WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Why Do My Dramas Keep Becoming Hits!? ◈
Chapter 52: You Have to Play Your Cards Close (2)
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A few days flew by.
MBS’s biggest and most ambitious third-quarter project, the much-discussed and troubled drama <Outsider>, was star writer Ji Yeon-woo’s next work.
At last, the massive project, bearing both immense concern and anticipation, raised its curtain and entered full-scale principal photography.
“Cut! Okay, good. Let’s take an hour while they change the set.”
It was an abandoned factory set in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. A few days had passed since the start of principal photography, and they were filming the early episodes.
The moment the director called cut, lively voices burst out all around the set.
Staff and actors gathered in small groups, cheerfully trading jokes.
Watching them from behind the monitor, chief producer Gong Myeong-ho rubbed his chin, seemingly moved by the sight.
‘Things are going too well... What on earth is the content division head thinking?’
The content division head had held the production crew by the throat, using the broadcast slot as a weapon.
They had spent every day worrying that filming might collapse at any moment.
Yet for some reason, they had changed their attitude overnight and even promised them their full support.
Why had he changed his mind? What had brought on this change of heart?
Gong Myeong-ho still did not know what they were after, but he did not bother thinking too deeply about it.
Whatever the reason, the pressure from above was gone. The crew’s mood had lifted, too. It was easier to look on the bright side.
And more than anything, there was an even more astonishing surprise right in front of him.
‘Good grief. When I first heard Pyo Won-ho would be directing, I thought my world had gone dark.’
Gong Myeong-ho let out a quiet laugh as he watched Pyo Won-ho run around the set.
Pyo Won-ho had always been a hopeless brat who loafed around, did whatever he pleased, and hoped for lucky breaks.
Gong had worried he would wreck the atmosphere on set from day one, but instead?
Maybe lightning had struck him and set him straight. The current Pyo Won-ho was more obsessed with the drama than anyone else here.
The director poured himself into the work so fiercely that the staff had naturally been swept up in it, throwing themselves into their jobs like mad.
And if Pyo Won-ho led the crew, then the person commanding the actors’ side of the set was undoubtedly that actress, Woo Yeon-hee.
Only a few days ago, at the script reading, the other actors had openly ignored and excluded her.
But the moment filming began, the tide had started to turn.
Her immersion was insane. Her presence was so overwhelming that she seemed ready to burst through the camera lens.
They were actors themselves, people who made a living through acting and pursued it with everything they had. They could not help but recognize it instinctively.
That woman’s acting was not at a level they could dare rank or dismiss.
After working with her for several days, Woo Yeon-hee had become an object of admiration among the cast.
‘Mm. It would be great if things stayed this way.’
The mood on set was perfect.
Or so he thought.
Until he looked toward one corner of the set.
“Assistant director, does it make any sense for me to kneel here at this point? It makes the character look like such a loser. I’m the boss’s right-hand man, you know. I’ve got some pride. I’m telling you, let’s revise this part of the script.”
“Uh... Why are you telling me...?”
A man was berating the assistant director in an irritated voice.
It was Lee Hyuk-soo, an actor with two ten-million-ticket hits, cast as the left-hand man of Mantis, the hidden mastermind of the drama.
Known throughout the industry for being arrogant and selfish, he had caused constant friction since arriving on set.
He kept interrupting filming, whining that his role needed more screen time or that his lines should be changed because they did not make him look cool.
“Fuck. He’s starting again.”
Gong Myeong-ho rubbed his face as a headache began pounding behind his eyes.
In truth, this was not his first bad experience with Lee Hyuk-soo.
A few years ago, when Gong had cast him as a lead in another project, Lee had been just as impossible, throwing tantrums and acting as though nobody else mattered.
There was only one reason Gong had cast that awful bastard again.
His outstanding acting ability, enough to outweigh his rotten personality, and his undeniable ticket power.
‘He’d be perfect if only he could fix that temper of his. But of course he can’t.’
A deep sigh escaped Gong Myeong-ho as he watched Lee’s behavior from afar.
“Oh my. They say sighing makes you age, and judging by your face, CP, that must be true.”
A plastic cup suddenly entered his view.
When Gong turned his head, Director Pyo Won-ho was standing beside him with a playful smile, holding out a coffee.
“Oh, Director Pyo. You’ve been working hard. What’s this coffee for?”
“Over there. The writer sent a coffee truck. He says we should drink this and work ourselves to death.”
“The writer did? Huh. The more I see him, the more of a true gem he seems.”
“...You really can’t judge people, can you?”
“Hmm? What did you just say?”
“Nope. Didn’t say a thing.”
Gong Myeong-ho accepted the coffee and let out another sigh, one of many that day.
Then he gave Pyo Won-ho, who had come over beside him, a brief complaint.
“You seem fine with it, Director Pyo. Lee Hyuk-soo keeps pushing his luck. It can’t be easy to keep the set under control.”
Pyo Won-ho merely shrugged.
“What can I say? Stagnant water needs a loach or two flopping around to keep it from going bad. And...”
“...?”
“He reminds me so much of my old self that I can’t really say anything to him. If I curse at him, I’d just be spitting in my own face.”
Gong Myeong-ho snorted at the shameless self-deprecation.
“Your faces are completely different.”
“Heh heh. Right. I do look better. Your eye for beauty is exceptional.”
Pyo Won-ho’s shameless reply made them both laugh for a moment.
When the laughter faded, Gong clicked his tongue and nodded toward Lee Hyuk-soo.
“Anyway, handle it however you want. If he crosses the line, curse him out and break him in rough if you have to. Just do something, all right?”
“Ah, you don’t understand. A wild colt like that won’t be tamed just because you try.”
Pyo Won-ho chuckled.
His gaze passed Lee Hyuk-soo and landed on writer Ji Yeon-woo, who was greeting people one by one beside the coffee truck.
“He needs to meet his match before he comes to his senses.”
“...What are you talking about?”
“There’s something like that. I’ll be going now.”
After leaving behind that vague answer, Pyo Won-ho casually turned away.
What a useless guy.
Gong Myeong-ho watched his retreating back and snorted.
Then he absentmindedly put the straw in the cup Pyo had handed him to his lips.
Sluuurp! Rattle?
“...?”
Instead of cold coffee filling his mouth, only the pathetic sound of air being sucked through the straw and ice rattling around echoed out.
Gong Myeong-ho slowly looked inside the cup, and his brows immediately drew together.
The cup was completely empty.
The coffee Pyo Won-ho had generously handed him was nothing but trash left after the man had sucked it dry himself.
“You fucking little bastard! No manners at all!”
He suddenly resented his past self for having praised Pyo Won-ho’s supposed reform.
“Tch. A madman’s true nature never changes.”
Gong Myeong-ho angrily tossed the rattling empty cup into a nearby trash can.
That guy was nowhere near reformed.
#
“Oh my, the writer himself is handing these out? You’re so kind.”
“Thank you! I’ll enjoy it!”
I stood in front of the coffee truck, personally handing coffee to the staff and actors.
I gave them warm encouragement along with a friendly smile.
People called me kind and thanked me for it, but not at all.
‘Oh, I’m far more grateful.’
Thank you a hundred times over for joining this garbage drama without hesitation.
Just as I was handing out smiles while silently offering endless apologies and thanks...
“...?”
It was piercing.
A sharp gaze suddenly stabbed into the back of my head. I flinched and glanced behind me.
Woo Yeon-hee was standing beneath a parasol some distance away, the owner of that gaze.
She wore her usual indifferent expression.
But her eyes, fixed directly on me, carried an oddly chilling air.
‘...Does she have a problem with my script?’
It bothered me, but I forced myself to ignore it and continued handing coffee to the remaining staff.
But after one minute, then three, that scorching stare on my back did not go away.
Unable to stand it any longer, I finally walked over first and asked.
“Excuse me, ma’am? Is there something you wanted to say to me?”
“...No.”
“Then why have you been looking at me this whole time...?”
“I wasn’t looking.”
“...You were looking.”
“I told you I wasn’t. You just happened to be standing where I was looking.”
She looked away and snapped at me.
I had a mountain of things I wanted to say in response, but arguing with her sounded exhausting, so I started to leave.
“Where are you going!”
“Why now? You said you had nothing to say.”
“I do now! Is that enough?”
Why was she changing her mind every other second?
I frowned in disbelief and stared at her.
She hesitated, then spoke in a gradually shrinking voice.
“Th-that...”
“That?”
“Wh-why is that person’s coffee bigger than mine...?”
“...?”
The reason was so trivial and random that I was briefly speechless.
As I stared at her in confusion, she hurriedly added.
“W-well, it is! Mine is a tall size, but that one is huge! It’s not like you should be treating people differently...!”
“That actor specifically asked for a venti. You only told your manager you wanted a regular iced Americano.”
“Then give me a venti, too!”
“...”
My mouth slowly fell open at her pouting over a single coffee.
Was this really Woo Yeon-hee? The Iron Lady who had not even blinked when the drug scandal broke? Why was she making such a fuss over coffee?
“Sigh...”
“What’s with that expression!? Do you think I eat a lot?”
“No. Of course not.”
In the end, I was the first to surrender.
I immediately returned to the coffee truck, got her a new venti iced Americano, and put it in her hand.
Then, a few minutes later...
“Hmph. There’s too much. I can’t drink any more.”
Woo Yeon-hee approached me again and held out her venti cup.
It was about half empty.
What was going on? Had I done something wrong? Was she irritated with me and just trying to pick a fight?
“Why exactly are you doing this to me...?”
“What do you mean? What am I supposed to do with so much? I’m full.”
Woo Yeon-hee answered shamelessly as she forced the half-finished cup into my hand.
I had no idea why she was being so temperamental today.
“Sigh, seriously...”
I let out a short, resigned sigh.
It felt wasteful to throw it out, so I carelessly put the straw from the coffee she had given me into my mouth and took a long drink.
“...!!”
Woo Yeon-hee’s eyes, which had been cool until moments ago, widened as if they might pop out.
“Wh-why are you drinking something I was drinking!”
“Huh? It seemed wasteful to throw away, so I’m drinking it.”
“Even so! You should at least take the straw out before drinking...!”
Her usual coolness was nowhere to be found. She stammered while pointing at the straw in the cup.
Only then did I understand the situation.
“Ah.”
She was sensitive about this kind of thing.
I immediately removed the straw, put my lips directly to the rim of the cup, and took another refreshing gulp of coffee.
As I drank, I looked at Woo Yeon-hee as if to ask, Is this okay now?
That was when it happened.
Thud!
“Ah.”
A heavy impact struck my unguarded back.
Someone had roughly struck my shoulder from behind.
The coffee sloshing in my cup spilled out and splattered over my pant leg.
“Ah, my mistake.”
Lee Hyuk-soo gave a careless nod and walked past without any sincerity.
Just as rude as I had heard.
Still, I did not think he had done it on purpose, and I did not want to ruin the good mood, so I did not make an issue of it.
But unlike me, Woo Yeon-hee’s expression instantly froze.
Her eyes moved between my coffee-stained pant leg and Lee Hyuk-soo’s retreating back as she asked harshly.
“What are you doing right now?”
“Huh? Oh, the coffee? It’s fine.”
At my indifferent answer, she gave a laugh of disbelief.
“Who asked about the coffee? I’m asking why you just stand there and let people walk all over you like an idiot. Aren’t you angry?”
“Huh? Well, it was an accident, so I’ll let it go. Things like this happen all the time. It’s not like this is rare.”
“All the time? Sigh, honestly...”
It was such an unfamiliar sigh that I wondered whether this was really the woman who had just childishly complained about coffee sizes.
As I stood there confused by the sudden change in temperature, she stared directly at me and spoke as though biting off each word.
“Don’t let people look down on you or make you bow your head wherever you go.”
“...?”
“Because I’m the only fool who’s been watching your mood, Writer.”
Leaving behind those incomprehensible words, Woo Yeon-hee coldly turned and walked away.
I could only blink blankly at the empty place where she had been.
“What is wrong with her...?”
I was the one who got coffee spilled on me. Why was she the one getting angry?
#
Lee Hyuk-soo stood in one corner of the set, leaning with one leg bent, and clicked his tongue.
His eyes were on the coffee truck.
Writer Ji Yeon-woo was there, bowing to each staff member as he personally handed out coffee.
The sight of him smiling warmly and setting the mood bothered Lee Hyuk-soo immensely.
“What an act. So irritating.”
A few days earlier, Lee had subtly pressured the writer to cut some pathetic scenes because they made his character look bad, and replace them with more substantial lines.
But the writer had rejected him without leaving even the slightest room for discussion.
Ever since then, Lee had found Ji Yeon-woo irritating for no particular reason.
‘Sure, dramas are run by writers, but what does some rookie who has barely shed his newbie status know? Why is he strutting around on set like that?’
That arrogant face that had utterly humiliated an actor with two ten-million-ticket hits grated on him.
Lee had at least ten times more experience on set than that writer. How dare the man hold his head high and try to lecture him?
Lee Hyuk-soo’s endless resentment scattered into the air at the sound of Pyo Won-ho’s booming voice ringing through the set.
“All right, break’s over! Stand by!”
Filming resumed.
The next scene was a private meeting between Mantis, the hidden mastermind of the drama, and her subordinate, Baekhan.
Baekhan had returned after losing valuable drugs to a rival organization. Mantis would brutally trample and punish Baekhan in an emotionally intense, brutal action scene.
Lee Hyuk-soo cracked his neck from side to side to loosen up, then walked straight toward Woo Yeon-hee, who was waiting across from him.
“Ahem. Sunbae.”
Lee bowed politely, wearing the friendliest smile he could manage.
At the script reading, he had secretly despised her most of all, dismissing her as a drug-addicted actress.
But the moment filming began, his thinking had changed.
‘That woman is the real deal. I need to get on her good side.’
Lee Hyuk-soo had been completely captivated by her overwhelming acting ability and force.
And the iron rule of surviving in this industry was to bow before the strong.
He had been tirelessly flattering her, hoping to make an impression and earn her recognition.
“Please take care of me in this scene, too!”
Woo Yeon-hee, who had been quietly reading the script, slowly turned her head.
Her indifferent, cold eyes rested on Lee Hyuk-soo’s face for a moment.
Then the corners of her lips lifted warmly.
“Sure. Please take care of me, too.”
Lee Hyuk-soo cheered inwardly at her gentle response.
Good. That monster of a woman would nail this in one take without a mistake anyway. If I just do well, it’ll be over in one shot.
‘I’ll get it in one take, no NGs!’
With his resolve fully set, Lee Hyuk-soo knelt and bowed before the camera.
“Rolling! Ready, action!”
The moment the slate snapped shut, the air on set grew heavy.
Woo Yeon-hee’s eyes changed frighteningly in an instant.
At the same time, she mercilessly slammed the cold heel of her shoe into Lee Hyuk-soo’s bowed shoulder hard enough to make a sound.
Thud!
“Ghk...!”
“You useless bastard.”
Cold, vicious curses rained down on Lee Hyuk-soo as she grabbed his hair and pressed him to the floor.
Her immersion was perfect. Her diction was perfect. It was acting so insane that even Lee Hyuk-soo, the one receiving it, got chills.
Then, just as that perfect flow continued...
“I told you to make sure there wouldn’t be any trouble afterwar...”
Woo Yeon-hee’s lips twisted for a moment, and her line came out wrong.
“Cut! NG!”
The tense atmosphere instantly dissolved at Pyo Won-ho’s shout.
“What’s gotten into you? Our Woo, who churns them out like a machine, made a mistake?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. Let me take a sip of water, then we’ll go again.”
Woo Yeon-hee raised a hand and lightly cleared her throat.
Meanwhile, Lee Hyuk-soo, who had been thrown to the floor, grabbed his throbbing shoulder and pushed himself up.
‘Wh-what was that? Why is she only stepping where there isn’t padding? Did she get too worked up in the scene?’
That had hurt much more than he expected.
Just as that small question entered his mind, Woo Yeon-hee approached him with a concerned expression.
“Are you okay? I think I got a little carried away once we started the action. I stepped on you too hard, didn’t I?”
At her kind question, Lee Hyuk-soo quickly straightened his back and put on a tough front.
“N-no! I’m completely fine. The shot has to look real, so you can step on me and hit me even harder!”
“Ah... Really? That’s a relief.”
“Yes! Please trample me without holding back!”
Woo Yeon-hee smiled as though relieved.
Soon, the set was ready again, and Pyo Won-ho called for the next take.
“All right, let’s go again! Ready, action!”
Thud! Crunch!
“Ghk...! Gah?!”
A far harsher kick than before struck Lee Hyuk-soo in the back.
A scream escaped him, but he forced himself to continue acting, veins standing out in his neck.
But then...
“Cut! Woo, your blocking was slightly off just now! We’ll go again!”
“Ah, sorry. We’ll go again.”
This time, too.
Crunch! Crack!
“Aah! W-wait!”
“Cut! NG! Yeon-hee, you stumbled over your line again!”
And the next time.
Crack! Creak!
“Gyaah...! S-save me...!”
“Cut! NG! Hey! Yeon-hee! I told you that you can’t stand there! Again!”
And the time after that, again and again and again.
Woo Yeon-hee, who had never made a mistake before, began producing an oddly constant stream of minor NGs.
She stumbled over lines, missed her blocking, and let her gaze go astray.
The problem was that every time there was an NG, Lee Hyuk-soo had to lie on the floor from the beginning and be mercilessly stomped and beaten all over again.
Five times. Six times. Seven times.
With each repeated take, Lee Hyuk-soo’s body became a literal rag.
“Pant... Haa...”
After more than ten takes of the beating scene, Lee Hyuk-soo lay sprawled on the floor, gasping for breath.
Something was wrong.
No matter how poor her condition was, there was no way Woo Yeon-hee would ruin a scene this badly.
Then was she doing it on purpose? If so, why?
“Ugh... It fucking hurts...”
Unable to endure any longer, Lee Hyuk-soo staggered to his feet and approached Woo Yeon-hee.
“Pant, pant... Sunbae...”
“Yes?”
“D-did I make some kind of mistake? Did I fail to match your acting, or is there something you don’t like...?”
Lee Hyuk-soo asked desperately.
But not a trace remained of the warm smile that had covered Woo Yeon-hee’s face moments ago.
Her dry, cold eyes had sunk low, glaring at him fiercely like a snake’s.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“H-huh?”
Lee Hyuk-soo asked stupidly, flustered.
At his wronged expression, which showed that he truly had no idea what was going on, Woo Yeon-hee narrowed her eyes coldly and sneered.
“You still don’t seem to understand.”
“U-understand what...?”
“It’s okay. That can happen. But...”
Her smile deepened as she softly murmured something.
Lee Hyuk-soo heard only part of that quiet voice, but an icy chill ran through him.
As he stood frozen, a chill running down his spine, Woo Yeon-hee turned toward the set and spoke in a clear voice.
“Director, we’re ready. Let’s go again.”
Watching Woo Yeon-hee slowly approach him, Lee Hyuk-soo’s eyes began to tremble with fear.
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