Monster Rookie of the Variety Scene (12): The Star I Wish to Become
When I, the monster rookie of the variety world, unveiled the Kang Jae-dong I had crafted, the set began to grow noisy. Kang Jae-dong stared at me in shock.
“Wh-what the heck is this?! This ain’t me, is it?!”
“Haha… Saying the correct answer would be cheating.”
Even the prankster Kim Geun-seok shook his head, stunned.
“C-can you really call this cheating?”
Right beside him, Kim Chan-uk watched with a look of pure astonishment. You’ve lost to me.
As that thought crossed my mind, the main writer standing before us remained frozen, as if she had forgotten to announce the correct answer.
“I-is this right?”
“Pardon?”
The main writer glanced around nervously.
“This is a hidden camera bit, right?”
But all that returned was the staff’s heavy silence.
PD Kang Min-ju spoke to the main writer.
“You need to give the answer.”
The main writer finally opened her mouth with great reluctance.
“Th-this is clearly Kang Jae-dong no matter who looks at it. Looking extremely angry…”
Kim Doyun — Indoor Sleeping Confirmed!
Perfect! Indoor sleeping was locked in.
As I thought that, one small regret remained. The winners for outdoor sleeping tonight were only Kang Jae-dong and Luina Bell.
Based on how things had gone before, the female guest would likely sleep separately, which meant…
The disappointing part is missing the chance to share an outdoor sleep with Kang Jae-dong hyung-nim.
There was also the calculation that sleeping outside with just the two of us would create an opportunity for more screen time, but
Personally, I’m a fan.
That was what I was thinking when I noticed Luina Bell trembling in the corner with a dazed expression.
“SHIT. It really is the Tofu Illuminati. This is a disaster. I’m going to get sliced up like tofu and placed right next to the Korean First MC!”
Was this guy still going on like that? His behavior really didn’t match his appearance.
As I recalled that while watching Luina Bell, a brilliant idea suddenly flashed through my mind.
I walked over to her.
“Hey.”
“Yes, please speak-ingu.”
Seeing Luina Bell with both hands neatly clasped, her posture now politely infused with the manners of the East, I smiled.
“Don’t you want to sleep indoors?”
“I am fine with it. Sleeping while looking at the star-lovers who adore me would make me happy……”
I cut her off with a smile.
“Ahaha. No. Actually, you’d be much happier with a warm indoor sleep than gazing at the stars embroidered across the sky. Am I right?”
Luina Bell nodded, surrendering to my not-quite-a-threat.
“I… I think so too.”
“Good. It’s decided.”
The moment Luina Bell gave her permission, I turned to PD Kang Min-ju.
“PD-nim! I have one suggestion!”
“Doyun? What is it?”
I placed my hand over my chest and spoke with sincere nobility.
“Luina Bell-ssi hasn’t looked well since earlier. Would it be all right if I take her place for the outdoor sleep?”
“Ooh. Doyun’s such a real man! What a dark knight!”
“Haha… How could we make our Luina Bell sleep outside?”
Behind me, Luina Bell glared.
“Ugh… Tofu MAN.”
If this had been before my regression, it might have earned me criticism, but in this era, that kind of romance and sentiment still worked.
“Besides, I rolled around so much in the mudflat earlier that I’m covered in mud stink. If I sleep with the hyung-nims, their noses will rot.”
“For real? Doyun, you sleep outside then.”
Lee Seung-woo and Kim Geun-seok nodded in agreement. Only Kang Jae-dong shouted as if it were unfair.
“What about my nose?!”
PD Kang Min-ju nodded.
“Hmm… Luina Bell-ssi, what do you think?”
“I with the stars……”
Just as Luina Bell was about to ramble something pointless, I gazed at her steadily.
“With the stars… with the stars……”
Steadily.
“Sleeping with the stars is nice, but today, as Tofu MAN said, my body isn’t feeling well, so I think I should do indoor sleeping.”
I gave her a satisfied smile.
Well done.
While PD Kang Min-ju pondered for a moment, Kang Jae-dong stepped forward and delivered the line.
“PD-nim! Our actor here is showing such manly spirit. Let’s go with it!”
Kang Jae-dong hyung-nim was pushing for me. PD Kang Min-ju looked at him with mild surprise before nodding.
“Well, if that’s what both of you want.”
PD Kang Min-ju approached me and announced,
“Kim Doyun, Kang Jae-dong. Outdoor sleeping confirmed!”
Once all the lights on set were turned off and only a few night-vision cameras remained, the staff withdrew. Inside the outdoor tent, only Kang Jae-dong and I were left.
“Doyun. Should I turn off the light?”
“Yes! Sleep well!”
“Alright. You sleep well too, Doyun.”
The moment I answered, darkness settled over the tent.
As the darkness wrapped around us, it hit me once again that everything that had happened today was real.
I was lying here alone with the nation’s beloved MC, Kang Jae-dong, from Oji 1 Night.
What celebrity wouldn’t feel nervous? The situation felt so unreal I could only marvel at it.
That was when Kang Jae-dong spoke to me.
“You asleep?”
“No, I’m not.”
He reached over and zipped up my sleeping bag as he continued.
“It’s chillier than you’d think, huh? Even in summer, the mountains get cold at night. Best to zip it all the way up.”
“Thank you…”
Kang Jae-dong asked in a low voice.
“Tougher than you expected?”
“Not at all. The hyung-nims and the staff took such good care of me that it was actually comfortable.”
“Comfortable? Nah, that won’t do. You’re gonna have to jump into ice water in winter!”
“Haha. I can handle it!”
Kang Jae-dong let out a hearty chuckle at my answer. He paused for a moment, then nodded and said,
“Do you know why I’m doing Oji 1 Night?”
“Because the best MC belongs on the best program?”
“Haha! Kid, your flattery is killer!”
“It’s not flattery. I mean it.”
“That so?”
Kang Jae-dong gave a warm laugh and slightly opened the flap at the top of the tent.
“Can you see those stars?”
I followed his pointing finger and saw the stars embroidered across the sky, looking as if they might pour down at any moment.
“The stars…”
“They’re pouring down, aren’t they?”
“It’s incredible.”
Having lived my whole life in Seoul, I had no memory of ever seeing a sky like this.
“I wanted to become one of those stars too.”
A star, huh.
A star that shines on its own. It was something I had once wanted to become. It was the goal I had looked up to.
“Since I failed to become a star in the sports world, I thought I had to become one in variety—my second attempt.”
Kang Jae-dong had retired from athletics due to an injury.
“No matter what anyone thinks, there’s no other field that cares less about background and judges purely on skill.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. All you need is pure ability.”
Kang Jae-dong kept his mouth shut for a long time before letting out a sigh.
“I learned a lot from you today.”
“You’re too kind. I learned far more.”
“I’ll be honest. When you first showed up, I thought you were just another pretty-boy actor who only cared about looking cool on camera.”
“Haha…”
Come to think of it, I knew well that actors were famous for their high noses and tended to look down on variety entertainers.
“But after watching you roll around in the mudflat and chop firewood, I realized you’re the real deal. Those are the eyes of someone biting down hard, fighting to survive in front of the camera.”
“Thank you.”
To think the day would come when I received praise from Kang Jae-dong. The sudden words left me feeling dazed.
“In my twenty years of broadcasting, I’ve never seen someone with as much grit and quick thinking as you.”
These were sincere words coming from the nation’s MC, who had risen from the very bottom as a non-celebrity.
“I told myself I shouldn’t do that. And yet I ended up looking at you with the same eyes as those people who stared at me when I first stood in front of a camera.”
“It’s all right. I’m a rookie, so of course you would.”
“It was my mistake.”
Kang Jae-dong asked in a serious tone.
“Want to do variety with me? I think you’ve got the talent for it.”
“Variety…?”
“Yeah. You could become a star. I’ll talk to PD Kang about it.”
A star, huh… For anyone else it might have been empty words, but if it was Kang Jae-dong, he was in a position to create a spot on a program.
He definitely didn’t say that lightly.
That was the weight of being the nation’s top MC.
“How about it, Doyun? Want to chase a dream with me?”
I thought about it for a moment.
It really is like a dream.
When I thought about it, everything that had happened was miraculous.
I had been a nobody stuck in obscurity for twenty years. I had dropped out of school to focus solely on acting, only to fail. Yet now I had met the actress I respected more than anyone, Lee Se-rin, and even trained with her for a role. Honestly, it felt like I was finally making the school memories I had never gotten to enjoy.
Maybe I should contact her once filming ends.
On top of that, I had even earned recognition from Director Lee Tae-ryun.
And now I’m appearing on Oji 1 Night.
I had been nothing more than an actor in name, practically an ordinary person, yet here I was, suddenly appearing on the nation’s top variety show. Not only that, I was holding my own with the commentary.
I smiled.
It’s all thanks to the Actor Gallery.
As I basked in that warm feeling, I suddenly sensed something off.
I carefully touched my neck with my hand.
It’s gone now.
The suffocating loneliness that used to visit me after finishing part-time jobs and minor roles, when I returned to my shabby goshiwon room and turned off the lights. The despair that no one wanted my acting. The sickening sense of defeat that used to crawl up my throat whenever darkness fell.
I realized it was no longer there.
Whether it had disappeared or was simply hiding for now, I couldn’t tell. But
Even if I couldn’t see anything around me. Even if it was pitch black.
It feels peaceful.
There had been a time when I desperately longed for things I didn’t have—a star that shines on its own, sparkling talent. Maybe I still did.
But even if I was barely holding on, patched together with help from others, as long as I could stand on my own two feet,
I still wanted to act.
“I think I still want to chase my own dream.”
Kang Jae-dong let out a regretful chuckle.
“Man, it would’ve been fun to roll around together. Kid’s got a sharp nose for the path of hardship, though.”