I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 123

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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 123

Even after that day, Seon-woo’s barrage of advice continued.

“You need to ease up on the intensity in your eyes.”

“Don’t avoid eye contact. You’re putting too much force into your eyes while constantly avoiding gazes, so the emotions aren’t being conveyed properly and everything becomes muddled.”

“…Now it seems like there’s tension in your body too?”

It felt like the first time since her trainee days that she’d received this much nagging.

No, even during her trainee period, she hadn’t received this much nagging…

But despite all this, Yun Bin continued to follow Seon-woo around closely.

When Seon-woo’s gaze became serious, it was honestly a little scary… but if she backed away because it was frightening, Seong Do-won’s even more terrifying gaze would be waiting for her.

“You should be grateful that he’s helping you at all.”

Those were her manager’s words.

Yun Bin’s manager was already treating Seon-woo almost like a benefactor. He knew all too well how rare unconditional kindness was in this entertainment industry.

“If things had continued as they were, forget getting cursed at on set, you would have gotten absolutely torn apart by the public for bad acting. You’ve seen those comments saying ‘please stop making idols act,’ right?”

“I have…”

“So why did the company suddenly decide to make you act…”

Yun Bin remained silent at her manager’s lament.

Actually, she knew the reason for that.

It was because Yun Bin was the most ambiguous member in ‘Straw.’

Due to her naturally introverted personality, whenever she appeared on variety shows, she always heard comments like ‘why is she so quiet,’ and she didn’t have the vocal ability or other skills to support a solo album.

The only thing she could boast about was her appearance as a visual member.

The problem was that Straw was a 7-year group that would soon be facing disbandment.

And since Yun Bin was facing contract renewal with the company, the company needed some way to make use of Yun Bin… and the only way they could utilize her was by making her work as an actor.

In truth, it was a common and typical story in the idol industry.

Well, if Yun Bin had shown excellent acting skills here, it could have been a turning point for a brilliant second life, but unfortunately Yun Bin didn’t have that level of talent.

She could only somehow manage to struggle through and digest emotions to some degree.

‘Think positively, positively!’

Yun Bin took a deep breath while pressing her fingers with an acupressure pen.

Still, the fortunate thing was that Seon-woo was paying more attention to Yun Bin than she had expected. Not only did he occasionally act as her scene partner, but the advice he casually gave was definitely very helpful.

Of course, sometimes that advice poured out in overwhelming amounts… but Yun Bin was grateful.

After all, wasn’t he paying that much attention to her?

That’s why.

“Hyung! Over here!”

“Ah, sunbae.”

Yun Bin had asked her manager to pick up Seon-woo when commuting to the film set.

The filming location for [Red Zone] was a hospital located in Ilsan. Since Seon-woo had been taking the subway every day, she immediately brought up the topic.

“Thank you, sunbae. Manager-nim, thank you for always driving us too.”

“Oh, not at all! I’m just grateful that you always take care of our Yun Bin. I could do even more than this! If you want to go somewhere fun, just let me know. I’ll be your driver!”

“…Haha, I’m grateful just for the offer.”

Seon-woo laughed awkwardly.

Unlike the introverted Yun Bin, her manager always seemed to have flames burning in his eyes whenever he saw Seon-woo. It was a bit burdensome.

“Hyung, um… you’re filming today, right?”

“Ah, yes. Scene 77.”

“…It seems like it’s going to be incredible.”

Yun Bin’s eyes sparkled.

Scene 77. It was the scene where Seon-woo collapses upon hearing that Grandmother, who had collapsed from intra-abdominal bleeding, had regained consciousness.

From the first time Yun Bin saw that scene, she thought about it. If she were asked to act out this scene… she had no confidence she could pull it off.

The frustration of not being able to properly examine a patient as a doctor, and the relief felt upon finally hearing news that she was okay… how could one fully express such complex emotions?

For someone who had just entered acting, it was an emotional line that was hard to even imagine.

But Seon-woo would probably pull it off without much difficulty.

‘He’s an amazing hyung.’

Yun Bin also knew roughly about Seon-woo.

He hadn’t even been acting for a full year yet. Before that, he was someone who had been diligently studying.

Honestly, it was still hard to believe. The Seon-woo she saw on set was… truly someone who could be said to have been born to be an actor.

It was still vivid in her memory.

Seon-woo’s appearance as he acted with his own complete flow without wavering even in front of Seong Do-won’s fire-like acting.

Everyone watching him at that time murmured like this:

—Wow, he’s something special.

Through her idol career, Yun Bin had seen countless people.

All of them sparkling individuals.

Among them were those called ‘superstars’ or even ‘world stars.’ Seeing such people, Yun Bin thought that they seemed to have been born as stars from birth.

Should she say they seemed to be a different species altogether?

And when looking at Seon-woo… Yun Bin felt a similar feeling to when she looked at those stars.

Should she call it a sense of distance that could never be narrowed through effort alone? She just vaguely realized it. Ah, even if I acted for my entire life, I probably couldn’t act like this person… like that.

Well, that didn’t give Yun Bin a sense of frustration.

Idols don’t really live for their own sense of superiority as much as you’d think. It’s an industry where people better than yourself are commonly scattered everywhere you look.

Moreover, an idol like Yun Bin who was barely hanging on at the tail end of the first tier… it was difficult to become a narcissist even if she wanted to.

Anyway,

“I’m really so curious about how hyung will act today. Today’s scene is… completely a scene for Yoon-seo, isn’t it?”

“That’s true.”

The expression ‘setting the stage’ would be more accurate.

In all the scenes so far… there hadn’t been a scene where only Yoon-seo and his emotional line could stand out. Of course, when Yoon-seo panicked, it was also a scene where Yoon-seo was highlighted as the main focus, but what needed to be focused on in that moment wasn’t Yoon-seo himself but the urgently flowing situation itself.

But in this scene… I’ll be able to show who Yoon-seo truly is as a person.

‘How should I express it.’

Seon-woo’s gaze became serious.

If Yun Bin was saying this much, this scene could truly be considered one of the most important scenes for Seon-woo.

It was a scene that would show viewers why they should remember Yoon-seo.

Seon-woo had been deeply troubled ahead of this acting performance.

Because he wanted to do well? Well, he naturally had the desire to do well… but it was a more fundamental concern than that.

‘How should Yoon-seo be portrayed as a person.’

Who was Yoon-seo?

It was ironic. Despite having constantly burst Yoon-seo’s Color Orbs in daily life for the past few weeks, living and thinking solely from Yoon-seo’s perspective… Seon-woo still felt like he didn’t truly know Yoon-seo.

It was definitely comparable to when he acted as Kim Seon-woo in [One Room].

In Kim Seon-woo’s case, since the character was created with Seon-woo as the model, there were fewer aspects that Seon-woo needed to work hard to understand.

But Yoon-seo was someone too different from Seon-woo.

First of all, fundamentally, Seon-woo wasn’t as… kind as Yoon-seo.

‘The fact that he knows how to cry for others already makes us too different.’

Seon-woo thought of himself as just an ordinary person who was neither kind nor evil.

He was fundamentally distant from Yoon-seo’s nearly infinite altruism. He had never harbored such feelings in the first place, and honestly, it was difficult to understand.

When he was already busy taking care of himself, how could someone look after others like that?

So while helping Yun Bin, Seon-woo secretly harbored such expectations.

By helping Yun Bin, perhaps he could come to understand Yoon-seo’s feelings, even just a little… such expectations.

But perhaps this was wrong from the starting line.

In the end, it meant helping while expecting something in return.

It was quite distant from Yoon-seo’s heart in many ways.

‘I need to properly understand this feeling.’

It couldn’t end with just thinking that Yoon-seo must be a good person.

He needed to fundamentally understand what kind of emotion it was to be able to devote one’s entire heart for people.

Of course, not understanding it didn’t mean he couldn’t act.

In fact, Seon-woo had been acting Yoon-seo well so far. The PD had rarely pointed out anything, and the atmosphere was one of fully accepting the Yoon-seo he was currently expressing.

But… Seon-woo the actor could tell. The Yoon-seo he was currently portraying was 2% lacking.

One might think it was just 2%.

But that 2% was the final 2% that would breathe life into the character of Yoon-seo. It could be called the finishing touch, so to speak.

He wanted to avoid failing to properly convey who Yoon-seo was as a person because he couldn’t add that one dot.

Upon hearing this story, Yun Bin,

“…That’s amazing.”

She was genuinely impressed.

She had never thought Seon-woo’s acting was lacking. In Yun Bin’s eyes, Seon-woo was simply an amazing senior with many qualities worth emulating.

However, she didn’t think Seon-woo was being unnecessarily greedy either.

Seon-woo was a smart person. If he was worrying about something, it must be a problem worth worrying about.

“Amazing? I’m just setting pointlessly high goals.”

Seon-woo let out a sigh.

Nothing was more bitter than receiving praise for goals he hadn’t even achieved. But Yun Bin slowly shook her head.

“Um, among our members… there was a friend who studied English diligently even before debut.”

“…English?”

Seon-woo tilted his head.

He couldn’t understand why English suddenly came up.

Seeing such a Seon-woo, Yun Bin bit back a smile. It was a subtle smile that seemed both proud and admiring.

“She always said that. That she was going to become a world star, so she wanted to communicate freely with overseas fans when that time came. And… thanks to that, that member actually has the most overseas fans in our group.”

“Oh… that’s amazing.”

“Right? So I think that way. Setting high goals is actually something worth applauding.”

She meant it sincerely.

And at the same time, she had some faith. No matter how high the goal, Seon-woo seemed like he would somehow achieve it… such vague faith.

She was just a little curious.

The acting already seemed sufficiently alive to her, but if Seon-woo managed to fill in this remaining 2% he wanted…

‘What kind of acting would it be?’

At least she felt she knew this much.

That acting would surely… be like a 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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