The 9th was Kang Woojin's day off, but it vanished in the blink of an eye.
Days off usually disappeared before you even realized what you had done, but in Woojin's case, it was also because he had spent far too much time online.
"Wow, there's so much stuff?"
Lately, Kang Woojin had been spending more and more time on his phone. Even when his name was not always mentioned directly.
"Oh wow! So this was from the closing ceremony? Why does my face look so weird?"
Most of the news heating up the internet right now was connected to Kang Woojin in one way or another. The film industry still had not escaped the aftershocks of the Mise-en-scène Film Festival, which had created a huge buzz just a few days earlier.
"Finally, the Best Picture winner has been announced, and this year's Mise-en-scène Film Festival has come to a successful close [Summary]"
The festival committee had decided to keep pushing this year's event, since it had succeeded both in terms of attention and controversy, and because the festival itself already carried significant prestige.
"The Private Investigator wins Best Picture at this year's Mise-en-scène Film Festival! First Best Picture winner in four years!"
"[Star Talk] A huge success for the short film festival! Hong Hyeyeon makes a surprise appearance and takes home Best Actor / Photo"
They needed to leave audiences with a strong impression so they would come back again next year.
On top of that, it had been a long time since Best Picture was even awarded, and The Private Investigator, which had won Best Picture, had also taken home the newly established Acting Award.
"This year's Mise-en-scène Film Festival draws attention, especially with The Private Investigator taking three awards amid heavy attendance from film industry stars"
"[Photo] Director Shin Dongchun of The Private Investigator shares his thoughts after winning three awards: 'It's a great honor. I'll continue to do my best to contribute to the film industry.'"
The committee and the film media kept the spotlight fixed on The Private Investigator.
Every industry needed a superstar. That was especially true in non-mainstream fields like short films. Sports were a good example. Even in an unpopular sport, if there was a star player, people would watch.
In other words, The Private Investigator had become that superstar, carrying multiple headlines on its back.
Meanwhile, Park Junghyuk, who had tried to use the Mise-en-scène Film Festival to restore his image, was quietly buried.
He was only mentioned briefly at the beginning of the ceremony.
"Where is Park Junghyuk, who declared he would start again from rock bottom? His side remains unclear regarding his absence from the awards ceremony"
What was interesting was this—
"Who is the Acting Grand Prize winner at the Mise-en-scène Film Festival? Judges say, 'He is the future of Chungmuro' / Photo"
Even Kang Woojin, who had originally been an unknown actor overshadowed by Hong Hyeyeon, started receiving some attention after winning the grand prize. His public recognition was still low, but the spotlight had begun to gather around him.
Why was that?
An actor named Kang Woojin had beaten Hong Hyeyeon to win the grand prize, so why was it still relatively quiet? Not every film outlet focused on the story, but some reporters had started writing articles about him.
"[Film Talk] Unknown actor Kang Woojin wins Grand Prize by unanimous vote of the judges, speaks in Japanese with Japanese master Director Kyotaro / Photo"
Naturally, the entertainment industry was heating up as well because of the ongoing drama competition.
[@19yy]
[(Article link) Ah… what am I supposed to watchㅜㅜㅜ I want to watch all three! It doesn't look like Netflix is airing all three at the same time….ㅜㅠㅜ]
With the first broadcast of Profiler Hanryang fast approaching, SBC, MBS, and TVM were all going all-in on promotion, and the media followed accordingly.
"[Drama IS] First broadcasts imminent, SBC, MBS, and TVM launch fierce promotional battle!"
Public opinion joined the frenzy too. Advertisements were everywhere, not just on portal sites but anywhere people could see or hear them.
"Public opinion has already shifted. Netizens are now promoting the dramas they want across all kinds of communities / Photo"
Among them, the news drawing the most attention was the production presentation for Profiler Hanryang, which had been released the previous day. Of course, SBC, MBS, and TVM had all held production presentations, but Profiler Hanryang clearly stood above the rest.
"[Star Talk] Ryu Jungmin attends production presentation, says, 'A drama war? I acted sincerely, and I'm confident.'"
"Writer Park Eunmi and the entire Profiler Hanryang team, packed with a five-star cast, are overflowing with confidence"
They kept serving up delicious, irresistible headlines, and reporters, drawn in as if by scent, steadily increased the number of articles on Profiler Hanryang. The internet stayed in a frenzy all day long.
But the next day was not any quieter.
If anything, it was even louder.
"★ Writer Park Eunmi: 'The scene-stealer actor I chose will overwhelm everyone'"
In particular, the so-called scene-stealer actor mentioned at the end of that day's Profiler Hanryang production presentation, along with Hong Hyeyeon's sharp clash with a reporter, became a major topic.
"Who is the 'greatest scene-stealer in history' actor praised by PD Song Manwoo and writer Park Eunmi? Will the performance really live up to the hype?"
"[Photo] Top actress Hong Hyeyeon sharply fires back at reporter's question: 'Go watch The Private Investigator' / Photo"
To be honest, most of the articles currently circulating were exaggerated far beyond the truth.
But what could anyone do?
They were sensational pieces meant to chase clicks. That was simply how the people publishing them thought. Of course, the reporters themselves were scrambling for traffic too, but for the Profiler Hanryang team, it was probably not a bad situation at all.
No—
It was exactly what they had intended.
So after the controversy spread through the media for two straight days, up through the 10th, public opinion started pouring fuel on the fire from all directions beginning Monday the 11th.
-Hong Hyeyeon shutting down a reporter at the production presentation.jpg
Dozens of edited clips from the production presentation were uploaded to YouTube, and heated arguments broke out across social media and online communities.
At first, nearly all attention centered on Profiler Hanryang, and naturally, the drama teams at MBS and TVM noticed.
"PD-nim! Since the Hanryang team dropped all those hints at the production presentation, most of the community reactions seem focused on Hanryang!"
"I know! I've been monitoring it the whole time too!"
"Setting aside Hong Hyeyeon arguing with a reporter, is the rumor that PD Song and writer Park really cast some unbelievable scene-stealer actor actually true?"
"No way, that's fake! I never thought writer Park would pull something like that—baiting viewers this openly?"
"But what if there really is some incredible scene-stealer actor?"
"Hey, do you know how much money went into Hanryang? It's total bait! Hey! Throw everything at it! Even if we get cursed later!"
As a result, the other drama production teams quickly jumped into the clickbait war too.
Then came the 12th.
With exactly four days left until the first broadcast on the 15th, the drama teams, including the Profiler Hanryang production staff, decided the timing was right.
"Drama war! Each series releases its official trailer almost simultaneously! How's the quality?"
The companies released their official trailers almost at the same time.
Teaser videos had already been released, of course, but this time the trailers ran over a minute long—more than enough to maximize public anticipation.
In a way, it looked like a fight to the death.
Meanwhile, inside Kang Woojin's van—
At the time Profiler Hanryang's main trailer dropped, Kang Woojin was on his way to a studio. He was headed there to film an interview segment that would be included at the end of later Profiler Hanryang promotional content.
"..."
As always, he wore a cynical expression.
But CEO Choi Sunggeon and the rest of the team around him were anything but calm.
"Wow, the quality of the main trailer is seriously good. PD Song must've poured everything into this."
"Exactly. It's kind of a shame Woojin isn't in it."
"Haha! Doesn't it hit harder when people get blindsided?!"
Everyone was busy praising the main trailer.
Because of the image he had built, Kang Woojin could not exactly jump around in excitement like the others, but he watched it closely all the same.
Wow, so this is how those scenes look once they're edited. Interesting.
Comparing the footage he had personally shot with the finished edited version, he could not help but be impressed. He did have some experience with video editing back when he worked at the design company.
This is on a completely different level.
He realized that whatever he had done in the past had only been the tip of the iceberg.
Then—
Ah, right.
As he watched the trailer, Kang Woojin suddenly thought of something. He turned the video off and logged into his mobile banking app. His face hardly changed, but there was a faint trace of anticipation.
-Tap tap.
A few touches later, after checking his account balance, a subtle crack appeared in Kang Woojin's blank expression.
...This is insane. It came in.
The sharp-eyed stylist Han Yejung asked him,
"Hey, what's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"
At her question, Woojin solemnly shook his head.
"No, I'm fine."
After giving the proper answer, Kang Woojin lowered his gaze back to the phone screen. Inside, he was practically dancing.
The reason was simple.
Sixty million.
Sixty million won all at once.
Tens of millions of won had landed in his miserable bank account. It was his agency signing bonus and the first appearance fee payment for the drama Profiler Hanryang. To be exact, the signing bonus had come in a little earlier, and the drama payment had been deposited that day.
Kang Woojin had simply checked late.
He had been too busy.
Still, he had started acting, and in just two months, more than sixty million won—his first real paycheck—had landed in his account.
And on top of that—
They said the Hanryang money would keep coming in after the first payment too, right?
There was still a substantial amount of appearance fee left to be paid. Of course, he would make even more in the future.
Kang Woojin could barely believe it.
But sixty million won was an enormous amount of money.
To be completely honest, Kang Woojin, whose heart was still that of an ordinary citizen, had never seen that much money before.
Damn. What am I supposed to do with this?
That was why a strange smile started forming on his otherwise expressionless face. He tried to suppress it, but his happiness kept leaking out.
Catching a glimpse of that, Han Yejung whispered to Choi Sunggeon,
"CEO, Woojin's been kind of weird lately."
Quickly checking on Woojin's condition, Choi Sunggeon realized he had seen this side of him before.
"Leave him alone. He's probably practicing for a role again."
"Ah—"
"When he gets like that, don't interrupt him."
"Okay."
Unaware of the exchange, Kang Woojin was still lost in thought.
What should I do with this money? Damn, it's the first time I've ever handled this much. I don't even know what to do with it. I should give some to my parents first.
He was seriously thinking through what to do with this amount he had never seen before.
Ah! Should I save a little more and move?
The next day, Wednesday the 13th.
Kang Woojin's studio apartment.
It was morning, around nine.
Now that the weather had grown warmer, Kang Woojin was dressed in a comfortable sweatshirt. He stood in front of the shoe cabinet, but he did not put his shoes on right away.
"Hmm. Shiny."
He was admiring the trophy resting on top of the cabinet.
What else would it be?
It was the grand prize trophy from the Mise-en-scène Film Festival.
"Alright, I'm heading out."
For whatever reason, Woojin had been cherishing the grand prize trophy he had just received.
Which made sense.
It was the first award he had won only two months after becoming an actor.
Soon—
-Thud.
After saying goodbye to the trophy, Kang Woojin stepped out of his studio apartment.
As usual, a black van was waiting for him outside.
But—
"Hyung! Good morning!"
"Morning, hyung."
The only people who had come to pick him up were Jang Suhwan and Han Yejung.
CEO Choi Sunggeon was nowhere to be seen.
"Yes, hello."
"Oh! Hyung! Couldn't you speak a little more comfortably with us?!"
"Yeah, hyung. It's awkward for us too."
"Alright."
The reason was simple.
"Hyung, we're heading straight to the company! Ah! You know the company's total chaos right now, right?!"
Kang Woojin's agency, BW Entertainment, was basically a battlefield. CEO Choi Sunggeon was too busy to step away. It was the peak season.
In fact, by the time Kang Woojin climbed into the van, the BW Entertainment staff were already scrambling nonstop without a second to spare.
"Yes, yes, this is BW Entertainment! Ah, an interview request for Hong Hyeyeon? I'll check and get back to you!"
"Huh? No, reporter-nim. What do you mean? What's wrong with asking for that false article to be taken down?"
"Ah, nothing's been decided yet regarding Kang Woojin. Yes, yes. Then could you send that over quickly? A meeting? In that case, I'll ask the CEO."
"Please send all advertising inquiries for Hong Hyeyeon by email."
Truthfully, all of this had started right after the Mise-en-scène Film Festival.
BW Entertainment had always been busy because of Hong Hyeyeon's star power, but the recent issues and Kang Woojin's arrival had increased the workload even more. Naturally, inquiries about Hong Hyeyeon poured in, but there were also many about Kang Woojin now.
That was why the publicity team, made up of around six people, had to keep answering calls without pause.
"Quick mail service! Where should I install these?!"
At BW Entertainment, which was spinning in complete chaos, express deliveries were arriving frequently. Most of them were scripts and scenarios.
Express courier service was usually used when it was difficult to arrange a meeting, and judging by the pile stacked on the operations team's desk, the volume had grown significantly lately.
At that point, CEO Choi Sunggeon said,
"Good. For now, push Hyeyeon into the spotlight and keep Woojin hidden as much as possible."
He was in the middle of a quick meeting with the staff.
"Now that Woojin has joined us, I think we need to increase headcount. Which team needs people the most urgently?"
"In my opinion, the publicity team's in the worst shape."
"Hmm."
"Management is struggling too."
"Figure out exactly how many people we need and increase staffing as fast as possible."
Thirty minutes later, BW Entertainment's newest actor, Kang Woojin, arrived at the company.
Since he still was not close to the employees, many of them looked at him curiously.
In any case, Woojin soon found himself seated across from Choi Sunggeon in the executive office. Choi Sunggeon started the conversation first.
"Woojin, you know what the company looks like right now. It's complete chaos. The number of scripts and scenarios coming in for you has increased enormously, and there are quite a lot of interview requests too. What do you think? Want to try some?"
Interviews?
Ah, not yet.
Kang Woojin silently looked at Choi Sunggeon, not entirely sure. Well, he would have to do interviews eventually.
I'm not ready yet.
To be honest, it still felt awkward.
So Woojin answered in a low voice.
"I think it's still a little early."
"Right? Honestly, I think it's better if you keep some mystery around you for now. Even if you do a few YouTube appearances or media interviews, the reaction won't be huge yet. It'd just waste your image."
"I think so too."
"What I'm thinking is that even after Hanryang ends, we keep that mystery going."
Leaning toward Woojin, Choi Sunggeon began briefing him in earnest.
"First, the public and the press were already curious about you. But there was almost no information, then you won at the Mise-en-scène Film Festival and got tied to Hanryang, so even more questions started piling up. Then suddenly you join a Director Kwon Gitaek project. Basically, that's the flow."
"Ah, I see. Hmm, I'm not really sure."
Kang Woojin had listened, but he had only understood about half of what was being said. Still, one thing was clear: Choi Sunggeon was putting together a very detailed plan.
"Yes, that sounds fine."
"There are only two days left until Hanryang airs, so stay hidden as much as possible until then. And be careful what you say even to close friends."
"Yes, CEO."
Wearing a satisfied smile, Choi Sunggeon stood up, went over to the desk, picked up dozens of books, and placed them in front of Woojin.
Inside, Woojin flinched at the sheer volume.
Outwardly, though, he simply looked at Choi Sunggeon calmly.
Grinning, Choi Sunggeon shrugged.
"These are the scenarios and scripts prepared for you. I also pulled out some melodramas and romantic comedies separately."
In other words, the dozens of books stacked in front of Woojin were all scenarios and scripts.
This many?
Although he was shocked inside, Woojin worked hard to keep his expression neutral.
Wow, this is insane. All of this came to me? There's way too much. When am I supposed to read all this?
At the same time, Choi Sunggeon saw Woojin's expression and reached the wrong conclusion.
"Disappointed? Haha, don't be. The company already filtered out the meaningless submissions in the first round. Even so, it's fewer than I expected. Probably because there still isn't enough information out there about you."
Woojin slowly nodded, then turned his attention toward the stack of scripts and scenarios.
Naturally, every one of them had a black square attached.
Acting as if it meant nothing, Woojin picked up the top script and opened it. Choi Sunggeon grinned and continued his explanation.
"You've got natural talent, so just look through the candidates and choose. It doesn't have to be melodrama or romantic comedy. If you hate rom-coms, choose another genre. There's plenty of time. Director Kwon Gitaek's project is still in pre-production, so you'll probably have time to shoot a few short films in between too. Anyway, the choice is yours."
"Isn't this supposed to be the time to rest?"
"Right now, the best thing is to keep pushing full speed without resting."
As Kang Woojin listened calmly, he suddenly stopped speaking.
Of course, he had secretly raised his index finger, but Choi Sunggeon did not notice. So Kang Woojin—
Ah, this one.
He quickly dipped into the void space and came right back.
Did it start at B+ right away?
Pointing to the scenario in his hand, Woojin asked Choi Sunggeon,
"CEO, what is this?"
"Huh? Ah, I think that one was for a cameo."
"A cameo?"
"Yeah. I didn't get to talk with the Director for long, but I heard they're already filming. Apparently he saw you at the Mise-en-scène Film Festival. He also said he wants to speak with you in Japanese. He really wants to meet you in person."
Right at that moment—
-Knock knock! Bang!
The door to the CEO's office flew open.
The head of the management team stood there, his face wide-eyed and strange.
"CEO, you need to come out."
Choi Sunggeon narrowed his eyes, sighed, and stood up.
"Why? What is it?"
"Well… someone came to see you."
"Who?"
Choi Sunggeon immediately stepped out of the office.
Then he noticed a crowd gathered near the office entrance. At the very front stood a silver-haired man, and the moment Choi Sunggeon saw him, his mouth fell open in disbelief.
"What…?"
The silver-haired man approached with a smile and offered a handshake.
Then he spoke in Japanese.
"Sorry, did I come too suddenly?"
It was Japan's master Director Kyotaro, appearing completely without warning.
"I came to meet actor Kang Woojin."