1novels 54. I was careless! There was no flash.
54. I was careless! There was no flash.
Watching Park Jiyeon diligently practicing her dance in the practice room, Lee Kyung-sung gently withdrew his gaze, having no intention of approaching her to chat or get to know her, and continued to stroll leisurely along the long corridor of MBC.
The corridor was bustling with people, with makeup artists, assistants, and directors running around everywhere. Music, slogans, and the sound of dancing could be heard from time to time, giving off a vibrant and lively atmosphere reminiscent of the entertainment industry.
Not far ahead, another practice room was bustling with activity. Several girls had just finished a round of group rehearsal and came out, covered in sweat, leaning against the wall to rest, hydrate, and stretch.
One of the girls had a round and soft face, clean and bright eyes, and looked exceptionally refreshing. Her voice was clear and pleasant when she spoke. She didn't have the deliberate sweetness and performativeness of someone on stage, but rather the genuine look of someone slightly out of breath after practice. Every move she made was natural and graceful.
Lee Kyung-sung glanced at her a couple more times, not recognizing which girl group she belonged to, but he secretly thought that this idol's laughter sounded a bit like his own Bae Joo-hyun's—bold and distinctive. However, he didn't think much of it and planned to walk straight past her.
Standing to the side was a pretty girl with a quiet demeanor. She gently nudged her teammate who was making everyone laugh, her gaze subtly falling on Li Jingcheng's back as she whispered, "Look at that person, he doesn't seem like an ordinary staff member. The person taking measurements looks familiar to me."
Before Jung Eun-ji could reply, Oh Ha-young chimed in, "There are indeed many staff members at the TV station who wear masks and baseball caps, but his build doesn't seem like that of a staff member."
Son Naeun, who was standing next to her, followed her gaze a few more times, nodded slightly, and whispered in agreement, "I also think that the outline of the eyes that were just revealed does look somewhat familiar. They must be someone in the industry."
The group whispered among themselves, their eyes all gently fixed on Li Jingcheng.
Lee Kyung-sung, oblivious to everything, continued walking forward, browsing the MBC television station.
A group of girl group members walked slowly towards us, accompanied by staff.
In the crowd, one person stood out. With her chubby cheeks and gentle, refined features, she resembled a docile little white rabbit, making her noticeable even amidst the noisy background. She possessed an innate clean and pure aura, and as she walked quietly at the front of the line, she immediately caught people's attention.
Without a second thought, Lee Kyung-sung recognized the person immediately: the future queen of the sea, Bae Soo-ji.
However, he felt that Bae Suzy's love life was quite normal. At least he hadn't heard other fans mention any scandalous things she had done. Take Lee Ji-eun, the originator of the "slip-on-hand" scandal, for example. Her name doesn't contain "show," but she is actually very "show-off."
What puzzled him even more was that she and her teammates deliberately kept a half-step distance, neither chatting nor laughing together, nor engaging in casual conversation with those around them. The others walked side-by-side in twos and threes, whispering amongst themselves, the atmosphere relaxed and harmonious.
She alone stood to the side, her expression indifferent, silent and taciturn, completely lacking the playful and intimate atmosphere or the professional CP vibe that the girl group members had in the video.
It seems that she is not very close to the other members of the team, as if there is an invisible distance between them, and she cannot integrate into the lively atmosphere of her teammates.
After wandering around most of the MBC corridors, the novelty had worn off, and Lee Kyung-sung lost interest in continuing to stroll around. He decided to turn back and take the elevator back to Minister Park's office.
He had already taken the elevator to Minister Park's office and knocked on the door.
Minister Park's excited and urgent voice immediately came from inside, "Is that Kyung-sung? Come in quickly!"
Lee Kyung-sung pushed open the door and entered. He saw Minister Park staring at the computer screen. The quiet room was filled with the sound of mouse clicks. His mouth was slightly open, and his face was full of shock and joy.
Even his manager, Luo Yonghao, looked somewhat excited, holding his phone as if he were communicating with someone.
Li Jingcheng thought that it had probably already been officially announced, so he didn't go over to join in the fun. He walked to the sofa, sat down, and casually opened the forum on his phone.
On the screen, the hashtag #EmbracingTheSunMoon# has already climbed to the top of the trending searches.
A poster featuring Lee Kyung-sung and Han Ga-in was prominently displayed at the top of the page. In the photo, he wore an ancient royal robe, his eyes smiling yet carrying a hint of coldness, while Han Ga-in wore a white shrine maiden's outfit, her eyes filled with sorrow.
Is this me...?
.
Li Jingcheng zoomed in on his photo; he hadn't seen the repost at the time, but now he found it somewhat novel.
Behind-the-scenes footage of the audition, as well as photos of the two of them together, have already been uploaded.
He scrolled down the comments section, and although most of them were expressions of anticipation and praise, there were also a few discordant voices mixed in.
However, this was also expected.
"Help! These promotional photos are absolutely stunning! Kyung Sung in that royal robe, that lonely, aloof feeling he evokes, is so incredibly heart-wrenching—he's practically Lee Hwon himself! Han Ga-in is so beautiful too, I'm totally shipping them!"
"Heh, CJ royal family, this role was clearly originally meant for Kim Soo-hyun, wasn't it? Are you addicted to stealing roles?"
"Ugh, what's the use of being handsome? I watched the audition footage, and his eyes do have something... But I'm just being stubborn. I don't believe he can handle the deep affection of Li Xuan. I'm just waiting to be proven wrong (or waiting for him to flop)."
This comment is interesting. They even posted behind-the-scenes footage of the audition. He is indeed a member of the royal family, but he also happens to have plenty of acting skills. Is this guy doing this on purpose?
Li Jingcheng clicked in to see what interesting replies were available.
"Are you still being stubborn upstairs? Go watch that look back in the behind-the-scenes footage. That's the level of the USC acting program! The emotion he conveyed was so precise. Don't compare it to Kim Soo-hyun's acting, okay? CJ really has an eye for talent this time."
"Sisters, stop arguing! Go watch the audition video! That gaze is killer! He's the one playing Lee Hwon! Anyone who disagrees, call Kim Soo-hyun back for an audition!"
"Wow, this guy is amazing! His aura, his face, he's totally a carbon copy of Li Xuan, isn't he?"
This was still a Chinese comment. Li Jingcheng habitually clicked "like," leaned back on the sofa, and continued scrolling through the comments.
"Looks like I'm about to get hooked on Korean dramas again... I'll watch them if he's in one." This was a reply from a Japanese netizen.
Because he had studied N2 level Japanese in his previous life, Li Jingcheng could understand some vocabulary.
"Thank you." Although the input method wasn't easy to switch to other countries, Li Jingcheng still replied to quite a few netizens, from China, Japan, South Korea, and the US.
Looking at the wide variety of languages,
Lee Kyung-sung was in a great mood and couldn't wait to see how the fans would react to his appearance. He was sure the ratings would be at least 20% higher than before. He felt like he didn't even need to use his only ratings card anymore and could save it for when he collaborated with Yoona later, just for an extra layer of protection.
Minister Park suddenly burst into laughter, "That's fantastic! Apart from a very few die-hard Kim Soo-hyun fans who are still being sarcastic, the entire internet is almost entirely full of positive reviews for your drama's promotional photos. The response is far better than we expected!"
Luo Yonghao grinned from ear to ear and chimed in, "It's not just in Korea; Jingcheng's reputation on various forums in China and Japan is ridiculously good. We've heard from Team Leader Kim that several TV stations have already proactively inquired about the drama's rights, and they've also started paying extra attention to you. As long as you maintain your momentum..."
At this point, Luo Yonghao put down his phone, looked away from the computer, and stared intently at Li Jingcheng.
Feeling the intense gazes from those two men, Li Jingcheng could only pretend not to notice and continued scrolling through interesting comments.
"Oppa, can you read Chinese?"
When Lee Kyung-sung saw the reply that suddenly popped up on his phone, he clicked on it and saw that it was from a fan who had just commented in Chinese. He promptly replied, "Communication in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and English is no problem at all. Feel free to comment; I can understand them all."
This reply was specifically written in Chinese.
The fan was immediately shocked upon seeing the reply and quickly typed back, "Huh? Is this really Oppa himself?? Didn't the company take over the account for management??" After replying, she immediately checked Lee Kyung-sung's account information.
After posting the reply, Li Jingcheng didn't think much of it and casually scrolled past to read other comments. But a few seconds later, his phone was flooded with notifications, and his iPhone 4 instantly overheated and started lagging.
He began to vaguely sense that something was wrong.
"Huh? Is this really Oppa himself?? Didn't the company take over the account for management??"
When Li Jingcheng saw this sentence, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. Feeling somewhat guilty, he looked up at Luo Yonghao, who was still analyzing the data.
Family members, is it too late to delete the comments?