I Will Live As An Actor - Chapter 96

I Will Live as an Actor Episode 96

A tongseon docking carries passengers and a seagull watches them. While the strong dialect of the Jagalchi ajimaes is heard softly like background music, the live fish on the red terrace dance, forgetting the season. Two women are walking together through the panoramic view of the market that reflects our lives, like the tune of Gu Seong-jin’s trot.

“Senior Choi, do you really have to do this?”

Assistant writer Kim Eun-young doesn’t understand. It’s already been 4 years since I joined forces with Choi Eun-sook. Broadcasters refer to Choi Eun-sook as a ‘viewer rating maker.’ Although it hasn’t been long since you joined the industry, you’ve already earned the title of King Writer. He must be such a great writer.

“Why do you hate it?”

“Can I just say a word, not as an assistant writer, but as a close younger brother? No, I’m wondering why you have to come all the way to Busan when you must have been overwhelmed by all the actors who said they would work on Senior Choi’s next film. Senior Choi doesn’t even know his position, but he doesn’t know it either.”

“It’s nice to get some fresh air after a long time.”

Writer Choi Eun-sook said that as soon as she finished writing the first draft of the script for ‘The Secret of King Yeonsan’, she went to Songwon Entertainment before the broadcasting station. Since this work was written with only Jang Young-guk in mind, I wanted him to be the first person to see it. However, the answer I received from the agency was sad. There are no actors and the CEO is out on a business trip.

“Can a peddler rest when there are no customers? If that doesn’t work out, he has to go to a place where there are customers. And you can’t miss the actor you’re meeting this time. Originally, I was going to come with producer Yoo, but he’s so busy. The people at the broadcasting station can be unreliable in many ways. Please. “I have no intention of handing it over to the script broadcasting station until I hear a clear answer.”

“The real stubbornness is the stubbornness of a bull.”

“Let’s take a look. I heard that Mt. Geumgang is also a beautiful view after a meal.”

Jagalchi has numerous delicacies from the mountains and the sea. From raw shark meat to sea urchin roe, which is difficult to find at a cheap price in Seoul. Among them, the thing that tickles the nose the most is none other than the hagfish cooked to golden brown over a briquette fire. The smell of priming is already in the air.

“Eunyoung, do you know why hagfish are called bear eels?”

“I don’t know. Wasn’t it just dialect?”

“I kept calling it a bear eel because it was so fussy, so it ended up becoming a bear eel. Why is there an old saying that says that the smell of grilling sea eel is enough to make a daughter-in-law who left home come back?”

Since my stomach is hungry, I add all sorts of things. Kim Eun-young looks at the back of Choi Eun-sook walking ahead and shakes her head. Just looking at its appearance, it is definitely a tourist. As I open the restaurant door and enter, my eyes meet a familiar figure.

Did I see it wrong?

Eunsuk Choi rubs her eyes and looks again. He is a man wearing a suit and eating eel with a friendly smile. This is Songwon Entertainment.

“CEO Kim?”

* * *

Yeongdo.

“Mom, it’s winter now, so there’s nothing special, so I brought some underwear and underwear.”

“Oh, you brought everything. You can just come…”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, so it would be rude to come empty-handed. By the way, it’s been a while since I last saw you, do you remember who I am?”

“How could I forget that familiar face? It’s not writer Choi Eun-sook.”

An unexpected guest came. Starting with CEO Kim Seong-hwan, who was thought to be in Seoul, to writer Choi Eun-sook. Although it is understandable that she is embarrassed by the sudden visit so late at night, her mother does not seem to dislike writer Choi Eun-sook, who treats her in a rather sad manner. Rather, the smile never leaves his face as the empty house becomes crowded with people.

“Just wait a minute, I’ll treat you like this.”

“Then I will help you too, Mom.”

“Oh, I can do it alone, but my young wife is sitting there with her hands broken.”

Despite her mother’s dissuasion, assistant writer Kim Eun-young helps her mother and heads to the kitchen. CEO Kim Seong-hwan, who is sitting across from us, has a sheepish expression on his face. England, who was worse off, couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked.

“The CEO was going on a business trip to Busan? If that was the case, why didn’t you come with me?”

“It just so happened that I happened to meet writer Choi in Jagalchi and we ended up traveling together. I heard that England came all the way from Seoul to Busan in a month to see you, but as a representative, how could I let you go alone?”

Choi Eun-sook has a solemn expression. She gets straight to the point without going on about katabuta.

“England, let’s do this next project with me.”

“What do you mean? Actually, I’m in Producer Yu’s historical drama.”

“I am the writer of that historical drama. Now that the first draft of the script is completed, I really want to show it to you. This time, I came down with producer Yoo, but he is so busy with construction that it is difficult right now, so I came alone. Even the script was written in England. “I planned this with you in mind, but I’m worried that I’m going to mess things up like this, and I really need to be able to trust the people at the broadcasting station.”

“Wait a minute, so Choi Kang-Gondu is the author of Choi?”

Choi Eun-sook’s face instantly heats up. CEO Kim Seong-hwan still looks like he doesn’t know what’s going on. She pretends to clear her throat and nods briefly. The selection of a historical drama as the next work is still a top secret. Because there are still negotiations on the appearance fee and I haven’t even seen the script properly.

“First of all, look at the script. If they say they can’t pay the full amount of the appearance fee, I will definitely cut off all ties with MBS right now.”

“Aren’t you being too emotional, author? Or is this really not the story you want me to hear?”

“It means I’m that desperate for you.”

Writer Choi laughs and changes the subject.

“By the way, England, you took the CSAT this time, didn’t you? I was so busy that I couldn’t even send a rice cake wishing to pass. There was a lot of talk in the media that this test was very difficult. I guess you did a provisional grading? What were the results?”

“It was similar to usual.”

“What? I know how surprised I was when I saw the star documentary the other day when England said that you were always top of the class at school. I knew you were smart when I saw you memorize the script, but I didn’t know you had a brain for studying. Anyway, it’s amazing. The CEO, please do some marketing right away. “You say it. The material for this mask is good, even for honor students.”

Isn’t this an age where all the big and small stories of celebrities become news stories? It can be said that the public’s interest in each and every move is high. At that moment, Eunsuk Choi elaborates as if she is curious.

“But to what extent is it similar to usual?”

CEO Kim Seong-hwan also looks curious. Anyway, the person who took the test didn’t even move his mouth.

* * *

Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation.

It is the season when one’s hands and feet bend as if General Dong is displaying his might. Other office workers may be in a relaxed mood as they prepare for year-end parties and celebrate the end of the year, but the Evaluation Institute is different. As I oversee and supervise the entire curriculum in Korea, I feel exhausted around this time of year. For this reason, winter is called the season of suffering among Evaluation Institute employees.

Not only do they prepare for the College Scholastic Ability Test, which determines admission to universities known as the ivory tower, but their work continues even after the CSAT is over.

They are busy checking for possible errors in questions and dealing with incidents that occurred at the test site on the day of the scholastic ability test. Even though I’m so busy, I can’t help but feel sad because I get criticized for the difficulty of the exam.

“Whenever you criticized last year’s CSAT for not being able to distinguish between ‘water’ CSAT and now you’re pointing fingers at us for ‘fire’ CSAT. Senior Park said last year’s CSAT is not considered the easiest of all CSATs. Because of that, even the first person to get a perfect score came out. Quiet. So now they say they are going to improve their ability to discriminate again. Does it make sense for the media to bash evaluators like this?”

“Don’t even talk about it. It’s terrible to think about last year. The media is making a fuss about it being the beginning of the CSAT or something. And inside the evaluation agency, how many people have been devalued in personnel evaluations because our university broke something that hasn’t been done for 30 years? Compared to that, the media is talking about it now. “It’s normal to get beaten up. I get more tired of answering phone calls than that.”

“It’s been over 15 days since the exam ended. What kind of complaint? Team Leader Min’s expression is still grim.”

“Starting from the fact that the exam room chairs were uncomfortable, the parents protested that the test should be invalidated because it was much more difficult than previous years. All sorts of complaints were filed, making Team Leader Min pull out all his hair.”

The Evaluation Institute is facing a lot of criticism from the media. The reason was simple. This was because the difficulty level of the math proficiency test had increased significantly compared to last year. To put it mildly, they even coined a new term: ineligibility for college entrance exams.

“If it’s a water test, there’s an uproar that you’ll die by drowning, and if it’s a non-CSAT, there’s an uproar that you’ll die in a fire. I wonder which beat they’re telling us to follow.”

“By the way, isn’t two days later the press briefing day? What were the results? Will we get a perfect score this time too?”

“Is that possible? It was only possible last year when the CSAT was conducted. This year, even within the Evaluation Institute, they sharpened their swords. They said the results would come out a little later. Team Leader Min said he would look into it and tell me. Instead of that, just make a bet with me. I won’t do it this year. 10,000 won for no one with a perfect score.”

“Senior Park, what is that? So shameless. Of course it won’t happen.”

This year’s Scholastic Ability Test was so difficult that even the media openly declared it to be the most impossible exam ever. Not only students across the country, but even the most renowned entrance exam instructors held out their tongues.

It is said that a famous entrance exam instructor went so far as to say, ‘Aren’t the evaluators crazy?’ Why would he have declared that if he got a perfect score, he would win the prize in his hand?

‘It’s obvious at first glance.’

Team leader Min sighs and accepts the national scoring results sheet. He also suffered hardships every year when the Scholastic Ability Test began. It was common to see parents not only filing objections but also visiting the evaluation center.

Moreover, since this year’s CSAT was called a non-SAT, the hardships were also unusual. Sure enough, there was even a parent who suddenly appeared and grabbed Team Leader Min by the collar.

‘I’m not the one giving the test questions.’

Although the level of difficulty was determined within the Evaluation Institute, it was the professors’ ability to issue test questions and not something that Team Leader Min could control. Aren’t professors selected from all over the country staying in a training camp for a long time, cut off from the outside world, to ask questions? It was when Team Leader Min’s bald head sparkled under the fluorescent lights.

“uh?”

Team leader Min rubs his eyes with his sleeve and stares intently at the national scoring results table. To put it bluntly, I expected that there would be no one with a perfect score this year. Even within the Evaluation Institute, the level of difficulty has increased significantly compared to previous years. I wonder if the media was talking about it as being impossible for the college entrance exam for no reason. However.

“how.”

Team Leader Min’s pupils are shaking violently, as if there was an earthquake. We were able to check the national scoring results as quickly as possible for the press briefing to be held two days later. And we confirm that only one person’s application number and name of high school is written on the list of people with perfect scores, where no one should be there.

“Sehwa High School.”

Team leader Min checks the list of students with perfect scores several times and recites the student’s name as if he is fascinated.

“Jang Young-guk.”