Beyond the Character
The wrap party was nothing short of a festival. Strange Tales had come to a perfect finale, and everyone in the room was still riding the adrenaline from crown to toes.
The weight of the audience's attention in that screening room, and the standing ovation as the end credits rolled—those were moments a creator could never forget for as long as they lived.
"The last day of filming was so hot, remember, Jun-hyuk?"
"With all those layers of hanbok on... by the end, the fabric was practically sticking to my skin..."
"We shot the exorcism scene as a long take on purpose. If we'd cut it into a bunch of short takes, our Seo-ryeong's voice would've been completely wrecked from going full voice. Same for Yeom-ga."
"Exactly. That's why the cracking toward the end is the real deal. Neither of us could talk the next day. Honestly, now that I can finally say it—the whole thing was brutal."
Director Jjang and the cast traded stories from the set, from the scenes they'd poured the most effort into, all the way down to the parts they'd had to change from the original novel—doing everything they could to make the viewers on the other side of the screen feel like they'd been along for the Strange Tales ride.
The footage being recorded tonight would air next week as original content on JC ENM's InTube channel: First Car Live.
Manager Ma planned to use the show to reel in viewers who'd be wandering lost without Strange Tales, funneling them straight into the Blu-ray crowdfunding campaign.
"Okay! Cut!"
The recording camera switched off. It was truly, finally over.
"Hnnnngh... thank you... for your hard work..."
Kwon Jun-hyuk had been crying since earlier and had given up trying to stop, a wad of tissues pressed under his eyes. Kang Han-seong, the martial arts director from the Just Do It Academy, clapped him on the shoulder—except he was drunk, and his strength control was shot. He congratulated Jun-hyuk hard enough to crack his collarbone.
"You did great! You did great!"
Gwak Cheol-sik, who had watched Jun-hyuk sob his way through training at the Just Do It Academy, laughed and applauded as well.
"Hey, Jun-hyuk, I thought my little foal here was going to eat you alive, but you held your own pretty well!"
"He did. Especially in the action scenes."
Yoon Hyun-jo nodded quietly beside him. At some point, the cast of Faster Than the Law had infiltrated the Strange Tales afterparty.
They're all here because of me.
After all, Han Yeo-reum stood at the center of every hot topic this year—and conveniently, everyone happened to live not far from Yongsan, so she'd invited them all first and asked questions later. For the record, construction of the Han Yeo-reum Fam was still proceeding in secret.
I expected Gwak Cheol-sik and Director Gong to show up, but I didn't think Yoon Hyun-jo would actually come.
He was the type who never showed his face at anything informal. Yet today he'd simply asked where the dinner was and turned up without hesitation.
Greatest senior ever. Five thousand stars.
Anyway, ever since walking out of that screening room, it felt like her feet hadn't touched the ground.
So this is... what it tastes like to be the main character?
The attention pouring down on her was sweet. The unprecedented spotlight made her whole body tingle.
Buzz- buzz- buzz-.
Her phone hadn't stopped vibrating since earlier. She'd left her notifications on deliberately, to savor the flood of messages and the real-time climb of her social media follower count. And among the sea of alerts—
Ding-!
A smile that blooms at the mere sight of you is the foundation of ratings! The fact that you broke past 20% viewership is all thanks to the match-made-in-heaven chemistry you bring to the table. The couple name derived from your current character is generating massive buzz right now.
Mentions of the Myeongnyeong Couple have surpassed 10,000 in record time.
🎁 Reward: [A skill has leveled up]
Match-Made-in-Heaven C >>> C+
The status window announcing the hidden mission completion appeared before her eyes.
So the moment episode 16 ended, everyone caught fire properly.
It was thanks to the viewers who couldn't let go of Seo-ryeong and Myeong-do's story, who mourned its happy ending far into the night.
And who might I be...? Only the legend of cable television, creator of insane chemistry with whoever happens to be standing next to me—and soon to be the face of the National First Love itself, Han Yeo-reum.
At this rate she'd earn the title of Chemistry Fairy by sheer existence. Thinking about her next project made the corners of her mouth curl up all on their own.
Director Gong, meanwhile, was already deep in pouring-and-drinking mode beside Director Jjang. Amid the rowdy din, one figure sat watching the room with a level gaze fixed on her: Geum Bit-gang.
"What are you grinning about? Just because this one's done doesn't mean everything is."
Geum Bit-gang spoke in her usual offhand way.
"So. What are you going to do about that?"
That? What on earth was she talking about?
No Jeong-yeon answered with a smile from beside her.
"She means The Great M1 Garand. Bit-gang here was absolutely livid when she heard the news."
"Don't say things you don't need to."
The moment word of her next project hit the table, the party went dead silent. Everyone was waiting for her answer.
If I were anyone else, this hush would have me flustered. But I'm not.
She'd been waiting for exactly this moment. Now then, everyone—eyes on me, please.
"I'm going to audition for the role. Competing for it head-on. Might as well do this properly, right?"
At her answer, the corners of Geum Bit-gang's mouth lifted. Delighted exclamations erupted around the table.
"Go get 'em, Seo-ryeong!"
"Wait, who are you fighting against?"
"Doesn't matter, our Seo-ryeong's gonna win!"
More praise, please. I'm still such a humble novice...
Yeo-reum deliberately cupped a hand to her ear as if she couldn't hear, and the compliments came pouring in even louder than before.
"But seriously, who are you going up against for the role! Who dares call our Seo-ryeong to an audition! Huh?!"
"Well, that would be—"
The moment she opened her mouth, silence fell over the party once more. And then it happened. The door to the private room swung open again, and someone walked in.
"It's Ki Joo-ye. Top Class's baby daughter."
The one who'd appeared was none other than Director So Ye-sol, who'd made her debut with Not Interested At All.
"Ki Joo-ye?"
"Who?"
"Why would she need to audition for anything?"
And remarkably, not a single soul paid Ki Joo-ye any mind.
"Um, everyone... given the circumstances, shouldn't we be a little worried right now? It's Ki Joo-ye, you know...?"
"Now! To all our hard work!"
"Cheers-!"
"..."
Director So's small voice was promptly buried under the clinking of glasses.
She's my muse, I told you? Time to accept it. Mm-hmm.
Dokgo Min kept asserting her ownership claim over Han Yeo-reum, while So Ye-sol simply raised her glass and took a slow sip.
"The drinks taste especially sweet today... They just cling to my lips..."
"That's because it's Creamy Soda."
"Thanks to Yeo-reum, everyone at MBS tastes nothing but sweetness in every drink we touch. Even TentalQ tastes sweet now... Because life itself has turned bitter."
Whether it registered as praise or not, Yeo-reum's face lit up.
...If you actually visited the MBS Drama Center, you wouldn't be able to keep that expression for long...
To explain briefly:
The drama landscape right now had been completely devoured by Strange Tales.
Top Class, barely clinging to double-digit ratings. Holiday, which finished out its run in the single digits. And The Brother's Return, mocked as the worst drama to ever grace the airwaves.
So all three terrestrial networks ate dirt.
True, the past few years had produced some of cable's most acclaimed masterpieces, and true, the terrestrial networks had lost the spotlight. But this was the first time they'd been crushed by such an overwhelming weight class.
Still, ratings-wise, terrestrial TV had dominated in a landslide.
When cable dramas hit double digits, they usually hovered in the low tens at best. But Strange Tales was different. It had broken through 20% and carried a symbolic weight with it:
Cable drama is a genre you can trust.
So Ye-sol blocked Dokgo Min's face with one hand as Min kept shoving her photos onto the screen for everyone to admire.
"Strange Tales was a truly perfect drama... The actors all felt positively possessed by their roles."
So Ye-sol stared hard at Han Yeo-reum—no longer at the face of the young village chief Yeon-doo from Not Interested At All, but at the face of Seo-ryeong from Strange Tales.
"But wouldn't that very success turn out to be poison? From now on, everyone's going to call you Seo-ryeong."
Everyone within earshot nodded along at So Ye-sol's words. Gwak Cheol-sik especially felt it deep in his bones.
"True enough. After a role with that much intensity, the offers that come flooding in tend to be all variations on a theme. Look at me. Nothing but gangsters, one after another."
"For you, Mr. Cheol-sik, it's less about the role and more about... never mind."
While Kang Han-seong wheezed in a headlock, Yoon Hyun-jo summed it up cleanly.
"You said it was a first-love role, didn't you? There's an established lineage for these things—casting actors with a similar image is the custom. Since the part is small, an actor the audience can accept without thinking is simply more efficient."
"Exactly. Take me. I act circles around Bit-gang, but because of this delicate face, all I ever got were the poor, pitiful ingénue roles. Little chick, that's the curse of an actress born with a lovable face."
"Better at acting than ME? Since when!"
While Yoon Hyun-jo, No Jeong-yeon, and Geum Bit-gang bickered, So Ye-sol fixed her gaze on Han Yeo-reum.
"...But you know?"
This was Han Yeo-reum's answer:
"Director So, it's me. Han Yeo-reum."
At that, Director Jjang shot up from a table across the room.
"That's right! It IS Han Yeo-reum!"
"Yes, yes, exactly! Han Yeo-reum!"
Director Gong rose with him, chanting her name in a call-and-response.
"No, no... look, of course I'd beat Ki Joo-ye in pure acting skill. The problem is the sponsors. A period drama that can't properly slot in PPL, and on top of that, the subject matter won't attract much of an overseas fanbase, so the production costs have to be recouped domestically."
So Ye-sol formed a circle with her thumb and index finger.
"China money. That's the real battleground... Ki Joo-ye has a rock-solid Chinese fanbase."
The moment money entered the conversation, the table fell solemn. Business, after all, bowed to no one before the production budget. Break-even points mattered far beyond the film industry alone.
"...But you know?"
But the woman sitting here now was the actress who had just rewritten cable television's history.
"My agency is JC, by the way."
It didn't land. So Ye-sol sighed.
"...Aren't you curious about a way to make the public feel the actor herself, beyond the character... and to solidify your fanbase...?"
After all, this was the whole reason she'd come to the dinner.
"Come on MBS variety, Yeo-reum..."
The head of the Drama Center was dying of anxiety over Han Yeo-reum, yet kept his reason firmly intact. There was no drama currently entering production at MBS big enough to land her. If they couldn't have her on a drama, they'd have to at least siphon off some of her buzz.
Put Han Yeo-reum on MBS variety, and the ratings will follow!
Bring Han Yeo-reum to MBS variety programming. That was the special mission So Ye-sol had been assigned.
"Wait, why did a drama department person come instead of a variety department PD...? That's inefficient."
Ever-rational Yoon Hyun-jo raised the question.
"That's because I am, after all, the director who has claimed Yeo-reum as her muse—"
"She's MY muse!"
While So Ye-sol and Dokgo Min scuffled, the vibration of Yeo-reum's phone carried on and on, like a fanfare announcing the beginning of her road to success.
Keyword: Variety Show Debut
Hasn't a powerful character swallowed you whole? Haven't the crowds been calling you by your character's name instead of your own? Oh dear. Left alone, that image might harden for good. Times like these call for strategy—so go introduce yourself to the public, up close and friendly.
Success Condition:
[Appeal to the public as ■■'s ■■ ■■■■!]
Between moments, a status window Yeo-reum never noticed flickered faintly into existence—and just as faintly, vanished.
While the Strange Tales wrap party overflowed with laughter, there was another place that overflowed with tears: the Strange Tales gallery.
A tightly sealed happy ending. It was everything anyone could have hoped for—and precisely because of that, the Strange Tales viewers, heartbroken at having to let it go, wept without exception.
Ae-ta-mi, who had stumbled out of the screening room on trembling legs, couldn't even think of going home. Instead, she sat in a nearby 24-hour café, refreshing her screen endlessly.
"Insane. It's insane."
Ae-ta-mi repeated that one line on an infinite loop. She was certain everyone else was feeling exactly the same—no other words came to her.
Into the Strange Tales gallery, one by one, the reviews of those who'd attended the screening event were starting to trickle in.