Become a Star

Lee Hyung-Jin stared at Woo-Jin, confused by the latter’s statement. Woo-Jin took the speakers from his hands and put them away in their containers before explaining himself.

“I really love your songs, especially Comma. I’m only helping out since I’m concerned my favorite singer will get tired. This much is normal for a fan, you know?”

Lee Hyung-Jin stood still at Woo-Jin’s words. Without even realizing it, tears began rolling down his cheeks. He finally realized how nice and satisfying it felt to be called a singer, to be told that someone loved the songs he wrote and sang.

***

“Chae Woo-Jin calls Lee Hyung-Jin ‘my favorite singer.’”

CEO Jang Soo-Hwan shivered as he read the title of the news article.

“Can you see the goosebumps on my skin?”

CEO Jang pulled back his sleeves and showed his forearm to Woo-Jin as he shivered again. He even clicked his tongue, asking why Woo-Jin had to say something as cringy as ‘my favorite singer.’ Saying that he would’ve chosen a more sophisticated phrase, mocked Woo-Jin’s linguistic skills. Yet, he couldn’t actually come up with a better phrase on the spot.

“I don’t think that’s something you can say. After all, didn’t your eyes get swollen from crying too much when you saw the video of Hyung-Jin hyung?” Woo-Jin said in return.

This time, Jang Soo-Hwan could only awkwardly clear his throat at the response without being able to say anything else. The CEO had always wanted to bring Lee Hyung-Jin over to his company before the scandal broke out. Thus, he was very fond of the singer.

Since he had already heard the truth of the suicide incident from Woo-Jin, Jang Soo-Hwan held no prejudice towards the singer and bawled his eyes out, upset as he watched the video. Jang Soo-Hwan had forgotten about Lee Hyung-Jin during the year the singer went off the radar, however, Lee Hyung-Jin hadn’t given up and was now trying to stand back up to face the world again.

Jang Soo-Hwan pitied Lee Hyung-Jin but also admired him. He adored the songs Lee Hyung-Jin had written and because of that, felt even more vexed about the circumstances surrounding the singer. Lee Hyung-Jin was already Jang Soo-Hwan’s ‘favorite singer’ as well.

“Ahem, anyways. The talk of this entire week was your statement of being Lee Hyung-Jin’s fan, along with people’s curiosity towards the lyrics of Comma and how you two got close back at TM. Hm? It also seems like your fans are treating TM as the harbinger of evil and suffering.”

Jang Soo-Hwan read the comments attached to the article and couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. Woo-Jin’s fans were denouncing all the relationships he had made at TM as terrible, ill-fated relationships that got him in trouble.

“Did you know that your fans are posting crying emojis in the comment section? They say they have no idea what to call their favorite actor’s favorite singer.”

“Please stop teasing me. More importantly, have you looked into that matter?”

Woo-Jin complained that CEO Jang was poking fun at him when they were supposed to be on the same side. In response, Jang Soo-Hwan took out an envelope containing some documents and handed them over. He summarized the contents for Woo-Jin as he continued to read through the comments.

“About the bullying incident, the main perpetrator’s father is the CEO of a large company’s subcontractor, while his paternal uncle is a chief prosecutor. The incident was covered up and the perpetrators were acquitted thanks to the uncle’s authority. He also has some connections with the press, which is why the incident was glossed over by the media. Needless to say, this was all possible thanks to the father’s wealth.”

Woo-Jin had requested CEO Jang Soo-Hwan to investigate the true culprits behind the bullying incident that Lee Hyung-Jin was being blamed for. They had to get a hold of the perpetrators in order to clear Lee Hyung-Jin’s name from the false accusations.

Woo-Jin skimmed through the document when he suddenly paused at a line.

“The uncle has been regularly meeting someone from the Rome Law Firm?” he exclaimed in shock.

“Technically speaking, he’s currying their favor as he plans on retiring next year. Read to the end.” CEO Jang answered.

The rest of the document explained how the uncle was likely to retire from the prosecutor’s office in the following year, and was looking into various top-class law firms around the country. Naturally, the Rome Law Firm was the best of the nation, but the document explained how it was unlikely the prosecutor would make it in due to his slightly lacking career.

“But I assume he’s still on the list of candidates to be recruited?”

“Probably.”

As long as he was on the list of candidates at the Rome Law Firm, it was highly likely they had already gathered documents and information related to the candidate. There were rumors surrounding the Rome Law Firm that they did thorough background checks on each of their candidates. As one would expect, Woo-Jin knew the rumors were true.

“This man has got to have at least one antecedent of corruption, right?” Woo-Jin asked.

“We already know of one such antecedent, don’t we?”

“We can’t allow this corrupt old man to have an honorable retirement.”

“I agree, but what good will it do to Lee Hyung-Jin if we condemn the prosecutor?” Jang Soo-Hwan commented.

CEO Jang wanted to prove Lee Hyung-Jin’s innocence as soon as possible and bring him into DS. They could always deal with the true perpetrators later on.

“We cannot be the ones to clear Hyung-Jin hyung from the false accusations,” Woo-Jin said.

“What do you mean? If not us, then who will?”

CEO Jang was confident he could control the press in their favor. If he brought up the issue of Lee Hyung-Jin’s past again and cleared the suspicions one at a time, he was confident they could erase all the false rumors.

“If you bring him into DS immediately, people will start having doubts. They might even believe that CEO Jang manipulated the media and used fake evidence to prove Hyung-Jin hyung’s innocence just to bring him over to your agency.” Woo-Jin answered.

Jang Soo-Hwan also expected this to happen to some degree. They would be suspected, but that was inevitable in the entertainment world. Some people would always doubt them for the sake of doubting.

“Setting TM aside, the rumors originated from the press and the public. It’s only natural that they should acquit the false rumors themselves. But I think the first spark should come from a local news reporter instead of someone in the entertainment industry. All this before TM intervenes and causes a mess.”

Despite being forgotten for a year, Lee Hyung-Jin was slowly making his way back into the mainstream thanks to Woo-Jin’s actions. Most of the public acknowledged the man’s talent as a singer-songwriter, but they simply could not forgive him for his past and continued to look at him with contempt.

However, for celebrities, the only thing worse than malicious comments was a lack of comments. Being criticized was far better than being forgotten.

Now that he had decided to return as a singer, Lee Hyung-Jin was already prepared to be swept up by the controversy. Woo-Jin knew that it would be hard, but he hoped his favorite singer could endure the difficult and painful situation for just a bit longer. He wanted Lee Hyung-Jin’s comeback to be flawless. That was his greedy wish as a fan.

“This incident must be brought up and gossiped about somewhere outside the entertainment world. The situation will descend into further chaos if we stand on Hyung-Jin hyung’s side and provide evidence without condemning the true perpetrators. We need to tear them down and pull them to the surface of the scandal one after the other, with a tangled web of evidence.”

The prosecutor’s nephew had bullied a classmate into committing suicide. However, even though the perpetrator’s name was written in the suicide note, the incident was covered up as a misunderstanding between friends. It was dismissed as a friendship falling apart due to some confusion, and the victim writing the other’s name in the suicide note out of spite.

Thus, the student who had committed suicide was branded as a hot-tempered boy who impatiently chose death. Hence, even if someone secretly investigated the prosecutor’s background, this incident would come up without seeming inappropriate.

“But our main issue is the father,” Woo-Jin stated.

They could deal with the prosecutor with the help of Woo-Jin’s maternal family, but there was no one he could rely on in the business world. The perpetrator’s father was still successful and prosperous, so even if they tried to condemn the uncle, the father could always counterattack. Moreover, Woo-Jin had no idea of what power the man held and what he could do.

Tap tap.

CEO Jang Soo-Hwan knocked on the table to catch Woo-Jin’s attention.

“We should be able to deal with the father pretty easily.” Jang Soo-Hwan mentioned.

“How?”

“Read the document again. Where is his company affiliated to?”

“He’s the CEO of Rosie Laboratories, so is it an affiliate of Rosie Cosmetics?” Woo-Jin asked.

Rosie Cosmetics was the parent company of the Rosie Group. Usually, the products created at Rosie Laboratories were used as the main components of their cosmetics.

“That’s right. And it happens to be owned by the Supreme Witch’s family.”

Large companies were often connected to one another, just like how Jang Soo-Hwan was friends with G&C Entertainment’s Supreme Witch, CEO Choi Won-Hee.

“And I happen to be friends with the Supreme Witch! Since I had Song Jae-Hee star in Glooming Day just to satisfy her for her hobby, it’s time for the Witch to repay her debt!”

CEO Jang Soo-Hwan bragged to Woo-Jin, but the latter sent him a skeptical gaze.

“It’s not even CEO Choi’s company, but her family’s. How can she help us out? Rosie Laboratories may be affiliated to them, but the document says they’ve been working together for over 15 years. Would they actually lend us a hand? It also bothers me how the affiliate company has over a hundred employees. One wrong step and we could get over a hundred innocent people involved.”

Woo-Jin didn’t plan on making a hundred-odd people lose their jobs just to save Lee Hyung-Jin. It was unlikely to happen as they didn’t quite have the authority to do so, but Woo-Jin couldn’t help but worry about the smallest of possibilities.

“You’re right, Woo-Jin. No matter how terrible the CEO of the Rosie Laboratory may be, there’s no need to ruin a perfectly good company. If they want to go bankrupt, they should at least go bankrupt from their own mistakes. But if we hint at the fact that we can make their parent company stop all transactions with them, the CEO’s mind should be a mess. That’s all we need the Supreme Witch to do for us.”

In today’s world, it didn’t matter whether they had a partnership for 15 years or for 150 years over several generations; it was difficult to find loyalty and honor in trades between companies. The biggest concern and fear of subcontractors was a shift in the opinion of their parent company that could result in the suspension of their partnership at any moment.

Therefore, if they stimulated this fear within the perpetrator’s father, he wouldn’t be able to help his prosecutor brother if the latter got involved in an investigation over the suspicion of corruption.

“The problem is… the Supreme Witch may listen to my request but Rosie Cosmetics is a different issue. That family is all about deals and transactions. You should keep in mind that you might be forced to film commercials for their products.” CEO Jang said.

If Choi Won-Hee informed her family of Jang Soo-Hwan’s request, it was possible that they would support CEO Jang and Woo-Jin. But in order to make them act as Jang Soo-Hwan wanted, they needed a concrete reward in exchange.

“Will they even want me in their commercials?” the actor asked.

Woo-Jin was more than willing to star in commercials in exchange for their help, but whether they were actually interested in him was a different question altogether. He couldn’t get complacent before communicating with Rosie Cosmetics.

“You’ve already received five offers from cosmetic companies to star in their commercial. Did you think Rosie Cosmetics wasn’t one of them?”

Thankfully, Woo-Jin had yet to participate in any other cosmetics commercials, so there would be no problems if the Rosie Group demanded his involvement.

“Really? Then why don’t we contact Rosie Cosmetics without CEO Choi as an intermediary?” Woo-Jin asked. He thought that it would be a shame to offset the debt CEO Choi owed them for the small role of a messenger.

“Then she’ll sulk!” Jang Soo-Hwan exclaimed.

“What?”

“The Supreme Witch will sulk if she learns that we made a deal with the Rosie Group without going through her. Why do you think her nickname is ‘the Supreme Witch’ in the first place? Witches are evil beings that curse babies to death by getting pricked by a needle just because they weren’t invited to a birthday party!”

Woo-Jin steeled himself at CEO Jang’s outburst. There seemed to be some history between the two of them. In any case, they couldn’t afford to make any mistakes in this secret operation. Not only did they have to bring the hammer of justice down on the true criminals and absolve Lee Hyung-Jin from the false rumors, but they also couldn’t get innocent bystanders involved.

Woo-Jin didn’t wish to change the world or anything so grand. He simply wished everyone could live happily smiling together.