Chapter 52: Director, the script didn't write it this way.

"Brother Yuan-long, is there anything unusual about my recent performance?" Ming Yan asked, looking puzzled at his manager while unenthusiastically eating the catering provided by the crew.

"Nothing at all. Director Kim Na-jung praises you to me every single day. My ears are practically growing calluses from it," Jung Yuan-long sometimes felt that his job as a manager was absurdly easy.

He had become this guy's manager during the filming of The Heirs.

Back then, Ming Yan was only nineteen years old.

Over the past three years or so, apart from occasionally needing to clean up messes involving women for this kid, Jung Yuan-long hadn't had to worry about much else.

Ming Yan shook his head. "I'm not talking about that. I mean Ji-won noona."

Kim Ji-won's behavior was very strange.

If you were to say this older sister held a grudge, she hardly made any mistakes during their script readings. Since the two of them were the male and female leads, their interaction scenes were not just numerous—they were overwhelmingly frequent.

Filming had only just begun, so the relationship between the lead characters was still somewhat awkward, but later on, there would be plenty of scenes involving hand-holding and cheek-to-cheek contact.

Ming Yan actually found himself missing Kim Ji-won's soft and fragrant little face.

That noona's cheeks were exceptionally soft.

They were nice to touch, nice to pinch, and nice to kiss.

"What's wrong with Ji-won-xi? The director praises the two of you every time," Jung Yuan-long said, biting on a toothpick and clearly intending to play dumb. He had no desire to get tangled up in Ming Yan's romantic entanglements.

The world of young people was something ordinary people couldn't understand.

As someone born in the 1980s, it was better for him to stay far away.

"Forget it. I won't bother telling you."

Matters like this had to be figured out on one's own; expecting anyone else to help was pointless, especially Jung Yuan-long.

...

"Ming Yan hyung, I'm a fan of yours."

"No, no, no, you're my senior."

Ming Yan and Kwak Dong-yeon, who was making a cameo appearance in Fight for My Way, exchanged polite pleasantries.

The dynamic between the two was somewhat peculiar. Ming Yan was actually older than Kwak Dong-yeon, who was born in 1997 and was now around the same age Ming Yan had been when he first debuted.

(The female lead's younger brother in Queen of Tears was played by Kwak Dong-yeon.)

However, Kwak Dong-yeon had debuted earlier, having started appearing in television dramas back in 2012.

What was most interesting was that Kwak Dong-yeon was making a cameo as a character Ming Yan was very familiar with: the boyfriend whom Kim Ji-won's character was about to break up with.

Holding the script, Kim Ji-won was familiarizing herself with the upcoming scene, but her eyes kept glancing off in another direction.

Her real-life ex-boyfriend was chatting animatedly with her fictional ex-boyfriend.

They couldn't possibly be talking about me, could they?

The scene to be filmed shortly was quite simple: [Choi Ae-ra] brings a bicycle to her boyfriend—who lives in a cramped exam room and lacks the ability to make money—only to discover that this boyfriend, who has been living off her food and money, has been secretly seeing a wealthy older woman.

Therefore, driven by rage, she chooses to break up with him, but not before giving the freeloader a thorough beating right before the breakup. That freeloader was Kwak Dong-yeon.

In the story, Ko Dong-man was a Taekwondo athlete, but when they were kids, he could never beat Choi Ae-ra in a fight.

She was the true master.

The only thing Kim Ji-won regretted was why she wasn't beating up Ming Yan instead.

"Ming Yan hyung, is Kim Ji-won sunbaenim really as terrifying as you say?" Kwak Dong-yeon was also discussing how to film the upcoming scene with Ming Yan.

Kwak Dong-yeon had debuted in 2012, while Kim Ji-won had debuted in 2010 by shooting a mobile phone commercial, making her the major senior.

"I was talking about Choi Ae-ra. Anyway, when the action starts later, just imagine that she's terrifying."

Ming Yan was passing on his own experience to Kwak Dong-yeon.

"Oh, okay."

Once everything was prepared, Kim Ji-won felt that Kwak Dong-yeon was looking at her rather strangely.

She glared in Ming Yan's direction; that guy must have been spreading some nonsense again.

Ming Yan, meanwhile, was preparing for his own part. After Choi Ae-ra savagely beat her ex-boyfriend, the next sequence involved Ko Dong-man getting hit by a car and then trying to stand up for his good friend.

Fortunately, the person driving the car wasn't Kim Ji-won, otherwise this noona might have used the opportunity to settle personal scores.

No one could ever predict what a woman who had lost her reason might do.

Even though Kim Ji-won's outward performance was steady, the string inside Ming Yan's mind remained tightly wound. It was always better to be cautious after breaking someone's heart; the moment you let your guard down, big trouble was bound to happen.

Everyone adjusted their emotions, and at the director's command, the scene of beating up the ex-boyfriend began.

"Yah!"

Whether Kim Ji-won was projecting and treating the Kwak Dong-yeon in front of her as someone else, her speed wasn't hindered in the slightest by her high heels as she charged forward, swinging her handbag like a weapon.

Kwak Dong-yeon had originally thought Kim Ji-won was quite a gentle senior, but the moment he saw this posture, he immediately took off running for dear life.

It was all genuine emotion, zero acting.

Standing on the sidelines, Ming Yan grimaced. Drama truly could make people empathize deeply at times.

"Cut, that take is good." Fortunately, Kim Na-jung spoke up in time, bringing Kwak Dong-yeon's career as a fugitive to an end.

Kwak Dong-yeon sat there panting; filming a scene where you get beaten and chased was genuinely exhausting.

He exchanged a glance with Ming Yan. There was still a scene coming up where this older brother had to get physical with her; the cameo role he had taken was simply too tragic, consisting entirely of getting beaten up, and his only romantic partner in the show was an older woman.

An older woman in the physical sense—meaning the wealthy older woman he was dating in the series.

Having vented her emotions, Choi Ae-ra was in low spirits. She got on her bicycle to leave, only to discover it had been struck by a car, leaving her with no choice but to ride back in the car of her ex-boyfriend's wealthy girlfriend.

As a result, on the way back, they ran into Ko Dong-man, who was likewise wandering around in a daze.

Ko Dong-man had just been arguing with his former coach about whether or not to continue as an athlete, which was why his mind was elsewhere.

"Yah, what are you doing here?"

After getting out of the car and realizing the person who had been hit was her close friend, Choi Ae-ra panicked completely.

When Ming Yan saw Kim Ji-won's worried expression, he zoned out for a split second, only to be brought back to reality when this noona landed a solid smack squarely on his arm.

Kim Na-jung nodded inwardly.

Look at that—what did you call a good actor?

A good actor needed to have creativity. Choi Ae-ra, as played by Kim Ji-won, had just gone through the frustrating ordeal of her boyfriend cheating on her, leaving her pent-up emotions suppressed. Upon seeing her closest friend, her reaction shifted instantly from worry to anger, and the transition of emotions was executed with absolute precision.

She had acted out all those subtle little details that weren't even in the script.

Kwak Dong-yeon gave a silent thumbs-up in his heart. No wonder Ming Yan had been talking to him about getting beaten up earlier; it turned out he had been pondering the nuances of the acting.

No wonder this guy managed to become a male lead after only three years in the industry; it certainly wasn't by accident.

He really needed to work hard himself.

Kim Na-jung singled out Kim Ji-won for praise: "Cut, that take is good too. Ji-won-ah, well done."

Only then did Kim Ji-won stop, give Ming Yan a cool, indifferent nod, and walk off to the side to rest, looking effortlessly badass from start to finish.

Ming Yan wore a bewildered expression.

Director, the script didn't say it was going to be like this. Something wasn't right.