* * *

IP 85.152 was managing the gallery while suffering from the delusion that they had become Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

[<Dongdaemun Romance> Minor Gallery]

[Today’s kiss scene seriously destroyed me]

They framed the Beopsun walk scene insanely beautifully, then made the actual kiss happen in a dark storage room, Byeon Juhwa is genuinely a freak for this;

Anonymous (17.27) If they’d kissed in the park it would’ve just been a normal romcom scene and made me smile, but because it happened in a storage room I started blushing holy shit

Anonymous (8.82) The way Segye covered Pyeonghwa’s hand was the best part

SegyePyeonghwaProtectionSquad (1.11) But that preview seriously drove people insane

[What the hell is that preview, it’s a romcom but nothing is easy]

Can somebody hit Segye’s father with a truck please

Anonymous (2.24) Good idea

Anonymous (124.59) Feels like next week’s gonna be heartbreak already and my chest is pounding

The moment IP 85.152 remembered the preview, they felt pain in their heart.

“Stop fooling around and come back.”

Jeon Segye’s father, who had summoned him, spoke coldly.

“Before I make every single employee foolish enough to trust you lose their jobs in this industry.”

The warning telling him to shut down B-bly and return to L&E carried the meaning of a threat.

The lonely side profile of Jeon Segye sitting alone in a car on a rainy road looked miserable.

“I... I’m not someone who should do this. I shouldn’t... like anyone.”

And so Jeon Segye pushed Nam Pyeonghwa away.

“I’m sorry. In a professional relationship... I’ll properly keep my boundaries. I won’t... cause trouble anymore.”

And Nam Pyeonghwa as well.

“Then don’t like me.”

They released this kind of preview right after the kiss scene, so there was no way the viewers of <Dongdaemun Romance> could remain mentally stable.

[HOT/ The <Dongdaemun Romance> kiss scene that drove viewers insane today.jpg]

(Kiss scene capture.jpg)

(Overlapping hands.jpg)

(Shot where only their jaws are visible between the cabinets.jpg)

And they didn’t even put music over it so now viewers’ brains are melting...

-Anonymous 1: Wait what??? Weren’t these idiots???

↳ Anonymous 3: Holy shit now they’re even calling them kindergarteners

↳ Anonymous 8: LMAOOOO but honestly they’re right T_T

-Anonymous 14: Seo Eden’s acting has seriously improved, I talked shit at the beginning and now I feel bad

-Anonymous 19: What is that camera composition?????? Arrest the director

↳ Anonymous 23: Excuse me???? Suddenly???

↳ Anonymous 35: Seriously though his freak level is impossible to measure;

Meanwhile, just like the promised Episode 8, comments flooded every single post related to <Dongdaemun Romance>.

-Anonymous 88: I thought it was finally going from comedy to romance and then the fucking preview... T_T

↳ Anonymous 92: Seriously how can they immediately throw us into heartbreak right after this?

IP 85.152 clutched their aching chest again. Just imagining poor Nam Pyeonghwa drawing a line immediately after her first love and first kiss made their heartbeat rise.

* * *

“As expected of Writer Hwang.”

“Seriously.”

The reporters at Daily Media who had just uploaded the article admired Hwang Boseok’s masterful push-and-pull skills.

“You’ve gotta immediately slam conflict down right after the kiss scene.”

“That’s how you keep ratings for a long time.”

“The pacing, the progression, there’s not a single weak point. Damn.”

Right. That’s just how the world worked.

Please just let them date already TT__TT Ah seriously please

=They absolutely cannot start dating yet

Please kiss already holy shit I’m begging you

=They absolutely cannot kiss

Can’t you just let them be happy now...? Please

=They absolutely cannot become happy

Seriously, just like viewers said, if you make them start dating too quickly people leave saying it got boring, and if you let them kiss too quickly they leave saying they’ve already seen everything worth seeing. The moment you make them happy, viewers become satisfied and switch channels.

Why did people call dramas a writer’s game?

Hwang Boseok understood the reason better than anyone.

“Senior, what about your side?”

“Why is nobody saying anything?”

“What are you doing?”

The reporters responsible for <Tamhok>, <There Is Only One Culprit>, and 〈Dear Judge〉, excluding the {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} <Dongdaemun Romance> reporters, all stayed silent.

The curious reporters walked around behind the monitors and immediately lost the ability to speak.

“Wow....”

“This is....”

“Damn....”

< Dongdaemun Romance > wasn’t the only show tossing viewers around with previews.

* * *

The legendary war of Korean dramas.

That was what this era was being called.

[HOT/ The <Tamhok> preview everyone says is insane.jpg]

[Issue Board/ Today’s spoiler from <There Is Only One Culprit> that made viewers piss themselves.jpg]

[DramaMovieActor TALK/ Dear Judge’s progression is seriously insane LMAO]

Living up to that title, the other three productions also boasted overwhelming quality and attention-grabbing power.

If <Dongdaemun Romance> squeezed viewers’ hearts with a tender, innocent kiss scene followed by spoilers hinting at suffering, the other productions each had their own weapons.

In <Tamhok>, Eun Baekhap obtained information about her mother’s affair partner to achieve even more perfect revenge.

“Did you upload the preview to Intube?”

“Yes! It’s done!”

In <There Is Only One Culprit>, the second murder case.

“How are reactions right now?”

“Our buzz volume and views are overwhelmingly first place!”

In 〈Dear Judge〉, Do Gyeoul beginning her courtroom battle.

“Check the views on Do Gyeoul’s acting clips.”

“They’re averaging one hundred thousand more than last week.”

These were incidents that couldn’t be overwhelmed by something as clumsy as a first kiss with your first love.

And so the ratings became:

<Tamhok> Episode 6 — 4.8%

〈Dear Judge〉 Episode 6 — 13.7%

<There Is Only One Culprit> Episode 6 — 14.9%

<Dongdaemun Romance> Episode 8 — 13.1%

<There Is Only One Culprit> was gradually widening the gap from the other productions and approaching 15% ratings.

“Next week.”

“Next week for sure.”

“When next week comes.”

The promotional teams for <Tamhok>, 〈Dear Judge〉, and <Dongdaemun Romance> all knew what awaited in their Episode 8s.

And the abilities of the lead actors performing as if possessed.

“We!”

“Absolutely!”

“Will win!”

It was acting that made them certain they would seize victory.

* * *

Myeong Jeha quietly watched the screen. It was his first time monitoring every production in real time.

Because until now, he had never once done such a thing.

If Myeong Jeha did not move, nothing changed. It was practically a truth of the world.

A law that could never be defied.

Because of Han Yeoreum, Myeong Jeha had become an audience member.

The protagonist had become merely a spectator in a world centered solely around Han Yeoreum.

Myeong Jeha became curious.

Just how much would Han Yeoreum overturn this world this time?

There were already countless things she had flipped upside down.

An unfamiliar anticipation tickled his firm lower abdomen.

Onscreen, Seo Eden and Nam Pyeonghwa’s kiss scene played.

Myeong Jeha quietly curled the corners of his lips upward and gave his review.

“Cute.”

After turning off the screen, Myeong Jeha checked the time. It was about time for him to get up.

Being a spectator wasn’t bad either, but nobody could remain on the viewing side forever.

Myeong Jeha casually draped on his coat.

Now it was time to walk into the leading role.

A role that had once been tiresome and exhausting.

Now, he wanted it willingly.

* * *

Hwang Boseok gazed wistfully once the moment he had waited for finally arrived.

“I’ll personally take responsibility and ruin your employees’ lives.”

Jeon Segye’s father spoke authoritatively.

“Especially that bitch who crawled out of Dongdaemun.”

The opponent was a chaebol. Jeon Segye, who knew this industry better than anyone, clenched his teeth.

“...Don’t touch her.”

“Where did you learn the habit of telling your father what to do?”

Elegantly slicing his steak, Segye’s father spoke expressionlessly.

“...If that’s the case.”

The question Jeon Segye had buried for years.

“Then why did you even marry my mother?”

Rather than beloved family, Jeon Segye and his mother had merely been impurities.

“If you’re a businessman, there are contracts you have to make even when you dislike them.”

Segye’s father called it a contract.

After being told to return quietly to L&E as a useful impurity and go on a blind date, Jeon Segye dragged himself toward the parking garage.

His face looked numb as he sat blankly gripping the steering wheel.

And then—

The electronic billboard beside a crosswalk stopped at a red light.

[Never date this kind of person!]

A dating YouTuber Jeon Segye watched frequently appeared on the screen.

-And without question, number one. The kind of person you should absolutely avoid is...

The billboard’s light reflected across Jeon Segye’s side profile.

-People who’ve never been loved. Feeling sorry for them and being drawn to them are separate things, because people who’ve never received love don’t know how to give it either. You must never give your heart to someone like that out of pity. Especially...

Rain began to fall.

Jeon Segye silently stared at the billboard when horns blared behind him. Slowly pressing the accelerator, Segye drove only a short distance before pulling over to the side of the road.

Harsh streams of rain crashed down across the soaked car.

Hooonk...

A weak horn echoed from Jeon Segye’s car. His shoulders, forehead buried against the steering wheel, looked endlessly small.

So that’s how it is.

In the end, I really can’t do it.

Without tears. Without words.

Jeon Segye’s heart could still be felt.

The next scene showed Jeon Segye drawing a line between them, and despite that, Pyeonghwa responding that she would continue loving him alone.

“...This is what I waited for.”

Hwang Boseok trembled while looking at the unprecedented kind of romance he had tried to create.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t love me back. Because I’m someone who won’t change.

Nam Pyeonghwa, saying those words, was breathing alive beyond the camera.

Han Yeoreum’s face, carrying the complete shape of love itself, shone brighter than ever before.

Even a top writer couldn’t help admiring the overwhelming presence of someone standing at the forefront of a new kind of protagonist, destroying every cliché in romance.

If it hadn’t been Han Yeoreum—

This moment could never have been created.

That fact moved Hwang Boseok in a way he had never experienced before.

Han Yeoreum’s Nam Pyeonghwa had allowed him to rediscover what he had lost long ago.

Simply the expression she used while looking at Segye, her gaze, her voice—

Even through the screen, it made Pyeonghwa feel alive.

Whenever Han Yeoreum appeared, the image quality itself seemed to change.

“Everyone grit your teeth and keep up until the end....”

Hwang Boseok’s face filled with joy as he watched Han Yeoreum.

Han Yeoreum was not acting.

Because she truly was Nam Pyeonghwa herself.

Han Yeoreum was breathing life into the production.

“But this is strange.”

Hwang Boseok stared at Nam Pyeonghwa and Jeon Segye on the screen.

“Was it always this good?”

Once someone reached Hwang Boseok’s level, prediction became possible. But the chemistry between those two in his mind had never been like this.

“They’re... surpassing what I imagined?”

At that same moment, above Han Yeoreum’s head as she filmed at a pojangmacha with Seo Eden, a skill sparkled.

[Perfect Match] B