The Ticket Frenzy Begins
One week before the performance, at 11 a.m., ticket sales opened on the official online homepage of the Actor's Yard theater troupe for the original play Saw the Pheasant?. The show was scheduled for a total of 43 performances from July 29 to August 31. Of these, Team A was assigned 24 shows, and Team B got 19.
Actor's Yard didn't use any third-party ticketing sites; they only sold through their official homepage or at the door. As a flood of visitors rushed to book tickets, the site experienced temporary outages. It was like the infamous "ticket war" for a popular idol concert.
On Baek Woojin's official fan cafe "Baek Woojin House" and the "Gallery Farm - Baek Woojin Gallery," reactions poured in.
Joy from those who snagged tickets mixed with anxiety from those still trying, creating a whirlwind of emotions.
Team A's weekday shows (Mon/Wed/Fri) and weekend 7 p.m. slots sold out in under 10 minutes. Posts and replies full of deep regret kept coming.
But then,
Fans who missed out online still had a shot—30% of tickets were reserved for same-day door sales, with 70% online.
Of course, posts offering to buy Team A tickets at double or more weren't rare,
Actor's Yard led Daehak-ro in stamping out scalping. It was a core issue Jeong Jae-min and Oh Tae-hyeop had debated endlessly while building their system.
As a result, their ticketing had ironclad rules you wouldn't see elsewhere:
• Strict one ticket per person.
• ID verification on entry.
• Name mismatch? No entry, full refund.
• Refunded tickets convert to door sales only.
This hit revenue directly and meant meticulous checks—super inconvenient. At first, even troupe members and outsiders grumbled, "Why bother with all this hassle?"
But Jeong Jae-min and Oh Tae-hyeop never budged on it. The tradeoff? A premium image. Tickets cost the same as other Daehak-ro shows, but Actor's Yard felt special. The pros outweighed the cons, so they stuck with it.
And at that moment,
"Haa..."
A woman clutched her head at her desk, sighing deeply. Her face crumpled in dismay, lips pouting. It was Team Leader Park Mi-young.
She'd been swamped prepping a new product launch until recently. With the project done, she finally took a rare day off, starting it in high spirits.
Perfect timing too—rest, and snag tickets no problem!
Cannot connect to site. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Her laptop screen mocked her mercilessly.
'Me... Park Mi-young... failing?!'
She'd set an alarm, sat down five minutes early—and then one call ruined it all. A follow-up work matter from the section chief.
She'd even left a post-report on his desk yesterday to avoid this. Sweating bullets through the call, she rushed back—only to find it past 11 sharp.
She hit book frantically, but no "success" screen. Just frozen for minutes.
"Damn it... Why call someone on vacation at the crack of dawn?!"
Her mom was a die-hard trot singer fan (some N guy?), so she'd battled countless bookings. Never failed once. In a macro-bot world, she prided herself on superhuman speed no AI could match.
Park Mi-young tamped down her boiling rage(?) and assessed. Turns out, the new hire tidied the chief's desk on arrival and mindlessly moved her labeled folder back to her spot.
"How to off her so it goes viral as 'well-deserved'..."
Tomorrow: personal grilling for the rookie. That eased her grief a bit.
Then—
Rrrrr.
Her phone buzzed again. Frowning, she jabbed accept without checking.
She pressed it to her ear and wailed, grievance thick in her voice.
"Yes! Park Mi-young speaking! What now?!"
— H-Hello?
A very familiar voice came through. Huh? She finally glanced at the screen.
"Ack, hold on!"
She panicked. Caller: Baek Woojin, of all people.
'Ahem—'
Clearing her throat, she tried again.
"Oh, Actor-nim! It's been forever. How was the trip?!"
Embarrassed—no, mortified—her tone pitched higher.
— Thanks to your help, Team Leader-nim. It went great. Hope you've been well?
"Of course! Same old routine here!"
— Good. Am I catching you at a bad time?
"Huh? No, not at all."
— You sounded kinda mad at first...
"Hahaha! Nooo, not even! I'm off today, chilling at home—totally fine!"
She laughed awkwardly.
"N-Not because of you, Actor-nim..."
Her rage? Forgotten the second she heard his voice.
"Anyway, what's up?"
— Oh, just... I'm doing a play this time.
"I know! Booking just star—urk."
Ah, the sorrow she'd buried! A sigh slipped out.
Woojin sounded startled over the line. She explained slowly: the saga, summed up as "booking fail."
He burst out laughing heartily.
"The shock of losing a sure win hits like this..."
— Haha, Team Leader-nim, you're hilarious.
"Don't laugh... I'm serious right now."
— Haha! Glad to hear it.
Woojin continued.
— I have a gift for you, actually.
Huh? Her eyes widened. He added,
— When works for you time-wise?
* * *
The Grand Theater on the third floor of Actor's Yard seated 545 total. Seats varied slightly in name and price by location, with the front rows closest to the stage dubbed VIP zones across three sections.
VIPs made up about 30% of seats, half of which—15%—converted to invites. Troupe members and staff got them based on role size. As top lead with Lee Kang-sik, Woojin got 10 per show: 240 total for 24 shows.
Woojin immediately shared with contacts: Mom, sister. Company folks grinding day/night for him. Actors Oh Seong-cheol, Shin Da-hee, Yoon Mal-geum-sae, Kwon Hyeok-jin; directors Ryu Chang-min, Ra Ho-chan; writers Kim Soo-rim, Seo Min-kyeong; Park Min-jae, Woo Seung-hyun PD, Park Mi-young Team Leader—precious bonds since debut.
To avoid misses or overlaps, he swapped lists with Lee Kang-sik.
"Whoa... Seeing the list's got me nervous all sudden?"
"Hahaha! Not shaking up on your debut stage, son?"
"Nah, I'm more worried about you, sunbaenim—back after so long, you must be tense..."
Woojin parried coolly, but before finishing, Lee Kang-sik stretched his cheek.
"A-Aa! Aaa!"
"For doing well—gift after ages!"
"Aa! Sunbaenim!"
After goofy haggling, the VIP invite list looked like an Avengers lineup.
Woojin and Lee Kang-sik sent tickets with heartfelt messages. Recipients picked available dates, promising to attend.
One more reason to rehearse like hell.
But, Hmm... Still too many left.
After most contacts, plenty remained. Sell for troupe revenue? Reassign? Tempting, but sounded like "I have extras, take mine"—awkward.
As he pondered, the Park Mi-young call sparked an idea.
Hanging up, Woojin dialed again.
"Team Leader-nim, it's me."
— Yeah, Woojina? What's up?
"Got something to say."
Same title, different person: Kim Tae-gon Team Leader.
Woojin spoke softly.
* * *
That evening, on Baek Woojin House fan cafe and Gallery Farm - Baek Woojin Gallery,
Reactions exploded.