Chapter 209. Quick Thinking
As Yeon-woo came out, Son Jin-yuk and Jung Cheol-min immediately approached him.
"Excuse me, sir. We need to do a quick body search."
"We received a tip that you're carrying something suspicious."
Son Jin-yuk playfully started the skit by reaching out his hands while Jung Cheol-min followed suit, and Yeon-woo put on a troubled expression as he interlocked his fingers and raised them above his head.
"Were you a police officer? I could've sworn I saw you as a taxi driver somewhere."
When Yeon-woo mentioned Dipangdal, the taxi driver role from "White Blood," while looking at Jung Cheol-min, he smirked.
"And I'm really ticklish... especially on my sides."
Upon hearing Yeon-woo's words, Son Jin-yuk and Jung Cheol-min's gazes naturally moved to his sides, and they began thoroughly searching from the chest pocket of his checkered shirt down to his pants pockets.
But having anticipated this, Yeon-woo was already holding the card in his hand.
He deliberately mentioned his sides to make the two who rushed at him focus their attention on his checkered shirt, making them start their body search with his clothes.
Magicians say that the most important aspect of magic isn't hand technique or tricks, but misdirection.
It's the process of directing where the audience looks and what they think, intentionally creating confusion to guide their attention and thoughts in the direction the magician wants.
After patting various parts of Yeon-woo's body but feeling nothing, Son Jin-yuk and Jung Cheol-min looked at each other.
"Senior Cheol-min, there's nothing in his pockets?"
"Hmm, Yeon-woo, show me your hands."
At that, Yeon-woo wiggled the fingers he had placed above his head, quickly moving the card from his palm to between his middle and ring fingers, then to the back of his hand.
This movement was clearly captured by the camera installed above the PD's office door where Yeon-woo was standing.
With a calm expression and a smile, Yeon-woo held out his palms facing forward.
"Did you two used to take money from your friends in school? You're too natural at this."
"We'll know if we find something, right?"
Just then, Yeon-woo stood suspiciously on one leg and slightly lifted his right foot, pressing his toes against the floor.
"Why are you suddenly fidgeting with your foot? Suspicious."
"My foot's starting to cramp from filming for so long."
While their attention was momentarily drawn downward by this movement, Yeon-woo moved the card from the back of his hand back to his palm and flipped his hand over.
"Look, I'm telling you there's nothing. I've already failed the mission."
The camera clearly captured the lightning-quick movements as Yeon-woo flipped his palm over, showing the card moving between his palm and the back of his hand.
Yeon-woo let out a languid yawn and stretched, and while pretending to stretch by raising his arms, he quickly attached the card from his palm to the back of his neck.
"Yaaawn."
"He comes out saying he failed the mission already. Ah, this is really suspicious."
Then Yeon-woo unbuttoned his shirt cuffs himself and rolled up his sleeves to show them.
Since the card was already attached to the back of his neck, he could freely use both hands.
While Son Jin-yuk and Jung Cheol-min were focused only on Yeon-woo's hands, the camera installed above the door clearly captured the Hi-Pass card reflecting the fluorescent light as it stuck to the back of Yeon-woo's neck.
Viewers were amazed by Yeon-woo's quick movements and nerve, and at the same time, they couldn't help but laugh at Jung Cheol-min and Son Jin-yuk being fooled while the card was right in front of them.
At that moment, Jung Cheol-min, who had been tilting his head repeatedly, went around to Yeon-woo's back.
Despite the considerable height difference between Jung Cheol-min and Yeon-woo, there was no way he couldn't see the card attached to the back of his neck.
With Son Jin-yuk in front and Jung Cheol-min behind, there wasn't really anywhere to hide it.
'No choice now.'
Yeon-woo stretched his neck left and right as if tired, using the movement to detach the card and guide it to slide down his back inside his shirt.
And simultaneously, he used one hand to pull at the front of his shirt.
The card sliding down inside Yeon-woo's shirt stopped in the middle of his back, caught by the tautness of the shirt pulled from the front.
Then, with a nonchalant expression, Yeon-woo pretended to rub his stomach with the hand holding his shirt and asked Son Jin-yuk.
"Ah, why am I so hungry? Aren't you feeling peckish, hyung?"
"Hmm, I'm fine though?"
While Jung Cheol-min circled around Yeon-woo once, Yeon-woo looked at Han Byul and Jung Soo-yeon who were watching from the sofa.
"Aren't you guys hungry?"
"A little bit!"
"Yeah, me too, just a bit?"
While Jung Cheol-min's attention was momentarily drawn to Han Byul and Jung Soo-yeon's voices, Yeon-woo released his grip on his shirt.
The card slid down his back, and just before it hit the floor, he slightly turned his body to catch it on the top of his foot without making a sound, then dropped it and stepped on it.
As his body turned from catching the card with his foot, Yeon-woo naturally pointed toward the PD's room behind him and spoke.
"Should we ask the production team if they have any ramyeon we can cook? Isn't it a rule to eat ramyeon as a late-night snack when visiting?"
"Hmm, but I'm not really hungry?"
All these movements flowed so naturally that they appeared as ordinary, everyday actions to the actors in the scene.
However, YouTube subscribers watching from the overhead camera angle were left speechless as they watched Yeon-woo cleverly manipulate the Hi-Pass card, moving it here and there while avoiding the actors' line of sight.
Hearing Son Jin-yuk's response that he wasn't hungry, Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes as he looked at him.
"It seems like you keep blocking us from going to the kitchen... Did you hide something there?"
"Me? No way!"
As Son Jin-yuk waved his hands in denial, Yeon-woo nudged Jung Cheol-min beside him and said.
"Teacher, what do you think?"
"Hmm, suspicious indeed."
Son Jin-yuk looked at him with an incredulous expression.
"Senior, do you find everything suspicious?"
Then naturally, as Yeon-woo walked forward, he pushed the card he had been stepping on with his back foot.
The card slid across the floor and disappeared under a decorative cabinet on one side of the wall.
'I'll have to get that out later with a coat hanger or something when everyone's asleep.'
Then he shouted as he ran toward the kitchen.
"If there's anything car-related in the kitchen, I'm throwing it out!"
At that, Son Jin-yuk, who had been denying everything, ran after him.
"I told you there's nothing in the kitchen!"
The way he chased after him made it obvious to anyone watching that he had hidden something in the kitchen.
Meanwhile, regardless of what the other members were doing, Han Byul kept glancing toward the bathroom where she had hidden her air freshener.
And with this scene, the first week's release ended.
Everyone in the conference room had their eyes fixed on Yeon-woo.
Particularly, Jung Cheol-min and Son Jin-yuk, who had been completely fooled, had their mouths hanging open even wider.
"Huh, what did I just watch...?"
"This guy Yeon-woo, he's totally a card shark, isn't he?"
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'Magician W', who runs a YouTube channel showcasing magic tricks to passersby on the street, watched the New Star Family video dozens of times.
Even watching it frame by frame each time, he couldn't help but be amazed.
Requests from subscribers to analyze the magic scene from New Star Family were already flooding the YouTube channel's community section.
He was planning to analyze it anyway, even without the requests.
"Hello, this is Magician W. Let's dive right into analyzing the incredible scene performed by actor Ryu Yeon-woo in a YouTube entertainment video that was uploaded just hours ago!"
Playing the video in slow motion, he began explaining each movement while drawing yellow lines with his mouse to track the actors' sightlines and Yeon-woo's hand positions.
"As you can see here, the hand techniques that Ryu Yeon-woo used in this part aren't particularly flashy or high-level moves. Those of you studying magic will recognize these techniques, right? But the crucial point is that all of this was done live."
Then Magician W shook his head.
"Moving the card from palm to back of hand, then to the back of the neck, and from inside the clothes to the floor - all these movements are actually quite easy for skilled magicians. But that's when you're performing on stage after preparation."
There weren't any particularly flashy or complex techniques.
But there was well-timed misdirection and movements that flowed as naturally as water.
"Wow, I never expected to make this kind of video, but making quick judgments and improvising in response to unpredictable movements from others is on a completely different level."
Not just magicians, but ordinary viewers were equally amazed by this incredible scene.
Someone immediately made a clip of this scene, and it began spreading through social media.
- Shrimp(wodnsdh**): Whoa what is this
- FrenchFries(mcdonal**): First things first, Ryu Yeon-woo should be banned from casinos lolll
- FarmerKing(farmer1**): How did he do that part at 47:12
└ Keukkeukie(catcat**): I think 49:01 is even more amazing, how did he catch it perfectly with his foot
- Harry(potter3**): Wow... magicians really have quick hands
└ KingJunsu(wnstn**): Um? He's not a magician;; he's an actor
Meanwhile, after watching the show, Jung Cheol-min and Son Jin-yuk were making plans to have drinks again today.
"Senior, shall we have a drink today too?"
"Sure."
Watching Son Jin-yuk make a clinking motion while making the sound with his mouth, Yeon-woo shook his head.
"Hyung, you really looked like an old man just now."
"Well, I'll be in my mid-thirties next year, so I am an old man."
"Yeon-woo, want to join us for a drink?"
At Jung Cheol-min's words, Yeon-woo shook his head.
"I have some things to do at home today. Let's drink together another time."
"Hmm, suspicious. What are you always doing at home these days? Got a girlfriend hidden there?"
Yeon-woo smiled at Jung Cheol-min's words.
Not a girlfriend, but he did have several men hidden away.
And not at home, but on the fifth floor right above the building where they were standing.
These days, he was working with Han Hae-woon on classifying information brought in by agents.
People with connections to Baek Sol in the prosecution, police, and military leadership.
In other words, they were mapping out Baek Sol's organizational structure to cut out the rot.
"Anyway, don't drink too much, you two."
"Alright."
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Meanwhile, since the classification work had to be done simultaneously with Yeon-woo, Han Hae-woon was waiting at home.
While waiting and watching New Star Family on YouTube in real-time, Han Hae-woon's mouth also fell wide open.
"Did they teach agents things like that back in Team Leader's days...?"
Tilting his head, he pulled out a credit card from his wallet.
Han Hae-woon was quite confident in his hand movements after conducting various intelligence operations.
Standing in front of a full-length mirror, he tried to imitate the movements he saw Yeon-woo do on screen, quickly moving the card from his palm to the back of his hand.
Thud─.
Just when it seemed he was doing quite well, the card inevitably fell to the floor.
"Tsk, how did he do that? He did this as improvisation in the field?"
After seeing something cool, how could he not try to copy it?
Han Hae-woon continued to squirm in front of the mirror until Yeon-woo would arrive home and contact him.