lovenovelstory Chapter 86 Brother wants to steal Yoona from me? No way!
Chapter 86 Brother wants to steal Yoona from me? No way!
Chapter 86 Brother wants to steal Yoona from me? No way!
Before a TV series airs, the crew members would get together and bet on its ratings; it was an unspoken tradition within the crew.
Although it's called gambling, most of the time the stakes aren't very high.
Whether it's 10,000 won or a meal, it's often just an excuse for the production crew, who have been under too much pressure, to relax a little before the show airs.
After all, when a TV series reaches this stage of filming, everyone knows that what follows is not just the filming itself.
The premiere ratings, media response, audience reviews, and the attitude of the TV station will all be presented to the creators along with the first episode.
Especially for projects like "IRIS," which have been highly anticipated since the beginning of their preparation, the invisible pressure on set becomes more and more apparent as the premiere approaches.
Li Zhixing never expected that his gamble of a 25% premiere rating would elicit such a strong reaction from the public.
He looked at everyone with a somewhat innocent expression.
"What's wrong? Is this really that outrageous?"
"It's more than outrageous."
Kim Tae-hee leaned closer and touched Lee Ji-hyung's forehead.
"You have a fever too? Why are you talking nonsense?"
Kim So-yeon echoed in amazement, "I thought betting 20.5% was outrageous enough, but I didn't expect you to be even bolder than me."
Kim Seung-woo smiled and shook his head.
"Zhixing may have been working on film sets before, so he doesn't know much about television dramas."
"Things are different now than they were a few years ago; TV drama ratings have been declining."
"In the past, it was not uncommon for the viewership rating to reach 30%, and it was not too outrageous to reach 40%."
"There are even occasional nationally popular dramas with 50% or 60% viewership."
"But in recent years, people's entertainment options have become more diverse."
"It's already very difficult to get a viewership rating of over 30%."
"Besides, you guessed 25% for the premiere, how is that possible!"
"Indeed!"
Kim Kyu-tae said with a sigh, "Even the dramas that broke 40% this year, such as 'Queen Seondeok' and 'Brilliant Legacy,' only had a premiere viewership rating of around 16%."
"One reason they were able to break 40% viewership is that they had many episodes, giving them enough time to build up their popularity."
"If we get 25% on the premiere, I feel that even if we only have 20 episodes, we can still aim for 40%."
"Ha, impossible!"
After saying that, Kim Kyu-tae shook his head again and pointed at Lee Ji-haeng.
"Newcomers are so daring, haha."
Li Zhixing scratched his head, a rare look of embarrassment on his face.
He really hadn't studied TV ratings much.
Zheng Taiyuan couldn't help but smile, as if he were watching Li Zhixing make a fool of himself.
"So there are things you don't know, huh? You don't know what's going on at the Shui Mu Theater right now, do you?"
"In the past year, not to mention the initial ratings, even if we look at the final ratings, only two dramas have barely exceeded 20%."
"Our competitor in the same time slot, MBC's 'Heading to the Earth,' has seen its ratings drop below 5%."
"Even the Hong sisters' 'You're Beautiful' performed particularly poorly on Wednesday-Thursday dramas this time. After two episodes, the ratings were still below 10%."
"Although everyone outside says that our 'IRIS' is here to save the Wednesday-Thursday drama slot, the premiere only got 25%?"
As Zheng Taiyuan spoke, he couldn't help but laugh at himself.
"Hey, I wouldn't even dare to dream of it!"
Seeing Lee Ji-haeng's unusual embarrassment, Kim Kyu-tae couldn't help but laugh.
Then, as if he had thought of something, he said jokingly, "Zhixing, if the premiere episode really reaches 25%, I'll consider that helicopter scene you designed before."
Li Zhixing's eyes lit up, and he said with delight, "Really?"
"Of course it's true, but the ratings have to be high enough."
Kim Kyu-tae shook his head, and as he spoke, he couldn't help but laugh.
Zheng Taiyuan looked at him curiously.
"What helicopter scene?"
Kim Kyu-tae explained, "We're going to Hungary again in a few days to film. Isn't there a scene where Byung-hun and Ji-haeng are fighting over a nuclear physics expert?"
"At the time, a few of us, along with writer Xianjun, had a meeting to discuss how to make this scene exciting. Zhixing came up with a design for an action scene on a helicopter."
"Whoa!"
Everyone was stunned for a moment.
"Snatching people from a helicopter?"
Kim Tae-hee frowned and said, "Isn't this too dangerous?"
"Of course it's dangerous, so I rejected it outright."
Kim Kyu-tae shrugged: "Not only is it dangerous, but if this scene is filmed like this, who knows how long it will take, and it will also require an increase in the budget. How could Representative Jung possibly agree to that?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Zheng Taiyuan.
Zheng Taiyuan glared at him irritably.
Lee Byung-hun suddenly spoke up, his tone tinged with regret: "The scene designed by Lee Ji-haeng is very visually striking and suspenseful."
"If it can actually be filmed, the effect should be quite good."
Kim Hyun-joon nodded: "From a dramatic point of view, this design is indeed feasible."
"The struggle for nuclear physics experts is itself a fast-paced drama."
"If the robbery were to take place on a helicopter, the sense of crisis and the brilliance of the scene would be even more pronounced."
Zheng Taiyuan then realized what was going on.
But he's a producer, so he sees things from a different perspective.
Filming abroad is already fraught with difficulties, and with time so tight, it's really not advisable to add action scenes of this caliber at the last minute.
However, he knew about the scene where they snatched the expert.
The original design was indeed rather ordinary.
If only we could switch to a helicopter —
After thinking for a moment, he raised his head, a hint of amusement on his face.
"If your gamble pays off on the premiere ratings, then it might actually be worth considering."
"You can pray that the ratings announced tomorrow will be what you want."
Li Zhixing couldn't help but grin, his face showing anticipation.
"You're getting excited, you brat."
Kim Tae-hee patted him again, speechless.
"How could it possibly reach 25%? Don't you think they're just kidding you?"
Li Zhixing certainly knew what was going on, but Zheng Taiyuan's seriousness was not entirely unfounded.
He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then made a gesture as if to grab the money on the table.
"How about we change it from 25% to 15%?"
"Oh no, how is that possible!"
"No!"
"You little brat!"
Several hands pressed down on his hands at the same time.
Laughter immediately erupted around the small round table.
The pressure that had been building up in everyone's hearts because of the upcoming broadcast was largely dissipated in this burst of laughter and joking.
The film crew wrapped up work earlier than usual today.
It's said to be a little earlier, but it's only two or three hours earlier than the usual midnight rush hour.
By the time Li Zhixing returned to his home in Fangbeidong, it was almost 9:30.
"IRIS" is a Wednesday-Thursday drama on KBS2TV, which airs at 9:55 pm. Judging by the time, there's not much time left before it starts airing.
At this moment, Grandma, Ji-eun, and Jong-hoon were already sitting in a row on the sofa, and the TV had been tuned to KBS2TV.
Ji-eun waved to Lee Ji-hsing, who had just entered the house.
"Oppa, come sit down, it's about to start."
"Brother, Grandma even bought you fried chicken. Let's eat fried chicken while watching your show."
Lee Jong-hoon shook the box of fried chicken on the coffee table, his mouth already smeared with oil.
Li Zhixing glared at him.
"You're making up another excuse to get Grandma to buy you fried chicken!"
He then quickly washed his face and changed into comfortable pajamas.
Then I sat in my rocking chair and waited to watch the premiere of "IRIS".
Ji-eun slid off the sofa and ran behind the rocking chair to massage his head.
"Oppa, are you tired?"
"Thank goodness, thank goodness, I don't have many scenes to film today."
Li Zhixing squinted comfortably.
Ji-eun's technique for pressing her head down is getting better and better.
Just then, Li Zhixing's phone suddenly rang.
He answered the phone without even opening his eyes.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Oppa, you don't even remember me—"
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Li Zhixing felt his head starting to hurt again.
"Lim Yoona, what are you doing now?"
Zhi'en, who was massaging Li Zhixing's temples behind him, instantly looked at her phone and unconsciously increased the pressure on her hands.
Li Zhixing's brow twitched as she was pressed, and he looked at her with a puzzled expression.
Yoona continued talking.
"Oppa, I'm at home waiting to watch the premiere of 'IRIS' to support you! Aren't I awesome?"
"Yes, yes, thank you. Bye."
"Oppa, wait! Don't hang up!"
"What now?"
"My unnie, my dear unnie, she's a fan of oppa. How about I take her to meet you in a few days?"
I could vaguely hear another woman urging me on the other end of the phone.
Li Zhixing instinctively wanted to refuse.
Yoona continued to plead with him, "She really likes you. She went to see the show many times during the 'Haeundae' performance and watched the movie six or seven times. Oppa, please meet her."
Ji-eun has stopped forcing her head down.
She had her ear close to the phone, her eyes dangerous, and her teeth grinding slightly.
Yoona, why are you pushing your luck? There's no way you're a fan, Yoona.
I should have said something harsher back then.
Li Zhixing also had a bit of a toothache.
He wanted to refuse, but Yoona would definitely keep bothering him until she got what she wanted.
Moreover, he's attended many of the stage greeting shows, so he must be a true fan, right?
"Okay, let's set a time then."
"I'm hanging up."
Then, ignoring what Yoona was about to say on the other end of the phone, he decisively turned off his phone.
Seeing that Li Zhixing had hung up the phone, Zhi'en was about to ask something when she heard Li Zhongxun let out a wail and lunge at her.
"Brother? Im Yoona? Yoona noona?"
Li Zhixing impatiently pushed his face away.
"Yes, yes, I'm telling you, I'm not going to help you get the signature—"
"Brother, how could you steal my brother's girlfriend?"
"what?"
Everyone in the room looked at Lee Jong-hoon, whose expression was exaggerated.
Even Grandma looked over, showing interest.
Ji-eun squinted at him.
"Lee Jong-hoon, what did you say?"
Lee Jong-hoon said innocently, "Hyung knows perfectly well that I like Yoona the most."
"They were chatting so intimately on the phone just now, they must have known each other for a long time. They didn't tell me, they must be worried that I would compete with them."
"ha."
Ji-eun was so angry she laughed.
"Who gave you such confidence, my stupid, ugly little brother?"
Li Zhixing pinched and tugged at Li Zhongxun's increasingly chubby face.
"Just tell me what you want, or I'll beat you up."
"hey-hey."
Lee Jong-hoon, with a shameless grin, leaned closer and said, "Hyung, I'll let you have Yoona, but how about you buy me some fried chicken too?"
Li Zhixing was stunned.
Then he looked at the fried chicken box and chicken bones on the coffee table.
"Lee Jong-hoon".
"You ate the whole box of fried chicken?"