Chapter 90: This Isn’t It (2)

Kang Ra-Eun was confused after reading through the script. The first thought that she had after checking the synopsis was ‘Why?’.

‘Well... It’s not like the future ends up exactly as my knowledge of it.’

But even so, the changes until now hadn’t been as significant as a story of an entire drama changing. Ra-Eun wondered if the story had changed because she had taken the place of the original female lead.

‘No, that can’t be it.’

There was no way that the overall story would change just because the actress playing the role had changed. If that was the case, then every single production that Ra-Eun was a part of, including Reaper, would have exhibited similar changes. The scenario change of Waitress?was a complete outlier.

The female protagonist Kang Seon-Hye had come to Seoul to find her mother Cha Yeo-Woon, played by the veteran actress who was sitting right next to Ra-Eun, Yeo Song-Won. However, the reason written on the script was different from what she remembered.

“I see. Seon-Hye... came to Seoul to find her little sister.”

“Didn’t Seong-Jin say that last time?”

“Yeah, I guess Seong-Jin got it right.”

The actors focused their gazes on the supporting actor Yoo Seong-Jin. Even he himself was dumbfounded because he didn’t expect to have guessed correctly.

Ra-Eun tilted her head.

‘This isn’t it.’

Coming to Seoul to find her little sister... it severely lacked impact. Honestly speaking, it was uninteresting and did not feel like a twist. It would be natural for Seon-Hye to be searching for her little sister since they were related by blood and had separated when they were young.

However, to Seon-Hye, her mother signified revenge. Hence, searching for her mother, even if they were also related by blood, represented something else entirely from searching for her younger siblings.

‘It’d have been better if they went with the scenario that I remember.’

She had felt it to be a shame. She wanted to propose to Director Hwang and Screenwriter Yeo Yu-Min about changing the synopsis to the one that she knew, but couldn’t bring herself to.

‘Even if I’m the female lead, it’d be disrespectful for an actress with little experience to get involved in the screenwriting process.’

She looked around to observe the reactions of the other actors. There were two who caught her attention. Ji Han-Seok, and...

Yeo Song-Won.

“Director,” Song-Won said as she slightly raised her right hand.

Director Hwang replied with a bright smile, “Yes, sunbae?”

“I’m honestly not sure if I should be saying this, but...”

All eyes were on her, filled with curiosity about what she was so hesitant to say. She apologized once again to Director Hwang before continuing.

“I’m actually a little bewildered by the reason’s lack of impact after all the expectations that we’ve instilled in the audience through the press.”

Ra-Eun held in her admiration for Song-Won.

‘Sunbae sure has an eye for stories.’

As expected, experience could not be ignored.

***

The reactions to Song-Won’s remark between Director Hwang and Yu-Min were different. Director Hwang could not hide his confusion. On the other hand, Yu-Min was looking at Song-Won with a surprised yet slightly happy glint in her eyes.

Yu-Min responded first, “Right, Song-Won sunbae?”

Ra-Eun noticed Yu-Min’s reaction and asked, “Could it be that you and Director Hwang have differing opinions regarding the synopsis?”

She wondered if this was the reason for the unexpected change in the story.

Yu-Min answered, “Yes. I wanted to set the reason why Seon-Hye came to Seoul to ‘ find and take revenge against her mother,’ but Director Hwang suggested that we change it to ‘find her younger sister’...”

Ra-Eun had gotten to the bottom of the case.

‘I guess they must have had a lot of discussions regarding it.’

It was not out of the ordinary; a drama was not made by one person. There were bound to be several points of view, considering it was such a large-scale project with multiple people involved in it.

Song-Won took Yu-Min’s side.

“I prefer Miss Yeo Yu-Min’s idea. What do you think, Director Hwang?” Song-Won asked.

“I-I wonder. To be honest, the writers were pretty divided about this too. If we’re talking about the exact ratio, it was fifty-fifty. Right, Yu-Min?” Director Hwang asked.

Yu-Min nodded and expressed, “We had several meetings because of this one thing, and we ended up going with Director Hwang’s little sister idea. Director, why don’t we take this opportunity to get the actors’ opinions?”

Yu-Min still seemed to have lingering attachments to her revenge twist idea. Director Hwang agreed since a production was made together with staff members and actors. Not just that, but no one understood the characters better than the actors who played them. In that case...

‘I guess my opinion will be the most important.’ Ra-Eun thought.

After all, she was the one who played Kang Seon-Hye. If she was put in the same position as the character Seon-Hye, which path would she have taken? The answer was already decided.

“What do you think, Ra-Eun?” Director Hwang asked.

Ra-Eun answered without hesitation, “I also prefer Screenwriter Yeo’s synopsis.”

Only then would this drama be remembered as a masterpiece among its fans.

***

Director Hwang turned serious after Ra-Eun, who knew the character Kang Seon-Hye best, took Yu-Min’s side.

“Can I also ask why?” he asked.

Her answer to this question would be the most important part. She focused on laying out the reasons for her decision using her knowledge of the future.

“It was implied that Seon-Hye already knows where her younger siblings are. She could find them any time she wanted, so taking the story in a direction focused around searching for them would lower the tension. On the other hand, a twist involving her mother can be used to add the ‘revenge’ trope that’s been a trend in dramas these days. I think it’ll help the plot in many ways.”

Ra-Eun fluently expressed her opinion. Everyone was focused on her.

“Also, looking back on Seon-Hye’s scenes with Cha Yeo-Woon, they were often confrontational, weren’t they? Those scenes can be reinterpreted as a foreshadowing of the twist, so that’s why I prefer Screenwriter Yeo’s synopsis.”

Director Hwang had also been paying close attention to Ra-Eun before he knew it. She certainly was not wrong. Rather, it felt like a puzzle inside his head was being solved thanks to Ra-Eun’s assertion.

“You’re right. Come to think of it, there were several scenes setting up Seon-Hye and Yeo-Woon’s relationship.”

The scenes had just been to show their difference in viewpoints, but it did not seem like a bad idea to reinterpret those scenes for the story ahead.

Song-Won smiled as she was listening to Ra-Eun in silence.

“You have a very good eye for stories, Ra-Eun,” she remarked.

“I simply expressed what I thought. Thank you very much, sunbae,” Ra-Eun replied.

Ra-Eun felt weird to be complimented by Song-Won. She rarely complimented her juniors. She was known to be a strict sunbae among the other actors, so they were always much more anxious than usual whenever they had scenes with her. If that anxiety led to an NG cut... One could say that would bring hell on Earth.

Director Hwang came to a decision after thinking much about Ra-Eun’s opinion.

“Min-Tae. I’m sorry, but could you gather everyone? I want to have a meeting.”

“Understood.”

“Like what Song-Won sunbae and Ra-Eun had suggested, we’ll edit the synopsis to be focused around the mother. I’m sorry.”

Song-Won gestured that it was okay toward the apologizing Director Hwang.

“We should be the ones who are sorry. Actors meddling in the screenwriting process is a bit...”

Like Song-Won had said, actors getting involved in the inner workings of the production could lead to serious problems. There were directors and writers who found such acts to be extremely unpleasant, but Director Hwang did not seem to be one of them.

“No. I’m the type of person who decides on story content after getting many people’s opinions, so I prefer it. You don’t have to worry about it, sunbae.”

Song-Won felt less guilty after hearing Director Hwang’s remark. At this moment, Ra-Eun was the only one who knew that a small suggestion made by a veteran actress would raise the drama Waitress?to the status of masterpiece in the future.

***

Ra-Eun managed to get through another day’s shoot safely yet again, and headed to the waiting room after commending Han-Seok and the others for their hard work.

“Oh, Ra-Eun. Did you just finish filming your scenes?”

She met Song-Won at the hallway as she got her things and headed to the car with Shin Yu-Bin.

“Yes, sunbae. I thought you’d left a while ago?”

Song-Won had finished shooting her scenes two hours earlier than Ra-Eun, so Ra-Eun was curious why she was still near the studio when she had already said her goodbyes to everyone for the day.

“I had some business with my husband.”

Ra-Eun’s ears perked up. Song-Won’s husband was a rather famous person. No, he was about to be. And not just that, but he was necessary for Ra-Eun’s plans. Hence, Ra-Eun had approached Song-Won first when the filming for Waitress?had started, to get as close to her as possible. She had left a huge impression on Song-Won, considering other junior actors actively avoided her due to fear.

Ra-Eun lowered her voice once the topic of Song-Won’s husband came up.

“I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’m sure you’ll get through it.”

She actually knew exactly what was going on but pretended not to know. Song-Won smiled at Ra-Eun’s meaningful statement.

“Thanks.”