Chapter 15: The Beginning of Word of Mouth
"Hello. I'm rookie director Baek Geonwoo, director of Before the Light Reaches."
Geonwoo's voice echoed through the theater.
The audience wasn't full.
Several rows near the front were empty.
There were empty seats scattered throughout the middle too.
The back was the same.
Some audience members had their arms crossed.
Others still had their phone screens on and had only raised their heads.
Geonwoo adjusted the microphone.
"Thank you for choosing our movie among all the films being shown."
He smiled.
"This is my first feature film, so there may be things I still lack. But the actors and staff endured everything until the end to finish it."
He bowed slightly.
"I'd be grateful if you watched until the end."
A short round of applause followed.
Geonwoo stepped aside.
Han Yura took the microphone.
"I'm Han Yura, playing Seorin. Thank you for coming."
She looked slightly more tense than usual.
But her voice didn't shake.
Next was Kang Taejun.
"I'm Kang Taejun, playing Minjae. Thank you."
He bowed briefly.
Geonwoo took the microphone again.
"The actor playing Seoyun, Lee Dogyeom, couldn't join us today because of school."
He continued.
"He'll join us for the GV after the third screening."
Several people in the front rows nodded.
Geonwoo bowed once more.
"Thank you."
Another short round of applause.
It didn't last long.
The three left the stage.
At that moment, Han Eunchae, sitting in the last row, lowered the brim of her cap further.
The director is younger than I expected.
The lights went out.
The production-company logo passed across the screen.
The first scene began.
Eunchae leaned back and watched.
At first, she had no particular thoughts.
An old neighborhood appeared.
A cracked alley wall.
A closed laundromat.
An old supermarket with its shutters down.
An empty house covered by a demolition notice.
And the hands of a child recording everything with a camcorder.
Eunchae's eyes stopped on those hands.
Then Seorin appeared.
A woman with an exhausted face preparing food for her younger brother, checking his school supplies, and folding moving papers into her bag.
Her brother kept talking to her.
Seorin answered briefly.
Then, unable to hold back anymore, she raised her voice.
Someone in the theater quietly inhaled.
Eunchae kept watching.
She had experienced nights like that too.
A house where her parents came home late.
Reheating cold food for her younger brother.
Helping with homework.
Making sure he washed up.
Turning off the light and telling him to sleep first.
Her brother would keep asking.
When is Mom coming home?
Is Dad late again today?
When she was young, taking care of him had often been difficult.
But because he was younger, she had tried to act like everything was fine.
Sometimes she had snapped at him.
Stop asking me over and over!
She had immediately regretted it.
But she hadn't apologized right away.
I'll tell him tomorrow.
I'll buy him something good and say sorry.
There had been days she put it off like that.
On screen, Seoyun hugged the camcorder and asked,
"Noona. If this neighborhood disappears, our house disappears too, right?"
Eunchae had originally intended to sit quietly for a few minutes, then leave.
But she found herself immersed in Seorin.
The hand that had been gripping her bag slowly relaxed.
At the same time.
Geonwoo, sitting to one side, watched the audience more often than the movie.
There weren't many viewers.
But nobody had left yet.
The person who had been using their phone at the beginning was now watching the screen.
Someone who had been organizing their bag had stopped moving.
A person who had leaned back in their seat was now leaning slightly forward.
They're getting immersed.
Hyeonsu seemed to notice the change too.
He glanced around the audience.
His stiff expression slowly loosened.
Taejun clenched his hands harder as his own scenes approached.
Yura lowered her head slightly during the scene where Seorin snaps at her brother and immediately regrets it.
Before long, the funeral-hall sequence began.
The theater became extremely quiet.
A chair creaked somewhere.
Then there was no sound.
It wasn't quiet because there were few viewers.
Everyone was focused on the movie.
Han Eunchae tightened her fingers.
At first, she had been seeing herself in Seorin.
But not anymore.
Minjae is hiding something...
She became so focused that she stopped noticing time.
Before she knew it, the movie ended.
The credits began to roll.
At film festivals, audiences usually applauded when a movie ended.
But for several seconds, nobody clapped.
Hyeonsu's hands froze on his knees.
Taejun held his breath.
Yura quietly watched the screen.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Then one person near the back began applauding.
Another pair of hands joined.
There weren't enough people for the applause to fill the entire theater.
But it was warm.
Hyeonsu leaned toward Geonwoo.
"Hyung. I think the reaction was good."
Meanwhile, Han Eunchae remained in the last row, watching the credits.
[Seoyun: Lee Dogyeom]
Her gaze stopped there.
"That child actor is already good at acting. Lucky."
Then another name appeared.
[Director: Baek Geonwoo]
Eunchae remembered that name too.
The theater lights came on.
Audience members slowly stood.
Eunchae pulled her cap lower and got up.
She intended to leave quietly.
Then she heard a small voice from the next row.
"Huh?"
Eunchae kept walking.
"Was that... Han Eunchae?"
"I think so."
"Really?"
"Why was Han Eunchae here?"
She lowered her head and walked toward the exit.
The moment she stepped into the hallway, a reporter recognized her.
"Han Eunchae?"
She stopped.
If she simply ignored him, it might attract even more attention.
She lowered her mask slightly and bowed.
"Hello."
The reporter hurriedly opened the voice-recording app on his phone.
"What movie did you just watch?"
Eunchae didn't answer immediately.
Originally, she hadn't planned to say anything.
She had entered the theater only because she wanted somewhere to rest.
She hadn't even checked what film was playing.
But even after the credits ended, the image of the child holding the camcorder remained in her mind.
"Before the Light Reaches."
"How was it?"
Eunchae chose her words carefully.
"I entered the theater by chance, but I really enjoyed it."
The reporter stepped a little closer.
"Was there a scene or character that stood out?"
Eunchae looked toward the end of the hallway.
Her manager was searching for her in the distance.
"The child named Seoyun stayed with me."
She bowed after leaving only those words.
"Sorry. I have another schedule."
That night.
Hyeonsu came out of the hotel bathroom holding his phone.
"Hyung."
Geonwoo was sitting on the sofa checking the festival schedule.
"You said it was urgent. Why are you already out?"
"Look at this."
Hyeonsu held out the screen.
Geonwoo looked down.
Several short posts were visible.
"What's this?"
"They're posts from Xpeed."
Xpeed was a short-form social media platform where reactions and sightings spread quickly.
During a film festival, it was one of the first places where comments appeared immediately after screenings.
[Anyone see Han Eunchae today?]
[Apparently she was in a Vision section screening.]
[She watched Before the Light Reaches until the end.]
[Apparently she said the kid named Seoyun stayed with her?]
[What movie is that?]
Geonwoo read them again to make sure he hadn't misunderstood.
"Wait. Han Eunchae watched our movie today?"
"Apparently. A reporter happened to meet her after the movie and got a short comment."
Hyeonsu looked excited.
"She said she enjoyed the movie and that the child named Seoyun stayed with her."
Taejun, sitting nearby, jumped to his feet.
"What?! Han Eunchae watched our movie?"
"Seems like it."
"That's huge."
Taejun laughed in disbelief.
"Wow, Dogyeom really did something big. If Han Eunchae said she enjoyed it, more people should come to tomorrow's screening, right?"
Hyeonsu nodded.
"Probably. Han Eunchae is a top star, and she's even hosting the opening ceremony this year."
"This is amazing. This is really good for us."
A smile spread across Taejun's face.
Geonwoo carefully spoke.
"We don't know yet."
Taejun blinked.
"Why?"
"It would be good if word spreads because the movie is good."
Geonwoo looked at the posts.
"But word could spread only because Han Eunchae's name is attached to it."
Taejun thought for a moment.
"Still, one of the two has already started happening."
Geonwoo couldn't deny that.
"That's true."
Hyeonsu looked at his phone.
"I'll check tomorrow's second-screening reservations."
He immediately opened the booking page.
Several seconds later, his eyebrows rose.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"A lot more seats are gone than yesterday."
Geonwoo moved beside him.
The seating chart for the second screening appeared.
It wasn't sold out.
But there were clearly far fewer empty seats.
Hyeonsu zoomed in, then back out.
"Hyung, a lot of tickets are already gone."
Taejun smiled.
"Looks like it had an effect."
Geonwoo nodded while looking at the screen.
"Yeah."
Then his expression became more serious.
"That makes tomorrow's screening really important for us."
Hyeonsu sounded excited.
"If this keeps building, I hope even more people come to the final third screening."
Geonwoo looked down at the schedule.
Third screening.
GV after the movie.
The day Dogyeom would come.
"If that happens, we'd have a lot to be thankful for."
At a film festival, a GV wasn't simply an extra event.
It was a chance for viewers to meet the director and actors immediately after the movie.
Reporters and critics often deliberately chose those screenings.
If people asked questions, it meant the movie hadn't simply passed through their minds.
And that day would be Dogyeom's first time standing in front of an audience.
The name Han Eunchae had mentioned to the reporter was Seoyun.
If that attention continued into the third screening, it would also be good for Dogyeom.
The next day.
The atmosphere at the second screening was completely different.
The line of viewers was longer.
There were still empty seats when they entered.
But it wasn't scattered and sparse like the day before.
Hyeonsu looked around and whispered,
"It really changed."
Taejun nodded.
"Much better than yesterday."
Geonwoo slowly scanned the audience.
Then his gaze stopped on one person.
A middle-aged man.
Black horn-rimmed glasses.
Sitting quietly with his arms crossed.
Hyeonsu nudged Geonwoo's side.
"Hyung. Isn't that critic Cha Myeonghun?"
"Yeah."
Cha Myeonghun.
A film critic who also ran a popular movie-focused NewTube channel.
He had strong influence even in independent-film circles.
He was also famous for being especially harsh toward new directors.
Hyeonsu lowered his voice.
"Why did he suddenly come?"
Geonwoo answered,
"Critic Cha Myeonghun is a fan of Han Eunchae."
"Really? How do you know that?"
"As someone in the film industry, of course I subscribe to Critic Cha Myeonghun's NewTube channel."
The second screening began.
With more people in the audience, the reactions were clearer.
The beginning was quiet.
But during the scene where Seoyun filmed the alley with his camcorder, several viewers leaned forward.
When Seorin spoke sharply to her brother and immediately wiped the table afterward, someone in the back quietly inhaled.
The silence during the funeral-hall sequence was even deeper than the day before.
Cha Myeonghun watched without expression.
He didn't laugh.
He didn't nod.
He didn't take out a notebook.
He simply sat with his arms crossed and watched.
Even when the final alley scene ended and the credits began, he didn't immediately stand.
Applause followed after the screening.
It was louder than the day before.
There were more people, so naturally the sound was different.
Hyeonsu couldn't stop smiling.
"Hyung. Today was amazing..."
Geonwoo raised a hand, telling him to stay quiet.
"The movie isn't completely over yet."
The lights in the theater still hadn't come on.
That night.
Cha Myeonghun entered his hotel room and switched on the light.
He took off his coat and hung it over the back of a chair.
Then he removed his festival badge and placed it on the table.
His shoulders were sore from moving between screenings all day.
He took a bottle of water from the refrigerator, drank half of it, and sat on the edge of the bed.
He had watched three movies that day.
The first was ambitious, but lost strength in the second half.
The second had strong imagery, but its story couldn't keep up with that imagery.
And the third was Geonwoo's Before the Light Reaches.
"Ah... I'm exhausted."
Cha Myeonghun removed his glasses and pressed around his eyes.
He wanted to shower and sleep.
But during film festivals, he always organized his thoughts about the movies he'd seen before going to bed.
He didn't need to write much.
At the very least, he liked to record what films had stood out and which directors were worth remembering.
"Work is work."
He put his glasses back on and picked up his phone.
When he opened Xpeed, festival reactions from throughout the day scrolled past.
Several posts mentioned the film Han Eunchae had watched.
Cha Myeonghun tapped the text box.
[Three films I watched today.]
[The first has ambition. However, the second half fails to keep pace with its characters.]
[The second has strong imagery. But the story doesn't travel as far as those images.]
His finger paused.
The old camcorder on screen came to mind.
So did Minjae standing at the funeral-hall threshold.
Cha Myeonghun continued typing.
[Third, Before the Light Reaches. For a rookie director's first feature, it has a strong ability to hold onto a scene. I understand why Han Eunchae stayed until the end. Planning to check the final GV screening as well.]
He reread what he'd written.
Then pressed post.
He put the phone on the bed and was about to head toward the bathroom when notifications began ringing one after another.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Many people were following his reactions in real time during the festival.
He picked up the phone again.
[Cha Myeonghun is saying that much?]
[That's the movie Han Eunchae watched, right?]
[What is Before the Light Reaches?]
[Apparently it's a rookie director's film in the Vision section.]
[Are there seats left for the final GV screening?]
Cha Myeonghun scrolled through several comments and smiled.
"I knew Han Eunchae had a good eye for projects."
The next morning.
Geonwoo headed to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.
Professor Moon Taeseok will probably come to today's screening.
Judges had to watch the movies in their assigned section according to their schedules.
Moon Taeseok hadn't attended the first two screenings.
That meant he would almost certainly be at today's screening.
The final screening with the GV.
It was an easy way for a judge to watch both the movie and the audience's reaction, as well as hear the director's answers.
It would be nice if we had a large audience.
The moment Geonwoo sat down with his breakfast, Hyeonsu almost ran toward him.
"Hyung."
Geonwoo looked up from his coffee.
"What?"
Hyeonsu didn't even stop to catch his breath before holding out his phone.
"Look at this."
"What now?"
"Just look first."
Geonwoo looked at the screen.
It was the festival booking page.
[Before the Light Reaches - Screening 3]
[GV After Screening]
Beside it were two words.
[Sold Out]
Hyeonsu's voice trembled slightly.
"Today's GV screening is sold out."
