Chapter 162
Chapter 162
Did I See That Wrong?
Park Cheol-ho, the head of M Broadcasting’s drama department, had been in an exceptionally good mood lately.
As soon as the press release announcing Yu Yeon-seo joining the cast as the lead was sent out, inquiries for advertisement sponsorships reportedly came pouring in. Naturally, interest in ‘Snake’ was growing by the day.
Yu Yeon-seo to Appear on Variety Show to Promote ‘Snake’... Solo Talk Show Appearance Confirmed
This Time, It’s an Observational Variety Show... Yu Yeon-seo to Film ‘24 Hours’
Moreover, since Yu Yeon-seo was actively participating in promotional activities he usually avoided, the head of the variety show department even came to express his gratitude. Grinning, Park Cheol-ho let out a small sigh when he heard the door burst open behind him.
“Sir.”
“Oh, you’re here? How was the script reading?”
Eom Dong-pil was the only one who would enter the department head’s office without knocking. Seeing his displeased expression, Park Cheol-ho sighed again.
“What’s wrong now?”
“Now even the manager is interfering with my work.”
“Why? What did he say?”
“He told me to quickly set some announcement community to private...”
“He’s right. You should be more careful. Have you forgotten the incident from before?”
Though he thought Eom Dong-pil was complaining about something trivial, he managed his expression to feign concern. Eom Dong-pil ran his hands roughly through his hair.
“...I should have been the one directing.”
“Even the stray cats around here know you’ve lost your touch. As if I’d let you direct a drama starring Yu Yeon-seo.”
“Sir.”
You shouldn’t say that, sir. As Eom Dong-pil spoke protestingly, Park Cheol-ho sighed again.
“Besides, you said you’d do a good job just keeping a low profile.”
Sending an experienced director to work as an assistant director was something most would refuse out of pride. But it was Eom Dong-pil who had first asked for help, saying he wanted to return and get a feel for being on set again. That’s why he had been placed in a position to simply advise.
‘But as soon as Yu Yeon-seo came on as the lead, he suddenly changed his tune.’
His intention to curry favor with Yu Yeon-seo and move to JS was so obvious that it was distasteful.
“This time, please just keep a low profile. Don’t let your pride get in the way.”
“...”
“I’m asking you. If you just get through this one project smoothly, I’ll set you up with a directing job again.”
“...Alright.”
After Park Cheol-ho’s pleading, Eom Dong-pil reluctantly nodded and left the office. He left with the conviction that his superior wouldn’t abandon him, but Park Cheol-ho’s thoughts were different.
‘Tsk, he won’t last long either.’
I gave him a chance for old times’ sake... but this will be the last time.
Until his own filming schedule began, Yu Yeon-seo did photoshoots and appeared on variety shows as part of the promotional activities for ‘Snake’. When filming the talk show, they had intentionally rented a café near a busy street for the recording. But no suspicious person appeared.
‘The times have changed, so maybe he doesn’t know.’
If the object of his obsession had shifted from Lee Hui-seo to me, I’d have expected him to know my entire schedule. That bastard had been relentlessly persistent with Lee Hui-seo, after all.
Yu Yeon-seo decided to deliberately cast some bait. If he doesn’t show up this time, Lee Tae-gyeom’s hypothesis is debunked.
Y__Yeonseo
This afternoon, Gangnam Station.
The post he made on social media was deleted after a few minutes, but it had already spread across various online communities and even appeared in news articles.
Yu Yeon-seo Creates Buzz with Cryptic Social Media Post
What’s Happening at Gangnam Station This Afternoon? Yu Yeon-seo Posts and Deletes on Social Media
Lee Tae-gyeom, who had stepped out for a moment to run an errand for Yu Yeon-seo, rushed back in. The phone in his hand was vibrating nonstop.
“Hey, where did you post that? The director just called me.”
“Yeah, just now.”
“Wasn’t this supposed to be a secret? Are you allowed to post it like this?”
Why the sudden change after being so quiet? Lee Tae-gyeom observed Yu Yeon-seo with suspicion.
“Why did you post it?”
“I thought I’d try being the bait.”
“...Don’t tell me it’s because of what I said.”
Yu Yeon-seo nodded. The production staff might have a hard time, but that wasn’t his problem. He sent a text message to Im Seung-hyeon, telling him to bring security personnel.
“Do you think he’ll come?”
“Who knows. But there’s no harm in checking.”
That was true, but... Lee Tae-gyeom couldn’t shake his feeling of unease.
-What’s going on in Gangnam? Why’s everyone talking about Gangnam Station?
└Yu Yeon-seo announced it on Insta
└└Whoa, what’s happening? Is something going on?
-But why Gangnam Station all of a sudden?
└Isn’t he doing a guerrilla date to promote his drama? Didn’t Park Min-woo do that before? Yu Yeon-seo has been doing a lot of drama promos lately.
└└OMG, I bet that’s it.
└But is he allowed to announce it so openly?
└Idk, I’m on my way to Gangnam Station now lol
└└Me too lolol
└└└Why bother going to Gangnam Station? My husband is snuggling up to me on the sofa right now saying he doesn’t want to go lol
└└└└Give me a break
└└└└f*** you
└└└└Ah, such an old-ass joke lol. They probably just learned it yesterday and are thrilled to be using it today, huh?
On his way to the guerrilla date filming location, Yu Yeon-seo called Baek Seo-jun.
(You know you’re really reckless, right?)
“Why? It’s your day off anyway. And you live in Gangnam.”
(How do you know my schedule? And how do you know where I live?)
“I have my ways.”
(...I really don’t want to get involved with you brothers.)
Brothers, not just me? Did his brother do something too? Curious about what had happened, he suddenly felt the urge to contact his brother.
“I’ll do you a favor. Want me to introduce you to someone?”
(I’m already here, actually. But there’s a huge crowd.)
“Really? I thought it wouldn’t be crowded since it’s still daytime.”
(Aren’t you underestimating your own popularity?)
Finding Baek Seo-jun’s sudden change in attitude amusing, Yu Yeon-seo chuckled quietly and tilted his head, wondering, Is that so?
(You know that in a situation like this, we might not be able to find him even if he does show up, right?)
“I know. This is just in case. How’s the investigation going on the person from Choi Nam-yun’s call records?”
(Maybe he was scared of retaliation. He’s been moving around a lot.)
That meant they had a general idea of his location. Sensing that there would be good news soon, Yu Yeon-seo frowned at the large crowd on the street, even though he hadn’t arrived at the filming location yet. Surely they haven’t all gathered here because of me, right?
“It’ll be better to watch from an upper floor. I’ll send you the address, so stay there.”
(Really? I could just sit in a nearby second-floor café.)
“It’s my building. Everything you need is already prepared.”
(Ah... right, got it.)
I’ve lived a comfortable life myself, but the more I hear, the more surprising it is. Baek Seo-jun gave a wry smile and ended the call.
When a familiar van came into view, a member of the production staff cautiously approached. Yu Yeon-seo opened the window.
“Yeon-seo, hello.”
“Hello.”
“Quite a crowd, isn’t it?”
Fans of idols, with their strong fandom culture, might gather like this. But usually, not even a top actor could draw such a large crowd. Yu Yeon-seo hadn’t expected a situation like this.
“Tsk...”
In his past memories, his attention-seeking self had also announced his whereabouts on social media and gone out, but people nearby had only stopped for a moment out of curiosity. They had never gathered with the express purpose of seeing him like this. Because of that memory, he had thought today would be fine too.
‘The chances of spotting him, even if he’s here, are getting slimmer...’
He felt a slight pang of regret, but what was done was done. Yu Yeon-seo thought he should be more careful in the future and pointed behind him.
“I shouldn’t have posted that. I did prepare a separate security team, though.”
“Oh, you went that far... Well, for us, a big crowd is a good thing.”
“Yes.”
The production staff’s expressions brightened at the news that a security team had been arranged. The problem wasn’t that Yu Yeon-seo had gathered a crowd, but that an unmanageable number of people might gather, and they were more worried that something might happen to him.
“Yes! It’s Guerrilla Date! Finally, the person we’ve been eagerly waiting for is here! Today, we’ve even prepared a special live stream!”
Due to the unexpected crowd, they filmed and live-streamed simultaneously. However, as soon as Yu Yeon-seo, wearing a microphone, stepped into the frame, the stream started lagging constantly, giving the production staff a hard time.
“Kyaaaaah!”
The fans who had rushed over to see him screamed loudly. Some had even hastily made slogans and were waving them.
“Just a moment, everyone. Please give Yeon-seo a chance to say hello.”
“Hello.”
“Kyaaaah!”
The cheering was so incessant that it took quite some time just to finish the introductions.
“By the way, Yeon-seo, we were supposed to surprise Gangnam Station, but what’s all this? You posted a notice in advance!”
“To be honest, I got a little greedy and wanted to meet more people.”
Lee Tae-gyeom stood at a distance, observing the surroundings. Im Seung-hyeon was doing the same. They had also informed the hastily hired bodyguards to be on special alert for a potential stalker, describing the person’s gait, the scar on his ear, and his habits.
‘Will this even work?’
Having gained extraordinary physical abilities from the influence of the soul, he wondered if he could perhaps filter out sounds from within the crowd. Just like Han Yu-jun in ‘Snake’, the character he was playing. Yu Yeon-seo maintained a calm facade, his expression unchanging.
“Alright, then. Who should I pick...”
“Me!”
“Me!”
When the reporter randomly picked people for an interview, so many shouted that he couldn’t help but frown.
“You, in the red coat! Please come over here.”
“Waaah!”
The chosen person jumped up and down before scurrying over. Seeing her pure excitement was heartwarming, and Yu Yeon-seo smiled faintly.
“What would you like? How about a three-second eye contact session?”
“M-my heart is pounding...!”
The mischievous reporter didn’t give her any time to prepare. The woman standing right in front of Yu Yeon-seo covered her mouth with her hands.
“Alright, here we go. One, two...!”
“Wait a moment...!”
Snatching away the paper held between their faces, Yu Yeon-seo gazed at her just as Seong Hyeon-woo had looked at Lee Seo-eun in ‘The Imperial Seal’.
“Heok...”
“Oh, be careful.”
Unable to hold out for long, her legs gave way, and he gently wrapped an arm around her shoulder to keep her from falling.
“Are you okay?”
“Huk...!”
As she ended up in his arms in an instant, an explosive cheer erupted from the crowd. Moreover, the chosen woman was small and petite, making the difference in their builds particularly eye-catching.
“Great, this time let’s pick someone else...”
“Me!”
The previous fan service had been more intense than expected, making people appeal for their turn even more enthusiastically. However, the reporter subverted their expectations.
“How about we do something special and pick a man? Hmm... Yes, you!”
“M-me?”
“Yes! Come on over!”
A man who had come along with his girlfriend was chosen, as was a student who was working part-time nearby.
After providing fan service to a few more people, they decided to move to a different location due to the overwhelming crowd and began walking down the streets of Gangnam Station. In any case, with a much larger crowd than anticipated, finding the culprit was a lost cause.
‘This place feels familiar.’
Yu Yeon-seo paused and looked around. It was hard to see clearly, obscured by the crowd, but this was... the place where he’d had his accident.
“Yeon-seo?”
“...”
“Is something wrong?”
“Ah, no.”
He quickened his pace again. In the center of the intersection where his accident had occurred, a white figure flickered into view and then vanished. It was the usual apparition. He was almost used to it by now.
‘Just now... what was that?’
But this time, something was slightly different.
‘Did I see that wrong?’
It was only for a fleeting moment, so he couldn’t be certain, but it hadn’t been floating in the air. It had been standing on two feet, firmly on the ground.