Public's acting trainer, Kang Tae-seok, stood at one side of the conference room with his arms folded, watching Cha Eun-yul.
He knew what was on the minds of the staff gathered here better than anyone.
'Can an actor with a five-year gap really pull off this role?'
Every person gathered in that conference room held the same doubt.
In truth, that doubt was the very purpose of the 'meeting.'
So what Cha Eun-yul could do in this seat was prove that he was still alive as an actor.
A gap.
For an actor, a gap isn't simple rest.
Over that time the feel for the camera degrades, you forget how to draw emotion up, and your delivery can go dull.
'And even if none of that happened, would the public still accept Cha Eun-yul as an actor?'
Not one person could bring that doubt out into the open.
But someone had to say it.
So the acting trainer Kang Tae-seok took the burden on himself.
"Whether he can break a five-year hiatus and pull off this role—"
When his words ended, the air in the conference room sank strangely.
No one argued back.
No one could.
Cha Eun-yul's gap was an undeniable 'fact.'
He hadn't worked as an actor in all that time, and verifying whether he was ready to stand in front of a camera again was the natural procedure.
'Does Cha Eun-yul even understand the weight of this role?'
The moment he thought that—
"I grew up in an orphanage, and the moment I came of age I was thrown out into society."
In an instant, the whole conference room shifted subtly.
"...What was that?"
The tone was too much like everyday conversation.
Completely different from the way ordinary actors perform when they're trying to emphasize emotion.
Because of that, Kang Tae-seok nearly shot back with 'What are you talking about?' without realizing it.
And then he understood.
'Right now, he's already become "Yoo Dae-yeong"!'
Kang Tae-seok closed his mouth without meaning to.
He knew perfectly well that Cha Eun-yul was acting.
And yet......
'The feel of it... is different.'
There was none of that 'smell of acting' you catch when actors try to manufacture emotion.
Usually they make the voice tremble, or push it down, or add a particular inflection to stress a feeling.
But right now, Cha Eun-yul was dressing nothing up.
It was so composed that it landed heavier for it.
Was it because of that weight?
Kang Tae-seok's hand stiffened faintly on top of his documents.
The staffer sitting across from him had unconsciously straightened his posture too.
They were only watching a performance, and their bodies were reacting.
"Equality? Like hell."
Tap.
Cha Eun-yul lifted a sheet of paper from the desk and pointed at it with a finger.
His gaze glared as though it would run me through.
In that moment, Kang Tae-seok fell into an inexplicable illusion.
'It's like he's talking to me—'
He knew that was acting.
And even so, it felt as though those words were aimed at Kang Tae-seok himself.
'Wait, have I, the interviewer, ever pointed out a gap to Yoo Dae-yeong?'
The conference room was the same as ever, yet the illusion crept in that it had become an interview room where he sat across from Yoo Dae-yeong.
They were only watching a performance, and yet everyone in this space had already been pulled into Cha Eun-yul's acting.
Kang Tae-seok looked around.
Several staff were fidgeting with their fingers, or rubbing their necks, or folding their arms.
'They've been overwhelmed by Cha Eun-yul's acting too.'
Actors usually overwhelm their scene partner by detonating emotion.
A violent emotional line, a face streaming with tears, a voice that tears at the chest.
But Cha Eun-yul was creating stronger tension by holding emotion down.
Which made it all the more intense.
"If you look at that resume, interviewer, could you really let this gap slide?"
In that moment, the staffer whose eyes met Cha Eun-yul's shook his head from side to side.
Kang Tae-seok didn't miss that change.
'...That man just got pulled into Cha Eun-yul's acting.'
The entire space was quiet.
No one spoke.
But inside the silence, some of them were thinking to themselves.
Every one of their expressions was strangely twisted.
"If origins don't matter, why do they start with questions about family?"
"You talk about equality when there's not even a chance to fill the gap?"
One staffer fidgeted with his fingers. Another dropped his head low.
Cha Eun-yul's acting doesn't force the other person into a corner.
Instead, it asks a question.
And it makes the people listening find the answer to that question themselves.
That was why the staff shrank back. Because they had to recall their own attitude, the way they had doubted the 'gap' without even noticing.
And above all, his flawless acting had turned every person here into an 'interviewer.'
Right now the staff had become people interviewing 'Yoo Dae-yeong,' an orphanage graduate.
And at the same time they had become 'the people who wouldn't give him a chance.'
Cha Eun-yul's acting had made the office uncomfortable. The fact that inside the performance they had become 'people who judge others through prejudice.'
That perfect discomfort he had given them was exactly what helped them immerse in him 100%.
'...I'm being overwhelmed by Cha Eun-yul's acting......'
Kang Tae-seok snickered without meaning to.
"......Insane."
A few staff glanced over at his whisper without thinking.
And then—
"Well? Can you feel the gap?"
In an instant, the conference room froze over.
Even with the performance finished, no one could answer right away.
Where were they right now?
This was unmistakably a conference room.
And yet.
A few seconds ago, this place had been an 'interview room.'
Until a moment ago, they hadn't been staff evaluating the actor 'Cha Eun-yul.'
They had been 'interviewers pointing out a gap to Yoo Dae-yeong, an applicant raised in an orphanage.'
Pulling free of that weight was hard.
"Haha, why's the mood like this?"
In that instant Cha Eun-yul smiled brightly, and only then did the atmosphere slowly loosen.
The staff, frozen for those few seconds, began looking at one another one by one.
Then someone laughed and said, "Ah, come on! That was acting?"
One staffer rubbed his chest and muttered, "No wonder something felt off... I thought I'd done something wrong."
Another let out a startled laugh and said,
"I honestly felt like a real interviewer. I broke into a cold sweat out of nowhere."
-and scratched his head.
A few were still looking at Cha Eun-yul with blank faces, saying, "That was all acting...?"
Cha Eun-yul shrugged playfully—
"Ah, you all looked so serious that I got carried away and gave it my all."
—he said, laughing.
Only then did sighs of relief and light laughter break out around the conference room.
But some staff, still not entirely out of it,
"Wow... seriously... an actor really is an actor..."
They let out an admiring exclamation.
And Kang Tae-seok sensed instinctively that coaching Cha Eun-yul's acting was not an area he had any business touching.
The Yoo Dae-yeong that Cha Eun-yul had embodied was far deeper and more complete than the Yoo Dae-yeong he had analyzed as staff.
This wasn't simply reproducing a performance. It was at the level of realizing the person himself.
***
Late at night, the city lights blurred faintly against the window.
The streets were quiet, and a mild chill was mixed into the air.
My phone screen glowed softly in the dark.
Manager hyung's name sat at the top.
- Eun-yul, you tore that performance apart earlier. Do you know the staff were all stunned? They're still talking about your acting right now......
I snickered and swept my thumb down the screen.
Showing it off openly would be a bit much, but this once I had to admit it.
'I... really did it.'
The air in that conference room, the staff's faces frozen for a moment, and finally that one line Kang Tae-seok had muttered.
-Insane.
That admiration lingered in my ears.
Even the acting trainer had acknowledged it.
If even someone whose job is watching acting got pulled in for a moment......
I stopped for a while in the middle of the street.
The night sky showed faintly between the forest of buildings.
The city lights glittered coldly.
I drew in a breath.
Fresh air seeped deep into my lungs, then slowly left them.
It felt like the heavy emotions inside my body cleared in an instant.
Five years ago.
Back then I had never felt like this.
Tension, anxiety, the desire to run.
All those hours of only drifting, not knowing where to go.
But now it's different.
***
A few days later, the CEO's office at Public Entertainment.
The contract for the drama 'The Temperature of a Meal' lay on the desk.
CEO Lee Sang-hyuk, my manager Ji-ho hyung, and I sat facing each other.
"Let's start with the appearance terms."
The CEO tapped the contract as he spoke.
I quietly turned the pages and checked the contents.
It wasn't a lead role, but it was a substantial supporting part with a considerable amount of screen time guaranteed.
More than anything, it was a chance to show memorable acting in this drama.
"The PPL-related terms are included too."
Ji-ho hyung pointed to part of the contract.
"Incentives get added based on ad exposure frequency, and there's a high chance of collaboration with that brand. Though during the contract period, advertising deals with certain brands are restricted."
I nodded.
Given the character setup would be closely tied to a convenience store brand, restrictions on deals with other brands were only natural.
But while scanning the document, one clause stood out.
"After the broadcast ends, the brand gets first negotiation rights on an advertising contract...?"
In other words, do this role well and there was a strong chance of becoming that brand's official advertising model.
My heart jumped for a second.
"This is a better opportunity than I thought."
The CEO snickered and said,
"Seems the issue surrounding you is being taken positively inside CN Convenience Store's head office too."
I was going over the contract again when a question suddenly came to me.
"But... what about the audition? For a role like this, isn't casting usually done through a formal audition?"
Ji-ho hyung snickered and pulled out his phone.
He tapped the screen a few times, played a video, and set it down on the desk.
"So about that... that acting you did in the office a few days ago, I recorded it."
I went blank for a second.
"...Sorry?"
Hyung casually pressed play.
On the screen was me, having become 'Yoo Dae-yeong.'
That day's tension hanging in the conference room, the staff's frozen expressions, and even acting trainer Kang Tae-seok's whispered "Insane."
Had PD Lee Woo-seok confirmed my casting off this video alone?
I looked at hyung with a dazed expression.
"You... recorded this, hyung?"
"Yeah. And I sent it to PD Lee Woo-seok."
Hyung said it without batting an eye.
"And then? He said 'okay' right away."
My mind went blank for a moment.
"...So you're saying it was confirmed without an audition?"
"Yeah. According to the PD, there was 'no need to see any more.' You'd already convinced the entire production team with your acting alone."
CEO Lee Sang-hyuk added with a satisfied look,
"Honestly, with the acting you showed in the office, there'd be no need for an audition. PD Lee Woo-seok confirmed the casting the moment he saw the video."
I looked at the contract again.
Having casting confirmed without a formal audition isn't common.
Normally there'd be a preliminary meeting, a reading test, a short improvised performance.
And yet one performance in that conference room had skipped every step.
Just then, CEO Lee Sang-hyuk, arms folded, looked at me and said,
"Well, don't get too full of yourself. It might be because of your current buzz."
I snickered at that.
Because I knew the CEO's words were advice offered out of affection.
But Ji-ho hyung immediately cut in from the side, playfully.
"Come on~ it's because he's genuinely good! Everyone's jaw dropped watching that video!"
CEO Lee Sang-hyuk shot him a glare and clicked his tongue.
"Don't take his side so much. He'll pick up bad habits."
Ji-ho hyung shrugged and laughed.
Watching the two of them, I felt strangely at ease.
I'd come back after five years, and just knowing there were still people who believed in me was enough.
Just then, the CEO squared up the contract and continued.
"And regarding the MZ Vitamin commercial, we've decided to announce it together with the drama casting confirmation."
I raised my head.
"Announce them together?"
"Yeah. Interest in you is already elevated, so announcing them together is more effective."
Ji-ho hyung nodded and added,
"If the drama and the commercial connect, we can steer your comeback image in a more positive direction. It also gives the feeling that you're properly launching an entertainment career rather than doing one project and stopping."
I chewed on his words and looked at the contract once more.
Now everything was truly becoming real.
I slowly drew in a breath.
And without hesitation, I picked up the pen.
"I'll sign."