Top Star by Luck

Chapter 25

As you enjoy a work of art, sometimes, there were characters like that.

[Who is that guy?]

[His impression really sticks.]

[I can’t believe I’m hearing that line.]

[Look at how sharp the dialogue is, LOL.]

They might only appear for a short moment, no more than one scene, or at most, briefly in one episode before vanishing, yet they became impossible to forget.

Like a troublesome tenant who skips rent, they dug into your head and refused to leave.

To the point that when you heard the name of the show, that character’s face popped up before even the protagonist’s.

We had a term for such characters.

Scene Stealer.

That was the role Lee Min Ki played in Campus Story.

[The teaching assistant’s charm is overflowing.]

[He’s got that worn-out look, LOL.]

[He looks really exhausted. I feel like cooking him a meal.]

[If you think about it, wasn’t it the female lead’s fault?]

[For real! Why is she making a fuss with the teaching assistant? Isn’t it her own fault for submitting late?]

The character that Lee Min Ki played, Teaching Assistant Lee Nam Wook, was technically a villain.

After years of campus life, he’d grown tired of everything.

At first, he was a bright-eyed freshman, but the grueling life of a student turned him into a selfish person.

His only dream now was to get his degree as soon as possible, find a job, and leave.

— Ugh, this school really sucks.

To any normal person, it was hard to have any positive feelings toward him.

He was an outright villain by design.

After all, the image of the strict, no-nonsense teaching assistant was firmly ingrained in the minds of most college students.

However…

[Why doesn’t our school have a teaching assistant like him? Why is it only us who don’t?]

The teaching assistant character that Lee Min Ki portrayed turned out to be more attractive than anyone had expected.

[Campus Story Teaching Assistant Lee Nam Wook GIF Compilation]

[Legendary GIF… It really is.]

[Isn’t that the guy who played the attention-seeker at the baseball stadium last time?]

[Oh??]

[Wait, how are they the same person????]

[They look totally different!!]

[Oh, I looked it up, and he also worked as a model for a shopping mall.]

The audience’s judgment was honest.

A role that originally wasn’t supposed to stand out was taken on by Lee Min Ki, and it did.

What more could be said?

That was how episode 10 of Campus Story managed to create a turning point.

The same went for Lee Min Ki’s life.

* * *

“……”

Lee Min Ki was at a loss for words.

He had joined as a minor role, and when they offered him additional appearances, he just thought he was lucky.

Up to that point, he credited JC E&M’s influence.

He believed he needed to continue doing well.

But after seeing the audience’s reactions, he didn’t know what to think.

‘Is this happiness?’

His chest swelled with emotion.

He couldn’t stop the smile that hovered around his lips.

Even without eating, he felt full.

Of course, since he had to maintain his body, he made sure to eat properly.

Sweet potatoes, chicken breast, salad mix, and five almonds—he ate everything diligently.

Thanks to some recent financial leeway, he even mixed supplements neatly into his diet.

‘Good, everything’s going well. Let’s keep this momentum going.’

Following this rhythm, he planned to secure a supporting role in the next episodes.

It wasn’t too late.

Why couldn’t a miracle happen twice?

Thinking that, Lee Min Ki sat down and prepared for something.

It was…

“Ah, ah.”

A script reading.

“Hey, your parents are professors. You think the fact that you don’t have 10,000 won in your account is the same as me not having it in mine? If I slip up even once, I’ll end up homeless.”

In the script Lee Min Ki received from Writer Kim Hee Jin, the role of Lee Nam Wook was greatly expanded starting from this episode.

‘So, they gave him a reason for his twisted personality.’

In the original Campus Story that Lee Min Ki knew, Lee Nam Wook was just a lazy teaching assistant.

The typical type.

A teaching assistant caught between nagging undergraduates below him and being treated like a servant by the professors above.

But in the new script, the character had completely changed.

‘Just changing the way he’s framed brought the character to life.’

He grumbled to the female lead while trying to persuade the professor.

— Ah, how can you just ignore that? If she doesn’t get the scholarship, her life will fall apart… Do I really need to spell it out for you?

With just one scene, Lee Nam Wook was reborn as what people commonly called a tsundere character.

This was Writer Kim Hee Jin’s specialty.

Using stereotypes to craft characters, then twisting just one detail to create multidimensional figures.

That’s what Lee Nam Wook had become, the character Lee Min Ki was playing.

‘Good, this character… it really suits me.’

The purely cheerful expression on Lee Min Ki’s face had gradually disappeared.

The character of a “clumsy egoist,” weighed down by life but unable to completely ignore the circumstances around him, slowly emerged.

‘If I add just one more layer to this… hmm, what should it be?’

But as he went further into the script, Lee Min Ki’s concerns only deepened.

A minor character shouldn’t overshadow the main or supporting cast.

Yet, the character had to be strong enough to make an impression despite the limited screen time.

That’s why playing a minor role was no easy task.

“An Americano with two extra shots… Whoops. Ouch, ouch…”

While practicing, he bit his tongue by mistake.

It was a common accident when practicing relentlessly without rest.

‘I should take a break and practice my pronunciation again.’

There was a pronunciation technique Kim Ah Sung, his trainer, had taught him.

First, drink some water before starting.

“Pwah.”

After wetting his throat, Lee Min Ki dove back into his practice.

Meanwhile, somewhere else, something entirely unexpected was happening.

* * *

Do you know what it means when someone’s screen time in a drama increases?

It means that someone else’s time will decrease.

That’s what was happening with the original cast of Campus Story.

‘Ugh, so annoying.’

There was one person in particular who felt especially irritated by Lee Min Ki’s growing presence.

Rookie actor Park Tae Gyeon.

He had taken on the role of the secondary male lead in the drama.

In most rom-coms, the secondary male lead was practically a main character.

The broadcaster even promoted him as a lead to generate buzz, and depending on the show, the second male lead could even surpass the main in popularity.

But Campus Story was a bit different.

The secondary male lead felt stuck in an awkward position between the main characters and the supporting cast.

The show was just too much of a straightforward romantic comedy.

‘I’m already stressed out because my screen time is limited, and now, they’re cutting it even more. What do they expect me to do? Just sit quietly in a corner?’

Park Tae Gyeon felt that way.

Already dissatisfied with his small role, he was livid now that his screen time had been reduced even further to make room for Lee Min Ki.

‘Are you kidding me right now?’

Unable to contain his anger, Park Tae Gyeon stomped towards the waiting room.

In fact, Writer Kim Hee Jin never had any intention of developing the secondary male lead.

She just needed a versatile role, so she added one.

In truth, from the beginning, the secondary male lead had been more of a supporting character in disguise.

If anything, a rookie actor like Park Tae Gyeon should have been grateful for landing such a role, but he wasn’t that type of person.

‘That guy, there’s something off about him. Isn’t he with JC?’

It didn’t help that Lee Min Ki had grabbed the audience’s attention from his very first appearance.

For now, he was just a minor role, but who knew what could happen?

His screen time might increase even more.

Maybe enough to threaten Park Tae Gyeon’s position.

Of course, Writer Kim Hee Jin had no such plans.

‘The fact that they’re sharing scenes now, there’s definitely something up. There has to be.’

But there was no stopping the rookie actor’s spiraling paranoia.

He was stuck, overwhelmed by stress.

‘Huh?’

As Park Tae Gyeon walked down the corridor, he suddenly heard a voice from a distance.

The waiting room.

Though there was still a lot of time before filming began, someone was muttering inside the temporary waiting room.

Muttering loudly enough for it to be heard outside.

“Zigi, zigi, zaga, zaga, joo-gu, joo-gu, chiki, chiki, takataka, nani-nuneno.”

It was strange-sounding gibberish.

‘What the heck?’

Intrigued, one of Park Tae Gyeon’s eyebrows lifted slightly.

Out of curiosity, he slowly approached the open waiting room door and peeked inside.

‘Oh.’

The sight inside didn’t please him at all.

It was none other than Lee Min Ki.

He was seated and babbling in that strange pronunciation.

“Dag, dag, dag, nak, nak, nak, kak, kak, kak, tak, tak, tak,

pak, pak, pak.”

He was practicing pronunciation to prevent slurring.

Doing this consistently would create a clear and sharp diction that would be pleasant to the ear.

There was nothing odd about the practice itself.

Coming to the shared waiting room ahead of time to practice was simply a sign of dedication.

But to Park Tae Gyeon’s eyes, Lee Min Ki’s actions seemed, well…

‘What a pathetic attention-seeking show-off.’

It all just looked annoying.

He watched the scene for a moment before a mischievous thought began to grow in his chest.

Park Tae Gyeon slowly looked around.

‘It’s quiet.’

There wasn’t a soul in sight.

Since filming hadn’t started yet, they still had extra time.

After confirming that there was no one else around, a sly grin crept across Park Tae Gyeon’s lips.

‘Shall I give him a little lesson in humility?’

It was a bad habit of his.

Back in his university days as a theater and film major, he was known for being the “discipline enforcer.”

His target was just a newbie who’d landed his first minor role. Looking at that clueless face, his personality must be the same.

If he applied a little pressure now, there shouldn’t be a problem.

Especially since the next episode would pit them directly against each other.

He’d just press down on him a bit to break his confidence.

‘Newbies who act cocky need someone to put them in their place.’

He was just giving Lee Min Ki a preemptive initiation.

With that in mind, Park Tae Gyeon stepped into the waiting room with a stern attitude, ready to assert his authority as a senior.

Just as he took a large step onto the floor…

“Whoa?!”

His body tilted at an artistic angle, lifting into the air.

Crash!

His foot had slipped.

He had stepped on some water that Lee Min Ki had accidentally spilled earlier.

“Oww…”

He groaned as he rubbed his sore backside and slowly regained his composure, glaring up in frustration.

Then, an unexpected sight unfolded before him.

“Are you alright?”

It was Lee Min Ki.

He was looking down at Park Tae Gyeon with concern in his eyes.

“……”

For a moment, Park Tae Gyeon’s face flushed with heat.

How embarrassing.

He’d come in to scold the guy, only to end up like this from the start.

This wasn’t the way to assert dominance.

He could just walk away and be done with it.

But the mix of anger and humiliation clouded Park Tae Gyeon’s judgment.

“…Hey.”

Park Tae Gyeon growled.

“Do you have a death wish?”