ryethenovel Chapter 1256 This is interesting
Chapter 1256 This is interesting
Chapter 1256 This is interesting
Although it wasn't explicitly stated, it was clear from the situation that the two of them didn't plan to go back tonight. After having some late-night snacks, Ji Kyung-won and Bae Joo-hyun casually leaned against the sofa in the living room.
Chi Jingyuan sat cross-legged, intently looking at a tablet computer, while Bae Joo-hyun leaned against the side armrest, her legs draped over Chi Jingyuan's body, munching on a plate of fruit. Every now and then, she would pick up a piece and reach out to him, and Chi Jingyuan would tacitly open his mouth to be fed to him.
Seeing that Ji Jingyuan didn't turn his head or say anything, and naturally ate the fruit, Bae Joo-hyun's eyebrows relaxed, and she rubbed her little foot against Ji Jingyuan's leg... She liked the atmosphere at this moment, which made her feel as if she had returned to the time when they were dating.
It was quiet, but also very cozy.
After finishing the fruit in no time, Bae Joo-hyun leaned forward and, with some effort due to the distance, placed the plate on the coffee table a short distance away. When she turned to look openly at Ji Kyung-won's face, she noticed that he was frowning and unconsciously pursing his lips, seemingly looking somewhat disdainful. So she sat up from the sofa, took the initiative to move closer, and asked curiously, "What are you looking at?"
"Read the script."
As the refreshing fragrance wafted over, Chi Jingyuan felt a small head close to his cheek. He snapped out of his daze, glanced sideways at Bae Joo-hyun's fair neck and shoulders, and smacked his lips as he spoke.
After meeting with Jiang Donghan that day, Chi Jingyuan thought about it for two days and, without much hesitation, decided to accept the collaboration.
Like Park Jae-hyun, he was quite optimistic about Netflix's development model and the company's strength, especially since the sincerity and conditions offered by the other party this time were indeed very good. In any case, since he was going to make movies anyway, he naturally had to seize this opportunity.
After three days of deliberation, Ji Kyung-won had Park Jae-hyun express his initial intention to cooperate.
After their last meeting, Jiang Donghan's department had been waiting for news. Although they had offered very generous terms, they knew their own situation best. Netflix was in a very unfavorable situation, so they were worried that Chi Jingyuan might not accept the offer. After some behind-the-scenes investigation, they learned that Chi Jingyuan was just an ordinary idol and actor.
When Jiang Donghan and Netflix received the news, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief and were very excited. Although they had only reached a preliminary cooperation intention and a verbal agreement, and some details were still being discussed, they agreed without hesitation to Chi Jingyuan's request to see the script library first and sent the files directly to Chi Jingyuan.
Now that the cooperation has been confirmed, he's making the most of his time to look into it.
When facing Bae Joo-hyun, Ji Kyung-won didn't hide anything and briefly explained that he would be collaborating with Netflix.
"Is that so? Your next project is going to be a collaboration with Netflix?"
I wonder if Bae Joo-hyun had ever heard of Netflix before. She looked at Ji Kyung-won with some surprise, blinked, and looked a little dazed. Then, as if she had just thought of something, she suddenly asked curiously, "So, how much was your salary for this project?"
"Payment?"
Chi Jingyuan glanced at the young lady: "2.5 million per episode, I guess."
Although no comparisons were made... there was a distinct hint of reserve in her tone.
If you know the market, you'd be absolutely stunned to hear this price.
Currently, in the market for TV dramas on the Korean Peninsula, only the most popular top actors can command a per-episode fee of over 100 million yuan, and even then, the number is extremely small.
Lee Young-ae received 120 million won per episode for her starring role in "Saimdang, Memoir of Colors" at the beginning of the year, the highest among all actresses, followed closely by Jun Ji-hyun's 100 million won.
As for the male actors, Kim Soo-hyun, Lee Jong-suk, and Song Joong-ki are all in the range of 1 million to 1.2 million won. While the highest-paid actor, Lee Byung-hun, has not been officially announced, Ji Kyung-won heard from Kim Eun-sook that she has invited him to play the male lead in her new drama "Mr. Sunshine," with a per-episode fee of 1.6 million won.
Ji Kyung-won's salary was previously in the 100 million won range, but after the huge success of "Goblin" at the beginning of the year, his salary skyrocketed, reaching the range of 150 million to 18 billion won quoted by outsiders, putting him on the same level as Lee Byung-hun.
This is already among the highest ranks for male actors.
This time, after reaching a cooperation agreement with Netflix, without much discussion, the other party directly offered a salary of 2.5 million per episode, which is currently the highest in the TV drama industry.
Netflix may not have much else, but it is certainly very wealthy.
However, although it sounds impressive... if a single episode earns 2.5 million, a 16-episode Wednesday-Thursday drama would only earn a total of 40 billion, which is not much compared to his several endorsement deals worth hundreds of billions.
The reason why Chi Jingyuan is satisfied is mainly because the salary represents an actor's status and market value, and represents people's evaluation and respect for him... and he is currently the highest in the TV drama field.
"2.5 million per episode? That's so high!"
As expected, Bae Joo-hyun immediately showed the surprise and astonishment that Ji Kyung-won had anticipated. The blank look on her face after hearing the number gave him a great sense of accomplishment.
"It's alright." Chi Jingyuan nodded lightly, feigning composure, and casually put his left arm around the young lady's fair shoulder.
"Hey Yigu..."
Bae Joo-hyun looked surprised, her Daegu-style auntie vibe emerging as she sighed in a rustic way. Then, remembering something, she added, "Soo-young acted in 'The Liar and the Lover' earlier this year, and I think her salary was less than ten million won."
"..."
Just a second ago, Chi Jingyuan was secretly pleased with himself, but in an instant, he collapsed and felt that it was all meaningless.
He thought Bae Joo-hyun was going to bring out some big name to compare with him, or say something to satisfy his vanity... but he didn't expect her to bring out Park Soo-young instead...
...As expected, they are country bumpkins from Daegu, with no worldly experience whatsoever.
Chi Jingyuan gave her a deadpan look, somewhat speechless: "Does Joy know that you're comparing her to me?"
"Giggle~"
As if realizing that her example was silly, the young woman was unusually embarrassed: "She's the only one I know who has acted, and I've only ever heard her talk about her salary and stuff."
After saying that, she immediately changed the subject: "...I noticed you were frowning the whole time. Weren't you looking at the script? What's wrong with the script?"
"..."
Hearing her mention this, Chi Jingyuan's brows, which had just relaxed from the interruption, furrowed again. He looked at the tablet in his hand and said, "Netflix does have a lot of scripts, covering all kinds, but these scripts... are a bit disappointing."
"Is it very bad?"
As Bae Joo-hyun asked the question, she leaned her head close to the tablet, looking very interested.
"They are all very ordinary, unremarkable, third-rate scripts."
Chi Jingyuan nodded, swiping his finger across the tablet as he showed her several scripts he had just seen, while mercilessly criticizing them: "Look at this one, it started with a gimmick, but after only two episodes, it suddenly turned into an amnesia plot. I was absolutely stunned when I saw it."
"And this one, an idol drama disguised as an urban supernatural story, with various settings clearly imitating 'Goblin'."
"I could guess the plot from the premise and the first episode. The plot unfolded without any surprises... I could write a script like this."
"And this is a period drama... I don't like filming period dramas."
Ji Jingyuan immediately rejected the idea after just one glance at the subject matter.
The historical dramas produced in the peninsula are demanding and picky, and often have a petty feel to them. Although they are called historical dramas, they are still just about people wearing ancient costumes and falling in love.
Chi Jingyuan looked at them for a long time but couldn't find a single script above average. They were either mediocre and unremarkable or full of flaws after just a quick glance. It was supposed to be a script library, but most of them seemed to be just filler.
Sure enough, given Netflix's current situation, even the scripts they receive are mostly the ones that TV stations have already rejected.
Although he had expected it beforehand, Chi Kyung-won still couldn't help but feel disappointed and complain after actually seeing it.
The collaboration was about to be signed, but if he ended up acting in scripts that even Yoona wouldn't approve of, wouldn't he ruin his reputation?
Ji Kyung-won gave a long rant, but Bae Joo-hyun seemed to have never seen a TV drama script before, and instead listened and watched with great interest.
After talking for a while, Chi Jingyuan felt a bit thirsty, picked up his water glass and took a sip. Seeing the young woman intently looking at her tablet with great interest, he suddenly remembered the rights he had obtained from Netflix. He blinked and casually asked:
"By the way, do you want to act?"
"what?"
Hearing Ji Jingyuan say that, Bae Joo-hyun was taken aback. Looking into his eyes and realizing what he meant, Bae Joo-hyun was silent for a few seconds, but then suddenly laughed: "Never mind."
She nuzzled her head against Chi Jingyuan's shoulder and said, "Let me do my best in this endorsement first."
After saying that, she suddenly raised her head and playfully slapped Chi Jingyuan, seemingly with some dissatisfaction: "You need to understand that your current role is a hand double... A hand double has to worry about so much!"
Having gone through many experiences, Bae Joo-hyun has matured considerably and is no longer as proud or fastidious as before, but the relationship between the two is still somewhat awkward... Moreover, she has just received a very important endorsement deal from Ji Kyung-won.
...And in filming, how could she possibly outdo Bae Suzy?
"..."
Having roughly sensed Bae Joo-hyun's meaning, Ji Kyung-won nodded and said nothing more, continuing to look down at the script on his tablet.
Bae Joo-hyun sat next to her and started reading too... She rarely saw film and television scripts, and although Ji Kyung-won seemed to look down on them, she found them very novel.
"..."
He looked down and looked at the scripts for a while, but they were all scripts that he could only look at with a glance and found to be hopeless. Half an hour later, Chi Jingyuan was also a little tired. As he was slightly distracted, he saw Bae Joo-hyun, who was sitting next to him and looking at the scripts with great concentration, and couldn't help but laugh: "Why aren't you saying anything?"
"I was afraid of bothering you," the young woman said, turning to look at him.
"It's just reading a script, like reading a story, nothing to disturb..."
Chi Jingyuan stretched and said something, then swiped his finger to continue reading.
Although most of them aren't particularly noteworthy, this is their script library, so we should still keep reading.
...And although the quality is generally average, the various settings and stories are actually quite interesting.
"By the way, was Joy's role in that movie arranged by her company?"
While watching, Chi Jingyuan casually asked a question.
"Yeah, how is she supposed to answer it herself?"
"I remember that movie flopped, and after that she... eh?"
As they were talking, Chi Jingyuan's tone suddenly changed, and he straightened up from his lazy leaning position, as if he had been attracted by something.
"what happened?"
Bae Joo-hyun immediately asked curiously.
"This... seems quite interesting."
Chi Jingyuan didn't look up, but focused intently on a new script setting he had just seen on his tablet.
"..."
Bae Joo-hyun leaned closer, looking at the screen and whispering, "Is antisocial personality disorder innate...? If genetic testing can detect 'demons' in advance, how should society treat these children? Prevention or discrimination..."
Bae Joo-hyun quickly read through the entire book and asked in surprise, "So short?"
Compared to the complete scripts we just saw, which included plot outlines, the development of the first two to four episodes, and the character settings, this script is very short.
It seems like there's only a background setting, with no other details, not even character designs.
"Hmm, this should just be a background outline... Netflix really doesn't discriminate; they've included this kind of script in their script library."
Chi Jingyuan had already read it from beginning to end. Although it was short and didn't contain much, his eyes lit up.
"But the core of this plot is really interesting: 'a psychopathic murderer experiences pain and reflects on his sins,' look here..."
He pointed to a line at the bottom of the script, and Bae Joo-hyun looked over and read it aloud: "The script was inspired by the 2017 Incheon Elementary School lesbian pebbling case... Oh my!"
Halfway through reading, Bae Joo-hyun suddenly covered her mouth after seeing the word clearly, seemingly startled.
She looked at Chi Jingyuan: "Did you get the inspiration from that case?"
"Yes, this core statement is clearly referring to that case from this year."
Chi Jingyuan nodded, and related memories surfaced in his mind.
The case they were talking about happened this year.
In March, a heinous crime that shocked the entire nation and society occurred in Seoul. After the suspect was apprehended, it was discovered that the crime was committed by a teenage girl named Kim Ji-yeon at the instigation of a netizen named Park.
After attracting nationwide attention and being quickly arrested by the police, Kim Ji-yeon and her lawyer stated that she suffers from Asperger's syndrome.
Asperger's syndrome is a type of autism. Although patients with the syndrome have the same intelligence as ordinary people, they lack social communication skills and are often more persistent and obsessed with specific areas.
What angered the entire nation even more than using mental illness as an excuse and shield was that Kim Ji-yeon showed no remorse even after being arrested. She did not repent for her crimes at all and appeared very indifferent in front of the camera. Many people even felt that she was somewhat proud of herself.
The prisoner's behavior has sparked outrage and discussion, with many believing she is a born psychopath. Numerous citizens have also petitioned on Cheongdae TV to abolish the current Juvenile Law and demand the harshest possible punishment for Kim Ji-yeon.
This incident had a huge impact at the time, and now there is suddenly a script based on this case, which has piqued the interest of Chi Kyung-won, who had been reading boring stories for a long time.
Although there were no character settings or plot, he found the inspiration and core storyline very interesting.
In particular, this kernel is quite interesting.
"The perpetrator in that case was really a psychopath..."
Recalling that case, Bae Joo-hyun frowned and uttered a condemnation, then looked at Ji Kyung-won, who was staring intently at the tablet, clearly deep in thought, and tentatively asked:
"If this case were adapted... what role would you play, a police officer?"
"Police? What do you mean by 'police'?"