A movie that greatly captured people's attention with its third trailer.
Its opening day.
Perhaps because it was a highly anticipated release after a long time.
All the good seats were already taken.
The remaining seats were mostly those with a poor view of the screen.
"I knew this would happen."
1-million-subscriber YouTuber Han Bong-sik muttered as he stepped into the movie theater.
Even for him, who reviews various visual media, it had been a really long time since he visited a theater for a Korean movie.
It was because there hadn't been any Korean movies worthy of being called anticipated works for a while, and Bong-sik wasn't very interested either.
'But to think I'd suddenly develop an interest out of nowhere.'
The catalyst first came when he reviewed a certain drama.
It was
A youth romance drama that had been achieving quite decent results recently.
The viewership rating for episode 1 surpassed 20% in instantaneous ratings just as Bong-sik had said, and because of that, Bong-sik even received reactions like, "How did you know?"
The number of subscribers that increased from just that one review was a whopping 100,000!
In other words, Han Bong-sik was now a 1.1-million-subscriber YouTuber.
'Hah, but the ratings only went down after that.'
He could roughly guess the reason.
The reason
In other words, it was because of the character played by the actress Joo Seo-yeon.
Honestly, up until then, because it was overly light, or because the musical drama felt unfamiliar to people, the majority of reactions were mocking.
But at least, no one mocked the part where Jo Ha-rin sang.
Acting that made viewers watching
Her acting captivated people from the drama's very first broadcast.
But then she didn't properly appear in episodes 2 and 3 consecutively...
'Still, she'll probably appear in episode 4.'
Today was the day
There was an expectation that her screen time would increase in episode 4, given how little she appeared in episodes 2 and 3.
A single actor had made him harbor expectations for a drama.
"I heard she's a teenager now, pretty amazing, right?"
- For real, for real
- Is what you're watching right now the first screening of
- I heard there was an internal preview, but there's no released info at all
- I've been a fan of Joo Seo-yeon since her child actress days ㅜㅠㅠㅠ She really grew up well
Before the movie started, Bong-sik briefly turned on his stream.
It was a sort of proof that he was watching the first screening of
'To think I'd end up watching a movie because of a drama.'
To be precise, it wasn't just because of the drama either.
A single actor.
The young actress named Joo Seo-yeon had moved him.
"I've heard that an actor's ticketing power is quite important, but honestly I didn't believe it? I thought the movie just had to be fun..."
Bong-sik could no longer bring himself to say that.
Still, it wasn't a bad feeling.
Probably, some of the people who visited the theater today saw the third trailer, and there would be many who came to the theater because of it.
"I'll do a brief review of the movie tonight."
Having too high expectations before watching a movie isn't good.
Bong-sik told his viewers that and turned off the stream.
Then, he entered the theater and took his seat to watch
Advertisements flowing from the large screen.
After about 10 minutes of ads ended and the movie began its main screening, the noisy theater started to quiet down.
Swooooosh
The sound of rain, just like in the trailer.
Splash, splash. The sound of footsteps trampling puddles could be heard.
Scraaaape
Along with that, the sound of dragging a heavy object.
With heavy background music playing, Bong-sik watched it.
And it made people feel a sense of tension.
It was a person wearing a yellow raincoat.
A small build.
But in that hand, a red fire axe was gripped.
The fire axe stained with blood looked creepy just by itself.
"S-Save me. Please, please save me..."
The man being dragged along sobbed as he spoke.
Both his arms and legs were already soaked in blood.
Wounds that roughly suggested what the criminal had done to him.
"W-Who are you, what, what did I do wrong..."
Thud.
The criminal let go of him as he trembled and spoke.
Just as he was struggling, wondering if she was letting him live,
Crunch.
A sound of flesh being pierced was heard.
Blood splattered.
As the axe was brought straight down, the man's words were washed away by the sound of the rain.
It didn't show exactly where the axe struck the man.
However, seeing the man instantly go silent, it roughly made one guess.
"……"
The criminal looked down at him for a moment, then slowly pushed the raincoat's hood back.
Long, black hair flowed down.
Eyes that seemed faintly red filled the screen.
With a pale, and incredibly beautiful appearance.
The audience lost their words for a moment and looked at her.
Han Bong-sik was no different.
The third trailer.
To think the scene he saw there would be the very first to play out.
'Is this, really the same actor?'
Jo Ha-rin from
A bright girl full of dreams, yet innocent.
But the woman visible before his eyes now was completely different.
It was true that he came to see the movie today because of the actress before his eyes, Joo Seo-yeon.
But that was because his subscriber count increased thanks to
That reason was definitely there too.
The calculating thought that reviewing
But, this moment.
Han Bong-sik became not a calculating reviewer, but a single audience member.
"Shit, what kind of bastard is this?"
"It seems to be the same person as the recent murder cases. The method is identical."
"Hah."
The police appearing afterward, and the criminal naturally slipping out of the scene.
The heavy background music disappeared, and light music flowed out.
Two detectives riding in an old police car.
Like that.
The movie began.
With just 5 minutes, captivating the audience's attention.
***
"Ah."
"Ah."
A man and a woman wearing sunglasses ran into each other at the movie theater.
They had disguised themselves quite diligently, but it wasn't hard to recognize them at a glance.
Because it was the exact same disguise as when they ran into each other before.
"...Do high schools end early these days?"
"It seems you don't have any filming lately, Senior."
The woman with fox-like features laughed "ho ho" as she spoke in an irritating tone.
At Jo Seo-hee's words, Park Jung-woo clicked his tongue.
"A school uniform really doesn't suit you."
"……"
At Park Jung-woo's words, Jo Seo-hee glared sharply.
Her glare was so fierce that Park Jung-woo momentarily flinched.
"More importantly, our seats... ah, they're different."
"Thank goodness. I almost wouldn't have been able to immerse myself in the movie."
They were only in the same theater, but their seats were far apart.
Originally, Jo Seo-hee's was a skybox, a very expensive private seat.
"You have a lot of money."
"My, why did you book a regular seat?"
"You have to watch these things from a general audience's perspective for it to resonate."
"……"
At Park Jung-woo's exemplary remark, Jo Seo-hee felt unnecessarily awkward.
What is this. It's a seat that cost more money and was harder to get, but somehow I feel like a nouveau riche.
'More than that.'
'Anyway.'
One way or another, it seemed this
Both Park Jung-woo before her eyes, and Jo Seo-hee herself, were very interested in Joo Seo-yeon's 'murderer' acting.
In particular, Jo Seo-hee, who had been unable to easily contact her due to the 'Gyeongseong Lady' incident in the past, was thinking of subtly reaching out again through this movie.
'Probably, we aren't the only ones interested.'
Park Jung-woo saw the countless people who visited the theater.
Of course, there were no recognizable faces among them.
But since she had shown impressive acting in
There would be many who came to properly recognize the actress named Joo Seo-yeon through this
Movie and drama directors.
Various advertising sponsors.
Or fellow actors.
It was an excessive amount of interest for someone who had only filmed one drama so far.
Probably, those in the industry would have vaguely felt it.
'Being drawn to a shining presence is the realm of instinct.'
Park Jung-woo thought so as he sat in his theater seat.
And.
Just as Park Jung-woo thought,
"You look like you're really looking forward to it."
"Ah, do I?"
"Of course. It feels like it's been a really long time. A face like that."
At those words, a smile hung on a face that had grown a bit more wrinkled compared to the past.
"It's because it's a connection I've been waiting for a long time."
"If the Bureau Chief says so, I'm even more looking forward to it."
At the words of the PD he cherished recently, the man called the Bureau Chief smiled.
And looked at the movie screen showing a rainy scene.
The face of the convenience store part-timer reflected on it.
'Joo Seo-yeon.'
Looking at her, Ha Tae-oh, the Drama Bureau Chief, smiled calmly.
Anticipating what kind of acting she would show this time.
***
The first-day screening of
Especially, the most mentioned among them were
[What is the 'Inability to Express Emotions' that made Cha Seo-ah a murderer?]
[Reversal! A completely different image transformation from
[Two veterans, and one rising star]
Undoubtedly, articles about Seo-yeon, who played the murderer Cha Seo-ah.
Articles poured out relentlessly as soon as the movie was released.
"Jin-ha, did you see it?"
"This, there's some talk from upstairs..."
Of course, Lim Jin-ha didn't have the leisure to look for articles about it.
Because she was too busy being dragged around here and there.
The viewership ratings for
But it was too early to rejoice.
Because the reason was clear.
"This is an instantaneous rebound caused by Joo Seo-yeon. Writer Lim knows it too, right?"
Baek PD, who was acquainted with her, also carefully brought it up.
It was to the point where even he, who had nothing to do with
"620,000. The first-day audience number for
Judging only by first-day audience numbers, it was the second-highest figure this year.
Even including foreign films.
For a thriller movie, this level of audience numbers was appalling.
Honestly, from Lim Jin-ha's perspective, it felt like the world was screwing her over.
Did this make any sense at all?
"You know, right? It even opened on a Tuesday. I can't even imagine how much it'll pull in over the weekend. On top of that..."
Baek PD said to Lim Jin-ha, who had firmly shut her mouth.
"The mentions of that actress, Joo Seo-yeon, are not normal."
"I, know."
Because she was the main force who raised the viewership ratings by a whole 5% alone.
Even though she hadn't even appeared much.
"Keep script revisions definitely in mind."
"What?"
She hadn't expected Baek PD to say this to her, so Lim Jin-ha opened her eyes wide.
Baek PD, reading Lim Jin-ha's thoughts, shook his head.
"I can't stop it. It's word from way higher up."
"Higher up?"
"I'm only saying this because I'm close with Writer Lim, but if you want to have a long career as a writer... it's good to have some flexibility. The higher-ups all know right now. I'm saying this out of worry."
They all know.
She could roughly guess what that meant.
Lim Jin-ha had no choice but to quietly nod with a blank face.
No matter how many hit works she had, there were plenty of writers with that level of experience if you looked.
No matter how much power she had, if word came from the higher-ups, she couldn't push back.
Especially if Baek PD was saying this much.
'Just what kind of movie is
It was to the point where such curiosity arose instead.
And.
The actress who brought such an impact.
Seo-yeon...
"...?"
Returning to school after two days.
What greeted Seo-yeon as she opened the classroom door with light steps was...
Indescribable gazes.