Ch.299It’s not like we need to be serious.

I naturally kept in regular contact with Chisako.

We just couldn’t meet because we were active in places too far apart.

To begin with, Chisako’s popularity in Japan was considerable these days.

‘Didn’t she even hold a concert?’

And not a joint concert with someone else.

I heard she held a solo concert that was a huge success.

Her singing.

Her dancing.

Her appearance.

She was doing extremely well in Japan because she didn’t fall short in any of those areas.

She even appeared frequently on YouTube Shorts.

Plus, I heard she recently led a huge trend on Reels.

From my perspective, it was amazing that she was standing right in front of me.

“How did you get here?”

“Because I proudly won the role of being by your side, oppa!”

“…Catwoman?”

“Yes!”

Looking at her speaking so cheerfully,

I was continuously surprised.

“You beat that competition? That’s impressive.”

“The director saw something in me, that’s why.”

From what I heard, the competition for Catwoman was truly at an unbelievable level.

‘Wasn’t it 30:1?’

From what Seokho hyung told me,

They filtered down to 30 people in the first document screening.

The rest were selected through acting auditions.

She broke through that?

I heard actors outside the Western world would struggle because of English pronunciation.

To accomplish this was truly remarkable.

“You must have the skills to impress them.”

“Hehe, I worked really hard. My English pronunciation is perfect now!”

“I can tell without even hearing it. That’s cool.”

“Eh, first time hearing you say I’m cool. I like it!”

Maybe talking in person was different from chatting online.

We continued our endless conversation even as we headed to the accommodation.

“This is your accommodation, sunbae. I specially guided you here.”

“Thanks, but is this okay? Do you have time?”

“Of course! I’m basically here on vacation anyway.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes!”

From what I heard, Catwoman’s screen time in Murciélago wasn’t that much.

Well, she appears, but not enough to require being on set all the time.

So Chisako decided to take a long-overdue vacation and

stay in Hollywood until the Murciélago filming was complete.

“I’m in the accommodation… right next to yours. Literally right next door, isn’t that great?”

“Why are you asking for my permission? I’m actually glad you did that.”

“Hehe.”

Come to think of it, I heard they cast Harley Quinn too.

Who could that be?

‘I haven’t received any contact about it.’

Even Catwoman’s role was only revealed because Chisako came and told me.

It seemed the production company was being extremely thorough with security.

Our conversation paused briefly.

We opened the car trunk to unpack our luggage.

Since I was planning to stay for at least 8 months,

there was quite a lot of luggage.

Though I was told I could buy anything else I needed,

I still brought as much as I could from Korea.

“But this house is really nice, it’s a luxury mansion?”

My first thought upon seeing the house was ‘this is an amazing accommodation.’

About three times the size of a normal house.

I knew the land itself was in a very expensive area.

A place like this must have cost quite a lot.

“Huhuhu.”

As soon as I said that, Chisako laughed strangely behind me.

Wondering what the interior looked like, I opened the door to the accommodation.

Bang!

Babababang!

Bang!

Bang!

Fireworks exploded as if they had been waiting.

“Welcome to Hollywood!”

“Donghu Kim! We’ve been waiting for you!”

Followed by congratulatory messages.

Now I realized the Murciélago production team had prepared a surprise party.

No wonder there was no one at the airport except Chisako.

“…Wow, honestly, I never expected something like this. Thank you. I’m really happy.”

“Haha! The surprises don’t end here! This isn’t your accommodation!”

“What?”

As Director Cristo spoke, a question mark appeared above my head at that moment.

“This is your house.”

“What?!”

The words that followed changed the question mark to an exclamation point.

+++++

Although they hadn’t yet properly seen Kim Donghu’s Batman performance,

They instinctively felt they couldn’t let him go,

And seriously considered what they could do to capture him.

The contract terms were already very good,

And the running guarantee was generous.

They felt something more was needed,

And after starting a meeting, the conclusion they reached was:

“Let’s just give him a house?”

“Sounds good?”

They decided to buy a house and give it as a gift.

“We’ll take care of all the tax issues too. Everything including the title transfer and all that.”

“Sounds good? And let’s throw a surprise party too.”

“That’s right. We need to emphasize it. A house from us, a house for Batman.”

To create a sense of belonging, such a space needed to be provided,

And if they could provide such a space, it would naturally win his favor.

Under this conclusion,

They planned to provide a house in Beverly Hills,

And the fruit of that plan was this very moment.

‘An extremely surprised face… and he’s really happy.’

Well, who wouldn’t like receiving a house?

And not just any house, but one in Beverly Hills, known worldwide.

‘Those Disney guys… they never dreamed we’d be this serious.’

A lot of money went into this,

But everyone concluded it was a manageable investment.

If they could make the Murciélago series successful

With Kim Donghu at its center,

This would be a perfectly profitable business.

“I’ll truly do my best for this movie!”

“Woohoo!”

And so the party atmosphere continued immediately.

After Kim Donghu’s energetic statement, music started playing.

Drinking moderately, dancing, and having fun.

Even during all this, Director Cristo kept looking at Kim Donghu.

‘A truly perfect body. Joker needs to be a bit thinner, so we’ll handle that with CG.’

It wasn’t simply that ‘he’s built’ –

He was truly perfect and solid.

His body even looked more filled out than when they saw him on Physical 300.

“Your physique seems even better.”

“Yes, I changed my diet recently.”

“Oh. Did you change anything specific?”

So he asked about his secret.

“I decided to eat more than before. When I did that, I didn’t gain fat… but my body became more compressed.”

“What? What did you say?”

“After eating for about 17 hours, my thinking changed.”

“…”

He received an incomprehensible answer.

Well, stars usually have at least one secret.

‘I saw him eat for 17 hours… but what does he mean by not gaining fat but his body becoming compressed?’

Why tell such a lie?

Director Cristo didn’t know that everything Kim Donghu said was the truth.

‘Well, that’s not what’s important.’

Skipping over the trivial matters,

While everyone was laughing and chatting,

Director Cristo called Kim Donghu to a separate room, saying it was for business talk.

“I would have preferred to give this to you more discreetly, but I just couldn’t wait after completing it.”

“Haha, I understand that feeling.”

“…This is the second revised script for that guy.”

That guy.

As soon as Kim Donghu heard those words, he knew who it referred to.

‘Joker.’

He had expected Batman’s script, but

Joker appearing showed that inspiration had truly struck.

“I became ambitious about the filming set, so we gained about a month of extra time. I apologize for that.”

“No, it’s really fine. Filming schedules are always like that.”

“So until then, let’s refine the action rehearsal first… Ah! Before that, could I ask for your immediate impression after reading the script?”

How much effort must he have put in to ask for immediate feedback?

Understanding a creator’s heart completely,

Kim Donghu immediately:

‘Immersion.’

Entered into the script.

++++++

A deck of Trump cards has 52 cards.

Generally, the Joker is not included when playing card games.

So no one considers the Joker when playing poker.

Because it’s a card that’s not in the deck to begin with.

“When playing poker… if a Joker appears, people say, ‘Oh, this game is void. A Joker appeared.'”

But isn’t that what makes it interesting?

While thinking about this, a more creative thought occurred.

What if all 52 cards were Jokers?

Even then, if a Joker card intrudes, could you still call it void?

When all cards are set up like a joke to begin with?

“This isn’t… well, not revenge. Of course I don’t intend to reclaim what’s mine, that’s just yours, Bruce Wayne.”

His gaze turns toward the tallest building in Gotham.

“I don’t plan to look for some secret of birth just because our faces are identical, that’s just… too boring.”

Dwelling on the past is like a mouse drowning in water.

It means it’s unsightly, trivial, and worthless.

“Just, just living in the present is good, right!”

He unconsciously licks the scar of his torn mouth.

Who did it, was it me? Or was it mom? Dad? Grandmother?

Or was it the housekeeper next door? Ah, I don’t remember well.

Well.

It’s not important.

The story I’m about to tell has nothing to do with everything I just said.

But why did I say it?

Just because.

“Batman, too many people hate you.”

There are so many that I suddenly thought I’d like to be a genie granting their wishes.

Tinkerbell from Peter Pan, the Wizard of Oz, you know, that kind of thing.

But they were all too scared.

Whatever punishment they received, even if they became disabled, they should resent you first.

Some of them even wet themselves?

So I gave them courage.

The ‘courage to become like me’.

I can see the faces of those with bloodshot eyes.

Wanting to match the number too, exactly 52 people.

All brave ones wearing clown makeup.

“Let’s make Gotham fun.”

It’s a simple story.

Blow up everything connecting Gotham.

Isolate it as an island, then kill all the mayors and police.

When it becomes a lawless zone, how will people live?

What kind of pranks would be best to play then?

Just suddenly.

“There’s no need to be serious, right?”

I was curious.