The Bride of Darkness
I rattled at the keyboard and mouse, thinking it over.
There’s no 5-million-view occult scenario at Baekhak.
If a script hadn’t reached Baekhak, the titan of the entertainment industry, then it was probably something that wasn’t being released on the market at all.
But there was always an exception.
Maybe it had truly, purely never been sent to Baekhak. Or maybe it was still being written.
Worst case, they could’ve already finished production and just let it sit there.
This was an era where films and dramas that cost hundreds of billions of won to make ended up gathering dust in a warehouse because they never even got a slot.
The 5-million-view occult script might be one of those cases.
But the odds are low.
Occult films were hard enough to find as it was.
If they’d already finished production, there was no way I wouldn’t have heard about it.
Either way, the script itself might exist.
Hope flickered into view.
Riding that momentum, I scanned the list of domestic occult directors I’d just sorted through a little earlier.
“First, rule out the rookies.”
Given the nature of the occult genre, a 5-million-view occult film was more likely to have been written by an established writer or director.
“And rule out anyone already in the middle of work.”
I also excluded directors and writers who’d had releases in the last few months.
Applying that process of elimination, one by one, left two names that stood out.
“Kim Seong-jun, Park Jun-seo.”
Minor directors stubbornly making occult films in a market where occult was a difficult sell.
And yet those two were masters of the genre who had found commercial success in that very market.
Director Kim Seong-jun’s previous score was 5 million, and Director Park Jun-seo’s was 4 million.
For occult films, those were outstanding numbers.
Scratching my chin slowly, I muttered, “Who should I contact first?”
Probably Director Park Jun-seo, since I had some connection there?
Strictly speaking, my connection was really with Choi Team Leader at Blue Pine Production, where Director Park Jun-seo worked.
Even that connection was flimsy enough to count as a few meals shared together.
Still, in this business, flimsy connections mattered.
That was enough to give me a reason to reach out.
Once I’d made up my mind, I called immediately.
A flimsy connection could become a meal appointment.
***
The next day, I took the To.Any girls to a dorm near the training center.
“Whoa...”
Their jaws dropped.
Lee Ye-ji, standing beside them, blinked in obvious surprise too.
And I, too, couldn’t quite hide my shock as I muttered, “No, why is this place so nice?”
The size of the assigned dorm was beyond anything I’d expected.
It was a full 48 pyeong of floor space.
Considering it was in Sangam, Mapo-gu, that was enormous.
I checked the unit number in case I’d come to the wrong address, but no.
To.Any’s new dorm was indeed a 48-pyeong premium apartment.
Then Geul came to a dazed stop and murmured, “Manager-nim? Is this really our dorm?”
“...Probably?”
“W-we haven’t even debuted yet. Is it okay for us to use a place this nice as our dorm?”
Well.
Normally, no.
The company wasn’t a charity, and there was no way they’d hand out a place this nice for free to a girl group that hadn’t even debuted.
But Baekhak was different.
Baekhak was the empire that divided the entertainment industry into three.
Besides, thinking about Director Park Yu-hyeon’s expression when he saw them at the midterm inspection...
It wasn’t strange at all for To.Any to get a dorm this good.
After sorting through my thoughts, I answered slowly, “Yes. This is your new dorm.”
“...”
“There are three rooms, so you can’t all have your own, but it’s spacious and clean, right?”
The To.Any girls shook with excitement.
“It’s... not just spacious and clean.”
“It’s way too nice!!”
“Oh my god... I want to live here forever...”
“I’m going to bow to Baekhak every morning when I wake up.”
“Guys, guys! There are three bathrooms! There are three bathrooms!”
Their energy shot through the roof, and they started making a ruckus.
“We should have two people in the individual rooms and two in the master bedroom, right?”
“Let’s put up a partition in the master bedroom for the two people sharing it!”
“We have an unused fridge at home. Should we ask for one?”
“I’m bringing my microwave!”
“F-first, I’ll go buy snacks so we can have a snack party!”
I snorted with laughter and turned my head.
Lee Ye-ji was hopping around with the girls, wide-eyed and animated.
Before the others noticed, I quietly called her over.
“Hm? Manager-nim, did you need something?”
“To.Any’s schedule has been set, Ye-ji.”
“!”
“It’s not a huge one. Just a simple interview ahead of the showcase.”
Lee Ye-ji’s eyes sank for a moment.
“Th-then...”
“Yes. It’ll be your first schedule handling them.”
“Can I really do it, Manager-nim?”
“You don’t have to do it perfectly. What matters here is getting used to it, not being flawless.”
Ye-ji took a deep breath.
“I’ll do my best without making mistakes!”
“I’m counting on you. And these are the things you need to handle before the showcase...”
After I went over the handoff items Ye-ji needed to know about, I checked the time.
The clock hand pointed to 5 p.m.
If I left now, I’d still make it to Blue Pine and avoid being late for Team Leader Choi’s meal appointment.
Should I say bye to the girls before I go?
I turned my head slightly.
The To.Any girls were so absorbed in the excitement of the new dorm that they looked completely out of it.
I didn’t want to ruin the mood, so I decided to slip out quietly.
Just as I was turning away, I ran right into Rei, who was opening the door and coming in.
“Oh? Sil-jjang-nim. Where are you going?”
Sil-jjang?
Without meaning to, I snorted.
Maybe her Korean is still awkward... she does mangle the pronunciation sometimes.
I pointed at the snack bags in both of Rei’s hands.
“What’s all this?”
“Hehe... for the new dorm celebration. Snack party, yo.”
“Your trainer’s going to chew you out later.”
“Th-this is zero-calorie snacks!”
Not zero-calorie cola, but zero-calorie snacks?
But wait, wasn’t that just potato chips?
Then Rei rummaged through the bag and pulled out a pack of gum.
“Sil-jjang-nim! Have some gum!”
I waved it off.
“I don’t eat gum. It’s too sweet.”
“This gum is zero-calorie gum too.”
“...”
“I-it’s not sweet and it tastes good! Try chewing it!”
There was really such a thing as zero-calorie gum?
My curiosity stirred, and I took the gum Rei offered.
“I’ll chew it well.”
“Should I give you two, Sil-jjang-nim?”
“No, one is enough.”
Rei glanced at me and asked, “Are you leaving?”
“Yeah. I’ve got something to do.”
“...”
“I bought snacks for Sil-jjang-nim too.”
“Please eat mine for me, Rei.”
My face reflected in Rei’s brown eyes, which looked even larger than usual because of her small face.
“Next time, let’s eat together for sure, Sil-jjang-nim.”
Her expression was dripping with disappointment.
I felt a little bad, but I couldn’t miss my appointment time.
With Rei seeing me off, I opened the dorm door quietly and stepped outside.
Still, Sil-jjang, huh.
Not school top dog, but Sil-jjang...
It was cute, and a little childish too, but...
Why did it stick in my mouth so easily?
“Maybe when Rei goes on variety shows later, she’ll make that into a catchphrase.”
Thinking nonsense like that, I headed, almost by habit, toward the smoking area.
Just as I was about to put a cigarette between my lips and light it, a sweet taste spread through my mouth.
It was the gum Rei had given me.
“...Is this really zero-calorie gum?”
It looked like ordinary gum to me.
Scratching my chin slowly, I slipped the lighter back into my pocket and muttered, “Whatever, I’ll smoke later.”
There was no way I could smoke now when the gum I was chewing was this sweet.
I left the smoking area behind and started walking.
***
I headed to the private room at the Hwayang fish restaurant in Konkuk that I’d reserved in advance.
“Oh, Chief Manager Kwon!”
Team Leader Choi from Blue Pine Production greeted me warmly, or at least pretended to.
I answered with a business smile on my face.
“You’ve been well, Team Leader Choi?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve been good. You’ve been doing well too lately, right?”
His lips curled upward in a sly grin.
“Queen of Joseon was a total smash! I heard it’s on track to break 30 percent right before the final episode?”
I’d heard that story so many times it barely stirred me anymore.
Keeping the smile on my face, I said, “Lee Ha-eun did all the work.”
“Wow... her acting really was something else. No matter when I see it, Actress Lee Ha-eun is just incredibly good at acting.”
“Shall we sit down and talk first?”
“Right, right, let’s sit.”
The door opened and the food came in.
We each drank a glass of somaek, mixed three parts soju and seven parts beer.
I was planning to call a driver anyway, so I kept drinking without much concern.
“The Baekhak actors are really on a roll these days. Actor Park Se-jun’s last film was a huge hit too, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right. The final score was 7 million.”
“It was a historical film, so I bet it would’ve done well in Southeast Asia too... Ah, damn it! We should’ve made that kind of movie on our side!”
We traded small talk and waited for the mood to warm up.
As the buzz began to rise, Team Leader Choi’s neck flushed red.
Timing it carefully, I went in straight.
“But is it true Director Park Jun-seo has a new project?”
Team Leader Choi answered in a flat voice.
“It’s not exactly in production.”
“Ah, then he’s writing it?”
“Right, has been for quite a while. He’s been writing the new script.”
Before I knew it, the corners of my mouth were lifting.
“How is it? Any good?”
“Well... I don’t know if it’s good, but it sure pissed me off.”
“?”
“That old bastard! It’s occult again, occult! He knew exactly what the market looks like these days, and he still wrote another occult script!”
Team Leader Choi suddenly vented his frustration.
By contrast, I let my anticipation spill out.
Director Park Jun-seo’s new occult project?
I can feel it... I can feel it.
But I didn’t show that excitement on my face.
I poured more soju into Team Leader Choi’s glass.
“Occult really is a hard market.”
“Hard? Is that all? Overseas, occult films are starting to die out too. And in the middle of all that, Director Park goes and writes another occult script!”
I slipped the bait in lightly.
“Director Park Jun-seo isn’t exactly the type to obsess over marketability, is he?”
“What, and art pays the bills for you?”
“Better than being without any backbone.”
“If that’s how he feels, he should just make indie films. That market still likes occult, I hear.”
Team Leader Choi let out a heavy sigh.
“I don’t know why he won’t listen... If he’d written a historical film like Actor Park Se-jun’s hit with Baekhak, wouldn’t that have been so much better? You can target overseas markets and still have solid domestic demand.”
He had a point.
But the film starring Park Se-jun didn’t blow up because it was historical.
It blew up because they dumped blockbuster money into it until it had no choice but to be a hit.
It had drawn 7 million viewers, but considering the break-even point, it probably hadn’t left them with all that much profit.
But a Park Jun-seo occult film?
From the way things were going...
The production budget wasn’t likely to be set that high.
Which meant there was a lot more room left to profit.
If Director Park Jun-seo’s new occult film is really going to hit 5 million viewers...
Then grabbing it would be the only smart move.
Having reached my conclusion, I went straight for it.
“Director Park Jun-seo’s new script. Could I take a look at it?”
My heart started thudding hard.
Team Leader Choi tilted his head. “...You were like this on the phone last time too, but why are you so interested in Director Park Jun-seo’s new project, Chief Manager Kwon?”
“I’m an occult maniac, aren’t I?”
“...Come on, though. Showing you a script that hasn’t even been finished yet...”
“Team Leader Choi, I should’ve taken you somewhere more expensive, huh?”
Team Leader Choi narrowed his eyes.
“You’re paying for the second round too?”
“I brought the company card.”
“...I’ll call Director Park and ask, but it might not work.”
“Of course. And even if it doesn’t, I’ll still pay for the second round.”
Team Leader Choi staggered out of the room.
Watching his back, I felt the alcohol hit me all at once and muttered, “Man, I’m screwed...”
Had I gone too hard after a long time?
The buzz was rising too fast.
I wasn’t sure I could read a script in this state.
Still, it felt like I’d already gotten half the result I wanted...
What’s left is the quality of Director Park Jun-seo’s script?
What would an occult script written by a master of the domestic genre actually feel like?
Was Director Park Jun-seo’s script really the 5-million occult script I’d seen in the future text?
Nothing was confirmed yet, but for some reason my anticipation kept swelling.
Then Team Leader Choi, who’d gone out of the room, came back.
“Okay.”
“?”
“Director Park said yes! He told us to keep in mind it’s only a first draft and take a look.”
My eyes flew wide open.
“That approval came through easier than I expected.”
“Ah, that’s because I used Actress Lee Ha-eun’s name.”
“?”
“I told him you’re the manager in charge of Lee Ha-eun. And this new project’s female lead is based on Lee Ha-eun.”
...This new project’s lead in Director Park Jun-seo’s film was modeled on Lee Ha-eun?
For a moment, my expression turned strange.
Fortunately, Team Leader Choi didn’t notice my face.
Rummaging through his bag, he pulled out a tablet PC.
“But do you think Lee Ha-eun would even appear in a film like this? I just said it as a formality, so don’t feel pressured. Just look at it casually.”
I gathered myself and straightened my posture.
I took the tablet PC he handed me carefully.
“Like I said earlier, you’ve got to keep in mind it’s a first draft. Still, well...”
My eyes went to the title, scribbled as if with a brush pen.
The Bride of Darkness.
At first glance, it felt like a religious occult film.
Among occult stories, that was at least a relatively mainstream subject.
“Director Park’s writing is solid, so the quality should be fine.”
Thump-thump.
Feeling my heart start to pound audibly, I turned the first page.
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
My eyes were sucked straight into the print.
***
By the time I finished reading the script, I was completely sober.
After clearing my throat once from the way my voice had locked up, I spoke.
“Team Leader Choi. Give me this.”
“?”
“Give me both leads in The Bride of Darkness. No, scratch that. Let’s have Baekhak co-produce it from the start?”
“.............??”