Chapter 105
The actress Kang So-ra, in her early thirties, knew she was beautiful.
Because of that, she had always been highly self-assured and believed she could handle men.
......
But it was only recently that she realized things were different from what she had imagined.
The letters began arriving.
[I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you]
She thought it was nothing more than a simple prank by an anti-fan.
There were many anti-fans who behaved outside the bounds of common sense.
So there was no reason to worry about a letter like this.
That was why she casually said to her manager,
"From now on, screen any letters that come in properly before giving them to me."
Her manager nodded after looking at the letter.
Fan letters and the like were normally screened before being delivered, but at Kang So-ra's insistence, they had been passing hers along without screening.
Still, no one had ever pulled this kind of crap with letters before.
"How old-fashioned."
"Tell me about it."
Who did something like this with letters in an age like this?
Kang So-ra didn't think much of it.
And then.
Before long, the number of letters arriving for her began to increase.
"Whoa..."
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Just a single word.
They were letters with nothing written on them but the words I love you.
They didn't even have a return address.
They had only the recipient's address written on them.
"They couldn't have come through the post office."
A few dozen would have been fine.
But hundreds or thousands were a different matter.
Someone had delivered the letters in person.
"Who was it?"
"Who knows? Nobody does."
On a hunch, they checked all the company's CCTV footage.
But there was no CCTV footage of anyone leaving the letters.
It had been a blind spot for the cameras from the start.
"Seriouslyyy!! Does the company have so little money? They can't even install a single CCTV camera?"
"Uh... You know that too."
The CEO had gone to prison after being caught running an illegal gambling operation and making slave contracts.
Even two directors had gone with him.
As a result, the investors had pulled all their money out.
A new CEO had only just arrived, and they were still working on sorting out matters like that.
"He's better than the previous CEO. Anyway, once they sort out the CCTV and security over there, this won't happen again."
"You think so...?"
Kang So-ra let out a heavy sigh.
It would be fortunate if it ended with mere letters.
But considering the trouble a stalker could cause, she couldn't afford to let her guard down.
"Get some more bodyguards ready... Oh, come to think of it, I heard our company has connections with that Mr. Kang Noah?"
"Ah, right. Yeah."
"Couldn't we ask him for help?"
"But how are you planning to ask him for help?"
"We're both Kangs, aren't we? What is Korea? It's a country run on blood ties, regional ties, and school ties. If I mention our blood relation somehow..."
Kang So-ra was from the Jinju Kang clan, while Kang Noah was from the Sincheon Kang clan.
Her manager, who had no way of knowing that, could only nod awkwardly at Kang So-ra's self-assured expression.
"And I'm not planning to ask him to do it for free. I'll pay a divination fee."
"Do you even know how much that fee is?"
"What's with you? I'm Kang So-ra. Kang So-ra."
The actress once called the nation's sweetheart proudly displayed her confidence.
***
"Strange things have continued to arrive even after the letters."
Kang So-ra seriously explained her situation.
After the thousands of letters bearing the words I love you came an onslaught of gifts.
But the gifts were nothing more than wilted flowers, broken cassette tapes, and boxes containing a few dozen paper cranes.
"Of course, it's not that I'm ungrateful for the gifts. It's just... unsettling."
"You don't think they were sent out of pure fandom?"
"Yes."
Kang So-ra gave a slight nod.
Her eyes were trembling.
She was saying this because she knew her stalker was becoming increasingly strange.
"That's not all. Recently, whenever I go outside, I feel someone's eyes on me."
"For someone as famous as you, Ms. Kang So-ra, isn't it natural to feel people watching you?"
"Th-they aren't the kind of gazes I usually feel. It's like... like the gaze of someone looking at prey."
She had once met a hunter while filming a movie.
Having learned from him the cruel gaze of someone pursuing prey, she let out a heavy sigh.
"It started with the letters, then the barrage of gifts, and now the stares. It feels like all of it is meant to corner me."
"Hmm..."
"What do you think, sir?"
I looked at her, clutching my cards tightly, her eyes filled with anxiety.
"The stalker will be caught."
"I-is that really true?"
"Yes. I'll even tell you who he is."
I told her the stalker's identity.
He was a man living around Yeonsinnae.
He had fallen for Kang So-ra after seeing her in a movie and become her stalker.
"But you know that, as things stand, there isn't enough to punish him, right?"
"....."
Sending thousands of letters.
Sending gifts.
Staring at her whenever she went out.
That alone would warrant, at most, a small fine; there was little else that could be done to deter him.
"And even that won't result in him being properly punished."
Kang So-ra was an actress.
Was sending fan letters and gifts to an actress like her,
and following her around and staring at her out of fandom really such a crime?
In the end, she reported him, but he wasn't punished, and the matter was quietly swept under the rug.
"Then... I'm going to be all right?"
"No."
"...What?"
"The stalker eventually attacks you, Ms. Kang So-ra. He sticks a knife into your abdomen. The one fortunate thing is that you don't die."
"...W-we have to stop him!!"
"Yes. That's why I gave you his name and home address."
There were two ways to deal with something like this.
Persuade him before he caused a commotion, turning him into an ordinary fan rather than a stalker.
Or...
"It wouldn't be a bad idea to strike first."
"Eek."
"You're supposed to hit first before you get hit."
Hire the right person and smash his hands or feet.
Then the future in which that man stabbed Kang So-ra would disappear altogether.
"Well, that's a method I'd recommend to ordinary people... There is another way, too."
Wasn't he stalking her because he had too much free time and could afford to let his mind wander?
"Everyone has something to hide. I know a few people who are good at digging into others' backgrounds. Shall I introduce you?"
Investigate the stalker through them.
Then find everything from minor offenses to more serious wrongdoing and report and sue him for all of it.
"Then he'll be too busy to stalk you. Well... The solution I proposed is the conventional one. There are other methods, too."
The choice was Kang So-ra's.
I was merely making suggestions.
"The future can change from even the smallest thing. So don't feel too pressured."
"......"
"All right! We'll begin filming!"
At that moment, PD Jang Woo-gyeong's shout rang out.
They were starting the shoot.
Then I had to go.
"Let's continue the rest of our conversation after filming."
"Okaaay..."
While she nodded slightly, we gathered in the yard.
It seemed Ppeuhong would be doing the intro.
Starting with him, I saw the signal for me to come out when today's guests were introduced.
"Hahaha. Nice to meet you, everyone. I'm Kang Noah."
"Ooooooh!! Mr. Kang!!"
"Kang Noah! Kang Noah!"
"Hyung Noah!! Take me!!"
Shouts rang out from all around.
After giving them a casual wave and taking my place, Ppeuhong flashed a grin.
"Wow. We've got one of the hottest people around right now, a fortune-teller who's right every single time. I hear you're extremely busy. Aren't you busy today?"
"Hahaha. I'm actually not that busy."
There were hardly any people looking for someone, unlike before.
I'd already found everyone who needed to be found, after all.
Aside from the occasional case, nobody special was looking for anyone, so I was simply living an ordinary, quiet life as well.
"There must be lots of people who want to know the future, though?"
"Yes. But I don't help people for free, and to see their future through me, they have to show me their past as well, so I suppose some people feel burdened by that."
"Ah, I see. It would be nice if they had nothing to hide."
"Exactly. You had your fortune told openly too, didn't you, Mr. Ppeuhong?"
"Hee hee hee. I did, I did."
We chatted lightly while bringing up what had happened before.
Anyway, was that all for my appearance here?
Next was...
"Someone who wouldn't seem out of place being called the nation's greatest actor!! The actress Lee Bin!!"
Lee Bin, followed by Kim Hyeon-woo.
Finally, they introduced Kang So-ra, completing the cast introductions.
"You'll be staying on this island for three nights and four days, living off the land. Of course, you'll be able to receive food through various missions, so don't worry too much..."
"I've gone without food for as long as three nights and four days before! Is it okay if I starve?"
"Do you think that would be okay...?"
Kang So-ra said it with a bright smile, making PD Jang Woo-gyeong and Ppeuhong frown.
Perhaps the sight was funny, because the staff and cast members snickered.
She must have had a lot on her mind, unable to make up her mind yet, but she could still joke around like that.
As expected, celebrities really were celebrities.
"Then shall we figure out lunch first? Ms. Lee Bin, I hear you're good at cooking. What are you thinking of making for lunch today?"
"I'm not sure. I heard there's a place nearby where we can go mudflat foraging. Wouldn't it be better to catch something there?"
"Ooh... Mr. Kim Hyeon-woo, what are you going to do?"
"I'll go fishing."
Then he lifted his fishing bag.
That left only Kang So-ra and me.
"What about you, Ms. Kang So-ra?"
"I made friends with a grandmother here earlier, and she said she'd give me greens and vegetables if I helped her work in the fields. So that's what I'm going to do."
"I see! Then what will you do, Mr. Kang? Since you read fortunes..."
"No. I'll just help the villagers and bring back some ingredients."
Actually, I'd considered trying to get by by telling fortunes, but most of the people living on this island had led ordinary, uneventful lives, so fortune-telling alone probably wouldn't work.
"Huh? No, that's the most unexpected answer... Are you good at manual labor?"
Ha.
What did he take me for?
"I repaired about half of our orphanage myself."
The people here had no idea how much the army supply officer who came for volunteer work had lamented that I couldn't serve in the military because I was an orphan.