Bedroom Genius Actor - Chapter 74

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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 74

RT Entertainment has plenty of actors who are more famous, experienced, and skilled than Kim Ji-hu.

Yet here they were, asking a mere reviewer to do directing.

“There… there would be a lot of internal backlash…”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll just suppress it.”

President Jo Pil-sik spoke as if it were nothing. The fact that he was someone who could easily do such a thing made it even more frightening.

“Even if you suppress it, it’ll probably just backfire… A mere reviewer doing directing… no matter how I think about it, it’s a bit…”

Wasn’t that the truth?

Actors who had been working in the field for years would be receiving directing from a reviewer with just over 10,000 followers.

Even if I were an actor, my pride would be hurt.

‘Oh, I am an actor too.’

In any case, problems would definitely arise in various ways, so it seemed right to refuse.

“But didn’t you say you were already someone in the industry?”

“Pardon?”

“I heard you told the MBS people that. Then it shouldn’t matter, right?”

“Ah…”

In trying to hide that he was an actor, he had vaguely said he was in the industry.

It seemed he had said such things to the MBS people.

“Still, the actors probably wouldn’t want it…”

“Hmm, why do you think that? At least one person would like it.”

“One person…”

“There’s Se-ra, isn’t there?”

Yun Se-ra would definitely like it. She was still leaving long comments on his blog every day.

‘Still, this doesn’t seem right.’

He could do directing or whatever right now, but that was also temporary.

Eventually, Kim Ji-hu had to do acting work.

But he couldn’t say he’d work for exactly 6 months and then quit.

‘It’s not like I’m going to quit being a reviewer entirely, and lowering the industry’s trust in me would only be my loss.’

Being blinded by short-term gains and losing out in the future would be too stupid.

He wasn’t desperately in need of money right now, and it wasn’t worth doing at the cost of trust.

“I have some other work, so it would be difficult to take on such long-term work…”

“Ah, that’s fine. I’m not asking you to join the company right away.”

“Pardon?”

“I may have a lot of money, but I don’t like to spend it carelessly.”

That seemed to be the case. From his face alone, he gave off a miserly vibe.

“So I want to start with a test.”

“A test…”

“Try directing one of our actors first. It’s a rookie actor, and they’ll be entering a project soon, so you can direct them and I’ll judge based on that. You can also confirm whether you have a talent for directing.”

That was quite a reasonable proposal.

He didn’t know exactly what directing entailed, but it was work that would end quickly.

Moreover, he could cleanly wrap up the work later by saying ‘This work doesn’t seem to suit me…’

Now for the important part.

“I’ll give you 15 million won.”

“Huh?”

Just as he was about to ask about the pay, Jo Pil-sik answered first.

More than that, the amount was the problem.

“15… not 1.5 million, but 15 million won…?”

“Why, is there some problem?”

He wanted to ask Jo Pil-sik instead.

15 million won wasn’t money you could just casually throw around, and wasn’t it too much?

“Is… is this some kind of illegal work…”

“Heh heh, with that amount, you might think so, but we’re making an appropriate investment. If you can make just one actor successful, the profit from that would be even greater.”

“Still…”

“Of course, we need to have insurance too. 5 million upfront, and 10 million when the work is all done. If the actor says they want to quit in the middle, I’ll only give half of that.”

It felt somewhat unsettling, but it seemed okay.

Kim Ji-hu made up his mind to some extent and said.

“Then I’ll check the contract and contact you.”

***

“The contract is exactly as you said. There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly wrong.”

“Is that so?”

Just in case, he showed the contract to Choi Tae-geon.

But there was nothing wrong with it.

Then he couldn’t help but wonder.

“Why are they offering me such generous conditions?”

Choi Tae-geon shrugged his shoulders.

“There could be various reasons. They might really want to entrust directing to Ji-hu, or they might just be trying to build rapport.”

“Still, there’s no way I could properly direct actors…”

“Huh? Ji-hu, you taught actors how to act during that Trauma thing too. I think you’d be perfectly capable.”

“Ahaha…”

That was a bit different from this.

Back then, he had squeezed out his synchronization ability to teach, and the other person was so bad at acting that the effect was dramatic.

If they were an actor who entered RT Entertainment, even as a rookie, it meant their skills were certified.

He wondered if he could properly teach such a person.

“But I say this because I know Ji-hu is an actor, but I’m not sure what President Jo Pil-sik is thinking.”

“That’s true…”

“Then wouldn’t it be good to ask President Baek? President Baek used to be at RT Entertainment.”

“What??”

This was the first time he’d heard this. Baek Do-kyung was at RT Entertainment?

Come to think of it, looking at how Baek Do-kyung handled work, it did have a big company feel.

“Oh, he’s coming in just at the right time. President!”

Choi Tae-geon called Baek Do-kyung through the meeting room glass.

Baek Do-kyung entered with a puzzled expression.

“Hello. Ji-hu, you seem to be coming to the company often these days.”

“Haha… somehow…”

“President, there’s something I need to tell you about Ji-hu.”

Choi Tae-geon explained about RT Entertainment and Jo Pil-sik.

“That person called the Armchair Reviewer…”

“Do you know President Jo Pil-sik well?”

“Yes, I know him somewhat.”

Baek Do-kyung thought for a moment, then smiled brightly and said.

“You can just go ahead and do it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, contrary to how he looks, he’s not a bad person.”

“How, how he looks?”

“Doesn’t he look like some kind of villain at first glance? Kind of like a mastermind too.”

“Haha…”

Seeing Baek Do-kyung talk like that, they really seemed close.

It also meant he knew Jo Pil-sik well.

‘If President Baek says that much, I can do it with peace of mind.’

As Kim Ji-hu was thinking that, Baek Do-kyung smiled and said.

“It seems like there’s some kind of scheming going on behind the scenes, but honestly, I don’t think he’ll fall for that sort of thing.”

“Scheming…?”

“Yes, the fact that he moved directly means he has something in mind, and I can roughly guess what he’s thinking.”

If there’s scheming involved, shouldn’t we be worried…?

Kim Ji-hu scratched his head at the contradictory statement.

“Ji-hu, you don’t need to worry about it much. They’re offering good money, so just go and collect it well. We’ll adjust the schedule as much as possible for you.”

“Thank you, President…”

“Speaking of which, how are things going with setting up SNS and YouTube?”

Choi Tae-geon answered.

“SNS is scheduled to be set up next week, and we plan to film YouTube videos the week after that.”

“Good. Looking at the contract, the RT Entertainment work starts next month, so we need to finish everything before then.”

Baek Do-kyung smiled.

“Oh, and Ji-hu. We have something to discuss separately, don’t we?”

“Something to discuss… Ah…”

When they talked about Park, the President last time, he had said he would explain about Mother.

“Would today be alright?”

“Yes… I think it’s possible.”

“If it’s too difficult, we can take it slowly.”

“No, I think today would be best.”

Kim Ji-hu said while clenching his fists.

Baek Do-kyung nodded, sensing his determination.

“Then could you come to my room for a moment?”

***

At that time, at Director Park Sang-pil’s filming location.

“Haah…”

Lead actor Jung Tae-hyun was already making his umpteenth NG.

“Tae-hyun. Go cool your head and come back.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Enough. Let’s move on to the next scene while the actor cools down!”

After losing the Best New Actor award to Kim Ji-hu, Jung Tae-hyun had been suffering from a terrible slump.

Director Park Sang-pil was managing to continue filming by consoling him well, but it felt like his acting had gotten worse than before.

‘Maybe it’s because I keep feeling like I’m falling behind Kim Ji-hu.’

Kim Ji-hu, a major rookie, put pressure on many rookies around him.

Jung Tae-hyun was one of them.

Especially since Jung Tae-hyun had been among the leading candidates, the pressure was even stronger.

Jung Tae-hyun had never been outshone by anyone when it came to acting.

Before Kim Ji-hu appeared, he was called this year’s best rookie.

But now he was just one of many actors behind Kim Ji-hu.

His mind was filled only with thoughts of Kim Ji-hu.

The pressure that to surpass Kim Ji-hu, he had to show overwhelming acting superior to his.

A sparrow trying to follow a stork will tear its legs.

Jung Tae-hyun’s acting was being ruined like that.

“Why is this happening?”

Now he couldn’t even remember how he had acted.

His tempo itself had been broken.

“Damn… Am I going to keep being pathetic like this?”

Catching up to Kim Ji-hu wasn’t everything in life.

The people on set had expectations for Jung Tae-hyun himself, so he couldn’t just keep digging himself into the ground.

‘If I recall memories of how I acted before and regain my tempo…’

Then a voice came from behind Jung Tae-hyun.

“Are you having a hard time?”

“Huh…?”

Jung Tae-hyun turned around.

There stood one of the lighting staff, smiling.

One of the staff members whose name he couldn’t even remember since they’d never properly talked.

“Did the director send you to call me?”

“No, I just came to comfort you. Haha.”

“…You don’t need to do that. I’ll be there soon, so go ahead first.”

How pathetic must he have looked for a stranger to come comfort him?

Jung Tae-hyun had no intention of receiving such cheap sympathy.

But the lighting staff didn’t leave and spoke again.

“More than that, you need to catch up to actor Kim Ji-hu, but your acting isn’t working lately and it’s really tough, isn’t it?”

“…?”

The story about Kim Ji-hu was something he had only told Director Park Sang-pil.

He wondered how this person knew about it.

“You even lost the Best New Actor award. Originally, it would have been an award Tae-hyun could have just received.”

“What are you talking about? I told you to go back.”

“Don’t you want to… act better?”

He was smiling brightly, but there was something chilling about his face.

Jung Tae-hyun narrowed his brow.

“Of course I want to do well. But what can I do when I lack talent? I’ll just work harder…”

“I can help you.”

The staff member cut off Jung Tae-hyun’s words.

“What?”

“I have a method.”

Jung Tae-hyun squinted his eyes.

“Are you going to introduce me to some teacher?”

“Hey~ If it were something like that, I wouldn’t have approached you like this.”

“Then how?”

The lighting staff raised his index finger.

“But I can’t tell you right now. We need some level of mutual trust, don’t we?”

“…”

Jung Tae-hyun looked at him with suspicious eyes and quietly spoke.

“That trust, how do I earn it?”

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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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