Chapter 58

Three days later, the production team of KBS's latest Wednesday-Thursday drama "IRIS," which had already attracted a lot of attention due to its massive investment, released a press release. The 2008 Best Actor winner at the Korean Film Blue Dragon Awards and famous singer, Yoon Hyun, joined the cast to play the second male lead, Chen Siyu, alongside Lee Byung-hun, Kim Tae-yeon, Kim Soo-yeon, and Kim Seung-woo, forming a truly star-studded main cast.

The news sent shockwaves through many people.

"This appearance doesn't mean I'm returning to acting in films and TV dramas. This time, it's mainly because of an invitation from my close sister, Kim Tae-hee, who hopes to have the opportunity to act in a work with me. I was very excited about this proposal, so this collaboration came about. Moreover, I read the script and saw the cast, and I believe it will be a masterpiece worth looking forward to!" Yoon Hyun finally issued a statement under pressure from his fans.

Yoon Hyun's fan café once again entered a state of confusion.

As Yoon Hyun's fan café, which is like his backyard, usually gets any information he doesn't mind sharing with everyone first, such as his appearance in "Infinite Challenge" due to Kim Tae-hee's promise to help him with the song festival...

While Yoon Hyun's fans were thrilled that he would be acting again after more than a year, even if it was just a one-time return...

What troubled the fans was: wouldn't Yoon Hyun's promised album be delayed again?

This was only Yoon Hyun's second album! Why was it so difficult to produce?

Sure enough, after Yoon Hyun's schedule for "IRIS" was updated on LOEN Entertainment's official homepage, the progress of the second album, which had been "coming soon," changed to "TBD"...

That night, five more people left the fan café, which had been stable for over a year...

Yoon Hyun's official fan count reached a round number: 8,800 people...

Soon, it was time for the mid-term check of "Infinite Challenge."

Actually, Kim Tae-hee had time to come, but Yoon Hyun stopped her with, "You don't need to go through all that trouble!" and "I'll surprise them."

So, Yoon Hyun met the other members' invited helpers for the first time.

He could understand the others, but the fact that Park Myung-soo invited Girls' Generation's Jessica was something that completely blew Yoon Hyun's mind.

"Jessica, did you also draw a card?" When Yoon Hyun found out about this, he directly asked Jessica.

"Hey! Yoon Hyun-ssi! How can you talk like that?" Park Myung-soo, who had been feeling a bit high, instantly got angry.

"Are you performing 'Beauty and the Beast'?" Yoon Hyun said disdainfully to Park Myung-soo.

"That's naked jealousy! Look, your guest didn't even come to the mid-term check." Park Myung-soo said,不服气地.

"That's why I asked if Jessica also drew a card. How could she agree to your invitation?" Then Yoon Hyun turned to Jessica and said earnestly, "Jessica, it's not easy to maintain an idol's image. Girls' Generation already has one 'Yeon' and one 'Crocodile Yoon.' You don't need to..."

Jessica, who had been spacing out, finally realized Yoon Hyun had been talking to her: "Yoon Hyun-oppa, what did you just say?"

"..." Yoon Hyun felt like he had punched a pillow, and a mouthful of old blood surged to his throat...

The mid-term check was mainly for comedy, and each group intentionally or unintentionally hid their true abilities, making the scene full of laughter, with almost no one seriously singing.

So, Yoon Hyun singing only his part, with fluctuating pitches, intermittent lyrics, and direct harmonies in the chorus, didn't seem so strange.

"Yoon Hyun-oppa, that song was really good!" Jessica approached Yoon Hyun after the performance.

"Really? You could tell? Are you sure you're not just being polite?" Yoon Hyun had been making physical jokes on stage to divert attention from the song, and the entire performance was so joyful that he never thought anyone would seriously listen to him sing.

"Wasn't the person you were singing with a girl?" Jessica laughed. "In Girls' Generation, we have someone who only sings the middle part, so I'm very sensitive to it."

"Ah, I see..." Yoon Hyun instantly understood, picturing the faces of a few girls with average singing skills.

"I'm really looking forward to Yoon Hyun-oppa's song! It will definitely be great." Jessica said earnestly.

Yoon Hyun looked at Jessica seriously for the first time and realized she was quite beautiful... Coughing to clear his throat, he said, "Your cold noodles were also good. It's just a pity you're singing with Myung-soo-ssi... Otherwise, it would have been a hit."

They chatted a bit more, and Jessica left to catch her schedule.

Yoon Hyun also returned home. Because he had heard people singing at the scene, he suddenly had some inspiration and needed to record it immediately. He had to finish this today because, according to the schedule, he would participate in the debut MV shooting of the group now named t-ara the next day.

That night, the seventh song of Yoon Hyun's second album was officially completed.

The next morning, Yoon Hyun appeared at the t-ara MV shooting site.

"Yoon Hyun-oppa, you're here!" Jeon Bo-ah greeted him first.

After the episode of "Family Outing" where Yoon Hyun participated, the biggest impact was not the rumor that forced Yoon Hyun and Kim Tae-yeon to issue a statement, nor the funny short drama in the bamboo forest or the complaints on the diving platform. It was the "Cute Song" that Yoon Hyun sang while pretending to be innocent during the bed competition.

That night, "Cute Song" and Yoon Hyun, along with Jeon Bo-ah's name, surged to the top of Naver's search rankings. The video of the practice room from over a year ago also shot to the top of the video playback charts.

This even sparked a "Cute Song" imitation trend.

Recently, almost every celebrity, at various events, has been asked by fans to do the "Cute Song" 1+1 gesture.

For this, Yoon Hyun had already received complaints from Yoon Eun-hye, Han Hyo-ju, and Kim Jong-kook... and the nine members of Girls' Generation had also texted to complain.

However, the beneficiaries of this trend were not the songwriter Yoon Hyun, but the adorable Jeon Bo-ah in the self-shot video and the coldly beautiful Lee Ji-eun, who stood there like a wooden statue but captivated a group of viewers.

Thus, the CCM girl group, which had not yet debuted, had already gathered a significant fan base.

Today, Yoon Hyun's participation in the shooting of their debut song's MV naturally attracted a lot of fan interest.

"What is this?" Yoon Hyun roared when he saw the MV script.

"Um..." The MV director was a bit embarrassed.

"Oppa, so many beautiful girls are acting with you, and we're not upset. Why are you so upset?" Park Ji-yeon, who was becoming more and more... disrespectful.

"Hey! I'm a good man! What am I in this?" Yoon Hyun was a bit frantic.

"It's just an MV. Are you nervous because you have something to hide?" Ha Yeon-jeong said harshly.

Yoon Hyun was speechless.

Actually, he had a bit of anticipation for this MV.

Especially after writing that song under his mother's inspiration, as a man who hadn't had a proper relationship in over fifty years, Yoon Hyun was now full of anticipation and hope.

So, Yoon Hyun accepted the script and started shooting.

The entire MV was composed of three stories.

Three different love triangles.

Roughly, three different men were caught in the act by their girlfriends. Then, the betrayed women gathered to sing about how men lie...

In the three love stories, six girls took turns acting, and Yoon Hyun was the happy... cheating man...

t-ara's official members were now confirmed to be six, with Lee Ji-eun, Jeon Bo-ah, and Park Ji-yeon being the ones he knew the longest and best. Ha Yeon-jeong was also familiar because they had acted together in "Coffee Prince No. 1 Shop," and the remaining two were Park Hyo-min and Park So-yeon, whom he had only met once before.

However, because the other four were so familiar with Yoon Hyun, the two new girls quickly became familiar with him as well.

But this second meeting required them to act in a love scene, especially according to the director's script, Park Hyo-min had to play one of the betrayed women...

This emotional investment was a bit difficult.

Moreover, when Park Ji-yeon had to hug Yoon Hyun's arm with flowers and run into the real girlfriend, Lee Ji-eun, the number of times they broke character was over twenty... and the number of NGs was countless...

And there was something even more exaggerated.

"Ji-yeon... if you can't do it, just say so?" Yoon Hyun looked depressed.

"Pervert, this is my first kiss... Why can't I be conflicted?" Park Ji-yeon shouted, her eyes and face red.

Yoon Hyun could only endure... There was no way around it; it was a minor girl's first kiss... He himself felt a bit overwhelmed. Coupled with Park Ji-yeon's shy expression, Yoon Hyun really felt a bit too much...

But, this was work, and it had to be completed eventually.

In the end, Park Ji-yeon closed her eyes, and Yoon Hyun steeled his resolve, and this... cough... this scene... cough...

Yes, this shot was finally completed...

The other girls watching the NGs laughed for two whole days...

So, it's no wonder the MV took a whole week to shoot...

If it weren't for Yoon Hyun's empty schedule and his appearance as a favor, and the fact that t-ara, though not yet debuted, had already gained a lot of popularity from "Cute Song," CCM would have gone crazy over the doubled production costs...

After finally finishing the MV for "Lie," Yoon Hyun, Park So-yeon, and Park Hyo-min became close friends, and the other four were even closer...

Then, the weekend arrived, and the Olympic Song Festival of "Infinite Challenge" officially began.