Chapter 33

Starting today, we officially enter the Spring Festival holiday mode. To celebrate returning home, I present an 8K chapter.

Oh, by the way, a side note: Congratulations to Wang Feng for making the headlines...

====== I am a dividing line ======

The next day, reviews of "The Chaser" began to sweep across almost all major movie-related websites and newspapers.

"Regarding the film 'The Chaser,' although I have not yet received any data on the box office performance of this movie, it must be said that this will undoubtedly be a masterpiece that will be recorded in the annals of Korean cinema. First, the screenplay and direction. As a newcomer, Roh Hong-jin tells a story about a serial killer that might seem a bit thin at first glance. However, unlike the usual method of unraveling the mystery to find the killer, the murderer is placed right in front of you from the beginning. The story unfolds with unexpected twists, giving you hope and then crushing it, pushing you into a state of despair where you know the outcome but cannot avoid it. To make justice and righteousness coexist, which are contradictory yet inseparable, the director presents a group of useless police officers and a broker who regains his sense of justice for a little girl. This questions the limits of each person's sense of justice and righteousness.

"Speaking of which, I must mention the performances of the two actors. First, the plot where the daughter of Mae-jin and the redemption of Joong-ho, which might seem cliché, is made incredibly natural and reasonable by Kim Yun-seok's outstanding acting, without any trace of stereotyping. This is why a broker who was once despised by others becomes a civilian hero when standing in front of the killer, and people believe he represents justice. This is almost entirely due to Kim Yun-seok's acting.

"As for the other lead actor, I must also take off my hat in respect. Honestly, when watching Yeong-min tell a chilling story at the police station, my hair stood on end. Unlike Kim Yun-seok, who convinces people with his sincere and ordinary acting, Yoon Hyun then presents a killer who is different from the typical Hollywood model, a killer who smiles from beginning to end, even when he becomes angry or mad, with bloodshot eyes, but still with a smile on his lips. If I only mentioned these two scenes, you might find them strange and abrupt, but after watching the entire movie, you would find them reasonable. So when I saw Yeong-min smile upon hearing the news of Mae-jin at the small supermarket, the horror was more despairing than the blood that followed.

"An excellent director, two outstanding actors, a great movie. This is my evaluation of 'The Chaser.'"

Yoon Hyun sat at home reading this lengthy review in the newspaper, feeling quite proud.

Although there were still some criticisms, most of them attacked the film from the perspective of its overly dark themes and excessively bloody scenes. In terms of his acting, Yoon Hyun received almost unanimous praise from the few newspapers and magazines he had read.

However, Yoon Hyun's pride was somewhat dampened.

Perhaps because his acting was too good? After the premiere yesterday, the girls from Girls' Generation looked at him strangely, even Yoona and Seohyun, who only politely greeted him with a few compliments and then hurriedly ran away.

Fortunately, he received plenty of praise from Kim Tae-hee and Yoon Eun-hye. Especially Yoon Eun-hye, whose eyes seemed to glow when looking at Yoon Hyun, making him feel quite uneasy.

However, only Yoo Jae-suk and the other "Infinite Challenge" friends attended the celebration banquet after the screening. Yoon Eun-hye's excuse was that she couldn't eat with Yoo Jae-suk, while Kim Tae-hee and Yoon Ji-hye claimed they had to send the frightened Lee Ji-eun home...

Perhaps because there were no women present, the men were even more relaxed. In front of these seniors who had become close friends over the past six months, Yoon Hyun received the most sincere praise and advice.

Yoon Hyun put down the newspaper and picked up a script that was placed on the other side.

This idea came from last night when Yoo Jae-suk, hugging Yoon Hyun's shoulder, gave him a suggestion.

The suggestion was that Yoon Hyun could try acting in a period drama. This idea had actually occurred to Yoon Hyun when he guest-starred as Lee Sun in "Infinite Challenge," but due to various reasons, he hadn't thought much about it. After Yoo Jae-suk mentioned it, Yoon Hyun immediately felt it was a good idea.

When he got home last night, Yoon Hyun casually asked Kim Soo-yeon if she had any scripts or auditions for period dramas recently.

This morning, Kim Soo-yeon handed the script to Yoon Hyun.

"The Plum Blossom" - seeing this name, which clearly had a Chinese flavor, Yoon Hyun smiled helplessly.

After finishing the script, Yoon Hyun let out a long breath.

This was just a regular idol drama. Should he take it or not?

Yoon Hyun was unsure. Moreover, due to the Chinese-sounding name "Plum Blossom," he felt a vague sense of resistance.

So, he put the script aside.

After finishing the last of his coffee, Yoon Hyun woke up Lee Ji-eun, who had just finished running and was now sleeping in bed, and told her to eat breakfast on her own. He then went downstairs and got into the car that was waiting to take him to the "Infinite Challenge" recording.

Perhaps because of Yoon Hyun's excellent performance last year and the good reception of his movie's premiere last night, when he got into the car, he found that besides Kim Soo-yeon, there was another woman.

"Who are you...?" Yoon Hyun looked at the unfamiliar woman with some curiosity.

"Hello, Yoon Hyun-nim, I am the new makeup artist assigned to you starting today, Jeong Mi-sun." The woman introduced herself seriously.

"Oh, Jeong Mi-sun-ssi, hello. I usually don't pay much attention to how I speak, so you don't need to use formal language. Let's be casual." Yoon Hyun was a bit excited to learn that the company had assigned him a personal makeup artist.

I'm a big star with a personal makeup artist now! No need to queue at the beauty salon! Yoon Hyun felt that the past few days had been incredibly blissful.

After introducing herself, Jeong Mi-sun quickly got to work. Although Yoon Hyun always took good care of his body, he had been quite busy recently, and after drinking a lot with the "Infinite Challenge" guys last night, it was only natural that his face showed some signs of fatigue.

By the time Yoon Hyun arrived at the recording site, his makeup was already done, and he saw the other members, who looked even worse than him.

However, professionals are professionals. As soon as the recording began, the seven of them immediately got into their roles.

Haha was about to go into the military, and this was his last appearance on "Infinite Challenge." The previous episode was supposed to be his last recording, and everyone had already said their goodbyes after the recording. But unexpectedly, they saw Haha again at the premiere last night and today.

"Hey, you little pest, you're really persistent!" Park Myung-soo said fiercely.

"Yeah, hurry up and go! 'Infinite Challenge' only needs six hosts!" Yoon Hyun added, taking the opportunity to pile on.

Haha looked at everyone helplessly and said, "I don't want to. I got a call early this morning saying I had to record one last episode of 'Infinite Challenge,' and I didn't know what was going on."

"Hey, PD Kim, what's going on?" Yoo Jae-suk stepped in to maintain order.

"Today is a special episode." A voice came from off-screen.

"Hey! Haha is leaving, and you're still doing a special episode? Do you have any humanity?" Jeong Jun-ho, who couldn't stand the special episode, jumped up.

"Yeah! Is this special episode... um." Yoo Jae-suk stopped halfway through his sentence.

"What is it? Why stop halfway?" Park Myung-soo, whose confidence had grown since winning an award, asked.

"Be careful what you say!" Yoon Hyun warned Park Myung-soo.

Park Myung-soo immediately shut up.

"Today's special episode is: Haha's Concert!"

The entire room fell into an eerie silence.

Almost instinctively, the other six people looked at Haha, who was standing there dumbfounded, with eyes as red as in "The Chaser."

"Are you still PD Kim Tae-ho?" Roh Hong-chul, feeling the strange atmosphere, stepped in to break the silence.

"Yeah! How human of you!" Park Myung-soo also found it strange.

"How can it not be! Imagine Haha's reggae music. Concert... PD Kim Tae-ho, this is a conspiracy!" Yoon Hyun added a cold remark.

Yoon Hyun's words created a cold silence.

"But even a condemned prisoner gets a good meal before execution. Let's cut off Haha's hope and let him go on his way!" Yoon Hyun continued.

"You make it sound like a good deed!" Park Myung-soo immediately picked up on it.

"We are really great!" Jung Hoon-don finally chimed in.

"Let's decide it then!" Park Myung-soo summarized before Yoo Jae-suk could speak.

"When and where will the concert be held?" Yoo Jae-suk pushed Park Myung-soo aside.

"The time and place are up to you." PD Kim said irresponsibly.

...

The scene fell into a dead silence.

"I think we should go back to sleep. Doing good deeds isn't my style!" Park Myung-soo led the charge, turning and walking away.

"Ah, I suddenly remember I have clothes in the washing machine at home. I'll go first." Jeong Jun-ho also left.

"How can you do this? How will Haha feel? This is shameful!" Yoo Jae-suk tried to gather everyone again.

"Yeah, Yoo Jae-suk-ssi is right!" Roh Hong-chul, a loyal follower of Yoo Jae-suk, said, "If you have something to say, say it directly!" Then he turned to Haha and said, "Haha, let's not have this concert, okay?"

Roh Hong-chul was immediately kicked out of the group by Yoo Jae-suk.

"Jung Hoon-don?" Yoo Jae-suk suddenly said.

The camera then focused on Jung Hoon-don, who was quietly leaving.

"Hey, Yoo Jae-suk-ssi, why do you suddenly pay so much attention to me?" Jung Hoon-don, being a bit proud, also walked away.

The scene was left with only Yoon Hyun, Haha, and Yoo Jae-suk.

"Yoo Jae-suk-ssi, look, only the three of us are left. Since we can't record, I'll go. Last night, you suggested I could try a period drama. I have a script today, and I need to read it carefully. Haha-ssi, fighting!" Yoon Hyun said a lot and then ran away, leaving Haha and Yoo Jae-suk behind.

When Yoon Hyun got into the car, he said to the secretly following cameraman, "Let's go to Hongdae. Seriously, why did they assign me this job?"

Then Yoon Hyun started complaining to the camera.

"You guys in the production team, you just think of things on the spot. Do you have any logical thinking or planning? After watching the premiere of my movie last night, you suddenly had an idea and decided to do a special episode today? Are you a production team or a dream team? And can Haha even go on stage? Last year's music festival... I still get chills thinking about it!..."

Two hours earlier... Actually, the people who left weren't not helping Haha prepare for the concert. This morning, PD Kim gathered everyone and asked everyone except Haha to arrive half an hour early to discuss the concert.

After a very undemocratic discussion, the concert was set to take place outside Park Myung-soo's fried chicken shop in Hongdae. The owner of the fried chicken shop was responsible for setting up the stage and handling the lighting. Jeong Jun-ho was to contact the dancers and prepare some performances. Jung Hoon-don and Roh Hong-chul were to prepare the balloons and light sticks for the audience. Yoon Hyun was given the most important task: to gather an audience for the concert in Hongdae.

As for Yoo Jae-suk, he was given the simplest task: to help the depressed Haha prepare his songs and trick him into performing at the concert in Hongdae. He had to keep the preparations a secret from Haha until he was tricked into the fried chicken shop and then directly onto the stage.

Yoon Hyun was now continuously criticizing the production team because if he could also go on stage and sing, even just one song, he was confident he could find a few hundred people to support him.

But according to the production team, only Haha would perform on stage today.

So, Yoon Hyun didn't dare promise to bring a certain number of people to the venue.

The production team required at least five layers of people around the stage.

And knowing Park Myung-soo, he wouldn't have gone to the trouble of setting up the concert outside his fried chicken shop without making a big deal out of it.

A big stage... how many people would he need to gather...

Soon, Yoon Hyun arrived at Hongdae.

"Is there a banner?" Yoon Hyun asked the cameraman, a bit frustrated.

The cameraman shook the camera as a response.

"Are there flyers?"

The camera continued to shake.

"Then are there balloons?"

The camera kept shaking.

"Nothing at all?"

The camera finally nodded.

Yoon Hyun gave up on getting out of the car and called Park Myung-soo directly.

"Park Myung-soo