The broadcast ended at 9 PM. Instead of tuning in to watch 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉 live, there were surely quite a few people who opened social media because they couldn’t contain their emotions.

Ganajiwook @ganajiwook

(Yoo Jiuk casually picking up and eating the snacks the kids dropped.mp4)

How are we supposed to NOT fall for a man whose daily life is cleaning up leftovers like this

24K reposts · 51K likes

˪He seriously came on the show determined to kill every fangirl alive, didn’t he

˪He’s honestly not smart enough for that.. this is just his natural daily behavior

˪That’s what makes it even deadlier AAAAAAHHH

“On top of it already being a massively popular variety show, they unleashed Yoo Jiuk right before 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉 aired....”

Someone muttered in a gloomy voice. Everyone nodded.

The Intube clips from 〈Soft Soft Kindergarten〉 and the SNS posts uploaded afterward exploded in views. SBC’s ambition could practically be felt from the way they slapped Yoo Jiuk’s face across the thumbnails as large as possible.

“That bastard Sangjun... no doubt he ordered them to clip and upload everything immediately....”

“No way. The drama center director personally went to the variety department?”

“Look at me. Since when were the variety and drama departments separate? When danger shows up, everybody becomes one team.”

At Lee Saerok’s words, everyone silently agreed.

It wasn’t difficult to imagine the SBC drama director storming over to the variety department personally and threatening them.

As a result, the public was completely swept away by Yoo Jiuk’s “my man” strategy.

INTUBE

[Hasn’t he gone beyond a good uncle into “future good dad” territory? Yoo Jiuk in 〈Soft Soft Kindergarten〉] 05:22

214,556 views

-Is it impossible to write a hundred wives’ names on a marriage registration form?

˪Obviously it is

˪ LMAOOO are you insane

˪I can literally hear the line of a million brides forming holy shit

-Okay yeah he’s handsome but this cheating bastard.. what does life even feel like with that face fuck

-Actor Yoo Jiuk... this kind of everyday-life variety content suits you so well~T_T It honestly hurts my heart that you only appeared once.. Where else can we find a combination this perfect hehe

Exactly! Actor Yoo Jiuk seriously seems like he’d make such a good dad♥︎

-I’m crying from secondhand butterflies T_T

“....”

Silence settled over the MBS Drama Center as they monitored 〈Soft Soft Kindergarten〉.

The exact same warning light flashed on inside everyone’s heads.

‘If this keeps up, it might swallow even tonight’s episode whole.’

Sadly, predictions from veterans who had spent decades rolling around in the industry tended to come true with cruel accuracy.

* * *

“Ahahahahaang-!”

After finally checking all the live broadcast reactions, Hong Suryeon spun around in circles on set while laughing.

“That little baby opponent can’t even compare!”

At the moment, the hottest celebrity wasn’t Han Yeoreum or Seo Eden.

It was Yoo Jiuk.

Every SNS platform and online community was being swept away by him.

Current time: 4 PM.

Yoo Jiuk had successfully overwhelmed the reaction to Hwang Boseok’s 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉 premiere.

Even reporters who saw the public response started pumping out follow-up articles about 〈Soft Soft Kindergarten〉, completely dominating the buzz volume.

“Once next week’s broadcast starts and everyone sees my beauty... unni, mirror.”

“Here.”

“Yes, exactly this.... Beautiful, isn’t it.... It’s an overwhelming victory....”

The Hong Suryeon reflected in the hand mirror her manager held out was beautiful today as well.

At this point, it felt like she broke her own visual peak every single day.

“Wait, what’s this.”

While admiring herself, Hong Suryeon suddenly whipped her head around.

“Suryeon-ah, what’s wrong?”

“There’s a smell... a smell that should absolutely not exist on a filming set....”

Frowning deeply, Hong Suryeon marched toward the corner of the set. Standing behind a parked van, she focused on the whispering conversation nearby.

“Jiuk-ah, eat slowly. Slowly.”

“Oppa, you’re gonna burn the roof of your mouth....”

“How does our Jiuk even make eating ramen look like a photoshoot, huh?!”

Hong Suryeon stared down at Yoo Jiuk, who was wolfing down instant cup ramen.

“What... are you doing right now...?”

At her sudden appearance, Yoo Jiuk froze mid-slurp.

The staff surrounding him desperately tried to stop Hong Suryeon.

“Uh, Suryeon, Jiuk oppa’s variety reactions were amazing and....”

“Right right. So we....”

“Just for today....”

But Hong Suryeon immediately smacked Yoo Jiuk across the back and snatched away the ramen cup.

“Aack!”

“Give it! Who said you could eat ramen?! Oppa, you said it was famine mode until the project ends!”

Hong Suryeon raised the cup high while stepping on Yoo Jiuk’s thigh to stop him from standing up.

“You little brat, that was mine!”

After thoroughly confiscating even the wooden chopsticks, Hong Suryeon started eating Yoo Jiuk’s ramen herself.

“Slurp... I can survive eating whatever and still stay beautiful anyway.... Slurp... but this is the kind of radiance only I, Hong Suryeon, goddess of beauty, possess even without dieting... mm... I don’t even like mild ramen that much tho.... Slurp....”

“You’re eating it just fine, so why are you still yapping?”

After draining the cup without leaving even a drop of broth, Hong Suryeon handed the empty container back to Yoo Jiuk.

“Oppa’s dumb, so you probably can’t even tell ramen flavors apart.... Next time eat Neoburi instead of mild rich-flavor ramen.”

“Says the one who ate all of it?”

“Anyway, you consumed sodium now, so you’ll swell up, right? Absolutely unacceptable. Hurry and burn it off.”

Yoo Jiuk was forced to do push-ups with Hong Suryeon riding on his back.

“Wait, no, but why am I the one doing this? Does this brat think I’m some kind of donkey?”

As Yoo Jiuk tried to get angry, the staff chimed in beside him.

“Oppa, but honestly, how many men can even do push-ups while carrying a girl? You can only do it because you’re you.”

“Exactly. Jiuk really is insanely strong. And wow, he even knows the word donkey now. I’m genuinely impressed. So smart!”

“I totally understand how you feel, Jiukie-. But maybe try just a little more? It’s already sooo good like this, but you know? There’s a workout real men are supposed to do!”

“Right. Something only oppa can show.”

At those words, Yoo Jiuk raised one eyebrow sharply.

Then he flashed a lazy smile.

“Well, huff... honestly... haa... I... had... been... thinking... that too... ngh....”

That’s right.

Yoo Jiuk. One of the legendary three.

“As expected of oppa!”

“You only avoided doing push-ups all this time because you were worried we’d notice and you’d get embarrassed, right?”

“Ah... seriously, Jiuk-ah... how are you like this.... Hyung’s never seen a man like you before. You’re seriously a man among men!”

He was still pretty dumb.

In an excellent mood now, Yoo Jiuk sped up, declaring he’d show everyone what real push-ups looked like.

On top of his back, Hong Suryeon muttered,

“Ah, my head hurts. You’re draining my energy.”

“Suryeon-ah, here’s the mirror.”

“Beautiful....”

Either way, the set of 〈There Is Only One Culprit〉 was peaceful.

The confidence of a powerhouse that crushed others before the game even began came from a belief backed by actual results.

And then, 10 PM, when episode 2 of 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉 aired.

INTUBE

[Already destined to become a daughter fool~ Yoo Jiuk’s heart-filled eyes in 〈Soft Soft Kindergarten〉] 04:21

317,889 views

INTUBE

[Was that confession directed at me? Han Yeoreum receives Seo Eden’s “ㅇㅇㅇㅇ” confession ⎮Dongdaemun Romance] 03:55 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

181,221 views

The clips from 〈Soft Soft Kindergarten〉 far surpassed the view counts of the episode 1 clips from 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉.

* * *

“Really...?”

“So the variety clips are doing well....”

But the 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉 side wasn’t especially shaken.

“The trailer airs today, right?”

“Yes. We scheduled the Intube upload for thirty minutes after the preview broadcast.”

“Okay.”

Because they had something they trusted.

There was a point in Korean dramas treated almost like law.

The so-called promised episode 8.

“If you tease a kiss scene in the episode 2 preview, everybody comes crawling back.”

That point was the kiss scene.

Hwang Boseok, who had aggressively accelerated the pacing like a madman, slammed a kiss scene into the preview shown after episode 2 ended, ensuring everyone would wait desperately for next week.

* * *

“Even now, it still feels like such an elite move....”

The SBC drama director elegantly murmured while sipping herbal tea.

SBC’s strategy had landed perfectly.

This was what true stability looked like.

The moment they dropped the nuclear bomb called Yoo Jiuk, the response became explosive. It was practically as though blazing heat and fragments of love had lodged themselves inside the public’s hearts.

The next strike would arrive at 11:10 tonight.

A brand-new preview for 〈There Is Only One Culprit〉 placed during the ending section of the drama airing tonight.

“This is why we saved the second teaser....”

While the first teaser focused on Hong Suryeon, the second teaser greatly increased Yoo Jiuk’s screen time.

The SBC drama director had no intention of giving viewers even a second to breathe.

His sharp and brilliant gaze stayed fixed on the screen.

〈Dongdaemun Romance〉 was unfolding exactly like the kind of thing audiences already knew they loved.

Thirty minutes had passed since the broadcast began.

Nam Pyeonghwa did not immediately accept Jeon Segye’s offer to join B-bly.

Instead, she kept turning it over and over in her mind.

While checking order forms, printing invoices, confirming fabric shipments, stuffing armfuls of the blouses she made into giant delivery envelopes—

“We need someone like you.”

Jeon Segye waited for Nam Pyeonghwa’s reply.

Beside his phone, a tiny Jeon Segye popped up. The rational judgment version.

“Honestly, even if it’s a startup, isn’t it still better than working the Dongdaemun night market? Better work-life balance too. In a lot of ways.”

Another tiny Jeon Segye sat cross-legged atop the nearby GLX smartwatch. The arrogance version.

“Obviously. Who do you think founded the company? Plus, if she gets to see my face every day, what better employee benefit could there be?”

Watching the two, another tiny Jeon Segye sprawled flat across the real Jeon Segye’s shoulder. The self-esteem version.

“...What’s the point thoughhh.... She still isn’t cominggg....”

Pwoooo-.

Along with the sound effect of a deflating balloon flying away, the two tiny Jeon Segyes on the phone and smartwatch crouched down miserably.

The real Jeon Segye pressed his lips tightly together.

And right then—

His phone rang.

Jeon Segye hurriedly grabbed it and checked the preview message.

[Nam Pyeonghwa: Hello, CEO. This is Nam Pyeonghwa from Lovely at Diot, whom you met last time. After giving your proposal deep thought... more]

“Ah! It cut off right at the important part!”

The three tiny Jeon Segyes huddled together and spoke.

“For working adults, replying quickly is life itself. Especially if you’re the face of a company.”

“Wait. Checking it this fast like you were waiting for it? Where’s your pride? Absolutely unacceptable.”

“What if she says nooo.... It might be a rejection messageee....”

The real Jeon Segye hesitated for a moment before grabbing the smartwatch nearby.

“Wait. I can read the entire thing through the preview.”

That was the charm unique to the GLX Watch—

The skill of “reading and ignoring without getting caught.”

The preview scroll was far longer than the phone app version, letting users read the entire message without triggering the read receipt.

“Yeees-!”

The tiny Jeon Segyes jumped around excitedly, deeply impressed by his idea.

“Excellent judgment.”

“As expected of me.”

“What did she saaay...?”

-Ah holy shit this is adorable LMAOO

-His character setup is seriously perfect TT_TT

-Seo Eden is way better at this type of acting fr his MC experience isn’t going anywhere T_T

˪fr he’s absolutely flying right now

“...Why are they so good at PPL?”

The SBC drama director admired Hwang Boseok’s veteran skill.

He became convinced every cent spent on the excessive early CG came from sponsorship money there.

Subtly, the focus kept drifting toward GLX.

“No way. They really milked a major corporation dry...? Very elite of you.”

A bad feeling slowly crept up his spine.

The entire strategy of covering Seo Eden’s lacking acting ability with cuteness while simultaneously drawing in funding was flowing far too naturally.

Beside Seo Eden, who carefully scrolled through the smartwatch preview, a message window appeared on screen.

The very last sentence Jeon Segye was most curious about.

The true main point of the message.