Chapter 32: Master (4)
Translator: Dreamscribe
What’s going on? What just happened? Sitting in his studio apartment, Kang woojin stared into space, stunned. It was a sensation similar to the first time he had entered the void space.
“···Crazy.”
He looked at reality with his eyes, but it felt like a dream. Of course, after owning the void space, he had ignored what was ‘realistic’, but it was natural that his thoughts would stop in such an insane situation.
After a few minutes.
“Uh-”
Kang Woojin, whose brain had stopped working, blurted out anything in English. It was an expression of his current insane state, in English, naturally.
“What the heck happened to me?”
It flowed smoothly. The pronunciation was unbelievably fluent. Woojin just let out other words. All of them are in English, but they flowed smoothly from his mouth.
This was on par with a Korean-American living in the U.S.
Well, Woojin knew basic English but it was Konglish. Anyone who finished high school could do it. He wasn’t exactly nervous about speaking English, but he wasn’t comfortable with it either.
But now, Kang Woojin could be mistaken for a native speaker.
“Wow···”
Kang Woojin was genuinely amazed. He had instantly acquired a foreign language that he might have struggled to learn. He felt like he could live in the U.S. without any problems right away. It wasn’t strange to praise this more than highly, and the ability of the void space had already exceeded imagination.
Soon.
“Uh, first, calm down.”
Ordinarily flustered, Kang Woojin checked his state, scanning his head and insides. It felt like his brain was filled with English. Very natural, no different from Korean.
He didn’t even need to think about English words he needed.
The desired word came to mind immediately, and it poured out of his mouth. In other words, this feeling was similar to a line engraved as if he had memorized it thousands of times after role experience it in the void space. Woojin continued to blurt out English. Smoothly and softly. Without any hindrance, it flowed.
Gradually, Woojin felt a chill all over his body.
“I was already shocked when I could memorize lines··· But even a language of another country? The void space’s ability is insane.”
To be honest, Woojin had the thought ‘Wouldn’t similar forms be possible?’ After experiencing a role in the void space and coming out, the role’s lines are engraved. If he read a role that uses a foreign language during the role, he could have acquired those lines. That was about the extent of his thought.
But.
“···To transplant an entire language.”
The void space was not small-minded. It was like a huge mountain. The feeling was like, ‘What? English? You need it? Why fuss over it. Hold on, I’ll just give you English.’ Exactly like. ‘Money? What’s that? It’s free, free.’
Woojin’s lips slowly curl into a smile.
‘Doesn’t this mean I could go to Hollywood or something later?’
It was entirely possible.
Of course, Hollywood was a far-off story and he had only heard about it, but fluent English was essential for a Korean actor trying to break into Hollywood. Not only for actors, but English was useful in many ways.
Kang Woojin’s smile deepened at the suddenly unfolding golden future. Then he paused.
“Ah.”
You have to be able to read the script, right? He was sure he could read without any problems, but Woojin turned on his laptop just in case. He found an English newspaper. It was easy to find on the internet.
And the answer was, as expected.
“Sweeeet.”
Reading was not a problem at all. He read it as easily as reading Korean. For Woojin, who had lived his whole life relying on a translator, this was an incredible experience. Then, Kang Woojin suddenly expanded his train of thought.
If he had the void space.
“I can have not only English but also languages from other countries.”
The ability to have any country’s language. Of course, he would need to obtain a script containing that language, but now, what does that matter?
“Let’s see. What comes after English.”
At that moment.
– Brrrr, brrrr.
Kang Woojin’s phone, placed nearby, emitted a long vibration. Thanks to that, Kang Woojin, smiling, checked the caller. It was PD Song man-woo. Woojin was in high spirits but had to suppress it.
It would be problematic if an arrogant tone came out due to his joy. Therefore, he took a small deep breath before answering the call.
“Yes, PD”
It worked. A cold voice came out. Soon, PD Song man-woo’s slightly excited voice came from the other side of the phone.
“Woojin, the first shooting day has been confirmed. It’s the 25th. Next Wednesday.”
Two days later, in the morning of the 20th, in Nonhyeon-dong, at BoxMovie film company.
The elevator that just arrived on the 7th floor opened its doors. Inside were Director Woo Hyun-goo, with a wrinkled face and white hairs mixed in his eyebrows, and the short Chief Choi Du-min, who got out.
The funny thing is.
“So, the unknown guy passed the audition?”
“I…I’m sorry, Director.”
“What the hell? What are we going to do?”
“I’m really sorry.”
The fact that Chief Choi Du-min was pleading to Director Woo Hyun-goo. He looked like he had committed a capital crime. It was understandable. It was right after he delivered the news that ‘Kang Woojin, an unknown, whom he forcibly pushed for, rejected them.’
On the other hand, the master Director Woo was as cold as the breath he was exhaling. His eyes were the same.
In other words, he was pissed off.
Director Woo, who was glaring at Chief Choi, the criminal of the capital crime, grumbled while walking down the corridor.
“Right, What did I tell you? An unknown will always be an unknown. What is this? Your unilateral action has tarnished my reputation.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Director. I have nothing to say.”
“···Why isn’t that unknown bastard coming to the audition? let’s hear it.”
“Well, he said his schedule doesn’t match.”
“What? What schedule?”
“It doesn’t…fit.”
At that moment, Director Woo, who had stopped in his tracks, fiercely raised his white-haired eyebrows.
“Did that unknown guy reject my movie audition because it doesn’t fit his schedule?”
Where would an unknown have a schedule? And if he did, was that the sole reason? Director Woo Hyun-goo was furious. Naturally, Chief Choi shrank even more.
“·····That’s what I heard.”
“He must be a rude son of a gun. Huh- the schedule doesn’t fit? What’s the unknown bastard’s name?”
“It’s Kang Woojin from bw Entertainment.”
“bw Entertainment? Is it a startup? Who’s the CEO?”
“It’s CEO Choi Sung-gun. I’m sure you’ve seen him a few times, Director.”
“I know, the guy who raised Hong Hye-yeon. He has quite a network, right? But Choi Sung-gun is a crafty guy.”
“He does his job well. However, that Kang Woojin, the unknown actor, is somewhat… problematic.”
Annoyed, Director Woo Hyun-goo licked his lips.
“So the unknown is an idiot. I told you, right? He thinks he’s tough. What are we going to do? What will people say if this gets out? Huh? Won’t I be the only one looking foolish?”
He was right. If reporters ever found out about this, they would 100% write an article with the title, ‘Director Woo got rejected by an unknown actor.’ There was also a possibility of becoming a laughing stock among the actors.
Soon, Director Woo, who was looking around to see if anyone was there, muttered to himself.
“How dare that unknown bastard… whether it’s Kang Woojin or whatever, I’ll have to tell my fellow directors that he’s a disrespectful punk. He won’t even be able to set foot in this industry again.”
Chief Choi Do-min bowed his head once more.
“I’m truly sorry, Director.”
The director, who was looking at him coldly, gave a small instruction.
“Alright, just make sure this doesn’t get out. Take care of the articles that were set to be released today. And don’t mention this nobody in front of me ever again, understood?”
“Yes, Director.”
An hour later, Box Movie began its massive promotion. The investment was complete, and about a hundred staff were all set up, so it was only natural. Construction on the set needed for filming had also begun.
『[Movie Talk] ‘Master’ Director Woo Hyun-goo teams up with major film company Box Movie to begin production of his next work.』
The public’s reaction was unusual, likely due to this being the return of a master director. The article hinted at top actors almost confirmed for casting. Being in Director Woo Hyun-goo’s next work alone raised the status and image of these top actors.
This was an intentional promotion.
『Kwak Ha-min, Ko Sung-yeon, and other top actors participating? Industry focus on Director Woo Hyun-goo’s next work!』
It began to heat up the entertainment media.
At the same time, in a YouTuber’s studio.
‘IssueKingTV’ was a large channel with over 900,000 subscribers. This was the studio of ‘IssueKingTV’. As the channel name suggests, they covered various issues. Although there were political issues, they primarily exposed entertainment industry issues.
The channel owner was a former reporter.
Through ‘IssueKingTV’, many dirty cases in the entertainment world have been exposed. Recently, they covered the affair of an A-list actress. The actress is currently in hiding.
In a small meeting room in the studio, two women sat facing each other.
One was a woman with short hair and a stern expression, the other a woman in a hat, looking forlornly down at the table. The owner of ‘IssueKingTV’ was the one with short hair and she spoke first.
“You’re safe here, you can speak freely.”
The woman in the hat remained silent for a moment.
“……”
After about 10 seconds, she seemed to make up her mind and her lips quivered.
“It was a week ago, and there was a company dinner with the entire arranged staff.”
“Where was it?”
“At a beef restaurant in Cheongdam. The name was Beef Palace.”
“Yes, continue.”
“I was part of the directing team and I sat at the table where the director was. At first, I was just eating meat and chatting with people.”
“And then?”
“About an hour later, people started to get drunk and I was feeling a little tipsy. That’s when the director sat next to me.”
“And then?”
“···I was surprised. He’s quite a big name in the film industry, and suddenly he sat next to me.”
The woman in the hat took a deep breath as she continued speaking.
“Then the touching started without others noticing, but it was done in a way not to seem intentional. Somehow, he subtly touched my chest or thigh······”
After pausing for a moment, the eyes of the woman in the hat moistened as she continued describing the incident.
“He almost forced me into his car, saying he would take me home. But when we arrived, it was a large unmanned motel.”
“Uh, continue.”
I was so scared that I ran away as soon as I got out of the car. I really ran for my life.”
“And after?”
“He called a lot, but I ignored all of them. And the next day I was kicked out of the directing team.”
The woman with short hair, who had been nodding slowly, asked:
“Sorry, but do you have any evidence?”
The woman in the hat nodded slightly.
“I started recording from the moment I got in the car.”
The woman with the short hair then comforted the woman in the hat.
“That’s enough, as there’s not just one or two victims.”
Upon hearing that there were more than one or two victims, the weary-faced woman in the hat asked softly.
“···Are there more besides me?”
The owner of ‘IssueKingTV’, the woman with short hair, nodded.
“Yes, there are.”
“I see, there were more.”
The short-haired woman patted the despondent woman in the hat on the shoulder as if to reassure her.
“As you well know, that director is such a big name in the film industry that it’s hard to pin him down with just one victim. But I’ve been investigating and preparing this case for quite some time, and now we have enough.”
It was a very confident voice. The woman in the hat raised her bowed head.
“How many more are there, victims?”
“About five in total. He’s already quite famous in the industry, right? That director, for being a womanizer.”
“Yes, there are such rumors. At parties or such, he always needs to have an actress around. And he needlessly touches female staff.”
“But because he’s a master director, I guess everyone just hushes it up.”
“True. In the film industry, not only the actors but the directors are the top predators.”
At this point, the woman with short hair, who seemed to understand, opened her mouth again.
“I know very well. Can I listen to the recording you mentioned?”
“Ah, yes.”
The woman wearing a hat took out her phone and played several audio files. After a few minutes of listening, the short-haired woman asked again.
“You were threatened too, right?”
The woman in the hat confirmed.
“Yes. By text the day after I ran away from the motel. He said no one would believe me anyway······ Then I was fired.”
“I know the situation well. By any chance, can you do an interview without showing your face? Of course, your voice will be altered. Just tell us the facts without identifying yourself.”
“I can do it.”
“Thank you.”
Soon, the woman in the hat, who had been quietly looking at her phone, licked her lips again.
“When will… it be made public?”
The short-haired woman tapped her phone in response.
“I saw an article that said he’s working on his next film, with quite a large budget.”
“Yes, the investment is already secured, and the actors have been cast and scheduled. Construction has also begun on the set.”
“Then it should be next week.”
The short-haired woman then lowered her voice.
“The downfall of Director Woo Hyun-goo.”
*****