Team Battle
The car that had arrived in Gapyeng wound its way along twisting roads until it pulled up at a freestanding pension.
Behind the building, the mountains unfurled like a folding screen — a place with real atmosphere.
"It actually feels like we came on a trip."
"It's pretty deep in the countryside, isn't it?"
"Haaah. This is nice."
Even after reaching Gapyeng they had driven a long stretch of rural road, and the air filling their lungs felt unmistakably fresher than the city.
"Once you're inside and unpacking, we'll get the bibimbap ingredients ready and set up the cameras. If you need to change clothes or use the bathroom, please use the second floor."
"Got it."
Yeon-woo and the cast headed into the pension.
The interior wasn't particularly luxurious, but the place was spacious enough that it looked ideal for filming.
"Unnie, are you going to change?"
"No, I'll change before bed tonight. What about you, Ji-eun unnie?"
"Hmm, we're probably shooting indoors, right? Besides the clothes I'm wearing now, all I brought is pajamas."
"Then I'll just stick with what I've got on too!"
Han Byeol trailed after Jeong Su-yeon like a little sister, and Seo Ji-eun seemed to fit right in with the two of them without any friction.
Son Jin-uk looked comfortable as well — not only because of the younger actors, but because Jeong Cheol-min was there.
He was already conspiring with him.
"Teacher, once filming wraps we should have a proper drink tonight, right?"
"Ohh, now you're talking. That Yeon-woo kid barely drinks, you know."
Jeong Cheol-min and Son Jin-uk were already in perfect sync, mapping out their post-shoot drinking plans.
While the actors went upstairs to rest and wait for filming prep, an FD came up.
"We're ready to shoot. The bibimbap ingredients are all set too."
At the FD's words, the actors rose from their seats.
"All right, shall we head down for a meal?"
"This is the precious bibimbap Yeon-woo won for us — we've got to mix it properly. I'll do it."
"Cheol-min teacher, are you good at cooking?"
At Han Byeol's question, Jeong Cheol-min gave a short laugh.
"Cooking? It's just mixing. Still, I've been mixing for decades."
As they headed down the stairs, Son Jin-uk pointed at Yeon-woo ahead of them.
"When it comes to actual cooking, though, Yeon-woo's the one."
"Oppa Yeon-woo can cook?!"
Watching Han Byeol ask again, Jeong Su-yeon tilted her head.
"Han Byeol, haven't you seen Summer's Table?"
"Ah! I have. I think I watched it when I was in elementary school."
"E-elementary school?"
Only then did Son Jin-uk seem to feel the age gap, and he let out a hollow laugh.
"It feels like just yesterday that Yeon-woo and I shot that, and she was in elementary school…"
"Jin-uk hyung. You do remember I was still a minor when we filmed Summer's Table, right?"
"Wow, that's right. We even had to bring guardian filming consent forms. Time flies. Wait — then what about Han Byeol?"
At Son Jin-uk's question, Han Byeol gave a bashful smile.
"My mom came with me! She's probably still in the car."
"In the car? It's cold and uncomfortable out there — you should've said something sooner."
Hearing that, Yeon-woo found PD Joo Hyun-seok on the first floor, where filming prep was already complete.
"PD-nim."
"Ah, yes, Yeon-woo-ssi."
"I heard Han Byeol's mother came along — is she still in the car?"
When Yeon-woo brought up Han Byeol's mother, PD Joo smiled as he answered.
"The second floor is spacious with plenty of rooms, so we already had her go up to rest in the room Han Byeol will be staying in. Figured she'd be hungry, so we set aside staff lunch boxes for her too."
"Ah, I see. Thank you."
Yeon-woo nodded and stepped out into the first-floor living room, where the staff stood waiting, cameras ready.
He's pretty sharp at handling things. Working with PD Joo Hyun-seok on more in-house variety content going forward wouldn't be a bad idea at all.
Then the call to resume filming rang out, and Jeong Cheol-min — clearly starving — sprang up and began dumping the bibimbap ingredients into a large bowl and mixing them with gusto.
"Let's eat the bibimbap first. I keep swallowing spit."
"Ahh, behold our father, desperate to feed his hungry children."
At Son Jin-uk's joke, Jeong Cheol-min snorted.
"You brat — I'm a bachelor who hasn't even gotten married. What father? I'm just hungry."
Once Jeong Cheol-min set the well-mixed bibimbap on the table, everyone scooped a portion and started eating.
"Wow, maybe it's because I was starving, but this is incredibly good."
"That's because I mixed it."
After they finished a satisfying lunch, PD Joo — who had been waiting for the perfect moment — pounced.
"All right, everyone. You've just enjoyed a delicious meal — and after a meal, doesn't a sweet cup of coffee sound perfect?"
At the sound of PD Joo's voice, the actors each let out a groan.
"Ugh. I wasn't thinking about it at all, and the second I heard that I suddenly want it like crazy."
"Same."
Grinning as if deliberately teasing them, PD Joo continued.
"But of course we can't just hand it out to everyone. From this moment on, you'll be split into two teams."
At his words, the actors looked at one another.
"The oldest cast member, Actor Jeong Cheol-min, will serve as one team captain, and our youngest, Actor Han Byeol, will captain the other team."
"Kyaak! Me? I've never even been class president!"
Everyone laughed at Han Byeol's protest.
"Han Byeol, what kind of sound is 'kyaak'? If it were Ella, she would've gone 'kwaeng.'"
"Then how do we pick teammates?"
"We've already divided them in advance."
Jeong Cheol-min, Jeong Su-yeon, and Son Jin-uk made up Team Jeong.
Han Byeol, Ryu Yeon-woo, and Seo Ji-eun made up Team Han.
"Both sides, please decide on a team name."
Hearing the PD, Yeon-woo asked Seo Ji-eun and Han Byeol for ideas.
"What should we call the team? Any ideas?"
Han Byeol thought for a moment, then raised her hand.
"You two were the leads of Star Beyond the River, and my name is Han Byeol, so how about Han Byeol Beyond the River?"
Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun both nodded, agreeing it was a good idea.
"Han Byeol, you're good at naming things. I like it."
"Hehe."
Meanwhile, Jeong Cheol-min's team — with Son Jin-uk and Jeong Su-yeon — was also wrestling with a name.
"What should our team name be?"
"Uuum. I'm the kind of person who spends forever trying to come up with a nickname and still can't…"
At Jeong Su-yeon's reluctant answer, Jeong Cheol-min looked at Son Jin-uk.
"A team name… Since two of us have the surname Jeong, how about just keeping it simple — Team Jeong?"
Then Son Jin-uk leaned in and whispered to the two of them.
"With these kinds of games, you have to shout before the other team, so a short name is always an advantage."
"Really? Then shall we?"
"I'm fine with that."
And so both team names were decided.
"What's Team Han Byeol's name?"
At the PD's question, team captain Han Byeol spoke up.
"Our team name is Han Byeol Beyond the River!"
Son Jin-uk nodded.
"Ohh. Nice sense. Definitely not a name Yeon-woo came up with."
Yeon-woo put on a faintly aggrieved expression.
"What's wrong with my naming sense?"
"Pretty sure every actor here already knows."
The other actors laughed in clear agreement.
"Then what's Jeong Cheol-min's team's name?"
"Our team name is Team Jeong."
At Jeong Cheol-min's answer, Seo Ji-eun — who had variety show experience — slapped her forehead with a look of pure defeat.
"Ah! They shortened it so they can shout the cheer first!"
"Heh heh. Too late. You'll have to enunciate 'Han Byeol Beyond the River Team!' perfectly."
"Ugh. We got played!"
Yeon-woo shook his head.
"We don't know yet. Until we find out what the game actually is, the cheer might not even matter."
"That's right! PD-nim, what kind of game is it?"
At Seo Ji-eun's question, PD Joo Hyun-seok spoke while setting up a small speaker connected to his laptop.
"It's a speed song-guessing game. I'll play a song, and whichever team knows the answer raises their hand first and guesses. Each person who gets it right is out, and the first team to get every member out wins."
At the PD's explanation, groans erupted from both sides at once.
"Ugh! Then a short cheer really is an advantage."
"We're doomed, kids. I don't know a single new-generation song."
Watching the dejected Jeong Cheol-min, Son Jin-uk and Jeong Su-yeon tried to console him.
"Come on, they'll throw in some old songs too."
But the most devastated of all was Yeon-woo.
This is bad. I genuinely don't know any songs.
Among all six cast members, the biggest hole wasn't Jeong Cheol-min — it was Yeon-woo.
Not just a hole — a black hole. Sorry to my teammates, but I'm going to have to give up on the coffee.
Meanwhile, after clashing once with Baeksol over the LN Media acquisition battle, Han Hae-un and the operatives had suspended their activities in anticipation of counter-surveillance, limiting themselves to basic monitoring work.
Han Hae-un found himself recalling the conversation he'd had with Yeon-woo last time.
"It seems the plan you designed worked as intended, Team Leader."
"Looking at their movements so far, it does seem that way — but that doesn't mean we can let our guard down. For the time being, suspend all investigation except for the movement surveillance on agent Hwang-geum."
"Understood. This was always going to be a long fight. The operatives will handle the surveillance work, so I should focus on my day job in the meantime."
Yeon-woo was busy enough maintaining a double life while keeping up with his acting schedule, but Han Hae-un was no better off — juggling prosecutor duties while tracking Baeksol left him feeling like even two bodies wouldn't be enough.
Of course, just as Yeon-woo had designed it, they had staged the attack to look as though one of China's black-society factions had entered Korea for a job and collided with Baeksol by accident. Whether Baeksol would actually buy that story was another matter, so the team had focused on scrubbing every trace.
Following orders, the operatives were concentrating solely on monitoring activity from a building across the street that overlooked the officetel where Hwang-geum was staying.
"Whew, it's chilly even indoors. They were selling fish-shaped pastries downstairs — should I grab some?"
At Lee Gyu-jin's words, Park Jung-hyeon shifted his massive frame and turned around.
"Fish-shaped pastries? I already had dinner. Two bags should do it."
"…You already had dinner and you want two bags?"
Just then, Kim Su-hyeok — who had been watching through a scope — raised a hand.
"Something feels off."
At Kim Su-hyeok's words, Lee Gyu-jin and Park Jung-hyeon focused.
Of the three, Kim Su-hyeok had far more actual operational experience and was older, so he was serving as the de facto leader.
"What feels off, and how?"
"We've been logging every single person and vehicle going in and out of that building around the clock without missing a thing."
"Of course."
Kim Su-hyeok scanned the handwritten logbook, then tore open a sealed yellow envelope and began checking items one by one against the checklist inside.
It was a manual Yeon-woo had passed to the operatives through Han Hae-un.
The manual was sealed with instructions to open it only when the watcher detected unusual activity during surveillance.
If you read the manual first and then watched, confirmation bias could kick in — you'd only register information that matched your preconceptions. So the protocol was to collect data objectively first, then open the envelope and check off what was written.
As he reviewed the checklist, Kim Su-hyeok let out a quiet sound of admiration.
"As expected of Alpha-Beta."
Lee Gyu-jin and Park Jung-hyeon tilted their heads at him.
"Hey, don't keep it to yourself — explain. What does the manual say?"
"As you know, surveillance work varies enormously depending on the experience and ability of whoever wrote the manual."
The other two nodded at Kim Su-hyeok's words.
"We filtered the entry vehicles we logged down to delivery motorcycles only — and over the past three days, not a single delivery rider went up to the floor where our target is. A guy who took a bullet to the knee should be resting, not cooking for himself?"
"No way. There's a high chance he's already not there."
"And you remember that unregistered vehicle that came through yesterday."
At Kim Su-hyeok's prompt, both operatives nodded.
"The black SUV from two days ago? It arrived late in the evening and didn't leave until night. Only the driver was in it — both going in and coming out."
Unless they knew they were under surveillance, there was no reason for someone to hide in the trunk or lie down across the back seat.
Then Park Jung-hyeon, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.
"If Hwang-geum left as a corpse, that would be a different story."
"…"
Kim Su-hyeok nodded at Park Jung-hyeon's point and continued.
"We'll need to check whether he's still inside."
"He's got all the windows covered, and it's the seventh floor — dropping a camera from the roof won't be easy."
Kim Su-hyeok shook the manual in his hand.
"Alpha-Beta kindly wrote out a method for exactly this situation too."