– So since it ended like that last week, what are we gonna see today?
– Surprisingly, most stories like this tend to end blandly.
– But seriously, isn’t this about high school students taking a college entrance exam? Why’s there a murder weapon involved? LOL!
An episode 10 that ended with someone grabbing a murder weapon.
Naturally, viewers’ anticipation peaked to an all-time high.
In this drama, the character Lee Min-hyuk, played by Kim Hyun-seok, waited with a tense expression for the upcoming episode 12.
No, it’s not just that.
Today, a few young actors participating in Sky Garden were scheduled to watch episode 12 together.
“Hey, what were the ratings on Wednesday?”
“14 percent.”
“So it’s a 3 percent gap with Grand Game.”
Kim Hyun-seok thought that was doable.
He had already checked the content of Grand Game.
A strategic move, indeed.
This episode involved some romance between the main character and the female lead. The reactions online were ‘naturally’ positive.
– “Wow, I’m so excited! 😭”
– “Rescuing the female lead in that situation almost brought me to tears.”
– “Romance in a thriller???? Wow, that’s epic!”
Just looking at the flood of positive comments on social media, it seemed their calculated move paid off.
But.
“By the way, isn’t Joo Seo-yeon coming today?”
“What do you mean? You should call her Senior Joo Seo-yeon.”
“She’s not here.”
Well, that’s true.
Who wouldn’t let loose when someone isn’t around?
But it’s not like they were badmouthing her.
Anyway, like Kim Hyun-seok said, Seo-yeon hadn’t arrived yet.
Maybe she stopped by Aids for another advertisement.
Or perhaps she had something else going on.
“But why isn’t Seo-yeon here?”
“No, she said something during the shoot.”
“During the filming of episode 12?”
“Yeah.”
Episode 12 had an absolutely intense shoot.
First off, it poured in the valley, making it a bit dangerous.
Still, it wasn’t such heavy rain that it affected the shoot.
…Well, there were definitely several risks involved, but maybe Seo-yeon came out unscathed.
Anyway, back then, Seo-yeon said to a visibly nervous Hyun-seok:
“The community’s praise doesn’t directly correlate to performance.”
“What?”
“If you mindset the community’s reactions as mainstream opinions and get too caught up in that, you might miss out on something bigger.”
Hyun-seok knew that in his head.
But when it came from someone his age like Seo-yeon, he honestly wasn’t so sure.
‘Even if I know it’s different, it’s hard to ignore it.’
Plus, it’s not entirely wrong.
Sometimes, those sharp points do actually stab you.
So, he couldn’t let it slide.
“Grand Game is a good drama. I think… the original plot was a bit different.”
“Why?”
“Because the hints dropped along the way suggest that.”
Wondering what kind of hints, Hyun-seok asked.
Seo-yeon spoke in a calm tone, and with the sound of rain, her voice felt like it could reach the finals on Masked Singer.
“Probably, the original culprit was intended to be the female lead.”
“What? Seriously?”
“Yes, everything surrounding the main character was probably for that reason. Of course, it wasn’t a confirmed plot yet.”
That turning point was likely episode 10.
Just like Sky Garden.
However, in the drama, the ‘female lead’ is an object of immersion for the main viewing audience.
Deciding to make that character the ‘culprit’ would’ve required a considerable amount of courage.
Seo-yeon knew.
Grand Game was a drama that Seo-yeon found quite intriguing in her past life.
‘Even without knowing emotions.’
Even without understanding emotions, there was something to relate to in the story.
Even if I didn’t know, there was a part that emotionally connected to the story.
Of course, I didn’t know much about that ‘connection’ element.
Originally, Sky Garden was supposed to air on a cable channel much later, so there was no chance of overlap.
So, it was practically a solo run for Grand Game.
But that ending was almost like a classic case of starting strong and fizzling out.
That said, it did manage to end with decent ratings.
The reason for that came out in a later interview with the director.
“The original script had the female lead as the culprit,” he said.
Hearing that, I realized there were definitely hints from the beginning if you looked closely.
“They tried to cater to the public,” he concluded.
Those who intended to watch a thriller drama and the show’s main viewer demographics—this was the result of weighing those two options.
“So, what do you think it would be like?”
Seo-yeon’s words sounded almost prophetic, so Kim Hyun-seok casually asked.
Seo-yeon gave him a puzzled look for a moment but then broke into a smile.
In that smile, Kim Hyun-seok felt that it seemed like Seo-yeon had been smiling a lot more lately.
And that serene smile was so stunning, it was mesmerizing.
Even he, who was used to beautiful celebrities.
“You’ll find out when you see Episode 12,” she said.
That Episode 12 wasn’t referring to Grand Game but rather today’s shoot of Sky Garden.
“…Was there really such an incident?”
Park Se-jin, who played Lee Min-seo, asked with a curious expression.
“I was completely out of it then, so I didn’t know.”
“Right, and then Seo-yeon fell into the valley.”
“Oh, that was when I was trying to catch you.”
“Are you serious? What if you got hurt, a leading actress falling is no joke!”
Kim Hyun-seok found Park Se-jin’s concern hilarious.
“Seriously? Is the male actor some kind of iron man? Falling off a cliff can hurt!”
“Was it really that dangerous?”
Han Sung-jin, Hyun-seok’s friend, remembered the incident.
When a commotion erupted, he rushed over to see Seo-yeon waving her hands from the bottom of the valley.
The staff were in chaos, the director came running.
He could only picture Seo-yeon frantically shouting, “I’m fine! I won’t get hurt from this!”
If she could roll down a steep valley and not get hurt, what on earth would make someone injured?
“Seriously, not even a scratch on her skin. Are actresses’ skins that tough?”
“What do you mean ‘scratch’?”
In any case, thanks to that, the shoot wrapped up safely.
Seo-yeon’s acting was all-out, and the director nearly passed out from some of the stunts.
Episode 12 was successfully completed.
As they were chatting, someone called out.
“Oh, Seo-yeon is here! I’ll go out and bring her in!”
“Go ahead!”
Today’s meeting place was Park Se-jin’s mansion.
It was her suggestion to gather everyone to watch the drama together.
She really resembled Lee Min-seo from the drama.
And since today was the episode featuring her in a leading role, it’s no wonder she was so excited.
“Let’s see… how much of a rebound will Episode 12 have?”
In fact, Sky Garden was already in the ‘hit’ category.
Even if it felt greedy to wish for more than that, the desire to reach higher was there.
It couldn’t be helped.
Being an actor was just that kind of existence.
*
– Here we go.
– Honestly, this week’s Grand Game was a bit iffy.
– I’m worried Sky Garden will end up in the same boat.
Grand Game clearly had aspects that appealed to its main demographic.
But there were parts that fell flat for male viewers.
Of course, the male viewer demographic was relatively small compared to the main audience, so it didn’t have much influence.
So, they were just grumbling about it being a romance anyway, can’t help what K-dramas do.
Sigh, K-dramas are just inevitable, right?
I mean, the Grand Game will probably do well even if it gets some criticism.
That’s what I thought.
– So we’re still following Lee Yoo-joo’s perspective this time?
– These days, Joo Seo-yeon’s acting as Lee Yoo-joo is seriously on point!
– It was good from the start, but it’s really getting better as it goes on, for real.
– She’s just super pretty, haha.
Seo-yeon needs to take on sharper roles rather than just sweet ones, that’s where her charm lies.
At least that’s how her fans see it.
And honestly, there were quite a few moments like that.
– So who was it that grabbed the murder weapon in episode 10?
– Obviously, wasn’t it Lee Min-hyeok?
– That’s too obvious, it could be Gil Soo-jin instead, haha.
As this chatter went on, episode 12 rolled out.
Episode 11 foreshadowed a strange tension from episode 10.
The story unfolded from Gil Soo-jin’s perspective, revealing her thoughts as she targeted Lee Yoo-joo.
And in front of her, Yoo-joo said this:
“If you really want me to.”
That phrase proved that Yoo-joo held the upper hand in her relationship with Soo-jin.
Not just her sister Min-seo, but even her brother Min-hyeok—she’d have their backs.
Soo-jin, grinding her teeth inside, warmly welcomed Yoo-joo on the outside.
And then, another person chimed in.
“Oh, you guys are here? Hi, Yoo-joo!”
A classmate, Song Ga-yeon.
And her boyfriend, Ji Chang-woo.
They showed up.
“You guys came to play in the valley too? It’s nice here.”
She had made occasional appearances since episode 10.
A girl who kept approaching Yoo-joo.
Of course, Yoo-joo had no particular reaction to her since she had no merit whatsoever.
In Taeyang High School where the upper class gathered, she came from a pretty average background.
Just barely scraping by into the upper class.
That’s why Yoo-joo didn’t bother much with her.
“Nice timing.”
Seeing her out with her boyfriend, Yoo-joo remarked sarcastically.
To that, Song Ga-yeon just tilted her head and smiled innocently.
“You too.”
Of course, Ga-yeon sincerely meant, “You look happy too,”
but Yoo-joo’s expression rarely turned sour.
– Haha, that was a direct hit.
– Sarcasm doesn’t work on innocent, pure-hearted kids, haha.
– Is Song Ga-yeon playing Cha Na-hee? Her acting has really improved!
– Cha Na-hee is cute, but next to Joo Seo-yeon, she definitely looks pretty average.
– So Song Ga-yeon really fits the role even better.
There were tons of reactions in that scene.
However, after that moment in episode 11, Ga-yeon didn’t appear again.
And then came episode 12, which returned to Yoo-joo’s perspective.
A small argument with Min-hyeok ensued,
and Min-seo intervened.
“I told you, I’ll manage my studies myself!!”
“That can only be said when you prove it academically.”
“So does that mean Min-seo is better than me? No way!”
“Yeah, but if you get Lee Yoo-joo’s help, it would probably get quicker.”
Soo-jin already knew about Yoo-joo’s past grades.
Perfect score.
She had never scored lower than perfect since entering.
Top of the class.
Whether it was grades or extra points, she was getting all the affection from the current Taeyang High School teachers.
She could easily choose wherever she wanted to go to university.
If someone like that were to help her son, Soo-jin thought,
Getting into a good medical school like Baekyeon University wouldn’t even be an issue.
– Guess it’s really Lee Min-hyeok then.
– There doesn’t seem to be any reason for Soo-jin to poke at him, yeah.
– What if Lee Yoo-joo is the one doing the stabbing, huh? LOL
– If it’s Lee Yoo-joo, she wouldn’t use a knife but an axe instead.
– The one who uses an axe is Joo Seo-yeon, just so you know!
Slowly nearing the end of the drama.
With the conflict sewn up, and no idea where the murder weapon went…
Min-seo and Min-hyeok go missing at the same time.
At first, I just thought they were fighting with Gil Soo-jin and didn’t come back.
But when they didn’t return during the heavy downpour, the mood started to turn sour.
Gil Soo-jin and her husband, Lee Hyuk-soo, went to search for them too.
Reluctantly, Lee Yoo-joo had to go looking for them as well.
“I thought the rebellious phase was already over.”
Muttering that she overestimated Lee Min-hyeok, Lee Yoo-joo looks for them.
And just as she steps outside to search…
Min-seo calls Yoo-joo.
“Oh, my brother fell off a cliff and got hurt.”
Usually, Min-seo calls Min-hyeok by his name, but calling him ‘brother’ indicates how flustered she is.
In the end, Lee Yoo-joo had no choice but to head to the location she designated.
It wasn’t far from where they played today.
“Min-seo? Where’s your aunt?”
Because of the rain, the fog made it hard to see down the valley.
As Yoo-joo moves closer to Min-seo, she looks around.
Gil Soo-jin and Lee Hyuk-soo were nowhere to be found.
Since Min-seo had already contacted her, it was a bit puzzling.
“That’s not important! Over there, my brother fell off!”
Seeing Min-seo stamping her feet with a pale face, Yoo-joo sighed and approached her.
Thinking that Gil Soo-jin and Lee Hyuk-soo had just gone somewhere for a bit.
Yoo-joo didn’t think Min-seo could do anything.
After all, Min-seo was just someone who barely registered on Yoo-joo’s radar, merely a stepping stone.
A comparison point and bait to get to Min-hyeok.
So, she never considered that this bait could do something.
“Y-Yoo-joo, my battery is dying. I couldn’t contact my parents. Can I borrow your phone?”
Ah, that’s why Gil Soo-jin and Lee Hyuk-soo were missing?
Yoo-joo casually handed her the phone.
After all, she had no intention of doing anything here.
She just wanted the two of them to come and solve it quickly.
“Not a single person in sight?”
With fog and rain limiting visibility, the bushes and trees also made it hard to see down below.
One thing was for sure: it would be tough to climb back up if someone fell down.
Is Min-hyeok down there?
While pondering that…
She felt a hot sensation in her stomach.
“Huh?”
Turning to see what was happening…
A blade piercing her stomach was visible.
And Min-seo’s face holding that blade too.
“Why?”
She couldn’t muster the strength due to being stabbed in the stomach.
Of course, Min-seo didn’t respond to Yoo-joo about it.
Tak.
Yoo-joo just pushed the staggering girl down the cliff.
And…
An advertisement banner popped up, marking the end of Episode 12 of [Sky Garden].
Truly a dramatic conclusion to Episode 12.
I can’t even guess how they plan to proceed from here!
– No way, why did it end like this?!
– You shameless scoundrels!
– So what happened? Did the protagonist die?
– Was she actually a fake protagonist????
– They took the phone too, stabbed her in the stomach, and pushed her down the valley? LOL
– If she comes back alive, isn’t she John Wick???
So, it’s no surprise that the community erupted.
Furthermore, it signaled the start of a counterattack for the monumental turnaround of [Sky Garden].
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