A short while later.
At a university campus in Gyeonggi Province.
Im Kyung-ho, the director in charge of *Your Radiant Twinkle*, muttered to himself as he watched the filming set being prepared smoothly.
“Good. Very good.”
It was exactly as he said. He had a very good feeling about this project.
Of course, Im Kyung-ho hadn’t liked *Your Radiant Twinkle* from the very beginning. When the proposal first came from tvM asking if he would take on the project, his thoughts were quite negative.
It wasn’t because he didn’t know about *Virus*. Rather, it was because he knew *Virus* all too well. As a director belonging to tvM who received a monthly salary, it was unthinkable not to have watched it.
He had watched *Virus* from the First Act all the way through the twelfth. It was undoubtedly a magnificent work. Even for Im Kyung-ho, who rarely watched anything other than rom-coms, there was something about it that made his heart race.
Before he knew it, he found himself watching *Virus* not as a director, but as a viewer. This was clear evidence of how excellent the work was. Directors usually suffered from a professional habit of not being able to fully enjoy a work as a viewer; they constantly thought about how this or ê·¸at part could have been better.
But there was none of that with *Virus*. He could simply be surprised and enjoy the drama as it unfolded. The excellence of *Virus* was proven by its popularity and viewership ratings. Thus, Im Kyung-ho acknowledged the work. It was one of the finest thrillers he had ever seen.
However, if someone asked Im Kyung-ho if he wanted to take on a project like *Virus*, his answer was a resounding “No.” This was because he was a director who had only researched and directed rom-coms.
This was why Im Kyung-ho showed a negative reaction when the proposal for the project came to him. He thought his directing style was the polar opposite of the results shown in *Virus*.
He was later informed that the project Taeha had prepared was a campus youth drama, but his negative thoughts only grew. He didn’t think a writer who had written a thriller masterpiece like *Virus* could write a brilliant campus youth drama.
‘I thought it would be a thriller wearing the skin of a campus youth drama.’
However, after reading *Your Radiant Twinkle* a few days later, Im Kyung-ho’s prejudice was thoroughly shattered. *Your Radiant Twinkle* was a perfect campus youth drama. The moment anyone read it, they couldn’t deny that fact.
It wasn’t even a mediocre campus youth drama. It featured the most interesting setting, the most dense story, and the most outstanding character development Im Kyung-ho had ever seen.
It was to the point where, as soon as he finished reading the first four acts of the script, he felt a sense of urgency. He was worried that he might lose the chance to direct it to someone else. It was that excellent of a work.
Because of that, Im Kyung-ho desperately wanted to direct it. And just as he wished, he was confirmed as the director for *Your Radiant Twinkle*.
***
But every path has its crises. *Your Radiant Twinkle* was no exception.
Unexpected crises arose during the preparation process, and one of them was the casting issue. The first problem to surface was the casting of the female lead. No suitable female lead to match Taeha came to mind.
Finally, he thought of Shin So-hee’s face, but honestly, Im Kyung-ho thought the possibility of casting her was low. Shin So-hee was an actress firmly within Baek Seung-chul’s line, after all.
Contrary to his expectations, however, Shin So-hee confirmed her appearance, and he thought he could breathe a sigh of relief.
But then, a second casting problem erupted. It was the issue of casting the sub-roles.
‘The sub-roles in *Your Radiant Twinkle* were just as important as the primary leads.’
Though it dealt with the concept of regression, *Your Radiant Twinkle* was close to a traditional campus youth drama. This meant that other genre elements, such as a killer trying to interfere with the regression, did not appear at all. It focused solely on the romantic narrative of the first and second leads.
And it did so throughout the length of sixteen episodes.
The reason recent rom-com dramas were being reduced to eight or twelve episodes was that sixteen episodes was too much volume to cover only a love story. But even in such a market situation, *Your Radiant Twinkle* insisted on a length of sixteen episodes.
The reason this was possible was simple. The weight of the sub-roles was as large as that of the primary leads. Therefore, the casting of the sub-roles was crucial.
However, there were no suitable actors to cast for those roles. There were very few actors who had the visuals and could also act well. There were some, but their recognition was too high for them to enter as sub-roles under Taeha.
In the end, after much deliberation, Taeha and Im Kyung-ho decided to hold an audition. They decided to choose actors with good visuals and acting ability, even if they had to give up on name recognition entirely.
An audition was held with about 100 actors participating. The sub-male lead and sub-female lead selected through this audition were Han Woo-ri and Kim Se-mi, respectively.
That was right. Han Woo-ri, who had previously formed a bond with Taeha in *Those Who Were Scattered*, took on the role of the sub-male lead.
‘It’s not that Taeha picked Woo-ri because of personal connections, though.’
On the contrary, when Taeha first discovered Han Woo-ri’s name, his expression wasn’t very good. He looked like he was worried that Han Woo-ri wouldn’t be able to handle the sub-male lead role in *Your Radiant Twinkle* well.
For that reason, Im Kyung-ho couldn’t help but ask a question before the judging began.
“What is it, Taeha? Is there a name you recognize?”
“There is, but…”
“Then isn’t that a good thing?”
“It’s just that I’m a bit worried…”
“Ah. Is his acting not good?”
“His emotional acting and physical acting aren’t bad, but his delivery of lines is a bit awkward. He’s a good actor, but I’m worried that his ‘temperature’ doesn’t quite match the sub-male lead we’re looking for.”
The sub-male lead in *Your Radiant Twinkle* had a significant amount of dialogue, as befitted a high-profile role. There was even quite a bit of narration given, and if the lines weren’t delivered well, problems were bound to arise in that area.
“…It’s certainly a bit awkward to run into someone you know in a place like this. But we have to be cold-hearted. You know that, right?”
“Yes. I know. That’s why I feel even worse.”
A short while later.
Han Woo-ri appeared at the audition site. Im Kyung-ho watched Taeha and Han Woo-ri greet each other warmly before speaking.
“Then, let’s begin. Applicant, please look at the script fragment on the tablet in front of you and perform an impromptu scene.”
And then, Han Woo-ri’s acting began. Im Kyung-ho tilted his head as he watched him. It wasn’t because the acting was bad. On the contrary, it was because he was so good, unlike what he had heard from Taeha.
In fact, his acting was better than any of the actors they had seen previously. The lines felt like they were sticking perfectly to his mouth.
Sure enough, Taeha was also watching Han Woo-ri’s acting with wide, surprised eyes. It was clear from that. Even Taeha hadn’t expected Han Woo-ri to act this well.
Thus, Han Woo-ri snatched the sub-male lead position through fair audition results. Though not quite as impressive as Han Woo-ri, Kim Se-mi, who was cast as the sub-female lead afterward, was also a decent actress.
In conclusion, the casting problem, which had been the biggest obstacle, was resolved well. But that didn’t mean all the crises for *Your Radiant Twinkle* had been averted.
***
The next crisis that arrived was the one stemming from the fact that Taeha was both the writer and the actor.
‘Actually, this was a concern from the moment Taeha said he would play the lead role while also being the writer.’
Im Kyung-ho also thought there was no better actor than Taeha for the male lead of *Your Radiant Twinkle*. However, that didn’t mean the difficulties of being both a writer and an actor disappeared. If anything, those difficulties seemed to become more pronounced as the days went by.
It was inevitable, as both Taeha’s role as a writer and his role as an actor became increasingly important in *Your Radiant Twinkle*.
The event that symbolically revealed this problem and caused many people concern was the script reading. It looked precarious for him to participate in the reading while acting a significant amount as the male lead, only to suddenly switch his position to writer and provide acting coaching.
Taeha himself seemed composed, but those watching couldn’t help but feel anxious. Even Im Kyung-ho kept thinking after that day about whether it was right to continue this way.
He was especially worried about the script. At that time, the script hadn’t been completed up to sixteen episodes yet. Therefore, he was worried that if Taeha faltered like this, the script might not turn out well.
However—
‘It was all for nothing.’
The script for *Your Radiant Twinkle*, which eventually came out all the way to sixteen episodes, was perfect. To the point where his whole body felt hot just from reading it.
And this was the reason Im Kyung-ho was having a good premonition now. Having crossed two major mountains in the process of preparing for filming, Im Kyung-ho no longer felt the same anxiety as before.
Instead, he felt a sense of stability that he hadn’t felt while directing any other work. He had a pleasant premonition that everything would work out as long as he was with Taeha.
And this was the certainty that the writer named Taeha conveyed through the script. It was always like that. In a collaborative effort where no one wanted to take responsibility, the only person who could give certainty to others was the writer.
And the only means by which a writer could give certainty to others was the script. The reason many dramas lost their way among too many captains was that there was no certainty in the script.
But such certainty always existed in Taeha’s scripts. Since the script was perfectly completed up to sixteen episodes, the certainty was bound to double.
Now, all that remained was to carry this atmosphere, full of certainty, into the actual set. And Im Kyung-ho had no worries about that part either.
‘Because this is almost the only drama set in the Republic of Korea where the writer is present on-site.’
It was just as Im Kyung-ho was feeling satisfaction with a faint smile on his lips.
“Director!”
Someone called out to him, and as Im Kyung-ho turned his head, a smile bloomed on his face like a spring flower in full burst.
The person who called Im Kyung-ho was Taeha. He had already perfectly transformed into the male lead of *Your Radiant Twinkle* before the cue signal was even given.
Filming began.