NOVEL WEB Episode 127 - Housewarming (2)
Upon hearing Yeon-woo’s words, Woo Seong-sik’s eyes sparkled.
“Wow, you even talk on the phone with Seo Ji-eun. I’m so jealous.”
Kim Junsoo, standing beside him, gave him a look of disbelief.
“Hey, they’ve already worked on two projects together.”
“Oh, right.”
From Woo Seong-sik’s reaction, it was clear that Seo Ji-eun’s popularity had skyrocketed recently. Yeon-woo grinned mischievously and spoke up.
“Have you switched from Han So-hyeon to Seo Ji-eun? So-hyeon noona was so nice to you… I’ll have to let her know.”
“No! Absolutely not!”
“Oh, so you don’t want to compare Seo Ji-eun to Han So-hyeon?”
“…What? No, that’s not it! Yeon-woo hyung!”
Everyone burst into laughter at Woo Seong-sik’s flustered reaction and Yeon-woo’s playful teasing. Son Jin-yuk patted Yeon-woo on the shoulder, chuckling.
“You look like a senior soldier hazing a new recruit.”
“Ah…”
At the mention of the dreaded word, everyone froze.
“Hyung… We’re about to go to the army soon.”
Woo Seong-sik and Kim Junsoo’s faces turned somber.
“…Ahem. You guys are already that age, huh? Anyway, shall we move to the living room and watch the variety show? We promised to watch it live.”
Son Jin-yuk quickly changed the subject, and everyone stood up to follow him. They gathered in the living room, sprawling out on the large sofa. As they turned on the TV, a commercial featuring Jin Yu-han for a beverage was playing.
“Hey, Yu-han’s on TV.”
At Woo Seong-sik’s comment, Kim Joo-hyung, who had been looking at his smartphone, glanced at the TV and then looked around. Sitting next to him was Ryu Yeon-woo, his college classmate and the first Korean actor to win the Berlin Golden Bear Award. Across from him was Son Jin-yuk, one of Korea’s top male actors, whose popularity was at its peak. And Jin Yu-han, who often hung out with them, was now appearing in a TV commercial.
Just last year, he had been an ordinary college student… Well, he still was an ordinary college student…
“This is crazy.”
“Huh? Who is? Yu-han?”
Kim Junsoo asked, puzzled by Kim Joo-hyung’s muttered words, to which he quickly waved his hands.
“No, no, I was just thinking about something else.”
“Hey, it’s starting.”
The variety show began. The set was designed like a pojangmacha (street food tent), where guests could have a drink and chat.
“Jin-yuk hyung, have you ever been on this show?”
“Yeah, about four years ago, I think?”
Son Jin-yuk nodded at Yeon-woo’s question, prompting a barrage of questions from the friends.
“Hyung, do they really drink alcohol while filming?”
“Well, if you want to. If you can’t drink, you can just have water.”
The show was quite entertaining. Seo Ji-eun’s cheerful personality and candid talk blended well with the atmosphere. Then, the MC skillfully brought up a prepared question.
[Seo Ji-eun, I heard there’s a man who saved your life three times?]
[Three times?]
The other panelists were surprised by the MC’s question.
‘Hmm, is this the part where she talks about me?’
Since Seo Ji-eun had mentioned talking about him, Yeon-woo thought it might be related to the Berlin Film Festival or the previous stalker incident.
On TV, Seo Ji-eun began to answer the MC’s question.
[Yes. Some of you might have seen it in the news, but there was a dangerous situation, and luckily, Ryu Yeon-woo saved me.]
She didn’t go into specifics, but the panelists nodded in understanding.
[So, that man is Ryu Yeon-woo?]
As the panelists expressed their admiration, a small image of Yeon-woo’s face appeared on the screen.
The admiration wasn’t limited to the TV.
“Oh, wow. They’re talking about you.”
“That’s amazing.”
Yeon-woo chuckled at his friends’ reactions but then tilted his head in confusion.
“But why did she say I saved her three times?”
On TV, Seo Ji-eun continued her story.
[The second time was when I almost fell off a horse during a shoot.]
As Seo Ji-eun spoke, Yeon-woo nodded in recognition.
The variety show’s production team had managed to obtain behind-the-scenes footage from KBC1’s drama department. The video showed the terrifying moment when Seo Ji-eun almost fell from a galloping horse, and Yeon-woo acrobatically bent his body to catch her and pull her to safety.
The MC and panelists gasped in awe as they watched the footage on their monitors.
The same reaction echoed in Yeon-woo’s living room.
“Wow, did that really happen? Why didn’t you tell us?”
“That was really dangerous.”
“And your reflexes were amazing.”
Ignoring his friends’ reactions, Yeon-woo continued watching the show. The MC’s voice filled the room.
[That was a really dangerous moment. My heart skipped a beat just watching it. But you said he saved you three times. Are there other incidents besides these major ones?]
[The last one is about my career as an actress. Before filming 「The Star Beyond the River」, my debut work didn’t do well, and my acting career was almost over.]
Seo Ji-eun attributed the success of 「The Star Beyond the River」 to Ryu Yeon-woo and shared behind-the-scenes stories about her casting in 「Sketch」, eliciting admiration from the panelists.
However, Yeon-woo, feeling embarrassed, shook his head.
‘No, 「The Star Beyond the River」 would have succeeded even without me. Jin Yu-han would have been the lead, and it would have done well.’
The variety show professionals made even potentially dull stories engaging with their reactions, and the internet response was overwhelmingly positive.
In today’s era, the success of variety shows often depended more on how much they were clipped and shared online rather than their live viewership. The eight-minute segment featuring stories about the currently hot actors Seo Ji-eun and Ryu Yeon-woo, along with behind-the-scenes tales from last year’s hit 「The Star Beyond the River」 and this year’s popular 「Sketch」, was bound to be a hit.
The addition of the behind-the-scenes footage of the near-fall incident only boosted the clip’s views.
─Taejeongtaesemundansok (cjj91***): Our Yeon-woo’s positive influence is amazing.
─Nanneulyeohaenggeoranjok (sam81***): The way he caught her is incredible. It’s like a drama scene.
└ Woogyeolchung (leehyeo): If I were the director, I would have used that scene. Why didn’t they?
└ Kungsman (with): Be realistic. Using that scene could lead to criticism for poor safety management on set.
─Ghost and Calorie (estoc0***):It feels like Seo Ji-eun’s words are sincere, which is touching.
└ Noreungyeranja (jyhong0***):I agree. You can tell she’s genuinely grateful, not just saying it for the show.
Whether or not they were aware of the internet’s reaction, Yeon-woo and his friends gathered around the living room table after the variety show ended.
“This wholesome atmosphere. Is this real, guys?”
Son Jin-yuk looked at Yeon-woo and his friends in disbelief. They were all twenty-one-year-old men, an age when they could be drinking beer by the bucket. Yet, there wasn’t even a single can of beer in sight.
Woo Seong-sik pulled out a deck of cards and a silver bell from his bag and placed them on the table.
“Alright, everyone knows how to play Halli Galli, right?”
Rubbing his hands together confidently, Woo Seong-sik started shuffling the cards.
“I’m Kim Junsoo. With the situational awareness to secure a pentakill faster than anyone else, these fruit pictures won’t stand a chance against me.”
Not to be outdone, Kim Joo-hyung cracked his knuckles.
“I’m an economics major at Korea University. Adding up to five? I can do that with one eye closed.”
“Bringing up your school? That’s a bit annoying. We’re from Yeonha University too, you know.”
Watching the kids take the game so seriously, Son Jin-yuk shook his head. But his words said otherwise.
“When we’re on location shoots, the staff and I play card games the most in the evenings.”
Whether young or old, showing off over trivial things was the same.
Then, Yeon-woo quietly raised his hand.
“I have no idea what this is. Halli what?”
Kim Junsoo nodded knowingly.
“Of course, Ryu Yeon-woo, who spent his life training in a temple, wouldn’t know. I’ll explain the rules.”
Having never heard of Halli Galli, let alone games like League of Legends or karaoke, Yeon-woo wasn’t surprised. He listened to Kim Junsoo’s explanation and nodded.
“So, you flip the cards, and when there are five of the same fruit, you ring the bell, right?”
Confirming the rules once more, Yeon-woo tilted his head.
“Is this really a game? It seems too simple.”
It wasn’t blackjack or baccarat; it was just a matter of seeing the cards and ringing a bell. How hard could it be?
Woo Seong-sik wagged his index finger side to side at Yeon-woo.
“Beginners always say that. Let’s get to the real game.”
Woo Seong-sik dealt the cards, and the game began.
Three bananas.
Two plums.
The men quietly flipped their cards, their arms twitching as they waited for the right moment. Yeon-woo, however, watched calmly, not moving a muscle.
When it was Son Jin-yuk’s turn to flip a card, Yeon-woo’s hand shot out like lightning and touched the bell.
– Ding. –
The bell rang, and only then did the cards, which had been flipped, land on the table.
Two bananas.
“Is this how you play? Why didn’t anyone else ring the bell?”
Yeon-woo asked his friends, looking puzzled. They all stared at him in disbelief.
“…What? You rang the bell before half the cards were even flipped.”
“No, if the fruit is yellow and there’s only one on top and the middle is empty, then there are obviously two…”
Woo Seong-sik shook his head.
It’s not that they didn’t know to ring the bell. They just couldn’t process and react that quickly.
“Beginner’s luck, I guess. Let’s go to the next round.”
As the game progressed, the pile of cards in front of Yeon-woo grew larger.
The next round began.
– Ding. –
– Ding. –
– Ding. –
“Hmm, does this mean the game is over?”
The game became one-sided as Yeon-woo rang the bell and collected the cards at an incredible speed, leaving the others without a chance to even reach for the bell.
“…You’re a Halli Galli tyrant.”
In the subsequent rounds, the cards naturally accumulated in front of Yeon-woo.
“Guys, this isn’t working. Let’s play something else. Got anything?”
Kim Junsoo, who was the first to raise his hands in surrender, asked. Woo Seong-sik grinned and rummaged through his bag.
“I knew this would happen, so I brought another game. Since analog isn’t working, let’s go digital.”
“Digital? Considering how he plays League of Legends, that might actually work.”
In high school, whenever they went to a PC bang, Yeon-woo would always end up dead, staring at a gray screen.
Woo Seong-sik looked around as he pulled something out of his bag.
“What I brought is something everyone can enjoy at home, dancing to the rhythm… Nintendo…”
Yeon-woo’s face lit up, recognizing something for the first time in a while.
‘If it’s this, I played it back in college.’
Simultaneously, Son Jin-yuk shouted with Yeon-woo.
“DDR!”
“DDR!”
The kids tilted their heads in unison at the exclamation.
“…What’s that?”
“DDR? Sounds familiar, I think.”
“Isn’t that the ancestor of the arcade game Pump? I remember my parents mentioning it.”
Seeing the small gaming console Woo Seong-sik pulled out of his bag, Yeon-woo shook his head.
“There’s no way it would be something I know.”
“Yeon-woo, I’m in my 30s, so it’s understandable, but why don’t you know this stuff?”
All Yeon-woo could do was shrug his shoulders with a helpless expression.
‘I belong to the generation of playing with paper flicks.’
Once again, Yeon-woo swallowed his words.
Instead of the DDR of old, they played a cutting-edge game with gyroscope-equipped sensors attached to their bodies, dancing and playing sports while watching the connected TV late into the night.
A few days later, the day of the supporting role casting audition for 「White Blood」 dawned.