WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Why Do My Dramas Keep Becoming Hits!? ◈
Chapter 20: We Need to Raise the Stakes (2)
──────
“I think we should keep pushing him.”
At that casual remark, aimed at Do Jae-hyun on the screen, the air in the conference room grew heavy.
He intended to stick with a complete rookie nobody, even with controversy at an all-time high. No one could make sense of what he was thinking.
Regardless, Tae San-hyeok gave his orders in a calm voice.
“PD Woo.”
“Y-Yes.”
“Talk to the digital planning department and put together a separate outsourced team dedicated to making-of content. Cover everything, from today’s shoot to poster photoshoots and behind-the-scenes footage during breaks. Keep a camera glued to that guy and capture it all. And Team Leader Park.”
“Yes, Bureau Chief.”
“Have the PR team take that footage and release it bit by bit as teasers until the broadcast. Whenever the controversy seems to be dying down, toss out a little more fuel.”
What came out of his mouth was not damage control, but a full-scale marketing strategy.
Unable to understand it, the PR team leader questioned him.
“But, Bureau Chief. Teasers and making-of footage are too short. The public will not be able to tell whether that actor is good or bad, much less accept him as a suitable replacement for Baek Kang-min.”
“They don't need to accept him. Make them curious.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
Tae San-hyeok uncrossed his arms.
“When people get curious, they’ll look him up even if they have to force themselves. So whether they curse him or praise him, we keep throwing them little bits of bait and leave them desperate for more.”
It was a brutal, thorough calculation to maximize controversy and convert it into ratings.
Still, there was a problem.
“If we do that... yes, as you said, the first episode's ratings will explode. We've drawn that much attention. But what comes after is the issue. People will watch through a biased lens and pick at every tiny flaw. If we slip up even a little, the criticism will only get worse.”
The people in the conference room silently agreed with Team Leader Park's desperate argument.
This was the tentpole on which the network's fate for the second half of the year rested. The repercussions of failure would be too great.
Their greatest wish was to abandon this gamble and take the safer route.
“Even if the first episode gets good ratings, that will be all. In the long run, we stand to lose more than we gain.”
It was a reckless adventure that could destroy the entire drama.
Besides, one day's filming footage was not enough to judge Do Jae-hyun's acting ability.
Yet a cold smile spread across Bureau Chief Tae's lips.
“Team Leader Park. That mindset of wanting to gobble up free gains without effort isn't good.”
“Pardon...?”
“If you want something, you have to be willing to risk losing something. Isn't that right?”
Bureau Chief Tae met the PR team leader's eyes and continued.
“The more you risk, the more you get back. If you want to play it safe without a scratch, why spend tens of billions of won making a tentpole?”
It was a dangerous gamble everyone wanted to avoid.
But rather than fearing it, Tae San-hyeok was preparing to use it as an opportunity to turn the whole game around.
“I won't say it again. Don't shut down the noise. Keep it taut until the day episode one airs. If viewers seem short on things to chew over and tear apart, give them plenty.”
With the conference room crushed beneath silence, Tae San-hyeok ended the discussion in a low growl.
#
A few days later, at Studio Miracle's office.
The sluggish air of the post-lunch hours hung over the room when Kim Seong-jun, a new PD staring at his monitor, spoke up in alarm.
“PD Nam, I think tvM is really screwed this time.”
“Why? Did another article come out?”
Across from him, PD Nam Tae-jin replied indifferently as he sipped his coffee.
“The problem is that none came out. Communities and social media are going wild over sponsor rumors and parachute-casting accusations, but tvM has stayed quiet without making any statement.”
“...They're still quiet?”
“Yes. Usually, when controversy gets this big, they immediately put out a statement denying it, right? But they're still sitting on their hands. I guess there really is something shady going on, like people say. Right?”
At Kim Seong-jun's confident voice, Nam Tae-jin's fingers stopped clicking the mouse.
He spun his chair around and looked at Kim Seong-jun.
“Hey, Seong-jun.”
“Yes?”
“I heard tvM gathered all their higher-ups for an emergency meeting a few days ago. Bureau Chief Tae himself showed up.”
“Huh, really? Wow, and they still couldn't come up with a solution? Then they're totally done for.”
“...”
What an idiot.
Nam Tae-jin looked at the new PD with weary annoyance.
“Think about it. They gathered even the top brass and racked their brains, but they didn't release an article denying it? A broadcasting network, of all places? They're not idiots, so why would they do that?”
“Well, they're probably keeping quiet because it hit a nerve. Even they must know it obviously looks like parachute casting.”
“...That's what you think?”
“Yes. One hundred percent.”
It was the shallow answer one would expect from a clueless newcomer.
Nam Tae-jin snorted and tossed the empty paper cup into the trash.
“You don't know anything, do you? Hey, if there were really something to hide, this industry's instinct would be to deny it. They'd be desperate to unleash trash reporters and bury it under manufactured articles. But they're keeping their mouths shut so openly and taking all these hits without defending themselves? Doesn't that make it obvious they have something up their sleeves?”
“Um... I don't know.”
“Seriously, what am I supposed to talk to you about?”
Then one face crossed Nam Tae-jin's mind.
Tae San-hyeok, the chief of tvM's Drama Bureau.
Nam Tae-jin's brow naturally furrowed as he recalled him.
“And you know, I worked with Bureau Chief Tae back when he was a department-level PD.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yeah. Anyway, working with him taught me something. That man never takes a losing deal. Even when a game is already over, he'll rack his brain to salvage every last bone from it. But someone that greedy is sitting back and accepting losses to minimize the damage? It just doesn't add up.”
His instincts, honed through every hardship the industry had to offer, were sharpening.
Just as Nam Tae-jin was about to voice his thoughts again,
“Nooo! What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”
A scream loud enough to be mistaken for an animal's cry burst out from across the office.
The owner of that voice was none other than Ji Seo-yoon.
For some reason, she was clutching her phone and raging into it.
“I’m sorry... I think I must have lost my mind at the time.”
“Don't joke with me! What do you mean you didn't write it, Writer? Then you should've said so from the beginning!”
“The script was so good... For a moment, I was blinded by the thought of releasing it under my name...”
Over the phone, screenwriter Kim Myeong-hwan repeatedly apologized.
Was it fortunate that Kim Myeong-hwan had finally confessed the truth now?
Not even close.
“Then who wrote the real script? Who is the original writer of that Untitled script you sent me first? I need to know whose it is if I'm supposed to clean this up!”
“I don't know either... I have no idea where it got mixed in while I was organizing files before... I'm truly sorry.”
“You've got to be kidding me...!”
Click! Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Hello? Writer? Writer Kim Myeong-hwan?! Aah!”
She tore at her hair and kicked at empty air, looking like a complete lunatic.
At her sudden outburst, Nam Tae-jin, Kim Seong-jun, and everyone else beyond the partitions recoiled and looked away.
“Aah! What the hell is this?!”
Looking back, there had been more than one suspicious sign.
Leaving aside how Writer Kim kept delaying the next episode's script, hadn't Kim handed her some printed garbage while claiming to have revised the existing script?
She should have realized it then. Damn it.
“Um, Seo-yoon?”
A junior assistant cautiously approached and tapped her sleeve.
“...What?”
“Um... Department Head Park is asking for you.”
“...! D-Department Head Park?!”
The madness in Ji Seo-yoon's bloodshot eyes instantly cooled.
In its place came terrible fear.
‘C-Crazy...!’
Why was the department head looking for her?
Wasn't it obvious? It was because of that script.
That damned script that had just lost its owner.
‘What do I do? Should I tell him the truth? No, am I insane? If I do that, my head might roll first!’
She could not just confess when she did not even know who the script's true owner was.
Her eyes darted in panic before landing on a stack of other writers' stopgap proposals and scripts piled on one side of her desk.
She would take those for now.
Ji Seo-yoon hurriedly gathered a few scripts from the writers whose work looked somewhat usable.
Then, on trembling legs, she headed for the department head's office.
Knock. Knock.
When Ji Seo-yoon carefully opened the door, Department Head Park Ho-seong looked up from the approval documents and broke into a broad smile.
“Oh! Our lucky charm is here?”
Normally, that ogre would have only said, “Oh, you're here,” without even looking up.
That unfamiliar warmth made Ji Seo-yoon's spine tingle even more.
“D-Department Head Park, you called for me...?”
“Yeah, come sit down. I've got a lot to say about that script.”
“...”
“The higher-ups are very excited too. Even A-list directors are lining up to take it. Ha ha.”
Every word out of Park Ho-seong's mouth felt like a death sentence tightening around Ji Seo-yoon's throat.
Things had grown far too big. It was too late to take them back now.
What was she supposed to do? Her mind was going blank.
“So, when will Writer Kim's episode three script be ready? We need the script quickly so we can lock the cast and start the table read. Is there even a first draft?”
The moment she had dreaded had come.
Ji Seo-yoon swallowed dryly and carefully placed the stacks of scripts she had been holding on the table.
“D-Department Head Park, would you look at these first...?”
“Oh, what is this? It's already out? Ha ha! Our PD Ji really knows how to get things done. Let's see.”
Park Ho-seong picked up the scripts without suspicion.
But as he turned the first page, then the second, the smile on his lips gradually disappeared.
He then snatched up the rest of the scripts and skimmed through them, but nowhere could he find episode three of Untitled.
Thud!
Park Ho-seong threw the scripts onto the table irritably.
“...PD Ji. What is this?”
“W-Well... these are works I've been keeping an eye on lately. I was wondering what you might think of them...”
“Did I call you in here to bring me this trash? I told you to bring Writer Kim Myeong-hwan's episode three script. What are you talking about?”
Irritation slowly appeared in Park Ho-seong's eyes.
Seeing it, Ji Seo-yoon realized there was nowhere left to retreat.
In the end, she decided to confess everything.
“Um, Department Head Park. The truth is...”
A little later.
After finishing her explanation in a trembling voice, she lowered her head and added an apology.
And Park Ho-seong's reaction after hearing the whole story was...
“...”
He had frozen without a word.
He looked as though someone had pressed a pause button.
Then, after finally coming to his senses, he slowly opened his mouth.
“S-So... what you're saying is... Writer Kim didn't write that script?”
“Y-Yes... I'm sorry. I should have checked properly from the beginning...”
“H-Ha ha. Ha ha ha!”
An empty laugh escaped Park Ho-seong's lips.
He struggled to suppress his rising anger as he asked,
“Then who is the original writer? Who wrote that script?”
“...I don't know.”
“You crazy idiot!”
Crash!
Only then did a torrent of curses pour from Park Ho-seong's mouth.
Though the department head's office was thoroughly soundproofed, his lion-like roar was loud enough to shake the entire office.
“Are you insane?! Does it make any sense for a PD to confuse the writers?! Are you some kind of moron?! Does that make any sense?!”
“I-I'm sorry! I'll take responsibility somehow...!”
“Responsibility?! Responsibility?! Fine, let me ask you this! How are you going to take responsibility? Do you know this writer's name, face, or address? Do you know even one thing?!”
“...”
“You know nothing, and you're talking about responsibility like an idiot? Do you have any sense at all?!”
He looked as though he might clutch the back of his neck and collapse from high blood pressure at any moment.
“Haa! No, you said it well. Fine, go find them right now.”
“...What?”
“Fuck! If you said you'd take responsibility, then take it! Get out there and find the original writer! Right now!”
“Y-Yes! Yes, sir!”
“Get out!”
The bundle of documents thrown from behind her struck the door and scattered loudly.
Ji Seo-yoon fled the department head's office as though running for her life.
Click!
The moment the office door closed, everything around her fell silent.
But in contrast to that stillness, her heart pounded wildly.
“How the hell am I supposed to find them...?!”
She truly felt like crying.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried