I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 119

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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 119

Eun-seok’s judgment that the production team would worry about Seon-woo wasn’t wrong.

And it wasn’t just Seon-woo’s story. Min-hee was actually in almost the same situation as Seon-woo.

Newcomers from a theater troupe.

Although they had shown good acting in [One Room], that wasn’t the kind of acting expected from drama supporting actors… so it was natural to have concerns like Eun-seok did.

When the filming day actually approached, quite a lot of people’s attention was focused on the two of them.

However, the reason for that attention wasn’t because of concerns about them.

“What exactly is Cheongseong doing?”

“Well, Cheongseong might be understandable… but I’m really curious about that friend Do-young. How do you make your debut work with Director Yu Chan-woo’s debut film?”

“Does that place have good energy? Isn’t that theater in a Baesan-imsu area, like some kind of blessed location?”

“…Could that be it?”

It had reached the point where even feng shui was being mentioned.

And PD Han Jeong-hun was no exception to this.

“What kind of crazy thing could they be doing now…”

Han Jeong-hun was somewhat acquainted with Yu Chan-woo.

No, rather than being acquainted… it would be fair to say they were quite close friends. Yu Chan-woo was his university junior. The kind of relationship where they saw each other’s faces almost every day in the department room.

But now they had grown too far apart.

Han Jeong-hun was just a drama PD, while Yu Chan-woo had become a director known worldwide. Foreign universities even often had lectures composed entirely of exploring his filmography.

Honestly, this gap wasn’t surprising.

From the time they talked about their dreams in the department room, Han Jeong-hun already knew that Yu Chan-woo was a different kind of person from him.

Genius usually shows itself even before it bears fruit.

The angles Yu Chan-woo would casually capture, the direction he would nonchalantly suggest… all of it felt like a wall to Han Jeong-hun.

How does he come up with something like that in an instant? To that extent… every moment of Yu Chan-woo was filled with inspiration.

That’s why he quickly gave up on being a film director and switched to the drama PD path.

Because he felt it while watching Yu Chan-woo. That movies should be made by people like that.

Of course, being a drama PD wasn’t easy work either, and in some aspects it was actually more demanding than film, but fortunately Han Jeong-hun had talent in those areas.

Should I say he was good at catching the points worth laughing at in trivial daily life.

Thanks to that, all the works he had directed so far had been called well-made productions and received an overwhelming amount of love from people.

‘I was lucky.’

Han Jeong-hun had no complaints about that reality.

He knew his place. What he wanted to film wasn’t some tremendous masterpiece. Not something that critics would praise while shedding tears.

Just something warm, that would make people wait a week, and that they would suddenly remember and look up again years later.

A drama that could bring joy to people.

Han Jeong-hun’s goal was that modest.

That’s why he felt even more strange.

For Cheongseong’s newcomers to approach both Yu Chan-woo and Han Jeong-hun like this. He could think of it as coincidence and move on, but it also seemed like some kind of sign.

A sign telling him to challenge Yu Chan-woo.

“…The fields are too different to challenge, aren’t they?”

And Yu Eun-jeong, who heard that story, tilted her head as if she couldn’t relate at all.

Han Jeong-hun smiled bitterly.

“Well, that’s true. It’s just my own competitiveness? No, calling it competitiveness is a bit…”

“Desire for improvement?”

“Ah, right. Desire for improvement. That’s exactly the feeling. Wanting to do better work.”

“Well, if you have that mindset, PD, that’s good for me.”

“…But, Writer.”

“Yes?”

“Why did you bother coming? You didn’t need to come.”

Han Jeong-hun looked back at Yu Eun-jeong, who was naturally making conversation, and asked.

Writers being present on set is actually rarer than you’d think. Being on set would interfere with script work, and even if the script was completely finished… there was no particular reason to come and be there.

Yu Eun-jeong answered with a mischievous smile.

“I might be useful, you know? The actors might have things they want to discuss about their characters…”

“That’s true, but it seems like you’re suffering unnecessarily just for that one thing.”

“Wait, you’re not telling me to go home because I’m in the way, are you?”

“…No. I feel reassured and good having you here, Writer.”

“You seemed to hesitate just now…”

Yu Eun-jeong’s eyes narrowed, and Han Jeong-hun avoided her gaze.

And naturally changed the subject.

“Anyway, this is good news for us too.”

“…What is? Director Yu Chan-woo using newcomers?”

“Yes. Seon-woo and Min-hee are also from the same Cheongseong.”

Han Jeong-hun’s eyes became calm.

“We’ve gained a marketing element.”

“Hmm, Cheongseong… Things have been unusual there lately. At this rate, that place might become one of the new gateways to success.”

It was a fairly plausible story.

If quality actors continued to emerge from there… at some point the name Cheongseong itself would become a brand.

Should I say it could play a role similar to academic background in society.

…Well, of course it was still something that needed more observation.

Only when results supported it more would the name Cheongseong carry more weight.

The same went for that actor Cha Do-young, and Seon-woo and Min-hee who were here right now had to show something.

‘I wonder how quickly they’ll adapt?’

During the script reading, both of their acting had no particular flaws.

But acting directly in front of a camera is different.

How much did they understand about Film Acting?

Could they really… show something?

Something.

* * *

Meanwhile,

“…I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Senior, do you know how many times you’ve gone to the bathroom now?”

“I know! But I’m nervous, what can I do!”

Min-hee had definitely been to the bathroom more than five times already.

She didn’t seem this nervous during [One Room]… Well, there she wasn’t filming with seniors like now, so she probably felt more at ease.

‘This is the first time I’ve seen Min-hee senior this nervous.’

Since she always showed a mature side, it felt a bit unfamiliar whenever he saw her like this. It made him realize anew that she was the same age as him.

And watching Min-hee leave like that, a woman chuckled softly.

“I didn’t notice at first, but… the more I see Min-hee, the cuter she gets?”

Chae Seo-ryeong.

She was the female lead of [Red Zone].

In the work, she was the actor playing ‘Sang-ah’, the girlfriend of Seong Do-won and Lee Hyeok.

Even wearing a common doctor’s gown, her appearance somehow looked glamorous. She was indeed what you’d call a leading actress.

Being a lead, he initially thought she’d be difficult to approach… but she had a surprisingly talkative personality and liked grabbing people here and there to chat.

Only her exterior was glamorous, but her personality was… like an aunt who grabs her nephew on holidays and chatters all day long.

“…I find it hard to agree carelessly.”

“Huh? Why? Because she’s your senior? But aren’t you two debut peers in broadcasting?”

“That’s what’s troubling me. I feel like the hierarchy might get confusingly tangled later.”

“I see, that could happen. Cheongseong, right? Your theater troupe.”

Chae Seo-ryeong nodded.

And muttered with a wistful expression.

“It is famous.”

“Did you know about it before?”

“Unless you have no interest in theater, everyone who’s interested would know, right? I’ve secretly gone to watch a few times. That’s how I know who Director Yu Chan-woo’s rookie is this time.”

Chae Seo-ryeong’s lips curved into a wide smile.

“So I’m looking forward to it. That guy… has been quite a waste of talent for a while.”

“…He really is a cool hyung.”

“But it’s better not to talk about this stuff in front of that guy.”

That guy?

Seon-woo glanced toward where Chae Seo-ryeong was gesturing with her chin. And he froze in place.

Seong Do-won was glaring at them with cold eyes.

“…He’s not glaring at us right now, is he?”

“No, he probably is. More precisely, he’s glaring at you.”

“Me?”

Why?

Seon-woo’s expression became bewildered. He hadn’t done anything to earn Seong Do-won’s hatred. No, to begin with, his only interaction with him was being ignored when he greeted him before…

Reading Seon-woo’s mind, Chae Seo-ryeong grinned mischievously.

“He got rejected by Director Yu Chan-woo.”

“…Excuse me?”

“It’s a famous story. He apparently went and begged to work together on the next project, making a big fuss. But then that project is being done by a kid from your theater troupe… and a complete newcomer at that. His mood must be pretty sour, don’t you think?”

“Ah…”

This was unexpected news.

Chae Seo-ryeong grinned mischievously as she spoke teasingly.

“Be careful from now on. If he catches you slipping up in front of him, you might get absolutely destroyed.”

“…Yes.”

Seon-woo gulped.

He didn’t know how much of what Chae Seo-ryeong said was true… but at least it was certain that Seong Do-won didn’t look pleased.

Even right now, he was looking at him with quite a displeased expression.

‘I really need to do this properly.’

Today’s filming was the opening scene.

The very scene they had read during the last script reading. The scene where acute intra-abdominal bleeding is observed in a grandmother who came to the emergency room with stomach pain, causing panic.

And then the scene where he gets thoroughly scolded by Lee Hyeok.

He was confident about the panic scene at least.

What Seon-woo had practiced most intensively over the past few weeks was Yoon-seo’s characteristic ‘panic’ emotion.

However, the problem was when acting with Seong Do-won…

‘Will we have good chemistry?’

He didn’t know.

He had no choice but to face it head-on.

That’s when it happened.

“Don’t be too nervous.”

Someone patted and stroked Seon-woo’s back.

It was a supporting actor who would be acting with Seon-woo. The actor playing the grandmother patient who becomes critical while Seon-woo is treating her. Seeing her smile gently, Seon-woo hurriedly shook his head.

“Oh, no. It’s fine.”

“Yeah. It’ll be fine. So don’t be too nervous. You can do well. No, it’s okay if you don’t do well. Then we can just do it again.”

“….”

Seon-woo was momentarily speechless.

It’s okay if you don’t do well. It was the first time he’d heard such words.

Even though he’d often heard things like ‘do your best’ or ‘you can do it’… he’d never thought that it was okay to not do well.

“Thank you, Teacher.”

Seon-woo bowed his head deeply.

Honestly, he couldn’t quite relate to the words that it was okay to not do well right now… but he could feel that this was advice given not as an actor, but as a person, as an adult.

Then he should bow his head for now.

And…

‘Somehow my heart feels at ease.’

The pressure and burden he’d felt just moments ago seemed to have lessened considerably.

It was a moment when he realized that this place too was where people lived. The air on the film set that had felt suffocating now felt a bit more comfortable.

Seon-woo smiled.

To be honest, the thought that he still had to do well hadn’t disappeared.

But the feeling was different from before.

If earlier it had been a feeling like an obsession that he had to somehow pull it off… now it was something more optimistic, you could say.

It felt like he could just do it somehow.

‘…Let me show them.’

Someone had said it before.

That actors must constantly prove themselves. It wouldn’t be a matter of whether you’re a rookie or not. No matter how much experience you accumulate… even if he reached the level of Seong Do-won or Lee Mu-beom, he would still have to keep proving himself.

Then he had to get used to it.

Seon-woo took a slow, deep breath.

He could feel it.

With each breath in and out, his pounding heart was slowly finding stability.

Anxiety and obsession were fading, and in their place, conviction and passion were settling in.

“Seon-woo, we’re going into the shoot. Please get ready.”

“Yes! Understood!”

That he could paint it.

On this set, his painting.

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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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