Applause from staff and actors filled the room. Then, the actors introduced themselves one by one.
"I'm Jung Beom-Gyu, playing the father of Sky. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to act alongside the respected sunbae-nim Lee Sa-Rang."
Then, it was Lee Sa-Rang's turn, who would be acting with Yoo-Jin the most. "I'm Lee Sa-Rang, playing Sky's mother. I'll make sure to keep her father in line in the drama."
"Haha, you are so funny, sunbae-nim," Jung Beom-Gyu chuckled at Lee Sa-Rang's playful remark as he scratched his head in a shy manner.
The playful comments by the two sunbae actors lightened the atmosphere, bringing laughter to the room as everyone continued to introduce themselves. The last person to introduce herself was the scriptwriter, Kim Soll-Ip.
"I'm Kim Soll-Ip, the writer who wrote this script. As you all know, I learned to write scripts under Ms. Lee Ji-Yeon's guidance and this is my first drama. However, I don't plan to stay in her shadow. Thank you all in advance."
Her confident introduction caused a stir among everyone.
Then, Jung Sam-Ryong laughed heartily to set the mood. "Yes. A writer should be confident, just like Ms. Kim. Right, everyone?"
The actors nodded at Jung Sam-Ryong's response to Kim Soll-Ip's statement.
"Wow. Ms. Kim is quite sharp."
"She is indeed Ms. Lee Ji-Yeon's disciple. We might be scolded by Ms. Kim if we slack off, huh? Hahaha."
Everyone including the staff and the actors seemed excited.
Lee Ji-Yeon's drama The Morning Takes Off ended with a 25% viewership rating and Kim Soll-Ip's statement on not wanting to remain in Lee Ji-Yeon's shadow meant she was aiming for a viewership rating of over 25% for Blue Sky.
After everyone was done introducing themselves, Kang Soo-Hoon clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Now, shall we slowly begin?"
His cue was followed by the sound of script pages turning in unison.
Flip, flip.
The real war was about to begin now. As the actors start their performances, their skills would become fully known to all.
***
The story of Blue Sky was centered around two families—Sung Blue's family, who owned 'Blue Fish House,' and Kim Sky's family, who owned 'Sky Pork Ribs'.
The script reading of Blue Sky began with the child actors.
『Ugh…』
『What's wrong, Sky? Don't you want a barbecue?』
『Dad, I just can't eat meat. No matter how much I try, I just can't. I hate it. It's greasy. I feel like I'm going to throw up.』
Kim Sky's child actress puffed her cheeks with her arms crossed, looking dissatisfied. Jung Beom-Gyu, a veteran actor with 30 years of experience playing Sky's father, leaned in to match the child actor's height.
『Is that so? Then shall we go to Blue's restaurant for sashimi?』
『Yes! And…can we invite Blue oppa and eat with him?』
『Hey! You little one. Did you refuse to eat barbecue because you wanted to see Blue? Sigh. You used to say your dad was all you need. 』
『Hehe.』
Kim Ye-Jin, who was playing the role of Young Kim Sky, giggled and playfully stuck out her tongue in response to Jung Beom-Gyu's teasing. Her charming performance would significantly contribute to the high viewership ratings of the first episode. The chemistry between the two actors brought laughter to the entire room.
Flip, flip.
The script pages began to flip at an incredible speed and it only took less than ten minutes to finish reading the first episode. This marked the transition from child to adult actors.
The moment Ju Yung-In started her lines, the atmosphere immediately shifted. She began her performance without looking at the script.
'As expected. She hasn't changed a bit.'
Ju Yung-In calmly looked at the other actors and read the script as if she were in an actual filming session. She seemed to be doing this simply to declare herself as the true protagonist of the drama.
This display of dominance made the other actors, who were comfortably reading their scripts just a moment ago, extremely tense.
Then, Ju Seong-Jin—who was playing the role of the main male lead, Sung Blue—stumbled over his lines several times and made a mistake. He was an actor from Ace Entertainment with five years of experience and was known for his great acting skills. Unfortunately, he was caught up in Ju Yung-In's rhythm and acting, causing him to lose focus in an attempt to match her acting by not looking at the script.
"Mr. Ju, shall we take a short break?"
"N-no, Mr. Kang. I can do this."
"Take a deep breath. It's fine if you need to look at your script. It seems like you haven't fully memorized the script yet, so don't push yourself too hard because we still have some time left until we start shooting."
Ju Seong-Jin's face turned red out of embarrassment at Kang Soo-Hoon's advice. Despite Ju Seong-Jin's insistence on continuing in his attempt to make up for his mistake, his confidence was visibly shaken.
'Getting it together right after you lose your tempo isn't easy.'
When Ju Seong-Jin made two more mistakes, Kang Soo-Hoon decided to skip Ju Seong-Jin's lines.
"Okay, maybe today is not the day. Let's just move on to Scene 52."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Kang."
If they were filming on set, the director would simply give an NG cut and suggest that the actor take a short break before resuming. However, this was a script reading where directors would often skip their lines and move on to the next scenes if the actors made a mistake.
Thanks to the reporters being in the room, Ju Seong-Jin's confidence and ego were greatly hurt.
The chain of errors continued among the other actors, but Ju Yung-In maintained her stellar performance. It wasn't until Jung Beom-Gyu and Lee Sa-Rang, who played the role of Sky's parents, joined in that the acting rhythm began to stabilize. Their natural interaction with Ju Yung-In—laughing, crying, and scolding—made them seem like a real family.
Writer Kim Soll-Ip was visibly delighted as she watched the actors bringing her characters to life through their performances and acting as if they were actually shooting an actual scene.
Now, it was Yoo-Jin's turn to act.
The tension in the room was palpable, especially after witnessing the brilliant performances by the veteran actors. My palms started to get sweaty without realizing it.
Flip.
When Yoo-Jin, who was seated opposite Ju Yung-In, closed her script, all eyes in the room were drawn to her.
"No way. Has she also memorized the entire script?"
"We can't be complacent. These hoobaes might actually outshine us."
Yoo-Jin took a deep breath as she waited for her turn and briefly closed her eyes before opening them again.
At that moment, the atmosphere around Yoo-Jin transformed. Her gaze, posture, and expression shifted, embodying the character of Kim Twilight so completely that it felt as if the character had come to life.