Chapter 57: The Production Press Conference of Goblin

The production of Fight for My Way was proceeding in an orderly and steady fashion.

Today, Myung-won coordinated his schedule with Director Kim Na-jung to take a day off and attend the press conference for Guardian: The Lonely and Great God.

The drama in which he made a guest appearance was finally about to premiere.

Although Myung-won considered himself a mere guest actor, he was practically one of the five main leads, which was why Kim Eun-sook had dragged him along to the press conference.

According to the conventions of a certain neighboring large country, he should have been credited as a "special appearance." After all, ranking fifth in terms of seniority and billing didn't hold much significance anyway.

"Noona, long time no see."

When Myung-won arrived backstage at the press conference, the first person he met was the second female lead, Yoo In-na.

"What has this brat been up to lately? You haven't even called your noona once." Yoo In-na waved at Myung-won with a smile.

This unni was born in 1982, making her twelve years older than Myung-won.

Myung-won sat down with a bright smile, "I've been filming lately, noona. One look at you and I can tell you haven't been keeping up with the news."

He had always been popular with women. From Gong Hyo-jin in It's Okay, That's Love to Yoo In-na right before him, they all took good care of him.

Myung-won had quite a few other friends as well, such as Park Shin-hye from The Heirs and Lee Sung-kyung from It's Okay, That's Love. Although they were also four years older, everyone interacted as peers.

Who wouldn't like a handsome, sociable younger guy?

When there's work, the younger brother does it; when there's no work...

Song Hye-kyo was an exception. Because of Myung-won's close relationship with Zo In-sung, his dynamic with that unni was somewhat awkward.

It wasn't distant, but it wasn't particularly intimate either.

"A new project? You never rest."

"Noona, if I had half the fame and ability of Gong Yoo-hyung, I wouldn't work hard either."

The male lead of Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, Gong Yoo, was an exceptionally talented senior. Myung-won had learned a great deal from him during the filming.

Train to Busan, starring Gong Yoo and released this past May, had just achieved a massive box office milestone of over ten million viewers.

South Korea's box office statistics weren't calculated by gross revenue, but rather by ticket sales. Train to Busan was the 18th blockbuster in Korean film history, and the 14th domestic film to surpass ten million viewers.

"Yah, why do you only mention Gong Yoo-hyung and leave me out?" A voice suddenly came from behind Myung-won.

"Dong-wook-hyung, I was just about to mention you. I grew up watching your dramas."

"Which one?"

"My Girl, of course."

The second male lead, Lee Dong-wook, was perhaps the quintessential Hallyu actor—quite famous, but with a meager list of real professional achievements, having rarely won any major awards.

Actually, Gong Yoo didn't have many major awards either, but at least the man had a ten-million-viewer movie under his belt.

From a mainstream value perspective, the pinnacle of an actor's path was winning a Best Actor award at a major film festival, followed by a Best Actor award in television. Myung-won's good older brother Zo In-sung, who was considered part of the Chungmuro circle, still hadn't won a Blue Dragon or Baeksang Best Actor trophy.

However, Zo In-sung had won a Baeksang TV Best Actor award and had been nominated for Best Actor in films several times.

An actor who didn't want to be a Best Actor wasn't a good actor; it was simply a matter of high difficulty.

Lee Dong-wook smiled and playfully kicked Myung-won's leg: "You brat..."

My Girl was a drama from eleven years ago; how old could Myung-won have even been back then?

"Gong Yoo-hyung." Myung-won dodged the kick while greeting Gong Yoo, who was walking in right behind them, followed by the female lead, Kim Go-eun.

To be frank, when Myung-won first saw this casting choice, he had been somewhat surprised.

Born in 1991, Kim Go-eun had an exceptionally impressive resume. As early as 2012, her debut work A Muse swept newcomer awards at almost every major film festival in South Korea. Her subsequent projects—Monster, Coin Locker Girl, and Cheese in the Trap—were all stellar works.

Myung-won had always felt his own career path was quite smooth, but seeing Kim Go-eun made him realize what a true born-to-be star looked like.

Many people in the industry were already guessing when she would win a Best Actress crown.

At first, he hadn't doubted whether this unni's acting was qualified for a television drama; it was just that within a project akin to an idol romance series, Kim Go-eun's visual appeal might fall slightly short.

Later on, however, Myung-won was completely conquered by Kim Go-eun's acting.

Ji Eun-tak was her, and she was Ji Eun-tak.

"Jie."

Myung-won greeted Kim Go-eun in Chinese.

He had only discovered during filming that this unni had spent ten years living in the capital of the neighboring eastern country and spoke fluent Chinese.

Therefore, the two of them would occasionally chat in Chinese, which was also a little trick they used to close the distance between them.

These five people constituted all the actors attending today's drama press conference.

"Tsk tsk, no matter how many times I see it, I want to say that Goblin truly has the highest average visual appeal among the male casts of any drama I've ever filmed." Yoo In-na looked at the three men standing together chatting, and pulled Kim Go-eun over to sigh in admiration.

Gong Yoo and Lee Dong-wook were both around 184 centimeters tall, while Myung-won was slightly taller at around 186 centimeters.

Gong Yoo was thirty-seven, Lee Dong-wook thirty-five, and Myung-won twenty-two. Sandwiched between two handsome, time-seasoned mature men was a sunny, bright big boy, creating a visual harmony that packed a powerful punch.

In the entertainment industry, good looks were productivity itself.

Although Kim Go-eun agreed, she couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark: "Unni, you already said those exact words when we were shooting the magazine spread."

The five main leads of Goblin had shot a magazine cover together, though it hadn't been released yet. She was certain it would spark another wave of gasps and exclamations online when it came out.

"Xiao Yuan, your next project should be with this noona. Name your conditions." Yoo In-na knew how to joke around.

"Better not. I'm afraid Dong-wook-hyung will beat me up."

Yoo In-na glanced sideways at Lee Dong-wook: "He wouldn't dare."

"Honestly, Dong-wook-hyung, noona, you two could consider doing a post-project reunion series," Myung-won suggested earnestly. "I think there's a lot of potential there."

The drama Fight for My Way, which he co-starred in with Kim Ji-won, could in some ways be considered a CP reunion project.

As for Gong Yoo and Kim Go-eun...

Those two didn't need anything of the sort.

Lee Dong-wook waved his hand dismissively, while Yoo In-na fell into a thoughtful silence.

If Goblin turned out to be a massive hit, it was indeed something worth considering. In any case, for the two of them, being able to ride the wave of popularity wouldn't be a bad thing at all.

The lean Director Lee Eung-bok and Kim Eun-sook arrived last.

Myung-won had no idea what those two had been talking about. Kim Eun-sook had ridden in his car, after all, and they had arrived at least half an hour ago.

There was no helping it; when a student and a teacher attended the same event, acting as a free chauffeur was practically par for the course.

"If everyone is ready, the press conference is about to begin," the emcee came over to remind them.

After confirming that all seven of them were prepared, she walked back out to start the procedure.

Myung-won was the last of the actors to make his entrance.

Wait, why were there so many reporters?