I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 79

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 79

Seon-woo’s score was 93 points.

85 points from the judges and 8 points from the audience.

Compared to last time, only the judges’ score had increased by 2 points.

Thanks to that, he recorded 3rd place following Hye-seong and Yeon-woo who both scored 94 points.

‘Did I grow?’

Looking at just the score, it seemed so.

However, what bothered him a little was that the audience score remained unchanged from last time. Of course, since the maximum was only 10 points, he knew raising it by 1 point wouldn’t be easy, but…

‘How can I get 9 points from the audience?’

It was the moment Seon-woo’s eyes darkened.

“Now then… I’ll announce today’s eliminated contestant.”

Everyone’s expressions darkened at Seong Jun-il’s voice.

Looking at them, Seong Jun-il spoke in a deliberately emotionless voice.

“First, I should let you know how many contestants will be eliminated today. Then you’ll soon know who the eliminated contestants will be.”

It was simple math.

Currently, Ji-eun was in last place, and Hyeong-bin was second to last.

The question was whether only Ji-eun would be eliminated, or if Hyeong-bin would be eliminated too.

Well, surely three people wouldn’t be eliminated.

Hyeong-bin swallowed dryly.

He thought he had done his best, but… somehow when this moment came, he felt regretful. He wanted to act just a little more, just a little more.

It felt like he hadn’t even shown proper acting yet.

It seemed like he had thought he did well enough for someone who hadn’t even learned acting.

That shouldn’t have been the case. He should have been more desperate… Just as regret was about to consume him,

“Today’s eliminated contestant is… one person.”

Seong Jun-il’s calm voice echoed.

And the moment everyone quietly looked at Ji-eun, Seong Jun-il continued.

“Yoo Ji-eun has been eliminated.”

Ji-eun was eliminated.

Hyeong-bin survived.

And what Hyeong-bin felt at that moment wasn’t relief… but wretchedness.

Why was that?

Why did he always have to worry about things like ‘Will I be eliminated today?’ as if it were natural?

Because his experience was short?

Wasn’t he hiding behind that excuse, taking it for granted that he was lacking compared to others?

Questions led to more questions in an endless chain.

Meanwhile, Ji-eun sighed as if she had no choice.

“…Yes. Thank you for everything!”

Ji-eun immediately shook off her regrets.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t disappointed, but not everyone can pass every audition. Having acted for a long time, she was used to failure.

So it was okay.

Her eyes were a little hot, but it was okay.

That’s when it happened.

Yu Mi-yeon called Ji-eun’s name in a quiet voice.

“Ji-eun.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t be too disheartened. From what I see, this is just the beginning for you. Let’s meet next time not in a place like this, but on set. As fellow actors.”

“…Yes, I definitely will!”

Whether those words were sufficient comfort, he couldn’t say.

What mattered was that Ji-eun’s eyes were quite passionate as she answered that she would. As long as the fire in her eyes didn’t die, an actor could always rise again. Knowing this, Yu Mi-yeon could smile.

With this, the judging was over.

But the judges still hadn’t moved away from the microphone.

There were still people left to exchange greetings with.

“Park Moon-hyeon, and Justin.”

Moon-hyeon and Justin.

Looking at them who had given their final passionate performance, Lee Mu-beom smiled.

“We enjoyed watching your acting. Honestly, if you two had shown today’s level of acting last time as well… the results might have been different.”

“That’s right. It was such admirable acting throughout.”

“Park Moon-hyeon, I heard you even received lessons from Seon-woo?”

The last question was asked by Seong Jun-il.

Meeting his mischievous gaze, Moon-hyeon smiled quietly.

“Yes. He was a good teacher.”

“…It seems so. The emotional line that Park Moon-hyeon showed this time… there really wasn’t a single flaw anywhere. The details were definitely alive.”

Yu Mi-yeon smiled.

“You both worked hard. It was wonderful.”

It was a heartwarming conclusion.

More precisely, it was until Justin opened his mouth.

“Uhm… Teachers, would it be okay if I asked what our scores are?”

At that question showing no awareness of the situation, sighs of exasperation could be heard even from the audience seating.

But Justin looked at the judges with a grin.

He was genuinely curious. What score would an acting performance that received such good comments get?

Well then, he should give an answer.

Seong Jun-il chuckled and opened his mouth.

They were already eliminated anyway.

At this point, warmly giving them a perfect score would make for quite a dramatic scene.

The score didn’t matter.

You’re already perfect in my heart, he could say.

“Well, about 85 points?”

But Seong Jun-il didn’t do that.

The reason was simple.

He preferred sitcoms over dramas.

* * *

“…Heuuu.”

“Are you okay?”

“Heuuuaaaaa…”

“…Ji-eun?”

“Haaaaaaaaaak——!”

Waiting room.

After filming ended, Ji-eun was hissing like a cat with its fur standing on end.

Hyeong-bin looked at Ji-eun with a restless expression.

“Don’t be too heartbroken! Maybe you’ll create a memorable scene while dying this time!”

“…Gyaaaaaaaaaak!”

Even with his attempt at comfort, Ji-eun just continued making strange noises.

Well, it wasn’t really much of a comfort to begin with.

Min-hee chuckled as she watched Ji-eun.

“Leave her be. At least she’s not crying. Good job, our Ji-eun.”

“…Gyaaa.”

Only after Min-hee patted Ji-eun did her momentum calm down a little.

Watching them, Justin grinned mischievously.

“Jinny! Don’t be depressed! At least you get to film one more time!”

“…Who’s Jinny? Ji-eun?”

“Yes! Since it’s Ji-eun, it’s Jinny!”

“Seriously, you too…”

Min-hee sighed and shook her head, but then her expression became a bit emotional.

She suddenly realized this might be the last time she’d hear Justin’s nonsense.

“It’s been fun.”

“Why does your expression look so serious? Like we’ll never see each other again. We can meet up often outside.”

“Hmm, we might say that, but we probably won’t actually meet much, will we?”

“…Wow, you’re really dry.”

“I’m joking.”

Justin’s eyes became droopy.

She definitely didn’t look like she was joking.

Moon-hyeon burst into hearty laughter, clearing the air.

“Whether we meet often or not, I hope everything goes well for everyone. Of course, I know you’ll all do well even without me saying this…”

“What are you planning to do from now on, sir?”

Surprisingly, it was Jae-won who asked the question.

He hadn’t seemed particularly close to Moon-hyeon, but perhaps they’d grown attached after spending so much time together.

Moon-hyeon smiled faintly as he looked at Jae-won.

“I’ll act. I don’t know how many places will want this old man… but I want to live doing what I love now.”

“That’s cool.”

Jae-won nodded.

Though he said it casually, Jae-won knew well how difficult it was to live doing what you want. Especially at Moon-hyeon’s age, there would be even more things to worry about.

That’s when it happened.

A knock sounded.

“May I come in?”

“…Director?”

When they opened the door to the familiar voice, Ji-hwan and Seon-jun were standing outside the waiting room. While the Cheongseong people brightened up at seeing Ji-hwan, Ji-hwan scratched his head with an awkward expression.

“It’s been a while, everyone. It feels strange seeing you all in a place like this.”

“Wow, how long has it been? So good to see you.”

“Right. It’s nice to see everyone.”

Ji-hwan greeted everyone.

They had been tied up on set ever since 【I Am an Actor】 started.

This was the first time meeting Ji-hwan. Naturally, everyone was happy to see him.

Meanwhile, Hye-seong looked at Seon-jun standing beside Ji-hwan and tilted his head.

“But who is this person…?”

“Ah, this must be everyone’s first time seeing him. Say hello. He’s a younger friend of mine. A film director.”

“Hello. I’m Kim Seon-jun.”

“…Kim Seon-jun?”

Min-hee tilted her head upon hearing the name.

“Are you perhaps… Seon-woo’s older brother?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right.”

“…Ah, nice to meet you for the first time. I owe Seon-woo a lot.”

“Not at all. I think Seon-woo is the one who owes more.”

Watching Seon-jun being modest, Min-hee… no, all the Cheongseong people had strange expressions.

He was handsome. Well, that was natural since they shared the same genes… but somehow his atmosphere was quite different from Seon-woo’s.

If Seon-woo was like… a calm lake in personality, then Seon-jun had a fiery temperament that could be felt from his sharp eyes.

They were brothers who strangely resembled yet didn’t resemble each other.

While having such thoughts, Seon-jun looked at Seon-woo and chuckled.

“How is it? Fun?”

“…Well, it’s fun.”

“Good. That’s enough then. Work hard. I’m going.”

Seon-jun waved his hand and tried to leave.

Ji-hwan grabbed Seon-jun with a flustered expression.

“Hey, leaving already? Since you brothers met after so long, you should catch up and all.”

“We just caught up. You stay here and talk slowly. I’ll go ahead.”

“Geez, really…”

Though Ji-hwan felt a bit disappointed, Seon-jun moved his steps without delay.

Well, there wasn’t really much conversation to share if he stayed longer anyway…

‘It’s too itchy to just stay still.’

Right.

The [One Room] he just saw had lit a fire in his chest.

If Seon-woo hadn’t been there, it might not have been this intense. But his younger brother… his younger brother who always stayed cooped up in his room creating only gloomy atmospheres was shining like this.

It would be stranger if he wasn’t stimulated as an older brother.

Whatever it was, it was good.

He had to do something.

As Seon-jun left with that feeling, Yeon-woo made a strange expression watching his retreating figure.

“Seon-woo’s older brother also doesn’t seem like an ordinary person.”

“My brother is a bit peculiar…”

Seon-woo looked back at Yeon-woo as if he found it hard to understand.

“‘Also’? If you say it like that, it makes me sound like a strange person too.”

“I didn’t say strange person. I said not ordinary.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

While Seon-woo was bickering with Yeon-woo like that, Ji-hwan inwardly chuckled as he watched him.

‘Seems like he’s doing well.’

Actually, he wasn’t too worried about Seon-woo.

Even at Cheongseong, despite strange rumors spreading about him being a parachute hire and such, Seon-woo overcame it all and eventually became like family with everyone.

Both skill-wise and personality-wise, there was no particular reason to worry.

Rather, what Ji-hwan was most worried about here was something else.

“Hey, you’ve changed a bit, haven’t you?”

“…”

Jin-wook.

Actually, Jin-wook had been Ji-hwan’s sore spot in many ways.

Since the Cheongseong days, various stories about Jin-wook had always been heard. There were quite a few people who angrily asked why he couldn’t just be kicked out.

A typical troublemaker.

So when Jin-wook passed 【I Am an Actor】, Ji-hwan had many worries.

He thought a situation might come where Jin-wook would become a national villain and have to give up his dream of being an actor entirely, let alone debut.

But unexpectedly, Jin-wook showed that he was getting along reasonably well inside here.

Especially in terms of acting, he had changed to the point where the old Jin-wook couldn’t be recalled.

Jin-wook, who used to act to stand out alone… had somehow started acting while caring about the harmony of the stage.

That’s why.

“Director.”

“Yeah?”

“Could we have a private conversation for a moment?”

When Jin-wook suddenly brought up that topic, Ji-hwan could gladly nod his head.

“Sure. Let’s do that.”

Where they moved to was Jin-wook’s accommodation.

To be precise, the double room he was still sharing with Hyeong-bin.

Ji-hwan looked around that room and let out a hollow laugh.

“You’ve been living here for several months?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t it hard? With your personality, living with someone else wouldn’t be easy.”

“That’s fine. It’s just…”

Jin-wook trailed off and lowered his gaze.

Watching such Jin-wook, Ji-hwan was inwardly surprised. It was the first time he knew that Jin-wook could have such gentle eyes.

“Director. Please answer honestly.”

“…I’ll think about it after hearing the question.”

“Do you think I can make it as an actor?”

“…”

Ji-hwan didn’t answer.

Instead, he looked at Jin-wook. He thought his eyes had become gentle, but that wasn’t it.

‘Had his spirit been crushed?’

Why?

He couldn’t understand it.

Even in today’s episode 2, Jin-wook had shown quite decent acting. The judges had actually given him good evaluations too.

So what was causing him to have such eyes?

“What’s the problem?”

“…Well, I’m the problem.”

It was something the old Jin-wook would never have said.

He usually wouldn’t admit to his own problems.

“If there’s something I’ve realized coming here, it’s that I’m really fucking nothing.”

“Hmm. That’s true.”

“…Today was the same. Well, I passed, but… honestly, right up until the judging, I kept being scared that I might get eliminated. It’ll probably be the same for the next evaluation too. I can feel it. That my life is as fragile as a fly’s.”

Jin-wook let out a bitter laugh.

“I don’t want to say this, but compared to other people, I don’t have anything special…”

“Let me ask you something.”

Ji-hwan cut off Jin-wook’s words.

“What kind of people do you think actors are?”

“Aren’t they cool people?”

“No, they don’t act because they’re cool. They act because they stand out. There are actors who act because they shine conspicuously and are conspicuously cool, but there are also actors who act because they’re conspicuously ugly and pathetic. But do you want to become a cool actor?”

Jin-wook hesitated.

Did he want to become a cool actor? He wasn’t sure. He just wanted to become an actor.

Ji-hwan gave him an answer before that hesitation could drag on longer.

“If you compete on that level, you can’t win.”

“…Then what should I compete with?”

“You know it too.”

Ji-hwan shrugged his shoulders.

“Annoying, tactless, no social skills, and a bad-tempered monkey who only knows how to charge headfirst into everything.”

“…Don’t tell me that’s what I am?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. If you don’t realize this, you won’t be able to survive as an actor in the end. This is your character. This is your charm.”

Ji-hwan spoke in a voice without laughter.

It was because he thought this was an important turning point for Jin-wook.

“Think about it. Not about how you can win, how you can look cool, that kind of crap… but what kind of actor you should become.”

“…”

“Let me give you a hint… I think the role you’re playing suits you perfectly. It looked good.”

That was the end of Ji-hwan’s advice.

But even after parting with Ji-hwan, Jin-wook didn’t return to the accommodation and wandered the streets for a long time.

It was because his head was still complicated.

The gap between ideal and reality wouldn’t narrow easily.

‘My role suits me…’

Ji-hwan had called him a bad-tempered monkey.

…He probably meant to say he was like a thug. Actually, Seo Jin-wook in the drama was a thug through and through.

He didn’t particularly mind playing a thug. Thug acting had been one of his main weapons since long ago.

But what more should he do from here?

It was difficult.

The more he thought about it, the more complicated his head became.

That’s why.

When he returned to the accommodation and made eye contact with Seon-woo who was in the break room, Jin-wook glared at him for no reason.

“What.”

“…Having a good night?”

“Good night my ass…”

It was right as he was saying that.

Jin-wook made eye contact with Yeon-woo who was lying on the sofa behind Seon-woo.

Her pretty eyes narrowed thinly, giving off a feeling of pressure like ‘You have to keep your promise, right?’

In the end, Jin-wook let out a sigh.

“Yeah. It’s a fucking great evening.”

Why was it?

He really felt like he had become a monkey.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————