Writer Lee Wolsun's drama Frozen love aired its first episode.
It was broadcasting on KBC, in the Friday and Saturday 9:50 p.m. slot. So it was only natural for Kang Woojin, Choi Sunggeon, and many of the actors, PDs, directors, and others connected to Woojin to gather in front of their TVs.
Especially—
"Writer! It started!"
"Okay, got it. I'm coming now."
"But the media already started comparing it, right? Writer Park Eunmi, writer Lee Wolsun, and all that."
"Hmph, even so, nobody can beat our writer Park's ratings."
"Hey, kids, turn the volume up a bit."
Writer Park Eunmi, who had recently begun warming up for her next project, focused on the first episode of Frozen love.
Of course—
『Writer Lee Wolsun's new drama Frozen love premieres today』
『[Drama Pick] Frozen love airs its first episode, can writer Lee Wolsun catch up to writer Park Eunmi?』
『From Jung Janghwan's return to Kang Woojin's sign language acting after Drug Dealer… Frozen love is packed with things to watch』
Thanks to the cast, including Kang Woojin, drawing so much attention for a while, a large number of viewers had also gathered on KBC.
And so, the first episode of Frozen love began.
It opened with a lively OST and a pleasant intro, but the mood changed sharply once the protagonist, Song Taehyung, appeared. He was a man with severe obsessive tendencies who had cut himself off from relationships with other people.
The first ten minutes or so focused on introducing Song Taehyung's life and worldview.
He lived as if trapped inside a cage. He could not stand disorder, and he hated dealing with people. Aside from coworkers, acquaintances, and family, he tried to sever ties with everyone else.
There was a hidden truth behind Song Taehyung's pathological behavior.
"Hey, you. Do you have something to say to me?"
The first character to appear was the mysterious man next door.
The mysterious man next door on TV. In other words, Kang Woojin gave off an utterly enigmatic expression and atmosphere. He was dressed in ordinary clothes, something like a hoodie, but his deep gaze and unreadable face pulled people in at once.
"..."
He heard Song Taehyung's question, yet instead of answering, he simply stared at him. It was the sort of situation where anyone would feel uncomfortable, and viewers probably found themselves wondering why that man was acting that way.
"It's fine. Are you trying to take the elevator? I'll just wait and take the next one."
Song Taehyung, clearly irritated, returned home.
But the next day, he ran into Kang Woojin again. This time too, Woojin only stared at Song Taehyung in silence. Taehyung finally snapped.
"Why do you keep making me uncomfortable? Either say something, or ignore me."
The two expressions on screen stood in sharp contrast. Song Taehyung looked frustrated, while the mysterious man next door remained expressionless.
Then—
"..."
Confusion spread across Kang Woojin's face as the mysterious man next door.
It was a strange kind of mood. He looked as though he were carrying some private anguish, yet hesitating to act rashly. That exact feeling came through.
It was all conveyed through his gaze and the slightest movements.
But in that moment, Song Taehyung only thought the man was unbelievably irritating.
"Don't look at me like that. It's creepy."
The TV screen filled with the face of the mysterious man next door. In close-up, his face looked almost like a blank white canvas.
It felt like a surface on which his inner emotions were being painted. Even without saying a word, everything inside him showed clearly in his expression.
He pressed his lips together slightly, fidgeted, and the corners of his mouth trembled faintly. His eyes wavered, and the muscles in his face twitched.
It was strange.
Who exactly was this man? At first, he had seemed suspicious, but now he looked more like a shy young man. A lack of confidence and a quiet timidness were plainly visible in him.
Still, they were subtle enough that someone like Song Taehyung, who had little interest in human relationships, would never notice them.
"Seriously, what is your problem… I don't know why you keep doing this to me, but I'm just going to ignore you. Got it?"
Suddenly, the camera angle cut between the two of them, and Kang Woojin appeared on screen again.
Even while being ignored, he was smiling. It was a beautiful smile. The kind of clean, pure smile that would make anyone who saw it smile along with him.
"..."
The mysterious man next door took one step closer to Song Taehyung, who disliked him.
Then he clenched his right hand and brought it up near his nose. The smile on his face grew brighter. The camera angle captured both Song Taehyung and the mysterious man next door at once, Taehyung from behind and Kang Woojin from the front.
Soon—
♬♪
A soft piano melody rose in the OST, and subtitles slowly appeared beneath the two characters.
-[I like you]
It was an interpretation of the sign language Kang Woojin had just shown.
From that point on, Woojin's sign language appeared often, moving through both long and short scenes. And at the same time, changes began to appear in Song Taehyung's life as well.
The mysterious man next door handled both the early conflict resolution and the tension-building in Frozen love, and he performed far beyond expectations.
Proof of that was how many viewers let out gasps of admiration.
Among them were many people who had tuned in specifically because word had already spread that sign language would appear in the drama from the very beginning.
There were even some familiar faces.
'Mom, that actor. It's Kang Woojin. What do you think of his acting?'
She was the sign language expert who had participated as a consultant during the script reading for Frozen love.
She was sitting on the living room sofa with her mother, watching Kang Woojin's performance in Frozen love on TV. The two communicated through sign language, though her mother, being an expert herself, could also speak while signing.
In other words, it was fair to say that she had become a sign language expert thanks to her mother.
'I wonder whose son that tall, handsome boy is.'
At her mother's sudden reaction, the sign language expert frowned.
'No, Mom. I'm not asking about his face, I'm asking about the acting. Is his sign language good?'
'Yes. He's good. Did that actor learn it for this role?'
'It's not like he learned it from scratch. It felt more like he already knew it. Of course, he must have practiced to match the lines.'
'That makes sense. I don't know much about actors, but sign language isn't just moving your hands around. Look at his expression and his eyes. Nothing about it feels awkward. He probably kept working hard because he didn't want to inconvenience people like us.'
'…I saw Mr. Kang Woojin on set, and he asked me a lot of questions. He really wanted to understand the character's background properly.'
Reassured by her daughter's answer, the mother smiled faintly and looked back at Kang Woojin on the screen.
'He's young, but he's a remarkably good actor, and he knows how to be sincerely grateful. I think I'm becoming his fan too.'
Of course, there were many viewers beyond just those two, whether they used sign language or not.
For viewers who did use sign language, however, the emotions reached them even more deeply.
'It's my first time seeing an actor use sign language this naturally!'
'Right? But how can he feel so different from how he was in Drug Dealer?'
There had been many works before that dealt with sign language or disabled characters, but Kang Woojin's performance could easily be called the best among them.
'How much must he have practiced? Honestly, I wasn't that interested in Kang Woojin before, but this changed my mind.'
Naturally, even to viewers who knew nothing about sign language, Woojin's performance still looked outstanding.
So—
[Wow… Lee Sangman's swagger is insane.]
[Kang Woojin only appeared for a moment, but his impact is crazy.]
[Move it!! Call Kang Woojin again!!]
[Is he actually good at sign language???]
[Yes, seriously, it's amazing. It makes you think about what it would be like if he really lived using sign language like that.]
[Is it fun?? Jung Janghwan is acting well too lololol]
[But it doesn't look as fun as Profiler Hanryang.]
[Are you kidding me??? Kang Woojin is seriously insane??? His acting is possessed lolololol]
[This comes right after Drug Dealer, but I can't see Lee Sangman in him at all.]
[By tomorrow he's going to be praised for legendary disabled-role acting.]
·
·
·
The live viewer chat was burning hot.
The next morning, Saturday.
Around eleven, inside the VIP room of a quiet traditional restaurant made up of detached hanok-style buildings on the outskirts of Seoul, Director Ahn Gabok was spotted. A large table in front of him was already covered in colorful dishes. Dressed in a purple turtleneck, Ahn Gabok picked up a pair of gold chopsticks.
But he was not alone.
Sitting across from him was a middle-aged man with an extraordinary aura that anyone could recognize at a glance. His presence was overwhelming.
"Senior, are you making sure to exercise? It looks like you've lost quite a bit of weight."
His voice was deep, but soft. It flowed without hurry. Comfortable to listen to, yet carrying a quiet authority.
Director Ahn Gabok, with his short white hair, showed the man across from him a wrinkled smile.
"I think I've put on some weight lately."
"I've been enjoying fishing."
"Ha, I heard. So, did you catch a lot?"
"I lose more than I catch. But that gives me plenty of time to reflect."
"It's already been about a year since you stopped working."
"Has it really been that long already?"
"Yes."
The middle-aged actor lifted a glass of water and laughed quietly.
He was no ordinary actor. He was top actor Shim Hanho, one of the greatest actors in Korea. If Director Ahn Gabok was a master of Korean cinema, then top actor Shim Hanho was the kind of figure who could fill an entire page in the history of acting by himself.
A career spanning thirty years.
He had won countless acting awards, appeared in more than fifty productions, including Hollywood works and films recognized at international festivals overseas. He was a gem among gems. His astonishing filmography had made him one of those towering actors that even the very best could not dare dismiss.
His acting was evaluated in terms of explosive energy, immersion, and sheer intensity.
Rather than acting, it almost felt closer to a roar.
That was why Shim Hanho was called the Gray Leopard in the industry. It was not just because of his graying hair, but because the aura and energy surrounding him were like those of a leopard.
Right then—
Director Ahn Gabok, who had been staring at the imposing Shim Hanho, moved.
"Take a look at this."
What he handed over was a bundle of papers. More precisely, it was the script for Leech. A faint smile appeared on Shim Hanho's stern face.
"Senior, is this your hundredth project?"
"Yes. Do it for me."
"...I'll read it."
"Oh-ho. We had an agreement, remember?"
"Senior, you've gotten even more temperamental."
"When you get old, you tend to become more temperamental instead of energetic."
For some reason, unlike his usual mysterious presence, Director Ahn Gabok seemed somewhat less imposing in front of the Gray Leopard, Shim Hanho.
It was probably because the two were quite close.
Shim Hanho let out a small sigh and opened the script.
-flap.
"Is this the first time you've given it to someone else?"
"No. You're the second."
Shim Hanho paused briefly.
"Someone got it before me? Who?"
Director Ahn Gabok, his arms crossed, watched him for a moment before opening his mouth.
"It's still supposed to be a secret, but I'll tell you. It's Kang Woojin."
"..."
Silence fell for a moment.
Neither of them spoke. In particular, there was something unreadable in the way Shim Hanho looked at Ahn Gabok. He was full of energy, yet his true thoughts were impossible to grasp.
About ten seconds later—
"Kang Woojin, you said? I see."
"You understand?"
"He's an actor worth it."
"Really? Why?"
"Hmm, I recently watched Drug Dealer. The character Lee Sangman struck me the hardest. It made me wonder what I had been like at that age, and it gave me a lot to think about."
Director Ahn Gabok asked as if surprised.
"Were you influenced by Kang Woojin?"
"His acting was flawless and delicate. I was so immersed that I couldn't think of anything except his character. It was the kind of acting style I admired when I was young. In the end, I never managed to achieve it myself."
"There's a clear difference between your styles. If you act like a roar, Woojin acts like silence. That's probably why he shines even more in front of the camera."
Shim Hanho slowly nodded, then closed the Leech script.
"I'll read it."
"Good. I'll wait. But I'm going to make you hurry."
"Senior, how can you pressure me like that?"
"And while you read it, watch the short film Exorcism too. You'll be able to catch a different scent from the one Woojin gave off as Lee Sangman."
"Looks like I'll have to give up fishing."
Several dozen minutes later.
After finishing their meal, Director Ahn Gabok and top actor Shim Hanho stepped out of the VIP room. Soon, after crossing paths with a few staff members, they walked through the restaurant garden toward the wooden front gate.
The unusual part was this.
"What?"
Among a group of men passing by them in the garden, one man wearing glasses suddenly widened his eyes.
The reason was simple.
"Isn't that Director Ahn Gabok… and Shim Hanho?"
The man with glasses was a reporter. Not an entertainment reporter, but a social affairs reporter. Even so, he had plenty of connections in the entertainment world, so he carefully pulled out his phone.
-click.
He took a photo of Director Ahn Gabok and Shim Hanho together.
"Those two being together? Something about that smells suspicious."
At the same time—
Kang Woojin arrived at the massive set for the drama Island of the Missing in Buyeo.
The moment he got out of the car in the parking lot, an icy chill ran through him.
'Ugh, damn. It's freezing.'
It was late November. Winter had already begun. And in an isolated place like this, the cold felt even worse.
But Kang Woojin did not back down.
The hot-blooded bravado running through his whole body had already taken over his mind.
He strode toward the filming site looking full of confidence.
"Woojin oppa."
Among the team members following behind him, Han Yejung, with her short blue hair, walked up beside him while looking at her phone.
"Did you see this? Seo Guseob contacted you too, right?"
She showed him the screen. A new article had just been posted.
『[Official] Seo Guseob, implicated in multiple criminal charges, to be removed as CEO of GGO Entertainment』
It was news about Bulldog CEO Seo Guseob.
No, more accurately, it was news about his downfall. Nothing had been finalized yet, but it would not have been an exaggeration to say his end was practically set in stone. Of course, Kang Woojin only reacted calmly on the outside.
"Yes. I got the call."
But inwardly, he was a little rattled.
'The CEO really got taken down like that. Damn, the entertainment industry is terrifying.'
Meanwhile, in the drama department of the terrestrial broadcaster KBC—
After Frozen love aired its first episode the day before, the drama production team had been quite busy. The Frozen love team in particular was gathered around the PD and production staff.
The assistant director sitting in front of the laptop spoke to everyone, including the PD, with his eyes tightly shut.
"...We ranked first in ratings for that time slot!"
"Woohoo!"
"So what did the numbers come out to?!"
PDs nearby crowded in.
Even so, the assistant director swallowed hard before answering.
"The overall ratings for the drama Frozen love are as follows."
Then he announced the verified rating.
"12.8%!"
It was a pretty decent number. In fact, it could be called a good one. These days, there were plenty of dramas that could not even break 10 percent.
So the other PDs congratulated them too.
"Congratulations—"
"Breaking 10 percent right away is a good start."
"But writer Lee Wolsun might still be a little disappointed."
"True. But reaching something like Profiler Hanryang's 25 percent is extremely difficult."
The director of Frozen love let out a sigh of relief.
"Whew, it's fine. We can just keep pushing it higher."
Right then—
"But."
The assistant director, still staring at the laptop, did not finish his sentence right away.
"It did briefly cross 19 percent. The peak rating was 19.1 percent."
"What?!!"
"What are you talking about? How can there be that much of a gap from the overall number? Where? Which scene was it?!"
Faced with the excited crowd, the assistant director turned the laptop screen toward them and answered.
"Kang Woojin's first appearance scene."