An Objectively Neutral Cinephile's Fourth Screening<div style="max-width:400px;margin:0 auto 20px;padding:15px;">

The director, Yoon Hyeon-jo, and Gwak Cheol-sik had taken turns greeting the crowd with microphones in hand, and only when it became Yeo-reum's turn ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠did IP 85.152 finally raise his head.

"Hello! It's such a hot day today, so thank you so, so much to everyone who came out to watch a cool, refreshing action film like Faster Than the Law."

The moment he heard Yeo-reum's voice, a sense of calm settled over him. Her precise enunciation rang softly through the theater, and IP 85.152 found himself gazing at her as if under a spell.

Their eyes met. Yeo-reum gave a small wave.

At me? Was that wave at me?

Nah, no way. IP 85.152 kept his expression carefully neutral. A true intellectual never succumbed to the self-importance of deciding that, among this entire jar of salted shrimp, he alone was the rare Dokdo shrimp.

But still. I'm pretty sure she looked right at me. Not a mistake. Really.

While IP 85.152 wrestled with his own ego, a photo session had somehow already begun in the gap between events. Shouts of Yoon Hyeon-jo's name erupted from every direction. IP 85.152, being a man of refinement, kept his mouth firmly shut.

"Unnie, you're so pretty…"

"Really? Thank you."

"I'm loving Strange Tales!"

"Wow—. Please stick with us all the way to the finale."

Yeo-reum snapped selfies, held hands, and drifted slowly up the stairs. She had just stopped in front of IP 85.152 when—

"We'll be leaving now!"

A voice he had no business hearing from that far away reached his ears. IP 85.152 raised his head, and his eyes locked with Yeo-reum's.

In that instant, without meaning to, his mouth fell open and shut uselessly. Up close, Han Yeo-reum was… just so….

"A selfie? Want to take one?"

Yeo-reum plucked the phone right out of his hand without asking. Two people appeared on the screen. IP 85.152 instinctively raised a hand and, out of sheer courtesy, threw up a V sign.

"Enjoy the movie!"

As Yeo-reum brushed past him, the scent trailing from the ends of her hair was really just….

"Ah, that was hilarious."

"Better than I expected, honestly? This gets a sequel, right?"

"Was there a post-credits scene?"

Murmurs rippled around him, and only then did IP 85.152 come back to himself.

Huh?

Through the crowd of spectators hurrying down the stairs, the screen had gone black. The movie was over. The end credits were already rolling.

"…Eh…?"

The real, flesh-and-blood Han Yeo-reum flickered in his memory like a mirage. He seemed to recall watching her sweep her hair back on screen. And also something about her being… sort of adorable….

"Wait, what was the plot again?"

Before he knew it, IP 85.152 was the only soul left stranded in the theater.

When IP 85.152 stepped out of the auditorium, his phone had piled up with messages from his friends. He opened the gallery. There, saved among his photos, was the picture he'd taken with Yeo-reum. So it hadn't been a dream.

With sluggish fingers, he typed his reply: I'm going to see it one more time.

Then IP 85.152 shuffled over to the unmanned ticket kiosk and booked another ticket. The news that each theater chain had its own exclusive freebies reached him only later.

And so IP 85.152, a man of culture, made the unavoidable, purely objective decision to view Faster Than the Law four times in total, in order to compare the quality of merchandise currently being produced across Korean multiplexes.

"Seniors, did you see? Did you see? That person came to the same spot three separate times!"

"Yes, we saw."

"Our Foal's gone wild!"

Inside the elevator bound for L Cinema on the topmost floor, my heart was pounding beyond all control. The fan who had handed me a headband at Wangsimni GCV was someone whose face I already knew by heart.

They really are my fan!

It was the same person who had locked eyes with me at the Music N Awards.

No matter how many followers I gained online, fame had never felt real to me. But after meeting a fan who came this close today, I finally understood….

So this is the taste of… being a popular actress…?

Granted, it was only one person. But knowing I had a fan at all filled me with joy. They had even followed me to three different screenings.

If I had my way, I'd take them out for a one-on-one meal.

And I'd ask them—why do you like me? When did you start liking me? What do you like best about me? And what will you like about me going forward?… I'd want to have a truly earnest conversation….

I'd turn every single photo of my childhood into an album and hand-deliver it.

Excuse me, unnie—might you have use for my photos? That's what I'd want to ask….

Oh, and Han Tae-yang was there too.

One glance and anyone would recognize him as-is, so I couldn't fathom why he was covering his face with such ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠desperate vigor. And then, despite all that, he reads my texts and doesn't even answer.

He left my "1" on read. Typical. Zero manners.

"Come on, Foal! Let's go!"

The elevator chimed to a stop on the top floor and the doors slid open with a whisper. The guards flanking us murmured something into their radios, reporting to somewhere unseen.

"We will now begin seating for the third screening."

Inside the cavernous multiplex, three towering walls were completely filled by screens. The trailer for Faster Than the Law poured out of them. The familiar shutter-snap sound effect, the buzz of recognition at Yoon Hyeon-jo and Gwak Cheol-sik, and then….

"Wait, is that Pi Chae-won?"

Yes, that's me! Even through the noise, I caught my own name clearly and turned my head. Then I waved to all my future fans.

Everyone, come see me again soon!

Ding—.

Ae-ta-mi's body was run ragged, but her heart was fit to burst.

Yeo-reum…

Scrolling through stage-greeting reviews for Faster Than the Law and saving every single photo of Yeo-reum one by one, she had somehow filled her entire gallery with Han Yeo-reum.

The movie itself wasn't bad either. It was a bundle of clichés, sure, but the mid-film subversions were reliably entertaining.

At this rate, we'll clear the break-even point with no trouble at all!

It was a project JC ENM was pushing hard, and exactly the kind of film made for the summer holiday season. Ae-ta-mi pictured the crowds it would sweep in once the weekend truly arrived, and a smile crept across her lips.

Yeo-reum… up close, you're just… so wonderful….

On her way home, Ae-ta-mi instinctively ducked back into Olive 0. Yeo-reum's poster was hanging outside the store, after all.

Having checked out with ALAB's newest product, she rushed home and tried it on the spot—and right then, she finally realized the true identity of that scent Yeo-reum always ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠carried.

"So she really uses this stuff!"

Ae-ta-mi vowed then and there to use nothing but ALAB from that day forward. As she dried her newly swishy, bouncy hair—hairdryer in one hand, phone in the other—she searched for Faster Than the Law.

"…Whoa…."

And she discovered a fresh batch of content.

A dinner-party video for the Faster Than the Law team had dropped.

Jegal Rok reviewed the newly uploaded video. A relaxed, easygoing First Car Live—brimming with behind-the-scenes stories from the shoot—was drawing a warm response. The feeling of hanging out together off the record let subscribers melt right into it.

This was a format the channel had never shown on InTube before—celebrities getting pleasantly loosened up over drinks. Once again, JC ENM's innovation had landed. The comments had already blown past a hundred barely any time after the upload.

Reactions to the Creamy Soda sitting on the table had poured in as well—it looks so out of place next to the actors that it's cute, I tried it and it's delicious, they don't sell it near my place, they're everywhere around the university district, and so on. Jegal Rok scanned through the comments and gave a small nod.

Success.

Another success. The mere fact that consumers now recognized the name of a product that had only just launched meant he was already halfway home.

What remained now was word of mouth.

The hottest rising star at this very moment was Han Yeo-reum. As long as she was the model, the SNS virality would surpass every expectation. Jegal Rok clicked a single file uploaded to the cloud.