Season 2: Chapter 30. The Misunderstanding That Came to Light (2)
Rain unexpectedly fell in the dead of winter. It felt like they were watching the Olympics at the Ahsung headquarters.
"Wow! Another hit!?"
"Oh!"
"Gosh, but why did he shoot so fast?!"
Every Korean citizen watched an archery match during the Olympics at least once. It would probably be boring if they watched it every day, but archery was fun when occasionally watched.
Whiz!
Although it wasn't the Olympics, the sight of Sang-Hyeon eagerly shooting perfect tens felt thrilling. They inevitably cheered, especially with a familiar face perfectly dominating the competition.
"Woooo!"
"Wow! What!?"
"This guy is crazy! Huh? He isn’t doing this just as a hobby. That’s for sure!"
Even the reserved Ah-Sung employees reacted in such a way. The chat messages were even more overwhelming even after the PD edited and uploaded the most relevant ones.
— Wow, amazing.
— Isn’t this an X-ten or something?
— All 10 points, holy shit.
— The speed at which he shoots is no joke.
— The person next to him must feel so outdone. He doesn't even take a second to shoot.
The hosts were also full of admiration.
“Wow. Perfect tens? That’s impressive.”
“Wow... is this true? Is this following the same rules as the Olympics?”
“OMG.”
The Ahsung employees asked the same questions.
"Is this the same as Olympic rules?"
"Isn't it an amateur competition?"
"It's still impressive."
They didn't know this was the national championship because they started watching the video midway. Someone who had been watching from the beginning explained. It was the team leader who originally played the video.
"Hey, this is a championship league. It's not just an amateur competition. Isn't he about to win gold?"
"Gosh. Is it the finals?"
"Yes, it's the finals. Look."
The team leader pointed to the video where Sang-Hyeon emotionlessly received the gold medal on the podium.
"I've heard the national championship league is tougher than winning the Olympics..."
"If he wins this, isn't it almost certain he'll win at the Olympics?"
"The current men's archery isn't necessarily so, but... he'll definitely get a military exemption."
"Speaking of which, didn't Mr. Yu say he hadn't done his military service?"
"Yes... why did an Olympic medalist come to our company?"
"Why indeed... especially getting here using connections..."
While the employees exchanged puzzled looks, the screen changed to an interview.
“You've set an incredible record! How do you feel right now?”
The camera shook and the video blurred for a moment. Many people crowded around Sang-Hyeon and pushed the cameraman. Everyone asked him several interview questions, but Sang-Hyeon only answered one about his future goal.
“My only goal is to win the Olympics.”
His casual tone, straight gaze, and handsome looks made the scene quite impactful. Everyone in the video fell silent for a moment.
The hosts on the show also remained unusually quiet. Then, the video turned off. The screen briefly went black and a silence followed as if in tribute.
The dark screen slowly lit up again and a vividly decorated talk show set appeared.
The employees began talking again.
"Oh? Isn’t this Evening Wide?"
"Do you know what this is?"
"Yeah. It's a show that features trending people, right? Amazing, so Sang-Hyeon appeared on this show?”
The employees who gathered later to watch now realized it was the Evening Wide show.
“I knew it. I could hear Kim True’s voice.”
“Wow, Mr. Yu has really good looks.”
“Guys, aren’t you going back to work?”
The team leader eventually asked his members, who seemed to have no intention of leaving their desks and continuously cheered on Sang-Hyeon.
“Wait, why? Let’s watch it together!”
“It’s our break time.”
“Hmph.”
The team leader shrugged and turned back to the screen.
"Then let's keep it down. Our Seo-Rin is talking now."
The employees only gave a perfunctory nod.
“You shot the arrows faster than others. It was the first time I've seen such a thing. Is there a reason for this?”
“Uh... just... um... should I shoot slower?”
Laughter erupted among the panels. The employees laughed as well.
“Pfft!”
"Argh!"
"He’s the same. Exactly the same."
"Does he always act like this even over there?"
Yu Sang-Hyeon's unique way of speaking was even more famous in the company, but it wasn't particularly helpful at the company. It seemed to be well-received on the show.
Han Min-Gu sensed the humorous moment and played along.
“No, Seo-Rin~! He shoots quickly because he can! Would you ask why we finished filming so quickly if we did?”
Laughter filled the employee break room again.
"Oh, Han Min-Gu is really funny."
"He's always on air for a reason!"
"That facial expression is amazing. He really looks frustrated."
Han Min-Gu was indeed a big shot on Evening Wide. SCB evidently wanted to promote this talk show with frequent mentions of casting him.
Han Min-Gu smoothly transitioned to the next topic, “Anyway, Almond. You shot your arrows very quickly and accurately.”
"Almond?"
"Almond is his nickname?"
"They said he’s a streamer."
"Oh..."
The employees murmured the name Almond while the screen shifted to Sang-Hyeon.
“Um... but you quit archery all of a sudden and didn't go to the Olympics. You retired at a very young age.”
Sang-Hyeon's expression noticeably darkened. The employees also grew curious about this and all leaned in toward the screen.
“Why did you retire?”
***
"PD, the reactions are good right now, aren't they?"
The staff seemed happy to see positive reactions in the chat. The results were turning out good.
"Yeah, that's right."
PD Jang, however, didn't show any signs of being pleased. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and kept mumbling.
"Yeah, yeah."
He seemed anxious.
'We need to keep rising.'
He got lucky this time and the head director approved his editing direction, but he wondered how long this luck would last.
'I don’t know if it’s gonna be this easy next time as well.'
PD Jang wanted to prove that his editing direction was right. That he was doing the right thing. To do that, he needed a higher number of viewers and reactions.
"It’s increasing."
The viewer graph kept rising as if reflecting his hopes, indicating that the initial viewers stayed and continued watching the show. A significant increase occurred especially during Almond's story segment.
— Lol, shooting faster, what? Lol!
— LMAO
— Poor Seo-Rin
The viewers also reacted well in the chat of the edited version. It wasn't live, but there were many chat messages from all the viewers currently watching the show.
[Current Viewers: 316,000]
From SCB's perspective, these numbers were significantly high. If the edited version had this much firepower, they could expect up to two or three million cumulative views for their planned YouTube short videos.
'It's similar to the viewership of the LIL competition.'
PD Jang had checked the viewership of Almond's previous LIL competition to gauge the success of this show. While there was a significant difference compared to the finals, it was similar to the viewership of regular games. The LIL competition was a huge event with many participants, whereas a talk show had a set stage and fixed panels with new guests each week, making it a very efficient format.
"Ads. Check the ad clicks," PD Jang briefly instructed in the same stooped posture.
"The ad clicks are also high right now. The cosmetics ad is naturally high, but there are also many clicks on the ad from Divers."
"The percentage of male viewers in their twenties has increased. The number of female viewers hasn’t decreased at all. It just seems more men have joined."
The viewers’ gender distribution was quite balanced. This meant they were gaining mainstream appeal. This would also free them from the pressure to focus on idol-centric edits.
At last, the talk show began to wind down.
The hosts asked Sang-Hyeon why he retired from archery.
"Whew..." PD Jang finally took a deep breath. He placed his hands on the shoulders of two staff members and whispered, "I think... I pulled it off, right?"
The viewer count had hit its climax.
***
“Did you have a reason for retiring?”
Sang-Hyeon took a deep breath on the screen.
The viewers, as well as the Ahsung employees, could easily guess there was a long story behind it.
"Retirement? He didn’t end up going to the Olympics?"
"That's why he was here."
"Why did he retire?"
"Oh..."
Colleagues from the same team as Sang-Hyeon quickly realized.
"What is it?"
"Mr. Yu... it seems his right hand was always uncomfortable."
"Right hand?"
"Yes... Could it be because of that?"
The team leader sighed, "... Sigh. Was it because of that?"
He had a rough idea about Sang-Hyeon’s right hand. Sang-Hyeon typed much slower than others. That was why he didn't give Sang-Hyeon much typing work.
To be honest, typing wasn't the only issue for Sang-Hyeon. He had a different background from others at the company and his common knowledge was at a different level. In the end, he couldn't fit in.
The team leader initially thought Sang-Hyeon was a spoiled rich kid, but...
'The more I saw him, the less it seemed so.'
It was hard for the team leader to know since Sang-Hyeon didn’t talk much about himself, but he just felt that way.
"Wow. It's really about his right hand!" one of the employees exclaimed.
“Were you a victim in that incident? I was in charge of reporting on it.”
“Yes. After that, my right arm... It's usable for daily life, but I developed symptoms like hand tremors.”
On the screen, Sang-Hyeon explained his accident that happened not long after the competition.
Afterward, Sang-Hyeon briefly spoke about his life, the story of struggling with his grandmother, trying hard to rehabilitate until reaching a limit...
"Wait. I thought he was well off?!"
"... What?"
"It's just a rumor."
"I heard that rumor was just a rumor."
"Didn’t he get the job through connections?"
"Not everyone who gets through connections is rich. Well... whether he’s well off or not, it's still connections."
Then, the story moved to him joining Ahsung Corporation.
"Oh. They're talking about Ahsung now."
"Wait, he's talking about that? Even though he got the job using connections?"
"Exactly..."
The employees didn't look pleased. They sacrificed their lives to join this company. After putting in immense effort to get hired, they faced daily scrutiny. They didn’t kindly view someone who seemed to have landed a job easily due to connections, even if he had an unfortunate past.
However...
“Oh... you entered through a disability quota, but people thought it was through connections...”
“Yes, the team leader asked me what would be better. To be known as disabled or getting through with connections. I thought getting through with connections was better.”
The truth was quite different from what they knew.
A brief silence followed.
"... What is this?"
Someone broke the silence and it became noisy again.
"Is.. is that true?"
"HR details are confidential... So I guess it's possible..."
"Isn’t he lying?"
Some speculated that Sang-Hyeon was lying, but that seemed unlikely.
"Would he really be lying about such a thing on TV?"
"No. Wait, he really has a disability, right?"
"Wow..."
"I mean, he could lie about that to not reveal he used connections!!"
"Then he wouldn't even mention Ahsung!"
"Why would he tarnish Ahsung's image!"
It didn't make sense. Or maybe it did. Opinions flew back and forth.
The team leader concluded, "It's probably true."
He looked out of the window as if he couldn't watch anymore.
"Is it real? Why would Director Park lie about him using connections?"
The team leader looked at the employee who asked.
"What do you mean why?"
Snap.
His paper cup crumpled.
"I think I know exactly why he did that."