Ryu Chungwoo/Story

### Ryu Chungwoo Burnout

As the story progressed, it is revealed that Chungwoo is doing everything that managers should do, from checking the condition of each member to coordinating opinions. To put it mildly, the manager in charge has been complaining and sucking up an amount of honey that was unimaginable in the industry.

As Park Moondae caused a rift between the new head of the headquarters and the head of management department, who is suffering from the American disease, the burden seemed to ease as the number of managers increased, but in episode 208, a sasaeng fan causes a serious accident and Ryu Chungwoo gets embroiled in controversy while trying to protect the members.

In response, the Head Manager said to Chungwoo ‘If you’re a celebrity, why come out and make a fuss when you’re just quiet?’. If it were any other celebrity, it would have been something that the manager would not have dared to do, but Ryu Chungwoo has showed such a cooperative attitude that the manager subconsciously takes it easy and crosses the line. Eventually, burnout syndrome sets in. Fortunately, under the leadership of Moondae, the members worked together to help Chungwoo recover mentally.

### Park Moondae's Real Identity

In episode 283, he seems to be the first TeSTAR members to recognize Park Moondae's identity, and in episode 324, after arranging a meeting between Park Moondae and Ryu Geon-woo (Big Moon), he talks to Park Moondae in respectful words on the way back, although Park Moondae asks him to drop it afterwards. Chungwoo does not specifically ask for an explanation as to how Park Moondae body changed, and still completely trusts Park Moondae.

### 'Reality' Universe

In the 'reality' universe, Ryu Chungwoo appeares as a distant relative, a fellow Yonhee University student, and the roommate of Ryu Gunwoo (Park Moondae). In that universe, he did not suffer a car accident that caused the aftereffects that caused his retirement, but after becoming a gold medalist, he retired from archery and became a normal college student. While he was living such a monotonous daily life, his older brother Ryu Gunwoo, whom he relies on, suddenly participates in the LeTi survival program Wise. He gets jealous as he sees Ryu Gunwoo works hard passionately to debut as an idol, and applies as an additional participant of the show, showing a successful performance. After the first stage, when he is enjoying the emotion and at the same time feeling regretful about his lack of skills because he has just started, Ryu Gunwoo, who had already selected him as a colleague, awakens his memories from his time as TeSTAR and returned it to him. Although he joins Survival late, he successfully gains support from both viewers and other contestants with his excellent skills and personality and debuted as Wishze.

### Company System Update : STier Memory

Contrary to the concerns of TeSTAR members after STier Cha Eugene's incident, STier Ryu Chungwoo actively cooperates with TeSTAR and watches videos of TeSTAR activities to make himself get used to the life of TeSTAR Ryu Chungwoo. However, when he responded to Park Moondae by saying, “Do I really need to get my memories back?” and “In just a few weeks, I will be able to do my job well without any help. So, I just want you to let me stay like this.”, the members realize that they have been treating ‘STier Ryu Chungwoo’ and ‘TeSTAR Ryu Chungwoo’ as different people.

In episode 509, Cha Yu-jin's remarks reveal that STier Ryu Chungwoo controlled the members through a reign of terror in order to control the chaotic group situation. However, even though he did that, the situation only gradually worsened, and Ryu Chungwoo reached a point where he was experiencing ‘typical burnout and especially twisted strength .’ In fact, STier Ryu Chungwoo was worried about his own usefulness during the 'long, slow fall' and his self-esteem were greatly diminished. So, he refused to return because he felt that by having TeSTAR's memory, it would be like 'rationalizing that someone else who succeeded in a way I didn't even know was me.'

At the end, STier Ryu Chungwoo returns on his own terms after hearing that STier Lee Sejin had fought until the end to restore the group's honor and was found not guilty. He also feels a sense of accomplishment by producing a stage performance, and decides to search for his own memories as TeSTAR. After the return, Ryu Chungwoo's mood sinks due to memories of falling into a slump and self-pity and his sense of responsibility as a TeSTAR leader, but his older brother Ryu Gunwoo, said something he had heard from Ryu in the past, “People, in the face of fear and pain… they usually get a little angry and blame others, but that’s okay.”, and he seems to recover.

### Ryu Chungwoo's Psychological Trauma

At episode 600, it is revealed that during the process of merging his STier self and TeSTAR self, he has failed to achieve healthy fusion. Because he has such a good personality and good self-control and composure, everyone thought it had been resolved at the time, but as time goes by, STier Ryu Chungwoo overwhelms TeSTAR Ryu Chungwoo. A left arm injury that recurred during his STier days affected his current psychology, and he froze on stage during an important schedule aiming for the Order of Cultural Merit. He abandoned his left arm and, unable to use his left arm, dropped out of all his schedules and fell into lethargy and depression. At this time, the TeSTAR members are at a loss as to how to deal with his sensitive and harsh appearance.

However, later, Raebin leads Ryu Chungwoo (and other members) to an amateur archery range. Rather than worrying about Ryu Chungwoo and being considerate, he believed in his strength and let him realize that his arm is, in fact, not injured, leading him to naturally escape from the trauma. The TeSTAR members then learn that this is the best way to restore Ryu Chungwoo's mentality. Afterwards, on a performance in UK, where many adverse conditions overlapped, Ryu Chungwoo voluntarily went on stage and took the center stage by awakening his characteristic full draw (S) to release (EX), and through this, he successfully overcome the frustration and injury trauma of his STier days.

## References

1. ↑ In the end, this manager is unable to change his habits and was eventually caught by Moondae and fired. And out of revenge, he causes a major accident.
2. ↑ The sasaeng hired a data seller beforehand to charge against the member, as she record the whole thing from afar. Then she cleverly edits the video to make it look as if Ryu Chungwoo has used force against the charging data seller.
3. ↑ There was no violence, but it must have been quite scary since it was decided by a former national athlete with a reputation for military discipline. According to episode 525, it is said that the team members were monitored like a boarding school by establishing several rules, such as not accessing SNS without permission. There was also a time when he missed practice and was not allowed to come into the dorm until he learned the choreography.
4. ↑ According to consistent direct and indirect descriptions such as psychological test results, Ryu Chungwoo might be the leader because he was the oldest member of the group, but in reality, his personality is more similar to a 'maknae' (youngest person) who liked to subtly criticize others rather than leading the team. As you can see from the fact that he is the ‘youngest medalist,’ he was the youngest member of the archery team during his national university days. When he learns that Park Moondae is in fact his older relative, Ryu Gunwoo, he secretly relies on him and shows affection.
5. ↑ Looking back, it was actually something that was expected. After the Water Bomb performance, Cha Eugene succeeded in overcoming his trauma and calling his STier self "bad Euegene"; Bae Sejin only remembered filtered memories through; Kim Raebin sublimated the shock of those days into a ‘strange dream’ through the creation of solo songs. Ryu Chungwoo, on the other hand, accepted the memories of his STier days to the point where he felt dispirited compared to the other members.