I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 23

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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 23

 

[Fair and Square Love] is a work that receives the evaluation of being one of South Korea’s top 3 melodramas.

 

A work that would have become a ten-million-viewer film if not for COVID that broke out shortly after its release.

 

‘This won’t be easy.’

 

Yu Mi-yeon looked at Seon-woo.

 

He was handsome enough that it was hard to look away. A face that anyone would say was definitely actor material… the more you examined it, the more handsome features caught your eye.

 

A face that was interesting no matter how much you looked at it.

 

But what they were evaluating here wasn’t his face, but his acting.

 

And this scene required very delicate acting ability.

 

“It seems like a rather difficult scene for someone with only 5 months of experience to act.”

 

Seong Jun-il whispered while looking at Yu Mi-yeon.

 

Yu Mi-yeon nodded her head.

 

“The emotional line is quite complex in this scene.”

 

The confession scene from [Fair and Square Love] was famous enough that most people had seen it at least once.

 

The male protagonist Dong-yeop is a university student.

 

Dong-yeop has a one-sided love for a classmate named Yi-seul, but can’t approach her because she has a boyfriend.

 

And when Yi-seul actually breaks up with her boyfriend, he thinks it would be cowardly to approach her when she’s lonely, so he turns away from the opportunity despite having one.

 

Dong-yeop keeps missing opportunities like that.

 

Because Yi-seul’s heart is confused. Because Yi-seul is busy. He keeps reading the situation and showing unnecessary consideration, unable to confess his feelings.

 

And eventually Yi-seul ends up leaving to study abroad.

 

Only on the day Yi-seul leaves to study abroad does he finally go to the airport and confess his feelings – that’s this scene.

 

At first glance, one might think it’s not such a difficult scene.

 

But confession scenes were always like that. Relatively calm compared to explosive emotions like sadness or anger.

 

To act this scene in an engaging way required considerable skill to back it up… but would a newcomer with only 5 months of experience have such skill?

 

“…I have something to say.”

 

‘Oh?’

 

As if to answer that question, Seon-woo’s voice resonated.

 

At that moment, the judges’ eyes widened slightly.

 

It’s a pleasant voice to listen to.

 

A soft, mid-low tone voice that absolutely no one could dislike.

 

But what made them perk up their ears wasn’t because of that sweet voice. It was because of the natural feeling in that voice.

 

‘His line delivery is quite clean?’

 

It was more natural than expected.

 

But they couldn’t judge just from this yet. The highlight of this scene was in the part that would follow soon.

 

“I’m… asking you. Don’t go. Please don’t go. …Won’t you stay?”

 

Seon-woo made an expression as if he was about to burst into tears at any moment.

 

Seeing that, Yu Mi-yeon unconsciously smiled.

 

‘What’s with this kid?’

 

Just watching made her nose tingle.

 

It felt like the scent of young, innocent love was rushing toward her.

 

Just watching made her feel good.

 

And that was one of the reasons Seon-woo chose this scene this time.

 

Both Seung-do and Hee-jae had such sad and painful emotions.

 

This time, for his mental health if nothing else, he wanted to experience something a bit sweeter.

 

“I like you.”

 

That was this character, Dong-yeop.

 

Every time he opened his mouth to deliver his lines, sky-blue waves spread out in his voice. A sky-blue emotion with cherry blossom-colored sparkles scattered throughout.

 

A beautiful heart, beautiful emotions.

 

Beautiful enough to make you feel good just by watching.

 

“I know, it’s too late. I know it’s late… but I have to say it. Don’t go. Please…”

 

Seon-woo pressed Dong-yeop’s emotions deep into himself. Into his face, into his voice.

 

So that this feeling could be conveyed to the judges as well.

 

“Won’t you… stay with me?”

 

The acting was over.

 

He had no regrets.

 

At least he had shown everything he had prepared without any shortcomings.

 

Feeling Dong-yeop’s color gradually fade away from him, Seon-woo finally felt the tension he had forgotten slowly wash over him.

 

How exactly had the judges viewed his acting?

 

Would his acting work in front of a camera, not just on stage?

 

As Seon-woo clenched his fists tightly, Seong Jun-il shook his head and muttered.

 

“…Senior, didn’t he say earlier that he’s been acting for 5 months?”

 

“He did.”

 

“No matter how I look at it, that doesn’t seem like acting you can show after just 5 months…”

 

Seong Jun-il shook his head with a hollow laugh.

 

It was hard to believe. The acting Seon-woo had just shown was at a level where he would nod in approval even if told it was from 5 years of acting, not 5 months.

 

Watching such Seong Jun-il, Yu Mi-yeon shrugged her shoulders.

 

“What’s wrong? You see kids like that sometimes in this industry.”

 

“…That’s true.”

 

Right. Very occasionally, there were such juniors.

 

Those who would easily climb mountains that others barely reach after dedicating their entire lives, as if they were just taking a stroll.

 

But this guy… was he the same type as those monsters?

 

Seong Jun-il looked back at Lee Mu-beom.

 

“What do you think, Teacher?”

 

“…Hmm.”

 

Lee Mu-beom stroked his beard.

 

And soon he looked at Seon-woo and raised his voice.

 

“What do you think of your acting just now, Kim Seon-woo?”

 

It was a heavy voice.

 

A voice that seemed to overwhelm the entire audience in an instant, even with its gentle tone.

 

“I think it was good.”

 

Seon-woo answered reflexively.

 

He could have shown a more modest attitude. But he didn’t want to lie.

 

His acting just now was, in his opinion… the best he could show.

 

“Why do you think so?”

 

Lee Mu-beom stared intently at Seon-woo.

 

Seon-woo looked back at Lee Mu-beom.

 

“It was my best effort. Even if I were given another chance, I’m not confident I could act better than I just did.”

 

At those words, the corners of Lee Mu-beom’s mouth moved for the first time.

 

It was such a small movement that you wouldn’t notice it unless you were watching carefully.

 

“Let me hear the others’ opinions first. Mi-yeon, what did you think?”

 

“First of all, his emotional line was definitely good. Usually with this kind of acting, even being 2% short can make it feel awkward and cringeworthy, but this was just right.”

 

“His voice projection was good too. Did you say you’re from a theater troupe? That must be why your voice volume is definitely strong and your diction is crisp and clear to the ears. But what I’m worried about is…”

 

Seong Jun-il stroked his chin.

 

“Maybe it’s because you started with theater acting. Your voice projection is definitely quite loud. You know this is a habit you’ll need to fix when acting in front of cameras, right?”

 

“Yes, I understand. I’ll fix it.”

 

Seon-woo nodded vigorously.

 

It was a strange feeling. He honestly thought he hadn’t spent that much time with the theater troupe, yet in that short time he had developed the habits of a ‘theater actor’ style.

 

Even though he was being criticized, he actually felt good about it.

 

It seemed like proof that he had worked hard at Cheongseong.

 

Lee Mu-beom took off his glasses.

 

His wrinkled eyes looked at Seon-woo.

 

“I think that at least here today, what the participants lack isn’t that important. There’s no such thing as an actor without shortcomings. What I wanted to see was charm. The kind of charm that makes you want to keep watching that person’s acting.”

 

Lee Mu-beom stared at Seon-woo.

 

His gaze seemed to dissect and examine every part of who Seon-woo was as a person.

 

“…And Kim Seon-woo’s acting has that kind of power. It makes you focus and keep watching.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Though he didn’t show it outwardly, Seon-woo felt a surge of emotion for a moment.

 

Because he had been somewhat anxious all this time.

 

Was he really on the right path? Was this something he could do?

 

Wasn’t he dreaming a dream that didn’t suit his station?

 

So Lee Mu-beom’s words sounded exactly like that to Seon-woo.

 

“The judges have decided unanimously. You passed.”

 

You, you can act.

 

Like those words.

 

* * *

 

“You passed?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Wow! You did it! You did it!”

 

When the troupe members heard that Seon-woo had passed, they celebrated as if it were their own achievement.

 

“As expected of our genius youngest!”

 

“…Ah, senior. The word ‘genius’ in front of the camera is a bit…”

 

“Why! You’re one of our troupe’s representative geniuses!”

 

Hye-seong laughed playfully as he teased Seon-woo.

 

Seon-woo hung his head low in embarrassment. To simply rejoice at being called a genius, when he thought of monsters like Do-young or Jae-won, he only felt ashamed instead.

 

But Hye-seong wasn’t just trying to tease him.

 

‘If we build his image well from the beginning… kids like Seon-woo could really keep rising up.’

 

Of course, there was also the possibility of a reverse effect.

 

If you keep calling someone who doesn’t seem like a genius a genius, viewers would only develop negative feelings.

 

What’s with them calling each other geniuses and acting like that among themselves.

 

But at least when it came to Seon-woo, there was no such worry.

 

‘This kid is a real genius.’

 

Hye-seong had been with Cheongseong since the beginning.

 

And he had watched countless actors who were truly called so-called geniuses from the sidelines. But among them, was there anyone who had shown this level of acting ability at Seon-woo’s experience level?

 

‘Well, maybe Do-young.’

 

But the fact that he was being compared to Do-young in the first place meant Seon-woo was already on a completely different level.

 

Among the troupe members, they had already reached that conclusion about Seon-woo.

 

If only he hadn’t started acting so late… he would have already become an actor with a well-established reputation.

 

For now, Seon-woo had fired a successful signal flare.

 

Encouraged by this, Cheongseong’s troupe members entered the audition room one by one.

 

They all had fairly confident expressions.

 

Cheongseong belonged to the top tier in the theater scene after all. If you were good enough to work at Cheongseong, wouldn’t you easily pass the preliminaries? Those were the faces harboring such expectations.

 

But….

 

“…I failed.”

 

Things didn’t work out that easily.

 

The troupe members had to taste the bitter cup of elimination one by one.

 

The judging criteria were stricter than expected.

 

There must have been at least thousands of people who made it to the preliminaries, but only 100 would survive among them… In a way, it was perhaps natural.

 

“I survived….”

 

“Congratulations, senior.”

 

Still, not everyone had failed.

 

Hye-seong, Ye-chan, Jae-won, Min-hee, and Seo Jin-wook, among others… Out of the roughly twenty Cheongseong troupe members who participated in the preliminaries, seven passed.

 

This was actually not a bad result.

 

“Everyone… please work hard for our share too.”

 

“You must win!”

 

The eliminated troupe members left with bitter words of encouragement.

 

‘Nothing is easy.’

 

Seon-woo inwardly sighed as he watched those troupe members.

 

Of course, he hadn’t expected some fairy tale story where everyone would pass. Still, watching someone’s hopes get crushed wasn’t exactly comfortable.

 

Especially watching such scenes from troupe members he saw more often than family.

 

But there was no time to indulge in such sentiments.

 

“Kim Seon-woo!”

 

“Yes. I’m here.”

 

“You need to do an interview. Please come this way.”

 

The preliminary winners had to do interview filming separately.

 

When he entered the small room surrounded by cameras, there was a familiar face there.

 

Im Yeong-do. The main PD of 【I Am an Actor】.

 

“We meet again?”

 

Im Yeong-do grinned as he looked at Seon-woo.

 

Just as Seon-woo remembered Im Yeong-do, he too remembered Seon-woo.

 

It was a face that couldn’t help but be memorable. He was so cleanly handsome that he had thought if he could just act well, he would make quite a good character.

 

And indeed, Seon-woo did not betray his expectations.

 

“Yes. Hello.”

 

“I watched your acting earlier. It’s hard to believe you’re someone who’s only been acting for 5 months? And….”

 

Im Yeong-do smiled mischievously.

 

“Earlier, people around were calling you a genius, Seon-woo… Is that true?”

 

Seon-woo’s eyes became calm.

 

It was bait. If he made a mistake, he didn’t know how he might be torn apart on the internet again.

 

But it was fine. He had been expecting this kind of situation ever since Hye-seong started teasing him about being a genius.

 

Now… it was time to utilize the speaking techniques he had learned through various interviews.

 

“I wish I were a genius too. But it’s a bit embarrassing to call myself a genius just because I learn a little quickly.”

 

It wasn’t empty words.

 

Seon-woo really didn’t think he was a genius.

 

He just had a somewhat unusual and special ability called Color Orb. Acting like a genius with just this… wouldn’t that be a bit embarrassing?

 

Of course, for Im Yeong-do, it was hard to accept those words.

 

“People usually call someone who learns quickly a genius.”

 

“My standard for genius is different.”

 

“What is that standard?”

 

“You asked me earlier, PD-nim. Whether I was a genius.”

 

“I did.”

 

“If I were really a genius, you wouldn’t have needed to ask that question.”

 

Seon-woo spoke with a confident tone.

 

“Because the genius I’ve seen was like that.”

 

“Hmm….”

 

Im Yeong-do silently observed Seon-woo for a moment.

 

It didn’t feel like he was just being modest. It felt like he genuinely thought that way.

 

‘Does he not know… how amazing the talent he has is?’

 

When it came to geniuses, Im Yeong-do had probably seen more of them.

 

Even though he was a variety show PD, he had many opportunities to encounter actors.

 

And being such an Im Yeong-do, he could be certain.

 

Seon-woo was a genius. There was no need to think long about it. This kind of acting was possible in 5 months? Then what would happen after 1 year, 2 years?

 

But Im Yeong-do didn’t bother to voice that thought.

 

In fact, he thought it would actually be quite interesting.

 

‘A genius who believes he’s ordinary…’

 

This guy… has quite the character, doesn’t he?

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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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