Chapter 29: The Great Heat and the Duel (Part 1) (First Update)

  First update seeking recommendations~

  I tried to write a touching scene as some classmates said, but TV dramas are really hard to write. The tear-jerking points are not like movies concentrated in one or two hours, they are too scattered and can't be written freely, also need to follow the rhythm, it's been stuck for an afternoon...

  Thank you for the rewards from classmates Beifeng Qianqi and Wuyude Menchao.

  ===========

  On Monday morning, Yun Er rushed to the company before 9 o'clock. The company, which was usually less crowded at this time, had recently become increasingly lively. Many trainees would secretly leave early on Mondays and Tuesdays to come to the company, but they weren't so diligent just for practice.

  Yoon-ah, carrying her backpack and running quickly into the corridor, didn't pay attention to any of the practice rooms and headed straight for the rest room. When she arrived at the rest room, there were already many girls gathered inside, they formed a circle facing the corner where a TV was placed, the screen was tuned to KBS2 channel, the volume was turned down low and an advertisement was playing.

  "Has it started? Has it started?"

  She rushed in and sat down beside Soo-young, who had arrived earlier, without even catching her breath, Yoon-ah asked eagerly.

  Su-young, who was cracking melon seeds with Hye-ri, stared intently at the TV screen: "Not yet, soon!"

  Yuner let out a sigh of relief, "Luckily I ran fast...... Ah, I forgot to bring tissues." Xiu Ying continued to crack melon seeds by herself, pretending not to have heard.

  "I have a lot of these, here you go!" Xiu Yan, who was sitting in front of her, turned around and handed her a roll. Yoon Ah immediately smiled sweetly and said: "Sister Xiu Yan, I love you so much! Not like some sisters who are hateful."

  Xiu Ying glanced at her sideways and hummed, "You won't be smiling soon."

  "Hmph, you won't be laughing either!"

  Xiu Ying's eyes widened, just about to unleash her sharp tongue, when a girl in front suddenly turned around: "Shh, don't talk anymore, it's about to start!"

  As soon as the voice fell, a gentle and melancholic guitar sound began to enter people's ears with gradually increasing volume. The remaining buzzing whispers suddenly quieted down at the moment when the music started. On the TV screen in front of them, a faint neon red color appeared, several flower petals floated out, and the name "Sorry, I Love You" also appeared.

  This piece of music alone makes one's heart tighten, and in such sorrowful oppression, the previous episode flashed back extremely quickly, appearing in a restaurant where Wu He was eating a hamburger while En Cai sat across from him.

  "I can save Xiao Yuan... I'll transplant my heart to Xiao Yuan, but... you have to come back to me, stay by my side for the rest of my life."

  As soon as it started, I saw that familiar face on the screen, so calm yet hiding a lot of pain as he spoke to En Cai. Looking at this scene, Yun Er suddenly remembered the previous episode, in the dark room, he was holding his own skull X-ray, sitting quietly, with a familiar face, emitting a faint sense of sadness.

  It almost made her think it was real.

  But no one understood that kind of sadness. In the play, En Cai poured a whole head of milk on him, thinking he was making fun of life, and he lowered his head and smiled without refuting.

  No music accompaniment, no sentimental dialogue, just that calm smile, it's as if Yoon-ah's heart is in pain, even someone as obtuse as her can see the desolation behind that smile, just like the lines say, Cha Moo-hyuk only wants to enjoy the happiness of being with Seok-i for a little while longer, enjoy life, unfortunately no one believes it, not even Seok-i.

  "As long as I can save Xiaoyuan, I'll agree to anything you want, even sleeping with you. Just really die and transplant your heart to Xiaoyuan, I'll agree to anything."

  At night, on the street, En Cai said with a bitter tone, but didn't know that it was like a sharp knife, deeply piercing his wounded heart. He silently watched her leave, silently chewing a piece of gum, the shadow under the streetlight was desolate and thin.

  That desolate loneliness, as the plot progressed to him hiding in his quilt and crying, and then to the sunset by the sea, became even more sorrowful and diffuse. In the camera lens, his entire figure seemed to merge with the waves filled with golden fragments, in this vast and boundless, yet cold and desolate world, drifting aimlessly.

  A faint sobbing sound came from around, and there was also the sound of blowing one's nose beside her. Yun'er wiped away tears that had flowed out unknowingly, sniffled, and turned to see Xiu Ying with red eyes, with a pile of tissues already thrown on the floor.

  "Why does Jun-heok act so well? I always think it's real and can't stop crying."

  Yuner didn't respond, and she always took it as real, especially since she had occasionally seen his other side, like a wounded beast, those cold eyes that lingered in her mind would often overlap with the uncle in the play.

  She couldn't tell which one was Ahn Jun-hee and which one was Cha Moo-hyuk, as if he were "him", so she felt... her heart aching so much that she unknowingly shed tears.

  ……

  The date quickly approaches December, the crew is working hard to keep up with the schedule, and the already edited episodes continue to be broadcast. As the plot progresses, the continuous sadness has deeply trapped all the audience, and its influence also spreads as more and more audiences delve deeper into it, constantly savoring and discussing, no longer limited to the plot itself, but starting to spread in other directions.

  In the play, the big hair, headband and torn cowboy pants of Wu He Xi Ha became the ideal image of young people at that time. On the street, you can often see people wearing similar Bohemian-style clothing, and Song En Cai's colorful sweaters and scarves are also the first choice for countless girls who want to be cute. Jiang Min Zhu once briefly wore Audrey Hepburn-style wide-brimmed hats, which were picked up by ladies who yearned to be elegant like her. The classic lines in the play have become popular on the internet and are considered a synonym for another kind of romance.

  Some young couples, girls no longer call their boyfriends "older brother", but instead call them "uncle". Many women who are already more emotional, have completely aroused sympathy. When the TV series was broadcast to episode 11, they launched a signature campaign on the Internet to "help unmarried mothers and adopt orphans". This action soon spread from the internet to reality, with the help of media hype, becoming more intense than the TV series itself.

  This is another story and won't be mentioned again.

  Currently, the topic that attracts people's attention, apart from the classic lines and scenes in the plot itself, as well as the fashionable elements that are subtly revealed, is still guessing how far this drama can go. When the 10th episode was broadcast at the beginning of December, the instant ratings reached 25%, completely making the media unable to remain silent anymore. At that time, there were newspapers with the title "Dark Horse vs Dark Horse, Who Wins and Who Loses" for reporting, one of the dark horses is naturally "Sorry, I Love You", while the other dark horse refers to "The Last Dance".

  Similar to the situation of "Against", it also lacks a strong cast, and like "The Last Dance" which was heavily questioned before its broadcast, it is currently the only idol drama that has not been cut off, in the midst of a nationwide tragic storm, it strongly held on to the last line of light comedy, with ratings hovering around 21%, barely touching the hot bottom line, still dominating weekend ratings.

  Some sharp-eyed entertainment media immediately discovered this exploitable flashpoint, and a week after the broadcast of episodes 11 and 12 of "Sorry, I Love You", various major newspapers that had been prepared in advance simultaneously included "The Last Dance" in their articles commenting on the new episode's plot.

  The plot is gradually becoming clear, and director Lee Hyung-min and screenwriter Lee Kyung-hee are slowly unfolding a tragic picture in front of us with their unique calm and gentle hands. Cha Moo-hyuk's unfortunate life began from the moment he returned to Korea, and Ahn Jun-hee's performance deepened this misfortune. Even after each week's episode ended, closing my eyes, I could still see his lonely figure wandering outside the villa in the snowstorm. From a dramatic and acting perspective, "The Deal" may be the most profound and classic TV series of the year, deserving of praise. However, its final achievement might disappoint many people because under the spotlight of universal acclaim, many have overlooked another strong contender...

  “…When “Sorry, I Love You” slaughtered all the idol dramas broadcast at the same time with a tragic knife, “The Last Dance”, which was already known as a dark horse before it, showed its strong resilience. Although its ratings were also affected, after the explosion of “Sorry, I Love You”, its ratings temporarily dropped, but it did not collapse completely and instead maintained its popularity above 20%, with hopes for further improvement and a return to glory. The unique broadcast mode of weekend dramas also made its lifespan longer than that of “Sorry, I Love You”. Perhaps, in this bloody slaughter at the end of the year, “The Last Dance” will laugh all the way to the end like its name suggests, becoming the last winner…”

  This commentary, titled "Classic, Maybe Hard to Follow", published in the entertainment section of Chosun Ilbo, caused a huge stir on the internet as soon as it was posted. Many fans of the drama, who call themselves "drama junkies" because they can't escape from the plot, flooded the website of Chosun Ilbo's entertainment section and the official website of Last Dance, where the commentary was re-posted, to attack it in large numbers on the message board.

  "That idol drama that has no depth and is forgettable after watching, how can it possibly win over us? Is the screenwriter a deliberate gun-for-hire for hype?"

  "You're really overestimating yourself! Just watch, isn't it said that it's sturdy? Our butcher knives have already been raised, and we'll kill it for you to see right away!"

  "Next week will make it completely collapse, a narrow-minded guy."

  "This son of a bitch is intentionally provoking or hyping? Whatever, you succeeded and I'm furious now. Originally, I was going to watch 'The Last Dance' over the weekend to adjust my mood, but now I've decided to give it up. I hope the director of 'The Last Dance' sees this and doesn't blame me, if he does, blame this idiot who wrote this instead. Hopefully you find him and give him a brick on the head."

  ……

  Every time the page is refreshed, there are more and more comments, which is a rare phenomenon since "The Last Dance" was broadcast. However, whether it's the director or the screenwriter of the drama team, even before re-posting that comment on the official website, they indeed had the intention of hyping it up, wanting to borrow the popularity of the producer of "Sorry, I Love You", but not a single one feels happy about it.