Free Web NovelThe backlight made it hard to see his face.
Chaewon frowned and spoke in a flat voice.
–If you’re going to wake up from this level of noise, then why are you sleeping on the rooftop?
As if to answer Chaewon’s reasonable remark, the intro of a rebellious song—so obviously crafted with effort—began to play. Then came a clean landing. A physique worthy of a former model.
When the man walked closer, bright lighting hit his face. His red hair fluttered in the wind. His sharply shaped eyes met Chaewon’s lifeless ones.
“What the—aa~.”
From visuals to voice to gaze, it was a combination designed to make fangirls’ hearts race.
Aetami unconsciously covered her mouth with one hand. And then she was startled at herself.
‘...This is Stage 4.’
Fangirls’ immersion generally goes through the following stages:
1st stage. Watching short video clips
2nd stage. Watching the videos on time
3rd stage. Smiling without realizing it
4th stage. Covering the mouth
5th stage. Getting overwhelmed from time to time and live-posting it online
For reference, anything after that is truly hopeless. It leads straight to opening the wallet and dedicating one’s life.
‘This is dangerous.’
Covering her mouth while watching a mere-ten-minutes-something web drama—this was the first time for Aetami. It was cheesy, it was childish.
“...It’s fun. I admit it.”
It was definitely fun. And it wasn’t just Aetami who felt that way.
–LOOOOOOLLLL what the f**k I think I lost it T_T LOLOL
–Uh...? Delicious...? (picking up mint-choco-melon-bread)
˪What is this...? I didn’t expect anything.... It’s... good?
–They said webdramas are cringey and they brought the real <<<REAL>>> cringe lmaoooo T_T aaaaagh!!!
The inflated view count of the teaser proved everything.
The very beginning of <ParCheHi> hit 80,000 views in a single day. 122 comments, 309 likes. Among currently released web dramas, it was showing explosive influence.
Aetami (this is not a pyramid-scheme account demX) @AnYtimeMedia
(ParCheHi Joo Junseo x Han Yeoreum rooftop scene clip)
Mint-choco-melon-bread.... tastes good?
Aetami’s Tritt began spreading quickly through RTs. It was <ParCheHi>’s successful takeoff.
* * *
“Doneee!!!”
Team Leader Seong had been monitoring <ParCheHi> Episode 1 nonstop ever since it was uploaded. He had felt it during the wrap-up party as well—the unique thrilling sensation that only a “will-succeed project” gives off.
“Yes, yes. You watched it? Oh man. Our team really worked hard.”
Calls were already coming in from everywhere. All of them positive. Team Leader Seong went to find Hong, the head of PR.
“Chief Hong~!”
“You’re here?”
It seemed Hong had already checked the news; a smile was on their face.
“You saw Episode 1, right? It’s seriously insane.”
“Heh heh. The reaction is good. Once Episode 2 goes up today, articles will be pouring out all next week.”
“At this rate we might hit a million views soon, no?”
At Team Leader Seong’s words, the new intern carrying coffee chimed in.
“Right. I think it’s possible.”
They had just uploaded a post about <ParCheHi> on SNS.
“The speed of comments is several times faster than other posts.”
The moment they uploaded a few behind-the-scenes photos, comments started flooding in.
Youstagram
♥Hyeonjae High♥ students who started school yesterday (｡•ㅅ•｡)
What r u guys do1ng....? Ar3 u.... perh4ps....?
48 likes 11 comments
–Please tell me the female lead’s Yousta account T_T LOLOLOLOLOL
–You’ve been hit by an in-so-beam. Please add ㅇㅅㅇ to every comment
˪Why should I do thaaat?! ㅇㅅㅇ I seriously have no idea!
˪For someone who doesn’t know, you’re already doing it well....
“Yeoreum’s Yousta—people keep asking for it. Make sure to fix the tags.”
Team Leader Seong couldn’t help smiling just thinking about Yeoreum.
If Episode 1 already had this level of response, once Episode 3—where the real acting begins—got uploaded, the buzz would be unimaginable.
The intern updated the post and tagged the actors’ accounts.
“But Team Leader Seong, did you hear? Jegal Rok, the division head.”
The moment the name Jegal Rok came out, Team Leader Seong tensed up. He was the person who would be watching this project more closely than anyone.
“What about him?”
“When we distributed the press release, he issued a special directive about Han Yeoreum.”
“What!!!”
Team Leader Seong almost shouted. It hadn’t been long since they heard that Jegal Rok personally attended the pre-edit screening.
‘Even the instruction to triple the press distribution was already unbelievable, and now, a special directive...’
At this point, <ParCheHi> might truly be considered one of the top three projects of the quarter.
“How? What kind of? Spe? Ci? Al? Di? Rec? Tive?”
Chief Hong looked at him like he was overreacting.
“Besides releasing her together with Joo Junseo, promote her separately as well.”
Strictly speaking, this was an unprecedented privilege.
When JC launched the Web Content Division, their sole focus was Joo Junseo—to highlight JC’s trendiness.
‘And now they’re adding Han Yeoreum?’
He had only watched Episode 1, and yet Jegal Rok chose Han Yeoreum. Even though Han Yeoreum had no contract with JC whatsoever.
“Are they going to sign her?”
“That I don’t know. But...”
Hong took a sip of coffee and paused.
“Jegal Rok doesn’t waste money on nonsense.”
* * *
Episode 2 of <ParCheHi> was uploaded immediately after. As if everyone had been waiting for exactly 10 p.m., the view count shot up the moment it went live.
The last scene of Episode 1 was Chaewon discovering that she was turning blurry.
Scratch– scratch–.
The sound of a pen nib scraping against paper was heard. Chaewon immediately raised her palm. Letters began appearing on it.
[No screen time. Not fun. Might be okay to delete?]
It was scribbling presumably from the author. Chaewon’s lifeline turned red.
Seeing that, Chaewon clenched her fist tightly.
–...So, you’re saying I can’t just live quietly, is that it?
Even someone as apathetic as Chaewon reacted differently when it concerned her very existence.
Chaewon quickly assessed the situation. With a small inhale, she looked at her palm, which kept turning blurry then clear.
With some kind of resolve, she closed her eyes.
The next day, Chaewon took her own countermeasures.
–Here, who wants to answer this question?
–Me.
Chaewon sincerely engaged in class. She raised her hand high and answered questions immediately.
–Good. Well done. Then next question. What’s the answer?
–Me!
Chaewon still had dead-fish eyes, but she showed enthusiasm and worked hard to secure screen time.
But something felt off. Chaewon looked around the classroom and thought to herself:
–No one... is listening to the class? You guys?
This was a pure-romance-manga world. Studying only appeared temporarily during fluttery episodes.
Going to the library to study together, comforting someone who cried after failing a test, or locking eyes during class.
–This formula works like this.
The camera angle ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) rotated just like Chaewon’s gaze.
Red-haired Joon—Joo Junseo—was gazing wistfully out the window, and Hina next to him asked what he was thinking about.
Other extras were the same. Immersed in their own worlds, none cared about the teacher’s words.
–So this part is basically a throwaway segment....
Only then did Chaewon realize. No matter how hard she tried to stand out in class, it was pointless.
–There’s a pop quiz tomorrow. The rankings will be publicly posted. Everyone do your best!
The teacher left the classroom with a cheerful smile as the bell rang, not at all bothered that no one listened. Liveliness returned to the room.
–Ah, what the hell.... I came all the way into a shoujo manga just to study.... I’m going insane.
Apparently even Korean students could never escape studying—not in any universe.
Chaewon thought. Getting attention during class was pointless, but if she ranked first in the pop quiz, she might get a little bit of screen time.
Just as she sighed and reached for one of the tall stack of textbooks, a sticky note fluttered down.
Don’t think too hard! Come play with Hina sometimes٩(๑>∀<๑)۶
A heroine’s trait—kind even to extras. Chaewon brushed the sticky note away with dead-fish eyes.
–...What the hell....
And the next day, the results of Chaewon’s fully sincere pop quiz were revealed. freewebnøvel.com
–Look! Of course first place is.... freeωebnovēl.c૦m
–Ah, my grade dropped again~.
The extras’ voices faded at the end. Chaewon rose on tiptoes to see the score sheet.
–No one else studied, so obviously I’m first.
Her dry thought flowed out like narration.
But the result was unexpected.
[Pop Quiz Results]
1st place. Joon
Joon, who didn’t study and skipped class, was first. Chaewon frowned, dumbfounded.
–Right.... There was the Male Lead Rule....
A sticky note popped up beside Chaewon with a cute sound effect.
[Male Lead Rule!]
–He must secretly care for stray cats
–He must be good at hopping over walls
–Even without studying, he’s always first in the entire school!
The last line was underlined hard.
Chaewon’s body turned blurry again. She saw Hina in the distance. Surrounded by friends, Hina was smiling brightly. A smile that fit the title “happy high school girl” perfectly.
“....”
The camera angle widened. Chaewon, isolated and expressionless, contrasted sharply with beloved Hina.
At that moment, scenes that appeared to be Chaewon’s memories flickered past, jumbled together briefly.
The fragments were shown in black-and-white, full of implied backstory. A stark contrast to the warm, happy scenery before her.
Soon after, Chaewon turned away without hesitation. As if she needed no friends. But—
–Ha.... I really didn’t want to do this.
Before long, Chaewon’s face—full of reluctant determination—filled the frame. Then it transitioned to someone preparing for school the next day.
The camera captured the feet first, then moved up slowly. White tights, a hand picking up pink perfume—everything suggesting it was Hina.
But from the lower back up, long black straight hair came into frame. Contrary to everyone’s expectations, the character on screen was Chaewon.
–...Fine. I’ll do it.
A voice full of suppressed irritation, as if forcing herself to do something she hated, was heard. Just as the camera was about to shift focus and reveal her face—
The ending music played and the title card appeared.
“Aaagh!!! What the hell!!!”
Aetami, who had been seriously watching the broadcast, rolled around on her bed.
