Chapter 975: I Am the King of Singers, But...? (10)

For a moment, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.

[Secret Agent III]

It was definitely a movie series even I knew.

Secret Agent.

“?”

As I stared at the script lying on the floor, feeling strangely confused, Biju’s face suddenly popped up beside mine.

“What’s wrong, hyung?”

“Biju, look at this. This is one of the scripts Jiho put in the rejection pile......”

I held up the script.

“You know this too, right?”

“Secret... Agent?”

A spark lit up in Biju’s eyes.

Even Biju, who normally shyly smiled and said, “I don’t really know movies...” whenever we asked, opened his eyes wide.

The other two immediately gathered around too.

“What is it?”

“What happened?”

I showed them the script.

“This is one Jiho rejected.”

“What’s so— wait. Secret Agent?”

“Yeah.”

Everyone blinked and looked at each other.

“?”

“??”

None of us could understand why this movie was sitting in the rejection pile.

At the exact same time, we all turned toward the youngest.

“Jiho??”

“Yes?”

“Why is this in the rejection pile?”

It made no sense.

“Isn’t this... a superhero movie?”

It was.

The Secret Agent series Jiho had rejected was one of the biggest superhero franchises in the world right now.

Superhero movies.

One of the most successful film franchises in the world today.

People in the industry argued endlessly over whether they were ruining cinema or not, but commercially? Nobody could deny they were massive successes.

Especially the movie series adapted from the famous comic publisher Wonder Comics. Those had achieved unbelievable success.

Even someone like me, who rarely watched movies because I never had time, still ended up watching those somehow.

You had to know this stuff to keep up with comedians’ references on variety shows and communicate with fans too......

“But even among those, Secret Agent is like one of the main pillars, isn’t it?”

“It’s one of the core series.”

Even within that cinematic universe, it was considered one of the central superhero films.

It was the story of Edwin Night, an intelligence agency operative who suddenly gained superpowers and awakened as a hero.

Usually, superhero movies were only fun when all the heroes teamed up. Watching the individual films often felt like, ‘I’m basically paying admission just to see the post-credit scene...’

But Secret Agent was different. The standalone movies themselves were genuinely well-made.

I remembered enjoying both the first and second films.

—

“A man who became an intelligence agency assassin after brutal training. But the organization he belonged to wasn’t an intelligence agency at all...!”

—

The protagonist discovers he had actually been working for an evil organization all along, then struggles to correct his past mistakes and bring the organization down.

“The first movie was seriously good.”

“I think I liked the second one more because it had more action. The protagonist got wrecked a lot though....”

“Still, from a filmmaking perspective, the first one was better.”

Since we had all watched the movies together, the conversation naturally exploded among the members.

I asked Ri Hyuk,

“How successful was it?”

“It did pretty well, probably. Let me check....”

Ri Hyuk looked it up and read off the domestic audience numbers.

“The first movie came out in 2013 and had around 3.8 million viewers. Then the franchise recognition exploded after that, so the second movie pulled around 5.8 million.”

Among standalone superhero films, those were top-tier box office numbers even in Korea.

Partly because the series perfectly matched Korean audiences’ love for espionage stories and grounded settings.

Which was why—

‘What?’

‘Why would he reject this...?’

None of us understood.

What had our youngest just said a little earlier?

—

“I want to do something mainstream.”

—

“Isn’t superhero cinema literally the biggest mainstream genre in the world right now?”

“Yep.”

“And Secret Agent is one of the biggest major franchises even among superhero movies....”

“Yep.”

“And they specifically made you an offer. Jiho. Don’t you feel like something about your logic sounds weird?”

Even so, Jiho still looked completely uninterested.

Under his older brothers’ sparkling gazes, Jiho scratched his cheek and answered,

“I mean, the offer only came recently. At first I was really tempted too. It’s the Secret Agent series, after all.”

“But...?”

“But after thinking about it carefully, it honestly wasn’t that attractive of an option for me.”

“Why?? (Why?) (Why?)”

“Uh... stop talking at the same time. You’re reminding me of getting interrogated by my older sisters when I was little. It’s scary.”

“Sorry. (Sorry.) (Sorry.)”

The simultaneous chorus made us laugh awkwardly.

Jiho explained,

“The lead casting is already finished for this movie. That means all the important lead and supporting roles are already filled. If you think about how long pre-production’s probably been going on....”

Jiho took the Secret Agent 3 script from me and lightly waved it.

“And this isn’t actually a script.”

“Huh...? It isn’t?”

“Do you know how insane superhero movie security is? Companies like this never reveal the real script before casting.”

At that, we opened the script again.

Honestly, it was too thin to even call it a script.

Junghyun asked,

“Hm? But there’s dialogue in here.”

“It’s a fake script. They just go, ‘We want this kind of vibe, so try acting out lines like these.’ Of course without telling you the role.”

“Ahhh....”

“So apparently some actors pass auditions for superhero movies without even knowing that’s what they auditioned for.”

He was right.

There was no way to figure out the character’s name or identity from this tiny amount of material.

Seeing our fascination, Jiho continued,

“So basically they’re saying: ‘You know we’re Wonder Comics, right? We won’t tell you the role, but if you’re interested, come audition.’”

“Hm....”

“And considering all the major supporting roles are probably already cast by now, if they’re looking this late, then it means this.”

The youngest explained professionally.

“‘Ah~ We want to sell more movie tickets, but how do we target the Asian market~? Hm~? Oh look, there’s NewBlack~’ ...so they give me some token role and then use me for Korean promo events while going, ‘Jiho’s acting is amazing!’ to market the Asian audience.”

It was brutally blunt, but not wrong.

“But you know how those roles usually are in superhero movies. After the movie ends, nobody even remembers them. Sure, there’s the advantage of getting your face known overseas, but Koreans already know who I am anyway.”

“True.”

“And it’s hard to leave any major impression on global audiences with roles like that.”

He had a point.

Sometimes in superhero films you’d see a Japanese actor swinging a katana around, or Chinese actors appearing briefly while saying things like, “This is the mystery and science of China!”

But after the movie ended, people rarely searched up the actor or remembered their face.

Usually later you’d hear about them and go, ‘Oh, that person who died in five minutes?!’

“So for me, it’s not really an attractive offer.”

Jiho counted on his fingers.

“I’m already famous in Korea. Thanks to you guys, I’m already globally famous as a singer too, so I’m not lacking recognition. Unless it’s a genuinely important role, the parts they’re offering just don’t look fun to act.”

“Really?”

“They’ll probably dye a streak in my bangs and make me play some hacker typing on a keyboard going ‘Heh heh heh.’”

We burst out laughing because we could all instantly picture it.

Now we finally understood what Jiho meant.

“So aside from just being able to say you appeared in a superhero movie, there’s not much benefit.”

“Yep.”

“Honestly....”

Maybe a few years ago it would’ve been different.

But nowadays, Koreans reacted pretty calmly when they heard Korean actors appeared in famous overseas movies.

Back in the past, people would’ve gone, “Wow! Hollywood debut!” and gotten excited.

Now everyone had enough experience to know better.

These days the reaction was more like, “Oh? Nice.”

“So I thought about it really carefully. Like, what would you guys think? And I ended up concluding this: if I’m going to do a movie anyway, wouldn’t it be better to do a Korean movie where I can actually act properly?”

After hearing the conclusion our youngest had reached after serious consideration, we eventually agreed too.

At first, we had been dazzled by the superhero movie title and stopped thinking critically, but it really wasn’t that amazing.

If you were an American actor getting cast as a lead or major supporting role, you’d probably think, ‘My dream of becoming a movie star is finally happening?!’

But for some random minor role, like Jiho said, there really wasn’t that much merit.

Still...

I thought a little differently.

“Jiho.”

“Yes?”

“You said it yourself. It’s basically just a minor role.”

“Yeah. I’d probably only be in the movie for like five minutes total? The major roles are already cast.”

“Then isn’t that even better?”

“??”

I looked at the members staring at me.

“Think about it carefully. There’s literally no downside here.”

“?”

“If the movie flops, your role’s too small for you to take any damage from it. You’d just briefly appear as a minor character.”

“True?”

“So the filming probably wouldn’t take that long either. With the amount you’re expecting, even if it ran long, it’d probably only be a few weeks. That’s short enough to film alongside another movie.”

Jiho tilted his head.

“Uh...?”

“It might not be a huge gain, but opportunities with basically zero downside are rare. Is there really any reason to reject it?”

Even if the movie failed, nobody would blame him the way they would blame lead actors.

The filming schedule wouldn’t be too long.

And it was the perfect chance to personally experience how the production environment differed between Korean and major foreign films.

“Huh? When you put it that way, it actually sounds kinda tempting.”

“It’s important to choose opportunities that can become huge hits, but if you can pick up little opportunities like this too, you should.”

The lackeys immediately joined my side.

“He’s right, Jiho. This is still an opportunity.”

“Secret Agent 3 permanently engraved into the AntWiki filmography.”

“Hey. Be rational.”

This absolutely wasn’t just because of our personal greed.

‘A chance to brag about our youngest to the neighbors...!’

‘Our baby appearing in a superhero movie.......’

‘Gotta brag to Sbo. Heh heh heh.’

Everything we said came purely from the loving hearts of older brothers wishing for their youngest’s success.

Jiho slowly started looking persuaded.

“Ah... I still don’t know.”

“When you’re uncertain, think about it this way.”

I grinned and dramatically spread my hand.

“What if the role you rejected got passed to me instead?”

“!”

“You brushed it off as no big deal, but what if someone made a huge impression in that short amount of screentime and audiences loved it?”

The others piled on.

“What if Wooju hyung was giving interviews on Entertainment Weekly while you were reading the articles?”

“What if you were crying while eating tteokbokki by the emergency exit stairs?”

“Wouldn’t you regret it then?!”

Jiho snorted at our childish provocation.

“No, hyungs. Just because I reject it doesn’t mean Wooju hyung’s suddenly going to take the role I was offered and—”

Jiho suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

Then he slowly looked toward Ri Hyuk.

Even without hearing his thoughts out loud, I could practically hear what was happening inside his head.

—

“King of Masked Singers Sun Wooju... Korea’s top hip-hop king Seo Ri Hyuk.......”

—

Like a child afraid someone might steal his snacks, Jiho quickly hugged the superhero movie script to his chest.

“I-I’ll think about it positively!”

“?”

“Until then, don’t touch it, hyung!”

Suddenly, Jiho looked at me like I was some kind of dangerous criminal, leaving everyone confused.

Especially Ri Hyuk, who looked genuinely baffled.

“But why does he keep staring back and forth between you and me?”

“Uh....”

I smiled while staring off into the distance.

“There’s... a reason.”

Once our youngest finally answered that he’d think positively about the Secret Agent 3 offer, Seokhwan hyung looked completely satisfied.

“Honestly, I thought it was a waste too.”

“Really?”

“There’s basically no downside.”

It sounded like Seokhwan hyung had been thinking similarly to me.

“It’s just that Jiho has really firm values regarding acting as an actor. And since acting isn’t his primary profession as an idol, I worried it’d feel too meddlesome for a manager to tell him what to do.”

Apparently he’d stayed quiet about it, but internally he’d been happy all along.

Honestly, the only reason Jiho could afford to be picky was because he was already absurdly successful as a singer and didn’t need more recognition.

Most actors would probably instantly say yes if someone asked, “Hey, wanna appear briefly in a Wonder Comics movie?”

I definitely would.

“I’ll discuss it with their side.”

After nodding at Seokhwan hyung’s words, we returned to sorting through the scripts after finishing our superhero movie debate.

We rolled around on the floor reading scripts, tossing them aside one by one.

“Don’t overthink it, hyungs!”

Jiho shoved various sweet snacks into our mouths while speaking.

“Just pick something as mainstream as possible.”

“What about acting? You don’t care about that?”

“Roles where I get to flex insane acting skills won’t come to me anyway.”

Jiho laughed.

“All the god-tier acting roles already got taken by senior actors. I’m just aiming for the role hovering around next to them.”

Objectively speaking, Jiho’s current position was something like “a thoroughly proven rookie actor.”

Though with one extra spoonful of globally established fandom added on top.

He’d already received good reviews for Huh Euigyeong in Sleep and his web drama work, but after successfully leading Shinyi as the protagonist Shin Yi Han, he had firmly settled into that position.

After all, he had successfully headlined a drama with a production budget exceeding ten billion won.

Junghyun nodded in satisfaction.

“The roles that came in overall are pretty good.”

He was right.

The roles offered to Jiho were mostly solid.

Not major parts that let him unleash legendary acting, but overall, still good.

Ri Hyuk adjusted his glasses.

“First, let’s eliminate all villain roles.”

“Agreed.”

“It’s bad for the image of a national idol, and the more provocative the movie gets, the more hate Wang Jiho will receive.”

His social influence had simply become too massive.

—

“Parents’ association sends formal protest over NewBlack Jiho’s acting... ‘Concern over copycat crimes’”

“Crime film starring national idol sparks controversy... ‘Is this really appropriate?’”

“Ten-million-viewer actor Wang Jiho succeeds as actor... but as a national idol? ‘Questionable’”

—

Headline after headline flashed through my imagination.

If his acting was bad, people would criticize him for being terrible.

If it was good, that would create problems too.

People who only associated Jiho with adorable cuteness would be shocked seeing him with a villain image.

—

“Jiho felt like a completely different person in that movie. Which means maybe in real life too...?”

—

Even knowing it was acting, it still left an uncomfortable feeling somehow.

Jiho agreed.

“And honestly, the villain roles I got weren’t very good either. They were all sociopaths or psychopaths.”

“Still, aren’t those the kinds of roles where actors get praised for their acting? Like in dramas where people say, ‘Wow, the murderer role was incredible.’”

At Biju’s comment, Jiho shook his head.

“I personally don’t really like those kinds of characters.”

“Really?”

“Yep. If you think about it, they’re usually just people targeting weaker victims, but media glamorizes them too much. Then they sit in the interrogation room going, ‘Detective... have you ever seen a demon? It lives inside me.’”

“Oh.”

“And honestly, it’s kinda overdone these days. The entire world’s been flooded with those characters for years.”

Come to think of it, I couldn’t remember ever seeing a villain who went, ‘Heh. I only target people stronger than me.’

Nodding, we continued removing scripts one by one.

“What level of intensity are you okay with?”

“Something Mom, Dad, and my sisters can watch without feeling uncomfortable. Ah, and you guys too.”

Shuffle, shuffle.

We removed unnecessary bar scenes, excessively bloody scenes, and scripts where every page had someone screaming profanity so often that it felt impossible for teenagers to watch.

“No!!”

Jesus, he startled me.

“What?”

“How dare they distort history like this...!”

“.......”

We also removed historical dramas containing historical distortion.

After filtering things with Ri Hyuk trembling in outrage every time he saw something logically inconsistent—

“Come forth, Bijumon.”

“Appearing~”

Fueled by apples instead of fuel, Biju read the scripts with intense concentration.

If Biju started looking bored, the script was immediately eliminated.

“Junghyun.”

“Yep.”

Junghyun shook the remaining scripts around, and we only picked up the ones that fell onto the floor.

After all that filtering—

“Oh. Half of the ones I picked got eliminated too.”

“Really?”

“Yep. There are a few I didn’t choose either.”

Jiho handed the remaining scripts to me.

“Now it’s your turn, hyung.”

“Got it.”

Using several overlapping criteria, I carefully examined Jiho’s scripts.

I quietly removed the script from the infamous foul-mouthed director nobody on set wanted to work with.

Then removed a role that wasn’t bad itself but didn’t fit Jiho’s outward image.

And after working on Sound of Sun recently, I also filtered out production companies Director Jo had warned me had bad reputations in the industry.

“Hm.......”

When only two or three final scripts remained—

Normally we would’ve started a fierce debate over the finalists by now.

But today was different.

Because we had him.

The one who, alongside Kim Deoksun, carried the title of One and Only......

Bzzzt—

“Alright, Tosam.”

We presented the scripts to Tosam inside the box.

“Pick one for us.”

[Yes]

When people didn’t know what to do, they relied on superstition.

“When we first met as trainees, you kept insisting you didn’t believe in superstition.”

“.......”

I shot Ri Hyuk a glare at his grumbling and held the scripts out to Tosam one by one.

Soon, everyone became deeply confused by the script Tosam selected.

“Tosam?”

[No]

“Is this really the best choice...?”

[Yes]

No wonder we were confused.

『Chicken Shop Four Siblings (Working Title)』

We had only kept it in the final pile because nothing about it felt objectionable, but honestly, it seemed extremely questionable.

Our gazes slowly lowered beneath the title.

[Synopsis]

Aliens invade Seoul.

Four siblings running a chicken shop save people in the middle of the crisis.

What?

Was this really the right choice...?