She was then cast in the leading role of Korea's first female royal barista who plots to assassinate King Gojong through poisoned coffee in "Gabi", adapted from the historical fiction novel "Russian Coffee" by Kim Tak-hwan. Lee agreed to star in the film via verbal agreement, but when she dropped out of the project ten days before filming began, production company Ocean Film sued her for breach of contract. In September 2012, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, ordering Lee to pay () in damages, or 40% liability. Lee was replaced by Kim So-yeon.