Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 296

Director Choi Yoo-won’s head turned to look at Kim Seo-yeon and Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung alternately on the television screen.

Song Yu-jung and her mom held their breath and couldn’t take their eyes off the screen.

Kim Seo-yeon and Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung didn’t notice each other’s glances, but Song Yu-jung and her mom couldn’t hide their rising smiles at the tense atmosphere.

A bitter smile appeared on Director Choi Yoo-won’s face.

“Ahhhh…”

A miserable voice came from the phone. Song Yu-jung realized that Lim Ye-na was ‘Eo-nam-yoo’.

“I knew this would happen…!”

It sounded like she was almost wailing.

Song Yu-jung chuckled at her friend’s lament.

It was a victory for ‘Eo-nam-sung’.

She was satisfied with the fact that the male lead was fixed as Lee Hyun-sung and smiled. She looked at the clock.

“Wow. It’s already half over?!”

“Already?”

Her mom was surprised and looked at the clock too.

It felt like they had only watched for five minutes, but it was already 30 minutes past, and there were only 30 minutes left for Spring Has Returned.

They wished time would stop so they could watch more.

The drama continued without knowing the anxious hearts of Song Yu-jung and her mom.

A boy said something outside the bus window.

The girl’s cheeks turned red and she leaned her forehead on the glass.

Song Yu-jung and her mom, who were watching the sweet scene of the two kids with a warm smile, and Lim Ye-na on the other side of the phone, were shocked by Kim Seo-yeon’s narration.

[Because Yoo Sung-jin had left.]

***

[It’s been a while. Seo-yeon.]

Song Yu-jung covered her mouth at Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung’s gentle voice.

The soft vibe of Yoo Sung-jin that often appeared in Director Choi Yoo-won was also coming from Team Leader Lee Hyun-sung.

“Ahhhh…!”

A different reaction came from the phone. It sounded like she was hitting the sofa or cushion with frustration.

Then, Lee Hyun-sung told his past story about Yoo Sung-jin.

Yoo Sung-jin appeared on the screen, carrying a suitcase and a bag, boarding a bus to the airport.

“What, he didn’t even take you to the airport?!”

“What about our Sung-jin…?”

Yoo Sung-jin, who sat down, looked out the window with a blank face, then

[After taking the final exam with Seo-yeon, grading it, sending off the seniors, studying, taking the college entrance exam, going to college, and maybe even longer, longer… ]

He sobbed quietly.

Song Yu-jung and her mom’s eyes were moist. They could hear Lim Ye-na sniffling too.

The screen that showed Yoo Sung-jin crying slowly changed to show Lee Hyun-sung smiling calmly.

“I’m Eo-nam-yoo…!”

Song Yu-jung and her mom laughed at Lim Ye-na’s words.

***

[Seo-yeon. I like you.]

Song Yu-jung clenched her teeth at Yoo Sung-jin’s confession.

“What do I do. I like him so much…!”

She thought she had blurted out her inner thoughts.

It was Lim Ye-na. She could hear her hitting something again on the phone. She seemed to be ready to tear down the apartment. Song Yu-jung would have rolled around on the living room floor too if it wasn’t for her mom. Instead, she hugged the cushion in her arms tightly.

[I like you too.]

The screen zoomed out from the two people and showed Kim Seo-yeon and Lee Hyun-sung inside a glass window from outside the cafe. The yellow umbrella that was blocking them before was gone, and they were smiling at each other.

The OST of Spring Has Returned played and a caption appeared.

[Thank you for watching ‘Spring Has Returned’.]

“It was a good drama! I have to watch it again soon!”

Song Yu-jung nodded at Lim Ye-na’s words.

“Me too. I have to watch it from the beginning.”

She decided to watch it with Lee Hyun-sung as the center this time. She heard her mom’s voice in her ear.

“Honey. Buy me VOD.”

“Heh. I already bought up to episode 5.”

***

“Spring Has Returned, highest rating 34%! Average rating 31%!”

Cheers filled MBS drama department.

“Wow, it really reached 30%!”

“In this day and age, 30% for a 6-episode drama!”

“Did Spring Has Returned have a wrap-up party? It must be crazy there!”

“They had a dinner after the first episode and said it was too early, so they decided to go on a reward vacation instead.”

“Well, it’s only been a month and a half since they aired 6 episodes, right?”

The noisy drama department.

The director called PD Gong Hee-chan aside.

“The edited version?”

“Yeah. Yoo Sung-jin’s appearance scenes are uneven, right?”

“Yes. They are.”

It was because Yoo Sung-jin appeared according to Kim Seo-yeon’s memory, so it wasn’t broadcasted in the order of time like 12345, but in a jumbled order like 13245.

PD Gong Hee-chan scratched his cheek.

“I tried to match them as much as possible… but it’s not perfect.”

“Let’s edit them in order. From when Kim Seo-yeon and Yoo Sung-jin met to when they broke up. That will give the viewers more immersion. I’ll take care of everything else, so just try editing it.”

PD Gong Hee-chan rolled his eyes.

‘I wanted to edit it with Seo-jun as the center.’

PD Gong Hee-chan nodded reluctantly with a frozen face.

“Yes. I understand.”

The director smiled brightly at PD Gong Hee-chan’s agreement.

***

[MBS special drama ‘Spring Has Returned’, average rating 31%!]

[Only 6 episodes? A full-packed 6 episodes!]

[The rebellion of 6 episodes! The highest rating of the year!]

[Sold out, sold out, sold out! The advertising effect of Spring Has Returned!]

[The best overseas brand promotion effect! Plus, reaching the top spot in overseas rankings!]

-It’s like living alone in the world. Rating 31%ㅎㅎ

=There aren’t any dramas that go over 30% these days, right?

=That too, 30% for a 6-episode dramaㅋㅋ

-Spring Has Returned. The advertising effect is amazing too. The yellow umbrella sold a lot too.

=I bought a yellow umbrella tooㅎ But I can’t buy Seo-jun’s sneakers and bag because they’re out of stock.

=All the other stuff is sold out tooㅎㄷㄷ I heard everything that appeared in Spring Has Returned sells a lot.

-Ah… I have to buy the figure…! I have to save money…!

=Me too. I feel like I spent too much money this month. My bank account is emptyㅠㅠ

-Was the cafe at the end a chain?

=Nope, an individual cafe.

=There must be a lot of customers there too.

=22 Couples will take a lot of pictures like Spring Has Returned.

-I guess other countries watch Spring Has Returned a lot too.

=22 There were a lot of overseas reactions when it was live too.

=Yeah, I live abroad and the reaction here is no jokeㅎ

=A lot of people watch it lightly because it’s short, but they get visual shock from episode 1ㅋㅋ

=I guess so if they don’t watch the trailerㅋㅋ

[The male lead is finally decided! It’s 000!]

[Eo-nam-sung? Eo-nam-yoo? Who is the male lead?!]

[Who is the first love that was decided in the last episode?!]

[The nation’s first love, actor Lee Seo-jun!]

-Let the trumpets sound! Eo-nam-sung!

=I screamed when he said ‘It’s been a while’ㅋㅋ

=I fell for him when he relaxed his expression and spoke more comfortably after saying he was Yoo Sung-jinㅋㅋ

-Lee Hyun-sung looked like Yoo Sung-jin when he smiled.

=To be honest, seo-jun probably acted as Yoo Sung-jin after seeing this Lee Hyun-sung.

=22 When I see it like this, I can only say he’s amazing.

-I knew this would happenㅠㅠ

=22 I recognized him when he had the same last name as Choi. ㅠㅠ

=The same last name as Choi?

=Lee Seo-jun’s audition video Choi Eun-yulㅠ Spring Has Returned Choi Yoo-wonㅠ

=The writer of Spring Has Returned was an assistant writer for So Eun-jin, so I was more nervousㅠㅠ Is he a sub againㅠ

=We have to cure this sub disease.

=He couldn’t even confess, he was so similar to Choi Eun-yulㅠ

-…But honestly, I was attracted to Lee Hyun-sung at the end too.

=Get this traitor out of here!!

-I cut out Seo-jun’s ‘I like you’ separately.

=!!Please send it to me!!

=22 Please send it to me!

-I have to change my name to Seo-yeon.

=22 I changed mine to Yu-jung, but Kim Seo-yeon is better.

-The nation’s first love Lee Seo-junㅋㅋㅋ

=But Seo-jun had too much impact.

=222 I still get mesmerized no matter how many times I watch it.

=When I think of first love, I think of Yoo Sung-jin.

[MBS special drama edited version, scheduled to air next Monday!]

[MBS pilot variety show, ‘Looking for Your First Love!’ scheduled to air!]

-What is the special edited version?

=They said it’s a Yoo Sung-jin edited version.

=Yoo Sung-jin edited version?

=In the drama, Yoo Sung-jin appears according to Kim Seo-yeon’s memory, so he appears briefly and in a messy order of time. They edited it in chronological order.

=…Are you an insider?

=ㅎㅎㅎㅎ

-What is the pilot variety show?ㅋㅋ

=Don’t they usually do pilot shows for Lunar New Year or Chuseok specials?

=MBS really knows how to milk usㅋㅋ

[Title: Spring Has Returned) Why Lee Hyun-sung is the only choice.]

The proportion of Kim Seo-yeon recalling Yoo Sung-jin through Lee Hyun-sung and Choi Yoo-won varies by episode.

In episode 1, there was only Lee Hyun-sung, and in episode 2, there was more Choi Yoo-won.

In episodes 3 and 4, they were similar, and in episode 5, there was more Lee Hyun-sung.

In episode 6, as you know, there was only Lee Hyun-sung.

You can tell it’s Lee Hyun-sung by the proportion aloneㅎ

+) I also calculated the flashback time length just in case, and Lee Hyun-sung has more.

-Wow. That’s true?

=It was similar until episode 4, so we fought hard, but it got stronger from episode 5ㅎ

-Look at the effortㅋㅋ He even calculated the timeㅋㅋ

***

Monday 9:30 p.m.

[Spring Has Returned – School Days] aired.

It showed scenes from when Yoo Sung-jin transferred to the school to when they ate together in the cafeteria, and how Kim Seo-yeon approached him and softened his prickly thorns.

Unlike the original drama, the edited version flowed in chronological order and made the viewers more immersed.

-It’s so good to see it in order like thisㅎ

=22 I have to watch Spring Has Returned again after this.

-But when I saw Yoo Sung-jin crying on the bus, it was so pitifulㅠㅠ

=Why am I crying while watching something happy?ㅠ

-But Yoo Sung-jin must have had a hard life.

=22 His parents sent him to Korea and then to the US, it was crazy.

=He said his father remarried, so he must have lived with a lot of pressure in the US too.

=Our Sung-jin grew up wellㅠㅠ

-The PD who edited this is new, right?

=22 I thought he just glued it together because it was an edited version, but he directed it well to fit the edited version.

=333 The directing was good. In the past, Kim Seo-yeon and Yoo Sung-jin were separated by the bus window, but in the present, they were together in the cafe. And they were both in one screen inside the glass window, so it was nice.

=It was also natural when they switched to flashback scenes when Lee Hyun-sung and Choi Yoo-won appeared.

=The PD’s name is Gong Hee-chan? He seems to do well in his next work.

-The writer is also new, right? I’m glad she didn’t flop.

=22 I was worried that she wouldn’t be able to do it because of the pressure from Lee Seo-jun, but she did well.

=The characters were also charming.

=Writer Yu Cheonga! I’m looking forward to your next work!

-What do I watch on Mondays and Tuesdays now?

=Yeah. I’ve been waiting for Tuesdays for six weeks, so I didn’t have Monday blues, but I think it’s coming back.

=How about Oh Young-chul’s drama? It looks good for episode 1.

=Then let’s watch that.

Even though it wasn’t a lot of content, [Spring Has Returned – School Days] had an amazing rating and made MBS buzz again. As planned by the director, spring Has Returned’s rating was transferred to the next work. He didn’t know what the Tuesday rating would be, though.

“Lee Seo-jun! Let’s get Lee Seo-jun!”

The shout of MBS drama department that had experienced the Lee Seo-jun effect and,

“Lee Seo-jun! Catch Lee Seo-jun!”

The desperate shout of KBC and SBC drama departments that had their Monday-Tuesday ratings blown away echoed.