小火星

Chapter 317: Autumn (18)

Looking at such a grade, Woojin.

“Hehe, this is awesome.”

He shook his body purely out of excitement. There was no music to be heard anywhere, but he just let his body follow the excited mood. It had been a while since the grade had gone up, after all. In fact, it had maintained the SSS+ grade for quite a long time. Even though various incidents and events had occurred, there were no significant changes, so Woojin, who frequently entered in and out of the Void space, thought maybe SSS+ was the final level.

Luckily, it wasn’t.

-[9/Script (Title: Beneficial Evil), EX grade]

EX grade. With this, it wouldn’t be strange if something higher than EX grade existed. Kang Woojin, who had been rhythmically shaking for quite a while, barely pulled himself together. Then, he looked again at the white rectangle of ‘Beneficial Evil’.

“The reason for the upgrade is obvious.”

If he were to clearly list the conditions, there were three. The script for ‘Beneficial Evil’ had added ‘CQC’, and as a result, a Hollywood stunt team and Ethan Smith joined the project. Finally.

‘Even Miley Cara.’

A global superstar had been cast. Although it was a special appearance, something like this had never happened in either Korea or Hollywood until now.

‘Haha, anyone who hears this would in shock, right?’

Laughter didn’t leave Kang Woojin’s face, free from his usual poker face. It was because he vaguely imagined something enormous in the future. EX grade—if something higher than SSS+ appeared in reality, what would it look like? Even with simple calculations, it was obvious that it would be more destructive than ‘Island of the Missing’, which had reached 20 million viewers.

After all, ‘Beneficial Evil’ itself was a work aiming for the whole world.

So it wouldn’t be limited to just the domestic market.

“Could ‘Beneficial Evil’ dominate the entire world?”

It was entirely possible. Although it was somewhat unrealistic at the moment, didn’t the grade say so? The Void space always presented the correct answer. In conclusion, it would be no different this time.

-Swoosh.

Woojin, who had a grin spreading to his ears, stretched again. Honestly, Kang Woojin had never even imagined anything taking over the world, so he couldn’t vividly picture it. But there’s always a pioneer for every shocking event.

“Okay, calm down first. Let’s focus on what’s in front of us.”

Recently, that pioneer had always been Kang Woojin.

Later.

Kang Woojin, who returned to Korea on the 21st, had to immediately handle his schedule without any break. The Korean media welcomed it.

『[Star Talk] Kang Woojin, who returned from LA, starts a photo shoot without rest』

『Kang Woojin starts his schedule right after returning? What happened in LA with Miley Cara』

Due to the lack of information about Woojin’s recent trip to LA, all sorts of speculative articles popped up. Regardless, Woojin had no time to pay attention to them. He had to deal with the piled-up work first.

‘Ah—damn, being in LA was like heaven.’

As soon as he returned, it felt like hell unfolded, but he still had to get things done, right? Kang Woojin, who had once again firmly established his concept, silently plowed through his schedules.

One day, two days.

In the meantime, the filming team, who had boarded the plane around the same time as Woojin, also returned to Korea.

『The ‘Beneficial Evil’ team, who left for Bangkok for overseas location filming, appeared at the airport』

『‘Beneficial Evil’ returns, PD Song Man-woo looking haggard/Photo』

The ‘Beneficial Evil’ team, who had left for Bangkok, Thailand, for an overseas location shoot, returned. Articles were coming out, featuring Kang Woojin’s name along with photos of PD Song Man-woo and Ethan Smith, who were captured at the airport.

『‘Beneficial Evil’ team without ‘Kang Woojin’, but foreign staff has increased?/Photo』

Of course, there was a brief interview with PD Song Man-woo.

[In a brief meeting with the reporters at the airport, PD Song Man-woo said, ‘We successfully completed the Bangkok schedule’, and ‘Luckily, I think we’ll be able to meet the public’s expectations. We’ll immediately accelerate production’, showing his confidence.]

In short, it meant they were going to move quickly.

Another two days passed since then.

Saturday, the 24th. It was still hot, but around the time they had reached the end of July. Miley Cara, who was in LA, was just as busy as Kang Woojin.

For reference, her attack incident had not been made public.

Only news about Cara’s new album was spreading through international media outlets.

The attack on Cara was a big enough incident to turn Hollywood upside down, but seeing how quiet things were, it was obvious that Miley Cara’s side had done their best to prevent it from becoming news. Although it would be difficult to keep it completely covered, for now, they had decided to minimize the damage to Miley Cara.

Anyway, Cara was stuck inside a large van on LA’s congested roads.

“……”

It was roughly late morning. The traffic in LA’s downtown was worse than usual today, and Cara, with her blonde hair loosely flowing under a hat she had pulled down, rested her chin in her hand and stared out the window. Her blue eyes were vivid, and her face seemed to be deep in thought.

At this moment.

-Swoosh.

Jonathan, her manager, who had been on a call until just now, lowered his phone and spoke.

“Cara, do you want to face that woman?”

The woman he was referring to was the chubby woman who had assaulted Cara. In response to the manager’s words, Cara shook her head without taking her eyes off the window.

“No.”

“Okay. Got it.”

Jonathan, who had been watching Cara with some concern, changed the subject.

“The album work is almost done, so why are you so drained? Are you still thinking about what happened back then? If you’re struggling, you can take a break.”

“No.”

Cara, finally turning her head, replied in her signature slightly cold tone.

“It’s not like that. I just feel a bit bored.”

“Bored?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Is it because Kang Woojin went back?”

“Maybe?”

“Well, it’s true that you looked excited when he was here.”

“Hosting a guest turned out to be quite fun.”

As Cara removed her hat and tidied her blonde hair, Jonathan asked her something else, his expression cautious.

“…Are you sure you’re okay with appearing in Kang Woojin’s drama?”

“What about it?”

“I’m asking if you’re not overdoing it. Of course, we owe him. But if you collapse, everything becomes meaningless. Plus, you’ve never experienced filming outside of Hollywood, so there might be some pressure.”

A faint smile appeared on Miley Cara’s reddish lips.

“If I thought it was too much, I wouldn’t have agreed. Besides, he saved my life, so this isn’t a big deal.”

“Well, if you say so.”

“And.”

Cara, who had been speaking, paused and turned her gaze back to the window, recalling Kang Woojin. No, more precisely, she was remembering the numerous works she had watched to check him out.

“It’s also something intriguing for me. I’ve seen Kang Woojin’s acting on screen, but I’ve never seen it with my own eyes. I’ve seen his other abilities, but not his acting in person.”

Jonathan, letting out a small sigh, took a tablet from the foreign staff sitting to his right. The tablet contained Cara’s packed schedule.

“The title of the work is ‘Beneficial Evil’, right? I’ll try to talk with them as soon as possible, but did Kang Woojin explain anything about the drama?”

“He did tell me. He didn’t go into detail, though. He just said it’s a Netflix project and that it’s an action-packed drama.”

“Oh—action.”

At that moment, Jonathan recalled the extraordinary martial arts moves Woojin had displayed while rescuing Cara.

“Now I’m getting excited too. His movements were definitely not a coincidence.”

“He was cool.”

“What?”

“Hmm?”

“Yeah?”

“……”

Cara hesitated and shut her mouth. The words ‘He was cool’ had slipped out unconsciously. Because of that, she quickly cleared her throat and swiftly changed the subject.

“Anyway, appearing in that drama has meaning for me too. But it’s not enough to repay the debt.”

Cara, who had been crossing her legs in an attempt to appear relaxed, suddenly thought of Choi Sung-gun, the guy with the ponytail.

“They said his agency opened an overseas branch here in LA, right?”

“Yeah. I heard it’s for Kang Woojin’s Hollywood activities. With his current momentum, it makes sense he’d be ambitious.”

“…I heard that overseas branch hasn’t moved into their office yet. I want to gift them with some essentials, like furniture and a vehicle.”

In other words, she was offering to support the still-empty overseas branch of bw Entertainment.

“Really? Alright. I’ll take care of that.”

But that wasn’t the end of Cara’s gifts.

“I need a house.”

“A house?”

“Look into it for me. Around my house is fine, or near the overseas branch. And don’t worry about the price.”

“Why a house all of a sudden? You bought a place just last year, and you’re already tired of it? Moving homes too frequently isn’t great.”

“No, it’s not for me. When he works in Hollywood, he’ll need the overseas branch, but he’ll also need a comfortable place to stay.”

“For Kang Woojin?”

“Yeah.”

Miley Cara responded casually.

“I want to prepare a house for him to stay in when he’s in LA.”

Sunday, the 25th, Korea.

It was morning. The location was a studio apartment. Several desks were stacked in the living room, and papers were scattered all over them. On closer inspection, the place seemed quite familiar. Naturally so. It was the workspace of writer Choi Na-na.

At this moment.

-Click.

The door opened, and the slender writer Choi Na-na, wearing round glasses, came out into the living room. She quickly checked the time.

“He should be arriving soon.”

Just then, the doorbell rang. With a small noise of surprise, Choi Na-na checked the intercom. She saw a familiar face. It was Kim So-hyang, the Executive Director of Netflix Korea. Writer Choi Na-na quickly opened the door. Standing there, Kim So-hyang smiled warmly.

“Hello, writer-nim.”

Feeling a slight tension, writer Choi Na-na bowed deeply.

“Ah, please come in!”

Kim So-hyang, still relaxed, handed over a box of drinks she had brought with her.

“I feel good being welcomed by a writer who’s had two hit works. As I mentioned on the phone, congratulations on the ‘Male Friend: Remake’ project.”

Naturally timid, writer Choi Na-na frantically waved her hands.

“Thank you! But I didn’t do anything! It’s all thanks to the production team and Kang Woojin-nim.”

“Still, you’re the original creator, so you deserve to be congratulated. Did you have a good trip to Bangkok?”

“Yes! I worked hard.”

“I’m looking forward to hearing about it.”

With a grin, Kim So-hyang slowly entered the living room. Writer Choi Na-na hurriedly cleared away the stacked desks and pulled out a chair.

“Please sit!”

“Thank you. By the way, has PD Song Man-woo not arrived yet?”

“No, no, I got a message saying he’s almost here.”

“Ah—”

“Would you like tea or coffee?”

“Coffee, please.”

Why had Kim So-hyang, practically the representative of Netflix Korea, come to the workspace this morning? The reason for this meeting was soon revealed by Kim So-hyang herself.

“By the way, did you hear why PD Song Man-woo suddenly called for this meeting?”

“What? Ah, no. I just got a call yesterday, saying he wanted to come to the workspace.”

“Hm— I was a bit surprised too. He specifically said it would be just the three of us meeting here at your workspace.”

“He did say it was something super important.”

“Something important?”

At that moment.

-♬♪

The doorbell rang again. As they had been waiting, writer Choi Na-na rushed to the door and opened it quickly. Standing there was PD Song Man-woo, wearing a black windbreaker, with a wide smile on his face.

“Good morning—”

He seemed to be in a better mood than expected, which made writer Choi Na-na slightly taken aback as she greeted him.

“Uh… Hello. But PD-nim, did something good happen?”

“Hm? Hahaha, yes, yes. Something great, something world-shaking.”

“Huh?”

PD Song Man-woo, who had taken off his shoes, glanced at writer Choi Na-na, who tilted her head in curiosity, before spotting Kim So-hyang in the living room.

“Hello, looks like I’m the last one.”

“No, I just arrived too. But you really do seem to be in a good mood?”

“Hahaha. Let’s sit down first.”

PD Song Man-woo sat across from Kim So-hyang, while Choi Na-na, adjusting her round glasses, took a seat next to him. Soon, PD Song Man-woo pulled out his phone and clasped his hands together. After a small exhale, he finally spoke.

“The reason I asked for just the three of us to meet is because what I’m about to tell you is extremely classified.”

The first to respond was Kim So-hyang, her brows twitching slightly.

“Classified?”

“Yes. For now, only the three of us can know about this.”

“…What on earth is going on?”

Sensing the gravity of the situation, both Kim So-hyang and writer Choi Na-na adopted more serious expressions. In contrast, PD Song Man-woo, calm as ever, alternated his gaze between the two and quietly delivered his news.

“Miley Cara will be joining our ‘Beneficial Evil’.”

For a brief moment, silence spread across the room. The entire workspace went still.

“……”

“……”

Both Kim So-hyang and Choi Na-na blinked at Song Man-woo, not making any move, simply staring at him.

That lasted for about five seconds.

Interestingly, both women asked in unison.

“What?”

“What?”

Their eyes practically screamed, ‘What kind of nonsense is this?’