Post: Just watched The Chaser, but I have one question.
So, if Hong Jeong-hee and Cha Seo-ah fought, who would win?????
Reply
– Who is Hong Jeong-hee?
ㄴ A role that Joo Seo-yeon played in a theater.
– If Cha Seo-ah hits Hong Jeong-hee on the head with an axe, she’s dead.
– What if Hong Jeong-hee has a disability special skill?
ㄴ Are you freaking crazy?
– I’m Cha Seo-ah, and I’m winning.
==
The Chaser is making waves, and memes are spreading everywhere in the community.
Seo-yeon took a series of villain roles after her comeback, hence all the talk about her has turned into memes.
Moreover, the hottest topic cinematically has been the convenience store lady.
Why even mention it?
But isn’t it weird that Cha Seo-ah, who used to work part-time at the convenience store, isn’t mentioned?
– Still, Han Ye-hwa is alive enough to manage this.
– If she were dead, I think someone would’ve gone to track down the actors lol.
Anyway, since there was so much buzz in the community, it was natural for the spotlight to be on the most talked-about actors in this film.
– Is Dream Future real?? They said Joo Seo-yeon’s role was cut down.
– Do you believe the articles lol? The role probably didn’t have much to begin with.
– But she was the one who sparked the buzz in episode 1?
– But it’s true that Song So-ha’s role was minor.
– Isn’t it just that her presence was minimal?
As episodes went on, Joo Ha-rin’s, aka Seo-yeon’s, share of scenes decreased.
The mentions of this started to grow.
By the time episodes 5 and 6 aired the week after The Chaser premiered, it was clear that there was a deliberate intention not to give Joo Ha-rin any more screen time.
At this point, viewers were starting to feel something was off.
– Wasn’t Joo Ha-rin the female lead?
– They say the protagonist is Song So-ha… But is it necessary to minimize Joo Ha-rin this much?
Such comments even popped up on the broadcasting boards.
Of course, other communities were buzzing about it too.
And finally…
“I guarantee you, the drama writer definitely reduced her role no doubt.”
– But it was announced in the articles, right?
“Oh, of course, I saw that. But looking at it, the method is quite rotten. I went to the broadcasting company to do some digging, and apparently, there’s some internal talk. The writer is being stubborn, they say.”
– But writers usually have low status, right? How does that work? Is it a star writer?
“I’m not sure if they’re a star writer, but they definitely have some clout. I heard they really like actor Park Jung-woo. But as you know, actress Joo Seo-yeon often gets entangled with Park Jung-woo, right? So, there’s that speculation.”
Starting from 1.3 million YouTuber Han Bong-sik’s words, gossip about this began to spread.
*
“Wait? A change in the drama writer? Just like that?”
“It’s not like it’s sudden, Writer Im.”
Director Kim Pil-seok sighed as if he had a headache.
“What is going on? Seriously…”
With the buzz around The Chaser, comments about Joo Ha-rin had started to pop up in the community as well.
Well, that was understandable.
Typically, when there’s a standout actor, there’s interest in other roles too.
Especially when it’s someone like Joo Ha-rin, who has an image completely opposite to that of Cha Seo-ah.
However, that doesn’t mean ratings will dramatically rise.
One actor’s influence can be significant, but that alone can’t hold onto the viewers.
But then, reports of power abuse surfaced and grabbed even greater attention.
Mainly for the worse.
“Director Baek said not to let anyone leave, but there were top-down orders coming in. Did you hear?”
“I-I heard, but…”
Writer Im Jin-ha said in a bewildered tone.
“Well, Director Baek mentioned it, and we all know changing writers carries risks, so it’s not an easy decision to make… But since it’s coming from above, what can we do? Have you caught the eye of someone important?”
Even saying that, Writer Im had no clue.
The thought of being replaced from the drama kept spinning in his head.
“Well, this doesn’t mean it’s the end or anything… so don’t think too negatively. There’s an issue here, right?”
Director Kim said that, but inside, he quietly smiled.
Having been under the influence of Director Baek, they had had a tough time controlling things, so this might actually turn out to be a positive development.
“It’s not the end, not at all.”
Current drama department head Ha Tae-oh isn’t someone who sends others to their doom.
So, this incident was exceptionally rare but had clear reasons behind it.
Viewer opinions.
And internal issues.
Ratings had been visibly dropping recently.
It was this combination of problems that led to this decision.
“However, this will greatly tarnish the writer’s evaluation.”
To recover from that would require much more effort than before.
Could Writer Im really do that?
Given the ongoing negative evaluations of Writer Im, I honestly think it’ll be tough.
Even if Department Head Ha didn’t mark him, he’s already been marked by all sorts of places.
“So, for the time being, I hope you take care and rest well.”
At those words, Writer Im felt lost.
And when he came to his senses, he found himself back home.
He couldn’t even remember how he got there.
Buzz buzz buzz.
At that moment, Writer Im’s phone rang in his hand.
Looking at the screen…
– Sorry, Writer Im. I don’t think this will work out.
A late text from Director Baek.
Seeing that, Writer Im dropped his phone.
Like the last glimmer of hope had been extinguished.
*
Anyway, around the time all this commotion was stirring within KMB…
Seo-yeon was enjoying a rare day of relaxation at home.
“Our daughter is now a ten-million actress! By the time the next drama airs, she’ll be a ten-million star!!”
Suah spoke excitedly.
“Mom, I want to see the movie my sister was in.”
Su-yeon whined, tugging at Suah’s skirt.
But even if she wanted to see it, now that Su-yeon is in kindergarten, she can’t exactly watch The Chaser.
“We’ll let our Su-yeon watch it when she’s older?”
“Hiiing.”
Seeing her whiny younger sister, Seo-yeon felt a flutter of excitement.
A ten-million actress.
Honestly, it didn’t feel real.
For the record, Park Jung-woo became a ten-million star at an even younger age.
No wonder Park Jung-woo said,
“You’re going to be chased by every issue for a while. And the journalists will keep an eye on you.”
So he advised her to stay low and just travel between specified locations.
School, home, and the filming set.
For the time being, she wouldn’t easily be able to visit her agency either.
“Seo-yeon, did you know actress Hwang Min-hwa came to visit?”
Manager Park Eun-ha said, her voice filled with excitement.
Hwang Min-hwa was the star of the movie Utopia, which Seo-yeon utterly crushed in terms of box office.
It was evident that it would end up being capped at 4 million at this rate.
Since the break-even point itself was 4 million, it was going to barely break even before being pulled from screens.
It would likely be Hwang Min-hwa’s first bitter failure in her career.
And knowing it was due to Seo-yeon’s The Chaser, manager Park Eun-ha couldn’t help but smile.
“Our Seo-yeon, let’s keep riding that wave of success!”
Manager Park Eun-ha said, hugging Seo-yeon tightly.
At first, it felt strange, but after getting to know Seo-yeon’s dog-like personality, she acted like that often.
Therefore, she really didn’t want to run into Hwang Min-hwa.
What kind of chihuahua filled with rage does she think she is to challenge our retriever?
In any case, because of that, Seo-yeon had been predominantly resting at home during her recent downtime.
Aside from that, she only frequently visited the convenience store and gym.
By the way, concerning Jo Seo-hee…
[Congrats, this will definitely hit ten million.]
That was the only congratulatory message she sent.
It felt like a rare, wholesome message.
But then came a very solemn and significant follow-up message:
[I’ll come by next time.]
Seo-yeon looked at it for a moment and tilted her head.
Was it about the movie they mentioned before?
“How did Mom and Dad feel about it?”
“Hmm?”
“My movie.”
Hearing Seo-yeon’s question, Suah remembered that she went to the movies with her husband, Joo Young-bin, the other day.
Of course, the movie they watched was The Chaser.
Though jokingly suggesting to watch Utopia, Young-bin surprisingly went along and watched The Chaser instead.
How did they feel after watching it?
“Our daughter is capable of such acting?”
“R-Really?”
“Yeah, it made me feel incredibly sad as a mother.”
Cha Seo-ah was a patient of ‘emotional expression disability.’
Of course, Seo-yeon was not suffering from that condition, but she did have a momentary emotional issue as a child.
Was that the reason?
Or could it be that the sorrow felt was due to Cha Seo-ah’s emotions, which resonated even through the screen, causing Suah’s eyes to well up?
There was indeed fear and suspense that made them sweat in their palms.
They enjoyed the movie, after all, but that was how it felt.
“…Is that so? Did Dad feel the same way?”
“Yeah, Dad was really worried about you.”
At Suah’s remarks, Seo-yeon’s heart felt suddenly heavy.
Sometimes, she wanted to hit the dad who sometimes teased her, but then she thought, he had that side too.
“Ah, speaking of Dad, I just remembered, Dad’s package arrived at the front door just now. Can you bring it in for me, Seo-yeon?”
“Sure.”
Seo-yeon, still feeling that heaviness in her chest, saw a box at the front door.
It was quite large, and while picking it up, she accidentally saw the name of the item.
[Product Name: Sword Immortal Sword-Proof Costume!!]
“……”
Viewing Dad’s package that she was going to deliver, she vowed to give him one hit when he got home.
*
Around the time The Chaser was heading to 8 million…
The drama writer got changed, and revisions for the script were hastily being filmed for episodes 7 and 8.
With the content set to air this week, the staff members were all frantic.
“Ah, hello. I’ll be handling the script for a while…”
Seo-yeon saw someone bending low to greet her.
‘Small.’
At least that person was a head shorter than Seo-yeon.
But that person was still an adult female who seemed to be at least six years older than Seo-yeon.
She’s been told she became a drama writer immediately after graduating from university.
“Ah, this is the writer who was involved in the movie I previously appeared in, a supporting writer. Her name is Min Se-hee.”
Park Jung-woo explained on behalf of the stammering Min Se-hee.
“And she’s also involved as a supporting writer in this Dream Future.”
“Is that so? I wasn’t aware.”
“Yeah, she’s very shy, as you can see.”
It was true that Min Se-hee was very timid, glancing nervously at Seo-yeon.
“Nevertheless, her abilities are solid. She has ambition. She begged to be a supporting writer for Dream Future even though she could be the main writer now.”
“Aha.”
Whether she was surprised or not, Seo-yeon’s reaction was ambiguous, prompting a chuckle from Park Jung-woo.
For reference, despite being invited, Min Se-hee hadn’t had significant participation in the script so far.
It was because of Im Jin-ha.
Park Jung-woo’s request so naturally made Min Se-hee a supporting writer, but it seemed she wasn’t completely pleased.
“I think the modified script is very good. You can look forward to it.”
“……Really?”
“Scenes increased quite a bit. Of course, without stepping on the lead’s role.”
“Is that so?”
Seo-yeon felt a little uncertain at Park Jung-woo’s comments.
‘Why on earth?’
Originally, she was in a position where she would no longer have to shoot Dream Future after finishing this week’s filming.
But the share of her scenes increased?!
‘……’
Somehow, she felt that it wasn’t just a minor increase.
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