Taeha and Song Ji-eun.
The place they had set for their first meeting was Salamander Studio.
It was because, among the usual meeting places for drama personnel—the writer’s studio, the directing department’s office, the production company office, or the broadcast station’s conference room—the production company office was currently the most manageable option.
It was an unavoidable situation since the drama hadn’t been officially scheduled yet.
Of course, they could have met in Taeha’s studio, but it was a place teeming with men, from Taeha down to the assistant writers, making it a bit awkward for a first meeting.
And so, Salamander Studio was set as the meeting place. Inside the car, Song Ji-eun asked her manager, who was driving, with an anxious expression.
“Am I going to be very late?”
“Yeah. Pretty late. The traffic just won’t budge. Looks like there might have been an accident somewhere.”
The reason Song Ji-eun was feeling anxious was simple.
Because the traffic jam was making her late for her appointment with Taeha.
If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have stopped by the shop.
She resented herself for wanting to look good for Taeha and stopping by the salon to get prettied up with a natural-looking makeup.
No matter how pretty she tried to look, who would feel favorably toward someone who’s late from the very first meeting?
Stuck on the road for quite a while, Song Ji-eun finally arrived at Salamander Studio fifty minutes late.
As it turned out, there really had been an accident.
Getting out of the parked car, Song Ji-eun hurriedly walked with her manager in tow.
The manager, following behind her, tilted his head in confusion.
She was fifty minutes late, but she was still Song Ji-eun.
That meant there was no one who would dare say anything to her about being late.
Yet, seeing her rush like this…
As her manager, he couldn’t help but feel puzzled by this side of Song Ji-eun he was seeing for the first time.
‘She said he’s a writer she respects… Is it for real?’
The manager, who couldn’t even begin to imagine that Song Ji-eun was “Initial,” could only think this.
However, unlike the manager, who was at ease despite being fifty minutes late, Song Ji-eun was extremely anxious.
Why does the elevator feel so slow today of all days?
She could only feel resentful.
And when she finally arrived at the conference room, Song Ji-eun smelled the fragrant aroma of coffee that tickled her nose.
In the moment of slight surprise, Taeha greeted her with a bright smile, a dripper in his hand.
“Ah. You’re here.”
Song Ji-eun hurriedly bowed her head to Taeha.
“I’m sorry I’m late!”
“No, it’s fine. Thanks to you, I was able to brew some precious coffee beans that Manager Han secretly hid away. The aroma seems nice. Would you like to try some?”
At Taeha’s question, Song Ji-eun made a dazed expression.
‘He’s not getting angry at all for being late, and is even offering words of comfort… How can his personality be this perfect too.’
Thinking this, Song Ji-eun came to her senses belatedly and answered.
“Ah. I’d be grateful to have some if you’re offering.”
“It would be my honor if Actor Song would drink it. Manager, would you like a cup too?”
This time, Taeha’s question was directed at Song Ji-eun’s manager, who had entered the conference room with her.
The manager, who made eye contact with Taeha, unknowingly blushed and opened his mouth.
“Yes. Please.”
It was the moment the manager realized why Song Ji-eun had been so restless about being late.
***
A short while later.
Two cups of warm coffee were placed in front of Song Ji-eun and her manager.
Currently, besides the two of them, Taeha, Manager Han, and Kim Seoan were also seated in the conference room.
Manager Han took a sip of the coffee Taeha had personally brewed and exclaimed in admiration.
“Oh. This is proper. I didn’t know the Writer was this good at brewing coffee too. Did you have a hobby in coffee before?”
“Ah. It wasn’t really a hobby. I just ended up in a situation where I had to get good at it.”
“There’s such a situation?”
“Yes. There was.”
Taeha briefly recalled the times he had to tediously brew coffee because of Baek Seung-chul, then looked at Song Ji-eun.
“How is it? Does it suit your taste?”
At Taeha’s question, Song Ji-eun flinched and answered.
“Huh? Yes! It’s very delicious!”
“That’s a relief. I was worried the coffee might not taste good since we’re hosting a precious guest.”
“Precious guest…”
“That’s right. A precious guest. To be honest, we sent the casting offer, but I didn’t really think we’d get a response from you, Actor Song. You’re someone who receives many casting offers for great works.”
“Ah… To be honest, it’s not that I don’t receive offers, but there hasn’t been a work as good as ‘Byeonghwa’.”
“Was that so?”
“Yes. Especially the characterization of Kim Seong-wol and Han Seung-hye was incredibly impressive. And the way it was unfolded within the historical drama genre was also remarkable.”
“As I wrote in the planning intent, I didn’t want to deal with the situation of the Imjin War from the perspective of typical historical figures like kings or generals. I wanted to express that suffering through people who felt it more closely, from a nearer place.”
“It definitely felt like that kind of work. The more it progressed, the more I felt that way. To my knowledge, Actor Kang? No, Writer Kang?”
“Since many others seem to get confused about that too, they often just use the title ‘Mr. Taeha’. Any title is fine. Please call me whatever you’re comfortable with.”
At Taeha’s answer, Song Ji-eun’s cheeks flushed slightly as she continued.
“Then I’ll call you Mr. Taeha. Anyway, from what I know, you’re also an actor and a singer, and I heard you’re incredibly busy, so I was curious how you wrote such a work as well.”
Song Ji-eun deliberately and subtly praised Taeha as she spoke.
And usually, people in this industry showed one of two major reactions when such things were said.
One was to implicitly boast about their own greatness and act proud, or the other was to act humble and be sparing with words.
Either of the two would have been a somewhat disappointing attitude from Song Ji-eun’s perspective.
The former because of the prideful act, the latter because while acting humble, they ultimately knew they were great.
She considered the latter deceitful.
Therefore, if either of those reactions came out, Song Ji-eun was thinking of reconsidering the casting confirmation for ‘Byeonghwa’.
Because stepping back and cheering as Initial was a way to protect her fan spirit.
But surprisingly, Taeha gave an answer that didn’t fall into either category.
“I was just lucky. The reason I can safely continue my acting and singing activities is because there are wonderful people around me who help me. This work is the same. I was able to write it because Manager Han here, PD Kim, and the writers in the studio pondered together and created a good working environment for me.”
First of all, it wasn’t an implicit boast of greatness.
If it were, he wouldn’t have shifted the credit to others.
But if you asked if he was just acting humble, that wasn’t it either.
Because Taeha didn’t deny that he was the one who wrote the script.
Crucially, Taeha’s story felt sincere.
The fact that pride could be seen on the faces of Manager Han and Kim Seoan, who were listening to Taeha’s story alongside her, was proof of that.
Taeha even began to explain specifically where Manager Han’s and Kim Seoan’s ideas had been incorporated into the script.
He was explaining so excitedly that it felt as if he were describing his own brilliant ideas.
Eventually, Manager Han, who had been listening for a while, cleared his throat awkwardly, his face reddening.
“Ahem. Ah, Writer. I think that’s enough about me and PD Kim.”
“Huh? Why? We were just getting to the interesting part.”
“We should also hear why Actor Song wanted to meet you in person today.”
“Ah! Right. I got so absorbed in talking that I forgot the most important thing. I’m sorry.”
Song Ji-eun looked at Taeha, who was apologizing so amiably, with a momentarily dazed expression.
Song Ji-eun’s manager also had a look in his eyes that said he was seeing someone like Taeha for the first time.
A brief silence flowed, and Song Ji-eun, who came to her senses a beat late, suddenly started giggling.
Then she spoke.
“I had things I wanted to ask just a while ago, but now I don’t. I’ll just do this project. Let’s sign the contract right here.”
The reason Song Ji-eun said this was simple.
The conviction that even watching him up close, her fantasy about Taeha wouldn’t break.
This conviction had been born from the situation just now.
And so, Song Ji-eun confirmed her appearance in ‘Byeonghwa’.
With Song Ji-eun’s joining, the production of ‘Byeonghwa’ quickly gained momentum.
The fact that it was a work Taeha wrote and starred in alone was enough for it to be scheduled and production confirmed, but with Song Ji-eun joining as well, it was a natural result.
First, they decided on Jo Joong-hoon as the director for ‘Byeonghwa’, a master of domestic historical drama direction.
This time, he really wanted to prioritize the director he had worked with before, but due to the special nature of historical dramas, he couldn’t.
Historical dramas were a genre where various problems were inevitable if one wasn’t experienced.
Especially the issue of historical accuracy.
Due to the nature of dramas, it was difficult to maintain perfect historical accuracy, but to hear that it was faithful to history with almost no flaws, they needed to bring in an experienced director.
Perhaps knowing this, Lee Hae-ik, Yun Taeseong, Jeong Myeong-hwan, Im Kyung-ho, and Shin Seong-jin all expressed reluctance at the fact that Taeha’s next project was a historical drama.
The general opinion was that they could be ambitious with most things, but historical dramas were burdensome.
For that reason, Taeha had no choice but to bring in a new director, and that’s how Jo Joong-hoon joined.
Jo Joong-hoon was a veteran among veterans, having directed historical dramas over four times.
Among them, ‘Yongbieocheonga’, directed by Jo Joong-hoon, was a work that uniquely interpreted the process of King Sejong’s creation of Hangeul and his character, recording a peak viewership rating of 27.3%.
He was a director with immense depth in historical drama direction, and for that reason, Taeha also had no choice but to welcome Jo Joong-hoon’s joining.
Song Ji-eun also seemed satisfied with Jo Joong-hoon’s involvement.
Subsequently, the casting also began to be confirmed one by one.
Since ‘Byeonghwa’ was a historical drama, it had a very large number of characters.
Even the episode count was substantial at twenty-four episodes.
For Taeha, it was his first time challenging such a length.
Until now, he had only worked on twelve-episode and sixteen-episode projects.
But it was unavoidable if he wanted to meticulously cover the Imjin War and the stories within it.
And accordingly, he was worried about the casting for the increased number of characters, but fortunately, the results were good.
For the sub male and female leads, Park Hyeon-je and Han Ji-hee were cast. For the sub-sub male and female leads, Im Geon-won and Im Bo-ram were cast.
Among them, Han Ji-hee and Im Geon-won were actors from AH Entertainment who had been steadily gaining attention and were beginning to produce results.
Han Ji-hee was now at the level of a main female lead in most dramas, and Im Geon-won was at the sub-male lead level.
However, appearing in ‘Byeonghwa’ as a sub-male lead and a sub-sub male lead respectively meant they were willing to lower their own tier for the sake of the work.
For Taeha, it was an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Moreover, since the characters in the work also suited Han Ji-hee and Im Geon-won, it was actually a boon.
Park Hyeon-je and Im Bo-ram were also good actors Taeha had been keeping an eye on for a long time.
Amidst the smooth casting of actors like this, Taeha currently had one concern.
It was the part about what to do with the broadcasting platform.
tvM and Netflix Original.
Taeha was weighing the scales between the two.