At a table outside a convenience store, the name Kang Woojin rang out into the night.
Four women were sitting there, and one of them—who looked to be in her mid-twenties—hesitantly rose to her feet. Eyes wide, she pointed at the man in the cap who was about to step into the convenience store.
Who was it?
"…What?"
The man pulling out his wallet was Kang Woojin.
He looked slightly startled, genuinely caught off guard.
It was the first time in his life that someone had shouted his name that loudly.
Anyway—
Wishful thinking.
For a brief moment, the woman and Kang Woojin made eye contact.
Then not only the woman who had shouted his name, but all of her friends started staring at him too.
Their attention spread quickly.
"What, what's going on?"
"Did something happen? Who is that guy? I can't see because of the cap."
People at nearby tables began glancing over as well.
There were around fifteen people watching him now.
Women, men, mixed groups, even elderly customers.
In an instant, every eye was on Woojin.
At that moment, Woojin slowly lowered the hand holding his wallet.
'Who is that woman? Do I know her? She doesn't look familiar.'
At first, he thought she might be someone from his past.
But no matter how hard he looked, she was a complete stranger.
Why was she acting like she knew him?
Pretending not to notice and walking away would only make things more awkward.
Woojin had forgotten that he was now an actor.
He had never actually met fans in person before.
'Why is she acting like she knows me? I should greet her first.'
Slightly flustered, he greeted the woman.
"Hello. But who are you?"
He kept his composure.
At his calm greeting, the woman lowered her finger and murmured,
"…I can't believe it. What do I do?"
She covered her mouth with both hands and stared at him with eyes full of shock.
"Uh, wait a minute. You really are Kang Woojin, right? Why are you here? No, I mean—wow, I'm such a huge fan! Ah! I was just watching your drama here, and right after it ended, you suddenly appeared in front of me… Is this real?"
From her point of view, she had been sitting there watching Episode 4 of Profiler Hanryang.
Then, less than ten minutes after it ended, Kang Woojin had suddenly appeared right in front of her.
Of course she had no choice but to lose her mind.
Only then did Woojin understand.
'Ah.'
'She recognized me as an actor.'
'Wait, I really am an actor? Seriously? She's this happy just from seeing me?'
Woojin was startled.
It was fascinating.
The situation itself was absurd.
The fan and the actor both looked equally unable to believe it was real.
Soon, Woojin asked the still-dazed woman in an indifferent tone,
"Are you okay?"
The woman shuffled her feet like she had chills.
"Ah, I'm okay. I'm really okay. I don't know! What do I do—!"
Her excitement hit its peak, and she ducked behind her friends.
Her friends, on the other hand, moved even closer to Woojin.
"Wow, you're really handsome in person."
"You really are Kang Woojin, right?"
"Yes, that's me."
"This is amazing. Why are you here?"
Why?
To buy ramen.
Except the ramen had sold out.
Woojin decided to answer casually.
"I came to buy chicken breast."
"Chicken breast?! At this hour?"
"I ran out of ingredients, so I came in a hurry."
"You must work out a lot!"
The commotion grew louder.
Around ten more nearby customers recognized him too.
It seemed they had finally realized the man standing there was a celebrity.
People started pulling out their phones and crowding closer.
As the distance shrank, Woojin's heart began pounding.
'Wow. What do I do? Should I just run? Would that be too harsh?'
In the middle of the commotion, the first woman who had recognized him shouted at the others.
"Hey! Taking pictures without permission is rude!"
A few people reluctantly lowered their phones.
But some women who had already come closer asked in careful voices,
"Could you give us an autograph?"
An autograph?
Kang Woojin hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Ah, yes. But I don't have a pen."
"Please wait just a second!"
"Hey, hurry up!"
"Wait!"
Two women ran into the convenience store and quickly came back with paper and a pen.
And just like that, an impromptu autograph session started in front of the convenience store.
"My name is Jo Eunju!"
"I'm Nam Heejung!"
"Could we take a picture with you too?!"
As if in a daze, Kang Woojin obediently responded to the flood of requests.
With his sense of reality blurred, he simply went along with whatever people asked, his face still blank.
Meanwhile, the crowd kept growing.
"What's going on over there? Is that person a celebrity?"
"I watched Hanryang just yesterday!"
"Hey, that drama is seriously good!"
"Wow! Isn't that Kang Woojin?"
"Where? Where?"
People who had already been there, passersby drawn by the commotion, even people on their way into the convenience store all stopped in their tracks.
The crowd, which had started at around ten people, now looked closer to twenty.
It was proof of just how much Woojin's popularity had exploded.
And by that point, Kang Woojin had somehow ended up in this situation—
Whoosh.
He was hugging people one after another, regardless of gender, as if he were handing out free hugs.
Why was he hugging them?
He didn't know either.
It had just… happened.
"Wow! Me too! Hug me too!!"
"Kang Woojin is so handsome in person. He feels completely different from Assistant Manager Park."
"He really has such a unique personality. He looks cold on the outside, but inside he's so kind!"
"He has to be a born actor. He's seriously overflowing with charisma."
Praise poured over him.
Of course, the makeup still left on his face from his schedule probably helped too.
Anyway—
"What's going on over there? Is that person a celebrity?"
The crowd just kept growing.
"Oppa! I bought chicken breast for you! I bought several kinds!"
"I bought chicken breast salad too!"
Kang Woojin had just received his first gifts from fans.
"…Thank you."
Just like that, his late-night meal changed from ramen to chicken breast.
The next day.
Starting early in the morning, sightings of popular actor Kang Woojin began popping up everywhere.
More precisely, they had started spreading since dawn.
Everyone, I went to the convenience store to buy lunch boxes and saw Kang Woojin. He's insanely handsome in person!
The reactions exploded mainly across social media and local online communities.
A live post about Kang Woojin getting mobbed by fans in front of a convenience store spread rapidly.
Stories about him going out to buy ramen, then ending up with chicken breast, then chicken breast salad spread too.
Once the reporters got hold of it, the news spread even faster.
One article after another appeared about rookie actor Kang Woojin, the breakout face of Profiler Hanryang, getting surrounded by fans outside a convenience store.
And because the results of Episode 4 of Profiler Hanryang, which had aired the night before, were explosive, the reporters were even more excited.
Right then—
"Hey! Kang Woojin! You!"
Inside the van, Kang Woojin was getting scolded by Choi Sunggeon, whose tied-up hair now hung loose.
"If you wanted to go to the convenience store, you should've sent Suhwan! It's a good thing people were polite. What if there had been an accident?"
It was a fair point.
Woojin calmly accepted it and apologized.
"I'm sorry."
"Even if you don't care about the attention, you're not some unknown actor anymore! You're an actor in a drama that passed twenty percent ratings! You can't just wander around however you want now—you're a real celebrity!"
"I'll keep that in mind. I'm sorry."
Of course, Woojin made the same promise to himself inwardly.
Until yesterday, it had all felt unreal, like something happening to someone else.
But now he understood.
He really did have to be careful.
'Who would've thought something like this would happen in my life?'
At that moment, Han Yejung—now back to her green short hair—was scrolling through online communities filled with Kang Woojin sighting posts.
In her usual cold voice, she said to Choi Sunggeon,
"CEO, if you're going to scold him, do it later. It looks like Woojin oppa got gifts yesterday too. Shouldn't we at least upload a thank-you post on social media?"
"Ah, right. Yes, post it!"
"Woojin, did you take pictures of the gifts you got yesterday?"
"Uh, yes. It's chicken breast."
"Chicken breast? Why were you buying that at that hour?"
"I just needed it."
"Ah, so you started working out? That's cool. But you went out right away to buy it? That's dedication."
The misunderstandings just kept piling up.
Still, a thank-you post to the fans went up on Kang Woojin's social media.
His post count had reached thirteen, and his followers had climbed to ninety-four thousand, while he followed only three accounts.
After last night's incident, his follower count had surged close to one hundred thousand.
At that very moment—
"Look! The ratings are out!"
Choi Sunggeon, who had been checking his phone, suddenly shouted in excitement.
The official ratings for Episode 4 of Profiler Hanryang had been released.
The result was staggering.
Episode 4 continued the drama's unstoppable streak, recording 25.2%, while Assistant Manager Park's murder scene peaked at 25.8%.
With only four episodes, Profiler Hanryang had already crossed 25% and was setting legendary records in real time.
The entertainment press went wild.
The drama was no longer just one of the year's hits.
People were already talking about it as something historic.
Its popularity was explosive.
Compared to the previous week, the traffic had more than doubled, and the reporters pumped out articles like a waterfall, desperate for even one more click.
Public reaction was even fiercer than the media frenzy.
People talked about it everywhere.
On the street.
At work.
Online.
At convenience stores.
The excitement boiled over.
And the comment sections were completely flooded.
No way you're really not bringing Assistant Manager Park back, right?
Don't kill Assistant Manager Park. Without him, it won't feel the same.
…Just say it was all a dream and bring Assistant Manager Park back. Then I'll never complain again…
One ridiculous comment even claimed their erectile dysfunction was because of Assistant Manager Park.
Others praised writer Park Eunmi for creating the character perfectly.
Some joked that after Assistant Manager Park's death, their mornings felt empty.
In the end, Kang Woojin had driven more than half of Hanryang's ratings surge and carried the drama's momentum from beginning to end.
Naturally, YouTube exploded too.
By dawn, YouTube was overflowing with Hanryang content, from full clips to shorts.
Everyone had jumped on the trend.
And because Assistant Manager Park's presence in Episodes 3 and 4 had been so massive, Kang Woojin's name was everywhere.
It was as if the whole country had come down with Assistant Manager Park Syndrome.
Soon, even the public started using "Assistant Manager Park" as a meme.
His lines spread like catchphrases.
By Sunday afternoon, the focus shifted again.
This time, people started wondering what Kang Woojin—the actor behind Assistant Manager Park—would do next.
Amid all of that—
Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzz.
As expected, congratulatory calls poured in nonstop.
His parents.
His friends.
Even distant acquaintances who had suddenly remembered he existed.
The new group chat for the Profiler Hanryang cast was boiling over too.
Ryu Jungmin asked if they should ask the writer to bring Assistant Manager Park back.
Jang Taesan said the reaction was insane.
Ryu Jungmin joked that there was more talk about Woojin than there was about him.
Hong Hyeyeon asked if he was jealous.
Lee Dojeong said it definitely sounded like jealousy.
Kang Woojin simply replied:
"Thank you."
And Jang Taesan answered:
"Suddenly?"
Like that, Woojin spent all of Sunday in a daze.
Then Monday came.
But the good news did not stop there.
The first update came from Choi Sunggeon, CEO of BW Entertainment.
"Woojin, let's start preparing for your move. The thing I'm most worried about is you staying in that studio apartment."
"Moving? But isn't it still too early?"
"I'll find you a rental apartment near the company, so pack up and move as soon as possible."
Near the company.
Near Samseong Station.
In Seoul.
Kang Woojin was stunned.
It was something he had never even dreamed of.
But from the company's perspective, Woojin was now a valuable actor worth investing in.
And if they were offering it, why would he refuse?
Suppressing his excitement, Kang Woojin answered in a steady tone.
"Yes, CEO."
Right then, the head of the PR team rushed into the CEO's office.
"CEO! Woojin's official fan club has been created!"
It was true.
Kang Woojin's official fan cafe, Kang's Heart, had officially opened.
Membership had already passed 1,200.
Even though the general manager's nickname was Blood Sister, that was a separate matter.
In any case, Kang Woojin now officially had a fan club.
Tuesday morning.
An editing room.
One of the many editing rooms belonged to the YouTube channel Sports Day.
The space was cramped.
Yoon Byungseon PD, wearing glasses, stared at the main monitor while giving instructions to a junior PD.
"Ah, right there. Right there. Leave Woojin's first appearance as it is, and emphasize it with the caption, 'His entrance carries an unusual aura.'"
"But won't that feel too plain?"
"You have to start calmly so Woojin's charm can explode later. At first you think he's super serious, but then unexpectedly he gets the name wrong and reacts a little awkwardly. That's the reversal."
"Haha. Right. Woojin gets funnier the longer you watch him. He tries so hard to act serious, but that seriousness itself becomes the funny point."
They were editing the episode they had filmed a few days earlier with the Profiler Hanryang team.
Since Episode 4 of Hanryang had broken past 25%, they had to move quickly.
"First, pull together a teaser by tomorrow. Right now all the attention is on Woojin, so make sure the content is centered around him."
"Yes, sunbae."
"How many full episodes do you think we can make?"
"With what we have now, at least three."
"Can we get one out by this weekend?"
"…If we work all night, yes."
"Then we make it happen, no matter what. We need to use the current momentum to push the view count surge."
After encouraging the junior PD, Yoon Byungseon left the editing room and picked up his phone.
He was too busy to focus only on this, so he called the HTBS writing staff.
"Hey, I'm on the way to the station now, so let's hold the final meeting. Have you narrowed down the foreign-language actor candidates?"
"Ah, yes. To about three."
"Good. Set up the meeting right away. Add one more."
"Who?"
"Kang Woojin."
"Huh? Kang Woojin?"
"Yes."
Soon, Yoon Byungseon PD let out a laugh.
"His English is so good you could mistake him for an American or a Japanese person."
Meanwhile, outside Kang Woojin's place—
After stepping out of his chaotic studio apartment, which was in the middle of moving preparations, Kang Woojin climbed into the waiting minivan with his usual blank expression.
"Hello."
The people inside the van were the same as always.
But strangely, everyone smiled the moment they saw him.
Even Choi Sunggeon.
Even the cold Han Yejung.
Woojin tilted his head, puzzled.
At the same time—
"Woojin."
From the passenger seat, Choi Sunggeon snapped his planner shut and raised a thumbs-up.
"Your first commercial is for a hamburger."