CHAPTER 048: Interview
CHAPTER 048: Interview
Team Leader Jo Sehun doubted his own eyes.
Among Flash Entertainment’s actors, the one nominated in the most categories at this year’s MBS Acting Awards was none other than Ryu Sunho.
Rookie Award, Scene-Stealer Award, Popularity Award, Best Couple Award.
He had his name up in four categories.
Jo Sehun let out a hollow laugh.
‘Is this even possible? I’ve never seen a pace like this in my life.’
He knew Possessed Investigation had done well, of course, but he didn’t expect a rookie who appeared in only four episodes to end up a Rookie Award nominee.
Then again, had there been any rookie this year who left an impact like Ryu Sunho?
What matters for an actor isn’t how many episodes they appear in, but how deep an impression they leave.
As expected, he made it into the Popularity Award nominees, and it looked like the Scene-Stealer Award was something newly created this year.
It might even be an award created for Possessed Investigation.
“But…”
Jo Sehun tilted his head again and again, staring at the screen.
“What the hell is the Best Couple Award…?”
Pyeongchang-dong, Seoul—a quiet café with a view of the slopes of Bukhansan.
Under sunlight pouring through the floor-to-ceiling windows, a long-haired man with “Jesus hair” sat across from actress Park Dusim.
A small recorder sat on the table, and beside them, a photojournalist quietly captured the two on camera.
Aware of the photos, Park Dusim said irritably,
“If you’re going to take pictures, you could’ve at least brought a light. This side shows my wrinkles more, so it won’t do.”
“Come on, ma’am. You know natural light comes out the prettiest.”
“This kid. There’s nothing as cruel to an actress as ‘natural.’”
Park Dusim tapped the interview sheet the long-haired man had handed her.
“Anyway—‘A Series on Actresses Who Shined for Korea.’ How grandiose.”
“It’s a new feature piece we’re launching. And I wanted to start it with you.”
“But there are plenty of actresses. Why start with this old actress? Start with me, then go down to younger actresses little by little?”
“Haha. How did you know?”
The long-haired man didn’t fluster at her teasing joke, just laughed it off smoothly.
They looked close enough that words like that didn’t sound sharp at all between them.
“Then I’ll start recording now.”
“Fine, fine. Then I’ll have to choose my words carefully.”
When the man hit the record button, their conversation began to be captured amid the café’s ambient noise.
They went deep, combing through actress Park Dusim’s entire life.
The bitterness of her unknown days, the hiatus when she had to stop working because of divorce, even the fear she felt when she stood in front of a camera again.
Park Dusim spoke calmly, sometimes mixing in humor as she unraveled her life.
Before she knew it, two hours had flown by.
The topic naturally shifted to the present, and then to the next generation of actors.
“In your view, among young actors these days, is there anyone you think, ‘This one’s got it’—a junior you’ve been watching closely?”
Park Dusim stared out the window for a moment, lost in thought, then turned back and answered.
“Gong Hajin’s gotten too big to call a young actor anymore… Ryu Sunho. I thought that kid was good.”
She lifted her coffee and took a sip.
“When we filmed Possessed Investigation, it’d been a while since I’d thought this—one wrong step and my acting would lag, and I’d get eaten alive by that rookie.”
“Come on, ma’am. That’s an exaggeration. I watched the drama too.”
“No. What you saw was the result of me practicing like hell so I wouldn’t get eaten alive. During the script reading, I was definitely the one falling short.”
Park Dusim narrowed her eyes, like she was recalling that day.
“I’m the studious type who believes in ‘practice like it’s the real thing.’ So when we were matching the breathing for the shrine scene, I said we should turn off the lights in the reading room. To make it feel like the real set. And there, Sunho just… coldly dominated the space. That desperate emotion and thirst for revenge… A rookie who’d just debuted, just reading the script, and he carried all of it intact.”
“From the script reading?”
“I’m telling you. I was so shocked I was sweating buckets. That moment, I felt his potential. And from that day on, I practiced like hell.”
“Ah, so that’s how… that legendary scene everyone praised was born.”
“That’s right.”
Park Dusim continued.
“I went in having prepared like crazy, but Sunho came in as the character outright. He moved every facial muscle carefully, like someone who’d actually been burned… You could tell he’d studied and practiced a lot too.”
Leaning forward, the long-haired man looked genuinely intrigued.
With her mouth dry, Park Dusim wet her throat with coffee and went on.
“He was so immersed that even after the acting ended, he couldn’t come out of it for a while—he looked like he was suffering. These days, there are barely any kids who act like that. Everyone tries to act only as themselves. That day, I really applauded him a lot. I went up and patted him, and I even gave him a bracelet I cherish.”
“Haha. It sounds like you’ve completely marked him as the next generation of actors. Passing down a treasured bracelet.”
“It’s not that grand. I don’t have many days left to act. I’m just saying it should go to a good owner.”
“Either way—Ryu Sunho. Sounds like that’s a name we should remember.”
After talking for about thirty more minutes, the long-haired man packed up the recorder.
“Thank you for the interview today, ma’am.”
“I enjoyed seeing you after a long time too. Talking properly about things we hadn’t caught up on.”
The long-haired man replied with a bright smile.
“When I get home, I’m going to replay the scene you mentioned earlier. To see just how good the chemistry was between you and the rookie actor.”
“Yeah. It’ll be even more fun the second time.”
Mid-December.
Filming for the movie Vacuum State was running smoothly toward the final stretch.
They’d expected it wouldn’t wrap until March next year, but thanks to the actors’ strong performances and the staff’s dedication, it looked like it would finish by early January.
On top of that, Park Juwon’s portions—pushed back because of the Possessed Investigation schedule—were finally being filled in properly.
Today’s scene was the sequence before Jeong Dogyun smashes the car with an axe: Professor Baek, in his lab, proving his hypothesis about the “vacuum state” phenomenon like a madman.
Once filming began, Park Juwon had transformed perfectly into an eccentric genius scientist.
Strangely, his acting felt even more natural than before, enough to create the illusion that the character was alive and breathing.
Director Ji Seongwoo sat in front of the monitor, staring hard at Park Juwon’s face captured on camera.
‘Am I the only one who feels like he’s better than before…?’
After shouting okay and checking the reactions around him, it didn’t seem like it was just his imagination.
The cinematographer and the assistant director clicked their tongues in amazement.
“Actor Park Juwon’s condition is really good today.”
“Hehe, is it?”
Park Juwon scratched his cheek.
‘After seeing that acting, how could I stay lazy?’
Truth was, a few days ago, after seeing Ryu Sunho’s acting, Park Juwon reflected on his own laziness and threw himself back into practice.
He’d gone back to a life of shutting himself away and doing nothing but rehearse.
As a result, his acting had become even more natural than before, and every bit of ad-lib that slipped out made Professor Baek more three-dimensional.
With a thoroughly satisfied expression, Director Ji Seongwoo called out the final okay.
“Cut! Okay! Great work, everyone!”
As soon as filming ended, Director Ji Seongwoo headed not home, but to the editing room.
Lately, he’d been living the same cycle every day—eating in the editing room, editing, and catching short naps.
Cup ramen and energy drinks were stacked like a tower on one side of the desk, but he wasn’t tired at all.
‘This is the time I’ve dreamed about for so long.’
The process where the images that existed only in his head came alive through the actors’ breath and were completed into a single piece of footage.
So he didn’t notice time passing, or even hunger.
‘No matter how many times I watch it, I don’t get sick of it.’
Especially when he edited Ryu Sunho’s cuts—he couldn’t stop the thrill and awe.
Ji Seongwoo played back the clips of Ryu Sunho on the timeline from the beginning, in order.
Ryu Sunho was perfectly varying and modulating those complex emotions Jeong Dogyun went through.
‘How did an actor like this… end up in my first film?’
Watching Jeong Dogyun living and breathing on the monitor, Ji Seongwoo felt a heavy responsibility as a director.
He had to complete this film—this film that held the acting, the soul of this incredible actor—into the best work possible.
Ji Seongwoo’s fingers began moving faster and more precisely over the editor controls.
Around the time the three major broadcasters started promoting their year-end awards ceremonies,
Ryu Sunho’s fan café, “Sunho Thoughts,” heated up again.
Because everyone was waiting for the Acting Awards with all they had.
Most of the people who joined “Sunho Thoughts” had fallen into the fandom after Ryu Sunho’s shocking acting in Possessed Investigation, so expectations for the year-end Acting Awards were enormous.
《Ryu actor-nim, what do you think he’ll wear to the ceremony?》
-Please, a suit.. classic is best..
-No, he’s still young, so a slightly casual tux!
-Shut up and all-black. Let’s go with a Kang Seoho vibe once.
-He can wear anything, his face will do all the work.
└That’s the truth.
While they were happily imagining what kind of look he would appear in on the red carpet,
a new notice was posted in the fan café.
《MBS Acting Awards official homepage—Viewer Voting OPEN!!!》
Because they’d been waiting so long, the moment the post went up, hundreds of comments started pouring in.
-Finally!!! It’s up!!!
-Everyone go vote!!!
-Oh, he’s nominated for Popularityㅠㅠㅠㅠ I’m so movedㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Of course. What rookie had buzz as big as Ryu Sunho this year?
└Ah but the competing actors aren’t pushoversㅠㅠㅠㅠ They’re all super popular, the firepower’s gonna be insane.
-But Best Couple..? What is this?
Fans reacted like it was only natural that he’d be nominated for Popularity.
But seeing the Best Couple nomination, they tilted their heads.
-He’s a villain, so who’s he a couple with…?
-Is it Detective Han Jaeyoon hyung?
└Nope, it’s actress Park Dusimㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└??????
└Excuse me?
└Can you even call those two a couple?
-(Screenshot of the voting page) “This is the true love-hate relationship! Kang Seoho X Jang Manok” ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Look at the taglineㅋㅋ It looks like they put it in with a half-variety concept from the start.
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Is MBS insaneㅋㅋㅋㅋ
As jokes flew back and forth and everyone treated it as a gag,
someone posted in a serious tone.
《But what if we seriously push the Best Couple Award?》
They said there was a touching story you couldn’t just laugh off, and attached a recent interview article about actress Park Dusim.
The interview was packed with affection for Ryu Sunho.
———————————————
『(Article link) An Actress Who Shined for Korea: Park Dusim’s Acting Life
Reporter: Is there a young actor you’ve been watching closely these days?
Park Dusim: Ryu Sunho. I thought that kid was good. When we filmed Possessed Investigation…』
———————————————
Look at this interview.
In the drama it ended as a tragic ill-fated tie, but in real life they’re affectionate senior-junior like this.
Wouldn’t it be so moving to see the two of them accept an award together on the ceremony stage?
Let’s make that picture happen.
———————————————
That post moved the fans.
The light laughter vanished, and they started seriously calculating whether it could win.
-Wow… she even gave him her treasured bracelet…?
-Let’s actually make this happen. I need to see them walk up holding hands.
-I already felt weirdly choked up seeing the wrap-party photos, but if I see them smiling together at the awards… I’ll seriously cryㅠㅠ
-This is the real story.
-I’m going to vote right now. Mobilize family and friends’ accounts!
The all-out campaign began.
Their movement was quick and organized.
A fan who was a heavy uploader across multiple communities turned their story into memes and spread them.
At first, people laughed, saying, “What kind of combo is this?” But after reading the full text of Park Dusim’s interview and seeing the carefully made story memes, reactions slowly changed.
-Wow, the interview is genuinely touching… A top senior praising him that much…
-Turns out they’re really wholesome in real life. Totally the opposite of the drama.
-I’m for this pairing. It’s way fresher and more meaningful than the same old male-female couple award every time.
-I voted too. Stuff like this should be made.
Soon, the comments urged people to vote, and proof screenshots of online voting were shared in real time.
They even created English and Japanese translations to mobilize overseas fans.
The Best Couple voting graph on the MBS homepage began to swing wildly.
The Ryu Sunho–Park Dusim pairing was closing in at a frightening pace on the Park Juwon–Seo Yunha couple, the long-standing number one.
[MBS Best Couple voting ranking]
1st: Park Juwon–Seo Yunha (35.8%)
2nd: Ryu Sunho–Park Dusim (33.1%)
-This is insane! We almost caught up!
-Hurry, mobilize every family/relative account and vote!!
Two weeks of fierce voting war followed,
and at last, the fateful day of the Acting Awards ceremony arrived.