I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 254

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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 254
Seon-woo inwardly admitted that he had let his guard down.
In a way, perhaps he’d grown a touch arrogant. After watching the acting of people like Kwon Seong-min, Seong Do-won, and Lee Mu-beom—he’d come to think that there was little left to surprise him in his peers’ performances.
But Yu-ran’s acting was genuinely astonishing.
‘……I’ve never seen anyone act like this before.’
First, her movements were expansive.
Where an ordinary person might raise only their hand slightly to express a question, she lifted her entire arm in a grand arc and raised her voice.
Yet it felt utterly natural.
Because as her movements grew, so too did her emotion—keeping perfect pace with her physicality.
And each time she swept her arms in those sweeping arcs…… the emotion she poured out seemed to flow from her fingertips like paint from a brush, coloring everything around her.
The very essence of theater acting dwelt in her performance.
It was the kind of acting that made him understand why she’d gone abroad to study.
Yes, if I could learn acting like this…… it would be worth traveling anywhere for. Seon-woo felt a fresh surge of enthusiasm for the Acting School he’d set aside for a time.
But now wasn’t the moment to focus on that ambition.
Seon-woo felt the emotional arc contained within the Color Orbs seeping slowly into him.
“If it was just that excitement that brought us together…….”
And then he unraveled that emotion he’d absorbed, unhurried and deliberate.
“Then yeah, we should break up.”
Yu-ran’s acting was three-dimensional.
Perhaps it was because she followed the principles of theater acting so well. Broadcast acting, after all, is captured on the flat plane of a screen, whereas theater acting unfolds across the entire stage.
And maybe that’s why.
“If it wasn’t excitement, then why did we meet?”
The brushstrokes of emotion she released…… remained vivid, as if she’d painted them there, and wouldn’t fade easily.
And those strokes accumulated, layer upon layer, wrapping around her like a flame.
……Had she intended this?
Impossible. Not unless she could see the world of the Color Orbs as he did.
She had simply performed what she deemed most appropriate in her own judgment. And that performance had—just like this—shaped emotion perfectly and wrapped it around her.
Suddenly, Seon-woo recalled an experiment he’d once watched.
It was a Japanese experiment. They placed mold on a map of Tokyo, scattered oats over the major cities, and in mere days, the mold had spread in a pattern that nearly matched Tokyo’s subway system.
A miracle where humanity’s accumulated intellect was naturally traced by the simple instinct of a mere fungus.
Her acting felt precisely like that.
Acting unfolded by pure instinct and intuition…… was painting a three-dimensional and spectacular image in Seon-woo’s world that defied logic.
But he couldn’t afford to stand in admiration.
If he lost focus, he might lose Joon-seo entirely. Seon-woo unfurled his own emotion.
“I was excited. But I was excited because I was meeting you. It wasn’t that I met you because I was excited.”
“Then why did we meet?”
“Coffee!”
“What?”
“When I was studying at the library and you brought me coffee because you thought of me—that coffee was delicious. I couldn’t get the taste out of my head, so on pretty days you looked even prettier, and on the days you looked less pretty you still looked pretty! That’s why we met. Did you think you were always that kind of woman, exciting to be around? Don’t misunderstand! Sorry to say, but you weren’t that special!”
A ridiculous line of dialogue.
Pathetic and absurd. Yet Seon-woo found himself drawn to it. Because what this pathetic man was really saying was: ‘I loved you, and I love you still.’
It was the first time Seon-woo had played a character in this style.
But the hardest part of performing this role lay elsewhere.
“……Were there days when I didn’t look pretty?”
“Plenty! But does that matter right now?”
Precisely these comedic beats that cut through the middle.
Of course, the comedy didn’t shatter the emotion. But bringing out the flavor of comedy required its own rhythm, its own breathing.
And as he acted this, Seon-woo felt it anew.
He truly lacked experience in theater.
All the more so because Yu-ran’s acting was so skilled.
In every emotion she released, there was no waste. Each one lived and breathed, and as they accumulated to paint an ever-larger flame around her…… Seon-woo could only marvel.
He’d truly never seen anyone act like this before.
And yet he couldn’t simply stand in wonder.
If he did, he would lose Joon-seo. So how should he proceed?
He had already decided on the answer before stepping onto the stage.
“I don’t want to break up. Even on days when you looked ugly you looked beautiful to me. Your husband loved you, cherished you so much! But that means nothing to you?”
He explodes with emotion.
What surfaces is the memory of Do-young performing the Priest on stage long ago. That stage presence that covered not just the stage but the entire audience in his light alone.
It overflows.
Affection and lingering attachment, hurt and sorrow—all tangled together in turbulent emotion that surges out through Seon-woo like a tsunami.
In Seon-woo’s eyes, in this moment, he can see it.
The world being painted entirely in his color.
He, the stage, the audience—there is nowhere his color, his heart, hasn’t brushed.
……Yet, even so, there remains one place his brush hasn’t reached.
“……Then what am I supposed to do?”
Yu-ran.
Even as Seon-woo’s color rushes out like a wave, she remains untouched.
There’s no help for it.
Joon-seo’s heart truly doesn’t reach In-hee.
And because of that, they are already speaking of parting.
She, and the flame-like heart she has painted—Seon-woo’s color cannot touch them. Everything in this world understands and hears Seon-woo’s…… Joon-seo’s heart, yet only In-hee fails to truly know him.
“That doesn’t feel right to me.”
Seon-woo and Yu-ran.
Joon-seo and In-hee, gazing at one another.
Two lovers looking at each other, yet never quite meeting each other’s eyes.
And then—
“Whoa…….”
“Insane.”
“……I just want to go home.”
Exclamations and slow, scattered applause rippled through the audience.
The cheers weren’t loud. Everyone was too overwhelmed to shout. Seon-woo and Yu-ran, having finished their scene, looked at each other.
Neither spoke, but their thoughts were identical.
‘This guy…….’
‘This senior…….’
A monster.
* * *
“I mean, I asked for an audition and you two put on a whole performance? Making it rough on everyone coming next.”
Min-hee grumbled.
Yu-ran grinned widely.
“Oh, so you liked it?”
“……It was good, yeah. Your acting is still amazing as ever.”
“Still? I spent a lot of money studying abroad. I should’ve improved!”
“You did improve. It’s just that you were already such a monster that it’s hard to tell.”
“Hehe, spasibo. Oh my, I just slipped into Russian without thinking. After studying abroad, Russian’s become so comfortable for me~.”
“……Please don’t do that when you’re on broadcast. It’s so embarrassing.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. That’s my bad.”
Min-hee shook her head.
Sometimes she seemed like a person with a screw loose, but the moment she acted, she became a monster again…… truly someone impossible to pin down.
‘Now that this senior is here too…… I can really show what Cheongseong is made of this time.’
Honestly, you could shoot a film right now with this cast.
Especially considering Seon-woo and Do-young’s current market value…… it was hard to even calculate what a production like this was worth.
‘But can both of them perform at the same time?’
From what he’d heard, Do-young was also preparing Joon-seo.
Which meant one of them would inevitably be eliminated…… and that was quite a shame from Min-hee’s perspective. If they could all perform together, it would truly be a legendary stage.
And the one feeling that disappointment most keenly right now was Seon-woo.
Acting alongside Yu-ran, he’d felt it. She was an extraordinary actress. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say she delivered the most impressive female performance he’d ever witnessed.
If Do-young could perform with her too…… what an ecstatic thing that would be.
Just imagining it sends a thrill through him.
‘……I should have chosen a different role.’
To the very end, Seon-woo was left with that lingering regret.
But the die was already cast. Dwelling on what’s past only brings suffering.
Seon-woo simply kept his eyes on the continuing auditions.
Other auditionees for Joon-seo and In-hee were still coming through. Do-young hadn’t taken the stage yet.
It seemed like it was about time for Do-young to go up when—
“Alright, Joon-seo and In-hee are done…… let’s move on to Min-jae and Ga-hyun. Min-hee and Hye-seong, you’re up!”
Ji-hwan said something Seon-woo couldn’t make sense of.
Joon-seo and In-hee are done? But Do-young hasn’t even had his audition yet?
Confused, he turned to look at Do-young, who smiled knowingly at him.
Seon-woo opened his mouth.
“Senior, you were going to do Joon-seo…… weren’t you?”
“I was.”
Past tense.
“You changed your mind?”
“Yeah. I’m going with Chang-seop instead.”
“……Ah, Chang-seop?”
Seon-woo nodded.
Chang-seop was indeed a character that suited Do-young. That cynical edge fit his usual image well.
But he wondered why Do-young had suddenly switched roles……
“Wanted to try being on stage with you. Figured it’d be fun.”
“……Because of me?”
“Why not?”
“Well, it’s not that it’s not possible, but……”
When someone says it like that, doesn’t it make you feel guilty?
After all, Seon-woo hadn’t given up his role. Seeing Seon-woo like this, Do-young waved it off.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I can’t help worrying…… my shoulders suddenly feel very heavy.”
“Then just show me good acting. I mean…… watching you act with Yu-ran just now, it looked like you’ve already got a solid grip on the character.”
At Do-young’s words, Seon-woo’s expression grew awkward.
Hearing that Do-young had given up his role for him made him feel both sorry and grateful. He never knew Do-young valued performing with him so highly.
Actually, from Seon-woo’s perspective, this was the best possible scenario.
He’d gotten the role he wanted and the chance to act with Do-young. Of course, the audition results haven’t even been announced yet, so maybe he’s judging too hastily…… but honestly, he wasn’t worried about the results.
Judging objectively, the performance Seon-woo had just given…… carried waves of emotion no less fierce than Do-young’s Priest from years ago.
Seon-woo imagined it.
On stage, he and Do-young side by side, unleashing emotion. That endless flood of color filling stage and audience alike.
Just imagining the expressions on the audience’s faces makes his heart tremble. And so Seon-woo could be certain.
This stage would be……
Unforgettably magnificent, he was sure of it.
For him, and for everyone who would see it.

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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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