Chapter 72
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Jennifer Han
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Scene.72
Jennifer Han
After the screening, the faces of the broadcast station officials were all flushed with excitement.
Director Yang, who had attended with a nervous heart, was just as surprised.
“Director Yang.”
“Yes, President.”
“Is this really a drama our station produced?”
President Pyo, having watched the character-specific first trailers and the first two episodes, looked at Director Yang, unable to hide his excitement.
The drama’s production budget, which had started at 8 billion won, had ballooned after repeated investments. It was now approaching 50 billion won. A sum of this magnitude was enormous, the kind of money that could only be recouped by producing a major 50-episode historical drama.
At first, as investments rolled in one after another, he had cheered, clapped, and even danced alone in his office.
But now…
‘We may have started it… but honestly, I’m not so sure anymore.’
While GBS Broadcasting held the broadcasting rights for Korea and Asia, the rights for the Americas and Europe had been sold off to other investors long ago.
On top of that, they were in a position where they couldn't even influence the production. It was a drama where it wouldn't be strange to say the tail was now wagging the dog.
“Congratulations, President.”
Rather than debating whether they had made it or not, Director Yang Sang-do concluded his response with a word of congratulations.
President Pyo, with a slightly dazed look in his eyes, chuckled repeatedly before placing a hand on Director Yang’s shoulder.
“I expect to see you at the board meeting next quarter. You’ve worked very hard.”
“Th… Thank you!”
Director Yang bowed at a ninety-degree angle to President Pyo.
"How many episodes did they say have been produced?"
"Filming is complete up to episode seven, and they're currently editing the fourth episode."
“How long until it airs?”
“The premiere is in two weeks.”
“Right. Two weeks.”
President Pyo wore a look of disappointment, as if that were still too long to wait. Judging by his expression, he wanted to start airing it today.
“Let’s get the trailers up first. The other stations need to know what kind of drama we’ve created.”
“Yes, President. We’ll start releasing the trailers tomorrow…”
“No. Right now! Shove them into every commercial break and hit them with sheer volume! And what’s that thing… release them on all the internet video sites, too!”
“What? Yes, President.”
*
The *Lover of Malta* issue had garnered public interest as the story evolved from the actor’s character problems to the investment from HS Group. But as no new tidbits emerged, people’s attention had begun to wane slightly.
There was no news about the production, the filming locations, or even the cast. Unlike the initial noisy announcement, there had been almost no news since.
Just as it seemed the buzz around *Lover of Malta* was quietly fading, a single trailer set the market ablaze.
GBS Broadcasting, as if determined to demonstrate the meaning of a human-wave attack, began frantically flooding every possible media outlet with the ‘Lover of Malta - 1st Trailer.’
*
Colleagues with not an ounce of cooperative spirit.
Clients who only made ridiculous requests.
A married boss who made small talk unrelated to work while smirking with a perverted gaze.
If she could, she’d throw her resignation letter in their faces, but a girl’s gotta eat.
Im Eun-ji was an ordinary office worker whose meager salary treated her bank account like a bus stop, just passing through before disappearing, forcing her to postpone any thoughts of saving to her next life.
After finishing her workday, Im Eun-ji returned to her cozy one-room apartment, barely six *pyeong* in size. She barely washed up before grabbing a can of beer and perching on her mattress.
Her only escape and hobby in life was stanning her favorite idols. She turned on the laptop she’d bought from a second-hand market for this purpose and put on her headphones.
The laptop was old, but she couldn't tolerate shoddy speakers when listening to her boys’ voices, so she had bought a high-end headset on a six-month payment plan.
“Let’s see. I wonder how many views my boys’ new music video has gotten.”
Sipping her beer, she went to YouTube and was about to move her cursor to the search bar to watch her idols’ music video as usual.
But just then, whether by chance or by fate, ‘Lover of Malta - 1st Trailer’ in the new videos section caught her eye.
“Lover of Malta? Ah! *That* Malta.”
Even though she was absorbed in the world of idols, she wasn’t unaware of the news about the drama casting incident that had recently heated up the entertainment section.
It had been quite a fresh piece of news with intriguing details, so until about two weeks ago, she had followed it with considerable interest.
The lack of news made her think it was just another story fading away, but then a trailer appeared without any warning.
“Well, whatever. It’s just another predictable romance.”
Im Eun-ji was about to ignore the trailer and search for her boys’ video when the view count below the video caught her attention.
“Huh?”
Blinking, thinking she must have misread, she checked the number again.
“It was uploaded four hours ago… and it already has over 100,000 views?”
Was that kind of view count even possible in four hours for something that wasn't a famous singer's music video?
Maybe for a Hollywood blockbuster trailer, but this was a Korean romance drama.
She considered ignoring it, but her eyes kept drifting back to it.
Tilting her head, Im Eun-ji moved the cursor over the trailer.
“A trailer is only a few minutes long. Just a quick peek before I greet my boys.”
Muttering an excuse, as if feeling guilty for starting with a different video instead of her idols’ upon returning home, she clicked on it and maximized the screen.
A moment later.
Im Eun-ji checked the video title again.
“What… the hell. Wasn’t this supposed to be a romance drama?”
With a look of utter confusion, she hit the replay button.
The character trailers highlighted each character's unique vibe, followed by an onslaught of incredible action scenes. And the final scene on a cliff at sunset!
Watching the video as if mesmerized, Im Eun-ji hit replay again.
Forgetting that she needed to increase the view count for her boys' music video, Im Eun-ji replayed the trailer more than ten times, eventually just clicking on the end to watch the same scene over and over.
Elizabeth in her rider gear, Lee Ha-na in her skinny outfit, and Seong Ye-rim in a red skirt.
The three women, breathing heavily as if after a fierce fight, turned their heads in unison as if on cue.
The camera spun to reveal a mysterious man standing at the edge of the cliff.
Lee Ha-na opened her mouth to speak to him.
“M.”
The man, who had been gazing at the crimson sunset over the horizon, slowly turned his head at Lee Ha-na’s call.
At that moment, a sea breeze swept in, whipping the man's long hair that had been obscuring his face up into the air.
Im Eun-ji gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth. No matter how many times she re-watched it, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from that final scene!
The man’s smiling face was briefly visible before the screen faded to black, and the title ‘Lover of Malta’ [The Birth of the Urus Club] appeared as if written with a calligraphy brush, ending the video.
“Aaaargh! So who is M?!”
Im Eun-ji scrolled down the screen and began to read the comments on the video.
At first, only Koreans were commenting, but as she scrolled, the number of comments in English was steadily increasing.
-Anyone have info on M!
-M is the same M from Urus Club, right? Right?!
-what the FXXX! What is it for?
-Wow! This is a drama trailer? GBS has lost its mind!
-Can someone explain the camera work in the car chase scene?
-Annie! Take me!
-Come on, if you’re going to show his face, show it properly! What’s with this cliffhanger at the end!
-What kind of romance is this! It’s an action-thriller-mystery-adventure! Whoa! I feel totally blindsided.
-If you feel so blindsided, then just don't watch it!
-Mystery Man, M! Show me your face!
-It's not a bad kind of blindsided! I'm definitely watching this live!
-But even though it's an action-thriller-mystery-adventure, it's also a romance.
-This is a romance?
-Can't you tell? It's about Elizabeth, Lee Ha-na, and Seong Ye-rim fighting over M.
-Really? Does that count as a romance?
-SO WHO IS M!
-Anyone who knows who that guy is, raise your hand!
-This is insane! Even Hollywood action scenes aren't on this level.
-You’d have to compare it to one of Uncle Tom's movies.
-Seriously! Who is M!
-There’s info on Jo Seong-hyeon’s SNS!!!
Im Eun-ji, who had been searching for information about M in the comments, immediately went to Jo Seong-hyeon’s social media page.
A new post with a photo and a caption caught her eye.
“My bro?”
She had heard Jo Seong-hyeon was an only child. What was this about? Im Eun-ji immediately checked the post.
#MyBro #OriginalAuthorOfUrusMurderCase #CoWriter.
After reading the hashtags, Im Eun-ji tilted her head. There was no information about M anywhere.
“Maybe in the photo?”
Im Eun-ji scrolled through the pictures Jo Seong-hyeon had posted.
“What the heck? Why are all the pictures like this?”
It was clear he had taken pictures with someone, but every single one was angled so that the person's face wasn't visible.
#MyBroIsSoCool. #HyeonHyeonBros! #WithMyBro. #MorningWorkoutWithBro.
“Why are all the hashtags like this?”
Im Eun-ji, who had come looking for information on M, was now even more frustrated because of Jo Seong-hyeon’s social media.
She scrolled through his page several times, but nowhere was there any information indicating that the person in the photos was M.
“He's just bragging about being friends with the drama writer.”
Im Eun-ji practically spat at Jo Seong-hyeon’s SNS page before immediately opening a search engine.
As she typed the first letter ‘M’ into the search bar, ‘Lover of Malta’ immediately auto-completed, a testament to how many people were searching for the same thing.
Malta
Lover of Malta
Lover of Malta original work
Lover of Malta Urus Club
Lover of Malta Elizabeth Veil
Lover of Malta M
Lover of Malta cast
Im Eun-ji clicked on ‘Lover of Malta M’ and hit the search button.
But instead of the information she wanted, all that came up were unrelated topics like Urus Club, Urus Murder Case, original author, and so on.
“Ugh, seriously! I just want to know who the actor playing M is!”
Im Eun-ji wasn't the only one experiencing this.
Countless people who had seen the trailer were all flocking to the internet, spending their time trying to find information about the characters and the storyline.
Just then, a new article popped up from the algorithm of the internet news site that had gained so many clicks by raising the issue of the actor's character.
[Lover of Malta - Additional Cast List!]
New cast members have been decided for *Lover of Malta* (The Birth of the Urus Club), produced as a spin-off of Urus Club.
It has been confirmed that Im Ji-hye (45), considered one of South Korea's top actresses, will make a cameo appearance. In addition…
*
During their break, the flight attendants were chatting about a passenger in first class.
“Wow, her face is seriously so tiny.”
One of the flight attendants gushed, as if it were truly unbelievable.
“I know, right? I’ve never been told I’m lacking in that department, but I guess celebrities are just on another level.”
“I don’t know if you’ve heard the term ‘ecosystem disruptor.’”
“Jennifer?”
“Yeah. Singing, songwriting, and she plays the guitar like a genius. Is that all? Besides being as pretty as an actress, she's 172cm tall. And her figure is amazing. A friend of a friend’s senior works in that industry, and I heard everyone was begging her to start with modeling and acting.”
“And?”
“And what? Can’t you tell by looking at her now? It was ‘shut up and let me sing! Everything else, get lost.’ That’s what she apparently said. And Jennifer was right. She’s become a star of stars.”
“But don’t you think it’s about *that*?”
“*That*?”
“You know, the drama they’re filming in Malta that’s causing such a stir.”
“Oh, *Lover of Malta*?”
“Yeah. In a situation like this, what other reason would Jennifer have to be on a flight to Malta?”
“But Jennifer’s a singer. I don’t think she has anything to do with a drama.”
In response to her colleague’s words, the flight attendant who brought up *Lover of Malta* held out her smartphone.
“Look here. ‘Genius Singer-Songwriter. To Appear in Lover of Malta?’ There’s an article.”
“Oh, for real. Huh? The trailer is out too?”
“A trailer?”
The flight attendant who had shown her phone tilted her head and looked at the screen.
“Oh, you’re right.”
“Play it. I’m curious.”
“Should I?”
*
Im Han-sol, the CEO of Line Art, spoke cautiously.
“Jennifer?”
“…”
“I’m sorry. Just this once. Please?”
“You’re a liar, CEO.”
Jennifer, who had been staring out the window ever since she boarded the plane, finally spoke.
“It’s true. Once this is over, I’ll let you rest for about three months.”
Jennifer turned her head to look at Im Han-sol.
“CEO. Be honest with me.”
“Huh? About what?”
“The reason you’re stopping me from going to the US.”
“Hey, what are you talking about? The schedule just got tangled up.”
“Lies.”
Jennifer looked at Im Han-sol with eyes full of disappointment, then turned her head away again.
“Jennifer. Let me be honest with you, too.”
“…”
“You worked so hard to get here. Do you want to ruin it all for one guy? You’re only twenty-two. You still have a long way to go.”
At Im Han-sol’s words, Jennifer shut her eyes completely.
“I mean, come on. I don’t know who this guy is, but fine. He helped you study music and bought you that guitar. That’s all well and good.”
As soon as Im Han-sol mentioned the guitar, Jennifer, who had her eyes closed, whipped her head around.
“CEO.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“I haven’t slept a wink since the concert, and now I’m on a plane. Forget the vacation, don’t you think you should at least let me get some sleep?”
“Oh. Sorry. You’ll need to adjust to the time difference… Right. Get some sleep. We’ll talk again.”
Faced with Jennifer’s sharp reaction, Im Han-sol decided to back off for now. However, he was determined to keep the man she was so desperate to find far away from her.
‘That is absolutely not happening. A genius singer-songwriter who is now about to add acting to her resume. A man, all of a sudden? That’s the path to ruin for me, for you, for all of us.’
Im Han-sol sighed with a frustrated expression.
‘What kind of damn bastard laid his hands on our precious Jennifer! And seven years ago… Jennifer is twenty-two now, so… Ugh! What kind of lunatic was this? He hit on a fifteen-year-old girl!’
Im Han-sol decided he would contact the company as soon as he got off the plane.
‘I’ll find him first. I’ll find him and talk to him. I’ll ask him not to stand in the way of our Jennifer’s future.’
If he demanded money, he would give him a hefty sum. The ties of the past had to remain bound to the past.