Why Do My Dramas Keep Becoming Hits!? - Chapter 27

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Potter

◈ Why Do My Dramas Keep Becoming Hits!? ◈

Chapter 27: The Writer Who Wrote This Is Your Brother (2)

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[tvM's <Living with My Ex-Boyfriend Somehow> keeps surging forward, breaks through the dreaded 15% barrier. Is cable TV writing new history?]

[<Living with My Ex-Boyfriend Somehow> Do Jae-hyun syndrome sweeps buzz and ratings rankings at No. 1]

[Humiliation for SBC's 30 billion won tentpole... <Suspect X> falls into the 5% range, suffers a crushing defeat against rival drama <Living with My Ex-Boyfriend Somehow>]

[Contrasting fortunes: tvM celebrates while SBC mourns... A perfect generational shift]

Adults only look at numbers.

It might sound cold, but at least in broadcasting, that was accepted as the one absolute truth.

The sweat shed by hundreds of staff members, the sentences a writer had polished through sleepless nights, and an actor's wholehearted performance were all ultimately reduced to a single number and judged by it.

More precisely, ratings. Depending on that number, someone became a hero while someone else became a traitor. That was simply how this industry worked.

And now, tvM's weekend drama <Living with My Ex-Boyfriend Somehow>.

The numbers this drama was putting up had grabbed tvM's drama department, which had been in a slump for some time, by the collar and dragged it back up.

[Episode 1 average rating: 15.5%. Peak rating: 16.1%]

[Episode 2 average rating: 16.2%. Peak rating: 17.4%]

There was no other way to describe those figures except unprecedented.

Not only had it broken its own ratings record with every episode since its premiere, but it had effortlessly crushed a major network's tentpole drama airing in the same time slot. Those miraculous numbers had sent shockwaves through the broadcasting industry.

Inside the drama department, people were already talking about reward vacations and bonuses. Advertising inquiries poured into the agencies of actors who had become stars overnight.

A battle had even begun among streaming platforms over VOD and rerun rights.

All because of ratings.

And that included one man shut away in a cramped room.

Bzzzz! Bzzzz!

"God, that's fucking loud."

From Saturday, when the first episode aired, until today, Monday, my phone hadn't rested for even a moment.

Messenger notifications bombarded the screen without pause, and the missed-call list seemed endless.

[Director Woo: Writer, do you use social media by any chance? I tried this thing called Starstagram for the first time today, and our drama is causing a huge stir lol]

[CP Ha Do-woon: Writer Yeon-woo. The bureau chief just told us to seriously consider a reward vacation. Let's have a meal sometime soon. Oh, and if you have any ideas for your next project...]

[B Team Assistant Director: Writer!! The scene you added yesterday got an incredible response on set! Everyone's going wild, saying Writer Yeon-woo is a genius!]

[Cha Ye-rin: Writerimsorryifeellikeihityoutoohardlasttimebecauseiwasimmersedintheemotionimreallyreallyreallysorryifperhapsyouhaveanybadfeelingsaboutmebecauseofthat...]

[Mom: Yeon-woo. Have you watched that tvM drama? It's so fun. You should watch it later and study it. It might help you.]

[I took all the genes, later (Ji Seo-yoon): LMAOOOO SBC totally bombed, right? They showed their level the moment they hired someone like you lol]

"...This is completely insane."

An ordinary rookie writer might have gladly enjoyed the flood of attention, drunk on that sweet success.

But I had no intention whatsoever of letting that spotlight shine directly on my face.

I'd never liked attention much to begin with, and I considered this drama part of my embarrassing past.

That was why, from the moment I signed my debut contract, I'd used just the two syllables "Yeon-woo" as my pen name instead of my full name.

That was also why I'd kept my face out of the media.

But when did life ever go the way I wanted?

[<Living with My Ex-Boyfriend Somehow>'s Do Jae-hyun: "When everyone turned away from me, the writer was the only one who reached out a hand." What did the writer see in him?]

[Was there a close writer-actor bond behind the <Living with My Ex-Boyfriend Somehow> syndrome? Do Jae-hyun, the uncut gem discovered by the writer]

[Director Woo Young-taek: "This writer doesn't just write well. He personally comes to the set and takes command..."]

[Were all the answers in the script? Actors unanimously praise the writer's frightening attention to detail]

[A writer respected by everyone in the drama industry. Is the writer really a rookie?]

These people gave interviews nobody had even asked them to give, and the entertainment pages went completely wild.

Do Jae-hyun's interview had been the final blow.

He'd explained the casting mishap that landed him the second male lead role in great detail, packaging it as a touching human-interest story.

Naturally, that kind of rescue narrative straight out of a drama greatly intrigued the public, and the attention focused on Do Jae-hyun spread to me like wildfire.

It's not easy to cast a seven-year unknown actor as a lead overnight...

Apparently, everyone on set strongly opposed it, but the writer pushed it through alone. What on earth did the writer see in him?

That eye for casting is insane. Why even hire a casting director?

At this rate, won't entertainment agencies show up with stacks of cash, asking the writer to look at their actors? lol

Has Cha Ye-rin ever praised someone like that before? And a rookie writer, too?

Director Woo isn't the type to compliment people either. Looks like the writer single-handedly carried the whole thing.

...I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm not that world-class.

The compliments and attention made me happy, but anxiety still crept in.

Dramas could fail just as quickly as they rose.

"Hm... Since things have turned out this way, maybe I should work a little harder too."

I still had quite a bit of time before my afternoon schedule. It'd be good to revise what needed revising.

Of course, it probably wouldn't make that much difference, but it had to turn out even a little better if I wanted to hold my head up.

After stretching for a moment, I sat down at my desk.

A few hours later, in a small conference room at tvM's headquarters.

The festive mood from that morning was nowhere to be seen. Everyone wore serious expressions.

The drama had only just begun. It was far too early to set off fireworks over the success of its first week.

But that seriousness didn't last long.

Creak!

"Hello. Did everyone have a good weekend?"

Writer Ji Yeon-woo entered as the conference-room door opened.

Before Woo Young-taek could even greet him, an extraordinary sight unfolded.

"Whoa! Writer, you're here!"

"Hey, hey, move out of the way! The writer needs to get through!"

"Writer, this is a supplement from the States. Want a whole box?"

The staff preparing for the meeting rushed over and surrounded him.

The youngest assistant director pretended to bow deeply, while the script supervisor discreetly grabbed Yeon-woo's collar and made a fuss about absorbing his energy.

They were so over the top, they looked like cult followers welcoming their leader.

"Hey, you bastards. Stop making a scene and get ready for the meeting."

Seeing Ji Yeon-woo's uncomfortable expression, Woo Young-taek restored order.

Only then did everyone return to their seats.

Woo Young-taek stepped forward and cleared his throat softly to draw their attention.

"Ahem. Then we'll begin with the storyboards for episode seven. You've all reviewed the preliminary shooting plan and storyboards we shared beforehand, right?"

Pointing at the storyboard panels packed across the whiteboard, Woo Young-taek began leading the meeting in earnest.

The staff naturally began trading comments.

Then Ji Yeon-woo cautiously raised his hand.

"Excuse me, but there's something I'd like everyone to look over before the meeting starts."

"...? What is it?"

Thud.

Ji Yeon-woo slid a thick stack of A4 pages onto the table.

[Living with My Ex-Boyfriend Somehow, Episodes 7-8 (Revised Draft)]

The instant Woo Young-taek saw the cover, his facial muscles stiffened.

The warm atmosphere in the conference room froze in an instant.

"I-Is this a revised draft...?"

"Yes. I felt the latter half was losing a little momentum, so I changed the direction somewhat."

Woo Young-taek's mind went blank.

A revised script meant the directing team would have to throw out the storyboards and shot arrangements they'd painstakingly put together over several sleepless nights.

For a director responsible for the set, a last-minute script revision was the worst kind of bomb, enough to make the veins stand out in his forehead.

"I'm really sorry you'll have to discard the shots you prepared, but I think this direction will make the flow of the story much smoother."

"Ah... Yes, yes. I'll read it first..."

That was what he said, but he was skeptical.

At this rate, they might end up pulling another all-nighter.

As Woo Young-taek considered how to turn it down tactfully, he picked up the script.

Rustle. Rustle.

But why was it?

With every page he turned, the anxiety he'd been holding down began to rise again.

Was it too bad?

No. It was the opposite.

'What the fuck is this...?'

He'd thought it was already perfect, that there was nothing left to revise.

But that wasn't the case.

The characters' emotional arcs had become as dense and delicate as if examined under a microscope. The plot, which could have dragged, had been pulled tight enough to explode at any moment.

The storyboards they'd prepared so far were so far beneath this that they needed to be thrown in the trash immediately.

Woo Young-taek finally tore his eyes away from the script and looked at Ji Yeon-woo with a complicated expression caught between bewilderment and respect.

What kind of person was this? That hadn't even been his limit?

He wanted to get angry, but the script's overwhelming quality left him unable to lose his temper.

Seeing Woo Young-taek's expression, which made his thoughts completely obvious, everyone squeezed their eyes shut.

Ah... Overtime was confirmed.

But moments later, after seeing the revised draft's quality for themselves, they had no choice but to swallow their exaggerated pouts.

"Holy shit, you're cutting it off here?"

"Ha! Viewers are going to love episode nine."

"Wow... Aren't we really heading for 30% at this rate?"

They desperately wanted to build new storyboards around this script, even if it meant staying up all night.

Still, that didn't mean they had no complaints at all.

Knowing that, Woo Young-taek timidly voiced the feelings of the group.

"Th-That said, Writer. If you were going to rewrite the script this completely, couldn't you at least have given us a heads-up two days ago? Then we could adjust the schedule accordingly..."

"I feel bad about that too. But I couldn't tell you in advance."

"Excuse me? You couldn't tell us in advance?"

Ji Yeon-woo answered in an easygoing voice.

"I wrote that this morning. What, two hours ago?"

"...?"

For a moment, Woo Young-taek wondered if he'd misheard.

So he'd just written it? He'd produced scenes of this quality on the spot in only a few hours?

Woo Young-taek began to doubt whether the man before him was actually human.

"Phew... I hope the ratings can just stay around 10%."

After wrapping up the meeting, more or less successfully, I left tvM's headquarters.

Director Woo and the directing team's dazed faces, after learning that an all-nighter was inevitable, kept flashing before my eyes, but what could I do?

If the production was going to succeed, they had to endure that much suffering.

Just as I said a silent prayer for their souls...

Bzzz!

This damned phone always went quiet, then suddenly started having a fit again.

With an irritated sigh, I checked the screen.

It was Ji Seo-yoon.

"Ugh, what a pain."

The reason for her call was obvious.

She was probably planning to mock SBC for the disaster at the company where I'd once worked.

But what could I say? I didn't have even the slightest company loyalty toward SBC anyway.

Thinking I'd give her a few halfhearted responses and hang up, I pressed the call button.

"Yeah, what? I'm busy, so get to the point."