Bedroom Genius Actor - Chapter 103

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 103

 

‘Did she find out? She must have found out, right?’

 

Wasn’t that the case? She contacted him almost a month after he gave her his number, so it would be stranger if she didn’t find it suspicious.

 

Yun Se-ra, who hadn’t contacted Kim Ji-hu’s number since receiving the Armchair Reviewer’s number, suddenly reaching out made him almost certain.

 

‘I-I need to calm down first and reply.’

 

Kim Ji-hu picked up his phone and started pondering.

 

‘But… how did I usually contact her?’

 

It felt awkward since it had been so long since they last contacted each other.

 

Since he had been meeting Yun Se-ra both as the Armchair Reviewer and as his true self Kim Ji-hu, the boundary between those identities became confusing for a moment.

 

‘This is why people say you shouldn’t lie…’

 

Kim Ji-hu was definitely feeling that adults’ words were never wrong.

 

Either way, he had to contact her.

 

But contacting her right away seemed like he was acting guilty about something, and since he usually waited before replying, he decided to wait an hour before sending a response.

 

‘Act natural… naturally…’

 

And so Kim Ji-hu sent his reply an hour later.

 

***

 

After securing sponsorship from Chung-a Cosmetics.

 

They couldn’t get any decent sponsors. At most, they were small-scale ones.

 

The reason was partly due to the influence of the previous work, but also because PD Seo Min-sik completely refused PPL and actor insertions that could affect the work.

 

Of course, there were some critical opinions about PD Seo Min-sik’s rigid attitude.

 

“Come on, we’re desperately short on money right now, do we really need to be picky about this stuff…”

 

“We brought Kim Ji-hu, didn’t we? When Kim Ji-hu was there, we succeeded even with this kind of stuff, so is there really a reason not to take it.”

 

“Sigh, at this rate, won’t the production budget collapse?”

 

Of course, that was the position of the Drama Department’s finance team.

 

But PD Seo Min-sik’s team was stubborn.

 

“What was the reason the previous work failed.”

 

“This is why people who aren’t on set don’t get it.”

 

“Don’t worry about it, PD-nim. They’re guys who don’t know anything.”

 

And so internal conflict was arising within the Drama Department.

 

‘This isn’t very good.’

 

PD Seo Min-sik was troubled by the situation unfolding.

 

After all, there was nothing good about making enemies within the same Drama Department.

 

Drama production ultimately required help from various teams to achieve good results.

 

Especially with finances, if they didn’t receive proper support, the work itself could become difficult.

 

‘That aside, why is he acting like that…’

 

PD Seo Min-sik looked at Kim Ji-hu.

 

“I guess… hmm… still… or not…”

 

Kim Ji-hu had been digging a hole in the corner by himself for the past few days.

 

Of course, when working, he performed almost perfectly, but other than that, it was puzzling why he was acting like this.

 

‘Maybe he needs some rest time.’

 

PD Seo Min-sik, who knew Kim Ji-hu well like Baek Do-kyung and Choi Tae-geon.

 

Since he also knew he was extremely introverted, he wondered if he needed time to rest at home.

 

“Ji-hu, is something wrong?”

 

“Huh? No… it’s nothing serious…”

 

“If you want to rest at home, you can take a break later. The script stuff is pretty much sorted out.”

 

The situation was already unsettled overall, and if Kim Ji-hu broke down too, the set would definitely collapse, so he thought it was better to give him plenty of leeway.

 

“Huh? I don’t need to rest though?”

 

“Hey, when I’m giving you time to rest, go rest. From now on, I won’t be able to give you time even if I want to.”

 

“Uh… okay…”

 

And so Kim Ji-hu, who left the company, was just bewildered.

 

‘What’s this…’

 

Kim Ji-hu had originally planned to meet Yun Se-ra after finishing work.

 

He got out earlier than expected, but it didn’t matter much.

 

‘She said she’d come out if I contacted her saying I was free today.’

 

Kim Ji-hu contacted Yun Se-ra first.

 

-I just finished work

 

A quick reply came back.

 

-You finished really early?

 

-PD Seo Min-sik let me go early. Are you free now?

 

-Yes! I’ll come as quickly as possible!

 

The thought that there was no need to come so quickly briefly crossed his mind.

 

And so he waited for Yun Se-ra for a while.

 

Yun Se-ra arrived at the meeting place.

 

“Se-ra.”

 

“Ji-hu…?”

 

Yun Se-ra looked at Kim Ji-hu with a puzzled expression.

 

The reason was that Kim Ji-hu had his face completely covered up.

 

He was wearing sunglasses, a mask, and even a hat, so she couldn’t recognize him.

 

On the other hand, Yun Se-ra had come completely dressed up with her face fully exposed.

 

“Um… don’t celebrities usually come out like this when meeting people…?”

 

Kim Ji-hu asked in a voice that seemed to wonder if he was wrong, since they appeared so differently.

 

“Well, sometimes they do… uh… it’s just a preference…”

 

“Right…? I’m not being weird, am I?”

 

Kim Ji-hu wondered if he had been making a fuss over nothing.

 

He had come out like this after experiencing various things at Kim Ji-hye’s fan signing event.

 

“Yes, yes… Ji-hu, you’re really popular these days, so covering your face seems like a good idea…!”

 

“Thank you…”

 

“What’s there to thank me for…”

 

Kim Ji-hu and Yun Se-ra fell into a brief silence after those words.

 

‘Hmm…?’

 

Yun Se-ra was always energetic, but today she felt a bit strange.

 

The fact that she had dressed up, and this awkward atmosphere too.

 

‘Could it be… she noticed something…’

 

Kim Ji-hu, who was already trembling in various ways wondering if Yun Se-ra had caught on.

 

Just before, he had imagined all sorts of scenarios where she would say ‘You! You’re the Armchair Reviewer!’ as soon as they met, so he was nervous in many ways.

 

Of course, Yun Se-ra was.

 

‘Something feels awkward…’

 

Kim Ji-hu usually felt like a close friend, but after watching Office Apocalypse, it was hard to treat him as familiarly as before.

 

Yun Se-ra had already watched Office Apocalypse three times.

 

While studying acting by watching it, she naturally kept seeing the Kim Ji-hu she met today overlapping with Seo I-jun from Office Apocalypse.

 

Of course, they were the same person.

 

‘At this rate, I’ll become someone whose attitude changes just because he filmed a successful work?’

 

She couldn’t become that kind of unsightly person who treats someone casually and then bows and scrapes when they hit it big.

 

“Sh-shall we go then?”

 

“Yes…”

 

The two walked along the street, each lost in their own thoughts.

 

***

 

“Where is this place?”

 

“Um… a brunch cafe? It’s that kind of place, but there aren’t many people and the food is good, so I come here often.”

 

“I see.”

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

An awkward atmosphere flowed between the two.

 

‘Say something!! Are we going to keep being awkward like this?’

 

Yun Se-ra had her own struggles.

 

‘Probably… seeing how she’s setting the mood like this…’

 

Kim Ji-hu was also confused by various thoughts in his own way.

 

In the midst of this cold war, Yun Se-ra was the first to speak.

 

“Ahaha… The weather is nice today, isn’t it?”

 

“We, weather? It looks cloudy though…”

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

Of course, they just fell back into silence.

 

‘I can’t keep doing this!’

 

Yun Se-ra made up her mind firmly.

 

There was no need to be awkward at this point.

 

No matter how tremendously his acting skills had grown, Kim Ji-hu was still Kim Ji-hu.

 

Yun Se-ra smiled brightly and said.

 

“The, the, the, the omurice here! Is delicious! Re, re, really.”

 

Yun Se-ra stuttered and spoke with a strange intonation.

 

‘…I’m screwed. He definitely noticed. I’m being so awkward.’

 

Yun Se-ra had a half soul-drained expression.

 

So Kim Ji-hu carefully asked.

 

“Um… do you perhaps have something you want to say?”

 

“No, no! Nothing at all… really…”

 

“No… you suddenly contacted me and called me out…”

 

“Ah.”

 

She wanted to crawl into a mouse hole. He was asking why she had called him.

 

Yun Se-ra’s face turned bright red as she pressed her lips together tightly, then opened her mouth.

 

“Actually… it’s because of Office Apocalypse…”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Well… you acted so well in Office Apocalypse, Ji-hu… I wanted to ask how you grew like that and what kind of approach you took to your acting, so I contacted you…”

 

‘I should have just spilled my true feelings from the start,’ thought Yun Se-ra.

 

She felt like she had only done embarrassing things while trying to talk naturally as usual.

 

Of course, while Yun Se-ra was thinking that.

 

‘It wasn’t that!!! She didn’t want to meet because of the Armchair Reviewer!!!’

 

Kim Ji-hu was cheering internally.

 

While Yun Se-ra was stammering, Kim Ji-hu had already imagined 100 different scenarios.

 

After confirming Yun Se-ra’s true intentions, he finally felt relieved as fireworks exploded in his head and fanfares rang out.

 

“I… I think it happened just by watching and analyzing a lot of works and practicing…!”

 

“Ah, you focused mainly on analyzing works? Hmm, actually I used to do that a lot too, but I haven’t been able to do it much since I started working.”

 

“I’m like that too. But I’m trying to make time for it no matter what.”

 

“You’re so diligent… I actually thought I was working hard too, but I wasn’t doing it to the extent that you do, Ji-hu. It makes me reflect.”

 

“You can work hard starting from now…!”

 

“Oh, and about the ad-libs…”

 

The two were finally able to have a conversation like usual.

 

They talked extensively about behind-the-scenes stories from Office Apocalypse that they couldn’t share in videos, stories about acting, and stories about works.

 

Had they been talking like that for a while?

 

“I guess I was unnecessarily worrying about how to treat you, Ji-hu. I just needed to talk like this.”

 

“Ahaha…”

 

Of course, Kim Ji-hu, who had acted equally strange, couldn’t just laugh it off.

 

Anyway, their mutual misunderstanding(?) was cleared up, and the two became comfortable as usual.

 

“But hearing about your analysis, you somehow seem like the Armchair Reviewer. So that’s why you two were close? Ahaha.”

 

“….”

 

Of course, Kim Ji-hu immediately went cold.

 

“Indeed, the saying ‘birds of a feather flock together’ isn’t there for nothing.”

 

“Ri, right. Haha.”

 

Yun Se-ra had become comfortable, but Kim Ji-hu was going back and forth between hot and cold baths.

 

In any case, they were able to get along fine after that.

 

Fortunately, although people recognized them, everyone happily left after getting autographs.

 

Though they did say some slightly strange things like ‘I’ll keep it a secret!’

 

***

 

The next day. Kim Ji-hu told Choi Tae-geon about yesterday’s events.

 

“Ji-hu… you can’t go around like that…”

 

“Yes?”

 

Choi Tae-geon said with a worried expression.

 

“I know you and Se-ra are close colleagues, but if you’re not careful, it could become an article.”

 

“An article…”

 

“Dating rumors. It would be damaging to us too, but dating rumors are dangerous for actresses.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Kim Ji-hu immediately understood what he meant.

 

“Bu, but we’re really not dating.”

 

“Whether you’re dating or not isn’t that important to the public. The people spreading it are just doing it because they want to gossip about people anyway.”

 

“Then meeting and talking…”

 

“It would be better if you invited one or two more people when you meet.”

 

“I’m sorry…”

 

He didn’t know celebrities had these kinds of troubles.

 

Kim Ji-hu wasn’t the type to be particularly interested in who was dating whom or what they were doing, so he was completely clueless about this aspect.

 

“Anyway, I’m glad you had a fun conversation. And that Se-ra didn’t notice either.”

 

“Right… I think I can feel relieved now.”

 

“Then you should be able to do well in auditions now too.”

 

The script work was now coming to an end, and the most crucial task had begun.

 

That was casting.

 

In Kim Ji-hu’s case, he had always entered with casting almost already decided, so this time he would finally be able to see the entire casting process.

 

Most importantly, Kim Ji-hu would be participating as an interviewer this time.

 

“Will I… be able to do well…?”

 

“Of course you can do it, Ji-hu. Don’t worry.”

 

“Yes…!”

 

Kim Ji-hu answered as energetically as possible and thought.

 

‘I hope many good people come…’

 

Actually, what’s important in auditions is the applicants’ abilities.

 

After all, if only people without skills came, it wouldn’t matter much who they picked.

 

So Kim Ji-hu could only hope earnestly.

 

‘Just let at least one person come who can lead the film set in my place…’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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