Chapter 100:
Chapter 100
“This dress is so popular these days, with its shoulder line and low back. Do you know how hard it was for me to get this one from Versace’s special F/W collection? I ran around Cheongdam-dong until my feet were soaked with sweat to get this.”
Seo Min-hye was trying to put on the dress while taking a deep breath.
‘Is this really made for adults to wear?’
Seo Min-hye was one of the actresses with the slimmest figure. But even she felt her chest being squeezed by the tightness of the dress.
Her face turned red. If the stitches burst even a little bit, it would be a huge disaster.
She might have to pay millions of won for the dress if that happened.
“Mi-seon, are you sure this is really made to be worn? Did you bring me a dress that only a mannequin can wear? How am I supposed to walk around in this? If I take one step, it feels like it’s going to explode. Hey, every time I talk, my chest feels tight. I can barely speak right now.”
“Unni, you have to wear this dress no matter what. This is the only thing that will make you the best-dressed of the night. Why are you refusing it? Besides, where are you going this time? You have to show your perfect self at times like this. Just lose 1kg, no, 2kg by the day of the awards ceremony.”
“Ugh! It’s easy for you to say. It’s not your body.”
The stylist was so passionate for a simple reason.
Actress Seo Min-hye was chosen as the MC for the Blue Dragon Film Awards.
As it was every year, the actresses’ dresses always attracted the public’s attention.
Especially the MC.
She had to keep the viewers’ eyes on her throughout the show.
The stylist couldn’t stand to see her actress wearing a shabby dress in front of the public.
“By the way, unni. I heard that Jang Young-guk is coming to the awards ceremony too.”
“Of course he is, he swept the box office this year. The guide script for the ceremony is more than half about The Priest’s Confession. There are already a lot of people betting on how many awards he’ll get. Are you interested? Do you want me to get you an autograph?”
“Really? Don’t even ask. Oh, I should have been your stylist since last year. Then I could have seen Jang Young-guk in person at the Youth filming site. But is that rumor true about Jang Young-guk?”
“What rumor?”
“The rumor that he likes men.”
Seo Min-hye almost burst out laughing without realizing it. But thanks to the dress that was pressing on her chest, she couldn’t even chuckle.
There was a saying that becoming a famous actor meant becoming a product of rumors.
Like worms in a fruit, all kinds of rumors followed them.
What can you do, there were a lot of actresses who admired Jang Young-guk.
“Do you want to keep talking nonsense, or stop?”
Just as she was about to take off the dress.
“Min-hye!”
The door opened.
It was Song Jeong-min, Seo Min-hye’s manager.
He came to talk to her about her schedule and opened his mouth wide.
No wonder, Seo Min-hye looked so beautiful in the dress.
At that moment, Seo Min-hye was also startled by the sudden appearance of Song and let out the breath she was holding.
And then.
Thud.
“…!”
The stylist’s pupils shook violently as if there was an earthquake.
The dress had finally ripped.
***
Yeonsan, The King’s Secret.
The scene of the drama’s script reading was already filled with countless reporters.
The atmosphere was as hot as the upcoming Blue Dragon Film Awards.
It was because of the next work of Jang Young-guk, the actor who was receiving the attention of the mass media.
Among them, there was also Kwak Myeong-hwan, a middle-aged reporter who always wrote favorable articles about Jang.
‘How will they portray him?’
He couldn’t help but be curious. Historical dramas were already a widely known medium to the public.
There were dramas that dealt with the stories of the Joseon Dynasty, and even the Three Kingdoms period. But there had never been a drama that made Yeon-san-gun the subject, so it was quite anticipated.
‘Because it’s dangerous.’
He was the worst tyrant in the history of the Joseon dynasty.
They say history belongs to the victors, but even so, the atrocities of King Yeonsan recorded in the annals are too horrific to utter.
He was sexually depraved, of course, and he brutally killed his stepmothers and even made his grandmother ill.
He was also the one who killed his loyal minister Kim Cheo-seon, who never stopped giving him advice until the end.
He even ordered everyone in the eight provinces of Joseon who had the name Kim Cheo-seon to change their names.
“Fusion sageuk, what the hell does that mean?”
“It means adding fiction to the history that was recorded in reality. I heard a rumor that Jang Young-guk is playing two roles. I don’t know if this will pass the broadcasting commission’s review. They’ll say it’s distorting history.”
“Come on, the broadcasting commission is not that inflexible.”
“Don’t you remember the drama about the Fifth Republic incident that got banned? They even censor the history that actually happened, depending on the regime. How can you make up history that never happened? I don’t think this is right. MBS is gambling. What is fusion sageuk? I’ve never heard of such a word in my life. And why is the script reading content embargoed today? Is it such an important scene?”
“Hey, it’s not like the atmosphere is embargoed. Anyway, I wonder if MBS can beat KBC this time. It looks like a sparrow trying to follow a swan and tearing its crotch.”
It was an era when traditional sageuk based on history was the mainstream.
The word fusion sageuk that MBS chose was bound to be unfamiliar.
After all, sageuk was supposed to reconstruct the images according to the historical evidence.
‘He chooses the hard way instead of the easy way.’
Reporter Kwak Myung-hwan smiled faintly as he thought of actor Jang Young-guk.
When he got the title of national first love through the drama Youth, he thought he was a teen star who captivated women’s hearts. But his actions were different from ordinary actors.
He starred in a commercial film by a director who was no different from a nobody, and his role was a priest who committed murder.
And then he went to the Korean Theater Festival. Somehow, he felt.
‘King Yeonsan.’
He was already looking forward to Jang Young-guk’s appearance.
Would he be like an empty cart that makes a lot of noise, or a famous restaurant that has nothing to eat? Or would he break everyone’s expectations and cause another syndrome in Korea?
The reporters’ murmurs grew louder.
The actors arrived one after another for the script reading.
***
“Park sunbae?”
Young-guk found an unexpected actor at the script reading site.
It was the time when the schedule was confirmed and the casting of the actors was completed.
It was the first time that all the actors gathered.
Among them, Park Sang-chul’s appearance was surprising.
Wasn’t he the actor who had an argument with him at the previous Korean Theater Festival?
He said he would never leave the theater stage.
Park Sang-chul deliberately avoided Young-guk’s gaze.
Of course, he must have been embarrassed by what he had said.
Young-guk also knew his feelings and did not bother him any more.
Was the theater stage too hard?
No matter how famous a theater actor he was, if the audience did not come, his pocket situation would be similar to that of the youngest in the troupe.
“Since everyone is here, I’ll start with the introduction. I’m PD Yoo Myung-han, who will be directing the drama ‘Yeonsan, the King’s Secret’. I will do my best to direct without causing trouble to the actors who trusted me and followed me, and to the writer Choi who wrote the drama script.”
The introduction began with PD Yoo Myung-han.
After writer Choi Eun-sook, the actors introduced themselves based on their careers.
There were many elderly actors who were well-known even if they named their names among the supporting actors.
That was because there were many actors with experience in the genre of sageuk.
Soon, Park Sang-chul stood up from his seat.
“I’m Park Sang-chul, who plays the role of Hwangwan Kim Cheo-seon. I’m a guy who only ate on the theater stage, so this is my first drama. But I’ll do my best to act without causing trouble to the senior and junior actors.”
After Park Sang-chul’s brief introduction, Cha Hye-jin, who had thick red lips, stood up from her seat.
Her white skin, which was visible between her long hair that reached her waist, was unusually bright as if she had put on makeup.
“I’m Cha Hye-jin, who plays the role of Jang Nok-su. I’m honored to meet the director and the writer, and the senior actors whom I respect. I’ll try to be the best femme fatale like Jang Nok-su, who treated King Yeonsan like a baby.”
As she finished her greeting, Cha Hye-jin looked at Young-guk. Was she already starting to act?
Her eyes were more than seductive, they were blatant.
Finally, Young-guk, who had the shortest acting career, stood up from his seat.
PD Yoo Myung-han and writer Choi Eun-sook, as well as the senior actors, focused their attention on him.
“I’m Jang Young-guk, who plays the lead role in ‘Yeonsan, the King’s Secret’. One day, PD Yoo came to me and asked me. He said I had to play two roles. So I asked him what if I go crazy while acting.”
PD Yoo, who was sitting in the front seat, opened his eyes wide. He seemed to ask if he was really going to say that here. But Young-guk didn’t care and added.
“So he said,
‘You’d be better off crazy.’
That’s what they say, right? Since I’m playing two characters with different personalities, Eyun and Egyul, I can be unpredictable at times. I hope the seniors will understand that.”
The script reading room bursts into laughter at Young-guk’s sudden wit.
***
King Yeonsan.
“Let’s start from episode 17, scene number 77.”
The script reading room is filled with astonishment at Choi Eunsuk’s shout.
Didn’t they say the production was planned for 20 episodes?
The reporters look around, wondering if they heard it right. But the famous PD sitting on the podium doesn’t change his expression.
That means the script for the latter half of the episodes has been completed.
‘So that’s why it was embargoed.’
Wasn’t there a directive to embargo the content of the script revealed in the script reading room?
Who would have thought that the script for the latter half of the episodes would be ready before the production.
The reporters’ eyes are mixed with surprise and tension.
The first one to break the silence is Park Sangcheol, who plays Kim Cheoseon.
“Your Majesty, how could you do such a cruel and ruthless thing, when you were supposed to be a wise ruler who would save the country. I doubt you are the same person I knew.”
Kim Cheoseon, the eunuch who served four kings from Sejo to Yeonsan.
He was certain that Yeonsan Eyun was different from birth.
He had seen many royal family members, but he never doubted that Eyun would be a virtuous king.
He was such an extraordinary crown prince.
Especially when he gave up his royal power and took over the throne in the early days of his reign, he didn’t he pursue a benevolent politics for the people. But the king changed overnight.
As if he was a different person. Then Young-guk, who plays Yeonsan, opens his lips.
“Your tongue reaches the sky, eunuch. It tickles my ears.”
It’s a shocking statement.
The ministers hold their breath and watch the scene. But Kim Cheoseon doesn’t back down.
He is old and frail, but he doesn’t spare his words for the last time.
“I may be a eunuch, but I have served four kings. Your Majesty was as brilliant as the previous kings. Even when you ascended the throne in place of the previous king, you were not like this. What made you change so much? Stop being wrapped up in the skirt of Jang Noksu, the greatest seductress of the era, and open your eyes and look around. Don’t you see the people who are dying of fear and hunger?”
“A great seductress, why do you call her that? Noksu is nothing but a toy that I play with. Do you think I changed like this because of a mere woman?”
“I, Kim Cheoseon, will speak even if my tongue is cut off. I beg you, Your Majesty, the father of the people, to open your eyes and set the world right. Please return to your old self and become a virtuous king again.”
The ministers are trembling with fear.
They know Kim Cheoseon’s words are not wrong, but none of them can add to his words.
If they do, they might lose their heads.
How dare they insult him in front of the king, their clan might be exterminated.
It was then.
“Hahaha.”
Yeonsan’s lips curl slightly. And his cheeks twitch.
“There are loyal subjects like you among the officials. Look at those cowards. None of them stand up like you. In this world where traitors abound even if I bring women from all over the country and make a brothel called Heungcheong, there is nothing to fear. I broke the foundation that the previous king made and pushed the blade to those who are tied by the name of blood. Who can stop me from committing such a crime? If I were a normal king, I would have been moved by your words. But Cheoseon, your words were wrong from the start.”
Yeonsan pulls out a sword from the scabbard of his casual clothes and presses it against Kim Cheoseon’s neck.
The ministers close their eyes tightly.
They are afraid that the tip of the sword might point to their necks. But even in that moment, Kim Cheoseon doesn’t lose his clear eyes and faces Yeonsan. Then Yeonsan brings his mouth to Kim Cheoseon’s ear.
“You asked me to return to my old self. But what can I do? I am not the Yeonsan you knew.”
Kim Cheoseon’s eyes widen at the small voice that follows.
“I am not Yeonsan.”
Then he sees Yeonsan’s face clearly.
He looks exactly the same, but the position of the freckles on his face is slightly different.
Why did he realize that fact only now? But it was too late.
Yeonsan’s sword cut off Kim Cheoseon’s tongue.
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