Lee Chaemin Recalls The First Time He Met Co-Star YoonA—And OMG, It's Hilarious

Lim YoonA and Lee Chaemin are starring in the new romantic-comedy series Bon Appetit, Your Majesty. As excited as they are to show us what they've worked on, the two South Korean celebrities indulged fans with some stories behind the scenes.

One of those v cute stories was the first time Chaemin met YoonA. For most of us, meeting YoonA—the timeless idol from the legendary Girls' Generation group—would leave you starstruck. Interestingly, it was also the case even for an actor like Chaemin.

During the global press conference for their show, Chaemin was asked about their first encounter. He shared that they first met during the script reading of Bon Appetit, Your Majesty. Being a huge fan of YoonA, Chaemin was definitely happy to work with the actress.

"It was so nice when we first met. I told her that I was a huge fan of hers when we had our table read. This is a fan boy moment for me. It was great. So surreal," he said during the press con.

Was he nervous? Well, yes, LOL! "Yeah, I got really sweaty—sweat was dripping from my palms, I remember." The 24-year-old actor said with a shy laugh.

Beside him, YoonA was just smiling and taking in Chaemin's cute confession about their first meeting. There might not be a nervous moment for YoonA when she met Chaemin, but she assured how excited she was to work with the actor.

Thankfully, they clicked right away, and it resulted in a nice working relationship that definitely manifested in their scenes together. "I also watched the shows Chaemin was in, so I was really looking forward to working with him. We clicked from the very first moment. You can look forward to our chemistry onscreen!" YoonA affirmed.

Since Ji Young is from the 21st century, she's absolutely confused about how she ended up in the past. Unfortunately, the first person she meets there is Yi Heon, whom she doesn’t believe to actually be the king at that moment.

"I didn't know he was the king. I was very mean to him in the beginning. Later on, Ji Young is torn between whether he's really a king or not. At first, there were moments I didn't believe him at all," YoonA said about her character.

In order to survive, she gets employed as a royal chef, serving Yi Heon, of course. Despite their bizarre and bad first encounter, through the dishes that Ji Young cooks for Yi Heon, the two form a bond that will defy their social status at the time. Well, because apparently, Yi Heon is a foodie!

As YoonA describes Yi Heon's character during the press conference, she said, "Yi Heon has a god-tier sense of taste, and he is a tyrant. He's very charismatic, but inside, he has his own insecurities and fragilities. Ji Young tries to cook her way into his heart."

For Chaemin, YoonA's role is the confident and talented kind of chef. "She's [Ji Young] the confident type of chef. She has love and passion for cooking, and she's also adorable," the actor said.

So yes, there's a lot of cooking and a lot of food being served throughout the new K-drama. YoonA even had to take cooking lessons ahead of filming—of course, so she could portray Ji Young in the best way possible.

YoonA learned about plating and using different kinds of utensils, too! She aimed at making Ji Young a versatile chef. "It was about three months prior to going to the shoot, I had cooking lessons. Every episode, we have new dishes, so we had a tutor who was always there for me, giving me advice about cooking. I would practice with the tutor," she stated.

As for Chaemin, he did a lot of preparations too. His foodie role isn't just about eating. The actor trained to more convincingly express emotion toward food while portraying a king. He shared, "I looked up some cooking-related videos. I tried copying some responses, reactions—I worked on my facial expressions, working with the mirror. (I slurped a lot of noodles, too. 😅)"