Legend.
A legend, as a type of folklore, is orally passed down in every region.
For example, one could mention the Manpasikjeok of the East Sea or the Muyeong Tower of Bulguksa Temple.
Seagull cries mix with the strong dialect of Busan ajummas.
“Oh my, how pretty! Did you come with your partner? I’ll give you a good deal on what we caught this morning! Have a plate here! The sea squirts are amazing!”
“How much is it?”
“I’ll give it to you for cheap, and the sea squirts are on the house!”
Like the salty waves of the sea, even the haggling is salty.
It’s a flat wooden platform with a clear view of the sea in front of Taejongdae. As the name of the Haenyeo Village suggests, various fresh seafood is laid out on the platform.
The claim that it was just caught this morning seems true, as they look vibrant enough to wriggle any moment.
On the platform, there are only freshly prepared sea squirts, sea cucumbers, abalones, and a spicy dipping sauce.
The flavors, salty and sweet, spreading in the mouth with the scent of the sea make side dishes unnecessary.
“Kiya, this is the taste!”
Min Sujin pours soju into a stone sea squirt shell and drinks it, causing PD Kim Woohyung, who sits opposite, to click his tongue.
“Writer Min, we’re not here on vacation. Soju already?”
“PD Kim. They say even Mount Geumgang looks better on a full stomach. And how can you not drink a glass of soju with such a vast sea as a side dish? That would be disrespectful to the soju! Come on, PD Kim, drink a glass of soju from this stone sea squirt shell.”
“Who would think you’re not a writer, with that eloquence.”
Writer Min Sujin was quite recognized in the entertainment department of S Broadcasting. The reason she moved to another broadcasting company was simple. She wanted to write for dramas instead of entertainment shows.
“To be honest, I’m very grateful to you, PD Kim.”
“Writer Min, are you drunk already?”
“No way. I just want to open up because the wide-open sea makes me feel like it. Do you know what our top writer said when I told him I wanted to write a drama at SBC? He said, ‘You don’t know fear because you’re praised too much.’ As if he was born a top writer. Also, our great drama department CP at SBC laughed so hard at my synopsis. I wanted to flick his forehead!”
“Your synopsis is indeed absurd.”
“Hey, PD Kim!”
Just then, a Busan ajumma brings boiled conches to the platform.
“Girl, even if you hate him, he’s still your man. Don’t fight too much. Save your energy for something else. This is on the house!”
The topic changes instantly. Min Sujin hurriedly clarifies they are not like that, but the Busan ajumma, half-listening, heads toward the tourists from the Taejongdae rock cliffs.
Min Sujin pours soju into the stone sea squirt shell again and drinks it, then says,
“Do you think my synopsis is absurd too, PD Kim?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why did you contact me? I thought you were my lifesaver. I left all my connections and career at SBC to follow you to MBS.”
“From a terrestrial TV PD’s perspective, your synopsis is indeed absurd. Moreover, you’re a newbie in the drama department, even though you were recognized in the entertainment department.”
Terrestrial TV drama departments are quite conservative. The reason they rely on clichéd narratives and melodramas is simple. They guarantee viewership ratings.
So, a synopsis with a slightly unconventional narrative structure is hard to accept. Especially if it’s from a writer with no drama experience, the chance of getting it aired is like a camel passing through the eye of a needle.
“Then why…?”
“Because, as you said, it was an absurd synopsis.”
“What?”
“That’s what I liked about it.”
PD Kim Woohyung pours soju into the stone sea squirt shell and drinks it loudly.
“Because I was convinced it could change the landscape of Korean dramas.”
Below a low cliff, waves crash down. The water is not very deep. It’s a place I often visited after skipping school in my childhood and a filming location for ‘August Man’ during my child actor days.
Smooch.
The sound of the white waves crashing down feels like the sound of a kiss. Youngguk feels his face flush. He recalls the incident at the dock a few days ago.
Thump thump.
Just thinking about it makes his heart pound as if he’s suddenly developed a heart condition.
She was always like a younger sister to him. After all, their first meeting was when she was just a little kid.
No matter how much she had the image of a pure and innocent leading actress in her past life, it was useless. The image of little Yeonsu was engraved in his mind.
“Sigh.”
Even if others don’t know, he knows. If added with his past life experiences, he’s already well into middle age.
But he doesn’t know why his heart is pounding this much. He couldn’t tell if his current feelings were for her or just out of confusion.
Maybe it’s because he was as clueless as a blank slate when it came to relationships.
“By the way.”
She said she was going to America, but he wondered if she would like the food there. Although there are Korean restaurants in America these days, she couldn’t go to a Korean town every time.
He didn’t even ask which school she was going to or whether she was renting an apartment or staying in a dorm.
Staying in a dorm would be better.
“What am I thinking! Get a grip, Jang Youngguk!”
He shook his head violently as if trying to shake off the thoughts in his mind. Only then did the seaside in front of him come into view.
“I guess I’ll see ‘The Song of Autumn Wind’ next year.”
It’s a tentative title for a movie filmed in Hong Kong. The title is directly borrowed from a classical Chinese poem by Tang poet Li Bai.
As the title suggests, it’s a movie filled with deep longing for a past love.
Director Wang Jinyang, who once ruled the Hong Kong film industry, was making a comeback with this film, so it garnered attention not only from China but also domestically. The movie was bound to be a hit.
Watching the sea after a long time reminded him of the night he drank with Director Wang Jinyang.
It had been a long time since he had such deep discussions and debates about movies. He never imagined someone other than Director Baek Janghoon could make him feel this way.
In the film industry, it’s not easy to be treated as equals regardless of career and age.
In fact, there were some troubles while making the movie, mainly due to personality differences with the director. It would have been fine if only one person had a perfectionist personality, but both were like that, and the staff and other actors suffered.
That’s why the Hong Kong actress who played the female lead once refused to come out of the car, saying she couldn’t do it anymore. Her father was a triad boss or something.
Compared to that, Korea is still better. You can’t throw tantrums like that on set.
“Maybe working with Yeonsu again wouldn’t be so bad.”
After all the thoughts, Yeonsu’s face appeared in his mind again. No matter how much he tried to change the subject, he kept thinking about the kiss from a few days ago.
Moreover, during the entire movie shoot in Hong Kong, he kept thinking Yeonsu would have been perfect for the leading female role. Her pure and innocent image seemed perfect.
“Ah! This won’t do!”
He stood up abruptly to avoid thinking about Yeonsu any longer. Then he took off his shirt to cool his head. Since there were no tourists or locals around, it didn’t matter.
Looking at the blue sea below the low cliff, he felt like he was back in his childhood.
Location scouting for filming is significant in many ways.
Usually, location scouting for drama filming is carried out when the scheduling itself becomes visible. Therefore, writer Min Sujin is more enthusiastic than ever.
It’s understandable since she was practically abandoned by her previous workplace.
If MBS hadn’t extended a hand, she might have never set foot in a broadcasting station again out of pride.
“PD Kim, this is the place!”
“Slow down, slow down. Writer Min, why are you so fast? Were you in a sports club or something?”
Climbing the steep slope, PD Kim Woohyung was exhausted. Sweat trickled down his back under the blazing sun of early summer.
Excited about the long-awaited business trip, he even imagined cruising near the seaside.
But if he had known he would be hiking like this, he would have sent the assistant director instead.
“This is the filming location!”
“Which filming location?”
“The one where the famous PD made their debut, ‘August Man.’”
“Here?”
Kim Woohyung wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and looked around curiously. Usually, there’s some signpost if it’s a drama filming location. It wasn’t because there were many tourist spots around.
As if reading Kim Woohyung’s thoughts, Min Sujin continued.
“It’s a place that didn’t appear much in the film. Since it’s not a frequently visited path, they must have excluded it from the tourist spots. The Jagalchi area, where the protagonist’s childhood was depicted, got more attention.”
“Really? Then why here?”
“While planning this project, the most impressive location for me was this place. One day, I happened to see a rerun of an old drama on TV, and ‘August Man’ was on. Seeing the child actor jumping off this low cliff, I got the idea for this synopsis.”
The view below the low cliff was a spectacle.
The blue sea sparkled like jewels, and the seagulls circled in the sky like drawing pictures. The incoming breeze carried the scent of the sea.
“Writer Min, no wonder you got the idea here.”
“Right? No matter how I look at it, I wonder how they chose such a location. I had a hard time finding it too. I personally met CP Yu to get the exact location.”
“CP Yu?”
The famous PD had already established a legendary status in the MBS drama department. The most home runs, the youngest CP, a role model for junior PDs.
But somehow, it’s hard to approach him.
“I told him about my synopsis and the sea legends I had researched. He was interested and told me right away.”
“Writer Min, you’ve got guts. I can’t even speak properly in front of CP. By the way, according to your synopsis, a handsome man should pop out from the middle of the sea.”
“Ah, that’s only possible in dramas. How could it be realistic? A prince from the sea isn’t common. It’s a story from legends. I didn’t see anyone around while coming here…”
Splash!
At that moment.
With a sudden splash, their eyes naturally turned toward the low cliff. Soon, writer Min Sujin and PD Kim Woohyung’s eyes widened in surprise.
There was a man leisurely swimming in the blue waves. The bright sunlight shone on his wet hair.
His lean, muscular upper body and broad shoulders contrasted with his white skin and the blue waves, leaving them mesmerized.
Looking at him, Min Sujin rubbed her eyes and spoke as if entranced.
“Mermaid prince?”
