I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 114

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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 114

Become Yoon-seo.

Ahead of this audition, Seon-woo set his goal exactly like that.

And to become Yoon-seo, the best acting method was indeed Method Acting. Seon-woo spent almost every moment of his daily life with Yoon-seo’s Color Orb activated. He wondered how much help it would be to spend a week like that, but…

“Kim Seon-woo.”

“Yes.”

“You seem to… really like Yoon-seo?”

It seemed to have helped after all.

Seon-woo looked at Yu Eun-jeong. The way her eyes sparkled as she looked at him, it was clear she had become interested in him.

Seon-woo hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Yes. From the moment I read the script… I thought Yoon-seo was a really good person. That’s why I wanted to act her even more.”

“You wanted to act more because she’s a good person? What’s the reason?”

“I thought it would make me feel a bit better while acting. I also thought Yoon-seo was someone I could learn a lot from.”

“Someone you could learn a lot from…”

At that moment, the expression disappeared from Yu Eun-jeong’s face.

And Han Jeong-hun, seeing this, inwardly made a strange expression.

‘It’s starting.’

Yu Eun-jeong is a good person.

Probably most people who have worked with her would agree with that statement. She was kind, thoughtful, and affectionate.

But there were times when her personality would completely reverse.

Times like right now.

When talking about a work, Yu Eun-jeong becomes unable to care about anything other than the work itself.

The other person’s feelings, basic courtesy, lines that shouldn’t be crossed… all of those things become blurred, and only talk about the work remains.

Yes.

“Why do you think that? Aren’t you a good person yourself?”

Like this.

Han Jeong-hun subtly watched Seon-woo’s reaction. It was a tone that wouldn’t be strange to take as aggressive. However,

“…Well, I don’t think I’m a bad person. But I don’t think I’m particularly a good person either.”

“So you want to learn Yoon-seo’s good points through her? But would that work? You’re not really a good person yourself. Then that gap would keep standing out when you act. Instead of looking like a good person, you might look like someone pretending to be good.”

“That could certainly happen. But did you get that feeling from my acting?”

“No. Not that. I’m just talking about possibilities. But I’m curious again. What aspects of Yoon-seo looked so good to you?”

“Well. The fact that she wants to save someone to the point of panic… that’s really altruistic. And from her tone when dealing with patients and such, I could definitely feel that she genuinely cares for them.”

“That could be fake too.”

“I think consistent pretense is no different from sincerity. So at least to me, all of that came across as genuine.”

Seon-woo surprisingly answered Yu Eun-jeong’s interrogation-like questions smoothly.

What was strange was that far from looking upset… he seemed to be sparkling at Yu Eun-jeong’s questions, as if he was really enjoying this.

Han Jeong-hun let out a dry laugh.

‘I can see what type he is.’

In a way, he was the same type as Yu Eun-jeong.

The type who can’t see anything else when their eyes turn to a work.

Since kindred spirits had met, it was natural that they wouldn’t find each other bothersome.

But if left alone like this, they seemed ready to dissect and analyze Yoon-seo for hours, so Han Jeong-hun had no choice but to intervene.

“Um, Seon-woo. Could you possibly act another scene?”

“Yes. Which scene should I act?”

“Please act scene 31 where Yoon-seo comforts a pediatric patient. You can look at the script if you want.”

“Oh, no. It’s fine. I memorized all the lines.”

“…Oh, yes.”

Han Jeong-hun’s eyes widened for a moment.

He memorized all the lines? While Yoon-seo’s lines weren’t that numerous… still, memorizing all the lines for one audition wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

Should he call it smart, or diligent.

Either way, he liked it. Han Jeong-hun desperately suppressed the corners of his mouth that were trying to rise as he watched Seon-woo’s acting.

Han Jeong-hun hadn’t requested this scene out of boredom.

He understood that Seon-woo showed Yoon-seo’s good and kind aspects. He also understood well that he acted the panic-stricken appearance well.

But Yoon-seo wasn’t just a character who only suffered because of trauma.

Rather, she usually showed a cheerful side to everyone and had the position of a mood maker.

The question was whether Seon-woo could express that aspect of Yoon-seo…

“Oh my, why is our young friend upset again?”

Seeing Seon-woo bend his knees and smile playfully, Han Jeong-hun’s expression couldn’t help but become strange.

Honestly, he hadn’t expected much lively acting from Seon-woo.

After all, even in 【I Am an Actor】, Seon-woo only showed serious acting. He thought light and lively acting would probably be his weakness.

But,

“You don’t want to get a shot? Yeah, Teacher feels the same way. But you know what? If you don’t get the shot now… later one shot won’t be enough? You’ll have to get two, three shots!”

Playful.

Comfortable, gentle, and bright.

“Alright. Let’s do this. Actually, the other teachers said you need to get two shots… but if you get it from Teacher now, I’ll make it just one shot! What do you want to do? Get two shots from another teacher? Or just one shot from Teacher!”

It felt exactly like a friendly young doctor from reality had appeared before their eyes.

If such a doctor really existed, wouldn’t the shots they give not hurt at all… that kind of thought naturally came to mind.

‘Unexpected.’

Han Jeong-hun nodded.

He had to admit it. That his thoughts were wrong. The dark image he had seen through [One Room] and such was nowhere to be found. Rather, it was hard to believe it was the same person, as if the person sparkled a bit more.

Han Jeong-hun glanced back at Yu Eun-jeong. He was curious about what expression she might be making.

And soon he couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Yu Eun-jeong was looking at Seon-woo with a grin as if she might drool at any moment. Her expression was exactly like seeing the Yoon-seo from her mind leap into reality.

At this point, it was game over.

Han Jeong-hun looked back at Seon-woo again.

And he thought.

‘A doctor’s coat… would probably suit him quite well.’

* * *

“Ah, please put on your seatbelt! We’re departing!”

“Ah, yes.”

“Please understand, Sister Seul-gi just got her license not too long ago.”

“…We’re going to be okay, right?”

Seon-woo asked with an awkward expression.

Min-hee rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders.

“Probably?”

Probably was troubling.

Seon-woo unconsciously tried to grab the safety handle but forced himself to hold back. They had offered to drive him home, so he couldn’t show his worry.

Seon-woo tried to change the subject.

“It seems like your audition went well?”

“Well, I did my best but…”

“You did great! I know Min-hee worked hard… Kyaak!”

“…Sister! I’m fine, so focus on driving!”

“Ah, okay…”

Seul-gi began staring ahead with wide eyes again, her voice tense.

Seon-woo, who had somehow ended up gripping the safety handle, looked back at Min-hee with cold sweat.

“…I understand. She’s still a beginner driver.”

“…Yes.”

“Anyway, I think I wasn’t too bad… I don’t know, if they don’t call me, it’ll just be disappointing. What about you? Do you think you did well?”

“As for me…”

Seon-woo thought for a moment.

He hadn’t heard anything particular either. However, when leaving the audition venue, the judges’ expressions looking at him seemed fairly good… but there was no point in mentioning such things.

“I think I’m similar to you, senior.”

“It would be fun if we worked on the project together.”

“…Right. The characters happen to be roles that constantly clash with each other.”

So-hee, the flawless A-grade intern.

Yoon-seo, the F-grade intern who panics whenever a patient becomes critical.

It was an interesting contrast in many ways.

Of course, all of this would only be meaningful if they passed the audition.

‘…Did I pass?’

He didn’t know.

If he had seen other actors’ performances, he could have done a comparative analysis to gauge his chances, but that wasn’t the case.

The judges’ reactions weren’t bad, but how could he know if they had the same reaction to other actors?

Perhaps there was someone who received an even better reaction.

In the end, he had to wait.

‘Yoon-seo, I really want to act as her once.’

He had expectations that daily life might sparkle a little more while acting as Yoon-seo.

Except for her phobia of critical patients, Yoon-seo’s inner world was so clear and beautiful that it felt truly comforting.

The moment he sighed, wishing the results would come out quickly,

“Haah.”

“Haah.”

“…?”

“?”

“What? Why are you sighing?”

“What about you, senior?”

“I’m nervous. Is that okay?”

“…Me too.”

Seon-woo and Min-hee had become mirror images of each other.

Min-hee looked down at her phone with eyes that had somehow become hollow in that short time.

“…It’ll take a while for the results to come out, right? Have you heard anything?”

“Well, they didn’t really say anything specific… but it’ll probably take a few days, right?”

“I guess so? They’ll need to have internal meetings and such to decide on the roles.”

“I hope they come out quickly…”

It was right at that moment she said those words.

Ding— Both Seon-woo and Min-hee’s phones rang simultaneously. A text message notification sound. Hearing that, Seon-woo and Min-hee looked at each other with strange expressions.

“…No way?”

“It couldn’t be, right?”

“No, it couldn’t be.”

Not much time had passed since their audition to think the results were out.

But receiving text messages simultaneously like this seemed ominous.

“You check first.”

“…Okay.”

At Min-hee’s words, Seon-woo took out his phone.

And,

“Ah….”

“What, what is it. Is it right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“…!”

At those words, Min-hee hurriedly picked up her phone and opened the text message.

And Seul-gi, who had been listening to their conversation, asked in an anxious voice.

“Mi, Min-hee. Did you make it!?”

“Ju, just wait. I’m reading it now… I, I made it.”

“You made it?”

“…Yes! I made it, I passed!”

“Ama, amazing! Congratulations! You really did gre… Kyaak!”

“Focus on driving, Sister!”

“So, sorry!”

Seul-gi got so excited she screamed and slammed on the brakes. As Seon-woo quietly let his body go with the now-familiar lurching, Min-hee finally seemed to notice him and asked in a careful voice.

Come to think of it, Seon-woo might have failed, so it would be awkward to show her joy in front of him.

“Seon-woo, what about you… How did it go?”

“Hmm… What should I do? I don’t think I’ll be able to call you senior anymore.”

“Huh?”

Min-hee’s eyes widened at the unexpected words. What does this mean?

Seeing Min-hee like that, Seon-woo chuckled.

“It looks like we’ll have to spend some time as peers from now on, so should we drop the formalities?”

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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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