At the production presentation of <The Veterans>, the participating actors were Seo Jin-taek and Yu Sung-jae in leading roles, along with Ha Eun in a villain role. Additionally, there were a total of four individuals, including Jeong Soo-hyun, who played the supporting character ‘Lee Eun-hyeok’ to Lee Yeo-seo.
“Alright then. First, let’s ask Mr. Seo Jin-taek to greet us.”
“Hello. I’m Seo Jin-taek, and I am playing Detective Jeon Jae-han in <The Veterans>.”
The first to take the microphone was Seo Jin-taek, who is the eldest among the actors and has a top-class career. His greeting was followed by the greetings from the other actors.
“Next, we have Lee Ha-eun.”
“Hello. I’m Lee Ha-eun, and I’m playing the role of Lee Yeo-seo in <The Veterans>.”
After Lee Ha-eun, the greetings from Yu Sung-jae and Jeong Soo-hyun were completed as well.
Then, Director Kim Hong-seong, who was seated at the end, expressed his gratitude to the journalists present at the production presentation.
“With the weather getting warmer, I appreciate everyone coming out to show interest in <The Veterans> despite the heat.”
Once all the participants had finished their greetings, the gentle voice of the MC came through among the still flashing camera shutters, guiding the next part of the event.
“Now, before we start the main part of the presentation, let’s watch a special video.”
Almost simultaneously, the lights in the presentation hall dimmed. The main trailer of <The Veterans>, which was initially the largest screening room of Apgujeong OGV, began to play.
– Thud.
– Thud.
“The CCTV only has the entrance scene; there’s no exit scene. What’s going on here?”
“Who? … Ah, is it Min-hwa?”
The main trailer started with a confrontation scene between Lee Yeo-seo and Kang Chan-seong. As always, Ha Eun’s calm gaze met Yu Sung-jae’s wary eyes, creating a palpable tension in the air.
– Thud.
– Thud.
– Thud.
As the conversation between the two was nearing its end, the background music quickened. The drumbeats resonated in the hearts of the journalists present at the presentation.
“The conclusion seems to have already been reached.”
– Thud─!
Lee Yeo-seo’s line, which was gradually becoming expressionless, cut off completely. The trailer fell silent without any background music.
For a brief moment, the tense atmosphere between Lee Yeo-seo and Kang Chan-seong hung in the air.
– Whoosh!
“…Flee?”
A dagger, moving with such speed it was nearly impossible to follow, grazed past Kang Chan-seong’s ear.
“By now, you probably can’t even lift a finger…. The police are something else. This is interesting.”
In a swift motion, Lee Yeo-seo grabbed the dagger by the blade, and once again struck at Kang Chan-seong’s vital point. Immediately after, Kang Chan-seong started a dazzling action sequence by narrowly dodging Lee Yeo-seo’s relentless attack before kicking the dagger away.
– Whoosh!
– Thud!
– Bang!
Lee Yeo-seo’s fists continued to fly toward various parts of Kang Chan-seong’s body. The dull sounds of human-on-human impact continued for about twenty strikes, adding realism to the action performance.
Soon after, the scene showed Kang Chan-seong lying beneath Lee Yeo-seo. The faces of Kang Chan-seong, filled with urgency, and Lee Yeo-seo, who was smiling chillingly, flashed on the screen.
“Cough…!”
“Shhh, be good. Just sleep peacefully…”
A brief image of Lee Yeo-seo’s hand tightly strangling Kang Chan-seong’s neck appeared. However, instead of showing Kang Chan-seong’s fate, the trailer suddenly switched to another action scene.
“Ah, ah…. Just let the guy d*e already!! Please!!”
With hair disheveled and clothes ripped in various places, Lee Yeo-seo seemed indifferent to her untidy appearance, laughing as she dropped her shoulders.
Then, she extended a sharp dagger toward Jeon Jae-han, who was on the other side. Shortly after, Lee Yeo-seo and Jeon Jae-han charged at each other, captured in around thirty kn*fe fight sequences on camera.
What ensued was a fierce conflict that continued for about ten seconds, with neither of them backing down.
The main trailer of <The Veterans> ended right after that.
Almost simultaneously, the lights in the presentation hall began to brighten gradually.
“Alright, you have just watched the main trailer of <The Veterans>, which was released here for the first time. Wow, I’m already sweating in my hands.”
The slightly surprised MC said this and then asked Director Kim Hong-seong to introduce what the film was about.
During the MC’s progression, Director Kim Hong-seong began to provide an overall introduction to <The Veterans> over the handheld microphone.
– Tap tap.
– Tada da da tap.
The sounds of journalists typing did not pause even as Director Kim Hong-seong introduced the film.
The shutter clicks from the journalists’ cameras also continued unabated.
Could it be that…
“…so dazzling.”
Ha Eun, who was sitting quietly and listening to Director Kim Hong-seong, lowered his gaze slightly. Facing the glaring camera shutters directly, he started feeling a subtle sting in his eyes.
However, afterSeo Jin-taek, who took the microphone after Director Kim, finished his comments, he had to raise his head again when he heard the MC asking about Ha Eun’s action performance.
“Lee Ha-eun’s action seems to have come out really spectacular this time, what do you think?”
“Other actors adjusted well to my performance, so fortunately a good scene was created.”
“The intensity of the action scenes looks extremely high; wasn’t it hard during the filming?”
“Well…. It wasn’t so much hard as it was, to be honest, a bit fun. The important thing is giving viewers of <The Veterans> enjoyable visuals as well.”
Ha Eun thought there was nothing problematic about the answers he gave. He believed they were honest yet appropriate enough to build anticipation for <The Veterans>.
However, shortly after, Yu Sung-jae’s reflection about the action scenes came next.
“After filming with Ha Eun, I always have nightmares.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Just like on set, even in my dreams, it’s extremely terrifying.”
His words were mingled with a playful tone.
Without realizing it, Ha Eun shot a slight glare at Yu Sung-jae, who always kept a light-hearted demeanor filled with laughter.
Still, Ha Eun couldn’t say anything to Yu Sung-jae, after all, Lee Yeo-seo was a villain.
In regard to Yu Sung-jae’s earlier evaluation that Ha Eun’s performance was very scary, it could be interpreted as praise for Ha Eun’s acting.
It shouldn’t be problematic to say that a villain, who the audience should fear, was terrifying.
Soon, the MC chimed in agreement with Yu Sung-jae’s remark, adding that he too found Lee Yeo-seo extremely frightening for similar reasons.
“I prepared thoroughly for the action scenes. I practiced and practiced at home to synchronize with Ha Eun.”
Yu Sung-jae concluded his portion by mentioning his personal efforts.
Following that, Jeong Soo-hyun, who played Lee Eun-hyeok, Lee Yeo-seo’s assistant and cousin, shared his filming reflections captured through his handheld microphone.
As time passed and the approximately one-hour-long presentation of <The Veterans> was nearing its conclusion,
“Alright, Seo Jin-taek, please stand in the middle. Lee Ha-eun, you can stand next to him. Yu Sung-jae and Jeong Soo-hyun—”
The MC’s request for positions for the final photo session reached the actors.
Then came the sound of dozens of camera shutters from countless journalists in the audience.
“Hmm, it feels like getting hit by a flashbang….”
Standing next to Seo Jin-taek with a slight smile, Ha Eun was internally worried about his eyesight.
Still, he had to follow the MC’s request to look straight ahead and then alternately to the left and right for the photos to be taken.
“Well then, this concludes the production presentation of <The Veterans>. Thank you for joining us—!”
Only when the MC’s concluding remarks were heard could they leave the stage.
As Ha Eun made his way down the stairs, he politely bowed his head slightly toward the journalists.
“Um, senior.”
“Huh?”
“Will there be journalists at our stage greeting later?”
As soon as he arrived at the waiting room, Ha Eun asked Seo Jin-taek about the stage greeting for <The Veterans>. More precisely, he was asking whether there would be journalists clicking cameras at the stage greeting.
The relatively fortunate aspect was that the answer returned by Seo Jin-taek was negative.
“Most likely, it will be general audience members. Of course, everyone will take photos, but there won’t be as many as the journalists.”
Since Seo Jin-taek was a veteran actor who had experienced the stage greetings several times, his answer was credible.
Thanks to that, Ha Eun, who felt relieved internally, completely abandoned the idea of wearing sunglasses despite the inconvenience.
*
“Anyway, Lee Ha-eun, you’re going to watch <The Veterans> too, right?”
“Well… that’s true?”
“Then, watch it with me. After all, I was in it too.”
Da-yeon mentioned her cameo filming and said this while booking two youth tickets for <The Veterans>.
Thus, the promised time with Da-yeon was set for the premiere day of <The Veterans>.
“Hmm….”
However, for Ha Eun, the idea of watching <The Veterans> with Da-yeon felt neither particularly good nor bad, but rather ambivalent.
It was also somewhat unfamiliar to watch a friend like Da-yeon experience Ha Eun’s work.
“Now that I think about it, is this the first time we’re watching each other’s works together?”
Upon reflection, Ha Eun realized that he and Da-yeon had never properly watched each other’s films.
Ha Eun’s debut film, <Next Door Uncle>, was rated for restricted audiences, so it was still not viewable.
And Da-yeon’s <To Busan>, which achieved the milestone of ten million viewers, was one he had to leave halfway through.
Perhaps due to this, on the actual release day of <The Veterans>, he felt a little tense.
As Ha Eun, who was a friend and excellent actor, he wondered if <The Veterans> would receive good reviews from Da-yeon.
However, ultimately, after watching <The Veterans> side by side in a two-seat row, what Ha Eun heard was.
“Monday will be super noisy.”
“What’s noisy?”
“School.”
“Ah….”
It was a firm prediction from Da-yeon that the impact of <The Veterans> would not be quiet.
And sure enough, when Monday arrived, three days after the film’s release on Friday.
– Shuffling.
– Shuffling.
– Squeak….
“…Hmm.”
As Ha Eun entered the classroom, he felt a distinct change in the gazes directed at him compared to a few days ago.
Not just from classmates, but also from students from other classes he encountered in the hallway or bathroom.
…Even from.
“Um, can I have one pizza bread—”
“Whoa! You startled me.”
“…?”
Even the lady at the school store looked shocked upon seeing Ha Eun.
Even though she had become accustomed to Ha Eun over the past three years.
It was now the fourth day since the release of <The Veterans>.
It surpassed a total audience of three million and had exceeded 900,000 daily viewers, and the offline reactions were roughly as follows.
“Ha, Ha-eun’s mouth is bleeding!!”
“This is ketchup. Pizza bread ketchup….”
