Legendary Superstar

For the first time in over a week, Minjae's alarm didn't wake him up at dawn.

There were no early call times, no event, and no schedule for today.

It was Monday, and miraculously, he had the day off.

Usually, his day off would be on the weekend. But since they have been busy for the past few days, he wasn't able to.

Fortunately, Flex Entertainment cleared his schedule to give way for a much-needed rest after all that they did these past few days.

Minjae stirred under his blanket sometime past noon. His one arm flopped over his face as he groaned softly into the pillow. His body felt heavy from exhaustion. He just can't seem to get used to all of these things even after doing it for so long.

Minjae stayed in his bed for a long while, his eyes barely open. He took his phone and scrolled through it with slow and clumsy fingers. There were a few messages from Jihoon and Yura, DMs from fans, and whole lots of notifications from fans who were tagging him and mentioning him in some posts related to their drama.

He was thankful for their active support. But instead of replying to anything, he just smiled faintly and tossed his phone aside.

He'd reply, but not today.

Today was for rest, and he vowed not to do anything.

Minjae eventually dragged himself out of bed around 2 p.m., still wrapped in his pajamas. His hair was all messy and his face was puffy from sleep. He didn't know how long he slept, but felt relieved when he went out of the bed.

Minjae sighed and stared into his fridge blankly for a moment, only to close it again seconds later.

"Nope."

He doesn't want to cook. Not today.

So instead, Minjae plopped onto the couch, pulled a blanket over his legs, and ordered food from his favorite local Chinese place. He ordered a bowl of jjajangmyeon, some tangsuyuk, and a cold soda.

It was nothing fancy, just some food that he really liked to eat.

While waiting, Minjae turned on the TV and let it run in the background. He was not even watching, he was just using it to let the noise fill the room.

When the food arrived, he didn't even plate it. He ate straight from the takeout boxes on his coffee table, slouched comfortably on the floor like a tired college student. The jjajangmyeon sauce clung perfectly to the noodles, and he sighed in relief after the first bite.

Minjae sighed. He didn't check the rankings today. He also didn't open any news sites.

Minjae leaned back against the couch, slurping the last bit of his noodles before lazily reaching for a piece of tangsuyuk. He dipped it in the sweet and sour sauce without much thought, chewing slowly while his eyes drifted to the television.

There was a variety show playing. He used to find it interesting, but now, he was just looking at it plainly.

'Yeah, I must be really tired.' He sighed and shook his head.

Still, the food made him feel just a bit more alive. After he finished eating, he didn't even bother to clean up right away. He set the empty boxes aside, curled deeper into the couch, and let his body sink into the cushions like they were pulling him down.

For hours, Minjae did absolutely nothing but use his phone.

Minjae scrolled and scrolled. He swiped through a few fan edits. Smiled quietly at a compilation video of Taeyung's best scenes.

Then he turned off his phone again.

Instead, he opened the curtains slightly just to let the late afternoon sun pour into his apartment and laid on the couch once again.

Minjae didn't even notice when he fell asleep again. This time, he was on the couch, head tilted back and mouth slightly open.

When he woke up again, it was nearly 6:30 p.m.

Minjae rubbed his eyes and blinked at the dim light in the room. The TV had turned off automatically, and the only sound was the soft hum of traffic outside.

After a stretch and a deep sigh, he finally got up to throw away the leftover containers, washed his hands, and pulled on a hoodie to keep warm as the evening chill settled in.

Minjae had just sat back down with a glass of water when his phone buzzed.

It was a message from his manager, Donghyun.

[Donghyun hyung]: Hey, Minjae. Sorry to disturb your rest, but Flex just sent us another batch of scripts this evening. Nothing urgent, but they want us to go through them and see if anything clicks ASAP. Let's meet at the office tomorrow after lunch. Around 2? Reply to me if you're free.

Minjae stared at the message for a moment.

'More scripts?' He let out a soft and amused sigh and leaned his head back against the couch cushion.

His rest day wasn't even over, and his work was already knocking on his door again.

Still, he wasn't annoyed.

He actually felt grateful for it. It seemed like his recent project was doing better than he intended. He was happy that his performance satisfied a lot, and now, more drama production studios were sending scripts for him.

It felt good, in a strange way—to be wanted, to be moving forward. A part of him was even curious. Maybe there was something good in this batch.

As soon as he read it, he finished a short reply.

[Minjae:]Got it, hyung. I'll see you at 2.

Minjae smiled faintly, then set his phone down again.

The sky outside was turning navy blue. For tonight, he ordered his dinner again and didn't do anything but lay down and scroll on his phone. He really rested well enough.

When tomorrow arrived, he felt completely renewed.

Tuesday afternoon arrived quickly. The early sunlight arrived, but it was still snowing for the whole country. Minjae had no choice but to wear thicker clothes when he visited the office.

Minjae stepped inside the building, greeting him was the sleek lobby of Flex Entertainment. He walked in slow steps, his hands tucked into the pockets of his hoodie, while a cap pulled low over his head.

He was 10 minutes early from their agreed time, so there was no need to rush.

It was Minjae's first time in a long while to visit their company's building. He quickly noticed that the atmosphere felt different.

"Good afternoon, Minjae-ssi!"

"Ah, it's Minjae-nim!"

"Hello, Minjae sunbae!"

"How are you, Minjae-ssi?"

A few of the staff of the company, even some new interns he didn't recognize, waved or greeted him with wide smiles as they passed by.

Minjae gave a polite nod and smiled softly back. "Hello," he murmured in return.

He wasn't used to it. He remembered a time not too long ago when he'd walk these same hallways without anyone really noticing him.

But now, things were slowly changing. It also proves just how much he stepped out.

Even the front desk receptionist, who used to barely glance up when he walked in, offered him a bright smile today.

"You've been doing great, Minjae-ssi. Episode 3 was really good."

"Thank you," he replied, bowing his head slightly before heading toward the elevator.

He pressed the 5th floor. Since it was after lunch, he was alone in the elevator. The employee's lunchtime already ended an hour ago. Just after a few seconds, the glass doors slid open with a quiet ding.

Minjae stepped out, adjusting his jacket as he scanned the hallway.

Donghyun was already waiting near the meeting room, holding a takeaway cup in each hand.

"You came on time, Minjae," his manager, Donghyun, teased with a grin as he handed one of the cups to Minjae. "Americano. I hope this helps you as we have a long day to go."

Minjae took the drink and smiled. "Thank you, Hyung. This means a lot

"No problem," Donghyun said dryly, "just make sure you'll work hard later."

They both chuckled before heading into the small conference room. A few scripts were already neatly stacked on the table, each bound with colored tabs and sticky notes attached.

Minjae glanced at them, then dropped onto the chair with a soft exhale. "So these are the new ones?"

"Yup. Five in total. All offers from respectable studios. They want a response within the next week."

Donghyun pulled out his tablet and sat across from him.

"We already looked through everything. Well, your agency did, and they said that these 5 were the best ones among those that was sent to them."

"I see," Minjae nodded slightly as he let Donghyun continue talking.

"We'll go over the summaries first. But I figured we'd scan through the first few scenes together and see if anything clicks with you. I figured it would be important to know the casts too, but nothing is yet confirmed for the scripts since they just sent it to their sought actors a few days back."

"I see, well, that's not bad hyung," Minjae leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Maybe we should look at them first."