“Yes! Hello, everyone. I’m Jang Dahee, your MC for today!”
A female actress in a red top dress appeared as the MC, explaining the rules and sequence of today’s live broadcast.
“Today, through your votes, we will decide the male lead for the popular webtoon-based drama Love Some. Based on the five-minute acting videos released earlier…”
In short, the male lead would be chosen by combining the view counts of the five-minute acting videos with today’s text votes.
“Now, let’s introduce the final five contestants!”
The cameras panned to the five individuals positioned around the set, showing each of their faces before displaying all five on a split screen.
“Who will be the final lead? Stay with us until the end to find out!”
Suspenseful background music played, heightening the tension.
Hyunjae, slightly nervous, swallowed hard and looked at the camera.
Meanwhile, someone was watching him on TV.
“Look at our Hyunjae, so handsome. He’s killing it!”
That someone was Miyeon, a part-time worker at the café in front of Hyunjae’s agency.
“But… this isn’t good.”
“You can’t vote for the same person multiple times, but you can vote for multiple actors at once, so please keep that in mind. Just send the number or the actor’s name as shown below.”
While cheering for Hyunjae on the TV, Miyeon sent her text vote to another actor.
“If you get more famous from here, it’ll be trouble, Hyunjae.”
Having gotten to know him at the café, she felt they were close to dating.
If he became too famous, she worried weird people would start buzzing around him.
“Let someone else take that pointless spot. You should be by my side.”
That’s why she didn’t want Hyunjae to succeed further here.
***
Hanta!
ㅋㅋㅋ Who would’ve thought it’d go as far as a live broadcast?
Are the actors having a real-time acting showdown or something? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㅋ Seriously, what are they even doing?
[What’s trending right now?]
Love Some audition
ㅋ Oh, that’s today?
The rare actor audition was drawing more attention than expected.
#1 Kim Minjun, let’s vote! ㄱㄱ
ㅋ Hyunjae, let’s take first place!!!
If it’s not Jung Hyunjae, who else could do it?
I was totally swooning watching his video ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Kangha has to be Jung Hyunjae.
└ But I’m worried he’ll lose to Kim Minjun in the text votes.
ㅋ I saw Kim Minjun’s fans going crazy with voting events on LV.
Seems like Kim Minjun will safely take the lead role?
ㅋ Noooo ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
ㅋ I’m worried Hanzoomdan might be right ㅠㅠ I’m afraid he’ll lose because of name recognition.
ㅋ But in terms of image, isn’t Hwang Inwoong the best fit?
ㅋㅋ His acting…
ㅋㅋㅋ Well, it’s decent enough, right? I’m rooting for him.
The atmosphere suggested a two-way race between Jung Hyunjae and Kim Minjun, but most people predicted Kim Minjun, with his higher name recognition, would take first place.
I saw Jung Hyunjae’s acting video slowly gaining traction on SNS.
ㅋ If only he had a bit more time, Hyunjae could’ve widened the gap.
It’s a shame.
If his agency had pushed him more, his video could’ve gone viral with the algorithm.
High school kids were going crazy over Hyunjae’s video ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㅋㅋ Well, the webtoon itself has that vibe.
I think Kim Minjun’s acting is pretty decent too, so I’m fine with either.
After the MC’s introduction, they showed the final five, behind-the-scenes footage of the five-minute videos, and interviews with the actors.
If they’re just going to play videos, why even do a live broadcast?
ㅋ So boring.
ㅋ I’m not even curious, why do they keep showing this?
ㅋ Actor auditions are such a snooze. There’s a reason no one does these ㅋ
I’m out.
Just watch their faces on mute, and it’s not bad.
After spending half the live broadcast on meaningless content, good news came as the first part ended.
Guys, come back! They’re doing random impromptu acting in the second part!
ㅋ They should’ve done this from the start. Why all the pointless chatter?
ㅋ That’s gonna expose everyone’s acting skills ㅋㅋㅋ This’ll be epic.
ㅋ I have a bad feeling this is gonna produce a ton of cringe moments ㅋㅋㅋ
ㅋ It’s like telling a comedian to be funny or a singer to sing on the spot ㅋㅋㅋ
ㅋ Real-time text voting results are out!
At the end of the first part, the real-time text voting results were finally revealed.
[1st: Kim Minjun
2nd: Jung Hyunjae
3rd: Hwang Inwoong
4th: Jung Gunwoo
5th: Yoo Seokhyung]
As expected, Kim Minjun, a former idol, took first place.
Kim Minjun, as expected.
I thought Kim Minjun’s popularity had faded, but it’s still strong ㅋㅋㅋ
ㅋㅋ He can’t lose there.
ㅋ Idols are unbeatable.
Kim Minjun’s gonna take it.
ㅋ Let’s keep that first place!
ㅋ Hyunjae ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Such a shame, he’s perfect for it.
ㅋ I’m not giving up hope until the end. Vote for our Hyunjae!
ㅋ Since Hyunjae’s video has more views and hearts, isn’t there a chance?
ㅋㅋ The gap isn’t that big, but text votes are 60%, so it’s tough.
ㅋㅋㅋㅋ ㅠㅠㅠㅠ What a shame.
Just as Hyunjae’s supporters were expressing their disappointment, unexpected news arrived.
ㅋ Taewoon posted a support message for Jung Hyunjae on StarStar!
ㅋㅋ They got super close while filming the drama, huh? Looks real.
ㅋㅋㅋ So wholesome.
ㅋ ??? My actor posted a voting encouragement message?
ㅋ What? Park Jaehoon posted a support message for Hyunjae.
ㅋㅋ Huh? Were they that close?
ㅋㅋㅋ What’s with this bromance?
Everyone knew Taewoon and Hyunjae were close from their YouTube appearances together, but when Jaehoon, who rarely used SNS, posted a support message for Hyunjae, drama fans were shocked.
He barely posts on SNS a few times a year, and now this? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㅋ A senior fanboying over a junior?
ㅋ I was already keeping an eye on them since they’re in the same drama, but now I have to vote ㅋㅋ
Jaehoon doesn’t usually flaunt friendships like this since that incident.
They must be really close.
ㅋㅋ What incident?
ㅋㅋㅋ J.J.H.
ㅋㅋㅋ That time, he got dragged into the mess just for being associated.
ㅋㅋㅋ That was pure chaos.
People were ready to tear apart anyone remotely connected.
People started bringing up that incident again, and during the long commercial break, the second part began.
What’s up with Jung Hyunjae?
ㅋ His eyes look glazed over ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㅋ Huh? Something’s off.
***
Waiting Room
After the first part ended, there was a 30-minute break, and Hyunjae took a moment to regroup in the waiting room.
“As expected, Kim Minjun is tough to beat.”
Hyungkyu had anticipated this, but his disappointment was evident.
“He’s been active for a long time. Still, I’m in second place!”
Thanks to the five-minute video’s impact, his text votes were high.
“Second place is useless if you’re not first.”
“There’s still the second part.”
The reason for Hyunjae’s confidence was the random impromptu acting in the second part.
Though it was random, they’d been given a rough idea of what to expect, so he had already planned his performance and felt confident.
“Why are you so relaxed?”
Hyungkyu seemed worried about Hyunjae’s calm demeanor despite being in second place.
“I started this to show I’m the right fit for this role. If they think I’m not suitable, there’s nothing I can do.”
“You’ve made this way too big for that kind of attitude.”
“Well… I didn’t expect it to get this big either.”
As he mentioned earlier, a live broadcast wasn’t part of his plan.
“Oh? Park Jaehoon posted a support message.”
The stylist, checking her smartphone, shared the news about Jaehoon.
“What kind of support?”
[“Vote done. Fighting, Hyunjae!”]
It was a short message with a photo of the TV, proving he was watching the live broadcast, but the length didn’t matter.
The fact that Jaehoon was supporting him was what mattered.
“Oh! Taewoon posted one too!”
“Taewoon brother too?”
“Did you ask them to?”
“No? I didn’t do anything like that…”
They were busy people, so how did they even know about this?
“That’s great! This should boost your votes!”
“How did they know?”
The program wasn’t that impactful or widely discussed, so it was surprising.
“Thank them later, after this is over.”
“Okay, but what’s that?”
A bouquet of flowers, which wasn’t there earlier, was now on the waiting room table.
“Your friend stopped by earlier.”
“He came and left?”
Hyunjae had thought his friend was just running late, but he hadn’t expected him to come and go while he was on air.
“Yeah, Jiwon said he had something urgent, so he left this and went.”
“Something urgent?”
That guy would’ve stayed till the end just to tease me, so an urgent matter? It left a bad feeling.
“Oh! Hyunjae, this.”
“What’s this?”
“It was inside the bouquet. It’s supposed to calm your body and mind.”
Hayoon handed him a small round pill, and without thinking, Hyunjae swallowed it.
“Ten minutes until we start! Please move to the set!”
The staff shouted as they went around the waiting rooms, and Hyunjae quickly checked his appearance before leaving.
“I’ll be back!”
“Do well!”
“Fighting!”
With Hayoon and Hyungkyu’s solid support, he headed to the set.
“I’ll explain one more time quickly. You’ll pick a scene to act out, get 30 seconds to look at the script, and then start right away. A timer will be displayed in front, so check it.”
“Okay~”
He responded obediently, like a kindergarten student.
None of the contestants tried to stand out or act greedy.
How did they only pick such tame people?
Whether it was the director’s taste or not, the fact that only docile actors were chosen didn’t seem to sit well with Jintae, whose expression wasn’t great.
“Five minutes left~”
“Hoo…”
Kim Minjun, standing right beside Hyunjae, let out a shaky breath and drank from the water in front of him.
Seeing him nervous is making me jittery too.
Watching the person next to him tremble made Hyunjae feel nauseous and shaky as well.
…Huh?
Something’s really off.
Suddenly, his strength drained, and his heart started pounding so loudly it felt like it was echoing in his ears.
“Hey… are you okay?”
Kim Minjun, who had been breathing heavily, tapped Hyunjae’s shoulder and asked.
That’s when Hyunjae realized something was wrong.
“Oh… I-I’m fine.”
He quickly drank some water and took deep breaths, but nothing changed.
“Last commercial break! 3, 2, 1!”
Despite his state of mind, the live broadcast proceeded without delay, and the red light on the camera came on again.
“Choose your first love! The public audition to select the male lead for Love Some…”
The MC’s words weren’t registering properly.
Why is this happening all of a sudden?
His heart was pounding rapidly, making him anxious, and now his body felt limp, and his eyes were starting to close.
“Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! We’ve prepared five iconic drama scenes…”
He tried his hardest to stay alert, but the moment he let his guard down, he felt like a sick chicken.
I’m screwed.
To be in this state at the most critical moment made his head spin.