Chapter 91: A Perfunctory First Period

Thank you all so much."Kim Jun-myeon adjusted the microphone, supporting it with one hand and holding a trophy in the other. He took a deep breath to calm his excitement before beginning his acceptanc..."Give me the share certificate, please."

Ji Jingyuan and Park Sin Hye stood together, hands clasped, pleading with Jin Ya-yeong and Lee Hui-li across from them.

Today is September 30th. They are participating in the shooting of the "Running Man" successor special. At this time, they have entered the final stage of the program's filming.

This segment of the plot involves two teams searching for someone with a 'share signature scroll' within the filming location, SBS building. Their goal is to retrieve the scroll from the other team. The winning team will be the one who collects the most scrolls in the end.

The autographs were pre-distributed by the program team to SBS artists and staff. The last one ended up in Girls' Day's hands.

"OK!"

Kim Yeong and Lee Hwi-ri looked at the two people begging, smiling and directly refused. Kim Yeong even crossed her arms over her chest with a smug look on her face, looking at Ji Kyeong-won.

Looking at the very handsome Chi Jingyuan in front of her, she felt a sense of amusement and helplessness.

After a while, Lee Kwang Soo and a few others ran over, and after another round of competition, the winner was announced. The recording of the program ended there. A few actors and the MCs of 《RM》 chatted and laughed with each other for a bit, exchanged contact information, and then said goodbye and left.

Sitting in the backseat of the nanny car, Ji Jingyuan leaned against the soft backrest and closed his eyes to rest. At the same time, he recalled the recording of today's program in his mind.

To be honest, the overall effect of the show recording today was pretty average, and he wasn't very satisfied.

This time participating in the recording of 《RM》 was arranged by SBS TV, it's for publicity for the upcoming broadcast of《The Heirs》. Over the past two years, 《RM》 has been one of the most outstanding variety shows on the peninsula in terms of viewership and buzz. It's a very good platform for promotion.

The TV drama and are both from SBS TV, so it was a natural arrangement to have this recording session. The program will air on October 6th, just three days before the TV drama airs on October 9th, making it the most suitable promotional period.

This episode was clearly a last-minute addition, and both the script and the bridge design were average. The jokes felt forced and didn't even reach the average level of RM.

The filming location was even chosen directly inside the SBS building, which shows how rushed the preparations were.

Moreover, the actors' performances were also not good. This time, the "The Heirs" cast used three people, Park Seo Joon, Kim Woo Bin, and Park Shin Hye. Besides Kim Woo Bin who seemed to have given it his all, the other two people's performances were underwhelming.

Pool Kyung-won is not very good at variety show recordings in the first place. If it were familiar EXO members, he would be more relaxed and could make some jokes, but this time he couldn't.

While Park Shin Hye does have a bit of an actress's air about her, she comes off slightly stiff on variety shows. This is a common ailment among well-known actors.

This episode's effects at most can be called an ordinary . It's also unknown how much promotional effect it will have.

…………

"Idol Athletics Meet" also aired the past two days. This time, because there are many more items added, the recording is heavier, so it's cut into two episodes, airing for two consecutive days.

While Ji Jingyuan, the only male archer participating, appeared in the upper-middle to lower section of the rankings.

This time, he still caused quite a stir, and according to the program's statistics, the viewership peaks of these two episodes of "Idol Games" were, just like before, during those few minutes when Ji Jingyuan showed his face and shot arrows.

However, the heat this time around was not as intense as the one at the beginning of the year. Although it still trended on social media, the response and discussion rate were noticeably lower.

After all, this isn't the first time. Since the beginning of the year, after the incident with Ji-won, his title as "male idol godlike visuals" has become more solidified after half a year of development, especially with EXO taking off and his popularity skyrocketing. Now, whenever online discussions about male idol visuals rankings occur, Ji-won consistently holds a top spot.

Even the black fans and trolls can't find anything to say about his appearance, they can only swallow their anger and spray other aspects.

The public's perception of his appearance has reached the highest level, and the initial stunning feeling from his first appearance is gone. Naturally, the heat has dropped considerably.

However, a significant number of people are also very interested in Chi Jingyuan's archery skills. So far, he has never missed a shot, with a 100% accuracy rate hitting the bullseye every time. Everyone who watches the show is infected by his effortless and confident demeanor when shooting arrows - even before drawing the bow, he knows he will hit the bullseye. They leave comments praising him en masse.

After this episode, the audience had another expectation for "The Idol Games," which is when Chi Jingyuan will break his 100% hit rate, and whether he can hit the target with his eyes closed.

Chi Jingyuan remained noncommittal on this.

As days go by, the TV drama is about to officially air. The atmosphere on set becomes increasingly tense as everyone anxiously awaits the culmination of their hard work.

SBS has heavily invested in promoting this major production. Every day, there are media outlets and magazines coming to interview the cast, including the director and screenwriter. As the male lead, Park Seo-joon naturally participates in promotional activities the most.

Every time they ask him a question, it's pretty much the same one. He's answered it countless times already.

Besides, he appeared on many TV shows with Park Shin Hye and Kim Woo Bin.

Everyone is under a lot of pressure, the director included, as well as the screenwriter and the actors even more so.

The Peninsula film and television industry is an incredibly competitive place, with many actors vying for a limited number of roles. Behind every role in a drama, there are untold lengths people will go to secure it.

Often, an actor who has enjoyed popularity may fade into obscurity after a flop movie or TV show and struggle to land mainstream roles again.

This drama, "The Heirs," holds great significance for the cast and crew.

Being a model turned actor like Kim Woo Bin, the starting point is not high. If he fails on the acting path, it could potentially cut his career in half.

Park Shin Hye has been doing very well in recent years. This drama is a result of her agency putting in a lot of resources to secure it, hoping she'll use this project to take her career to the next level.

Zheng Xiujing is the first time acting in a television drama. As for the other idol actors, they go without saying.

As the male lead, Park Ji-won faces even greater pressure. He is also an idol turned actor, and as the character with the most screen time, he stands to gain the most from the drama's success. However, if it flops, he will likely receive the most criticism and backlash. He's in the front line, there's no escaping it.

The crew is getting pretty nervous as the premiere date approaches. There have been quite a few minor mistakes on set these past two days, even veteran actor Park Ji-won who rarely makes mistakes during filming has been affected by this.

Luckily, the footage we shot previously was already almost enough. The delay in progress doesn't have too big of an impact.

"What are you looking at, Jingyuan"

Just now, because the atmosphere wasn't good during the shoot, the director announced a 20-minute break. Park Shin Hye took her water cup and walked to Ji Chang Wook's side. She looked at Ji Chang Wook who was bowing his head and scrolling through his phone and asked him a question.

And after Park Shin Hye, Jung So Min also followed.

Original Chinese: English Translation:

First published on the Traditional Novels Network

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like translated!ng Park Ji-hyo's phone, reading aloud, "Male idol and female idol suspected of being in love! According to our sources, EXO member Yuan and Girls’ Generation member Taeyeon were allegedly seen on a da...