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Episode 5
“Don’t worry about passing.”
Before the test, when Sunwoo showed the performance he’d prepared, Sunjun said that.
No need to worry. At this level, getting in should be easy — that’s what he’d said.
But even so, Sunwoo couldn’t relax.
After all, that was only Sunjun’s opinion.
Who knew how other people would see it?
And then…
“Do you watch a lot of dramas or movies usually?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Uh… pretty much whenever I’m not studying, I guess. Almost all the time.”
“Good. That’s good.”
Maybe Sunjun had been right.
When the acting ended, the look in Jihwan’s eyes had completely changed.
At first, he’d shown neither curiosity nor interest in Sunwoo… but now, even the tone of his voice felt warmer.
“Sorry. I think I misunderstood you.”
“Sorry?”
“To be honest, I didn’t think you’d be good at acting at all. You said it was your first time, and, well… yeah. Anyway, I’m sorry. Your acting was really good.”
“Oh… thank you.”
It felt strange.
In an audition room, once the mood went bad, it was usually almost impossible to turn it around.
But to think the atmosphere could change this much from just one performance.
Then, Jihwan let out a sigh.
“At first I thought Sunjun was saying something crazy…”
“Did my brother say something?”
“He threatened me. Said, ‘My brother’s a genius, so if you don’t want to regret it, take him and train him.’”
That damn Kim Sunjun…
Now it made sense why Jihwan had treated him that way at first.
Who wouldn’t be annoyed if someone said something like that?
“…I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Now that I’ve seen you, I think I get why he said it. Anyway, let’s get to the real question. I realized I forgot the most important one.”
Jihwan clapped his hands lightly to refresh the mood.
“So, why do you want to act?”
Sunwoo hesitated for a moment.
“…Because when I act, I feel alive.”
It was a little embarrassing to say something like that in front of someone he’d just met.
But what could he do? It was his honest feeling. No reason to sugarcoat it.
“It was the first time in my life I’d ever felt something like that.”
“I see. I get what you mean.”
Jihwan nodded like he understood.
As if that alone was explanation enough.
“You’ve never actually studied acting before, right?”
“No. This is my first time ever doing it.”
“Ha…”
Jihwan looked at Sunwoo with a strange expression. Half fascinated, half troubled.
It couldn’t be helped — the acting Sunwoo had shown wasn’t what you’d expect from someone who’d never acted before.
Jihwan’s eyes sparkled.
This guy was a find.
“Alright. Let’s do this. I’ll teach you theory separately for now. And once I think you’ve got the basics down, you can officially join the troupe.”
“…Huh? That’s too much trouble for you, sir…”
“I’m doing it because I’d regret not doing it. From what I can see, if I just touch up your basics a bit, there’ll be nothing to complain about.”
Still, it felt like too much.
Seeing Sunwoo’s awkward expression, Jihwan shrugged.
“And I’m not just sacrificing myself here. I’m investing.”
“Investing?”
That sounded way too grand.
Seeing Sunwoo flustered, Jihwan smirked.
“I think you’ll become a pretty good actor someday. You’ll definitely help promote our troupe.”
“…Haha.”
Sunwoo just laughed, not sure what to say.
Either way, he was getting special lessons. It was something to be grateful for.
And so, a week passed.
During that week, Sunwoo learned all sorts of things from Jihwan.
From how to analyze scripts, to checking masking tape marks, to vocalization — even tiny details.
Script analysis, especially, was surprisingly fun.
Analyzing characters, expressing them… he felt like he could keep going for hours.
Naturally, his understanding of “color drops” deepened too.
‘So every character has a base color.’
Even if the scenes changed and the emotions shifted, there was always a color tone that stayed consistent with the character.
It was fun.
Just studying a little had already changed the way he saw those drops of color.
And just when he was thinking about what else might change if he kept learning—
“Sunwoo.”
“…Yes?”
“Let’s head to the troupe now.”
Jihwan dropped the bomb out of nowhere.
Sunwoo couldn’t answer easily. He still felt like he lacked so much.
Seeing that, Jihwan spoke again.
“The best training is rolling around in the field. Competing with the others, figuring out what you lack, what your strengths are — that’s how you know what to work on.”
After hearing that, he really couldn’t refuse.
Besides, he was starting to want to act for real.
To be drenched again in those vivid colors… to pour out all those feelings freely.
“Okay. I’ll go.”
Sunwoo nodded solemnly.
Yeah. Let’s go. Let’s really see what this “acting” thing is all about.
He was bracing himself when—
“Oh, right. One more thing — you’d better be careful.”
“…Careful?”
Jihwan suddenly said something ominous.
“There’s a weird rumor going around the troupe about you.”
“About me? People know who I am?”
“Of course. You’ve been getting private lessons from me every day — how would that not spread?”
Sunwoo grimaced.
He hadn’t expected that.
“They all think you’ve got some big-shot connections.”
“…What do I do?”
“What else? Show them. Why you got lessons from me. Why you could join this troupe.”
Jihwan smiled mischievously.
“With your acting. Directly.”
Sunwoo sighed.
…Looks like he’d have to clear up misunderstandings again.
“Doyoung, did you hear?”
At the sound of a voice beside him, a handsome man with sharp, wolf-like features turned his head.
Cha Doyoung — the most popular actor in Cheongsong.
Whatever role he took, the shows always sold out. A guaranteed hit.
“Hear what?”
“That guy is joining our troupe.”
“Who?”
“You know, the one the director’s been personally mentoring.”
“Oh. Him.”
Doyoung nodded.
He was the hot topic in Cheongsong lately — the newcomer the director stuck close to every day.
“I heard he’s from some rich family and that’s why he’s getting special treatment.”
“Rich or not, who cares? If he wants to act, he acts.”
“…This is just a rumor, but—”
Yechan looked around carefully and lowered his voice like he was telling a secret.
“They say it’s his first time acting. Ever.”
“…What?”
Doyoung turned to him, confused.
A complete beginner joining their troupe?
In a normal troupe, that wouldn’t be impossible. There were often newbies who did chores while learning from scratch.
But Cheongsong wasn’t like that.
Too many people wanted to join Cheongsong.
Even theater majors came to audition.
Yechan sighed.
“It feels kind of wrong. I thought Cheongsong didn’t care about connections…”
“Yechan.”
Doyoung’s eyes suddenly went sharp. Yechan flinched and straightened his posture.
“Y–yes, hyung.”
“Don’t talk so lightly. The director isn’t someone who’d just plant a random parachute. There has to be a reason.”
“S–sorry. I spoke without thinking…”
“Why, he said what needed to be said.”
A lazy voice cut through their conversation.
A snake-eyed man with a sly smile was looking at them.
Seeing him, Yechan shrank back, while Doyoung frowned.
“What.”
“He’s right. Either way, someone came in outside the normal recruitment period. That’s never happened before.”
“I’m sure there’s a reason.”
“Then what reason?”
Seo Jinwook smirked.
“And he’s got no acting experience. If they scouted someone talented, fine. But why bring a total newbie here?”
“You haven’t even seen him yet. Don’t jump ahead.”
“You don’t know if it’s crap or bean paste until you taste it, right?”
Jinwook grinned wickedly.
And just then—
“Well, maybe tasting once isn’t a bad idea.”
A bored voice echoed in the practice room.
It was Jihwan. He looked around at them with a lazy expression.
“So, having fun tearing him apart behind my back?”
“Oh— Director.”
Jinwook stiffened in surprise.
He’d basically been caught talking trash. Jihwan sighed and gestured behind him.
“Alright, everyone. Say hello. This is the new member of our troupe.”
“Hello, I’m Kim Sunwoo.”
Everyone turned to look at him.
First impression — he was handsome. Honestly, he had the kind of face you could easily cast as a lead.
‘He looks like some pampered pretty boy.’
Jinwook’s face twisted.
He’d already disliked him from the rumors — seeing his face made him even more annoyed.
Trying to look more confident, Jinwook raised his voice.
“Director. The kids are honestly talking about this a lot. We’ve never brought anyone in like this before.”
“Yeah. And?”
“Could we see him act?”
“Act?”
“Yes. I’ll play the other role.”
Jinwook looked Sunwoo up and down with a smug expression.
He was already certain Sunwoo’s acting would be terrible.
“I think it’d be good to see what kind of person he is through his acting.”
Jihwan immediately caught Jinwook’s intent.
Right — so he thinks we dragged in some clumsy rich kid, huh?
He probably wanted to crush him publicly.
Not out of justice, but because Jinwook had always loved showing off his authority in front of others.
Maybe he saw this as another chance to be the center of attention.
But…
“Sure. Go ahead.”
Jihwan nodded.
This wasn’t abandoning Sunwoo.
He could already see how this was going to end.
Jinwook clearly believed he’d be the star of the moment.
But… would he?
