WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
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◈ Why Do My Dramas Keep Becoming Hits!? ◈
Chapter 41: Fake Madness, Real Madness (2)
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In media, this is usually how geniuses are portrayed.
They lounge around trusting only their natural talent, yet utterly crush hard workers who have poured decades of blood, sweat, and tears into their craft.
Then, looking at ordinary people struggling so desperately, they innocently wonder, "Why are they all working so hard?"
Of course, those are only characters artificially created for dramas and novels.
Real geniuses are different.
They put in as much effort as the talent they possess, perhaps even more.
Geniuses always make effort and talent walk side by side.
But a lazy genius who seems like he should exist only in fiction was living right here in the small world of broadcasting.
Pyo Won-ho.
From his very first project after shedding the assistant director label and making his directorial debut, he swept the year-end directing awards and turned the broadcasting industry upside down.
His specialty was his so-called insane instinct.
No one could match his uncalculated, instinctive camera angles and breathless timing in his cuts.
Rumor had it that even an ordinary third-rate script became a masterpiece that strangely captivated people once it passed through his hands.
However, Pyo Won-ho's horrific work ethic was every bit as bad as his insane talent.
He regularly dumped tedious fieldwork like location scouting onto the B-team directors.
While everyone else stayed up all night planning storyboard panels, he would stretch out on a sofa for a nap, sip iced Americanos, and arrive on set later than anyone else, despite being the main director.
His personality was just as bizarre. If he disliked something, he would recklessly spew insults without caring whether the target was a bureau chief or an investor, blowing the whole thing up as though it were routine.
Even so, major production companies like Studio Miracle and the higher-ups at broadcasters had no choice but to coddle Pyo Won-ho.
Why?
Because he was good at directing.
Whenever Pyo Won-ho got serious and delivered proper direction, ratings poured in like crazy.
And in this industry, a drama's success translated directly into billions, even tens of billions, of won.
It was such a ruthless business that they packaged all of Pyo Won-ho's bizarre behavior and slacking off as "genius."
He was a bomb they could neither hate nor throw away.
"Let's wrap up the meeting here. Good work, everyone."
At Department Head Park Ho-seong's declaration, the heated tension filling the conference room smoothly subsided.
The three-hour meeting was over.
The staff who had attended began getting up one by one with groans, gathering their proposals and stacks of scripts.
I also quietly rose from my seat after gauging the room.
"Haah, good work."
"Good work, Writer. Director, you worked hard too."
"That's right. I worked the hardest. Ah, I'm exhausted."
As they exchanged routine greetings, Department Head Park Ho-seong approached me with a warm smile.
"Writer, the meeting must have drained you. Would you like to have a meal with us?"
"Ah, yes. Sounds good. I was getting hungry anyway."
A satisfied smile spread across Park Ho-seong's face at my ready acceptance.
Then he turned toward Pyo Won-ho, who had just grabbed the conference room doorknob to leave.
"Hey, PD Pyo! Let's have a meal with the writer."
Still holding the doorknob, Pyo Won-ho turned his head at an angle.
His face was covered in an expression that said everything in the world was a hassle.
Suppressing a huge yawn, he asked in a thoroughly indifferent voice,
"Department Head, are you paying?"
"What do you take me for? When have I ever not paid?"
"Then what's on the menu?"
"That Japanese restaurant in front of the MBS annex. I reserved the chef's special course in advance."
Park Ho-seong answered with a hint of pride, as though he had gone out of his way to give us special treatment.
But Pyo Won-ho's response was practically art.
"Come on, I shot a historical drama set during the Japanese occupation last time. Japan makes my teeth ache, so I don't eat Japanese food either."
"What? You little bastard! What does that have to do with anything?! And you ate ramyeon this morning!"
"Ramyeon is Korean food. Ramen is Japanese food. You two enjoy yourselves."
Screeech! Bang!
Before Park Ho-seong could stop him, Pyo Won-ho flung open the door and left without a shred of regret.
A razor-sharp exit.
At that clean retreat, without even a second of hesitation as he casually ignored his boss's dignity, Park Ho-seong could only make his lips tremble.
"That rude little bastard, right to the end...!"
Department Head Park Ho-seong's face flushed red and blue as though his blood pressure had risen.
He immediately turned to me, bowed deeply, and fidgeted.
"Haah, Writer, I truly apologize. I've been trying to straighten him out, but he was born with absolutely no social skills.... If you were offended, I apologize on his behalf."
I smiled at that.
Offended? What was he talking about?
That uncontrollable lone wolf doing whatever he pleased, the more I saw him, the more he was exactly my type.
#
tvM Drama Department.
Woo Young-taek irritably closed the script displayed on his monitor and let out a deep sigh.
"Damn it.... There's not a single one that catches my eye."
Lately, countless scripts had been piling up on his desk, but he would often close them before reading more than a few pages.
It was probably because his standards had risen absurdly high after experiencing Writer Ji Yeon-woo's <Living with My Ex-Boyfriend Somehow>.
'Tch. I didn't know there'd be a side effect like this.'
No matter how hard he looked, he could not find in any other script the thrill he had felt when first reading that one, the tension that seemed to squeeze his heart.
Damn it, he should have held on to that writer somehow.
Woo Young-taek was blaming his past self for foolishly letting the writer go when his phone on the desk began to ring loudly.
Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
The caller ID read: [Studio Miracle Department Head Park Ho-seong].
Park Ho-seong was Woo Young-taek's direct senior from college, as well as the Studio Miracle employee who had snatched away Writer Ji Yeon-woo, the writer he had painfully failed to secure.
"...."
Naturally, Woo Young-taek could not help but dislike him, but he could not openly show it.
If there was an incredible script, it was the fate of PDs and production companies to take it, even if they had to snatch it away.
Woo Young-taek soothed his aching heart, composed himself, and answered the call.
"Yes, hyung. Have you been well?"
"Ah, PD Woo. How have you been? I hope I'm not calling while you're busy?"
"Come on, the project ended safely. What could possibly keep me busy these days? I've just been lounging around."
After some light small talk, Park Ho-seong awkwardly cleared his throat over the phone.
"Um, PD Woo. I'm sorry about Writer Yeon-woo. I wasn't trying to forcefully take him, but things just ended up that way."
Woo Young-taek gave a hollow laugh and brushed aside Park Ho-seong's awkward apology.
"No, hyung. I know the rules of this industry. What is there to apologize for? If a script is good, you bring the writer in no matter what. It's fine."
"Ahem. Well, thank you for understanding."
"By the way, who got the main directing position for that script? Honestly, I want to go grab the megaphone myself right now."
"...."
"If you'd entrust it to me, I'd even consider quitting and joining Miracle. Hahaha!"
Woo Young-taek teased him with a frivolous joke.
But from the other end of the call came a deep sigh, as though the ground itself had sunk.
"That's exactly why I'm losing my hair right now.... I would have no greater wish than for you to take the wheel."
"...? Why? Is there some problem with the directing?"
At Woo Young-taek's concerned question, Park Ho-seong answered with a groan.
"Pyo Won-ho, that bastard, ended up taking the directing job."
"Pyo Won-ho? Ah, that blockhead?"
"Yeah. With his personality, there's no way this will go smoothly. He's obviously going to raise hell on set again, acting like an uncontrollable brat...."
After drawing out his words, Park Ho-seong continued in a worried tone.
"I'm wondering whether the writer can handle him."
"...Excuse me?"
"Writer Yeon-woo made his debut with <Living with My Ex-Boyfriend Somehow>, but he hasn't completely shed the new writer image yet. I haven't been able to sleep lately because I'm worried his mental state will break under Pyo Won-ho's crazed antics."
Woo Young-taek had nothing to say.
No, he had plenty to say, but something else came out first.
"Pfft...! Puhahaha!!"
Uncontrollable laughter burst from Woo Young-taek's mouth.
He clutched his stomach, collapsed over his desk, and laughed like mad.
"What? PD Woo, why are you suddenly laughing? Are you glad because I snatched that writer away from you?"
"Ah, ahahaha! S-sorry. It's just too funny.... Pffft!"
Woo Young-taek wiped away the tears gathered at the corners of his eyes and barely caught his breath before asking,
"Pfft. Hyung, who is supposed to handle whom? The writer's mental state will break because of Pyo Won-ho's rampage?"
"Yes, you brat! You know what Pyo Won-ho is like. That bastard has a talent for driving people crazy, I swear. He's more gifted at that than directing."
Despite Park Ho-seong's passionate speech, the smile still leaking from Woo Young-taek's lips did not fade.
"Yes, hyung. I know. I know very well."
Woo Young-taek had encountered Pyo Won-ho indirectly in the past and had clicked his tongue, wondering how someone like that could exist.
Of all the countless people he had met in this industry, Pyo Won-ho had been one of the greatest lunatics.
But.
That firm ranking had been very easily updated not long ago.
Ever since he met the writer named Ji Yeon-woo.
And according to Woo Young-taek, the gap between first and second place in the ranking of the world's greatest lunatics was immense.
Woo Young-taek still could not forget it. It was burned into his mind.
The crazy things that writer had done at the negotiating table with top stars.
The overwhelming control and charisma with which he had drained the actors' spirit during that vicious script reading.
Even the strange behavior and genius he had shown throughout the set.
Woo Young-taek could confidently say that even if he spent another hundred years in this broadcasting industry, he would never again see a real lunatic like that writer.
But what? Pyo Won-ho?
Before true madness, that man was merely fake madness that would quietly tuck its tail, nothing more than a would-be eccentric genius.
"You claim to know so well, but why have you been saying nothing but incomprehensible things? You're having a great time because it isn't your problem, aren't you?"
Of course, Park Ho-seong, who knew nothing, was still only worried about the writer's mental state being destroyed by Pyo Won-ho.
Regardless, Woo Young-taek opened his mouth with a delighted grin.
"Heh. Hyung, if you're that worried, shall we make a bet?"
"A bet on what?"
At the confused voice over the phone, Woo Young-taek smiled faintly.
"Pyo Won-ho and Writer Ji Yeon-woo. Which one will fall apart first."
#
Before they knew it, a full month had flown by.
The drama's planning and development stage had long since ended, and they had now entered full-scale pre-production.
'Hmm. Still, things are going more smoothly than expected.'
Department Head Park Ho-seong of Studio Miracle sat at his desk, took a sip of coffee, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
In drama production, pre-production was the cursed period when conflict between the writer and director truly began to build.
It was the time when location changes to fit the budget, casting problems, the resulting rewrites, and countless demands for script revisions came pouring in.
It was completely normal for artistic visions and stubbornness to clash head-on, leading to raised voices.
Needless to say, that was especially true when the partner who needed to work in perfect sync was Pyo Won-ho, an uncontrollable PD who believed no one was above him.
'But the writer is holding up far too well.'
Park Ho-seong was secretly relieved.
Over the past few weeks, Writer Ji Yeon-woo had never shown a single complaint or sign of dissatisfaction.
Instead, he had simply accepted even Pyo Won-ho's unreasonable demands and misguided feedback with a bright smile, nodding willingly.
'That PD Woo didn't make things up for no reason. That writer's mental strength is incredible.'
Just as he was beginning to relax and let down his guard...
"D-Department Head!! We have a huge problem!!"
An employee came charging down the hallway with a deathly pale face.
They were so frantic that they could not even breathe properly, only gasp.
"W-What? What happened?!"
"Haah, haah! It's chaos! Someone says they're quitting right now, and the atmosphere is awful!!"
"....Fuck, of course."
At the employee's desperate cry, Park Ho-seong pressed a hand to his throbbing forehead and let out a deep sigh.
Right. What was bound to happen had finally happened.
It seemed that even the Buddha-like writer's patience had finally reached its limit because of that bastard Pyo Won-ho's outrageous behavior.
No matter how mentally strong someone was, everyone had a limit.
"Tch.... All right. Go calm the writer down somehow. I'll grab that madman Pyo Won-ho by the collar, drag him over, and make him kneel if I have to. Hurry!"
As Park Ho-seong hurriedly rose from his seat and gave his urgent instructions, the employee recoiled and frantically waved both hands.
"No!! Not the writer!"
"...? If not the writer, then who?"
"Director Pyo!! Director Pyo is raising hell, saying he absolutely can't work with the writer anymore!!"
For a moment, Park Ho-seong's thoughts stopped.
He stared blankly at the employee, doubting his own ears.
"...What the hell are you talking about?"
Footnotes:
"Ramyeon" refers to Korean instant noodles, while "ramen" refers to the Japanese noodle dish.
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