Become a Star

A luxurious Korean table d'hôte[1] restaurant is the perfect place for a family reunion or a small business meeting. Every room is sound-proofed so no noise leaks outside, and as an extra precaution, the corridors played relaxing music to mask the sound. Moreover, since the people inside the rooms can’t hear the music outside, they can relax and talk as much as they want.

Thus, people like Woo-Jin and Park Yi-Yeon often went to high-class restaurants such as this one to have confidential conversations.

During their meal, Park Yi-Yeon snorted when he suddenly received a small piece of paper from his cousin. He didn’t know how to react and fiddled with the mysterious note, not knowing to laugh or cry at the absurdity of the situation.

“So the person on this paper, this Kim Gwan–”

“Shush! Don’t say the name out loud.” Woo-Jin interjected.

Park Yi-Yeon had barely managed to think of something to say and opened his mouth to read the name, but was quickly stopped by Woo-Jin.

“Are we filming a thriller-crime movie or something? We’re already safe in this room. It’s not like we’re some government spies taking part in an intelligence warfare. How am I supposed to react when all you’re giving me is a piece of paper with some random name?”

Park Yi-Yeon asked as he shook the small note with the name ‘Kim Gwan-Young’ in front of Woo-Jin’s face.

Woo-Jin had eaten dinner today with his cousin Park Yi-Yeon in order to ask him for help regarding Lee Hyung-Jin’s case. They were drinking tea comfortably after finishing dinner when Woo-Jin sneakily slid a piece of paper with a single name ‘Kim Gwan-Young’ written inside towards Park Yi-Yeon. He was the prosecutor who was the target of Woo-Jin’s plans.

When Woo-Jin was still part of TM, Lee Hyung-Jin had talked about the suicide incident once during a drunken stupor. Lee Hyung-Jin mentioned that the legal case had taken a strange turn because the culprit behind the bullying had a prosecutor in his family. Woo-Jin had never forgotten that piece of information, so when he asked CEO Jang Soo-Hwan to investigate the perpetrators, Woo-Jin was already planning on asking his cousin for help.

However, Woo-Jin’s first priority when dealing with this issue was the safety of his loved ones, so he had no choice but to act extremely carefully and covertly. Thus, Woo-Jin explained the entire story to Park Yi-Yeon in a quiet voice. However, he was so quiet that Park Yi-Yeon had to ask him to repeat himself several times.

“There’s still a year left, but Kim Gwan-Young is definitely going to voluntarily resign next year, because the one who’s most likely to become the next Prosecutor General is his coworker. Kim Gwan-Young is the reason why I’m having such a hard time these days.” Park Yi-Yeon sighed as he spoke.

Thankfully, it seemed Park Yi-Yeon knew Kim Gwan-Young personally. The old man had been asking for Park Yi-Yeon’s help since his grandfather was the CEO of the Rome Law Firm.

“He’s obviously not the only one who’s been bothering me about the Rome Law Firm. But with his lacking career and achievements, he should know that I can’t help at all, let alone influence the recruitment process at the firm. Still, he won’t listen to me.”

People often approached Park Yi-Yeon because of his background. However, Park Yi-Yeon had become a prosecutor through his own abilities without the help of his family. As long as he didn’t resign as a prosecutor and worked at the Rome Law Firm, he held neither authority nor the right to exercise any power within the law firm.

Park Yi-Yeon could understand that the younger prosecutors with lesser experience would be unaware of his status–or the lack thereof–in the law firm, but most of the older prosecutors who had worked with his father should be painfully aware of how futile it was to ask for Park Yi-Yeon’s help. In fact, Kim Gwan-Young was one of the people who had known his father, which made his already futile requests to Park Yi-Yeon even more pathetic.

“But still, you’re overdoing it. A single piece of paper, really?”

Park Yi-Yeon returned the note to Woo-Jin as he rebuked him.

“We need to be careful. There’s nothing wrong with being extra cautious.”

Woo-Jin tore the paper into smaller pieces before pouring water over the shredded bits. He was the type who pays extra attention to everything. In fact, Woo-Jin always started recording on his phone whenever he felt something was weird in his surroundings. Park Yi-Yeon was amazed by Woo-Jin’s behavior, and wondered where his cousin had learned such tricks.

“So, what is it you want from me?” Park Yi-Yeon asked.

“Information and materials that will get this man arrested.”

“Then you’re asking the wrong person. Even if we work at the same place, it doesn’t mean I know everything about him. And if we did notice any hints of corruption, we would’ve already started investigating it. But Grandfather should have the documents and materials that are available only to the chief prosecutor and above. Keep in mind that I have no power in the Rome Law Firm. Did you think Grandfather or Father would give me materials and data gathered by the firm? Even my father didn’t have any access to them until he retired as a prosecutor and joined the company.”

Park Yi-Yeon firmly drew the line, telling Woo-Jin he wouldn’t be able to help. He even warned the latter not to make the same mistakes as his coworkers by constantly nagging Park Yi-Yeon for help.

“I already expected that, but asked just in case. It would be a bit awkward if I went to Grandfather or Uncle just to ask for their help. In fact, they wouldn’t show me anything that they’re not showing you, would they?”

Woo-Jin found it difficult to make requests or act spoiled towards his grandfather now that he was an adult. Moreover, it was even more awkward for Woo-Jin since his mother had a falling out with his maternal family which lasted for a long while. And during that period of time, Woo-Jin and his sister didn’t stay in touch with them. Woo-Jin quickly reconnected with Park Yi-Yeon since they were of the same age group even though the latter was slightly older than Woo-Jin. However, he couldn’t do the same with his grandfather and uncle.

Woo-Hee had also instantly become friends with her older cousin Park Hee-Yeon who was of the same gender, but it was painfully obvious she still had a hard time around the adults of their maternal family. Their uncle was a great role-model they looked up to, but he was not yet a friendly uncle whom they could comfortably chat with.

“Be more confident in yourself. I’m sure Grandfather will happily help you out if you ask him.” Park Yi-Yeon mentioned.

There was no way their grandfather wouldn’t listen to Woo-Jin’s request when he felt indebted to his daughter and her children.

“If there are some issues with Kim Gwan– with that man, I don’t think Grandfather would necessarily refuse to help. He has been showing a lot of interest in Lee Hyung-Jin these days too.” Park Yi-Yeon added.

Their grandfather was going crazy over Lee Hyung-Jin ever since Woo-Jin had called him ‘his favorite singer’. He frowned as he looked into Lee Hyung-Jin’s past, worrying that Woo-Jin was making dangerous friends.

Their grandfather’s heart had ached and raged with fury when the Blue Fit scandal occurred, so it was not surprising that he was being paranoid with Lee Hyung-Jin. But since he believed that Woo-Jin wouldn’t behave thoughtlessly, he turned his attention to Lee Hyung-Jin’s past instead.

“Grandfather has? Isn’t he extremely busy? How did he learn about Hyung-Jin Hyung?”

Never in his wildest dreams would Woo-Jin imagine that he was the reason behind his grandfather’s interest in Lee Hyung-Jin. Instead, Woo-Jin was simply amazed by the fact that his grandfather knew the singer.

“He isn’t that busy these days. He reduced his workload and is slowly preparing to retire.”

Woo-Jin recalled his grandfather’s age and sat silently. When they reunited after several years, Woo-Jin got slightly teary when he noticed how much older his grandfather looked. He had realized that even such a vigorous and upright person couldn’t resist the passing of time.

“But he’s still healthy, isn’t he?”

“Check for yourself when you visit him. Anyways, are you confident in your results for the second round of the exam?”

The results for the second round of the bar exam would be announced in three days. Woo-Jin nodded at Park Yi-Yeon’s question instead of voicing out his answer.

“Really?”

Park Yi-Yeon’s surprise was expected. Taking into consideration Woo-Jin's busy schedule and activities, it was already an incredible feat to have passed the first round of the exam. But the family members hadn’t mentioned Woo-Jin’s qualification to his grandfather to avoid putting pressure on the examinee.

The CEO of the Rome Law Firm never paid much attention to examinees who had only passed the first round. However, he did receive some reports about notable geniuses or examinees with special circumstances. However, Woo-Jin’s uncle removed the report on ‘Chae Woo-Jin’ before it could reach his grandfather.

Thus, Park Hyun-Man was still unaware that his grandson had taken the bar exam.

“Then go visit once you pass it. He’ll be ecstatic. Looking at how he’s been acting recently, I’m sure he’ll accept whatever you decide to do in the future. But this is a different matter. It’s about his pride, and he’ll definitely be happy about it.”

Despite other’s concerns, Park Hyun-Man actually understood Woo-Jin’s choice to pursue acting as a career and supported him. He would’ve been against it if Woo-Jin was a no-name actor or had bad rumors surrounding him. However, Woo-Jin was doing well in the industry and was working hard to rise to the top, so there was no need for Park Hyun-Man to drag his grandson down for no apparent reason.

Moreover, he was already satisfied since Woo-Hee had stated that her dream was to become a prosecutor during the ‘Golden Ball’. Park Hyun-Man wore a gleeful smile on his face for several days after watching the show, saying that their line of work needed more motivated and decisive children like her to join. Park Hyun-Man remembered the times he worked as a prosecutor and it felt like he was getting acknowledged by his granddaughter.

“Now that Woo-Hee has decided to go to law school, if you pass the bar exam, Grandfather will be overjoyed~!”

Park Yi-Yeon chuckled as he imagined their grandfather’s reaction. Even if Woo-Jin didn’t work as a prosecutor or any type of government official, the fact that all his grandchildren had passed the bar exam would be something Park Hyun-Man could be proud of. So there was nothing Park Hyun-Man wouldn’t do to grant his grandson’s wish.

Suddenly, Park Yi-Yeon recalled something and took out his phone while gesturing at Woo-Jin to come sit next to him.

“Let’s take some selfies.”

“Why?”

Woo-Jin asked as he sat next to Park Yi-Yeon. Woo-Jin knew his cousin didn’t like to take pictures, so this came as a surprise to him.

“I told my girlfriend I was having dinner with my cousin tonight and invited her to join, but she refused. So I’m gonna tease her with some pictures.”

“You’re dating someone, hyung?”

“We’ve known each other for five years and started dating a month ago.”

Park Yi-Yeon swung his arm around Woo-Jin’s shoulders and took a photo with a big grin. As soon as he got the picture, he frowned and immediately deleted it. After some trial and error, he finally got a barely passable picture, and pushed Woo-Jin away.

Even though he had affectionately posed with Woo-Jin, Park Yi-Yeon kicked Woo-Jin away without hesitation as soon as he got what he wanted. The actor sensed some hidden spite behind his cousin's actions, so he left the seat and asked.

“But how is taking a picture with me teasing your girlfriend?”

“My future wife happens to be your fan.”

Park Yi-Yeon called his girlfriend his future wife without hesitation. They had only dated for a month, but the time they had spent together beforehand couldn’t be ignored. The five years was more than enough for Park Yi-Yeon to consider a future with her. In fact, although no one knew what the future held, Park Yi-Yeon wouldn’t have started dating his girlfriend if he wasn’t ready to marry her.

Park Yi-Yeon had inherited his grandfather’s pure vision of love and had a very straightforward and firm ideal of dating and marriage.

He believed there was no point in dating if it wasn’t followed up with marriage, so he made his intentions clear when he first confessed: ‘From the moment you start dating me, you will have no choice other than marrying me in the future.’

That was why Park Yi-Yeon could naturally use the word ‘wife’.

“When she finds out that the cousin I saw today is you, she’s gonna be so vexed~!”

Park Yi-Yeon laughed grimly and looked at the photo on the screen for a while more before sending it to his girlfriend. As he pressed the send button, Park Yi-Yeon smirked like a mastermind executing his grand masterplan of a conspiracy involving the entire world.

“She replied.”

A few dozen seconds went by since Park Yi-Yeon sent a single photo without any explanation, and a reply had already arrived. Woo-Jin was also curious about the reply and sat right next to his cousin to read it.

“It’s just a line of question marks.”

“She hasn’t realized what’s going on yet. Oh? She’s calling me.”

It seemed that she wasn’t satisfied with just sending a line of question marks and urgently called her boyfriend.

“Weren’t you busy?”

Park Yi-Yeon said in a sulky tone. It seemed one of her excuses not to come tonight was that she was busy with work. Woo-Jin had never heard his cousin talk in this manner, so he held back his laughter and quietly watched the situation unfold.

Woo-Jin would’ve been more than satisfied if his future cousin-in-law wasn’t an anti-fan, but hearing that she was his fan lightened the burden on his shoulders. Even since he became Lee Hyung-Jin’s fan, Woo-Jin now appreciated fans who supported him far more than before and felt grateful for their love.

Although many were surprised by Woo-Jin’s sudden declaration that Lee Hyung-Jin was his ‘favorite singer’, none of his fans criticized him for it. Everyone knew that there was a reason behind his actions, and most of them recognized Lee Hyung-Jin as a talented singer. Woo-Jin’s past as a victim of bullying seemed to have helped him out with swaying the public’s opinion.

Woo-Jin’s fans believed that he wouldn’t hang around Lee Hyung-Jin without a good reason.

–What on earth is this picture? Is the person sitting next to your squid face who I think he is?

“Hey! What do you mean by ‘squid face’? I’m hanging up.”

–Don’t be like that, you know that I love squids the most in the world.

“You’re right, I do know that you love eating grilled squid as snacks with your alcohol. Maybe that’s why my body has been hurting all over recently.”

Woo-Jin watched his cousin bicker lovingly with his girlfriend in amazement as it was a fresh experience. Although Park Yi-Yeon wasn’t an annoying or overbearing cousin, Woo-Jin couldn’t quite treat him like a close friend as his cousin was older. But Woo-Jin enjoyed watching Park Yi-Yeon chat with his future wife as he saw a new side of his older cousin.

1. Korean table d'hôte, called han-jeongsik in Korean, is a Korean-style full-course meal characterized by the array of small banchan plates in varied colors. ☜