Become a Star

“A man with flowers is always right.”

Seeing his nephew holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand, Park Eun-Cheol chuckled. Back when his mother was alive, she used to love red roses the most. And she used to say that whenever his father came home from work with red roses in his hands.

“In return, his descendants are the ones suffering.” It was rather embarrassing for Woo-Jin to carry red roses around since noon because of his romantic grandfather. Park Eun-Cheol laughed out loud after hearing what Woo-Jin said and patted his nephew on the shoulder. As soon as he did that, gasps could be heard everywhere.

“He’s my nephew.” Park Eun-Cheol responded indifferently to the curious people who had been in a state of shock since Chae Woo-Jin showed up. Park Eun-Cheol was enjoying this moment, which was similar to the cathartic feeling he got whenever he put forth an argument backed by solid evidence. He congratulated Woo-Jin and went back to his office.

Woo-Jin promptly followed Secretary Choi to the CEO of Rome Law Firm’s office. As soon as he left, time paused for a moment before continuing to tick again. The dead silent place was filled with chaos. Some people were even gasping for air. The same applied to Secretary Choi, who was currently leading Chae Woo-Jin to the CEO’s office. After receiving the roses and cookies from Woo-Jin and leaving the room, she leaned against the wall and collapsed to the floor.

She had never given up hope that she would get a chance to see Chae Woo-Jin with her own eyes one day. She had imagined countless scenarios in her head, but never did she expect herself to meet him like this.

“That was perfect!” Secretary Choi said while gasping for air.

She thought about how she had easily accomplished the task given to her by Park Hyun-Man and clenched her fists. She now had a clear reason to live as the perfect ‘Secretary Choi,’ without making any mistakes in the future. She set her resignation letter aside and stopped thinking entirely about the courthouse and Prosecutors’ Office.

***

“My secretary didn’t scream or make a fuss when she saw you?”

“No. She was reticent and stern, so it made me feel rather nervous instead.”

The former secretary, who had served his maternal grandfather for a very long time, was a very kind and thoughtful person. On the other hand, Secretary Choi, whom he had just met today, seemed so cold that it made Woo-Jin nervous.

“That’s fine then.” Park Hyun-Man smiled very proudly. However, he glanced at the now seated Woo-Jin with a sharp look in his eyes, wondering when he did it.

“You’re not intending to go to the training institute, right?”

“No, I’m not going.” Park Hyun-Man didn’t look very hopeful; Woo-Jin looked at his grandfather’s facial expression and answered with ease.

“You rascal! Do you know that the bar exam only evaluates your abilities? Interviewers should fail people like you.”

“Ah, that’s possible.”

If he were to be evaluated purely on knowledge or other aspects, there was no reason to fail him, but in Woo-Jin’s case, he didn’t deserve to pass because he wasn’t planning on pursuing a legal profession in the future. If that was a problem, he would be in a situation where he had nothing to say, even if he failed. Park Hyun-Man clicked his tongue as soon as Woo-Jin earnestly agonized over the problem he hadn’t thought about earlier.

“Tell them you’ve had a deep respect for your grandfather since you were a child and look up to him. Even though you don’t know what will happen in the future, you’re certainly not doing this for fun. If you say that, you’ll pass.”

“Isn’t that cheating?”

It was a question that had to be answered with utmost honesty and conviction, yet his grandfather was teaching him the easy way out. Woo-Jin's eyes dimmed as he looked at his grandfather.

“What do you mean it’s cheating! Everyone does that… Wait, does that mean you didn’t respect me when you were little?” Since Woo-Jin had come so far, Park Hyun-Man wanted him to become the top candidate for the bar exam. After trying to teach him a great trick, he glared at his grandson.

“Of course I did. Naturally, I took the bar exam because of you. If that hadn’t been the case, why would I have worked so hard for years to prepare for the exam and take it?” As Woo-Jin responded, a sudden realization hit him — he got the hang of how to answer the interview questions. Perhaps, that was the same for Park Hyun-Man; he smiled and gave him more thoughtful advice.

“That’s all you need to do. And if you have an interview before they announce the top candidate, just keep saying that you didn’t know you’d pass, so you weren’t too worried about it, and you’re planning to seriously consider going down that path in the future. Also, say that there has been a great deal of misunderstanding on their end and that you’re excited.” Woo-Jin smiled so widely that his eyes disappeared into a squint after hearing his grandfather’s advice and acknowledged that he understood.

Park Hyun-Man subconsciously looked at his grandson with a warm look in his eyes. In any case, as long as he didn’t make a huge mistake, the interviewers wouldn’t go out of their way to find fault with Woo-Jin. Every Korean citizen had the freedom to choose not to take the exam and go down that path in the first place.

“Well, you did make it this far without our help, so I believe you’ll do well.”

Even though Park Yi-Yeon did indeed pass the bar exam as the top candidate, it was more or less a logical outcome. He had received the best education with generous support, so it would have been rather strange if he hadn’t passed. Park Yi-Yeon grew up in a conducive environment with everything he needed, so Woo-Jin’s achievements were even more impressive and miraculous in comparison.

“But still, you should have given me a heads-up when we saw each other the other day. Do you know how shocked I was yesterday?”

He was still skeptical even after seeing a very familiar name on the list of applicants who had passed the second round, so he called his son to probe into it and ended up arguing with him, saying they were treating him like a useless old man by hiding things from him. Though he understood their intention, he questioned them whether they thought he was foolish enough to do something inconsiderate to his grandson, who was about to take the exam.

He hadn’t been this angry in a very long time. Park Hyun-Man, his son, and two grandchildren had already taken the bar exam. As such, he was more perceptive than anyone else. As soon as Woo-Jin called to tell him he had passed the second round of the bar exam, Park Hyun-Man quickly cooled down. If Woo-Jin hadn’t done so, his grandfather would have kept sulking a very long time.

On the other hand, he felt that it would be an excellent opportunity to let everyone know Woo-Jin was his grandson. It was getting harder and harder to hide this piece of information from the public. Furthermore, in light of the circumstances of Woo-Jin’s biological father’s family, hiding it wouldn’t do any good for the situation. It would be better for them to reveal the facts from their side and establish a solid position, not giving those people any time to prepare.

“A while ago, it was revealed that A-Ra or whatever her name is from Berry Rose is the daughter of the CEO of Bareunjeong Foods, right? They talked about how she’s from a wealthy family and so on.”

“Yes. I’ve seen the article too.”

Woo-Jin didn’t know his biological father had established a food company and was stunned to find out that most of the condiments he normally used were from that company. His mother didn’t tell him anything about it; she could have felt bitter whenever she saw them in the kitchen. Or perhaps, now that she didn’t have any feelings towards him, she could have felt nothing after seeing them as well.

“Do you know what’s one thing I heard the most from people after the article was published?” Park Hyun-Man asked.

“They asked you about the past?”

“No. It’s A-Ra or Woo-Ra. People think she’s my granddaughter. That’s why they tell me I have a pretty granddaughter.”

“I’m sorry?”

“It seems like they’ve tried really hard to hide the truth behind her birth. They’ve misled people to think she’s Woo-Hee. Thanks to that, I now have a granddaughter I didn’t know about before.”

Park Hyun-Man explained everything that had happened in detail to Woo-Jin; the latter had been completely clueless about it. However, after hearing the story about how the Chae family painted the picture that Chae Woo-Ra was Woo-Hee at some point onwards to protect their honor, Woo-Jin eventually frowned. Park Hyun-Man was laughing out loud, but a cold, sharp look flashed across his eyes.

“Even if they twisted the facts about her birth, it was only possible because you’ve been turning a blind eye to it, no?” The grandfather Woo-Jin knew would definitely have known about it. Woo-Jin asked because there was a possibility his grandfather had pretended not to know about it.

“Woo-Jin, the more weaknesses a person has, the more they’re bound to be at a disadvantage. Armed with the knowledge of your enemy’s weakness, we wait patiently to enjoy the satisfaction of using it against them at the right time.”

Responding one by one to those worthless rumors would only drain them emotionally, without gaining anything back in return. So Park Hyun-Man chose to wait in silence over momentary relief. Instead, he earnestly helped his opponent’s weakness grow as much as possible by letting the small fruits they had planted grow and ripen.

“Then how did you respond when people asked if she was your granddaughter?”

“I told them one of my grandchildren did become a celebrity, but I don’t know much about the girl idol.”

“People must have misunderstood.”

Park Hyun-Man severing ties with his daughter over her divorce back then wasn’t exactly a secret. Because of that, it was the perfect answer to mislead people into thinking that he didn’t know much about his grandchildren and had only gotten information about them through others.

“That’s why I’m really looking forward to seeing how your relationship with that girl will unfold once people find out you’re my grandson. Everyone in Korea knows Woo-Hee is your younger sister after all.” In Park Hyun-Man’s eyes, Chae Woo-Ra wasn’t someone he needed to protect. She was one of the reasons why his daughter suffered anyway. Just that….

“However, she’s your younger sister, so you might care about her.” Park Hyun-Man carefully examined Woo-Jin’s facial expression as he spoke because he was concerned and wanted to know how Woo-Jin felt about it.

“I made up my mind when I became an actor that I will protect my family no matter what and make sure they don’t suffer. But I don’t consider Chae Woo-Ra part of my family.”

He felt sorry for Chae Woo-Ra, but he simply could not see her as his younger sister. And since she was already 19, she was old enough to protect herself, and Woo-Jin was also willing to lend a helping hand if something happened to her. That was only because he wasn’t the type of person who would enjoy the misfortunes of others. It could be heartbreaking because he was compassionate.

However, it was nothing more than compassion for others — it wasn’t the same affection he had for his family. Chae Woo-Ra wasn’t an orphan who had a hard life, so Woo-Jin couldn’t find a reason to protect her. It might seem cold-hearted, but there was hardly anybody who would put others before their own family.

“In that case, an interesting article will be published soon.”

After hearing his grandfather’s meaningful words, Woo-Jin told him to do as he pleased. Truth be told, mobilizing the media was beyond Woo-Jin’s means. His maternal grandfather wasn’t someone who would do anything to hurt his family. It seemed like something he had been thinking about doing for quite some time, so Woo-Jin decided to just go with it. He still didn’t have any ammunition against his biological father’s family. Woo-Jin concluded that it would be better to leave the issue entirely to his maternal grandfather and decided not to care about it for the time being. Instead, he recalled the purpose of his visit today and spoke softly.

“I have a favor to ask of you.” Woo-Jin carefully spoke and secretly studied his grandfather’s face. As they hadn’t spoken to each other for quite a while before the reconciliation, it was difficult for Woo-Jin to ask his grandfather for a favor. But there was also hesitation as he didn’t know if it was appropriate to ask for his grandfather’s help with a personal matter.

“What is it?”

“I would like you to help a hyung of mine with his problem. He was falsely accused and is having a hard life because of it, and you’re the only person I can turn to for help with this matter.”

As soon as Park Hyun-Man heard what Woo-Jin said, he instantly knew where this was heading. He had been curious about Lee Hyung-Jin, so he looked into him, but he didn’t expect the details of his investigation to be used in this manner. Getting the sense that Woo-Jin wanted what he had looked into, Park Hyun-Man pretended not to know and threw a question back at him just to be sure.

"Did someone already ask you for a favor?”

“Of course not. I just wanted to help him because it makes me too angry to stay still and do nothing about it. Am I way out of line?”

As soon as Woo-Jin looked at Park Hyun-Man with an innocent look in his eyes, the latter started coughing. Park Hyun-Man had only remembered the younger version of Woo-Jin. Now that Woo-Jin had already grown up, he seemed a little unfamiliar to him. However, when Woo-Jin showed this side of himself from time to time, it reminded Park Hyun-Man of the times when he clutched onto his leg and acted cute when he was little. Regardless of how much they had grown during the time he had lost, Woo-Jin and Woo-Hee were still his beloved grandchildren.

Park Hyun-Man’s gaze lingered on the red roses on the desk for a while; the secretary had placed the flowers Woo-Jin bought into a vase and left it on his desk. Park Hyun-Man suddenly thought of his wife, who loved red roses, and sighed softly. The fact that he could no longer see his wife was heartbreaking and saddening enough, but he had been away from his daughter and grandchildren for too long because of his own obstinacy. It was such a waste of time that it made him feel very frustrated. That was the result of forgetting what was important. Park Hyun-Man was an inflexible man of principle, but he now knew what the most important thing in the world was.

“All right, what can I do to help?”

Woo-Jin had been nervous the entire time, but once his thoughtful grandfather asked him that question, he was finally at ease. Even though his cousin, Park Yi-Yeon, told him not to worry, he was apprehensive because if his strict maternal grandfather had declined by any chance, it would have been the end of the road. Looking at how relieved his grandchild was, Park Hyun-Man shrugged. At times like these, it wasn’t necessarily bad to be powerful.