I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 137

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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 137

Beautiful.

Even soaked in terror, Seon-woo’s gaze slowly traces over Do-won’s body. A look of checking whether he might be injured.

And when he confirmed that Do-won had no particular injuries, the moment she saw the subtle relief settling in those eyes… Yu Eun-jeong felt her breath stop with another gasp.

How could he express so much in such a brief moment, with just his eyes alone?

A moment when the saying that an actor’s most powerful weapon is their gaze truly hit home.

And,

‘…’

Do-won, who faced that gaze directly in front of him, inevitably received even more influence from Seon-woo’s acting.

It was such a dizzying gaze that his mind went blank for a moment. That gaze seemed to speak directly to his soul.

But Do-won is a veteran.

His wavering was never long. No, he rather incorporated even that wavering into his acting.

“…Kim Yoon-seo! You idiot… What is everyone doing! Get it together and prepare for intubation! His airway is filling with blood!”

Embracing the collapsed Seon-woo on the floor, Do-won looks around with reddened eyes.

Glaring at Yu Si-hun pinned to the ground by Noh Chang-seob and others, then glaring again at Seon-woo whose focus had blurred once more, he shouts with a voice filled with rage.

“Right now!”

“———Cut!”

And it’s over.

As Han Jeong-hun’s cut call rings out, applause erupts from here and there.

“Wow… incredible.”

“It felt like watching a theater performance.”

“Right, what was that sense of reality? Well, I guess it’s natural since it’s on set?”

“…It’ll probably be even more amazing on screen?”

People send their cheers.

And at that moment, Seon-woo, who had been covered in blood, suddenly sat up. Do-won right beside him also flinched, and the actors around them were startled and stepped back.

For a moment, they had actually thought Seon-woo was really stabbed and lying there.

It meant his acting was realistic enough to make even the actors forget this was acting.

The staff members all had stunned expressions.

“No, what’s with everyone’s acting ability…”

“Right. This… will definitely explode with reactions later, won’t it?”

“We could just clip this scene and make a trailer.”

In the staff’s eyes, they could already see clips like ‘Red Zone’s Current Status with Insane Acting’ floating around.

Among all the scenes filmed so far, this was one that struck the mind with such stimulation.

Thanks to this, the makeup team looked at Han Jeong-hun with somewhat pitiful eyes.

It was because of Seon-woo covered in blood. Originally, they thought they’d need to redo makeup once or twice more and reinstall blood packs… but at this level, it seemed fine to just move on.

And Han Jeong-hun, seeing such a makeup team, chuckled and spoke.

“Good, it’s flawless. Let’s just go with this scene as is.”

“Great! Good work everyone!”

“Everyone did great!”

With those words, all the staff let out cheers.

The moment Episode 2 wrapped up. The staff’s mood was excited in many ways. Everyone had a vague feeling. This work seemed like it would achieve quite good results.

And the number one contributor who made them feel that way, Yu Si-hun, was…

“Ah, I’m exhausted.”

Grumbling with a face completely worn out by fatigue.

Was it because he acted with all his might? Seeing Yu Si-hun with eyes that had become much more haggard in that short time, interest sparked in Seon-woo’s eyes.

‘Color…’

Isn’t visible.

Meaning he’s not acting right now. Does he not even have the energy to act anymore?

Watching such Yu Si-hun, Do-won chuckled.

“Of course you’re tired. You were acting while screaming your head off.”

“…Well, that’s the kind of character it is.”

He’s surprisingly calm.

Hard to believe the playful behavior he showed earlier. Do-won tilted his head looking at such Yu Si-hun.

“But your drug addict acting was really surprisingly vivid. You don’t actually…”

“Hyung, I’ve rummaged through food waste bins and washed my face in fountains and done all sorts of nonsense… but I’ve never done drugs. Don’t plan to either.”

Yu Si-hun frowned.

“I’m quite law-abiding, you know.”

“Don’t do it in the future either. If you do, I won’t let it slide.”

“Ha, thanks for the concern.”

Yu Si-hun chuckled, then soon looked at Seon-woo.

And soon made a strange expression.

“Seon-woo?”

“Ah, yes. Senior.”

Seon-woo’s voice had become a bit more polite compared to earlier.

It couldn’t be helped. Yu Si-hun had definitely shown acting worthy of respect. And seeing him not acting, he somehow felt like a normal person too, so he became more careful.

“You did well. It felt good. Thanks to you, stabbing with the knife was more satisfying too. Yeah. It was thrilling.”

“Thank you.”

…I’ll correct that. Just because he’s not acting doesn’t mean he’s that normal.

Well, if his nature was that normal, all those eccentric behaviors wouldn’t make sense. But anyway, now he felt like he roughly understood what kind of person Yu Si-hun was.

‘He can’t… no, he won’t pay attention to anything other than acting.’

His thought process must be entirely focused on acting.

It felt like he used even daily life only as input for acting.

Seon-woo felt completely deflated. To think someone could be so fanatically obsessed with acting. He felt rather pathetic about himself.

‘I thought I was working pretty hard.’

At least it was fortunate that Yu Si-hun viewed Seon-woo’s acting favorably.

If the word “terrible” had come from his mouth… it would have hurt quite a bit.

Yu Si-hun stretched and looked back at Han Jeong-hun.

“Anyway, filming must be over. PD, are we having a company dinner today?”

“Of course. Since our Si-hun came too, I should at least treat you to drinks.”

“Sounds good. Seon-woo, you’re coming too, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Great.”

Had he finally recovered from the aftereffects of that intense acting?

Blue smoke that looked like it came from cheap candy rose from Yu Si-hun’s body. His face already wore a sinister smile.

“Prepare yourself. This hyung is going to give you a proper beating today.”

* * *

Of course, it was Yu Si-hun who got beaten.

“Mon… ster.”

Yu Si-hun glared at Seon-woo before slamming his head down on the table.

The color that had surrounded him was long gone.

It was a disaster that occurred from constantly trying to drink Seon-woo under the table. Seo Ryeong, who was watching this, grinned and covered his mouth.

“That foolish guy. Trying to beat Seon-woo with alcohol?”

“But really, no one warned Si-hun. Even though they knew this would happen.”

“You know, oppa. He looks better when he’s passed out.”

“…Hard to argue with that.”

Noh Chang-seob nodded with a reluctant expression.

Then he looked at the bottles of alcohol piled in front of Seon-woo with renewed amazement. Just how many bottles is that?

“Seon-woo, if you do well, you might hit first place in the entertainment industry drinker rankings.”

“But is that a good thing? It doesn’t seem great for Seon-woo’s image.”

“That could be true.”

Noh Chang-seob nodded while stroking his scruffy beard.

The connotation of the word “drinker” didn’t really give off a healthy feeling.

“Still, Seon-woo doesn’t even like alcohol, and he doesn’t get drunk or have drinking habits, so it should be fine. Seon-woo, let’s go on one of those drinking variety shows together sometime.”

“Ah, that sounds great, sunbae.”

“What’s so great about it! What good could come from showing the public a rookie who just debuted drinking? Oppa, stop trying to make him do weird things.”

“It’s because he drinks so well.”

Noh Chang-seob’s lips jutted out as he grumbled.

While the two bickered, Seon-woo silently smiled and filled Seong Do-won’s glass. Do-won filled Seon-woo’s glass in return and spoke.

“Why do you keep grinning?”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t tell you to apologize. I asked why you’re smiling.”

“Well, it’s just…”

Seon-woo scratched his head for a moment.

“Actually, I was a bit worried. This scene seemed like it might be difficult…”

“But you think you did well?”

“…Well.”

Seon-woo hesitated and glanced at Do-won.

“You didn’t say those words today, sunbae.”

“What words.”

“To do it properly.”

“…”

At those words, Do-won’s expression hardened.

What should he say to that? Just as he was moving his lips for a moment,

“Because you did it properly!”

Yu Si-hun, who had been lying face-down on the table, suddenly sat up and pointed at them. He looked at the two with a flushed face, grinning.

“This guy will probably deflect again, but you did it properly! No, you did well! Hyung! Just admit it! You want to say he did well! Why do you keep pretending otherwise?”

“…Just lie back down.”

“If you honestly admit he did it properly, I might lie down?”

“I’ll admit it. You did it properly. Happy? Just stop being drunk and sleep.”

“Okay. Good work.”

As if he had burned his last flame, Yu Si-hun collapsed back onto the table.

Seon-woo looked at Yu Si-hun and then turned to Do-won. Do-won frowned.

“What.”

“Well, I was wondering if I heard correctly earlier…”

“You heard it, so why are you asking again? I don’t say the same thing twice.”

For someone like that, he sure said “do it properly” all the time.

Just as he was thinking that, Do-won looked at Seon-woo. And he glared at him with deliberately displeased eyes.

“Kim Seon-woo.”

“Yes.”

“Do it properly.”

…This person is quite stubborn too.

But why is that? In the past, those words “do it properly” felt so difficult to hear… but somehow now it doesn’t feel that way anymore.

It even feels kind of good somehow.

Seon-woo smiled faintly.

“Yes, senior.”

* * *

“Ugh, I’m dying…”

After the company dinner ended, Seon-woo got into Yun Bin’s van as usual.

Perhaps because he had drunk quite a bit, Yun Bin looked thoroughly drunk. Actually, it was rather nice to see him like this. When he first came to the company dinner, he was nervous and not many people offered him drinks, so he barely got drunk.

Because of that, there was a feeling that he was somehow left out.

But the fact that he was this drunk now meant that he had blended into the set that much.

‘He’s doing it properly.’

It was the moment when Seon-woo was thinking that and smiling inwardly.

Yun Bin looked at his phone and called out to Seon-woo in surprise.

“Hyung, hyung. Did you see this?”

“No? What is it?”

“That thing we did this morning!”

Yun Bin showed him his phone.

The screen showed the photo the two of them took in the morning, or more precisely, the post with that photo.

Why is he showing me this again? As he was thinking that, Yun Bin raised his voice excitedly.

“There are over a thousand comments!”

“…Oh, is that a lot?”

“Of course it’s a lot! Even if I post ten posts, maybe one of them would get that many comments. But this got this much in just one day? Everyone is really interested in you, hyung!”

“Oh…”

Seon-woo was flustered.

He had heard that the response was good in the morning, but he didn’t expect it to be to that extent.

Seeing Seon-woo like that, Yun Bin spoke with a firm tone.

“Senior, I really recommend you create SNS quickly.”

“It does feel a bit cautious.”

“I know. And actually, if hyung really doesn’t suit SNS and such, I think it’s good not to make one at all. But if you’re going to make one later anyway, I recommend just making it quickly. Not only is there a lot of attention coming in right now but…”

Yun Bin glanced at Seon-woo’s expression and continued cautiously.

“The fans really like it.”

“…Fan.”

Seon-woo spoke that name anew.

He had forgotten about it while concentrating on acting on set. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t concerned about them.

Because it showed in each and every comment.

The traces of trying to somehow compress their affection for him into those short sentences.

‘What am I to them.’

He was grateful. As much as that, he was puzzled.

Why exactly do they give him such interest and love? Seon-woo had just done his job.

On one hand, he felt sorry too.

They were looking for him and liking him like that, but he felt he hadn’t properly made efforts to communicate with them.

That’s why.

That day, as soon as Seon-woo got home, he created an SNS account.

And he pondered. For his first post, how should he greet them to make the best impression?

Of course he had to upload a photo, but the problem was…

‘I don’t have any photos worth uploading.’

Seon-woo wasn’t the type to take selfies.

As such, the only photos in his photo album were ones taken with other people, and he couldn’t just upload those without saying anything.

He had to take a new photo.

Taking photos wasn’t his specialty, but well, just a selfie shouldn’t be too difficult.

Seon-woo first took out a suit from his closet and put it on. This was the moment of officially greeting fans for the first time. He couldn’t wear just any clothes.

Seon-woo went to the full-length mirror and took a photo.

Thanks to his constitution that doesn’t show signs of drinking, his face showed no trace of intoxication. Well, he wasn’t actually drunk either.

But when Seon-woo checked the photo, he frowned.

‘Something’s lacking.’

But Seon-woo was soon able to find the answer.

When he raised his thumb and took the photo, the somewhat empty feeling was neatly complemented.

He thought about making a V sign, but that somehow felt like showing off. The thumbs up felt good, like he was also giving praise to the fans.

However, what was still lacking was his expression.

Even he could see it was definitely an awkward expression. His tightly closed lips were tense with too much force, and his gaze was too obviously conscious of the camera.

Seon-woo pondered for a moment.

…Should he even act?

If he acted, he would get a somewhat better photo than that.

But somehow that didn’t appeal to him.

Wouldn’t it be a bit sorry to show a made-up appearance through acting at the moment of first greeting? The first button is the most important in anything, and he didn’t want to decorate his first meeting with fans in that way.

‘Well, this should be good enough.’

What’s so important about a photo anyway.

What matters is the heart.

Right, the heart.

Seon-woo decided to focus on the heart. And right now, there was only one way Seon-woo could express his heart.

Writing.

He wanted to write a letter in the main text accompanying the photo, pouring his heart into it as much as possible. It seemed like that would be the minimum courtesy to the fans who came looking for him, and it would also serve as an apology for not being able to share any news with them until now.

What words should he start with.

Since this situation itself was a first for him, starting the first sentence wasn’t easy.

‘Should I start with “Hello”? Too obvious.’

He didn’t need to write the sentences well.

But he should properly convey his sincerity.

Seon-woo thought for a long time.

And he wrote at length, as long as he had thought. Like writing essays back in university, putting all his heart into it.

But before long, Seon-woo hit a wall. He hadn’t paid attention to the character limit, but when it reached 10,000 characters, he could no longer continue writing.

A moment when his brain seemed to freeze.

That’s when it happened.

Yun Bin: Did you get home safely, hyung?

A text from Yun Bin came.

Seon-woo replied immediately.

Seon-woo: Yes. Did you get home safely, sunbae?

Yun Bin: Yes, I got home fine! But hyung. Did you create that SNS I mentioned earlier?

Seon-woo: Yes. I took a photo and was about to post… but the character limit is pretty tight.

Yun Bin: What??? Character limit? That can’t be right. How many characters did you write?

Seon-woo: It won’t let me write more after 10,000 characters.

Yoonbin: Hahahahaha Oh hyung, don’t joke around

Seon-woo: I’m not joking though…

Yun Bin: …Really?

Seon-woo: Yes.

Yun Bin: Hyung. Just don’t post anything until you see me tomorrow.

Seon-woo: Ah, I guess it’s some kind of error after all. You can normally write more than 10,000 characters, right? Should I write the main text separately in advance?

Yun Bin: No! Just don’t think about anything! Don’t write anything! Don’t post anything!

Seon-woo’s expression became puzzled.

Why was that. For some reason, through this text…

Yun Bin: Listen to me! Absolutely!!!

He could almost see Yun Bin’s face screaming in horror.

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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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