Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 57

“……”

Kim Ji-hwan froze at Lee Min-ki’s words.

No, everyone in the script reading room froze like icicles in winter.

However.

Once opened, Lee Min-ki’s mouth didn’t know how to close, like Heungbu’s gourd [a Korean folktale reference, implying an endless stream of things pouring out].

“I know your type very well. You think you’re something just because you got a barista certificate in a hurry, thinking it looks fancy and it’s a trendy job.”

“……”

“But you know what? The difference between a fake and the real one is obvious just by looking at how they grind the beans.”

Lee Min-ki’s words poured out, icy and cold.

Not just ruthless, but harsh.

A line as if covered in eternal snow from the heart of Siberia danced on Lee Min-ki’s tongue.

Everyone was stunned for a moment.

‘Impressive?’

Director Noh Ho-yeon chuckled to himself.

No, it wasn’t enough to just keep it inside.

“Heh, hehe. Hehehehe.”

Lee Min-ki’s expression turned innocent again at the sound of laughter that came out involuntarily.

“Director?”

“Ah, sorry. It was too funny. Did I break the mood?”

Director Noh Ho-yeon smiled as if he had no intention of hiding it.

He was enjoying it.

He couldn’t help but enjoy this situation.

‘Actor Lee Min-ki, I heard he’s usually gentle but transforms into a completely different person when he opens his mouth, and it was true?’

The scene he had imagined unfolded before his eyes, even more so than he had expected.

He had heard something before.

That Lee Min-ki was good at expressing a cold personality, contrary to his appearance.

Who did he hear it from?

It was Kim Hee-jin, the writer in charge of the script for [Campus Story].

She was the one who had highly praised Lee Min-ki’s acting skills to Director Noh Ho-yeon.

‘I was half-doubtful after hearing Hee-jin’s words, but this was the right answer.’

Director Noh Ho-yeon didn’t think of choosing Lee Min-ki from the beginning.

Lee Min-ki was overwhelmingly better in terms of acting skills, but there were parts that fell slightly short of the image he had in mind.

While he was hesitating for a long time about who to choose for the lead role of the work.

[Hee-jin, you’ve worked with actor Lee Min-ki, right?]

He had asked writer Kim Hee-jin for her opinion.

She answered without hesitation at that time.

[That actor? He’s amazing.]

In the past, when filming [Campus Story], Lee Min-ki had been highly praised by the production team for one thing in particular.

[His basic acting skills are decent, but more than that, he has a good sense. He’s great at capturing characters. It’s like he’s the only character in the scene who has popped out of the screen.]

That was his ability to embody characters.

[People like us all know. There’s a limit to what you can express with a script. That’s why it’s good to have an actor who understands the character, and Lee Min-ki seems to foresee the outcome.]

He understands the composition of the scene.

He fully understands how to reveal it.

Based on his overwhelming understanding of the script, he inserts himself like a crucial piece of the puzzle in between.

No, he stood there as if he had always been in that spot in that script from the beginning.

That’s why writer Kim Hee-jin recommended Lee Min-ki.

This was the reason why Director Noh Ho-yeon chose him at the last moment.

‘I would have regretted it if I had chosen someone else.’

The fact that the two were close.

This was another kind of good fortune that Lee Min-ki had gained.

‘A performer who does well without being outstanding would be stable. But I don’t dislike someone who knows how to take risks at crucial moments.’

For the past week, from the audition to making a decision, he had been agonizing and agonizing.

Could Lee Min-ki really reveal those strengths in the role of [Sung Jin-woo]?

The result of that agony.

“Continue.”

It was unfolding before Director Noh Ho-yeon’s eyes.

“Do you get the same harvest if you plant the same seeds in the field? It’s not the same result if you brew coffee with the same beans.”

The scene where [Sung Jin-woo], a rolling stone that came into [Cafe Del Dia], was lecturing [Cha Young-hwan], the stone that was embedded there.

It was the scene where he noticed that [Cha Young-hwan] was neglecting even the basic coffee grinder settings while working as a barista.

“Coarse for new beans, fine for bitter beans. I wouldn’t say you didn’t even know this much, would you? Let’s see.”

He is coldly insane when it comes to coffee.

That acting, which felt somewhat excessive, flowed out endlessly naturally.

Was it thanks to that?

“……”

Kim Ji-hwan, who was playing the opposite role, was going crazy.

‘This bastard, what kind of way of speaking is that.’

He felt endlessly small in front of Lee Min-ki.

An unknown sense of pressure, as if a cliff was in front of him, was laid out before his eyes.

‘Is he the same guy who kept avoiding my eyes?’

The answer is this.

Lee Min-ki had never been intimidated by his gaze in the first place.

From the point of defeating him once in the role audition, he avoided it because it was bothersome, but he never felt scared from the beginning.

To be precise, it wasn’t actor Kim Ji-hwan who was in front of Lee Min-ki.

It was just an immature barista, [Cha Young-hwan].

[If you start acting, look at the other person as a character, not an actor.]

Lee Min-ki carefully repeated Kim Ah-sung’s advice and continued to speak.

“You’re not answering?”

“……”

Kim Ji-hwan’s eyes, who had been verbally abused for a while, trembled.

It was a scene where he had to refute.

All he had to do was recite it as it was written in the script.

But that line was stuck, unable to come out of his throat.

‘Don’t tell me I’m scared? Me?’

Kim Ji-hwan bit his tongue in frustration and shouted.

“……Who do you think you are to act so high and mighty?”

He barely spat it out.

But it was only full of pressure, without any reward for spitting it out.

“What do you know, you just came in, to talk like that? Do you think people in the neighborhood market are going to be so picky about the taste?”

Kim Ji-hwan, who is usually strong-willed, mumbled, overwhelmed by Lee Min-ki’s acting.

Because he had looked down on him, the reversal came as an even bigger shock.

His mind was blanked out by Lee Min-ki’s acting, which broke his expectations, and he couldn’t straighten his voice at all.

“……A feat of strength with coffee beans? Who doesn’t know how to do that?”

“Have you tried it?”

“Pardon?”

“Have you tested whether you can distinguish it or not?”

“Do you have to eat poop and soybean paste to tell the difference? Do you think ordinary people can tell the difference between a thousand-won bean and a ten-thousand-won bean?”

He is suppressed.

Suppressed by Lee Min-ki’s acting, he spat out words as if struggling to escape from the pressure.

“You have to run the store rationally.”

“That’s the mindset of losers.”

But why is that?

Ironically, it created a subtle harmony.

‘Both of them are good at acting?’

That’s how they looked in the eyes of others.

[Sung Jin-woo], who was constantly pressuring, and [Cha Young-hwan], who was forced to say what he had to say while stepping back.

The two were vividly alive and moving in the middle of the reading room, as if they had popped out of the script.

‘I was worried that Min-ki would overwhelm him too much, but Ji-hwan is doing well too?’

‘Look at his eyes. He looks so wronged.’

‘Ha, a rookie has to do that much to become popular these days.’

‘Is this the level of rookies these days?’

Both are doing well.

It goes without saying, but Kim Ji-hwan was also considered a promising stock among the recent rookies.

He would be comfortably in the top ten.

That’s why he wasn’t so overwhelmed that he couldn’t do his part.

No, rather, he was bringing Lee Min-ki’s acting to life.

He doesn’t even know it himself.

‘Anyone who has eaten a bit of acting rice [a Korean expression for someone with experience] can simply use force to suppress it, but matching like that is not easy.’

Director Noh Ho-yeon, who saw that, was excited.

“Young-hwan, I’ll be watching you closely to see if you do well in the future, so keep that in mind.”

“That’s ridiculous. You should prepare to be disgraced and kicked out.”

That way, the two properly established a rivalry as much as the characters they were playing.

Of course.

‘Um, good, good.’

‘Both of them have vivid details.’

It wasn’t in the eyes of other people.

* * *

The general broadcasting schedule for Korean mini-dramas is as follows.

In the planning stage, they first decide how many episodes there will be, and then shoot about half of that amount before the broadcast and start the first broadcast.

Of course, the goal is only a goal, so the amount of reserved episodes may decrease if circumstances do not allow.

If it’s urgent, there are cases where they broadcast with only about a month’s worth of episodes.

The case of [Cafe Del Dia] was the same.

It was originally planned as a 16-episode mini-drama, but the goal was to finish about 8 episodes before the broadcast.

But the filming site was flowing quite differently than expected.

“If we do well, we’ll really shoot 8 episodes and leave?”

It was thanks to the schedule being so smooth.

“Wow, I’ve filmed almost ten dramas so far, and this is the first time I’ve been so comfortable.”

Director Jang Tae-wook, who was in charge of directing, burst into laughter.

A veteran PD [Production Director] who has filmed nine dramas so far.

Nevertheless, his role is to assist director Noh Ho-yeon, who came from the film industry, but despite taking on a job that doesn’t suit his experience, the smile never left his face.

“Director Noh, that kind of actor is really precious on drama filming sites.”

It was because of Lee Min-ki.

“Min-ki?”

At Director Noh Ho-yeon’s words, who asked as if he didn’t know, Director Jang Tae-wook nodded his head greatly and said.

“Director, when you film a movie, it flows in an organized way according to the director’s intention, right? The schedule is also a bit more relaxed.”

“That’s generally the case. If it doesn’t fit, we re-shoot it until it works. If the budget allows. Is the drama a little different?”

“Yes, because the schedule is tight, there are many times when we have to proceed with some flexibility.”

Director Jang Tae-wook raised his finger and pointed to Lee Min-ki in the distance and said.

“What we need at that time is someone like actor Lee Min-ki. He becomes the core and pushes the work forward. Like a leader of an organization.”

Leader.

It seemed excessive to attach it to a rookie actor, but looking at Lee Min-ki’s recent performance, it was truly comparable to an awl [a sharp tool, implying someone who stands out].

“Min-ki, this might sound strange, but you’re a bit of a monster.”

“Yes? Me?”

“Do you know what? When I’m acting with Min-ki, I feel like my skills are improving.”

The tone and manner were like that.

Because Lee Min-ki’s character was so firm, the characters of the other actors were automatically captured, using him as the center.

It wasn’t just Kim Ji-hwan.

Since the first pillar was well-placed, the building had no choice but to be built well.

Does he even know that he has become the center of the filming site?

“What am I doing? I’m just busy learning from my seniors haha……”

He was always extremely humble.

“Oh, Min-ki! Be moderately humble! A person should be moderately humble, if you keep doing that, it’s deception!”

Even now, that’s the case.

Whenever it was break time, he was busy talking to everyone around him.

As a result, it was a daily occurrence to see his fellow actors, who had already recognized him, surrounded him and chatting.

“……”

Except for Kim Ji-hwan.

He was standing far away, looking at the script and muttering to himself, which made me think he was burning quite a bit [a Korean expression for being competitive or jealous].

But that can also be seen as a positive influence because it helps the quality of the work.

‘I’m going to chew him up in the next scene. Let’s see how long you can keep smiling.’

……Is it a positive influence?

Anyway.

Director Noh Ho-yeon was watching the scene from a distance for a while.

“Min-ki is definitely unique.”

He smiled proudly and said.

“You could say he gives good energy to the people around him. No matter how difficult the request is, he digests it with a gentle smile, right? It’s easy to get sensitive on the filming site.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Director Jang Tae-wook laughed heartily as if agreeing with Director Noh Ho-yeon’s words.

“But what I think of Min-ki is. Rather than a leader type…… more than that.”

He was about to say something else.

“Ah, right.”

Director Noh Ho-yeon stopped talking, looked at his watch, and muttered.

“It’s almost that timing.”

“Timing?”

“That. Min-ki’s trademark.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Even though there was no explanation, Director Jang Tae-wook naturally got up from his seat.

It was as if some kind of agreement had been reached through telepathy.

It wasn’t just them.

The staff all around were craning their necks as if they had been waiting for this moment.

The site was full of anticipation.

In the meantime, Lee Min-ki shouted softly.

“I’m thirsty, shall we have a cup of coffee?”

A moment later.

Lee Min-ki put on an apron with a flowing motion and stood in front of the machine, and immediately started making coffee.

Drrr.

The savory coffee smell soon filled the filming site.

“I like this moment the most.”

“It’s strangely delicious.”

Lee Min-ki using his break time to make coffee and serve it.

It was a phenomenon that had recently become a regular event on the filming site of [Cafe Del Dia].

“He definitely has the style.”

“I know why men making coffee are popular.”

“Min-ki’s back is cool.”

“Yeah, his shoulders. Sss.”

Perhaps this is why Lee Min-ki is well-regarded on the filming site.

There’s no way he can’t make the atmosphere outside the work better.

Of course, Lee Min-ki himself has a dark intention.

‘I have to practice at times like this.’

That dark intention of making coffee.

That he will practice from time to time and make it with a more wonderful motion in front of the camera.

In the first place, he provided the coffee to the people around him because he didn’t want to throw away the coffee he made to practice making coffee, and that was the beginning of this event.

“Min-ki’s coffee seems to be getting more and more delicious.”

“I’m going to miss it when this filming is over.”

“I know. I wish we had filmed 50 episodes.”

“You don’t have any intention of brewing it yourself?”

“Are you crazy? There’s no way the coffee I brew is more delicious than Min-ki’s coffee.”

It was a win-win situation.

That way, the site was full of coffee scent.

‘Um, it’s not just good form. The scent is good too.’

Director Noh Ho-yeon was also enjoying Lee Min-ki’s coffee with a pleasant heart.

‘Wait.’

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind like lightning.

‘There’s a presentation soon, right?’