Life is Easier If You're Handsome novel Chapter 277

PC.

Short for Political Correctness.

In Korean, it roughly translates to "political correctness."

As we all know, it means eliminating biases and discrimination based on race, gender, disability, and more—in the name of building a fairer and more equal world.

"They've been doing all sorts of stuff lately, starting with She-Hulk!"

"Yeah, you’re right."

"Starting from Captain Marvel—you know, right? We should be doing that kind of thing too!"

"Yeah, that’s true."

"So with that in mind, we’ve got to try different approaches too!"

"Exactly, exactly, no doubt about it."

Disney, Marvel—they’ve been going wild with new ideas.

Naturally, DC didn’t want to be left behind by the times.

The truth is, none of the recent hero films had hit a home run.

That only made them more desperate to get in rhythm with the current trends.

“This overlapping trend is a problem. Lately, there's way too much overlap.”

“Agreed.”

To do proper PC, you had to try new things.

Unfortunately, others had already beat them to the punch.

They tried switching a white character to a Black one to stir things up, but the spotlight had already been stolen when the Little ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ Mermaid turned Black.

That kind of second-wave approach wasn’t going to get attention.

More than anything—

“Switching a white character to a Black one is, uh...”

“The reactions to that were awful, weren’t they?”

The public’s response was downright icy.

If DC had the capital, they would've been trying things for years.

But right now, every step felt like walking on thin ice.

So the question of who would be the face of their first PC move weighed heavily.

And in the end, they decided to go with the hottest actor out there.

“A Korean actor playing a Japanese samurai, and winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes! That’s PC right there!”

“...Is that PC?”

“Then what else is it? Isn’t it PC when you switch up the races?”

“Oh? Is that how it works?”

Truth be told, some folks in the DC boardroom didn’t actually understand PC that well.

They just heard the other studios were changing races and calling it PC, so they figured, “Oh, I guess changing races means PC?”

Anyway.

“What do you think about pushing Kim Donghu as the next face of DC?”

“You think he’d even do it?”

That “You think he’d do it?” carried a lot of unspoken meaning.

And just like that, the room darkened again.

The classic DC gloom.

The atmosphere was so heavy it wouldn’t have been weird if some brooding background music started playing.

“Joker? Should we go with Joker?”

“Someone’s already killing it in that role, though. Plus, he’s a villain.”

Before you knew it, the meeting resumed, as if a little bit of despair was just the norm around here.

“What about Superman?”

“He’s cool, but... there’s already such a strong symbol attached to that role.”

“We can just do it with the multiverse.”

“Multiverse, huh... That’s not easy to manage if it goes off the rails.”

Wait a second—

Multiverse?

“Yeah, if we go with that kind of vibe... how about this?”

Someone suddenly jumped out of their seat and started furiously scribbling on the whiteboard.

Like they were solving some unsolved math problem.

Everyone stared, jaws slack, as the writing went on.

“Hmm. Yeah. That’s it.”

A conclusion was reached.

“Let’s grab some coffee and donuts first.”

Time for a short break.

***

Up until a week before The Pianist aired, I hadn’t even been able to return to Korea—I was flying all over the world.

Naturally, Disney Plus had more users in the West, so the promotional tour had to focus there.

“From the Palme d’Or straight to Disney Plus—do you ever take a break?”

“Ah... well, I do make time to rest every now and then.”

“You still work out too?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“What kind of exercise do you enjoy most?”

“Full-body workouts—martial arts, boxing...”

“Haha, you sound just like someone else I know. Is this your media-friendly answer?”

“Ah... oh, yeah. You could say that.”

The number one rule for talk shows: don’t repeat yourself.

I had over five of them to appear on.

And if I gave the same answers on each one, people would think I didn’t care.

“Even though the questions are basically all the same.”

Before we got into film promotion, there’d always be some small talk about daily life.

Starting with the Palme d’Or and how it felt to win.

“Would you mind if I asked you a few questions about dating?”

“Hmm? Oh, sure. Go ahead.”

“Have you ever dated someone?”

“Yes, I have.”

“Ohooo~!”

Any story people might like, I gave it my all in service of the promotion.

“I wish we could talk more about your love life.”

“Huh? Why not? You can keep going.”

“If I hear more, I’ll just feel sad. Imagining someone standing next to you... I don’t like it.”

“It’s not about someone being beside me. It’s someone having me beside them.”

“Ooh! That’s good. I love that kind of bold answer!”

Just enough back-and-forth to keep things fun.

“Is there any actor you have a crush on?”

“There are too many to choose from.”

“If you had to name just one?”

“That’s too broad—I don’t think I could pick.”

“Okay, just Western actors, then?”

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