Taeha quickly became close to Lee Hyun-seung and Park Hee-jeong through the initial meetings and script readings. Part of it was due to Taeha intentionally seeking them out, hoping to reconnect with the two people he had ties with in his past life. However, Lee Hyun-seung and Park Hee-jeong were even more delighted to see Taeha than he had expected. They felt a deep sense of gratitude toward him for changing the atmosphere of Fight School, which had been thick with doubt and distrust.
As they met frequently and grew closer, they naturally ended up going out for drinks, which allowed them to share deeper conversations. The place the three people chose to drink was a pork skin restaurant that Taeha used to frequent before his possession. It was a place Taeha personally considered to have the best grilled pork skin in the Republic of Korea. Since his possession, he had hardly touched alcohol and hadn’t been able to visit even once, so it had been a long time.
He hadn’t expected Lee Hyun-seung and Park Hee-jeong to be regulars there. In the past, whenever Taeha brought them here, they would complain and ask if they were coming to this place again.
“By the way, why here?”
Taeha asked the two of them subtly, his curiosity piqued.
“Wow, this place is amazing! It’s totally my style!” Park Hee-jeong replied brightly. “I was worried it might not be your style, Actor Kang, but I’m glad you like it.”
“Oh, not at all. This kind of vibe is trending again these days. That old-school, vintage feel. Did you two always like this kind of place?”
“We didn’t like it originally. To be honest, I hated this vibe when I was younger, but these days I find it comfortable and nice. It’s also a place full of memories.”
“A place full of memories?”
When Taeha asked, Park Hee-jeong nodded.
“Hyun-seung and I have a mutual acquaintance. That person loved this place, so we came here all the time. Actually, we keep coming here out of habit because of those memories.”
Lee Hyun-seung also smiled as if reminiscing about the old days.
“Back then, I found this place so tedious and annoying, but now it’s become my favorite spot. There’s no place as comfortable as this for a drink. The silkworm larvae are delicious, too.”
“See? I told you you’d grow to like it.”
“What?”
“Pardon?”
Lee Hyun-seung and Park Hee-jeong reacted to the words Taeha had accidentally let slip. Taeha only then realized his mistake and quickly changed his words.
“Oh, I mean, everyone eventually grows to like this kind of atmosphere. You two said you didn’t like it before but grew to like it now. Anyway, shall we have a shot of soju with the side dishes before our pork skin comes out?”
Fortunately, the two seemed to think it was just a simple slip of the tongue. The proof was that although they tilted their heads in confusion, they still raised their glasses along with Taeha.
The drinking session continued in a pleasant atmosphere. Dipping the pork skin, which was grilled to a golden brown on both sides, into bean powder made for a fantastic texture. This place was especially famous for the taste of its homemade mustard leaf kimchi. Wrapping the well-cooked pork skin in the kimchi after dipping it in bean powder made the alcohol go down smoothly. Since Lee Hyun-seung and Park Hee-jeong also knew this flavor, the number of empty bottles on the table increased rapidly.
A short while later…
It was when the night had deepened and empty bottles filled one side of the table. Lee Hyun-seung suddenly brought up a story from their first meeting.
“There’s a brother I really, really respected.”
“Who is he? The one who liked this place?”
“Yes. That man was actually a drama writer, and he always said the same thing. He said that in the world of dramas, where everyone is afraid and backing away because the results might not be good, if there is only one person who must have conviction, it’s the writer who wrote it. Only when the writer has that conviction can it spread to the people working with them.”
“I see.”
“Actor Kang, you reminded me of that story I had forgotten during our first meeting. Through your performance, which was overflowing with conviction. I could even see the other actors changing because of that performance.”
“I really wanted to thank you for that. You know what I’m talking about, right?”
“I know. Because I’m a writer too.”
“I knew you would.”
As Lee Hyun-seung gave a satisfied smile that smelled strongly of alcohol, Park Hee-jeong picked up where he left off.
“Actually, we went through a lot of trouble while preparing this project. Getting this far was a miracle in itself. I never even imagined I’d end up meeting this guy and becoming co-writers.”
“Did you two not know each other before?”
“We knew the same people, but we were both preparing for our own debuts separately. But CEO Choi kept an eye on us and suggested we try co-writing. He said our strengths would complement each other. I’m good at weaving emotional lines, and this guy has great ideas.”
Taeha also knew those were their strengths. However, he hadn’t imagined a scenario where the two of them would debut as co-writers. It was another moment where he realized CEO Choi had a good instinct for such things.
“Those strengths are actually well-integrated into Fight School,” Taeha replied to Park Hee-jeong’s words.
“Ah, so that’s what happened.”
“Yes, it was. Anyway, because we struggled so much to get here, we lost our conviction and wandered quite a bit, but thanks to you, Actor Kang, we were able to realize it again. Watching you, strangely enough, I kept thinking of the main writer this guy calls ‘Brother’.”
“The main writer…”
“Yes. To be honest, the person we’ve both been mentioning was Writer Lee Ho-jun, who left behind the masterpiece Running Time before passing away. He was the main writer when I was an assistant writer. Do you know who he is?”
Taeha nodded quietly and answered, “I know him. Well.”
At his words, Lee Hyun-seung and Park Hee-jeong tilted their heads before clapping their hands.
“Ah, you must have heard about him from Actor Lee Seok-hyun.”
“True, Actor Lee and the main writer were very close.”
Taeha didn’t actually hear anything from Lee Seok-hyun, but he nodded appropriately. He couldn’t find any other excuse for how he knew Ho-jun so well.
Anyway, once Ho-jun’s name came out of their mouths, the stories of the past poured out like a flood. It was a sequence of moments where they laughed, then cried, then raised their voices, only to end up enjoying themselves again. Through that process, Taeha naturally learned the details of what had happened to them.
He learned how Lee Hyun-seung had left Baek Seung-chul’s studio and how Park Hee-jeong had lived after Ho-jun’s death. At first, it felt strange to hear his own story from them as a different person—especially the story of what happened after his death. But he soon adapted, and as Taeha, he couldn’t help but be shocked. He hadn’t realized his death would have such a profound impact on the two of them.
Even as they talked about him, seeing the two of them occasionally get teary-eyed as if they hadn’t fully processed their feelings made his heart ache. He felt so sorry that he hadn’t looked for them sooner.
Because of that, Taeha’s eyes couldn’t help but turn red as well. However, he did not make the mistake of saying he was Ho-jun. He knew that in this situation, that wasn’t the best comfort for the two of them. It would only add to their confusion.
After listening to all their stories, Taeha finally spoke.
“Our project. It will definitely be a success. I’ll make it so.”
***
After that day, Taeha continued to meet and communicate frequently with Lee Hyun-seung and Park Hee-jeong. Along with this, he also had more opportunities to meet Shin Seong-jin, the director of Fight School. As filming approached, Shin Seong-jin also had more issues to discuss closely with the two writers.
Fortunately, Lee Hyun-seung and Park Hee-jeong treated Shin Seong-jin well, as if they had truly realized something. It wasn’t just about being nice; they worked hard to convey the conviction they held to Shin Seong-jin. In the process, some friction arose, but it wasn’t a major problem. It was a common occurrence in the co-working process.
In fact, it would have been more of a problem if there wasn’t such a process. It would have meant they were approaching the work without passion.
Just as the four people began hanging out together more often…
And when the filming of Fight School was just around the corner…
On that day, as Taeha visited the studio, Lee Hyun-seung brought up an unexpected topic.
“I was thinking about it with Hee-jeong yesterday. How about you sing at least one OST for our drama, Actor Kang?”
“Pardon? Me?”
“I happened to see the video of Actor Seon Min-gi’s fan meeting the other day, and your singing was really good. It felt like a waste that not many people know you sing so well. How about singing just one song that isn’t too burdensome in terms of screen time?”
However, embarrassment washed over Taeha’s face as he listened to Lee Hyun-seung. Seeing that expression, Park Hee-jeong quickly chimed in.
“Your singing skills were truly amazing. I especially liked your vocal tone. So, how about considering the OST positively? I think it would create a huge buzz.”
Normally, he would have refused. Even during the fan meeting, he had only accepted because of Seon Min-gi’s earnest request; Taeha didn’t particularly have a hobby for singing. He had also thought of it as a rehearsal for his own future fan meeting. For those reasons, the usual Taeha would have declined the offer without a second thought.
However, he couldn’t easily say no when they mentioned it would create a huge buzz. It wasn’t that he actually thought his singing would cause a massive stir. Rather, he worried it might not be much of a help.
In the past, an actor singing an OST was a hot topic because it felt fresh and helped with immersion, but these days it was all too common. Some people even disliked it, saying they couldn’t focus because the actors didn’t sing well enough. They argued that it was better to listen to a professional singer.
Taeha also believed it was better for a singer to handle the vocals. However, if it could provide even the slightest bit of promotional help, there was no reason not to do it. This was especially true since he had already boasted to Lee Hyun-seung and Park Hee-jeong that he would make this drama successful no matter what.
In particular, Fight School was a drama where Taeha was the absolute sole male lead. That meant there were no actors with higher recognition than Taeha, and therefore, Taeha had to take charge of the drama’s promotion.
This fact inevitably acted as a source of pressure for Taeha. Last time, he had luckily succeeded in promoting the drama because his activities on Nutube had drawn attention, but there was no guarantee that would happen again. Of course, it was true that Taeha’s own recognition was now higher than before, making promotion more advantageous. However, the realistic pressure was unavoidable.
In the end…
“I’ll do it. The OST.”
Those words came out of Taeha’s mouth. Simultaneously, satisfied smiles appeared on the faces of Lee Hyun-seung and Park Hee-jeong.