Translated by Jamechi
Unedited
Chapter 7.2
Shocked by my words, my grip around the spoon stiffened and I was motionless on the seat. The others sitting with me were like statues, one was surprised while the other was confused. My lack of continuation and their reactions created a stiff mood around the table.
“Sex...Compatibility? Hm, was that what you were trying to refer to? It seems there’s more to you than I expected ...” Choi Soohyung jokingly stated.
“N-No, it’s, that’s not …” I awkwardly mumbled.
Choi Soohyung smirked slightly as he watched me fumble my words around an incoherent excuse. Although I was a professional scriptwriter, lying and making up excuses were my weaknesses. I couldn’t think of a way to make my words sound like a misunderstanding. I glanced over to Jung Hwanwoo and hoped that he paid no heed to what I had said. Unluckily, his facial expression was not uncaring as usual.
Although he appeared to be laughing at me, his actions failed to demonstrate a joyous emotion. He was squeezing his spoon tightly and had his head down. Only his mouth was visible to me, of which I could see the corners of his mouth tilting upwards. Embarrassed even further, I quickly looked away from him and did not notice his expression when he looked up.
“You must have had plenty of experience?” Choi Soohyung asked.
Avoiding Jung Hwanwoo, I turned my head towards Choi Soohyung when he asked the question. The smiling Choi Soohyung brought a sense of unease that slowly spread upwards from my toes to my chest.
I stayed silent, before deciding to just shrug in response. Shrugging is better than revealing my daily sex dreams. Although I wanted to refute his question, I didn’t want to appear rude. Thus I quietly buried my head into the bowl of samgyetang, and did not give a proper response to his demand. [1]
“I see…. Well, it’s nice to learn more about the life of our drama crew members. Let’s have meals together often and get to know each other more.” Choi Soohyung said, finally letting go of the topic.He then continued to say, “oh yeah, by the way, will you be going to the script reading tomorrow?”
“No, Wang Ho will go to the meeting. I will be working on the script at home once I hear the feedback ...” I replied.
“Aiya, to be honest, it is much better when you're there. When we, actors, interpret a scene, we sometimes misunderstand the point of view of the scriptwriters. With you, the main scriptwriter, there, we are more assured that the scene will be accurately displayed on the small screen [2]. Although we are a tad annoying during the meeting, we do appreciate your efforts and help.” Choi Soohyung said.
“... I wasn’t expecting you to praise my profession like this.” I replied in shock.
“Well since we are now much closer than before, I can’t help but state what’s been on my mind. If I hadn’t, then I am afraid that the rift between the writers and actors in this drama will increase.” He stated.
I laughed off his statement as if it was a joke, but I knew that this was the truth. The distance between this drama’s writing team and actors has been mainly due to the fights between Jung Hwanwoo and me. Between me, the novice writer, and well-known actors, like Jung Hwanwoo, it was odd for me to be surviving in the drama set. In other sets, beginners who lecture the more famous actors would’ve been booted from the drama and slaughtered from the industry. The fact that I was still present in the crew signified how much the current set of actors respected my opinions. This meant that Jung Hwanwoo recognized the validity of my viewpoints and arguments.
“This…. I…. Should I say thank you or?” I asked.
“Thank this guy instead of me. Despite being the most opinionated among the actors, he has recognized your viewpoints the most.” Choi Soohyung replied.
Choi Soohyung tilted his head towards Jung Hwanwoo, pointing my attention towards the now silent guy. He seemed distracted and didn’t notice that he became the focus of the conversation. I stared at him and couldn’t help but admit the validity of Choi Soohyung’s words. Despite our constant arguments, Jung Hwanwoo had protected me from others’ abuse and helped me gain more experience as a writer. He really was good at taking care of me in our love-hate relationship.
“Hey Hwanwoo, look at you pretend to not pay attention to the conversation. Writer-nim, isn’t he cute? I’m getting second-hand cringe from his actions, maybe I’ll go out for a smoke.” Choi Soohyung said teasingly.
“Um… cute…. Erm.” I murmured.
As if he was waiting for me to complete my reply, Jung Hwanwoo turned towards me and stared in silence. His sharp cheekbones and penetrating gaze enraptured me, causing me to cough awkwardly.
“I don’t want to brag about Hwanwoo’s acting skills too, but I don’t understand why he typically debates about the scenes that you’re in charge of.”[3] Choi Soohyung continued to tease.
Right after Choi Soohyung’s statement, I squirmed slightly in my seat. Would the current tranquil mood be broken from this? Will Jung Hwanwoo begin arguing in defense of his actions?
“I just sometimes wonder why Seo Kyujin mixes up the lines of some scenes. Is there a purpose of his messy writing style?” Jung Hwanwoo bluntly replied.
I clenched my fist in response to his statement and made eye contact with Jung Hwanwoo. Our gazes intertwined with the steam from the samgyetang. Possibly due to the nutritious factor of samgyetang, I felt more energized than usual. My eyes narrowed in response and I opened my mouth to retort. Jung Hwanwoo widened his eyes and broke eye contact with me.
‘...what?’ I thought.
“Stop it you two. We are here for a nice meal, not for a derogatory conversation on who can mock the other the most. Be nicer to each other, I think that would benefit you both…” Choi Soohyung stated.
Despite Choi Soohyung’s attempts, I continued to glare at Jung Hwanwoo in contempt and curiosity. My eyes narrowed in confusion, I couldn’t understand why he was avoiding my gaze.
“Oh, what are you all doing? Are you having lunch together? Let me join in~” someone randomly said.
Someone suddenly barged into the scene, surprising the three of us at the table. Her sharp voice broke the tense mood and removed my motivation to argue with Jung Hwanwoo. I glanced towards the speaker and looked at my nearly empty meal. This was one person I never wanted to meet on my personal time.
“Hey, Minhee. I thought you were busy and wouldn’t be having lunch?” Choi Hyungwoo asked.
“Ahaha, I have an appointment at a nearby studio and was about to greet our PD. I happened to see you all eating here. Say, have you finished eating Hwanwoo?~” Shin Minhee asked flirtatiously.
Shin Minhee confidently sat next to Jung Hwanwoo and wrapped herself around him. She ignored my presence, something she regularly did. Her arrogance of pretending to not notice others was a normal action for her.
“I’m leaving, I need to see the script,” I stated and began to rise from my seat. But before I could take a single step, Jung Hwanwoo opened his mouth.
“I’ll go with you to the set,” he said.
Choi Soohyung widened his eyes in shock, surprised by Jung Hwanwoo’s statement. I turned around and glanced at Jung Hwanwoo, noticing that he was getting ready to leave with me. He noticed my confused expression and repeated himself.
“I’ll go with you.” Jung Hwanwoo repeated.
“... I’m not planning on going, Wang Ho will be there and-” I mumbled
“The meetings are meaningless without you,” he suddenly replied.
‘... what?’ I thought in shock.
He shrugged his shoulders in response and pulled me out of the restaurant with him. Confused beyond belief, I followed his control towards the drama set. As we walked towards his car, he began talking with me.
“Come, unless you don’t mind the changes Min Joongsuk will have in the script.” He spoke in a haughty manner, breaking me out of my muddled mindset. I glared at him and grit my teeth in frustration. Why was I so weak against him now?
‘Wait… there’s a reason for Jung Hwanwoo’s notoriety among the writing community.’ I thought.
Despite his talent in acting and ability to bring any character to life, he could distort any of the lines and scenes in the script. A writer’s worst enemy is those that refuse to follow the script and insert ad-libs to the scenes. Jung Hwanwoo was exactly this type of person. In almost every drama, he has diverted his character’s initial plot and developed them into brand new creations. He gave no heed to the writer’s opinions, nor their blood, sweat, and tears when they created the script.
In other words, once Jung Hwanwoo decided to insert his ad-libs into the scenes, there was no stopping him. Even if the writers do try to stop him, his fans and the audience end up falling in love with Jung Hwanwoo’s new character. This pressures the drama into adapting towards the change and typically results in the writer’s loss.
I sighed in frustration and glared at Jung Hwanwoo once more. His clever threat successfully persuaded me to follow him to the meeting.
Translator’s Note: When are they gonna confess in real life!!!!!
[1] Isn’t this ruder…. Lmfaoooooo.
[2] Small screen - TV, like “Game of Thrones”, “Walking Dead”, etc.
[3] It seems that the writing team has separate scenes that they are in charge of and ML only picks on scenes MC writes. Ohhh~
Unedited
Chapter 7.2
Shocked by my words, my grip around the spoon stiffened and I was motionless on the seat. The others sitting with me were like statues, one was surprised while the other was confused. My lack of continuation and their reactions created a stiff mood around the table.
“Sex...Compatibility? Hm, was that what you were trying to refer to? It seems there’s more to you than I expected ...” Choi Soohyung jokingly stated.
“N-No, it’s, that’s not …” I awkwardly mumbled.
Choi Soohyung smirked slightly as he watched me fumble my words around an incoherent excuse. Although I was a professional scriptwriter, lying and making up excuses were my weaknesses. I couldn’t think of a way to make my words sound like a misunderstanding. I glanced over to Jung Hwanwoo and hoped that he paid no heed to what I had said. Unluckily, his facial expression was not uncaring as usual.
Although he appeared to be laughing at me, his actions failed to demonstrate a joyous emotion. He was squeezing his spoon tightly and had his head down. Only his mouth was visible to me, of which I could see the corners of his mouth tilting upwards. Embarrassed even further, I quickly looked away from him and did not notice his expression when he looked up.
“You must have had plenty of experience?” Choi Soohyung asked.
Avoiding Jung Hwanwoo, I turned my head towards Choi Soohyung when he asked the question. The smiling Choi Soohyung brought a sense of unease that slowly spread upwards from my toes to my chest.
I stayed silent, before deciding to just shrug in response. Shrugging is better than revealing my daily sex dreams. Although I wanted to refute his question, I didn’t want to appear rude. Thus I quietly buried my head into the bowl of samgyetang, and did not give a proper response to his demand. [1]
“I see…. Well, it’s nice to learn more about the life of our drama crew members. Let’s have meals together often and get to know each other more.” Choi Soohyung said, finally letting go of the topic.He then continued to say, “oh yeah, by the way, will you be going to the script reading tomorrow?”
“No, Wang Ho will go to the meeting. I will be working on the script at home once I hear the feedback ...” I replied.
“Aiya, to be honest, it is much better when you're there. When we, actors, interpret a scene, we sometimes misunderstand the point of view of the scriptwriters. With you, the main scriptwriter, there, we are more assured that the scene will be accurately displayed on the small screen [2]. Although we are a tad annoying during the meeting, we do appreciate your efforts and help.” Choi Soohyung said.
“... I wasn’t expecting you to praise my profession like this.” I replied in shock.
“Well since we are now much closer than before, I can’t help but state what’s been on my mind. If I hadn’t, then I am afraid that the rift between the writers and actors in this drama will increase.” He stated.
I laughed off his statement as if it was a joke, but I knew that this was the truth. The distance between this drama’s writing team and actors has been mainly due to the fights between Jung Hwanwoo and me. Between me, the novice writer, and well-known actors, like Jung Hwanwoo, it was odd for me to be surviving in the drama set. In other sets, beginners who lecture the more famous actors would’ve been booted from the drama and slaughtered from the industry. The fact that I was still present in the crew signified how much the current set of actors respected my opinions. This meant that Jung Hwanwoo recognized the validity of my viewpoints and arguments.
“This…. I…. Should I say thank you or?” I asked.
“Thank this guy instead of me. Despite being the most opinionated among the actors, he has recognized your viewpoints the most.” Choi Soohyung replied.
Choi Soohyung tilted his head towards Jung Hwanwoo, pointing my attention towards the now silent guy. He seemed distracted and didn’t notice that he became the focus of the conversation. I stared at him and couldn’t help but admit the validity of Choi Soohyung’s words. Despite our constant arguments, Jung Hwanwoo had protected me from others’ abuse and helped me gain more experience as a writer. He really was good at taking care of me in our love-hate relationship.
“Hey Hwanwoo, look at you pretend to not pay attention to the conversation. Writer-nim, isn’t he cute? I’m getting second-hand cringe from his actions, maybe I’ll go out for a smoke.” Choi Soohyung said teasingly.
“Um… cute…. Erm.” I murmured.
As if he was waiting for me to complete my reply, Jung Hwanwoo turned towards me and stared in silence. His sharp cheekbones and penetrating gaze enraptured me, causing me to cough awkwardly.
“I don’t want to brag about Hwanwoo’s acting skills too, but I don’t understand why he typically debates about the scenes that you’re in charge of.”[3] Choi Soohyung continued to tease.
Right after Choi Soohyung’s statement, I squirmed slightly in my seat. Would the current tranquil mood be broken from this? Will Jung Hwanwoo begin arguing in defense of his actions?
“I just sometimes wonder why Seo Kyujin mixes up the lines of some scenes. Is there a purpose of his messy writing style?” Jung Hwanwoo bluntly replied.
I clenched my fist in response to his statement and made eye contact with Jung Hwanwoo. Our gazes intertwined with the steam from the samgyetang. Possibly due to the nutritious factor of samgyetang, I felt more energized than usual. My eyes narrowed in response and I opened my mouth to retort. Jung Hwanwoo widened his eyes and broke eye contact with me.
‘...what?’ I thought.
“Stop it you two. We are here for a nice meal, not for a derogatory conversation on who can mock the other the most. Be nicer to each other, I think that would benefit you both…” Choi Soohyung stated.
Despite Choi Soohyung’s attempts, I continued to glare at Jung Hwanwoo in contempt and curiosity. My eyes narrowed in confusion, I couldn’t understand why he was avoiding my gaze.
“Oh, what are you all doing? Are you having lunch together? Let me join in~” someone randomly said.
Someone suddenly barged into the scene, surprising the three of us at the table. Her sharp voice broke the tense mood and removed my motivation to argue with Jung Hwanwoo. I glanced towards the speaker and looked at my nearly empty meal. This was one person I never wanted to meet on my personal time.
“Hey, Minhee. I thought you were busy and wouldn’t be having lunch?” Choi Hyungwoo asked.
“Ahaha, I have an appointment at a nearby studio and was about to greet our PD. I happened to see you all eating here. Say, have you finished eating Hwanwoo?~” Shin Minhee asked flirtatiously.
Shin Minhee confidently sat next to Jung Hwanwoo and wrapped herself around him. She ignored my presence, something she regularly did. Her arrogance of pretending to not notice others was a normal action for her.
“I’m leaving, I need to see the script,” I stated and began to rise from my seat. But before I could take a single step, Jung Hwanwoo opened his mouth.
“I’ll go with you to the set,” he said.
Choi Soohyung widened his eyes in shock, surprised by Jung Hwanwoo’s statement. I turned around and glanced at Jung Hwanwoo, noticing that he was getting ready to leave with me. He noticed my confused expression and repeated himself.
“I’ll go with you.” Jung Hwanwoo repeated.
“... I’m not planning on going, Wang Ho will be there and-” I mumbled
“The meetings are meaningless without you,” he suddenly replied.
‘... what?’ I thought in shock.
He shrugged his shoulders in response and pulled me out of the restaurant with him. Confused beyond belief, I followed his control towards the drama set. As we walked towards his car, he began talking with me.
“Come, unless you don’t mind the changes Min Joongsuk will have in the script.” He spoke in a haughty manner, breaking me out of my muddled mindset. I glared at him and grit my teeth in frustration. Why was I so weak against him now?
‘Wait… there’s a reason for Jung Hwanwoo’s notoriety among the writing community.’ I thought.
Despite his talent in acting and ability to bring any character to life, he could distort any of the lines and scenes in the script. A writer’s worst enemy is those that refuse to follow the script and insert ad-libs to the scenes. Jung Hwanwoo was exactly this type of person. In almost every drama, he has diverted his character’s initial plot and developed them into brand new creations. He gave no heed to the writer’s opinions, nor their blood, sweat, and tears when they created the script.
In other words, once Jung Hwanwoo decided to insert his ad-libs into the scenes, there was no stopping him. Even if the writers do try to stop him, his fans and the audience end up falling in love with Jung Hwanwoo’s new character. This pressures the drama into adapting towards the change and typically results in the writer’s loss.
I sighed in frustration and glared at Jung Hwanwoo once more. His clever threat successfully persuaded me to follow him to the meeting.
Translator’s Note: When are they gonna confess in real life!!!!!
[1] Isn’t this ruder…. Lmfaoooooo.
[2] Small screen - TV, like “Game of Thrones”, “Walking Dead”, etc.
[3] It seems that the writing team has separate scenes that they are in charge of and ML only picks on scenes MC writes. Ohhh~