9
ch 9 ## Having Your Worth Recognized (3)
"It was so, so good!"
Siwoo bounced up and down excitedly, her eyes sparkling.
"I've already watched it several times. It gets even better every time! I keep noticing new details!"
Siwoo was a complete storytelling fanatic.
A lover of anything written.
If she reacted like this...
It meant she'd just experienced an incredible story.
Normally, you'd think she was reacting to something I'd written.
But that wasn't the case.
We were standing quite a distance apart.
"The play was amazing, Writer!"
She wasn't talking to me.
She was enthusiastically fangirling over the playwright.
"...Siwoo."
"We should get going."
I tried urging her.
But—
"I bought the script book! Could you sign it for me? Ahh! Thank you so much!"
She was already so excited that my voice wasn't reaching her ears.
In the end, I simply gave up and flipped through the theater brochure.
"Witnesses..."
Ever since our last visit to the theater...
Siwoo had become completely obsessed with this play.
The performance we'd watched was Witnesses, produced by Romantic Theater Company.
"It really was a great play."
The storyline itself was simple.
One day...
A high school student who had grown up without parents committed suicide.
The story followed his closest friend as he searched for the truth behind that death.
The mystery surrounding his friend's suicide was compelling enough on its own.
Within that story...
Issues such as school violence, bullying, teachers' authority, and corporal punishment...
Were portrayed through vividly written characters within the confined setting of a school.
"I honestly wondered whether I should let Siwoo watch something like this."
The themes were dark.
The subject matter was heavy.
Part of me worried it wasn't appropriate for her.
But...
'Dad! I'll be in high school next year! Besides, if students can't watch stories about students, who can?'
Her reasoning had been so convincing...
I couldn't argue.
Besides...
The novels she'd already read were far more intense than Witnesses.
As a result...
I enjoyed the play immensely as well.
The script was excellent.
The directing was outstanding.
And the actors' performances were exceptional.
Watching real actors perform live before your eyes...
That sense of presence was something films simply couldn't replicate.
Even so...
I didn't particularly feel like watching it again.
I'd already enjoyed a satisfying meal.
That was enough.
Siwoo, however...
Came back for a second viewing.
She even applied for a special event where audiences could meet the playwright afterward.
Today was that day.
Thanks to that...
She'd been able to speak directly with the playwright.
"Daaaaad!"
"Look!"
"I even got the playwright's autograph!"
She hopped back toward me like an excited rabbit.
Holding up the first page of the script book.
There was the playwright's signature...
Along with Siwoo's name.
"I never knew plays could be this fun!"
"I see."
"Yeah."
"I was worried I'd get bored since it was my first play."
"But it grabbed my attention from the very beginning..."
"Mm."
"I see."
"...Dad."
The moment she said that...
Every danger alarm inside me started ringing.
"Why are your reactions so flat?"
Experience had taught me.
Whenever Siwoo's voice became quieter...
She was only one step away from sulking.
Apparently...
My half-hearted responses had become the problem.
"Are you tired?"
"No."
"Not really..."
"Then why do you look so lifeless?"
The interrogation began.
For some reason...
I suddenly felt cold sweat running down my back.
Come to think of it...
She really did resemble her mother at times like this.
Normally cheerful.
But when upset...
She'd fix me with the exact same sharp stare.
"It's just..."
"Just?"
"Well..."
"Well?"
"...Seeing how happy you are."
"Seeing me happy?"
"What about it?"
She tilted her head in confusion.
Then suddenly—
"Ah!"
She slapped my shoulder.
"I get it now!"
"Dad..."
"You're jealous, aren't you?"
"What?"
"You're jealous because I'm getting another writer's autograph!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm not jealous."
There was no way I'd get jealous at my age.
My daughter could admire playwrights if she wanted.
I'd never minded her liking idols or actors.
That was perfectly normal for someone her age.
...
Although...
Watching her get this excited over a writer instead of an actor...
Did leave me with a strange feeling.
"Don't worry."
"To me..."
"You're still the greatest writer in the world, Dad!"
Well...
Thankfully...
My internal alarm settled down.
Siwoo seemed cheerful again.
I couldn't waste the opportunity.
"So..."
"Was Witnesses really that good?"
"It was amazing!"
"But honestly..."
"It had a few weak points too."
She answered without hesitation.
"It felt like the characters sometimes acted unnaturally just to deliver the message."
This was another one of Siwoo's strengths.
She became surprisingly objective.
One of the biggest reasons she was my perfect reader...
Was her feedback.
The web novel I was currently writing was proof enough.
I hadn't adapted to web novels immediately.
I'd never even read the genre before.
Naturally...
I struggled.
But my one and only reader...
Knew web novels inside out.
"Hmm..."
"Dad."
"The ending felt weak today."
"The ending?"
"It doesn't make me desperate to read the next chapter."
"I don't keep wondering what'll happen next."
Feedback like that.
Or—
"Dad."
"What does the protagonist actually want?"
"I can't tell!"
Simple words.
Yet they always struck the heart of the problem.
Nothing persuaded readers more than a protagonist's goal.
"There wasn't really anything wrong..."
"But it felt kind of flat."
"I wanted something to go boom!"
"You mean I should add an explosion?"
"No!"
"I mean..."
"I want something emotionally explosive."
"Like during the climax of a movie."
"When the music swells and the hero does something amazing!"
Back then...
She hadn't had the vocabulary to explain things precisely.
Her feedback was often abstract.
But I always understood what she meant.
"And the students' dialogue felt strange."
"Huh?"
"My friends don't talk like that."
"The older students I know don't either."
"They sounded like old people pretending to be teenagers."
Listening to her...
I found myself agreeing.
Especially about the dialogue.
The students did sound somewhat unnatural.
Well...
Judging from the playwright's appearance...
He seemed fairly old.
Perfectly recreating the speech patterns of teenagers probably wasn't easy.
"Anyway!"
"I got the autograph."
"So I don't think I need to watch it again."
She sounded completely satisfied.
"Let's go home."
"Although..."
"It'd be amazing if you wrote a play too, Dad."
"I'd watch it more than ten times."
"A play isn't something Dad can create by himself."
"I'm joking."
"Your novel's already more than fun enough."
She laughed and waved both hands.
But...
At that moment...
My mind was filled with only one thought.
I wanted to make what Siwoo wished for come true.
"Dad?"
"Hm?"
"What?"
"Why are you making that face?"
"What kind of face?"
"...The kind that says you're plotting something."
"What plotting?"
Hmm.
I'd rather she called it inspiration.
---
The next day.
At Jogyeong Trading Company's cafeteria.
Seongjun was eating lunch with Jin Yongsu.
"..."
However...
Seongjun looked completely absent-minded.
Yongsu even waved a hand directly in front of his face.
No reaction.
"Hey, Seongjun!"
"Assistant Manager Yoon Seongjun!"
Only after calling both his name and title did—
"Ah!"
"Yes...?"
"Huh?"
"Were you calling me?"
He finally came back to reality.
"Seriously."
"You've been spacing out a lot lately."
"You okay?"
Yongsu looked genuinely worried.
"I'm fine."
Actually...
Ever since watching the play yesterday...
One thought had occupied Seongjun's mind.
Writing a play for Siwoo.
The problem was...
'I know absolutely nothing about playwriting.'
He'd only ever watched a handful of plays.
A few while dating his wife.
And Witnesses yesterday.
He simply didn't understand the genre well enough to start writing a script.
'What if I just wrote a web novel with a similar story?'
His goal was simply to make Siwoo happy.
Maybe he didn't need to insist on writing a stage play.
He'd casually asked her.
'Huh?'
'Nobody would read something like that as a web novel.'
'There's no satisfying payoff!'
That answer immediately killed the idea.
She was right.
Mystery and thriller weren't particularly successful genres in web novels.
'Even if I somehow wrote a play...'
'It'd be meaningless if nobody ever performed it.'
He'd barely watched any plays himself.
Who would stage his very first script?
Cast actors.
And bring it to life?
'What should I do...?'
Siwoo had said it as a joke.
But...
When your daughter wanted something...
You wanted to give it to her.
Giving up wasn't an option.
While Seongjun remained lost in thought...
"By the way."
"I heard you went to a play with your daughter yesterday."
The instant Yongsu mentioned Siwoo...
Seongjun immediately perked up.
"Oh."
"I took a picture yesterday."
"Want to see?"
"Siwoo looked really cute."
"...I'll pass."
Yongsu laughed.
Then proudly thumped his chest.
"You know..."
"I used to live and breathe theater in Daehangno."
"I was a passionate theater guy."
"...You?"
"You didn't know?"
"I majored in Theater and Film."
That honestly surprised Seongjun.
He'd never imagined his coworker had worked in theater.
"Back then..."
"I never dreamed I'd end up working in finance."
He laughed bitterly.
"Did you act?"
"No."
"I worked in directing."
"Well..."
"To be precise..."
"I did almost everything."
"Student theater groups aren't exactly professional."
"We were always short on people."
"So everyone filled in wherever they were needed."
"Actually..."
"That's still my life."
"I'm in finance now."
"But I still end up doing every random job imaginable."
"Now that's black comedy."
He burst into laughter by himself.
"Yongsu."
"How difficult is writing a play?"
Yongsu frowned immediately.
"Is that even a question?"
"People think writing's easy these days because of web novels."
"But plays are different."
"They're highly specialized!"
Maybe because he'd worked in theater...
His pride was obvious.
"Plays are literature."
"You'll find them in world literature collections."
"They're accepted in literary competitions."
"But plays have one unique requirement."
"They have to be stageable."
"So they're basically scripts?"
"Like movies or dramas?"
"No, idiot!"
"Movies and dramas can constantly change locations."
"Plays can't."
"They're limited by the stage."
"You also can't have huge casts."
"Everything on stage has to be visible to the audience."
Every word overflowed with passion.
He truly still loved theater.
Without even needing to ask...
Information poured out naturally.
"I see."
"Then how do new playwrights debut?"
"If it's so specialized..."
"Wouldn't it be difficult?"
"Actually..."
"That's exactly why theaters are desperate for new writers."
"If you can write plays..."
"Debuting isn't impossible."
"You can submit to literary contests."
"Or..."
He immediately took out his phone.
Soon...
An announcement appeared.
[Romantic Theater Company is always accepting new scripts from both established and aspiring playwrights.]
"Theater companies usually accept submissions year-round."
"Look."
"Witnesses."
"The play you watched yesterday."
"Even Romantic Theater Company is accepting submissions."
"They're running a project right now."
Seongjun looked at the screen.
[Romantic Theater Company Keyword Project]
This month's keyword:
School
Below it...
[Winning scripts will receive prize money and be staged by Romantic Theater Company.]
Opening Production:
Witnesses
(Script by Park Taehyung)
'I see.'
'So Witnesses is their example.'
Seongjun nodded.
"I understand."
"See?"
"Now you get how difficult theater is."
"And how hard writing plays really is."
Yongsu puffed out his chest proudly.
Perhaps remembering his youth.
Or perhaps his theater pride had simply resurfaced.
"Honestly..."
"I tried writing plays too."
"In college..."
"I even had a playwriting club with Creative Writing majors."
"But I had to give it up to make a living."
"Otherwise..."
"I might've become the greatest playwright in Daehangno."
"Hahaha!"
Meanwhile...
Seongjun quietly muttered to himself.
"Hmm..."
"It doesn't sound that difficult."
His voice was calm.
Matter-of-fact.
"...What?"
Just as Yongsu stared at him in disbelief...
Seongjun's phone suddenly rang.
He glanced at the number.
His eyes widened.
Then he stood up.
"Hold on."
"I need to take this."
Because the caller...
Was none other than MoonStory editor...
Shin Mijeong.
"Hello."
"Good afternoon, Author."
"You remember me, don't you?"
"Harim's aunt."
"Well..."
"I'm calling as a MoonStory editor today."
"I'm Shin Mijeong."
"Is this a good time?"
After rejecting them so firmly...
Seongjun had never imagined MoonStory would contact him again.
"Yes."
"That's fine."
Still surprised...
He answered.
"I'll get straight to the point."
"If Only 10 Seconds as a Genius Idol joins MoonStory..."
"We'd like to offer you an advance payment."
"...An advance?"
"Yes."
"The amount would be..."
The moment he heard the number...
And counted the zeros...
"...What?"
"How much?"