I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 115

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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 115

“Let’s go with this person.”

As soon as Seon-woo left, Yu Eun-jeong said that.

Her voice was filled with conviction, as if there was no room for hesitation.

“He’s an attractive option. Thanks to [One Room], this guy has been gaining quite a bit of buzz lately. The promotional effect would be quite significant too.”

The casting director immediately showed a favorable reaction.

The heat from [One Room] hadn’t died down yet. It was rare for a supporting character to have this kind of buzz, and Seon-woo was exactly that rare case.

Of course, the same was true for Min-hee.

Thanks to this, there were no particular objections to Seon-woo and Min-hee getting the roles.

Acting ability. Looks. Buzz.

There wasn’t a single disappointing aspect. They were so overwhelming that the other actors who auditioned with them couldn’t even compete.

Han Jeong-hun muttered.

“Seon-woo, that guy definitely catches your eye.”

“Exactly. There was a lot of talk about him during [One Room] too… He has a charm that captivates people’s attention.”

“Same goes for Min-hee.”

“Hmm. Cheongseong certainly has a lot of talent.”

Han Jeong-hun nodded.

And he thought to himself.

‘I heard he doesn’t have an agency.’

This wasn’t exactly welcome news from the production team’s perspective.

Why would an actor not having an agency be a problem for the production team? Well, surprisingly, it was a problem. If there was an agency, they could expect some level of actor management… but without one, there was a possibility that the actor could go off the rails at any time without any control.

They’d have to worry about even minor image management issues right away.

There was no guarantee he wouldn’t suddenly crash and burn after posting something strange on social media. And it’s not like the production team could handle all of this.

‘…Well, I’m probably overthinking it.’

Recalling Seon-woo’s eyes as he chatted with Yu Eun-jeong did ease his worries a bit.

Those childlike eyes that sparkled as if just talking about the work brought him joy. Someone with eyes like that didn’t seem likely to cause any particular problems.

But there were still some concerns.

An agency’s job isn’t just managing an actor’s private life or image.

From contracts to schedule coordination, fee negotiations, and more – agencies have quite a lot of responsibilities…

Could Seon-woo really handle all of this?

* * *

Han Jeong-hun’s concerns weren’t unfounded.

Seon-woo actually started researching how he should act going forward as soon as his acceptance was decided.

Of course, the person who helped him the most was Seong Jun-il.

“Obviously the most important thing is the appearance fee.”

“I figured as much.”

“Even office workers just wait for their annual salary negotiations. Think of this moment as that salary negotiation for you. But… honestly, this part gets tricky without an agency. If you had built up experience it might be different, but you’re still a newcomer, so it’s a bit risky to negotiate asking for a certain amount, you know?”

“…I suppose that’s true.”

“If this were America, I’d tell you to hire an agent. Most actors there work without agencies, contracting through agents for each project. But Korea doesn’t really have those freelance agents. Most are all company employees.”

“Then what should I do?”

“Hmm.”

Seong Jun-il seriously pondered.

And then he said.

“This won’t do. I’ll be your temporary manager.”

“…Excuse me?”

“What. Don’t trust me?”

“No, it’s not that I don’t trust you… How could I dare ask you to be my manager, senior?”

“I say manager, but I just mean I’ll act as a guardian when you’re making contracts.”

“I’ve already received so much help…”

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of using this as leverage to tell you to join our company later.”

“…Saying that somehow makes me feel even more shameless.”

“I told you.”

Seong Jun-il chuckled and said.

“If you want to repay the debt, don’t lose your original intention and show me good acting.”

“…Yes, I definitely will.”

He suddenly became curious.

Why did Seong Jun-il emphasize original intention so much? Had there been a time when he lost his own original intention? Or had seeing someone who lost their original intention hurt him somehow?

But Seon-woo didn’t bother asking about it.

Now wasn’t the time to satisfy his curiosity or anything like that.

Anyway, thanks to Seong Jun-il, the contract was resolved safely.

There was a bit of a commotion when the [Red Zone] production team was flustered by Seong Jun-il’s unexpected appearance, but everyone seemed to accept it when he said he came to help a junior he cared about.

And the result was…

“I probably didn’t even need to come?”

That was the assessment from Seong Jun-il.

Appearance fees, filming conditions, renegotiation terms for subsequent seasons… there weren’t any clauses that could be called problematic in any aspect.

Even the penalty clauses didn’t have any parts that were particularly unfavorable to the actor.

“I heard that PD Han Jeong-hun handles things cleanly… it wasn’t just a rumor.”

“…Is that so? I didn’t know since this is the first time I’m hearing about him.”

“He’s not famous enough to be called a star PD. But the evaluations I hear are really good. They say he’s a good person, so work well with him.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Right. This is as far as I can help you.”

Seong Jun-il smiled quietly.

“From now on, you have to handle it yourself. Don’t overthink it. Just be polite, act with your best effort. Well, you’re smart, so I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“…Thank you so much.”

Seon-woo bowed his head deeply.

From Seong Jun-il’s perspective, it might not have been much help, but Seon-woo couldn’t know how desperately he had needed this assistance.

“If it weren’t for you, senior, I think I would have been completely lost.”

“Well, the contract terms were good from the start, so even without me, you probably wouldn’t have suffered much loss…”

Seong Jun-il shrugged his shoulders.

“Anyway, all the troublesome stuff is over, so now just focus on acting.”

Show them acting that people can’t help but remember.

That was Seong Jun-il’s final words.

For Seon-woo, that was naturally his intention. Even without Seong Jun-il’s words, showing good acting was obviously what he had to do.

‘In a way, I’m also a professional now.’

It felt a bit embarrassing to call himself a ‘professional actor.’

But anyway, the moment he started acting for money, he could no longer expect understanding for his shortcomings.

He would have to continuously show his best, and beyond that.

Some might say, how much are you even getting paid to go that far.

Actually, the appearance fee Seon-woo was receiving this time was rather modest.

Of course, it might not be a bad amount for working intensively for a few months… but considering that actors never know when work might dry up, it was somewhat ambiguous.

‘Well, this also has the fun of growing it up.’

He didn’t want to become an actor who cared more about money than acting, but he couldn’t completely disconnect from it either. After all, people need to make a living.

And… he thought this might serve as some kind of indicator.

An indicator of how well he was doing as an actor.

Of course, for that, he would first need to do well in this project.

He would need to leave a good impression in many ways.

To the public, and also to people in the entertainment industry.

Two days later, arriving at the set two hours earlier than the scheduled time for script reading was for that reason.

Since Seon-woo would practically be the youngest here, he thought there shouldn’t be anyone who came earlier than him.

Nevertheless, staff members were already setting up chairs at the set. People who looked like they were also junior-level like Seon-woo. Since it felt awkward to just stand around, Seon-woo lent them a hand.

“Oh, no! This is our job, you don’t need to help!”

“I’m just bored anyway. I just need to move this over there, right?”

“Uh, yes. That’s right, but…”

“Heave-ho! What else can I do?”

“It’s really okay though…”

“Come on, coworkers should help each other out.”

“Ahem, well then…”

As Seon-woo approached so naturally, the staff members seemed to let their guard down and gradually started asking him to help with various things.

Inwardly, Seon-woo found it somewhat surprising.

Actually, he wasn’t originally such a warm personality… but somehow approaching people he was meeting for the first time felt easier than expected.

‘Is this Yoon-seo’s influence?’

Even at this moment, Seon-woo was colored by Yoon-seo’s hue.

With Yoon-seo’s color of cherishing, liking, and caring for people.

So rather than finding it difficult to approach people, he actually found it enjoyable.

He was inwardly a bit wary.

It was good to get absorbed in the role, but what if it later affected Seon-woo’s own personality?

‘Well, if that happens, it can’t be helped.’

That was something to worry about when the time came.

After all, it was natural for people’s personalities to change little by little.

While he was helping the staff members set up chairs and such, Han Jeong-hun entered the conference room yawning and blinked when he saw Seon-woo.

“…Seon-woo? What are you doing?”

“Oh, hello! PD. Since I came early and everyone looked busy, I was helping out a bit.”

“No, why would you do all this… It’s fine. This is the staff members’ job, so just stay put.”

“Oh my…”

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

The way he glanced at the other staff members, it seemed he was worried about whether he might scold them over this.

Just from that, it was clear. That he hadn’t been helping just for show.

However,

“If you keep this up, the other actors won’t speak well of you either.”

“…What?”

“Why is that guy volunteering to do work nobody asked him to do? Thanks to him, we also have to help or it creates an awkward atmosphere. That kind of talk might come up. So you can stop helping now. I’m saying this because I’m worried about you, Seon-woo.”

“Ah… Yes.”

Seon-woo nodded blankly.

He had never thought about it that way. To think he could actually get criticized for helping with work.

He had thought it would be good if colleagues making a project together could help each other when possible.

But since Han Jeong-hun was saying this much, there was no reason to be stubborn about it.

Seon-woo obediently went to the supporting actor waiting room and waited for the other actors.

And the first person to appear was,

“What? You were already here?”

“Oh, senior.”

It was Min-hee.

Well, she was also the youngest, so it made sense for her to arrive early. Seon-woo waved at Min-hee, then saw Seul-gi beside her and bowed his head politely.

“Ah, Manager-nim came too.”

“Hello! …Um, I’m sorry about the driving last time. I’m still such a beginner driver, haha…”

“Not at all. I should be grateful that you gave me a ride.”

“But what time did you get here?”

“Uh… I think it’s been over an hour since I arrived.”

“You came quite early.”

Min-hee stuck out her tongue at Seon-woo’s words.

Well, she had always been diligent since way back. That’s what he thought.

But when he heard a little later that Seon-woo had helped the staff members, even she couldn’t help but be surprised.

Especially,

“They said you might get cursed at?”

“…Yes. So I immediately stopped and came out.”

“Hmm… That’s understandable.”

“Really?”

“Well, they might think actors are just showing off… but in a way, everyone has their own work territory, right? If you help once, you might feel like you have to keep helping, and then people who don’t help might feel awkward even though it’s not wrong of them not to. So they might dislike creating that kind of troublesome atmosphere in the first place.”

“I see…”

“Though cursing at you for it would be too harsh.”

Min-hee shrugged her shoulders.

“Fortunately, you haven’t been cursed at yet, right?”

“It’s difficult.”

“This place is ultimately about social life too.”

Hearing those words, Seon-woo admitted that he had been thinking too naively.

“I’m glad you’re here, senior. If you think I’m overdoing it in the future, please stop me.”

“…Well, I don’t think you’ll particularly overdo things.”

Min-hee crossed her arms and looked at Seon-woo with a somewhat strange expression.

“Your atmosphere has changed a bit, hasn’t it?”

“…Me?”

“Yeah. Is it because of the role? You’ve become a bit more like a puppy.”

Perhaps Min-hee’s words were right.

Since he was bursting Yoon-seo’s color orbs every day, his character trait of liking people might be gradually influencing his behavior too.

‘I should be conscious of this.’

At least Yoon-seo was a character who liked people, so it was manageable. But if he later acted as a villain character and did something strange, wouldn’t that be troublesome?

“Ugh, anyway, I’m nervous. We’ll be seeing the great seniors soon.”

“Who do you want to see the most?”

“Of course… Seong Do-won senior.”

Seong Do-won.

At that name, Seon-woo nodded.

He was the lead actor who would carry this [Red Zone]. A man who was always mentioned when discussing good male actors in their thirties.

‘I’m curious.’

Seong Do-won was an actor Seon-woo had greatly admired even before becoming an actor himself.

Not only was he good at acting, but he had this sparkling quality as a person.

Right. To be honest… Seon-woo had once admired him to the point of envy.

Unlike himself who was full of misfortune, Do-won seemed to have lived such a colorful and beautiful life.

‘…I wonder if there might be a chance to become close.’

That thought made him feel excited for no reason.

To become close friends with an actor he had admired. Wasn’t this something anyone would fantasize about at least once?

Min-hee looked at such Seon-woo and said.

“Don’t expect too much.”

“Huh? About what?”

“About anything, just don’t expect too much. They say celebrities are all lies from head to toe.”

“…Well, there is such a saying.”

She was right.

Seon-woo calmed his mind for now. Thinking that the other person would also feel burdened if he greeted them like this.

‘I’m not greeting them for my own satisfaction. Let me stay calm.’

Seon-woo thought.

When and how would be the right way to greet him? Should he visit before the script reading? Or would it be right to properly greet him after the script reading ended?

It was quite interesting in a new way. Now that he was actually on set, he realized he had to worry about these things too, not just acting.

But that worry became meaningless not long after.

On his way out after briefly stopping by the bathroom before the script reading… he ran into him.

Tall with distinct features.

A man so handsome that people walking on the street would all turn around to look was walking while looking down at the ground.

It was Seong Do-won.

Instantly, countless thoughts flashed through Seon-woo’s mind.

Greeting him now wasn’t in his plans. Should he greet him like this? Or should he pretend not to know and pass by?

…No matter how he thought about it, pretending not to know and passing by didn’t make sense.

Seon-woo first bowed politely.

“Hello, senior. Nice to meet you for the first time.”

And Seong Do-won’s steps stopped.

He slowly looked Seon-woo up and down while holding one hand with the other.

And asked.

“…Who?”

“Kim Seon-woo. I’ll be appearing in the role of ‘Yoon-seo’ this time.”

“Ah.”

Seong Do-won nodded his head.

And then, he walked past.

‘…Huh?’

Seon-woo stared at his retreating figure with a dazed expression.

This moment was more bewildering than when he had suddenly encountered Seong Do-won.

It wasn’t like he expected some grand reaction, but couldn’t he at least give a more proper response than just ‘Ah.’?

‘Don’t tell me….’

Was he being ignored?

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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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