LIGHTNOVELWORLD Episode 139 - 「White Blood」– Launch
The next day, the exclusive report by Oh Seung-hwan caused an uproar in South Korea.
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[Shocking Exclusive! Actor A, known for volunteer work, found with large quantities of drugs.]
By Reporter Oh Seung-hwan.
Actor A (46), famous for his image of philanthropy and volunteer work, was found with a large quantity of what is suspected to be narcotics in his car parked at his residence on the 16th and is currently under investigation. According to the prosecution, the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office discovered 195 grams of a white powder suspected to be narcotics in A’s car. With a known dosage of 0.03 grams per use, this amount is enough for 6,500 doses, causing a public shock…
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The editor-in-chief, checking the site’s traffic from the office in Gangnam, burst into a delighted laugh.
“Ha ha ha! Manager Oh, where did you dig up such a scoop?”
Oh Seung-hwan momentarily thought of the anonymous tipster but smiled calmly and patted his slightly protruding belly.
“Come on, Chief. Who am I? When I do something, I do it right. I had a hunch and dug persistently.”
“Yeah, yeah. Oh, you’re looking particularly handsome today, Manager Oh.”
“Heh heh.”
Meanwhile, the 「White Blood」 team was in greater shock than the public. Although Yeon-woo had preemptively ensured through Han Hae-woon that the article contained no mention of 「White Blood」, the immediate crisis was undeniable. The production team had halted filming for the day due to Jeon Ki-hoon and gathered in LN Entertainment’s conference room.
Director Hwang Min-kwon sighed deeply.
“Ha… When will we re-list and cast again? This is a real problem.”
Although Jeon Ki-hoon’s scenes as Dipangdal were few and could be reshot with another actor, the casting itself was the issue. Holding another supporting role audition at this point was impractical, and casting through negotiations would take considerable time, potentially delaying filming by three to four months in the worst case.
Writer Kim Jin-joo, pondering the situation, spoke resolutely.
“If it comes to that, I’ll rewrite the script entirely. I’ll revise all the scenes involving the ‘Dipangdal’ role.”
“While I have no doubt in Writer Kim’s abilities, sudden revisions might disrupt the plot.”
“I think so too, but we have no choice…”
The conference room was filled with sighs of frustration. At that moment, Yeon-woo, who had been quietly listening while exchanging messages with someone, put down his smartphone and raised his hand.
“I have an actor to recommend. I’ve just coordinated the schedule.”
“What?! Yeon-woo, who is it?”
Once the rotten tooth was extracted, it was only natural to fill the gap with an implant or something similar. Before this mess, Yeon-woo had subtly inquired and confirmed the schedule in advance, and now he had received confirmation of the actor’s willingness to participate via text.
The actor had previously worked with Yeon-woo in 「Sketch」 but had a disappointingly brief appearance. He was Yeon-woo’s acting mentor and an actor who could excellently play a supporting role.
“Actor Jung Cheol-min.”
***
“Guys, let’s take a commemorative photo.”
“Yes, teacher!”
Han Byul approached Jung Cheol-min affectionately. Replacing Jeon Ki-hoon with Jung Cheol-min turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Jung Cheol-min, who Yeon-woo had dubbed the “School Lunch Expedition” due to the young average age of the main and supporting actors, fully demonstrated his abilities among them. His acting skills were impeccable, and his long experience running an acting academy and teaching children proved invaluable. He easily explained and guided Dong-ha from Axis and Han Byul, who had short acting careers, through their difficulties, significantly improving the overall quality of the acting.
‘I’m really glad I brought the teacher.’
Yeon-woo smiled with satisfaction as he watched Jung Cheol-min care for the supporting actors like a teacher on a field trip. Teaching was indeed challenging. Initially, Yeon-woo thought that showing examples would be enough for Dong-ha and Han Byul to follow. However, they would often shake their heads.
“Ugh, being naturally talented is really annoying, oppa!”
After demonstrating, Yeon-woo would tilt his head, puzzled as to why they couldn’t follow, prompting Han Byul to shake her head and Dong-ha to sigh even more deeply.
“Han Byul, from my perspective, you’re also quite talented. Sigh… Shooting music videos was child’s play compared to this.”
In such a setting, Jung Cheol-min’s role was truly invaluable. The tumultuous filming finally concluded today.
The crank-up of 「White Blood」.
As they gathered for a commemorative photo, Jeong Soo-yeon called out to Yeon-woo.
“Yeon-woo! Come quickly for the photo.”
Everyone’s faces were bright, having given their all without any regrets. Yeon-woo smiled and headed towards the group of actors and staff, standing in the center spot left for him. The voice of the camera director rang out.
“Alright, we’re taking the photo! Keep your eyes open for 10 seconds!”
The camera director quickly ran to the camera and pressed the shutter with a remote.
‘This reminds me of the last shoot for 「Summer’s Promise」.’
Yeon-woo chuckled, recalling the incident where the staff member who had insisted on keeping their eyes open had ended up closing them. The smiling faces of Yeon-woo and the others were captured in the final shot, marking the end of the 「White Blood」 filming. Now, only the day of reckoning remained.
After resting at home post-filming, Yeon-woo returned to Seoul for the launch event.
“Yeon-woo, this is your first launch event, isn’t it?”
Kim Min-soo’s voice came from the driver’s seat, and Yeon-woo nodded.
“That’s right. We’ve always had production announcements. But I think it will be similar, just with a different name.”
Kim Min-soo’s car arrived at an outsourced filming location in Pangyo, arranged by Netflix. As Yeon-woo was about to get out, he noticed Han Byul and Soo-yeon getting out of a car parked opposite.
“Hmm? Han Byul, Soo-yeon.”
“Oppa!”
Han Byul ran over, and Yeon-woo looked at Soo-yeon, who was walking over with a smile.
“You two came together?”
“Yes, Han Byul’s mom gave us a ride.”
During filming, these two had become the closest. Both Jeong Soo-yeon and Han Byul, having grown up as only children, had wished for a sister, and they found that in each other, becoming like sisters.
“Dong-ha oppa said he arrived early and sent a message in the group chat!”
“Really? Let’s go in too. I heard Mr. Jung Cheol-min arrived a bit earlier and went in first.”
Yeon-woo and the two pseudo-sisters entered the studio together.
After the crank-up, several weeks were spent on final editing, so it had been quite a while since the production team and actors had last met. They exchanged pleasantries, catching up on each other’s lives. Once everyone was seated, Kim Min-ah, a news anchor familiar to Yeon-woo, entered the set holding cue cards.
“Oh my, it’s been a while since 「Master Plan」.”
“Indeed, it has. Thanks to your excellent hosting, the outcome was great.”
“Oh, you flatter me. You said the same thing back then, and I didn’t know where to put myself.”
Having hosted the production announcements for both 「Summer’s Promise」 and 「Master Plan」, LN Entertainment had requested her to host this event as well, hoping for another successful project. As they chatted, the event time approached.
“Alright, standby.”
The countdown began on the prompter in front, and as the numbers hit zero, the launch event started.
“Hello, everyone. This program is being broadcast live on LN Entertainment’s official YouTube channel and Netflix Live. We ask for your understanding if the broadcast conditions are not perfect.”
After greeting the viewers, Kim Min-ah turned to the actors.
“Welcome, actors of 「White Blood」!”
The actors turned towards the camera and bowed their heads in greeting. Yeon-woo noticed the somewhat stiff expressions of the actors beside him and smiled slightly.
‘I need to lead well, especially for Director Hwang’s sake.’
Director Hwang Min-kwon had adamantly refused to appear in front of the camera, leaving only the actors on set. Except for Yeon-woo, the other actors had little to no experience with such events. Jeong Soo-yeon’s last experience was during her child actor days in 「Spring’s Lover」, and Han Byul and Dong-ha were newcomers. Even Jung Cheol-min, who had mostly played minor supporting roles, was new to this.
“I heard this series tackles quite an intriguing theme.”
At Kim Min-ah’s prompt, Yeon-woo naturally took the microphone.
“That’s right. When I first saw the script cover, I was curious and started reading it immediately.”
“The genre is quite unique. It’s labeled as a medical action. Could you explain that briefly?”
“Of course. This series follows the protagonist, Jeong Do-jin…”
The launch event, mostly driven by the back-and-forth between Yeon-woo and Kim Min-ah, transitioned into a Q&A session where they answered questions from viewers watching on YouTube and Netflix Live.
“Shall we take some questions from the viewers?”
As Kim Min-ah spoke, numerous chats began appearing on the monitor in front. However, the event took an unexpected turn, contrary to the production team’s expectations.
[AlphabetWizard: Fantasy in Korea? History shows it’s bound to flop.]
[Hukwahandot: Except for Ryu Yeon-woo, all the actors are nobodies. Where did they find these extras?]
[AfricanYouth: Ryu Yeon-woo isn’t at the level to carry a show on his own yet.]
[Solo: Is Ryu Yeon-woo’s career finally crumbling? I predict he’ll become the next “Queen of Cats.”]
[KingJunsu: These chats are too harsh. Criticizing without even seeing the trailer shows how full of envy you are.]
[FreshmanLaurent: I get that the lady above is a fan, but take it easy. The genre and supporting cast size say it all.]
[KingJunsu: I’m not a lady.]
The server lagged due to the flood of chats, causing the screen to freeze momentarily, displaying only a few comments. When it recovered, the chat flooded in so quickly it was unreadable. Despite the brief time, the actors couldn’t help but notice the negative comments on the large monitor.
Originally, the plan was to briefly show the chat feed and then proceed with selected questions. However, due to the server error, the screen froze and unfortunately displayed the negative comments. As Kim Min-ah hesitated, taken aback by the unexpected incident, Yeon-woo took the microphone.
“Wow, so many of you are participating that I can’t keep up with the comments. Could the production team perhaps select a few for us to address?”
Kim Min-ah, regaining her composure, exchanged a few words with the production team before picking up the microphone again.
“We apologize for the temporary disruption due to server congestion. We’ll now proceed with a few selected questions.”
As Kim Min-ah delivered her recovery lines, Yeon-woo’s attention shifted to the other actors.
‘They probably don’t have much experience with this kind of situation. I hope they’re okay.’
Yeon-woo glanced sideways and was pleasantly surprised.
‘…Their faces are full of confidence.’
Contrary to his concerns, the actors’ faces were brimming with confidence in their work. Their expressions seemed to say, ‘Go ahead, criticize all you want. Once you watch our series, your opinions will definitely change.’