Double Casting
500 won times ten million people.
Half of that.
"That's over 180 billion won."
Now everyone was looking at the same picture.
An OTT platform where anyone could pour out roughly one movie a day through AI.
The employees' eyes were sparkling.
"This... this could make money."
"And we could naturally slip product placement into the movies too."
I nodded.
"No reason to hold back on PPL."
The more they talked, the clearer the picture became.
This way, even more people would have no choice but to visit the Nano AI site.
The tools would be provided as standard.
"The people making the movies would naturally become heavy users."
Someone said with a laugh.
"Haha. Excellent."
After a brief silence, Team Leader Gong made a suggestion.
"For starters... how about we make one ourselves and upload it as a sample?"
"Us?"
"Yes. Right now there aren't any movies at all, are there? If we open with a film, we'd have a monopoly."
"Ah. So we put the only movie on the OTT platform and take first place?"
"It's a move only the OTT owner can pull at the very beginning."
"A world-class OTT platform with exactly one movie on it — mine?"
"Heh, exactly."
"Then we'll need to recruit actors first. Who would be good..."
Team Leader Gong added another idea.
"Ah, and this would be possible too."
"What?"
"An actor who's an excellent performer, extremely handsome, and skilled in martial arts would be a total star among stars, right?"
"Right."
"But our AI can fuse a handsome face, the facial-muscle data of a skilled actor, and the body movements of a martial-arts director into a single person."
Someone questioned it.
"Like CG?"
"Exactly. But faster."
"CG takes forever. We... just one click."
The employees nodded.
"An actor who has the face, the acting, and the martial arts all in one commands an astronomical fee — but we combine people who each have only one of those?"
Seoul.
A photo studio in Gangnam.
"Model."
"Yes."
"Turn your head a little to the left."
He shifted his gaze without a word.
His neckline was revealed naturally, and the lighting traced its contours.
"Good. Hold it right there."
A brief stillness.
Click.
The shutter sounded and the staff peered at the monitor.
An exclamation burst out at once.
"Wow... that came out incredibly well."
He turned his head to check the screen.
A pose captured over solid sportswear.
Tension that never went overboard.
Even the skin texture, as if sweat might bead at any second, was alive.
Hearts bloomed in the photographer's eyes.
"As expected, your face is... on another level."
"Thank you."
A calm reply.
But the atmosphere on set was excellent.
"Okay, let's go with this cut."
The shooting staff raised a hand.
"That's a wrap on the sportswear shoot. Good work, everyone."
The model climbed into the car with his waiting manager.
The moment the door shut, the noise outside was cut off all at once.
The model's name was Noh Eun-hyeok.
Eun-hyeok fastened his seatbelt and spoke.
"Hyung. No other schedules?"
The manager answered while gripping the wheel.
"There are magazine shoots booked for tomorrow and this Friday too."
After a moment's hesitation, Eun-hyeok opened his mouth again.
"Hyung, you didn't land any audition slots?"
A brief silence filled the car.
The manager spoke slowly while watching the traffic light.
"But... sorry. The CEO said to focus more on modeling than acting. Your face is top-tier — no, genius-level. There's plenty you can do without necessarily becoming an actor."
"It's my dream."
Eun-hyeok's voice was firm.
"I've wanted this since I joined the theater club as a kid."
The manager glanced at him.
"Back then... what role did you say it was?"
"A tree."
"Just standing still as a tree, right? You still want to play a tree?"
Eun-hyeok gave no answer.
The manager spoke realistically.
"Eun-hyeok, why try to act as a tree with that face? You can just live off your looks."
"I can start from bit parts."
A laugh mixed with a sigh.
"Alright. I'll put you up for auditions, so practice."
That night.
Eun-hyeok stood in the middle of his one-room apartment.
Instead of a camera, he set his phone on a tripod and began monologuing without a script.
"...What?"
His pronunciation had been perfectly fine until moments ago, yet the instant he started acting, both his diction and expression turned awkward.
His voice floated and his gaze wavered.
"N-no, th-that's n↗ot it."
Awkward pronunciation.
Though he was a Seoul native, it almost sounded like dialect.
Emotions that couldn't find a focus.
Beep.
Eun-hyeok stopped the recording.
Playback.
Watching the footage of himself acting, Eun-hyeok frowned.
"Ha......"
He knew it himself.
It was pure wooden acting.
A few days later.
A call came from the manager.
"Eun-hyeok. This is huge."
"Yes?"
"We got a call from JH."
Eun-hyeok's eyes widened.
"Why from them?"
The manager's voice dropped a little.
"JH made two proposals."
"Two?"
"First... they want to acquire our company."
"What?"
"Wow, JH really is a big corporation. They asked how much for the whole thing. How much would it take? Huh? Man, cool."
Eun-hyeok couldn't find words.
Would being absorbed by JH be a good thing?
A moneyed conglomerate — it didn't seem like it would be bad.
"And?"
"This is even bigger. Listen carefully. They want to cast you, Eun-hyeok, as the lead."
Eun-hyeok's heart pounded.
"Really?"
"Yeah, but it's a bit unusual."
"What is?"
"It's double casting."
"Double casting?"
"Yeah. Lead role, but there are two leads."
Eun-hyeok tilted his head.
"Is it a musical?"
Musicals often had multiple leads because performers had to sing and dance across many shows.
"No. It's a movie."
"Is the lead role for two people? Like brothers or something..."
"No."
The manager shook his head.
"There's one lead."
"...And?"
"They pick two people for that one role and merge them."
Eun-hyeok went blank.
"What does that even mean?"