Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 8

Episode 8

Early morning.

Minki was no longer afraid of waking up in the morning.

‘I can stretch now.’

If it were him just a while ago, his joints could have been injured just by carelessly stretching after waking up.

Or he might have fallen off the bed while sleeping.

If not that, he wouldn’t have been able to sleep deeply because of the cats living next door meowing excitedly.

But now he could sleep deeply and wake up refreshed.

This alone was enough to make him laugh.

‘Great, this morning is perfect too.’

Waking up, Lee Minki had a light breakfast, stretched his body lightly, and ran to the acting academy with light steps.

He used to be afraid of even power walking, but now he slowly realized.

People don’t sprain their ankles just by walking fast!

‘I’m the first one here today.’

After arriving at the acting academy with a light sweat in the morning, three more people came in not long after.

“Kim Tak is the latest today.”

“I took a taxi, though?”

It was Kim Tak and Yoo Seon-ah.

“Didn’t you know? Taxis are the slowest in the morning.”

“This is so unfair.”

“Even if it’s unfair, rules are rules. Then, as a penalty, you buy coffee later.”

It was a rule we set among ourselves.

The person who arrives at the practice room last buys morning coffee.

‘I don’t really know why these people are taking classes with me as a group, but.’

It just happened like this.

Since trainer Kim Ah-seong didn’t say anything special, we just ended up getting along.

In the meantime, Lee Minki realized a few things about the two.

First, Kim Tak wasn’t particularly mean or had any ill feelings towards him.

“Minki, you want an iced Americano with an extra shot, right? Venti size.”

He just couldn’t read the room at all.

You could tell by his attitude.

His head was empty like a tin can, but his actions were quite friendly.

“But if you drink too much coffee, you’ll die early because of cardiovascular disease.”

Again, he really couldn’t read the room at all.

It was Yoo Seon-ah who put a stop to Kim Tak’s actions.

“Hey, Tak, you shouldn’t say things like that in front of others.”

“But it’s true.”

“Don’t you know? No matter how true it is, timing and place are important. Tak, you like sweets a lot, but you wouldn’t like it if someone kept telling you that you’ll die early if you eat too much, right?”

“Ah, that’s right. That makes sense. Minki, I’m sorry. I’ll buy you dinner later.”

He seems like a son from a wealthy family; maybe he just grew up spoiled.

Anyway, we had a good balance.

Our daily routine was to chat over coffee and then start morning practice.

But today, there was a more important agenda.

“Minki, did you see it?”

Yoo Seon-ah asked in a serious voice.

Minki paused, holding his breath at her words. He slowly nodded and said.

“Yes, I got a text this morning. The announcement for the second Daon audition.”

That’s right.

This morning, Daon Entertainment sent out an announcement for the second audition.

The second audition would be held in a month.

And the only evaluation category was:

[One Free Performance]

Short and impactful.

A free performance meant to perform freely, but among them, they wanted to see just one thing that you were good at.

But there were so many participants.

The key was to show a performance that would immediately catch the judges’ eyes.

“Moreover, giving us almost a month until the announcement means they want us to bring the most complete performance possible.”

They gave us a whole month.

This was quite unusual for an actor audition.

Generally, after the announcement of the first screening, the second audition is completed within a maximum of two weeks.

But Daon gave us a whole month.

“Even though it’s a well-known company, this is a radical move.”

Yoo Seon-ah twisted her hair as if she had a headache.

On the other hand, Lee Minki said with a calm expression.

“The preparation period doesn’t matter; they just want us to bring the best result, whatever it may be.”

“The best result?”

“They’re saying they won’t tolerate tricks. As you know, in actor auditions, there are so many cases where people bring performances that were created by the academy in a short period of time.”

It was a common occurrence.

Not everyone can be good at acting, but acting academies had an obligation to get even those people to pass.

That’s why the main method they use is to create performances.

So much so that skilled interviewers could even guess which academy someone came from based on the habits shown in their acting.

“Hmm, then it seems like it’ll really be a battle of skills.”

Kim Tak muttered.

He seemed to have completely forgotten that he was the only one who didn’t apply to Daon.

“Minki, is there any way?”

Yoo Seon-ah asked Minki with a curious look.

It wouldn’t make much sense to ask such a thing between students, but she seemed to have some expectations for Lee Minki.

And.

“I do have an idea.”

In Lee Minki’s head, there was a plan to repay that expectation.

“As expected.”

“Ooh.”

Just as the two were listening to Minki’s next words.

“I’m here.”

Kim Ah-seong trainer arrived at the practice room last.

* * *

The first thing Kim Ah-seong trainer said after seeing Daon’s acceptance notice was this.

“Hmm, really? I thought it would turn out like this.”

It was as if he had expected this result.

At that, Kim Tak asked in a surprised voice.

“Did you know?”

“I just heard it in passing.”

Kim Ah-seong trainer said as if it were nothing.

“Daon basically runs as the president pleases, but they do this often. I investigated all the audition methods for the past few years, and there was a pattern. It was this time to do this.”

At those words, Lee Minki was slightly impressed.

‘I didn’t expect him to look into it that much.’

I thought he would just help with acting practice, but it’s quite serious.

He’s a capable person after all.

But providing information that goes around behind the scenes could seem unfair at first glance, but he seemed to have kept his words to himself.

“Anyway, those arrogant bastards think they’re something. I don’t like the president either. What kind of agency president is obsessed with being a celebrity?”

The last words seemed like an unnecessary addition, but anyway.

In fact, auditions were all the same everywhere.

You have to do as they say.

“That’s enough. You still have to go to the company you want to go to.”

Kim Ah-seong trainer grumbled for a long time, then sat down on the practice room floor in his usual slouching posture and said.

“Well, it’s good, and I’ve been watching how you guys act all this time anyway. I was going to decide what kind of acting you would do at Daon this time, so let’s decide today.”

Over the past few days.

Rather than full-fledged practice, it was a continuous process of exploring what roles suited each of us.

Choosing a favorite work, and then choosing from within that.

And then putting it into practice.

That’s how we invested about a week of the month in selecting roles.

And the results were about to come out.

“Let’s start with Minki first.”

It was the moment he was about to say something.

Lee Minki took the lead and said.

“I’m going to try acting as a gangster.”

“Okay, a lawyer…… what?”

Kim Ah-seong trainer asked back with a slightly surprised expression, and Lee Minki continued with a confident voice.

“A gangster. I felt it while acting last time, but I think it’s right to do this.”

It was the moment he emphasized the words he had said earlier once more.

“That’s not easy.”

Kim Tak muttered, a little surprised.

“That’s right. Doesn’t it stand out a lot if it’s even a little awkward? It might be better to go with a more stable performance.”

Yoo Seon-ah also agreed with his opinion.

In fact, gangster acting was so difficult in many ways.

It’s too firm.

You have to bring out your own character within that framework, so it’s true that the barrier is high for a rookie to challenge.

But Lee Minki was confident.

‘One of the actor’s capabilities is whether they can choose a role that suits them. Daon wants to see that from us.’

Character selection.

That is the greatest skill of an actor.

It is true that actors who can play various roles well have been praised by the public as talented since ancient times.

But it was a little different in the actual field.

‘A person who does 1 role at 10 is much better than a person who does 10 roles at 8.’

The person who does one thing for sure survives.

Moreover, only a person who knows their image well can bring out the acting that suits them.

Lee Minki judged that he could play the image of a gangster himself, and he knew better than anyone else that it was true.

Because.

He had felt it painfully in the field over the past years.

‘I got good reviews for this role.’

Rather than blindly following the roles that are preferred in auditions, the acting of a person who chooses a role that they can do well, even if it is a bit unreasonable, truly shines.

“There are many easier and more stable scripts?”

At Kim Ah-seong trainer’s words, Lee Minki nodded and said.

“That’s right. Gangster acting is difficult.”

“Do you know why it’s difficult?”

“Because you have to keep the energy full, but keep it from exploding and subtly reveal it.”

“You know it well. But why?”

“Because it’s difficult.”

Lee Minki said as if agreeing again.

“The less people do it, the more unique it will be. I know there’s a risk, but I think I can do well.”

It’s rare, so it’s scarce.

It meant that the chances of getting in were higher because it was scarce.

But that’s only the story when you get in.

Realistically, it was true that it was not easy to even do the minimum, let alone get in with gangster acting.

Because the role of a gangster is one where decent actors rush in and get cut off.

However, there was one more reason why Lee Minki had a firm belief in this role.

That was.

‘……that’s what I said in the interview.’

Because that’s what the president of Daon Entertainment said on the show.

He said he liked people who were good at gangster acting.

That’s why Lee Minki had decided in his heart that if he had to choose one, he would do this.

“Hmm.”

At the series of words that followed, Kim Ah-seong trainer stroked his chin and thought.

‘As expected, this person is not ordinary.’

The words Lee Minki had said so far were, strictly speaking, obvious.

It is natural for an actor to understand their image.

It is also natural to choose a role that suits their image well.

But very few rookies put this into practice.

No, there were many people who were confused and didn’t fully understand themselves even after standing in front of the camera for 10 years.

Perhaps even until the day they retire.

‘They say if you know yourself and your enemy, you will win every battle, but does that mean he knows himself before he even starts?’

Kim Ah-seong trainer felt his favor for Lee Minki growing again.

‘I was originally going to give him an easier role, but if he’s going to take a difficult path, there’s no need to stop him.’

He also knew that Lee Minki had the potential for gangster acting.

In Kim Ah-seong’s opinion, everyone had a natural nuance.

But what should he say about Lee Minki’s nuance?

His attitude, which seemed unlike his age, was indifferent and easygoing, but he also felt a tenacious poison in unexpected corners.

Especially when he was acting.

‘Either way, it’s a quality needed for gangster acting.’

Nevertheless, the reason he tried to dissuade Lee Minki was only because gangster acting was too risky to use in auditions.

But if he wants to do it, there’s no reason to grab him by the collar and stop him.

‘I would have desperately stopped him if I were a teacher at this academy.’

He was not tied to the academy and, therefore, not tied to a fixed curriculum.

Also, therefore, there was no need to force standardized acting.

He could just step back, chew popcorn, and help where he could.

“Okay, then show me.”