Episode 53: Action 7 - Pre-Production War
I'd tossed the final drafts of Parts 1-3 to the division head.
He'd promised a swift review, but it would probably take some time.
He'd be going over them with the CEO.
Under normal circumstances, a planning script wouldn't make it all the way up to the CEO's desk. But wasn't this situation anything but normal?
Everything hinged on establishing Team 4.
Plus, there was that promise between the CEO and me—one the staff didn't know about.
Those anxious two days dragged on.
I was confident we'd get a good evaluation, but the sheer act of waiting was nerve-wracking.
To shake off the jitters, I threw myself into work.
The world I'd experienced firsthand.
The world inside Director Yeom—no, Writer Yeom's script.
I started studying and noting the differences between the two worlds.
And in the process, one thing became crystal clear.
Gongbeomche was a work tailor-made for wielding superpowers.
Thrillers were a genre built on controlling information from the start.
It was only natural for the story to unfold strictly from the protagonist's perspective.
In other words, Hyun-tae's first-person possession fit the thriller's tone and manner perfectly.
The setting was so extremely confined that I didn't need to speculate about anything outside what I'd seen.
Of course, there were everyday scenes for the characters and childhood flashbacks.
But those were all in the original contest script.
At Your Fingertips, on the other hand, was different.
This was a sprawling tale unfolding over months in the massive sports industry.
There were tons of events happening beyond Park Hwa-hwa's line of sight, and elements whose processes I never fully grasped to the end.
It wasn't just about conspiracies or schemes.
Even the romance lines.
Park Hwa-hwa only had that subtle emotional thread with his divorced wife—no other romance for him. But the supporting characters were another story.
Role 2 in the script: 'Lee Young-han,' the star player of Hwa Empire.
Role 3 or 4: Korea Young, the team owner.
Those two had a romance arc.
But I had no idea how that romance even sprouted.
I only caught vague emotional currents, then bam—it bore fruit right at the finale.
Parts like that, unlike Gongbeomche, demanded pure creation.
That was why Gongbeomche was so perfectly suited to my script possession superpower.
It was almost like...
'A test drive.'
If At Your Fingertips had been my superpower's debut, I'd have been lost far worse than now.
The moment I realized that, I let go of my greed.
I still wanted to faithfully recreate the world I'd seen.
But I couldn't let greed run wild and force blanket revisions.
I couldn't very well say something like, "I'm not entirely sure, but wouldn't it be better if Korea Young was an orphanage kid?"
To demand changes, I needed a rock-solid plan in hand.
Sung Tae-hyung's words suddenly came to mind.
"Want me to tell you the first virtue of a director?"
"What's that?"
"Not controlling—it’s making things shine."
"Making what shine?"
"Anything. The work, the director... the actors."
He probably hadn't said it knowing about my ability, but it fit the current situation like a glove.
Sung Tae-chang, as expected.
System messages always carried the key info, right?
With my mind much lighter, I dove back into script analysis.
Bzzz.
-Now, division head's office.
I'd figured it would take a few more days, but was the review done already?
No way they'd skimmed it just to reject us, right?
Nah, not after what I'd pulled off with Gongbeomche.
Thoughts racing, I stepped into the division head's office—and an out-of-left-field comment hit me.
"Sorry, Hyun-woo. Couldn't stop the article."
"Pardon? Article?"
"Yeah."
What was he talking about?
"The Kim Ra-un casting article?"
The division head, who'd been studying my face intently, let out a deep sigh.
"You really seem clueless... No, why'd you have to be an ex-actor? Makes it hard to read your expressions."
"Huh?"
I had no idea what he was on about until he handed me his smartphone. Then it clicked.
A piping-hot article, posted just three minutes ago.
* * *
Kwon Cheol, freshly moved from CL Team 1 to Team 4, spotted the article in the break room.
"What the hell is this?"
"Do Hyun-woo took back-margin kickbacks?"
It wasn't just Kwon Cheol.
The staff in the break room buried their noses in their smartphones.
Public opinion ignited in seconds.
At first, comments lambasting Do Hyun-woo's morals flooded in. But at some point, the narrative shifted.
"Whoa, so that's why he pushed for Kim Ra-un?"
"Come to think of it, most of Gongbeomche's child actors were D.P too, right?"
"A first-year pulls this massive scandal?"
"Pfft, if he was gonna traffic actors, he'd have done it before the show blew up. D.P only took temp management after it hit."
"D.P ain't digging holes for fun—would they really pay actor signing bonuses plus Do Hyun-woo's cut?"
The break room was split down the middle.
Plenty bought the article, plenty didn't.
Overall, CL Teams 2 and 3 trashed Do Hyun-woo; the rest stayed objective.
Core CL Team 1 felt less like rivals, more like they'd offloaded a manpower-short project.
Non-CL staff were in neutral.
Then someone tapped Kwon Cheol's shoulder.
"What'd you think of him, Kwon CE? You've been working with Do Hyun-woo these past weeks."
He mulled it over but drew a blank.
Just that the guy was ridiculously handsome?
Do Hyun-woo hardly stuck around the office anyway.
"Not sure."
Kwon Cheol gave that answer, gauged the room, and headed back to Team 4.
Figuring Do Hyun-woo was either out or mentally checked out.
But what he walked into was downright bizarre.
"No way, a romance line for Korea Young? How old's the team owner supposed to be?"
"Mid-40s."
"Huh? Younger than I thought."
"Writer set her as late 50s, but I think mid-40s fits better."
"Writer's vision comes first, no?"
"Obviously. That's why we hash it out among ourselves and propose options."
"OK. Mid-40s with romance. Who's the partner?"
"Samo-yeon."
"...Hyun-woo, you nuts? She's the villain! The ultimate bitch!"
"What if they're orphanage buddies? Twisted desire, jealousy—like a toxic obsession. Samo-yeon fully fixated, of course."
"Hold up, an AI corp CEO from an orphanage? Self-made to that level by 40s?!"
"That's what makes it fun, hear me out..."
They were holding the meeting so casually.
As if nothing had happened.
It didn't look like acting.
Do Hyun-woo pitched ideas as always; Chae Seo-hee jumped in as always.
"Bit of a tangent, but if the parent company's AI, we could touch on the old gamer debate about APM efficacy and brain allocation..."
Yoon Hyun-sol beside them spouted his usual cryptic nonsense.
It defied Kwon Cheol's common sense.
Is this something you brush off? The whole country's roasting him?'
Then, mid-meeting, Do Hyun-woo glanced at his watch and dropped a bombshell casually.
"Gotta head to HQ's ethics committee soon. Can you wrap this up while I'm gone?"
Ethics committee?
Isn't that terrifying?
Even innocent, they could dig up dirt.
"Ah, sure. We'll have it done by the time you're back."
"Director, I'll head to the writers' office..."
"Yoon CE. No office access this week, remember?"
"But Writer Gil Sang-hoon says he desperately needs me..."
"Keep it up, and I'll spill everything at the ethics committee."
He was even joking about the ethics committee.
Once Do Hyun-woo left, Kwon Cheol couldn't hold back his curiosity.
"Uh, Chae CE."
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Do Hyun-woo CE okay? He's way too chill—I'm worried for him."
"Eh, he'll be fine. No way he took money, and he says he'll handle it."
"How're you so sure he didn't take cash?"
"Hm... You can just tell from how he vibes with the actors. If he gave them living expenses, maybe—but pocketed it? No sense."
"But even innocent, it could get risky, right?"
Chae Seo-hee rolled her eyes at Kwon Cheol's question and dropped a curveball.
"When the first Kim Ra-un controversy blew up, I was super worried."
"Yeah, makes sense. It worked out in the end."
"Right. Then the response interview seemed too aggressive, so I worried again."
"Oh yeah. That resolved too."
"Yep. Then Youngperal ratings spiked too high—worry."
"Uh... Turned around?"
"Then the broadcast vs. OTT showdown popped up?"
"Uh..."
"Then Eum Sung-hyun's idol scandal?"
I hadn't thought about it before, but...
What kind of life had Do Hyun-woo been living?
"Pushing all those worries aside, I realized: Oh, Do CE's Conan."
"..."
"Worry about the culprit, not Conan."
Kwon Cheol reflexively opened his mouth at Chae Seo-hee's words.
Spotting Yoon Hyun-sol gleefully typing away.
"Yoon Hyun-sol CE must have mad faith in Hyun-woo too."
"He's just nuts! Something's off with him!!"
"Pardon?"
"What CE commutes to the writers' office? Not going doesn't mean lack of passion, right?!"
Suddenly, it hit Kwon Cheol.
Whatever else, working on Do Hyun-woo's team seemed fun.