WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Potter

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Why Do My Dramas Keep Becoming Hits!? ◈

Chapter 5: Bring That Writer Here Right Now! (2)

──────

The room was silent, with only my rough breathing and the keyboard beneath my fingers.

Even those sounds registered as silence while I was absorbed in writing.

Tap! Tap-tap-tap! Tap!

I focused on the screen without blinking once.

My fingers moved mechanically, pouring out text as I deleted and rewrote it over and over.

"Hmmm... It still isn't good. Should I just tear it all apart and start over?"

Just as I was, as always, giving my own work a dissatisfied review,

Bzzz! Bzzzz!

The smartphone lying face down on the bed suddenly vibrated like it was having a seizure.

Without even reaching for it, I got annoyed.

"Ah, damn it. Again?"

Had someone sold my number somewhere?

For the past few days, I had kept getting calls from unknown numbers.

And whenever I answered, they went on about some contest or another, saying things I couldn't understand.

"Why am I getting so much spam lately?"

The vibration continued.

For about three minutes, it kept buzzing without pause, fraying my nerves.

"Ah, fuck!"

I had reached my limit.

Enough. I needed to curse them out.

I pulled my hands from the keyboard and snatched up the phone.

But the caller wasn't spam.

"...? Yoon Dong-woo?"

There were eight missed calls from Yoon Dong-woo alone.

But Yoon Dong-woo wasn't usually the type to be this persistent. Had something happened?

With a confused look, I pressed the call button.

"Hey, you crazy bastard!!!"

The huge shout blasting through the speaker nearly made me throw my phone.

"Jesus, you scared me. Are you insane? Why are you suddenly yelling?"

"You're the insane one! You complete lunatic! Do you know what's happening at our network right now?!"

"Why would I know what's going on at your network?"

"You son of a...!"

Even after I held the phone far from my ear, Yoon Dong-woo's booming voice filled the room.

What the hell had happened to make Yoon Dong-woo this angry?

"Haaah...! Don't tell me you don't remember? When we were drinking to cheer you up after you said you were quitting?"

"Why? What happened then?"

"I told you I was submitting your script to the tvM contest!"

"A contest? What the hell are you talking about? Are you drunk?"

"Ugh! I should've known from the time you got completely wasted! You crazy bas..."

Yoon Dong-woo spat out a stream of curses, then rattled off everything he had to say at rapid speed.

The conversation we had while drinking. The fact that Yoon Dong-woo had submitted my script to the tvM contest. And the results.

A few minutes passed.

Once I understood the whole story, I couldn't say anything.

"Do you remember now?"

"Y-yeah... A little?"

"A little, my ass. This is why I told you not to drink so much. The drama division is in a complete emergency because of you!"

Honestly, I couldn't believe it.

My script had passed the second round of the contest?

And they had issued a special order just to track down an unknown writer like me?

I couldn't tell whether I was dreaming or this idiot was dreaming and talking nonsense.

But then I remembered all those spam calls I had ignored.

They had definitely said something about a network and a contest.

So what Yoon Dong-woo was saying was true, and those callers really had been network PDs?

"...Wow. What the hell have I done?"

"You crazy bastard. Now that you get it, call them already. I'm hanging up!"

Click!

The room quickly fell quiet after the call ended.

Inside, though, I was a complete mess.

"No... The only rom-com I've written is Living with My Ex-Boyfriend Somehow."

It was a story I had written on a whim after getting inspired by a rom-com drama.

Of course, it had been an unfortunate work that I abandoned halfway through because it was worse than a practice piece.

After that, I lost all confidence in rom-coms and stayed far away from them.

"That script passed all the way to the final round?"

I couldn't believe it.

Was tvM out of its mind?

How bad did their eye for talent have to be to make such a stupid choice?

The moment I thought that, my phone rang again.

[02-XXXX-XXXX]

"..."

It was probably someone from tvM.

Well, I would answer, but what should I say first?

Should I honestly admit that I had ignored them and blocked their numbers because I thought they were spam?

No way. That was too embarrassing.

I answered first to hear what they had to say.

"H-hello?! Writer Ji! Please, wait! Don't hang up!"

"..."

The voice from the speaker was incredibly urgent.

They sounded like someone clinging to a lifeline, their ragged breathing plainly audible.

"We understand that you have no interest in the contest! Then how about working directly with us on a project? Of course, we will offer the best possible payment and conditions!"

"Excuse me?"

"We have one spot open in our main weekend tentpole lineup for the second half of the year, and we'll lock you in without question! Your signing bonus and per-episode fee will be at the level of established writers. No, we will make sure you receive A-list treatment! The broadcast slot and casting as well, we will prioritize your opinions above all else...!"

It was another rapid-fire speech, like Yoon Dong-woo's.

Too flustered to respond properly, I stayed quiet.

Maybe the PD on the other end mistook my silence for something else and grew anxious.

"W-would you be willing to meet with us first? We would like to visit you in person and explain everything in detail."

"I can't today. Let's meet tomorrow or the day after."

"Th-thank you! Please contact us whenever you are free! We will come straight to your home!"

"Sure... Let's do that."

I had no idea how any of this had happened, but I made an appointment for a meeting first.

After somehow ending the call, I sank into my chair.

"What is going on...?"

After leaving SBC, I had sworn never to get involved with a broadcasting network again.

Yet, for an entirely unexpected reason, I had crossed paths with one again.

This was ridiculous. Was I destined for the broadcasting industry or something?

"Still, I wonder whether things are going well over there."

The SBC drama that Park Jun-hyung PD had taken over as main director in my place.

They had probably started shooting by now.

For only a moment, I pictured that set. Then a harsh voice slipped from my mouth.

"I hope it crashes and burns."

#

SBC Drama Division, Third Conference Room.

Under the crushing weight of the heavy atmosphere, only one man's irritated voice rang through the room.

"No, this scene can't go like this! The characters' emotional throughlines don't match at all."

"B-but that part was decided with the writer at the last meeting..."

"Haa. It's still no good, so we're changing it. I'll handle things with the writer myself."

Park Jun-hyung PD.

The man who had seized the main director's position on Beyond Memory, Ji Yeon-woo PD's intended directorial debut, angrily threw the script onto the table.

The assistant directors and junior PDs watching him lowered their heads and swallowed silent sighs.

Since the main director had changed from Ji Yeon-woo to Park Jun-hyung, the production had gone off the rails.

Problems arose every time Park changed something, and the quality of the script plummeted with each passing day.

'He's doing it again. He didn't even interpret the script properly himself.'

'This is driving me crazy. Meetings never went over an hour when we worked with PD Ji.'

'Instead of spending all this time getting angry, he should do his own work properly.'

'If PD Ji had stayed on as main director, we would have started shooting already...'

Everyone was turning their complaints over in their minds when someone opened the conference room door and walked in with a stiff expression.

It was Kim So-yoon, the head writer of Beyond Memory.

"Writer Kim, you came at just the right time."

Park Jun-hyung PD welcomed her as if he had never been scowling.

Kim So-yoon, meanwhile, looked anything but pleased.

"PD Park. What do you mean Episode 3 needs revisions?"

"Ahaha. I went through the script, and I thought the ending of Episode 3 was a little weak. How about we revise just that part?"

"Revise it? I spent weeks staying up all night and discussing that scene with PD Ji Yeon-woo. It is a scene that runs through the core of this drama..."

Park Jun-hyung PD had always felt inferior to Ji Yeon-woo.

Sure enough, the moment Kim So-yoon spoke Ji Yeon-woo's name, Park openly showed his displeasure.

"Haa, this is really frustrating."

"...What did you say?"

"What would that kid know? He's a greenhorn who hasn't even made his debut. You know how important experience is in this business, so why are you being like this?"

A greenhorn who had not even made a debut.

It was an insult aimed at Ji Yeon-woo, but it was also a jab at Kim So-yoon, who was likewise a new writer about to make her debut.

"Writer Kim, just trust me and follow my lead. I've spent years directing. Do you think I can't properly control something this simple? Hm?"

"..."

"And while we're on the subject, let's change the scene where the protagonist holds back tears and forces a smile into a full-on sobbing scene. We'll bring in a water truck and pour down rain while they let out all that desperate emotion. It will look great, won't it?"

"...That would destroy the protagonist's established characterization since Episode 1."

"This kind of melodrama works well these days. Dramas need visual catharsis like that. That's what makes them satisfying to watch."

Kim So-yoon was already exhausted by the relentless pressure from SBC and Park Jun-hyung PD.

She no longer had the strength to fight, so she nodded in resignation.

At her unwilling surrender, Park Jun-hyung PD's mouth curled up triumphantly.

Soon after Kim So-yoon left, Park began issuing orders again in an irritated tone.

"All right, we have the direction for the revisions. Everyone, move quickly. You know the Episode 3 ending scene I mentioned earlier, right? We need a water truck, so bring me a new list of outdoor locations where we can control access. And PD Kim, check with the art team on the set blueprints and have them on my desk immediately."

But the answers he received were a spectacle in themselves.

"Location candidates? They weren't shared with us. Didn't you receive them during the handover?"

"PD Ji was directly exchanging feedback with the art director about the blueprints, so we don't know how far things have progressed."

"Yes. PD Ji was the main contact for that too, so it would be difficult for us to check immediately."

Bang!

Park Jun-hyung slammed his hand down on the desk and shot to his feet.

"Every time you open your mouths, it's Ji Yeon-woo, Ji Yeon-woo! Why do you keep going on about someone who's already left?!"

"..."

"Just say yes and do what you're told without arguing! Why do you keep making excuses while bringing up that bastard's name?!"

His furious bellow filled the conference room.

Of course, Park Jun-hyung PD was the only one who had received the handover from Ji Yeon-woo all the way through final confirmation.

Every task he had ordered so far was something he, as the main director, should have been doing himself.

"Idiots!"

But Park Jun-hyung PD's baseless confidence was far too bloated for him to ever reach that truth.

Instead, he firmly believed that his own incompetence was the incompetence of his subordinates.

On top of that,

'Damn it, Ji Yeon-woo is a problem too. When the boss is useless, the people under him are a complete mess.'

In truth, Park had planned to dump all the practical work onto Ji Yeon-woo.

But now that the bastard had left, there was no one he could trust to handle it.

"Um, PD Park."

The newest staff member, who had been watching the room cautiously, approached him.

Park Jun-hyung PD answered irritably, his brow furrowed.

"What is it now?"

"Our first filming location. The reservation date doesn't match the actors' schedules..."

They were fragments of the disastrous handover Ji Yeon-woo had deliberately left behind just before resigning.

But before the report could finish, Park Jun-hyung PD cut in.

"Hey."

"Yes?"

"What did I just tell you to do?"

"Ah, you told me to make a list of locations where the water truck can enter..."

"You little bastard!"

"Argh!"

Without warning, Park Jun-hyung PD kicked the assistant director in the shin.

"Just do the work I tell you to do! Don't waste your energy on work I didn't ask for, you bastard!"

"I-I'm sorry..."

"Get out!"

The assistant director left clutching their aching shin.

Watching the assistant director's retreating back, Park Jun-hyung PD clicked his tongue.

Unaware that the report he had just brutally ignored would later come back as a bomb.

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried