Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 86

86

When Yu Seon-ah revealed her plans to audition for 3Y Entertainment, Lee Min-ki’s initial advice was:

“Don’t go.”

He was trying to dissuade her.

Yu Seon-ah’s reaction to this was, of course, quite predictable.

“Huh? Why?”

She expressed her doubt.

“Isn’t 3Y a good place? Kim Do-ha is there too. And this overseas audition isn’t costing me anything. The company is covering the accommodation and plane tickets.”

At first glance, it seemed like a reasonable point.

3Y was a place where many successful actors were affiliated, and Kim Do-ha, who was currently enjoying immense popularity, was also part of it.

If Lee Min-ki hadn’t known about their past, he might have strongly recommended 3Y.

But not anymore.

“I know. But please trust me on this one.”

Lee Min-ki sighed softly and said,

“3Y… I’ve heard rumors about them, and it’s not a good place. There’s some unpleasant talk behind the scenes.”

“Like what?”

“That… I can’t really go into detail with you, Seon-ah.”

Naturally.

Of course, he couldn’t go into detail.

Because he didn’t have any concrete evidence to present.

Well, if he had to say, he did have it. In great detail, too.

But Lee Min-ki had no intention of sharing it with others at this early stage.

‘Even if I do expose it, I haven’t decided how to do it yet.’

He was primarily looking for a way to report it anonymously.

To a media outlet that would report it as transparently as possible.

Perhaps Yu Seon-ah found it strange that Lee Min-ki was trying to stop her without any solid evidence. She looked at him with narrowed eyes and said,

“Hmm, I really wanted to go to 3Y this time. The co-CEO said they see my profile very positively.”

“There are bad rumors. They say there are scandals inside.”

“Isn’t it enough if I don’t get involved? And 3Y has a really good image as an agency.”

“That’s… true, but.”

Oops.

She doesn’t seem willing to listen.

What other reasons can I give?

Is there anything suitable?

‘Nope.’

Those 3Y guys have done a fantastic job managing their image.

Just like Kim Do-ha’s agency, they act exactly like him.

‘Ugh, should I just subtly show her one piece of evidence?’

Just as he was solidifying his resolve, considering the slim chance, Yu Seon-ah said something unexpected.

“Okay.”

“I’ll trust you, Min-ki. If you’re stopping me this much, there must be a reason.”

“Huh?”

“It’s you, Min-ki, who’s saying it. You’re an active actor working in the industry, so you must hear a lot. Right?”

“Well, it’s as you say, Seon-ah.”

“There’s an old saying that if you listen to your elders, good things will come your way even while you’re sleeping.”

Yu Seon-ah patted her chest and said with a proud voice.

Meanwhile, Lee Min-ki was slightly dumbfounded by her words.

‘So, I don’t need evidence?’

No, the audition is right around the corner, and the only reason she needs is that the words came out of his mouth?

How much does she trust him?

It doesn’t seem like a matter of trust.

‘Shouldn’t she be careful of cults or something?’

Even though his wish was granted, Lee Min-ki was bewildered. On the other hand, Yu Seon-ah had her own reasons.

‘Min-ki, you were on TV with Kim Do-ha recently.’

She had seen it.

Lee Min-ki was doing well on TV.

No matter how depressed she was, she had enough sense not to say it to his face, but watching [60 Second Interview] made her feel even more intensely out of touch.

Why is that?

A trainee who had struggled with her around the same time suddenly takes off.

He’s working with someone like a star in the sky.

She doesn’t even know if she can get into the bottom of the barrel at Kim Do-ha’s agency, but her peer was competing head-on with Kim Do-ha himself.

And he even won.

This was unbearably depressing for her.

The fact that she was feeling this way about a peer, no less, made her feel even more miserable.

‘Why am I the kind of person who thinks like this? Is this all I’m worth?’

At one time, Lee Min-ki had been far behind her.

To be jealous of a peer, no less.

What an ugly emotion.

She even wondered if she had been looking down on Lee Min-ki.

But in reality.

Lee Min-ki’s attitude was different.

[People can’t live with only positive thoughts, right? Even if you’re rolling in dog poop, it’s better than the afterlife. If you need dog poop-like feelings like revenge, it’s medicine.]

He presented her with a different way of thinking when she was desperate, as if she was cornered at the edge of a cliff.

It’s okay for people to be negative.

That’s what makes them human.

So, did her evaluation of Lee Min-ki diminish?

No, it didn’t.

‘Min-ki, I’m jealous. I’m really jealous. It’s like you live in a completely different world from me.’

She felt he was even more amazing.

She admitted it.

She raised both hands in surrender.

Not only was his ability as an actor superior, but his abilities as a human being were also superior.

So, she decided to catch up quickly.

She would quickly shake it off in this place and tell him later, as if to show off.

That she had caught up.

‘I have to tell him all my inner thoughts about how jealous I was of him back then.’

It would be difficult for the time being, but someday it would definitely happen.

Back then.

In any case, the Lee Min-ki she knew was someone who had worked well with Kim Do-ha.

[Min-ki, I heard you went out with Kim Do-ha?]

[Where?]

[Club.]

[Pardon?]

[Club.]

[Pardon?]

She had also heard it from Teacher Ah-seong.

If someone who had hung out with the agency’s star entertainer was trying to stop her, there must be a reason.

This alone was enough.

“Ah, Seon-ah, I have something to do today, so I’ll get up first.”

He had been lost in thought, but Lee Min-ki suddenly got up from his seat.

He got busy.

He had firmly decided to report [Kim Do-ha’s scandal] so that it would be revealed once again in this world, just like in his past life, so he couldn’t hesitate any longer.

Even at this moment, there would be more victims.

“Seon-ah, fighting.”

He was about to leave the practice room after saying that.

“Wait a minute.”

Yu Seon-ah grabbed him once again and said,

“Just you wait and see.”

“…….”

Lee Min-ki smiled wryly at the somewhat provocative words.

It seemed like the direction of her resolve had changed slightly.

But those words weren’t a bad feeling to hear.

“Okay. I’ll wait and see.”

Just as he was about to leave,

Yu Seon-ah added as if adding a final touch.

“Oh, and I’ll be cheering for your new project too.”

“New project…….”

Now that he thought about it, he had forgotten.

He came here to think about his new project.

He ended up spending all his time comforting and dissuading Yu Seon-ah, but his initial purpose was the movie.

“Hmm.”

As Lee Min-ki was about to let out a groan as if he was in trouble, Yu Seon-ah tilted her head and asked,

“Haven’t you decided yet?”

“Well, you see.”

Lee Min-ki scratched his head slightly and said,

“Actually, I came to the academy today because of that. I was hoping to get a sense of something.”

“…Is that so? Just a moment. I wonder if there’s anything worth filming these days.”

At that moment, Yu Seon-ah groaned as if she was pondering something for a moment.

“Ugh, I’m not sure either. Maybe it’s because the timing is a bit awkward.”

She frowned for a long time as if she couldn’t get a sense of it at all.

“Ah!”

She slapped Lee Min-ki’s shoulder with her palm and said,

“Min-ki, you dress well, so it might be good to film a project where you can wear pretty clothes!”

“Clothes?”

“Like a fusion historical drama!”

It was that moment.

The moment the keyword ‘clothes’ came out of her mouth.

“Ah.”

Lee Min-ki’s eyes widened.

He got a sense of it.

He got a sense of his new project.

He completely got it.

This is it.

It struck his head like lightning.

* * *

The next day.

Around the time Lee Min-ki had made up his mind.

There was someone who barely let out a long sigh of relief.

‘I found it, I almost had a big problem.’

Hwang In-gu, the CEO of Daon, wiped away a cold sweat, unlike his usual self.

“The darkest place is under the lamp [a Korean proverb meaning the obvious is often overlooked], that saying isn’t wrong.”

That data.

He had finally found the person who took the data, which could be considered the Achilles’ heel [a metaphor for a fatal weakness] of Kim Do-ha’s gang.

As he said, the identity of the person who stole Lee Heul’s phone and ran away.

That was.

“Lee Min-ki, so this was you too?”

A few days ago, he searched for the data from all angles inside the club room, just in case, and it was revealed.

It was Lee Min-ki.

No one else could have taken the phone and run away at that time and angle.

‘He’s quite the nuisance. No matter what I do, you keep getting in the way.’

The phone’s location data is roughly backed up on the internet in minute increments.

In other words, there was no doubt that the phone was inside the club room until right before it was stolen.

So it had to be one of the internal members.

Precisely when Lee Min-ki left the room on the pretext of going to the bathroom, the Wi-Fi was disconnected.

Lee Min-ki’s luck was eerily good.

He managed to avoid almost all surveillance cameras at subtle angles.

But science ultimately triumphed over luck.

‘It was a bit of a headache, but I finally found all the evidence. I thought he was innocent, but he’s quite the snake [a derogatory term for someone cunning and deceitful].’

Hwang In-gu sighed in relief for a moment.

“Do-ha, let’s talk about these things in advance.”

“……”

“Do you think I’d go through all this trouble because of a piece of trash like you?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Useless bastard.”

At the harsh words, Kim Do-ha bit his lip with a humiliated expression.

He tried to hide it and proceed secretly, but.

Hwang In-gu, who saw that Lee Heul’s phone had been switched, habitually interrogated the person involved.

[I wondered why company data was being leaked externally, was it you?]

[Gasp.]

[Gasp?]

Lee Heul fell for it again and stupidly confessed.

‘Nothing is working out. How can everything be so twisted?’

It’s an absurd world.

It’s only been a few weeks since he met Lee Min-ki, and everything he’s built up so far is about to turn to dust.

The trust he’s built up and down.

The connections he’s built up behind the scenes.

Even the smooth road he’ll walk in the industry in the future.

Grit.

While Kim Do-ha was trembling, unable to control his anger, CEO Hwang In-gu opened his mouth.

“Since you started it, you take responsibility.”

“Yes?”

“Go directly and negotiate with the person involved. Surely you can do that much, right?”

“Me directly… are you saying?”

“Do-ha, are you making me say the same thing twice?”

Kim Do-ha flinched, instinctively cowering.

In that fleeting moment, CEO Hwang In-gu’s eyes flashed like a snake as he continued.

“You know that video you filmed last time? The one where you were hooking up with a girl in the room.”

“If it’s that… yes, I have it.”

He had filmed everything in real-time.

Lee Min-ki was almost clinging to the woman.

The camera angle itself was malicious, and it was massaged with various edits to complete it.

Anyone could see that Lee Min-ki was flirting with the woman.

“Why that…”

It was the moment Kim Do-ha cautiously asked.

“Say you’re going to spread it to the media.”

“……!”

The moment Kim Do-ha’s eyes widened, CEO Hwang In-gu burst into laughter.

“A single photo like that is the end for a rookie actor who’s popular with the girls. There’s nothing more to see. I don’t know what he’s preparing now, but he’ll have to be prepared to drop out. ‘Rookie celebrity specializing in sexual harassment,’ sounds good, right?”

That was right.

Strictly speaking, Lee Min-ki didn’t do anything to that woman.

But once a controversy breaks out, no explanation is needed.

The moment you start explaining, you’ve lost.

Even if you go to court and start a fight, it will take years just to prove it, and even if innocence is proven, it’s meaningless.

“The public sees celebrities the way they want to see them. Once they’re seen in a bad light, they’re bound to turn into anti-fans, even if it means admitting that their past judgment was wrong.”

Who doesn’t know that?

“He’s just become an actor, so he must be desperate for success. Now that he’s tasted the sweetness, he won’t want to let go.”

CEO Hwang In-gu continued speaking with a chilling tone.

“Tell him to handle it well if he doesn’t want to get labeled as a sexual harasser and give up his acting career. Can you do this much?”

“……”

“If he really can’t give up, tell him to stab someone. Of course, you’ll have to do it all on your own judgment.”

Kim Do-ha was silent for a moment.

The opponent is Lee Min-ki.

Even though he sprinkled tacks on his path [created obstacles], it wasn’t easy for an actor to threaten another actor’s acting career.

Because.

Even if his methods were rotten and twisted, his foundation was still an actor.

But.

“I understand.”

As CEO Hwang In-gu said earlier, people tend to see the world the way they want to see it.

“I’ll handle it for sure, with my name on the line.”

The self reflected in Kim Do-ha’s eyes was already a victim.

Lee Min-ki is the perpetrator.

There’s no problem in imposing sanctions on a cowardly perpetrator with cowardly means.

“I don’t care about your reputation.”

CEO Hwang In-gu waved his hand at Kim Do-ha, who bowed his head.

“If you fail, then the knife that will be stabbed into Lee Min-ki’s stomach will go into your belly.”

* * *

JC headquarters office.

“Are you talking about a new project?”

“Yes, a new project.”

Lee Min-ki nodded at Director Seo Jeong-woo’s words.

“I found it. A project I want to film.”

“Did you find a project you like?”

Lee Min-ki coughed lightly and said.

“This time. I want to film a project about fashion.”

“…… Fashion?”

“Yes, wearing clothes.”

The moment Director Seo Jeong-woo raised his forehead as if he couldn’t get a sense of it, Lee Min-ki repeatedly said in a confident voice.

“I want to film the best fashion movie in Korean history.”