Peninsula: From a supporting actor to the best actor in Chungmuro

Chapter 230 Awards Night KPI: Show off your love, win awards, and buy a phone—all three at the same time!

"did you miss me?"

A revitalized Bae Suzy looked at Kang Jae-hoon with a smile on her face.

Wrapped in a wool coat, even her voice took on a sweet and warm quality.

"That's a very good question..."

Kang Jae-hoon raised his hand and gently stroked her delicate chin:
"I was practically ready to protest outside the set of 'Uncontrollably Fond' with a sign that read, 'Give me back my wife!'"

Actually it's not bad.

After all, "Little Kang Jae-hoon" has been busy traveling between Seobing-gu and Cheongdam-dong these past few days, he hasn't had a moment's rest...

of course.

If you dare to say that out loud.

Then you can directly book a funeral home package.

In such situations, turning the tables and striking first is the key to survival.

really.

Bae Suzy was amused by this and burst out laughing.

They also disregarded the possibility of informants at either end of the passage.

She stretched out her slender hand.

She teasingly pinched his pectoral muscles through his sweater.

"Okay, okay~ I know you've been wronged~"

Bae Suzy's eyes and brows were full of sweet smiles. She took a step closer and lowered her voice:

"Come to my place tonight~"

The last syllable was deliberately drawn out.

The look in his eyes clearly said: I'll make it up to you.
"..."

Upon hearing this, Kang Jae-hoon felt as bitter as if he had drunk three cups of iced Americano in a row.

The phrase "spinning a cocoon around oneself" perfectly describes my current situation.

Is she trying to gain sympathy by acting cute and pitiful?

As a result, the hunter completely controlled the loot time...

But at this moment, he tragically saw a cruel reality:
Whether it's a pitiful complaint that she's too busy to spend time with him, or a bold declaration that "a day apart feels like three autumns," the result is—

Being summoned to "deliver grain" is an inevitable end event.

Normally, Kang Jae-hoon would be happy to accept the summons.

only……

The "medals of honor" that Lim Yoona left on him are still fresh in our minds. If Bae Suzy's X-ray-like eyes were to see them...

The headline "Kang Jae-hoon drowns in Han River" is sure to grab the top spot on major news portals!
As for the excuse.

His brain's CPU was working at full speed... and he hadn't finished coding yet!
"Ah, Suzy-ssi, Jae-hoon-ssi, please take your seats!"

The staff's voices were timely and appropriate.

The two exchanged a smile (Kang Jae-hoon's smile was forced), and the intimate atmosphere lingered in the air.

We were then led side by side into the brightly lit main venue.

……

The APAN Star Awards were formerly known as the "Daejeon Drama Festival".

Founded in 2012, this year marks its fourth edition.

Although the organizers tried to create a good image, their selection criteria clearly leaned towards "popularity, traffic, and viewership ratings".

Audience votes and viewership data hold the core power in determining the narrative.

Professional review?

It's more like an embellishment that adds the finishing touch.

This has led to its lack of industry authority, and its prestige is below average among many awards. It is more like a stepping stone for rising stars or idols who need to prove their popularity.

to be honest.

It was a glamorous fan party mixed with a brand fashion show.

and so.

This award is significant for Kang Jae-hoon, who has already established himself through his film achievements.

If you gain it, it's a bonus; if you lose it, it's insignificant.

His KPIs for tonight are only two:

First, in all the public appearances, she elegantly showed off the Carrera watch on her left wrist.

Second, ensure Bae Suzy is in a good mood.

Judging from the current situation, the task is already half completed.

……

The guests took their seats one by one.

The ceremony began with a splendid song and dance performance.

The process was as smooth as expected.

The first half of the event basically became a backdrop for fans' screams and flashing lights: Newcomer Award, Hallyu Star Award, Popularity Award, OST Award... were presented one after another.

The main event takes place in the second half.

soon.

The awards ceremony for the "Best Actress in a Mid-Length Drama" award, for Bae Suzy's role as Cindy in "The Producers," has begun.

The camera frequently cuts to her beautiful and delicate profile.

result--

The award was given to Park Bo-young for her vivid portrayal of the struggles and innocent love of being possessed by a ghost in the fantasy drama "Oh My Ghost".

Bae Suzy's facial expressions are perfectly controlled.

They even gave Park Bo-young a sincere round of applause right away.

But Kang Jae-hoon could sense the sadness and disappointment deep in her eyes—she really wanted to win this transformative award.

So, using the seat as cover, he reached out and gently placed his hand on the back of her hand, giving it a squeeze.

Not long after.

It was Kang Jae-hoon's turn.

He lost his nomination for Best Actor in a Mid-Length Drama to Lee Sung-min, who had already won the Baeksang Arts Awards for his role in "Misaeng".

This late-blooming veteran actor impressed audiences with his profound acting skills and the powerful social significance of the series itself.

In this situation, it's a complete and utter domination.

Kang Jae-hoon clapped with genuine enthusiasm.

Although "The Producers" is disguised as a workplace drama, its core still revolves around the romantic sparks that fly between idol stars and producers.

If the four main characters in the drama were replaced with actors of similar age but with less popularity and fame, even with Park Ji-eun as the screenwriter, the show would probably still crash and burn in the quagmire of ratings.

but.

Ironically, it is quite dramatic.

This young couple, known for their high popularity in the industry, were surprisingly defeated at this awards ceremony, which clearly favored popularity and viewership, by the seasoned actors who won over the audience with their solid and heartfelt performances…

Life is like a play, performed live.

The ceremony gradually drew to a close.

The host's voice rose a notch as the grand prize was about to be announced:
"2015 APAN Star Awards, Drama Grand Prize—The winner is… Kang Jae-hoon, *The Producers*! Congratulations!!"

Jiang Jae-hoon: “……?”

The look on his face wasn't the surprise or excitement he'd rehearsed countless times.

It was genuine bewilderment.

Is this what they call the organizer's art of balancing?
Spotlights deliver precise strikes.

He only woke up as if from a dream when Bae Suzy exclaimed in surprise and gently patted his arm to remind him.

The joy that followed and the surprise of being flattered were evident on his face.

As he walked step by step to the center of the stage and finally solemnly accepted the trophy, forged from the overwhelming passion of his fans, from the award presenter, his emotions gradually transformed into gratitude—at least in front of the camera.

Award citations are, of course, foolproof templates:

Thank you to the organizers (well, everyone knows the numbers are inflated), thank you to the fans (you guys were the main force behind the crazy voting!), thank you to the cast and crew (the formulaic praise of Suzy), and looking to the future (the nice phrase, "The exploration of acting is endless")...

The applause from the audience was mixed with the frenzied screams of the fans.

Bae Suzy looked at him on the stage, her eyes filled with pride and love.

The awards ceremony concluded in a lively and enthusiastic manner.

The dazzling spotlights went out, and the bustling crowd backstage began to disperse.

this moment.

This is the real... ultimate test of Kang Jae-hoon's acting skills!
"call……"

Kang Jae-hoon rubbed his temples seemingly casually, then pulled out his phone from his pocket, which was already set to mode, and glanced at it. Just one glance.

The ease on his face suddenly froze, and his brows furrowed slightly, as if he had encountered some thorny trouble.

"what happened?"

Bae Suzy leaned closer.

"Director Li Rijiong just sent out a notice."

Kang Jae-hoon's tone was a mixture of helplessness and frustration as he turned his phone screen towards her, the interface displaying a carefully crafted KakaoTalk notification:
“Let’s have a few of our core actors…go to the script reading for ‘The Prosecutor’s Chronicle’ right now.”

He specifically emphasized "now".

"Now?!"

Bae Suzy's beautiful eyes widened in surprise as she glanced at the watch on her wrist.
"It's almost ten o'clock!"

"……Um."

Kang Jae-hoon's face was filled with "I had no choice" and "I didn't want to either":
"The production team was stuck at this point because of the scheduling conflicts with the senior actors and crew. There was nothing we could do about it."

however.

He had planned everything meticulously...

You overlooked what women care about!
Bae Suzy barely looked at the text on the screen.

Her entire gaze was fixed on the group photo that she had found exceptionally pleasing not long ago, but now found increasingly unpleasant to look at.

In the photo.

Because of the angle and the close proximity...

Her slightly chubby cheeks made her face look plump and chubby.

Despite Bae Suzy's strict body management, she still appears somewhat large at certain camera angles, especially when compared to Kang Jae-hoon, whose facial features are more defined.

"ah!"

Bae Suzy pointed her finger at the side of her face in the photo, clearly displeased.

"This photo makes my face look too big! Change it!"

"...?"

Kang Jae-hoon was suddenly brought to a standstill by her seemingly unrelated remark.

Please!

Is the point of discussion now whether photos make faces look big?!
of course.

As long as Bae Suzy doesn't dwell on the detail of "rushing to a meeting now"...

Delete photos?
Change the wallpaper?
Idiot!
You can delete whichever image you want, or replace it with whichever one you wish!
Once he came to his senses, Kang Jae-hoon immediately began to dart his fingers around.

In no time, I deleted the photo that "exposed the flaws in my facial features," and then carefully selected a selfie of the two of us taken at sunset, in which the proportions of our faces were clearly softened by the light and shadow, and set it as my wallpaper.

Bae Soo-ji squinted at her, then nodded in satisfaction.

At this moment, her ulterior motives had already bypassed the question of whether the "reading group" was genuine or not:

Those beautiful eyes had just scanned his phone's photo album—funny photos of him making faces, candid shots taken in the morning sunlight, and embarrassing photos of him being caught drinking milk tea…

When each photo is of herself, all the little grudges in her mind instantly crumble.

A woman's thoughts are sometimes like an unsolvable cosmic equation, so complex that they can be a headache.
But sometimes it's as simple as kindergarten arithmetic; a photo album filled with your own images is the highest level of authentication.

Bae Suzy even secretly hoped that her nemesis, Im Yoona, would "accidentally" see it.

Wow……

Just imagining the frustrated expression on the other person's face...

She felt more comfortable than ever before, both physically and mentally.

Even the slight disappointment of not winning the award was somewhat mitigated.

So much so that she started to have wildly imaginative thoughts—should she... drag this guy along to take some more explicit, more private, more exciting photos or videos?

Wouldn't this make the deterrent effect even more outstanding?

of course.

Kang Jae-hoon, secretly relieved that he had escaped a disaster, was completely unaware that he was very likely to be "cast" as the male lead in a restricted private action film in the near future.

At that moment, he was standing in a brightly lit flagship store in Cheongdam-dong Digital Street.

The target is clear: the latest Galaxy Note 5.

Three platforms.

The night has grown dark.

The rear lights of the nanny van were dim.

Kang Jae-hoon buried his head in the three newly purchased tablet-like Note 5 screens.

Power on, insert card, synchronize data, transfer the most important photo library...

Just as he was frowning and struggling with the Bluetooth transmission—

In the front driver's seat.

Jin Dayuan's "business phone" on the stand next to him suddenly started buzzing – it started a frantic barrage of calls and messages.

Kang Jae-hoon initially didn't pay attention and continued to cause trouble.

It wasn't until Kim Dae-won answered the fourth call that he was forced to spare an ear to listen to the conversation intermittently.

……

After listening for a while to the core keywords "renewal", "price", and "cooperation strategy assessment", Kang Jae-hoon belatedly pieced together the whole story.

It turns out that all the brands he endorsed had proactively approached him to discuss renewing their contracts.

Although it's an open secret in the industry that the APAN Star Awards are only as valuable as a supermarket receipt, the fan attention and online buzz surrounding the awards ceremony are simply undeniable!

The ceremony had just ended.

The related trending topics then snowballed upwards:
#APAN Awards Kang Jae-hoon#
#Suzy is so beautiful#
#Park Bo-young's acting award is well-deserved#
#Li Xingmin is awesome#
……

The comments section was a chaotic mess:
The fans who supported Kang Jae-hoon were so excited that they felt like they had won a great victory. Their fighting spirit was off the charts, and they frantically flooded the screen with "The Grand Prize is well-deserved"—even though Kang Jae-hoon himself felt a little guilty.

Netizens who questioned his performance launched a barrage of criticism: "In terms of professionalism, he's far inferior to Lee Sung-min!" and "This is just a popularity award, stop hyping it up!"

The two sides argued fiercely.

But no matter how heated the comments section gets, one statistic doesn't lie—

The sheer volume of topics, the level of discussion, the frequency of names appearing, and the fighting power of the core fans!
For businesses, being infamous or not is still fame; controversy equals buzz!
As long as it can sell goods, make consumers remember the brand, and promote purchase conversion... what is the value of the award?

What is that? Is it edible?!

Businessmen's profit-seeking nature made them keenly aware of the commercial value of Kang Jae-hoon's ability to generate buzz at any time.

This is the ironclad rule that "popularity equals capital"!

They are willing to seize the opportunity, humble themselves, and proactively and eagerly come to discuss contract renewal.

One reason is that Kang Jae-hoon delivered an extremely impressive performance during his previous endorsement period.

Secondly.

He had just won the prestigious Blue Dragon Award and Grand Bell Award for Best Newcomer.

And on the "APAN" stage, a high-exposure, high-topic award specially designed for fans, she won the grand prize, symbolizing the peak of her popularity!
In addition, his starring role in "The Himalayas" continues to top the popularity charts and generate a high level of discussion.

—The three are combined.

Given Kang Jae-hoon's current overall commercial value and future potential, if no formalities are completed soon, he's likely to take off...

Actually.

Just the other day.

The night he won the Blue Dragon Award for Best New Performer for "Veteran".

Brands with a keen sense of smell have already tentatively extended an olive branch.

pity--

At the time, Kang Jae-hoon was still holding similar endorsements, and his contracts were far from expiring.

The new "admirers" are of a higher class and offer more attractive prices...

However, constrained by the industry's "exclusivity principle for endorsement categories" and the "priority renewal right/high penalty for breach of contract" clauses in existing contracts, Kim Dae-won could only politely decline those tempting new offers "with tears in his eyes".

Although the deal was not successfully signed.

However, Kim Dae-won figured out Kang Jae-hoon's current true standing in the endorsement industry.

Those contracts that were signed earlier.

Their endorsement fees average between 1 million and 2 million Korean won, which is considered top-tier treatment among the new generation of actors.

Now, his endorsement fees have easily doubled, or even exceeded. The specific amount still needs to be negotiated based on factors such as brand level and depth of cooperation.

therefore.

Jin Dayuan was well aware of the barrage of demands from brands on the other end of the phone to "renew" their contracts.

Their plan was precisely to "lock in the deal by renewing the contract early with the old (relatively cheap) framework before the other party's status truly skyrocketed and the new contract system was fully established!"

This is a typical tactic of buying at the bottom before a price increase.

While responding to the urgency on the other end of the phone with official jargon, Jin Dayuan couldn't help but roll his eyes in the darkness.

Nobody's a fool.

(End of this chapter)