Top Star by Luck

Chapter 102

It’s unacceptable.

A rather insane remark came out of Heo Soo Oh’s mouth.

For a moment, Lee Min Ki and Kim Gam stiffened in place.

After swallowing the last remaining sandwich, Kim Gam cleared his throat and opened his mouth.

“Soo Oh, what do you mean it’s unacceptable?”

“I mean exactly what I said. That runway scene we shot just now—I can’t accept it.”

What are you going to do if you don’t accept it?

While Kim Gam’s brain froze in buffering mode, overwhelmed by absurdity, Heo Soo Oh raised a finger and pointed at Lee Min Ki.

“You’re seriously planning to use that half-baked runway as is? Are you serious?”

“Huh?”

“The stride, eye line, and attitude—none of the basics were even in place. How can you call that a runway?”

“……”

What the hell is this guy saying right now?

Kim Gam quickly gathered his senses and blinked.

After spinning his brain for a moment, he reached a conclusion of his own.

‘Ah, this is one of those cases.’

They exist sometimes.

People who can’t accept a work for what it is and insist on imposing their personal sense of realism onto their acting.

Like when someone refuses to shoot a duel scene in a military drama because “this isn’t how the real army works.”

‘Actor Lee Min Ki’s runway was certainly a bit off from an actual runway.’

But so what?

Director Hwang Ui Seong’s works often get mistaken for pure realism because of his emphasis on authenticity, but even his works contain dramatic exaggeration.

It just looks more realistic than reality itself because of how well he directs.

Even Lee Min Ki’s slightly lacking runway scene would seem plausible once it was edited into the final cut.

However—

“There’s clearly been a misunderstanding. You’re telling me my character gets defeated by a model like that? This makes no sense.”

Heo Soo Oh clearly couldn’t accept that.

“And you, actor—don’t you have anything to say? Wouldn’t you feel embarrassed if something like that hit the theaters?”

“Hm.”

So, it had come to direct confrontation.

Instead of responding to Heo Soo Oh, Kim Gam turned to look at Lee Min Ki beside him.

How Lee Min Ki reacted here was the real issue.

It could still be contained.

As long as Director Hwang Ui Seong didn’t hear about this, they could smooth things over somehow.

But if the lead actor lost his temper, it would be a different story.

‘From that point on, I’d have no choice but to take the lead actor’s side.’

Heo Soo Oh was, at best, a minor character.

He showed up at the beginning to highlight the protagonist [Lee Jong Ho]’s genius and appeared again later to illustrate how much [Lee Min Ki] had grown.

No one would jeopardize the lead actor’s standing just to placate a supporting role.

‘Let’s just watch for a bit longer.’

While Kim Gam’s thoughts buffered—

“You’re right, model.”

The words that came out of Lee Min Ki’s mouth were completely off the mark from what anyone expected.

“The runway is something a professional model like you would know far better.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

It was an admission.

Lee Min Ki had admitted his inadequacy as a model.

‘You’re telling me he agreed instead of refuting? Seriously?’

Kim Gam tried to appear calm, but internally, he was utterly shocked.

Lee Min Ki might be a rookie, but he was still a star-level lead actor.

There was no need to concede just because a supporting role complained, yet here he was letting it slide.

‘But accepting script changes because of that? That would be crazy.’

What on earth was he thinking?

Surely, he understood that brushing things aside mindlessly wouldn’t solve the issue.

Hopefully, he wasn’t just trying to play nice and making things worse.

As Kim Gam’s curiosity began to blend with a hint of disappointment toward Lee Min Ki—

“But when it comes to acting, I know better.”

“……?”

A statement bordering on rebuttal came directly from Lee Min Ki’s mouth.

“The details in the story might fall short of an industry professional’s standards. That’s unavoidable because movies are made by non-specialists at their core.”

It was an unavoidable reality.

While it was good to depict industries with realism, the producers’ expertise often fell far short of the industries they portrayed.

Trying to replicate reality perfectly was an unrealistic ambition.

‘And even if you managed to do it, it wouldn’t necessarily make the movie more entertaining.’

Lee Min Ki spoke again.

“Soo Oh, you’ve seen scenes in sci-fi movies where genius scientists seriously explain basic scientific knowledge to each other, right?”

“That’s…”

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Heo Soo Oh flinched.

He had been brimming with anger just moments earlier, but now he was the one feeling overwhelmed by Lee Min Ki’s calm demeanor.

It takes two hands to clap. Shouting and throwing a tantrum would only make him look ridiculous.

“…I’ve seen it.”

Heo Soo Oh admitted.

At that, Lee Min Ki smiled gently and continued.

“Honestly, it doesn’t make sense. Genius scientists wouldn’t need to explain basic theories to each other. It’s like us explaining simple arithmetic while doing calculations.”

It was something that happened all the time in movies.

People who were supposedly the top authorities in their field would engage in drawn-out discussions about the most basic topics.

It looked plausible at first glance, but in reality, it was completely detached from how things actually worked.

“The director isn’t unaware of that. Such movies often get advice from real experts in the field.”

“Then why include those scenes? Aren’t they embarrassed?”

Heo Soo Oh frowned, clearly unable to accept it.

Lee Min Ki smiled again in response.

“To explain things to the audience.”

“Explain?”

“Yes. Even if it’s obvious to scientists, the audience doesn’t know. So they add those seemingly pointless lines to explain things.”

That was it.

What directors gained by compromising on realism and plausibility was narrative flow.

It allowed the work to stand as a cohesive story, even at the cost of realism.

‘It’s a trap people often fall into when they care too much about a work.’

It was a question frequently raised by diehard fans.

Why would a director deliberately undermine an easy-to-spot logical consistency?

[“Hahaha, movies really are so sloppy.”]

[“They just skip over things anyone could figure out.”]

[“If your mental age is below a high schooler’s, it might be fun.”]

[“Wish they’d at least Google things before writing the script.”]

[“You need a drink to enjoy this movie—4/10.”]

If you watched with your brain completely turned off, these questions wouldn’t arise.

It was only when you tried to think deeply about the work that you started doubting it, growing angry and criticizing it.

‘Still, I don’t dislike criticism itself.’

Even if the direction was off from a commercial perspective, it still meant they had thought deeply about the work.

Completely ignoring opinions like that would only create a different kind of corruption.

After gathering his thoughts, Lee Min Ki slowly opened his mouth.

“If you felt my runway was lacking, you’re probably right, Soo Oh. It was lacking because it was lacking.”

“……But why.”

“But the movie operates on a different standard. My lacking runway might not work in reality, but it was necessary for the storyline. That’s why the director approved it.”

It would be true in reality.

Professionals watching that scene would probably laugh.

No one knew that better than Lee Min Ki himself.

“The runway I walked is probably very different from an actual model’s runway.”

It wasn’t like he didn’t know.

He knew it well.

Even if his modeling career was insignificant compared to Heo Soo Oh’s, Lee Min Ki was never the kind of person to do things half-heartedly.

In everything he did, he put his heart into it.

He never approached anything carelessly.

Because of that, he could say the next words with sincerity.

“In fact, I was very impressed watching your runway, Soo Oh.”

It was respect toward his opponent.

“You were absolutely perfect. Seeing how polished you were made me think, ‘That’s what it means to be a professional.’ Just thinking about walking after you—do you know how nervous I was? I felt like my brain was going numb while acting.”

He understood the work of models.

He knew how much time a model poured into just a few dozen seconds on the runway.

Because of that, he could respect Heo Soo Oh.

While he might not completely agree with the subtle resentment models feel toward actors, he could at least understand it.

“I’m going to Fashion Week soon, you know? So I’ve been practicing a lot lately, but no matter how much I practice, even until my feet blister, I still can’t get it right. Watching you brought that to mind a lot.”

“……”

Faced with continuous compliments, Heo Soo Oh fell silent.

The conversation had started as an argument, then turned into an explanation, and finally ended in compliments.

When the other person acknowledges you and compliments you, what can you say?

Should he demand they bow their head and apologize?

That’s something only socially clueless online warriors would do.

Heo Soo Oh might be arrogant and hot-tempered, but he wasn’t that kind of person.

So he chose the right answer.

“……Thank you.”

It was gratitude for appreciating his skill.

The conversation had clicked.

Lee Min Ki, who had spent a long time building up to this point, smiled gently and said,

“There will probably be times when my acting still comes up short. From your perspective, it might look childish or awkward. So—”

At the end of every debate, beyond praise and criticism, there was persuasion.

“I’d love for you to teach me a lot going forward, Soo Oh. Let’s make a great project together.”

Turning an adversary into an ally through dialogue.

Lee Min Ki had extended a true hand of reconciliation.

“……Alright.”

At the end of the long conversation, even Heo Soo Oh accepted Lee Min Ki’s stance.

He couldn’t hold onto resentment.

If he pushed back now, he’d really be the bad guy.

No sane person wants to willingly become a villain.

Heo Soo Oh was no different.

“So there was a reason for all of it.”

He accepted it.

As if that wasn’t enough, he hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

“Now that I think about it, I think you’re right, Min Ki. I was a bit short-sighted. My apologies.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

A few words of conversation had changed him completely.

It was like watching a ferocious dog transform after meeting a top-tier trainer on [My Dog Has Changed].

“Min Ki, I’m sure you saw the flaws in my acting too, didn’t you?”

Heo Soo Oh’s temper had completely cooled.

The two of them wrapped things up with laughter.

“Honestly, just a little. About this much.”

“Gah…….”

“But you did really well, too.”

The previously tense atmosphere had completely disappeared, leaving only two collaborators behind.

It was at that moment, watching this scene unfold, that Kim Gam thought to himself,

‘Does this guy, Lee Min Ki, have some kind of superpower to charm people with words?’

Kim Gam was amazed internally.

‘How the hell do you talk down someone who came to criticize your acting like that? How old is he? Does this even make sense?’

Since Lee Min Ki had spoken so calmly, it was easy to overlook, but this was something unimaginable.

For a professional actor to have their acting criticized by someone other than the director—

There was no greater insult.

If a hot-tempered actor had been in Lee Min Ki’s shoes:

[“What the hell is your problem? If you’ve got an issue, take it up with the director instead of whining to me.”]

That kind of response wouldn’t have been surprising.

‘Amazing.’

And to be fair, he hadn’t exactly backed down.

‘He rebutted everything.’

Because his words were calm and lengthy, it was easy to miss, but if you looked closely, he had refuted every single one of Heo Soo Oh’s criticisms.

[“I’m right, and you’re wrong.”]

The difference was that in the process of saying what he wanted to say, he had also slipped Heo Soo Oh an escape route.

The cooler Heo Soo Oh’s head became, the more he would realize how thoroughly he had been handled.

‘Wow, he could’ve been a con artist and still made a living.’

For some reason, a rumor Kim Gam had heard a long time ago popped into his mind.

The story was that Lee Min Ki had teamed up with Kim Do Ha and his gang to harass a woman, then paid to cover it up.

‘That’s definitely nonsense.’

Someone this thoughtful and articulate wouldn’t be reckless enough to get caught in something like that.

This is why rumors are dangerous.

The same people who painted Director Hwang Ui Seong as a ruthless monster had also painted Lee Min Ki as a criminal.

‘Everyone needs to hear this story.’

Kim Gam resolved to spread good stories about Lee Min Ki throughout the industry.

Meanwhile—

‘I just heard something interesting.’

Someone nearby, who had overheard the entire conversation, smiled faintly.

His expression was so subtle that it was hard to tell if it was truly a smile.

It was Director Hwang Ui Seong.

He had been about to invite Lee Min Ki to share a bowl of galbitang and talk about the project when he heard the actor’s speech.

‘He’s definitely sharp.’