I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 14

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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 14

“Now, to Kim Seon-woo’s successful debut…!”

On the night after Seon-woo’s first performance, there was a modest after-party celebrating his debut.

Eun-seok grinned and placed his hand on Seon-woo’s shoulder.

“So, how was it? What are your thoughts on going on stage for the first time?”

“Um… it was good.”

“Hey, that’s too boring. Drink up.”

“This?”

Seon-woo held up his bubble tea with an incredulous expression.

They called it an after-party, but they hadn’t gone to a bar. They had another performance tomorrow.

Thanks to that, everyone was gathered at a cafe.

One of the troupe members looked at Seon-woo and spoke with a sincere voice.

“But you really did well today. I’ve never seen anyone receive this much Curtain Call applause from their very first night on stage.”

“…Thank you.”

“Oh, Seon-woo’s getting embarrassed.”

“Hey hey, leave him alone. He can be embarrassed!”

The troupe members giggled as they watched Seon-woo’s ears turn red.

It was quite an impressive moment, considering that most of the troupe members had initially viewed Seon-woo unfavorably.

Now they were treating Seon-woo like family.

“Seon-woo, do you drink alcohol?”

“Oh, yes. I drink in moderation.”

“How much can you handle?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never gotten drunk before.”

“Whoa. This guy’s got some bragging to do too!”

“It’s not bragging…”

The troupe members giggled as they teased Seon-woo.

Eun-seok smiled inwardly as he watched the troupe members.

‘Now everyone acknowledges him.’

Well, honestly, Seon-woo was someone you couldn’t help but acknowledge even if you didn’t want to.

‘This guy’s crazy.’

Eun-seok looked at Seon-woo.

When he first saw Seon-woo, Eun-seok had expected just one thing.

Simply not to interfere with the stage. He hadn’t hoped for anything more than that. Since Seon-woo had just started acting, he thought expecting more would be greedy.

But look at the result.

Eun-seok recalled the final scene where Seon-woo had just appeared.

The scene where he faced the Priest, soaked in blood, confessing, “I’m broken.”

The chills he felt then would probably never be forgotten.

Eun-seok was certain.

Though it was only a fleeting moment… at that time, all the audience’s eyes were focused solely on Seon-woo.

‘…Actually, in some ways, it seems like he did better than me.’

Eun-seok wore a pleased expression.

It was a bit disappointing, as if his character had been slightly stolen.

But more than that, he felt relieved. He had been so worried about causing trouble for Cheongseong because of the movie… but with such a good Seung-do appearing, he could leave without worry.

Eun-seok subtly rolled his eyes to look at Do-young.

He wasn’t the type to usually attend these after-parties, but today he was staying as well.

Maybe he was that pleased with Seon-woo? That’s what he thought, but,

“Park Eun-seok.”

Do-young suddenly called him.

Eun-seok was startled and answered.

“…Yeah. Yeah?”

“Congratulations.”

Do-young said as if muttering.

“You’ll do well. You’re a good actor.”

“…”

Eun-seok couldn’t say anything and just opened and closed his mouth.

Since he had mentioned filming the movie, Do-young hadn’t really talked to him privately.

He had been anxiously wondering how to make him less angry…

“I understand you leaving too. I don’t want to blame you either.”

“…Do-young.”

“But I just felt bad about it. You and I have been together since we first entered Cheongseong.”

Do-young downed his Americano.

Watching Do-young, Eun-seok hesitated before opening his mouth.

“Do-young. How long are you going to stay here…”

“Stop right there. I don’t want to fight.”

Do-young cut off Eun-seok’s words as if he knew what he was going to say.

He turned to look at Eun-seok with a serious expression.

“I have to protect Cheongseong.”

He wanted to ask if it was really necessary to go that far.

But Eun-seok kept his mouth shut.

As Do-young said, saying anything more would only lead to a pointless fight.

And even without him telling Do-young what to do, he believed that someday the world would call Do-young out on its own.

He was like an awl in a pocket.

Eventually, he would tear through the pocket and emerge.

Eun-seok chuckled and changed the subject.

“Right. That’s why I raised an excellent successor, didn’t I?”

“…Seon-woo?”

“Yeah.”

Eun-seok turned his head to look at Seon-woo.

He was earnestly talking with the other troupe members.

Do-young nodded.

“…He is quite remarkable.”

“How was it? The feeling of facing him directly on stage.”

“Hmm…”

Do-young fell into thought for a moment.

“I became curious. If he’s already acting like this… what will his acting be like after one or two years?”

“He’s someone whose future is worth looking forward to.”

“Yeah.”

Do-young nodded.

“He’s a friend I’d like to keep around for a long time.”

“…Are you taking a shot at me for leaving right now?”

“Was it that obvious?”

“…Geez, I said I was sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

Do-young smiled faintly.

He had already gotten over it long ago. He could already feel that Eun-seok was trying to fulfill his duty to Cheongseong until the very end.

“Just drop by whenever you want to. Whether you want to watch a play, or when you want to act… or even when you just need someone to talk to.”

Do-young added like a promise.

“I’ll always be at Cheongseong.”

* * *

“It’s reassuring having you here.”

After the after-party ended, Eun-seok put his arm around Seon-woo’s shoulder and grinned.

“I think I can really leave without any worries.”

“…You’re really talking like someone who’s leaving for good.”

“Well, I’ll come visit from time to time… but honestly, once movie filming starts, I probably won’t be able to come for about half a year.”

“It does feel strange that you’re leaving, senior.”

Seon-woo spoke honestly.

“I don’t think I would have adapted this well if it weren’t for you, senior.”

“You would have done well even without me.”

Eun-seok smiled.

“From what I can see, you’re someone who’s going to make it.”

“…Senior.”

“Ugh, stop with that senior stuff. There’s a perfectly good word like ‘hyung,’ so why do you keep saying the cringey ‘senior’?”

“‘Senior’ rolls off the tongue better.”

“Shut up. Call me hyung from now on.”

Eun-seok kept up his act until the very end.

“Hyung’s leaving. See you again.”

“…Yes, hyung.”

After Eun-seok left like that, Seon-woo somehow felt empty inside.

It was like the theater felt empty even when it was packed with people. It couldn’t be helped since he was the person Seon-woo had spent the most time with.

But it seems the saying that humans are creatures of adaptation is true.

Without Eun-seok, Seon-woo slowly blended into Cheongseong in his own way.

He became closer to people who had been awkward with him compared to the beginning, and the stage that had felt so unfamiliar at first became more comfortable the more he performed on it.

Nevertheless, if there was something he couldn’t get used to,

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

“Wheeeeeee———!”

It was the curtain call.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes looking only at him.

Those cheers that seemed to say thank you for showing such good acting, that it was such a wonderful time….

Would it be too much of an exaggeration to say that just hearing them made him feel full?

Of course, compared to Do-young, he still had a long way to go.

If Seon-woo received 1 unit of cheers, Do-young was someone who received 10… no, 50 units worth of cheers.

Part of it might be because he was the lead actor, but it was probably due to the impact of Do-young’s acting being that great.

No matter how much they clapped and cheered, they probably couldn’t fully express all the emotion they received.

Whenever Seon-woo looked at Do-young, he thought:

‘Will I ever be able to act like that someday?’

For now, it felt impossibly distant.

Seon-woo focused on his immediate tasks.

Acting with all his might. Making sure the audience who visited Cheongseong would never leave disappointed.

Fortunately, it seemed like he was doing well at this.

So much so that,

“An, an autograph?”

“Yes. Would it be possible…?”

Suddenly, giving autographs had become part of his fate.

Seon-woo looked at the woman in front of him with a dazed expression.

She was fidgeting as if embarrassed, yet holding out autograph paper that she seemed to have brought from home… It looked like she had come with the intention of getting an autograph today.

“Um, I don’t have an autograph yet… Would it be okay if I just wrote my name for you?”

“Yes! It’s fine.”

“What’s your name…?”

“Da-sol. Min Da-sol.”

“Yes, Da-sol…”

Seon-woo clumsily wrote his name on the autograph paper along with the message “Thank you for coming, Da-sol!”

Da-sol accepted the autograph paper with a nervous expression.

“Thank you!”

“…If you come again, I’ll have a proper autograph ready by then.”

“Huh, huh… Th-thank you. I’ll come often from now on! And… I don’t know if I should say this.”

“Oh, yes. Please go ahead.”

“You’re… handsome!”

Da-sol blurted out that surprise comment and quickly ran away.

All that remained were the troupe members chuckling and Seon-woo with a dazed expression.

“Wow, she’s a real fan. Seon-woo’s a popular star now, huh?”

“Ahem, don’t tease me.”

Seon-woo blushed but thought to himself.

Maybe he should create a proper autograph soon.

Making an autograph already seemed a bit like celebrity syndrome… but still, giving such a sloppy autograph felt too sorry.

I’d rather be accused of celebrity syndrome than feel this uncomfortable.

Anyway, as the days passed like this, the schedule for [Confession] was gradually coming to an end.

After just a few more performances, the [Confession] show would be over.

To finish strong until the end, it was another day when he was building up his emotions backstage as usual.

“…Who came?”

“Crazy, amazing! Really? Did they really come here?”

“Where? Where are they!”

Suddenly the troupe members became noisy.

Wondering what was happening, Seon-woo sat up, and Ye-chan appeared with a dazed expression.

“H-hyung! Did you hear?”

“No? What’s going on?”

“Director Yoo Chan-woo is here!”

“…What?”

And Seon-woo finally realized why the troupe members had been turned upside down.

Director Yoo Chan-woo.

A film director who had swept Cannes and the Oscars, and was currently rising in prominence not only in Korea but throughout the world.

Practically the most renowned director in South Korea.

It wasn’t that famous people had never come to Cheongseong as audience members before… but this carried a completely different weight.

For someone in acting, who could be considered a bigger name than Director Yoo Chan-woo?

But why on earth would such a person come here…?

“He probably came because of Do-young hyung, right?”

“Mm, that seems likely.”

It was the most convincing theory.

Of course, he might have simply come to enjoy the play.

But Korea’s biggest film director wouldn’t move around that easily, would he?

Besides…

“And he came with writer Han Hee-jung. This is definitely one hundred percent because of scouting!”

“…That’s certainly the case.”

Writer Han Hee-jung.

She was also a well-known screenwriter. After all, [University Hospital], which Seon-woo had performed against Seo Jin-wook, was her work.

Anyway, they had come to the theater as a director and writer combination.

The probability that they had come just to enjoy the play was very low.

There must be some purpose.

And with high probability, that purpose was likely Do-young.

‘Do-young sunbae really is amazing.’

To bring in Yoo Chan-woo to this extent.

As Seon-woo was feeling renewed admiration, Ye-chan looked at him with serious eyes.

“Hyung, really give it your all in today’s performance.”

“…Huh?”

“You never know. He might like your acting and scout you!”

“That’s…”

That’s a bit much.

Seon-woo was about to answer that way but trailed off for a moment.

Thinking about it carefully, it certainly wasn’t an impossible story.

Even if they had come to see Do-young, if his acting pleased them… there was no reason not to show interest.

‘…Is this a bigger opportunity than I thought?’

Seon-woo gulped.

He had tried not to be swayed by such things… but he couldn’t help thinking that way.

Perhaps today really could be the turning point that would change his life.

Maybe the opportunity of a lifetime had come.

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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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