Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 82

82. Luck-Based Top Star – Episode 82

“Liquor?”

Kim Do-ha’s eyes twitched slightly at the sudden suggestion.

He did want to talk more with Lee Min-ki.

But regardless, being called out for drinks at this hour felt pointed.

‘Judging by how noisy it is, to the point where I can barely hear, it’s definitely a club.’

It was a club.

And they probably had a private room booked.

It was predictable.

‘This is a bit of a headache.’

It was a space he didn’t want to reveal to outsiders yet.

As he hesitated, unable to make a decision, Lee Min-ki spoke up.

“Who is it?”

“Ah, well, you see…”

Kim Do-ha was about to make up some excuse when Lee-heul caught on.

[Oh? Who was that voice just now? Lee Min-ki?]

‘Damn it,’ Lee-heul had noticed.

“Hyung, it’s…”

Kim Do-ha tried to stop him, but Lee-heul, thoroughly drunk, shouted repeatedly.

[Hey! It is Lee Min-ki, isn’t it?]

“It is.”

[It is! Lee Min-ki, put him on the phone, right now. Hey, did you hear that? Hey, Lee Min-ki is here. Tell him to come over.]

At that moment, Kim Do-ha let out a deep sigh.

He finally understood why Lee-heul was so desperate to have Lee Min-ki by his side.

‘He’s probably got a girl next to him and is showing off.’

Living and dying by his image.

How could someone be so consistent in their actions?

Lee-heul was truly like a pine tree.

It’s just that the roots of that pine tree were rotten like moldy bathroom wallpaper.

‘This has become a headache.’

Kim Do-ha’s forehead furrowed a little deeper.

‘I was going to ease him in slowly, but if I connect them haphazardly, it feels like the situation will only get more tangled.’

Lee Min-ki, in his eyes, seemed like an exceedingly sincere person.

A man who only sees what he wants to see.

He might listen if it were a classy bar, but would he even consider going to a place like that if you suddenly asked him to hang out?

…That was entirely Kim Do-ha’s misconception.

“Who’s on the phone?”

Lee Min-ki was actually someone who wanted to dip his toes, even just a little, into their world.

And very actively so.

“I think I heard my name being mentioned.”

Kim Do-ha said with a bright smile.

“Min-ki, it’s… a friend of mine.”

It was at this moment.

Kim Do-ha realized that he had unknowingly blurted out a slip of the tongue.

[Hey! Put him on! It’s Lee Min-ki, isn’t it? Just, just let me talk to him!]

Lee-heul had completely recognized Lee Min-ki’s presence.

The clutches of evil extended as if tightening around his neck.

Meanwhile, Lee Min-ki, without knowing the specifics of the situation, didn’t miss the chance that had come his way.

‘He doesn’t want me to meet him?’

If someone dislikes introducing people to each other, what could be the reason?

Unless there was some deep-seated grudge, but Lee Min-ki wasn’t someone with a wide social circle.

The Daon incident was only known to a select few.

So, even if he didn’t know the details, wasn’t there something shady going on?

Kim Do-ha’s shady dealings were obvious.

“He wants to talk to me?”

He had to probe first.

“Haha, he’s just very drunk.”

[Who’s drunk! Kim Do-ha, are you making fun of me right now?]

Kim Do-ha gritted his teeth to the point of cracking at the continuous drunken ranting from the other end of the line.

[Hey, can you hear me?]

“Yes, who is this?”

[You know me, right? It’s Lee-heul. Lee-heul from Lava?]

“Lee-heul?”

Lee Min-ki realized who it was from the booming voice coming from the phone.

And he smiled faintly.

He thought he might catch a small fry, but it was a monster catch.

‘Lee-heul, he was one of the people involved back then.’

He remembered.

Lee-heul.

A once-popular idol member, but after the group switched to single promotions, he couldn’t find his place.

Then, he was suddenly involved in a crime, driving his fans crazy.

[Lee-heul, you son of a bitch. I said I wanted to see you in the news, not on the crime pages.]

[The most pathetic bastard in the world.]

[I wouldn’t even send you a single meal in prison.]

[Who knew that saying you liked tofu on TV was foreshadowing [a Korean expression for serving time in prison].]

He was also famous for being loose-lipped.

He couldn’t keep his mouth shut, contributing to the expansion of the case, and he reportedly contacted ordinary people through SNS [Social Networking Services] messages, hitting on them.

Claiming to be the idol Lee-heul, he begged them to meet him just once.

‘Doesn’t he worry about it getting out?’

Lee Min-ki thought that Lee-heul, who wasn’t careful about anything, was the kind of person he didn’t want to be near.

But for now.

“Wow, are you really Lee-heul? I’m a fan of Lee-heul sunbaenim [senior in the industry]!”

He could become the person who respected Lee-heul more than anyone else in the world.

[Min-ki, remember. When you’re acting, you have to be able to love your parents’ enemies. But don’t actually love your parents’ enemies.]

Lee Min-ki recalled the vivid advice of trainer Kim Ah-sung in his head and shouted with a brightened voice.

“I’ve watched all of sunbaenim’s work! Wow, when I was in high school, everyone knew Lee-heul. Everyone in my class danced along to sunbaenim’s dances.”

That was a complete lie.

Lee Min-ki was someone who watched a variety of works, not someone who forced himself to watch things he couldn’t stand.

Especially Lee-heul, who was notorious for his terrible acting.

Most of his classmates knew Lava, but didn’t even know Lee-heul’s name.

But people tend to overestimate their own fame.

[Oh? Really? Hey, did you hear that? Lee Min-ki says he’s my fan. Do-ha, call him over right now. Let’s meet up.]

This was a headache.

Kim Do-ha’s forehead throbbed as if it would burst.

But the situation was already far beyond his control.

‘If I draw the line here with that lacking Lee-heul, he’ll cause a fuss later.’

He was trying to distance himself slowly, but it had to get tangled up in this situation.

What could he do?

Kim Do-ha sighed deeply and said.

“Min-ki, I’m sorry, but I think you’re nearby, can you show your face for a moment?”

In this chaotic mess, one thing was clear.

It was bad luck for Kim Do-ha.

And.

It was luck for Lee Min-ki.

* * *

A luxurious yet eerie hallway.

‘This is really it.’

Lee Min-ki kept looking around in surprise.

‘It’s just like what I saw in the articles back then.’

Club [Uncommon].

A place whose name was repeatedly mentioned in articles as a place mainly used for criminal activity.

Similar incidents were uncovered one after another after the initial case.

But in reality, they just changed the representative’s name and the store’s name and continued to operate.

‘I’ve prepared as much as I can.’

Lee Min-ki checked his equipment once again as he walked down the hallway.

A small camera on his chest.

A high-performance recorder in his pocket.

These were things he had prepared in case he could get something useful from the drinking session with Kim Do-ha.

He had also prepared plausible excuses in case he got caught.

[After filming, I often review the recordings from the set to practice.]

It was actually quite common among actors.

Just let me catch something.

As he walked with a nervous heart, Kim Do-ha said with a wry smile.

“Min-ki, it’s a bit sudden to bring you to a place like this on our first meeting, right?”

“No, I think it’s fun.”

“Fun?”

Kim Do-ha asked back with a subtly surprised voice.

“Have you been to places like this often?”

“Uncommon is famous, isn’t it? I think it was one of the top 3 clubs. I used to come once or twice when I was younger.”

That was a lie.

Lee Min-ki had only shown his face at a club once when he turned twenty, and after having his phone and wallet stolen within 5 minutes, he vowed never to set foot there again.

“You used to play around a bit.”

“I stopped when I started preparing to become an actor. But isn’t there a time when every guy falls for women? More than that, I’m surprised that someone like Kim Do-ha sunbaenim is here.”

“Haha, sunbaenim. I don’t deserve that. Just call me hyung [older brother or male friend]. And I don’t come often either. It’s just that Lee-heul hyung is such a regular here, so I come when he calls me sometimes.”

Between the two, lies that didn’t contain even an ant’s hair of sincerity went back and forth.

But in this short conversation, Kim Do-ha’s suspicion was subtly relieved.

‘He should be intimidated, but he’s so natural. Is he really someone who’s played around a bit?’

After a while.

The footsteps of the two stopped in front of a huge room.

Creak.

When they opened the door.

“Oh! Do-ha’s here!”

Inside, a man was rolling on the floor in a half-unbuttoned shirt.

It was Lee-heul.

“It’s Lee Min-ki!”

He waved his hand vigorously as if he was happy and shouted in a loud voice.

‘Ugh, the smell.’

Lee Min-ki frowned without realizing it.

The smell of alcohol and cigarettes mixed together and assaulted his senses.

Just smelling it made him miss the smell of sweat from the gym.

‘What a mess.’

Ashtrays were lined up on the table.

Just glancing at the labels of the casually placed bottles of liquor, you could guess their price range.

But he didn’t care about such things.

The real problem was.

‘It’s Lee Min-ki?’

The gazes of the women scattered everywhere.

‘Wow, it’s really Lee Min-ki?’

‘He’s just like he is on TV?’

‘I heard he has a good physique, and that’s true.’

‘Hmm, it would be nice to have him by my side, but does he have a girlfriend? Well, he probably does.’

The women in sensual clothes all looked at Lee Min-ki and sparkled their eyes.

Like the eyes of feline predators looking at their prey.

‘There are a lot of eyes watching.’

In the old days, he would have been interested in that kind of thing.

He was hungry for other people’s recognition, affection, or any kind of favor.

But now his interests were completely elsewhere.

‘Let’s see. Is there anything?’

Finding evidence.

Lee Min-ki subtly averted the concentrated gaze and tried to examine the table.

Hoping that he might find something if he rummaged around.

Drugs.

Or anything dirty.

But it wasn’t that easy.

“Hyung, how much did you drink?”

“I won’t die. More importantly, did the filming go well?”

“Thanks to you. You’re playing pretty clean today.”

“I’m always clean.”

Even though Lee-heul was out of his mind, he was at least able to tell the difference.

He wouldn’t openly put something like that in front of someone he was meeting for the first time.

If there was anything that could cause trouble, he would have cleaned it up a long time ago.

‘It’s more ordinary than I thought.’

Did I get the wrong direction?

Was I thinking too easily?

As Lee Min-ki sat on the edge of the sofa and pondered, a woman approached with the scent of perfume.

“Oppa [term used by women to address older brothers or male friends], is this your first time here? Why are you avoiding eye contact?”

“…I’m shy.”

“Why are you using honorifics?”

The woman laughed lightly.

Don’t talk to me.

Let me think alone.

Just as Lee Min-ki was gathering his thoughts again and trying to turn his gaze away.

“You must work out a lot? Your body is firm.”

The woman rushed in as if trying to touch Lee Min-ki’s body.

“Why do you keep avoiding me?”

“I’m very ticklish.”

“Oppa is funny.”

Just as he was about to avoid it because it was annoying.

‘Wait.’

Something caught Lee Min-ki’s eye.

‘That.’

A slightly cracked old smartphone.

A very familiar model with a very familiar case.

A VIVA X7 with a sports car brand case.

The one he had seen countless times on internet forums and articles was lying alone on the floor.