The Healing Travel Show
The program Seong Ijun had proposed was a variety show.
It had once been enormously popular, and even now it remained a steady seller—a healing travel program.
Thanks to his father's extensive connections, Seong Ijun knew quite a few people in the industry himself. The PD of Dogs' Leash, the drama where Seong Ijun had played a psychic, was a prime example.
And so was this variety show PD.
"So the PD approached you first and suggested you do the show?"
"Yeah. He said it'd be great to build a program around you and me. I'd honestly love to go with you, but if you're not comfortable with it, you can turn it down. Just tell me honestly, okay…!"
Watching Seong Ijun's cheeks puff up, I thought quietly to myself.
A variety show.
Wooyeon Entertainment, my agency, wasn't particularly fond of its actors appearing on variety programs. So I told him I'd need to get the agency's approval first.
Seong Ijun nodded earnestly, then stole a glance at my face.
"If the agency says it's okay… would you want to do it?"
Well.
Italy.
It was a place I'd never even imagined visiting. I'd never taken a proper trip abroad—honestly, I'd barely traveled within Korea. I had been to France for the Cannes Film Festival, but I hadn't managed any real sightseeing there.
Given everything I'd never experienced, it would be a lie to say I had no interest.
"Honestly? I am interested."
"…! Really?"
"But I don't want to be treated like that again."
"Huh?"
Seong Ijun looked bewildered. I studied his clueless expression and said flatly,
"You know the PD of Dogs' Leash. The one you said had been like an uncle to you since you were little. He may have been good to you, but he wasn't to me."
"Ah…."
Seong Ijun's face went pale. With my memory, I remembered it well enough—and so would he. What that PD had said to me when his mistakes caused take after take to be scrapped.
'Yeonjae, did you come here as an extra? No matter how well you act, you don't get to imitate the lead.'
The Dogs' Leash PD hadn't exactly been a pleasant man. Not unbearable, mind you. At the time, I'd simply let it go—let bygones be bygones.
But I had no desire to meet someone like that again and force a smile through it.
'If it's a filming trip, the production company covers the costs, so it's a good deal, technically.'
But why bother? I had no intention of being treated like that just to save money. I'd rather not go at all.
At my words, Seong Ijun fell silent. After agonizing over something for a long while, he shot to his feet without a hint of warning.
Tsk.
"Hyung, jumping up like that is bad for your health."
What if his blood pressure spiked? I clicked my tongue without meaning to. Seong Ijun started protesting that he was perfectly healthy, then stopped mid-sentence and stared at me, his face saying, that's not the point.
"Yeonjae, I'll make sure nothing like that happens…!"
"You will?"
"Yeah! The PD we're working with now is famous in the industry for having a great personality! I doubt it'll come to that, but I'll talk to him ahead of time anyway!"
Seong Ijun swallowed hard.
"And… if, if something like that does happen, I'll be the one to call him out on it."
"Thanks. But it won't come to that, because I'll call him out first."
That was all I meant, but apparently the message didn't land. When Seong Ijun asked me all over again to trust him, I teased him for sounding like a presidential candidate giving a stump speech.
"Don't worry, Yeonjae. I'm good at speaking up now…!"
"I told you, I'm not worried."
I had no spare capacity to worry about Seong Ijun, who was still a high schooler by Korean age. My own nose was three spans long—who was I to worry about anyone else?
I told Seong Ijun I'd check with the agency and changed the subject. After all, there was a good chance the whole thing would get shot down at the agency level anyway.
"…Seriously? They said I can go?"
"Yep. The CEO approved it too."
Really?
"…Why, though?"
This is a variety show, isn't it?
When I asked back with my expression alone, Team Leader Woo waved it off like it was nothing.
"You collapsed a month ago. That was quite a shock to us too, you know."
Ah.
"Sure, we make our money selling celebrities, but we have at least a shred of a conscience."
She clicked her tongue. And that's only if you'd actually told us even once that you were struggling.
"We should have anticipated that you'd be struggling mentally. We failed to take proper care of you. And worse, it happened because of a script we picked for you."
"I was the one who made the final choice, though."
"And we signed off on that choice, didn't we? The CEO gave the final confirmation. Which makes it our fault, and the CEO's fault."
Team Leader Woo spoke as she tidied her documents with a crisp tap-tap. Her tone was so light, so matter-of-fact, that I found it hard to open my mouth.
"This decision was made with you as the priority, not company policy. Honestly, I think this is a good chance for you to get some rest."
She shrugged.
"Of course, it's still a shoot, so it's not exactly a pure vacation. But I figured you'd never go anywhere without the excuse of a filming schedule."
"…"
"I'm every bit as good as Jinbae at this, you know? I've got your patterns pretty well figured out by now."
Watching her smirk, I gave an awkward smile back.
"Yes. You know me very well."
"Before Cannes, I practically had to beg you to go anywhere, and you'd say travel money was a waste and just practice acting at home. So imagine what you're like now that the drama's wrapped. You'd only burrow deeper into that apartment."
"…"
Her words came without a single gap, and I ran out of things to say.
"Go have fun, clear your head. I know the PD personally, so you don't need to worry about the editing."
"Yes. Then I'll be off."
I rubbed the back of my neck as I answered, feeling awkward. I hadn't expected it to go this smoothly.
The moment I relayed the news to Seong Ijun, the reaction was explosive.
What is this, a marriage proposal?
His impassioned response made me laugh out loud. I left Seong Ijun to carry on like a man whose proposal had just been accepted, and got on with my own preparations for the shoot.
"The car is ready, sir."
"Thank you."
The meeting was scheduled sooner than I'd expected. The venue was a traditional tea house with a quiet, unhurried atmosphere.
"Then let's set the departure for November 4th. The schedule will be ten nights, eleven days."
"Please keep in mind that Ijun has an interview the day after we return."
"Of course. Is it all right if we go with the concept we sent over in advance?"
The adults' conversation carried on for some time. Trusting Team Leader Woo to negotiate the terms methodically on my behalf, I lifted my teacup. It really was convenient having someone competent handle the work.
Nice aroma.
The tea was bitter at first, with a surprising sweetness at the finish—memorable. I sat quietly sipping for a long while, and before I knew it, the meeting was drawing to a close.
Team Leader Woo glanced over at me.
"Yeonjae, anything you're curious about?"
"There is one thing I'd like to ask."
At my words, the slightly awkward atmosphere in the room settled into a hush. Everyone turned to look at me, but I calmly faced the production staff.
"Ijun-hyung and I aren't funny."
"…"
I caught the sight of faces going speechless all at once. But I figured some things simply had to be said, and kept going.
"No matter how much 'healing' is the concept, if the two of us go, I think it'll turn into a documentary rather than a variety show. I wanted to ask whether you've given any separate thought to that."
The purpose of every program—variety shows included—ultimately came down to one thing: ratings. However noble a show's intentions, low ratings made it all worthless. That was the nature of this business. The production team had presumably worked on plenty of variety shows; there was no way they didn't know this. So why had they chosen Seong Ijun and me?
The PD faltered for a moment at my question, then smiled.
"Don't worry. We'll only be filming the parts where the two of you are entertaining."
"I'm sorry?"
"Your faces."
"…"
This time it was my turn to be lost for words. Seeing my reaction, the other party flushed and hurried to add that it was a joke. Ah. A joke, then.
"A variety show doesn't run on laughs alone. The quiet kind of fun that comes out of chemistry between cast members is every bit as important."
The PD added that even the funniest comedian in the world would grow tedious without an audience to applaud him.
The moment those words ended, the PD turned to Seong Ijun.
"I've been seeing a lot of Ijun these past few days, and every single time we met, all he talked about was actor Lee Yeonjae."
"…! PD-nim!"
"Oh, sorry—was that a secret?"
Seong Ijun's face went scarlet. I handed him his teacup, telling him to calm down, his face flushed tomato-red.
"Here, drink this."
"Okay…."
"Careful, it's hot."
I gave Seong Ijun's back a natural, soothing pat. But the moment my hand moved, I felt the writers' gazes latch onto my fingertips, and I froze for an instant.
The PD chuckled and went on.
"The 'Lee Yeonjae' Ijun kept talking about is the actor who became the youngest Best Actor winner in history at this year's Cannes Film Festival in May. And then, without giving so much as a handful of interviews, he vanished."
"I signed on for a drama, so…."
I hadn't meant it that way, but an apologetic tone crept into my voice all the same. Whether I spoke or not, the PD continued.
"And then one day, an actor with not a single personal social media account was trending all over again. Despite appearing on someone else's livestream for less than thirty minutes, mind you."
Ah, he means the broadcast Sehyun-hyung from Space did with Choi Injun.
I knew all about the chaos that erupted when my bleached hair was caught on camera like a bolt from the blue right before the stream cut off. When I smiled awkwardly, the PD laughed as if he'd expected exactly that.
"I don't think you quite realize it, Yeonjae-ssi, but you're a walking trending topic."
"…"
"To people like us, you're the kind of star we'd get down on our knees and beg to sign."
The PD laughed without a trace of embarrassment. It looked like a modest, self-deprecating sort of laugh—but to my eyes, it was perfectly clear. The greed brimming inside those pupils.
"As for me, I only got lucky because Ijun put in a good word. Everyone here knows I'm hardly the first—plenty of places have reached out to you before now, Yeonjae-ssi."
Isn't that a little too honest?
I already knew, from hearing Team Leader Woo complain, that offers poured in for me constantly. Not that flattering them would change anything—the contract's already signed.
Maybe it was because I'd seen so many people's expressions flip the instant the ink dried on a contract. But the way this PD presented himself, the things he said—they felt refreshingly new.
This could be fun.
I found myself curious how this PD would end up editing me.
Well, I'm no comedian.
Variety show or not, I was under no obligation to be funny. I'd already given the production team fair warning, so there was nothing more for me to worry about.
Only now did I feel a weight lift, and I broke into a wide grin.
"Yes. Thank you. I look forward to working with you all."
When I smiled, everyone followed suit. And at the same moment, it felt as though some invisible barrier filling the room had shattered. Maybe I was imagining it, but for an instant, I had the distinct feeling that everyone had been watching my face for cues.
I smacked my forehead in my imagination.
I've got a full-blown case of celebrity sickness.
Anyone watching would think I'd become some megastar. I was in the middle of swallowing a sigh and telling myself to get a grip when the PD spoke up with a sheepish look.
"Yeonjae-ssi, may I ask one small favor before filming starts? Feel free to check with your company first."
"Of course. What is it?"
At my question, the PD gave an embarrassed smile.
"Do you have any plans to dye your hair a different color before we leave the country? For example…"
The word that followed was something I never could have predicted.