WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
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◈ Why Do My Dramas Keep Becoming Hits!? ◈
Chapter 51: You Have to Play Your Cards Close
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Joo Tae-seok, reclining arrogantly in the seat of honor, could not hide their bewilderment.
A drug scandal was practically a death sentence for an actress.
She should have been haggard and utterly broken.
Yet as she removed her dark sunglasses, Woo Yeon-hee looked exactly like the top star who had once shone brightest and ruled the broadcasting world.
“It’s been over ten years, hasn’t it? Back when you’d just earned the title of main PD and were getting kicked around everywhere.”
Sitting casually on the sofa, Woo Yeon-hee spoke first with a faint smile.
“Do you remember when the casting fell through, the investment was cut in half, and the production nearly collapsed?”
“Did you come here to reminisce?”
“But you pushed it through on the strength of my name and secured a broadcast slot. It became a fifty-percent ratings hit, too.”
Her eyes curved playfully, and her voice was gentle.
But beneath those words was a sharp barb that made Joo Tae-seok’s expression turn cold.
“At the wrap party, you got completely drunk and told me, ‘I was right to trust Woo Yeon-hee. Yeon-hee, you’re my lifelong benefactor.’ So why?”
“...”
“Why won’t you trust me this time?”
After a brief silence, Joo Tae-seok snorted and arrogantly lifted their chin.
“You should know the reason better than anyone. No crazy network in Korea would put an actress with a drug scandal in a prime-time slot.”
“I know. But you know too, don’t you? Starting with your directing debut, I gave you three consecutive megahits and earned you the title of the great Joo Tae-seok.”
Woo Yeon-hee lazily replied as she dropped her sunglasses onto the table.
“You can’t have forgotten that I’m the one who dragged you up to where you are now.”
“Hah. So what? Are you going to demand credit now? Do you want me to bow and thank you?”
“Hehe. What a strange thing to say. If a director bows because a project is about to fold, does money suddenly appear?”
Joo Tae-seok’s brow twisted fiercely.
After letting out an irritated sigh, Joo Tae-seok suddenly leaned across the table.
“Then what do you want? Did you crawl all the way here just to waste a busy person’s time with that pointless wordplay?”
“Mmm. I was just feeling hurt and wanted to complain. I know this industry swallows what’s sweet and spits out what’s bitter, but isn’t this a little too blatant?”
Joo Tae-seok placed clasped hands on the table and firmly drew the line.
“If that’s how you see it, then this will be quick. Fine, I benefited from you in the past. But business is business. You can’t hold a drama worth tens of billions of won hostage over the past glory you gave me.”
Joo Tae-seok’s eyes gleamed arrogantly.
“I assume you understand by now. Your comeback project will never get a broadcast slot at MBS. Pleading old ties won’t change anything, so leave.”
The dagger-like dismissal and stubborn declaration froze the division head’s office.
Its tone was openly insulting, as though speaking to an unwelcome intruder.
Yet Woo Yeon-hee merely smiled calmly and shrugged.
“Does Director Joo still see me as a spoiled ten-year-old?”
“I have no intention of listening just because you whine. Leave before I throw you out.”
Woo Yeon-hee lifted herself from the backrest and slowly leaned forward.
The playful light in her eyes was gone, replaced by a cold, weighty gleam.
“I told you, I didn’t come here to appeal to old ties. You said it yourself earlier. Business is business.”
“...”
“So, I was about to propose an absolutely brilliant business arrangement.”
Secretive details flowed from Woo Yeon-hee’s lips.
A meticulous scheme, and a mad counterattack card that would seize the board and shake it apart.
Her carefully calculated scenario weighed heavily on the air in the division head’s office.
Joo Tae-seok’s expression changed by the second while listening in silence.
First irritation.
Then bewilderment.
Then deep shock.
Once she had finished explaining everything, a suffocating silence settled in the room.
Then, after only a moment, Joo Tae-seok’s trembling lips slowly parted.
“Ha, haha...! Hahaha!!”
Overwhelmed by shock, Joo Tae-seok burst into mad laughter.
Staring at Woo Yeon-hee in disbelief, Joo Tae-seok asked, “Khehe... Are you seriously saying this?”
Woo Yeon-hee silently smiled and nodded.
At that confident affirmation, Joo Tae-seok pressed a hand to their forehead and continued laughing like someone out of their mind.
It was laughter strangely mixed with fear and delight.
“I’ve spent fifteen years in this business, and I don’t think there’s ever been an actress as crazy as you.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. You can’t survive in this industry with a clear head anyway, can you?”
At Woo Yeon-hee’s calm reply, Joo Tae-seok’s eyes flashed sharply.
Joo Tae-seok’s mind was already racing madly through every possible outcome.
“Fine. If you can really do that, this might be worth trying. Of course, only if you really can.”
Having given an affirmative answer, Joo Tae-seok asked with distrust and concern in their voice.
“Can you really do it exactly as you said? If even one thing goes wrong, you won’t just fall off a cliff. There won’t even be bones left to gather.”
“If you don’t trust me that much, why don’t you take the lead yourself?”
“Khehe! Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not that strong-willed. My mind’s still perfectly intact too.”
A quiet laugh slipped from Joo Tae-seok’s lips at her provocative remark.
Arrogant and bold, yet always proving herself in the end.
She was the very Woo Yeon-hee who had turned a project on the verge of being scrapped into a massive hit ten years ago.
“So? You’ll trust me one more time, right?”
Joo Tae-seok stared at Woo Yeon-hee without a word.
After a short silence, Joo Tae-seok slowly reached out and picked up the receiver on the table.
“Yeah, it’s me. About Woo Yeon-hee’s comeback project.”
There was no longer the slightest hesitation in Joo Tae-seok’s voice as it rang through the office.
“Keep it on the original schedule. Confirm the broadcast slot.”
“You really are incredibly quick at calculating things.”
Woo Yeon-hee rose without hesitation.
Picking up the sunglasses she had left on the table, she headed for the door without looking back.
Click.
Just as Woo Yeon-hee grasped the heavy doorknob to pull it open, she let out a short “Ah,” as if something had just occurred to her, then turned around.
“YK, right?”
The abrupt question made Joo Tae-seok’s pupils widen slightly.
“...What?”
“The person who told you to cancel my broadcast slot. Wasn’t it President Go of YK?”
Joo Tae-seok’s shoulders stiffened at her insight into a fact that had been kept completely secret.
A moment of bewilderment passed, and then Joo Tae-seok clicked their tongue as if amazed.
“As expected, I can’t beat you.”
Joo Tae-seok loosened their tie and let out a laugh of surrender.
“Yeah. Since you gave me such a wonderful gift, I suppose I should be honest too. You’re right, it was YK. And it probably isn’t just MBS. President Go has likely already exerted influence over the higher-ups at other networks too.”
“I thought so.”
Woo Yeon-hee nodded slightly, as though she had expected it.
Every network had turned her away as if they had made a pact.
At first, she had thought the networks were merely being cautious because of the drug scandal.
But behind it all had been YK’s control, backed by capital.
“I hear you’re close with President Go.”
Woo Yeon-hee adjusted her sunglasses and continued in a slightly sharper tone.
“You should keep your distance from YK for a while.”
“...? What are you talking about?”
Joo Tae-seok tilted their head in confusion, and Woo Yeon-hee curved her red lips into a smooth smile.
“Unlike you, I value old ties quite a bit. That’s why I’m giving you a warning in advance.”
“What?”
“I wouldn’t want you to get struck by lightning just because you were standing nearby. Well then, I’ll see you later.”
With that cold yet elegant warning, Woo Yeon-hee left the division head’s office with light steps.
Bang!
Even after the heavy door shut, Joo Tae-seok remained frozen in place for a long time, blankly staring at the closed door.
#
MBS’s underground parking garage.
The door of a familiar black van opened in the cool air.
The moment Woo Yeon-hee climbed into the back seat, Team Manager Han Young-soo, who had been anxiously shaking his leg in the driver’s seat, quickly turned around.
“How did it go? Did it work out?”
Woo Yeon-hee lightly rolled her neck as though tired and answered indifferently.
“Better than expected, I guess?”
“Really? Whew... That’s a relief.”
Han Young-soo let out a sigh of relief as the tension left him.
But soon, deep concern settled over his face.
Watching Woo Yeon-hee through the rearview mirror, he cautiously spoke.
“But Yeon-hee, are you really sure this is okay? If anything goes wrong with you...”
Bzzzt. Bzzzt.
The vibration of the phone on the dashboard cut off Han Young-soo’s anxious words.
“Uh, just a second.”
After checking the caller, Han Young-soo hurriedly answered.
“Yes, this is Han Young-soo, team manager of Management Team 1. What? Is that true?”
Han Young-soo’s eyes steadily widened while listening to the voice on the other end.
He seemed greatly shocked.
“Understood. Send all the materials by email first. Yes, thank you for your work.”
After urgently ending the call, Han Young-soo spun around to look at Woo Yeon-hee in the back seat.
His expression had gone stiff.
“Yeon-hee, we found Do Min-ha.”
“...Did you?”
Do Min-ha.
The woman who, at that hellish birthday party years ago, had handed Woo Yeon-hee a drugged drink while claiming it was specially acquired liquor.
And the woman who had vanished without a trace the moment the scandal broke.
Woo Yeon-hee’s cold eyes narrowed.
“Where is she?”
“She fled overseas. But that’s not the important part. The detective agency dug into her background, and apparently she was carrying billions of won in delinquent illegal gambling debts right before the scandal broke.”
“...”
Pale-faced, Han Young-soo operated a tablet and passed it into the back seat.
The screen showed tangled overseas account records and a chart of money flows.
“And right after the incident, someone cleared all of Do Min-ha’s debts in one go. They even gave her money to flee overseas.”
“Where did the money come from?”
“An unidentified paper company in a tax haven. They twisted it through several dirty layers to keep anyone from following the trail. Apparently, it took quite a bit of work to trace it backward.”
Woo Yeon-hee’s gaze reached the very bottom of the screen, to the final point marked as the source of the funds.
In that instant, her indifferent eyes flashed sharply.
“And when they forced their way to the end of that trail...”
Han Young-soo drew out the words, and Woo Yeon-hee ground out the answer.
“The parent company of that paper company was YK?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“...That’s far too perfect to be a coincidence.”
“Right... There’s no way it could be a coincidence.”
Coincidentally, YK was also the company seeking control of Hi-Up Entertainment by pouring tens of billions of won in convertible bonds into it.
In other words, YK had arranged for the scandal to trigger an avalanche of contract penalties and completely destroy the company.
It had been YK’s preliminary move to swallow Hi-Up Entertainment at a bargain price.
But there was one fatal miscalculation in YK’s supposedly perfect plan.
Namgung Seok, Hi-Up Entertainment’s representative.
When everyone naturally expected Namgung Seok to cut Woo Yeon-hee loose, the representative did not abandon her.
The party where the incident occurred had been an official schedule arranged by her manager.
Moving first, Namgung Seok put the company’s breach of its duty to protect its artist at the forefront.
Claiming the company was one hundred percent at fault for neglecting security at the venue, Namgung Seok willingly accepted the legal liability.
It was a weighty decision that completely blocked accusations of breach of trust and shifted Woo Yeon-hee’s tens of billions of won in contract penalties onto the company as debt.
And that unintended decision became the perfect checkmate, choking YK.
If YK acquired Hi-Up Entertainment now, it would also have to take on the mountain of debt incurred to save Woo Yeon-hee.
‘Now I understand why they were so desperate to stop my comeback...’
That was also why YK had exerted influence over the higher-ups at every network to prevent Woo Yeon-hee’s return at all costs.
The possibility was slim, but what if the company succeeded in making a comeback in full view of everyone, along with Woo Yeon-hee’s return?
The merger and acquisition scheme YK had spent so long constructing would be completely destroyed.
That was why YK had to crush her and ruin her until she could never stand again.
“Yeon-hee, what do we do now? The representative said they would fully follow your decision.”
“...”
Woo Yeon-hee sank deeply into her seat and slowly closed her eyes.
One major industry schedule rapidly crossed her mind.
‘Next July.’
It would be the height of the broadcast run for competing screenwriter Hong Eun-seo’s Can You Make a Reservation for Love?
Not only the male and female leads, but even most of the roles caught on camera were filled with actors leashed to YK.
As Woo Yeon-hee considered that glittering lineup one by one, the corner of her mouth drew a strange curve.
“Tell the representative that we should lie low and pretend not to know for now.”
“What? Wouldn’t it be better to expose everything to the press right now? It might not completely erase the public opinion against you, but it could at least calm some of it down.”
“I don’t think the time is right yet.”
“Then how long are we supposed to wait?”
Woo Yeon-hee answered Han Young-soo’s frustrated question leisurely, mixing in her characteristic humming tone.
“The stakes have gotten bigger, haven’t they?”
“...?”
“When the stakes are this high, you have to play your cards close to the vest until the very end.”
If you pushed someone from too low a height, all you would do was leave them bruised.
You had to let them climb all the way into the clouds, then throw them down from that summit so every bone in their body shattered.
Woo Yeon-hee had turned to look out the window, and the corner of her mouth was faintly twisted.
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