Jakarta, August 19, 2026 — After nearly four decades in the acting industry, Kim Hye-soo has experienced countless challenging scenes throughout her career. Yet one sequence in Episode 7 of The Affair Was Just the Beginning, currently streaming on Viu, still managed to make her feel nervous.

In an interview with Korean media outlet NewsPim, published on August 13, 2026, Kim Hye-soo revealed her reaction when she first read the roughly 40-minute sequence in the script.“It was interesting, but also frightening,”

she said, paraphrased from the original Korean.

Her apprehension came from the importance and complexity of the sequence. The scene brings several characters together, requiring the cast to maintain their emotions, dialogue, movements, and reactions almost simultaneously. Kim Hye-soo initially wondered how such an extensive sequence could be brought to life on screen without losing its tension and emotional impact.

Her confidence grew after rehearsing with the other cast members. As each actor became familiar with their dialogue, movements, and reactions, the entire sequence gradually came together as one cohesive performance.

For Kim Hye-soo, the experience felt almost like performing in a theater.

A 40-Minute Sequence That Unfolds in Real Time

Director Lee Chang-hee offered further insight into the sequence in an interview with TV Report published on August 14, 2026.

According to Lee, Episode 7 features a sequence lasting approximately 40 minutes that unfolds in real time. Rather than relying on major time jumps to move the story forward, the events progress almost in sync with the time experienced by the characters—and the audience.

This approach allows viewers to experience the situation minute by minute. The tension is not created solely through dialogue, but also through body language, character positioning, and subtle reactions as their secrets begin to collide.

Importantly, this does not necessarily mean the entire sequence was filmed in a single uninterrupted take. Instead, its defining feature is the continuity of events and the actors’ ability to maintain the story’s rhythm and emotional intensity throughout the extended sequence.

Lee Chang-hee also highlighted the chemistry and collaboration among the cast as one of the episode’s major strengths. Viewers are encouraged to pay attention not only to the character speaking, but also to the reactions of everyone else in the room. A seemingly small expression or movement could become an important part of the conflict.

When All the Lies End Up in the Same Room

The Affair Was Just the Beginning brings together two families who initially appear to live completely different lives.

Park Kyung-hee, played by Kim Hye-soo, is a successful entrepreneur and influencer with one million followers. She has built her success by turning her family and personal life into part of the carefully crafted image she presents to the public.

Her husband, Im Jae-hong, played by Kim Ji-hoon, is an actor who lives in the shadow of Kyung-hee’s success. Their marriage begins to crumble when Jae-hong is revealed to be having an affair with Ahn Soo-jung, a dermatologist played by Cho Yeo-jeong.

Soo-jung, meanwhile, is in the middle of a divorce from Choi Bo-sung, portrayed by Kim Jae-chul. The affair eventually draws both families into a chain of accidents, threats, and attempts to conceal secrets far more dangerous than the affair itself.

By this point, every character has something to hide—and something they can use against someone else.

When they are all forced into the same space, however, no one is truly in control.

That is what makes the real-time sequence in Episode 7 particularly compelling. The characters have little time to prepare their excuses, maintain their public personas, or hide their genuine reactions. Every second can expose something they desperately want to keep secret.

Kim Hye-soo Reveals Park Kyung-hee’s True Face

Behind Park Kyung-hee’s glamorous appearance is a woman who grew up through difficult circumstances and built her own success.

The seemingly perfect family she presents to the public is not simply a matter of image. It is also closely tied to the foundation of her business and everything she has worked to achieve.

As her family begins to fall apart, Kyung-hee risks losing far more than her husband. Her reputation, business, and carefully constructed life could all collapse with it.

For Kim Hye-soo, Kyung-hee’s journey provides an opportunity to explore what happens when a person’s carefully built defenses begin to disappear.

Her confidence and glamorous exterior gradually give way to fear, anger, and increasingly difficult choices.

Episode 7 therefore becomes a major test not only for the characters, but also for the actors portraying them. With a long, continuously unfolding sequence, the cast must preserve the emotional connections and tension between their characters while the situation keeps escalating.

Are All the Secrets Finally About to Surface?

Lee Chang-hee has also hinted that the final two episodes will bring a different atmosphere to the story.

The conflicts that have continued to grow increasingly complicated are beginning to converge around one central question: what could be more dangerous than an affair?

And perhaps more importantly, will the 40-minute sequence that once made Kim Hye-soo nervous become the moment when the characters’ carefully protected lies finally begin to unravel?

Find out in The Affair Was Just the Beginning, starring Kim Hye-soo, Cho Yeo-jeong, Kim Ji-hoon, and Kim Jae-chul, with the latest episodes streaming exclusively on Viu.