As expected, Baek Seung-chul could not contain his frustration and let it explode.
“I promised her the lead role, and Shin So-hee has the nerve to reject my offer?”
“Is that true? Is there some mistake? That ungrateful bitch!”
“Say something, you punk! Don’t just stand there with your mouth shut!”
Baek Seung-chul finally raised his voice at Lee Hyun-seung. At the sound of the shouting, the two assistant writers who had been in their respective rooms came out into the living room.
The reason was obvious. They were there to stop Baek Seung-chul, who was known to resort to physical violence if he lost his temper completely.
Lee Hyun-seung quietly looked at the faces of the two assistant writers, who had already grown accustomed to this atmosphere of fear, and let out a long sigh.
That sigh once again disturbed Baek Seung-chul’s peace of mind.
“This arrogant punk is still ignoring me?”
Baek Seung-chul raised his hand to strike Lee Hyun-seung. However, with a *thud*, Hyun-seung caught Baek Seung-chul’s wrist.
Baek Seung-chul tried to put more force into his arm to hit him, but it was useless. A body ruined by alcohol and cigarettes could never overcome the strength of the young Lee Hyun-seung.
Baek Seung-chul was a pathetic human being. He was someone who could only exercise violence through his authority, not his own physical power.
Reflecting on this fact, Lee Hyun-seung spoke to Baek Seung-chul.
“It is exactly as I told you. Even after hearing about your promise for the lead role, Shin So-hee chose Writer Kang Tae-ha’s work.”
*Thud.*
Baek Seung-chul, who finally managed to pull his arm from Hyun-seung’s grip, massaged his reddened skin as he replied.
“I’m saying, does that even make sense? How great can a work written by some actor be that she would turn down my offer?”
Lee Hyun-seung put on a bitter smile and spoke.
“It’s because of the writing. Shin So-hee must have realized it too — that your offer for the lead role was a lie.”
“What? You…”
“You’ve done it before. You promised someone the lead role just to cast them, only to ignore it later. You even blamed the actress for the issues back then, didn’t you?”
“W-what is this punk talking about? What do you know! What do you think you know!”
Baek Seung-chul stammered in his flustered state. To Lee Hyun-seung, the man looked so helpless that he felt a sense of disillusionment about why he hadn’t spoken up until now.
Another sigh escaped Hyun-seung’s lips.
“How could I not know? I was there too. Anyway, since things have turned out like this, I’ll tell you. I’m quitting as your assistant writer as of today.”
At that, a despicable smile appeared on Baek Seung-chul’s face, as if he finally understood the situation.
“Ah. So you’re saying all this because you want to go independent. I thought you were acting strange. But do you have confidence? Do you really think someone with your level of skill can survive in this industry?”
“My skills are certainly still lacking. However, I have no intention of working under you and being treated like this anymore. To be honest, I’ve endured a lot until now.”
“Hah. What exactly did you endure? Do you have any idea how many people I’ve fed and housed? Fine. If you want to leave, leave! If you want to betray me, go ahead! But do you think I’ll just let you be? Do you think I’ll let you get away with this?”
Baek Seung-chul was ultimately making a threat. However, Lee Hyun-seung was not afraid of Baek Seung-chul’s warning at all. Instead, he countered Baek Seung-chul’s words without even blinking.
“What are you going to do if you don’t let me be? Are you going to frame me like you did to Brother Ho-jun?”
At the sudden mention of Ho-jun, Baek Seung-chul became flustered again.
“N-no. What have you been talking about this whole time? When did I ever frame that dog, Lee Ho-jun!”
“Calling Brother Ho-jun a traitor in the first place is a false accusation. Honestly, who else cared for you as much as Brother Ho-jun did? Yet you didn’t even visit his mother’s funeral once, and you even insulted him for taking three days for the wake. Are you even human?”
“What? Why do you keep making things up!”
“I’m warning you in advance: you’d better not try to frame me for anything. One of the most important things I learned under Brother Ho-jun was not to trust you, and I’ve gathered plenty of important evidence regarding this.”
“What?”
“I’m telling you not to try any nonsense. Unless you want to see that evidence circulating the world.”
That was right. Having realized long ago that what happened to Ho-jun could happen to him, Lee Hyun-seung never expected to leave Baek Seung-chul’s studio on good terms. He was certain that something unfair would happen.
So, he had step-by-step gathered evidence of Baek Seung-chul’s verbal abuse, insults, and physical violence. Even if the evidence might lack legal standing because it was obtained without consent, it didn’t matter. In the end, what mattered to both Lee Hyun-seung and Baek Seung-chul was not victory in a legal battle.
When a fight broke out, who would lose their reputation? That was the most important thing.
Thus, the only thing Baek Seung-chul could do in this situation was…
“Y-you…”
…to repeat those words while clutching the back of his neck. Lee Hyun-seung looked at Baek Seung-chul and spoke calmly.
“And to add one more thing, you’d better stop slandering Brother Ho-jun. If you insult him anymore, I won’t stand for it. Goodbye then.”
With that, Lee Hyun-seung threw the coat that had been hanging on his chair over his shoulders. Then, tucking the laptop that had been sitting on one side of the living room under his arm, he walked out the front door. He looked like a man who felt no lingering attachment to the remaining items left in the studio.
And at that moment, the expressions of the two assistant writers watching Lee Hyun-seung also changed significantly. It was the moment a crack appeared in the foundation of the absolute power Baek Seung-chul held.
***
Tae-ha officially received news from Salamander Studio regarding Shin So-hee’s acceptance of the casting offer. He had already received a hint a few days ago from a very drunk Kang So-jeong.
She had met separately with Shin So-hee, who was torn between his work and Baek Seung-chul’s next project, and had strongly recommended accepting the proposal for *Your Brilliant Sparkle*. So, she said Shin So-hee would likely officially accept the casting offer soon.
However, confirming the intent officially held a different meaning. He could now completely ease his worries about casting the lead role.
Furthermore, since the female lead was decided, getting a slot on a broadcast station’s schedule was also possible. Currently, after discussions with CEO Han and Kim Seoan, the broadcast station Tae-ha was considering as his first priority was tvM.
Following the success of *Virus*, tvM had mentioned first that they would not hold back on investment. Therefore, Tae-ha had no reason to switch stations.
Additionally, the person he was considering as the director for *Your Brilliant Sparkle* was Im Kyung-ho, who was well-known in rom-com circles. Deciding on a director was not as easy as it seemed. This was because both Lee Hae-ik and Yun Taeseong had expressed their desire to join Tae-ha’s work.
Ultimately, however, neither of them could become the director for *Your Brilliant Sparkle*. Both of them already had projects they were preparing. Yun Taeseong was in the middle of filming a drama based on a webtoon that they had been working on since the last planning stage, and Lee Hae-ik also had a project with filming ahead.
That meant that to work with either director, he would have to wait at least six months. For Tae-ha, who wanted to finish the script work quickly and enter filming, that was not an option. It was a shame, but he had to wait for another opportunity.
The silver lining was the fact that Im Kyung-ho was just as excellent a director as the other two. Specifically, he was better than Lee Hae-ik or Yun Taeseong when it came to directing emotional scenes. This was because Im Kyung-ho was a director with experience directing four different rom-coms.
In fact, two of those works had surpassed 10% in viewership ratings. In short, he was a person who could be called perfect as a director for *Your Brilliant Sparkle*.
With the scheduling and director settings finalized, *Your Brilliant Sparkle* was taking shape. It was when the script work for *Your Brilliant Sparkle* had reached ten episodes that he heard news about Baek Seung-chul’s studio.
“The assistant writers from Baek Seung-chul’s studio all left? Does that mean everyone quit? Leaving only Baek Seung-chul behind?”
CEO Han nodded at Tae-ha’s question.
“It’s a bit sudden, but that seems to be the case.”
“Why did that happen?”
“I was curious too, so I tried to ask around, but no one seems to know. Even the executive from Seoljungmae, who gave us the information on Shin So-hee last time, kept his mouth shut until the end, which is unlike him.”
“That means…”
“Yes. It’s certain that something happened. Well, it’s not surprising. There have been bad rumors about Baek Seung-chul’s studio for a long time.”
In fact, CEO Han knew more than just bad rumors. He had heard the entire story of the past during a drinking session with Ho-jun. However, no such story came out of CEO Han’s mouth. He simply mentioned that there had been bad rumors about Baek Seung-chul’s studio for a long time.
Seeing this, Tae-ha once again realized how much integrity CEO Han possessed. He was even keeping secret stories shared with a deceased person.
Thinking about CEO Han’s character once more, Tae-ha became curious and asked a question.
“So where did all the assistant writers who left Baek Seung-chul’s studio go?”
Unfortunately, the answer Tae-ha wanted did not come from CEO Han.
“I’m not sure. I don’t know that either. I didn’t think to look that far into it.”
“I see…”
As Tae-ha’s voice trailed off, CEO Han watched him for a moment before speaking.
“If you’re curious, should I look into it for you? I think I can find out with just a little bit of searching.”
“Ah. Then could I ask you for that favor?”
“Yes. Of course. It’s not a difficult task. I’m just a little surprised. Usually, in these situations, people aren’t curious about the whereabouts of assistant writers.”
Tae-ha realized belatedly that his curiosity might seem strange to others. Because of that, Tae-ha quickly added an excuse.
“Ah. Our studio needs more assistant writers too. That’s why I became curious. I thought it might be okay to bring them over to our side if they were Baek Seung-chul’s assistant writers.”
Only then did CEO Han nod as if he understood.
“It would certainly be fine if they were assistant writers who worked in Writer Baek Seung-chul’s studio. It would be difficult to last even one month there without unusual persistence. If they learned under him, they must have skills as well.”
“That’s true.”
“Anyway, now that I know your intentions, I’ll look into it. You should focus on participating in the upcoming Baekam Arts Awards.”
That was right. At the point when the script work for *Your Brilliant Sparkle* had finished up to ten episodes, Tae-ha had received an invitation to the Baekam Arts Awards.
What was more, he hadn’t just been invited as a guest. He was invited as a nominee in a total of four categories.