Press Conference and Broadcast Premiere
The conference room at Dotori Is Coming, the production company behind Forest of Flowers, was wrapped in heavy silence. It wasn’t exactly cold—more like the tense hush of people racking their brains over a difficult problem.
The company staff tossed ideas back and forth. Director Seo Yeon-soo and writer Ko A-rin, both familiar faces, were also deep in discussion. The topic was, of course, Woo Dan-wol. He hadn’t done anything wrong or stirred up any controversy.
But he was undoubtedly the actor who would be talked about the most by viewers going forward. They were simply trying to figure out the best way to use that attention.
The press conference was fast approaching. In the end, they decided to put him front and center. Since clips of him had already circulated around online communities as memes, they settled on leaning into that angle.
That was the most sensitive part. Celebrity statements were easily twisted. It was even more delicate when the celebrity was a male actor.
Just recently, a male idol had caused an uproar simply for eating strawberries with both hands during a fan communication broadcast. It really was a terrifying world.
Time passed, and the press conference finally arrived. Being a Netflix original, the promotion was on a massive scale.
Lee Hye-ri sat in one of the theater seats. The press conference was being held inside a rented movie theater. Since she was directly involved, she had decided to watch him up close.
Having been briefed on the meeting’s content, she expected things to go smoothly. And just as she predicted, the press conference proceeded without a hitch.
The actors sat in a line, from the lead role all the way down to the supporting cast. Six actors, including Woo Dan-wol, were seated in their chairs.
The MC handled the proceedings with practiced skill. First came the actors’ self-introductions.
The very first to speak was the lead actress of Forest of Flowers. Han Da-sol, who played Jin Da-yeon, opened her mouth.
Applause and cheers followed. Even though it wasn’t a massive crowd, the sound that rang out was far from small.
After the formal greetings, the reporters’ eyes naturally gravitated toward Woo Dan-wol. In truth, their attention had been on him from the moment he sat down. It was only natural. A male actor making his screen debut was bound to draw interest—especially one sitting at a press conference reserved for significant roles rather than mere extras.
The reporters listened to each actor’s role while waiting for Woo Dan-wol’s turn. And finally, his introduction began.
The sound of applause filled the entire press conference hall. The cheers were louder than for anyone else. These people were refreshingly honest with their instincts. Most of the audience was women, but still. It helped that he had the face to back it up. This was the moment Seong Ji-hoon’s makeup truly shone.
Next came the Q&A session—time to answer pre-submitted questions. Once again, Han Da-sol was the first to receive a question.
There was a brief pause. Han Da-sol hummed softly as she organized her thoughts. Then the answer flowed out.
It was a satisfying answer. The next questions poured toward Woo Dan-wol. Before hearing the question, he swallowed hard. Although he had years of experience, it had been a long time since his last press conference, so he was quite nervous.
More than that, what made him tense was the need to watch his words. Spoilers were absolutely forbidden in press conference Q&As. That much was obvious.
So Woo Dan-wol made a firm promise to himself to be extremely careful with his answers.
Even for a press conference, the character of Kang Min-hyeok required caution. One could almost say his very existence was a spoiler.
Thanks to Netflix’s release model, the first four episodes dropped on day one, followed by two episodes per week until the total of twelve. Among them, Kang Min-hyeok’s role was incredibly important. He was the person who influenced Jin Da-yeon the most in the story—and at the same time, he influenced the viewers just as strongly.
Someone might ask what that even meant. But aside from the final scene of the first episode, Woo Dan-wol’s psychopathic side only truly emerged in the latter half.
In other words, from the viewer’s perspective, it was a massive rug-pull. They would watch with the suspicion that he must be a criminal too, only to be convinced by his performance that he was actually Jin Da-yeon’s ally. Was this what people meant by being fooled even when you knew better? Director Seo Yeon-soo’s editing skills had been put to brilliant use. Whether that intention would reach the viewers remained to be seen.
Lee Hye-ri let out a sigh of relief. A safe answer. Woo Dan-wol possessed perfect acting ability, but he occasionally did ridiculous things in the strangest moments, so she couldn’t help but worry.
Then came the follow-up question.
For a split second, every actor seated on stage froze solid. He had just blatantly dropped a spoiler. Woo Dan-wol, who had been completely oblivious for three full seconds, finally realized his mistake. Lee Hye-ri buried her face in both hands. The situation was so bad she couldn’t endure it without a long, dry face-rub.
His quiet mutter echoed through the frozen hall. Perhaps because the sight was so adorable, the silence quickly dissolved into laughter.
Woo Dan-wol broke into an awkward, sheepish grin while cold sweat ran down his back. He exchanged frantic glances with Lee Hye-ri.
It was a spoiler, yet somehow not a spoiler. If edited well, it might even become excellent promotional material. Viewers who had seen the first episode’s final scene and the occasional directing hints would already suspect he was the mastermind. If they added the actor’s own meaningful remark on top of that, everyone would think the same thing: Ah, I shouldn’t trust Kang Min-hyeok.
But the more they watched the drama, the more confused they would become—because Woo Dan-wol’s acting was on another level.
Lee Hye-ri, who had calculated all of this in her head, sent him a wry smile. The fact that he slipped up like this every once in a while proved he wasn’t perfect after all.
Anyway, the press conference ended smoothly. Forest of Flowers would begin airing in one week.
Time flowed on.
Woo Ri-na was hanging out at her friends’ house. Being a third-year middle school student, she was at the age where playing was far more appealing than studying. Just as her friends often came over to her place, it had become routine for her to go to theirs.
Most of their parents worked double-income jobs, so they usually played until dinner. Today—early September, a Thursday—was no different from any other day.
It was basically an unwritten rule. The chicken was split evenly, and the kids began preparing as if on cue.
While Woo Ri-na received the chicken and handled the payment, her friend Lee Da-bin set out a low table and arranged plastic gloves. Jin Yu-jeong prepared the video they would watch while already nibbling on chicken.
The best choice was always a drama or variety show. Jin Yu-jeong naturally opened Netflix. She tilted her head at the promotional banner on the main screen.
Lee Da-bin asked while setting the table. Jin Yu-jeong stared hard at the drama promo banner with a puzzled expression. It was for a show airing tomorrow.
The face on the screen belonged to the famous actress Han Da-sol, along with several villains. Among them was Woo Dan-wol, but Woo Ri-na’s friends didn’t notice. They had only seen him once, and the makeup had completely changed his impression.
Above all, who would ever imagine that their friend’s older brother would appear in a drama? After thinking about it for a long time and failing to come up with anything, they simply played the usual video they always watched. By then Woo Ri-na, who had finished paying for the chicken, returned and asked.
Jin Yu-jeong’s house was spacious. In fact, her family was practically rich, so they occasionally held pajama parties there. Staying up late watching TV and chatting nonsense—there was no greater joy for third-year middle schoolers.
And so Woo Ri-na and her friends paid their respects to the Chicken God. They made a promise to gather in the same spot tomorrow to watch the drama together.