Taking on one more job.
It was hard for Taeha to immediately understand what Seon Min-gi was talking about.
It was only natural, since the flow of conversation had suddenly shifted.
But soon enough, Taeha realized what Seon Min-gi was getting at.
Seon Min-gi explained it in his own words.
“There’s a project I’m preparing as my next work.”
“The next project?”
“Yeah. It’s a movie, and I’d like you to appear in it.”
“A movie.”
It was uncommon for an actor to get involved directly in casting.
But if you asked whether it never happened, that wouldn’t be true, either.
With an actor of Seon Min-gi’s stature, not only could he get involved in casting, but he could easily determine the supporting cast lineup as well.
But to be honest, Taeha wasn’t particularly keen on Seon Min-gi’s suggestion.
The reason was simple.
It was because he didn’t quite trust this movie Seon Min-gi had chosen.
After all, Seon Min-gi had chosen the drama for his next work to make up for the failure of the movie .
Thanks to that, Seon Min-gi proved that he had a great eye for dramas and could single-handedly lead a project to success, but that didn’t mean he’d shown the same ability when it came to movies.
In fact, it was fair to say that his eye for movies was still lacking.
For that reason, Taeha couldn’t help but feel skeptical about the movie that Seon Min-gi was offering.
More than anything, Seon Min-gi…
“He’s too obsessed with being the sole lead. That means, the role he’s offering me right now is probably going to be similar in importance to the one Lee Jae-hyun had.”
Of course, taking another supporting role wouldn’t have been a bad thing.
Taeha felt that he had moved up to lead roles a bit too quickly.
So taking on another supporting role and leaving an impression on the public could be a more stable way to continue building his career.
But Taeha was only human.
He naturally wanted a role with more weight than Lee Jae-hyun’s.
Not that he was being greedy.
Just a role that could have a little more influence on the work than Lee Jae-hyun’s did.
That was all he wanted.
But with Seon Min-gi, that was difficult.
“He’ll want to prove he can lead the next movie to success on his own, too.”
Taeha had already clashed with Seon Min-gi during the script reading process of the previous project over a similar issue.
So it was natural for Taeha to have low expectations for the role Seon Min-gi was offering.
But, surprisingly…
“If you accept my offer, you’ll be getting a lead role.”
“A lead role?”
“Yeah. The title itself is . I’m considering a dual-lead production.”
After that, Seon Min-gi explained the story of in detail.
was about a legendary special agent turned killer, Special Agent Killer, and the industry’s top assassin, Killer 8, who compete for a single target, eventually cooperate, and finally defeat the dark mastermind behind it all.
“If you read the script, you’ll see that both main characters’ backstories are depicted very intensely.”
“I see.”
“And since Director Jeong Myeong-hwan is taking the megaphone, you can rest assured that the action scenes, which are the core of this movie, will be top-notch.”
Jeong Myeong-hwan was already one of Republic of Korea’s top action movie directors, with several hits under his belt.
Of course, while he was known for filming flashy action scenes, there were some criticisms that his stories tended to be a bit weak.
But this time seemed different.
Since Seon Min-gi, who placed heavy emphasis on depth of narrative, confirmed that the backstories of the two main characters were well-developed, there was no need to worry.
With a work by Jeong Myeong-hwan, a certain degree of success was guaranteed.
At the very least, five million admissions were assured.
“So just by appearing in it, it’ll be a boost to my career. And since it’s a dual-lead, there’s less pressure.”
Still, it was a bit unexpected.
Taeha hadn’t thought that Seon Min-gi would choose a dual-lead film for his next project.
Unable to contain his curiosity, Taeha asked,
“But a dual-lead? That’s a bit surprising.”
At Taeha’s question, Seon Min-gi smiled wryly and replied.
“You thought I’d want a solo lead again, like with ? Well, I can’t blame you for thinking that. After all, I’ve acted that way before. I actually did try to go that route.”
“Then why?”
“My perspective changed while working with you. I realized that accepting someone’s help isn’t such a bad thing. Actually, it’s…”
“?”
“It’s kind of fun. I got to find out what it feels like to act with someone whose spirit matches mine. That’s why I’m making this offer. Let’s do the next one together too.”
The sincerity in his words could be felt.
It made Taeha happy.
After all, it meant being recognized as an actor by someone.
Especially by someone like Seon Min-gi.
It was surprising, considering their relationship had started off on the wrong foot.
Now, whenever they met, Seon Min-gi was someone who never hesitated to offer Taeha words of encouragement.
“Yeah. This is how bonds form and relationships change between people.”
Still, separate from those thoughts, it was difficult to make a decision about the next project right here and now.
It was certainly a good opportunity, but Taeha hadn’t even seen the script yet.
So Taeha spoke to Seon Min-gi, who was waiting for his answer.
“Would it be alright if I give you my answer after reading the script?”
Seon Min-gi replied readily, as if it was only natural.
“Of course. Do that.”
***
In the end, Taeha decided to join .
It was because the script of , which he read himself, was more complete than he had expected.
Especially impressive was that the narrative, which had consistently been pointed out as Director Jeong Myeong-hwan’s weakness, had been supplemented.
The reason the weakness had been covered was simple.
“A co-writer…”
That’s right.
This time, Jeong Myeong-hwan hadn’t written it alone.
There was a co-writer, and whoever this person was, they seemed to have played a decisive role in complementing Jeong Myeong-hwan’s weaknesses.
The way the script for was written was completely different from his previous works.
After reviewing the script, Taeha also read some other scripts by Jeong Myeong-hwan.
He was curious about how much influence the co-writer had had on .
And when he compared them, the scripts of and the others were noticeably different.
From the way characters exchanged dialogue to how scene directions were written.
There were differences in every aspect.
“Jeong Myeong-hwan’s original scripts always left a lot of blank spaces, probably with direction in mind.”
That was a trait common to most action movie scripts.
In action films, there are inevitably many scenes that are hard to describe with words alone.
Because of that, directors, whose writing skills are often not as polished as professional writers, tend to leave those sections blank.
Even if they wanted to describe them, they often didn’t have the skill, so it was only natural.
But the script for was different.
Even the action scenes were meticulously described.
They even managed to develop the narrative through the action scenes, which was remarkable.
Even Taeha, as a writer himself, couldn’t imagine pulling off such a writing style.
But what was even more surprising was that the name of the co-writer was unfamiliar.
“Im Yeo-jin.”
Even Taeha, who’d worked in the industry for quite a while, had never heard the name.
To be sure it wasn’t just him, he asked Kang Sojeong, Han Yun-seong, and Seon Min-gi, but they all shook their heads.
It was the first time they’d heard the name.
“Is it a new pen name? Surely… not a rookie, right?”
Whether they were a rookie or not, it didn’t matter to Taeha.
He had landed the opportunity to appear as a lead in an action movie with no apparent weaknesses.
Seon Min-gi, after confirming Taeha’s decision by phone, was also satisfied.
– Good decision. You won’t regret it.
With that, Taeha, having expressed his intention to join , focused for a while on writing again.
Before he knew it, was set to air in March next year, and all the roles had been cast.
Now, all that remained was to begin filming in the coming winter.
Taeha’s goal was to finish writing before winter arrived.
“That way, I’ll be able to concentrate on filming , which is scheduled for around the same time.”
It was a pretty tight schedule.
But Taeha never overdid it.
Having experienced overwork before, the scariest word for Taeha was “overdo.”
Fortunately, Taeha had a savior who could share the workload.
Sallamander Studio arranged for a two-room workspace and provided an assistant writer.
When one of the two assistant writers joined first, Taeha felt much more at ease.
He could now delegate tasks like research, organizing meeting notes, and communication with the production team.
Perhaps because this assistant writer already had experience assisting on two works, there was little to worry about.
Looking over the research compiled by assistant writer Jeong Hyo-seop, Taeha thought,
“It’s really lucky that Hyo-seop joined.”
In fact, when the topic of an assistant writer first came up, the first people Taeha thought of were those he’d worked with during .
But after asking around, he found out that both of them were already working elsewhere.
One was working on their own project to make their debut, and the other was already a first assistant writer for a famous author.
So, with no choice but to hire someone new, Taeha had ended up with Jeong Hyo-seop.
And Jeong Hyo-seop was doing even better than expected, which put Taeha’s mind at ease.
Especially considering how many writers suffered unexpected headaches because of their assistants.
Taeha himself had experienced pain working under Baek Seung-chul, having encountered all sorts of people.
So it wasn’t surprising.
No matter the workplace, dealing with people was always the hardest part.
“In that sense, I’m really lucky. During I had a good assistant, and this time I’ve got Hyo-seop.”
Just as Taeha was thinking that,
He received a message from Kim Seoan.
– Writer! The first pick from last week’s interview, Yun Aram, got a job elsewhere.
“Oh, really?”
– Yes. So I think it’d be good to bring in Go Dae-seong, our second pick. What do you think?
Taeha briefly recalled Go Dae-seong’s resume and how he had been at the interview.
He’d graduated from Korea National University’s Journalism and Broadcasting Department, had been preparing for the civil service exam, and now wanted to become a drama writer, so he’d applied as an assistant.
His first impression wasn’t bad, and he answered questions well, so Taeha’s response was positive.
“That sounds good. Please go ahead.”
At the time, Taeha had no idea.
He didn’t know just how much trouble this decision would bring.