Episode 1
The rooftop of the 15-story apartment was dizzyingly high.
It reminded him of rappel training during field maneuvers.
"I only managed to jump after getting scolded half to death."
Cha Seonhu, standing atop the rooftop railing, had acrophobia.
So why had he chosen to leap, of all places—no, of all methods?
Before he could even entertain the thought, his phone rang incessantly with Byeol Stargram notifications, like a scene from a horror movie.
[Thief who stole poverty!]
[You dirty bastard who abused and assaulted a rookie actress!!]
[Are you happy gaining popularity by pretending to be poor when you have so much money? How dare you not only abuse an actress much younger than you but hit her too?]
[Bastards who abuse and use violence should all die.]
Cha Seonhu was a popular actor.
No, he had been. Until just a week ago.
But now he had fallen into a shameless wretch who, despite receiving support from a wealthy family, fabricated poverty to gain popularity and abused and assaulted a powerless rookie actress.
Of course, all of it was lies, but no one believed a word he said.
And no one stepped forward for him.
The agency that should have protected him was the one that orchestrated this mess,
and the new agency that had been preparing a contract abandoned him once he lost his commercial value.
Clutching at straws, he went to his younger sibling, whom he had cut ties with, and begged them to speak up for him, only to be driven away at the door.
Death was what he chose when no hope remained in his life.
"I... I really came all this way with so much difficulty..."
He had cried so much that tears wouldn't even come out anymore. Just then, the Byeol Stargram notifications stopped, and a call came in.
It was from Park Mijeong.
She was someone he was truly grateful for.
Someone who cared about him despite having no particular connection.
It was largely thanks to her that he had managed to seize a rare opportunity to rise.
The desire to express his gratitude violently clashed with the thought that he shouldn't answer, considering the guilt she would feel.
In the end, his gratitude won out, and Cha Seonhu answered the phone.
"President Park."
"Seonhu. You're not thinking anything strange, are you? I'm in front of your house right now. Please open the door."
"President. I was truly grateful. If it weren't for you, the world would never have known the actor named Cha Seonhu."
"Seonhu... please don't do this. Let's talk first."
Thinking of Park Mijeong, who had come all this way solely for him without any vested interest, he felt grateful.
'So there is at least one person in this world who thinks of me. Then isn't that still a reason worth living for?'
Only then did the heart he had been turning away from reveal itself.
He hadn't wanted to die; he hadn't wanted to live like this.
Hot tears streamed down his cheeks.
"...All right, President. I'll be right down."
"That's a good decision...!"
Trying to press the end call button, it slipped through his fingers perhaps because his hand was sweaty.
Instinctively reaching for the phone, he stepped into empty air.
"Uh...!"
"What's wrong? Seonhu!"
Without even a chance to answer, his body plummeted.
*
He saw blurry figures moving.
'A hospital?'
If this was a failed suicide attempt, people would obviously mock him on Byeol Stargram, calling it attention-seeking.
Feeling as if he could hear the malicious comments in his ears, his vision gradually cleared.
And the scenery he saw made Cha Seonhu feel so absurd that his thoughts momentarily came to a halt.
'This is... a jjimjilbang.'
After his face became known two years ago, he couldn't go to places like jjimjilbangs.
It was fine when people recognized him and flocked to him, but fights would sometimes break out over the order of photos and autographs.
'No one is paying attention to me.'
He wasn't even covering his face, yet among over thirty people, not a single one recognized him.
And this was right when the controversy had exploded.
'Could it be that?'
Why is it that when people see a celebrity at a restaurant, they assume it's just someone who looks like them?
But if that were the case, there weren't even any furtive glances.
'What is this?'
Unable to grasp the situation, his head throbbed, and Cha Seonhu habitually pressed his temples.
But he felt something catch on his hand.
Startled, he stared at the glass window and discovered himself wearing glasses.
"Glasses...?"
What's so surprising about wearing glasses?
Seven years ago—that is, since the end of 2015—Cha Seonhu had not worn glasses.
Wondering what was going on, he scratched his head and felt that his hair was extremely short.
Like someone who had been discharged from the military not long ago.
Jjimjilbang, glasses, short hair, people who didn't recognize him...
As this information combined, one thing came to mind.
"When I left home unconditionally to become an actor..."
Seven years ago—that is, shortly after being discharged in 2015—Cha Seonhu told his father he would become an actor, and his strict father naturally refused to accept it.
His father told him to choose one of two things.
"Follow my will, or leave the house."
So Cha Seonhu left home.
Naturally, he had no choice but to leave everything bought with his father's money behind.
As a result, the only things he could take with him were the phone his mother had bought him before she passed away, and the 500,000 won he had kept as emergency funds.
Since he couldn't find a place to stay with 500,000 won, he slept at a jjimjilbang, worked part-time, and went to auditions.
"This is absurd..."
To think he had committed suicide and returned to seven years ago—wasn't this something out of a novel or drama?
In a dazed state, a phone right in front of him caught his eye.
It was the phone his mother had bought him in 2010, the year she passed away.
"The kids used to make fun of me for carrying around an outdated phone..."
So quite a few college classmates had vaguely assumed Cha Seonhu's family was poor.
Of course, his family was far from poor.
He had never imagined that would become the scarlet letter branding him a poverty thief.
Setting aside his sentimentality, he picked up the phone, and the screen immediately lit up.
"July 9, 2015..."
It really was seven years ago. But it still didn't feel real.
"Some dating rumor exploded around this time."
He had checked the dating rumor article right here in this jjimjilbang, and the couple in the photo had been smiling so brightly.
That image had remained in his memory because it contrasted so starkly with his own figure, huddled in a corner of the jjimjilbang.
Trying to open a portal site app to confirm, his eyes fell on Byeol Stargram.
For a moment, the flood of malicious comments came to mind, making his body stiffen, yet strangely his finger tapped on Byeol Stargram.
Barely remembering the woman's name, "Lee Sori," he searched for her.
Articles about dating rumors with Park Junyeong came up plastered all over the screen.
"It... it's real."
He really had gone back to that time, seven years ago.
As it slowly felt real, one fact flashed through his mind like lightning.
"It's the period before I signed with Black Hole Entertainment...!"
This was crucial.
The very beginning of his twisted acting career had been that Black Hole Entertainment.
And what had finally sent him plummeting into the abyss was also Black Hole Entertainment.
"I can change it."
Though he had nothing now, he possessed acting skills honed over seven years, and he had been given golden time to choose again.
The "opportunity" that people so desperately wanted had been given to him.
Dying hope reignited, and motivation swirled in his eyes.
*
The next day.
Cha Seonhu arrived early at the scheduled audition venue.
As soon as he entered the building, he saw actors in their early twenties and managers filling the hallway.
Today, a supporting role audition for the JBN drama *Campus Cruelty* was being held here.
"How could you do this to me...!"
Some practiced acting filled with anger,
"Mom, can I do well at the audition?"
some spoke on the phone with anxious expressions, or else,
"..."
various crowds sat with their mouths closed, spacing out.
It was a scene reminiscent of a meat market, but to Cha Seonhu, it was a familiar and nostalgic place.
"I've seen this over a thousand times..."
He had gone to auditions like crazy, but it was only natural for someone who had never even attended an acting academy to fail.
He had really wanted to attend an acting academy but couldn't because he had no money, so he learned acting through Neotube and books.
Thus, Cha Seonhu's acting as a rookie had been miserable.
The actor doing anger acting continued his performance.
"Just you wait...! I'll definitely bring you down...!!"
The veins bulging in his neck were quite impressive.
But that person won't get picked nine times out of ten.
For supporting roles, such extreme acting isn't really necessary.
What a supporting actor needs is to convey delicate, subtle emotions.
Since they are not the lead, their life isn't portrayed in detail, so they don't have opportunities for extreme emotional acting.
It's important to convey through a limited amount of acting what life this character has lived, what emotions they feel now, and what situation they're in.
Therefore, if preparing for a supporting role audition, unless the character calls for it, it's better to prepare acting that can reveal more subtle emotional lines.
Actually, the public often perceives that you're good at acting if you're good at extreme acting.
But this is only half right and half wrong.
Because there are quite a few cases where people are good at that kind of acting but poor at delicate acting.
Stopping his people-watching, Cha Seonhu looked around the hallway for his original purpose.
In fact, the audition itself wasn't his main goal today.
Of course, he would do his best at the audition, but he had something more urgent to attend to.
"She definitely said she saw me here."
President Park Mijeong had said she first saw Cha Seonhu here.
The person who helped him rise and stood by him until the very end—since this was another chance, he wanted to start with good people by his side.
The problem was that he didn't know Park Mijeong's current contact information, which was why he had deliberately come to this place where she had first discovered him.
But for some reason, Park Mijeong was nowhere to be seen.
Looking around once more, a female actor sitting across from the one who had practiced anger acting caught his eye.
She seemed completely overwhelmed by that actor's momentum, staring blankly with half her soul drained.
"Wait..."
Her fair, pale skin and delicate features stood out remarkably.
"Jo Bora?"
Looking again, it really was Jo Bora.
She was a top star called the Goddess of Viewership Ratings, an A-list actress with excellent acting skills.
There was even a saying that all drama scripts went to Jo Bora first.
But she had become that way in 2019, and he had heard that until then, she had struggled to even land supporting roles.
She had said that she got extremely nervous during auditions and failed them all.
Though they had never worked together, he had unintentionally received her help and spoken with her briefly, which was why he remembered.
To think a future top star was being so crushed by that anger acting—Cha Seonhu found the situation both ironic and pitiful.
Because if not for his seven years of experience, he would surely be in that exact same situation right now.
Feeling like she was a younger sister amplified that sentiment even more.
"Shall I help you relax?"
Intending to repay the help he had received in the past as well, he naturally walked over and sat beside her.
"Do you like anger acting?"
Startled, Jo Bora looked at him.
"Ah... yes..."
"Anger acting is good. But you don't need to feel so intimidated. What supporting actors need is more natural, lifelike, delicate acting."
"...I see."
A shadow fell across her face once more. She seemed to lack confidence in delicate acting.
Looking at such a Jo Bora, Cha Seonhu smiled faintly.
"That expression right now. The one saying, 'Can I really do that well?'"
"Ah...!"
As her tension eased slightly, a faint confidence surfaced.
Just then, a staff member called out.
"Mr. O Gibeom, Mr. Seo Wongyu, Mr. Cha Seonhu, please come in!"
Cha Seonhu exchanged a glance with Jo Bora, answered, and entered the room with light steps.
His heart was pounding, but not from nervousness.
"I'm excited."