I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 188

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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 188

What is the most terrible moment for an actor?

When they trip over their dress hem at an awards ceremony? Or when they jump up thinking they’ve won an award, only for it to go to someone else? Or perhaps when their lifelong rival takes first place in a same-time-slot drama by an overwhelming margin?

…Well, they’re all terrible moments in their own way. But Go Yu-na thought this current moment wasn’t much different.

‘…I’m being pushed back this much?’

In truth, this was something Go Yu-na had never experienced before.

Of course, she hadn’t always delivered better acting than every actor she’d worked with. But she had never been noticeably outshone either.

As mentioned, she was naturally gifted.

Go Yu-na’s ability to maintain her position among top stars was partly due to her pure appearance, but fundamentally it was because of her solid acting ability.

She could extract emotional lines in just one day of practice that would take others weeks or months to achieve. She had been called a child prodigy in acting since she was young, and now various titles like ‘Rom-com Queen’ and ‘Eye Acting Genius’ followed her around.

Because of this, she had never been intimidated by being outshone by someone else’s acting.

But what was this?

“…Yu-na, are you okay?”

Retake.

They had done five retakes already.

Actually, two of those were retakes that Go Yu-na had requested. She could tell without even looking at the screen. How lackluster her acting must have been compared to Seon-woo’s.

From the moment she first saw Seon-woo’s acting, Go Yu-na had already prepared to be pushed back by one step, or being more generous, about one and a half steps.

It seemed impossible to deliver acting that wouldn’t be completely overshadowed by him without more than casual practice. But she didn’t want to go that far just to maintain her position. She had thought she would just act moderately.

The spotlight would probably shine more on Seon-woo anyway, but honestly, that didn’t bother her much.

But this was a different story.

“How was I?”

How were you? You were terrible.

Lee Seong-sil barely swallowed the words that had risen to his throat and smiled awkwardly. That smile itself served as an answer. Go Yu-na lay in the back seat of the van, staring blankly up at the empty ceiling.

“Is that what a real genius is like?”

Kim Seon-woo.

That name was indeed one of the most frequently mentioned alongside Cha Do-young when talking about genius actors these days. Seeing Seon-woo in person, it was clear that such a reputation wasn’t given for nothing.

It wasn’t the kind of acting someone who had only been learning for just one year should be capable of.

If she hadn’t seen Seon-woo studying papers and scripts, digging deep into the character of Imugi, she might have doubted the authenticity of his experience.

But the acting Seon-woo showed today… left Go Yu-na’s head spinning in many ways.

She realized that even what he had shown so far wasn’t actually his full power.

She felt all too keenly that he had been acting with consideration for her.

In front of Seon-woo’s Imugi, Go Yu-na’s Yeo-ui-ju… had truly been reduced to nothing more than a background prop. While this wouldn’t spark a controversy about her acting ability, she could already see such comments coming.

Go Yu-na, isn’t she falling too far behind Kim Seon-woo despite being the senior?

Comments saying her stage presence seemed too weak.

She wanted to ask Jeong Yu-jun for reshoots multiple times. But the reason she couldn’t was simple.

She knew that even if they reshot, nothing would ultimately change.

Seon-woo’s Imugi wasn’t a character she could easily handle just by pulling herself together. Even if she prepared her acting with all her might, she wondered if she could overcome that energy.

“…I’ve become both a troublemaker and a background prop.”

“…”

Lee Seong-sil didn’t bother to deny it.

It was exactly as Go Yu-na said. Go Yu-na began to laugh as if she was having a reality check.

“I was someone who caused a lot of nonsense but still got things done… but now I’ve become someone who can’t even do what needs to be done.”

“Then snap out of it.”

Lee Seong-sil finally spoke up.

When Go Yu-na looked at Lee Seong-sil, he stared back at her with determined eyes.

“You’re right. Right now, you’re going from being someone people don’t want to deal with to someone not even worth dealing with. If you want to live acting however you want, at least do your acting properly.”

“…”

“Otherwise, just continue this half-hearted top star act until you’re forgotten. In the end, it’s all up to you.”

I’ve done it now.

Lee Seong-sil squeezed his eyes shut. This was the first time he had poured out such harsh criticism. What was Go Yu-na doing now?

Was she angry? …She wasn’t thinking of firing him, was she? Still, they had been together for so long.

Lee Seong-sil slightly opened his eyes and looked at Go Yu-na.

And soon his eyes widened as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.

“Yu, Yu-na. What, what are you doing?”

“What do you mean what? I’m reading the script.”

“…Suddenly?”

Go Yu-na never opened her script again once she had memorized it.

The reason was that there was no need to look at it anymore.

But now, that same Go Yu-na was reading the script.

“Because I can’t become a background prop.”

And Go Yu-na’s answer was that simple.

Others might see her as a villain who just causes chaos randomly, but even villains have their own philosophy.

The type of person she aspired to be was someone who caused a lot of nonsense but still did what needed to be done properly.

But if she became someone who couldn’t even do what needed to be done, she would lose all value.

She would essentially become just trash.

That was something she could never accept.

“…So I looked that pathetic to him.”

Fire ignited in Go Yu-na’s eyes.

Beyond her gaze looking at the script, Seon-woo’s eyes that had gleamed fiercely as if ready to devour her at any moment flickered in her mind.

He must have been confident.

That if he acted properly, he could crush someone like her anytime.

Go Yu-na clenched her fists.

Being disrespected to this extent, even Go Yu-na couldn’t just sit still.

She had to show him.

That she wasn’t trash.

That she was Go Yu-na.

* * *

There’s a saying that even a worm will squirm when stepped on.

Go Yu-na wasn’t much different. After being properly stepped on by Seon-woo, she definitely started squirming properly.

First, she stopped showing up on set reeking of alcohol.

It was ridiculous to talk about this obvious thing as if it were some great growth, but if the person in question was Go Yu-na, this was truly remarkable progress.

Moreover, Go Yu-na also stopped flirting with Seon-woo.

This was also surprising. She used to flirt with him almost reflexively whenever she saw him, to the point where one might wonder if she couldn’t speak without flirting, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

“Maximum effectiveness.”

And Han Ju-hyeok, seeing this, looked extremely satisfied.

Seon-woo nodded with a reluctant expression.

“I’m quite surprised too. Yu-na sunbae’s behavior like that… honestly, I couldn’t even imagine it.”

“She’s got quite the pride for someone like her. She couldn’t just sit still. When it’s obvious she’d become a background character, how could she endure that?”

So she could endure being a villain but not being a background character?

It was certainly a thought process that was hard for Seon-woo to understand.

Honestly, it was a welcome situation for Seon-woo. After all, Go Yu-na wasn’t bothering him like before, and acting with her had become more promising than previously.

And in such a situation, Han Ju-hyeok ordered Seon-woo like this:

“Keep it up.”

“…Acting like this?”

“Yeah. Keep stepping on Go Yu-na.”

He didn’t really want to use that wording.

But Han Ju-hyeok wore a cold smile as he looked at Go Yu-na. Her appearance sitting in a folding chair reading the script looked quite nice, but Han Ju-hyeok knew.

“That kid will lie down again the moment she thinks things are getting easier. You know people don’t change overnight, right? Don’t give her room to breathe and keep pushing. Can you do it?”

Of course he could do it.

But he was worried whether she could handle him acting that way…

“Seon-woo! That emotional line yesterday was so good! Can you keep that feeling going today?”

Even Jeong Yu-jun was grinning as he made this request, so Seon-woo had no more reason to hesitate.

Of course, compared to last time, it would be acting with somewhat less intensity. Compared to the moment when he was consumed by the thought of finding Yeo-ui-ju, Imugi had now found some stability.

However, within Imugi’s stability was still filled with deep thirst and confusion.

It was as if a precarious feeling dominated the set, where all those emotions might burst out if touched wrongly.

Thanks to this, Go Yu-na still couldn’t display her presence during filming. The center of the scene was clearly with Imugi, no matter who looked at it.

But Go Yu-na wasn’t flustered by this.

‘I already knew. This person isn’t ordinary.’

Go Yu-na was a professional. Moreover, a seasoned professional who had built up over ten years of experience in this industry.

She already knew well that being impatient would only lead her further from good results.

Now was the time to lie low and slowly build up her inner strength.

The fortunate thing was that it meant only Seon-woo was overwhelming Go Yu-na like that. If other actors had also displayed such overwhelming acting ability, she would have felt even more anxious… but Han Ju-hyeok’s Dokkaebi, who was a likely candidate, wasn’t the type of character that could show off such acting ability.

A vague, mysterious character whose identity was unknown.

While he might hold the center of the story, he wasn’t the type to stand out himself.

This was why Go Yu-na could still catch her breath.

She was overshadowed by Seon-woo? That could happen. He was a genius, wasn’t he? The atmosphere on set hadn’t yet shifted to thinking Go Yu-na was less impressive than expected. Rather, the focus was on how amazing Seon-woo was.

The public would probably be similar initially.

Then what Go Yu-na needed to do was prepare acting that was more developed than now, before the attention focused on Seon-woo spread to her.

So she didn’t need to be too anxious yet.

…That’s what she thought.

But there was one thing Go Yu-na hadn’t considered:

“Oh my, Yeo-ui-ju?”

That was the existence of Yeon-woo, who played the Gumiho.

It couldn’t be helped. Up until episode 2, the Gumiho hadn’t revealed herself to Yeo-ui-ju and Imugi.

But in episode 3, the Gumiho appears to Yeo-ui-ju in the position of an advertiser offering her a CF.

And there, with just that brief encounter, she gives Yeo-ui-ju a chilling feeling.

Actually, when she read this script, she didn’t think much of it.

What Yeo-ui-ju felt here was just a slight sense of unease, so she thought there wouldn’t be much to pay attention to in acting as the Gumiho either.

But she was mistaken.

“Seeing you in person like this, you’re so pretty~. You sparkle so much, it’s almost blinding, you know?”

When faced with Yeon-woo’s acting, Go Yu-na felt goosebumps rise all over her body for a moment.

What kind of feeling should she call this? If a tiger that considered her prey were right in front of her, would she feel this kind of terror?

Her instincts seemed to be ringing alarm bells. Yeon-woo was merely smiling, but that smile wasn’t human.

A gumiho’s smile.

A smile that seemed to regard her as nothing more than prey.

…How could a person possibly smile like this?

She didn’t know.

But in this moment, Go Yu-na felt a similar feeling when looking at Yeon-woo as she had when looking at Seon-woo. As if facing a wall, as if all control of this moment was being stripped away from her…

Simply put, it meant that Yeon-woo was currently delivering more intense acting.

Acting so powerful that Go Yu-na couldn’t project her presence, so compelling that her position as the lead actress became meaningless, the kind of acting that stole away everyone’s attention.

‘Does this… make sense?’

Go Yu-na’s expression grew pale.

And so, Go Yu-na’s era of hardship was raising its curtain.

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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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