Our Story - Binjin

Chapter 90: 2020 Lunar New Year & Ye-Jin's Fainting Incident

Author's Notes: This is probably my longest ever chapter. I did think it might be too much for a single chapter but the words kept coming. 😋 Still, I hope you enjoy the chapter  and have a good week ahead everyone!

Crash Landing on You's ratings were climbing steadily. In Korea, Episode 10 which broadcast on 19th January, hit a rating high of 15.9%. Internationally, the viewership on Netflix was also increasing. The cast and crew were ecstatic with the results and were putting in their all for filming.

Unfortunately, the team had an indomitable  enemy - the cold weather. Filming conditions had deteriorated badly and despite putting in extra filming hours, they were running behind schedule. The production team had decided to suspend the broadcast of new episodes for the lunar new year holiday weekend. They would instead show a special episode with behind the scenes footage on Saturday and a holiday movie screening will replace Sunday's slot. This would give everyone some breathing space.

While the bad weather affected everyone, it was particularly harsh on Hyun Bin and Ye-Jin, namely because they had so many scenes, and many of which were critical from a plot perspective. They were both veterans and familiar with filming pressures but even they found themselves stretched to their limits. With the cold weather and long filming hours, it was becoming hard to fight off fatigue and colds.

In order to catch up with schedule, the cast and crew had agreed to film through the holidays. This was also an indicator of how committed the team were to the drama. The lunar holidays were considered the biggest and most important holiday season in Korea. It was the season where families gather and spend quality time together. The cast and crew were sacrificing their personal time to repay fans with a good drama.

Mrs Kim's disappointment

Mrs Kim had been very excited about this year's lunar new year celebrations. Hyun Bin had told her early January that Ye-Jin would be joining them for the celebrations this year. Mrs Kim was elated. Apart from it being Ye-Jin's first lunar new year as an official member of their family, Mrs Kim wanted to also announce their engagement and introduce her to the extended family.

The changes in filming schedule threw a spanner in the works. Hyun Bin called his mother the same day the team confirmed the filming schedule.

"Omma," Hyun Bin greeted his mother. "How are you? Is everything alright at home?"

"Tae-Pyung, yes, everything's fine. I'm busy preparing for the Lunar New Year dinners. Everyone will be here. I'm so excited to finally introduce Eon-Jin to everyone. Your aunts know you recently proposed but nobody knows who she is yet. They will be so shocked!" Mrs Kim said gleefully, even thinking about her relatives shocked expression made her happy.

Hyun Bin swallowed, it looked like this was a bad time to tell her about the schedule change. There was an awkward silence.

Mrs Kim sighed. She has been the recipient of so many last minute changes in plans that she instinctively knew something with up. "Which dinner can't you make, your father's side or my side?"

Hyun Bin hated to disappoint his mother but there was nothing he could do, "I'm sorry Omma, we can't make it to both dinners. We're behind in schedule and we'll be filming through the holidays to catch up."

"Both!" Mrs Kim exclaimed. Hyun Bin had anticipated her reaction and his phone was already a safe distant from his ears. "How could they make you film all through the holidays! Shouldn't you get at least one of the three days off? And its Eon-Jin's first holiday as part of our family!"

"I'm really sorry Omma, but we can't do anything. We have to follow the team's schedule. We'll try and find a time in between to see you and Appa but I'm afraid we really can't make the family dinners this year." Hyun Bin said. He saw Dong Wan waving frantically at him and knew that they were waiting for him. "Sorry Omma, I need to get back to filming, I'll call you again later."