The Counterattack
Everything had gone beautifully so far.
They'd been handed nothing but kindling, and they'd stoked the fire themselves until it roared.
Focusing the story on child abuse had been a stroke of genius. A film's craftsmanship is a matter of taste, so rallying people around it is never easy — but an act society refuses to tolerate, like child abuse? Everyone sprints to condemn that.
And the box office has already collapsed.
The production company and distributor must be in mourning right about now. And that pervert Kim Si-woon's face had surely gone deathly pale.
Just as designed, articles were pouring in from every direction. The media is always starving for a hot topic — there was no chance they'd let premium fodder like this slip past. Sensing their moment, child psychology experts even climbed onto the stage, adding their own contribution to the chaos.
But as Jin So-hee cackled in delight, a single article caught her eye.
[Focus of the Week — Child actor from Confession of a Pianist to appear on this weekend's Movie is Good]
Wait — isn't that kid the child actor who was in that show?
The only reason anyone goes on that program is promotion. From what she remembered, the kid hadn't even joined the stage greetings.
But promoting the film now, while everything's still burning? That has to be the distributor's doing — why would they play a move that ruins themselves?
But at that moment, Jin So-hee had no way of knowing the truth: that the one who insisted on appearing on that show was a snotty-nosed seven-year-old.
"Today we have a very special guest in the studio. This film has been making headlines lately, in more ways than one. Please welcome Byun Ha-jin, who delivered a stunning performance in Director Kim Si-woon's new film, Confession of a Pianist!"
MC Kim Seong-min introduced me. His sharp wit and gift for gab were one of the pillars of Movie is Good's popularity.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Byun Ha-jin. I played the protagonist as a child in Confession of a Pianist."
As I stepped into the studio, Kim Seong-min cracked a joke about how the lighting seemed to have gotten one lamp brighter. I answered with a measured quip, an eye-smile, and a little grin — and the PD, the camera director, and half the staff around us collapsed on the spot.
Being this good-looking means even the most ordinary reactions set off an explosion. Convenient in so many ways.
"You first met Director Kim Si-woon at So-ra's birthday party — she's on Wagle Wagle Kindergarten with you, right?"
Promoting the film wasn't difficult; we'd exchanged scripts several times before the recording. How did the casting come about? Wasn't acting on a film completely different from a kindergarten show? Did you mesh well with Go Eun-hye, who played your mother? The questions were pointedly framed around the ongoing controversy — which was exactly what our side wanted.
"Talking to a ghost was the hard part. You're speaking to a wall, but you still have to carry the emotion at the same time, so..."
Since regressing, I'd gone out of my way to mimic the way kids at kindergarten talked. I'd come back as a six-year-old, after all — I figured as long as I spoke like a child, no one would grow suspicious. But here, I released that limiter.
Clear, measured speech in a composed tone, sprinkled with a few sophisticated words — I leaned into the maturity. I wanted to show that I wasn't some dim-witted little toddler being paraded around a set by adults telling him what to do.
It worked. Even MC Kim Seong-min was breaking into a cold sweat.
"My goodness, if I closed my eyes I'd swear I was talking to a seasoned mid-career actor. This is my first interview with a child actor, but — do child actors normally speak this well?"
"I can't speak for other child actors, but I watched my senior Hong Jung-woo on a talk show and practiced along with him. Thank you for the kind words."
They told me they'd be airing insert cuts of Go Eun-hye and me playing around on set, along with footage of her volunteering at an orphanage. Having calculated the perfect moment to drop them, the MC began setting up the reveal.
"Some of you might wonder if this is just edited promotional material — but these were home videos my mom filmed for our family album. They were recorded before this controversy ever broke, so I hope no one misunderstands."
I began to build the emotion.
"I heard she volunteers at an orphanage, so I tagged along because I was curious. It was so beautiful, watching her cherish those children and serve them. And for a senior like that to be accused of child abuse just because her acting felt too real... it's just so unfair."
I held a pause with my throat visibly tightening, then wiped at my eyes. When I looked into the camera with those glistening, welling eyes, the camera director — sensing his moment — pulled in tight.
"I don't know where all of this even came from, but I just want people to accept that it was acting. My senior... she really is a wonderful actress."
On cue, I let out a single sniffle and stared into the camera with a forlorn expression. Then, in a voice thick with tears, I stoked the fire around us.
"I'm... I'm sorry. It's just — I keep thinking of her at the orphanage, so happy making food for the children, and I..."
Koreans are famously defenseless against heart-tugging melodrama. And I am supremely confident in my ability to wring out exactly that kind of tearjerker. With the acting ability that had exploded to life after my regression, I could make anyone cry.
Several of the staff standing beside the camera were already sniffling and rubbing their eyes. Even MC Kim Seong-min was struggling to keep his composure. If the studio was in this state, I could only imagine the viewers at home — watching me choke up on screen while a soft BGM played underneath.
Just as predicted, the viewer boards detonated after the broadcast.
The ripple effect of Movie is Good exceeded all expectations. Over the weekend, the wave of public sympathy burning up the viewer boards spread in an instant to movie cafés, clubs, and forums across the web.
Everything from renewed goodwill toward Go Eun-hye to previously unknown stories of her kindness and her years of steady volunteer work proved more than enough to flip the controversy on its head. The media pounced just as quickly, churning out articles weaving together my interview and the actress's newfound good deeds.
In barely a week, the situation had turned completely upside down. Audiences flooded back into theaters, the momentum carried the box office to two million admissions by week three, and one month after release it sailed past four million.
Director Kim Si-woon, who had never once crossed the two-million mark, finally had the biggest hit of his career.
"BWAHAHAHA! It worked! It's a miracle — a genuine miracle!"
"What miracle? Did you not watch Hajin crying on camera? Without that, we never would've made it this far."
"Those tears bought us a fortune. He resurrected a movie that was flatlining."
Of course, not everyone got a happy plot twist.
Jin So-hee hurled her keyboard and raged like a lunatic. She'd been counting down the days until the film's marquee came down — and then the impossible had happened.
"They're insane! Every last one of them is INSANE!!"
But no one was left to echo her screams. She'd spent all her time scheming from behind the wall of anonymity, so the loneliness was only fitting.
I showed Director Kim Si-woon the post Dewey had written. The original had long since been deleted, so I pulled up the screenshot I'd saved.
"What's this?"
"It looks like the post where the child abuse controversy started, so I wanted to show you."
"Where on earth did you find this?"
"The Breechil Movie Club. I heard people were talking a lot about the film there, so I went to read the threads and stumbled on it."
As Kim Si-woon read through it, his brow furrowed deeper and deeper.
"Clever. Fans the flames while tucking themselves safely out of sight. 'The acting was so convincing it made me suspicious — surely nothing like that happens in our film industry...' And look how it ends. That's a classic just-asking-questions setup if I've ever seen one."
"If you read the comments, everyone swallowed it. It's written by someone with a devoted following."
"Who the hell writes something like this? Dewey? Did we ever wrong them? We don't even know who they are."
"I can't be certain, but judging from the terminology and tone they use in their reviews, they're no ordinary person. Film crews aren't this idle, so I'd guess a film magazine reporter or a critic. Plenty of people in that crowd don't think highly of you, after all."
Among female critics especially, Director Kim Si-woon was public enemy number one.
"Hmph. Don't go around committing that garbage to memory. It'll only hurt."
"If something similar ever happens again, try searching that handle. They seem to have a flair for showing off — even when they post something problematic, it's always under that same name."
The reason I'd gone out of my way to tell him was simple: it was a warning shot for Director Kim Si-woon. Jin So-hee hadn't technically committed a crime, so there was no way to take her down right now. Even having failed this time, she would keep attacking him. That was why I'd passed along the bare minimum of clues needed for a counterattack.
"Understood. Starting with the next film, I'll have the PR team monitor this stuff around the clock."
And with that, the child abuse controversy was laid to rest.
The public opinion that had flipped on the back of my TV appearance lifted the film's box office to dramatic new heights. The four-million milestone came right in the middle of the summer blockbuster season, but the film held its course without buckling under the heavyweight competition, ultimately closing at 5.5 million admissions.
Compared to his previous films, the audience had more than tripled — a record-shattering run.
"At this point, we can start dreaming about this year's Red Dragon Film Awards."
In the future I remembered, he hadn't taken home a single trophy. But now, with the controversy buried, who could say what butterfly effects might be waiting for us?