I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 186

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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 186

“You want me to step on Senior Yu-na?”

Seon-woo’s eyes widened.

It was something he had never imagined. To step on a senior. The fact that he had been constantly nagging her to act properly was already crossing the line as a junior.

But to go even further than that?

Seeing Seon-woo like this, Han Ju-hyeok chuckled.

“What, can’t do it?”

“It’s not that I can’t… I’m just wondering if it’s okay to do that.”

“Let’s say you have a child. But this kid keeps hitting people and coming back. So you try to discipline them with words, but the more you do that, the more they get angry at you and try to charge at you. So if you use corporal punishment, is that a bad thing?”

“Honestly, it doesn’t feel particularly bad.”

It was certainly a relatable analogy.

But even so, as he was still pondering whether a junior should carelessly show such behavior, Han Ju-hyeok smiled.

“Do as your heart tells you. But I can already see what you’ll do.”

“What do you think I’ll do?”

“I think you’ll step on her. You’re frustrated right now, aren’t you?”

At Han Ju-hyeok’s words, Seon-woo momentarily closed his mouth.

It was because he had hit the nail on the head. Acting with Go Yu-na had been nothing but frustrating throughout. There was nothing particularly wrong with her acting. She always delivered the basics in any situation.

But that was all there was to it.

When acting with Do-won, Seon-woo had felt walls several times.

How many times had he been inspired by seeing acting so skillfully refined that his immersion would break in an instant.

Do-won was an actor who taught just by being together.

He wasn’t expecting the same thing from Go Yu-na as from Do-won.

Not every lead actor could deliver that kind of acting.

But at least he didn’t want to do the kind of acting they were doing now.

Should he call it acting where he was busy pulling her along?

While acting with Go Yu-na, Seon-woo had never been greatly entertained.

Acting with her was just flat.

Should he say she had the ability to turn moments that should sparkle into mere workplace tasks?

Because of this, Han Ju-hyeok’s advice couldn’t help but keep echoing in Seon-woo’s ears.

Should he step on Go Yu-na to make her come to her senses?

Would it even be possible to step on her in the first place?

Seon-woo first thought about the upcoming shoots.

Currently, they were filming the content for episode 2 of [My Jade].

To briefly summarize what happened in episode 1:

I-mu-gi, heartbroken from not finding his jade for a long time, was holed up in a temple when he met Yeo-ui-ju.

Yeo-ui-ju, who had fled to the temple to escape the city due to a scandal, initially mistook I-mu-gi for a paparazzi who had followed her there. But even after the misunderstanding was cleared up, she harbored negative feelings toward him due to the insults he had hurled at her.

However, since the temple was quite boring, she eventually ended up bumping into I-mu-gi and having various conversations with him.

And she learned several new facts.

This person called I-mu-gi had a very strange personality and insisted on speaking informally.

Whether he had no job or not, he was always holed up in the temple.

And he was secretly handsome…

And as a result, she came to one conclusion.

He was someone with a wounded heart.

From the moment she reached that conclusion, Yeo-ui-ju began using I-mu-gi like a bamboo grove, not caring what he said. She started chattering about everything – what humiliation she was experiencing in the entertainment industry, how she wanted to live in the future, and so on.

So when Yeo-ui-ju returned to Seoul, I-mu-gi felt a strange emptiness. With her gone – the one who had been chirping like a lark beside him – the silence of this place became all the more real.

Of course, that didn’t mean I-mu-gi would go looking for Yeo-ui-ju. He was destined to become a dragon, and earthly connections were ultimately nothing but baggage for someone who would eventually ascend to heaven.

The problem was that there actually was an entertainment reporter following Yeo-ui-ju. Although I-mu-gi knew this and didn’t particularly care, this reporter began blackmailing Yeo-ui-ju with photos he had taken of the two.

Wouldn’t it be bad if it became known that she had been photographed having such secret meetings with a strange man?

So it would be best for her to obediently follow his words from now on.

Of course, Yeo-ui-ju wasn’t one to just sit still.

Yeo-ui-ju lunged at the reporter, trying to snatch his phone away. As they struggled, when the reporter pushed her away, she fell straight down from the rooftop…

At this moment, Yeo-ui-ju’s power summoned I-mu-gi, and episode 1 ended.

And episode 2 dealt with the story after this.

Since ‘Yeo-ui-ju’ had never appeared in human form before, I-mu-gi fell into confusion. He wasn’t even certain whether she was truly the real ‘Yeo-ui-ju’ or not.

And in the midst of this, ‘Yeo-ui-ju’ came to find I-mu-gi and asked.

How exactly did he save her back then? What exactly was his identity? And I-mu-gi answered. What was important now wasn’t his identity, but hers.

If she was truly Yeo-ui-ju, then I-mu-gi wasn’t the only one who would covet her.

Yeo-ui-ju possessed the mysterious power to grant wishes. Demons from all eight provinces would try to devour her in some way, so she needed to be careful.

Of course, Yeo-ui-ju dismissed this as nonsense.

The sight of him flying to save her as she fell from the rooftop was certainly hard to think of as an ordinary person, but even considering that, it wasn’t easy to accept stories about demons and jade.

But soon she would have no choice but to accept that reality.

That night, when she returned home after parting with her manager, what she encountered was… a dark house, and the figure of a man standing blankly in the living room.

It was that very reporter who had tried to blackmail her with those photos.

More precisely, a reporter who had become like a doll that only listened to the Gumiho’s commands after having his liver stolen by the Gumiho.

The reporter observed Yeo-ui-ju and soon tried to kidnap her, and at that very moment, I-mu-gi appeared again.

Looking at the reporter… more precisely, at the Gumiho beyond that reporter, I-mu-gi issued a threat. Yeo-ui-ju was his, so don’t even think about daring to touch her.

At the same time, Imugi declares to Yeo-ui-ju.

If you are the Yeo-ui-ju, then you are mine.

That he will never let her go.

‘…Perhaps this might be a good opportunity.’

Seon-woo gauged the emotions Imugi would feel at this moment.

He had always lost Yeo-ui-ju before his eyes, and for the past 300 years, he hadn’t even caught a glimpse of Yeo-ui-ju’s shadow.

And now, finally, something that might be Yeo-ui-ju had appeared before such an Imugi.

And he had almost lost it once again.

How terrified must Imugi have been in that moment.

How angry must he have been…

Until now, Seon-woo had been acting to match Go Yu-na.

More precisely, it could be said he had been setting the stage for Go Yu-na to act better.

Because he thought that was the right answer.

He believed that acting to make himself stand out would inevitably leave something lacking from a work perspective.

If his partner could handle even such momentum, it might create good results, but if not, the balance of the scene would collapse.

But as Han Ju-hyeok said, even consideration has its limits.

When he could deliver better, more stimulating, more magnificent acting… should he hold back just because he thought Go Yu-na might not be able to handle it?

Especially when his partner wasn’t even showing such enthusiasm for this work?

Thinking that way made everything simpler.

He had to show her.

He had to help her awaken, even if it meant crushing her.

And aside from all that, he had always felt frustrated anyway.

Drawing good paintings was fine, but not being able to burst colors all over this world when he wanted to was quite tantalizing.

‘This is already fun.’

Seon-woo smiled.

Just thinking about acting freely without reading the room, without being considerate, made his heart race.

He suddenly became curious too.

What expression would Go Yu-na make when facing this acting of Seon-woo’s?

* * *

“I don’t want to act…”

Inside the spacious limousine van, Go Yu-na lay sprawled on her chair, blankly staring at the vehicle’s ceiling. Watching such Go Yu-na, her manager Lee Seong-sil sent her a pained look.

“Yu, Yu-na… We need to go soon. It’s almost filming time, you know?”

“Isn’t there still 5 minutes left?”

“Still! You should go and prepare 5 minutes early!”

“Even if I go, there are only people who hate me anyway…”

That’s because your behavior is like this!

Lee Seong-sil barely swallowed the words that had risen to his throat. Surely when he first became her manager, she wasn’t such a broken person.

‘It’s my fault.’

Lee Seong-sil sighed inwardly.

Just as a child’s delinquency is ultimately the parent’s responsibility, it was the same for celebrities. Before Go Yu-na became this broken, he should have scolded her or done something to set her straight… but he failed to do so.

And the result was this good-for-nothing right before his eyes.

“Still, not everyone hates you. There are still many people who say you act well.”

“…Really?”

“Really.”

Lee Seong-sil nodded.

More precisely, it was like ‘if she really got her mind together, she’d act amazingly well, but I don’t know why she’s being like this’… but that’s the same thing anyway.

‘How can we really get that mind of hers together.’

Actually, the company had tried various approaches.

They arranged meetings with seniors in the company to lecture her, and even requested SOS from her family to ask for management.

The CEO even shed tears and begged Go Yu-na to please live properly.

…But Go Yu-na remained the same as now.

The things they used as shock therapy apparently weren’t shocking to her at all.

Well, she’s someone who’s seen all kinds of things in the entertainment industry.

Ordinary things probably wouldn’t make her feel much.

Then what should they do.

How could they make this half-wit snap to attention.

Does something exist in this world that could give her such a shock?

Honestly, he was skeptical.

Go Yu-na was the type of person who would go shopping at the department store today even if the world was ending tomorrow.

That’s why.

‘…Oh my.’

A moment later, Lee Seong-sil’s expression couldn’t help but become bizarre.

Something completely unexpected was happening.

It was shortly after filming began.

The scene where they deal with the reporter bewitched by the Gumiho, and Imugi declares to Yeo-ui-ju ‘You are mine’.

First, Lee Seong-sil was shocked because of Seon-woo’s acting.

He already knew Seon-woo acted well, but he had never expected this kind of explosive power… Right now, Seon-woo facing Go Yu-na was going wild to the point where his previous appearances were nowhere to be seen.

“You are mine. You must be mine…!”

It’s spine-chilling.

Should I say his eyes have gone wild? The way they gleamed with a sinister light made her wonder if this was really the same kind Seon-woo she knew.

Even knowing it was acting, it made her want to step back.

But the reason Lee Seong-sil was making such a bizarre expression right now wasn’t because of Seon-woo.

The reason lay in front of Seon-woo,

with Go Yu-na, who was hunched over and looking at Seon-woo with trembling eyes.

Lee Seong-sil gulped down his saliva.

Even though he was seeing it with his own two eyes, he couldn’t believe the scene before him. Go Yu-na was making a face he hadn’t seen even once in the past few years.

Which is to say…

‘Is that really Yu-na?’

A face where her presence had been completely crushed.

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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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