Chapter 593
There are things that inevitably come with success.
-Huh? Is she really that good? lol I don't think so.
One of them is the inevitable chorus of:
"She's not all that."
Sometimes those reactions end after a single line.
-Is the whole world pulling a prank on me...?
Other times, they're so long they could practically be submitted as an academic paper.
-God, this is so fucking cringe I can't take it anymore. Honestly I only watched the drama because K-pop fans kept talking about it, but everyone's acting like she became one of Korea's greatest historical figures or something lol. Han Yeoreum is with JC, and who doesn't know they're the best in Korea at media play? From the very first script reading they obviously paid reporters to write hate articles just so they could pull a "plot twist" narrative later. It's so painfully obvious they planned the whole thing from the beginning... At least make it believable before expecting people to buy it lol. Just because did well, everyone worshipping her is ridiculous. They're like sheep. In the first place, Han Yeoreum and everyone else are the ones getting rich and successful, so why are they acting so proud...?
Sometimes it got so excessive that it deserved a dissertation.
[HOT / "Working Holiday.jpg" surpassed two million views within just 24 hours of upload]
(Thumbnail showing view count.)
(Screenshot of comments.)
-Anonymous 1: Honestly the funniest part was that they brute-forced it with actual labor lol.
-Anonymous 9: I thought it'd be the same format as every other actor variety show.
???: Oooh... Mr. Actor... How could we possibly make you work...? T_T
Actor: Feel free to work me hard. Haha, I'm good at it.
Caption: Completely different from their image...! An unexpected side...?
I absolutely hated that kind of editing, but this one was actually hilarious.
↳ Anonymous 24: Holy shit, that gave me chills lol. About thirty different people flashed through my head.
↳ Anonymous 53: I've seen this so many times...
↳ Anonymous 59: What the hell is this lol. You work in the industry, don't you?
-Anonymous 103: This keeps popping up in my Shorts feed TT_TT LMAO
, which was setting new ratings records every single day, had naturally become a prime target for the "she's not all that" crowd.
Nowadays, no matter where you went or who you met, someone was talking about , so naturally those people were becoming more active as well.
Among them, one type appeared especially often.
-Anonymous 107: I couldn't even finish today's episode T_T Han Yeoreum was trying way too hard to act cute lol. She's way too old for that... She would've looked much fresher if she'd acted her age. The fake persona is seriously unbearable.
The "I just don't like Han Yeoreum" crowd.
JC was the one aggressively promoting how successful was. JC was filling the public with patriotic hype because Han Yeoreum was their only signed actress. Therefore, if someone felt annoyed, it had to be Han Yeoreum's fault.
So naturally, every arrow ended up pointing at Han Yeoreum.
↳ Anonymous 112: Seriously, doesn't anyone tell her she's overdoing it? lol Guess nobody around her ever tries to stop her.
↳ Anonymous 119: Since when do celebrities have staff who tell them the truth? They're probably all rude as hell anyway T_T The second someone says something honest, it's game over.
It wasn't that Han Yeoreum acted well—it was Director O Seonyul who directed her well. Some actors struggled through the theater scene for years before finally getting recognized, while someone else landed a web drama just because she found a good agency. She wasn't that good, her fans were just obsessive. Was I the only one who always got bad vibes from Han Yeoreum? She seems so calculating.
People who simply couldn't stand seeing succeed gathered every negative opinion they could find and summarized them all with a single conclusion.
It was Han Yeoreum's fault.
Anything I Find @just_watching
Even the hottest actress right now chose a romance project for her next work, so it's only natural that other genres won't get the spotlight...
I like Han Yeoreum, but I can't support her next project. Honestly it's disappointing.
If even the actress at the very top can't give up male leads, then who will? A rookie actress?
Reposts: 9,888 Likes: 21K
Blank @kkkkk123
Calling a woman who's been an adult for years "baby" is already weird enough, but what's with all the Japanese-style "melon bread" nonsense lol.
Reposts: 11K Likes: 7,872
Eunnyangi felt an oddly familiar sense of déjà vu.
"...So in the end, it's the actress's fault again...?"
It was PTSD she knew all too well.
She already knew exactly where this was headed.
To Eunnyangi, it would always be remembered as the Kim Jisang school violence incident.
To everyone else, however, it had simply become that Han Yeoreum drama.
Rubbing her aching forehead, Eunnyangi logged back into Tritter.
↳ @zP9qL5mNk0
She picked her next project before she became the hottest actress, so what kind of bullshit logic is this? These idiots never watch female-led movies anyway. How many came out last year? They don't know a single one, but they're pretending to be disappointed. Fuck.
↳ @zP9qL5mNk0
(Screenshot from Blank's personal account.)
Looks like they went to Tokyo last year... lol.
Even venting through a quote repost on her alternate account wasn't enough to calm her down.
Now that the entire country had been swept up in , the "I don't care. I still don't get the hype. Han Yeoreum isn't that amazing." crowd had become firmly entrenched.
Because people like that simply couldn't tolerate seeing someone they refused to acknowledge become popular.
[Anonymous Discussion Board / Wow, the Han Yeoreum haters have completely lost it lol]
People call male actors in their forties "baby" and "mochi" all the damn time, but somehow they can't stand a woman in her twenties being called "Baby Melon Bread"... If you're going to complain about Japanese influence, go after everyone calling male actors "mochi" instead of attacking the tiny female fandom.
-Exactly. I actually feel bad for her T_T
-Han Yeoreum's doing insanely well lately. That probably pushed a lot of people's buttons...
-These people are seriously unhinged. Why the hell is it her fault that romance is the mainstream genre? lol
-I'm not even a Han Yeoreum fan, but saying she can't act is just ridiculous slander...
And while tearing Han Yeoreum down, they found a new actress to prop up instead.
[From Web Drama to Primetime TV? "She's an Influencer, But Her Acting Is Astonishing"—Turns Out She's a Chungkyung University Acting Major... | Heo Haena Interview]
[Isn't She Baby Morning Bread? Heo Haena's Bare-Faced Selfie Steals Hearts]
[(Photo) Baby Morning Bread Heo Haena's Shy Greeting... "So Adorable~"]
-I'm supporting the rookie actress just because she picked something other than romance lol. I think will be way more interesting. Han Yeoreum's filmography has a high success rate, but it doesn't feel fresh anymore.
A matching debut story.
A similarly puppy-like face.
A Chungkyung University acting major that wasn't overshadowed even when compared to DaeYeJong.
And finally...
Her next project happened to be releasing at exactly the right time.
"...Ah, fuck. What kind of bullshit is this?"
Watching all those reactions, Eunnyangi found herself irrationally irritated by the newcomer named Heo Haena.
Almost reflexively, she bought a ticket for .
Not because she was some Han Yeoreum fan.
Definitely not for the stage greeting.
Just for the movie itself.
"...If nothing else, I hope it clears the break-even point. Please."
Her anger refused to fade for a long time afterward.
Not that she actually liked Han Yeoreum or anything.
* * *
"Yeoreum. Are you okay?"
"Stop looking at your phone... You're reading all the mean comments again."
"Ah... It's finally happened to me..."
This was one of the rites of passage every superstar had to go through.
Baseless hate.
As I monitored the constantly updating reactions, I figured I might as well learn whatever there was to learn.
-Anonymous 1123: Honestly Han Yeoreum wearing those double-bun pigtails was already kinda questionable lol. She pretended not to know, but did she really? T_T She obviously wanted Myeong Jeha to see her. Such a hopeless boy-crazy girl. Secondhand embarrassment TT_TT
'Yeah... I actually did know.'
So they saw right through my performance of pretending not to notice because I was busy.
Pretty impressive insight.
But there was one thing they got wrong.
'I wasn't trying to show them to that old man.'
I wanted to show them to my soft, squishy, adorable little Summer Day on the other side of the screen.
How could they misunderstand my sincere feelings so badly?
'Well... I guess I can't use that trick twice.'
What a shame.
Still, I could always recreate that look at a fan meeting as a special styling service.
An encore version.
Perfect.
Han Yeoreum's little opportunist calculator never stopped working.
"That's enough. They're not saying anything nice."
"Exactly. It'll only ruin your mood."
"No... It's more that..."
It's just fascinating.
Back then, nobody even knew my name.
Now there was a day when my next project wasn't called Han Yohan's drama, even though he had top billing.
People called it Han Yeoreum's drama.
That alone made me strangely proud of how far I'd come.
Of course, those sharp comments would probably hurt my precious little soft fluffy puppy Summer Day...
She'd probably feel a little hurt...
A little sad...
"...Wait a second. The more I think about it, the angrier I get."
I couldn't just let it go.
"See? It's terrible for your mental health!"
"Give me your phone."
The sudden surge of anger caught even me off guard.
So this is what people mean when they say, "You can insult me, but don't insult my girls."
The impact suddenly hit much harder.
"Take a deep breath!"
"Wait! Relax your fist! You're digging your nails into your hand!"
"Ah... Okay..."
I unclenched my fist and steadied my breathing.
'It's okay...
I'll protect you.'
Soon...
I'd make everyone forget.
"I'm going to crush every single one of them."
There was only one universal truth in this industry.
Show and prove.
No matter how much people criticized you, all you had to do was keep proving yourself.
With your work.
With your results.
With your awards.
If they stepped on you, then you simply kept growing.
Grow so tall that they couldn't even reach you anymore.
Once you reached that point...
The game was over.
"But... I've been so busy lately that I haven't really kept up with everything."
I turned toward Coordinator Hwang.
Behind her glasses, her drooping eyes sparkled as though inviting me to ask anything.
For all appearances, she was someone who always knew exactly what was happening in the entertainment industry through stylist group chats and backstage gossip.
"There's an actress named Heo Haena who's suddenly gaining momentum... Did you two already know about her?"
Even the nickname smelled like a blatant imitation.
Baby Morning Bread?
Come on.
That wasn't something I could overlook.
"Um..."
"Hahaha... ha..."
Judging by their awkward smiles, I could already tell.
She really was becoming popular.
'I honestly had no idea.'
Because I'd never seen her before.
She hadn't existed before my regression.
Myeong Jeha's words during the Kim Jisang incident suddenly resurfaced in my mind.
"After that, Yeoreum... you ended up taking over the male actors' share."
Maybe...
Because I'd risen this quickly,
an actress like Heo Haena had been able to make it this far.
Thinking about it left me with a strange feeling.
'Part of me feels proud... like I paved the road for my juniors.'
But at the same time...
She was even copying the nickname my fans had lovingly created for me.
That nickname held all of our memories.
It felt... complicated.
I remembered the articles from calling me the next Eun Baekhap.
I really had come to appreciate Eun Baekhap more and more.
She was genuinely an incredible person.
'Next time I see her, I'll tell her she really has a beautiful heart.'
Though she'd probably just tell me it wasn't any of my business...
"Yeoreum! Time for your interview!"
"The real marathon starts tomorrow. It'll be nonstop, so don't waste your energy thinking about stuff like this, okay?"
"That's right. There's only one Baby Bread, and that's our Yeoreum."
Tomorrow was the premiere of .
I pushed all those distracting thoughts aside.
The people who hated me.
The ones insisting I wasn't that good.
The juniors trying to catch up to me.
None of them mattered as much as one thing.
Showing everyone the name Han Yeoreum once again.
* * *
Inside the spotless white van, a whiny little voice continued.
"Buuut... Is this really okay?"
Despite being a rookie, Heo Haena was receiving treatment on par with many A-list actors.
She dragged out her words as she stared at her phone, its cute case resting in her hands.
On the screen was an article subtly linking her name with Han Yeoreum's.
"Of course. This is how all successful celebrities do it."
"Buuut... she's already such a huge senior... and she has so many fans. I'm really nervous..."
"Don't worry. She rode Eun Baekhap's popularity during , didn't she? Everyone knows that."
"But... she was still a child actress back then..."
"Honestly, you're way too timid."
Heo Haena.
Among the actresses who had recently debuted through web dramas, her recognition was roughly on the same level as So Dami's.
She was two years younger than Han Yeoreum, but her image was still firmly that of a teenager.
Her first role had been a student.
Her second role had also been a student.
Her third role?
Another student.
And now, even the drama that would soon compete against Han Yeoreum in the same time slot cast her as...
A student once again.
And the person backing her—
the strongest kind of backing anyone could possibly have—
"If it weren't for the Division Director, I'd have been shaking all night."
Was blood.
Her uncle.