The Face Genius Actor

Episode 147

The ministers bowed to the king and pleaded:

“Your Majesty! Please preserve your royal body!”

The ministers hoped for the king’s royal refuge.

During the Japanese invasion, a royal refuge was unthinkable.

For the king to abandon his people was like a parent abandoning their children.

But the king had once abandoned his people to preserve his royal body.

He even left the crown prince behind in danger, essentially abandoning his child.

The king had already been tarnished.

This was the ministers’ thinking.

So doing it once more wouldn’t make a difference.

The ministers harbored these thoughts as they requested the king’s refuge.

The fact that most loyal ministers remained in Hanyang and lost their lives during the Japanese invasion was a decisive reason for this atmosphere in the royal court.

But unexpectedly, the king…

“If I abandon Hanyang once again out of fear of mere ghosts, wouldn’t I be ridiculed by future generations?”

He showed authority and didn’t move.

The sharp-witted ministers read the king’s thoughts.

The king was blinded by jealousy towards the crown prince.

“Your Majesty! How can you not spare your royal body out of fear for future generations!”

But there’s always someone who can’t read the atmosphere.

As one minister boldly stepped forward and raised his voice, the king’s anger immediately erupted.

“You! How dare you attempt to insult the foundation of Joseon! Royal guards, drag this man out immediately!”

As the tactless minister was dragged out by the royal guards, the atmosphere in the court froze, and the Minister of War seized the opportunity.

“I will step forward to evacuate the people to safety and drive away the ghosts!”

After a while, the king asked:

“Is that possible?”

The Minister of War bowed without hesitation.

“Please issue the royal decree.”

At the same time, various thoughts blossomed in the ministers’ minds.

A few were determined to stay in Hanyang until the end to defeat the ghosts, but the majority were pondering how to escape Hanyang.

* * *

Part 10 of “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” depicted the rapid collapse of Hanyang.

The Joseon army, mostly composed of new recruits after most veterans died in the Japanese invasion, couldn’t effectively handle the army of evil spirits.

It was common for them to scatter in all directions, panicked by the grotesque appearance of the evil spirits.

In the end, Gyeongbokgung Palace fell in less than a day, and the King of Joseon was also captured by Ma-yeok-ryeong.

The ending of Part 10 was Yi-hyun hearing the news of Hanyang’s fall just as he was about to arrive.

While filming of Part 10 was in progress,

“Toema Hwan Ya Dam” finally became the most-watched streaming content.

Also, the costumes and props used by Yeon, Wi-rang, Seo-hee, and Yi-hyun in “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” officially went on sale and were generating massive income daily.

This was thanks to Festa Entertainment quickly reading market trends, selecting merchandise companies, and expanding sales networks worldwide.

Since it was an era of highly developed internet shopping malls, there wasn’t much difficulty in expanding the sales network.

This wasn’t all.

Around the world, people weren’t just imitating “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” on social media, but full-fledged parodies began to appear.

From American comedy programs to French TV dramas, there was no place that didn’t parody “Toema Hwan Ya Dam”.

Even on the streets, it wasn’t uncommon to see people in “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” costumes doing magic shows, breakdancing, busking, or performance art.

To see people wearing hanbok and gat while wielding the Ghost-Cutting Sword or throwing charm papers in New York, Paris, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and everywhere else…

It was awkward yet amazing.

It felt like the events of “Dalgona Game” were repeating.

And an event occurred that drove a wedge into this trend.

First, Louis Vuitton unexpectedly released an “Toema Hwan Ya Dam Limited Collection”.

When Jean-Drulot Meyère suddenly called and asked if it would be okay to release a limited collection, I was half in doubt.

It wasn’t common for Louis Vuitton to come forward with such proposals.

And above all, I couldn’t gauge how they would interpret the style of “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” in a modern way.

But the quality of the “Toema Hwan Ya Dam Limited Collection” presented by Jean-Drulot Meyère was amazing.

It felt like a perfect modern reinterpretation of the “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” costumes, which could feel somewhat old-fashioned.

It was different from when Jean-Drulot Meyère had previously expressed the characteristics of hanbok in his designs.

The dynamism of “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” was fully captured in the clothing.

“It’s amazing. How can such an interpretation come about?”

When I asked Jean-Drulot Meyère this after the limited collection was announced, he immediately replied:

-I loved the parts where Si-hwan and Si-joon were active in “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” so much that I kept rewatching them, and inspiration just kept flowing. Long live streaming!

Jean-Drulot Meyère playfully added the last words and then asked me to wear his limited edition collection later.

For me, there was no reason to refuse this request, so I agreed to do so.

When the status of “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” was further elevated thanks to Jean-Drulot Meyère,

There were people who appeared in official settings wearing the “Toema Hwan Ya Dam Limited Collection” even faster than my brother and me.

They were MOST, the idol group that greatly contributed to the K-content craze.

Surprisingly, MOST put on a special stage evoking K-sentiment wearing the “Toema Hwan Ya Dam Limited Collection” during their US tour concert.

This created another huge buzz and became the second wedge to engrave the name of “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” in the minds of people worldwide.

Thus, the popularity of “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” showed no signs of cooling down, and people around the world were deeply immersed in Korean traditional culture.

It was an achievement beyond what I had imagined, and I could freshly feel that K-culture had taken another step closer to the global mainstream.

* * *

“Toema Hwan Ya Dam” quickly progressed with filming up to Part 12.

As the popularity of the lead actors increased, occasions arose where they had to manage separate schedules in between.

Naturally, the atmosphere became unsettled, but fortunately, it didn’t disrupt the filming.

This was because the importance of the work increased along with the popularity of , leading to improved concentration on set.

Thus, the filming of parts 11 and 12, which depict full-scale battles with the legion of evil spirits that have taken over Hanyang, was completed.

In part 11, Yeon, Wi-rang, Seo-hee, and Yi-hyun reunited to face the legion of evil spirits, but it was difficult to match them due to the sheer size of the evil spirit forces.

And in part 12, the story progressed towards its climax as the king of Joseon was killed by the evil spirits and reborn as an evil spirit himself.

“When will the CG work for parts 11 and 12 be finished?”

My brother asked from beside me, and I answered while keeping my eyes fixed on the laptop.

“Well, I think we’ll probably only get to see it around the time we finish filming part 13.”

“Isn’t that too late? Can’t we get more CG teams?”

“I’ve already looked into it. This is the best we can do. Increasing the number of CG teams doesn’t necessarily speed up the work.”

“Then we should have quite a bit of leeway. We don’t need to feel too guilty about today’s schedule.”

“There’s nothing to feel guilty about in the first place. We’ve been rejecting almost all other schedules until now, and we’re only just starting to move.”

That was true.

My brother and I were currently en route for a schedule.

But unlike usual, we weren’t traveling by car.

We were traveling by plane.

We had no choice because the talk show we were appearing on today was an American TV program.

As gained popularity, naturally, my brother and I received the most love calls.

The fact that my brother and I are real brothers became known worldwide along with the popularity of , and this news drew positive responses in all countries.

It was similar to the reaction when this news first broke in Korea.

Broadcasters from all over the world wanted to book my brother and me together as a set.

They wanted both of us to appear together even for simple interviews.

But it was quite impactful for both my brother and me to leave the filming site at once.

It could disrupt the on-set atmosphere that was barely maintaining its focus.

So we only accepted booking offers that could be completed in about an hour or less.

As a result, most of the schedules my brother and I managed were domestic.

This was quite disappointing for overseas fans who liked .

‘That’s why past programs where my brother and I appeared together were highlighted again.’

Short edited clips of domestic programs were translated into English and circulated on YouTube.

But this alone couldn’t satisfy the thirst of overseas fans.

So my brother and I had decided to accept overseas booking requests whenever possible.

Finally, after finishing the filming of part 12, we had some time.

That’s how our appearance on an American TV talk show was confirmed.

“We probably have some time before filming part 13. Want to do some sightseeing while we’re at it?”

“Together?”

“No, just you. I need to go back to Korea right away and start editing again. Even now, look at this situation.”

What I was looking at on my laptop was the rough cut of part 11 of .

It was difficult to do completely new editing on the plane.

But it was possible to review the rough cut like this.

So I was working like this, squeezing in time.

However, only I, who had to fulfill the role of director as well, had to squeeze time like this.

My brother had enough time to do a day or two of sightseeing since we were going to America anyway.

So I suggested it, but my brother replied as if he didn’t like the idea.

“…No thanks. What’s the point of sightseeing alone.”

“Then why don’t you appear on another program in America? How about an interview with the New York Street Journal?”

“I said no. Just finish your work quickly. That way we can at least have dinner with peace of mind.”

I turned my head towards my brother.

As expected, his expression was full of dissatisfaction.

Others might not be able to feel anything from my brother’s expression, but I was different.

I could roughly gauge his emotional state just by looking at his expression.

‘Is he uncomfortable because I keep working….’

Thinking this, I opened my mouth.

“I’ll definitely finish everything before the talk show. Let’s just drink all night today.”

My brother’s expression immediately softened.

“If you’re that thirsty for alcohol, I guess I have no choice. I’ll have to keep you company all night.”

Relieved that my brother’s mood had improved, I started working on the rough cut of part 11 again.

Time was tight if I wanted to review everything before the talk show.

* * *

was currently the most popular talk show in America.

My brother and I encountered an unexpected situation there and were feeling perplexed.

Jimmy King, the host of , asked us two:

“Would that be possible?”