While Taeha was writing < Virus >, the part he focused on the most was breaking away from Baek Seung-chul’s formula for Success.
Because of that, he had no choice but to focus on the composition, which was expressed as a reversal appearing at the end of every Episode.
However, it was also true that there were deficiencies.
Because he focused too much on the composition, weaknesses appeared in the relationships between the characters.
Of course, no one thought of this part.
It was only natural.
It was difficult to even think that there would be a flaw in a work that recorded a 14.9% viewership rating.
In fact, the character relationships that Taeha considered a weakness were the parts that viewers praised as the greatest strength of < Virus >.
If it weren’t for these relationships, neither Han Seo-yul’s character, struggling to stop No Ji-hee, nor No Ji-hee’s character, determined to destroy the World despite Han Seo-yul’s interference, would have come to life.
And because this was sufficiently realized, it was able to receive the love of the viewers.
However, as the Writer of < Virus >, Taeha had no choice but to focus more sensitively on the work.
And because of that, he was able to catch the flaws of < Virus > that were difficult for others to discover.
“For < Virus > to have been a better work, Han Seo-yul and No Ji-hee should have been more closely connected narratively.”
In particular, what Taeha felt regretful about was No Ji-hee’s narrative.
In < Virus >, No Ji-hee was depicted as a character who wished for the tragic end of the Earth because she feared the loneliness of dying alone.
However, because this objective was depicted without a specific trigger, the character of No Ji-hee lost the opportunity to step forward to the front forever.
This was also the reason why Taeha publicly spoke of No Ji-hee as an assistant to Han Seo-yul.
Ultimately, No Ji-hee could only function as a character who provided the driving force for Han Seo-yul to stop the apocalypse due to the limits of her depth.
And the fact that the Namju and Yeojoo were not closely intertwined was also due to the narrative weakness held by the character of No Ji-hee.
If No Ji-hee’s narrative had been strong, the relationship between the two would have clearly possessed a more complex and subtle power.
“Of course, this was also due to the limitations of the Volume.”
However, it was also Taeha who conceived this work as a 12-Episode series.
No one forced Taeha to write this work in a 12-Episode Volume.
Rather, since it was a work predicted for Success, he was told that a 16-Episode series would be better.
That meant that if Taeha had given No Ji-hee a sufficient narrative, this drama could have been extended to 16 Episodes.
However, he failed to do so, and he only realized that there was a problem with this choice after nearly finishing the writing of < Virus >.
And this was the reason why Taeha chose a work that could focus on character relationships for his next project.
Since he had already achieved the goal of breaking away from Baek Seung-chul’s formula for Success, he decided to overcome the weaknesses that arose during that process.
In that way, a work where characters and relationships were important came to Taeha’s mind.
When he thought about it, there were more varieties of such works than he expected.
And among them, Taeha categorized the works he definitely wanted to write.
Overcoming the newly emerged weakness was an important goal, but as a Writer, the most important task was ultimately writing an interesting story.
And the genre selected like that was a Roko.
“As expected, it’s right to write a Roko. There’s no genre where the relationships between characters are more clearly revealed than a love story.”
Having narrowed down the scope this way, the final decision was a campus youth story.
The reason Taeha specifically chose a campus youth story among countless love stories was simple.
It was because Taeha’s current age was the best age to Film a campus youth story.
In fact, if he grew older, he might not be able to Film a campus youth story depending on the situation.
This was because there was no telling if Taeha’s fresh appearance might change for the worse.
Because of that, he also set the relationship between the Namju and Yeojoo as an older woman-younger man couple.
It was Taeha’s judgment that he couldn’t take on the Yeonhanam image if not for now.
In conclusion, Taeha’s next project was….
“So you are intending to write a work where you are the Main Character.”
After hearing all of Taeha’s explanation, Han Yun-seong spoke.
Taeha calmly watched Han Yun-seong drink soju and then nodded his head.
“Actually, it was a story discussed since < Virus >. I stepped back because I felt my skills and recognition were still lacking. But I’m thinking it might be good to take on the challenge from the next project.”
To be honest, he still lacked certainty.
Whether it would be okay to directly appear in a work he wrote.
And as the Main Character at that.
However, Taeha made up his mind this time.
Because if one doesn’t challenge themselves due to the risks, certain things will never happen.
Han Yun-seong also seemed to understand why Taeha had such thoughts.
“Certainly, < Virus > had aspects that were too good to give to someone else. Since it was such a good work. Then, should you never be greedy for the Main Character of your own works from now on?”
“No way. I might write a two-top story next time, or a work where several Main Character-level figures appear. Above all… if the next project where I am the Main Character doesn’t go well, I’ll have to go looking for good actors again. Someone like you.”
As Taeha added the last part like a joke, the expression of Im Chan-hyung, who was sitting with them, stiffened.
It was because anxiety and worry arose just by imagining the possibility of the next project’s failure.
However, Han Yun-seong dismissed this part.
“How could the next project where you are the Main Character not go well? It’s a work where both the piece and the actor are S-class. Don’t even keep such a possibility in mind. Just think about this.”
“Think about what?”
“The thought of what scene it would be good to have Yun-seong appear in as a cameo.”
“Ah.”
“We have those discord rumors. To prove that’s not true, a cameo appearance is a must.”
He would make a cameo appearance.
The reason Han Yun-seong brought this up first was clear.
It was not only to fully support and back Taeha, but also to prove that he had no hard feelings about not being cast as the Lead Role.
Because of that, as Taeha, he couldn’t help but feel grateful for Han Yun-seong’s consideration.
Just as Taeha was feeling moved.
“How is it? Good, right?”
Han Yun-seong, who was about to have another glass of soju, added this and gave a playful wink.
It was a wink from Han Yun-seong, who once made countless people laugh and cry in the role of a Yeonhanam.
The somewhat fatal support toward the new Yeonhanam was…
‘He’s drunk.’
As Taeha thought, it came from drunkenness.
Seon Min-gi’s drinking habit of turning into a Black Flame Dragon.
Surprisingly, the drinking habit of another top-tier actor, Han Yun-seong, was acting cute.
***
The next day.
Taeha, who woke up a little later than usual, recalled yesterday’s events while drinking water from the purifier.
“I really burned myself out.”
Normally, Taeha wouldn’t touch a drop of alcohol for the sake of his body.
But yesterday, he couldn’t help but drink.
It was only natural since so many people came to offer Taeha a congratulatory drink.
Even after Han Yun-seong, many people visited Taeha’s table.
Actors, staff, Broadcast Station officials, production company officials, and so on.
All of their interests were focused on Taeha’s next campus youth project.
And Taeha had to drink while dealing with these people until the gathering ended.
‘Still, I’m glad I seemed to handle it well without getting completely drunk until the end. I’m relieved to know this body is strong against alcohol.’
He had poured so much down yesterday, but even now, his body didn’t feel that bad.
It felt like he could even start working if he set his mind to it.
But Taeha didn’t overdo it.
He planned to rest fully today and start working from tomorrow.
Considering the future Schedule, it was good to have sufficient rest.
‘Because I have to prepare the campus youth story while handling the promotional Schedule for < Killer × Killer >.’
Unlike when he appeared in other works, a fairly tight promotional Schedule was currently given to Taeha.
Considering that Taeha played the role of Ian, one of the two top protagonists in < Killer × Killer >, it wasn’t a strange thing.
In addition, since he recently appeared on < Great Saturday > and showed a decent performance in terms of variety, there was no reason to leave Taeha out of this Schedule.
“Of course, the performance on < Great Saturday > was forgotten by everyone.”
Even for a Film, it wasn’t over just because the promotional Schedule was completed and it was released.
As long as the Film was in theaters, he had to go on stage greetings to theaters across the country.
Only then was it possible to reach the audience numbers that could be considered a Success indicator for the Film.
In conclusion, the third quarter of this year meant he had to pour energy into the release of < Killer × Killer >.
And he had to do that while simultaneously writing the campus youth story.
“For the campus youth story too, it would be good to finish writing 4 Episodes by the end of this year, finish programming and casting, and then go into Filming.”
Furthermore, Taeha didn’t intend to focus only on Film promotion and writing the campus youth story.
Before < Killer × Killer > was released, he hoped to find a work he could appear in as an actor and enter Filming by the end of the year.
It was Taeha’s thought that he shouldn’t neglect his career as an actor just by relying on the campus youth story.
To summarize, for Taeha, the tasks of the release of < Killer × Killer > in the second half of this year, writing 4 Episodes of the campus youth story, and reviewing and starting Filming for a project he would appear in remained.
A quite tight Schedule.
It wasn’t strange that Taeha decided to rest fully today.
Because if he couldn’t rest in between like this, he might end up dying from overwork once again.
‘Yes. Let’s not overdo it. Rest when I can, and postpone what can be postponed.’
Fortunately, writing 4 Episodes of the campus youth story and reviewing and starting Filming for a project were Schedules that could be adjusted.
Taeha intended to adjust these two Schedules according to the situation.
Because the most important thing to maintain was, after all, work-life balance.
‘Alright. Since I’ve decided to rest today anyway, should I post the wrap party photos I took yesterday on MyStar and then log into Planet?’
Just like that, Taeha posted a thank-you message along with photos on MyStar, which now had 400,000 followers.
Since he had already posted his thoughts on the wrap-up on the fan cafe, the text wasn’t longer than usual.
Actually, the text wasn’t very important for such photos.
Because what the fans were looking forward to were photos where they could catch a glimpse of the wrap party.
Proof of that was how reporters immediately scrapped the photos Taeha posted and wrote articles.
A moment later, after finishing the MyStar photo upload, Taeha immediately logged into Planet.
Planet was full of messages Taeha had sent periodically during the wrap party.
Even the last message was one sent from inside the car on the way Home.
In this way, Taeha was sincere in communicating with his fans.
Even in the midst of a busy schedule, he never stopped communicating.
The reason was simple.
Just as the fans relieved stress and found peace of mind through communicating with Taeha, Taeha also felt that way.
[Were you worried that I might not have come to my senses yet?]
[I’m fine, you don’t have to worry.]
[Rather, I kept laughing because of the wrap party yesterday.]
[I remembered Yun-seong winking and pretending to be fatal because he was drunk.]
Taeha briefly shared the story of Yun-seong’s wink.
Thanks to that, Planet, which had been in a lull for a moment, soon became lively.
It was the sight of Taeha taking a rest before full-scale handling of his Schedule.
***
A few days later.
Finally, the production presentation for < Killer × Killer > was held.
It was the first production presentation Taeha participated in.
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