sudden wave of attention made the Signature management team staff thin out quickly.
At a similar time, Deok-su stood in the fitness room helping a junior trainee with his posture.
“Relax your waist more. Good.”
“Thank you, Sunbae.”
The trainee lowered the barbell and bowed.
At first these trainees had avoided Deok-su and feared him, but they were slowly approaching.
Deok-su hadn’t approached first, but he hadn’t pushed the juniors away either.
As a result, the ones who avoided or feared him were steadily decreasing.
After sending the trainee away, Deok-su walked over to Ryu Min-hye.
She stood him on the InBody machine and began checking.
“You’ve lost more weight than I thought.”
Ryu Min-hye shook her head.
Drying for the drama was fine, but his muscles were thinner than expected.
“Still, it looks good on you, doesn’t it? You need to look like this for Jin Dong-ho’s vibe.”
“The muscles I worked so hard for… are you sad?”
“A pity, but what can you do?”
Ryu Min-hye, seeing his determined face, stopped complaining.
After loosening up, Deok-su began serious training.
Ryu Min-hye held the barbell and spoke.
“You played with that puppy a few days ago, right?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
The puppy had been a nickname for Director Kang Ha-seong. It sounded cute, but the reality was anything but.
That was the nickname that had stuck because of his dog-like personality.
“Ugh. Kim Deok-su. You still haven’t mastered your temper. In the past you couldn’t hold it in.”
Ryu Min-hye warned that acting like that would make life in the industry difficult, but Deok-su remained firm.
“I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Opba, that’s not what I mean. I know he was wrong, but…”
“Director Kang Ha-seong didn’t even ask properly before acting superior. He doesn’t listen to others and seems clueless about how to handle celebrities. A position like his is wasted.”
Some trainees flinched at Deok-su’s harsh words.
Noticing, Ryu Min-hye quickly waved him off.
“I know. Still, he can stay that way.”
“What do you mean?”
“His cousin is the CEO, right? You must know.”
Honestly, Deok-su hadn’t known.
But it didn’t matter to him.
“So his family is why he’s such a jerk.”
“Opba, if you get fired what then? If you get fired, I’ll starve too.”
“Haha. So you were really worried about my livelihood?”
“Our Opba always said there’s nothing to worry about with Deok-su Opba these days. So I should worry instead.”
“You all worry about me?”
Deok-su grinned when the unusual visitor entered the fitness room.
The trainees reacted first.
“Nice to meet you!”
The large paper bag in his hands belonged to Ryu Gang-hyeok.
He had come running upon hearing that Deok-su had confronted the director.
“Kang Ha-seong is just as stingy as they say, and he has no backup. He’s… worrying.”
“Why? Are you planning to mess with him?”
“Probably not. The directors are already competing fiercely to switch companies, and he’ll handle it himself to avoid being caught. But here, take this.”
Ryu Gang-hyeok handed over the paper bag.
Inside was a laptop.
The brand-new model, large screen, light, and long battery life—still warm from the market.
“Your birthday is next week. I thought I might not be in Korea then, so I bought it early.”
Deok-su stared blankly at the laptop.
It was actually the most needed item.
Trying to monitor with a sluggish old computer had been unbearable.
Deok-su accepted the laptop with gratitude.
He had offered to buy him dinner, but Ryu Gang-hyeok had a schedule and left.
Not long after, Hui-yeong entered.
“Everything is ready?”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
“I’m sorry. I wish I had finished the contract…”
Hui-yeong couldn’t lift her head.
She had tried to handle everything herself. But the other side insisted on speaking directly with Kim Deok-su.
Deok-su hadn’t taken it seriously, but Hui-yeong had.
“I’m even more convinced you’re capable.”
“I searched everywhere…”
“That hair stylist was introduced by Team Leader Moon.”
A few days earlier, when Hui-yeong had been searching for a stylist, Moon A-rim had stepped in.
Deok-su had urged her to follow through.
But the result hadn’t been what he hoped.
Deok-su patted Hui-yeong’s shoulder.
“Next time I’ll do it myself…”
“You have your strengths, and Moon Noona has hers.”
Hui-yeong stared silently at Deok-su’s back as he walked ahead.
A mix of frustration, guilt, and determination rose within her.
The hair stylist introduced by Moon A-rim worked at a salon on the outskirts of Cheongdam-dong.
She carefully opened the salon door and stepped inside.
A man with short hair greeted them.
“Welcome. Please sit this way.”
Jang Hyeok-geon faced Hui-yeong and Deok-su across the table.
While they conversed, Deok-su looked around the salon.
The space was small but spotless, and the stylists’ hands moved with ease.
In the corner, framed certificates hung crookedly.
All had been awarded to one person.
‘TMC? First place in the World Beauty Competition, Jang Hyeok-geon…?’
Deok-su, searching the internet, stared wide-eyed between Hui-yeong and the man at the table.