Bedroom Genius Actor - Chapter 57

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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 57

Kim Ji-hu’s acting seemed to evolve every other day.

He had become relaxed enough to handle Oh Jin-woo’s ad-libs more cleanly than yesterday and smoothly connect his next lines.

At the same time, he didn’t neglect his exercise routine, and his physique became more robust day by day.

Right now it was just script readings, but he was preparing in advance since he’d need to use his body on set.

Especially since this drama had a lot of action mixed in, it would be even more important.

‘I definitely feel healthier since I started exercising…’

It was something he hadn’t known since he’d never exercised in his life.

Unlike before when he was holed up in the corner of his room surviving only on ramen, he was now exercising regularly every day and managing his diet, so becoming healthier was a natural progression.

Perhaps thanks to his improved physical stamina, he now had the energy to study scripts and even write work reviews after finishing all his work for the day.

‘I feel like I’ve become some kind of superhuman.’

In any case, thanks to this, his reviews weren’t falling behind and his work was being handled smoothly, making these truly satisfying days.

Except for just one thing.

‘Sob sob, my social energy isn’t recovering…’

Life isn’t a game, but for Kim Ji-hu, social energy was determined by numbers like in a game.

You might wonder what this means,

but it literally meant that if he had too many days meeting people, he absolutely needed days to be alone at home.

However, with exercise, work, and occasional meetings with Choi Tae-geon,

he kept meeting people and had no time to be alone.

On top of that, following ‘Trauma’ and ‘My Little House,’ he’d been running non-stop without proper rest until now.

While his body might be energetic, he felt like he was gradually becoming mentally exhausted.

‘It’s not like I can do anything about the work I’m already doing…’

His calendar was already packed tight with drama filming schedules.

He couldn’t overturn his schedule just because he was tired alone, so he had no choice but to endure it.

‘This time I really need to rest properly after work ends…’

Just as he was sighing like that, a phone call came in.

It was Choi Tae-geon.

“Hello?”

-Yes, Ji-hu. I’m calling about a schedule matter.

“Ah… did the schedule get extended again…?”

Kim Ji-hu dejectedly prepared to make a check on his calendar.

-No, no! Well… this time it’s not so much adding to the schedule as it might get cancelled.

“…What?”

A schedule getting cancelled. It’s not easy for schedules to get cancelled in movies or dramas.

“D-did something happen?”

-It’s not that. It’s the end of the year now.

“That’s right?”

-The production side changed the schedule due to year-end award ceremony schedules. I’m calling to let you know about that.

Award ceremonies.

He had completely forgotten that at the end of the year, award ceremonies, which could be called the flower of the entertainment industry, are held.

Since Kim Ji-hu had only been an actor for one year now, he hadn’t even thought about it.

“Then, how will the schedule work out?”

Choi Tae-geon answered that question with laughter in his voice.

-Ji-hu, you’ve been having a hard time lately, haven’t you?

“…What?”

-Going out to work every day, exercising, and filming works consecutively on top of that, so you must be mentally exhausted too.

“H-how did you know?”

-I can see it all in your expression, Ji-hu.

“Ah…”

Whether it was because he’d been going to readings every day with half-dead fish eyes muttering ‘I don’t want to, I don’t want to…’,

or because he’d been melting down going ‘Ughhhhh…’ when coming home.

There were too many parts he could guess.

-So how about taking a little vacation?

“A vacation…?”

While others might question the idea of giving vacation during work filming,

Kim Ji-hu’s voice clearly brightened upon hearing the sweet word ‘vacation.’

-Well, even if I call it a vacation, it’s only a few days, but usually at the end of the year it’s hard for film sets to run properly.

“Because of award ceremonies?”

He’d already noticed staff and actors gradually dropping out lately. He’d also heard that Oh Jin-woo could barely come out anymore.

Everyone seemed to get busy with variety shows or award ceremony-related things at the end of the year.

-Yes, yes, so I thought it might be good to coordinate and take a vacation during this opportunity.

“G-good! That sounds great!”

Choi Tae-geon let out a satisfied laugh at Kim Ji-hu’s bright voice.

-Then please hang in there until then.

“Got it!!”

Indeed, people seemed to gain more strength when there was a reward.

Kim Ji-hu, who had been close to a dead fish just moments ago, was completely revived.

-Oh right.

Choi Tae-geon spoke as if it was obvious.

-You’ve been nominated for Best New Actor for both ‘Trauma’ and ‘My Little House’ this time, Ji-hu.

Kim Ji-hu’s eyes grew wider and wider.

“What?”

***

Usually dramas and movies are different.

Their filming methods, the tendencies they pursue, and the thematic consciousness they want to convey are all different.

While the emergence of OTTs like Netflix has somewhat eliminated that wall, there were still boundaries.

And Kim Ji-hu was an actor nominated for Best New Actor in both.

Moreover, he was a very strong candidate for winning both.

‘It’s not like it never happened, but it does seem like it’s been a while.’

PD Seo Min-sik smiled as he scanned through the nominee list.

Speaking of someone who received Best New Actor for both movies and dramas, the most recent would be Ryu I-hyun.

Since he had already become an actor forming a formidable pair with Oh Jin-woo as co-leads, quite a long time had passed.

‘Well, but Ji-hu gives a different feeling from back then.’

Unlike Ryu I-hyun who won awards for a Netflix original movie and terrestrial drama, Kim Ji-hu was nominated for awards through a commercial film and terrestrial drama without OTT’s spotlight.

While he thought cases like Ryu I-hyun would increase nowadays, seeing Kim Ji-hu build his career through traditional methods was surprisingly amazing.

Since there had been loud voices saying cases like this would hardly emerge anymore.

‘That’s probably why the surroundings are in more of an uproar.’

PD Seo Min-sik’s ears were getting tired from people around him talking lately.

About how they needed to pull Kim Ji-hu completely into the terrestrial drama industry.

Or how somewhere else needed to completely seat Kim Ji-hu in Chungmuro for the Korean film industry to survive.

‘Either way, Ji-hu’s path of hardship is clear.’

He could clearly see people wanting to get close and those wanting to drag him to their side clinging to Kim Ji-hu.

PD Seo Min-sik, who knew Kim Ji-hu’s personality, just felt sorry for him.

‘Well, of course Hanbit will manage things well.’

Hanbit’s management ability was industry top-tier. The fact that Kim Ji-hu could quietly continue his work activities without being dragged to strange places until now was all thanks to Hanbit Entertainment.

‘What’s the point of this worry, am I worrying about myself.’

PD Seo Min-sik put down his phone and looked ahead.

The film set spread out in front.

No, he wasn’t sure if this could be called a film set.

The sight of guys pretending to be actors doing something resembling acting, and staff filming half-heartedly.

‘I really did well not bringing Ji-hu along.’

Kim Ji-hu wouldn’t have been able to do anything in a situation like this either. Though he’s got backbone, so he could probably say something to everyone like he did during ‘Trauma’,

that wouldn’t solve everything dramatically.

Most importantly, the situation was more serious than during ‘Trauma’.

Jo Gi-hyeok, who had been assistant director since ‘Trauma’, carefully asked PD Seo Min-sik.

“PD-nim, is it okay to continue like this…?”

“Would it be okay?”

“Then, surely…”

“Forget it. This is a protest. A protest against how long we’ll keep accepting crappy PPL deals and shoving in half-hearted idols or pushed actors.”

An era where OTT platforms are leading and terrestrial dramas are being pushed back more and more.

In this situation of changing times, PD Seo Min-sik was protesting that terrestrial broadcasting shouldn’t be like this.

The thought of deliberately ruining things once and for all.

‘I won’t get fired, right?’

PD Seo Min-sik was fighting his own battle in his own way.

.

.

.

“Hyung, where did you say we’re going today?”

Oh Jin-woo asked as he got in the car.

At his question, manager Shin Jeong-min let out a sigh.

“KBC variety show appearance. I wrote it on the calendar.”

“I’ve been so focused on my work lately that I didn’t pay attention.”

“You never paid attention normally either.”

The two bickered like friends and soon set off.

Shin Jeong-min, who had been chatting, opened his mouth as if remembering something.

“Oh, come to think of it, Kim Ji-hu. You asked me to investigate that guy.”

“That? It doesn’t really matter anymore though.”

Oh Jin-woo’s misunderstanding about Kim Ji-hu.

But the more they acted together, the more he could tell that Kim Ji-hu was an actor truly passionate about acting.

Someone whose personality could cause misunderstandings with just a few words, who seemed timid on the outside but was burning with passion more than anyone inside.

‘It’s more fun to work with him than I thought.’

Every time he responded to his acting, it was amusing enough to make him laugh.

He hadn’t shown it to Kim Ji-hu yet, but inside he had already acknowledged him to some extent.

“But there seems to be something you should know about.”

“…Something I should know?”

“Look at the documents in that brown envelope in the back seat.”

Oh Jin-woo, who was sitting in the back seat, took out the documents from the brown envelope next to him.

“You know Kim Ji-hu has a sibling, right?”

“…I think I heard something like that?”

“That sibling is a singer.”

“I think I heard that too…”

He knew to some extent because he had heard other actors talking about it on the ‘Office Apocalypse’ set.

Though he hadn’t thought to look into it properly.

“That sibling is a singer, and their original management company was a place called Recal Entertainment. It recently got exposed as a paper company and collapsed.”

“A paper company? But why did the sibling join there in the first place?”

Oh Jin-woo frowned at the somewhat strange content.

Shin Jeong-min shrugged and continued with a rather serious expression.

“Anyway, that’s not the problem. The problem is that Recal Company where the sibling was seems to be connected to Park, the President’s side.”

At those words, Oh Jin-woo’s eyes widened and he immediately gritted his teeth with an expression full of hatred.

“Why is that bastard suddenly coming up?”

“I was surprised too. But once that paper company came up, everything fell into place. We’d always wondered how Park, the President had been laundering money all this time. That’s what we found out this time.”

“Then. Kim Ji-hu’s sibling is.”

Shin Jeong-min clicked his tongue.

“I don’t know if they’re a victim or an accomplice. Roughly speaking, circumstantially they’re closer to being a victim though. Looking at how the article broke after that person left, it’s most likely they were the ones who exposed it.”

“Then… that sibling too…?”

Oh Jin-woo’s eyes widened as if he had a bad thought.

“For now, you should look into that side. It’s a bit awkward for me to approach and ask.”

“Got it. Thanks, hyung.”

“Forget it. I’m doing this because I want to anyway.”

Oh Jin-woo thought.

‘If those bastards step forward again, I won’t just sit still either.’

Oh Jin-woo was prepared to risk his most beloved acting career if it meant he could eliminate those guys.

.

.

.

A few days later.

‘If I just get through tomorrow… vacation…!’

Kim Ji-hu was sitting in the car wearing a suit and with his hair done for the first time in a while.

Today was the Baekho Film Festival.

Once this was over, he could enjoy a week-long vacation!

Choi Tae-geon said to the excited Kim Ji-hu.

“Fighting!”

“Yes…!”

Kim Ji-hu answered in a slightly excited voice and got out of the car.

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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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