Peninsula: The Best Actor Starts from an Idol Battleground

Chapter 97 Tae-hee: Me or Son Ye-jin, who should I choose?

As Jung Tae-won walked out of the hotel, he happened to run into Kim Tae-hee, who was returning from a walk to clear her head.

Seeing Jung Tae-won's clearly displeased expression, Kim Tae-hee asked in surprise, "Representative Jung, where are we going?"

Zheng Taiyuan waved his hand.

"I'll go check out Byung-hun's filming crew."

"Tae-hee, go eat dinner."

He was about to leave when he stopped as if he remembered something, and said to Kim Tae-hee, "Give that brat Lee Ji-hyung a beating later."

"Beat them harder!"

Kim Tae-hee was taken aback, then couldn't help but laugh.

Only Li Zhixing could always manage to drive Representative Zheng to his wits' end.

When Kim Tae-hee entered the hotel, she saw Lee Ji-hyeong and Jung Joon-ho chatting and laughing.

Kim Tae-hee walked over and glared at Lee Ji-haeng.

"Hey, you brat."

"What did you do to offend Representative Zheng this time?"

Li Zhixing shrugged innocently.

"It's clearly him who's trying to exploit my labor."

Lee Ji-haeng pulled out a chair for Kim Tae-hee so she could sit down.

"Where did Nuna go? I haven't seen you since I came back."

Kim Tae-hee smiled.

"Just going out to see the scenery."

"You all have scenes to film today, and I'm bored staying in the hotel by myself."

That's what she said, but the smile on her face was faint, and there wasn't much of the relief she felt after returning from a trip.

During filming in Hungary, Kim Tae-hee didn't have many scenes, and most of them were concentrated in the last few days.

Lee Ji-haeng could sense that Kim Tae-hee seemed to be in a bad mood.

He then asked with a smile, "Noona, would you like to order something to eat?"

"The stewed beef and mashed potatoes at this restaurant are pretty good."

Jung Joon-ho chimed in with a laugh, "That kid Zhi-xing has already eaten three plates."

Kim Tae-hee shook her head.

"I think I'll pass, I'm not really hungry."

After she finished speaking, she glanced at her phone, which was lying next to her, and then quickly looked away.

Li Zhixing guessed that she was probably thinking about the comments made about her online again.

Just a couple of days ago, the "Candy Kiss" and related love storylines helped her regain some positive public opinion, and Kim Tae-hee's mood improved slightly.

Unexpectedly, her mood plummeted again not long afterward.

Since its premiere, the main actors in this drama have received a lot of positive reviews.

Especially Kim So-yeon's portrayal of Kim Sun-hwa.

The online response was overwhelmingly positive.

In the recently aired fourth episode, Kim So-yeon reappeared and had more screen time, which quickly sparked a surge in related discussions, and her popularity has completely overshadowed that of the female lead, Kim Tae-hee.

Anyone can see that Kim So-yeon has truly turned her career around with just one role.

As the female lead, it's no wonder Kim Tae-hee reacted this way.

After all, the audience's criticism was mostly focused on Kim Tae-hee.

With more free time, Kim Tae-hee probably spends most of her time reading comments, besides familiarizing herself with and practicing her scenes, and then getting more and more upset.

Jung Joon-ho managed to eat a few more bites, but finally couldn't eat anymore.

His body was so sore that he simply pushed the plate away.

"I can't go on anymore, I need to go upstairs and rest for a while."

"You two eat first."

Lee Ji-haeng stood up, and Kim Tae-hee followed suit, bidding farewell to Jung Joon-ho.

Li Zhixing added a reminder: "Senior Junhao, don't go straight to sleep after you get back."

"Have your assistant apply a hot compress and stretch a little, otherwise you'll feel even worse when you wake up tomorrow."

Jung Joon-ho waved his hand.

"understood."

As he was leaving, Jung Joon-ho paused for a moment.

He patted Lee Ji-haeng's shoulder and then glanced at Kim Tae-hee.

Li Zhixing nodded slightly.

Only then did Zheng Junhao feel relieved enough to go upstairs.

After eating and drinking his fill, Li Zhixing leaned back comfortably in his chair, rubbing his belly.

While overeating is bad for your health, a feeling of inexplicable happiness does come from having your stomach full of warm food.

Kim Tae-hee glanced at him and said disdainfully, "What kind of celebrity eats like you?"

Aren't you afraid of gaining weight?

Li Zhixing smiled smugly.

"I exercise so much every day, I just can't gain weight."

He then looked at Kim Tae-hee.

"Noona's appetite is probably among the largest of all actresses."

"Didn't Seungwoo hyung say that you eat more than he did when he was serving in the military?"

"Hey, you brat."

Kim Tae-hee punched him.

Li Zhixing chuckled.

He quickly composed himself and looked at Kim Tae-hee seriously.

"But why hasn't Noona been eating properly lately?"

Kim Tae-hee paused for a moment, then lowered her head, looking somewhat dejected.

"I can't eat."

Seeing her like this, Li Zhixing sighed silently.

He didn't ask any further questions and simply stood up.

"Nunna, you've been here for two days and haven't even taken a walk along the Danube."

"Let's go for a walk to digest our food."

Kim Tae-hee said, both amused and exasperated, "Oh, I just got back."

"Besides, I haven't eaten anything, so what's the point of digesting?"

In the end, Kim Tae-hee was dragged out by Lee Ji-haeng to "digest" her food.

The film crew stayed at a hotel on the banks of the Danube River.

It's almost evening now.

In late October, it gets dark earlier in Budapest than in Seoul.

A sliver of light remained on the horizon, reflected on the surface of the Danube River, swaying gently with the current.

The streetlights along the river and the lights on the bridge gradually came on.

The distant building silhouettes gradually darkened in the twilight, but a layer of shimmering light remained on the river surface.

The two strolled along the riverbank for quite a while.

Li Zhixing squinted and walked slowly forward.

After eating too much, he felt a bit drowsy and lethargic.

Although he was the one who called Kim Tae-hee out, it seems like he really just wanted to digest his food.

We walked for almost half an hour without saying a word.

It was Kim Tae-hee who lost her composure first.

She'd been admiring this scenery all afternoon.

Even the prettiest things get boring after a while.

She glared at Li Zhixing.

"Oh, Li Zhixing."

"Did you call me out just to help me digest my food?"

"Um?"

Li Zhixing looked at her with an innocent expression.

"I thought Tae-hee-no-na had something on her mind and wanted to talk to me about it."

"That's why I made up a reason to bring you out, so you wouldn't keep it bottled up."

"So there wasn't one? Let's go back then."

With that, he turned and started to walk towards the hotel.

Kim Tae-hee's expression changed slightly, and she subconsciously pulled him back.

She paused for a moment, then asked, "You brat, if you had to choose between me and Son Ye-jin for the role of Choi Seung-hee, who would you prefer to see play it?"

Li Zhixing glanced at her and said with a mischievous smile, "Do you want to tell the truth?"

"ah!"

Kim Tae-hee rolled her eyes at him.

"You'd better not say anything."

Li Zhixing asked with a smile, "Did someone online dig up something again, saying that the production team initially invited Son Ye-jin to play the female lead?"

Kim Tae-hee looked at him in surprise.

"You know?"

"Of course I know."

Lee Ji-haeng said matter-of-factly, "Don't forget, besides Senior Byung-hun, I was the second actor cast in the production team."

"The production team talked to Son Ye-jin several times, but in the end she still chose to act in 'White Night'."

"Hey, it seems like it's going to be released next month. I'll take Noona to see it then!"

"ah!"

Kim Tae-hee glared at him and punched him again.

But after she laughed, the expression on her face slowly faded.

"Actually, the role I auditioned for first was the one for Soyeon."

"What if I were—"

"Won't!"

Li Zhixing interrupted her directly.

"Even if Noona played the same role as Soyeon Noona, she would still be criticized!"

Kim Tae-hee stared at him in astonishment.

Her eyes were slightly red, clearly stung by those words.

Fortunately, it was already dark, so it wasn't easy for others to notice.

Li Zhixing continued, "The reason why Soyeon's character became popular is because she portrayed her well, and also because of her image transformation this time."

"And persona is not the decisive factor."

"You know, although Soyeon Noona had a negative image in the eyes of the audience before, that was entirely due to those villainous and mean roles."

"And this precisely proves that her acting skills are sufficient."

"The more the audience hates her past roles, the better her acting skills are."

"And you, Nuna—"

Kim Tae-hee lowered her head.

"I'm a bad actor, right?"

Li Zhixing nodded.

"Compared to your beauty and popularity, your acting skills are indeed not very good."

Kim Tae-hee lowered her voice.

"But I'm already trying my best to learn."

"I found an acting coach and I study the character repeatedly every day."