CHAPTER 049: Acting Awards
CHAPTER 049: Acting Awards
On the day of the Acting Awards.
With no filming scheduled, I slept in for the first time in a while to manage my condition.
As soon as I got up, I went for a run on an empty stomach to reduce puffiness, then kept breakfast light—salad and fruit.
‘Am I being too extra?’
But there was no downside to being prepared.
It was my first awards ceremony of my life.
I’d won multiple awards as an advertising professional, but I’d never attended an award ceremony.
I was too afraid of being filmed on camera.
But now, I was attending an awards ceremony proudly as an actor.
Just thinking about stepping onto the red carpet myself made excitement and joy surge through me.
After that, I headed to the shop at the scheduled time.
“Sunho, Sunho—you’re here?”
The first to greet me was stylist Woo Minha, in a more combative posture than ever.
After the wrap party, praise had poured in for the casual outfit style I wore, and it seemed she’d been thoroughly provoked as a stylist.
She’d been sharpening her blade for today.
“Starting two months ago, I called showrooms for luxury brands all over the world and sourced suits!”
She proudly handed me a suit from a famous designer.
She said she’d even had the fit perfectly tailored to my body.
When I changed into the clothes in the fitting room set up in the corner of the shop and came out, exclamations burst from everyone.
“Wow… insane.”
“No, that suit fits you too well.”
“Y-yeah… as expected, you’re the best…”
As compliments poured in about the outfit, stylist Woo Minha lifted her shoulders high and pushed out her chest.
She looked quite proud.
“How is it—perfect, right? I went around measuring everything myself with a tape measure, trying to find the exact fit for you.”
“Thank you. For finding something this good.”
“This is my job, what are you thanking me for. Are you uncomfortable? If it’s your first time in a suit, it might feel a bit awkward.”
“It’s fine.”
It was what I wore to work every day in my previous life.
If anything, it was as comfortable as pajamas.
Stylist Woo Minha circled me once, checking the fit one last time.
“Okay. Perfect! Even your walk looks natural!”
Then—
“Alright, now it’s our turn. Come over here.”
Makeup artist Yoon Heeju and the salon director latched onto me.
The director ran his hands through my overgrown hair and asked,
“Want to cut it clean and refreshing now?”
“No. Just trim it a little and style it.”
There was still a bit of movie filming left.
It was better not to touch the hair length as much as possible.
Cuts could jump in continuity.
But honestly, even if filming was completely finished, I planned to attend the awards ceremony keeping this hairstyle.
‘Because.’
An awards ceremony was also a place for good marketing.
Of course, blatant promotion was a no-go.
You had to make people look it up naturally.
A few years ago, a male actor once showed up at an awards ceremony with a shaved head and it became a massive topic.
Fans and the media poured out speculation about his drastic transformation, and when it was revealed that it was for his next movie, it naturally led to public interest in the new project and a viral marketing effect.
I planned to benchmark that strategy.
I didn’t know if I’d win, but I’d get caught on camera at least once.
At that time, the company PR team and the distributor just needed to push out a few articles with the nuance of “style transformation because of movie filming.”
‘And one more thing.’
My current recognition was 39.
Soon, there was a high chance it would pass 40 and I’d gain one additional stat point.
Then my total stat points would become three, and I could finally raise my looks stat.
It was only natural that looking cleaner after changing from hair that poked my eyes to neat hair would make me look better.
So people would accept my appearance change very naturally.
‘Still.’
If I showed up looking too ragged, people might say I had no sincerity.
It could become a black mark.
I needed to elevate my current look into the best style possible.
In that case, this kind of styling would be better.
I found a photo on my phone and showed it to the makeup artist and the salon director.
“Please style it with this kind of feel.”
The car, driven by Manager Jeong Daeyeop, stopped at the red carpet entrance.
The moment the door opened, hundreds of flashes dazzled my eyes.
At the same time, the mixed roar of fans and reporters slammed into my ears.
“It’s Ryu Sunho!”
“Sunhoaaaa!”
“Please look this way just once!”
I should’ve gotten used to it by now, but it still made my vision swim.
The moment I stepped out of the car and onto the red carpet, a subtle silence briefly settled over the venue.
Even the machine-gun shutter sounds thinned for a moment.
“…Who is that?”
“Is that really Ryu Sunho?”
It made sense.
Today, I didn’t look like “Kang Seoho” from the drama.
Instead of hair slicked back neatly, a strange man stood there with curly hair that covered his eyebrows and thick-rimmed glasses.
“His style totally changed…?”
“Did he have some kind of change of heart…?”
I could hear reporters murmuring.
Then a veteran reporter slapped his knee and shouted,
“Ah! That’s it! A nerdy concept!”
That one line became the fuse.
“Ah!”
“Right!”
The silence instantly turned into even more intense air than before.
The shutter sounds exploded again.
“That’s exactly the style kids love these days.”
“Isn’t that what they call a ‘stolen nerd’? Where in the world is there a nerd who looks like that.”
“The stylist used the hair really well. All the other actors look similar, but with styling like that, he pops immediately. It’s not obvious.”
“Styling aside, that’s all face. If you weren’t born with it, it’d be hard to get attention with styling like that.”
Under the bombardment of cameras, the red carpet MC approached me and spoke.
“Wow—Actor Ryu Sunho, this is a new look today. Is this a concept you intended to show an image completely different from villain Kang Seoho in the drama?”
“That’s part of it, but I’m filming a movie right now. I’m growing my hair because of the character, so I ask for your understanding.”
“Understanding? It looks good as it is. And this look that’s 180 degrees different from your cold image in the drama suits you too. Alright, then—please give us one last pose!”
A pose that fit this styling best.
What would it be?
After thinking, I lightly lifted a hand to my glasses.
Then admiration burst out among the reporters again.
“Wow, the feel is good. You’re good at posing now too.”
Inside the ceremony hall really was a battlefield of stars.
As befit a rookie, I busily went around greeting senior actors, directors, and writers.
The basics of social life were greetings.
There was no downside to making an impression like this.
After doing a round, I sat at the table with the sign that said the Possessed Investigation team.
As I caught my breath, Park Juwon and Seo Yunha sat down after me.
“Whew, Sunho, your styling is good today. Maybe because you’re young—this style has a vibe and you pull it off well.”
Seo Yunha nodded briefly, like she agreed.
“It’s the nerd style that’s trendy right now. It suits you.”
While we talked about each other’s recent updates, Park Juwon brought up the Best Couple Award.
“Did you see we’re all nominated? It was a real back-and-forth.”
“Ah, yeah, I saw.”
“Honestly, I want that award. My goal today is to take home at least one more award. If not now, when else am I going to sweep something like this?”
But beside him, Seo Yunha—chewing on snacks—poured cold water on it.
“I don’t really want that award.”
“Why?! Our chemistry was good.”
“You stole the Professor Baek role.”
“Stole? I picked the role first, and you auditioned later.”
“…Anyway.”
Seo Yunha turned her gaze away and shoved a cupcake into her mouth.
At that moment, with dazzling lights, the MCs’ voices echoed through the hall.
“Now, the first award to open Part 1 is…!”
“It’s the award viewers have been waiting for the most! The MBS Acting Awards—Best Couple Award!”
Park Juwon, excited, tapped my arm.
“Oh—now they’re calling Best Couple.”
On the screen, the drama clips of the Best Couple nominees began playing as a VCR.
When Possessed Investigation’s Park Juwon and Seo Yunha appeared, cheers erupted from the audience—befitting the year’s biggest hit.
“Waaaah!”
“Park Juwon!”
“Seo Yunha!”
Then Park Dusim and I appeared.
It was the brutal, heavy shrine scene, but because the production team edited it with a “love-hate relationship” concept plus comedic captions and sound effects, laughter burst out here and there.
[Caption: ※This couple can’t live without each other. (Literally.)]
A hot reaction in a different sense from the Park Juwon–Seo Yunha couple.
Laughter and applause didn’t stop.
After all the nominees’ VCRs ended, the camera returned to the MCs.
“Really formidable nominees. Haeju—who are you rooting for?”
“I’m rooting for Park Juwon–Seo Yunha. Their story—bickering at first, then reaching mutual salvation—was so good. How about you, Hyunwoo?”
“I’m rooting for the last nominees—Actor Ryu Sunho and Actress Park Dusim.”
When the female MC reacted like she was curious, the male MC continued as if he’d been waiting.
“Their story in the drama was intense, but their real-life story is really good. Did you see Actress Park Dusim’s interview recently? She passed down a bracelet she cherished to Actor Ryu Sunho on set…”
As the male MC relayed the story of the two that he’d seen online, the mood in the hall shifted in an instant.
Actors seated nearby started looking back and forth between me and Park Dusim, and some even made fighting poses, cheering us on.
An atmosphere where, after learning the story, people suddenly started seriously rooting for us.
Then the MC took the card with the winner’s name.
“Alright, then I’ll announce it! MBS Acting Awards—Best Couple Award! The winners are… Possessed Investigation’s…!”
Park Juwon’s face was visibly tense.
Huh, did I just make eye contact with the MC?
No way…
“Actor Ryu Sunho and Actress Park Dusim!”
“Kyaaaaaa!”
At home watching TV, Ryu Sunho’s number one fan, EMT Han Jisoo, hugged a cushion and screamed.
Her friend Go Yoonseo, sitting beside her, couldn’t take her eyes off the TV screen, mouth hanging open.
“This is insane! Insane! It actually happened!”
On the screen, Ryu Sunho—dressed in a tuxedo—was offering his hand to Actress Park Dusim like a gentleman.
Park Dusim placed her hand on top of his like a lady, and the two headed for the stage, forming a beautiful picture.
The camera captured it like a scene from a movie.
“Wow, it’s like a crown prince escorting a queen!”
“This is the real story and real emotion! We did it!”
On stage, the two looked full of affection, completely different from their vicious look in the drama.
Especially Park Dusim—she kept patting Ryu Sunho’s back, and it looked like a mother proud of her son.
Seeing that, the two women’s eyes reddened.
“Ha… stuff like this always makes me cry.”
“Reality really is more beautiful and moving than dramas…”
The two of them kept yielding to each other, telling the other to give their acceptance speech first.
In the end, after Park Dusim pushed him forward, Ryu Sunho stood in front of the microphone.
“…Thank you so much for giving us this honorable award. Since it’s an award given to two people who acted together, not alone, it feels even more meaningful.”
Ryu Sunho suddenly paused and raised his arm.
The TV screen zoomed in on his wrist—an old bracelet that looked like prayer beads.
“Before filming the shrine scene, ma’am gave me a bracelet she’d worn her whole life like an acting talisman. Thanks to that, I wasn’t nervous, we were able to make a good scene, and I even received an award like this.”
He looked at the bracelet and continued.
“When ma’am gave me this bracelet, she said she was giving it to a friend who would open a new era. But I think…”
Ryu Sunho took a small case out of his pocket.
“Your era doesn’t seem to be over yet.”
He took out a new bracelet with an elegant design and handed it to Park Dusim.
“Ma’am. Please keep acting for a long, long time.”
At that moment,
not only the ceremony hall, but the two women in front of the TV swallowed their breath too.
Warm applause erupted.
Actress Park Dusim looked startled by Ryu Sunho’s action, then her eyes reddened.
She took the bracelet, put it on her wrist, smiled brightly, and hugged Ryu Sunho tightly.
After Ryu Sunho stepped aside, Park Dusim stood in front of the microphone.
“Oh my… first of all, thank you for giving this old actress such a fun award.”
She paused, stroked the bracelet now on her wrist, then said,
“At this age, I’m receiving a Best Couple Award, and I’m even getting a bracelet back from Sunho… It feels like the world is telling me this.”
With a slightly choked voice, she continued toward the audience.
“‘You’re still young.’ So like Sunho said, I’ll keep showing good acting for a long, long time. Everyone, truly… thank you.”
When we returned to our seats together, the Possessed Investigation table was already in festival mode.
Director Chae Wongi and the writer, of course—other actors too—stood and welcomed us with loud applause.
“Wow, our youngest really did something!”
“Sunho, you were so cool!”
Park Juwon tapped my shoulder.
“You made a legendary scene at the awards today. Even your acceptance speech was perfect.”
Then he glanced at my pocket and said,
“But when did you prepare that? Did you plan it in advance because you knew you’d win Best Couple?”
“No. I didn’t think we’d win. I was going to give it to ma’am after the ceremony ended. I didn’t expect to give it on stage like this.”
Seo Yunha, sitting beside us with red eyes, was stuffing macarons into her mouth.
Then, without a word, she raised her thumb at me.
A moment later, the ceremony moved to the next category.
The stage lights changed, and the heat of the ceremony grew even hotter.
“Next, we have the Rookie Award category, introducing the new faces who lit up dramas this year.”
An award you only get once in a lifetime.
It would be a lie to say I didn’t want it.
Even when I heard it from Team Leader Jo Sehun, the thing that made me happiest was being nominated for Rookie Award.
Maybe because I’d thought that—
my stomach suddenly started hurting.
‘…Should I go quickly before something embarrassing happens later?’
I was about to get up to rush to the restroom, when a staff member standing nearby came over in a fluster and stopped me.
“Ah—Actor Ryu Sunho. You need to stay seated.”
Huh?
This…
As if he thought the same, Park Juwon looked at me and grinned.
Because before the ceremony, Park Juwon had told me something.
-Here’s a tip for predicting winners—staff don’t let the people who’ll win leave their seats during the ceremony. Lots of people catch on like that.
Okay.
Then I should stay seated.
I sat back down with a happy heart.
But then, before announcing, the MC suddenly said something else.
“Before we announce the Rookie Award, we just got breaking news from the PD. Among the Rookie Award nominees, there’s actually someone who isn’t a rookie?”
As everyone looked confused, the female MC smiled and picked it up.
“Yes, that’s right. We heard that one of the nominees has appeared on MBS in the past. Who could it be? Without further ado, let’s meet them first through a video!”
Suddenly, a rustic music track began to play.
And a program title appeared huge on the screen.
[6 PM Our Hometown]
Everyone was flustered and confused, not knowing what was going on.
In the VCR, a little kid was doing a robot dance in front of parents working the fields.
Wearing a tacky sleeveless undershirt, too—face oddly serious.
As laughter spread here and there at the ridiculous visual,
I was the only one who couldn’t laugh.
“……”
Because…
“…Is that kid in the video you, Sunho…?”
That kid was me.
.