The film "Hwai," which opened in Korea this week, quickly reached first place in the number of tickets sold, and according to the Korean Films Commission, has remained there for its first two days.

The film stars Yeo Jin Goo, who played the young Park Yoo Chun in "Missing You" and the young Kim Soo Hyun in "The Moon Embracing The Sun."

Although Yeo has played the younger versions of leading actors for years, his character in "Hwai" is the 17-year-old's first leading role. And his acting in the film is earning rave reviews, especially for his crying scenes.

Anyone who saw "Missing You" already knows how well Yeo can cry but his character in "Hwai" amps up the emotion to an impressive degree.

In the film, Yeo plays a boy named Hwai who was kidnapped as part of an unsuccessful blackmail scheme. As the gang never gets their ransom they are left with a baby that no one seems to want. So, the five criminals decide to raise him. Instead of attending school young Hwai is trained to become a criminal, learning such skills as how to plan a heist, fire a gun and drive a getaway car. He sees himself as a criminal until one day at a crime scene he shoots a man and learns the truth about his origins.

He chose the role because the character's criminal background interested him. What would it be like to be raised as a criminal, he wondered.

"I also really wanted to act in an action film," he said.

But once filming ended, letting go of the conflicted character he played was not that easy.

"After the filming ended my emotions were still tangled up with the character's so I had to spend a lot of time alone," said Yeo Jin Goo.

It's not Yeo's first film as he appeared in "Antique Bakery," and "A Frozen Flower," but since it was his first leading role it was a different experience.

"It taught me what it felt like to be in a project for a long time," said Yeo.

With his impressive acting in this film, it will not be the last role he is offered. He has already signed on to play the part of Byung Ju in the film "Mr. Perfect.

Yeo's co-stars in the film are Kim Yoon Suk, Jo Jin Woong and Jang Hyun Sung. Jang Joon Hwan is the director.

Following "Hwai" in box office receipts, "Wish 2013" came in second and "The Face Reader" followed in third place.