Chapter 141: Premiere Night Showdown

The day of Love Some’s premiere broadcast.

As soon as 10 a.m. rolled around, promotional articles prepared by both production companies started uploading.

[Cha Taesoo and Yoo Min, Run, Kim Moowon! Premieres Today! Packed with Comedy, Melodrama, and Human Drama!]

[Cha Taesoo: “Run, Kim Moowon! Will Be a Drama You Can Enjoy Casually…”]

[The Golden Maknae of Three Meals in the Countryside, Jung Hyunjae, Returns with the Fresh Youth Melodrama of Love Some.]

[Will the Webtoon Original Love Some Succeed Like the Webtoon Itself?]

[Today’s Clash! Kim Moowon VS Love Some—A Head-to-Head Battle]

Since it wasn’t common for dramas in the same time slot to premiere simultaneously, people were quick to pit Love Some against Run, Kim Moowon! as rivals.

Of course, they really were rivals.

-What’s everyone watching tonight?

-I’m going with Kim Moowon!

Me too, Kim Moowon lmao total banger vibes

-Love Some! I loved the webtoon

Gonna watch for Hyunjae! Been waiting for his romance role forever

-Kim Moowon is finally airing. Heard rumors it flopped early on, so I was worried

-Kim Moowon has me hyped lololol

-I’ll catch Love Some on OTT later, but live broadcast is Kim Moowon time~

It was clear that expectations leaned more toward Run, Kim Moowon! than Love Some.

And the drama’s leads were well aware of it.

“All I see are comparison articles.”

Haewon peered at her smartphone with a worried expression as she spoke.

Even on premiere day, the promotional schedule was packed as usual, and she was tagging along with me to run through it.

“Can’t be helped. When it comes to comparisons…”

Even if they hadn’t premiered on the same day, people were always racing to see who would top the ratings in the time slot.

But with both debuting together, it was prime fodder for anyone who loved pitting things against each other.

“Hoo… Why am I already shaking?”

More than eight hours remained until the drama aired, but she already looked jittery.

“I’m nervous too.”

…Can you put down that sandwich in your hand first before saying that?

We’d come to a rival network’s radio show for promotion, and we’d skipped lunch, so we were just about to dig into the snacks the station had prepared for us.

“Hehe, they prepped this for us to eat, so we should. Want some, noona?”

“I’m good. You eat plenty.”

I offered her the sandwich, but Haewon shook her head.

“Don’t tense up too much. Good dramas always find their audience.”

“That’s just it… It’s a good drama, but what if it flops because of me?”

“Where’s that logic? Who could fit the role of Jaehee better than you?”

In truth, if you had to pick the top lead in this drama, it’d be Haewon.

“Thanks for saying that.”

“If the drama bombs, it’ll all be my fault anyway, so don’t carry that burden.”

“What?~ No way.”

“I’m the male lead, after all. So you don’t need to worry like that.”

Anyone who’d seen her on set couldn’t possibly blame her.

She’d given it her absolute all.

“Hyunjae, here—drink this with it too.”

Hayoon handed me a fresh fruit juice, and now I was juggling the drink and sandwich in both hands.

“Hyunjae-ssi, mind if I snap a photo?~”

“Huh?”

I was caught totally off guard when the radio writer popped up with a camera and flashed it right in my face.

“Ah, I wasn’t ready…”

“It’s fine. You’re adorable right now!”

“I bet it came out weird.”

“Not at all! The fans are gonna love this. Haewon-ssi, strike a pose for me too?”

“Sure!”

At the writer’s words, Haewon flashed a bright smile and threw up a peace sign next to her face.

She’s a natural entertainer.

The tension from moments ago had vanished without a trace.

“This is our last song, and we’ll head out during the ad break!”

“Got it~”

I quickly wrapped up my snack, checked my face, and slipped into the booth.

“Hello~”

The comedian DJ welcomed us, and we took our seats as guests.

“Hello. I’m Jung Hyunjae.”

“Haewon-ssi~”

“Noona, it’s been too long.”

Haewon greeted the DJ casually—they clearly knew each other.

“You two know each other?”

“We did a variety show together back when I was a rookie.”

“Variety?”

“It didn’t do great, but it was this cable variety program.”

Ah, that explained it.

That’s why we’d been allowed on.

Normally, they didn’t let rival network dramas promote on radio here, so I’d wondered why they’d made an exception.

“I loved watching Three Meals in the Countryside~”

“Oh, no. I’ve been a big fan of your radio too.”

“Wait? You’ve actually listened to our show?”

Her eyes lit up at the idea that I’d tuned in.

“Yeah! I actually listen to radio more than TV usually.”

Thanks to Kyungho preferring radio over TV, I’d picked up the habit too.

“You’re not just saying that to be polite, right?”

“Of course not! I caught that winter special with the singers doing carols too!”

“Whoa! This guy’s for real?”

“O~”

Confirming I’d actually listened, the DJ’s face brightened instantly, and the other staff in the booth reacted with surprised gasps.

“Haha, no empty words here.”

“Got a real listener in the house—better bring our A-game.”

“Noona, plug our drama hard!”

“You bet~ I’ll hype it up proper!”

The DJ promised to push it, and once the ads ended, the radio kicked off in earnest.

“We can’t not talk about the drama here.”

“Right! We shot this drama called Love Some.”

“Wait? Isn’t that the webtoon?”

The DJ asked like she didn’t know, even though she clearly did.

“Yes! Exactly. It’s originally a webtoon, and now it’s been adapted into a drama.”

“I binged that webtoon—it was fun.”

“This’ll be even better than the webtoon, I bet.”

“For real?”

“Absolutely! I’m confident!”

“O~ Such bold confidence~ Now I’m hyped. I’ll be watching live tonight!”

The vibe stayed warm and fuzzy as the segment rolled on.

True to her word, she wasn’t faking the promo—she kept tossing drama-related questions our way.

“What time’s it on again?”

“You can catch us tonight at 8:40!”

“Yes~ So tune in at 8:40 tonight for these two’s sweet chemistry. We appreciate all the viewers!”

She wrapped up by reminding everyone of the air time one last time.

***

“Haa~ What should we watch?”

“Flip to whatever. I just wanna eat already.”

A couple had come home from work and spread out some tteokbokki on the table, hunting for something to watch together.

“There’s nothing good on these days.”

The guy fiddled with the remote while the girl stayed laser-focused on the tteokbokki.

“Huh? Premiere?”

Up in the top right of the ad screen, a caption popped up: [Love Some Premieres in 50 Seconds].

“Premiere? Let’s watch a premiere then.”

No prior episodes meant it was perfect for a one-off watch.

“‘Love Some’? First I’ve heard of it—what’s the drama about?”

“Romance, probably.”

“Oppa, you don’t like romance.”

“It’s cool. Nothing else worth watching anyway.”

“Alright! Let’s eat quick! Thanks for the food~”

It was mostly just to fill the silence anyway, like background music, so the specifics of the drama didn’t matter much.

“Mmm~ I was starving. Remember that curry at lunch today? I hate curry.”

“You probably couldn’t even eat.”

“Yeah!”

The couple chatted about their day, pulling out stories from work.

[Haa… haa…]

Their conversation paused as a tense scene hit, drawing their eyes to the TV naturally.

“But isn’t this supposed to be romance?”

“Yeah, so why’s it so heavy?”

The apparent female lead stood precariously on a school rooftop railing.

After staring down at the ground for a long moment, she squeezed her eyes shut like she’d made up her mind and stepped forward.

The screen cut away right then.

[Beep-beep— beep-beep—]

A phone alarm blared, and the female lead—now looking like some time had passed—stumbled out of bed and went about her daily routine.

“Whoa, scared me. Thought we were gonna see her fall.”

“Right? You can’t handle scary stuff.”

The two gradually tuned into the unfamiliar drama’s plot as they talked.

The female lead, in her routine, spotted someone by chance and bolted.

Mid-escape, she bumped into another person.

[I’m sorry.]

The guy she’d hit dropped a small keychain, and to return it, she chased after him.

[Excuse me! Wait!]

She called out, but he moved fast, like he hadn’t heard.

Frustrated and desperate, she followed him blindly—until her own name rang out from behind, making her turn.

[Han Jaehee!]

[Huh?]

[What’re you doing? Hurry up.]

[That uniform… Wait, what?]

A girl in a school uniform was calling her, and somehow, she was wearing her old high school uniform too.

“Time slip story, huh.”

“Ah! I think I know this! It’s that webtoon!”

“Webtoon?”

The girl realized this drama matched the webtoon she’d read.

“Yeah! Oh~ So this is the adaptation.”

“It’s good?”

“I liked the early parts a lot but dropped it eventually. No wonder the title rang a bell. Who’s playing Kang Ha?”

Knowing the webtoon’s story, she was curious about the casting for Kang Ha.

“Who’s Kang Ha?”

“The male lead. I used to stan him. Ah~ He better be hot.”

The webtoon’s art style made him look insanely handsome, so anything less would be a letdown.

She forgot about her tteokbokki entirely, glued to the screen waiting for the male lead.

[Crazy, why’s she acting like that?]

[What, is your head messed up or something?]

The first episode moved fast.

The female lead, enduring school bullying, got her revenge on the thugs tormenting her.

[Ah, right. It was raining that day.]

She flashed back to being trapped on the rooftop, shivering in the downpour.

[Someone had ditched an umbrella here back then… But it’s gone now.]

Regret flickered over her face at the missing umbrella as she trudged out into the rain, and someone watched her go.

“Why won’t they show his face?”

It was obvious he was the male lead, so the tease was frustrating.

As if on cue, the focus shifted to him.

The pouring rain stopped like magic the second she left, and he folded up his umbrella.

“Wow…”

The second his face filled the screen, she let out an awed sigh.

“He’s gorgeous.”

The handsomest face she’d seen lately.

His wistful gaze on the female lead’s retreating back already screamed backstory.

He headed to the gym storage shed, pulled out a hidden diary, and flipped it open.

Inside, the name “Han Jaehee” was scrawled.

“Huh? 2014? Didn’t it say 2013 earlier?”

The time slip intro had specified 2013, but the diary clearly read 2014.

“Yeah.”

“No way? That guy came from the future too?”

“Yeah.”

“Whoa!”

She was still reeling from the reveal that the male lead had time-slipped too when a cosmetics ad cut in.

“Ah~ What? Why an ad here… No way it ends like this, right?”

But it did.

Next episode preview rolled before she knew it.

“What? Why’d it end so fast? Is the webtoon like this too?”

“Ah~ Spoilers if I say.”

“No! Don’t tell me. I’ll watch!”

***

The first episode dropped a major setup twist right away—what kind of wild ride was this drama gonna be? I was dying to know.

After watching the premiere and crashing out, I woke up to a barrage of texts greeting me.

“What, what is this? All these…”

Had something happened?

Oh god, something had blown up.