Good News - 7 Million! Specific Numbers Are Out!
Jin Lim's words had the viewers nodding along in agreement and piling on. She'd never done anything like this in her career, so she just wore a bewildered smile.
"A promise? What kind should I make?"
"Hmm. How about a donation?"
"Donation? Sounds good. To what?"
Once she tried it, she got the hang of it. Promises were fun, but preparing something like cross-dressing or staging a performance felt like a burden. Especially for someone of Jin Lim's age.
"How about lunch boxes for 700 people?"
Something simple to prepare was best. Tae-seok whipped out his mental calculator. Even rounding up to 10,000 won each made it 7 million won, and with four people...
"I'm for it!"
"Sounds good to me too."
Once they hit 7 million, the running guarantee payout would be huge—lunch boxes were nothing! With Tae-seok and Bora on board positively, Jin Lim nodded too.
A satisfying promise was set, and the writer sitting in front grabbed her sketchbook.
[It's been 8 minutes already! Time to cut!]
Time had flown that fast? Moo-young waved with a smile as he signed off.
"Everyone, looks like we have to wrap up soon!"
Moo-young and the team kept reading comments and chatting right up to the end. Then, one, two, three!
"Please love Streets' Sunlight a lot~"
The wrap-up lines landed perfectly in sync. Comments kept flooding in, but the screen went dark.
Jin Lim wiped cold sweat with a hearty laugh.
"Feels like a blast from the past. For real."
"Still fun, right?"
"Dunno. If Moo-young hadn't read them, I'd have been blind as a bat. Anyway, did I do okay? Whew. No slip-ups?"
"You were perfect, Teacher."
Everyone settled back in, pleased with the successful event. Areum, who'd wiped her tears and returned, glanced around confused.
"We just finished streaming. You okay now?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah yeah. Um... the script...?"
"Script? We didn't use one."
Areum fiddled with her cue card, looking at the writer and PD. Live streams were mostly for show anyway—the staff had prepped questions and gags. For broadcast, they'd slap subtitles on a fake ID.
"Pick up from where we cut off."
The PD waved dismissively, not in the mood for chit-chat. The reporter fanned herself to cool off. Moo-young handed her his water bottle encouragingly.
"Don't be so nervous. The venue rental's almost up—just a bit more and we're done."
"Th-thank you. And sorry. I keep messing up the title... I loved Plague so much, it keeps looping in my head..."
Areum bowed repeatedly to Moo-young and the team. Jin Lim, who'd been gearing up to chew her out, just sighed instead.
"No more mistakes now."
"Yes, Teacher. I'm truly sorry."
"It's not about us—it's for your own sake, Areum. Got it?"
Maybe the stream had lightened her mood. The advice came out surprisingly gentle. Areum's eyes reddened again; she bit her lip to rein in her emotions.
"Ready?"
"Ahem. Yes!"
Clearing her throat repeatedly, she answered the PD's cue with a booming voice. Her expression looked fully natural now, like she'd gotten her head in the game.
"You mentioned each of you has a fun story about getting cast in Streets' Sunlight?"
"Yes. The director came to my house with the script himself. He saw me dance at a fan meet and decided I was perfect. Bora next?"
"Yeah. Moo-young got cast first and recommended me and Tae-seok oppa. It's the director's debut, but unbelievably fun."
The actors were pros at playing it cool, acting like there'd never been any flubs—like this was their first clean interview take.
"Right! So—"
The flow picked up smoothly. As the rental time wound down, a staffer poked his head in from the theater's back door. Right on cue, the reporter nailed the wrap-up.
"Focusing on Entertainment, today's focus was the Streets' Sunlight team ahead of release! Everyone~ smash hit! Poof!"
Her signature pose—a finger-gun wink at the camera. A brief silence, then the PD's cut sign.
"Okay. That's a wrap."
"Good work."
"Whew, you all suffered. Sorry."
"Nah, it was fun today. Thanks!"
Moo-young and the team exchanged bows with the crew, ending the interview. The reporter approached Moo-young and handed back the water bottle.
"Here, thanks."
"Huh? Keep it. You cried—you need the hydration."
Areum smiled faintly at the quirky line. She wanted to thank him again, but Moo-young turned at his manager's call.
"Moo-young! Hold up."
"Yeah? What's up?"
Moo-young loosened his tie with a huff. Go Kyung-min flashed a thumbs-up.
"The Only Landlord casting confirmed!"
"No way. Who got it?"
Go Kyung-min shot him a look at the dumb question—why else the thumbs-up?
"Sheesh. Who do you think?"
"...Whoaaaa!"
Moo-young blinked blankly, then exploded in cheers. He expressed his joy with his whole body until Bora yanked his arm.
"Aigoo, seriously!"
"I got cast! Yay! Nailed it!"
"Netflix one? Congrats, but calm down."
Moo-young shook his head wildly and asked Go Kyung-min.
"Other roles done too?"
"Dunno. Not yet, I think. No meeting date set. Team Lead Kang Ok-kyeong said she'd call personally, so pick up."
"Woohoo!"
Moo-young whooped and stomped. Flower pollen had led him to his fourth project already. At this point, not just success, but landing roles themselves felt like pollen power.
"Dinner's on me tonight!"
"For real? Call Jun-ho?"
"Ugh, stop babying him."
"Fine. Time for some quality protein. Muscle loss is brutal."
Moo-young bantered with the team as they left the theater, grinning with hopes for a sparkling future.
* * *
Beep-beep-beep— Beep-beep-beep—
8 a.m. The alarm he'd set last night blared. Moo-young jolted awake and groped for his phone.
Tap-tap-tap— Shaking off the fog, he searched the portal for "Streets' Sunlight box office."
The movie had opened yesterday; today was the first count. Texts piled up, but ignored! Hard numbers first!
"Please please..."
"Oh... my god. Jesus."
Moo-young rubbed his puffy eyes, rereading the article. 280k on opening day, 5th best November opener ever. This was...
"What the—?!"
"Gah! What?! What's going on?!"
The door flew open as startled Jun-ho burst in, toast in hand—he'd rushed.
"What's the big deal~?"
"So... argh, whatever."
"Im Jun-ho! Take your company folks to see the movie! Twice, three times! Got it?"
Jun-ho rolled his eyes at Moo-young thrashing on the bed and left. Whatever. Moo-young finally checked his messages—mostly congrats.
Zero Team members to Plague and You Are a Star, I Am a Star castmates—all celebrating his lead debut's smash opening.
Vrrr— Vrrr—
"Hyung!"
Go Kyung-min calling. Moo-young hit accept fast.
His manager's voice was groggy from the early hour but brimming with joy.
-Saw the article? Quick draw.
"Yeah. Checked first thing. Huge hit, right? Right?"
-Yep. Killer day one. More precise projections this week, plus other good news.
"Like what?"
Moo-young headed to the living room mid-call, snagging Jun-ho's toast and munching.
-Distributor—SJ side. They handle investment and distro, so... Anyway, no real competition, plus killer opener means more screens. More seats, more momentum.
"Whoa, for real?"
Baekgoon Enter pulling out was huge. Everyone played safe for Chuseok, then scandals hit and they all jumped in. Theirs stuck to schedule.
"Other good news?"
-Crunched numbers. Your running guarantee's 2.5% of net profit, right? Budget around 5 bil... after cuts...
"And?"
-Over 5 mil, you're looking at about 200 mil running guarantee. Plus your investment...
Moo-young froze at the nine-figure sum. Jun-ho snatched the toast back, stuffing it in to dodge a tackle.
-5 mil ROI at 300%, so 800 mil with principal. Total around a billion.
"...Whoa."
Moo-young's legs buckled; he faceplanted. A billion? Not just any hundred mil—a full billion? Ten times 99.99 mil?
-Opener's strong; 5 mil seems doable. Congrats, Moo-young! Pop champagne! Pah-bah-bah!
Angels seemed to play in his ears. Jun-ho snapped fingers in his ecstatic face.
"You good?"
"...Obviously."
"Don't look it."
"A billion hitting my account! Of course! I'm great! Hahahahaha!"
Moo-young threw his chest out, laughing like he owned the world. But Go Kyung-min wasn't done.
-Next month's year-end awards season, yeah? Invites already in. SBC Acting Awards, Blue Dragon Film Awards. And Streets' Sunlight invited to Asian International Film Festival. More calls coming.
"Asian International?"
Prestigious fest—fair, film-focused, rotating venues. New but hot for buzz films, gaining clout fast.
"Got it. Showering and prepping. Yeah, talk in person! Love ya, hyung!"
Moo-young hung after max aegyo, then hit SNS to share with fans.
"Huh? What's this."
But... why so much Chinese?