Chapter 59: The Birth of a Fansite Master

October 9th.
The wall clock pointed precisely at 20:45.
Choi Min-ah shoved her final spreadsheet into a folder.
On the subway station's advertising screen, the trailer for The Heirs was playing on a loop—a shot of Lee Min-ho emerging from the water and flicking back his wet hair made several high school girls cover their mouths and shriek.
She tightened the belt of her beige trench coat and swiped her card to enter the station.
When she pushed open her apartment door, the living room television was broadcasting Infinite Challenge's Music Festival special. Her younger sister, Min-hee, was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, crunching on potato chips.
Choi Min-ah kicked off her high heels, and her briefcase hit the sofa with a loud thump:
"Change the channel, SBS."
"No way! This special has GD!"
Min-hee stuffed the remote control into the collar of her pajamas:
"Unnie, watch it on your computer."
Choi Min-ah stared at her sister's bulging pajama pocket and suddenly pulled three 10,000-won bills from her wallet:
"The latest K-pop album."
"Deal!"
Min-hee snatched the bills, her eyes shining like a cat that had just stolen some cream.
The battle for the remote control ended with Choi Min-ah's economic sanctions.
The television screen cut to the SBS logo, and the opening chords of Saying (Love Is...) began to play.
Lee Hong-gi's penetrating voice poured out, accompanied by the sound of crashing waves:
"I want to say that I can only see you—"
On the screen.
Lee Min-ho, playing Kim Tan, rode a surfboard up to the crest of a wave, water droplets refracting like crushed gold in the sunlight.
The slow-motion shot of him shaking his wet hair, paired with the soaring chorus of "I want to say I love you," made Choi Min-ah unconsciously hold her breath.
"I want to say that even when I close my eyes, I only see you—"
The scene shifted.
Kim Tan walked along the beach, carrying his surfboard.
Choi Min-ah had originally tuned into the drama solely because of Lee Min-ho—
Between writer Kim Eun-sook's signature reputation and Running Man's massive promotional push, anyone would be curious.
Judging by this, Lee Min-ho was indeed breathtakingly handsome.
"Tsk."
Choi Min-ah gently kicked her sister's shin with the tip of her toe:
"Isn't this way more handsome than your GD oppa?"
"No way!"
Min-hee crushed a potato chip with a loud crunch, though her eyes remained glued to the screen without moving an inch.
The singing stopped abruptly, and the scene suddenly cut to a classroom at Jeguk High School.
Kim Woo-bin, playing Choi Young-do, sneered as he viciously hurled a tennis ball at a classmate's knees.
"Unnie, is this second-lead guy the second male lead?"
Min-hee had forgotten to chew her chips:
"He looks just like a velociraptor escaped from Jurassic Park..."

The aesthetic standards of South Korean entertainment in 2013 had not yet evolved to include the category of "ugly-handsome."
Kim Woo-bin's wide-set eyes and overly prominent cheekbones were practically a disaster by traditional handsome standards.
It wasn't until The Heirs became an explosive hit that online forums invented the term "dinosaur-face aesthetics" for him.
Later, Ryu Jun-yeol, who rose to fame through Reply 1988, would also be classified into this unique category—the metaphysical phenomenon of being "so ugly it ends up being charming."
Choi Min-ah pulled up a search page on her phone:
"Kim Woo-bin, started as a model, just won the Daejeon Drama Festival Best New Actor award last year."
Min-hee curled her lips in disdain:
"Was writer Kim Eun-sook kidnapped or something? With the second lead looking like this, how are viewers supposed to swallow a love triangle?"
"Word is the original choice for the second lead was Jung Yong-hwa, but somehow it ended up being Kim Woo-bin instead..."
Choi Min-ah scrolled thoughtfully, her gaze lingering on the cast list for a few seconds.
Amid the sisters' idle chatter, the scene shifted to the cafe where the female lead, Cha Eun-sang, worked.
Joining her in the scene was Kang Jae-hoon, playing Yoon Chan-young.
Min-hee suddenly leaned closer to the screen:
"Is he... the Plunger Guy?"
"What?"
"You know, the one who trended on Running Man last week!"
Only then did Choi Min-ah look closely at the screen—
The camera was locked on a close-up of Kang Jae-hoon's profile.
The cafe's lighting cast the shadow of his eyelashes onto his cheekbones, and the bridge of his nose looked as though it had been meticulously sculpted.
When he offered Jung Soo-jung a doting, helpless smile, the curve of his lips brought out a faint, elusive dimple on his left cheek.
"My god..."
Choi Min-ah unconsciously held her breath.
Min-hee compared a meme saved on her phone with Kang Jae-hoon on the screen:
"It really is the same person! He was such a dork on the variety show, but in a drama, he's actually so..."
Min-hee suddenly ran out of words.
"Charming."
Choi Min-ah supplied the word instinctively, her eyes still locked on the screen.
On the screen, Kang Jae-hoon was being dragged out of the cafe by his ear courtesy of Jung Soo-jung.
His stumbling gait and pleading expression were clearly meant for comedic effect, yet they inexplicably made one's heart beat faster. When he secretly winked at Park Shin-hye, the contrast woven between playfulness and gentleness was simply fatal.
Once all the main characters made their entrances, the plot began to advance around the meeting of the leads.
The scene switched to the streets of America.
Beneath a blazing sky, Park Shin-hye dragged her suitcase, looking around in bewilderment.
When she realized her sister's "study abroad life" was nothing more than a scam, her trembling lips and instantly reddened eyes made Min-hee clutch her throw pillow tighter.
"This is way too tragic... How is she supposed to get back to Korea now that her money's been stolen?"
Kim Tan, played by Lee Min-ho, watched the entire scene coldly from inside a coffee shop, yet became entangled when a friend mistakenly snatched Eun-sang's luggage.
The scene where a drunk harassed Eun-sang made Choi Min-ah unconsciously grip the remote control.
When Kim Tan suddenly appeared and pulled Eun-sang behind him, Min-hee's shriek nearly blew the roof off:
"Ahhhh, hero saves the damsel!"

When the melody of Saying (Love Is...) chimed in once more, the two sisters realized the bag of potato chips was already completely empty.
"Unnie, are we watching again tomorrow?"
Min-hee asked, still craving more.
Choi Min-ah didn't answer; as if guided by some unseen force, she clicked into a personal DC Inside gallery dedicated to Kang Jae-hoon that had only 189 followers.
Three new photo albums had been created inside: [EP01 Yoon Chan-young cut], [Jae-hoon Heart Sniper], and [Newbie Reporting In After Entering the Fandom Through RM].
She clicked on the newest post:
[Title] Doesn't anyone else think our Jae-hoon is the hidden visual king?
[Floor 1] I already thought his body proportions were unreal on RM, but seeing him in a school uniform is even more lethal.
[Floor 2] Please educate me! What's the deal with him being Hwang Jung-min's disciple?
[Floor 3] Pointing the way → [Link] Despicable Me 2 dubbing behind-the-scenes, his voice is so meltingly attractive.
Choi Min-ah curled up on the sofa, her fingertips constantly refreshing the DC gallery page.
When she saw the post titled [Self-cut] EP01 Yoon Chan-young cut, she didn't hesitate to click download.
The download progress bar crawled upward slowly.
Commercials for the next television program had already begun playing on TV.
"98%... 99%... 100%—"
"It's downloaded!"
Min-hee suddenly leaned over, resting her chin on Choi Min-ah's shoulder: "Is unnie joining the fandom?"
Choi Min-ah didn't answer; she simply clicked silently on the flashing [Register] button.
The cursor in the ID input field blinked on and off. After a moment of hesitation, she typed in [Jae-hoon's Collar Pin].
"Huh?"
Min-hee widened her eyes:
"Didn't unnie say 'I'll only ever be a die-hard fan of Lee Min-ho for the rest of my life'?"
"I still am."
Choi Min-ah clicked confirm, and the prompt for the new account creation popped up:
"But Kang Jae-hoon deserves to have a fansite recording his growth."
The moment those words left her mouth, Choi Min-ah stunned even herself.
She remembered the Lee Min-ho resource site she had built two years ago while watching City Hunter, which had since been handed over to the official fan club management. That passion for frantically collecting every piece of visual material for a single person had unexpectedly reignited on this ordinary Wednesday night.
Min-hee curled her lips:
"To put it bluntly, you just fell for his looks."
"What nonsense!"
Outside the window, Seoul's neon lights continued to flicker.
And within a small fansite of only 189 members, the 190th member quietly came online.
History proved once more—
Acting is a slow-simmering art, incapable of instantly capturing a heart at first glance.
What truly makes people fall for someone in a single glance remains, after all, that sharply chiseled, handsome face.