Chapter 90: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CT Entertainment’s CEO’s Office, where Yang Ha-rin belongs.

The CEO was currently looking at a laptop, his expression more relaxed than ever. The screen displayed content related to the “Busan International Short Film Festival.”

A staff member standing by spoke up.

“It’s currently 10 AM. That means Yang Ha-rin’s film Wind should have started screening by now.”

The CEO quietly nodded.

“10 AM isn’t that early in the morning. The audience must have gathered well, right? No issues?”

“Yes. We’ve received reports from the venue—there’s a record-breaking crowd. No need to worry.”

“They did say they spent quite a bit of money this time. Looks like it’s paying off.”

“Yes. The tide is in our favor, so all we have to do is row the boat. Everyone attending will take an interest in Ha-rin, and the Best New Actor award won’t be a problem.”

“Best New Actor, huh? Of course, that award belongs to Ha-rin.”

The CEO nodded with satisfaction.

“Is that all for the report?”

At that moment, Yang Ha-rin, who had been slumped into the sofa as if swallowed by it, broke her silence for the first time. She was still furiously tapping on her phone—addicted to online communities.

“Director Park Jun’s film. You left out a report on that.”

CT Entertainment was currently aiming for two major things.

Yang Ha-rin’s Best New Actor award and crushing Mystic Entertainment.

For Ha-rin, who hadn’t ended things well with Lee Sua, curiosity was inevitable. What had Director Park Jun managed to create from that script that had been tossed into the trash?

Most importantly, how had Lee Sua performed as Wi Ji-hye?

A staff member immediately spoke up.

“Sword should have finished screening already. It was shown right before Wind.”

“And the reaction?”

“We don’t know yet. A report will come in soon.”

“Well, not like we need to hear it anyway.”

The CEO scoffed.

“It was screened right before ours, right? No matter how well they made it, after watching Wind, no one will even remember that trash.”

“Ah, we just received a text. Surprisingly, Sword’s quality and reception aren’t bad…”

“You think people would openly criticize it at the venue? If the reaction is just ‘not bad,’ that means it’s forgettable. If it’s not at the level of an enthusiastic response, it’s useless. Let’s compare it with Wind’s reception later.”

The CEO’s smirk deepened.

“Park Jun is ridiculous. Why would he use a rookie when he had a perfectly good Ha-rin? With judgment like that, no wonder he keeps rolling downhill every year.”

As he laughed, the amusement gradually disappeared from his face. His eyes sharpened.

“Start contacting reporters. We’ll push Wind hard in the media and frame Sword as a disaster that foolishly threw away Yang Ha-rin. We have to strike first, from day one.”

“Understood.”

“Sword needs to be painted as the work of the biggest fools who let go of Ha-rin, while Wind should be framed as a masterpiece that barely came to life after many struggles. You get the idea, right?”

“Of course. If Ha-rin comes across as a tragic heroine, broadcasting stations will flood us with inquiries.”

But after the conversation ended, something changed.

A staff member receiving real-time reports from the venue suddenly looked troubled. He started glancing at the CEO nervously.

The report was a problem.

…Reports were pouring in, completely defying their expectations.

In the afternoon, after the first day’s screenings ended—

A staff member burst into the CEO’s office, looking flustered.

“CEO! CEO!”

He was the staff member stationed at the festival, and within moments, everyone in the room had their eyes on him.

“Why the commotion?”

The CEO, expecting good news, looked hopeful.

“It’s about Sword…”

“Drop that nonsense. That film was screened before ours—it must’ve been crushed. Just tell me how great Wind was. How heated was the response?”

“The response was heated, but…”

The staff member hesitated, looking troubled.

“CEO, the whole venue was buzzing about Sword. Wind got buried under it.”

“What?”

The CEO’s face twisted as if he had just heard the most absurd thing.

“Mystic’s Seo Yeon-ju and Kim Sun-il were obviously going to act well—that was expected. But unexpectedly, the overall quality of the film was quite high.”

“That doesn’t make sense. It’s just a short film, isn’t it? The runtime is short, and there’s no way it could overshadow other works based on quality alone.”

“Yes. But the real problem was something else.”

The staff member swallowed hard.

“Lee Sua. Lee Sua was the issue.”

“…?”

“Lee Sua acted too well.”

“…”

Both the CEO and Yang Ha-rin were left speechless.

Lee Sua perfectly portraying Wi Ji-hye.

That was an outcome neither of them had even considered. They had been waiting for the audience to feel Ha-rin’s absence painfully once Sword was shown.

“Get the articles out.”

The CEO finally spoke, but his voice was unsteady, shaken by the unexpected turn of events.

“Wind wasn’t a failure, right? So…”

“CEO.”

This time, the staff member in charge of media manipulation spoke up. He had been hesitating, waiting for the right time to deliver the bad news.

But at this point, he had no choice but to say it.

Because sooner or later, they had to face reality.

“The media push… it’s already been overshadowed.”

“What?”

“People aren’t noticing Ha-rin’s absence. No, they’re saying that if Ha-rin had played the role, it wouldn’t have had the same impact.”

Silence followed.

Yang Ha-rin, who had been glued to her phone, quietly got up from her seat and let out a deep sigh.

Then, she grabbed a potted plant from the corner of the office. That was just the beginning.

Crash!

“…”

She didn’t say a word.

Crash!

She just kept throwing and smashing things.

Meanwhile—

The Special Task Force 808 production team was busy as usual.

But among them, the busiest team today was the management team of the Special Task Force 808 YouTube channel.

Why? Because today was the day they uploaded the teaser.

[Special Task Force 808: Kim Sun-il X Seo Yeon-ju X ??? X Hwang Myung-pil Teaser EP.0 – Kim Sun-il Already Complaining on Day One? The Reason Is?!]

[tvS DRAMA]

The teaser was exactly 31 seconds long.

Short, but packed with only the most essential, intense scenes. Viewers wouldn’t even have time to blink.

“This is Special Task Force 808.”

Seo Yeon-ju’s voice started as she stood before reporters.

The scene then quickly shifted—Kim Sun-il’s voice followed.

“We have 24 hours. Identifying and arresting the criminal is our principle. No exceptions. Understood?”

As he spoke in a low, deliberate tone, various images flashed—

A crime scene with yellow tape reading Special Task Force 808, Park Do-hee with a meaningful expression, Hwang Myung-pil with a sinister smile, Kim Sun-il running frantically.

And then—

“…Hmm, I don’t really know?”

A playful voice suddenly interrupted, shattering the tension.

White bangs covering the eyes, an air of mystery. A potential suspect? No, he wore the same uniform as Lee Kang-chul.

“Nice to meet you.”

A voice so androgynous, it made listeners want to hear it again. Hard to pinpoint exactly what kind of voice it was.

“I’m Kim Yuhan.”

And with that, the key moment.

The comment section and online communities exploded instantly.

— Who is this? Never seen this actor before.

— Holy shit, they look amazing lol.

— Wow, their presence is insane.

It was a brief appearance, but it was the first time Kim Yuhan had shown their face.

Naturally, it became a massive topic among those eagerly waiting for Special Task Force 808.

And just like that, another name entered the spotlight.

A person with bandaged hands was looking at their phone.

It was Yang Ha-rin, whose mood was hitting rock bottom.

‘…What the heck?’

Just locking eyes on the screen.

Just seeing a single smile.

Thump… thump…

For the first time in a while, Yang Ha-rin’s heart was racing.

At the same time, Gwangalli Beach in Busan.

Ta-da!

Facing the sea breeze, the Arctic Fox made an appearance!

‘Busan, welcome the Arctic Fox!’

Dududung! In her head, Sua imagined sound effects like that. Her shoulders were held high with pride. Of course, they would be—wherever she went today, all she heard were compliments.

‘Though, the comments about my butt were a bit embarrassing….’

Sua’s face turned slightly red.

Guys who came together in groups would occasionally give her body a rather explicit kind of praise, but hey, a compliment is still a compliment, right?

Besides, there were tons of compliments about Wi Ji-hye too.

Anyway, Sua looked around after arriving.

And she found them.

“Oh, there they are.”

The members of Sua’s chat group came into view.

Was it because the weather was nice today?

Gwangalli Beach was full of people flirting, spreading out mats, and drinking and singing.

The sheer enjoyment of it all, with the sound of waves in the background. It looked like fun.

“…?”

But looking at it from another perspective—

‘…Is something wrong?’

Sua’s chat group members looked like they had fallen into another world entirely.

While everyone else was enjoying the alcohol and the sound of waves, they alone were wearing deadly serious expressions.

Especially the deer, Go Eun-bi.

What’s up with her? Why does she look so serious?

After a moment of hesitation, Sua still decided—

“Hey.”

—to raise her hand. After all, the fact that she was an actress was already out in the open, and more than anything, she was happy to see them.

“Hey, guuuuuys!”

Everyone’s heads turned toward Sua.

A brief silence.

“….ot.”

Oh.

She suddenly realized—her face was still completely covered up.

Sua took off her cap and mask and waved again.

She gave them an awkward smile.

“You guys must be so surprised! I dyed my hair and everything….”

“….”

Another long silence.

An eerie silence, so heavy that even Sua, who had no clue what was going on, could feel something was seriously off.

Did I do something wrong?

Or was my hair color too shocking?

As Sua tried to go over possible reasons in her mind, the chat group members gathered together and whispered among themselves.

And then, after a moment—

Kim Sun-a, the field mouse, stepped forward.

“Uh, Sua.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you… know who we are?”

“Of course I do. What kind of question is that?”

Pointing one by one, Sua identified each person correctly.

Field mouse, black bear, monkey, deer….

But rather than being relieved, their expressions only grew more complex.

They huddled up again for another round of discussion, and then Kim Sun-a spoke up once more.

“Sua.”

“Yeah?”

“I need to ask you a few questions.”

Sua instinctively tensed up.

“Huh? Uh, sure….”

“Do you know that the Earth is flat?”

“Huh?”

Sua was completely thrown off.

That was… way outside anything she expected.

‘Why are we suddenly talking about the Earth?’

But something told her she couldn’t just brush this off casually.

Kim Sun-a’s tone was unusually serious.

And the other members? They all looked dead serious too.

—It’s been a while since I’ve seen them. I can’t make a fool of myself now.

—I’ll help you.

Pop!

Right then, Wi Ji-hye-Sua inserted information into her mind.

Sua shook her head.

“…Sun-a unnie, what are you even talking about?”

“Hm?”

“We can tell the Earth is round just by looking at how the North Star’s altitude changes with latitude, or even by the Earth’s shadow during a lunar eclipse. Why would you say something so ridiculous the moment we meet…?”

But strangely, Kim Sun-a’s expression grew even darker.

This time, the black bear stepped up.

“Sua, do you remember cosmology?”

“Cosmology?”

“Yeah, you know, the time we were talking on the phone and you fell asleep….”

“Oh, that… um….”

Pop!

Once again, knowledge was forcefully injected into Sua’s brain.

But this time, a warning message flashed alongside it—

Her intelligence wasn’t high enough to fully comprehend this.

Still, she opened her mouth to answer.

“The question is too vague. Are you talking about geocentric models, heliocentric models, or perhaps the Big Bang theory? That’s the most common one.”

Even as she said it, she felt pleased with her response.

I am Lee Sua, the Arctic Fox!

I’ve returned as a great actress, a smart person!

Praise me! Applaud me! Worship me!

But—

Right at that moment.

“HEY!”

The deer—Go Eun-bi—screamed.

Sua was startled.

And the next second, she noticed—

Go Eun-bi’s eyes were welling up with tears.

“…W-what’s wrong?”

“Where is our Sua?!”

“Huh?”

Sua blinked in confusion.

What do you mean? I AM Sua.

No, wait—what was even more shocking was the way she phrased it.

‘Our Sua’?

What’s with that creepy wording? Didn’t you hate me?

“What did you do with our Sua, you b****?!”

That was the signal.

“Where is our Sua right now?!”

“You criminal b*****d!”

“Catch her! Give us back our Sua!”

Tat-tat-tat-tat—!

In an instant, the entire chat group launched forward.

Like sprinters at the starting line.

One thing was clear.

—If they catch me, I’m dead.

“W-what the hell?!”

So Sua ran.

On pure instinct.

“W-why are you guys doing this?! Are you crazy?! What’s wrong with you?!”

And yet, the person who looked the most insane at this moment was—

“Stop chasing me! Let’s talk this out!”

DADADADA—!

Kicking up sand, sprinting across the beach.