Chapter 113: Invitation
The heat was hotter than expected.
The top five real-time search terms on major portal sites were all related to Ha Muyoung’s dating rumors.
“Let’s see. Number one is Ha Muyoung. Ha Muyoung dating. Kang Bora. Kang Bora’s age… Oh my. Goodness. Hahaha!”
Na Geumdong laughed with his nose almost pressed against the monitor. There was definitely something special between Muyoung and Bora. They were the same age, had attended acting school together in high school, and were even from the same agency.
“Boss, when are you going to release the article?”
“Just a little longer. Once another keyword pushes its way up the real-time search rankings.”
Na Geumdong’s phone, with a reporter’s number displayed, was on standby. All it would take was a press of the send button to transmit the correction.
Tring-tring-
“Yes, this is Big Win Entertainment. Oh, Ha Muyoung dating? I have nothing to say about that. Sorry.”
Tring-tring-
“Hello, Manager. Haha. Yes, it’s nothing. It’s a photo taken during a movie shoot. A correction will be issued soon. Oh dear. Of course.”
For the reporters hunting for prey, there was silence; for the advertisers calling to confirm, there was clarification.
There wasn’t a clause about dating in the contract, but still… there was the matter of image.
“Did you tell the two of them?”
“Yes. They’re probably just waiting for your call, boss?”
They were waiting at their respective homes, ready to post on SNS that it was all a misunderstanding.
It was fortunate that Bora had just come into the company. Otherwise, it would have been a bit more troublesome to handle.
“But is Muyoung’s power this strong?”
“I guess so. Probably because he’s only just risen to fame, right?”
A flash star. A monster rookie who broke through 30% viewership with his first lead role and made a splash with the Baeksang Best New Actor award.
And now, not long after, dating rumors.
-The rookie’s fallen for it, lol
-How long has it been since he rose to fame, tsk tsk
-Is dating a crime? Why is everyone cursing like that. Oppa Muyoung, unnie Bora, I hope you have a beautiful love!
-Only the jealous ones are trembling, lol
-Is it normal to do that in a street alley? It’s not falling, it’s scraping. And they’re rich, why not go to a motel? I’ve been looking into it since the Daryeong incident. Fuck.
-I’m curious what the statement will say, lol There’s no room for excuses.
Everywhere, from communities to other places, was a hot spot. With photos even taken, they must have thought there was no way out.
Na Geumdong scrolled down and muttered.
“Manager Ko, ask Kim Reporter to add something to the article. And tell Muyoung and Bora.”
“What part?”
“That malicious comments will be sued.”
It would be better to drive the point home along with the explanation.
“There are so many people hiding behind screens to get their revenge. It’s better to catch them early, if you let them, they’ll think they’re on top of the world.”
Na Geumdong frowned as he chewed on a squid leg. Like light and darkness, where there is love from fans, there are also attacks from antis. It was a natural law, but the world had changed.
‘If you can drive them out, it’s better to drive them out.’
Especially Bora.
Maybe because she was the company’s only female actor. Because of the dating rumors, sexual harassment was a given, and endless malicious comments that couldn’t be spoken were posted.
“We have to be tough to be comfortable later.”
“Then quickly issue the correction.”
“Ah! That’s a bit different. It’s a hard-won opportunity, so we should suck out all the sweetness and bitterness, right? For the long term, it’s for the good of both the company and the actors!”
He wasn’t wearing the title of entertainment president for nothing. Reason was grabbing emotion by the collar and handling things.
Click, click-
“Huh? It’s gradually going down.”
Na Geumdong confirmed that Muyoung’s search ranking was falling and immediately gave the signal.
At his words, Ko Gyeongmin texted Muyoung, Bora, and the reporter.
‘You have to fan the flames when it cools down a bit, so it burns longer.’
Na Geumdong kept smirking as he watched the netizens’ reactions. Even during this, the company phone kept ringing. Ko Gyeongmin completely unplugged the phone line.
A post starting with, ‘Hello, this is Ha Muyoung.’ Muyoung attached a few photos that Taeseok had taken and sent.
He and Bora were hugging, but the photo also included the staff next to them.
[Everyone must be very surprised, right? I was asleep and woke up wondering what was going on (8_8);; Currently, I’m filming a movie with Bora. I remember the person who took the photo. I greeted them when they were on standby. Haha. But I think you misunderstood! That photo is from the shoot, and Bora and I are close friends. I was going to announce it when the movie was finished, but it’s come to light unexpectedly, so I’m taken aback. Everyone, please look forward to it.]
[※ Oh! And the company says they’re going to sue for malicious comments, so please quickly delete your comments and disappear! It’s too late for the PDFs that have already been saved. Poof!]
As soon as Muyoung’s feed went up, hearts poured in. He flipped through the photos and snickered.
“Anyway, really…”
In the back, there was also a photo of Junho crying with a handkerchief in his mouth. You wouldn’t know unless you looked closely. Haha. Anyway, living like this, anything can happen.
-Huck. It was during a movie shoot. Wow. I’m really curious what it’s about. Is it a bit decadent?
-I misunderstood~^^ Muyoung! I’ll support you even if you have a girlfriend!
-It’s the next movie! Guardian is cheering for you! I’ve saved all the PDFs. Hehe Where do you think you’re going, Muyoung Cultural Asset… I’ll dig you up…
-Comment deletion, so fast
-Looking forward to the movie!
Dozens of comments were deleted, and new comments filled their place. When he went to the portal site, his name was still ranked high in the search terms.
“Hmm?”
Below that, Street Sunlight was slowly rising.
As the screen changed, Ko Gyeongmin received a call.
“Yebo-ong.”
-Yeah. I saw the SNS. Good work, and get some rest and shake it off. You have another shoot tonight, so take care of your condition.
“But Street Sunlight is trending in the real-time search? Can I say the title?”
The title changed until just before the movie’s release.
For convenience, a tentative title was used, but quite a few scenes went through the process of addition and deletion during editing.
The crowning glory of the finished work was the title…
-It was decided by the production company. I did use a (tentative title), but after seeing the reaction, it seems like it will stay that way.
“See the reaction?”
-Have you ever seen a movie trend in real-time search during filming?
It’s not like some incident happened, and it’s not the next work of a 0-tier top star, so you think it’s easy to get the name up on the portal main page? And not just one, but all three major companies.
-The marketing team is working hard, so we just need to focus on filming well.
“Hmm. Got it. So, I can sleep more, right?”
-Yeah. Rest well.
Muyoung hung up the phone and tilted his head.
I don’t know what it is, but everything’s going well!
“Uwaaa!”
He stretched and yawned widely. From the group chat with the staff to the group chat with the kids. Everyone was buzzing about today’s events.
“Yaaawn-”
But for Muyoung, whose days and nights were reversed, sleep was more precious. He hugged his pillow and closed his eyes.
Warm sunlight, cool breeze, children’s laughter heard from outside the window.
“……Nice.”
Unlike the bustling outside world, only peace surrounded Muyoung’s house.
“Hello.”
“Good evening-”
“Muyoung! Bora! Are you okay?”
As soon as they arrived at the set, worry poured in before greetings. Especially towards Bora. She tilted her head as she sipped on iced coffee.
“What?”
“No, this morning…”
“Oh. I’m fine. What about you?”
“The article? Yeah, I’m fine.”
How anxious the staff had been until they arrived.
Among all the sets they’d worked on, this one had such a good atmosphere that they were worried something might go wrong.
On the other hand, the two rumored protagonists didn’t seem to care.
“Oh dear. That’s a relief.”
“Why are you so worried? It’s nothing.”
“Nothing… Don’t you read the comments?”
The staff were the ones who ended up hurt after reading them.
Bora smiled and answered immediately.
“No, I don’t read them.”
What’s the point of reading them?
It would only be upsetting. If so, it was better to ignore them. On the other hand, Muyoung answered as he chewed on chocolate.
“I read them, but I don’t really care.”
“Your mental is strong.”
“It doesn’t affect reality.”
Words have no power. It’s the person receiving them who gives them power. Seeing the two actors more unscathed than expected, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s really a relief. We were so worried.”
“Still, the promotion was properly done. It’s gone down a bit now, but Street Sunlight was in the real-time search all afternoon.”
“Hehe. Amazing.”
Muyoung smiled and entered the dressing room. The staff chattered after him.
“Why is he reacting like this?”
And then, with a ‘Is this really okay?’ expression, he laughed.
“They said an investor is coming today?”
“Huh? Who’s coming?”
“Haha. Finally, Muyoung’s facial expression changed.”
At their words, Muyoung touched his chin with his hand. During the day, it was fine, but at night, for some reason, his emotions suddenly became dull. It felt like a side effect of being immersed in the vampire role.
“Is it because of today’s incident? Is there a problem?”
Muyoung asked, looking at Ko Gyeongmin.
But the manager seemed to have just heard about it too, looking surprised. A staff member waved their hand.
“It is because of the incident, but they said there’s no problem.”
“Then?”
Since they were investors, they wanted to check the site and also wanted to see Muyoung, who was both an investor and the lead.
Before the release marketing, they wanted to see what kind of person the newcomer who had already made Street Sunlight a topic of conversation was.
“Were they here for The Plague too?”
“They probably were? You weren’t there.”
Ko Gyeongmin recalled Muyoung’s question.
Since they filmed it all at once and hardly went out for the latter part, they hadn’t crossed paths.
“I see…”
It’s definitely a field that’s both art and commerce. With the investors coming, the atmosphere on set was a bit different.
“Do we just need to greet them?”
“They should be arriving soon. Just keep filming.”
“Got it. Unnie, can you touch this up a bit more?”
“Dark circles? You haven’t been sleeping well?”
“I’ve been sleeping a lot, but since my days and nights are reversed, I’m constantly tired.”
It wasn’t just Muyoung.
Everyone involved in the shoot was suffering from sleep disorders. They chatted about small things and prepared for the shoot as usual.
“How should we capture the flowers?”
“Have you ever held a chicken neck?”
“Huck. No, but I get the feeling.”
It was a scene shot with the vampire’s nest as the background. Muyoung sat on the edge of the bed and laid back. A scene connecting the flow between stories.
“Let’s go. Ready—action!”
As the night deepened, so did Muyoung’s intense performance.
Then, at some point, he felt a restless atmosphere. Muyoung turned his head back and locked eyes with a well-dressed young man.
“Hello.”
He looked too young to be an investor. The man smiled and lightly clapped.
“Your acting is really good, Muyoung.”
“……Hello.”
“Yusah, Investment Director at SJ Entertainment.”
He handed over a business card and gestured to the staff who came with him. There were coffee and various late-night snacks to dispel the night’s fatigue. The staff took the bags with hidden smiles.
“Let’s take a short break, shall we? I’m a fan of Ha Muyoung. I’d like to chat a bit. Director?”
“Oh! Yes, please.”
Yaaawn—Muyoung swallowed a yawn and followed them into the waiting room. It seemed like it would be boring and tedious.
“Haha. You must have been really surprised today?”
“If you’re talking about the false report, I was really surprised.”
“Wow. I’m a fan of Ha Muyoung, but I didn’t expect you to have that much influence. Thanks to you, it seems like the marketing costs will be reduced a bit—there was a joke like that. Haha.”
No matter how much money you spend on advertising,
The decisive factor is buzz. Something that can lure people into the theaters.
“Then it’s fortunate. I’m glad to be of help.”
“Oops. Right. Autograph!”
Yusah rummaged through his document folder and pulled out a white piece of paper. But it wasn’t ordinary paper……
‘An invitation?’