I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 125

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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 125

Seon-woo’s acting was actually decent even during the first take.

That’s why they were going to move on to the next scene right away. It seemed like there wouldn’t be much improvement even if they filmed it again.

However,

‘I need to reflect on this.’

Watching Seon-woo’s subsequent acting, Han Jeong-hun realized he had been complacent.

No improvement? Nonsense. Seon-woo’s acting now was on a completely different level from before.

Previously, it was just relief and tension melting away upon hearing that Lee Jeong-ja had regained consciousness…

‘Now it feels completely overwhelming.’

Yes. The word “overwhelming” was most accurate.

The feeling of being completely overwhelmed and collapsing under the emotions surging from his chest. What was interesting was the texture of that emotion.

Was it simply relief that the patient didn’t die? No, it wasn’t that. It was a more intuitive and essential emotion.

I’m glad she’s alive.

Forget about my responsibility and everything else, I’m just glad she’s alive…

‘I’m happy.’

Han Jeong-hun was dumbfounded.

The emotional line was completely different compared to the first performance. Had he grown in that short time?

“…What should we do?”

Just then, Yu Eun-jeong’s voice rang out from beside him.

Again with that characteristic frightening look, glaring at Seon-woo as if she wanted to devour him.

“I really like that Yoon-seo.”

“Did it come out exactly as you envisioned, Writer?”

“No.”

Yu Eun-jeong shook her head.

“Even parts I hadn’t thought of came out. I’m so proud I want to buy him something to eat. What does Seon-woo like?”

“Haha…”

Instead of answering, Han Jeong-hun smiled faintly and shook his head.

He wondered how such a change could happen in such a short time… but it wasn’t incomprehensible. Sometimes a small inspiration could bring about big changes.

It meant Seon-woo was always keeping his nerves sharp. Sharp enough not to miss even a fragment of small inspiration that came during acting.

‘I can’t help but adore him.’

It was obvious.

Despite all the public praise calling him a genius and whatnot, his pride never swelled… He was always twisting his body to give his best, or even more than that.

A sight that couldn’t help but be endearing, whether as a director or as a person.

Han Jeong-hun repeated the filming one more time after that.

Just in case his acting might get even better. But perhaps he had already drawn out all his acting ability to his limit, as there wasn’t much difference compared to the second take.

Finally,

“Cut! Good. Let’s wrap it up here!”

Han Jeong-hun finished the scene, and finally Seon-woo could relax and catch his breath.

‘…Thank goodness.’

If they hadn’t done a retake, Yoon-seo’s true nature wouldn’t have been properly shown to the viewers. Then Seon-woo would have had to act as a character whose first button was wrongly fastened throughout the entire filming.

Thanks to getting another chance, Seon-woo poured his consciousness solely into acting with a level of concentration he wondered if he’d ever experienced in his life.

And the emotions he felt as Yoon-seo at that moment… were beautiful.

The yellow petals that had been withering and crumbling as if they would wilt at any moment began to bloom fully, and the leaves sparkled and shone as if bathed in sunlight.

Even the world that Lee Hyeok had dyed crimson or blood-red… at this moment felt as solid and dependable as the soil where one could take root and lean on.

It was truly just for an instant… but piercing through all the fear that Yoon-seo possessed, his love for life shone brightly.

The sense of fulfillment felt at that moment.

It was the moment when 2% was filled. The feeling of the last gear that wouldn’t fit finally meshing and turning.

He could be certain.

At this moment, Yoon-seo was completely alive.

“…Thank you, senior.”

Seon-woo, who had been savoring that afterglow, soon bowed deeply toward Seong Do-won.

Seong Do-won frowned.

“What, what are you suddenly thankful for.”

“For suggesting we redo the filming. You did that thinking of me… didn’t you?”

“Nonsense.”

Seong Do-won chuckled.

“I just didn’t like your acting so I said let’s do it again. I also didn’t want to see you making a face like you needed to take a dump.”

…Even though his words were rough, wasn’t he essentially saying he did it because he was thinking of Seon-woo?

But if he pointed that out, it seemed like only harsher words would come back, so Seon-woo just bowed his head.

“Yes. Still, thank you.”

“…Do it properly.”

The end was finished with the usual scolding as always.

Watching Seong Do-won leave while grumbling, Seon-woo smiled inwardly. It seemed like he had become somewhat less uncomfortable compared to the beginning.

‘…Either way, it’s fortunate.’

Seon-woo headed to the waiting room for now. Today’s filming ended here. Now he needed to rest for a bit and then prepare for the next scene.

But just as he had almost reached the waiting room.

In that instant, his legs gave out, and Seon-woo slid down against the wall right in front of the door.

“…What the.”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

Was it because he had concentrated too much on acting? It seemed like he was literally drained of energy. Even when he tried to put strength into his legs, no power would come.

There was no choice. Since it had come to this, Seon-woo decided to rest against the wall for a moment.

It felt like all the blood vessels in his body were throbbing.

And then,

“…What are you doing?”

“Ah, senior.”

Min-hee appeared.

The way she looked at Seon-woo with a bewildered expression suggested that his current state must look quite ridiculous. Seon-woo shook his head in embarrassment.

“My legs gave out.”

“…You’re weak, so weak. Want me to get you something? Like a chocolate bar or something?”

“I’m fine… Actually, yes. Please give me some. I think my blood sugar dropped.”

“What kind of acting did you do to make your legs give out?”

“I know, right. I’m a bit bewildered myself.”

“Here, eat this first.”

Seon-woo accepted the chocolate bar Min-hee handed him.

After taking a bite, he slowly exhaled as if he didn’t even have the strength to eat.

“I can’t eat it….”

“Stop being dramatic and eat. You need to eat to get your strength back.”

Min-hee sounded just like a mother.

Seon-woo smiled weakly and forced himself to swallow the chocolate bar. And that’s when it happened. Yu Eun-jeong, who had been walking down the hallway in the distance, spotted Seon-woo and came running over frantically.

Her running was so reckless that even Min-hee was startled and worried about her.

“W-Writer! Be careful! You’ll fall!”

“…Ah, ah. Yes. Sorry. I just had something to talk to Seon-woo about. But why are you sitting on the floor like that?”

“He’s a bit drained and his legs gave out for a moment.”

“I see.”

His legs gave out?

Yu Eun-jeong’s eyes widened momentarily at the unexpected words, but soon she brushed it off as if it wasn’t important.

And she plopped down in front of Seon-woo.

“Seon-woo, let me ask you something.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Why did you act like that?”

Why did he act like that.

It was an unexpected question. Yu Eun-jeong stared intently at Seon-woo. As if that was the only thing she cared about right now.

“All I told you was that Yoon-seo is pure.”

“So I put in my most pure part.”

“…What part is that?”

“My feelings toward acting.”

Yu Eun-jeong slowly tilted her head.

She seemed to need time to understand what that meant. Seon-woo quietly waited for her. Then she soon snapped her fingers and asked.

“You connected your feelings toward acting to Yoon-seo’s feelings toward patients?”

“Yes. I thought the two were essentially similar.”

“What is acting to you, Seon-woo?”

Yu Eun-jeong looked straight at Seon-woo.

In that moment, Seon-woo was at a loss for words. While he had realized that his and Yoon-seo’s hearts were in sync, he hadn’t clearly sorted out what acting meant to him.

Seon-woo thought.

What was acting to him?

What was it that allowed him to confidently say it was the same as that noble and compassionate desire to save patients?

“…Something I want to put my whole heart into.”

“Putting your whole heart into it….”

“Yes, for now I can only express it that way. I don’t know exactly how to describe this.”

Seon-woo smiled bitterly and scratched his head.

It felt a bit embarrassing, like he was confessing that he was acting with emotions that weren’t even properly sorted out.

But Yu Eun-jeong looked at Seon-woo and chuckled.

“Really? I think I know what it is.”

“…Pardon?”

“Anyone can see it’s love.”

It was a matter-of-fact tone.

Like she was stating common sense, such as drinking water when you’re thirsty.

“Putting your whole heart into something can only be love. You love acting, Seon-woo.”

“Love….”

Seon-woo held that word in his mouth with a somewhat bewildered expression.

Love. It was embarrassing to admit, but at this age, he had never properly experienced the emotion called love.

It felt so idealistic that he wondered if he would ever be capable of such a thing in his lifetime.

But to think he was already doing it.

“Well, good. Thanks to you, I got some good inspiration.”

Yu Eun-jeong pressed her hands against the floor and stood up. Then she dusted off her palms, looked down at Seon-woo, and grinned.

“Seon-woo.”

“Yes.”

“If I ever have a character I wrote while thinking of you… would you appear in my work then?”

It was a question that didn’t need any consideration.

“It would be an honor for me.”

“Great, that’s a promise, okay? …Ugh, I can’t stand it. Then I’ll go try to write something!”

Yu Eun-jeong left with steps as hurried as when she had arrived.

If she didn’t quickly pour out all the inspiration she had just received somewhere, her whole body felt like it would itch her to death.

Seon-woo, who had been blankly watching Yu Eun-jeong’s retreating figure, let out a hollow laugh and turned to look at Min-hee.

“…Senior. I think I have quite a bit of work luck.”

“I know, right.”

Min-hee shook her head with an incredulous expression.

“I’m so envious I could die.”

* * *

Hye-seong: What’s everyone doing

Min-hee: Filming

Ye-chan: I’m at a shoot too!

Seon-woo: Me too.

Hye-seong: Wow, everyone’s filming. My film set here is so scary. What should I do.

Min-hee: Endure it.

Hye-seong: …That’s really too much. How about you guys. Is everyone adapting well?

Ye-chan: I’m scared too… I get nervous every time I act, trying not to get scolded

Min-hee: But Seon-woo is flying high

Seon-woo: …Me?

Hye-seong: Of course Seon-woo would be

Min-hee: At every company dinner, he’s sending the senior actors away with alcohol. It’s really not normal.

Ye-chan: Wow, as expected of Seon-woo hyung… I respect you.

Seon-woo: Don’t respect me for something like that…. And I didn’t send them away with alcohol, everyone just got drunk while we were drinking.

Jaewon: Hahahaha

Min-hee: Everyone fighting!!! Cheongseong can do it!!!

It was a group chat consisting of Cheongseong members, or more precisely, the members who had stayed until the end of 【I Am an Actor】.

Initially, it was created to contact each other within the 【I Am an Actor】 filming location, but now it was often used to ask about each other’s recent updates.

Surprisingly, Jin-wook was also in this chat room… but he rarely spoke in the chat. Well, actually, it would be more awkward if he actively chatted here.

Ye-chan: Speaking of which, did you see the article about Do-young hyung? There’s less than a month left until the movie release.

Hyeseong: But wait, why is he already generating so much buzz when the movie hasn’t even been released yet? Damn

Yechan: Exactly lol that’s so typical of Doyoung hyung

Seon-woo smiled slightly at Ye-chan’s message.

As he said, Cha Do-young’s name was being heard quite frequently everywhere these days. The fact that Yu Chan-woo’s new protagonist was a newcomer was already quite fresh, and meanwhile, he rarely showed his face in the media, making people even more curious.

A kind of mystique, you could say.

‘…Everyone will be shocked.’

Seon-woo was secretly confident.

Whatever they imagined, when they actually saw Do-young’s acting, they would inevitably be shocked.

But it seemed everyone was finding it hard to bear that curiosity.

Even Noh Chang-seob would ask,

“Is, is that friend really that good?”

To that extent.

When Seon-woo received such questions, he answered firmly.

“Yes. Personally, he’s the senior I admire most.”

“If you say that much, he must be no ordinary person….”

And among all this, there was someone who was secretly most conscious of this story, and that was Seong Do-won.

He couldn’t ask Seon-woo directly, but whenever Do-young’s story came up, he would hover around and prick up his ears.

‘…He said he got rejected by Director Yu Chan-woo.’

If the information Chae Seo-ryeong had given was true, it wasn’t strange that he was so conscious of Do-young.

He might wonder what kind of guy he was for Yu Chan-woo to choose him over Seong Do-won. It might even be a bit absurd.

Seon-woo thought that once Seong Do-won saw Do-young’s acting directly, he would eventually understand ‘so this is why he chose this person,’ but he couldn’t tell him that.

Seon-woo decided to focus on his work for now.

[Red Zone] was a 9-episode series.

And their filming had just finished the first episode. The content of episode 1 was generally simple. It showed the people of Hanul Hospital’s emergency room working hard with various mishaps, and through Yoon-seo’s tears and such, it showed how sincere they were toward their patients.

And at the ending point… finally, Chae Seo-ryeong’s role, ‘Sang-a,’ appears.

As she was appointed as another supervising professor at Hanul Hospital’s emergency room. The reason she entered Hanul Hospital’s emergency room like that was simple.

Because the hospital didn’t want to handle Lee Hyeok pushing himself to accept and cover patients.

So as soon as Sang-a appears, she takes away the phone from an emergency responder who was calling to transfer a patient.

Sang-a: No, I don’t think our hospital can accommodate them.

Lee Hyeok: …What are you doing right now?

Sang-a: Hi, honey? I told you. That I might change jobs. Please take care of me from now on. I’m Han Sang-a, appointed as supervising professor of Hanul Hospital’s Emergency Medicine Department? (Smiling brightly while offering a handshake.)

And all the emergency room staff around them watched their confrontation with great tension.

Actually, there wasn’t much to act. He just had to show a tense and surprised appearance in this bewildering situation.

More precisely… that was the case until Han Jeong-hun’s directing came.

“Seon-woo.”

“Yes.”

“When you act scared… can you make it feel a bit cute?”

“…Ah, yes. I understand.”

Though he answered reflexively, Seon-woo’s mind couldn’t help but become complicated.

He had tried all kinds of acting so far… but he had never even imagined this kind of acting, let alone experienced it.

Act with a cute feeling?

…How the hell does he do that.

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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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