Become a Star

Dinky Cafe opened at 10 a.m. but because this place had already become a hotspot in the area, customers flocked in as soon as it opened.

There was a wide variety of customers, across a wide range of ages, visiting the cafe on a Saturday morning –– from young students hanging out with their friends because there was no school, to the elderly; from people who were job hunting, to office workers that were tired even on their day off; from the unhappy or happy people, to the passersby that dropped in, and customers that had been regulars for several years.

It was a place where many different types of people came and went in large numbers within a day. As such, there were also a lot of stories told by its customers there. The most interesting stories among them were celebrity gossip.

“Did you know that Min Si-Hoo and Lee Min-Soo fought at a bar last night? They even beat up the owner when he tried to stop them and were charged.”

“Who are they?”

“Don’t you remember Blue Fit? You used to like them a lot.”

“Ah! I remember now. But weren’t they members of the same group? Why were they fighting with each other?”

While people still remembered the name ‘Blue Fit’ several years later, the public’s memory of the individual members had faded. Even though Lee Min-Soo had been the leader of Blue Fit and was still active as he took on minor roles in the acting industry from time to time, people had mostly forgotten about him and his name didn’t exactly ring a bell immediately. However, once they remembered who he was, nobody had anything good to say about him.

“Last night, Lee Min-Soo happened to run into Min Si-Hoo at a bar, and I guess he started a fight with him, saying that Blue Fit ended up in ruins because of him. Which is true… if Min Si-Hoo hadn’t bullied Genie, then even if their popularity were to end up waning in the future, they wouldn’t have been destroyed like that, so Min-Soo must’ve been mad at him.”

“Lee Min-Soo isn’t exactly blameless either. I heard that he played a big part in turning Blue Fit against Genie.”

Even though people couldn’t really remember their names, every single one of their actions lingered in their minds. This was particularly so because after some time had passed, there was an interview with TM employees and a lesser-known member of Blue Fit where it was mentioned that they had also suffered because of what Lee Min-Soo had done.

“But wasn’t Lee Min-Soo studying abroad in America? When did he come back?”

“Studying abroad my foot! He was addicted to gambling and already squandered all the money he earned back when he was a member of Blue Fit. Since his family isn’t giving him financial support, he must’ve returned to Korea not too long ago since he couldn’t survive any longer alone out there. According to the article, it turns out that he had stolen his mother’s belongings and went to the bar.”

After badmouthing Min Si-Hoo and Lee Min-Soo for quite some time, the two of them suddenly remembered the name and face of one person.

“What’s Lee Yeon been doing these days?”

After the sponsorship scandal, Lee Yeon had been completely kicked out of the entertainment industry. Judging from how he was one of the big celebrities within the entertainment industry, it seemed harder for the public to forgive him for accepting a sponsorship as compared to bullying and assault.

“I heard he’s managing an orchard in the countryside.”

“Really?”

“It’s funny how he seems to be living the most stable and decent life out of all the Blue Fit members.”

Presently, aside from small-time actor Lee Min-Soo and gambling addict Min Si-Hoo, one of the Blue Fit members was heavily in debt because of business failure after business failure, and another member was arrested for fraud. One could only sigh after hearing the stories of these Blue Fit members. Managing an orchard created quite a disparity between Lee Yeon and the rest of the members, but he was living the most decently and carefreely out of all the former Blue Fit members.

The two customers remarked, ‘In any case, what goes around comes around’, and gloated over the plight of the former Blue Fit members. Just then, the owner of the cafe brought cookies over to their table.

“We didn’t order any cookies, though?”

“We give free cookies to our first customers every day. I’m a little late today because I preheated the oven later than usual. I’ll refill your Americano instead to make up for it.”

As soon as the cafe opened, several customers flocked in together, but these two people were indeed their first customers of the day. The free cookies that were given to the customers were best served with Americano, but since the owner was slightly late, the customer’s cups were almost empty.

The cafe owner looked into the store as he was refilling the first two customers’ cups of Americano, and greeted the customers that happened to enter the cafe.

“Welcome to Dinky Cafe, ah…!”

When the owner saw who entered the cafe, he walked up to them quickly and showed them to their seats. Their favorite table in the corner of the second floor happened to be unoccupied. It was the best seat for them because it was located between the wall and the pillar, so they could cleverly avoid other people’s peering eyes.

“You seem to look younger every time I see you, sir.”

“He doesn’t look any different from the last time we saw him, though?”

After hearing Woo-Hee’s words, Woo-Ra looked the cafe owner up and down with an indifferent look on her face. Her remark was cold. However, the owner already knew what Woo-Ra’s personality was like, so he merely smiled and thanked her instead. Saying someone didn’t look any older even though time had passed could also mean that they looked younger.

“You’re not even a celebrity anymore, do you really have to go around looking like that? It’ll attract more attention instead.”

As soon as the cafe owner left after taking their orders, Woo-Hee chided Woo-Ra asking why she couldn’t just act normal when she was out and about. Woo-Ra had left Berry Rose, declaring that she would no longer be active within the entertainment industry, but here she was, wearing a huge pair of sunglasses and a black face mask.

“It’s because you keep going to places where ordinary folks frequent.”

Woo-Ra had many complaints of her own too, stating that she had no choice but to cover her face because they came to a place where there were a lot of people around, with zero privacy. Even though she constantly grumbled, she followed Woo-Hee wherever she went. Besides, Woo-Ra was also a huge fan of this cafe’s coffee, despite her complaints.

Although Woo-Hee and Woo-Ra didn’t see each other often, both of them would meet once or twice a month to have a meal and chat with one another at a cafe like this. The reason why they met up in the morning was that they wanted to watch Woo-Jin’s new movie together.

Guardian Angel 2 was released three years after the first movie, starring both Woo-Jin and Dustin. It didn’t come as a surprise since Woo-Jin had fully established himself as a major actor in Hollywood within a few years.

“The movie’s at an awkward time, so we’ll need to have a late lunch.”

“Why did you pick such a time slot!”

“I barely managed to get the tickets even at this time slot!”

When Woo-Hee gnashed her teeth and glared at her, Woo-Ra quietly played the innocent.

Woo-Hee had already watched the movie after getting a ticket from her brother, but Woo-Ra insisted that they watch it today, so she had no choice but to watch it again. This was because she could see Woo-Ra pestering her about how she wanted to watch the movie, but didn’t have any friends to watch it with, and that she didn’t want to watch it alone.

After Woo-Ra said she was going to get her secretary to book the movie tickets for her because she didn’t know how to, Woo-Hee told her she would do it instead. However, it was difficult to find a good time slot because the movie was a huge hit, coupled with the fact that it was Saturday.

Woo-Hee told her she should be very grateful for those tickets, to which Woo-Ra nodded meekly.

“We’re graduating from college next year, what are you planning to do?”

Woo-Hee’s career path had been established a long time ago, but unlike her, Woo-Ra couldn’t decide what she wanted to do, even though she was graduating next year. However, going to college and completing her classes up until the second semester of her senior year without a hitch, and graduating alone was a miracle for Woo-Ra.

“Bareunjeong –– I’m going to work for my dad’s company.” Woo-Ra didn’t have any plans previously, but she responded right away this time around.

“Via nepotism?”

“Do you think Bareunjeong is some terrible company that hires people via nepotism? And even if it was, I’d reject them!”

“In that case, how are you going to get hired?”

“Special admissions for celebrities!”

Woo-Hee was briefly at a loss for words. Woo-Ra couldn’t tell the difference between nepotism and special admissions for celebrities.

“You’ve already entered college via special admissions as a celebrity, and now you even want to use it to get a job! Besides, you’re no longer a celebrity.”

“Ah, whatever! The only thing I know is that I have a good palate. I’ll join Bareunjeong’s food development team and develop some amazing new products. You’ll see.”

Woo-Hee had also acknowledged that Woo-Ra had a good palate. Just like how a certain character had once said the meat was cooked with persimmon because it tasted like persimmon[1], Woo-Ra had a similar ability.

This was something that Woo-Hee learned after looking up good restaurants and eating there with Woo-Ra. Woo-Hee had been annoyed with how stingy Woo-Ra was with praises when it came to food, but she found out that Woo-Ra had a good palate. Not only was Woo-Ra able to guess the ingredients of the dish correctly, but she also managed to get the combination and proportions right, so that if one were to follow her instructions on how to recreate the dish at home, it would taste almost identical to the actual dish. Additionally, if they were to follow her suggestions and add more of certain ingredients, then the dishes would taste even better than those belonging to famous restaurants without fail.

Prior to that, even Woo-Ra herself had no idea that her palate was that good. No, to be precise, she thought everyone else’s palates were equally good, but she came to learn that hers was slightly more superior and unique.

Hence, she had taken an interest in cooking these days and found it very fun.

“I’ll show everyone my ability in one way or another, and Bareunjeong will be in my hands no matter what!”

“Ability…”

There were a lot of things Woo-Hee wanted to say, but she kept her mouth shut. Her ability to pick out flavors and ingredients with her palate was different from the ability to run a company, but it was a matter for that family to figure out on their own.

“By the way, I heard your father didn’t remarry. Is it because you’re against it by any chance?”

After divorcing Kim Hye-Ryeong, Woo-Hee thought he would get married again right away, but Woo-Ra’s father had been single for several years ever since.

“Do you think my father would listen to me if I were to oppose it? Well, I think he’s dating some woman, but it seems like he would never get married because he has a lot of trust issues. He’s getting older, and older –– it’s evident that he wouldn’t have any more children even if he were to get married. It might be a different story if he were to have a son, but if he marries a young woman, he will leave the world before she does, and when that happens, where do you think our family’s wealth will go?”

Woo-Ra’s practical concern was an accurate interpretation of Chae Mu-Seok’s current fears. When he divorced Kim Hye-Ryeong, he was planning to get married immediately as well, but naturally, he had to think about the future when looking for a partner.

To put it bluntly, unless he found a partner whom he had fallen deeply in love with, such that he was willing to give everything he had to her unconditionally without feeling a pinch, getting remarried at this age could be akin to giving away the empire he had built to another family.

“He’s aging disgracefully as well, huh. Oh, someone’s calling you.”

For some reason, after imagining how her biological father would be growing old alone pitifully as time went by, Woo-Hee had a bitter smile on her face. Just then, Woo-Ra’s phone on the table started to ring, so Woo-Hee pointed at it. Instead of answering the call, Woo-Ra responded by disabling vibration and turning on silent mode.

“It’s my mom –– I don’t have to pick it up.”

“Did she ask for money again?”

“Yeah! She lost one of my buildings previously, and she’s asking to loan a building as collateral this time around.”

It might sound harsh, but Woo-Ra thought she had kept her loyalty to her mother by giving her a building that was worth ten billion won. Presently, her father was hesitant about remarriage, but nobody knew what would happen in the future. As Woo-Ra was well-aware of what her father thought of her, she had been preparing the groundwork to be self-sufficient at any time. That was the reality, but her mother still couldn’t come to her senses, Thus, Woo-Ra was now completely fed up with her.

“It’ll be hard to squander all that wealth in just two to three years though…”

“She’s obsessed with doing business. Probably because my stepmother became very successful after getting a divorce. It seems like she thought she could become just like that if she were to do the same. She should just resign to fate and get a job just like me.”

After the divorce, Kim Hye-Ryeong started several businesses, but every single one of them failed. The people that had approached her also turned out to be scammers, and because someone was determined to sabotage her, everything she did ended in failure, and now she was broke.

The reason why Woo-Ra obediently decided to work for Bareunjeong was that she came to realize a lot of things after watching her mother fail at everything she did.

“Besides, I’ve been really into some punk for some reason. Ah, just thinking about it makes me annoyed and embarrassed!”

As Woo-Ra was speaking, she shook her head to shake off her thoughts. Still, Woo-Hee was the only person she felt comfortable sharing such things with.

“I have nothing to say. Instead, I give you my sincere condolences.”

“I’m only asking because I’m really curious, but why do people have to send boring condolences[2]? Does it mean they’re trying to say they want to hang out together by telling the other party they’re bored?”

Woo-Hee looked at Woo-Hee with a serious look on her face, telling her she had no idea why people only sent boring condolences instead of normal ones.

“Ha, let’s swing by the bookstore before we watch the movie.”

“Why?”

Woo-Hee patted the back of Woo-Ra’s hand and apologized for being negligent when she should have paid more attention to it before.

“I’m sure we can find Korean dictionaries with definitions that are easy to understand and Sino-Korean words. Let’s not give up.”

However, Woo-Ra didn’t understand what she was trying to say. Nonetheless, with a blank look on her face, Woo-Ra felt happy because Woo-Hee was concerned about her.

1. It’s a reference to a very famous Korean drama back in the 2000s, called 대장금 (Jewel in the Palace), where the young Jang Geum, a palace girl with a remarkable palate, guessed correctly that the meat was cooked with persimmon –– which was uncommon, and when asked how she knew the answer, she responded that she simply tasted persimmon. ☜

2. 심심한 위로 means sincere condolences, but at the same time 심심한 (심심하다 = bored) means boring. Since Woo-Hee has a poor vocabulary, she misinterpreted what Woo-Hee said as ‘boring condolences’. ☜