Criminal Record (3)
In truth, she had never once revised a script after her debut due to outside pressure.
In an industry riddled with interference from directors, production companies, and actors alike, that was no small feat.
Yet she clung to her convictions for a reason.
After all, a writer’s calling was to take full responsibility for the story they had conceived and see it through to the end.
Whether the script she had poured her soul into was met with scorn or praise, it was the writer alone who had to bear it.
That was why, while working on the finale, she suddenly decided to rewrite the first episode—because of one rookie actor.
‘Kang Tae-san, was it?’
His agency claimed he was an ordinary person who had never received a single acting lesson.
In this world, the idea of an untrained civilian being good at acting was a fantasy even a writer’s imagination would struggle to justify.
‘Fantasy or not… that face of his.’
Who would have thought that the arrival of a monstrous supporting actor with both striking looks and terrifying acting prowess would one day force even the great Oh Hyun-soo to rewrite her script?
Of course, it wasn’t merely because he was handsome or performed well.
It was more like… inspiration had struck.
The plot went something like this:
Han Soo-ji, the female lead, had spent her days working as a publicity officer thanks to her pretty face. With the help of Chief Choi, her father’s close friend, she finally joins the Criminal Investigation Unit 2 she had always dreamed of.
Despite her outstanding skills, the team treated her like an outsider because of her publicity background, relegating her to menial tasks.
One day, while cleaning out an old storage room, she discovers the Criminal Record…
The worn diary contained detailed profiles of violent crimes.
The problem was that the dates listed were all in the future—crimes that had not yet happened.
The entries were far too professional and specific to dismiss as the work of a madman playing pranks.
Sure enough, the very first crime described in the diary soon occurs in reality. Soo-ji throws herself into stopping the future crimes recorded within its pages.
While the diary never names the perpetrators, it meticulously details the circumstances, suspects, and evidence of each case.
Thanks to this, the members of Unit 2—who had once dismissed her as little more than an influencer—and even the male lead, Detective Noh Jung-yoon, gradually begin to acknowledge her abilities.
It was a solid story: a classic police procedural blended with the growth of its female protagonist.
That made the characters and backstories of the criminals featured in each episode especially crucial.
‘The first episode, in particular, is vital.’
Adding the trait of “handsomeness” to the serial killer Joo Chang-mok was a point of concern.
A handsome lead actor was acceptable without explanation—it was dramatic license. But when a supporting actor was strikingly good-looking, the script needed a proper justification.
Otherwise, the story could suffer, and the protagonist might be overshadowed.
The moment Oh Hyun-soo saw Kang Tae-san’s audition, one person came to mind.
The serial killer Seo Chae-hyuk, who had thrown all of Korea into an uproar just weeks earlier.
The shocking news that the Korean University sculpture professor had murdered everyone from his own students to single mothers had, ironically, sparked her creative imagination.
Of course, she had no intention of simply lifting the real story for entertainment.
She planned to thoroughly research Seo Chae-hyuk’s crimes, adapt them, and deliver a merciless punishment to his idealized image.
In fact, her research had already uncovered online communities that worshipped Seo Chae-hyuk for his refined appearance.
“Yes, Director. Have you read the script?”