Bedroom Genius Actor - Chapter 52

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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 52

After Kim Ji-hye’s situation was somewhat settled.

Kim Ji-hu headed to Vivid Studio’s office for the script reading.

‘I haven’t memorized the entire script yet… that should be okay, right?’

It had only been a little over a week since he received the script, so he hadn’t memorized it all yet.

Moreover, he still hadn’t received the complete script.

Since they had agreed to sign the contract after this reading, he figured he’d probably get the full script soon.

“It’s cold outside, so take these hand warmers! Fighting today too!”

“Yes…”

Kim Ji-hu listened to Choi Tae-geon’s encouragement as he got out of the car with the hand warmers.

A Vivid Studio employee was standing in front of him.

“Ah, Ji-hu, you’re here. Please go up to the 4th floor.”

“Thank you.”

It seemed they were standing in the parking garage to guide the actors. Kim Ji-hu looked down at the hand warmers in his hands for a moment.

“Hm? You can go right up!”

“No, it’s not that…”

Kim Ji-hu held out the hand warmers in his hands.

“You must be cold… Would you like to use these?”

“Oh… th-thank you.”

“Not at all. Well then, I’ll…”

Since he’d only be indoors anyway, where would he need hand warmers? This was the worst cold snap in years, so the person standing in the parking garage would need them more.

‘Speaking of which, it’s almost the end of the year.’

The weather was now so cold it felt like everything might freeze.

On days like this, he should be under warm blankets peeling tangerines while watching dramas or movies he’d fallen behind on.

‘What has my life become…’

Kim Ji-hu lamented as he headed upstairs.

***

Upstairs, actors and staff were waiting for Kim Ji-hu.

Of course, not everyone was there, and judging by the numbers, it seemed only the key players from the production had gathered.

‘Oh Jin-woo hasn’t arrived yet, I guess.’

The chair with ‘Oh Jin-woo’ written on it was empty around the middle, so he apparently hadn’t arrived yet.

But unfortunately.

“Ji-hu, please sit over there.”

“…Ah, yes.”

The chair with Kim Ji-hu’s name was right next to Oh Jin-woo’s chair.

‘Why is my seat there…’

If he was a rookie, they should have stuck him in a corner.

Kim Ji-hu tried to argue that while he’d done two productions, he’d debuted less than a year ago, so he was still a rookie.

Having a seat right in the center was incredibly burdensome.

“Ji-hu?”

As Kim Ji-hu stared pitifully at his seat, a nearby staff member asked as if wondering what was wrong.

Kim Ji-hu asked quietly.

“I can’t… change seats, can I?”

“Pardon?”

“The center feels too burdensome…”

“Should… should I ask the director?”

“…It’s fine. I’ll just sit there.”

If he bothered a director he hadn’t even met yet with something like this, it would surely only damage his reputation.

Oh Jin-woo would probably scold him with “A true actor should…!!!”

Kim Ji-hu sat down in the center seat in a state of resignation.

“…That person is Ji-hu, right?”

“He looks better in person than on screen, doesn’t he?”

He received everyone’s attention.

He was truly restless. He even considered hiding in the bathroom and coming back when the reading started.

“Oh, Jin-woo is here.”

When Oh Jin-woo arrived, fortunately everyone’s attention turned to him.

‘Now I can finally breathe a little.’

Kim Ji-hu had been breathing carefully since everyone was staring at him. This was the first time he’d been so happy to see Oh Jin-woo.

“Hello.”

Oh Jin-woo greeted everyone indifferently and headed to his seat.

Then he looked to the side and frowned.

“Ji-hu is sitting next to me?”

“Haha… that’s how it worked out.”

“I don’t really like it.”

The people around looked surprised at Oh Jin-woo’s blatant sarcasm. They were worried it might affect filming due to personal feelings.

But Kim Ji-hu didn’t think much of it.

He simply said.

“I think it’s better having Oh Jin-woo next to me.”

Until just moments ago, Kim Ji-hu had felt the same way.

But since Oh Jin-woo had taken away all the attention he’d been receiving, it actually seemed fine now.

‘Rather, I just don’t like sitting in the center…’

Oh Jin-woo looked at Kim Ji-hu strangely, then snorted and sat down.

Confirming that everyone had arrived, Vivid Studio’s CEO Kang I-wook stood up.

“Well then, let me start with introductions. I’m Kang I-wook, CEO of Vivid Studio. And the person next to me is Director Cheon Yeong-hu, who will be directing ‘Office Apocalypse.'”

“…I’m Cheon Yeong-hu.”

Director Cheon Yeong-hu greeted them lightly with slightly drowsy eyes.

He appeared to be in his late thirties with a thin build, and the dark circles under his eyes were striking.

‘Director Cheon Yeong-hu is shorter than I expected.’

Of course, Kim Ji-hu was inwardly amazed at the same time.

Director Cheon Yeong-hu had hit number 1 on Netflix in his thirties, was famous overseas, and was at the forefront of the Korean Wave.

Since this was going to be a Netflix original, they had apparently brought him in specifically.

There was a temperature difference between Netflix and Korean TV station dramas.

“And this is the cinematographer…”

CEO Kang I-wook continued with introductions of the staff and actors.

‘These are all people who’ve made names for themselves in this industry…’

Kim Ji-hu wasn’t an expert on staff, but he always watched credits all the way through when watching movies or dramas.

While you could know actors’ faces and names from watching their work, you couldn’t know the staff.

The people here were staff he’d seen at least once in the credits.

Seeing that they’d gathered the best members for not just the director but also the staff, and even brought in a star actor like Oh Jin-woo, you could tell they were really serious about this.

“This is actor Kim Ji-hu.”

Kim Ji-hu awkwardly stood up and bowed his head.

“I’m Kim Ji-hu… Please take care of me…”

People gave him brief applause.

Kim Ji-hu sat down thinking.

‘Is it really okay for me to be among people like this…’

While ‘Trauma’ and ‘My Little House’ were successful productions, they weren’t enough compared to these people’s careers.

Having taken on almost a leading role in such company, he felt so apologetic he didn’t know how to carry himself.

“Well, now that we’ve all introduced ourselves, shall we do a light reading?”

Today’s main purpose was to establish the tone of the work by observing the acting styles of the cast members.

‘I did prepare somewhat… but will I be able to do well…’

Kim Ji-hu glanced over at Oh Jin-woo.

If it was just reading according to the script, Kim Ji-hu was confident too.

If he used his synchronization ability, his acting skills would be solid.

The problem was Oh Jin-woo.

He was the epitome of throwing ad-libs at any time without warning.

‘I can add some variation with my verbal ability now… but I’m not sure if I can properly counter him…’

Since he didn’t know how his opponent would come at him, he had to respond with pure improvisation.

For Kim Ji-hu, who was usually slow in actions and thoughts, this was an even more difficult task.

‘Other people say they do roughly this kind of ad-lib when improvising… but Oh Jin-woo wouldn’t be like that.’

For some reason, he didn’t think Oh Jin-woo would kindly tell him what to expect.

Rather, he would try to make him more flustered.

‘Let me try to handle this well…’

The people here would also watch him like examiners.

If they thought he didn’t have chemistry with Oh Jin-woo, who was the core of the work, they could just kick him out.

He suspected that not signing the contract yet was probably for a similar reason.

“Are you ready, Ji-hu?”

Kim Ji-hu quietly closed his eyes and opened them again.

“I’m ready.”

If he had seemed passive until just now, his eyes had changed to calm but confident ones.

The staff also smiled at Kim Ji-hu’s appearance.

CEO Kang I-wook nodded and said.

“Then let’s begin.”

***

‘Office Apocalypse’ starts with the protagonist’s office life.

The first scene was where protagonist Jin Do-won (Oh Jin-woo) gets scolded by his manager.

And in contrast, Seo I-jun (Kim Ji-hu) appears, receiving praise from the manager and showing a cool image.

After a few short scenes, a zombie outbreak occurs and it was a work showing them surviving in the office.

Jin Do-won, originally from physical education background, becomes the core with good physical abilities and judgment to get through situations, and Seo I-jun also shows leadership, joining with the protagonist.

There, ‘Office Apocalypse’ was a work dealing with human nature and action along with a rival-like dynamic between the two.

“Ah, yes… let’s do that, Manager.”

“Do-won, just speak comfortably. We’re colleagues from the same year.”

“…Okay.”

Jin Do-won was almost becoming a permanent assistant manager, but Seo I-jun had been promoted quickly to manager level.

Oh Jin-woo was accurately acting out the inferiority complex and emotions that came from that through his expressions and voice tone.

‘He’s definitely amazing… The arrogant attitude from just before is gone, and inferiority complex is radiating from his whole body as if it had always been there.’

Oh Jin-woo was an actor whose acting became strange if the character didn’t match him.

That’s why he was famous as an extremely difficult actor to use, but he was clearly showing why he was still a top-tier actor.

He showed his emotions clearly. Not excessive either. He expressed exactly the right amount needed.

He brought all the detailed nuances to life, making the scene rich.

What was especially surprising was that he was only doing a reading without actions right now.

He had controlled all this with just expressions and voice tone.

‘That’s exactly why he’s called a master actor.’

An actor who doesn’t just act out scenes as written in the script, but adds ad-lib details to make scenes richer.

That was Oh Jin-woo.

He seemed to be the only actor who could create atmosphere like this alone without various props or editing.

‘But it’s going more smoothly than I thought.’

More than 30 minutes had passed since starting the script reading, but not a single ad-lib had come out.

‘Is he restraining from ad-libs because it’s a reading?’

Wasn’t that right? Reading was a process for staff and actors to understand each other.

If he threw in ad-libs there, it would be hard to view the work objectively.

‘Then I can relax today.’

Kim Ji-hu let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

However, that relief was only momentary.

“But haven’t you seen this kind of thing in movies?”

Oh Jin-woo’s ad-lib was flying right at him.

‘He acted like he wouldn’t do it, then suddenly…!’

Kim Ji-hu’s mind stopped at the sudden line.

‘Mo, movies? He means zombie movies, right? Then wouldn’t it be natural to have seen them?’

Kim Ji-hu had seen over 100 zombie movies and dramas alone.

Even for an ordinary person, wouldn’t it be natural to have seen them?

But he thought that ‘Seo I-jun’ whom Kim Ji-hu was acting might not have seen them.

‘Seo I-jun’ was really a model student type who only studied and worked.

Plus his hobbies were sophisticated outward activities like golf or overseas travel, so he might not have watched them.

‘Then what should I do…’

While Kim Ji-hu was lost in thought, his mouth moved first.

“I’ve seen them. When I was young.”

Kim Ji-hu was startled for a moment. His body had just reacted first.

‘Wasn’t it supposed to move according to my thoughts?’

After gaining the verbal ability, most of his body’s actions had been controlled.

But moving like before he gained the ability, he couldn’t help but be flustered.

‘But somehow it feels okay…?’

Oh Jin-woo grinned and said.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I really watched them. Really.”

“Sounds like a lie~?”

“What would I gain by lying about something like this.”

“Hmm, I’ll believe you for now.”

A subtly playful tone.

‘But somehow it seems okay?’

He thought he had made a mistake, but thinking about it again, it felt good.

Plus seeing Oh Jin-woo naturally counter it, it actually looked fine.

After delivering those lines, CEO Kang I-wook said.

“Cut, I think this much should be fine.”

“Phew… Good work everyone.”

“Good work.”

CEO Kang I-wook spoke as if summarizing.

“Thank you all for doing well in today’s reading. I think we’ve roughly established the work’s tone, and it was good to see everyone’s good acting skills. And…”

CEO Kang I-wook looked at Kim Ji-hu and smiled brightly.

“Especially Ji-hu, I really enjoyed watching your acting today. Especially the last acting. It was impressive.”

“…?”

Kim Ji-hu tilted his head.

‘Was it that good…?’

Then Oh Jin-woo, who was next to him, also said.

“What? I thought you weren’t the type who could handle this kind of thing?”

“…????”

Oh Jin-woo also had an expression as if surprised by his skills.

‘What the heck?’

Kim Ji-hu was just bewildered.

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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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