WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Why Do My Dramas Keep Becoming Hits!? ◈
Chapter 10: Mistaken for Someone Out of the Blue (1)
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Studio Miracle Planning Team Office.
The air was gloomy and heavy, as though it might start pouring at any moment.
“Fuck. Those two are seriously insane.”
“Fine, they hooked up. But why the hell are they cutting off innocent people’s livelihoods over it?”
Sighs and curses erupted throughout the office.
Empty coffee cups and energy drink cans were piled like mountains on every desk, and dark circles hung beneath the PDs’ eyes.
Their flagship drama had collapsed overnight in an unprecedented scandal involving an affair between its director and lead writer.
With next month’s programming schedule needing to be filled immediately, the planning team had a fire at its feet.
“Is there anything we can salvage from scripts other companies scrapped yesterday, or the synopses B Team passed around?”
“No. I don’t know where everyone dug up this garbage, but if we use it as a stopgap, we won’t even get one percent ratings.”
“Another night of overtime, then. Tch.”
It was then.
Bang!
The office door swung open, and someone stepped inside.
A cheerful hum, completely at odds with the funeral-like mood from moments before.
It was Ji Seo-yoon.
“Oh, Seo-yoon. You look really happy. Did you get some rest?”
“Seriously. Did you win the lottery or something?”
“Ahahaha! I found something even better than winning the lottery!”
“...?”
The surrounding PDs looked at her like she had lost her mind.
She was always talking about quitting on the spot. How had one day off changed her this much?
It was a reasonable suspicion that she had finally gone crazy from overwork.
Yet despite their piercing stares, Ji Seo-yoon kept grinning.
“Hm hm. The department head’s inside, right?”
“Y-yeah. He is. Why?”
“Oh, I need to see him about something.”
After saying that, she hummed her way straight toward the back of the office.
The PDs stared blankly after her confident retreating figure.
“Isn’t she about to cause trouble today?”
“Right? She looks ready to throw down her resignation letter, have it out with the department head, and leave.”
“Stop saying weird things and hurry up with those proposals. We don’t have time.”
Their whispers quickly died down.
They were in no position to care about someone else quitting.
“Hm hm hm.”
Knock knock! Creak!
A moment later, Ji Seo-yoon knocked and entered Department Head Park Ho-seong’s office.
Department Head Park Ho-seong sat inside with a deeply troubled expression.
“Hello, sir.”
“Phew... Do I look like I’m doing fine right now?”
She had always been intimidated whenever she faced that ogre-like face, but now Ji Seo-yoon had nothing to fear.
She held a treasure that could make even that picky ogre dance with joy.
“Ugh. All the writers with any name recognition have already been booked by other broadcasters, and I can barely stand to look at the scripts from the leftovers. It’s driving me crazy.”
“Ahaha. Right.”
“So why are you here? Did you find something usable?”
“Yes, sir. Would you like to read this?”
Thump!
Ji Seo-yoon confidently set the stack of scripts she had been holding against her chest on Park’s desk.
Park frowned deeply as he looked back and forth between the script and Ji Seo-yoon.
“What is this? Whose is it?”
“It’s Writer Kim Myeong-hwan’s. I went through every candidate script yesterday, and this was easily the best one. Writer Kim Myeong-hwan has really honed their craft.”
“Kim Myeong-hwan? That washed-up writer?”
Park’s face filled with disbelief.
Putting aside the fact that Kim was a writer past their prime, there was no way Kim would submit a decent script for a mere emergency programming slot.
It was probably some low-quality practice work or a discarded project Kim had given up on midway through.
‘Tch. We don’t have time, and she brings me this.’
Still, since she had brought it, Department Head Park Ho-seong should at least read it.
Park reluctantly adjusted his glasses and turned the first page.
Rustle.
At first, he only intended to skim it.
But as he turned one page, then two, then three, the look in his eyes began to change.
Park Ho-seong’s slouched back gradually straightened, and the hand turning the pages grew more urgent.
Watching Park Ho-seong, Ji Seo-yoon silently cheered.
“...”
It was as if all the noise in the office had been shut out. Only the sound of pages turning filled the room.
How much time had passed?
After closing the final page, Park drew in a sharp breath and slowly raised his head.
Park Ho-seong’s eyes were bloodshot with shock and delight.
“...PD Ji. Whose work did you say this was?”
“Writer Kim Myeong-hwan’s.”
“No, wait. This? Kim’s writing is this good? He’s really hit his stride!”
Park’s voice trembled slightly.
As Park Ho-seong began reading the script carefully again, he suddenly rose from his seat.
“Whoa... This is far too good for an emergency programming slot. We need to bring in an A-list director and make this properly. Ah! PD Ji!”
“Yes, sir.”
“You contact Writer Kim yourself! Make absolutely sure Writer Kim doesn’t circulate the synopsis to any other production companies, and set up a meeting for the day after tomorrow!”
“Yes, sir!”
Park laughed heartily as Park Ho-seong patted Ji Seo-yoon on the shoulder.
“Ha ha, anyway, good work. The division director chewed me out earlier, and my neck was stiff from it, but this one script you brought fixed everything. I thought you wouldn’t adjust here, but you’re a real lucky charm. Ha ha!”
“Thank you!”
“Heh heh. Right, you said you’ve been so busy lately that you’ve been skipping breakfast? Here! Go eat something good today, as much as you want. Take it easy with work, too. Ha ha!”
“O-oh! Thank you!”
After thanking Department Head Park Ho-seong for the company card bestowed on her, she turned around.
Praise and kindness from the ogre of a boss who usually only criticized her. More than anything, Ji Seo-yoon was happy with the accomplishment of finally pulling something off.
‘Heh! Work is actually starting to feel worth doing...!’
She left the office, waving the company card in her hand.
Her steps were as light as feathers, as though she could fly away.
But she did not yet know what disaster her mistake would bring in the future.
#
Warm morning sunlight filtered through the thin curtains and tickled my eyes.
After tossing around beneath the blankets for a while, I slowly opened my eyes and dragged up my heavy body.
“Mmm...”
Several months had already passed since I had tossed in my resignation letter without a second thought.
At first, I spent sleepless nights worrying about what I would eat tomorrow and whether my life would really be okay like this. But maybe I had adjusted by now, because I was greeting the morning feeling refreshed.
Of course, once my savings ran out, I would have to scramble around looking for work again.
“Ah, I just want to win the lottery and live off it forever.”
Anyway, my current life was perfect.
No annoying work, no bosses giving me shit. Even the pressure to make my writing debut had disappeared, so I had absolutely no reason to be stressed...
...Or did I? There was one thing.
“You’re up, bro? Good morning!”
“...”
Ji Seo-yoon had been unusually energetic lately, as if something good had happened to her.
As always, she waved at me with a bright smile.
“Ugh, gross. You’ve made my morning fucking worse.”
“Hmph.”
“Stop it. You’re giving me murderous urges.”
Come to think of it, did she have any intention of finding a place?
She had been mooching off me for over a month now, and she showed no sign of leaving.
“Hey, aren’t you going to move out? Are you planning to settle in here for good?”
“Come on, it’s not like I can’t leave. I’m staying because you’d get lonely without me, bro.”
“Quit talking bullshit and get out.”
“Why? I’ll just stay a little longer.”
Ugh, why was I even talking to her? Talking to an animal like that was only a waste of time.
Still, she handled all the housework and reliably paid her share of the food expenses, so I wasn’t that unhappy.
Losing my privacy was a downside, but once she went to work, I could enjoy perfect freedom again.
And judging by the way she was curling her hair and patting foundation onto her face with a puff, she was getting ready for work as usual.
“Off to make money? Bring home lots of it.”
“You should hurry up and get a job too. Stop lounging around like a bum.”
The brat who had been whining in a nasal voice just moments ago flipped her attitude completely.
God, I wanted to smack her, but I couldn’t.
“I’m leaving. I’ll be home late tonight, so don’t wait for me. Eat by yourself. And...”
Finished getting ready, she slowly looked me up and down.
Then she suddenly frowned and launched into a lecture like she thought I was pathetic.
“Ugh, look at you. Go wash up. You’re filthy as hell. You look like a beggar.”
“What? A beggar? Why are you picking a fight out of nowhere? Want to die?”
“What are you talking about? You are a beggar. Do you even have a hundred won in your account? You’ve been goofing off every day. Your account must be empty by now.”
“...I’m spending carefully, so mind your own business.”
“Sure you are. Stop typing away in your room every day and get a job. At your age, you should be getting employed, not pursuing hobbies like some kid.”
She was so damn loud.
I answered by raising my middle finger, and Ji Seo-yoon returned the gesture with both middle fingers.
“Anyway, find a way to survive already. Seriously, who’s going to give you money or feed you just because you scribble a few words in your room? Get a real job, you useless unemployed loafer.”
“Goddamn it, that brat, first thing in the morning!”
When I snapped and tried to fire back, Ji Seo-yoon stuck out her tongue at me and darted for the front door.
Bang!
The door slammed shut, and silence returned to the noisy house.
“Ungrateful brat. She only treats me like her brother when she needs something. The rest of the time, she talks down to me like that.”
From now on, even if she begged me for help, I was never helping her again. She could figure things out herself.
Adding plenty of points to her list of offenses in my head, I headed for the kitchen.
As usual, I filled my stomach with instant noodles, then went into the bathroom for a shower once I had finished eating.
After that, I naturally made my way to my desk.
My familiar chair, the worn feel of the desk beneath my hands. Only then did my mind clear, and a peaceful feeling came over me, like I had returned completely to my own quiet world.
“Alright, should I get a lot written today?”
I turned on my laptop with practiced movements and opened my word processor.
Watching the cursor blink at regular intervals over the blank page, I took a moment to catch my breath before pouring out the story I had planned intensely in my head until right before sleep last night.
Tap, tap-tap, tap-tap-tap, tap!
Only the cheerful, rhythmic clatter of keyboard keys echoed through the quiet room.
How much time had passed?
I had been completely absorbed, writing away for quite a while.
I had long forgotten the passing of real time, utterly immersed in the emotional arcs of the characters on my monitor as I frantically wrote a breathless conflict scene.
Bzzz!
I stopped typing, pulled out my phone, and checked it.
The name on the screen was Yoon Dong-woo.
Yoon Dong-woo had been quiet for a while. What was this about?
Setting aside my questions, I answered.
“Yeah, what?”
“Hey! You know what today is, right? Were you too nervous to sleep?”
Yoon Dong-woo’s excited voice pounded against my eardrums through the phone.
Yoon Dong-woo was loud first thing in the morning.
“What about today? Did you want to drink again?”
“Are you senile or something? Like last time, you can’t remember anything properly.”
“...? So what is today?”
“You idiot. Today’s the final announcement for the contest.”
That was all?
Damn, here I thought something serious had happened with the way Yoon Dong-woo was acting.
“I know that. Is that why you called?”
“Look at you, so calm. Are you that sure you’ve already got the grand prize?”
“The opposite, idiot.”
Making it through the second round had already been lucky as hell. What grand prize?
I wasn’t expecting even an Excellence Award, much less an honorable mention.
“Why? Didn’t you have that meeting with the PD before? Did it go badly?”
“Ugh. Don’t ask. Those bastards were scammers.”
“?”
Yoon Dong-woo paused in confusion before changing the subject.
“So are you going to keep writing as just a hobby? You made it through the second round, so I think you’ve got talent. Why not pursue it?”
“Hey, don’t count your chickens. If I have talent, then everyone from first place to tenth is a god of drama.”
Yoon Dong-woo didn’t know anything about dramas, so Yoon Dong-woo could say such romantic things.
Having spent a long time in the industry, I knew the brutally harsh reality.
An amateur like me had no room to wedge my way in.
That was why I had never even considered making a living from writing in the first place.
“Hmm, that’s a shame. I still think you should give it a try. But then what are you going to do? Crawl back into a broadcasting station?”
“I wouldn’t go back there if it killed me. But I did get an offer.”
“From where?”
“I happened to get connected with a celebrity. He’s starting a personal YouTube channel and looking for a lead PD. The pay isn’t bad, so I’m thinking about giving it a shot.”
“Oh, really? Who is it? A girl-group idol?!”
“You woman-crazed bastard. It’s a male actor.”
“What a disappointment. Why would you do it if it’s a male actor?”
Like my sister said, I did need to get a job.
I had played around to my heart’s content, so now it was time to work.
“Anyway, I’ll buy you dinner later if things work out. Have fun slogging away.”
“Okay, see you later.”
That ended our pointless exchange, and I hung up.
I put my phone back into my pocket and was about to return to writing when it buzzed again.
What? Yoon Dong-woo had just called. Why was he texting now?
But when I looked at the screen, it wasn’t Yoon Dong-woo. It was some email notification.
Assuming it was an advertisement, I absentmindedly opened it.
Then.
“Huh?”
A blank, idiotic sound slipped out of my mouth.
[We sincerely congratulate Writer Ji Yeon-woo, whose work has been selected for the Grand Prize in the 4th tvM Drama Screenplay Contest.]
...What?
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