Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 192

192. Comeback

Reverse course.

When something that has already fallen, and should continue to fall, rises again.

Like raindrops defying gravity to return to the clouds. Like a waterfall flowing from the ground to the sky. Like a dying corpse suddenly regaining life.

Turns Out, Musical Genius.

The performance of that film, which should have plummeted with its OTT [Over-The-Top, streaming service] release, ironically soared.

[Sales have reportedly tripled.]

It was the beginning of a comeback.

[……Is that normal?]

[I’m not sure what you mean by ‘normal,’ but if I had to say, it’s usually normal for sales to plummet by three times.]

That’s right.

Falling was the normal thing to do.

Going to a theater costs ten thousand won [approximately $7.50 USD] per movie, but watching on OTT costs ten thousand won per month.

If a film is released on OTT, where you can watch freely at a low price, the revenue generated in theaters should normally decrease.

But [Turns Out, Musical Genius] was different.

[Are you crazy? Watch it on TV?]

[Please go see it in theaters before it’s taken down. I’m begging you.]

[How will you look your children in the face later? Will you even be able to say you watched it on OTT?]

Fans voluntarily flocked to theaters.

People who watched it on OTT went to theaters for a better experience, wanting to see it a second time.

Thanks to that, the film’s theatrical run, which was almost dead, saw its performance reverse even two months after its release on Netplay [a fictional OTT platform].

What should we call this series of events?

[It seems like the theater industry has changed its thinking a lot.]

It seemed to have come as a shock to the market itself.

[Actually, weren’t OTT and theaters in a symbiotic relationship, not competitors?]

Of course, [Turns Out, Musical Genius] may be just a unique case.

Usually, it wouldn’t be like this. But the more precedents are set, the more it is proven.

The public wants to watch good movies in a better environment. This obvious truth had been obscured by competition.

“……Amazing.”

Lee Minki muttered slowly.

What was so amazing?

Was he complimenting himself? Or was he admiring Maiar Pictures’ production capabilities?

Or perhaps.

“To think they would like my work this much.”

Was he deeply grateful to the audience?

This was probably it. The smile never left Lee Minki’s face.

More than anything else, he was grateful that the public had found value in the movie that was worth more than the ticket price.

‘A movie you have to see in theaters.’

A laugh escaped his lips.

It was a common phrase associated with the world’s masterpieces. Perhaps, this work of Lee Minki was also proof that he had joined that rank.

He was happy.

But it was time to come down from the mountain and stop lazing around.

‘I should head back soon.’

Lee Minki got up from his seat and brushed the dust off his pants.

It might seem too early, but he had a schedule. No matter how much he wanted to rest, it was a commitment he had to fulfill.

Lee Minki took a long breath, exhaled slowly, and said.

“I have to go receive an award.”

Why did he decide to make this movie? Why did he promise to make it well?

Didn’t he have a specific purpose?

The time had come to achieve it.

* * *

In a dazzling hall.

A man with a camera strap around his neck glanced around like a spy in a movie and said cautiously.

“Have you heard the story?”

“What is it?”

“You’re slow on the news. There’s talk that Lee Minki is appearing at the awards ceremony today.”

“Hmm?”

At those words, a wave of surprise spread across the face of the middle-aged man with a mustache across from him.

“That Lee Minki?”

“Yes. Is there another Lee Minki we know?”

“……That’s absurd.”

What was absurd?

Why was it so strange that Lee Minki was participating in this awards ceremony? The answer soon came from the middle-aged man’s mouth.

“Didn’t Lee Minki disappear altogether, unable to bear the burden of the movie’s success?”

That’s right.

Currently, that was the public perception of the actor Lee Minki.

He was so shocked by the success that far exceeded his abilities that he was frightened and hid somewhere, refusing all attention.

The public would laugh if they heard it, but it was the accepted theory among reporters.

But the next words from the middle-aged man were even more shocking.

“Since there’s a chance he won’t win an award at this Academy Awards ceremony, I thought he would continue to hide as he had been, rather than suffer embarrassment.”

He was saying that [Turns Out, Musical Genius] would not win an award at this awards ceremony.

“Shh, someone will hear.”

“It’s not like it’s a secret. Who doesn’t know?”

The middle-aged man muttered as if it were obvious.

“Although it was commercially successful, there are many competitors when looking at the movie itself, aren’t there?”

There was a chronic problem with this work.

It focused too much on commercial appeal, so there was hardly any originality.

No matter how much the public loved it, it wasn’t the public who evaluated their work at the awards ceremony. It was the established figures who had been in this industry for decades.

In the end, if they didn’t catch their eye, the award would be a distant matter.

‘I’m sorry, but that’s the objective reality.’

The man with the camera glanced around and said.

“Well, I’m also supporting In a Series this time.”

“Yes, Lee Minki’s acting is good, but it’s not at a breathtaking level.”

“If box office success was a measure of artistic merit, Odin Universe would have already won over thirty Oscars.”

Box office success and critical acclaim don’t always align.

But even considering these points, their evaluation of [Turns Out, Musical Genius] was particularly harsh.

“I think they won’t give the award to give the impression that the organizers value artistic merit rather than box office success.”

“We agree for once. Frankly speaking, Lee Minki’s impact is still small. He’s an actor who needs to grow more.”

“Ah, I agree. If he wants to stand in the same rank as the great actors, he needs to become deeper.”

Now they don’t even hide their true feelings.

They were so engrossed in their conversation that they were about to forget even the gazes around them.

“Wow, really?”

A voice cut in between them.

Startled, the two reporters turned their heads to look back as if they had promised, and there stood one person they couldn’t even imagine.

“Joo Hana?”

Joo Hana.

The female lead of [Turns Out, Musical Genius] was her.

Originally known as the nation’s little sister [a term for a young, innocent, and beloved female figure], she has recently emerged as a figure even more beloved.

Perhaps, Joo Hana, who has the greatest potential to become the most famous Asian actress at this point, asked back with a smile that was so bright that it didn’t feel like there was a single flaw.

“Why are you stopping? Keep talking about what you were talking about. It’s fun.”

“…….”

“Don’t mind me.”

Unlike her expression, her voice was slightly sharp, telling them not to mind her.

“…….”

The two reporters froze stiffly like prey facing a predator.

‘Oops.’

Strictly speaking, they weren’t openly sharing confidential information. What’s wrong with film reporters sharing film reviews with each other?

Everyone has that much freedom.

The problem was the personality of the person standing in front of them.

‘Actress Joo Hana is famous for respecting, if not admiring, Lee Minki as an actor.’

It was Joo Hana’s personality.

Usually, she was as cheerful as spring weather, but when it came to Lee Minki, she became as sharp as a winter wind if you said something wrong.

That personality first surfaced when she appeared on a live show about two months after the release of [Turns Out, Musical Genius].

[Isn’t plastic surgery secretly popular in Korea?]

The host couldn’t resist his desire for attention and asked a rude question.

[Ah, maybe Lee Minki did too. His physique isn’t that of an Asian, is it? His shoulders are special, and if he’s that hot of an actor, maybe he got some work done.]

[That’s rude.]

It was the moment when the color of Joo Hana’s smile changed.

[Have you ever had a conversation with actor Lee Minki?]

It was a situation that would normally be laughed off.

Drug scandals were so common in Hollywood, and it could have been passed off as a joke that Lee Minki’s body was that good.

But Joo Hana was someone who took jokes about Lee Minki as seriously as she would take ridicule about herself.

For example, like now.

“Actor Lee Minki has grown quickly compared to his career.”

Was she trying to point out that he still had a long way to go as an actor?

Joo Hana shot back with a cold smile.

“We didn’t mean it that way.”

“Is that so? But as far as I know, the youngest Academy Award winner was a 12-year-old child.”

“…….”

“Come to think of it, there are actors who worry about the public’s attention. So do I. But that’s also because there are people who make them worry, right?”

“…….”

Oh dear, she’s been listening all along.

From a certain point on, their conversation was in the shape of Joo Hana’s unilateral pressure being repeated.

‘Please, let me go.’

‘I’ll be careful about what I say about Lee Minki in the future.’

Tears are welling up inside.

If I wanted to refute Joo Hana’s words, I could. I was confident that I would face tens of thousands of criticisms no matter what I said, as long as I was working as a reporter in the future.

“Ah, you were a reporter from Extreme Film?”

Is she even digging into my identity?

I can’t take it anymore. I even feel like my soul is leaving my head.

“Oh, Hana, I was wondering where you went.”

A man with a lot of beard, Director Shim Sung-bo, ran up urgently and said.

“I told you not to act alone because there are important schedules all day today.”

“Director, there’s a situation right now.”

“Situation?”

“Well, these reporters here.”

Instead of explaining in detail, Joo Hana glanced at the reporters with her eyes.

There’s no need for a long explanation. With just one look, Director Shim Sung-bo roughly understood the story that had taken place between them.

‘They spoke badly of actor Lee Minki.’

As a director, he knows roughly.

He knows that there are self-proclaimed critics and reporters who secretly look down on them and their movies, picking on them for no reason.

Moreover, Joo Hana, whom he knows, is not someone who gets angry easily. She’s just someone who’s clumsy at controlling her anger when it comes to Lee Minki.

“Hoo.”

Director Shim Sung-bo sighed and looked back and forth between Joo Hana and the two reporters and said.

“You were a reporter from Extreme Film. I’ll remember that.”

“…….”

He’s going to remember this too.

The reporters, who felt a sense of déjà vu, shed a bucket of tears that they couldn’t shed.

‘I thought he was a savior because he was gentle, but he’s just as bad.’

Are all the people at Maiar Pictures like this? I’m never going to get involved with them again.

While they were making such a decision, Director Shim Sung-bo slightly tilted his head and whispered in Joo Hana’s ear.

“Actor Lee Minki just arrived at the airport.”

“……!”

At that one word, a smile returned to Joo Hana’s face for a moment.