Fans and Antis

"Actor Ryu Yeon-woo, you've only recently debuted in a drama, and yet you've already been cast as a lead in a film by the legendary Director Park Chan-hong. How did that feel?"

At Announcer Kim Min-a's question, Yeon-woo smiled and took the microphone.

"It was an absolute honor, of course — I was overjoyed. And by a happy coincidence, Announcer Kim Min-a, you also hosted the production presentation for the drama I debuted in."

"Oh my, you remembered!"

"Of course I did. Thanks to you, the last drama I did alongside Actress Han So-hyun here was a hit. I'm confident that with Announcer Kim Min-a hosting us again, our film's box office numbers are going to be excellent."

The lines poured from Yeon-woo's mouth as smoothly as a mountain stream, every bit as polished as the professional announcer sitting in front of him. Half of a black-ops agent's living had always been made with words — that experience hadn't gone anywhere.

"You really are a gifted speaker. Speaking of the last drama — Actress Han So-hyun, sitting next to you: while shooting this film, what was it like watching Ryu Yeon-woo's Pierre Choi, a role whose image is a complete one-eighty from the drama?"

The question flowed so naturally to Han So-hyun that she, who had been listening in a daze, hurriedly grabbed her microphone.

"Huh? Yeon-woo's look? He's always cool! Oh — you mean the change? Yeon-woo has this ability to build a character down to the finest detail and then become that person. When he plays Pierre Choi, the footsteps, the gestures, the voice, even the way he talks — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it genuinely feels like Pierre Choi is standing right there in front of you, alive."

With Han So-hyun's answer, the questions moved on to Jeong Ha-gyun beside her. It was the first time Yeon-woo had ever heard another actor evaluate his performance, and he smiled bashfully. Watching him, Han So-hyun jabbed him in the side and teased him.

A few more questions followed, and then they held a raffle among the audience for a wish ticket that could be used on any cast member of the winner's choice. A winner was drawn. Announcer Kim Min-a rose from her seat, covering her face with both hands in mock excitement as she approached the female fan climbing onto the stage.

"Which actor would our fan like to use her wish ticket on?"

She passed the microphone, and the fan whispered Ryu Yeon-woo's name in a voice as small as an ant. Her wish was a hug. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Maseok Do clapped Yeon-woo on the back and urged him up.

"Go on and give it to her, Yeon-woo."

Yeon-woo rose with an awkward smile and walked over.

"I—I'm a fan!"

"Thank you."

Smiling, Yeon-woo stepped in, scooped her up, and spun her around once.

"Kyaaah—!"

The unexpectedly fiery fan service drew a scream, and the production report hall dissolved into laughter. Judging by the fact that she wanted a photo with Han So-hyun as well, she was almost certainly a fan of Summer's Closet. The press, eyes gleaming, were already composing article titles in their heads as they captured the moment on camera.

Lee Jin-ah was the café manager of Woo's, Ryu Yeon-woo's official fan café. Checking whether the membership count had gone up or down was the first essential task of her morning, and today, as always, she groped for the smartphone on her nightstand the moment she woke.

Yesterday had been the production report for the film Yeon-woo was starring in, and an additional trailer had dropped — so maybe the numbers had climbed a little? She forced her stubbornly heavy eyelids open and checked.

"Huh?"

Jin-ah rubbed her eyes and looked at the member count again. The morning drowsiness that had refused to leave her vanished in an instant; her eyes flew wide open.

Just yesterday the count had barely been in the four thousands. At this level, they would crack the top one hundred in the portal sites' actor fandom rankings.

Jin-ah's fingers flew across the screen as she drafted a post. The nail tips she had uploaded to SNS only yesterday, calling them pretty, suddenly felt like they were getting in the way.

Jin-ah had posted her joyful announcement, but it was instantly shoved off the first page by the sheer firepower of the new-member greeting board.

She closed the café app to share the news with the friends she usually stanned with and opened KaTalk — only to find a message already waiting from LN Entertainment.

Huuuh…

With a trembling heart, she tapped into the chat room.

"So it's finally here."

From the moment she had started running the official fan café, she had resolved that if invitation tickets to future events ever came through, she would select recipients through a completely fair lottery — no exceptions.

"Even if I can't go myself, it has to be fair…!"

She made the vow and finished reading the message. A postscript was attached below.

"Aaaah! Of course I'm free — more than free!"

Jin-ah typed her reply at the speed of a wildfire.

The day after wrapping the production report schedule, Yeon-woo rejoined the set of Star Beyond the River. Staff preparing in the parking lot spotted him climbing out of the car.

"Yeon-woo! I saw the movie trailer. It looks insanely good."

"Oh, you saw it? Thank you."

The staff offered congratulations and encouragement, saying they were looking forward to the film. Working in the industry themselves — and with a lead actor's movie success feeding directly into a drama's momentum — of course they were paying attention.

Today's shoot was set in a bamboo forest in Damyang, Jeolla Province. When Yeon-woo entered the deeper filming area inside the grove, Jin Yu-han and the crew already preparing for the shoot came into view.

"Oh, you're here?"

Jin Yu-han, mid-warmup, spotted Ryu Yeon-woo and greeted him. Yeon-woo was usually early to set, and yet Yu-han was always there first.

"Yu-han, when did you get here? You're always earlier than me."

"Yeah, not long. I just get here about five minutes early every day."

The scene they were shooting today was an action sequence for the midsection of the drama. Yeon-woo and Yu-han loosened up, matching the moves they had already rehearsed. Then a bright greeting rang out across the set as Seo Ji-eun arrived.

"Ah, noona — welcome."

"Hey, Yeon-woo."

Seo Ji-eun waved big with a bright smile as she walked over.

"Hello to you too, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yu-han."

"Ah — yes. Hello."

Both of them dropped formality and were close with Yeon-woo, yet for some reason they remained oddly stiff with each other.

"Well, now that Ji-eun noona's here, should we run the full blocking again?"

"Yeah, let's. Can we lock in the final full blocking over here?"

At Yu-han's call, the stunt team that had been sitting in the corner came over, picked up practice swords, and started warming up.

"We'll keep the dialogue light."

The stuntmen nodded at Yu-han's words. Yeon-woo's line kicked them off. Drawing his practice sword, he shouted:

"So it was you lot. Whose orders are you under?"

Yu-han stepped in beside him, drawing his own sword and facing off against the stunt team, and murmured to Yeon-woo:

"We have to get out of this first. We have to protect Lady Hong behind us too."

As if waiting for that cue, one of the stunt team charged in on the agreed beat.

"Hah!"

Clang—.

Yeon-woo angled his blade to catch the incoming sword with a short shout of effort, then cut down the thug in front of him. That seemed to be the signal — the rest of the team rushed in on their choreographed cues. Whenever Yeon-woo pushed forward, Yu-han filled the gap to guard Ji-eun; the two crossed and swapped positions, taking down the stuntmen one by one.

Then one of them swung a practice sword at Yeon-woo. In a normal matched exchange you were supposed to pull the power — and yet this one had real force behind it.

CLANG—.

The speed of the incoming blade was wrong. Yeon-woo only kept hold of his sword because he put real strength into the block; he nearly lost it from his hand. After that came a dizzying sequence of nearly ten opponents in order, but the two of them locked together exactly as they had diligently practiced and worked through the action scene.

"Waaah. That was so cool!"

When the scene ended, Ji-eun behind them clapped and gave them a thumbs-up. Director Lee Sang-hun walked over and added his own praise.

"That's basically perfect. Actors, please head to makeup. We'll start shooting as soon as you're ready."

"Yes, Director."

As the three leads walked toward makeup, a voice from one of the special-effects team members carried just far enough to be overheard — as if meant to be heard.

"Man, Jin Yu-han was insane just now. He was covering for every little slip Ryu Yeon-woo made, grabbing him by the collar and carrying the whole thing."

The speaker, pitching his voice so the staff wouldn't catch it but the three lead actors walking ahead would, was Park Gyeong-wan — the same man who had developed a persecution complex watching Ryu Yeon-woo at the gym. A fellow stunt teammate answered with a puzzled tilt of the head.

"Really? I didn't get that at all. They synced up clean — no mistakes."

Hearing that, Park Gyeong-wan shot his colleague a pointless glare. Yeon-woo let it go in one ear and out the other — but Jin Yu-han, walking ahead, stopped dead, turned, and stared at Park Gyeong-wan with eyes that held no emotion at all. With the broadcast approaching, there was no need to manufacture pointless controversy, so Yeon-woo patted Yu-han on the back. Yu-han turned forward again and kept walking.

"Come on, Yu-han. We've got makeup."

"That guy's a little weird."

Yeon-woo nodded at Yu-han's words. Every time they went to the gym to practice, Yeon-woo had greeted everyone he saw with perfect courtesy and stayed behind to clean just like the other stunt team members.

I don't really have any staff or stunt people who'd hold a grudge against me… Then again, haters without a reason tend to show up anyway.

Yeon-woo filed the man's face away and decided he would need to stay careful during future shoots. After ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that they went through makeup and finished filming without incident.

In the world of Star Beyond the River, the three of them — now studying under the same master — had gradually grown close. After that, as arson cases strangely multiplied across Gaegyeong, they began investigating as Goryeo nobles determined to ease the suffering of the common people. The scene they had shot today was the one in which the three, investigating those fires, discovered the culprit, gave chase, and ended up surrounded by mysterious assailants in a fight.

But once principal photography began, the stunt team member Yeon-woo had been wary of did nothing out of the ordinary. The three actors finished the shoot and climbed into the car heading back to Seoul.