Ryeol
"Mom, what is that star?"
It was a day when they walked beneath the dark night sky.
Like jewels embedded one by one beneath black silk, they were shining so beautifully.
Among them, she pointed at the brightest star and asked.
"The North Star."
"Huh?"
"It's the North Star."
Black hair.
Beneath the long hair that resembled the night, a faint smile could be glimpsed.
"That star twinkles the most."
"Yes, so long ago, when people searched for their way, they say they found their path by following that star."
She didn't know if it was true.
Mother said so, smiling as she looked up at the stars.
"Isn't it beautiful that there is a star that has served as people's guidepost for a long time?"
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At those words, she nodded and looked up at the stars.
The star that shone the most among countless stars.
Perhaps she had been looking at it ever since then.
"It's just like Mom."
"...Is it?"
"Yeah. Everyone calls Mom a star."
Whether watching TV or anything else, everyone called Mom a star.
No matter which broadcast she watched, Mom appeared, and the clothes Mom wore became the trend of that era.
The cosmetics Mom used always sold out.
A star that led the flow of the times.
To the point that articles were published saying so.
She liked Mom like that.
Just like that pretty star.
Because she seemed to become the guidepost for so many people.
"I want to become like Mom too."
Of course, she knew she couldn't.
Because she didn't shine.
She followed Mom around to many broadcasting stations.
Each time, she could see people her age doing the same work as Mom.
Around her age.
Yet there were those who possessed a sparkle.
Unlike her.
Still, she wanted to become like Mom.
The North Star.
Just as that twinkling star had become the guidepost for countless people long ago.
She would chase after her mother.
Mother was her guidepost.
And the path leading toward that star.
"Yes, since Seohui is a scaredy-cat. You'd need someone to guide you."
To her speaking thus, Mother opened her mouth and said something.
She couldn't quite remember what followed.
As if it had been completely forgotten.
Because even when she tried to recall it, it wouldn't come to mind.
Perhaps it was the day the starlight disappeared.
The moment she saw it, she seemed to forget.
"A guidepost."
Seohui quietly went out to the mansion's veranda and looked up at the night sky.
Though not as beautiful as the night sky she had seen in the past, there were still shining stars in the sky.
The North Star.
"I don't really know anymore."
The path she had walked blindly after her mother disappeared.
She had followed the path her mother walked, but she didn't know if she was walking it properly.
Was she doing it right?
Honestly, she didn't really know.
"I mustn't lose my way."
Model-student-like acting.
Words she had heard consistently since her child actor days.
Was it okay to keep going like this?
Wasn't there something lacking in her?
Why couldn't she shine like other actors?
She had always worried about such things but didn't know.
'Why do I keep searching for a guidepost?'
Perhaps she was afraid of walking on her own.
Surely that was it.
Everyone said she was a strong-minded person.
Perhaps, to some extent, they weren't wrong.
But...
'That's absolutely not true.'
Hmph. Seohui returned to her room and lay down.
Given what day it was, honestly, she hadn't been able to focus properly on acting.
A painful mistake.
It weighed on her that she hadn't done well while everyone was on edge.
'I have to do well.'
Seohui was sensing it.
That the flow of the times was changing.
This
It might become an opportunity to become a star like her mother.
With these two.
Surely.
***
Thanks to
Korean dramas with a style different from Western dramas until now.
Even the romance and melodrama that Koreans shouted to stop including were simply fresh overseas.
Netflix invested additionally in Korean dramas, and genres became diverse as well.
It is often said that Korea's filming environment resembles Hollywood.
Though not exactly the same, they must have steadily strived to resemble it.
Thus, the accumulated efforts were finally bearing fruit.
"Where is Netflix's next investment?"
"Isn't the OTT drama currently in progress by GH Group
"Is this the next one? How is it? The prospects?"
"First, it's clear that GH Group has sharpened their knives for this."
"We have to get in before that. We'll lose it if we're late!!"
"But even if we proceed now..."
Everyone began a race to become the second
There would definitely be benefits to being at least the second or third.
'No one knows how long this trend will last, so we have to get in as fast as possible.'
'Even if completeness drops, now is definitely the right time.'
'It's obviously just a passing trend anyway.'
However, broadcasting officials predicted that this trend wouldn't last very long.
No, not just broadcasting officials, but most of the masses thought so too.
'It was just Child Game that hit big.'
'As if something like that would come out again.'
'Is the world crazy? Something like Child Game is that popular?'
'It's just typical patriotic marketing again.'
At a time when Netflix was still unfamiliar.
Even though it was a global hit, people didn't know the extent of the ripple effect
Number one in worldwide revenue.
Many dismissed this as merely a short-term achievement, and there were even those orchestrating things just to suck up some honey at this timing.
"Director Gang. Let's move up the release of Mine."
"Right. I heard it's already half completed."
"Everyone's desperate right now. Trying to get in quickly somehow."
There was so much talk within GH Group that they even called Gang Tae-jin, director of the Culture Business Division, to the board of directors to say such things directly.
'Just when he was insisting on releasing it as a film.'
Gang Tae-jin found that sight truly absurd.
Because those were the same people who had scoffed at it being an OTT drama until recently.
Yet now they were clamoring to quickly release it as an OTT drama.
'You were right, Ju Yeong-bin.'
The flow of the times is shorts.
It had already shifted to OTT dramas.
"It can't be done."
"Huh? What if we lose our place then?"
"Then completeness will inevitably fall. Let's look at this more long-term."
"Right now it's a fight over who gets in first. All business is a fight against time."
"That's when this flow is short-term. If it grows bigger, even if late, higher completeness is advantageous."
At Gang Tae-jin's words, Director Han Jeong-hak, who was in a competitive relationship with him within GH Group, let out a hollow laugh.
"Director Gang, are you saying this trend will last long-term? That Korean dramas will receive world attention like this again?"
"That's why we exist."
"Existing and actually doing it are different. This is a miracle. I have no idea where your confidence that we'll stumble upon something like this again comes from."
At those words, half nodded.
Meaning at least half the executives agreed with him.
"Even so, schedule changes are impossible."
It seemed the surroundings were buzzing, perhaps because they hadn't expected Gang Tae-jin to come out so strongly.
At his attitude, Director Han Jeong-hak furrowed his brow.
"...Understood. For now, let's leave this matter to Director Gang Tae-jin's judgment."
Though there was much protest from those around, the situation was tentatively settled.
Anyway, if this went wrong, it was Gang Tae-jin who would take the hit.
'The young punk.'
He was already someone he disliked.
Director of the Culture Business Division.
That seat should have originally been his.
'If things go wrong this time, that seat will become mine.'
So he took a step back.
Because this mistake would become the dagger that severed the punk's neck.
'Farewell. Not even your father could cover for a mistake like this.'
He fixed his gaze on Gang Dae-hwan, chairman of GH Group, who was sitting with a solemn face.
He was silent, but he seemed to sympathize with his son's words for now.
That was why other executives couldn't protest further.
However, if this went wrong, it was clear everything would return as blades.
'This flow can't last long.'
Korean culture can't succeed in the world.
Hadn't they poured so much money into it until now, all for nothing?
And now a mere drama changes the tide?
Impossible.
He firmly believed so.
And such thoughts of his weren't wrong.
At least until now.
***
"Today is the reunion scene between Adam and Yeonseo. To be exact, the scene where the identity is revealed."
Director Han Ye-geon said, looking at Seoyeon and Arthur.
And to Jo Seohu, who would appear later as well.
"Now if we film today, episode 6 will be done too. Since it's 12 episodes, we're already halfway. Looking at the schedule, I think we can easily aim for early next year."
Episode 6 already.
The filming speed was excessively fast.
Well, because most of the drama consisted of action scenes.
They had even invited Professor Kim Hong-baek as the action director, so the stunt actors were afire with eagerness to learn anything.
That passion was reflected fully in the drama.
This became another factor contributing to the fast filming speed.
Seoyeon reviewed the content to be filmed today in her head.
From episode 6, the story proceeds with even more speed.
'Adam is an agent dispatched from an overseas research institute.'
Episode 6 is when that identity is revealed.
Originally, Jin Yeonseo was part of the superhuman research jointly developed by Korea and America.
A prototype superhuman of the AE Project.
But it's not a simple superhuman ability.
A superhuman ability that can change the world.
'Yeonseo's ability is regeneration.'
Of course, her physical abilities were also amazing, but the most representative was exactly that.
Mere regeneration.
One might ask how mere regeneration could change the world, but the answer was simple.
Because Yeonseo's ability was the proof and clue toward humanity's immortality.
Those who obtained her would obtain immortality.
'That's why Adam helped Yeonseo escape.'
The research was conducted at research institutes in Korea, America, and various places.
But when the experiment succeeded first at the Korean research institute, Adam, who had been dispatched there, terrorized the institute and helped Yeonseo escape.
'The real villain of this drama.'
Narumi Sora is set as the rival, but in truth, Arthur is the real villain.
"But the Korean research institute is trying to kill Jin Yeonseo, right?"
It seemed Jo Seohui was also recalling the plot as she asked Seoyeon.
"Yes. The Korean research institute is worried that Jin Yeonseo will come to take revenge on them."
"And she actually is."
"Yes."
There are two reasons the research institute wants to kill Jin Yeonseo.
One is that due to the machinations of the American research institute, there is a high probability Jin Yeonseo will come to kill them.
And another is that she must not fall into the hands of the American research institute.
And just as they feared, Jin Yeonseo was looking for the Korean research institute.
Actually, it wasn't like that from the beginning.
It was because agents continuously carried out attacks, provoking her.
In other words, she came to think that if things remained this way, her parents might be killed at any moment.
Of course, this was the doing of Adam and the American research institute, but Jin Yeonseo had no way of knowing that.
"The Korean research institute is destroyed by Yeonseo's hands, and in that state, she is subdued and taken to America."
"Yes, that's Adam's plan."
"Hmm."
Jo Seohui nodded, her face showing she was thinking about the part she would act.
Hong Ari, the role Jo Seohui played, had various connections with Adam.
Since Hong Ari was a role as important as Yeonseo in the work, she couldn't help but have many thoughts.
'...She looks fine?'
Inwardly, Seoyeon felt relieved seeing Seohui like that.
'As expected, it was the anniversary.'
The reason Seohui had been late to acting that day was indeed the anniversary of her mother Baek Seoran's death.
Of course, she hadn't asked for fear it might become an issue, but it turned out her memory was correct.
'Well, ...time has passed.'
Seoyeon thought so, but honestly, she couldn't imagine it.
She had died before, but she had never had someone close to her die.
Even if such a thing had happened in her previous life, she probably couldn't have felt proper emotions.
So she hadn't thought much of it, but seeing Seohui, she found herself thinking of such things anew.
If she lost someone close, how would she be?
'...Thinking about that, Jin Yeonseo's actions make some sense.'
Jin Yeonseo is cruel.
The reason for that cruelty, absurdly, is to protect her acquaintances.
Her parents, her friends.
The life as the ordinary girl 'Park Yeonseo,' not the superhuman Jin Yeonseo.
Inwardly, Seoyeon hadn't been able to immerse herself well in that, but if she understood that fear, she felt she could know.
That Jin Yeonseo's cruelty came from fear.
"You."
Then, Arthur approached and spoke.
A bike suit like the one he wore before.
"You mustn't act as lifelessly as last time."
Those words from Arthur weren't directed at Seoyeon.
They were directed at Jo Seohui beside her.
"...Understood."
At those words, Jo Seohui nodded.
Indeed, there had been regrettable parts in her recent acting.
Seoyeon, who knew the circumstances, wanted to say something, but it was also true that personal circumstances shouldn't affect filming.
True, but...
'I really want to hit him just once.'
For today's filming, it would be nice if he came out directly without using stunts.
Just as Seoyeon was thinking that.
"By the way, I'll be doing my own stunts today."
"Ah, really?"
At Seoyeon's sudden brightening words, Arthur realized he had made a slip of the tongue.
Perhaps because of the situation, he too had decided to do his best for the drama.
So he had planned to do some stunts himself, but...
"...Seoyeon, not you."
Arthur subtly pointed at Narumi Sora, who was warming up in a corner.
"?"
When the finger suddenly pointed at her, Sora couldn't help but blink.
Because she had unexpectedly ended up filming an action scene with a Hollywood actor.
'Ah, Sora will also fight properly today.'
Fighting with Adam, and fighting with Jin Yeonseo.
Seoyeon, who was looking at Sora while thinking that, noticed something like a long rod at Sora's waist.
'A sword?'
As expected of a Japanese person, it's a sword.
As Seoyeon was nodding while thinking that.
"Then let's begin filming in earnest. Miss Seoyeon, you're ready?"
"Yes."
"We have to run a lot today, so please manage your stamina well."
"Yes, I understand."
At Seoyeon's calmly answering words, Han Ye-geon nodded with a deeply reliable expression.
'I've never seen Miss Seoyeon get tired, so she should be fine.'
The problem was over there.
Arthur and Jo Seohui.
Especially Jo Seohui, since her recent acting had been regrettable, so it weighed on his mind.
'She can definitely do better.'
Han Ye-geon knew Seohui's circumstances.
Actually, he had known her mother, Baek Seoran.
'I hope this drama becomes an opportunity for her to move forward.'
The materials were plentiful enough.
Ju Seoyeon, who had been the brightest star this year.
And Arthur Diaz, one of the male actors representing Hollywood.
And on top of that, Narumi Sora, who possessed genius talent no matter who looked at her.
Han Ye-geon had no doubt that Jo Seohui could do well too.
Because she was none other than the one who had inherited the talent of the once-in-a-generation genius actor, Baek Seoran.