A movie that greatly grabbed people’s attention with its 3rd teaser.
[The Chaser]
On the day of its release, perhaps it was because it was a much-anticipated work that had finally come out after a long time.
Good seats were already sold out.
The remaining seats were mostly the ones where you couldn’t see the screen properly.
“I knew this would happen.”
Han Bong-sik, a 1 million subscriber YouTuber, murmured this as he stepped into the theater.
It had been a long time since he visited the cinema for a Korean movie, as he usually reviews various video media.
There hadn’t been any Korean films worthy of being called anticipated works for a while, and Bong-sik himself hadn’t been particularly interested either.
“But I never expected to suddenly gain interest.”
The initial trigger came when he reviewed a certain drama.
It was none other than [Dream Future].
A youthful romance drama that recently achieved quite respectable ratings.
The viewership rating for the first episode topped 20 percent, as Bong-sik predicted, and that alone made him receive reactions like “How did you know?”
His review led to an impressive increase of 100,000 subscribers!
In other words, Han Bong-sik was now a 1.1 million subscriber YouTuber.
“Ah, but the ratings have only been dropping since then.”
He had a rough idea of why.
The explosive viewership of [Dream Future]‘s first episode was entirely due to “Jo Ha-rin.”
In other words, it was the character played by Joo Seo-yeon that made the show a hit.
To be honest, before that, most reactions were mocking, citing that the overly lighthearted or musical drama was unfamiliar to people.
However, no one laughed during Jo Ha-rin’s singing parts.
Viewers of [Dream Future] naturally empathized with her emotions through her acting.
Her performance captivated audiences from the very first airing.
However, since she hadn’t been featured much in episodes 2 and 3…
“Well, she should appear in episode 4.”
Today was the day of the release of [Dream Future] episode 4.
Given her lesser role in episodes 2 and 3, there was hope that her presence would increase in episode 4.
A single actress had fueled anticipation for the drama.
“Now that I’ve heard she’s just turned 10, it’s impressive, isn’t it?”
– Yeah, yeah.
– Are you watching the first screening of [The Chaser]?
– I heard there was a private premiere, but no information has been released at all.
– I’ve been a fan of Joo Seo-yeon since her child actor days, seriously she’s grown so well.
Before the movie started, Bong-sik briefly turned on the broadcast.
It served as a sort of authentication that he was watching the first screening of [The Chaser].
“It’s strange that a drama would lead me to watch a movie.”
To be precise, it wasn’t exactly only because of the drama.
It was one actress.
A young actress named Joo Seo-yeon moved him.
“I heard that ticketing power is quite important for actors, but honestly, I never believed that. I thought it should be about how interesting the movie is…”
Bong-sik could no longer say that.
However, he didn’t feel bad about it.
Perhaps among those who visited the cinema today, many were also drawn in by the 3rd teaser.
“I’ll be doing a brief review of the movie this evening.”
Too much anticipation before watching a film isn’t good.
After saying this to his viewers, Bong-sik turned off the broadcast.
Then, he entered the theater and took his seat for [The Chaser].
Advertisements flowed from the large screen.
After about 10 minutes of ads, the previously noisy cinema quieted down as the actual film began.
Shhwoosh
The sound of rain, just like in the teaser.
Puddled splatter, splatter. The sound of feet stomping through a puddle could be heard.
Drag, drag.
There was a heavy sound as if dragging a substantial object.
As heavy background music played, Bong-sik watched.
It evoked a sense of tension in the audience.
It was a person in a yellow raincoat.
A small physique.
Yet, in that hand was a red fireman’s axe.
The axe, stained with blood, looked eerily threatening on its own.
“P-please, help me… help, please…”
A man dragged along whimpered.
Both his arms and legs were soaked in blood.
The wounds suggested roughly what might have befallen him at the hands of the culprit.
“W-who are you?! What did I do wrong…?”
Thud.
The culprit let go of him as he trembled and spoke.
Perhaps he was being released; as he squirmed.
Crack.
The sound of skin breaking echoed.
Blood splattered.
As the axe came down, the man’s words were drowned out by the sound of rain.
It was unclear exactly where the axe struck, but given the sudden silence that followed, one could imagine.
“….”
The culprit gazed down at him for a moment, slowly pulling back the hood of the raincoat.
Long black hair cascaded down.
Those surprisingly red irises filled the screen.
With a pale, and breathtakingly beautiful face.
The audience momentarily lost their words at the sight.
Han Bong-sik felt the same.
The scene he had seen in the third teaser was the very first to play out.
‘Is this really the same actress?’
Jo Ha-rin from [Dream Future] had been a lovely girl.
Bright and overflowing with dreams, a simple girl.
But the woman before him looked nothing like that.
The reason he had come to watch this movie was indeed because of the actress Joo Seo-yeon right in front of him.
But it was also true that his subscriber count had grown due to [Dream Future].
The thought of reviewing [The Chaser] seemed perfectly timed!
But at this moment, Han Bong-sik became not a calculating reviewer but a mere audience member.
“What the hell, who is this?”
“They seem to resemble the murderer from the recent killing spree. The method matches.”
“Hah.”
Shortly after, the police appeared, while the culprit naturally slipped away from the scene.
As the heavy background music faded, a light tune played.
Two detectives drove in an old police car.
And thus, the movie began.
In just 5 minutes, it captured the audience’s attention.
*
“Ah.”
“Ah.”
A man and a woman wearing sunglasses met at the cinema.
While they had dressed up to avoid recognition, it wasn’t hard to recognize each other.
After all, it was the exact same disguise as when they met previously.
“…Do high schools end early these days?”
“It seems you don’t have any shoots recently, senior.”
The woman with a fox-like appearance laughed playfully as Jo Seo-hee spoke.
Park Jung-woo clicked his tongue upon hearing her words.
“You really don’t suit the school uniform.”
“…”
At Park Jung-woo’s remark, Jo Seo-hee glared sharply at him.
Her fiery gaze made Park Jung-woo flinch for a moment.
“By the way, our seating is… Oh, they are different.”
“Thank goodness. I almost wouldn’t have been able to immerse myself in the movie.”
While their seats were close together, they were quite far apart.
From the start, Jo Seo-hee was in a very expensive private box seat known as the sky box.
“You must have a lot of money.”
“Oh my, why did you reserve a standard seat?”
“Because some things are better understood from the perspective of a regular audience member.”
“…”
Jo Seo-hee felt awkward by Park Jung-woo’s exemplary words.
What was this? A seat she paid a premium for, but somehow felt like she had become a nouveau riche.
‘More importantly.’
‘Anyway.’
Both Jo Seo-hee and Park Jung-woo seemed curious about Joo Seo-yeon’s performance as a “murderer” in [The Chaser].
Especially Jo Seo-hee, who had difficulty reaching out since their previous work ‘Gyeongseong Young Lady,’ was thinking about casually contacting her again through this movie.
‘Others are probably feeling the same way.’
Park Jung-woo noticed the numerous people who had filled the cinema.
Of course, he couldn’t recognize any faces among them.
But given the impressive performance Joo Seo-yeon had shown in [Dream Future], many would surely be there to properly recognize her through [The Chaser].
Directors from the movies and dramas.
Various advertising sponsors.
Or perhaps fellow actors.
This level of interest was already considerable for just one drama.
If any industry insiders felt this way, they would likely agree.
‘It’s instinct to be attracted to brilliant beings.’
Park Jung-woo thought this way as he settled into his cinema seat.
And just like Park Jung-woo’s thoughts,
“You look really excited.”
“Ah, really?”
“Of course. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that face.”
Upon hearing that, a smile appeared on the face of the man known as the chief, though it bore a few more wrinkles than before.
“It’s because of a long-awaited reunion.”
“Given that the chief said that, I’m even more excited.”
The man who was called chief smiled back at the words of his cherished PD.
He then gazed at the film, where rain was falling.
Reflected in it was the face of a convenience store part-timer.
‘Joo Seo-yeon.’
Looking at her, Ha Tae-oh, the drama chief, calmly smiled.
He expected what kind of performance she would showcase this time.
*
The first day screening of [The Chaser] received explosive reactions.
Particularly, the most mentioned topic was:
[The emotional expression incapacity that made Cha Seo-ah the culprit?]
[Twist! A total image transformation from Jo Ha-rin of [Dream Future].]
[Two veterans, and one rising star.]
These were articles focused on Seo-yeon, who played the murderer Cha Seo-ah.
As soon as the film released, articles began pouring in without hesitation.
“Did you see Jinha?”
“Yeah, they mentioned something from above…”
Of course, Im Jinha had no time to search for articles about himself.
He was too busy being summoned here and there.
The viewership ratings for [Dream Future] rebounded in episode 4.
However, it was too early for him to feel happy about that.
The reason was clear.
“This instant rebound happened because of Joo Seo-yeon, right? Even Im writer knows?”
Even Baek PD, who had ties with her, cautiously mentioned this.
Even though he wasn’t even involved with [Dream Future], he felt compelled to say it.
“It’s 620,000. The audience count for the first day of [The Chaser].”
Just counting the first-day audience, it was the second-highest number this year.
Even when including foreign films.
For a thriller, this audience number was astonishing.
Honestly, from Im Jinha’s perspective, it felt like the world was unjustly against him.
Could this really be happening?
“Do you know? Especially since it opened on a Tuesday. I can’t even guess how many will show up during the weekend. And also…”
Baek PD turned to Im Jinha, who had kept silent.
“Joo Seo-yeon, the mentions regarding that actress are exceptional.”
“I-I know.”
After all, she was the one who had skyrocketed the ratings by 5 percent by merely appearing.
Even if her appearances were limited.
“Make sure to keep script revisions in mind.”
“Huh?”
Im Jinha was taken aback, not expecting Baek PD to say something like that.
The expression on his face must’ve seemed comical to Baek PD, who shook his head.
“I can’t stop it. This matter comes from much higher up.”
“Higher up?”
“I’m saying this as a friend of Im writer. If you want to continue your writing career for long, having some leeway is advantageous. The hierarchy is aware of everything. I say this with care out of concern.”
They knew everything.
Im Jinha roughly guessed what he meant.
Blurry-eyed and confused, he could only nod silently.
No matter how many hits you have, there are plenty of writers with that level of experience.
Even the most powerful writers can’t go against the stories when the upper management starts talking.
Especially if Baek PD, who never spoke this way, announces it.
‘What the hell is [The Chaser]?’
It ignited curious questions.
And the actress behind all that uproar, Seo-yeon…
“…?”
After two days of school absence.
As Seo-yeon entered the classroom with light steps, she was greeted by a plethora of indescribable gazes.
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