Chapter 164: A Kindness Exposed

Hello.

My name is Kim Amugeo, and I used to work on the marketing team at Artworks.

After much deliberation—

I have finally decided to reveal the truth about Kang Taeha.

The famous celebrity.

The star writer currently receiving immense love through works like Byeonghwa, The Pursuit of Perfection, Ego, and countless others.

I know this may come as a shock.

But I can no longer hide it.

Although I have since left the marketing industry due to unavoidable circumstances and am now raising a child—

I worked in marketing for over ten years.

And during that time—

I met countless celebrities.

Honestly speaking—

The most difficult part of this job was dealing with models.

Celebrities.

The people I encountered creatively demonstrated just how many forms so-called “gapjil” could take.

Abuse of power.

Entitlement.

Disrespect.

The stories were endless.

After enduring those indescribable hardships—

A few years ago—

I met Kang Taeha.

Even before meeting him, I was terrified.

Because Kang Taeha perfectly satisfied all three conditions.

Young.

Wildly successful at an early age.

And ridiculously handsome.

Honestly—

It would have been stranger if he didn’t power-trip.

At the time, everyone in the Artworks marketing team, including myself, trembled with anxiety.

Sure—

We had heard rumors.

That Kang Taeha was one of the rare “normal people” in the entertainment industry.

But no one believed them.

And now—

The story begins.

Before continuing—

I should warn you.

The following account may place an unbearable burden on your heart.

Pregnant women.

The elderly.

Those with weak hearts—

Please quietly press the back button.

Thank you.

Now then—

Assuming everyone remaining has prepared themselves—

I shall continue.

Our first meeting with Kang Taeha.

To summarize it in one word—

It was shocking.

The very first thing Kang Taeha said upon arriving at the advertisement shoot was—

“Hello!”

That’s right.

A greeting.

A loud one.

So loud that every single person in the studio could hear it.

And he didn’t stop there.

Shockingly—

Kang Taeha personally walked around greeting every staff member one by one.

Every single person.

At that moment—

I felt something healing inside me.

As if all the emotional wounds accumulated from years of celebrity trauma were being washed away.

But—

I refused to lower my guard.

Because this was only the first meeting.

And more importantly—

At the time, Kang Taeha had just finished filming a drama and was rushing through back-to-back advertisement schedules.

On top of that—

He was preparing Prequel’s next album.

Naturally—

I thought his true personality would emerge sooner or later.

So I remained tense.

And handed him the gift and handwritten letter I had prepared in advance.

For reference—

These gifts are basically tributes.

Like primitive villagers offering sacrifices to the village deity to guarantee a peaceful harvest without casualties.

Sure enough—

The moment Kang Taeha received them—

His true nature finally emerged.

“Wow, what is this?”

His eyes widened.

“Are you really giving this to me?”

“Thank you so much.”

That’s right.

Kang Taeha’s true nature—

Was unbelievably kind.

But it didn’t end there.

“If I’d known this would happen,” he said with a smile,

“I would’ve prepared a better gift.”

Then he added—

“But I brought coffee and snacks.”

“I hope everyone enjoys them.”

Can you believe it?

The man came prepared with gifts too.

At our very first meeting.

At that point—

Every marketing employee, including myself, silently reflected on our sins for doubting him.

And for the first time—

We began to believe.

Maybe—

Just maybe—

Kang Taeha really was the rare celebrity with common sense everyone talked about.

Fortunately—

He never betrayed that hope.

Throughout filming, Kang Taeha remained perfectly professional.

Never losing his smile.

Perfectly delivering every pose.

Every expression.

Every shot.

Thanks to that—

We even finished the shoot two hours earlier than expected.

No overtime.

No panic over studio rental fees.

A miracle.

And after that—

Kang Taeha remained exactly the same.

Until the final day of the contract—

He never once lost his manners.

His professionalism.

Or consideration for the people around him.

By then—

Every single employee in Artworks’ marketing department had become a fan of Kang Taeha.

But if that were all—

I wouldn’t be writing this exposure post.

The decisive incident happened on the final day of his contract.

Honestly—

That day, everyone in the marketing team felt depressed.

The contract with someone we had genuinely grown attached to had ended.

And now—

We had to sit through painful meetings discussing who would replace him.

But honestly—

No matter who we considered—

No one matched Kang Taeha’s charm or influence.

And more than anything—

To the exhausted marketing employees—

Kang Taeha had become a source of emotional support.

Naturally—

The sense of loss was overwhelming.

So after the meeting ended—

We all dragged ourselves back to our desks.

And then—

We froze.

Because sitting on every employee’s desk—

Was a single yellow ranunculus flower.

Alongside—

A handwritten letter.

“W-What is this?”

Someone muttered.

Meanwhile—

I hurriedly opened the letter.

My hands trembling.

And then—

I realized.

It was a farewell gift.

From Kang Taeha.

To the Artworks marketing team.

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You always welcomed me warmly and treated me kindly, so I’m truly sorry we have to part ways like this.

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I hope we can meet again someday.

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Please be happy, Kim Amugeo.

How—

How can someone this warm-hearted exist?

That is why—

I decided to expose Kang Taeha.

Because I wanted the whole world to know.

Even now—

I still find it hard to believe.

And honestly—

I feel proud.

Proud that someone like him achieved five Emmy Awards and eight Baek-am Art Awards through Byeonghwa.

Thank you for reading this long post.

And I sincerely apologize if this exposure has overwhelmed your heart.

***

After reading the post Alex showed him—

Taeha found himself speechless.

No—

It was more than that.

He genuinely couldn’t process what he had just read.

Who in the world—

Would go to such lengths just to troll?

And it wasn’t only Taeha.

The other Prequel members, including Alex, had already read the post.

Each of them wore the exact same blank expression.

Eventually—

Seo Jong-woo was the first to recover.

He looked toward Taeha.

“Wait.”

His expression turned strange.

“Is this true?”

“When your contract ended…”

“You actually sent flowers and letters to the marketing team?”

Taeha awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

“They treated me really well.”

He smiled sheepishly.

“So I just felt bad leaving like that…”

The studio fell silent.

Then—

A wave of exclamations erupted from the members.

Because while they already knew Taeha was kind—

This?

This was on another level.

At that moment—

Everyone finally understood why someone had written such an absurdly detailed trolling exposure post.

“You’re seriously amazing…”

Seo Jong-woo muttered unconsciously.

Kim Gun-yul shook his head in disbelief.

“What’s even crazier,” he said,

“Is the public reaction.”

Taeha blinked.

“What reaction?”

Gun-yul showed him his phone.

“Some people say it’s hilarious.”

“Some say it’s over-the-top.”

“Some say it’s boring.”

“But…”

He scrolled further.

“The praise for you is overwhelming.”

“A lot of people are saying things like—”

How terrible must celebrities be for someone to write a post like this?

And that wasn’t the end of it.

Soon—

More “exposure posts” began appearing.

One after another.

Marketing employees from companies that had previously worked with Taeha stepped forward.

And strangely—

Their stories sounded nearly identical.

Praise.

Gratitude.

Warm memories.

Some even uploaded photos proving they had received farewell gifts too.

The flowers—

Carefully dried and preserved in glass bottles.

The letters—

Laminated.

Treasured like keepsakes.

As the posts multiplied—

The public gradually learned just how many people Taeha had quietly shown kindness to.

And somehow—

His already spotless image became even better.

The online reaction exploded.

• Seriously amazingㅋㅋ To become this successful young and still act like that?
• This is exactly why Kang Taeha succeeds.
• Plenty of successful people are awful, but this guy feels like a lesson in life.
• I’m naming my kid Taeha ^^
• Honestly though… how badly must those marketing employees have suffered from celebrities?
• Heard from a friend in the industry. Apparently it’s brutalㅠㅠ
• Aren’t these exposure posts trying a bit too hard though?
• Right? It’s not even funnyㅋㅋ
• As someone in a similar field—I completely understand wanting to praise him.
• Marketing teams practically live with depression as a passive skill.
• If someone like Kang Taeha were around me, I’d praise him too.
• Handsome, kind, talented writer, actor, singer… Is this even humanly possible?
• So when is Ego releasing??
• If the movie succeeds too, that’d be insane.
• Isn’t the timing suspicious though? Movie coming soon and suddenly these posts appear?
• Yeah… suspiciously perfect.
• Suspicious whether Kang Taeha is even human.
• Koreans, let’s support Kang Taehaㅋㅋ
• What if Ego ends up boring after all this hype? lol
• Honestly this might become pressure for him.
• Pressure? Attention is always good.
• That’s literally what noise marketing means.
• Sorry everyoneㅋㅋ Ego can’t be boring in the first place.
• Even if the writer fails, the director is Joo Chanseong.
• Are you insulting the guy who won five Emmys?
• The people worrying about Ego are the funniestㅋㅋ
• Seriously, did none of you learn anything from the Kang Taeha exposure post?

Naturally—

The growing attention surrounding Taeha turned into unexpected promotion for Ego.

An unintended bonus.

Of course—

As some comments pointed out—

The pressure had also increased.

Because greater expectations only meant greater disappointment if things went wrong.

But strangely—

Taeha couldn’t shake the feeling.

Things are going to work out.

And exactly one month later—

He realized that feeling had been correct.

The moment he watched the final completed version of Ego—

Perfected through Joo Chanseong’s post-production.