Part 1 played, and Taeha couldn’t help but laugh.
“Art Ik really pulled it off. In a good way.”
From the meticulously crafted opening scene, every following moment.
The entire cinematography was remarkable.
There was a dark and mysterious atmosphere, as if something could happen at any moment.
Because of that mood, even though not a single Actor had appeared yet, Taeha found himself drawn into the drama.
Then, as the screen brightened and the atmosphere flipped, the lively campus was revealed.
The story began from the point where the main character, Han Yun-seong, was being bullied at school.
The rowdy male high school students making noise at the back of the classroom.
And sitting on a desk, laughing—
“Uh? That’s me!”
He couldn’t be sure if it was him or someone else, since it passed by so quickly.
But Taeha paused the screen as soon as he spotted himself and let out a low exclamation of wonder.
When he was a writer, he’d been too busy watching how his scenes turned out to notice himself, but now that he was on screen, the feeling was truly strange.
“This is… fun.”
From then on, Taeha watched like he was playing a hidden object game, looking for brief glimpses of himself.
Yesterday, when Im Chan-hyung had asked, he honestly hadn’t been that curious.
“But… just seeing myself flash by on screen is this interesting?”
Watching himself move on screen felt nothing like looking in a mirror.
It was as if he was seeing another version of himself from a different dimension.
He was already curious what kind of thrill he’d feel when he finally saw himself acting for real.
Even while filming , he’d felt it—how fascinating the Actor’s profession truly was.
Before he knew it, Taeha realized he was more focused on finding himself on screen than following the actual plot.
He laughed to himself, belatedly.
“I guess you have to watch the drama twice to really get it.”
Meanwhile, despite the bright screen, the story was growing ever darker.
Han Yun-seong, dressed in his school uniform, was being beaten so badly under the clear, cloudless sky that blood was flying.
That contrast made everything feel even more brutal.
Han Yun-seong’s gentle, clear face was twisted in pain, and the camera captured every transparent layer of his suffering.
“Whoa, that’s intense.”
The performances of the perpetrators were also impressive, making it impossible not to empathize with the main character.
This fast-paced, biting direction carried the main character through his harrowing school days.
And finally, the moment came when the protagonist, now in the military, resolved to take revenge.
“This is where Director Lee Hae-ik’s directing really shines.”
The original script, in its pursuit of a rapid pace, had left out a lot of explanations.
So the emotional connections were a bit lacking, but the direction had brought those parts to life.
This was Director Lee Hae-ik’s forte: powerful mise-en-scène.
It was why, even though dramas were called “the writer’s playground,” direction remained crucial.
No matter how brilliant a script, it could never be perfect on its own.
Only the Actors and the director’s vision could fill in its missing pieces.
That was how Part 1 ended, and Part 2 started up automatically.
Perhaps because he was already so invested, Taeha couldn’t wait to see how the protagonist’s revenge would unfold.
“As expected, it’s provocative.”
Before he knew it, Taeha had forgotten all about eating and was completely absorbed in the show.
Then, in Part 2, Scene 14.
Finally, Taeha’s character uttered his first line.
That was the first day he acted for a counting scene, wasn’t it?
Thinking this, Taeha focused intently.
Just as he had chosen at the time, Taeha performed as Bystander 2, giving a subtle smile.
“You… Right? It’s been a while.”
At the same time, he was shocked.
Seeing his own acting on TV for the first time was more than he’d expected.
It was clear why Director Lee Hae-ik had started paying attention to him after that day.
That’s how much of an impression his acting left in .
“Especially the facial expressions I couldn’t see that day were really good…”
He was smiling as if he’d run into an old friend, but there was a fleeting chill hidden beneath that expression.
And within that smile, an unexplainable anxiety and discomfort.
As a mere bit part, Taeha couldn’t monitor the screen on set.
That’s why he’d never seen those expressions for himself.
But now, having seen them, he understood.
Why Director Lee Hae-ik had cast him as the sub-lead in .
Just as Taeha was reeling from this realization—
[Hey, take a look at this]
A message arrived from Im Chan-hyung.
***
Taeha paused the drama for a moment and clicked the link Im Chan-hyung sent.
It was a link to a community site Taeha knew very well.
He wasn’t a member, but it was so popular and fast-moving with news and issues that he checked it often.
Because of that, if your post made it to the trending board there, you were guaranteed buzz.
What was surprising was that there was a post related to Taeha himself on such a site.
[Title: —Newbie Steals the Spotlight and Everyone’s Losing Their Minds…. (SPOILERS)]
(Close-up gif of Han Yun-seong awkwardly smiling after running into someone on the street.)
(Close-up gif of Han Yun-seong’s face stiffening after greeting.)
(Full shot gif of Han Yun-seong saying hello—crazy long legs.)
(Gif of getting stabbed and collapsing on the ground, dying.)
(Jpg of a pained expression, eyes closing.)
Source – Z
I was just watching and got shocked at how handsome he is, no wonder all the named gif accounts are going wild, lololol.
The Actor’s name is Kang Taeha, lol.
– He’s pretty good.
– Who is this?
– His eyes are so similar, lol, I was wondering who it was too, lol.
– Oh, he’s good-looking.
– His acting seems good too, is he good? His expressions are nice.
– Yeah.
– He doesn’t have enough screen time to say if he’s great or not, lol.
– Doesn’t seem bad though.
– Seriously, it looked like he really got stabbed, lol, I felt the pain, lolol.
– Great visuals.
– More, please…
– Kang Taeha, okay, I’ll remember the name, lol.
– Seems pretty normal to me?
– This is normal?
– Why the argument, if that’s what I see?
– I saw the gifs on Z and now I want to watch Critical Point… Does he die?
– Curious about his screen time.
– Really short appearance.
– Honestly, these gifs are everything.
– Prettiest rookie I’ve seen lately.
– Huh? That’s my boyfriend.
– No, he’s my husband.
– Even though it was a brief appearance, he was impactful.
– The director shot him so beautifully.
– At this level, the director must have fallen for him, so many close-ups, damn.
– Not even an important role, but still, it was kinda awkward while watching.
– Isn’t that the Actor who got flamed for a nepotism casting recently? Lol.
– Yeah.
– Viral marketing? Where is all this buzz coming from, lol.
– It says in the post, all the gif accounts are going wild…
– Seems like there’s some small reaction on Z too.
– The title is clickbait, lololol.
– If it’s made it to the English board, there’s definitely some buzz, lol.
– These gifs are pretty.
– Right, I really like this guy’s gifs, I guess he watched Critical Point this time too,,
– Is the drama fun? It was released yesterday and already trending, rookies getting posts, lololol.
– It’s fun!
– Too brutal for me, I stopped watching, yeah.
– Fun.
– I enjoyed it.
– I was planning to watch for Han Yun-seong, so now I’m even more excited.
– If you like Han Yun-seong, you have to watch, for real.
– Looks amazing, haha.
– Wow, totally hit by this, is there anything else he’s been in?
– Seems like this is his debut?
– If you’re interested, check MyStar! Not many posts but seems like he has a nice personality, lol.
And that wasn’t the only post about Taeha.
On the collected trending board, there were two more posts on the same page about .
The response to the drama seemed quite positive.
With Han Yun-seong, one of the hottest Actors right now, starring, and with the provocative and entertaining plot, it was no wonder the drama was gaining popularity.
“Han Yun-seong will definitely secure his spot as a top star with this.”
Four parts had been released yesterday.
The remaining four would be released one per week starting next week.
“If this is the response from just the first release…”
Success on Netflix wasn’t out of reach either.
It might be hard to expect worldwide frenzy like or , since the scale wasn’t as grand, but it was sure to be popular domestically.
“More than anything…”
Taeha was amazed that he was generating buzz by appearing in such a drama.
He checked his own post on the trending board once more.
The comments were positive, and the fact that he’d made a name for himself before aired was a good sign.
It might only be a fleeting moment of attention, but it was worth looking forward to the response when was released.
Im Chan-hyung messaged him.
[Did you check the link?]
[Yeah, just now, lol, this is huge, lol]
[Your MyStar followers shot up a ton, by the way]
[Really? I never thought a minor appearance would get this kind of reaction]
[I know, right, lol, feels like things are going smoothly for once, congrats for real]
[What are you congratulating for, it’s only the beginning, lol, you’re the one who worked hard]
As Taeha was in the midst of chatting with Im Chan-hyung, a new message arrived and he was taken aback.
[Did you see that our drama was released?]
Surprisingly, the sender was Han Yun-seong.
He’d been planning to reach out to the people involved with after finishing the drama.
But he hadn’t expected someone to contact him first, and especially not the main character, Han Yun-seong.
Flustered, Taeha quickly replied.
[Hello, sunbae! I’m watching it right now! Congratulations on the huge success! I was planning to contact you, but I didn’t expect you to reach out first, haha]
[I was waiting so eagerly for your message yesterday, but you never contacted me ㅠㅠ]
[I’m so sorry; filming ended late yesterday, so I went to bed early because I was tired. But I dreamed about you, so please don’t be too sad!]
[lolol, you even dream about me? Still, Taeha, you have to know your place. Weren’t you shooting a thriller with Director Lee Hae-ik? Was it <Heureojeo Itdeon Saramdeul>?]
[Yes, haha, that’s right!]
[Then it’s the sub-lead in Director Lee Hae-ik’s work… You really don’t stop. Try asking for some rest, just once.]
[I got the sub-lead thanks to the director, how could I shamelessly ask for a break…?]
[Then should I ask for you? If you want, I can do it anytime, haha]
[Ah! No, sunbae! I’ll just work hard!]
Taeha and Han Yun-seong naturally exchanged messages for quite a while.
At the same time, Taeha was a bit surprised.
It wasn’t common for a top Actor to show this kind of kindness to a rookie.
Having been under Baek Seung-chul and seen all kinds of Actors, Taeha felt this even more strongly.
“My MyStar followers too… Maybe Han Yun-seong really wants to be friends with me? Seriously?”
It seemed certain.
But even so, he couldn’t quite understand why Han Yun-seong would feel that way.
“Is it just a kind of human attraction? Anyway, having a nice guy like Han Yun-seong as a friend can’t be bad for me.”
After over thirty minutes of back-and-forth, their conversation was winding down.
[I’m looking forward to airing, haha. Let’s meet up once filming wraps up a bit!]
[I’d love that! I’ll work even harder at filming so I can meet you, sunbae!]
And just when Taeha thought the conversation was ending, something unexpected happened.
[By the way, from now on, don’t call me ‘sunbae’, call me ‘hyung’! It’s unfair if you call Min-gi ‘hyung’ and I’m just ‘sunbae’ when I’m only a few years older, right? ^^]
“How does he know I call Sun Min-gi ‘hyung’?”
That thought flashed through his mind, but it wasn’t all that strange.
After all, Taeha wasn’t the only Actor Director Lee Hae-ik brought from to .
“Someone from over there must’ve mentioned I call Sun Min-gi ‘hyung’.”
Thinking that, Taeha sent his final message.
[Yes, hyung! I’ll do that!]
And so, Taeha gained another ‘hyung.’
This time, a top-tier Actor.