chapter 18

Chapter 18. Summer's Closet (The Premiere)

The cast and crew gathered in the main conference room at LN Media headquarters to watch the premiere together. Usually, they would gather at the JNBC broadcasting station or a rented restaurant, but they had chosen LN Media, the production company, out of consideration for Director Kim Han-soo and the production team, who were working tirelessly on post-production.

"Alright! The last commercial is ending, and we're about to start!"

The final commercial played, and Yeon-woo's phone buzzed incessantly.

He switched his phone to silent and checked his messages.

First, the family group chat:

-Mom and Dad are so nervous! Son!

-Everyone's really excited, Oppa! I'm looking at the real-time comments on Green Window.

Yeon-woo sent a private message to his sister, So-hyun, asking her to shield their parents from any malicious comments, then checked the other group chats, where the message count kept climbing.

-Yeon-woo, I made all my guild members watch the premiere.

-Me too! My entire extended family!

His school friends were all claiming to have mobilized their networks to boost the viewership.

Yeon-woo smiled and turned his attention back to the screen.

The "Summer's Closet" intro began.

Cheers and applause!

The conference room filled with applause and cheers, celebrating the culmination of their hard work.

Everyone was busy, from Director Kim Han-soo, who was constantly on the phone with the JNBC drama department, to the staff members filming the intro on their phones.

"Ugh, this moment is always so nerve-wracking!" Even So-hyun, a top actress with numerous lead roles under her belt, covered her face with her hands, peeking at the screen through her fingers.

The first episode began.

Yeon-woo, for whom this was his first drama and first lead role, was also nervous. He was a veteran agent who had navigated war zones, conducted undercover operations, gathered intelligence, and protected VIPs, but facing the public with his name on the line was a completely different experience.

The first episode opened with scenes of the vibrant campus, its youthful and exciting atmosphere, followed by the playful banter between Seo-joon and Yeo-reum. The initial online response was positive.

「Green Window Realtime Talk – JNBC Summer's Closet」

– DriedMango (sky14***): So-hyun is perfect as Yeo-reum!

– BearS (mwlsd***): They captured the webtoon's vibe well. I'm already excited.

– TangerineMin (answlt***): With Son Jin-wook and Han So-hyun as leads, it's game over. I still can't believe these two A-listers are in a campus rom-com.

Ryu So-hyun, barely watching the drama, anxiously monitored the real-time comments, praying for positive feedback for Yeon-woo .

The middle of the first episode approached, and it was time for Cha Woo-joo's first appearance.

Upbeat music played as Cha Woo-joo walked down the runway.

"Wow, that's amazing. I was impressed even during filming."

"Right? I thought they brought in a real model."

"Well, Yeon-woo could totally be a model."

Exclamations filled the conference room.

Since Yeon-woo wasn't a model, they had planned to use close-ups and minimize wide shots if the runway scene didn't turn out well. However, Yeon-woo had exceeded their expectations, showcasing his stunning visuals and a surprisingly natural walk. The scene had been edited to resemble a real fashion show, with plenty of wide shots.

Since this was the first time most of the staff and cast, excluding the editing team, were seeing the final cut, they applauded and cheered for the director and Yeon-woo.

Yeon-woo bowed his head slightly, embarrassed by the praise.

Meanwhile, Yeon-woo's family watched nervously.

"Oh my, whose son is that?"

"That boy, he's so handsome, just like his father."

Ryu So-hyun, glancing between the screen and her father, checked her phone.

「Green Window Realtime Talk – JNBC Summer's Closet」

– QSula (suin4***): What… is this visual?

– HiHello (danbe3***): This is miscasting. His face is more unrealistic than the webtoon.

– Park Ji-hyun (hyeo***): Who is that man? I. Want. Him.

– KingJoon-soo (forbes***): Ryu-nim's visuals are cheating, right?

The comments were flooding in even faster than at the beginning of the episode, with the real-time chat refreshing two pages at a time.

"Mom, Dad! It's amazing! All the comments are so positive! Everyone's saying he's so handsome!"

"Of course! Whose son is he?"

So-hyun didn't need to hide anything from her parents, as the response was overwhelmingly positive.

The first episode ended with the introduction of various supporting characters and the scene where Chairman Cha, played by Lee Sang-joong, explodes at his son, Cha Woo-joo, a scene Yeon-woo had rehearsed with Director Kim Han-soo during the script reading.

Even though Yeon-woo knew the story and had personally filmed more than half of the scenes, he watched with bated breath, captivated by the drama.

Seeing himself on screen, a dream he had held since his past life, was more exciting and fulfilling than he had imagined.

An hour flew by, and the staff members began checking the ratings on Green Window.

Director Kim Han-soo, who had been on the phone, was the first to speak. "Everyone! According to the network's internal data, our premiere ratings are 8.3%!"

The room erupted in cheers and applause. Screenwriter Choi Mi-hyun and Han So-hyun clapped each other's hands excitedly.

Just then, the assistant director, who had been glued to his phone, shouted, "It's even higher on Green Window! 8.7%!"

Jin-wook high-fived Yeon-woo.

"I'd love to celebrate with a dinner tonight, but we're almost done filming, just the Saturday shoot left. We'll have a proper celebration after that."

The conference room buzzed with excitement.

Initially, Han Hae-woon tried to forget about Jeon Su-hwan due to pressure from his superiors. But how could he forget someone who appeared in his dreams every night?

"Ugh, this is worse than a first love, damn it."

"What's wrong?" Investigator Lee Hyung-ryul, noticing Prosecutor Han's unusual frustration, asked.

"Ah, Investigator Lee… Want to go for a smoke?"

"Sure."

They went outside, and Han Hae-woon smoked silently for a while before speaking. "The Chief came by the other day."

"Yes, I was wondering what that was about."

Han Hae-woon trusted and respected the veteran investigator, who had 25 years of experience, like a father, so he decided to confide in him. He omitted the part about the dreams, simply saying he had some suspicions he was looking into.

"Hmm, in cases like this…" Investigator Lee stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Prosecutor Han, when I was a rookie, back in the mid-to-late 90s, I was investigating an ordinary person, but I was stopped by my superiors."

Han Hae-woon's ears perked up.

"I found out later that the person I was investigating was an ANSP agent."

"ANSP, that's the predecessor of the…"

"Yes, the National Intelligence Service."

A sharp pain shot through Han Hae-woon's head at the mention of the NIS.

"Are you alright, Prosecutor Han?!"

"Ah, yes, I'm fine. Just a sudden headache."

Lee Hyung-ryul looked at him with concern, his voice slightly raised. "What if you collapse again like last time? You need to take it easy."

Han Hae-woon smiled at his genuine concern.

A few days passed. The only change was that new memories, not his own, started appearing in his dreams.

This time, it was a woman named 'Jung Hye-min' and a young girl who seemed to be her daughter. And other people, whose names he couldn't recall, treating him with familiarity.

These dreams recurred every night.

"Ugh, am I going crazy? But if I'm crazy, why is 'Jeon Su-hwan' a real person?" Then the other people in his dreams must be real too. But where was he supposed to start?

The weekend arrived, and as Director Kim had predicted, they were nearing the end of filming.

The second episode's ratings had increased slightly from the premiere, settling in the 9% range. The network was optimistic that if this trend continued, they could finish with ratings in the mid-10% range.

Of course, with the rise of other media platforms, viewership was becoming increasingly fragmented, and traditional TV ratings, based on sample surveys, were becoming less reliable. However, they remained the primary measure of a drama's success.

Given that JNBC, as a cable channel, typically had lower ratings than the major networks, and considering that the average premiere ratings for most dramas were in the 3-5% range, "Summer's Closet" was a huge success for the network.

Thanks to this, the atmosphere on set for the final filming was even more cheerful and excited than usual.

The drama's final scene involved Seo-joon and Yeo-reum leaving for Paris Fashion Week and Woo-joo departing for New York to study, all bidding each other farewell at the airport.

However, due to scheduling, the last scene they were filming was an earlier scene where Seo-joon, having finally made up his mind, confesses his feelings to Yeo-reum.

"Okay! Cut! That's a wrap for 'Summer's Closet'!"

The director called "cut" after filming the confession scene in a rented restaurant, with Yeo-reum tearing up at Seo-joon's heartfelt words.