WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Genius Writer Who Will Never Fall Again ◈
Chapter 14: Filming (2)
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Ryu Cheong-a, twenty-three years old. Life in the working world was not easy.
In what way was it not easy?
Relationships with coworkers, of course.
...It was a disaster she had brought upon herself.
‘Why did I do that?’
Cheong-a remembered every offense she had committed against Jae-kyung on that dinner night of confusion and despair, when she had been soaked in alcohol.
She had clung to him and whined, grabbed him by the collar and shaken him, then even declared a blood oath with an arm around his shoulders. Other than actual violence, she had made every drunken mistake possible.
No, grabbing someone by the collar counted as violence too, so she had probably done it all.
‘Please erase it from your memory...!’
She had begged, but unlike her pathetic alcohol tolerance, her memory was perfectly fine.
Some people drank and woke up hazily remembering nothing from the night before. If Cheong-a tried to recall that day, every moment came back to her in chronological order.
That was the fundamental reason she had been like this for two weeks.
‘Where did it all go wrong?’
Had it been living her entire life without realizing she got drunk after one or two glasses?
Sitting beside Jae-kyung that day?
Or getting unnecessarily anxious because of Jae-kyung’s calm reaction?
Sigh after sigh escaped her.
She had already apologized, and Jae-kyung had told her it was fine, but how could she possibly calm down? Whenever she thought he might secretly hate her, worry rose in her chest and made her nervous.
That lingering anxiety would not disappear, and sometimes her heart began to pound.
Maybe that was why she kept waiting for a message from Jae-kyung, even though there was no reason one should come.
Messaging him again to apologize felt rude. But if he contacted her about work or even that night, she wanted to use it as an excuse to apologize again.
That thought did not last long.
‘No! What am I thinking?!’
Cheong-a pressed her palms to her cheeks and rubbed them hard.
She tried to wipe the mournful expression from her face too.
Making a mistake had not been enough. The fact that she was having such pathetic thoughts made her feel even more pathetic.
‘Act. At least focus on acting! I need to do that well!’
Right. At the very least, doing that properly would be an apology to the person who had written the script.
Just as she thought that and forced herself to stand up...
“Oh! Writer Han’s here! Everyone, take a break!”
“Oh, Writer Han brought a coffee truck?”
Cheong-a’s head snapped around.
A truck was pulling onto the set in the distance. Its cargo compartment opened to reveal a miniature café bar, and Jae-kyung stepped out of the passenger seat.
His casually grown-out curls and indifferent expression softened his distinctive sharp features. His tall, thin frame, dressed in a white T-shirt, a light beige knit jacket, and cotton pants, gave off a fresh, everyday air.
Cheong-a felt her body stiffen for no reason.
Seeing Jae-kyung’s face brought that day back to her all over again.
She stood there awkwardly, ticking away like a clock. Jae-kyung looked around, spotted her, and Cheong-a quickly turned her head away.
‘Ah, isn’t that rude too...?’
She realized it too late.
Before she could do anything else, Young-chan ran over eagerly to greet Jae-kyung. Byeong-gi and the other staff soon gathered around him.
“Writer Han! You came!!!”
“I told you beforehand that I was coming. It’s not like I’d say I was coming and then not show up...”
“Right! If you say you’ll come, you should come! That’s how it should be! It’s only natural, but...!”
“...Are you all right? Why are your eyes getting red all of a sudden?”
“No. I’m not usually a crier, but today I feel like I might cry...”
The set became boisterous in an instant.
Naturally.
An event that could liven up a set did not happen very often. Especially not for Sword Pact, One Lord, which mostly featured rookie actors or actors with little name recognition. And now a support truck had arrived.
Not only that, the writer had sent it.
For this moment, Jae-kyung could not help becoming the star of the set.
The entire filming site grew warm and cheerful.
Even then, Cheong-a remained crumpled in a corner, fidgeting with the edge of her hanbok jacket.
‘Ugh...’
If she went over and tried to apologize, would that only make Jae-kyung more uncomfortable?
Countless thoughts filled her head.
Her confidence kept falling, and her shoulders sagged along with it.
The staff began receiving coffee. The actors joined them too, and it looked as though the break would be fairly long.
‘Right. Maybe it’s better if I stay quiet...’
She was squatting on a chair when someone tapped her shoulder.
Cheong-a’s mental strength had already dwindled to nearly zero, so she answered blankly without even turning around.
“Ah, I’m fine. Caffeine doesn’t agree with me...”
“Yes, I know.”
“...!?”
The fine hairs on her body stood up as she turned around.
Jae-kyung stood right in front of her.
Still wearing that indifferent expression, he held out a drink.
“Lemonade. You should at least have something to drink.”
“W-w-w-writer...!”
“I’m not self-published. I’m a writer. More importantly, aren’t you going to take it?”
“No! I’ll take it! I’ll take i-t...!”
...Ah. She had bitten her tongue.
‘Why now, of all times...!’
She squeezed her eyes shut, then heard the scrape of a chair.
Jae-kyung had pulled over an empty chair, crossed his legs, and sat down.
“Are you adjusting well to filming?”
“Ghk...!”
“You can answer slowly. Or you don’t have to answer at all.”
“N-no...”
“I heard you were still worried about what happened that day, so I came over.”
The words landed strangely hard.
It almost sounded as if he was saying he had come here because of her. Was she imagining it?
Was that a good thing or a bad thing?
Thinking about it would only make her dig herself deeper. After all, it meant she had looked so miserable on set that she could not even manage her expression.
“...I’m sorry about that day. I really am. I feel awful.”
At a loss for anything else to say, she could only apologize again.
Jae-kyung remained calm.
“It’s fine. I’m used to putting up with other people’s drunken antics. My college seniors drank like damn dogs.”
“Still...”
“More importantly, is there anything difficult about the acting?”
“The acting... I like it! Hyang-dan is such a good character.”
“You don’t need to gild her.”
“It’s true!”
That answer was sincere.
She did not have much acting experience, and this was the first time she had truly carried a role properly. But the more she got to know the Hyang-dan in Jae-kyung’s script, the deeper her charm became.
Maybe she was not like that with everyone, but she was, at least, like that for Cheong-a.
“It feels like she was made just for me...!”
Of course, she had not been. Still, Cheong-a sometimes felt an astonishing sense of unity with her while acting.
Even during this miserable stretch, that feeling made her forget everything whenever she was performing.
“She never loses her spirit, no matter the situation. Even when things are hard, she tries to smile. She thinks tomorrow will be better, and when things really do improve, she knows how to be purely happy. Those things...!”
She had been talking excitedly when she realized Jae-kyung was staring at her.
Heat rushed to her face, and she lowered her head.
“Ah, you don’t need to take that too deeply...!”
Jae-kyung answered a beat later.
“It’s good if you feel that connection. It means my script is being brought into the world through good acting.”
“Haha... I still have a lot to improve.”
She had not even been drinking. Why was she babbling so excitedly?
She felt like her mouth had gotten her in trouble again, but...
“You’re not lacking.”
“Pardon?”
“I said you’re not lacking. Your acting, Ryu Cheong-a.”
At those words, she looked up.
Had she heard him right?
As she wondered, Jae-kyung met her eyes and added,
“I wouldn’t have cast you if your acting were poor. You were good, and good enough to overcome your lack of experience and be here. I don’t entrust my work to people I can’t trust.”
“Ah...”
“I said that because I want you to have confidence. I couldn’t answer you when you were drunk.”
Suddenly, Cheong-a felt as though her earlobes were burning.
Maybe it was because these words came from the person she had vaguely hoped would recognize her acting from the first time they met.
Each word seemed to bounce into her ears.
Her thoughts loosened for a moment, and her mouth fell open.
Surprise and emotion came at her together, and she stared at Jae-kyung without realizing it was rude.
Then...
“Please work hard. I came to cheer you on because I wanted you to.”
“Me?”
“Did you think I came to cheer on the director over there? They’re the sort who’ll get even more excited and work harder if I’m not around.”
Those words made it feel as if an invisible fingertip were tickling her heart.
The fine hairs on her body rose, and pleasant goosebumps spread across her skin.
“Anyway, take care. I only made time to stop by, so I should get going.”
“Um, excuse me...!”
“Yes?”
Jae-kyung stopped as he was about to stand and looked at Cheong-a.
She had stopped him, but she could not think of what to say next.
Her head spun. Her lips moved, and she finally managed one sentence.
“I’ll really work hard. Very hard...!”
Jae-kyung let out a dry laugh.
He left her with one final comment.
“Work hard in moderation. If you collapse, the filming schedule will get messed up.”
Then he turned and headed toward the staff.
But Cheong-a could not take her eyes off their retreating figure.
She watched Jae-kyung for a long time, then took a drink of the lemonade she had been given because her throat had suddenly gone dry.
‘It’s sour.’
Sharp and sour.
And yet...
‘...It’s sweet.’
Sweet and cool enough that she wanted to keep drinking.
The refreshing sensation wrapped pleasantly around her body.
* * *
Was this sunfish going to die on me?
The thought suddenly came to mind, so I came to check on her, only to see nothing but unfamiliar sides of her.
Everyone had a first time, but rookie Ryu Cheong-a was too unfamiliar to someone who knew only the fully formed Ryu Cheong-a.
‘Did it work?’
She was smiling foolishly as she drank her lemonade, so maybe it had.
At least I must have conveyed that I had no hard feelings toward her.
Of course, the Ryu Cheong-a I remembered was not this mentally fragile.
This was only my own overly sensitive anxiety, born from knowing the end result. I had come because I did not want to be tormented by it.
Only after the fact did I feel relieved, and the tension left my shoulders.
Then I remembered something I had said wrong and felt a chill.
“Ah, I’m fine. Caffeine doesn’t agree with me...”
“Yes, I know.”
I had casually acted as though I knew.
There was no way I should have known about Ryu Cheong-a’s caffeine sensitivity at this point in time.
It was a tremendous relief that she had not noticed.
‘Anyway, I won’t have any reason to meddle with the set further now.’
I even wondered whether I should not have chosen Ryu Cheong-a.
Of course, I did not dwell on the thought for long.
‘...Forget it. What’s the point of talking about the past? And if I had chosen someone else, I would have regretted that too.’
Regardless of her mental state, Ryu Cheong-a’s talent was irreplaceable.
The only person I could even place alongside her was Joo Young-wol, Seong-hun’s mother. But she was old enough to play a grand lord, not a young girl.
I scratched my head furiously and shook off the pointless anxiety.
‘It’s fine. At this point, Ryu Cheong-a still has no reason to kill herself.’
I knew Ryu Cheong-a well.
I had spent a full year after her death trying to find out why.
There were still more things I could not understand than things I could, but I had more than enough suspicions.
This was a time when none of those things had even touched Ryu Cheong-a’s shadow yet.
The one thing that might have planted a seed was...
‘...There is one.’
My gaze slid toward the corner of the set.
A middle-aged woman dressed in clothes so expensive they looked ridiculous.
A middle-aged man beside her, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with an enormous luxury brand logo.
They were busy talking to the staff and doing who knew what.
They were Ryu Cheong-a’s parents and the sole staff of her agency.
“...”
My eyes narrowed.
‘If I can just get rid of them, she’ll definitely be safe for three years.’
It was certain according to the timeline.
I would not have chosen Ryu Cheong-a if I did not have at least that much information.
So I had no intention of leaving that fuse alone.
Ding!
A message arrived at just the right time.
[Reporter Choo Hyuk-jae: Is the day after tomorrow all right?]
‘What artistic timing.’
He was not someone I welcomed.
If anything, he was the kind of venomous snake I wanted to avoid if possible.
But that was how the world worked.
Even poison could become medicine if you knew how to use it.
And if it was lethal enough, then depending on how you handled it, it could become an elixir for the ages.
Entertainment reporter Choo Hyuk-jae.
One sentence was enough to explain him.
[Producer Jo Du-ho’s sex-for-favors scandal, among those involved was the person who worked with him on his last project...]
[Actor Ryu Cheong-a’s last call before suicide was to the writer of Sword Pact, One Lord, the drama airing at the time...]
[Regarding rumors involving writer Han Jae-kyung.]
Simply put, he was the worst tabloid hack I knew.
Footnotes:
“Sunfish” is Korean online shorthand for someone comically fragile or easily overwhelmed.
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