Top Management - Chapter 197

Chapter 197

Chapter 197: Stop at Nothing, By Any Means (3)

TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir

‘King’s Warrior . ’

The large characters in front of me didn’t change even after blinking .

I opened my dry lips and asked,

“And the genre is…”

“A historical drama . ”

“That’s right . Since there are a king and his warrior . ”

I flipped through a few more pages before closing it . In no way was this similar to the noir genre or the ‘City Jungle’ title . The only similarity was that both films had four characters in their name .

I asked in a gentle tone,

“If you have short film scenarios or synopses, could I take a look?”

He might have restricted a short film to be a feature film, but he struck down my hope . I examined every short film scenario and synopsis that came out of Director Joo Jaechan’s backpack, but I couldn’t find a hint of what I was looking for .

“You have been preparing for this feature film for a long time?”

“Yes, I’ve worked on it for more than two years . ”

Two years .

Then where did the scenario he worked five years on suddenly appear from?

This really was strange .

“Is this historical drama your first feature-length work?”

“… Yes, it is my first . ”

Director Joo Jaechan said dispiritedly .

“It seems you are unhappy with all of them . ”

“No, that’s not it . ”

“Your expression has gradually been growing worse . This is all I have . ”

Did that scenario have a different writer?

That didn’t seem to be the case . They definitely said he won best screenplay, and he himself said it was a project he had been working on for five years . The investment/distribution agency general manager had praised Director Joo Jaechan from start to end .

What was going on?

Was Director Joo Jaechan lying to me right now? If so, why? It might have been easier to understand the situation if I knew the production company in charge of City Jungle . Where did he make the movie?

I suddenly looked next to me . The drunk production company employee was looking at me .

I casually exchanged a few more drinks before looking at them and asking,

“Are you planning on doing another project together?”

“Huh? No, no, nothing’s decided . If he does have a good project . ”

He avoided the subject . Then he patted Director Joo Jaechan’s shoulder,

“Don’t promote that historical drama, okay? How can we let a rookie director direct a historical drama? It needs a large budget and it’s difficult to get investments for . If the cast is good, we might be able to trust the actors enough to follow through, but you know that rookie directors have a hard time casting actors, right?”

He glanced at me while saying that . He looked like he would be interested in a talented actor was interested even if it was a historical drama . I simply laughed it off . After examining my reaction a bit longer, he seemed to think it was a fruitless endeavor and got up after emptying his glass .

“Write something besides historical dramas . A comedy seems good . ”

Leaving those words, he went over to a table where other directors were sitting at .

I drank while looking at Director Joo Jaechan . Maybe it was because he was a little depressed, but he didn’t give off much of an impression either . Director Joo gave off a showy impression in the future . Did he change after his debut work became a hit?

Or was he simply acting well-behaved right now?

The afterparty reached its peak as more people were making a racket . I met a few people before going back to Director Joo Jaechan’s table multiple times . Also, I confirmed a few more things once he was completely drunk .

Whether he really didn’t have another work .

Whether he was interested in the noir genre . I even mentioned City Jungle . However, even as he was nodding off while drunk, he simply shook his head .

What to do now?

Thinking about it, I organized my thoughts .

Let’s wait for now . Acting hastily now could change the future . Since, in the future, they said that Director Joo Jaechan brought the scenario to me first, it would be best not to change anything if I wanted that future to happen .

I handed Director Joo Jaechan my business card .

Along with a message, asking him to contact me whenever he had a good project .

*

Although I decided to wait and see, my surroundings move quickly .

-Have you seen the article?

“Yes, I’m reading it right now . ”

{Lee Songha, Her next work is ‘Supernatural’ with Heo Kakyung . }{1}

{Movie ‘Supernatural’ casts Heo Kakyung and Lee Songha among others}

-It seems the ones from Supernatural leaked this . You want to release a correction, right?

“Yes, as quickly as possible . ”

-We’re writing a press release . Are you still considering the scenario or is it final?

“It’s final . We formally refused in our meeting yesterday . ”

At least, that was what I thought .

-It seems that they didn’t get that memo . Or they are thinking about using this to promote their movie since negotiations have failed . And they clearly know this puts us in a difficult spot .

After hanging up my call with Team Leader Park, I asked Reporter Park Woojeong as well . Then I refreshed the page as I waited for the correction to be made .

It was a common tactic to release an article while things were still undecided, but I didn’t have the time to just laugh it off this time . It would complicate things if Director Joo Jaechan went elsewhere after seeing this article .

I kept refreshing the page when I received a call . It was from the ‘Supernatural’ people .

“General manager . ”

-Ah, I saw that an article confirming Ms . Lee Songha was released?

“Yes, it did . ”

-We’re not the ones who released it . Just in case there’s a misunderstanding .

What do you mean you didn’t release it? Such a blatant lie .

I clicked my tongue as I refreshed the page . As soon as I saw the top headline, my tensed lips relaxed .

{Lee Songha’s Side denies being cast in ‘Supernatural’ . Formal Refusal (Official Stance)}

-This is very awkward .

“It’s okay . We released a correction . ”

-Pardon?

The other side because busy . I also refreshed the page . The correction seemed to be spreading well as a few more articles with similar headlines were published . Not long after, I heard a sigh .

-It’s your official stance .

“I felt that it would be best clearly settle the matter since an article was released . If Lee Songha keeps getting mentioned in Supernatural articles, it would make it difficult for you to cast other actresses . We really are thankful for your proposal, but next…”

-Team Leader Jung Sunwoo .

An unhappy voice suddenly cut in .

“Director Cha Jaeho?”

-Yeah, it’s me . I have never sent love calls or made script adjustments for young actresses .

Ah, adjustments .

The one-page adjustment proposal that would obviously be ignored once we signed the contract . I was curious when the director, who was too proud to allow even adlibbed lines, meant by adjustments, but it was as expected .

Before I could reply, Director Cha Jaeho sarcastically said,

-It seems that Midas’s Hand really didn’t like my project . Please let me know when you decide on Ms . Lee Songha’s next project . I’m curious what amazing project you’ll join after rejecting mine .

“Jung Sunwoo!”

The director sat on my desk . His brows, which were the only sharp features on his round face, twitched . The director stopped calling me Lucky Charm after that day with the Team 2 Leader . Instead, he looked at me like I was a headache .

“Did Director Cha Jaeho swear at you?”

“He didn’t… . ”

But he did make a ton of sarcastic remarks .

“He said that I would regret it later . That he will be waiting to see what I pick after rejecting him . ”

“Tell him to get in line . Even the CEO is waiting . ”

“The CEO is?”

“He said that he was very interested in what kind of project you will bring in the future once he saw the article . ”

“Ah . ”

“I’m curious too . Just what is inside your head . ”

City Jungle was in my head .

I was curious where that scenario was hiding, and I was curious what Director Joo Jaechan was doing, if he had eaten, if he was thinking of me, and when he would come to see me .

While thinking these stalkerish thoughts, I suddenly saw the director’s face .

How would he react if I mentioned Director Joo Jaechan and City Jungle to him?

The only experience he had was being an assistant director and winning an award at a short film festival . He was still a director who had yet to make his debut . And right now, it was uncertain who would produce and invest in it . If I was frank with him, I wonder if he would hit me?

However, I was confident in persuading him about it .

Because I knew that it would be a success . Like Cat Guardian Ghost .

I was confident in persuading him, but the problem was that the whereabouts of the scenario was unknown .

“Anyways, you need to guard your position . Make sure you’re not emptying your office as soon as you move into it . ”

The director got down from my desk . Then he looked at me up and down before clicking his tongue .

“It’s not just Lee Songha, you’ll now have multiple actors asking for projects . The CEO says to let you be since he trusts your incredible eye . However, remember that the failure of a team leader is on another level from a chief failing . ”

The mumbling director looked back at me with a strange expression .

“You know that the actors will falter too if you do, right?”

*

A few scenarios and proposals were evenly spread on top of the meeting room table .

Chief Lee Bongjoon and Chief Sung Uimin put their heads together,

“I think that this script is good, but Jijoon is showing no interest . ”

“Who else have they sent the script to besides Jijoon? I want to show Joowon . ”

“I think they sent one to Yoon Taekyung?”

I stared at the thick stacks of paper . They were projects we had examined and picked . They were projects I had read while thinking about Lee Songha’s next project . Objectively good choices with good synopsis, directors, and writers .

‘He thought long and hard before coming to a decision, yet the project he chose completely flopped . ’

The remark I heard in the future rang in my mind . If I had heard which project I had chosen, I would have avoided that one . Now, they all looked like flops . I felt like I was going crazy .

Good projects . Good projects .

I would do anything to get actors good projects .

My thoughts naturally turned to City Jungle .

If Director Joo Jaechan hadn’t decided on actors, what if I proposed other actors besides Lee Songha for other roles? I wouldn’t be able to tell until I saw the scenario . That damn scenario . I needed to check it…

The next moment, my vision went black . My vision was filled with static .

Again? A future vision again?

My vision was so dark that I couldn’t see in front of me . Ah, my eyes were closed . I could feel my eyes moving underneath my eyelids . I heard noises from the distance, and the stuffy scent of cigarettes flowed into my nose .

“Do you regret it?”

Someone beside me asked . Only then did my future self open his eyes .

I was sitting on a cement floor . I saw a pair of legs leaning against the wall . When I lifted my gaze, I saw Director Joo Jaechan exhaling cigarette smoke .

Rather than the depressed, shy Director Joo Jaechan, this was the aloof Director Joo Jaechan from the future, who wore fancy suits .

Was this still the afterparty?

I saw two visions one after another last time . This really was strange .

“When you rejected my project because I hadn’t made my debut as a director yet . I was wondering if you regretted it now . ”

Director Joo Jaechan asked again, urging me to respond . He seemed drunk as he was slurring his words .

First, I pushed aside my questions and perked my ears .

“I didn’t reject you because it was your debuting work . It conflicted with another project . ”

“Ah, that . The flop . ”

Director Joo Jaechan threw his cigarette butt into the outdoor ashtray as he chuckled .

My future self said in a low voice,

“Anyways, I do regret it . I had fun watching it . The plot was good, and so were the characters . It would have been great if Lee Songha had been the female lead . I made the wrong choice at that time . ”

The plot was good, and so were the roles? What a relief . I was a bit worried that the female lead would have little presence like Supernatural .

“It’s refreshing that you regret it . ”

Director Joo Jaechan chuckled again .

“If you were going to regret it, it would have been good for both of us if you had just done it when I begged . ”

“That’s true . ”

“I told you that the scenario was good . ”

Scenario .

I perked my ears in hopes of gaining a hint .

Director Joo Jaechan mumbled,

“I had a hard time getting that scenario in my hands . ”

Getting it in your hands?

{1} So the author previously wrote ‘Telepathy’ . Here, he goes with ‘Supernatural Human’, which I shorted to ‘Supernatural’ .