CHAPTER 022: The Long-Awaited First Broadcast
CHAPTER 022: The Long-Awaited First Broadcast
MBS Drama Division.
With only a few hours left until ’s first broadcast,
tension was written all over everyone’s faces.
And it made sense. The first broadcast date overlapped with SBC’s competing show, Ghost Doctor.
Production budget—also called a drama’s combat power.
Ghost Doctor’s production budget was a staggering 30 billion won.
“Frieza’s combat power was only 530,000, so why are they spending 30 billion?! In times like this?!”
“Looks like they completely bombed last year and came back grinding their teeth. They say episode 1 starts with LA as the setting… Ah! I’m jealous! I want to go to LA to film too!”
“You want to go to the US? If you want it, just say the word.”
“Is that in a positive sense?”
“If you come back, you won’t have a seat.”
“…I love Korea.”
Of course, budget doesn’t decide a drama’s success or failure.
But the destructive power of the word “30 billion” itself couldn’t be ignored.
That one word would generate articles and get it mentioned online at least one more time.
Still, what was fortunate was this.
“Our drama gets mentioned a lot these days too. Thanks to Ryu Sunho.”
“We probably have more community mentions than them, honestly. I saw a lot of people saying they’re waiting for the first broadcast because of that.”
In an era where OTT had become the trend,
the fact that internet community opinion was paying attention to was clearly good news.
Because it meant expectations were rising.
“CP-nim, you saw Ryu Sunho’s acting at the script reading, right? How was it?”
“It was just insane. That’s why I increased the investment, wasn’t it? He acted so chillingly, like someone who really got burned. It was at Senior Park Dusim’s suggestion—we turned off the lights and he acted. Ugh, I had a dream that night.”
“What dream? Don’t tell me you had a nightmare?”
“No, a pig dream. That means it’s a sure thing. And sure enough.”
“Sure enough?”
“He’s even better. He’s better on set, and he’s captured even better on camera. That’s why I didn’t even buy a lottery ticket. I wanted the pig-dream luck to pour into the drama.”
“I really hope so. We’ve been on a losing streak.”
“It’ll do well. Let’s hit it big and go for a beef dinner.”
“Then I’ll trust you, CP-nim. If it doesn’t work out, it’s CP-nim’s fault?”
“…Let’s blame the pig. If we flop, we’ll get revenge with pork belly.”
[‘ImParkJuwon’ has logged in.]
StealAndItsJisangryeol: What, why are you logging in after so long?
ImParkJuwon: Busy filming a drama
StealAndItsJisangryeol: This bastard’s concept obsession is really intense
AutumnMosquito: Just let him enjoy it lol
AutumnMosquito: Seeing him reminded me—today’s Divine Investigation first broadcast, right
ImParkJuwon: Yeah, make sure to watch
StealAndItsJisangryeol: I’ll watch because of you then
Seriously.
No matter how many times I told them it was real, they didn’t believe me.
These days, I even quit gaming, and I was living with total sincerity toward the drama.
Every day… not every day, but at least once a week, I worked out, and I practiced the script diligently too.
I even quit drinking, which I loved.
No matter how much my friends tried to drag me out, I kept holding back and enduring it.
Except for one time.
…They said Faker made it to the finals—how was I supposed to hold back.
How long had it been since I lived like this.
Wasn’t this the first time since my rookie days?
It was all because of Ryu Sunho.
No—thanks to him.
Because watching him, I got a lot of stimulation.
A fresh, attractive, handsome face.
And on top of that, inborn acting skill.
Up to there, he was similar to me.
But the passion was different.
Like he had an obsession, he ran at the same time every day, and whenever he had even a short gap, he buried his nose in the script and memorized it relentlessly.
He acts with his whole body, with full sincerity. He’s pouring himself out completely.
He wasn’t trying hard to act well—he was grinding himself down so he couldn’t help but be good.
Seeing that changed my mindset.
At first it had been, I can’t lose to him.
Now it was, I want to make a good drama together.
From competition to cooperation.
Still, the award is mine.
Today was finally ’s first broadcast day.
The ratings had to be good.
Only then could I hope for an acting award at the year-end awards ceremony.
No matter how good your acting was, if the ratings didn’t come out, you couldn’t get a good score.
With a reverent heart, let’s watch the first broadcast.
But…
Watching alone was boring.
I wanted to watch while having a drink too.
Ah, no. I can’t collapse here.
You’re not some weak-willed guy, are you?
No, you are, but… anyway, the weak past you died and was reborn, right?
Then, a good idea came to me.
Ryu Sunho will watch the first broadcast too, right?
Call Ryu Sunho and watch together.
That obsessively upright, model-citizen type.
If he was next to me, somehow even my posture straightened up.
He definitely wouldn’t drink.
It felt like he could make up for my lacking willpower.
I’m a genius.
I immediately called Ryu Sunho.
In the end, I chose , and Jo Sehun kept recommending a few more times before giving up.
“Fine. Choosing a project is the actor’s decision. But no regrets later, got it?”
Regrets, my ass.
I was going to make it succeed no matter what.
First, today was the long-awaited first broadcast day.
So I posted a photo on Instagram.
This roleplay wouldn’t last much longer now.
The photo I posted tomorrow would probably be the last.
@seoho20
[Dori]
As soon as I posted it, comments started pouring in fast.
-Why won’t you post a selfie
-Seoho, did you suddenly get shy
-We want to see Seoho’s face
-Photos (0/10) Videos (0/10)
-But the photo feels kind of different somehow?
-Is it just me, or does it feel a little dark?
-Is he really pressured because it’s the first broadcast today
-Feels like late-onset middle-school syndrome
Someone detected a subtle change.
Thanks.
I hoped this person would find the easter egg later.
On the way home, I stopped by a convenience store and bought four cans of beer.
It was the first broadcast of my life—at least I should celebrate.
It was a shame there was no one to watch it with, though.
If I hadn’t had work in the morning, I would’ve gone back to my hometown and watched it with my family.
Or… would that be weird?
Would it be a bit much to watch that with family?
Then a call came.
The caller was Park Juwon.
“Sunho, want to watch the first broadcast together at my place?”
When I walked into Park Juwon’s place carrying beer,
he made a horrified expression.
“Y-you… brought beer.”
“Why?”
“You’re going to drink?”
“Of course.”
“Ha, then there’s no helping it. If Sunho drinks alone, it’ll be lonely, so I have to drink with you. This is a real sacrifice, okay? I’m not drinking because I want to. I’m not?”
“You don’t have to drink if you don’t want to.”
“N-no! Please don’t do that! Please let me sacrifice myself!”
What was wrong with this guy?
Then Seo Yoonha arrived as well.
“Oh, Yoonha’s here. Hey, why did you bring the script again…”
“You told me to bring food.”
“I did. Why did you bring the script?”
“I have to chew up the script.”
“Ha… fine.”
Park Juwon turned to me.
“We’re in the same agency and in the same drama, so it’s nice to gather and watch together.”
Is he some kind of philanthropist?
How many times was he going to repeat the word “together”?
Then Seo Yoonha looked at me and asked.
“Come to think of it, I saw you greeting Director Yoon Gyeonghwan last time. What did you talk about?”
“Ah, we talked about a film.”
“Why. Did he ask you to be in his film?”
“Yes.”
Their eyes widened at the same time.
Especially Park Juwon.
“Seriously? What role? Don’t tell me the lead?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, that’s insane! Right after debuting, you’re the lead in Director Yoon Gyeonghwan’s film?”
“I’m not doing it.”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“I decided not to.”
“Why? Why! Why wouldn’t you do it??”
“I don’t think it’ll be easy to adjust the schedule with another film.”
“What film? Don’t tell me Director Baek Junbong—”
“No. It’s a debut film by a rookie director.”
“Huh? What? You turned down Director Yoon Gyeonghwan’s film to go into a debut film?”
They were even more shocked now.
Park Juwon asked carefully.
“Who’s the director?”
“Director Ji Seongwoo.”
“Ji Seongwoo… Ji Seongwoo… I’ve never heard of him. Yoonha, do you know?”
“I’ve never heard of him either.”
Park Juwon looked at me with regretful eyes.
“Well, since it’s you, Sunho, I’m sure you thought it through… but why are you so fixated on that?”
Hmm.
What should I say?
I couldn’t exactly say I’d seen the future.
So I gave a suitably actor-like answer.
“The script was better.”
.
.
.
There were about ten minutes left until the broadcast started.
I picked up my phone and checked community reactions.
The real-time boards were already boiling with posts about dramas starting today.
Mentions of the competing show caught my eye first.
[Ghost Doctor first broadcast today—who’s watching?]
-They spent 30 billion, so I’m curious
-If it’s 30 billion you have to watch, production budget equals drama quality
-The trailer made Go Junhyeok’s acting look good
-I’ll watch clips later and if it’s good I’ll watch. Medical dramas are too predictable these days
-I’ll turn on both and watch the more fun one
└Yeah, same. I’ll keep both on, then switch when Kang Seoho shows up
[Divine Investigation first broadcast waiting squad, gather]
-I even turned on notifications for Kang Seoho’s Instagram; I’m ready to over-immerse
-They made me this curious, so I have to watch episode 1 at least
-Seriously, the marketing team deserves an award. I’ve never been immersed in a drama before it even starts
-I ordered green onion chicken and I’m waiting, hurry up and let it be 10 p.m. Everyone, watch. Park Juwon’s acting is insane
I looked at Park Juwon, who was scrolling his phone with green onion chicken in front of him.
“Huh? Why?”
“…Nothing.”
No way.
It was just a coincidence in taste.
“Yoonha, what ratings did you bet?”
Seo Yoonha shoveled a big bite of cheesecake into her mouth and answered.
“7%.”
“Oh, you bet high. What was Sunho’s again?”
“10%.”
“…Yeah. A rookie can hope like that.”
“It’s starting!”
The broadcast began.
A shaman, Shin Myeongju, who received a spirit descent at a young age, lived a lonely life while being ostracized.
[Everyone else is Jia and Soyul—why am I the only one Myeongju? And Shin Myeongju at that!]
With a pitiful yet adorable charm, Seo Yoonha captured viewers first.
Then the screen shifted to a cold autopsy room.
A detective, Han Jaeyoon, who trusted his instincts and moved, only to lose a precious junior.
[Instinct my ass… if you’re going to do it, get out right now.]
After that, the day Han Jaeyoon—who had lived like a wreck—returned to work and came back into the world.
In front of the fire station, Kang Seoho and Han Jaeyoon met.
Soaked in sweat, Kang Seoho had finished training and was dragging in ragged breaths.
The camera closed in on his face.
A clear face beaded with sweat, and eyes that glittered with accomplishment even through the exhaustion.
Then Han Jaeyoon stepped into the training grounds.
The camera alternated between Seoho’s bright smile as he handed over a water bottle and Jaeyoon’s tired face as he accepted it indifferently.
“Man… you’re really good. How is this your first time, but you make expressions that naturally?”
“Seriously… so you could do this, and you wouldn’t even practice the script with me because you wanted to do well alone…”
The two of them reacting in real time beside me.
After that.
With Kang Seoho’s help, Han Jaeyoon steeled his resolve and began solving cases again.
But due to past trauma, Han Jaeyoon clung even more strongly to science and became obsessed with logic.
In the end, even after returning, he couldn’t catch the culprit for two years.
From the team’s ace to an incompetent obsessive patient.
When he was about to give up detective work in self-loathing, Shin Myeongju appeared before him.
Her sharp statements repeatedly cut ahead of his deductions,
and the instincts he had dismissed as “no way” eventually led to decisive evidence.
Like water and oil, yet somehow seeming to blend—
as they gradually deepened their understanding and affection for each other,
the screen suddenly went black.
“Huh? What, it’s already over?”
Before Park Juwon even finished speaking, a short, violent roar exploded.
In the flames, a shrine burned black.
The camera slowly swept through the interior reduced to ashes.
And in the middle of it, beneath a faint light, stood one person.
The man slowly pulled a notebook from his chest.
The camera zoomed in on the notebook.
Inside was a photo of Shin Myeongju, as if she were the next target.
With a grotesque X slashed over it in red pen.
[They say the gods are dead. Then why… are you still alive?]
A bizarrely distorted voice flowed out,
and episode 1 ended.
An ending that abruptly flipped the mood, drove immersion to its peak, and cut off.
Park Juwon and Seo Yoonha were briefly speechless as they stared at each other—then shouted in excited voices.
“This is definitely…!”
“Feels like the reaction’s going to explode, right?”
Around the same time.
MBS Drama Control Room.
“It started! The first ratings… 4.8%!”
At the youngest staffer’s shout, CP swallowed dryly.
“Not bad. First starts for this time slot are usually in the 4% range.”
“CP-nim! What about SBC?”
“…They’re starting at 6.2%!”
“Ha… damn it.”
A low sigh slipped out.
The might of 30 billion was overwhelming from the start.
“Damn, we’re behind early.”
“It’s fine. We have Seo Yoonha.”
As CP said, when Seo Yoonha’s acting began on screen, the ratings graph started to rise slightly.
“Good, good! We passed 5%!”
“Ah, it’s dropping! They’re starting the LA scene now!”
“Damn it, are we losing to money power…”
Everyone bit their lips anxiously.
Then, Ryu Sunho appeared on screen.
“Alright, Ryu Sunho’s coming up. We have to rebound here!”
As the scene between Kang Seoho and Han Jaeyoon began,
the youngest staffer calling out the ratings started to tremble.
“It’s going up! It’s going up! We broke 6%! 7%!”
“What? Really?”
“We’ve caught up on the minute-by-minute ratings!”
The atmosphere flipped in an instant.
As if they’d all agreed, everyone held their breath and sank into the screen.
The drama rushed toward the climax, then came to an end with the chilling ending scene.
“It’s the last commercial! If they change channels now, it’s over! Please!”
“The ending scene… 9.8%… 9.9%…!”
The room fell into total silence.
Everyone’s eyes were locked on the monitor waiting for the final tally.
Ten seconds that felt like a minute passed.
The youngest staffer watching the ratings suddenly shot up from his seat.
“CP-nim…”
He looked like he was about to cry. CP shouted urgently.
“What is it—say it! Don’t make my insides explode!”
In a shaking voice, the youngest staffer cried out.
“10.3%…!”
“……!”
A split second of silence.
Then cheers erupted loud enough to blow the roof off the office.
“Waaaaaah!”
“We did it! We did it!”
“This is insane! We broke 10%!”
CP couldn’t hide the excitement and yelled,
“This—tell Park-writer and Director Chae!”
The writing studio of Director Chae Wongi and writer Park Eunju, after receiving the news.
“R-really… we broke 10%…!”
“Waaaaaah!!!”
Park Eunju screamed and ran around the studio.
Then she abruptly stopped and said,
“Wait. We haven’t even shown Kang Seoho’s dark turn scene, or the scene where the shrine gets set on fire yet, right?”
“That’s in episode 2. They still don’t even know Kang Seoho is the villain.”
“Then… episode 2 is going to be insane.”
Director Chae Wongi nodded, swallowing hard.
And the next day.
Episode 2 aired, and Park Eunju’s prediction hit.
Not only because of the content of the drama, but because a post like this went up in the communities.
-Oh my god, I went into Kang Seoho’s Instagram and found something huge…
-Up until now, Kang Seoho has posted 7 Instagram posts, right?
-Read only the first letters of those posts.
└Holy shit, that’s insane!
└Fucking chills!!!!!!