Recently, South Korea faced a colossal problem.
The issue? People just weren’t watching TV anymore. Some might say, “What’s the big deal? Who cares if folks skip the TV?” but it was as serious as an unexpected zombie apocalypse breaking out in downtown Seoul! It was a matter that could dictate the future shape of South Korea.
At least that’s how comedian Kim Kyu-cheol saw it. With his livelihood hanging in the balance, he was far more sensitive to the issue than others.
This predicament hadn’t just popped up overnight. It felt a bit like coming in late to a party. Once COVID hit South Korea, everything escalated before anyone could jump in to help.
OTT services started booming alongside the pandemic, public broadcasting programs lost their charm, and vibrant Vtube channels offered more freedom and variety; there were many causes, but in the grand scheme of things, the cause didn’t really matter.
Knowing the cause wouldn’t help prevent the situation from spiraling out of control. Change came swiftly, and those who couldn’t adapt would be left behind.
Several entertainment programs that were merely placeholders on the schedule vanished. Regular panels changed constantly, and familiar comedian friends jumped ship to start their own Vtube channels.
Technically speaking, this was just another periodic shift in the entertainment industry, a classic case of competition for the meal ticket.
However, Kyu-cheol felt this shift was more intensified than before. It wasn’t just fellow entertainers he was competing against; he felt like a dandelion blowing in the wind, unable to find his footing.
Amidst all this chaos, landing a regular panel position on “Midnight Talk” was luck itself. A former acquaintance, PD Su Hyuk, asked him, “Wanna give it a shot?” and he simply said yes.
There wasn’t much to it. When guests appeared, he’d ask them a few questions, introduce them, and have various discussions. With his natural gift for gab, Kyu-cheol found it easy enough to do a program like this with his eyes closed.
But he had his sights set higher. He was aiming to reclaim the position he lost due to not adapting, to revive the fallen stature of public broadcasting.
Through “Midnight Talk,” he wanted to make a name for himself and land more gigs.
Thanks to his determination or perhaps a stroke of luck meeting ambitious staff and panel members, “Midnight Talk” was riding a growth wave.
Even in a time slot that wasn’t particularly viewer-friendly, the ratings held steady. This meant they had secured a stable viewer base.
Of course, the ever-changing guest lineup made a significant impact. The more recognizable and buzzworthy the guests were, the more viewers tuned in and didn’t change the channel in the middle of it all.
Kayak realized that something was going wrong by the time the broadcast was already well underway.
“Kayak, do you have anything to say?”
“Eh?”
The man who introduced himself as Kyuchul was looking at Kayak and asking.
He asks if she has something to say. Just moments ago, the story from the male guest, who works at a theater company, had just wrapped up. He had also left a brief teaser about an upcoming performance along with his promotion.
The male guest’s story about working in the theater had just ended. He also left a brief teaser about an upcoming performance along with promoting the theater.
Kayak’s self-introduction had long since concluded. But why was Jucheol suddenly looking at her and saying that?
Kayak’s confusion didn’t last long. With laughter lighting up her face, her eyes seemed to sneakily point around as if to say, “Look around!”
“Oh….”
All guest panelists, except for Kayak, were seated.
Only then did she catch on to the situation and quickly took her seat.
“Eek eek eek!”
“No, I’ve been watching since earlier, and your reactions are fantastic. Even when Ye-jin spoke, you stood up to listen whenever someone talked.”
“You’re quite polite~.”
The guests burst out laughing and started clapping, drawing attention to Kayak’s emotionless face, which began to turn red. The staff, watching the scene, couldn’t help but comment.
“That person was brought by the PD, right?”
“Just as I suspected….”
“Her character seems alright.”
“For now, let’s focus on Kayak; looks like the camera loves her.”
There are various types of beauties in the broadcasting world. Among them, Kayak could be described as the cold, aloof beauty style.
Her basic impression as a person was like that.
When she stood there expressionless, she looked cold, and if she frowned even slightly, she appeared angry. That’s just how striking her features were.
Yet, that very impression made her clumsy side stand out even more. While everyone else was seated, she was the only one standing or showing signs of being a little off.
It was a common mistake made by amateurs appearing on broadcast for the first time, but it instead turned into a charming point. It was like how a perfect person becomes more relatable when they make a mistake.
A gap, perhaps? With her already attention-grabbing looks, it was impossible not to notice her awkwardness.
She was pretty and glamorous but also adorably clumsy. Thus, this inadvertently created a character for Kayak.
Moments that would quickly rack up views if made into short Vtube videos or clips kept pouring out. Professional staff would surely not miss this.
“So, Sebi will demonstrate the key dance moves, and everyone will come out and follow along.”
“Kayak, you’re in the corner too much; you won’t be caught on camera. Come over here.”
“Come this way.”
“One, two, my heart hurts. Right. Shake it once here. Why does Kayak seem to dance so carelessly?”
“I’m dancing hard…”
“What are you saying? Suddenly you’re dancing well. You’re secretly slacking off.”
“Sis, your dance line is really nice!”
After that, Kayak unknowingly became the center of the program.
Whether it was suddenly slipping and doing a body gag, or being the only one caught in a simple internal game, she was truly like a god of broadcast descending upon them.
In addition to her own fun, luck was also on her side.
Though there were no specific instructions from the PD, the attentive fixed panelists couldn’t possibly miss this. They didn’t waste their experience and thought that she was the star of today’s broadcast, continuing to revolve around her.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
As a result, the filming ended successfully. A friendly atmosphere lingered among the staff. They instinctively realized that this shoot was one of the best among the recent ones.
On the other hand, Kayak had a face like a new employee who messed up her work. The broadcast went in a somewhat different direction than she intended, as they focused on bringing up idol member Sebi.
However, in the end, Sebi also benefited.
Sebi’s appearance was captured without fail in the footage centered around Kayak, and they even had time to introduce a song from her group, Midkiss.
Most crucially, the scene where Kayak followed the key choreography that Sebi introduced turned out exceptionally well.
Unbeknownst to Kayak, there was talk in the staff’s internal meeting to use this part as it was, without any edits.
This meant that Sebi, who was teaching dance next to Kayak, also got more than enough screen time.
That’s why Sebi was grinning after the shoot. Her previous experiences told her that she was caught on camera quite a lot.
‘I want to go home.’
Kayak, who had gone through unexpectedly harsh times, strangely looked worn out. She had drawn too much attention for someone who came to experience a public broadcast as a casual pastime.
Though she didn’t let it show, Kayak thought about the mental fatigue she felt. She would have to reconsider appearing on public programs in the future.
After today’s shooting, if Su Hyuk PD, who was planning to recommend Kayak for other programs, had known this, he would have been astounded.
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