Chapter 53: Production Press Conference

"Sung-kyung, I'm heading out—"
"Stop right there."
Just as Kang Jae-hyun's fingertips brushed the doorknob, the soft, rustling sound of slippers sliding against the hardwood floor echoed from behind him.
"What is it?"
He turned while maintaining his pushing posture against the door, running straight into Lee Sung-kyung, who came rushing over wrapped in the morning light.
"Your collarbone."
She pointed directly to the center of Kang Jae-hyun's collarbone:
"Are you heading to a press conference or a bathhouse mixer?"
Kang Jae-hyun looked down—
The collar of his linen shirt was crooked like a coconut tree after a typhoon, and his wheat-toned chest muscles just below the collarbone were faintly visible.
"Isn't this just how these clothes are supposed to be worn?"
"Do a runway show and a press conference look the same to you?"
Lee Sung-kyung stepped closer, waving an obsidian collar pin that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere.
Her fingertips carried the scent of lime and mint mixed with the lavender fragrance from her wrists, washing over Kang Jae-hyun's nostrils and transforming into a bizarre sense of reassurance beneath the entryway.
"Swallow your saliva and you'll puncture your artery."
Kang Jae-hyun's goofy smile instantly froze at the corners of his mouth.
"Click—"
"Done."
The crisp sound of the metal clasp locking echoed through the air. Lee Sung-kyung stepped back half a step to inspect her work:
"If you dare lose this, you'll pay me back triple."
Kang Jae-hyun turned his head to look at the entryway mirror:
"Should I consider this business style or yuppie style?"
"Moron style."
"..."
Kim Dae-won stepped on the manager's van's accelerator with the force of an F1 racer, while the residual warmth of Lee Sung-kyung's fingers still lingered on the collar pin at Kang Jae-hyun's neckline.
The cable-stayed bridge of the Han River sliced bright and dark striped patterns across the car window.
The glass curtain walls of Nonhyeon-dong reflected the scorching, lingering heat of the late summer sun.
In the distance, writer Kim Eun-sook was reviewing the press conference schedule with the director.
Kang Jae-hyun was just about to step forward and offer his greetings when a bear-like paw slapped heavily against his shoulder.
"Is hyung going for a pastoral resort look today?"
Park Hyung-sik circled around him:
"Just last week you were dressed like a high school disciplinarian, and today you've directly been promoted to a Gangnam cafe owner?"
"Doesn't it look good?"
"It looks good, of course..."
Park Hyung-sik pinched his chin, assuming a contemplative posture:
"But it would be much more appropriate if you swapped it for that old-money suit you wore to the fashion show. You should wear formal attire to a press conference."
"Teacher Kang actually looks quite presentable today."
Krystal Jung's high heels suddenly cut into the conversation.
Kim Ji-won also crowded over to inspect Kang Jae-hyun:
"Like the male lead from Twilight, an elegant vampire vibe."
Kang Jae-hyun chuckled sheepishly and scratched his head:
"Thanks, this is a birthday gift from Sung-kyung."
"Oh, my, this isn't a birthday gift at all. It's clearly body-modeling data—"
Park Hyung-sik's eyebrows arched high enough to pierce his hairline. He elbowed Kang Jae-hyun in the ribs and teased:
"Hyung's muscle mass has been thoroughly measured out, hasn't it?"
Sensing the surrounding temperature suddenly plummet, Park Hyung-sik abruptly realized this joke was somewhat ill-timed.
After three seconds of suffocating silence—
Krystal Jung strode rapidly toward the backstage on slender high heels.
The rhythm of her heels striking the floor sounded precisely like a metronome beating time for Kang Jae-hyun's thick-headedness.
Kim Ji-won cast a sideways glance at Kang Jae-hyun with an expression that clearly said, "It's over, this fool is beyond saving," and sighed while supporting her forehead:
"Bona-yah, wait for me."
...
The production press conference for The Heirs was located at Patio 9 in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu—
This modern architectural masterpiece, constructed with glass curtain walls and geometric lines, has always been a premier landmark of the South Korean entertainment industry.
As star writer Kim Eun-sook's brand-new masterpiece, as well as SBS's highly anticipated key project for the second half of the year,
this production press conference had long been listed by the media circle as must-contest territory.
Twenty rows of folding chairs were packed tight with microphones bearing various broadcasting station logos, and the aisles were crowded with photography assistants rushing back and forth carrying tripods.
Before the press conference had even begun, a restless electrical current floated through the air.
Nearly a hundred reporters gripped interview notebooks filled with sharp questions, casting frequent glances toward the dark red curtain draping the entrance.
In front of the photo wall—
Lee Min-ho tilted his head slightly with a textbook-level professional pose.
The rhythmic chatter of camera shutters rose and fell like waves crashing against the shore.
Kang Jae-hyun gazed at the silvery flashes weaving into a net before his eyes, and the memory of his retinas being scorched at the Despicable Me 2 preview suddenly surged back.
Recalling this, he silently took out the eye drops Lim Yoon-ah had given him and applied a few drops.
A cooling sensation spread outward.
When it was his turn to take photos—
Although the blinding lights from beneath the stage were just as piercing,
the burning sensation transmitted from Kang Jae-hyun's retinas was no longer as severe as the last time—
Those flickering flashes seemed filtered through a soft-focus layer, no longer presenting a dizzying, blinding expanse of white.
The individual photo session concluded, followed by the CP couple photo session.
Waiting in the wings,
Krystal Jung increasingly felt that Lee Sung-kyung's taste in gifts was just like Kim Ji-won's character setting in the drama—infuriating.
"It's our turn."
"Yeah."
Krystal Jung slipped her arm through his, smiling and gesturing toward Park Shin-hye and Lee Min-ho as they stepped down from the stage.
"Krystal, look over here—"
"Could the two of you please step a little closer together!"
The reporters' camera shutter sounds exploded like a death sentence, and the flashes poured down like a waterfall.
The dimples on Krystal Jung's face deepened gradually along with the shutter clicks, yet her fingernails embedded themselves deeply into Kang Jae-hyun's biceps through the linen fabric.
"You two make a heart shape."
The photographer gestured with a heart sign from beneath the stage, completely oblivious to the male lead's increasingly distorted professional smile.
"Why are you pinching me?"
"Practicing my acting skills."
"?"
The camera flash happened to freeze right on this exact frame—
Krystal Jung's sweet smile formed a wonderfully contrasting, adorable dynamic with Kang Jae-hyun's stiff, professional grin.
After the group photo session concluded,
staff members carried tables and chairs onto the stage to set up the interview area.
The actors' seating order was arranged sequentially according to their roles in the drama.
Kang Jae-hyun sat right in the center, with Krystal Jung to his left and Park Hyung-sik to his right.
Once the host seized control of the venue's rhythm, the first question was tossed directly to lead actor Lee Min-ho:
"I heard you turned down quite a few scripts before finally deciding to star in this drama. Was that out of trust in writer Kim, or did you consider it from a market perspective?"
Lee Min-ho picked up the microphone, paused in contemplation for a moment, and wore an airtight smile on his face:
"If we really must interpret this through a transactional mindset... then I'd call this choice—exchanging the youthfulness from the final moments before turning thirty for the eternal, unfading youth within writer Kim's lines."
The reporters in the audience immediately let out good-natured boos.
Writer Kim Eun-sook's eye twitched slightly at the outer corner—
The cheesy line ad-libbed by her own actor gave her even more goosebumps than Kim Ji-won's aegyo scenes.
Amidst the wave of camera shutter sounds, Park Hyung-sik lowered his voice to whisper into Kang Jae-hyun's ear:
"I bet fifty thousand won, this hyung definitely memorized a public relations script."
"Cherish life and stay away from gambling."
"???"
Following Lee Min-ho's heavy-hitting interview, the host then turned to Park Shin-hye:
"Park Shin-hye-ssi, in the drama you are involved in a triangle romance, but in reality, who is closer to your ideal type between Lee Min-ho-ssi and Kim Woo-bin-ssi?"
Park Shin-hye's slender eyelashes fluttered twice. She glanced left and right at the two actors, then suddenly covered her face with both hands, adopting a troubled expression:
"Aigoo, if I really have to choose—"
She leaned forward and pointed at Kang Jae-hyun, who was engaged in a silent eye-battle with Park Hyung-sik:
"I prefer the gentle and kind Kang Jae-hyun-ssi!"
"Mwo???"
Kang Jae-hyun pointed at himself in utter bewilderment.
Cooperating seamlessly, Kim Woo-bin clutched the chest of his suit and stumbled sideways, crashing against Kang Ha-neul's shoulder:
"Turns out I didn't even make the alternate list?"
"Hahaha—"
The roar of laughter shook the glass curtain walls, causing them to hum.
Only Krystal Jung, while covering her mouth with a light laugh, shot a fierce glare at Park Shin-hye.
"It seems Park Shin-hye-ssi has quite good adaptability."
The host smoothly steered the topic toward Kang Jae-hyun:
"Then, what kind of special preparations did Kang Jae-hyun-ssi make for the role of Yoon Chan-young?"
Kang Jae-hyun picked up the microphone and smiled sheepishly:
"My manager said this character is quite similar to my real self, so I just had to play myself."
The exact moment before his voice trailed off—
Lee Min-ho's fist was already pressed against his twitching lips, and Kim Woo-bin collapsed forward onto Choi Jin-hyuk's shoulder, trembling like a sieve from laughter.
Kim Ji-won whispered into Krystal Jung's ear:
"What kind of delusions does he have about himself?"
Krystal Jung glanced at his blank, head-scratching, foolish expression, massaging her temples with such force that it looked as though she was trying to manually extract his neural pathways to preserve them as a specimen.
The host raised an eyebrow, looking over at the laughing cluster of actors in their seats:
"Is it really okay for Kang Jae-hyun-ssi to praise himself like that?"
"Yoon Chan-young's character setting is [extraordinary within the ordinary]; he's a genius who can maintain the top rank without ever needing extra tutoring."
Kang Jae-hyun gripped the microphone tightly and said with a serious expression:
"During my university years, I was also first in my major and received scholarships for three consecutive years. I suppose that counts as fitting the setting?"
Although the production crew was somewhat divided into factions due to the two directors, the personal relationships among the cast members remained quite harmonious.
Kang Jae-hyun's professional competence was obvious to all:
His acting foundation, learned under Hwang Jung-min, was flawless; during scene delivery, he could precisely guide his opponents' emotions, and his micro-expression control could only be described as textbook.
His daily conduct and interpersonal interactions were equally beyond reproach—
He voluntarily assisted the props team with moving equipment, helped smooth things over when the assistant director scolded the supporting extras, and frequently stayed behind after wrap time to tidy up the shooting location.
These scattered acts of kindness didn't amount to headline news, but they kept resurfacing and circulating in the chatter of the breakroom.
Compared to his character "Yoon Chan-young,"
Kang Jae-hyun matched him to a high degree in terms of personal charm, with the sole exception of a glaring blind spot in emotional intelligence.
Every single actor on the crew knew Krystal Jung held a favorable impression of him, yet the person in question remained completely oblivious—which was precisely why they were laughing.
The host smoothly guided the conversation toward Krystal Jung:
"As the 'cute CP' of the drama, Soo-jung-ssi should probably have more to say about this, right?"
Krystal Jung picked up the microphone and flashed a professional smile that exceeded standard sweetness levels:
"Oppa Jae-hyun really does match Yoon Chan-young to a high degree."
She turned her head to glance sideways at Kang Jae-hyun:
"Because this is my first main drama, the pressure felt like the Gangnam-gu subway during morning rush hour."
Scattered laughter rippled through the audience, and she smoothly softened her tone:
"Fortunately, with Oppa Jae-hyun's patient guidance, I was able to transform Lee Bo-na from a flat character into a living person."
Hearing this, Kang Jae-hyun turned his head in bewilderment—
He had indeed given Krystal Jung some acting pointers, but nowhere near as much as she claimed.
Kim Ji-won rested her chin on her hand, gazing at Krystal Jung with a smile of maternal satisfaction blooming at the corners of her lips.
"Judging by that, do the two of you maintain your in-drama dynamic off-screen as well?"
The host leaned forward to press the question.
Krystal Jung pushed the microphone ten centimeters in Kang Jae-hyun's direction.
Kang Jae-hyun stared at the shifted microphone for three seconds, shook his head sincerely, and said:
"Soo-jung's personality in private is vastly different from Bo-na's. She's actually exceptionally shy."
Kang Jae-hyun pointed at Park Hyung-sik:
"Once, when Hyung-sik said we looked like newlyweds, she hid in the dressing room and ate two packs of gummy candy before coming out."
"Ani!"
Krystal Jung's exclamation of denial was drowned out by the wave of good-natured laughter.
At that exact moment, she finally understood what it meant to lift a dumbbell only to drop it squarely on her own foot.
"So our off-screen dynamic is just normal communication."
Having finished his summary, Kang Jae-hyun added his signature goofy smile, completely oblivious to Krystal Jung quietly dragging the distance between their microphones back by twenty centimeters.
Realizing no interesting tidbits were going to be dug out, the host proceeded down the schedule to pose a question to Kim Woo-bin.
Seizing the opportunity, Krystal Jung grabbed her bottled water and took a fierce gulp, then used the pretext of fixing her bangs to shoot a vicious glare at Kim Ji-won, who was currently trying to muffle her tears of mirth.
...
With Kang Ha-neul answering the host's final question,
this two-hour-long production press conference finally came to an end.
Next was the media interview session.
This was precisely where the popularity gap among the actors became glaringly apparent.
Lee Min-ho and Park Shin-hye were surrounded by a cluster of mainstream media outlets, with questions heavily concentrated on character portrayal and behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the set.
Meanwhile, secondary media outlets that failed to secure interview slots with the main leads turned their attention toward the rookie actors to dig for sensational angles.
Secondary media were unlike mainstream outlets;
they relied on buzzworthy topics to capture public attention and drive traffic.
Consequently, the questions they raised were exceptionally sharp.
The reporter interviewing Kang Jae-hyun represented Seoul Entertainment Express.
Right from the opening, he tossed out two pre-packaged traps:
1. Did you secure this acting opportunity by relying on your status as Hwang Jung-min's disciple?
2. How do you view Krystal Jung repeatedly stealing glances at you during the press conference?
The absolute second he finished hearing those two questions,
Kang Jae-hyun felt that being ignored by the media like Kang Ha-neul might actually be a blessing.
"Teacher always says actors must use their roles to self-validate their value, so the person I should thank the most for being able to stand here is the director and writer's trust."
"As for the second question..."
The "Lim Family PR Rulebook" suddenly flashed across his mind—when you don't know how to answer, just flash a goofy smile first.
A dopey smile spread evenly across Kang Jae-hyun's face.
It wasn't until the smile had held steady for a full eight seconds that he slowly spoke:
"It seems the CP storyline between Chan-young and Bo-na has already taken effect? I'd appreciate it if all the viewers could give lots of support to our cute CP..."
The reporter rolled his eyes, closed his interview notebook, and his lips twitched into an arc resembling someone who had just been forced to swallow ten wasabi peanuts.
—He hadn't dug up a single explosive headline throughout the entire interview, but instead had his mouth stuffed to the brim with official press releases.
Once the interview session concluded,
Kang Jae-hyun conducted a simple review of his impromptu Q&A session.
Although it couldn't compare to the airtight perfection of pre-prepared canned responses, he considered himself to have passed the test in terms of on-the-spot reactions.
On the other side.
Kim Ji-won waited for Krystal Jung to finish her interview before linking her arm through hers:
"Calling Teacher Kang 'oppa' rolled right off your tongue during the press conference, didn't it?"
She deliberately dragged out the end of her sentence, mimicking Krystal Jung's tone: "Tell me, how many hundred times did you practice that in private?"
"It was too hot, it was just a slip of the tongue."
"Then how come I never heard you call Lee Min-ho sunbaenim 'oppa'?"
Kim Ji-won bumped her hip against hers teasingly: "Don't tell me you're going to claim the central air conditioning temperature was too low and froze your tongue?"
"The one whose tongue is frozen is clearly you."
Krystal Jung shook off the other girl's arm and strode away in long strides, yet she slowed her pace by three full beats at the corner when she bumped into Kang Jae-hyun, who was currently being cornered by three fans.
An overhead light cast a diamond-shaped glint across a fountain pen's metal clip, bathing the fingertips with which Kang Jae-hyun was signing autographs in a layer of warm yellow light.
Krystal Jung's gaze tracked the [K.K.] engraved at the tail end of the pen. The corners of her lips lifted imperceptibly by half a centimeter, only to be pressed flat into an arrogant straight line by the tip of her tongue nudging the roof of her mouth.