WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Mistaken for an S-Class Employee ◈
Chapter 28: I Have a Good Feeling
──────
After having tea with the Operations Team, I stepped into the hallway, and Assistant Manager Jeon followed me out.
“Senior~”
“Yeah.”
I smiled and patted their shoulder.
“We just said goodbye. Why’d you follow me out again?”
“You were only talking to Assistant Manager Park, so I felt like we didn’t get to talk much.”
“Ah.”
We chuckled together.
Honestly, I felt like I’d spent the entire tea break giving Park Seok-ju a hard time. Maybe it had been a little much for our first meeting, but after seeing the state of my former teammates, I couldn’t hold back.
“Thank you, Senior.”
We chatted about this and that as we walked down the hallway.
“Oh, and I wrote something.”
“What?”
“A web novel~”
“Oh?”
I was as glad to hear that as if I’d met a reader.
“Writer Jeon~ That’s impressive!”
“Haha, I wanted to show you....”
“Of course! I have to read it.”
When I first started writing web novels, I’d sometimes imagined what it would have been like if an established writer had helped me.
You had to write on your own anyway, but maybe I would’ve gone through less trial and error.
“How much have you written?”
“One chapter.”
“Only one?”
“It took me a whole week. Wow, this isn’t easy.”
I smiled and told Assistant Manager Jeon, “That’s because you haven’t built up your writing muscles yet. You’ll get faster as you keep going.”
“You sound like you know a lot about it.”
“Ahem!”
I cleared my throat and added, “I don’t write myself, but I’m really interested in web novels. I often read what writers talk about on Minor Gallery.”
“Ah.”
I patted Assistant Manager Jeon’s shoulder.
“One chapter isn’t enough for a proper critique, so could you write up to chapter five and send it to me?”
“Up to chapter five?”
“What’s the big deal? How are you going to write two hundred chapters later?”
At the mention of two hundred chapters, Assistant Manager Jeon looked sick.
“Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up. Should I just quit?”
“Write it first~ You never know. It might give you an incredible opportunity. You can’t work at this company forever.”
Assistant Manager Jeon nodded.
“Understood, Senior.”
Before I knew it, we had reached the Content Team.
“See you around~ Keep in touch~”
“Yes!”
After Assistant Manager Jeon left, I headed back toward my desk, and a faint smile formed on my face without my realizing it.
Working life, which I had thought would be difficult and painful, was becoming more fun by the day.
Things were going the way I wanted.
I was doing work that suited me on a good team.
I was surrounded by good people, and I’d even met a good boss.
If I could keep working like this, quitting might be the real loss.
Right now, I enjoyed working at the company. I liked it.
* * *
“I’m back, Part Leader.”
“Good.”
Assistant Manager Baek widened his eyes and asked me, “Where did you go? I was about to call you, but the Part Leader told me not to.”
“I went to see the Operations Team.”
“Ah.”
Assistant Manager Baek nodded and didn’t ask any more questions.
I spent the entire afternoon reviewing content.
It was work to select good Original projects, but it was also a way for me to take in material as a writer.
There really were a lot of revenge stories these days. Especially ones about school bullying.
Wasn’t that trend already on its way out? It was usually best to avoid material that already had a massive hit.
Especially since Originals had to aim for both huge success and originality.
I was so busy with work that it was almost time to leave before I knew it.
The Content Team had a culture of leaving on time, so I was wrapping things up as well when...
Bzzzt.
[Writer Choi Ji-hu]
This was the first time Choi Ji-hu had called me since our meeting.
“Yes, this is Go Min-hyeok.”
[Hello, PM.]
“Hello. What can I do for you?”
[I finished episode one of Scalpel Returnee.]
“Really?”
It had been about a week since our meeting.
I wondered if he had only finished one episode by now, but I didn’t know much about the pace of scriptwriting, so I assumed that was normal.
[Could I ask for some feedback?]
“Sure. Please send it by email.”
[All right. Could I get your feedback today?]
“You want feedback right after I read it?”
[I want to pick up the pace on the writing.]
That wasn’t difficult.
“It might be late.”
[I don’t mind.]
* * *
After Min-hyeok said all right and was about to end the call, Choi Ji-hu added, “Actually, if it isn’t too much trouble, I’d like to get the feedback in person. If you contact me, I’ll come near your home, PM.”
[What? You don’t have to go that far....]
Min-hyeok sounded baffled, but Choi Ji-hu would not back down.
“You don’t need to feel uncomfortable. I want to hear the details, and there are things I want to ask.”
[Where do you live?]
Choi Ji-hu lived in Ilsan.
“I don’t live far away. Don’t worry about it. Contact me once you’ve finished reading.”
[Let’s just do a video call instead.]
“I said I’m fine with it. Why do you keep saying no?”
As Min-hyeok tried to say something else, Choi Ji-hu hurriedly ended the call.
“Then contact me later~ Yes, yes~”
Click.
After hanging up, Choi Ji-hu let out a deep sigh.
A fellow writer sharing the studio with him spoke up.
“Why are you sighing like that?”
“....”
“Is that PM making you uncomfortable?”
“No, it’s not that he makes me uncomfortable.”
Choi Ji-hu thought of Min-hyeok.
Maybe intimidating was a better word than uncomfortable.
He could not find a clear reason, but he could make one guess.
“You know how you can feel admiration when you see someone who’s just too exceptional?”
“He’s that exceptional?”
“Yeah. He doesn’t write professionally, but his instincts are incredible.”
At first, he had thought it was pretty good for an office worker’s idea.
He had gone to the meeting without much expectation, thinking it was probably just luck.
‘Fun no matter what! Nothing but fun! We need to think about why people watch dramas. It’s because they want to have fun.’
The confidence and passion in his attitude.
The deep insight that struck at the heart of things with every word.
Even his profound understanding of creation.
It had only been a brief meeting, but Choi Ji-hu had sensed something special about Min-hyeok.
* * *
Nine o’clock at night.
“He really has a strange personality.”
I contacted Choi Ji-hu a little after eight, and he said he was actually coming.
“I heard writers could be unusual, but he’s way too impatient, isn’t he?”
I was heading toward the café street in Cheonho-dong where we had agreed to meet, but I was not alone.
“I think that writer is interesting.”
I was going with my younger sister.
“But can I really come along? You said this was for work.”
“I told you. As long as you’re okay with it, I don’t mind.”
“....”
“He wrote it based on my idea, so I’m worried my feedback might be biased.”
My sister had nothing to do with this project and did not work in the media industry.
I thought she could give feedback as an ordinary viewer.
We arrived at the meeting place.
A face as white as kneaded dough. A sharp jawline.
A man handsome enough to rival a celebrity was sitting there.
There were only a few people in the café at that late hour, which made him stand out even more.
“You’re Writer Choi Ji-hu, right?”
It was our second meeting, and we were meeting at night, so I confirmed his identity first.
“Yes, that’s right. But who is this beside you?”
I turned to introduce her, only to see my sister’s face turn bright red.
“Ah, I should introduce you. This is my younger sister. She came along to help with today’s feedback. She lives nearby, too. Is that okay?”
“Oh, yes. Hello.”
Choi Ji-hu bowed politely, but my sister twisted and squirmed like a pretzel.
“What are you doing? He said hello.”
“Oh, yes. Hello. I’m Go Min-gyeong.”
My sister gave him an incredibly feminine smile.
“You don’t mind that I came, right? I’m sorry. I’m not wearing any makeup.”
“No, you don’t have anything to apologize to me for.”
Her expression, tone, and attitude.
Watching my sister act so differently from usual made me uncomfortable, and I thought Choi Ji-hu might feel the same, so I tried to explain.
“My sister usually isn’t this affected. She’s normally very matter-of-fact, but for some reason, today....”
Thud!
A heavy blow landed on my shoulder.
My sister gritted her teeth and smiled.
“Oppa, what are you talking about?”
“It’s true.”
“What is?”
“It is.”
“Shut up.”
“....”
She definitely was not acting like herself. Had I made a mistake bringing her?
“I brought her because I thought it would be good to hear an ordinary viewer’s opinion, but if you’re uncomfortable....”
Choi Ji-hu gave a small laugh.
“I’m not uncomfortable. It’s fine.”
My sister and I sat across from Choi Ji-hu.
* * *
I studied his expression before cautiously speaking.
“Then, should I go first?”
Choi Ji-hu nodded.
“Yes, PM. Please go ahead.”
“This is just my personal impression. I’m not saying it absolutely has to be done this way.”
“Yes, I’ll use my own judgment.”
He looked focused, so I felt reassured and began.
“First of all, I enjoyed reading it.”
The first episode of Scalpel Returnee that Choi Ji-hu had sent me was quite interesting.
“The story progressed naturally, like flowing water, so it was easy to read without any parts that slowed me down.”
“Yes.”
“That’s both its strength and its weakness.”
Choi Ji-hu looked puzzled, so I explained in more detail.
“It begins with the protagonist returning to the consulting department, right? Since it’s the first scene, I think it lacks a little impact.”
“....”
“Just receiving puzzled looks from people is too weak. It would be better if you added some kind of special action. For example, they could throw a hit list down in front of the department head.”
Choi Ji-hu looked confused as he asked, “They just got back. When would they have had time to make a hit list and throw it?”
“You could begin episode one the day after they return, or even two days later.”
“Wouldn’t that cut too much from the beginning?”
“It’s fine to cut more. As long as it’s fun.”
“....”
“The opening is important. You need to really grab people’s attention.”
“A hit list....”
Choi Ji-hu wrote down what I had said in his notebook.
“I’m not saying you have to write it exactly that way. Like I said, it was just an example.”
“I know. But I think it’s a good idea. You really do specialize in that kind of thing.”
I was embarrassed to be praised beside my sister, so I cleared my throat.
“Ahem! Anyway, I think it would be good to add powerful scenes that can catch people’s attention here and there. That’s especially important in episode one.”
“Understood.”
I looked at my sister.
“You know what you told me earlier? Tell him that.”
“Can I?”
“It’s fine.”
My sister hesitated, seemingly embarrassed to speak, before she finally began.
“I don’t know if this is presumptuous, but please take it as an ordinary viewer’s opinion.”
“Yes.”
“When you watch dramas that do really well, you can feel the overall atmosphere running through them, you know? Whether they’re gloomy, bright, or filled with nostalgia.”
Choi Ji-hu nodded and listened silently.
“I thought Scalpel Returnee was a little weak in that regard. There wasn’t a clear image that came through.”
I added to my sister’s explanation.
“I had the same realization when I heard that. I think we need to decide what kind of atmosphere the story should have.”
Choi Ji-hu tilted his head and said, “Wouldn’t a sense of tragic grandeur be good? It’s modern society, but there’s a ruthlessness to having to wield a scalpel without mercy in order to survive. There are no good people or bad people. Everyone is simply doing their best to survive in their own way. Ruthlessness and tragic grandeur.”
I liked that. No wonder he was a writer.
“That sounds good. I think that kind of feeling would work.”
Choi Ji-hu smiled faintly and made a note.
We exchanged a few more thoughts after that.
The more the work took shape, the better I felt about it.
Could this really become a massive hit?
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