Chapter 53
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Scene.53 This Isn't That Kind of Meeting
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Scene.53
This Isn't That Kind of Meeting
After finishing the first early morning shoot, Kim Seong-hui returned to her room and collapsed from exhaustion.
Arriving in Malta the day before, followed by a dawn shoot. Less than a day had passed, but she was already overwhelmed with exhaustion from dealing with one incident after another.
She had only attended the dawn shoot to mark the start. Otherwise, she would have kept sleeping.
Having skipped her meal, Seong-hui was sleeping like the dead on the sofa when the incessant ringing of her phone made her mind go fuzzy.
“Ugh. Dammit. Let me sleep. Please! I'm dead tired!”
Seong-hui buried her head in the corner of the sofa, trying to ignore the ringing, but it would stop for a moment only to start again. The relentless sound made her feel like her already hazy mind was about to abandon her completely.
“Stop! Stooooop!”
Seong-hui, who had been burrowing into the corner of the sofa like an eel, couldn't take it anymore and shot up.
“Who is it! What bastard is calling this early!”
Seong-hui snatched her smartphone and glared at the screen with bloodshot eyes.
“CP Yu?”
After confirming the name on the screen, Seong-hui stared blankly for a moment before jolting in surprise and pressing the call button.
“CP-nim?”
-Writer Kim. Why did it take you so long to answer!
Yu Han-seong's urgent voice, as if he were being chased, frightened Seong-hui. It hadn't even been two hours since they parted ways after the shoot. Had something else happened in that short time?
“Wh-what is it? Did another incident occur?”
-It did. And not just any incident. A major one.
“.....”
-Writer Kim? Are you listening?
“Haaa…”
Hearing Seong-hui's deep sigh, as if the ground were collapsing, Yu Han-seong let out a sigh of his own.
-First, come to my room. Let's talk face-to-face. We need to have an emergency production team meeting.
“I'll be right there.”
*
At the same time Yu Han-seong was calling for an emergency meeting, a few managers were gathered together, laughing gleefully.
“This won't cause any problems, will it?”
A timid-looking manager puffed nervously on his cigarette. Seeing this, Han Wu-guk, the manager of supporting actor Jin Seong-ha, let out a smirk.
“Problems have already piled up. Let's be honest. Do you really think this drama can be filmed properly?”
Another manager chimed in, agreeing with Han Wu-guk.
“It has disaster written all over it. There's no way this gets made. HS isn't some run-of-the-mill small company. They're one of the top five conglomerates in Korea. You think they'll just take that humiliation lying down? No way.”
“When the ship is sinking, are we just supposed to stand by and watch? We have to find a way to save ourselves.”
At Han Wu-guk's words, the other managers from smaller agencies at the smoke break nodded in agreement.
“So, when is the article coming out?”
“Now that we've thrown them some bait, they'll probably build some hype before publishing it.”
“Still, thanks to Manager Han, we'll get something out of this, regardless of the drama. At the very least, a rumor will spread that the actors cast in this drama have top-notch character.”
“Of course, of course.”
Han Wu-guk smiled, a triumphant look on his face.
Just then, Park Sang-do from UN Entertainment appeared, picking his teeth, and spoke.
“What kind of rumor did you start to make everyone so happy? I'd like to hear it too.”
When Park Sang-do showed up, the less experienced managers stepped aside.
Park Sang-do looked at Han Wu-guk, his eyes asking, ‘What is it?’
“Ah, well, you see...”
Han Wu-guk proudly rattled off the details of the survival plan he had devised.
HS won't just stand by. This drama is doomed to fail no matter how it's filmed.
Before we go down with the ship, I'll create a casting issue to protect the actors' images.
Considering the talk and the atmosphere, it's clear that 'character' was a factor in the casting, isn't it?
Rather than stupidly getting swept away with everyone else, it's better to grab onto something like this and get out.
“Before it's too late, we should just cross the river and watch Han Mi-ra's house burn, right?”
Hearing Han Wu-guk, Park Sang-do couldn't help but look at him with pity.
He had agreed to lead the charge against TNT, thinking of Choi Pil-yeon, but at this rate, it wasn't leading the charge—it was being asked to be cannon fodder.
‘Tsk. To think I was about to join hands with idiots like these.’
He recalled Director Choi Pil-yeon's words to wait at least 24 hours before raising any issues.
‘Dammit. In the end, Choi Pil-yeon was right again. I wonder if the way I'm looking at these guys now is how Choi Pil-yeon looks at me.’
Noticing Park Sang-do's unpleasant expression, Han Wu-guk cautiously watched him.
“Is there a problem?”
“Manager Han Wu-guk.”
“Yes, Director Park.”
“If you're slow to get information, you should at least be sharp. If you're not sharp, you should at least have some integrity.”
“What?”
“Forget it. Don't act like you know me from now on.”
Just yesterday, he was shaking their hands, talking about leading them, and now he was suddenly cutting ties? Han Wu-guk was instantly offended.
“Hey! What are you talking about all of a sudden? It hasn't even been a day since we shook hands and agreed to be on the same side. Isn't this too much? Even if you are a senior in the industry.”
Director Park clicked his tongue and said one more thing.
“HS apologized. Politely, too.”
“What?”
As Han Wu-guk stared in bewilderment, wondering what he meant, the phone in his hand buzzed.
The name ‘Entertainment Division, Reporter Wang’ appeared on the screen.
Han Wu-guk turned away and quickly answered the call.
“Yes, Reporter Wang. So, is the article ready... What? What? What? No. There's no way I did that. What? Y-yes!?”
Han Wu-guk responded, his expression growing more and more flustered.
"No. That's not it. I told you, I didn't give the information to anyone but you, Reporter Wang. Ah, come on. I said no. What? Hello? Reporter Wang? Hello?"
Han Wu-guk stared at his smartphone, a 'what the hell just happened' look on his face.
The same person who had been cheerfully talking about buying him drinks back in Korea just this morning had just unleashed a torrent of irritation and hung up on him.
“Why? What's wrong?”
The other managers glanced at Park Sang-do and peppered Han Wu-guk with questions.
“No. It's just... Ha, fuck. Who was it? I said I'd handle it. Which bastard went and leaked it to another reporter!”
Han Wu-guk yelled at the managers who were questioning him.
Park Sang-do clicked his tongue in disapproval and turned to leave.
He had shot Han Wu-guk a pathetic look, but if he hadn't heard the information Lee Ha-na brought the night before, he would have automatically joined that group of idiots himself.
‘Who would have imagined? That Camu was the scriptwriter for Urus Club.’
And that wasn't all. The news that he had meticulously prepared video evidence in preparation for a counterattack from HS had made his head spin.
The farmer father was an extraordinary character, and now it seemed his son was just as formidable.
Suddenly, a movie title came to mind.
[My Love, Don't Cross That River.]
“Damn, I almost crossed that river myself.”
*
In CP Yu Han-seong's room, the directors, lead actors, and their agency managers were gathered.
Since it was a matter related to the filming pace, they needed to inform the lead actors first and ask for their understanding.
He was explaining that the currently airing drama would be ending early and that their future schedule might change because of it, when a call came from PD Park Chan-seong, who was leading the B-team in Korea.
“Yeah, Chan-seong. What? What do you mean? That article was supposed to be coordinated with our schedule... Dammit. When it rains, it pours. Okay, I get it. You heard from the department head, right? Right. What can we do? We'll just have to run ourselves ragged. They said they'll add another team. Leave the minor stuff to the C-team and get over here as fast as you can. Right.”
After finishing the call, Yu Han-seong clutched his head in anguish.
“What is it this time?”
Seong-hui looked at Yu Han-seong with her bloodshot eyes.
“The casting article is out.”
“What? What casting... Algorithm Reporter Hwang?”
Yu Han-seong nodded.
“But why! That was supposed to be released later, when the drama airs...”
“The information was leaked from our side.”
“Our side who?”
“Not the production side. Apparently, one of the managers who came with us pulled a stunt. The reporter had the article ready and was just waiting for the schedule, but then a rumor started that an article about the actors' character was about to break. They figured they'd get scooped if they waited, so they published it first.”
Seong-hui immediately went to a Korean portal site to search for the article. She didn't have to; it was right there on the main page.
As Kim Seong-hui clicked the article and read its contents, her expression hardened when she saw the comments below.
“This is a bit risky.”
At Seong-hui's words, Yu Han-seong immediately checked the article as well.
“Dammit. If this goes wrong, we could become villains in this industry.”
The production directors all checked the article and nodded in unison.
They spent nearly an hour exchanging opinions, trying to find a solution, but couldn't reach a clear conclusion.
Exhausted from the fruitless conversation, a lull fell over the room.
“Writer Kim. This is something we should tell Camu and the President, right?”
Seong-hui nodded at Yu Han-seong's words and immediately contacted Yu-hyeon.
*
In the main house's dining room, the parties involved in the incident were seated, along with Bishop Duan, who had no direct connection to the matter but was present nonetheless.
Yu-hyeon placed Lee Jae-eun's smartphone on one side of the table.
Lee Won-cheol was surveying the attendees when he noticed Bishop Duan and his expression turned to one of ‘Huh?’
“He has joined us in the hope that this matter will be resolved amicably in a peaceful atmosphere.”
At Yu-hyeon's explanation, Lee Won-cheol nodded with an 'Is that so?' expression, but Kang Man-dong, who had sat as far from Duan as possible, had a look that screamed, 'Wait! Why is he here?'
When Yu-hyeon shook his head as if to say he couldn't stop him, Kang Man-dong's eyes showed a hint of despair.
He could only pray inwardly that Bishop Duan's favorite phrases—‘My child, my brother. Let us pray together.’—would not be directed at him.
Kang Man-dong discreetly turned his head to look at Lee Won-cheol on the screen.
“You might be wondering why we're having drinks in a situation like this. But let me be clear. This is absolutely not a meeting to reconcile with or forgive President Lee Jae-yoon.”
At Kang Man-dong's words, Lee Won-cheol cleared his throat, ‘Ahem!’ He wasn't ignorant of the circumstances, but hearing it stated so bluntly was still unsettling.
“Honestly. If this were Korea.”
Kang Man-dong let out a deep sigh and continued.
“I wouldn't have been able to do anything, and I would have ended up in the same situation as Ms. Han Mi-ra. What do you think, sir?”
-Ahem.
“If I'm wrong, feel free to say so.”
-....
When Lee Won-cheol remained silent, not offering a response, Kang Man-dong pressed him again, as if determined to get an answer.
“Am I wrong?”
-Just say what you want to say.
“You should call a spade a spade. You're making life unnecessarily difficult.”
-.....You're right, President Kang. If this were in Korea, this never would have happened. And I certainly wouldn't have been contacted.
“But that's the problem, isn't it?”
-.....
“They say few children turn out the way their parents hope, but still, when he was out there doing terrible things, you should have called him in and disciplined him. How could you turn a blind eye while he was out there pulling this kind of nonsense?”
Hearing Kang Man-dong's blunt words, Han Mi-ra, sitting beside him, looked worried.
“President-nim.... He's still the chairman.”
Han Mi-ra, already full of worry that Kang Man-dong would be harmed because of this incident, cautiously tried to stop him.
“Ms. Mi-ra. I don't work for HS. So, to me, he's not the chairman, just a respected elder. And right now, he's just a father who's ashamed of his misbehaving son.”
At Kang Man-dong's words, not only Lee Jae-yoon, whose face was bruised and swollen, but also Lee Jae-eun, who was sitting with them, looked aghast.
Who in the world would say such a thing.
Not behind his back, but right in front of the HS chairman!
Things had gotten off to a rocky start, but the two of them had thought this was just a casual gathering for drinks to ease the tension. They were only now realizing that this meeting was not what they had imagined at all.