Life, Once Again!

Chapter 667

“You know? I believe that the total quantity of happiness and unhappiness is equal. If something good happens to one person, someone somewhere will definitely encounter a mishap,” Jayeon said as she grabbed her cup.

“It’s the case when I look back at my life as well. It might look like only shit stuff happened which makes my life looks like a shithole, but if I keep going through my memories, there are definitely happy things taking up space in a corner. If life was a series of downhills with no room to breathe and no moments of happiness, that person would have jumped into the Han river in order to find happiness. They are only able to live because there’s a reason that allows them to endure.”

Maru ate a piece of sliced peach. There was a slight bitterness after a sweet taste. Was happiness and unhappiness like this as well? Like what Jayeon said, the total quantity of happiness and unhappiness should be equal. In a general view, happiness should fill 50% of society while the other 50% is filled with unhappiness. He could agree with that. But when it came to the individuals? The first thing that came to his mind was ‘really?’. The total amount of happiness and unhappiness might equal each other when you consider society as a whole, but he believed that it would be different when it came to individuals.

“It might be possible that the majority of the people take up unhappiness which means a small minority might be taking up a lot of the happiness. In the broader sense, the ratio of the total quantity does not change even if it’s like that,” Ganghwan said.

Maru nodded.

“Well, you might think like that, hyung. You’re a pessimist after all. In any case, the point of the drama is simple. Their happiness and unhappiness. I want to show a slice of those. If there’s a beginning, there should be an end right? You can consider the start as happiness and the end as unhappiness.”

Jayeon placed two almonds and two peanuts on the table.

“One couple is the main characters of a youthful love story. They are not conscious of each other at first, but they become aware of each other and their feelings for each other start blossoming.”

Two peanuts disappeared into Jayeon’s mouth.

“While there’s the peanut couple becoming happy, there should be a couple somewhere that’s becoming unhappy, right? The almond couple feels their love cooling down as time goes by, and they become further away from each other’s awareness.”

Jayeon chewed on the almonds and the peanuts.

“I’m going to express it as plainly as possible. I will add some dramatic devices, but I want to show what it’s like to be human. Love that anyone might have gone through, parting that anyone might have gone through. People who look like they could exist anywhere might become the main characters to a rather bland story. Love begins, it ends, then begins again. I want to show a simple logic that we cannot escape through the drama.”

“From the look of things, these two are the starting couple, right?”

Mira pointed at Maru and Yuna. Being pointed out, Maru looked towards Jayeon.

“Maru and Yuna couple will fall in love with each other, while Byungjae and Mira couple will start off as lovers but become strangers in the end. That process will repeat again. Maru and Yuna will part, and Byungjae and Mira will meet again.”

“You can do all that in just 4 episodes?”

“It’s 55 minutes for each episode. That’s more than enough for two whole movies, so do you think we’ll run out of time? I’m going to do this without the boring background explanation and just focus on the characters. There is no cool background like the super-scale historical dramas. The main stage for the drama will be a pojang-macha in the middle of nowhere, a school, and then an office.”

“That sounds so dry,” Mira said as she drank a sip of beer.

“I said we’re not shooting Cinderella. We’re shooting the love stories of ordinary civilians.”

“Don’t you think it’ll be hard to find the ‘drama’ that you like so much in that?”

“Mira, what is a drama?”

“A play.”

“That’s too basic.”

Maru was pushing a piece of watermelon into his mouth when Jayeon gave him a stare, which made him pull the watermelon back out again.

“A dramatic incident, of course.”

“This guy is like that too. Yuna, what do you think a drama is?”

“Me?”

With the question directed at herself, Yuna fidgeted for a bit before replying.

“The story of people similar to me doing different things from me.”

“Yuna.”

“Yes?”

“Did you just go inside my heart or something? You’re thinking the same thing as I am. Here, let’s toast.”

Jayeon held out her beer glass. Yuna raised her cup with two hands. The glass and the plastic cup hit each other, making a blunt sound.

“There are many different reasons for why people watch dramas. Vicarious satisfaction, to kill time, for the feels, for the fun, to learn something. There must be numerous reasons. But if there’s a basis for all of those reasons, it’s that they are watching a story that is different from theirs. Do you think I would watch a video that portrays Yoo Jayeon’s life as it is? I will never watch it. Why would I watch something I know already? That’s why dramas have to be something close to me yet different from me. That’s the reason I talk about Cinderella all the time. Anyone can be the poor Cinderella before she gets on the pumpkin carriage, however, no one can become Cinderella in the pumpkin carriage. She’s similar to me, yet she walks a different path from me.”

“Uhm, wouldn’t it be difficult to attract public attention if it’s an ordinary story?” Byungjae asked cautiously.

Jayeon nodded before speaking.

“Everyone here knows the lineup of the mini-series for the three main companies, RBS, KBS, and YBS, for the four weekdays[1], right? Mira, tell me about them.”

“KBS is ‘Return of the Castle’ for Monday-Tuesday, and ‘My Lovely Flower’ for Wednesday-Thursday.”

Jayeon looked at Byugnjae.

“RBS is the ‘The Judge’ for Monday-Tuesday, and ‘Hooray Girl’ for Wednesday-Thursday.”

“Han Maru, what about YBS?”

“The Monday-Tuesday lineup is ‘Chivalrous Knight’, and the Wednesday-Thursday is ‘My Wandering Diaries at Twenty-three’.”

Jayeon clapped to get everyone’s attention.

“You know how dramas compete with each other these days, right? They don’t clash with different stories. They compete with similar genres and similar content and fight head-to-head. That’s why if one side gets 40% of the views, the others will simply be forgotten. The genre is the same, so it would be over if they lose in terms of interest.”

Jayeon drew a line across her neck and smiled mockingly. She looked like the perfect villain character for a movie.

“Ever since the historical drama season ended, all three companies nailed romantic comedies in the Wednesday-Thursday slot. Moreover, everyone uses the same Cinderella story. All of them are about simple girls meeting rich boys. Although only the first and second episodes have aired, the viewers should have seen enough to know the rest of the plot. They should be thinking ‘ah, it’s the same thing over and over again’.”

Jayeon raised two fingers.

“Two years. Ever since KBS hit a viewing rate of 50% with ‘Beautiful Lovers’ back in 2003, Cinderella-style romantic comedies kept coming out for a whole two years. Do you know why?”

“Because proven steady-sellers have steady sales. If they’re lucky, they might ride the flow and become a bestseller again,” Maru replied.

Jayeon nodded.

“That’s it. The TV stations do not like adventure. This tendency is even more pronounced with dramas. There is only one reason why genres like detective, mystery, and horror rarely appear on TVs. It’s because they are extremely unstable. If they do well, they will do really well, but if they do badly, there won’t be a way to fix it. Moreover, these kinds of genres aren’t popular with women, especially women in their twenties to forties. Would the advertisers like that? Of course not. That’s why romantic comedies prevail. After all, as long as it doesn't do too badly, they will get suitable advertisers for it. In this situation, let’s think back to the definition of dramas. The one that Maru mentioned before.”

“Dramatic incidents,” Maru said to Jayeon.

“Yes, dramatic incidents. What does it mean to be ‘dramatic’? Dramatic, spectacular. A twist from an ordinary progression of events. If it’s red, it has to be an apple, but it turns out it’s a banana. Well then, in the last two years, Korean dramas have kept riding the Cinderella rails. On the internet, there are loads of articles and comments about being fed up with it. In a structure where the fancy love of Cinderella is everywhere, would an ordinary love with ordinary people really be ordinary? Or….”

“A new story. Or in one sense, a dramatic story, huh,” Mira said as she grabbed her lower lip with her fingers.

“That’s right.”

“You’re producing the drama after taking all of that into account?”

“There aren’t any idiots who don’t take into account such trivial stuff. Ultimately, dramas are about trends. You lead one or you get dragged by one. If possible, I want to do the leading. That’s the quickest route to success after all.”

Jayeon emphasized the word ‘success’. Maru smiled pleasantly as he felt that word hit his ears. Success, wasn’t that everyone’s dream? It was the magical word that made everyone feel hopeful.

The table became quiet for a while. It wasn’t an awkward, unnerving silence. Everyone seemed to have forgotten to talk because they were digesting the word success. Maru put a grape in his mouth. Sweet success.

“But that doesn’t guarantee that ordinary stories will work, does it?” Ganghwan remarked.

He didn’t seem to be saying it lightly. He seemed to be asking the producer for her opinion as an actor participating in the production.

“It’s ordinary, but it shouldn’t look ordinary.”

“Just like how rich boys don’t look like they’re rich?”

“That’s right.”

“Do you know what advice I hate the most? It’s ‘try to get more out of that feeling’. I don’t know what ‘feeling’ that is, so how am I supposed to get more out of it?”

“Hyung, don’t worry about that. I will give you clear directions until your act is to my liking, and until you can act the ordinary in an extraordinary way.”

Jayeon’s declaration came with an evil business owner’s smile. Maru pictured himself brooming the garden as a manservant. He was in a pitiful position where he had to obey every whim and gesture of the producer that was sitting in comfort.

“It’ll be an interesting shoot for sure. I believe in the power of you actors. I can do that, right?”

Maru looked at Ganghwan. He asked ‘is this gonna be okay’ with his eyes. The reply came back immediately. ‘We’re all dead’ - Ganghwan’s cloudy eyes seem to be saying such words.

* * *

“Careful on your way back! Make sure you take Yuna home!”

Jayeon waved her hand over her head while laughing. Ganghwan, Byungjae and Mira were standing next to her. Looking at the three who were going to, no, dragged to a 2nd round of drinking, Maru took a bow. It was his way of expressing his condolences - hope you don’t drown in alcohol.

“Seonbae!”

Yuna shouted loudly enough to ring his ears as she stuck to his back. Maru frowned and looked back. Why is the docile girl acting like this now?

“Did you drink?”

“Yes!”

Maru looked at Yuna, who had turned red like a tomato.

“When?”

“Mira-unni gave me some.”

When she said that, he remembered Yuna drinking some water while frowning. So that wasn’t water.

“Hey, are you drunk?”

“No, I only drank one glass, so there’s no way I’m drunk. But why do people drink? It tastes so bitter and doesn’t seem like it will be tasty at all.”

“Good for you for drinking something that doesn’t taste good. You drank it with your water cup, didn’t you?”

“Eh? I think I did, but I don’t remember.”

After chuckling, Yuna started sniffing.

“Seonbae, you can smell chicken skewers, can’t you?”

“I can.”

“But why does it smell so disgusting?”

Yuna covered her mouth. Maru flinched and tried to gain some distance, but Yuna grabbed onto his sleeve.

“Your stomach doesn’t feel good, does it?”

“N-no, I’m fine.”

“You aren’t fine. Your expression doesn’t look good.”

“It’s fine. I can swallow it.”

“Swallow? Swallow what?”

“It’s okay.”

Yuna frowned after laughing again. Maru could smell it. She was practically just before throwing up.

“Yuna, if you feel like vomiting, you should go to the bathroom.”

“I’m fine. Why would I vomit when I only drank one glass? I definitely won’t do that.”

“Your face says otherwise though.”

“Does it, seonbae?”

Yuna, who kept chuckling, ended up sitting on the ground.

“Do you feel dizzy?”

“No.”

“Gosh, this girl. She’s trippin’ after drinking one sip.”

“Trippin’? Trippin~.”

“What the….”

Maru stroked his face. He had to look after a girl younger than him. If it was a boy, he would have abandoned him here and now. Or maybe he would take him to a back alley and stick a finger inside his throat.

“Sit down for now.”

“Okay.”

Maru looked at Yuna, who staggered while grabbing onto his sleeves. He didn’t know who would wed her in the future, but that person should have a tiring life.

[1] Monday-Tueseday series + Wednesday-Thursday series. Friday-Saturday series are considered weekend series.

KTLChamber's Thoughts

What the hell is up with the last line? Is this a flag? Are we really going to see Maru and Gaeul break up? Is Yuna x Maru a real thing?

Editor's Note:

I think that's the point of this arc. Maru is gonna split from Gaeul for Yuna before getting back with Gaeul again. Just like the plot of Jayeon's drama.

Also, drunk Yuna is adorable.

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