Chapter: 98
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Post: Just saw The Chaser, but I have one question
So, who would win in a fight between Hong Jeong-hee and Chae Seo-ah????
Reply
– Who’s Hong Jeong-hee?
– The role Joo Su-yeon played in the play.
– If Chae Seo-ah hits Hong Jeong-hee with an axe, she’s dead!
– What if Hong Jeong-hee has a disability special move though?
– Are you freaking kidding me?
– I’m Chae Seo-ah and I’d win!
—
As The Chaser flew high at the box office, memes started spreading all over the community.
Since Seoyeon returned to acting, she’s been taking on villain roles back-to-back, leading to lots of talks that felt meme-like.
Moreover, the most discussed aspect of the film had to be the convenience store lady.
People kept asking why she talked like that.
But honestly, isn’t it strange if you don’t mention that Chae Seo-ah used to work part-time at a convenience store?
– Still, if Han Ye-hwa was alive, she could handle it.
– If she were dead, I bet some stalker actor would’ve come for her, lol.
Anyway, the talk around the movie’s star became apparent because of the buzz in the community.
– Is it true that Dream Future cut down Joo Su-yeon’s screen time?
– Do you trust the articles? Lol, she probably just had a minor role from the get-go.
– But didn’t Joo Su-yeon steal the spotlight in episode one???
– It’s true that Song So-ha had less screen time, though.
– Less screen time? More like non-existent presence.
As the episodes progressed, the reduced screen time of Jo Ha-rin, aka Seoyeon, started being mentioned more frequently.
It peaked after the release of The Chaser and the airing of episodes 5 and 6.
Anyone could feel the clear intention to minimize Jo Ha-rin’s scenes.
At this point, viewers began to sense something was off.
– Wasn’t Jo Ha-rin the female lead?
– I heard the main character is Song So-ha… But still, did they really need to cut Jo Ha-rin like this???
Even posts like this popped up on the broadcasting station’s board.
Naturally, it wasn’t just the other communities that were buzzing.
And finally,
“I, Bong-sik, guarantee that the drama writer cut her scenes!”
– But didn’t it come out in the article?
“Yeah, I saw that too. But after looking into it, the methods seemed sus. I went to the broadcasting station to investigate, and it sounds like there’s buzz behind the scenes. People are whispering about the writer being stubborn.”
– How can a junior writer do that? Is she a star writer?
“I don’t know if she’s a star writer, but she surely has some clout. Especially since she seems to fancy Park Jung-woo… And you know, Joo Su-yeon often gets involved with Park Jung-woo, right? That might be why.”
This is how rumors about this started circulating from the 1.3 million YouTuber, Han Bong-sik.
*
“Wait? You’re saying they’re changing the drama writer? Just like that?”
“Not exactly suddenly, Writer Im.”
Director Kim Pil-seok sighed as if he had a headache.
“With things like this being said, what on earth is going on?”
With The Chaser being the talk of the town, discussions surrounding Jo Ha-rin began to pop up in the community.
Sure, it’s understandable up to that point.
Whenever an actress catches the limelight, people become curious about their other roles.
Especially if that actress has the opposite persona of Chae Seo-ah.
But still, that doesn’t mean rating would automatically soar.
Sure, a single actress can hold a significant influence, but that alone can’t keep the audience glued.
Then, news of an article about bullying started making waves for more negative reasons.
“PD Baek said not to let anyone leave the show, but the upper management has spoken. Did you hear that?”
“I, I heard something.”
Im Jin-ha spoke in a flustered tone.
“Well, PD Baek mentioned it, and we all know changing writers is risky and not something we can easily decide on… Yet the higher-ups are insisting?”
Despite saying that, Im Jin-ha felt completely lost.
He hadn’t even considered that he could get dropped from the drama.
“Well, this doesn’t mean you’re completely done… So don’t think too negatively. There’s buzz around this, right?”
Though Director Kim Pil-seok said that, internally, he couldn’t help but smile.
Having been backed by PD Baek all this while, managing things had become tough, so he figured this way might be better.
‘Not the end yet, not yet.’
Current drama department head Ha Tae-oh isn’t someone who carelessly pushes others down.
So while this situation was highly unusual, it still had its reasons.
Viewer reception was paramount.
And there were issues within the team.
And ratings had noticeably dropped recently.
All those factors combined led to the decision for a change.
‘But with this move, the drama writer’s evaluation is going to tank.’
To climb back up from here would require much more effort than before.
Could Im Jin-ha pull that off?
Judging by the general sentiment towards him internally, it seems pretty tough.
Even if Director Ha Tae-oh didn’t mark him, he had already felt the heat from all sides.
“So take some time to regroup and rest for a bit.”
Hearing that, Im Jin-ha felt dazed.
By the time he snapped back into reality, he was home.
Not even remembering how he got there.
Buzz buzz buzz.
At that moment, his phone buzzed in his hand.
Looking at the screen, he saw:
– Sorry, Im writer, but I don’t think it will work out.
The late-night message from PD Baek.
Seeing that made Im Jin-ha drop his phone.
It felt like his last shred of hope had shattered.
*
Anyway, around the time all this commotion was happening in KMB.
Seoyeon was finally getting some well-deserved downtime at home.
“Our daughter is now a ten million star! By the time the next drama airs, it’ll be official, right?”
Sua said excitedly.
“Mom, I want to see the movie my sister was in.”
Su-yeon whined while tugging at Sua’s skirt.
But for a kindergarten kid like Su-yeon, it was out of the question to watch The Chaser.
“How about we wait until you’re a bit older?”
“Ugh.”
Seeing her younger sister’s pouty face, Seoyeon felt a wave of excitement.
A ten million star.
Honestly, it hadn’t sunk in yet.
By the way, Park Jung-woo had become a ten million star at an even younger age.
For that reason, Park Jung-woo said to her:
“Get ready for a heap of issues to follow you around. The media will be watching you closely.”
So he advised her to take it easy and stick to known places.
School, home, and the filming locations.
For a while, it seemed she wouldn’t even be able to freely visit her agency.
“Seoyeon, did you know Hwang Min-hwa came to visit?”
Her manager, Park Eun-ha, said with excitement in her voice.
That was because Hwang Min-hwa’s leading film Utopia had tanked miserably due to Seoyeon’s The Chaser.
It was a given that it would end at four million admissions.
The breakeven point was four million, so they were just about to barely scrape by before the screen went dark.
This was probably Hwang Min-hwa’s first bitter failure in her career.
The thought that it was caused by Seoyeon’s The Chaser made Park Eun-ha smile broadly.
“Our Seoyeon, let’s keep shining!”
Park Eun-ha said that while giving Seoyeon a big hug.
At first, it felt weird, but after getting to know Seoyeon’s dog-like personality, she started doing that more often.
That made her want to avoid any encounters with Hwang Min-hwa even more.
Who’s that angry chihuahua thinking she can mess with our retriever?
Anyway, because of that, Seoyeon had been taking her breaks at home lately.
Aside from that, her usual routes had become the convenience store and the gym.
By the way, for Jo Seo-hee:
“Congrats, this one’s going for ten million!”
That was the extent of the congratulatory message she got.
A fairly rare sincere message, but then she also received:
“I’ll visit you next time,”
a rather dramatic and cryptic message right after.
Seoyeon looked at it for a moment and tilted her head.
Could it be because of that previously mentioned film?
“Mom and Dad, how did you like my movie?”
“Hmm?”
“My film.”
In response to Seoyeon’s question, Sua had gone to the cinema with their dad, Young-bin, a couple of days ago.
Of course, the film they watched was The Chaser.
Although Young-bin joked about wanting to watch Utopia, surprisingly, he willingly sat through The Chaser.
So how did they feel about it?
“I never expected our daughter could perform like that.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, honestly, I felt a wave of sadness, you know?”
Chae Seo-ah was a patient of “emotional expression dysfunction.”
Of course, Seoyeon didn’t have that kind of condition, but she had a minor issue related to expressing emotions when she was younger.
Was that it?
Or did Chae Seo-ah’s emotions transcend the screen, making Sua tear up just a bit?
Certainly, the tension was frightening and gripping.
They enjoyed the film, but they felt that too.
“…Really? Was Dad like that too?”
“Yeah, Dad worried a lot about you.”
Hearing Sua’s thoughts left Seoyeon with a lump in her chest.
Despite often wanting to smack him whenever he teased her, she realized he had this softer side too.
“Oh, speaking of Dad, I heard a package for him arrived at the door earlier. Could you bring it in for me, Seoyeon?”
“Sure.”
With a full heart, Seoyeon noticed a box waiting at the doorstep.
It was pretty substantial, and as she picked it up, she happened to see the label.
[Product Name: Bulletproof Armor!!]
“…”
Once Dad comes home, I’ll definitely give him a punch.
*
At the moment The Chaser was headed for eight million admissions.
The drama writers were switched out, and urgent script revisions were being done for episodes 7 and 8.
Since they were racing to film the material set to air this week, everyone on set was in a chaotic frenzy.
“Ah, hello. I, uh, I’ll be handling the script for a while….”
Seoyeon noticed someone bowing to her.
‘Tiny.’
She was at least a whole head shorter than Seoyeon.
But she was definitely an adult woman who looked about six years older at least.
Since she’d heard she became a drama writer right after graduation.
“Ah, she’s the writer who participated as a co-writer in a film I starred in before. Her name is Min Se-hee.”
Park Jung-woo explained, speaking for the shy Min Se-hee.
“And she’s also part of Dream Future as a co-writer.”
“Oh, really? I had no idea.”
“Yeah, as you can see, she’s quite shy.”
Min Se-hee indeed seemed to be trying to gauge Seoyeon with anxious glances.
“Still, her skills are undeniable. She’s ambitious and is now ready for a main writer role, but she asked if she could remain as a co-writer for Dream Future.”
“Gotcha.”
Seoyeon’s response was a bit ambiguous, hinting whether she was surprised or not, which made Park Jung-woo chuckle.
By the way, due to the situation, Min Se-hee hadn’t really contributed much to the script.
That was because of Im Jin-ha.
Though she’d been granted the position by Park Jung-woo, it seemed she wasn’t particularly thrilled about it.
“Honestly, I think the revised script is very good. You should be looking forward to it.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah, your parts have increased quite a bit. Of course, it won’t overshadow the lead’s role.”
“Is that so?”
Upon hearing Park Jung-woo’s words, Seoyeon felt a bit uneasy.
‘Why on earth?’
Initially, Seoyeon wasn’t supposed to be in the project after this week’s filming.
But now that her role was increasing, that didn’t sit right with her.
‘…’
Honestly, she had a bad feeling about this.
Something told her it seemed less like a minor increase in role and more like a significant shift ahead.
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