Top Star by Luck

Chapter 3

He had been deeply immersed in acting for quite some time.

“Phew.”

As he drank from a water bottle, the fatigue washed away, leaving him refreshed.

Sweating for the first time in a while felt good.

No, saying it felt “good” wasn’t nearly enough—it was almost euphoric.

Min Ki sat on the floor, gazing at the ceiling, lost in thought.

‘How long has it been since I’ve focused this much?’

Even he was surprised.

All he had done was practice in the rehearsal room, acting alone in front of a mirror, yet he had fallen into an incredible level of immersion.

How could he describe it?

His entire body felt like it was responding perfectly to his commands.

‘No stumbling, no muscle cramps, no choking, no glaring sunlight, no sneezing.’

Everything had gone so smoothly.

As he sat there grinning to himself, a sudden thought crossed his mind.

‘…Could this also be because of luck?’

Surely this wasn’t how things usually went for everyone.

‘Was I always so distracted by the thought of twisting my ankle that my concentration was scattered?’

If so, this was too much.

Applying luck even to acting? Different results despite the same effort?

It was almost unbearable to believe, and he shuddered at the thought.

“You’re working hard from the morning, huh.”

“…!”

Someone spoke to him from behind.

‘Who’s that?’

Startled, Min Ki quickly stood up.

There stood a man with a cap pulled low over his face.

The man smiled and said,

“Are you a student here? What’s your name?”

“I’m Lee Min Ki. I’m in the audition class, but how long have you been…?”

“Since a while ago.”

“Oh.”

Suddenly, his face felt hot.

There had been no one around, and he had been performing all sorts of strange acting with enthusiasm, unaware that someone had been watching the whole time.

As an actor, he should get used to this sort of thing, but it was still embarrassing.

“You were really focused on your acting.”

The man chuckled and said,

“By the way, it’s rare to see a student with such good acting skills.”

Min Ki was surprised and quickly asked,

“You think my acting is good?”

“Yes, it’s excellent.”

As if he didn’t understand the question, the man responded with a confused look.

“Your vocal tone is well-controlled, your diction is clear, and your expressions are natural without being overdone. It’s clean, with no bad habits. I can tell you’ve practiced a lot.”

“…”

“And most importantly, your hand movements are very detailed, Min Ki.”

He lightly moved his fingers as he spoke.

“Acting ability often shows in the hands. People who are inexperienced usually have awkward hand movements. But your hand gestures were excellent, a sign of good observation.”

The compliments kept coming.

These were unusually generous praises he wasn’t used to hearing.

But despite the kind words, Min Ki felt somewhat awkward.

‘I’m happy to hear compliments, but should I really be glad about this?’

Although he was still relatively unknown, he had worked professionally for several years.

Getting praised at an acting academy, as if he were just a student, didn’t feel like something to celebrate.

How should he describe it?

It was like a university math major being praised for solving a simple quadratic equation.

More than that—

‘Who is this guy?’

He didn’t recognize the man at all.

Despite attending the academy for a long time, he had never seen this face before.

Judging by the way he evaluated Min Ki’s acting so easily, he must be someone important.

“Thank you. But, are you from the academy?”

He asked, wondering if this person had some affiliation with the academy.

“Oh, I got too caught up in talking about myself. Hold on a second.”

The man fumbled through his inner pocket and handed Min Ki a business card.

The name on the card was shocking.

[JC E&M]

[Acting Director and Exclusive Trainer]

[Kim Ah Sung]

A trainer.

And not just any trainer—an exclusive trainer for a major agency.

“…”

Holding the business card, Min Ki felt his mind go blank.

‘He’s a pro.’

There had been a certain air about him.

Anyone who had worked in the industry for a long time had that kind of aura.

Confident and distinct, he stood out.

So, Min Ki had guessed he might be a professional.

But he hadn’t expected this.

‘From JC?’

JC was one of the top five agencies in Korea’s entertainment industry.

And an exclusive trainer from there had come to the academy, watched his acting from the morning, and given him feedback.

This was not the kind of person you’d expect to see in such an academy.

For someone like Min Ki, who had spent his previous life in minor roles, it would have been intimidating to even speak to someone of this caliber.

‘Why is someone like this here?’

As his curiosity piqued, Kim Ah Sung continued speaking.

“I was asked by the director of the academy to give a special lecture. But I had some free time today, so I came early. I ended up watching your practice, Min Ki. I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable.”

He chuckled.

If this had happened earlier, that laughter might have seemed overly casual, but now, even his slightest expression carried weight.

Although, in truth, nothing had really changed—at least not visibly. But to Min Ki, everything seemed different.

“By the way, Min Ki.”

Kim Ah Sung casually asked,

“If you make it, is there a specific agency you want to join?”

“Daon.”

“Ah, Daon’s not bad. A lot of successful people come from there.”

While agreeing with Min Ki’s choice, Kim Ah Sung’s face twisted into a sly expression as he spoke again.

“But why them? Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Why not?”

“That’s a secret.”

He deflected the question and then asked again.

“So, why Daon?”

“There’s an actor I admire who’s with them.”

“Ah, that’s a good enough reason.”

It felt like a bit of an unnecessary question.

Why ask something like that?

Before he could dwell on it, Kim Ah Sung smiled and said,

“Well, I’ll probably be coming here often for a while.”

Then he grinned.

“Min Ki, can you come 30 minutes early every day at this time?”

“Huh?”

“If it’s alright with you, I can watch your practice for a bit each day. Keep my business card handy.”

Min Ki’s head was spinning even more now, but as Kim Ah Sung left the rehearsal room, he added one last thing.

“Oh, and by the way, your movements were a bit stiff during the acting. You were too focused on your ankle. Try to loosen up a bit. It’s great to be precise and detailed, but too much of anything can be a hindrance.”

* * *

That day.

Min Ki couldn’t focus on his acting lessons at all.

Not just because the instructor had been late for class, but because he was still in shock from what had happened that morning.

‘I got a business card from a JC trainer.’

And not only that—he had even offered to personally coach him.

An exclusive trainer from JC.

Was this luck?

No matter how hard he had worked before, he had never received this kind of attention.

But now, out of nowhere, he had caught the eye of a prominent figure in the industry.

‘Is all of this just because of luck?’

Min Ki found himself lost in thought.

‘Can luck really be this powerful?’

He was genuinely confused.

It felt like something out of a lucky stroke or twist of fate you’d only hear about on the internet.

But what he didn’t realize yet was this:

Yes, luck played a part, but all of this had happened because of the work he had put in.

It was Min Ki who had come early that morning to practice.

It was Min Ki who had performed his best, focused on his acting.

And it was Min Ki himself who had been there at that moment, which made everything possible.

‘Ah, this is confusing. Really confusing.’

Even though he didn’t quite understand yet.

As he sat there, waiting for the instructor to arrive, he heard a voice.

“Oh, Min Ki, you seem to be in a good mood today.”

A man next to him struck up a conversation.

He had blonde hair and was dressed head-to-toe in high-end casual wear.

Kim Tak.

He was someone Min Ki took acting lessons with in the audition class at the academy.

Instinctively, Min Ki shifted 2 millimeters away from him.

‘This guy’s a bit uncomfortable.’

Since they were in the same class, he couldn’t completely avoid him, but he didn’t want to get too close either.

Why?

Kim Tak was someone who craved attention.

‘He used to look down on me a lot.’

There are many actors who like to stand out, and among them, some choose to make others their target to stand out even more.

Kim Tak was one of those people.

“With the audition season coming up, the atmosphere feels a bit tense, huh? Some people debut and leave quickly, while others linger for a long time. Not that I’m talking about you, Min Ki. Haha.”

See?

It hadn’t even been a minute since he started talking, and he had already made a belittling remark.

Proof that he didn’t care at all about Min Ki’s feelings.

Bad luck.

Of all people, why did this guy have to come over?

But it was fine.

In the past, Min Ki would have played along, not knowing how to handle the industry atmosphere, but now he didn’t need to do that.

He knew that people like Kim Tak were just pebbles that would eventually be washed away.

‘There are a lot of people who just come to acting academies to mess around.’

Just because someone attends an acting academy doesn’t mean they’re all serious about it.

Most of them were content with the title of “aspiring actor” and remained stuck in that position.

“Ah, yeah. I guess so.”

Min Ki barely found it worth responding to, so he answered vaguely, ready to end the conversation.

But then—

“Come to think of it, didn’t you say you wanted to join Daon Entertainment?”

Kim Tak brought up a sensitive topic without hesitation.

“Today’s the first-round results announcement, right? I didn’t apply, but you did, right? You didn’t make it last time, so did you get through this time?”

As he chuckled to himself, Min Ki sighed and responded.

“I passed. The first round.”

“…What?”

Kim Tak froze.

At the same time, a small ripple spread through the atmosphere in the debut preparation class.

“I got the notice this morning. Here.”

Seizing the moment, Min Ki pulled out his phone and showed him the acceptance message.

Kim Tak stared at it for a while, his eyes wide.

“Unbelievable… You really passed?”

“The document round is just a formality.”

“R-right. Haha.”

Even after seeing the reality before him, Kim Tak was still flustered, rubbing his eyes as if to check again before speaking.

“But don’t get too comfortable! The first round is just a formality. The real test starts from the second round, right? Anyway, I hope you prepare well and pass, Min Ki.”

Kim Tak, now trying to regain his confidence, continued his prattle.

This guy was something else.

You’d think he’d know when to back off, but he just didn’t seem to grasp the situation.

Min Ki was about to put him in his place when—

“Did you pass the first round for Daon?”

Someone suddenly jumped into the conversation.

And it was someone Min Ki knew well.

Yoo Seon Ah.

She was a standout even among those preparing for their debut.

‘This person.’

Min Ki remembered her clearly.

From her appearance to her acting skills, she had always been exceptional.

He recalled that she had debuted quickly and left the class early.

She looked at Min Ki and said,

“Wow, I applied there too. Nice! Looks like we’re auditioning together.”

“You applied too, Seon Ah?”

“You know my name?”

“I just remembered hearing it somewhere.”

The instructor had praised her a lot.

Seon Ah smiled brightly, looking pleased.

“Anyway, I got the call this morning too. I thought I was the only one here preparing for Daon, but looks like I found a comrade.”

Despite hardly having spoken to her before, she was now beaming at him.

“I heard Daon is pretty strict about the first round too. They say they lay out the applicants’ names on the desk and turn on a fan, and whoever’s paper flies the furthest gets selected. That’s obviously a joke, though.”

Surprising.

Had she always been so talkative?

He remembered her quickly debuting and leaving the class, so it was surprising that she had applied to Daon as well.

“…But you never know until the second round.”

By now, Kim Tak had been completely sidelined, and with an awkward expression, he added.

“Yeah, the second round is where the real test begins, right?”

“Right. If we both pass, Min Ki, we’ll be in the same company.”

“…”

This girl was strong.

A guy who always saw things negatively was slowly losing his presence in front of someone so optimistic.

But she didn’t seem to care and kept talking.

“What kind of acting are you preparing, Min Ki?”

“There’s an actor I admire in Daon, so I’m choosing from one of the movies they appeared in.”

“Ah, so you have a plan.”

The two of them quickly got engrossed in conversation.

Then, shortly after—

“Class is starting.”

The instructor finally arrived, seven minutes late, and the lesson officially began.

Without any time to prepare.

“Remember the assignment from last time? We’re short on time, so let’s get right into it.”