Chapter: 94
The movie that drew massive public attention with its third teaser: The Chaser.
The opening day.
Was it because it was a long-awaited film?
All the good seats were already gone!
The remaining ones were mainly in the back where you couldn’t see the screen properly.
“I knew this would happen.”
One million YouTuber Han Bong-sik muttered as he stepped into the theater.
Even he, who reviews various video media, hadn’t visited a cinema for a Korean film in a long time.
To be fair, there hadn’t been many Korean films worth getting excited about lately, and he hadn’t really been interested either.
‘But who would have thought I’d suddenly become interested like this?’
It all began when he reviewed a certain drama.
Specifically, Dream Future.
The youthful romance drama that had recently been performing rather well.
The viewership metrics skyrocketed over 20 percent in its first episode, just as Bong-sik had predicted, garnering him a wave of “How’d you know?” reactions.
That one review earned him 100,000 new subscribers!
So now, Han Bong-sik was officially a YouTuber with 1.1 million followers.
“Ha, but then the viewership just kept dropping.”
He had a pretty good idea why.
The initial boom in Dream Future’s ratings was solely due to one character: Jo Ha-rin.
In other words, it was the role portrayed by Joo Su-yeon.
Frankly, before that, the overly light-hearted or musical nature of the drama had led to a lot of mockery.
But at least no one laughed at the part where Jo Ha-rin sang.
Viewers naturally empathized with her emotions when she acted.
Her performance had captivated the audience during the show’s first broadcast.
Yet, in the second and third episodes, she had barely appeared, so…
“Well, she has to show up in the fourth episode, right?”
Today was the release day for Dream Future Episode 4.
Given how little she had been featured in Episodes 2 and 3, there was hope her role would be amplified this time.
One single actor had managed to spark anticipation for a drama.
“They say you’re now in your teens, which is impressive, right?”
– Agreed!
– Is this the first showing of The Chaser you’re going to?
– I heard there was a private screening, but no info available whatsoever.
– I’ve been a fan since Joo Su-yeon’s childhood, sob sob, she really grew up well!
Before the movie started, Bong-sik turned on his stream briefly.
It was almost like he was proving he was watching the first showing of The Chaser.
‘Because of a drama, I ended up watching a movie.’
Technically, it wasn’t just because of the drama.
It was thanks to one young actress.
Joo Su-yeon stirred something inside him.
“I’ve heard that an actor’s ticketing power is quite significant, but honestly, I never believed it. I thought the movie had to be interesting to matter…”
Bong-sik could no longer say that.
Still, it didn’t leave a bad taste.
Perhaps some of those who came to the theater had been drawn in by the third teaser, too.
“I’ll do a short review of the movie later tonight.”
Over-exciting oneself before watching isn’t good.
After saying that to his viewers, Bong-sik turned off the stream.
Then, he entered the theater for The Chaser and took his seat.
Adverts rolled across the giant screen.
After about ten minutes of advertisements, the chatter in the theater began to quiet down as the film finally started.
Pitter patter, pitter patter…
The sound of rain that had been featured in the trailer.
The sound of footsteps splashing through puddles reverberated.
Whew.
And then, the sound of something heavy being dragged.
Heavy, suspenseful music echoed as Bong-sik watched.
And it filled the audience with tension.
That was when a figure clad in a yellow raincoat appeared.
A small figure.
But in their hand was a red fire axe.
The blood-stained axe alone looked absolutely chilling.
“P-please, help me… help…!”
A man being dragged along whimpered.
Both his arms and legs were soaked in blood.
The injuries he bore hinted at what had been done to him by the perpetrator.
“W-who are you? What did I do wrong?”
Thud!
As he trembled and spoke, the culprit released his grip.
Was he perhaps letting him go? As the man squirmed with hope,
Crack!
The sound of skin being pierced resounded.
Blood splattered.
As the axe came down, the man’s cries drowned out in the rain noises.
Exactly where the axe hit him wasn’t shown.
But judging by the way the man went silent in an instant, you could infer it wasn’t good at all.
“…”
The culprit looked down at him for a moment and slowly pulled back the hood of the raincoat.
Long black hair flowed down.
A hint of crimson in those eyes filled the screen.
With a pale, yet incredibly beautiful face.
The audience collectively gasped.
Han Bong-sik was no exception.
The scene from the third teaser was right there at the very beginning.
‘Is this really the same actress?’
Jo Ha-rin from Dream Future had been a lovely girl.
Bright and full of dreams, yet innocent.
But the woman before his eyes was entirely different.
The reason he had come to watch the movie was undoubtedly because of the actress Joo Su-yeon right in front of him.
But it was also true that his subscriber count had grown thanks to Dream Future.
‘It would be perfect to review The Chaser here!’ he calculated.
But at this moment.
Han Bong-sik felt transformed from a calculating reviewer into a true audience member.
“What the hell?! Who is this?”
“Seems like a copycat of a recent murder case. Same MO.”
“Ha.”
Then police officers appeared, and the culprit casually slipped away from the scene.
The heavy background music faded, replaced by a lighter tune.
Two detectives rode in an aged police car, making their way through the city.
And thus,
The movie began.
With just five minutes in, it had seized the audience’s attention.
*
“Ah.”
“Ah.”
Two individuals wearing sunglasses encountered each other in the theater.
Even with their attempts at disguise, it wasn’t hard to recognize them.
I mean, they were dressed just like when they met last time.
“……Do schools end early these days?”
“Looks like you don’t have any filming projects right now, Senior.”
The woman with a sly smile, Jo Seo-hee, teased.
Hearing her words, Park Jung-woo clicked his tongue.
“You really don’t suit school uniforms.”
“……”
At that, Seo-hee shot him a sharp glare.
Her fierce gaze made Jung-woo flinch momentarily.
“More importantly, the seats… ah, they’re different.”
“Good thing too. I almost wouldn’t have been able to get into the movie.”
Though they were in the same theater, their seats were quite far apart.
Originally, Seo-hee had a sky-box, an extremely expensive private seat.
“You’ve got money, huh?”
“Oh please, why’d you book in a regular seat?”
“Gotta see these things from a regular audience’s perspective to feel it, you know?”
“……”
Seo-hee felt a bit awkward at Park Jung-woo’s exemplary statement.
What the heck? It felt weird to have spent extra money and to have struggled to get a seat only to feel like a nouveau riche.
‘Moreover…’
‘Whatever.’
It looked like The Chaser had sparked a great deal of interest.
Right there in front of her, Park Jung-woo, and Seo-hee were both eager to see Joo Su-yeon’s portrayal of the ‘murderess.’
Especially Seo-hee, who had drifted out of contact after their last project, The Gyeongseong Lady, was planning to reach out again thanks to this film.
‘Our interest isn’t the only one out there.’
Jung-woo observed the multitude of people arriving at the theater.
Of course, he couldn’t identify any familiar faces among them.
But having seen Su-yeon’s remarkable performance in Dream Future, there were bound to be many who had come looking to get a real grasp on this actress through The Chaser.
Directors, advertisers, and even fellow actors.
There was too much buzz for a single drama that hardly began.
If any industry insiders were present, they’d surely get that feeling too.
‘Attraction to a shining presence is primal instinct.’
Jung-woo thought to himself as he settled into his seat.
And then.
Just as Jung-woo thought this.
“You have an incredibly expectant face.”
“Oh, do I?”
“Absolutely. It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a face.”
Her words brought a smile to Jung-woo’s otherwise wrinkled face, not unlike in his younger years.
“It’s because it’s been a long-awaited reunion.”
“If the department head thinks so, I’m all the more excited now.”
The man known as the department head smiled, as the scene of rain unfolded on the screen.
The image of a convenience store employee reflected back at him.
‘Joo Su-yeon.’
As he looked at her, Hwa Tae-oh, head of the drama department, smiled calmly.
He anticipated what kind of performance she would deliver this time.
*
The first day screening of The Chaser elicited explosive reactions.
Among the most frequently mentioned topics were:
[What’s this emotional blockage that turned Cha Seo-ah into a criminal?]
[The twist! A transformation entirely different from Jo Ha-rin in Dream Future!]
[Two veterans, and an emerging star!]
It was clear that articles showcasing Seoyeon’s portrayal as the murderer Cha Seo-ah dominated the headlines.
As if the moment the film was released, articles flowed like a waterfall.
“Did you see it, Jin-ha?”
“Yeah, I heard some chatter from the top…”
Of course, Im Jin-ha had no time to look up articles.
He was too busy running around in various directions.
In fact, Dream Future’s viewership surged for Episode 4.
However, he couldn’t be too happy about it.
The reasons for this were painfully evident.
“This rebound suddenly came about because of Joo Su-yeon. You know that too, right?”
Even Baek PD, who was close to her, cautiously brought this up.
Even for those not related to Dream Future, this was their observation.
“620,000. That’s the audience count for The Chaser’s first day.”
Only counting the opening day, this number was the second highest of the year.
Even including foreign films.
For a thriller, this audience count was jaw-dropping.
Honestly, for Im Jin-ha, this felt like the world itself was going against him.
Is this really how the industry operates?
“Keep in mind, it opened on a Tuesday. Who knows how many will show up on the weekend?”
And Baek PD continued speaking to Jin-ha, who had abruptly gone silent.
“Joo Su-yeon’s name is really getting thrown around a lot.”
“I know.”
She was the one who had raised the viewership by a notable 5 percent on her own.
Even with limited appearance.
“Keep script revisions in mind.”
“Pardon?”
Im Jin-ha was shocked, never thinking that Baek PD would say this to him.
Reading the expression on Jin-ha’s face, Baek shook his head.
“I can’t stop it. This is coming from way above.”
“Above, you say?”
“I’m saying this as someone who’s friends with you. If you want to keep writing scripts for a long time, it’s best to be adaptable. They’re all aware of it from the top down. I’m just looking out for you.”
They already know everything.
It was easy to guess what he meant by that.
Im Jin-ha simply nodded dumbly.
No matter how many hits a writer has, if they look closely enough, they can find many with equal experience.
Even if you have clout, when people at the top start paying attention, one cannot push back.
Especially if Baek PD went that far to tell him.
‘What on earth is The Chaser all about?’
He found himself curious.
And then.
That actress who’d caused all this upheaval.
Seoyeon.
“……?”
After two days back at school.
As she stepped into the classroom with light steps, she was greeted with
indescribable stares.
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