NOVEL NEXT Chapter 33
After the photo time for HyDream was wrapped up, the real Q&A session began.
The cast and crew sat in a line at the table, ready to take questions from the reporters.
Sneak peek.
Instead of questions, the reporters kept looking at Kim Donghu.
‘What does he even look like?’
‘Lee Jae-yi? He’s not even a main member of HyDream, right?’
‘Seriously, he’s so good-looking, it’s not even an exaggeration.’
No matter how many times they emphasized it, all they could say was perfection.
From the shape of his face to the line where his neck meets his shoulders,
the straight shoulders and perfectly balanced muscles.
Nothing seemed lacking at all.
In fact, the more they tried to find flaws, the reporters arrived at one undeniable truth.
A perfect hexagonal face.
His presence held no angle of shame, leaving everyone feeling intimidated.
Plus, he was only fifteen, an age where touching him would definitely earn some backlash.
As if asking, what could this kid possibly know about life?
But still.
‘I’m curious.’
Only the brave reap the rewards.
One reporter shot his hand up.
“Yes, please ask your question.”
“This is DailyHappy, Gil Gil-dong. The plot of HyDream is quite lacking in detail regarding Lee Jae-yi’s role. Can you tell us exactly what his character is like?”
Could you really be asking the first question of not the main or supporting roles, but the minor supporting actor?
It was a thought that could arise, but no one felt anything strange.
If you asked who the brightest person in this place was.
“That’d be better answered by our Donghu, right? Donghu.”
Of course it was Kim Donghu.
Actually, when a question about Kim Donghu came up, the PD Kim Youngmo seemed delighted and quickly turned his gaze to Kim Donghu.
“Ah, Kim Donghu, or rather, Lee Jae-yi, is a character who has a confrontational dynamic with the HyDream members, and he has a classic vibe.”
“Classic?”
“Yes, he plays the piano.”
“Do you actually play?”
“Yes, I play myself.”
“Could you share what pieces you play?”
“To find that out, you really have to watch the broadcast! Please!”
Hahaha.
The reporters chuckled at Kim Donghu’s witty response.
Not only is he handsome, but he also has a funny way of speaking and shows human warmth occasionally.
‘As long as there are no major problems, it’ll last long.’
‘But seriously, can he really play the piano? There have been plenty of kids who lied and got into controversies.’
‘Well, I guess watching the broadcast is a must.’
As much as they’d like to toss a few more questions at Kim Donghu,
from now on they shifted focus for real news,
showering the main cast and crew with serious questions.
Starting lightly with their roles, their attitudes towards filming, routines, ideal types, and so on,
the usual line of questioning seen at any production press conference continued.
The atmosphere rolled on smoothly.
However, a killer question always leaps out from the still bushes.
“Since you’re all newcomers, has anyone made you think, wow, this person really acts well during the process of acting?”
In a way, it’s a question that could spark some conflict.
An intentional attempt to stir up controversy and write a clickbait article.
However, contrary to the journalist’s expectations, the actors showed no signs of embarrassment.
“Yes, there is.”
“Can we know who it is?”
Jin Su-hyuk calmly grabs the mic without any signs of instability.
“You’ll find out if you watch the broadcast.”
With a brief pause, a relaxed answer follows.
Everyone bursts out laughing at his cheeky response.
But in truth, the cast and crew were well aware of the real answer to that question.
‘Kim Donghu.’
On the day he reveals himself to the world,
How big of a wave will crash down?
Will we be able to survive that wave?
Jin Su-hyuk suddenly felt worried.
+++++
After the successful press conference for ‘Hydream,’
Time flew by quickly, and inside a café near the university street,
A man with a hunched back and shaking hands was waiting for someone.
“I, I really didn’t expect to get a call. From a management company too…”
It turned out it wasn’t a big company, but it wasn’t something to brush off either.
Choi Seok-ho. It’s amusing that a director who hasn’t even made his debut knows the name of a mere manager.
But Choi Seok-ho’s reputation was quite notable.
“They say there’s no other manager like Choi Seok-ho who tracks down every script during the Cyber SQ era.”
His obsession with producing the best work.
A workaholic, putting in 16 hours in a 24-hour day.
A deep-sea diver who scrapes every last bit of potential from the bottom of the scripts.
In the industry, Choi Seok-ho was fairly famous.
But how could I be meeting such a person?
The director of ‘Hero,’ Lee Seong-deok, hurriedly popped another Calm Heart pill.
It felt like something was needed to settle his nerves.
Ding ding.
And just at that moment,
“Oh, here you are. Hello. I’m Choi Seok-ho, the head of Veritas Management. I gave you my business card last time, right?”
“Yes, yes, yes! Umm, nope, I mean hello, I’m Lee Seong-deok.”
Choi Seok-ho appeared.
With a refreshing smile and a friendly demeanor.
His broad shoulders suited his casual outfit perfectly.
To Lee Seong-deok, who was type A,
Choi Seok-ho, who was clearly type O, felt like a complete opposite.
“I came to say that I really loved the script and I absolutely want to work together.”
“Oh, that’s, um, a great honor! If we pool the budget, we have about 700 to 1,000…!”
“Uh? Haha, starting right with the budget, you’re quite straightforward.”
“Thank you.”
No, it was more accurate to call it an unsolicited counter-attack.
“How did you end up writing such a piece?”
“Oh, I was impressed by the phrase ‘No money, no justice,’ and, as you know, there’s also Vigilante… But usually, it seems like all the stories start with adults.”
But upon reflection, original values and personality are formed from a young age, right?
Isn’t it possible?
So, since childhood, I’ve wanted to film the boyhood of a hero who punishes evil.
And also…
Creators get excited when someone shows deep interest in the settings they’ve created.
Choi Seok-ho listened intently to Lee Seong-deok’s passionate explanation of his work while slowly fiddling with his phone.
“Oh, have I been talking about my story too much? I’m sorry.”
“No, not at all. It’s fine. By the way, would you like to watch a video of our building manager doing a reading?”
“Eh? Yes!”
Did he just say building manager? Surely I misheard that…
Seong-deok thought to himself as he immediately focused on Choi Seok-ho’s phone, which was about to play.
A ridiculously handsome young man was slowly reading his script.
At that moment.
“…Ah.”
Lee Seong-deok’s eyes were filled with a desire to capture this person on camera.
It was the moment when one more Kim Donghu fan was born.
+++++
Mid-January.
As snow fell and the harsh cold hit South Korea,
people preferred to stay in warm homes watching TV rather than going out.
Sure, going to a ski resort is nice,
but eating tangerines at home while watching a drama is also super fun.
Moreover.
“Hyde Dream is so much fun!”
Today was the day of the second episode of Hyde Dream.
The first episode had a viewer rating of 12%.
A pretty decent start, and if all went well, it might crush its contemporaneous competitors.
Perhaps that’s why?
Ji Eun-bi, a 17-year-old girl who decided to become a passionate viewer of Hyde Dream, was extremely excited.
“With Hyde Dream, I can fangirl over both idols and actors!”
Plus, with handsome men and women showcasing a sweet love triangle,
“There’s no way that’s not interesting.”
Especially the popularity of Jin Su-hyuk, who played Song Cheolsu, soared to the heavens since he looked great right from the opening.
“Oh, Su-hyuk oppa is really so handsome.”
Thus began the second episode.
As the story kicked off,
this was also a segment to delve further into the characters who didn’t appear in the first episode.
– It’s surprising that kids with grades like this can enroll in our school.
– It’s okay, this way our school builds an image of giving equal opportunities, right?
– Chairman, no matter what…
– Now, now, let’s not talk about that anymore.
A conversation between Principal Wang Ho and Chairman Maria.
It was clear they had a blatant disdain for Hyde Dream.
“Hah, it’s really funny. Isn’t it commendable just to see them trying?”
Ji Eun-bi, who couldn’t understand why her parents talked while watching dramas,
had completely immersed herself and started muttering to herself.
– And anyway, there’s a flower in our school that can never be toppled, right?
– Ah, you mean that friend.
– Yeah, Lee Jae-yi.
Regardless, Hyde Dream episode 2 was suddenly racing towards the end.
Before the team even formed, both the principal and the chairman didn’t like them at all.
They started mentioning a certain student.
– If we have that one, isn’t everything else sorted?
– Exactly. It’s not wrong to say that Lee Jae-yi is a genius we’ll never see again in our school.
Because I’m a genius that will never be seen again at school.
‘Lee Jae-yi?’
Now that I think about it, I might’ve heard that name before.
I didn’t read the article about the production announcement, but I think they mentioned there was a ridiculously handsome dude.
But I never paid that much attention.
I mean, I didn’t exactly obsess over someone to the point of licking the floor of the production announcement.
– Right, he’s a genius. That’s why I called you.
– Huh? You called me here?
– Yeah, you need to explain our plan; then our Jae-yi will move for us, right?
With those words,
click.
The door to the principal’s office on TV opened, and a boy walked in.
His hair was neatly slicked back, and despite wearing the same uniform as every other student, he exuded an air of sophistication like he was in a suit.
– Jae-yi, you’re here?
– Hello, Principal, Chairman. I heard you had something to discuss, so I came.
– Right, Jae-yi, there’s something you need to do.
As the chairman Maria finished speaking, the screen turned to black and white.
♪♩♪♩♬♩♪
The BGM signaling the end of the drama began to play.
The frozen screen zoomed in on Lee Jae-yi’s face.
“…Who is this kid?”
Ji Eun-bi couldn’t take her eyes off the screen.
+++++
Meanwhile, at KBC Broadcasting Station.
Kim Youngmo PD stared anxiously at his phone.
“PD, that won’t speed up the viewer ratings compilation.”
“Hey, don’t you have any feelings? How can you be so calm?”
“I’m… just the assistant director.”
“What does that even matter?”
If there was a religion that worshipped Kim Donghu, Kim Youngmo PD would be the high priest.
After a successful premiere rating of 12%, he hoped for another hit with the second episode.
‘Please let it be 13%, heck, I’ll take 12.5%!’
Make it a success, make it a success.
Just then,
ding!
A text message arrived.
“…What, what? Viewer rating momentarily at, fourteen percent?!”
A whopping 14% in just the second episode.
It was instantaneous, yet an astonishing increase of 2% in just one day.
Why would it rise so much even at the introduction stage?
While pondering that question, the usually indifferent assistant director’s eyes widened in shock and he urgently called out to Kim Youngmo PD.
“PD! PD!”
“What! What! What is it!”
“R-real-time search term, it’s trending!”
“Search term? Why does that matter?”
“Portal first place, it’s Lee Jae-yi.”
Lee Jae-yi? Lee Jae-yi is number one on the search!
‘Then the momentary 14% rating was because of Lee Jae-yi?’
Lee Jae-yi had only appeared for less than six minutes.
But that was enough for Kim Donghu to dominate the portal sites.
It was like an eel.
An eel was trying to swallow the TV whole!