<Three Sisters>

A play by Anton Chekhov, the master of modern realist drama.

Su Yeon stared silently at the lines spoken by Irina, the youngest of the three sisters.

Why did he choose this monologue for me?

She had practiced these lines countless times.

Irina's personality.

Her background.

The emotions she felt while speaking these words.

She had analyzed everything dozens, hundreds of times. Every detail was stored in her head.

The only thing she had never managed was immersion.

But now?

Irina... I am Irina.

Russia, shortly before the Revolution.

People weary of ordinary lives that repeated day after day without change.

People yearning for something different.

Among them, Irina was the bright, lovable youngest sister.

Yet even she carried sudden surges of fear and a quiet melancholy buried deep within her heart.

The look in Su Yeon's eyes changed instantly.

"Lieutenant, you think life is wonderful, don't you?"

A flicker of sadness glimmered behind a word that should have sounded hopeful.

"My sisters and I have never known a wonderful life. Life has always been like weeds, blocking the path as we tried to grow."

Regret for a life overrun by weeds.

Longing for a beautiful one.

Something slipped down her cheek.

A bright voice.

A bright smile.

And tears she could no longer hold back.

She quickly wiped them away and smiled again.

"I have to work. I have to work. Perhaps there was never a wonderful life because I never worked. Work, work, work!"

Watching her first performance, a chill ran down Ryu Shin's spine.

The technique is still rough...

Her breathing.

Her gestures.

The spacing between lines.

He had taught her a great deal, but she was still inexperienced.

And yet...

he was being pulled in.

At this moment, Seol Su Yeon disappeared.

Irina Prozorova stood in her place, speaking with the stubborn resilience of a single spring flower blooming in a frozen field.

The immersion was overwhelming.

Ryu Shin glanced toward Yu Myeong, who was watching beside him.

It had been Yu Myeong who selected Three Sisters.

A play about people burdened by exhausting, difficult lives who nevertheless continue living.

And among its characters, he had chosen Irina's lines.

The lines of someone who constantly struggled to smile.

The meaning of I have to work.

Even if life crushes you. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Even if sorrow threatens to bury you.

If you keep focusing on what lies before you, perhaps one day there will come a moment when life finally feels beautiful.

Was that the message he wanted to give Su Yeon?

After finishing Irina's monologue, Su Yeon spoke.

"Could I try another line from Three Sisters? One I really like?"

"Of course."

"As much as you want."

Without hesitation, she shifted moods entirely and began speaking.

This time it was Olga's opening speech from the beginning of the play.

"Irina, our father died exactly one year ago today. May fifth. Your birthday. It was terribly cold that day, and snow was falling. I thought I would never survive it. You lay there like a dead person yourself.

But now a whole year has passed. We can speak calmly about those days, and you're wearing white again. You're smiling again."

That was her answer.

It was hard.

But time passed.

She met them.

And now she was smiling.

An answer that said she was alive.

And that she would continue living.

That was how she escaped the castle.

The girl trapped inside it was finally free.

 Late Goryeo, Early Joseon surpassed seven million admissions.

It was now late January, and the Lunar New Year holiday was approaching.

This year's family gathering was livelier than ever.

His eldest aunt was noticeably more subdued than usual.

And his younger aunt's family, who normally visited her husband's side first, had come to the maternal family gathering before anything else.

Naturally, they had come because opportunities to see a certain star in person were rare.

"Yu Myeong~~~"

"Auntie. Hi."

Unlike his eldest aunt, his younger aunt was exactly the same inside and out.

Cheerful.

Straightforward.

She immediately threw her arms around her nephew.

"Are you really my nephew? I nearly doubted my eyes when I watched that movie."

"Haha. I look exactly the same."

"No you don't. Your nose looks sharper, and you've gotten ridiculously handsome. Seriously, did you get anything done?"

"No. Nothing."

Then a scream erupted behind her.

"Oh, my God! Bro!! It wasn't a dream. Shin Yu Myeong is actually my cousin!"

Yu Myeong greeted him warmly.

Myeong Jun, his younger cousin, was five years younger than him.

He had gone abroad for early education at age ten and entered a Korean university last year.

Since Yu Myeong had been so busy, they hadn't even met once after his return.

It was effectively their first meeting in nearly a decade.

The sturdy young man with the unmistakable aura of a second generation overseas Korean practically launched himself at Yu Myeong.

"Bro. Your acting was great! I cried watching it. I was the one who insisted we come today."

"That's right. Myeong Jun said he absolutely had to come here. It's the first time in twenty years I've visited my parents' house before my in-laws'. Even my husband's family heard that Shin Yu Myeong was my nephew and told me to hurry over. They asked for autographs too. I never thought I'd benefit from having such a famous nephew. Can I get some autographs later?"

"Sure."

Yu Myeong laughed quietly.

If a few signatures could buy her an escape from her in-laws' family gathering, he was happy to provide them.

"Bro, where did you learn acting? Mom says you only started after entering university. Unbelievable! I joined a theater club because I wanted to become a star too, but acting is so hard. God—"

Apparently Myeong Jun had joined a theater club.

Yu Myeong tried to remember what had happened to him in his previous life.

He vaguely recalled hearing that he graduated from a prestigious university, joined a major corporation, and eventually got married.

If so, had Yu Myeong himself inspired this sudden interest in entertainment?

"I didn't really learn anywhere special. I joined theater clubs, interacted with actors around me, read a lot. More than anything, it's important to watch lots of performances and ask yourself, 'How would I play this?'"

"Easy to say. Hard to do. Then how would you perform this?"

Myeong Jun suddenly jumped up and shoved a script into his hands.

Boy Detective Kim Jun Il

Then, without warning, he performed the lines of the character he had been cast as.

Yu Myeong watched carefully.

Perhaps because he had spent his childhood in America, his movements were uninhibited.

He didn't seem concerned with how others viewed him.

For an actor, that was a tremendous advantage.

His performance contained something unexpectedly compelling.

Still rough.

Still crude.

But there was talent.

"Hm. For a role like this, wouldn't it be more fun if you exaggerated the character?"

"How? Show me, please~~"

Myeong Jun clasped his hands together desperately.

Around them, cousins and relatives swallowed nervously as they watched.

It was slightly embarrassing.

But to an actor, an audience was no different from a camera.

There was no reason not to show them.

Yu Myeong stood and positioned himself in front of Myeong Jun.

 "This is an original adaptation, right? A parody of the original?"

"Yeah. Read it later. It's pretty funny."

"What kind of person is Shota?"

"A detective wannabe. The first person to suspect Kim Jun Il..."

Nodding, Yu Myeong flipped through the script.

Only skimming the outline.

The character names were the same, but the story was entirely different from the original.

It followed people who found it suspicious that murders constantly occurred around Kim Jun Il.

They investigated him.

Eventually they discovered that Kim Jun Il himself was the true culprit behind every case he had solved.

And Shota—

the role Myeong Jun played—

was the first character to voice suspicion.

He was also murdered midway through the story.

"You know the cliché in horror movies? The loudest person, the one insisting everyone go investigate, is always the first to die."

"Ugh... right. Especially in American horror movie clichés. I've seen tons."

"Shota's that type of character. He's completely serious, but to everyone else he looks ridiculous. What if you leaned into that?"

"How?"

"Hands on your hips. Feet spread ninety degrees apart. Pointing dramatically with your finger. So over the top that even the audience doesn't believe he's telling the truth."

Yu Myeong memorized a line briefly and set down the script.

Myeong Jun's eyes sparkled.

God...

Yu Myeong's expression changed completely.

"The culprit is among us—"

He squeezed his eyes shut during the culprit is—

Then snapped them open while thrusting a finger into the air during among us.

Myeong Jun burst out laughing.

"There have already been three murders at the Opera Mansion. And that's not all! Around Kim Jun Il, an ordinary high school student, murder cases occur almost every month. Does that sound normal to anyone?"

His pleasant everyday voice vanished.

In its place came a shrill, excitable tone.

After briefly stroking his chin in thought, he slapped a hand onto his hip and declared proudly:

"And there's more! There is even clearer evidence. He swore upon my grandfather's honor! Why not his own honor? Because he is attempting to avoid responsibility for his crimes! A cunning deception!"

Exaggerated speech.

Cartoonish movements.

A completely unreliable voice.

"Therefore... the culprit... is you, Kim Jun Il!"

He swung his entire arm dramatically and pointed [N O V E L I G H T] off to the side.

Myeong Jun collapsed onto the floor laughing.

The rest of the family burst out laughing as well.

It felt as though an animated character had suddenly come to life.

"Wow... Bro, you're insane. I can't believe this is the same person who played Yi Bang Won."

"Right. But Myeong Jun, the important part is something else."

Myeong Jun gradually stopped laughing when he saw Yu Myeong's serious expression.

"What?"

"The tragedy hidden inside a comic character."

"...?"

Yu Myeong sat down in a nearby chair.

"The tragedy that only appears when a character this ridiculous finally dies. That contrast is what completes the drama."

Then he let his body go limp.

And Myeong Jun realized.

What Yu Myeong intended to show him was—

Shota's death.

He clutched his chest and coughed violently.

Then strength slowly left his fingers.

His hand slipped free and dangled beneath the chair.

Every movement felt unnervingly real.

Everyone's attention sharpened.

After several ragged breaths, he barely managed to speak.

The words emerged almost as a groan.

"...See? My deduction was right."

The noisy apartment packed with more than twenty relatives fell silent.

Even the television seemed distant.

Everyone strained to hear the slightest sound escaping his lips.

"The culprit... is..."

Four fingers slowly curled inward.

Perhaps he would point at Kim Jun Il again.

The gesture had seemed hilarious moments ago.

Yet now everyone watched the effort required to complete it.

The trembling arm rose.

It tried to point somewhere.

And then—

Thud.

It fell.

His breathing stopped.

And Myeong Jun let out a groan.

"God..."

Yu Myeong brushed off his hands and sat upright again.

The family stared blankly before breaking into applause.

"Bro, oh my God. I respect you! Seriously, you're incredible..."

"Myeong Jun."

"Yeah?"

"You have talent."

"Really? Could I become like you?"

"But don't get the order backward. If you're a great actor, you might become a star. But acting just because you want to become a star isn't enough to survive in this industry. Countless talented actors work themselves to death. Only a few become stars. But they keep acting anyway."

Myeong Jun nodded.

"...I get it now. After watching that. Just how difficult it must be."

"If you truly want it, and you're prepared for it, I'll give you whatever advice I can. Think carefully."

"Yes, sir!"

Myeong Jun looked at his cousin with something close to worship in his eyes.

 The Lunar New Year passed.

And Su Yeon's workshop came to an end.

After spending so much time together and sharing so many painful experiences, the three of them had grown far closer.

Ryu Shin's concern for Su Yeon had become obvious, even though he rarely showed it openly.

Once Su Yeon started calling Ryu Shin "Oppa," Yu Myeong naturally returned to calling him "Hyung."

"I think it's time we finalize the casting."

It was finally time to begin serious preparations for the production.

"Su Yeon, you've already decided on Wendy, right?"

"Yes. She's the character who saved me. I want my first role to be her."

"Good. Then what about you, Hyung?"

"You're asking whether I'd rather play Peter Pan or Captain Hook?"

"Yes."

In the original story, Peter Pan was the protagonist and everyone else was supporting cast.

But this adaptation would completely reinterpret the source material.

All three roles would carry equal weight.

So regardless of screen time—

if he chose purely based on which character he wanted to explore...

Ryu Shin thought for a long time before arriving at a decision.

Then he turned to Yu Myeong.

"Let's write it down and reveal it."

"You can just choose first."

"No. We'll write our choices down. If they don't overlap, we'll go with that. If they do, we'll audition for it. I'm not the type to take a role first just because I'm the senior."

His tone left no room for argument.

Yu Myeong simply nodded.

"Don't think about what I might choose. Pick the role you want."

"I'm not that self sacrificing."

Over the past months, they had spent countless hours discussing the characters.

The problems that defined Peter Pan.

The problems that defined Captain Hook.

Of those two, the character Yu Myeong most wanted to explore was—

"Let's reveal them."

Two folded slips of paper.

Standing between them, Su Yeon unfolded one.

Then the other.

Gulp.

And the result was revealed.