Free Web NovelIt was only natural where the public's attention would go. People were far more interested in talking about a “big-budget drama” that had cast a “school-bully actor” as its second male lead than about the school violence allegations of some moderately recognizable supporting actor.
By coincidence, every member of the cast of <Code Name: Time Seven> was a known name.
Galdaeguk and Ma Eungyo, the Ja Sokhwan Kids.
Han Yohan, whose core fandom was weak but whose unique character made him highly respected within the entertainment industry.
And on top of that, Han Yeoreum, the winner of the Great Actress Holy Grail War and currently the hottest rising force in the industry.
No single person was overwhelmingly more famous than the others, so instead of the attention being divided, a miracle occurred—the firepower multiplied fourfold.
[Exclusive] KBC's 20-Billion-Won Blockbuster <Code Name: Time Seven> Hit by Shocking School Violence Allegations Against Supporting Male Lead A... “Three Years of Hell” Post Goes Viral
["I Was Looking Forward to Han Yeoreum..." Anticipated Drama <Time Seven> Faces Controversy Over Rising Star A's Past]
[Star Writer and Star Director? School Violence Scandal Explodes During Russian Location Shoot, Production Faces Suspension Crisis]
[KBC's Ambitious Project Falling Into the 'School Violence' Quagmire... Production Team on Emergency Alert]
* * *
KBC Drama Department.
The moment the controversy broke, an emergency meeting was called.
This was already a project everyone had believed would become NetHolics' greatest rival.
Not only KBC but the investors as well had been convinced that after <The Great Garland>, it would once again ignite Korean drama as a whole.
"What do we do? Shouldn't we announce his departure immediately?"
"I talked to Writer Ma earlier and... sigh..."
"Why? What happened?"
"They already filmed almost all of the second male lead's scenes."
The conference room instantly turned cold.
Everyone's mind went to the same place.
Money.
The current location-shoot cost of <Code Name: Time Seven> had already reached roughly 2 billion won.
Lodging.
Meals.
Rental fees for the cathedral and major tourist attractions.
Explosion scenes.
Airfare and equipment transport.
Vehicle rentals.
Local labor costs.
KBC had expanded the scale of the production, investors had loosened their wallets because of the Ja Sokhwan Kids director-writer duo, and Han Yeoreum's flawless filmography had attracted endless product-placement sponsors.
"We can't just erase the character completely, can we...? Honestly, the role wasn't even that important. Calling him a second lead was generous."
"That might be the best option, but if we do that all our storyboards fall apart and we miss the broadcast date."
"And story-wise, removing the second male lead isn't possible. He even appears in one of Han Yohan's action scenes..."
"If we cut him, we lose Han Yohan's action scene too? Which one?"
"I spoke with Director Gal earlier. He said absolutely, absolutely not. He said he'd rather reshoot everything than remove that scene."
No matter how hard they thought.
No matter how desperately they offered suggestions.
Everything led back to the same conclusion.
Everyone's faces gradually hardened.
There was no breakthrough.
"So let's summarize."
The KBC Drama Director, a veteran of the entertainment industry, cut through the chaos with a single sentence.
"If we reshoot the problematic footage, we're spending at least another 700 to 800 million won. If we remove him entirely, the story breaks and the broadcast schedule gets delayed. If we only keep the bare minimum, one of our male lead's signature scenes becomes tainted by controversy. And if we leave everything untouched, we're screwed. Correct?"
Hearing it laid out point by point made everyone's vision darken.
Even during the Joseon scum controversy surrounding Episode 1 of <The Great Garland>, they had still possessed confidence.
Back then, the hotter the controversy became, the better.
But this?
This was one hundred percent pure controversy.
"Kim Jisang's agency keeps insisting it's a rumor. What do we do?"
"Did they talk to the person who posted the original accusation?"
"They said they'd handle it through lawsuits and that people would forget about it soon..."
"Then it's real. Otherwise why would they say people will forget about it?"
"It could still be false. Let's wait a little longer."
"How are JC and Yeonggwang reacting?"
"Director Jegal Rok hasn't said anything yet. As for Yeonggwang... their CEO said if that bastard Jisang—or Jin-sang or whatever his name is—isn't removed from the project, he'll come here personally..."
The anxious meeting dragged on.
Nobody could provide an answer.
"If we replace the actor and reshoot..."
"We'll need at least another week overseas. Han Yohan's action scenes are already brutal enough. He's not a machine. You think he can reproduce all those scenes in a day or two?"
"Exactly. If we push too hard and he gets injured, there's no way we'll make the broadcast date."
The best possible scenario right now was for the accusations to somehow turn out false.
But everyone felt the truth.
'This is real. One hundred percent.'
'Absolutely.'
'There's no way it isn't.'
The Drama Director folded his arms and groaned before speaking again.
"My instinct says..."
Everyone looked at him.
"This isn't the end. Something bigger is coming."
And then—
BANG!!!
The conference room door flew open.
"Director! Director!"
"Huh...?"
"Another public accusation against Kim Jisang just got posted! This time it's a different victim!"
Everyone groaned at the accuracy of his prediction.
"Oh..."
The KBC Drama Director closed his eyes and muttered.
"You sweet little piece of shit..."
The conference room descended into complete chaos.
* * *
Words that should never have appeared beside the title of <Code Name: Time Seven> continued piling up.
"Controversy. Boycott..."
The staff squeezed their eyes shut.
Just a few days ago, <Code Name: Time Seven> had been one of the most anticipated dramas in years.
Now its title was being dragged through the mud.
[HOT / Apparently Kim Jisang Already Finished Filming All His Scenes In Code Name: Time Seven.jpg]
(Russia location sighting.jpg)
(Screenshot of anonymous forum post.jpg)
-Anonymous 1: Guess they won't replace him then lol. Goodbye, not watching.
-Anonymous 4: I already hate seeing criminal celebrities return to TV... How do these people show their faces with no shame?
-Anonymous 12: People commit every crime imaginable and still come crawling back because everyone forgives them ^^
-Anonymous 29: At this point the only option is cutting as much footage as possible. Fuck, what do we do, Han Yohan...
-Anonymous 32: Imagine worrying about celebrities in the middle of this lol.
-Anonymous 45: I'm already pissed off enough. Stop picking fights unless you want to die.
The drama had already been the hottest project before filming even began.
The public cared.
And because they cared, they were angry.
[DramaMovieActor TALK / Holy shit, I just read the Kim Jisang accusation post. What kind of nerve does this guy have to debut?]
[DramaMovieActor TALK / My PTSD came back... Why am I crying? I thought I'd gotten over it.]
[DramaMovieActor TALK / If they keep him, I'm boycotting the director, writer, Han Yeoreum, and Han Yohan too.]
[DramaMovieActor TALK / Meanwhile this will probably still succeed because it's a Han Yeoreum drama lol.]
As more accusation posts appeared, the backlash against <Code Name: Time Seven> intensified.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say public opinion was boiling by the second.
The current Tr*tter trends looked like this:
Trending in South Korea
School Violence Drama
1,839
Image Laundering
3,228
This Happens All The Time
572
It's Han Yeoreum Anyway
1,221
JustWatching @just_watching
This isn't exactly the first time this kind of thing has happened. Judging by how criminal male celebrities cling to the industry no matter what, it'll probably happen again.
They get caught drunk driving, dodging taxes, whatever. Then a few years later they cry on TV, clean up their image, and make a successful comeback. Fucking hell.
21K reposts · 33K likes
↳ A million controversial male celebrities flashed through my head the moment I read this.
↳ Seriously, fuck.
Worker @worker_9to6
Not buying School Violence Drama.
11K reposts · 23K likes
Gong Baek @kkkkk123
Honestly I'm already feeling hopeless because it'll probably do well anyway since it's a Han Yeoreum drama... They already went overseas to film, so I doubt anyone's getting removed. I'm boycotting.
↳ Why are you grabbing Han Yeoreum by the hair? The controversy is about a man. Why are you beating up a woman instead? Learn some context.
↳ That's just my opinion. Why are you losing your mind? I meant Han Yeoreum's success rate is high. You're the one missing the context.
↳ Why do male-obsessed people always miss the point whenever they pretend to care about justice... That's my opinion too.
SecondLeadProtectionSquad @s2ndlover
Do not tarnish the name of Second Male Leads.
12K reposts · 41K likes
No matter how far people scrolled, everyone was saying the same thing.
<Code Name: Time Seven> had reached the absolute peak of controversy.
"And it's December, too..."
The timing couldn't have been worse.
It was the month when public interest in celebrities was highest.
The Great Actress Holy Grail War had only recently ended, and Han Yeoreum's recognition had become even greater than before.
Gradually, the focus of the controversy began shifting toward Han Yeoreum herself.
"What do we do?"
"Isn't it too late to replace the actor...? They've already filmed all the expensive scenes."
"Where's the director? I haven't seen him for hours."
"Director Gal coughed up blood and went to the hospital... Apparently something's wrong with his vocal cords."
"He's getting IV treatment alongside the writer."
As if the situation weren't bad enough, both the director's and writer's health had collapsed.
A red warning light lit up over the production.
At the same time, every schedule came to a halt.
* * *
Holding a cup of coffee so dark it was practically black water, Jegal Rok stared at the monitor.
Manager Ma had rushed into the headquarters office, and Jegal Rok immediately asked:
"What happened?"
Having already grasped the situation in a remarkably short time, Manager Ma began his report.
"First of all, Kim Jisang isn't even his real name. He changed his name twice, and he's using a stage name now. Apparently the victims didn't recognize him at first. Oh, and there was plastic surgery too. Ptosis correction and a nose job. Hard to identify him immediately as the same person."
Jegal Rok listened while reading the rapidly updating reports on his monitor.
Reporters drunk on traffic were inserting Han Yeoreum's name into headlines.
They were deliberately baiting readers into thinking Han Yeoreum herself had committed school violence.
Once you clicked the article, the "rising star" in the title referred to Kim Jisang.
But if you only saw the headline, it was easy to misunderstand and think Han Yeoreum was the perpetrator.
"Contact the media outlets and tell them to properly identify Kim Jisang next to the phrase 'rising star.'"
"Yes, sir. Manager Hong is already handling it."
Jegal Rok's decision-making was even faster than usual.
The person who stood to suffer the most from this situation was Han Yeoreum.
She had two major upcoming projects preparing to face the public.
<Seoul Metropolitan City>, NetHolics' massive project.
And <Faster Than the Law 3>, the project expected to make Han Yeoreum a triple ten-million actress.
People had already begun visiting trailers simply to blame Han Yeoreum.
"We're replacing the actor."
Jegal Rok turned the wheel toward the optimal solution.
It was a decision only JC ENM could make.
"If we replace him, what about the location costs? If we're covering them ourselves, Accounting will get involved, and negotiating with Yeonggwang will take forever."
"I'll personally meet with the investors and resolve that issue. Have Han Yeoreum attend only the MBS Awards. Cancel everything else."
"I'll contact the Asia Art Awards and MNAA. So she'll fly back to Korea for one day and then return to Russia?"
"Yes. Also tell Writer Ma Eungyo and Director Galdaeguk to move every second male lead scene that doesn't absolutely require Russia to the Korean schedule. One more thing. Coordinate with Yeonggwang and push Han Yeoreum's filming schedule as far forward as possible. She needs to start promoting <Seoul Metropolitan City>."
"Can that even happen in a few days? Even under ideal conditions we'd need over a month."
"Tell them to make it happen. It has to happen."
While roughly calculating the costs, Jegal Rok evaluated the growing negative public sentiment.
The longer this continued, the more damage everyone would suffer.
If it lasted more than a month, the boycott atmosphere would become permanent.
Even after replacing the actor, viewers would inevitably enter Episode 1 with mockery and hostility.
"What about the replacement actor?"
"Manager Ma can discuss that with KBC."
Even a week was dangerous.
Words like "school violence," "perpetrator," and "controversy" would continue attaching themselves to Han Yeoreum's name.
"...Surely we're not leaving the second male lead role vacant indefinitely..."
It had to be solved as quickly as possible.
Before doubts spread about Galdaeguk's directing.
Before criticism engulfed Ma Eungyo's script.
Before Han Yohan's clean image suffered damage.
Before Han Yeoreum's rise into A-list status stalled.
Based on years of experience, Jegal Rok estimated the golden window at three days.
"Within seventy-two hours."
An official response had to come immediately.
"Redistribute the investment. Replace the actor. Release an official statement. Revise the script and establish a reshoot schedule. Solve all of it. Meeting adjourned."
If the fire burned too long, the boycott label would remain even after the actor was replaced.
The golden window to reverse public perception was only seventy-two hours.
They had to overturn the board before then.
* * *
I came to the conclusion that Eun Baekhap was an incredible human being.
"How... how did she just sit there and take it..."
I could think of endless ways to deal with someone.
Run them over with a car.
Push them down a staircase.
Anything.
Anything but leaving them alone.
The fact that Eun Baekhap had no assault record made me respect her character even more.
"My name is being attached to this crap."
School violence.
Perpetrator.
Han Yeoreum.
A flood of articles poured out, and I felt dizzy.
Tens of millions of won were being burned every day on the Russian location shoot.
The worst possible circumstances had converged.
Me, unable to deliver the key scenes.
A second male lead embroiled in a school violence scandal.
Production suspended.
Nervous staff.
A director and writer lying in hospital.
And the only thing I had been able to rely on—
"Pick up the phone..."
Even Myeong Jeha wasn't answering.
