After Story 161

Maru checked the time as he got out of the car. He thought he’d be late because there was a traffic jam on his way here, but fortunately, he managed to arrive on time.

Last year’s summer was scorching, but this year’s summer was unreasonably cool. Though, that may be due to how it was still July.

“Producer, I’ve arrived.”

-You’re here? If you look around there’s a store on the second story named ‘Sindorim.’

He saw the sign for ‘Sindorim’ on the building opposite to him. He crossed the street and went up to the 2nd floor. He wondered what kind of restaurant it was, and it turned out to be a charcoal BBQ restaurant.

He went deeper inside the restaurant and stood in front of the room named ‘Cotton.’ When he opened the door, he saw the two people inside.

“You’re here. Come here and have a seat.”

Maru took off his shoes and went into the room. Although the table was low and there were no chairs, there was an indentation in the ground where one’s feet would be placed, so it would be easier to sit.

“You’re getting more handsome by the day. I think you’ve become much more fit than when I saw you last year too.”

“I’m working out a little.”

The man sitting opposite of producer Cha Myungjoon stood up and reached his hand out.

“Hello. My name is Yoo Jungtae. I’m not sure if you’ve heard about me from the producer yet.”

“I have heard a lot. I’m Han Maru. Also, you don’t have to be so polite with me.”

“Then let’s get close as we eat. Please sit down.”

Maru sat down next to producer Cha.

“This place does beef ribs really well.”

A waiter brought some meat. Maru received the tongs from the waiter and told him, “We’ll grill the meat. You don’t have to mind us.”

After putting down other dishes, the waiter told them to have a nice meal before closing the door.

“Before I start grilling, I think I need to know what this is about. Only after knowing will I be able to eat in peace. If you just called me out here to treat me to a meal, then I’ll get to grilling right away.”

Producer Cha exchanged gazes with Jungtae.

“We might be getting ahead of ourselves. The initial plans are out, but as with any other TV programs, it won’t be strange even if it gets canceled tomorrow.”

“Is it about work?”

Producer Cha nodded before continuing.”

“I told you that this person is a writer over the phone, right?”

Maru looked at Jungtae and replied affirmatively.

“He wrote something this time, and we’re planning to talk to you about it.”

“If you’re talking about casting, then I should be the one treating you two out instead. Since you talked to producer Cha about it, is it a drama for RBS?”

“No, it’s not for public TV.”

“Then it’s for cable TV? I heard they only do short entertainment series.”

“It’s for a private-owned channel.”

Maru looked at the two alternately.

“Looks like I should start grilling at least.”

He put the ribs on top of the metal grill. Having been heated up, the meat made a sizzling noise as it was placed on top of the grill. It was a sound that stimulated the desire to eat.

“I saw on the news. The opening of private-owned channels, as far as I know, is in December.”

“The date is set to the first of December.”

“It’s still July right now, so there are five months left.”

“Right.”

“Is the station trying to schedule dramas at the same time as its launch?”

“The newspaper companies didn’t exactly want to open TV stations because they want to do news.”

“That’s true.”

Maru cut up the well-grilled meat and put it on everyone's plates. After eating a piece, producer Cha’s expression became brighter.

“You weren’t kidding when you said you were good.”

But of course. He had once grilled top-tier beef as the head chef of an Omakase[1] restaurant.

He cut up the rest of the meat on the grill into suitable pieces and pushed them to the edge where the grill didn’t get as much heat.

“Since you called me out separately like this, you must be thinking of giving me a spot for one of the lead characters, am I correct?”

“Both writer Yoo and I are of the same mind. We want you to play the protagonist. Of course, once we start talking about the contract, there will be a lot of details to go through, but we’re letting you know our intentions for now. We believe there’s no one better suited to this role than you.”

“There’s nothing better to hear as an actor. But may I ask one thing?”

“Sure.”

“Is this work a throwaway card? Excuse me for being rude to writer Yoo, but I need to know as well.”

He tossed the question and started to eat the meat. Private-owned TV channels had been born in every single life he had lived in without fail. There might be changes in the companies that create them, but the diversification of channels was something that always happened.

There would be two if there were only a few, and five if there were a lot. Like that, the media companies would separate their dependence from public TV channels and do various things to attract audiences and advertisers alike.

This life would probably be no different. They would probably try to conquer the existing audience by showing a difference in their content, whether it be news, entertainment programs, or dramas.

The problem here was that those attempts were sometimes successful, but also sometimes so terrible that it even brought the parent company to bankruptcy.

From the top of his head, the ratio was about half-half.

“There are a total of three private-owned channels being created this time, right? I don’t know the general direction that each channel has decided on, but I’ve seen it on the news a few times before, that the news TV companies were preparing for dramas. Nothing about it, whether it be content, the actors, or the scale, has been leaked to the public, but I’m sure some of that has been decided internally.”

Producer Cha nodded with his mouth shut.

“Preparing for a drama in time for the launch of the station in five months must not be an easy task. If you truly wanted to hit a jackpot, you would’ve released a press news after you were done scouting and even considered finishing the whole production beforehand.”

Maru took out his phone.

“Please excuse me for a moment.”

TNQ, TVL, Channel S — these were the three private-owned channels that were being created this time. When he looked up some news about each channel, it talked about dramas that were in production or finished being produced.

He read one of the articles out loud,

“TNQ is planning to schedule a drama titled ‘That Doctor’, starring Choi Hojae and Park Hanhee as the lead characters. ‘That Doctor’ has finished being produced and is therefore expected to have a high completion rate, production value and a solid story. TVL is planning to air a drama shot overseas in time for the launch date. Park Sinseo and numerous other famous actors have been confirmed joining the shoot. The title has not been decided yet, but the story will be about a government intelligence organization coming up with countermeasures for potential national crises.”

Maru scrolled down. That was the end of the article.

There was no word that channel S was preparing something. The other articles were the same. None of them mentioned any news about dramas related to Channel S.

“They’re slowly releasing the news now. After all, only then will they be able to attract attention. Choi Hojae, Park Hanhee, and Park Sinseo are all amazing actors. A medical drama and an overseas drama must mean that their production budgets must be considerable too.”

He then asked after putting his phone down,

“But not a single one of them mentions Channel S. Producer Cha, which station will the drama you’re offering me be scheduled in?”

“First of all, I have left RBS and joined ‘Studio Rain,’ a subsidiary of YR.”

Hearing that, Maru cut in,

“YR is very close to Sihwa News. So it’s Channel S.”

“You’re right.”

He ate a piece of white kimchi to rinse his mouth.

“Is there a drama that Channel S is preparing?”

“No, not yet. If the talk with you goes well, then the drama you’re doing will be the first drama for Channel S.”

“That increases the likelihood that this is just a throwaway card. Well, looking at the lineup for the two competing stations, even I would want to stay away. Since Sihwa is the smallest in scale among the three newspaper companies, I’m sure they don’t want to jump into the no-benefits competition.”

Although all three companies were ‘major’ newspaper companies, the difference in their scale was as clear as day. The other two companies were newspaper companies founded in the early 1900s. They were on a fundamentally different scale than Sihwa News, which released its first newspaper in the 70s and only managed to separate itself from under the umbrella of a large corporation later, both in terms of politics and finances.

“Channel S must be quite reluctant to do the drama business then. This is a business that they might lose money over if they can’t find sales routes overseas. Is that why they want to try their hand out with cheap, but fresh material?”

Maru looked at writer Yoo’s expression. From his bitter expression, it seemed that this had been explained to him beforehand.

“If you say everything like that before I can say anything, then you’re putting me in a tight spot.”

“It became a habit of mine to calculate the benefits and losses quickly.”

“Yes, it’s just as you say. Channel S’s attitude towards the drama business is lukewarm. Instead, they’re more focused on general entertainment programs and news targeting the mid to upper age group. TNQ and TVL are aiming for the younger generation, so they’re planning to just attract the readers of their newspapers.”

“But they couldn’t exactly sit back and relax, since they might be pushed out of the competition entirely.”

Producer Cha looked at the charcoal turning red before speaking,

“I don’t know the exact situation over there at the TV station, but I’ve overheard a couple things. As you said, Channel S doesn’t want to invest a huge sum, but they’re thinking that they can’t exactly miss out either.”

“And that must be where someone brought up that they should compete in terms of story.”

“Right. Normally, they wouldn’t even bother giving a second glance at stories that sound idealistic, but they’re at the starting line right now. The higher-ups were positive about it as well. They don’t mind shooting a drama with a moderate budget.”

“And that’s how I got called here.” Maru nodded and ate a piece of meat that had cooled down.

A story that a public TV channel would, no, could never do, but something that private-owned channels, which were practically like startups, might try out.

Using a newer actor that didn’t have much reputation in a drama? The business team would definitely be opposed to that.

“It must be more profitable to use an idol-turned-actor than someone like me. Especially if you’re aiming to increase people’s interest in the work.”

“If it’s simply about attracting people’s interest, then true, that is a better way. But you know, both I and writer Yoo don’t think that this is a throwaway card.”

Producer Cha took out a clear file from his bag. He took out a paper from the file and handed it over to him.

“This is the synopsis.”

Maru looked at writer Yoo as he accepted the paper. Writer Yoo urged him with his eyes to have a look.

He calmly read the writing that detailed the overall story of the drama, the background of the main characters, as well as the intentions behind each plot, and the ending that the writer was thinking of.

After reading everything, Maru put down the paper. Producer Cha spoke,

“As you can see, it’s a kind of genre that public TV channels would never touch. I’ve seen dozens of similar works being submitted every year, but not a single one of them was selected.”

“They must be wondering if the masses are ready to accept this or not. There’s also a precedent of screwing up big time with fantasy.”

“The higher ups always say that people don’t like complex stories. But I say otherwise. This country has changed. We’re importing a lot of different cultural media from overseas. The adult generation might click their tongues at a genre like this, but people of my generation and below are used to fantasy like this.”

“Public TV channels won’t do this since they have to target all ages, but the private-owned channels are different, you’re saying.”

In the lives he lived where private-owned channels were at the forefront of media content, public TV channels were also heavily influenced by the trends to proactively create various different genres of dramas. This drama did have potential.

“It might not turn out that well, but I have the confidence that it will be a good drama,” said producer Cha with emphasis.

Maru picked up the synopsis and spoke,

“The financial success and failure is definitely important, but what’s more important for me is to have an interest in the work as an actor.”

“Yes, that’s important too. So, how do you feel about it?”

Maru looked at writer Yoo instead of producer Cha.

“Writer, don’t you think that there are other actors who suit this role?”

“Honestly speaking, I didn’t even think about the casting when I wrote it. I didn’t have the time to think about that.”

“So it’s okay even if it’s not me, huh.”

Writer Yoo rubbed under his eyes.

“I can’t exactly force an unwilling actor to take it.”

“So you can look for other actors, huh.”

Maru smiled and folded the synopsis in half, then in half again before putting it in his pocket.

“Well, then, writer. It’s my turn to ask. Please don’t look into other actors. I really want to do this.”

[1] A Japanese style restaurant where the chef decides the course for the customer. ‘Omakase’ literally means ‘I’ll leave it up to you(the chef)’

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