Chapter 93
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: A Halloween Invitation
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[From April to June, the Number One Most-Talked-About Drama Finally Concludes.]
[Other Networks Breathe a Sigh of Relief, KBC Left Wanting More!]
[Popular Overseas, Plus+ Ranks "Naeuiwon" as its Hottest Show!]
[KBC's "Naeuiwon" Finale Hits 41% Viewership!]
[A Wednesday-Thursday Drama Surpasses 40% for the First Time!]
[It's True! The "Naeuiwon" Theory of Royal Physician Heo as a Kingmaker!]
-It's been so long since I've waited for a drama to air live. What do I watch now? I wish it were April again. T_T
-When Grand Prince Seongnyeong's doppelgänger showed up, I thought it was getting ridiculous, but it's probably better for Heo Yuseon's trauma to be treated by a doppelgänger than anyone else.
-Because he looked exactly like Grand Prince Seongnyeong, I could really empathize. It reminded me of episode 14.
-Haha, so Heo Yuseon really was trying to make a king, haha.
From April to June, the 24-episode, 12-week KBC fusion historical drama, *Naeuiwon*, came to a grand finale. The KBC *Naeuiwon* message board, social media, and the *Naeuiwon* fan cafe that had been created after the fourth episode were flooded with reviews.
[Title: As a doctor, I think Heo Yuseon is incredible.]
This is just my opinion, not representative of all doctors. I'm not talking about class differences or loyalty or anything like that.
There were two times I thought I couldn't be a doctor. The first was when a family member or friend was seriously ill. I don't think I could ever operate on my own parents. I'd be too nervous I'd make a mistake.
The second was when I had my first patient death... I still remember it vividly. Whenever I meet a patient with the same illness, my heart sinks without me even realizing it.
It's like this even with patients I'm not that close to, but for Heo Yuseon, his first patient death was Grand Prince Seongnyeong, the first person he ever opened his heart to... For him to not quit being a physician, to research a cure for the epidemic, and to finally succeed (especially when the new patient had the exact same face and symptoms!)—Heo Yuseon is truly amazing.
[Naeuiwon Special - Full Interview with Producer Choi Minsung]
Q. I heard that in the early Joseon Dynasty, it was called the Naeyakbang, not the Naeuiwon?
A. Yes, that's correct. But the title "Naeyakbang" isn't familiar to the general public, is it? It's not as intuitive as "Naeuiwon," which immediately makes viewers think, "Oh, this is happening inside the palace, and there will probably be royalty."
Q. What happened to Heo Yuseon after that?
A. He travels the country doing good deeds (laughs), and then, at King Sejong's summons, he returns to the palace and becomes the royal physician. He diligently researches diseases.
This is also related to the title. That was around the 25th year of King Sejong's reign. Eighteen years had passed since the end of the drama. After Heo Yuseon's return, King Sejong renamed the Naeyakbang to Naeuiwon.
We originally planned to include this part of the story, but the scene of him crying at Grand Prince Seongnyeong's grave was so impactful that we decided to end it there.
Oh, and of course, the story of Physician Heo Yuseon is entirely a work of fiction.
-Annals of King Sejong, 25th Year, 6th Month, 15th Day, Musul, 2nd Article / The names of the Naeyakbang and its officials are established [Annals of the Joseon Dynasty] It's real!
-I love these behind-the-scenes stories, hehe.
-If it was fiction, you should have saved the Grand Prince. T_T
-But I liked the last scene. The original script, where Heo Yuseon becomes the royal physician without the Grand Prince part, probably wouldn't have been as good.
=I agree, the lingering feeling was nice. Heo Yuseon becoming the royal physician feels like too neat of an ending. For the record, I usually love neat, happy endings, haha.
***
“This is strange.”
“What is?”
“For three months, I didn't have the Monday blues, but I think they're back. When is it the weekend?”
“You just got to work five minutes ago.”
The employees of Monster Company, co-led by Kim Heesang and Lee Minjun, chatted as they prepared for the day.
“And the Monday blues are probably because of that. *Naeuiwon*.”
“Ah. It ended last week.”
*Naeuiwon* aired on Wednesdays. Thanks to that, many of its avid viewers wished for the weekend to pass quickly and for Monday to fly by so Wednesday would arrive sooner. People everywhere were saying they never dreamed they'd be waiting for a Monday in their entire lives.
But that was all in the past now.
“What do I have to live for now?”
“Just wait. Another fun drama will come along.”
“That's true.”
The employee, his spirits quickly lifted, checked his email.
“So many again today.”
Thanks to the Hollywood star, Seojun Lee, Monster Company had become known overseas as well. Unless it was a photo taken during a film shoot, Monster Company's products were almost always present in pictures of Seojun Lee.
One article even called it 'Seojun Lee's signature.' This fame had created a customer base of Seojun Lee's international fans, and sales were quite good.
As the employee scanned through purchase inquiry emails from all over the world, something caught his eye.
“A Halloween festival?”
***
With no filming, things had become quiet. Plus, summer vacation was just a few days away. Seojun let out a huge yawn as he worked through his problem sets. His sharp mind quickly found the answers. He had finished his school homework and completed his daily quota of problems.
Having finished all his tasks, Seojun wondered what to do next and picked up the remote.
“Daho hyung went on vacation. Mom went to the supermarket. Maybe I'll watch a movie.”
Just then, his phone rang. Uncle Heesang! Seojun's face lit up.
Last January, after returning from the film festival, Kim Heesang had announced his marriage to Seojun.
His partner was his long-time girlfriend, Choi Soohui.
Pianist Choi Soohui had been active in Europe while Kim Heesang worked in Korea. The two, who had been in a long-distance relationship, decided to get married after Choi Soohui recently settled down in Korea.
With Kim Heesang enjoying his honeymoon and vacation after the wedding, co-CEO Lee Minjun was the only one who was busy.
‘He hasn't even come over much.’
Seojun felt a little disappointed, but seeing Uncle Heesang smiling happily made him happy too. Besides, he was incredibly excited because they had announced a baby was on the way.
‘If Uncle Heesang is just like he is with me, he'll be a great dad.’
Seojun genuinely thought so. From the time he was a tiny baby until now, his uncle had been a good uncle who understood him better than anyone, in ways different from his mom and dad. A child raised by an uncle like him would be a truly happy child, wouldn't they?
“Hello!”
-Hey, Seojun. What are you up to?
“I just finished my workbooks and was about to watch a movie!”
-Where's Eunhye?
“Mom's at the supermarket!”
-Is that so? Do you have any plans at the end of October?
“October?”
It was only July. Seojun checked the schedule An Daho had sent him on his phone. Hmm. It was empty. With the filming for *Naeuiwon* over, there was nothing scheduled.
“Nope. It's completely empty.”
Kim Heesang burst out laughing at Seojun's words.
-Great. In that case, would you like to go to Paris with Minjun?
“Paris? Paris, France?”
-Yep. Our company is participating in a Halloween festival in a city near Paris this year.
“A Halloween festival?”
-That's right. They set up temporary stalls in the town square, and everyone who participates dresses up as monsters or ghosts.
Halloween! Monsters! Ghosts!
Seojun's eyes sparkled.
-According to reviews from last year's event, you have to act according to your costume. Someone dressed as Dracula has to pretend to hate garlic and wooden stakes, and zombies aren't allowed to talk. At the end of the event, they even vote on who had the best costume and performance.
Seojun's sparkling eyes grew as wide as they could go.
As if sensing Seojun's heart pounding with excitement, Kim Heesang laughed cheerfully.
-Seeing that made me think of you, so I called. What do you think, want to go?
“I'll go!”
Seojun said energetically. Of course, Uncle Heesang! He knows what I like! Seojun was already contemplating what costume to wear for the event, which was still three months away. Dracula? A zombie? A goblin?
-I'll send you the promotional materials for the Halloween event, so take a look with Eunhye and Minjun. Let Eunchan and Mr. Daho know too.
“Okay!”
After hanging up, Seojun stared at his phone, waiting for the Ba-talk message to arrive.
After ten seconds that felt like ten minutes, a message from Kim Heesang arrived. The message contained not only promotional materials but also links to reviews from past attendees.
[Title: A Trip to the Orceys Halloween Festival.]
I went to the Halloween festival in Orceys, a small town next to Paris, France.
I went dressed as Dracula... and I couldn't eat any garlic. Garlic bread, aglio e olio! There were all sorts of delicious garlic dishes, and I'm someone who can easily eat ten cloves of garlic in one meal! But I couldn't eat any. T_T They said they don't sell to vampires. It's a festival rule... so make sure you do your research before you go. T_T The garlic sausage looked so good!
“Ahahaha. A festival like this really exists?”
The couple and Seojun burst out laughing as they read the review. There were reviews from werewolves who had to run away at the sight of wooden stakes and growl like wolves at round, yellow decorations, as well as many other monsters with their own concepts.
“So famous monsters have pre-determined rules at the festival. Monsters without set rules have to wear a badge.”
For example, if an Eastern monster like a Gumiho didn't have a set role in the festival, the organizers would hand out badges.
Things you can and cannot eat. A person dressed as a Gumiho, fitting the concept of a liver-eating nine-tailed fox, chose a badge that only allowed them to eat red food. There were many other badges as well.
“This makes it easy to know what's what.”
Seo Eunhye and Lee Minjun nodded at Seojun's words.
“You're right. With badges like these, you could even participate as a monster you made up yourself.”
“What are you going to be, Seojun?”
“A werewolf! Uncle Heesang said he'd make the costume.”
“With all that fur, at least you won't be cold.”
Seojun smiled brightly at his parents' words, who were looking up the weather in Paris in October.
“Are you and Dad coming too?”
“Should we make it a family trip then?”
At Lee Minjun's question, both Seo Eunhye and Seojun smiled widely and nodded. They had been to America so often it felt like a second home, but this was their first time in Europe. That was true not just for Seojun, but for Seo Eunhye and Lee Minjun as well.
“Yes! Let's do it!”
“Alright! I should tell Chan, too.”
“Okay!”
Seo Eunhye called Seo Eunchan.
“What kind of werewolf costume are you going to wear, Seojun?”
“A really fluffy one! Dad, I drew a picture, wanna see?”
“Sure.”
Seojun quickly brought his sketchbook from his room. It contained a drawing of a werewolf, heavily colored with a sparkly silver crayon.
Lee Minjun tilted his head as he looked at the drawing. The werewolf in the picture had a protruding snout and menacing claws.
Its whole body was covered in fur, and it stood in a hunched-over posture, looking less like a werewolf and more like a bipedal wolf.
“Doesn't this look too much like a mascot costume?”
“You think so?”
“It'll be hard to eat with a full headpiece like that.”
“Oh, right!”
He hadn't thought of that. Seojun pondered for a moment before drawing a new werewolf in a fresh sketchbook.
Since it was a costume for him to wear, he drew a person first. Then, leaving the face as it was, he drew ears on top of the head with a silver crayon.
Seojun focused intently on his drawing.
“Eunchan said he's coming over.”
“Huh? Your brother is coming over? Now?”
Seojun, who was engrossed in his drawing, and Lee Minjun, who was chiming in with suggestions, looked up at Seo Eunhye. She scratched her cheek.
“Well, he said he had something important to talk about.”
“What could it be?”
The couple and Seojun all tilted their heads to the side.