Romancing Miss Sunshine

1. Introduced to You

Even he couldn't pinpoint when was the exact time he fell for her.

He watched movies and dramas in his free time. Because he liked them, and because he felt he still had a lot to learn in terms of acting. Over the last few years, her movies were memorable for him. He thought, wow, what a brilliant actress. She slipped and moulded into all her roles as if she was born as those characters.

Then she started to expand through dramas, and Goblin had to be one of the best dramas he watched in the past decade. Beside the brilliant story, the female lead was amazing. Kim Go Eun as Ji Eun Tak tugged at your heartstrings, pulled you into her world, and would make you sympathize with her, as if you're beside her, walking within her life, watching nearby.

So there was definitely admiration, even before he actually met her for the first time.

They met briefly at an award show in 2015.

She was simple and humble, unlike a girl who had received high class awards.

He was glad to receive the script for The King: Eternal Monarch. He liked the story. It's definitely going to be a memorable project, the first one after he returned from his enlistment.

When he met her during the first script reading, he was surprised by how she presented herself. She's so down to earth and unpretentious. She was wearing something really basic. Her style was effortless, without anything flashy or obviously prepared to create a certain image. She chose her clothes because it was comfortable, and that was it.

He had met a lot of girls. Actresses. Models. Journalists. Staf. Production team and crew. Everyone, all the girls he had met before, were all so self-conscious when they met him. So well-dressed, with beautiful make-up on, perfume and high-heels.

When they first met, Go Eun was wearing baggy pants and a pullover, with a hat and sneakers. He wasn't sure she even wore any makeup, except the bright smile that reached on to her shiny eyes.

"I'm on Kim Tan's side, Sunbaenim. I'm a fan. Please take care of me."

He laughed and bowed back. It's like meeting a junior from school.

"Please take care of me" was an expression that a junior often say to her senior in Korea. It's an expression to show that they respect you, and was willing to be led by you in the project you'd be working together with.

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Maybe it's the way she lighted up the whole set just by being cheerful and so willing to cooperate.

Maybe it's because she could speak well with everyone. From the PD-nim, the other actors, the extras, the stylists and the crews. Old or young, she would smile and joke, listened and gave a sincere response. In a matter of days, she seemed to become friends with everybody onset.

Or was it the way she looked at him? With respect and admiration, yet with the ease and confidence of someone who knew she had always done her best in her own work.

It was a bit amusing, he thought. Every time they discussed their scene together, he always felt a tad happier than before they talked.

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One afternoon, in the first week of their filming, they all sat together for lunch at the tables of Nari's little cafe. He was sitting with Woo Do Hwan and the PD. In front of him, on the right, Go Eun sat with Kim Young Ji and Kim Kyung Nam. They were talking about Maximus, and how attached the horse was to Min Ho. Young Ji was telling Go Eun about how she thought it would be nice to own her own cafe one day.