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Chapter 13: Unchanging Viewership Ratings (1)

For now, there was no way to know the exact reason the viewership rating hadn’t changed yet. Therefore, it seemed like I had no choice but to constantly check the planner for the time being.

In the meantime, Oh Duk-Gu was informing Yoo-Jin about Park Eun-Bin’s personality.

“Yoo-Jin. Avoid making eye contact with Park Eun-Bin as much as possible and don’t interact with her. Her personality is no joke.”

“But Park Eun-Bin sunbae seemed cute and lovely on TV.”

Oh Duk-Gu’s face turned pale at Yoo-Jin’s words.

“Are you kidding? You are so naive. It was rumored that three years ago, Eun-Bin was...”

Listening from the side, the rumor sounded half true and half fake. The rumor said that Park Eun-Bin pushed a hoobae[1] who didn’t greet her down the stairs, and the trainee who was competing against her to debut went missing.

Despite Oh Duk-Gu’s continuous sharing of these rumors, Yoo-Jin remained calm as if she was listening to old tales.

“Anyway, be careful. Every actor knows that the amount of lines they have can change at any time, but not everyone is cool with that. I bet you’d be infuriated too if this happened to you.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Oh. You’d think her rumors are nothing if you heard the stories from when I was working part-time.”

“Huh? What on earth did you go through back then?”

Yoo-Jin simply smiled in response to Oh Duk-Gu’s question.

At that moment, I saw a large bus entering the parking lot. Thinking they might be staff members, I was about to greet them. But I soon noticed a sign on the front window of the bus that read [Petite Angels, On-site Support Vehicle.] Following the bus was a coffee truck.

“Petite Angels? Hah, even they came?”

Oh Duk-Gu clicked his tongue.

Petite Angels was the name of Petite More’s fan club. Although it was common for fans to send meals and coffee trucks to the set to support their celebrity, it was rare for them to visit the drama set in person because cheering for the celebrity at a drama set would only affect the actor’s ability to concentrate, unlike at music shows where cheering was essential.

When the bus door opened, the Petite Angels got out in an orderly line and began to move hastily. They took out various supplies from the luggage compartment of the bus and started to attach placards to the coffee truck.

[Today is Cutie Eun-Bin’s treat!]

[You got this! Park Eun-Bin!]

[Staff of The Morning Takes Off, please take good care of Eun-Bin!]

The Petite Angels skillfully held up placards like experts and started looking around the set.

“I can’t believe I’m about to see Eun-Bin act in person! I’m super thrilled!”

“Hey, make sure to bring the right stuff to support Eun-Bin and the team. I’ll teach you a lesson if I catch you stealing stuff we brought for the staff, understand?”

“Okay, unnie. We’re staying until the shooting ends, right?”

“Why are you asking the obvious? Of course, we are staying until the end.”

“Alright. Operations team, hurry up. Those of you without the light stick can ask the operations team for one.”

‘Light sticks at a shooting set?’

It seemed like they were at the wrong place, but none of the on-set staff made any comments about that, perhaps because Park Eun-Bin’s agency, TK Entertainment, was sponsoring the production of the drama.

At that moment, I suddenly had a bad feeling.

‘I boasted at the company that Yoo-Jin no longer needs acting lessons, but the schedule on the planner hadn’t changed yet. And now even Petite Angels showed up?

’

It all felt like a chain of unfortunate events.

“Today is going to be a long day.”

Oh Duk-Gu shook his head at the Petite Angels and muttered.

But when the leaders of Petite Angels arrived, I thought of a way to handle the situation.

“What else can they do besides leaving malicious comments online?”

“That’s the most frightening thing these days. Anyway, let’s be careful not to give them any reason to criticize our side.”

“I will contact the promotion team in advance and ask them to censor Instagram and Twitter posts related to Park Eun-Bin’s fan club. If any malicious comments are posted, we should forward them directly to the legal team.”

When I spoke swiftly, Oh Duk-Gu looked at me with a surprised expression, wondering why I had suddenly changed.

“Shall we get going? We should start getting ready as well.”

“Oh, yes. R-right. We should go.”

Stunned, Oh Duk-Gu nodded and began to walk forward. However, he kept glancing at me as he walked.

Although I was only in my first year, I had no plans to act naively. Kim Dong-Soo’s faction was likely already making moves to take over Hoop Entertainment, and I was the only one who could stop him.

***

“Alright, everyone. To your positions!”

The lighting and sound team staff bustled around the elegant mansion set. After the staff had finished checking the set, Producer Park Doo-Shik shouted with a loud voice.

“We’ll have to withdraw if it snows heavily today, so assistant directors continue to keep an eye on the weather forecast.”

“Yes, sir! Leave it to us!”

“Also, we’ll move to scene 272 as soon as Eun-Bin arrives, so keep that in mind. We’ll start with scene 278 first. Remember, episode 22 has been revised so don’t get confused and read the script carefully. Now, revised script, scene 278. Ready~ Action!”

The shooting began with Park Doo-Shik’s distinctive call,

Scene 278 was where the female lead, Choi Eun-Yung, argued with her boyfriend. Watching the boyfriend harshly push the protagonist, hurl profanities, and raise his hand to slap her made my palms sweaty.

At that moment, Yoo-Jin intervened between the two.

Yoo-Jin’s character, Lee Seol-Ran, bravely confronted Choi Eun-Yung’s boyfriend to help her friend. Despite having her hair disheveled and clothes torn, Yoo-Jin didn’t hold back. Anyone could see that her acting was on par with the two main actors.

“No wonder you were so confident...With that level of acting, it’s no surprise you were so confident.”

Oh Duk-Gu seemed surprised upon watching Yoo-Jin’s acting.

“Right?”

A single scene was sufficient enough to showcase Yoo-Jin’s incredible acting skills. After watching Yoo-Jin’s acting, Oh Duk-Gu set aside his worries and focused on the shoot. Seeing him nod his head and smile gave me a boost of confidence.

I wanted to exclaim loudly that Yoo-Jin would be a future star who would captivate millions of viewers.

However, a sense of unease washed over me as I glanced at the planner in my hand.

[Everyday V10]

[Date: December 24th, 2019]

-10:00 PM <The Morning Takes Off> Episode 22 Monitoring. Viewership Rating: 19.5%

The viewership rating for episode 22, which I thought would change once the shoot began, remained the same. This suggested that perhaps the scenes from the revised script for episode 22 would not make it to the broadcast.

‘I need to do something about this.’

I had no intention of losing the golden opportunity given by Lee Ji-Yeon to promote Yoo-Jin. Thanks to my extensive experience in my previous life, various scenarios flashed through my mind. None of them were pleasant, but I began recording the set with my phone camera just in case.

~

[Video Recording Mode ON]

~

I recorded everything on the set of The Morning Takes Off on my Galaxy Note 10.

***

“Cut! Great job, everyone. Actors, please touch up your makeup and adjust your costumes.”

Fortunately, Yoo-Jin successfully finished her scene without any mistakes.

Upon calling the end of scene 278, Park Doo-Shik shouted to the surrounding staff.

“Okay, everyone! Let’s take a short break. We’ll rest for 20 minutes. And the directors from each department, please check your equipment and then regroup here.”

“Yes, Mr. Park!”

As Park Doo-Shik turned his gaze to the monitor, the actors and staff began to move quickly.

After finishing her scene, Yoo-Jin exchanged greetings with the lead actress Choi Eun-Yung for a while before returning to her seat.

I offered Yoo-Jin a cup of coffee as she sat down in the chair.

“Well done. Here’s your coffee.”

“Thanks, oppa. Your coffee is so good that now I can’t drink other coffee unless it’s made by you.”

Yoo-Jin looked at the cup of coffee that was only a third full and asked for more in a playful tone.

“Too much coffee isn’t good for you. I’ll give you more later, so just drink this for now.”

“Okay, fine.”

Yoo-Jin took a sip of her coffee with a slightly disappointed expression. Then her eyes widened.

“Wow. What is this?”

“It’s good, right? It’s my original style of coffee, ‘Jung Coffee.’ I’ll make it like this for you from now on.”

“Yes, please do! The Maxim coffee you made was delicious, but this is on another level!”

Perhaps impressed with my coffee, Yoo-Jin started to hum a tune without realizing it.

At that moment, staff members who were moving equipment to the parking lot passed by us, each one of them praising Yoo-Jin.

“Miss Yoo-Jin. Your acting was really good. You don’t seem like a rookie at all. Everyone is super impressed!”

“Thank you, Mr. Choi.”

“Miss Yoo-Jin. You might land a lead role in the next drama at this rate. You really stood out.”

“Haha, thank you so much, Mr. Jung.”

While Park Doo-Shik remained unresponsive, the on-site staff unanimously praised Yoo-Jin’s acting.

Oh Duk-Gu was filled with worry this morning, but now he couldn’t hide his evidently worry-free smile.

“Everything is going great. I’ll go and subtly promote Yoo-Jin to the staff, so you keep an eye on Yoo-Jin. If things continue like this, we won’t have to worry about getting in trouble with the Chief.”

The exhilarated Oh Duk-Gu ran over to the staff to start promoting Yoo-Jin. However, unlike Oh Duk-Gu, I couldn’t stop feeling tense.

Tick tock, tick tock.

As time continued to pass, I grew more anxious as the schedule in the planner hadn’t changed yet.

‘Could it be that Yoo-Jin gets hurt and can’t appear in episode 22?’

While I was deeply lost in thought, I heard one of the Petite Angels shouting.

“Oh my gosh! It’s Eun-Bin!”

A white Benz Sprinter was entering the parking lot. In a flash, the Petite Angels who were distributing coffee and snacks to the staff turned their heads in unison like meerkats.

“Where? Where?”

“In the parking lot!”

“Let’s go!”

With a rush, all the Petite Angels sprinted toward the parking lot.

Screech!

The Benz Sprinter came to a stop. The door slid open and Park Eun-Bin, standing at 162cm with a small and round face, casually stepped out of the vehicle. With her long hair cascading down to her waist, she was wearing a designer long padded coat, a checkered mini skirt, and long boots.

Her charisma and appearance gave the impression of a veteran actress with numerous lead awards under her belt, rather than an idol.

I personally felt that Park Eun-Bin’s acting skills were half a star out of five. However, due to the huge success of Petite More, no one dared give her candid feedback about her subpar performance.

At that moment, a talent agent from TK Entertainment stepped out from the driver’s seat of the Benz Sprinter with a bag in his hand.

‘Managing Director Ma Dong-Pal from TK Entertainment? What’s that guy doing here?’

Even though Park Eun-Bin was one of the big names at TK Entertainment, it was extremely rare for a managing director to come to the set as a talent agent. Moreover, as a former gangster, Ma Dong-Pal was known for his unscrupulous methods in getting things done. With his adeptness at concealing his dubious dealings, he would rise to the position of second in power at TK Entertainment in ten years.

If I had to compare, he was somewhat similar to Kim Dong-Soo but with better fighting skills and a more menacing appearance.

‘Could it be because of those guys that the viewership rating isn’t changing?’

If Ma Dong-Pal were to interfere, it was possible that the scenes Yoo-Jin had filmed wouldn’t be broadcast. When the script was revised, Park Eun-Bin had lost most of her lines.

‘Ma Dong-Pal must have been itching to turn the situation around.’

Anticipating the worst-case scenario, I gently tapped Yoo-Jin on the shoulder.

“Yoo-Jin. Park Eun-Bin is here. Let’s greet her.”

“Oh, okay!”

Holding the script in her hand, Yoo-Jin stood up.

“Eun-Bin unnie! We came here to see you!”

“Ahhh! Unnie, we love you!”

“Haha, thanks for coming, everyone.”

As the Petite Angels clamored, Park Eun-Bin responded by greeting and exchanging pleasantries with her fans.

“Eun-Bin unnie! We called in a coffee truck for you!”

“And there will be lunch boxes arriving soon for the staff too. Good luck with your shoot today!”

“Oh, my! Thank you so much, guys. I’d be nothing without you guys. I love you!”

“We love you too~.”

After interacting with her fans, Park Eun-Bin quickly walked towards the set upon being prompted by Ma Dong-Pal. It seemed like my hunch was right. While greeting each staff member they walked past, Park Eun-Bin and Ma Dong-Pal’s eyes were fixed on Yoo-Jin.

As Park Eun-Bin approached us, we initiated the greeting by bowing our heads. Because Park Eun-Bin wasn’t on set when Yoo-Jin had her first shoot, this was their first face-to-face encounter.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Jung Yoo-Jin from Hoop Entertainment.”

Park Eun-Bin also bowed her head with a bright smile—then she whispered in a voice that only we could hear.

“How dare the role-stealing bitch talk to me?”

‘Wow, look at her insolence. What a grand way to start things off.’

1. An underclassman or junior. A newer or less experienced idol in the context of this novel ?