I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 67

People sometimes do that. They say things that aren’t true to hide their real feelings. Hwa-rin was exactly like that right now.

She had said that Kang Woo-jin was not her type.

Even though she was actually a huge fan. She would read his new articles thoroughly, and whenever she had free time, she would check Kang Woo-jin’s social media. So, it hurt her to say that she didn’t like Woo-jin.

‘Hooked? What a joke. He’s totally not my style. Unnie [older sister or close female friend], stop saying weird things.’

She didn’t bother to correct herself. Sometimes, the closer you are to someone, the more you hide your true feelings. Anyway, for some reason, Hong Hye-yeon’s expression showed a slight relief. Of course, Hwa-rin didn’t notice it.

‘You don’t like Woo-jin? Why? You haven’t even met him.’

‘Yeah. I haven’t, but his eyes seem a bit cold, you know? Scary.’

‘That’s just his acting as Park Dae-ri, right?’

At that moment, Hwa-rin naturally came up with a line to extract information about Kang Woo-jin.

‘Um—is he not like that usually?’

‘Of course, he’s not… not cold. He’s a bit cool. But he’s completely different from Park Dae-ri.’

‘Really? He seems like he’d have a scary personality.’

‘Not scary at all… well, he’s not easygoing, but he’s a tsundere [a person who is initially cold but later shows a warmer side]. He’s kind. Rather than scary, he has a strong sense of self.’

Hwa-rin nodded as if it didn’t matter, but she stored the new information about Kang Woo-jin in her head.

‘Tsundere? I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter to me. But since you’re in the same agency, you must see him often.’

‘Do I see him often? I don’t know. I’m busy too. And Woo-jin, well, you know from the articles, right?’

‘I don’t know. Why would I read articles about him? No, about that actor.’

Even though Hwa-rin read Woo-jin’s articles several times a day, she forced a wry smile and took a sip of wine, shifting her gaze to the large TV in front of her. ‘Profiler Han-ryang’ Episode 5 was already airing.

Around this time, Hong Hye-yeon crossed her arms and continued.

‘His Instagram followers have already surpassed 130,000, and he already has a fan club. At this rate, I might get overtaken by Woo-jin, you know?’

‘……Fan club?’

‘Yeah. It was created right after his debut. It already has thousands of members, you know?’

‘Really? Oh, wow—that’s amazing.’

At the mention of a fan club, Hwa-rin put down her wine glass, pretending not to care, and cautiously took out her phone, glancing at Hong Hye-yeon.

‘A fan club already? Oh, man. I didn’t know. I’ve been busy these past few days.’

Then, pretending to look at something else, she searched for Kang Woo-jin’s fan club. The results came up quickly.

-[Official/Welcome to Kang Woo-jin’s official fan cafe ‘Strong Heart’!]

-Number of members: 3,111.

-Representative manager: Blood Sister.

Already, there were over 3,000 members. Hwa-rin sighed.

‘Ha—I was going to join as soon as it was created.’

It was a shame, but it was already too late. Anyway, Hwa-rin bookmarked the page and put her phone down.

‘Hey, but you’re Hong Hye-yeon, how can you be overtaken by a rookie?’

‘Why not? It’s possible. You’ll understand if you see him in person.’

‘Why would I see him—I have no intention of seeing him. So, what’s Park Dae-ri doing next?’

‘I only saw it in the articles, but he’s going straight into Writer Lee Wol-sun’s project. It’s a supporting role, but it’s huge. When I see Woo-jin, I get so restless, you know?’

‘Yeah—you must be having a hard time.’

As Hwa-rin replied casually, Hong Hye-yeon, who was watching ‘Profiler Han-ryang’ Episode 5 on TV, said,

‘By the way, I wonder if it’ll be okay?’

‘What do you mean?’

She sighed softly and murmured.

‘The ratings, Park Dae-ri is gone.’

The next day, early in the morning. At Park Eun-mi’s studio.

Even though it was Saturday, the weekend, the stubble-faced Song Man-woo PD [Production Director] opened the door to Park Eun-mi’s studio. His face was, to put it mildly, a skull. He was excessively gaunt. The reason was simple.

‘Ugh—I’m dying.’

Filming, filming, filming, editing, editing, editing was repeating endlessly. On top of that, he had to go through promotional schedules and various interviews. The only good thing was that the filming was almost at its end.

‘Writer Park, I’m here.’

As Song Man-woo PD collapsed onto the sofa in the studio and called out to Park Eun-mi, she opened the door, wearing a hairband.

‘What’s that smell? PD-nim, get off the sofa! Go wash up!’

‘Is that what you say to a PD who’s been editing all night?’

‘Why did you stay up all night? You said there was still plenty of footage.’

‘This isn’t the time to worry about that. The ratings came out at 25%, so we have to edit like crazy to defend the ratings. And Park Dae-ri is gone from Episode 4 onwards.’

Park Eun-mi sighed and sat next to Song Man-woo PD.

‘I’ll hand over the script for the final episode by tomorrow.’

‘Okay. I submitted my resignation yesterday.’

‘Ah—really? Good… wait, really??!’

‘Really. Well, the filming is almost done, and only the editing is left, so it’s time to submit it.’

‘Wow. The drama department must be in chaos?’

‘It was. The director and managers were all over me. Ugh, it was annoying.’

‘Of course. You’re the PD who made the ratings 20% from the first episode. And your filmography is so impressive. But are you really sure about this?’

At the question, Song Man-woo PD leaned his head back on the sofa.

‘Yeah. Honestly, I’m getting crazy offers, and there’s a lot of talk about investment. Luckily, this one did well, so after I wrap things up, I’m going to start my own production company. I’m going to direct until I die.’

‘I’m sure you will.’

After looking at the ceiling for a moment, Song Man-woo PD suddenly remembered Kang Woo-jin’s face.

‘I wonder how much Woo-jin’s fee will be when I start a new project with my own production company—it’ll be hard to handle if it gets too expensive.’

‘Well, it’ll probably be expensive. You’re the one who set the bar high from the start, right? Oh! I was so shocked when I heard that Woo-jin was going to work with Wol-sun unnie. She’s definitely trying to get back at me and has her eyes on Woo-jin, I tell you?’

‘That woman still has an eye for actors. Even if she started out of jealousy towards you, she would have been greedy if she saw Woo-jin in person.’

At that moment.

‘Ah! That’s right.’

Park Eun-mi clapped her hands and opened her mouth.

‘Do you know Choi Na-na, one of our assistant writers?’

‘Yeah, the shy one.’

‘She’s having a meeting with Woo-jin tomorrow.’

‘….Huh? Why?’

‘Woo-jin apparently asked for a meeting after reading Nana’s one-act play script.’

‘That, that happened??!’

‘Yeah, yeah. That’s 100% the totem activating, right?’

‘It’s the same picture as ‘Errand Service’? What kind of crazy thing is going to happen in that one-act play?’

At that moment.

-Vroom, vroom.

Song Man-woo PD’s phone, which was on the table, vibrated loudly. It was a call, and Park Eun-mi quickly asked.

‘Is that the call about the Episode 5 ratings?’

‘Yeah. They said to call as soon as it’s out.’

Song Man-woo PD put the phone to his ear.

‘Yeah, tell me, what are the ratings? Uh-huh.’

The funny thing was that his eyes suddenly widened.

‘….What? How much? Okay, I’ll hang up for now.’

Park Eun-mi rushed to Song Man-woo PD, who had hung up the phone.

‘Why? What’s wrong? What were the ratings?’

Song Man-woo PD sighed softly.

‘I knew it.’

‘How much did it get!’

‘……21.7%’

‘Ugh!’

The ratings, which were 25%, had dropped by 4% in an instant. This was clearly.

‘Honestly, I was somewhat prepared, but I didn’t think it would drop this much just because Woo-jin was gone.’

It was clear that it was the impact of Park Dae-ri’s departure.

At this time, in the BW Entertainment parking lot.

Kang Woo-jin got into a van that was parked. His hair was a bit messy, as if he hadn’t gone to the salon yet. Soon, Han Ye-jeong, who got in next to Woo-jin, recited coldly, as usual.

‘Oppa [older brother or close male friend], after today’s meeting schedule, let’s take some photos for social media while we’re doing the photoshoot. You saw that you have over 130,000 followers, right?’

‘Ah—yeah. I saw it.’

‘The fan club also surpassed 3,000 members, right? At this rate, we should start planning a fan meeting.’

What meeting? Kang Woo-jin was silent at the unfamiliar word. But Han Ye-jeong didn’t stop.

‘If a fan meeting is difficult right now, we should at least have a fan signing event. If the fan club was created this quickly, we need to take action on our side too. But oppa, do you know who the fan club’s general manager is? Has the PR team not contacted them yet?’

‘Uh, I haven’t heard yet.’

‘I’ll check it out. The manager is, let’s see—Blood Sister? That’s a strange ID.’

That’s right. It’s a bit weird. What kind of nickname is Blood Sister? Kang Woo-jin was scoffing internally when.

-Clunk!

The passenger door opened roughly, and Choi Seong-geon shouted quite urgently.

‘Woo-jin! Han-ryang Episode 5 got 21.7% ratings!’

‘….The ratings.’

‘Yeah! It dropped sharply.’

But Choi Seong-geon’s expression was strange. He explained the reason himself.

‘Ha—but this is ambiguous. The ratings dropping is definitely bad. For Hye-yeon too. But for you, Woo-jin, it’s not bad, you know?’

What is he talking about? Kang Woo-jin remained silent, and Choi Seong-geon spoke again.

‘In other words, it means that 4% of the people watched Han-ryang because of you.’

It was true. The media was also covering Choi Seong-geon’s words like crazy.

『[Issue Check] ‘Profiler Han-ryang,’ which was rising endlessly, suddenly drops to 21% ratings』

It was natural. The ratings had dropped by 4% in just one day.

Of course, 21% ratings were still a great number. But the fact that the ratings dropped after Park Dae-ri’s departure was a strange phenomenon.

『Did ‘Han-ryang’s’ ratings drop by 4% as soon as ‘Park Dae-ri’ died?』

The media and public opinion were even more fervently summoning Kang Woo-jin. In terms of timing or flow, Kang Woo-jin was the center.

『[Star Pick] ‘Profiler Han-ryang’s’ ratings drop by 4% as soon as ‘Park Dae-ri’ Kang Woo-jin leaves, viewers say, “Bring Park Dae-ri back to life”』

『The power to drop ratings by 4%, Han-ryang is crying, Kang Woo-jin is smiling?』

What could he do?

From here on, there was nothing much Kang Woo-jin could do. He had already finished all the promotional schedules. It was up to the actor who took over as the next villain and Song Man-woo PD to work hard.

Maybe the ratings would go up again if they did that.

Anyway, Kang Woo-jin and ‘Profiler Han-ryang’ became noisy again. Han-ryang’s ratings dropped, but Kang Woo-jin was constantly mentioned, and his recognition continued to rise.

Furthermore.

『’Errand Service,’ which gave the acting award to the hot rookie ‘Kang Woo-jin,’ is released on various OTT platforms』

Due to Kang Woo-jin’s soaring popularity, ‘Errand Service’ was uploaded to various OTT platforms. It had already reached number one on some platforms.

And around the afternoon of the same day.

-!Preview! I wish you would watch this more, a little less cool…?｜Sports Day X Profiler Han-ryang

The ‘Sports Day’ team uploaded a preview of the Han-ryang team’s episode. It was a video that was uploaded at the best timing, with several issues overlapping. Thanks to that, the views were rising rapidly. Of course, the viewers’ comments were also overflowing.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ0:41 Kang Woo-jin’s answer ‘Yes’ just one wordㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠFinally, Kang Woo-jin’s usual self!!

-I wish they would bring Park Dae-ri back to life… Han-ryang is a little less cool, you know?

-Hong Hye-yeon is Hong Hye-yeon…. Damn, she’s so pretty

-The main episode, quickly!! Release it quickly!!!

-Ah, are we finally going to see Kang Woo-jin on a variety show….??? I’m so happy….

-Looking at the preview, Kang Woo-jin seems a bit arrogant

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋRyu Jeong-min came out with that perm againㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Everyone is curious~~~What kind of character will actor Kang Woo-jin be~~~~I want to see it soon~~~~

·

·

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What was clearly noticeable was the number of times Kang Woo-jin’s name was mentioned. He had a lot of screen time in the preview. In the end, this preview video reached 300,000 views.

-OMG, is Kang Woo-jin a bit serious?? I’m so curiousㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

It was within an hour of being uploaded.

In the afternoon of the same day, at Netflix Korea.

In the parking lot of the Netflix Korea building near Jonggak Station. A woman got out of a van. She had long legs and wore a white mask.

It was Hwa-rin.

Her chubby manager and team members surrounded her, and Hwa-rin started walking towards the elevator. It was at this moment that the manager spoke to Hwa-rin, who was walking while looking at her phone.

‘Hwa-rin, wait, wait a minute. Is this for real? No, right? You’re just going to have a meeting, right? Huh?’

The chubby manager looked very urgent. On the other hand, Hwa-rin replied as if it was nothing.

‘I told you to stop, right? I haven’t decided whether I’ll do it or not, I just said I’d have a meeting. You’re being so dramatic.’

‘Hey, hey, you’re suddenly asking for a meeting for a one-act play, so of course, I’m like this! Even if it’s Netflix, this is a bit much. Ugh—look, the CEO called again.’

‘Ignore it. I’ll call later and say I was in a meeting.’

By this time, Hwa-rin and her team were in the elevator. But the manager’s worries didn’t stop.

‘It’s not like you’re not getting offers for big projects. There’s no need to go for a one-act play, and on top of that, the writer who wrote the one-act play is a rookie, right? If you mess this up, you’ll really screw up?’

Hwa-rin, who was slowly taking off her mask, chuckled.

‘What if I screw up? Our album did well this time, right? Then it’s okay if I screw up a few times, right?’

‘….So you’re saying you’ll do it.’

‘Ah! Shut up! I haven’t even seen the other actors yet. I have to see the writer’s style too. I’ll see how much power Netflix is giving. I didn’t come here to play around.’

‘What about the kiss scene?’

‘I’ll ask them to remove it if possible. Or if I’m not going to do it in the first place, what does it matter if there’s a kiss scene or a bed scene?’

‘Hey! You! This is Netflix, watch your mouth.’

Hwa-rin, shrugging her shoulders, didn’t look affected at all.

Meanwhile.

-Ding!

The elevator stopped at the Netflix Korea floor and opened its doors. A male employee was waiting at the entrance, which was plastered with the ‘Netflix’ logo.

As soon as he saw Hwa-rin, he smiled brightly.

‘Welcome!’

‘Yes, hello.’

‘The general director is already in the meeting room! This way!’

‘Okay.’

Soon, only Hwa-rin and the chubby manager followed him, and the rest of Hwa-rin’s staff moved to the waiting room. Around this time, Hwa-rin whispered to the chubby manager.

‘There’s a high chance I won’t do it, so don’t say anything weird during the meeting. Don’t ask any picky questions either. I’ll take care of everything.’

‘Ha—okay, okay.’

The meeting room that the Netflix employee led them to was a place with movie posters all over the walls.

-Knock knock.

The employee who opened the glass door of the meeting room smiled at Hwa-rin, telling her to go in first. Hwa-rin entered the meeting room without any hesitation.

‘Hello.’

There were already four or five people sitting in the meeting room. Among them, the general director, who was the head of Netflix, stood up in surprise. She was a slightly chubby woman.

‘Hwa-rin-ssi? Why are you in this meeting room?’

The general director glared at the employee.

‘You should have guided her to the meeting room next door.’

It seemed like the employee had guided her to the wrong room. What was interesting was.

‘….?’

Hwa-rin’s eyes, which were scanning the people in the meeting room, were drawn to one man. A man who was staring at her indifferently and cynically. Her body stiffened, and she shouted internally without realizing it.

‘Huh???!! K, Kang Woo-jin-nim?! Why? Why is he here??’

The man was Kang Woo-jin, whom Hwa-rin was a fan of.

At that moment, Kang Woo-jin’s usual first voice seeped into Hwa-rin’s ears. A voice with a deep bass.

‘Hello.’

Hwa-rin felt like her ears were melting.

End