Chapter 31: Between Writing and Casting

After filming Part 13 of , Taeha was given quite a bit of free time.

Even as he communicated with SA 1 Entertainment and Sallamander Studio regarding the writer’s contract, it was the same.

With the filming schedule that had run day and night now gone, he felt like the time he could actually use had expanded greatly.

Thanks to that, Taeha was able to rest sufficiently.

Following his usual routine from his days as a writer, he caught up on all the works he hadn’t been able to watch because of his busy filming schedule.

And, according to the habit that had developed after his possession, he diligently exercised two to three hours a day.

Once he felt fully recharged, SA 1 Entertainment’s approval came, and his contract with Sallamander Studio was completed.

Now, it was time to quickly write the script for , which he had put off.

“With only up to Part 3 finished, there’s not enough material to send the script to the Broadcast Station and the agency.”

To circulate the script, he needed at least four episodes.

Even this was the standard in the industry.

In Taeha’s case, there was a possibility that the Broadcast Station or agency might ask for even more episodes.

The reason was simple.

Taeha was a rookie writer, and usually, rookie writers’ scripts lacked ‘reliability.’

There had been actual cases where a rookie writer’s script was entertaining from Parts 1 to 4, but then suddenly began to collapse.

For rookie writers with no experience completing a work, it was unavoidable.

But this was just the situation of rookie writers.

The Broadcast Station and the agency needed certainty that the work wouldn’t fall apart before its conclusion.

That’s why they typically demanded at least four episodes from new writers.

Sometimes, they even asked to see as many as eight episodes.

Of course, Taeha was a writer who didn’t need to worry about these things.

In fact, he was an established writer, not a rookie.

He’d even been highly praised for works that were strong from beginning to end.

However, since he couldn’t reveal this fact, Taeha felt it was necessary to write as much of the script as possible to prepare for the Broadcast Station and agency’s requests.

And Taeha considered this situation in a positive light.

“It’s not actually such a bad thing for me.”

A typical rookie writer might find this situation nerve-wracking.

If you wrote up to eight episodes but the work wasn’t scheduled or cast, you’d just be wasting your time.

But Taeha was certain that his work would definitely be made into a drama and broadcast.

He had this certainty because he trusted Choi Daepyo’s eye for talent and his ability to get things done.

“He’s the one who recognized when nobody else would even look at it, and somehow managed to get it made into a drama. Of course I should trust him.”

If you couldn’t trust someone like that, then who could you trust?

So, Taeha was actually satisfied with the situation where he had to quickly write up to eight episodes.

If he finished up to episode eight before full-scale filming began, it would be easier to prepare for variables.

Especially since Taeha also had to keep his acting activities in mind.

And in reality, Taeha couldn’t focus solely on writing the script.

In the midst of writing, he also had to consider his next acting project.

“Maybe because I showed a decent side in , more scripts have been coming in to my agency than before.”

Naturally, most of them were for Supporting Actor roles.

It was only natural, since Taeha hadn’t shown much as an actor yet.

Once in a while, he’d even be offered a Sub Role, but usually the scale of those works was lacking.

“To be honest, I don’t really care if the role is small or the project’s scale isn’t big…”

What Taeha valued most.

It was the work’s level of completion.

As long as the quality of the project was high, he was willing to take small roles or participate in small-scale works.

Not just rookie actors—anyone would see that as the most important thing, and honestly, now wasn’t the time to be picky.

“But unfortunately, there isn’t a single script that stands out in terms of completion.”

Just in case, he’d asked Kang Sojeong for some scripts, but the results were the same.

He could have gotten projects with better roles or a larger scale, but the completion was hardly any different.

“Should I lower my standards a bit…”

He thought this for a moment, but Taeha shook his head.

He still had plenty of time, so there was no need to get impatient.

That’s how it was when Taeha finished writing up to episode four.

“How about you, the writer, take on the male lead of yourself?”

He received a proposal from Choi Daepyo that he never would have imagined.

***

“Huh?”

Sallamander Studio’s representative office.

Sitting together with Im Chan-hyung and Kim Seoan, Taeha asked back after hearing Choi Daepyo’s suggestion.

It was only natural.

While writing , he’d never once considered appearing in it himself.

As someone who hadn’t yet built up recognition as a leading actor, it was to be expected.

Especially since was, without a doubt, a male-lead one-top story.

The drama itself began with the male lead’s return.

“But for me, who barely managed to get a Sub Role in one drama, to be the Main Character of … That’s just ridiculous.”

Regardless of his acting skills, for the sake of the work’s success, it was just unthinkable.

Sincerely feeling this way, Taeha slowly shook his head and opened his mouth.

“For me to be the Male Lead of … That’s absolutely impossible. We wouldn’t even get scheduled, and we couldn’t even find a director willing to shoot the project.”

While calmly answering, he had another thought.

Maybe Choi Daepyo was joking on purpose.

There was no way Choi Daepyo hadn’t thought the same as Taeha.

“Maybe he thought I was greedy for a role in and said that to test me.”

But contrary to Taeha’s guess, Choi Daepyo’s expression was serious.

“You don’t have to worry about scheduling or finding a director. There may be some difficulties, but if we mobilize all the capabilities of Sallamander Studio, we should be able to handle them.”

It wasn’t impossible.

The standing of Sallamander Studio now was much different than when they made .

In an era where dramas and all sorts of content were flooding the market, having every single project they’d produced in the past year succeed was an enormous achievement.

Even if they had to push a little harder, it probably wouldn’t be impossible to get the work scheduled or to find a director willing to take it on.

However, after giving it some thought, Taeha shook his head again.

“Even so, I can’t take on the Male Lead of . In fact, I don’t think I should appear in any role at all.”

“Pardon?”

“They’ll definitely say, ‘He wrote a drama himself just so he could move up to lead roles.’ There will be talk, for sure. And it’s not just about the production process. If I appear in in any form, it’ll be a problem even after the drama is aired.”

“You mean, it’ll break the viewers’ immersion?”

“Yes, that’s right. has no comedic elements at all—it’s a consistently serious, tension-filled work. If an actor who doesn’t match the level of the work appears as an event, it’ll definitely break the atmosphere.”

After Taeha finished speaking, he looked around to see Im Chan-hyung and Kim Seoan nodding.

Of course, Im Chan-hyung seemed to feel a bit of regret at Taeha having to give up the chance to step up as a lead actor.

But after hearing Taeha’s explanation, he understood that it couldn’t be helped.

On the other hand, Kim Seoan was sending Taeha a gaze full of active support.

That meant she already had a negative opinion of Taeha becoming the Male Lead of .

“So, it seems like making me the Male Lead was just Choi Daepyo’s idea alone.”

Taeha thought to himself, but he didn’t feel the slightest disappointment.

Rather, it was natural for someone like Kim Seoan to react that way.

Im Chan-hyung eventually expressed his agreement, swallowing his lingering regret—that was proof enough.

However, Choi Daepyo didn’t seem to have given up on casting Taeha as the Male Lead just yet.

“I agree with you, Writer. For the sake of the work’s success, it’s the rational choice.”

“Exactly.”

“But I still wish you would take on the Male Lead. There’s no one who could understand and portray the Main Character better than the writer himself.”

The project’s completion.

In the end, Choi Daepyo wanted Taeha to appear in the drama for the sake of its overall quality.

That was just how Choi Daepyo was.

Someone who valued a work’s level of completion as much as Taeha did, and would take any risk for it.

If he hadn’t been that kind of person, he would never have discovered , which was dropped from the competition, and pushed it through to production.

But Taeha had one question.

“But, Director, how can you be so sure that I can play the Main Character well? The only time I’ve shown my acting in public was as a Supporting Actor in …”

Choi Daepyo smiled and replied.

“That’s all I needed to see. The very fact that a Supporting Actor made an impact in every scene is extraordinary. But you did it. You even managed to stand toe-to-toe with Han Yunseong in terms of presence.”

“Ah…”

Hearing Choi Daepyo’s words, Taeha understood.

He realized why Choi Daepyo thought so highly of his acting.

But even so, what wasn’t possible just wasn’t possible.

“Thank you for your compliment about my acting, but… My opinion hasn’t changed. Even the quality of a project is meaningless if there’s no one to appreciate it.”

Taeha expressed his opinion firmly.

So Choi Daepyo accepted that and backed off.

Since he was the only one pushing for Taeha to be the Male Lead, there was nothing he could do.

“If you’re that adamant, then I have no choice. I’ll respect your opinion and circulate the casting call to other actors. Should I try the list you gave me last time for the Main Character casting?”

“Yes. If you do that, I’d appreciate it.”

From the beginning, Taeha had a few actors in mind for the Male Lead when writing .

Not only the Male Lead, but he’d also considered the Female Lead.

Fortunately, this list didn’t differ much from Sallamander Studio’s.

There were just minor differences in order of priority.

Since the Male Lead had a higher weight in the project, they planned to try that first.

With that, Taeha spent a few more minutes discussing casting details with Choi Daepyo, narrowing their opinions.

And it seemed the meeting was about to end like that.

But before closing, Choi Daepyo added one more thing.

“Lastly, regarding the Main Character casting, I’d like to add one more condition—do you think that would be possible?”

***

Two months later.

While Taeha had finished writing up to episode six, the long-awaited broadcast day for finally arrived.

As he awaited the premiere of , Taeha thought to himself.

“Could it really… end up just like Choi Daepyo said?”