Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 264

The final episode of aired on Thursday, February 7th, 2013.

Of course, this ‘final episode’ date was set when the broadcast first began.

I mean the end of the main story, not including the ‘special episodes’ that the production team filmed later.

Interestingly, there was no official announcement about these special episodes even during the last week that aired.

So, starting that Monday, online communities were full of talk about .

Title: Is The Millennium’s Beloved really ending this week?

Content: Judging by the story and the feeling of the drama… it seems like this week is the end, and I’m so sad. Every Wednesday evening, I’d sit and watch TV, and now I’m worried about how empty I’ll feel without The Millennium’s Beloved…

Please, can’t they add a few more episodes?

The broadcasting station’s viewer message board was flooded with requests for more episodes.

It didn’t matter to viewers if the story could be extended or not.

The viewers, who really loved all the actors, simply wanted to spend more time with them.

But until Wednesday of the final week, the TV station said nothing.

They didn’t confirm or deny more episodes, and they didn’t show any sign at all.

So, most viewers thought the show would end as planned.

In fact, everyone knew that was filmed in advance, so even if they were sad, they didn’t expect much.

└ I’ll have to watch the final episode live and then binge-watch from episode 1 every weekend……

└ Where’s the best place to re-watch it, everyone?

└ When will the set in Icheon be open? I want to go see it as soon as it opens……

Then, on Wednesday, February 6th, the night before the last episode was supposed to air…

Fans were watching TV closely, not wanting to miss a single second. And then, after the usual previews for other shows, something amazing happened.

The screen changed, and suddenly, there they were! Inseo and Seohoo, the actors they loved, were back on screen, still wearing their beautiful drama costumes. They beamed at the camera.

“Hi everyone! It’s Inseo here!” she said brightly.

“Hello, I’m Seohoo!” he added with a big smile.

The two actors, still dressed as their characters, stood in front of the camera to share the news that viewers were waiting for.

“Oh my, Seohoo. I heard this week is the last week for the main episodes of ?”

“That’s right. The viewers must be sad, and we’re also very, very sad.”

“I can’t believe it’s already February!”

The two of them chatted cheerfully, showing off the chemistry they had in the drama, which made the atmosphere lively.

And then, a little later.

The two of them shared good news with the viewers.

“So, Seohoo.”

“Yes, Inseo.”

“We have a surprise gift for the viewers, don’t we?”

“Haha, that’s right!”

“Should we stop teasing and tell them now?”

“Alright.”

“Then get ready…….”

“One…… two…… Ta-da!”

As the two actors reached out to the camera, the screen went dark and a short video began.

It was a video with behind-the-scenes stories from the drama that weren’t shown in the main episodes of The Millennium’s Beloved.

It was a short video, less than 3 minutes, but it was very captivating.

And the gift that the two actors had prepared was at the end of the video.

“Thank you so much to the viewers who watch .”

“Thanks to your support, our will have 3 more weeks of episodes.”

“Please think of these extra episodes as special episodes, like you just saw.”

“Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts for loving our .”

“From the entire production team of .”

As soon as this ‘gift’ was shown, the internet exploded.

“Sojeong.”

“Yes?”

“What’s the reaction like?”

“What reaction?”

“The announcement about the 3 extra weeks went out yesterday.”

“Ah, that…….”

“I was too busy to check it. Is everyone happy?”

Today, Woojin and Sojeong were having lunch together for the first time in a while.

They weren’t in Seoul.

They had come to Icheon to discuss some practical details with the Icheon City Cultural Affairs Bureau staff.

But the meeting time was a little unclear, so they met for lunch first.

“It goes without saying.”

“Haha, is it that big?”

“It’s not just one or two episodes; six more episodes are being shown, so everyone’s gone wild.”

After a quick lunch, they arrived at Icheon City Hall on time for their meeting.

The reason they were here was because of the drama set, which was going to open to the public soon.

If it was just about opening the set, there would have been no need to come to Icheon City Hall.

All the necessary permits for the opening had already been obtained.

However, they needed to plan various events besides just ‘opening’ the set, so they needed to work with the city hall.

“The promotion plan is roughly ready, right?”

“Don’t worry. The business support team has already set up everything from merchandise to promotion strategies.”

Woojin was grateful that Sojeong had come to this meeting in person.

The set business part was the most important part of the meeting.

So, it would have been enough for just one promotion manager from KSJ Entertainment, which didn’t have a stake in the set, to attend.

Still, Woojin was grateful that she had joined him in person to help guide the business in a better direction.

“You’re always so thorough.”

“Ha ha, I need to tell you everything, but whose safety are we talking about?”

“Whose safety?”

“Our investor’s safety, of course!”

They talked easily about small things and business as they walked into the meeting room. The room was modern, with a large, polished table and comfortable chairs. Sunlight streamed through the windows, creating a bright and airy atmosphere.

A few minutes later, the door opened again.

“Ha ha! Have the two CEOs arrived?” Yong-hyun Jo, the Culture Director for Icheon City, came in with his team. Everyone sat down, and the meeting started.

Mr. Jo, who worked for the government audit office, looked through the papers again and again, his head tilted to one side. He was confused. He ran a hand through his hair, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips.

“This is strange. Very strange.”

“What is it, Mr. Jo?”

“I know something is here, but no matter how much I look, I can’t find it!”

“Hmm…”

“This can’t be right…”

Mr. Jo was an auditor. He worked for a smaller office that was part of the main government audit group. He was sent to Icheon City to check their new development project.

The reason was simple: to make sure the Icheon tourism project, which was a big project for the whole country, was being done correctly and legally.

That was the job of the audit: to check, watch, and make sure everything was right.

The people who worked for Mr. Jo didn’t know why *this* project was chosen to be audited, when there were so many others.

But Mr. Jo knew one thing from his past work.

When projects like this were chosen for audit, it usually meant there was something wrong. He expected to find problems easily.

As we said before, there were many projects happening in the country. The main audit group didn’t have enough people to check them all.

Usually, when they ordered an audit, it was because someone important wanted it, or because there was already a strong smell of something bad, like corruption.

So, when Mr. Jo got the order to audit this project, he already had ideas in his mind.

[This is easy to see.]

[Right?]

[Too easy. They made a development plan around the drama set, and changed the rules to allow houses to be built there…]

He thought about the secret deals between the people in charge at the Icheon City Culture Department who pushed for this project, the company KSJ Entertainment that made the drama , and WJ Studio that owned the set.

He was sure there were secret deals between these three groups.

[How much money did they take?]

[Well, is very popular now. They spent 10 billion won just to make the show. They must have spent a lot on this project too, right?]

[Right? Also, most of the land near the set is owned by CEO Seo Woo-jin.]

[Wow… I understand now.]

[Only some of the land is in the new housing zone, but the other land he owns has probably become much more valuable.]

[This will look good for my career.]

[So, go find everything! Turn every stone, look under every rock. Don’t miss anything.]

It wasn’t that he was full of justice or felt a strong need to stop corruption.

He had seen so much corruption in his job. He knew there was still a lot more that audits hadn’t found.

It was just his job. Finding corruption was how he showed he was doing good work.

So, you could say he was very determined to do well.

‘If I do a good job this time, maybe I will get promoted…’

But now, three weeks into the audit, Mr. Jo was much less excited.

‘No, how much can I shake and shake… and still nothing comes out?’

The audit was almost finished.

The only possible corruption Mr. Jo had found was that 300,000 won for a dinner for the Culture Department team was missing from the records because of a mistake in the accounts.

You could call this stealing, but if he focused only on this small thing, it would make him look bad as an auditor.

The investigator saw Mr. Jo talking to himself and holding the records tightly. He asked carefully,

“Maybe… just maybe…”

“Hmm?”

“Could it be that there really is no corruption?”

Mr. Jo looked at him, shocked and a little angry. “Are you crazy?” he said.

“Sir?”

“Before the development plan was even announced, CEO Seo Woo-jin bought up all the land around here!”

“He did?”

“If he didn’t know about the plan, would he be stupid enough to buy so much land in the countryside?”

After thinking for a moment, the investigator asked, “Maybe he just thought the land price would go up after the set was built?”

“Does that make sense?” Mr. Jo asked, doubtful.

“Why not?”

“How could he know the drama would be so popular *before* it even started?”

“Hmm… maybe…” the investigator said, sounding less sure.

“No, there’s something here,” Mr. Jo insisted.

“I see,” the investigator replied, still unsure.

“Something’s here… I just haven’t found it yet,” Mr. Jo repeated, more to himself.

“…” The investigator didn’t say anything.

Mr. Jo muttered, “How can they be so careful?”

Mr. Jo’s words made some sense, so the investigator didn’t argue anymore.

But even so, he still thought that maybe there really was no corruption in this project.

‘Wait a minute… does someone like Seo Woo-jin, the owner of WJ Studio, really need to do something like this, even if it’s against the law?’ he thought.

Seo Woo-jin was becoming more famous than just a normal celebrity. WJ Studio was becoming well-known too.

Articles had come out about how much money WJ Studio made each year – over 100 billion won!

Seo Woo-jin was now a public figure, and his image was important. He didn’t seem like someone who would do illegal things.

The investigator tilted his head, still unsure.

‘Well, the audit is almost over. We’ll find out soon when they look at the final report,’ he thought.

The investigator shrugged and went up to the roof of the city hall to smoke. The air was crisp, and the city stretched out below him.

If Mr. Jo was right, they would decide what to do next week at the latest.