Career Path (1)
Why do people hate Mondays and love Saturdays?
At least for me, the reason I love Saturdays is that I can sleep in.
When the weekend arrives, my eyes open late all on their own. No matter how early I go to bed the night before, I keep sleeping until the sun is high overhead.
This habit was inevitably formed back in my previous life as the youngest PD. During the day I ran myself ragged handling station work, and once night fell I wrote like a machine until the late hours. Honestly, it was a lifestyle that couldn't help but pile up fatigue. That was why, just to stay alive, I made up for the lost sleep on weekends. After all, nothing is quite as refreshing a remedy as sleeping in when you're already short on rest.
"Mom. I'm planning to go to Hanbit Arts High School."
Having settled my thoughts on retirement and my future path the day before, it was a refreshing Saturday afternoon like any other. While the family sat cozily around the table eating lunch, I brought up the matter of high school.
Hanbit Arts High School.
It was a fairly well-regarded arts high school in Korea, and the school where Park Hajun—who had appeared as Gang Cheol in Itaewon Revolution—was currently enrolled. As befitting a school with a name, the tuition was a bit steep, but that was no real problem for me now. I had the money earned under the name of Writer 927, and the place also had a scholarship system.
Scholarship.
Hanbit Arts High School fully covered tuition for students with strong grades or outstanding talent. Of course my previous life had been a long way from scholarships, but who knew what this life might bring.
"You're talking about Hanbit Arts High School?"
"Yes. I'm thinking of applying to the Video Production Department."
If anyone asked why I chose Hanbit Arts High School specifically, it was partly because the location was relatively close to home, and partly because it was one of the few schools in Korea that even had a Video Production Department. Movies, TV, commercials, music videos, photography—the department handled every kind of visual medium and taught everything from the fundamentals all the way through planning and production.
Right now I could only properly carry my weight on the planning side. But as the saying goes, know one thing and you know ten; if I built up specialized knowledge of filming and production here as well, I would be able to write scripts from far more diverse angles. And someday I also wanted to create a true work of my own—one where I was involved in everything from planning through filming and production.
In truth, I considered every work made under the name of 927 so far to be only half-finished. Director Go Dongbin's will had been mixed into the filming, and PD Na's into the production, so calling any of them purely mine felt a little awkward. Well… of course being involved in every part would mean at least twice the work I did now, but I still had the ambition for at least one such piece.
"I see. So that's how it is."
Mom spoke then with a small smile in her eyes.
"Does that mean you're giving permission?"
"Of course. You're none other than Writer 927—I naturally assumed you'd go in that direction. But son."
"Yes?"
"So when is the next work airing? Can you just tell Mom a little?"
"……."
Uh….
Come to think of it, I still hadn't told the family about retiring.
"Well… this time it might take a little longer?"
"Hmm… that's a shame."
At my words Mom's face showed an expression that made it hard to hide her disappointment—not a little, but a lot. Dad and my sister beside her wore the exact same look.
Sssuuup……
Looking at their reactions, it might be better not to mention the retirement news until the official announcement dropped.
A few days later I visited Executive Director Yoo Yeonjung's office.
Ordinarily I never came here unless the matter was truly important. Minor things could be handled at the level of PD Na or hyung Yongseok. This agenda, however, was something I felt I absolutely had to discuss with Executive Director Yoo Yeonjung. After all, it concerned my retirement……
"Let's roughly put the reason as the public's attention and pressure becoming a psychological burden."
"I see… understood."
When I declared my intention to retire, Yoo Yeonjung gave a bitter smile as if she had already known. Then she asked me,
"Then when should we make the announcement? In my opinion it seems a bit early right now."
"Yes. As you say, Director, it does feel a little premature at the moment."
It hadn't even been a full month since Itaewon Revolution finished airing, and the Cheongsang Arts Awards were coming up soon after, so public dissatisfaction was still relatively low. Just as the complaints had intensified from the start of this year, they would probably start rising again from the beginning of next year. I roughly expected things to grow severe around March or April. And that would likely be the optimal timing for the retirement announcement……
"Ah, and there are a few more things I'd like to ask. Do you have time?"
"Yes. Of course you're always welcome."
Yoo Yeonjung nodded as if it were nothing. In truth the reason I had come today was not only the retirement matter.
"I saw in the newspaper that four years ago Studio NMIX and Hanbit Arts High School briefly formed an arts-education cooperation. So I was wondering whether you know anything about Chairman Song Hayul of Hanbit Arts High School."
Arts-education cooperation meant mutual collaboration to lay a foundation in the cultural arts field and foster professional talent, thereby contributing to the development of culture and the arts. From Hanbit Arts High School's side it meant receiving field-practice sites and high-level curricula; from Studio NMIX's side it meant expert lectures and corporate promotion. In the end both sides benefited.
"But why that woman all of a sudden?"
"Actually I've applied to the Video Production Department at Hanbit Arts High School. I heard the entrance practical includes an interview, and that Chairman Song Hayul is one of the interviewers."
Not every interview works that way, but usually pass or fail can swing according to the interviewer's leanings. If you simply grasp those leanings in advance, the difficulty drops sharply. Honestly the only reason I was asking was that I was a little worried about the practicals.
Uniquely, Hanbit Arts High School ignored academic records entirely and reflected only 100 percent practical performance. You could feel the clear intent to look solely at outstanding skill and talent—yet the problem was that its competition rate was not a little higher than other arts high schools, but a lot higher. Last year the Entertainment Department, the most competitive, hit a full 15:1; even the least competitive Video Production Department still sat at 7:1. In other words, walking in barehanded with no preparation made an easy pass unlikely.
"Aha. I understand what you mean."
Executive Director Yoo Yeonjung smiled kindly then. Coming to see her today really had been the right call…… She had such wide connections in this field that she seemed to know roughly what kind of person Chairman Song Hayul was.
"You mean, if possible, to get me plugged into Hanbit Arts High School, right?"
……Apparently she had completely misunderstood what I meant.
"Just kidding. Given Hayul's personality, even if I asked her to put the writer in she'd refuse on the spot."
"You know her that well—you must be quite close?"
"Well… yeah. She and I are also college classmates. But we're not as close as you might think."
Executive Director Yoo Yeonjung went on to say that with Chairman Song Hayul it was nothing more than a simple business relationship.
"Hayul, to put it simply, likes people overflowing with talent. That's why she changed the entrance rules to 100 percent practicals and even conducts the interviews herself."
"Hmm… with just that I still don't have a clear sense of how to handle the interview."
"Don't worry too much. I'm sure everything will go well."
"……?"
While I sat fretting with a serious face, Executive Director Yoo Yeonjung was somehow grinning.
.
.
.
After Seo Eunwoo left the office and a little more time had passed, Yoo Yeonjung, alone in the room, searched her phone contacts for a certain name.
[Blunt Bitch]
Yoo Yeonjung immediately pressed the name and placed the call.
"What do you want?"
Soon the connection tone faded and a woman's voice came through. Something about the other party's tone seemed full of irritation.
"Oh my, Hayul, long time no see! How have you been?"
Yoo Yeonjung asked after her in a bright voice even though she was not the least bit glad. The person she had called was none other than the chairman of Hanbit Arts High School, Song Hayul. Although they were college classmates, their personalities had never meshed. It was like water and oil that simply would not mix……
"I'm busy, so just get to the point."
"I know full well it's quitting time, so busy my ass. It's nothing special—just keep a close eye on a student named Seo Eunwoo among this year's freshman applicants. I'm sure he'll be to your liking."
"Huh, so that's why you suddenly called. Sorry, but even if you say that, I…"
"That person is Writer 927."
The Song Hayul she knew cherished and favored talented students. So what if that student happened to be the genius writer currently setting the world abuzz? ……At the very least she was not the sort who would go around blabbing the fact to others. Knowing that, Yoo Yeonjung judged it safe to boldly reveal Writer 927's identity.
"……What?"
And at Song Hayul's rarely seen flustered reaction, a grin spread across Yoo Yeonjung's face. With this much, it seemed she had given quite a push toward his acceptance.