“……”
Reading through comments mixed with curses and insults, Park Shinui shook his head. Words like ‘disappointed’ and ‘shameless’ were on the tamer side.
“Just how terrible must the deleted comments have been…?”
Park Shinui was scrolling down when he gave up reading any further, sick of the overflowing profanity. Even in the original world, there weren’t many people who liked him. But it wasn’t a life where curses poured out when you searched his three-character name. At least he’d been just an ordinary person. A life where no one recognized him, no one cared—just that kind of life.
But the comments on the screen weren’t simple disappointment or jealousy. Usually when dating rumors or marriage news broke about popular celebrities, disappointed fans leaving malicious comments was common, but this was different. It was closer to long-accumulated hatred. It seemed the Park Shinui in the book wasn’t a very good impression to people.
Park Shinui thought it would be better to check the profile instead and clicked the name at the top of the page. Soon, a face with a neat smile appeared on the screen, and below it, basic information like date of birth, birthplace, nationality, and agency were listed in order.
“At least the profile is decent.”
Scrolling down the screen, he saw a ‘Sea Wiki’ entry. When he clicked it, the same face as the profile photo appeared again, and lists of films, dramas, and variety programs he’d appeared in were neatly organized. Park Shinui was scrolling down when he stopped at the ‘Major Incidents’ category.
“Park Shinui’s confession episode…?”
For details, please refer to the TV program ‘Orange Pang Pang’ / Controversies and Incidents document.
When he clicked the link, a variety program video played with loud applause.
『What’s your ideal type, Hanna-yang?』
『My ideal type?』
『Yes, if there’s a person you’d think “I’d date someone like this,” please tell us.』
『Hmm… I like someone like Kang Taejun-nim…』
『Kang Taejun won’t do. He’s going to meet me…!』
『Pardon? Hahaha, Park Shinui-ssi.』
『Of course, I’m even thinking of marriage with him.』
『This is… the question just now was asking Hanna-ssi about her ideal type.』
Park Shinui on the screen was appearing as a panel member on a variety program. When another guest brought up Kang Taejun’s name as their ideal type, he interrupted as if cutting them off, declaring that he would date Kang Taejun, and immediately mentioned marriage as well. The editing might have been exaggerated. But that one scene alone seemed sufficient to earn viewers’ ridicule.
No way…
Gripped by an ominous premonition, Park Shinui clicked through other links listed below the screen one by one. The videos that played all followed a similar pattern.
The problem was that the video clips classified as ‘major incidents’ were all embarrassingly shameful scenes that dragged in Kang Taejun’s name, painful to watch with open eyes. Park Shinui would abruptly confess his love to Kang Taejun during filming, or wouldn’t hesitate to make statements forcibly inserting the two of them into crude jokes.
And what about the confession posts uploaded to his official SNS? They were too crude to be expressions of emotion, and too childish to be calculations aimed at publicity, with that childishness laid bare. It was difficult even to guess the intent. He couldn’t tell if he really liked him or intelligently hated him. If he’d been in Kang Taejun’s position, he would have reported him as a stalker, let alone bonding with him.
“Ha… Park Shinui…”
Park Shinui shook his head and accessed his personal SNS.
“Not just once but… how many times did you do this? Why is there so much?”
As soon as he logged in, posts poured out like a waterfall. Befitting ten million followers, the number of photos was tremendous. He clicked the first photo at the top.
heart repsend Busy me since morning #YOLO #LuxuryLife
In the photo, Park Shinui was striking an excessively confident pose in short pants with a private yacht as the background. The pants were excessively short, precariously close to revealing intimate areas if he spread his legs even a little. Park Shinui frowned and quickly swiped to the next screen.
heart repsend Another day where it has to be me~ #Perfect_Bare_Face #Morning’s_Male_God
Another photo showed Park Shinui in a sleeveless outfit with his arms raised above his head, looking down at the camera. At first he thought it was just a common selfie, but strangely, his gaze stopped at the nipple slightly visible between the clothes.
“Surely… this wasn’t taken intentionally, right?”
heart repsend Doesn’t the world shine brighter because I’m here? #Visual_Gangster #Face_Genius
heart repsend Me shining even on set #Love_Myself #Selstagram
Dumbfounded, as he scrolled down, hundreds of photos all went in that direction. Self-glorification and blatant sex appeal. Though the content and composition differed, the conclusion was always the same. Usually celebrity SNS was used to communicate with fans or promote works, but this was only content praising himself, uploading selfies several times a day.
heart repsend Someone was copying me again today… So tiring.
heart repsend All trends start from me.
And what was with that confidence boldly writing down controversial statements like that?
“…What is this now?”
Scrolling down, Park Shinui accidentally clicked a link that appeared to be a private account and froze right there. At first he thought he’d entered someone else’s account by mistake. However, the moment he saw the face that appeared on the screen, the strength drained from his fingertips.
Every photo lined up had Park Shinui’s face. The problem was the background and atmosphere. Photos taken with different men each time, the screen was filled entirely with flesh tones. Moreover, Kang Taejun’s face even appeared in several photos.
Intentionally exposed naked body, provocative expressions, and intimate scenes entangled with men. At least the lower body parts were blurred, but what he wanted to record was excessively clear.
“Crazy.”
Above all, Park Shinui in the photos was looking straight at the camera. As if telling anyone to look, with an intentionally staged gaze.
“Whether it’s a record or amusement… Wow, at this point it seems like an illness. I’m genuinely curious about Park Shinui’s mental world.”
What’s worse, the worst of all was the bizarre act of overlaying Kang Taejun’s face over the faces of sex partners. To blatantly post that on an account.
Thud.
Park Shinui ultimately couldn’t endure it and threw the phone to one side. He turned away from the screen as if brushing off something dirty, but the scenes already burned into his eyes wouldn’t leave his mind.
He’d looked it up thinking he needed to know about Park Shinui to some degree to stay in this place, but now all that remained was the feeling of having glimpsed someone’s damp and distorted obsession.
He set sex as a guiding condition, but even if it wasn’t pure and pretty like a fairy tale, I believed there’d be at least a fragment of sincerity in his heart toward Kang Taejun, but there wasn’t. At best, it was all sordid and crude desire. During the time he’d have to live in this body, it was embarrassing that he’d even hoped for that much.
“Isn’t this at the level of a crime?”
Park Shinui reluctantly picked up the phone he’d thrown. With confused eyes, he scanned the screen and let out a deep sigh.
“Why on earth has Park Shinui lived like this?”
I need to know about Park Shinui to at least try to imitate him, but all I know is his unrealistically handsome face and the amazing figure of a 99.99% matching rate with Kang Taejun. Now one more thing was added—perverted stalker tendencies he didn’t even want to touch.
Having grown up lonely without anything, he’d always lived feeling grateful just for someone saying a word to him. So sometimes he’d been stabbed in the back by people who showed him kindness, but the more that happened, the harder he’d tried to live properly. He didn’t create matters he couldn’t take responsibility for, and avoided causing harm to others.
But what was Park Shinui lacking to have lived so selfishly like this? The glimpse into his daily life was a series of bizarre acts he would never have even imagined once. Rather than earning people’s favor, he was a figure who only evoked blatant disgust.
“Haah.”
He felt upset. He felt like he absolutely couldn’t keep looking, yet he couldn’t put it down either. After all, it was information he needed to grasp during the time he had to live in this body. He had no choice but to temporarily set aside his discomfort.
“Let’s check the financial situation first.”
Park Shinui recalled the ostentatious photos plastered all over SNS and swiped the screen. When he opened the banking app, a password input window immediately appeared.
