The Third Work (3)
Park Hajun, a student in the Entertainment Department at Hanbit Arts High School, commanded enormous popularity even within the school itself.
And for good reason. As a rookie actor, he had already carved out a solid foothold of his own, and that ever-present smile of his had a way of lifting the spirits of anyone who saw it. Add a bright, relentlessly positive personality on top of that, and it was no surprise that people thronged around him at all times.
And yet, for some reason, that same Park Hajun was staring blankly out the window at the vast blue sky.
……Lately, he had been nursing a single worry.
How do I get myself noticed by that person?
The "that person" occupying Park Hajun's thoughts was, of course, Writer 927.
In a way, it was a perfectly natural longing for any actor. A mysterious genius writer who had appeared out of nowhere the previous year, swept every award there was to sweep, and whose name was now known across the world.
Honestly—was there a single actor alive who had watched that person's dramas and not wanted to appear in one of them?
Park Hajun certainly wasn't one of them.
Separate from his usual good nature, the moment anything touched on acting, the look in his eyes changed completely. And a few days earlier, Park Hajun had caught wind of a rumor that snagged his attention hard.
Writer 927 had begun conceptualizing a new script.
Whether that was just stalling to cool down overheated public opinion, or whether it was the truth—only the top brass at Studio NMIX and, most likely, that one particular actress would know.
Right. That actress……
The actress who enjoyed Writer 927's favor, who was locked in as the lead in every single one of his works, and who answered that favor by delivering staggering performances episode after episode, rewriting the definition of legendary with each new role.
Seol Soyoung.
Honestly, even Park Hajun had to acknowledge her skill. Pair that beauty with an overwhelming acting ability that belonged to a girl younger than him, and the admiration just spilled out on its own.
Either way, the meeting of a genius writer and a genius actress had happened last year as if by fate. Anyone could see that this combination was incapable of failure.
And so……
"Ahh. I'm so jealous."
Park Hajun slumped bonelessly into his chair and let out a long sigh. Deep down, he was genuinely envious of Seol Soyoung for having caught Writer 927's eye.
If he ever appeared in that person's work, he was sure he could deliver a performance that lived up to the expectations……
Of course, he also knew full well that the time wasn't right yet. He had barely filmed a handful of projects—there was no way that person even knew he existed. And even if Writer 927 had seen his acting, he would probably find it sorely lacking.
Right. Getting greedy this early wouldn't mean a thing. All he could do for now was keep his head down, work hard, take on a variety of roles to sharpen his craft, and raise his profile high enough that it eventually reached that person's ears.
That day, Park Hajun contacted his agency, Ability, and made it clear he wanted to appear in the next project available.
And the following day, he received news from his agency manager so shocking that—
"No way! Hyung Gihun! You're not lying to me, right?!"
Park Hajun's manager, Seong Gihun, merely shrugged. He, too, still wore a faintly dazed expression after taking the call from Studio NMIX.
Writer 927 wanted to cast Park Hajun as a lead actor……
Seong Gihun cracked a wry smile. One thing was certain: for the Park Hajun of right now, that single sentence was more than enough.
"Yeah. Your life's set, you little punk."
Once the news broke that Park Hajun and Seol Soyoung had been confirmed for Itaewon Revolution, I carefully checked the community reactions.
Yeah. Dizzying.
I didn't care about the rest of it—that last comment was the one that got under my skin.
One project per quarter? That was a workload practically designed to work someone to death. If I actually tried that, I'd burn through this life even faster than my previous one. The thought alone pulled a sigh out of me.
If the public kept reacting like this even after Itaewon Revolution wrapped, I might as well just announce a provisional retirement and be done with it.
Looking back, keeping my identity completely hidden from the start had been a masterstroke. If I said I was exhausted from the excessive attention, that the public response was too overwhelming, and then retired—what exactly could anyone do about it? And since my face had never been revealed, the media would be useless too.
Right. I could stop worrying about dramas entirely and focus fully on my studies. What a beautiful picture that would be.
For the record, once the lead casting centered on Park Hajun and Seol Soyoung was locked in, Itaewon Revolution barreled into the filming stage at an astonishing speed. There was the usual location-scouting phase people called "hunting" in between, but Studio NMIX was throwing themselves into this production with genuine enthusiasm, so even that barely took any time.
If they were this happy just doing their actual jobs, they must have really suffered when they turned into the nation's unofficial complaint center. Which, of course, made me feel guilty all over again. If I declared a provisional retirement, the calls would flood Studio NMIX once more……
Ssshh……
Well…… nothing was decided yet, so I'd think about that problem later.
I contacted PD Na and asked how production was coming along.
"We're coordinating the shooting schedule right now. At this rate, we should start principal photography in about five days. The actors have already begun script rehearsals."
"Then have you been to any of the rehearsals yourself, PD Na?"
"Of course. There's a wide range of ages mixed in, but the atmosphere on set was excellent."
Park Hajun, with his gift for brightening every room he entered; Seol Soyoung, whose exceptional skill and immersion could naturally lead her scene partners' performances. With those two young actors—the future of the drama industry—working side by side, of course the set atmosphere would be good.
"But why do you ask?"
"Just curious. Wondering how the chemistry is between the leads I chose."
"Well…… as you know, their characters don't cross paths until episode two, so yesterday was the first time they actually worked together."
Episode one was essentially a one-man show for Gang Cheol—which was to say, for Park Hajun.
At seventeen, Gang Cheol was expelled after a school assault and left with nothing but a middle-school diploma. Then his father was murdered. Blind with rage over his father's death, Gang Cheol tracked down the man he suspected and beat him nearly to death—until a detective intervened and put a stop to it. The man he'd attacked wasn't the real killer, and Gang Cheol ended up a juvenile offender with an attempted-murder record, shipped off to a youth detention center.
A year later, released as a model inmate, Gang Cheol heard a devastating truth from the same detective who had stopped him: the man who killed his father had done it as revenge for that fist Gang Cheol had thrown at seventeen, when he couldn't stand an injustice.
In that moment, eighteen-year-old Gang Cheol found a new purpose.
……To drag the man who murdered his father straight into hell.
That was the rough outline of episode one. Episode two depicted Gang Cheol and Yu Ara's first meeting.
In just five years, through grueling odd jobs and hard labor, Gang Cheol had scraped together enough money to open a proper shop of his own in Itaewon. Then one day, unwelcome guests walked through the door—Yu Ara, now a high school sophomore, and her friends, who'd forged IDs to drink there. A patrol officer caught them mid-round, and Gang Cheol's shop was slapped with a two-week suspension.
At the police station, Gang Cheol and Yu Ara came face to face. Yu Ara braced herself for him to explode. Instead, he took the blame like an adult, told her to never pull a stunt like that again, and walked away.
To Yu Ara—whose view of adults had been nothing but negative—Gang Cheol was a walking contradiction. And so, if only to reject that contradiction, she decided to keep watching him from up close.
Well…… she might have started out in denial, but in the end Yu Ara fell for Gang Cheol's integrity and became the key member who turned his shop into a success.
Anyway.
"This is purely my personal impression, but both of them already have multiple credits under their belts, so finding their chemistry didn't seem to be a problem at all. Just watching them laugh and chat during breaks, they already looked like they'd become friends."
"Yeah…… well. They're not that far apart in age either. Ah—and sorry for calling when you're busy."
"……Writer?"
I hung up on PD Na right there.