BIE 119

Chapter 119…

What Does Woosoo-han Resemble?

Woo Beom-cheon and his group were arrested by the police and didn’t get out.

After the investigation was converted to detention on the grounds that there was a risk of flight, one after another more offenses surfaced like a string of sweet potato stems.

It turned out they had been running dog farms and puppy factories under false names through fraudulent property sales, and ongoing illegal activities were uncovered.

If this had happened before, some parts might have been ambiguous, but since the incident occurred after the law banning the sale for consumption had been enacted, there was no hesitation in pressing charges.

Not only that, every single dog farm and puppy-factory business turned out to be a tax-evasion paradise.

Dog cafés had also been used as channels for laundering money.

And it didn’t stop there — drugs found at the dog farms made the case indisputable.

Because of the threats made at the time, Soo-han’s actions could only be recognized as self-defense.

Even testimony that Su-han (Suhan?) had given commands to the dogs was not accepted.

They had tried to defend it as an infringement of private property, of course.

But when it came to whether it should be considered private property, the items were actually acknowledged as goods obtained by fraud — so Su-han was able to dodge that charge rather well.

In fact, all of these scenes had been recorded by the drone used for the YouTube broadcast and by the body cam Su-han was wearing.

Fortunately, it was also proven that the other party had threatened them with a weapon.

And just before these developments hit the news, Su-han’s haunted-house experience was broadcast.

“Pahahahaha!”

“Puhuhuhu!”

Soo-han’s fans — Park Yu-na and Park Yoon-seong, who had once run into him at a small fan meeting in a theater — were sitting in the living room and laughing uproariously.

[Waaaaa!]

The screen showed Su-han — bold in front of the haunted house — suddenly running like mad.

With dolphin-like screams, Su-han sprinted ahead.

The two of them burst out laughing at the scene of him bolting with his group chasing behind.

“Wow, this is the real deal!”

“If that’s acting, it deserves an Academy Award. Heh heh heh.”

Because they had already met Su-han in person, they knew he was not putting on a show; that image was genuinely who he was.

Besides, the way he appeared on the broadcast matched what they’d seen in real life, so both of them grew even more fond of him.

“Objection!”

“Huh?”

Then, at that moment, when Su-han — his face hardened — declared his refusal, the footage suddenly paused and the screen dimmed.

“What’s this?”

“A twist ending? Heh.”

Yu-na looked puzzled while Yoon-seong watched the screen expecting a reversal.

“The scene in question has already been settled through agreements with the police and the victims…”

“Whoa, that’s creepy.”

“Did something happen?”

Then the twist scene began.

“VAR request!”

“What, this isn’t soccer…”

Yoon-seong snorted and resumed watching the broadcast. But gradually he fell silent.

Yu-na was the same; her eyes grew wider and wider.

When that sequence finished and the scene of those who had won the food appeared, everyone tried to suppress their surprise, while Su-han alone was enjoying the food he’d seized after the struggle.

At that point, Su-han touched Shin Na-ra’s hands — she was sullen — with both of his hands and said…

“It smells like savory grilled meat.”

“Hey!”

“Puhahaha!”

“Kekeke!”

They burst out laughing.

They were shocked by the discovery that the place Su-han and company had come upon was actually a scene of a murder and clandestine burial.

They were extremely surprised that Su-han had found it.

Then, in a way that eased the heavy atmosphere, they finally found something to laugh about.

At the end of the broadcast, a handwritten letter conveyed the gratitude of families who had been missing and whose bodies had not been found, and the program wrapped up well.

“Wow, for real. Jokbal? Shin Na-ra probably won’t be able to eat anything with bones for a while.”

“In that case, our jokbal?”

“Shut up!”

Yu-na snapped back at her brother’s joke. Yoon-seong, chuckling at her reaction, added something with a slightly worried expression.

“Don’t you think our Su-han hyung (older brother) has an unusually large number of incidents and accidents?”

“Aw, it’s just that they’ve been popping up in succession. Watch your fingers — you’d mess up my brother’s future.”

Yu-na gave a fierce threat, as if worried Yoon-seong would post nonsense on some message board.

“…Wasn’t your brother me?”

“…You’re the one on the paperwork.”

“…”

Hearing that from the “paperwork” sibling he had thought was his real sister, Yoon-seong muttered in a dispirited voice.

“I see… you.”

“Huh?”

“When did you know?”

“What?”

“What I’m talking about?”

“The day you came to this house — you were so pretty.”

“…”

Leaving those words behind, Yoon-seong entered his room with a sad smile. Yu-na, who’d been staring blankly, dashed to the master bedroom.

“Mom!”

A little while later she burst out of the master bedroom and ran into her brother’s room with a broom in hand.

“Die!”

“Puhihik! Do you believe that?”

“Drop dead!”

“Oh? Are you crying? I thought you really found me on the street?”

At Yoon-seong’s teasing, Yu-na swung the broom energetically as if determined to punish him.

“Shut up! From today, you’re not my brother! My oppa is…”

— Tonight around seven o’clock, actor Woo Su-han, among others…

“Woo Su… huh?”

— This incident…

Suddenly the two stopped their antics at the unexpected news appearance of Woo Su-han.

“…”

Hmm. I’ve always thought feedback is important.

I checked the viewer bulletin board for the show that aired the previous day.

There were posts praising me.

“Hmph.”

I felt pleased.

Many said they were relieved that the culprit was caught thanks to my keen eye.

Ahhh.

Maybe I’ll keep getting lucky.

But comparisons kept getting under my skin.

“Who is this guy, always comparing himself to me?”

“Who?”

Gam-dong-i (Emotion? a nickname) appeared from the side and asked, staring blankly.

“No, who on earth is Kim Jeon-il? People keep comparing me to him. Is he a detective? Is he handsome?”

“You know City Hunter but don’t know Kim Jeon-il?”

“Picking up stuff a beggar threw away and reading it — how could I choose?”

“He’s a cartoon character, a detective. He solves cases and incidents brilliantly.”

“Ooo!”

I smiled at that. I liked the new nickname.

I guess I’d earned a detective image too.

Actors can use a variety of images…

“On the downside, wherever he goes, incidents and accidents happen and people die, so the term is sometimes used as a metaphor for unlucky people.”

“…”

After saying that, Gam-dong-i skimmed the comments I’d been reading, curled one corner of his lip, and added:

“Like this.”

“Kyaaaak!”

Let’s make today’s incident scene one of our own!

I found Gam-dong-i disguised as the culprit, hid all the toilet paper, locked him in the bathroom, and went to the office for the first time in a while.

When I arrived, our manager Park had a face as if he were about to die.

“Really, Kim Jeon-il and I must be fated…”

“What?”

“No — I mean, I hope our Manager Park lives long.”

“……”

Why? What? It’s a blessing — why is he looking at me resentfully?

Of course I understood that I was avoiding it, but I got it.

The mere fact that I had been at that crime scene meant I’d be writing an explanation report at the company and getting flak. Well… I hadn’t expected it to go this far.

That aside, it seemed the connection of the four animals I’d passed on as a gift to Brother Dae-sung was even bigger news.

I heard that he’d been taking care of the four dogs’ food for the next year or so — whether it was feed or snacks, he was on standby for it.

That wasn’t my fault.

Dae-sung was being unreasonable.

And you know, he’s actually a funny guy.

He’d been asked to do temporary foster care, but he ended up hugging all four and refusing to give them up.

Where did that displeased expression from the first day go?

When they said there was space at the shelter and went to take them, he absolutely wouldn’t give them up.

Then he squeezed something out of our poor Manager Park? The rich can be worse — might be true.

By the way.

That old man really was a chaebol (conglomerate owner).

His garden — which must have taken hundreds of millions — was razed, but he managed to adopt all the dogs we’d asked him to temporarily look after.

He kept a few at the mansion and made a place near the “mother’s rock” where the rest could play.

He even called someone who’d built a safari abroad.

…I have no idea why you need a safari to raise dogs.

Moreover, by some maneuvering, he sent several to the Cheongseong Foundation.

They said they’d be good as building security dogs.

If anyone could become a security dog… well.

Anyway, the pet-related folks and dog trainer Park Sun-woo were treating me like a savior. With the haunted-house experience already broadcast, my value had risen, and if I appeared on a pet program too, my stock would skyrocket.

“Anyway, contacts poured in because the buzz spread, right?”

“Hah! A ratings guarantee, huh?”

“…Sort of.”

What’s with that smug look?

“Want to see?”

“Ahem, well, let’s see…”

I maintained a proud posture and flipped through the materials laid out for me.

“……”

“These things aren’t common.”

Manager Park calmly narrated like he was annotating.

“……”

“I don’t think most celebrities have ever received offers like this.”

Honestly, I didn’t really know, so I stopped turning pages and asked.

“But… is this categorized as entertainment?”

“It’s called a current affairs program.”

“……”

Looks like it.

From 24-hour incident reports to “I want to know these” and “Track 48 hours” — that kind of thing.

“But why is it all about incidents and accidents…?”

“Hey, this is a bit different.”

— Mystery Tracker.

“……”

I looked at Manager Park and asked.

“Um… I don’t want variety shows or anything like that?”

“Like what?”

“Solo Heaven.”

“Pfft.”

That smile somehow hurt my pride. Under-eye circles and a hollow look, yet one corner of his mouth tugged up too much. Manager Park seemed to have gone dark.

He tossed the program proposals onto the table and spoke.

“All of these…”

“Yes.”

“They came because of the image you created.”

“…Oh my.”

I felt a sense of impending doom.

Is my life destined for documentaries and current affairs instead of entertainment? It’s fun though…

The day Woo Su-han’s appearance on the pet program finally aired live, the world went noisy again.

— I really want to ask. To me, it truly looks like he’s talking with the dogs. What do you think?

┖ as22****: You too? Yana too!

┖ thPerseuta: Sounds crazy.

┖ yamme34: Hmm. On Video Star he said he learned several languages when he lived as a beggar. Maybe he learned them then.