Kim Poong, the writer who took charge of both the original webtoon 'The history of being pathetic' and the drama script, shared his thoughts on the release of this drama through a written interview.

The drama 'The history of being pathetic (script by Kim Poong, directed by Kim Sung-hoon, produced by HB Entertainment)' is a youth comedy-drama that depicts four twenty-year-old boys growing through love and breakup. It was produced as a webtoon in 2013, gaining significant popularity at the time, and was confirmed for drama production in 2020 after being adapted into a musical in 2017.

After approximately five years of meeting viewers as a drama, Kim Poong noted, "I still can’t believe it. It occupies a significant place in my life, including the webtoon, so perhaps I feel a sense of mission about this work," adding, "All writers may have affection for their debut works, but for me, it is a special work that brings to life the original work through drama and has come out after many twists and turns."

The current drama 'The history of being pathetic' deals with the story of season 1 of the webtoon. Season 1 focuses on the narrative of the protagonist, Min-ki, but the drama also evenly captures the narratives of the four characters: Jun-seok, Ki-hyuk, and Kwang-jae. Kim Poong stated, "Although it is a work based on the webtoon, I did not overly obsess over the synchronization with the webtoon; instead, I made efforts to incorporate stories that could not be shown in the webtoon." He continued, "While remaining faithful to the basic original, it offers new stories that could not be seen in the original, so both those who have read the original and those who have not will enjoy watching it."

The drama 'The history of being pathetic' is set against the backdrop of a 2000s campus. A key viewing point is discovering vivid real-life confirmations like folder phones with antennas and monitors from 2000, making viewers feel as though they have returned to that time. Kim Poong reported, "Fortunately, I tend to leave many records, so I utilized old diaries and gained help. While the verification is crucial, I especially aimed to evoke the sensibility unique to that time."

Regarding the difference between writing for drama for the first time and existing webtoon writing, Kim Poong stated, "In webtoons, even if there's a gap between cuts, readers can fill that void with imagination, but in drama, every scene must be filled without any blanks. I made efforts to clearly connect parts that were slightly lacking in continuity in the webtoon." Additionally, he noted that the realism of each character is even more emphasized in the drama.

In particular, this drama 'The history of being pathetic' highlights the performances of actors who were newcomers during filming but are now actively working in the industry. Kim Poong noted, "I feel genuinely happy and proud when I see the actors from our work thriving in other projects," and added, "While all actors handled their characters excellently, I thought Jeong Jae-gwang did a phenomenal job portraying the shy patheticness, and it was amazing to see him embody another character in The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call."

Finally, Kim Poong expressed his desire to offer comfort to viewers through 'The history of being pathetic.' He stated, "I believe everyone has a bit of patheticness as humans. In youth, everyone can be pathetic, make mistakes, and I wanted to metaphorically discuss the process of becoming a mature adult that can forgive such instances and grow together, as well as the social atmosphere surrounding that."

Meanwhile, the drama 'The history of being pathetic' consists of a total of eight episodes, which will be released in pairs every Wednesday at 11 a.m. through Wavve and Watcha.

[Photo] Wavve

[OSEN]