Chapter 166: The Start of the Low Point (2)
Chapter 166: The Start of the Low Point (2)
"You must become friends with her, my son."
Lee Hyuk-soo, a professor of Hematology-Oncology at Baek-yeon University Hospital.
His wife, Gil Su-jin, spoke while stroking her son's hair with a tender voice.
"It's all for your own good. Look. See what you can gain just by being close to that girl."
She showed a photo of Lee Yu-ju to her son, Lee Min-hyuk.
"The daughter of a ruined entrance exam coordinator. But she has her brother's entire portfolio in her head. She knows how to study, and she knows how to take the top spot at Baek-yeon University's medical school."
"Mom, I..."
"I know, my son. You don't like this girl much. I heard from Min-seo. You two fought today? Go and apologize tomorrow."
"Mom!!"
Min-hyuk finally couldn't hold it in and shouted.
But at her son's outburst, his mother, Gil Su-jin, just looked at him quietly.
In the face of that silent pressure, Min-hyuk's heated voice gradually grew smaller.
"Then, you should have done a little better."
The hand that was stroking his hair slowly moved down and gripped Min-hyuk's shoulder tightly.
"How nice would it have been if you had worked hard enough so that Mom wouldn't have to do this? So that I wouldn't have to interfere like this. You should be ashamed. I heard she hasn't missed first place even once. That's the kind of girl she is. Do you think our son can win against a girl like that?"
Even the middle school Lee Yu-ju attended was inside this "Sky Garden," where students moved up through an escalator system.
It was a middle school roughly on par with Baek-yeon Middle School.
Someone who never missed first place in such a place.
"I heard it was Lee Yu-ju who even gave the speech as the representative of the incoming class."
In other words, he had completely lost in terms of grades.
At his mother's words, Min-hyuk felt like his breath was stopping.
"You have to be a doctor, son."
At those words, Min-hyuk's head very slowly...
Slowly, he gave a small, single nod.
"Yes, good boy. Make sure to apologize tomorrow. I'll tell Min-seo too."
Saying that, Gil Su-jin turned her back.
Leaving behind her son, who was glaring at the floor.
"Just do as Min-seo does. Got it?"
The second child, whose grades were a bit lower than his but who had a good personality.
Lee Min-seo was already sticking close to Lee Yu-ju's side.
'Spineless bitch.'
Min-hyuk muttered to himself as he turned away.
And the next day.
Min-hyuk goes to the classroom of the girl he met on the first day.
Lee Yu-ju.
Seeing his twin sister, Lee Min-seo, already stuck to her side, he gave a hollow laugh, strode over, and spoke.
"I'm sorry."
Only then did Yu-ju's gaze move.
At first, it was puzzlement.
Then, realizing the reason, the corners of Yu-ju's eyes curved.
And a sneer formed on her lips.
"For what?"
"For saying yesterday that you don't belong here. I didn't know you were the class representative."
Lee Yu-ju was a foreign object in this Baek-yeon High School.
The place referred to as "Sky Garden" follows an escalator system from kindergarten to university.
The chosen ones.
The top 0.1 percent of South Korea.
Those with money, honor, and power reside here.
In the midst of that, a freshman from the outside.
Naturally, it was expected that most wouldn't look kindly upon her.
In this world where classes don't exist.
They looked at her as if she were a commoner, as if classes did exist.
Nevertheless, there were those who approached her.
Like Min-seo.
The reason was obvious.
"I'm not telling you."
Yu-ju slowly stood up and spoke while pressing Min-hyuk's chest with her index finger.
"My brother's portfolio."
At those words, Min-hyuk's eyes widened.
He could see Lee Min-seo, who was nearby, covering her mouth and glancing around.
"That's why you're apologizing to me, isn't it?"
Yu-ju said that and took her finger off Min-hyuk's chest.
Then she smiled brightly.
"So, I'm not telling you."
"You!!"
"But."
Yu-ju scanned those looking at her and said,
"I'm not saying I'll keep it a secret forever."
Everyone here was a competitor.
Everyone was studying for their families, carrying the weight of their parents' expectations.
Of course, there would be some riff-raff among them.
But at least the purpose of those looking at her so intensely was obvious.
"I'm very fickle."
In those words of Yu-ju, Min-hyuk saw an overlap with his mother, Gil Su-jin.
Therefore, he felt like he knew what she was going to say next.
"I have to go to university. Yes, the Baek-yeon University you all want. As the top of the department."
"Nonsense... At most, just because you know a little bit..."
"A little bit?"
Yu-ju burst out laughing at those words.
Then, she stopped her laughter abruptly and said,
"I tried solving last year's CSAT. What score do you think I got?"
Min-hyuk didn't answer.
Yu-ju brought her face close to his and smiled.
"A perfect score."
Then she slowly pulled away from him and extended one index finger from her clenched fist.
"That means I'm number one in the country."
In the strange tension, Min-hyuk grit his teeth.
And with a trembling voice, he denied those words.
Number one in the country.
Who would believe such an absurd claim?
Anyone could talk big without showing anything.
"That could be a lie."
"It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not. You'll see for yourself soon enough anyway."
In high school, there are things called mock exams.
If her grades were truly as she said, there was no way the school would leave her alone.
Even if they pretended not to, the teachers would naturally make it obvious.
"It's not just grades; I have to manage my GPA, do volunteer work, right?"
It was as if those words were appealing her value to those present.
It was as if she was telling them what they could gain by becoming close to her.
Min-hyuk realized.
Just as they were trying to get grades out of her.
She had come here with a purpose as well.
And that purpose was following her father's will.
Just like himself.
"So, everyone."
Yu-ju smiled brightly and said to everyone.
"Let's be friends."
Min-hyuk couldn't answer her.
But there was one thing he could tell.
At least for these three years.
She would be the king of this Baek-yeon High School.
And so.
Episode 1 of Sky Garden ended.
*
After Episode 1 of Sky Garden aired, various noises were heard.
The setting itself was seen as too exaggerated.
Many said it made no sense, and the majority opinion was that the development was excessively over-the-top.
From those community opinions to...
Evaluations on social media, where the main audience is active, were also quite divided.
Some said it was fun, while others said it was childish or that they didn't like the male lead.
Naturally, the atmosphere in the KMB Drama Department, having seen such evaluations, was quite gloomy.
"Ah, 6 percent."
Director Kim Il-soo already had a headache.
Coincidentally, today was a filming day, so he was scheduled to meet Seo-yeon.
'It might be a big shock to actress Ju Seo-yeon.'
Seo-yeon had never experienced failure before.
There were many cases where a young actress's mental state crumbled after receiving harsh criticism for the first time.
"Hyun-seok, pull yourself together. Are you not going to film?"
"But... sigh."
Just looking at the other young actors who came for today's filming, it was evident.
Perhaps because they had already seen the internet reactions, their spirits were visibly broken even before hearing the ratings.
'I should have adjusted the filming schedule if I knew it would be like this.'
Kim Il-soo let out a sigh.
Episode 1 ratings: 6 percent.
It's by no means a low figure.
At the very least, it's slightly better than average.
The problem is that with this level of ratings, the probability of them falling is higher than them rising.
Word of mouth only spreads when people watch.
6 percent was a figure standing right on that borderline.
"Of all things, Grand Game did too well."
"You're right. There's no way to avoid comparison."
It's not bad, but it's literally just 'not bad,' not 'good.'
Producer Baek Tae-soo's Grand Game hit a whopping 12 percent, double the amount!
If there were no competitors, there would be a high chance of a rebound, but with a hit right next to it?
Naturally, everyone's attention was bound to shift there.
'Truly, it's just one bad thing after another.'
Kim Il-soo looked at Writer Min Se-hee, who had been half-fainted for a while.
She had come to hear the ratings today and collapsed into that state as soon as she heard them.
Min Se-hee had said, "I-I don't expect much," but it seemed she couldn't endure the miserable ratings after all.
It was to the point where he worried her already lacking confidence would be crushed even further.
"S-Still, there's a YouTuber I've been watching lately. That YouTuber was promoting it, saying the potential for the latter half is promising. So it's not over yet. It's not!!"
Another staff member was working hard to give Min Se-hee courage.
Of course, it was a bit silly that the basis for that was a mere YouTuber.
"He's not just a mere YouTuber, he has 1.4 million subscribers!"
"1.4 million? That's quite a lot."
"R-Right, right? He's originally a fan of actress Ju Seo-yeon, so he's been consistently reviewing her works. Plus, he's almost like a shaman in how accurately he predicts the ratings or audience numbers of her projects..."
Well, was there really a need for a shaman?
The works Seo-yeon had appeared in so far were obviously going to be successful.
One could roughly estimate the performance just by looking at them.
So, to call him a shaman just for getting those right was a bit...
'Still, I hope he's right this time.'
Glancing over, a YouTuber named 'Bong-sik' was explaining with spit flying that this drama would be the one to dominate this quarter—no, this year.
He was saying he couldn't understand the harsh criticism on the internet.
The reaction in the chat window wasn't great either.
There were even those pointing out that excessive fanhood becomes poison.
Of course, Bong-sik was saying it absolutely wasn't like that and that's just how it looked to him, but the atmosphere was one where his words weren't being taken seriously at all.
"Still, it's a relief to have a fan like that."
"I agree."
A YouTuber with 1.4 million subscribers was a fairly reliable ally.
"Ah, I ran into Producer Baek on my way here today."
"Gasp! Did he... happen to mock us?"
"No, rather, he didn't look to be in a good mood. Is something not going well?"
"No way. From what I know, it's practically a festival atmosphere over there..."
Producer Baek Tae-soo didn't look to be in a good mood?
That was unexpected.
"Ah, actress Ju Seo-yeon has arrived."
Word that Seo-yeon had arrived at the filming site followed soon after.
Naturally, the staff on set waited for her with tense faces.
And when Seo-yeon appeared on set...
"Hello!!"
"?"
For some reason, she looked to be in an incredibly good mood.
Her greeting, which would usually be calm, was so excited today that it stood out.
'Huh?'
'She seems fine?'
'No, beyond fine, she looks way too happy??'
An incomprehensible situation.
Kim Il-soo couldn't help but be flustered by the sight of Seo-yeon going around greeting people as usual.
Had she not heard the ratings yet?
Or was she in denial because they were so low?
"Um, actress Ju Seo-yeon. By any chance, the ratings..."
"Ah, I heard. They said it was 6 percent?"
But she said she heard.
She heard, and yet that was her reaction?
"M-Maybe she thought it wouldn't even hit 6 percent because of my script."
Min Se-hee, who had been shriveled up until now, crawled out and muttered those words.
Was that it?
No, could that be possible?
She participated in the production even though she thought the script was that bad?
'No, that can't be it.'
For that to be the case, Seo-yeon had been very sincere about this drama.
It seemed like there was something specific she wanted to do with this project.
It was a very big turning point for her.
She was definitely not someone who would waste her first lead role.
'What on earth is it?'
Everyone's heads were filled with questions.
However, because Seo-yeon was so bright, it felt as if the problems they had been agonizing over were nothing special.
"Could it be that she thinks this level of ratings can be easily overturned?"
"No way. We have Grand Game to deal with right now."
"She'd be a god if she overturned this."
The gap was too large for a single actor to bridge.
The script had to help, not just the actor.
But a script that got trashed in the most important first episode?
Everyone's gaze turned toward Min Se-hee.
Receiving those stares, Min Se-hee went thud.
She fainted again.
'If Episode 1 was 6 percent, what will Episode 2 be?'
On the other hand, Seo-yeon, completely unaware of what the others were thinking, was just in a good mood.
To the point where she had practiced her autograph all night.
'Originally, the rating for Episode 2 was 4 percent.'
However, now that it was already 6 percent, there was no telling what it would be.
And then.
Episode 2, which aired the next day.
[Showing stamina, Sky Garden ratings rise to 10%!!]
[Chasing right on the heels of Grand Game, a successful rebound?]
The reverse climb that would have originally started from Episode 4.
However, Seo-yeon realized after seeing the ratings for Episode 2.
For her Sky Garden, there would be no such thing as a "reverse climb."