Chapter 28
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Chaewon, What Brings You Here?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chaewon, what brings you here?
"When did you get to work?"
"…An hour ago?"
8:30 a.m.
She had still arrived thirty minutes earlier than her usual start time.
The irregular comings and goings of PDs, writers, and other broadcasting staff weren't anything new...
"And when did you clock out?"
"…Eleven hours ago?"
Jo Yoon-ah flashed an awkward smile and averted her gaze.
Yang Jae-hoon let out a sigh and clicked his tongue at her roundabout way of admitting she'd pulled an all-nighter.
"You're really something, aren't you? Really something."
It had been four days since the first shoot wrapped.
He knew she'd been at it like this even as he scolded her, so before coming in, he'd bought a sandwich at a shop nearby and handed it over.
For Jo Yoon-ah, who had been fasting for nearly nine hours already, it was like a ray of light.
She snatched it up with both hands, swiftly peeled off the wrapper, and took a massive bite.
Yang Jae-hoon perched on the edge of the desk and broached the subject.
"Why do you always pick the things I tell you not to do?"
Yang Jae-hoon stared down at the desk, eyes lowered.
Her work MacBook and stand, an idea notebook filled with signs of torment, a mechanical keyboard, wireless vertical mouse, and palm rest all came into view.
Jo Yoon-ah swallowed her food and replied with a matter-of-fact expression.
"It's easier if you get it done ahead of time."
"You know that's got nothing to do with pulling all-nighters, right?"
"What do you mean? Thanks to that, I've already finished the rough edit."
Jo Yoon-ah smirked and took another bite of her sandwich.
Yang Jae-hoon let out a heavy breath, then smacked his lips and stared into space.
"You know this is a violation of labor laws in its own way, right?"
"That rule about not working twelve hours on certain days? Come on, does anyone in Korea actually follow that?"
"The World Health Organization says overtime is a carcinogen."
"Oh yeah? Where do you even read stuff like that?"
"What I'm saying is, the rookies feel uncomfortable. How can they just come and go normally when their senior's holed up editing without going home for days?"
Yang Jae-hoon scratched his head and got to the point.
But Jo Yoon-ah just shrugged it off nonchalantly.
"They knew what they were signing up for when they joined. Did we stumble in blind?"
"Rest when you can. Don't stir up extra work."
"What can I do? My ears are already calloused from hearing you say that."
"So it's my fault you don't listen?"
"Probably?"
"Should I snatch that sandwich you're scarfing down so childishly?"
"Eek, scary. You'd give me indigestion."
Jo Yoon-ah gulped down the juice she'd brought with her, tuning him out.
In just a few minutes, she'd demolished half of that massive thing.
Haa.
Seeing it was pointless to say more— it'd just hurt his mouth— Yang Jae-hoon moved to the opposite side and set up his spot.
He pulled out his laptop, keyboard, and mouse, then headed to the break room for a quick coffee before returning.
Jo Yoon-ah was already nearly done with her sandwich.
"Sleep? Did you get enough?"
"Six hours?"
"So you've been awake for about thirty-six hours?"
"Eh, something like that?"
Jo Yoon-ah shrugged as if it was no big deal and shoved the last bite into her mouth.
She neatly folded the wrapper four times and tossed it straight into the trash.
"The rookies?"
"Sent them on location scouting. They probably won't be back until tomorrow."
"What's this about going to Seoul National University and not coming back till tomorrow?"
"Told them to sketch out a structure. Research where and what concepts to shoot."
"You assign that to the rookies?"
"They need to start dipping their toes in around now. It'll help them get to main editor faster."
"Those kids are barely walking. That's like throwing eggs at rocks."
"Whatever. Did you watch the rough cut?"
As soon as she finished tidying up, Jo Yoon-ah jumped straight into work talk.
Yang Jae-hoon booted up his laptop and pulled up the rough edit she'd sent.
"About half."
"When did I send it? And you're still at half?"
"You sent it at four in the morning— you calling that reasonable? And it wasn't one, but two files. Opening your eyes to blue light first thing is bad news."
"You watched the twenty-minute one first, right?"
"I finished that. Half means the forty-minute one."
"What? You did watch it, though."
"At 1.5x speed."
Yang Jae-hoon pulled blue-light blocking glasses from his bag and put them on.
When he said he'd watch the rest, Jo Yoon-ah nodded and dragged her idea notebook from the side to the center.
On one side, he plugged headphones into the laptop, propped his chin, and watched the footage.
On the other, she scribbled miscellaneous thoughts into her Oxford notebook with a scratchy sound.
Yang Jae-hoon focused intently, no distractions, zipping through at 1.5x speed...
Tap-.
The crisp click of the mechanical keyboard rang out once, and he pulled off his headphones.
"We're in big trouble."
Yang Jae-hoon gave a wry smile.
For a reaction, it was a pretty extreme remark, but Jo Yoon-ah nodded in agreement.
"The forty-minute one?"
"Yeah. That's way more fun."
It had long exceeded the planned forty minutes for two episodes.
But the real issue wasn't scheduling.
They were the leads on this content, after all.
Shooting could adjust to budget, and reports proposing more episodes than planned would get the green light with a decent justification.
More footage meaning more work than expected?
Whether it was the natural order of the job or fate, it still wasn't a problem for them.
"At this rate, aren't we the ones confirming the dating rumors?"
The real problem was 'their relationship' captured in this footage.
Haa.
Yang Jae-hoon scratched his head against the oncoming headache.
The hot vlog had already surpassed ten million views.
Han Chaewon had such a stellar image across fans, the public, domestically and abroad, that reactions were mostly positive— but if any other girl group member posted something like this, the agency would've gone into meltdown.
Idols blatantly signaling they're dating?
Even a month later, dating rumor comments steadily piled up on the vlog.
It had died down now, but tabloid hacks and some reckless YouTubers had zeroed in on the pair's relationship.
Despite that, the agency that quickly issued a statement on the first rumor and Chaewon herself stayed silent this time.
Of course, the other party being a civilian— off-limits in the industry— played a big role...
But crucially, there was no smoking gun for it to qualify as a dating scandal.
That's how it was.
No way they'd flaunt an actual relationship so openly, right?
With no hard evidence and tons of people thinking the same, even the agitators pushing the narrative got brushed off quietly.
That was why a top girl group member's dating rumor hadn't blown up disproportionately...
Just as Jo Yoon-ah said, uploading this could force an undeniable statement from the agency.
"…What do we even do with this?"
Jo Yoon-ah smacked her lips, rubbing her brow in anguish.
"Should we just go with the twenty-minute version to avoid the hassle?"
"That kills the fun, and some parts feel awkward. But Yoon-ah, you know it too."
"…Even picking the twenty-minute one, the rumors will blow up eventually."
Jo Yoon-ah muttered in a half-hoarse voice.
She plastered on a wry smile and tilted her gaze to the ceiling.
"Those two don't seem to be dating yet."
"I itched to say something the whole shoot. Seeing those looks, why aren't they together?"
Yang Jae-hoon chuckled in agreement and took off his glasses.
He stroked his chin stubble and rested his elbows on the desk.
"Is that it? Dating a superstar feels too heavy?"
"Privacy exposure's a nightmare. Your life's not yours anymore. Back in the day, just a whiff of dating a hot celeb had fandoms going feral— death threats and all."
"But if it's too burdensome to hold off, why post the vlog? They looked so comfy on set."
"That's the key. On set, and in the rough cut too— Yumin's gaze changes more and more."
Just as Jo Yoon-ah said.
The atmosphere grew subtly charged as shooting progressed.
Even the crew outside the camera caught it.
The two inside, as protagonists, must have fully realized their feelings shifting.
"…Haa, what now?"
This content was all about capturing their fifteen years.
Meaning, the thoughts and emotions they held for each other were the pinnacle of the fun it offered...
And those emotions just had to be love.
"The silver lining is Chaewon never crossed the line. With smart editing, we can keep it as friends."
"Yumin's the problem. Starting casual, but his dawning realization shows more and more— it's killer."
If only it were a web drama, Jo Yoon-ah muttered softly, shaking her head.
This wasn't memo-level.
They'd be packing their desks.
One video could cost them their jobs.
From that angle, the best they could do was direct the pair to address their feelings on record...
"There's something we don't know. Something subtle editing can't erase."
Jo Yoon-ah wryly smiled at Yang Jae-hoon's low remark.
Relationships are like that.
Sticky no matter who tries to pry them apart, yet shattering easier than anything when one turns away.
That's why you can't toy with them.
Especially when they're hovering in that ambiguous limbo.
"Should we pivot the concept now? Full variety show vibe?"
Unable to find answers, Jo Yoon-ah stretched and yawned.
Brainstorming solutions beat fretting, so Yang Jae-hoon nodded and chimed in.
"Honestly, up to middle school at most, when they hung out together. After that, show their separate lives with variety elements mixed in."
"Ah, why can't they just date already? Happy ending for everyone."
"If they admit it before upload, sure. But from their reactions..."
Knock knock.
Two knocks echoed in the meeting room.
Figuring it was just colleagues checking on Jo Yoon-ah after hearing about her all-nighter, Yang Jae-hoon casually opened the door.
"…Chaewon, what brings you here?"
There stood one of the talent they'd just been discussing, holding coffee and assorted desserts.