Awards Ceremony (2)
"Hmm, Ryu Yeon-woo? New Star Award and Excellence in Acting…"
"Ryu Yeon-woo is a young actor who's been rising fast lately."
The interpreter standing beside him added the explanation for Fenton.
Bernard Fenton, Hollywood casting director.
His main field of work was with the multinational streaming giants Netflix and A-Prime, connecting actors to the original series and films those platforms produced.
K-pop had already exploded, of course, but Fenton had felt the growing demand for Korean content in Hollywood and moved quickly to get ahead of it.
"He's got a face that could definitely sell… Write down the titles he's been in for me later."
"Yes, Director."
Following a staff member's guidance, Yeon-woo made his way over and joined the table where the Summer's Closet team was seated.
"Director, Jun-ho hyung. You got here first."
"Yeah. We skipped the photo wall and just came in with the director."
Yeon-woo looked at Director Kim Han-su and An Jun-ho, who had already claimed their assigned seats.
No matter which way he turned his head, the awards hall was packed with famous celebrities.
Jin-uk, already seated, spotted Yeon-woo and pointed toward the fans.
"Yeon-woo, our fans are over there. Let's go say hi together."
Yeon-woo followed the direction of Jin-uk's finger.
Even among the audience seats on this floor, a Summer's Closet banner was visible.
They were fans of the drama who had been selected in advance through an online notice, along with the staff escorting them.
When the two of them waved together, the fans erupted in cheers and waved their banners back.
Seeing Jin-uk and Yeon-woo, So-hyun and Jun-ho also turned and answered the fans with waves of their own.
Soon after, the awards ceremony began.
The hall darkened, and a cinematic montage played across the screen.
The works that had set every medium ablaze over the past year flashed by in short, grandly scored edits.
Summer's Closet appeared briefly between the other scenes as well.
The glittering ceremony proceeded smoothly.
Then, toward the end of Part One, the moment arrived for the TV Category Best New Actor award—the one for which Yeon-woo had been nominated.
"All right, shall we meet our third nominee?"
As actor Gu Do-hyeon—last year's winner and this year's presenter for the Best New Actor award—delivered the line, a short edited reel of Yeon-woo's performance in Summer's Closet filled the screen.
"Actor Ryu Yeon-woo, who played Cha Woo-joo in the JNBC Wednesday-Thursday drama Summer's Closet."
This is somehow embarrassing…
A personal camera swung in front of Yeon-woo and captured his expression.
Having his own acting projected onto the giant screen in a hall full of so many actors left him feeling oddly shy.
The remaining nominees were introduced one after another, until five male actors appeared on the screen together.
I thought I didn't care about awards, but now that it's here, I really want it.
At first he had been content simply to be nominated, attending the ceremony with a sense of pure honor. But as the moment of presentation drew near, the desire to win grew stronger and stronger.
The people hoping Yeon-woo would take the award were not limited to those inside the hall.
His family was watching the live SBC broadcast at home.
"Aigoo, I can't even look, I'm so nervous, honey."
"Heh heh. Winning isn't everything. Just being in that seat is already such an honor. Let's take it easy."
His parents had pulled their chairs right up to the television, trying to get even a little closer.
Behind them on the sofa, his younger sister Ryu So-hyun watched her parents and let out a soft snort of laughter.
Ryu Cheol-ung, the one telling everyone to take it easy, was trembling so hard anyone could see it.
Meanwhile, in a Yonha University dorm room, Woo Seong-sik was locked onto the SBC on-air stream on his laptop.
He had made such a racket that his roommate and a few classmates from the department had joined him, tearing into fried chicken while they watched.
"Hey, Seong-sik. You're seriously best friends with Ryu Yeon-woo? Not just classmates?"
Kim Jae-gwon, a classmate who never took anyone's word for anything and found fault with everything, asked while looking at Seong-sik.
It was already the third time he had asked. Seong-sik shot him a glare.
"What, why are you glaring? I was just curious."
Jae-gwon shrugged and looked away.
In truth, Jae-gwon had never once lost a leadership position since elementary school and had wanted to be class representative in university as well. But Seong-sik, with his natural social ease, had become close with everyone from orientation onward and taken the title, so Jae-gwon had been nursing a grudge ever since.
Elsewhere, Kim Jun-su and Hong Yu-ri—not quite dating yet, but spending more and more time together—were sharing a pair of earphones at a café, watching the ceremony on a laptop.
"Ahh, Yeon-woo has to win!"
"Of course he will."
Both of them stared holes through the screen, hands clasped together.
At last, presenter Gu Do-hyeon leaned into the microphone.
"The winner of the Best New Actor award in the TV category at the 55th Korea Arts Awards is…"
He let the pause hang for a beat, then spoke again.
"Congratulations. Ryu Yeon-woo of Summer's Closet."
A roar went up.
Yeon-woo rose with a brilliant smile.
"Congratulations, Yeon-woo!"
"You little—congratulations!"
Son Jin-uk and Han So-hyun beamed as if they themselves had won, gripping his hands tightly.
It was not only the Summer's Closet team; actors at the surrounding tables offered their congratulations as well.
Just before Yeon-woo headed for the stage, Maseok Do came over from another table, took his hand, and clapped him on the back.
"Congrats, little brother."
"Thank you, hyung-nim. See you on set tomorrow."
Greeting the countless celebrities he passed on the way, Yeon-woo climbed onto the stage.
"In JNBC's Summer's Closet, Ryu Yeon-woo portrayed Cha Woo-joo, a young man torn between the family business he is meant to inherit and the dream he longs for, expressing the raw, unripe feelings of first love with such freshness that he became a major topic among viewers. Congratulations on the award."
The hall announcer's description of Yeon-woo's work filled the air, and a still of a brightly smiling Cha Woo-joo appeared on the stage screen.
With his long legs taking confident strides, Yeon-woo accepted the trophy from presenter Do-hyeon.
"Thank you, sunbae-nim."
"I enjoyed the show. Congratulations."
Do-hyeon smiled, shook his hand, and stepped down. Yeon-woo took his place at the microphone for the first acceptance speech of his life.
In a dapper black suit and bow tie, his sculpted features were broadcast across the entire country.
"Oh my goodness, honey! Our Yeon-woo!"
"A real looker has come out of our family!"
"Waaaaah!"
The family threw their arms around one another, pouring out their joy without restraint.
At the café, Kim Jun-su and Hong Yu-ri also hugged in delight—then immediately flushed scarlet and sprang apart.
"Waaah! Ah— ahem."
"Ahem."
Seong-sik's dorm room was just as ecstatic.
"Waaaaah!"
Seong-sik whooped at Yeon-woo's win. Jae-gwon, who had forced himself to come only because he was afraid of being talked about behind his back if he skipped a gathering of classmates, muttered sourly,
"Why is he overreacting like that? Anyone watching would think they were family."
His muttering was so obvious that even his friends frowned a little.
Seong-sik paid him no mind and kept his eyes fixed on the sculpted face of his friend on the laptop screen.
Through the speakers, Yeon-woo's acceptance speech began to flow.
"First of all, I am truly happy to receive a Best New Actor award—something a person can only win once in a lifetime. I want to thank Director Kim Han-su, Writer Choi Mi-hyeon, and every single member of the staff for giving me this wonderful opportunity."
Yeon-woo went on to recall his very first day of filming and named the colleagues who had shared that breath with him; each time, the cameras cut briefly to the Summer's Closet cast members present at the ceremony.
Then the shot returned to Yeon-woo as he continued.
"Thank you to LN Entertainment, to all the precious members of Woo's, and to my acting teacher, Actor Jeong Cheol-min. And above all, to my precious family—Dad, Mom, I won the award."
Watching their son beam at the camera, Ryu Cheol-ung and Lee Seon-ok felt a sudden lump in their throats; tears welled in their eyes.
Jeong Cheol-min, watching from the acting academy, was the same.
"What about me?!"
As if he had heard his little sister on the sofa, her name came out next without missing a beat.
"And my cute little So-hyun. Ah—same name as Actress Han So-hyun. I'm talking about my real little sister. Haha. Oppa will give you lots of allowance."
Laughter erupted inside the awards hall and rode the live microphones faintly into living rooms across the country.
"Thank you to Jun-su and Seong-sik, who always cheer me on, to Yuri noona, to the best manager Min-su hyung, and to stylist Ye-eun noona. Now that I've won Best New Actor, I will repay you all with even better work from now on."
With that final line, Yeon-woo bowed and left the stage.
There had been not the slightest trace of nerves; the words had poured out smoothly, and even after thanking so many people, he had not taken much time at all.
Meanwhile, the moment Yeon-woo's final words of gratitude reached them, Seong-sik's dorm room exploded with cheers.
"Ooooh! He said Woo Seong-sik's name too! They really must be close?"
"I told you we're best friends! How many times do I have to say it? Mwahaha."
The other classmates crowded around him with envious looks, begging him to get them autographs. Jae-gwon, lips pushed out in a sulky pout, could only chew savagely on the innocent chicken.
And at the café, Jun-su and Yu-ri, still sharing the earphones, let out small screams of surprise.
"Kyaa! What? He said my name too!"
"Right? Mine too!"
Yeon-woo's win, which had brought joy to so many, concluded, and the ceremony moved on to the remaining awards.
The Best Actor award in the TV category—for which both Jin-uk and Yeon-woo had been nominated—went, just as many in the press had predicted, to Jin Yu-han, who had been regarded as Son Jin-uk's main rival this year.
Han So-hyun took Best Actress in the TV category, softening the disappointment, and the ceremony stretched on into the late evening before finally ending.
Having claimed two awards tonight—So-hyun's Excellence Award and Yeon-woo's Best New Actor—the Summer's Closet team was in a festive mood, and the celebration naturally spilled over into a company dinner.
Now of legal drinking age, Yeon-woo mixed more freely with the staff than before, sharing the joy.
Even Son Jin-uk, who had unfortunately not won tonight, seemed genuinely satisfied with Yeon-woo's and So-hyun's victories; a smile never left his lips the entire time.
Bombarded with calls, Yeon-woo stepped aside at the dinner first to speak with his family, then worked steadily through the missed calls in the order they had stacked up.
And so the happy night passed—the first red carpet Ryu Yeon-woo had ever walked, and the first award he had ever won, since beginning his new life.