Ryu Jungmin's smile deepened as he held Kang Woojin's gaze and continued speaking.
"You really think you're definitely going to stand on the Cannes stage, don't you?"
At that question, Woojin's face stiffened even more.
'What kind of nonsense is this handsome guy talking about now?!'
He was more serious than ever. He did not show it on the outside, but inwardly he was reacting to Ryu Jungmin in disbelief.
Why was he thinking that far ahead? Couldn't he just take things at face value? Woojin felt frustrated, but this handsome man—no, this top star actor, Ryu Jungmin—only looked brighter than before.
His curiosity had been satisfied.
"Haha, that really is just like you, Mr. Woojin. You've already prepared even your acceptance speech and greeting in French. If you weren't sure you'd win, there'd be no reason to prepare that far in advance."
Woojin instinctively sensed that a major misunderstanding had taken place. Even so, pretending to stay calm was still the right choice in a situation like this. If he tried to correct it now, he would only make himself look ridiculous.
"After the first line, I plan to write the rest in Korean."
Ryu Jungmin, who had been shaking his head as if in amazement, added,
"So you don't even have one percent doubt that you might not win? For you, winning is just the default, isn't it?"
Default? What default? I only said in French that I wanted to eat meat. Since he clearly had no idea what Woojin had actually meant, Ryu Jungmin suddenly crossed his arms and took on a serious expression.
"Hmm. But if you deliver your acceptance speech in French…"
"..."
"I've never won an award at Cannes myself, but if a Korean actor stood there and gave even a short acceptance speech in French, I'm sure everyone would be shocked and give a standing ovation."
"…Really?"
"Yes. To begin with, there have only been a handful of Korean actors who have ever won awards at Cannes. Not just Hollywood actors and directors, but a lot of French figures attend as well. Cannes is, after all, fundamentally a French film festival. If a Korean actor were to give an acceptance speech in French, at the very least it would be deeply moving."
That did sound plausible. Kang Woojin immediately understood what Ryu Jungmin meant. When an actor from another country speaks the local language abroad, people naturally feel a stronger sense of goodwill. It was no different from Hollywood actors coming to Korea and speaking Korean.
At that moment, as if something had suddenly occurred to him, Ryu Jungmin spoke again.
"Ah, right, Mr. Woojin. Your English is at a native level too, isn't it?"
──────────
Later.
After finishing a meeting at Harmony Film about the final promotional activities that would include Kang Woojin's support, Woojin headed toward the filming set of The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice while receiving a briefing from Choi Sunggeon.
"Starting tomorrow, most of the surprise appearances and sudden visits will be in Seoul. You heard that in the meeting earlier, right?"
For reference, that meeting at Harmony Film had covered several ways to make use of Kang Woojin's promotional support. Various ideas had been discussed, and one of them had been Woojin's proposal involving the words "surprise" and "spur-of-the-moment."
"It'll be a bit more exhausting, but let's do our best. We need to make up for the promotional schedule we missed because of our circumstances."
Of course, Kang Woojin had accepted most of it.
Island of the Missing, which had regained momentum thanks to Kang Woojin's flashy return, had now been out for quite some time, and the fever around it was gradually cooling. If nothing unusual happened at this point, there was a good chance it would fall short of The Naval Battle's record.
Soon enough—
Woojin, who had been listening to Choi Sunggeon's briefing with an indifferent face, secretly pulled out his phone and checked the current performance status of Island of the Missing. Since today was the 7th, what he was looking at were yesterday's numbers.
[Audience Count as of June 6, 2021]
[Daily Domestic Box Office]
Island of the Missing / Release Date: May 19 / Daily Audience: 497,558 / Number of Screens: 1,159 / Total Audience: 13,932,969
With nearly fourteen million viewers, Island of the Missing had already broken into the top ten highest-grossing films of all time. It was an astonishing success. But compared to the start of its release, the daily audience had clearly declined, and it still needed roughly three million more viewers to overtake The Naval Battle, which still held the number one spot.
Looking down at his phone, Woojin muttered to himself,
'Three million? Three million more?'
At a glance, it felt like something the film could surpass in about ten days, but after hearing what had been discussed at Harmony Film and what Choi Sunggeon had said, it no longer seemed that simple.
'Didn't they say audience numbers drop sharply in the latter half of a movie's run?'
At a certain point, the decline became severe. A film that drew five hundred thousand viewers a day at the start could fall to one hundred thousand after a few weeks. Some even dropped to fifty thousand.
'Right. That happened with Drug Dealer too.'
Some films raced up to three million viewers, only to crawl from there and collapse not long after. So what if Island of the Missing climbed close to sixteen million and then suddenly lost steam? If that possibility did not exist at all, there would be nothing to worry about, but if it came within reach of the goal only to fail at the end, the disappointment would be enormous.
'Damn it, that's irritating just to imagine.'
At least, that was how Kang Woojin felt.
What would it feel like to lose the throne right in front of your eyes? Second place was still an incredible achievement, but it would never have the same impact as first. Wouldn't it be far more satisfying to be remembered not as the film that threatened the throne, but as the one that finally took it?
On top of that, Island of the Missing was facing another obstacle.
Seated in the passenger seat, Choi Sunggeon quietly sighed and muttered,
"If we could just push it past the high seventeens, things would be much better. It would help not just with taking first place, but with holding onto it in the future too."
Taking first place in Korean box office history mattered, of course, but setting an unprecedented record for the future was just as important. It needed an overwhelming audience figure, one so high that no film chasing after it would dare dream of surpassing it.
If that happened, Kang Woojin would gain yet another first. His first lead role would become the film that set an unprecedented audience record in Korean cinema.
That was enough to make anyone salivate.
This was not some empty display. It was Kang Woojin's pure desire and ambition. Maybe it was competitiveness. Either way, having come this far only to stumble at the final hurdle would leave him not merely disappointed, but genuinely frustrated. It felt like the kind of thing he would remember for the rest of his life.
'I've come this far, so even if my body falls apart, I'm going to overturn this somehow. No matter what.'
──────────
It was around noon the next day.
The location was a large multiplex near Dogok Station. It was the biggest movie theater in the area, and despite it being a weekday afternoon, the lobby was packed with people.
"Wow, is that really the snack bar line?"
"Why are there so many people? Damn it, we should've gone to a smaller theater."
"You idiot, how was I supposed to know this many people would come?"
There were groups of university students, couples, and even quite a few students still in school uniforms. It was the very definition of theater peak season. On top of that, the recent wave of new releases had been strong. As Island of the Missing continued its box office run, new films kept drawing even more audiences into theaters.
As a result, a full-scale promotional war was being waged all across the multiplex.
Multiple large monitors were frantically playing trailers for upcoming and newly released films. Countless standees and billboards had been installed in highly visible spots, and posters were plastered everywhere. On the monitors above the ticket booths and snack counters, showtimes for various films were displayed.
That included Island of the Missing.
And yet—
A woman who had just stepped off the elevator immediately stood out.
Wearing a white mask and her long hair tied back, she was dressed in a tight short-sleeved shirt and shorts, perhaps because of the heat. Holding her phone in one hand, she looked slightly taken aback by the crowd in the theater.
"Wow."
Then she murmured softly,
"I should've come in the morning for the first showing."
Even so, she immediately began taking photos of the busy theater lobby with her phone. The way she moved while taking pictures was not ordinary. A few nearby men glanced at her, and some even whispered among themselves. In any case, after taking several more photos of the Island of the Missing posters and displays, she headed toward the restroom.
There, she photographed her reflection in the mirror.
"Oh, the mirror shape here is nice."
After taking dozens of photos and feeling satisfied, she raised the corners of her mouth beneath the mask. Then she tapped open her phone gallery. The screen immediately filled with the many photos she had just taken.
Which made perfect sense.
The woman was an influencer with five hundred thousand Instagram followers and one hundred fifty thousand YouTube subscribers. Her name was Joo Arang. She was well known as both a model and a YouTuber, and she had a particularly large fanbase on Instagram.
In other words, every photo she had taken in the theater had been for uploading later.
"Today is just an ordinary day, an ordinary day—"
Humming to herself, she checked the time and headed toward the entrance of the screening room. After being guided by an employee, she arrived in front of Theater 3, where the poster for the movie being shown was displayed.
Island of the Missing
Influencer Joo Arang took a picture of that poster too, then slowly examined the actors printed on it. Even as other moviegoers kept entering and leaving the theater beside her, Joo Arang's gaze stayed fixed on one person.
'Whew. Kang Woojin is seriously so handsome.'
The figure on the poster was Corporal Jin Seoncheol. No, it was Kang Woojin. Joo Arang was a passionate fan of Woojin. Maybe he was close to her ideal type. In any case, she entered the screening room with a satisfied expression.
Inside, the lights were dim but not fully dark.
Even though it was a weekday afternoon, more than seventy percent of the seats were filled.
Slightly surprised, Joo Arang began looking for her reserved seat. It was near the middle of row H. It was a great seat, but inwardly she grumbled.
'Seriously, why does it always have to be couples?'
Couples were seated on both sides of her, their arms linked. For someone watching alone, it was not exactly a pleasant sight. Still, Joo Arang sat down, regretting that she had not come for the morning screening.
In the meantime—
"Oppa, is it really okay to watch Island of the Missing again?"
"Yeah, it's fine. I could watch it ten times if I'm with you."
"Ah, what are you even saying?"
The couple's conversation drifted into Joo Arang's ears.
"You'd better hope it doesn't get boring."
"What if it does? No, everyone keeps saying it's really fun."
"Ah, but thrillers scare me."
"We can just hold hands while we watch."
"Don't let go. Seriously."
At that moment, Joo Arang actually considered getting up and going home. In the end, she took a deep breath and forced herself to stay.
Then—
The lights in the theater suddenly dimmed a little more.
At once, hundreds of audience members began murmuring.
"What's going on?"
"Are they testing something?"
"It suddenly got darker."
"Could be a staff mistake."
Influencer Joo Arang also looked around in confusion. Then it happened.
"Ah!"
The man in the couple sitting beside her pointed at the large screen with his index finger, and hundreds of audience members all turned their eyes forward at once. For some reason, another version of the Island of the Missing poster had appeared on the massive screen, along with large text.
[Surprise stage greeting before the screening of Island of the Missing. Lead actors: Ryu Jungmin, Kang Woojin, Ha Yura, Kim Iwon]
Hundreds of audience members stared at the screen and blinked. Joo Arang, who had been momentarily frozen, wore the same expression.
And then—
"...Whoa, no way. Is this real?"
"That's not a mistake, right?"
"Are those actors really coming here?"
"Did anyone say there was going to be a stage greeting?!"
The audience's murmuring kept growing louder. Naturally so. An unexpected stage greeting? Excitement quickly spread throughout the theater.
"This is insane!! Wait, my phone! My phone!"
"If they say this was a mistake, I'm seriously going to cry!"
"Where? Where are they coming from??"
"A stage greeting just suddenly appeared out of nowhere—huh? Ah! Over there!!"
The murmurs were just turning into screams when the emergency exit beside the main screen opened and someone stepped in.
Five large security guards entered first.
After them, one overwhelming presence after another appeared. They were the actors from Island of the Missing. Starting with Ryu Jungmin, then Ha Yura, then Kim Iwon.
The audience erupted at their surprise entrance.
"Kyaaa!!"
"This is insane! Seriously, totally insane!!"
"Waaah!"
As if by signal, hundreds of audience members instantly raised their phones above their heads. Almost everyone did. Influencer Joo Arang was no exception.
"This is crazy!! Kyaaaah!!"
Her mask had slipped slightly, but she was too busy frantically taking pictures to fix it.
Then—
The final actor stepped in.
Black hair. A calm beige blazer over a white T-shirt.
It was Kang Woojin, wearing his usual blank expression.
Hundreds of audience members' eyes widened all at once.
"Waaah!! K-Kang Woojin!"
They began taking pictures of him like mad.
──────────
A few days later, on the night of the 11th.
It was late Friday night. The location was the set of the film Leech. With filming nearing its final stretch, Director Ahn Gahbok, the hundred or so staff members, and the actors all looked tense. Naturally, Kang Woojin, who was playing Park Haseong, was no exception.
In the middle of that atmosphere, Director Ahn Gahbok's signal rang out.
"Cut. Got it?"
Not long after, Director Ahn Gahbok approached Kang Woojin, who had just shed the image of Park Haseong.
"You worked hard today. We'll be standing by a bit earlier tomorrow, so get as much rest as you can."
"Understood, Director."
It was close to midnight, but the Leech team still had not fully wrapped for the day. Only Kang Woojin's portion had finished, and there were still more scenes left to shoot. Even so, Woojin and his team got into the van and left. For reference, Kang Woojin was not going home tonight but heading to a nearby hotel instead.
Soon, Kang Woojin climbed into the van. Outwardly, he still showed no emotion, but inside, he was exhausted. With the recent promotional whirlwind for Island of the Missing, even saying he had been split into ten people would not have felt like an exaggeration.
'If I hadn't used the Void Space, I might've actually died.'
While Woojin muttered inwardly, the van left the outer parking lot of the set. Kang Woojin stared out at the pitch-black darkness beyond the window.
Then something occurred to him.
"Ah."
He pulled out his phone. First, he lowered the screen brightness, and the page he had been looking at during his break earlier was still open.
[Korean All-Time Box Office]
[Film Rankings of All Time]
-1. The Naval Battle / Total Audience: 16,715,955
-2. Island of the Missing / Total Audience: 16,281,337
-3. Unstoppable Force / Total Audience: 15,557,118
·
·
·
·
It was the period when the highest box office record in Korean film history was being challenged. As the film that could practically become the biggest hit in the history of the Korean film industry, Island of the Missing was closely chasing The Naval Battle while holding second place.
Of course, today's Friday numbers had not yet been included in that figure. Thanks to Kang Woojin's aggressive promotional push, Island of the Missing had surged once again.
At that time, the press was completely captivated by the story. It was the center of unprecedented attention.
Kang Woojin lowered his phone. The more he looked at it, the more his anxiety grew.
'Tomorrow. Tomorrow for sure.'
──────────
And then the next morning.
Kang Woojin opened his eyes on the hotel bed, his hair disheveled.
"Phone."
He immediately picked up the phone beside the bed. Several messages and texts had come in, but Kang Woojin had no time to check them.
He first had to refresh the page he had been staring at yesterday.
Soon, the updated numbers began to appear on his screen.
The moment Kang Woojin saw them, he muttered without realizing it.
"Damn… it really happened?"
His eyes widened slightly. It was an entirely understandable reaction.
[Korean All-Time Box Office]
[Film Rankings of All Time]
-1. Island of the Missing / Total Audience: 16,752,991
-2. The Naval Battle / Total Audience: 16,715,955
-3. Unstoppable Force / Total Audience: 15,557,118
·
·
·
·
It was the moment a new page in Korean film history was written.