Shrimp Backs Get Crushed in Whale Fights (7)
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Two days later, at the Mapo Police Station in Seoul.
Inspector Choi Nam-hyuk was facing the most absurd suspect of his twenty-year career.
"Why the hell not! I'm turning myself in!"
"That's not what we're saying. Right now, it's just testimony. Drunk driving is a bit iffy, but for illegal gambling or assault, we'll investigate based on what you've told us. Once the charges are proven, we'll book you, so for now, just go home—"
"Why aren't you arresting me!"
"Pardon? Well, you turned yourself in, there's no flight risk, and no warrant—"
"I'm the kind of scum who deserves to be locked up! Arrest me right now!"
"......."
This guy's driving me insane—
Inspector Choi Nam-hyuk pressed his throbbing temples.
At first, the guy was spouting such bizarre nonsense that they'd drawn blood suspecting drugs.
But it came back clean. No drugs, not even a trace of alcohol.
The stunt actor in front of him was stone-cold sober, desperately arguing to be thrown in jail no matter what.
'What is this, some O. Henry short story...!'
Choi felt like he was losing his mind.
His colleagues wore equally baffled expressions.
No one with their experience had ever seen or heard of anything like this.
"What's with this lunatic?"
"No idea..."
"Did he even do the drunk driving? Any record?"
"Nope. But he claims he got lucky and didn't get caught, or talked his way out with the cop."
"Evidence?"
"His agency handled it, so he doesn't know."
"......."
"......."
Maybe he's just nuts...?
As most of the cops eyed him suspiciously, Kim Ho-jin grew even more frantic in his tirade.
"And there's more! I tried to assault actor Kang Min!"
"...Pardon?"
"That damn actor suggested a one-on-one scene, and I got so pissed I planned to beat him senseless, give him a real hospital stay!"
"And? Did you hit him?"
"No, he beat the crap out of me instead!"
"......."
"The intent matters, right! Attempted assault, attempted assault! Lock me up now!"
"......."
Damn it—
Inspector Choi couldn't help closing his eyes tight at the sight of this clearly unhinged self-surrenderer and the reporters peeking in from outside.
#
"So, how'd it go, honey?"
"How'd it go? Same as always."
Three days later,
Inspector Choi Nam-hyuk finally dragged himself home, clutching his aching head as he shed his coat.
It had been a nightmare interrogation.
'Who'd have thought he'd hold out for three days straight, refusing to go home...!'
With Kim Ho-jin digging in his heels and reporters sniffing around for a story, it was total chaos. Choi and a few colleagues had been stuck with brutal overtime.
And they hadn't even gotten much out of it.
"No charges on drunk driving. Illegal gambling had enough for referral, but it'll probably be a suspended sentence. Assault's mostly mutual, so same deal. Adultery's civil anyway, and from what we gathered, the husband's no saint either."
"What about him?"
"Sent him home with a warning. He'll be on the news tomorrow, but apparently actor Kang Min called to encourage him."
"Really?"
"He fainted with a weird squeak."
"?"
Maybe he was exhausted.
Three days without sleep, ranting nonstop—anyone would be wiped.
'Anyway...'
It was a bizarre case all around, but one thing was clear.
Kim Ho-jin got visibly suspicious—hell, desperate—whenever Kang Min's name came up. He'd even begged to be locked up on the spot.
That pointed to one obvious fact.
"That actor Kang Min... doesn't seem like your average guy."
"Yeah."
Kim Ho-jin would've flipped if he heard, but most shared the sentiment.
Legally, that's how it shook out, but Kim had clearly lived like a thug.
For a guy like that to reflect and turn himself in? How saintly must Kang Min be?
The veterans were all whispering in admiration.
"There were rumors too. That high school fan, Ra-hee? Or Yi Hwan-jae? He turned down extra scenes out of consideration for him."
"Yeah, something like that..."
Showbiz gossip's usually nine parts lies. Media spin turns villains into saints all the time.
Seasoned cops dismissed most of it.
But,
"Kang Min might be different."
I'd like to meet him sometime—Choi shrugged and cracked open a beer can with that casual gripe.
And that offhand complaint from Inspector Choi led to unexpected consequences.
At the same time, his only daughter had been eavesdropping from behind her closed door, pretending to sleep.
No more talk forthcoming, she tiptoed back to bed and immediately grabbed her phone.
The face plastered across the fan cafe she opened belonged to Yi Hwan-jae. It was the fan cafe Lambda for the boy group Etherbit.
Choi Ra-hee hesitated, bit her lip, and posted.
The title was something like this.
The world isn't fair, so as Kang Min's true worth shone brighter, folks like Baek Chae-i and Yu Ho-hyeon rode the wave, while others sank into misery.
The fan club Lambda was among the worst off—worse even than Han Ye-seul's CP from Black Forest, or the legendary uncountable ratings of PD Shim Yu-hyeon's Architectural Styles of the Ottoman Empire.
The reason was simple.
They'd been the first to trash Kang Min before King and Sovereign aired.
Idols' enemies aren't always idols; fans' enemies are other fans—that's the way of the world.
The more buzz around Kang Min and Hui-yul, the more Lambda's foes rejoiced, piling on fuel everywhere.
SNS, humor sites, even random news article comments got bombarded.
Curious netizens clicking in found Lambda's hate comments with massive upvotes, the unbelievable villain takes they'd boosted, contrasted sharply with Kang Min's earnest acting.
Everyone laughed them off, of course.
Lies can be debunked, but facts? No countering that. Soon Lambda was getting pummeled from all sides.
Even their rep for dogpiling couldn't save the home turf.
Trolls kept spawning no matter how many they banned, giving the admins massive headaches.
Even managers split, hair-pulling ensued—no unified firepower. Lambda barely held by purging Kang Min defenders and any dissenters in a reign of terror.
It worked, somewhat. The cafe stabilized a bit.
—Until the founding member and former manager stabbed them in the back.
Choi Ra-hee, once wailing she couldn't be a multi-fan, had been wavering. Then she overheard her dad's grumble and had her epiphany.
Handsome, great actor, good personality?
Not stanning this guy is a loss!
That 'named' member's words flipped the cafe again.
Everyone knew her diehard status too well to dismiss as trolling.
Quiet fans thinking 'vibes are off lately' and shy users 'kinda wanna stan Kang Min too...' piled on. Lambda split in half, brawling.
The war dragged for days, exhausting everyone.
The weary compromise? Austria-Hungary levels.
Lambda agreed to send tribute to the set in Kang Min's name—not Yi Hwan-jae's—plus a massive delegation with placards and cheer gear.
Apologize, but blame rogue trolls; claim Lambda always supported the leader's pal Kang Min.
Like Hungary's compromise, though, motives varied.
'Gotta nitpick Kang Min to boot these traitors.'
Hungarian nationalist.
'Kang Min's huge now? Befriend him hard for Etherbit?'
Pro-Habsburg liberal.
'Whoa, stanning Hwan-jae oppa AND Kang Min? Jackpot!'
Average merchant.
'Hehehe, score! Seeing Kang Min oppa IRL!!'
Typical traitor... or rather, Choi Ra-hee too.
Whatever their thoughts, it was Lambda's first big pro-Kang Min fan event.
And soon, it yielded wildly unexpected results.
But as with all things, Principal Hong Ji-ho—who sparked it—had no clue.
He was the one sighing.
"Principal, any way to get actor Kim Ho-jin back?"
"Out for now, kid. Public sympathy's high, so post-trial maybe, but for a regular actor? Career killer. Too risky."
"Kuh...!"
Kang Min hid his despair no better than Kim Ho-jin wailing "Why didn't they lock me up!" Backing out through King and Sovereign's latter half without him? Impossible.
How to tackle that monstrous Black Forest without his help!
But Hong Ji-ho was getting used to treating Kang Min's sighs like a madman's. He sighed back and deftly changed topics.
"Anyway, time to manage fans. You're at that level now."
"Pardon?"
"No official fan cafe, no SNS. Fans got nowhere to go. Passionate ones boost ratings."
"Ooh..."
Ratings hooked him.
Hong Ji-ho advised his closest dream-chasing student, adding,
"And smile at fans sometimes. Those rare pics are too stiff."
"Smile?"
"Big grins, dumb chit-chat. You do that fine. With buddies... yeah, like Seo Bom. Just that."
"Like with Bom...? That okay?"
"Perfect. Idols banter with fans. Too stiff, no one likes."
"Hmm... Bom, huh..."
To be fair,
Hong Ji-ho knew zilch about orphanage-era Seo Bom and Kang Min.
That was the problem.
#
Three days later,
The day Lambda dispatched their massive delegation.
"Ra-hee."
"...What."
"This the spot?"
"You all agreed!!"
Choi Ra-hee stomped furiously at the total opposite of the promised meetup.
Her three friends eyed her, then sighed at each other.
It was a weekday Thursday. High schoolers should be at school or hagwon, grinding entrance exams.
But these four girls were smack in the street.
Reason? The kind parents would drag them home by the ear for.
"This way, Etherbit fan cafe shatters. Gotta show Lambda supported Kang Min!"
"We don't all have to go..."
"Yeah..."
"More firepower needed! You're Lambda too!"
"I'm just multi."
"Please!"
Sigh. Friends sighed again.
Ra-hee's energy, niceness, loyalty—flawless, except her hopeless idol obsession.
Faking sick for a 'lifelong favor'? This.
Friends just shook heads.
"Anyway, to add firepower, gotta find the right place. Know where we are?"
"Ugh...!"
Ra-hee was stumped.
It was nearing 8 AM meetup time, but post-intercity bus, they were in the wrong zone.
Ra-hee spun excuses, eyes whirling.
"M-map glitched! I searched Yongin Daejanggeum Park!"
"Huge place. Folk village off-season."
"Shoulda checked front/back gates..."
"We'll find it now!"
Ra-hee charged ahead, fuming.
Friends sighed but followed. Stupidity demands loyalty—that's friendship.
Though next week's birthday gift? One Pepero each.
"Th-this way? That hanja 'Ji-min-seo'...?"
"Hye-min-seo, dummy. Gimme the map!"
"No buses. Everyone drives?"
"Tour carts, but off for filming... makes sense."
The four chattered, walking.
Group smarts worked; they got on track. Late, but they'd make it.
Problem: the route cut straight through the center.
"Hey! Hold up."
"Huh...?"
"Ain't that the set?"
Halfway there, they froze.
Far off, gear and crowds swarmed—huge scale.
Actors for sure, maybe Yi Hwan-jae or Kang Min, but even superfan Ra-hee knew not to crash.
Panic hit.
"B-back off!"
"Yeah!"
As they spun to flee—
The AD controlling the set was faster.
He stomped over, face twisted.
"Hey, what're you kids?"
"Y-yes? We, uh..."
"Damn, you the ones we just chased? Heard what I said if I came back?"
"N-no! We just took a wrong turn..."
"Nope. Calling cops. Stay put!"
Mild for an AD—most sasaengs charge at threats; this was just bluff.
But these four weren't sasaengs.
They straight-up teared up, terrified.
"S-sorry!"
"One chance...!"
"First time here, really...!"
"...?"
AD panicked more.
Now he looked like the villain?
They could've bolted, but stood begging.
"Uh..."
"Please!"
"No..."
"One chance! We'll be good!!"
"......."
As the four groveled knee-bend levels and the sweating AD deadlocked inexplicably—
"What's going on?"
Kang Min stepped up in costume, face calm.
'Ah...?'
Choi Ra-hee gaped blankly.
Shrimp Backs Get Crushed in Whale Fights (7)