NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 127
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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 127. Housewarming (2)
Hearing Yeon-woo’s words, Woo Seong-sik’s eyes sparkled brightly.
“Wow, you even talk on the phone with Seo Ji-eun. That’s so enviable.”
Kim Jun-su looked at Seong-sik with an expression of disbelief.
“Hey. You’ve already worked on two projects together.”
“Is that so.”
Seeing Seong-sik’s reaction, it seemed Seo Ji-eun’s popularity had really taken off lately.
Yeon-woo opened his mouth with a mischievous smile.
“Did you switch from Han So-hyeon to Seo Ji-eun? So-hyeon sister was so good to you, Seong-sik… Can’t be helped. I’ll pass along the message.”
“No! Absolutely not!”
“Oh, so you’re saying an actress like Seo Ji-eun isn’t worth comparing to Han So-hyeon?”
“…What? No! Yeon-woo hyung!”
Everyone burst into laughter watching Seong-sik caught in an ‘Unguardable Technique’ and Yeon-woo quietly tormenting him.
Son Jin-wook patted Yeon-woo’s shoulder at the sight.
“It’s just like a soldier who got assigned to his unit tormenting a new recruit.”
“Ah…”
Everyone froze at the forbidden word that came out of Jin-wook’s mouth.
“Hyung… We’re going to the military soon.”
Seong-sik and Jun-su looked dejected.
“…Ahem, ahem. You guys are already that age, huh. Since we’ve eaten, shall we go to the living room and watch the variety show? You said you were going to watch the live broadcast.”
Everyone stood up following Jin-wook, who hurriedly changed the subject.
They came out to the living room and scattered across the spacious sofa, turning on the TV just as commercials were playing right before the variety show started.
It was a beverage CF that Jin Yu-han had filmed.
“Hey, Yu-han’s on.”
At Seong-sik’s words, Kim Ju-hyeong, who had been looking at his smartphone, looked at the TV screen and glanced around.
Ryu Yeon-woo sitting next to him was his university classmate, but also the ten-million-viewer actor who was the first in South Korea to win the Berlin Golden Bear.
The hyung he had just been eating with was Son Jin-wook, South Korea’s representative male actor whose stock was at its peak these days.
Jin Yu-han, whom he occasionally contacted and hung out with, was now appearing in a TV commercial.
He had definitely been an ordinary university student until just last year…
No, actually he was still an ordinary university student even now…
“This is crazy.”
“Huh? Who? Yu-han?”
When Jun-su asked back at the words that unconsciously came out of his mouth, Ju-hyeong waved his hands dismissively.
“No no, I was thinking about something else.”
“Okay, it’s starting.”
The variety show began.
It was a talk show concept where they had simple drinks and conversations on a set decorated like a pocha.
“Jin-wook hyung, have you been on this show before?”
“Ah, about 4 years ago?”
Jin-wook nodded at Yeon-woo’s question.
Then a barrage of questions from friends poured out around them.
“Hyung. Do they really drink alcohol while filming there?”
“Well, if you want to? If you can’t drink alcohol, you can just drink plain water.”
The variety show flowed quite entertainingly.
Ji-eun blended well into the atmosphere with her characteristically cheerful personality and unpretentious wit.
Then the MC skillfully threw out a prepared question.
– Seo Ji-eun, I heard there’s a man who saved your life three times?
– Three times?
The other panelists were surprised by the MC’s question.
‘Hmm, so this is the part where she talked about me?’
Since Ji-eun had talked about him, he had thought it would probably be about the Berlin Film Festival or the previous stalker incident.
On TV, Ji-eun began answering the MC’s question.
– Yes. Some of you might have seen it on the news, but there was a dangerous situation and fortunately actor Ryu Yeon-woo saved me.
She deliberately didn’t mention specifics, but the panelists nodded.
– So, that man is actor Ryu Yeon-woo?
As the panelists each expressed admiration, Yeon-woo’s face appeared small in the subtitles.
The admiration wasn’t just from inside the TV.
“Ooh. Hey, they’re talking about you.”
“Amazing.”
Yeon-woo chuckled at his friends’ reactions, then tilted his head in confusion.
“But why did I save her three times?”
On TV, Seo Ji-eun was starting the next story.
– The second time was when I almost fell from a horse on the filming set.
Hearing Ji-eun’s story, Yeon-woo nodded his head.
On TV, making film footage flowed out, apparently obtained by the variety show production team from KBC1’s Drama Department.
The heart-stopping moment when Ji-eun tilted sideways and was about to fall from the running horse was captured perfectly on camera.
And even Yeon-woo’s figure bending his waist acrobatically to catch Ji-eun and pull her forward.
Exclamations burst out from the MC and panel guests in the studio as they watched that scene on the monitor.
And similarly, exclamations burst out at home as well.
“Whoa, hey. Something like that happened? Why didn’t you tell us?”
“That was completely dangerous, wasn’t it?”
“But man, your reflexes were incredible in that situation.”
Behind the reactions of his friends sitting in the living room watching TV, the MC’s voice continued flowing from the variety show.
– That really was a dangerous moment. Oh my, even watching it on screen makes my heart drop. But you said he saved you three times – besides these major incidents, was there another one?
– The last one was my life as an actress. Actually, before filming “Stars Beyond the Stream,” my acting career had been cut short after my debut work failed to succeed.
As Ji-eun credited Ryu Yeon-woo for the success of “Stars Beyond the Stream” and went on to tell the behind-the-scenes story of her subsequent casting in “Sketch,” sounds of admiration flowed from the panel.
However, Yeon-woo smiled awkwardly and shook his head.
‘No. Even without me, Jin Yu-han would have played the lead in “Stars Beyond the Stream,” so there wouldn’t have been any problem with its success.’
Content that might have been boring was brought to life and broadcast with the flavorful reactions befitting professional variety entertainers.
The internet reaction was quite good.
In an era where variety shows are more important for how much they get clipped and circulated on the internet rather than live broadcasts, an episode with everything packed into a story of just over 8 minutes was bound to be successful.
It was a story about the currently hot actors Seo Ji-eun and Ryu Yeon-woo, containing behind-the-scenes stories of last year’s hit “Stars Beyond the Stream” and the casting backstory of this year’s hit “Sketch.”
And when the making film of the near horse-riding accident obtained by the variety show production team was added, the view count of the clipped videos naturally began to explode.
– 태정태세문단속(cjj91***) : 울 연우 선한 영향력 크라쓰
– 난널유혹하는거란족(sam81***) : 저 상황에서 기가 막히게 낚아채네요. 드라마보다 드라마 같아
└ 우결충(leehyeo***) : 내가 감독이면 저 장면 썼겠다. 왜 안 썼지?
└ 컹스맨(with***) : 말이 되는 소리를 하셈 촬영현장 안전관리 소홀로 악플 먹을 수도 있는 판에 저걸 가져다 쓰겠누?
– 귀신이고칼로리(estoc0***) : 서지은 말에 진심이 담긴 것 같아서 감동이 있네요
└ 노른계란자(jyhong0***) : ㅇㅈ 방송 때문이 아니라 찐으로 고마워하는 게 눈에 보임
Whether they knew about the internet reactions or not, Yeon-woo and his friends sat around the living room table after the variety show ended.
“This wholesome atmosphere. Is this for real, guys?”
Son Jin-wook looked at Yeon-woo and his friends as if incredulous.
Twenty-one-year-old healthy men at an age to drink alcohol by the barrel.
But there wasn’t even a single can of beer.
What Woo Seong-sik pulled out of his bag was a deck of cards and a silver bell he placed on the table.
“Now, everyone’s played Halli Galli before, right?”
Seong-sik confidently rubbed his hands together as he unwrapped the deck of cards.
“I’m Kim Jun-su. The man of pentakills with situational judgment that cuts off champions’ breath faster than anyone with a mouse. Some fruit pictures can’t stop me.”
Then Kim Ju-hyeong cracked his fingers with popping sounds as if he couldn’t lose.
“I’m from Korea University Economics. Adding up to five? I’d win with one eye closed.”
“Bringing up academic background here? That’s slightly annoying, we’re from Yeonha University too.”
Jin-wook shook his head at the kids who were taking this seriously over nothing.
But the words coming out of his mouth were different.
“You know what staff do most often when gathered in the evenings during provincial filming? Card games.”
Showing off over trivial things was the same whether you’re a kid or an adult.
Then Yeon-woo quietly raised his hand.
“I don’t know what this is at all though? Halli what?”
Jun-su nodded as if this was familiar.
“Of course Ryu Yeon-woo, who spent his life training at a temple, wouldn’t know. I’ll teach you the rules.”
Since Yeon-woo didn’t know what League of Legends or coin karaoke were, let alone Halli Galli, this wasn’t surprising.
Yeon-woo nodded as he listened to Jun-su’s explanation.
“So you flip cards and when the same fruit adds up to five, you ring the bell?”
After confirming the rules once more, Yeon-woo tilted his head.
“This becomes a game? It seems too simple.”
It wasn’t blackjack or baccarat, so how hard could it be to just look and ring a bell?
Seeing Yeon-woo like this, Woo Seong-sik wagged his index finger left and right.
“Beginners always say that. We’ll have to get into the real game.”
Woo Seong-sik dealt the cards and the game began.
Three bananas.
Two plums.
Among the men who were quietly flipping cards and twitching their arms, Yeon-woo watched with relaxed eyes without moving a muscle.
When the cards that started being flipped from Kim Jun-su reached Son Jin-wook’s turn, the moment he flipped his card, Yeon-woo’s hand flew like lightning and touched the bell.
Ding─.
Only after the bell sound rang did the card finish flipping and land on the table.
Two bananas.
“Is this how you do it? Why isn’t anyone else ringing the bell?”
When Yeon-woo asked his friends with a puzzled expression, they all looked at him as if dumbfounded.
“…Huh? You just rang the bell when not even half the cards were flipped?”
“Well, if the fruit is yellow and there’s only one at the top with the middle empty, then obviously there are two…”
Woo Seong-sik shook his head.
It’s not like they didn’t know to ring the bell.
They just couldn’t check all that instantly and reach out their hand.
“It must be beginner’s luck. Let’s go straight to the next round.”
And so the cards in front of Yeon-woo increased.
The next round began.
Ding─.
Ding─.
Ding─.
“Hmm, does this mean the game is over?”
Because of Yeon-woo ringing the bell and collecting cards at tremendous speed without giving others even a chance to reach out, it became a one-sided game.
“…He’s a Halli Galli tyrant.”
In the following games as well, the cards naturally gathered in front of Yeon-woo.
“Hey, this won’t work. Let’s play a different game. Got anything else?”
At Kim Jun-su’s words as he raised both hands in surrender first, Woo Seong-sik grinned and rummaged through his bag.
“I knew this would happen, so I prepared another game too. Analog won’t work, so let’s go digital.”
“Digital? Thinking about how he plays League of Legends, that seems quite possible.”
In high school, whenever they went to the PC Bang, Yeon-woo was always the one getting killed and staring at the gray screen.
Woo Seong-sik put his hand in the bag and looked around.
“What I brought is this! Something that men and women of all ages can enjoy by dancing at home to match the rhythm, Ninten…”
At Woo Seong-sik’s words, Yeon-woo opened his mouth with an expression like something familiar had finally appeared.
‘I’ve played this before in college.’
And Son Jin-wook shouting at the same time as Yeon-woo from beside him.
“DDR!”
“DDR!”
Hearing that shout, the kids simultaneously tilted their heads.
“…What’s that?”
“DDR? I feel like I’ve heard of it somewhere.”
“That’s probably like the ancestor of Pump that’s in arcades, right? I heard about it from my parents.”
Looking at the small game console Woo Seong-sik pulled out of his bag, Yeon-woo shook his head.
“There was no way something I knew would come up.”
“Yeon-woo, I’m in my thirties so that’s understandable, but why don’t you know these things either?”
All Yeon-woo could do in response was spread both arms and shrug his shoulders.
‘I’m from the ttakji generation.’
Once again today, Yeon-woo swallowed his words.
The cutting-edge game from that era, not DDR but wearing gyroscope-equipped sensors on the body and doing dance or sports while watching the connected TV, continued late into the night.
And a few days later, the day of the supporting role casting audition for 「White Blood」 dawned.
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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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