Nam Hyun-ho was also one of the parties in the bet, but no one paid him any attention.
Not me, nor Heavenly Yuah or Moon Suyeon, either.
After all, our drama had already broken through 15% in the mid-season, hadn’t it?
By the end, we were even aiming for 20%.
15% alone equals about six million viewers, and no one thought ‘Brothers’ could possibly surpass that number—it wasn’t a blockbuster, after all.
Let alone 20%, which would equate to an astonishing eight million viewers.
In this day and age, eight million? Honestly, it was an unfathomable figure.
All three works were pushing hard toward the finish line, shooting on a tight schedule, but even so, it was clear Brothers wasn’t serious competition. Who could possibly have the leisure to worry about their box office numbers?
But then, the unimaginable happened.
Brothers ended up surpassing nine million viewers.
I had vaguely seen some articles saying things were going decently well, but now that this had happened, all I could do was let out forced laughter.
This was such an absurd thing that I decided to delve into the backstory a little, and honestly, it was even stranger on the inside.
Firstly, Brothers was a bromance movie starring Nam Hyun-ho and Hoesung, with a story about two men who grew up like brothers in the same facility and become boxing rivals, eventually facing off in a title match.
Set against the backdrop of the 80s-90s, which were the golden ages for Korean boxing, the film really struck a chord with middle-aged audiences by invoking nostalgia.
Yet something else funny happened: Korea had suddenly seen the rise of a decent boxing star after a very long hiatus, generating a surge in public interest in boxing.
In particular, this was a heavyweight star, which was unprecedented in Korea up to that point.
Though boxing isn’t as popular in Korea as it once was, it still remains a favorite sport in parts of the world.
Koreans tend to cheer on sports stars who succeed overseas, and this revival of interest in boxing provided the perfect momentum for Brothers to achieve even better-than-expected results.
Moreover, Brothers had excellent competition.
Its biggest rival was a live-action adaptation of a world-renowned anime, heavily marketed for the end-of-year rush and allocated a large number of screens in cinemas.
However, this film was mired in controversy due to ‘political correctness,’ even casting a black actress as the European princess character, sparking turmoil both internationally and domestically. The film’s distributors seemed to have completely missed the mark.
Our young ones’ sense of wonder was shattered by the sudden appearance of a dark-skinned princess. Due to the poor showing by their competition, Brothers was able to skyrocket to success.
Of course, this industry is unpredictable, but Nam Hyun-ho was unreasonably lucky.
“Is this… ‘that’ Brothers you’re referring to?”
Curious about how Nam Hyun-ho’s film managed to surpass nine million viewers, I went to watch it myself. I hadn’t seen it before, having just heard about it, remembering vaguely that it had tanked due to the director’s outrageous behavior, but now I wanted to know more.
Not just me—Heavenly Yuah and Moon Suyeon came along when they heard I was going to the theater.
Moon Suyeon, in particular, was dead serious, acting like the provisional winner of the bet, trying to find loopholes to invalidate Nam Hyun-ho’s involvement in the wager. Meanwhile, Heavenly Yuah, being pragmatic, likely believed Nam Hyun-ho winning would be better than Moon Suyeon, and thus was on the opposite side. It was amusing how these two were taking completely different stances.
“…This is more entertaining than I expected.”
“Yes, it is. So, the director of this film…”
“Isn’t it Director Nam Hyun-a?”
“Ah, Director Nam Hyun-a.”
“Oh, you know her?”
“Yes, she’s a young director who won an award at Sundance.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“Nam Hyun-a, Nam Hyun-ho. They could possibly be family, right?”
“I suppose they could be.”
The name sounded familiar, like Nan Hyun-a of Changcheon.
Had they hastily searched and ended up turning to family relations for a director at the last minute?
It was hilarious to see that Changcheon Princess has become a promising film director, and also to commend Nam Hyun-ho’s persistence in asking his twin sister for help. I wouldn’t have done it, but apparently, he did.
“Wow, I didn’t know Senior Nam Hyun-ho had such family connections. The visual quality was pretty impressive, which indicates significant talent.”
“Winning awards at film festivals makes a difference. She is undoubtedly impressive. What do you think, Siwoo? You’re a film festival-winning director yourself.”
“This director’s skills have been somewhat proven. I trust her more than a completely unknown director.”
“Really?”
“Except for Director Sun Juhong.”
“…Why exclude Director Sun?”
“Because she always… well, never mind. Since Senior Nam won this bet, we need to discuss the next project with them. So, Senior Suyeon, please keep Director Sun Juhong in mind.”
“…Tsk.”
Subtly recommending Sun Juhong while bringing up film festivals? Moon Suyeon is quite something.
Thinking about it now, it’s lucky Nam Hyun-ho won the bet. If Moon Suyeon had won, she likely would have insisted on meeting with Director Sun Juhong tomorrow to start filming Dark Lady soon after.
Yes, I should seize this opportunity and ensure a commitment to cast other actors in the next project.
“So, the production for Dark Lady hasn’t started yet? If Director Sun Juhong’s involved, there should be some promising actors in mind, right?”
“Director Sun doesn’t just grab anyone. He approached me because this project and my image fit well together.”
“Ah… Is that so? Then you should look for a different male lead.”
“Hmph, if not for Siwoo, I wouldn’t do such a project. Director Sun said if not for me, this project would be shelved. We’ll discuss it later.”
“…Okay, I suppose.”
This situation is stickier than I anticipated.
To be honest, Dark Lady’s female lead fits Moon Suyeon perfectly, in my opinion.
It makes sense why Director Sun emphasized this so much.
The content itself isn’t entirely bad; if the gratuitous, context-less sex scenes were removed, the film might actually be decent. However, those sex scenes are Director Sun’s biggest allure, so there’s no way they’ll be taken out.
Watching Moon Suyeon refuse to give up on Dark Lady even after losing the wager reminded me to remain vigilant.
“In any case, the bet ultimately ended in Senior Nam Hyun-ho’s victory.”
“…That’s true. It’s such a disheartening event. What have I…?”
“Senior Yuah has her own gains, hasn’t she? Her cameo performance was the most acclaimed.”
“I’m still just breaking even at best. This isn’t what I wanted.”
“If I had known the victory would slip away like this…”
“Better to push hard on one side, wouldn’t you say?”
“Nine million, right? That’s a rating of 22.5%, isn’t it? Even if it hit ten million, that’s still 25%.”
“If we had pushed one side, wouldn’t it have reached 30%?”
“It might have been possible…”
From a drama perspective, the results were very good.
However, for the two of them, it’s complicated.
With her flawless performances in roles like alien characters and even singing (which, realistically, wasn’t actual acting), Heavenly Yuah was receiving high praise as the heavenly Yuah. Moon Suyeon too, though she has significant personal recognition, has solidified her reputation as an actress through this drama, especially when she sang “House on an Island” at the beach where her character’s ashes were scattered before her death in the final episode, garnering widespread acclaim.
Yet something feels a bit off; Heavenly Yuah has long been considered a deity of acting, and Moon Suyeon’s primary expertise lies in stage performance rather than film, making their situations somewhat ambiguous.
“Ultimately, the biggest beneficiary of this event is our little one?”
Our talented little one somehow wants to shoot an apartment commercial with Moon Suyeon. It’s possible, considering how much their recognition has grown compared to before.
And there is another beneficiary, Tae-kyu?
“As for him… just don’t think about it. He’ll figure things out on his own.”
In any case, the winner of the bet is Nam Hyun-ho, so the next steps must be discussed with him.
Hopefully, this person doesn’t come forward with any strange ideas again.
Honestly, I don’t know about other things, but I really hope there’s no unnecessary focus on gay themes again.
*
Brothers ended up gathering 9.96 million viewers, solidifying the end of our bet.
The winner: Nam Hyun-ho.
The slight shortfall from ten million seemed truly regrettable for him.
You really feel the difficulty of making a ten million viewer movie in this era.
Nam Hyun-ho mentioned he would give more thought to his next project.
“Anyway, I’ll consult. I’m not that unreasonable a person.”
“…Is there something?”
“No, why are you saying that? I even asked you during the filming of Brothers.”
“…Is that so?”
“Raising the tone there… never mind. Anyway, I’ll be in a rest period for a while, so let’s discuss projects later. If there’s anything else, feel free to jump into other projects in the meantime.”
Nam Hyun-ho was surprisingly generous.
Just deciding to work with me on the next project seems to satisfy him greatly.
Especially because he even suggested it’s fine to take on other projects during the hiatus, his approach contrasts significantly with the two odd ones who worked without regard for others’ opinions.
“Of course, I plan to rest first.”
Even if the first work was good, I’m also quite drained after working on “Gold Rush: Joseon” and “Restaurant Promo” back-to-back.
Especially “Restaurant Promo”—it was almost like a warzone.
Even aside from the last-minute scripts, the shooting conditions were incredibly demanding, and the story?…
It went over to the extreme melodrama because I wanted it to, but when I think about Writer Ok’s melodramatic story now, it makes me dizzy.
Seeing Writer Ok, who’s over fifty, summon an entire space battleship, made me wonder if this person may have been born in the wrong era and setting.
Perhaps this person should have ventured into Hollywood.
As all actors entered their rest periods and the company became quiet, it was evident that even someone as hardworking as Heavenly Yuah needs recuperation. Moon Suyeon also seems to be cooling down, but the fact that the two of them have been spending more time together lately is slightly concerning.
Though as the bet’s victor is Nam Hyun-ho, I doubt there will be significant threats anytime soon.
“Fan event support?”
“Yes, Ms. Yuah holds a fan event around this time every year. She requested that Mr. Siwoo assist.”
“Why are you delivering this message, Team Leader Seo? Where is Senior Yuah?”
“Ah, it’s a public schedule, so the company asked me to relay the message. If it’s official, I should know, right?”
“Hmm… I see.”
How many days had I rested?
A request came through from Heavenly Yuah’s side asking for support in the fan meeting.
With the scale of Ms. Yuah’s fan meetings, it’s not unusual for guest appearances to occur.
Support for the fan event.
There’s really no reason to refuse such a request, and it would allow me to reach out to other actors later.
Thinking it didn’t involve anything special, I decided to immediately accept.
