* * *

I waved at Kwon Junhyeok when he arrived on set.

“It’s really been a long time!”

“Yeah... it has....”

Smiling shyly, Kwon Junhyeok was dressed in a neat sky-blue shirt paired with navy suit pants.

We had invited him for a cameo in Dongdaemun Romance. That was thanks to Han Yeoreum’s shameless little social-climber calculator quickly reaching a conclusion.

‘If Kwon Junhyeok comes, people who liked the MyeongRyeong couple will probably remember them again....’

Unable to forget the sweet impact of the cameo that senior Ji Haebeom had practically spoon-fed me during Unfair Trade, I asked Kwon Junhyeok to play a role that would briefly pass through Dongdaemun Romance like an extra.

Kwon Junhyeok agreed immediately without even hesitating.

“You’ve improved a lot at acting.”

“Aaaah. No way.”

After the success of Strange Tales, scripts flooded into Kwon Junhyeok’s agency like a tidal wave.

‘Just from what I heard, there were over ten.’

First loves in youth campus dramas, sociopathic villains in thrillers, and especially occult projects inspired by Strange Tales all sent him love calls at least once each. Exorcists, demon-banishing priests.

Out of all of them, the one Kwon Junhyeok chose was a full-fledged office drama where he played a rookie employee on a major corporation’s PR team.

Even his clumsy, inexperienced parts were brought to life with the fresh charm unique to a newcomer, and thanks to that, he successfully scored two consecutive hits.

“Thanks for coming even though you’re busy.”

“If Yeoreum calls, I have to come.”

Hesitating for a moment, Kwon Junhyeok revealed his soft heart again.

“That’s a relief....”

“What is?”

“The set right now looks really nice... sniff... and you seem like you’re doing well.... Back during Strange Tales we got hurt all the time... and we were always running around... and because we filmed in the mountains we kept getting bitten by bugs....”

“Why are you crying again? Once time passes, it all becomes memories.”

“I’m not someone who cries all the time. Sniff....”

What are you talking about? You cried constantly. But as a proper acting senior now, I covered for my junior’s flaws.

“Still, wasn’t that time really fun?”

“...Really?”

“Sometimes I think about it.”

Come to think of it, back then we really had run around mountains while filming. The filming environment really had improved a lot. Everything suddenly felt new again.

There was a time when outdoor shoots felt endlessly strange and awkward, but now even overseas schedules felt natural.

It felt like only yesterday that I cried while holding my Rookie of the Year trophy, but now I was even aiming to win awards at ceremonies in America.

And if there was one thing that had changed the most—

“Junhyeok’s here?”

“Directooor... huuuhk....”

When the lighting director who had also worked with us on Strange Tales approached Kwon Junhyeok, tears of joy were added on top. He really was still such a crybaby.

‘It means I’m no longer desperate to keep people around as connections.’

Because of Do Gyeoul, I had always been afraid a role might disappear. Afraid I’d get pushed aside. Afraid something would be stolen from me. So I had wanted impressive people around me no matter what.

At some point, that feeling had grown lighter.

‘Because I’ve grown a lot now.’

I no longer had to rely on people around me just to maintain my place.

At some point, that certainty settled naturally inside me. I wasn’t the rookie Han Yeoreum from debut days anymore, trembling in fear and anxiety.

People naturally gathered around me now.

The lighting director who had been with me since ParCheHi, Kwon Junhyeok who agreed to cameo out of loyalty to Strange Tales, and Seo Eden, who had once been my partner on Music N and was now my partner in the same drama.

The set felt like my entire world. Han Yeoreum’s world.

“Okay, stand there together for now. Wow, that composition looks good. Bring over a reflector here.”

But my shameless little social-climber calculator still worked perfectly. I quickly grabbed Kwon Junhyeok and turned him around.

“Mr. Kwon Junhyeok, let’s use your back view a little too, okay? It’d be a waste to only use your profile. Start with your back turned and then slightly turn around. Yep.”

Since he came all the ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) way here, I had to use him properly. I carefully checked the two-shot of Kwon Junhyeok and me captured on screen.

‘Everyone, remember.’

The emotion from the final episode of Strange Tales.

Hopefully it’ll go viral again with Seoryeong and Myungdo looking like reincarnations.

Just thinking about the buzz made me grin brightly.

* * *

“Doesn’t this feel kinda weird? Right?”

Watching the two filming, Seo Eden hugged Beopsun tightly.

“Beopbeop.”

“Anyone watching would think that guy over there is the male lead. I know hyung cries all the time, but today he should really hold it in.”

“Beop.”

“And the lighting director too, seriously. Don’t you feel like he’s paying more attention to the reflector angle over there than to me, Beopsun?”

Seo Eden was originally the type who believed good things were just good things. With two older sisters turning into seven, there was no way his personality wouldn’t become easygoing.

He swore to heaven and everything. He normally wasn’t like this. Which meant this was definitely Junhyeok hyung’s fault.

Even if he looked like this, he was actually someone with excellent self-awareness. Seo Eden stared at Kwon Junhyeok with flounder eyes.

“And you too, Beopsun. When you first met me, you said ‘beopbeopbeop’ three times, but what about when Junhyeok hyung came earlier?”

“Beop?”

“Didn’t you only do it twice? From now on, who do you think you’ll see longer on set, me or Junhyeok hyung?”

“...Beopbeopbeop!”

“Good. Since I’m not that petty, I’ll let it slide once. But seriously, why are they using more reflectors than they do for me?”

The scene currently being filmed was Nam Pyeonghwa meeting designer Jay after being invited by Hansung, the famous rival company of L&E.

And the scene of Jeon Segye and Beopsun watching Nam Pyeonghwa.

Once the take switched to Jeon Segye’s perspective watching the two of them, the lighting became even more delicate than before.

There was a reason those two had once swept Korea as the MyeongRyeong couple. They genuinely matched each other perfectly.

Seo Eden felt a sharp ache in the heart holding Beopsun....

“Beopbeopbeop.”

“You were scratching me with your paw. No wonder it hurt.”

But something was strange. Even when Beopsun stopped scratching his chest with his paw, it still kept stinging.

Originally, Seo Eden had been between those two people. He was close with Kwon Junhyeok and close with Han Yeoreum too. He was basically their intersection.

But now, it felt like a world belonging only to the two of them was unfolding without Seo Eden in it.

Not the Jeonhwa couple, but the MyeongRyeong couple.

Han Yeoreum’s side profile as she looked up at Kwon Junhyeok seemed softer than usual today. Come to think of it, compared to the way she looked at him, the gaze she gave Seo Eden felt somehow... somehow....

“Eden!”

Han Yeoreum turned her head toward him, and their eyes met. Smiling brightly, she beckoned him over.

“Come now.”

“...Yeees....”

Seo Eden immediately tried stepping into the frame at her call. Relief spread through him at the realization that she hadn’t forgotten him after all—

“No, don’t come to me. Oveeer there. You’re supposed to stand behind that pillar.”

“Guess he forgot. He’s supposed to hide behind that pillar so he can’t be seen.”

“Exactly. You need to go farther back.”

“Eden-ah. Hurry over there.”

But Han Yeoreum waved him off into a corner. And Kwon Junhyeok, standing right beside her, did too.

Dragged behind the pillar by a staff member, Seo Eden’s lips trembled.

“Oh, that expression’s good. Exactly that.”

Byeon Juhwa exclaimed in admiration while adjusting the angle.

“Beopsun. Let’s do vibration mode. Shake shake, okay?”

“Grrrr....”

“Good, good. Truly a genius dog.”

Seo Eden’s chest still stung where Beopsun had scratched him earlier. He couldn’t even hear the action cue anymore. The fact that he was hiding behind a pillar watching the two of them simply made no sense.

Wasn’t he supposed to be standing over there beside them? This couldn’t be happening.

The two whispered something to each other that he couldn’t hear before laughing. The way Jay looked at Nam Pyeonghwa carried a sense of helpless fondness... ha... seriously, this was ridiculous....

“Okay! Hey, we might not even need to shoot more than this?”

“Really?”

“Wow. Eden must’ve done really well.”

The two completely left Seo Eden standing behind the pillar and walked over to Director Byeon to monitor the footage.

He couldn’t understand why they were smiling so much while looking at the screen. Seo Eden’s eyes kept turning into flounder eyes again.

“Good, then let’s move straight into Eden’s close-up... wait, what? He’s still holding onto the emotion? Nice! That’s it!”

* * *

Director Byeon finally prepared for the ending scene of Episode 8. Today’s filming was going unbelievably smoothly.

“Isn’t Eden seriously on fire today?”

“He’s basically Jeon Segye himself.”

“Whoever arranged today’s filming schedule seriously deserves praise.”

The staff members were cheerful too. Not only had the genius dog Beopsun worked wonders, but Kwon Junhyeok’s cameo perfectly revived nostalgia for the MyeongRyeong couple while showing off incredible chemistry with Han Yeoreum.

More than anything, Seo Eden’s emotional immersion stood out.

“The day we shoot the kiss scene and his condition is this good!”

Today was the day they had to film the ending scene of Episode 8, the moment where new emotions truly began blooming between the two characters.

A rainy day. Two people trapped inside a warehouse.

Shivering in the cold without even heating, they share Jeon Segye’s coat and continue talking.

Carefully revealing each other’s wounds. Their emptiness. And love.

The scene where their eyes meet and their lips slowly overlap was Dongdaemun Romance’s decisive finishing blow that could withstand the fierce chase from the other three competing productions.

“This is your first real kiss scene, right, Eden? The earlier one was just an accidental bump, but this is your first official one.”

“Guess so.”

“You were really immersed today, so if you just keep carrying that emotion forward, I think we’ll get something amazing.”

Kiss scenes were even harder than crying scenes.

Because they involved two people together.

The camera right in front of them, the staff’s gazes, the lights and reflectors.

All of those things interrupted emotional immersion, and on top of that they had to carefully pay attention to things like the angle of their heads and the placement of their hands.

“You’ll do well.”

But remembering Seo Eden from earlier, Director Byeon smiled.

Because at some point, he had already become Jeon Segye, the man who had fallen for Nam Pyeonghwa.