Of course, Do Wook also thought that not leaving ‘Heroes 2’ was the best option. He just needed an apology from Chris Moore to make that possible.
Daniel told Moore’s management that Do Wook was extremely angry over Moore’s discriminatory remarks and that if the reason for Do Wook leaving were revealed, Moore could also be branded as a racist.
He subtly suggested that even if people don’t go as far as calling him racist, the fact that he violated drug laws could be revealed.
Daniel also elaborated in detail that Do Wook was the kind of person who would be willing to reveal everything honestly even if it meant losing his role in ‘Heroes’.
In the end, because Do Wook was so unyielding, Moore’s agency had no choice but to concede.
On the day of the shoot, Moore visited Do Wook at his waiting room.
Moore’s expression was full of resentment.
Red in the face, Moore apologized to Do Wook.
“What are you apologizing about?”*
(TL’s comment: I’m so happy about this, an apology means nothing if they don’t learn from it.)
Do Wook pressured Moore until he heard a concrete apology straight from Moore promising never to say anything like ‘young bastard’ or ‘little bitches’ again.*
(TL Note: I said ‘young women’ last time to keep it less vulgar, but I changed it here to help understand why Do Wook is so mad. I’m not sure why he’s mad about the ‘young’ part though.)
You could tell that Moore’s manager, knowing Moore’s personality, was nervous, but Do Wook wanted at least that much of an apology.
Of course Moore wasn’t genuinely apologizing. However, his pride getting hurt was enough payback for that day.
Ultimately, nothing else happened that day with Moore, who was drunk due to the alcohol and drugs, and it was meaningful to receive an apology from Moore when he’s sober.
After Moore apologized and left, the door to the dressing room trailer they had prepared for Do Wook opened again.
It was Department Manager Oh Baek Ho, who had been given permission to be on set as Do Wook’s manager.
“Do Wook!”
Daniel, who was there too, looked surprised. It was because Department Manager Oh Baek Ho had a strong ki as he entered the trailer.
Of course Do Wook, who had been with Department Manager Oh Baek Ho for a long time, wasn’t surprised by Department Manager Oh Baek Ho’s ki, which was like a bear.
“Did you get a proper apology from that punk?”
“Yes, well, for now…”
“Ok. I don’t care how he lives, but how dare he try to ruin someone else’s life too…”
Department Manager Oh Baek Ho said as he hardened his expression and clicked his tongue. Aside from Do Wook as an individual, Do Wook was also the pride of KK.
Both Department Manager Oh Baek Ho and the members fully supported Do Wook’s decision to leave ‘Heroes 2’ if Chris Moore didn’t apologize to him.
Of course they had faith that, since it was Do Wook, he would be able to get an apology from Chris Moore.
Therefore, he actively pressured Chris Moore’s management company through Daniel.
Department Manager Oh Baek Ho, who had been frowning, relaxed his expression and continued talking.
“Was it about 2 weeks of filming you have left?”
He was asking Do Wook, but it was Daniel who double-checked it. After checking it, Daniel nodded his head. The final shoot was in exactly 10 days.
“Once you finish, I think you’ll have to go to Las Vegas immediately with the members. Immediately.”
“Not Korea?”
The members had cleared all their personal schedules and were staying in America with Do Wook, taking time to rest while working on individual tracks.
Originally, they were to return to Korea with Do Wook and review their future activity plans.
There were lots of albums they were behind on, such as Do Wook’s solo album and KK’s album. The earliest was Ahn Hyung Seo’s solo album.
Department Manager Oh Baek Ho smiled and shook his head in response to Do Wook’s question. It was the smile he had when he had good news.
‘What’s going on? Wait, if it’s Las Vegas at this time, that means…’
Do Wook blinked his eyes and asked excitedly,
“No way, did Billboard…”
Department Manager Oh Baek Ho yelled in response to Do Wook.
“That’s right! You’re going to the Billboard Awards again! On top of that,…”
The fact that they might be invited to the Billboard Awards again, just as last year, was something that had been frequently anticipated both inside and outside of the company.
‘Connection’, which had been the title of KK’s latest album, carried on the momentum of ‘Continue’ and maintained a very strong position on the Billboard charts.
Fueled by the American performances and with the help of V TV, they surpassed their previous results and continued to remain among the top ranks.
Even now, quite some time after the album was released, it was still ranked within the top 40. It was doing incredibly well, and it was doing better than ‘Continue’.
However, the problem was that during ‘Continue’, they were a nominee for the Rookie of the Year Award. KK, who have already received that award, now had to compete against the formidable, world-class singers whose names alone would leave people speechless.
Therefore, the problem was ‘what category can they make their mark in?’
“On top of that, it isn’t just one category you guys got nominated for. Best Album, Top Dance Artist, Social Artist…we even received a request for a special performance.”
Daniel, who had been listening nearby, also dropped his jaw.
“Oh my! The Best Album and Top Dance Artist categories are totally the main award categories, aren’t they?”
“That’s right,”
Department Manager Oh Baek Ho responded.
For all three categories, the nominees were world-class singers incomparable to last year’s Rookie of the Year nominees.
KK now completely stood shoulder-to-shoulder with them.
“It looks like you’ll have to go immediately to Las Vegas for a special performance.”
“I…I see,”
Do Wook replied, a little dazed.
Getting onto the BIllboard chart was definitely not the end of their success. It was just the beginning. The peak kept getting higher and higher.
Department Manager Oh Baek Ho grabbed Do Wook’s shoulder.
“Do Wook.”
“Yes?”
“Good work.”
It was a weighted remark from Department Manager Oh Baek Ho, who had been with Do Wook from the beginning until now. Manager Oh Baek Ho couldn’t fully gauge how Do Wook was feeling, but he was definitely one of the people, besides Do Wook himself, who could understand it the most.
“Ah…It’s not like we’ve won the award yet.”
That was what he said, but Do Wook knew what Department Manager Oh Baek Ho meant by ‘Good work’.
Even if they didn’t win the award, Do Wook had to work so hard to get here.
“Acting is so fun too, but…for now…I can’t wait to get up on the stage.”
However, Do Wook was prepared to put in even more effort moving forward.
To do that, he vowed over and over again not to lose the innocent dream he had at the beginning.
Department Manager Oh Baek Ho laughed at what Do Wook said.
“I wish I had two, no five bodies. Seriously.”
“You’re so greedy…!”
Department Manager Oh Baek Ho scolded. Do Wook smiled.
***
After finishing the last shoot for ‘Heroes 2’, Do Wook and the KK members left New York and headed to Las Vegas.
Do Wook had a bittersweet farewell with Daniel, who had given his all in every way throughout the filming of ‘Heroes 2’. Do Wook also said his goodbyes to Director Jean Luke and Herbert before heading to Las Vegas.
Through the continuous filming, Director Jean Luke realized that Do Wook was a far greater individual than he had initially thought. He had a feeling that, in the future, he might perhaps become someone he wouldn’t be able to cast in any of his movies anymore.
Herbert did not particularly bring up what happened between Do Wook and Moore at his party. However, every time a notably tense vibe built between the two of them, which happened constantly, he was on Do Wook’s side.
Thanks to that, the rest of the filming with Moore was able to be concluded without many issues.
‘Heroes 2’ was scheduled to be released next spring after post-processing.
Even if they held a premiere, it was unlikely that all the major actors would all gather, since it would be a significant cost for them to just make an appearance. Even the promotional activities were being carried out by dividing the teams across the globe.
Before saying goodbye to Do Wook, Herbert said that he really wanted to visit Korea.
Unlike Director Jean Luke, who had sensed the makings of a great actor in Do Wook, Herbert felt an even more human charm from Do Wook.
Do Wook also wanted to continue maintaining a good collegial relationship with Herbert. Although he relied too heavily on alcohol in his private life, he was still a good actor whom Do Wook could learn a lot from.
“Let’s see…then…at the end of this year, beginning of next year Hyung Seo’s album and Do Wook’s solo album will be released, and…we’ll time the release of the KK album with the release of Heroes 2, right?”
A hotel business room in Las Vegas, where the Billboard Awards would be held, had been converted into a conference room for HIT Entertainment.
After KK became a world-renown group, they were getting used to meetings at hotels, which had felt awkward in the beginning,
Album Production Team Leader Shim Joon laid out the overall album release schedule.
The KK members nodded their heads.
In Ahn Hyung Seo’s solo album, there was a song that was written/composed by Suk Ji Hoon and a song featuring Kim Won.
“Do Wook, will you be ok with the schedule? You said you have a few songs you’ve written, right…?”
“I do, but…I think I’ll probably have to work on it more after the award ceremony. Also…”
The members’ and Team Leader Shim Joon’s gazes all fell on Do Wook.
“I think I’d be good to release my solo album as a digital single. I want to focus more on the KK album that will be released with Heroes…”
Team Leader Shim Joon’s eyes grew a bit wider.
Actually, since the KK album was the bigger focus than the solo album, it was something that he, as the Album Production Team Leader, wanted to request, but it wasn’t something he could bring up to Do Wook.
However, since Do Wook brought up first that he wanted to focus more on KK’s album than his own, it was welcome news for Team Leader Shim Joon.
“Are…are you ok with that?”
“Of course. I am a KK member after all. Also the KK album this time…is really novel, and…I want to do something more with it. Properly…”
It’s not that he hadn’t done things properly up ‘till now, but Do Wook now wanted to try his hand at something new.
It was true that up until now they had been choosing the safe path that ‘will probably succeed’. However, since they had established themselves enough to get to the main award categories at the Billboard awards, he started thinking that it was time to change musically and take on new challenges.
And he thought that was how they could survive longer, even in a future that he didn’t know.
“Maaaan, you’re Kang Do Wook for a reason. Great!”
Team Leader Shim Joon yelled in an excited voice.
The members’ expressions were subtle. They somehow felt apologetic yet also grateful. Jung Yoon Ki looked at Do Wook and said,
“Man, It goes without saying, but…it’s no easy task, but…I’ll also work even harder.”
“Yeah, you need to work harder!”
Ahn Hyung Seo needlessly chimed in, as if scolding him.
“Me too…the choreography…I’ll do my best…”
Park Tae Hyung, who was seated next to Do Wook, also said.
‘This is why the group KK can’t fail,’
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung, who was observing the meeting from one side, thought.
“Ok, then let’s take a 10-minute break and move on to the award show performance concept meeting!”
When Department Manager Oh Baek Ho shouted that, Ahn Hyung Seo grumbled.
“Can we take a 15-minute break? The meeting is too long…”
“Do you want to rest forever?”
Department Manager Oh Baek Ho’s fierce glare made Ahn Hung Seo immediately shut up.
“Let’s put together a real killer performance and sweep the Billboard awards!”
“Yes!”
The leader Jung Yoon Ki yelled and Kim Won yelled with all his might. Although he complained, Ahn Hyung Seo as well as all the other members shared the same view as Jung Yoon Ki.
Do Wook and all the members alike shared the thought that they couldn’t wait to get on stage.
in the 220’s!! 3 chapters left!!! We are on our last arc of the story
Next chapter: It’s time for the Billboard Awards again