The Audition Begins
"Ha! Why did I have to draw number one? Be right back."
"I'm getting the part either way, but good luck."
"Yeah. Not you, though."
One of the students from the arts college stood, traded a fist bump with his friend, and disappeared into the audition room. About three minutes later he emerged looking distinctly grim.
"Thank you for your time. We'll notify you of the results through the contact information you provided. I'm sorry, but you won't be able to speak with the other applicants — please head straight that way and downstairs."
The staff member stationed by the door guided Na Seong-jin toward the exit.
"Next applicant, number two — Jeong Su-yeon."
Jeong Su-yeon, who had made a modest name for herself among younger audiences through web dramas, rose from her seat in the corner and went in. A short while later she came back out.
Like the applicant before her, her face was dark.
"Haa… what am I going to do?"
The sigh slipped out of her unbidden as she left the audition room.
If this keeps up, I'll end up on the same path as Joo-young unnie…
Jeong Su-yeon walked out of the audition hall with that shadowed expression still on her face.
The actor sitting beside Yeon-woo, who had been watching her, spoke up.
"Whew. Looks like the atmosphere in there is pretty brutal, huh?"
"Seems that way. It's my first time, so I'm a little nervous."
Yeon-woo offered a small smile to the actor who had struck up the conversation.
"Just do what you normally do in front of a camera and you'll be fine. Though, well — I'm not exactly in a position to give advice. Hoo!"
He offered the tip to Yeon-woo, who had said this was his first audition, then found himself catching the nerves as well and drew a deep breath.
"Anyway, let's both walk out of here with good news. I'm An Jun-ho. If I land this one, it'll be my third project. I've only ever played small parts so far, so I'm basically still a nobody."
He held out his hand for a shake.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Ryu Yeon-woo, sunbae-nim. This is my very first time."
Yeon-woo took the offered hand and broke into a bright smile.
"Come on, what's with the 'sunbae'? Still — looking at that face of yours, Yeon-woo-ssi, I get the feeling you'll be famous before long."
"That's very kind of you to say. Thank you."
Just then, a staff member called An Jun-ho's number.
"Number four, An Jun-ho? An Jun-ho-nim, you're up."
"Ugh, why did I have to draw the unlucky number four? Guess this one isn't meant to be either. I'll go first, Yeon-woo-ssi."
An Jun-ho rose with a parting nod to Yeon-woo.
After that, several more applicants went in and out, and Yeon-woo's turn drew near.
"Next person coming in… let's see. Ryu Yeon-woo? There's no photo on the profile."
"Ah, that one. Jeong Cheol-min contacted me a few days ago in a rush, asking if I'd let a student of his audition, so I just told him to send over the bare personal details."
At Director Kim Han-su's words, writer Choi Mi-hyeon spoke up with a note of pleasant recognition.
"Ahh, so Cheol-min recommended him. It's been a long time since I've seen him. Was the last time when we shot Seeing It Through?"
"Right — Cheol-min had a supporting role in one of Writer Choi's projects, didn't he?"
"Yes, Director. Absolute premium supporting work. The project itself flopped, but Cheol-min was excellent in it."
As Kim Han-su and Choi Mi-hyeon traded memories of Jeong Cheol-min, casting director Jeong Yun-seok added his own observation.
"That said — the man's own acting is beyond reproach, but his teaching ability might be another story. He's sent actors to commercial film auditions I've handled several times, and I've never cast a single one of them."
"Hmm. He may simply not have found his raw gem yet. Jeong Cheol-min is based out in the provinces these days, isn't he? In this industry, the talent pool in Seoul and the talent pool outside it are two different things."
At that moment the door opened and Ryu Yeon-woo strode purposefully into the room, taking his place at the center of the audition floor.
"Hello! I'm Ryu Yeon-woo, an aspiring actor auditioning for Summer's Closet."
His looks were nothing short of sculpted — the kind of face that made you half-believe a halo of light was shining behind him.
"…Wow. Found him."
Writer Choi Mi-hyeon let the pen she was holding drop onto the desk with a soft clack.
The quiet words she had spoken without thinking snapped the rest of the production team back to themselves.
"Cheol-min insisted I take a good look at one of his students. The visuals alone are outstanding."
"Thank you, Director."
At the mention of Teacher Jeong Cheol-min, Yeon-woo recognized the man speaking as Director Kim Han-su.
"No acting credits yet. And still a minor… hmm. How long have you been studying acting?"
"I've been training for about six months now."
Casting director Jeong Yun-seok gave a small smile that mixed interest with mild regret.
"The face is the kind that could go far, but six months… Well, let's see what you've got. Shall we begin, Director?"
At the casting director's words, Director Kim Han-su nodded and asked Yeon-woo for a free-choice performance.
"Would it be all right if I perform any role from the script?"
"Yes. If there's a particular role we want to see more of, we'll request a designated scene afterward. For now, pick any role, any scene from the script we sent you."
"Understood. Aspiring actor Ryu Yeon-woo, beginning Scene 16 of Episode 2."
Watching the young man prepare to perform, writer Choi Mi-hyeon silently prayed he would be good.
The looks were perfect. If the acting could even halfway keep up, this was a gift that had rolled right into their laps.
Yeon-woo set the script he had brought down beside him, and the production team flipped through their own copies to find Scene 16 of Episode 2.
The role he would be playing — Cha Woo-joo — was the son of a chaebol family.
In the preceding scenario, he had enrolled in the modeling department against his father's wishes and been thrown out of the house. With nowhere to go, he was killing endless hours on a campus bench.
Then a basketball struck the motorcycle parked beside him, shattering the side mirror on impact — and the scene Yeon-woo was about to perform was the one that followed.
Instead of demanding compensation from the drama's male lead, Kang Seo-jun, who had thrown the ball, Cha Woo-joo insisted on freeloading at the other man's studio apartment and followed him all the way home, digging in his heels.
There was a strategic reason he had chosen this particular scene for free-choice acting.
Scene 16 of Episode 2 was, among everything in the audition script, the sequence that allowed for the most varied shifts of expression.
And that was the single strongest weapon Yeon-woo currently had to put on display.
All right. First audition, but just show them what I've practiced.
Yeon-woo began the performance in earnest.
"Ah, I don't care about any of that. You wrecked my bike, so I'm sleeping here. You've got two rooms anyway."
Yeon-woo plugged his ears as if he couldn't hear a word and sprawled out across the floor of the stage.
A moment later he shot back up and delivered the next line in a wheedling, street-vendor murmur of persuasion.
"Look, I told you — I've got nowhere to go. And do you have any idea how much that motorcycle costs? You're getting off cheap. You know what kind of world this is these days."
Perhaps because no one had expected much after hearing he'd only been studying a short while, the production team found themselves taking a genuine interest as Yeon-woo poured out the lines with an artless, natural ease.
"Nooo! Hey, let go! Don't drag me! Whoa, this guy's strong—"
Even with no one in front of him, Yeon-woo delivered the line in a frantic rush, as if he were truly being hauled away.
"Hey, on a freezing day like this, are you seriously going to throw me out?"
"Ah — right, new semester. It's spring. Come on, you never heard of a cold snap in spring?"
Yeon-woo rattled off the lines without pause, a little pathetic and a little comic.
It wasn't a brilliant performance — but it was still a level of skill hard to believe from someone who had only started half a year ago.
Even so, the look in the production team's eyes as they watched him seemed to stop right there.
If I want to leave an impression and land even a single role… I have to do it, don't I?
Yeon-woo began a quiet round of mental self-coaching.
I am Ryu Yeon-woo. I'm eighteen, so I can be cute. I can absolutely be cute.
Then, as if he had made up his mind, he widened his eyes deliberately and turned them toward the production team.
"Come on. Think it over again, buddy. We've known each other a whole day — that makes us friends. Here, look at my big rabbit eyes. Doesn't that change your mind a little?"
He framed his face with both hands and blinked with guileless innocence.
Those large, beautiful eyes — set in a face so sculpted you could almost mistake him for a girl — fluttered without rest, and the sheer charm of it melted the production team where they sat, staring in a daze.
"That's all. Thank you for watching."
The faint tremor in Yeon-woo's cheeks as he bowed was surely just their imagination.
His expression went blank again almost at once. He returned to the exact center of the floor where he had set down the script and stood waiting.
Several seconds of silence had already passed.
"His vocal projection's not bad either, is it?"
"A little polishing and he'd improve fast."
"He said it's only been half a year. If an academy got him this far, he'll take off the moment he hits a real set."
Director Kim Han-su, finally pulling himself together at the murmured evaluations from the judges beside him, nodded as if he had reached a decision.
"Well done. Let's see… Scene 32 of Episode 3? Let's try that one as well. Take your time and read through it carefully if you need to."
He pointed at the script Yeon-woo had left on the floor and requested a different scene.
Scene 32 of Episode 3… hmm. The designated scene is Cha Woo-joo's too.
After a brief moment of thought, Ryu Yeon-woo spoke.
"I'll start right away."
The production team tilted their heads at that.
Start right away? It's not even a supporting character's scene. Don't tell me… he memorized the entire script?
"Go on, pick one — pick. Hmm? That sweater? It looks amazing on you, noona. When you've got a pretty face, everything suits you, doesn't it?"
Yeon-woo's artless performance made it feel as though a female student really were standing in front of him, holding a sweater up against herself.
"There's a fitting room in the back — try it on and come out. Hmm? I'll take a look for you. Noona."
He smiled with his eyes while chatting with an imaginary customer on his right — then immediately turned left, his face snapping to blank indifference.
"Hey. Jeong Yeo-reum. You said it yourself, clear as day. If I sell twenty of these today, you two get one of the rooms in that place you're living in, right?"
Then, as if Yeo-reum's words were a nuisance, Yeon-woo waved a dismissive hand and continued.
"Ah, whatever. Newlyweds, childhood friends — I don't care. You're putting me up, right? Fine. That's all I need."
With endlessly shifting expressions, Cha Woo-joo offered a radiant smile and customer service whenever he looked right, and treated Jeong Yeo-reum with open irritation whenever he looked left.
I'd planned to shoot these as two separate takes… but if he can do it this cleanly, we could hold a full shot and go for a single take. And if that's possible, the frame would look even better.
Watching Ryu Yeon-woo perform, Director Kim Han-su kept nodding and scribbling notes without pause.
"That's all. Thank you for watching."
Before anyone quite realized it, Yeon-woo had finished the scene again, standing at center and bowing deeply.
Clap, clap, clap!
Writer Choi Mi-hyeon broke into applause and a wide smile, looking nothing like someone in an audition room.
Casting director Jeong Yun-seok asked the question he had been curious about from the very beginning.