Chapter 227

"Let me take a look at it."

"The wound can't be seen because it's covered by the bandage, but the doctor said it was nicely stitched up. Not to mention, it's located above the life line[1], so my life line's now longer than it used to be."

Woo-Jin jokingly said that while showing her the bandage that was placed over his life line. His life line was originally broken in the middle, but it had become connected because of this incident. He didn't believe in palmistry, but whenever he told other people about it, they would laugh and say it was a good thing.

"That's good."

As expected, Kang Hye-Min responded in the same way, os Woo-Jin burst out laughing. A soft smile appeared on her face when he started laughing.

"Woo-Young's life line was especially short. Hence, I often beat myself up whenever I think about how he left the world so early because he was born that way. So It's really a good thing that yours became longer."

Not knowing how to react, Woo-Jin smiled, and quietly lowered his head. She looked so sad that he couldn't bring himself to offer some sloppy words of consolation. Kang Hye-Min was now in her forties; there were already stands of gray hair sparsely distributed all over her disheveled hair. The fine wrinkles on her lackluster face made her look perpetually sad even when she remained still.

"I didn't mean to dampen the mood by saying things like that, I'm sorry."

Flustered, Kang Hye-Min apologized to him. She had unintentionally blurted out her thoughts because it was something that had always been on her mind, but because it seemed as though she ended up making the ambiance weird between them. In her experience, people weren't exactly a fan of depressing stories like these in general.

"No, it's okay. I'm fine with it. He's my younger brother after all."

After hearing Woo-Jin's words, Kang Hye-Min's eyes crinkled as she smiled. It was strange to hear Woo-Jin say the words 'younger brother'. After imagining how they would have gotten along as brothers if the two of them had met each other, Kang Hye-Min immediately shook her head.

If she were to think of Woo-JIn, then it was better that they had never met. Learning about the death of his younger brother would have a different weight to it if he had actually met instead of hearing in passing the death of a brother he had never met.

Kang Hye-Min's death caused the people alive great pain and suffering but it was a mother's greed to want more people to remember her son. The memory of the dead became heavier and more difficult to handle the more it was shared among others. It wouldn't necessarily bring her comfort just because there was more sadness in this world. Kang Hye-Min didn't want Woo-Jin to be as sad and angry as her.

"Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Of course. I'll do my best to help you as long as it's within my means." Woo-Jin readily responded. Kang Hye-Min smiled warmly at him.

"Please be happy."

Just like he said earlier, she hoped he would choose to live happily for a long, long time instead of getting revenge that would only give him a short-lived happiness.

"Be healthy and live a long life until you become a happy old grandpa, and live happily ever after -- just like what people say in old tales. I'm asking you for a favor as the mother of your younger brother."

The relationship between Woo-Jin and Kang Hye-Min was very ambiguous. If she hadn't divorced Chae Mu-Seok, then legally speaking she would have been his stepmother. But since that was no longer the case, they didn't have a relationship where they could address one another using a specific title. But at the very least, Kang Hye-Min was certain they were a little closer than average acquaintances, and so she asked him for a 'favor'.

"Thank you."

"I'm the one asking you for a favor, though."

"In that case, let me ask you for a favor too."

After hearing Woo-Jin's words, Kang Hye-Min could guess what he was going to say.

"Please be happy, and become a healthy and happy grandma. I'm asking you for a favor as the older brother of my younger brother, mother."

They were already closer to each other than just average acquaintances but Woo-Jin took it a step further. The title 'mother' was not only used to address one's own mother -- it was also used to address a friend's mother, and the owner of a store one regularly frequented, but the word 'mother' that came out of Woo-Jin's mouth when he addressed Kang Hye-Min felt a tad heavier and more affectionate.

"It's been a long time since I've heard anyone call me 'mother'."

Woo-Young had been an outgoing and intelligent child. However, Kim Hye-Ryeong had already been living in their house before he had learned to speak. She ended up becoming his stepmother, and so, he matured too quickly. Thus, the young child couldn't comfortably use the word 'mother' around his own mom and called Kang Hye-Min 'mother' in secret, while grabbing the hem of her clothes to show his affection.

"Anyway, things have been a little better these days as compared to before." Kang Hye-Min smiled awkwardly as she ran her fingers through her hair with both hands.

Just as Woo-Jin had been happily working hard at his job, she had been occupied with plotting her revenge against Chae Mu-Seok and Kim Hye-Ryeong, and enjoying herself a little more lately. Even though she wasn't happy yet, now that she had tried her hand at seeking revenge, she discovered she had an aptitude for it, and found it fun. Others said Kang Hye-Min was wasting her life away because of her obsession with revenge, but she was now doing her best to lead a happy life in her own way.

"Despite how everything looks, my goal is to go to heaven. I never live my life carelessly. It sounds ridiculous coming from me, right?"

"No! My goal is to go to heaven too. I accumulated a lot of bad karma from my past lives..."

When Kang Hye-Min heard Woo-Jin quietly mentioning his past lives, she laughed out loud for the first time today. In fact, it had been a few years since she laughed out loud.

"Where did you hear that from? Did you visit a fortune teller or a monk?

"Something like that."

"There must be reincarnation since you mentioned past lives. I hope something like that really exists."

She longed for reincarnation not for herself, but for her son. She wanted him to be born to a nice home with good parents that showered him with love and to live happily.

"Oh dear, you're a busy person, and yet I've been holding you up for far too long. You have to go to America soon, right?"

Woo-Jin was leaving for America the day after tomorrow for the audition. Kang Hye-Min nudged him in the back and told him to go home.

"Let me send you home."

"I drove here. And I'll be staying here a little longer. It's a shame to go home just like that on such a nice day."

Sitting under the blue sky and a blossoming tree, Kang Hye-Min was full of energy for the first time in a while. Woo-Jin got up, and just as he was about to remove his hat to bid her goodbye, Kang Min-Hee grabbed his hands and stopped him.

"I may not look it, but I'm your fan. I hope you'll act in a lot of good films and dramas in the future. And tell your friend he must not dabble in stocks."

While digging for information, Kang Hye-Min had grown to like Actor Chae Woo-Jin. She said goodbye to him, looking more comfortable and at ease than when they first saw each other.

While staring at his back as he walked away, she suddenly realized it had been a long time since she looked at the back of someone leaving without feeling lonely.

After receiving Woo-Jin's phone call, even after arriving here long before the scheduled time, she kept hesitating over whether to meet him or not. It had been a while since she cared about her own appearance, and in the midst of feeling sad and afraid, she came here nonetheless because she wanted to meet him at least once.

"I'm glad we got to meet."

She was glad to learn that her son's older brother and her favorite actor was kinder and nicer than she expected. Even though his face didn't resemble her son's, she was pleased to know they were similar in that aspect. Although other people might mock her for it, little joys like these allowed her to take a breather.

It seemed eventually, there would be a day she when would be happy. She hoped that as she grew older with each passing year, she would naturally become a happy old grandma at some point.

***

<I only saw the article when I got home after a long day at work, but oh my goodness! It said that Genie will be acting under the stage name 'Choi Woo-Jin' from now on! So I was right after all! He's indeed Choi Woo-Jin.

If I have to be really honest, I was the first one who told everyone his name was 'Choi Woo-Jin'! I've been holding my breath the entire time because what I did went down as the most shameful incident in the history of Wish Baragi. To think the day I come clean on my own has actually come.

However, I'm not happy since this happened thanks to Kim Hye-Ryeong and the BRJ CEO. Kim Hye-Ryeong might have been the one who orchestrated the entire thing, but birds of the same feather flock together and marry each other. I felt so sorry for Genie when I saw his skinny face, but I guess those people didn't even possess that kind of sympathy.

Ah, as I'm writing this, I just got reminded of that day when Manager Kang was so heartless towards Woo-Jin too. I hope the audition is over soon so our dear Genie can eat some pork belly. The audition is happening in five days, right?>

-- I'm sorry, but who's the BRJ CEO you're talking about?

└ The CEO of Bareunjeong, Chae Mu-Seok. Genie's father is CEO Choi, and that Chae fella is simply 'BRJ CEO'. Speaking of which, the funny thing is that the BRJ CEO and Kim Hye-Ryeong are getting a divorce. Why are they even separating? They should just spend their lives together since they're the same type of people.

-- The process of Genie becoming Choi Woo-Jin is a huge struggle. Nevertheless, I hope it becomes his legal name one day, instead of just a stage name!

-- Depending on the outcome of the audition, he might not be able to eat pork belly for a couple of months even after it's over. We should send him some black garlic this time around.

Wish Baragi actively welcomed the news about Woo-Jin using 'Choi Woo-Jin' as his stage name. The members also rehashed the past and recounted what happened back then to the newer members who weren't aware of Wish Baragi's dark history, with regards to the name, 'Choi Woo-Jin', and bragged about their foresight.

As for the shocking Lee Yeo-Rin incident, they talked about how Woo-Jin said he would never settle with her out of court, so the fans felt relieved, as though they were drinking a refreshing cup of soda. Whenever they thought about the celebrities who withdrew the lawsuits because of the negative impact on their image, it made them feel frustrated. They were glad that wasn't the case with Chae Woo-Jin, just that there was insufficient evidence to convict Kim Hye-Ryeong with a crime as all she did was pay for Lee Yeo-Rin's rent, and sponsored her to get plastic surgery.

Although Kim Hye-Ryeong approached Woo-Jin's stalker, Lee Yeo-Rin, first, she escaped the clutches of the law with a ridiculous excuse that she wanted to introduce her to him because she thought they were compatible. However, the people in the entertainment industry and her business circles felt it was hard for her to get out of the divorce because of this incident.

Even before the incident happened, they were already separated. This incident handed Chae Mu-Seok a justified reason for divorce on a silver platter. The general consensus was that it was probably the worst punishment Kim Hye-Ryeong could ever get.

On the other hand, Lee Yeo-Rin was having a hard time evading a prison sentence because of the solid evidences against her -- her social media posts that she personally uploaded, as well as the clear CCTV footages that captured her sneaking into Woo-Jin's parent's house, along with all the indecent acts she committed. In a way she might have been a pitiful mentally ill person who was instigated by Woo-Jin's stepmother, but thanks to Charge! Open the Door, nobody had even a shred of sympathy for her.

The fans who were once former stalkers of Woo-Jin also vanished at a certain point; there was a possibility they themselves would receive the same treatment as Lee Yeo-Rin because they strongly felt this time around that Woo-Jin would absolutely show zero tolerance when there was a problem.

They clearly witnessed Woo-Jin's firm stance when they saw how he stopped Lee Yeo-Rin from harming herself, but he didn't forgive her. More importantly, they were very shocked to see how unsightly Lee Yeo-Rin looked on TV when the entire episode was broadcast live. They felt even more afraid because they wondered if that was how they looked in the eyes of others, especially Woo-Jin.

The lesson they learned via the Lee Yeo-Rin incident was the most effective shock therapy. Meanwhile, ordinary fans that watched the live broadcast felt sorry for Woo-Jin, who was very calm at the time. It made them wonder how much he had suffered on a daily basis that he was unfazed by such an episode.

As a result, a clear intolerance towards sasaeng fans had clearly been established among his fans. Nonetheless, the fans held themselves back to the best of their abilities for the sake of Woo-Jin's upcoming audition. Since Woo-Jin had once mentioned that he loved the law, his fans also believed in the law, and decided to wait.

Even though there were so many things they wanted to say, it was now time for them to show their devotion towards him, instead of flying into a rage. In the same vein, Woo-Jin's fans had been focusing their energy on studying English these days because of the rumors about the fans of the original novel (Confession of White) wielding a lot of power.

If Woo-Jin ended up getting Lloyd's part, they were worried those fans might heavily nitpick on him and thus, they thought English was essential if they wanted to defend Woo-Jin. Another reason was that they wanted to pass on information about Woo-Jin to the U.S. movie review sites when Guardian Angel was released.

-- Everyone! I don't know if it's written by the American unnie, but in any case, I found a novel that appeared to be written by someone like her. I'm sure all of you know about the photo of Genie and Dustin that they had taken together at the Academy's afterparty. She wrote something based on that, and it was really interesting to read. Genie is a villain in the story, but I recommend it because it's a fantasy novel with a vast worldview and the political enmity was meticulously fleshed out. From an ordinary fan's point of view, it somehow felt as though it was written by a veteran author.

└ I read the novel too. But what's even more amazing is that she had even added a video montage that's based on the novel. Fans from the West are truly something else in terms of scale and detail regardless of what they do. Seeing all these contents from the American newbies these days makes me really happy.

With the influx of fans from America, English had become a language Woo-Jin's fans needed to know in order to read and watch the contents they created. Particularly, Woo-Jin had been in LA in recent months, so there were many photos and anecdotes from fans who happened to be in that neighborhood. As true fans in the age of globalization, they never took the mindset that knowing at least one or two languages was a basic requirement as a joke.

After winter comes spring. While Woo-Jin was not in Korea, they were now approaching the perfect season for studying. And two days after Woo-Jin left for America, the Korean entertainment industry was in turmoil once again. There was never a peaceful day in that industry. The scandal about the relationship between Park Min and his sponsor, Kwon So-Hyun, broke out, along with her affair.

***

There were only nine applicants in the second round of auditions for the main character of Confession of White, so the auditions were all held on the same day. However, it was announced in advance that additional auditions might be held in the future depending on the circumstances.

The judges this time around were Pharrell Bob, a critic recommended by the Consccia Foundation, an employee of Midas Agency, Ian Essery -- a.k.a. Albert, who would be acting alongside Lloyd in the movie, and last but not least, Ilya Turner -- just that Ilya decided not to sit with the judges; he wanted to watch the footage of the actors' performances on the screen in a separate and isolated space.

Ilya didn't want to sit in the same place as Ian Essery for personal reasons, and as one of the key figures running the auditions, he made this decision out of consideration for the actors, as they might feel burdened by his presence.

To put it bluntly, Ilya Turner was an author whom everyone loved and respected in America, aside from L. Dmitri's fans. The burden of acting in front of someone like Ilya was too much for young actors to handle. Even Ian Essery couldn't speak coherently and trembled when he met Ilya in person, so they didn't need to see it for themselves to know what would happen if these young and inexperienced actors were to act before Ilya. Whether one had read his novels or not, to native English speakers, Ilya was someone who only appeared in biographies.

{You didn't call me at all huh? Not even once. Let's see how good you are.}

{Who?}

Selena was watching the footage of the audition while it was ongoing together with Ilya, and asked out of curiosity after hearing him grumble.

1. Referring to one of the four major lines on one's palm. It's believed that the longer one's life line is, the higher one's longevity will be. ☜