Top Star by Luck

Chapter 104

Time passed.

The day of Seoul Fashion Week arrived.

A man gently stroked the fabric of a garment, feeling its texture as he thought.

‘I did my best.’

It was Yoo Gyu Eon, the CEO.

He fiddled with the outfit Lee Min Ki would wear for his appearance as he pondered.

‘Will this outfit receive the proper recognition? I still don’t know.’

Yoo Gyu Eon stroked the clothes again and thought.

‘Indeed.’

Terminus.

It was the culmination of a designer philosophy he had painstakingly built over a very long time.

Terminus meant boundary in Latin.

But a boundary between what?

Precisely—

[terminus]

It was the boundary between commerce and art.

‘I’ve always dreamed of art that can be worn in everyday life.’

The market was always dominated by safe, conventional clothes.

Bold attempts rarely became mainstream.

But Yoo Gyu Eon, like every fashion designer, wanted to push just a bit further.

Not something utterly ordinary, but something slightly bolder.

Would Lee Min Ki be able to pull off this brand philosophy?

‘I don’t know.’

He truly didn’t know.

It was odd for a designer not to feel confident, but such was the nature of design.

No matter how much passion a designer poured into their work, certainty always wavered just before facing the public's judgment.

It was natural for every designer to give their all to gain recognition.

But whether one’s best efforts could stand out among everyone else's was an entirely different matter.

“……”

Yoo Gyu Eon stared at the clothes for a moment.

Then he brushed off his thoughts and stood up.

‘Believe.’

He didn’t know if he should believe in Lee Min Ki or himself.

But once something was decided, doubting it wouldn’t change the outcome.

Whipping oneself in a room with no exit while praying for a door to appear was merely self-inflicted torment.

So instead, he decided to endure it calmly until the results arrived.

Turning his head with this mindset, Yoo Gyu Eon spoke.

“Actor, please try it on.”

Seoul Fashion Week Dressing Room (Fitting Room).

‘This place is like another world.’

Lee Min Ki looked around and couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

‘Did I come to Northern Europe?’

Wherever he looked, the proportions of people were too different.

Having a tiny head was the basic standard, and their limbs were long like video game characters.

Even though Lee Min Ki himself often heard he had good proportions, here, he felt like the weakest link.

No—he was the weakest.

Out of four people under 180 cm, Lee Min Ki was the shortest.

‘I have to dominate this runway somehow?’

Ominous.

He couldn’t quite picture it in his head.

But Lee Min Ki quickly discarded the concern itself.

‘Well, worrying about this a hundred times won’t make my limbs longer.’

Nor would it shrink his head.

Instead, he would just look smaller and more timid.

Even the slightest mindset showed up in one’s posture on the runway, and it could even contaminate the clothes’ attitude.

If he wanted to highlight the charm of the outfit, even by 1%, during that brief moment, he had to be confident.

Lee Min Ki recalled advice he had heard from Heo Soo Oh, someone he had grown close to.

[It might sound strange coming from a pro, but honestly, we’re all just a bunch of randoms. Min Ki, you can do well.]

Yeah, he had learned a lot.

He had even been coached directly by an experienced model.

‘Don’t lose heart, do well!’

As Lee Min Ki clenched his fists with determination, there were others who grew nervous watching him.

‘Lee Min Ki?’

It was none other than the models he had feared.

‘Which brand brought him in?’

‘Just how much money did they pour in to get Lee Min Ki here?’

‘If we’re not careful, we’ll lose out on attention.’

‘Ah, this is unfair.’

They didn’t think Lee Min Ki would perform well on the runway.

But innate popularity was something difficult to overturn.

Leaving proportions aside, his aura was clearly different.

Not to mention his face.

‘Did he get surgery?’

‘Is it even possible for a natural face to look like that?’

It was hard to say he was overwhelmingly handsome, but the more one looked at him, the more their gaze was strangely drawn to him.

He had the soft, youthful appearance of a beautiful young man.

Faced with such an inherently actor-like face, they couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy.

Of course, some people were pleased.

“Why is your skin so good?”

It was the makeup artist in charge of Lee Min Ki’s makeup.

“Wow, Actor, your head shape is so beautiful.”

And the hair artist chimed in.

‘Usually, before applying makeup, it’s natural to see some signs of damaged skin, but Actor Lee Min Ki is different.’

The makeup artist stared at Lee Min Ki’s nose and muttered inwardly.

Even celebrities known for good skin often had visible pores on their T-zone (the area from the eyebrows down to the nose).

How one handled the T-zone was often seen as the true test of a makeup artist’s skill.

But Lee Min Ki was different.

“Do you get skincare treatments somewhere good?”

He had skin so flawless, it was on another level.

“I don’t really get intensive treatments.”

“Oh, come on, don’t keep it to yourself. Where do you get treated?”

“Um……”

Whether she was trying to ease his tension or simply chatty by nature, the makeup artist talked more than expected.

After some hesitation, Lee Min Ki finally opened his mouth.

“Maybe because I sleep well…?”

It was the conclusion he came to.

“Hahaha, I get it. You just don’t want to tell me, right?”

“That’s not it.”

“Everyone has a secret or two. Anyway, your skin is so nice that applying makeup is easy. It’s rare for it to sit this well.”

Unfortunately, it was all a misunderstanding.

Even Lee Min Ki himself wasn’t sure, but his skin was purely a result of luck.

Getting deep, uninterrupted sleep—

More precisely, not being disturbed during his sleep—was the main reason.

‘Come to think of it, I do sleep much better now than I used to.’

There was also exercise.

By exercising consistently without missing a single day, toxins naturally left his skin, and it became firmer and healthier.

Additionally, Lee Min Ki had another distinct feature.

‘His head shape is perfect.’

His head shape was so flawless that it resembled the mannequin heads used by hair artists for practice.

“It looks cool when you comb it back, when it’s down, and even when it’s styled upward. Hmm, Actor, you could shoot a hat commercial later, don’t you think?”

“Haha, thank you.”

“No, seriously.”

That was Lee Min Ki’s strength overall.

Whatever styling was done on him, it suited him perfectly.

Only laughter could be heard from Lee Min Ki’s side.

Because of that, there were people who grew resentful.

“Do they think the fitting room is their living room or something?”

It was the rookie models, who had finished their preparations and were waiting in a corner.

For them, this stage was precious.

It could very well be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in their modeling careers.

Even though Lee Min Ki had no intention of causing trouble, his cheerful demeanor in such a tense environment did not sit well with them.

“He’s not even that good-looking.”

“That face must be plastic surgery too.”

Some of the models naturally agreed.

Among them were those who openly brought up background influence.

“Just because he’s done a couple of projects recently, does he think he’s something? He only got here because of his agency connections.”

The truth was, even without Heo Soo Oh, it was common for models to resent actors.

Perhaps because it was an industry where opportunities could vanish with one misstep.

There was constant competition for survival, so the power struggles were fierce.

This was the general sentiment:

[Actors? They just strike a few poses, shoot a few photos for the press, and go home, right?]

From the perspective of models, that was how actors were viewed.

In their eyes, actors were self-absorbed, grabbing attention without putting in real effort.

On the other hand, this was how actors saw models:

[All they have is their naturally good body, yet their noses are stuck in the air for no reason.]

Among models, it was common to find those with an excessive sense of pride and a tendency to look down on others.

It could easily be called prejudice.

But when a prejudice becomes so widespread, it eventually turns into conventional wisdom.

[Don’t associate with actors.]

[All they care about is money.]

[Actors look short and stubby in real life anyway.]

[Models? They barely earn anything but act like they’re top-tier celebrities.]

[They think the clothes they wear determine their worth.]

[They’re hysterical about body management and act like it’s natural for others to tolerate it.]

Such power struggles had a long and storied history.

Under such circumstances, it wasn’t surprising that Lee Min Ki, who had suddenly appeared at Seoul Fashion Week, was not well-received.

“His legs look shorter than in the photos. Must’ve been heavily edited.”

“That’s just the camera lens effect.”

“If he’s considered a handsome actor, wouldn’t I become even more popular if I debuted as an actor?”

Perhaps their judgment had been clouded by gossip, but their voices grew loud enough for the surroundings to hear.

Even considering the 50-pyeong size of the fitting room, the noise was enough to make Lee Min Ki’s ears feel cluttered.

‘…How petty. This power struggle.’

It was a situation that just made him sigh.

But even if it was frustrating, he couldn’t just walk over and refute them.

Why?

Because even if he refuted those who harbored baseless resentment, it would only feel satisfying for a moment.

Giving their resentment a justification wouldn’t solve anything.

They would just gossip more loudly, claiming he had abused his power in the fitting room.

‘Hold it in, hold it in.’

As Lee Min Ki pressed his lips together, Yoo Gyu Eon, who had been watching the makeup process, quietly murmured in his ear.

“Don’t pay attention to them. They’re just mayflies who won’t even be in this industry a few years from now.”

“……”

The words were appreciated.

They were.

But thinking of them as mayflies buzzing around somehow made him more annoyed.

‘Ah, if I could just say one thing, I’d have no regrets.’

For Yoo Gyu Eon’s image, he decided to hold back.

As Lee Min Ki worked hard to ignore the noise, someone finally crossed the line.

“Did he bribe the designer or something?”

“…!”

It was a statement too difficult to ignore.

“Hey, they can hear you. Be careful.”

“No, but it’s weird. Who does he think he is to suddenly join a fashion show? He doesn’t even have a career.”

One rookie model who didn’t know his place had gone too far.

Such people existed.

Those who rose quickly and then started to believe they were the center of the world.

This time, it was him.

It was Yoo Joon Chan, a rookie model who boasted 70,000 followers on social media.

“Hey, Joon Chan, they’re really going to hear you.”

“What does it matter? I’m not talking to him directly. Besides, noise marketing works for me. If I get into an argument with Lee Min Ki, who’s going to suffer more?”

He sneered with a vile smile.

Perhaps he had hoped for a confrontation from the start.

After all, some people avoid controversy, while others welcome it.

But what Yoo Joon Chan didn’t know was this:

His words had touched a boundary in Lee Min Ki’s heart.

‘I don’t care if they insult me, but accusing CEO Yoo Gyu Eon of bribing designers?’

That was crossing the line.

Just as Lee Min Ki, unable to hold back, was about to stand up, someone spoke up.

“Interesting.”

Yoo Joon Chan.

From behind him, a person with a firm voice spoke.

“These days, kids even gossip loudly in fitting rooms. The world sure has changed.”

It was Heo Soo Oh, a seasoned model with overwhelming proportions.

He was one of the few traditional models who had distinctly sharp and deep facial features.

Recently, he had demonstrated his talent as an actor by participating in Director Hwang Ui Seong’s Fashion and Fashion as a minor role.

Of course, he was also attending Seoul Fashion Week as a model.

Heo Soo Oh, known for his fiery temperament, leaned his head right up to Yoo Joon Chan’s face and said.

“They say pigs only see other pigs. Hey, Yoo Joon Chan, did you bribe your way into this gig?”

That fiery temperament wasn’t reserved only for Lee Min Ki.

Heo Soo Oh genuinely had trouble controlling his anger.

“...Senior? That’s not what I—”

“Shut your mouth.”