Chapter 20: The First Broadcast Gamble

The spaces where drama insiders gather mostly exist online.

Representative examples are the “Oh! Theku” community’s Drama Youngbae category and the “BC Inside” Drama Gallery.

The two places are similar yet clearly different.

Oh! Theku is mainly composed of female users who focus on mass culture, especially K-pop idols, while BC Inside is dominated by male users with diverse hobbies.

Therefore, when it comes to users writing drama reviews, Oh! Theku tends to be gentle and meticulous, whereas BC Inside is more blunt and direct.

Since anyone can read posts without membership, drama insiders often “lurk,” quietly observing reactions.

Of course, major production companies sometimes hire part-timers to stir the waters or write posts themselves.

But those who have long been active in the communities possess a sort of sixth sense that instantly detects troublemakers, so it’s unwise to foolishly promote a drama clumsily.

After all, it’s not just a simple product or two being sold; dramas watched by hundreds of thousands, even millions, constantly shift in popularity.

Seo Sun-ae, head of the H Studio team, was working under special instructions from CEO Hong Joo-hee, monitoring the two sites closely for a week.

Her main search keywords were “Twin Love,” “Ahn Yoo-seok,” “Seo Ji-won,” “Kim Seung-pyo,” and “Hyeok bal-nom.”

Here, “Hyeok bal-nom” is a shortened form of “Lee Jung-hyeok + bal-nom,” meaning “that jerk” — currently the most actively searched keyword.

Posts with a sarcastic tone like “What if this ends up like Twin Love? LOL” frequently appeared.
“Yeah, next Hyeok bal-nom~”

“Hey, Hyeok bal-nom”

“Is this guy a part-timer?”

Seo Sun-ae quietly sighed, trying to adjust the company’s image without showing any signs.

She nearly got caught by the insiders’ sharp intuition.

“Is the writer okay?”

Normally indifferent to others’ affairs, Seo Sun-ae lightly tapped her large eyeglasses, thinking of Lee Jung-hyeok.

The mockery was too heavy to endure with a calm mind.

As the drama’s premiere approached, both communities heated up even more.

Fortunately, or not, at the same time, there were more posts about  than .

was inevitably overshadowed in terms of buzz.

Lee Jung-hyeok, the controversial writer sacrificing himself to generate overwhelming attention, was in a formidable position.

“Team Leader Seo, capture every post that goes up after the drama starts. Looking at these, it’s just too much.”

Hong Joo-hee contacted her via chat.

Some negative posts were malicious enough to be considered defamation, worrying CEO Hong as well.

“If the malicious commenters take it further and sue, it’ll be a disaster.”

Seo Sun-ae lifted her tired eyes and dutifully followed the orders.

A salaried worker does what she’s told.

At 10 PM, the initial broadcast time of , both communities started to buzz.

“Hey, it’s starting.”

“Hyeok bal-nom, this is it for today, right?”

“Let’s see how lousy this is and roast it.”

“If I’m already hooked, it’s total trash.”

Seo Sun-ae rubbed her eyes, relieved there were at least some positive comments amidst the flood.

The critical moment was the first ten minutes of the drama.

Seo Sun-ae believed that would be when public opinion would shift.

Having seen the rough cut, she herself was completely drawn in when it was revealed that Ahn Yoo-seok was a twin.

“So the protagonist is a twin.”

“Wow, Ahn Yoo-seok’s eyes just rolled.”

“Creepy even after knowing.”

“Are they really twins????”

“I seriously got goosebumps.”

Positive reactions to the opening scene began to spread on both communities.

“Why is this so good?”

“The acting’s amazing.”

“The directing’s top-notch LOL, making it shine like that.”

“So the script is written that way? They don’t even know each other and just meet? Starting with a twist.”

“Seo Ji-won’s beauty is something else.”

“That face is unreal LOL.”

“How can you not fall for her with that face?”

The scene where Seo’s story ends perfectly timed with Ahn Yoo-seok meeting Seo Ji-won triggered an explosive response.

- “That meeting was so natural; wow.”

- “The story seems okay.”

- “It’s actually really fun.”

- “This is fun, LOL.”

- “Hyeok bal-nom wasn’t just being arrogant.”

- “Maybe he took some pills or something.”

- “He looks like he’s made a vow.”

- “LOL.”

- “Made a vow, took pills, and created a masterpiece.”

- “Sounds like a web novel title LOL.”

- “Honestly, it’s super fun.”

- “It even surpassed The Queen. Why is it so hot here?”

Seo Sun-ae smiled unconsciously at the rapid shift in mood.

The excitement that followed was a bonus.

Drama is truly gambling.

Even with unknown actors, rookie directors, and controversial writers, people go wild.

Why?

Because it’s entertaining.

which Seo Sun-ae had bet on, was a jackpot.

At 3 AM.

Drama viewership ratings are emailed every morning around six by the rating agency.

If you pay a company called Millsun Korea, they compile and send you the ratings in an Excel file.

Usually, by 7 AM, you can check ratings by searching the program name and clicking “viewership” on portals.

While raw ratings are important, industry insiders focus more on ratings in the 20 to 49 age group — the most active buyers — and ratings in the metropolitan area.

This is, naturally, a matter of capital.

High ratings among buyers attract advertisements.

Setting aside such complicated realities, in the industry, ratings are the most significant indicator of a drama’s success or failure.

At 11:10 PM last night, the first broadcast of  ended safely.

I stayed up all night, wide awake.

Checking my wristwatch, it was now 7:01 AM.

I turned on my phone.

This habit formed after twice having my dramas fail miserably.

When a drama starts, writers inevitably receive countless contacts from people around them and must face audience reactions, whether they want to or not.

Because that’s human nature.

No matter how much you try not to look, you find yourself lurking on community sites you’ve never joined, searching for your work and your name.

Naturally, one harsh comment stings deeper than ten compliments.

I, Lee Jung-hyeok, have gone through this countless times.

Words from acquaintances are naturally kind, so to hear objective opinions, you have to enter a battlefield where bullets and blades fly.

It ends up a mess, and some even end up seeing a psychiatrist.

After going through that twice, I came to the conclusion to just turn the phone off.

Of course, I knew  was clearly different from the previous two works.

I had watched it many times on Gotflix, even seen the rough cut in a favorable state.

But once bitten, twice shy.

I was simply cautious, bracing for any “what ifs.”

Not because I feared malicious comments or attacks aimed at me personally.

No, not at all.

Before the first broadcast yesterday, I turned off my phone, and as soon as I turned it back on, countless messages poured in.

With a trembling heart, I opened the portal and searched my work’s name, about to click “viewership,” when a familiar name popped up at the top of my screen.

- “Writer, did you check the ratings?”

“Why so early in the morning?”

- “It’s nothing. Just asking if you checked.”

“No, I was just about to check, and Ji-won…”

- “Our ratings hit the jackpot. Big time.”

I put Seo Ji-won’s excited voice on speaker and quickly confirmed the screen.

Viewership: 7.7%.

As Seo Ji-won said, it was a huge hit.

CEO Hong and Director Kim cautiously predicted a 4% rating.

Even that was optimistic.

According to the expert CEO’s data, with a controversial writer, rookie director, rookie male actor, and an idol female lead, 4% was a safe estimate.

But I predicted 6%.

Hong’s prediction wasn’t wrong, but I thought with my aggressive marketing and noise marketing, people would flock to it.

Still, 7.7% was…

“A swarm of bees came rushing in.”

Noise marketing worked perfectly.

Naturally, the next move was decided.

Search for Park Eun-sook’s new drama  on the portal, and the moment I clicked viewership,

- “ got 8.9%.”

“Okay.”

- “It’s easy. Honestly, I thought ours would do better.”

“Nothing in this world is that easy.”

Though I said that, I couldn’t help but feel a bit hopeful.

After all, the lotto jackpot winner who receives 1 billion won every week exists.

There’s no reason we can’t be the lucky ones.

Yes, that’s it. The probability of beating Park Eun-sook’s new drama in ratings is like hitting the lotto.

Still, 8.9% is a fair rating for a 30 billion won production with a super-luxury cast.

Everyone expected it to naturally surpass 9%.

Considering the bottom line, the other side likely expected 10%.

By simple addition, they took some of our viewers.

We led in ratings, but they surely didn’t produce the drama just to beat .

“Wait. CEO Hong’s calling.”

Holding the call with Seo Ji-won, I picked up a call from CEO Hong Joo-hee.

She sounded thrilled, as if she had discovered something incredible after confirming both  and  ratings.

- “But our highest rating was in the last five minutes!”

“Oh? That means viewers stayed until the end without leaving.”

- “Exactly! And the 20-49 demographic ratings are even closer. We got 8.0%, they got 8.2%.”

“That’s a meaningful difference.”

- “Writer, to be honest, when you were trashing Park Eun-sook and promoting , I thought it was over.”

* “I see.”

- “But now, I really want to give you all the credit. Last time when Ahn Yoo-seok’s mom—or rather CEO Jung—came with investment, we should have immediately supported you.”

* “Yeah.”

- “You haven’t used it yet? Should we discuss it somewhere? The office?”

Even usually reserved Hong Joo-hee was excited, pouring out her words.

No wonder. The actual ratings doubled what she had expected.

Seo Ji-won, still on the call, kept sending messages.

- “Today, we gained 5,000 new followers.”

On one side, I received endless messages with rabbit ear emoticons; on the other, ridiculous complaints about the ratings.

Ugh, it was chaotic.

“Did CEO Hong watch  yesterday? How was it?”

- “Um, honestly, it was well made.”

“Is that so?”

- “You haven’t seen it yet, right?”

“Not yet. I just unlocked episode 17, about to watch now.”

- “Hmm. But I like  way better.”

“Of course. I’ll watch it and get back to you.”

Though I said that, I was nervous.

Park Eun-sook is widely recognized as Korea’s top writer.

Her new work surely wouldn’t be a failure.

Before airing, CEO Hong used every connection to obtain the rough cut but couldn’t even get a glimpse of deleted scenes.

I was already sick of the hype and thought, why bother looking ahead, but Hong seemed uneasy.

* “If we’re going to watch theirs instead of our main broadcast, that says it all.”

- “By the way, Director Kim didn’t answer the phone. Have you been able to contact him?”

“He’s writing. No separate contact from him either.”

Director Kim apparently refused the actors’ repeated invitations to watch episode 1 together.

I had refused as well, but the lack of contact suggested he was watching my cues.

Directors say the most anticipated thing once the broadcast starts is the writer’s reaction.

Makes sense.

No matter what outsiders say, the writer and director share the closest bond during production.

They’ve discussed the script and characters countless times.

They’ll wait longer than anyone to see if the writer is satisfied with the result.

Especially for the first broadcast.

“Even though I said the rough cut was good.”

Even tough Director Kim was clearly tense for the first broadcast.

I understood his feelings, but I had work to do before contacting him.

For the first time in a while, I logged into Setflix, not Gotflix.

* Today, Korea’s number one series at 10 PM is .

The thumbnail shows Sujin, the Korean queen wearing a crown, gazing seriously at something.

I clicked the arrow to the right and was relieved to see  ranked ninth.

With a slightly nervous heart, I pressed play on episode 1 of .

“Looks stunning.”