Bedroom Genius Actor - Chapter 15

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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 15

Song Jae-hyeok thought.

‘That annoying bastard makes me want to chew him up and spit him out.’

Just looking at Kim Ji-hu’s face irritates him.

He hated that the attention he should be receiving as the protagonist was being poured onto that guy, and the way he pretended to be timid but became arrogant when acting was truly irritating.

‘But…’

To gain his father’s recognition, the success of this drama was essential.

“You can do whatever you want. I don’t care if you scheme to prevent me from doing any more projects after this one ends, so could you please focus on making this project succeed? I’m asking you.”

Those words that Kim Ji-hu had said.

‘Kim Ji-hu and I have the same goal. We need to make this project succeed somehow.’

Even though he really didn’t like his opponent and wanted to overthrow him right away.

“I’ll endure it just this once.”

For now, he planned to play along with that guy’s game.

***

“Ugh…”

Kim Ji-hu returned home, threw down the bag he was carrying, and collapsed onto his bed.

‘Really, that’s exactly the type of personality I hate most. Someone who only relies on connections, has no talent, and is hot-tempered…’

Kim Ji-hu usually accepted things moderately, but today he couldn’t seem to do that.

‘If only that strange White Room hadn’t threatened me with the blog…’

Kim Ji-hu let out a deep sigh.

“I’m tired, so tired.”

Kim Ji-hu was someone who got drained just from going outside, but lately with all the increased interactions with people, it was truly exhausting.

‘That aside, I said that, but what if Song Jae-hyeok really blocks my path…’

After pondering for a moment, Kim Ji-hu soon reached an easy conclusion.

‘PD Seo Min-sik seems to view me favorably, I’ve made connections with the director, and that Baek Do-kyung person apparently has incredible abilities, so it probably won’t matter much, right?’

He felt there would somehow be a way to break through.

‘Of course, if he starts trouble, I don’t plan to just take it lying down.’

Kim Ji-hu quietly stared at his phone.

Then Kim Ji-hu got up and sat on the bed.

“That aside, I think I need to learn a bit more about the synchronization ability…”

Actually, he’d had questions about this for a while.

When acting, his personality changed as if that role had become his original self.

And currently, he had discovered a new application method.

‘I was definitely able to synchronize and provide acting guidance this time.’

That’s where the question arose.

Just how far could he use the abilities of the synchronized role?

Kim Ji-hu knew that Song Jae-hyeok and Go Jun-tae were lacking, but if asked whether he could provide such detailed guidance, he would shake his head.

Setting aside his original personality, Kim Ji-hu had never actually tried acting or worked in related fields.

‘Then how far can I use this ability?’

Kim Ji-hu closed his eyes and began to concentrate.

***

“Hmm…”

He sat in front of the computer, stroking his lips.

Kim Ji-hu had synchronized and tested various things, discovering one fact.

‘This… is only a half-baked ability…’

Kim Ji-hu looked at the dish in front of him.

There was a stir-fried dish that looked very delicious on the surface.

It smelled incredibly appetizing, but the taste was not the same.

‘Too bland, extremely sour… And it tastes completely hollow…’

In other words, it only looked decent on the outside.

Then Kim Ji-hu turned his head to look at his phone.

There was a recording file on it.

When he played the recording file.

-Hello. My name is Kim Ji-hoo. I am a professional reviewer and blogger

Content introducing himself in English flowed out.

Listening to it, his pronunciation was almost at the level of a native speaker living locally. But the problem came after that.

-a… I’ve… devoted? myself… exploring….

“…”

As it went on, he was introducing himself while mixing in Korean.

Kim Ji-hu made a sad face after hearing that content.

‘Only the appearance is decent…’

It looked flashy on the outside, but the substance was completely hollow.

He could imitate abilities similarly, but couldn’t perfectly replicate them. Even if he copied the personality or behavior of a role, he couldn’t bring over the deep knowledge that character possessed.

‘I should be grateful I didn’t synchronize with a stock genius…’

As he was sighing like that, one thought suddenly occurred to him.

‘Wait, then… what was that acting guidance about?’

Kim Ji-hu had naturally thought it was an ability gained through synchronization.

But if it was originally a half-baked ability, then teaching others all this time wouldn’t make sense, would it?

Kim Ji-hu sat there dazed and muttered to himself.

“Clearly when speaking English… I only spoke with the English I knew and the rest was clumsy…”

The food was also only implemented to the level of cooking that Kim Ji-hu could follow without looking at a recipe.

In other words, despite the appearance, the substance itself was Kim Ji-hu’s knowledge.

“Then… does that mean I have enough knowledge to provide acting guidance?”

Kim Ji-hu’s night passed with enormous questions remaining.

***

A few days later.

“Week 2 did reasonably well too.”

“Hmm… I thought it could rise a bit more, but I guess not.”

The second week’s ratings were 8.3% and 8.1%.

It didn’t drop much, but the growth seemed to have stopped.

PD Seo Min-sik thought.

‘The fact that the drop isn’t big means it’s not bad, but honestly it’s hard to say it’s good either.’

PD Seo Min-sik’s current goal was to bring as many people as possible to the parts where Kim Ji-hu appears.

That way word of mouth would spread, and they’d get a chance to rebound during the highlight scenes.

Showing this kind of growth in the midst of that was honestly very bad news.

Especially, he wondered if the remaining people could endure the looseness in episodes 5 and 6 where Kim Ji-hu barely appears.

‘In the latter part, Ji-hu guided Song Jae-hyeok and Go Jun-tae so their condition improved quite a bit, but up to episode 6 it was truly a mess.’

While PD Seo Min-sik was worrying like that, Kim Ji-hu was also making a gloomy expression.

‘At this rate, won’t we fail to hit 9%…?’

Honestly speaking, Kim Ji-hu had secretly thought they might be able to hit 9%. Since episode 1’s rating was 7.8%, he believed they could grow sufficiently to 9%.

But at this rate, that might be impossible.

‘Even if we can maintain early ratings, surging in the latter half is a different story.’

He needed to create a reverse run that even gods in the creative industry couldn’t predict.

And intentionally at that.

Kim Ji-hu looked at Go Jun-tae and Song Jae-hyeok.

The two had grown as much as they could grow, so their skills weren’t improving anymore.

There were limits to improving skills in the short term.

‘Then the person who can create a big rebound in ratings here is…’

Just one person. Only Kim Ji-hu himself.

Even looking at communities now, there were only compliments about the story and curiosity about the character Kim Ji-hu was playing.

‘But I don’t really know what more I should do here…’

In fact, this was Kim Ji-hu’s first time acting.

Even standing here now was something that happened through such a bewildering combination of coincidence and unreality.

‘I feel like I should do something right now…’

Kim Ji-hu was troubled. How could he express his character with more impact?

When he asked actor Kang Hyeon-sik what he was lacking last time, he said there was nothing to say.

‘PD Seo Min-sik and assistant director Jo Gi-hyeok also had an attitude like they couldn’t ask for more… So there’s really no one to get advice from… No.’

Kim Ji-hu suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

Without hesitation, he went straight to PD Seo Min-sik.

“Um… PD-nim, I have a favor to ask.”

PD Seo Min-sik, who had been sitting in his chair lost in thought, looked puzzled and asked.

“What is it? Tell me.”

“Could I possibly see the filmed footage?”

“The filmed footage? Hmm…, that shouldn’t be a problem as long as you maintain confidentiality. It would be difficult to send it to you separately, but I can show it to you at the broadcasting station’s editing room.”

“Then would it be okay if I went today?”

“Sure. No problem. Then I’ll give you a ride in my car when we head back later.”

“Thank you, PD-nim.”

“Sure, sure.”

PD Seo Min-sik tilted his head as he watched Kim Ji-hu express his gratitude and walk away.

‘Suddenly wanting to see the filmed footage? Is there something he wants to check?’

It was just puzzling since this had never happened before.

***

That evening, Kim Ji-hu arrived at the broadcasting station in PD Seo Min-sik’s car.

“I have some work left too, so I’ll take you back later.”

At PD Seo Min-sik’s words, Kim Ji-hu said with a troubled expression.

“I don’t know how long I’ll take… It’s okay if you leave first.”

“I can’t do that when our actor is showing such passion for the drama. I have plenty of work anyway, so don’t worry.”

“Well… I understand.”

Kim Ji-hu went to the monitoring room like that, and PD Seo Min-sik returned to his office.

And much later.

“Ugh…”

PD Seo Min-sik pressed his temples firmly and leaned his chair back.

The current time was 3 AM.

For PD Seo Min-sik, who was approaching his fifties, it was becoming a difficult time to endure.

‘But I thought Ji-hu would come back soon, so why isn’t he coming?’

Even if he was trying to check something, it shouldn’t take this long, and since Kim Ji-hu’s acting had virtually nothing to verify, he thought he’d come back quickly.

But Kim Ji-hu hadn’t even shown his face, let alone given any word.

PD Seo Min-sik headed to the monitoring room, thinking that Kim Ji-hu might have fallen asleep while monitoring.

When he quietly opened the door, he saw Kim Ji-hu intently watching something.

“Here… if I grasp the emotional line a bit more… No, should I try asking to add some dialogue.”

Kim Ji-hu was muttering to himself and writing something down.

PD Seo Min-sik watched him for a moment, then quietly closed the door.

‘This guy… even with that level of skill, he’s still being greedy for more.’

He couldn’t help but be amazed. Even actors who lacked skill rarely showed this kind of passionate behavior toward acting.

But here was the most skilled actor, one you’d wonder if there was even room for improvement, studying like that.

‘That’s probably how he gained that skill in the first place.’

PD Seo Min-sik pondered for a moment, then sent a text to his wife.

Then he returned to his office, wrote something on his desk, and lay down on the sofa.

What he wrote on the desk was ‘Wake me when you’re done.’

‘If he’s doing that, I should stay with him as the responsible PD.’

No matter how late it was, he couldn’t let such a precious actor go home alone, so he planned to get some sleep at the broadcasting station.

***

And the next day.

Chirp chirp chirp.

The morning sun was rising.

“…Mmm.”

PD Seo Min-sik slowly got up, his eyes dazzled by the sunlight.

‘What time is it…’

When he checked the time, it was 7 AM.

Fortunately, today’s filming was scheduled for the afternoon, so it wasn’t a problematic time.

‘Wait, then Ji-hu is…’

PD Seo Min-sik got up and headed to the monitoring room again.

When he opened the door, an amazing scene unfolded.

Kim Ji-hu was still absorbed in studying his acting, and dozens of post-it notes were stuck around his area.

‘He’s been… studying this whole time?’

As he stood there with a surprised expression, stammering, Kim Ji-hu said with a bright expression.

“Oh, you haven’t left yet? What time is it now… 8 o’clock…?”

Since the monitoring room had no windows, he seemed unable to sense the time.

PD Seo Min-sik said incredulously.

“You’ve been doing this the whole time until now?”

“Ah, yes… I had quite a lot to check… But I think it turned out well…! This should be good enough!”

“…”

PD Seo Min-sik gradually became frightened. Kim Ji-hu, who had never once evaluated his own acting until now.

If such a guy said he had improved a little, just how good would that be?

‘Did I bring in an acting monster?’

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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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