Di mana-mana, bola salju itu terus menggelinding dengan 'Rental Lover', 'Produce That 100!', Nomor 1, dan Choi Rina sebagai pusatnya, membuat popularitas kata kunci yang sudah tinggi itu meroket semakin jauh. Entah itu tabloid atau bukan, berita itu membuahkan hasil yang besar.
Bukan hanya 'Produce That 100!' tetapi bahkan 'Rental Lover' kini sedang menaiki gelombang kesuksesan promosi yang mengerikan.
Seluruh industri hiburan dan penyiaran domestik jungkir balik.
Lalu, bagaimana perasaan mereka yang mengenal Kang Rojun—tidak, Nomor 1? Para kontestan seperti Nomor 10 dan Nomor 88, yang telah pulang ke rumah setelah tersingkir dari kampus 'Produce That 100!', dibuat ternganga. Grup idol pendatang baru ‘Lime Some’, yang pernah bekerja sama dengan Rojun dan yang lainnya untuk evaluasi babak kedua, jatuh ke dalam kekacauan di ruang tunggu acara musik.
Ha-young, yang tampil bersama Kang Rojun dalam penampilan ‘brake’, mengenakan ekspresi yang paling tampak syok.
“……Hah?? Yang benar saja?”
Sekitar dua jam kemudian, wajah Kang Rojun dan Choi Rina telah mengambil alih di mana-mana.
Namun, lokasi syuting 'Rental Lover', yang seharusnya menjadi pusat gempa dari keributan itu, relatif tenang dan teratur. Semua kamera dan peralatan pencahayaan telah disiapkan, dan puluhan staf yang melangkah keluar dari ruang syuting juga sudah mulai tenang dibandingkan kegilaan di awal.
PD Jung Soo-ryeong duduk di stasiun pengarah dengan monitor yang berjajar.
Aktris papan atas Choi Rina, dengan riasan lengkap, muncul di berbagai sudut pandang kamera. Lalu, di depannya.
-Syuwit.
Kang Rojun, yang mengenakan setelan jas, berdiri. Ketika keduanya sempat saling bertukar pandang, PD Jung Soo-ryeong, setelah memastikan keduanya di monitor, berteriak ke arah megafon sinyal.
“Action!”
Syuting pertama 'Rental Lover' baru saja dimulai.
Sementara itu, kembali ke kampus 'Produce That 100!' di Paju.
Semua kontestan, yang menghabiskan waktu dengan cara mereka sendiri, membicarakan hal yang sama. Dimulai dari rekan-rekan di Kamar 105.
“Nomor 1-nim itu seorang penulis?? Omong kosong macam apa yang segar ini.”
Semua orang membicarakan Nomor 1. Mengingat apa yang telah mereka lihat hingga titik ini, justru aneh jika tidak merasa terkejut. Terutama karena Kang Rojun sedang tidak berada di kampus saat ini, hal itu semakin memicu kehebohan.
Pada titik ini, ruang rapat yang disiapkan di gedung asrama tim produksi juga sedang gempar. Tim penulis, termasuk Kim Se-hee yang mirip hamster, serta staf kunci dari departemen syuting dan suara juga telah melihat artikel-artikel tentang Rojun yang membanjiri internet.
“Ada apa ini!! Kenapa mereka mengamuk separah ini atas sesuatu yang konyol dan tidak berdasar?!”
“Ah, serius deh! Imajinasi mereka terlalu liar! Mereka sengaja melemparkannya begitu saja demi klik, dan karena Nomor 1 sedang sangat populer sekarang, berita itu menyebar seperti api tanpa ada remnya.”
“Itu benar, kan. Ada klip-klip Nomor 1 sedang menulis di 'Produce That 100!', dan sekarang 'Rental Lover' menjadi tren lagi berkat Choi Rina, mereka mungkin hanya malas-malasan menghubungkan keduanya.”
“Apa yang harus kita lakukan?? Artikelnya meledak dengan sangat cepat, rasanya sudah terlambat untuk memblokirnya.”
Di tengah suasana yang kebingungan, tim penulis mencoba menawarkan cara untuk meredakan situasi.
“Sudah tidak ada cara untuk memblokir artikel-artikel itu sekarang. Hal terbaik dan tercepat adalah mengeluarkan sanggahan resmi.”
“Kalau begitu, mari kita bertindak cepat, ya? PD-nim! Seperti yang kalian tahu, tidak ada gunanya membuang-buang waktu!”
“Setuju banget.”
PD Woo Han-suk, yang lingkaran hitam di bawah matanya sudah turun hingga ke garis rahangnya karena sering begadang, tampak jauh lebih pendiam daripada para penulis.
“……”
Ia hanya terus membaca artikel-artikel terkait Rojun di ponselnya. Mungkin merasa frustrasi karena kurangnya rasa mendesak dari PD tersebut, penulis Kim Se-hee yang tegang langsung menyela.
“PD-nim!! Apa kamu mendengarku??! Ini bukan waktunya untuk melamun!!”
“Aku dengar, aku dengar. Telingaku sakit, sialan.”
“Kita harus segera mengambil tindakan!”
Woo Han-suk perlahan menggaruk dagunya dan meletakkan ponselnya.
“Hm—tentang itu. Sebenarnya tidak perlu mengeluarkan sanggahan.”
“Apa?”
Dengan alis yang berkerut, para penulis dan staf kunci memperhatikan saat PD Woo Han-suk membuat pengumuman itu.
“Karena artikel itu benar.”
Semua orang kecuali PD Woo Han-suk tiba-tiba dipenuhi dengan tanda tanya di wajah mereka.
“Hah?”
“……??”
Woo Han-suk menggaruk dagunya lagi dan menegaskan kembali.
“Itu benar. Drama satu babak 'Rental Lover' memang ditulis oleh Nomor 1.”
Lebih dari sepuluh detik keheningan berlalu sebelum Kim Se-hee dengan hati-hati bertanya,
“…PD-nim, apakah kamu, secara kebetulan, sedang mencoba melarikan diri dari kenyataan??”
Sambil mengeluarkan sedikit desahan, PD Woo Han-suk mulai menjelaskan.
“Karena situasinya, aku tidak punya pilihan selain menjelaskannya sekarang. Sejujurnya, aku sudah tahu sejak hari-hari awal 'Produce That 100!' bahwa Nomor 1 menulis 'Rental Lover', dan aku sudah beberapa kali bertemu dengan tim penyutradaraan 'Rental Lover'.”
Ia secara singkat merangkum hubungan antara Kang Rojun dan 'Rental Lover'. Tentu saja, ia sengaja melewatkan bagian tentang ‘Kekasih Nomor 4’.
“Kemungkinan besar, staf kunci 'Rental Lover' dan para aktor termasuk Choi Rina sudah tahu bahwa Nomor 1 adalah penulisnya. Bahkan baru-baru ini ada pembacaan naskah.”
“……Apa.”
“Tunggu—sebentar.”
Wajah para penulis berubah menjadi ekspresi kebingungan yang luar biasa.
“Apakah itu masuk akal? Bagaimana bisa seorang idol menjadi penulis?”
“J—Jadi…… hal yang dikerjakan Nomor 1 di ruang istirahat waktu itu, itu benar-benar 'Rental Lover'???”
“Mungkin. Atau mungkin naskah yang lain. Bagaimanapun juga, dia memang aktif menulis.”
“Semua waktu saat dia meninggalkan asrama.”
“Adalah pertemuan dengan mereka mendiskusikan itu.”
Meskipun mereka mendengarnya, mereka tetap tidak bisa mempercayainya.
“Jadi—Nomor 1 menguasai 'Produce That 100!' dan secara bersamaan bekerja sebagai penulis, dan hasil dari semua itu adalah sebuah drama yang dibintangi oleh aktris papan atas Choi Rina?”
“Ada sedikit perbedaan dalam lini masa, tapi kurang lebih ya, begitu.”
“Itu terlalu tidak nyata untuk dicerna.”
“Ugh… Aku merinding.”
Everywhere, the snowball kept rolling with 'Rental Lover', 'Produce That 100!', No. 1, and Choi Rina at the center, growing the already high recognition of those keywords even further. Whether it was a tabloid or not, it was generating major results.
Not only 'Produce That 100!' but even 'Rental Lover' was now riding a terrifying wave of promotional success.
The entire domestic entertainment and broadcasting industry was turned on its head.
So how would those who knew Kang Rojun- no, No. 1, feel? Participants like No. 10 and No. 88, who had returned home after being eliminated from the 'Produce That 100!' campus, were left with their jaws hanging open. The rookie girl group ‘Lime Some’, who had worked with Rojun and others for the second round of evaluations, was thrown into chaos in a music show’s waiting room.
Ha-young, who had performed with Kang Rojun on the ‘brake’ performance, wore the most visibly shocked expression.
“……Eh?? Seriously?”
About two hours later, Kang Rojun and Choi Rina’s faces had taken over everywhere.
Yet the 'Rental Lover' filming site, which should’ve been ground zero of the uproar, was relatively calm and organized. All the cameras and lighting equipment had been set up, and dozens of staff who had stepped outside the shooting space had also settled down compared to the initial frenzy.
PD Jung Soo-ryeong sat at the station with the monitors lined up.
Top actress Choi Rina, with her makeup done, appeared on various camera angles. Then, in front of her.
-Swish.
Kang Rojun, dressed in a suit, stood. When the two briefly made eye contact, PD Jung Soo-ryeong, after confirming both of them on the monitor, shouted into the signal megaphone.
“Action!”
The first shoot of 'Rental Lover' had just begun.
Meanwhile, back at the 'Produce That 100!' campus in Paju.
All the participants, spending their time in their own ways, were talking about the same thing. Starting with the peers in Room 105.
“No. 1-nim is a writer?? What kind of fresh bullshit is that.”
Everyone was buzzing about No. 1. Given what they had seen up to this point, it would be strange not to be surprised. Especially since Kang Rojun wasn’t on campus at the moment, it only fueled the buzz.
By this point, the meeting room set up in the production team’s dorm building was buzzing as well. The writing team, including hamster-like Kim Se-hee, and key staff from filming and sound departments had also seen the articles flooding the internet about Rojun.
“What is this!! Why are they going wild over something so ridiculous and baseless?!”
“Ha- seriously! The imagination is too much! They just threw it out there for clicks, and because No. 1 is so hot right now, it spread like wildfire without any brakes.”
“That’s it, right. There were clips of No. 1 writing on 'Produce That 100!', and now that 'Rental Lover' is trending again thanks to Choi Rina, they probably just lazily linked the two.”
“What do we do?? The articles are exploding so fast, it feels too late to block them.”
Amid the flustered mood, the writing team tried to offer ways to calm the situation.
“There’s no way to block the articles now. The best and fastest thing would be to issue an official denial.”
“Then let’s act fast, shall we? PD-nim! As you know, there’s no benefit in wasting time!”
“Totally agree.”
PD Woo Han-suk, whose dark circles had drooped all the way down his jawline from repeated all-nighters, was noticeably more silent than the writers.
“……”
He simply continued reading the Rojun-related articles on his phone. Perhaps frustrated by his lack of urgency, the high-strung writer Kim Se-hee jumped in.
“PD-nim!! Did you hear me??! This is no time to be zoning out!!”
“I hear you, I hear you. My ears hurt, damn it.”
“We need to take action!”
Woo Han-suk slowly scratched his chin and put his phone down.
“Hm- about that. There’s really no need to issue a denial.”
“What?”
With furrowed brows, the writers and key staff looked on as PD Woo Han-suk made his declaration.
“Because the article is true.”
Everyone except PD Woo Han-suk was suddenly filled with question marks on their faces.
“Huh?”
“……??”
Woo Han-suk scratched his chin again and reaffirmed.
“It’s true. The one-act 'Rental Lover' was indeed written by No. 1.”
More than ten seconds of silence passed before Kim Se-hee cautiously asked,
“…PD-nim, are you, by any chance, trying to escape from reality??”
Letting out a small sigh, PD Woo Han-suk began explaining.
“Due to the circumstances, I had no choice but to explain now. Truth is, I’ve known since the early days of 'Produce That 100!' that No. 1 wrote 'Rental Lover', and I’ve met with the 'Rental Lover' directing team a few times.”
He briefly summarized the connection between Kang Rojun and 'Rental Lover'. Of course, leaving out the part about ‘Lover No. 4’.
“Most likely, the key staff of 'Rental Lover' and the actors including Choi Rina already know No. 1 is the writer. There was even a script reading recently.”
“……What.”
“Wait- hold on a sec.”
The writers’ faces twisted into expressions of utter confusion.
“Does that even make sense? How does an idol become a writer?”
“S-So…… that thing No. 1 was working on in the break room, that was really 'Rental Lover'???”
“Probably. Or maybe it was another script. Either way, he’s been actively writing.”
“All those times he left the dorms.”
“Were meetings with them.”
Though they heard it, they still couldn't believe it.
“So- No. 1 was owning 'Produce That 100!' and simultaneously working as a writer, and the result of that is a drama starring top-tier actress Choi Rina?”
“There are some differences in the timeline, but more or less, yeah.”
“That’s too unreal to even process.”
“Ugh… I’m getting goosebumps.”
"No, writing a script isn't something that can be done in a day or two, it's a question of whether it can be done even if you write like crazy. And you’re telling me he pulled that off while doing 'Produce That 100!'?”
Because they were broadcast writers themselves, their reactions were even more intense. Among them, Kim Se-hee, who had been sitting there slack-jawed the entire time, finally spoke up.
“If this isn’t just a tabloid rumor but the real deal, then things are already explosive, and they’re going to flip over a few more times. This is just too dreamy, precedent or not.”
PD Woo Han-suk let out a short laugh and scratched his chin.
“As far as idols go, this guy is a real ecosystem disruptor. He’s got the looks, the talent, and even a killer side job. If I look ahead at No. 1’s future, I see someone who’s going to break through everything in an unparalleled, one-of-a-kind way. No matter which industry.”
“…Then when are we making the official announcement? We’ll have to let people know it’s true and not just a rumor.”
PD Woo Han-suk did not immediately respond to the question thrown at him. Instead, he suddenly recalled a past conversation he had shared with PD Jung Soo-ryeong. It had started with PD Jung Soo-ryeong.
“We’re definitely going to expand the scope. As for when to drop the bait that No. 1 is the writer of 'Rental Lover', I think the end of August, around the time of the first shoot for 'Rental Lover', would be ideal.”
“For me, that timing’s best too, since it lines up with the surprise performance in 'Produce That 100!' and the Netflix Japan launch. But isn’t that a bit early?”
“On our side, things will be quite noisy too, since Choi Rina is confirmed as the female lead. So for the first bomb drop, the timing is just right. It’ll hook audiences for both 'Rental Lover' and 'Produce That 100!' just right.”
"Hmm. With such a big bait, both the press and public opinion will be in uproar, so how long will you leave it as is? It's good to drag the attention as much as possible."
“I agree completely.”
In short, this whole situation had been orchestrated by PD Woo Han-suk and PD Jung Soo-ryeong. Naturally, the central figure, Kang Rojun, was also in the loop.
"Decide the official statement timing after discussing with the writer around that time."
“Of course.”
“But for the first bomb, we’ll only reveal that No. 1 is the writer of 'Rental Lover'. His participation as an actor in 'Rental Lover' will stay hidden for now. We need to save that for a final twist.”
Back to reality, in the meeting room surrounded by writers, PD Woo Han-suk thought.
‘After the first bomb, the revelation that Rojun is ‘Lover No. 4’ will drop right around the time of the 'Rental Lover' production presentation, just before it airs-’
He imagined the future as he muttered to himself.
‘The setup is perfect.’
He had a clear image of Kang Rojun, surrounded by reporters.
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