The entire production team of “Geubaekpeu” and the contestants at the “Geubaekpeu” campus in Paju had been thrown into an uproar. PD Woo Hanseok first calmed the staff down, then used the broadcast system to warn the contestants not to act rashly either.
On top of that.
“Contestants, any questions to Contestant No. 1 regarding the articles currently breaking are strictly prohibited. Please focus on the tasks assigned to you as usual.”
He also put a gag order in place. It was to prevent chaos in advance for when Kang Rojun returned, and to keep from ruining the atmosphere of the “Geubaekpeu” camp now that episode 7 had aired.
Whatever the case, while the “Geubaekpeu” campus and the rest of the country were in an uproar over Kang Rojun.
“Cut.”
Rojun, the person at the center of it all, was filming on the set of “Rental Lover.” PD Jeong Suryeong, who had just stopped the scene, gave direction to the two actors in the frame. More precisely, to Choi Rina.
“Rina, your startled expression wasn’t bad. But I’d like the feeling of disbelief to be a little stronger.”
“Yes, PD. I’ll try.”
“Yeah. Less admiration, more stunned and out of it.”
Soon, PD Jeong Suryeong talked with the cinematographer, and Choi Rina, after briefly touching up her makeup, gave Kang Rojun a small bow where he stood in front of her.
“I’m sorry. It wasn’t a scene that should’ve gotten an NG. I guess my condition’s a bit off today.”
At the moment, Choi Rina had shed the image of a top actress to fit the heroine of “Rental Lover”; she was in shabby sweats, and her long straight hair had been styled a little roughly. Her skin tone had been darkened too. She looked exactly like a ruined shut-in, one might say.
Kang Rojun gazed at her quietly.
‘She did well. Something like that counts as an NG too?’
He smiled faintly and shook his head.
“It’s fine.”
Unlike Choi Rina, who looked like a room-bound wreck, Kang Rojun was the very image of nobility. Pomaded hair, a perfectly fitted suit. Even his makeup made his devastating visuals stand out several times more. Choi Rina stole a glance at Rojun’s face and wailed inwardly.
‘Don’t smile like that, it’s bad for my heart. Ha—this is seriously the first time I’ve ever lost focus because of my co-star’s face.’
She somehow tried to steady herself.
The surroundings were noisy. The staff moved busily to prepare for the retake. Rojun quietly looked around as he waited for PD Jeong Suryeong’s signal.
‘No matter how many times I see it, it’s fascinating.’
Even now, he could hardly believe he was standing in this space—much less that he was acting. His nervousness had decreased quite a bit compared to the beginning, but his heart was still pounding.
The first shoot of “Rental Lover.”
To Kang Rojun, who knew nothing, everything was simply new and fresh. How much would that huge camera cost? How did all these staff members eat their meals? How did they install those lights attached to the ceiling? Was the cut they were filming right now really going to air on TV?
Countless questions and curiosities tangled around him.
Someday, he would get used to this feeling too, but Kang Rojun had decided to savor the present properly.
‘It’s only the first day, but acting is fun too.’
He imagined taking on other roles in the future, working in sync with various actors.
‘Of course, my acting is still way below par, so for a while I’ll have to make use of “AI Automation.”’
Just then.
“Let’s go again.”
PD Jeong Suryeong raised the megaphone.
“Action.”
Several cameras were placed in front of, beside, and behind Choi Rina, and they did not move. The one entering from outside the frame was Kang Rojun.
Step, step, step.
Rojun came to stand in front of Choi Rina with calm yet certain steps. No, “Lover No. 4.” In terms of the scene, it was the first meeting between the heroine, Lee Daeun, and “Lover No. 4.” Kang Rojun stopped one step in front of Choi Rina and stared straight at her.
The rear camera behind Choi Rina closed in on Rojun’s face.
He smiled faintly.
PD Jeong Suryeong, watching the monitor, smiled as well.
‘This is the nuclear bomb. Not anything else—these visuals are the nuclear bomb. His facial acting is killer too.’
Kang Rojun had no lines here. All he had to do was flaunt his terrifying visuals. After roughly five seconds of eye contact, Choi Rina stepped backward.
Slide.
Her expression was as if she had seen an alien life-form. Fear was added to it too. Because the heroine, who had been in darkness, had suddenly met an opponent who shone far too brightly. But Rojun narrowed the slight distance that had opened between them again. Choi Rina looked at Kang Rojun, then at the ground, then repeated the motion. Then, with difficulty, she opened her mouth.
“E-excuse me. Are you perhaps… the lover who was supposed to come for me?”
“……”
“Lover No. 4” answered wordlessly with a deepening smile.
Everyone stood still for more than ten seconds. What broke the frozen set was PD Jeong Suryeong’s shout.
“Cut!! Nice! You were both good. Next, we’ll go again with a focus on Lee Daeun’s front shot!!”
Once more, the staff moved busily, and PD Jeong Suryeong separately called over Kang Rojun and Choi Rina from within the frame. Showing the script to the two standing in front of her, PD Jeong Suryeong spoke.
“Once this scene ends, we’re going straight into the first skinship between ‘Lover No. 4’ and ‘Lee Daeun.’ No problem, right?”
Choi Rina nodded.
“Yes, PD.”
Kang Rojun answered after her.
“I’m fine too.”
“Okay. We won’t make it complicated; we’ll go exactly as written in the script, so get ready. The nervous heroine trips over her own feet, and ‘Lover No. 4’ catches her. Up to the moment where it turns into a sudden embrace.”
Though he looked calm on the outside, Rojun felt inwardly that what was coming had finally come. It was a script he had written himself, and he had learned “Lover No. 4,” so he knew precisely. Choi Rina was going to fall into his arms.
‘I even agonized over whether to write this scene or not back then… and now I’m really doing it.’
Rojun remembered how, in the past, he had found it difficult to imagine top actress Choi Rina falling into someone’s arms, and had truly struggled to write the scene. Accordingly, the tension that had settled down in him surged again.
And then filming resumed. Several retakes followed.
Before long.
“We’re preparing the next scene!!”
It was time for the skinship scene. In the blink of an eye, Kang Rojun was in the middle of filming.
“Whoa!!”
As Choi Rina tripped over her own feet and fell, Kang Rojun pulled her in. Just like that, Choi Rina slipped right into Rojun’s arms.
At that moment, she thought.
‘Wow, his chest is so firm—no! Get a grip!!’
She nearly lost herself.
Meanwhile, “Lover No. 4,” Kang Rojun, thought.
‘How does a shut-in smell like this?’
He sensed a pleasant fragrance tickling his nose.
After that.
Kang Rojun’s first shoot for “Rental Lover,” which had begun in the morning, only ended in the early afternoon. However, PD Jeong Suryeong, Choi Rina, and the “Rental Lover” production team did not withdraw. Only Rojun’s portion had ended; filming for “Rental Lover” had to continue until late at night.
As proof, while Kang Rojun had been filming, the actors for Lovers No. 1 and No. 2 had arrived as well.
PD Jeong Suryeong ordered an assistant director to take Rojun back, then said.
“Writer.”
She had been about to bring up the other work he had written besides “Rental Lover.” But she swallowed the words back down.
‘It’s a bit too hectic right now. I’ll talk to him after a few days.’
Instead, she made a brief comment about the issue currently overturning the country.
“When you get back to campus, talk it over properly with PD Woo Hanseok. I’ll take care of things on set here.”
Kang Rojun nodded and got into the van, and soon the car set off. The first thing Rojun did inside the moving vehicle was—
Slide.
Pick up his phone. A familiar notification had arrived on the screen.
—[You have achieved the hidden mission “Start of the Side-Job Actor’s First Shoot!” We have awarded you 15 coins as a gift.]
The “AI Simulation” had tossed him a gift in the middle of filming. Kang Rojun gave a small laugh, turned off the notification, and then—
Swipe.
Accessed a search portal. It was to check the current situation. He had been too busy while filming to look in detail. Soon, he let out a fairly large exclamation inwardly.
‘Whoa—this really blew up, huh?’
Because the situation was beyond what he had imagined.
Spam articles containing keywords like “Geubaekpeu,” “Rental Lover,” “No. 1,” and “Choi Rina” were pouring out endlessly.
《“Rental Lover,” Was It Really Written by “Geubaekpeu” No. 1… Wild Speculation Runs Rampant Across Various Communities》
《Even Amid “No. 1’s” Hot Issue, “Geubaekpeu” Side Remains Silent; Public Curiosity Spreads》
Not only had he taken over the main pages of various search portals, but communities were also blazing with “No. 1.” NewTube was not much different. Perhaps because some time had passed, there were also plenty of absurd claims.
[No. 1 and Choi Rina seem like relatives. Then it explains why Choi Rina suddenly did a one-act drama]
—Does that even make sense lolololololol It’s not even confirmed that No. 1 is the writer of that one-act in the first place
—Why doesn’t it make sense? There’s a possibility, isn’t there??
—It’d be more believable if you said the two of them were dating
—↑That’s even more ridiculous
—Here we go again spreading rumors. What are you gonna do if it’s just tabloid trash?
—If No. 1 and Choi Rina really are relatives, their family has super-super-super genes lolololololol
Everywhere the internet reached, “No. 1” or Kang Rojun was being mentioned like crazy. It was only possible because he was already the face of “Geubaekpeu.” After searching busily for several dozen minutes, Rojun even got slight goosebumps.
‘It’s a little scary too.’
Deciding that he should meet PD Woo Hanseok first, Rojun turned off what he had been looking at and opened the “AI Simulation” app. The familiar Kang Rojun character appeared. Feeling somewhat at ease, he—
—[Coins Owned: 646]
Decided to strengthen his stats to kill time.
‘Come to think of it, I had an item too, didn’t I?’
The item he had received during the surprise performance. The past few days had been so hectic that he had temporarily forgotten about it.
—“8-Point Stat Enhancement Coupon”
With the coupon remaining in his “Inventory,” Kang Rojun strengthened his vocal ability. In addition, he spent another 20 coins on strengthening rap. A brief tingling sensation was felt near his wrist. As a result, values that had increased quite a bit unfolded before him.
—[Appearance (100/100)│Vocal Ability (20.3/100)│Rap (14.4/100)│Choreography (21/100)│Banter (10.4/100)│Acting (10.3/100)│Lyric Writing (69.5/100)]
Several stats stood out.
‘Vocal ability and choreography have passed 20. Now I can move on to strengthening rap. I need to test all three of them once too—and I didn’t really touch acting, but it went up quite a bit. Is it because I was filming?’
“Lyric Writing” had risen to nearly 70 points.
Here, Kang Rojun organized about two thoughts.
‘I really should keep writing lyrics whenever I have time. If possible, I’ll do No. 58’s stuff, and if it’s too hard, I’ll just search online moderately.’
The next was related to “Writer Kang Cheolsu.”
‘Let’s write something new. Whether it’s a movie or a drama.’
About an hour later, at the “Geubaekpeu” campus.
When Kang Rojun arrived on campus, PD Woo Hanseok was not there. It seemed he had gone to the broadcasting station. Naturally, he would be busy. Separate from Rojun turning the country upside down, “Geubaekpeu” was in the middle of its voting period. On top of that, he also had to prepare future filming schedules for Teams 2 and 3.
Whatever the case, Kang Rojun walked toward Room 105.
As expected, he felt the gazes of the contestants he passed.
Glance, glance.
Glance, glance.
Their faces were full of mad curiosity, yet they could not bring themselves to say anything. His fellow Room 105 members were the same. Since Kang Rojun did not particularly feel uncomfortable, he moderately ignored them, and that noisy Sunday came to an end.
The weekday returned again—the morning of Monday, August 31.
Had the firepower surrounding Kang Rojun diminished after a day had passed?
Not at all.
If anything, it burned twice as fiercely as it had on Sunday. It was proof that reporters were frantically pouring on kindling, and the public’s fingers were moving without rest. Even so, whether Kang Rojun had already somewhat adapted or was deliberately ignoring it—
Tap, tap, tap.
He was running calmly. Today, aside from his Room 105 roommates, there were no contestants following along. Rojun then completed his strength training as well, carrying out his daily mission. There was one man watching Kang Rojun from quite a distance.
It was PD Woo Hanseok, yawning wide.
He looked like he had pulled an all-nighter and come straight here.
Soon, PD Woo Hanseok met eyes with Rojun, who had finished his mission, and waved his hand vigorously.
“Korea’s hottest No. 1 right now—having a strong morning?”
Kang Rojun approached and bowed.
“Hello.”
“Whew—things are crazy with the articles and all, aren’t they?”
Your face is what looks crazy, PD. As Kang Rojun looked at the fatigue-soaked PD Woo Hanseok, the man yawned again and lowered his voice.
“According to PD Jeong’s plan and mine, the first bomb has been dropped. Now we need to decide the timing for No. 1’s official statement. When would be good?”
“I’m fine with announcing it right now.”
“No, that’s too soon. We need to let the snowball roll for at least a few days. You’re going to admit that you’re the writer of ‘Rental Lover,’ right?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s see. Just tossing out a single bland line in an article would be insincere, and the issue we’ve built up could end in a boring way. It’d be better to make it a little fun—”
To PD Woo Hanseok, who had his arms crossed, Rojun said—
‘Might as well bring it up.’
—and proposed what he had been thinking.
“What about mixing my declaration that I am indeed the writer of ‘Rental Lover’ into the next broadcast of ‘Geubaekpeu,’ episode 8?”
“In episode 8?”
“Yes.”
A smile spread across PD Woo Hanseok’s lips as he stroked his chin.
“No. 1 making an official announcement on ‘Geubaekpeu’ in a very No. 1-like way. If we do it interview-style, the viewers will flip, and the picture should be good, don’t you think?”
Saying it was a good idea, PD Woo Hanseok patted Rojun on the shoulder.
“Okay, let’s set the direction that way. There’s something else to talk about too, so shall we move somewhere first?”
PD Woo Hanseok, who had been about to move, called out to Baby Perm No. 58, who was sitting quite far away and panting as he recovered from the aftereffects of running.
“No. 58! Let’s talk for a moment!!”
No. 58 blinked, then ran over, while Rojun tilted his head inwardly.
‘What is this? Why call No. 58?’
The place the three of them arrived at was a meeting room inside the production team’s lodging.
The interesting thing was—
“Why are you so late?”
There was already a fat man in the meeting room. It was Song Mingeun, one of the judges of “Geubaekpeu,” who had produced countless hit songs. After receiving greetings from Rojun and No. 58, Song Mingeun gestured for them to sit beside him, and Kang Rojun and No. 58 took their seats side by side.
PD Woo Hanseok, who handed out canned coffee to everyone, stood across from the three and opened his mouth.
“So—No. 1, No. 58.”
PD Woo Hanseok’s expression had become quite serious before they knew it.
“What would you two think about making the theme song for ‘Geubaekpeu’?”
No. 58 was stunned for a moment, then shouted violently.
“What??!!”
Likewise surprised, Rojun looked at No. 58, then turned his gaze back to PD Woo Hanseok.
‘Me and No. 58 are going to make the “Geubaekpeu” theme song?’