Yeo Sujeong, the writer, originally had a personality that didn’t pay much attention to other people’s works.
Because one slip-up could lead to unconscious plagiarism.
The scenes that deeply impressed her always stuck in her mind.
While writing scripts, those influences could sneak in, unbeknownst to her.
So, even when the second episode of “Hydream” caused a frenzy,
She thought, “So what if they’re good-looking? It’s all the same in the end.”
She deliberately ignored it.
The ratings were low enough that she wouldn’t even want to watch in the first place.
Just a slight escape from their good looks and things calmed down.
And her thoughts didn’t change even when episodes 3, 4, and 5 aired.
Click, click.
“But since my sister is doing it, it does stress me out a bit.”
She didn’t bother watching, but she knew how things were going.
She only knew that the viewership wasn’t rising drastically.
“Can we watch ‘Hydream,’ Writer-nim…?”
“Uh, of course! Why would you need permission to watch TV, is this the Joseon Dynasty?”
“Hehe, thank you.”
She didn’t really impose any restrictions.
She just didn’t want to be influenced by her own work.
She didn’t mind what her assistant writers were watching.
They were creators too, and each had their own way of writing.
This was Yeo Sujeong’s way of being considerate.
But then, in the midst of this…
“Ahhhhh!”
She heard a scream.
Not a scream of fright, but a scream of excitement.
They weren’t the type to react like that while watching TV, so what was going on?
For the first time in her life, Yeo Sujeong became curious.
These were assistant writers who had watched countless dramas and movies.
But were they screaming like that?
“Should I check for a moment?”
Still, she had her conviction of not watching, so she didn’t outright look but cracked the door open just a bit.
Peeking in.
As soon as she opened the door, her first reaction was auditory.
A classical piano sound tickled her ears sweetly, and then, without any warning, an absurdly good-looking face hit her heart like a ton of bricks.
“…I almost screamed.”
That good-looking? Is that even allowed?
“Is something wrong here?”
How many celebrities had she seen while running around broadcasting stations?
The male actors who made you kneel when you saw them in person? She’d seen them all.
But even so, it wasn’t to this extent.
She wondered if they edited the footage afterward.
To see such a face on TV without any warning was not good for her heart.
“This viewership rate is bound to rise.”
Having seen that face, she had to see it all.
Yeo Sujeong shut the door and turned on the TV in her room.
Beep.
Of course, she muted the sound.
Removal.
At the same time, I started searching the community.
I couldn’t not do this.
ㄴ Kim Donghu [This guy is talking nonsense.txt
ㄴ If you look at the plot of Hydream, those band losers have to beat Lee Jae-yi, right? LOL
ㄴ What band? You wanna die? I'm going classic, I know the vibe.
ㄴ Boosting the ratings? Super easy, right?
ㄴ But isn't this thing going to disappear after a few times?
ㄴ Make sure Lee Jae-yi shows up more often!!!
Of course, the real-time search ranking's number one was Lee Jae-yi.
And all the related search terms below were also trending.
1. Lee Jae-yi
2. Hydream Lee Jae-yi
3. Kim Donghu
4. Kim Donghu Facetome
5. Grand Piano
6. Moonlight Sonata
I couldn't believe it as I watched.
This time, Lee Jae-yi had a screentime of barely 10 minutes.
You could argue that's a lot, but it's nowhere near the main or supporting characters.
Yet still.
ㄴ Kim Donghu, is this really your first work?
ㄴ Wow...
ㄴ I heard he's 15 now, is he getting cocky?
ㄴ You take care of yourself, haha.
ㄴ So is it true that the Hydream kids beat Jae-yi?
ㄴ But no matter how I see it, it feels rigged. Just look at how he plays the piano, he's a pro. Did they use a double?
ㄴ There are always those bottom feeders ready to tear down anyone who does well.
ㄴ But seriously, he's ridiculously handsome, it's kind of scary... like, terrifying to look in a mirror.
ㄴ I can relate.
The one ruling the portal site was Lee Jae-yi.
No, it was Kim Donghu.
'The viewer's board is in chaos.'
The content of Hydream wasn't anything incredible.
It was a typical story of an underdog winning in a youth band drama.
But with Kim Donghu added, the synergy was beyond reason.
'Is it really right to see this as synergy?'
It's just Kim Donghu devouring everything.
As that thought crossed her mind, Yeo Sujeong looked at the script she was writing.
It felt like a truly perfect story.
A historical romance set in a fictional Joseon.
Her confidence that it couldn't fail slightly diminished with the mere presence of Kim Donghu.
'What if actor Kim Donghu appears in another drama at the same time as mine?'
With that absurd appearance,
With that tremendous acting,
What if he annihilates my drama in another show?
Tap tap tap.
As urgency filled her heart, her thumb moved quickly.
She had somewhere written down Min-ha unnie's address, but where did I note that?
Contacting the management wouldn't work.
That approach was for amateurs.
That approach was amateurish.
You really have to pull strings among acquaintances to maximize the recruitment effect.
The connections between writers and actors shouldn’t be underestimated.
“I just gotta find it, right now!”
As soon as she found the address, writer Yeo Sujeong hurried out of her studio.
When the assistant writers asked where she was going, she answered, “To claim my treasure.”
+++++
After the sixth episode aired.
Kim Donghu's name started to spread across South Korea.
Back in the second episode, everyone thought he was just ridiculously handsome.
But by the sixth episode? His looks were just the base; he was playing the piano and acting at a level that was beyond belief.
Moreover, since most of the members of Hydream were newcomers,
His acting skills stood out even more.
The world was curious.
Who on earth was Kim Donghu?
His Facetome followers were already at 80,000.
But it seemed he didn’t want to communicate, as he had blocked all the DMs.
Even attempts to contact the agency faced resistance,
As the agency was extremely reluctant to expose any information under the pretense of protecting the actor.
But this was an extremely reasonable response from Veritas’s CEO, Choi Seok-ho.
He was only fifteen.
He still had school to attend,
And he should be free to pursue whatever he wanted.
Recently, while spending quality time with his family after a long break,
He couldn’t possibly be troubled by paparazzi invading his private life, right?
That was completely out of the question for Choi Seok-ho.
“There are a lot of ads coming in, though.”
But they were all undervaluing Kim Donghu’s worth.
Seriously? Trying to haggle down the price of a monster actor who’d boosted the ratings by about 5%?
“Seriously, this is ridiculous.”
Kim Donghu was an actor whose future value was overwhelmingly high compared to his current one.
He was already showing immense value, but compared to his future potential?
“I honestly believe our Donghu will just waltz into Cannes or Hollywood.”
So, he had to be extremely careful with every little thing from his past.
Especially when it came to advertisements.
That’s why Choi Seok-ho continued to reject commercials.
Unless the contractual conditions were impeccable or there was something symbolic about it, he had no intention of accepting.
Then, suddenly—
“Wait, what?”
Something caught Choi Seok-ho's eye.
“Is this already in?”
If soju is the measure of popularity for adult celebrities,
What’s the popularity measure for teen celebrities? It’s one of those things that never fails to pop up.
“Donghu, just how far ahead are you going?”
A school uniform commercial proposal had arrived in an email.
The offer had arrived via email.
Recently, Director Kang Sang-hun's mood showed no signs of improving. Every day seemed bleaker, and from afar, it looked like storm clouds were gathering.
People wanted to know what was wrong, but when they got close to Director Kang, his grim expression left them speechless.
Still, he wasn't letting it interfere with work, so maybe it was best to just ignore it? But then one day, his expression took a turn for the worse.
It was at the level of an apple ready to rot, and even the shine on his prized Guan Yu beard vanished.
From the production crew to the actors, everyone was curious about Director Kang's state.
"Is it possible that he can only use Kim Donghu this much?"
Director Kang was recalling the contents of Episode 6 of "Hydream."
A piano? Was he really planning to showcase Donghu's charm with something so trivial? It brought tears to his eyes to think his actor was reduced to such a small scale.
"How much has the kid suffered?"
Even if he wanted to elevate his talent to the fullest, the environment wasn’t supporting him. What a sad story.
But it was okay now.
"Donghu, I'm here for you."
As of today, it was goodbye to Hydream. Now it was the age of endless battle lines. The climax of shooting was just ahead.
Hehehe.
Director Kang turned his gaze toward actor Kim Donghu, who was sitting there with a pristine script he seemed to have never read before, focused as could be. He must have been applying all those notes he'd written over time to the script.
Swish swish.
Just like that, as soon as he laid eyes on Kim Donghu, Director Kang's expression started to brighten up, just like a sunflower turning toward the sun. Seeing Donghu recharged him.
"I heard Donghu won't be in episodes 7 and 8. What's up with that?"
If it were me, I would never write Donghu out like that.
With a confident grin, Director Kang stroked his Guan Yu beard.
Shiny shiny.
The luster of his Guan Yu beard returned.
"Start getting ready."
"Yep!"
The highlight of the endless war and the climax for the Student Soldiers was finally here, and it was time to bring out 100% of Kim Donghu!
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