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# 170
Momentary Choice (3)
Fortunately, the falling object did not land on the floor, but on the balcony below.
The studio of Oh Young-ji, the author of ‘The Boyfriend from Another World,’ was a two-story single-family house located in Nowon-gu, Seoul. It was not Ilsan or Yeouido, where writers usually live, and it was also far from central Seoul, where production companies, such as Gangnam, were concentrated.
The reason artist Oh Young-ji chose this place was because it was a single-family home. The prices of places such as Yeouido and Ilsan were too expensive. The first floor was a space for working with assistant artists, and the second floor could be seen as artist Oh Young-ji’s residence.
Anyway, the object that fell from the second floor window ended up in the first floor balcony flower bed.
Do-wook and Director Baek-ho Oh looked there with surprised faces.
The object that was thrown into the flower bed was none other than a laptop.
“Can I come in?”
Do-wook also could not answer Director Baek-ho Oh’s question. Because the same question was on my mind.
The promise was definitely made today. Although they arrived about 5 minutes early… Do-wook and Director Oh Baek-ho thought they should have arrived on time 5 minutes later. Anyway, I was lucky that it didn’t fall on my head.
The thought of a laptop falling on my head was terrifying. Director Oh Baek-ho also shuddered as if he had imagined the same thing.
Without even thinking about whether to ring the bell or not, the front door burst open. Dowook took a step back.
The person who opened the front door and came out was a woman with short hair. He looked to be in his late twenties and was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and a comfortable pleated skirt with elastic bands. He had a large backpack on his back.
The eyes were red and his face looked like he was about to cry.
“Oh…”
It wasn’t just the two people who were surprised, but the woman as well. He looked surprised for a moment, but when our eyes met, he bowed his head and said hello. Dowook also reflexively said hello and looked at the woman.
“then.”
The woman said hello and quickly walked down the balcony to look at the shattered laptop.
“Haa……”
A deep sigh followed. It was a situation that made me sigh.
‘Could it have been dropped?’
When Do-wook thought so, the woman picked up a laptop that had several cracks in it. Keycaps and broken remains were rolling around on the dirt floor, and it seemed like they didn’t even take care of it. The woman turned her head towards the two people standing there, wondering if she should at least help them.
“Hmm hmm. Please go in. Are you here to see the teacher…? “Stay inside.”
The woman finally spoke while clearing her locked throat. Do-wook thought it would be rude to look any further, so he quickly answered and entered the open front door.
As I entered the front door, another woman came out in surprise. This time it was a woman wearing horn-rimmed glasses and her hair tied high. Like the woman with short hair, she appeared to be in her mid to late 20s.
“Oh hello! “You’re here!”
“hello.”
When Do-wook bowed, the woman looked around busily and guided the two towards the sofa. As the two sat down on the sofa, the woman scratched her head and said.
“The teacher is upstairs right now… Now, just wait a moment. “Would you like some tea…juice?”
Director Oh Baek-ho seemed to be happy and handed the fruit juice set he had bought to the woman with horn-rimmed glasses. The woman said thank you and accepted the juice.
“I think water will do for us.”
“Ah yes. wait a minute!”
When Director Oh Baek-ho said this, the woman with horn-rimmed glasses answered that she understood and quickly left the room. Seeing that she was called a teacher, it seemed that both the woman from earlier and the woman with horn-rimmed glasses were assistant writers.
“The atmosphere is chaotic.”
“Iknow, right.”
While answering, Dowook looked around the inside of the studio. At first glance, it looked like a home because the TV, sofa, refrigerator, etc. were placed in ordinary places, but the view inside the open door of the large room did not show that of a home.
There was a large work desk in the large room, and A4 papers were piled thickly on the desk. Three laptops were running with their lights on, and a whiteboard was also set up on one side.
‘The artist’s workspace…’
It was my first time coming to the artist’s studio, so I looked around with a sense of wonder. On the other hand, I was worried about what happened to the former laptop and short-haired assistant writer.
As I was taking a sip of water given by the assistant writer wearing horn-rimmed glasses, writer Oh Young-ji came down the stairs.
“Oh hello! “I’m so sorry for making you come here.”
Artist Oh Young-ji’s pleasant voice, which could be called an oriole, rang through the studio.
“no. “We have to find the author.”
Director Oh Baek-ho quickly stood up and greeted writer Oh Young-ji. When Do-wook also bowed his head, writer Oh Young-ji said with a big smile.
“oh! You look really handsome! “I’m so glad to see you like this!”
“Oh, I’m honored too. Writer.”
“I’m honored, Mr. Dowook, see it all! As expected, you did a good job as a drama writer. “Meet such a handsome person!”
Do-wook and Director Oh Baek-ho also smiled comfortably at the words of writer Oh Young-ji.
In fact, the two people were waiting with very anxious feelings because of the scene they witnessed even before the studio door was opened.
Author Oh Young-ji, who spoke with blushing cheeks like a girl, was an experienced writer with four works to her name, but she was also a young writer who had just turned 40.
She was a former assistant writer and started her career at the young age of 30. Since my debut film was also a public broadcast Monday-Tuesday drama, I could say I was quite lucky.
From her debut work to her next work, writer Oh Young-ji’s dramas have been on a roll. The main viewers were women in their forties and fifties. The romance aimed at housewives worked well.
Then, at the end of two years ago, a broadcasting company recognized that writer Oh Young-ji’s main audience was housewives and assigned her to write a weekend drama.
As the age range of weekend dramas is high, the age range of the writers is also quite high. It was an unconventional choice for a broadcasting company, and the same was true for writer Oh Young-ji.
The flower of drama was called a miniseries. Unlike Monday-Tuesday dramas and Wednesday-Thursday dramas with stars whose names seem dazzling, daily dramas and weekend dramas have been dismissed as dramas made by people who are not in the A class. It was the same whether you were an actor or a writer.
Writer Oh Young-ji was worried about this, but after much thought, she accepted the broadcaster’s offer.
I couldn’t betray my loyalty to the PD who brought writer Oh Young-ji on board, and there was also the temptation of manuscript fees.
Unlike weekday dramas that go back and forth between 16 and 20 episodes, weekend dramas usually have 50 episodes. Since most drama writers receive a script fee per episode, if they receive a script fee for 50 episodes, they will receive a significant amount of script fee.
The KVS weekend drama ‘Love on the Vine’, which was writer Oh Young-ji’s first attempt, was a greater success than anyone could have imagined. The viewership rating exceeded 50 percent and was loved by both the middle-aged and the young, making weekend dramas re-evaluate.
There was even talk that other broadcasting companies should rush to put talented young writers into weekend dramas and daily dramas, and many writers were actually hired.
Writer Oh Young-ji’s momentum was considerable as she wrote a national family drama that could be enjoyed by all, from daughters to mothers, sons to fathers. KVS once again proposed a weekend drama, but this time writer Oh Young-ji rejected it.
Writer Oh Young-ji’s dream was, of course, during the golden time on weekdays.
Although ‘Love on a Vine’ received national love, it was a different kind of love than the love received from a weekday primetime drama.
Writer Oh Young-ji has a desire to receive this kind of love in the field of romantic comedies, the flower of drama. Now I have confidence that I can do better.
What emerged after going through the planning and writing stages was ‘The Boyfriend from Extraterrestrial’.
Because of the unique setting of ‘alien’, there was initially opposition from the production company that writer Oh Young-ji was affiliated with, but writer Oh Young-ji was confident. So I pushed for it, and eventually the production company, after seeing the script, gave up.
In the case of broadcasting companies, the atmosphere was, ‘If the casting is good, go!’
Then the problem was, of course, casting. Romantic comedies are half-baked by casting.
The main male character’s character was based on being ‘handsome’ and ‘cool’. There were parts where acting skills were not enough to express that, and there were a very limited number of actors who could even neutralize the ‘alien’ setting that met those conditions.
Additionally, another problem was the length issue with the female protagonist. Unlike other dramas that mainly feature male actors, ‘Boyfriend from Outer Space’, despite its title, focuses on the female protagonist.
So, even though it was possible to overcome the barrier of alien subject matter, top-class male actors refused to be cast because they did not want to be pushed out by actresses. Naturally, the actor that writer Oh Young-ji first thought of was also rejected.
However, writer Oh Young-ji’s position was that it made no sense to lower the level at all. At that time, Dowook appeared like a savior.
Do-wook was not a top-class drama actor, but he had a strong top image, so he was definitely not a casting choice.
Writer Oh Young-ji thought that a casting of this level would definitely be okay at a broadcasting station.
‘There hasn’t been a clear answer yet about the actor who will play the female lead, but… Well, if I told you that Kang Do-wook was cast, wouldn’t you think more positively?’
Writer Oh Young-ji thought with a smile.
“Ah… So the female protagonist hasn’t been confirmed yet.”
“yes. We are having a conversation. I guess the alien setting is there too. “I wonder if it makes sense to love aliens.”
Writer Oh Young-ji also nodded as if she understood. The reason why the top female actor was giving the drama a positive review despite such limitations was because they knew that it was a drama that would definitely draw attention to women.
Dowook shook his head.
“No, author. He only talks like an alien, but he is a man with money, abilities, and even superpowers. “It’s natural to fall in love with a man like that.”
“Oh my, too. Thank you for reading my script. thank you.”
Writer Oh Young-ji didn’t seem to have a particularly bad personality. Rather, it looked good and there seemed to be no sharp corners. As the comfortable atmosphere continued, Dowook asked cautiously. This was because the woman with short hair and glaring eyes kept bothering me.
“But… I saw your laptop falling earlier… I think you dropped it by mistake.”
“Oh, you saw that. Were you surprised? I must have been surprised. sorry.”
“No, I didn’t mean it that way.”
“It’s not a mistake. I dropped it. Or should I say I threw it away?”
Director Oh Baek-ho and Do-wook paused as writer Oh Young-ji spoke quietly, tucking her flowing hair behind her ear.
“No, sometimes I lose my temper when I get too angry. When I asked Ande, who was my assistant writer, to write down an idea, he wrote it in a mess. How many times has it been already? “Do you want to work or not?”
“Ah…”
“If this is going to happen, I threw it away and told him not to work. Hoho, don’t worry about it. Are you making a campaign just because you came up with the title idea in the first place? Anyway, kids these days get hooked quickly…”
Writer Oh Young-ji shook her head.
Dowook, who was quietly listening to her words, widened his eyes. At that moment, I was reminded of the plagiarism controversy of ‘The Boyfriend from Extraterrestrial’ that had previously occurred.
‘I only saw an article about someone being sued. no way…….’
