LIGHTNOVELWORLD Episode 099
Episode 099
From its first day of release,
Articles related to this kept pouring out.
[‘Escape’ Starts a Box Office Storm… Overwhelmingly First in Advance Ticket Sales]
[‘Escape’ Opens Today! 68.4% Advance Ticket Sales Rate, First Place! Signs of a Box Office Storm]
[Over 1 Million Viewers on Opening Day! ‘Escape’s Amazing Opening Audience!]
[Rookie Director Did It! ‘Escape’ Surpasses 1 Million in 10 Hours After Release]
[Ji Jung-hyun’s ‘Escape’, Off to a Smooth Start… Breaks Record for Most Viewers on Opening Day!]
[One More Reason to Watch ‘Escape’! Lee Si-joon’s Incredible Acting!]
[Already Signs of 10 Million Viewers… Continuous Praise for ‘Escape’!]
It was natural, as it was the work that made Director Kim Pil-sung an instant star.
But this time, the pace was even faster than in the past.
I never thought it would break the record for most viewers on opening day.
“It seems the buzz we created at the press conference played a big role.”
“We also reaped the benefits of
“If you had teased me a bit, it would have been less tiring.”
“If I had done that, wouldn’t the broadcast have been less entertaining? And the promotional effect smaller?”
“You always have to have the last word. You were such a humble friend before the movie started.”
I had become really close with Ji Jung-hyun.
It was inevitable after spending several months together on set and drinking late into the night.
For me too, Ji Jung-hyun was no longer the unapproachable senior he once was.
He felt like a close older brother.
“What are you two talking about so amusingly?”
And the same was true for Director Kim Pil-sung, who had just returned from the bathroom and was speaking to us.
Director Kim Pil-sung was no longer the difficult person who used to passionately lecture me about movies in the past.
“We were analyzing why our movie is getting such good responses from the first day of release.”
“Ah, that’s thanks to me intentionally leaving my height-increasing insoles on stage at the press conference. My sense was just too good, I tell you.”
Director Kim Pil-sung joked, and Ji Jung-hyun chuckled and responded.
“Did you have the presence of mind to do that then? I remember you were shaking from nervousness.”
“Nervous? Who? On the contrary, I even gave a signal to Actor Lee Si-joon while intentionally taking off my height-increasing insoles!”
“What signal? That the insoles were on the floor so pick them up quickly?”
“I intentionally took off the height-increasing insoles. So use that to turn the press conference upside down. Actor Lee Si-joon, you remember me giving the signal, right?”
To Director Kim Pil-sung’s brazen question, I nodded.
“Yes, I remember.”
“See!”
“The insoles were even damp from how nervous you were, Director.”
“Hey! Don’t lie just because I made a mistake! It’s too awful that the insoles not only came off but were even sweaty!”
Director Kim Pil-sung shouted in embarrassment, and the people listening to our conversation burst into laughter.
Just then, someone opened the waiting room door and came in.
It was a staff member from the theater.
“The stage greeting preparations are done! You can go up now!”
Following the staff’s guidance, I, Ji Jung-hyun, and Director Kim Pil-sung entered the theater for the stage greeting.
It was common to do stage greetings like this every weekend starting a week before the movie’s release.
Today, we were scheduled to do stage greetings at a total of 5 theaters, mainly in the Seoul area.
There were 10 screenings from 10 AM to 6 PM, and 10 new screenings.
And now was the first new screening schedule with a stage greeting before the movie started.
“We’ll now welcome the director and actors of the movie
The three of us took the stage amidst the audience’s enthusiastic cheers and applause.
Perhaps because the movie had been released, the response was better than when we did stage greetings the week before the release.
Director Kim Pil-sung was the first to take the microphone and speak.
“Hello, I’m Director Kim Pil-sung, matching your eye level with insoles. Thank you so much for choosing our movie on this meaningful weekend. I hope you enjoy the movie and please promote it to those around you.”
The audience burst into laughter at Director Kim Pil-sung’s witty greeting.
Perhaps because he had let himself go at the press conference.
It was impressive to see him interacting with the audience without any sign of nervousness like before.
Next was Ji Jung-hyun’s turn.
“Hello, I’m Ji Jung-hyun, the logical thinker, INTP, who played the role of Yoon Woo-sung in
Ji Jung-hyun gave a standard stage greeting.
It would have been nice if he had interacted with the audience a bit more, but that wasn’t Ji Jung-hyun’s style.
Fortunately, the audience seemed to understand Ji Jung-hyun’s personality and gave him enthusiastic cheers.
Finally, it was my turn.
“Hello, I’m Lee Si-joon, who played the role of Kim Sung-yeon in
I was trying to give a standard stage greeting like Ji Jung-hyun.
But I couldn’t.
For some reason, tremendous cheers erupted from the audience.
The audience’s reactions had all been good before.
But this time, the level was different from earlier.
And soon I could understand the reason.
Along with the cheers, the audience simultaneously showed their slogans.
Wishing for 10 Million Viewers for Escape.
The self-made slogans had simple phrases supporting
And in the upper left corner, my face was printed small.
Except for a few audience members, everyone was holding a slogan.
I stared blankly at the seats adorned with blue slogans.
“Ah…”
It wasn’t difficult to spot syrup mixed in between the seats while doing promotions.
However, it was the first time syrup had filled the entire audience.
It seemed they had all booked tickets together.
Thinking about the fans who coordinated their time and prepared slogans for this event made my heart swell.
Barely holding back tears, I opened my mouth.
“It’s syrup… right?”
“Yes! That’s right!”
“Si-joon oppa! You’re so handsome!”
“Over here! Look over here! Si-joon!”
The fans raised their voices as if they were upset about not being able to reveal their identities until now.
Certainly, to carry out an event where they simultaneously raise slogans, they would have had to hide their identities.
I was moved once again by their thoughtfulness, and my eyes welled up.
The fans’ attentiveness was evident in the slogan text as well.
After all, this was the stage greeting for
I appreciated that they chose phrases for the movie, not just for me.
The deep emotion continued.
But I couldn’t just stand there silently.
“I had a prepared stage greeting, but with our syrup filling the theater like this, I think I should say something different.”
“Kyaaaa!”
“Si-joon! I love you!”
“Don’t cry!”
I said this while gathering my thoughts.
Then, slowly taking in the sight of syrup filling my vision, I continued.
“Having syrup always cheering me on enthusiastically gave me strength while filming this movie.
When I had complacent thoughts like ‘Should I just do this much?’ or ‘Do I need to try harder than this?’ or ‘Will people appreciate it if I do this?’
Because of syrup, I was able to strive to become a better actor.
So… so I love you so much. Syrup. Next time, I’ll definitely prepare a gift for you.”
After my greeting, Ji Jung-hyun and Director Kim Pil-sung also added their words.
They said they were grateful for the event and that after watching
* * *
It was an energizing stage greeting.
Thanks to that, I was able to successfully complete my schedule until the next day.
Now there were no more stage greeting schedules until next weekend.
But we couldn’t neglect promotion.
Although the number of people watching the movie was continuously increasing, we never knew when it might suddenly stop.
So Ji Jung-hyun and I decided to appear on one more variety show.
We thought our chemistry on variety shows was better than expected.
Above all, Ji Jung-hyun expressed his desire to appear on variety shows.
“I’d like to go on a program like
“Of course we should if it’s for promotion. But didn’t you say you wanted to minimize variety show appearances?”
“I’ve changed my mind. Yesterday, a long-time fan approached me and said something impressive.”
“What did they say?”
“They said they were so happy to see me show a different side on
Certainly, fans were precious to actors.
And sometimes, a single comment like this could change long-held beliefs.
After all, beliefs were kept for the sake of receiving fans’ love.
‘As expected, Senior Ji Jung-hyun is an actor who deeply considers fans’ feelings. No wonder he’s had such a long career.’
While I was thinking this to myself, Ji Jung-hyun added one more thing.
“Also, seeing your fans do an event made me anxious.”
“Pardon?”
“I felt like I might lose all my young fans at this rate.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. So, think of a good program if you don’t mind. What do you think would be good?”
It was a variety show for movie promotion.
For that reason, it was best to choose the most buzzworthy program regardless of the broadcasting station.
‘There are many good programs…’
But for some reason, I didn’t want to just recommend an easy program.
Given Ji Jung-hyun’s strong will, I wanted to appear on a show that could be considered the essence of variety programs.
‘Preferably somewhere we can properly promote too…’
Then, one program immediately came to mind.
‘
Even when the term “Lee Brothers” was trending, we had to decline the offer to appear on
‘But now would be the perfect time to appear.’
So I brought up
“Oh,
“That’s right.”
“Yes. We can’t keep going around YouTube channels for movie promotion.”
“Right. Then I’ll talk about appearing on
I told Yeo Kyung-chan about our intention to appear on
A few days later, a filming schedule was set for the earliest possible date.
* * *
A few days later.
During the filming of
“Be honest. This show… You suggested we appear to make a fool out of me, didn’t you?”
Translation Notes:
Syrup as a Metaphor for Fans, “syrup” is a metaphor for the actor’s fans.