Great Actor Park Sun-woong.
Three movies alone that drew over ten million viewers.
Plus the lead role in a daily drama that swept an era.
Having filmed two dramas that reached 40% viewership ratings, he was, in a word, a box office magician.
To the point there was even a saying "an actor you can trust to watch," he was a man who knew no failure.
Beyond simply acting ability.
His eye for works.
Especially his eye for people was outstanding.
When filming dramas or movies, he would personally recommend actors suited for roles to the director.
'That child is Joo Seo-yeon.'
The Joo Seo-yeon that such a Park Sun-woong was looking at was a slightly unusual child.
Age seven.
Quiet in a strange way despite being at an age where she should still be attending kindergarten.
Usually, child actors tend to be more mature compared to their peers.
First of all, they have to deliver lines and act.
And from a young age, they experience the adult society more quickly.
His son Park Jung-woo also had that aspect.
Much more grown-up than his peers, and his abilities were outstanding as well.
'So I was secretly worried.'
Perhaps because he was approaching puberty.
It seemed his son was developing an awareness that he was different from children his own age.
A child who perfectly fit the commonly used term "arrogant and haughty."
It just didn't show because he didn't talk much.
Even just looking at the recent making-of film for The Sun-Hiding Moon, such an attitude was revealed.
So he said something every time, but Park Sun-woong himself was so busy it was hard to bring it up often.
His wife liked their son so much she rarely said anything unpleasant.
'But.'
To think a child would appear who properly shattered the pride of such a fine son.
That was why, despite his busy schedule, he readily accepted the gathering Yoon Jong-hyuk arranged today.
"Jung-woo seems quite frustrated."
"Mm."
Sun-woong nodded at Yoon Jong-hyuk's words.
Just looking at right now, isn't he hovering around Seo-yeon and paying attention to her?
As for Seo-yeon herself, she seemed extremely uncomfortable.
Though it didn't show much on her expression.
"From Jung-woo's perspective, it must feel like winning but running away."
In episodes 1 and 2, there was no scene where Seo-yeon directly clashed with Jung-woo in acting.
The part filmed as one person playing two roles at the audition.
Except for that one scene.
And that was exactly the scene inserted in episode 3.
The scene where the young Lee Hye-wol bids farewell to Yoon Seo-il for the last time and leaves.
"That would be right. Ah, let's go first. It's about time."
Yoon Jong-hyuk said so and headed to where Soo-ah and Seo-yeon were.
Episode 3 of The Sun-Hiding Moon airing today.
That was quite an anticipated part from Yoon Jong-hyuk's perspective as well.
***
"Starting now."
KMB's Drama Department.
At PD Ha Tae-oh's words, everyone's faces grew tense.
The Sun-Hiding Moon, Episode 3.
The episode he was most confident in.
Because of that, it was an episode that absolutely must not fail.
It was the episode that hinted at the growth of the young Lee Hye-wol.
If the proper response didn't come out here, there was a high probability the viewership ratings would drop significantly in episode 4.
'That's also the reason the child actor part is short.'
This applied to all media.
Where the environment suddenly changes, or the protagonist is replaced.
When the age is suddenly raised like this, viewers who drop off inevitably exist.
To catch them, this episode 3 had to give viewers proper anticipation for episode 4.
If they couldn't, it would definitely have a negative effect on episode 4's performance.
"You know, right? This isn't a section where just okay or pretty good will do."
A section where a massive hit absolutely had to come out.
Coincidentally, Action King from the rival MDC was in a somewhat weaker part today.
So from The Sun-Hiding Moon's standpoint, it had to achieve at least a certain level of viewership ratings.
"Fortunately, the response seems not bad for now."
The viewership ratings tallied in real time were still stable.
No, rather they were quite excellent.
That much must have been the impact of episode 2 reaching the viewers.
Some staff were checking not just the viewership ratings but also community reactions.
Recently, internet reactions were important too.
Starting from drama communities, SNS was gradually beginning to emerge.
Word of mouth had to spread from here, because that much bigger reactions would come out.
And just as the broadcasting station staff thought, once episode 3 started, posts began going up on SNS in earnest.
- Episode 3 started
- Looks like episode 2 will be the peak to me
- Is today the last one with child actors??
- The atmosphere has been pretty good since last episode.
- Prince Cho-young saved it all.
The response was okay so far.
The reactions on the drama board set up at the broadcasting station were still favorable.
- Ah cancer
- What is Yoon Seo-il doing
- What could a kid even do here in the first place
- Kya still Princess Yeon-hwa's guard is so cool, can this guy not be the male lead?
- What's the age gap with Princess Yeon-hwa...
- That's what makes it good...
- Agreed agreed
There were also mixed reactions.
Princess Yeon-hwa slipped out of the palace and crossed paths with the young Yoon Seo-il.
Yoon Seo-il kept showing a lost and wavering appearance.
Originally, there wasn't much a child like Yoon Seo-il could do.
The palace was already in Prince Cho-young's grasp.
Even Yoon Seo-il's father had advised him to stay quiet in this matter.
Don't go outside.
Because such words existed, Yoon Seo-il kept agonizing.
Whether to see off the departing Princess Yeon-hwa.
Or to quietly watch the situation and hold his breath as his father said.
What moved such a Yoon Seo-il was the servant who always accompanied him.
'Young master, are you really going to end it like this?'
The serious words of the servant who was always scolded by Yoon Seo-il.
At those words, the young Yoon Seo-il disobeyed his father's words for the first time.
The place where Princess Yeon-hwa leaves for exile.
He runs to find her as she departs with her guard and the nanny who had cared for her since childhood.
- Finally going?
- Ugh so frustrating almost died
- Still the acting is really good
- This episode has more from Yoon Seo-il's perspective
- Show Princess Yeon-hwa
- Where is Princess Yeon-hwa?
Gradually the speed of posts going up on SNS began to accelerate.
The young Yoon Seo-il moved, and the drama began entering its climax.
The music grew increasingly tense, and the camera closed up on the running Yoon Seo-il's face.
Emotional acting that couldn't be seen as from a child.
Park Jung-woo, who usually showed outstanding skills, was even more amazing than usual right now.
The appearance of the young boy running without sparing his body, falling and rolling as he ran, naturally made people immerse their gazes.
'Wow, Seo-yeon is Seo-yeon, but.'
'This is definitely what a properly trained child actor is.'
Even the staff who had already seen this scene several times opened their mouths.
Not just the emotional acting, but these natural movements, the skill of using the body.
It was so natural that it didn't even feel like acting.
A feeling like watching adult actors.
As the young Yoon Seo-il ran desperately, the viewership ratings also began to respond.
Ha Tae-oh said hastily.
"What's the current viewership rating?"
"30%. It hasn't been updated further."
30% was by no means a small number.
Rather, it was at a level that could sufficiently be called a massive hit.
But considering the previous episode went up to 29%, it felt ambiguous.
At the very least, it should beat the peak viewership rating of episode 2.
Ha Tae-oh earnestly hoped.
Episode 3 was the final appearance scene of the young Lee Hye-wol.
Ha Tae-oh had already seen that several times.
He had confidence.
But he didn't know how the public would react.
As everyone watched with such focus.
The Sun-Hiding Moon, episode 3 entered its climax.
***
"Your Highness."
Breathing heavily, Yoon Seo-il spoke.
They said Princess Yeon-hwa had already left.
They said it was already too late to catch up, everyone said so.
Yoon Seo-il regretted.
If only he, just a little, just a tiny bit faster had made his decision.
Lamentation rose at his own foolishness.
What was so frightening.
What was so frightening that he held his breath, covered his mouth, and hid.
"Her Highness the Princess!!"
He ran, and ran again.
He didn't know where the already departed Princess Yeon-hwa was.
But Yoon Seo-il ran blindly.
Vaguely.
Perhaps.
He ran holding only such feelings.
A high hill.
A place where the palace could be seen at a glance.
And there, Princess Yeon-hwa was.
She stood there facing the sun, looking down at the palace below the hill.
'Wow.'
The viewers who saw that scene in that moment admired Princess Yeon-hwa's appearance.
It was like a painting.
Even though only her back was visible, it seemed to reveal Princess Yeon-hwa's complex emotions.
And among those viewers, there was Han Sun-ah watching while holding her breath.
Already overflowing with emotion, she busily pressed on her phone.
- Princess Yeon-hwa ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ so pitiful ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
As if representing Han Sun-ah's feelings, similar reactions went up on SNS one after another.
And.
"Young-bin, Seo-yeon finally came out over there."
Gathered with friends, Joo Young-bin watched his daughter's acting.
Unlike Soo-ah and Seo-yeon who had already received the filmed version, it was Young-bin's first time seeing the scene.
But that back, Young-bin had already seen before.
Just a while ago, when they talked about what lay ahead.
"Are you really okay? You're not doing this because of Mom, are you?"
The Sun-Hiding Moon.
As it became a topic, Seo-yeon decided to make a quick decision.
She had already heard many offers regarding CFs.
There were also people coming with drama offers through Gong Jung-tae or PD Ha Tae-oh.
Plus variety shows.
If Seo-yeon set her mind to it, she could ride this wave to even greater heights.
"No. This is my decision."
Seo-yeon thought.
She agonized.
Truthfully, she also had the desire to do more.
If there were lacking parts, she could learn as she went.
Such thoughts also came to mind.
"This is right."
Seo-yeon looked at both her hands.
The hands injured during the previous filming had healed cleanly, fortunately without leaving a single scar.
But that injury awakened caution in Seo-yeon.
To her, emotions were unfamiliar and frightening unknown things.
And yet Seo-yeon's greatest strength was emotional acting.
Especially method acting.
But ultimately, method acting was merely one branch of acting.
It shouldn't become everything.
Seo-yeon was still lacking.
Technically, emotionally.
Surely, she herself would grow further in both body and mind.
These emotions might also grow even larger.
Honestly, Seo-yeon didn't have the confidence to properly hold the reins of those emotions.
Probably that was because of the gap left by her past life's memories and body.
Seo-yeon needed time to fully accept those traces.
"It's okay."
Seo-yeon said so and smiled at Young-bin, and at Soo-ah.
"Truly."
There was much she wanted to learn.
She wanted to learn acting.
While attending a voice acting academy, she wanted to learn vocal production.
If time allowed, singing too.
She wanted to try everything she couldn't do in her past life due to lacking emotion.
Acting.
And being a VTuber too.
"Anyway, because I'll come back."
Because ultimately it was the dream of her greedy self.
So Seo-yeon looks forward.
Among the actors, held in Soo-ah's embrace.
She sees herself reflected on the giant TV screen, completely different from her own home.
Princess Yeon-hwa who turned her back.
Who smashed the aquarium and plunged into the sea of emotions.
She sees Joo Seo-yeon, soaked in emotion, her own figure.
"...You've come."
Along with the moist voice of Seo-yeon, and Princess Yeon-hwa Lee Hye-wol.
"Seo-il."
Princess Yeon-hwa slowly turned her body.
With a sorrowful smile on her lips.