Become a Star

{When did you get here? I would have slipped out of there sooner had I known you were here.}

Dustin suddenly appeared out of nowhere, totally unaware of the serious ambiance between Woo-Jin and Selena. As he was being introduced to people and greeting others, he glanced over at Woo-Jin from time to time. However, he was caught up in an important conversation for a while, so he noticed Selena’s arrival belatedly. As soon as he saw her, Dustin prepared to take his leave, and his father didn’t stop him from leaving either. He knew his son was going to see Selena and not the insignificant Asian actor. In fact, he was rather supportive of it and hoped for the best. He even patted him on the shoulder and told him to go.

{I just got here not too long ago. Your friend happened to be alone, so we greeted each other first.}

{Already? I was planning to introduce you to each other, though.}

{Well, you can always officially introduce us to each other once again. It’s not a big deal.}

Dustin was upset that he missed the opportunity to introduce them to each other, so Woo-Jin told him he wanted him to be officially introduced to Selena. But then again, Selena had only told him her first name and hadn’t told him her last name yet. Earlier, when she told him to call her by her first name, she wasn’t even that polite to him.

{Shall I do that? I love introducing my favorite friends to each other.}

Perhaps he was excited to see Selena for the first time in a while, or he was elated that his favorite people were finally meeting one another, but Dustin was delighted, and he kept grinning. Woo-Jin and Selena looked at him and sighed at the same time. They made eye contact with each other at that moment, and a strange bond of sympathy was formed between them.

There was nothing wrong with introducing his friends who weren’t acquainted with one another and hoping for them to get along. In fact, they could sense the good intention that came from his pure heart of wanting his favorite friends to become closer to one another.

However, that was a very one-dimensional thought. One should be very careful when it came to introducing friends to each other, as well as business partners. It was only possible when the trust was the foundation of these relationships, or else the person in the middle could very well be betrayed by both sides.

“I think I’ve been betrayed a couple of times before when playing the middleman….”

As soon as Woo-Jin subconsciously mumbled in Korean again, Dustin grumbled about it while Selena had a strange look in her eyes. Judging by her expression and attitude, it felt as though she understood Korean.

{In that case, let me introduce him. His name is Genie, and he’s from Korea.}

{It’s Chae Woo-Jin. Or simply Woo-Jin.}

‘Genie’ was just a nickname — it wasn’t his real name. Selena already knew his name was ‘Chae Woo-Jin,’ and more importantly, if he simply stood by and said nothing when others introduced him by his nickname, it would be akin to abandoning his identity. So after Woo-Jin corrected him, Dustin introduced him again as ‘Woo-Jin Chae.’

{And this is my childhood friend…Selena Consccia.}

There were many things Dustin wanted to add after the word ‘friend,’ but he just gave a brief introduction of Selena after hiding a lot of emotions during his slight hesitation.

{I finally know your last name. Miss Consccia…Consccia?}

{Yeah, even her last name is so cool, right?}

{Is it that Consccia by any chance?}

{I don’t know which Consccia you’re referring to, but my last name is indeed Consccia. I am Selena Consccia, chairman of the Consccia Cultural Foundation.}

A delighted look flashed across Selena’s face when she talked about her last name and profession. People always had the same reaction whenever she revealed her last name. They were in awe of the last name, ‘Consccia.’ Even those who didn’t know the weight of the name weren’t much different after learning about it.

In that sense, Dustin was the only person who remained the same despite its reputation. Selena wanted to have a calm and genuine conversation with Woo-Jin, so she deliberately left out her last name when they first met. Of course, as a foreigner, there was a chance Woo-Jin hadn’t heard of the name. But judging by his current reaction, she was glad she didn’t reveal it.

{If that’s the case, your father….}

The reverence and fear people had for the name ‘Consccia’ was because it symbolized the godfather of the mafia, who had once represented New York. And they were presently known to be a family that owned an arms company called ‘Orlando.’ Despite knowing her identity, the media couldn’t talk about Dustin’s one-sided crush or publish any photos because she was a member of the Consccia family. Even though Woo-Jin guessed she was from a prominent family, he had never imagined her to be a Consccia.

{If you’re asking who my father is, he’s Giorgio Consccia.}

Giorgio Consccia was the head of the Consccia family, and being his eldest daughter alone was her shield and weapon. Even though she followed her mother and lived in LA with her after her parents had gotten a divorce when she was 10 years old, she wasn’t on bad terms with her father. She kept her father’s last name and would spend her vacations living in New York. Every time she was in New York with her father, he would persuade her to live with him.

The only person holding her back and making her hesitate was her friend, who was akin to a ray of sunshine; it had nothing to do with which parent she would live with. Selena couldn’t leave LA because of a precious certain someone who always wanted to be happy. However, Selena’s affection for him was nothing compared to Woo-Jin’s shock right now.

Even though ‘Consccia’ was not as common as ‘Kim,’ ‘Lee,’ and ‘Park’ in Korea, it wasn’t used exclusively by one family, so Woo-Jin was hoping she was not an immediate relative of the Consccia family he had in mind. But as luck would have it, Selena was Giorgio’s daughter.

Regardless of what kind of family Consccia was or what type of work they did, it had nothing to do with Woo-Jin. Meeting the descendant of a person who was once the godfather of the mafia was nothing to be afraid of, just that this situation took a funny turn because Woo-Jin was Lansky Consccia in his most recent past life. Giorgio, in particular, was none other than the grandson of Lansky Consccia, a child whom Lansky loved more than his own children.

After seeing his grandson get married, Lansky passed away before he could see his great-grandchild. Perhaps, if Lansky had lived a few more years, he would have been able to hold Selena in his arms. As soon as Woo-Jin imagined these little things, his heart started pounding uncontrollably.

They were just things that had happened in his previous life. Like it had always been, it was a relation from a separate life that had nothing to do with Woo-Jin. Rationally speaking, it meant nothing — just like how Lee So-Hyun and Kim Tae-Hwa were only people from his previous lives; they had no power to influence Chae Woo-Jin.

However, in Lee So-Hyun and Kim Tae-Hwa’s case, he had met them again and formed a separate connection with them in this life. Thus, he was able to separate his emotions from his previous lives when interacting with them. There was no reason for him to get emotional or be agitated.

Needless to say, from time to time, Woo-Jin would think about Giorgio, his grandson from his previous life. It was only natural because he was the person who meant the most to him out of everyone from his previous life who was still alive. However, they were no longer related by blood. Just because he had the memories of his previous life didn’t mean that their relationship would continue in his current life; looking at his photos didn’t elicit any special feelings either.

Woo-Jin could find out how the Consccia family had changed and grown after Lansky’s death by searching Giorgio online. However, he was only interested in Giorgio. As for the Consccia family, even though he knew Giorgio had three sons and two daughters, he didn’t wonder about their names or how they looked. To put it bluntly, there were just strangers to him.

As soon as Woo-Jin calmed down slightly, he looked at Selena in a new light. He realized how much she resembled Lansky and wondered why he couldn’t recognize her initially. Giorgio created the foundation and was currently contributing to the cultural field in accordance with Lansky's will. He had successfully left the mafia business and transitioned the family business into an arms business, just like what Lansky pushed for back then. Giorgio, also known as the true heir of Don Lansky, perfectly converted the family business, moving it from the shadows and into the light. And that was the new reform of the Consccia family.

However, Woo-Jin knew the essence of the Consccia family better than anyone else. Even though the outward appearance of the Consccia family had changed over the past 30 years, their framework remained more or less the same, just that the people who had ruled America’s underground economy had entered the public eye. Just because they were paying taxes and doing legal transactions for a change, it didn’t mean the monsters underground loved sunlight.

In that sense, Woo-Jin felt that Dustin was a great person. Perhaps Selena’s background wasn’t important to him. Loving someone wasn’t a sin, but the other party was simply not good for him. Selena Consccia had the worst ‘qualifications’ for someone like Dustin, which would be of no help to him. That was when Woo-Jin understood why Selena couldn’t accept Dustin’s feelings and gave him a chance. She knew it all too well. Just imagining what would happen to the golden boy if he were entangled with the monstrous Consccia family alone was awful enough.

Woo-Jin believed that birds of the same feather flock together, so he wanted to oppose their relationship as a friend hoping that Dustin’s innocence wouldn’t be tainted. Opposing it wouldn’t have much of an effect, not that he had the right to do so in the first place. But for some reason, he wanted to interfere.

{Over my dead body!}

Woo-Jin looked straight at Dustin and exclaimed. He truly couldn’t approve of their relationship. He wondered who would allow their great-granddaughter to date a man like Dustin, who was popular with women and loved to drink. To Selena’s family, Dustin was a man who was not qualified enough to date her. In truth, Selena was too good for Dustin.

“Huh?”

As Woo-Jin’s stream of consciousness flowed naturally, Woo-Jin widened his eyes in surprise because of the thought that had just crossed his mind. He was still opposed to their relationship, just like he was initially, but before he knew it, his attitude when evaluating the two had changed strangely.

Woo-Jin had a realization after Dustin and Selena stared at him upon hearing what he had just said, albeit not knowing what he meant. From the moment he found out Selena was Lansky’s great-granddaughter, his rational mind and standards were thrown out the window. He could no longer see her as a woman his friend had a one-sided crush on. Instead, Woo-Jin was evaluating Dustin with a cold look in his eyes, exclaiming, ‘I’m against this marriage!’ to the two people who hadn’t even started dating each other.

In other words, he was absolutely against Dustin marrying his great-granddaughter.

***

The streets of LA were very different from what Woo-Jin remembered 30 years ago. A lot of buildings still stood in the same plots, but they were now used for something completely different.

“This used to be a red-light district in the past….”

Lanksy resided and operated mainly in New York, but he had visited LA several times before. He loved the freedom that was unique to the place, as well as its cultural diversity. However, out of the people he had to meet in LA, one of them in particular always brought Lansky there. He wanted to show off his booming business to Lansky, who had left the prostitution business because of his mysophobia while taking over the family business. He also wanted Lansky to see how much money prostitution brought in, intending to change his mind.

At that time, Lansky demeaned prostitution by calling it an unprofitable and unrefined business because he felt that revealing his mysophobia was akin to losing. Even though he wasn’t exactly wrong, it hurt the other party’s pride. Lansky’s resistance created an even bigger desire to bring him to the red-light district.

He was a tough and crude man. Lansky would be greeted by the strong smell of unrefined cigars and whiskey whenever he was close by, and standing next to him gave him a headache. Thus, Lansky cut off his finances such that he wouldn’t have to see him ever again.

In reality, his main source of income was drugs; prostitution was nothing more than a means for him to distribute these drugs. Lansky first got rid of the people who made drugs for him and blocked off all the channels that allowed his supplies to go through. The downfall of the man who ruled this street had once turned this place into a lawless zone. As the area was out of control, the individuals controlling the street changed daily.

Woo-Jin remembered Lansky casually drinking wine as he watched the chaos from afar. At that time, the colorful neon signs and atmospheric jazz music filled the street; he had a couple of good memories on this street, where the stifling scent of cheap perfume paralyzed his sense of smell.

Nevertheless, meeting Selena greatly influenced his decision to visit this place. Meeting her, reflecting on Lansky’s life, and searching for his memories in LA naturally guided him toward this place. Since so many years had gone by, this place had changed significantly. Hence, he was able to visit with a light heart.

This area was no longer a red-light district but a cultural street where old buildings allowed people to reminisce about the past. The interesting thing was that the Consccia Foundation was the one that changed this place. To be precise, it was a project Selena constructively pushed for after becoming the chairman of the board.

{She’s capable.}

Woo-Jin subconsciously had a proud look on his face as he looked at the once lawless street that used to be LA’s Harlem but was now a shelter for poor artists. Woo-Jin stopped in front of a building after walking past cafes and restaurants, unknown stores selling clothes and old antiques, small art studios, and workshops. Unlike the other buildings with several small stores on the first floor, this entire first floor of this building was a bookstore.

“Fiancé.”

Back then, it used to be a bar named ‘Fiancé.’