A man checking black-box footage on his phone found himself wondering what on earth he was looking at. He had already replayed the same clip more than three times, yet he still wasn't tired of it. It was that unfamiliar a scene.
It felt less like something out of a story and more like a miracle.
"Wow, this isn't staged, right?"
Every time he checked, the screen showed nothing but passing cars and people walking by. Then, all of a sudden, it turned into something straight out of an action film, and his eyes widened. After that, the neatly dressed man went back and checked the beginning and end of the footage again.
"Wow, that's insane."
His eyes widened even more. The reason was simple. The footage showed a madman with a weapon attacking a woman, then being subdued and arrested by the police. It was already late, but he forgot all about going home and stayed focused on the screen of his phone.
'No, if it was an incident this big, it would've already spread online, right?'
The man assumed the incident must have already made the news.
Then—
"Huh? Wait a second."
He focused on the woman being attacked—the victim. Her face was a little unclear when she was farther away, but as he watched her pass in front of the car with the help of other women, he became sure of it.
"This person is... Hwarin."
The woman who had been attacked was Hwarin, famous as one of Elani's members. A celebrity? Wait, then that means... The man examined the footage closely again. Soon enough, he recognized the handsome man who had subdued the attacker in an instant.
"I-isn't this Kang Woojin? This is Kang Woojin, right?"
He normally had little interest in male celebrities, but there was no way he wouldn't recognize Kang Woojin's face. He had recently watched Drug Dealer with his wife, and Kang Woojin had been such a hot topic that he was impossible to miss.
Was the person who subdued the criminal really Kang Woojin?
The man replayed the part where the man in the video—presumably Kang Woojin—took the attacker down. The moment he realized the man in the footage was actor Kang Woojin, the whole thing felt even more like a movie.
'This is insane, what even is this? Kang Woojin saved Hwarin?'
This was clearly a huge incident. There was no way it hadn't spread across the internet already. Given Hwarin and Kang Woojin's popularity, and the fact that the story itself was explosive, it should have spread for sure. The man closed the black-box app and immediately opened a search engine.
The keyword he typed in was Hwarin.
Just as expected.
"Right, there it is."
The moment he searched Hwarin, articles about the incident recorded on his vehicle's black box flooded the internet and had already become a major issue online.
『[Breaking News] Elani's Hwarin attacked by unidentified assailant』
It was complete chaos. Not just articles, but YouTube videos, forums, blogs, and social media posts were all pouring in. The comment sections were overflowing too. It really was a shocking incident. The man spent several minutes scrambling just to get a grasp on the situation.
"The black-box footage was recorded yesterday... so then the point when this incident became known to the public was only a few hours ago?"
It gave him a strange feeling. The incident recorded on his car's black box was shaking the entire world.
And then.
"Hm? What is this?"
As he skimmed through the articles, the man began to feel that something was wrong.
『Fortunately, security guards subdued him... Hwarin was attacked by an assailant armed with an awl』
No matter which article he read or which YouTube video he checked, there was no mention of the hero.
"Where did Kang Woojin go?"
Kang Woojin was nowhere to be found.
What? His name wasn't in a single one of those countless articles. But he was definitely there, wasn't he? There was no way he could have just disappeared. Wasn't Kang Woojin the one who subdued the criminal? He had handled it so calmly it looked like a movie scene, so of course it should have become known. But every article described it as though the security guards had taken care of everything. Even the official statement released by Hwarin's agency made no mention of Kang Woojin at all.
Of course, everything the press had reported was factually true.
But for some reason, in the black-box footage owned by that man, Kang Woojin's presence seemed as if it had been erased. On top of that, no CCTV footage had been released anywhere in the articles. At most, there were only a few images that looked like stills captured from some video.
"..."
The man's fingers moved rapidly across the phone screen. And then, at that moment, he became certain.
'The black-box footage from my car... could this be a massive exclusive?'
Realizing that he alone possessed the full footage of the incident, including Kang Woojin's hidden presence in it, he instinctively sensed that releasing the video would attract enormous public attention. It was less calculation and more intuition—something close to an exclusive scoop.
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through the man's mind about how he should handle what had now become golden footage.
'YouTube? Tip it to the news? Upload it to a community?'
──────────
The next day, on the 4th, it was late morning.
The night and dawn had passed, but the incident in which Hwarin had been attacked by an unidentified assailant had not calmed down at all.
『Hwarin's recent assault incident brings the issue of "sasaeng fans" back into the spotlight』
In fact, the situation had only gotten worse. The moment the news broke the previous night, people began flooding in like a tidal wave, and that included members of the press and entertainment industry insiders as well.
『[Major Issue] Fans flood JML Entertainment homepage demanding, "Reveal the stalker bastard's personal information!"』
The incident had grown several times larger than it had been the previous night, and public interest had reached an extreme level. Naturally, the anger was still there.
And naturally, there was still no mention of Kang Woojin at all.
Everyone connected to Hwarin, from her agency to the staff of the programs she had appeared on, had gone into full emergency mode. Among them, PD Yoon Byeongseon and the production team of Our Dining Table were especially shaken.
『Hwarin, who suffered an incident before departing for the U.S., will she withdraw from PD Yoon's Our Dining Table?』
It was unavoidable. The variety show Our Dining Table, which Hwarin was supposed to appear on, was scheduled to depart for the U.S. on the 6th, but under the current circumstances, it was uncertain whether she would even be mentally capable of joining the first shoot. Variety filming was never easy.
As a result—
"Have you heard anything from Hwarin's side or from her agency?"
"No, PD-nim. Shouldn't we adjust the schedule for now without Hwarin?"
"I think that would be best."
PD Yoon Byeongseon and the rest of the Our Dining Table staff were on edge. They had expressed concern for Hwarin as soon as they heard about the incident the night before, but reality was reality, and they couldn't stop Our Dining Table altogether just because Hwarin was unavailable.
"For now, contact the other cast members. Think about whether Hwarin can join the first shoot, and if that's too difficult, let's have her skip this one and join from the second shoot next year instead."
"Understood, PD-nim!"
At that moment—
bzz, bzz.
The call PD Yoon Byeongseon had been desperately waiting for lit up on his phone.
It was Hwarin.
A moment later, her calm voice came through, and he quickly answered.
"PD-nim, I'm sorry for contacting you so late."
"Oh? No, no, not at all! But are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm okay."
"That's such a relief."
"And there won't be any problem with leaving on the 6th."
"You really don't need to push yourself."
"No, not at all. It isn't a burden."
Hwarin was showing her professionalism. Despite what had happened, she seemed determined not to miss the first filming of Our Dining Table.
"I'll see you on the 6th, PD-nim."
Hwarin was currently at home.
To be precise, she was in front of the sofa in her living room.
She was wearing white pajamas, and her face was bare of makeup, yet her beauty and the mole beneath her eye still caught the eye even without it. After ending the call with PD Yoon Byeongseon, Hwarin slowly lowered her phone. A faint shadow of gloom lingered on her face, which was only natural in a situation like this.
Then she immediately turned her gaze to the laptop sitting on the table in front of her.
Click, click.
With only a few mouse clicks, she was buying something while recovering at home.
'I really haven't bought perfume in such a long time.'
It was perfume.
What else would it be? In the middle of the chaos of being attacked by a stranger, it was the perfume Kang Woojin had recommended to her without saying much. Whether it was because of the Kang Woojin effect or not, Hwarin found comfort in that scent.
'Two bottles... no, I'll buy three.'
After purchasing three bottles of perfume, Hwarin moved her mouse again and checked the flood of articles about herself online. Then she let out a small sigh.
"...People should have seen how amazing you looked, Mr. Woojin."
Even in this kind of situation, her fangirl side was still showing itself to the fullest. But what could she do? Woojin didn't want to be known.
Then—
bzz.
bzz.
The phone beside her laptop vibrated briefly. Not just once, but several times. In fact, it had been vibrating nonstop since yesterday. Calls from worried fellow celebrities had been pouring in. Hwarin had even spoken with her close friend Hong Hyeyeon the day before. The calls kept coming, but Hwarin didn't answer.
She felt powerless.
Still, she had at least passed updates to several people through chat on her laptop.
Once again, the phone vibrated.
bzzzz, bzzzz.
This time, the vibration was longer. A call. But Hwarin had no intention of answering it. She only glanced at the caller ID on the screen.
And then, interestingly enough—
"Ah!"
The light that had faded from her eyes suddenly returned all at once. She answered the call naturally.
"Ahem! Ah!"
As if to signal that the caller was someone special, she quickly cleared her throat. The call was from none other than Kang Woojin, the person she liked most. Hwarin raised the phone to her ear.
"...Hello?"
Woojin's voice, coming from the other end, was still low and deep.
"Hello, Ms. Hwarin."
"Ah? Ah, hello."
"Did you buy the perfume?"
"What?"
"The perfume."
For some reason, Hwarin let out a small laugh.
"...I just bought it. Three of them."
"Really?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Good."
Just as Woojin was about to hang up, Hwarin quickly added one more thing.
"I'm okay, Mr. Woojin."
"..."
"You didn't call just because of the perfume. You were going to ask something else, weren't you?"
"That's a relief. Make sure you eat."
"Yes, thank you."
-click.
After the short call ended, Hwarin leaned her head back against the sofa and lay down. Naturally, she stared up at the ceiling and let out a sigh.
"Haa..."
In an instant, the scene of the stranger's attack flashed through her mind. It was as vivid as if it had happened only minutes ago. The strange thing was that Hwarin's thoughts weren't centered on the fear of the attacker, but on the fact that in the middle of that exploding terror, all she had seen was Kang Woojin.
"He was so cool."
A strange emotion spread through her.
"If Mr. Woojin keeps doing things like this for me... I might become more than just a fangirl."
──────────
On the afternoon of the 5th, at writer Choi Nana's workspace.
Around six people were seated around the table in the middle of the living room. Writer Choi Nana with her round glasses, her assistant writers, PD Song Manwoo staring down at a stack of papers, the production manager, DM Production staff, and even the newly appointed casting director.
All of them were part of the Beneficial Evil team.
The atmosphere was neither especially heated nor depressed. They were in the final stage of discussing the script for episode 3. PD Song Manwoo closed the script he had been reading, and Choi Nana swallowed nervously before asking with caution.
"How... how did you find it, PD-nim?"
Song Manwoo smiled.
"It's interesting. I especially like how much faster the pacing has become."
"Really?"
Writer Choi Nana's face brightened at once. Then the production manager chimed in.
"It was really an excellent decision. PD-nim's choice was brilliant. Cutting it from sixteen episodes down to twelve was absolutely the right move."
That was right. There had been a change in the original plan for Beneficial Evil. It had initially been scheduled as a 16-episode series, but in order to heighten the tension of the story and quicken the pace, it had been reduced to 12 episodes, with the possibility of a season 2 also being kept in mind.
Even so—
"Let's take a short break. Writer, you've got drinks in the fridge, right?"
When PD Song Manwoo headed toward the fridge, Choi Nana hurriedly followed him.
"Y-yes! I bought some! Since you like it, I got mango juice."
"Did writer Park tell you that?"
"On the right."
"Seriously, I'm sick of it. Writer Park kept describing me like that all through Hanryang."
"Then there's cola."
"Zero? That's too bland."
In the middle of that ordinary conversation, the production manager, who had been looking at his phone, suddenly brought up another topic.
"The incident involving Hwarin is getting bigger and bigger."
The casting director added to it.
"It'll probably last at least a week. Sasaeng fans are common enough with female celebrities, but cases where they attack with a weapon like that are rare."
"It was an awl, right?"
"When I read the articles, my first thought was, 'What kind of lunatic does something like that?' Hwarin almost got into a serious accident. If she'd actually been hurt... honestly, if I were Hwarin, I would've retired."
"It's a relief there were guards around."
Holding a can of cola, Song Manwoo rejoined the conversation.
"Even after something like that, Hwarin is still going ahead with her schedule. She's really professional. Even rookies could learn a lot from her."
"Ah, Our Dining Table, right? They leave for the U.S. tomorrow. She's been active since she was young. Hwarin really is an impressive kid."
As the subject shifted toward Our Dining Table and the U.S. trip, the casting director quickly redirected it again.
"PD-nim, isn't Woojin also leaving for the U.S. tomorrow?"
"...Right."
"You still haven't received a final answer from him about our project, have you?"
"Hm."
"The Our Dining Table shoot in the U.S. is probably going to last more than a week. It might take Woojin some time to make a decision, but... there's no way he hasn't read the script yet."
That statement was enough to cool the mood in an instant. Writer Choi Nana's expression darkened, and Song Manwoo scratched his head as if sinking into deeper thought.
At that moment, the practical-minded casting director spoke again.
"Rather than waiting on the ideal scenario, Plan A, I think it's better to move forward with Plan B without Woojin. Once you send a script, you have to give actors time to read it. If we want pre-production to move smoothly, we need to lock in the casting. Dragging this out won't help."
It wasn't wrong.
As the chief PD, Song Manwoo had to make a gradual decision. Hesitation could delay the production, and it might even cool the passion of the key staff who had already been assembled, or Choi Nana herself.
At that point, the production manager reopened the script for episode 3 with a regretful look on his face.
"Whew... do you think Woojin felt burdened because of the 'martial arts' part?"
"Who knows. It could've been the content, or maybe the action. Looking at how well the script came out, I think he was probably hesitating over the martial arts aspect."
"The action gets more intense and brutal as it goes on, so maybe he considered his image."
"What the martial arts director said could also be part of it. Considering Woojin's packed schedule, it might've been difficult to do martial arts training on top of everything else. Or maybe it wasn't Woojin's decision at all, but the agency's. What do you think, PD-nim?"
"Woojin doesn't seem like the type to avoid challenges or shrink from difficult things."
At that moment, PD Song Manwoo was swallowed up by unease.
'He definitely said he found it interesting...'
But that had only been his impression right after glancing through the first episode. Had some kind of totem activated? Or had he read the rest of the script and felt that something was off? The expression on Song Manwoo's face, a man who had practically begun worshipping Kang Woojin, darkened.
"...Whew. For now, let's proceed with Plan B. I'll contact Woojin directly tomorrow."
And right then, it happened.
-♬♪
A ringtone sounded from the phone in Song Manwoo's pocket. Without thinking, he pulled it out, and his eyes widened.
Why?
"He's calling."
The caller ID displayed Kang Woojin's name.
At once, everyone's mouths fell open, and before putting the call on speaker, Song Manwoo set the handset down in the middle of the table.
"Ah, Mr. Woojin."
Soon, Kang Woojin's deep voice could be heard by everyone there.
"I'm sorry, PD-nim. My reply came a little late."
"No, not at all. You finished reading the whole script?"
"Yes."
"Ah, that? There are quite a lot of martial arts scenes, right? If there are any parts you're uncomfortable with, we could reduce them a little."
"No. If we did that, the essence of the concept of Beneficial Evil would be diluted."
"Hmm, that's true, but..."
"It's fine even if there's more martial arts."
At Kang Woojin's overflowing confidence, the production manager and casting director both frowned slightly.
Was he really serious?
Meanwhile, writer Choi Nana's breathing grew shallow.
It was because of anticipation.
Song Manwoo sounded slightly surprised as he asked Kang Woojin over the phone,
"You're alright with learning even more martial arts?"
"Yes. If it strengthens the concept of Beneficial Evil."
As expected, Kang Woojin's response did not waver in the slightest.
"PD-nim, I'll take the role of Jang Yeonwoo."