Chapter 85

Chapter 85

For now, I hurriedly tried to calm Director Won Se-chang, who was glaring daggers at Writer Hong Yeon-hee.

“Director, please calm down first.”

Director Won Se-chang seemed to notice all the eyes on him. He roughly rubbed his face, trying to regain his composure.

Hong Yeon-hee spoke to him again.

“Director, to be honest, I’m really confused by this situation right now. But aren’t you in no position to get angry at me? You’re the one who said you didn’t like my proposal.”

Won Se-chang stared at Hong Yeon-hee in disbelief.

What does that mean? Director Won didn’t like Writer Hong’s proposal?

Realizing that there was something serious going on here, I quickly stepped in to understand the situation.

“Um, Writer Hong... I’m sorry, but could you explain what you just said in a little more detail?”

Hong Yeon-hee hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

From what she explained, the situation was roughly like this.

Hong Yeon-hee had once won an MBS one-act drama contest. At the time, she worked on the winning project together with Won Se-chang, who had just joined the drama department as a rookie producer.

That was how the two of them first met.

However, throughout the production of that one-act drama, the two constantly clashed.

After that, they never worked together again.

Then, sometime around last autumn, Won Se-chang somehow got his hands on an old project proposal Hong Yeon-hee had written.

He suddenly came to her and insisted that they should make that drama together.

“Actually, I was the one who wrote that proposal, but it was such an obvious Cinderella story that I had absolutely no intention of making it. Around that time, there was another story I really wanted to try, so I showed Director Won that proposal instead. But... he didn’t like it.”

As soon as Hong Yeon-hee finished speaking, Won Se-chang jumped in as if he had been waiting for the chance.

“That’s why I told you we should just use the original proposal.”

“And I told you several times that I didn’t want to do that story. But you kept pushing me...”

I quickly understood what had happened.

Ha... No wonder whenever I brought up the writer, he kept saying he would take care of it himself.

And he kept delaying the formal meeting too.

I never imagined this was the reason.

If I followed my feelings, I wanted to pretend I knew nothing about this whole mess and dump all the responsibility onto Director Won Se-chang.

Unfortunately, this project was extremely important to me too.

I couldn’t simply abandon it.

Hong Yeon-hee kept pouting, clearly irritated by the whole situation.

Won Se-chang spoke again with frustration.

“Writer Hong, come on. There has to be a limit. The proposal you showed me has a completely different tone from everything you’ve written before. You were writing sweet, lovey-dovey romances, so why are you suddenly obsessed with some tragic love that can never come true? If you’re already good at something, why not keep doing it? Why suddenly take such a risk?”

“That story isn’t simply about tragic love...”

Hong Yeon-hee sighed.

“Forget it. This is exactly why I said I don’t want to work with you, Director.”

Her voice turned sharp.

I quickly stepped between them.

“Wait a moment. Director, I think it would be better if I finished talking with Writer Hong from here.”

Won Se-chang clearly didn’t like the idea.

However, it didn’t seem like he had any solution of his own either, so he didn’t argue.

I quickly started thinking.

Fine.

Now that I understood the problem, all I had to do was find a solution.

“So, Writer Hong, if instead of the Cinderella story Director Won mentioned, you’re allowed to work on the other story you actually want to make... would you still be willing to work with Director Won?”

“Well... ahem...”

Hong Yeon-hee answered with a slightly coy expression.

“Then could you give our company some time to review the new story you mentioned?”

Hong Yeon-hee hesitated for a moment.

To make my intentions clearer, I continued.

“Of course, we haven’t officially signed a contract with you yet. But considering what seems to be happening between you and Director Won, there’s a possibility that our company may try to recruit you separately from him.”

I added,

“Naturally, the best outcome would still be for the two of you to work together.”

At the suggestion that we might sign Hong Yeon-hee separately from him, Director Won Se-chang blinked in surprise.

From Hong Yeon-hee’s perspective, however, it didn’t seem like a bad proposal.

“All right. Do that.”

“Tch. Seriously, people really do forget where they came from. Everyone started calling her ‘Writer Hong, Writer Hong,’ and now she thinks she’s some big shot. When she was a rookie, she couldn’t even look me in the eye. Now look how arrogant she’s become.”

We were in the car heading back to the company.

Apparently, Director Won Se-chang still hadn’t gotten over what had happened.

He continued pouring out insults and belittling comments about Hong Yeon-hee.

“She should just stick to romance. What was it again? A tragic love that can never come true? Tch. Even a passing dog would laugh at that. She knew nothing when she started, and I helped her debut and become a writer. Now she doesn’t even know how to be grateful...”

He snorted.

“Writers are all the same. They all think they’re the greatest.”

It was said that King Yeongjo of Joseon believed that hearing vicious insults or dirty language polluted his ears, so he would wash them out with water afterward.

That was exactly how I felt right now.

If I had some water, I wanted to wash my ears immediately.

Ha... How did someone like this direct such a delicate drama like A Man Holding Flowers?

Until now, I had always believed that whether it was a film or drama, a director or writer would inevitably leave some trace of their personality in their work.

But after meeting Director Won Se-chang, for the first time, I wondered if a person’s character and their work might actually be completely separate things.

As I desperately tried to ignore his ranting, Won Se-chang suddenly looked at me with narrowed eyes.

“By the way, Min PD. Were you serious about what you said earlier?”

“What part?”

“That you might sign Hong separately from me.”

“Of course.”

I answered without hesitation.

“Like I said earlier, from our company’s perspective, it would be best if you and Writer Hong worked together. But even if the two of you can’t come to an agreement, Writer Hong is simply too valuable for our company to let go.”

Won Se-chang’s face twisted in annoyance.

Seeing that expression, the corner of my lips quietly rose.

Why?

Did you think I was someone you could easily control, only to realize I’m not as easy to push around as you thought?

I decided to push him into the corner a little more.

“By the way, Director... are you really okay even if Writer Hong doesn’t join the project?”

I smiled faintly.

“I don’t think Director Hwang Dong-hyuk will just let that slide...”

“Well... that’s true, but...”

At the mention of Hwang Dong-hyuk, Won Se-chang’s confidence immediately shrank.

But then he suddenly puffed himself up again.

“Whatever. Hong Yeon-hee isn’t the only writer in the world. There are plenty of writers who are better than her.”

“Really? I hope Director Hwang agrees with that too...”

At my casual probing, the corner of Won Se-chang’s mouth twitched nervously again.

He was talking big, but in reality, Director Won Se-chang would be in just as much trouble if he failed to recruit Hong Yeon-hee.

He knew perfectly well that he couldn’t keep acting stubborn forever.

Eventually, his voice lost most of its strength.

“So... Min PD, try to persuade Writer Hong for me...”

His voice had become almost pitiful.

I asked,

“Do you really have no intention of turning the story Writer Hong mentioned into a drama?”

“You only say that because you haven’t read the proposal yet.”

Won Se-chang shook his head.

“It’s too much. Way too depressing and miserable. Who watches such gloomy love stories these days? She used to write sweet romances, so why is she suddenly obsessed with tragic love...”

A tragic love story...

But had Hong Yeon-hee ever written something like that?

I didn’t watch many dramas myself, but I still knew the basic plots of most famous dramas and the works of well-known writers.

Yet no matter how much I thought about it, nothing came to mind.

“Anyway, I think we should discuss this with the executive director as well. Writer Hong said she would send us the proposal, so let’s read it first and talk again afterward.”

Then, the next day, I received the project proposal from Hong Yeon-hee.

“Let’s see... the title is Erinies... provisional title.”

It sounded unusually difficult for the title of a drama.

I quickly continued reading.

The story went like this.

Min-hee had spent more than ten years planning revenge for her younger sibling, who had taken their own life after suffering from school violence.

At last, Min-hee began putting her revenge into action.

However, she unexpectedly fell in love with Eun-hyuk, one of the people responsible for driving her younger sibling to death.

Their love gradually headed toward a tragic ending...

I froze.

What?

This story...

This is The Woman’s Garden, written by Hong Yeon-hee.

The title was different.

But the story was unmistakably the same drama.

And The Woman’s Garden had reached a peak viewership rating of 48 percent.

It was a masterpiece that ranked among the top ten most successful dramas in South Korean history.

Of course, it was technically a story about a tragic love that could never be fulfilled.

However, the real heart of the drama was its social message.

School violence.

Corrupt institutions of power.

And personal revenge.

Ha...

And Director Won dismissed a story like this as nothing more than a depressing tragic romance?

I was genuinely dumbfounded by Won Se-chang’s ability to understand a script.

Regardless, now that I knew exactly what kind of project Hong Yeon-hee was proposing, there was no longer any choice to make.

We absolutely had to sign Writer Hong for this project.

But to do that, I’ll have to convince Director Won Se-chang first, right?

I took Hong Yeon-hee’s proposal and went to see Executive Director Kim Eun-kyung.

Of course, I could probably have handled the matter myself.

However, if I did that, conflict between Director Won Se-chang and me would be almost guaranteed.

So I decided to dump the problem onto Executive Director Kim Eun-kyung.

“So Director Won doesn’t like the project?”

“Yes, that’s right. I could probably handle it myself, but... I was hoping you could put some pressure behind my position.”

“Of course.”

Kim Eun-kyung smiled knowingly.

“Even from my perspective, this new proposal is much better than the one Director Won showed us before.”

Then she added,

“Besides, if Team Leader Min personally pushes him on this, it could make things awkward between the two of you later. That’s why you came to ask me instead, isn’t it?”

She understood everything immediately.

It didn’t take Kim Eun-kyung very long to persuade Won Se-chang.

“A verbal agreement is still an agreement.”

She looked directly at him.

“When we signed our contract with you, Director, you essentially guaranteed that you would work with Writer Hong Yeon-hee and secure an MBS broadcast slot.”

Her voice remained calm.

“If things fall apart like this, wouldn’t that practically amount to a breach of contract?”

“No, that’s...”

Kim Eun-kyung didn’t give him room to escape.

“Surely neither you nor our company wants to spend time going back and forth to court over something like this, right?”

The moment she mentioned court, Won Se-chang finally raised his hands in surrender.

He had assumed that I knew nothing about this industry and thought he could easily manipulate me.

Instead, he had ended up falling into his own trap.