By midnight, hashtags related to all the dramas topped global trending lists.
At Flex Entertainnt, so of the staff of the company were working overti. They were inside a large eting room, closely monitoring the live rankings, engagent stats, and viewer reactions of The Star's Secret.
The room slled like a blend of brewed coffee, spicy tteokbokki, and warm pastries. Laptops were plugged in, cables snaked across the floor, and open boxes of kimbap and fried chicken sat between glowing tablet screens.
Everyone was restless.
This was the second consecutive night the team had stayed up. Sleep was a luxury, especially during the Korean Drama Festival.
It was one of the most important events for every agency and studio.
At Flex Entertainnt, shifts were usually rotated between the mbers of the Marketing team to avoid burnout, but tonight, most of them chose to stay. Not because they had to, but because The Star's Secret was their first project of the year.
It was their pride and also a big pressure on their shoulder.
Staying awake for three days during events like these wasn't uncommon. It was industry standard.
In return, once the drama festival ended, everyone would be granted a three day off so that everyone could rest, even the actors involved in the drama.
The CEO of Flex Entertainnt was also staying in the company for the night. He was dressed in a simple hoodie and baseball cap, different from his usual formal outfit in the office.
He walked inside with trays of late-night snacks and energy drinks. He set them down on the table and clapped his hands once.
"Okay, team. Just eat and drink and all you want but keep your eyes open. I want an update on the ranking every 30 minutes. Also, contact Global Studios first thing tomorrow. I want to discuss sothing with them.
"Yes, CEO." The workers gladly answered in unison. So of them were typing on their laptops, finishing work for tomorrow. However, the Majority were just using their phone and eating, while still constantly looking at the monitor.
"We're still third... The Star's Secret is still third." Soone groaned as they refreshed the trending page for the 100th ti since tonight.
"Let guess," a mber from the marketing team uttered, rubbing his tired eyes. "Chasing Dreams first?"
"Yup," replied Mina, a mber of the marketing departnt as she scrolled through Ustube clips.
"And Kill Kindly is second. It shot up because of the s and the village grandma scenes."
"Damn, that bear-like hitman is stealing our spotlight," another mber of the PR team, Hans, uttered and sighed. "We did not see that coming."
Red, one of the senior managers of the marketing departnt, leaned against the swiveled chair. His arms were crossed while his eyes were still on the live feed.
"To be fair, those first two episodes of Kill Kindly were unexpectedly good. And Chasing Dreams... well, it's got Jihyun behind it. They're backed by their own fans."
"Still," Mina smiled. "We didn't flop. The Star's Secrets' ranking is good."
"Yeah, and it ans our artist's na is right up there with the top rookies now," soone else chid in.
The CEO nodded as he sipped from a can of coffee.
"Exactly. It's still too early anyway. We do not want that No. 1 spot this early, only to lose it after a few days. We want to build a consistent growth and a stable career for Minjae. Good thing that he had already made a small na for his own before this."
As the CEO finished his words, the large screen at the front of the room refreshed with the most updated drama statistics.
Current Live Rankings (Global Trending)
1. Chasing Dreams
2. Kill Kindly
3. The Star's Secret
4. Golden Days
5. Reverie of the Sword
6. My High School Love
7. Hotel Forever
8. Friendship Over
9. Undercover High
10. Battle of the Smart
11. The Perfect Divorce
12. Ho Sweet Debt
Juse like everyone expected, Chasing Dreams had exploded thanks to Kwon Jihyun's long-awaited acting debut.
Every fra of his screen ti had been clipped, subtitled, and posted within minutes after its airing. His fans and their group's fans were running on pure adrenaline and hype.
Kill Kindly, on the other hand, was the surprise hit of the season. What began as an unusual plot sohow turned -worthy after all the absurdity that the Male lead did in the first 2 episodes of the drama.
The internet ate it up, especially since all the dramas so far were serious.
Then ca The Star's Secret, still holding firm at the third spot. The gap between Kill Kindly and The Star's Secret wasn't that big, but it remained constant.
And the last one among the ranks was Ho Sweet Debt. It was all because of the female lead who couldn't act that made it unbearable for the others to continue watching the drama.
----
Back at his own apartnt, Minjae was still wide awake even though it was already late at night. It was 2 am, and yet he can't seem to fall asleep.
Minjae's phone was plugged into the charger beside him. Instead of lying down on his bed, he was on the floor. He was surrounded by empty packets of chips and canned coffee.
His laptop lay open beside him. It was displaying the sa drama statistics that the Flex office was monitoring. His phone screen was also filled with notifications.
When he looked at it, his feed was now filled with screenshots and people reacting to the drama while tagging him.
He held his phone above him as he stared at all of them.
His heart swelled. His fan clubs had been doing their very best to promote the drama and increase its engagent.
"We're still third, huh?"
Minjae let out a small sigh. He wasn't disappointed. In fact, a quiet smile tugged at his lips. Third wasn't bad at all. In fact, it was already good. But of course, being number 2 or 1 is even better.
He gently set his phone on his chest and stared at the ceiling for a mont, feeling the weight of everything settle on him. He felt as if his dreams were slowly within his reach now.
He just need to put in more effort.
When he thought of the missed opportunity with the drama "The Last Heir," he couldn't help but be disappointed. It must have been good if his lead in the Star's Secret would be followed by that.
But oh well, he really can't cry over spilled milk now.
For sure, there were more opportunities coming his way. He just needs to be patient enough to wait for it.
Amidst the silence, Minjae's phone suddenly buzzed continuously. He sighed and shook his head.
He already knows what it was.
It was probably a ssage from Jihoon.
That guy was ssaging him nonstop since yesterday. Jihoon would only stop when he was doing sothing or sleeping. Other than that, the guy would send a lot of ssage.
Jihoon [2:07 AM]"
Hyunggggggg!! WE'RE #3!!!
Jihoon [2:07 AM]:
Did you see the fancams people made of you? You look like a real idol hyung hahahahaha I thought you were gonna fly out the screen
Minjae chuckled and opened the ssages, his thumb lazily tapping at the screen.
Minjae [2:08 AM]
Stupid, why are you awake? Go sleep and stop bothering . But yeah… I saw. You did great too. Everyone liked your character.
Almost imdiately, Jihoon replied.
Jihoon [2:08 AM]
I'll sleep after I read every comnt about , hyung. There's endless! I'm gonna print them out and make a scrapbook.
Minjae shook his head, laughing quietly under his breath.
Before he could even put his phone down, another ssage popped up. This ti from Yura.
Yura [2:09 AM]
Oppa!!! We're still trending #3! Did you see???
Yura [2:09 AM]
My mom already called and said she cried during the second episode 😭 She asked if you were okay since you looked so sad 😭😭
Minjae smiled again.
Minjae [2:10 AM]
Tell her I'm okay. Anyway, congrats, Yura. You really pulled off your scenes well. People liked your performance.
Yura [2:11 AM]
Thanks, Oppa. I'm so happy right now I can't even think straight. Let's do better for episode 3, yeah? I want to climb at least to #2! Also tell Jihoon to go to sleep, he's spamming our group chat again.
Minjae let out another quiet laugh. He opened their group chat and, sure enough, Jihoon was flooding it with screenshots, links, and random "WE SLAYED" GIFs.
He didn't respond to the group and just left it on read.
Minjae [2:12 AM]
Don't worry. I'll scold him tomorrow in person. Let's aim for #2. But if we stay at #3 for a while, that's okay too. We'll rise slowly and surely. Good job, Yura.
Yura [2:12 AM]
You too, Oppa. You really looked like soone hurting in episode 2. I almost cried watching your scenes, seriously. Let's keep working hard 💪
Minjae looked at the emote and laughed at it.
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