At the far end of the dark alley, Kang Woojin—or rather, Kiyoshi—was calmly looking down at the recorder in his hand.
"······"
There was no expression on his face. Even his breathing remained steady. In contrast, the handsome Aishi kept glancing back nervously while looking at Woojin. After several long seconds of silence, Director Kyotaro's signal finally broke it.
"···Cut!!"
It was good.
But the scene did not end there. The lighting was adjusted once, the camera angle was reset, and the actors' positions were rearranged. Through all of that, Kang Woojin maintained the same detached expression, though inwardly he felt a little awkward.
'Isn't the audience getting bigger and bigger?'
The number of people watching kept increasing. In the end, they did a total of four retakes.
Meanwhile, many of the actors had joined the alley together with dozens of staff members and the filming crew. That included Kosaku Mana, who played Detective Mochio, Uramatsu Mifuyu, still in her disheveled makeup as Amie, supporting actors, minor actors, and countless extras filling the background.
Even though it was not their scene, the actors chose to watch instead of simply waiting.
The extras, in particular, were highly energized.
"I heard Kang Woojin is doing voice acting for animation too."
"Ah, I saw that too. But judging from his pronunciation and diction, it doesn't seem like there'd be any issue at all."
"Yeah. I'd really been curious, so this feels like a wish come true. To think I'd get to watch Kang Woojin act right in front of me."
"He's way beyond what I expected. Honestly, with how much hype there is around him, I thought some of it had to be exaggerated."
"Hype aside, isn't he the first Korean actor to become this huge in Japan?"
Some of them dreamed of becoming actors, while plenty of others had only come for short-term part-time work. Whatever the case, Kang Woojin's presence at the center of the set was shockingly intense.
"These days, all the actors in our troupe talk about is Kang Woojin."
"Oh, really? In our group too, more and more people have been practicing Kang Woojin's roles. They tweak lines from Hanryang or Boy Friend a little and rehearse them like that."
Whether they were unknown actors or just ordinary people, Woojin appeared to them simply as a star. More than anything, the fact that he had come from Korea and shaken up the Japanese entertainment industry made him seem even more astonishing. In the history of both Korean and Japanese entertainment, Kang Woojin was a singular figure.
A few minutes later—
once the location was fully prepared, the The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice production team moved on to shoot the next scene.
"Action!"
Naturally, Kang Woojin was again playing Iyota Kiyoshi, and the beautiful supporting actor standing in front of him was Horyo Aishi.
Swish.
Woojin—or rather, Kiyoshi—handled the recorder in his hand with a blank expression. Then he slowly raised it to his ear and played back the recorded contents. A woman's voice could be heard, though faintly. It was the voice of Horinochi Amie, dazed and drunk.
The sound did not come through clearly.
It had not been recorded cleanly on purpose. That had been the direction. Of course, the recorder likely contained something close to Amie's confession. The things she had done in the past, and the crimes committed by the same group she belonged to.
"······"
Kang Woojin listened to Amie's voice for a moment without expression. The camera captured his calm upper body. Then, as if satisfied, he lowered his hand and gave a slight nod.
"Well done."
Aishi, trembling with anxiety, raised his voice slightly.
"You really are going to pay me, right?"
Woojin answered in a tone stripped of emotion.
"Quiet."
"Ah! Ah—"
Aishi looked back over his shoulder once more. At the same time, Kang Woojin slipped the recorder into the shoulder bag hanging from him and pulled out a bundle of cash wrapped with a rubber band.
"I'll give you ten percent first."
The camera caught the shock on Aishi's face.
"That's not what we agreed on."
"The money will be paid monthly."
"······Monthly?"
"If that bothers you, I'll give the recorder back. It's fine if we cancel the deal."
"Give it to me!"
Aishi snatched the bundle of cash from Woojin's hand, and Kang Woojin said calmly,
"Disappear for about half a year."
Horyo Aishi. It had been quite a while since Kang Woojin—or rather, Kiyoshi—discovered that he was Amie's hidden lover. Kiyoshi had been tailing Amie like a dead rat clinging to her trail. Interestingly, despite his handsome appearance, Aishi was a shameless man. In front of Amie, he acted proper, but behind her back he frequented gambling dens and had racked up a considerable debt with the Kabukicho yakuza.
He had even touched drugs.
Kabukicho was full of glamour, but at the same time it was a district of vice. A thug like Aishi was nothing unusual there. For Kang Woojin, there was no hesitation at all in identifying that kind of weakness and using it to shake him.
First, he fastened a leash around him with money.
'But I can't quench his thirst.'
Aishi had already crossed the line. At this rate, whether it was Amie or the yakuza, one side or the other would end up discarding him. And if he fell into the yakuza's hands, he could be killed without leaving a trace. In other words, to Aishi, Kiyoshi was no longer just a transaction partner. He was also hope.
That hope handed Aishi a key and a note.
"I found you a house in a fishing village in Chiba Prefecture. The directions are on the paper."
With trembling hands, Aishi accepted the key and the note. Then he looked once more at Woojin's expressionless face. Kang Woojin lightly pointed behind him with his index finger.
"What are you doing? Get lost."
"You can call me."
"I will."
"······"
Soon, Aishi stuffed the money and the key into his pocket and ran out of the alley. Kang Woojin watched his retreating figure without emotion. As the camera slowly closed in on his face, Woojin muttered in a low voice,
"He'll be fine for a few months."
But that man would eventually go insane. It didn't matter. There was a path for that too. In the end, Aishi was destined to fall into the yakuza's hands anyway. He had gotten what he wanted and bought some time, and that was enough.
Step by step.
Woojin calmly walked out of the alley with a vacant gaze. Then he thought of the recorder inside his bag. Naturally, he had no intention whatsoever of handing it over to the police.
That recorder was not an excuse to control Amie. It was merely a pretext for managing another assignment.
Standing still for a moment while organizing his thoughts, Kang Woojin—or rather, Kiyoshi—shifted his gaze. According to the script, he was supposed to be looking out at the crowded streets of Kabukicho, but right now, Woojin was staring straight into the camera in front of him.
"······"
The eyes of the stranger reflected on the monitor were lifeless, and before long, more people would die.
But Kang Woojin remained perfectly calm as he moved on to the next step.
"Should I get some ramen?"
He was hungry.
──────────
After returning to the Japanese set of The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice, Kang Woojin focused solely on filming, without any other schedules in the way. During that roughly week-long stretch, the The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice production team regained its momentum.
"Cut, cut! Let's go again!"
"Yes, Director!"
Having settled into Kabukicho, the Grim Sacrifice production team continued outdoor filming in similar locations the next day, the 13th.
Meanwhile, the news of Boy Friend: Remake, which had caused a major stir the day before, had already spread as far as it could. Not only the Japanese public, but people from all kinds of industries had heard it by now.
『After The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice, now Boy Friend: Remake too? Fans are thrilled that Kang Woojin is expanding into anime voice acting, but the voice acting industry is expressing concern』
Now established as the king of issues, Kang Woojin appeared relentlessly across newly published articles. It was exactly the moment when the nuclear bomb A10 Studio had anticipated struck its target dead on.
Naturally, as time passed, interest in Boy Friend: Remake only kept growing.
The 14th.
The next day.
And then the 15th.
It took over social media and dug itself deep into the anime fan community. As expected of a country that was a powerhouse in animation, the influence of the fans was enormous.
Meanwhile, in Korea on Monday, people were talking about the episode of Our Table that had aired the previous day.
『The ratings rise again! Our Table hits a new personal best with 20.7%』
And then the recently released teaser videos followed.
『[Official] Kang Woojin's creative dish from Our Table, "Seaweed Flake Makguksu," to be released as a cup noodle in collaboration with Nongshin』
With the ratings staying in the 20% range, it ended up enjoying one piece of good news after another. The food company Nongshin, which had signed the contract, also moved quickly to distribute related material. Thanks to that, not only Our Table viewers but countless netizens responded with intense interest.
[Hahahahahahaha wow, is Seaweed Flake Makguksu really coming out as an actual product?? Hahaha]
[Kang Woojin... he seriously has influence in every field hahahahahaha]
Damn, I drooled every time I watched Our Table. If Seaweed Flake Makguksu comes out, I'm buying it right away.
[Chef Kang's whole vibe is seriously so cool]
[I feel like they've done this kind of thing before?? But this time it's going to blow up completely because it's Kang Woojin hahaha]
[Nongshin really knows how to work]
[ㅠㅜㅠㅜㅠㅜ hahaha please, not just cup noodles, let me eat the real food too….. Woojin oppa….]
The amazing thing about Kang Woojin is that even while doing YouTube, cooking, variety shows, and everything else, he never neglects his acting work. That's what makes him incredible.
·
·
·
·
Around lunchtime, just as the interest was heating up, another official statement came out from PD Yoon Byeongseon's side.
『PD Yoon Byeongseon's side: "The second round of filming for Our Table is scheduled to begin at the end of February."』
It was an article about the second shoot for Our Table, and naturally, it caused another huge stir.
But for some reason, another issue was also spreading rapidly across multiple Korean communities.
[Recent news about Kang Woojin's expansion into Japan… confirmed to be joining as an anime voice actor.jpg]
The uproar surrounding Boy Friend: Remake had begun shaking all of Japan, and now it was spreading just as fiercely in Korea. Kang Woojin's participation as a voice actor—yet another unexpected move from someone already known for constantly doing the unexpected—set fan communities ablaze.
Kang Woojin is doing voice acting for a Japanese animation???
[Is it true Kang Woojin has been confirmed as an anime voice actor?]
[(Leak) I got information from the animation studio confirming Kang Woojin's casting.]
[Wow... seriously, A10 Studio? Aren't they famous for top-tier animation quality?]
[Current state of A10 Studio's SNS hahaha the Japanese are completely losing it]
[A10 is basically one of the top one or two animation studios in Japan.]
I looked up the animation Kang Woojin is voicing, and it seems like the original work is Netflix's Boy Friend.
[The animation title is Boy Friend: Remake.]
[Is Kang Woojin doing it alone? What happens to Hwarin?]
There were already plenty of Japanese animation fans in Korea too. With the news about Kang Woojin layered on top, it spread at a shocking speed. In less than an hour, related articles had gone up not just in communities, but on YouTube and every kind of portal site as well.
[But can Kang Woojin really do all of this by himself? Or does he secretly have a twin?]
In Korea, it was common enough for actors or comedians to do voice work, but Boy Friend: Remake, with Kang Woojin participating in it, was something unprecedented. On top of that, Sayaka Asami's appearance and the piano performance only made the wave even stronger.
Kang Woojin truly never stopped coming up with new things.
Maybe that was why.
Surprisingly, the directors, PDs, actors, and other people in the Korean entertainment industry who already knew Woojin were not nearly as shocked as one might have expected.
"Kang Woojin is doing the lead voice role in a Japanese animation?"
"Ha, really? Then why does such an absurd piece of news not feel shocking at all? Is it just because it's Kang Woojin?"
It was because he had already established himself as the symbol of a monster. If it had been another actor, people would have found it ridiculous. But because it was Kang Woojin, their reaction was simply, That makes sense.
Another day passed.
"Hi—action!"
Even while the bombardment in Korea continued, Kang Woojin calmly kept filming The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice. This time, it was not an outdoor shoot, but a set shoot.
The lead actress was Uramatsu Mifuyu, who played Horinochi Amie.
It was the story after her lover, Horyo Aishi, had disappeared.
Once Aishi, the only thing holding her together, vanished so suddenly, Mifuyu's mind collapsed without end.
"Aishi······where is Aishi?"
Her brain was getting worse and worse. Her hallucinations and auditory delusions were intensifying. Mifuyu expressed Amie's state of mind with violent desperation.
"Toka! Go away!! I told you to get out!! Why do you keep showing up?! Don't look at me!!"
All of it was part of the plan Iyota Kiyoshi had set in motion. But Kiyoshi did not leave Amie alone. He kept throwing her mind into confusion. Sending her graduation photo to her house. Sending photographs of Kinjo's death. Sending texts from unknown numbers. He used every possible method.
One week. Two weeks. Three days.
Amie kept withering away, and in the end, she touched drugs. They were leftovers her lover Aishi had left behind. She held out for a while, but eventually she turned her back on reality and threw herself into a grotesque escape that did not even exist.
Around then—
♬♪
Another one of Amie's phones began to ring. The caller was a man.
"Hey, Amie. Are you okay? Why haven't you opened the shop lately?"
He was one of Kang Woojin's—or rather, Kiyoshi's—assignments.
At that point, the filming location changed.
Inside a luxury sedan, a man in a suit and the weakened Amie were seated side by side in the driver's and passenger's seats. The camera had been installed outside the front windshield.
The man in the suit was the same man who had called Amie.
He wore glasses, and his face looked neat and composed. He seemed highly capable. His name was Itsuma Tsuzuki. Back in high school, he had been called the brain of the group, and he came from a wealthy family that owned a mid-sized company.
Itsuma had managed the members ever since their school days.
As the heir to a mid-sized corporation, even a trivial scandal could become a headache for him. Recently, there had already been Kinjo's death, followed by Amie's increasingly desperate phone calls. Even though she had been using a separate phone, too many messages still risked being traced.
That was why Itsuma had no choice but to meet Amie.
And that was the problem.
"Save me, Itsuma... Toka is alive. She comes to me every day. I can't take it anymore... I'm going to the police and tell them everything. If I confess, Toka will forgive me."
"Amie. Calm down. Toka is dead."
"No! She's alive! Yesterday, today too! I saw her!! A detective came the other day, and I'm going to tell him everything and ask for protection. Itsuma, you need to run far away. Toka is coming for you next."
Amie was already half-mad.
No, at this point, she was completely insane.
There was no coherence at all in what she was saying.
"Ha—fine. Just in case, let's go to the school."
Itsuma started the car, as though he had reached some sort of decision.
Meanwhile, Amie kept muttering endlessly about Misaki Toka. Itsuma gave up trying to reason with her. But he could not simply leave her like this.
As he pressed down on the accelerator, he slipped one hand into his pocket and touched something.
A recorder.
It was something an unknown person had sent him a few days earlier.