Chapter 82: The Writer Who Returned

The production company for Love Some.

I had been confirmed as the male lead, and today was the first meeting where everyone gathered to greet one another.

“Hello~”

“Oh! Hyunjae-ssi! Congratulations!”

“Thank you.”

Every staff member I passed offered words of congratulations.

“I knew it had to be you the moment I saw that five-minute video. No lie, I replayed it at least ten times myself.”

“Really?”

“Of course!”

I wasn’t sure if that was true, but the praise still felt good.

“The director and writer will be here soon, so just wait a little.”

“Yes!”

I had arrived earlier than scheduled, so I was the first one there.

“Here, have some snacks while you wait.”

The staff member pushed a bag of treats toward me and left the conference room. 

I was alone for a moment when the door opened again.

“Huh? Hyunjae-ssi!”

The person who stepped in was none other than the female lead, Haewon.

“Hello.”

It had been a long time since we last spoke. We hadn’t been in contact at all since the dating rumors with Ji Seojin.

“It’s been forever! I really have nothing to say to you… I’m so sorry.”

Haewon immediately apologized. 

The drama had nearly fallen apart because of the rumors, so her reaction was understandable.

Of course, they had denied dating, but everyone in the industry knew it was a lie.

“No, no~ You don’t need to apologize to me.”

“Sigh… Even if I had ten mouths, I wouldn’t have an excuse.”

“You must have gone through a lot yourself, sunbaenim. Are you okay?”

Ji Seojin had cut ties and run away alone, leaving Haewon to take all the fallout.

“…I’m never dealing with people in this industry again.”

She really did seem deeply hurt.

They’ve already broken up.

I could tell without her saying it directly.

“You’ll meet someone much better.”

“I have to get over the breakup with work. I’m putting my life into this drama.”

She clenched her lips, showing her determination.

“Anyway, I’m so happy to be working with you, Hyunjae-ssi! I watched the live broadcast in real time.”

“You did?”

“I completely fell for your improv acting. You were amazing. Honestly, even I thought it was incredibly difficult.”

“Haha, thank you.”

“I heard Lee Myungmin sunbaenim praised you too?”

“Ah~ I saw that.”

After the broadcast ended, clips of my acting spread everywhere. 

Then a video surfaced of Lee Myungmin—the actor I had performed with—praising me to his fans.

“Getting recognition from Lee Myungmin sunbaenim is seriously cool.”

With her naturally bright personality, Haewon kept the conversation flowing without a single awkward pause.

“To think I’d be meeting you as Kang Ha.”

“I never imagined this either.”

When I first received the script, I hadn’t even planned on joining the project—let alone becoming the male lead.

“This must be fate. Ah! Have you heard who the writer is?”

“No! Do you know?”

I had been dying to know, but Hyungkyu refused to tell me no matter what.

“Huh? The writer was decided the same day you were confirmed—haven’t you heard yet?”

“Our CEO kept saying I’d know when I saw them.”

“Haha, he must’ve wanted to surprise you. The writer is…”

Just as Haewon was about to reveal the name, the conference room door burst open and a group of people poured in, cutting her off.

“Hello!”

“You two are already here?”

“Getting friendly already?”

“I was already close with Hyunjae-ssi~ His personality is just that great.”

I exchanged a few words with the newcomers, and finally my eyes met the last person to enter—a woman with neat short hair and large glasses.

It was Bong Hyerim, the assistant writer.

My eyes weren’t wrong after all.

The moment I saw her face, I cheered inside.

“Writer-nim~ I was completely shocked by the script for episode 5. It was insane!”

Unlike me, who was still only on episode 4, Haewon had apparently already read further ahead.

“Thank you.”

“Let’s all sit down, do proper introductions, and continue talking.”

“Yes~”

At the director’s suggestion, everyone found their seats. I took the one closest to the director.

They’re finally here.

During my very first drama, I had sat way in the back. 

Now I was right next to the director.

It might only be baby steps, but my efforts hadn’t been in vain. 

I was happy.

“Skipping those we already know, let’s introduce our new faces. First, the one who boldly passed the audition and will now be playing Kang Ha instead of Do Yoon—Hyunjae.”

“Hello. I’m Jung Hyunjae, and I’ll be playing Kang Ha.”

I bowed, and loud applause erupted from all sides.

“And as most of you know, our writer who joined through the open contest.”

“Hello. I’m Bong Hyerim. Please take good care of me.”

After the introductions, we discussed the shooting schedule, locations, and other details.

“That’s about it for now. I’ll send the details through chat.”

“Yes!”

“Thank you for your hard work~”

Since the meeting was essentially to confirm the final casting and greet each other formally, it ended early.

“I have another schedule, so I’ll head out first!”

“Go ahead~ See you next time.”

Haewon left, and the other staff members gradually dispersed for their own work.

“Hyunjae-ssi.”

When almost no one was left in the conference room, Hyerim approached me.

“You knew I’d apply the moment the contest was announced, right?”

“Yes.”

Of course. 

No one knew Love Some better than she did. 

Only an idiot would let this chance pass.

***

“Ah…”

“I told you, didn’t I? I joined this project because of you, Writer-nim.”

“Thank you.”

I just smiled brightly at her gratitude without saying anything more.

“I’m really going to do my best this time.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

I was excited myself. I couldn’t wait to see how this project would unfold.

Sehari.

“Sweep over here too.”

“Sigh~ Fine.”

At Kyungho’s words, I yawned hugely, grabbed the broom, and dragged my heavy feet forward.

“Cleaning is fine, but do we really have to do it this early?”

It was 7 a.m.—too early even for breakfast, yet here we were doing morning cleaning.

“We have to match the elderly folks’ routines.”

“Even the seniors would find 7 a.m. tough…”

“Jinsoo’s wife! You’re here already?”

“Already? The sun’s been up forever. I ate breakfast, watched the news, fed our Ttoli, and then came.”

“Oh, right.”

Hearing the grandmas nearby, I quickly corrected myself. 

They really were impressive—doing all that and still arriving at this hour.

“Hurry and sweep.”

“These days, reality is the lifeblood of variety shows.”

“Don’t tell me—tell the village head.”

“This side’s clean. Should I sweep over there?”

If I kept talking, I’d get an earful (and a face full of spit) from the village head, so I just worked diligently.

“Huh? Director!”

“Ah~ Hello.”

“Hyunjae-ssi’s here too?”

The people greeting Kyungho so warmly were the YouTuber couple from the neighboring village.

“You came all the way here to clean?”

“The village head said to come if I could, so here I am.”

Since the village was small, one head oversaw three nearby ones.

“I figured it could make decent content too.”

Sure enough, the husband was holding a GoPro.

“You can ignore the camera since we’ll edit anyway.”

He said this while fixing the camera on his wife.

“Editing every day must be exhausting.”

I’d heard several times how time-consuming and tough YouTube editing was.

“We have people helping with editing, so it’s okay. At this point, grabbing the camera the moment something happens is just habit.”

“Being a YouTuber really isn’t for just anyone.”

“Every job is hard in its own way. How’s Chaechae doing these days?”

Kyungho asked about their dog.

“She’s great~ Doing really well. Ah! The only problem is she’s bored because Jayden hasn’t visited.”

“I’ll bring him next time. He’s been wanting to go anyway.”

“Come anytime. Ah! Honey, we bought that outdoor oven, remember?”

“Right. We’ll invite you soon. You haven’t tried duck roasted in an outdoor oven, right? It’s insane!”

An outdoor oven in a regular house? YouTubers really needed creative ideas to survive.

“An outdoor oven?”

Even Kyungho looked surprised at the mention.

“Yes! The fat drips right off, and it’s so tender—perfect.”

“Come with Jayden! It’s low-fat, so it’s fine for the dogs too.”

Tender duck roasted in an outdoor oven… My mouth watered just thinking about it.

“Yes, invite us anytime.”

Nice, nice!

“By the way, are they really filming that rural three-meals show?”

“I don’t watch TV much—what’s that program?”

Kyungho had no idea about Three Meals a Day: Rural Edition.

“It’s super famous. Tons of seasons, great ratings for a variety show.”

“Ah~ Really?”

Kyungho glanced at me with a look that said, “You’re going on that show?”

What’s wrong with me!

My screen time might be small, but they were the ones who wanted me first.

“Once it airs, people might come visit the village.”

“All the way here?”

“Of course~ Fans who really love it even do pilgrimage tours.”

“Pilgrimage tours… People really do all sorts of things.”

Following the footsteps of someone you admire was incomprehensible to middle-aged Kyungho.

“If it airs, it’ll be great promotion for the village. The village head is really excited.”

“Yeah. Hope it goes well.”

“Hey! Hyunjae! Move faster!”

While we were chatting, the village head caught us.

Having a big frame is such a disadvantage at times like this.

I used to sneak around unnoticed, but now even the slightest movement stood out.

“Yes! I’m working hard right now!”

“We’ll see you next time with Jayden~”

The couple quickly slipped away, and I diligently cleared the scattered stones from the road. 

Only after the whole village was spotless did morning cleaning finally end.

“I’m starving.”

The moment we got back to the clinic, hunger hit me hard.

“Woof! Woof!”

Jayden, already awake, was barking that he was hungry too.

“I’ll make breakfast, so you feed him.”

“Yes, come here.”

Jayden trotted after me. I poured food into his bowl, and he scarfed it down.

“It’d be great if you became human too so we could eat all the delicious things together.”

I wanted to show him how many tasty things there were in the world, but I couldn’t feed him anything that would harm his health.

Being a dog is so unfair.

There was still time before breakfast would be ready, so I went to my room and grabbed my smartphone. 

I wondered if the shooting schedule had come in.

“Huh? Kim Minjun?”

And among the notifications, I spotted something else entirely.