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

The morning sunlight streamed through the car window and onto the driver's seat. Li Mingye held the steering wheel with one hand and hummed an unknown tune.

Recalling the satisfied yet slightly resentful look in Lin Nayeon's eyes when he took her back to her dorm that morning, and her soft, unsteady appearance, Li Mingye couldn't help but smile wildly.

My phone suddenly vibrated; it was a message from my manager, Kim Hyun-seok.

Li Mingye glanced at it, quickly replied with an "OK" gesture, then lightly pressed the accelerator, and the black sedan smoothly glided into the traffic.

Today, he, Park Shin-hye, and Choi Jin-hyuk will be representing the cast of "The Heirs" to film the "Heirs Competition Special" of "Running Man".

As for the male lead, Lee Min-ho, he regretfully missed the show because he was worried that participating in variety shows would affect his image as an idol actor, and also because the filming schedule was indeed very demanding.

It's understandable to worry about participating in variety shows affecting an actor's image; Lee Kwang-soo is a prime example. However, newcomers like Lee Myung-yeop, who are just starting out, don't need to worry about these things.

Moreover, he was somewhat interested in this famous national variety show, and he wanted to try out the various games and name tag ripping game.

……

When Lee Myung-yeop's car pulled up at the recording studio, Park Shin-hye and Choi Jin-hyuk were already there. The three straightened their clothes and walked toward the waiting Running Man members.

"Welcome to Running Man!" Yoo Jae-suk strode forward, his face beaming with his signature smile.

Lee Myung-yeop bowed slightly, grasped Yoo Jae-suk's outstretched hands with both hands, and said politely, "Jae-suk hyung, hello, I am Lee Myung-yeop."

Yoo Jae-suk looked Lee Myung-yeop up and down, his eyes filled with exaggerated amazement, and exclaimed in a rising tone, "Myung-yeop-ssi is so handsome, no wonder OLENS sold out after just one GG!"

"Brother, you flatter me. It was GG who took the photos so well," Li Mingye replied modestly, with a polite smile on his face.

After exchanging pleasantries, he greeted the other members one by one. Ji Suk-jin, Kim Jong-kook, Haha, Song Ji-hyo, Lee Kwang-soo, and Gary were all very friendly and did not neglect him because he was a newcomer.

Lee Myung-yeop lingered a little longer in front of Lee Kwang-soo, who was his favorite person on the show.

When there are no cameras close to his face, Lee Kwang-soo is not as noisy as he is on the show. Instead, he appears calm and gentle, with a friendly smile that makes people feel completely at ease.

After greeting the MCs, Li Mingye took the script and glanced at the general content of the show.

The script doesn't contain too much content, since Running Man values ​​improvisation and genuine reactions more, which is one of the reasons why the show is so popular.

The theme this time is "The Heirs Race," and the three members of the cast will join different teams to compete against the members.

After briefly reviewing the process, the director gave the order, and the recording of the program officially began.

Accompanied by the classic opening music, the members took turns appearing on stage, joking and behaving in front of the camera to liven up the atmosphere.

Lee Myung-yeop appears sandwiched between the other two characters in "The Heirs".

The MCs let out exaggerated exclamations of surprise.

After the opening ceremony, everyone changed into comfortable sportswear and prepared to start the game.

Li Mingye wore a black baseball cap backwards, adding a touch of rebelliousness and better fitting Cui Yingdao's image from the beginning.

In the elevator, the members started chatting.

"How old is Mingye?" Yoo Jae-suk asked.

Lee Myung-yeop naturally answered using the Korean age calculation method: "19 years old".

"Hey, your face and demeanor look much more mature." Yoo Jae-suk seemed a little surprised.

"Yes," Li Mingye said with a smile, "Brother Zaishi looks quite young."

"Oh?" Yoo Jae-suk gave a smug look, rubbed his cheeks with both hands, and held back a laugh, waiting for what was to come. "Really? Really?"

"Yes," Li Mingye said seriously, "because it feels like when I was born, Jae-seok-hyung already had this face, he really hasn't aged at all."

"puff--"

Upon hearing this, Lee Kwang-soo immediately covered his mouth dramatically and let out a thunderous laugh.

Yoo Jae-suk was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter, immediately turning to Lee Kwang-soo with a look of irritation: "Hey! What are you laughing at?!"

……

Off-camera, Yoo Jae-suk approached Lee Myung-yeop and whispered, "You did a great job just now. Myung-yeop has a great sense of variety."

Lee Myung-yeop said with a smile, "It's good that Jae-seok hyung isn't angry."

"What's this?" Yoo Jae-suk patted him on the shoulder, offering encouragement like a senior. "In this shot, anything you do is forgivable. The crazier the better, you know?"

Li Mingye nodded to indicate that he understood.

……

In the subsequent game segments, Lee Myung-yeop was more relaxed and performed brilliantly, leaving some memorable moments, such as pushing Kim Jong-kook off the floating platform in the swimming pool and his interaction with Lee Kwang-soo in the final segment.

Li Mingye had a good time and finished recording for the day.

The next morning, he packed up and headed to the filming location of "The Heirs".

Pushing open the door to the dressing room, I saw Kim Ji-won already sitting there. She was wearing the school uniform from the drama, with thick bangs on her forehead, but her hair was tied in a ponytail at the back, and she was staring blankly at the mirror.

"Good morning, Ji-won-unnie."

Li Mingye walked over, looked at her in the mirror, and teased with a smile, "You look like a middle school student, even younger than Rachel."

"Stop talking nonsense." Kim Ji-won snapped out of her daze and gave him a light glare, but there was no real anger in her eyes.

Seeing her reaction, Li Mingye secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Ever since he explicitly told her he had a girlfriend in Los Angeles, Kim Ji-won had been avoiding him for some reason, creating an awkward atmosphere. However, it seems she has adjusted her mindset now, and the two are able to interact normally again.

Li Mingye smiled, turned around and followed the makeup artist to get her makeup done.

Meanwhile, sitting in her chair, Kim Ji-won looked at Lee Myung-yeop, who was sitting not far away with his eyes closed, letting the makeup artist do his thing, and felt a little confused.

I originally thought that since he had a girlfriend, I should keep my distance, but because the idea came to me suddenly, I acted a little too impulsively.

As a result, I didn't think about him much when we had the misunderstanding, but after I started to deliberately keep my distance, his image started to flood my mind.

His smiling face when joking, his serious profile when reading the script, his deep eyes when looking into each other's eyes during scenes, and his enthusiastic shouts of "Noona"...

Details she hadn't paid much attention to before have been replaying in her mind like a movie these past few days, making her quite restless.

"I'm insane," Kim Ji-won cursed herself inwardly.

She decided to let things take their course, feeling that deliberately keeping her distance would only make her care about him more, and she was practically being torn between her own desires.

Thinking of this, she looked at the boy who was resting with his eyes closed not far away, and silently thought to herself:

"Has he... gotten even more handsome?"