The recent atmosphere in the KMB Drama Department could well be called the eve of a storm.
It was only natural.
With the Drama Department splitting into Drama 1 and Drama 2, it was a given that the staff and PDs under them would be greatly shaken.
The most important thing among them was...
"Did Director Baek perhaps say anything separately? Telling you to come to our side."
"Ah, I did hear something. It seems they're now looking for members to officially organize Drama 2."
"Probably, for the most part, the upper management will divide us..."
"It seems Director Baek is speaking to the people he specifically wants to bring along."
After having such a conversation, the PDs fell silent for a moment.
The upper management would naturally divide them, but in the case of PDs, their intentions had to be reflected to some extent.
That was why they were even more troubled.
'Should I stay in Drama 1.'
'Or should I go to Drama 2.'
Looking purely at ability, the scale tipped in favor of Director Ha Tae-oh.
After all, he quickly resolved the incompetence of the previous director, and with the recent
'But...'
PD Baek Tae-soo was connected to the president of KMB.
It was unknown which side would receive more support in the future.
Unless one was a fool, it was natural to push for the more outstanding side.
However, in this case, it was about the risk of failure rather than actual performance.
If both failed equally badly, PD Baek Tae-soo would likely receive more opportunities.
Because that was what connections were.
Therefore, Director Ha Tae-oh was at a relative disadvantage in that regard.
Instead, he had many PDs following him, and the evaluation was that his personal ability was superior.
And with the vice president keeping an eye on things...
'My head hurts.'
Connections.
Or factions.
Whose line to ride.
To think one would have to do this within a broadcasting station.
Then again, no matter the workplace, you inevitably end up riding a line, whether big or small.
However, between Drama 1 and Drama 2, the fight was bound to grow large.
The moment you rode the wrong one, there was a chance of becoming a drifting buoy without a place to anchor.
'Both sides have a drama currently in progress, right?'
'The results of those dramas will give us some idea.'
The last drama before the Drama Department splits.
The performance of that drama would highly likely determine the PDs' movements.
"Ah, what do you think of
"It's good. First of all, Writer Min Se-hee, who was discovered this time, has a great sense. It's a style hard to see on public broadcasting."
"Hmm, that's true. I'm not sure if it'll be poison or a blessing, though."
"Well..."
That was something they couldn't bring themselves to deny.
Writer Min Se-hee's script was sensible, and the story was solid.
However, the romance was quite weak.
For a public broadcasting drama, this was quite a vulnerable aspect.
Writer Min Se-hee was also aware of this fact, so she was reinforcing that part as much as possible, but...
'It's not a problem that can be solved in the short term.'
The PDs thought.
Since PD Baek Tae-soo had supported various writers, he had many outstanding writers around him.
So his side would be stable.
"And, I heard a rumor about the drama Director Baek is shooting this time."
"A rumor?"
"That Song Ga-min is appearing."
"Ah, Song Ga-min. Right. I heard it too."
If you asked who the hottest actress was recently, she was one of the most frequently mentioned.
Song Ga-min.
She was now twenty-five.
She had been active since she was a child actress, but she had practically blown up less than a year ago.
Her story of doing all sorts of rough jobs and achieving great success had even become a topic of public interest.
"They're probably trying to pit the recently rising actresses against each other."
"Since the opponent is Joo Seo-yeon, they might have attached an actress who contrasts with her."
Twenty-five wasn't an old age either, but it was hard to compare with a young actress who brought all sorts of buzz at seventeen.
'They've set up a framing.'
'As a genius actress versus a hardworking actress.'
There was a public that went wild for genius actors, but humans ultimately ended up cheering for the underdog.
So that the focus would be concentrated on Song Ga-min, who had a relatively harder time and rose to fame later.
The success of a drama was not determined solely by the actors' acting skills.
It was a casting choice that seemed to have considered exactly that.
They would likely continue the PR regarding that in the future as well.
To put it another way, it also meant that Joo Seo-yeon's image was so intense that they had to take that much measures.
Shining star quality.
Monster-like potential.
That actress who had been tossing KMB around for 10 years.
Currently.
"Mom, that is, I want to go on an observational variety show."
"...Huh?"
She was eagerly persuading her greatly flustered mom, Soo-ah.
***
'Observational variety show.'
Commonly speaking, it was a variety show that dealt with the daily lives of stars.
The variety show that offered her this time was
Among observational variety shows, there were also those dealing with themes like 'dating', so Seo-yeon was inwardly nervous.
However, in the case of
Since they were stars living with their parents, young actors tended to appear on it frequently.
It was quite a challenging plot, but the daily life of the child actor who appeared as the first guest became a huge hit.
It was popular in many ways because it dealt with the daily lives of child actors or young celebrities, which were hard to commonly see.
In particular, it was often used for image-making for young stars.
A feeling of, 'The kid may look proper on TV, but they're just a kid.'
"It was an MDC variety show."
It was a broadcasting station that implicitly had a lot of ties with Seo-yeon.
During her child actress days,
Plus, it seemed like it was also compared during this
Anyway, an actor wasn't tied down to one broadcasting station.
Going on a variety show anywhere wouldn't be a big problem.
Even for things like dramas, you had to be mindful of appearances in the past, but not so much these days.
There were even cases where a single actor appeared in dramas from all three broadcasting stations.
At the same time, no less.
So, a variety show was nothing.
'First of all, I don't really have a grasp on exactly what I need to do, but...'
Wouldn't it be fine to just refer to other celebrities appropriately?
More than anything, Seo-yeon felt this was a really, really big opportunity.
'This time for sure.'
She paid extreme attention to her image, which was the incarnation of ego-searching.
Recently, her image as an actress who fought against all sorts of wild animals in composite images.
Even.
- Didn't Joo Seo-yeon punch this parrotfish to death?
- It's true the parrotfish has been quiet since then ㅇㅇ;
- Killing a 200kg parrotfish in one hit? Even Eung-a-noo can't do that;;
- But it died.
- That's true.
The previous parrotfish video was also recently unearthed, capturing Joo Seo-yeon hitting the parrotfish in slow motion.
It was such a blurry video that it seemed half like a joke, but...
'Dan-dangerous.'
Watching her image shatter in real-time made cold sweat stream down her back.
Honestly, Seo-yeon was jealous of Jo Seo-hee and Lee Ji-yeon.
In Jo Seo-hee's case.
- Exactly the vibe of a villainess.
- She does have the image of the daughter of the Demonic Cult Leader.
- Exactly the wicked woman vibe ㅇㅇ But she's pretty.
She heard such things because of her relatively fierce impression, but to put it conversely, she had a strong vibe of a noble-born wicked woman.
Should she call it a luxurious brand image?
And in Lee Ji-yeon's case, while her fandom's firepower wasn't as big as Jo Seo-hee's.
She was building a similar image.
However.
- Does Lee Ji-yeon still not have a school violence controversy?
- ???Still????
- Heeuung Ji-yeon unnie... step on me...
- Isn't Lee Ji-yeon a delinquent?
- Don't slander her, our Ji-yeon is so gentle.
Such conversations did go around a bit.
It seemed that compared to the villainess Jo Seo-hee, Lee Ji-yeon felt a bit more common and approachable.
Now that she thought about it, it seemed like this side needed some management too...
Anyway, both of them still had a strong feminine image.
The majority of the comments were that they were cute or pretty.
But in Seo-yeon's case.
- Can Joo Seo-yeon burst a sandbag?
- Armed Special Forces vs. Joo Seo-yeon. If they don't use guns, does Joo Seo-yeon win?
- Even if they shoot, Joo Seo-yeon wins, she dodges bullets.
- Those are paintballs.
- But couldn't she dodge real bullets too?
- Hmm... still, Special Forces with guns is tough.
Seo-yeon read those posts and seriously pondered.
Is this really an actress's fan cafe?
Of course, there were far more posts saying she was pretty and cute.
Well, her appearance was pretty.
Actually, those who became fans initially tended to write that she was pretty.
However, as time passed, they naturally just ended up entering the
'Is the Arena board originally a place to debate versus matches between actresses?'
Seo-yeon seriously considered it.
She had seen it occasionally, but wasn't it usually just a debate room for users to use among themselves?
But here, there were more serious debates about how far Seo-yeon could win.
Honestly, Seo-yeon was also a bit curious.
If she got hit by a bullet, she would get hurt, right?
In the first place, her invincible TS skin didn't seem to tolerate scars or wounds...
No matter how much she exercised, not a single callus formed on her hands—that was the proof.
Always smooth and soft.
That was Seo-yeon's skin.
Surprisingly, it was a basic spec among TS girls.
'Maybe I'm just a bit sturdy.'
She had never been shot, so she couldn't check.
But it wasn't like she wanted to get shot either.
"Hmm."
Seo-yeon hesitated for a moment before leaving a comment on the post.
- Beat Special Forces my foot. She's just a normally pretty and cute actress.. Keep it moderate.
This should be enough.
It was a comment she put her best effort into.
Anyway, Seo-yeon did like being called strong.
'For the sake of my image.'
A comment she almost wrote as 'Honestly, Joo Seo-yeon would win' but changed while trembling.
After leaving the comment, she pressed refresh a moment later.
[Your account has been suspended for 3 days.]
- Reason: Stop the slander ㄴㄴ
"?"
Why is this slander?
Is saying she's pretty and cute slander? Or is saying she'd lose to Special Forces slander?
Seo-yeon glared at the text for a moment, then closed the internet window.
'As expected, it has to be an observational variety show.'
Seo-yeon made up her mind.
She was determined to properly improve her image this time.
Still, there were many words in the fan cafe saying Seo-yeon was pretty and acted well.
But this arena board was not looking good.
If she didn't slowly improve her image, Eclat Etoile might contact her.
However, there was one big mountain she had to cross for the observational variety show.
"S-Seo-yeon. An observational variety show? Does Mom appear on that too?"
"Mom has to sit in the guest invitation seat."
"In the guest invitation seat?!"
Soo-ah jumped up.
Jumping up, her chest also bounced significantly.
Seo-yeon was slightly troubled by that chest, which didn't change even as she aged.
'My chest has been feeling a bit tight lately too...'
It wouldn't grow to that extent, right?
It definitely seemed like that could stop a bullet.
"Is Mom coming on TV?"
Her younger sister Soo-yeon said, blinking her large eyes.
"Ah, no. It's not certain yet... but if Mom goes, Soo-yeon comes on too."
"I come on too? I want to come on!"
Soon-to-be 8-year-old, prospective elementary schooler Joo Soo-yeon said while raising both arms high.
At the sight of such a cute daughter, Soo-ah's expression melted, but soon her eyes turned somewhat fierce.
"I-I can't go on that! T-That's the guest invitation seat. The seat where you talk with the MCs!!"
"Well, it's a show observing the sons and daughters, so of course."
"Don't say 'of course'. Then Seo-yeon's school life will be shown too, is that okay?"
"Yes."
Seo-yeon had no shame whatsoever.
At least in her school life, Seo-yeon was the very model of a top student.
She took good notes, didn't sleep during class.
Maintained a proper posture and never took her eyes off the teacher even once!
"W-Our daughter's poor peer relationships will be revealed, won't they?"
"!!"
Seo-yeon's eyes widened.
She never expected to hear such a point pointed out by her mother of all people.
"I still occasionally contact Ji-yeon's mom and Jung-woo's mom, though."
"Putting Ji-yeon aside, you contacted Jung-woo sunbae's mom?"
For someone who did that, wasn't Jung-woo completely unsurprised when she made her comeback after 10 years?
"He's not the type to blabber about such things to his son."
He kept it a secret.
Something like that, probably.
Seo-yeon felt an indescribable emotion at that subtle consideration.
'Still, doesn't that mean you only contact two people?'
Seo-yeon didn't explicitly say that.
If she had to say, hers were, well, probably three.
Lee Ji-yeon, Jo Seo-hee, and recently Gil Da-hyun.
Ah, there's Cha Na-hee too. Then, four.
If she counted Park Jung-woo generously, that made a whopping five!
'I won.'
Seo-yeon sent a triumphant look toward Soo-ah.
Soo-ah felt something subtle from that gaze, but she was more concerned about Seo-yeon's words.
'An observational variety show.'
Soo-ah didn't even do neighborhood associations or mom cafes.
Since she worked as a freelance programmer doing outsourced work, she rarely went out.
Anyway, Mom Soo-ah liked staying at home the best.
But to think something like this would happen.
"B-But why an observational variety show all of a sudden? Everyone likes it when you go on shows that use your body."
"That's why, you know what my image is like too, Mom."
"You're healthy and that's good."
"That's true, but as an actress, it's a bit..."
Seo-yeon said seriously.
"It's absolutely necessary to revamp that image."
"...."
At Seo-yeon's serious words, Soo-ah realized there was no retreat.
Knowing how hard it was to change her daughter's mind once she made it up since she was young, Soo-ah had no choice but to squeeze her eyes shut.
Observational variety show.
It seemed unavoidable after all.
Thus.
MDC Broadcasting Station.
"Oh my~!! So nice to meet you!!"
A middle-aged woman making a fuss.
She was the PD of MDC's variety show, Golden Duckling, Jun Ha-young.
She smacked her lips as she looked at the girl in front of her.
Black hair with a calm impression.
A pretty appearance to the extent that even Jun Ha-young, who had met countless celebrities for a long time, lost her mind for a moment.
Hearing she was still a high school girl, she couldn't even imagine how she'd be when she grew up a little more.
'Na-hee brought in something good.'
She had just asked in case, but to think she actually brought her.
Jun Ha-young barely maintained her smiling face and repeatedly bowed to Seo-yeon.
If she let her guard down a little, she felt like she would just silently stare at Seo-yeon.
An actress who was that pretty and had such a strong aura.
'Joo Seo-yeon.'
The actress currently making a big name for herself at KMB Broadcasting Station.
Naturally, from the standpoint of other broadcasting stations, she was a prey they absolutely wanted to catch.
And, this
To put it differently, Jun Ha-young had come to this place bearing a very crucial mission from MDC.