Variety Show Pre-Meeting
"So my appearing on it is what makes it fresh?"
"Yes."
Gong Min-jeong nodded firmly at Yeon-woo's question. Everyone else in the conference room seemed to agree with her assessment — everyone except Yeon-woo himself.
"Hmm. I see."
With that much conviction around the table, Yeon-woo didn't have much left to argue. The old LN Media had built a solid reputation as a production house, but Saebyeol Media was still a brand-new company with zero track record. Industry insiders knew perfectly well that all the key talent had landed here, yet from the public's perspective, the positions of both Saebyeol Media and Saebyeol Entertainment remained fuzzy at best.
A post Yeon-woo had seen a few days earlier floated back into his mind.
For now, the famous name was Ryu Yeon-woo's — not Saebyeol's. Going with Gong Min-jeong's recommendation felt like the rational call.
An agency producing its own content and releasing it on YouTube was already an unfamiliar concept. If the content itself was equally unfamiliar, the audience would shrink to a handful of hardcore fans rather than the general public. That was exactly how most idol self-produced content ended up — watched by fans alone. Given that this project was aiming for broader mainstream appeal, sticking with a proven PD and a well-known variety format was the right move.
"Then let's proceed with the most battle-tested format possible, just as you suggested."
Once Yeon-woo — Saebyeol's alpha and omega — gave his consent, the meeting was over.
"The production team at Media will work out the details with the PD," Executive Director Yoon Mi-yeon said. Yeon-woo nodded.
The very next day, a YouTube channel opened under the name Saebyeol Tube. Since the idea was already on the table, they figured they might as well set up the channel first and start gathering subscribers before any official content dropped. That was when Han Byeol received her critical mission.
Unlike Yeon-woo, who still reported to the office only every other day because his small-theater play hadn't wrapped yet, Han Byeol was on winter break — and she came into the company every single day. With older sisters and brothers around to play with whenever she showed up, she clocked more office days than almost any actual employee.
"So I just take this and film whatever I want?"
"Yep. Film everything you feel like filming, Byeol. Tell me when the battery dies."
"This is gonna be so fun! Okay, first interview — Director Yoon!"
"…Huh? Me?"
They put a steadicam in Han Byeol's hands, and she roamed every corner of the company, interviewing actors and staff alike without discrimination. She also nestled herself between Seo Ji-eun and Jeong Su-yeon — both of whom she'd grown especially close to lately — and captured their everyday chatter. The funnier clips got cut into Shorts; the quieter slice-of-life moments were edited into full videos and uploaded.
Thanks to the large fan bases of their recent hit projects, the vlog-style videos centered on Han Byeol, Seo Ji-eun, and Jeong Su-yeon started gaining real traction, and Saebyeol Tube's subscriber count climbed at a surprisingly brisk pace.
"Whoa! We're already at three hundred thousand?!"
"Byeol, you know what though, right?"
"What?"
"Not a single video with Yeon-woo has gone up yet."
It was true. Day by day, the comments from subscribers begging for Ryu Yeon-woo only multiplied.
And then, at last, the long-awaited footage of Yeon-woo's everyday life went up.
There was nothing particularly special about it. He came into work, reviewed scripts, headed up to the third-floor café, opened his laptop, browsed a few things, and chatted casually with Son Jin-uk. That was the whole video. The only real highlight was Yeon-woo smiling at the camera a few times because Han Byeol trailing after him with the steadicam was just too adorable.
From the day that video dropped, Saebyeol Tube's subscriber count shot upward at a near-vertical angle. When the YouTube team checked the numbers the next morning, they felt a strange mix of elation and total deflation.
"…It was all pointless."
"I mean, this is still good news, technically."
A full week of Shorts and full-length edits had pushed them just past four hundred thousand subscribers. Yeon-woo's single video had blasted them past seven hundred thousand in one day — and at this rate, they'd hit a million by tomorrow or the day after.
Meanwhile, the YouTube variety show was racing forward, filming already on the horizon.
PD Joo Hyun-seok still remembered the day he'd gotten the casting call from Saebyeol Entertainment. His first reaction had been a puzzled tilt of the head.
"An entertainment company wants to produce its own variety show… and they want me to PD it…?"
Even the agency name itself was unfamiliar. Still, turning down an offer cold felt rude, so he figured he'd at least check which celebrities were signed there. He typed "Saebyeol Entertainment" into the search portal.
"Why are there so many articl—"
Ah. So that's who they are.
PD Joo Hyun-seok quietly picked up his phone.
Brrr—
"Ah, yes. This is Joo Hyun-seok — we just spoke. Yes, yes, I'll do it. No — please let me do it."
His instincts had never been wrong. He had a writing staff who'd left the network with him to start a freelancing production house, but this was not the moment to solicit their opinions. He needed to lock this opportunity down before it slipped to someone else.
Cameras were tucked into every corner of the traditional Korean restaurant as the actors began arriving one by one. Son Jin-uk had gotten there first and was waiting when Jeong Su-yeon walked in.
"Sunbae-nim! Hello!"
"Ah, Su-yeon-ssi."
Son Jin-uk stood up awkwardly, shook her hand, and sat back down.
"You didn't get told what we're doing today either, right?"
"Ah, nooo. Just that we were meeting for a pre-shoot gathering before the variety filming…"
"Right. Figured as much."
Silence settled over them again. Son Jin-uk scratched the back of his head. Drawing on over a decade of broadcast experience, he could already picture the subtitle that would flash between them on air: Awkward. So awkward.
But it really is awkward, so I've got nothing to say.
Jeong Su-yeon was naturally shy with strangers, and the only actress Son Jin-uk was actually close with was Han So-hyun.
When's Yeon-woo getting here? Or even Teacher Jeong Cheol-min…
Jeong Su-yeon was thinking the exact same thing.
Is Byeol coming late today…?
She found herself missing the way Han Byeol usually fluttered around her like a little chick, chattering nonstop at her side.
The awkward silence stretched on. Just as Jeong Su-yeon was about to force some kind of conversation, the door opened and someone burst in.
"Tadaaa! Hello, everyone!"
It was Seo Ji-eun, radiating bright, noisy energy from the moment she appeared. Both of the people already seated exhaled in visible relief.
"Ji-eun unnie."
They saw each other at the company almost every day, yet Jeong Su-yeon and Seo Ji-eun clasped hands as if they hadn't met in years. Then Ji-eun beamed, dashed over to Son Jin-uk, and bowed deeply.
"Sunbae-nim, hello!"
"Ah — yes, yes. Ji-eun-ssi."
Son Jin-uk scrambled to his feet to return the greeting, and Seo Ji-eun waved him off.
"Aigoo, please just speak comfortably."
Watching her, Son Jin-uk smiled to himself.
Now I get exactly what Yeon-woo meant. Little Han So-hyun.
They'd crossed paths a few times at award ceremonies and around the office, but this was their first real conversation — and somehow she already felt familiar.
Then the door opened again, and the rest of the members poured in all at once, PD Joo Hyun-seok among them.
"Looks like everyone's here."
As he stepped inside, PD Joo carefully observed where everyone's eyes went. He noticed how the other actors' gazes naturally gravitated toward Yeon-woo.
Hmm. So Actor Ryu Yeon-woo really is the center of gravity in this group.
In variety filming, reading the cast's relationships quickly was critical. Chemistry, after all, was what decided whether something was actually fun.
Everyone settled around the table, and the rest of the staff filed in. Looking over the assembled members, PD Joo opened his mouth.
"Alright, today's just a pre-meeting. Honestly, I don't have any announcements — just eat comfortably and talk among yourselves."
"Huh? We just… eat?"
Seo Ji-eun asked, and PD Joo nodded. His plan was to watch their conversations, map out their relationships and everyday personalities, and use that to set the editing direction.
The members began eating and chatting naturally. Sitting at the far end of the table, occasionally chiming in while he studied them, PD Joo found himself struck by something almost familial about the group's composition. Not in the sense of deep emotional bonds — just looking at the age spread.
Jeong Cheol-min as the father figure. Below him, five "kids." Eldest brother Son Jin-uk at the top, then the three roughly same-age siblings — Ji-eun, Yeon-woo, and Su-yeon — and finally the late-born baby of the family, Han Byeol.
Ohh. That's the character framework I should build around.
He nodded as he scribbled notes furiously.
And damn, since they're all actors, the visuals are absolutely insane. This is some kind of ultra-luxury casting.
On any other variety show, every single one of these people would be treated as a premium special guest. Ryu Yeon-woo's current power in the broadcast industry was already in a league of his own — but even setting him aside, the rest of the cast was the same. In Korea right now, the only place that could pull a lineup like this together outside of an awards ceremony was, ironically, the brand-new Saebyeol Entertainment.
Filming a variety show with this cast… and releasing it only on YouTube…
PD Joo looked over the dazzling faces of the members laughing and talking among themselves, and nodded again. He'd thought so at the planning stage, but seeing them all together made the future even clearer. Honestly, the members' features were sharper than any future he could sketch.
This is going to hit. Hard. It'll eat every TV variety show alive.
In the middle of conversation, Han Byeol raised her hand.
"PD-nim!"
"Yes?"
"What's our variety show called?"
The other members looked over too, suddenly curious. All they'd been told was that they were filming a variety show as agency self-produced content — no one had mentioned a title.
PD Joo looked at the group and spoke.
"I deliberately left the title blank. How about you all come up with one while you talk?"
Seo Ji-eun tilted her head.
"That feels a little like freeloadi—"
"Pardon?"
"Nothing!"
Various names bounced around the table after that, but nothing really stuck. Yeon-woo, who'd been quietly thinking it over, suddenly spoke up as if something had clicked.
"Instead of something flashy, what about just keeping it simple — Saebyeol Family?"
At Yeon-woo's suggestion, PD Joo immediately recalled that his own character-framework instinct had been "family." The other members nodded along.
"This kid's naming sense is genuinely old-fashioned, but somehow when you hear it, it actually works."
Son Jin-uk nodded at Jeong Cheol-min's remark.
"It really does lodge itself right in your brain — and it captures exactly who we are."
The footage from the pre-meeting was edited overnight and uploaded to YouTube the very next day.