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Song Jiayi and Yang Yanni took the elevator down to the second floor of the dormitory building.
The second floor's multimedia room was spacious, divided into four separate sections. Each room was equipped with a TV, speakers, and karaoke machines. Three of the rooms, every evening, would broadcast programs from KBS, MBC, and KGS, respectively, mainly variety shows and TV dramas.
KBS, MBC, and KGS are Korea's three major terrestrial broadcasters. Together, they dominate the majority of the TV market, focusing on news, variety shows, and dramas. In addition, there are around twenty pay-cable channels, mostly showing imported films, American series, Japanese dramas, and late-night adult content.
The SPG Entertainment dormitory housed nearly 200 trainees. Not all of them were under SPG's contract; some were there through cooperative training programs, but the company treated everyone the same in terms of management.
For these trainees, watching the three major networks wasn't just relaxation; it was also part of their education. Through television, they could learn about many seniors in the entertainment world and become familiar with various formats and drama styles.
The multimedia room also gave them a space to discuss shows together, greatly easing the stress of their otherwise grueling daily training.
Song Jiayi and Yang Yanni headed into the room playing KGS.
The room wasn't very large, five rows of seats front to back, enough to fit 50 to 60 people. But when they arrived, only three or four were sitting inside, making the atmosphere rather empty.
The large flat-screen TV mounted on the wall was replaying a KGS current-affairs program.
After politely greeting the other trainees, Song Jiayi and Yang Yanni found seats and sat down.
Song Jiayi whispered, "So few people."
Yang Yanni curled her lip. "They must've all checked the schedule. KGS tonight is airing one of those Chinese imports. No wonder no one's interested. MBC is showing The Queen's Power!"
The Queen's Power was MBC's newly launched big-budget historical costume drama. Its first few episodes had already broken the 25% ratings mark, with strong potential to become the year's first mega-hit. Plus, its leads were some of Korea's top celebrities, naturally, audiences flocked to it.
On the flip side, Korean drama audiences were notoriously closed-off. Foreign dramas rarely found traction in Korea. Even high-quality, well-produced American series struggled to gain popularity, with cable channels usually pulling in less than 5% ratings.
As for Chinese dramas, only historical ones occasionally attracted some attention.
What Song Jiayi and Yang Yanni didn't know was that SPG had gone through a tough battle to get Autumn in My Heart on air. Landing a slot on KGS was already no small feat.
SPG had first approached MBC, since it had the closest ties with Korea's second-largest broadcaster. But MBC showed little interest in the screener SPG brought over. In fact, one programming director mocked SPG's representatives, saying the 1 billion won they spent would've been better off donated to charity, at least then they'd get good PR.
After all, what was the point of buying a Chinese drama?
There are no secrets under the sun. SPG's move, spending a fortune on a Chinese drama to break into the China market, had long been the talk of the industry. Most scoffed at it, considering it a blunder amid SPG's fierce competition with KG and HanArts.
MBC didn't outright refuse, but their offer was insultingly low and without any guarantee of a fixed broadcast slot.
Naturally, SPG couldn't accept. They then tried KBS, Korea's public broadcaster, but were flatly rejected with no room for negotiation.
With no other options, SPG pinned its hopes on KGS.
Among the big three, KGS was widely seen as the most "China-friendly." It had aired several Chinese dramas before, and even produced documentaries like Koreans in Beijing. Its receptiveness to Chinese content was relatively higher.
So this time, SPG wasn't shut out. After reviewing the screener of Autumn in My Heart, KGS expressed interest and entered talks.
But KGS knew full well SPG had been turned away by the other two, so they bargained ruthlessly. In the end, the two sides signed a deal similar to the "gambling-style" contract Lu Chen once made with Haijin Satellite TV, tying the licensing fee to ratings performance.
What SPG fought tooth and nail for was simply a broadcast slot.
Autumn in My Heart would air on KGS Fridays and Saturdays, right after the current-affairs news program, starting at 6:30 p.m., with two episodes back-to-back. Depending on ratings, the time slot could be adjusted:
High ratings: moved two hours later into primetime.
Low ratings: pushed back five hours into the dead zone.
That was the best deal SPG could secure. From here on, the drama's fate in Korea would depend entirely on Autumn in My Heart's performance.
Song Jiayi and Yang Yanni knew little of these details. Their knowledge of Autumn in My Heart came only from bits and pieces online, that it was very popular back in China.
Of course, both of them hoped the drama could shine just as brightly in Korea. But in their hearts, they knew it was wishful thinking.
After sitting for about ten minutes, with airtime approaching, only three or four more people had trickled into the room.
These local Korean trainees were probably just curious about their company's imported Chinese drama. Plus, there wasn't any hit drama or variety show airing in the same slot, so they came with the attitude of checking out something new.
You could tell as much from their hushed chatter.
Song Jiayi had been in Korea for two years and had picked up Korean quite well. She could clearly understand what they were saying, and it made her a little uncomfortable.
That discomfort turned into a quiet stubbornness. She couldn't help silently praying that Autumn in My Heart, even though she hadn't seen it yet, would at least achieve a result that wasn't embarrassing.
When the current-affairs news ended, the opening credits of Autumn in My Heart appeared on the TV screen.
This urban romance drama, imported from China, was now officially airing in Korea!
Song Jiayi and Yang Yanni were surprised to find that Autumn in My Heart wasn't dubbed. It was broadcast in the original audio, only with bilingual subtitles added.
That made them feel incredibly at home. All the messy thoughts in their minds were swept aside as they focused entirely on watching the drama.
They wanted to see for themselves what kind of charm this TV drama, one that had set viewership records back home, really had.
Each episode was 45 minutes long, and with opening and ending ads, two episodes took about 100 minutes to air.
Song Jiayi and Yang Yanni sat through both without leaving once.
Their takeaway: the show really was excellent. The storyline had unique touches, the production and visuals were top-notch, and even the soundtrack held up against Korea's mainstream dramas.
Most importantly, the real male and female leads hadn't even appeared yet, and they were already hooked, eager to see what would happen next.
"What an interesting drama!"
The sudden voice from behind startled both of them.
They turned around and were shocked to see that two or three dozen people now filled the back rows, fellow trainees just like them. The speaker was a Korean girl they usually got along well with.
Noticing their surprised looks, she smiled and said, "I really like this story. There should be more episodes tomorrow, right? Let's come watch together again."
Song Jiayi nodded blankly. "O-okay."
Then, struck by a thought, she grabbed Yang Yanni and dashed to the computer room on the same floor. Swiping her card to get online, she searched for information about Autumn in My Heart through a Chinese search engine, plot details, stills, behind-the-scenes clips.
Following links, Song Jiayi stumbled into the drama's official Tieba forum.
To her amazement, it had over a million members and was buzzing with activity. The atmosphere was lively, with plenty of threads discussing the drama's overseas broadcast.
Most posts were either speculating about ratings or sending well-wishes.
Through these discussions, Song Jiayi learned something that left her stunned: the author and male protagonist of Autumn in My Heart had publicly vowed that if the show's ratings in Korea surpassed 10%, he would give away 1,000 trips to Korea for fans!
Such a bold promise left Song Jiayi dumbfounded, even more impressed by Lu Chen's ambition.
Ten percent ratings!
She didn't really believe Autumn in My Heart could reach that high, but she was moved by Lu Chen's grand gesture and couldn't resist posting with her own account:
[I'm in Seoul, Korea. Just finished watching Autumn in My Heart, and it was really good.]
The time difference between Korea and China is one hour. When it was 8:30 p.m. in Korea, it was 7:30 p.m. in China, the peak time for netizens to be online. Tieba was bustling.
So the moment her post went up, replies came flooding in.
Only… they weren't exactly friendly.
"Oh great, another reply-baiter. Level 1 alt account, get lost!"
"OP is posting from Korea? Well, I'm replying from Planet Namek, answer if you see this!"
"Seoul, Korea? Isn't Seoul the capital of the U.S.? How could you be there? Not scientific!"
"GTFO!"
"True or fake, no pics, no truth."
"Judging by OP's ID, she's a girl. If you're really a girl, please don't make up stories. Thank you."
"LOL I'm dying."
Song Jiayi never expected that outcome and sat there stunned.
Beside her, Yang Yanni saw the replies and was so furious her brows shot up. She stormed off to the multimedia room next door, pulled out her phone, and shot a short video clip.
"Upload this and shut those jerks up!"
Once the video was posted, the mood in the thread shifted dramatically.
"Holy crap, it's real!"
"That's KGS on TV. Sorry for wronging you, OP."
"OP, where are you? The place looks weird, some kind of viewing room?"
"OP, we want real pics!"
"So many pretty girls, more proof please!"
…
(End of this chapter)