Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Is the Writer Omnipotent?
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There was a saying making the rounds in the drama industry lately.
Park Eun-bi's acting had reached a whole new level.
It wasn't just empty talk.
The source material was a fantasy novel she wasn't familiar with.
Even playing the role of a native in that world, she delivered an outstanding performance.
Especially when eating Jin-woo's food, her acting was so convincing you couldn't tell if it was real or not.
"Okay! Cut!"
With Tae-seong's call, the shoot wrapped.
"Let's have lunch and then proceed with the afternoon shoot."
Of course, the schedule wasn't fully done yet.
They took a break ahead of the afternoon filming.
As Tae-seong stood up from his seat, a middle-aged man approached him.
It was Choi Woo-jong, the CEO of Park Eun-bi's agency.
"Writer-nim, would you like to have lunch together?"
"Sure, why not?"
"Do you know a good restaurant nearby?"
"Yes. I'll guide you there."
"Eh? We're eating out? I thought the writer-nim would make lunch for us..."
Park Eun-bi, who had approached without a sound, said with a pouty expression.
Smiling at her, he asked,
"Should I make it for you?"
"Wouldn't that be too much trouble?"
Choi Woo-jong asked with a troubled look.
"It's fine. I make lunch now and then anyway. Everyone, how about we eat here on set today? Of course, those who want to go to a restaurant..."
"No way!"
"I'll eat the director's food!"
"Me too!"
"We'll eat here too!"
Everyone shouted in unison.
* * *
The set turned into a dining hall in an instant.
The staff set up the tables with practiced ease, preparing for lunch.
It wasn't their first or second time doing this.
Tae-seong started cooking right there on the set where they'd just been filming.
Choi Woo-jong turned to look at Park Eun-bi.
Seeing her humming a tune, he asked with a puzzled expression,
"Is the writer-nim's cooking really that good?"
"It's the best! The samgyetang I had in Japan was amazing too."
"You just ate some earlier?"
"It's so good you can eat it over and over—that's the writer-nim's cooking!"
It was an incomprehensible reaction.
Park Eun-bi wasn't the type to be overly food-obsessed usually.
Yet she always looked forward to the writer-nim's meals.
Even on the drive to the shoot today, she'd been raving about his cooking nonstop.
'Is it really that good?'
Choi Woo-jong was close with her team from Black Knight's Japan trip.
He'd heard the stories.
Everyone had nothing but praise for the food.
Even a famous Japanese chef had posted glowing reviews on SNS, making it a hot topic.
So he was curious.
Just what kind of dish would come out?
Sizzle—!
"Oh..."
A delicious aroma began to waft through the air with the sound.
He recognized the dish from the smell alone.
"Eel rice bowl?"
His guess was spot on.
"Here, it's all ready."
As Tae-seong handed out the bowls, the staff took them.
For the two of them, Tae-seong brought the dishes himself.
"Wow..."
It looked mouthwatering just to see it.
The thick eel was lightly charred on the outside, whetting the appetite even more.
Just the smell of it grilled over charcoal after being basted with sauce made his mouth water.
"Go ahead."
"Ah, yes. Thanks for the meal."
"Thanks for the meal!"
Choi Woo-jong sliced into the eel with his spoon.
'Oh... so tender.'
The eel cut smoothly against the spoon.
He scooped up a big bite with the rice and popped it into his mouth.
"Munch munch..."
After chewing the eel and rice a few times, it melted away and slid down effortlessly.
"Ma... delicious..."
The praise slipped out on its own.
There wasn't a hint of fishiness from the eel. Even with its thickness, it chewed so softly.
What impressed him most was the sauce.
Sometimes eel rice bowls had sauce that was too sweet or too salty, making them hard to enjoy.
But this sauce was different.
The sweet and salty balance was perfect, and the umami was rich.
It reminded him of the eel from a historic restaurant where he'd been treated during a business trip to Japan.
'No, is this even better?'
In that moment, he understood why Park Eun-bi anticipated the writer-nim's cooking so much.
* * *
Just before 6 PM.
The shoot wrapped up completely.
"Thank you so much for the special appearance."
"Oh, no! I insisted on doing it because I wanted to."
Tae-seong smiled at Park Eun-bi's words.
Her appearance fee was sky-high.
Thanks to her home runs in Black Knight and subsequent projects, her value had soared.
Even her ad fees were in the hundreds of millions.
Yet she'd appeared for a fraction of that.
From Tae-seong's perspective, he was nothing but grateful.
"You too, CEO-nim, thank you for your hard work."
"Oh, no. I got to eat delicious food, so I'm more than satisfied. I was starting to think Eun-bi had turned into a total foodie."
"Oppa!"
"Haha!"
Though CEO and actress, the two had worked together for years.
Especially since she'd left her old agency to sign with him—Park Eun-bi trusted and followed Choi Woo-jong completely.
Calling him "oppa" was only natural.
"Oh, and this is a new single CD from an upcoming artist at our agency."
"You're branching into music too?"
"I have solid connections in that world originally. But with Eun-bi as our main star, we have a strong actor agency image."
"I see. I'll give it a listen."
"Yes, sir. See you next time then."
"Make us delicious food next time too!"
"Of course. Drive safe."
Soon, the car carrying the two left the set.
Watching them go, Tae-seong looked at the CD in his hand.
"Breakup... A ballad?"
Seeing the title track's name, he put the CD in his car and turned back to organize the set.
* * *
Tae-seong got in his car and headed from the city with the set toward Bucheon.
Before entering the highway.
Instead of his usual radio or songs, he popped in the CD.
'First time playing a CD in this car since I bought it.'
In an era where you don't buy CDs unless gifted, it was the same for Tae-seong.
Soon, music played through the speakers.
A gentle intro flowed, followed by a woman's voice.
-I'm watching you leave, and my heart is tearing apart.
It was a voice thick with emotion.
She sang with such raw heartbreak, as if she'd actually gone through a breakup.
It wasn't just emotional delivery.
-Turning my back coldly, I call your name as I watch you go.
Even as it climbed to high notes, it stayed perfectly stable.
Yet the emotion rode every note.
-Why doesn't my voice reach you?
At the climax, the emotion peaked.
The singer had an excellent voice.
An ordinary song came alive with her distinctive tone.
'Pretty good?'
It was a really great voice.
Stable pitch was a pass already.
The tone was good too.
Soft in the lows, husky as it shifted to highs.
Her ability to convey emotion stood out especially.
'The problem is the song doesn't suit her.'
It felt like the song wasn't doing her voice justice.
The track used various instruments.
But those sounds clashed with her voice.
The composer's flashy techniques were crammed throughout.
'For a singer whose strength is her voice like hers, dialing back the song's tricks and focusing on highlighting the voice would have been better.'
The song failed to showcase her 100%.
Of course, making such songs isn't easy.
He knew that, but still.
'It's a shame.'
He couldn't help feeling disappointed.
* * *
"Haa..."
Choi Woo-jong sighed deeply while staring at his monitor.
"Why isn't it charting?"
The monitor showed singer Sia (SIA)'s title track "Breakup."
It entered the top 100 on day one, but that was it.
Afterward, it stayed outside the top 100.
Public reaction was predictably cold.
"No matter how good the song or singing, if it falls off the radar, it's dead in this industry."
They hadn't skimped on promotion either.
They'd done plenty of marketing.
Confident in success, they'd invested boldly.
The poor results hit hard.
But what hurt more was Sia's failure.
"This kid isn't the type to flop this bad."
Choi Woo-jong had plenty of experience in the music biz.
Public tastes are fickle as reeds, but he could predict to some extent.
"Good voice, good visuals—how does she flop like this?"
Sia was talented in both singing and looks.
He'd considered a girl group, but decided to go with her unique tone.
"After all that hassle getting tracks from famous composers."
The title "Breakup" alone was by The Galaxy, the hottest composer right now.
That alone had generated buzz.
He'd been confident of success.
The result was a total flop.
"Whew... The financial loss stings, but Sia's slump hurts more."
After her debut flop, Sia fell into a slump.
Her confidence was shattered.
Post-failure trauma.
It might heal with time, or she might fade away.
Countless talented singers had vanished that way.
"Whew... I can't let that happen."
He wouldn't abandon Sia after one failure.
He was investing because he knew her potential.
If it were that limited, he wouldn't have started.
Bzzz-!
Then his smartphone buzzed.
Not a call or text—an alarm for a saved schedule.
"Ah! Today Otherworld Chef uploads Eun-bi's episode."
It was right on time for the upload.
Praising his past self's thoroughness, he opened the video site.
[Otherworld Chef Episode 9]
Episode 9's plot was simple.
A delegation from a neighboring tribe visits, and they provide a meal.
Park Eun-bi played the delegation's leader.
The dish served to her was tangsuyuk. Not the style where you dip fried meat in sauce separately, but everything stir-fried together over high heat.
A superb dish where the crisp texture and sauce flavor both shone.
Park Eun-bi, eating it, was in bliss, letting out exclamations nonstop.
'Whoa... Can't tell if it's acting or real.'
Probably real.
Choi Woo-jong himself had made that face eating the writer-nim's eel rice.
"Nice."
That was his take after watching all of 9.
"Now, let's see the reactions..."
It looked great to him.
But the public might think differently.
Choi Woo-jong scrolled down to the comments.
[Whoa... Check out Park Eun-bi's acting. She could do mukbangs.]
[Just watching her eat makes my mouth water.]
[Tangsuyuk for dinner tonight.]
[Stir-fried version looks tasty too.]
[Park Eun-bi saved this episode.]
Praise for Park Eun-bi flooded in.
Especially her blissful eating scenes drew tons.
'Mukbang for real?'
He shook his head to dismiss the stray thought.
"This reaction should put it on trending searches."
Big impact meant real-time trends.
Choi Woo-jong checked the portal site.
As expected, it was climbing the real-time search ranks fast.
"Yes!"
He was satisfied.
Articles would amplify it further for sure.
"The writer-nim and Eun-bi are a perfect match, as expected."
Actor-work synergy was crucial, no need to explain twice.
Jeong Tae-seong and Eun-bi? A match made in heaven.
"Should bring a gift next time."
Choi Woo-jong felt grateful to Tae-seong for helping not once, but twice.