Baeksol's Minion
Kim Ju-seong regarded the director who had raised the objection, then finally spoke.
"What makes you think that?"
"In the domestic content industry, the fantasy genre has never once succeeded. And yet here we are, pouring a fortune into production, aren't we? Do you know that the fantasy drama Baldur, which aired on MBS last time, left multiple companies unable to even recover their investment and taking massive losses?"
CEO Kim Ju-seong tilted his head at the board's opinion.
"The Baldur you mentioned started with solid ratings, but didn't it fail to hold them because it was competing against our LN Entertainment actor Ryu Yeon-woo's lead vehicle, Star Beyond the River? I don't believe the genre itself was the problem."
"Ahem. Still…"
If CEO Kim Ju-seong, who held the largest voting rights, opposed the agenda, it could never pass. The meeting was meaningless from the start.
It was a board meeting held only for form's sake, yet he could not simply dismiss the shareholders' opinions, so Kim Ju-seong reluctantly nodded.
"Very well. Appointing outside directors can, in the long run, steer the company's direction in a better way. I will agree."
An outside director was a system that brought external figures unaffiliated with the major shareholders onto the board, blocking the majority owner's unilateral management in advance.
Even if outside directors were appointed, Kim Ju-seong—the industry legend who had built everything from nothing—still wielded dominant influence inside the company. Challenging his opinion would never be easy.
With the CEO's consent secured, the chair took the microphone.
"Then, Agenda Item No. 3—the additional appointment of outside directors—is hereby approved as originally proposed: the board and management will each recommend one candidate for later appointment."
When the meeting ended, Kim Ju-seong left the conference room and stepped into the elevator bound for the top-floor executive office.
Team Leader Jeong Hyeok followed beside him, shaking his head.
"Those board bastards are just being unreasonable, aren't they? Not a single failed investment project in the last three years, and they're questioning our management ability?"
Watching him, Kim Ju-seong allowed a faint smile.
"An obvious ploy. Our stock price has climbed quite a bit lately."
"Yes. After all, every project Ryu's been in has hit four times in a row."
Kim Ju-seong shook his head at Jeong Hyeok's words.
"My gut says it isn't only that."
Summer's Closet had been an in-house production, and the independent film Sketch had effectively been financed solely by LN Entertainment.
By contrast, Master Plan and Star Beyond the River had merely cast Ryu Yeon-woo as the lead; LN had not produced them directly.
"Someone has been steadily buying up our entertainment stock. Quite aggressively, at that."
"What? Who…?"
"Who knows…"
Ding—
The elevator arrived at the top floor.
Kim Ju-seong stepped out, lost in thought.
In entertainment circles, rumors about those people ran wild.
But Kim Ju-seong knew their existence was real.
"Looks like someone out there doesn't like me much. This just got interesting."
The corner of his mouth curled upward as if he truly found it amusing.
At that same moment, somewhere in Seoul, a man held a phone with both hands and bowed his head in deference.
"Yes. Understood. There will be no mistakes this time."
"—Right. We can't afford to get water in our mouths from some clown running a song-and-dance business, can we?"
"I'm sorry."
Even though the other party was invisible, the man bowed toward empty air at the metallic voice coming through the receiver.
"—Meat, you see. If it's too big, your jaw hurts while you chew, and if you're not careful you get a stomachache trying to digest it. You have to cut it at just the right size and eat it."
"Yes. I'll keep that firmly in mind."
Meanwhile, Yeon-woo, deep in the middle of a take, received the okay sign and unclipped the wire harness.
"Hoo."
Chroma-key action shooting was nowhere near as simple as people imagined.
Kim Min-su came running toward Yeon-woo, who was catching his breath after the forced march that had begun that morning.
"Actor-nim, here—have some water."
"Ah, thank you, Min-su hyung."
"When you were flying around on that wire, you looked exactly like a special agent from a spy movie."
Walking toward a corner of the set while drinking, Yeon-woo let out a short laugh at Kim Min-su's words.
"Did I? From where I was sitting I probably looked more like a flying squirrel having a very bad day."
Special agents don't actually fly around like that, you know.
"Haha. A flying squirrel?"
Trading light jokes with Kim Min-su, Yeon-woo returned to his original waiting spot.
He sat down, unlocked his phone with the pattern, and found several messages waiting that had arrived during the shoot.
"Mm… I'm going to the restroom for a bit."
When Yeon-woo stood with his phone in hand, Manager Kim Min-su nodded.
"Yes. Today's shoot for you is finished, so I'll start the engine and get ready to head out."
Yeon-woo nodded and left through the back door of the set.
He walked straight past the restroom, headed down an empty rear path, and placed a call.
"—Yes, Team Leader."
"Yeah. You said you had something important to report?"
The sender of the messages that had arrived during filming was Han Hae-un.
"—It's information we obtained through the device we planted at Plus10 last time. It looks like those bastards have pulled some kind of stunt on the movie you're currently shooting."
Yeon-woo tilted his head at the unexpected news.
"The movie I'm shooting? You mean White Blood?"
"—Yes. Unlike the previous incident with Star Beyond the River, the intel I secured was a clear directive: drug a specific role so that no mistakes would be made."
"Drug a specific role…? All right, got it. Contact me the moment anything else comes up."
"—Yes, Team Leader. Ah, and I've been assigned to the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office."
Yeon-woo brightened at Han Hae-un's words.
"Oh, really? That's great. Things will get a lot smoother."
Having Hae-un stuck down in Busan had made rapid coordination difficult whenever problems arose simply because of the distance.
"—Then I'll contact you immediately if any further reports come in."
Yeon-woo ended the call and sank into thought.
The reference to Star Beyond the River almost certainly pointed to the case of the action actor Park Gyeong-wan, who had originally been cast as the bodyguard appearing in the latter half.
It had ironically turned into a blessing when Son Jin-uk stepped in for the cameo instead.
Back then they had speculated that Baeksol's plants, who had invested in the competing drama Baldur, had hastily moved to bury the same-time-slot rival Star Beyond the River.
But why now…?
White Blood was being distributed through Netflix, so there was nothing that could really be called a competing work.
It wasn't competing in the same time slot, and since no one even knew when filming would wrap, there was no way to predict in advance which projects it might eventually face.
Everything had a motive.
And when those people moved, the motive was always financial.
There's no way their target is me…
Because there was no possible way for them to learn about the surreal fact of reincarnation, the chance that they had uncovered Hae-un's or Yeon-woo's true identities was zero.
So if they interfered with White Blood, what gain could they possibly extract?
A method that would let them profit from the series' failure…
He thought hard, but nothing obvious came to mind.
Then it isn't about immediate one-dimensional profit. It's a long-term plan.
If the work itself wasn't the goal…
"Then their target is LN Entertainment."
He still couldn't be certain, but for some reason they seemed to want to put a scratch on LN.
The budget poured into this project was considerable; if it collapsed, the agency would take a solid hit.
He briefly organized his deductions and sent the summary to Han Hae-un.
Kim Min-su had said he would start the car and wait, so Yeon-woo turned his steps toward the parking lot.
Drugging a specific role… hmm…
In this series, the "specific roles" other than the protagonist—himself—left four.
Han Byeol as Ella.
Jeong Su-yeon as the Narrator.
Axis's Dong-ha as Akhenaten.
Jeon Gi-hun as Dipangdal.
Common sense said the middle-schooler Han Byeol and his friend Jeong Su-yeon should be excluded, but he decided to leave every possibility open for now.
If it isn't a plant already embedded, the possibility that they'll work someone the way they did An Jun-ho can't be ruled out either.
An Jun-ho had shared the screen with him in Summer's Closet, but he was a timid personality who would never have reached for drugs first.
By his own account he had only drunk the champagne handed out at an event, so the odds were high that the other side had tampered with it to use him.
They could create a scandal that way just as easily.
He didn't want to think about it, but if they wanted maximum public shock, using Han Byeol or Jeong Su-yeon was entirely possible.
Of course, an active idol like Axis's Dong-ha would generate exactly the noise they wanted if something broke, and the same went for the middle-aged actor Jeon Gi-hun, famous for his volunteer work.
Just then, from a corner of the parking lot, Kim Min-su rolled down the driver's window and called out.
"Actor-nim, just stay right there. I'll bring the car around."
Moments later the van stopped in front of Yeon-woo and he climbed in.
"I kept you waiting too long."
"Not at all. I already told the director you were heading out."
"Ah, thank you."
Come to think of it, he had been so absorbed in Hae-un's call that he had gone straight to the parking lot without even seeing Director Hwang Min-gwon.
Sinking into the seat, Yeon-woo stared blankly at the ceiling of the car.
Thinking of Hwang Min-gwon naturally led him to the directing staff rather than the actors.
If something happened to the directing team, the fate of the entire project would still be violently shaken.
"Hmm. The more I think about it, everything's a problem."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking about the next scene we shoot."
After that, filming continued without incident, and more than ten days slipped by.
His chemistry with Han Byeol, who played Ella, was solid enough that the shoots went smoothly.
"Today will be the first time every actor is gathered in one place."
Yeon-woo nodded at the words of Director Jeong Yo-han, whose face he hadn't seen in a while.
It was the first company dinner since the crank-in.
"True. Senior Jeon Gi-hun couldn't make the script reading."
"His previous shoot hadn't wrapped yet, so the schedule couldn't be adjusted."
Jeon Gi-hun was the mid-career actor cast as Dipangdal, one of the protagonist's key companions.
He was famous for his volunteer work and good deeds, and thanks to him the average age of the "meal expedition team" had jumped considerably.
"Then Director Jeong will finally get a drink after a long time too."
"I've been locked in a dark room working nonstop. Though with the guys who came over from the States, we drink beer like it's water even while working."
Thinking of the colleagues who had joined from Hollywood, Jeong Yo-han gave a short laugh.
"Ryu, you still haven't shot any scenes with Akhenaten, right?"
"No. Not yet, but they say we'll shoot together soon. So far I've only met Ella."
"I've been working on Akhenaten's solo footage. I was worried because he's an idol, but his acting is actually pretty solid."
Akhenaten was the role played by Dong-ha of the idol group Axis.
Story-wise he was the second companion to join, but filming hadn't reached that point yet, so seeing Dong-ha again would also be the first time since the script reading.
While chatting with Director Jeong Yo-han, the restaurant door opened and Director Hwang Min-gwon entered with the actors.
Today every major actor and the directing staff would be present, so he needed to observe each of them carefully.
"Hello. I've been looking forward to meeting you, but we still haven't had any scenes together."
"Ah, Dong-ha-ssi. That's true."
Yeon-woo smiled and shook Dong-ha's hand.
Right behind him, Jeon Gi-hun approached and extended his own hand.
"Oh, Actor Ryu."
"Hello. Senior Jeon, it's an honor to meet you for the first time."
Yeon-woo politely took Jeon Gi-hun's hand and smiled.
His face was smiling, but his eyes were already racing across the actors, catching multiple pieces of information in real time.
Jeong Su-yeon and Han Byeol entered next.
Then the directing staff as well.
After checking several details, the corner of Yeon-woo's mouth curved into a quiet grin.
Hmm. Looks like this one. Baeksol's minion.