Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 182

182. The Stage

The first thing Lee Minki did upon stepping onto the stage was simple.

“Hello.”

It was a greeting.

The first greeting in hours, directed at the audience since the day began. This short greeting carried a wealth of meaning.

You could feel the audience’s anticipation hanging in the air.

A glance at their eyes revealed their eagerness to see Lee Minki. But beneath that eagerness, another emotion was palpable.

‘They’re exhausted.’

Many were visibly tired.

They had endured hours on the cold stone or asphalt, waiting for Lee Minki with no guarantee of when he would appear.

Some had likely given up and left.

Others probably harbored a subtle resentment towards Lee Minki.

‘If I show any weakness here, they’ll turn on me instantly.’

That was the challenge of offline gatherings.

Once you’ve drawn the audience in, you must reward their effort with something worthwhile.

Lee Minki’s decision was swift and decisive.

‘Don’t drag this out; get straight to the point.’

They looked weary, so a joke might lighten the mood.

He recalled advice from trainer Kim Ah-sung.

[Huh? Stage fright? The first line is crucial. Everything hinges on that first word, you know? Forget being serious; just make them laugh first.]

Let’s aim for laughter.

Let’s break the ice.

For this moment, he would unleash the incredibly hilarious story he had meticulously rehearsed in front of the mirror hundreds of times.

With that in mind, Lee Minki prepared to speak.

“Thank you for waiting so long. Everyone’s bel… ouch? Belouch. Cough.”

He had accidentally bitten his tongue.

‘Ah.’

He had messed up.

Biting his tongue on the very first line was a disastrous start.

Just as Lee Minki’s face began to flush crimson with that realization.

“Puhahahahaha!”

A ripple of laughter spread through the audience.

It was sheer luck.

Instead of delivering an awkward joke, he had inadvertently revealed a relatable, pathetic side.

Joo Hana chimed in.

“Wow, you never made a single mistake when acting with me. How could you flub a line here? Are you even the actor I know?”

More laughter erupted.

Unlike Lee Minki, who generally avoided the public eye, she salvaged the situation with her quick wit, honed from her frequent appearances on variety shows.

Emboldened by her words, Lee Minki, his face still slightly flushed with embarrassment, declared.

“I reached this point through hard work. Actors, audience members, you can do it too.”

“…….”

“You can do it…….”

It fell flat.

Not a single smile graced the audience’s faces.

Just as Lee Minki, whose plans rarely unfolded as expected, began to shrink back, Joo Hana chuckled and interjected.

“Hey, the actor is embarrassed. Can’t you all offer him a smile? Why are you all so cold?”

“Pfft.”

Laughter finally burst forth, almost explosively. Lee Minki muttered, his face now even redder.

“You guys are mean…….”

“Hehehe.”

Third line.

It was only on the third line that Lee Minki finally managed to elicit laughter from the audience through his own efforts.

Even then, it required Joo Hana’s assistance.

Son Hee-jeong covered her face with her palm, witnessing a scene reminiscent of a high school event.

‘What a hopeless sense of entertainment.’

It had nearly failed.

Joo Hana’s intervention had salvaged the situation, but alone, he would have undoubtedly faltered.

‘He’s fine as a one-time guest, but he’s not an entertainer who can stand on his own.’

The novelty of a world-class actor being clumsy was amusing, but it couldn’t sustain an entire performance.

There was a clear limit to a character constantly being teased like a bouncy ball.

‘He still has a long way to go as a multi-entertainer.’

It was a shame.

It was already impressive if an actor could sing, but being entertaining as well would be the icing on the cake.

It would be great if he could overcome that hurdle later.

But that was a distant prospect. Practice was essential for growth, but every minute was precious for honing his primary skills. People didn’t need to be perfect.

Most importantly, the atmosphere had eased.

‘You could call this beginner’s luck.’

Let’s set aside his weaknesses and focus on his strengths.

Fortunately, Lee Minki excelled at something far more than event speeches.

Not just good for an actor, but objectively excellent.

“Excuse me, but it looks like it’s about to rain a little now.”

Son Hee-jeong swiftly interrupted the speech.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t withstand the rain, but they couldn’t afford to let them get rained on while enduring awkward comments. They needed to save time.

She quickly transitioned to the next segment.

“To uphold the actor’s dignity, we’ll proceed directly to the first song. It’s an older song of mine, ‘Fox Rain’.”

She added.

“I will play the accompaniment, and actor Lee Minki will sing.”

* * *

Fox Rain.

The song title elicited a lackluster response from the audience. Despite being a song by Son Hee-jeong, the hit song factory, it failed to resonate.

Because.

“Fox Rain? Was there even such a song?”

Few recognized it.

“Is it the OST [original soundtrack] for the movie you’re filming now?”

“She just said it was an old song.”

“Hmm, I thought Son Hee-jeong would sing a more famous song.”

“She must have had a reason for choosing that.”

“Oh, it’s really raining.”

Son Hee-jeong was undoubtedly a talented composer.

She had produced numerous hit songs.

But she had also created unsuccessful, forgotten songs.

She might produce five obscure songs for every hit, which was still an exceptionally high batting average in the entertainment industry.

Even so.

‘I didn’t expect her to ask to sing this song.’

Lee Minki’s willingness to choose that song was also remarkable.

“Ahem.”

Lee Minki cleared his throat.

Simultaneously, the sound of the piano, the instrument synonymous with Son Hee-jeong, began to fill the stage with a sweet melody.

Dararan-

Like spring unfolding, the piano’s melody, interspersed with higher-pitched sounds, began to emerge sporadically.

‘It’s starting.’

It was the rain of Fox Rain.

The brief shower on a clear day, fox rain.

In a performance that seemed to embody the title, Lee Minki began the first verse.

“On a refreshing day with a freshly ironed white shirt, on the day I ran to meet you in one breath, on a day when transparent sunlight poured down.”

It was just a few words.

A small wave of surprise rippled through the audience at the short lyrics.

‘Not bad?’

His singing ability was better than expected.

It wasn’t a voice that captivated with the first note, but it wasn’t disappointing either.

Most importantly.

‘His voice is really good.’

Unsurprisingly, he was an actor; his voice alone was enough to make him stand out.

“I hide myself under the eaves for a while in the pattering raindrops. I only want to show you my good side, but my frustrating mood is bluesy blue.”

The song itself was better than anticipated.

A positive feeling began to spread.

‘Still, it’s like a Son Hee-jeong song. It’s pleasant to listen to.’

‘Is it because Lee Minki’s voice is slightly high-pitched? The song is sweet.’

‘His pronunciation is good. The lyrics are clear.’

‘It’s raining, so hearing the rain in the lyrics is subtly emotional.’

It was clean.

They had been worried, but it was worth listening to. No, it was more than worth listening to; it was good.

As the audience exchanged impressions, Lee Minki’s singing continued.

‘Hmm, this is fun.’

Before they knew it, the audience was immersed in the song like fox rain in spring.

Meanwhile.

Someone was smiling more deeply than anyone else.

‘I can’t believe it would turn out like this. I’ve been deeply moved.’

It was none other than Son Hee-jeong.

‘I never thought I’d be thinking about this in a place like this.’

A stinging sensation.

There was an old saying that creators should always remember. Or perhaps, they should be prepared for it.

[I didn’t make it with that intention?]

The creator’s intention is not always fully conveyed to the audience.

[I wrote a report on my dad’s novel and got a B. I misinterpreted the work. I wrote it as my dad told me.]

[Oh.]

Subjective interpretation, of course.

[Do you know that story? In Hwang Sun-won’s work, purple keeps appearing. The author just liked purple, so he put a lot of purple in it. It doesn’t stimulate gloomy emotions or imply a negative future.]

The same applies to interpretations close to orthodoxy.

The creator’s intention changes in countless ways depending on the audience. It can be completely misinterpreted.

But.

That didn’t only create negative effects.

[I like Hwang Sun-won’s novels even more because of that?]

It’s a possibility.

Creating countless possibilities of interpretation means that it can evoke more emotion than the creator intended.

“Tadak tadak, my heart burns tadak tadak at the sound of the falling rain. Impatience is like the hooves of a horse, tadak tadak. Will you come out today? Am I wasting my time?”

That’s why art was beautiful.

Because everyone’s feelings are unique. Because it can evoke more emotion depending on the individual. Because hundreds of thousands of emotions bloom in a thousand readers.

Because a seed carried by a chance downpour travels the world and blossoms into a splendid flower garden in a faraway place.

‘This is really, something I never expected.’

Son Hee-jeong chuckled.

His song that Lee Minki confessed he liked the most.

That was right.

‘It was a song that I was ashamed to release to the world.’

Fox Rain.

Because it was a song that he had considered a disgrace for the past several years.

Daran.

The sound of the piano rose from Son Hee-jeong’s fingertips. It was a sound with a simple yet positive resonance, like a dandelion in a garden.

‘It was a song that I released in a hurry because it was an urgent request.’

I didn’t give it affection.

It was a time when I was losing my identity as an artist. I just gathered the formulas and squeezed them out because I thought I needed a song like this in the album.

Was it the punishment for making a song with a clumsy heart? There was no public reaction.

Despite being a song by the famous composer Son Hee-jeong, this song never resonated with the world.

No.

I thought there wouldn’t be.

“Blue blooming in the sky after the rain stops.”

In one person’s heart, a brighter resonance was blooming.

“Even if I stomp my feet in the mud, one, two, three, four. If the smell of dirt tickles my nose, five, six, seven, eight. Lala la to the beat.”

Even the darkest dark clouds have a rainbow behind them.

Lee Minki had believed in this song with that in mind.

He had listened to it endlessly, so of course, he was more familiar with this song than speaking human words.

Having listened to it hundreds and thousands of times, it contained tens of thousands of sincerity. That sound became sincerity, not acting, and even moved the hearts of others.

But from what moment was it?

‘His pronunciation seems to be collapsing a bit?’

The traces of proper pronunciation were gradually disappearing from Lee Minki’s voice.

He is not a singer.

Even though he had learned pronunciation as an actor for over ten years, it was not the pronunciation of a singer.

In the first place, he is not a person who has properly learned to sing for a long time. He is a person who has learned it quickly enough to wear a hat even for one or two songs.

What’s more, it’s live.

You couldn’t expect enough habituation to maintain stable pronunciation in a live performance where tension reaches its limit.

But.

‘I’m not sure if he’s singing better as he goes on, but it feels like it’s reaching my heart.’

Instead, another advantage revealed itself.

‘The emotional connection is strong.’

He was an actor.

Even though the pronunciation as an actor and the pronunciation as a song are different, at least he was good at expressing emotions.

This was a different category from a singer’s song.

An actor’s song.

In a way, Lee Minki’s song overlapped with that of a musical actor.

‘Ah, it’s touching.’

It reaches me.

‘It feels like he’s telling a story.’

‘Ah, damn it, why am I about to cry at this.’

‘It feels like I’m being comforted.’

Lee Minki was persuading the audience.

There is no outstanding singing ability. But a song doesn’t have to have singing ability to reach people.

Even if a child’s nursery rhyme learned at kindergarten is clumsy, wouldn’t it impress their parents? Would a song sung by a singer with a cracked voice on the verge of death from laryngeal cancer have no value?

“If this sound, clearer than classical, sweeter than jazz, more cheerful than rock, wets my dry eyes.”

Lee Minki is an actor.

An actor who loves the public in front of him.

He is transforming the love and gratitude that he has kept deep in his heart into a voice and conveying it with all his might.

“Wow…….”

Even if the pronunciation was clumsy, it was not to the extent that he could not impress the public.

No, even that was expressed because it was clumsy.

The rain that is falling now.

Even the falling rain became Lee Minki’s expression.

Like that, before he knew it, the ending.

“Today’s weather forecast is clear.”

Lee Minki offered a faint smile and lowered the microphone.

And savoring the quiet air for a few seconds until the afterglow of the piano spread.

“Thank you.”

It was the moment he bowed with a greeting.

“Lee Minki――!!!”

“Lee! Min! Ki!”

“You’re the best!”

The sound of ten thousand people chanting his name became a wave of sound and covered the world.

The cheers rang out for a long time.

As the sound gradually subsided like fox rain, Lee Minki, belatedly relieved, muttered softly.

“Ah, the rain has stopped a bit now.”

It was only a 3-4 minute rain.

A short rain that was just right to cool off the heat. The sky seemed to have cleared up in that short time.

‘I was lucky.’

I was wondering what to do if it kept raining like this.

I almost got cursed to death for postponing the event and making people get rained on.

I was nervous that my pronunciation would break down in the middle and I would fail, but fortunately, I managed to save it somehow.

“Then, from now on, I’ll tell you a super hilarious story…….”

It was the moment when Lee Minki barely calmed his anxious heart and opened his mouth.

“Wow, isn’t it too much to do this before my turn?”

“…….”

Joo Hana stole it.

While Lee Minki shrank at the stolen ad-lib opportunity, there was one thing he didn’t know yet.

“It’s going to get ten million views.”

That was the sparkling gaze of the many direct cam YouTubers who had infiltrated this fan meeting.