I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 179

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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 179

When was the last time he met with Do-young?

He had left around last summer… it’s already been a year.

Seon-woo realized anew that so many things had happened during that one year. Do-young had captivated Cannes with his debut work and had already become the most promising rising star, while Seon-woo had managed to secure a leading role in a drama.

If someone had told them last year, ‘This is what you’ll become in a year,’ they probably wouldn’t have believed it. It was such a tremendous change.

‘What should we talk about?’

His heart was already swelling with emotion.

Do-young was like a role model to Seon-woo in many ways. The sun-like radiance that Do-young emitted when acting had instilled confidence in Seon-woo.

That acting was the path to living the most colorful life.

He wanted to show Do-young.

That he, who had once admired his acting… had now become someone who could paint quite decent pictures.

That perhaps he had become a little more colorful too.

‘Did he… watch my work?’

It wouldn’t be strange if he hadn’t.

Do-young had been handling a really busy schedule all this time, so it wouldn’t have been easy for him to set aside time specifically for Seon-woo’s work.

Especially since not just Seon-woo, but Min-hee, Hye-seong, Jin-wook, Ye-chan… many people from Cheongseong had entered the broadcasting industry.

It would have been difficult to keep up with all of their works one by one.

Well, it doesn’t matter.

Either way, he just needs to show that he’s doing well now.

The meeting place with Do-young was the restaurant they used to frequent during their theater troupe days. When Seon-woo entered first and took a seat, the wrinkled-faced owner recognized Seon-woo and clapped his hands in welcome.

“Oh my, who is this! Isn’t this our actor!”

“Hello, Owner.”

“Oh my, after appearing on TV, your face has brightened up, really brightened up!”

“Haha…”

Seon-woo smiled awkwardly.

It seemed his appearance had indeed changed a lot compared to back then. He had received camera massage, and his mental health had improved somewhat from living as an actor.

Seon-woo suddenly became curious. What kind of face would Do-young have? Though it was still just one work, Do-young had achieved tremendous success.

He probably would have become even more solid. That was Seon-woo’s expectation.

But then,

“It’s been a while, Seon-woo.”

“Uh… Do-young hyung?”

Seon-woo was momentarily flustered when he saw Do-young plop down across from him.

At first, he didn’t even think it was Do-young. Because of the mask? No, just because those eyes looked so unfamiliar.

Full of fatigue… yes, like the expression of office workers on their Monday evening commute.

This was the first time he had seen such a face on Do-young. He had never even thought he would see such a face.

“Is something wrong? You look really unwell.”

Seon-woo asked this not because he lacked tact.

Probably anyone who saw Do-young’s face right now would have had to ask the same thing. During the Cheongseong days, even when they were running the grueling schedule of performing on stage every day, Do-young’s eyes always sparkled with vitality.

He had never been this gloomy.

“No. Just busy with work. Have you been well?”

“Ah, yes. I’ve been doing well.”

Seon-woo nodded.

He was still concerned, but since Do-young seemed unwilling to talk about it, he couldn’t say anything more.

The atmosphere was very different from what he had imagined.

Seon-woo had pictured congratulating Do-young on his success, and Do-young cheering him on.

‘Isn’t he happy?’

Do-young didn’t seem to be simply tired.

It felt like his current daily life itself was difficult in various ways.

He knew. That Do-young hadn’t originally wanted to enter the entertainment industry. He had wanted to stay in the theater scene. It was Seon-woo who had eventually persuaded him that going out to the public would be the way to do theater longer.

“I watched your acting well.”

“Ah, you watched it?”

“Yeah. I watched both [One Room] and [Red Zone].”

Seon-woo’s eyes sparkled at those words.

He honestly hadn’t even expected that he would have watched both. He must have been busy and short on time.

“You’ve grown a lot. I almost didn’t recognize you as the same person.”

“…Thank you.”

“Is it enjoyable?”

Do-young asked while looking at Seon-woo.

Seon-woo couldn’t answer immediately. It was because Do-young’s eyes asking that question were unusual.

It was the same look he had seen just yesterday.

The look Go Yu-na had shown.

…Why on earth was he seeing that look in Do-young’s eyes?

From his most respected role model, why?

“Hyung.”

Seon-woo’s eyes grew serious.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, really nothing’s wrong.”

“It seems like there is. This is the first time I’ve seen you looking so down.”

Actually, it wasn’t the first time.

Even when Director Yoo Chan-woo made his proposal, Do-young had shown this kind of gloomy atmosphere.

But now there was no reason for that.

He had already decided to pursue entertainment industry activities, and the movie was performing so well that calling it a huge hit would be an understatement, so what exactly was weighing on his mind?

Watching Seon-woo like that, Do-young quietly opened his mouth.

“For the past two months… I haven’t been able to act even once.”

It was an unexpected statement.

Thinking about it, it made sense.

“…There are quite a few places calling for you, aren’t there?”

“Yeah. That’s right. Commercials, interviews, award ceremonies… there are too many occasions I can’t refuse.”

Indeed, Do-young had recently emerged as a blue chip not only in broadcasting but also in the advertising industry.

A suddenly rising rookie actor who also boasted beauty representative of South Korea – it would be stranger if this level of reaction didn’t follow.

“Seon-woo. I’ve made a lot of money, haven’t I?”

Words that could sound like bragging depending on how you heard them.

But Do-young’s expression looked somewhat bitter.

“But you know, about that money… I bought my parents a new car and gave them spending money, and… it felt really good. I thought I wasn’t someone who pursued money, but every time numbers appear in my account, I keep becoming conscious of only that money.”

“…”

“So I’m a bit scared these days.”

“About what?”

“That I might become a celebrity instead of an actor.”

Seon-woo didn’t want to blame Do-young.

He himself had been overwhelmed by the amounts whenever his appearance fees were deposited. Seon-woo had never even worked at a company. When seeing amounts in the thousands or hundreds of millions, it was natural to be captivated.

“Hyung.”

Seon-woo looked at Do-young.

He wouldn’t deny that disappointment arose in his heart for a moment.

Do-young was Seon-woo’s role model. As such, he hoped he would always remain unshaken. He hoped he would always have confidence in the path he was walking, that his every day would be brilliant.

If so, Seon-woo could follow behind him with peace of mind.

However, this was just Seon-woo’s greed.

Being human meant inevitably wavering, so he couldn’t arbitrarily expect an image of a sage from Do-young and then be disappointed.

And most importantly,

“Even if hyung ends up with nothing but money on his mind, even if you become more attached to public attention and love than to acting, you’ll still be an actor.”

Even if Do-young was having such weak concerns, he was still an actor worthy of Seon-woo’s respect.

Do-young silently looked at Seon-woo.

“I’ll always want to act like you, hyung.”

“…”

“And what can’t be helped, can’t be helped.”

“…What do you mean?”

“The fact that you can’t focus on acting in your current environment, that your attention goes to things like money – it’s all natural. That’s what I think. If it’s anyone else, I don’t know, but if it’s you, hyung… eventually even these concerns will become nourishment to make you a better actor.”

Do-young said nothing.

It was hard to say anything. The faith contained in Seon-woo’s eyes looking at him was greater than what Do-young had in himself.

It’s overconfidence. I’m actually not as great as you think I am. He wanted to say that, but… he couldn’t.

He had already shown enough pathetic behavior as a hyung.

He couldn’t become any uglier from here.

“Alright. I’ll try.”

“You don’t need to try.”

And Seon-woo shook his head.

He hadn’t said it to burden him. He wanted to convey that he believed in him that much.

Watching such Seon-woo, Do-young quietly smiled.

“I’m glad I came to see you.”

“…Why?”

“Just because. I felt like meeting you would somehow resolve all my worries. You’re always clear.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

Do-young nodded.

“At least when it comes to your attitude toward acting, there are times I think you’re more like a senior and hyung than me.”

“What do you mean I’m…”

Seon-woo’s expression became awkward.

But Do-young continued speaking without backing down.

“At least you always know what you need to do.”

“…”

“Honestly, I’m sometimes a bit envious of that. Actually, I was envious quite often.”

Seon-woo was inwardly dumbfounded.

Who was envying whom? Why would someone who could paint colors that the current Seon-woo couldn’t even dare attempt yet?

“Hyung.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t talk weak.”

He had tried to hold back, but in the end Seon-woo said something.

He couldn’t help it. While people inherently couldn’t always be that strong, Do-young was still Seon-woo’s role model.

“You’re my role model, hyung.”

As expected, he didn’t want to see him crumble.

* * *

Do-young never said anything weaker than that.

What they discussed afterward was only about future schedules.

As a bonus, Do-young did share this kind of aspiration:

“Someday, I hope I can help revitalize our country’s Theater Scene.”

“…The Theater Scene?”

“Yeah. There’s definitely acting and charm that can only be shown in theater… but people still don’t know about it enough. If I keep working hard, maybe someday theater could become as popular as musicals, don’t you think?”

It was actually quite an ambitious statement.

It was a goal with even more difficulty than consecutively making ten-million-viewer films in the Film Industry.

But at least in that moment, Do-young’s eyes, which had been dimly lifeless, were definitely sparkling.

So,

“Yes. If you ever need anything, please call me anytime. I’ll help as much as I can.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Seon-woo sincerely hoped that Do-young would call him someday.

Because he wanted to witness firsthand the moment when Do-young would shine.

But after actually parting with Do-young, Seon-woo had to accept that his heart had become somewhat troubled.

‘…Everyone’s struggling in unexpected areas.’

Go Yu-na was one thing, but even Do-young, who outwardly seemed too busy celebrating right now, was crushed under such worries.

It was a moment when he realized once again that the most necessary virtue for surviving long in this industry was mental strength.

Seon-woo secretly hoped that his life could remain as simple as possible going forward.

That how to digest the work in front of him would be the biggest concern in his life.

‘Well, it won’t be easy.’

It was too optimistic an expectation.

However, that meant Seon-woo was living a good enough life to be so optimistic, at least for now.

The only concern Seon-woo had right now was how to act as I-mu-gi, that was all.

“To match the tone of the drama…”

Seon-woo burst I-mu-gi’s Color Orb once again.

Looking at the world that instantly turned the color of a nighttime lakeside, Seon-woo thought about why this world was said to be undrama-like.

Being movie-like probably meant it was too serious.

But I-mu-gi is a serious Character. If he expressed that Character in a non-serious way, wouldn’t that be Character destruction rather than being drama-like?

What came to Seon-woo’s mind at that moment was Seong Do-won.

How was Lee Hyeok that Seong Do-won showed in [Red Zone]? He was definitely serious. He even had a more desperate and sharp feeling than I-mu-gi.

But…

‘He wasn’t always like that.’

Seon-woo recalled the faces of Lee Hyeok he had seen when he was acting.

Lee Hyeok was always stained with Anger and fatigue… but sometimes, there were moments when he would show a faint smile toward Yoon-seo.

There were moments when that fierceness would lose its Momentum for an instant.

And in those moments, when Lee Hyeok’s bright red Color would soften for just an instant before returning, that sparkle helped Seon-woo not just understand Lee Hyeok but actually like him.

‘I need to steal that sparkle.’

How?

Seon-woo looked at I-mu-gi’s Lake cast over his room.

The Lake dyed pitch black.

Looking at that Lake, Seon-woo naturally felt like he knew what he needed to do now.

He needed to shine light.

Because a nighttime Lake is naturally most beautiful when moonlight falls upon it.

Let’s create ripples that no one could take their eyes off.

And make everyone say this.

Ah, this I-mu-gi is truly… impossible not to love.

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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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