I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 136

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 136

“…Nice to meet you for the first time, senior.”

It was an absurdly rude attitude.

But instead of being flustered, Seon-woo first bowed his head.

Yu Si-hun.

Age thirty.

Currently famous for having the most inspired acting ability among actors his age.

And he was just as famous for his eccentric behavior as his acting ability.

Just from what Seon-woo knew, there were many things that went far beyond common sense: sleeping rough at Seoul Station, secretly participating as an extra in his own works, living without speaking for a month, working and living at a provincial factory for several months, and so on…

Perhaps that’s why.

He didn’t feel particularly bad about those eccentric words. Rather, he felt a bit amazed that the rumors were actually true.

What actually bothered him was something else.

‘Why can I see color?’

Seon-woo only saw colors from people who were acting.

In other words, Yu Si-hun was acting right now.

At that moment, the first person who came to Seon-woo’s mind was naturally Yeon-woo.

She was the only person Seon-woo had met who was always acting in daily life.

And Yeon-woo was a psychopath.

Just as the thought ‘could it be?’ crossed his mind,

“Yu Si-hun.”

Do-won spoke with a slightly displeased voice.

“If you talk like that, it’ll seem like I said he was rude.”

“Huh? Didn’t you say he was rude? That he talks back without being intimidated in front of his senior.”

Talking back?

Seon-woo thought for a moment. Had he ever talked back?

…Come to think of it, there seemed to be some instances. More precisely, he had asked some questions.

For example,

—Kim Seon-woo. In that scene just now, I was angry but weren’t you making too much eye contact?

—Ah, I thought Yoon-seo would have done that.

—Don’t tell me you’re going to say Yoon-seo did that because she respects Lee Hyeok? The emotion in your eyes looked scared for that.

—You seem to have seen it correctly. Because I was scared, I couldn’t look away even more.

—…Does that make sense?

—If she didn’t even make eye contact, she’d be more scared of getting picked on, so wouldn’t Yoon-seo have deliberately tried to make more eye contact… That’s how I saw Yoon-seo.

It was like this.

When acting feedback came from Do-won, rather than accepting it unconditionally… he tried to explain his own reasoning.

Of course,

—But if this didn’t get across to you, senior, I think my details were lacking. I’ll try to act more convincingly. Thank you!

He didn’t forget to finish by respecting Do-won like this.

…But maybe to Do-won, that just sounded like talking back. It couldn’t be helped. Their experience gap was more than ten years. Even if there was a valid reason, explaining it might not have sounded good.

But he felt a bit disappointed.

Seon-woo bowed his head toward Do-won.

“I’m sorry, senior. I didn’t mean to do that, but it seems I did talk back sometimes.”

“No, I…”

“No, don’t apologize! I like that.”

Yu Si-hun grinned and put his arm around Seon-woo’s shoulder.

“I’m rude too. You don’t need to be so obedient. Is that guy usually picky? If you leave him alone, he’s the type who’d try to decide the color of my underwear.”

“Yu Si-hun.”

“Yeah?”

“You talk too much.”

Do-won glared at Yu Si-hun.

“It’s good that you’re practicing, but do it in moderation.”

“…Hmm.”

That was the moment he heard those words.

The green mud that had been wrapped around Yu Si-hun’s body slowly became thinner. Then it changed form to feel like old tree leaves.

There wasn’t much change in the color itself, but the texture… changed to feel a bit less dangerous.

Actually, his tone of voice also felt a bit less sharp compared to before. Rather than losing the sharp feeling, it became somewhat languid.

Yu Si-hun yawned and said.

“Haaaam. Sorry. Was that character a bit of a villain earlier? I got too immersed.”

“…Um, were you acting by any chance?”

Seon-woo thought this was the moment and spoke up.

He had been holding back from asking directly like with Yeon-woo, but when someone gives such obvious hints, it would be harder not to notice.

Indeed, Yu Si-hun nodded languidly with a smile.

“Yeah. It’s my hobby. Acting in daily life. Making acting a part of life, you could say? Cool, right?”

“What’s cool about it. Does it make sense to have no distinction between daily life and acting? That’s just being crazy.”

“…Calling me crazy. That’s hurtful. There are things you can only see when you incorporate acting into daily life.”

Yu Si-hun pouted at Do-won’s rebuke.

Then he turned to look at Seon-woo and asked.

“Friend, you understand what I’m saying, right?”

…Why did he think Seon-woo would understand him?

Honestly, he wanted to shake his head.

It felt somewhat embarrassing to say he understood such a perverted preference.

But he had to admit it. The moment he heard Yu Si-hun’s story, this thought immediately came to Seon-woo’s mind.

Living acting.

That sounds interesting, he thought.

If he acted as all kinds of characters in every moment of life, his understanding of acting and people would deepen accordingly.

His acting spectrum would also become tremendously wide.

When he thought about it that way…

“…I think I understand a little.”

He couldn’t bring himself to shake his head.

Yu Si-hun smiled with satisfaction.

“I knew it! I thought so. You do Method Acting too, right?”

“It’s not really proper Method Acting though.”

“What’s proper about it? You just say ‘I’m doing method~’ and then it’s method.”

He was an incomprehensible person in many ways.

…Perhaps that was natural. Wasn’t all of this right now just acting?

Of course, he was only acting the character’s personality, and those words themselves seemed sincere…

‘Even that’s hard to be sure about.’

If he hadn’t experienced someone who acted in daily life through Yeon-woo, honestly Yu Si-hun would have been quite uncomfortable right now.

Because,

“Hey, have you ever been stabbed with a knife?”

“Huh? Oh, in acting?”

“No, in real life.”

“…No, I haven’t.”

“Oh no, that’s a shame.”

How could he not be uncomfortable when someone talked like this?

…He knew it was acting, but he wondered what kind of character this was supposed to be.

Seon-woo barely held back from asking in return, “Have you been stabbed with a knife, senior?” He was a bit scared that the answer would naturally be that he had been stabbed.

“Acting being stabbed with a knife isn’t easy, can you do it well? You know the makeup team’s faces sour when blood scenes get NGs, right? If you don’t want to be hated, you need to get it in one take as much as possible.”

“…I’ll do my best.”

Seon-woo nodded.

And Do-won, who had been watching the two, let out a sigh.

“Enough. You’re both being noisy, so get out.”

“Huh? I want to stay longer. This place is fun.”

“Seo Ryeong is in the next room. Go bother her instead.”

“…Oh! Right. Seo Ryeong noona is here too?”

A gleam appeared in Yu Si-hun’s languid eyes.

And he immediately headed for the door without any particular farewell.

‘…He’s really an unpredictable person.’

He had heard the rumors… but in many ways, it was beyond imagination.

Seon-woo cleared his throat and turned to Do-won. The greeting had gone on longer than expected.

“I apologize, senior. I’ll be going now!”

“…Kim Seon-woo.”

“Yes.”

Do-won stopped Seon-woo who was about to leave.

Seon-woo prepared himself mentally and turned to look at him. He thought he might snap at him for suddenly coming in and making people tired.

But what came out of Do-won’s mouth was unexpected.

“I never said you talk back.”

“…What?”

“I never told Si-hun that you talk back. I said you know how to say what needs to be said.”

“Ah…”

Seon-woo’s eyes widened a little.

Rather than Do-won not having said such a thing… it was a bit surprising that he was clarifying this to him.

He thought he wouldn’t care about his feelings at all.

“Th-thank you.”

“Forget it. I just didn’t want to be misunderstood for something I didn’t say.”

Do-won grumbled.

“Get out. And act properly later.”

“Yes, thank you!”

Seon-woo bowed and left the waiting room.

Watching Seon-woo, Do-won couldn’t help but chuckle.

“…He has a lot to be grateful for.”

* * *

—Have you ever been stabbed with a knife?

Even thinking about it again, it was such an absurd question.

A question so childish it was hard to believe it came from the mouth of a fellow actor, an adult.

But surprisingly, Seon-woo found that question kept echoing in his ears.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t really focused on the act of being stabbed with a knife itself.

He had only focused on saving Lee Hyeok and losing consciousness… He hadn’t paid attention to the horror of the blade itself.

‘How should I express it to get praise for good acting?’

Seon-woo lifted up just one page of the script.

He had never been stabbed with a knife, but… he had cut his hand on paper many times. That sensation of sharp paper unexpectedly slicing through skin and cutting blood vessels in an unexpected moment…

‘Ugh….’

Just thinking about it gives him goosebumps.

But what’s about to enter his body now isn’t paper. It’s a scalpel, said to be sharper than most knives. And it’s going to be stabbed into the back of his neck.

Even knowing this, Yoon-seo rushes forward to stop Lee Hyeok.

…How?

At that moment, what caught Seon-woo’s eye was that flower, trembling yet clenching its petals like a fist.

The flower symbolizes Yoon-seo’s goodwill.

Then what does it mean for that goodwill to clench its fist?

“Now, when the knife goes in, blood will burst out here. It might burst if you touch it carelessly, so try not to mess with it.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Seon-woo stood up while attaching a blood pack to the back of his neck.

He had figured out how to act. Now all that was left was to show it.

Meanwhile,

“Noona, noona, do you know why you absolutely must pay back money borrowed from emergency room doctors?”

“No. Why?”

“Because if you don’t pay it back, they’ll really cut open your stomach! Hehe….”

“…Si-hun. Please, I’m begging you, can’t you bother someone else instead of me?”

Yu Si-hun was sticking close to Seo Ryeong, marking her exclusively.

It was the first time seeing Seo Ryeong look so disgusted. Just as he was thinking what a difficult character this was,

“Alright, actors please go to your positions! We’re starting the shoot now!”

Han Jeong-hun’s call came in.

And that was the moment.

‘…!’

An ominous colored mist began flowing out from Yu Si-hun.

A dark green mist. And from within that mist, neon-colored flashes occasionally flickered like lightning, or like scars.

Just looking at it felt dangerous.

Indeed, his face also had a completely different atmosphere from just moments before.

His focus had disappeared, his mouth hung open blankly. His body began trembling constantly, making it clear at a glance that he was extremely unstable.

It was an astonishing level of immersion.

‘Amazing.’

It was enough to make him completely forget all the strange behavior from before.

When filming [One Room], Justin’s drug addict acting suddenly seemed shabby in comparison. Rather than watching acting, it felt like a real drug addict was standing before him…just as he had that thought,

“Cue!”

The cue sign dropped.

And Yu Si-hun literally began to ‘rampage.’

“Ah, it’s because it hurts. I, it’s real! So… morphine, huh? Just one shot of morphine…! Just one shot of that drug and I’ll be fine! …Can’t you hear me? You bastards! Give me the drug! Drug———!”

Yu Si-hun grabbed the scalpel and began thrashing about.

The actors standing nearby cowering in terror wasn’t just for the sake of acting.

They felt a real threat, as if Yu Si-hun might actually charge at them at any moment.

Seeing such Yu Si-hun, Yu Eun-jeong’s eyes sparkled.

‘That guy was really a good find.’

Yu Si-hun is known as a lunatic in the industry.

Considering his eccentric behavior, it was only natural. But the reason directors still sought out Yu Si-hun despite this was simple.

His acting was special.

Acting more realistic than anyone else’s. An overwhelming three-dimensionality that moved as if he had become the role itself.

Even the actors who had shown good skills up until now were clearly completely overwhelmed by Yu Si-hun’s presence at this moment.

Of course,

“Throwing a tantrum doesn’t make everything you want come true, patient.”

Seong Do-won was an exception.

A cold gaze directed toward Yu Si-hun. An attitude as if he had no intention of playing along with such antics.

“Put down the scalpel. Waving that around won’t get you drugs.”

“…No, give it. Please give it. Give it to me! I’m really having a hard time. You’re a doctor. Right? You’re supposed to help, help sick people!”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

“…What?”

“You think the morphine will make it stop hurting? You think it’ll solve all your problems right now. No. If you take that, it’ll only hurt more. So….”

“Shut up.”

Yu Si-hun shook his head back and forth.

As if he didn’t want to hear any advice, his bloodshot eyes glared at Seong Do-won.

“What would a bastard like you know.”

One step.

“Have you ever been in pain?”

Another step.

“Do you know what it feels like to have something constantly scratching inside your body?”

“…Put down the scalpel.”

“Then give me the drug, you bastard!”

Yu Si-hun charges forward.

And Yu Eun-jeong, who had been watching all this, crumpled up her script and clutched it to her chest. Admiring that this was indeed Yu Si-hun.

‘He’s definitely a scene stealer.’

At least for this scene, Yu Si-hun was the one who stood out the most.

Even Do-won couldn’t help but have his presence overshadowed. It couldn’t be helped. In terms of emotional lines, Yu Si-hun’s was far more extreme here.

She could already envision people’s reactions when this aired.

People would surely all talk about Yu Si-hun’s acting ability. In many ways, this was a true ‘special appearance.’

…That’s what she was thinking when it happened.

Thunk! The prop scalpel stabbed into the back of his neck.

Seon-woo’s neck. At the same time, the blood pack burst, and blood stained his face, neck, and even his doctor’s coat.

And then,

“Ah…”

As if she had seen something distant and profound, Yu Eun-jeong’s pupils wavered.

Actually, she hadn’t expected much from Seon-woo in this scene.

More precisely, she hadn’t had high expectations for Yoon-seo.

Yoon-seo, who threw himself into danger to save Lee Hyeok despite being mistreated and told he wasn’t worthy of being a doctor. What she wanted to express through his actions was that Yoon-seo was indeed a doctor. That he was more faithful to a doctor’s principles than anyone else.

And she also wanted to express the irony of Lee Hyeok, who had denied Yoon-seo’s qualifications as a doctor more than anyone, being saved by Yoon-seo.

Lee Hyeok’s expression at that moment would be quite interesting too.

A teacher being saved by the student he had so scorned and oppressed. Wasn’t that such a beautiful dynamic?

But she had thought there wasn’t much for Yoon-seo himself to show.

Yoon-seo was simply stabbed with a knife. She thought that pain, terror, and bewilderment were all the emotions Yoon-seo could display.

But apparently, that wasn’t the case.

“Professor, sir…”

Seon-woo’s eyes were filled with fear.

Like a herbivore’s eyes, terrified and unable to believe he had been stabbed with a knife.

But even in the midst of that, a strange light sparkled in those eyes.

What that light conveyed was clear.

Thank goodness.

I saved a person’s life.

A look of relief, yet still so painful and frightening that he seemed ready to collapse at any moment… such a pitiful gaze.

How that gaze managed to say so much…

Her heart throbbed, and Yu Eun-jeong clutched her chest.

And she muttered as if groaning.

“No… this is cheating.”

That gaze is too much of a cheat code.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————