Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 37

37. Forever Green (Scene 23)

The scene can be briefly summarized as follows:

Detective Gu Hak-jin is a passionate man. He became a police officer because he wanted to catch real criminals, but he is disillusioned with the political life at the police station, which is completely different from what he imagined.

He works hard.

Senior Detective Oh Man-sik keeps blocking him and trying to silence him.

There are good reasons. But from Detective Gu Hak-jin’s point of view, he can understand it with his head, but his heart can’t accept it.

He pours it all out to his friend on the phone.

How far he’s dug, where he’s been blocked. He complains that he doesn’t know why he has to go through this.

This accidentally gets into the ears of the criminal.

It can be seen as a setup for Detective Gu Hak-jin to be in serious danger.

This phone call is the reason why Kim Jong-hak, a detective and murderer, becomes wary of him.

This control of pace was important.

He had to leak information in a way that could be heard, but without making it obvious that he was leaking it on purpose.

Nuance control.

Scene 23 was extremely important for that.

Moreover, he had to endure the pressure pouring in from the set, even as a rookie.

And Lee Min-ki.

“Only I’m easy to mess with. Just me. Why did you pick me if you were going to do this? If you need a cleaner, hire a cleaner, why hire a detective? Did I bury my nose in my desk and study until my head cracked in Noryangjin [a famous cram school district in Seoul] for this? I have a hunch who the criminal is, and when I try to investigate, they block me from touching it! Ugh, I’m seriously going to quit?”

He played Detective Gu Hak-jin very well.

He expressed the feeling of being driven crazy by the police life, which was the opposite of what he had imagined, and the despair of having no one to listen to him.

“I know, too, okay? There’s no good in civil servants scurrying around a burning house like rats. But I’m a police officer! Damn it, that’s my job, so why are you stopping me?”

The current Lee Min-ki seemed to have become a completely different person from his usual self.

He was hot-tempered.

A youth who couldn’t control his blood.

He wanted to become a revolutionary and turn this world upside down, but he was just a low-level employee who was seething inside because he didn’t have the authority to do so.

Step, step, step, step.

Lee Min-ki walked quickly along the corner of the parking lot, stomping his feet, and continued to recite the script, which was more than twenty lines long.

There were no mistakes.

No, there were.

“No, that, uh, you know what I’m talking about.”

He glossed over the minor stutters in the middle with momentary ad-libs.

It wasn’t a big deal.

But a rookie didn’t have the flexibility to make it look like it wasn’t a big deal.

Often, rookies are so obsessed with following the script that the moment they miss a line, they stop blankly like a robot with a worn-out battery.

Of course, in order for an ad-lib to be sublimated into an ad-lib, the result must be good.

But.

The fact that Director Yeom didn’t point out his mistake was like an order to continue as is.

‘He’s good.’

He laughed inwardly.

‘Well, anyway, we can just cut out the parts that aren’t right, so show as much as you can.’

It’s better than the camera cutting off.

If it was a clumsy ad-lib, he would have shouted right away, but this level was within the acceptable range.

But at the same time, he was curious.

‘He’s familiar with the set. Is he a natural in front of the camera? He’s not intimidated at all.’

Lee Min-ki’s gestures were too natural.

The truth is this.

Lee Min-ki had experience and a motive.

Even though they were minor roles and low-grade supporting roles, he had adapted to the set itself by experiencing it for many years.

At the same time, he had been steadily building a dream of joining those leading actors someday.

But despite the input he had built up, there was an obstacle to demonstrating his true skills.

He was intimidated.

There were psychological restrictions that prevented him from showing his true skills as a minor role.

Lee Min-ki’s mind, which had been tightly bound without him knowing, was somewhat loosened by Kim Ah-seong’s constant nagging… well, not nagging, but care.

The baseball field incident was the motive.

“Tell them to go eat some pork belly and lettuce. Shibarama [a Korean profanity, similar to ‘damn’].”

This role was also well-suited to his nature.

Something he wanted to achieve but couldn’t.

Director Yeom himself didn’t know it, but the character of Detective Gu Hak-jin was one side of Lee Min-ki.

Like a dam bursting when it’s been built up.

The current Lee Min-ki was excessively good for a rookie.

“Cut!”

At that moment, one take ended with Director Yeom’s voice.

At the same time, the actors and staff on set also flinched as they woke up from their immersion.

“Hoo-woo-woo……”

Lee Min-ki, who had been giving a monologue for a long time, finally let out a long sigh.

And.

His face turned red.

‘Did I overdo it a bit?’

It was true that he had deliberately set the emotional line a little stronger, thinking about being intimidated by the gazes.

But as he was acting, what should he say?

There were parts where the lines felt like they were piercing his heart for no reason.

It was as if Detective Gu Hak-jin’s lines were writing his story.

When he was practicing just looking at the script, he was able to control it consciously, but when he came to the set, his mind went blank and he couldn’t see anything, so it just came out.

‘I think I went a little too far.’

That was the moment he instinctively braced himself for criticism and reshoots.

“Min-ki.”

Director Yeom said, clapping his hands.

“That was very good.”

The moment he blinked his eyes at the unexpected words, Director Yeom continued.

“You definitely have a knack for it. You know where to emphasize and where to suppress in the lines. You can only know this if you’ve experienced the set a lot.”

Director Yeom looked up and down at Lee Min-ki’s physique, muttering to himself as if he were thoroughly evaluating him, then asked slyly.

“Have you ever worked under a different stage name?”

“Yes? No, Lee Min-ki is my real name.”

“Then a child actor?”

“No.”

“Have you ever done theater?”

“Just a little in a club.”

“I knew it, you had some experience.”

Director Yeom nodded as if he had realized something and said.

“Let’s shoot a few more times. It’s not bad now, but I think we can get something extra.”

“……!”

It was praise from Director Yeom, who was famous for mercilessly tearing apart even the slightest flaw.

Lee Min-ki opened his eyes wide in surprise and shouted vigorously.

“Yes! I’m happy to do it a hundred times!”

“No, you don’t need that many.”

Meanwhile, at the same time.

Actor Choi Yu-chan and actor Kang Do-won also admired Lee Min-ki’s acting from afar and said.

“I don’t think he’s a rookie? Come to think of it, it reminds me of when Do-won was a rookie, doesn’t it?”

“Did I have something like that?”

“A green rookie intimidated all the seniors and got banned from the set. They said you were being arrogant, hahaha!”

“……”

Kang Do-won frowned at the memories that weren’t so sweet.

But he agreed to some extent.

‘There are definitely a lot of people who don’t like the appearance of a talented rookie.’

Actor Kang Do-won paused for a moment to think about the past, then shook his head to shake it off.

That’s enough.

We just shouldn’t pass on those bad habits.

Kang Do-won got up from his seat with that thought and muttered.

“I need to work harder.”

“Him?”

“I’m talking about the two of us.”

* * *

About fifteen days after the start of filming.

One change came to Lee Min-ki.

“Good, good. Let’s move on to the next scene. Min-ki, get ready.”

“Yes!”

He had fully adapted to the set and melted in.

He hadn’t had a chance to prove it before, but once he proved it, he was recognized in an instant.

By his colleagues on set.

“Min-ki, do you know how to do action scenes? I have to fight with you in the second half. You’ll go easy on an old man like me, right?”

“Haha… Haha….”

Actor Choi Yu-chang was especially like that.

He kept talking to Lee Min-ki, as if he was dying to find him cute.

“Come to think of it, you look pretty sturdy, do you go to the gym? Do you get PT [personal training]?”

“I go to a gym near my house.”

“That’s right, the best gym is the one closest to your house. If it’s far, you don’t want to go because it’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter.”

He pours out words unilaterally.

This revealed the characteristic of the famous actor Choi Yu-chang.

Too much talker.

Or TMI (Too Much Information).

He was one of the most talkative people in the industry.

There was a prevailing theory that if he hadn’t become an actor, he would have become a medicine peddler or a cult leader.

[I saw him at a restaurant and asked him to sign an autograph, and he gave me a life roadmap.]

There was no way he would ignore a rookie like Lee Min-ki.

He kept him by his side throughout the filming on set.

“Yu-chang, aren’t you being too friendly?”

Actor Kang Do-won said, as if he was uncomfortable with the sight.

“Min-ki is uncomfortable, too. Don’t do that too much.”

“Ah, I’m okay.”

It was the moment Lee Min-ki was about to protest.

“Hey. Do-won, what’s wrong with actors building friendships?”

Choi Yu-chang chuckled and retorted.

“A senior can be fond of a junior, too.”

“No, rookies can get their emotional acting twisted. You two have to fight later, will you be able to get into the right form?”

“That’s what clumsy kids do.”

Was he saying that he wasn’t clumsy?

Lee Min-ki’s eyes twitched, but actor Choi Yu-chang even snorted and said.

“Ah, that’s it, you can’t talk to people well, but you’re jealous that I get along well with young people. Right?”

“……Yu-chang, have you been drinking?”

“Oh, if you can’t refute the message, attack the messenger [a common idiom].”

“I shouldn’t have said anything. Min-ki, be careful of this guy, too.”

“Ah, thank you.”

It was the moment Lee Min-ki bowed his head to the senior’s advice.

“No, Min-ki, I took care of you so much, and you’re telling me to be careful? Is that what we were?”

Choi Yu-chang muttered as if he was upset.

“……”

What kind of relationship were we?

I only knew him from TV, but it’s been less than a week since we worked together on set.

‘He’s so corny.’

What kind of person did Lee Min-ki think Choi Yu-chang was?

He was like a symbol of middle-aged actors.

He was heavy and intense.

He often played stiff characters on screen, so it was even more so.

A distant senior who was recognized for his abilities above and respected by his juniors below.

To think that he was actually like an uncle who walked around in his boxer shorts on holidays.

‘Give me back my fantasy.’

No, why is he sticking to me so much in the first place?

There are a lot of other rookies and good actors around, why is he only doing this to me?

Lee Min-ki’s suspicion only deepened at the absurd affection.

In fact, this was all because his skills were good.

‘This friend is strangely fun to tease.’

Choi Yu-chang chuckled inwardly.

In his eyes, Lee Min-ki was humble and didn’t show off, even though his skills were good.

Even when it wasn’t his turn, he observed and recorded everything with an attitude of trying to learn everything.

He didn’t try to look good to his seniors, and in many ways, he was a junior he liked for the first time in a while.

Choi Yu-chang wasn’t the only one who thought highly of him.

One more person.

“As expected, you’re different, Actor Lee.”

There was even Joo Ha-na, who followed Lee Min-ki around.

“When I see you acting, Min-ki, what should I say? It’s like watching a real situation. I get startled without even realizing it.”

“Haha, thank you.”

Unfortunately, her kindness wasn’t very welcome to Lee Min-ki.

‘This side is a bit burdensome.’

Wasn’t Joo Ha-na the person who became famous for her scandals?

It wasn’t easy not to look at someone who was famous for managing her fish pond [a Korean slang term referring to managing a group of potential romantic partners] with colored glasses.

Of course, there didn’t seem to be any problems right now.

“What did I buy in front of here? It’s your favorite iced Americano, Min-ki~.”

She even felt like a good person.

But there’s an old saying that you shouldn’t fix your shoelaces in an eggplant field [a Korean proverb warning against acting in a way that could be misconstrued].

If you get too close, there might be a problem later, so the reality is that he wanted to keep his distance.

“Can you tell me where you work out?”

“A gym near my house.”

“You don’t want to tell me, do you?”

“No, it’s really a gym near my house.”

In any case, Joo Ha-na’s image was good at this time.

A hardworking and sociable actress.

The situation where Lee Min-ki unintentionally monopolized the attention of the set seemed like the best scenario at first glance.

But do you know that?

If there are 30 people in a high school classroom, there’s usually one person who doesn’t get along for no reason.

Therefore, not everyone on set liked him.

‘He’s so sickeningly flattering.’

There were also people who harbored ill feelings towards him for getting along so well with his seniors.

“He should act carefully like a rookie, why is he showing off?”

“He’s in his mid-20s, does he like acting like a maknae [the youngest member of a group] at that age?”

It was mainly mediocre rookie actors who did that.

They had shed the complete rookie image, but they weren’t getting proper attention on set and were stuck like parts of the set.

In their eyes, Lee Min-ki’s actions looked unpleasant.

“Actor Choi Yu-chang has a good personality, so he accepts all of that.”

“He pretends not to be, but he knows it all inside.”

He flatters those above him and pretends to be nice to those below him. How can you interpret such behavior in a good way?

Of course, you can interpret it this way.

He’s sociable to those above him and humble to those below him.

But such trivial things weren’t important to people who were already pointing a magnifying glass in a bad direction.

‘I’ve seen a lot of guys like that. Guys who believe that if they suck up to the top, they can become that level.’

To be exact, Choi Yu-chang is unilaterally sticking to Lee Min-ki.

There’s no way they could see that.

A minor ill feeling was added here.

‘He’s been hanging out with a woman since his first shoot? His mentality is wrong from the start.’

‘A rookie with a woman?’

‘He’s definitely a player.’

It was thanks to his appearance, which was a combination of a face that could be seen as pretty rather than cool, and a well-proportioned body.

Total mess.

One of the people who looked at Lee Min-ki with such a twisted gaze.

“A water rocket with no X is showing off [a Korean slang term for someone who is all talk and no action].”

Kim In-kwon, a former stuntman.

He muttered while staring at Lee Min-ki from afar with his arms crossed.

“I’ll reveal his true skills.”