SWNOVELXO Chapter 95
Chapter 95
They say there are celebrities like that in the world.
Shall we call them celebrities who are good at attracting attention?
Even when they do the same thing, for some reason, their news spreads evenly and widely.
What should we call them?
Spotlight?
No.
That’s too narrow.
Agitator?
That’s too aggressive.
Yeah.
Let’s call them celebrities blessed by the god of attention.
People destined to draw others’ interest no matter what they do.
Lee Min Ki was precisely that kind of person.
[???]
He was someone the world paid attention to.
[Why is that real?]
[????]
[Why is Lee Min Ki wearing a hanbok?]
[Is he shooting a historical drama?]
[Why is there a Westerner in a historical drama?]
[Oh ho, in this day and age, such discriminatory remarks… Gah!!!!!!]
[Tsk, tsk!]
[But why is that person the only one in a modified hanbok?]
[Isn’t that Lee Min Ki’s manager?]
The brief commotion at Gyeongbokgung Palace spread across the internet at lightning speed.
[Lololololololol]
[It’s really Lee Min Ki, lololol]
[This is the most absurd thing since Lotte, lol]
[Ah, lol you lololol]
[If you’re going to use your body like that, give it to me, lololol]
It spread at an unusually fast rate.
In a way, this too was a kind of luck.
Good news spreads well.
Conversely, bad news rarely spreads and tends to get buried.
Lee Min Ki’s luck was strangely developed in this particular direction.
[Who is that woman?]
[I searched, but nothing came up.]
[Isn’t that Bojana Olson?]
[Who’s that?]
[There’s that American singer.]
[She’s Australian.]
In just one day, the news spread and spread, and Lee Min Ki’s antics started to affect things in a very strange way.
[I also went to Gyeongbokgung and did a shuffle dance.]
A really strange direction.
* * *
That’s how luck works.
If it’s good, it’s endlessly good, and if it’s bad, it’s endlessly bad.
The first example is Lee Min Ki, and the latter is also Lee Min Ki.
[Hongdae Ice Cream Man]
One of the nicknames attached to Lee Min Ki a long time ago.
It’s not because he was sweet like ice cream.
If that had been the case, it wouldn’t have been about luck at all.
Lee Min Ki’s luck was on a whole other level.
“Ah.”
While walking down an alley, he almost stepped on a stray cat and, in an attempt to avoid it, stumbled and fell.
Coincidentally, the direction he fell in was toward an ice cream shop.
A shop popular among tourists for its 30cm ice cream.
The shop had placed its machine outside.
Crash!
Unfortunately for Lee Min Ki, the moment he collided with the machine, by sheer coincidence, a malfunction occurred in the ice cream machine.
Whiiir—
Normally, you’d have to press a button to dispense ice cream, but due to the impact, the machine malfunctioned and started dispensing.
The ice cream streamed down, building a pink tower on top of Lee Min Ki’s head.
A tower made of a 30cm ice cream stream.
The price was 3,500 won.
The flavor was popping strawberry.
[Lolololol]
[It looks like a comedy sketch, lololol]
[Is this a hidden camera prank?]
[Everyone passing by was cracking up, lololol]
When it came to Lee Min Ki’s actions becoming famous on the internet, it usually went in this kind of direction.
Becoming someone’s laughingstock.
[Hey, they say Lee Min Ki is the Hongdae Ice Cream Man?]
[So sweet.]
[They say his head smells like strawberries.]
His luck was terribly bad.
But then, Lee Min Ki’s luck reversed, which means…
[I’ve joined the Gyeongbokgung Shuffle Dance Challenge.]
Even actions taken without any intent could spread uncontrollably in a good direction.
[Ah lol, you can’t resist the Gyeongbokgung Shuffle Dance.]
[Lee Min Ki danced here.]
[People lined up just to take a certification photo. It took 30 minutes just to take one photo.]
[Our Min Ki is thriving.]
[(Is this person a Korean dancer? What is their name?)]
People on SNS started following in Lee Min Ki’s footsteps.
Wearing hanbok at Gyeongbokgung and copying his dance.
Over 100 videos were uploaded just today, proving his influence as a trending actor.
But what’s important is not quantity but quality.
Among them, the most popular video had a whopping…
“40,000 shares…?”
It had been shared more than 40,000 times.
Of course, the video featured Lee Min Ki.
‘It feels like it increases every time I refresh.’
The number of shares kept increasing, and so did the comments.
[Let’s make sure no one on Earth misses this video.]
[This is insane. During lunch, the kids kept replaying this 1,459,425 times.]
[The murmuring around the person filming is the best part, lolololol]
[Min Ki, can you please shoot a historical drama for us?^^ Please?]
[JC, you know what we want. Make a wise decision.]
………
……
…
In front of the dizzying number of growing digits, Lee Min Ki’s eyes spun.
‘Is this a number achievable from just Korea?’
Upon closer inspection, it seemed it had spread a lot to English-speaking and Japanese accounts as well.
[(SO CUTEEEEEEEEEEE)]
[(What is this person’s name? Please teach me.)]
[(There’s a lot of talent in Korea’s idol market.)]
[(What’s the title of this drama?)]
He scrolled down.
The scroll just wouldn’t end.
He scrolled and scrolled again.
He scrolled hard.
But it didn’t seem to decrease.
Swish— Swish— Swish— Swish—
Lee Min Ki kept scrolling until his fingertips wore out.
Finally, he put down his phone and let out a long sigh.
“There are a lot…”
Our netizens sure know how to type.
Since these are messages left by people who like me, I felt thankful and wanted to read them all.
But this is too much.
There are way too many.
How can I read all of them when new comments are coming in faster than I can read?
‘Things will calm down later, right? I’ll catch up and read them all then.’
Lee Min Ki harbored a naive hope.
In any case, he definitely felt something from this event.
‘I’m really insanely famous now.’
He clearly realized it.
No matter how trivial his actions were, the public’s attention followed.
Not just online, but in reality as well.
‘It was hard to get out.’
It had been difficult to step foot out of Gyeongbokgung.
As soon as he appeared, within minutes, people swarmed.
By the time the filming was over, a crowd had gathered so thick that it was hard to move.
[Min, you seem to be more successful than I thought? Let’s remain friends from now on.]
Bojana Olson giggled, saying she had more scenes to include in her music video.
‘Popularity, huh.’
It’s like this now.
How will it be later?
Will I end up ordering everything online because I can’t even go to the local mart?
‘That would be a bit much.’
He was scared.
But thanks to enduring this ordeal, articles had come out.
[Lee Min Ki dances the shuffle in a hanbok at Gyeongbokgung]
[Is his next project a fusion historical drama?]
[Singer-songwriter Bojana Olson’s secret meeting with Lee Min Ki—why?]
[With his warm scholar vibes, anticipation for his new project builds.]
[Over 300 people gathered. It’s clear Lee Min Ki is the ‘hot rookie’ of the moment.]
Of course, JC’s influence seemed to have played a significant role in this, too.
And.
The person closest to that influence happened to be standing right beside him, nodding slowly.
“Actor, you are truly lucky.”
It was Manager Park Han Mo.
“These kinds of things, the company has been trying to make viral for ages, but almost always failed. But you succeeded naturally.”
“…….”
“At first, I was suspicious of what you were thinking, being so proactive. I thought you might have been stressed lately. After all, everyone dreams of rebellion at some point.”
“Hmm.”
Lee Min Ki couldn’t find a proper rebuttal and just nodded.
He couldn’t exactly explain that he knew Bojana Olson would become a global pop star.
In hindsight, it probably looked like he was overdoing it from Manager Park’s perspective.
“Not only that, you pulled it off voluntarily. That’s something I could never have imagined. It’s incredible.”
“It’s thanks to you, Manager.”
“No, I’m just a remora sticking to the actor.”
That’s hard to argue against.
Manager Park Han Mo calmly continued his words next to the silent Lee Min Ki.
“I’m joking. To be honest, I’ve managed more than 20 celebrities throughout my career, and you’re special among them.”
What does that ‘special’ mean?
Thinking he should take it positively, Lee Min Ki spoke.
“Haha, thank you.”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
So, what’s so special?
What’s so different?
It was obvious that Manager Park was teasing, so Lee Min Ki was about to change the subject.
“By the way, it seems like it’s time for you to start managing your fandom.”
“Fandom?”
“We’ve been holding
off on officially designating a fanbase because we thought it was too early, but unofficial ones are already forming.”
Ah, right.
He’d heard about that.
Usually, even when celebrities debut, they don’t immediately create an official fan club.
It’s common to do so in the second or third year after debut.
This is because many people rise quickly and then disappear after just one project.
There was even a superstition.
The faster a celebrity manages their fandom, the faster they fade away.
“In fact, many veteran actors never officially create fan clubs. However, your fanbase is quite strong.”
“Hmm, I’ve heard about that. Wasn’t it called Minki-dan?”
He had found it while ego-searching (searching for oneself on the internet).
Fans consuming Lee Min Ki were popping up like mushrooms after rain.
“Minki-dan, Min-ssaj, The Gathering of People Who Have Emigrated to Lee Min Ki’s Heart, Min Ki’s Rest Area, and Soo-wol. There were so many, right?”
Lee Min Ki mumbled as he counted on his fingers.
“And I heard my fans call themselves Hana.”
They call themselves “Hana” (One), saying that each one of them is a fan of Lee Min Ki.
“You remembered all that.”
At Manager Park’s slightly surprised voice, Lee Min Ki smiled shyly and replied.
“Well, they’re people who like me.”
The very fact that he had fans made him feel proud and grateful.
Since he had been a nameless actor for so long, just having one fan was something Lee Min Ki appreciated deeply.
If possible, he wanted to meet them in person.
No, he even wanted to treat them to a meal.
But now it’s grown too big to do that easily.
“It seems like it would be better to designate an official fanbase to communicate with them, right?”
“The choice is entirely yours. You can decide on what kind of fanbase to create, what title to make official, how to make merchandise, and how to interact with them. You can do it all in the way you prefer.”
He was handing the decision over to him?
“Hmm, in that case.”
What would be the best way?
After a brief moment of thought, Lee Min Ki opened his mouth.
“I’ll leave it entirely to JC.”
He decided to leave it to JC.
After all, JC was more knowledgeable than he was.
At Lee Min Ki’s words, Manager Park Han Mo looked slightly surprised.
Then, blinking his eyes, he spoke.
“You’re not going to choose yourself?”
“Yes.”
Lee Min Ki slowly nodded and continued.
“I think the company knows more than I do. Acting and managing a fandom are two entirely different things. If something goes wrong, it’d be a headache, right?”
There was one thing he learned from the last incident.
For most things, leaving it to the agency is much more comfortable.
The same applied to the fans.
“And besides, I’m already giving a percentage of my earnings to the company. I should take advantage of their help when I can.”
Lee Min Ki chuckled, throwing out a light joke.
“If things don’t work out, I won’t blame anyone.”
“You might regret it later.”
“If there’s any criticism, the company usually takes the heat, right? Hehe.”
“You’re getting more savvy.”
“It’s about time I shake off the ‘rookie actor’ tag.”
It’s long overdue, actually.
Just then.
Manager Park Han Mo blinked and spoke.
“Then it’s simple. The official fan club will be ‘Minki-dan,’ the official title will be ‘Hana,’ and the fan club designation will start next week.”
The conclusion was reached too quickly.
So fast that it was questionable whether he had thought it through.
“Huh?”
Can we decide this quickly?
Before Lee Min Ki could ask again, Manager Park Han Mo replied as if it was obvious.
“We usually leave it to the biggest entity.”
Too fast.
“There’s a reason for the custom.”
Ah, is that so?
Lee Min Ki, feeling a bit deflated, pouted slightly, but Manager Park asked.
“By the way, actor, I saw you chatting with Bojana Olson at the airport.”
“Oh, yeah, we exchanged a few words.”
It was just a brief conversation.
Bojana Olson had something specific to tell him.
But Manager Park, perhaps feeling quite concerned, asked in a cautious voice unlike his usual self.
“Can you tell me what you talked about?”
“About the conversation?”
Lee Min Ki briefly recalled.
A rather ridiculous scene came to mind.
[I’m planning to hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts with my next album.]
It was a declaration that she would hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
And the reason she told him this instead of Manager Park?
[After I hit No. 1 on Billboard, I was going to ask Mo to shoot my music video. How about it? Sounds fun, right?]
It was purely to show off later.
It was too much for a rookie who had just tasted the middle-upper ranks of the Billboard charts to say.
But as Lee Min Ki reflected on the oddly pleasant nuance in her words, he spoke.
“It’s a secret.”
“…You won’t tell me?”
“No.”
Seeing Manager Park’s slight emotional response, Lee Min Ki smiled and said.
“It was a bit of a personal conversation.”
She specifically told me not to say anything.
It was just for showing off.
But so what?
Successful showing off is usually called style.
* * *
In a quiet room.
A man was busy tapping away on a keyboard with a completely expressionless face.
But the person standing next to him had a face full of surprise.
‘Is the director smiling?’
That’s right.
The man tapping the keyboard was none other than Hwang Ui Seong.
One of the directors representing the art faction in the Korean film industry.
His face was usually as stoic as a stone statue, so anyone looking would think he was expressionless.
But the assistant director, who had been working closely with him for years like a symbiotic relationship, knew better.
‘He must be looking at something incredibly amusing. It’s rare to see such an expression. For Director Hwang to laugh like that.’
It was true.
Director Hwang Ui Seong was currently wearing an expression that was in the top 0.1% of his happiest faces.
That judgment was accurate.
Indeed, Director Hwang Ui Seong was currently…
‘Was his name Lee Min Ki? He’s a unique person.’
…quietly admiring Lee Min Ki on the internet.
Admiring his brain, specifically.
‘It looks like spontaneous behavior, but in reality, everything is meticulously calculated down to the smallest details.’