So-Healing's Muse
So Ye-sol. Her dramas never boasted explosive ratings or massive buzz, but she was famous for what people called 'healing dramas.' Thanks to her delicate direction and tender dialogue, her cult following was rock-solid.
"Her script books were always bestsellers."
If it was her work, I could truly shed the Pi Chae-won image. Before unfolding the screenplay, I took a brief breath.
The production intent, the logline, the writing staff, the production crew, the synopsis, the storyline, every character. I would take it all apart and absorb it within a single day.
"Do Gyeo-ul…."
Let's catch up as fast as I possibly can. I would never walk. I had to run like a madwoman, run, and run again. Because my goal wasn't merely to surpass Do Gyeo-ul.
"The roles Do Gyeo-ul has played."
This time, I'd take every single one. They were mine to begin with.
MBS's single-episode drama Not Interested At All begins when Jung Yeon-doo, the 'K-Eldest Daughter' who is held responsible for everything wherever she goes, packs up and moves to the countryside.
Because she's simply too good at her job, she's been saddled with every thankless task imaginable. Class president as a kid, department head in university, and even after landing a corporate job, the sound of "Yeon-doo, can you handle this?" never stops. It's not in her nature to ignore people, so she can't. Her life, in short, is one long sweet potato.
Then her stress-relief hobby — writing web novels — becomes a smash hit, and Jung Yeon-doo leaves city life behind without a second thought. To a place where no one knows her, and she knows no one.
But what is this? The village she moved to forcibly dumps the role of village chief on her head….
A drama of empathy and encouragement, dedicated to every modern soul whose sense of responsibility presses down, achingly, on their shoulders.]
This was the MBS Drama Center in Ilsan. At the entrance to the lobby, So Ye-sol carefully re-read the page bearing the production notes.
"Whew…. I can't wait…."
In the broadcast industry right now, the one drama on everyone's lips was, without question, Pachehi. The final episode's view count had just crossed six million.
"I hear they're adding subtitles soon…. Once that happens, ten million won't be out of reach…."
Ten million views on InTube. That would be a symbol unlike anything before it.
"Does this even make sense?! Does it?!"
The head of MBS's Drama Center doubled over, clutching the back of his neck. And no wonder — on the day Pachehi's final episode went up, MBS's drama airing in the same timeslot had hit rock-bottom ratings.
'There was simply no comparison.'
No amount of viral marketing or product placement had helped. The public didn't care about the flood of paid articles. It had been a humiliating defeat.
'Everyone's focus is on one place, and one place only….'
So Ye-sol thought of Pi Chae-won. That scene — the girl with listless, dead-fish eyes and no light behind them suddenly sparkling and weeping on a rooftop drenched in sunset — had driven itself straight into her chest and stayed there.
"I want to see her… as Jung Yeon-doo, too…."
Wasn't it said that from one thing, you can know ten? The moment she'd watched that scene, So Ye-sol's Jung Yeon-doo was decided. She had no interest whatsoever in holding auditions. She'd wanted to summon the girl straight to the Drama Center and have her do a table read. No other candidates. Han Yeo-reum, and only Han Yeo-reum.
And then it happened.
"Excuse me…. Director So Ye-sol, I presume?"
The door opened, and the one she'd been waiting for walked in.
'First time in the Drama Center….'
For the entire walk behind Director So, I did my best not to let a single tremor show.
The corridors gleamed. People who knew the director greeted her as they passed, and I bobbed my head along behind her. At a certain conference room, Director So stopped and opened the door.
"Ohh~ So nice to meet you! I'm Hwang Min-seong, handling the planning for Not Interested At All!"
"Hello! Thank you so much for having me. I'm Han Yeo-reum!"
The planning PD, who'd clearly prepared in advance, set out an array of snacks and tea. The meeting room held just the three of us — Director So, PD Hwang, and me.
'A one-tool, one-heroine drama!'
Being a healing drama, most of the cast ranged from middle-aged to elderly. The only young actor was me.
'Which means covering up my Pachehi image will be easy.'
I couldn't keep being called Pi Chae-won forever. It was a stroke of luck that my next project just happened to be with So Ye-sol.
So Ye-sol. Her works tend to attract what you'd call a 'core fandom.' To put it plainly: viewers who obsess, obsess, and obsess some more over her dramas. People who rewatch until the scenes are etched into their brains and analyze the work frame by frame.
'Which makes it a double-edged sword.'
Director So's projects shine when the character analysis is done right, but they're also the easiest place to get flattened by a cold "meh" if it's not. Because scenes that look skippable at a glance will always catch the eye of someone who's watched the same footage a hundred times over.
'And that's exactly why I'm confident.'
When times were hard, I'd replayed Director So's dramas over and over. I'd read her script books until they were falling apart at the seams, memorized them cover to cover. I almost wondered whether all of that time hadn't been leading to this very moment.
I checked Director So's stats. As expected, her analysis and delivery ratings were high.
"The scheduling meeting hasn't happened yet, but think around November. We'll be doing location filming in the provinces — South Chungcheong Province…. Shooting starts next month, so we'll need to coordinate schedules, and…."
My first provincial location shoot. I'd have to ask Myeong Je-ha later how those worked.
When her explanation wrapped up, Director So looked at me and said,
"Oh, right. Congratulations… on the movie contract."
"Wow…. Thank you. I'm impressed you even knew about it."
"No secrets in this industry…. It only takes one ear to hear it and whoosh — it spreads…."
I felt it all over again. Even if the industry floor were small, it was way too small. Director So and PD Hwang turned off the tablet screen and began firing off all the questions they'd been saving up.
"How was the script… when you read it?"
"I thought viewers would really relate to it. Especially the very last bit — the 'no one ever comes looking for me' part."
"Oh, that part's great, right! It ties right into our title too, doesn't it? Then would you read the opening lines for us, Ms. Yeo-reum?"
I turned to the page PD Hwang pointed to. It was the scene where Jung Yeon-doo first resolves to leave for the countryside.
"Hoo…."
I drew in a long, deep breath.
This was nothing like one of Pi Chae-won's little sighs. This was a long exhale carrying the taste of a life drained by work — the weary, suffocating relief of someone who'd told herself she'd never live like this again.
"I'm off. To a place where abso-lutely no one has any interest in me, and where I don't have an ounce of interest in abso-lutely anyone."
Director So and PD Hwang quietly exchanged glances. I'd expected nothing less. The days of truly digging into the screenplay had paid off.
'This is why I spent days doing nothing but character work.'
Because once upon a time, I'd wanted to do exactly what Jung Yeon-doo does — throw everything away and run.
That feeling of building and building and somehow having nothing to show for it. No one knows it better than I do.
"That voice… weathered by the storms of the world…."
"This is the real deal!!! How does a twenty-year-old produce this?"
"Thank you."
Well, I've been weathered for real. I'm a certified veteran in this field, thank you very much.
Director So flipped rapidly through the script. A line from the middle act.
"No-. Seriously, people. There is no rea! son — none at all — for me to become village chief. Stop nominating me and just run yourselves. I'll even give you my vote. The old chief can keep doing the job, can't she? We live in the age of hundred-year lifespans — do you really have to shove everyone aside just because they're getting old, huh? HUH?"
"One more time… could you? Only this time, let's hear the frustration of someone who's absolutely losing her mind but can't do a single thing about it."
All right. Time to channel the exact emotions of a night-shift convenience store worker who's finally reached clock-out time, only for the manager to call and say the morning shift walked out — so could she please, please work fourteen-hour full shifts for just one week?
"No-. Seriously. People. Ha…. There is no. Rea! son — none at all — for me to become village chief."
The moment she heard a veteran-grade performance, Director So clapped a hand over her own mouth.
After that, we kept at the table read for a long while. It wasn't an official script reading, but Director So, PD Hwang, and I all gave it everything we had.
"Ms. Yeo-reum, I truly believe… we can do this well."
"Let's make something great together! Fighting!!!"
The two of them saw me out of the Drama Center.
At some point, the sun had gone down. Under the black night sky, the Drama Center building glittered and glowed. Its lights never went out — and they looked beautiful.
"Am I seeing things right now?"
"…Director."
"Why is Pi Chae-won in OUR broadcast station?!"
And inside all that brightness of the Drama Center, a shout laced with pure disbelief was ringing through the halls.