Peninsula: My e-sports dream shattered, I chose to become an actor.

SBS Building underground parking garage.

Li Mingye stood beside the van, using the dim light to tidy up his hair one last time in front of the rearview mirror.

This side-swept hairstyle was specially cut to fit the character of Choi Young-do. Compared to his domineering appearance in the early stages, Young-do will later sport a Korean-style wispy fringe to reflect the character's transformation from hard to soft.

He hasn't tried this hairstyle before, so he's not sure how it will look, but judging from Nayeon's reaction, it seems to be quite good.

After confirming that there were no problems, Li Mingye took a deep breath and walked towards the elevator.

Along the way, he encountered many SBS staff members. Although everyone was busy with their own work, Lee Myung-yeop's highly recognizable face still attracted a lot of attention. He always wore a humble and polite smile, nodding to everyone who looked at him.

SBS employees are used to seeing celebrities coming and going in the building, so they don't scream and cheer like fans, but they still curiously stare at him.

I've seen handsome guys before, of course, but someone this handsome still deserves a second look.

"Knock knock".

Li Mingye gently knocked on the conference room door and entered.

This is the scene of the script reading for "The Heirs".

Looking inside, there weren't many people yet. Li Mingye glanced around, politely greeted a few seniors sitting in the corner, and then walked over to his nameplate and sat down.

Not long after, a white figure sat down beside him.

"Hello, I am Li Mingye, and I play Cui Yingdao in the drama."

Li Mingye turned slightly to the side, extended his hand, and spoke in a clear voice.

The girl sitting next to him looked up, revealing a perfectly oval face. She wore a simple white dress, her long hair flowing smoothly over her shoulders, and her features were delicate and pleasing to the eye. While her thick, straight bangs added a touch of demure student charm, they also seemed to somewhat obscure her originally stunning beauty.

"Hello, Myung-yeop-ssi, I'm Kim Ji-won, and I play Yoo Rachel in the drama."

Kim Ji-won gave him a polite smile, gently squeezed his hand, and said softly, "You can just call me Ji-won or Ji-won Noo."

"Yes, Ji-won noona." Lee Myung-yeop didn't stand on ceremony and said frankly, "You can just call me Myung-yeop too."

As "pseudo-incestuous" siblings in the drama, they had many scenes together in the original script, so they should work on their relationship better, otherwise it would be easy to break character during filming.

Kim Ji-won nodded, her smile remaining calm, but Lee Myung-yeop keenly sensed that the polite distance had not completely dissipated.

Then, a subtle silence fell over the room.

The topic seemed to have come to an end just like that.

Li Mingye felt a little embarrassed, and his fingers unconsciously tapped lightly on the table.

Something's not right. This woman doesn't seem very talkative, and she even seems a bit socially awkward.

However, he is not a social butterfly who is good at taking the initiative; he prefers to be passive.

After thinking it over, Li Mingye decided that he had to break the deadlock himself.

"Ji-won Noona's clothes are very pretty, they suit you very well." He racked his brains and finally managed to find a topic to talk about.

Kim Ji-won responded politely, her eyes clear: "Thank you. Myung-yeop's hairstyle is also very handsome, it has a lot of Young-do vibes."

"..."

The conversation ended again, and Li Mingye lowered his head dejectedly, playing on his phone in despair.

Never mind, we've had plenty of time, we'll get to know each other eventually.

After a while, everyone in the conference room gradually arrived. Writer Kim Eun-sook and her production team walked in with the final version of the script, and the room instantly fell silent.

Kim Eun-sook distributed the thick stack of scripts to everyone, and Lee Myung-yeop quickly got into the zone and began reading seriously.

After some time, Li Mingye was the first to finish reading the script.

The final version of the script wasn't drastically different from the initial draft he received. The most noticeable change was that Choi Young-do had slightly more screen time, and his character was more fleshed out and three-dimensional, making some of his transformations feel more natural and smooth. Of course, as a supporting character, his screen time was still significantly less than that of the male and female leads.

Lee Myung-yeop understood that this was Kim Eun-sook showing him some care, but he certainly couldn't go too far, otherwise it would affect her reputation.

After everyone had skimmed through the script, the script reading officially began following a brief opening speech by the producer.

……

Time passed by unnoticed, and the sky outside the window gradually darkened.

Today's script reading continued into the evening. According to the plan, this intensive script reading will continue for at least a week. After all, it's one of SBS's most anticipated dramas of the year, so the standards are naturally very high.

Li Mingye closed the script, gently rubbed his throbbing temples, and quickly reviewed what he had accomplished that day.

Through this day of reading aloud, he roughly grasped the overall rhythm of the story, gained a deeper understanding of the motivations and rationale behind his character, and refined his pronunciation and emotional delivery of the lines.

Li Mingye then recalled the attitudes of each member.

Although there were some subtle rumors between him and Lee Min-ho due to friction between fans, after today's interaction, Lee Min-ho's manners and attitude were fine, and he didn't act like a senior at all, which relieved Lee Myung-yeop.

After all, he has quite a few scenes with Lee Min-ho's character Kim Tan in the drama, and it would be awkward to film if their relationship became strained.

Senior actress Park Shin-hye was very approachable and even gave him some encouragement when she learned it was his first time acting.

Also featured is f(x) member Krystal Jung, who plays Lee Bona in the drama. In real life, she appears somewhat aloof, possessing a "keep away" aura, but she's not difficult to get along with. During a break in the reading, Lee Myung-yeop even asked her for her contact information, as there seemed to be some fragments about her in his previous dream.

As for Kim Ji-won...

Li Mingye's gaze involuntarily drifted to his side.

After the script reading began, Kim Ji-won's performance improved significantly. Once she got into character as Yoo Rachel, she radiated charisma, delivering sharp lines with a serious attitude, and her proud yet vulnerable demeanor was incredibly endearing.

Li Mingye was packing his things as he thought about it, preparing to get up and leave.

"Mingye."

Kim Ji-won suddenly spoke, her voice interrupting his thoughts.

"Hmm? Noona." Li Mingye stopped what he was doing and turned his head.

"Could you please give me your contact information?" Kim Ji-won asked shyly, taking out her phone with a slight blush on her cheeks.

Li Mingye was somewhat surprised when he heard this, but quickly realized what was going on and readily gave out a number: "Of course."

Seeing how carefully Kim Ji-won saved the number, she seemed to sense Lee Myung-yeop's confusion and offered an explanation:

"We had many scenes together, and we exchanged contact information so we could discuss how to act from time to time."

Li Mingye nodded, revealing a sincere smile, indicating that he understood her meaning:

"I also have a lot of questions I want to ask Jiwon noona. I just hope noona doesn't find me annoying."

Kim Ji-won waved her hand, her previously tense shoulders relaxing, and her tone becoming much lighter:

"It's okay, Mingye, just ask me anytime if you don't understand. I'm usually free when I'm not filming."

After they finished speaking, the two looked at each other and smiled, and the atmosphere became much more harmonious.

After saying goodbye to Kim Ji-won, Lee Myung-yeop turned and walked out of the SBS building.

The cool night breeze dispelled the day's fatigue.

He looked up at the dazzling night view of Seoul, let out a long sigh, and unconsciously smiled.

A good start!

Li Mingye encouraged himself and looked forward to the upcoming study and filming.