Free Web NovelThe screen that had been showing the two-shot of Seoryeong and Myungdo gradually darkened, and the image changed.
‘That’s definitely a behind-the-scenes video!’
With the experience of having gone to more than a few actors’ fan meetings, Aetami caught on immediately.
Just as she expected, Yeoreum appeared dressed in men’s clothing. The gazes of the people seated inside the national theater pierced straight forward. Dense immersion spread across the floor from the ground up.
‘The audience in the theater started focusing all at once.’
Aetami, too, felt the shift in the air and fixed her eyes on the screen. Yeoreum was warming up her mouth while looking at the script. Then she glanced at the camera and joked around.
-This is kind of a scene you need to mentally prepare for. I really go way too far against an actual adult.
-Don’t worry, just shake your shoulders a bit and do it like you’re cheerfully scamming him. Got it, Yeoreum?
-Am I really just going all out? Without feeling pressured...?
-What pressure is there to have! I am Seoryeong. I am the executioner. Today, I’m going to strip this entire house clean! Go!
The sight of the director and Seoryeong joking around together was heartwarming.
‘As expected, <ParCheHi>’s best director!’
Thinking of Yeoreum, who had been together with that top director since <ParCheHi>, Aetami felt a warm swell in her chest. Since she herself had been with them from the beginning, it felt as if the three of them had grown together.
-If I say now that you’re not my son, do you think ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) that bastard will back down quietly? He’s the kind of guy who’d push his old father off a cliff, that bastard!
Contrary to her worries, Yeoreum scooted right up next to the old man and shouted. Then, with the fan clenched in her hand—
-Oh? O-Oh no, Director....
She smashed it. With a motion meant to snap it shut in one go, she crushed the ribs of the fan. Cute sweat-drop CG and sound effects were added to Yeoreum’s flustered face.
“Cu-te—.”
The word slipped out of Aetami’s mouth before she realized it. But it didn’t feel like a disturbance. Even if they couldn’t understand the foreign language clearly, similar exclamations rippled through the surrounding seats.
-Yes, this is Myungdo.
What followed was Myungdo’s filming footage. Myungdo was preparing for a scene facing Jeongan.
-Isn’t it cold since it’s night?
-The cold’s fine, but it’s a little scary.... Because it’s in the mountains.
In response to the staff’s question, Myungdo answered hesitantly. The tension of someone challenging acting for the first time was written plainly on his face. Longtime fans of Kwon Junhyeok let out sympathetic groans here and there.
‘Yeah. If you get a taste of being a rookie again after a long time, that’s about right.’
Aetami found herself empathizing. Imagining the day when Yeoreum would become a veteran someday made this moment feel even more precious.
‘What do I do.’
It was already so much fun. Following them all the way to Taiwan really did feel like the best possible choice.\
* * *
“Yeoreum, don’t be nervous.”
Manager Choi patted my shoulder as she looked at me, about to go up on stage.
‘I’ve never been this nervous before....’
Because I’d never once held a fan meeting overseas—or a fan meeting where people came purely to see me, not a project—my mouth kept going dry. I was even more nervous than during my very first shoot in front of a camera. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Standing stiffly beside me with a tense expression, Kwon Junhyeok nodded quickly at Manager Choi’s words.
“That’s right. Fan meetings. I’ve done a lot of them, so don’t worry too much. I’m pretty good at cleaning up accidents.”
As long as I didn’t burst into tears, it would be a relief... But I nodded anyway, out of courtesy to a senior.
It was really about to begin.
‘Beyond that, once I step onto the stage, there are fans waiting for me.’
Everyone knows Han Yeoreum. They remember me. Just that fact alone made my heart feel like it might burst.
“Cutie!”
Manager Ma shouted as he did a final check of the cue sheets.
“Don’t get nervous over something like this already. The things that’ll really make you nervous will come later.”
Strangely enough, those words hit harder than simple encouragement.
‘Later....’
When I pictured the distant future—when the film succeeds in Taiwan, when I talk about my thoughts at a GV, when ads bearing my face go out, when more people know the name Han Yeoreum than the name Seoryeong—my trembling heart gradually settled down.
‘Alright.’
Who am I?
“Yeoreum, please stand by now!”
Han Yeoreum—the person the 1,500 fans filling these seats wanted to see more than anyone else at this very moment.
“VCR, 30 seconds!”
The lights went out. Clunk. The lift carrying me and Kwon Junhyeok rose upward. As soon as movement was sensed, murmurs broke the silence in the hall.
The lights came on.
“Waaaaa—!!!”
Before I could even start my prepared self-introduction, a wave of affectionate cheers crashed over us. A scene entirely different from the empty seats I’d seen yesterday unfolded before my eyes.
As if they’d been waiting.
As if they’d wanted Han Yeoreum to stand here for a very long time.
It felt as though the stage itself was speaking to me.
* * *
“Waaaaaah—!”
Aetami flinched in surprise. Someone had beaten her to it.
She’d planned to cheer once Yeoreum finished introducing herself, but the person next to her was already cheering on her behalf.
‘Do you have a microphone or something?’
The woman sitting beside her, arms crossed, leaned forward and screamed like a shriek. It felt like being at a rock festival.
‘She’s only done her self-introduction so far?’
Realizing how loud she’d been, the woman cleared her throat politely—hem hem—and leaned back against the seat again, arms crossed as if calmly observing.
“Yes. Seeing the two of you receive such passionate cheers, you can really feel your popularity here in Taiwan, right?”
“If I’d known people would like us this much, I would’ve come sooner.”
“Right? Junhyeok, I’m thinking maybe we shouldn’t cancel our return flight.”
The interpreter busily translated their words. The fact that Yeoreum spoke the same language as her suddenly made Aetami’s head throb with happiness.
‘Han Yeoreum doing a gentle interview in that fresh, nervous rookie voice? This should be illegal.’
Arrest her. Arrest her and bring her straight to my house. Aetami’s hands itched to live-post on SNS.
The person next to her didn’t seem much different. Her arms were crossed strictly, but her fingers were clenched tight.
“Which scenes would you choose as the best ones? Many people say they can’t possibly pick just one memorable scene from <Strange Tales>. Right, everyone?”
The MC skillfully drew a response from the fans. Just being in the same space as the two people she’d only seen through a screen made everyone smile.
“I thought about it a lot.... For me, it’s the final scene.”
Kwon Junhyeok chose the final scene. He explained that from the moment he turned his back on Seoryeong and left her alone, he’d dreamed of that last moment—and that he was happy they were able to meet again the way Myungdo truly wished.
“For me, it’s the scene where Seoryeong tells her name for the first time. It’s the moment when Seoryeong, who kept wanting to die and didn’t even want to share her name, made a completely opposite choice.”
Listening to Yeoreum’s words, Aetami recalled, with wistful eyes, the analysis posts from the <Strange Tales> minor gallery. Among the posts she’d practically memorized, there had been a best post that matched Yeoreum’s interpretation exactly.
“Wasn’t Seoryeong actually wanting to make that choice for a very long time? She wanted to tell her name, she didn’t want to die. I think those feelings finally surfaced because of Myungdo, which is why that scene stayed with me so strongly.”
As Yeoreum spoke, the person beside Aetami nodded vigorously. As if their interpretations were exactly the same. Her arms remained crossed with solemn intensity.
“Then what was the most memorable episode on set?”
Aetami was drawn into the two of them talking about how many moments it took to create <Strange Tales>, and what that time had been like.
‘I watched JC ENM’s self-produced ‘First Train Live’ back in Korea, but this is different!’
Hearing the stories in person was far better than short videos. Coming to the fan meeting really had been the right decision.
Above all, Yeoreum on stage looked happier than she ever had before.
* * *
The drama talk session moved into its highlight.
“Then we’ll watch the memorable scenes you two chose, along with the scenes fans here said they couldn’t forget, and talk as we go.”
Everyone gathered here was a drama geek. They enjoyed dismantling each scene down to the nano level. You could feel their determination that <Strange Tales>’s memorable scenes could never be limited to just one.
On the screen, the iconic scenes of the Myungdo–Seoryeong couple from <Strange Tales> appeared.
“Wow...!”
A buzz of murmurs filled the hall. Through the large speakers, the sound of their first meeting reverberated. On the windy mountain path, the sound of grass being crushed beneath Myungdo’s steps felt vivid.
From atop a tree, Seoryeong—her eyes like an untamed beast’s—asked Myungdo who he was.
‘Why is this so fun?’
A script she’d seen countless times, scenes from a long shoot exactly as they were, footage she’d monitored over and over until she’d memorized every frame.
And yet, it was still fun as if she were seeing it for the first time.
‘I hope everyone’s enjoying it like I am.’
So that they’d come to see her again next time. So that they’d keep up with dramas starring Han Yeoreum. Thinking that, I focused on the screen once more.
Before long, the two of them appeared on a small ferry drifting along a river lit with countless lanterns.
‘Are the investors watching properly too?’
If this atmosphere held to the end, this fan meeting would be an undeniable success. The scenes continued to flow.
As the footage gradually moved toward the climax, the speakers suddenly went silent.
“...Huh?”
The area stirred. No sound came through at all. A live malfunction.
