A Genius Director Who Dominates OTT Platforms - Chapter 91

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Genius Director Who Dominates OTT

Episode 91

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【Familiar, Yet Strange】

Episodes 1-6.PDF

I postponed leaving work and reviewed the six scripts that came via email.

Even if I’m going to criticize them, it’s only polite to read the manuscripts.

But it’s interesting.

The script was several times more entertaining than I had expected from the proposal.

I think it’ll probably do well.

So I suddenly had a question.

Am I really being immature?

My intentions are firm, but thinking rationally, there wasn’t a single thing wrong with what the Manager said.

In the end, I called Seong Tae.

System Messages are there for when you don’t know something and need to ask, right?

As soon as the call connected, I heard a voice worn down by fatigue.

-Don’t tempt me. I can’t drink today because of overtime.

“What are you doing?”

-You got the script too, right? Moon Ah-yeong’s. Since it’s going out with terrestrial TV, there’s a lot to organize. Are terrestrial broadcasters pretty demanding?

“The general manager handles stuff like that too?”

-I’m called general manager because I take charge and get criticized.

“Oh… That’s a decent line for once?”

-Right. I was thinking it was pretty good as I said it too. But why are you calling?

I told him about what had happened earlier.

Although it involves company business, there’s nothing I need to hide from Seong Tae.

I’d probably tell him honestly even if I committed a hit-and-run, wouldn’t I?

But then would Seong Tae report me?

Instead of reporting me, he’d probably drag me to the police station to make me turn myself in.

Telling me to pay for my crimes quickly and get out.

Wait, what am I even thinking about?

-Is that it?

“Yeah.”

-What’s there to worry about? Obviously you ditch Moon Ah-yeong and do what you want to do.

He said it as if it were as obvious as 1+1 equals 2.

“Why?”

-You’ve succeeded every time you did what you wanted to do, haven’t you? So why change your approach?

Is that so?

This is another unique perspective.

-You keep doing what you’re good at until you fail. Then when you fail, you blame others and try once more.

“What if you still fail?”

-That’s where it splits. If you feel like you gave it your all, you quit. If you feel like you didn’t give it your all, you try once more. But usually it’s the latter.

It seemed somewhat sloppy yet incredibly persuasive.

Because my head became surprisingly clear.

-And if you had only done ordinary works, would you be in that position now? Could I have received incentives that I never got even once?

“Are you still envious?”

-Shut up. But you think this work will do well, right?

“Yeah. I think it’ll do well. Unless the writer and director get into a brawl on set and everything goes to hell?”

-Surprisingly, does that kind of thing happen?

“Really?”

While we were chatting excitedly, Seong Tae changed the subject.

-Hey, I’ve been thinking about something for the past few days.

“What?”

-Whether to join D.P or not.

“D.P? Our D.P?”

I reflexively asked back, then realized.

“You got scouted as a general manager, didn’t you?”

-Of course.

Well, President Yun probably didn’t send love calls only to me.

Someone like Seong Tae would be the best catch available in this industry.

“Will it be okay? It’s really starting from rock bottom.”

-Rock bottom seems better. Better than having those bastards sitting above my head. I sang so hard about doing Handtip Crawl, and they use me as an excuse to the head office?

“They used you as an excuse?”

-I don’t know. I’m just guessing. Anyway, I was going to take care of this too, knowing you’d do Moon Ah-yeong’s project… But there’s no need for that now.

Wait, so did I do well?

-Anyway, I’ll let you know when I decide. Sorry in advance.

“For what?”

-It’s time to hear your plan now, but I don’t think I’ll be surprised at all. I’ve built up immunity from Accomplice and Handtip Crawl.

“Well, you probably won’t be surprised.”

Because he knows me much better than the Manager does.

-Tell me. What are you going to do?

When I spoke in a casual tone, silence fell.

-Wow, shit. I’m feeling defeated.

“By what?”

-Are you really fucking crazy?

* * *

Moon Ah-yeong’s face brightened as she entered the cocktail bar alone.

She had come for a light drink after finishing her dinner appointment, and spotted a welcome neighborhood resident.

“What are you doing alone?”

Of course, only she was happy about it.

The other person’s expression soured as soon as they spotted Moon Ah-yeong.

Moon Ah-yeong sat down next to the other person and spoke.

“Oxygen Warning did well, didn’t it?”

“It lived up to its name.”

“Exactly. It did just enough to live up to its name, didn’t it?”

“If you’re going to pick a fight, could you leave?”

The neighborhood resident was Hong Hee-yeong.

In fact, the two had been longtime rivals.

Not the manufactured rivals that the news talks about, but real rivals.

They were classmates at the drama academy, debuted around the same time, and were even the same age.

Usually when rival relationships last long, they say people come to understand each other, but these two were nothing like that.

They had always lived with the mindset of “I have to beat that person.”

Though that could be considered a kind of friendship too.

Moon Ah-yeong ordered a cocktail, hummed a tune, then spoke.

“You know I’m working with Tivic, right?”

“How would I know that?”

“You didn’t know? I’m working with Tivic.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’m going to work with Dohyeon-u. He likes my script.”

It came out of nowhere, but it was a name that Hong Hee-yeong couldn’t help but flinch at.

Of course, Hong Hee-yeong was also a veteran who had drunk enough of the drama industry’s water.

The time when they would hate and dislike me for beating their work has long passed.

But Dohyeon-u is a bit different.

According to what I heard from Ju Yeong-hun, it was Dohyeon-u who flatly rejected Oxygen Warning’s CE offer.

When I heard that story, I just snorted, but the work that same Dohyeon-u brought was 【Caught at Fingertips】.

Honestly, I couldn’t sleep because of jealousy while watching the work.

He packed in all the clichés that the public would love and wrapped it in E-sports to give it freshness too.

Up until then, I only had jealousy about the work, but my feelings changed as I learned about the writer.

A 15-year-old volleyball story that could be called the original.

Because I saw that script.

How on earth could he change that obvious volleyball story like that?

Is it possible to keep all the character arcs alive and just completely change the packaging?

If it’s a work he’s held onto for 15 years, wouldn’t he have tremendous stubbornness?

He attached Accomplice writers as assistant writers? Is that even possible?

If he has that kind of skill, why did he reject me?

These thoughts wouldn’t leave me.

As a result, I gradually came to hate Dohyeon-u a little.

I know it’s a vulgar thought for a 20-year veteran drama writer to have, but I can’t help it.

But… that same Dohyeon-u is holding hands with Moon Ah-yeong?

It was the most unpleasant story I’d heard in the past few weeks.

It was no different from saying she was inferior to Moon Ah-yeong.

Of course, Oxygen Warning did well.

When you actually look at the data, there’s nothing disappointing about it.

But people remember 【The CEO I Made】, but don’t remember 【Boss of Bosses】 which launched around the same time and performed well.

That’s how show business originally is.

They remember first place, but the rest become “others.”

Among the “others,” they’re just divided into whether they lost money or made a profit.

“He rejected yours, right?”

“You have sharp ears.”

“I hate working with anyone below department head level… but Dohyeon-u seems okay? Sophisticated, sensible. He’s right at his peak, isn’t he?”

“Right. He’s at his peak.”

Successful creators meet a period at least once when they seem to be riding on a shaman’s blade.

A time when it feels like they could make everything they create successful, when they could turn everything they touch into gold.

But that doesn’t last as long as you’d think.

Usually 3 years? At most 5 years?

Someday Dohyeon-u’s instincts would gradually dull too, but Hong Hee-yeong had been cut at his sharpest moment.

“Alright. Good luck with that.”

“You’re leaving?”

“The cocktail tastes bitter because of you.”

Just as she was about to get up from her seat.

Both of their phones on the bar table vibrated simultaneously.

Hong Hee-yeong shrugged her shoulders at the perfectly synchronized vibration and answered the phone.

“Hello.”

-Hello. Is this writer Hong Hee-yeong?

“Yes. What is it?”

It was a call from an unknown number, so she answered casually.

-Nice to meet you. This is Dohyeon-u from SSK. Are you available to talk right now?

Dohyeon-u?

The same Dohyeon-u they were just talking about?

When Hong Hee-yeong unconsciously looked at Moon Ah-yeong, Moon Ah-yeong’s expression was twisted.

Though she couldn’t explain it in words, she had an instinctive hunch.

She got rejected. Just like me.

‘But what kind of nerve does this person have? Rejecting me and then rejecting Moon Ah-yeong too?’

The thought that he was presumptuous crossed her mind, but curiosity was stronger.

“Yes. I’m available. What’s this about?”

-I’d like to meet with you once. If you give me your schedule, I’ll adjust to it.

“Why with me?”

-Don’t you have time?

“It’s not that, but I’d like to hear first whether it’s something worth meeting about.”

Soon, Dohyeon-u on the other end of the line casually said something absurd.

-There’s a work I’d like to do together.

“You’re asking for a new work?”

-No, that wouldn’t make sense. You just finished writing not too long ago.

“Don’t tell me you’re talking about a planned project?”

Does this person think I’m a joke?

Proposing a planned project to a writer of Hong Hee-yeong’s caliber was rude.

It was like saying my inspiration is superior to yours, so just do the writing.

Even with prior rapport it would be rude, but to just call out of the blue?

Is it because he crushed Oxygen Warning?

Should I get angry?

-Of course not. How could I propose a planned project to writer Hong Hee-yeong?

“Then what? If it’s not a new work and not a planned project, what’s left for Director Dohyeon-u to propose?”

At that moment, she felt a startled gaze.

Moon Ah-yeong was looking at her.

The phone conversation was so absurd that she had forgotten about Moon Ah-yeong.

-Push and Pull. You know it, right?

“My work? Of course I know it.”

-At the end, the female protagonist U-yeon and male protagonist Yeon-u have a happy ending, right?

What is he trying to say?

-What if 5 years passed from then? No matter how much I think about it, I think they would have broken up. Even if they couldn’t forget each other.

At that moment, Hong Hee-yeong understood Dohyeon-u’s intention.

“Don’t tell me… you’re saying let’s do Season 2? With a drama that concluded 10 years ago?”

-Yes.

“Are you being serious?

-Yes. Extremely serious.

Hong Hee-yeong didn’t know it, but she said the words that Dohyeon-u had heard countless times.

“Are you crazy?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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