Free Web Novel* * *
“What's this?”
Eunnyangi frowned as she stared at Han Yeoreum invading her timeline.
Photos and videos were pouring in that made even people who hadn't attended Han Yeoreum's fan meeting feel like they could understand the atmosphere of the venue.
Even fans of other actors wanted to say something about Han Yeoreum's fan meeting.
Because Han Yeoreum had already been one of the most talked-about names in the acting world.
If you were going to sell merchandise, please do it like JC ENM.
If you were going to take care of actors, at least do half as much as JC ENM.
If you were going to secure projects, maybe watch JC ENM and learn something.
So even if someone wasn't a Han Yeoreum fan, fan-meeting posts inevitably flooded their timeline.
Besides, Han Yeoreum currently possessed some of the strongest public momentum among ordinary viewers.
The projects she had built up over the years had all been aimed directly at mainstream audiences.
As a result, anything Han Yeoreum did became a minor issue.
“Ha... I was in such a good mood lately. This is annoying.”
Eun Baekhap's fandom was enjoying an unprecedented golden age after <Tamhok>.
Every episode produced screenshots worth saving because her face practically embodied Tamhok itself.
Eunnyangi had been about to mute accounts uploading fan-meeting posts so she could continue basking in the pride of Eun Baekhap's success following both the megahit <We Rund> and <Tamhok>.
Then she saw it.
PpoJunseo @pocketiszzs
(Photo of Joo Junseo and Han Yeoreum.jpg)
Already excited for Faster Than the Law 3
212 reposts · 337 likes
The male-lead-loving DNA stirred once again.
Seeing a candid photo of Joo Junseo attending Han Yeoreum's fan meeting as a guest, alongside Han Yeoreum wearing a red Formula One racing-team training jacket, Eunnyangi unconsciously entered the Joo Junseo fan account.
PpoJunseo @pocketiszzs
(Photo of Han Yeoreum in a red F1 racing track jacket with a ponytail.jpg)
A rabbit-like face with wolf-like styling
This is truly the beast I've always wanted
355 reposts · 521 likes
└ I rushed in because I thought you were calling him my beast;;
Turns out you went to Han Yeoreum's fan meeting...
└ You said you don't even watch baseball, stop it
Eunnyangi scrolled down.
There was Han Yeoreum again, this time in a different outfit.
A slim-fit suit.
Even the watch at her wrist had a leather strap.
PpoJunseo @pocketiszzs
(Video.mp4 of Han Yeoreum performing the idol dance medley while wearing a complete black suit and tie)
Thank you for not letting the idol industry steal her...
1,121 reposts · 2,521 likes
The autoplay video began playing.
Han Yeoreum, wearing sharp-looking makeup, brushed her hair back before smiling and loosening her tie.
The moment her gaze landed on the camera, Eunnyangi felt transported back to the surprise live event for <Funny Bunny Harmony>.
Back to the moment Han Yeoreum removed the squirrel mascot head and smiled directly at her.
“So what?”
Eunnyangi hurriedly scrolled again.
“Whew...”
Then Joo Junseo appeared once more.
Only now did she feel slightly calmer.
The moment she saw Kwak Cheolsik standing beside him, she had the strange illusion that he was right in front of her, completely ignoring the laws of perspective.
“My unni would've looked way better in that.”
Eunnyangi mocked the comparatively tiny fan meeting.
Eun Baekhap was someone who held fan meetings all across Asia.
“Filling 250 seats for two days and they're acting like it's something special...”
Sure, it was a new building.
Sure, it even had a lift.
But it wasn't remotely comparable to Eun Baekhap's fan meetings.
Shaking her head repeatedly, Eunnyangi exited Tr*tter and opened Intube.
Unfortunately, Han Yeoreum had infected the algorithm there too.
This time it was a wedding-dress video.
INTUBE
[Han Yeoreum showing off her hidden dance lines.mp4]
111,228 views
-She's so freaking cute TT_____TT
The idol industry almost stole this talent
-I hope she plays an idol at least once in a drama someday...
I loved Nam Pyeonghwa's styling
└ Wow, I never even considered the idol route but now I want it
-I'm still not over the Name Couple T_T
How can she be this cute...
-Thank you algorithm for showing me this
“M-my unni would've looked way better in that.”
While reading the comments, Eunnyangi pressed the dislike button one by one.
Unfortunately, the algorithm had already been contaminated.
Shim Juhwan's performance.
Han Yeoreum's school-uniform electric-guitar performance.
Cat-ear aegyo.
Every thumbnail somehow involved Han Yeoreum.
“Aaaagh! I'm not interested!”
Eunnyangi genuinely disliked Han Yeoreum.
Not even a little bit.
But perhaps it was that cursed male-lead-loving DNA.
Or maybe it was because she kept hearing <Love Week> everywhere she went.
Either way, she couldn't ignore the thumbnail showing Han Yeoreum smiling while holding a pink bouquet in a white wedding dress alongside Seo Eden.
Eunnyangi clicked the video.
To see Seo Eden, of course.
INTUBE
[The Most Peaceful Wedding in the World Between Han Yeoreum and Seo Eden | Dongdaemun Romance] 05:22
2,112,894 views
The familiar lyrics of <Love Week> began playing.
Han Yeoreum appeared.
Once again, Eunnyangi lost to her recurring male-lead-loving DNA.
“Research. It's just research...”
She simply thought Eun Baekhap could use one more romantic comedy like this in her filmography.
That was all.
Eunnyangi was truly an Eun Baekhap fan.
All her passwords used Eun Baekhap's birthday.
She maintained a separate savings account solely for supporting Eun Baekhap.
Whenever Eun Baekhap started a new project, she bought magazines and clipped every interview.
If a photoshoot featured Eun Baekhap, she bought three copies regardless of what it was. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
One for display.
One for viewing.
One for storage.
She searched Intube for overseas interviews, ran every sentence through translators, and made sure she understood every word.
She organized birthday cafés.
Prepared coffee trucks and support gifts.
She truly, genuinely knew nobody but Eun Baekhap.
“It's already finished airing anyway, so ratings don't matter anymore!”
Eunnyangi finally decided to binge-watch <Dongdaemun Romance> for research purposes.
Han Yeoreum's smiling face in a related airport-fancam thumbnail seemed to be looking directly at her.
“It's not because I like you. I'll only ever have Eun Baekhap forever!”
Eunnyangi shouted the declaration toward Han Yeoreum.
* * *
I still couldn't escape the aftereffects of the fan meeting.
The schedule was brutal.
The moment the fan meeting ended, I had to leave for an overseas flight.
But I didn't feel tired at all.
INTUBE
[Most Anticipated Q1 Project Next Year: Code Name: Time Seven Airport Departure] 01:30
23,124 views
A tiny carton of Melon Milk
Looks like it could cover her entire face
That tiny-face beauty
If you poke her cheek
It feels like melon juice would burst out
Still the same melon-popping beauty
Even in the middle of all this, I didn't neglect monitoring.
I liked every comment mentioning Han Yeoreum beneath the airport videos.
Faster than anyone else.
‘Pretending not to know what cat ears were was absolutely genius.’
Instead of acting like I had been waiting for it, I acted shy and unfamiliar with it.
A little embarrassed.
A little brave.
Like a real baby kitten.
‘Ha... It was seriously amazing.’
I felt like I could go a week without sleeping.
“AAAAAAH!!! Brown bears and vodka! Ice and cold! Siberia of the northern winds calls to meeeeee!!! Wait for me! Galdaeguk comes bearing the sickle and hammer!!!”
“Does he get this excited every time we film? Then again, I kind of understand it. People keep saying they're looking forward to this location shoot. I don't really get it, though.”
Even while watching the still-bouncing Galdaeguk and the confused-looking Ma Eungyo at the airport, I couldn't stop smiling.
‘Did I recharge that much energy from the fan meeting? I don't even feel drained.’
Just thinking about making both <Seoul Metropolitan City> and <Faster Than the Law 3> huge successes back-to-back made me feel like I might die from excitement.
“Ah... I really want to start filming already.”
Senior Han Yohan suddenly held out a hand warmer from the lounge seat beside me.
When I accepted one, he gave me another.
Apparently he had bought a two-for-one pack.
Both hands immediately became warm.
“Thank you. By the way, the CEO isn't here today?”
“Seojin got sick...”
I understood immediately why Shin Seojin was sick.
‘I'd collapse too.’
Keeping composure wasn't easy.
Still, as a gentleman among gentlemen, he would surely overcome this level of hardship.
After all, a man who even loses to Myeong Jeha whenever year-end awards season arrives?
‘Not popular enough.’
Honestly, even while sick, he'd probably still exercise.
Do skincare.
Attend tuxedo fittings.
Cook.
Finish everything else first.
Then be sick in whatever time remained.
“You didn't bring Beopsun?”
“Beopsun isn't my dog. Beopsun is the canine bodhisattva of Bulhyang Temple. I simply help take care of him from time to time due to circumstances...”
“Ah. I was hoping to see him again. That's too bad.”
I nodded.
Yet the gaze fixed on me remained.
Apparently our small talk wasn't over.
“Did you want to ask me something?”
Han Yohan blinked slowly.
Then he asked calmly:
“Is there nothing you're curious about regarding me?”
“Huh?”
“You never ask me anything.”
Han Yohan looked at me quietly.
His voice resembled a calm, still lake.
The sudden question caught me off guard.
Fortunately, my well-trained social-climber calculator always had answers prepared.
He was probably trying to make conversation.
“I actually did have something I wanted to ask once we got on set. Are you seriously giving me the perfect opening? Wow.”
Perfect.
I immediately asked the thing I was most curious about.
Among Han Yohan's stats, the highest one was:
Agility: A+
‘How do you even become like that?’
My action scenes in this project weren't major.
But one day it would definitely help.
“How are you so good at action scenes, Senior?”
I was going to listen carefully and copy everything.
“Ah... that part.”
Han Yohan spoke as if it were no big deal.
“If you approach things with the mindset that when it's time to go, you'll go... then there's really nothing you can't do.”
Absolutely not.
Never copying that.
Unable to respond, I simply stared.
Han Yohan apparently interpreted my silence as a lack of understanding and elaborated enthusiastically.
“Bones actually heal surprisingly fast... If you stop the bleeding properly, it clots quickly... And all pain fades with time, so there's nothing to fear—”
The more he explained, the more determined I became to never learn from him.
Now I understood exactly why Han Yohan specialized in action scenes.
“Rise!!! Baby! Why are you still sitting there!!!”
At some point, Galdaeguk had sprinted over and stopped in front of me, bouncing wildly.
“AAAAAH!!! It's finally beginning!!! Let's go! To Russia!!!”
* * *
“Ugh... it's so cold...”
The moment we exited Sheremetyevo International Airport, a heavy winter wind greeted us.
The sun had already set by the time we arrived.
Following the guards and Manager Choi, I tried to absorb every detail around me.
The sky over Moscow was covered in a crimson sunset, as though the final flames of a fire were burning across the horizon.
Occasionally, gusts of wind rattled against the car windows.
Everyone on the streets seemed buried inside their scarves.
Almost all of them wore dark-colored clothing.
“Huh? Unni, it's snowing outside.”
“Snow the moment we arrive... Yeoreum, drink a cup of hot tea before bed later.”
“Okay.”
I nodded and watched the sleet drifting outside the window.
The road Ria would have walked.
Tverskaya Street was lined with towering old buildings.
It wasn't difficult to imagine Taeo standing on one of the protruding stone balconies.
White snowflakes landed on the cold pavement before disappearing without a trace.
Signs written in unfamiliar Cyrillic letters drifted past.
I finally understood why Director Galdaeguk had chosen Russia as the location.
‘You can feel it the moment you arrive.’
At the center of a vast, desolate brick avenue stood Saint Basil's Cathedral.
The enormous sacred crosses seemed to be gazing down at me.
* * *
“Then get some rest, Yeoreum.”
“Okay. Thanks, Unni.”
After a simple dinner, darkness had completely fallen outside.
Thanks to Galdaeguk's nonstop excitement, my ears were still ringing.
Sitting quietly in the silent hotel room, I stared at the ceiling before finally getting up.
Pulling back the crimson curtains, I looked out over December Moscow.
The magnificent columns of the Bolshoi Theatre glowed white beneath the lights.
It looked like a Greek temple.
Beyond it stood the red-brick State Historical Museum.
And in the distance—
Saint Basil's Cathedral.
It wasn't quite what people usually imagined when they thought of cathedrals.
Rather than holiness or sanctity, the overwhelming impression was simply how red and extravagant the building itself was.
“An amusement park...”
Yeah.
It looked like something that belonged inside an amusement park.
Seeing the cathedral that had appeared in countless Cold War films with my own eyes felt strangely unreal. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
The Saint Basil's Cathedral from all those legendary spy films.
And now I was here.
Soon, Han Yeoreum's own scenes would become part of its history.
The thought made my heart tingle as though I had become a Hollywood star.
Someday.
Farther away.
Higher still.
The enormous wave I had felt during the fan meeting seemed to wash over me again.
I remembered every gaze that told me:
We'll stay here.
So climb as high as you want.
Suddenly, an irresistible urge overtook me.
I wanted to go there right now.
Ria, who must have found peace beneath the shadow of those crosses.
While I was here, I wanted to completely immerse myself in Ria's heart.
While looking at those crosses.
“Nope. That's it!”
I should quietly go outside and look at the cathedral.
Wrapping the scarf I had left on the sofa around my neck again, I left the hotel room.
I checked the map while riding the elevator down.
Ding.
The elevator doors opened onto the lobby.
The first thing I saw was a familiar face.
“Where are you going alone at this hour?”
Perhaps Moscow's nightscape simply made people too excited.
Without thinking, I looked at Han Yohan, who was quietly watching me, and asked:
“Would you like to come with me, Senior?”
