* * *

“There’s no way this should be happening!”

While monitoring the situation, Hong Suryeon trembled in outrage.

〈Dongdaemun Romance〉 was somehow seizing the momentum of the viral war through a completely ridiculous method.

Spoiling the outfits but not the story.

She had never seen marketing done this way in her life, and the shock refused to fade.

“Hey. Why are you obsessing over every little thing like that?”

“You think I can ignore it? Her name’s getting mentioned more than mine! Are you too stupid to even read Korean?”

“You seriously have no filter when talking to your oppa. Anyway, once your oppa shows up, first place in ratings is obviously—”

“Shut up! At this rate, we need to go hard with promotion during week one too!”

Hong Suryeon stared straight at Yoo Jiuk.

The eyes of the easygoing romcom queen who usually looked like she was just here to have fun were now burning with determination.

Even though episode one hadn’t aired yet, she no longer felt relaxed like before.

“I guess we’ll have to sell oppa.”

“Fuck, where? This brat seriously says anything.”

“We’re gonna sell you anywhere we can! Team Leader! Team Leader! Come look at me for a second.”

“Hyung! Don’t listen to her!”

The manager skillfully soothed Yoo Jiuk immediately.

“Jiuk-ah. You think I’d listen to someone else over you? Everyone knows how incredible your instincts are. I’m getting emotional here.”

“Right? That’s what I thought too. There’s no way hyung would do that.”

“I’m just gonna go with Suryeon to the coffee truck and grab your drink. Wait here.”

After expertly calming Yoo Jiuk down, the manager immediately got to the point.

“Did you think of where we should sell him? Just so you know, anything requiring intelligence is absolutely out.”

“We don’t want to ruin him before the drama even starts.... I know that much too. There’s one place that suits Oppa Jiuk perfectly. Mentally too.”

“Don’t tell ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) me?”

“...As expected, Team Leader, you’re smart. Looks like we had the exact same thought.”

The two turned around and looked at Yoo Jiuk, who was happily gaming away without understanding anything.

The manager immediately called someone.

Hong Suryeon crossed her arms and looked toward the set.

‘The teaser’s coming out soon.’

Today’s shoot was for the scene going into the teaser trailer.

An early fluttery romance scene.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say this one scene alone could seize all the momentum.

“Rolling!”

The two stepped into the elevator set.

As if he’d never acted foolish a moment ago, Yoo Jiuk completely erased the idiot look from his face and stood beside Hong Suryeon.

“Action!”

The moment the signal dropped, Yoo Jiuk pressed the elevator button.

Like always, he was dressed casually.

Gray hoodie. Black rider jacket.

He stood there with lazy indifference.

Clunk.

“Kyaa!”

The elevator moved.

Then the lights went out.

Inside the darkened space, Yoo Jiuk’s sleepy eyes blinked once or twice.

Hong Suryeon collapsed onto the floor.

“...Excuse me.”

Yoo Jiuk bent down to match her height.

He even lowered his head to meet her gaze.

“Are you okay?”

Watching him like that, Hong Suryeon became certain.

No matter what happened, they would never lose in romantic comedy.

* * *

‘Fuck....’

Eun Baekhap gritted her teeth as she watched the increasingly ominous reactions surrounding 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉.

Even before airing, JC ENM’s pressure tactics screamed that they intended to crush everything from the very beginning.

Dressed in stage costume, Eun Baekhap bit down hard on the tender flesh inside her mouth.

Someone approached her.

“Nervous you might fail?”

It was Director Yang Huimun of 〈Tamhok〉.

At the question, Eun Baekhap shook her head.

Nobody knew how much she had practiced.

If you poured insane amounts of time into something, effort never betrayed you.

Even without conscious thought, your body and voice remembered.

Eun Baekhap understood that better than anyone.

“Then do you regret it a little?”

Yang Huimun smiled faintly.

The competing dramas in the same time slot were monstrously strong.

And this was JTBS.

The limits of cable television were painfully obvious.

JTBS’s highest ratings ever had been 12.1%.

Then 9.2%.

Then 9.0%, 8.5%, 7.3%.

At the moment, TV M was the only cable broadcaster capable of truly competing with public channels.

And that was only because 〈Strange Tales〉 had smashed the wall open years ago.

At a station where only one drama had ever surpassed double-digit ratings—

a top writer, top male and female leads, a veteran child actor with twenty years of experience, and terrifying rising momentum—

even Yang Huimun couldn’t realistically imagine winning in ratings.

Eun Baekhap shook her head again.

“Someone like you could’ve gotten into an even bigger project later. This is a fight you already know you’ll lose.”

Eun Baekhap answered calmly.

“Even when it felt like I’d lose, I still did it every time.”

“...”

“I’m not the kind of person who only chooses fights I know I can win.”

Eun Baekhap bent down and adjusted her toe shoes once more.

Like she was hardening her resolve.

After standing back up, she lightly tapped the floor twice with the tips of her shoes.

“You know high ratings aren’t everything either, Director. Hehe.”

“...Yeah. That’s true.”

Cable ratings could never catch public broadcasting.

Which meant 〈Tamhok〉 had other battlefields available.

Intube views.

SNS.

And sheer cultural impact.

“Sorry for sounding weak for no reason. Guess I was the nervous one.”

Eun Baekhap answered quietly with a smile.

Then she stepped onto the prepared stage.

This scene would be used in the teaser trailer for 〈Tamhok〉.

Eun Baekhap had insisted she would never use a stunt double, even if it killed her, so the filming schedule had been delayed as much as possible.

“Ready!”

Standing atop the stage, Eun Baekhap gracefully raised her slender arms upward.

Perfect preparation posture.

Grand classical music thundered through the space.

“Action!”

Eun Baekhap flew freely across the stage.

Pure white lights poured down over her head.

* * *

Do Gyeoul maintained her composure.

“Gyeoul-ah, the promotion schedule came out, so check it later.”

“Yes. I’ll do it afterward.”

Do Gyeoul absentmindedly touched the band of her old leather watch.

Compared to every previous shoot, she felt unbelievably at ease now.

None of it was difficult anymore.

Controlling emotions.

Memorizing lines.

Managing her gaze.

Moving her body.

Everything, everything was absurdly easy.

‘This is fun....’

Not once since entering this industry had she ever felt this way.

Only now did it feel like she was finally breathing.

“Gyeoul-ah. Let’s do one rehearsal before the shoot.”

Wearing a school uniform, Do Gyeoul stood before the camera with a clear, innocent face.

Bare skin.

Pure white dress shirt.

She looked like the perfect model student straight out of a painting.

It was the very first scene of the 〈Dear Judge〉 teaser trailer.

The scene that clearly established Do Gyeoul’s character.

After carefully checking even the exact angle of her lowered head, Do Gyeoul tightly pressed her lips together.

“Ready—!”

Do Gyeoul looked down at the test papers and notebook spread across the desk.

A sharp mechanical pencil rested in her hand.

“Action!”

Do Gyeoul began writing something down.

On the classroom chalkboard was the exam countdown.

There wasn’t much time left.

Nearby, several extras whispered among themselves.

Do Gyeoul pressed harder against the earplugs in her ears.

As though none of it mattered.

Thunk!

A canned drink flew at her.

Apparently it hit properly, because Do Gyeoul covered her forehead with one hand.

“Hey! Murderer’s daughter!”

A group of rowdy students approached her.

Do Gyeoul’s shoulders trembled faintly.

“Can’t believe a criminal’s daughter walks around with her head held high—.”

“Seriously. So annoying.”

“Exams are right around the corner and she keeps distracting everyone.”

While they laughed among themselves, the student who had thrown the can bent down.

Trying to see Do Gyeoul’s face.

Slowly, Do Gyeoul lowered her hand from her forehead.

Bright red blood streamed down her face.

But her eyes remained steady.

With half her face soaked in blood, Do Gyeoul met his gaze directly.

Without a trace of emotion.

There was something crushing in the heaviness of her stare alone.

“W-what the hell?”

“What are you look—”

“Look at her eyes. I’m gonna hit her.”

The frightened students all threw out comments one by one.

But none of them moved any closer.

Not a single step.

“...If I sue you for this, doesn’t that make you a criminal too?”

Do Gyeoul asked the student who still hadn’t looked away.

Her voice was frighteningly calm.

“That’d be fun. Right?”

Apparently a blood vessel had burst.

Blood still streamed endlessly from her forehead.

Even staining the collar of her shirt.

“Stop being loud and get lost.”

Do Gyeoul loosened the tie hanging around her neck.

Then she pressed it against her forehead to stop the bleeding.

She picked up the mechanical pencil she’d briefly set down.

As if nothing had happened, she resumed solving the problems and writing formulas across the blood-stained notebook.

“...”

A horrified silence filled the room.

* * *

INTUBE

[We’ll Change You, Right Here — 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉 First Teaser ⎮ Han Yeoreum Seo Eden] 00:43

Finally, the first teaser for 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉 was released.

All of us gathered together to watch the video.

The opening showed a drone shot of Dongdaemun at night.

The footage played at double speed, making everything feel frantic.

Motorcycles piled high with cargo speeding down streets.

Wholesale runners carrying giant garment bags.

Tourists taking photos in front of foreign-language signs.

And endless rows of hanging clothes.

Caption:

In Dongdaemun, the holy land of fashion—

The camera rapidly swept through Dongdaemun’s interior.

Its destination was someone making a phone call somewhere.

Caption:

There is a woman shaking Jeon Segye’s entire world

The camera tilted upward.

A face appeared.

Flushed cheeks.

Pale lips.

Messy hair.

Tiny bean-like eyes.

The sped-up camera showed Nam Pyeonghwa working nonstop.

Sending photos everywhere.

Organizing orders.

Packing clothes.

A bubbly, heart-fluttering soundtrack began to play.

Then came the polished shoes of a man walking through the impossibly narrow Doota halls.

A suited back.

And finally—

his face.

Dressed in perfectly neat clothing, Seo Eden as Jeon Segye stopped in front of one store.

The two locked eyes.

“Did you make this?”

Caption:

To Jeon Segye, whose every day is war—

“Doesn’t the group belong to us anyway?”

“If we’re talking eldest sons, then obviously this hyung comes first.”

Two sneering stepbrothers flashed by.

“Son. Don’t lose confidence.”

A graceful but fragile-looking mother appeared.

“CEO! CEO!”

“Oops, oh my god, CEO!”

Employees rushed around frantically.

Caption:

Can peace really find its way here?

The curtain parted.

Knees beneath a dress appeared.

Jeon Segye’s stunned expression filled the screen.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

He swallowed.

Finally, Nam Pyeonghwa’s face was revealed.

Sunlight-like lighting poured over her face so brightly it was almost blinding.

You couldn’t even properly see her—

but the fluttering music swelled louder.

Caption:

〈Dongdaemun Romance〉

Coming to you September 5th!

The moment the teaser ended, everyone burst into cheers.

“Ah! It finally feels real!”

“Yeah. Let’s go! Let’s go, let’s go!”

The filming staff shouted as though boosting morale before battle.

I held out my hand toward Seo Eden.

A sharp clap rang out as our palms collided.

The teaser war.

It was finally beginning.