I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 177

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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 177

Can you be late to a script reading?

Promises are meant to be kept on time, but depending on circumstances, it can happen.

But can you drink the night before a script reading?

Usually not, but if there was truly an unavoidable reason… like if a senior forced you to drink, then it would have been unavoidable.

But then, while being that late, can you critique your scene partner’s appearance?

That…

‘Even if I want to understand more, I can’t.’

Three strikes, you’re out.

Seon-woo’s expression inevitably became gloomy.

The excitement he’d felt from [My Imugi] sank in an instant.

‘…I knew this would happen.’

When Go Yu-na was late, Jeong Yu-jun honestly wasn’t very surprised.

Go Yu-na’s troublemaking was already widely known in this industry. She looked exactly like first love material from a youth drama, but her behavior was completely… like a tyrant.

And that was why Jeong Yu-jun chose Go Yu-na.

No, to be precise, it was why he could choose her. After all, Go Yu-na was undeniably a top star. But thanks to her track record, most production companies didn’t want to work with her…

‘Thanks to that, I could get her cheap.’

Kim, the CEO was right.

For a work to succeed, the presence of a star is essential.

Of course, someone like Seon-woo who has star qualities could satisfy the public to some degree.

But that’s only if viewers give it a chance at least once.

And to seize that one opportunity, a star’s presence was almost essential.

And for Jeong Yu-jun, who was struggling with budget issues, there was no actress more perfect than Go Yu-na.

That face which held both innocence and decadence, elegance and wretchedness simultaneously was perfect for Yeo-ui-ju… Her usual conduct was problematic, but when it came to acting alone, Go Yu-na was flawless.

Of course, the resulting incidents and accidents were quite troublesome…

But it couldn’t be helped.

When you don’t have money, you have to make up for it with stress.

However, what weighed on his mind was,

‘I’m sorry, actors…!’

The actors who had no choice but to suffer along with him.

For their sake, he should say something to Go Yu-na, but as he was fretting about what to do…

“Go Yu-na.”

“Ah, yes. Senior. Long time no see! Has it been about 3 years?”

“I don’t think this is the time for that kind of talk.”

A man with gentle features spoke up.

It was Han Ju-hyeok.

The sub male lead who would play the Dokkaebi role.

He was glaring at Go Yu-na with extremely angry eyes.

“Do you know how many people waited because of you? An hour. For over an hour, all these people have been waiting just for you. Are you going to act like this from the start of the drama?”

At those words, several people nodded with relieved expressions.

Everyone pretended otherwise while stealing glances at Go Yu-na. Indeed, if she was confronted this aggressively, how would Go Yu-na react?

Would she get angry? Or would she cry?

“Oh, I’m sorry. I drank too much yesterday.”

It was neither.

Go Yu-na immediately smiled brightly and apologized.

With that response, Han Ju-hyeok had nothing more to say.

When she’s saying she’s sorry, there’s no point in pressing further. Of course, he couldn’t just let it slide either.

“Do you think that’s an excuse?”

“Of course not! Sigh, I’m still so immature… I’m sorry, everyone! I was wrong!”

She even pressed her palms together and bowed to everyone, leaving them all with awkward expressions and unable to say anything.

Even Han Ju-hyeok, who had been glaring at Go Yu-na, eventually just sighed.

“…Don’t be late again.”

“Yes!”

Whether that promise would be kept was still unknown, but at least it wasn’t easy to say anything more here.

Meanwhile, Seon-woo watched this series of events and couldn’t help but worry more.

‘When it comes to acting… won’t there be problems?’

He’d heard that her acting ability was quite outstanding. But having never seen her work, Seon-woo couldn’t help but doubt her acting ability given the situation.

He wondered if someone who showed this kind of attitude could really be serious about acting.

But at least that seemed to be an unnecessary worry.

“Why? Why should I rest?”

When the script reading began and he saw Go Yu-na’s acting… Seon-woo couldn’t help but completely forget the terrible image of her he’d seen so far, even if just for a moment.

And for good reason, because before his eyes was a perfect embodiment of the Yeo-ui-ju he had vaguely imagined while reading the script.

‘Beautiful.’

Like a misty evening sky… a light that was somehow whitish yet tinged with red flowed from Go Yu-na.

A light that was somehow sad, pitiful, and lovely. Just being illuminated by that light made you want to take care of Go Yu-na somehow.

What Yeo-ui-ju was acting now was the early part.

It was the story of when he was suddenly advised to take a break due to false accusations of wielding school violence during his school days.

“That person doesn’t even know who I am, you know? Don’t you believe what I’m saying?”

“I believe you. I do believe you, but… either way, there’s nothing good about being active right now. So just until we secure evidence… okay? Let’s be careful for now.”

“So why do I need to be careful? Are you worried it might actually be true about my school violence? I’m telling you right now. It’s not me!”

The agency trying to prevent any potential situations, and Yeo-ui-ju feeling frustrated by the situation where not only the public but even her agency seemed to subtly suspect her… Watching Go Yu-na act out this role, Seon-woo was inwardly impressed.

‘…Now I understand why everyone keeps saying Go Yu-na this, Go Yu-na that.’

It was captivating acting.

Beyond just acting ability, it felt like the person herself was overflowing with vitality. It was as if the person’s own natural charm naturally enhanced her acting as well.

Because of this, Seon-woo couldn’t help but feel even more regretful.

‘Why on earth would someone who can act like this…’

If only her behavior were decent, she would really seem like a charming person.

Did his uncomfortable feelings show? Go Yu-na, who made eye contact with Seon-woo from across the room, suddenly widened her eyes.

And then she winked at Seon-woo.

To think she had the presence of mind to do that while acting.

Seon-woo slightly averted his eyes and looked at the script.

This wasn’t the time to keep thinking about Go Yu-na anyway.

‘I have my own problems to worry about.’

Seon-woo’s position was ambiguous in many ways right now.

Although he was called the main protagonist, Nam Gi-jun, who appeared as a supporting lead, was a senior with much more experience than Seon-woo.

On the Internet, stories like ‘Is Kim Seon-woo really at the level to beat Nam Gi-jun for the lead role?’ were already circulating openly.

And this place wouldn’t be an exception either.

Indeed, suspicious glances had been pouring toward him from here and there since earlier.

If those glances were converted into words, they would probably be something like ‘What exactly is this kid doing?’

‘…I don’t know if I’m at that level or not, but.’

Still, he had to show at least that much.

That Seon-woo didn’t just get the role of I-mu-gi by luck.

What kind of I-mu-gi Seon-woo was planning to portray.

And that was…

“Is it you?”

Naturally successful.

“Did you call me?”

This was a line from the last part of episode 1.

The words I-mu-gi says while saving Yeo-ui-ju, who had fallen from a building rooftop and was in danger of falling to her death.

Probably people looking at this line would think this way.

Isn’t this a pretty easy line?

But that wasn’t the case.

Lines are ultimately most important in bringing out their flavor.

But ‘Is it you? Did you call me?’ was… a line that could easily sound cringey, wasn’t it?

In fact, to properly cover this part, Seon-woo had to practice diligently.

And the conclusion he reached was to deliver this tone with as much of a historical drama feel as possible.

If he did that, he calculated that even that authoritative tone would become not cringey, but rather elegant.

And that calculation seemed to have been successful.

The suspicion that had been carried in the gazes looking at him when Seon-woo’s reading first started could no longer be found at all.

They would have been able to tell just from the script reading.

The reason why Seon-woo was selected as I-mu-gi.

And Go Yu-na was no exception to this either.

Her eyes looking at Seon-woo were blinking blankly, as if she had received quite a deep impression.

That was fortunate.

Given Go Yu-na’s personality that he had observed so far, it seemed like once she thought someone was easy, she would constantly try to manipulate them.

By making her recognize that ‘I’m not such an easy person to deal with’ like this, future filming would be more comfortable.

But apparently this wasn’t enough.

After the script reading ended, while everyone was exchanging greetings… Go Yu-na suddenly came to Seon-woo’s side and gave him a subtle eye smile.

“Seon-woo oppa? You’re two years older than me. I can call you oppa, right?”

“…You’re my senior, so I can’t really say anything about it.”

“Aw, it’s fine. You can just call me Yu-na too. That’s more comfortable for me.”

“I’ll call you senior.”

Seon-woo deliberately drew a line.

Somehow it felt like if he became casual here, she would cross even more lines.

At least Seon-woo had to establish his standards.

That’s when Yeon-woo, who had been next to Seon-woo, smiled brightly and stood up.

“Hello, senior. I’m Lee Yeon-woo.”

And Go Yu-na, who hadn’t looked at Yeon-woo until now, finally looked at Yeon-woo and subtly scanned her.

And then she smiled brightly.

“Yeah, I know. You acted well. Especially when you stabbed the female lead with a ballpoint pen, it was really chilling? I really thought you were a real delinquent.”

Was this a compliment or an insult?

While Seon-woo couldn’t say anything due to her incomprehensible way of speaking, Yeon-woo casually shrugged her shoulders and laughed.

The sky-blue aura surrounding her rippled more intensely than usual.

“Really? But don’t misunderstand. I’m not actually that scary of a kid.”

“Right? Oh, but can I talk with Seon-woo for a moment right now?”

Go Yu-na smiled with her eyes crinkling.

“I have some things I’m curious about with Seon-woo.”

“And you don’t have any for me?”

“Yeah. Well. Not yet?”

Go Yu-na nodded with a good-natured smile.

“I’ll let you know if any come up later.”

“….”

Yeon-woo looked at Go Yu-na silently.

She could tell this wouldn’t be easy, but this woman… was a stronger opponent than expected.

She couldn’t even tell if she was doing this with malicious intent, or if she was doing it without any thought at all.

Thanks to that, she couldn’t yet determine what stance to take either.

But well, for now at least…

“Yes, you must let me know next time, okay?”

“Yeah.”

Taking a step back would be the strategically correct choice.

In the end, Yeon-woo retreated. Only Seon-woo remained. Go Yu-na looked at Seon-woo with sparkling eyes.

“You know, when I heard about you, I was really curious? There aren’t many people who rise as quickly as you do these days… People kept calling you a genius. Honestly, I thought that was a bit of an exaggeration, but…”

She smiled faintly.

“It seems to be true. Your I-mu-gi was very impressive. It was interesting.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. It felt more classical than I expected, and something… self-destructive? That kind of feeling came through, which was good.”

It was good feedback.

Since the focus seemed to be more on acting than he’d expected, Seon-woo felt relieved inwardly.

She seemed like a strange and somewhat rude senior, but… at least her feelings about acting seemed genuine.

But that’s when it happened.

“Ah, you’re definitely my type. Do you have a girlfriend?”

“….”

Watching Go Yu-na break his washing machine as if she’d been waiting for this moment, Seon-woo sighed inwardly.

She was an unpredictable person in many ways.

Just when he thought he could understand her, she kept showing words and actions that went beyond expectations.

What should he do?

How exactly should he deal with this kind of person?

Seon-woo inwardly recalled the countless eccentrics he’d met so far.

Starting with Si-hun, then Do-won, Yeon-woo, Jin-wook, Do-young, and others… Seon-woo had managed to work with all those extraordinary people.

There was no reason he couldn’t handle this kind of person either.

His decision was made.

Seon-woo looked into Go Yu-na’s eyes.

“Senior. Do you have time this evening?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. I don’t have anything today. Why? Should we eat? I know a good omakase place around here…”

“No, we can eat whatever… It’s not that, I have something I want to talk about with you, senior.”

He’d actually had many things he wanted to discuss with Go Yu-na when he met her today.

She was his co-lead after all. As his counterpart, there were many parts they needed to research and coordinate together.

“With me?”

However she interpreted that, Go Yu-na’s eyes became mysterious. She seemed like she hadn’t expected Seon-woo to say something like this.

But Seon-woo nodded and picked up the backpack he’d placed under his chair. Go Yu-na’s eyes widened at the backpack that looked quite heavy at first glance.

Why did he bring such a backpack here? Just as she was wondering.

“Yes. Have you read any books about Yeo-ui-ju separately, senior?”

“Books? No, I didn’t particularly need to…”

“Good. Then we’ll have plenty to talk about.”

Seon-woo opened his backpack.

Go Yu-na’s expression became strange as she discovered the papers and e-readers packed inside.

It was the expression of someone seeing something they never thought they’d see in this place.

“What is… all this?”

“I was actually planning to have a proper discussion when I met you, senior. The more you learn about these Korean traditional folktales, the more interesting things you find. There’s a lot that can help with acting too.”

Seon-woo said this while stroking the papers with a pleased expression.

Watching such a Seon-woo, Go Yu-na trembled for a moment.

Until she first saw him, she’d just thought of him as a cute guy who happened to be her type, but…

“Let’s study together.”

…Something seemed to have gone wrong.

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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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