Novelist Running Through Time
Chapter 72

TL: KSD

The entrance to Baekhak Entertainment is not a good place to wait for someone.

It’s because it’s where fans waiting for idols and reporters are permanently stationed.

That’s why I arranged to meet Gu Yu-na near the subway station close to Baekhak Entertainment.

It’s not far. You can see the entrance of Baekhak Entertainment from there.

However, even if you go just a few dozen meters, you’ll get surrounded by reporters asking for interviews,

And you’ll receive countless requests for photos from fans waiting out of boredom for their favorite idols,

It’s somewhat surprising that just being a little bit away allows you to become one of the ‘general public’ passing through the subway station.

“It’s because being a fan also requires courage.”

Kim Byul, an expert in this field, explained with a look that seemed to say, ‘You’re still a rookie.’

“It’s actually rare for someone to stop people on the street to ask for autographs or photos. Even if they meet a celebrity they really like, most people shyly approach and ask.”

“Then what about celebrities getting surrounded by people when they wander around without their manager?”

“That happens rarely when a courageous person approaches to ask for an autograph, then the less courageous people swarm over saying ‘me too, me too’.”

Kim Byul, who loves to act knowledgeable, confidently raised her index finger.

“In short! Being a fan is also ultimately a form of play culture, and unless it’s the right time and place, it’s surprisingly rare for fans to swarm to the point that normal life becomes impossible!”

Kim Byul, whose popularity has (slightly) recovered, turned around proudly in her stylish casual clothes, showing a bit of a snobbish attitude.

“Look at me! ‘Kim Byul’, the Chungmuro’s blue chip who made a splendid comeback with her chameleon-like acting skills after a 10-year hiatus, is standing at the entrance of the subway station, and no one comes!” (TL: Chungmuro is like hollywood of South Korea and Chungmuro’s blue chip is the title given to those with new emerging popular actors who are constantly giving best performances etc)

“That’s because the recognition of Kim sunbae is slightly ambiguous…”

“What? Do you want to get hit?”

Kim Byul, merciless to her junior, told me to be quiet and tapped my head with the corn silk tea she was holding.

Then, she leaned against the railing at the entrance of the subway station and sighed deeply.

“Ah, it’s actually a problem of the times… The era of ‘fragmentation’ has come, hasn’t it? Even if you become famous in a certain field, you can’t be known by everyone, so it’s become impossible to become a superstar that the whole nation is enthusiastic about just because you starred in a movie that 10 million people watched. It’s hard to find such a scenario nowadays. Why did this era have to come during my generation…”

“As a literature major, hearing an actor lamenting about the decline of the industry makes me want to smack them.”

“Oh, is this the youth these days, daring to smack their sunbae?”

“Welcome to the world of ‘non-mainstream’. From now on, the movie industry will flounder in the swamp for decades, just like the publishing industry.”

“Even if the movie industry fails, it will still do better than you guys~.”

Kim Byul, dragging out her words annoyingly, smiled gleefully.

This humiliation. I won’t forget. Someday, when we appear on a variety show together, I will exact my bloody revenge.

In the midst of making this vow, Gu Yu-na appeared from the stairs of the subway station, wearing a hoodie with a yellow furry creature drawn on it.

“Is that Yu-na? Is it really Yu-na? Yu-na!”

Kim Byul’s eyes rolled back as she rushed in.

“Ooh, how cute! How can you be so cute! How can you be this cute! Who picked out this outfit for you?”

“L, let me go…”

Gu Yu-na, unable to escape being Kim Byul’s comfort doll again today.

No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t escape from Kim Byul’s bear hug, who had transformed into a warrior galloping across the Manchurian plains.

Kim Byul, burying her nose in Gu Yu-na’s head, looked a bit creepy but smiled as if she owned the world.

“Your unnie will give you a proper tour of Baekhak Entertainment!”

Side EP–Automaton Murder Case

“This is the cafe on the first floor. It’s not that great in terms of taste. And these autographs on the wall belong to the entertainers under our agency. Regardless of popularity, everyone’s autograph is here. Once the contract ends, the autographs disappear like magic, but I’ve never seen anyone actually take them down. And that statue over there is…”

“Uh, unnie, please let go of my hand. It’s embarrassing…”

Kim Byul, visibly excited, firmly held onto Gu Yu-na’s hand as they entered Baekhak Entertainment.

Though Gu Yu-na verbally resisted, her hand honestly gripped back onto Kim Byul’s.

It’s naturally a good thing for Gu Yu-na to make a friend to share her heart with, but I made a snide remark because Kim Byul’s outfit was not ordinary.

“Kim sunbae.”

“Hmm?”

“Did you really come here to give Yu-na a tour? Your fashion is quite extraordinary.”

Kim Byul was noticeably flustered, which was suspicious.

“What, what’s wrong with it?! This is how I always dress!”

It would have been believable if she had said she came straight from a schedule, but claiming that’s her normal attire was absurd.

She was in full battle attire, radiating more than 100% of her celebrity charm, as if she was going to an audition or something…

Fortunately, someone with even more effort put into their fashion appeared, allowing Kim Byul to escape my questioning.

“Oh! Our treasures!”

Baek Seung-won, the CEO often found in the first-floor lobby, saw us and walked over leisurely. His damned sunglasses and white suit remained even indoors.

CEO Baek Seung-won naturally high-fived Kim Byul. The 10 years of their acquaintance were evident.

“Our chameleon charm, Chungmuro’s blue chip, veteran scene-stealer, genius actor Kim Pro has brought a sibling to the company? Your real sibling?”

“No, a close dongsaeng!” (TL: Dongsaeng = younger friend or sibling)

“Is that so? Hello? I’m the CEO of this company.”

“Hello.”

“Have fun touring the company. Ah, Byul. Make sure to get her a visitor pass and hang it around her neck. She could get kicked out if she wanders around alone.”

“Yes!”

CEO Baek Seung-won, proudly smiling at Kim Byul, then turned his gaze to me with a smile still on his face.

And then the cringy moment began.

“Oh my- our genius, the award-winning national treasure author!”

“Is that my nickname now.”

“Of course! You’re not just any writer. You’re a K-writer. Not the K for Kim, but the K for Korea!”

“…”

“Seeing you not laugh at my joke, I guess you’ve already climbed the stairs of success. Our trainees would be rolling on the floor laughing.”

I refrained from saying that making trainees laugh at dad jokes is a form of abuse, remembering CEO Baek’s petty nature.

So, CEO Baek Seung-won praised Kim Byul and me for a while before he left somewhere.

Hm. It seems like the way people treat me has changed since I became successful.

“It’s not that it seems that way, it is that way. It’s famous that the standard of success is CEO Baek’s adulation.”

“Really?!”

“CEO Baek Seung-won is unique. Especially in an industry that ranks people by popularity, CEO Baek makes it easy to see that distinction with precise numbers.”

“Isn’t that creating a sense of discord?”

“That… The sense of discord exists regardless of whether CEO Baek acts like that or not. And it’s not a crime to praise successful people, right? It’s already a blessing he doesn’t curse those who are struggling. And he doesn’t change his attitude even when someone who was doing well starts to struggle…”

Kim Byul smiled, recalling the past ten years.

The smile on her face signified not nostalgia but bitterness.

“In the end… it’s all the same. If someone popular starts to falter, they pretend to treat you the same to your face to maintain their reputation, even if they treat you like a has-been behind your back…”

“…”

“In the end, the one who torments me the most is myself. Inferiority complex is the scariest thing.”

Kim Byul quickly lightened the suddenly heavy mood with a lively smile.

“So, we must diligently manage our careers, right!”

And shortly after.

Kim Byul showed us what ‘career management’ by a professional means.

And then it was revealed why Kim Byul had volunteered to guide Gu Yu-na today and why she was dressed so finely.

“Ah, you said you were meeting Author Lim Song-i, right? I’ll just say hi for a moment and leave!”

“Ah, yes, well.”

Around the time a middle-aged woman, who was conversing with Department head Lim Yang-wook in the distance, caught my eye, Kim Byul showed us what a true professional is.

“Ahem…”

After clearing her throat with a slight cough, Kim Byul’s professional voice projection exploded.

“Wri~ ter~ nim~”

She approached the lady with a shiitake mushroom-like hairdo in a melodious voice.

The woman, presumed to be Author Lim Song-i, with shiitake mushroom-like hair, showed a sharp gaze.

To me, a master observer of humans, the meaning behind those eyes was clearly, ‘Who the hell are you to cling onto me?’

However, after about 3 seconds, her expression became uncertain, and after another 3 seconds, Lim Song-i also had a similar expression to Kim Byul.

“Could it be… are you, Byul?”

“Yes! It’s been a long time, Writer-nim!”

“Oh my, oh my world!”

Writer Lim Song-i, who had become all mushy, made a fuss and hugged Kim Byul tightly.

“Byul! Is it really you, Byul? How did that tiny kid…”

“I missed you, Wri-ter-nim…!”

“Oh my, oh my!”

Although Writer Lim Song-i slapped Kim Byul’s forearm repeatedly, Kim Byul clung to her as if reuniting with a long-lost family member, unconcerned.

“It’s really been a long time. Have you been well? Right, right, you filmed a movie, didn’t you?”

“Yes! Yes! Did you see it? Oh my… I’m so grateful…”

“No, no, I haven’t seen it yet, but I will for sure!”

“Is that a promise with me?”

“Yes! A promise with Byul!”

“Hehe. Thank you, Writer-nim!”

My goodness.

The sight of Kim Byul, the self-proclaimed icon of coolness and sophistication, acting coyly like a three-year-old child was almost too much to bear.

And it seemed Gu Yu-na felt the same, as she quietly spoke up.

“I thought… she only showed that side to me…”

What?

“Fawning over anyone… how vulgar…”

“…”

I heard nothing.

* * *

“Hello! I’m Lim Song-i, a drama scriptwriter.”

The middle-aged woman with shiitake mushroom-like hair bowed to me with a bright smile.

For the sake of saving face for Kim Byul, who was acting as Lim Song-i’s subordinate, minion, and faithful chihuahua, I broke the ice of mutual honorifics.

“Hello, I am novelist Moon In-seop. I write under the pen name Moon In.”

“I’ve heard so much about you, Author Moon-nim! I don’t usually read Korean novels, but from the moment I opened the first page of your book, I was sucked into it.”

“Thank you. And please, feel free to speak informally to me.”

“Oh, should I?”

The drawing room was occupied by my entourage, Lim Song-i, Lim Yang-wook, and staff members drafted from various departments of Baekhak Entertainment.

Despite the cozy interior of the drawing room, the presence of so many people gave off the stiff atmosphere of a meeting room.

However, Writer Lim Song-i didn’t care and started the conversation with ease.

“Author Moon… are you close with Byul? I didn’t know you two would come together.”

“She’s a school sunbae. I’ve also received a lot of advice regarding the entertainment industry.”

“Ah, didn’t you two also write a novel together? I think I saw that in the newspaper…”

“You know about it.”

“MoonInKimByulGu? or was it ByulMinGu?”

“MoonInKimByulGuYuNaMin. You even remember the pen names.”

“Of course! I actually have a lot of interest in web novels. With so many dramas based on web novels and webtoons these days, I ended up diving into it while researching, you know?”

The conversation naturally led to the main topic.

“So, what do you think about adapting novels into dramas, Author Moon?”

* * *

‘Guitar.’

A story about a girl born from the shadows of society and a boy who ran away to the shadows of society, wandering through the shadows of society together.

A road movie that looks at society from the children’s perspective in a unique way, wandering towards the destination of life symbolized by the theme of ‘names.’

-However, the reason Lim Song-i was hooked on ‘Guitar’ was different.

“I wanted to write a drama with music as its theme.”

Lim Song-i candidly shared her story.

The whole story began with a comment from her daughter.

“Mom, don’t you only write dark stories?” her daughter had said.

Lim Song-i crossed her arms and reflected on her anguish at the time.

“The ending of a recently concluded drama was unsettling, and that comment came out while she was throwing a tantrum at me, but I was shocked. When I really looked into it, I realized I had been writing nothing but dark stories for 10 years.”

“You didn’t know?”

“I had no idea. I was more surprised because I didn’t know. Unknowingly, my work style was becoming darker. The reason for that is not something to mention here, but anyway, I was planning to change my style. I was thinking a lot about a brighter story, a healing drama… and finally settled on music!”

But there was a problem.

“However, the trend for music dramas had passed a while ago. Do you know ‘Beethoven Virus’? That’s now considered a complete classic. After that, ‘Nodame Cantabile’ and others came out, and after that, music-themed dramas became more of a niche.”

A drama writer can’t just think about artistic quality.

No, something even more important than artistic quality needs to be considered.

That’s the popularity that guarantees viewership.

And to secure that popularity, one must follow the trends.

But the music theme she wanted to write was behind the trend.

While pondering over this dilemma, Lim Song-i found…

“My novel.”

“That’s right!”

“Hmm…”

“Listen-”

Writer Lim Song-i went on about her ideas for a while.

However, I felt no particular excitement. I had long become a person who couldn’t immerse themselves in anything but text.

But thanks to Professor Gu Hak-jun’s teachings, I was well aware of this knowledge.

Literature and film are vastly different.

And from my perspective, ‘Guitar’ was a story with a fine structure as a novel, but not for a drama.

When I conveyed such concerns, Lim Song-i smiled broadly and replied.

“We’ll have to adapt it.”

“How do you mean?”

“For starters, I’m thinking of adding drugs to it.”

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