WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Mistaken for an S-Class Employee ◈
Chapter 30: As Long as It’s Fun
──────
Having made up my mind, I didn’t delay.
After work that day, I headed straight to Choi Ji-hu’s studio.
I was surprised when I first heard the address.
Ilsan...
Had he really come all the way from Ilsan to Cheonho-dong just to get a single manuscript critique?
Choi Ji-hu didn’t seem like an ordinary person, either.
Ding-dong.
It was in a neighborhood of low-rise villas in Ilsan.
I rang the bell to his studio.
Clunk.
Choi Ji-hu opened the door without even asking who it was.
“Hello, PM.”
“Hello. You opened the door without checking who it was?”
“No one else would come. I figured it had to be you.”
Choi Ji-hu bowed to me.
“Thank you for coming.”
“It’s nothing. I’m just doing my job. As the project manager.”
We weren’t close, so being together in an enclosed space felt a little awkward.
Perhaps Choi Ji-hu felt the same way.
“I’ll show you the revised script for Episode 1.”
He immediately brought up work.
“Ah, yes.”
I quickly read through the script he handed me.
I had wanted something with more bite. It was a little tamer than I’d expected, but the overall direction was right. It was much better than before.
“It’s good. You wrote it well.”
“That’s a relief.”
Choi Ji-hu let out a relieved sigh.
It was similar to collaborating with the original author, so he must have felt a fair amount of pressure.
Curious about the process of making a drama, I asked, “What does the scriptwriting process usually look like?”
“After writing the first draft, I discuss it with the producer. Then I apply any revisions and improvements before writing the second draft.”
There would be several chances to revise it.
As long as the direction was right, it would probably be better to finish the rough draft quickly.
We could refine the quality and details later. For now, speed mattered more.
I nodded.
“Then let’s move on to the next episode’s script right away.”
“Yes. I started writing Episode 2, but honestly, I got stuck.”
“Why?”
“When I write it and compare it with Episode 1, it doesn’t fit Episode 1’s tone.”
“...”
“I think it’s because Episode 1 was structured around your ideas, PM.”
I shrugged.
“You can follow your creative intentions, Writer. You don’t need to make it so difficult.”
* * *
Choi Ji-hu smiled and shook his head.
“Honestly, I think this work belongs more to you than to me. It started with your ideas, and you set up the story structure, too.”
“...”
“If I follow my own ideas, I think the story will go completely off course. Since we’re already doing this, wouldn’t it be better for you to get more actively involved?”
I was doing this project as company work.
We each had our own roles, but going beyond providing ideas and critiques to suggest the direction of every episode...
Choi Ji-hu added, “What matters is that the work does well, isn’t it? Do you think I don’t have ambitions? But I think pointlessly protecting one’s pride is poison. I’ll make your contributions clear.”
Listening to him, I realized I shouldn’t be cautious right now.
I had no desire to follow company procedures and processes.
This was an experience I’d wanted to try anyway. I thought it would be better to get deeply involved while I had the chance. If I was lucky, I might even learn how to write scripts.
Let’s keep it simple.
If I actively offered opinions and we worked together to polish it, wouldn’t that be enough?
“Episode 1 ends with Se-hyeok putting his hit list into action, right? The scene where he reports to management that the Planning Team Leader needs to be fired.”
“Yes.”
This protagonist’s name also had “hyeok” in it, though that wasn’t intentional on my part.
Writer Choi Ji-hu had named him, and I’d been surprised by the coincidence myself.
“The beginning of Episode 2 will naturally show conflict with management. They won’t let the Planning Team Leader be fired just because the protagonist wants it, especially when they aren’t an ordinary employee.”
“That’s true.”
“So the protagonist approaches them with a strategy of his own in order to get his way.”
“What kind of strategy?”
“He could exploit management’s weakness, or say he’ll publicly expose the problems he uncovered with the Planning Team Leader.”
I spoke whatever came to mind.
“He tells the executive who assigned him to his position, ‘You gave me the sword’s hilt, not its sheath. Now that I’ve decided to save this company, nothing can stop me.’ Something like that...”
“He says that to the executive?”
“It’s ironic, isn’t it? The executive is the one who should care most about the company, but it’s the employee returning from leave who says something like that.”
Choi Ji-hu snickered.
“He’s a complete lunatic, isn’t he?”
“The kind of lunatic the company needs. A lunatic who throws his whole body into doing what’s right.”
Thump. Thump.
Choi Ji-hu’s face reddened. Smiling, he said, “I feel like I can picture the scene in my head.”
“Did that help?”
“Haha, yes.”
Choi Ji-hu beamed at me.
“You had already thought that through, didn’t you?”
“No. You asked me to be more proactive, so I just said what came to mind.”
He smiled.
“I’m not sure if I should say this, but I can’t think of a better word.”
“It’s fine. Go ahead.”
“PM, you’re really an oddball.”
“What?”
“How do you come up with things like this on the spot?”
I stared at Choi Ji-hu in disbelief, but he continued.
“The way you unfold a story feels like it shouldn’t make sense, but then I think, why shouldn’t it?”
“...”
“It even makes me want to meet someone like the protagonist in real life. He’s such an appealing character.”
So he hadn’t meant “oddball” in a bad way.
I smiled and pointed at the laptop screen.
“Then shall we get going?”
* * *
Choi Ji-hu focused on writing <Scalpel Returnee>, while I sat some distance away and proofread tomorrow’s installment of <The Office Worker from the Apocalypse> on my phone.
We each worked on our own tasks and spoke whenever something needed discussion.
“PM, as I keep writing, I have one serious doubt.”
“What is it?”
I lowered my phone and looked at Choi Ji-hu.
“Se-hyeok used to have a harsh personality, but during his leave, he developed a desire to care for others. That’s why he voluntarily takes on difficult work within the company, but...”
“...”
“It doesn’t feel like clear motivation. I keep wondering whether he really needs to do that. An ordinary person returns to work after a difficult leave and takes on hard work while prepared to be fired... Would viewers really relate to that?”
I nodded.
“You mean his motivation seems weak.”
“Yes. Even if they’re villains, it isn’t easy to cut out people who already have a place in the company.”
That wasn’t all there was to Se-hyeok’s motivation.
I explained slowly.
“He applied for leave because he was mentally exhausted, but the Sales Division Head, who was at the root of it all, created a twisted narrative. Instead of understanding what the protagonist was going through, people around him treated him like a strange person, and bad rumors spread. He even had to return to a different team rather than his old position.”
Choi Ji-hu tilted his head.
“Are you saying revenge is the source of his motivation?”
“It begins with revenge, but through that process, he realizes it’s necessary work.”
“...”
“He thinks of it as cutting out things like pancreatic cancer, things that aren’t obvious on the surface. I think that would be enough motivation, both for himself and for the organization.”
Choi Ji-hu did not answer right away. After thinking for a moment, he slowly shook his head.
“I understand what you mean, but I still can’t really relate to it.”
“...”
“The verbal abuse was only temporary, and I think those emotions would fade quickly. It isn’t as though the protagonist was denied leave, and he was allowed to return to work in the end.”
Choi Ji-hu furrowed his brow.
“Shouldn’t the emotions he felt over such an insult disappear during his leave?”
“I think you’re approaching this from an observer’s perspective.”
Without realizing it, I was becoming more emotional.
“People watching from the outside might think, ‘Why make such a big deal over that?’”
“...”
“But imagine experiencing it yourself. You grew up loved by your parents, lived a smooth life, never seriously wronged anyone, and got by without harming others.”
“...”
“Then you enter a company, meet some strange bastard, get called a dog and a pig in front of people, get treated like there’s something wrong with you, and have your dignity ignored while someone crushes you with their rank. Imagine that.”
It must have been because of Team Leader Kim. As I spoke, memories of him kept coming back to me.
“If you’ve felt treated as less than human even once, you can’t forget it easily. And when you find yourself trying to rationalize it, telling yourself to let it go because it was done by someone above you, it feels even more disgusting.”
Choi Ji-hu’s expression changed slightly.
“I don’t think we should take other people’s wounds lightly. If the person involved isn’t okay, then they still aren’t okay. If it isn’t happening to you, you can never truly know.”
Choi Ji-hu nodded.
“I finally understand what you mean. I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
“Most people don’t get the chance to.”
“...”
“Though office workers are more likely to.”
Hoo...
Letting go of my emotions, I smiled.
“And this is a comedy. There can be some exaggeration for the sake of fun. I think viewers will be willing to accept that much.”
“Probably. As long as one condition is met.”
He stated the clearest principle that both he and I knew.
The one condition that could forgive any premise in a creative work.
“Yes. As long as it’s fun.”
* * *
Choi Ji-hu smiled faintly.
“I think I really did the right thing by working with you, PM. Now that I understand the character better, I think the writing will flow more easily.”
“It’s nothing.”
Choi Ji-hu turned in his chair to face me.
“Since we’re at it, should we talk about casting, too?”
“Casting?”
“Do you have an actor in mind for the protagonist?”
I hadn’t thought about it, but Choi Ji-hu spoke as if it were obvious.
“Drama writers write their first drafts while imagining the lead actor. Then, after finishing the first draft, they discuss casting with the producer in a meeting.”
“I see. Then who do you have in mind, Writer?”
“Hmm... You mentioned that baseball drama before, but I think that actor would be perfect for Se-hyeok.”
“...”
“I think he could portray both coldness and warm humanity well.”
He didn’t say the name, but I thought I knew who he meant.
Namgung Hyeon.
I agreed one hundred percent.
Still, he was an actor with an enormous reputation.
Would he really be interested?
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