“Thank you for your hard work.”
Once filming for Baeknyeoncho wrapped, Han Seongtae got straight into the car.
They had been shooting for over ten hours.
By the time he got in, Han Seongtae looked thoroughly exhausted.
“Seongtae, you worked really hard.”
“You worked hard too, hyung. We are heading straight to the company now, right?”
“Yeah, that was the plan. But you look really worn out. You do not have to push yourself.”
“No, hyung. I can go.”
At Jung Dusik’s voice, full of concern, Han Seongtae smiled and shook his head.
He was just a bit tired because there had been a lot of action scenes and emotional scenes.
If he rested even a little on the way, he would be able to move just fine.
[‘The One With a Thousand Faces’ says your acting today was good, but that your emotions wavered a little in the final scene.]
[‘The One Who Defined an Era’ explains that unrequited love is different from ordinary love and goes on to describe that difference.]
The moment he opened the script, he could see the gods of acting sending him their advice.
Their evaluations of Han Seongtae’s acting today.
Looking over the messages pointing out what had been lacking, Han Seongtae was jotting things down on the spot.
Their advice became flesh and blood for him.
Even the smallest comment was something he could not afford to just brush past.
He had written down so much advice that it could fill an entire book.
“Your acting was really good today. Seongtae, I feel like you are getting better and better as time goes by.”
“I am working hard, after all. How long until we arrive?”
“It says thirty minutes, but looking at the traffic I think it will be more like forty. Rest a bit until then.”
“Yes, hyung. Thank you.”
“Thank me for what?”
At Jung Dusik’s laugh, Han Seongtae smiled and looked over his script.
Forty minutes.
That was more than enough time for him to skim through the entire script.
[‘The Founder of Jeet Kune Do’ looks around and says it seems you have arrived.]
After he had been focused on the script for quite some time, a message suddenly popped up and blocked his view.
“Seongtae, we are here.”
“Yes, hyung.”
Right then, Jung Dusik spoke to him.
Nodding at his words, Han Seongtae put the script into his bag and immediately got out of the car.
“You know where the office is, right? Do you want to go up first?”
“Yes, hyung. I will head up.”
“Okay, I will park and come right up.”
“Yes, hyung.”
Watching the car head down into the underground parking lot, Han Seongtae started walking once it was out of sight.
On his way up in the elevator.
“…”
He could feel people glancing his way.
The employees of PAN Entertainment.
They were looking at him, but did not dare speak to him directly.
“That is Han Seongtae, right?”
“Yes, I think so. Wow, he is really handsome.”
“Exactly. He is not just handsome, he acts well too.”
He could hear them whispering.
At their voices, it felt like his face was heating up for no reason.
Being praised by someone was something to be grateful for, but sometimes it also came with embarrassment.
[‘The One Who Defined an Era’ tells you to straighten your shoulders confidently.]
[‘The One With a Thousand Faces’ says he felt gazes like that every day and adds that the more you act, the more eyes will be on you.]
Han Seongtae agreed wholeheartedly with the words of the gods of acting.
He had been an actor for over ten years.
Over that time, he had experienced many things and had enough experience to easily imagine situations like this.
It was just that he still was not used to those gazes.
Perhaps the greatest task given to Han Seongtae was to grow used to people’s eyes on him.
“Actor Han, welcome. Did Dusik not come with you?”
The moment he stepped into the Actor Team Two office, Min Najeong approached him with a bright smile.
At first, she had not fully trusted him, but now that he was producing results, her expression was brighter than ever.
“Dusik hyung said he would come after parking. I came up first.”
“Well done. Come and sit here.”
“Yes, thank you.”
He had gotten used to Jung Dusik, but there was still some awkwardness with Min Najeong.
Sitting across from her, Han Seongtae let out a quiet breath as he waited for Jung Dusik to arrive.
“Seongtae, did you see the first episode’s ratings?”
“Yes, I saw that it was 8 percent.”
“I am glad you saw it. I knew you were good at acting, but I did not think it would be to this extent. Do you know that everyone is talking about you right now? It is not just the ratings, the praise for your acting is through the roof.”
“It is a relief that people see it positively.”
“Relief is not the word. For a first year actor, and as a supporting role at that, to be in a drama that hits 8 percent is not an easy thing at all.”
On top of that, it was almost unheard of for a supporting actor to have such a big impact on ratings.
At her words, Han Seongtae laughed and scratched his cheek.
He himself had been surprised and flustered when he saw the ratings and people’s reactions.
“There are even predictions that the next episode or the one after might reach 10 percent. What do you think, Mr. Han?”
“It would be nice if it turned out well.”
He had somehow managed to predict the ratings of the first episode using his memories from his past life.
But predicting the ratings from here on out would be difficult.
Changes were constantly happening.
From now on, everything was entirely in the hands of the public.
“I think the ratings will come out as good as people’s expectations.”
Just as Han Seongtae was speaking with a smile.
“Looks like you were in the middle of a conversation.”
Having finished parking, Jung Dusik sat down next to him.
Seeing him, Han Seongtae felt genuinely relieved.
“Since Mr. Dusik is here too, shall we get to the main point. Actor Han, would you be interested in shooting commercials?”
“Commercials?”
“Yes. The reaction to Baeknyeoncho is so good, and it is the same for films like The War of Villains. Above all, the demand for the character Ji Yeonwoo is high. There are quite a few advertisers who want you. This is the list.”
Taking the papers that Min Najeong handed over, Han Seongtae quickly scanned through them and blinked.
There were more commercial offers than he had expected.
Looking over them, he raised his head and met Min Najeong’s eyes.
“May I speak frankly?”
“Of course. If there is anything you want to say, please say it right away.”
“I do not really want to shoot commercials. Commercials themselves are a way of consuming an image, and personally I want to focus entirely on acting.”
“Ah, I completely understand. I really do.”
At his words, she laughed and nodded.
“Even so, I think it would be good to shoot at least one. Sometimes commercials can help build your image as well.”
“Hm…”
“More than anything, if you shoot commercials, the range of things you can do will broaden.”
Smiling as she spoke, she watched him, and Han Seongtae nodded.
He knew very well what she meant by saying that shooting commercials would increase what he would be able to do.
‘If I shoot commercials, I can earn that much more money.’
It was not a bad proposal for him either.
If you looked at both his past life and his current one, his life had always been closely tied to poverty.
Filming movies and dramas had given him some breathing room, but not enough to call his situation abundant.
“I would like to do commercials that match my image.”
“That is only natural. We have no intention of ordering you around about this.”
At her words, Han Seongtae smiled and nodded.
He had long known that they were being considerate of him.
Taking his eyes off Min Najeong, he looked back down at the list of commercials.
So many offers.
“…Huh?”
Among them, one thing caught his eye.
[‘The One With a Thousand Faces’ makes a strange face as he looks at the commercial you are reading.]
[‘The One Who Defined an Era’ bursts out laughing, saying it would suit you well.]
It was a pet supplies commercial.
“Sigh… Why is Han Seongtae oppa so handsome?”
There was someone watching Baeknyeoncho.
She had been keeping an eye on Han Seongtae ever since Race Start.
After that, she had become a fan through The War of Villains, and with Baeknyeoncho she had fallen completely for him.
“I wish there was someone like Ji Yeonwoo for me too.”
She was already rewatching the same episode for the fifth time, and her expression was full of happiness.
The happiness she felt from watching Han Seongtae act.
“Ah, when will the next episode come out?”
Looking at the drama that had already finished playing, she murmured softly in regret.
After staring for a moment at the screen that had gone black, she reached to the side and picked up her smartphone.
Han Seongtae’s fan café, created back during The War of Villains.
―Hello.
―SeongtaeForever: Ah, welcome, Han’s Invasion-nim!
―YeonwooILoveSoMuch: Han’s Invasion-nim, did you watch the new episode? It is so good!
―Yes, I think I already watched it about five times. It was so good.
―SeongtaeForever: Exactly. Our Seongtae oppa acts so well, right?
……
……
There, she was using the nickname “Han’s Invasion.”
A nickname meaning “Han Seongtae’s charm invades.”
She chatted with other fans, sharing the information they had about him.
From photos to videos.
The amount they had gathered was considerable.
“Today was fun too.”
Only once night had fully fallen did their chatting finally end.
“He is so handsome.”
Staring up at the photo of Han Seongtae stuck to her ceiling, she closed her eyes with a satisfied expression.
A day with no filming.
Han Seongtae headed to school early.
“Hm…”
On his way to the department room, he felt a strange sensation at all the gazes pouring onto him.
They were looking at him with curious expressions, as if they were looking at a celebrity.
“I did not think anyone would actually talk to me.”
Someone had even asked for his autograph, so he could not help feeling a bit flustered.
At last, he reached the department room.
“Oh, you are here.”
Kim Minseok greeted him while tapping away at his laptop keyboard.
“Hey, have you seen this? It is the school community board. The reactions from the kids are no joke.”
“I know. On my way here, there were people coming up to talk to me.”
At Han Seongtae’s words, Kim Minseok nodded as if he understood completely.
“You really have gotten famous. It is all about you.”
Telling him to see for himself, Kim Minseok turned the laptop so he could see the screen.
―Anonymous 3: Yo, Han Seongtae is here.
―Anonymous 7: For real?
―Anonymous 3: Yeah. I even talked to him just now.
―Anonymous 4: Wow, that is insane. If I had known, I would have come to campus earlier. I cannot believe Yeonwoo goes to our school.
―Anonymous 2: It is insane for sure. People from other schools are going crazy asking us to introduce them to Han Seongtae.
Looking at the community posts going up in real time, a faint smile appeared on Han Seongtae’s face.
Change was happening not only on the internet but in reality as well.
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