A surprise guest appearance at Seon Min-gi’s fan meeting.
Tae-ha learned about the online community’s reaction to that appearance while on the set of *Your Radiant Twinkle*. He was resting in his car, waiting for the set to be prepared.
*Knock, knock.*
Someone knocked on the car window. When he checked, it was Kim Se-mi. Tae-ha naturally assumed she had come to ask a question about the script.
In the audition room, Kim Se-mi had seemed somewhat lacking in motivation. However, she was now one of the most hardworking people on set. After resolving the issue of being unable to focus on her role due to intrusive thoughts, her acting skills had improved significantly.
As the actress playing the second lead, Kim Se-mi was an incredibly important member of the cast. Regardless of her reasons, the newly motivated Kim Se-mi frequently approached Tae-ha with questions about the script.
Because of this, he expected the same today, but when he opened the car door, Kim Se-mi brought up an unexpected topic.
“Tae-ha, have you seen this? Things have been going crazy since yesterday.”
Tae-ha took the handphone she handed him. There, an unexpected sight unfolded before his eyes.
A surprising number of people were paying attention to his guest appearance at Seon Min-gi’s fan meeting. From his appearance to his dancing, singing, and even his remarks—the interest was staggering.
What was even more fascinating was the fact that there were almost no malicious comments among the buzz. Of course, that didn’t mean there were none at all. Occasionally, a comment from someone who seemed to have a twisted heart would appear.
Still, it was clean enough to be considered a ‘sanctuary’ in this day and age. At some point, these reactions began to have an unexpected positive effect. Comments mentioning *Your Radiant Twinkle* were mixed in.
— So when is Kang Tae-ha coming back?
— Didn’t they say he’s filming something right now?
— Yeah, he’s filming a drama called *Your Radiant Twinkle*.
— I heard it’s a campus youth drama lol. I wonder how it’ll be.
— Some info leaked from the ad agency. It seems like an older woman/younger man concept?
— Oh, wow. That fits him perfectly.
— Crazy. Hurry up and release it.
— Wait, is Kang Tae-ha actually appearing in *Your Radiant Twinkle*? Isn’t he just the Writer this time too?
— Right? There was talk about him making a cameo in *Virus*, but he never showed up.
— Was *Your Radiant Twinkle* the title of the work Kang Tae-ha wrote?
— Yeah, just like *Virus*.
— *Virus* was Kang Tae-ha’s work? Whoa, I really enjoyed *Virus*.
— Are there still people who don’t know that Writer Kang Tae-ha of *Virus* and actor Kang Tae-ha of *Killer × Killer* are the same person? lol.
— There seem to be quite a few. There are plenty around me too.
— It’s official from the Broadcast Station that he’s doing both the writing and acting for *Your Radiant Twinkle*.
— Whoa… He’s doing both? Is that even possible?
— It sounds like it’ll be pretty exhausting.
— Being in the work you wrote yourself? Isn’t that like a creative monopoly?
— I don’t know about this. Seems a bit greedy.
— If it’s an older woman/younger man concept, couldn’t they have just cast Han Yun-seong as the lead again?
— Why would Han Yun-seong play a younger man role? lol. He’s been struggling for years to break out of that image.
— I think Kang Tae-ha will suit the younger man role well.
— He even had that vibe with An Ji-yeon.
— Oh, that? The clip with the insane view count?
— With Kang Tae-ha’s face and acting, he’s basically confirmed as the nation’s younger man.
— But has it been confirmed that Kang Tae-ha has ‘melo eyes’? He’s never done a rom-com before.
— I’m a bit worried about that too… but won’t it work out?
— Honestly, the fact that he’s doing both the writing and acting is insane.
— What’s funny is that people used to complain about why the Writer and actor didn’t work together, calling it inefficient.
— I saw a similar comment lol.
— That’s just how it is. People worry once it actually happens.
— I think Kang Tae-ha will do well at both.
— Well, he’s already shown he can excel as both an actor and a Writer, even if they were separate projects.
— Anyway, thinking he’ll fail when he’s good at both is just an overreaction lol.
— So who’s the female lead of *Your Radiant Twinkle*?
— Shin So-hee.
— Oh lol. Kang Tae-ha and Shin So-hee? The visuals match up well.
— Looking at the casting alone, it seems like a highly anticipated work.
— The Director is Im Kyung-ho too.
It was an unexpected promotional boost for the drama.
Although there were still more than three months left before the drama aired, there was a huge difference between having its presence etched into people’s minds like this versus not. In fact, it seemed many people had learned about the existence of *Your Radiant Twinkle* through this incident.
Along with this, Tae-ha thought, ‘I can also see what people think of *Your Radiant Twinkle*.’
Overall, the reaction wasn’t bad. There seemed to be some anxiety about him taking on both the roles of Writer and actor, but this was something Tae-ha was already aware of.
For that reason, he didn’t feel it was a major problem. Instead, he looked forward to the positive impact it would have if *Your Radiant Twinkle* became a success.
‘Well, that’s only if the drama produces good results.’
Regardless, in a market where people would risk everything to create buzz for a drama, these reactions were undeniably positive.
Tae-ha offered a smile to Kim Se-mi, who had delivered the news.
“That’s great. Now all we have to do is perform well.”
Filming for episodes nine through twelve began.
This was what happened just before that.
***
Episode 9 of *Your Radiant Twinkle* begins with Im Yu-jin realizing that Jung Si-hoo knows her secret—that she can remember her regressions.
“Yes. I knew.”
Im Yu-jin is stunned by Jung Si-hoo’s answer. She asks as if she cannot understand.
“But why? Why did you pretend not to know?”
Jung Si-hoo answers with an expression full of sadness.
“Because… being with me made you miserable, Yu-jin.”
To Im Yu-jin, whose purpose in life was to make Jung Si-hoo happy even if she became miserable herself, his words are a massive shock. On the other hand, it’s confusing. In her memories of every regression, she doesn’t recall ever being unhappy.
“……That’s just an excuse, isn’t it? You don’t have to make up things like that. Even if you didn’t, I wasn’t going to cling to you anymore anyway.”
Jung Si-hoo gazes at Im Yu-jin and replies.
“No. Everything I said is the truth.”
“Liar.”
With that, Im Yu-jin leaves. From that day on, she avoids Jung Si-hoo. The confusion over how to treat him torments her.
On another level, she wants to deny her own life. A life where she becomes miserable because of Jung Si-hoo? She can’t believe such a thing would happen. She doesn’t even want to imagine a Jung Si-hoo who is wounded by witnessing her misery. It felt like her entire life up to that point—where she envisioned a happy future for him even at the cost of her own happiness—was being denied.
Jung Si-hoo finds it painful that Im Yu-jin is avoiding him, but he accepts it. After all, his goal was to distance himself from her, as he had approached her only to prevent a future where she became miserable by marrying another man.
Time passes, and Jung Si-hoo witnesses Im Yu-jin’s future once again. Im Yu-jin spends her entire life single. She meets her end alone in the midst of loneliness. Her body, decaying in a small room, is discovered only a month later.
A lonely death.
How lonely she must have been.
Episode 9 ends with Jung Si-hoo breaking down mentally after witnessing another shocking future.
Episode 10 begins from Im Yu-jin’s perspective as she wakes up in bed to the sound of her handphone alarm. She habitually turns it off. While doing so, she checks the date and realizes that another regression has occurred.
‘I’m back.’
As expected, her memories remain. Im Yu-jin suddenly wonders what kind of future Jung Si-hoo saw this time.
At the same time, she feels a strange sense of dissonance. She realizes that throughout her repeated regressions, she never knew where her memories were cut off.
‘Maybe Si-hoo really has been witnessing a future where I keep becoming miserable.’
Driven by this thought, Im Yu-jin goes out to find Jung Si-hoo. She searches every place he might be. But no matter how much she looks, she cannot find him. It’s as if he has vanished into thin air.
“What… what is happening?”
Im Yu-jin goes to see Kim Tae-yang to check on Jung Si-hoo’s whereabouts. When asked where Jung Si-hoo is, Kim Tae-yang tilts his head and answers.
“Si-hoo? Si-hoo didn’t enroll in this school…… By the way, who are you to be asking about him?”
Surprisingly, in this regression, Jung Si-hoo has given up on entering the same university as Im Yu-jin. Furthermore, the university he did enroll in is a long-standing rival of her school—one they face in a regular annual sports festival.
Episode 10 ends with Im Yu-jin visiting that school to meet him.
The start of episode 11 shows Jung Si-hoo’s new university life. He has adapted so well to the new environment that it feels like a betrayal, and he is popular among many of his classmates. Jung Si-hoo is practically a campus idol. He is even working as a model for the university magazine.
However, no student has ever succeeded in asking him out. Jung Si-hoo simply carries on with his school life diligently. Im Yu-jin arrives wearing her original university’s jacket.
Facing Jung Si-hoo, she asks.
“Why did you go this far?”
But there is no answer to her question. Im Yu-jin feels strange at his reaction, but she continues to speak.
“We could have solved it together. We could have found a way if we did.”
Again, there is no response from Jung Si-hoo. Finally, his lips part.
“Who… are you?”
Surprisingly, Jung Si-hoo does not remember Im Yu-jin. Episode 11 ends on her horrified expression.
Episode 12 covers the period of the annual university rivalry matches a few days later. Jung Si-hoo and Im Yu-jin end up facing each other in various events. Im Yu-jin charges at him with venomous determination, making things difficult for Jung Si-hoo.
Then, Jung Si-hoo saves Im Yu-jin just as she is about to fall. Even though they were quite far apart, he reaches out to help her as if he had been watching only her.
‘What is this?’
‘I thought he said he didn’t remember me.’
Im Yu-jin feels a strange sense of dissonance in Tae-ha’s attitude. Regardless, the festival ends with a victory for Jung Si-hoo’s university.
However, even after that, the two continue to cross paths strangely. In the early evening, as the darkness settles and the streetlamps flicker to life, Im Yu-jin seeks him out and asks.
“You… you actually remember everything, don’t you?”
This was the content of episodes nine through twelve, which had been filmed with passion over several weeks.
“Cut! Okay!”
And today, once again, a cheerful “okay” sign fell from Im Kyung-ho’s lips.