I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 159

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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 159

Park Du-ho eventually left for the bathroom to wipe away his tears (which he insisted was rain).

With him gone, Seon-woo now had to spend an awkward time with the other three.

After all, he had essentially rejected their proposal.

Seon-woo opened his mouth with an apologetic voice.

“I’m sorry. You’ve all taken such good care of me all this time…”

“…It’s fine. We’ll excuse ourselves.”

“Ah, yes. Please get home safely!”

And Kim Do-hyeong weakly rose from his seat and left the restaurant just like that.

Had he placed quite a lot of hope on the contract with Seon-woo? His disappointment was clearly visible in many ways.

Kim Ji-hun let out a sigh.

“It’s disappointing, but it can’t be helped. At least the good thing is that the contract ends in a year.”

Kim Ji-hun chuckled softly.

“Our offer will still be valid after a year. So if you work with Wilde and feel even slightly disappointed… please contact us anytime. We won’t hold a grudge over this rejection.”

“…Thank you.”

“Oh, come to think of it, we’ll have to make a new proposal after a year.”

Kim Ji-hun shrugged his shoulders.

His eyes looking at Seon-woo were filled with deep regret.

“By then, you’ll be in a much bigger league than you are now.”

Seon-woo said nothing.

It was awkward to answer either yes or no. Kim Ji-hun smiled as if understanding Seon-woo’s feelings and stood up.

“Until the day we meet again, I’ll support you as a fan.”

And with Kim Ji-hun’s departure, only Oh Myeong-ho remained.

He had a strange expression. A face that seemed lost in thought.

Instead of forcing conversation, Seon-woo decided to give Oh Myeong-ho time to think.

How much time had passed? Oh Myeong-ho called out to Seon-woo in a low voice.

“Seon-woo.”

“Yes.”

“You said going to Wilde would be more interesting. May I ask why?”

Actually, Oh Myeong-ho had been quite shocked when he heard those words.

It wasn’t shocking that Seon-woo chose an agency based on ‘fun.’

Saying that going to Wilde would be interesting meant that LK felt boring to him. That part was completely incomprehensible.

LK was sending actors to Hollywood… it was the most globally active management agency in Korea.

In fact, among their actors, there was even one who had left footprints on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

But he found Wilde more interesting than them?

Someone might pass over this issue without much thought. But to Oh Myeong-ho, this felt like a very significant sign.

Like an omen that if he just ignored it and moved on, everything might collapse someday.

And seeing Oh Myeong-ho’s expression, Seon-woo hesitated for a moment.

He was worried that answering honestly might sound a bit rude… but seeing Oh Myeong-ho’s serious expression, giving a half-hearted answer wouldn’t be polite either.

Then it would be better to answer honestly.

“Wilde was the only place that asked me what kind of acting I wanted to do.”

“…Acting?”

“Yes. I could feel that they were curious about what kind of acting I would do, and that the CEO was already more excited than me about what kind of work we’d do together.”

“Wait, hold on.”

Oh Myeong-ho looked at Seon-woo with a bewildered expression.

Seeing that face, Seon-woo momentarily thought: Did what he said sound quite childish after all?

But that wasn’t it.

“…Did I not talk to you about acting at all?”

“Um… no.”

“Ha.”

Oh Myeong-ho let out a hollow laugh.

He couldn’t help but be dumbfounded. It would have been understandable if he had lost to Park Du-ho due to insufficient conditions… but to think he hadn’t even brought up acting while trying to recruit an actor.

Oh Myeong-ho’s expression became complicated.

Everyone might have different reasons for being in the entertainment industry, but Oh Myeong-ho’s reason was because he loved movies.

Creating works with actors, making them shine brighter was so thrilling. He thought nothing in his life could match the thrill of those moments.

When did it start?

When did he begin to see this work as mere business?

“…I’m sorry.”

“Huh? Oh… no. There’s nothing to apologize for.”

“No, there is something to apologize for.”

Oh Myeong-ho bowed his head respectfully.

“I came to find an actor but was just doing business instead. It’s embarrassing. It’s not strange at all that you didn’t feel interested in LK.”

“…It’s not that I wasn’t interested.”

Seon-woo shook his head.

“Hollywood did seem like it would be interesting. But it didn’t seem like something I should think about right now. At this point when I can’t even properly act according to Korean sensibilities… advancing there didn’t seem like a very good choice.”

“…I agree. Now that I think about it, even if you had come to us, there wouldn’t have been an immediate Hollywood debut. We would have focused on domestic works while building a global fanbase. But I can still guarantee this much.”

Oh Myeong-ho looked straight at Seon-woo.

“You would definitely do wonderful acting there too. And that would definitely be interesting. There’s a different kind of acting that’s only possible in Hollywood, not domestically. You’d be able to experience a completely new world.”

“…That does sound intriguing.”

“Well, but there’s still a chance.”

Oh Myeong-ho’s eyes sparkled.

“It’s embarrassing to bring this up at this point, but in a year, or even a few years from now, please come find LK, find me again. I promise. At that time…”

Oh Myeong-ho extended his hand.

“I won’t have boring stories like this time.”

“Yes.”

Seon-woo smiled faintly and grasped that hand.

“I’ll also work hard until then.”

That was the last greeting with Oh Myeong-ho.

Park Du-ho only returned after Oh Myeong-ho left the restaurant. With eyes that were clearly swollen even through his sunglasses.

“…Ahem. What, did everyone leave?”

“Yes. Since it’s raining and all, they should go home early.”

“Rain? It looks clear outside…”

Park Du-ho, who was about to answer carelessly, suddenly stopped and froze.

Seon-woo chuckled as he watched Park Du-ho.

“Didn’t you say it was going to rain?”

Park Du-ho avoided his gaze.

“…It seems to have just stopped.”

* * *

—Han Jeong-hun and Yu Eun-jeong’s [Red Zone] opens new horizons for medical dramas

—[Red Zone] achieves No. 1 viewership ratings in East Asia!

The long journey had ended.

Han Jeong-hun turned on his phone after a long time to check the viewers’ reactions. It was something he deliberately avoided during filming. If he were swayed by those reactions, it could affect the entire work.

Macaroon One Bite: It’s over…

Cali: I literally lived for coming home and having a beer while watching Red Zone… what am I gonna do with my Wednesdays now ㅠㅠ

Freshwater Snail: Season 2!!! Please season 2!!!

Bulanping: Honestly, I watched it thinking “another medical drama?” but it was so interesting.

A drama that wasn’t tiring, wasn’t boring, and was comforting.

People’s reviews were generally of that sentiment.

The atmosphere was that it was easier to immerse in because they portrayed doctors’ lives from a humane tone like ordinary citizens.

“Honestly, I was a bit nervous at first.”

And seeing such reactions, Yu Eun-jeong let out a sigh of relief.

“A human drama. Actually, in today’s dopamine era, it’s not really a good choice, is it?”

“Well, our work isn’t without dopamine either.”

“It does have some. But it’s weak. Somewhere people are dying, hundreds of billions are going back and forth, all kinds of schemes are rampant… [Red Zone]’s stories are mostly about people’s hearts.”

“Maybe the public wanted that too.”

“What do you mean?”

“A chance to breathe.”

Han Jeong-hun said as if muttering.

His gaze was directed toward the busy staff members.

The shadows behind the stage whose existence the public couldn’t even know, who couldn’t be seen and shouldn’t be seen.

“The times have become so fast. Dual-income households have been the norm for a long time, and they say terms like side jobs and N-jobbers have emerged? The world these days only has trumpeters saying that if you slack off even a little, you’ll immediately fall behind, that you have to fight and win somehow. That’s why I liked the writer’s work.”

“What was good about my work?”

“Whatever the world says, whatever speed it flows at, I want to say this. It seemed like you were telling stories that way.”

Instead of answering, Yu Eun-jeong smiled.

From a writer’s perspective, a reader who could read all of her inner thoughts like this… was both eerie and welcome. It felt like finally having a proper conversation.

“I also liked PD’s direction. PD’s sense of directing the ordinary to be special, I was quite impressed many times.”

“…Ahem. Let’s stop gilding each other’s faces here.”

“Oh my, were you just gilding my face out of courtesy? I thought you were sincere.”

“I, I was sincere. Just…”

Han Jeong-hun showed a rarely flustered expression then shook his head.

“Ahem. Anyway, I’d like to work with you often in the future, Writer.”

“Me too. It was nice because PD and I seemed to work quite well together.”

“Do you have any next work in mind?”

“Rather than having something in mind…”

Yu Eun-jeong’s focus lingered in the air for a moment.

An expression as if thinking of someone else who wasn’t here.

“I roughly saw the direction.”

“…I think I roughly know what it is.”

“Really?”

“It’s about Seon-woo, isn’t it?”

“Wow. How did you know?”

“Because your eyes only get like that when you’re with Seon-woo.”

“…This won’t do if my thoughts are so easily readable.”

Yu Eun-jeong clicked her tongue awkwardly and nodded.

“That’s right. I’m thinking of a work with Seon-woo as the lead.”

“Not a supporting lead or anything, but the main lead?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

“Why?”

“I still can’t imagine it. Seon-woo leading an entire work as the main character.”

“…Well, it’s completely different from acting as a supporting character.”

The lead role isn’t a position that can be handled with just good acting skills.

You need to think about the flow of every scene and calculate what kind of picture the acting details shown moment by moment will ultimately create.

Of course, the director or PD’s direction is important, but fundamentally the actor themselves must have a sense for this.

And this sense can only be gained through long experience.

“It seems like it’ll take quite a while for Seon-woo to be ready to handle that kind of work… What will you do in the meantime?”

“…Hmm?”

That was the moment.

Yu Eun-jeong’s eyes narrowed. She had noticed that Han Jeong-hun had something else he wanted to say.

She chuckled softly.

“What is it?”

“Pardon?”

“You have something else you want to say, don’t you? Why can’t you just come out with it?”

“…I can’t fool you, Writer.”

Yu Eun-jeong’s intuition wasn’t wrong.

Han Jeong-hun sighed and lowered his head.

Then he slowly opened his mouth.

“It’s not confirmed yet. But the higher-ups are quite satisfied with [Red Zone]’s performance. The viewers’ reactions are good too. So…”

“…Don’t tell me?”

“Yes.”

Han Jeong-hun nodded.

“If we end up producing a season 2… are you interested?”

“I’d love to.”

Yu Eun-jeong answered immediately.

Then she soon crossed her arms and fell into deep thought.

“But then Seon-woo and Min-hee are going to be horrified.”

“…Why would they be?”

“Well, if it’s season 2, their relationship will have to develop somehow, right? The love scene level will be higher than now… Considering what’s between those two, they’ll be absolutely horrified and in chaos, won’t they?”

Han Jeong-hun tilted his head as if wondering what the problem was with that.

“Wouldn’t that make it even more interesting?”

“…Oh ho.”

As if that was a new perspective, Yu Eun-jeong struck her palm with her fist and looked at Han Jeong-hun with a strange expression.

“PD.”

“Yes.”

“Sometimes when I look at you… you don’t seem normal either. You’re a complete pervert. A pervert.”

“I won’t deny it. So, do you dislike it?”

“No.”

Yu Eun-jeong covered her mouth and smiled wickedly.

“It’s already getting interesting.”

“Hehe.”

“Hehe.”

“Hehe…!”

“Hehe…!”

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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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