Legendary Superstar

The meeting didn't last much longer after Minjae made his decision.

Donghyun, upon hearing Minjae's pick, simply nodded with a satisfied smile.

"Alright. I'll inform the agency and tell them you're interested in Winter's Ending. They'll coordinate with the production and check if they can make any tweaks possible for the character's background."

"Thanks, hyung." Minjae leaned back in his seat, finally feeling like he could breathe. Choosing the next step in his career had been a weight on his shoulders all morning, and now that it was done, he felt lighter.

They packed up the scripts, sorted the final notes, and closed the files. Donghyun was really meticulous in his work.

Once Donghyun left to handle a few things with the agency next door and to inform them with Minjae's decision, he stayed behind.

For the next hour, Minjae just stayed in the office, wandering the halls of the fifth floor with a hot cup of coffee in hand. The admin team waved when he passed by. A few interns giggled and whispered his name under their breath as he moved upstairs to the lounge.

He found himself looking out of the floor-to-ceiling window at the city below. Snow was still falling, blanketing the streets with soft layers of white. Still, it wasn't as bad as a week ago.

Cars passed slowly, and people walked briskly with scarves wrapped tightly around their faces.

For a long time, Minjae just stood there, just watching. He finds it calming.

When 5 o'clock hit, they decided to grab dinner together before heading home.

They chose a simple place not far from Flex Entertainment. It was a warm little Korean barbecue restaurant tucked into a quiet alley. The smell of grilled meat and sesame oil filled the air, and Minjae's shoulders dropped the second he stepped inside.

They ate well and talked more.

When they finished, they parted ways at the street corner. Minjae didn't let Donghyun drive him home since he could manage.

"See you tomorrow, hyung."

"See you, Minjae."

Minjae returned to his apartment that night with a full stomach..

He slipped out of his jacket, tossed his bag onto the couch, and exhaled.

Everything was going smoothly for him.

There were still a lot of things to do, more scripts to read in the future, more roles to consider, more steps to take—but for now?

He was happy.

He was happy that The Star's Secret was doing well.

Moreover, who would have thought that he'd immediately have a new project?

Everything felt surreal.

Minjae stood by the window of his living room, watching the snow fall under the city lights, and let himself smile.

Everything was quiet.

Peace settled over him. He wished that everyday would look like this.

'Aright, time for me to sleep. I still have some things to do tomorrow."

After finishing a glass of water and washing up, Minjae changed into a clean shirt and pajama. He went to his room and crawled into his bed.

'Haa… tomorrow will be tiring again.'

Tomorrow will be the release of the new episode for their drama. Everyone was looking up for it, so was he.

Minjae closed his eyes, and it didn't take long before sleep overtook him.

He drifted off soundly.

Minjae's room was dark, and while he slept loudly and deep, something stirred online.

At exactly 1:00 a.m., while everyone was resting and sleeping, a post quietly appeared on a popular anonymous community board under the title.

[What is the true background of a rising star?]

The user had no profile picture and no name. The account was also just recently made. It was suspicious, but that wasn't the focus. It was on his post. A short post.

The post was just a single paragraph and a few cryptic sentences that sent a stir through the quiet hours of the internet.

"There's an actor everyone seems to be praising lately. A new name. A rising star. But what people don't know is that he's not as perfect as he looks."

"He has no family. Or rather, he's been hiding the fact that he's an orphan, who ran away and was taken in by an old woman whom he later used for his own benefit."

"Some of us remember. Not everyone has forgotten how he climbed up. I wonder how long he'll keep pretending."

There was no name mentioned. No photos either to give a clue on who it was attacking. But the post ended with:

"He's been smiling a lot lately on screen. But let's see if he smiles the same way once people find out what he's hiding."

The post was vague and baseless.

But it was also… provocative.

It was enough to spark curiosity online. And just like that, people began to speculate who was it supposed to be.

"Who is this about?"

"A new actor with no background…?"

"Wait, does this mean an orphan actor? Is there someone like that?"

"Could it be someone from the Drama festical?"

"Yeah. That's the only event right now with rising actors."

It didn't take long for the post to be re-shared.

Not because people believed it immediately, but because of how it was worded.

It fed on people's curiosity.

By the time dawn broke, the thread had already gathered over a million of views and hundreds of thousands of shares and comments.

The post was first overlooked by a few night owls on the internet. But now that it was morning, and more people was awake, it made its way to every major social media platform.

Just like that trending hashtags began to form.

#RisingStarScandal

#WhoIsHe

#HiddenPast

#WhoIsThisActor?

Speculations were flying on the internet. Even silent fans voiced out their opinions. It was so messy since there were a lot of rising stars because of the drama festival. Because of that, the comment sections, private forums, and entertainment gossip pages were all filled with speculations about the post.

No one even questioned if it was true, or if who was the person that posted it.

"It's gotta be someone from the drama festival. I'm sure of it."

"A new actor with no background? Sounds like someone who blew up recently."

"Probably someone from Chasing Dreams. They've been getting the most attention."

"What about Kwon Jihyun? He's the top right now, isn't he?"

For a moment, the internet was set on the idea that it could be Jihyun. He had always been somewhat reserved in interviews, and people were quick to jump at any potential controversy since he was the most known.

However it didn't last long.

"Guys are we forgetting that Jihyun is not even a rising star?"

"No way. We've already seen Jihyun's parents at their concert last year."

"His father owns a company, right? I remember an article."

"He came from a known family. He's too public."

The suspicion about Jihyun quickly died down.

Then a second wave of guesses appeared.

One by one, names of actors from the drama festival were thrown around. Some speculated that Jihoon, others guessed that it was the lead of Kill Me Kindly. So many names were dropped that it was hard to track who was who.

The thread had turned into a witch hunt until someone suddenly mentioned a name.

"What about that guy from The Star's Secret?"

"Minjae?"

"Yeah… him. He's been rising fast lately. But come to think of it, he never talks about hisfamily in interviews."

"Wait, you're right. He always avoids that question."

It didn't take long for people to start digging about it.

Clips from interviews. Articles. Fan translations. Anyone who ever paid attention began to notice what had always been there but was never questioned.

Minjae never mentioned his parents or never talked about his hometown.

"It's him, right?"

"Now that I think about it… he does seem like someone who's hiding something."

"Damn and here I thought I coul finally stan a new actor."

"Is it really him?"

"We're not sure but most probably."

"Tsk. It's a pity."

"What a waste of talent."

And then, amid the noise, one comment stood out.

It wasn't anonymous. It was from an old account that hadn't posted in years. The username wasn't familiar to most, but the way the message looked as if he knew Minjae for long.

"I know exactly who this is about. That post is true. The person you're all talking about is Minjae. He lived with my mother. My mother took him in, fed him, supported him when he had nothing. He called her 'Halmeoni' like she was his own. But then we realzed he was just taking advantage of our poor mother. He took advantage of her kindness. I'm her real son and I saw it all."

The comment had no proof but that didn't matter.

People began screenshotting it immediately. It was now everywhere.

"Oh my god. This is getting real."

"Minjae…? Is this true?"

"He used an old woman??"

"If this is fake, he needs to speak up ASAP."

"But if it's real… wow. That's messed up."

"I'm so disappointed.'

In just a few short hours, the post was everywhere and Minjae, who was sleeping, had no idea about everything.