SCT-Novel Chapter 102: Four People (4)
Chapter 102: Four People (4)
-Ah... I'm so excited... why is time not moving fast!!-The teaser for Rental Lover is finally out!! Wow, what’s going on with Rojun’s visuals at the endㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Rojun is insanely handsome, I literally gasped out loud at the last part
-The other actors are good-looking too ㅋㅋㅋ but Rojun is just on another level...
-His face is undeniably handsome, but what about his acting skills?
-Ahhhhhh did Rojun do the Rental Lover OST too??
-There's an idol (not yet) who did writer+actor+OST all by himself??
-Honestly not expecting much from his actingㅋㅋㅋㅋRojun is just enjoyable to look at because of his explosive visuals
-Look at the teaser views going upㅋㅋㅋthis is crazy
-Another idol added to the list of trash actors?
-RojunㅠㅜㅠㅜㅠㅜㅠI’ve been waiting
-How many killing points does Rental Lover haveㅋㅋㅋI feel like I have to watch just to find out
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The first teaser for ‘Rental Lover’ and the bait that Rojun was also behind the OST were delicious bait for the media.
《[Issue Pick] ‘Rental Lover’ teaser releases, racks up hundreds of thousands of views in no time》
《‘Rental Lover’ team reveals first teaser trailer “Rojun-nim handled the OST”》
To Kang Rojun’s fans or the general public, these were irresistible materials.
《Writer, actor, and even the OST? Anticipation rising for Rojun fans awaiting ‘Rental Lover’》
Add to that Rojun’s explosive visuals revealed in the teaser, and now the fact that he did the OST too, of course, people were drooling. Naturally, interest overflowed, and the teaser for ‘Rental Lover’ quickly surpassed one million views and headed toward two million.
On top of that.
《‘Produce That 100!’ theme song ‘Survival 100’, still holding No.1 on various music charts / Photo》
The synergy skyrocketed as the hype of ‘Produce That 100!’ mixed in. While the internet was buzzing, Kang Rojun and the nine contestants were fully focused on selecting the song to be used for the Final Evaluation.
“How about this song?”
“I like it.”
“Shouldn’t we go with something more exciting??”
“Really? Then how about this one.”
“What about you, Rojun hyung?”
“I like the first one.”
Since this was a very important process, the contestants spent a lot of time on it, and the final song was decided around lunchtime.
-♬♪
As soon as it was decided, the song was handed over to Kang Rojun and 48Kang Min. Rojun had to write the lyrics, and 48Kang Min along with a few others had to choreograph. The two teams skipped meals and threw themselves into it. They needed to move fast to secure enough time for practice.
At this moment, the ‘Rental Lover’ team, now at the final stage of editing, began their promotional schedule.
“Today we have the cast of the hot new show ‘Rental Lover’ with us!”
“Hello-”
From lead actress Choi Rina to the male actors playing the lovers. Unfortunately, Kang Rojun wasn’t present, but the remaining cast planned to push hard on promotion for about a week through Youtube and broadcast variety shows.
Netflix Japan was also deep into preparing promotions for ‘Rental Lover’.
However, Executive Director Tom Cavill.
-Flap, flap.
Had been completely absorbed in script reading for several days now. What was it? It was the script for ‘Like a Kaleidoscope’ that he received from Kang Rojun. The two copies, personally translated into Japanese by Rojun, had Tom Cavill hooked.
By the time he finished reading,
-Swish.
It was already late afternoon.
“......Phew-”
After finishing up to Part 2 of ‘Like a Kaleidoscope’, Executive Director Tom Cavill sat back and let out a deep chuckle.
“It’s ridiculously entertaining. Maybe even more than ‘Rental Lover’. The quality is definitely higher than ‘Rental Lover’.”
In terms of entertainment, direction, material, and pacing, it surpassed any recent script he had read. Soon his gaze landed on a stack of other scripts beside him. Ones that had come in from Japanese writers or production companies.
“Compared to this ‘Like a Kaleidoscope’, those are trash.”
Too harsh? But it was the truth. Executive Director Tom Cavill was a veteran, a heavyweight. He had produced and invested in countless projects and reviewed more scripts than he could count. And the ‘Like a Kaleidoscope’ he just read ranked among the top five he’d ever immersed himself in.
“Each episode is structured like an omnibus, but the overarching narrative of the main character holds the series together, so it doesn’t feel disjointed. And the composition of each episode is brilliant. It’s strange and witty.”
To briefly explain the script 'Like a Kaleidoscope', it's ten different stories that follow a detective protagonist. It's like there are ten unique premises similar to 'Rental Lover'. Naturally, except for the protagonist, the characters change in every episode.
"I’ve only read up to Part 2. That means there are eight more like this."
Tom Cavill was convinced.
“This ‘Like a Kaleidoscope’ would work anywhere, but especially here in Japan, it would definitely hit.”
Along with that, he felt an uncontrollable sense of urgency. Because of the things Kang Rojun said during the meeting, and PD Woo Han-suk’s final comment.
‘By the way, these scripts weren’t given only to Netflix Japan.’
Executive Director Tom Cavill suddenly stood up.
“We absolutely must secure this project.”
He immediately convened an executive meeting.
Meanwhile.
There was someone in Korea exhibiting similar behavior to Executive Director Tom Cavill. During a short break from editing 'Rental Lover', PD Jung Soo-ryeong was flipping through a stack of papers. What she was reading was a movie scenario she had recently received from Rojun.
“Ha, this is ridiculous.”
She too let out a hollow laugh, overwhelmed.
Though dramas and movies might appear similar, they are completely different. From pacing and directing methods to the messages they convey and more. A film must capture the screenwriter’s intentions within a roughly two-hour runtime. That’s why renowned directors and famous screenwriters spend months crafting one.
However, Kang Rojun did it all in less than two months.
“Even his film screenplay is high level??”
He pulled it off. And completely differently from his drama scripts. The quality was enough to make PD Jung Soo-ryeong widen her eyes. Of course, even though Jung Soo-ryeong wasn’t a film expert, she could tell.
‘It’s worth coveting.’
What kind of reaction would people in the film industry have to this scenario? PD Jung Soo-ryeong met someone from the film industry the next morning, on Thursday. The location was a large cafe.
“Oh my- PD Jung! Long time no see??”
“Indeed. Was it the Baeksang two years ago when I last saw you, Manager Jang?”
“Haha, that’s right. The project you’re working on these days is hot? I was surprised you reached out despite being so busy.”
The person PD Jung called ‘Team Leader Jang’ was a man in his 40s with a good-natured appearance.
“It’s nothing big. I just got my hands on a scenario.”
“A scenario? Oh- that's quite sudden."
“I received it rather suddenly myself. Can you take a look?”
“Well, reading it is no problem. But... I usually don’t take scripts passed along through connections.”
“Just take a light look, not deeply. Just tell me if it feels like a workable scenario or not. You’re a production manager at a top-tier film company, you’ve got a good eye, don’t you?”
“Ayy- I’ve got bad eyesight these days too. Hmm, well, just making a judgment isn’t a bad idea.”
“If you read it and feel tempted, you can even move forward with production.”
“Ayy-”
Soon, Rojun’s movie scenario was handed over to this person named Manager Jang, and as he turned the first page, he asked with his eyes still on the script:
“By the way, whose script is this that PD Jung is handing over personally? Is it written by a star writer I might know??”
It was a reasonable guess, but as promised to Kang Rojun, PD Jung Soo-ryeong kept the screenwriter’s identity hidden.
“That’s difficult to say right now. Please just evaluate the scenario itself.”
"...That's mysterious."
Being asked to read a script without knowing who wrote it? And even being told it’s fine to produce it if he liked it? Manager Jang rubbed his chin.
‘For PD Jung Soo-ryeong to personally hand over a script, and to hide the writer’s identity? Something smells fishy.’
He quickly put on his business smile.
“Alright, I’ll read it and get back to you.”
That same afternoon.
In Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul, at the film company 'BG Pictures'. Housed in a standalone five-story building, BG Pictures was one of the top 3 major production companies in Korea. In a small office inside BG Pictures’ internal planning team sat Manager Jang, who had met PD Jung Soo-ryeong that morning.
Manager Jang or rather, Jang Hak-seon had the longest tenure as a production producer at this film company.
He had also proven his ability through several box office hits.
In short, Jang Hak-seon was one of the key figures at 'BG Pictures', and he was currently engrossed in reading the movie script he had received that morning. What had started off lightheartedly.
“......”
Had now become serious. His hardened expression said it all. The interesting part was.
“Huh-”
While reading the script intently, he
-Swipe.
Suddenly took out his phone and dialed someone. Was it PD Jung Soo-ryeong? No, it wasn’t.
“Director, I’ve found a script that fits the feel you were talking about.”
At the same time, in Japan.
For the past few days, Japanese social media, which had been abuzz over the 'Produce That 100!' mini-concert, was now heating up over something else.
[Survival 100 is SO good!!!]
[Survival 100 just dropped- everyone, go listen!! I’ve been looping it nonstop!]
[Still listening to Survival 100 endlessly... I'm so thankful to the boys for giving us such an amazing song....]
[I hope Rojun and Si-hoo collaborate on another track!! Anyway, Survival 100 is the best!!]
Following Korea, the theme song 'Survival 100' was officially released in Japan as well. Of course, not the Korean version, but the Japanese version. As soon as the Japanese version of 'Survival 100' was released, Japanese fans shared it like wildfire across SNS, flooding the streams and generating heat comparable to that in Korea.
Of course, Japanese fans also said.
[Thanks for the Japanese version, but is the Korean version of Survival 100 not going to be released here??]
[Release the Korean version of Survival 100 too!!!]
[What about the acoustic version?? Is there no plan to release that as a track?? I want to keep it....]
They weren’t completely satisfied with just the Japanese version of 'Survival 100'.
Friday the 23rd, at the 'Produce That 100!' campus.
Early in the morning, after completing his daily mission and stats enhancement, Kang Rojun said,
“Everyone must be gathered by now.”
Before even showering, he headed to the largest practice room. All the participants were scheduled to gather for a simple briefing regarding the final evaluation. For reference, Rojun had completed writing the lyrics for the final evaluation song the night before. Technically, he finished it in just two days.
‘I'm definitely getting faster.’
His 'Lyrics Writing' stat had passed 100 points, and as Rojun was gaining experience as an idol, his lyric-writing speed had drastically increased. Of course, the other participants would need to approve the finished lyrics, but Rojun was satisfied.
‘Lyrics are done. What about the choreography? They said the general structure was ready.’
With that, Kang Rojun opened the door to the largest practice room. All nine participants were gathered.
The funny thing was.
“Huh??”
Despite Rojun entering, none of the participants even glanced at him. All of them had their eyes glued to their phones. Rojun slightly furrowed his brows and asked,
“What is it? What happened?”
Only then did 58Si-hoo lift his head and show his phone screen to Rojun.
“R-Rojun. We hit No.1 on Japanese music platforms.”
“Huh??”
Startled, Kang Rojun pulled the phone from his back pocket. A quick search. The results appeared immediately.
《‘Produce That 100!’ dominates major Japanese music charts / Photo》
《‘Survival 100’ sweeps music charts and SNS, causing a sensation in Japan?》
《[Official] It worked in Japan too! Produce That 100’s ‘Survival 100’ shoots to No.1 on Japan’s major music platforms!》
The news that had started in Japan had already made its way to Korea. With widened eyes, Kang Rojun muttered softly,
“It’s real?”
Several participants echoed in disbelief.
“No.1 on Japanese music charts?? Us?”
“Wow- is this really happening?? Am I dreaming???”
At that moment.
“Everyone confirmed it, right?”
A familiar male voice echoed from the practice room entrance. Turning around, they saw PD Woo Han-suk, with dark circles under his eyes, grinning faintly.
“Yep, we saw it. ‘Survival 100’ Japanese version, hit No.1 right away. But that’s not all.”
After checking his wristwatch, PD Woo Han-suk’s smile,
“Soon, the acoustic version of ‘Survival 100’ will be released.”
Grew twice as wide.
“In both Korea and Japan, at the same time.”
*****
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