The Scoop
Seo Ji-eun bought three neatly designed scarves as gifts, set one aside for Director Park Chan-hong, and handed the rest to the bodyguards.
"Please give these to your girlfriends or wives. Thank you for making it so easy for us to sightsee today!"
"Ah, we really can't accept something like this."
"No way! In Korea we have something called jeong, so you absolutely have to take it. Refusing is rude in our culture!"
Seo Ji-eun's small white hands seized the burly bodyguards' wrists and forcibly looped the red floral gift bags over them.
"Ahem… thank you."
The bodyguards reluctantly accepted, glancing at the dainty packages dangling from their wrists, then scratched the backs of their short hair with bashful smiles.
On the way back to the hotel after finishing their Berlin sightseeing—
"What kind of rule is that?"
"Anyway, this spot has always belonged to our paper, so move."
Yeon-woo and the others turned toward the raised voices.
A group of Asians stood locked in confrontation with people who looked like they were from a German press outlet. Korean followed immediately.
"Director Im, we waited hours to grab a good spot, and the moment the time comes you tell us to clear out? What is this?"
"Exactly. Then why aren't you saying a word to the British crew right next to us? They waited with us since lunch and claimed their spots the same way."
It was clear they were squabbling over seats in the photo-press area set up in front of the theater for directors and actors attending the festival. A flustered camera director, a reporter, and the rest of the Korean press corps stood there looking lost.
Hmm. I thought this sort of thing had mostly died out these days.
Yeon-woo shook his head at the scene. In his previous life he had attended plenty of festivals; there was no such thing as fixed seats in a press pit. The German crew had simply shown up late and was strong-arming the Asian paper that looked easiest to push around. Racism still existed everywhere, even if only in a minority of people.
Watching it unfold, Yeon-woo spoke to Seo Ji-eun as they walked toward the hotel together.
"Want to take a few photos?"
"Huh? Photos all of a sudden?"
"I just saw something up ahead…"
He explained the situation. Seo Ji-eun's eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly.
"Yeah. Let's do it!"
"Then, Min-su hyung—shall we ask that press team over there to cover us?"
Kim Min-su, who had overheard everything, grinned and headed straight for the press seats.
Reporter Jeong Yu-jin of Hansaeilbo—face flushed red with injustice, tears still welling from the territorial (or outright racist) treatment—blinked in confusion when a Korean man suddenly approached and asked if she wanted an interview.
"Sorry? What interview are you talking about…"
She followed the direction he pointed and sucked in a sharp breath.
"Hup—Jay… Nari…?"
Ryu Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun stood among the massive bodyguards, looking her way and waving. Having sobbed through every last tear and sniffle while watching Sketch only yesterday, the character names Jay and Nari tumbled out of her mouth before the actors' real names ever could.
The rest of the press staff were just as stunned. In the middle of fretting over whether they would have to surrender their spots to the foreign crew's bullying, a golden scoop had dropped into their laps. They scrambled to pack their gear.
"Are you really giving us the interview? Thank you. Thank you so much."
The Hansaeilbo team bowed repeatedly and vacated the press area at speed.
We only came to Berlin for Sketch in the first place—what's the point of shooting side profiles of foreign actors? This is huge!
Foreign reporters who had been watching the Korean team pack up in puzzlement finally recognized the figures waving from afar as the leads of yesterday's invitation screening of Sketch and rushed over. Among all the invitation films shown the day before, Sketch had been the clear standout. Yet at the director's request there had been no Photo Call or Press Conference, so simply landing an interview was guaranteed scoop material.
A few of them broke from the press pit and closed in fast—only to be blocked cold by the enormous bodyguards.
"We will proceed only with pre-scheduled interviews."
"What are you talking about? Then those people already had an interview lined up?"
The reporter pointed to where the Korean crew was already preparing to move into the reception hall of the hotel housing the Sketch team. Their startled faces made it obvious nothing had been planned in advance. The bodyguard, however, kept a perfect poker face and simply nodded.
"That's correct. It is a scheduled interview."
"Ha—looking after your own people, is it? Typical Asians, always sticking together in their little world. This isn't even racism, what is this—"
The bodyguard who had been quietly holding the line finally fixed the man with ice-cold eyes.
"You ought to be ashamed. Merely enduring the knowledge that people like you exist among German citizens is already testing my patience enough."
Faced with that massive frame and those murderous eyes, the only thing the reporter could do was turn around and leave.
"Thank you so much. I'm Jeong Yu-jin, reporter with Hansaeilbo."
As they walked toward the hotel she fumbled a business card from her wallet, handed it over, and bowed. Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun accepted it. Yeon-woo glanced at the card, nodded, and spoke.
"Reporter Jeong Yu-jin—you're the one who wrote that column comparing Master Plan to food last time, right?"
She startled and nodded rapidly.
"Yes, yes! That's right. It's amazing enough that you read it, but you even remember my name…"
Yeon-woo smiled gently at the reporter whose eyes were welling up again.
"You expressed it so entertainingly I couldn't forget. Director Park Chan-hong probably saw it too."
"Ah… wow."
Back at the hotel, Yeon-woo and the others sat for a brief interview in the reception hall the press team had already arranged.
"Before we begin—anything related to the film's content will be under embargo until the domestic release, so please don't worry and interview freely."
An embargo meant temporarily suspending publication of certain material until a set time. Director Park Chan-hong and LN Entertainment were still coordinating the release date with the distributor; anything that could spoil the film would stay locked down.
"Understood."
Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun nodded. Reporter Jeong Yu-jin gave the camera director a signal and began.
"Yes. The two people we managed to invite with great difficulty—the leads of Sketch, Actor Ryu Yeon-woo and Actor Seo Ji-eun."
"Nice to meet you."
"Hello!"
They smiled and bowed.
"First of all, thank you so much for agreeing so readily. Many Korean film fans, myself included, were shocked by the sudden Berlin invitation. When did you start preparing Sketch?"
"It hasn't been as long as you might think. We wrapped the historical drama that finished last fall on KBC and went straight into filming, so roughly half a year."
Seo Ji-eun nodded in agreement. Looking at the two of them, Jeong Yu-jin pressed on.
"There was no press conference, and I never expected an interview opportunity like this, so I don't even have a question list—but I watched the film myself yesterday and cried my eyes out, so as a fan I have a mountain of questions!"
Domestic commercial films usually held production presentations or report meetings for press and fans. When films crossed borders they typically used a Press Conference format; this time everything had been replaced by a simple GV—Guest Visit—on screening day only. Yeon-woo understood and answered cleanly.
"This film was made purely as an independent production, and the schedule was so tight just finishing it in time for the festival invitation that we also regret not having a chance to meet fans properly."
She nodded at the polished reply, then turned to Seo Ji-eun with a smile.
"I'm curious about the casting story behind Sketch. Watching the two of you yesterday—your acting fit the roles so perfectly I cried buckets."
"Really? I cried after the screening too. I was bawling so hard I got caught on the screen and was so embarrassed. Hehe."
Seo Ji-eun continued with a cute little laugh.
"I was resting at home after the historical drama wrapped when Actor Ryu Yeon-woo called me himself. He said there was this story and this role and asked if I was interested—I said yes without even thinking."
"Actor Ryu Yeon-woo called you directly? How did you end up casting yourself?"
Yeon-woo smiled and answered.
"Director Park Chan-hong said this one would be an independent film and that he wanted to make a large part of it together with me. Then he gave me homework: go find an actor who fits the role and whose heart matches."
"Ah—so you cast your wife from a thousand years ago, the one you worked with in the previous project?"
Mentioning their Goryeo-era couple from Star Beyond the River, the reporter asked with witty flair. Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun both laughed. Yeon-woo continued.
"That, and Actor Han So-hyun also recommended Seo Ji-eun here."
"Eh? Really?"
Seo Ji-eun stared at him in surprise; she hadn't known either.
"I remember she said that since her debut role was an idol, she would handle the 'Nari' part well."
"Amazing. I'm a huge fan of Actor Han So-hyun. What an honor."
Imagining the flood of scoop headlines the warm interview would generate, Jeong Yu-jin cheered silently inside.
While the interview stretched on in Berlin, the entertainment desk at Hansaeilbo in Seoul was in complete chaos. Even though it was past two in the morning in Korea, Editor-in-Chief Han Tae-hoon had thrown on clothes and rushed in.
"What exactly do you mean, Reporter Kim? What did the message say?"
"She suddenly said she landed an exclusive interview with Ryu Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun, that she'll send the video soon, and to put an embargo only on the movie-related content."
"Huh—an exclusive interview out of nowhere? How the hell did she pull that off? I need to reevaluate Jeong Yu-jin."
She wrote solid articles and columns, but field reporting and improvisation had always been her weak points. They had sent her to Berlin mainly because her German was good—and she had brought home a scoop.
"Give them everything they ask for. When the video arrives, run the article as favorably and carefully as possible. It's the Park Chan-hong–Ryu Yeon-woo combination."
"Yes, sir."
After the interview ended safely, Reporter Jeong Yu-jin's face glowed with the double joy of landing a scoop and of having met Jay and Nari from the screen—she felt like a successful fan who had finally made it. She transmitted the materials to headquarters, returned to her hotel, and quietly opened a browser window.
Jeong Yu-jin moved the mouse and hit the join button.
"Hmm, nickname… should I go with 'BlessedFanYujini'?"
Meanwhile, Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun, who had gone up to Director Park Chan-hong's room to deliver the gift after the interview, found even better news waiting for them.
"Don't be too shocked, you two. Though I suppose it isn't all that shocking."
"What is it, Director!"
Seo Ji-eun bounced on her toes with curiosity while Yeon-woo, standing beside her, already wore a knowing grin. Director Park Chan-hong spoke.
"I got a call around five this afternoon telling us not to leave the country until the final day of the festival. What that means is—whatever the award turns out to be—our film is winning something."
"Huk—really?! Amazing, amazing!"
Seo Ji-eun grabbed Yeon-woo's arm and high-fived it over and over while jumping in place. Yeon-woo looked at her and at Director Park Chan-hong and said quietly,
"Both of you really worked hard. We filmed almost without a crew, riding buses all over the countryside."
Both of them smiled at his words.
"Ahem. They say the hardships of youth are worth buying, but I never expected to go buying hardships at my age."
"I didn't find it hard at all. The whole shoot was so much fun."
A Korean independent film winning at one of the world's top three festivals. A scoop far greater than the interview they had just finished was about to hit the Republic of Korea—and right now only the three people in this room knew it.