"Ugh!"
Kang Woojin's cry burst out, echoing through the hall. His footing twisted, and his body wavered. At this rate, it felt like he would fall flat without even being able to resist.
'Ah, wait—hey, hey, hey! Hold on!'
Right now, his presence was striking enough as it was. But if he actually fell like that, even if he kept a serious expression on the outside, it would undoubtedly look ridiculous. More than a hundred reporters would see it as the perfect opportunity and start firing their shutters without hesitation.
Just imagining it was horrifying.
But Woojin had already lost his balance and was tipping forward. Damn it, wait. In that instant, Kang Woojin threw his arm out with all his strength. Just to his left, he spotted the Baeksang logo panel.
-Pop!
He caught it.
He managed to grab onto it without falling. An ordinary person would have gone down for sure, but thanks to the "martial arts" engraved into his body, Kang Woojin was able to react like that.
'Ha! Damn it, that was close.'
The problem was what to do next.
His current posture was unmistakably unnatural. If he awkwardly tried to pretend nothing had happened, it would only look just as ridiculous as actually falling.
Kang Woojin came up with an extremely shameless solution.
-Swish.
As if everything up until now had been completely natural, he extended his hand toward the direction of the logo. More precisely—
"Ah!! Wow!! Woojin! I'm really a fan!!"
"Thank you."
He took the fan's phone as it was being held out and snapped a photo for them. Then he gave autographs to the surrounding fans as well.
How was it? Completely natural, right?
He had turned what was almost a fall into fan service. Like a snake slipping neatly through a narrow gap. Having barely escaped a small crisis, Woojin gave a cynical greeting to the fans and began walking the red carpet again.
How should it be described?
To Kang Woojin, the red carpet looked like a path leading straight to hell.
'Ugh… I think I'm going to throw up.'
Fortunately—
-Swish.
After passing through the long, hellish red carpet, Kang Woojin arrived at the entrance of the hall. After a brief photo session and a short interview with the hosts, he stepped into Hall D, where the ceremony would take place.
The interior was, as expected, astonishing. Kang Woojin's jaw nearly dropped. Only on the inside, of course.
'It's insanely big. This is ridiculous… how many giant screens are there?'
The main hall alone had well over a thousand seats. More than five large screens were installed at the front of the stage, and bright lighting poured down from the ceiling and around the stage. The broadcast team was already filming, and countless celebrities who had arrived early were busy greeting one another.
Since the ceremony had not started yet, the atmosphere was somewhat relaxed.
Kang Woojin stood at the entrance, hesitating before stepping into the massive crowd.
'Should I just slip out quietly?'
There was no way.
"Hello, Woojin!"
Actors who recognized him approached as soon as he entered. Woojin flinched slightly. Even though they were people he had never met before, they approached him as if they were already familiar.
"I really enjoyed Drug Dealer! Is the filming for Leech going well?"
"Ah, yes."
"Are there really no cup noodles left now? I couldn't get a single one!"
"I'm sorry, I don't have any either."
The one who saved Woojin was Hong Hyeyeon, who had just entered the hall. Wearing a black dress that revealed her shoulders, she moved close beside him.
"What are you doing standing here?"
A pleasant fragrance drifted faintly from her, but Woojin deliberately ignored it and answered in a low voice.
"Just greeting a few people."
"If you get caught here, it'll never end. Let's go back to our seats first."
"Yes."
Hong Hyeyeon gave a final greeting to the actors and pulled on Woojin's arm. But the path to their seats was far from smooth. Too many people greeted them along the way.
They ran into the Frozen love team, whom they had not seen in a while, the Drug Dealer team including Jin Jaejoon, and even met Ryu Jungmin and ended up moving together. With so many figures from the variety world present, it was overwhelming.
They exchanged brief greetings with PD Yoon Byeongseon and other producers.
There were broadcasters, comedians, and idols everywhere.
Woojin had seen them all on television or in articles before, but in person, they were all unfamiliar.
'This is… pretty interesting.'
It was a different kind of atmosphere than usual. Maybe it was because there were simply too many celebrities around. Gradually, Kang Woojin became numb to seeing them.
Then he ran into Hwarin.
"Woojin, that tuxedo suits you really well."
"Thank you. You look great too. That dress is really beautiful."
"Really? Hmm. By the way, I tried the cup noodles yesterday. It was really hard to get, but it was quite good."
"I see."
He also greeted Director Ahn Gabok, whom he had met the day before, as well as Director Kwon Gitaek, who was in the final stages of post-production, along with other directors. Even the short conversations and polite greetings began to feel exhausting.
Looking at it this way, it was clear that Kang Woojin's status had completely changed from before.
But—
"Oh my, you must be Kang Woojin? Haha, it's a pleasure to meet you."
There seemed to be no end to the people clinging to him.
At that very moment—
Not inside the Baeksang ceremony hall, but in a corner of the first-floor lobby, stood Choi Sunggeon with his hair tied back in a ponytail.
"Good. Let's keep the momentum going."
He was observing the situation from multiple angles. Of course, Han Yejung, Jang Suhwan, and Woojin's entire team were doing the same. Monitoring was something they always did, but this time, it was about Kang Woojin's "Kimjaban Makguksu," which had been released just yesterday.
"Community activity is basically at saturation now. Whether it's reviews or complaints, it's exploding. Wow, there's even a separate gallery now."
"SNS numbers have increased way more than yesterday! Tags and shares have multiplied several times!"
"What about YouTube?"
"Videos from the YouTubers who got sponsorships are being uploaded."
It had only been a single day since official sales began, but Kimjaban Makguksu cup noodles had already begun walking the path of a massive hit product.
YouTube, which led trends, proved it.
Creators who would grab onto anything even slightly interesting for views were the evidence. They compared it to "sticking a straw into it"—once attention peaked, everyone poured out related content.
Right now, Woojin's Kimjaban Makguksu was at the center of it all.
[Emergency! I finally got the so-called Kang Woojin cup noodles! I tried the hard-to-get Kimjaban Makguksu!!]
From cooking experts to mukbang creators, even YouTubers completely unrelated to food began uploading videos all at once. About 30% of them were sponsored by Nongshim, while roughly 70% jumped in purely to chase views.
Reviews, taste tests, and "bought with my own money" videos.
Every single one centered around Kang Woojin's cup noodles, and even with just slight variations in keywords, views skyrocketed—50,000, 300,000, even 700,000 and 1 million.
Not just YouTube, but similar trends appeared across other video platforms.
This wave of content stimulated public interest and amplified the desire to buy.
[It's actually really good, I'm not kidding… the only problem is how hard it is to get.]
[I want to buy it right now but I literally can't.]
[I'm usually super critical, but seeing this level of praise makes me want to try it. Where can I even get it?]
[I work night shift at a convenience store, and it sold out in five minutes. People rushed in like zombies.]
[I tried to run for it… failed.]
[Seeing that expression… it must be good.]
[He's eating it before the noodles are even cooked.]
[This might actually become a trend. Kang Woojin is insane.]
[As someone who's watched all his videos, that expression is real. That means it's top-tier.]
While YouTube went wild, SNS did not stay quiet either.
What had already been a hugely popular product became even more explosive thanks to Kang Woojin's influence.
It was only the beginning, yet the impact was already immense.
The massive success of the cup noodles did not just bring financial gains—it directly affected Kang Woojin's image and recognition.
This was on an entirely different level from a simple project success.
[The influence of Kang Woojin, who even caused cup noodles to sell out… has there ever been an actor like this?]
Choi Sunggeon smiled brightly.
'Anything he touches succeeds. No—not just succeeds. It becomes a massive success.'
Kang Woojin had already become an icon simply by presenting works driven by his instincts, but as the CEO of an entertainment company, he was exerting enormous influence in other fields as well.
How could anyone not like him?
And now—
'Today too, he's definitely going to stir things up.'
The Baeksang Arts Awards were just as anticipated.
About twenty minutes later—
'Finally.'
Kang Woojin sat down in his assigned seat. It was the center seat in the eighth row from the front of the stage. Sitting beside him were Hong Hyeyeon, Ryu Jungmin, and Lee Hanna.
In other words, he was seated with actors from BW Entertainment. Ryu Jungmin's transfer had not been officially announced yet, but it was practically confirmed.
At that moment—
-Sss.
The lights dimmed slightly, and white lights from the ceiling illuminated the stage. The broadcast team around the stage focused forward, and nearly a thousand audience members, including actors, all turned their attention to the front.
-♬♪
Upbeat music played, and the Baeksang Arts Awards logo appeared across multiple large screens on stage. The screens opened from both sides, and a male and female actor stepped out.
Just like the Blue Dragon Awards—
a structured flow.
As expected, the first award was Rookie of the Year.
But film and TV categories were separated.
"Shall we begin? Let's take a look at the nominees for Best New Actor in the TV category!"
The interesting part was—
"Yes! Congratulations! Actor Kang Woojin from Frozen love!"
As expected, the Best New Actor in the TV category went to Kang Woojin.
But the winning work was not Profiler Hanryang.
It was Frozen love.
Of course, his portrayal of a disabled character in Frozen love had been more than impactful. At the time, his performance caused a major stir in the acting world and set a new benchmark for such roles.
Still—
it felt a little unexpected.
In any case, Kang Woojin went up on stage, adding another trophy, and delivered his acceptance speech calmly.
Unlike the Blue Dragon Awards, there was no shock or exaggeration.
He simply expressed his gratitude.
As if nothing had shaken him at all.
Some actors whispered among themselves.
"What is this? He looks bored of winning rookie awards."
"What can you do? If it wasn't Kang Woojin this year, that would've caused even bigger controversy."
"That's true. It's justified arrogance."
"Not only is he good, but there's no one else who could create that kind of impact, right?"
Next came Best New Actress in TV, followed by Best New Actor in Film.
However, Kang Woojin was not nominated for the film rookie award.
He himself had agreed to that.
Since he had already won multiple rookie awards, repeating the same award could leave a negative impression on the public.
In any case, Best New Actress in Film went to Han Sojin.
The ceremony continued at a fast pace.
Best New Director, Arts Awards, Screenplay Awards—
After the director and writer awards, the theater category followed.
Many winners stepped up, some crying, some laughing.
And then—
the final segment of Part 1 began.
The large screen displayed:
– "Best Supporting Actor (TV)"
On stage stood last year's winners.
Among them was Hwarin, wearing a white and gray dress. With her long hair braided to one side, she stood at the center, linked arm-in-arm with a male actor.
She glanced at the cue card and spoke.
"I can still vividly remember the excitement of receiving this award last year. Now that I'm presenting, it feels strange."
"Haha, really? My hands are shaking too."
"Shall we meet the nominees first?"
"Yes, let's."
The hall darkened.
The nominees appeared one by one on the large screen, along with clips from their performances and shots of them seated in the audience.
And finally—
– Kang Woojin / Profiler Hanryang
Woojin appeared on screen.
The camera showed him seated at the center of the hall. His expression didn't change at all.
The atmosphere in the hall split in two.
Some murmured.
Others watched quietly.
As soon as his image disappeared—
the lights came back.
Hwarin took the card from the envelope.
"I'm so nervous. Really."
That feeling was real.
She was not simply reading lines. Her heart was pounding. As a fan, her emotions were swelling.
Please.
Please let it be him.
Outwardly, however, she tried to suppress everything.
"······"
She swallowed hard and opened the card.
Her eyes widened.
For about five seconds.
Shock filled her eyes, but she raised the mic with slightly trembling hands.
Then—
in a firm voice—
"The winner of Best Supporting Actor (TV)… Actor Kang Woojin from Profiler Hanryang! Congratulations!!"
Instantly, dozens of cameras turned toward Kang Woojin.
The large screens filled with his cold expression.
At the same time, every gaze in the hall focused on him.
And—
Kang Woojin stood up calmly.
Many actors watching him could not hide their reactions.
Rookie Award.
Best Supporting Actor.
Both.
And he was only in his second year.
It was extremely rare.
No—
it had never happened in the history of the Baeksang Arts Awards.
"Wow… has this ever happened before?"
"No. This is the first time."
"This is incredible."
Kang Woojin—
was the first.