Chapter 76: The Ultimate Idol Who Came to End the War (3)
The filming continued smoothly.
Hong Soo-yeon’s precise, ruler-straight acting.
Jung Se-yeon’s emotional performance, flowing like waves.
And the veterans whose experience supported both of their performances.
All of it blended together, forming one cohesive story.
Meanwhile, preparations for the concert were also progressing quickly.
After apologizing separately to the staff at TwoTwo Entertainment for the previous incident, Kim Si-woo also brought small gifts.
But this time, he gave a different proposal—not donations, but lowering the ticket price.
“Lower the ticket price? How much…?”
The planning team leader looked startled.
“How about we just charge enough to cover the cost of holding the concert?”
This was exactly what Si-woo had whispered to Jung Se-yeon a few days prior.
“I’ll report it to the higher-ups first.”
“I’m counting on you.”
With Se-yeon backing the idea as well, the proposal moved in a positive direction.
Eventually, the ticket price for Jung Se-yeon’s concert—previously in the high 100,000 won range—was slashed by more than half, down to 70,000 won.
Her fan café exploded.
Seeing a Jung Se-yeon concert priced at 70,000 won, everyone vowed to attend.
But there were only 150,000 seats total, far fewer than even half the number of fan café members, so the competition became impossibly fierce.
“Haa…”
“Why?”
“I don’t know who to pick… it’s difficult.”
Se-yeon was scrolling through the stories fans posted on her café, worrying about who to select.
Si-woo offered a simple solution.
“Among the ones you pick, ask the company to verify the stories. If it’s true, let them attend the concert for free. If it turns out false… that part is up to you.”
“I guess that’s the best way?”
Of course, Se-yeon already knew that solution.
What troubled her was the thought that some of her fans might lie just to attend her concert, which broke her heart.
Before the concert, however, they first had to film the street busking scenes.
There were two busking scenes in total:
1. Pre-debut busking sung by Hong Soo-yeon
2. Post-failed-debut busking sung by Jung Se-yeon
The staff arrived in Hongdae, the location for the busking, and were overwhelmed by the crowds.
“We picked a time when the streets are quiet, and it’s still this packed…”
“Let’s hurry and get ready.”
“Yes!”
But they already had permission from Mapo District Office.
There was nothing to worry about.
“Alright, let’s begin.”
Once the equipment was set up, Hong Soo-yeon slung her guitar over her shoulder and walked to the center.
At Park Woong-deok’s cue, she began acting.
The vocals were pre-recorded separately by Jung Se-yeon.
Hong Soo-yeon wasn’t bad at singing, but compared to Se-yeon, she still had a long way to go.
As Soo-yeon sang cheerfully, staff members sent in background actors on the director’s signal.
The extras surrounded her, enjoying the music, while Soo-yeon sang with a happy expression.
“Cut!”
As soon as Park Woong-deok called cut, the music stopped, and everyone stood still.
“Hmm… you there, from the second to the seventh on the left, come here.”
Startled, the extras hurried over.
“Yes, director!”
“This time, three of you act like real fans and say a few lines. The rest of you grumble and complain.”
“Ah! Yes, understood!”
His casual tone could have felt rude, but the extras looked more honored that he even called them over.
“Alright! Let’s run it again. Recording team, capture their voices clearly this time.”
“Yes~.”
At the second cue, Soo-yeon began again, with the extras adding cheers and background grumbling.
“Cut! Recording team, you got it?”
“Yes, we got it.”
“Good. Prepare for the next scene.”
Now it was time for Jung Se-yeon’s busking.
Extras hurried to change costumes.
Hong Soo-yeon, done with her part, walked over to Kim Si-woo.
As she approached, Si-woo spoke.
“Good work.”
“Thank you.”
“The director praised you.”
“Huh?”
“He said every expression is the same, your tone is always the same, and even your movements are identical each time—like a robot.”
“Ah… was I too stiff?”
“That’s not what he meant. It’s a compliment. It means you don’t have ups and downs.”
Kim Si-woo couldn’t help but admire Hong Soo-yeon.
Most actors would slip even once, but no matter how many times they filmed, as long as no ad-libs disrupted the scene, she delivered the exact same performance every take.
“How’s your health these days?”
“I’ve been sleeping a lot, so I’m not tired at all.”
“How many hours?”
“Four and a half hours at home. And about 30 minutes of short naps in between. So around five hours total.”
Compared to before, she was sleeping much more.
But Si-woo still felt it wasn’t enough.
Ever since she was young, Soo-yeon had survived on little sleep—studying, working part-time jobs—so her stamina was like an endless well.
“What are you doing after filming today?”
“Going to the gym.”
“Impressive.”
Her diligence was incredible.
But Si-woo thought her real strength was her mental fortitude, not her stamina.
While he was thinking about how amazing she was, the set finished preparations.
After receiving signals from every staff position that they were ready, Park Woong-deok shouted the cue.
“Cue!”
At the cue, Jung Se-yeon entered the busking street with her cap pulled low, carrying a guitar bag, looking slightly downcast.
“There was a time… when just singing made me happy…”
After her debut failed disastrously, she began to feel like a machine that only existed to sing.
Practice, practice, and more practice—endless waiting with no promise.
Singing was no longer enjoyable.
“Should I quit…?”
Reality was so different from the dream she had imagined.
She had believed that debuting at a company would bring happiness.
But the truth was, she had become nothing more than a failed singer.
While walking with her head lowered, drowning in her tangled thoughts, she heard music.
She raised her head and saw someone busking.
They had only two audience members.
But their expression was radiant—purely happy.
“I used to be like that too…”
Memories of when singing made her genuinely happy resurfaced.
Almost unconsciously, she sat down on the street and took out her guitar.
Ting—
She touched the strings, tuning.
Then she began humming and playing the song she loved most—one she sang countless times.
“Look at this endless road ahead… Let’s take it step by step… Don’t look back anymore…”
As her voice spread into the streets, people began gathering one by one.
But she didn’t even notice.
She simply focused on her guitar and her song.
After about three minutes, as soon as she finished, an explosion of applause erupted.
Startled, she raised her head.
Seeing the crowd that had gathered for her, she felt something inside her—something clogged for so long—burst open.
“Thank you…”
She stood up, bowed to the people, and left the spot.
On her way back to the company, her heart was overflowing.
‘I… I still want to sing. In front of people…’
And just like that, she began running toward her dream again.
“Cut!”
Park Woong-deok stood up and applauded her performance.
“Jung Se-yeon… damn, that singing is something else.”
It was her main profession, after all—
Her voice instantly captivated even the director watching through the monitor.
They finished several more scenes, and filming ended earlier than expected.
But the area around them had already become half-paralyzed.
The heavy foot traffic was one issue, but the bigger reason was the sign stating Filming in Progress and the fact that the singer filming here was Jung Se-yeon.
“Great work, everyone.”
Just as people were greeting one another and getting ready to head home, Jung Se-yeon suddenly approached Director Park Woong-deok with a request.
“Director! Could I sing two songs here?”
“We’d love that. Leave the main camera and recording team. Everyone else, start packing up.”
It seemed Park Woong-deok himself wanted to hear her sing—he left the camera and audio equipment in place.
“Ahem…”
Jung Se-yeon settled in and fiddled with the guitar.
“Then I’ll sing just two songs.”
Hearing that she was going to sing, staff, actors, and even passersby stopped in their tracks and gathered around.
“Wind in your flowing hair… I can’t take my eyes off you…”
Her first song was her hit track “Your Back.”
A bubbly melody paired with a story of a girl in love.
Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
People clapped along with the rhythm.
Drring—
“Thank you.”
When the song ended, the crowd cheered and applauded loudly.
“For the next song, I’ll sing the one I released most recently… ‘The Man of October.’”
“Ah…”
Kim Si-woo let out a quiet sigh.
It was the song Jung Se-yeon had written for him.
And the only people who knew that were the two of them.
A soft melody blended with Jung Se-yeon’s voice.
“My words don’t mean
That I like you or anything.
I just thought of your strange little habits again.
I wanted to see you, but I couldn’t.
You were always busy somewhere.
Before falling asleep, your face comes to mind again.
Why does my heart keep racing like this?”
The lyrics lingered in people’s ears.
And when Jung Se-yeon looked straight at him while singing, Kim Si-woo’s heart skipped a beat.
On stage, singing with that expression—
She was unbelievably captivating.
‘This is dangerous…’
She kept glancing toward where he stood near the camera, making it hard for him to keep a straight face.
—Wooooooo!
Clap clap clap!
When the song ended, the crowd erupted with applause several times louder than before.
The streets were completely packed—so crowded that movement was difficult.
The staff quickly began clearing equipment before things got out of control.
Meanwhile, Jung Se-yeon walked over to Kim Si-woo.
“How was it?”
“I almost fell for you.”
“Really? Then—”
Surprised by his honest answer, she tried to say something more—
But her manager called out from behind her.
“Se-yeon! Come on, before the crowd grows even more!”
“Ah… okay.”
Looking slightly disappointed, Jung Se-yeon left first.
Kim Si-woo followed afterward, guiding Hong Soo-yeon.
“Soo-yeon, let’s go too.”
“…Yes.”
But Hong Soo-yeon, who had quietly been watching the way Se-yeon and Si-woo looked at each other…
Felt a faint ache in her chest.
***
That night
News articles about Jung Se-yeon flooded every portal site.
[Jung Se-yeon Busking]
[Jung Se-yeon Film]
[Jung Se-yeon ‘Man of October’ — Who Is He?]
[Jung Se-yeon Idol]
[Hongdae Paralyzed. The Reason: Jung Se-yeon? Busking During Movie Shoot]
On YouTube, countless busking videos were uploaded.
And the official staff-uploaded video also went up on her official channel.
High-resolution, high-quality sound—
The video crossed 1 million views in no time.
“Even after watching it again, it’s amazing…”
There was a specific reason for its extraordinary popularity.
Because Se-yeon appeared to be singing to the camera beside Kim Si-woo, viewers felt as if she were making direct eye contact with them—
As if they were secretly dating Jung Se-yeon.
Ironically, the only person confused was the man himself.
“Huh? Did she look at me, or the camera? Hmm… Whatever. As long as we wrap up the concert well.”
And so, the end of filming drew nearer.