LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 87
Dream Future
A youth romance drama featuring young actors or children.
The basic plot revolves around the journey of those who participated in an idol audition program until their debut.
The main characters include the male lead, Kim Si-hwan, and the female lead, Song So-ha, making a total of six principal characters.
“Isn’t it an idol show? Are the actors okay with this? Don’t they have to dance and sing too?”
This was said with a smile by Ma Yeon-woo.
Among the current six main leads, three were actors.
Seo-yeon, Park Jung-woo, and Hwang Seol-ah were the actors.
Among them, Hwang Seol-ah was an actress who had already appeared twice as a supporting role in cable dramas.
Her experience wasn’t extensive, and this was actually her first time participating in a terrestrial drama.
But when Ma Yeon-woo made such a comment, it scratched a bit.
“But you’ve not forgotten this is a drama, right?”
A voice that seemed to shoot back.
Honestly, Hwang Seol-ah didn’t like Ma Yeon-woo from the start.
Just X.
Ah, right. I know they are popular idols.
When it comes to popularity, you could almost compare him to Park Jung-woo, who’s sitting there calmly.
But the popularity of actors and idols is different to begin with.
Idols usually have more fervent and devoted fanbases.
In fact, you could say Park Jung-woo has a particularly large fanbase.
“While singing and dancing can be practiced, acting isn’t something you can just pick up easily, you know?”
At Hwang Seol-ah’s words, another character, an idol, Aiden, chuckled.
“It sounds like acting is hard to learn, but singing and dancing are easy, huh?”
His tone was calm, but there was an underlying tension.
Due to this, Cha Na-hee, who sat next to him, fidgeted, although it was clear she was also upset by Hwang Seol-ah’s comments.
In such a fierce atmosphere….
‘Hmmm.’
Director Kim Pil-seok was a bit flustered.
Since they were all around the same age, he thought it would be a great opportunity for them to build camaraderie.
But with idols and actors mixed together, a peculiar standoff began.
‘If I step in, this situation will be maintained.’
The director’s words were absolute.
So, if he spoke up, they’d probably shut up for a bit.
However, the conflicts weren’t really resolved.
So.
‘Okay, please go ahead, Jung-woo!’
He inserted a suitable mediator into the mix.
At that, Park Jung-woo sighed, thinking, “It’s gotten to this point, huh.”
‘Even if you say that.’
This wasn’t a conflict that could be swiftly resolved.
It seemed best to calmly approach each other’s positions.
Just as Jung-woo organized his thoughts and was about to speak…
“Let’s battle it out.”
“?”
Jung-woo looked at Seo-yeon with a bewildered expression.
Seo-yeon, with one hand raised slightly, spoke.
Suddenly, the noisy surroundings fell silent.
“Actors through dance and song. Idols through acting.”
Is she serious?
Jung-woo wanted to say that, but…
He shut his mouth at Seo-yeon’s strangely sparkling eyes.
‘What is that supposed to mean?’
So, to roughly summarize Seo-yeon’s statement, is it saying, ‘The defeated should listen’?
‘Nah, that wouldn’t be it.’
Those strangely sparkling eyes.
She must have been just a bit oblivious.
‘So, you’re thinking that if we compete based on skills, we’ll reconcile… Is that the image you’re hoping for?’
If he thought it that way, it made a bit more sense.
It felt a bit too naive.
It was absurd, too.
Therefore, he wanted to cut off Seo-yeon’s words, but…
“Wow, that sounds great!”
Ma Yeon-woo was quicker on the uptake.
He was genuinely oblivious.
“So, we dance and sing, and they act? But how?”
“Ah, that’s…”
Seo-yeon fell silent.
She hadn’t thought that far.
She had just blurted out that kids get close by fighting, with an old-fashioned notion.
“Oh, that’s good!”
At that moment, Director Kim Pil-seok’s words interrupted the gradually quieting room.
“Ah, I’ll figure that out somehow. Wow, you’re clever, Seo-yeon.”
Everyone stared blankly at Kim Pil-seok.
They didn’t quite understand what he was talking about.
Even Park Jung-woo, this time, was extremely bewildered.
Only Seo-yeon looked pleased as punch at him.
Park Jung-woo let out a sigh at her face, which made him want to give her a playful slap.
‘What on earth is he thinking?’
Director Kim Pil-seok was a young director.
Additionally, he was often mingling with variety show producers and was quite well-connected.
Put positively, he was much more open-minded than typical directors, but negatively, he was a person whose common sense didn’t quite match industry norms.
“First, let’s talk a bit more today and part ways appropriately, as I have some matters to attend to.”
Haha, with a laugh, Kim Pil-seok vanished, leaving only a few staff members and Park Jung-woo behind.
And.
“……”
“………”
A strange silence once again settled in.
Occasional sounds of Ma Yeon-woo’s excitement echoed through.
‘Ah, I have a headache.’
As Park Jung-woo clutched his head, the first gathering of Dream Future came to an end.
*
Anyway, after concluding the first meeting, Park Jung-woo got scolded on the way back.
He was told to be careful about what he says next time.
Park Jung-woo understood that Seo-yeon had no intention of making distinctions among people, but still, it could be interpreted that way.
It was a concerned piece of advice, though.
‘Normally, the ones who win should be heard, right?’
Seo-yeon, with her primal line of thinking, was indeed correct.
The weak should listen to the strong, who dares to speak otherwise.
“You barbarian.”
Lee Ji-yeon evaluated Seo-yeon as such.
This was how Joo Seo-yeon’s social perception was evaluated.
“So, what’s going to happen now?”
“Well, I heard they’re going to tell us today.”
It was about time for some news.
Seo-yeon, after wrapping up shooting The Chaser, was currently just attending school without any other work.
After all, there was still about a month left for Dream Future filming, which wasn’t that hard.
Initially, the role of Jo Ha-rin didn’t have a high frequency of appearances.
‘Roughly around the sixth episode, The Chaser will be released, huh.’
Since they were filming two episodes ahead, it will show around the time the fourth episode airs.
“This is going to be tough,”
“Not really tough.”
“Not you.”
“?”
Lee Ji-yeon felt a bit sorry for Seo-yeon’s words.
When dealing with someone like Park Jung-woo, whom she hadn’t even properly seen, it could be occasionally overwhelming.
Buzz buzz.
And the call came right as school was wrapping up.
“Web promotion?”
“Yeah, that’s what I heard.”
A phone call from Manager Park Eun-ha.
She explained with a somewhat excited voice.
“It looks like it’s going to be a web variety show. Apparently, it was inspired by the suggestion Seo-yeon made earlier.”
‘My suggestion?’
That reminded her of the earlier incident.
Getting scolded by Jung-woo and being called a barbarian by Ji-yeon for that suggestion.
‘See, this is right.’
With a victorious face, Seo-yeon looked over at Lee Ji-yeon beside her.
Lee Ji-yeon looked at Seo-yeon with a face of disbelief.
“They say they’ll roughly divide into teams and proceed. Voting will be done online. It’s not going to be aired on TV, but released online instead.”
“Internet broadcast?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Internet broadcasting was gradually growing.
In no time, public attention would shift toward internet broadcasting and OTT platforms more than terrestrial broadcasting.
That time was fast approaching.
In such a transitional phase, they wanted to conduct promotions through internet broadcasting.
‘Sounds like a good way to generate interest in Dream Future.’
Initially, Dream Future targeted the youth as a youth romance drama.
If they do a web promotion, it means they’ll utilize everything possible that can be done online for advertisement.
Internet broadcasting would certainly be one of them.
“Let me explain…”
Manager Park Eun-ha calmly explained what she had heard.
First, they would be divided into two teams to compete.
Roughly speaking, those who voted for the winning side would enter a draw for prizes.
“And the winning side gets all the funds drawn from this variety advertisement.”
“That doesn’t sound like much.”
“Yeah, for actors, it’s mainly about gaining recognition.”
There wouldn’t be a need to offer something substantial.
After all, the significance lay in determining a winner and loser.
However.
“So, is it the actor team and the idol team? Is that how it will go?”
“Well, that’s the case, but it’s not completely divided with only actors or idols in each team.”
What does that mean?
I listened quietly while pondering.
It was somewhat like this in terms of team composition.
It was indeed the actor team and idol team, but they’d mix in one member from each.
“In other words, one idol in the actor team and one actor in the idol team.”
To create a structure where they could learn from each other.
“And Seo-yeon, you’ll be in the idol team.”
That last sentence from Manager Park Eun-ha was something Seo-yeon hadn’t anticipated at all.
*
And thus began the promotion for Dream Future, which gained more interest than expected.
This was partly because the two with significant recognition among the youth would lead each team.
The team lead for the actor team was Park Jung-woo.
The team lead for the idol team was Ma Yeon-woo.
In reality, this promotion was also because Dream Future was initially about idols.
Moreover, it was planned for the drama to be aired live in both terrestrial and web formats.
To put it simply, it would be like a real-time broadcast.
With it being conducted in a manner similar to an online broadcast.
Thus, this preliminary promotion served as a preview for that.
“Wow, Yeon-woo! This is awesome!”
Upon learning the news, the members of Just X congratulated Ma Yeon-woo by patting his back.
“With this, we’ll knock that arrogant punk down a peg!”
The one patting Ma Yeon-woo’s back was precisely the leader of Just X, who would be caught the following year on charges of consuming various drugs.
The so-called “druggie idol.”
“Yeah, bro. Honestly, I think you can wipe the floor with him through acting too.”
The one saying that would later become known as the “Apgujeong Killer Hong” after hitting six people while driving drunk two years later.
“Um.”
While Ma Yeon-woo felt energized by their words…
“Also, bro, I heard you’re on the same team as that Joo Seo-yeon? She’s really pretty, right?”
“Well, she’s pretty for sure.”
Sure, she was pretty, but…
Ma Yeon-woo felt a bit worried.
After all.
This was during their first encounter due to Dream Future.
“Is it okay to speak casually with Seo-yeon?”
As he didn’t get a response until the end, he followed after her as they parted ways to ask.
That caused Park Jung-woo, who happened to be saying something to Seo-yeon, to furrow his brow.
Yet, surprisingly, Seo-yeon replied with a welcoming face.
In fact, she was grateful to him for interrupting what she had been scolded for.
“No, you can’t.”
“……”
“Well, still, just declining feels a bit rude.”
Seo-yeon raised her arm.
“If you win in an arm wrestling match, I’ll grant your request.”
Arm wrestling? Suddenly?
At Seo-yeon’s words, Ma Yeon-woo chuckled.
Oh, could it be that she’s indirectly saying she wants to hold my hand?
“Sure, let’s do it!”
“Wait…!”
Park Jung-woo seemed to try to stop it, but Ma Yeon-woo shook his head.
Given the scene, it felt like she was saying, “Don’t touch what I’ve claimed.”
“Okay! Let’s give it a shot!”
As he shouted excitedly, the result was…
“But bro, didn’t you almost break your arm? Was it from someone you faced then?”
“Yeah, no.”
Truly, he was thankful his arm didn’t break.