Life, Once Again!

After Story 167

“So what? You seem to be a young fella. If you’re drunk, you should play around more quietly. Tell Myungjoon that I’ll see him at work tomorrow.”

General manager Lee hung up. It was he who brought Myungjoon, who was working at RBS, to Studio Rain.

It was a company that took its first step as a drama outsourcing production company, and it needed a skilled producer. It was hard-pressed to find someone as good as Myungjoon.

“I’m sure it must be difficult.”

He knew how many hardships Myungjoon was going through. Dramas were things that pained the producer with its budget. Whether it was scouting or shooting, everything was about money.

The company wanted to give him more support, but there was a clear limit because they decided that their first work would be a drama for a private-owned channel.

The company itself didn’t seem to place many expectations on the drama. Whether it was the channel itself or the company Studio Rain, they were taking their baby steps. It would be great if they succeeded, but they were also internally thinking that it couldn’t be helped if it wasn’t successful.

On the surface, everyone would naturally say that they wished for great success, but whenever the executives had a meeting, they were saying that it would not be so bad as long as they could recoup their investment.

In the first place, it wasn’t a 16-episode series that public TV stations did. It was a 10-episode drama, or maybe even 8.

For this drama, the company decided to pay for half of the production budget, while Channel S, the private-owned channel being launched, was going to pay the other half.

Considering that the stakes the TV stations would have in a drama was usually nearly 85%, the company was investing quite a lot here. Though, even as a big investment, the scale wasn’t so big, so it shouldn’t come off as much pressure on the company. Compared to the asset power of the parent company behind Channel S, it was quite a solid investment.

Thanks to that, the drama had the freedom of production. The producer was able to handle stories that he could never dream of doing when working for a public TV station.

That in itself was good. Myungjoon also liked it, saying that he could do a drama he wanted. The problem was casting. Reality was that more than half of the production budget of the drama was spent on paying the actors. It became the undeniable truth that using good actors resulted in good viewing rates.

The seasonal drama series that the three public TV stations created all contained famous stars. Even they weren’t able to use a bunch of new actors for a drama and air it during peak hours. The private-owned channel, which was only expecting moderate success, seemed to be quite looking forward to the casting of the actors as well. They knew very well that it wouldn’t work out, but they wanted producer Cha to bring a ‘star.’

That was ridiculous. The cost to pay those stars was astronomical. With the production budget that the company and the station prepared, it was hard-pressed to pay proven, veteran actors, much less bigshots.

According to his calculation, each main actor would at most be paid 8 million won per episode. Considering that the amount a decently well-known actor received per episode was about 20 million per episode, and with incentives at that, how many of those actors would want to do the work for less than half?

It was doubtful how much of the public TV viewership they could attract and even the payment was little. General manager Lee shook his head. This was an option even he would refuse if he was an actor.

They were in a worse situation compared to other public TV dramas as well. The two places other than Channel S were investing huge sums into producing the drama. Not to mention a huge push in marketing and hiring stars, they even managed to hire star writers.

With a producer who managed to create a great drama known as ‘The Witness’ but had no success after that and a drama writer that wasn’t able to write anything for years, combined with a TV station that was just launching, and a drama outsourcing production company that was just taking off… It seemed shameful to expect success.

Thanks to this, even general manager Lee was gaining white hair every day. They needed to win adverts in order to get a larger budget, but why would any marketing teams in other companies invest in a private-owned channel’s drama?

While he fed them a lot of alcohol and asked them to view them in a good light during budgeting meetings, it was unknown how many of them would actually get back to him.

Just as he sighed, he got a call again. It was Cha Myungjoon again.

The guy that went out to cast the main actors was drinking like crazy, so it was clear that he must have failed. He wanted to shout at the guy to just get some sleep if he was drunk, but he couldn’t be so cold when he was the one who persuaded him to leave his job.

“Myungjoon, you should get some sleep for now, and let’s talk about this tomorr….”

-General manager Lee, you don’t know Yang Ganghwan?

“Yang Ganghwan? That friend of yours?”

-He’s a friend of mine, but I’m talking about actor Yang Ganghwan.

Actor Yang Ganghwan. How many people working in the drama business did not know that name? He was a star among stars that recorded a massive 38% viewing rate in his YBS legal drama that aired in 2008. His mind sparked like a flintstone and lit his dark and drowsy head.

Yang Ganghwan? That Yang Ganghwan?

“H-hey! Is the person that talked to me that Yang Ganghwan?”

-Yes!

“No kidding?”

-No matter how close I am to you, I wouldn’t joke around about something like that.

“R-right. But what about him? I don’t want to place any hopes, so you tell me.”

-He says he’ll appear in our drama.

“What?”

He abruptly stood up. He grabbed his phone with both of his hands and asked back,

“You managed to cast Yang Ganghwan? For real?”

-Yes! I can’t wait to tell Manager Go from the planning department. I know he’s always giving me bad looks, and I’m going to crush him tomorrow.

“Myungjoon, you aren’t saying anything you want because you’re drunk, are you? You did explain to him our production budget, right?”

-I’ll talk about the details at the company tomorrow. Ganghwan will be there too. Oh, there’s one more person. Han Maru, I told you about him before, right?

Han Maru. It was the actor that Myungjoon said he wanted to work with. He was also a young actor that had been gaining rapid fame in the movie industry lately too.

General manager Lee checked his own state using one of the most classic methods: he pinched the inside of his thigh. It hurt like hell. It wasn’t a dream.

-Then see you tomorrow.

Myungjoon hung up. Normally, he would’ve clicked his tongue at that bad habit of his, but not now. He grabbed his phone like he was praying.

“Anyway, Amen to that.”

If that wasn’t a lie, he would witness a miracle tomorrow at work.

* * *

“Come on in.”

Maru followed Baekhoon inside his house. There was a big self-portrait of him at the entrance. There were also various smaller frames placed throughout, and they were all photos of Na Baekhoon as well. He was a man with a great ego.

“I didn’t think you’d accept my invitation.”

“I wanted to talk to you. I want to talk about your intent behind that question too.”

Maru sat down on a seat without a backrest at the island-style dinner table.

“Do you like alcohol?”

“I’ll take something light.”

“There’s a cheap but good white wine. It’s from Chile, and it can be bought from the supermarket, but the sweet and sour taste is really good.”

Baekhoon put down two glasses and poured some wine. He also put some crackers and cheese on a plate.

“It looks like you invite guests to your house often?” Maru asked as he looked at the utensils in the kitchen. There were many plates that he believed were intended to be used for serving guests.

“Yes. They’re mostly women, and you’re surprisingly the second man I have invited to this house.”

“Now that’s an honor.”

He took a sip of the wine. The moderate fizz and the faint sweetness were good. There was also a tinge of sourness at the end too. It didn’t have much of the bitterness unique to wine, so it was easy to drink.

“How much do you need to pay to live in a house like this?” Maru asked as he looked at the living room decorated with black wallpaper. This was a luxurious apartment close to the Han River.

“It’s not that expensive. It should be about 1.5 billion won at the sale price.”

“I’m envious of your financial power.”

“Really? I personally envy your talent more.”

Maru looked at Na Baekhoon. It was hard to see through this man. He accepted this man’s invitation because he wanted to know what he wanted and why he was showing interest in conversations like these.

He also seemed to be showing interest in Haneul, so he was planning to observe this man carefully.

“Let me enjoy the wine a little more slowly, and…” Maru put down the glass. “May I ask why you asked me a question like that at the theater?”

“You’re quite patient, more than you look. I honestly thought you’d ask on our way here.”

Baekhoon leaned against the table.

“The reason I asked was simply because I wanted to know the relationship between you two.”

“Let’s say that is the case. So why did such a question pop inside your head, director Na? I’m more curious about that.”

Baekhoon smiled.

“Explaining that will take some time, but let me sum it up as much as possible. Before that though, let me explain a little about myself. I pursue beauty.”

“Beauty?”

Baekhoon nodded before continuing. He explained how he met Jung Dawoon and Haneul, as well as the deal with Jung Dawoon, and the photo shoot with Haneul. It was this man’s doing that Dawoon managed to win a villain role in a daily drama and was able to be cast in some movies. He heard that this guy was quite a big businessman, and indeed, his consulting skills were quite considerable.

“I saw the two of you today while knowing that Miss Haneul was in a relationship. So I got the feeling. Although it’s just my intuition, my intuition rarely misses.”

“And that’s how you came to think that Miss Haneul and I are dating?”

“Yes. And seeing your tone and attitude, I became sure of it. It seems you’ve judged that this conversation isn’t that dangerous. It was hard to read you back in the car, but I can read you easily right now.”

Maru didn’t bother denying it.

“It is true that we are going out and it wouldn’t be a huge problem even if it was found out. Above all, I don’t think that you’ll tell anyone.”

“That you saw right. I am the type of person to stake my life to protect the things I cherish.”

The word ‘life’ didn’t sound so light when it left the man’s lips.

Maru thought back to the first words that director Na said and asked, “So, is Haneul included in that beauty you’re pursuing?”

“It’s not just her. You are also in my collection. Oh, you may find it uncomfortable for me to use that word.”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t really mind wording.”

“I see.”

“I’ve heard your story. I understand you to a certain extent too. But there’s one thing that’s still not clear to me: what are you planning to do after this?”

Baekhon replied with a serious expression, “I want to see the complete form of beauty. That’s a very important matter to me. That’s why I am supporting a few people. A woman who dedicated her youth to playing the violin, a young man passionate about soccer, and an old smith staking his life in glasswork. I am helping them out so that they don’t hit the obstacle known as money.”

“That means Haneul and I too are….”

Baekhoon shook his head. “The two of you probably don’t need my help. Your talent is more exceptional than anyone else’s that I have seen so far. I simply want to keep watching, and I wanted you two to know that there’s someone watching like this.”

“Is that really everything?”

“Of course, if you need help, I will help you any time. However, you don’t seem to be that kind of person, and the same goes for Miss Haneul. Actually, I’m rather desperate. I want to be a part of completing that beauty, but it doesn’t seem like I’m necessary.”

Baekhoon sighed in disappointment.

“That’s why I simply made my existence known. It excites me just to know that the two of you remember me.”

Maru looked at Baekhoon who was faintly smiling. This was what being perverse was.

Just like how people free of money would show all sorts of weird actions, this man was putting all his passion into pursuing beauty.

Right now, Na Baekhoon was neither dangerous nor evil to him. To classify him, he was slightly bothersome and annoying.

“Since we’re on that topic, I have a request,” Baekhoon said as he opened his eyes wide again. “I wish to invite you two for dinner. Is that okay? I also want to hear your stories.”

“I’ll talk to Haneul about it.”

“That makes me delighted, just like the first time Ganghwan came here.”

“Are you saying that the man that visited this place before me is senior Yang Ganghwan?”

“Yes. He’s also the first beautiful human I discovered. No, he’s beautiful when he keeps his mouth shut. He’s really perfect as an actor, but it’s agonizing to meet him in private.”

That was an unexpected thing he could relate to and sympathize with. Maru held out his wineglass.

“May I drink another glass? As for the side dish, it’ll be senior Yang Ganghwan.”

Baekhoon smiled brightly.

“That man is very much worth chewing.”

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