An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 108

108. Episode 21 – The Beginning and the End (2)

“What?”

I frowned at Kim’s words and repeated the question.

Seeing my expression, Manager Kim squeezed his eyes shut and sighed heavily.

“Nothing’s missing from your place, and there haven’t been any new threats.”

“Still…”

I started to speak, feeling frustrated.

But everything Kim said was right.

The stalker I encountered as soon as I returned to Korea…

That day was the first time I became aware of her existence.

Of course, the stalker must have been following me before that.

But that was the only day I actually noticed.

The stalker secretly broke into my sanctuary and made a mess of my home.

I was shocked and incredibly stressed by her actions.

And she was immediately taken to the police station.

I demanded that the matter be handled according to the full extent of the law, but…

As Manager Kim said, there was nothing substantial we could do legally.

Like he said, there was no robbery or direct threats made at all.

But I couldn’t just let it go like this.

“Still, Hyung [older brother or close male friend], it’s true that the stalker broke into my house. Is there really nothing we can do legally?”

I frowned and asked him again.

Manager Kim bit his lip and replied, sounding equally frustrated.

“About breaking into your house… the only thing we can realistically charge her with is trespassing.”

“Ha… just trespassing?”

I shook my head and sighed, feeling deflated.

He also sighed, as frustrated as I was.

“The law really sucks sometimes.”

Manager Kim took a deep breath and continued.

“The company looked into it, and since there was no direct physical harm to you, Hee-sung, that’s the core issue.”

“It’s really hard to punish her severely according to the law.”

There was no real recourse available to me now.

“Hyung, then we have to at least pursue that.”

“Yeah, I’ll file a report for trespassing and let you know how it goes,” Manager Kim nodded, getting up from his seat with a bitter look on his face.

***

A significant amount of time passed after pursuing the maximum legal action possible.

That is, filing a criminal charge for trespassing.

And then came the legal punishment she ultimately received.

As my curiosity grew about the outcome…

The conference room door burst open.

Manager Kim, holding coffee in both hands, walked in with a faint smile.

“Hyung, you’re here?”

“Yeah, Hee-sung. Drink some coffee while you practice.”

“Thanks.”

I took the coffee he handed me and smiled gratefully.

He sat down in front of me and took a sip of his coffee, then stared at me intently.

I moved my gaze from the script to him, noticing Manager Kim’s serious expression.

“Hyung, is there something you want to tell me?”

He slowly nodded at my words.

I could tell from his expression that it wasn’t good news.

“Hee-sung, about that stalker…”

At the word ‘stalker,’ I carefully put the coffee I was holding on the table.

I pulled up a chair, blinked, and asked him, bracing myself.

“Yeah, what happened?”

He frowned and said, his voice laced with disappointment.

“She got a fine.”

“Ah…”

I didn’t have particularly high expectations for the legal system, but…

I couldn’t hide my disappointment at the result, which was essentially what I had expected all along.

In the end,

It ended with a summary indictment [a procedure where minor offenses are resolved without a full trial] for a fine.

I sighed with a bitter look on my face.

“Well… it turned out as expected.”

“Yeah, but they issued a restraining order, so she can’t approach you anymore.”

I raised one corner of my mouth in a wry smile at Manager Kim’s words.

“Ha, a restraining order… that’s something, I guess.”

It felt like a bare minimum, but it was natural for a restraining order to be issued to a stalker.

When I heard the punishment given to the person who committed the crime,

I thought I would feel relieved, or that the stress that had been building up would be resolved in one fell swoop.

But the only words that came out of my mouth were just ‘that’s a relief.’

Because of the stalker, I became anxious about even going into my own home.

This was a big deal that could potentially be a lifelong trauma.

But all the perpetrator received was a fine and a restraining order.

In movies and dramas, I remember seeing these criminals receive punishments that were far from minor.

But movies are just movies, after all.

I couldn’t help but feel bitter about the fact that there was no truly satisfying resolution in reality.

“Haa….”

I kept sighing, unable to shake off the feeling of injustice.

Manager Kim just shook his head, mirroring my own feelings.

Beep, beep.

The sound of a phone vibrating on the table.

[Sender: Mother]

“Ahem.”

After checking the sender, I cleared my throat, trying to compose myself.

My parents were already extremely worried about the articles about my stalker.

If I answered the phone with this gloomy voice, my mother’s worries would only intensify.

“Hello.”

-Oh, Hee-sung. Can you talk?

“Yeah, sure.”

-Are you okay these days?

I could hear the anxiety dripping from my mother’s voice.

“Yeah. That stalker got a restraining order.”

-Oh, that’s a relief.

“Yeah, Mom and Dad, don’t worry too much.”

-Still, how can I not worry? There are all sorts of strange and dangerous people in the world.”

“Tell me about it.”

My mother took a sigh of relief and hesitated before opening her mouth.

-So, Hee-sung.

“What is it?”

-Should I go up to Seoul and stay with you for a while?

Her voice was full of anxiety that went beyond simple worry.

She was the mother who called me right after reading my article and shed tears of concern.

Since there was no guarantee that this would not happen again,

My mother was willing to put her own business aside and come to Seoul to be with her son.

I bit my lip, touched by her concern, and replied.

“No. What about Mom’s work?”

-This is nothing. I’m just too worried….”

“It’s okay, Mom. It’s all over now.”

-Still, a house is a space you don’t want to enter even if a thief breaks in. But it’s a space where a stalker broke in, so I’m worried you’ll have a hard time feeling safe there.”

I nodded at her words, understanding her concern.

Home.

My own space where I should be able to leave all my worries outside.

After that day, my steps towards that place became heavier and heavier.

The vivid scenes of that moment kept replaying in my mind, and some days I didn’t even want to go home.

I decided I needed to move because I couldn’t continue living like this, constantly on edge.

A cheap monthly rental house where I had lived since my struggling days in Seoul.

Even after earning a good income as an actor, I hadn’t given much thought to moving to a better place.

I didn’t have a grand dream of living in a luxurious mansion.

But the time had come to change my living situation, not for some aspirational goal, but out of necessity.

A house with a panoramic view of the Han River.

A house with a large area to relax and unwind in.

I wasn’t necessarily looking for a house like that.

Just a better house than the one I currently lived in.

And, more importantly, a good house meant a place with tight security.

There absolutely could not be any intruders in my personal space ever again.

I stroked my chin thoughtfully and nodded.

Then, I looked at the date on the calendar in front of me.

When is the next time I get paid?

***

After the situation was mostly resolved,

I wanted to let the people who were as worried about me as my own family know the latest news.

I opened my laptop to share an update with them.

And I immediately clicked on the internet browser to access the fan site.

‘JinHeeSungSuki [Jin Hee-sung is the best].’

When I entered the fan cafe, the most recent posts were all about my stalker incident.

Posts filled with concern and worry for my well-being.

I quickly pressed the write button to create a new post.

I shrugged my shoulders and put my hands on the keyboard.

[This is Jin Hee-sung.]

-Hello.

JinHeeSungSuki, this is Jin Hee-sung speaking.

You were all worried, right?

Thanks to all the fans who were concerned about me, things have been resolved relatively well.

So I’m writing this to let you know that I’m doing okay.

.

.

.

I’m sorry for causing you worry, and I promise to come back with an even better image in the future.

JinHeeSungSuki.

Thank you always for your unwavering support, and I love you all.

After writing the details, I posted it on the fan cafe.

As soon as the post was uploaded, the number of views started to rise rapidly.

“Wow! Were you all just waiting for my post?”

I stared at the screen with wide eyes at the rapidly increasing number of views.

Then, comments started flooding in non-stop.

-Oppa [term used by younger women to address older brothers or male friends], you’ve been through so much. We’re so glad you’re okay!

-You know that sasaeng fans [obsessive fans who stalk or invade the privacy of celebrities] aren’t real fans, right? Oppa, cheer up! We’re always here for you.

-Our Hee-sung oppa, you look like you’ve lost even more weight because you’re having such a hard time. Always take good care of yourself! We’re worried about you.

-JinHeeSungSuki always supports you. Thank you for letting us know how you’re doing.

-Wow, is it really happening? Am I reading Oppa’s post in real time? Oppaㅠㅠ I love you!

-Make sure to move to a safer place first!!

-Don’t have such a hard timeㅠㅠ We’re sending you all our love and support!

Fans who love and care for me without expecting anything in return.

I carefully read all the fans’ comments one by one.

It felt like my troubled heart was slowly being healed by their kind words.

At that moment, when my heart was warmed by their comfort and support,

Ding-dong.

An alarm rang on the screen.

It was an alarm from the JinHeeSungSuki fan cafe.

The person who created the very first fan page when I started my acting career was now the manager of the fan cafe.

Park Soon-hee. She had always attended my fan signing events without fail.

There was no way I couldn’t recognize her.

But she had never sent me a direct message or contacted me separately before.

Did something happen?

I tilted my head in confusion at her contact and clicked on the message.

-Hello.

This is Park Soon-hee, the manager of JinHeeSungSuki.

I’m contacting you because I have something urgent to tell you about the stalker.

It’s not a personal story, but I think you should definitely know about it.

I sent you a message on SNS, so please check it when you have a moment.

I frowned as I read the message, feeling a sense of unease.

What on earth could it be about….

I quickly opened my cell phone.

I logged into my SNS account.

I had never really read the messages on SNS since I created the account.

Of course, I was grateful to the fans who liked my posts and sent me messages of support.

But there weren’t only people who sent messages purely out of fandom and genuine support.

There were all sorts of people, some asking to borrow money because they were going through a hard time, claiming to be a dedicated fan.

Others were asking if they could meet me in person just once.

I didn’t think it was appropriate to respond to each and every one of them.

So, I generally avoided reading the messages in the first place.

But after reading the message from manager Park Soon-hee, I felt like I absolutely had to check the messages.

I quickly moved my hand to find her ID in the overwhelming pile of unread messages.

And after a short while, I finally found her message.

I swallowed hard, feeling inexplicably nervous.

I quickly opened and read the message.

-Hello.

I’m contacting you because I have something urgent to tell Oppa.

Actually….

.

.

.

So, I sent all the information I had about Jung Yeo-jin to HS Entertainment a while back.

I definitely felt like something was a little strange about her from the very beginning.

I wanted to prepare in advance and prevent something like this from happening.

In the end, I was so angry and upset that Jung Yeo-jin actually ended up stalking you, Oppa.

It’s okay if Oppa already knew about Jung Yeo-jin and this information.

I was just worried that the company might not have delivered it to you, so I decided to contact you directly.

I’ll send you the contents I sent to HS Entertainment at that time as a photo attachment.

I hope you can check it out when you have a chance.

Don’t forget that there are always fans who are supporting you, and Oppa, please cheer up! We’re always here for you!

Without blinking an eye, I carefully read all the messages from her.

As I read the message, my breath became faster and faster, my heart pounding in my chest.

“What the hell….”

My face quickly turned red as if it were burning with anger.

The excited and agitated state of my mind did not calm down easily.

“Fucking… then what the hell is the agency doing?”

I jumped up from my seat, unable to contain my fury.

“This was something that could have been prevented!”

I picked up my cell phone and immediately called Manager Kim.

The phone was ringing, the signal going through.

I took a deep breath, trying to regain some composure, and muttered to myself.

“Could it be… did the agency know about this all along and deliberately condone it?” The thought sent a chill down my spine.