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Chapter 15: Unchanging Viewership Ratings (3)

“Stop complaining and just do as you’re told. Am I the producer here or are you?”

“Okay, fine. I get it.”

Unable to resist Park Doo-Shik’s order, the staff began to move with unease. After all, the producer held supreme authority on set.

AD Jung Ju-Chul received an order from Park Doo-Shik and approached us. Then he began to speak to Oh Duk-Gu, attempting to mask the unilateral directive as a polite explanation.

“So are you saying you’re dismissing us right now?”

Oh Duk-Gu’s face turned as red as a tomato.

“Hey, don’t take it that way. You know that’s not what I mean. I’m just saying that we’re going to shoot according to the original script for episode 22.”

“Shooting according to the original script is basically the same thing as dismissing us! Do you know how much screen time Yoo-Jin has in the original script of episode 22? She barely has any!”

“Ah, then what am I supposed to do? The producer is saying that we can’t proceed with the current script! He even said he’d pay you for an additional two episodes, so can’t you just cooperate with us?!”

“Do you think I’m doing this for a mere appearance fee? All of Yoo-Jin’s scenes spanning two episodes are gone!”

Yoo-Jin was paid 100,000 won per episode. With a tax deduction of 3.3%, she was paid 96,700 won.

‘That barely covers a day’s worth of gas after splitting with the agency. I can’t believe they are acting like we are doing this for money.’

People in this industry always seemed to be so thick-skinned.

Feeling that I might get caught in the crossfire if I stuck around, I headed to one side of the set. There, I found Yoo-Jin crouching on a waiting chair and looking around cautiously.

“Why are you sitting like that?”

Yoo-Jin asked as soon as she saw me.

“Yoon-Ho oppa. Is this happening because of the script changes?”

“Yeah, it’s because of that.”

“I’m sorry...” Yoo-Jin said with an apologetic look.

I raised my hand to stop her from apologizing and opened my mouth.

“Wait. What are you apologizing for? For acting well? For being too pretty? If being pretty were a crime, you’d be on death row.”

Yoo-Jin burst into giggles when I cracked an old man’s joke.

‘Well, I was indeed an old man before traveling back in time.’

But these days, I was gradually adapting to being in my twenties again.

Yoo-Jin smiled for a moment, but her gloomy expression still remained on her face.

Feeling the need to console her, I looked into her eyes and said in a firm voice.

“Yoo-Jin, listen to me. Every actor tries to secure more screen time in a drama, and the fact that you secured more scenes by appealing to the writer is the result of your effort. So when you feel sorry about gaining screen time, you’re essentially disregarding the efforts of talent agents like me who try to get their actors even one more scene.”

“Oh...that’s not what I meant...I just...”

“I know how you feel. But as a professional, you should never think that way in the future. You should always be ambitious and try your best to get even one more shot. Are you going to give up your screen time whenever other actors demand it?”

“No, of course not!”

“That’s right. Now we are talking.”

Yoo-Jin quickly understood my point. In reality, people employed countless sneaky tactics to snatch roles from others. Compared to them, Yoo-Jin had earned her scenes through pure talent and effort.

‘She should be proud of herself for that.’

“And don’t you worry. Everything will be resolved.”

“But how?”

“Just trust me and wait. You’ll see. Now, shall we warm up and practice your acting?”

Yoo-Jin tilted her head in wonder but started practicing as I instructed.

***

After having a conversation with the staff, Oh Duk-Gu returned to the parking lot.

“Yoo-Jin, I’m sorry to tell you this. But it looks like we’re gonna have to shoot Episode 22 as per the original script. Episodes 23 and 24 have been canceled. I’m really sorry.”

Oh Duk-Gu said as he bowed his head, assuming all the responsibility.

However, Yoo-Jin responded in a calm voice.

“Um, but Mr. Oh, Yoon-Ho oppa just told me to prepare for acting.”

“Huh?”

Oh Duk-Gu looked at me with a puzzled look. Looking at him, I explained to him what happened while he was gone.

“I couldn’t report it because you were in a conversation with the staff.”

“Report what?”

I smirked and handed him my phone. Oh Duk-Gu chuckled silently.

[Kang Ji-Yung: Ms. Lee Ji-Yeon is leaving her office in Namyangju right now. Good job, Star Jung. She was furious after seeing the video you sent. Great work. I love you~.]

Lee Ji-Yeon was coming.

***

“Did she just get fired?”

“As she should. She was trying to take Eun-Bin unnie’s spot. Serves her right.”

“I just posted on Twitter about Eun-Bin struggling so much because of her.”

The Petite Angels came to the parking lot to distribute lunch for staff and sniggered as they walked past us.

Watching them talk badly about Yoo-Jin, Oh Duk-Gu banged the dashboard in frustration inside the van.

“Ugh, those jerks...seriously!”

“Calm down, Mr. Oh.”

“How do you stay calm in this situation?”

“Everything will end once Ms. Lee Ji-Yeon arrives.”

Then Oh Duk-Gu took out his phone to show me a post on Twitter.

“Yeah? Then how are we going to deal with this?”

[K. Song (Kim Seung-Ae): I heard that dough face bribed the staff for her role, but she got kicked out of the set with her lack of talent. (Scene photo)]

[LIJA (Lee Jin-AH): Her acting is total trash compared to Eun-Bin’s excellent acting. (Scene photo) I don’t know why they would cast someone like her in the first place. How much did Hoop Entertainment pay them?]

When I saw the Twitter posts from Kim Seung-Ae and Lee Jin-Ah of Petite Angels, I immediately opened the van door on the driver’s side as I couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Huh? Where are you going?”

“I’m going to teach them a lesson. I’ll be back soon.”

“By yourself? But didn’t you tell me to hold back?”

“Come on~. I know how to deal with this kind of situation on my own now. I’ll tell them firmly to delete their posts.”

Seeing the sudden change in my attitude, Oh Duk-Gu made a face of disbelief. I was certain Hoop Entertainment would soon intervene to have the post removed since I reported that Petite Angels had visited the site today. But I couldn’t let those two bring down Yoo-Jin like this.

After stepping out of the van, I called over Kim Seung-Ae and Lee Jin-Ah who were busy counting the lunchboxes to one side of the parking lot.

Kim Seung-Ae looked at me with a salty look on her face and spoke first.

“What did you call us for? Are you hungry or something? Want a lunchbox?”

Lee Jin-Ah shook her phone and added.

“No way. Don’t tell me you came to ask us to delete the tweet. What a shame that’s not gonna happen.”

Smiling in the face of their mockery, I opened my mouth,

“How much did the both of you steal from the gift funds collected from the Petite Angels for Park Eun-Bin?”

Their faces instantly turned to shock.

“W-what? What are you talking about?”

“W-what is this man saying?”

It was quite common for fan club leaders to collect money from members of the club for gifts and embezzle some of it. However, these two were particularly notorious.

In a few days, they would turn out to be the main culprits of an embezzlement case that I had noted down in my planner in the previous life.

[Everyday V10]

[Date: January 5th, 2020.]

-06:00 PM (Report) Embezzlement of gift funds by Petite Angels’ leaders. Meeting to review similar cases at Golden Road. Second Floor.

Recalling that day’s meeting, I cornered the two of them. They argued and denied my accusations at first, but started to waver as I dished out specific details.

Kim Seung-Ae shut her mouth and Lee Jin-Ah began to apologize. Their cockiness soon faded away and was replaced with humility as they politely bowed their heads.

Seeing their pale faces, I issued a final warning.

“Return all the embezzled money and take down the tweet about Yoo-Jin. You should be able to clean up all the negative comments from the other Petite Angels, right?”

The two of them quickly nodded.

“I’ll give you five minutes. If I catch you doing it again, I won’t show any mercy. Understood?”

“Okay, oppa.”

“Yes, oppa. We’ll have it deleted immediately.”

In an instant, their attitude towards me had shifted from referring to me as ‘this man’ to ‘oppa.’ Having warned them, I returned to the van.

“Woah. What did you do to make them so docile all of a sudden?” Oh Duk-Gu asked in astonishment.

“I didn’t say much. I just told them I’d sue if they didn’t delete the tweet.”

“You expect me to believe those crazy idiots became that quiet just from a warning?”

At that moment, A call came from deputy manager Kim Mi-Hye, saying that the malicious tweets about Yoo-Jin were being taken down one by one.

Oh Duk-Gu looked at me in surprise.

“No, but seriously. What did you really do?”

“I just talked to them. That’s all,” I reiterated.

To think I managed to tame the ferocious Petite Angels with just a few words. This made the fact that I had traveled back in time felt more real than ever. Before long, the record of their embezzlement in my planner also disappeared.

‘I guess I won’t need to report them.’

Now, all I had to do was wait for Lee Ji-Yeon.

***

A moment later, a pink Rose-Rise pulled into the set.

Lee Ji-Yeon got out of the luxurious car and headed straight toward our van. As I quickly got out of the van to greet her, she asked for a briefing on what had happened on set without a change in her expression.

“Hey, you~. Give me an update,” Lee Ji-Yeon demanded in a cold voice.

In a firm tone, I summarized the entire incident in one simple sentence.

“Park Doo-Shik messed around with your script, Ms. Lee!”

I had grown adept at succinctly summarizing events since traveling back in time.

“I see. What’s your name again?”

“I’m Jung Yoon-Ho from Hoop Entertainment, ma’am.”

Lee Ji-Yeon nodded as if she were trying to commit my name to memory.

“U-know~, huh? I love U-Know Yun-Ho[1]. Alright. I’ll remember you.”

Wearing a leopard print coat, a red dress, and red leather high heels, Lee Ji-Yeon led the way with her heels clicking against the ground.

Maintaining a slight distance, we followed behind her.

***

“Hahaha! Good, good. You are doing much better, Ms. Eun-Bin. Let’s do one more take and we’ll use the best one.”

“Okay, Mr. Park.”

The atmosphere between Park Eun-Bin and Park Doo-Shik seemed peaceful and harmonious.

Click, click.

But when the sound of Lee Ji-Yeon’s heels echoed throughout the set, the ongoing shoot came to an abrupt halt.

“Ms. Lee Ji-Yeon...? What is she doing here?”

“Did anyone know that she was coming to set today?”

Everyone on set looked visibly perplexed by Lee Ji-Yeon’s sudden and unexpected arrival.

“PD Park, I’m here. How’s the shoot going?”

Park Doo-Shik’s eyes trembled nervously, clearly caught off guard by Lee Ji-Yeon’s unexpected visit.

“U-uh, Ms. Lee. What brings you here today without notice...?”

Park Doo-Shik discreetly signaled to the surrounding staff with his eyes and gestures. After all, he wasn’t naive enough to think there wouldn’t be consequences for messing around with the script.

‘He must have already known the risks were high with the payment promised by TK Entertainment.’

AD Jung Ju-Chul and production PD Oh Hyun-Seok led the staff crew to greet Lee Ji-Yeon.

“Oh, my. Ms. Lee! It’s chilly out here. What brings you here without calling?”

“Hey, what are you doing? Hurry up and bring Ms. Lee in. How long will you let her stand out here?”

Lee Ji-Yeon smiled in a calm manner despite the staff’s flattery.

“It’s okay. Continue with your work and I’ll watch here. I just wanted to see how the shoot was going.”

“O-oh. About that...um...”

“Hm? What is it? Am I not allowed to watch?”

The flustered Jung Ju-Chul glanced at Park Doo-Shik. It was clear that chaos would ensue if Lee Ji-Yeon saw that they were proceeding with the original script after discarding the revised version.

“Tell me. Are you preventing me from observing the shoot after receiving all the scripts from me?”

Sweat dripped from Park Doo-Shik’s forehead despite the cold weather.

“Why are you sweating in this cold weather? Are you okay?”

“Ms. Lee. It’s not like that. It’s just that...we are almost done for the day, hahaha. So...”

Park Doo-Shik was trying to think on his feet, but Lee Ji-Yeon was no pushover.

“Weren’t you planning to shoot up to scene 279 today? That’s the sunset scene.”

Somehow, Lee Ji-Yeon had acquired a printed cue sheet[2]. With the cue sheets in her hand, Park Doo-Shik had no way out of this situation.

Perplexed, Park Doo-Shik began to make an excuse.

“W-we were going to shoot that scene in advance and process it with computer graphics. Isn’t it standard these days to handle backgrounds with computer graphics?”

Park Doo-Shik let out a sigh of relief, thinking he had dodged a bullet.

But Lee Ji-Yeon wasn’t done just yet.

“You’re using computer graphics instead of natural light for the sunset? Wow. MBS must have a lot of money.”

Seeing this as a way out, Park Doo-Shik puffed out his chest.

“Of course. There is substantial support with me in charge. Our viewership ratings have been great recently, so we have a lot of support. Hahaha!”

Upon seeing Park Doo-Shik’s arrogant attitude, Lee Ji-Yeon smiled and retorted.

“Oh, is that so? I’m sorry, Mr. Park. I didn’t know that the high viewership ratings were all thanks to you. Maybe I gave myself too much credit. Don’t you think so?”

“I-I didn’t mean it that way, Ms. Lee.”

When Lee Ji-Yeon spoke sarcastically, Park Doo-Shik quickly waved his hand to deny.

But Lee Ji-Yeon pulled out her phone and dialed a number with an emotionless face.

Ding, ding, ding.

Every staff member on site focused on Lee Ji-Yeon’s actions. Upon hearing her call out someone’s name in a friendly manner, everyone froze.

“Myung-Hak~. It’s me, Ji-Yeon.”

‘Myung-Hak? Could it be Kim Myung-Hak? Did she just call the chief producer of the MBS drama department?’

Kim Myung-Hak was the second in command, set to be the next department head. While all staff froze in place, Lee Ji-Yeon continued speaking to Kim Myung-Hak nonchalantly over the phone.

“Yes, it’s been a while. By the way, PD Park was telling me that MBS has a lot of money these days. Is it true? Yes. He said you guys can splurge on computer background for the backgrounds. No, for real. He has been ignoring me and even edited my script on his own...am I washed-up now or what?”

Park Doo-Shik’s face slowly turned pale as the call went on.

“Oh, you think I’m doing well? Alright, then double the fee for my next script. Haha, yes. What? You don’t know who PD Park is? You know, Park Doo-Shik. He’s the producer of the Morning Takes Off. Don’t you know him?”

Lee Ji-Yeon ignored Park Doo-Shik and played another move.

“Just a moment. There seems to be an issue with my earphones. I’m putting you on speaker now.”

‘Wow. She is indeed clever.’

Soon, the flustered voice of Kim Myung-Hak echoed from her phone.

1. Member of a famous old k-pop boy group TVXQ ?

2. A kind of shooting schedule laid out for the day ?