"Did you watch Mine yesterday?"
"Oh my, I watched the whole thing as soon as it dropped."
"I kept wondering, is this really a Korean movie?"
"Isn't it a drama, not a movie?"
"Ah, a drama."
Walking down the street, such conversations were far from rare.
It had been a similar situation even when the PV was first released, but this time it was even more pronounced.
Rather, judging by how much people talked about it, it was mentioned far more than when she had appeared in a TV drama.
'So it's true that people's attention is shifting from TV to OTT.'
Because of that, the trend had changed even for terrestrial dramas.
It was no longer over after airing on TV; now they could pull in additional revenue from OTT.
"Well, there are good sides and bad sides. That's just how it is."
Jo Seohui lightly dismissed the situation.
"When terrestrial broadcasters were everything, terrestrial dramas were literally everything. Back then, viewership ratings were the measure of a drama's success."
On the other hand, things are different now.
Even if the performance on terrestrial TV was ambiguous, they could take another shot with the lottery ticket called OTT.
And if it became a hit there, they could earn even greater profits and popularity than simply striking it big on terrestrial TV.
After all, even domestic viewers who hadn't watched terrestrial TV could start flowing in.
"However, in the end, you have to look at both to gauge the results. Even if it did well on terrestrial TV, you never know how it'll do on OTT……."
Then, after taking a sip of warm Americano.
"But if it does well in Korea, it basically does well overseas too."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah."
Having said that much, Seohui stared at Seoyeon for a moment.
"……."
"……."
Seoyeon also knew why Seohui was staring at her.
"Why aren't you speaking casually?"
"Just because."
At those words, Seohui looked at her with a sulky expression that seemed to say, 'That's too much.'
Was dropping honorifics limited to yesterday? As she was thinking that.
"Then why are you sitting so far away?"
"……. N-not really that far though?"
"Is that so?"
"Y-yeah, that's right."
It was just because she was feeling unnecessarily shy.
She didn't really know why.
"Anyway."
Seoyeon looked at Seohui, who was clearly sitting across from her but had placed herself diagonally and far away, and said.
"The acting I saw yesterday was good."
Since she had decided to drop honorifics anyway, she said it like that.
The polite speech just now was a joke.
Actually, Seoyeon had been more comfortable speaking politely to Seohui.
More than their closeness, she just instinctively felt more comfortable using honorifics with Seohui.
'Is it because I kept speaking politely all this time?'
She had thought that, but as Seohui said, she couldn't use honorifics forever.
Especially since they were the same age, continuing to speak politely was definitely awkward.
"I was moved; honestly, I was on the verge of tearing up a little."
"……."
"……. Should I just speak politely?"
"No, no, no, just! It really is just awkward, that's all."
Jo Seohui said so and, with an 'ugh,' covered her face with both hands for no reason.
What was so embarrassing?
Seoyeon was genuinely curious.
Where on earth had the haughty villainess noble lady she had first met disappeared to?
Come to think of it, Seohui had been on the meek side toward her from the beginning.
"……Um."
Jiyeon, who had been sitting quietly beside Seoyeon watching the two, opened her mouth for the first time.
"If you two are going to chatter about anything, can I speak up too?"
At Jiyeon's words, Seohui subtly averted her gaze.
As if something had hit a nerve.
Of course, Seoyeon's face was completely unconcerned.
'What on earth happened between those two?'
Hadn't they gotten closer than before?
No, more than that, when did they start speaking casually?
'What is this feeling of being left out?'
I Jiyeon felt a slight sense of crisis.
Even though Jo Seohui was physically sitting further away, the feeling that she had grown closer to Seoyeon than before struck her strongly.
'Come to think of it, that interview for Mine was strangely suspicious too.'
Jiyeon thought that the gaze Jo Seohui sent toward Seoyeon during the interview was uncharacteristically emotional.
Seoyeon had probably really helped her a lot with her acting.
She had also received help, so she didn't have much to say, but…….
Something, um, something about it just bothered her.
'So this is why Ju Seoyeon randomly nagged me.'
This must have been the reason Jiyeon had often whined needlessly when she hung out with other friends.
Jiyeon thought.
It was strangely upsetting when a close friend gave attention to someone else rather than oneself.
"Right."
While she was thinking that, Seoyeon took out her phone.
"I got a message from Stella yesterday."
At those words, Jo Seohui and I Jiyeon's gazes simultaneously turned to the phone.
Stella.
The fairy of the century had an oddly obsessive side toward Seoyeon.
She was also someone who strangely got on their nerves.
Perhaps because she was in a position that every actor aimed for?
Or because she had left Seoyeon with those words at the end?
"Look at this. She said, 'Didn't you study too hard?'"
"……."
Seoyeon showed the text, and Seohui subtly averted her gaze.
Jiyeon turned to look at Seohui.
But soon.
Seohui opened her mouth haltingly.
"N-no, what's this. Yeah, um. It's a misunderstanding."
"What misunderstanding?"
"No, anyway, it's a misunderstanding."
Seohui felt wronged.
Really!
It was definitely a bit embarrassing, but!
The embarrassment was probably because she had been spoken to politely and had received help and all that.
If Stella put it like this, what was this? Anyway, wouldn't it become that 'what'!
'But was there really that kind of vibe that Stella mentioned?'
Seoyeon knew what Stella meant by 'studying.'
But unlike Gyeongseong Lady, this drama didn't have such scenes.
'There is a bit of a friendship part with Hong Seha that could come across that way.'
Could that be interpreted in that way overseas?
Seoyeon thought that was rather amusing.
Well, such things exist, don't they.
In Korea, it was quite common for girls to hold hands and walk around, but overseas, it was seen as if they were in a homosexual relationship.
She thought this was probably a similar case.
'Overseas, huh…….'
Anyway, there were a few more texts from Stella besides that.
That the current overseas market reaction was positive.
That there were quite a few actors and directors who had been impressed by her and Seohui's acting.
This was the advantage of an OTT drama.
That it had become easier for Korean actors to advance into the overseas market.
When actor I Sangsu had gone overseas in the past and experienced a great failure, the contempt for Eastern actors had been immense.
But would it be the same now?
Right now, even actor I Sangsu had recently said this to Seoyeon.
T1NrUTkreFYvQUZ1VEE0bGdJSWROOG5WRmdYeUFpQkpiUi9IcU1odkdXTmtPandyS2tSUmZ5OVRwdGpacEtxaw
"Seoyeon."
"Yes."
"I intend to try challenging it once more."
"Challenge, you say?"
"Yes, because it's my dream."
Actor I Sangsu had received great acclaim for Gyeongseong Lady.
He had said those words at the ten-million-viewer celebration dinner held after it had surpassed ten million.
"Ever since I watched black-and-white films as a child, I thought about it. That I wanted to enter that world too."
Though he had failed once, the success of Gyeongseong Lady this time had relit the embers in his heart.
"The overseas reaction to Gyeongseong Lady is good. Perhaps because of that, I've received some contacts. Among them were those who had disdained me during my last overseas advance."
It was laughable how the treatment of Korean actors had changed in just a few years.
It was still unfamiliar and difficult, but compared to before, the barrier had been infinitely lowered.
"So, I plan to go ahead first. I believe you too, Seoyeon…… will come in due time, not too far off."
"I like Korea."
"Hehe, that's right. It's tough when you leave home."
He said that, but he seemed to think that Seoyeon would eventually challenge an overseas work.
However, Seoyeon wasn't actually very interested in Hollywood.
But.
'Hmm, wouldn't a VTuber who tells Hollywood stories seem a bit impressive?'
No, isn't that the red pill, so it won't work?
But everyone talks about that much of their personal life, so it should be fine.
There weren't many who did hardcore RP, but even so, it felt like it would be okay to talk about that much.
'In that sense, it might not be bad.'
Her heart had stirred a little, but trying to advance into Hollywood with such a mindset would be quite a big discourtesy as an actor, wouldn't it?
That was what Seoyeon had thought.
If there wasn't some kind of trigger, there would be no reason to go out of her way to make such a challenge.
'Still.'
Seoyeon checked all the messages Stella had sent and closed the screen.
'Mine, what will become of it.'
The reaction so far was very good.
However, the overseas reaction hadn't come out yet.
Just one day.
Currently, Mine's worldwide OTT ranking was hovering around an average of 7th place.
For a drama that had just been released, it was high but not that high.
Because there was a tendency to be excessively boosted by the opening boost.
Especially since Mine had started by drawing attention in many ways, 7th place could be a bit ambiguous.
Because it was different when advertisements were put into it.
The current situation was that it hadn't flopped, but it wasn't a mega-hit either.
'I wish it would do well.'
Thinking so, Seoyeon looked at Seohui.
Then, as if she had regained her composure, Seohui tilted her head and stared blankly at her.
'Because her acting this time was really good.'
Seohui had been a good actress from the start.
But Seoyeon had been inwardly surprised by her acting this time, which had broken out of her usual mold once.
'I'll have to work harder too.'
If she didn't want to lose.
Not to mention Stella or Seohui, even Jiyeon was rising up.
'Competitive spirit.'
She had only felt it recently, but Seoyeon was quite the competitive type.
Especially as an actor.
***
[Mine Ranked 7th Worldwide on OTT! A Green Light for Success!]
[Did It Fall Short of Expectations? GH Group's Ambitious Work, Will Mine Become a Hit?]
As a drama heavily invested in by GH Group, the number of articles about Mine was on another level.
There were countless common slander pieces, as well as many articles full of lip service praise.
Thus, it was difficult to infer its success from the articles.
There were too many, and the opinions were all divided.
The internet reactions were similar.
- Mine was pretty fun lol
- The acting is just all good, but the action scenes are insane
- But the script seems a bit childish
- The action scenes are good but what are they, superhumans? lol
- It's like they're all copying the DC Universe since it's a hit
- Actually, this time there was a scene in Jin Yeonseo's action that looked like a Superman homage
- Is that an homage? Isn't it just a common cliché?
- Honestly, I think the director's shitty philosophy got into the latter half
- They put so much useless stuff like immortality with superpowers or whatever
The first 3 days of reactions were roughly like this.
It was fun but not at an amazing level.
The action scenes were great.
Ju Seoyeon and Jo Seohui's acting was good.
Arthur Diaz, well he does better than expected but he's not amazing.
His face is so handsome that it's a feast for the eyes.
Roughly that kind of reaction.
- But did they really have to force in that melodrama with that kid, Hong Seha or Hongsi or whatever?
- Ah, she killed her father, didn't she?
- Honestly, the actors hard-carried that scene; the scene itself is just a cliché melodrama lol
- Is that melodrama? Still, it was emotional and good
Especially the character played by Jo Seohui, Hong Seha, was also the character in charge of melodrama in Mine.
A character set up to extract tears from the audience with love between family members and blind revenge for her father, within that situation.
Jo Seohui faithfully fulfilled that role.
She succeeded in bringing tears to eyes with her great acting.
Especially the past flashback scenes were good.
But even that had reactions split fifty-fifty.
- lol this kind of thing doesn't work overseas
- This only works in Korea.
The 5th day since release.
It was when reactions like that were coming out.
[Mine's Popularity Rising Endlessly! Unstoppable Rank Climb!]
[Is There No Higher to Go? Mine's Sensational Run!]
[Child's Game, Watch Out! Mine Has Drawn Its Sword!]
The articles' reactions gradually began to change.
Articles giving off a sense of 'it's a shame' or 'it's mediocre' gradually disappeared.
- GH Group is really pushing the media play hard lol
- But the rank seems to keep rising?
- Is it a lie? Is it real?
- It really keeps rising;; is it not rigged?
Internet reactions were a bit slow at first.
Back when they thought it was just a watchable drama, about that level.
[Drama Mine Achieves #1 in 57 Countries. Following Child's Game, Another Mega-Hit]
An article with box office performance was plastered front and center.
The time the article dropped was ten days after Mine's release.
It was a point that couldn't be explained away by opening boost.
- Upvote if you're starting to see the director's philosophy lol
- I rewatched Mine yesterday and suddenly it became crazy fun lol
- Mine is a masterpiece, yes; I said it from the start but no one believed me
- Overseas they're not used to melodrama so the reaction is extremely good...
- Nope, it's just well-made
- Huh??? The déjà vu from Child's Game times....
That was exactly when the reactions in Korean communities began to change in earnest.