On the set of SBS TV series "Coffee House"

Step by step, ooh baby~ Gonna get to you girl~ As New Kids On The block's hit song "Step By Step" plays in the background, actresses Park Si-yeon and Ham Eun-jung swing their arms while stepping on the on the step machine. The always-chic Park Si-yeon is all smiles as she takes her steps to the rhythm of the music while Han Eun-jung, with a water bottle in her hand, appears to be closer to hopping rather than walking on the machine. Seeing the two actresses in such a situation is somewhat unrealistic, but what makes the moment truly comic book-ish is actor Kang Ji-hwan, who watches them from behind with a somewhat serious look in his eyes. Even though it was announced it would be an open-set shoot, had director Pyo Min-soo not further added his explanation starting with "The scene we are going to shoot today..." one would have wondered whether this scene would really air on the small screen.

In "Coffee House," being a drama that caused a big stir for bringing together writer Song Jae-jung and director Pyo Min-soo, there are many comic situations that would be hard to see in other typical mini-series. However, it was not due to such fixed set-ups in the story that several laughs broke out during the open-set shoot and press conference. When character Ji-won (played by Jung Woong-in) speaks of his one-sided love for Eun-young (played by Park Si-yeon), he says "In order to win a woman's heart, I think you need to take her out for a drink and show her your true feelings. That is how I met my wife." To which, Ham Eun-jung replies, "By taking her out for a drink?" and Jung Woong-in retorts back, "Should I take her out for coffee then? Going to coffee shops on a date costs a lot of money and I just don't get it."

But the final laughter of the day came from none other than Kang Ji-hwan, who plays the role of Lee Jin-soo. Kang, feeling oh-so-proud as his fans brought a catering buffet to the set that day, made the following remark when asked to give a final comment. "I won't brag about the buffet that was set-up for the press conference today. That balloon hanging over there? I won't be pretentious about it. But! That moving bathroom that we and our producers prepared for you reporters! Remember that one thing, please!" Uh, hello. We are not shooting a sitcom here, we are having a press conference, you know?

Reporter : Wee Geun-woo eight@
Photographer : Lee Jin-hyuk eleven@
Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@, Jang Kyung-Jin three@