The first time you met Choo Youngwoo, it was at the script reading for “Winter Sun.” You sat across from him at the long table, both of your names printed on crisp white placards, your faces already on half the casting announcement posts across Korea.

He barely looked up when you introduced yourself.

He just nodded, lips tight, as if he already didn’t like you.

You weren’t surprised. Everyone knew the rumors: You had been the final pick. The role had originally been his. Studio politics changed that. You were told, “He was too soft. We wanted someone with more edge.”

Apparently, no one had told him that directly.

From day one, tension simmered.