Chapter 147: A New Advertisement (2)
Chapter 147: A New Advertisement (2)
It had been nearly two months since Dream Future finished its run.
Because of that, Seo-yeon felt a bit puzzled by this out-of-the-blue fan meeting. Even more surprising was the news that it wasn't just fans attending; people from a Japanese broadcasting station were coming as well.
‘It’s not like an overseas company would have requested a domestic fan meeting.’
She had heard that the rights to Dream Future had recently been sold to Japan. Since the Korean version of Dream Future was set to air there, perhaps they were coming to check things out.
"Don't get your hopes up too high."
As she was lost in thought, she saw Park Jung-woo, dressed neatly in a suit, looking her way. For some reason, Ma Yeon-woo was standing beside him—a more mismatched pair didn't exist.
‘They certainly stand out, though.’
Whenever the two of them stood together, the female staff members walking by would invariably stop in their tracks. After all, it was a combination of a rising star on par with veteran actors and a member of JustX, the nation's top idol group. It would have been stranger if they didn't stand out.
That aside...
"I wasn't particularly expecting anything," Seo-yeon replied calmly.
Her invincible poker face and near-perfect emotional control were more than enough to hide her true feelings. At her response, Park Jung-woo let out a short laugh.
"You are, though. About it airing in Japan."
"..."
Wait, how did he know?
Seo-yeon’s eyes shifted slightly. To be honest, he was right. She was secretly looking forward to it. If it aired on Japanese TV, she wondered if Japanese VTubers might watch it too.
‘I wonder if anyone will stream a reaction?’
She had a strong feeling that watching it through their eyes would feel quite different. Even if they didn't watch the whole thing, they might do a quick review with clips if it became famous. Dream Future had a very distinct style, after all.
"Hmm."
Park Jung-woo nodded as he watched her. It seemed his intuition had been correct.
‘If you look closely, she’s actually quite easy to read.’
It was certainly difficult to gauge her mood just by looking at her face. However, if you observed her actions, there were many things that were easy to spot. Like her strangely light footsteps. Or the way her body would twitch or bounce ever so slightly.
Most of all, her eyes were full of life. In many ways, Seo-yeon’s eyes spoke for her emotions—though there were times when they flashed red and felt a bit terrifying.
For the record, she had even appeared in his dreams when they were younger. Mostly in a horror-movie sort of way.
"We'll be starting soon, please get ready."
At the staff member's shout, the celebrities gathered for the fan meeting naturally moved to their positions. Today’s event was being held at the Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul. It was a large venue with many seats, and the number of people gathering was substantial.
‘This is more official than I thought.’
Since this was Seo-yeon’s first fan meeting, she was actually quite excited. This had a bigger impact on her mood than the fact that Dream Future was airing in Japan. She had been active since she was a child, but this was her first proper fan meeting. She had done something similar at the preview screening for Taesumdal, but an official event like this felt completely different.
"Seo-yeon, over here, over here!"
As she was wandering around, looking for where she should be, Cha Na-hee gestured for her to come over. Na-hee was sitting in a very relaxed posture, clearly used to these kinds of events. Seeing this, it was clear that an idol was an idol. They felt much more like pros when it came to interacting with fans compared to actors.
"What kind of magic did you perform?"
"Pardon?"
"The kids have been so quiet lately."
Cha Na-hee had a lot she wanted to ask Seo-yeon after not seeing her for a while. 'Summer Girl' was a group with quite a few issues. Even for the Sky Garden OST, they had been full of grumbling just because it was a drama Cha Na-hee was involved in. But now? They were working incredibly hard.
In fact, they had finished the work quite diligently. Without a single note of discord, they had been perfectly professional.
"Maybe they just wanted to do a good job?"
"Is tha-at so?"
Cha Na-hee remained skeptical. When she had asked So-eun, the only member who was somewhat reasonable...
"She showed us magic."
"?"
"I met a wizard, too."
"????"
So-eun didn't talk much with the members other than Rabin, but she wasn't the type to lie. Did that mean Seo-yeon really performed magic and introduced her to a wizard?
‘No, no. That’s impossible.’
Even as she denied it, the thought strangely lingered. Although Hyper Action Star had basically made Seo-yeon fly because of how they utilized her character...
‘Seo-yeon is just a bit... healthy.’
Even if Seo-yeon was like a wild colt, Na-hee only saw her as cute. Thus, she didn't pay any mind to most of the strange rumors.
"I'm not really sure," Seo-yeon replied nonchalantly, though she flinched slightly under Cha Na-hee's gaze. "I just showed them a few magic tricks because I wanted to get closer."
"Magic? You know how to do magic, Seo-yeon?"
"Yes."
"Really? Then show me later too!"
Seo-yeon winced at Cha Na-hee’s bright request.
"It... it requires a lot of preparation."
"Oh, really? Okay then."
What kind of magic required so much preparation? Na-hee was curious, but Seo-yeon couldn't fold any coins for the time being. Unfortunately, she had been caught by Sua.
"Seo-yeon, coins are not meant to be folded."
"..."
Seo-yeon couldn't bring herself to say, "I know," because of the bubble-wrap bag her mother had discovered. Looking at the pile of half-folded coins spilling out, even Sua had looked dumbfounded.
"Are you feeling psychologically unstable??"
"...I, I just liked the tactile sensation."
"You must not damage currency. Unfold them all and put them in your piggy bank."
At Sua’s rare sternness, Seo-yeon had dejectedly unfolded the coins one by one. The only silver lining was that her dad hadn't caught her. If he had, he would have teased her for years.
Recalling that incident, Seo-yeon looked at Cha Na-hee and said, "I'll show you once I get some other materials."
"Other materials?"
Cha Na-hee was puzzled. Was it a magic trick that required specific props?
As she was wondering, the staff called the stars, including Seo-yeon, as the preparations for the fan meeting were complete. The actors of Dream Future lined up and slowly headed toward the stage.
"Here are the protagonists of this year's biggest hit, Dream Future!!"
As the man acting as the MC shouted at the top of his lungs, a roar of applause and cheers erupted.
"Kyaaaaah!! Jung-woo Oppa!!!"
"I want to see Ma Yeon-woo's abs!!!"
"Na-hee, I love you so much!!"
The names of the three most famous members were called out the most. And the next name most frequently heard from the crowd was Seo-yeon’s.
"Princess Seo-yeon is so pretty!!!"
"Red-colored Ju Seo-yeon!!!"
"Seo-yeon, when are you debuting in the UFC?!"
Hearing the crowd's comments, Seo-yeon flinched every few seconds.
‘...I definitely need to change my image.’
What was with "Red-colored"? It sounded scary. And the UFC comments didn't seem like a joke; they sounded sincere. Because around the man who shouted that, there was a line of muscular men. The placard they were holding said 'Seoul Mixed Martial Arts Association,' so it was definitely real.
"Seo-yeon!!!! Mixed martial arts is fun!!!!!!"
‘I’m not doing it.’
A pouting Seo-yeon turned her gaze away from them. At least, fortunately, there weren't any nicknames as intense as the internet memes. If someone had actually brought a gorilla placard, she might have run over and ripped it to shreds, so she was glad that didn't happen.
Anyway, while the others had many "soft" fans, Seo-yeon’s fans seemed to have a very strong impression. She wondered why. She was so pretty...
‘Ah.’
Then, she saw a familiar face. A woman wearing familiar clothes was waving at Seo-yeon. It was Han Seon-ah, the reporter who often wrote good articles about her and was her "No. 1 Fan." Seo-yeon waved back, and the fan meeting officially began.
"Ah, so that's how that scene felt? It was like Ju Seo-yeon was actually provoking him?"
"Yes, something like that."
"No, it wasn't."
The content was relatively standard. The MC asked the actors various questions, and they shared anecdotes from the filming of Dream Future. The interview was well-balanced, giving each actor a fair amount of time, and the fans seemed to enjoy it.
After a few hours of interviews and simple games, the official signing event began. It was originally going to be left out, but since idols were involved, it seemed they decided to include it.
"Whoa, look at the lines."
Ma Yeon-woo was dazed by the rows of people. As the celebrities sat in a row at the prepared tables, people lined up in front of them. Of course, Ma Yeon-woo wasn't just surprised by the number of fans. The important thing was that Park Jung-woo’s line was incredibly long.
‘I thought for sure I’d have the most.’
Who was he? Was he not a member of the trending idol group JustX? His popularity had surged even more with Dream Future, so he naturally expected to be number one. But Park Jung-woo’s line was the longest.
Sensing Ma Yeon-woo’s gaze, Park Jung-woo gave a small smirk.
"Rarity."
"...!!"
Only then did Ma Yeon-woo realize. Come to think of it, JustX held signing events quite often, so his signature wasn't exactly rare. But Park Jung-woo was an actor. Generally, he didn't have many opportunities for signing events. He would do them if he met fans on the street, but an official event like this was different.
"And there's one more line as long as mine."
Following his gaze, Yeon-woo saw another long queue. It was Seo-yeon’s line.
‘Wait, she’s that popular?’
The talk about her being the "current trend" wasn't just empty words. Ma Yeon-woo was impressed. Even Cha Na-hee’s line was very long. At this rate, was even third place in jeopardy?
‘That’s strange, I’m really popular too...’
Lost in his own thoughts, Ma Yeon-woo smiled and greeted the first fan who approached. Regardless of the length of the line, every single fan was precious.
"Since there are so many people, it's better to keep the signature simple."
Cha Na-hee whispered to Seo-yeon after seeing her signature. Given the number of people, a complex signature would cause delays and make her hand ache.
"Yes. But I'm okay."
Despite her answer, Seo-yeon was full of motivation. Excluding the one she gave Han Seon-ah, this was practically her first chance to show her signature to the public! She could finally show off the signature she had practiced so hard at home. Even when she carried a pen around to give signatures to her "school friends," no one had approached her.
Whenever she did that, her classmates would flinch strangely and give her looks that said, ‘What is she planning to do with that pen?’ so she had no choice but to quietly put the pen back into her favorite pencil case.
‘Wow, she’s fast.’
Cha Na-hee, busy signing, glanced over at Seo-yeon and was shocked. First of all, Seo-yeon’s signature was very cute. It was the kind of signature that clearly showed a lot of effort had gone into it. Na-hee thought she would get tired quickly if she did it for many people, but...
‘She’s like a printer.’
Her hand moved with a swish-swish-swish, and the signature was finished in an instant. Well, signatures were usually like that, but as mentioned, Seo-yeon’s was quite elaborate. Seeing it appear so rapidly was a bit of a marvel. She must have practiced an incredible amount.
Moreover, her arm didn't seem to hurt at all; even though she had already signed for a significant number of people, she showed no signs of fatigue. In fact, she seemed to be radiating a refreshing energy. Thanks to that, Cha Na-hee, who was starting to feel a bit tired, was able to draw strength from Seo-yeon’s aura.
‘Huh?’
In the middle of the signing event, someone caught Cha Na-hee’s eye. A mother and daughter had come to stand in front of Seo-yeon. The girl was a cute child who looked like she might have just started elementary school. Her face looked tired from standing in the crowd for so long, but she broke into a wide grin upon seeing Seo-yeon.
"My daughter is a huge fan. I enjoyed the drama very much as well."
The mother's tone was very refined. She gave off the impression of a teacher. Her aura was as poised as her voice.
The reason Cha Na-hee took notice of them wasn't just because of the cute girl or the elegant woman. It was Seo-yeon’s reaction. Seo-yeon’s hand, which had been moving the pen without rest, came to a dead stop. Her eyes widened slightly. If one looked closely, a flicker of red could be seen in her pupils.
However...
"Thank you for enjoying it. Your daughter is very cute!"
"Hehe."
The girl laughed brightly, and Seo-yeon gave her a rare smile as she signed for her. While other fans tried to at least shake Seo-yeon’s hand once, these two didn't do anything like that.
"You shouldn't bother the actress, dear."
"But...!"
"It's okay."
Seo-yeon took the girl's hand and smiled warmly.
"You shouldn't give your mom a hard time, okay?"
"Yes!"
At Seo-yeon’s words, the mother smiled as if she couldn't help it and stepped back. Seo-yeon gave them a light wave.
"Great job, everyone!"
After that, the signing event concluded without any further issues. Seo-yeon didn't show any unusual signs either. She said her goodbyes normally and left with a smile. At least, that was how it looked to Cha Na-hee. Though something still weighed on her mind.
"...Hmm."
After parting ways, Seo-yeon stood for a moment, lost in thought. She was in front of a vending machine. She had intended to get a cold drink before leaving, but...
‘I don’t have any coins.’
Since they had all been confiscated, she had no coins left. Usually, there were many card-operated vending machines these days, but for some reason, this one didn't take cards.
"Here."
Just then, Park Jung-woo appeared out of nowhere and held out a cold can of coffee.
"...Why are you here?"
"Well, this is where the staff and officials pass through, so of course I'd be here."
‘You left first, so it’s no wonder you didn’t know.’
Because he said it like that, Seo-yeon felt a bit embarrassed. Since this was a place where the general public didn't come, the vending machine must have been an old model.
"Hmph."
Park Jung-woo crossed his arms and stared at Seo-yeon’s face for a moment.
"Well, whatever."
With that, he turned around and walked away with purposeful strides. He was walking off coolly on his own—who knows where he had left his manager.
‘...Was it that obvious?’
Seo-yeon rubbed her face. It seemed her brief moment of being troubled had been visible. The coffee Park Jung-woo gave her hadn't come from this vending machine, so he must have bought it beforehand to give to her. That was surely why he had come alone without his manager.
‘Na-hee Unnie was also keeping an eye on me.’
Actually, Seo-yeon wasn't thinking much of it. She was just a little surprised. They hadn't even talked for that long. If they had talked longer, it might have been different, but...
"Hmm."
However, meeting them like this did bring something to mind. It was something she had been thinking about for a while, but today’s encounter made her want to do it even more.
‘Later, I should talk to Writer Min Se-hee.’
Thinking that, Seo-yeon took a sip of the canned coffee. The cold drink seemed to calm her slightly troubled heart.