Chapter 1137: The Warmest Season, Winter (9)

The audience’s standing ovation was deafening.

The cheers.

The heat in the room.

Watching the audience clap with the same passion they would show for the most anticipated film at a prestigious film festival, the actors and I smiled.

The response is really good.

The response is amazing.

Honestly, I didn’t have much experience with screenings.

Aside from attending one or two VIP screenings as a guest for a movie Jihoon had appeared in back in the day.

But I could tell just by looking at the audience’s reactions.

Just like after a concert or an incredible performance, the people applauding had warm, moist eyes.

“Woooooow!”

While the actors and Director Kim Bora looked flushed with excitement, I looked toward one person sitting in the front row.

My grandma, who was using the hem of her clothes to wipe her eyes because she didn’t have a handkerchief.

She was pressing down hard around her eyes.

Judging by how red her face looked beside her hand, Mrs. Kim Deoksun seemed to have been crying quite a lot.

“Grandma.”

“……”

“Grandma.”

“Go away.”

Her voice was completely choked.

I walked over to her as she waved her hands dismissively and hugged her tightly.

…And just as I held her even tighter while watching her cry even harder after I hugged her—

“Waaaaah……”

“Waaaaah!”

I looked at the people beside her who were crying almost as hard as Grandma.

“Why are you guys……”

“Waaaaah……!”

They were saying something, but they were crying so hard that I couldn’t understand a word.

Our youngest, whose eyes were wet like a puppy’s, pointed at the screen and sobbed something out.

The people around us burst into laughter.

“What?”

“It was because of youuuu…… sob……”

“Sorry?”

“Waaaaah!”

Jiho simply came over and hugged me.

Ri Hyuk had a single tear rolling down his cheek as he embraced me.

“I’ll treat you well.”

“???”

“You must have had such a hard time.”

“Why all of a sudden…?”

Soon, Biju and Junghyun surrounded me like penguins as well.

Everyone burst out laughing at the sight of my underlings surrounding Grandma and me while crying their eyes out.

It was a little embarrassing, but…

It was warm.

Sound of the Sun, scheduled to premiere on the day of the CSAT.

Interest in the screening held about a week before release was incredibly high.

I’m curious. I’m so curious.

Everyone who had bought tickets and everyone who hadn’t managed to get tickets waited anxiously for reviews.

Usually, films shown at screenings have an embargo.

A rule preventing people from mentioning detailed information about the movie before a certain date.

But Sound of the Sun had no such restriction.

Because the entire country already knew the story.

Eventually, as the screenings ended, reviews began appearing one by one.

The screening reviews mentioned various strengths.

Reading them, netizens widened their eyes.

The movie must have really turned out well.

Honestly, it would have been difficult for Sound of the Sun’s screening reviews to be positive.

Because Like The Sun, including its marketing, had raised expectations far too high.

Even a 90-point movie feels like a 60-point movie if people expect 120 points.

But seeing that audiences who went in expecting 120 points were all satisfied with something around 120 points showed just how well the movie had been made.

And there was one strength everyone mentioned.

The praise was directed at the music.

At first, there had been some doubts.

They were taking the difficult genre of jazz and turning it into a musical.

They were adding lyrics to instrumental songs and rearranging them with a pop-like feel.

People wondered, Would that really work?

But every audience member who saw the film unanimously praised the music as the best part.

The more reviews appeared, the higher the curiosity climbed.

What exactly is so good about it??

The only thing they knew was the OST Like The Sun.

They heard the performances and visuals were amazing as well, but there was a limit to imagining those scenes.

Perhaps because of all that interest, a special video was uploaded to the distributor’s official account shortly afterward.

Among movie fans, Sound of the Sun had earned the nicknames “Line 4” and “Haetsori.”

Those who heard the news rushed over.

Just as they had heard, an entire movie clip had been uploaded to the MyTube account.

It almost felt like a declaration of confidence.

Come watch it in theaters.

That was the message the thumbnail seemed to send.

They clicked the video.

A scene of two people looking at each other.

[Sound of the Sun OST - Letter]

When the video started, a man appeared.

Seeing Lee Gyeonwoo dressed as a high school student, everyone smiled fondly.

This is supposed to be a high school student…

Playing a teenager isn’t easy.

The makeup team had done their best, but he was still a handsome adult actor who couldn’t completely hide his maturity.

Regardless, he was wearing a school uniform and sitting at a desk.

With a lamp turned on, his hand moved across the paper with a pen, scratching softly.

『Letter』

A boyfriend expressing his feelings to the person he loves.

But what he was writing wasn’t a letter.

It was sheet music.

With a slightly nervous yet excited expression, Sun Myeongju’s face was shown in close-up as he carefully drew notes onto the staff.

While writing his letter, he presses the piano keys in his room.

Then the song begins.

My own heart

that even I don’t know

I don’t know what this is

I still don’t know what love is

The powerful vocal technique unique to musicals.

The person drawing notes on the sheet music places a rest.

Maybe if there is

something called love

perhaps this feeling

is love

As he says those words, the shy man writing the letter is shown from a distance as the camera moves.

Like traveling from one room to another.

In the next room, Lee Myeongeun receives the letter Sun Myeongju sent.

A girl’s excitement.

She smiles brightly, opens the letter, and realizes it is sheet music.

[……?]

Confused at first, Lee Myeongeun soon takes out her cello and begins playing the composition.

A beautiful, fresh melody.

As she blinks, a smile slowly appears on her lips.

Because of that melody.

A romantic confession from her boyfriend, who expresses the person he sees in Lee Myeongeun through jazz music.

Soon, Lee Myeongeun begins singing as well.

Love

has come to me

Like a duet, Lee Gyeonwoo’s voice joins.

At last, love

has found me

The camera pulls back.

The scene shows the two people looking at each other from their separate rooms.

Different places.

Yet as if they are together in the same space.

After falling in love, Lee Myeongeun sees the meeting place written at the end of the letter and hurriedly prepares to leave.

("Hey! Where are you going?" "Mom, I’ll be back soon!" "Where!? It’s dangerous this late at night…")

Under a streetlamp, Sun Myeongju stands waiting nervously with a scarf around his neck, shivering from the cold.

As he sings anxiously, wondering if she will really come, Lee Myeongeun runs toward him.

[Oppa!]

Seeing her rush out with a red nose, Sun Myeongju takes off his scarf and wraps it around her.

[I……]

But before he can say anything, her lips touch his.

Just as Sun Myeongju freezes in surprise—

The music gradually softens.

And as if celebrating the union of the two lovers, snow begins falling from the sky.

Wow……

A scene created with a romantic visual style.

Snow falls over the image of a couple with a height difference smiling at each other beneath a red streetlamp.

A scene with a Christmas-like atmosphere.

So this is why they said the visuals were amazing.

People replay the paused video from the beginning.

They understood instinctively why everyone said the music was good.

Why everyone said the visuals were good.

And the clip released by the studio didn’t even seem to be one of the most important soundtracks in the movie.

And it’s this good even then……

Expectations skyrocketed.

As scenes of the couple continued playing, a caption appeared on the screen.

[Based on True Story]

The subtitle saying This romantic scene you are watching is based on a true story made viewers nod.

Amid everyone getting excited and deciding they absolutely had to watch it, there were some people looking confused.

Wait, this oppa…?

Our oppa’s singing ability was trash… no, maybe around the level of food waste.

They were the Jiknyeo Squad.

They had already witnessed Lee Gyeonwoo’s improved singing ability through Like The Sun.

But seeing a clip like this, with very little correction and essentially a solo performance, left them even more shocked.

Because he sang far better than they had expected.

What is this?

Did they bring Lee Gyeonwoo No. 3 from a parallel universe?

No, seriously, this is……

The Jiknyeo Squad looked horrified yet moved.

Soon, they offered their praise to the person who had transformed their tone-deaf actor.

Thank you, Wooju.

Thank you, Wooju. Please live until you’re 5,000 years old.

They were confused.

But they were happy.

After finishing the Sound of the Sun screening schedule.

I went through various promotional recordings with the actors and Director Kim Bora.

“Love you! Entertainment News!”

We appeared on the kind of program everyone usually visits when a movie is released and worked hard through interviews.

From interviews with famous movie reviewers to press conferences with journalists.

We even filmed content for our own NewBlack TV channel.

“Ugh. I need sugar.”

“Here’s some apple juice, hyung.”

“Thanks, Biju.”

I barely held myself together while gulping down sweet apple juice.

After finishing promotions, we immediately headed overseas.

This time, together with the cast and director of Sound of the Sun.

“Wow……”

Director Kim Bora placed her hand on the armrest of the spacious seat.

“This is my first time riding on a plane that Hollywood stars use.”

“Me too.”

The actors laughed quietly as they excitedly said it was their first time on a private jet.

Thanks to the overwhelmingly positive early reactions from the screenings and the film itself, everyone looked bright despite their exhaustion.

Lee Gyeonwoo asked us.

“So do you have more schedules after this?”

“Yes.”

Jiho answered.

“We’re going to that. The Choice Awards.”

“Doing the awards ceremony and the red carpet event will be exhausting. Wooju, are you sure you’ll be okay?”

I nodded without hesitation.

“Of course.”

“It’s going to be really hard.”

I agreed when he said balancing movie promotions with other schedules would be incredibly difficult.

It really was exhausting.

But when things were going well, it was bearable.

“Should we have a meeting?”

While flying to Los Angeles, everyone gathered for a meeting.

And the news delivered by a representative from Studio LM at the very beginning of the meeting made all of us blink.

“West Hollywood?”

“Yes.”

The head of Studio LM’s promotion team spoke.

“They moved up the release date.”

“Why?”

“We don’t know the internal circumstances. It doesn’t seem like they specifically targeted us. They probably just have their own reasons.”

“Ah……”

Someone’s words represented everyone’s feelings.

West Hollywood.

One of the most anticipated films of the year.

It wasn’t a blockbuster.

But it was the work of Robert McGinnis, a director considered one of Hollywood’s masters.

A filmmaker famous for creating gripping noir and thriller films so well that they were considered his trademark.

A director so accomplished people joked he could fill a bathtub with Academy trophies.

“What is West Hollywood?”

Jiho, who had been listening nearby, asked while drinking juice.

“They’re releasing that?”

“Yes.”

“Wow. That’s seriously one of the most anticipated movies……”

“Do you know what kind of movie it is?”

“Yes. It’s about a bank robbery.”

Jiho explained the synopsis.

—West Hollywood in the 1970s. A famous bank branch there releases an advertisement.

The advertisement was to boast about their security vault.

The bank declares that nobody could ever break through their security and rob them.

They announce that anyone who steals the seven million dollars stored inside the vault without using firearms or threatening employees will not be prosecuted.

Then students from the prestigious Stanford University become involved in this story……

“That’s basically where the synopsis ends, but knowing this director’s style, it’ll probably go like this. The genius students use their schemes to rob the bank, then……”

“Then?”

“After that, the genius students start shooting each other to keep all the money for themselves. White-collar kids from wealthy middle-class families who have never even killed a bug reveal humanity’s savage nature in the wild state… Blood everywhere, getting stabbed, all that.”

The filmmakers nodded at Jiho’s explanation.

“That’s classic McGinnis.”

“That director always ends his movies covered in blood.”

“His favorite theme is the brutality hidden beneath civilization.”

I didn’t really know, but apparently that was the case.

I tilted my head.

“So… I don’t know much about it, but is it a movie that does well commercially? I know he’s incredibly famous, but artistic value and box office success are different things.”

“It’s supposedly McGinnis’s retirement film.”

“……”

“His first new film in five years… And the cast is stacked. There isn’t a single actor who hasn’t won or been nominated for an Academy Award.”

“……”

“He even said in interviews that he was proud to have made an entertaining film for general audiences.”

Then this really was a problem.

The

~Nоvеl𝕚ght~

news that a film built around Hollywood’s hottest director and a cast full of major stars would become their competitor left everyone deep in thought.

“What… can we do?”

“Hmm……”

“Hmmm……”

While everyone was thinking.

My eyes suddenly landed on Junghyun, who was reading a Schopenhauer book.

Potato!

Like Eureka, the word “potato!” appeared in my mind.

Our third member, who had achieved one of the greatest promotional successes ever by becoming a potato friend.

I spoke to everyone.

“How about we create some buzz, so to speak? Make people focus their attention through an interview.”

“How?”

“What studio is McGinnis’s new film from?”

“World Art Studios.”

“Perfect.”

I asked the Studio LM representative.

“Would it be okay if I tried to create a little buzz during the Choice Awards red carpet?”

“Oh, I think I know what you’re planning.”

Ri Hyuk whispered to me, and I nodded.

“Hohohohoho.”

“Hohohoho. Has the time finally come?”

I looked at my underlings laughing ominously and smiled.

“There’s something I’ve wanted to say for a long time.”

「Sunny, I heard Sound of the Sun, the story about your father, is about to be released.」

「Yes.」

「You’ll be competing against Director McGinnis’s new film, one of World Art Studios’ most anticipated releases. How do you feel about that?」

「I’m really nervous because it’s releasing at the same time as a film by a director I deeply respect. Ah. Since you mentioned World Art Studios, something just came to mind.」

「What is it?」

「The first company that suggested Sound of the Sun was actually World Art Studios. At the time, one of their representatives told me this. “Asians don’t sell. So why don’t we change your father’s race?” Ahahahaha!」

「…….」