I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 129

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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 129

Kim Seon-woo.

That was the hottest name in [Red Zone] these days.

Even if he did nothing and just stood still, everyone would be watching him.

Because he was handsome?

Of course, that wasn’t entirely untrue, but it wasn’t the main reason. For people working in the entertainment industry, it wasn’t easy to give someone attention just because they were good-looking.

Seon-woo simply drew everyone’s attention with every single action he took.

First of all, Seon-woo appeared on the film set earlier than anyone else every day, going around to greet each and every staff member.

If he had only done this with key figures like directors, people would have thought he was just serious about networking.

But seeing how he always treated even the youngest staff members, whom most people didn’t bother with, with such respect, the word among staff had long been that ‘that kid’s got it right.’

On top of that, his acting was so outstanding that it was hard to believe his experience level,

“Don’t you think he’ll move up to leading roles soon?”

“Absolutely. The feeling is different, you know.”

Such conversations were bound to circulate everywhere.

And naturally, those most interested in Seon-woo were the managers. They all knew that Seon-woo didn’t have an agency.

Na-sae’s manager casually spoke up.

“Na-sae. Could you talk to Seon-woo once? Ask if he’s thinking about finding an agency.”

“I brought it up casually before, but it doesn’t seem like he’s interested right now.”

“Why? Does he want to raise his value first?”

“No way, hyung. It’s not like that. Right now he wants to focus on his path as an actor rather than as an entertainer. He wants to concentrate on acting.”

“…At such a good time like this?”

The manager clutched his head as if he couldn’t understand it at all.

Seon-woo was literally in a period when the tide was coming in. He needed to show his face to the public a little more, manage his fandom, and make himself known.

That’s how popularity accumulates and stars are made.

He could see it.

No, it was clearly visible to all the managers here. What a huge rough diamond Seon-woo was. With just a little polishing, he would surely become an incredible star who wouldn’t lose to even Seong Do-won someday.

That’s why it was even more disappointing.

He had such star quality but was just letting it waste away. Should he say it felt like such a shame?

But seeing such a manager, Na-sae chuckled and shook his head. He ran his hand through his buzz-cut hair and spoke.

“Don’t look at it that way. I think it’s actually cool. He’s much better than kids who get a little attention and go crazy doing stupid things. Focusing on acting… that’s definitely romantic.”

“That damn romanticism again…”

The manager sighed at Na-sae’s words.

If a logical answer had come back, he would have somehow argued against it, but when words like romanticism came up, honestly there was nothing to say.

What could you do when they said they wanted to pursue romanticism?

But while this might be hard for managers to understand, all the actors understood Seon-woo’s feelings.

Perhaps that’s why. The way Ye-ji and Yun-seob looked at Seon-woo was quite favorable.

“…Honestly, at first I thought he’d be kind of arrogant.”

“Me too.”

A genius junior.

Just hearing about it, wouldn’t you naturally think he’d be arrogant? He hadn’t been acting for very long, but he got good results on an audition program, and now he’d even landed a supporting role in a drama, even if the weight wasn’t that big.

They naturally thought his nose would be stuck way up in the air.

But the Seon-woo they actually met was a much better kid than they thought.

A natural-born actor who wasn’t particularly interested in anything besides acting. In some ways, he was similar to Do-won. Even the part where he’d get so focused on acting that his eyes would glaze over and he couldn’t pay attention to other things.

Perhaps that’s why.

“This is the first time I’ve seen Seong Do-won senior let someone get that close.”

“…Right, usually when we tried to talk to him, we’d get ignored.”

At some point, even Do-won seemed to be looking after Seon-woo to some degree.

Well, calling it ‘looking after’ – in reality, he was constantly scolding him and giving him all sorts of advice… but they knew.

If Do-won was going that far, it meant he thought quite well of Seon-woo.

At least he was closer than them, given that conversation was possible.

“…But he’s being too harsh.”

“What do you mean?”

“He told Seon-woo to act proactively. It seemed like he meant to have more intention, to act strongly enough to influence Seong Do-won senior…”

Na-sae asked with a bitter smile.

“Is there anyone here who could do that against Seong Do-won senior?”

“…I can’t.”

“Me neither.”

Ye-ji and Yun-seob shook their heads as if they didn’t need to think about it.

Acting proactively itself wasn’t difficult. The problem was that the other person was Seong Do-won.

Just receiving Do-won’s emotions wouldn’t be easy, but to lead the flow enough to guide his acting?

It wasn’t a question of whether a supporting actor should or shouldn’t act that way.

It was a question of whether it was possible or not.

Seong Do-won was an actor famous for having a strong stage presence even among actors of his generation. To try to clumsily create flow against such an actor…

“Seon-woo’s going to get completely destroyed today, isn’t he?”

“Well, probably so.”

Ye-ji nodded with an indifferent expression.

They understood that Seon-woo was amazing. Even they couldn’t believe that Seon-woo was still in his first year of acting.

But no matter how brilliant a talent he had, what couldn’t be done couldn’t be done.

Taking control of the flow in front of Do-won?

Forget taking control – even intervening in that flow would be nearly impossible.

Seong Do-won is that kind of actor. An actor who can express the stage presence that most actors barely manage to achieve through all sorts of techniques with just his eyes alone.

Despite that prickly personality, there’s a reason why directors and PDs always seek him out.

So they never really thought Do-won would actually expect that ‘proactive’ acting from Seon-woo.

He just wanted to let him know. That there’s this kind of acting at the next level.

So broaden your perspective and learn acting.

However,

“That guy is really reckless too…”

In a corner of the waiting room.

Watching Seon-woo looking at the mirror, they inwardly clicked their tongues. Seon-woo had been staring into the mirror continuously for several hours.

Of course, it wasn’t to check his appearance or anything like that.

He was checking his acting, and checking his emotions.

“…”

Rather, making eye contact with himself in the mirror while gradually adjusting his expression… it looked like tuning an instrument before a performance.

Should I say he was tuning his own emotions.

I don’t know what kind of emotions and thoughts are swirling inside Seon-woo right now.

However,

“…!”

Ye-ji’s eyes widened for a moment.

It was because the look that briefly appeared and disappeared in Seon-woo’s eyes was so impressive.

Just for a moment, but it felt like Yoon-seo from the script had actually jumped out into reality.

A feeling where just by looking, all aspects that make up the character Yoon-seo seemed to be hammered into the brain…

It was enough to make him think that, even if just for a moment.

‘Could it be… he’s going to show us something?’

His opponent is Seong Do-won.

For a first-year actor to perform proactive, equal acting in front of him… that’s something that doesn’t make sense by common standards.

Nevertheless, they keep getting their hopes up.

Seon-woo might be different.

The common sense they take for granted… he might shatter it like it’s nothing.

Well, whether this is a misconception or not, we’ll know soon enough.

Filming began.

Despite Sang-a’s opposition, Lee Hyeok, who brought the multiple trauma patient to the hospital, enters damage control before sending him to the operating room.

And finally, after sending the patient to the operating room, he catches his breath… though he’s called a doctor, he looked like a warrior.

It’s not simply because the patient’s blood is all over his body.

A sigh filled with fatigue and anger. Eyes that shine brightly while looking back at the patient… all of it contained momentum that could truly be called combative.

And Min-hee, who was watching him, thought for a moment.

Thank goodness, she thought.

If it were Min-hee instead of Seon-woo who had to face that Lee Hyeok right now, honestly it would have been quite burdensome.

Just watching from this distance made breathing a little uncomfortable due to the overwhelming presence.

Lee Hyeok catches his breath.

As if he had made it through a long battlefield, as if he could finally live now.

In the midst of this, whether his nose is running or not, he raises the back of his hand to wipe his nose, and his eyes looking around the treatment room in a slightly hunched posture… seem like they’re glaring, or like they’re being wary.

Should I say it feels like he’s entered a state of extreme tension.

That’s understandable.

Although he saved the patient, thinking of Sang-a who had threatened not to accept the patient… he can’t help but worry about what will happen afterward. The fact that the other party happens to be his girlfriend would also complicate his feelings.

What’s interesting is that Lee Hyeok’s feelings like that could be read so clearly as if you could grasp them in your hands.

In one second, no, in an even shorter instant, just how many details emerge.

The vividness created by dozens of details… is overwhelming just to watch quietly.

Act proactively against someone like that?

Don’t be swayed by him, and try to perform equal acting?

It’s grateful that they have expectations, but isn’t this going too far?

…That’s what they thought, when it happened.

“Professor.”

“…”

Seon-woo appeared.

Do-won didn’t answer and looked back at Seon-woo.

Whether the storm raging in his head was hard to handle, his eyes seemed to be looking at something else rather than Seon-woo even while looking at him.

Anger, fatigue, tension… all sorts of heavy emotions distorted in the form of panic contained in those eyes.

Yes, literally his eyes had gone wild.

Even the direction team looking at those eyes through the camera got goosebumps for a moment.

At that moment, many people thought.

Ah, this will definitely require multiple retakes.

Such intense emotional lines would inevitably be difficult both to contain and to handle.

However,

“I think you are… right, Professor.”

The moment Seon-woo’s acting began, Ye-ji barely held back from letting out an exclamation.

Actually, it wasn’t just Ye-ji. Yun-seob, Na-sae, of course… Min-hee, and even Seo Ryeong’s expressions became a little dazed.

“If the emergency room doesn’t accept patients, the patients have nowhere to go.”

The Yoon-seo that Seon-woo needs to express in this scene is simple.

The feeling of finding Lee Hyeok difficult and the feeling of respecting him. He needs to express both of these simultaneously.

Actually, looking at just this, it might not seem that difficult.

But how exactly would he show the ‘proactive acting’ that Do-won had requested?

What kind of detail could possibly create that proactiveness?

“An emergency doctor must never turn away from a critical patient, no matter when or what the situation… That’s what the professor taught us.”

What Seon-woo presented with that answer… wasn’t anything special.

His gaze.

In Yoon-seo’s eyes as she looked at Lee Hyeok, there was only one emotion.

Respect.

It was as if his eyes were whispering. I am your student, and I will always trust and follow you. So please, take pride as a doctor… and don’t waver.

That gaze pulsing hotly as if alive… was the same gaze Seon-woo had shown when checking his emotions while facing the mirror.

Min-hee stared at Seon-woo’s eyes with a dazed expression.

It was a mysterious gaze. Even though it was clearly Yoon-seo’s gaze, when you looked into those eyes, you naturally found yourself understanding Lee Hyeok’s current feelings.

Why? Because right now, Yoon-seo’s eyes contained only Lee Hyeok.

At this moment, the viewers were looking at Lee Hyeok through Yoon-seo’s eyes.

They were understanding Lee Hyeok through Yoon-seo’s heart.

It was such brilliant acting that even Min-hee, who had been watching Seon-woo all this time, froze.

‘Could I… act like that?’

Min-hee asked herself.

And she shook her head.

That wasn’t the kind of acting you could imitate just because you wanted to.

Capturing someone in your gaze was actually much more difficult acting than people thought.

There’s a reason people remember actors with good gazes for a long time.

That kind of gaze isn’t something you can obtain through effort alone.

…It felt unfamiliar.

She thought she knew enough about Seon-woo by now, but seeing him like this… Min-hee suddenly realized she knew nothing about him at all.

People call Seon-woo a genius.

Min-hee had agreed with that. If someone’s skills improved as quickly as Seon-woo’s, they deserved to be called a genius. She had thought about it so lightly.

But now, Min-hee had no choice but to reconsider the weight of that word ‘genius.’

And for good reason… because it was already starting to show.

In the eyes of the junior she thought she was familiar with,

‘…It’s sparkling.’

The presence of a star.

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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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