Become a Star

Chapter 60

On Sunday afternoon, Woo-Hee closed her book and did some stretches her brother had taught her before leaving her room. Then, she snooped around the kitchen where the smell of delicious food was coming from. However, it wasn’t time for dinner yet, so she turned on the TV in the living room without much thought. As Woo-Hee sat cross-legged on the floor, Woo-Sa got up from the sofa and approached her before climbing onto her lap.

“Woo-Sa~ Let’s watch TV together.”

Since Woo-Jin couldn’t keep Woo-Sa on set, Woo-Jin’s mother and Woo-Hee had personally made a trip down to bring it home the day after he found Woo-Sa. Since then, Woo-Sa often followed Woo-Hee around the house. Initially, it had refused to leave Woo-Jin’s side but perhaps it recognized Park Eun-Soo, because it calmed down shortly after and rapidly adapted to the new environment.

It was probably out of concern for the cat, but Woo-Jin had been dropping by the house frequently after his mother and sister took Woo-Sa home. It was completely different from when he had just started shooting the drama and hadn’t bothered to go home. This had visibly upset his mother as she questioned if they were of lesser importance than the cat in his eyes. However, apart from that, she loved and cared about Woo-Sa very much.

Woo-Hee vaguely remembered Woo-Sa. She remembered whining in jealousy because Woo-Sa liked her brother more than her She also remembered crying more over the fact that she would not be able to see Woo-Sa anymore rather than separating with her father. Although she couldn’t remember anything about her biological father anymore, Woo-Hee still had some memories of Woo-Sa.

Woo-Hee watched the TV while petting Woo-Sa’s soft fur, but there was nothing interesting. Two unknown girls were pretending to be part-timers at a convenience store and surprising customers, but it wasn’t that interesting.

“Oh?”

It might have been different if they were celebrities she knew, but just as she was getting bored watching people complimenting the members of an unknown idol group on their beauty, Woo-Hee saw her older brother.

“Mom, dad! Oppa is on TV!”

Park Eun-Soo and Choi Min-Woo ran into the living room immediately after hearing Woo-Hee’s shout. The middle-aged helper lady, who had been making dinner with Park Eun-Soo in the kitchen, also followed them.

“I need to throw those clothes immediately.” That was Park Eun-Soo’s first reaction when she saw her son on the TV screen.

“Nevertheless, Woo-Jin still looks good despite that getup.” Choi Min-Woo, who had a better eye for aesthetics than most people, could not defend Woo-Jin’s outfit. But even so, he had praised Woo-Jin for his good looks.

“Let’s take this opportunity to get new clothes for Woo-Jin.”

“What’s the point in doing that? He stubbornly only wears what he’s comfortable with! It’s been getting chilly in the evening these days, but look at what he’s wearing. He doesn’t know how to dress for each season. Still, Miss Yi-Young takes good care of him, and it seems like he’s been wearing what she picks out for him, but he’ll go back to wearing those clothes at any chance he gets.”

Even as the two people were complaining about his outfit, they couldn’t take their eyes off the TV screen and were unable to hide their sadness when they saw Woo-Jin was struggling with his group assignment. Even if they didn’t know what happened with the group assignment, it was clear that juggling both shooting a drama and studying at the same time was difficult.

After watching the segment where Woo-Jin had reassured Da-Young and Cho-Hee, Woo-Hee giggled and made fun of her brother. “That’s because it’s a TV program! In reality, if only two women were working at a convenience store at that time, and a man like that is loitering around, it would be truly scary. Maybe because we’re watching him on the screen, but oppa looks especially gloomy today. He’s a complete terror machine.”

Park Eun-Soo chided her, telling her not to say such a thing about her brother, but she couldn’t refute what Woo-Hee had said. Her son, who was wearing a stretched-out T-shirt and sweatpants with knee bags, dragging his flip-flops, looked different than usual – there was something cold about him. Clearly, his voice sounded friendly and he had a gentle expression, but he was still giving off an intense and frigid vibe.

“Maybe it’s because of the character he’s playing? He’s a little different from his usual self.” Perhaps Choi Min-Woo had also sensed the difference in Woo-Jin that only his family could feel because he reassured Park Eun-Soo by suggesting Woo-Jin’s role in the drama could be the reason behind it.

“That must be it, right? Even though it’s just a role he’s playing, I guess he still stays in character as he goes about his daily life. Still, seeing him like that makes me feel relieved.” Seeing how Woo-Jin seemed to be getting along with his co-workers, and judging from how friendly Woo-Jin and Lee Dan-Woo were to one another, Park Eun-Soo was relieved.

At first glance, Woo-Jin seemed friendly and kind to everybody, but Park Eun-Soo knew her son’s nature very well. He was extremely indifferent towards the people he didn’t like or care particularly about. Of course, he wasn’t a bad person by nature and would at least mask his indifference with kindness, but she was always worrying about him.

Nonetheless, now that he was an adult, she could see that he had been getting along well with strangers and trying his best to be nice to the people around him. Every time she saw that happening, it made her feel proud as she realized that he had grown up.

“But was that really a coincidence?”

The captions provided some information as it stated that Chae Woo-Jin’s appearance was just a coincidence and that he was shooting a drama in the vicinity. However, even from Woo-Hee’s perspective, it seemed too coincidental to be true, so she looked at the TV screen with suspicion.

However, that was not the most important thing. When Chae Woo-Jin left the convenience store, an old man was picking up waste paper products in a corner near the glass window in front of the convenience store. Woo-Jin, who had just been passing by, gave Lee Dan-Woo the plastic bag he was holding and walked towards the older man.

— Do you need my help, grandpa? [1]

With the help of the cameras that had been installed previously to capture the customers’ reactions before and after entering the convenience store, they managed to record Woo-Jin’s voice and actions perfectly.

— Oh, it’s alright, so please run along. Your hands will get dirty.

— It’s just paper. Even if it’s dirty, how dirty can it get? But, it’s past midnight, are you still working?

— The convenience store owner always throws out the cardboard boxes after midnight. If he does it during the day, it would be messy… Oh?

The old man had been loading a cardboard box onto his cart when he stopped talking in surprise after seeing Woo-Jin’s face in the light. As soon as the old man suddenly went quiet, Woo-Jin, who had been organizing the cardboard boxes, looked up at the old man’s face. His eyes widened as well.

— Grandpa?

— It’s you, the young man who gave me the sneakers back then! I wanted to thank you if we ever met again, but we actually met again like this!

The old man was genuinely happy to see Woo-Jin and grabbed his hand and shook it with both his hands. Woo-Jin smiled awkwardly with a slightly puzzled look on his face after seeing how the old man was overly happy to see him,

— My family survived because of you! Thanks to ‘The Slipper Young Man’ or whatever, we somehow became famous so my wife is currently in a nursing home, and my grandson and I have moved close to here.

After hearing the old man’s heartfelt story, Woo-Jin nodded with a look on his face that seemed to suggest he understood.

— Ah, I’ve also heard about it from the people around me and found out recently. I’m glad everything has worked out well.

They had a brief exchange of greetings, and because of the late hour, the old man started to hurry. After seeing the old man worry about his grandson, who was alone at home, Woo-Jin went back into the convenience store and bought two bottles of warm soymilk.

— I didn’t bring my wallet with me, so I can’t buy anything else for you. It’s late, so please go home and have a warm drink with your grandson before you sleep,

Woo-Jin gave the old man two bottles of soy milk. They said goodbye to one another and parted ways. The old man looked on as Woo-Jin made his way towards Lee Dan-Woo, who was slightly farther away, before pushing his cart with a warm smile as he walked in the opposite direction.

The scene then transitioned into an exclusive interview with the old man. When the staff asked the old man about Chae Woo-Jin, he shook his head.

— I didn’t know he was a movie star. I don’t even have a TV at home, let alone watch movies. I only saw the photo that went viral much later when people visited me and provided all kinds of support. Even reporters came to interview me. I haven’t seen him at all ever since, up until we ran into each other like that today. I really wanted to thank him at least once, but we couldn’t meet before. What I received that day were just sneakers, [2] but because of that, others now know that there are people like us in this world. Who cares about someone like me? I’m just a dirty and messy person who blocks the way. And I’m very thankful to the gentleman who took the photo. As my grandson had said, one photo can change the world, right? To the people who have helped us — thank you. Thank you for everything.

The interview ended with the old man wiping his tears away with his wrinkled hands. After the video ended, the panelists kept asking Da-Young and Cho-Hee about this chance encounter. They had not known anything about the story of the Slipper Young Man, so they looked very surprised. As if they were fans of his, Da-Young and Cho-Hee responded to the panelists’ questions as they talked about their feelings after meeting Chae Woo-Jin. They also expressed their disappointment that Woo-Jin had not recognized them, saying that they would formally greet him the next time they see him in an aegyo manner. [3]

The host of the show and the panelists clapped and said that was the true concept of Do You Know Us? and became very excited. The TV program ended on a beautiful note, with the caption saying, Thank you DS Entertainment for allowing us to broadcast the recording of Chae Woo-Jin without his consent.

“People do meet like that, huh.”

Even if Woo-Jin didn’t say he was the Slipper Young Man, his family had already known about it. Which family wouldn’t recognize their son and brother after looking at the photo that everyone was talking about for a while and even appeared on the news? Furthermore, Woo-Hee had heard directly from Woo-Jin about the slippers in question, so there was no way she hadn’t known about it.

“This is why we should do good deeds. You never know where and how you’re going to run into people. In any case, Woo-Jin had done a good thing.”

When Choi Min-Woo agreed with what Park Eun-Soo had said, Woo-Hee looked at them ambiguously and said, “But oppa said he only did that because he wanted to go to heaven?” While it was clear that what he did was praiseworthy, Woo-Hee wondered if kindness with an ulterior motive, instead of sincere kindness that came from one’s heart, was truly a good thing.

“Regardless of the intention, it’s still better than doing something bad. And having those thoughts itself is good. When people have nothing to fear, they become venomous and cold-hearted. Additionally, the slipper incident isn’t only about Woo-Jin doing a good deed. It has influenced other people too. Such a heartwarming ending is a happy ending.”

Park Eun-Soo smiled warmly and grabbed Choi Min-Woo’s hand after hearing what he said before adding, “In the past, your brother would have just walked past the old man. It’s not that he would intentionally ignore the old man’s presence, but he truly wouldn’t have been able to see him or think about helping him. It’s said that people see and practice what they think. So regardless of what your brother’s intentions or motives were, his perspective has broadened, and his thoughts have gotten deeper. People change little by little like that and become better people. And we call that a good deed.”

Woo-Hee nodded after hearing what her parents said. Up until now, Woo-Hee had been laughing on the inside whenever she heard people talk about the Slipper Young Man. Since she knew her brother wouldn’t joke about such a thing, she had taken what he had said about wanting to go to heaven seriously. Because she knew Woo-Jin’s side of the story, when people around her praised the Slipper Young Man, she would respond and say to herself, ‘You don’t know anything that’s why you’re praising him.’.

However, the most important thing in the Slipper Young Man’s story was not his hidden intentions but the cycle of paying it forward and a family that had experienced a fortunate stroke of serendipity. Even if the intentions behind the good deed were not altruistic, the results that followed shouldn’t be disregarded.

“Mom, Dad, you’re right. It’s a happy ending,” Woo-Hee replied cheerfully, as Choi Min-Woo gently stroked her hair. Both Woo-Jin and Woo-Hee were kind and upright children in his eyes.

The popularity of Do You Know Us? could be seen just by looking at the trending search queries in real-time. However, Chae Woo-Jin, the Slipper Young Man, and the City of Shadows were the top three most-searched queries. The TV program’s name could be seen below the top three, followed by all the members of Berry Rose filling all top ten spots of most-searched queries.

Naturally, there were negative reviews about the show as well. Firstly, there were a lot of doubts about whether Chae Woo-Jin entering the convenience store was truly just a coincidence. Suspicions about whether or not it was just an act to create publicity for the drama started to arise.

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1. ???? here doesn’t refer to Woo-Jin’s actual grandfather. It’s a polite term to call an older man. <i class="far fa-hand-point-left">

2. The raws really do say sneakers and not slipper here <i class="far fa-hand-point-left">

3. Aegyo or ?? means acting in a cute way. <i class="far fa-hand-point-left">