Fortunately, the falling object landed not on the ground but on the balcony of the floor below.
The studio of the writer for ‘Boyfriend from Outer Space’, Oh Young Ji, was a two-story detached house located in Nowongu, Seoul. It wasn’t Ilsan or Yeoyido, where writers typically live, and it was far from the central Seoul area, like Gangnam, where production companies are concentrated.
The reason Writer Oh Young Ji had picked this place was because it was a detached house. Places like Yeoyido or Ilsan were too expensive. The first floor was the area where she worked on projects with assistant writers, and the second floor could be considered Writer Oh Young Ji’s residence.
Anyways, the object that fell from the 2nd-floor window became stuck in the flowerbed on the first-floor balcony.
Do Wook and Manager Oh Back Ho looked in that direction with a surprised expression.
The object stuck in the flowerbed was none other than a laptop.
“Is…Is it ok to go in?”
Do Wook couldn’t answer Manager Oh Baek Ho’s question either. He was asking himself the same question.
They definitely had the date of the meeting correct. Sure, they were about 5 minutes early, but…Do Wook and Manager Oh Baek Ho were thinking that they should have arrived 5 minutes later on the dot. Anyways, it was a relief that it didn’t fall on their heads.
Just the idea of the laptop falling on their head was terrifying. Manager Oh Baek Ho must have been thinking the same thing because he shuddered.
There was no need to contemplate any longer whether they should ring the doorbell or not, the front door swung wide open. Do Wook stepped back.
A short-haired woman opened the door and came out. She looked to be in her late twenties, and was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt and a comfortable elastic pleated skirt. On her back she was wearing a large backpack.
Her eyes were red, as if she might cry at any moment.
“Uh….”
It wasn’t just them who were startled, the woman was surprised too. She had a surprised expression briefly, then when they made eye contact she bowed her head and greeted them. Do Wook looked the woman over as he returned her greeting out of reflex.
“If you’ll excuse me.”
The woman greeted them, then quickly walked to the balcony and inspected the shattered laptop.
“Haaaa….”
There was a deep sigh. It surely was a situation that warranted a sigh.
‘Did she perhaps drop it?’
While Do Wook was thinking that, the woman picked up the laptop that had cracks in several areas. The keycaps and shattered debris were all over the dirt, but she didn’t seem to care about those. The woman turned her neck towards the two of them, who were standing there blankly looking at what the woman was doing while they debated whether they should help her.
“Hmmm. Hmmm. Please go in, you’re here to see the writer, right…? She’s inside.”
She was barely able to get the words out as she cleared her throat. It felt like it would be very rude to stare any longer, so Do Wook replied quickly then entered through the open front door.
Once they entered the front door, another woman came and was startled. This time it was a woman with horn-rimmed glasses with her hair tied up high. Like the short-haired woman, she seemed to be in her mid-to-late 20s.
“Ah, hello! You’re here!”
“Yes, hello.”
When Do Wook nodded his head and greeted her, the woman busily looked around the area, then led the two of them to the sofa. Once the two of them sat down on the sofa, the woman said as she scratched her head,
“The writer is currently upstairs…pl, please wait a moment. Would you like tea or anything…juice, would you like some juice?”
As if saying what a coincidence, Manager Oh Baek Ho handed over the set of fruit juices he brought to the woman with horn-rimmed glasses. The woman said thank you and accepted the juice.
“I think water would be fine for us.”
“Ah, yes, one moment!”
When Manager Oh Baek Ho said that, the woman with horn-rimmed glasses answered “okay,” then quickly left. Seeing how they would say “the writer”, both the woman from before and the woman with the horn-rimmed glasses seemed to be assistant writers.
“The vibe is chaotic.”
“Yeah.”
Do Wook looked around the interior of the studio as he replied. At first glance, it seemed like a family home because the TV, sofa, and refrigerator were placed in the usual locations, but what was visible through the open door of a big room was not one of a family home.
Inside the big room, there was a large working desk, and on the desk there was a thick stack of A4-sized papers. There were three laptops that were powered on, and there was a whiteboard up on one side of the room.
‘The writer’s work area…’
It was his first time at a writer’s studio, so he looked around in fascination. On the other hand, he was worried what that earlier incident with the laptop and short-haired assistant writer was about.
When he had taken a sip of the water the assistant writer with the horn-rimmed glasses had brought out, Writer Oh Young Ji came down the stairs.
“Goodness, hello! I’m so very sorry to make you come all this way.”
Writer Oh Young Ji’s voice, which was pleasant enough to be called that of a nightingale, rang throughout the studio.
“Nono, it’s only right that we come to see you.”
Manager Oh Back Ho quickly got up from his seat and said hello to Writer Oh Young Ji. Do Wook also bowed his head and greeted her. Writer Oh Young Ji said with a big smile,
“Goodness! You’re so handsome! I’m so excited to meet you!”
“Ah, it’s an honor to meet you too, ma’am.”
“The honor is mine, I get to meet you, Do Wook! It was definitely a good idea to become a drama writer. I get to meet someone handsome like you!”
Do Wook and Manager Oh Baek Ho relaxed and laughed at what Writer Oh Young Ji said. Honestly, because of the scene they witnessed before even opening the studio door, they were both very anxious as they were waiting.
Writer Oh Young Ji, whose cheeks were blushing like a young girl as she was speaking, was an experienced writer with four projects under her name, but she was also a young writer who had just turned 40.
She entered the industry at the young age of 30 as an assistant writer. Her debut project was a Monday/Tuesday drama on public tv, so she could be considered extremely lucky.
Writer Oh Young Ji was on a roll with her debut drama as well as the project after that. Her main viewers were women in their 40s and 50s. Romance targeted at housewives had worked well.
Then, 2 years ago at the end of the year, the broadcast station, having noticed that Writer Oh Young Ji’s main viewers were housewives, assigned weekend dramas to her.
The main viewers for weekend dramas are older, and the writers were significantly older as well. It was a surprising decision from the broadcast station’s perspective, as well as from Writer Oh Young Ji’s perspective.
It’s said that the bread and butter of dramas are miniseries. Unlike Monday/Tuesday dramas or Wednesday/Thursday dramas, which featured stars whose names alone were enough to be blinding, daily dramas and weekend dramas were considered projects that non-A-list people did. It was true for actors as well as writers.
Writer Oh Young Ji was worried because of that, but after much contemplation she accepted the broadcast station’s offer.
She had to stay loyal to the PD who gave her her start, and the manuscript fee was tempting too.
Unlike weekday dramas that range from 16 to 20 episodes, weekend dramas have at least 50 episodes. Most drama writers get a manuscript fee per episode, so if they’re paid a manuscript fee for 50 episodes, they’ll receive a substantial amount.
The KVS weekend drama ‘Love Trapped in a Vine’, which was Writer Oh Young Ji’s first attempt, had immense success beyond expectation. It got over 50% ratings, and was loved by middle-aged people and young people alike, causing weekend dramas to be reevaluated.
It was to the point that other broadcast stations also started thinking that perhaps they should invest in talented young writers on weekend or daily dramas too to be competitive. They also did actually invest in many writers.
Writer Oh Young Ji’s momentum was considerable because she wrote national family dramas that daughters, mothers, sons, and even fathers could all enjoy. KVS offered another weekend drama, but this time Writer Oh Young Ji declined.
Writer Oh Young Ji’s dream was firmly weekday dramas during golden time.
‘Love Trapped in a Vine’ did receive love nationwide, but it was different from the love that golden time weekday dramas receive.
Writer Oh Young Ji had ambition to get that kind of love through rom coms, the bread and butter of dramas, too. She now also had the confidence that she could write even better now.
The result of the planning and writing stages was ‘Boyfriend from Outer Space’.
Because of the unique topic of ‘alien’, there was opposition in the first half from the production company that Writer Oh Young Ji was affiliated with, but Writer Oh Young Ji was certain. Therefore, she kept pushing and eventually, after reading the script, the production company raised their hands in defeat.
As for the broadcast station, they basically said, ‘Fine, as long as it’s well-cast!’
In that case, the problem was definitely casting. Casting was half the battle for rom coms.
‘Handsome’ and ‘cool’ were the bare minimum for the male lead. There were aspects of that that were not possible to express with just acting skills, and there were very few actors who fit those conditions and whose acting skills were good enough to pull off the topic of ‘alien’.
Furthermore, another problem was the part the female protagonist played. Unlike other dramas where the male actor tended to be the focus, and unlike its title, ‘Boyfriend from Outer Space’ focused on the female protagonist.
Therefore, even if they overcame the wall that the subject of ‘alien’ causes, top class male actors don’t want to be outshined by the female actress so they decline the casting. Naturally, the actor Writer Oh Young Ji first thought of also declined it.
At the same time, from Writer Oh Young Ji’s perspective, it would be ridiculous to lower her standards. Then Do Wook appeared like a savior.
As a drama actor, Do Wook wasn’t top class, but nonetheless, he had a strong image so it definitely wasn’t a substandard casting.
Writer Oh Young Ji thought that the broadcast station would definitely approve the casting too.
“The actress for the female lead role hasn’t given a firm answer yet, but…Well, if we tell them someone like Kang Do Wook gets cast they’ll think about it more positively, right?”
Writer Oh Young Ji said as she laughed.
“Ahhh…then the female lead is not confirmed yet.”
“Yes, we’re in talks though. It seems like it bothers them too that it’s about an alien. Something along the lines of falling in love with an alien is ridiculous.”
Writer Oh Young Ji nodded her head as if saying she understood. Despite such constraints, the reason a cream of the crop female actress was thinking about it favorably was because she also knew that it was a drama that would definitely draw attention from women.
Do Wook shook his head.
“No ma’am. It may say the word alien, but he’s a guy who has money, talent, and superpowers. It’s only natural to fall in love with a guy like that.”
“Oh my, as expected. You really paid attention to my script. Thank you.”
Writer Oh Young Ji didn’t seem to have a particularly bad personality. Rather, her personality seemed good, and not eccentric in the least bit. The comfortable vibe continued so Do Wook asked carefully. In the back of his mind, the short-haired lady whose eyes were red kept worrying him.
“By the way, uh…we saw the notebook fall earlier…I guess it was dropped by accident?”
“Oh my, you saw that? You must have been startled. I’m sure you were. I’m sorry.”
“No, I didn’t mean it in that way.”
“It wasn’t an accident. I dropped it. No, I guess I should say I threw it?”
Writer Oh Young Ji said quietly as she pushed her hair behind her ear. Manager Oh Baek Ho and Do Wook hesitated.
“It’s just, when I get really mad I often lose my temper. This person who used to be my assistant writer, I asked her to bring me their idea and they did a terrible job. It’s already happened multiple times. Like, do they want to work or not?”
“Ah….”
“I said not to work if they’re going to keep this up and threw it. Hoho, don’t worry about it. They were acting cocky because they had kind of a good idea for the title in the beginning. Gee, kids these days quit so easily…”
Writer Oh Young Ji shook her head.
The eyes of Do Wook, who had been quietly listening to her talk, grew big. At that moment, the plagiarism controversy in the past over ‘Boyfriend from Outer Space’ came to mind.
‘I only saw an article in passing about her being sued. No way…’
—
Next chapter: We learn the drama surrounding BfOS