Chapter 97
“What were you two talking about so secretly?”
While I was lost in thought for a moment, Cha Seung-jun walked over, looking back and forth between Han Hye-joo, who was walking away, and me.
“What do you mean, talking...?”
Seeing Cha Seung-jun repeatedly wiggle his eyebrows as if teasing me, I quickly changed the subject.
“Hyung, how have Seo Ji-soo and Jang Se-won been on set lately?”
“What do you mean, how have they been? What exactly are you asking?”
“You know... the atmosphere between them.”
I lowered my voice slightly while glancing around.
Only then did Cha Seung-jun seem to understand what I meant. He lowered his voice as well.
“Did you hear something too?”
“Hear what?”
“What? Weren’t you asking because you already knew something?”
“What is it? Is there really something going on?”
When I urged him to answer, Cha Seung-jun hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“Well, Seo Ji-soo and Jung Se-won have been sticking together a little too much on set. The staff are already whispering that they might be dating or something...”
“Seriously?”
Damn. So Han Hye-joo wasn’t just saying that for no reason...
I had been so busy lately that I rarely visited the filming set.
Because of that, I hadn’t noticed anything at all.
“Hyung, if something like this was happening, you should’ve at least given me a heads-up.”
“Well, they’re both single, good-looking adults. If they like each other, what are we supposed to do about it?”
“If they were just an ordinary man and woman, or if we weren’t in the middle of filming, then sure. But right now, those two are the leads of our drama. If dating rumors break out before the drama even starts...”
It wasn’t uncommon for actors working together on a drama or movie to become involved in dating rumors or scandals.
In a way, it could even be seen as proof that the chemistry between the actors was good.
If handled properly as publicity, it could raise expectations for the drama.
But there was another side to it.
Instead of focusing on the drama itself, viewers and the media could become obsessed with the actors’ private lives.
That could ruin the dramatic tension and make it harder for viewers to immerse themselves in the characters.
That was why broadcasting stations didn’t want a drama’s promotional focus to suddenly shift toward scandals or dating rumors.
In serious cases, advertisers or sponsors who were sensitive about an actor’s public image could cancel PPL agreements.
Advertising schedules could fall apart as well.
Depending on the situation, people might even demand that an actor’s scenes be completely edited out or that the script be rewritten.
If that happened, the entire production schedule could be thrown into chaos.
Dating rumors and scandals involving actors were truly a double-edged sword.
People like me had already learned through countless mistakes that the negative side was usually much bigger than the positive one.
That was why we preferred to put out even the smallest spark before it turned into a fire.
Besides, Seo Ji-soo and Jung Se-won would actually become a couple in the future.
And eventually, because of the public reaction, they would even break up.
This wasn’t something that would necessarily end with a harmless dating rumor.
It could turn into a real problem.
Cha Seung-jun understood exactly what I meant, so he couldn’t say anything more.
“Hyung, let’s put out the fire before it gets any bigger.”
Leaving Cha Seung-jun tilting his head as if wondering what I meant, I walked toward the production team of Midnight Entertainment News.
“Those two... putting them together like that actually looks better than I expected.”
“Right? When did they get so close? When we came to film the full script reading last time, they were still pretty awkward around each other...”
“Exactly. Maybe sparks flew while they were filming? Either way, I think people will react to this when it airs.”
Sure enough, just as Han Hye-joo had said, the production crew of Midnight Entertainment News were gathered in one corner of the studio.
They were watching Seo Ji-soo and Jung Se-won while talking quietly among themselves like hyenas staring at prey.
If handled badly, this could easily develop into dating rumors or a scandal.
Cha Seung-jun and I exchanged glances without saying anything.
Cha Seung-jun moved first.
He quickly slipped into the middle of the Midnight Entertainment News production crew and spoke in his usual cheerful manner.
“Our actors are all extremely close with each other. They’re practically like real brothers and sisters. Honestly, they’re so close that I’m worried viewers might see them as siblings instead of lovers. Haha.”
At first, the Midnight Entertainment News crew looked startled by our sudden appearance.
But soon, they smirked as if saying, Come on, we’re all professionals here.
“Come on~ In what world do those two look like siblings? Anyone can see they look like a couple. Hehe...”
“That’s a dangerous thing to say. How do they look like a couple? Anyone can see they have real sibling chemistry. We wouldn’t want someone spreading baseless rumors and ending up with everyone arguing about lawsuits afterward, would we?”
I knew that with things like this, if you didn’t respond firmly from the beginning, you would only regret it later.
So I decided to come on strong.
My words were almost a threat.
The Midnight Entertainment News production crew looked slightly offended, their expressions turning awkward.
“Are you sure there’s really nothing going on? It doesn’t exactly look like nothing... Ahem...”
“Come on, why are we acting like this when we’re all family?”
As if trying to soften the suddenly tense atmosphere, Cha Seung-jun jumped in again.
Both our drama and Midnight Entertainment News aired on MBS.
So he jokingly emphasized that we were all part of the same MBS family.
“Tch. What family? You guys are outsourced anyway.”
“Hey now~ Are you really going to hurt my feelings like that? Since we’re talking about this, we didn’t invite any other media outlets. We practically gave Midnight Entertainment News exclusive access. If you keep acting like this, I’m going to tell Director Hwang Dong-hyuk everything.”
Cha Seung-jun sounded half joking and half serious.
