I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 151

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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 151

Calming down the excited Cheongseong people was by no means an easy task.

But there was something even more difficult than that, and that was calming down Min-hee once her switch had been flipped.

The way she glared at Hye-seong with such momentum that she seemed ready to bury someone alive at any moment. If it hadn’t been for the Dou Zhan Ku that Hye-seong had prepared as a debut celebration gift, this place might have become his grave right then and there.

“I’m only holding back because it’s really delicious.”

“…But it’s really not true, right?”

“One more.”

“Huh?”

“Offer up one more Dou Zhan Ku. Otherwise, I’ll really expose all of senior’s dark history.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Facing Min-hee’s chilly gaze, Hye-seong deflated and hung his head.

No, honestly, it wouldn’t have been strange if they were dating given that atmosphere… Even if it was acting, it’s not easy to create that kind of feeling!

‘But well, neither of them would be thinking about romance.’

They had been too casual with each other all this time, and it wasn’t a good time for dating either.

Nevertheless, the reason he had tried to push the two together… was largely because he had become too immersed in Yoon-seo’s emotions.

It was acting that brought back memories of a failed first love he thought he had forgotten.

‘That guy Seon-woo, I heard he’s never had a proper relationship…’

How could he express the emotions of unrequited love so well?

At that level, he was practically a master of unrequited love.

‘No, wait a minute. Just because they’re not dating doesn’t mean he might not have unrequited feelings, right?’

Hye-seong looked at Seon-woo with sleepy eyes.

Considering this guy’s immersion ability, maybe he really had fallen in love. That’s what he thought.

—To be honest, he just wanted to think that way.

Yoon-seo’s gaze had that much magic to revive even the romantic feelings he thought had died.

“Seon-woo.”

“Yes?”

“Make sure you get So-hee.”

“Um… I’ll try my best.”

Seon-woo smiled awkwardly.

It wasn’t really something he could control, but seeing that look in his eyes, it seemed like he would endlessly torment him if he didn’t nod.

‘Hye-seong hyung was secretly the type to get overly immersed.’

As an actor, it was something to be happy about.

It meant his acting felt valuable enough to get overly immersed in.

And it wasn’t just Hye-seong who was pushing the real-life couple theory like that. Though he didn’t come out as openly with a ‘date each other!’ feeling like Hye-seong, everyone had somewhat suspicious looks about the two of them.

Even,

“You two really looked good together, didn’t you?”

“…No, we didn’t.”

Even Ji-hwan was like that.

He didn’t seem to be overly immersed like Hye-seong, but he had a look that said ‘maybe it could be real?’

Fortunately, Ji-hwan didn’t pry further about this. Instead, he brought up something unexpected.

“Thank you.”

“…Yes? For what?”

“What do you mean for what. For always coming to visit Cheongseong like this.”

“Of course I should come.”

“It’s not obvious at all. You must be busy with filming right now. You could make time in between, but there are times when you’d have to be mindful of others. I know perfectly well how sets operate, so how could I not be grateful.”

Ji-hwan looked around at the troupe members with a quiet voice.

“Still, thanks to you coming, the kids will be able to find strength again. Having someone they only saw on TV right next to them changes their perspective. It makes them realize. Ah, we’re all the same birds after all. If I do well, I feel like I could fly up to that sky too.”

“Like when you sent us to 【I Am an Actor】?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

Ji-hwan nodded.

And he looked at Seon-woo and grinned.

“Look at you, Seon-woo. At first, you were a kid who didn’t even know if you should be acting or not… and now look how you turned out?”

Look how you turned out.

It was a phrase that contained so many meanings.

Seon-woo recalled the looks in the eyes of the juniors who had been watching him.

Eyes that shone full of admiration, as if Seon-woo was living their dreams.

Honestly, he never imagined he would face such looks, so he was a bit flustered.

“I’m still nothing much.”

“Then what about those friends?”

At Ji-hwan’s counter-question, Seon-woo was momentarily speechless.

If Seon-woo was nothing much, then what did that make those friends? Were they nothing too?

No, he didn’t want to think that way.

They were sparkling at their own pace.

As if reading Seon-woo’s inner thoughts, Ji-hwan smiled warmly.

“That’s how people are. They’re stricter with themselves than they think compared to others. They casually say things to themselves that they wouldn’t even say to others, and naturally demand impossible perfection.”

“…It’s difficult.”

“Because you’re thinking about it in a difficult way.”

Well, that was Seon-woo’s charm though.

Acting unnecessarily upright while trying to achieve perfection that others wouldn’t even covet.

But that’s probably why he was able to grow this much in such a short time.

That was certainly something worth applauding, but….

Ji-hwan’s gaze became serious.

“Well, I don’t know the right answer either. I just drop by often when my head gets complicated. I may not be anything special, but I can at least buy some snacks.”

“Even Choco Pie?”

“Ah, that’s a bit much.”

Honestly, that’s too much of a luxury.

Watching Ji-hwan add that comment, Seon-woo smiled faintly. Seeing Seon-woo like that, Ji-hwan patted his back.

“See? You look so much better when you smile.”

“…Don’t I smile often?”

“No. You’re always acting all serious like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. People should smile often. That’s how you get a cheerful face, and good fortune comes to cheerful faces.”

Seon-woo burst into laughter again at those silly words.

Come to think of it, he did seem to have a lot on his mind lately.

It was because Do-young’s acting had planted greed in Seon-woo.

The desire to properly express Yoon-seo.

The ironic thing was that this greed was gradually pulling Seon-woo further away from Yoon-seo.

This kind of greed wasn’t like Yoon-seo at all.

Yoon-seo was more like those juniors sitting here right now….

‘….’

Seon-woo’s expression became momentarily blank.

The moment he looked at the juniors’ faces, there was some inspiration that flashed through his mind. It felt like a single drop of paint instantly coloring his mind that had been chaotically mixed with all sorts of colors.

Just as he was about to properly examine that color,

“By the way, how did Jin-wook just disappear right after the drama ended?”

“…Right.”

Ji-hwan’s words brought Seon-woo’s consciousness back to reality.

Honestly, he had been a bit curious about what Jin-wook would say. Did he think Seon-woo’s acting was good after watching it?

…He didn’t know. Jin-wook was the person whose inner thoughts Seon-woo found hardest to read.

Rather than Jin-wook hiding his true feelings, it was more like his thought process was the most incompatible with Seon-woo’s.

Still, the fact that he came all this way to watch the live broadcast together seemed to suggest he thought positively of it….

“I’m worried about Jin-wook too.”

“Is something wrong?”

“The agency he joined has been getting some bad rumors lately.”

“Bad rumors… what kind?”

“Well… No. This is still something I can’t be sure about. It’s not right to speak carelessly about it. Come to think of it, Seon-woo, you still haven’t found an agency, right?”

“Yes. I’m planning to look around slowly after this project ends.”

“That’s actually good.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“The agencies are probably all worked up right now. They’ll come to you with much better contract terms than before, right?”

“Come on, would it be that much? I feel like my popularity and such were probably at a higher point during Actor days. After all, there were more various issues back then….”

“Geez, look at this guy. You act so well, but why are you so bad at calculations?”

“Well, I’m from liberal arts….”

“…I’m from liberal arts too though. Anyway, just trust what I’m saying. Your market value has jumped way higher than back then.”

Ji-hwan pounded his chest and spoke loudly.

“Right about now, pretty much every entertainment company is probably drooling wanting to take you in!”

* * *

Ji-hwan’s words weren’t wrong.

“Is the schedule confirmed?”

“Yes. They said they’ll be filming continuously for about a week.”

“Good. That week will probably be the crucial period.”

“…Do you think someone will snatch him up within that time?”

“No. They won’t be able to snatch him up within that time. But they’ll make contact.”

KS Entertainment’s Planning Office.

Casting director Kim Ji-hun chuckled as he looked at Seon-woo’s face on the screen.

It was a news article with a rather provocative title.

—Kim Seon-woo, Will He Become the Next Rom-Com Star… Industry Attention on His Melodrama Gaze

—Will He End the Drought of Actors in Their 20s… Kim Seon-woo, The Face Industry Insiders Are Watching

Normally, these would be articles not worth paying much attention to.

Entertainment reporters would say anything if you just slip them some money. But Seon-woo doesn’t have an agency.

That means the reporters wrote these articles voluntarily.

Why?

Because the views are exploding.

That means Seon-woo is an actor with that much buzz.

‘Of course, not quite as much as Cha Do-young though.’

Cha Do-young. Kim Ji-hun’s eyes sparkled as he thought of that name.

Do-young was definitely a name that had everyone in the industry drooling right now. A monster who won at Cannes right upon debut was just left unattended without an agency.

This was no different from gold lying on the street.

KS was currently preparing a fairly elaborate plan to recruit Do-young. They were investigating everything from Do-young’s personality to his preferences to create customized conditions.

But just because Do-young was doing well didn’t mean Seon-woo’s value was diminished.

No, from certain perspectives….

‘It might even be higher.’

In terms of immediate acting ability and achievements, Do-young was obviously overwhelming.

But what about as a star? Kim Ji-hun had witnessed the birth of countless stars. Half of them were people he had personally discovered.

And if there was something he realized from watching them, it was that the most talented people don’t necessarily gain the most popularity.

Stars become stars not because they sing well, are handsome, or act well.

It’s because they’re lovable.

They are so lovable that just briefly capturing them in one’s eyes feels insufficient, and their charm can soon become star quality.

And in Kim Ji-hun’s eyes, Seon-woo possessed very definite star quality.

If asked to explain why, it would be hard to say exactly what, but that’s precisely why he could be more certain of that star quality.

‘I should have secured him for sure back then.’

But it couldn’t be helped.

His instinct told him clearly. Seon-woo was the type of person who would try to escape even more the harder you tried to hold onto him.

You shouldn’t burden that kind of person. You have to give him a reason why he has no choice but to take your hand.

‘…I’ve prepared everything I can within my means.’

Kim Ji-hun’s eyes sparkled.

‘I’ll catch you somehow, Kim Seon-woo!’

And naturally, Kim Ji-hun wasn’t the only one steeling his resolve like this.

In front of the [Red Zone] film set, inside a pitch-black van…

“The gift is ready, right?”

“Yes. It’s a DVD with Andrew Niccol’s personal autograph.”

“Hehehe… Good.”

Someone had prepared a bribe,

“B-Boss, fighting…! You can do it!”

“…Right. I’ll try somehow!”

Someone concealed their gaunt body with a shabby coat and took trembling steps,

“Well, if we buy him a drink and put him in a good mood, won’t he come over?”

“Since he’s a bookworm who only studied, it might be even easier.”

“Hehehehe.”

“Hehehehehehehe.”

Someone laughed sinisterly.

The mission is one.

Catch Kim Seon-woo!

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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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