Become a Star

Reporter Kim Gwang-Sik from Daily Patch stared blankly at the cigarette smoke escaping through his lips. Even though he had been living like this for several years now, he still hadn’t gotten used to it. He didn’t become a reporter to experience such a lifestyle. Yet, the misery that separated ideals and reality was very humbling.

Whenever Kim Gwang-Sik handed someone his business card that stated ‘reporter,’ he would blush. He wasn’t quite sure whether it was because of a sense of pride or shame. Still, the fact that he was a reporter for a decent media company in the entertainment industry was something to be proud of.

He stood with a straight back and put on airs as he displayed his business card to those who did not know what his job entailed. Yet, the truth was that he chased after celebrities, secretly taking pictures of them.

Having finished his cigarette, Kim Gwang-Sik rubbed it into a paper cup to put it out. This time, a sigh escaped through his lips instead of smoke. Although the day had only just started, his eyes were sunken, and his body was stiff. He wished time would fly by, but the minutes and seconds ticked past exceptionally slowly.

Suddenly, his stomach grumbled. Kim Gwang-Sik reflexively reached into his bag and rummaged through it before retrieving a piece of bread. Despite it being late in the morning, he had just woken up after drinking all night, and he needed to rush to work. So, this was meant to be his breakfast.

As he munched on the stale bread, he connected his camera to his laptop and checked the video footage from the previous night. The camera had been filming a particular family’s house from midnight to now.

“What’s the point of filming like this?” he complained.

Chae Woo-Jin—the celebrity he was following around—usually left the house in a vehicle through the garage, so Kim Gwang-Sik had no opportunities to capture the actor’s face. Whether he left in his private car or the van driven by his manager, Chae Woo-Jin was already in the vehicle when he exited the house. The reporter could not even see the actor’s shadow, let alone his face.

The only thing he ever managed to photograph or film was Chae Woo-Jin’s younger sister, who didn’t own a car. However, he couldn’t withdraw and stop monitoring the house. He had managed to coincidentally capture a certain incident in the past, so he didn’t want to give up.

In fact, the car accident caused by Blue Fit’s Lee Yeon was a huge scoop. Unfortunately, he had to give up publishing the full story behind the accident because Chae Woo-Jin’s agency and TM proactively prevented him from doing so. But had he been able to release it, the story would’ve caused a huge sensation in the entertainment industry.

It was an incident that could make Blue Fit’s fans—who still hated Chae Woo-Jin—shut their mouths. Yet, be that as it may, DS didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. Seeing how they ended up buying the photos and videos from him, it appeared Chae Woo-Jin didn’t want to be associated with Blue Fit at all.

Although Kim Gwang-Sik understood their circumstances, he was distressed because it felt like he had abandoned his job and duty as a reporter and had become a simple photographer. Nevertheless, he ended up with some extra funds in his pockets, and it was quite enjoyable to know something that others weren’t aware of.

In the future, once enough time had passed, he planned to consolidate all of the material and information he’d gathered and publish a book about them. Without this sort of dream, he would have no reason to continue working for the company while going through all these hardships.

Ever since last summer, in place of his home or office, Kim Gwang-Sik had been spending more time on the rooftop of the house across from Chae Woo-Jin’s home. His job was to spy on Chae Woo-Jin’s house 24/7 with cameras and equipment installed on the roof.

Originally, he would sit inside a car and wait for Chae Woo-Jin, hoping for lady luck to bless him. Since the actor lived in a residential area with a high concentration of wealthy people, there were no tall commercial buildings around. Furthermore, it was unimaginable that someone would lend their rooftop to a reporter who was stalking a celebrity. Yet, by some miraculous coincidence, the landlord of the house across from Chae Woo-Jin’s was a friend of Daily Patch’s owner.

Just like how rich people got along and lived in the same neighborhoods, it was only natural for people with similar amounts of wealth to be friends with one another. As such, the landlord wasn’t friendly with Chae Woo-Jin’s father but was close with Daily Patch’s good-for-nothing owner.

In fact, they were so close that the landlord let Kim Gwang-Sik use the room on the roof, something that the previous landlord had built to be used as a break room. Although the previous landlord had used it in this way, the current one didn’t see the tenants using the rooftop room, so it had been empty and kept closed this entire time.

In any case, the way the current landlord treated those beneath him was the same as Daily Patch’s owner. Birds of a feather really did flock together. But thanks to them, Kim Gwang-Sik's work environment could make a significant upgrade from a car in an alley to a room on a rooftop. Thus, he didn’t curse and get irritated as much as he used to.

It was clear that he had taken the lead over other media companies and reporters just by securing such an amazing location where he could see the gate to Chae Woo-Jin’s house and the road in front of it. In addition, he couldn’t deny that his bonus had increased.

“Why won’t Chae Woo-Jin become independent from his parents? He needs to live alone to bring women home or something.”

Relationships or sex scandals were the best way to create a big scoop, but unfortunately for Kim Gwang-Sik, Chae Woo-Jin lived an upright and honest life.

Sometimes, when he followed Chae Woo-Jin through the city, there were quite a number of women in his surroundings. However, they were all staff members or fans of the actor. Furthermore, when he interacted with his fans, Chase Woo-Jin was just so respectful and uninteresting that the reporter didn’t even feel like taking pictures.

“A celebrity should get drunk and cause some trouble to become a true celebrity. That’s why they need to become independent from their parents. Please move into your own place, Chae Woo-Jin, and have some beep or get in a relationship or something!”

Kim Gwang-Sik censored the 18+ words himself and concluded that Woo-Jin wasn’t getting with women because he still lived with his parents.

“Well, now that I’ve heard that, I really shouldn’t become independent from now on.”

“Nonsense! A man should live on his own and-”

Kim Gwang-Sik instinctively responded to the voice behind him before he froze. Very few people had come to the roof so far. The tenants avoided the reporter and wouldn’t make any attempts at conversation when they saw him. It was possible that the landlord had instructed them to do so.

Kim Gwang-Sik slowly turned around, his neck creaking like a rusted machine. When he saw the person behind him, he was so startled that he gasped in shock. There, right before his eyes, Chae Woo-Jin was standing behind him as firm as a boulder with his head held high, staring intently at the reporter’s camera and laptop.

“Mister Ch-Ch-Chae Woo-Jin?”

“Yes, good morning. It’s been a while.”

Chae Woo-Jin greeted Kim Gwang-Sik, whom he had not seen while he was in America.

“H-How did you… No, when did you even leave…?”

The video feed had still been running throughout the morning before Kim Gwang-Sik arrived at the rooftop, and in it, there had been no video of Chae Woo-Jin leaving the house. The man who was supposed to be at home was standing right in front of him, so naturally, the reporter was stunned and thought he was losing his mind.

“I got in the car as the housekeeper left for the supermarket.”

Rather than taking his car or the van, Chae Woo-Jin had left the house in the housekeeper's car when they went out for groceries. Thus, when Kim Gwang-Sik saw the housekeeper’s car leave the garage, he didn’t pay much attention to it.

“As I thought, this was the correct location,” Woo-Jin commented.

“What?”

“When you sold the photos to my agency, I was curious to know where and how you had taken them. There aren’t any high-rise buildings in the neighborhood, and I doubted anyone would allow a reporter to use their house for this purpose, but it seems I was wrong.”

As Woo-Jin spoke while looking around, Kim Gwang-Sik’s hands grew moist with sweat. Now that Chae Woo-Jin had caught him, he didn’t even want to think about how the actor, Daily Patch’s owner, and the landlord would remove him in the near future.

He couldn’t even stop Woo-Jin from picking up his camera as he watched in shock, only managing to stutter a few words.

“I-I-I didn’t allow you to touch that camera.”

Kim Gwang-Sik didn’t think that telling Chae Woo-Jin the camera was expensive would convince the actor, so the reporter simply said this and closed his mouth, struggling to swallow his saliva.

“Yes, I’m aware. But it’s a different story if there is a video of my family inside.” Woo-Jin argued.

“That’s…”

“Just like how I shouldn’t carelessly touch your camera, you shouldn’t be filming other people without their permission.”

Kim Gwang-Sik was scared by how indifferent and emotionless Woo-Jin’s voice was, so a sigh subconsciously escaped his mouth. But on the inside, he was cursing the actor, calling him a cocky little bastard. If he had gotten married earlier, he would’ve had a child Woo-Jin’s age.

Nevertheless, Kim Gwang-Sik was sly and could understand the situation quicker than anyone else. If it were your ordinary celebrity, he would’ve gotten arrogant and proudly shouted back at him, talking of the people’s right to know more about the celebrity or something along those lines. However, Chae Woo-Jin wasn’t your average celebrity; he had a terrifying family background.

“You’ve filmed a bunch of things, huh.”

Woo-Jin clicked his tongue as he looked through the videos stored in the camera, fast-forwarding through it to save his time.

“The thing is, there are so many things about Mr. Chae Woo-Jin that the people want to know….”

In the end, Kim Gwang-Sik couldn’t hold back and spoke about the public’s right to know about celebrities, an argument that every reporter constantly used.

“But you didn’t publish an article in the end, did you? If you really cared so much about the people’s right to know, then you should’ve enforced and fought for your beliefs.”

Woo-Jin spoke as though mocking the reporter, who could no longer hold back himself. Although his lifestyle was quite shameful, Kim Gwang-Sik still had some pride. With that said, he had only gained that pride by bullying less famous celebrities. That attitude had subconsciously become a habit of his.

“That’s because DS prevented me from releasing the information to the public! It’s not like we enjoy seeing the information we worked so hard for getting glossed over like that. “

At first, Kim Gwang-Sik was startled, shameful, and restless. However, now he was slowly revealing his true colors. He believed that no matter how rich or successful his opponent was, he could ruin their lives with a single scandal.

Kim Gwang-Sik always bragged about the number of celebrities whose careers he'd ruined. In fact, he'd go so far as to say that amount couldn't even be counted on both hands. He was somewhat worried about Chae Woo-Jin’s maternal family, but it wasn’t as though he was a lawyer who was trying to get into the Rome Firm. As long as he only spread truths to the public, he wouldn’t be in danger like others who spread fake news.

In the worst-case scenario, if he got pressured by authorities and superiors above him, Kim Gwang-Sik wouldn’t hesitate to pay a fine for his actions. It was with this resolve that he had taken a job like this. As long as he only dealt with facts and truths within the proper limits, there was nothing and no one he had to fear.

Thus, he did not need to cower or lose his dignity before Chae Woo-Jin. All he had to do was claim that he was filming the street in front of the house with the landlord’s permission and that he only happened to coincidentally film Chae Woo-Jin leaving the house or something.

“Is that so? I thought that your only goal was to make money, seeing how you sold the pictures to our CEO,” Woo-Jin responded.

“Don’t look down on reporters! Despite the great sense of duty that we bear while working hard, we’re office workers who can only listen to their company’s orders! How are mere office workers supposed to go against their superiors? If we make a wrong move and get fired, how are we meant to earn a living? Do you think that we make hundreds of millions of won like you do whenever you film a commercial?”

Woo-Jin laughed at the agitated reporter’s burst of anger.

“That’s why it’s funny. Normally, celebrities should be the ones earning money by getting photographed or recorded by others. But when we’re photographed by reporters, you earn the money while the celebrities get canceled.”

“That’s… Ehem! Y-You shouldn’t always look at the negatives. Many people also willingly ask us to publish articles about them.”

For celebrities, it was often said that malicious comments from the public were better than no comments at all. Thus, not every celebrity hated getting photographed by reporters. Even Woo-Jin benefited from such articles when he had just debuted, so there was nothing he could say to that. However, back then, there was an agreement between both parties. If a reporter spies on the celebrity, then that is a non-negotiable matter that relates to their privacy.

“Don’t look at the world just from your point of view. Try to widen your-”

Kim Gwang-Sik was about to preach about the relationships between reporters and celebrities, but Woo-Jin cut him off by raising his hand.

“Is the video on the camera everything you’ve recorded?”

“What? Oh, that’s….”

Without waiting for Kim Gwang-Sik’s lengthy reply that beat around the bush, Woo-Jin placed the camera down and browsed through the laptop’s files. After finding the videos organized by date in a folder, he opened some and quickly skimmed through them.

“Found it.”

Woo-Jin went over a specific recording several times, checking it repeatedly. Then, he finally smiled, revealing a toothy grin.

Kim Gwang-Sik had been about to approach Chae Woo-Jin to see what footage the actor was interested in, but he stopped dead in his tracks. The bloodthirst and viciousness oozing from the handsome actor’s beautiful face froze the reporter’s body. It was like a scene in some fantasy novel where the master martial artist overpowered people with merely his aura and gaze.

Kim Gwang-Sik stood still and mumbled, unsure of what to do. In the meantime, Chae Woo-Jin took out the USB drive he had brought with him and copied the entire folder of videos.

“What are you doing with someone else’s computer right now? I didn’t give you my permission to do that.”

“There is a video I need. And it’s not like you received my permission to film me like this.”

“Hah! What do you even mean by that? I was only taking some shots of the street. Do I need Mr. Chae Woo-Jin’s permission whenever I want to record a street in Korea?”

The reporter was taunting him to find out what kind of video Chae Woo-Jin was after.

Kim Gwang-Sik had attempted to recall the footage several times, but he couldn’t remember seeing anything that could cause the actor problems. So, he suggested they negotiate with each other to find out what Chae Woo-Jin was looking for. Needless to say, he could later check the video Woo-Jin had opened and inspect the footage, but it would be of no use if the reporter didn’t understand the meaning behind the content.

“How could you break into someone else’s house and steal their computer files just because you’re a little famous?!” Kim Gwang-Sik exclaimed.

“Then write about it.”

“About what?”

“Write an article about this incident. We won’t stop you this time.”

Woo-Jin turned back to Kim Gwang-Sik and shook the USB drive in his hand with a bright smile.

After telling the reporter he would make good use of the files, he left as quickly as he had arrived. He didn’t threaten or argue with Kim Gwang-Sik to try getting the man to stop filming him. Instead, he just spoke a few unpleasant opinions, did what he had to do, took what he needed, and left like the wind.

Although Kim Gwang-Sik had spoken arrogantly, he was somewhat afraid of the situation escalating. If there had been an altercation between the two, the expensive equipment on his desk could have been broken. Yet, he was never approached about this incident, even after a few days.

No one seemed to know that Kim Gwang-Sik had been caught by Chae Woo-Jin. It was a given that the actor didn’t make any complaints, but even DS stayed silent about it.

“Why are you being so generous to me…?”

Or at least, that’s what he wanted to ask Chae Woo-Jin if they ever met again. However, soon afterward, Kim Gwang-Sik had to come down from the rooftop for other reasons.