Park Cheolgyu, the giant of a man, was frozen in an OTL pose.
And Kang Woojin stood over him with a cold expression.
Dozens of onlookers had gone completely silent. For a moment, the action school fell into total stillness. But there was not the slightest change in Kang Woojin's cynical face.
He looked perfectly calm and composed.
There was not a trace of panic.
At that moment, the martial arts director for Beneficial Evil stared at Kang Woojin with a hardened face, his eyes full of certainty.
'It's real. It wasn't an accident. He created that situation on purpose.'
Wrong.
It had very clearly been an accident.
Woojin, whose mind had gone blank for a second, was inwardly blaming himself as proof of that while staring at the exposed silhouette of Park Cheolgyu's backside.
'This is insane. What the hell is this... ah, should I pull his pants up first?'
On the other hand, the martial arts director was confidently marching deeper into a misunderstanding while pretending to stay calm. That was because he had no idea what was actually going on inside Woojin's head.
Overall, the flow had looked natural.
It was admittedly a ridiculous image, but despite Park Cheolgyu's clumsy movement, Kang Woojin's action had connected into this moment so precisely and smoothly that it looked almost fluid. And the final pose had matched the storyboard exactly.
Except for Park Cheolgyu's pants coming down.
In the end, the start and finish of the action scene were identical to the storyboard from before. The only thing Kang Woojin had changed was the process.
Then there was only one possible answer.
'Did Mr. Woojin create this?'
He had used the mistimed movement against him in reverse.
Even pulling down the other man's pants to stop his movement felt more in line with Beneficial Evil's Jang Yeonwoo than the original martial arts storyboard had.
The scene became more professional while also turning slightly lighter. It reduced the tension, and at the same time, it made the protagonist of Beneficial Evil, the true villain, stand out much more clearly.
That was exactly the problem.
'How on earth did he pull that off in such a short instant...'
Kang Woojin's ability to absorb and execute action choreography—or maybe it was more accurate to call it action design—was extraordinary. The moment had been short, but the technique itself was flawless. And his view of action must have been broad as well. Otherwise, there was no way he could have come up with such a creative move in that split second.
Pulling someone's pants down to block their movement.
The martial arts director looked at Woojin and felt nothing but awe.
'What the hell is that guy? Is he really... some kind of genius among geniuses?'
To be precise, it was awe born from misunderstanding.
How could an actor polish his martial arts skills to such an astonishing degree, beyond even the trained staff? At that point, the martial arts director flinched. He was amazed, yes, but today was the first time Kang Woojin had shown martial arts in front of them, and he could not understand why Woojin had done that.
Then suddenly, the martial arts director recalled Park Cheolgyu's mistake.
The first issue was that he had not fallen according to the set movement. The second was the tiny but definite deviation. If it had not been Kang Woojin just now, it would have been difficult to notice.
'No way... no way, that crazy bastard Park Cheolgyu!'
A moment later, the martial arts director turned to look toward the martial arts team in the back as if he had realized something. The moment he saw a few grim faces among them, his suspicion hardened into certainty.
'What kind of place do they think this is, pulling a stunt like this!!!'
He rushed over at once toward where the martial arts team members were gathered.
Meanwhile, PD Song Manwoo, one of the giants of the drama industry, still had bright, lively eyes full of fascination.
All he had been doing was studying the action Kang Woojin had just shown.
"That was incredible. Totally insane. He really was Jang Yeonwoo himself. Did Mr. Woojin choreograph that personally? I don't know the details, but either way, it was really amazing. Heh, Kang Totem always surprises people."
Like everyone else, famous or not, he was drowning in misunderstanding too.
No, if anything, PD Song Manwoo had been the original host of the misunderstanding from the very start.
Then Park Cheolgyu, still stuck in that OTL pose, twitched.
Regardless of how ridiculous his posture looked right now, his mind was blank.
'Why am I like this? How did this happen?'
Actually, Park Cheolgyu had intended to stop after just one attempt. That alone would have been satisfying enough. He should never have crossed that line. But a little curiosity had led straight to disaster. He twisted his waist slightly to see how Kang Woojin would react, and by the time he came to his senses, his pants had been stripped down and he had crashed into an OTL position.
The twist of the waist had been a very minor movement.
But of course, it had been intentional.
'You're telling me... he noticed that in such a short moment?'
From that instant on, Park Cheolgyu had thrown himself into the action fully. But what was the result?
His massive body had collapsed helplessly.
On top of that, the final image looked as if someone had copied it straight out of the storyboard.
In other words, Kang Woojin had used Park Cheolgyu.
That was Park Cheolgyu's conclusion.
'No... I thought this was his first time doing action acting?'
Park Cheolgyu was a martial artist with over ten years of experience. He was one of the martial arts director's favorites, with a fair amount of recognition too. And yet, right now, he looked like the perfect example of pride collapsing in real time.
Just then—
──────────
Woojin slowly reached a hand out toward the fallen Park Cheolgyu.
Then his low voice followed.
"I didn't do it on purpose."
Outwardly, he looked calm, but inwardly he was desperately fighting the urge to yank Park Cheolgyu's pants back up.
'Ha, I'm really sorry. Pants, pants. First, he needs to pull his pants up.'
Fortunately, Park Cheolgyu—
"······"
—quietly got to his feet and hurriedly started fixing his pants.
Soon, it was almost time for Kang Woojin to apologize.
Then—
"Hey!! Park Cheolgyu!!"
The martial arts director, who had been mixed in with the team members in the back, suddenly shouted for the huge man.
"Get over here!!"
He sounded furious.
No, beyond furious.
Kang Woojin was bewildered, but behind him the situation was rapidly spiraling. That man, Park Cheolgyu, was now being interrogated by the enraged martial arts director, and even PD Song Manwoo, who looked intrigued, joined the conversation.
Left alone, Woojin had no idea what was going on.
'What? What is this?'
So he decided to stay still.
But the situation did not settle down.
Soon, Choi Sunggeon joined the group too. Strangely enough, PD Song Manwoo, the martial arts director, Park Cheolgyu, and the rest of the action team all lowered their heads deeply in front of Choi Sunggeon, whose brows were furrowed.
Kang Woojin was a little confused.
'Wait, shouldn't I be the one apologizing?'
Then the dozens of staff gathered in the action studio began murmuring among themselves, and Woojin tilted his head inwardly.
Not long after, PD Song Manwoo, the martial arts director, and Choi Sunggeon all walked over to him. The first to speak was PD Song Manwoo, and he apologized politely.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Woojin."
The next was the martial arts director.
"I'm sorry. This happened because I didn't keep proper control over things."
What?
Why was this suddenly happening?
Woojin had no idea why.
'I'm the one who pulled his pants down, so why am I the one getting apologized to?'
The whole thing was moving in a very strange direction.
In situations like this, silence usually seemed safest.
"······"
At that moment, Choi Sunggeon let out a sigh and whispered to Woojin,
"Shouldn't you have taught him a harsher lesson?"
Just as Woojin was about to ask, 'Who?', Choi Sunggeon explained everything from beginning to end. It took about five minutes.
A prank?
They had tried to trick me?
Which part exactly?
It turned out Park Cheolgyu had pretended to make mistakes on purpose.
Then the martial arts director bowed to Woojin once more.
"Mr. Woojin, I'm sorry. If you want, I'll replace Park Cheolgyu and the rest of the team members entirely. I can bring in a new team from outside. This is my responsibility."
PD Song Manwoo let out a long sigh, then added with a serious face,
"If it weren't for you, Mr. Woojin, nobody would've caught the second deviation."
Choi Sunggeon chimed in.
"Woojin, you knew, didn't you? Since when? From the start?"
"······"
The smell of a deep misunderstanding filled the air.
It was a familiar scent.
Woojin lowered his voice.
"Yes. More or less."
Soon, after apologizing several more times, the martial arts director ran back to the action team. Left behind, PD Song Manwoo recalled Park Cheolgyu's OTL pose and whispered to the calm-faced Woojin,
"How did you think of that in such a short moment? If it were me, I would've just gotten angry."
"I thought Jang Yeonwoo would've done that."
"······"
A faint smile spread across the bearded PD Song Manwoo's mouth.
"What do you think about incorporating action that strips someone's pants into Beneficial Evil?"
──────────
At that same moment, in Japan—
The Japanese media was focusing heavily on a certain film.
『[Official] The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice begins filming』
It was the film The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice.
Things had only just started to quiet down, but now they were getting noisy all over again.
The reason was simple.
『Director Tanoguchi Kyotaro's The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice confirmed to begin filming on the 21st』
Just a few days earlier, the production team of The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice had released an official statement about the crank-in. But that was not all. They also revealed the first filming location and several other details.
『At last, the first filming location for The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice has been confirmed as Ine Funaya Village』
As soon as the film was officially underway, article after article about The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice took over the headlines.
At the same time, Kang Woojin's name surged right back up with it. He was already gaining attention in Japan as the ad model for the major conglomerate Kashihi Group, and the renewed focus on The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice only pushed him further into the spotlight.
『Kashihi Group ad model Kang Woojin, what kind of performance will he show in The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice?』
『Kang Woojin once again at the center of attention through The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice... Profiler Hanryang and Boy Friend remain in Netflix rankings』
Public opinion in Japan split sharply in two.
From Kang Woojin's Japanese fan club came a flood of praise.
Finally, the long-awaited The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice is starting! Mr. Kang Woojin, I'll be cheering for you!
Don't be intimidated just because you're the only Korean actor there!!
I'm seriously so curious... I really want to know what kind of role Kang Woojin will have in The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice... I have to watch it...
I never imagined I'd fall for a Korean actor! Kang Woojin, I love you!!
Wow! Ine Funaya Village is close to where I live!! If I go there, will I get to see Kang Woojin??
The second The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice comes out, I'm watching it first!!!
·
·
·
And then there were the hateful comments from devoted fans of the original story behind The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice.
So they really are filming The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice with Kang Woojin in it... I honestly hate that
Why does Kang Woojin's popularity keep going up? Am I the only one who finds it weird?
I don't get why Director Kyotaro cast Kang Woojin, or why Kashihi Group made him their model either
Ah... I really love The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice, and I'm depressed because I know this movie is going to ruin it...
I'm so sick of hearing about Kang Woojin over and over
No matter which side they were on, the response was explosive.
Not only the comments under the articles, but communities and social media were also overflowing with talk about The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice.
Overall, though, it was positive.
I'm not even a Kang Woojin fan, but the amount of attention The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice is getting is impressive enough that I'll probably watch it when it comes out no matter who's in it
It was the first time in Japan that a film had stirred up attention on this scale.
At that same time, in Los Angeles—
It was morning in Korea and Japan, but afternoon in LA.
Just before six in the evening, two large vans raced down the road with a line of paparazzi vehicles trailing behind them.
-vrooom!
In the back seat of the first van, Miley Cara sat with her long blonde hair spilling over her shoulders, her long legs crossed as she watched the TV installed inside the van.
A talk show was playing.
It was The Jamie Show, a program ranked among the top three talk shows in the US and one that had recently come close to taking the number one slot in viewership. The show was live right now, and the guest on it was—
"······"
The person watching the screen with a cool expression was Miley Cara herself.
Unlike reality, the Cara on TV was smiling brightly.
A moment later, the round-faced host Jamie asked her in English.
["Kang Woojin? Haha, but an alien? You said he was an impressive actor. That's a unique way of putting it."]
Cara, appearing on the TV screen, adjusted the position of her crossed legs and shrugged.
["I mean, he was so surprising it almost felt alien."]
["Ah! So that's what you meant? If you'd call someone an alien, he must've been pretty incredible. But Kang Woojin... even I, someone who likes Korean dramas, haven't heard much about him."]
["Of course. He's not very well known in Hollywood yet."]
["So what exactly about him felt that alien to you?"]
["He acts like a method actor, but he can sing, he can cook, and he's even very good at martial arts. I saw it myself, and he was really impressive."]
["Oh! Now I'm even more curious. Wait a second, I'm going to have to look him up."]
["Start with YouTube. He's already close to ten million subscribers there."]
["Really??"]
Soon after, The Jamie Show briefly introduced Kang Woojin's YouTube activities and his remarkable achievement of taking home eight awards during Korea's year-end ceremonies. Then the TV screen returned to the set where Cara was speaking.
["Jamie, the really incredible part is that everything besides acting is just a hobby for him. Can you believe that?"]
Right then—
"Cara."
The bald manager sitting beside her with his arms crossed called out to her while still watching the TV.
"The response to this film is good. It hit number one in Korean box office admissions right after release, and it's doing the same in Europe. You've worked hard on the promotion."
Cara brushed her long blonde hair back.
"That momentum needs to hold."
"Don't worry. The critics and ratings sites are responding well."
"Mm."
"But Cara, why did you suddenly bring up Kang Woojin on The Jamie Show? He practically got his own segment."
Only then did Cara turn to look at her manager and answer as if it were nothing.
"This is The Jamie Show. If his name gets mentioned here, Hollywood will hear it, and Korea will make a big story out of it too, won't they?"
"Of course, especially since Kang Woojin is already so popular in Korea."
"I made my move before submitting the proposal. It was necessary so there wouldn't be problems later when we collaborate."
"...What exactly are you planning?"
"Like I told you on the way back from Korea, I really want to work with Kang Woojin."
Cara turned her blue eyes back to the television and continued.
"Send him a featuring offer and an offer to appear in the music video soon."
A global superstar with millions upon millions of subscribers and social media followers.
Cara made the rather shocking proposal in the simplest tone imaginable.
And she sounded completely firm about it.
"Of course, I'm talking about the new album I'll be releasing after this film schedule ends."
──────────
The next day, in Korea—
It was a large meeting room inside a film company.
The faces gathered around the U-shaped table were anything but ordinary. They all looked older, but they also looked capable. Maybe it was because of the warm heating, but the air in the room felt heavy.
Among them, one familiar old man sitting closest to the entrance stood out the most.
"Good. Next."
It was Director Ahn Gabok.
His face was lined with wrinkles, and his white hair was cropped short, but even among them all, he carried the most relaxed air. At his signal, which was full of a veteran's authority, everyone in the conference room began turning over documents and swiping through their tablets.
A variety of information appeared.
Sets, location casting, actors, staff recruitment, props, filming equipment, storyboard drafts, shooting schedules, and more.
It was a production meeting for Leech.
Naturally, this was not their first one.
It was already the second.
Which meant many major decisions had already been made.
At that moment, Director Ahn Gabok, who had been rubbing the wrinkles on his chin, looked down at his tablet and spoke to the casting director and production staff seated beside him.
"Has the casting board been updated?"
"Yes, Director."
The casting director tapped her tablet several times, and the others followed. Before long, two familiar actors' faces appeared at the top of every screen.
— Actor Shim Hanho, Actor Kang Woojin.
The confirmed leads of Leech.
Below them was a long list of actors categorized into leading roles, supporting roles, minor roles, and supporting/minor roles.
At that moment, one of the staff members muttered under their breath.
"Wow... this lineup... I can't believe all these people were only candidates."
Every single actor on the candidate board was top-tier or at least A-list. To put it simply, actors who normally led projects were scattered all over that list like bunches of grapes. The staff found themselves feeling strangely unsettled looking at it.
"All these incredible actors were candidates, and yet Kang Woojin got confirmed as the lead. I honestly never imagined I'd see a casting story like this."
'Setting his acting aside, a rookie actor leading a Director Ahn Gabok project... that's definitely rare. Special, even.'
In the midst of that atmosphere, Director Ahn Gabok slowly nodded and broke the awkward tension.
"Did we get confirmation that all of them will attend the audition?"
The casting director answered immediately.
"Yes, Director. Though... are you really planning to audition every single one?"
"No. Of course not. Only a few key roles. The reason we sent audition notices to the agencies was to see whether the actors could put aside their pride."
"Ah, I see."
"And what did Shim Hanho say about the audition?"
"He said if you want, Director, he could attend as a judge."
"Hm."
Director Ahn let out the kind of sigh only a veteran could and rubbed his chin for a moment before asking again.
"What do you think about putting actor Shim Hanho and Woojin together in that scene?"