[As expected, I knew things would go well, Writer-nim!]
[Please don’t forget the promise you made with me.]
After the broadcast of Part 2 of ended, a message like this came in.
Since then, Choi Daepyo hadn’t contacted Tae-ha for a while.
Even when Lee Jae-hyun’s character started drawing attention in episodes 8 and 9 and Tae-ha’s name began to circulate,
it was the same.
Choi Daepyo maintained an unusual silence.
Anyone else might have thought that Choi Daepyo had forgotten the promise.
But not Tae-ha.
In fact, this reaction from Choi Daepyo was even more unsettling.
Because Tae-ha knew better than anyone that Choi Daepyo wasn’t the kind of person to easily forget a promise.
Sure enough.
After the broadcast of episode 10, Tae-ha finally received a call from Choi Daepyo.
It was right after Seon Min-gi invited him over to his house.
[These days, I keep hearing from other drama writers under contract with Sallamander Studio. They say they want to cast Kang Tae-ha as the main lead. At this point, it seems like the conditions are met, but Writer-nim, what do you think?]
Honestly, Tae-ha still couldn’t quite believe it.
He had only taken a sub role in a single project, but now he was gaining recognition at the level of a lead role.
No matter how much demand there was for talented young male actors that the market couldn’t fully satisfy, this wasn’t something that came easily.
Of course, that didn’t mean Tae-ha had grown into the number one leading actor for casting.
Strictly speaking, it was more accurate to consider himself around the third in line.
He had never once played an actual main lead role, so it was natural.
But putting all that aside, the very fact that he was being talked about as a lead role was amazing in itself.
It was proof of just how much recognition Tae-ha had gained thanks to .
As Tae-ha reflected on all that had happened, lost in thought,
Im Chan-hyung, who was driving, spoke up.
“With episode 13 airing today, the drama community is on fire. The amazing thing is that nearly all the talk is about you.”
“Even more than Seon Min-gi sunbae?”
“Yeah. Even more than Seon Min-gi sunbae. Actually, it’s not just the community. Everywhere, your name keeps coming up. It’s like you’re trending in real time.”
Hearing Im Chan-hyung say that, Tae-ha was once again taken aback.
But at the same time, he could understand.
From the viewers’ perspective, Lee Jae-hyun was now a ‘dead person’—someone they couldn’t meet again, even if they wanted to.
That meant people would inevitably feel more lingering emotions toward Lee Jae-hyun.
“…I should reach out once more to Director-nim and Writer-nim to thank them. After all, I only got this opportunity thanks to them.”
But for now, it was more urgent to think about what to do going forward than to send messages of thanks.
He needed to give Choi Daepyo an answer about whether he would personally take on the male lead role in .
As Tae-ha wrestled with his dilemma, Im Chan-hyung glanced at him and cautiously spoke.
“…If it’s alright, can I honestly share my thoughts?”
“Hmm? Sure, of course. Speak freely. If not you, who else is going to talk to me like this?”
“Well then… I’d like it if you took the male lead in .”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Actually, even if it’s not , it doesn’t matter. Any project is fine, as long as you’re the male lead. So you can stand proudly before everyone. That’s my dream.”
“Ever since I first brought up the idea of you becoming an actor, I’ve imagined this. Ever since I decided to walk the path of a manager, my wish was for my actor to become a main lead.”
It was unexpected—and something Tae-ha was hearing for the first time.
Nowhere in Kang Tae-ha’s memory had there ever been anything about Im Chan-hyung’s dream.
But for a manager, having their actor become the male lead was their own personal dream.
It made Tae-ha think, once again, how truly blessed he was to have such people around him.
But Im Chan-hyung’s words didn’t end there.
While Tae-ha was lost in thought, Im Chan-hyung continued.
“But honestly, it’s a little scary. I wonder if it’s really a good thing for my dream to come true so quickly. Even though I think there’s no one else who could do justice to the script of like you, I still wonder if it’s right for you to be both the writer and the male lead.”
It was a truly candid confession.
To be honest, even Tae-ha wasn’t certain about this part.
There were cases where actors wrote the script and also acted in them.
But among such projects, not many were successful.
Especially domestically, such cases were very rare.
That’s why, for Tae-ha, taking on both writer and actor roles was a huge challenge.
Even though he had gained recognition at the lead role level, he hesitated to take on the male lead in for this very reason.
Because he was afraid he might ruin his own work with his own hands.
Because he was worried he might turn the expectations of many people into disappointment.
And since he’d never once truly succeeded in a lead role, the worry was even greater.
“That’s why I think stepping back here is also an option. First, you solidify your position as an actor and as a writer, then you can aim for doing both in the future.”
Tae-ha nodded at Im Chan-hyung’s last words.
At the same time, he made up his mind.
How he would decide this matter.
“Thank you. For everything you said. I’ll keep it in mind when I make my decision.”
Tae-ha replied, and Im Chan-hyung smiled.
“No, I should be the one to thank you. Whatever choice you make, I’ll respect it.”
Before they knew it, the car Im Chan-hyung was driving had pulled up near Tae-ha’s home.
***
Meanwhile.
At the same time.
Han Yun-seong let out a long-held breath after finishing reading the newly printed script at his house.
“Phew…”
This was Han Yun-seong’s reaction whenever he encountered a great script.
And that meant the script Han Yun-seong had just read was that good.
“No, it’s not just good. Finally, a work like this has come my way.”
Unconsciously clenching his fist, Han Yun-seong thought.
He couldn’t help it.
With a smile that lifted spirits just by looking at him and exceptional acting skills, Han Yun-seong had quickly risen to lead status.
Yet, ironically, that very image made him feel even more thirst for acting than anyone else.
His image had become too fixed in the “younger guy” mold, and the roles he could take were limited.
It was one of Han Yun-seong’s ongoing concerns since he became an actor.
Of course, thanks to the recent success of , he had been able to shed some of that image, but there were still limits.
Roles emphasizing a soft image kept coming his way.
Come to think of it, was like that too.
Because of his delicate face, the main character suffered, vowed revenge, and carried it out.
So, in a way, he was cast in because of his gentle appearance.
But Han Yun-seong wanted to break free from that image completely.
And finally, a script that met those criteria landed in Han Yun-seong’s hands.
It was the very script he had just finished reading up to episode 8.
“With this work, I can completely overturn the image I’ve had. There’s not a single part in the script that hints at a soft image.”
The male lead role offered to Han Yun-seong this time was a man fighting desperately to prevent a disaster in the future.
So there was no need to show a gentle image like before, nor to depict the process of overcoming and turning into a villain.
Simply playing the role faithfully would allow him to show a completely different side from all his previous acting.
“And it’s not just the role that’s good. The script itself is fun. More than any other work I’ve read so far.”
Han Yun-seong prided himself on having a keen eye for scripts.
But for this one, he thought even that wasn’t necessary.
Just reading the script gave him the conviction it would be a masterpiece.
That’s why Han Yun-seong thought,
“Thank goodness. I almost missed out on this work.”
In fact, Han Yun-seong had almost never read this script.
He was one of the hottest actors in the drama industry these days, so a huge number of scripts came his way.
Because of that, his agency did a first round of filtering.
They judged it would be too much for Han Yun-seong to review every script and choose his next project.
Among the scripts that came in, today’s script wasn’t included.
And if things had continued like that, Han Yun-seong would have missed the casting for this work.
But Han Yun-seong happened to read the script by chance.
[Yun-seong-ah. Didn’t you say none of the scripts you’ve read lately really appealed to you?]
[Yeah, I did. Why?]
[Well. There’s this one script that the company ultimately decided not to accept after a lot of deliberation, but I thought you might want to take a look.]
[The final rejected work? On purpose?]
[Yeah. The reason it was 51 to 49 in favor of rejection was because it’s by a rookie writer. There’s uncertainty, or so they said. But in my opinion, it has potential. No, honestly, it’s the best I’ve read recently.]
[Really? Then send it over. I’ll give it a read, just in case.]
It was a suggestion from his manager, who usually didn’t have much confidence in picking scripts.
So when Han Yun-seong received the script, he didn’t expect much.
He just wanted to encourage his manager, who seemed really regretful and had lost confidence after missing a recent promotion.
But the work he read turned out to be a flower blooming in the mud.
“How could the majority fail to recognize this work? Even if it is from a rookie writer…”
The thought crossed his mind for a moment.
But Han Yun-seong quickly shook his head.
That was how it was.
Sometimes, even industry experts failed to recognize a true gem.
When you got too caught up in details, you could miss what was really important.
It wasn’t for nothing that rising stars sometimes stumbled after picking a bad project.
“In the end, what matters is that this script came to me… But this isn’t the time to think. I should contact the company right away and say I want to accept the casting offer.”
If he hesitated and missed the opportunity, it would be a disaster.
The only saving grace was that with rookie writers, it was difficult for any actor to quickly confirm casting.
Considering that the company received scripts up to episode 8, that was probably the case here.
So, despite the late hour, Han Yun-seong called the casting manager.
“I just finished reading the script for that came in with the offer for the male lead. If the casting isn’t confirmed yet, I’d really like to do it. Is that possible?”
That’s right.
The script Han Yun-seong had just read—
It was none other than Tae-ha’s .