Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 51

51.

Café del Día.

A youth drama set in a café.

A few days after deciding to participate in the open audition for that drama, Lee Minki visited a special place to prepare for the audition in earnest.

That place was:

“Welcome to Kim Hee-kyung’s Coffee Startup Class.”

It was a coffee class.

‘First, study.’

The judging criteria for this audition were divided into two parts.

Designated acting and free acting.

The former was about performing a script provided in advance by the production team, while the latter was about preparing a performance on your own based on the character.

Here, Lee Minki thought.

‘Since it’s a coffee drama, let’s learn about coffee and go.’

Since he was doing it anyway, he decided to take on the challenge seriously.

‘Designated acting is the preliminary round. Everyone will be good at it anyway. I have to show my skills in free acting.’

He knew Kim Ji-hwan’s skills well.

Although his acting, which he saw at the previous Daon audition, was nothing special, it had changed recently.

He had seen the work he had recently appeared in, and Lee Minki was greatly impressed by it.

‘His skills have definitely improved.’

He began to show acting skills worthy of a promising actor.

Perhaps he had tremendous talent, or he was making bone-crushing efforts behind the scenes.

Moreover, in the original [Café del Día] that he saw, Kim Ji-hwan was clearly the main character.

The main character isn’t just about skill.

The character that the director had in mind must have overlapped with Kim Ji-hwan’s character.

Preparing diligently wasn’t enough.

To break through that chemistry, he needed to prepare two steps deeper than the person who prepared the most diligently.

So, what Lee Minki prepared was this class.

“First, let’s learn about the Moka pot. Europeans often use this Moka pot to easily extract coffee.”

A coffee startup class.

He was going to take a coffee class and prepare for free acting based on the understanding he had built up.

[The reason why the production team bothers to suggest free acting is one thing.]

The advice Kim Ah-sung, the trainer, gave him was etched in his mind.

[It’s to see how well the participant understands the work and the character. Acting skills? Designated acting is enough to see that. Free acting is all about the character. Keep that in mind.]

You have to understand the character.

The character description of the protagonist [Sung Jin-woo], the role Lee Minki applied for, was like this.

[A talented barista]

[He is loved by everyone for his handsome face and gentle personality, but he is more serious about coffee than anyone else.]

[He loves coffee to the point of being obsessed with it.]

If he could be obsessed with coffee, he could also act obsessed with coffee.

That was Lee Minki’s thought.

One more thing.

‘Café del Día audition, they definitely said they had all the coffee-related tools laid out on set. Saying I can use anything I need for free acting.’

Because he had experienced the future, he also had the power of the information he had heard.

It was content that other participants wouldn’t know.

It was safe to say that Lee Minki was far ahead in terms of information.

It was okay to say it was cowardly.

However, not acting when you know is just a foolish decision.

Moreover, in the long run, it was also an insincere act.

‘Anyway, I’ll need to study coffee while filming the drama, so I’ll just do it in advance.’

From now on, it’s studying.

Study properly.

Lee Minki wrote on the paper with a pen without resting with that thought.

* * *

Kim Hee-kyung.

A barista who became famous by winning the silver medal at the 2014 World Barista Championship.

She was often called upon by the media to represent the barista profession, and she was also famous for another title.

‘Korea’s best coffee education expert.’

She was a coffee instructor.

She went beyond simply teaching hard and even had a sense of duty to teach coffee.

[I want to spread the barista culture widely in Korea. I want the whole nation to brew a cup of coffee with a Moka pot for their loved ones every morning.]

It’s good to train experts, but more than that, she wanted to widely foster the barista culture in Korea.

She had such a grand dream, but the reality was not so easy.

[Oh, teacher, you teach so well.]

[I’m tired, can’t we just stop here?]

[I’ll take a break today.]

[Does this make money?]

That’s right.

There were many people who didn’t take the barista class itself seriously.

You could say they regarded it as a kind of cultural experience.

To put it bluntly, most people were insincere.

Celebrities were even more so.

[Just teach me the movements roughly.]

[What should I say on the show to look like an expert?]

Most people approached it superficially.

They were just trying to get a cheap certificate and add a line to their resume, get the title of having taken a barista class from her, and use a handful of stories on the show.

This was exactly why Kim Hee-kyung didn’t have a good impression of Lee Minki.

‘Did he say he came for audition preparation?’

It’s obvious.

He’ll just pretend to do it.

Then, if he gets a little tired, he’ll run away on the grounds that he’s busy.

He’ll be satisfied with learning enough to show off.

‘He’ll use it in interviews. Saying he even took a coffee startup class to film the drama well.’

That’s what she thought.

Because the repertoire that had been repeated so far had always been like that.

But.

“Minki, can you explain to me what I told you in the last class? First, Robusta, Arabica. And tell me about the world’s three major coffee beans in order.”

It was strange.

“Robusta has a strong bitter taste, but on the other hand, it grows well everywhere, so it’s good for widespread distribution. Arabica is difficult to grow, but the taste is generally better. But that doesn’t mean Robusta is always low-grade.”

The contents she had taught in the previous class flowed out of Lee Minki’s mouth.

Even a little too accurately.

“The three major coffee beans are Hawaiian Kona, Geisha, and Blue Mountain. But just because it’s expensive doesn’t mean it’s high-end, and the marketing of the companies that monopolize it is strong.”

“Can you tell me the producing area?”

“In order of production, there are many third world countries: Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, Honduras, and Ethiopia.”

“……Why is Ethiopian coffee delicious?”

“Because there are many highlands. The density of coffee beans varies depending on the cultivation altitude, and it’s because the daily temperature range varies depending on the altitude. If the daily temperature range is large, the coffee beans repeatedly expand and contract, increasing the density, and the higher the density, the richer the taste when extracted. Among them, those grown at an altitude of 1400m or more are called SHB [Strictly Hard Bean, a coffee grading term].”

“……”

Too accurate.

An accurate statement that couldn’t be faulted.

For a long time, an explanation that seemed to have copied the sentences from the dictionary flowed out of Lee Minki’s mouth.

One side of Kim Hee-kyung’s head gradually became dizzy.

It’s weird.

‘Why is he working so hard?’

I did tell him to review the story of the coffee bean producing area in the first class.

But I never told him to memorize it so thoroughly.

No, I didn’t even expect him to study it.

“You memorized everything? Good job. You must have studied a lot.”

Kim Hee-kyung asked, feeling embarrassed, and Lee Minki smiled as if he was embarrassed by the compliment.

“It was fun studying.”

“……I don’t think it would be easy to do that much because it’s fun.”

“Your class is so fun that I want to study more.”

Lee Minki smiled brightly.

Kim Hee-kyung’s heart momentarily softened in the spring rain at that smile.

‘Seriously, his smiling face is amazing.’

I’ve experienced so many celebrities that I’m slowly losing interest in appearance, but Lee Minki had something more than that.

You could say it melts you.

I even wanted to kidnap him and raise him at home.

‘Get a hold of yourself. He’s much younger than you.’

When I was preparing for the college entrance exam, this person was in elementary school.

Kim Hee-kyung barely grabbed her mind and said.

“Good job. Good job. I don’t think I need to check the theory anymore. Let’s learn drip coffee today. The class will end when we finish the practice.”

“Yes!”

At Lee Minki’s energetic answer, Kim Hee-kyung desperately tried to suppress the smile that wanted to spread across her face.

After a while.

“I’ve shown you the demonstration, so now Minki, try it yourself. It may look easy on the outside, but there may be mistakes, but beginners do that, so don’t be nervous, and relax your arms.”

Following Kim Hee-kyung’s instructions, Lee Minki began to make drip coffee.

But what should I say?

Here, Kim Hee-kyung became dizzy for the seventh time today.

‘Why is he so good?’

Lee Minki’s drip coffee making skills were amazing.

No, if you look at the movements in detail, they’re clumsy.

But the result was good.

The grinder smelled strangely good.

The coffee beans placed on the filter paper were wetted strangely evenly when they touched the water.

‘Beginners make a lot of small mistakes here?’

That water pouring technique was the key.

It’s never easy.

Most beginners’ hands shake, and the angle at which they pour the water is wrong, so the balance of the coffee beans is broken.

But Lee Minki’s drip coffee was.

‘Perfect.’

It was so perfect that it was hard to believe he was a beginner.

How could this be possible?

The answer is, of course, preparation.

‘After all, preparation is the best.’

There was no such thing as field learning in Lee Minki’s dictionary.

He thought it was right to try as much as he could on his own and rely on the teacher at the end.

Putting effort behind effort. It was a habit that had been ingrained in him since he was young, and it was the foundation of Lee Minki.

Luck was too difficult to expect in his past life.

So, he believed in the value of effort.

If his life lacked luck, he believed that he could make up for the lack with effort.

This drip coffee is also the same.

Today, before taking the class, he practiced dozens, hundreds of times in advance.

Last night, he practiced until his arms trembled and he couldn’t make any more coffee.

Then why take the class?

There was also a reason for this.

‘The teacher will point out the parts I made mistakes in.’

He was using the class as a tool for verification, not learning.

Of course, there were also fun things.

‘I used to get burned every time I went to barista class and gave up.’

It often bounced off strangely.

The shape of latte art kept getting distorted and failing.

I was told to do as I was told, but I kept failing, so I doubted that I had a bad natural talent.

But I guess not.

‘Does this also require luck?’

Well, I decided to think positively.

It’s the same as saying that there will be no such thing from now on.

‘Hehehehehe, hehehehe, fun! Hehehehehe.’

I can do it.

There were few things as enjoyable as learning to do something you couldn’t do when you lived.

I only repeated failures, but now I’ve realized the joy of success.

Can I stop?

Lee Minki’s sincerity soon led to practical effects.

‘He’s really good.’

It was a rapid development.

What more can I teach here?

Kim Hee-kyung admired Lee Minki’s movements and stared at him silently for a long time before saying.

“Everything is good overall, but I wish you could fix just one thing. Posture.”

“Was I wrong?”

“It’s not really wrong now, but there’s a better way.”

The student has done everything on his own, so what can I say?

The basics are done, so I have to teach him more than that.

Kim Hee-kyung grabbed the kettle next to Lee Minki and said.

“Watch carefully. Relax your shoulders, tuck your butt in, and tilt your head slightly.”

The water from the kettle in Kim Hee-kyung’s hand drew a picture-like trajectory and fell into the dripper.

Pour, pour.

Kim Hee-kyung, who showed a movement that was beautiful even in sound, asked.

“How is it, it looks much better, right?”

“It’s really cool.”

Lee Minki asked in a surprised voice.

“Does this posture make the coffee taste better?”

“Hehe, no way.”

Kim Hee-kyung shook her hand and said.

“It has nothing to do with taste.”

“Yes? Then why this posture?”

At the voice mixed with doubt and respect, Kim Hee-kyung chuckled and said.

“It’s cool.”

“……”

“I practiced a lot to look like an expert on TV. That’s the era we live in, right? Chefs also come out on TV and sprinkle salt like this, and baristas have to do it if they need to.”

It was really a movement to look cool.

In front of Lee Minki, who was embarrassed, Kim Hee-kyung continued.

“If Minki appears cool in the drama, many people will want to try to become baristas, right? So study hard. Let me get some credit too.”