067 Bae Suzy's New Drama?

It seems people on the peninsula are always fond of discussing business in coffee shops. This was a cafe with outdoor seating in Seocho-district, Seoul.

"How has our Suzy been resting lately?"

"Wonderfully. I went to Asan previously, and recently a friend recommended a newly opened ballet studio in Cheongdam-dong, so I'm planning to go check it out."

Bae Suzy looked refreshed, wearing a bright smile.

Passersby occasionally noticed the scene and stopped from time to time to take photos.

"Ballet? That must be very elegant."

Screenwriter Park Hye-ryun looked like an ordinary, unadorned middle-aged woman, but she was a tremendously formidable writer.

The representative work that brought her widespread fame was the SBS drama *I Can Hear Your Voice*, broadcast in 2013, which achieved a peak viewership rating of 24.1 percent.

To complete that project, Screenwriter Park spent over a year personally attending court trials, interviewing various legal professionals, and intensively studying legal knowledge.

Lee Jong-suk, who played the second male lead, instantly leaped into becoming a hot new star.

Subsequently, the two continued their collaboration on the SBS dramas *Pinocchio* and *While You Were Sleeping*.

However, how many times could the exact same formula be used?

From *I Can Hear Your Voice* to *While You Were Sleeping*, Screenwriter Park seemed somewhat depleted of inspiration.

At the very least, a large portion of the viewership ratings for *While You Were Sleeping* was propped up by Screenwriter Park's past reputation and the star power of the lead actors, Lee Jong-suk and Bae Suzy.

The viewership rating curve showed an inverted U-shape, and the finale rating was nearly lower than the premiere.

Amidst the chorus of criticism, Screenwriter Park took a humble three-year hiatus.

Now, she was back with her new project!

This time, Screenwriter Park was determined to reclaim everything that belonged to her!

Bae Suzy smiled without saying a word.

What could she say? Could she say she didn't want to act in it?

Bae Suzy had received a partial script sent by Screenwriter Park as early as last week. While she wasn't qualified to critique the career arc, the romantic plotline in this story was simply too cliché.

She always felt that the script Screenwriter Park spent three years writing was fundamentally no different from her past works:

The second female lead and the male lead never develop a romantic connection, yet blindly act as the female lead's competitors;

The male lead forever only knows how to proactively express his feelings to the female lead and constantly stays by her side;

The second male lead also willingly and silently guards the female lead, anticipating an unrequited love that would never receive a response.

Yet, Bae Suzy had no way to refuse.

Screenwriter Park was notoriously fond of collaborating repeatedly with artists she had worked with before. In particular, she had collaborated with Lee Jong-suk three times, and Suzy herself had already worked with Screenwriter Park twice, the first time being *Dream High*.

"When I created the female lead, the very first image that appeared in my mind was you, Suzy. What do you think?"

Screenwriter Park laughed cheerfully, and Director Oh Choong-hwan, seated beside her, chimed in:

"My goodness, why don't you ever say things like that to me? Do you intend to replace the director, perhaps?"

"You? You're not so young anymore. How does it feel to leave SBS?"

Screenwriter Park was born in the 1970s, while Director Oh belonged to the 1980s generation. Their last collaboration had been *While You Were Sleeping*.

"What kind of feeling could there be? Isn't being a director the same everywhere? It's just that I'm a bit freer now and making slightly more money than before."

Director Oh possessed a rather heavy build, yet he was an elite graduate of Seoul National University.

Right upon graduation, he entered SBS, serving as the co-director of *My Love from the Star* and solely directing the medical drama *Doctors*.

The viewership ratings for both works had surpassed 20 percent, with *My Love from the Star* nearly hitting the 30 percent mark.

Such an outstanding talent chose to resign in the very year when the second-generation successor of Taeyoung Engineering & Construction, the parent company of SBS, took over.

Nowadays, he had partnered with a director friend who had also resigned from SBS to open a production company.

"Unnie, which side do you plan to collaborate with?"

"Naturally, it depends on you, Choong-hwan. Has your production company been on good terms with CJ recently?"

Park Hye-ryun and Oh Choong-hwan discussed the matter. Screenwriters and directors of their caliber naturally had no need to worry about failing to sell their works; the power of choice rested entirely in their hands.

"Then let's go with tvN. Later on, I'll invite the planners from CJ E&M, and we can all meet up again."

Director Oh made up his mind.

The production company he founded with his friend had already collaborated with tvN on three dramas.

All three were major productions.

IU's *Hotel Del Luna*, Song Hye-kyo and Park Bo-gum's *Encounter*, and Kim Soo-hyun's *It's Okay to Not Be Okay*.

It was just that the viewership ratings of the latter two dramas had fallen short of expectations. Although their results were decent, the plots were either overly cliché or whimsical, carried entirely by the star-studded casts.

It was no major issue; those two dramas were the works of Director Oh's friend, whereas he himself had directed *Hotel Del Luna*, written by the famed star writers, the Hong Sisters.

Therefore, Director Oh held an even stronger faith in so-called star screenwriters. Teaming up with Screenwriter Park Hye-ryun once more would undoubtedly produce a blockbuster hit!

Not to mention, they also had Bae Suzy.

Director Oh and Screenwriter Park chatted animatedly, seemingly failing to notice that Bae Suzy had not yet given a definitive response agreeing to star in the project.

Bae Suzy calmly sipped her coffee on the surface.

If she had to act, she would act; what else could she do?

If she had no ambitions, then of course anything would do; her current status was enough for her to coast on her past achievements for half a lifetime.

Unfortunately, after being picky for over half a year without receiving even a single passable script, she eventually had to bow to reality—she still needed to make money.

Bae Suzy listened to the "heated" discussion between Director Oh Choong-hwan and Screenwriter Park Hye-ryun, occasionally interjecting a few words to mentally digest her character in advance.

It was much like before—the quintessential persona favored by Screenwriter Park, lacking any real challenge. Bae Suzy felt entirely confident in portraying it well.

"By the way, has a decision been made on who will play the male lead?"

Bae Suzy first sent a message to Ms. Shim Jae-myung notifying her of her acceptance of the new project, and then casually brought up the question.

"Not yet. Do you have anyone in mind, Suzy?"

"Well..."

For some reason, Bae Suzy suddenly thought of that guy, Yoon Wun-hui.

She had watched his works, the independent film *Not Out* and the currently airing hot drama *The Penthouse*.

It was just that since that guy was a pure newcomer, neither Screenwriter Park nor Director Oh had likely ever heard of him.

Bae Suzy dismissed the thought. She didn't know why she had suddenly thought of Yoon Wun-hui; lately, that guy occasionally appeared in her dreams.

Ridiculous.

That guy surely didn't need her help to secure resources.

"Nam Joo-hyuk-ssi recently signed with our Management SOOP. What do the two of you think of him?"

Bae Suzy cast Yoon Wun-hui to the back of her mind and instead recommended an artist from her own agency.

Management SOOP was quite suitable for retirement-like stability; internal resources were mutually exchanged, and the atmosphere was relatively united and amicable.

"That works. I'm very much looking forward to collaborating with Joo-hyuk-ssi."

Screenwriter Park's eyes lit up. She truly hadn't decided on who should play the male lead, and Nam Joo-hyuk seemed suitable in every aspect.

Bae Suzy remained quite indifferent. Who didn't she act with anyway? She had long since passed the age of being capricious.

Before long, a reply from Ms. Shim Jae-myung arrived. Bae Suzy immediately checked it and then looked up, saying:

"Hye-ryun Unnie, would you mind if I sent the script synopsis to Jae-myung Unnie?"

"Ms. Shim? Of course no problem at all. Why, is Ms. Shim interested as well?"

"Jae-myung Unnie said that regarding the theme of youth entrepreneurship, she might be able to help secure sponsorship from the Blue House."

Bae Suzy smiled; she was already accustomed to Ms. Shim Jae-myung's miraculous network of connections.

Screenwriter Park Hye-ryun and Director Oh Choong-hwan stared at each other in blank dismay. What in the world?