Free Web NovelHan Yeoreum looked genuinely pleased as she greeted Choo Gaeul, already seated as comfortably as if this were her own home.
“Hey, why are you so late!”
“...I came thirty minutes early.”
“Whatever. Hurry up and get in. Cola or cider?”
“...Huh?”
“Answer fast! Cola or cider!”
“C-cider.”
Yeoreum strode to the table and poured cider into a cup with an enthusiastic glug-glug-glug. Then she spoke with a solemn expression.
“The reason I called you today... is because there’s something special and very important....”
Without realizing it, Gaeul gripped the handle of the cup she’d just received.
“Han Yeoreum’s fan café, <Summer Days>, officially surpassed exactly 500 members at 8:31 a.m. this morning.... Applause, everyone....”
“Wow— I’m jealous!”
“Congratulations, Ms. Yeoreum....”
“What are you even saying!”
Gaeul burst out at the absurd announcement, then quickly clamped a hand over her mouth. So Dami and Director So were actually clapping.
And then—
Someone appeared whom she hadn’t even realized was there.
A small figure tucked into the corner of the sofa.
“Ahem. Well. Yes, 500 is admittedly a bit low. Considering this is the muse personally acknowledged by Dok Gomin, shouldn’t it be at least ten times that? Once we upload the kimono photos, that alone will bring in fifty thousand.”
“Follower conversion rates don’t increase that drastically from a single photo.... Maybe SNS followers, but fan club registration has a higher entry barrier.... And strictly speaking, she’s my muse now....”
“Don’t talk nonsense! Get this person out of here!”
“We could have done the script reading at our studio... but I came all the way here because you begged and pleaded... sigh... perhaps I should never call you to a set again....”
“Isn’t this abuse of power? How does it make sense to hand a megaphone to someone who doesn’t even properly recognize the genius that is Dok Gomin?”
Gaeul stood there for a moment, wondering what exactly this chaos was.
‘...Isn’t today the script reading?’
Yes.
Today was the official script reading day for 〈Youth Disqualified!〉.
* * *
A few days earlier, at the Sangam MBS Drama Center.
Director So had shown the Center Director her prepared proposal, at least out of courtesy.
“Honestly... like PD Gam said, it might feel a bit old-fashioned? So I don’t know if you’ll fully understand... but these days we can’t ignore the ripple effect of Intube and SNS.”
“Hey! I know all that!”
“Knowing it in your head and knowing it in your heart are different.... Anyway, since I personally brought in Han Yeoreum, please promise not to interfere with the rest....”
The Center Director reviewed the proposal.
Director So wasn’t exaggerating. His brow furrowed in doubt.
“You’re saying we do it like this? Ignore procedures and conventions ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) entirely?”
“We’ll ignore ratings and influence too, then.”
“This is insane....”
Director So had completely eliminated the traditional script reading procedure. She had no intention of creating a formal event where journalists gathered to watch the actors’ chemistry.
“You confident you can make this work?”
Instead, she planned to turn it into original Intube content. Something only 〈Youth Disqualified!〉 could do.
A group project.
Na Yuna, Go Yungyo, and Jeong Heejeong’s actors gathered to seriously dissect the script together.
“There’s no way this won’t succeed....”
Typical script reading videos followed a formula: a few dozen seconds of actor greetings and character introductions, ten or so seconds of live line delivery, uploaded as a two-to-three-minute clip at best.
“A forty-minute project... ha....”
But what Director So had prepared was entirely different.
The Center Director reread the line in the proposal that said the combination of a 0.5D character’s glimpses from everyday life and the faint exposure of the actor’s true self would drive people crazy.
“Fine! Do it your way! I’ll back you!”
He squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.
It was all or nothing anyway. They already held the strongest card in the market — a card that had overturned the industry several times. Wasn’t Han Yeoreum the one who had drawn the most explosive response the moment 〈The Great Garland〉’s teaser dropped?
“And Director... there’s something even more important in this plan.... Something that absolutely cannot be left out.... Something that will likely have a tremendous impact on MBS’s follow-up drama ratings....”
Director So looked at him quietly, as she always did.
The Center Director tightened his grip on the proposal.
* * *
“What even is this person?”
Dok Gomin was not the type to keep thoughts to herself. She had to say them out loud to feel at ease. Just like now.
Director So — who people kindly called a healing director — was in truth more cold and rational than anyone.
“Just... shove all of that inside and take out some paper cups already....”
Hours before filming, Director So had stormed into Dok Gomin’s studio and begun rearranging the interior as she pleased.
“No! That’s my favorite cup! It must remain as an object! Aaaah! My eyes! My aesthetic... what is wrong with this person’s sense of beauty?”
“Here it is... paper cups with the YupX Tteokbokki logo....”
Director So had transformed the studio of a certified genius photographer into something resembling the apartment of a photography senior she’d befriended in a general education class.
The overall interior remained impressive — but here and there, subtle touches of messy student life were intentionally added.
“So who’s coming besides Han Yeoreum? What was that thing you mentioned before? That male idol?”
“Eden isn’t coming.... I deliberately scheduled it on a day when his overseas schedule is packed so no rumors start....”
“Is that okay? Didn’t you say you’d include something girls would like? Of course Han Yeoreum is hugely popular with women. Her face pops up as a banner in the Olive0 app now. And recently that fall photoshoot zip-up hoodie and knit cardigan from N Company hit number one in sales. Ahem. Anyway.”
Director So, stuffing wooden chopsticks into a drawer to stage the look of frequent food deliveries, gave a small smile.
“If Eden comes... the atmosphere would brighten, and visually it would be nice. But ultimately, we wouldn’t draw out what viewers actually want to see....”
Behind the round glasses was the aura of someone who had analyzed something down to its core.
“Yeoreum, Gaeul, Dami — all three share something in common. What is it?”
“...They’re good at acting?”
“Exactly. They’re rookies who debuted not long ago, yet they command the screen. All three have distinct character identities, and Yeoreum especially just finished a theater production — her line delivery can outmatch most established actors.... Now imagine throwing acting novice Seo Eden into that mix. What happens?”
Dok Gomin could easily picture Seo Eden becoming nothing more than a face mascot.
And the comment atmosphere as well.
– TT_TT Eden is so cute lololololol
– 10:21 the stuttering puppy... came from a clip and now I’m looping it
– The girls do all the acting and the guy just scoops a spoonful on top lololololol so tiring
︎˪ Here we go again... if dramas were only about acting skill they’d cast only middle-aged actors lololol do you even know how important promotion is
︎˪ Middle-aged actors my ass are the actresses next to him turning sixty next year? Just admit your oppa can’t act freewёbnoνel.com
If that happened, a long script reading video would become poison instead. The effort to create a comfortable, friendly atmosphere would vanish.
“Eden’s role begins after we release the project to the world.... It’s his first acting attempt, but that fresh sincerity and willingness to challenge himself — that’s part of what our project wants to say.”
“Then who is this guy coming today?”
Ding-dong.
The doorbell to Dok Gomin’s studio rang.
“He’s here... that man....”
Director So opened the door and introduced the visitor.
“The only man at our 〈Youth Disqualified!〉 script reading... also the face of MBS....”
“Ahahaha. You flatter me.”
It was the MBS Center Director.
* * *
‘It’s working.’
Watching the script reading, Director So was certain her judgment had been correct.
〈Youth Disqualified!〉 needed to evoke both the lingering anxiety that high school days might still be following you — and the nostalgia of remembering who you once were.
‘Even I have to admit... I chose well....’
The MBS Center Director was the medium capable of evoking those two emotions.
Director So had assigned him the role of homeroom teacher. She wanted viewers to genuinely feel as though they were building something together.
A project where you start with group assignments alongside your teacher and friends.
Where even you, who watch, empathize, and laugh — are part of its completion.
That was 〈Youth Disqualified!〉.
“One day, I really wanted to try a drama led forward by the power of female leads working together! And I’m deeply honored to attempt that first with our 〈Youth Disqualified!〉. Truth is, I have a daughter too. Doesn’t listen to a word I say, always causing trouble— ah, she’ll scold me if she sees this. Anyway, I’ve always had this little wish in my heart to create something she’d genuinely enjoy. She’s very picky, you know. A high schooler — full of romantic ideals about university life. But youth isn’t just green and bold and fresh like media shows it, right? I want to give a bit of a preventative shot. Not just to my daughter, but to teens, to those in their twenties... maybe even to the 70s and 80s generation like me, whose youth has long passed. To entrust something they can revisit again and again to you three....”
Just the sense that he wanted to be a dependable adult would comfort viewers.
He tried not to offend the much younger actors while checking repeatedly that he wasn’t being boring.
It fit perfectly into Director So’s plan.
“So! Think of me as the class entertainment captain. No, is that outdated? Should I say game captain? Ahahaha... my kid told me never to say things like that in public. Too lame? Oh, you laughed? See, university students get it. Anyway, I trust you’ll do well.”
The assistant director beside him whispered quietly,
“But what about screen time...? That speech was longer than the actors’ lines.... No one’s clicking the video to see an old guy, right, Director...?”
“You think I’ve only done this once or twice? Cut the teasing parts properly. Fast-forward or trim awkwardly where needed....”
Unaware of the production staff’s glances, the Center Director continued cheering for the young actors with sincerity.
“Even so... our Director....”
“Mm... definitely our Director....”
“He’s not funny... right....”
They exchanged these comments with warm eyes.
‘This project will succeed.’
Arms crossed, surveying the lively script reading atmosphere, Director So repeated to herself.
This was a long-term project.
‘It will succeed.’
She chose to capture everything — from the script reading to OST participation — as content.
Like a real school club activity.
“Then—.”
At last, the Center Director got to the point.
The core agenda of the project.
“What instruments can each of you play?”
MBS planned to form a band with the three leads of 〈Youth Disqualified!〉.
