A K-pop Idol 74.3

Ku Tae-Min was a frustrated man. He had always wanted to be an art photographer, but he was already thirty-four years old and it was still a distant dream. In order to survive, a few years earlier he had swallowed his pride and had started working as a paparazzo. It was bad, but his only other option was to photograph weddings, which would be even more degrading – he just hated marriages and all those happy people. 

That afternoon was another day that Ku Tae-Min regretted not having listened to his father. If he had went to college instead of spending all his time with his camera he wouldn't be hiding in an empty house for three hours. That was a hot summer day, and the man was sweaty and exhausted. 

He was about to give up when the front door of the house across the street was opened. Then, he saw the girl coming out. He was almost certain that her name was Kim Hana, but it didn't matter to him – If there was something he hated more than weddings it was K-Pop, and its frivolous idols. All he needed a picture of that girl doing something reprehensible… 

That hunt had started a few weeks earlier. Ku Tae-Min had received a message from an unknown number saying that Kim Hana was secretly visiting that house every week, and spending many hours there. The guy knew her face. The girl was so famous that almost everyone in Korea had already seen her, and she also was dating a popular actor. 

After some research, the photographer discovered that in that house lived a middle-aged woman and her two children: a little girl and a young man who was an army sergeant. Now what the idol would be doing there? 

Ku Tae-Min began to follow her every week, and found that empty house from where he could get a good view of his target. However, until now, he hadn't been able to shoot anything compromising. He didn't even know what to expect. In his wildest dreams, the girl would be going there to take drugs, or she was having an affair, or even taking drugs while having an affair. But so far, he had got nothing. 

In that afternoon, though, Ku Tae-Min saw that she didn't leave the place alone. There was a guy with her, and the photographer guessed he was the sergeant. 

“Now this is getting interesting..." 

And suddenly, the guy hugged her tightly! Ku Tae-Min began photographing the scene furiously. They held each other for a long time, and the guy was stroking her back while she smiled with her eyes closed. They seemed like a perfect couple in love. 

Apparently there were no drugs, but at least the fact that Kim Hana was having an affair seemed unquestionable… Well, maybe not, Ku Tae-Min thought. But once those pictures were published with some sensationalist headline the public would be convinced of her guilt. 

"It seems I'll be able to pay this month's rent" the photographer said, smiling for the first time in weeks.