Why Is My Brother Here?
"Oppa."
"Yeah?"
"You know that drama you said you were filming last time?"
"The one where I got rushed to the hospital?"
"...Yeah."
She had only asked one simple question, yet it had already dragged out his dark history. Before heading over to a friend's house, Woo Ri-na had tossed the question at Woo Dan-wol while he lay in bed reading the script.
"What's the title?"
"It's a secret."
"......"
Couldn't he just tell her? The meaningful look on Woo Dan-wol's face made him seem incredibly annoying. Woo Ri-na slung the bag packed with her pajamas over her shoulder and was about to step outside when he spoke again.
"You're only staying one night, right?"
"Yeah. We'll watch some dramas. I'll probably be back around lunchtime tomorrow."
"What drama are you watching?"
"The one airing at six tonight. I think it's called Forest of Flowers?"
"Ah... yeah. Be careful on your way."
Woo Dan-wol, who knew everything, let out a small smirk. He wondered what kind of reaction his little sister would have. Only then did he realize it was actually an R-rated drama.
"Huh...?"
But she had already left the house. After thinking it over for a moment, Woo Dan-wol ultimately chose silence. He had realized he wasn't exactly in a position to lecture her—he had never kept that rule himself either. It was rated nineteen because of freedom of expression, not because it had explicit scenes. There were brutal ones, sure, but Woo Dan-wol had once seen a fifteen-year-old student get torn apart by their parents while playing a game. Since he too had seen some questionable things during his own school days, he decided to turn a blind eye. It wasn't encouragement so much as tacit approval. Woo Dan-wol began preparing to head out as well. There was a Forest of Flowers wrap party tonight.
"Chicken ready?"
"Done."
"Time left?"
"Ten minutes."
"Beer... ack!"
"You think that'll fly?"
"I was just joking."
Woo Ri-na was chatting noisily with her friends. Lee Da-bin and Jin Yu-jeong had joined too. The trio in their pajamas waited eagerly for six o'clock. As curious teenagers, the thought of alcohol had crossed their minds, but as good students they exercised self-restraint.
"It's an R-rated drama to begin with..."
"It's fine since it's on Mom's account."
"Isn't that still not okay...?"
"Then don't watch it."
"You're totally taking advantage of the loophole."
Woo Ri-na had pointed out the contradiction, but it didn't work. The students began tearing into the chicken. At that age, you were supposed to overcome even those kinds of contradictions.
"Oh, it's starting. It's on."
"Let's gooo~"
They were using the trendy slang of the moment. It was a typical scene for third-year middle schoolers. They had been chattering and ripping apart chicken when the drama began, and the room fell silent in an instant.
The story opened with Jin Da-yeon's family murder case. Director Seo Yeon-soo's distinctive directing style drew in even these young students. A household that had been happy just yesterday and today was suddenly plunged into despair overnight. Watching it, the students each thought of their own families and burned with rage.
The sight of someone living day by day with venom in their eyes naturally stirred up feelings of pity.
"The acting's really good."
"It is."
The plot progressed at a fairly brisk pace. Yet the heavy atmosphere and directing made it impossible to let go of the tension.
"Ah, ah..."
"This isn't good..."
Gasps slipped from the immersed students' lips. The level of immersion made it feel like it was happening to them. Jin Da-yeon was chasing a suspect alone. Just looking at the piling snow made the anxiety grow heavier by the second.
Then the drama's signature ending theme began to play. Deep in the mountains, Jin Da-yeon arrived at a mansion and came face to face with a man.
"Oppa?"
"Huh?"
All three of them widened their eyes at the same time. Woo Ri-na was the first to recognize Woo Dan-wol on the screen. She was his sister, after all, and she had watched him grind through his schedule harder than anyone.
The three paused the drama and stared at one another. Chicken crumbs clung to the corners of their mouths—fried, seasoned, and soy sauce in that order. They looked at each other in disbelief. Eventually their gazes all converged on Woo Ri-na. Their eyes demanded an explanation.
"What the hell?"
"You didn't know?"
"You didn't know?!"
"How could you not know?"
"I seriously didn't know!"
"Whoa..."
Woo Ri-na felt wronged. If she hadn't been in the middle of receiving the chicken offering, she would have been roasted like that famous penguin meme.
In the meantime, an important scene from the drama had passed. Jin Yu-jeong, who had sharp eyes, had caught his acting. She froze on the spot.
"Hic."
"?"
"Hic, hic."
"What's wrong with you?"
Jin Yu-jeong, sixteen years old and in her third year of middle school, had just seen a monster wearing human skin for the first time in her life. Even if it was a character in a drama. Maybe she was even more shocked because it was her friend's older brother.
She was being treated like a weirdo, but she couldn't pay attention to that. She was too busy trying to make her point.
"Hey, rewind it. Rewind it, hic. Play it back."
"Why?"
"You guys didn't, ugh, see it."
"See what?"
By then the drama had already moved on to the final scene. It was revealed that the mansion they had reached while following the suspect was actually a gathering place for murderers.
"Whoa. Insane."
"Rewind it... hic. Rewind."
"Just go drink some water first."
Two against one. In a democratic society, majority rule was god. Jin Yu-jeong felt wronged, but there was no way to overturn it. That scene was something you had to see with your own eyes to understand. In the end, she only sat back down after gulping down a glass of cold water.
When she returned, the opening for episode two was starting. Normally they would have been considerate enough to pause for a moment and wait for her, but since the opening was only about thirty seconds long, it didn't really matter.
"You guys didn't see it..."
"Don't make such a big deal out of a few seconds."
"Yeah. Just keep watching."
Jin Yu-jeong's opinion was overruled. Episode two began, and montages of serial killers and violent criminals appeared one after another.
"Wow. They're screwed."
"Right? This is only episode two."
"How is she supposed to survive this?"
Jin Yu-jeong felt wronged. At the same time, she was confused. The man on the screen looked far too ordinary. It felt like the whole world was secretly filming her with a hidden camera.
What made her feel even more wronged was that the Kang Min-hyeok shown in episode two was completely ordinary. The monstrous figure from before had vanished without a trace. That only made her expression grow more uneasy.
Enough to make the endless stream of chicken into her mouth come to a halt. That was how important this was to Jin Yu-jeong. If she hadn't seen that scene, would she have been able to enjoy it like her friends?
After endless deliberation, she eventually gave up. Each episode was an hour long. That meant she would have to agonize for the remaining three hours. So Jin Yu-jeong decided to just let it go.
"Thank goodness. Not everyone's a psycho."
"...Yeah."
Even so, the uneasy feeling in her chest refused to go away.
Time passed, and the next day arrived. The media was once again on fire. The male actor who had received the most screen time yet the least mention had finally appeared. The drama Forest of Flowers, with four episodes released, proudly took the number one spot on the domestic Netflix rankings in just two days, proving its popularity.
For the next four weeks, two episodes would be uploaded every week as the story continued.
The drama's success and records grew hotter with each passing day. It wasn't just entertaining—it gave viewers both an uneasy feeling and plenty to talk about.
Surprisingly, online community opinions were split exactly in half. At the center of the controversy stood Woo Dan-wol.
First was the theory that Kang Min-hyeok was the mastermind. Honestly, anyone who had properly watched the drama and possessed normal thinking skills already knew he was the mastermind. But then...
There had never been a controversy like this before. Opinions split exactly in half and clashed? Especially since both sides had reasonable arguments, it was impossible to tell who was right and who was wrong.
One side argued that the owner of a mountain lodge where only murderers gathered couldn't possibly be an ordinary person. The other side countered that how could he be a criminal when he smiled and took care of Jin Da-yeon like that—wasn't he exactly the ideal type most women dreamed of?
It was the same logic as whether you dipped your chicken in sauce or ate it plain, or which end of a fish-shaped pastry you ate first. In a situation with no clear answer, people became overly immersed and fought. Was there any better news than this?
"Oppa. I'm begging you. What is it? Please..."
"It's a secret. Watch it yourself."
Meanwhile, Woo Ri-na was pleading with her brother. Sometimes a fun drama was important enough to make you forget even your pride.