I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 229

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 229
Seon-woo and Kwon Seong-min’s first shoot wrapped up remarkably quickly.
Director Seo Tae-rok nodded after just three takes—practically a record for what they’d filmed so far.
But truthfully, the circumstances warranted it.
When working with Kwon Seong-min, Seon-woo had already discussed every detail with him before they even rolled cameras.
He anticipated everything the director would point out or puzzle over.
And encouragingly, neither Kwon Seong-min nor Seon-woo seemed worn down by these conversations.
“……If you’re exhausted, you don’t have to push this hard. Don’t overextend yourself.”
“No, I’m not tired at all! It’s not about pushing—I’m just enjoying it. ……Oh, am I taking up too much of your time, senior?”
“Not at all. I actually enjoy this kind of thing. And……young people’s passion always appeals to me. It makes me feel younger too.”
That’s what Kwon Seong-min said.
He didn’t seem to be saying it out of consideration for Seon-woo. Even Park Hoon himself remarked,
“Your chemistry with him really does seem exceptional.”
“……In what way?”
“Well, I’ve gotten to know Kwon Seong-min’s manager a bit, and he mentioned it. He said he’s never seen a junior actor receive Kwon Seong-min this way before.”
“I thought it was more that the senior was accepting me……”
“That’s precisely why I called it a perfect match.”
He hinted as much.
That’s just the kind of person Kwon Seong-min was.
For Seon-woo, it was a relief. He’d wanted to ask Kwon Seong-min so many things anyway, and now he could approach him without hesitation.
And watching Seon-woo, someone wore an expression of surprise,
“……You’ve got some nerve, don’t you?”
It was Jin-wook.
He looked startled, almost alarmed, seeing Seon-woo so close at Kwon Seong-min’s side.
“Aren’t you nervous? I mean, when you say Kwon Seong-min senior……it’s not just intimidating, it’s fundamentally impossible to feel at ease, right?”
“It is pretty intimidating.”
“……So why are you stuck to his side all day if you find him so intimidating?”
“It is intimidating, but……I feel so much more from him. And there’s so much to learn.”
……
For a moment, Jin-wook was at a loss for words.
It was a fair point. Perhaps staying close and absorbing what you could learn was actually the right attitude for an actor, regardless of whether it felt uncomfortable.
But Jin-wook wasn’t built that way by nature. With an elder—especially one like Kwon Seong-min, a legendary figure in the industry—he lacked the courage to approach so casually, to charm his way in.
Of course, he wanted to connect with his seniors.
But he had no idea how. And sometimes he wondered: did someone as unremarkable as himself have the right to approach such illustrious masters?
So right now……Jin-wook genuinely envied Seon-woo.
“You’re impressive, Kim Seon-woo.”
His tone might sound sarcastic on the surface.
But Seon-woo, who’d known Jin-wook for a while, recognized it as his sincere praise.
Seon-woo looked at Jin-wook.
Somehow, uncharacteristically, his energy seemed deflated……
‘He’s been like this lately.’
It had been going on for a while now.
Ever since switching agencies, Jin-wook had seemed drained across the board. Given that he was making audition rounds daily, it was unavoidable.
Even now, when there’s no filming, his schedule is packed with auditions.
But his audition schedule being packed didn’t mean his shooting schedule was equally full, so Seon-woo understood why Jin-wook looked so worn.
There wasn’t much to energize him.
At best, this shoot was his refuge.
“Senior.”
“What?”
“Want to go hang out at Kwon Seong-min senior’s place with me?”
“……What? Are you out of your mind? Not just saying hello—you want to go hang out?”
Jin-wook gave Seon-woo a dubious look.
But Seon-woo knew: for someone like Jin-wook, this was a fairly favorable reaction.
Probably Jin-wook wanted to have various conversations with Kwon Seong-min too; he just hadn’t found the chance to make them happen.
Seon-woo didn’t bother playing along with Jin-wook’s false modesty.
He just dragged him straight to where Kwon Seong-min was. But in that moment, Seon-woo found himself taken aback,
“Oh, there’s Seon-woo.”
“Hello, sir! You came early today.”
It was because Lee Mu-beom was there.
There should have been quite a bit of time before shooting started.
Jin-wook, too, was caught off guard. He hadn’t expected Lee Mu-beom to be here as well.
……It was fine to greet them, but as a newcomer, lingering around felt endlessly awkward.
Just as Jin-wook was about to signal Seon-woo to leave,
“Acting with you like this really makes me feel moved somehow.”
“This kid says the most things……”
Seon-woo had already cozied up to Lee Mu-beom—or so it appeared to Jin-wook’s eyes.
Jin-wook, of course, lacked both the nerve and the smoothness for such a move. While he stood awkwardly, having only exchanged greetings, Lee Mu-beom smiled quietly at him.
“Good to see you too, Jin-wook. Feels like just yesterday I saw you on I Am an Actor.”
“Ah……yes. I’m honored to be working with you like this, sir.”
He remembered his name.
In a way, it was natural. He’d seen Jin-wook on I Am an Actor, and they’d met again here—forgetting his name would be strange.
But because Jin-wook had already experienced that strangeness more than once, the mere fact that Lee Mu-beom remembered his name sent a rush of excitement through him.
And even more so,
“I hear you’re working hard. That’s admirable. It’s been rough, hasn’t it?”
Hearing something like that made it impossible not to be moved.
Jin-wook nodded with effort, his ears reddening.
“Yes, yes. Ah, well, no. Rather than rough, I……yes. I figure this is the time to work hard, so I’m just pushing through.”
“Even so, difficult is difficult. If you ever have worries, talk to me. What else can an old man do but listen to young people’s troubles?”
“Yes. If I have concerns, I’ll share them with you.”
After that, the conversation turned to everyday matters.
Though most of it was about Yeokjeok, it was unavoidable. Right now, Yeokjeok was essentially their daily life.
As they talked, Seon-woo subtly observed Jin-wook’s expression.
At first he’d seemed uncomfortable and reserved, but now that he was actually conversing with them, Jin-wook’s face showed genuine pleasure.
‘That’s better.’
Seon-woo didn’t like seeing Jin-wook looking depressed.
That smugly self-satisfied expression suited him better.
Seon-woo participated in the conversation, privately satisfied. He figured he didn’t need to worry much about Jin-wook after this.
And then it happened.
“Still, it feels good. To be doing my final piece with so many people.”
“……Pardon?”
Lee Mu-beom had brought up something entirely unexpected.
Final piece. Of course, Lee Mu-beom was already over eighty, but the remark was still shocking enough to make everyone pause.
The interesting thing was,
“Your final piece?”
Kwon Seong-min clearly had no idea about this.
His eyes widened. Lee Mu-beom chuckled and nodded.
“I’ve acted plenty over the years. Now it’s time to rest.”
“But sir, you’re still so sprightly……I thought there would be more days ahead for us to work together.”
“I’ve developed lung disease, you see……cough, it came on.”
Lung disease.
It was an unexpected revelation. As everyone stared blankly at Lee Mu-beom, struck by the weight of his words, he smiled gently, as if to reassure them.
“Don’t worry too much. It’s not fatal. But continuing to go on location shoots like this isn’t practical anymore. So I’ve decided to do this just once more……one last time.”
“Sir……”
“There’s no need to look at me like that.”
Kwon Seong-min took Lee Mu-beom’s hand in both of his.
He was usually composed, but in this moment his eyes glistened—his emotions clearly overwhelmed.
Seon-woo understood.
Even as a viewer, watching Lee Mu-beom over the years had left him feeling oddly unsettled at the word retirement; Kwon Seong-min must have worked with him over decades.
Naturally his heart would be tangled.
‘Sir’s final piece……’
It was a strange feeling.
At a point where everything was beginning for him, someone else was drawing their journey to a close.
He understood that everyone lived on their own timeline, but……did he truly understand what that meant? The moment made him question it.
‘I’m still young after all.’
The older he grew, the more he realized he’d known nothing about what he thought he understood.
This was one such moment for Seon-woo.
And simultaneously, it was a moment when his resolve crystallized.
‘I can’t let him down in his final piece.’
If this was truly his last film, Seon-woo wanted it to be a flawless masterpiece.
Because he would pour everything he’d accumulated into it.
Though the scene between Yi Bang-won and Choi Young wouldn’t appear, Seon-woo still wanted to deliver his best work from his position.
And……
‘I want to learn more.’
If this truly was his last shoot, there would be no future days to work with Lee Mu-beom. So he needed to pay even closer attention this time. To understand what kind of actor he was. What the acting he’d built over a lifetime was truly like.
For that reason, Seon-woo made a request of Park Hoon.
Even on days when he himself wasn’t filming, if Lee Mu-beom was shooting, he wanted to be at the set whenever possible.
From Park Hoon’s perspective, it meant extra work, but he nodded without hesitation.
“If you think it’s necessary, then there’s no problem. Your work is my work too.”
……He was someone Seon-woo owed much to.
In any case, Seon-woo threw himself into filming. His immediate goal was to deliver performances that satisfied Seo Tae-rok while relying as little as possible on Method Acting—that is, without depending heavily on Color Orbs.
He wanted to learn from Kwon Seong-min’s acting.
Even if he couldn’t act the way he did, understanding even a fraction of his perspective on acting would surely help him grow far more than he was now.
And to Seon-woo, Kwon Seong-min said,
“Pay close attention to Lee Mu-beom’s acting.”
“……What aspects should I focus on?”
“Acting is ultimately done by a person. I do the acting……”
Kwon Seong-min pointed at himself with his finger, then pointed directly at Seon-woo.
“And you do the acting.”
It was something he couldn’t fully grasp right now.
Then to understand it, he’d simply have to watch his seniors’ acting more carefully.
But there was one concern nagging at him about all this.
It was Lee Mu-beom’s health.
As filming progressed, the frequency of his coughing increased—to the point where Seon-woo wondered if they should really be continuing.
In fact, a doctor had apparently advised him against filming if possible, and hearing that only deepened Seon-woo’s worry.
So,
“He collapsed?”
“Call the medical team!”
When chaos erupted on set, Seon-woo’s face went deathly pale.
Had Lee Mu-beom really collapsed? He’d said it wasn’t a life-threatening illness, so why? Had the shooting schedule been too demanding?
He didn’t know. Seon-woo just rushed toward where people were gathering. He couldn’t do anything about it, but he also couldn’t just stand aside and pretend not to know.
And moments later……
“Huh?”
Over Seon-woo’s face—which had gone pale just moments before—came an expression of bewilderment.
It couldn’t be helped.
Because the person people were struggling to move wasn’t who he’d expected.
“Come on, Jin-wook, stay with us! Seo Jin-wook!”
It was Jin-wook who’d collapsed.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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