The Teaser Video
Time flowed on, and principal photography began in earnest. Yeon-woo quickly grew close to Son Jin-uk and An Jun-ho, picking up every fine detail from them as he settled into the rhythm of the set.
Perched on the bike, he pulled off the helmet and shook out his hair.
"Okay. Cut! That was excellent."
The staff watching the field monitor let out soft gasps of admiration.
It was a slow-motion shot of him removing the helmet and shaking his hair free—a scene deliberately inserted early by Writer Choi, who had been so inspired by Yeon-woo's visuals that she worked it in even though they were still filming the middle of the story.
"All right, let's go tight. Give his hair a light mist of water. Yeon-woo, after you take the helmet off, hold it with both hands and lower it. Ready—cue."
A staff member hurried over and lightly sprayed his hair. The cue came, and another wave of appreciative sounds rose.
Ooooh.
Framed in a tight shot, his hair now damp and glistening, Yeon-woo's looks hit even harder.
"Okay! Cut!"
"Yeon-woo, I taught you some acting tips—can't you spare me a little of that face?"
An Jun-ho, the set's resident mood-maker, cracked the joke, and the whole location dissolved into laughter again.
Meanwhile Yeon-woo felt a quiet pang of regret. His role offered almost no scenes that would let him show real acting range, and given the genre, the shoot kept emphasizing pure visuals. It left him a little unsatisfied.
Time slipped forward to early December, and the second-semester final exams drew near.
Out of consideration for Yeon-woo's status as a minor, LN Media had asked the production team to adjust the schedule. They filmed his scenes first, as far as possible without straining the overall plan, so he could prepare for finals.
As the set's youngest darling—bright, diligent, and universally liked—every staff member and actor rearranged the calendar without a single complaint.
Thanks to that kindness, Yeon-woo spent the next week studying for finals and, for the first time in nearly three weeks, returned to a normal school routine.
"It's Ryu Yeon-woo!"
The moment he stepped out of his father's car and through the school gate, kids swarmed around him.
"Yeon-woo, why haven't you been coming to school?"
"Even when we asked the teacher, all we heard was that you were filming."
Yeon-woo greeted them warmly and walked with them toward the main building.
"Ah, I lucked into a filming opportunity lately, so I've been working hard."
His smiling answer only made their curiosity explode.
"What kind of filming? Where's it airing? TV?"
"Yeah. It should start soon. It's a drama."
Whoa!
No way!
The kids around him burst into excited shouts.
"You're not about to get insanely famous all of a sudden, are you?"
"Yeon-woo. You're not gonna pretend you don't know us once you become a celeb, right?"
Seong-sik and Jun-su stuck close, trailing after him. Yeon-woo let out a soft laugh.
"Come on, celeb? That's way too far."
He chatted with the friends he hadn't seen in so long as they headed to the classroom, and word of his drama appearance spread through the school like wildfire.
Every break, his classroom overflowed with friends firing questions.
"So what role did you get?"
Something this rare in high school made everyone pour out their curiosity.
"The teaser hasn't even dropped yet, so I can't really talk about the part. The contract says I can't."
"Is it like a web drama, or is it actually going to be on TV?"
"It'll be on TV. When it airs, you guys are gonna catch the premiere live for me, right?"
Hearing him casually say "catch the premiere live" made the reality of their friend becoming an entertainer hit home, and the kids lit up with excitement.
"Obviously! I'll make every relative I have watch it!"
"I'm forcing my whole game guild to tune in!"
After finishing finals and returning to the set for the first time in a week, Yeon-woo found himself greeted warmly.
"It's only been a week, but it feels like forever. How'd the exams go, Woo-joo?"
"I came in first in my class."
He held up one finger as he spoke, and So-hyun's eyes widened.
"Huh? For real?"
"So-hyun, this kid's good at studying. I heard it at a drinking table last time Senior Jeong Cheol-min dropped by the set."
Son Jin-uk, just back from finishing his own scene, ruffled Yeon-woo's hair as he spoke.
"Crap! Hair's already done, right? Please tell me it's before."
He froze mid-ruffle, staring at the adorable Yeon-woo in sudden panic.
"Haha. It's before hair. I just got here."
"Whew. Thank god."
"Ah! Perfect timing—they're calling me. I'm heading to makeup!"
Yeon-woo trotted off toward the hair-and-makeup team.
"He's so bright. Not a single wrinkle on that kid."
"Right? Think I could just end up with Woo-joo instead?"
"Jeong Yeo-reum. That's a crime."
"Why? Yeon-woo's almost an adult."
Han So-hyun's teasing was cut short by An Jun-ho, who had appeared behind them.
"Noona and Yeon-woo are exactly ten years apart, so when Yeon-woo's twenty, Noona will be…"
"Aah! Shut up!"
Jun-ho took off running; So-hyun chased after him.
Watching them, Director Kim Han-su smiled.
"The set atmosphere really is great, isn't it, Director."
The assistant director's comment drew a nod from Kim Han-su.
"It is. I figured having so many young actors would be nice, but…"
"Yeon-woo's made it even better, I think."
Meanwhile a staff member hurried over the moment Yeon-woo stepped out of makeup.
"Actor-nim. We have teaser filming today, so please wait with the leads for a bit."
"Yes, understood."
Yeon-woo walked over to where An Jun-ho and Han So-hyun were still playfully bickering.
"They say we have teaser filming."
"Ah, right. That's why we're waiting."
An Jun-ho grinned at him.
"Then I'll step out for a moment, Young Master."
"Yes, Manager Hwang. Please give Father my regards."
Cha Woo-joo smoothly returned the ad-lib with a matching smile. The watching staff chuckled softly at the exchange.
"We'll do a simple teaser shoot over in that corner."
At the staff member's words, the three leads moved.
"The first fifty-two seconds will be edited footage from the actual broadcast, then you'll deliver your lines for the remaining eight seconds."
"Okay. So-hyun, Yeon-woo—how should we do this? I'll take the first line."
So-hyun picked it up smoothly.
"Then I'll follow with 'Please catch the premiere live.'"
Yeon-woo thought for a second, then slipped behind the two of them and sat.
"After that I'll pop out from between you two and say 'Channel lock!' and we all do finger hearts together?"
Son Jin-uk and Han So-hyun both nodded at his final suggestion.
"All right, starting. Ready—cue."
At the assistant director's cue, Son Jin-uk looked into the camera and spoke.
"JNBC's Summer's Closet comes to you on Wednesday, January 3rd."
"Please catch the premiere live!"
The two parted to either side, and Ryu Yeon-woo appeared.
"Channel lock!"
"Cut! Excellent work, everyone."
Hong Yu-ri, free of the college entrance exam at last, was sprawled comfortably on the living-room sofa watching the JNBC drama Time of the Fox with her mother—the show they had both been enjoying lately.
Her mother sighed at the sight of Yu-ri in thick-rimmed glasses, scratching her backside.
"The day after tomorrow is Christmas, you little brat. You don't even have a boyfriend?"
"Mom! Don't poke the sore spot. I'm already sad because Time of the Fox ends next week!"
"What about that school boy you used to follow around all the time? He not interested?"
Her daughter had chattered endlessly about Ryu Yeon-woo, after all.
"Ugh, Mom. The drama's almost over anyway."
At Yu-ri's words her mother turned her eyes back to the television.
Soon the drama ended, and a teaser for a new drama set to premiere in two weeks appeared.
Summer's Closet
"It's still a long way till summer…"
Of course the original plan had been to start in spring and finish in summer, but Yu-ri had no way of knowing that.
A quick-cut montage of the early story flashed by, and in one fleeting shot Yu-ri spotted a familiar face.
"Huh? That definitely looked like Yeon-woo…"
"Now the girl's seeing things. Is that boy really that good?"
Even under her mother's scolding, Hong Yu-ri could not tear her eyes from the screen.
A campus romance comedy.
For Hong Yu-ri, who would be entering university soon, it instantly ranked as must-watch drama number one.
After the brief introduction, the network logo appeared, followed by the lead actors.
"JNBC's Summer's Closet comes to you on Wednesday, January 3rd."
Whoa. It's Son Jin-uk. He's so handsome.
"Please catch the premiere live!"
Han So-hyun. She's gorgeous.
Then the two parted, and a young man stepped forward.
"Channel lock!"
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
"Good heavens, you nearly gave me a heart attack! Has this girl completely lost her mind?!"
"Mom! Mom! It's Yeon-woo. Hic…"
Hong Yu-ri was so shocked she started crying as she spoke.
Her mother, startled by the sudden outburst, leaned in with worry.
"What are you talking about? Why is she crying all of a sudden?"
The next day, school was turned upside down.
"Yeon-woo, you crazy bastard. Filming meant something this huge?"
"Hey! How dare you speak so disrespectfully of our Lord Ryu."
Seong-sik's intense reaction earned a stern rebuke from Jun-su, high priest of the Infinite Yeon-woo Church.
Seong-sik turned to the playfully solemn Jun-su.
"Dude, you weren't surprised?"
"Of course I was. I was in the middle of a ranked match when KakaoTalk started blowing up. I checked the link, freaked out, and hit surrender."
"Whoa, you abandoned a ranked match? Okay, that counts."
Just then someone shouted from the corner of the classroom.
"Huh? Yeon-woo just posted in our class KakaoTalk room."
At the cry, everyone grabbed their phones.
A flood of smile emojis began pouring into the class group chat.
Hahaha.
"What's so funny, Woo-joo?"
"Ah, Noona. It's my classmates."
Yeon-woo showed So-hyun the group chat.
"These kids are hilarious."
"Right?"
So-hyun seemed to get an idea; she pulled out her phone and started downloading an app.
"Yeon-woo, what class are you in at school?"
"Me? Second year, Class 3."
"Let's take a selfie. Post it in the chat."
She held up her phone so the screen filled with the words "2-3 Fighting!" and looked at Yeon-woo.
"This'll be fun."
Click!