Manager Oh Baek Ho took Writer Oh Young Ji’s side for now, so that the atmosphere wouldn’t get too heavy.
“You must have been really upset.”
Of course, in his head, Manager Oh Baek Ho was questioning whether they had gotten themselves into a bad situation. Writer Oh Young Ji’s reputation in the industry was ordinary. The rumor Manager Oh Baek Ho had heard in passing was that she wasn’t the eccentric type like you often see among writers.
’Is it that throwing a laptop doesn’t count as eccentric? Geez,’
Manager Oh Baek Ho thought. He also thought that it might actually be better if Writer Oh Young Ji had an angry expression right now.
Writer Oh Young Ji was treating Do Wook and Manager Oh Baek Ho so nicely that it was hard to imagine she was the same person who had just thrown a laptop. It’d be one thing if they didn’t know, but now it was making them feel more uneasy. They didn’t know which way she’d swing to.
“No, I’m ok. Anyways, Do Wook, what kind of relationship do you have with Instructor Lee Kang Yeon?”
“She helped me for my college entrance exams. And she’s still giving me help now.”
“Goodness, I see. Did you get in as an acting major? You’re a singer so….can I ask what school you went to?”
“Ah, the Korean National University of Arts.”
“Really?! I graduated from there too! Though, a different major of course.”
“Ah! I didn’t know. You’re my sunbae then.”
Since they had decided to be part of the ‘Boyfriend from Outer Space’ project, it would be good to build a good relationship with Writer Oh Young Ji. Coincidentally, they went to the same school so she replied with a joyful expression.
“Mi Hyeon, oh, our assistant writer, graduated from there too! Hey Mi Hyeon!”
“Haha, man, I wish I had graduated from there too.”
Manager Oh Baek Ho made idle talk. Writer Oh Young Ji called this ‘Mi Hyeon’ person and the assistant writer wearing horn-rimmed glasses, who had gone in the room, came out. The assistant writer, who seemed to have been on a phone call, had a cell phone in her hand.
“Is something wrong, ma’am?”
“No, I just wanted you to officially introduce yourself to Do Wook too…”
“Ok…but ma’am, I think you really need to answer this phone call.”
“Hmm? Who’s calling? I have guests right now, I should call them back later.”
Mi Hyeon had an awkward expression and said, “I think you really should answer the call now”. Having no choice, Writer Oh Young Ji excused herself, got up from her seat, and was handed the cellphone.
When Writer Oh Young Ji went into the room, those left were Mi Hyeon, Do Wook, and Manager Oh Baek Ho. When Mi Hyeon made eye contact with Do Wook, she felt awkward and avoided his gaze.
“Please have a seat for a bit too.”
“Ah, I’m really ok… Well, ok then…”
Mi Hyeon hesitantly sat on the seat across from them. In the midst of brief silence, Manager Oh Baek Ho asked,
“I guess the call is taking longer than expected.”
“Well…it’s a call from the manager of our female lead, so…”
Manager Oh Baek Ho nodded in an understanding way to Mi Hyeon’s response. The female lead role was important to Do Wook too. Since the female protagonist had to carry the show as the focus, it would be difficult for the show to survive without a top star with excellent acting skills.
‘If it goes as it did before, it should be Wang Hee Jin…’
Do Wook recalled Wang Hee Jin. She was a beautiful actress who had never lost her position on top from her high school years until her late 20s. There were often controversies over her acting skills, but she had the beauty and charm to make those disappear.
‘It was to the point that it’s difficult to imagine anyone other than Wang Hee Jin for the female lead role.’
Do Wook was a little concerned. Since the male protagonist role changed to him, the female protagonist role might change too. Having seen Wang Hee Jin acting in this drama before, Do Wook definitely hoped that Wang Hee Jin would do the female protagonist role.
However, there was nothing Do Wook could do right now. First off, Do Wook didn’t even know who the female protagonist they were currently in talks with was.
More importantly, he thought it was a good opportunity to ask about what happened with Writer Oh Young Ji and the ex-assistant writer earlier. Do Wook glanced at the room door, which showed no signs of opening, then asked Mi Hyeon.
***
When they returned after their meeting with Writer Oh Young Ji, the dormitory was quiet.
Except for Suk Ji Hoon, all the members seemed to have gone out to meet with their family and friends. Even Park Tae Hyung, who usually stayed at the dormitory quietly watching a movie on days off, seemed to have had plans today.
“You’re back, Do Wook”
“You didn’t go out?”
When Do Wook asked, Suk Ji Hoon got his luggage out from the multipurpose room and replied,
“I have a shoot tomorrow. I’m going to pack and take care of my body.”
He was talking about filming for ‘Camping 48 Hours’. Suk Ji Hoon was active in ‘Camping 48 Hours’ enough to receive the Rookie of the Year award at the KVS Entertainment Awards last year. Of course, being funny wasn’t his professional expertise so there were times he wasn’t very active, but the netizens’ evaluation of Suk Ji Hoon in ‘Camping 48 Hours’ was that he always went above and beyond.
Do Wook smiled happily at Suk Ji Hoon’s response. In the beginning, there was a difference in his gaze, like an uncle looking at his nephew, but now he was just looking at the youngest member of his team.
Part of it was that Do Wook was not adjusted to living as ‘Kang Do Wook’. Another big reason was that the members, including Suk Ji Hoon, had grown as they got older and got experience.
Once KK ended their activities, Kim Won and Jung Yoon Ki were preparing for the OKAY unit digital sound file announcement, and Ahn Hyung Seo received a flood of offers to do OSTs. Suk Ji Hoon planned to appear often as a panelist on fashion programs while also doing ‘Camping 48 Hours’. Suk Ji Hoon, Ahn Hyung Seo, and Park Tae Hyung were also scheduled to appear on a travel entertainment program.
Requests for Do Wook were also flooding in like water to appear on entertainment shows, do OSTs, etc., but Do Wook had declined all of them. He was busy as he was, trying to focus on his acting activities during this short break, so he had no choice.
For the time being, the only thing the members were going to do together was an advertisement shoot.
In the living room, Suk Ji Hoon laid out a yellow suitcase that was so fluorescent that looking at it made your eyes sting, and began to neatly fold and organize his clothes. Short-sleeved T-shirts were folded crisply with nice angles and in neat piles. The suitcase was packed very tightly with no empty space.
Do Wook asked,
“I guess you’re going somewhere far away this time?”
He asked because there seemed to be more clothes than usual.
“No. It’s hot now so we usually go to creeks or the ocean. If they make us go in the water, I don’t have enough clothes.”
“Ah…”
“It is hot but I think it’s better than filming during winter. And going in the water is refreshing too.”
Do Wook smiled pleasantly at Suk Ji Hoon’s explanation.
“If you start on a drama, summer might end before you have a chance to go to the ocean even once.”
Suk Ji Hoon said to Do Wook, who was smiling pleasantly, as if it were unfortunate. All the members were busy with their own things, the person who was busiest was definitely Do Wook.
“Well…maybe there will be a scene where the character goes to the ocean.”
Suk Ji Hoon laughed at Do Wook’s reply, kind of implying ‘that’s silly’.
“You just got back from meeting with the writer, right? How was it? Does she really believe that aliens exist? Does she seem like a nice person?”
Unlike his usual self, Suk Ji Hoon asked one question after another. Do Wook replied as he shook his head.
“It’s not like that. The writer…”
Do Wook couldn’t easily define Writer Oh Young Ji. People aren’t one-dimensional.
“It was good. She treated me well too.”
“That’s a relief.”
Do Wook replied to Suk Ji Hoon then went to his own room.
No matter what, if he was asked what kind of person Writer Oh Young Ji was, Do Wook would answer that she seemed like a nice person. She was nice to them, and when Manager Oh Baek Ho looked into her reputation in the industry, there didn’t seem to be anything negative.
‘Though that’s not the case towards at least the assistant writers.’
Writer Oh Young Ji certainly had a fiery personality. She was the type to not think things through when she was mad and express her anger. Furthermore, Writer Oh Young Ji thought her actions towards the assistant writer were reasonable anger. Therefore, she had revealed her actions truthfully to Do Wook and Manager Oh Baek Ho.
She had fed, housed, and even paid the assistant writer while under her employment. Yet the assistant writer didn’t properly carry out the task that was asked, so it was lazy work.
If you think of it that way, the perspective that it was simply her expressing herself too harshly is understandable.
Through the stories that he had heard from the assistant writer Mi Hyeon, Do Wook was able to guess for the most part what led to the plagiarism dispute from the past.
Mi Hyeon answered Do Wook’s question extremely carefully. If she carelessly said something wrong, she might have to face the wrath like the assistant writer with the smashed laptop did.
Based on what he heard, it seemed the assistant writer truly had been lazy. Mi Hyeon phrased it as ‘Ji Young was in a bit of a slump lately…’ and tried to sugarcoat it, but she hadn’t submitted any ideas and hadn’t done any of the research she was assigned.
When she was explaining what happened afterwards, Mi Hyeon added the caveat ‘probably…’. It didn’t have to do with her so Mi Hyeon didn’t jump to conclusions and was cautious. However, her acting like that made her explanation more believable.
At the same time, Mi Hyeon had no choice but to defend her fellow coworker Ji Young, so she even told Do Wook things that Writer Oh Young Ji wouldn’t want him to know.
Since Ji Young had just ran out, Mi Hyeon was definitely also confused in many ways.
Based on Mi Hyeon’s explanation, the person who came up with the idea for the title ‘Boyfriend from Outer Space’ as well as the idea that the reason the alien male protagonist is stranded in Korea is due to a spaceship crash was the assistant writer named Ji Young. Additionally, the details of the female protagonist’s past was also borrowed from Ji Young’s ideas.
Writer Oh Young Ji praised Ji Young a lot. The problem was Ji Young. Ji Young, who had heard that Writer Oh Young Ji made it sound like she was the one who came up with the idea to the PD and production company when she had gotten the idea from Ji Young, felt dejected.
As an assistant writer, it was natural for her to bring up ideas, and there was no problem with Writer Oh Young Ji, as the main writer, using those ideas.
Even if she truly had made it sound like it was her idea, there was nothing to say. It’s unfair, but that’s how the world works. She knew that, but Ji Young, for whom this was the first time as an assistant writer, felt like she had been dealt a blow.
‘That’s why she didn’t suggest any ideas…and from Writer Oh Young Ji’s perspective, she got mad and probably had no choice but to kick her out. The assistant writer who was kicked out held a grudge and raised a dispute over plagiarism by using things like reference materials…’
The situation would make anyone sigh. It was difficult for Do Wook to say anyone was fully in the wrong, and he wasn’t in a position to do so. What was important to Do Wook was that the project he was a part of didn’t get caught up in gossip.
‘In that case…’
Do Wook took his cell phone out and called Manager Oh Baek Ho. That way, he could contact Wang Hee Jin.
—
Next chapter: Do Wook meets with Wang Hee Jin