Action 11. A Reason to Hold Hands
Korea is a country where trends start and fizzle out in the blink of an eye.
Or so the statistics say.
I'm not speaking from personal experience living abroad or anything.
Maybe that's why, about two weeks after At Your Fingertips wrapped, I started feeling the buzz around it dying down.
But interest in me was ramping up right around then.
The funny part? It wasn't because I was some incredibly amazing person.
It was just that I was all that was left.
They'd milked every drop from the drama itself, shot or scheduled all the variety shows with the actors, and locked in interviews with the E-sports crowd.
Everyone wanted to slap the "Do Hyun-woo's First Appearance" title on their show before the At Your Fingertips hype went stale.
With Criminal Community, I'd done YouTube, interviews, even variety. This time? Nothing.
But honestly, if I hadn't gone on U-U, would any of this have happened?
No shitty memes either.
Isn't it weird that a director, not even a full-on director, is suddenly prime variety show bait? Just me?
Too late for regrets now, though.
"Hyun-woo, just pick any variety show and go on. Preferably with us."
In the end, I caved to Team Leader Ko's dazzling, persuasive rhetoric and shot one.
Stargazing Night.
A standard healing variety show.
Gather close celeb friends, send them on a trip, observe the vibes.
This episode starred Jae-hyuk hyung, handling his Na Man Dae overseas schedule by inviting friends to New York.
Those friends? Me, Kim Ra-un, and Seo Jae-yeon.
The show itself did fine. Solid ratings to begin with, boosted by Jae-hyuk hyung and Seo Jae-yeon, who rarely do variety.
Kim Ra-un had some experience, but those two? Almost never.
Viewers ate up the At Your Fingertips and Na Man Dae behind-the-scenes tidbits, plus D.P era stories.
But someone edited and uploaded "Seo Jae-yeon Totally Ignored Moments," and it blew up huge.
During filming, I hadn't noticed at all...
We were kinda ignoring Seo Jae-yeon.
Not her as a person—just totally brushing off her freak-outs.
Prime example: the mouse incident.
"Mouse! There's a mouse! Kyaaack!"
Seo Jae-yeon screaming about a mouse in her carry-on, while the three of us calmly hailed a cab.
Not a single glance.
We probably thought she was faking it.
Why so sure? I didn't even remember the incident until seeing it on air.
Felt like we just hopped straight from airport to taxi.
After wrapping that shoot and heading back to Korea, an utterly ridiculous piece of news was waiting.
TOOL had been killing it lately.
Aiming for a pro league launch in March next year, and the hype was insane.
And to amp that up even more, a new champion...
"This is me, right?"
"No?"
"They tried 'Doment' but it didn't fly, so they went with 'DoHwen,' huh."
"No?"
"The skill names are sus as hell!"
Interest amplification, discovery, casting, hypnosis.
Passive is...
Purple rage?
Damn, they're nuts.
"Looks like folks are misunderstanding the marionette-control concept, but seriously, no relation."
"I'll allow it, just give me a cut of the skin sales."
"Uh, sure, we'll do that?"
"That means it is me!"
TT Engine's rep spouted nonsense about donating a portion in my name and hung up quick.
Not in my name...
Please...
Time passed like that, and we jetted off to Cebu—a nice resort spot.
Not solo; the whole At Your Fingertips team.
A reward vacation.
Funny part: leads were too busy to join, so supports bailed too. Ended up just staff.
Not bad, in a way.
Celebs around? Always awkward.
The five-day reward vac wrapped, and it really felt like At Your Fingertips was done-done.
No more lounging in sweet satisfaction.
Every cell in my body was screaming it was time for the next project.
First up: a meeting with the rep.
"Heard it went up through the division head. We'll shoot the webdrama and decide."
"Criminal Community and At Your Fingertips. Not convinced by those two?"
"Yes."
"Good attitude. Total lead carries more than you think. Just don't drag it out."
"Six months. Wrapped by then."
The rep smiled and nodded.
Tvic and SSK's exclusive supply deal was kaput.
Should've ended ages ago, but Tvic dragged negotiations.
Rumor has it (Sung Tae-chang's word) Tvic HQ chewed out execs hard, but SSK held firm (division head's take), so it fell through.
Not totally severed ties, though.
Tvic snagged SSK's first-look and matching rights.
Basically, first dibs review and veto power.
SSK projects go to them first; only if they pass can they shop elsewhere.
Sounds powerful, but in practice? Meh.
Example: I pitch my next. Tvic reviews first, offers 10 billion.
Show Enflicks, they bid 12 billion?
Back to Tvic: "Enflicks bid 12B on our drama. Match?"
Tvic hems and haws? Off to Enflicks.
Tvic matches 12B?
Back to Enflicks: "Matching rights lock us to Tvic at 12B."
Enflicks won't quit, bids 15B? Ping-pong to Tvic again.
Tvic only matches or folds—no production right.
Handy for locking guaranteed-hit IPs, maybe.
But the first to feel the fallout? Surprisingly, us CEs.
Why? Scripts flooding in dried up hard.
Chae Seo-hee says even picky CEs dragging picks were panicking.
Before, every script in Tvic's orbit was fair game. No more.
Now? Scrape the barrel for writers.
Team 4's fine, though.
Few CEs, each clutching a script.
No Jae-wook, though...
"Hockey to ice hockey, better?"
Let him cook for now.
Tough road, but his drive's fierce.
Anyway, production review flop, pivot to...
Wait. That's the line I always heard.
Suddenly get SSK staff's pitying stares.
Still, I didn't pity No Jae-wook.
Results might suck, but cheering passion pushing to the end.
Kwon Cheol and Chae Seo-hee'd ping me for reviews when ready.
Truth? I was the urgent writer scout.
Needed that webdrama script.
Mulled it, then called Yoon Hyun-sol in the back.
"Yoon CE."
"Yes..."
"Why so timid again right after At Your Fingertips?"
"No more game vibes in this space..."
"Game smell boosts your confidence?"
"Yes. I'm a named one, after all..."
What the hell does that even mean.
Better than day one, at least.
Now into dramas too.
Back then, nearly died asking his coffee order.
"But why?"
"What do you think my next project's gonna be?"
"What I think?"
Explained to head-tilting Yoon Hyun-sol.
"You see it from the sidelines, right? Who's good at this, sucks at that."
Ko Hak-su nails scene direction, bombs story cleanup.
Joo Young-hoon picks hot premises, fumbles balance.
Chae Seo-hee has killer instinct, can't convey it.
Sung Tae-chang's ugly.
Like that—what kind of director am I to others?
Asking Yoon Hyun-sol? Simple: killer intuition.
Raw, leads to rambling over-immersion, but direction's razor-sharp.
Why I parked him at the writer's office.
Yoon Hyun-sol pondered, then spoke.
"Do CE's great at casting and tightrope walking."
"Both digs?"
"Tightrope? Nah."
"Meaning?"
"Binged At Your Fingertips all weekend, got thinking."
"Binged it again?"
Not sick of it?
"Our drama had no low points."
"Low points?"
"One slip anywhere, and boom—tanked. Lead flubs acting, director too static, writer no structure."
Yoon Hyun-sol sped up, excited now.
"But Oxygen Alarm? Higher lows. I saw slips, honestly? But familiar taste, y'know? 'Eh, messed up the seasoning today?' Order again. Tastes fine."
"Hm..."
"Criminal Community too. One slip, gloriously flops."
"So low floor, high ceiling?"
"No? 100 or zero."
Hit home hard.
And a thought bubbled up.
"Not stopping you?"
"Figured you wouldn't."
"From?"
"If you brought some cliché drama swearing to nail it, I'd be shocked."
Sung Tae-hyung's words when I pitched E-sports.
Now it clicks.
Why total lead felt so heavy.
I'd always done my unique thing.
Farthest from senior team oversight style.
"Okay. Noted."
"What?"
"My next genre."
"Which?"
"Rom-com."
Yoon Hyun-sol's smirk actually stung. Hurt my feelings for real.