The Goryeo-Liao War
"No way! Don't even joke about that!"
Yeon-woo had planned to just casually show up, but thanks to the tireless efforts of stylist Lee Ye-eun — who had drawn a huge X with her arms in absolute refusal — he finished his makeup and changed clothes in the car on the way to the wrap party.
"Noona, it's a barbecue place. The clothes are going to reek of smoke."
"Aigoo, Yeon-woo. The sponsors would line up to thank you even if you burned the clothes to a crisp."
Looking at Yeon-woo, who still hadn't fully grasped his own standing in Korea, Ye-eun pulled out one outfit after another.
"Here. Let's go with this."
With quick hands she yanked his T-shirt off and held out a different shirt. Yeon-woo let out a quiet laugh.
"I still remember the first time you saw me change in the car. Your face went bright red and you looked away."
"W-when did I ever do that?!"
From the front seat came Min-su's voice, thick with laughter.
"I remember it perfectly. Your face was as red as a tomato."
"Min-su oppa. No, it was not. Keep your eyes on the road."
"It's a red light."
Watching the two of them bicker playfully, a smile tugged at Yeon-woo's lips.
"You two kind of suit each other."
"Excuse me?"
"W-what are you talking about!"
Seeing them both jump and fluster in awkward unison, Yeon-woo thought spring might be arriving early this year — winter hadn't even come yet.
Before long they arrived at the Yeouido restaurant reserved for the wrap party. The broad parking lot out front was already packed with fans and reporters.
The crowd looked easily twice as large as the one at the Summer's Closet wrap party.
"You were right, noona. Good thing we did the styling."
"Ye-eun-ssi, you stay in the car for now. I'll get out first, open the door, and escort him to the entrance."
The moment Min-su opened the driver's door and stepped out, the crowd outside — reporters and fans alike — raised their cameras in perfect unison, ready.
The taut, coiled tension looked exactly like sprinters lined up at the starting blocks for a hundred-meter dash.
Whirr—
And like the starting gun, the van door slid open. Yeon-woo stepped out, and camera flashes exploded.
"Waaaaah!"
"Look over here, please!"
"This way!"
Smiling, Yeon-woo walked to the photo-zone markers that had been taped onto the parking lot asphalt with blue painter's tape, then turned to the surrounding reporters and fans and waved.
"Holy crap. The real thing is something a screen can't capture. Not at this level."
"Is there a hotter celebrity in the country this year than Ryu Yeon-woo? The movie was a smash, and now the drama's a smash too."
Between the cheers, the reporters chattered while they shot him.
"Shall we head inside now, sir?"
"Yes, Min-su hyung."
He bowed deeply toward the fans and reporters who had waited for him, then followed Min-su's lead into the restaurant.
"Ohhh, the star of the show has arrived."
He was later than he'd thought — a good number of people were already inside.
The camera director who had run around all summer under a blazing sun with heavy gear, sweat pouring off him like rain. The lighting team that had stood gripping lights while swarms of insects threw themselves at the fixtures. And countless other staff.
Yeon-woo looked around at the familiar faces and bowed his head.
"Thank you all so much for your hard work. I'm grateful we got to make something this good together."
"Hey, what are you doing giving a toast already? We haven't even poured the drinks yet."
Director Lee Sang-hun's teasing cracked the room open with laughter.
"Yeon-woo! Over here!"
Seo Ji-eun waved from a corner table. Across from her, Jin Yu-han caught Yeon-woo's eye and grinned.
"You all got here early. I thought I left myself plenty of time."
As Yeon-woo sat down, Jin Yu-han snorted.
"No schedules, everyone's free. We just came early to hang out and talk."
Then Seo Ji-eun, fidgeting a little, pulled a wrapped gift box from her bag and held it out to him.
"Take this!"
He had saved her twice. She had agonized for ages over what to give him before finally settling on this.
"You're giving me a present?"
Yeon-woo took the gift and unwrapped it right there at the table.
Inside the box was a luxury leather wallet in a clean, understated brown design.
"I thought about it forever, and then last time on set I saw your wallet and it looked pretty worn out…"
Yeon-woo had been using the same wallet since his student days. He smiled, pulled it out on the spot, and transferred his cards and ID into the new one.
"Thank you. I'll use it for a long time."
"Hehe. Do you like the design?"
"Yeah. Simple. Exactly my style."
Jin Yu-han turned to Seo Ji-eun with a mischievous look.
"What about me?"
"Huh?"
"Don't I get a present?"
Of course everyone knew about the stalker incident, and Seo Ji-eun knew perfectly well that Jin Yu-han was only teasing her.
Still, coming from someone with his usual image, the joke left her completely blank.
"Uh, well, maybe later when there's a chance…"
"I'm kidding."
Yeon-woo watched Jin Yu-han and smiled to himself.
Something about him really had shifted since that trip with the friends.
"Noona, Yu-han — the show's over. What are you doing next? Schedules pouring in?"
Both of them looked at him.
Jin Yu-han spoke first.
"I've got a musical I've been prepping for a while. I'll probably go into that."
"A musical? Didn't see that coming. I love musicals and theater myself. Invite me to the premiere."
Jin Yu-han nodded, then asked,
"Or — want to do a musical together sometime?"
"…Huh?"
A musical. It would be great if he could actually do one, but…
If this conversation had come up at the pool villa with his friends, Woo Seong-sik and Kim Jun-su — who knew exactly how well Yeon-woo could sing — would have been rolling on the floor laughing.
"Hmm. I just like watching them. What about you, Ji-eun noona?"
"Mmm, I haven't locked anything in yet. One variety show offer came in. I'm still deciding whether to take it."
Looking at Seo Ji-eun — the kind of person who bounced back like candy no matter how many times she fell — Yeon-woo nodded, thinking variety might actually suit her surprisingly well.
But the last incident still sat in the back of his mind. Her current agency was tiny. If she got much more famous, he wasn't sure they could handle whatever came next. So he asked,
"Are you pretty tightly tied to your agency right now, noona?"
"Huh? No, not really. They just offered a contract when I got cast in my first project, and I took it. It's almost time to renegotiate."
She had originally signed for five years, debuted at eighteen, then after her next project flopped she had sat idle for more than two years. There wasn't much of a bond left with the company.
Yeon-woo watched her, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
Maybe I should float the idea to the company. Working with her, I could tell — she's an actress with a lot of room left to grow.
He was grateful to CEO Kim Ju-seong for all the accommodations already, and from what Yeon-woo had seen, Seo Ji-eun was the kind of talent who would keep climbing if she just got proper support.
But it was only his own assessment — it could easily be wishful thinking — so he kept the thought to himself and said nothing to her.
Just then a staff member pointed at the TV and raised his voice.
"Our drama's final episode is starting!"
"Waaaaah!"
Sageuk filming was always harder than modern dramas. The cast and crew who had clawed their way through that ordeal together roared with the camaraderie of people watching the final period put on a long, hard sentence.
"Finally. We get to see the end of our drama."
At Seo Ji-eun's words, Yeon-woo thought back to the very first shoot — alone on the coastal dunes, sprinting under a merciless sun.
Aside from Director Lee Sang-hun, the handful of staff who had been there, and Yeon-woo himself, no one knew how the final scene had actually been shot.
Even Yeon-woo had only seen the raw, unedited footage. He was curious how it would look now.
And then the drama began.
"Your Majesty, it is our humble counsel that we cede the lands north of the Western Capital and seek peace. If we continue to make an enemy of them, the turmoil will not end, the realm will burn, and the common people will cry out in suffering. We beg Your Majesty to look upon this with mercy."
Seo Hui, lines now etched into his face, shook his head as he faced the court officials who were effectively arguing for surrender under the banner of territorial cession.
"Your Majesty, your servant Seo Hui begs leave to speak."
"Speak, Naesaryeong."
King Seongjong, sixth monarch of Goryeo, granted him the floor.
"The enemy general Xiao Sunning, Governor of the Eastern Capital, has struck Bongsan County and yet since then has made no true offensive — only empty threats repeated without substance. This is nothing more than the enemy commander's hollow bluster."
King Seongjong listened to both sides, deep in thought.
Then other ministers raised their voices as one against Seo Hui.
"Naesaryeong, if it is true that the enemy commands an army of eight hundred thousand, how do you propose to answer this nation's crisis with such words?"
Seo Hui fixed the officials opposite him with a clear, unwavering gaze.
"Take one step back, and in the end you will be forced to take ten thousand. From the situation as I have assessed it, Liao cannot possibly field eight hundred thousand men southward at this moment."
"How can you be so certain?"
Just then a eunuch's voice announced another arrival at the palace.
"Mingwan Eosa Yi Ji-baek seeks audience!"
Yi Ji-baek, who had spent years as an envoy to Song, had raced to Gaegyeong the moment he heard of the crisis and entered the palace.
At the perfect timing, he appeared to rescue Seo Hui, who had been standing alone against the surrender faction. A cheer went up inside the barbecue restaurant where the wrap party was being held.
"Ooooh."
At the swell of admiration, the man playing Yi Ji-baek — sitting in a real-world meat house rather than the Goryeo court — snorted mid-grill and laughed.
"Your Majesty, your servant Yi Ji-baek."
"Ah. Mingwan Eosa."
Yi Ji-baek looked around at the court officials and raised his voice.
"The cries for a craven surrender to the enemy have grown so loud they can be heard beyond the palace gates. From the day the Great Founder raised this royal house until now, this land has endured. And yet, for want of loyal subjects, we would casually hand our territory to a hostile nation — I cannot contain my grief. Your servant declares that Naesaryeong Seo Hui's words are right a hundred times over."
The blood-and-fire passion of the speech left the barbecue restaurant so quiet you could hear people swallow.
"Writer-nim. Is this something that actually happened in history?"
Seo Ji-eun asked Kim Jin-ju beside her, and every pair of eyes in earshot swung their way.
"No, Ji-eun-ssi. Historically, Yi Ji-baek is barely mentioned at all — only that he was the one person who sided with Seo Hui when Seo Hui stood alone against the surrender faction."
Whether he and Seo Hui had been friends, what kind of life he had lived — almost nothing remained in the records. He was a fictional reconstruction built from imagination. But in real history, he was the sole figure who had agreed with Seo Hui.
The staff nodded at Kim Jin-ju's explanation and turned their eyes back to the television.