Chapter 190
On the day of the live broadcast, the area in front of the Olympic Stadium’s indoor arena was filled with all sorts of noise from dawn.
“Everyone who’s already here, clear out! All the personally handed out numberf tickets are invalid until we’ve counted the number of people! Anyway, wristband numbers will be handed out randomly!”
“Okay, okay! I’m leaving! I’m just leaving this unmanned booth here!”
“Please, come back in the afternoon! Seriously! Go get some sleep!”
Fans had arrived twelve hours before the start of the broadcast were fighting tooth and nail for a spot, their eyes shadowed in dark circles. They were all being pushed back by the staff.
It wasn’t just the staff outside.
“Let’s double-check the lighting sequence one more time!”
“Hey, who spilled water on the stage and didn’t wipe it up? Are you kidding? A camera director nearly cracked his head open!”
“That’s because it was wiped, that’s why!”
Inside the Olympic Stadium’s indoor arena, the production team of Targeting Star had been camped out for days, hardly able to bathe properly, preparing for the live broadcast.
[Nearly 40,000 people signed up for Targeting Star live broadcast tickets… “It might be the last chance.”]
[“Where will my seat be?” Hot anticipation for Targeting Star live broadcast seating even before it begins!]
It was originally meant to be held at the Sangam studio, but the live broadcast had to be moved because of the unprecedented popularity of the program.
And that wasn’t all.
[Cheer for Targeting Star trainees in theaters! GVN Screening Room Guide]
Even the theater cheering events hastily organized after the broadcast was confirmed had all sold out.
“Heh… so it’s really the end, huh.”
Producer Joo Cheol Yeong had been skimming through articles with his name on them. He closed his phone with a light laugh and stretched.
He had been up for three nights straight finalizing the mission scores, checking the pre-broadcast text vote system… but.
“Good. Very good.”
His mind was clearer than ever.
How could it not be?
“What’s the public reaction, Writer Lee?”
“Naturally… It’s absolute chaos. Some are saying he should’ve dropped out ages ago and it’s too late now, others are saying what’s the point of voting if he’s only leaving now, and so on.”
[Notice regarding Targeting Star trainee Liu Wei’s withdrawal]
It was like finally getting to pull the bad tooth and put in the implant. How could that not feel good?
“Haha! Anyway, he’s still going up on the final stage. You know how these things go, right? They always call up even the eliminated ones for the last stage. It’s a shame there weren’t any eliminated this time, but even that Chinese kid’s helping out in the end, huh.”
“…I’m not sure it’s really necessary to go that far, though.”
“Necessary or not, the live broadcast ratings are guaranteed. The Executive PD will probably call me in to chew me out later, but who cares? Sometimes you just gotta go with what works.”
“PD-nim, honestly…”
Lee Hyeon Jeong, who had been scrolling through the endless flood of social media reactions to Liu Wei, pressed her forehead with exasperation.
So much had happened to get here.
First, a company executive had tried to pull a trainee out at his own discretion and failed. Then there was that vicious rumor aimed at another trainee. And that troublesome trainee with a fiancée who’d caused headaches until the very end and only now decided to leave!
“Ugh, this migraine is killing me…”
“Why are you getting a migraine over something like this? Why don’t you take some medicine if you need to. If you’re going to survive the broadcast, you can’t be sick.”
“I’m not taking it now because I’m saving it for later!”
Joo Cheol Yeong might be the type to actually gain energy from this kind of chaos, but Lee Hyeon Jeong was different.
She was fundamentally a deeply empathetic, considerate person.
Seeing her darkened expression, Joo Cheol Yeong clicked his tongue and handed her a bottle of water.
“CEO Do and Director Shin are both showing up on set today, by the way. Just thinking about those two awkwardly stuck together cracks me up.”
And the weary conversation that followed was just a bonus.
“…Should we maybe seat them separately?”
“Why should we bother? Just stick them side by side. Today we can afford to be a little reckless. Try that for once, Writer Lee. Or save it for the next survival show?”
Watching the laid-back Joo Cheol Yeong PD, Lee Hyeon Jeong bit her lip and cautiously spoke up.
“Honestly, I… don’t think I can do another survival show.”
“……”
For a moment, Joo Cheol Yeong’s hand seemed to pause, but was that just her imagination?
“…All of a sudden? You’ve done fine until now, so why?”
His voice was as relaxed as ever, as if confirming her suspicions that she’d imagined it.
That only made the frustration in Lee Hyeon Jeong’s chest threaten to explode.
“To be precise, I don’t think I can work with you anymore. It’s too emotionally draining. I really respect the energy you have on set and how sharp your ideas are, but… you know exactly what I’m saying, don’t you?”
“…Hmm. So that’s how it is.”
Joo Cheol Yeong listened quietly as she poured her heart out, but just lightly scratched his stubbled cheek and looked at Hyeon Jeong.
For the past few months, meeting those boys in their early-twenties in the idol dorm-like facility, Lee Hyeon Jeong had grown so thin she looked almost gaunt.
She certainly looked exhausted.
But that wasn’t the only thing Joo Cheol Yeong could see.
“Well, even if you say that. This writer will end up working with me on the next survival show too.”
“Didn’t I just say I don’t think I can work with you anymore?”
“You did, you did. But, pfft, do people really mean everything they say?”
Joo Cheol Yeong brightly smiled as he snapped open the water bottle he’d offered her earlier.
“You’ve grown too soft-hearted for these kids now, haven’t you?”
“…….”
That was exactly what Joo Cheol Yeong valued in Lee Hyeon Jeong.
Throughout the entire running of the show, Targeting Star….
“Trainee Gao Yan, it’s great to be confident… but it would be better for you to watch your words just a little bit.”
“Trainee Kim Joo An, I told you, you can’t do that! It’s like begging people to attack you, what are you thinking?”
“…Congratulations, Trainee Kim Chunyong.”
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