"Hello, my name is Ban Sun Ho."

"Hello. I'm Shin Yu Myeong, an actor with Good Enter."

Ban Sun Ho's first impression of Shin Yu Myeong was that he was calm.

His features were not particularly striking. He had a neat, well-proportioned face, but there was something about the way he moved that naturally drew attention. More than anything else, he gave off the unmistakable feeling of being an actor.

"This is my first documentary... What should I do?"

"For today, we'll just observe. Will my presence make you uncomfortable?"

"Not at all, haha. Acting is something you do with an audience in mind anyway."

It was unexpected.

He was the most talked-about rising actor of the past year or two, someone who had shot to stardom almost overnight. Yet neither his tone nor his gaze contained the slightest gesture suggesting awareness of his own popularity or status. He was remarkably down-to-earth.

No matter how naturally composed a person might be, anyone who became this famous at such a young age was bound to get at least a little carried away.

A conversation he had shared over cigarettes before coming here resurfaced in his memory.

"That kid's genuinely good. The senior actors adored him during the filming of Entertainment Studies."

"Have you seen him recently?"

"I don't need to. You can tell. The kid's got a solid center. Honestly, he's kind of like an old man trapped in a young body."

"Sounds like his agency trained him well. Still, who knows? Maybe he's changed after becoming a ten-million-ticket actor."

"I doubt it. Want to bet?"

They said his desire to act was enormous. Aside from that, he supposedly showed almost no greed whatsoever. Even so, they also said he wasn't an easy person.

Ban Sun Ho had known Producer Bang Hak since the day he joined the company. While he was thoroughly tired of the man's sly personality, he still acknowledged his instincts and judgment.

If even that man evaluated an actor this highly...

"Shall we head to the rehearsal room?"

After talking in Theater Company July's office, Shin Yu Myeong led Ban Sun Ho to the rehearsal room.

The moment he stepped inside, he was startled by an unexpected face.

Ryu Shin, the star of Artist Jang Nok Su, the rival film to Late Goryeo, Early Joseon...

What was he doing here?

"Hyung, this is the KBK producer I mentioned."

"Hello. I'm Ryu Shin."

"Ah... hello. I'm Producer Ban Sun Ho. What brings you here...?"

"We were in the same club back in college, and we're preparing a play together now. Didn't the Team Leader tell you?"

"No..."

Ban Sun Ho recalled the polished face of Moon Yu Seok, Good Enter's Team Leader, whom he had met the day before to discuss filming arrangements.

The man was famous throughout the industry for his business savvy. He had obviously coordinated this shoot with Ryu Shin's agency as well.

Then why hadn't he mentioned it?

'Was he saving it to surprise me because it was such irresistible bait...?'

And honestly, it was.

The fact that Shin Yu Myeong and Ryu Shin were preparing a play together...

That title alone would probably produce record-breaking ratings for the documentary department.

The realization that he had automatically started calculating ratings made Ban Sun Ho grimace.

It felt as though he had walked straight into one of Moon Yu Seok's schemes.

After exchanging greetings with a stunningly beautiful woman who immediately caught his eye, as well as an actress with a distinctive presence who was apparently one of July's original members, he took a seat beside Baek Yi Shin, who introduced himself as the assistant director.

"If you have any questions while watching, feel free to ask me."

"Thank you."

And so Sun Ho began observing their rehearsal.

"This is practically athlete-level training. Do they practice like this every day?"

"They do. Moving and speaking on stage for hours consumes far more stamina than people realize. Of course, even among actors, these guys are particularly strict about training."

At first, he assumed that was all there was to it.

Perhaps they were conscious of his presence and working harder than usual.

Then he saw the next exercise and was completely overwhelmed.

Whoosh—

Half the floor had been covered with mats, and Shin Yu Myeong began individual training.

The session consisted of every kind of acrobatic exercise imaginable, including tumbling.

His physical control was almost miraculous.

Without realizing it, Ban Sun Ho glanced down at the slight bulge that had recently begun appearing around his own waist. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"What exactly is he doing?"

"Yu Myeong is playing Peter Pan in this production. He says that even if he can't literally fly, he needs movements light enough to suit Peter Pan."

"I thought this was a story about fairy-tale characters admitted to a psychiatric ward."

"It is. But the play opens by showing the fairy-tale version of Peter Pan in Act One, Scene One."

The explanation was shocking.

Just one scene.

Were they really training that intensely to make a single scene feel authentic?

Were actors all this obsessed with perfection?

No. Surely not all of them.

But him...

And the people gathered here...

Ban Sun Ho's expression gradually grew more serious.

After the physical training ended, everyone gathered in a circle.

"What are they doing now?"

"They're still developing the script."

"Isn't that supposed to be the writer's job?"

"Team Triple wanted to experiment with a collaboratively created play. Each actor develops their own character, creates that character's story, explores how the characters intersect, and then examines those stories from an outside perspective. After everyone brings in ideas, they discuss them together and build scenes."

"That's... actually possible?"

"July has been around for a long time, but we've never tried anything like this before. Still, if it's these people, maybe they can pull it off."

Now this felt like a documentary.

For the first time, Sun Ho found himself thinking that.

It frustrated him that he couldn't capture these moments on camera.

He even felt tempted to make an entire documentary about the creation of Peter Pan.

"Today I brought an idea for a scene that intersects Peter Pan and Hook."

Shin Yu Myeong spoke up.

The moment he did, the eyes of Ryu Shin, who was playing Hook, sharpened immediately.

"What kind of scene?"

"Peter Pan and Hook are classmates and close friends. Peter Pan is a sociopath with strong narcissistic tendencies, and for a completely trivial reason..."

"For a trivial reason?"

"He cuts off Hook's arm."

The calmness with which he said it sent a chill racing up Sun Ho's arm.

"Hm... So Peter Pan doesn't cut off Hook's arm while fighting pirates in Neverland?"

"I tried approaching it from the opposite direction. Peter Pan, Hook, and Wendy don't begin as fairy-tale characters. They begin as people living in the real world."

"Hmm... Go on."

"Hook has always been obsessive, right? When someone like Hook, who's sensitive about rules, first met Peter Pan, how do you think he felt?"

Ryu Shin's voice changed instantly.

"Peter. Looking at you makes me feel as though my heart could come alive too. Ah, free Peter. Peter who isn't bound by rules. Happy Peter. Why can't I be like you?"

Sun Ho jumped.

In an instant, Ryu Shin had become the character.

Envy.

Admiration.

Reverence.

The emotions anyone might feel upon encountering someone who possessed everything they themselves lacked.

Those feelings emerged before his eyes through the skin of a dark, sensitive boy.

Unlike the stunned Sun Ho, Baek Yi Shin had already pressed the record button on his recorder.

After listening to Ryu Shin's line, Yu Myeong continued.

"Exactly. Hook admires him at first. Then, as he becomes closer to Peter Pan, jealousy and inferiority start to grow. The problem is that Peter Pan takes people's feelings far too lightly. His desire to stand out, his need to look cool, and his inability to understand others all combine into this situation."

Then Yu Myeong transformed his voice as well.

A boyish voice—slightly excited, overflowing with confidence and youthful recklessness.

"Hook, you're always looking at your watch. Stop looking at the watch and look at the world! There are so many fun things out there."

"Class starts soon. Come on, let's get up and go."

"Come on, let's skip class and have fun. Ugh, I hate studying. School's already boring enough. Imagine how boring it must be when you're an adult and have to work. We should play while we can."

"...You're lucky, Peter. I can't do that. Maybe personality is something you're born with."

"That's hard for you? Since we're friends, should I fix it for you?"

"How...?"

Bang—!

The moment Hook finished speaking, Peter slammed the desk.

Everyone flinched.

Perhaps because they all instinctively understood what that sound meant.

"...Your watch is gone. Better now, right?"

He had cut off Hook's wrist.

And then came the final line, delivered in a bright, triumphant voice.

This was the most sociopathic Peter Pan imaginable.

Sun Ho's palms became slick with sweat.

Ryu Shin looked mildly surprised, but apparently things like this happened often enough that his expression barely changed.

Instead, he asked another question.

"Wouldn't taking away the watch have been enough?"

Yu Myeong answered without leaving Peter Pan behind.

"Yeah, but if I hid the watch, he'd just wear another one, right? So I got rid of the wrist so he couldn't wear a watch ever again. Pretty cool, right? I'm awesome, aren't I?"

Like a child proudly holding up an insect he had pulled apart segment by segment, seeking praise for his handiwork.

Peter Pan boasted without the slightest trace of guilt.

Watching that innocent smile, Sun Ho felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

What kind of Peter Pan were they creating?

His mind began racing.

If he intercut the story of actor Shin Yu Myeong with the process of creating this experimental play...

It would become something entirely new.

A category of documentary he had never made before.

That was why he had admitted defeat to Director Nam.

"I'll make this documentary the best thing I've ever filmed, Director."

Ryu Shin sat alone at home, lost in thought.

A book.

A sheet of white paper.

A pen.

More than twenty years had passed since he debuted as a child actor.

In all that time, he had never attempted anything like this before.

A production built by actors, each shaping their own role.

Shin Yu Myeong always exceeded expectations.

Even today's idea had been brilliant.

Simply pulling the incident of Peter Pan cutting off Hook's arm out of a fairy tale and placing it in an ordinary setting had made the image astonishingly vivid.

Seol Su Yeon was improving every day.

The actress who had initially seemed to possess nothing but enthusiasm, the one he had privately wondered might not have any talent at all, had indeed been hiding extraordinary talent exactly as Yu Myeong predicted.

In terms of immersion, she might one day surpass even him.

He was anxious.

And satisfied.

Had he ever practiced with this kind of desperate intensity since Jekyll and Hyde?

That was why he had chosen Hook.

One day, an acting genius had appeared before him.

A genius operating on a level he simply could not comprehend.

It was like a natural disaster.

He confronted him with everything he had, every single time.

Yet whenever he stood before him, his body trembled with the foreboding of another defeat.

Perhaps it was Ryu Shin's own PTSD.

In this play, Hook would not be someone who successfully overcame Peter Pan.

Every time he looked at the missing hand Peter Pan had severed, he would despair.

Every time he heard the ticking of a clock somewhere nearby, he would tremble with fear.

His deterioration would be portrayed as something bleak, miserable, and devastating.

It was an emotion he understood.

And an emotion he desperately wanted to deny.

Two contradictory feelings locked in tense opposition within Ryu Shin's heart.

He would leave that frightened version of himself inside the play.

The real Ryu Shin would never accept defeat.

Even if he lost, as long as he challenged again, it would never be a complete defeat.

Ryu Shin opened the original English edition of Peter Pan lying before him.

For something called a fairy tale, it was surprisingly thick.

Within its pages, Captain Hook was described like this:

"Of noble birth, and bearing the habits learned at an aristocratic school in childhood like a lingering shadow, he becomes all the more difficult to understand. The passion for 'good form,' which he learned as the highest virtue at school, remains within him and occasionally provokes his conscience. 'Have I conducted myself properly today?' The voice born from childhood memories torments him as it clashes against the ambitions of adulthood."

An obsession with becoming a moral person who behaved properly.

And the desire to become a villain and cut down Peter Pan.

The conflict felt strangely familiar.

Like the struggle between his sincere wish to acknowledge and compete fairly with a worthy rival...

And the boiling desire to crush and trample that rival by any means necessary.

Had it not been for his towering pride, perhaps he too would have yielded to that desire.

Just as Hook had.

He immersed himself.

By confronting his own ugly desires, he became Hook more perfectly than ever before.

Intoxicated by Hook's emotions, Ryu Shin began writing dialogue.

Scratch, scratch—

The pristine white page gradually filled with ink.

Ryu Shin's Hook was taking shape.

Reference: Kim Hye Nam (2006), Journal of the Korean Psychoanalytic Association, "Peter Pan Syndrome: People Unable to Mourn."