Chapter 72: Expansion (1)
Translator: Dreamscribe
What? She was in the same major as me? That’s crazy. Kang Woojin almost revealed his true self to the female employee by asking, ‘Do you know me? I don’t know you?’.
However, Woojin barely held it in while continuing to stare at the female employee, trying to recall the past.
‘Who is she? Wait, why can’t I remember? Come on, try to remember.’
But he came up empty. Time had passed quite a bit, and he didn’t recognize the female employee’s face.
‘No, I really don’t know her. Who the heck is she?’
Were they close? That seemed unlikely. If they were even a little close, he would remember. It was vague. Actually, Woojin didn’t have many close female friends in college. He was more of an introvert.
And Woojin knew one thing for sure.
‘Women change a lot.’
Having a younger sister made this more apparent. In the past, his sister looked completely different when she was lounging at home versus going out. So, Woojin often teased her about it.
‘Hey, is your room a plastic surgery clinic? Where’s my sister? Why is a different person coming out?’
‘Ah! Shut up!’
‘You should go for the Guinness World Records as a ‘two-faced woman.”
‘Mom! Brother’s making fun of me!’
Just a slight change in makeup can drastically alter a woman’s appearance. Maybe the woman in front of him had plastic surgery after college? After all, in Woojin’s design major, there were way more females than males, probably twice as many. How could he remember them all?
Anyway, Woojin felt uneasy.
‘It’s okay. You didn’t do anything in college. You didn’t date anyone. Just stay calm. You can get through this.’
His college life might be fully exposed any moment now.
On the other hand,
“Oh, do you not remember me?”
The female employee, her voice tinged with disappointment, seemed to remember Woojin quite clearly. This was awkward. Pretending to remember when you clearly don’t is a bit over the top, right?
“Ah, I have no idea.”
Maintaining his composure, Woojin decided to stick with his concept.
“I really can’t remember.”
“·····Oh.”
The female employee’s expression instantly turned awkward.
“Well, it’s been a long time.”
At that moment,
-Swish.
Choi Sung-gun, who had gone to the bathroom, quickly returned.
“Sorry! I had to use the bathroom.”
Choi Sung-gun, who had been cheerfully smiling, noticed the awkward atmosphere in the conference room. The scent of something delicate was in the air. Consequently, Choi Sung-gun, sitting next to Woojin, tilted his head.
“Um, were you guys talking about something?”
The answer came from a ‘MxDonald’ employee, who seemed to be of the highest rank.
“Haha, no. It seems our colleague is Woojin’s college classmate. But Woojin doesn’t remember her.”
The ‘MxDonald’ team chuckled.
“Oh, then they’re not really classmates, are they?”
“Right. If Woojin doesn’t remember, she’s a complete stranger. Yep.”
The teasing intensified, making the female employee’s face redden.
“Ah! Team leader! Stop it!”
This atmosphere was further heightened by Woojin’s soft apology.
“I’m sorry.”
“Haha, no need for Woojin to apologize. Maybe our Hye-joo’s just wasn’t very memorable.”
“Stop it! Enough!”
Choi Sung-gun, who seemed to understand the situation, nodded.
‘As your fame grows, It’s time for you to start to running into people you know. Whether it’s Kim Dae-young or that female employee.’
He sneakily glanced at Woojin.
‘With that level of aura and the distinct appearance, he would’ve stood out. Even if he wasn’t famous, there would’ve been rumors.’
Whether that was the case or not, Woojin was anxious. Now that Choi Sung-gun had returned, they needed to move on from this awkward atmosphere. Just as Woojin decided to move on with the meeting,
“But didn’t Woojin study acting? If he was in the same field as Hye-joo, then it’s design. That’s unusual-”
“Indeed. There are actors who didn’t major in acting, but design is rare.”
“Hyeju, was Woojin popular in college?”
The ‘MxDonald’ employees were curious about Woojin’s past. Woojin was genuinely flustered. Please shut your mouth. I wasn’t popular. I was a loner, remember? The situation suddenly became tense. So, Woojin quickly interjected.
“No, I was just... invisible.”
“Come on- you look like you had girls lining up for you.”
“It was mostly guys.”
At that moment, the female employee who graduated from the same university as Woojin licked her lips. Her expression turned a bit sullen compared to before.
“Well- I don’t remember exactly.”
She sounded slightly annoyed.N0v3lRealm was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.
“But Woojin was good at design. I think he won some competitions too.”
Given that Woojin was already a rising star, the goal of bw Entertainment was to keep the buzz alive. For ‘MxDonald’s’, they were leveraging Woojin’s popularity to promote their brand and a new product.
『After Hanryang, conquering the world? ‘Kang Woojin’ starts with MxDonald’s / Photo.』
As a result, from Tuesday morning, the internet was flooded with discussions related to Kang Woojin’s popularity. The film industry touted him as this year’s ‘Blue Chip of Chungmuro’, while the entertainment industry was abuzz with him being a superstar rookie.
The entertainment industry has always loved the term ‘first.’
And Woojin had many ‘firsts’ to his name: This year’s first: fastest on rise, acting awards, viewership ratings, endorsements, and so on.
The character ‘Park Dae-ri’ also played a significant role.
The Park Dae-ri syndrome, or meme. What started in online communities spread to YouTube and mainstream media.
– What if Profiler Hanryang’s Park Dae-ri joined a voice chat? LOL MemeBoxTV
– Ordering at a sandwich shop in ‘It’d be less annoying?’ style I do as I’m told!
Parodies poured in. YouTubers who specialized in impersonations, short dramas, and various BJs imitated Woojin’s Park Dae-ri character.
And that wasn’t all.
Even comedy shows and stand-up comedy programs imitated the Park Dae-ri meme. It was a trend and this trend spread among people like buzzwords.
Of course, everyone had their own motives.
For many different reasons, this could all be summarized as capturing the public’s attention. They leveraged Woojin’s undeniable popularity to derive new content and creating new stimulation from it.
Regardless, Woojin’s popularity kept soaring.
Of course, it was all exciting, but Woojin himself felt a bit uneasy. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason. He just felt that way.
“Somehow... I feel a bit uneasy.”
Was it because everything was happening so fast? Because it felt like a dream? Overwhelming? Mere unnecessary worries? But it seemed like his slight concern didn’t matter at all.
『【Exclusive】Hwalin and Kang Woojin join Netflix’s ‘Short Drama Project’.』
By late afternoon that day, amidst the numerous online issues, even Netflix joined the fray.
『【IssuePick】Why is Hwalin in a short drama? Netflix project with rising star Kang Woojin unveiled.』
『Netflix says, “The collaboration between Hwalin and Woojin is a rom-com.”』
Moreover, this was big news. Including Kang Woojin, the girl group ‘Elani’s Hwalin was also mentioned. The pairing of Kang Woojin and Hwalin created huge waves.
Public opinion was buzzing. While Woojin popularity was one thing, the firepower from Hwalin’s side was astonishing.
-OMG!!
-I knew Hwalin started her solo activities...but suddenly in a short drama?
-Short drama or not, I love romantic comedies!
-Wow...another work with Kang Woojin? Hasn’t he already done several?
-But why is it so random? Why would Kang Woojin be paired with Hwalin?
-Sis!!! I’ve been waiting!!!!
-Kang Woojin...in a rom-com?... Wait, give me more info. This is unexpected!!!
-But is Kang Woojin’s role this time minor again. lol
-Lol, what’s Hwalin up to? Why suddenly a short drama?
·
·
·
Rising star Kang Woojin’s first romantic comedy with Hwalin as the co-star. It was bound to raise many questions.
However.
『[Official] bw Entertainment confirms Kang Woojin’s joining Netflix, promises to give his best.』
bw Entertainment had confirmed, and,
『JML Entertainment’s Hwalin acknowledges drama participation through SNS.』
Hwalin’s agency, JML Entertainment, also nodded in agreement. Following this, Netflix released the official title of the work.
『[Entertainment Pick] Hwalin and Kang Woojin’s rom-com drama titled ‘Male Friend’. Anticipation rises.』
The first announcement of ‘Male Friend’ was made.
On a Wednesday.
Around 9 in the morning, Kang Woojin was at a salon in Cheongdam-dong. He had a packed schedule, including selective interviews, meetings with Netflix, and additional shooting for Hanryang.
Exhausted, Woojin...
“......”
Sat and stared at his reflection, feeling the weariness.
‘I’m sleepy. I can’t go on like this. Once this is over, I’ll go into the void space and take a break.’
Just then,
“Woojin.”
Choi Sung-gun, who was downstairs, approached. He smiled broadly, showing Woojin a video on his phone. It was a YouTube video.
“It just came out. The main episode of ‘Sports Day’.”
The ‘Sports Day’ Hanryang episode, which had over 3 million views just for its trailer, had been uploaded.
Interestingly, within 30 minutes of upload.
-EP.1! The Hanryang team is on fire! Confused...I’m really confused... The ‘Hanryang’ team is full of enthusiasm but the result...? Sports Day X Profiler Hanryang
-[SBC]/ENG SUB
-Views: 243,554
It had already surpassed 200,000 views. Choi Sung-gun pointed at Kang Woojin, chuckling.
“But more than half the comments are about you.”
*****