{I’m sorry to bother you, but could you sign a few autographs for me later tonight if you have time?} Woo-Hee asked Dustin.
{My autograph?}
{Yes! My friends asked me to get yours if possible.}
{Wait, your friends said they didn’t need my autograph. So why are they asking for Dustin’s?}
Woo-Jin was dumbfounded when Woo-Hee asked Dustin for an autograph on her friends’ behalf.
Woo-Hee didn’t like when her friends asked for her brother’s autograph, but fortunately, aside from a few people, most of them were not obsessed with getting one. Yet, when it came to Dustin, Woo-Hee and her friends’ reactions differed considerably in comparison.
{They can get your autograph whenever they want, either way, Oppa.}
Woo-Hee snorted and replied that her friends wanted Dustin’s autographs now since they didn’t know when he’d ever come back to Korea.
{So I’m a captured fish…}[1]
Woo-Jin spoke in a dejected manner, causing Dustin to burst out into the happiest, most hearty laughter he’d had all day. Sadly, there was another person in the household who treated Woo-Jin like a captured fish.
{Dustin, is there anything special you want to eat for breakfast tomorrow?}
{I’m good with anything. Everything you make is so delicious, ma’am.}
{Oh my, how flattering!}
Woo-Jin was speechless for a moment as he watched his mother care only for Dustin and not her own son. In fact, even if he was right beside her and said, ‘I’m here too,’ she’d just keep her eyes on Dustin and simply reply, ‘I know.’ As of recent, his mother had been coming home from work earlier than usual to prepare Dustin’s dinner and snacks.
His father sneaked up to the astounded Woo-Jin and asked quietly, “When is your friend going back to his hotel?”
“He’ll probably stay at our place until he leaves Korea.”
“That’s unfortunate to hear.” Woo-Jin’s father—another captured fish of the family—shook his head with a grim expression.
When Woo-Jin returned to Korea, Dustin accompanied him and visited his home to greet Woo-Jin’s family. Yet, his visit was prolonged as he ended up staying at his friend’s house that evening and the following days. He much preferred the homely atmosphere at Woo-Jin’s house to the dreary and lonely hotel room.
Woo-Jin did not force Dustin to go back to the hotel either. Knowing him, Dustin would definitely be unable to overcome the gloom on his first day in a foreign land, and there was a high chance he’d start drinking. Moreover, he was certain that Dustin would be restless because of the conversation they had in the car on their way to Seoul. Woo-Jin was far too concerned to leave his friend alone in a hotel room.
Woo-Jin felt a strange sense of duty and responsibility toward Selena and Dustin, and he kept the latter by his side to take care of him. Most importantly, the fact that Dustin had booked a room at Garam Hotel also played a part in Woo-Jin’s actions. After attending Kim Woo-Hyung’s wedding, Woo-Jin wanted to distance himself from that place as much as possible, so he gave up on sending Dustin back to his hotel.
“He’s weirdly popular with the women of our house.”
Woo-Jin shook his head as he watched Dustin drink the juice his mother had prepared. In his mind, Selena was included among the ‘women of our house.’ This strange thought process felt very natural inside Woo-Jin’s head.
***
Ever since he signed a contract with DS, Lee Hyung-Jin had been continuously holding small concerts. However, the album that he’d written and composed had become so successful that people wanted him to increase the scale of his shows. There was far too much demand for small-scale concerts to suffice, leading to a ticketing war online.
Therefore, Lee Hyung-Jin inevitably had to change the location where his concerts were held and move to a more sizable concert hall. Finally, after increasing the number of spectators per session and changing the contents of the shows to make them more entertaining, Woo-Jin was invited as a guest singer to the first big concert Lee Hyung-Jin held.
Woo-Jin had already mentioned how he wanted to perform at Lee Hyung-Jin’s concerts on the show Life Depicted, so people didn’t find his presence strange or bizarre. Nonetheless, when Woo-Jin stepped on stage as a surprise guest without prior notice, there were countless gasps of shock among the audience.
People sitting in their seats grew excited and stood up to check whether the man before them was truly Chae Woo-Jin. Since the actor was in the middle of filming a new movie, they hadn’t expected him to appear at the concert at all. This was a marvelous surprise for everyone.
“Our surprise guest today is Chae Woo-Jin! Take a seat. Before you start singing, let’s chat. It’s been a long time since we last spoke,” said Lee Hyung-Jin, offering Woo-Jin a seat.
Lee Hyung-Jin’s concerts were static, where the performer could sing while seated and chat with the audience between their songs. However, when special guests like Chae Woo-Jin attended, the concert became a talk show regardless of its original structure.
“Hello, everyone. I am Chae Woo-Jin.”
“He’s always so polite every time I see him.” Lee Hyung-Jin spoke with a chuckle as Woo-Jin greeted the audience and bowed at a 90-degree angle before sitting. The host’s voice and laughter created a carefree and composed feeling.
He wasn’t the lively and cheerful Lee Hyung-Jin that he had been back in the days. Instead, his current atmosphere felt steadfast and calm, as though he had grown up into a true adult since those old times. Furthermore, a few months ago, his desperate appearance resembled a candle in the wind. In his current state, not even the slightest hint of this past could be seen.
“It’s because I’m nervous right now. It’s my first time performing at a concert, so I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do. Do I just sit here and sing?” Woo-Jin asked.
“I’ll tell you when to sing later, so don’t be in such a rush. Even if this is your first concert, seeing how you’ve performed on the King of the Masked Singers, you’ll get used to it soon.”
“I was hiding my face behind a mask then.”
Woo-Jin pointed at his face and explained that he felt more comfortable thanks to the mask he was wearing at the time.
“Let me start off by congratulating you for filming a Hollywood movie and for Red Enemy’s nomination for an Academy Award. At this point, someone like me can’t even feel envious of you anymore, just amazed,” Lee Hyung-Jin remarked.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Who knows, maybe you’ll be nominated for a Grammy Award next year.”
“Haha, you can’t just start making things up for the future.”
“I mean, who would have ever thought that we’d be standing together on a stage like this a few years ago?” Woo-Jin asked.
A few years could change everything. In fact, Lee Hyung-Jin would have never imagined that he’d be in a place like this until a few months ago. To add to this, back then, he never thought that he’d be so close with Woo-Jin, a junior from TM.
“Have you ever thought of releasing a music album? Personally, I think Woo-Jin’s singing talent is far too valuable to be left untouched,” Lee Hyung-Jin asked.
“Will you write songs for me if I do?”
“Hmm, winter is already over now, so I don’t have to worry about my gas bills anymore. I can only write good songs when I’m really desperate for money.”
“Don’t worry; it’ll get warm soon. You’ll need to earn money for the air conditioning,” Woo-Jin replied. Then, he clenched his fists and encouraged Lee Hyung-Jin to try his best.
Ever since he returned to Korea, Woo-Jin had been participating in countless interviews where he had to talk about his newest movie. So, it was a breath of fresh air to openly chat about various other topics with Lee Hyung-Jin, such as self-care and opinions on music.
As his tension was relieved, Woo-Jin soon sang ‘The Wind That Blows From You,’ the OST from City of Shadows he had performed himself. Afterward, he also sang a duet with Lee Hyung-Jin. For this, they chose the song they had produced together called ‘First Snow.’
Although the appropriate season had already passed, the song ‘First Snow’ they co-produced was released as a digital single and received a lot of love from the public this winter. Furthermore, the internet went wild when the first snow of the season arrived, wondering whether Hyun-Min was able to properly meet his girlfriend on that day, as he mentioned on the show Life Depicted.
After the concert ended, Woo-Jin met up with Hyung-Jin and Hyun-Min for the first time in a long while. They had been watching the performance from the audience.
“You should’ve brought your American friend along. I thought I would be able to see him today since he accompanied you to Kim Woo-Hyung’s wedding. What a pity.”
“That’s true. I also wanted to see his so-called handsome face.”
When Lee Hyung-Jin brought Dustin up, Hyun-Min nodded along and remarked while subtly grinding his teeth.
“He’s busy today. He has an interview and a photoshoot with a magazine publishing company from Hong Kong. Though, why does your voice sound so resentful?” Woo-Jin asked Hyun-Min.
“My girlfriend doesn’t care about you and treats you like a pebble on the ground, but when it comes to this Dustin or whatever his name is, she told me to get his autograph no matter what.”
“Oh… Again with the autographs….” Woo-Jin unintentionally frowned and grumbled at Hyun-min’s response.
Woo-Jin’s fans acted as though they only cared about him. They were somewhat fond of Dustin, the foreign celebrity, but only because he was friends with their Genie. On the other hand, the people around Woo-Jin, including his family, treated Dustin like a superstar. He could see that they were amazed and excited to see the actor they only saw in movies and TV shows in person. So when Woo-Jin saw them treat Dustin like an actual celebrity—something they didn’t do to him—he felt oddly restless and uneasy.
“Well, the value of something will always be in direct proportion to its rarity and accessibility in our society.”
Lee Hyung-Jin was quietly listening to Woo-Jin’s complaints when he spoke with a serious expression. As someone who had ridden the rollercoaster of popularity before, he understood Woo-Jin’s feelings very well. Lee Hyung-Jin had experienced the change in attitudes of the people around him as his value as a celebrity changed.
Of course, Woo-Jin’s situation was different from Lee Hyung-Jin’s situation. In any case, as a celebrity, it was only natural for him to be sensitive to the reactions of those around him. It was normal for a celebrity to realize the true extent of their popularity through the attitudes of those closest to them in their everyday life. Moreover, one’s family tended to show a more indifferent and nonchalant reaction in general.
“Well, I guess that’s true. It’s not like I need Woo-Jin’s autograph,” Hyun-Min said.
“I wonder who it was that planned to profit by selling my autographs and making people pay to hug me?”
Last year, Woo-Jin and Hyun-Min sold soap bars and photobooks as part of their university assignment. However, during the project, Hyun-Min seriously considered selling Woo-Jin’s autographs and hugs to make quick and easy money. So, when Hyun-Min dared to make light of Woo-Jin’s autographs, the latter snorted and poked back where it hurt.
“Tell me, did you use that money for a successful investment?”
Hyun-Min always dreamed of becoming the Korean Warren Buffett, and he’d said that he would invest the profits he earned into stocks. By now, the results of his investments should’ve become apparent. Unsurprisingly, judging by the expression on his face, things hadn’t gone well.
“Again?”
This time, Lee Hyung-Jin was the one to make a remark. He didn’t know much about Hyun-Min, but based on what he had seen on TV and the conversations the two of them had, he knew that Hyun-Min had a great deal of information about stocks. However, because the outcomes were always poor, he judged that Hyun-Min’s luck—or the lack thereof—overpowered his skills and knowledge.
“Does your mentor know about your failures? You know, the one you said was your role model.”
“She doesn’t even know I exist.”
When Hyun-Min revealed that he just one-sidedly respected and followed her teachings, Woo-Jin and Lee Hyung-Jin didn’t even want to waste their breath sighing, simply laughing in response.
“Who on earth is she? Has she published a book on stocks or something? Point her out to me so that I can read it.”
Woo-Jin was curious to see who she was. If Hyun-Min revered her so much, she couldn’t be some ordinary person. Hyun-Min had mentioned his mentor several times previously, but Woo-Jin still didn’t know who she was.
“As if. She’s just an ordinary person. She used to be a housewife, but she became famous as every company she invested in grew exponentially. She’s known as ‘The Hand of Midas,’ and she’s now a big player in the stock market. But you know what? Turns out she’s not that old. Oh! She became the largest shareholder of TM this time around and changed the CEO.”
Woo-Jin and Lee Hyung-Jin became interested in the last topic Hyun-Min brought up and perked their ears. They had heard that the new CEO of TM didn’t actually own the company, but they didn’t know the detailed inside story behind the change. So, the two former TM trainees were curious to learn more about the subject.
“You mentioned before that TM seems to be going all out in preparation for something big, right? It seems that was her handiwork. By the end of last year, she suddenly showed up at the general shareholders’ meeting and passed a bill that dismissed the previous CEO and appointed the current representative. At the same time, she stated that she would actively help the prosecution with all sponsorship-related investigations, condemning Kim Seok-Hyung in the process.”
Although the trial was still ongoing, Kim Seok-Hyung’s future was bleak. He sold his stocks to reach an agreement with Woo-Jin’s advertisers, making it difficult for him to make a comeback through TM later in life.
Most notably, the new CEO decisively kicked out all the celebrities who had sponsors, all to redevelop TM. They then handed over any company data related to those sponsorship issues to the prosecution. As a result, the prosecution gained the justification to proceed with their work as initially planned.
This case did not end inconclusively like other sponsorship scandals of the past. Many people were arrested for violating prostitution and bribery laws. Woo-Jin was shocked when he first saw the list of arrested people, as there were even high-profile figures who held power large enough to shake the nation.
1. There's an idiom in Korean that goes, "One doesn't give bait/food to a captured fish,” meaning that one loses interest in a fish they've captured since they already own it, and move onto the next fish to catch. So Woo-Jin is complaining about how his sister and her friends don’t care about him since he's so accessible to them and not a rarity anymore. ‘What am I, chopped liver?’ Would be the closest English saying, but since it doesn’t hold quite the same meaning or nuance, it was decided to keep the original phrase. ☜
