I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 236

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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 236
Perhaps in all of South Korean historical drama, there has never been a work that delved so deeply into the story of Lee Seong-gye returning from Byeokran Island to Gaegyeong after his fall from a horse.
Historically speaking, it was hardly a tale of grand significance.
Lee Seong-gye went hunting, fell from his horse and was wounded. Jeong Mong-ju seized the opportunity to exile all of Lee Seong-gye’s trusted retainers—Jeong Do-jeon, Cho Joon, Nam Eun, and the rest. Yi Bang-won, learning of this, quickly spirited Lee Seong-gye back to Gaegyeong and stopped Jeong Mong-ju.
There was nothing particularly sensational about it.
But what Seo Tae-rok had focused on was this: if Lee Seong-gye’s return to Gaegyeong had been delayed, perhaps Jeong Mong-ju might truly have succeeded in preserving Goryeo.
More than the Wihwado Retreat, more than the battle of Gaegyeong, that trivial struggle—a wounded man fallen from a horse clawing his way back to Gaegyeong—becomes paradoxically the most pivotal journey before the monumental task of founding Joseon.
Seo Tae-rok was captivated by that irony.
Because it seemed to ring truer that all this talk of founding nations was, in the end, merely the story of human beings.
So it was. Seo Tae-rok invested maximum effort into directing the story of Lee Seong-gye and Yi Bang-won’s return to Gaegyeong.
Lee Seong-gye whines, weeps drunkenly in anguish, flares at Yi Bang-won, and stubbornly refuses to go to Gaegyeong.
A scene that shows the journey of founding Joseon was bitter and arduous for Lee Seong-gye rather than joyful.
Of course, such direction risked crumbling the weight of Lee Seong-gye as a character if mishandled—yet Kwon Seong-min’s acting covered everything flawlessly.
“I don’t want to go! What are you asking of me now? Hmm? Wasn’t General Choi Young enough—now you expect me to kill Master Po-eun as well?”
Rather than asking why a figure as commanding as Lee Seong-gye would crumble over such a thing, one comes to understand that even for a man like Lee Seong-gye, founding a nation was that grueling and burdensome.
Because he crumbles while preserving his depth, viewers are overwhelmed all the more. The despair and sorrow he feels loom so immense it becomes almost unbearable to witness.
And this was greatly aided by how well Seon-woo supported him from beside.
Witnessing one’s father crumble is a task far too difficult for a son to bear.
And Seon-woo showed both the fragile emotion of a son ready to break at any moment and the ruthlessness of one possessed of kingly qualities—Yi Bang-won, who somehow endures and bears all those feelings.
It is no easy feat to express such complex emotion, and yet he delivered consistently stable acting with no wavering in his emotional arc.
“……doesn’t it seem like we’re getting the fewest retakes in this shoot?”
“Right? That’s what I’m saying—it’s always easiest when we’re filming with Teacher Kwon Seong-min and Kim Seon-woo.”
“Impressive…… filming with Teacher Kwon Seong-min is usually smooth, but I’ve never seen it this smooth.”
“It seems like the two of them have really great chemistry.”
“Exactly. When you watch them, they really look like father and son, I’m telling you.”
The staff smiled warmly whenever they watched Kwon Seong-min and Seon-woo.
It was appreciated that they wrapped scenes faster than other actors, but beyond that, watching the two of them act made people feel good.
They would feel anew that they were doing something of genuine worth.
“But it seems like Seon-woo’s skill has improved even since he first came here.”
“He’s at an age where his acting develops quickly, after all.”
“……but he was already incredibly talented to begin with. If he improves this rapidly here, isn’t that actually a problem?”
“How long have you been watching actors? People who were already good improve faster. It’s the ones who can’t do it that stay in one place even after years.”
“That’s harsh…….”
“That’s reality.”
The praise for Seon-woo improved with each passing day, needless to say.
Moreover, when Seon-woo was among people, rather than carrying that arrogant air typical of sudden celebrities, he still made a point of greeting the staff before anyone else.
“Seon-woo.”
“Yes?”
“……aren’t you being too perfect?”
Kim Yeon-jun leveled this at Seon-woo with such genuinely puzzled eyes.
Seon-woo laughed awkwardly.
“I’m actually quite lacking.”
“No, even that humility is perfect. Show some character flaw or something! Otherwise how are people like me supposed to find any solace in life?”
“Haha…….”
At times like this, he wasn’t sure what reaction to give besides a laugh.
Fortunately, Kim Yeon-jun wasn’t planning to continue in that vein. His playful smile faded, and his eyes took on a more serious cast.
“But you really did strip away a lot of emotion this time.”
“Yes.”
“……how did you think of that? It’s different from the Yi Bang-won you’ve shown until now. Doesn’t it feel frightening? To change your acting style within the same work.”
Throughout Lee Seong-gye and Yi Bang-won’s flight, Jo Young-gyu stands guard beside them.
Naturally, Kim Yeon-jun had to position himself between the two, acting alongside them. And precisely because of that, he had no choice but to feel a great deal.
He felt that the acting of these two performers was of a caliber almost impossible to measure.
It was only thanks to Jo Young-gyu essentially pulling the cart beside them and having virtually a minor role that it was manageable—if he’d been asked to deliver anything substantial in that space, it would have been genuinely difficult.
But what was most striking was that Seon-woo displayed an acting style completely different from what came before.
The Yi Bang-won he’d seen until now had seemed to be immersed in his own emotions—but that feeling vanished entirely. It wasn’t simply a change in emotional arc. His acting method had transformed.
……it’s a decidedly challenging shift to attempt mid-production.
“It’s frightening.”
And Seon-woo answered honestly.
“I was genuinely afraid. But…… I felt this had to happen now. It so happens that Yi Bang-won has just suffered his mother’s death…… it was a moment he needed to change.”
“If you’ve lost your mother, shouldn’t you become more emotional, actually?”
“If it were right after losing his mother, yes. If not for the Three-Year Mourning Period, perhaps even more so. But Yi Bang-won observed that mourning period, didn’t he? Day after day maintaining his mother’s tomb, constantly confronting the loss. And precisely because of that, he would have grown free from all those emotions. He’d have no choice—otherwise he couldn’t endure.”
Did he think that far ahead.
Kim Yeon-jun mentally whistled. It was a feeling he often had when talking with Seon-woo. The scale and depth of thought itself was different. He envied that vision which could imagine and analyze each and every element surrounding a character.
But Kim Yeon-jun was past the age where he could only pine over what he didn’t possess.
Kim Yeon-jun looked at Seon-woo and asked.
“Then Jo Young-gyu…… will still regard Yi Bang-won as heaven, even so?”
If his perspective is limited, he can ask someone with a broader view.
Unless Seon-woo is someone unwilling to share his vision, but Seon-woo is the kind of person who comes willingly and readily shares the worlds he’s seen without needing to be pressed.
Frankly, Kim Yeon-jun was grateful for it.
Kim Yeon-jun doesn’t possess Seon-woo’s perspective. But each time he glimpses that world, he can feel how much value it holds.
Seon-woo shares that world freely.
“Yes, I think he will remain unchanged. The problem is…… that heaven itself is wavering now. Just as Yi Bang-won’s heaven is wavering.”
“……that’s interesting. Both their heavens are wavering.”
So that his sharing might bear fruit…… Kim Yeon-jun too must think as hard as he can. Kim Yeon-jun opened his mouth. As the saying goes, even a dog sitting in school for three years can recite verse—having hung around Seon-woo constantly, Kim Yeon-jun had come to understand to some degree the perspective through which Seon-woo observed scenes.
“But Yi Bang-won and Jo Young-gyu shouldn’t feel the same. If Yi Bang-won is barely holding on…… then Jo Young-gyu must be solid.”
“Exactly. That’s what I think too. So I hope that when the camera’s on me, he can feel something. As though he’s thinking: ‘When father sees the way I’m looking at him, he must be feeling this exact same emotion……'”
“Complex.”
“Yes.”
“The problem comes next.”
Up to this point, Kim Yeon-jun understood it all.
“With what heart must I kill Jeong Mong-ju.”
The filming of Lee Seong-gye’s return to Gaegyeong was now complete.
And in a few weeks, they would be filming the scene where they assassinate Jeong Mong-ju. And the iron mace will fall to Jo Young-gyu.
From Kim Yeon-jun’s perspective, it was the scene demanding the most dedication in this entire production.
For Jo Young-gyu, frankly, there could be no scene more important than this.
“Why did Jo Young-gyu kill Jeong Mong-ju. Because Yi Bang-won ordered it, did he kill without thought? Or…… did he feel the weight of severing Goryeo’s lifeline with his own hands.”
“…….”
Seon-woo didn’t answer.
This was something he too needed to wrestle with. But one thing he could say was…….
“To determine what Jo Young-gyu feels, I think we first need to settle what Yi Bang-won feels.”
“……you’re right about that. Depending on Yi Bang-won’s state of mind, Jo Young-gyu’s mindset would differ greatly. But have you not yet decided on Yi Bang-won’s heart?”
“Actually at first…… I thought it would feel cold. I imagined that Yi Bang-won, having discovered the path of founding Joseon wasn’t purely joyful and hopeful…… would now kill Jeong Mong-ju having cast aside all emotion and judged with clear reason.”
“So it’s different now.”
“Yes.”
Seon-woo nodded.
Through live shooting he’d felt certain things. He’d felt them watching Kwon Seong-min and various characters act, and felt much from receiving direction from Seo Tae-rok.
In a sense, not just Yi Bang-won but Seon-woo too had grown alongside him.
And at the end of that growth, what Seon-woo had come to realize was…….
“I think it will be sad. Jeong Mong-ju’s death.”
“……yes. It would be.”
To gain what one desires, one must also do what one abhors.
Seon-woo was coming to feel it lately. That killing Jeong Mong-ju was likely something Yi Bang-won found deeply distasteful.
First, to kill Jeong Mong-ju, Yi Bang-won had to give up so much.
He had to bear his father’s hatred, had to endure Jeong Do-jeon’s enmity, had to suffer the hatred of Goryeo’s scholars.
Yet still, Yi Bang-won killed Jeong Mong-ju.
Because he believed he had to.
‘……so this moment has come at last.’
In truth, this was the part Seon-woo had been worried about from the start.
In killing Jeong Mong-ju, Yi Bang-won draws one step closer to becoming Taejong. To reaching the stage where he thinks and judges as a king.
And what worried Seon-woo was whether he could truly carry the weight of Taejong at this point.
‘……I have learned much, though.’
Over these past months, Seon-woo had learned constantly.
How an actor should approach a role. What kind of person one must become to be a good actor. He watched and learned and grew without ceasing.
So compared to then, he had grown somewhat closer to being able to embody Taejong.
But could he truly perform the perfect acting he envisioned.
Could he fully bear the weight of Yi Bang-won as a character.
Apparently that worry was showing on his face.
Kim Yeon-jun looked at Seon-woo with a puzzled expression.
“Why are you thinking so hard?”
“……oh, I’m just wrestling with something. Whether I can truly embody Yi Bang-won perfectly when we film the Jeong Mong-ju scene…….”
“Hmm, that’s certainly possible. But listen, Seon-woo.”
Kim Yeon-jun shrugged.
“Even you can’t deliver perfect acting every time. That’s true for all the senior actors too, for that matter. In the end, you’re human. How could a person ever be perfect?”
Watching Seon-woo, Kim Yeon-jun felt it anew. There’s much to learn from this junior, but at least as his senior, there seems to be one thing he can teach him.
At least when it comes to facing one’s own shortcomings, Kim Yeon-jun had far more experience than Seon-woo.
“You won’t be perfect. Sometimes that’s just unavoidable. You accept it. What we need to worry about now isn’t ‘Can we be perfect?’ That’s too grandiose. Worry about this instead.”
Kim Yeon-jun snapped his fingers.
“How should we kill Jeong Mong-ju?”
“……how should we kill Jeong Mong-ju.”
Seon-woo turned the words over and nodded.
It was sound advice. There’s no good in overthinking it like that. It’s better to focus on the acting right in front of you.
Seon-woo felt his mind ease considerably.
“……thank you. Talking to you really clarified my thinking.”
“Hehe, just trust this hyung. Now, think simply. We just need to figure out how to kill Jeong Mong-ju. Come on, repeat after me. We can do this!”
“Right, we can do this!”
“We’re just thinking about killing Jeong Mong-ju!”
“……we’re just thinking about killing Jeong Mong-ju!”
“Let’s give Senior Seong Jun-il a great send-off!”
“A great send-off for Senior……?”
“……ah, maybe that phrasing is a bit off?”
Never mind then.

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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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