Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 88

88

“Ah, you’ve arrived.”

A quiet walking path in Mapo-gu [a district in Seoul].

In a place so deserted that even footprints were scarce, a man standing in the distance waved his arms, seemingly pleased to see me.

Though his face was hidden behind a hat and mask, one could deduce that his appearance was extraordinary just from his overall proportions, facial contours, and the shape of his eyes.

“Min-gi, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Moreover, his voice was exceedingly gentle.

‘Kim Do-ha.’

It was Kim Do-ha.

He was smiling brightly, dressed as if advertising, ‘I am a celebrity.’

But today, we weren’t here for pleasantries.

Rather.

“You roughly understand the matter at hand, right?”

We were here to discuss something much darker and stickier.

Lee Min-gi sighed at Kim Do-ha’s saccharine voice and said,

“If I destroy my phone and completely delete the data, you will, in return, erase the photos you have from the world. Is that correct?”

That was right.

That was the condition Kim Do-ha had presented in the phone call earlier.

He had taken pictures of me getting cozy with a woman at a club, and there was a condition to erase them.

“But doesn’t it seem a bit…dirty?”

“Haha, your voice is sharp as a blade.”

“Do you find this amusing?”

“Let’s not say scary things. I’m not doing this because I like it either.”

Kim Do-ha chuckled and continued,

“Furthermore, I personally know that woman, and she’s willing to report Min-gi for sexual harassment… You know? It doesn’t seem like there will be anything good for either of you.”

“……Hoo, let me make it clear, I’ve never been involved in anything like that. She was the one who came on to me unilaterally.”

“Min-gi, you’re still slow on the uptake [understanding]. Those facts are completely irrelevant.”

Kim Do-ha smiled faintly.

“You’re a rookie actor now, and a successful one at that. You need to establish yourself. How you spend today will determine your next 10 years. A title of sex offender is fatal.”

“Do you think the public will believe it? Without any evidence?”

“Well, evidence can always be fabricated.”

He smiled again and said,

“Honestly, whether there’s evidence or not, it doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“……”

“Min-gi, you’ve seen a scandal or two, haven’t you?”

He would create evidence, if necessary, to file a report.

It was blatant intimidation.

Wasn’t it?

If you don’t bow your head to me, I’ll brand you as a sex offender.

‘From the start, the talk about deleting data is just a smokescreen.’

Even elementary school students these days know that you can copy that kind of data with a few keystrokes.

It was a meaningless act from the start.

Then what Kim Do-ha was aiming for must be something completely different.

‘He wants me to bow my head.’

He was trying to solidify his control.

Threatening that he could end my acting career with a snap of his fingers.

But.

‘That goes both ways.’

I, Lee Min-gi, also held his leash.

Rather, I had much more at stake.

“Looking at the data, there’s a lot of talk. There’s talk of drugs, prostitution, and even kidnapping. Oh, and it seems CEO Hwang In-gu of Daon kept ordering you to do things.”

“Haha, someone might misunderstand if they heard that. Let’s not talk without context. What do you mean, ordering me to do things?”

Kim Do-ha chuckled again and took a sip of his coffee.

“Min-gi, you must be thinking something like this. I’m not the only one with weaknesses. He has weaknesses too. I have nothing to fear.”

“……”

Lee Min-gi remained silent.

He was right.

Kim Do-ha, as if expecting that reaction, chuckled softly and said,

“I didn’t come here to threaten you, Min-gi. Let’s work together amicably.”

“Amicably?”

“Yes, let’s be frank. Whether there’s a victim or not, it’s not that important to you, is it?”

A cold glint flashed in Kim Do-ha’s eyes.

“Let’s just say we didn’t see each other. Min-gi, you picked up a toy and returned it, and I… well… did anything happen? I don’t remember.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing happened. You can continue on your path to success. So can I. You know the prisoner’s dilemma, right?”

Lee Min-gi nodded slightly.

The prisoner’s dilemma [a paradox in decision analysis where individuals acting in their own self-interest do not produce the optimal outcome].

Even though all the captured prisoners could be released if none of them confessed, if one was offered a reduced sentence as bait, they would inevitably betray the others.

“You’ve probably thought that the person who betrays is stupid. Right?”

“……”

“Yes, maintaining trust between partners in the same industry is the way to win together.”

Kim Do-ha spoke as if he had already included Lee Min-gi in his group.

We are accomplices.

If we both keep our mouths shut, we can get through this without any problems.

Conversely, if one of us speaks, we both perish.

There’s no reason to ‘betray,’ is there?

“Min-gi, you’re not planning to quit acting after a short stint, are you? As you’ve seen, you’re involved with many people. You need to get along with them in the future. You have to face them. Don’t you think?”

What are you planning to do as an actor?

Purely from a logical standpoint, it was perfectly rational.

“I’m not asking you to do anything special. Min-gi, you just need to do nothing. That’s all.”

As Kim Do-ha said.

It was difficult to act, but so easy not to act.

For some reason, that sounded tempting, and Lee Min-gi chuckled without realizing it.

‘Just listening to him, he sounds like a psychologist.’

Is that why he’s an MC [Master of Ceremonies]?

He knows how to tell people what they want to hear.

But that didn’t mean it was a convincing argument.

Because.

‘In the end, you’re just a criminal, trying to treat someone as an accomplice.’

From the beginning, our ways of thinking were different.

Lee Min-gi’s way of thinking belonged to a completely different world from Kim Do-ha’s.

If we keep our mouths shut, everyone will be comfortable?

The criminal’s dilemma?

That’s right.

But it was the logic of a criminal.

Lee Min-gi had never lived with the intention of becoming a criminal from the start.

Over the years, even while ruining his life over and over again, he had never given up on living like a human being.

To ruin a temporarily floating life again.

It was almost laughable.

“To be honest.”

Lee Min-gi, who had been silently listening to Kim Do-ha’s sophistry for a long time, finally spoke.

“I wanted to hear what you had to say.”

“I see. I also wanted to have a conversation with Min-gi……”

“Also, I wondered if I might be tempted by what you were saying. Since you’re so good with words.”

Kim Do-ha is a very successful MC in the entertainment industry.

I had assumed from the start that his eloquence would be extraordinary.

So, Lee Min-gi thought.

“I didn’t even trust myself. I was afraid that if I listened to what Do-ha was saying, I would think it was right. Because you’re so smooth with your words.”

Don’t trust yourself.

That meant.

“I’ve already spread it.”

He had acted first.

* * *

Finally.

Lee Min-gi, who had been sick of listening to Kim Do-ha’s excuses, opened his mouth as if he felt relieved.

“I’ve spread it to national media, overseas wikis, anonymous incident and accident YouTubers who receive tips, and anywhere else with even a little influence.”

“……!”

“I made reservations, so it should all be spreading by now. Articles should be coming out one by one… Ah, they’re just being uploaded.”

Kim Do-ha stammered, opening and closing his mouth like a nutcracker.

As if an impossible event was happening right before his eyes.

He repeated it endlessly, as if a sight that would never be witnessed in reality was unfolding.

“That’s what happened. The story was a bit tempting, but I’m sorry. Ah, come to think of it, I’m not really sorry.”

It was sweet to listen to.

I wondered if I was making things difficult for myself by trying to do unnecessary things.

If I just closed my eyes and let it pass.

That one act of turning a blind eye felt so sweet.

But.

If you just pick up and eat anything that’s sweet, are you even human?

Even animals wouldn’t do that.

Even mere cats stop eating canned food when a person gets angry.

‘I can’t create more victims like Seon-ah.’

I won’t become an accomplice.

It was the moment when I thought I had roughly finished the story with that in mind.

“You, you, are you crazy?”

Kim Do-ha shouted loudly in a voice filled with shock.

Unlike his hitherto calm attitude, it was clear that he was agitated.

A crack had formed.

‘Wow, I like this side better because it’s more honest. That’s why pretense is harmful.’

As Lee Min-gi was about to smile with relief, Kim Do-ha continued.

“You’re joking, right? You’re testing me to see how I react.”

“You can find out right away just by turning on your phone.”

“……”

At those words, Kim Do-ha frantically turned on his phone with trembling hands.

Then, he gritted his teeth as if his molars would break.

[Breaking) Kim Do-ha’s chat room leaked, see details.]

It was exactly as stated.

One scene from what Kim Do-ha had been talking about in the chat room was uploaded under the name [Kim Do-ha’s chat room].

Lee Min-gi smiled as if he had been waiting for that expression and continued.

“It took a while. I guess it’s because there were so many photos and videos? The chat log alone was over 30 gigabytes. I suffered so much classifying them all. I thought my eyes were going to rot.”

“……How far did you go?”

“As far as possible. It’s already spread as much as it can, so it doesn’t matter what you say to me now.”

For a moment.

Kim Do-ha’s movements stopped like a character in a buffering video.

And.

He started to tremble.

Was that what they meant by trembling like an aspen tree?

‘This will be good exercise.’

It seemed like it was time to pack up and run away. Just as Lee Min-gi was about to turn around, Kim Do-ha opened his mouth.

“You, do you think you’ll be safe after committing such an act?”

“No.”

“……You can’t even imagine, but this isn’t something that can be solved by just taking me down. You and I are both screwed. You’re going to be a sex offender.”

No, that probably won’t happen.

Because I’m recording everything you’re excitedly saying today.

Everything from beginning to end.

I’ve already decided to report you and even made reservations, so why would I come out for a face-to-face discussion like a fool?

Just to mock you?

That would be nice, but Lee Min-gi’s purpose was different.

Since I’ve already made a mess, I came out to see if there was anything else I could ask about if we met and talked.

‘Well, I guess I’ll get buried if they’re determined to bury me.’

But even a worm squirms when stepped on, so shouldn’t I do something?

At least I did the right thing.

The rest was something to think about later.

Beep beep!

At that moment, Kim Do-ha’s phone rang.

“……!”

His eyes widened, so it must be an important call.

Lee Min-gi decided to show consideration by stepping aside slightly so that Kim Do-ha could talk comfortably.

“You, you, don’t go. Where are you going?”

He seems to be saying something.

I can’t hear him.

I can’t hear him.

“Hey! Stop there!”

Kim Do-ha belatedly chased after him.

‘Why is that bastard so fast?’

Lee Min-gi’s lower body muscles, forged by Director Kwon Jun-yong himself, were beyond the reach of a mere dried saury [a Korean idiom for someone weak or skinny].

* * *

[Kim Do-ha Scandal]

The incident that once shook the industry was once again brought from the shadows into the light.

But.

It was different from before.

[Daon CEO Hwang In-gu indicted by prosecutors on charges of drug trafficking]

[Seven additional pharmaceutical companies to be investigated]

[List of related celebrities secured, full investigation to begin]

On a much larger scale.

It was erupting as if to uproot all those involved.

Cutting off one or two wouldn’t solve the problem.

Bribing the media wouldn’t work either.

Leaks were erupting in real-time from all sides, like a dam with holes all over it, making it difficult to even plug them.

‘How far has it spread?’

There are over 12 major media outlets that received the data.

There are over 10 YouTubers who received reports of incidents and accidents.

Some of the organized data has been uploaded to overseas wikis.

They can’t even cover up the exposure of national secrets, so there’s no way they can cover up the exposure of the entertainment industry.

Like trying to cover the sun with two hands, the scale of this exposure was too great to be covered up.

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ] [laughter]

[Wow, I knew it was dirty, but I didn’t know it was this dirty]

[They were all doing their own thing while pretending to be wholesome]

[Is this what they call a cartel?]

[Who said Korea was a drug-free country?]

It was even open to netizens [internet users].

If you could block it by blocking one or two places, it would be a secret, but if you had to block ten, twenty, thirty places.

[Another article deleted]

[Data uploaded to overseas web as a whole]

[Oh, I’ll take some Zelda] [a reference to sharing data]

It was already just information with low accessibility.

[Kim Do-ha really looks kind]

[Seriously, Kim Do-ha is the culprit, not someone else?]

[Lee Heul, you son of a bitch!!! Was bragging about liking tofu all the time a foreshadowing!!!] [a reference to a character’s potential involvement]

It was chaos.

The screams of fans continued due to the betrayal of the actors involved in this incident.

And.

Against everyone’s expectations, there was someone involved among the rookie actors.

Only one person among the rookies.

[Lee Min-gi is involved too…….]

It was Lee Min-gi.

As a photo of him with a woman in his arms in a room was released, public opinion rapidly deteriorated.

Perhaps it was because he was so famous for his wholesome image after his debut.

The sense of betrayal that the public felt towards him was bound to be great.

[I didn’t think Lee Min-gi would do that, even if it was someone else]

[But isn’t it not a crime?]

[Is it? Isn’t it?]

[It’s a bit much for a rookie to be hanging out with women. Especially since he’s a rookie actor]

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Are you dating a celebrity?]

[I don’t care if he’s messing around, but at least do it where people can’t see it ㅋㅋ] [laughter]

[I heard he was hanging out with Kim Do-ha]

In the midst of the commotion.

‘I thought it would be like this.’

Lee Min-gi sighed softly.

Well, since I said I would expose it, I guess I will.

A drowning man will clutch at a straw.

I’m glad I prepared for this situation.

[You’re a rookie actor now, and a successful one at that. You need to establish yourself.]

There was Kim Do-ha’s recording.

The conversation in which he coaxed me, saying that if I bowed my head to him, he would cover up this incident.

It was vividly recorded.

[How you spend today will determine your next 10 years. A title of sex offender is fatal.]

That’s all good.

But if I release this.

‘……It will be inevitable that it will be revealed that I am the informant in this case.’

I have nothing to hide.

I can confidently say that I have no shame before the heavens.

But there was something uncomfortable.

Even though I was the one who caused the controversy, I didn’t want to be involved in the controversy itself.

Didn’t JC also ask for his consent in advance, saying that they would respond in advance?

Lee Min-gi told them to wait and see a little more.

It was because I didn’t want to make things bigger.

But what can I do?

Rather than carrying the title of sex offender, I have to explain myself.

“Sigh, life is hard. I have no one on my side.”

It would be easier if I had just one person on my side right now, even if they were a bad guy.

It was the moment when Lee Min-gi sighed and clicked his tongue.

“Huh?”

It was a phone call.

A call was coming in from a number I had never seen before.

So, literally, Lee Min-gi slightly twitched his eyes.

‘I feel uneasy when I get a call these days.’

I’m wary because I think it might be some strange threat or persuasion.

Is this what they call Pavlov’s dog [a reference to conditioned response]?

Still, it’s a call that came in, so I couldn’t help but answer it.

“Yes, hello.”

At this moment, Lee Min-gi was forgetting one of the truths of the world.

As always, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

[It’s me. The person who was in the picture with you.]