I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 124

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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 124

‘Senior really is a senior, after all.’

Since she showed such a clumsy side on the film set, I didn’t really feel it… but the experience of a 7th-year idol really isn’t something to ignore.

She talks about it like it’s nothing, but I can feel that she’s subtly been through a lot of ups and downs.

Having high goals is something praiseworthy in itself.

Yun Bin probably didn’t know. That those words left a bigger impact on Seon-woo than she thought.

‘…I was actually a bit worried about it.’

I wondered if my ideals were pointlessly too high.

While the desire to do well is good, being too greedy wouldn’t be good. I was a little worried that trying too hard to do better than what was given to him might end up holding him back.

But Yun Bin’s words seemed to give Seon-woo a kind of absolution.

It felt like she was telling him that no matter how high he looked, it wouldn’t be a sin.

‘Senior Yun Bin, she’s nice.’

It was a moment when the person called Yun Bin grew a little bigger in Seon-woo’s heart.

Well, of course, this alone didn’t solve the problem Seon-woo was currently facing. He still didn’t fully understand Yoon-seo’s feelings… and it didn’t seem like his understanding would deepen much just with time passing.

He had hit a wall… it would be fair to express it that way.

The problem was that there wasn’t enough time to overcome that wall.

“Alright, we’re rolling. Actors, please standby at your positions!”

It wasn’t Seon-woo’s turn just yet.

But it was also true that there wasn’t much time left until Seon-woo’s call would come. In just a few hours, Seon-woo would have to be in front of the camera too.

He wanted to find an answer by then.

No, he wanted to find at least a clue.

Selfless goodwill.

That heart that simply wants to save others… exactly what kind of thing was it.

Of course, even acting as he was now, he could probably imitate it to some degree.

But he didn’t want to be satisfied with that. He didn’t want to end it as just imitation. Even if he couldn’t become Yoon-seo completely… he wanted to properly understand Yoon-seo’s heart at least. It meant he didn’t want to act without knowing him.

And,

“Writer.”

“Oh? Seon-woo. What’s the matter?”

“I wanted to get some advice.”

The person who could best help with that was already decided.

Yu Eun-jeong. Yoon-seo was a character she had written herself. As such, he thought she would have the answer to what Seon-woo was struggling with.

The answer to why Yoon-seo wanted so desperately to save people.

But,

“I don’t know that either?”

Yu Eun-jeong, who heard Seon-woo’s question, shook her head with a bright face.

He hadn’t expected to hear such words. When Seon-woo looked at Yu Eun-jeong with a somewhat dazed expression, she laughed as if embarrassed and said.

“I don’t penetrate the psychology of every character completely. Naturally, that goodwill that Yoon-seo has… didn’t come from within me either.”

“…Then how did you think while writing it?”

“Hmm. I did want to write such a character.”

Yu Eun-jeong thought for a moment before answering.

“When people think of ‘doctor,’ there’s something they expect, you know. Someone who values human life above all else, and grieves over someone’s illness and death accordingly… that kind of image. I wanted to portray the young version of the kind of doctor people would ideally think of.”

That was Yoon-seo.

“In short, a pure doctor.”

A weak and pure doctor.

He knew it already, but somehow it sounded new again. Because he learned a bit more about what kind of thinking gave birth to the character called Yoon-seo.

“If you ask me how someone can be so pure… I don’t know that either. I wanted to write something I didn’t know. But when I saw you during the audition, Seon-woo… I just had that thought.”

Yu Eun-jeong looked straight at Seon-woo.

With that characteristic expression of hers. Taking off her social mask, thinking of nothing but the work… those slightly dangerous-looking eyes.

“I felt like you, Seon-woo, could understand that thing I don’t know.”

Perhaps this was the difference between a writer and an actor.

The writer proposes the character, and the actor delves into the character. It means that giving vitality to a role that’s nothing more than printed words on paper is ultimately the actor’s responsibility.

‘It kind of feels like she’s telling me to figure it out myself in the end…’

But he couldn’t demand any more answers than this.

What could he do when Yu Eun-jeong herself said she didn’t know.

Her words about how she felt like Seon-woo could know that answer did bother him a bit… but he couldn’t bring himself to ask why she thought that.

He had already asked enough questions.

If she had returned the answer of “I’m expecting it” to that question, then all he had to do now was live up to that expectation.

Sometimes that expectation and trust felt burdensome, but it would be troublesome if he couldn’t overcome even that level of pressure.

An opportunity that all other actors could only dream of was now approaching him.

He couldn’t mess this up.

‘And for Yoon-seo’s sake too…’

Seon-woo burst Yoon-seo’s Color Orb.

He could feel his heart, dyed like a yellow flower field, spreading throughout this hospital. A feeling as if he was embracing everyone in the hospital in his heart.

A feeling of not wanting to lose anyone.

He could understand.

That there was no calculation whatsoever in Yoon-seo’s care for patients.

Seon-woo agreed with that part too. There’s no need for a reason when it comes to saving people’s lives.

But Yoon-seo wasn’t just harboring simple, light feelings like ‘I want to save the person in front of me.’

Yoon-seo thinks she wants to save the person in front of her even if it means sacrificing everything she has. That feeling is so overwhelming that… just the thought of possibly losing a patient makes her heart crumble and fall into panic.

…How on earth.

What could lead someone to… cherish all strangers they’ve never even met so preciously like that?

“Seon-woo! You need to get ready for the shoot now!”

“Ah, yes! I’ll be right there!”

Unfortunately, filming time came around before Seon-woo could find that answer.

Seon-woo chewed his lips and got up. It’s still not enough. He still hasn’t properly understood Yoon-seo yet…

But he couldn’t very well ask them to wait because he wasn’t ready yet.

Even if they did wait, it didn’t seem like he’d get that answer right away anyway.

But when he entered the set like that, Seong Do-won frowned at Seon-woo.

“Hey. What’s with that expression?”

“…Ah, I’m sorry. I think I’m a bit nervous.”

“Get it together. Don’t space out on irrelevant things and cause trouble for everyone.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

Seon-woo bowed his head at Seong Do-won’s rebuke.

Though his words were aggressively harsh to an excessive degree, Seon-woo didn’t particularly dislike Seong Do-won. This was just Seong Do-won’s default setting… and in any case, Seong Do-won as an actor was certainly someone worthy of respect.

‘If I talked to Do-won sunbae about this… would he know the answer?’

But it was hard to bring himself to ask.

It didn’t seem like he’d give him an answer anyway, and he’d probably just get scolded with something like ‘Do I have to look after your acting too? Handle your own work yourself.’

And there was no time to ask anyway.

“Alright, we’re going in. Ready~ Action!”

The cue was given, and Seong Do-won immediately entered his acting.

The content of the scene was as follows.

Nursing Station.

Yoon-seo stands at the counter organizing charts. Lee Hyeok, who came in after finishing emergency treatment, looks at Yoon-seo with a displeased expression. Then, seeing a text message on the screen, he sighs and glares at Yoon-seo.

Lee Hyeok: Kim Yoon-seo.

Yoon-seo: …Yes, Professor.

Lee Hyeok: Patient Lee Jeong-ja has regained consciousness. Her verbal and behavioral responses are normal too.

Yoon-seo: Yes…?

Lee Hyeok: But don’t breathe a sigh of relief over this. This was just lucky. If you don’t properly pay attention to what you should be paying attention to, patients will end up having to rely on luck rather than doctors. (Glares at Yoon-seo with cold eyes.) So, get your act together.

Yoon-seo: (Gasping for breath as if hyperventilating) Th, thank goodness.

Lee Hyeok: What?

Yoon-seo: Th, thank goodness… (Yoon-seo’s legs give out and she sits down with her back against the counter.) Th, thank goodness. Thank goodness. Ugh…

Lee Hyeok stares blankly at Yoon-seo like that, then sighs and turns his head away.

Lee Hyeok: Hopeless fool.

Even while looking at this script, he thought about it.

Lee Hyeok is really like Seong Do-won. The way he seems oddly like a character with personality disorders too… you could say that if Lee Hyeok thinks only of patients, then Seong Do-won thinking only of acting meshes well with that.

‘…Wait a minute.’

That was the moment.

The moment Seon-woo’s eyes sparkled with the feeling that something was about to come to him,

“Kim Yoon-seo.”

Seong Do-won’s acting began.

Without time to process the inspiration that had come, Seon-woo focused on his acting. But even while doing so, he unconsciously groped for the inspiration he’d just received.

“…Yes, Professor.”

“Patient Lee Jeong-ja has regained consciousness. Her verbal and behavioral responses are normal too.”

“Yes…?”

The content of the inspiration was simple.

If Seong Do-won’s feelings about acting were the same as Lee Hyeok’s feelings about patients, then couldn’t the same apply to Seon-woo?

Couldn’t he overlay the pure feelings Seon-woo had about acting… onto Yoon-seo’s purity?

Seon-woo instinctively knew that was the right answer.

But what was regrettable was the timing. If he could just face and organize that inspiration a little more properly, he felt like he could show that developed acting… but honestly, it was difficult to pull that off now that he’d already entered the acting.

Thanks to that,

“Th, thank goodness. Thank goodness…”

“Hopeless fool.”

“———Cut!”

By the time he had roughly figured out the answer to how to melt that feeling into his performance, the filming was already over. He should have shown this properly. He felt like he could have shown what kind of person Yoon-seo really was…

But there was still hope.

This was only the first take. Considering that film sets usually shoot three to five times, he could show a more proper performance in the next take.

However,

“Hmm. That was really clean, wasn’t it? We could just go to the next scene like this.”

…This is problematic.

Unexpected words came out of Han Jeong-hun’s mouth.

Just move on? He almost wished he had made an NG instead. They can’t move on like this. If they filmed once more, he felt like he could show something incomparably better than what they just did.

“…”

Seon-woo’s lips twitched.

He wanted to speak. To ask if they could possibly film once more. But that wasn’t something Seon-woo, a mere newcomer, could dare to say carelessly. Even veteran actors with years of experience can’t easily talk to PDs about things like reshoots, so if Seon-woo did that… rumors might spread like ‘Who does he think he is to be so stubborn already?’

So should he risk the danger and speak up anyway?

He didn’t know. He couldn’t make the decision easily. But even during that time, the staff members were already preparing to move the filming equipment to the next location.

He had to speak up.

He had to!

“P….”

“PD-nim.”

And that was the moment.

Seong Do-won, who had been watching Seon-woo’s face change moment by moment, opened his mouth with a sigh.

Han Jeong-hun’s eyes widened slightly.

“Oh, yes. What’s the matter, Do-won?”

“Um… could we possibly shoot this scene one more time?”

“Oh, something must have felt lacking. Sure, let’s do that.”

Han Jeong-hun accepted so easily that it made Seon-woo’s worries seem pointless.

Of course, it probably helped a lot that it was Seong Do-won who brought it up.

Seon-woo stared blankly at Seong Do-won. There didn’t seem to be anything Seong Do-won would have found lacking. Was he doing this because of that? When Seon-woo looked at Seong Do-won,

“What.”

“…Nothing.”

“Don’t think about other things and focus.”

Instead, he just got scolded again like this.

He didn’t know. It seemed like Seong Do-won had read his mind and acted for him… but thinking of his usual behavior, it also seemed like he was overthinking.

Seon-woo focused on his acting for now.

Somehow he had gotten one more chance. But there might not be a second chance. If he showed mediocre acting here, they might just say ‘let’s just use the previous take’ and move on.

It meant he had to show his best thinking this was the last chance.

Seon-woo burst the Color Orb once again.

There was only one thing to focus on. Yoon-seo’s heart toward patients was no different from Seon-woo’s toward acting.

Thinking that way, he could completely understand the feelings Yoon-seo had. If all lives felt that lovable, if they felt that beautiful… she wouldn’t be able to bear watching those lives fade away.

Just like Seon-woo couldn’t bear to live a gray life again.

In the end, Yoon-seo was also hoping for something.

A colorful world.

That was all he needed to express.

Seon-woo opened his eyes. And facing Seong Do-won who had approached at some point, he began to unfold Yoon-seo’s colors.

And a moment later,

“…Wow.”

Han Jeong-hun let out a hollow laugh.

“What would have happened if we hadn’t reshot this?”

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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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