They could still ring the doorbell from the lobby instead of Chae Woo-Jin’s front door. Hearing his bewildered voice over the intercom would be the same no matter where they heard it from.
However, the time it took for the film crew to ride the elevator up was enough for the actor to wash his face and change his clothes.
There were also quite a few artists who washed their faces and got changed before opening the door, but there never was enough time to wipe off all the moisture on their hair. And sometimes, they would even wear their shirts or pants inside out or backwards.
All of these amazing shots were made possible because the artists panicked due to the sudden visit, so the producers and film crew had no intention of giving Chae Woo-Jin any leeway.
Because they couldn’t compromise on the fun and surprise, the film crew and co-hosts discussed their options.
The joy they felt when the dart landed on Chae Woo-Jin’s name on the spinning wheel had disappeared by now, and everyone was anxiously eyeing the clock.
“The broadcast will begin in five minutes.”
At the beginning, the broadcast would air the clip of the MCs spinning the wheel with all the artists’ names and throwing a dart at it, but that would barely fill five minutes of the runtime.
In other words, they had less than ten minutes left until the camera went live.
They would then have to ring the doorbell to enter Chae Woo-Jin’s home, but it seemed impossible right now.
“Can’t we contact Chae Woo-Jin’s manager?”
“He’ll probably tell Chae Woo-Jin about it immediately.”
“What if we ask him to keep it a secret for the broadcast and the audience’s entertainment?”
“Well, not a single manager has kept it a secret when we contacted them so far.”
When the show first started airing, the managers always promised they would keep the secret, but they ended up contacting the artist in advance so that they had enough time to prepare. Thus, the film crew now went to the artists’ houses without informing anyone at all.
However, today would be the first time that they would be unable to make it to the front door because of such strict security measures.
“How about contacting CEO Jang instead?”
“Ooh~! But does anyone here have his contact information?”
As Oh Young-Hee shared a good idea, Kim Hak-Cheon exclaimed in admiration before putting on a straight face again, asking the producers around them.
Unlike the MCs who belonged to other agencies, the production crew were full-time employees of DS.
However, there was no way an ordinary employee would know the CEO’s number. And unfortunately, no one would answer even if they called the main office since it was almost 10 PM.
After pondering for a while, the producers decided to give it a try, and called one of their superiors.
Time passed slowly, and the pre-recorded part of the show started airing online. At this rate, the pre-recorded part would end and the camera would go live while they were in this situation, though this in itself could end up being an entertaining and interesting episode in and of itself.
“What if Mr. Chae Woo-Jin sees the broadcast and comes down to get us?”
“That would be entertaining in its own way.”
This was an internet broadcast, so they were free to change the show’s style and format as they pleased. Their higher-ups wouldn’t really warn or punish them for the episode’s awry progress.
This was a broadcast where improvisations, originality, and having fun were the most important virtues. So while the crew was nervous, there were no real concerns about having to take responsibility for mistakes.
“Uh-oh, the pre-recorded part is ending soon. We have no choice but to go live soon.”
“You haven’t gotten in touch with the CEO yet?”
“Not yet. We’re going on standby now.”
One person was continuously calling people while another was counting down until the camera went live, so Oh Young-Hee and Kim Hak-Cheon had no choice but to fix their clothes in preparation.
When the director finally gave the sign to begin filming, Kim Hak-Cheon spoke up first with an embarrassed expression.
“Today’s charge will most likely end up as a failure. We haven’t gotten through this gate yet.”
Kim Hak-Cheon pointed to the staff member and the security guards blocking the elevator door. Oh Young-Hee pretended to cry a bit before speaking as well to help out her co-host.
“They say that we cannot enter unless we get permission from Chae Woo-Jin himself. I didn’t want to prove to our viewers that this show was real in such an uncool manner.”
“I just hope that Mr. Chae Woo-Jin doesn’t come downstairs after seeing the broadcast. Have you gotten in touch with the CEO yet?”
As Kim Hak-Cheon deliberately put some pressure on the producers, Oh Young-Hee spotted someone nearby and pointed at them.
“Huh? Isn’t he Chae Woo-Jin’s manager?”
Oh Young-Hee shouted when she saw a well-built man entering the lobby.
Chae Woo-Jin’s manager was quite famous among people in the entertainment industry and fans alike for his manners and sweet name that greatly contrasted with his appearance. They say that his overbearing and striking appearance remains in people’s memories longer than some celebrities.
Kang Ho-Soo was heading towards the penthouse elevator when he heard someone calling him, and he stopped in his tracks.
As soon as he saw the crew with broadcast equipment and Kim Hak-Cheon next to them, he checked the time.
Kang Ho-Soo instantly realized the circumstances and approached them quickly.
“Did you land on Woo-Jin today?”
“Yes, so we needed some help to get inside. We’re so lucky to have found you.”
Since they had met like this, the crew could just go upstairs alongside the manager. It was a win-win situation for them since they could also stick to Kang Ho-Soo and prevent him from calling Chae Woo-Jin.
But Kang Ho-Soo shook his head with a regretful expression in response to Kim Hak-Cheon.
“I’m really sorry, but I don’t think it’ll work out today.”
“Does he have some unexpected plans? Or does he need to head outside? We’re fine with whatever it is. This isn’t a regular broadcast, so we don’t need to fill in the runtime completely. We can adapt to any situation, so please let us film him even if it's just for a few minutes.”
The episode today would be considered a success as long as they could invade Chae Woo-Jin’s home and capture his bewildered face, so the MC tried to persuade Kang Ho-Soo no matter what.
“That’s not the problem…”
Kang Ho-Soo answered vaguely before momentarily pausing.
If he hesitated or refused to answer, then people would start speculating and misunderstand Woo-Jin’s current situation.
Since the actor was going through a relationship scandal now, people would start imagining all sorts of things if he suddenly prevented them from entering and filming Chae Woo-Jin’s home.
But reality wasn’t as beautiful or romantic as what the public thinks.
Today, Woo-Jin had sued Lee Yeo-Rin but she had yet to be contacted about it. To be more precise, they had sued the owner of the controversial social media account for trespassing and theft based on the evidence and testimonies they had collected thus far.
As it hadn’t been announced to the press yet, Lee Yeo-Rin was still kept in the dark. But nevertheless, she started standing outside Woo-Jin’s front door an hour earlier than usual and had been acting violently.
Ever since she started uploading photos on the account, she became much bolder and behaved as if she lost all sense of reason. After seeing both the cheers and criticisms from people online, she had completely fallen for the illusion that she truly was Woo-Jin’s lover.
Now, Woo-Jin had reached a stage where words couldn’t be used to communicate with Lee Yeo-Rin anymore, so Kang Ho-Soo had no choice but to intervene. He didn’t even want to imagine going upstairs with the camera right now when the situation was so chaotic.
“I did hear that Mr. Chae Woo-Jin is busy preparing for the audition these days among many other things. So I guess it would be best to cancel today’s broadcast.”
Kim Hak-Cheon was quick-witted. He had instantly judged that the situation upstairs wasn’t suitable to have a live camera around, seeing how Kang Ho-Soo had arrived at such a late hour and was being so hesitant.
Although Kim Hak-Cheon had spoken in a nice manner and called the charge a failure, Kang Ho-Soo could guess what the MC was imagining.
Just like he thought, the worst-case scenario was upon them.
Rumors of Woo-Jin’s love affair were circulating as the social media account became a hot topic, so anyone could guess why one couldn’t go to his house during this time.
But that didn’t mean that he could just take them upstairs since Lee Yeo-Rin was currently banging on the front door and wreaking havoc, which wasn’t an appropriate scene to broadcast live.
Neither option was good enough, and this wasn’t a matter where a single manager could make the decision.
“Excuse me, I finally managed to get in touch with CEO Jang, but he wants to talk with Manager Kang.”
A producer held the phone tightly with both hands and carefully handed it to Kang Ho-Soo. It seemed that talking to CEO Jang Soo-Hwan had taken a toll on him. The apparent exhaustion and embarrassment in his behavior was quite funny, but no one laughed at him since they understood his stress.
“Yes, this is Kang Ho-Soo.”
Everyone was surprised by Kang Ho-Soo’s calm attitude when he answered the phone. Even though the camera was running, it was being broadcasted live, the MCs and the production crew all exclaimed ‘oh!’ in awe. In fact, there was a flash of respect in the eyes of the producer who had handed over the phone.
In addition, as Kang Ho-Soo quietly listened to Jang Soo-Hwan, he even shook his head and spoke back to the CEO.
Even though he was just a manager and not even an executive of the company, it was shocking to see Kang Ho-Soo say ‘no’ to CEO Jang Soo-Hwan.
However, as an employee of the CEO’s company, Kang Ho-Soo had no choice but to do as he was told in the end in order to earn his salary.
“I understand.”
Kang Ho-Soo answered bitterly with a sigh as he hung up the phone and spoke to Kim Hak-Cheon.
“I will cooperate with the broadcast.”
“Really?”
“But things won’t look great when we head up, so you should prepare yourselves to some extent.”
“What?”
Kang Ho-Soo looked up for a moment before answering in resignation.
“Right now, there’s a stalker in front of Woo-Jin’s apartment making a fuss.”
The production crew was delighted by CEO Jang’s permission, but they all did a double-take at Kang Ho-Soo’s revelation.
However, Oh Young-Hee missed the point and was infuriated at the wrong thing and asked back.
“No way! They didn’t let us inside no matter how much we begged them but they let a stalker enter?”
Oh Young-Hee’s eyes widened and she turned to the management staff who had been blocking their path, glaring at him. She watched him suspiciously, wondering whether the staff was just pretending to be hard at work and strict with the rules since he was on camera, while being pretty easygoing in reality.
“The thing is, she’s not an outsider. She lives here as well, so they can’t stop her.”
As Kang Ho-Soo answered Oh Young-Hee, the management staff’s eyebrows rose as he understood who Kang Ho-Soo was referring to.
He was the one who had gone up to the penthouse after Lee Yeo-Rin kicked up a fuss at the management office the other day.
That same day, he returned downstairs and remembered Woo-Jin telling him to check the footage of the security camera installed above his front door. When he checked it, he was at a loss for words.
When Chae Woo-Jin first moved in, he requested for the security camera to be installed so that it would capture everyone who came and left the apartment.
His request was quite odd, as other celebrities who lived in the same building always asked to have the cameras near their entrances removed to protect their privacy as much as possible.
The employee doubted that Chae Woo-Jin had expected this kind of situation. Nonetheless, he could guess that the actor had suffered enough at the hands of stalkers to completely give up on his private life.
Unsurprisingly, the camera footage showed Lee Yeo-Rin visiting Chae Woo-Jin’s house every evening and ringing the doorbell.
It was truly horrifying to see her constantly ringing the bell and sometimes just staring at the front door while doing nothing.
She would somehow find out whenever Chae Woo-Jin went out, and would leave her flat as well to take the elevator with him and follow him down to the underground parking lot. She’d even cunningly try to make physical contact with Chae Woo-Jin by tripping and falling down on purpose, acting as though it was an accident.
Thus, he could easily guess who Kang Ho-Soo was talking about.
“Oh no, is she acting like that again?”
As the management staff asked, Kang Ho-Soo sighed and nodded. Either way, the press would find out by tomorrow that Woo-Jin had sued the owner of the social media account.
CEO Jang Soo-Hwan had decided to let everyone know that Lee Yeo-Rin was a stalker living in front of Woo-Jin’s apartment through the broadcast.
If Woo-Jin was broadcasted having to deal with this stalker live online, there would be no need to hold a press conference to explain himself later on. Furthermore, it would help dispel any doubts the public may have in their minds. Most of all, if a similar incident happened again in the future, people would always start off by doubting the rumors and not believe any fake news.
Lee Yeo-Rin was making a fuss by herself in front of Woo-Jin’s front door, so CEO Jang instructed Kang Ho-Soo to deal with her appropriately while revealing her true nature online. However, Kang Ho-Soo was nervous. He wasn’t even an actor, so how was he supposed to trick Lee Yeo-Rin to expose her true nature in front of the camera? He had no confidence in successfully pulling off the plan.
“Should I head up with you?”
“No. Since she’s still a resident of this building, you’d end up in trouble. I will deal with this situation myself.”
Kang Ho-Soo refused help from the management staff and entered the elevator.
The crew of Charge! Open the door followed behind him, but the heavy atmosphere weighed on everyone’s shoulders inside. Even the eloquent Oh Young-Hee was keeping her mouth shut out of uneasiness.
However, the main MC Kim Hak-Cheon could guess why CEO Jang Soo-Hwan had allowed them to go upstairs with the cameras rolling.
If the broadcast was blocked in such a situation, then a storm of rumors would wreak havoc in the entertainment world, so the agency had no choice but to keep charging.
