WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
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◈ Why Do My Dramas Keep Becoming Hits!? ◈
Chapter 38: You Can't Have This Script! (6)
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A cafe in Yeouido with a sweeping view of the Han River.
The private room occupied by the middle-aged women was abuzz with nonstop conversation. They were all established television writers whose names were well known in Yeouido.
"Third quarter next year, right? Baek Min-hee and Hong Eun-seo's comeback projects."
"Ugh, don't even mention it. The network scheduling teams are in full emergency mode because of that."
"I was supposed to start a new project around June next year, you know? But PD Kim freaked out and kept whining that we should push the broadcast slot back."
They had been passionately discussing the state of next year's television industry when one of the writers sipping coffee suddenly seemed to remember something. She turned to Writer Lee Ju-young across from her.
"Oh, right. Didn't you say you were starting a new project next year too, Ju-young? You were so happy when your proposal got approved."
At that, every writer at the table turned toward Lee Ju-young.
But Lee Ju-young, who had been expressionlessly gnawing on her straw until moments ago, immediately scrunched up her face.
"...I scrapped it."
"What? You scrapped it? Why? Didn't you say the network and production company were really pushing it because they liked the script?"
When Lee Ju-young only frowned in silence, Seong Yu-ra, who had been quietly listening, spoke gently as if she understood.
"Because of Director Pyo Won-ho?"
The instant that name left Seong Yu-ra's lips, the other writers in the room all let out sighs of realization.
And at the mention of that damned name, Pyo Won-ho, Lee Ju-young began venting her anger.
"That bastard... Him showing up late and canceling all the time is practically cute. Does it make any sense for the lead director of a drama not to show his face at the first script reading? And don't even get me started on filming."
Unable to contain her rage, Lee Ju-young slammed the table twice.
"He doesn't even rehearse properly. He just eyeballs things and starts shooting. People keep praising him as a genius PD and director, so that lunatic thinks he's above everyone!"
"Good grief..."
"And you know what's even more ridiculous? At the last script meeting, that crazy bastard suddenly said we should kill off the second male lead in episode six!"
"What? Isn't that where he properly awakens and enters the story? That's the novel's turning point. If you suddenly kill him there, what are you going to do with the rest of the plot?"
"Exactly! So I asked him what we were supposed to do when viewers got upset about killing off the second male lead and the ratings crashed. Do you know what that lunatic said while staring straight into my eyes?"
As the writers narrowed their eyes and asked, Lee Ju-young gave a disbelieving laugh and repeated Pyo Won-ho's words from that day exactly.
"Why are you asking me? You should handle that, Writer."
A considerable uproar broke out among the writers.
"What? What kind of bastard says that?!"
"I knew he was trouble from the moment he kept getting called in by the Korea Communications Commission and fighting with writers."
"Genius, my ass. He's just a spoiled delinquent with no social skills."
"Exactly! Am I filming this drama by myself? Is he making art all by himself? If we're filming it together, it becomes part of his filmography too, but he acts like he couldn't care less whether it succeeds or fails! I'd rather quit than work with him, seriously!"
"You made the right choice, Ju-young. It's much easier to pay the penalty and cancel the broadcast slot than work with that man!"
As everyone wholeheartedly tore Pyo Won-ho apart, Seong Yu-ra nodded along outwardly. Inside, however, she gave a faint, amused laugh.
'That man hasn't changed at all.'
The director most cursed at in Yeouido.
Yet Seong Yu-ra was one of the people who knew better than anyone just how valuable that mad dog was.
After all, Pyo Won-ho had been the lead director of [You Are My Dark Past], the massive hit drama that had brought Seong Yu-ra to her current position and become her greatest signature work, surpassing 20 percent ratings in its finale.
Even then, Pyo Won-ho had consistently been a lunatic.
He was hopelessly lazy, filmed carelessly, and acted indifferent to everything, as if it was none of his business whether the drama failed. Changing the script however he pleased on set without exchanging a single word with her beforehand was routine. He was a hopeless delinquent beyond saving who did everything exactly as he wanted.
Seong Yu-ra had suffered no small amount of grief because of his terrible behavior back then, too.
But...
'For some reason, the shots that man gets always come out unbelievably good.'
The compositions he seemed to film by rough estimation were chillingly perfect, and the emotional arcs of the scenes he twisted however he pleased seized viewers' hearts and shook them wildly.
She could curse him all she wanted, but there were moments when she had no choice but to acknowledge his genius.
"Oh, right."
As Seong Yu-ra wore a strange smile while lost in memories of the past, one of the writers comforting Lee Ju-young suddenly turned to her.
"You had a huge hit working with Pyo Won-ho, unni, didn't you? If Director Pyo contacted you and said he wanted to work with you again, would you do it, unni?"
At that interesting question, all eyes at the table focused on Seong Yu-ra, a proud member of the 20 percent ratings club.
Unbothered, Seong Yu-ra drained the cup of coffee she was holding and curled one corner of her mouth upward.
"Why? Why not just tell me to die?"
Twenty percent ratings? A huge hit? That was all great, but first she had to survive.
If she took the wheel with that lunatic one more time, she felt like the stress would kill her before the drama even aired.
"Never. Not with that psycho."
Seong Yu-ra shook her head and drained her cold Americano in one gulp.
#
Outside Studio Miracle's in-house editing room.
In the dark hallway, Nam Tae-jin stood sweating as he blocked the door.
"Ah... Could we just go in, copy the rough-cut drive, and come back out?"
"Sorry. Someone's in there right now. Unless it's urgent, come back later."
Nam Tae-jin waved them off, but the junior staff members complained in protest.
"Seriously... It'll only take five minutes. Who's editing in there?"
At their persistent questioning, Nam Tae-jin looked awkwardly at the closed door, then whispered.
"...Senior Pyo Won-ho."
"Ah."
The instant Pyo Won-ho's name was spoken, every trace of reluctance vanished from their faces.
As if they had planned it, they all nodded together, then shot down the hall without looking back.
"Honestly, everyone's so quick to read the room."
Clicking his tongue, Nam Tae-jin carefully opened the editing room door and went inside.
The dark editing room was lit only by the flickering glow of countless monitors.
In the middle of it, a man was sprawled across a wide leather sofa.
He even had a sleep mask over his eyes and was sleeping soundly, snoring away.
At the sight, Nam Tae-jin let out a deep sigh without realizing it.
"Haah..."
He was supposedly a genius lead director, but he looked no different from an unemployed guy who had pulled an all-nighter at a neighborhood PC cafe.
"Senior. Senior Pyo."
"Urrgh... Huh...?"
"Senior, wake up."
Pyo Won-ho groaned as he rolled over, then pushed his sleep mask slightly upward.
He looked at Nam Tae-jin with half-open eyes.
"...Tch. What? I just entered REM sleep."
"Department Head Park wants to see you."
At that, Pyo Won-ho pulled the sleep mask back down and lazily waved a hand.
"Too much trouble. Tell him I'm busy today and we'll meet later."
"He summoned you. He says it's urgent."
"Sure, sure. Tell him I love him too."
Nam Tae-jin felt ready to explode at Pyo Won-ho's carefree mumbling from beneath his sleep mask.
"Haah... No, I'm telling you, the department head said it's really urgent and that you need to come right now."
"Yeah, yeah. If it's that urgent, tell him to come himself."
At that moment.
Smack!
"Ow!"
A palm flew through the air and landed squarely on Pyo Won-ho's crown.
Pyo Won-ho tore off his sleep mask and was about to unleash a stream of curses when he heard a voice.
"So I came myself, you bastard."
Department Head Park Ho-seong was standing there with a vicious expression.
Having grasped the situation, Pyo Won-ho scratched his head and slowly rose from the sofa.
"Oh my. When did our department head get here?"
"You punk, Pyo Won-ho. How many times have I told you not to sleep on the editing-room sofa? Is this your bedroom? There's a sleeping room too, so why do you keep lying around here and sleeping?"
"Come on, the sleeping room is upstairs. How am I supposed to go all the way up there when it's such a hassle? It's not like you're going to carry me there."
"...."
Watching Pyo Won-ho banter like a slippery old fox, Park Ho-seong thought with tears of blood in his heart.
'Should I just kill this bastard? If it's Pyo Won-ho, even the judge would understand.'
Pyo Won-ho seemed to sense that murderous intent instantly. He edged backward and spoke.
"Easy, Department Head. This country does have a constitution. Think it over one more time."
"...."
Good grief. Forget it.
And right now, there was something more important than deciding whether that brat lived or died.
Park Ho-seong let out a deep breath and spoke heavily.
"The drama you were developing with Writer Lee Ju-young fell through, right?"
Pyo Won-ho did not even blink. He shrugged.
"Yes. The writer says she'd rather die than work with me."
"Tch."
"But I told her to kill the second male lead. I don't know why she's suddenly making such a fuss about dying herself."
"Shut it."
The rude, socially inept attitude made Park Ho-seong want to punch him in the solar plexus immediately, but he held himself back and tossed the thick bundle of scripts in his hands into Pyo Won-ho's arms.
"Take a look at this."
Pyo Won-ho looked back and forth between the script bundle he had caught and Park Ho-seong's face, tilting his head.
"What is this?"
"Can't you see? It's a script, you bastard."
"I know it's a script. What did you think I took it for, newspaper to wipe my ass with?"
"You son of a..."
Before a filthy curse could fully leave Park Ho-seong's mouth, Nam Tae-jin quickly stepped in and shouted.
"S-Senior. That's Writer Yeon-woo's next project, the writer of [Living with My Ex]."
"Huh? Living with My Ex?"
At Nam Tae-jin's urgent words, Pyo Won-ho's slouched posture changed subtly.
He looked between the script bundle in his hands and Park Ho-seong, interest gleaming in his eyes.
"Oh, really? This is a script by that hot writer? It's barely been off the air, and he's already starting another project?"
Pyo Won-ho grumbled, but his hands moved quickly as he flipped through the first pages of the script.
Rustle, rustle.
In the dark editing room, only the sound of pages turning echoed.
Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Quite a long time passed, longer than expected.
"...."
Normally, Pyo Won-ho would have flipped through a few pages, declared it boring, and thrown it aside.
But he did not move at all. With frightening concentration, he devoured the printed words.
More silence followed.
Finally, Park Ho-seong lost patience first. Frowning, he reached out a hand.
"Ah, this is driving me crazy. Hey, if you don't want it, forget it! I can give it to someone else!"
As Park Ho-seong tried to take the script away, Pyo Won-ho twisted aside and hid it behind his back.
"Hey, why are you trying to take my script?"
"That's funny. Since when is that your script?"
"Since I decided to do it, it's my script."
"What?"
"Fine, I'll do it. It's interesting."
At that cheerful, effortless acceptance, Nam Tae-jin, standing behind them, squeezed his eyes shut.
'So it really turned out like this...'
That script had fallen into the hands of that delinquent.
As Nam Tae-jin inwardly lamented the living hell of a set already unfolding before his eyes, Park Ho-seong spoke.
"Whew... Fine. If you want to do it, you can. But."
Park Ho-seong grabbed Pyo Won-ho firmly by the shoulder.
"Just this once, I'm begging you from the bottom of my heart. I know it's a difficult request, but please, just this once!"
"If it's a difficult request, I won't agree to it."
"You little...! No, anyway, I'm asking you, Won-ho."
His voice had become desperate.
"At least for this project, let's not have any trouble. Please! Please, let's keep things quiet, okay?! Please!"
Despite that earnest plea, Pyo Won-ho merely snorted and grinned.
"Come on, Department Head. Then you shouldn't have come to me. Isn't that right?"
"...Haah, you crazy bastard..."
"Anyway, the script passes. I like it. But when is this scheduled to air?"
As Pyo Won-ho tucked the script beneath his arm and asked, a dark shadow suddenly crossed Park Ho-seong's face.
He hesitated for a moment, then spoke heavily.
"...The first week of July next year."
"Pardon?"
"The broadcast slot is the first week of July next year."
For the first time, surprise crossed Pyo Won-ho's ever-relaxed face.
The first week of July next year.
Any PD who worked in television would know what that time meant.
It meant they planned to slot this script in alongside the bloody clash of two giants, Baek Min-hee and Hong Eun-seo.
"Wow..."
Pyo Won-ho blinked blankly for a moment.
Then, fully understanding the situation, he let out a hollow laugh and muttered.
"This writer's completely insane too, huh?"
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