Meanwhile, Sasha was having a different reaction.
When she first saw Aren's character, Shin, she didn't know how to feel. She wasn't a Ventage fan, only seeing their posters or hearing their music on social media once in a while.
With how popular they were, it would be weirder if she didn't know about Aren and the other members of Ventage by name.
However, the Aren on the screen was different from his usual appearance. His features weren't as defined as before, his jawline not as sharp as it had been a year ago. He looked older than his age, as if truly a man in his late twenties.
This made her see Aren as his character, instead of the idol she had once known.
The character he played, Shin, was a complete stranger.
His entrance aroused curiosity as a new character instead of an Idol's debut.
Then a surge of emotion hit her with every one of his actions.
When he punched Leon, she yelled:
"How dare you touch my Leo?"
She had forgotten that it was only a scene in the drama. Aren's acting pulled her in, seeming too real and natural.
She hated him and wanted Leo to strike back.
But then the camera shifted to his face—the emotions he was trying to suppress, the pain he felt, the fury he couldn't express despite wanting to, and many more.
His voice carried pain, pain that couldn't be expressed in words.
Seeing him in such agony, Sasha couldn't hate him anymore.
Maybe there was a reason for his outburst.
And then, when she saw him inside the ICU, she couldn't help but be glued to the screen.
His every word, every action, struck a chord with her emotions.
She didn't know when, but she had begun to cry.
She didn't know how, but she could feel his emotions.
She didn't know why, but she couldn't look away from the screen.
And then, she saw the sudden change in his gaze, his clenched jaw, and the coldness in his voice.
Every word spoken by him sent a cold shiver racing through her, making the hair on her arms stand on end.
His words didn't sound empty.
His promise didn't sound weak.
His emotions didn't sound fake.
She could feel that he was dangerous.
He meant every word he said.
She believed he would do everything he spoke of.
She didn't know when, but she forgot who the protagonist of this drama was.
She even forgot to breathe for a second.
She was even afraid to breathe loudly, not wanting to miss any second of what was going on on the screen.
And suddenly, it was all over—only a promise of a second season remained on the screen.
She was frozen for a few seconds, and when she came to her senses, she realized the episode had already finished rolling the credits.
It was as if she had traveled to some different dimension for a few seconds.
"W-What was that...?"
She murmured softly, not understanding what had just happened.
She closed the tablet and closed her eyes.
It was then that she noticed her emotions, which were still lingering from the episode.
And when she noticed them, they began to calm down.
After she had returned to her normal state, she decided to check social media to see others' reactions.
She had been active on social media, following her favorite celebrities on PulseX.
She picked up her tablet and opened PulseX.
When she entered the keyword, "To Your Heart Finale", she found posts posted recently.
Her eyes lit up at the result.
[Goosebumps! I have never felt like this!]
There were screenshots attached of Aren's transition from crying to threatening coldness.
[Guys, we are getting a season 2!
Can't wait!
And by the way, did anyone else feel chills at the end?]
This post was from a girl Sasha knew from college. She had attached the To Be Continued screenshot, along with Aren's cold gaze.
Since it had been only a few minutes after the episode ended, there were just these posts about the finale.
However, their comment sections were heated.
[What a debut! Where are the ones who said Aren can't act?]
[What the hell just happened? Did Blackshore Management run an acting program for Ventage? How is Aren's acting this good?]
[Heh. Even if they did, they wouldn't let Aren join in. It seems he had been learning acting this past year.]
[But what is this show? I only watched it because of Aren's debut articles, but even though I was watching only the final episode, I was hooked. Why isn't this show more popular?]
[That's because it's on AxisPlay. They don't spend much on marketing, and their shows are low budget.]
While most comments were of praise at first, Ventage Fans appeared not long after, criticizing anything they could.
[I just watched the episode. This small fry Aren only got a five minute scene in the end. Nothing compared to Theon or Axel who are going to debut as second leads at the end of this year.]
[How can you even mention Aren, Theon, and Axel in the same sentence? One gets only a five minute scene in the final episode of some low budget drama, and the other two are going to debut in high budget dramas. The contrast is too stark!]
[Can you even call this a debut? This was like a cameo.]
[Hahaha, did you see his looks? He has gotten uglier. Maybe surviving on cup noodles wasn't healthy, after all, hehe.]
As Sasha read the hate comments, they were mostly about Aren's looks or the short amount of screentime he received in the episode. Nobody dared to trash his acting.
But the acting insults were directed at others, the lead actor and actresses.
[Did you see the lead actress? How did she get the lead role? She was so cringe. And Aren is doing a side role in a drama with her as the lead; that just goes to show his level.]
[What's the deal with the lead actor? Can't he even cry properly? I felt secondhand embarrassment watching him. I was just watching to check Aren's debut because of the trending news, but the lead actor and actresses were not good.]
At this moment, Sasha got a message from her best friend on LinkChat.
Misha:
[Did you see the episode? Did you see Aren? He was so good!]
Misha had been a Ventage fan, and till the end, Aren had been her bias; however, when his scandals and rumors of bad behavior began to come out, she quit Ventage altogether.
Even now she hadn't had much hope in Aren; however, after watching the episode, maybe the fan in her got revived.
Sasha replied: [Yeah. I got goosebumps.]
Misha: [See! He's great, isn't he?]
Sasha: [Yep. But what did you think of the episode?]
Misha: [Oh, right. It was a roller coaster of emotions.]
They then got busy discussing the details of the episode.
The next day, the metrics of the live viewership were out, released by the mediahouse, Bonh.
'AxisPlay's drama To Your Heart breaks the platform's highest live viewership record! Aren's debut makes history. Click to find out.'
However, this article wasn't alone, as one more article was released by Bonh.
'AxisPlay recorded the highest number of new subscriptions yesterday, raising their user base from 3.5 million to 5.2 million. Who is to thank? Click to find out.'
Following Bonh, other mediahouses released similar articles.
However, by now, everyone had realized that AxisPlay was paying Bonh to release articles in its favor.
And since Aren's news was like a hot cake, every mediahouse wanted a piece.
The first article revealed the official metrics of To Your Heart's Finale episode's live viewership.
It was 2.8 million — a whopping 1.8 million higher than its previous record.
The article explained how this number was record breaking, comparing it to mid-tier shows that had performed average on mid-tier platforms.
Even for mid-tier platforms, a 2.8 million live viewership would suggest success; however, for AxisPlay, it was a cause for celebration.
Next, in the second article, the new subscriptions of AxisPlay were revealed.
It meant AxisPlay was suddenly rich and had a lot of money to spend. Even other platforms were envious of their sudden jackpot.
While this article was a hot topic, AxisPlay's official PulseX account posted a new post.
'Budget increase for 'To Your Heart's' second season. The season will air at the start of spring officially. Stay tuned!'
Spring was only three months away, so this was a pretty tight schedule they announced.
Still, the fans were happy under their comments section.
The Ventage fans didn't have anything to criticize and just went to Theon and Axel's profiles to ask them to react to Aren's acting.
However, they stayed silent, not reacting in any way.
The fans, looking to criticize Aren, found their hope in an article released by HBS.
'Only a 5 minute scene. Is the idol getting taken advantage of? A cameo or a debut — find out.'
Following after, another article was released,
'The Film Critic, Conrad Balen, said this about Aren's debut scene. Watch his interview.'
In the article, his interview video was attached, where he analyzed Aren's acting and pointed out mistakes.
He pointed out random stuff and pointed to it as amateurish mistakes, giving the Ventage Fans something to vent their hate on.
[Hahaha, Conrad Balen! What a genius critic! He exposed the fake acting of that pipsqueak, Aren. Bwahahaha!]
[Conrad Balen, I...]