WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Why Do My Dramas Keep Becoming Hits!? ◈
Chapter 39: You Can't Have This Script! (7)
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“Water.”
Without taking my eyes off the monitor, I tossed out a single word.
Ji Seo-yoon, who had been waiting behind me, rushed over at once.
“Ah! Here you go!”
In an exceedingly cheerful voice, she presented me with a cup of water. I took a sip and frowned slightly.
“Not cold water. Warm water.”
“…Ah, yes! Just wait a moment!”
Though her eyes twitched, Ji Seo-yoon took the mug and left without a word.
A moment later, she returned with steaming water and politely held it out with both hands. I stared at it for a moment before speaking again.
“Not warm water. Cold water.”
“Ah, you little...!”
“Hmm? You little?”
Ji Seo-yoon froze at my sidelong glance while swallowing down a vicious curse, then quickly forced a smile back onto her face.
“Ahahaha! I’ll fetch it right away!”
As she disappeared into the kitchen again, stomping heavily, I sat alone in the room, working as I held back a laugh.
‘Power really is sweet.’
That brat who normally treated her own brother worse than a dog and acted so arrogantly was now bringing me water at the twitch of a finger.
What sweet, mighty power.
Still, part of me was afraid.
Of the moment I would lose this power...
‘Until then, I should enjoy it as much as I can.’
Anyway, the contract discussion with Miracle had ended well.
It was only a verbal agreement for now, but we would probably be signing the official contract soon. Of course, what I wanted was an MBS broadcast slot, but MBS and Miracle were practically a package deal, so there was no need to look into another production company.
“Here’s your nice cold water!”
Ji Seo-yoon set down a cup of icy water, complete with floating ice cubes, in front of my monitor.
I looked at it briefly, then spoke solemnly.
“Good. Thank you. But I’m fine, so you drink it. You must be thirsty after all that running around.”
“....”
“Hmm? That look? Tsk?”
“I’ll drink it, dear brother. Hehehe.”
“Good.”
Ji Seo-yoon drank the cold water with a gentle smile, as though she had never glared so fiercely a moment ago.
Watching her, something suddenly occurred to me.
“Hey, the people at your company don’t know I’m your actual brother?”
“No. They absolutely don’t.”
“You never told them?”
“What would be the point? If people found out, they’d ask me to sweet-talk you for them, and I’d have to worry about everyone staring at me. It’d just become a pain in every way.”
Ji Seo-yoon gave a fairly reasonable explanation, then narrowed her eyes and asked in return.
“What about you? You didn’t tell the people at our company either?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Oh, what a surprise. Were you worried I’d be inconvenienced?”
She looked rather touched, but I firmly shook my head.
“No. I’m embarrassed that you’re my sister.”
“....”
Ji Seo-yoon’s emotion shattered in one second.
Very carefully, she raised her middle finger right in front of my face.
“Fuck you.”
“Come to think of it, your nostrils are huge. Use that middle finger to pick your nose.”
“Double fuck you.”
“I bet both those fingers would fit in your right nostril.”
I was still trading pointless jabs with Ji Seo-yoon when my phone on the desk gave a brief buzz.
[Director Woo Young-taek]
The moment I saw the caller ID, my gaze turned cold.
‘It’s finally come.’
After clearing my throat once, I jerked my chin at Ji Seo-yoon.
“Get out now. I need to take this call.”
“No. I’m not leaving.”
“Oh, right. Studio Red Sun also offered some absolutely incredible terms...”
“Fine, okay! Are you really threatening me with that? I’m going, I’m going!”
Ji Seo-yoon stomped out and slammed the door.
Then I picked up the phone and answered.
“Ah, Writer Ji! Have you been resting well?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, I’ve been getting plenty of rest.”
At Woo Young-taek’s friendly greeting over the phone, I hid my unease and responded warmly.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, I cautiously tested the waters.
“But what brings you to call?”
“Ah, I just wanted to talk about the awards ceremony. <Living with My Ex-Boyfriend Somehow> was such a huge hit that you’ll be picking up an award this time, haha.”
At that answer, I let out a deep sigh of relief inwardly.
The truth was, I had been watching Woo Young-taek’s reaction very carefully.
tvM and I had successfully made my debut project, <Living with My Ex-Boyfriend Somehow>, a hit together. No matter what, it was only natural to feel uneasy about suddenly giving my next project to MBS, another network, without even saying anything.
“Oh, and while we’re at it... I was curious about your next project too.”
“...!!”
My heart dropped.
Perhaps Woo Young-taek was checking my reaction through the phone, because the awkward laughter on the other end sounded especially strained.
“Hahaha! Is it still too early to ask about the next project? I hope I’m not putting pressure on you. Take your time planning it, take your time!”
“...I’m sorry.”
At my heavy response, the laughter from the other end cut off.
“Pardon? What did you just...?”
“I’m sorry. I really am.”
“W-Wait a moment! Writer Ji! Don’t tell me you’ve already given your next project to another...?!”
Woo Young-taek’s voice cracked as if struck by lightning.
Woo Young-taek asked again and again in a desperate voice, but there was only one thing I could say.
“I’m sorry...”
#
MBS Drama Bureau Chief’s Office.
A heavy silence filled the room. Seated at the head of the table, Bureau Chief Bae Seong-hwan’s gaze was fixed on one spot.
The script resting on the table.
It was Writer Ji Yeon-woo’s new work, [Untitled].
“....”
The story through Episode 3 had unfolded at a breakneck pace.
An order from above to infiltrate the massive Chinese organization, Mantis.
The protagonist, Tae-yeol, was naturally skeptical and opposed to the plan. But the police pressured him instead, calling it a perfect opportunity to bring down the drug organization from within.
After backing him into a corner with every plausible justification and promise of support, Tae-yeol eventually accepted the mission to infiltrate the Mantis Society.
Fortunately, there was one useful chess piece in Korea.
Bang Jin, the hall leader of the Righteous Cloud Gang, an affiliate of the Mantis Society.
Bang Jin had been serving a prison sentence in Korea for drug trafficking and had just been released. Better yet, Bang Jin had secretly been in contact with the Black Star Gang for a long time.
After coordinating their stories, Tae-yeol entered the Mantis Society’s headquarters disguised as Bang Jin’s direct subordinate.
That was the end of Episode 3.
And Episode 4 that followed was just as relentlessly insane.
_______________________________________
The air was heavy and sticky as mucus.
Tae-yeol and the Righteous Cloud Gang members stood lined up before a massive iron gate.
Bang Jin, the sweating hall leader of the Righteous Cloud Gang, threatened Tae-yeol in a low voice.
“You’re a mute with your tongue cut out from today on. I’ll handle greeting the guests, so don’t even breathe too loud beside me. Got it?”
“....”
“Yeah. Stay planted there, quiet as a dead mouse.”
Screeeech!!
The massive iron gate opened with a piercing groan.
A group from the Mantis Society walked out of the darkness.
The Righteous Cloud Gang members immediately bowed at the waist upon seeing them.
“You’ve arrived!”
Tae-yeol’s eyes, which had been fixed on the floor, slowly turned upward.
“...?!”
Tae-yeol’s pupils shook.
The leader walking among an escort of sturdy men.
The identity of Mantis, the vicious ruler of the continent’s back alleys, was...
“A woman...?”
Unbelievably, she was a young woman who had only just shed the look of a girl.
The shock lasted only a moment.
As the distance between them closed, a grotesque smile curled across Mantis’s lips.
At the same time, her hand moved toward her waist.
Shing!
The twin axes she drew flew through the air.
Whoosh!
Tae-yeol flinched at the axe flying toward him.
But its target was Bang Jin, standing beside him.
“Aaargh!!”
There was not a moment of hesitation.
The axe buried deep in Bang Jin’s collarbone, and Bang Jin collapsed to the ground, spitting blood.
“Cough, urgh! M-Mantis! What is this...?!”
Mantis walked over slowly and grabbed Bang Jin by the hair.
Then she raised the remaining axe and brought it down without mercy.
“Urgh! Wait! P-Please, spare...!”
“Shut the fuck up, you motherfucker.”
Crunch!
“You want to live, but you skimmed my drugs? You think my words are a fucking joke, you goddamn dog?”
“Urgh, cough...!”
Dark red blood splattered across Mantis’s pale face.
It was closer to butchery than murder.
Before that overwhelming terror, Bang Jin’s subordinates could do nothing but tremble.
“Grrrk...!”
With a final dying gasp, Bang Jin’s head fell limply to the side.
Even after the life had already left Bang Jin’s body, Mantis continued hacking at the corpse for a long time.
Thud! Crack!
Leaving the body reduced to a lump of meat behind her, Mantis slowly straightened up.
Covered in fresh blood, she spat the blood pooled in her mouth onto the floor.
Then Mantis wiped away the blood with the back of her hand. Her gaze suddenly stopped.
Her snake-like eyes fixed on the frozen Tae-yeol.
At that murderous gaze, Tae-yeol’s body trembled involuntarily.
Mantis snickered at the reaction and approached, squelching through the pool of blood.
“What’s with that stupid-looking face?”
“.......”
“Ah, are you that Korean bastard?”
Mantis pressed the bloodied axe blade to Tae-yeol’s throat.
Bang Jin’s lukewarm blood seeped into Tae-yeol’s shirt collar.
Even amid the fishy metallic stench, Tae-yeol stared directly into those snake-like eyes.
Tae-yeol’s right hand slowly moved toward the knife at his waist.
Then...
“I’ll give you three days.”
Mantis withdrew the axe with a low chuckle.
“Bring me what that lump of meat skimmed by then. If you can’t find it, well. You can offer up your own head instead.”
“....”
“Why aren’t you answering? Are you such a Korean bastard that you can’t understand Korean?”
Tae-yeol gritted his teeth and nodded.
Mantis turned away without a second thought.
“Heh. Good-for-nothing bastards.”
The Mantis Society members withdrew like an ebbing tide.
Screeeech! Bang!!
The massive iron gate closed, leaving only the thick stench of blood in the meeting room.
Tae-yeol stood frozen in place like a stone statue.
“....”
This was a lawless zone beyond the reach of the Korean police.
Bang Jin, Tae-yeol’s only ally in this unfamiliar foreign country, was dead.
And if Tae-yeol could not find the drugs Bang Jin had stolen, Tae-yeol would be dead too.
“Fuck...”
With even his escape route cut off, Tae-yeol felt like dying.
_______________________________________
After reading the last sentence, Bae Seong-hwan unknowingly let out a deep breath.
They were only words printed on paper, yet it felt as though the sticky stench of blood filled Bae’s nostrils.
It was hard-boiled noir with an utterly explicit level of violence.
Never mind sanctions from the broadcasting regulator. Conservative executives and advertisers were bound to foam at the mouth and collapse.
Even so, Bae desperately wanted to see it as a drama.
A drama bearing the MBS name.
‘So this is the writer who wrote that rom-com.’
Bae Seong-hwan began reading every sentence again, analyzing the script.
First, this character named Bang Jin.
Bang Jin had been given a considerable amount of focus from the beginning. As an organization executive, Bang Jin had a personal story and even the layered appeal of a solid supporting character. Such an empty, sudden death could easily have left readers and viewers feeling deeply disappointed.
Yet Bae Seong-hwan did not feel even the slightest disappointment over Bang Jin’s death.
The reason was simple.
‘Mantis.’
A leader who delighted in slaughter while wielding twin axes behind the face of a young girl.
The presence radiating from that bizarre, overwhelming character was simply too intense.
The mad character called Mantis had instantly devoured the void left by Bang Jin, a fairly well-crafted supporting character, and still had room to spare.
And that was not all.
The way the story unfolded had also completely defied Bae Seong-hwan’s expectations.
‘This wasn’t a conventional undercover espionage story.’
Bae had expected Tae-yeol to gradually work into the Mantis Society alongside Bang Jin, secretly gathering information.
Instead, the writer shattered that shallow expectation for all to see.
Before the infiltration had even properly begun, at their very first meeting, the writer had severed Tae-yeol’s only ally and lifeline in the cruelest way possible.
The story had gone completely off course.
There was no way to guess how the protagonist, isolated in a thoroughly unfamiliar foreign country, would survive this hell going forward.
‘At this rate, I can’t stand not seeing the next episode.’
A breathy laugh of admiration escaped Bae Seong-hwan’s lips.
Bae remained immersed in the lingering aftertaste of the script for a long while.
Then an urgent knock reached Bae’s ears.
Before Bae could even answer, the door flew open and CP Gong Myeong-ho rushed in.
“Ha, this is driving me crazy. The writer absolutely refuses to budge.”
Gong Myeong-ho pounded their chest in frustration.
“Chief, do you understand this situation? I told the writer I could get a much better time slot. I even explained several times that it would be easier for that side to get investment. But the writer refuses to listen at all.”
“Hmm...”
“Why insist on walking right into the tiger’s den...? I really don’t understand it. It makes no sense.”
Gong Myeong-ho’s distressed complaints echoed through the bureau chief’s office.
But Bae Seong-hwan, seated at the head of the table opposite Gong, remained silent.
“....”
Bae’s gaze was directed at Ji Yeon-woo’s [Untitled] script, lying neatly on the table.
After staring at it for a long time, Bae Seong-hwan finally opened their mouth.
“A long time ago.”
“...?”
“There was a young writer. A complete rookie, about to make a debut.”
Gong Myeong-ho looked blankly at Bae Seong-hwan at the sudden story from the past.
What was this about?
But Bae’s gaze was so deeply somber that Gong could not bring themself to interrupt.
Regardless, Bae continued in an unhurried tone.
“Then, right before that writer’s debut, a bolt from the blue struck. The broadcast period happened to overlap head-on with two star writers considered the best of their era.”
“....”
“So I called that writer in and said there was no chance. It was like throwing an egg at a rock, so we should move the broadcast slot forward or delay it.”
Bae Seong-hwan paused and let out a soft laugh.
As though the bold expression of that young writer was still right before Bae’s eyes.
“But do you know what that writer said? Flatly refused.”
“What? Refused?”
“Heh heh. Looked me straight in the eye and stubbornly held firm. Said there was no reason to do that when the writer thought they would win.”
A hollow laugh escaped Gong Myeong-ho.
A rookie who had not even debuted declaring that they would beat two star writers of the era was far beyond anything Gong could understand.
Bae Seong-hwan shook their head as if deeply sympathizing with that feeling.
“At first, I thought this person had lost their mind. It wasn’t as if this was some rabid dog obsessed with fighting. The writer was obviously going to get crushed for recklessly charging in, so I thought the writer had caught a serious case of artistic delusion.”
Bae Seong-hwan spoke at length with a relaxed smile.
Then Bae suddenly leaned deep into the chair and let out a long breath.
“But do you know what’s funny? It really happened exactly as that writer said.”
“...Really?”
“Yes. Everyone inside and outside the station laughed, saying that rookie’s script would be trampled miserably. But then every broadcast sucked in ratings like crazy. In the end, it devoured the entire share of those two star writers and proudly took first place in its time slot.”
When the story ended, a suffocating silence settled over the bureau chief’s office.
Gong Myeong-ho swallowed hard at the unbelievable tale that sounded like a legend, then hesitantly asked.
“...Chief. Who exactly was that rookie writer?”
Bae Seong-hwan answered without the slightest hesitation.
“Seo Eun-hye.”
“...? What? S-Seo Eun-hye?”
Seo Eun-hye.
The legendary queen who had ruled the Korean drama industry and routinely achieved fifty percent ratings.
As that enormous name emerged, a helpless smile spread across Gong Myeong-ho’s tense face.
“Ahaha! Chief, come on. That was only possible because it was Seo Eun-hye. This is different from a writer who has only just finished one project.”
Gong Myeong-ho waved it off as an absurd joke.
The writer of <Living with My Ex-Boyfriend Somehow>?
Certainly a genius, but still far from being comparable to Seo Eun-hye.
Yet Bae Seong-hwan did not laugh at Gong Myeong-ho’s casual joke.
‘It was possible because it was Seo Eun-hye?’
Bae Seong-hwan stroked the rough stubble along the jaw while quietly staring at Ji Yeon-woo’s script on the table.
Why was it?
The more Bae read this script, the more clearly that woman’s face came to mind.
The face of the writer who had confidently declared that she would definitely win.
“Why? Don’t you have confidence, PD? I’m absolutely confident that I’ll win.”
As Bae Seong-hwan recalled Seo Eun-hye’s words from the past, a strange curve formed on Bae’s lips.
Bae did not say it aloud, but the thrill felt while reading the script moments earlier still lingered sharply at the edge of the heart.
Just like when Bae had read Seo Eun-hye’s first script.
No, perhaps even more so.
‘I have a feeling... this one will become even bigger than Seo Eun-hye.’
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