Chapter 276
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 276
Chapter Title: The Catch
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The next day.
MBS Drama Department.
The CP in charge of the four-episode drama, who had stepped out of a meeting to take a call, spotted Producer Gong Heechan in the office.
“Gong Heechan!”
Producer Gong Heechan, who was looking for some documents at his desk, looked up.
“Let’s talk for a minute.”
“Yes.”
The CP and Producer Gong Heechan headed to the vending machine area. As the CP was about to hand a can of coffee to Gong Heechan, his gaze fell on the producer’s hands.
Producer Gong Heechan’s hands were full of actors’ headshots. The CP tilted his head in confusion. He could see actors who would be difficult to cast even for a big-budget drama, let alone a four-episode special.
After a moment of puzzlement, the CP shrugged and got straight to the point. He had stepped out in the middle of a meeting and needed to get back quickly.
“You did well getting the script. Since she’s Writer So Eunjin’s assistant, I’m sure she’s skilled. The story is good, too. Min-gyu is doing a thriller and you’re doing a romance, so it won’t be boring.”
“Yes.”
The CP felt a sense of pride seeing the two assistant directors—no, the two producers—handling things so well on their own.
“But what about the actors? Have you secured a filming location? The staff? Min-gyu starts shooting tomorrow… If you don’t hurry, you won’t be able to film. All the good staff might get snapped up for Writer Oh Youngchul’s drama.”
Producer Gong Heechan nodded at the CP’s concern. It wasn’t something he could hide forever, and the higher-ups needed to know if he was going to sign a contract with Lee Seojun.
“I was just about to tell you.”
Producer Gong Heechan beamed, and the CP blinked. Gong Heechan had a naturally smiling face, so he’d seen him smile often, but he didn’t think he’d ever seen him grin so brightly.
“Hmm. You can’t quit halfway through.”
Producer Gong Heechan, who had been chuckling at the CP’s joke, smiled and said something in response.
The CP’s eyes slowly widened. The can of coffee in his motionless hand fell to the floor. Fortunately, it was an empty can, so no coffee spilled. Instead, it seemed the CP’s sanity had made an escape.
“You… you… you…!”
The CP’s index finger, pointing at Producer Gong Heechan, trembled violently. He couldn’t even form a proper sentence.
“…You crazy bastard!”
Despite his chiding words, the CP’s face was filled with ecstasy.
* * *
*Bang!*
“Director!”
The conference room door burst open with a loud noise.
The drama department director and the CPs, who were deep in a meeting about staking everything on Writer Oh Youngchul’s drama and finding actors with box office pull, frowned and looked toward the door. The CP for the four-episode drama was standing there.
“Didn’t you go to take a call? What is it? What’s going on?”
“If it’s not urgent, save it for later. Casting for Writer Oh’s drama comes first.”
“That’s not the issue.”
Everyone looked at him with puzzled expressions at the sound of his trembling voice.
“Gong Heechan! Our Producer Gong Heechan!”
“You’re going to pass out. Spit it out!”
The director bellowed at the CP, who was dragging it out.
“He’s cast actor Lee Seojun!”
A heavy silence fell over the conference room at the CP’s words.
The faces of the director and the CPs contorted in confusion. Their thoughts—*Wait, why is Lee Seojun suddenly coming up now?*—were plain to see.
“What are you talking about?”
“Why is Lee Seojun’s name coming up all of a sudden?”
“Is this the same actor Lee Seojun we’re all thinking of?”
Producer Gong Heechan, who was standing behind the CP, answered the flood of questions.
“Yes. It’s the Hollywood actor, Lee Seojun. We haven’t signed the contract yet, but I’ve received confirmation that he will appear.”
At Producer Gong Heechan’s words, the conference room erupted.
* * *
“Hahaha! We won’t have to worry about ratings!”
The supposedly urgent casting for Writer Oh Youngchul’s drama was pushed aside as the director and CPs chattered excitedly. The smiles never left their faces. Amid the boisterous crowd, Producer Gong Heechan and his CP also took their seats.
“Exactly! With Lee Seojun, the ratings are guaranteed!”
“Lee Seojun, just like that…! There really is a way to survive after all!”
“Promotion! How should we handle the promotion?”
At one CP’s words, everyone came to their senses.
With *the* Lee Seojun making an appearance, they couldn’t just do a half-hearted promotion. This was a chance to attract viewers not just from Korea, but from all over the world.
“Right. Promotion! What works of Lee Seojun do we have in our library?”
At the director’s question, the CPs pondered for a moment before their faces fell, not even a second later.
“…We have the Golden Globe Awards ceremony and an interview.”
There was so little, they didn’t even need to think about it.
“…Hah…”
The director was speechless at their meager collection. But soon, his eyes sparkled as he spoke.
“…Right. Now that we’re getting a new one, the past doesn’t matter.”
“That’s right! A project with Lee Seojun not only guarantees ratings, but we can also rerun it whenever he becomes a hot topic. We have to lock him in, no matter what his appearance fee is!”
The director nodded in satisfaction at those words. The CP for the four-episode drama smiled and said.
“Besides, this is his first drama since *Royal Physician*. It’s already been seven years.”
A drama appearance after seven years!
The faces of the director and CPs split into wide grins.
The smiles wouldn’t leave their faces, so much that the corners of their mouths ached, but they didn’t care. With a thoroughly excited expression, the director spoke.
“Lee Seojun, huh. How much should we pay him per episode?”
“Top-tier. We should probably offer him more than top-tier, right?”
“That’s right. It’s been seven years since his last drama, but he has a solid filmography.”
“Even if we pay him that much, the ad revenue will be more than enough to cover it.”
“Right. Considering it’ll air for 12 weeks, we can afford to be generous and still make a profit.”
“Exactly!”
Seeing the excited director and CPs, the four-episode drama’s CP and Producer Gong Heechan looked at each other and shared an awkward laugh. The CP let out a light sigh and threw cold water on the people calculating Lee Seojun’s appearance fee for 24 episodes and the potential ad revenue.
“Director. This is a four-episode drama. And it only airs once a week.”
The conference room sank into a heavy silence at the news, which felt like a bolt from the blue.
Once again, the conference room erupted. This time, it was in a bad way.
The CPs cried out in despair.
“Lee Seojun is in it, and it’s only four episodes? Just four episodes?”
“Twenty-four episodes wouldn’t be enough, I’d want to make it 50, and it’s only four?!”
“And it only airs once a week!”
“Even with reruns, it won’t even compare to *Royal Physician*.”
“I wanted to make a special broadcast like KBC did!”
A CP, who had been envisioning various broadcasts while recalling how KBC had raked in both ad revenue and ratings with *Royal Physician Plus+*, cried out in frustration.
At that, Producer Gong Heechan scratched his cheek and said.
“Our drama is a romance, so there probably won’t be much to show in a special like that.”
“It’s great that it’s Lee Seojun’s first romance, but… seriously, why only four episodes!”
“Who was it! Who came up with this damn plan!”
At the director’s words, everyone in the room turned to look at him. The CP for the four-episode drama sighed once more and said.
“If it weren’t for this project, actor Lee Seojun probably wouldn’t have agreed to appear.”
“…I suppose so.”
The director and the CPs’ shoulders slumped.
They were happy that Lee Seojun was starring in it, but why couldn’t they truly rejoice?
“If only it were at least 16 episodes…!”
The director, who had been nervously shaking his leg, looked up and called for Producer Gong Heechan.
“Producer Gong.”
“Yes?”
The CPs, who had been dejected, slowly raised their heads. The rollercoaster ride between heaven and hell must have been tough, as they looked much more haggard in just a few minutes. The director asked with a serious face.
“Can’t we extend it?”
At the director’s words, the CPs’ eyes lit up.
“Yes! Let’s extend it. You said it was extended from a one-act play to four episodes, right? Then let’s just extend it to 24 episodes!”
Before Producer Gong Heechan could even open his mouth, the CPs spoke up as if in a competition.
“If 24 is impossible, then at least 16!”
“Who did you say the writer was?”
“Writer So Eunjin’s assistant.”
“Then wouldn’t it be possible to extend it to around 16 episodes? Writer So Eunjin has done many long-form series.”
“I agree. If Writer So Eunjin helps out, couldn’t it be extended even further?”
“But if we extend it, will actor Lee Seojun still agree to be in it?”
At one CP’s question, everyone fell silent.
“…Would he say no?”
“I’m not sure. We don’t know why actor Lee Seojun chose this project. If he liked it enough to allow for some minor revisions… though I’m not sure if extending four episodes to sixteen can be called ‘minor’… anyway, if he liked it that much, he might still do it. But if he likes the project as it is now, he’ll probably say no.”
“Hmm.”
The director and CPs groaned at the valid point.
“Twenty-four episodes is too long… but maybe eight episodes is possible? If not, then at least six.”
At someone’s suggestion, the director called for Producer Gong Heechan.
“Gong Heechan.”
“Yes.”
“First, talk to the writer and ask how much she can extend the script. Tell her to increase the length while maintaining the current level of quality. Five episodes is fine, six is fine too.”
The director gripped Producer Gong Heechan’s shoulders.
“Extend it as much as possible.”
“Ah. Yes. I understand.”
“And then take the revised version to actor Lee Seojun. If he still says no, then just, just…”
The director swallowed back his tears.
“We’ll go with four episodes.”
*Sob.*
The MBS Drama Department conference room, having only glimpsed the golden goose, was filled with the sound of people swallowing their tears.
* * *
It seemed the suddenly convened meeting was about to end. That is, if it weren’t for the CP of the four-episode drama.
“By the way, what role is Lee Seojun playing?”
The CP, who had somehow found the synopsis Producer Gong Heechan submitted, was flipping through the pages. He had heard from Gong Heechan that Lee Seojun would be appearing, but he hadn’t yet heard what role he would be playing.
The actor’s name next to the character description on the second page was still blank.
“He’s too young to play the male lead. I don’t see any other suitable roles for him.”
“Is he going to use makeup? We can’t get you a Hollywood makeup team, but we can call in Stam or Dohwawon.”
“No. He’ll be playing the child role of the male lead.”
“Ah… the male lead’s name is ‘Child Role’? That’s unusual.”
Seeing the director and CPs fail to understand on the first try, Producer Gong Heechan scratched his cheek.
“No. He’s playing the younger version of the male lead. During his high school days.”
“…!”
At Producer Gong Heechan’s words, the conference room was once again filled with shock.
“You cast Lee Seojun for a child role?! A child role?!”
“Of all the parts available, why a child role?!”
“Look at the screen time! Look at the child role’s screen time!”
The sounds from the chaotic conference room spilled outside.
Whether it was due to poor soundproofing or just how loud their voices were, the gist of the conversation could be heard. The assistant directors and producers outside the room were left speechless at the unimaginable news.
* * *
Cocoa Entertainment.
Actor Lee Seojun’s practice room.
An Daho, who was organizing photocards, asked Seojun, who was sitting in front of him signing them.
“Seojun, how was the meteor shower yesterday?”
“It was so beautiful. It really poured down like rain. The way it shone was like fireworks, too.”
Last night’s meteor shower had indeed rained down like a shower of light. The shooting stars fell one by one, shining brilliantly, causing even those filming with their phones or cameras to gasp in awe without realizing it.
“It looked amazing even in the pictures you sent me. Was it even more impressive in person?”
“Yes. It’s even more incredible when you see it for real.”
While nodding repeatedly, Seojun didn’t stop signing the photocards. His signature was drawn on the bottom right corner of another photocard.
The photos on the cards were ones that his parents and An Daho had taken over the years.
There were photos of a young Seojun while filming *Shadowman*, wearing a royal dragon robe over a padded jacket, talking seriously with other actors, and eating food from a food truck sent by fans.
There were also photos of him playing the violin, practicing archery, at a script reading, and smiling brightly while reading fan letters.
They were photos of Seojun that couldn’t be seen in dramas or movies—moments where he wasn’t yet immersed in a role, showing ‘Lee Seojun’ rather than a ‘character.’
“It’s been a while since you had a fan meeting, hasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Seojun smiled gently.
After seeing Brown Black’s 15th-anniversary concert, Seojun had wanted to meet his fans too. His manager and the agency readily agreed to the actor’s sudden request.
“This is going to cause an uproar. A drama and a fan meeting, too.”
“Oh, Daho hyung. Can I perform a play at the fan meeting? *The Mirror*. My friends said it was okay.”
“That’s a great idea. The set for *The Mirror* is simple, so we won’t need to install much.”
“We’ll just need to pay a little attention to the lighting. And the Brown Black hyungs said they’d help me practice singing. I was thinking of singing and playing the violin, too.”
“Oh.”
A play, a song, and the violin.
Thinking of how the fans would flip out at this news, An Daho thought that perhaps even international fans might come.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Seojun’s signing hand paused, and An Daho got up to open the door.
It was a Cocoa Entertainment employee.
“Um, a producer from MBS is here and would like to see Team Leader An. What should I do?”
“MBS?”
An Daho and Seojun blinked.
“Ah, is it Producer Gong Heechan?”
“Probably. We just told him yesterday, and he’s already here to sign the contract? He’s fast.”
An Daho nodded at Seojun’s words and turned to look at the employee. The staff member, who had been quietly blinking while listening to the superstar and his manager, shook their head.
“Uh, no.”
“What?”
“He said his name is Producer Park Gyumin.”
Producer Park Gyumin?
Seojun and An Daho tilted their heads at the unfamiliar name.