“You guys checked the viewing rates for episodes seven and eight, right?”
Both of them nodded at her question. Jayeon messaged the assistant director saying that she’d resume the shoot in twenty minutes before speaking again,
“The viewing rate for episode 9 of Doctor’s Office was 19%, and ours was 12%. There was almost no difference from last week, but it was a different story for yesterday’s episode. The viewing rate for episode 8 of Doctors was 15%, while episode 10 of Doctor’s Office was 15%. Ours increased, and theirs, although only a little, fell. Considering the margin of error, it’s not that big of a difference, but the fact that there was a change in viewing rate is something worth noting.”
“That must have put the writer at ease. I hope she gets a little better too,” Maru said.
He knew that Eunbin was suffering from stress-induced gastritis because of the viewing rate. After all, she talked all about it when she called him over to her house last time.
“I got a call this morning from her about that. She was very excited. The reason I wanted to see you was the call I had with her.”
Jayeon explained to Hyunjin that she was on close terms with the writer, Lee Eunbin.
“There was no change in the overall progression, and it’s not like a big event happened in the drama, but there was still a change in the viewing rate. We can only interpret that as something that has relations to your side story. The internet opinion seems to indicate so as well. That’s where you come in, and I hope you can help us. Hyunjin, if possible, you participate in it as well.”
“How can we help?” Hyunjin asked.
Maru seemed to have an idea as to how already.
“We’ll hold a discussion for ideas. I’m not forcing you to do it. It’s just that when I saw you two act a week ago, I think you two fit each other pretty well. Why don’t we bring that outside the drama?”
“An idea discussion? Are you talking about the plot of the drama?”
“The outlining structure of Doctors is already set in stone, so there’s almost nothing to touch. What I want is the side stories that can be fitted into the drama, not the plot itself; just like your stories in episodes 7 and 8. The story of you two was too good to just leave it as a one-off thing. It didn’t feel out of line with the drama either, and it didn’t harm the overall atmosphere. When I called her this morning, she told me that she wanted to talk about the story more, and she welcomed it.”
Eunbin was definitely a talented writer. She was only thirty-five, yet she managed to create a whole mini-series drama without an assistant writer after all. Given enough time, she would be able to create a story that lived up to everyone’s expectations. The problem was that they were already shooting and the episodes were being aired. As Doctors was something that Eunbin had created over several years, the problem of getting a last-minute script since she only had to fix the lines to fit the current trends did not exist, but to create side stories to insert in the middle of the main story, there was too little time. No matter how talented she was, it would be difficult for her to create a story that the viewers could accept and sympathize with in just a few days. Not only that, the shoot was already quite tight as Lee Heewon and Yoonseo had strict schedules. They had to create episodes as quickly as possible and deal with the side episodes while the main characters were away. Eunbin said that many heads were better than one when it came to creating a dense storyline in a short time, so Jayeon reduced the group down to these two – the actors who showed the characters’ inner selves the most. The writer also agreed that Maru should input his opinion.
“Unni, that is, writer Lee Eunbin prefers working alone, but she’s not adamant on it. She’s held idea meetings with me from time to time as well. But this time, I don’t think I’ll be enough to create a story. That’s why I need your help like last time, Maru. And you too, Hyunjin.”
Hyunjin replied immediately, saying that she would do it.
“I’m not so sure,” Maru said as he raised his glass.
She suddenly felt like she went over a speed bump while driving at 150km/h. Jayeon looked at Maru, her eyes full of questions about why he was so doubtful about this.
“Don’t you think it’ll be for the best to cut this story here? Of course, if the writer wants to do it, I will act with all of my effort.”
“I don’t see a reason not to do it. The reactions were good too.”
“Doing it once may look like a fresh attempt, but doing it twice may look overdone. Episodes 7 and 8 definitely did not affect the main story, but don’t you think it’s dangerous to talk about Bigfoot even in the next episode? It just means that you will have less time to allocate to the main story.”
“I’m the director; did you think I didn’t even think about that? Both I, and the writer, are bringing this up because we think that it’s worth a try. The reason we’re asking for your help without doing it by ourselves is the results from last time’s work were good. Also, like I said, you two have good acting chemistry and have a high understanding of the characters, so we want to do it more efficiently this time.”
“So you’re saying that you aren’t doing it just because the viewing rate was good and that you’ve planned to an extent and found that it was worth investing in, correct?”
“I hate doing things impulsively. Don’t you know that already? You know what kind of people I work with and what kind of environment I work the best in.”
Maru, who had an indifferent look on his face the entire time, smiled and nodded for the first time. Jayeon subconsciously sighed. She was reminded of her job interview for the TV station. Maru’s eyes looked similar to the interviewer who looked through her strong pretense and looked at her true self. She had known him for a few years now, so she had forgotten how picky the boy, no, the man in front of her was. No matter how hard she tried to tell him that there was good food in front of him, he would not believe it until he saw it with his own two eyes.
“Personally, I believe that it’s better to wrap things up here, but the writer, who has talent in writing unlike me, says she saw potential, so I should cooperate.”
“I thought that you’d easily cooperate, so you made me sweat a little. Anyway, since you promised you’ll help, I think we should get going right now. Maru’s well-known for not having anything to do. How about you, Hyunjin? If it’s okay with you, I’d like to get to it right now.”
“Right now?”
“Why? Do you have something to do?”
“No, not today. I was just a little surprised that you want to do it right now.”
“You know how important every single hour is towards the end of the drama. We have to take care of things while we still have some leeway in the schedule and can still make adjustments so that we have an easier time later. I’ll tell unni about it. We can probably go there right now.”
“There? You mean the noonim’s house, right?”
“Yeah. Oh, but before we go, can I ask you to do something for me?”
“What is it?”
“Order a gukbap for takeout for her. I’m sure she’s sitting on an empty stomach right now.”
“Alright. If she’s on an empty stomach, we should order dried pollack gukbap, so that she can eat heartily.”
Jayeon left the restaurant after asking them to take care of writer Eunbin.
* * *
“You know the writer?”
“As you heard before, I saw her once before at her house. Back then, she told me that she had a story to insert for episodes 7 and 8.”
He was particularly close to the director, and he was also acquainted with the writer. Hyunjin found Maru more and more curious as she found out more about him. A young actor who she wouldn’t even know the name of if she didn’t meet him through the drama actually turned out to be qualified of exchanging opinions with a veteran director and a writer. Although directors and writers listened to many people’s words and exchanged opinions with them in order to complete their pieces, the scope of those ‘many people’ was definitely not that wide. The fact that he was in the scope meant that his skills could be guaranteed. Maybe the attractive force that he showed while acting was actually effective on people with other jobs as well?
“Don’t the main cast get to listen to how the drama ends and a brief description of the characters?”
“Generally. We get an explanation beforehand especially if there’s something like a death scene, and all the more if there’s a sensitive or a controversial acting scene. It may involve the actor’s image after all.”
“Don’t you think the character’s image would be ruined if the story sidetracked too much? I’m sure you’ll do fine by yourself, but please give me a signal if you don’t think something’s right. I’ll pull back as well.”
“You’re satisfied with the ending in episode 8?”
“For me, yes. That was supposed to be talking about the ordinary pains of an ordinary person, no? It didn’t drag on for too long, and it was blunt. It was a genuine story without any sort of fantasy, so it felt good even as I acted. I had a vague expectation as to how the viewers would feel while watching as well. Honestly speaking, I predicted this kind of response.”
“You have good eyes for reading the trend, huh?”
“Aren’t you going to say that I’m boasting too much?”
“Maybe it’s because I was deeply impressed by your acting, but I think I can believe you. Honestly, I just enjoyed myself while acting. It had been ages since the last time I had fun while acting. Whether it was the viewing rate or the responses from the people, I didn’t think about any of it.”
“So you were immersed in yourself.”
“That’s probably it.”
“I really had fun back then as well. You received all the emotions I threw at you and returned just as much back to me. When there’s a good interaction, it is really fun when acting.”
“I felt like that too.”
Maru spoke as he turned the wheel,
“That’s why I’m even more cautious. We managed to put a good ending while it was still good. I fear that adding any more to that story will ruin that. I’m a minor actor, so a short burst of impact is crucial for me. If it ends like this, I can become the main character for just those two episodes, but if it continues and becomes awkward, then the image I’ve created will shatter.”
This person looked far into the distance. Hyunjin thought that what he said was plausible. After all, unlike her, Maru played a character that was quite far away from the main storyline. It might be more beneficial for him to leave the scene while everyone applauded him and had a good impression of him.
“If the story the writer tells me is not to my liking, I am going to object to it. Of course, if she wants to press on with it, I will have no choice but to shut up and do my part. I don’t have the right to refuse after all.”
“We’re going there to come up with ideas so that it doesn’t end awkwardly. Let’s do our best. It’s been years since I heard praises. I don’t want to ruin it either.”
The car entered a parking lot. It seemed that they had arrived at writer Lee Eunbin’s apartment.
