Eighteen's Temperature (3): DM Flood and Cafe Chaos
I sat glued to my phone alongside Lee Da-kyung, ambitiously sifting through the mountain of DMs one by one, but...
To cut to the chase, there weren't any major breakthroughs.
Not that I expected otherwise—it was only just now that episode 2 had gone up.
"Oppa, your followers are already over ten thousand. I'm jealous lol."
Most of the DMs weren't messages with any real intent.
Stuff like that, mostly. The only serious agency offers came from two places.
"Hello, this is P&T Entertainment's rookie development team. We wanted to ask if you're interested in acting... P&T?"
But I'd never heard of them, so I'd have to look them up separately.
"Hard to pick from DMs. Put your email on your profile too."
Instagram ad inquiries were surprisingly plentiful instead.
In the end, I couldn't commit to anything right then, but getting all the headache-inducing stuff organized like this made me feel a bit lighter.
Episode 1's views had already surpassed 2.5 million.
Among the videos on the Nodo Nodo Film channel, it had already knocked out their previous 4th and 5th place holders.
With ten episodes total planned, traffic would keep coming, and views would climb steadily.
It had clearly gone viral everywhere.
I could guess how. Nodo Nodo Film was already clipping my face into Shorts-style highlights.
And Lee Da-kyung showed me a community post.
"Whoa..."
I'd kinda expected it, but... the vibe was a bit different from what I'd imagined.
"Why? Cringy?"
"Nah. They're liking it—of course that's good..."
If the thing I starred in did well, sure, that was great. But it felt like success had exploded before I was ready to handle it.
Not that I hated it, though.
Overwhelming attention vs. getting totally forgotten post-shoot.
For a rookie actor picking between those? Obvious choice.
'It's leaning heavy on the looks, though.'
That was probably inevitable. Only two episodes out so far.
As the story progressed, talk about the drama itself would ramp up naturally.
Episode 3 was dropping in a few days. Then 4, and soon after, school started.
Crunching the shooting schedule roughly, we'd probably wrap around episode 7 by then.
Good thing there was no spring break and winter break was long.
In my past life, there'd been spring break when I went to school...
Anyway, this was when the real backstory from the original kicked in.
Felt like it'd be fun... that unfamiliar thrill.
I'd always been the sideliner watching from one step removed.
Maybe you can't stay sunk in one spot too long. Knowing other worlds existed made my school friends feel like real close buds now.
Thanks to Lee Da-kyung, I'd sorted a ton of stuff. I headed straight to set after, wrapped the day's shoot, and on the way home, messages piled up from Seo Jae-hyun.
Oh right—I hadn't said a word to the crew, and days had slipped by. Before I could even drop a hint, this blew up.
No real chance to mention it... well, there were a few, but.
No guarantees it'd do well, and hyping it up just to flop would've been more embarrassing.
Figured I'd keep quiet.
From Seo Jae-hyun's side, it might feel like a slight, but he was the one easing my guilt.
If it had flopped, he probably wouldn't have brought it up so easily. Joked it off or said nothing.
That's Seo Jae-hyun—seems carefree, but occasionally you feel his depth.
I thanked him, then dropped a message in our five-person group chat.
Oh yeah—class assignments were out, and sophomore year we'd all lucked into the same one.
Felt like a coincidence, but I knew it was scripted.
*
Next day.
Alba day. Evening cafe shift.
Last time, I'd swapped for shooting. And the web drama dropped in between.
So today: first shift since release.
Hit me with vague dread.
Maybe time to quit for real. Plan was drop stuff if it got too much.
But probably overthinking. Might show up and nothing happens—awkward.
Shaking it off, I clocked in. My usual shift overlapped with manager noona, who already knew.
"Min-woo, watched your stuff... guess it's time to let you go."
"Sorry I couldn't tell you sooner."
"Nah. Hard to replace you..."
U Hana's thing hadn't panned out. Asked slyly—needs parents' okay.
Hmm... if she could earn quick, that'd help.
U Hana eventually makes bank, moves out right at adulthood.
Funny enough, she blows up as an influencer later.
I pictured that future briefly, then shook my head. Just in my head.
"Sticking around after my shift today. Feels like... you'll have a rough one."
"You don't have to..."
"I insist."
Shift kicked off.
Started fine—no big issues at first. Then suddenly, customers flooded. Rumor must've spread.
Manager noona nailed it.
"He's really working here."
"Told ya."
"IRL is insane."
Some straight-up asked.
"You're Kim Yul from Eighteen's Temperature, right?"
"Yeah."
"No way, you're really a student?"
Cafe filled up fast.
Chaos with the rush, but manager noona's backup gave breathing room.
I wiped water off my hands on my apron, pulled out my phone.
Message notification: Lee Seol.
I glanced up from my phone, turned to manager noona.
"Noona, friends wanna visit—cool? Promised service..."
"Sure~ tell 'em come~ but seats..."
"Call when some clear out."
"Yep. Big service."
"Thanks."
Fired off to Lee Seol.