Godsent Top Star [EN]: Chapter 48

048. Reward Vacation (1)

2021.12.18.

But, as if to disprove that notion, Min Ye-rin continued speaking nonchalantly. “Ah, I misspoke. If we’re talking about favorite animals…” Min Ye-rin tapped her cheek with her index finger, as if pondering for a moment. “A lion? Leopard? Tiger? Or maybe something like a cheetah would be nice.” Unexpected animals to be sure. “You like predators?”

“Yes. Is that strange?”

“No, it’s not that, but…”

“I’ve heard that my taste is unique. But I feel like if I hold something small and tiny, even slightly wrong, I might crush it…” Meaning she was hesitant to handle smaller animals.

‘This is too high of a difficulty level, isn’t it?’ If Dong Ja-ryeong heard this, he would surely be devastated. “Perhaps… what about a cat? I know that lions and leopards are largely classified as felines.”

“They’re small.” A very firm answer.

“I don’t like small things.”

“Yes…”

“Was that a question?”

“Yes.”

“…I’ll be going now.” They say actors are quite sensitive. Yeon-woo, who had mainly seen Kwon Seong-hyun, didn’t quite understand this, but seeing Min Ye-rin, he somehow started to understand. He didn’t know how much her emotions fluctuated in such a short time. As soon as the dispirited Min Ye-rin turned away, she disappeared.

Sure enough. [No. She doesn’t like small things?! Why?! How can anyone not like how cute and lovely small things are!] Dong Ja-ryeong whined as if he was extremely wronged. [Leopard… Lion… Cheetah… Tiger… Where am I supposed to get those?] “I wonder.”

[Even if you get them, isn’t it a problem? I feel like they’d be shot on sight as soon as they’re spotted!]

“That’s probably true.”

[Why is it so hard to match my second favorite preference…?] “I wonder.”

[Not even a cat is okay…]

“I think I saw somewhere that there are giant cats… I’m not sure.”

[Really…? Would a giant cat be similar to a predator?]

“Maybe.” Yeon-woo left the frustrated Dong Ja-ryeong behind and hurried his steps. ‘A fan, huh.’ An endlessly unfamiliar word. New forms of people who had come into a life that was far from kindness. People who might turn away once they knew his true nature, but… ‘It’s a strange feeling.’ It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.

***

A coffee truck decorated in vibrant colors. [Wow… Yeon-woo. Your face is plastered all over it!] Dong Ja-ryeong, who had been circling around Yeon-woo, exclaimed loudly. Just as he said, Yeon-woo’s faces, as if captured from the drama, were attached to the large, bright yellow mini-truck along with cute decorations. [Wow… There’s even a panel. It’s completely professional?] There was even a life-size panel of Yeon-woo. It was a depiction of the Grim Reaper holding a mint chocolate chip Frappuccino, somehow. Below it was the phrase, ‘Grim Reaper Kang Yeon-woo is treating! Enjoy!’

‘…This is a very strange feeling in a different sense, isn’t it?’ How many people get to see a truck plastered with their own face? The entertainment industry culture was still very unfamiliar to Yeon-woo. [Oh? It’s the actor? I didn’t see him upstairs; I guess he came down first!] A familiar back view comes into sight. With Kwon Seong-hyun standing in front, the mini-truck looked even smaller. “Heok…!”

“Euaht…!” Those who were facing Kwon Seong-hyun and having an amicable conversation gasped and looked surprised as if they had discovered Yeon-woo. Noticing their reaction, Kwon Seong-hyun turned around and greeted Yeon-woo. “Ah, Yeon-woo-ssi. You’re here? These people are your fans.”

“Ah, ah… Hello…?”

“Heok…! Wooyeon-nim… It’s an infinite honor to meet you…” As Kwon Seong-hyun introduced them, two people approached hesitantly. “Hello.”

“Heok…! He greeted us!” A simple greeting brought back an intense reaction. But. “Wooyeon…?” Something was off. He wondered if they had misspoken his name, but, “Ah, it’s an abbreviation of ‘Our Yeon-woo’… Um… Would it be okay to call you that?” The eyes of those asking sparkled. “I don’t really like possessives, but I do like the word ‘our.’ Our Yeon-woo, huh… That sounds nice, Our Yeon-woo-ssi.” Kwon Seong-hyun chuckled and said. [They really must be your fans, Yeon-woo.] Yeon-woo could easily tell even without Dong Ja-ryeong saying it. What was in the eyes of the two people was not contempt or disgust, but unconditional, infinite affection towards him.

“You’re my fans?”

“Yes… Yes…!” A trembling voice.

“I still have many shortcomings, but thank you for liking me.” Yeon-woo bowed politely towards them.

“No! Don’t say that! We’re even more grateful!”

“That’s right! We’re really more thankful…! How much has our quality of life improved since you debuted…!” The two people who received the greeting jumped up and down. He didn’t know what they were more thankful for, but seeing their extreme denial, he felt like if he greeted them any more, they would keep thanking each other and dig into the ground. “I heard about it from the director. That you put in a lot of effort because of me…”

“Ah, no! This level of support is basic!” One person cut in as soon as he finished speaking.

“That’s right. It’s only the beginning, but since we’re gaining momentum now, an official fan page will be opened soon. The agency said they would respond too! So, if you wait just a little bit until we can officially provide full support!” Agency? Yeon-woo reflexively looked at Kwon Seong-hyun at that word. “Yeon-woo-ssi’s fans really care about Yeon-woo-ssi a lot. They suddenly got so nervous as soon as Yeon-woo-ssi appeared.” There was no way a quick-witted person wouldn’t know what that meant. Seeing him act like that, he was a sly old fox. ‘Well. It’s something I was going to join anyway. But when did the fan club get discussed?’ Was it right for things to proceed this quickly? Well, the good is good. However, he had to address what was bothering him. “Thank you for liking me. But you don’t have to do things like this.” He didn’t understand most of the words they were saying, but he could understand the meaning. ‘They’re talking about sending a lot of things like this coffee truck.’ It was a grateful thing. It meant that there were people who thought of him this much. But. “Just your feelings of liking me are enough for me.” He didn’t necessarily need fan sentiment to be expressed materially. What Yeon-woo needed was none other than ‘liking’ itself. “I don’t know why you came to like me… But for now, that feeling alone is really enough.” The greater the liking, the greater the power of Yeon-woo’s influence. It was worth much more than tens, hundreds, or thousands of dollars. “Then, is there nothing we can do for Wooyeon-nim…!”

“It’s our instinct to want to give everything when our ‘deoksim’ [ardent devotion to a celebrity or idol] overflows… If you’re telling us to restrain our instincts…” Something seemed backward. Wouldn’t it be better if they didn’t spend a lot of money? [Tsk tsk… Kang Yeon-woo. I thought you were becoming more like a celebrity now that you have fans, but you still don’t know anything.] Dong Ja-ryeong shook his head. ‘…It would be really nice if I could read the other person’s inner thoughts by understanding their intentions at times like this.’ Unfortunately, intention understanding was an ability specialized in reading scripts. It did help him understand the other person’s inner thoughts a little better, but the ability deteriorated unless it was written text. Right now, he could only read ‘disappointment.’ The problem was that the ‘disappointment’ was the part that Yeon-woo was questioning. Why were they disappointed? “Then there’s nothing we can do for Wooyeon-nim…!”

“Why not?”

“Yes?”

“Just you liking me in whatever form I am is enough.” Yeon-woo had experienced many kinds of people. People who initially treated him with liking but distanced themselves after hearing rumors. People who treated him with prejudice from the start. People who approached him to use him. And so on. But these people were different. Fans. The first unconditional kindness he had ever received. ‘I don’t know everything about the entertainment industry, but I heard that even Kwon Seong-hyun has antis [anti-fans], albeit a very small number.’ Then what about Yeon-woo, who was just a rookie? [Just because you’re Kwon Seong-hyun’s manager, do you think you’re anything special?] [There are tons of people like you in this industry. Just because you got one role and became popular, do you think you’ll always do well?] He couldn’t possibly not feel the dark emotions like envy, jealousy, and resentment lingering in the passing gazes. Cases like Kwon Seong-hyun, Lee Joo-ha, and Min Ye-rin were special cases. Yeon-woo could feel malice from the minor actors he met while filming the drama and the people he encountered. [That unlucky bastard.] [A guy who got lucky and caught the director’s eye.] [Did he bribe the writer? How can they give so many roles to a rookie who just debuted? There must be something going on.] ‘Even the people who see my face directly from the closest distance feel this way.’ How much more likely would the information conveyed through TV or the internet be distorted? Nevertheless, the existence of ‘fans’… “Really. That feeling is enough for me.” These mysterious beings made him have ‘hope.’ Those who recognized Yeon-woo’s existence amidst the overflowing malice and all sorts of rumors. The hope that he could trust their kindness. And that night. [Our Yeon-woo’s First Support Review is Here!] A post was uploaded to a community.

***

[Our Yeon-woo’s First Support Review is Here!]

-Hello! I’m the leader who organized this support. First of all, I want to thank everyone who participated in this support recruitment. The total amount of support funds raised is XXX won, and you can check the fundraising amount and expenditure details by clicking >hereherehere