Chapter 1: In Progress (Part 1) (First Update: Seeking Recommendations and Bookmarks)

  Australia, in the bustling streets of Melbourne, a crowd of people surged forward, on one side of the road, several Asian men wearing vests and doing scene preparation, kept the crowd from gathering around, while in the middle, a camera had already been set up, along with a simple lighting board.

  Lee Hyung-min, holding the director's tube, is instructing Ahn Jun-hee: "... At this time, Cha Mu-hyuk is still a street urchin who sells drugs and solicits prostitutes, so you need to show his unruliness, but not too much. Because this scene needs to highlight his longing for light, you need to show that he hasn't gone bad to the bone, he still has love, for his mother, for his girlfriend, hoping that he can give them a good life in the future..."

  He had deliberately grown a beard and the makeup artist had also darkened his skin tone, making An Junhe look like he had aged over ten years. A stylist was currently tying a headscarf around his forehead.

  While being directed by Lee Hyung-min, Ahn Jun-ho nodded and smiled, "Don't worry, director, I remember."

  "Really remember? I'll tell you again..." Ignoring his reassuring words, Li Hengmin reminded himself once more. This wasn't him being nagging, although An Junhe's performance was great during the audition, after all, he was a newcomer who had never faced the camera before, how could he be at ease? Moreover, this drama was on a tight schedule, efficiency must be maximized, every second that passed increased the pressure, forcing him to repeat himself again and again, trying his best to avoid NGs.

  More than ten minutes later, with the help of a stylist, An Junhe finally finished collecting his things.

  Li Hengmin looked at him and said, "Are you ready?"

  "Hmm!" An Junhe slightly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded vigorously.

  "OK, all units be advised..."

  "Bang!"

  The moment the clapperboard sounded, An Junhe suddenly opened his eyes, slightly squinting, and at the same time, the chewing gum in his mouth also started to move. He slightly tilted his neck, and his entire demeanor instantly changed from calmness to a carefree attitude, facing the camera and speaking according to the script:

  "When was I abandoned?...I don't remember, I heard I was adopted when I was 2 years old." He blows out bubbles and casually holds up two fingers, giving off a street punk vibe. "Huh? Native speaker? I'm pretty fluent, my girlfriend taught me." He smiles and holds up his fingers again, "Damn it...I lost to you...look at this! I can say all these phrases..."

  As he spoke, he turned his head and casually put his arm around a girl in a red jacket standing next to him, smiling at the camera.

  The first scene went smoothly, and behind the camera, Li Hengmin watched on TV as An Junhe showed no signs of nervousness or forgetting his lines, and grasped the character of Che Wuhe with a very mature performance, finally letting out a deep breath.

  When An Jun-he spat out the chewing gum and said his last line in front of the camera, Lee Hyung-min shouted loudly: "Cut! Passed!"

  "Hmm..."

  When he heard the word "CUT", An Junhe secretly let out a breath. The first time facing a real camera, it was impossible to say that he wasn't nervous, but his rationality could control it, so it didn't affect anything. Compared to this, it's better to say that he was more worried about the impact of NG on him, not because he was afraid of being scolded by the director or anything, but every NG meant wasting a part of the film and spending more money.

  $7 million is also a considerable amount for him now, so it's better to save if possible!

  "Good job, Junhe, keep it up... Quick, quick, let's wrap up and head to the next location!" Li Hengmin urged loudly, and the waiting crew immediately sprang into action, packing up equipment and preparing to rush to the next scene.

  An Junhe and his co-star actress got on the minivan rented by the crew, where the makeup artist quickly did their makeup and changed clothes.

  "Yu Zhenjie, I'm so sorry just now, I was a bit too forceful when I put my arm around your shoulder!" An Junhe said, looking at the actress beside him while being applied with various cosmetics by the makeup artist.

  The actress's name is Choi Yu-jin, also a newcomer who debuted on the screen this year. She started her career relatively early as a model and now plays the role of Moon Ji-young, Cha Moo-hyuk's girlfriend in the drama.

  "It's okay." Cui Yu Zhen smiled and stopped talking, although An Jun He and she were both newcomers, but the weight of their roles was too different, and they didn't know each other before, so there wasn't much common language.

  In response to her, Ahn Jun-hee didn't mind either and started sending text messages to Soo-young, So-hyun and others to tease them. Before long, several girls replied, expressing their envy, jealousy and hatred towards him for being able to film abroad. Only Soo-yeon replied with a sentence of advice: "I checked online, it's still winter there and very cold, remember to wear more clothes and prepare some cold medicine..."

  Just after finishing the short message, An Junhe let out a sneeze. He had just worn very thin clothes for that scene on the street, plus makeup and preparation time, he was blown by the cold wind for at least an hour, maybe he really caught a chill.

  An Junhe could only smile wryly as he rubbed his nose against this message full of concern and warmth.

  He has been deliberately paying attention, pretending not to understand Xiuyan's sometimes subtle expressions, treating her as a friend, and making an effort to ensure that his behavior does not give her any ambiguous misunderstandings. However, since he still treats her as a friend, he cannot give her a distant feeling either. He must show the necessary care and concern, but... it seems that every time he shows her kindness and care, she sinks deeper into the wrong emotions. Until recently, her increasingly obvious expressions of concern for him have not faded away with the passage of time, as he had previously thought, and the mark on her heart that belongs to him has not naturally disappeared - the girl's patience is surprisingly strong, and even if she doesn't get any response, she doesn't get discouraged!

  "Is it really necessary to estrange ourselves or explicitly reject her in order for her to give up?" An Junhe furrowed his brow, feeling a bit troubled.

  Those two methods are obviously unlikely; if he was willing to do so, he would have done it long ago.

  "What a headache……” Rubbing his temples, he was emotionally entangled, but the text message he replied to Soo-young didn't contain any complicated emotions. He used his usual tone and said that everything was fine. He also told her that he would buy some gifts for them when he returned, asking her not to tell Soo-young, Yu-ri, and Yoon-ah, those three wild girls.

  He was playing with his phone on this side, and Cui Yuzhen, who was also making up beside him, was also secretly glancing at him with the corner of her eye.

  She has been in the crew for a while, but she doesn't know An Junhe well. She only remembers that he is also a newcomer like her, generous and knows how to treat people. On the first day of filming, he treated everyone to snacks, and later they worked together on set. Occasionally, he would also invite them out for meals. He's also good at talking and can chat with anyone. Now most people in the crew have a good impression of him, even though some time ago, everyone was secretly gossiping that he got the male lead role through connections, but there are only a few who truly envy him.

  Including herself, she had a pretty good impression of him, not the kind of good impression that comes from a romantic relationship, but rather thinking he was someone who could be friends with, unfortunately, she was tongue-tied and often didn't know how to respond, the two also had several conversations like before where An Junhe took the initiative to chat, but they all ended with her brief, seemingly impatient answers.

  "Sigh, I wish I had his social skills."

  She thought idly, while at the same time, in a car following behind this minivan, director Lee Hyung-min and screenwriter Lee Kyung-hee were re-watching the footage they had just shot.

  "See, I told you he could handle it. That day at the studio, when he performed the scene where Cha Eun-ho eats ramen, I knew that playing the male lead wouldn't be a challenge for him. You were worried for nothing, and on the day the investor chose Jun-hyuk as the male lead, you were so angry that you cursed nonstop."

  The plot is very short and can be finished in a moment. Li Qingxi adjusted his glasses and smiled.

  "Alright, alright, you have foresight, let's go?" In the face of her accusations, Li Hengmin surrendered helplessly, but the smile at the corner of his mouth never fell.

  At first, he would certainly get angry and scold people. This play also carries his heart's blood, and for this whole year, he has been busy with it. He does not allow a newcomer who has never acted before to ruin it. Unfortunately, the TV station had already sold the copyright at that time. Even if he was angry, it would be useless unless he was willing to put down the director's tube and let someone else take over; otherwise, there is only compromise.

  Fortunately, I didn't give up at that time!

  Staring at the frozen screen, he thought to himself with a hint of excitement, and then said: "As long as he can maintain this state, I won't scold him again. After filming is finished, I'll even apologize to him."

  "Let's just apologize and forget about it. The kid doesn't even know you scolded him, and even if he did, he wouldn't take it to heart."

  "Ah, attitude is everything! Never mind that. Since his performance was satisfactory, we can now start working on the promotional materials. Tonight, I'll instruct someone to send back the photos taken during filming and upload them to our official website... Filming abroad is always a selling point!"

  He listened to him talking about the highlights, and Li Qingxi also smiled: "Yes, there are still scenes of the Crown Casino and Name Street in the back, and the Melbourne government agreed to our application for clearing the scene, and we can also post this on the official website to brag about it."

  After a few jokes, Li Hengmin suddenly frowned, "Speaking of publicity, the leading actor must be exposed during publicity, in that case..."

  Li Qingxi was also stunned, she knew what Li Hengmin's concerns were. Currently, among the main actors in the crew, the second male and female leads are not a problem, but the first male and female leads are. Lin Xiujing is a newcomer to the screen, but he has starred in movies before and won awards, so no one will say anything about being the first female lead. But An Junhe...has no works or experience, and in Korea where seniority is emphasized, he will definitely be attacked by those entertainment newspapers.

  They had been keeping it a secret who the male lead was all along, for fear of this very thing.

  "After some thought, she hesitated and said: 'Why not... treat him as a mysterious gimmick and continue to deceive everyone? Anyway, as long as we can drag it out until the broadcast, once the audience sees his acting skills, no one will say anything.'"

  "Hmm..." Li Hengmin hesitated for a moment, then nodded reluctantly: "It can only be this way for now."

  "If it's not exposed, then we have to instruct the crew members to keep their mouths shut, otherwise it will be troublesome if it leaks out."

  "Don't worry, I warned you before we even left the country!" Li Hengmin waved his hand, "It's not our first collaboration, you're also clear about this, I won't go easy on this aspect."

  The two then put aside their worries about this matter and began to discuss the shooting problems of the next few days. Time is pressing, and foreign dramas must be completed as soon as possible.