MDSW 06

Chapter 6

You Wrote This Script

“I’m dying….”

I dragged myself through the front gate of NBC Broadcasting Station looking completely exhausted.

My dark circles had practically fallen to my feet, and my face looked dry and lifeless, like bread past its expiration date.

It was all because of the writing I did at dawn.

I started working on a screenplay again after a long time, got into the flow, and ended up writing all night.

I didn’t feel it while I was writing, but now that it was time to go to work, the fatigue hit me all at once.

Why did the writing suddenly flow like I was possessed…?

It was the first screenplay I had written since finishing the project with Director Hwang.

Things I couldn’t see before were suddenly clear.

Ideas I had never thought of before kept appearing.

I had reached a point where stories poured endlessly out of my head, and I couldn’t stop writing.

I only meant to write a short synopsis, but somehow I finished a full first draft.

It felt satisfying and fun to write again after so long.

The only problem was that my body now felt like it might collapse.

“Kang Sung-woon?”

While I staggered through the entrance like a zombie, a familiar voice suddenly called out from behind me.

I turned around.

A man with gentle features, glasses, and a cardigan stood there.

“Huh?!”

Ham Ju-young?

I recognized him instantly.

I was so happy to see him that I even blurted out his name.

But instead, Ju-young avoided my eyes.

“Sorry. I think I mistook you for someone else.”

“…?”

Did he seriously fail to recognize me because of how terrible I look?

“It’s me, you idiot! Ham Ju-young! You’re Ham Ju-young, right?!”

I grabbed him before he could walk away.

Only then did Ju-young finally recognize me and lift his eyebrows.

“O-Oh, right. Kang Sung-woon, isn’t it? Haha… you’ve changed so much I almost didn’t recognize you.”

You’ve already wounded my pride…

“How have you been? I heard you’re working at a broadcasting station.”

“Come on, I’ve been working at the station for years now. The fact that you’re just hearing about it means it’s been a long time since we last saw each other.”

“True. The last time I saw you was probably at your daughter’s first birthday party.”

Ju-young was a friend my age from university.

When I decided to quit writing novels and switch to screenwriting, I met him at a screenplay study group on campus.

Ju-young had been a film major.

He knew much more about movies than the rest of us in the group.

In fact, he was the first person who kindly taught me what screenwriting and filmmaking really were.

“You know, I never expected to run into you here. But what are you doing at the station?”

After graduating, we rarely contacted each other, so I usually heard news about him through other people.

The last thing I heard a few years ago was that he was preparing to debut as a commercial film director.

But none of the films I saw had his name attached.

“I’ll probably be coming to NBC often for a while. I’m helping with a workshop for rookie drama writers.”

“Drama? Since when were you interested in dramas?”

“No. You know me—I only care about movies. I’m just here to see if there are any promising writers among the rookies. These days there are barely any writers who can produce a good screenplay.”

Ju-young let out a bitter sigh.

“But what about you? Aren’t you doing movies anymore? You were obsessed with them in college.”

“Me? Uh… well…”

I had actually written a ten-million-viewer movie…

But I couldn’t exactly say that.

“I’m planning for the long term. Right now I need to make money and raise my kid.”

“Being a dad really changes things. How old is your daughter now?”

“Ten.”

“Already? I’m not even married yet… We should grab a meal sometime—”

“Hey, Kang Sung-woon!!”

Suddenly a sharp voice cut through the conversation.

I flinched and turned around.

Director Bong was standing at the station entrance, glaring at me with a deep frown.

“Why aren’t you coming already?! It’s chaos inside!!”

Director Bong shouted impatiently, sounding both irritated and desperate.

What now…?

I sighed and quickly patted Ju-young on the shoulder.

“Let’s definitely eat together next time. Or better yet, have drinks. I’ve got to go!”

“O-Okay.”

Leaving my old friend behind, I hurried into the station after Director Bong.

In my rush, I didn’t even realize I had dropped the first draft of the screenplay I wrote overnight.

“…Huh?”

The person who picked it up was none other than Ju-young.

Later I heard that the moment he picked it up, he saw the temporary title:

“My Daughter Is a Genius.”

And laughed.

“The title’s funny. Very Kang Sung-woon.”

***

Bang!

Yoon Ra-hee stormed out of the studio and into the hallway.

Fuming, she marched down the corridor without looking back.

“This is why I don’t do low-class variety shows.”

Director Bong ran out after her, reaching out helplessly as she walked away.

“Ra-hee! Ra-hee—!!”

He collapsed onto the floor in despair.

Meanwhile, the rest of us—including me—watched from inside the studio.

“Sigh… Yoon Ra-hee really caused trouble in the end.”

About twenty minutes earlier, I had rushed into the studio with Director Bong.

By then, the entire staff was already exhausted after a major argument.

Here’s what happened.

Yoon Ra-hee suddenly declared that she didn’t like one of the other celebrities joining the show.

If that person didn’t leave the program, she said she wouldn’t film anymore.

The entire staff begged her to reconsider.

But she exploded in anger and stormed out of the studio.

“Ra-hee~~~!!!”

Director Bong alone was crying dramatically.

The rest of the staff were too tired to even look.

Director Bong… this is not what you should be worrying about right now.

I glanced at the interview camera, where the date and time were displayed.

[September 30, 2023 – 09:24]

If my memory was correct, Yoon Ra-hee’s drunk driving accident happened in the fall of 2023.

Today was the last day of September.

And the weather was starting to get cold.

Which meant—

the incident would happen very soon.

I just quit movies not long ago… am I about to become unemployed again?

This was a very uncomfortable and nerve-wracking situation.

Honestly, I felt like kneeling beside Director Bong and screaming too.

“Raaa—hee—yaa—!!!”

***

“Daaad—!!”

Yurina jumped onto my back.

The little troublemaker had clearly waited until I was cooking to attack me again.

“You~? You keep waiting until Dad’s hands are busy to do this, don’t you?!”

“Hehe. Tickling attack~!”

At her playful age, Yurina clung to my back, tickled my sides, and even tried wrestling with my legs.

“If Dad washes his hands, you’re in trouble~!”

“Ahhhh!!”

These were things I never experienced before my regression.

Back then, when I came home from work, Yurina wouldn’t even look at me.

I never realized how lively and mischievous my daughter really was.

It was both surprising and joyful.

She really takes after her mom.

Watching Yurina reminded me of my wife when we were dating.

If a hyperactive beagle turned into a human, it would look exactly like my wife.

And it felt like that wife had turned into an angel—Yurina.

“I’m going to put flour on your face!!”

“No!! Ahhhh!!”

When I chased her with flour-covered hands, Yurina ran toward the small room with her tiny legs.

She slammed the door shut and locked it.

“Beep! Villains are not allowed in.”

Yurina shouted through the door in a teasing voice.

I laughed and turned away.

Then I noticed the drawing hanging on the door.

It said “Please knock before entering.” with Yurina’s face drawn on it.

Oh right. Tomorrow is the academy consultation.

“Yurina? Come out for a second.”

“No~! If I come out, you’ll put flour on my face!”

“I need to talk about the art academy consultation tomorrow. Come out.”

Creak—

Yurina opened the door just enough for one finger to fit through.

She peeked out suspiciously.

“Look at that face. Haha! You’re unbelievable.”

She smiled through the crack but refused to come out.

“Fine, listen from there, you little rebel. You know we’re going to the art academy consultation tomorrow, right?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t sleep in just because it’s the weekend. We have to leave early.”

“What?! Morning?!”

Yurina suddenly opened the door wide.

Her eyes looked like a child who had just lost the right to sleep in.

“It can’t be helped. The director of the academy is busy, so morning was the only time.”

“I hate the academy director…”

“But after the consultation, we’ll go eat pork cutlet.”

“Wow! Pork cutlet!!”

Her sad deer-like eyes instantly turned into sparkling rabbit eyes.

I couldn’t resist.

I lightly dabbed some flour from my finger onto her nose.

“Now you have flour on you too, so pork cutlet it is.”

“Ahhh!!”

Yurina screamed and jumped around.

“Hahaha. That’s what happens when you lower your guard.”

“I’ve been betrayed… evil villain…”

Bzzzt!

Suddenly my phone rang on the sofa.

Huh? Who is it?

Tap tap tap!

Yurina ran over mischievously and answered the phone for me since my hands were dirty.

“Hello~! This is Rina’s dad’s phone. Rina answered instead~!”

—Huh? Yurina?

“Yes. Who is this?”

—Wow, just hearing your voice tells me how much you’ve grown. You probably don’t remember me, right? It’s Uncle Ju-young.

Yurina tilted her head and looked at me.

“Sadly, Rina doesn’t remember you. Please talk to Dad~!”

She switched the phone to speaker mode and ran off to the small room again.

“…Where did she learn words like ‘sadly’?”

—Hello? Rina?

Only then did I recognize Ju-young’s voice.

I leaned closer to the phone.

“Oh, it’s you. What’s up? Calling at this hour?”

—Sorry to call during dinner. I just wanted to tell you that you dropped your screenplay this morning.

“My screenplay?”

—Yeah. My Daughter Is a Genius. You wrote it, right?

My eyebrows twitched.

Just hearing the title made me feel embarrassed.

“I dropped that…? Well, I’m glad you picked it up. If a stranger saw it, I’d die of embarrassment. That’s just the first draft…”

—This is the first draft?!

“Yeah. Why are you so shocked? Wait… don’t tell me you read it?!”

There was silence on the other end.

“You jerk! Since when do film people read other people’s scripts without permission?!”

—Haha… sorry, sorry. But the title made me too curious. And it was your writing.

I was about to scold him again but ended up sniffling awkwardly instead.

—But are you really just doing variety shows now?

“I’m also raising a kid.”

—That’s not what I mean. Are you really just a variety writer? When you can write like this?

The sudden praise made me blink.

—At first I thought it was just a light, healing family story. But by the time I finished reading it, it was insane. Why have you only been writing variety shows with this kind of skill?

I appreciated the compliment, but it surprised me.

Ju-young was usually friendly, but when it came to writing he was known for being brutally honest.

Even in college, he had never once seriously praised my writing.

So hearing him praise me like this felt strange.

—Sung-woon, can I ask you something?

“What?”

—Would you… like to work with me?