“…Action!”

With a lively cue, Yooil slowly opened his eyes.

In that moment, Han Yooil once again became ‘Yooil’ from “The Last Diner.”

“…Uh.”

After returning from the restroom, Sohee collapses in front of their car.

In his view, while casually drinking banana milk, he sees Sohee collapsing powerlessly.

“…Noona?”

The banana milk drops from Yooil’s hand. He bends his knees towards the fallen Sohee,

“Noona…!”

He begins to shake Sohee.

The slight gap in Han Yooil’s lips and eyes starts to quiver from the sudden shock.

‘Could it be.’

He slowly lowers his head and places his hand near Sohee’s nose.

There’s… breathing.

His dimmed eyes slowly start to find light.

‘Wow…’

The camera operator capturing Yooil’s face from a low angle quietly admired.

‘That’s impressive.’

To create such trembling on camera so aptly.

‘I doubt anyone could do this even if they tried.’

Other faces appear in the camera.

Behind Yooil, the pale-faced Joonki and Jongsun approach.

Pushing past Joonki who is muttering curses, Jongsun crouches down.

After checking Sohee’s pulse and lifting her eyelids to examine her pupils, she murmurs softly.

“Could it be…”

“…What?”

Jongsun doesn’t answer easily. Annoyance fills Joonki’s face, while frustration starts to rise in Yooil,

“What’s going on?”

“That’s right, it’s happening again, isn’t it?!”

Finally, Jongsun opens her lips.

“…Poison”

Upon hearing that, Yooil slowly blinks.

“What do you mean… Grandma?”

“Call 119 right now.”

Yooil stares blankly at Jongsun.

Poison?

…Why?

He genuinely doesn’t understand.

They all ate together. But why…

“Hurry up!”

Sparks fly from Lee Jongsun’s eyes. Only after her command does Yooil start blinking.

Is it shock? His vision keeps blurring.

Surely she’s not going to die like this, not die like this…

“Yes… Emergency room! Emergency room!”

Hearing Joonki’s shout, Yooil presses his trembling hand on his phone.

However, with 119 on the screen, Yooil’s finger hesitates over the call button.

“What are you doing, call already!”

“…Are we, are we really okay going to the hospital?”

At his words, Jongsun and Joonki look at Yooil.

“…”

“Is it really, really okay?”

Eerily empty eyes move.

The gaze sweeps over Sohee’s coat and bag with luxury brand logos, then moves to the faces of a woman in her 70s and a shabby middle-aged man.

Amid the fear that someone they had been living with might die and the cruel selfishness of fearing they might be blamed for the situation, the eyes were filled with mixed emotions.

“I…”

Joonki’s mouth opened and then closed.

The strength in Yooil’s hands gradually faded.

And in the next moment,

Jongsun snatched Yooil’s phone.

“…!”

And pressed the call button in a flash.

“…Cut!”

Silence pervaded the set.

The actors remained still in their places.

Just then, Yoo Jaeho, who had been staring at the monitor as if frozen, suddenly stood up. He approached the actors with a brisk pace, his face seeming a bit angry.

All the staff held their breath and watched him.

Then, standing in front of the actors, Yoo Jaeho opened his mouth.

“Thank you.”

“…!”

Seeing Yoo Jaeho’s face, Yooil was a bit surprised. It was because his eyes were moist.

It was then that Brion’s voice echoed in his head.

【Phase 1 objective 93% achieved.】

‘…What?’

But Brion didn’t respond to Han Yooil’s question.

【The external temperature is causing your body temperature to decrease. It is recommended that you go indoors or use a heat pack.】

It only diverted the conversation like this.

* * *

At the same time, in a practice room in the NVB building in Seongsu-dong,

Inside, a blonde man wearing a white sweatshirt and black track pants was dancing.

His hat and scarf, which had covered his face, were placed in a corner of the practice room.

The man was warming up, with Bluetooth earphones in his ears.

One, two… three, four.

One and two, three and four.

He counted the beats with his mouth and moved his feet. Ever since he first entered the agency through dance, he hadn’t skipped a single day of practice.

Each movement revealed the defined lines of his muscular body.

“Hey there, Kim Harang.”

The man looked up. With a high voice, the door to the practice room opened, and a man wearing a black hat and a gray tracksuit set entered. It was Jang Woosin, a colleague and member of Black Sea.

“It’s been a while~”

“It sure has, hyung!”

Black Sea, who had recently been fulfilling various events and promotional shooting schedules, each received a short vacation. It had been several days since they had met like this in the practice room.

“Hey, Kim Harang. You went to Myungmoon University a few days ago, right? The manager hyung said so~”

“Yes.”

“Why’d you go without Eunho hyung?”

“Ah, it wasn’t to see hyung!”

Kim Harang lightly answered Woosin’s question and then focused back on dancing. Jang Woosin didn’t ask any further.

As usual, a simple and comfortable companion. Harang thought so as he changed the music.

Kim Harang’s visit to Myungmoon University that day was because of his sister, a graduate student.

‘Though I ended up seeing someone else for longer than my sister…’

The man who helped him at the convenience store, the one practicing acting at the rooftop café.

– What do you mean, Grandma?

At that moment, the man’s fingertips were trembling.

Had he had earphones in his ears, one might have thought he was on a call.

The man was acting.

The concentration of the man was unbreakable, even without a counterpart or even props to interact with. The man, undoubtedly a unique individual, remained focused until Kim Harang approached.

And above all… he performed well.

‘Could he have been a rookie actor?’

Wetting his throat with a momentary distraction, Harang resumed his dance practice. Soon another member entered the practice room.

“Hello, hyung!”

“It’s been a while~”

He was Yoo Yeonho, the main vocalist of Black Sea. With light brown hair and glasses, he entered the room. As the three members were warming up separately, the practice room door opened again. This time, it wasn’t a member.

“Hey, Manager~ Hello~!”

“Hello!”

A woman with her long hair tied up high. She was the manager who had been with Black Sea since its planning stages.

“Ah, everyone’s here except for Eunho and Mino?”

The manager looked pleased to see the members back in the practice room even on the last day of their vacation.

What’s the most crucial thing for idols? Talent, appearance, singing, dancing… all important. But the fundamental thing that needs to back them up is perseverance.

It was harder to maintain a high position for more than four years in the rapidly moving entertainment industry than walking on a tightrope.

‘It’s because of kids like these that we’ve come this far.’

Black Sea was her first and most significant career.

“Did you all have a good rest?”

“Yes, totally~”

“Woosin, I can tell by your face. Didn’t you wear sunscreen? What’s with your face? How did you get so tanned?”

After swiftly nagging at Jang Woosin, the manager pointed at Kim Harang.

“By the way, Harang. From tomorrow, you need to take additional acting classes.”

“Acting classes?”

“You’re going to be in a web drama.”

“Really?”

As Kim Harang widened his eyes in surprise, the manager shrugged.

“The director likes your image. He’s currently the director that JM Studio is promoting. It’ll be released on Otube, and a month later, the full version will be on Newblix.”

Newblix was a global OTT platform, recently running at its all-time high stock prices.

“Wow~ Kim Harang!”

Although Jang Woosin playfully nudged him, Kim Harang looked bewildered.

“Eunho will be joining too, so ask him anything you want. Harang, it’s time for you to start acting.”

“Manager, what about me?”

As Jang Woosin lit up with excitement, the manager chuckled.

“Woosin… let’s focus on variety shows.”

“Pssh.”

Jang Woosin pretended to sulk, but Kim Harang just smirked. It was well known that Woosin had not even a speck of interest in acting.

“Manager.”

“Hmm?”

“What’s the drama about?”

As Kim Harang asked, Yoo Yeonho, who was pretending not to be interested, perked up his ears. After a short consideration, the manager opened her mouth.

“High teen.”

“…High teen?”

“Yes. A high teen musical drama.”

“Wow, dude! I really like HighX School Musical!”

Ignoring the excited Jang Woosin, the manager continued.

“It’s about kids who dance well, sing well, can’t sing but dance well, can’t dance but sing well, all coming together to put on a stage… Well, read the script when it comes out.”

“Got it.”

“…Ah, and Harang.”

“Yes! Manager.”

The manager looked at Kim Harang and smiled brightly.

“You’re the ‘guy who can’t sing but dances well’.”

* * *

Meanwhile, the filming of “The Last Diner” was rapidly approaching its final stages.

Shooting continued late into the evening, and everyone was having their dinner. However, Director Yoo Jaeho was so engrossed that he couldn’t tell if he was eating through his mouth or his nose.

“Cr…”

“…Director, you spilled everything.”

He was obliviously smiling with kimchi soup staining his pants.

“Oh, I’m dying.”

Yoo Jaeho was watching the cuts swiftly pieced together by the onsite editing team. Despite the quick work and not yet undergoing proper editing, the output was surprisingly more polished than expected.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say 80% of this was thanks to the actors.

‘I chose the actors too well.’

Yoo Jaeho felt like dancing in celebration of his discernment. He would have if there weren’t people watching around.

“Is there anything additional to shoot?”

“No. The remaining scenes are from here to here.”

He nodded in satisfaction. Only one day of shooting was left.

“It’s already making me sad~”

Min Sohee said with a smile that crinkled her eyes.

“We only have the final shooting left.”

“That’s right.”

Yooil nodded in agreement. He too felt a sense of longing as the shooting neared its end.

“I learned a lot thanks to you, Yooil.”

“What are you talking about, Senior. I learned more.”

Yooil said with wide eyes, and Min Sohee shook her head with a smile.

She didn’t know what else to say when he spoke so sincerely…

‘He’s exceptional.’

She knew that without Han Yooil, she wouldn’t have been able to showcase her full potential in this film.

Lee Jongsun, looking at Yooil with warm eyes, chimed in.

“I also feel rejuvenated thanks to this. When would I get the chance to act with such young actors again?”

“Hey, you all are going to be even more successful.”

“Yooil, you know, you have such a good face and personality! Right? You’re definitely going to be hugely successful~”

When Park Joonki joined in, Han Yooil didn’t know where to put himself out of embarrassment. Seeing his reaction, the other actors shared a playful look.

It seemed Yooil didn’t yet realize that his reaction only made them want to compliment him more genuinely.

* * *

Time passed, and the final day of shooting for “The Last Diner” arrived.

“Is everyone ready?”

“Yes~”

The lead actors exchanged bright glances, quickly gathered their emotions, and fixed their eyes on the script.

A scene that made not just the director and actors, but also the staff both excited and anxious, was about to unfold.