I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 5

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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 5

‘Don’t worry about passing.’

Before the test, when Seon-woo showed him the acting he had prepared, Seon-jun had said that.

That there was no need to worry. That at least with this level, joining the troupe would be easy.

But even with those words, Seon-woo couldn’t let go of his nervousness.

After all, those were just Seon-jun’s words.

Who knew how it would look to other people’s eyes.

But…

“Do you usually watch a lot of dramas and movies?”

“Yes.”

“How much?”

“Um… I think I watch them almost all the time except when I’m studying.”

“Good. That’s good.”

It seemed Seon-jun’s words were right.

When the acting ended, the look in Ji-hwan’s eyes as he gazed at Seon-woo had completely changed.

At first, he seemed to have no interest or favorable impression of him… but now, should I say the warmth in his voice had changed?

“I’m sorry. I think I misunderstood you, Seon-woo.”

“Pardon?”

“Honestly, I didn’t think at all that you’d be good at acting. You said it was your first time, and somehow… Yes. Anyway, I’m sorry. Your acting was really good.”

“Ah… Yes. Thank you.”

It was amazing.

In interview rooms, once the atmosphere turned bad, it was usually difficult to turn it around.

To think the atmosphere could change this much with just one piece of acting.

That’s when Ji-hwan let out a sigh.

“At first I thought Seon-jun was saying strange things…”

“…What did my hyung say, if I may ask?”

“He threatened me. Said his little brother was a genius, so if I didn’t want to regret it, I should try nurturing him.”

That bastard Kim Seon-jun…

Now he understood why Ji-hwan had treated him that way from the beginning.

If someone talked like that, anyone would dislike it.

“…I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. After experiencing it myself, I think I understand why you said that. Let’s get to the main point. I realized I haven’t asked the most important thing.”

Ji-hwan clapped his hands to refresh the atmosphere.

“Why did you want to start acting?”

Seon-woo thought for a moment.

“…When I’m acting, I can feel that I’m alive.”

It was a bit embarrassing to say such things in front of someone he’d just met.

But what could he do? This was his true feeling. There was no need to beat around the bush.

“It was the first time in my life. Feeling something like this.”

“I see. I understand what you mean.”

Ji-hwan nodded as if he understood.

His expression suggested that was explanation enough.

“You’ve never learned acting before, right?”

“No. I started acting itself for the first time recently.”

“Haha….”

Ji-hwan looked at Seon-woo with a strange expression. As if amazed, as if perplexed.

He couldn’t help it. What Seon-woo had shown wasn’t the kind of acting someone who had never acted before should be able to display.

Ji-hwan’s eyes sparkled.

This guy’s the real deal.

“Alright. Let’s do this. First, you’ll learn the theoretical stuff from me separately. And when I think you’ve got the basics down, then you can join the Theater Company.”

“…What? That would be too much trouble for you….”

“I’m doing this because I want to. From what I can see, if I just touch up your fundamentals a bit, you’ll become truly flawless.”

Still, I feel a bit sorry about it.

Seeing Seon-woo’s troubled expression, Ji-hwan shrugged his shoulders.

“And I’m not just making a sacrifice. I’m making an investment.”

“An investment?”

Wasn’t that too grand a way to put it?

Watching the flustered Seon-woo, Ji-hwan’s lips curved upward.

“I think Seon-woo will become quite a decent actor later on. I’d say he’ll definitely help with our Theater Company’s publicity.”

“…Haha.”

Not knowing how to respond, Seon-woo just laughed.

Well, either way, he was offering special lessons. It was something to be grateful for.

And so a week passed.

During that week, Seon-woo learned all sorts of things from Ji-hwan.

From how to analyze scripts, to checking masking tape, Voice Projection, and all the minor details.

Script Analysis in particular was surprisingly fun.

Analyzing characters, expressing those characters… he could continue for hours.

As a result, his understanding of Color Bubbles naturally deepened as well.

‘Each character has a base color.’

Even if the scene changed and the emotions being expressed were different, there was a basic color sense for each character that remained consistent.

It was fascinating.

Just from studying a little, even his way of looking at Color Bubbles had already changed.

If he continued learning like this, what other changes would there be in the future? Just as he was thinking this,

“Seon-woo.”

“…Yes.”

“Should we head to the Theater Company now?”

Ji-hwan dropped that bombshell so suddenly.

Seon-woo couldn’t answer easily. In his opinion, he was still lacking in many areas.

Ji-hwan looked at Seon-woo and spoke again.

“The best education ultimately comes from rolling around in the field. You need to compare yourself with other kids to figure out what you’re lacking and what your weapons are, so you can see more clearly what to practice.”

When he put it like that, there was no way to refuse anymore.

Besides, he was already feeling a strong desire to try proper acting.

To dye himself in those colorful hues again… and freely express all those emotions.

“Yes. I’ll go.”

So Seon-woo nodded with determination.

Right. Let’s go. Let’s go and properly try this thing called acting!

He was steeling his resolve like that when…

“Oh, right. And let me give you one piece of advice… you’d better be careful.”

“…Careful?”

Ji-hwan suddenly brought up something ominous.

“There are some strange rumors about you going around the theater company.”

“…About me? People know about me?”

“Of course they do. You’ve been getting private lessons from me every day, how could there not be rumors?”

Seon-woo made a bitter expression.

This was something he hadn’t anticipated.

“The kids seem to think you have some kind of powerful backing or something.”

“…What should I do?”

“What do you mean what should you do. Show them directly. Why you received private lessons from me. Why you were able to join this theater company.”

Ji-hwan smiled wickedly.

“Through acting, directly.”

Seon-woo let out a sigh.

…It seemed like he’d have to clear up another misunderstanding.

* * *

“Do-young hyung, did you hear the news?”

At the voice from beside him, a handsome man with wolf-like intense features turned his head.

Cha Do-young. He was the actor with the highest stock value in Cheongseong.

A box office guarantee who could sell out shows no matter what role he took on.

“News? What news?”

“That person is joining our theater company this time.”

“Who are you talking about.”

“You know, that person the director has been personally managing lately.”

“…Ah, that person.”

Do-young nodded as if he understood.

He was Cheongseong’s hot topic these days. A new face that the director was personally managing and taking around with him every day.

“There are even rumors that he’s getting special treatment because he’s from a chaebol family.”

“Well, whether he’s from a chaebol family or whatever, what does it matter. If he wants to act, then he acts.”

“…This is just a rumor though.”

Ye-chan looked around and whispered quietly as if sharing a secret.

“That person is apparently trying acting for the first time.”

“…?”

Do-young turned to look at Ye-chan as if asking what he meant.

Someone who’s learning acting for the first time is joining their theater troupe?

For an ordinary theater company, this wouldn’t be impossible. It was actually common for people to start as the youngest member doing odd jobs while learning acting from the basics.

But not Cheongseong.

There were too many people who wanted to join Cheongseong.

Even Theater and Film Department graduates come to audition here….

Ye-chan let out a sigh.

“It’s a bit concerning. I thought connections and stuff like that didn’t matter at Cheongseong….”

“Ye-chan.”

At that moment, Do-young’s gaze sharpened. Ye-chan flinched in surprise and straightened his posture.

“Y-yes, hyung.”

“Don’t speak so carelessly. Ji-hwan isn’t someone who would thoughtlessly parachute someone in. There must be some reason.”

“…S-sorry. I misspoke…!”

“Why? Ye-chan said what’s right.”

A mocking voice cut between the two of them.

A snake-faced man with long, narrow eyes was grinning as he looked at them.

While Ye-chan stepped back with a slightly intimidated expression upon seeing the man, Do-young frowned and turned to look at him.

“What?”

“I said he’s right. Either way, they came in when it’s not even the official recruitment period.”

“There must be a reason.”

“So what is that reason?”

The man, Seo Jin-wook, snickered.

“And they say he has no acting experience either. If it was scouting some kid who’s good at acting, I’d understand. Why would a beginner come here?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself when you haven’t even seen what kind of person they are yet.”

“Don’t you have to taste it to know if it’s shit or soybean paste?”

Seo Jin-wook bared his teeth in a rough smile.

And that’s when it happened.

“Well, wouldn’t it be fine to give it a shot at least once?”

A languid voice echoed through the practice room.

It was Ji-hwan. He looked around at everyone with a weary expression and opened his mouth.

“Quite the commotion of biting and tearing at each other in the back, I see?”

“Ah… Ji-hwan.”

Seo Jin-wook’s face momentarily showed confusion upon seeing Ji-hwan.

After all, he’d been caught talking behind someone’s back. Ji-hwan swallowed a sigh and reached behind him.

“Come on, everyone say hello. This is our new friend who just joined our theater troupe.”

“Hello, I’m Kim Seon-woo.”

At those words, everyone looked at Seon-woo.

The first impression was that he was handsome. Honestly, just looking at his face, it wouldn’t be strange to put him forward as a lead actor.

‘He looks like a pretty boy gigolo.’

Seo Jin-wook’s expression subtly crumpled.

He already didn’t like him just from the rumors, but seeing his face made him even angrier.

Seo Jin-wook raised his voice unnecessarily, pretending to be more confident.

“Ji-hwan. Honestly, there’s been a lot of talk among the kids. We’ve never had someone join outside of the regular recruitment period before, right?”

“Yeah. So?”

“Could we see some acting?”

“Acting?”

“Yes. I’ll play the opposite role.”

Seo Jin-wook made a triumphant expression and looked Seon-woo up and down.

The atmosphere suggested he was already convinced that Seon-woo’s acting would be a disaster.

“I think it would be good to see what kind of character he is by acting together.”

Ji-hwan could tell from Seo Jin-wook’s eyes what he was thinking.

Right. He’s thinking that I brought some incompetent guy in through connections, isn’t he? He probably wants to openly crush him in front of everyone.

This probably isn’t because of some sense of justice that nepotism shouldn’t be allowed.

Seo Jin-wook had always been quite obsessed with establishing his authority in front of others since way back.

He might be thinking this is another opportunity to get attention.

But….

“Fine. Go ahead.”

Ji-hwan nodded.

He wasn’t abandoning Seon-woo.

Ji-hwan could already see how this situation would unfold.

Seo Jin-wook seemed to believe he could become the star of this scene… but would that really be the case?

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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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