[Rookie on Everyone’s Lips, Han Seongtae. Wins the Rookie Award.]
On the day of the awards ceremony.
Countless articles began pouring onto portal sites.
Reporters always flooded the news during awards ceremonies, of course.
But this time, the volume was different.
Just one person.
At Han Seongtae’s appearance, they rushed in like starving wolves.
‘A first-year rookie won two awards.’
That fact alone was more than enough to become a hot topic.
And Han Seongtae’s past also lacked nothing as material for articles.
An orphan, started acting after becoming an adult.
For Han Seongtae, who wasn’t a former child actor, to win awards within a year of debut was an incredible feat.
[Han Seongtae: Thankful to the people who made it possible for me to be here.]
[He gives the honor to seniors and fellow actors… Han Seongtae’s humble acceptance speech.]
[2023’s center of attention, Han Seongtae. Who is he?]
Han Seongtae naturally became the center of attention.
His past, his present, and his future.
Everything became fodder for reporters.
「[Han Seongtae, born from a humble stream, soars as a dragon.]
Han Seongtae embraced both the Rookie Award and the Best Couple Award at the 37th KBN Awards Ceremony.
Because winning awards just one year after debut is an extremely unusual event, people’s attention was even more focused than on an ordinary day.
In his acceptance speech for the 37th Rookie Award, Han Seongtae showed humility by giving the honor to those around him rather than taking credit for himself.
Han Seongtae’s demeanor as he spoke his acceptance speech was calm, and that calmness made it all the more moving.
Han Seongtae, who lit up 2023.
Starting with the Rookie Award, people have shown interest in the narrative Han Seongtae will build.
From 2023 into 2024.
There is anticipation for what kind of story Han Seongtae will create over the next year.」
—On Junseo: Hyung Seongtae, you made it! I believed in you! Next is Best Actor, let’s gooo!
—Yapyap: Rookie Award in your first year since debut. Isn’t that insane? Seriously crazy.
—Parkster: But he deserved it. When he played Ji Yeonwoo, honestly my eyes went to him more than the main character. It’s like his presence is just different, so it’d be weirder if he didn’t win an award.
Articles that told Han Seongtae’s story.
And beneath them, people left comments.
There were many praising Han Seongtae’s acting.
They congratulated him, saying it wasn’t strange at all for Han Seongtae to win the Rookie Award.
「[Hey, hey. Han Seongtae, this guy is actually insane.]
Honestly, I thought Han Seongtae grew up all nice and cushy, you know?
I figured he’d been on the elite track since he was a kid.
But not at all.
I even asked people around me and looked into it myself.
They say Han Seongtae is an orphan.
And on top of that, even during his school days he never really had a chance to properly learn acting.
And apparently he first started acting seriously at twenty.
Isn’t that some absolutely crazy talent?」
—Burst: For real? Then that means it’s literally only been about a year since he started acting. How does someone who didn’t properly learn acting put on a performance like that? Does that even make sense?
—Stop: Does it make sense? Of course it doesn’t. No way. This is just… Han Seongtae as a human being is a monster. Most actors around his age started as child actors. If you look only at acting, Han Seongtae is overwhelmingly ahead. It’s just a difference in talent.
—SseukSseuk: I’m a current student at Korea University, right? Han Seongtae, yeah, he’s insane. They said from acting presentations he just completely crushed everyone. But on top of having talent, he’s so crazy about practice. People say they’ve never seen him rest.
—On Junseo: Seriously?
—SseukSseuk: For real. My friend’s in the theater and film department, so I know. They say even when Han Seongtae did musicals or plays, he never rested. He’d even finish a show and then practice with another script.
—DirtDirtSpoon: Wow, he’s just insane. That’s why he’s good at acting. That’s unbelievable.
The community reactions were intense too.
Everyone was talking about Han Seongtae, and among them, there were people digging up and bringing in information about his past.
People were amazed hearing Han Seongtae’s story from their mouths.
An orphan.
And he’d only been acting for a year, at that.
And beyond that—how hard he worked, how full of passion he was.
The more you brought up Han Seongtae’s story, the more surprising things there were.
—HundredPercent: So if you want to act, you just sleep two hours a day. Ah, easy. Starting today, I’m only sleeping two hours and moving… Teacher, where am I? (You’re in the hospital.) Huh? (You collapsed from overwork.) Huh? Me… I only moved for two days…What is this?
—FallsFast: Two hours, yeah, but it’s not like he did that for a month. It means he kept it up for at least a year. That’s crazy. Is it even possible to move around on that little sleep? He goes that far just to act? He’s seriously insane about acting.
—GG: Well, if he didn’t go this far, winning Rookie of the Year wouldn’t make sense. Honestly, when Han Seongtae first won an acting award, I was like, who even is this guy? Then I watched Baeknyeoncho and went, ah, that’s why. But he works that hard too. Should I switch sides even now.
—On Junseo: It’s not too late yet.
With just one awards ceremony, the attention directed at Han Seongtae increased tremendously.
Even people who hadn’t known him started flowing in.
And the number of people cheering for him as they watched him grew.
If the Rookie Award sparked interest in Han Seongtae,
There were also reactions sparked by his other award.
「[Did anyone see Cheon Yeji’s expression when Han Seongtae won Best Couple?]
When Han Seongtae won Rookie of the Year, Cheon Yeji was smiling super brightly and congratulating him.
But when Han Seongtae won Best Couple, her expression got weird immediately.
She was about to stand up because she thought she’d win.
And then Han Seongtae’s name got called and she was standing there awkwardly.
I watched it live, and it was seriously hilarious.」
—Jealousy: Ah, I saw that too. Cheon Yeji just stared blankly at Han Seongtae. Total scene-stealer.
—DoctorWhatDoesThatMean: Yoo Jaehyeok: We will announce the Best Couple winner. Kim Mucheol… / Cheon Yeji: Obviously it’s me. (Stands up.) / Yoo Jaehyeok: Han Seongtae! / Cheon Yeji: Why are you there?
—NowGoodbye: If it’s already like this at his first awards ceremony, then at the next one he’ll go totally insane. Isn’t he just going to sweep everything by himself?
There was a lot of talk about the Best Couple Award too.
Because it was a win no one had expected, it became an even bigger source of entertainment.
Cheon Yeji’s stunned reaction also played a big role in drawing people’s responses.
Under everyone’s gaze, Han Seongtae’s first awards ceremony came to an end.
Rustle.
Han Seongtae, who had been tossing on the bed, slowly opened his eyes.
The sunlight streaming in through the window was warm.
Han Seongtae raised his upper body and stretched long.
In the edge of his yawning vision, he saw trophies.
The Rookie Award and the Best Couple Award.
The awards Han Seongtae had received from KBN, and the first awards of this life.
A gentle smile formed at the corner of his lips as he looked at them.
To Han Seongtae, they were deeply meaningful awards.
They told him that the effort he’d put in so far was not meaningless.
And they were also proof showing that his life would change from here on out.
“…”
Han Seongtae turned his head and looked around the room.
In the scenery of the shabby one-room studio, scripts were piled up on one side.
The more scripts came in, the narrower the room became.
‘I need to move.’
Han Seongtae’s gaze returned to the trophies.
He couldn’t believe trophies like those were sitting in a place this rundown.
Even for the trophies’ sake, moving was the right choice.
Rustle.
Pushing the blanket aside, Han Seongtae slowly got down from the bed.
It had only been yesterday that the awards ceremony happened.
His expression, unable to take his eyes off the trophies, was strange.
Because he really hadn’t thought he would win awards.
So he still felt dazed.
It wasn’t a dream.
He’d already received the trophies and checked again and again that it wasn’t a dream.
[‘The One With a Thousand Faces’ asks how long you’re going to keep staring at the trophies and speaks to you.]
[‘The One Who Defined an Era’ says he understands your heart perfectly, and tells you to do what you want today.]
[‘The One Who Made Laughter from Tragedy’ says that when he won his first award, he was no less severe than you, if anything worse.]
At the gods’ messages, Han Seongtae let out a laugh and turned his body.
Just as they said, he couldn’t keep staring at trophies forever.
Feelings like celebration, emotion, and joy were enough yesterday.
Now it was time to live reality.
‘He said the director sent the script.’
After washing up, Han Seongtae immediately rummaged through his email.
After acting in front of Britten Lee.
Britten Lee had said he would send a new script.
“Found it.”
An email from Britten Lee.
Inside it was the new script Han Seongtae had been searching for so desperately.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Han Seongtae downloaded the script.
Only after printing it out did he feel satisfied, sitting on the bed and opening the script.
“Wow…”
All he could do was marvel as he read.
The excerpt script he’d seen before felt like it had only given him a taste—this full script was showing him a world beyond imagination.
Bzzzt.
While he was deeply absorbed in the script, Han Seongtae froze when he saw a call from Jung Dusik.
He wanted to read more.
Smacking his lips in regret, Han Seongtae picked up his phone and answered.
—What are you doing?
“I was reading the script.”
—Yeah? Do you have time for a quick call?
“Yes, I do.”
At Jung Dusik’s question, Han Seongtae nodded right away.
He didn’t have any particular schedule, and answering a call itself wasn’t a problem.
—You know ‘Rampage’? I called because of the contract. We’re negotiating right now, and there are things we need your consent on.
“Ah, if it’s that, I have time anytime.”
—Then can you come now? You don’t have much you need to do. You just need to say whether it’s reasonably okay or not. We’ll handle the rest of the coordination ourselves.
“Right now?”
—Yeah, right now. They’re already here on their end. You’d already expressed your intent to agree, so we were going to draft the contract more or less ourselves, but the amount of money is so big that it feels hard to do without you. And setting everything else aside, the Rampage production side says they want to see you in person.
“Then I should go.”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Han Seongtae answered without much thought.
It wasn’t just any project. This was Rampage.
If the contract went through, it would mean his participation in the work became 100% certain.
There wasn’t even the slightest reason to hesitate.
Han Seongtae set the script down and sprang to his feet.
“I’ll head over right away.”
—Yeah, thanks. I should’ve come to pick you up, but I’m sorry.
“No, it’s okay. You don’t have to worry about it. I’ll see you at the company.”
—Alright. See you in a bit.
After ending the call with Jung Dusik, Han Seongtae clenched his fist tight and let out a breath.
After one day ended, a new day was about to begin.
Leave a Reply