boyutpedia Chapter 111: Four People (13)
Chapter 111: Four People (13)
Including SBC, all the terrestrial channels, general programming, and cable combined, the highest viewership rating for a one-act drama had been 5.8%. It was a figure achieved about five years ago by a one-act drama from MBS, and due to its rising popularity, the one-act drama writer wrote one more episode for additional broadcast.It had been a huge deal at the time.
Even by the standards of mini-series or morning dramas, it was a respectable rating. One-act dramas typically hovered around 2%, and 3% was considered good.
The 5% range was considered a mythical barrier.
In fact, aside from that one-act drama from five years ago, no other one-act had ever come close to hitting 5%. One-act dramas were generally considered a niche within the drama market. But now, a one-act drama that shattered this long-held record and atmosphere had appeared.
《One-Act
It was ‘Rental Lover’.
As if mocking the mythical 5% barrier, it recorded a staggering 21.9% viewership rating. This was the highest and first of its kind for a one-act.
《[Hot Issue] ‘Rental Lover’ Hits 21.9% Viewership, Crushing Not Just One-Acts but Also Mini and Morning Dramas》
It was at a level that effortlessly trampled the ratings of many currently airing dramas.
《The Power of a Well-Made One-Act Drama! Writer Rojun Who Wrote 'Rental Lover' Properly Proved His Ability / Photo》
《Choi Rina, Rojun, and Others All Smiles... One-Act ‘Rental Lover’ Turns Drama Market Upside Down with 21.9% Viewership Rating!》
Could there ever be another one-act drama that surpasses the 20% range of 'Rental Lover'? Probably not. In fact, it's almost certainly close to impossible. Even among mini or morning dramas, a 20% viewership rating is considered a mega-hit or miracle. Moreover, this 'Rental Lover' was the result of multiple forces coming together.
First and foremost, Kang Rojun.
《[Issue Talk] Another Hit with ‘Rojun Magic’, Nothing Lacking in Writer, Actor, or OST》
Along with the buzz Kang Rojun brought, the unprecedented image of an idol being a writer drew in a massive general audience. Of course, word of mouth from Rojun’s fans played a big part, and the participation of top actress Choi Rina and other star actors in the one-act further snowballed the momentum.
Above all, it was the skill of PD Jung Soo-ryeong, who rolled that snowball strategically and contractually, that played a major role.
PD Jung Soo-ryeong was receiving a flood of praise.
“Wow- PD Jung!! Congratulations!!! You pulled off a monstrous viewership!!!”
“Whew... 21.9% viewership?! Is that even real?!”
“A one-act drama did what even star-studded minis can’t?! That’s insane. Insane. PD Jung!! You’ve seriously written a legend in the drama world!!”
The SBC Drama Department was buzzing with excitement.
From the director to fellow PDs, the admiration and exclamations were nonstop. Naturally, the assistant directors and key staff of the 'Rental Lover' team were also in a frenzy.
“Whoa!! We passed 20%??!!”
“Hahaha, PD-nim!! We did it! We did it!!”
“...Unbelievable. This is the first time I’ve seen a 20% range viewership.”
“And it wasn’t even a mini but a one-act that pulled it off!!”
At the center of it all was PD Jung Soo-ryeong, letting out a sigh of relief. Even she, scratching her coarse brown hair, seemed to be in shock.
‘Honestly, my goal was something in the 10% range. Of course, even that felt a bit unrealistic. But 21.9%?? My god.’
In that moment, the memories flashed through her mind, when she selected 'Rental Lover' in the script contest, the day she met Kang Rojun, and everything that had happened since. A faint smile tugged at her lips.
‘What would’ve happened if I hadn’t picked 'Rental Lover' back then?’
Soon after, PD Jung Soo-ryeong gave a double thumbs-up to the 'Rental Lover' team.
“It’s all thanks to you and the not-here writer Rojun-nim. Everyone, you’ve worked so hard.”
The key staff jumped up and down with excitement.
“This is only the beginning!!”
“Ah, we have to contact writer Rojun-nim and congratulate him!”
“Wow- a debut work with a 21.9% viewership.”
In the midst of the chaos, the bald-headed director leaned in to whisper to Jung Soo-ryeong, a grin stretching from ear to ear.
“PD Jung, you've added quite a big medal to your collection?”
“That medal’s not mine, it belongs to writer Rojun-nim.”
"Right, right, Writer Rojun's power was tremendous. So? You should work on the next project with Writer Rojun too, right?"
The next project had already been discussed with Kang Rojun, and the script was also in PD Jung Soo-ryeong’s hands, but if she revealed everything here, the broadcasting station would start to underestimate Rojun. Thanks to that, PD Jung Soo-ryeong only gave a light shrug of her shoulders.
“Well, of course we'll try to compete, but as you know, Writer Rojun is with ‘Culture Drawer'. We managed to handle ‘Rental Lover’ well since it was our script contest, but from the next project onward, it’s war.”
“True. He’s a writer who broke the 20% viewership with a one-act... he’s probably going to be dozens of times more expensive now.”
"That's all?? If we just get Writer Rojun, script, actors, and OST are all solved in one go. From broadcasters to production companies, they’re going to swarm him like crazy.”
“Still, come on, you’ve got a close relationship with Writer Rojun, so wouldn’t we have the upper hand?”
“That might be true. In any case, I’ll give it a shot, but don’t try to save money or anything. Blink and someone else will snatch him away.”
The station director, who was nodding with infinite positivity, gave Jung Soo-ryeong a couple of pats on the shoulder.
“CEO-nim has been singing your praises like crazy. If you keep this up, you’re definitely next in line to be the director.”
Jung Soo-ryeong snorted.
“If I get promoted to director, I’m quitting. The desk job’s boring.”
She replied as if she had no interest.
“I may not make it to CP, but I’ll be directing for life.” (TL Note: CP = Chief Producer)
At the same time.
Over on campus, a flood of congratulations was pouring in for Kang Rojun. From the 9 contestants, of course.
“Crazy!! Hyung!! You broke through 21% viewership rating??!!"
“Wow- you’re totally killing it as a writer too!!”
“Isn’t a flood of casting offers about to pour in?! You made a strong impact as both writer and actor!!”
PD Woo Han-suk, PD Jung Soo-ryeong, Song Min-geun, and other judges, along with Choi Rina and the cast of 'Rental Lover', sent texts and messages. Naturally, the ‘Culture Drawer’ team did the same. Writer Han Seo-ryeong even called to offer her praise without holding back.
Surrounded by attention from every direction, Rojun was a bit dazed.
'‘Rental Lover', which I had dismissed as trash writing, ended up hitting 21% viewership-'
First, he mentally apologized to 'Rental Lover' and his other works, which he had once called garbage and trash writing. Then Rojun browsed through YouTube.
-Rental Lover Rojun Appearance Scene Edited by Me!!! | Ha-yeon’s Daily Life
-Views: 1,784,421
He checked SNS and online communities to see the public reaction. The reactions were explosively nonstop.
-The scene where Rojun appears in ‘Rental Lover’ is legendary... I screamed the moment I saw it
-WTF even watching it again my jaw still drops
-Rojun had that classy decadent sexy vibe, agree?
-How can someone look like that, I still can’t believe he’s human
-‘Rental Lover’ was insanely good and Rojun’s OST is ear candy... release the OST now!!!
-Top 3 legendary appearance scenes updated ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-I’m not even a fan, but Rojun’s aura is different ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Ha... how many times have I replayed this video...
Just like that, the weekend passed, flooded with 'Produce That 100!'
《‘Produce That 100!’ Shows Final Evaluation Performance, Final Voting Officially Underway》
And 'Rental Lover' and Kang Rojun.
《‘Rental Lover’ a Huge Hit! Will ‘Produce That 100!’ Rojun Become a Box Office Guarantee Beyond a Rising Star?》
It all went by in the blink of an eye.
During this time, Kang Rojun’s fandom grew thicker. On top of 'Produce That 100!' viewers, new fans were joining from those who had no prior interest in the show but had watched ‘Rental Lover’.
The ‘AI Simulation’ app found this situation more than worthy of sending Rojun rewards.
-[You have achieved the hidden mission ‘Live? No Problem!’ You’ve been rewarded with 20 Coins.]
-[You have achieved the hidden mission ‘Publicly Releasing Your First Work as a Writer!’ You’ve been rewarded with 10 Coins.]
On the bright Monday that followed, Episode 16 of 'Produce That 100!' was uploaded in Japan as well. Alongside it, the nuclear bomb-level situation of 'Rental Lover' in Korea also crossed over to Japan.
《Japanese Fans Flood SNS with Endless Talk About ‘Produce That 100!’ Final Evaluation Performance/ Photo》
《[International News] Upon Hearing About the 21% Viewership, Japanese Fans Clamoring to Release 'Rental Lover' Quickly》
Japan was now fully armed with its own nuclear bomb.
Meanwhile.
Around lunchtime on Monday, the setting was the fairly spacious meeting room of ‘Culture Drawer’. Present in the room were Director Yoo Ji-heon, a renowned veteran with a flushed face, Manager Jang Hak-seon with a warm demeanor, and a few staff members. In other words, the ‘BG Pictures’ team was visiting ‘Culture Drawer’.
The reason was a meeting about a movie script.
However, no personnel from the ‘Culture Drawer’ side were yet present in the meeting room. Soon, Manager Jang Hak-seon, who had previously delivered the script to Director Yoo Ji-heon slid his index finger across the script of Rojun’s film that was placed on the table.
“I didn’t expect the director to request a meeting so quickly, but sure enough, the script is really solid.”
Director Yoo Ji-heon, with his small build, let out a soft chuckle and responded in a raspy voice.
“It’s incredible. The more I read it, the more I get drawn in.”
“Hmm, the story itself is strong, but the pacing and writing technique were also impressive. I’d say- no, I’m almost certain it was written by a star writer affiliated with ‘Culture Drawer’.”
Director Yoo Ji-heon nodded in agreement.
“That makes sense. Either that or it was written by a veteran screenwriter. Based on the tone of the script, a few people come to mind.”
At that point, one of the male staff members from ‘BG Pictures’ joined the conversation while checking his phone.
“By the way, both ‘Produce That 100!’ and ‘Rental Lover’ are blowing up. Articles are updating literally every second.”
Turning his attention, Director Yoo Ji-heon replied.
“That one-act drama ‘Rental Lover’, I haven’t seen it yet, but it reportedly surpassed a 21% viewership rating?”
“Yes, it’s insane. A one-act drama hitting 21%. Ah! That Rojun kid who wrote ‘Rental Lover’, isn’t he with ‘Culture Drawer’? I saw an article recently.”
“Oh-ho, is that so? I heard that guy’s really hot these days.”
“At this point, he’s way past just being hot.”
Then came the evaluations from the ‘BG Pictures’ staff.
“I saw ‘Rental Lover'. It was fun, sure, but not to the extent that the reactions should be going this wild. Feels like... a rookie writer just happened to hit it big once.”
“Oh, I thought the same. The piece was good, but the response felt a bit exaggerated.”
“The writing itself was average. It just blew up bigger because of the idol fandom.”
Manager Jang Hak-seon from ‘BG Pictures’, arms crossed, turned to his staff and asked.
“Why do you assess it that way?”
“Well- it’s because Rojun is primarily an idol, right? Based on the articles, he’s doing everything, idol, writer, actor. You can’t be perfect at everything.”
Director Yoo Ji-heon took issue with that remark.
“Writing a script under a brutal schedule alone is amazing. I’ve written scripts myself, I know. Film company staff shouldn’t be putting on tinted glasses from the start.”
“...S-sorry.”
“Whether it’s a drama script or a movie script, writing isn’t something you do in a day or two. I’m sure it’s the same for that Rojun kid.”
Manager Jang Hak-seon, shaking his head as if disappointed in the staff, agreed.
“Exactly. That Rojun kid probably busted his back writing ‘Rental Lover’ from the early days of filming ‘Produce That 100!’”
Letting out a sigh, Director Yoo Ji-heon pointed at the script on the table.
“Enough of that. Let’s focus on this script.”
“Suddenly occurred to me, could it be Writer Han Seo-ryeong?”
“Writer Han? Didn’t she just start a new drama recently?”
“Ah- did she?”
At that moment.
Knock knock.
A knock sounded at the meeting room door as ‘Culture Drawer’ staff entered. It was Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa, with her long, wavy hair tied back, along with several team members. It was Management Team 1, now officially assigned to Kang Rojun. After offering a polite greeting, Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa handed out business cards to the ‘BG Pictures’ team.
“Hello, I’m Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa.”
Since they had all met before, introductions were brief. Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa took a seat across from Director Yoo Ji-heon, and Manager Jang Hak-seon of ‘BG Pictures’ was the first to speak.
“As we mentioned over the phone, Director Yoo Ji-heon has taken interest in this script.”
Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa smiled slightly and looked directly at Director Yoo Ji-heon.
“Did you like the script?”
“Mm.”
With a soft hum, Director Yoo Ji-heon gave a straightforward, candid answer.
“It’s the best script I’ve read recently. It’s exactly my style. I thought the writer behind this couldn’t be ordinary... but if they’re from ‘Culture Drawer', that makes sense. You’ve got all the heavyweights there. So, who wrote this script? Is that something you can’t disclose?”
Still smiling, Team Leader Ryu Jung-hwa responded as if it were nothing.
“It was written by Writer Rojun-nim.”
“......”
Director Yoo Ji-heon’s face went a bit blank, blinking as if he’d misheard.
“...What? Who?”
*****
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