The quiet lobby of VBS Broadcasting Station.
Inside the café there, two middle-aged men were seated across from each other.
“It’s nice to meet you, sunbae-nim.”
PD Kim Sanho bowed politely to the middle-aged man in his forties sitting in front of him.
The man sitting across from him was Nam Jinyong.
He was one of the leading PDs of the drama department at VBS, one of the three major terrestrial broadcasting networks.
And he was the father of Nam Yeonsu, the child actor called a genius.
It had not been officially revealed that Nam Yeonsu was his son, but everyone in the same industry knew it.
Just yesterday, Kim Sanho had received a call from Han Siwoo.
It had been three days since their meeting.
What Han Siwoo told him over the phone was a hint that a very interesting broadcast would soon go out.
He said he had ended up talking about it in an interview without knowing any better…
Whether Han Siwoo had meant to do it or not, Kim Sanho sensed it immediately.
This was an opportunity.
He contacted Entertainment Info Hub right away and told them it would be fine to air the interview Han Siwoo had given that day exactly as it was.
Since it was hot information, Entertainment Info Hub jumped at the chance and aired it immediately.
The broadcast went out right away.
It had originally been planned to air alongside the final episode of Cactus, so it drew the attention of many people.
“Yes, PD Kim Sanho. I’ve heard your name, so I do know you. But… I believe I already conveyed my opinion to CP Park Haesu on your side, so I didn’t expect you to come here in person.”
He was speaking in a roundabout way, but in the end, he was saying, “Get lost while I’m still being nice.”
There was also a clear nuance of, “Why can’t you take a hint, and why did you even come here?”
The smile on Nam Jinyong’s face was ice-cold.
‘What a nuisance…’
Nam Jinyong glanced down at his wristwatch.
Apparently, since Kim Sanho was the guy who had hit it big last quarter with some outdated documentary thing or whatever, even the front desk had been unable to turn him away.
Planning to end the conversation quickly and leave, Nam Jinyong gave Kim Sanho a cursory once-over.
Nam Jinyong disliked Kim Sanho.
He was the kind of person who could have just done things by the book, but instead insisted on bringing out individuality and strayed far outside the textbooks of this industry.
He was exactly the type of PD Nam Jinyong usually found intolerable.
‘If he were under me, I would never let him run around like this… This is the problem with those cable people, I swear.’
Seeing Nam Jinyong click his tongue quietly while someone was sitting right in front of him, Kim Sanho put on a picture-perfect business smile.
Kim Sanho knew what Nam Jinyong was like too.
He also knew that Nam Jinyong probably did not welcome him very much.
Even though he was in his forties, Nam Jinyong was famous for being more rigid than his age would suggest.
Although he was only in his early forties, he had made a name for himself among PDs as someone who was more representative of the old guard than the old guard themselves.
“I came over in the middle of editing, so I’d appreciate it if you could tell me quickly why you’re here.”
Nam Jinyong checked his watch again and spoke while openly showing how annoyed he was.
“I’m sorry, sunbae-nim.”
“What?”
“Oh dear, you still haven’t heard.”
Watching Nam Jinyong’s expression change, Kim Sanho rummaged through the laptop bag beside him and pulled out his laptop.
“You must have been so busy editing that you didn’t know articles had come out. I thought that might happen, so I prepared this!”
When he opened the laptop, several articles were already displayed on the screen.
[Will the sibling chemistry of Cactus continue in PD Kim Sanho’s new variety show?!]
[Hot child actors Han Siwoo and Nam Yeonsu likely to appear side by side in LSB’s new variety show]
“What is all this…?”
As soon as he checked the screen, Nam Jinyong unfolded his crossed arms and quickly scanned the articles.
One article even contained a short excerpt from Han Siwoo’s interview on Entertainment Info Hub.
‘I’m so happy I get to do it with Yeonsu-hyung! I’m excited! Please look forward to it!’
He had already made it sound confirmed and was even promoting it.
Nam Jinyong read the comments with his face crumpled as much as it could possibly crumple.
The comments were filled with fans eagerly looking forward to the two children appearing together.
-Wow, this is already too cute lololol
-I was sad Cactus ended, but I guess I’ll comfort myself with thisㅠㅠ
-I guess they got close during the drama. Cute baby + cute baby, how cute is that going to be?
-This is an absolute must-watch live
1st place: Han Siwoo Nam Yeonsu variety show
2nd place: Kim Sanho’s new variety show
3rd place: Cactus final episode viewership rating
4th place: Han Siwoo interview
.
.
.
That was not all.
It had already climbed onto the real-time search rankings too.
It had caused a huge stir precisely because it overlapped with the ending of the drama Cactus the day before.
“…”
Nam Jinyong was struck speechless by the unexpected situation.
Just then, two PDs happened to pass near the table where the two men were sitting and stopped.
“Oh, sunbae-nim?!”
“PD Nam. You were here? And the person with you is… Oh, isn’t that PD Kim Sanho?”
“Haha, that’s right. Hello.”
The two seemed to be Nam Jinyong’s juniors, and because Nam Jinyong and Kim Sanho were sitting together, they appeared to believe that the article from that morning was true.
Delighted by the news that Nam Jinyong’s son would be appearing in a new variety show, the two congratulated Nam Jinyong.
“Yeonsu is so cute. I heard he’s going on it with Siwoo?”
Since it was officially still a secret that Nam Jinyong’s son was Nam Yeonsu, the juniors whispered this to Nam Jinyong.
At their words, Nam Jinyong could not even say it was untrue and merely gave an awkward “Haha…”
“It would be good for Yeonsu to go on a healing show like this. It’ll be a good experience. It’s much better than other variety shows.”
“Yeonsu has been doing drama after drama without resting, after all. PD Kim, you’ll take good care of Yeonsu, right?”
“Of course. Haha.”
While answering the other PDs, Kim Sanho glanced sideways to gauge Nam Jinyong’s reaction.
Forcing a smile, Nam Jinyong could not easily deny it.
Seeing that, Kim Sanho inwardly cheered.
The old guard among the old guard.
Nam Jinyong, who was called a boomer among boomers, cared about face and reputation more than anyone.
The atmosphere was not one where he could say no here, so for now, he was keeping his mouth shut.
“Wow, PD Kim Sanho, your casting ability is no joke. We should learn from you too.”
“Thank you. I’ll work hard on the filming.”
In the meantime, Kim Sanho had smoothly turned Nam Yeonsu’s appearance on the variety show into an established fact.
With bright expressions, the two junior PDs repeatedly shouted, “Fighting!” and disappeared.
Only after the two of them left did Nam Jinyong finally scowl.
“What is the meaning of this? Spreading such absurd information without even consulting our side… You know you’d have nothing to say if we sued you over this, don’t you?”
“Come now, suing? There’s no need to come out so frighteningly. It was just something a six-year-old child said by mistake. I’m just as flustered by it. Haha.”
Kim Sanho made light of it, as if asking why he was saying such scary things.
At Kim Sanho’s slick attempt to casually slip past the situation, Nam Jinyong finally exploded and was about to raise his voice.
“A mistake? This is…!”
At that moment, another broadcasting station employee in the café where they were sitting recognized them and greeted them warmly.
“Huh? Kim Sanho?”
“Ah, it’s been a while, PD Shin.”
“Oh, you came to meet PD Nam Jinyong. Since the two of you are meeting, could it be…?”
As expected.
As expected, gossip at a broadcasting station traveled faster than wildfire.
“I knew it! So that article really is true! I’ll definitely watch it too. PD Nam! Congratulations. This is great.”
“Ah, yes, yes…”
As he received yet another congratulation and another promise to watch, the corner of Nam Jinyong’s mouth seemed to twitch.
Watching him, Kim Sanho swallowed his laughter.
“Well, I’ll be going first. I’ll look forward to your program, PD Kim.”
“Yes, yes. Thank you.”
Once even the cheerful employee had greeted the two of them and disappeared, Nam Jinyong buried his face in both hands with his expression badly crumpled.
After staying in that posture for a while and silently sorting through his thoughts, Nam Jinyong lifted his head.
The face that emerged was twisted like a yaksha’s, looking terrifying.
“Let’s see the proposal.”
For a moment, Kim Sanho secretly clenched his fist.
He wanted to see the proposal?
That was no different from saying he would allow Nam Yeonsu to appear.
Nam Jinyong was not someone who failed to understand that if he carelessly backed out in this situation, Nam Yeonsu might take damage from it.
However,
‘Why is he asking for the proposal while wearing a scarier face than our station director…?’
Kim Sanho felt as if he were going in to get formal approval.
Even though this proposal had already been approved at LSB.
“Yes, yes, of course.”
As Kim Sanho took the proposal from the bag where he had put his laptop, Nam Jinyong spoke coldly.
“I’m warning you, nothing that harms Yeonsu can happen. And of course, Yeonsu has to be at the center of it.”
“Hoho. So scary.”
“What?!”
“No, Father. Of course. Now, take a look at the proposal.”
Now that Nam Jinyong had become the guardian of a cast member, Kim Sanho switched from the stiff form of address, “sunbae-nim,” to “Father,” and handed him the proposal with a smooth smile.
With an expression as if he had bitten into a bug, Nam Jinyong reluctantly accepted the file.
“Siwoo must be happy. You even get to go to England on someone else’s dime.”
“Mhm, I love it.”
“Ha ha, you like it that much?”
Of course!
I felt so good that I was bouncing my legs.
Right now, I was sitting with Uncle in Kim Sangcheol’s troupe director’s office.
“Yesterday, Yeonsu-hyung called me too. He said he was so, so happy that the two of us were confirmed to appear together. He was excited for almost an hour.”
“Wow, the two of you really are close.”
“Of course. The two of them were practically glued together on set.”
“Ha… It wasn’t easy.”
When I shook my head and said it had been a lot of work, Kim Sangcheol and Uncle simply laughed, saying I was cute.
No, you people.
You can laugh like that only because you didn’t see Nam Yeonsu when he was excited.
Seriously.
An excited Nam Yeonsu could talk for an entire hour without stopping.
“Siwoo, I’ve never been to England before. If we go to England, we definitely have to watch as many plays as we want, right? Have you been there, Siwoo? Oh, right. I heard I have to get a passport too. Do you have a passport, Siwoo? What should we eat first when we get there? I heard Indian curry is good in England… Then isn’t that Indian food? Why is it famous in England?”
I had only just received the call saying our appearance had been confirmed, so if he asked me where in England we were going, what was I supposed to answer?
It was not as if I could name all the places in England I used to enjoy visiting in my previous life.
How was I supposed to say that I wanted to visit the Battenberg estate?
“We have to go to the British Museum and London Bridge. And, and… What was the name again? It was some garden with Co-something.”
“Covent Garden?”
“Oh! Right, we have to go there too, and also….”
“Hehe, that sounds fun. I want to go soon too.”
Listening to Nam Yeonsu excitedly talk about going here and going there, I exhausted myself pretending I knew absolutely nothing about England.
“Ha ha, there aren’t many talented child actors to begin with, so I’m glad Siwoo made such a good friend.”
“Mhm, I like Yeonsu-hyung.”
He was kind.
He was pure without any malice. Maybe because he had grown up under a strict father, he was a little timid, but still.
On this trip, I planned to teach Nam Yeonsu how to live without always watching other people’s reactions.
While I was silently making various plans for this trip, I heard Kim Sangcheol speak.
“All right, then. Shall we start organizing the schedule now?”
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