I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 268

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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 268
The problem was people.
It was all Seon-jun thought about these days.
No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find an actor suitable for the lead role. Whenever he thought he’d spotted someone promising, their asking price was astronomical—far beyond what could even be considered.
Though an investor had come on board, that didn’t mean Seon-jun had a budget generous enough for his needs.
He had to find the best actor within limited means.
……It was naturally going to be difficult.
‘The real thing is different.’
It was vastly unlike making a low-budget film for a competition.
As a director, he now had to juggle dozens of times more concerns than before. It was only by contorting himself to his limits within these practical constraints that the masterpieces he’d admired could come to life.
‘……Seon-woo’s not bad, actually.’
Not just because he was his brother.
Seon-woo was genuinely an excellent actor. If he hadn’t been Seon-jun’s brother, he would’ve been too difficult for Seon-jun to approach—an actor at that caliber.
In terms of acting ability, popularity, and frankly everything else, among the cast Seon-jun could realistically consider, none had better credentials than Seon-woo.
Yet he’d rejected Seon-woo for two major reasons.
The first was simply that Seon-woo was his blood brother.
Since it was his debut film, if he cast Seon-woo……wouldn’t it look like he was relying on his brother’s fame, like an inept older brother?
It might sound ungrateful, but Seon-jun wanted to stand on his own without Seon-woo’s help if at all possible. The thought that people might nitpick his work made him deeply uneasy.
And the second reason was……exactly what he’d told Seon-woo before.
Seon-woo didn’t understand love.
True, he’d seen him perform youthful, fresh affection in the Red Zone. He’d shown quite good melodrama acting in My Jade as well.
But that was all shallow infatuation.
What had to be captured in How to Kill Your Wife wasn’t that kind of fresh love.
It had to contain the profound, aching emotion of an old couple living life together. Could Seon-woo really pull that off?
To that question,
—Should we break up?
Seon-woo had answered through theater.
The moment Seon-jun watched Should We Break Up?, he was slightly startled.
‘And he’s never even had a proper relationship……’
Yet he was expressing the distinctive feeling of a long-term couple with near-perfect accuracy.
Love that was aged, familiar, and therefore all the more precious.
Witnessing that, Seon-jun found himself thinking: maybe if he just brought Seon-woo in and gave it a shot, something might work out.
Perhaps Seon-woo could express Ki-tae better than he’d expected.
So when Seon-woo knocked on his door,
“Give me How to Kill Your Wife.”
And said this, Seon-jun couldn’t help but feel his thoughts multiply.
It was true that Seon-woo was the sort of brother with such tremendous potential that it felt wasteful not to use him simply because they were related.
After all, it had been Seon-jun who’d first discovered Seon-woo’s talent.
“So you think it could be different than last time?”
“Yeah.”
“……How?”
“I think I’m starting to understand love.”
Seon-jun stared at Seon-woo with an astonished expression.
Did this kid go off somewhere and fall in love without him knowing?
Maybe he did.
But that wasn’t the important thing right now. Seon-jun’s expression hardened.
“Fine. Then show me with your acting. Why I should cast you.”
“Which scene?”
“The one where Ki-tae talks to Sun-yeong in front of the life-support discontinuation consent form.”
“Got it. One second.”
Seon-woo pulled out the script and began reading again.
Watching him, Seon-jun fell into thought.
‘Last time it had a very tragic tone.’
The acting made vivid the tragedy of a man who had to kill his wife.
But there was certainly a lack of the lived-in feeling of a couple who’d spent seven years together. Rather than expressing love for Sun-yeong, it was only the anguish of a person struck by misfortune that came through—the acting felt that way.
It wasn’t bad acting, but it wasn’t what Seon-jun wanted.
But now,
“Ugh, my hands are cold again today.”
This Ki-tae of Seon-woo’s was different.
“You always get cold hands as soon as winter hits.”
When Seon-woo had performed this line before, his face had looked on the verge of collapse.
But not now.
Composed. So composed that a stranger watching wouldn’t imagine his wife was in a coma.
“That’s why I always tell you to wear gloves, but you keep losing them.”
Each line was natural.
Like something he’d said a thousand times before. So familiar that his voice almost sounded indifferent.
Yet in each of those casual words, seven years of time lay embedded.
Seon-woo lowered his head, looking at the paper in his hands.
The consent form. The moment he saw it, the light in Seon-woo’s eyes—which had been steadily smiling—wavered. A precarious atmosphere, as though the slightest wrong touch would shatter him entirely.
“Isn’t it absurd? We haven’t even written the divorce papers yet……and now they want me to sign this. I don’t know what else they could possibly want from us.”
Seon-woo smiles again.
If it had been the old Seon-woo, sorrow would have been woven into that smile. But not now.
Irritation.
It was the expression of someone whose twisted, knotted life and relationship had reached its choking point—a situation with no way in and no way out.
“What would you have done if you were me?”
A moment of silence.
And then, a weak laugh.
“I’d have cursed you out. Kim Ki-tae, you’re truly selfish to the very end.”
And from that irritation, Seon-jun saw love.
The love he’d wanted to portray. Not beautiful, not dazzling……rather, petty and unremarkable.
“So would you.”
Yet precisely because of that, it hit all the harder.
“You’re incredibly selfish too.”
At that moment, Seon-jun thought,
‘What the hell have you been up to?’
He’d thought he understood Seon-woo well enough.
He was his brother, and he’d watched in real time how he’d grown as an actor all this while.
But he never imagined he’d return in so short a time with such a complete grasp of the emotional landscape of love.
‘Did he really go fall in love somewhere?’
No, this wasn’t something you could understand from a mere dating relationship.
To understand this level of emotional arc, you’d need to have actually been in a long-term relationship—or even married—with someone properly.
“How is it?”
Seon-woo asked.
His voice had an almost annoying edge to it.
“……It’s not bad.”
“So it was good.”
Seon-jun narrowed his eyes, studying Seon-woo.
“Do you really want to play Ki-tae?”
“I’ve said it repeatedly. I want to do it.”
“Why? Because I’m your brother?”
Seon-jun couldn’t help but continue to suspect.
Surely Seon-woo must receive offers for good scripts all the time; the fact that he’d set those aside to insist on working with him specifically……didn’t it seem like he was just looking out for his older brother?
And if that were the case, he didn’t want that help.
Even if it meant losing face—Seon-jun was the kind of man who believed a certain amount of bluster was actually good for getting through life.
But then,
“No. I already told you before. It’s for the work. Why would I help you?”
Seon-woo answered with obvious distaste.
……To draw such a clear line was annoying in its own way. Seon-jun was on the verge of thinking he ought to throw a punch.
But Seon-woo quickly added,
“You’re not the type I’d need to help. You could throw you on Nanj Island and you’d somehow scavenge scraps and survive. Worrying about you is the most useless thing anyone could do.”
“That’s a compliment, then?”
“It’s a compliment.”
“……But somehow it still bothers me.”
It was all kind words, yet something about it kept rubbing him the wrong way.
Still, judging from how strongly Seon-woo was reacting, he clearly wasn’t doing this out of concern for his brother.
“Fine. Let’s do this together.”
“……Really?”
“Yeah. This should be enough. I mean, honestly, you’re the best option among what I can choose from. ……But stop smiling like that, would you? You’re getting on my nerves.”
“When did I smile annoyingly?”
“You’re doing it right now.”
Was it that obvious?
Seon-woo let out a soft cough and pulled the corners of his mouth down with his hand.
“Anyway, you’re really giving me this role, right? You won’t back out later and say it was just a verbal agreement? Should I contact my agency right now?”
“……I said okay, so calm down. You’re usually so quiet, but the moment acting comes up, you turn into a lunatic. Why do you love acting so much?”
“Because I love it. That’s why I’m like this.”
“Yeah, I guess you would be.”
It was a pointless question to ask.
Seon-jun tapped the script a few times and let out a sigh.
“Alright, at least now that the lead actor’s settled……I feel a bit more at ease.”
“Is it tough?”
“It’s tough. Actors willing to appear in a debut director’s film aren’t exactly common. Honestly, when you said you’d do it……it was reassuring.”
“But you tore it apart.”
“Reassuring and good are different things. The Ki-tae you showed me last time wasn’t it.”
“You’re being harsh.”
Seon-woo let out a soft laugh.
Then, in a serious tone, he spoke,
“Still, if you need help, tell me.”
“What kind of help?”
“Anything. Finding more actors, scouting locations, even just needing extra hands……just tell me. I became an actor because of you. I’m always grateful for that.”
Seon-woo spoke with a hint of awkwardness.
“Let me repay that debt.”
……
Seon-jun was momentarily at a loss for words.
He’d had no idea his brother was this grateful for being guided into the actor’s path.
He’d just casually brought him along because he stood out, had him try acting on a whim because he had talent.
Seon-jun grumbled unnecessarily.
“What debt? It’s the boss’s job to look after his underlings.”
“……Am I your underling?”
“Then am I your underling?”
That wouldn’t be it.
Seon-woo shook his head with a hesitant expression. Seon-jun cleared his throat and crossed his arms.
“That’s enough. Don’t put actors to work like this. You just do the acting well. I can handle the rest.”
“Well, that’s probably true.”
Seon-woo shrugged his shoulders.
True enough, he’d been making unnecessary worries. He’d just been thinking there was nothing more pointless than worrying about Seon-jun.
Seon-woo turned without hesitation.
“Alright, then I’m going.”
“……Wait a minute.”
And that’s when it happened.
Seon-jun called Seon-woo back softly.
Seon-woo turned around.
“What?”
“……That, ahem. About what you said before.”
“What did I say?”
“That you’d help if I needed it.”
“Yeah. But you said you didn’t need it.”
“That’s true, but……”
Seon-jun let out a groan.
He didn’t want to sound needy in front of his brother. It would be unimaginable for him as an older brother.
But now wasn’t the time to prioritize bluster.
The fact remained that he wasn’t finding actors the way he’d hoped.
“……Could I use your name a bit?”
Seon-jun decided to surrender some of his dignity as an older brother.

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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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