I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 133

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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 133

Even those who were just watching reacted this strongly to Seon-woo’s acting.

Naturally, the stimulation Min-hee felt while acting opposite him was bound to be even more overwhelming.

‘That bastard Seon-woo…’

She knew. Yoon-seo’s love hadn’t even begun yet.

But looking at those wounded eyes made her spine run cold. She had always known he had deep eyes, but now it felt like she might really get sucked into them.

Seon-woo probably didn’t know.

How much she was straining her nerves to keep from weakening in this moment.

She couldn’t lose her sharpness. At least for this scene, she had to approach it with the momentum to devour Yoon-seo.

But,

‘What kind of look is that? Really.’

The moment she met Seon-woo’s eyes again, it felt like all the strength was draining from her body.

His heart was being conveyed. How sincere Seon-woo was being right now, how genuinely he was talking about the patient – just from that look in his eyes, she could understand it all in her head.

Facing such eyes and getting angry, raising her voice, made her feel embarrassed with herself.

Was that why?

“Cut! Min-hee, what are you doing getting swept away there? Your eyes became too tender. Let’s go again.”

“I’m sorry!”

Eventually the filming was stopped.

It couldn’t be helped. Min-hee had ultimately failed to maintain her angry expression and melted away.

Min-hee hurriedly bowed her head.

Fortunately, the staff members were smiling as if they understood, but if this repeated several times, those smiles would disappear too.

One mistake was enough.

She needed to pull herself together.

Min-hee thought as she gathered her emotions again.

How had So-hee been able to continue fighting even facing those eyes?

How had she been able to get angry?

‘So-hee really was a ruthless woman…’

It couldn’t be helped.

If So-hee was ruthless, then she had to become ruthless too.

She couldn’t show a pathetic side.

Because she was the senior.

* * *

Despite steeling her resolve that much, Min-hee had to make several more NGs.

Even if she somehow endured being disarmed by Seon-woo’s gaze, the aggressiveness in her tone and expression noticeably decreased, which couldn’t be helped.

“It’s really very different from [When I Was Four].”

Thanks to that, after filming ended, Min-hee had a completely drained expression.

Seon-woo tilted his head.

“Really? I don’t think I’ve done any acting comparable to back then yet. The romance hasn’t even started.”

“That’s true. But it already feels like it has started somehow.”

“Then it’s a success.”

Seon-woo nodded as if relieved.

“It means the foundation for starting the romance has been laid.”

Foundation work.

That was what Seon-woo had intended with this acting.

So that whenever love appeared in Seon-woo’s eyes, that change would feel natural.

“You weren’t like this when you played Hee-jae.”

“How was it back then?”

“I could feel that you loved me, but… it wasn’t as shocking as now.”

When facing Seon-woo just now, Min-hee had received a shock as if her soul was shaking.

It was a sensation she hadn’t felt at all during [When I Was Four].

“Have I grown? Me.”

“Of course you have.”

At Seon-woo’s words, Min-hee let out a hollow laugh.

“There probably isn’t any actor who has grown more than you in the past year.”

“It’s reassuring when you say that, senior.”

“…At least you still call me senior properly. Thanks.”

“If you want, I can switch to same-age mode anytime.”

“Yeah. No. Never mind.”

Since it seemed like he would immediately drop formalities if she nodded, Min-hee firmly drew the line.

Even so, she thought to herself.

Maybe it would have been more comfortable if Seon-woo had been the senior.

When a junior is too outstanding, the senior naturally becomes more anxious. She might not be able to surpass her junior… but not even being able to keep pace was a bit much.

‘What have I been doing for the past year?’

Min-hee looked at Seon-woo with sunken eyes.

On the surface, she had achieved quite a lot. Through 【I Am an Actor】, she had successfully imprinted her name on the public, and now she had secured a position as a supporting role in a broadcast network drama.

It was a position that her past self would have applauded as doing well enough.

But a position was just a position.

Now that she had reached the place she had longed for so much, had she become someone worthy of that position?

Had she become a better actor?

Min-hee couldn’t come up with an immediate answer.

And the fact that she couldn’t answer right away made her feel ashamed.

“Um… senior?”

“What.”

“Why are you glaring at me like that?”

“I wasn’t glaring.”

“No, you were definitely glaring…”

Seon-woo scratched his cheek with an awkward expression.

But somehow he seemed to understand what kind of mood she was in. Just now, Min-hee definitely seemed unable to properly immerse herself.

Seon-woo could actually see it.

Her sharp, rising pine-colored branches… the moment they touched his petals, they lost their strength and became soft.

Well, during the last shoot she did manage to show a fairly solid performance, but either way, it was certain that she had been overwhelmed by Seon-woo’s acting.

‘I didn’t want to interfere with senior’s acting…’

Somehow it had turned out that way.

But Seon-woo wasn’t worried.

‘Senior will be able to do it.’

The Min-hee he had observed all this time was truly a strong person.

Someone who never wavered no matter what situation arose, and knew how to steadfastly walk the path she needed to take.

In fact, hadn’t Seon-woo often relied on her when he had worries or concerns?

The reason he respectfully treated her as a senior… wasn’t simply because she had joined Cheongseong before him.

Seon-woo believed in Min-hee.

She wasn’t someone he dared to worry about.

Rather, what he should be worried about right now was himself.

‘Everyone believes in me.’

Everyone who looked at Seon-woo had nothing but praise.

Even Do-won,

—You got a love line.

—Yes.

—Do it properly.

—Yes! Thank you.

He had even cheered him on like this.

What kind of encouragement is telling someone to do it properly? Seon-woo decided to just take it as praise. At least that Do-won hadn’t pointed out any flaws.

Anyway, everyone was placing their expectations on Seon-woo like this.

That Seon-woo would surely present quite a wonderful romantic scene.

Honestly, those expectations were sometimes burdensome.

He had only just taken his first step.

Seon-woo knew that he was still lacking.

‘I don’t even know what love is right now.’

Love.

He had to admit what needed to be admitted.

Seon-woo didn’t know what love was. You can’t know something you’ve never experienced.

Well, the love for family is also love if you call it love… but that’s not romantic love, is it.

But just because he didn’t know didn’t mean he could just sit around doing nothing.

Seon-woo thought.

He constantly pondered what love might be.

The answer he could come up with was that perhaps his love for acting might be the closest thing to him.

‘What is acting to me.’

The first thing that came to mind was color.

Acting had brought color to Seon-woo’s dull world.

It had allowed him to breathe.

Was love like that?

An emotion that makes someone shine and opens up their breathing?

…Still, Seon-woo couldn’t know the answer.

As he had confessed, he had never been in love.

Perhaps love makes you breathe while simultaneously taking your breath away.

Love might make someone shine while also making them feel shabby.

The more his thoughts continued, the more the answer seemed to drift away.

Seon-woo was so frustrated that he sought advice from people.

What did they think love really was?

And to that question,

“…Think about it yourself.”

Do-won answered like this,

“Love? That… that’s really bitter. Yeah. Really bitter indeed.”

Na-sae shook his head with an awkward expression,

“…”

Ye-ji chose silence,

“That’s right. What exactly is love?”

Min-hee shrugged her shoulders,

“Love? I don’t know either.”

Yu Eun-jeong grinned.

Honestly, while others might not know, Yu Eun-jeong’s reaction was very unexpected. A writer not knowing about love. It made him think – how could she possibly write about something she didn’t know?

But Seo Ryeong, who heard that complaint, smiled gently and answered like this.

“Maybe the writer was being honest.”

“…Can you write about something you don’t know?”

“Hmm, do you need to know everything to be able to write about it? We don’t have professional medical knowledge to begin with. But we’re playing doctor roles.”

“…”

That seemed like a slightly different story from this.

But he couldn’t pester for the right answer either. In the end, it was his acting. He would have to find the answer himself.

Even while pondering this, filming continued.

And every time there was filming, Seon-woo got into fights with Min-hee and So-hee. Growling, raising voices, and getting hurt little by little more each time.

—Do you want to save people? Or do you want to pretend to be righteous?

Min-hee was indeed Min-hee.

Should he say it was worth believing in her? As time passed, her acting became increasingly sharper. Thanks to that, the flower garden that had grown in Yoon-seo’s heart was slowly being destroyed by her thorny vines.

And finally, today.

Seon-woo was finally about to film that scene.

The scene where, in the brief moment he looked away, a patient went into cardiac arrest, and watching So-hee desperately struggle with tears and snot flowing to save them… Yoon-seo’s heart opens to her.

So, did Seon-woo now understand love?

‘I’m not sure.’

Seon-woo shook his head.

He still found it difficult to understand love.

Maybe it was an impossible task from the beginning. When it’s hard to understand love even when properly dating someone, how could he understand that feeling just by thinking about it a little?

Seon-woo looked around.

Yoon-seo’s flower garden surrounded him.

Compared to usual, it was in a terribly messy state. Flowers with broken stems were scattered everywhere, and there were places here and there where flowers had been uprooted as if someone had plowed the field.

…All of this was the aftermath of fighting with So-hee over the past few days.

Seeing this made it even harder to understand.

How could he feel love for someone who had hurt him this much?

They say love is something you can know and yet not know… but with Seon-woo’s common sense, it was really difficult to understand.

So, Seon-woo gave up trying to understand.

Instead, he decided to experience it directly.

That thought occurred to him.

If Seon-woo could completely become Yoon-seo, and act out the moment when Yoon-seo had no choice but to fall in love… wouldn’t he naturally be able to feel that love too?

Maybe falling in love would be easier than trying to understand love.

So, now.

“Get it together…! Please, *sob*, please…!”

Min-hee’s voice could be heard.

She was performing CPR on a patient who had gone into cardiac arrest.

Her face wasn’t visible. It wasn’t time for Seon-woo to enter yet. When her fear reached its peak, that would be when Seon-woo appeared before her.

Honestly, even up to this moment, Seon-woo wasn’t certain.

Could Yoon-seo really fall in love just by seeing So-hee like that?

Was love really that easy?

Seon-woo couldn’t answer that.

He still didn’t know about love.

But he would know soon.

It was time for Seon-woo to enter.

He stepped forward, turned the corner of the hallway and entered the examination room.

And then, he froze in place.

So-hee was there.

In an utterly precarious state.

The mouth that always tore at his heart with sharp words was trembling, and the eyes that always held a cold light were filled with tears.

There was none of the rational, cold character she usually aspired to be.

“Get it together! *sob*… Please…”

She was pleading.

With a tone, expression, like a child, as if she wanted nothing more than for them to just live.

And why was it?

In that moment, Seon-woo felt a pain he had never experienced in his life.

A pain as if something was stabbing from deep within his chest. His lungs and heart seemed to shrink, and he felt suffocated as if his breath was cut off.

“…Stop.”

“Breathe! Breathe!”

“Stop it!”

Seon-woo… no, Yoon-seo grabbed So-hee’s shoulders.

And looking at So-hee, who stared at him with a completely disheveled face, he said with a choked voice.

“They’re gone. So… stop.”

“…Stop what. How can I stop!”

And So-hee shook off Yoon-seo’s hand and pushed her away.

She approached the patient again and continued CPR while screaming frantically.

With a tear-soaked face that looked like it would collapse at any moment.

“I can save them. If I just don’t give up… I can save them!”

“….”

How could he possibly explain the emotion he felt in that moment.

This was someone who had always only hurt him.

But why was it? Seeing that person collapse like that, seeing them try with all their heart to save the patient… why did it feel like that person, full of wounds, was filling up his heart.

Why.

He didn’t know.

He thought he would understand if he found himself in this situation, but it still didn’t make sense.

It wasn’t just Seon-woo.

He could feel it. Even Yoon-seo was confused by the emotions he was feeling in this moment.

Seon-woo finally understood.

When he asked what love was, why everyone answered as if they didn’t know.

Perhaps love was something that couldn’t be understood from the beginning.

There was no way something like this could be explained.

He could only feel it vaguely.

With a throbbing heart, with burning eyes, with trembling breathing.

‘…It hurts.’

Could this be love? he wondered.

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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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