“What if your dad had been my dad instead.”

Do Gyeoul harbored resentment toward the rich daughter of her same-age classmate, whose father was close friends with her own father.

It was a fundamental emotion boiling up from innate deprivation.

Do Gyeoul’s father had once possessed a brilliant business idea. But he’d never been able to turn it into an actual company.

Because he had to care for his aging parents.

He wanted to spend both his time and money on his family, so he simply handed the idea over to his friend and remained an ordinary breadwinner.

That businessman friend felt inferior knowing his success hadn’t been built solely through his own abilities.

So he expressed that guilt elegantly.

He treated Do Gyeoul kindly, gave her enormous amounts of allowance money, cherished her almost like a daughter—

—and yet constantly reminded her that happiness given through someone else’s charity could only ever be temporary.

“I’ll send your daughter to an English kindergarten too.”

“Don’t put that kind of burden on me just because we’re friends, idiot. It’s fine.”

“I’m doing it because I’m grateful. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve never-.”

“That’s enough. You already give my kid way too much allowance every time.”

Her father’s friend praised Do Gyeoul’s intelligence and gifted her several English fairy tale books before leaving.

Young Gyeoul stared silently at the friend’s daughter, who lived far more luxuriously despite seeming so much more lacking than herself.

Depending on where you focused your attention, the emotional impact changed completely.

The deprivation in Do Gyeoul’s life, something never shown in the teaser, left even the viewers feeling thirsty.

-Ha... I get it, but it’s still frustrating

└Exactlyyyy. If you criticize it, somehow you become the bad bitch instead so it’s double frustrating holy shit

A poor household.

A father burdened with sick, aging parents.

An absent mother.

A wealthy environment where talent could flourish—the kind she couldn’t help but desperately crave.

And right nearby—

someone happily living while holding everything she herself might have had.

Little by little, you could feel the viewers beginning to understand her.

‘At this rate....’

A core audience even started sympathizing with Do Gyeoul’s sociopathic tendencies.

By breathing realism into Do Gyeoul’s deprivation and obsessive desire for success, 〈Dear Judge〉 captivated viewers.

* * *

“No, what the hell is that?”

At the same time, Aetami was watching the live broadcast of 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉.

“....”

The reason Jeon Segye looked shocked was obvious.

Nam Pyeonghwa’s styling was painfully awkward.

Her bangs split apart and curled inward weirdly, while the visible bend marks from the curling iron made it obvious how amateur the styling was.

Because the glasses kept slipping down from their weight, the foundation underneath was rubbing off in real time. And the overlined lips she’d clearly attempted herself looked equally clumsy.

“...What is this?”

“Oh no....”

Emily and Daniel, who were giving Nam Pyeonghwa proper advice in place of Jeon Segye, sighed heavily.

“What exactly were you watching?”

“Intube.”

“...Still, you picked the clothes well.... They suit you.”

“Thank you.”

Styling skills didn’t improve overnight.

Looking slightly embarrassed, Nam Pyeonghwa tightly tied her hair back into a single ponytail.

-Holy shit the loser aura is overflowing TT_TT

-I was literally like that at twenty too because I spent all my time retaking exams and didn’t know how to dress up

-Seriously how does Han Yeoreum portray a real-life former loser so perfectly? I lost my mind laughing at the curled bangs LMAO

└No seriously the way they split slightly and curl inward at the ends is too... TOO real

The live thread was already talking nonstop about Han Yeoreum’s insane ability to embody the character.

Watching Nam Pyeonghwa like that, Jeon Segye took her somewhere after work.

“It’s coming...!”

At last, the Cinderella transformation scene everyone had been waiting for.

“How would you like your hair done? Do you have a color or style in mind?”

“Uh....”

Since Nam Pyeonghwa couldn’t answer, Jeon Segye spoke instead.

“Chestnut brown color. Keep the layers light, pay extra attention to straightening the roots, and use a strong treatment.”

Behind Nam Pyeonghwa, Jeon Segye sat flipping through a magazine while waiting.

With a huge salon machine sitting over her head, Nam Pyeonghwa stared at him through the mirror.

Excitement shimmered inside the eyes magnified twice over by her thick glasses.

To light, bubbly music, countless brushes swept across Nam Pyeonghwa’s face as she sat before the mirror.

The finished look wasn’t revealed immediately.

Instead, the audience only saw the salon director’s satisfied smile as she applied essence to Pyeonghwa’s newly styled hair.

“Then onto the next place.”

Jeon Segye took Nam Pyeonghwa to a department store.

In that huge glittering space, Segye escorted her around naturally before once again sitting casually on the sofa to wait.

A moment later, keyboard sounds like scattered stardust rang out as the curtain drew open.

Turning toward the sound, Jeon Segye’s face visibly collapsed in awe.

The sweet music playing almost seemed to wrap itself around Nam Pyeonghwa.

“....”

“Does it look bad?”

Jeon Segye unconsciously parted his lips, only to swallow hard in the end because he had no words left to say.

His reaction was painfully transparent.

Even as he silently shook his head, unable to take his eyes off Nam Pyeonghwa for even a second, Segye looked impossibly pure.

Nobody knew exactly when he had fallen for her, but the shy first love of a young man was beginning.

“AAAAAH!”

Unable to endure the overwhelming sweetness, Aetami screamed.

* * *

Manager Hong, monitoring everything live, smiled.

Beauty Trap

Use beauty to seduce the enemy commander, capture their heart, cloud their judgment, and lead them to ruin with their own hands.

The reaction to Nam Pyeonghwa’s transformation scene was explosive beyond anything they had ever seen before.

“The response is intense because her Episode 1 styling was such a disaster, huh?”

“Exactly. Not just anyone can pull off those glasses....”

-Ah THIS is it

-Finally 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

-THIS FACE THIS IS THE FACE

-Holy shit Han Yeoreum suits this styling so fucking well

-I almost smashed those glasses for real TT_TT

Han Yeoreum’s truly ordinary-girl °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° styling pushed the catharsis of the transformation scene to its absolute limit.

The viewers exploded over the exact moment they’d all been craving.

“The lighting director seriously went all out here, huh?”

“Of course. He’s the same director who worked with her since 〈ParCheHi〉.”

〈ParCheHi〉, 〈Strange Tales〉, 〈Youth Disqualified!〉.

The lighting director who had worked with Han Yeoreum across three productions poured insane effort into this transformation scene.

People often said that the director most responsible for making an actress beautiful wasn’t the camera director or the sound director—

—but the lighting director.

Because they were the ones capable of meticulously analyzing an actor’s face shape, skin texture, eyes, and nose bridge in order to completely sculpt the most beautiful version of their face onscreen.

Nam Pyeonghwa seemed to have stars embedded in her eyes.

Her face looked infinitely softer and brighter than before.

The surrounding light wrapped around her, making her appear to glow faintly.

Even the calm brown hair color—something she had never worn before—suited her perfectly.

“That color’s probably gonna become trendy again soon, just like during 〈Influencer #1〉, right?”

“Obviously. Our girl’s pretty.”

The following first-date scene between Jeon Segye and Nam Pyeonghwa also left viewers smiling uncontrollably.

Jeon Segye wasn’t the type to humiliate people or look down on them.

If anything, he was a refreshingly new kind of male lead.

“Don’t even think about deceiving my eyes.”

Jeon Segye pretended to act arrogant while placing Nam Pyeonghwa on an absurd pedestal.

“The way you’re making that expression like you were waiting for me to take your picture proves you were definitely waiting for it.”

It was the first time in history anyone had seen a male lead fail miserably while still somehow turning it into praise.

“You’re deliberately widening your eyes to look cute, aren’t you?”

-Is there really a male lead who got his first love stolen away in only 3 episodes?

-His leg shaking earlier was so cute loser Segye TT_TT

-Pyeonghwa looking confused is too adorable ah what do we do they’re not even an elementary school couple they’re literally kindergarteners

└Kindergarten couple is EXACTLY right LMAOO

└Feels like front-row seats to kids playing house TT_TT LOLOLOL

After returning home, Jeon Segye fell into delusions once again.

“Today was absolutely perfect. She’s definitely going to use the photo I took as her profile picture.”

“Obviously. It’s not every day this great being takes photos for someone.”

“Buttt... why hasn’t she contacted meee...?”

At the words from the part of him responsible for self-esteem, Analysis Segye, Arrogant Segye, and Real Segye all whipped their heads around simultaneously.

The phone and watch beside his bed remained silent.

Ding.

And right at that moment—

a message arrived from Nam Pyeonghwa.

[Intern Nam Pyeonghwa: CEO, thank you so much for today. Thanks to you, I got to go somewhere like that...]

“For working adults, replying quickly is a matter of survival. Especially if you’re the face of a company.”

“Wait. He checked it this fast like he was waiting for it? Have some pride. Absolutely unacceptable.”

“Let’s just read it through previewww....”

As Jeon Segye lifted his watch again to read the message, another window popped up beside him.

And right then—

Little Nam Pyeonghwa appeared above the message window.

[Intern Nam Pyeonghwa: CEO, thank you so much for today. Thanks to you, I got to experience a place like that hehe]

Little Nam Pyeonghwa was smiling brightly and acting cute, as though she’d been endlessly processed through Jeon Segye’s imagination.

[Since you gave me such a delicious and fun day, I’ll continue to work diligently from now on too.]

Jeon Segye covered his mouth at the sight of Little Nam Pyeonghwa making a heart with her hands.

[Sweet dreams.]

And finally—

a wink.

-Ah seriously LMAOOOO

-Right LOLOLOL I was wondering why Han Yeoreum was the phone/watch model but they were using Seo Eden for the indirect ads T_T LMAO So Little Segye was just smoke and mirrors huh

└For real Little Pyeonghwa’s probably gonna appear constantly from now on she’s adorable

-Since WHEN did she talk that cutely LMAOO Did his brain start filtering everything? LOLOL

Hwang Boseok hadn’t only made Seo Eden look adorable.

Just as the viewers expected, Little Nam Pyeonghwa would continue appearing endlessly from now on.

And Seo Eden wasn’t the only one with experience as a Music N MC.

Manager Hong smiled as he recalled Han Yeoreum acting out the cute CG-version scenes in front of the green chroma-key background.

“It’s been exactly five minutes now. The perfect timing for making the read receipt appear naturally.”

“Good. Hit it.”

“She said sweet dreams....”

While the Little Segyes chattered away, Jeon Segye had already frantically sent a reply.

Typing: Don’t worry about it too much anyway it’s employee welfare so...

Typing: I’m glad you had fun today I also had fun...

He typed and deleted. Typed and deleted. Deleted it all over again.

Only after struggling endlessly did Jeon Segye finally send a reply.

Typing: Sleep well too, Intern Nam

Just writing that single sentence turned the tips of his ears red.

Exactly like when he’d been staring at Nam Pyeonghwa earlier.

* * *

IP 85.152 found himself admiring Director Byeon’s directing skills all over again.

Han Yeoreum looked lovable without even doing anything.

The charm of the heroine as seen through the male lead’s perspective had an enormous impact on audience immersion.

Even if the character’s lines and personality themselves weren’t especially lovable, when the male lead fell helplessly in love anyway, it strengthened the feeling that “he couldn’t help but love her” within the story itself.

“And then immersion naturally disappears.”

This was exactly the point where viewers sometimes abandoned a drama complaining that it felt like they were being bullied.

When they had no idea what they were supposed to love about the heroine, yet the two characters were already absurdly deep in love with each other.

At times like that, actors failed to catch the right timing and became awkward dolls dragged along by the flow of the script.

[Dongdaemun Romance Minor Gallery]

[Little Pyeonghwa is so fucking hilarious]

His delusion skills are no joke

Anonymous (27.1) Dude already turned insane this fast holy shit look at the pacing

[Seo Eden casting was seriously a god-tier decision]

If he looked even slightly older, the moment he started hallucinating he’d just look mentally ill. Making him seem this pure is a talent in itself

Anonymous (1.40) Father Hwang... only now do I understand

Anonymous (4.482) I kept wondering why they cast him but facts if it wasn’t Seo Eden the male lead would’ve just looked genuinely insane

[Even the kiss feels like a delusion honestly]

CEO isn’t exactly sane right now...

Anonymous (8.22) Why are you all talking like he’s actually your CEO LMAOO It’s weirdly cracking me up

The transformed Nam Pyeonghwa properly showed off her competence.

Clothes PinkJoo would genuinely want to wear.

“Pajamas.”

“Pajamas?”

Nam Pyeonghwa had kept thinking about something PinkJoo mentioned earlier in the parking garage.

So she searched for hints through social media.

Thanks to carefully checking even the stories uploaded by PinkJoo’s mutual-follow brother-in-law.

“For some reason, her husband’s younger brother is currently living at PinkJoo’s house. There are probably countless uncomfortable things about that situation. Especially clothes.”

Female viewers immediately flooded the comments with sympathy.

-Holy shit just imagining it makes my chest feel tight

-How are you supposed to sleep wearing a bra fuck I’d wanna rip it apart like King Kong

└FOR REAL same

PinkJoo clapped her hands at Nam Pyeonghwa’s pajama idea with built-in bra cups.

“Oh my goshhh. I seriously want to produce this. How did you know? My brother-in-law got scammed in a housing lease fraud recently! He said he’d stay with us temporarily but it’s sooo uncomfortable. Ha... I know I shouldn’t feel this way, but people’s hearts and logic aren’t always the same, righttt?”

PinkJoo immediately started uploading stories.

[Be pretty and comfortable even at home :) I’ll soon come back with products my Pinkurings will absolutely love too hehe]

-Unnie’s picks are automatic purchases TT_TT

-My wallet’s already open all my money belongs to you

-Are you maybe doing another enzyme product launch like last timeㅠ.ㅠ

The signature cute editing style of 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉 continued.

Social media windows and comment screens filled the display as Nam Pyeonghwa and Jeon Segye’s overtime work session began.

Music started playing between Nam Pyeonghwa sketching designs and Jeon Segye quietly watching beside her. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

-From the very moment I first saw you

Together with the band sound, lyrics that seemed to represent Jeon Segye’s feelings began playing.

-Something’s definitely strange

I think something broke

Nam Pyeonghwa unknowingly fell asleep with her head resting on the desk.

Her inner cheek was adorably squished from the way she was lying down.

Jeon Segye stared at her intently.

-Because of you, over and over, ohh over and over

Feeling his gaze, Nam Pyeonghwa sleepily opened her eyes.

Jeon Segye panicked and practically launched himself out of the chair.

His knee slammed into the desk, knocking fabric samples onto the floor.

“Ah... I accidentally fell asleep. Sorry.”

“I-I-I-I was just looking at the fabric, the textile, examining it. I was not looking at Intern Nam.”

“Yes... I’ll go wash my face for a moment.”

Just as Nam Pyeonghwa stood up—

she stepped on a pearl-colored silk fabric sample lying on the floor and sliiiid.

Her body tilted as she lost balance.

Trying to catch her before she fell, Jeon Segye stepped onto a pink silk sample himself.

Slow motion kicked in.

Segye wrapped his arms around Pyeonghwa as the camera framed them together.

-I’m definitely sure now

I think my heart is broken

Crash!

The two rolled across the floor tangled together.

“....”

“....”

Carefully opening their eyes, they blinked while their lips remained pressed together.

-Because of you, over and over, ohh over and over

Heart-patterned fabric samples were scattered all around Nam Pyeonghwa’s head.

-Holy shit they’re really giving us a kiss scene in Episode 3????

-Thank you thank you so much

-I thought it was another delusion LMAOO

└Same TT_TT Ha but at least tomorrow is DongRo day

-Even the kiss scene is cute.. kindergarten couple supremacy holy shit

Episode 3 of 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉 ended successfully once again.

The preview showed Jeon Segye attaching enormous meaning to what was less a kiss and more an accidental collision of lips, while Nam Pyeonghwa began fully demonstrating her abilities.

“Good. The viewer drop-off rate should stay low.”

Using his excellent analytical skills, IP 85.152 predicted the ratings for 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉.

Even though the other dramas had premiered, its ratings likely wouldn’t fall.

“Because male leads like this are rare.”

Tsundere male leads were standard.

Arrogant guys were basic.

Hot-tempered guys were optional.

Cold guys were mandatory.

Sweet guys were an obligation.

Regretful guys were classic.

And in this era of clichés, Jeon Segye was tsundere while also arrogant, occasionally hot-tempered and prickly, yet secretly kind too.

“But this is probably the first male lead this innocent.”

A rare specimen viewers couldn’t find anywhere else.

And that would become 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉’s strongest weapon.

* * *

An atmosphere of tension settled over KBC’s drama department from early morning.

“Episode 1....”

Yesterday had finally been the day when 〈Tamhok〉 and 〈There Is Only One Culprit〉 premiered alongside 〈Dear Judge〉.

Of course, since one of them aired on cable, it was practically guaranteed to lag behind, which eased the anxiety slightly.

But buzz volume was a completely separate issue.

“The ratings....”

It was obvious that not only industry insiders but the general public were now focused on those ratings.

Whoever took the lead would completely dominate the momentum of the media war.

The director clasped both hands together like a prayer.

And finally—

a scream rang in his ears.

“Director! They’re out! The ratings are out!”