First Broadcast of Star Beyond the River
Unlike the soda that had filled their glasses during Summer's Closet, Yeon-woo raised a glass brimming with beer high into the air.
"I'll strive to create a drama that will go down in history. Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
Everyone laughed and echoed the toast at the spirited cry of the drama's lead. Even Jin Yu-han, who normally kept to himself on set and rarely mixed with anyone but Yeon-woo, had joined the wrap party after finishing the overseas location shoot, lifting his glass and calling out the toast right along with them.
Only one person among them sat with his lips pursed in a pout—Park Gyeong-wan, whose baseless sense of victimhood was steadily turning his feelings toward Ryu Yeon-woo into outright dislike.
They ate, laughed, and talked until Saturday night edged toward ten o'clock. On the large monitor tuned to KBC1, the broadcast standards notice appeared, followed by the logo.
Star Beyond the River.
At last, the drama's first broadcast.
The episode opened with scenes of the veteran actors that had been filmed in advance, back when Yeon-woo and Yu-han were still practicing their sword-action choreography together in the gymnasium before principal photography began.
King Gwangjong filled three golden cups set before him to the brim.
"You ministers labor day and night to aid me in the affairs of state. Today I shall bestow rewards upon you."
"Your Grace is boundless, Your Majesty."
Yet Seo Pil, head still bowed, did not so much as touch the cup the king had granted him. Gwangjong found it strange and spoke.
"Why does the Royal Physician refuse? Do the wine and the cup I have given displease you?"
Seo Pil bowed even lower and answered.
"How could that be, Your Majesty? If a mere subject were to drink from a golden cup, what cup would Your Majesty use thereafter?"
Gwangjong threw back his head and laughed at Seo Pil's words.
"You do not regard the golden cup as a treasure, yet from this day forward I shall regard your words as treasure."
He took the golden cup filled with the wine meant for Seo Pil, drained it in one swallow, and continued.
"Today is a joyous day. I shall bestow a name upon your son. Let him be called Hui, that he may grow to become a shining star of Goryeo."
And so Seo Yeom-yun, eldest son of Seo Pil, was renamed Seo Hui after the name granted him in childhood by Gwangjong, the fourth emperor of Goryeo.
Watching the television, Seo Ji-eun turned to the writer Kim Jin-ju beside her.
"Wow, Writer-nim, is that story really true?"
The scene had not even been in the script they had received at the table read, so Yeon-woo looked over at Kim Jin-ju with equal curiosity.
"Nah, Ji-eun-ssi. There's a record that Gwangjong bestowed a golden cup, and a separate record that Seo Hui's name was changed when he was young. I just stuck the two together and made a story out of them."
Ohhh.
The surrounding actors nodded and praised her, murmuring that a writer really was a writer. Unexpected compliments made Kim Jin-ju's face flush bright red.
Han So-hyun had also turned on the television right on time and settled onto the sofa with her mother to watch Star Beyond the River, the drama starring Ryu Yeon-woo.
The logo appeared together with Ryu Yeon-woo's face, and the drama began.
"So-hyun, that boy is just too adorable. And he speaks so well."
"Right? Mom. After working two projects back-to-back with him, I kind of feel like he's a little brother now."
Han So-hyun thought it over, then tilted her head and added,
"Or maybe more like an older brother?"
As the drama opened, the veterans' golden-cup scene played, followed immediately by Dal-yeong, Seo Hui's personal servant, bustling in and out of the gate of Seo Pil's house.
"Aigoo, every single morning it's the same work."
Then the hinges creaked and the door swung wide open—Yeon-woo made his entrance.
A face as white as porcelain, large eyes, a high straight nose—features carved like a sculpture—crowned by a neatly coiled topknot. The camera caught Ryu Yeon-woo's appearance in slow motion as the door opened. It was the protagonist's first scene in the drama, and his looks alone made it strikingly memorable.
"My goodness, every time I see that boy I think the same thing—he's just too handsome. So-hyun, bring him home sometime. I'll cook him a meal. Whether he's a little brother or a big brother, that makes him my son, doesn't it?"
Han So-hyun laughed at her mother's joking.
On screen, Ryu Yeon-woo began to speak.
"What do you think you're doing, gathering all of those?"
"Aigoo, Young Master. How could this humble servant refuse the love letters the young ladies write to you?"
A few scenes later came the marketplace sequence where Ryu Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun first met.
"Are you all right?"
"Ah! My backside!? How can you be so lacking in manners toward a woman?"
"Me? I was standing perfectly still right here, and you were the one who—"
The image of Seo Ji-eun falling, Yeon-woo's split-second deliberation, and the way he caught her with his foot and set her upright again had been edited into slow-motion comedy, and the shameless banter that followed sent laughter bursting out.
"Ahhh, those two really suit each other. Perfect chemistry. I'm getting all fluttery."
"You need to meet a man yourself, you little minx."
"Mom! What kind of thing is that to say to an actress?"
Han So-hyun's mother glanced at her daughter and snorted.
"That actress is thirty."
"Mom!"
Han So-hyun shot her mother a sideways glare at the mention of thirty.
Meanwhile, in a luxurious modern home with marble floors, a man in blue pajamas sat alone on the sofa, enjoying fried chicken and beer.
It was Kim Ju-seong, the CEO of LN Entertainment—the man who had started as a manager, founded the company, and grown it through an artist-first philosophy that valued mutual prosperity over pure profit.
"Hmm. Looks good on screen."
Kim Ju-seong nodded as he watched Star Beyond the River. Outside the house he always insisted on a razor-sharp pomade hairstyle and a full suit, but at home he was completely relaxed. He speared a piece of chicken with a fork and popped it into his mouth.
His favorite hobby was sitting alone and simply savoring the performances of the actors under his company on the small screen and the big one.
"You kicked an unmarried woman right on the—"
"That is not what happened."
"Your toes went right under my skirt—"
"Absolutely not."
The banter ricocheted back and forth with Jin Yu-han, as Lee Ji-baek, caught in the middle.
"The chemistry's good too."
Kim Ju-seong nodded again at the pairing of Ryu Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun on screen.
Seo Hui, who had first seemed like a wild, free-spirited young man in the marketplace, gradually opened her heart after seeing how learned Hong Ui-yeon truly was. Back in her hometown of Seogyeong there had been no peer her age more scholarly than she; instead she had only suffered jealousy for being a woman. Now in Gaegyeong she watched Seo Hui and Lee Ji-baek solve even the problems she herself could not, and little by little her defenses lowered.
From there the episode highlighted each lead's distinctive traits with lively, sparkling dialogue that kept the interest high.
Before anyone realized it, an hour had passed. On the television, the first episode of Star Beyond the River ended and the preview began to roll.
The moment the broadcast finished, Kim Ju-seong snatched up his smartphone and kept hitting refresh, waiting for the ratings to appear.
KBC 1 Star Beyond the River Episode 1 Viewership: [13.7%]
MBS Baldur Episode 3 Viewership: [19.8%]
Still trailing the competing drama that had started a week earlier by a sizable margin. Yet compared with Baldur's previous episode, which had closed above twenty-four percent, the leading digit had already changed—they had stolen a considerable number of viewers.
Kim Ju-seong searched on his phone, examining the production company and investors behind the rival series Baldur.
"Hmm. This company?"
He stroked his chin and sank deeper into the sofa.
"Something smells off about this."
Lately he had witnessed a string of entertainment-industry drug scandals, an ever-increasing number of sponsorship scandals, and clear signs that certain forces had been trying for years to shake the industry for their own interests. The investor attached to Baldur was one of them.
For now they were still behind the competition, so it was fine. But if the ratings flipped, there was no telling what dirty methods those people might resort to in order to recoup their investment.
To head off such underhanded tactics before they began, Kim Ju-seong picked up his phone and dialed a number.
Online reactions began forming first among the younger audience. The worry that a KBC1 drama might not land with younger viewers proved unfounded as comments started pouring in.
Meanwhile, whether they knew of the online buzz or not, the atmosphere at the barbecue restaurant remained buoyant. After the first episode ended, the staff checked the ratings and grew excited at the surprisingly strong start. Yeon-woo watched them talk and quietly smiled.
It would have been a lie to say he paid no attention to ratings or box-office numbers, yet Yeon-woo had become an actor simply because he loved acting; he was not the type to ride every high and low of the numbers.
Still, everyone worked so hard. It's nice to see them happy.
The competing MBS blockbuster had poured so much money and pre-broadcast promotion into itself that the production team had seemed a little deflated even before filming began. Listening to the staff now, it sounded as though they had stolen quite a few viewers.
Yeon-woo glanced sideways. Jin Yu-han was simply and silently picking up pieces of meat now that the drama had finished.
This guy doesn't seem like the type to care much about ratings either.
Living with him had made it clear: Jin Yu-han was an acting idiot who knew nothing but performance.
Yeon-woo looked to his left and saw Seo Ji-eun already holding both of Kim Jin-ju's hands and laughing together. The writer, who had been so buried in scripts that she almost never appeared on set, and the always-bright Seo Ji-eun had already become close.
"Director, at this rate we can close the gap, right? Our show only gets more fun as it goes."
"Of course it will!"
At the table behind them the director and staff were pumping each other up. The night grew late; the party finally broke up around one in the morning.
During the gathering, messages had poured in from every direction after the first broadcast, and Yeon-woo's phone had completely run out of battery and shut off.
"Hmm. I need to contact Min-su hyung. Maybe I should borrow a phone."
He was still fretting when Min-su's car pulled up right in front of the restaurant, as if timed to the second.
"How did you get here at exactly the right moment? My phone died during the party."
"I figured it would wrap up around now. Still, it's a relief you have two days off starting tomorrow. You've been shooting all night lately and barely sleeping."
At Min-su's concern, Yeon-woo lifted one corner of his mouth in a playful smile.
"But if I'm on break, doesn't that mean Min-su hyung has to go into the office and do paperwork?"
Yeon-woo knew better than anyone how much Min-su hated sitting still and doing desk work. The moment he tossed out the joke, Min-su grinned right back at him.
"I got vacation too. The company told me to rest on the same schedule as you."
"Oh, really? Then I can relax with a clear conscience."
"What are you planning to do during your break, Actor-nim?"
"I'm heading down to my family home."
Min-su nodded at the answer.
"It's been three or four months since you last went home, hasn't it?"
"Has it already been that long?"
The last time had been right before the camping trip with Maseok Do and Jeong Su-yeon, when he had gone to pick up his little sister. Quite a while ago.
"The break isn't long, but while I'm down there I want to watch Episode 2 with the family tomorrow, and also stop by the special set in advance."
"The special set? So it's finally finished."