Novelist Running Through Time

TL: KSD

The regime change at Baekhak Publishing at first glance appears to be a righteous story, where Baek Seol, the magical girl who contracted with the magical cat Lim Yang-wook, defeats the Demon King Kim Sang-guk.

But that’s an overly simplistic view from the perspective of the publishing management department.

Victims, third parties, and even allies define this event differently.

A ‘coup d’état’.

Moreover, it was a coup that involved the intervention of foreign powers.

Baek Seol borrowed the influence of the headquarters’ strategic planning office to drive out the local forces and seize the throne.

She ‘Silla-ed’ it. (TL: It is a term used in the context of the Korean Kingdom of Silla, which unified the Korean Peninsula with the help of external powers.)

It’s witchcraft! She’s using witchcraft!

In any group, organizational strength comes from camaraderie. A traitor, a spy, a sectarian, an internal whistleblower who betrays that strong sense brotherhood can never be forgiven.

Under this solemn absolute principle, no excuse holds. From the moment Baek Seol involved foreign powers in the internal struggle, she was already a traitor to Baekhak Publishing.

Even Silla, which called upon the Tang Dynasty to unify the Three Kingdoms, has been criticized for over a thousand years. How could Baek Seol be any different?

And it’s not even entirely wrong. The ‘achievements’ Lim Yang-wook bled for, in truth, were nothing but a pretext. The actual knife that incapacitated Kim Sang-guk, who had been rooted in Baekhak Publishing for decades, was wielded by Baek Do-hyun, the head of the headquarters’ strategic planning office’s Human Resources Support Team.

In fact, at Baek Seol’s inauguration as CEO, Baek Do-hyun did not even hide his intent to take control of Baekhak Publishing by pushing Baek Seol forward, as if he were her guardian.

The reason Baek Seol became a puppet CEO is not just due to her lack of experience.

No one wants a leader who is loyal to foreign powers instead of the organization. This is an unchanging principle because everyone’s livelihood depends on it.

“Hmm…”

Thus, in the early days of Baek Seol’s tenure as CEO, her actions had to be extremely cautious, meticulous, and, at the same time, bold.

Baekhak Publishing’s political animal.

A political beast, or just a beast.

Team Leader Kim Ga-ryung knew this context well.

EP 9 – Sound

Click-click, click-click. Team Leader Kim Ga-ryung found it hard to focus on his work lately. He often surfed the web during office hours. The four characters typed into the search bar reflected his current mindset.

Job Korea.

Meaning, he wanted to quit his job.

“This isn’t good…”

Since Baek Seol took the position of CEO, the Publishing Management Department has been in a festive mood. Even though it was demoted from a department to a strange sort of in-house venture, everyone is popping fireworks because the CEO is on their side, so they believe they’ve won the ultimate victory.

But Kim Ga-ryung is not the same as those fools.

He was the first to sense the downfall of Department Head Yang Sung-jun, the legitimate heir to the Publishing Business Division, and wisely stabbed him in the back—or rather, switched departments.

This is the result of unparalleled foresight. It’s not because Yang Sung-jun used to while “Assistant Manager Kim, Assistant Manager Kim”, while smacking him on the head with papers. That wasn’t the reason for the betrayal, definitely not.

Anyway, from the perspective of the political animal Kim Ga-ryung, Baek Seol’s position as CEO was far from stable.

Because she was not part of the mainstream at Baekhak Publishing.

The mainstream at Baekhak Publishing was, in fact, Kim Sang-guk.

CEO Kim Sang-guk was not a leader who rose to the top through personal charisma or heroic achievements. He wasn’t some ugly remnant of past corruption but rather someone who represented the interests of everyone at Baekhak Publishing.

So, to be precise, it wasn’t Kim Sang-guk himself who was corrupt, but the entire company.

In other words, from regular employees to executives, Baekhak Publishing was swarming with post-Kim Sang-guks, mini-Kim Sang-guks. As a former member of the Publishing Planning Department, Team Leader Kim Ga-ryung knew this very well.

So, the unprecedented situation where an unknown outsider stormed in, seizing the throne with foreign support, was extremely unstable and perilous.

The only reason Baek Seol managed to enter the CEO’s office in one piece amidst this chaos was due to the following factors.

She was young, so she didn’t raise alarm among the directors. She had the credentials of being a Booker International Prize nominee, which the staff couldn’t dismiss. And, most importantly, she had the critical ‘legitimate bloodline’.

If not for those factors, Baek Seol would have long been treated like an invisible person among the executives. Or, playing pranks on the naive CEO might have become the most popular game at Baekhak Publishing.

Unfortunately, in Team Leader Kim Ga-ryung’s eyes, that future seemed to be approaching with every passing moment.

Well, things have gotten ridiculous…

If she had just stayed still, things might have gone halfway decently…

Whenever he smoked on the rooftop, he could always see people whispering.

At first, there was at least some secrecy to it, but gradually, the employees began openly mocking the CEO.

It’s a sign of impending doom.

‘Should I switch sides now…?’

The first thing Baek Seol did after becoming CEO was to invest company funds into a movie without consulting anyone else.

Had it succeeded, things might have been different, but it was a complete flop.

This had a highly negative impact on Baekhak Publishing as a whole. Among the executives, there were awkward coughs and grumbles about how the puppet wasn’t staying put. Among the employees, doubts emerged about whether the CEO, despite appearances, might actually be incompetent.

(And they weren’t wrong.)

Starting her career in Baekhak Entertainment’s parking lot, Baek Seol had unintentionally adopted a mysterious image. No one knew what the new CEO was really like.

And now, that image was being solidified.

Was she a genius chaebol translator draped in the glory of a Booker International Prize nomination?

Or is she the drama villainess who got the CEO position solely by bloodline?

As the harsh criticism against the movie ‘Sound’ intensified, internal opinion leaned toward the latter, and Team Leader Kim Ga-ryung’s loyalty shifted from Lim Yang-wook’s shiny bald head to the sturdy embrace of the Vice President from the Book Distribution Division.

“Sss…”

As Kim Ga-ryung was contemplating how he could align himself with the Vice President’s faction…

‘That news’ arrived.

Cannes.

The next day, during the department meeting, Kim Ga-ryung uttered the words ‘We must resolutely defend CEO Baek Seol’.

***

Cannes.

This is a provincial city in southern France.

The reason people from South Korea, located on the other side of the planet, know this city is, of course, because of the film festival held there.

And the reason the Cannes Film Festival is so special to Koreans is, naturally, because of Bong Joon-ho.

Ah… the Palme d’Or? Is that what you’re talking about?

The Oscars? Well… for a ‘local’ festival, it’s pretty decent.

Bong Joon-ho… He’s a god!

The Palme d’Or win for the film ‘Parasite’ was a nationwide celebration in South Korea. In the film industry, it became a holy day, compared to the Feast of the Assumption.

The Holy Spirit descended upon Saint Bong Joon-ho, who created ‘Parasite’, and how could all not sing praises and rejoice in song?

Thanks to that miracle, South Korea, once on the fringes of the film industry, rose to a level on par with global powers. It’s only right that, with the fate of Greater East Asia on its back, the country presses forward toward global dominance.

The future of the Korean film industry could only be glorious!

Of course, that bright future turned to ashes not even half a year later with the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic, but everyone still yearns for those good old times of La Belle Époque.

And as time passed…

The once-crowded movie theater seats became empty,

The Palme d’Or for ‘Parasite’ was buried in the sands of time,

And no one cared about any of it anymore.

In this era, where cinema had become a vulgar joke…

A film received a call from Cannes.

People can no longer see ‘Sound’ as just ‘Sound’. The image of ‘that work’, which symbolized the most glorious period of Korean cinema, kept flashing before their eyes.

The main headlines, fired off by journalists with fingers ablaze, were obvious.

[Is the second ‘Parasite’… being born?]

[Breaking News: ‘Sound’ Invited to Cannes Film Festival’s In Competition Section!]

[‘Golden Bear’ Winner So Tae-woong, Now Reaching for the ‘Palme d’Or’!]

No Korean passes by the words ‘the second Parasite’ without noticing.

Now Koreans have contracted a disease where their hearts flutter just hearing the ‘Pal’ of ‘Palme d’Or’. This is all because of the super-spreader Bong Joon-ho.

This Palme d’Or Syndrome had another symptom, which was a sudden and dramatic increase in people’s appreciation of film.

As expected, many people began to express symptoms of the ‘condition’.

I didn’t notice it in the theater, but suddenly I feel like I understand the director’s intentions.

The vividly crafted blind zombie-witch-alien…

I couldn’t take my eyes off actress Kim Byul’s brilliant performance.

Those who used to call So Tae-woong washed up suddenly began to worship him, and those who had mocked Moon In as a parasite clinging to So Tae-woong now praised him as a genius who had written a script on par with ‘Parasite’.

The invitation of the movie ‘Sound’ to the Cannes Film Festival’s In Competition section was reported as the main issue on the 9 o’clock news, filmmakers were inclined to pray for the divine power of Director So Tae-woong who caused the second miracle. Meanwhile, the students of the Creative Writing Department at Baekhak Arts Middle School smiled slyly as they anticipated the rising entrance cut-off scores.

However, there’s one issue here.

How much influence did Moon In have on the film ‘Sound’?

Is ‘Sound’ So Tae-woong’s work, or is it Moon In’s?

A brief controversy ensued, but it was soon overshadowed when a rediscovered column by Gu Hak-jun drew attention.

> [… ‘Sound’ is a deeply personal, cognitive, and existential tale about adventurers exploring a dark world. Moon In, through ‘dark adaptation’, has gained insight into this dark world, and through the next steps, is exploring how to navigate within it. Therefore, discussing contributions in the making of this film is meaningless, and the criticism directed at the film is equally misguided…]

People dislike the literary world, but they don’t dislike Gu Hak-jun.

This is because, in the public’s perception, Gu Hak-jun is not seen as a mere ‘novelist’, but as a ‘great figure’.

Rather than respecting Gu Hak-jun for his literature, people respect him for his naturalization as a Korean citizen. Thus, when reading his column, logic was less important than the image.

In other words, ‘If Gu Hak-jun said it, it must be true’.

Therefore, in the festival of worshiping So Tae-woong, people quietly placed Moon In’s photo on the ceremonial altar as well.

However, the ones being worshiped had somewhat uncomfortable expressions on their faces, especially So Tae-woong, who spoke with a serious, emotionless face.

“I believe the Golden Bear is equal to or even superior to the Palme d’Or.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

Moon In, Kim Byul, and an assistant director, one of So Tae-woong’s many right-hand men, who were all eating meat at the same table, froze slightly.

But So Tae-woong continued speaking earnestly.

“The Cannes Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival are both among the top three film festivals in the world. And I won the Golden Bear decades before Bong Joon-ho did. Although it didn’t receive much attention at the time because of the World Cup… if you consider the achievement alone, I think we’re about even.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

“But now that I’ve been invited to Cannes as well, doesn’t that put me one step above Bong Joon-ho?”

A cold silence lingered over the table.

Moon In glared at So Tae-woong with contempt, and even So Tae-woong’s loyal ‘chihuahua’ assistant director wore an awkward expression that could be described as ‘Ah, this is a bit…’.

A suffocating silence.

The first to abandon her conscience was Kim Byul.

“Y-Yes! Of course! Director So Tae-woong is the best now!”

Moon In was amazed. She clearly said with her own mouth last time that ‘although So Tae-woong’s works are more to my taste, objectively speaking, Director Bong Joon-ho is a step above’, and now she’s shamelessly changing her words like this?

Indeed, not just anyone can be an actor.

Moon In decided to test Kim Byul’s acting skills.

“Kim sunbae. If you got casting offers from both Director So Tae-woong and Director Bong Joon-ho at the same time, who would you go with? One, two, three-”

“Of-Of course, Director So Tae-woong!”

“Why are you stuttering?”

“I’m not! I just bit my tongue!”

Without a change in her expression, Kim Byul smoothly lied through her teeth. Moon In was once again struck by the realization that Kim Byul was a seasoned actor who had truly mastered her craft.

Kim Byul could now read Moon In’s expressions too. She could clearly see what this cheeky and arrogant junior was thinking. Furious, Kim Byul smiled as she counterattacked.

“Then what about you? If both Director So Tae-woong and Director Bong Joon-ho offered you a scriptwriting work at the same time, who would you choose-?”

“I’m not going to write movie scripts ever again. It was way too exhausting.”

Kim Byul suddenly felt the urge to smack Moon In on the head. However, unlike Moon In, who could openly declare a boycott in front of So Tae-woong without caring about his reputation, Kim Byul did care about her reputation.

In the end, those who have much to lose must tread carefully.

Kim Byul calmed her inner rage, smiling kindly.

But there was no way a director in his early fifties like So Tae-woong wouldn’t pick up on that.

So Tae-woong looked at Moon In and Kim Byul with fondness and smiled contentedly for the first time in a while.

And then he got to the point.

“So, what I’m saying is, don’t get too hung up on awards.”

Of course, it wasn’t that So Tae-woong, who always uses polite speech, suddenly lost his mind and spewed out a crazy statement that ‘Bong Joon-ho is beneath me’. After all, the two directors were on friendly terms. The Korean film industry is small.

“I already have a Golden Bear. It’s an award that doesn’t pale in comparison to the Palme d’Or. So, there’s no need to be too disappointed or overly fixated on it if we don’t get the trophy.”

“Ah…”

“When people were criticizing us, what did we say to each other? We said we were satisfied because we made a good movie, right? It’s the same here. Let’s not worry about public opinion and just enjoy the film festival as filmmakers.”

So Tae-woong, before being a director, felt he had a duty, as an adult, to care for these two young artists who were facing both intense public praise and criticism.

Whether positive or negative, public attention affects one’s sense of self. And if the mind isn’t strong enough, it can crumble all too easily.

So Tae-woong knew this very well from his decades of experience in the industry.

So, he tried to give them advice, sprinkling in a bit of awkward humor…

‘Huh. Maybe they didn’t even need my advice.’

So Tae-woong smiled as he looked at the two young artists.

Moon In was nonchalantly eating his meat, and Kim Byul was gazing into the future with determined eyes.

One had no interest in public attention whatsoever, while the other seemed to have toughened up far too early.

It was a little sad, a little admirable, and also somewhat reassuring.

In a moment when the eyes of the entire nation are focused, how cruel and regrettable would it be to slip up by mistake and fall?

Thankfully, it didn’t seem like that would happen, so So Tae-woong felt a bit more at ease and continued speaking.

“Well, then. It looks like we need to get ready to go to France. The date is…”

May, when the vibrant greenery is in full bloom,

Cannes was waiting for them.

*****

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