WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Potter

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Why Do My Dramas Keep Becoming Hits!? ◈

Chapter 9: Bring That Writer Here Right Now! (6)

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When Woo Young-taek finished the call, he opened the door to the private room and stepped back inside. The first place his eyes went was, naturally, Ji Yeon-woo's face.

'...Damn.'

Ji Yeon-woo had just landed a satisfying blow against his former boss, Department Head Han Kang-hee, and even scored extra premium Korean beef. An easy smile he couldn't hide spread across his face.

But the moment Woo Young-taek saw that smile, his expression froze.

'Did things go well with SBC? Surely they haven't made a decision already?'

Woo Young-taek moistened his parched lips and carefully sat across from him.

Ji Yeon-woo's eyes, which had been fixed solely on the meat on the grill, slowly turned toward him.

"You're back."

"I'm sorry. Something urgent came up."

"It's fine. Eat first. The meat's going to burn."

Ji Yeon-woo carefully placed the freshly served, beautifully marbled ribeye on the grill.

Sizzle!

The cheerful sound and the rich scent of rendered fat filled the room.

But throughout the time the meat cooked, Woo Young-taek only watched Ji Yeon-woo nervously.

"...."

Without even thinking of picking up his chopsticks, Woo Young-taek kept swallowing.

Just as he was about to speak in a grave voice,

"Ah, PD Woo. You said the final judging deadline for the Script Contest is the day after tomorrow, right?"

"...? Yes, that's right."

I would feel guilty leaving without giving anything in return after being treated to such expensive Korean beef.

Ji Yeon-woo cleared his throat and set down his chopsticks.

"Then I'll send over the scripts for Episodes 3 and 4 by tomorrow."

"...!?"

Woo Young-taek's expression went blank.

He looked like he couldn't understand what he had just heard.

"W-Writer Ji. Does that mean... you intend to continue with our Script Contest?"

"Yes. That's right."

Woo Young-taek's mind went completely blank.

Ji Yeon-woo could become the main writer of a 30-billion-won tentpole project and receive a signing bonus worth hundreds of millions of won just by signing a contract right now.

So why would he submit the next scripts to a Script Contest that involved such a troublesome process?

What could he be thinking?

A short while later, after the meal, Ji Yeon-woo rose from his seat.

"Then I'll be going. Thank you for the meal."

"...."

"G-Get home safely, Writer Ji!"

After Writer Ji Yeon-woo calmly left, PD Ahn Ji-young cautiously nudged the stunned Woo Young-taek.

"PD Woo. He isn't going to SBC to sign a contract, is he...?"

"...."

Woo Young-taek didn't answer, only letting out a low groan.

Then, suddenly, he gave a hollow laugh.

"Hah... this writer is worse than Seo Eun-hye."

"What?"

With another short, incredulous laugh, Woo Young-taek continued.

"SBC? We don't need to worry about them."

"Why not?"

"Because SBC is probably in the exact same position as us. They're likely sweating even harder than we are."

Seeing that Ahn Ji-young still didn't understand, Woo Young-taek explained with certainty.

"The scripts for Episodes 3 and 4 are bait. And a kind of showcase, too."

"What? What do you mean...?"

Woo Young-taek gulped down the cold water on the table and wet his dry lips.

"Writer Ji is showing us something. He's saying, 'My hand is this strong, and you thought you could secure me with terms like that?'"

"...!?"

The quality of Episodes 3 and 4 was obvious without even seeing them.

Then he would lay that overwhelming work before both tvM and SBC.

What would happen next?

As if it were the natural course of events, the two networks would enter an even fiercer bidding war. And as that happened, the writer's price would rise in real time.

It was hard to believe he had calculated all of this and acted deliberately.

"Hah. When it comes to this, the student has surpassed the master... He's even more ruthless than Seo Eun-hye."

They had thought they were trying to hook a big fish named Ji Yeon-woo, but that had been absurd.

From the beginning, the fish had been tvM and SBC.

Which of the two fish to choose was entirely up to that writer.

#

As I left the restaurant and headed home, I kept tilting my head.

"Do I actually have talent?"

Apparently, what I'd submitted to the Script Contest had made it through the second round.

That garbage prose wasn't even worthy of being called practice writing.

Of course, I'd definitely fail at the final judging, but still, making it to the second round was something.

"Hmm. Maybe I should try becoming a full-time writer."

As I walked through the cool night air, ridiculous ideas slowly began creeping in.

If things didn't work out, I could always write one of those web novels that were so popular lately.

But I soon snorted and shook my head.

"No. If I'm going to write, I'd rather make YouTube videos."

I'd only gotten lucky and pulled off a fluke. It wasn't like I had what it took to be a full-time writer.

I should just quietly keep scribbling as a hobby, like I always had. If I got carried away and started showing off, I'd probably end up on the street.

After ruthlessly brushing aside the fantasy that had flared up so quickly, I resumed my indifferent walk.

Beep-beep-beep. Click.

After unlocking the door and entering my home, I stopped short.

The apartment should have been dark, but it was brightly lit. On the living room sofa, I saw a familiar back of a head.

"What? Why are you in my place?"

It was my younger sister, Ji Seo-yoon.

Without looking up from the papers in front of her, she answered listlessly.

"Oh? Hey, bro. You're back crazy early."

"Forget the greeting. Why are you in my place?"

"Ah, I'm looking for a place to rent. I'm staying here until I find one."

What was with this confidence?

Anyone would think I was the tenant and she was the landlord.

"Are you crazy? Who said you could? Get out right now."

"Come on, you've got two rooms anyway. Don't be so stingy. I seriously have nowhere else to go. I'll end up on the street."

"Yeah. That might be better. Go sleep rough right now. If you beg with that pathetic face of yours, you'll at least manage to feed yourself."

"Then I'll beg here. Please let me impose on you for a while!"

Seeing her shamelessly stretch out on the sofa, it seemed I had no hope of throwing her out right away.

I pressed a hand to my throbbing temple and reluctantly nodded.

"Haah... Only until you find a room. If you make a mess, you're out."

"Yes!"

Ji Seo-yoon leaped to her feet in triumph.

"But, bro, why are you home at this hour? Did you take a half day off?"

"No. I quit."

"...?"

Ji Seo-yoon's eyes widened like a rabbit's, and her face went blank.

Ah. Come to think of it, I hadn't told her I'd quit.

We hardly kept in touch, so I hadn't felt any need to announce it.

"You're insane, bro. Your directorial debut was so close, and you couldn't even stick it out? Why?"

"...Don't ask. It's a painful story."

After staring at me in shock for a moment, she messed up her hair and let out a deep sigh.

"Haah. I'm jealous, though. I want to quit too."

My family had always had one foot in the broadcasting industry.

That family background had probably influenced me becoming a network PD.

Ji Seo-yoon, like me, dreamed of directing dramas.

I'd heard she joined some production company last year as a planning and production PD, though I couldn't remember exactly which one.

But seeing her complain already, maybe she wasn't destined to last long in this industry either.

"You haven't even lasted a year, and you're already talking about quitting? With that pathetic attitude, you couldn't even work part-time at a convenience store, you little brat."

"Ugh, what the hell do you know? Our company's in crisis right now, so it's been insanely hard! I've worked overtime for a whole week straight!"

"A crisis?"

As I took off my coat, Ji Seo-yoon angrily pounded the cushion she was holding.

"The damn director had an affair, okay? A married man. Now the production might get shut down because of it."

"Huh? Just because of that?"

Adultery was certainly a serious moral issue, but it wasn't usually enough to sink an entire drama.

And if it was the director, not even a lead actor, wouldn't this industry normally bury it or replace him quickly and keep things moving?

Then, just as expected, an even bigger bomb dropped from Ji Seo-yoon's mouth.

"The person he had the affair with was the main writer."

"...?"

"And the writer's married too. They're both completely insane."

"...Oh. They're both cheating on their spouses."

Unbelievable.

The drama's writer and director were practically playing roles in the show themselves.

And it was one spectacularly trashy melodrama.

"Seriously. The director's wife and the writer's husband just came by and turned the network upside down."

"Sounds interesting. Tell me more."

"You think this is interesting?"

"...Sorry."

"Anyway, the people upstairs keep squeezing us, telling us to find a savior to fill the gap in the schedule. It's pissing me off so badly."

"Then are all those stacks of paper over there drama scripts?"

I nodded toward the piles of paper stacked beside the sofa.

I'd thought the format looked familiar. They must all have been scripts and synopses.

"Yeah. Proposals we scraped together from writers as replacements. I didn't sleep a wink last night because I was reading those."

"Why are you sitting there reading all of them like an idiot? Just skim a few and call it a day."

"I want to! But that asshole department head keeps going on about quality and throwing a fit!"

As Ji Seo-yoon stomped about in frustration, she suddenly remembered something and shouted urgently.

"Oh, right. I still need to check the scripts that came in by email. Let me borrow your laptop."

"What? Where did you sell your own laptop that you need to borrow mine?"

"I think mine's broken. It won't boot at all. I'll only use yours tonight, so please? Just let me borrow it."

She put on a pitiful act, clasping her hands together and shooting me a pleading look.

I moved my lips as I briefly considered it.

My folders were full of scripts and practice files I'd written over the years, sitting there completely unprotected.

'Hmm. Does it matter?'

It wasn't like she'd go looking through them, and it wasn't some huge trade secret.

Besides, with such a massive bomb dropped on her company, it felt cruel to refuse.

"You're going to lend it to me, right? Right?"

"It's over there, so put it back when you're done. Don't touch random things, and if you install anything weird, you're dead."

"Yes! Thanks! I knew you're the best, bro! Oh, that reminds me. You know a lot of writers, right?"

"...? So?"

Ji Seo-yoon, who had been bouncing around, suddenly turned toward me.

At the same time, desperation filled her eyes.

For some reason, that made me uncomfortable.

"I mean, if you know any writers who've written decent scripts, maybe you could tell me about them too."

"Yeah, get lost."

Bang!

I quickly went into my room and locked the door.

A savage, animal-like roar came from beyond the closed door, but I didn't pay it any attention.

"You bastard! You're my brother, and you can't even do that one thing for me? How hard could it be?"

Ugh. She still had a long way to go before becoming a decent person.

#

2:40 a.m.

The dark living room was lit only by the bluish glow of the laptop monitor.

"Ahh... I'm tired..."

Ji Seo-yoon rubbed her dry eyes and groaned.

She had already had three cups of coffee, but it wasn't enough to chase off the waves of sleep crashing over her.

Besides, there was another, bigger problem.

'There's nothing usable...!'

She had read through every proposal and script piled up in her inbox, but there wasn't a single project worth salvaging.

What was she supposed to do?

If she went to work empty-handed, she was sure to face the department head's roaring demand for "quality" head-on.

"Haah. What do I do? Maybe Writer Kim will be different."

The last remaining candidate was Writer Kim Myeong-hwan.

Honestly, Kim's work had been seriously slipping lately, so she didn't have much hope.

Ji Seo-yoon mindlessly downloaded the attachments Writer Kim had sent through webmail.

[New Work_Final_Really Final.hwp]

[Final_Really Really Final_Revision.hwp]

[Untitled_For-Real-Real-Real Final Draft.hwp]

"Why do all writers name their files like this? How am I supposed to know which one is the real final draft?"

Many of the manuscripts sent by other writers had similarly confusing file names, making them difficult to distinguish.

On top of that, Writer Kim had the terrible habit of not even including the title of the work, which made things even more exhausting.

"Ugh, whatever. I'll just open everything with 'Final' in the name."

Click!

The first script she opened was ordinary, as expected.

There was nothing especially wrong with it, but nothing interesting either. It was exactly Writer Kim's typical style.

Quickly losing interest, she sighed heavily and closed the window.

"Ugh. Writer Kim really hasn't improved. I'm sick of the same pattern every time. Rejected at my level."

Her expectations, already at rock bottom, crashed straight through the mantle.

Ji Seo-yoon yawned listlessly and double-clicked another file in the folder, [Untitled_For-Real-Real-Real Final Draft.hwp].

"Huh? This is a completely different genre."

Even so, it didn't stir much change in her indifferent mood.

If anything, it only felt bothersome.

"Come on, just write one thing properly and send it. Why write two projects at once and let the quality suffer?"

She decided she would read ten pages.

No, five pages.

If she couldn't get a feel for it by then, she would throw it straight into the trash.

Click. Click!

For a while, the quiet living room was filled only with the sound of the mouse being clicked.

But after a few minutes, that sound suddenly stopped.

"...."

She stared at the screen, forgetting even to turn to the next page.

After reading the same page two or three times, her mouth slowly fell open.

"Insane... Did Writer Kim really write this?"

It had an overwhelming pull completely unlike the script she had just read.

The prose was trendy, the pacing breathless. How could changing only the genre create such a difference?

What kind of inspiration had exploded between "Really Really Final" and "For-Real-Real-Real Final Draft" to transform the caliber of the writing like this?

It was on an entirely different level from the countless ordinary scripts she had seen so far.

Even that picky department head would welcome this with open arms.

No, this practically confirmed it as the replacement for the vacated broadcast slot.

"Huh... Writers really do have genres that suit them. I had no idea Writer Kim had this kind of hidden talent."

Ji Seo-yoon did her best to calm her trembling hands as she carefully copied the file onto her USB drive.

It was a perfect script without a single flaw.

If only its author had not been her brother, everything about it would truly have been perfect.

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