Chapter 609

“H-Hey! Who the hell poured this much soju?!”

“Ah...”

Jun Cedric Valentian's mind was somewhere else entirely. Soju gushed out of the Fresh Leaf Soju bottle in his hand.

At this point, it couldn't even be called a soju-beer mix anymore.

It was just a glass of straight soju.

'Why didn't she ask me to go buy ice cream with her?'

Typical Han Yeoreum. You had to admire how calculating and materialistic she could be. Back during <ParCheHi>, she'd invited him to buy ice cream together...

“Haaah...”

“You drunk, you idiot? You're totally drunk!”

Jun Cedric Valentian thought back to that insignificant bastard from earlier and Yoo Jiuk.

“Still, don't like Oppa too much. I'm leaving.”

Just when had she gotten to know Yoo Jiuk?

Judging by how comfortable they looked together, they'd clearly known each other for quite a while.

Now that <Seoul Metropolitan City> had raised her status to another level, she'd obviously reconsidered the people she kept around her.

Jun Cedric Valentian could already see it.

Soon enough, Han Yeoreum would squeeze a coffee truck out of Yoo Jiuk too.

She might even contact him before she contacted Jun Cedric Valentian.

“Hoooo...”

“Hey. Stop drinking and have some soup. It's hot.”

The Fresh Leaf Soju bottle was taken from his hand. Han Yeoreum's face printed on the label drifted farther away.

Jun Cedric Valentian versus Yoo Jiuk.

Anyone could tell Jun Cedric Valentian was losing that fight.

He'd thought starring in a ten-million-viewer film would at least let him compete with Myeong Jeha.

Instead, Han Yeoreum had somehow brought back someone even more impressive.

“Heh... Hahaha...!”

“So you become all giggly when you're drunk.”

To make matters worse, the Myeong Jeha he'd seen today looked even more upgraded than before.

Even executives who were normally unfazed by attractive faces couldn't take their eyes off him.

'Anyone would think he starred in the movie himself. Is this a joke?'

Yoo Jiuk.

Ji Haebeom.

And Myeong Jeha.

Those three men, standing in the same room, made Jun Cedric Valentian feel a sense of threat unlike anything he'd ever experienced.

It was an environment practically designed to make Han Yeoreum lose her mind.

He even found himself thankful Jin Yi hadn't shown up.

By then, Jun Cedric Valentian had steeled his resolve.

The relief he'd felt after watching the completed film and the audience's reactions—that maybe, just maybe, it could scrape past ten million viewers—had long since vanished.

“It... absolutely has to hit ten million...”

No matter what.

Even if he had to crash theaters that weren't even scheduled for stage greetings and run himself ragged.

“You brat!!! So that's it! You get drunk and finally say what's really on your mind!!!”

Kwak Cheolsik was deeply moved.

“That's the confidence I like!!! That's it!!!”

On the table, Han Yeoreum smiled brightly from the Fresh Leaf Soju bottle as if she were cheering him on.

* * *

“...”

I walked into an unmanned ice cream shop with Yun Hyeonjo.

Even staff members who normally wouldn't have followed us tagged along.

The cameraman must have decided the angle was too good to pass up.

“First of all—my absolute favorite!”

The moment I stepped inside, I scanned the entire freezer in 0.1 seconds and grabbed a Melon Milk ice cream.

“Melon Milk!”

Dear sponsor, are you watching?

I'm sticking with you forever.

“So, what's next?”

Yun Hyeonjo gestured with his eyes for me to keep going.

I picked up the strawberry condensed milk bar that Kwak Cheolsik liked best.

“He likes that?”

“These days he does...”

“So you even keep track when people's tastes change.”

He shouldn't have said that.

The look in Yun Hyeonjo's eyes clearly asked, Then do you know what I like?

I desperately tried to buy time.

“What... what Jun Cedric Valentian likes... Where was it...?”

Jun Cedric Valentian only ate ice cream that was ninety-eight percent ice and two percent flavor.

The crunchy kind.

Pretending to search the freezer, I secretly watched Yun Hyeonjo's gaze.

'He'll naturally look at the one he wants!'

But Yun Hyeonjo was a professional at controlling his eyes.

He simply watched me choosing ice cream.

“Can't find it?”

“Jun Cedric Valentian's favorite... Ah, here it is... Fruits Icicle.”

I grabbed one at random.

It looked like the kind of low-calorie ice cream Yun Hyeonjo would enjoy.

“This one's for you, Sunbae!”

“That one?”

“...I thought you'd want to give it to the staff. Right? There are so many people, and everyone likes different things, so we should buy a good variety.”

Yun Hyeonjo picked up the basket and started putting the ice cream inside.

“Ah, there it is! Sunbae! This one!”

“That one?”

No luck.

Apparently I'd guessed wrong again.

But escaping awkward situations was my specialty too.

“This one's delicious. I thought... the staff would probably like it too.”

I added another ice cream to the basket.

“This one...?”

“That one?”

“My younger sibling really likes this.”

This was bad.

The basket was already overflowing, and I still had no idea what Yun Hyeonjo actually liked.

He started scanning all the ice creams in the basket.

After taking out his wallet and paying, he said,

“You still don't know?”

“...If you tell me this time, I promise I'll never forget again.”

Holding the heavy shopping bag, Yun Hyeonjo replied,

“I don't like ice cream.”

“...”

What...

...did he just say?

The cameraman's shoulders trembled slightly as he struggled not to laugh.

I stood there frozen, still holding my Melon Milk ice cream.

“No, don't laugh. Wait a second.”

“You coming?”

He actually made me look like an idiot.

Yoo Jiuk was better than Yun Hyeonjo.

At least Yoo Jiuk made a fool of himself.

But the score in my heart quickly recovered.

“If you walk back alone, the camera won't follow you~.”

Yun Hyeonjo quietly said it with a smile in his voice.

'Wait... was this whole thing just one giant, perfectly efficient setup...?'

As expected of Yun Hyeonjo.

The greatest senior ever.

In my internal senior rankings, Yoo Jiuk was demoted again, and Yun Hyeonjo reclaimed his spot.

“Ah, come on. I thought you were just teasing me on purpose...”

For someone who looked so cold, he was surprisingly warm.

“...?”

Yun Hyeonjo looked at me as if asking why I thought it couldn't be both.

Maybe I should move Yoo Jiuk back up a little.

* * *

Aetami had been waiting for this day.

“Preparations... are complete.”

As for the current reservation status of <Faster Than the Law 3>—

It was completely sold out.

Not a single empty seat remained.

The problem wasn't ticket sales.

It was the public reaction from people who hadn't even seen the movie yet.

Ever since the VIP premiere, negative posts had continued pouring in.

[Drama & Movie Actors TALK / I'm skipping Faster Than the Law this time. Milking the same thing only goes so far lol]

They should've cut one of the three main characters. This is seriously overdoing it.

-Anonymous 1: Yeah, exactly. I'm honestly getting tired of it.

-Anonymous 3: Faster Than the Law is gonna drag Korean movies back into that era where everything was gangsters and thugs.

ㄴ Anonymous 5: ?? Tough elite detectives like that are literally a classic... That's not Faster Than the Law's fault.

-Anonymous 9: They could've at least replaced Han Yeoreum... The series feels way too repetitive.

[Drama & Movie Actors TALK / Not trying to pile on, but I don't think Faster Than the Law breaks even this time]

Series always die by the third movie... Watching the same thing twice is already enough. Audiences are way colder than people think.

-Anonymous 1: Seriously lol. Tons of people around me already said they aren't going.

-Anonymous 4: They'll just use the holiday season for more media play again. So sick of it.

Right now, the most talked-about film in the industry was, without question, <Faster Than the Law 3>.

It was the biggest production to be released since movie ticket prices had increased, so naturally public opinion mattered.

'But the way everyone's talking...'

If people were saying the movie wasn't worth the ticket price, Aetami could have understood.

But this wasn't that.

The agenda was far too obvious.

[Drama & Movie Actors TALK / I think Han Yeoreum's character is why Faster Than the Law feels repetitive]

Every character already has such a distinct personality, and you obviously can't replace Yun Hyeonjo or Kwak Cheolsik. They should've changed the supporting character too instead of relying entirely on Han Yeoreum.

-Anonymous 1: Exactly. Changing just the villain isn't enough.

-Anonymous 4: I love Faster Than the Law, but I wish Han Yeoreum would just let it go already... T_T

-Anonymous 8: They should give another rookie actress a chance. Han Yeoreum already has plenty of scripts coming in anyway.

“Again... blaming the actress.”

Some imaginary "other actress" suddenly appeared out of nowhere, supposedly better than Han Yeoreum, and more and more people slowly began agreeing.

If <Faster Than the Law 3> failed, everyone could already predict where the blame would land.

Not on director Gong [N O V E L I G H T] Mujin.

On supporting actress Han Yeoreum.

That this movie failed because of one person.

Han Yeoreum.

That the repetition...

The boredom...

Everything was her fault.

'It's hard to create public opinion in the first place, but once it exists, people treat it like official fact!'

No matter how successful she was in television, people would start dismissing her as just another ordinary actress when it came to films.

Even while <Seoul Metropolitan City> continued breaking its own records, the "Han Yeoreum isn't all that" crowd was growing increasingly bitter.

After all, nothing was harder to endure than watching the rest of the world recognize someone you refused to acknowledge.

'That's absolutely not true.'

Aetami clenched her teeth.

And she believed.

'This one's hitting ten million too...'

Han Yeoreum's filmography would never suffer a single defeat.

The image she'd built as an actress audiences could always trust would never be destroyed by any single project.

Aetami looked at the calendar on her desk.

A red star marked tomorrow.

At last.

On Wednesday, just before the holiday weekend, <Faster Than the Law 3> would officially open in theaters.

Aetami remembered the sketchbook she'd prepared.

'First week. I'll use the stage greeting videos to drag in even the people who said they weren't going to watch it.'

She had spent countless hours studying idol fan videos for this very day.

* * *

“But it's melon flavor!”

Inside a confectionery company in Yongsan District, Seoul, an intense meeting was underway.

“Sure, but did someone patent melon flavor? Is only one company allowed to use it by law?”

“We should follow the purpose of advertising. If consumers immediately make the connection without us spending a fortune, isn't that exactly what advertising is for?”

“Hah... 'without spending a fortune'? Do you know how much more expensive her contract is compared to the other models?”

“I mean compared to the revenue she can generate.”

This company produced famous snacks like Choco Pine, Coco Das, Brown Sando, Jolly Kong, Totto, and many other best-selling confectionery products.

The topic of today's meeting was choosing a model for their newest product.

“You all saw Melon Milk's record-breaking sales, didn't you?”

A new craze had swept through the confectionery industry.

Melon flavor.

When people thought of fruit flavors, three classics usually came to mind first.

Strawberry.

Grape.

Apple.

Soft drinks.

Ice cream.

Jelly.

Candy.

Snacks.

Jam.

Cake.

For decades those flavors had completely dominated the market.

Then, over the past few years, melon had suddenly surged to the forefront.

The marketing team knew perfectly well where that shift in public taste had come from.

A trend that billions couldn't buy.

On the conference room screen was the face of the actress who had made people unconsciously fall in love with melon flavor.

But the reason they hesitated wasn't just her enormous contract fee.

“What if she's already peaked?”

Han Yeoreum had become too famous.

Buying low was no longer an option.

After the massive success of <Dongdaemun Romance>, she'd expanded globally with <Seoul Metropolitan City>.

“Look at the reactions now. Plenty of people are already calling her repetitive.”

Sooner or later...

She had to decline.

No matter how brightly someone shined...

No matter how completely they monopolized the public's affection...

No matter how permanent their position seemed...

Eventually, people grew tired.

“And her next project is with Joeun Nara and Han Yohan.”

Singers relied on songs.

Actors relied on projects.

The most reliable way to sustain explosive popularity was still the traditional one.

No one questioned Han Yeoreum's acting ability.

But the circumstances were unfortunate.

Higher movie ticket prices.

A third installment that many expected to offer nothing new.

And the combination of an unlucky icon with the Grim Reaper of romance.

Quite a few people believed Han Yeoreum had already reached her peak.

“Why don't we just go with a rookie instead?”

“Heo Haena isn't a bad option.”

“Isn't her next project the one that's likely to flop? Noh Seungchan doesn't have the greatest track record, but Goo Minho does know how to pick projects.”

“Even if <Code Name: Time Seven> underperforms, I don't think Heo Haena will get that audience. <Assistant Manager Kim's Survival Guide> will.”

Displayed beside Han Yeoreum on the screen was the rapidly rising actress Heo Haena.

Less kindly, she was called a Han Yeoreum copy.

More kindly, the next Han Yeoreum.

Since she'd debuted through web dramas, she was especially popular with teenagers.

And because her face wasn't yet widely recognized, she still had that valuable sense of freshness.

“And why are you saying Heo Haena has no chance? The head writer's assistant from <Top Grade>, the drama that flattened Eun Baekhap, is the writer of <Class 1-1>.”

“Ah...”

The moment the title of the nearly thirty-percent-rated hit drama came up, the momentum briefly shifted toward Heo Haena.

Then someone suddenly spoke.

“But what if this is actually the last chance to buy low?”

“If <Faster Than the Law 3> becomes her third ten-million-viewer film, and <Code Name: Time Seven> succeeds too... after that she'll be touring Japan with Seo Eden, then America with Myeong Jeha, making herself known everywhere.”

As if to say—

If they didn't seize the opportunity now...

They might never get another one.