Chapter 124: The Writer (1)

Translator: Dreamscribe

General Manager Kim Ha-jae. Which was to say, Kang Jae-ha's out-of-nowhere scouting offer. The Master, Director Yu Gil-tae, went rather wide-eyed at how far it fell outside his expectations. Pushing up his round glasses, he asked back.

"...Don't tell me you're trying to rope me into 'MEG' right now?"

Jae-ha answered at once, without beating around the bush.

"That's right, I'm looking to bring you, Director-nim, over to 'MEG'."

"Ha-"

Whether out of guilt for having been suspicious or for some other reason, Director Yu Gil-tae scratched his head.

"I thought General Manager Kim was angling to get involved in the production, that's way off from what I expected."

"You misunderstood. Well, I can understand why. Having directed for so long, you must have seen every kind of behavior from investors."

"......"

"So you came ready for a fight?"

Living up to his nickname as the 'Gentleman of Chungmuro', Director Yu Gil-tae answered smoothly.

"A fight, nothing of the sort. I'd simply braced myself, that's all."

Same thing, wasn't it? Kang Jae-ha spoke with a faint smile as he looked out over the shooting site ahead. A tone that showed composure while holding onto that off-the-leash air, as befitted the mask he wore.

"You and 'Mask of Murder' are already running at peak tension, Director-nim. I'm satisfied, and so is Lee Chan-hoo CEO-nim."

"That's a relief. This being a solo investment rather than the usual kind, I can't help being conscious of it."

"I understand, as long as the shoot keeps flowing the way it is now, I don't see anything becoming a real problem."

Director Yu Gil-tae nodded with a smile and murmured inwardly.

'He keeps his manners, but there's a nuance there that says never take him lightly.'

Kang Jae-ha was so clean about it all that Director Yu Gil-tae was the one left more flustered.

'He's cut from different cloth than CEO Lee Chan-hoo, but this man is no ordinary sort either. The moment things stray from the current mood, he'd cut in, cold and sharp as a blade. Every last person on the 'MEG' side gives off a dangerous smell......'

They had cheerfully thrown down close to 10 billion won in investment funds, and yet General Manager Kim Ha-jae, a 'MEG' man, was utterly calm and cool-headed.

'Sure enough, there's something different about 'MEG'. And the financial muscle behind them seems enormous.'

With not the faintest idea that he was talking to that very backer, Director Yu Gil-tae liked 'MEG's composure, liked the bearing and attitude of the man across from him. To Director Yu Gil-tae, who had knocked around the film world for decades, 'MEG' was new every time he looked at it.

'And that 'MEG' wants to scout me, does it-'

Drawing a small breath, Director Yu Gil-tae asked the Kang Jae-ha who wore another man's face.

"What is it that makes 'MEG' want me?"

Jae-ha answered as if to say, why ask something so obvious.

"You're being far too modest. You're a Master that everyone covets, the big agencies and anywhere else, not just us."

"......"

"That said, at present we have only two directors and one writer signed with us. Compared to the many management companies that want you, we're small fry."

"For someone calling himself small fry, you look awfully confident."

"Confident, yes. To put it precisely, our terms will be different."

"Terms?"

At the question mark tossed his way, Kang Jae-ha wiped his expression clean and turned serious.

"The position of a Master is a complicated one, isn't it. It's a glorious word, but in some ways it must also bind you. The responsibility grows heavier. It costs you freedom as a director, as a filmmaker. The light and the shadow are both very clear-cut."

"Mm."

"'MEG' intends to lift that burden of responsibility off you."

"For example?"

"We'll support you so that you can make whatever work you want, shoot whatever you want, to your heart's content, with no worries about money and no concern for results."

"...!"

Force gathered in Director Yu Gil-tae's eyes for a moment, but Kang Jae-ha kept up his cold composure.

"Even a Master reads the investors' faces. There's no helping it, what sits above directors and investors alike is money. But come to 'MEG', and we'll let you shoot the work you want without reading anyone's face."

"......Even a work that makes no money?"

"Whether it makes no money, whether it's an unprofitable piece aimed at the festival circuit, it doesn't matter. The condition is that whatever work you bring, 'MEG' will back it."

"Ha-"

"As you know, 'MEG' can be an agency, an investment firm, a film company, all of it. Which means this isn't lip service."

Even a Master. No, precisely because he is a Master, he has no choice but to read the investors, read the money, and cling to results. That tendency only deepens the higher the name climbs. That's how the market is, and this atmosphere has a history behind it. Like water gone foul.

But it wasn't as if that were wrong, either.

Money had been poured in, so of course it had to bring back more than it cost. That went for any market, not just the film world. Which meant a 'Master' bore the 'responsibility' of satisfying expectations again and again, whether the public's or the market's.

'Right now the market and the investors will suck up to him as a Master, but let Director Yu Gil-tae tank a few works and they'll turn on him in a heartbeat.'

A Master who couldn't make money would be treated as a has-been who'd lost his touch. That was how utterly ruthless the market was. Then the money that had been flowing freely would stop, and Director Yu Gil-tae, feeling the weight of that, would inevitably lose freedom in his work.

Kang Jae-ha jabbed at exactly that spot.

A running mate who would raise that freedom sky-high.

Even as he listened to Jae-ha's words, Director Yu Gil-tae froze as if he'd been struck by something. These were things he had felt and agonized over for more than a decade already. And not only him, every director esteemed as a Master was the same.

But it had to be borne, and it had to be accepted.

Because that was how the film world had always been and how it would keep on being. In this moment, Director Yu Gil-tae felt a hand of salvation being extended to him and him alone.

"......"

And Jae-ha, the one extending that hand of salvation, went on.

"There's no signing bonus or anything of the sort. What there is, is an investment in your future."

"Did you...by any chance hear a rumor that once I finish 'Mask of Murder' I'd be aiming at some overseas film festival?"

"No. Is that what you're planning?"

"I did hint at it to a few people over drinks."

Of course, Kang Jae-ha had never heard the rumor Director Yu Gil-tae spoke of. He had, however, guessed at it to a degree.

'Going by Director Yu Gil-tae's filmography, there's a decent record of prizes at overseas festivals. Impressive enough on its own. But he's never taken a grand prize, never landed a proper knockout.'

That he'd be craving a 'challenge'.

'And not just now. He's probably been hungry for that 'challenge' for a good ten years and more. He just could never bring himself to act on it.'

Just this one, once I finish this one. Dragging his feet like that, he'd come all the way here. Kang Jae-ha delivered his closing line to Director Yu Gil-tae.

"Whatever the 'challenge' turns out to be, overseas festivals included, come to 'MEG' and you can take it on in comfort, with no pressure and no worries about money."

Director Yu Gil-tae nodded slowly and pushed up his round glasses as he answered.

"Your offer, I'll consider it very deeply."

He had used the word consider, but Director Yu Gil-tae's heart.

'Terms like that are hard to come by anywhere else.'

The mood was already more than halfway over to 'MEG's side.

That night.

Jang Tae-san spent time talking with his younger sister, as he always did.

"I changed jobs. You remember the man you met that time? The one I served under."

"Ah! Yeah!"

"I decided to work with him. As of today I'm actress Moon Ji-a's exclusive bodyguard."

The instant she heard the name Moon Ji-a, Jang Tae-san's sister jolted upright in shock.

"What??!! M-Moon Ji-a?! The top actress Moon Ji-a I'm thinking of?!!"

"Yeah."

"Oppa, you became that Moon Ji-a's exclusive bodyguard??!!"

"That's right."

"No way!! No way!!!"

His sister was evidently quite a fan of Moon Ji-a.

"This is completely like a dream!! Oppa, bodyguard to Moon Ji-a!"

Jang Tae-san settled his rampaging sister down and spoke seriously.

"The pay's going to be a lot better than before, too. So let's get you to the hospital properly. Don't give up, work hard at your rehab. That boss I told you about said you should work hard at your rehab too."

"......He's such a good man. Somehow I could tell even back at the barbecue place."

"Tell what?"

"He was cool! And handsome! He's our savior! Right??"

A faint smile spread over Jang Tae-san's blunt face.

"Yeah, he's our savior. Back there and here both."

Monday, February 1st, the weekend behind them.

From morning on, the press was busy talking about Netflix Korea's production.

《Today at Noon, Netflix Korea's 'One-Act Drama Project' Officially Opens!》

《[Issue Talk] 'One-Act Drama Project', Buzzing over Oh Jong-man and Others, Drops Today at Noon》

《'One-Act Drama Project' Draws Explosive Interest ahead of Release, Will the Content Be as Solid as the Hype?》

It was warranted. The 'One-Act Drama Project', which Netflix Korea had thrown its full weight behind and which had been a talking point for ages, was officially launching at noon today.

Director Baek Jeong-ha, Yoon Da-yeon, An Ji-hee, there were plenty of keywords worth buzzing over, but lately, sure enough.

《'Oh Jong-man Comeback Controversy', Public Reaction to 'One-Act Drama Project' Splits to Both Extremes/ Photo》

Oh Jong-man was the hot one. Even now, go on social media or the forums and talk of Oh Jong-man's comeback came pouring out by the bucketload. Word that all of his past incidents had been cleared of charges had spread fairly widely, but there were still plenty of people badmouthing and cursing him.

Either way, proof that the aggro, the attention, was running high.

The more public attention fixed on it, the more articles the press churned out, and inevitably the 'One-Act Drama Project' came up constantly across the entertainment industry as a whole.

Especially at the broadcasting stations, whose competitors were the OTT platforms.

"PD Kim. The 'One-Act Drama Project', how do you think it'll go?"

"Well, interest has climbed as much as Netflix put into it, so- the early numbers shouldn't be bad. How do you see it, Bureau Chief?"

"Hmm. That Oh Jong-man fellow landed the final blow, and landed it clean. Plenty of people will watch early just out of curiosity."

"Oh Jong-man being in it is a surprise, I'll admit. Still, if the content's thin it'll die down fast."

"You think it'll be thin?"

"That's my read. It's a project they're trying for the first time, isn't it? Those are usually all flashy shell and hollow inside."

From terrestrial broadcasting to cable and everything in between, stations of every stripe chattered nonstop about the 'One-Act Drama Project'.

"Project this, Netflix that, whatever. At the end of the day it's a one-act, a one-act. Not enough muscle."

"Right? No matter that a heavyweight like Director Baek Jeong-ha is attached, a one-act is a one-act. If the music came out well- a digital single will sell a bit and that'll be the end of it."

"Wonder how Oh Jong-man will do."

"His acting was decent back in the day, but the gap's been way too long. Personally I'm more curious about Yoon Da-yeon or An Ji-hee than Oh Jong-man."

"Kind of feels like Netflix made Oh Jong-man the hate magnet?"

"Probably. They used Oh Jong-man to pull aggro."

With everywhere in an uproar over the 'One-Act Drama Project' like this, time ticked steadily along.

Noon, before anyone knew it.

At that hour, everyone connected to the 'One-Act Drama Project' was watching Netflix with nerves stretched tight. Kang Jae-ha, naturally, was among them.

"About time, then."

Jae-ha was with Leon's quiet Team 4 office, and the moment noon struck he picked up his tablet. He'd logged into Netflix. The 'One-Act Drama Project' came up right there, first in the main banner.

A poster shot through with red and blue, carrying the faces of several actors, adorned the Netflix main page.

Kang Jae-ha tapped that banner.

As announced, the 'One-Act Drama Project' was set to release one work a week starting today.

The first work released was 'Murder Is a Qualification Too'. Three episodes in total went up, special edition included.

"Let's have a look at how the quality turned out."

Kang Jae-ha tapped episode 1 of 'Murder Is a Qualification Too', starring Oh Jong-man, An Ji-hee, and the rest.

A few hours after that.

One of the big online communities was fairly packed with talk of 'Murder Is a Qualification Too', the first release of the One-Act Drama Project.

-shit why is this good?

-no seriously this is actually good ㅋㅋㅋㅋ just finished ep 1 and clicked into ep 2 like I was hypnotized

-is that one-act project any good? if it's trash I won't bother at all

-yeah it's good

Meanwhile, an odd question was also starting to spread.

-but on the description for Murder Is a Qualification Too the writer is listed as Oh Jong-man, that's gotta be a typo right???

 *****

For more extra chapters, you can check out my Patreon here --> patreon.com/dreamscribe

If you enjoy this novel, please review and rate it at Novelupdates. Thanks! 😊

To receive the latest update notifications or report mistakes, join our Discord server linked below.