Cameo
The variety-show filming that had once seemed impossible to get used to had wrapped all the way through its fourth week, and before anyone knew it, May was already drawing near.
The third episode had aired yesterday, and with reruns almost every day, Yeon-woo would flip through the channels at home and find himself on screen more often than not. If anything, even more people seemed to recognize him now than during the drama's run. The reactions from students at school had grown even hotter, and with more strangers spotting him on the street, taking public transit to the acting academy downtown had become genuinely difficult.
Today, however, he rode in his father's car after work and visited Cheol-min's academy for the first time in nearly three months.
"Holy crap. It's Ryu Yeon-woo."
"No way. He really is from this academy."
From the entrance alone, students poked their heads out at the news of his visit.
"Hello."
Yeon-woo offered a brief nod and stepped inside.
"Hey, get out here. Ryu Yeon-woo's at the front door right now."
"Oppa, take a picture with me!"
He had barely taken a step before students swarmed him, and he was soon busy posing for photo after photo.
"Kids. You're putting Yeon-woo on the spot. Let's take pictures a little later."
Drawn by the commotion outside, Jeong Cheol-min emerged from the director's office and shielded him.
"Come on in first, Yeon-woo."
"Yes, Teacher."
Cheol-min led him into the office and clapped him on the shoulder with a broad grin. These days, his student's dazzling success left him full even without eating.
"Man, I've been watching the variety show. Your popularity's on a whole different level from when it was just the drama."
"Haha. It really is. Maybe that's the power of variety."
Yeon-woo sat on the office sofa and pulled a script from his bag.
"Teacher. This is Director Kim Han-su's new project."
"Ah, the cameo my senior mentioned last time? Spring's Lover, huh. After summer comes spring."
Just as Cheol-min said, Director Kim Han-su loved giving his works a clear sense of season, so after finishing Summer's Closet, Yeon-woo had naturally moved on to filming Spring's Lover.
Cheol-min took the script, flipped through it with a soft rustle, and spoke.
"Hmm. So the role he asked you for is the younger version of Ji Woo-hyuk."
"Yes. It's my first time playing a younger version of a character, and my first time on the big screen, so…"
Yeon-woo had come to the academy seeking advice after being offered the high-school-era role of the film's male lead. When the director first asked him for the cameo, he had described it as the heroine's first love—but looking at the script, it was the male lead's younger self. Of course, they were the same person, so it wasn't wrong.
"Come on. You handle this stuff on your own now."
Even as he said it, Cheol-min was already jotting down serious notes.
"Hmm. Has the adult casting been locked in?"
"Yes. Senior Kang Ju-won is playing Ji Woo-hyuk."
Cheol-min nodded as if that explained everything.
"So that's why he asked you. The vibe is oddly similar."
"Is it?"
Kang Ju-won was, by universal agreement, one of Korea's most handsome actors. He had debuted as a youth star around Yeon-woo's age and was now in his late thirties—not merely a pretty face, but an actor with a glittering filmography who had proven his craft across every genre. Thinking of him, Cheol-min understood exactly why Senior Kim Han-su had insisted on Yeon-woo.
"Right. For a cameo, the screen time is substantial, and the role is important enough. In a way, this is your screen debut."
"They're aiming for a late-this-year or early-next-year release. Filming already started last month."
Cheol-min wrote in his notebook as he explained carefully.
"First off, film is different from drama. The running time is short, and everything has to land inside it. That means the audience's immersion in the character has to be that much stronger."
"So the continuity from the younger version to the adult role is crucial."
Cheol-min nodded and continued.
"Exactly. You have to analyze the adult Ji Woo-hyuk in the story and understand the background that shaped him."
"They didn't give me any separate backstory for the younger years. What should I do in a case like this?"
"Then the actor has to invent enough of a narrative that it holds together."
Yeon-woo nodded at the answer.
"Invent it myself…"
Cheol-min looked at him with quiet pride and added one more thing.
"Here's the most important tip. Actors with a filmography as solid as Kang Ju-won's have a hard time shedding their own performance tone and distinctive atmosphere, no matter what role they take."
"Ah! So Ji Woo-hyuk matters, but I also need to analyze Senior Kang Ju-won himself and act from that?"
Cheol-min ruffled his hair and nodded, delighted at how instantly he grasped it.
"Smart kid. You always catch on fast."
"It's thanks to what I learned from you, Teacher."
After calling his father, Yeon-woo said goodbye to Cheol-min and made his way from the office to the entrance—one step, three selfies—before heading down to the parking lot.
Once he was in the car, his father handed him a thermos of plum tea he had steeped himself, insisting it was important for "our actor's throat," and asked,
"Well? Did you get a clear solution?"
"Yes. Teacher Jeong Cheol-min really is different."
After hearing Cheol-min out, Yeon-woo finally had a solid sense of how to prepare.
Back home, once he finished school and his personal studies each day, he binged every work in Kang Ju-won's filmography without fail. He analyzed the man's delivery, expressions, and physical habits—the same kind of behavioral mirroring he had once used on operations to build rapport before extracting information. It was a field he was more confident in than any working actor.
At the same time, he kept turning over the Ji Woo-hyuk inside the role. The film never said why Woo-hyuk had decided to become a firefighter. What kind of student had that boy been, the one who made that choice? Layering imagination onto the text, Yeon-woo built out a complete personal history for him.
Analyzing both the character and the actor, he watched the shoot date draw near.
Ssshk—
"It's been a while, Actor Ryu."
"Hyung Min-su. It's been a month. I missed you."
Min-su grinned at Yeon-woo's bright greeting. During variety filming they had seen each other every week; now that shoot had been over for a month, and next week would be the final broadcast.
"Makeup's on set. Should take about an hour and a half to get there."
"Got it. Then I'd better go over the script one last time."
Min-su's car, with Yeon-woo inside, headed for an abandoned school in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do. Abandoned in name only—used as a set, it looked better maintained than when actual students had attended.
They arrived well ahead of the eleven-o'clock call time. Yeon-woo got out and walked with Min-su toward the set. In a corner by the outdoor taps, Director Kim Han-su was deep in a take. Yeon-woo waited quietly out of the way until he heard the okay, then approached.
"Director!"
"Oh, look who it is. Yeon-woo. Thank you for coming all this way."
Director Kim Han-su opened both arms in a warm welcome.
"Everyone, this is the rising star who's here to help with today's shoot."
Waaah!
Clap clap clap!
Familiar crew members were scattered all over the set. Of course—the Kim Han-su team.
"Milky-skinned Ryu Yeon-woo!"
Someone on the crew called out the nickname, and laughter rippled across the set. Because it was a school scene, most of the extras and child actors were young performers or aspiring ones, and they were intensely curious about the Yeon-woo who had just appeared. It was a working set, so they didn't swarm the way the students at Cheol-min's academy had, but the extra students still clustered in little groups to stare.
"Ye-seul. Would you show Yeon-woo around?"
"Yes, Director. Yeon-woo, come with unnie."
Yeon-woo followed Ye-seul, the on-set manager who had been with him since Summer's Closet, to get his makeup done.
"It's been forever since Hawaii, right?"
"It really has. How have you been, unnie?"
Chatting easily, they entered the makeup room set up inside the school building and found Ju-hui's team—the same artists who had handled Yeon-woo on Summer's Closet.
"Oh my god. Actor Ryu Yeon-woo?"
"Ah, hello. Ju-hui unnie, right?"
When Yeon-woo called her by name, Ju-hui looked startled. Memorizing names and faces was an old habit that stretched back to his previous life.
"You remembered my name—I'm so honored! I'm a Woo's member."
"Really? Then I'll have to keep remembering it."
Yeon-woo smiled at Ju-hui as she revealed she belonged to his fan café, Woo's. She silently congratulated her past self for having dragged her ailing body to work that day.
"I couldn't ask last time because of your personal interview, but once makeup's done, can we take a selfie?"
"Of course. Take a million."
"Yes!"
He answered the carefully posed request with easy kindness. It was Yeon-woo's first time meeting an actual Woo's member in person, and he felt genuinely grateful.
As she applied his base, Ju-hui chattered away.
"I came for a school shoot today with zero expectations. I never thought I'd run into you here."
"The director asked me to do a cameo."
"Insane!"
Even ordinary remarks made her light up the moment he opened his mouth. Yeon-woo could only feel thankful that anyone would be this happy just to see him.
"So what role are you playing today?"
"Ji Woo-hyuk."
"Ahh."
They didn't know the film, so the name alone meant nothing to Ju-hui and her team.
"It's Senior Kang Ju-won's high-school years."
"Ahh! Oh my god."
"Now that you say it, he does look like him. The atmosphere."
Only then did Ju-hui and the others clap and start buzzing among themselves.
"All done, Actor!"
"Thank you, Ju-hui unnie."
Hearing her name made her beam like a schoolgirl. After selfies with her and the rest of the team, Yeon-woo changed into the school uniform the staff had prepared and headed back to set.
"Holy crap. Look at Ryu Yeon-woo in a school uniform."
"If I take a phone pic I'll get yelled at, right? I want to brag in the group chat so bad."
"Wait till after the shoot. If there's any noise you'll get chewed out at the academy. You'll probably get a chance."
Yeon-woo passed through the murmuring extras and reached the camera team.
"Mm. Exactly the image I had in my head."
Director Kim Han-su nodded as he looked at him.
"Yeon-woo, this is Jeong Su-yeon, your scene partner for today."
"Ah—hello. I'm Jeong Su-yeon."