NOVEL NEXT Chapter 161
“Hello, I’m Hong-sik!”
Hong-sik, the 1.4 million subscriber YouTuber, greeted the camera with a cheerful smile and a 90-degree bow.
His salute has remained unchanged since he had just 140 subscribers.
Despite the subscriber count, his consistent attitude appealed to viewers in various ways.
“This time, the drama trailer I’ve been looking forward to just dropped.”
– Oh, is he trying to ride the Joo Seo-yeon coin again?
– Honestly, you should after gaining over 400,000 views.
– I don’t know much about Sky Garden.
– But the song was good; who’s the singer?
With such reactions from viewers, Hong-sik wondered what kind of drama would get a “I don’t know much about it” response.
The mention of the song instead of the drama’s content seemed to imply that people were not that excited about it.
“Is that possible?”
Hong-sik was a YouTuber focused on reviewing movies and dramas.
However, he wasn’t oblivious to other shows.
Especially Joo Seo-yeon.
Hong-sik made it a point to watch every show featuring Seo-yeon.
Honestly, at first, he was trying to cash in on the views because of Seo-yeon, but recently, that wasn’t the case anymore.
He had genuinely become a fan of Seo-yeon.
Really.
“It was a regret of a lifetime that I couldn’t attend the last fan signing event.”
Even though he had really enjoyed Dream Future, he regretted missing the last fan signing event.
Anyway, the reason Hong-sik became a fan of Seo-yeon was not just because she acted well.
Premonition.
Seo-yeon had an almost uncanny ability for premonition.
There were instances where her acting covered for issues, but usually, a drama’s success isn’t just determined by one person’s performance.
Seo-yeon’s acting was exceptional, but it shone because the work itself was outstanding.
Of course, Hong-sik recognized her talent as being beyond her age.
Yet, he valued her premonition even more than that.
“But this Sky Garden is ambiguous?”
The significance of this Sky Garden for Joo Seo-yeon was immense.
Up until now, she had played villains and supporting characters with decent screen time.
Well, you could say she starred in Dream Future, but still, she couldn’t be labeled as the “main character.”
However, Sky Garden was different.
This would be the drama where Seo-yeon would take on her first lead role.
For an actor, being the lead in their first work is significant.
The impact it has on the industry is no joke.
Imagine crashing and burning in your debut lead role.
Naturally, producers and directors would reconsider their thoughts about the actor.
“That’s strange.”
Hong-sik, who recognized Seo-yeon’s premonition, found it hard to understand these viewers’ reactions.
At the same time, curiosity bubbled up.
What could possibly warrant this response?
“First, let’s take a look. I’m excited to see what our lead actor will show us this time.”
– Hey, Hong-sik, don’t you review variety shows?
– The latest Golden Duckling was fun.
“Yes, yes, I don’t. I’m a movie and drama reviewer. I’m a fan of Joo Seo-yeon, but not variety shows.”
Of course, Hong-sik had seen all the episodes featuring Joo Seo-yeon from Golden Duckling.
Even skipping other shows to catch up on it live.
“The family of Joo Seo-yeon has some good vibes.”
Maybe that’s why she turned out like this.
But it was surprising that her father, Young-bin, was a developer at Raywill Games.
For Hong-sik, who once avidly played games from Raywill, it felt kind of surreal.
Anyway.
“This doesn’t look like a simple youth drama, does it?”
The trailer for Sky Garden began to play.
It’s currently day two of the public release.
The view count has already exceeded 300,000.
Not bad.
But is it good? It’s just average.
“Recently, the view count for the KMB’s Monday-Tuesday drama trailer… has already surpassed 800,000.”
Among Bong-sik’s acquaintances, some work at KMB.
It seems to be quite noisy internally, with talks about splitting the Drama Department.
Especially this Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday dramas seem to be significant indicators in that internal competition.
Currently, based on the numbers, the Thursday-Friday drama, Sky Garden, feels like it’s falling behind.
Is it that Grand Game?
A drama that critiques modern man’s gold-centric universalism.
Moreover, it’s been aggressively promoted by featuring the hottest actress, Ko Mi-eun, as the leading lady.
– Honestly, Grand Game looks more interesting.
– For real, LOL.
– Seriously, having students as the main characters is super boring.
Watching the audience reactions, Bong-sik continued to review the trailer.
“The color palette feels a bit duller than expected. They put effort into this. It gives a movie-like vibe.”
– One side focuses on gold-centric universalism, and this side’s about academic pedigree.
– But this one seems to have a rather ambiguous male lead.
That was certainly the case.
The casting for Sky Garden mainly featured younger actors.
Naturally, there were many unfamiliar faces to the viewers.
And being unfamiliar is a very dangerous evaluation for a drama that aims to appeal to the public.
“The drama definitely feels a bit unfamiliar. You see, it’s crucial how much viewers get immersed in the first episode. From the trailer alone, that doesn’t seem to be conveyed well…”
While Bong-sik was deep into the discussion, he suddenly stopped talking.
The contents of the trailer were like this.
In the beginning, renowned adult actors known for their acting prowess made significant appearances, highlighting the central storyline.
In other words, it explains how important the character Lee Yoo-joo is.
To get into the top university, Baekyeon University, Lee Yoo-joo’s study methods.
In a nutshell, a portfolio is needed.
To achieve that, it’s about utilizing their children to get close to that goal.
– Is Baekyeon University kind of like Seoul National University?
– Honestly, if they’re doing that just to get into Seoul National University, that’s a bit ridiculous, LOL.
That was the audience’s reaction.
But Bong-sik continued to watch silently.
In the two-minute trailer, the first minute centered around the “motivations.”
And in the remaining minute.
Suddenly, a refreshing song played, and we see the protagonist, Lee Yoo-joo.
“I heard your brother is the top student at Baekyeon University. In the medical school, too.”
“Yes.”
“You must be proud. That’s quite an accomplishment.”
The atmosphere was different than expected.
The dialogue between the two women had a strangely thrilling vibe.
Especially, the look in Lee Yoo-joo’s eyes was indescribable.
Bong-sik couldn’t help but be impressed.
It was a gaze so profound it didn’t feel like “acting.”
“It’s amazing. Really.”
Slightly twisting her lips.
“Min-seo. Let’s be friends.”
Along with Lee Yoo-joo’s soft voice, the trailer ended.
The pure voice in the song felt even more chilling in that trailer.
– The acting is really good.
– But I’m not exactly sure what the plot is.
– I like that there’s no romance.
– LOL, without romance on a public broadcast, it’s just doomed.
Seeing those reactions, Bong-sik took a moment to choose his words carefully.
Then he said, “This will be the king of this quarter.”
– ?
– Are you serious?
“Yes, ah, I really enjoyed it. Why is the view count only 300,000?”
Bong-sik had already reviewed the Monday-Tuesday drama Grand Game.
At that time, he didn’t show such reactions, so the viewers found it absurd.
– And again, Bong-sik is defending it because he’s a Joo Seo-yeon fan.
– LOL, is Bong-sik past his prime now?
Of course, Bong-sik understood those viewer reactions.
The latest trailer for Sky Garden really tried to show too much.
To put it subtly, the trailer did come out kind of vague.
But.
“It feels like a cable drama.”
– So, is that bad?
“I didn’t mean it in a bad way; it has this strangely fresh vibe. You see, novelty and unfamiliarity are just a hair’s breadth apart. The trailer emphasizes the former. But… if that novelty appeals during the actual broadcast…”
Bong-sik took a moment to choose his words.
Predicting ratings was practically an annual event for him.
But this time, it was honestly hard to gauge.
“I bet Sky Garden will record the highest ratings among this year’s dramas.”
– Are you crazy? What will you do if it flops?
“I’ll grab a guitar and do a live show at Hongdae.”
– Are you serious??? I’m screenshotting this, lol.
– Bong-sik’s delusions are something else, tsk tsk tsk.
Bong-sik laughed exaggeratedly at the viewers’ reactions.
But this time, it wasn’t just a joke.
He was serious.
In fact.
‘This Sky Garden might bring a new wind to terrestrial broadcasting.’
Given the current situation where interest is shifting to the OTT market, this drama might divert some attention back to traditional broadcasting.
Bong-sik genuinely thought that way.
And perhaps it was due to Bong-sik’s influence as a YouTuber with 1.4 million subscribers.
Or maybe it was because the word-of-mouth came late.
[Sky Garden trailer. Surged to 1 million views in just a week thanks to late momentum!]
[Who is the singer of Sky Garden‘s insert song? Attention focused!]
It was around this time that articles began to pop up.
*
“Did you see the Sky Garden trailer?”
“The song was nice. Will the soundtrack drop when the drama starts?”
“From the vibe, it doesn’t seem like it’s an idol, but maybe a newbie singer?”
When they got to school, surprisingly, the girls were casually chatting about Sky Garden.
It seemed Sky Garden was appealing more than Grand Game, which was targeting an older audience.
Especially since the main character of that drama was in the same class.
‘Someone just talk to her already.’
‘If I ask about the singer, I’ll know, right?’
‘But~.’
Seo-yeon sat quietly in her seat.
Of course, Seo-yeon felt her lips twitch several times as she listened to the girls talk.
‘That’s me!’
It’s me!!!
She really wanted to shout that out loud.
To bolt up and bang on the podium.
“Actually, I sang the OST for Sky Garden.”
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
“I knew it!”
…Of course, Seo-yeon wasn’t the type to overreact like that.
At least, not externally.
But she was feeling that way internally.
But she couldn’t since she had already made a promise to PD Lee Min-hwa from Sky Garden.
“Everyone’s raving about the OST that Seo-yeon sang. We plan to reveal it dramatically later.”
“Dramatically? How?”
Just suddenly saying, “Ta-da! I sang it!” wouldn’t have much impact.
“I’m thinking of linking it with a variety show. Oh right, we need to check Seo-yeon’s schedule. You’ve been super busy lately, right?”
“Yeah, a bit, but it might depend on what type of show it is.”
But a variety show.
Honestly, she had planned to take a break from variety shows, but if it’s connected to a drama, that makes a difference.
“I’m still pondering it. Seo-yeon’s singing skills have really improved, and we have to think about how to showcase this to the public… Moreover, you know how much our PD Shin has been pushing to get Seo-yeon on board.”
PD Shim Kyung-hoon.
The PD of a currently popular variety show airing on KMB.
He was the PD.
Having been very impressed by MDC’s “Golden Duckling,” he had recently been pestering Lee Min-hwa PD quite a lot.
“Please, just let Joo Seo-yeon act in one KMB variety show!!”
“Well, it’s not entirely due to PD Shim’s insistence. This is all to make Heaven’s Garden and Seo-yeon stand out more.”
“But Na-hee unnie… I mean, Summer Girl too.”
“Well, they are idols, so they definitely need to sing well. The expectations for idols have risen these days.”
That’s true.
Idols are singers, after all. When you think about it, calling someone a skilled idol is a bit puzzling.
“It’s like calling someone a method actor.”
Isn’t it odd to call a solo performer a ‘talented actor’ just because their acting skills are good?
“So, what variety show is it?”
“You might have heard of it, Seo-yeon. It’s been in decline recently, but it’s still decent in terms of publicity.”
Hearing that, Seo-yeon suddenly thought of a variety show that had been really dragging in the ratings but still got consistent articles and had a loyal audience.
“Masked Singer.”
*
“Yeo-hee unnie.”
Now, a woman who had been with her for almost a decade looked up with a messy appearance at her manager’s voice.
Seeing her, the manager sighed.
Next year she’ll be forty, but she looks no different from her twenties.
When will she get married?
Oh wait, forty might be too late for that?
But since she’s a celebrity and still looks in her early thirties, there’s still hope.
Despite her scruffy appearance, she was quite an embodiment of self-care.
She may be lazy in life, but in terms of looks, she worked hard.
Especially after watching some recent variety show, she was now busy with face masks and taking care of herself.
I heard she even booked an appointment at a dermatologist’s office.
“Was it about Suah or something?”
But who is Suah?
Is she a celebrity?
It’s a bit curious that Yeo-hee, who usually doesn’t care about other celebrities, now shows an interest.
“But singers have to sing, right?”
“I released my album not too long ago.”
“Don’t you know that a solo artist can be forgotten quickly if they don’t stay active? There’s no room for them because of idols!”
I know that too.
The woman called Yeo-hee stretched and yawned.
But the fact that her manager was saying such things meant there was something going on.
“I was thinking about retiring.”
Maybe I should just travel with the money I’ve saved up~ That’s what I was considering.
If it weren’t for the variety show, that would definitely have been the path.
“Really, it’s been so long since we got a casting request for you.”
“Oh, really? I have no instinct left.”
“Since you have no instinct, it means you have to accept the offer.”
“Wow, how charming of you.”
She really had a knack for being annoying.
Yeo-hee opened her eyes drowsily to look at her manager.
“Okay, what is it?”
“Masked Singer.”
Ah, can singers participate in that?
She thought for a moment, but then realized that capable singers had already appeared on the show.
Lately, it felt like it had turned into a comeback program for celebrities who had been hiding away due to scandals.
That’s why it was a variety show with decreasing ratings, as skilled singers weren’t coming out like before.
“Yeah, I’ll go.”
“Wait, really? I thought you’d refuse for sure!”
The manager said that, and suddenly they heard a song playing from somewhere in the room.
It seemed to be on repeat, as the voice kept playing over and over.
“Is it a newbie? Sounds great.”
“Uh, huh? A newbie? They might be a newbie?”
“Really? But I feel like I’ve heard this somewhere before…”
Of course, the manager couldn’t remember where she had heard that song, as it was inserted into a drama teaser that was just over two minutes long.