He didn’t have the opportunity to attend production presentations for < Critical Point > and < Heureojeo Itdeon Saramdeul >.
But it wasn’t that he never had the chance.
For < Running Time > and < Virus >, he could attend the production presentations as a Writer.
Usually, a Writer shared their thoughts and planning intent at the production presentation and played the role of suggesting the direction of how to best watch the work.
However, Taeha felt that this part wasn’t particularly meaningful.
Rather, he thought that in the process of making it known, the work would lose its room for free interpretation.
Above all, he judged that since he wasn’t a Star Writer, there was no part where his participation in the production presentation could benefit the promotion of the work.
This was the reason Taeha had not attended production presentations until now.
“But < Killer × Killer > is different.”
First of all, Taeha was an actor, not a Writer.
In other words, it meant he was an existence that could not help but influence the promotion of the work in some way.
He wasn’t even an actor whose MyStar followers stayed at a mere 3,000 like before.
Before he knew it, his recognition had grown to the level of a Lead Role and reached a level where he could exert influence.
In short, it was a fact that could be seen just by looking at the fact that Taeha’s MyStar followers were now at 400,000.
Therefore, Taeha’s attendance at the production presentation was a necessity, not a choice.
He was in a position where he had to work hard to bring even one more audience member to the theater.
That was the reason Taeha was attending this production presentation.
And as his attendance at the production presentation was confirmed, Stylist Kim Su-jin became busy.
It was because she had to choose an outfit suitable for Taeha’s first production presentation in his life.
Moreover, since < Killer × Killer > was a Two Top film, the person Taeha would be directly compared with was the top-tier actor Lee Seok-hyun.
Therefore, Kim Su-jin had no choice but to be very picky in choosing the outfit.
“An outfit from a brand that’s too low-tier might lead to him being ignored as a Two Top actor, but if the tier is too high, it will feel like he’s excessively conscious of Lee Seok-hyun.”
In the end, it was important to predict what brand of clothes Lee Seok-hyun would wear and receive as much sponsorship as possible for clothes that matched that.
Someone might say, shouldn’t she just get sponsorships from several brands in advance and then check Lee Seok-hyun’s outfit on the day and match it, but that was impossible.
In the first place, most sponsorships involved making a promotional promise about when and where the clothes would be worn.
Of course, if Taeha were an actor with a lot of media exposure and higher recognition than now, he could receive sponsorships with better conditions.
However, since that wasn’t the situation right now, there was nothing she could do.
It was a situation where Kim Su-jin couldn’t help but have a headache.
Watching that, Taeha opened his mouth.
“What is there to worry about? I can just ask Seok-hyun directly what he’s going to wear.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll call him now.”
Taeha immediately took out his Hyeondaepon and called Lee Seok-hyun.
Then, Lee Seok-hyun answered Taeha’s call warmly.
– Oh. Actor Kang. What’s going on? You’re a fellow who almost never contacts me first. Did you get nervous because it’s your first production presentation?
“It’s not like that. And it’s not that I don’t contact you, isn’t it that you contact me too often? You call me about once every two days.”
– What can I do when I think of you once every two days? Our Actor Kang doesn’t know the senior’s heart too well. So what’s your business? You don’t call if there’s no business.
“Ah. I’m sick of it. The frame of the rude junior who doesn’t contact the senior first. Anyway, it’s true that I have business.”
– Right. I thought so.
“Seok-hyun, what are you going to wear to the production presentation?”
– I’ll probably wear a suit.
“No, not that. The suit brand. I need to know that so I can match it. So it’s not too lacking, and not too excessive.”
At Taeha’s honest question, Lee Seok-hyun belatedly grasped the intent of the question and burst into laughter.
– Puhahat. What? Taeha, you were worried about such things? Eh. You don’t have to. As soon as the film is released, regardless of what you do, things will go crazy, so what does the suit brand matter? Originally, that kind of thing is what half-baked actors who aren’t confident in their acting do.
“I know it’s that kind of thing, but… please just let me know. As a Stylist, she can’t help but be concerned.”
– Ah…
Only then could Lee Seok-hyun properly understand why Taeha had asked the question.
He realized that Taeha was working hard to ease the worries of the Stylist, who professionally had no choice but to care about Taeha’s 180-degree image.
It was a meticulousness that was not commonly found in celebrities.
At the same time, he could see how Taeha had a personality that didn’t feel vanity or inferiority.
If he had vanity or inferiority, he wouldn’t have been able to ask such a question so honestly.
In fact, most celebrities with professions seen by others were bound to be weak to things like vanity or inferiority.
It was especially so during the time between an ambiguous Rookie and a veteran.
For that reason, Lee Seok-hyun thought.
‘Man. Anyway, I like him for this part too. Given this, how can I not call him once every two days?’
So the answer came back from Lee Seok-hyun.
– Wait. I have to ask my Stylist too.
And a moment later.
– Emilio Zegna.
“Ah. Emilio Zegna. I understand. Then I’ll see you that day.”
Hanging up the phone like that, Taeha spoke while looking at Kim Su-jin.
“He said he’s prepared Emilio Zegna.”
But unexpectedly, Kim Su-jin was looking at Taeha with a touched expression.
“Actor Kang…”
Kim Su-jin had also realized the heart of consideration contained in Taeha’s actions.
However, because Taeha didn’t know at all that Kim Su-jin was touched, he only asked back like this.
“Is it not enough? Should I look into something else?”
Then, Kim Su-jin hurriedly shook her head and waved her hands.
“No. No. That’s more than enough. From now on, I’ll take care of everything.”
“Okay. I understand. Good work.”
Taeha lightly offered a word of encouragement to Kim Su-jin.
At the same time, a smile appeared on the mouth of Im Chan-hyung, who was silently watching this situation from the side.
***
A few days later.
The Staff Room of the production presentation for < Killer × Killer >.
Photo journalists took their places in the photo zone prepared along with the red carpet and waited for the start of the production presentation.
Jeong Won-geon, a photo journalist for Daily Issue, thought after checking his wristwatch in the meantime.
“Should I have eaten something, even if it was just a quick meal?”
Photo journalists, who had no fixed lunch time, often suffered from indigestion due to binge eating and fast eating.
It was especially so for a photo journalist who had the experience of missing a scoop while having a meal.
It was the same for Jeong Won-geon, but today, he was going to skip lunch altogether.
It was because he arrived late at the Staff Room after covering another place.
But once he arrived, there was a little time left.
As a result, the thought occurred that he should have at least eaten lunch simply.
It was one of several occupational diseases that all photo journalists had.
“No. It’s late to move anyway, so let’s bear with it and eat later.”
Sure enough, the production presentation soon began.
The first to appear were Republic of Korea’s best action actor Kyung Juncheol and Go Dong-pal, who starred as the Final Boss of < Killer × Killer >.
The two appeared in fairly clean suit setups, but Jeong Won-geon’s reaction was indifferent.
It wasn’t just Jeong Won-geon.
Other photo journalists were also mechanically pressing their shutters.
It was because of another occupational disease that photo journalists often had: visual dyslexia.
Visual dyslexia.
It meant feeling indifferent even when seeing any wonderful person or scenery.
Taking many photos paradoxically caused visual literacy to drop.
Jeong Won-geon, who couldn’t eat lunch, went a step further and thought like this.
“Ah. I’m hungry.”
It was a passage where one could see just how dry Jeong Won-geon’s heart was.
And this tendency, surprisingly, did not change much even when Director Jeong Myeong-hwan, Sim Yeong-seon the Writer, and Lee Seok-hyun appeared in turn.
Rather, after Lee Seok-hyun appeared, the third occupational disease of photo journalists emerged, which was White Eye Syndrome.
This phenomenon, where one keeps making eyes that show a lot of the whites of the eyes, was an occupational disease that occurs when one works hard to find the core picture of the Staff Room.
The reason White Eye Syndrome appeared in the photo journalists including Jeong Won-geon with Lee Seok-hyun’s appearance was simple.
It was because Lee Seok-hyun was the core of this production presentation.
Jeong Won-geon also quickly examined Lee Seok-hyun’s state in a state of White Eye Syndrome and thought.
“His expression is good. He’s professional in front of the camera too. The outfit… looks like Emilio Zegna?”
Then, Jeong Won-geon felt hungry again and drily captured that appearance on camera.
Lee Seok-hyun’s appearance in a top-tier actor’s Emilio Zegna black suit setup was perfect without lack, but there was no emotion.
It was unavoidable.
For Jeong Won-geon, that appearance felt natural.
That was when it happened.
In the Staff Room where only camera shutter sounds and voices such as ‘Look this way please’ and ‘Please wave your hand’ were heard, exclamations flowed out.
“Wow!”
“Unbelievable!”
With that, Jeong Won-geon’s gaze also naturally turned that way.
At the same time, from Jeong Won-geon’s mouth,
“Whoa!”
Such an exclamation flowed out.
The visuals of Taeha, who appeared after Lee Seok-hyun, were just that shocking.
Taeha, walking on the red carpet with flawless steps, was wearing a dark blue suit setup from Ilario, prepared by Kim Su-jin after much consideration.
The styling featured patterned jacquard, notched lapels, a welt pocket on the chest, and a logo patch on the sleeve as points.
This styling brought out a neat charm while pursuing sophistication, further highlighting Taeha’s appearance.
However, that did not mean his appearance was so great that it overwhelmed Lee Seok-hyun.
Lee Seok-hyun’s appearance also clearly had a different handsome quality from Taeha’s face, which reminded one of an Idol visual center.
He wasn’t a top-tier actor for nothing.
Nevertheless, the expressions of the photo journalists including Jeong Won-geon were quite different.
It was because unlike when they were glaring at Lee Seok-hyun and taking photos somewhat drily, their cheeks were flushed red as if they had worked up a heat.
It wasn’t that they were feeling a different emotion.
It was precisely the effect of Immersion.
The reason the photo journalists were being affected by Immersion like this.
The reason was simple.
It was because Taeha appeared while thinking of the production presentation Staff Room as part of his acting.
Although he was pretending to be composed, Taeha’s heart hadn’t been very comfortable since a few days before the production presentation.
He was feeling extreme pressure and tension about his first production presentation.
It was natural since it was his first time showing himself in front of such a large number of reporters.
A situation where mind control was necessary.
So the method he thought of was to think of this as part of acting.
To shake off the pressure and tension, he decided to act the part of an actor who had already experienced dozens of production presentations.
In that way, his Immersion Ability was activated, and before he knew it, Taeha no longer felt pressure or tension.
At the same time, the photo journalists also began to take photos passionately, influenced by Taeha.
They ended up burning their souls as photo journalists without even realizing it.
As a result, dozens of ‘shots of a lifetime’ for Taeha were soon piled up in the photo journalists’ cameras.
Jeong Won-geon also forgot his hunger and moved passionately here and there, striving to capture Taeha’s real-life appearance in its most beautiful state.
And it was only after Taeha belatedly left the photo zone that he realized.
“Ah.”
That he had overcome all his occupational diseases without realizing it.
Smoothly, Taeha’s film promotion schedule began.