Unshakable Confidence
The Gongbeomche teaser succeeded in sparking interest without putting the actors front and center.
It was possible only because the issues tangled with Youngperal had been so scorching hot.
Thanks to that, Eum Sung-hyun's casting controversy never bubbled up to the surface.
SSK, having solidified its mysterious marketing direction, strictly controlled all actor information.
Naturally, they scrapped the production press conference entirely.
Thanks to that, the public's curiosity held strong right up to launch day.
And so...
June 7th, Wednesday.
0% Algorithm Episode 1 aired.
June 8th, Thursday.
The morning of Gongbeomche's launch dawned.
Eum Sung-hyun, who had spent the night staring blankly at the ceiling, turned on his smartphone.
6 AM.
He'd lain down at 10 PM, so nearly eight hours of just... nothing.
'Youngperal must've aired by now.'
Eum Sung-hyun startled himself as he nearly opened a portal site without thinking.
Right now, the portals would be flooded with nothing but Youngperal talk.
He couldn't even guess the reactions, but he didn't trust himself to stay mentally steady if he saw them.
'Don't look.'
Closing his eyes, Eum Sung-hyun recalled the Gongbeomche set.
It had been filled with a good vibe, no doubt.
If that made it into the final cut, the quality wouldn't fall short.
The actors had deliberately avoided the test edit, but Do Hyun-woo CE and Director Jung Hee-soo had said they loved it.
Still, the anxiety wouldn't fade.
He had to act well.
Really damn well.
Because he was the guy who stepped in for Senior Kim Ra-un.
He hadn't known until wrapping, but Do Hyun-woo CE had pulled him aside and explained.
"If things don't go as planned, people might come after you, Sung-hyun."
"But one thing's for sure."
"I've never once regretted choosing you."
He'd been shocked to learn he'd replaced Senior Kim Ra-un, but surprisingly, Eum Sung-hyun wasn't afraid of the public's backlash.
Me, compared to Senior Kim Ra-un?
Of course I'll get hate. What's there to feel wronged about?
That was his mindset.
As long as Do Hyun-woo CE wasn't disappointed, everything else was fine.
But reality unfolded completely differently from expectations.
In the midst of this incomprehensible situation, Do Hyun-woo CE started taking heat.
Public opinion had somehow settled into "let's see the work first" for now, but...
'What if I screw up and Do CE gets blamed?'
That thought bred even greater anxiety.
Which was why he couldn't bring himself to check any Youngperal reactions.
In the end, to calm his nerves, Eum Sung-hyun opened the Gongbeomche group chat.
As always, jokes flew back and forth, but scrolling up yielded no Youngperal talk.
Everyone was carrying the same burden.
In the end, Eum Sung-hyun pulled on a cap and headed out for a run.
The neighborhood blurred past.
He'd once hated this place with a passion.
He wanted to make M2M regret abandoning him, to get revenge on the group members who'd tormented him.
But now, none of that mattered.
What Eum Sung-hyun cared about was Hyung Jeong-hoon's success, the chance he'd grabbed right before quitting acting.
Park Sung-won hyung's mom, who prayed every morning with water offerings, finding peace.
Lee Sun-jae hyung's hospital bills, with his dad sick.
And above all...
Repaying Do Hyun-woo CE, who had believed in him.
He couldn't blow it.
Fleeing a torrent of thoughts, Eum Sung-hyun stopped as his breath hit his throat.
Then, instinctively checking the group chat.
"Eung?"
He let out a dumb noise, eyes widening.
"Aigoo, Dad. Don't worry, I told you."
Lee Sun-jae thumped his chest reassuringly at his dad, awake since dawn.
"I'm the pride of the Lee clan from Jeonju, aren't I?! Our drama's gonna crush it, no doubt!"
"You punk, don't go making bold promises like that."
"Heh. Should I tremble in fear about the drama flopping? You know that's not me."
"True enough. You take after me—heart as big as they come."
"And that heart broke?"
"You little...?"
"Come on, go back to bed already."
"Fine, fine. The nagging..."
The moment his dad shuffled back to his room, Lee Sun-jae froze in the dark living room.
He'd meant to move, but something gripped his legs like they were glued down.
He had to succeed for real.
Cover Dad's surgery, pay off loans, living expenses...
Gongbeomche's pay put out the immediate fires, but he was still miles short.
Variety shows or ads were pipe dreams, but at least snag a guarantee for the next gig quick...
His frozen legs wouldn't budge.
"Damn it, why."
Finally, Lee Sun-jae collapsed onto the worn sofa and opened his phone.
Teasing Hyung Jeong-hoon loosened him up a bit.
Just a little.
"Haa..."
If he'd known it'd be like this, he should've gone to the day labor office.
He'd planned to take the launch day off.
'Too late now? Maybe delivery till 10 PM.'
As Lee Sun-jae mulled that, a message popped up in the Gongbeomche group chat—from the only non-actor, or ex-actor, Do Hyun-woo CE.
Staring at the message with a lost expression, Lee Sun-jae suddenly shrieked.
"Dude, why drop that bomb!"
Actors rarely watch dramas together as a full cast.
Many find it awkward seeing their own performance with others, and syncing schedules for one episode is a hassle.
So group viewings are 99% events.
The most common? Cast dinners overlapping with finale parties.
Even then, it's just a few group watch pics for SNS, then mute the drama.
In short, actors gathering sans special reason to watch was extremely rare.
But something even rarer...
Everyone assembling at 9 AM to wait for a 10 PM drama?
Was this rare?
Unprecedented?
Was he rewriting Tvic history again?
As those useless thoughts swirled, actor So Jeong-hoon slammed the table at the gukbap joint.
"CE! This is violence, straight-up violence!"
"What violence?"
"Curiosity violence! I was avoiding the entire internet like Pandora's box!"
"Hear, hear!"
Protests poured in.
But looking at who was protesting, spilling the beans was the right call.
Not one had slept properly.
No dark circle contest, right?
"Why so scared, anyway?"
"Well..."
A casual question, but no one answered.
"'Cause we can't flop?"
"...Yeah."
He felt it fully.
The whole world buzzing with the Youngperal vs. Gongbeomche showdown, but their chat was the outlier.
They thought they were joking around, but to him, they were just fleeing desperately.
"People are comparing Youngperal and our drama right now, yeah?"
"Yes."
"I made that happen."
"Huh?"
"I deliberately set it up so Gongbeomche and Youngperal get compared."
"F-for real?"
"Yeah. Totally."
He explained everything that had gone down.
Their eyes widened to bursting.
"Why... why do that?"
"Why? 'Cause we're obviously gonna win."
"Obviously?"
"Yeah. No doubt."
At first, even he had doubts about Gongbeomche's commercial success.
Script Insight showed the best quality, but not necessarily peak marketability.
He'd thought that even if it bombed spectacularly—proving quality alone can't guarantee hits—he wouldn't resent the power.
But that mindset shifted bit by bit.
In the basement practice room, readings, set, editing bay...
As the work took shape, conviction grew.
This is gonna kill it.
He still believed in art's power.
Believed in the script's power, trusted the actors' power, revered direction's power.
If all that converged in their work and it flopped?
If the work he believed in, that believed in him, that they all believed in, flopped?
"It wouldn't be your fault, or mine. Not the writers' or director's either."
"Then whose?"
"The world's."
"Huh?"
"If Gongbeomche flops, something in this world's seriously broken."
"...?"
"So if it flops, I'm quitting CE."
"What?!"
"Let's all go to Japan and open a ramen shop?"
After a stunned silence, actor Park Sung-won spoke up with a dumb look.
"Why ramen of all things...?"
"Ramen's my soul food. But just ramen lacks edge."
"Ramen's fine, but...?"
"Wouldn't it blow up? Hot ex-actor dudes serving Korean-style ramen."
The baffled actors nodded despite themselves.
"...Yeah, it'd work."
"Do CE in an apron serving? Instant hit."
"Just an apron? Super hit."
"Sun-jae, you genius...?"
Vitality crept into the nonsense-spouting actors' eyes.
"Wall of the shop looping Gongbeomche 24/7."
"Nice. Reverse hit in Japan, make bank."
"Use it to snag Director Jung for S2?"
"Ooh, solid."
"He likes us, he'd do no-guaranty."
"Was that dad joke?"
"Hyungs taking it as dad joke are the dads."
"What about the writers?"
"Beg on our knees crying."
What the hell conversation was this—even a Japanese Gongbeomche smash brought no cash their way...
"Wait, Japanese reverse hit doesn't mean we make money, right?"
"Jae-won hyung, sociopath? Ruining the vibe?"
Moon Jae-won and he shut up simultaneously.
Then Eum Sung-hyun's voice cut through.
"So we beat Youngperal?"
"Yes."
His voice rang with certainty, and the actors melted.
Not their bodies—their expressions.
The stiff tension vanished.
From then on, their wait wasn't anxiety.
It was excitement.
Time flew by.