SCT-Novel Chapter 104: Four People (6)
Chapter 104: Four People (6)
‘Culture Drawer’, a mega-management agency ranked among the top three domestic writer agencies. Already home to numerous big names, ‘Culture Drawer’ was primarily centered around three departments: the Production and Content Team, the Management Team, and the PR and Marketing Team.Among them, the team that most frequently interacted with affiliated writers and directors was, naturally, the Management Team.
Due to the large size of ‘Culture Drawer’, the Management Team was divided into three separate teams. Of those, Ryu Jung-hwa, the team leader of Management Team 1, came to handle the contract with Kang Rojun.
“Our CEO-nim really wanted to meet you too, Writer-nim, but he had a prior appointment and couldn’t make it.”
“By CEO-nim, do you mean Writer Han Seo-ryeong?”
“No, you must have already met CEO Han Seo-ryeong. There’s another CEO, Heo Ki-tae. He’s very open and charismatic, you’ll probably get to meet him later.”
Ryu Jung-hwa, who seemed likely to meet Rojun often going forward, had a mixture of warmth and calmness. She seemed like someone who would be sharply focused when it came to work, but outside of work matters.
“When CEO Han Seo-ryeong told us about Writer Rojun, I can’t tell you how nervous I was. My daughter and I are really enjoying ‘Produce That 100!’.”
“Thank you.”
“Um- if it’s alright, would you be willing to take a photo with me a little later?? My daughter really, really, really likes you. Her room is covered in posters of you.”
“Yes, of course.”
That warm atmosphere you might encounter anywhere. Thanks to that, Kang Rojun, who was about to sign his first contract in life, felt his tension ease.
“I thought a contract would feel all stiff and formal, but this is more relaxed than I expected. That’s a relief.”
Meanwhile, the three team members who had come with Ryu Jung-hwa were quietly in awe as they watched Kang Rojun speaking with their team leader.
“...Even seeing him this close, his face looks like CGI.”
“Right? The moment he walked in, I rubbed my eyes thinking I’d seen wrong. Seriously, I can’t help but gasp.”
“His face is the size of my fist, and yet his eyes, nose, and lips are perfectly placed in that tiny space.”
Noticing the whispers, Rojun glanced at the team members behind Ryu Jung-hwa. The team members, who quickly stopped admiring him, smiled their businesslike smiles, and Ryu Jung-hwa turned around to introduce them.
“You’ll mainly be communicating with me, Writer-nim, but you’ll occasionally meet these team members as well.”
A brief exchange of greetings followed.
A few minutes later, Rojun was sitting across from the ‘Culture Drawer’ team at the meeting room table. The team members quickly placed the transparent folders they’d brought on the table. In that moment, Ryu Jung-hwa.
‘Writer Rojun.’
She looked across at Kang Rojun and organized her thoughts.
‘Seeing him in person, his visuals really are ridiculous. Even at my age, I can’t take my eyes off him, what about the younger ones?’
Ryu Jung-hwa was, by industry standards, a seasoned professional. Even for her, this situation was unfamiliar.
‘His main job is idol. But he hasn’t even officially debuted in that idol field yet. He debuted first as a writer, his side job. But in his debut work, he pulled off a triple crown: acting, writing, and even the OST. And on top of that, ‘Rental Lover’ is set to launch on Netflix Japan. The whole process feels like some kind of fantasy. To have this level of impact and an overseas launch starting from your first work-’
It was a storyline she had never seen before. As far as she knew, rookie writers followed a set path. Starting from the bottom, it took at least five years to establish oneself. And many took even longer or disappeared without a sound in the oversaturated market.
But Kang Rojun had hit a home run from the start.
‘Even though ‘Rental Lover’ hasn’t aired yet, even if it flops once released, it doesn’t matter. Writer Rojun’s presence has already been fully demonstrated, and his very existence is unique. The fact that this is just the starting point is what’s truly frightening.’
While Ryu Jung-hwa was awestruck by Kang Rojun, a real ecological disrupter, she also felt a slight sense of regret.
‘If his main job had been writing instead of being an idol, he could have written more freely and spread his wings. Hmm… But then again, if he weren’t an idol, maybe he wouldn’t have become this big? Anyway, the more famous he becomes as an idol, the more likely it is that his writing productivity will decline.’
It was common sense that when idols became overwhelmingly busy, their writing work would naturally be neglected.
‘He might already be at that point.’
Still, if even one work with the same level of impact as 'Rental Lover' comes out during the contract period.
‘It’s more than worth it for us.’
Providing support for Rojun and drawing out that benefit was the job of ‘Culture Drawer’.
“Writer-nim.”
Having finished organizing her thoughts, Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa pushed a transparent file toward Rojun.
“This is the contract. Please take a look, especially at the special terms section.”
“Yes. Whew- this is kind of nerve-racking. A contract.”
“Really? Your expression looks calm. It reminded me of your villain character in 'Produce That 100!'.”
“No, this is just the face of someone who doesn’t know what expression to make.”
“How honest of you.”
“I’ll read through it.”
Kang Rojun opened the contract that was handed to him. In fact, he had already received a draft for review a few days ago and had looked it over. Still, he had to double-check the special terms.
‘Wow- how is there this much text?’
Whether she sensed Rojun’s thoughts or not.
Swish.
Smiling, Ryu Jung-hwa began briefing him on the contract. It was a lengthy explanation, but the core was this: the contract period was three years, and any projects undertaken before the contract would still be managed by ‘Culture Drawer’, but they wouldn’t apply the standard profit-sharing ratio and would treat them as a service.
The rest followed standard procedure.
“In addition, if you look at the revenue-sharing ratio, it’s set at 8 to 2. Our standard is usually 7 to 3, but CEO Han Seo-ryeong specifically pushed for this change.”
“Writer Han Seo-ryeong?”
“Yes. She said since we didn’t contribute to the early efforts of launching the writer, the ratio should be adjusted accordingly.”
Rojun wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but internally he gave a thumbs-up to Writer Han Seo-ryeong.
‘Nice move, Writer-nim.’
The conditions were quite favorable. All of Rojun’s desired terms were included, and ‘Culture Drawer’ would benefit by securing Kang Rojun, truly a win-win contract.
“Yes, I think I can sign as is.”
Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa, smiling gently, handed her pen to Rojun.
“Please sign here, Writer-nim.”
“......”
With a soft breath, Rojun signed the contract.
‘My first time using my new signature is on a contract.’
And with that, Kang Rojun and ‘Culture Drawer’ became linked. While not in the idol realm, as a writer, Rojun now had his first agency, which gave him a curious feeling.
‘A manager supporting me. Not bad, it feels like I’ve gained an ally.’
Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa, having gathered the contract, bowed once more.
“Once again, thank you, Writer-nim. Even if it’s not about writing, feel free to contact us anytime.”
Now that they were officially a team, she asked more casually.
“Um- this is regarding the special terms. Besides 'Rental Lover', do you have any other projects in progress?”
Truthfully, Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa wasn’t expecting much.
‘Just managing 'Produce That 100!' and 'Rental Lover' must have been overwhelming. This clause was probably added due to some light discussions with PD Jung Soo-ryeong about the next project.’
However, Kang Rojun’s response caught the entire ‘Culture Drawer’ team off guard.
“Yes. Along with 'Rental Lover', one drama and one movie.”
"......What?"
Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa asked again with a shocked expression.
“S-So, besides 'Rental Lover', you’ve been working on two more projects??”
And the drama wasn’t even for Korea.
“Yes. Ah, the drama is for Japan side.”
Then.
Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa and her team, now in charge of Kang Rojun, were left speechless with their jaws dropped.
“As for the drama- Ah, the title is 'Like a Kaleidoscope'. I had a meeting with Netflix Japan when I was in Japan. Also, for the movie, PD Jung Soo-ryeong helped me. Was it 'BG Pictures'? She said she had a conversation with them and submitted the script.”
The snowball had already started rolling far beyond their expectations.
“Yes, with Netflix Japan... and 'BG Pictures'??!”
Despite his hectic schedule, he was working on not only 'Rental Lover' but also an additional drama and movie. And not just domestically, he had extended into overseas markets too. While Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa and her team were reeling in shock, Kang Rojun calmly continued his explanation, including the contents of his meeting with Netflix Japan.
Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa, who had been silently listening to the story, suddenly raised one hand.
“W-Wait a moment, Writer-nim! Don’t tell me... you wrote additional scripts and screenplays while working on 'Produce That 100!'?”
“Ah- the scripts were written a while ago. The ones PD Jung Soo-ryeong has too. The film screenplay is the one I wrote recently.”
“You wrote a screenplay during all that? You can write films too??”
“Yes.”
“...There are cases where drama writers try screenplays, but for a rookie, that’s nearly impossible.”
Ryu Jung-hwa muttered as if in a trance. Meanwhile, Kang Rojun casually scratched his chin and gave a light shrug.
“I don’t know. It just worked for me.”
“If you wrote a screenplay during the 'Produce That 100!' schedule... how long did it take you to finish?”
“A little over a month.”
“??!!”
Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa and the team members’ expressions twisted.
“A l-little over a month?”
“Yes.”
“You finished a screenplay in a month?”
“Yes.”
Even hearing it, Ryu Jung-hwa couldn’t quite believe it. Then suddenly, one of the things Rojun had said flashed through her mind.
“W-Wait a minute! Did you say there are other scripts with PD Jung???”
“Yes. Those haven’t moved forward yet. I heard PD-nim read the scripts though.”
To summarize, a rookie writer who had just made his debut was working on one for Netflix Japan, one for the major domestic film company BG Pictures, and one for PD Jung Soo-ryeong. Before his debut work even aired, he was juggling three projects. Regardless of the content of all the works, Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa's jaw nearly dropped.
‘If you look at the production companies alone, he’s far beyond most star writers!!!’
Meanwhile, the other nine contestants, excluding Kang Rojun were.
"This is crazy!! It’s topping even the Japanese charts!!”
“Wow... this actually happened??”
“Korea and Japan charts at the same time- ugh, I’ve got chills.”
Gathered in excitement during practice. And of course they were, 'Produce That 100!' theme songs had not only dominated Korean charts but swept through Japan as well.
-[リアルタイム TOP100 (Real-time TOP100)]
[1/ Survival 100 (Acoustic ver.)]
[2/ Survival 100]
[3// 青と冬 (Blue and Winter)]
[4/ Survival 100 (Kor ver.)]
[5/ 風神の花唄 (Wind God’s Flower Song)]
.
.
.
Japan had about three to four major music platforms, and the results were similar across all of them. From ranks 1 to 5, all versions of 'Survival 100' monopolized the chart.
《‘Produce That 100!’ sweeps major Japanese music platform charts, sets record for fastest full-chart domination!》
And then came the viewership ratings for Episode 14 of 'Produce That 100!'
《‘Produce That 100!’, setting legendary records in both Korea and Japan, Episode 14 hits 33.4% viewership》
Once again, it had smashed its previous peak ratings. With things like this, 'Produce That 100!' fever was raging not just in Korea but also in Japan. And since the content of Episode 14, which aired just yesterday, was especially provocative.
《‘Produce That 100!’ finally enters final evaluation phase, what choices will the 10 surviving contestants make?》
The entertainment industry, media, and public were all ravenously awaiting the next episode of 'Produce That 100!'.
Thus, Saturday and Sunday were entirely engulfed by 'Produce That 100!', and by the time Monday came around again, the buzz in Japan had grown even bigger, because Episode 14 of 'Produce That 100!' had just been uploaded to Netflix Japan.
Meanwhile, in an editing room seemingly cut off from the rest of the world, PD Jung Soo-ryeong was.
“Let’s lay the OST over that part again.”
“Yes.”
Continuing her editing work with a severely worn-out face. On the many monitors in front of her was Kang Rojun’s face. Overlaying his breathtaking visuals was the OST 'Lovers' featuring Rojun’s voice.
-♬♪
PD Jung Soo-ryeong was so immersed in editing 'Rental Lover' that she didn’t care what was happening in the world, and time was flying.
And on that same Monday night, around 9 PM.
“Phew……”
With a long sigh, PD Jung Soo-ryeong leaned back deeply in her chair.
“This should do it. Everyone, great job.”
“Ugh- finally.”
"...This is the first time I've edited a one-act drama this desperately."
“We’re sending this to Japan too, so we couldn’t do it half-heartedly. Still, the visuals came out like art. Anyway, editing’s done! Let’s sleep for now.”
The editing for 'Rental Lover' was finished.
*****
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