All the Firewood Is Stacked High
"Ah! That's samgyetang! It's ginseng chicken soup!"
"No way! Yeo-reum, what is wrong with you? Did you get possessed by a spirit or something?"
"I think there's someone else here at the studio right now...! Above Yeo-reum's shoulder!"
The panels' reactions were in an uproar. I tilted my head like an endearing airheaded genius.
Time to build a character.
Since all my activity so far had revolved around vlogs and social media, I didn't have a single defining 'character trait' to my name at the moment. Nail one down properly on my first variety show, and going viral would be that much easier down the line — plus the reporters would give me a second look, too.
"Are you sure about that? Is that your final answer?"
Right on cue, the main PD threw out a bluff. I pulled a personal motto out of thin air.
"Yes! My motto is, 'Live with no regrets!' That's why I'm going with it as is."
The assistant director — a woman with a glittering résumé of little deceptions — made a very subtle face.
Everyone here was a professional.
"Huh...? Or maybe not? Did I get the words in front and back mixed up?"
"Yeo-reum, the word order! I think the order got switched!"
They were all scrambling to take the bait, no questions asked. I hammed it up right back, darting panicked glances at the panel as if I were flustered too.
"Yeo-reum. Shall we lock it in? Going for the correct answer. Three, two..."
"...Wait, hold on!"
I scrambled to answer the counting main PD, looking for all the world like I was seized with doubt.
"What? Having second thoughts?"
The PD swallowed the bait I'd laid out beforehand, and I tugged the line.
"...A little..."
"Ah, why is this girl's heart made of reeds!"
"You said 'no regrets' less than a minute ago!"
It was a monster catch.
From every corner of the set came the sound of people chewing on me. I turned to Kwon Jun-hyuk beside me and shot him a pleading, help-me expression. In the subtitles, I'd probably come out as 'Variety Show Newbie' or 'Wavering Variety Rookie' at best.
"Sunbaenim... what do I do..."
And Kwon Jun-hyuk answered with utter gravity.
"Go with it."
"Go with it?"
"Just go with it."
Like soldiers exchanging a solemn code, we traded those weighty words one syllable at a time, solidifying our bond. Having apparently banished all regrets, I raised my hand again.
"Yes! I'm going with it!"
"Hmmm..."
Then it was the youngest PD's turn, deliberately shooting me a look that implied my answer was wrong, as if offering a hint.
"Uuuuugh... I'm starting to regret it a little..."
Uh-oh. When this airs, the internet is going to lose it over how adorable Han Yeo-reum is. What am I supposed to do if everyone starts fighting over coming to see me at the award ceremonies this year?
The premiere of Top Class is exactly one week away.
Even with my mind elsewhere, I dispatched the variety schedule like a seasoned pro. For the record, my answer accuracy rate was 100 percent.
That's Han Yeo-reum for you.
Ae-ta-mi picked up her phone while watching TV, as naturally as breathing. On tonight's episode of After School Quiz Show, Yeo-reum was practically flying.
Today's quiz had been tailored around Kwon Jun-hyuk and Han Yeo-reum, who were there to promote Gimyo-dam: history questions. Which meant the difficulty was sky-high, and the assistant director and the youngest PD were grinning ear to ear at the thought of putting the main PD on the leg-stretching rack over and over.
"A building constructed as the residence of the ☐☐ of the Joseon dynasty, originally erected to honor three ☐☐☐, which repeatedly fell to ruin and was rebuilt through the ☐☐☐☐. During the Japanese colonial period it suffered severe damage, including the installation of ☐☐☐ within the palace grounds..."
Just as the commenters were piecing together the answer from context clues — before the sentence had even finished — Yeo-reum raised her hand yet again.
"A building constructed as the residence of the royal family of the Joseon dynasty, originally erected to honor three queen dowagers, which repeatedly fell to ruin and was rebuilt through the Imjin War..."
"Yeo-reum!"
Ae-ta-mi found herself shouting Yeo-reum's name as if she were one of the panelists herself. The live thread was no different.
Even after giving the correct answer, Yeo-reum hesitated again this time, playing the rookie unaccustomed to variety shows. Uneasy, she sent another glance toward Kwon Jun-hyuk in the seat beside her.
While unable to answer a single question himself, Kwon Jun-hyuk wore the most dependable expression in the world as he coaxed her along. For all his playing the senior, once Han Yeo-reum crossed into the correct-answer zone, the one left behind until the very end was Kwon Jun-hyuk.
The main PD — worried Yeo-reum was solving things far too fast for the broadcast runtime — shot Kwon Jun-hyuk a warm, pitying look even as he headed for the leg-stretching rack.
"Jun-hyuk! Try at least cheating off your junior's answers, will you?"
"What do I do... I'm all alone again..."
Every time the panelists piled on Jun-hyuk and called him a fool, he wilted under their gazes with that earnest, grave face of his, at a complete loss.
Watching the comments fly by, Ae-ta-mi fell head over heels for Yeo-reum all over again.
"Ahh... how is my girl this pretty and cute and endearing and smart..."
She'd assumed there wouldn't be much screen time since it was Yeo-reum's first variety show, but this episode was a full hard-carry by Han Yeo-reum. With her spirit-summoning deduction skills, she'd done Gimyo-dam's promotion proud.
"She was unreal today. Just sitting still she was worth a hundred screenshots... and then she had to go and be this good on top of it..."
Yeo-reum's styling today was, simply put, perfect.
Hair braided down her back, a pale yellow butterfly hairpin pinned to one side, a fluttery lace ribbon. Add to that a slim-strapped sleeveless hanbat in a gradient of clear sky blue. Beneath the full, puffed skirt hem, glimpses of lace fabric shimmered in and out of view.
Ae-ta-mi, having admired Yeo-reum's face to her heart's content, searched her name the instant the broadcast ended.
"Oh. The articles are already out."
Sipping on Creamy Soda at home as she scrolled, Ae-ta-mi hit the recommend button on each article.
"Well then, time for me to do my part too."
She clipped the funniest moments from today's broadcast and uploaded them to a new account — the Yeo-reum fan account she'd created a while back.
"Compared to talking about Yeo-reum on the fan cafe, this place is way better, obviously!"
Beaming with pride, Ae-ta-mi checked the videos being retweeted at lightning speed, then readied her screenshots for a full-scale spread.
"Huh?"
Skimming the community reactions, she cocked her head. Screenshot posts from this episode had already been lovingly uploaded to the community.
Ae-ta-mi caught on right away.
"The agency really does their job, huh!"
A polish this thorough had definitely been touched by JC ENM's hands.
"Now all I have to do is wait for the breadcrumbs to start raining down!"
"Rookie Shin~. How's the response looking?"
"Really good, sir. Some fans are already clipping and promoting it themselves."
The moment Yeo-reum's episode aired, JC ENM's PR team had swung into motion. Having retweeted Ae-ta-mi's account, Rookie Shin was buzzing about busier than ever.
And it wasn't just Team Leader Hong and Rookie Shin. Right now, the entire JC ENM PR department had gathered to burn Gimyo-dam into the public consciousness.
"Posters uploaded, sir!"
Solo posters of Seoryeong and Myeong-do, a two-shot poster of the pair together, a two-shot of Yeomga and Grand Prince Seonghwi, a full-cast group poster — every version went live at once. Drama stills were released alongside them.
The retweets began the instant the uploads hit the official accounts.
"That's when the saving starts, right?"
"Check the share rate in an hour."
Once the character posters went up on the official social media and portal sites, the reactions began rolling in, slowly at first. Thanks to Yeo-reum's all-out performance on her first variety show, they were able to pull the general public in with them.
"I'll compile the response to the official trailer that went up after the teaser and report back!"
"Posters are up, so get the reactions organized and start translating the articles for tomorrow's press cycle."
Gimyo-dam was scheduled to scatter its breadcrumbs overseas the moment it premiered. On Team Leader Hong's monitor glowed the K-drama fan communities and social media accounts most popular across Southeast Asia.
"First, let's push drama news to the major press outlets in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Send the hashtags along with it, exactly as they are!"
Between the clatter of keyboards and the debates over the next promotional target, the office hummed with chaos. Behind Team Leader Hong, the sun rose, set, and rose again.
There wasn't a second to breathe. The PR team's hands never left their keyboards.
As the premiere date drew nearer, the Gimyo-dam campaign advanced steadily, step by step.
Top Class, for its part, was climbing at a terrifying pace from the moment its first episode dropped.
"God, I'm dying..."
And so, at last, the premiere day of Gimyo-dam arrived.
The PR team of JC ENM, half-zombified by now, stared at their monitors with haggard faces.
"Wow.... Still, at least we get to rest for the hour it airs..."
"Right...?"
Staring blankly at the trailer playing before the drama, the JC ENM PR staff were in exactly the sorry state one might expect of a Gimyo-dam extra.
That was when it happened.
BANG—!
"Haaah... Haah. This is — this is not — not the time to be — watching a drama...!"
Manager Ma, coughing like a man at death's door thanks to chronic lack of exercise, came sprinting in and flung the door open.
"What is it?"
"Manager Ma... ran?"
Manager Ma, who guarded his post as faithfully as the snake plant rooted in the corner of the office, running — that could only mean one thing: something colossal was coming.
"Jegal — *hack*... hack hack...! Jegal Rok...!"
Gulp.
The PR staff swallowed nervous mouthfuls of saliva.
"He watched episode two and..."
Manager Ma's face was frozen stiff.
"He laughed."
At those words, the employees slumped in their chairs all straightened their backs and sat up.
"HEY!!! NO RESTING!!!"
It was an emergency.
Jegal Rok laughing meant only one thing: a monster hit.
At last, every last piece of firewood for Gimyo-dam to blaze had been stacked high and tall.
The long-awaited premiere of Gimyo-dam, Episode 1.
Creeeeak—.
Chapter One
Cheonmaekji
Gimyo-dam began with the chilling sound of fingernails scraping against wood.