The Weight of the Crown

Sunday evening, seven o'clock. The long-awaited broadcast of Running Woman began.

Min-ho had chicken and beer delivered, and he and Mi-young sat together in the living room, settled in front of the TV.

"Babe, you nervous?"

"Yeah... a little. I can't get any read on how they edited it."

Grandiose music swelled, and Min-ho's face pushed in until it filled the screen.

"Tonight we've brought you some very special guests! The Beast and the Beauty special!"

On the host's cue, Min-ho and Tae-min appeared, and with them a glittering lineup of female guests.

The women on screen weren't performing their reactions. These were the real thing.

"Whoa... that's Jeong Min-ho!"

"Oh my god... his body is insane. Look at those shoulders."

"He's actually so handsome..."

Then came the game.

Min-ho drove Seo-hyun and Yu-na back against a wall and pinned them there. In the middle of the violent tangle, the edit dropped into slow motion over the moment his expression shifted into something strange, and over the front of his pants as it slowly began to swell. The camera shoved in, shameless, on the bulge, and a huge red caption slammed across the picture.

"Oh my— oh my god!"

Mi-young burst out laughing.

"Babe, they showed every bit of you. You just got certified for the whole country. They didn't even pixelate it?"

"God... I'm losing my mind. This is so embarrassing..."

Min-ho covered his face with both hands.

The broadcast did not stop. When Ji-a turned on her own side and blocked his way, catching him in a frontal embrace, the thing swollen to bursting at the front of his pants drove, thick and heavy, into her lower belly. The look on her face was pure panic. Last of all came the shot of him overpowering ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tae-min by raw strength and roaring, and Min-ho's entire showing was nothing short of the beast itself.

"Red Team wins! The birth of variety's new beast!"

The moment the show ended, his phone blew up. Congratulatory messages from people he knew, and missed calls, poured in without a pause.

The next day was Monday.

Min-ho tugged a cap down low and stepped into a neighborhood café. He figured yesterday's broadcast would have its aftershocks, but that if he just kept the brim crushed over his eyes, he'd be fine.

"Welcome! One iced americano— huh?!"

The employee taking his order couldn't get her mouth shut again.

"Um... excuse me, are you... Jeong Min-ho?"

"Ah, yes. I am."

"Oh my god! I watched Running Woman last night! It was incredible! I'm a real fan! Wow, your body is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seriously amazing!"

At the pitch of her voice, every customer around them looked over at once.

"Huh? That really is Jeong Min-ho?"

"Whoa, he's even crazier in person. So the camera was selling him short."

"That's the guy. The top actor on S-Flix."

In an instant more than ten people had closed around him. It wasn't only young women. Middle-aged women piled in as well.

"An autograph, please!"

"Oppa, just one photo with me!"

"I watched last night and I'm a total fan now. I'm going to go subscribe to S-Flix!"

Flustered as he was, Min-ho sweated through it, smiling, and answered every one of them. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Only after more than thirty minutes of autographs and photographs did he finally make it out of the café.

Even on the walk home, the stares kept coming. People glanced sidelong and murmured among themselves. What lived in those eyes had gone past simple curiosity into longing, and into want.

So this... is a star's life.

That evening, hoping to settle his worn-out heart, Min-ho called Yoon-a.

Tuesday afternoon.

Min-ho met Yoon-a at an atmospheric restaurant near Hongdae. She had a cardigan thrown over a black dress, a plain enough outfit, but the particular elegance of her looks refused to be hidden.

"Min-ho, over here."

They passed a happy stretch of the meal asking after each other, laughing, catching one another's eyes.

Afterward they moved on to Han River Park. The night air was cool. Sitting side by side on a bench and watching the river slide past, Min-ho drew an arm around Yoon-a's shoulders.

"Yoon-a, thank you. I get my strength from you."

"I'm happy too, because I have you."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

They kissed as naturally as breathing. A long, deep kiss, neither of them sparing a thought for who might be looking.

But they didn't know. Behind the bushes nearby, someone was pressing a shutter.

Wednesday morning.

An urgent call from Seo-yoon dragged Min-ho out of sleep.

Still half asleep, he checked his phone. A headline the size of a billboard was plastered across the main screen.

Set into the piece in high resolution was a photograph of the two of them kissing on the bench the night before. Evidence there was no talking his way out of.

The comments had exploded.

Min-ho was rattled.

I never thought it would turn into a story this big...

But the malicious comments he had feared were almost nowhere to be found. Nearly all of it was congratulations and envy.

That afternoon, Min-ho went to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠offices of Venus Entertainment.

Seo-yoon met him with an easy smile.

"You're here? The talk of the month."

"President... I'm sorry. I should have been more careful."

"Sorry for what? This worked out. You saved us the advertising budget."

She held out her tablet.

"After the article dropped, the views on First Meeting exploded. It proved their chemistry wasn't acting. It was real. And people lose their minds over what's real."

"That's a relief..."

"And the most important thing is that we carry this exact heat forward."

Eyes bright, Seo-yoon leaned in toward him.

"Return of the Legend, the one you shot with Senior Mi-ran. You know it still hasn't been released, right?"

"Yes. I heard it's still in post."

"The original plan was to drop it straight onto S-Flix, but I changed it. We're going theatrical."

"What? Theaters?"

"Yes. It'll play in the adult-only houses at multiplexes across the country. You'll be doing the stage-greeting circuit too, so steel yourself."

Her expression turned serious.

"Min-ho, listen carefully. Now that this romance story has broken, the situation just got a lot more fun."

"In what way?"

"People know now that you and Yoon-a are actually together. And what's the film about to open in theaters? You, in bed with Senior Joo Mi-ran—Yoon-a's mother. With Yoon-a watching, no less."

Min-ho swallowed.

"In other words, the taboo of the prospective son-in-law sleeping with his real girlfriend's mother is going to stack right on top of reality and detonate. The public can tell a movie from real life, and they still go insane over the thrill of that line collapsing."

Seo-yoon looked him straight in the eye.

"When the film opens, it's going to get much louder than this. 'Did he actually do it with his real mother-in-law?' 'What was Yoon-a thinking, watching that?' Every kind of nasty gossip is going to pour in."

He had nothing to say.

"So take this chance and get a real grip on your head. You're not going to stop at Korea. S-Flix is a global platform, and your name is going to spread past Asia, all the way to America and Europe."

She seized his shoulder.

Her advice, hardheaded and thick with ambition, snapped Min-ho wide awake. There was nothing he needed to fear.

"Yes. I understand. I'll enjoy it."

"Good. I'll handle your schedule for the time being, so rest properly and take care of your head and your stamina. Once we open, it's a war."

A few days later, Min-ho sat on the living room sofa and looked out the window.

The street was full of lovers, holding hands, embracing, kissing as they passed. No one looked at them as if any of it were strange.

Then a peculiar sort of building, one of many standing all along the road, caught his eye.

It was a place where any adult, man or woman, could freely have sex so long as both agreed. Beyond walls of translucent glass, silhouettes moved together in the act of love. In this world, the sight was as common and as natural as a restaurant or a café.

Why... was I hiding?

Min-ho drew a long breath. The bewilderment he had felt came from the conservative notions of his previous life. Here, dating was no problem. Sex was no problem. Even a relationship among several people was no problem, legally or morally. If you had the ability, sharing more love was something this world praised.

Right. This is normal. In this world.

But one thing.

Incest.

That alone remained, even in a world this open, the most sensitive and dangerous ground of all.

The times were changing, of course. Day after day the news would not shut up about Sexually Advanced Nations such as the United States and Japan moving to permit incestuous marriage under the law. At home, too, more and more people were quietly indulging in incest, whether anyone admitted it or not. Factions for and against were locked in a bitter fight over the right to pursue one's own happiness, and there was even a push to write it into law—but in a South Korea that was still conservative, full legal acceptance was premature.

A line the law still plainly forbade.

Which was why his relationship with Mi-young, and that alone, had to be hidden completely. Never commit an illegal act. That was the weight a public figure was obliged to bear.

A passionate affair with Yoon-a was something the public would congratulate him for. If his relationship with his mother ever came to light, the shock would be of an entirely different order. Of that he was certain.

With Mi-young... outside, I have to be even more careful.

Min-ho stood. The vague pressure that had been crushing his chest was gone, and a cold, clear judgment had settled in its place.

I'll live with my head up. But the secret with Mi-young stays hidden until the world itself changes.

That evening, Mi-young came home from the market.

"Babe! I'm home."

Min-ho went out to the entryway and took her in his arms.

"Mi-young."

"Hm? What is it, babe?"

"I've sorted some things out."

He looked at her, serious.

"The article about me and Yoon-a... and everything that's coming after. I'm done hiding because of the way people look at me."

"Really? Good. You haven't done anything wrong."

"Yeah. The people I can see, I'll see with my head up. But..."

He lowered his voice.

"With you... I think I have to be even more careful outside. What we have is real, but the world isn't ready to accept us yet."

Mi-young understood, and she nodded.

"I know. I'm always careful too. You can't be the one who gets hurt."

She held his hand tight.

"We can love each other at home, in a space that's only ours. That's enough."

"Thank you, Mi-young. For understanding."

Min-ho drew her into his arms. It was a vow, made to protect the woman who mattered most.

"So, about that."

He shifted the mood as he spoke.

"Filming's on pause for a while and the schedule's empty, so I was thinking I'd use the break to see some of the women I haven't been able to meet."

"Women you haven't met?"

"Yeah. Ji-eun noona, Su-jin, Da-young... and some of the friends I got to know on Running Woman."

"Heh. Our babe's going to be busy, isn't he?"

Instead of jealousy, she laughed it off, cool, and patted his back.

"Fine. Go enjoy yourself all you want. But you'd better come home with some energy left, all right? You still have to play with me."

"Obviously."

Min-ho smiled and took out his phone. Names he hadn't contacted in a long time came into view. From here on, there would be no more hesitation. It was time to enjoy this world in full.

Min-ho's fingers began, lightly, to tap at the message window.