Awards After-Party
Once the awards ceremony ended, Saebyeol's actors headed for a large party room the executives had reserved.
"I figured an after-party meant a barbecue place for sure, but a party room? CEO Jeong's got serious taste."
At Lee Ye-eun's words, Kim Min-su shook his head.
"No way CEO Jeong Hyeok made this reservation. If it were him, he'd have booked that samgyeopsal place we went to last time. This is definitely Executive Director Yoon Mi-yeon's doing."
Yeon-woo silently agreed — Yoon Mi-yeon did have a refined sense of style beyond her years.
Frankly, it was a relief. They were all dressed to the nines in black and gold; heading to their usual pork-belly joint would have felt a little off.
Though with all these sponsored outfits, if it had been a barbecue place, we probably would have changed first…
Kim Min-su's car arrived at a building in Gangnam that housed the party room. They stepped out, rode the elevator up, and passed through the entrance to find food laid out buffet-style — clearly catered. Saebyeol staff who had already arrived were helping themselves to finger food with wine or champagne in hand.
"Hmm. I'm seeing a lot of faces that never show up at regular company dinners."
Yeon-woo nodded at Kim Min-su's observation. The company was still young and hadn't held dinners often, and attendance was always voluntary — plenty of employees simply preferred not to go. But an event like this? Who would skip it?
Some people carried red wine in stemmed glasses; others wandered freely with miniature champagne bottles in hand, chatting in an easy, open atmosphere.
"This is properly European."
"No — honestly, it's more American."
Customs varied by country, of course, but major European nations generally preferred a more formal approach to parties. The free-roaming energy here felt closer to an American house party — or a high school prom.
Ah, right. When we were in LA last time, Executive Director Yoon mentioned she grew up in the States.
It all made sense now.
One corner of the party room held every kind of alcohol, from wine and champagne to the classics — soju and beer. Then one of Saebyeol's staff spotted Yeon-woo and his group coming through the entrance and started clapping.
"Entering now — our great actor Ryu Yeon-woo, double Best Actor award winner!"
Thanks to the announcement, every gaze in the noisy party room swung toward Yeon-woo. Applause and cheers erupted.
There were new hires among them, but most of the staff had left other entertainment companies to join Saebyeol. Some had followed Jeong Hyeok and Yoon Mi-yeon out of LN; others, like Gong Min-jeong, had come from rival agencies. What they all shared was this: the decisive factor in joining had been that this was the fledgling company chosen by actor Ryu Yeon-woo.
Watching him win on the live broadcast tonight had confirmed that their choice had been the right one.
Receiving the warm welcome, Yeon-woo offered a light greeting and stepped into the room. The ceremony had run long and he was fairly hungry, so he grabbed a few finger foods and wet his throat. The other actors arrived one after another.
"Yeon-woo. No escaping tonight. You're drinking with us until you're properly wrecked."
"Yeah, seriously. You've been ditching us lately. What, are you out saving the country or something? Why are you always so busy?"
At Jeong Cheol-min and Son Jin-uk's words, Yeon-woo broke into a sheepish smile, a bead of sweat forming.
"Alright, alright. I've been a little busy saving the country lately. Go ahead and start without me — I'll join you."
"Okay. You better."
It wasn't that Yeon-woo disliked drinking. They would never know it, but the past few weeks of nonstop operations with his agents had simply left him no room to socialize. In a way, Son Jin-uk wasn't wrong — he really had been too busy saving the country to drink.
Jeong Cheol-min and Son Jin-uk claimed a corner the moment they arrived and launched straight into a serious pour-and-drink session. Han Byeol, still a student, came in with her mother, made a circuit of greetings around the room, and headed home early. Seo Ji-eun and Jeong Su-yeon mixed easily with staff they'd grown close to lately, laughing and chatting without a hint of awkwardness.
And standing alone beside Yeon-woo was one man.
"You…"
"Hmm?"
Jin Yu-han, standing there by himself, looked over at Yeon-woo's words.
"I thought you hated after-parties."
Jin Yu-han shrugged.
"Depends on the day."
And there was one more man present who wasn't even signed to Saebyeol.
"Jin Yu-han hyung-nim. I'm a real fan. I respect you so much. Back when I was a trainee, I watched every single movie and drama you were in."
"Oh, is that right?"
At Dong-ha's words, Jin Yu-han scratched the back of his head.
Then, from a corner of the party room, a noisy cluster of people drew Yeon-woo's attention.
"Hmm? What on earth is that doing here…"
Yeon-woo tilted his head. One side of the room held a pool table and a dartboard — and a claw machine. Standing before it in a posture of lofty dignity was none other than Master Min-su Kim.
He spun the claw with merciless precision, and that ruthless hand never failed to snag a doll by the scruff of the neck. As the pile of prizes grew, the staff around him clapped without pause.
"Hmm. Maybe Min-su hyung's finest hour isn't as a manager at all — it's when he's pulling dolls…"
The morning after the late-running dinner began with a message in the group chat.
Yeon-woo sat up in bed, clutching his hangover-fogged head, and tapped open the article on his phone.
SL Electronics' first-half flagship smartphone, the Universe series, is showing strong early signs of a hit in pre-sales. Initial stock distributed through SL Electronics' official website and open markets sold out early and was temporarily listed as unavailable.
According to industry sources on the 17th, pre-order sales began at midnight, and the website reportedly saw fierce competition as buyers flooded in.
One prospective buyer, Mr. A (28), said, "I'm a regular fan of White Blood, so I clicked the second it hit midnight — after about two minutes of waiting, it said temporarily sold out," expressing his disappointment.
Previous series also sold out their initial stock, but those typically took around three hours on average. Industry observers note that having the entire online allocation gone within roughly two minutes is clearly exceptional.
One netizen posted in a community forum that "the White Blood Edition (Universe X White Blood Edition) is the real driver of the popularity."
Meanwhile, long lines formed from the early morning hours at SL Electronics flagship stores for the limited offline stock — a striking sight. An SL Electronics representative stated… (continued)
"Hmm. So today was the smartphone launch day."
The article Dong-ha had shared showed both the instant sell-out of online pre-orders and photos of customers lining up for the limited flagship-store stock.
The cast seemed genuinely excited that the smartphone they had modeled for had sold out completely. Aside from Han Byeol, they all should have been nursing hangovers — yet the chat was buzzing from early morning.
Reading through the conversation, Yeon-woo absently stroked the faint stubble on his jaw.
"Hmm…"
He went into the bathroom to wash up and clear his head, spreading shaving cream across his face as he thought it over. Come to think of it, even the cleansing foam and the slippers in the bathroom had some character printed on them — a bear? A lion? Hard to tell — clearly merchandise from somewhere.
That was probably a character from a messenger app, wasn't it.
Most of the household goods had been bought by his mother on his behalf while he was too busy. In truth, she had just had his younger sister So-hyun order everything on her phone, so the selection thoroughly reflected his sister's tastes — which meant a lot of cute character products. He glanced back and saw a bath mat at the bathroom entrance printed with the exact same character.
Looking around at all the character-branded items nearby, he thought back to the cast's conversation.
"Merch, huh…? That might actually be pretty good."
The rights to White Blood were currently split three ways: original creator Director Hwang Min-gwon, private investor Representative Kim Ju-seong, and Yeon-woo himself, who had been granted partial ownership along with his running guarantee during production.
Kim Ju-seong and I are in the same boat, and my relationship with Director Hwang is solid — so we can move things however we want.
Back when Kim Ju-seong had wielded near-absolute decision-making power at LN as if it were his personal company, the industry had essentially treated him and LN as one and the same. Kim Ju-seong was LN, and LN was Kim Ju-seong. But once the two split, ownership and distribution of White Blood had fractured into a complicated arrangement.
During production, LN's board had questioned Kim Ju-seong's management judgment and rated White Blood's chances of success as low. Facing board-level resistance, Kim Ju-seong had covered the early production costs out of his own pocket and signed a production-support contract loaded with special clauses that held him personally liable if the drama failed.
All that board obstruction actually worked out in our favor in the end.
Contrary to the board's expectations, White Blood became a global hit, far exceeding the projected recoup rate relative to production costs. Under the special clauses written into the original investment contract, distribution revenue went to LN — while the intellectual property rights belonged entirely to private investor Kim Ju-seong.
In short, LN took a cut of the White Blood profits, but every future revenue stream from secondary creations using that IP belongs entirely to Saebyeol.
LN still handled distribution rights for White Blood, but rights to derivative secondary works — like this commercial — had nothing to do with LN at all.
"Merch…"
The more he thought about it, the better the idea sounded. It would also create nice synergy with the upcoming basketball drama Parabola and the YouTube variety show Saebyeol Family.
"Hmm. Who'd be the right people to put in charge…"
Running through the staff in his mind, Yeon-woo settled on two names.
The company cafeteria construction is almost in its final stretch.
Yeon-woo liked efficient task allocation, and there was no way he would leave a proven top performer like Representative Kim Ju-seong sitting idle. Merch also required someone fluent in fandom culture with a feel for young sensibilities — so he needed a second person. And there was someone who checked every box.
I'll pair Representative Kim Ju-seong with Gong Min-jeong sunbae as a kind of task force. Ideas meeting experience — that should create some real synergy.
And just like that, without either of them knowing, a temporary project team for merchandise was born.