Chapter 114: Winter After Spring? (3)
On Saturday, the entire cast of Blue Sky gathered at the studio of SBC's popular variety show, Speak Up. Speak Up was a popular talk show that delved into behind-the-scenes stories from film sets that were usually not heard by the public and boasted an impressive average viewership rating of 17%.
Oh Duk-Gu frowned and gave a warning as he reviewed the script, "Yoon-Ho, let's be on our guard today. We might encounter some unexpected situations."
As usual, the variety show script was filled with provocative questions designed to boost viewership ratings. The questions ranged from standard inquiries about cosmetic surgery for female actresses to attempts at creating romantic storylines between actors and actresses.
"The questions seem quite intense," I commented.
"That's why I think we need to talk to the PD and adjust some of them," replied Oh Duk-Gu.
Scripts often underwent spontaneous changes in the variety department, where viewership ratings held paramount importance, even more so than in the drama department. However, sticking to the script could potentially reignite dating rumors between Yoo-Jin and Choi Jong-Hyuk.
Oh Duk-Gu approached the PD, who was checking the cue sheets next to an EFP camera, to express his concerns. However, PD Choi Yoon-Cheol seemed annoyed and dismissively waved his hand, leaving Oh Duk-Gu no choice but to return with a troubled expression.
"He said he understood, but his reaction was not reassuring. It's not like we can unilaterally remove Yoo-Jin from this script."
"Let's see how things unfold and then decide."
"Alright."
At that moment, Choi Yoon-Cheol announced the start of the recording.
"Okay! Makeup teams, please step down. We'll begin once we have lighting on standby."
The cue was given as the makeup teams cleared the stage.
MC Jang In-Hong started the show by directing the first question to Lee Sa-Rang, the most senior member of the cast.
The conversation started with the resurgence of retro fashion fueled by the popularity of Blue Sky. Actors who had lived through that era, including Lee Sa-Rang, shared their nostalgic experiences and brought a lively atmosphere to the set with tales from the past.
But when it was Yoo-Jin's turn, Jang In-Hong threw an unexpected question her way.
"Miss Jung Yoo-Jin, could you show us your nose?"
With a bright smile, Yoo-Jin playfully wiggled her nose to deny any rumors of cosmetic surgery.
'Don't push your nose up, just wriggle them sideways. That's right. Good job.'
I was reassured when she avoided lifting her nose upwards, preventing any potentially embarrassing photos.
"Wow, I can't believe your nose is natural. It's so beautiful. Can we get a protractor to measure the angle please?"
In response, the staff really brought the protractor to measure the angle of Yoo-Jin's nose, adding a playful touch to the show.
Then MC Lee Ji-Yung, a former SBC weathercaster, asked Yoo-Jin another question.
"Miss Yoo-Jin. Do you happen to have a romantic interest among the cast here? I heard that an interesting rumor has been circulating."
The cast began to stir and murmur with anticipation.
But I was surprised when Yoo-Jin began to unexpectedly blush because I had expected her to firmly dismiss that claim. At the same time, Yoo-Jin's eyes began to tremble.
When Yoo-Jin hesitated to answer, Lee Ji-Yung probed further. "Oh my! Oh my goodness! Do you like someone among the cast? Wait a moment. Could it be Mr. Choi Jong..."
But Yoo-Jin quickly refuted the claim without hesitation even before Lee Ji-Yung could finish speaking. "No! Choi Jong-Hyuk sunbae isn't my type!"
Yoo-Jin stood up in a huff as she dispelled the dating rumors with Choi Jong-Hyuk.
'Good job. At least you denied the rumors even though there was some hesitation.'
However, Lee Ji-Yung sensed the opportunity and began to tease Yoo-Jin with an ambiguous expression. "Hmm... Your strong reaction seems to suggest the opposite. Weren't there rumors about you and Mr. Jong-Hyuk previously?"
The MCs continued to fuel the speculation and Jang In-Hong looked at Choi Jong-Hyuk to seek his agreement.
Choi Jong-Hyuk responded with a playful smile. "Well, no comments from me."
The recording of SBC's Speak Up instantly heated up with the unexpected topic of dating rumors.
I felt a surge of frustration from the bottom of my heart. On the other hand, the smile on Choi Yoon-Cheol's face was growing wider.
'Is this a challenge?'
Despite our requests to the scriptwriter during the pre-interview and the PD on set to avoid sensitive questions, they were blatantly pursuing a dating rumor narrative—showing that they had no regard for Hoop Entertainment.
At this point, we couldn't just stand by anymore. I gave Oh Duk-Gu a subtle signal and said, "Mr. Oh, we might need to inform the higher-ups about this situation."
Oh Duk-Gu nodded and replied, "I agree. It seems best if Mr. Gu comes here himself. I'll make a call and step out for a moment. Keep an eye on things."
As Oh Duk-Gu stepped out to call Gu Seong-Cheol, Jang In-Hong and Lee Ji-Yung continued to push the narrative of a dating rumor involving Yoo-Jin.
"Miss Ji-Yung, you are being quite mischievous today. What if Miss Yoo-Jin's fans flood the message boards demanding a change in MC because of this?"
"Oh, come on. A young, unmarried man and woman could very well date. Aren't celebrities human too?"
'They are crossing the lines without hesitation. Why are they assuming a relationship between the two anyway?'
The clearly frustrated Yoo-Jin protested amidst the fabricated discussions and provocations. "No, really. We're just colleagues. Sunbae, please say something! Tell them it's not true!"
"What do you want me to say?" Choi Jong-Hyuk responded with a playful smile.
"Wow! This is too much! Why are you pretending like you are clueless? You can just tell them it's not true!"
As Yoo-Jin's complaints persisted, Choi Jong-Hyuk finally stepped back from the situation with a teasing expression.
"Yes, what Miss Yoo-Jin said is correct. We're just colleagues—very close colleagues."
"Haha, alright. We'll leave it at that for now."
I quickly made an X with my fingers to signal Yoo-Jin to stop explaining. After all, further discussion would only further entangle her in the rumor.
'Calm down, Yoo-Jin!'
Yoo-Jin, who was on the verge of exploding, noticed my gesture and calmed down. She tried her best to contain her anger and nodded.
Just when it seemed we had managed to navigate the tricky situation, Ju Yung-In and Park Jin-Hee sensed the brewing storm and added fuel to the fire with their comments.
"But it's true that Miss Yoo-Jin and Choi Jong-Hyuk sunbae have great chemistry," said Ju Yung-In.
"Right? I've been jealous of them," Park Jin-Hee chimed in, skillfully twisting the narrative with their back-and-forth banter.
Choi Yoon-Cheol's face lit up even more thanks to Ju Yung-In and Park Jin-Hee's comments. At the same time, he spun the cue cards with glee—it was clear he was determined to push the narrative as far as it could go.
While it was natural for a variety show PD to chase after high viewership ratings, it left the actors caught in the crossfire with little recourse.
I was contemplating confronting the PD on the spot when Oh Duk-Gu hurriedly finished his call and came back panting.
"It's settled. Mr. Gu and Ms. Kang are nearby and on their way. They're furious."
"That's a relief."
"Still, we can't let our guard down until we see the edited version. I'll talk to the PD again during the break."
"Sounds good, Mr. Oh."
***
Not long after, Kang Ji-Yung stormed into the set, accompanied by Gu Seong-Cheol and another figure—it was Jung Sam-Ryong, the future head of SBC's drama department and the current CP of Blue Sky.
"Hey! PD Choi!"
Startled by Jung Sam-Ryong's sudden shout, Choi Yoon-Cheol turned around angrily and replied, "Who is it!? Can't you see we're filming here!?"
But Choi Yoon-Cheol's expression immediately soured when he saw that it was Jung Sam-Ryong, an eight-year sunbae and the upcoming head of the drama department.
"Oh, Mr. Jung. Why would you shout during a shoot? You've ruined the audio."
Jung Sam-Ryong clicked his tongue in disbelief. "What do you think you are doing right now?"
"What do you mean? We're filming."
"Why are you mentioning a dating rumor that's not even in the script? Will you take responsibility if a scandal breaks out?"
The actors began to murmur among themselves.
Realizing that the shoot couldn't continue in this state, Choi Yoon-Cheol gestured for a break.
"Let's take a short break."
The actors exited the studio for a break, leaving Choi Yoon-Cheol to confront Jung Sam-Ryong who was clearly still frustrated.
"Mr. Jung, I understand you are a man with authority, but overstepping in the business of the variety department is a bit too much."
"Too much? This matter has nothing to do with whether it regards the variety department or the drama department."
The confrontation between Jung Sam-Ryong and Choi Yoon-Cheol escalated into a fiery argument, intensifying the ongoing feud between the variety and drama departments.
Amidst the turmoil, the AD of the show made an urgent call somewhere. Soon after, CP Lee Yung-Geun who was in charge of Speak Up came down from the main control room.
However, he couldn't dissuade Jung Sam-Ryong who had come with determination.
"Yung-Geun, stay out of this. I got an order from Mr. Choi before coming down. He said to hand over today's shoot as soon as possible so he can check it."
Director Choi Woon-Sik of MBS was a key figure in the entertainment department and a close associate of Kim Gab-Soo. The fact that he gave direct instruction to leave out Jung Yoo-Jin's dating rumor clearly indicated that the president had given him an order.
Lee Yung-Geun nodded hastily and said, "PD Choi, do as he says. Edit out what we've filmed so far."
"Y-yes, sir..." muttered Choi Yoon-Cheol as he reluctantly agreed and began issuing new instructions to the staff.
As the tension diffused, Kang Ji-Yung approached us.
"Contact me directly should any issues concerning Miss Yoo-Jin arise. Okay?"
Being aware that Cheon Yi-Sang was targeting Yoo-Jin and me, Kang Ji-Yung was fully prepared to intervene.
After a brief interaction, Kang Ji-Yung followed Jung Sam-Ryong out while grumbling about another day of drinking with the executives.
Meanwhile, Yoo-Jin returned to her waiting chair and gave me a thumbs-up.
"Hmm? Why the thumbs up?"
"Because thanks to you, I felt reassured."
Indeed, it was rare for a director of an agency to come to the set and intervene directly on behalf of an actor. Having faced quite the ordeal on her first variety show appearance, Yoo-Jin was visibly exhausted.
"I didn't expect so many off-script questions. I was sweating bullets...are variety shows always like this?"
"No. I guess this proves how popular you are. But you handled it well without getting too nervous."
With more filming sessions ahead, I tried to calm Yoo-Jin's nerves with some encouragement.
"But Yoo-Jin."
Yoo-Jin turned to me while taking a sip of her coffee and asked, "Yes?"
"Why did you freeze up at that question? You should have just said 'no' right away."
Cough!
Yoo-Jin opened her eyes wide as she suddenly choked on her coffee.
"W-well, that's because...cough.”
As Yoo-Jin struggled with the coffee caught in her throat, I handed her a handkerchief and patted her back to help.
"Are you okay?"
Yoo-Jin nodded with tears well up in her eyes, preventing me from probing further about her earlier hesitation.
***
Cheon Yi-Sang of TK Entertainment frowned as he answered a call.
-Hyung-nim, you have to understand my situation. The higher-ups just stormed in and turned everything upside down. They're accusing us of sabotaging a successful drama.
Cheon Yi-Sang's plan to fabricate a scandal involving Jung Yoo-Jin and Choi Jong-Hyuk was in jeopardy before it even began.
"You mean you didn't even get to film anything?"
-No, we did. We went in pretty strong from the start. But it's all been scrapped with the directive from above to cut everything out in editing.
"Hold on. Then can you at least pass me that original footage somehow?"
-Come on. How am I supposed to do that? You know how things are around here...
"Yoon-Cheol, you know what I'm capable of, don't you? Just leave the tape in editing room 3 and we'll take care of the rest."
"..."
There was a moment of silence. Knowing Cheon Yi-Sang's style of offering substantial rewards for taking risks, Choi Yoon-Cheol finally relented.
-Let's see. Editing room 3 should be empty by around 10 p.m...
"Good. Just make sure you're away from your desk for a bit at that time. I'll handle everything else."
Choi Yoon-Cheol eventually agreed reluctantly to Cheon Yi-Sang's plan to hire someone to sneak out the footage.
-I know nothing about this, okay?
"Right, right. Tell your wife to come down to the apartment's basement parking lot tonight at spot A4."
The promise of a cash reward for the task had Choi Yoon-Cheol chuckling as he hung up.
Then Cheon Yi-Sang immediately dialed another number.
"Hey, it's me. I've got a job for you. Are you still working these days?"
-Yes, sir.
"Good. SBC, editing room 3, 10 p.m. Copy everything on the file and get back to me."
After hanging up, Cheon Yi-Sang smirked sinisterly.
"Assistant Manager Jung, I told you you'll regret this.”
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