Chapter 122: The Phoenix (4)
Chapter 122 < The Cuckoo (4). >
Lee Seo-eun did not believe Lee Kang’s words. She had no reason to trust him, knowing that he was behind the media attacks and the schemes to lower her approval rating.
‘That can’t be true.’
But the doubt in her heart grew bigger.
The director had shown the viewers several times the face of Seong Hyun-woo, who would smile brightly at Lee Seo-eun but sink into a gloomy mood as soon as he turned away.
Lee Seo-eun felt the same way. They seemed to know each other well, the emperor and Seong Hyun-woo, who had met for the first time. And they kept asking her if she remembered anything from her childhood.
“So, you still haven’t found it?”
“No, I think I can’t remember anything.”
And then, the viewers saw the secret conversation between the emperor and Seong Hyun-woo, which fueled their suspicion.
“Where did my beloved little sister hide it?”
But Seong Hyun-woo’s eyes were strange as he looked at the emperor’s back. There was hatred in his sharp gaze.
“Hyun-woo.”
“Yes.”
The emperor turned around and looked at Seong Hyun-woo, who smiled as if nothing had happened.
“Don’t tell me you really love that girl?”
Seong Hyun-woo did not answer and snickered. The emperor narrowed his eyes and observed him. He could not read his mind. Just like himself.
“Well, you wouldn’t do that.”
“…”
“You’re like me.”
The emperor was born as the eldest son, but he was a bastard born from the former emperor’s affair. In that sense, Seong Hyun-woo was like the emperor. The position of a secondary son, the personality of quietly waiting for an opportunity… Maybe he was more like him than his own son, Lee Kang.
Seong Hyun-woo did not avoid the emperor’s eyes, which rested on his shoulder.
“I will get the national seal for sure.”
“You have to. Lately, Seo-eun has been bothering me a lot.”
The media that exposed the corruption of the emperor and Lee Kang, the growing controversy over the legitimacy of the throne, they needed the real national seal to silence them.
The real national seal had a secret device that only the royal family could unlock. The current emperor’s seal was a fake. The former emperor had originally intended to abdicate to Lee Seo-eun’s father.
“Find it quickly. I have to move on my own.”
The emperor turned his body again after saying that. Seong Hyun-woo bowed his head slightly and left the emperor’s office.
‘He’s dangerous.’
He was a man who had killed his half-brother to secure his position. What about his nephew? Seong Hyun-woo clenched his fist.
Before he went outside, he turned his body and looked at the emperor’s office.
[You have to.]
‘He’s suspicious of me.’
Seong Hyun-woo’s expression turned cold as he turned around again.
And then, a short flashback scene. Seong Hyun-woo had actually dug up the corruption of the emperor and Lee Kang and caused the legitimacy issue. And he had become the emperor’s confidant to get more information and suggested the marriage with Lee Seo-eun first.
What he wanted was for Lee Seo-eun to become the emperor, to repay the favor he had received from her and her father when he was young.
But there was someone who had overheard the conversation between the emperor and Seong Hyun-woo. It was Lee Seo-eun, who had heard the news that Seong Hyun-woo had visited the emperor and had the chief maid plant a bug.
“Did you wait long?”
“…I heard you.”
“What?”
“Your conversation with my uncle.”
Lee Seo-eun, who had denied it until the end, exploded.
“Did you approach me on purpose?”
“…”
“Is that it?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
Seong Hyun-woo closed his eyes and lowered his head, unable to lie to Lee Seo-eun. Lee Seo-eun laughed bitterly at his sight. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“Just a moment, Seo-eun.”
“Why? Why did you do that?”
“That’s because…!”
It was hard to say. The truth was, he owed his life to her and her father, and he wanted to do what she wished for. But the emperor was a dangerous person. So he hid it. He was afraid that Lee Seo-eun would be in danger if he told her the truth.
“Let’s end it here.”
“Seo-eun.”
Seong Hyun-woo gently grabbed Lee Seo-eun’s wrist with both hands. He spoke with a trembling voice, desperately.
“Don’t you really remember?”
What was in the memory that I had lost, what did he want to do with it? Lee Seo-eun, angry, shook off his hand and got up from her seat.
“Cut, okay!”
Eun Seo-eun, shivering from the betrayal, and Hyun-woo Seong, desperately holding on to her. The staff cheered as they sensed the birth of a masterpiece scene. The atmosphere at the filming site was great with the overflowing budget.
But Yoo Yeon Seo was lost in other thoughts.
‘Did my brother not tell me because of that?’
Yoon-ho Yu did not inform Yoo Yeon Seo, the witness of the incident, of the investigation he was doing with Seo-jun Baek, saying that he wanted to tell him everything after he solved it.
He was careful because he was afraid that he would have a seizure if he heard the name of Hee-seo Lee, who he lost his memory in a car accident, and that he would have another mental shock.
The ‘Guksae’ that he interpreted was similar. He wanted Eun Seo-eun to inherit the throne without knowing anything, even if he had to suffer.
“Yoon-seo, aren’t you going to monitor?”
“Oh, I have to.”
But I preferred to be told sooner. Yoo Yeon Seo shook his head vigorously and walked to the monitor.
When the filming of ‘Guksae’ was heading to the climax, the filming team prepared to disband before the sun went down.
“Let’s go home early today.”
“Thank you for your hard work!”
It was possible because it was a pre-production. When the staff were busy cleaning up, Ye-won Shin raised her hand.
“Is there anyone who can go home late? Do you want to watch our drama together?”
“Shall we?”
The actors waved their hands. When they heard that Yoo Yeon Seo attended every day even though it was not his filming day, a few other actors also joined. And the atmosphere among the actors was good as the top star Ye-won Shin approached them without hesitation.
“I’m going to go home.”
“Hey, what if the male lead is missing here?”
The actor who played the role of Sang-gung Choi teased him. The others also joined the line. Yoo Yeon Seo sighed secretly and followed them.
“But is there a place where all these people can fit?”
“I prepared everything.”
Ye-won Shin said confidently. Did he plan this? Yoo Yeon Seo gave up the idea of leaving in the middle. He decided to keep his seat until the end out of courtesy.
The actors and staff of ‘Guksae’ headed to a nearby meat restaurant.
“How much was our first broadcast rating? It will increase, right?”
“Today, we’re going to have a date scene.”
The people started to bet lightly as they sat down. They were confident that the ratings would not increase if Ye-won Shin and Yoo Yeon Seo were together.
“Oh! It’s starting!”
The actor who played the role of Sang-gung Choi made a fuss. The opening of ‘Guksae’ started on the big screen that Ye-won Shin had prepared after a long advertisement.
It was the opening that people praised after the first broadcast. The Gyeongbokgung Palace, restored with CG, and Eun Seo-eun, who walked confidently through the colorful cloths fluttering in the wind, and Hyun-woo Seong, who wore a cloak over his suit, met.
(Shall we go to the sea this time?)
In the last episode of the second episode, there was a daisy flower bed scene, and after the drama ended, the people’s reaction was explosive, and one community said that it actually burst because people flocked.
In the third episode that they were watching now, the date between Eun Seo-eun and Hyun-woo Seong continued. At a glance, it looked like a video pictorial of Ye-won Shin and Yoo Yeon Seo.
One of the staff said, ‘Wow, was the meat always this sweet?’ and the people around him laughed softly.
(Huh?!)
(Be careful!)
As they continued their date, a scene where Hyun-woo Seong subdued a person who ran towards Eun Seo-eun came out.
(Wow, did you learn something like martial arts?)
(I learned it a long time ago.)
It was not a simple service scene, but a rice cake for the action scene that they would film tomorrow. Eun Seo-eun was kidnapped by the emperor’s subordinate, and Hyun-woo Seong saved her. It was a cliché that remained from the beginning when the writer Min-joo Kyung had Yoo Yeon Seo in mind as the male protagonist because he was hooked on the action scenes in ‘Baek-ho Ham’ and ‘Dreaming’.
“But what did you really learn?”
Ye-won Shin remembered that Yoo Yeon Seo did it at once without a stunt when he filmed that scene. Even in her eyes, who had no eye for it, it was a professional-like movement.
“Maybe he learned some self-defense because he’s a chaebol? To prepare for kidnapping?”
The actor who played the role of Kang Lee intervened.
“Well, something like that.”
“Oh.”
Yoo Yeon Seo casually answered and observed his appearance on the screen. It came out pretty well. But.
‘Should I be glad about this?’
While everyone was screaming and enjoying it, Yoo Yeon Seo himself did not like his acting on the screen. He was already bothered by the fact that he couldn’t immerse himself properly because of the illusion.
“Wow!”
“Wow, it’s really exciting.”
“I think it would be awkward if I did that.”
The dialogue that the writer Min-joo Kyung put his heart and soul into, and Hyun-woo Seong, who spit it out as if it was nothing. Exclamations poured out everywhere. They all drank a glass and acted more exaggeratedly. Yoo Yeon Seo, who was tired of the atmosphere, went outside for a moment.
“My lord.”
Just then, Seung-hyun Lim got out of the car.
“Did you bring it?”
“…Here it is.”
“Good job.”
Yoon Yeonseo took the document that he handed to her. It was the property details of the servant that she had investigated with Park Jungho, the secretary that her grandmother had assigned to her. It looked quite thick, judging by the size. She wondered if she should call Yoo Eunho and Baek Seojun soon to analyze it together.
“Can I…ask you one question?”
It was Lim Seunghyun, who always silently did what Yoon Yeonseo told him to do. Well, he had worked hard, so there was no reason not to answer his question. Yoon Yeonseo nodded her head.
“What are you going to do if you find the culprit?”
When Lim Seunghyun first became Yoon Yeonseo’s secretary, he was told to do his job and never be curious about the wishes of the person he served. So he kept his mouth shut even if he was curious.
But ever since he saw that scene with Yoo Eunho, he wondered if he really had to do as he was told.
[Secretary Park.]
So he asked for advice from someone else.
[I’ve been serving the director for a long time, but there is something I regret.]
Park Geumju, who had fallen into despair after Lee Heeseo’s death, didn’t show it, so he didn’t know. He should have taken her to the hospital as soon as he noticed something was wrong.
But he was restless because of Park Geumju’s order to not worry about it, and time passed. In the meantime, the gap between Park Geumju and Yoon Yeonseo’s feelings grew deeper.
Park Jungho advised him that sometimes he needed to interfere.
“I don’t know…”
She hadn’t thought about it, and Yoon Yeonseo looked blankly at the sky, feeling stabbed.
The reason for finding the culprit? Just…because the original asked her to. It seemed like the right thing to do. But she hadn’t thought about what she was going to do after finding him.
“I don’t know either.”
Joo Sung was a chaebol who ruled Korea, and he could probably roast a judge. Maybe the culprit would rot in prison until he died. There were many people who were angry about Lee Heeseo’s death. Her father would take care of it.
‘…But can I really be satisfied with that?’
Yoon Yeonseo frowned slightly. The memory synchronization was now about 50%, and the process of mixing the two selves was half done. That’s why she couldn’t figure out her own feelings properly.