I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 176

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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 176

The ones who were most delighted by the news of Seon-woo’s casting were naturally his parents.

“A, a lead role?”

To be precise, they were so delighted they were bewildered.

Seeing Jeong-hee and Young-sik doubting whether they had heard correctly, Seon-woo couldn’t help but realize anew that his trajectory was certainly extraordinary.

“Yes. I was lucky.”

“It’s not just luck! It’s because you worked hard and did well… But still, even so. Is it already possible for you to take on lead roles?”

Jeong-hee’s reaction wasn’t unreasonable.

After all, it had only been a year since Seon-woo declared he would “try for 2 years,” and not even that long.

And they had long since come to fully support Seon-woo’s acting career. Just seeing him secure a supporting role in [Red Zone] and draw public reaction was enough to make them feel there would be no worries about Seon-woo making a living as an actor in the future.

But suddenly a lead role here.

“Don’t let your guard down.”

And then Young-sik looked directly at Seon-woo.

Unlike Jeong-hee, he didn’t seem entirely excited. He looked at Seon-woo with calm eyes.

“If you get caught up in thoughts like you’ve achieved everything, you might actually fall instead. Don’t think you’ve achieved it. Think of it as another assignment that’s been given to you.”

“Yes. I will.”

Seon-woo wasn’t particularly hurt by those words.

Because he could relate. Even in university, how many classmates had celebrated coming to Seoul National University only to be baptized with F grades?

Sometimes there were quite a few who became depressed and wrote withdrawal letters, saying the university they had devoted their whole lives to reach wasn’t as special as they thought.

It was unfortunate.

Looking back now, university was just a starting point.

‘And this is exactly the same now.’

Seon-woo’s eyes deepened.

He had no intention of getting excited just because he had barely reached the starting line.

But it seemed the public’s thoughts were a bit different.

—Kim Seon-woo selected for lead role in ‘My Imugi’… Rising next-generation prospect

—Rookie actor Kim Seon-woo secures role of Yi Bang-won in Seo Tae-rok’s ‘Yeokjeok’

No articles about [Red Zone] had come out yet.

The deal regarding Seon-woo’s appearance hadn’t been finalized yet. But [My Imugi] and [Yeokjeok] alone were already sufficiently surprising news.

Sparkling Water: Isn’t this crazy… Going straight to lead roles in the first year of debut?

└busboy: Well, there are cases where people debut directly in lead roles

└Sparkling water: That’s not exactly normal though lololol

White Mouse: Wow, it feels like yesterday he was showing rookie signs in My Actor… But thinking about it, it really was yesterday? What is this really

eyesonyou: But can you imagine Kim Seon-woo as Yi Bang-won? Yi Bang-won has this total alpha male vibe, so it doesn’t match well with Seon-woo

└Not A Critic: That’s true. But Director Seo Tae-rok is famous for being a perfectionist who pays attention to every detail like that, so he wouldn’t use Kim Seon-woo for no reason. There must be some reason.

meteor: But Seon-woo’s Imugi seems like it would really be perfect. If he comes out with that slightly mentally ill feeling like in One Room, it would suit him so well.

└ppuppo: An actor who suits the role of a mentally ill soldier suspiciously well ㄷㄷ

└Freshwater Snail: You guys didn’t watch Red Zone. He was completely harmless there!

└Ppoppo: But he was mentally ill there too. He was shaking when he saw patients, whether it was PTSD or trauma.

└Freshwater Snail: That’s… true.

Such comments were attached to pretty much every article.

Seon-woo’s SNS was needless to say.

EyeHealthLutein: Congratulations actor ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Freshwater Snail: I’m so looking forward to Imugi…

Muyaho: I now have a reason to live until next year

└Gahyun: Agree agree

Congratulatory messages from various people kept flying in endlessly.

And among them were naturally Seon-woo’s acquaintances as well.

Hye-seong: Seon-woo, congratulations!

Ye-chan: Congratulations Seon-woo hyung!!!

Jae-won: Wow, that’s great. Congratulations, Seon-woo!

Hyeong-bin: What is this. Seon-woo is taking on a lead role!?

They were congratulating him, but overall they seemed more surprised.

Since he had suddenly dropped two such major things in succession, it was unavoidable.

And among them were people Seon-woo hadn’t thought of who also sent congratulations,

Seong Do-won: What? Already a lead role?

Seo Ryeong: Seon-wooooo what? Isn’t it ridiculous that you’re already taking on lead roles?

First there were Do-won and Seo Ryeong,

Do-young: I saw the news. Congratulations on the lead role, Seon-woo.

And Do-young as well.

Since they hadn’t been in frequent contact, the contact was all the more welcome and even a bit surprising.

Seon-woo: Ah, thank you hyung. Are you doing well?

Do-young: Yeah. Let’s have a meal together soon.

Seon-woo: Yes, sounds good!

Do-young: I’ll contact you as soon as my schedule clears up.

He hadn’t seen Do-young’s face even once during this time.

It was unavoidable.

After winning at Cannes, [The Ladder of Eden] was having a hit run, securing the ‘ten million movie’ title for the first time in a while. Since it still hadn’t completely left theaters, he probably didn’t have that much free time yet.

Min-hee: Seon-woo, congratulations! I was really surprised to hear you got the lead role.

Min-hee: But did you hear about Red Zone?

Seon-woo: Yes. I heard they’re planning Season 2.

Min-hee: …Just thinking about how excited Hye-seong oppa will be is already making me angry. What should I do?

Meanwhile, Min-hee’s text message brought Seon-woo an unexpected dilemma in many ways.

The fact that [Red Zone] Season 2 was coming out meant that Seon-woo and Min-hee’s romantic storyline would continue as well.

Hye-seong was already busy making lewd smiles whenever he saw the two of them, but if Season 2 came out too….

‘Let’s think about this later.’

There was no need to think about such a headache-inducing matter right now.

But in the midst of all this, another welcome text message arrived.

Yeon-woo: See you soon.

It was Yeon-woo.

He hadn’t made any separate plans with her. Nevertheless, there was a reason why Yeon-woo was contacting him like this.

It was thanks to the fact that Seon-woo wasn’t the only one who made the news today.

—’My Imugi’, the nine-tailed fox is Lee Yeon-woo… Bold casting choice

—Lee Yeon-woo reunites with Kim Seon-woo after over a year in ‘My Imugi’!

‘A nine-tailed fox.’

Nine-tailed fox.

In the story, it was another character who coveted the Yeo-ui-ju along with the Imugi. If the Imugi wanted to become a dragon through the Yeo-ui-ju, the nine-tailed fox hoped that stealing that Yeo-ui-ju might allow her to become human.

From the perspective of ‘wanting to become human’, it was a character that suited Yeon-woo well.

Yeon-woo also had, in a way, a desire to become ordinary… more precisely, a desire to blend well into this society.

That feeling certainly had something in common with the nine-tailed fox.

‘Is that why she auditioned for it?’

He had thought that someday they would appear in a work together.

Because Yeon-woo seemed like she would definitely survive in this industry for a long, long time. But he didn’t expect that day to come so quickly.

Seon-woo: Did you know I was going to be in it, Yeon-woo?

Yeon-woo: No. I found out about that from the article too. I just found out about my own casting in the first place.

Seon-woo: It’s really been a long time since we’ve seen each other.

Yeon-woo: Has it? I’ve often seen you acting on screen. So it doesn’t feel that new to me. What about you, Seon-woo?

Seon-woo: I’ve watched you too, of course.

Yeon-woo had recently appeared in a school drama.

There, Yeon-woo had played the role of a vicious bully who tormented people by poking their skin with a ballpoint pen, drawing quite a big reaction.

In other words, she was greatly hated.

She bullied the female protagonist so viciously that even Seon-woo, who was watching and knew it was acting, felt that Yeon-woo was being too harsh.

Now that same woman was going to become a nine-tailed fox.

A contradictory monster who devours human livers in order to become human.

‘…It should be interesting.’

Seon-woo’s eyes sparkled.

The nine-tailed fox was also the character that Seon-woo found most impressive in [My Imugi]. If it had been a male character, he might have auditioned for the nine-tailed fox instead of the Imugi.

Seon-woo: I think it’ll suit you really well, Yeon-woo.

Yeon-woo: That doesn’t really sound like a compliment?

Seon-woo: It’s a misunderstanding. I really meant it as a compliment….

Yeon-woo: I’m joking. But do you know the senior who’s playing Yeo-ui-ju? Senior Go Yu-na.

Seon-woo: No, I don’t know her.

Yeon-woo: I heard she’s not ordinary?

Not ordinary.

Seon-woo didn’t bother to respond to that. He didn’t want to talk carelessly about someone he hadn’t even met yet, and he didn’t want to build preconceptions either.

Instead, Seon-woo changed the subject.

Seon-woo: But Yeon-woo, have you done some research on nine-tailed foxes?

Yeon-woo: Research??

Seon-woo: Yes. I’ve been looking up folktales and such related to Imugi for this role, and I found some things about nine-tailed foxes too.

Seon-woo: Perception of the boundary between human and non-human through Korean monster narratives.pdf

Seon-woo: Popular reception of monster images in folk paintings of late Joseon.pdf

Seon-woo: Control discourse of Joseon society projected in monster narratives.pdf

Seon-woo: I’ve highlighted some parts here and there, so it would be good if you could refer to those when reading!

No reply came back from Yeon-woo.

She was probably already looking through the papers he had sent. It had been quite difficult to find papers that would be helpful for acting, but if it was Yeon-woo, he could definitely share them with her.

He owed her a lot of help.

The detailed acting techniques he had learned from her were one of the biggest assets that made the current Seon-woo.

‘This time I should show her a proper performance too.’

Seon-woo picked up the script.

As the script became tattered and filled with notes, Seon-woo felt that the Imugi was gradually coming to life.

Only a few days remained until the script reading.

Seon-woo wanted to establish his character as much as possible by then. So that everyone at the reading could get a sense of ‘Ah, so the Imugi is this kind of character’ just by watching Seon-woo’s reading.

Actually, that process wouldn’t be too difficult.

He had already established a basic framework during the audition. But if there was one thing that had changed a bit, it was Seon-woo’s physicality.

‘I think I’ve become more familiar with historical drama acting too.’

Was it thanks to continuously preparing historical drama tone characters while preparing for Yi Bang-won?

Compared to before, he felt like he could express the Imugi’s profound feeling much better.

It was a favorable development. The thousands of years that the Imugi had lived naturally came to life more, and he felt this was definitely better acting than during the audition.

Thanks to this, when the script reading day finally arrived, Seon-woo was able to enter the set with considerable confidence.

“Hello, I’m Kim Seon-woo!”

Even in the midst of all this, Seon-woo didn’t forget to greet the senior actors and staff members.

If he failed to greet them properly here and showed a casual attitude, people would think he had changed.

They would think he had become arrogant after landing a leading role at such a young age.

This was a time when he needed to be even more careful.

However,

“Ah, Seon-woo!”

“…Yeon-woo?”

Yeon-woo seemed to have no intention of being careful about anything.

Seon-woo was momentarily speechless as he looked at Yeon-woo, who had arrived at the script reading first. Her bob cut had become a blunt bob, and her makeup was perfectly done as if she had just come from a salon.

She seemed to be wearing at least ten rings on her fingers, and with diamond necklaces and several gold bracelets layered together… he could guarantee it.

Yeon-woo was currently dressed in the most glamorous way Seon-woo had ever seen anyone in his life.

This didn’t seem like Yeon-woo’s usual style.

Seon-woo sat down next to her and whispered quietly.

“What’s all this?”

“Pretty, right? I tried to create the feeling of a nine-tailed fox.”

So that was her excuse.

But no matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem like it was because of the nine-tailed fox. The Yeon-woo he knew wasn’t someone who would dress like this for such a reason.

When he looked at Yeon-woo quietly with that thought, Yeon-woo grinned mischievously. Then she whispered softly.

“I’m trying to engage in a little power struggle.”

“…What?”

“It’s something that only happens in the world of actresses.”

Yeon-woo smiled as if asking wasn’t it interesting.

“If you’re looked down upon, you get trampled here.”

“…”

Is that so?

Thinking of the relationship between Seo Ryeong and Min-hee, it was a somewhat puzzling statement for Seon-woo, but he thought it might be possible depending on the circumstances.

The problem was that the leading actress Go Yu-na, who was the reason Yeon-woo had dressed up so much, hadn’t arrived at her seat yet.

‘It’s almost time to start the script reading…’

The current time was 9:55.

Seon-woo thought.

She was probably trying to arrive exactly at 10 o’clock, the scheduled time for the script reading.

…It was a naive thought.

10 o’clock.

10:10.

10:20…

And even at 10:30, Go Yu-na hadn’t appeared.

Does this make sense? While Seon-woo’s expression became stunned, Yeon-woo snickered as if she had expected this and whispered.

“I told you, didn’t I? She’s not an ordinary person.”

“…”

He had tried not to have any preconceptions, but at this point, even Seon-woo had nothing to say.

Go Yu-na. He had heard rumors that she was an actress who caused many incidents and accidents, but he never thought she wouldn’t even keep basic time commitments.

What was more surprising was the reaction of the other actors.

“Go Yu-na again?”

“Sigh, when will she ever mature.”

“I wonder if she’s even coming.”

Their reactions seemed to expect this from Go Yu-na, as if it wasn’t particularly surprising.

In the end, PD Jeong Yu-jun had no choice but to feel more embarrassed and try to appease the actors.

“I’m sorry, everyone. I just got word that she’s crossing Mapo Bridge right now. Let’s all take a short break!”

This isn’t right.

Seon-woo sighed inwardly.

Such an irresponsible attitude. He understood that Go Yu-na commanded a high price, but she shouldn’t make so many people wait indefinitely like this.

‘No. Maybe there was a good reason for this.’

Maybe there was a traffic accident.

Or maybe she had an urgent bathroom emergency.

Whatever it was, there must have been a reason.

Seon-woo tried hard to rationalize it that way. He had to. Otherwise, his Yeo-ui-ju, his precious Yeo-ui-ju… might become a little hateful.

But 30 minutes later,

“Ugh… I’m exhausted.”

“Yu-na. Aren’t you coming too late?”

“Ah, sorry~. I drank too much yesterday.”

When Go Yu-na finally appeared on set… Seon-woo had to doubt not only his eyes but also his nose.

The smell of alcohol that pierced his nostrils even though she was across the table.

At this level, it seemed like she hadn’t just drunk yesterday, but had been drinking until this morning.

Seon-woo kept looking for reasons internally while forcing a smile on his face.

There must have been a reason.

A reason she had to drink.

A reason she had to be this late.

Such a reason…

‘What’s going on?’

It was the moment that question arose.

Seon-woo’s eyes met Go Yu-na’s eyes.

At the same time, Go Yu-na’s gaze quickly scanned Seon-woo.

Interest flickered momentarily in her intoxicated eyes, and then her mouth opened.

“Oh my, this oppa is more my type than I thought?”

Seon-woo’s smile twisted as if it would crumble at any moment.

Is this really something to say in this situation?

No matter how much he thought about it, it didn’t make sense.

He could only vaguely realize one thing.

This filming…

It seemed like it wouldn’t be as easy as he thought.

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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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