Ding.
“Ah… it’s time.”
As it hit 10 PM, the familiar background music of the program signaled the start of Na Ah Ah episode 5.
Watching this with tension, Lee Ji-woo spoke to me as if to ease my worries.
“Ye-rin, don’t worry too much. Isn’t your little sister from SAV?”
“…Yes, that’s right. SAV.”
“How thorough and big SAV is. No matter how many mistakes that little sister makes, the company will handle it with the broadcasting station. No matter what happens, she’ll just get a bit of blame and that’ll be it.”
“…Yeah, I suppose?”
“Right, so don’t worry too much.”
Nodding at Lee Ji-woo’s words, I calmed my heart a little. Sure, Seo Yoo-jin’s actions that day were a bit much, but surely it couldn’t be that serious.
I decided to focus on watching the broadcast.
The day after Na Ah Ah’s second team competition, at the broadcasting station.
Vroom—.
“……”
“……”
Inside the meeting room, a meeting about the editing direction for Na Ah Ah episode 5 was underway.
Vroom-vroom—.
But no one dared to speak up hastily.
“……”
The producer, Shin PD, sat at the head of the table with a rare serious expression, lost in thought.
Vroom—.
Vroom-vroom—.
The silence in the room was filled only by the sound of vibrating phones.
Vroom—.
“Um… senior.”
Finally, one of the rookie writers couldn’t take the incessant calls anymore and cautiously spoke to Shin PD, who had his eyes closed.
“I keep getting calls on my phone and yours.”
Shin PD, still with his eyes closed, asked quietly, “Where are they from?”
“SAV.”
“Ha.”
Since the filming for Na Ah Ah episode 5 ended, SAV had been continuously trying to cozy up to the production team.
The reason was likely to cover for the major incident caused by SAV trainee Seo Yoo-jin during the recent shoot.
If she were just a trainee sent out by SAV for publicity, they wouldn’t be going to such lengths.
But seeing a management-level figure like Min pulling strings makes it clear…
“Min, that woman seems to care quite a bit about Seo Yoo-jin.”
It looked like SAV was adamant about including Seo Yoo-jin in their next girl group.
“Senior, it’s time for you to make a choice.”
“……”
“If possible, why not just let this incident slide? Of course, making it an issue would spike the ratings, but it would really strain the relationship with SAV. Long-term, it might be better to let this episode go quietly…”
“……”
The rookie’s advice made sense when viewed logically.
You can’t drink seawater just because you’re thirsty.
Other agencies might be different, but this was SAV.
If this incident angers SAV and disrupts the supply of entertainment appearances by their artists… that would clearly become a problem for the entire broadcasting station, not just Na Ah Ah.
After agonizing over it to the very end, Shin PD finally…
“Alright.”
…made his decision.
“Seo Yoo-jin. Let’s ‘push’ her.”
“……!!”
The production team flinched at Shin PD’s answer.
Having worked with him for a long time, they understood precisely what he meant by “push her.”
“Phew~ that’s a relief.”
The only one who didn’t understand this was the rookie writer.
When Shin PD mentioned pushing Seo Yoo-jin, she let out a sigh of relief.
“Actually, I was a fan of Seo Yoo-jin. I even voted for her, heh heh.”
Being someone who always had an interest in idols, she had fallen for Seo Yoo-jin after seeing her perform in the first team competition.
Not quite her favorite, but at least a strong second choice.
‘Well… sure, she seemed a bit rude this time…’
She thought it was just overly eager enthusiasm, not indicating that Seo Yoo-jin was a mean-spirited person.
Most importantly, she was bothered by Seo Yoo-jin’s age.
‘At 17, she’s the same age as my youngest sibling.’
She understood how young 17 was. The thought of cutting the young Seo Yoo-jin out of the show had her on edge till now.
‘But it seems like the PD intends to let it slide this time. More generous than I expected…’
She remembered how worried she had been when she was first assigned to Shin PD’s group.
His infamous reputation was well-known among job seekers.
A crazy guy obsessed with ratings, the kind who only lived for today.
But seeing him behave in a more human way now… the rookie thought that was a significant change.
“Wow, our rookie writer is a fan of Seo Yoo-jin. We shouldn’t be having any fan sentiments toward our participants.”
“…Ah! I-I’m sorry. What I said was just…”
“No, it’s fine. It’s not a crime to be someone’s fan. So how about we push Seo Yoo-jin together in this episode?”
“Yup!”
“…But before that, rookie, can you pass me my phone over there? I think I need to take that call.”
“Ah, sure. Here….”
As she handed over the phone, she couldn’t help but take a quick look at the screen that read “Director Jeong from SAV.”
“Thanks for bringing it to me.”
“It’s no problem, senior. Hehe.”
The smile on Shin PD’s face as he thanked the rookie writer was warmer than usual.
But the moment he answered Director Jeong’s call…
“Yes, this is Director Jeong.”
“……?”
His expression cooled down drastically, and his tone became low and unyielding.
“I’m sorry. We’re quite busy prepping for the broadcast right now, so it’s hard for us to take calls. Please wait a bit until we can contact you first. Goodbye for now.”
Click.
As soon as he hung up, the closest junior writer turned to him and asked.
“Senior, what do we do about Seo Yoo-jin? She’s included in most of our predicted debut lineup.”
“Didn’t we decide to push for her? Just remove her name from the list.”
……?
The rookie writer found it hard to understand what the seniors were discussing.
…Didn’t we just decide to push for Seo Yoo-jin? Why are we taking her name off the predicted debut lineup? …Why???
And as the rookie was processing this, Shin PD spoke to the entire meeting room.
“Guys, wake up. When did we ever think twice about filming? If this issue breaks out, I’ll take full responsibility, so let’s just properly push for her.”
“…Yes.”
“I’ll direct the editing for this episode from start to finish, so no going home for the next few days. Get moving.”
As Shin PD spoke, the production team rose from their seats to take on their assigned tasks.
“Let’s go and aim for the highest ratings!”
Shin PD was always a cheerful person, known for his constant smiles.
But at that moment, he looked even more gleeful than usual.
Which contestant gets the most screen time on Na Ah Ah usually?
If you ask anyone who watches Na Ah Ah, the answer will be unanimous: it’s me and Yoo Seol.
But today was different.
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): Me! Me! I’m great at arm wrestling!]
[Seo Yoo-jin the trainee losing again ㅠㅠ]
[Yeon Hee-kyung (I AM): I’m good at the 50m dash, I’ll… this time I…]
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): No, no! I’m going again! I’m really good at running!]
[But Seo Yoo-jin loses again….]
At first, she seemed like just a pesky character.
During the Na Ah Ah Sports Day, she hogged all the events, not giving her teammates a chance.
Like a braggart who can’t earn a gold medal in any event despite all her hype.
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): (with a frustrated expression) Ugh, this is so annoying!]
[Stiff atmosphere of Team 2.]
Seo Yoo-jin couldn’t control her frustration and vented it into the air, making it appear as if she was blaming her team for something she lost.
Her annoyance at her older teammates after losing already crossed the limits of just being a pesky character.
[Seo Yoo-jin’s fallen rival during the 100m dash!]
[Murmuring sounds.]
[Oh no… her knees are all scraped up.]
[Concerned expressions from other participants.]
[Seo Yoo-jin the trainee smiling…!]
[Q: Why were you smiling at that moment?]
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): Well, I just lost a competitor, right?]
[…Haha, Seo Yoo-jin is really competitive!]
“…That’s a lie.”
Seeing that scene on the broadcast, I couldn’t help but mumble under my breath.
I clearly remember.
Seo Yoo-jin was frustrated for losing during the 100m dash and had…
‘…Wait, what? Did she fall? Be careful when running.’
She only showed a worried expression from a distance when she saw the fallen participant; she didn’t laugh like she had lost a competitor.
‘…That’s not right.’
Seo Yoo-jin might be overly competitive and a bit childish, but she was definitely not a bad person.
But on the broadcast, she kept showing a sinister side that would make the viewer’s teeth chatter.
And the real disaster came during her next segment when she made the song selection in archery.
[Han Si-woo: The song chosen by Team 2 is… YW Enter’s girl group “The Twenty-Second Night,” [Black Swan]!]
[Seo Yoo-jin the trainee’s expression getting crumpled,]
[Han Si-woo: Seo Yoo-jin! What do you think about the selected song?]
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): Ah, um, well… um…]
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): Yes… I don’t like it, but I’ll do my best.]
[Han Si-woo: ….]
[Han Si-woo the producer’s expression becoming stiff.]
The blatant editing here made me feel a clear malice directed towards Seo Yoo-jin.
Along with that came Seo Yoo-jin’s individual interview.
[Q: Do you not like the song?]
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): (bluntly) Yes, I don’t like it.]
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): It’s too old-fashioned and… um…]
After that, it rapidly sped through a segment where she seemed to explain various reasons.
[Seo Yoo-jin the trainee genuinely didn’t seem to like the song;;]
[She talked about the song’s flaws for a solid 15 minutes~]
A first-generation girl group from one of the big three agencies YW… a group still adored by many for their legendary songs.
An un-debuted trainee disparaging the song from a legendary group that’s practically her senpai… was truly a case of going beyond the dislike stats limit.
“……”
“……”
Lee Ji-woo and I watched Seo Yoo-jin with stiff expressions.
Swipe—.
And then, I realized by glancing at the clock that only 30 minutes had passed.
“…Ah.”
Tonight felt rather long for Seo Yoo-jin…
In a luxurious apartment in Gangnam.
Thud.
Watching TV blankly, Seo Yoo-jin opened her mouth as the screen suddenly darkened.
“…Mom, why’d you turn off the TV? I’m still watching…”
Shivering, she asked her mom, who turned off the TV, with a gentle expression.
“…Our daughter, your filming starts again tomorrow. You need to sleep early today.”
“…But…”
“…Let’s sleep early today, Yoo-jin.”
“……Uh huh.”
Feeling the strangely firm look from her mom, Seo Yoo-jin nodded and got up from her seat.
“…Yoo-jin.”
“…Uh?”
“Should we sleep together tonight?”
Upon hearing her mom’s words, Seo Yoo-jin forced out a chuckle and shook her head.
“What are you talking about, I’m not a kid.”
“…….”
“I-I’ll go to bed first. Dad said he’s coming home late, right? You should go to bed early too, mom.”
With those words, Seo Yoo-jin opened her door.
And as soon as she stepped inside…
Thud.
…She slumped down.
‘Why…? Why? Why…? I didn’t act like that…’
Seo Yoo-jin didn’t think of herself as an ill-mannered person.
But what she saw on the broadcast was far from crossing the line even for her.
‘It’s so unfair… what is this…?’
The words and actions she never did were edited together and aired.
She struggled to take hold of her rising frustration.
And desperately wanted to relieve that unfairness…
‘What do other people think?’
…She reached for her phone.
Her Instagram had already been set to private following the company’s instructions.
So unable to contain her curiosity for the real-time reactions, she…
‘This is where people can freely voice their opinions…’
…Moved her fingers to a certain SNS platform with a small bird logo.
Seo Yoo-jin felt immensely wronged.
Without a doubt, among her fans, some must be aware of the injustice of the broadcast and her grievances.
She wanted to hear those fans’ voices to soothe her distress.
‘Y-Yeah… my fans will believe in me…’
Thus, Seo Yoo-jin searched for comments about herself through the search bar…
[Seo Yoo-jin, ugh, I just wanna push her off the roof.]
Thud.
Upon reading that first comment, she dropped her phone in shock.
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