NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 128

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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 128. White Blood – Beginning

 

“Ugh… I’m nervous since it’s been so long.”

 

 

 

Jung Su-yeon sat in the waiting room, fidgeting with her hands that had grown cold from nervousness.

 

Her last work was “Spring Lover” where she appeared as a child actor, so it had already been 2 years.

 

 

 

She had applied for the public announcer recruitment but was eliminated in the second round, and while preparing for next year’s exam, she received a call from an acting academy instructor she had known for a while.

 

 

 

– They’re looking for an actress with good diction who can handle an announcer role well. Su-yeon, would you like to give it a try?

 

 

 

Since childhood, she had encountered bad agencies and grown sick of the dark side of the entertainment industry, but she hadn’t completely given up on the path of acting, so Jung Su-yeon was conflicted.

 

 

 

“…Should I try one last time?”

 

 

 

Jung Su-yeon nodded, and as a result, she came to the audition hall today.

 

 

 

Rumors about the work hadn’t spread yet so she didn’t know the detailed content, but she only knew it was a fantasy genre rare in Korea and a massive project that would be distributed through Netflix.

 

 

 

Since LN Media, whose stock price was at its peak recently, would handle both production and distribution, and opportunities for newcomers had decreased lately, the audition hall was truly packed with people.

 

 

 

“I’ll probably fail anyway.”

 

 

 

When Su-yeon looked around, various actors from familiar faces to aspiring actors she’d never seen were waiting.

 

 

 

“Hey, look over there. Isn’t that ‘XYZS Dong-ha’? How interesting.”

 

“Next to him looks like ‘N-Boys Jae-yoon’.”

 

 

 

Hearing the voices from behind, Su-yeon looked across the room.

 

 

 

“Senior Jae-yoon. Are you here for an audition?”

 

“Of course I’m here for an audition, did you think I came to play?”

 

 

 

At Dong-ha’s words, Jae-yoon looked displeased and scanned him up and down with his gaze.

 

Regardless of what Jae-yoon did, Dong-ha stared at him blankly and soon his eyes curved like crescents.

 

 

 

The Jae-yoon in front of him was a senior who liked to viciously bully only rookie male idols.

 

Since the XYZS members had also been targeted more than once or twice when they were clueless rookies, aggressive words would unconsciously slip out whenever they encountered him.

 

 

 

“You said so last time, senior.”

 

“What did I say?”

 

“When actors Ryu Yeon-woo and Seo Ji-eun came to the music show as ‘Jay & Nari’, you said why are actors crawling out to steal our rice bowls when they should just stick to acting…”

 

 

 

Though it wasn’t loud enough for others to hear clearly, at Dong-ha’s words, Jae-yoon hurriedly looked around and glared at him.

 

 

 

“Hey. Why are you bringing that up here? Shut your mouth.”

 

 

 

Dong-ha continued with an indifferent expression, shrugging his shoulders.

 

 

 

“Well, whatever. We’re also here to steal actors’ rice bowls now. According to what you said, senior.”

 

“What is this bastard…”

 

 

 

At Dong-ha’s provoking words, Jae-yoon’s expression hardened, but feeling the surrounding gazes, he turned his head.

 

 

 

“…Anyway, all the XYZS guys have no manners.”

 

 

 

Just then, the assistant director closed the audition hall door and shouted loudly.

 

 

 

“We’ll begin the auditions. Please enter in the order your names are called, and everyone else please wait quietly in your seats.”

 

 

 

The audition began and several people had already entered in turn.

 

 

 

Jung Su-yeon’s heart was pounding, so she was taking deep breaths.

 

 

 

‘Why am I like this today! How embarrassing. Ugh…’

 

 

 

She had auditioned dozens of times starting from child roles, but thinking about competing with someone again to land a role as an actor after a 2-year hiatus, her nervousness just wouldn’t subside.

 

 

 

“Next, Han Byeol. Number 32, Han Byeol.”

 

“Yes!”

 

 

 

At the cheerful and loud response from behind, Jung Su-yeon unconsciously turned around.

 

 

 

A girl in a school uniform with her hair braided in pigtails and a plain face with no makeup at all jumped up.

 

 

 

‘A high school student…? No, maybe middle school.’

 

 

 

Seeing that no one was next to her, it seemed she had come alone without a guardian.

 

 

 

Since she had only received the script for the role she was applying for, all she knew about the role that girl named ‘Han Byeol’ was applying for was that the character’s name was ‘Ella’.

 

 

 

Clap clap!

 

 

 

“Let’s go, fighting!”

 

 

 

The girl from the back row lightly slapped both her cheeks, shouted “fighting” loudly, and walked forward energetically.

 

 

 

The actors waiting around chuckled lightly at the sight.

 

Jung Su-yeon, who had been tense but also giggled at the sight, was the same.

 

 

 

‘She’s really cute… I had times like that too.’

 

 

 

There was a time when she had big dreams about acting and would analyze scripts until they turned black and practice for every audition.

 

Of course, she still analyzed diligently and practiced now too.

 

 

 

‘…But back then, I enjoyed it.’

 

 

 

As the girl named Han Byeol approached Jung Su-yeon, who was sitting near the entrance of the audition hall, she felt like she was seeing her past self and wanted to cheer her on.

 

 

 

“…G-good luck.”

 

 

 

Han Byeol smiled brightly when she heard Jung Su-yeon’s voice from beside her.

 

 

 

“Yes! You too, sister!”

 

 

 

Han Byeol opened the door and went inside. After a while, Jae-yoon from Enboys and Dong-ha from Axis also had their turns and entered the audition hall before soon exiting.

 

 

 

“I wonder who will get the lead role?”

 

“Well, it probably hasn’t been decided yet. There haven’t been any articles about it.”

 

“LN is doing really well these days, and there’s no way it’ll flop, so a famous actor will probably get it, right?”

 

 

 

Hearing the voices from behind, Jung Su-yeon naturally thought of her only friend from LN Entertainment.

 

A friend who had now become incredibly famous.

 

 

 

‘I wonder if Yeon-woo knows who’s going to be cast? Since LN is producing it in-house.’

 

 

 

Just then, a staff member’s voice was heard.

 

 

 

“Next, Jung Su-yeon. Number 76, Jung Su-yeon.”

 

“Yes!”

 

“I’m going in.”

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

“It’s been a while since you’ve joined a project, hasn’t it?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

 

 

Director Jeong Ha-neul and her team members were busily working on Yeon-woo’s hair and makeup with quick hand movements.

 

Yeon-woo looked at his reflection in the mirror and nodded slightly.

 

 

 

‘It really has been a while. Has it already been 10 months since “Sketch” ended?’

 

 

 

After wrapping up in October last year and returning from Berlin, he had focused entirely on school life.

 

Although he did some CF and YouTube filming in between, aside from that, this was his next project after attending only school without any minor events.

 

 

 

“What’s this project about?”

 

“Well, I play a doctor who fights monsters and robots.”

 

 

 

Director Jeong had asked out of politeness, but when an unexpected answer came back, she broke out in a cold sweat.

 

 

 

“…Oh, really?”

 

“Haha, it might sound strange, but it’ll be interesting.”

 

 

 

Since he was an actor who hit it big with everything he did, Director Jeong Ha-neul nodded, thinking that even though she didn’t know what it was from the description, it would probably be interesting.

 

 

 

“There, all done.”

 

 

 

Looking in the mirror, it was a professionally polished appearance after a long time.

 

 

 

“Yeon-woo, let’s try this on first.”

 

 

 

Stylist Lee Ye-eun, who had been waiting nearby, held out a dark purple suit.

 

 

 

“Isn’t this too much? It’s just a script reading.”

 

“What! You need to put effort into matching your status now.”

 

 

 

He was the lead in a big-budget fantasy blockbuster.

 

Of course, he had played lead roles in previous works too, but this time it was a solo lead, so the weight felt different.

 

 

 

“Alright. I’ll trust your eye, sister.”

 

 

 

Yeon-woo took the suit and went into the dressing room to put it on before coming back out.

 

 

 

“How is it?”

 

“Per, perfect…”

 

 

 

Lee Ye-eun was grinning proudly while the makeup staff beside her gave thumbs up with dazed expressions.

 

 

 

“That’s perfect hair-makeup-coordination.”

 

“Hair-makeup-coordination?”

 

“Hair, makeup, coordination.”

 

 

 

After hearing Lee Ye-eun’s answer, Yeon-woo shook his head and stood up.

 

 

 

“These days people abbreviate everything…”

 

“That’s ‘abbreviate everything.'”

 

“…Ahem, shall we go? Min-su hyung, I’m ready.”

 

 

 

They left the salon and got in the car to head to the script reading room.

 

 

 

“Then we’ll depart.”

 

 

 

The car smoothly started toward the LN Entertainment building.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, the large conference room on the 3rd floor of the LN Entertainment building was busy preparing for the script reading.

 

 

 

“Hehehe, it’s a script reading. I think I’m going to die from nervousness.”

 

“Hey. Please maintain some dignity as a director.”

 

 

 

As Director Hwang Min-kwon made a fuss and moved around busily, CG Director Jung Yo-han grabbed the back of his neck and chased after him.

 

 

 

Writer Kim Jin-ju was watching the two from behind, shaking her head in dismay.

 

 

 

Although she had joined this project because she was swayed by Ryu Yeon-woo, she had quite a hard time writing due to Director Hwang Min-kwon’s unpredictable imagination.

 

 

 

Whenever she had written some content, Director Hwang would suddenly come up with random ideas out of nowhere.

 

 

 

The stories were completely different from what she had written, but they were too plausible to ignore when she actually listened to them.

 

 

 

“Because of that guy, I don’t know how many times I had to rewrite everything.”

 

 

 

He’s a person whose brilliant ideas spring forth like an inexhaustible fountain, but without Writer Kim Jin-ju, those ideas would never see the light of day.

 

 

 

Writer Kim Jin-ju shifted her gaze to the script in her hands.

 

 

 

「White Blood」

 

 

 

Still, the script she had written was perfect even in her own eyes.

 

 

 

Just then, actors began entering the Script Reading Room one by one.

 

Writer Kim Jin-ju smiled brightly when she saw the girl entering through the door.

 

 

 

“Oh my, it’s Han Byeol. You look pretty today!”

 

“Yes! Hello, Writer-nim.”

 

 

 

The girl who came running over at Writer Kim Jin-ju’s greeting and bowed politely.

 

 

 

“Writer-nim, I have a question!”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Who’s the main character of our work?”

 

 

 

Is this the MZ generation I’ve only heard about, or is it her personal trait?

 

New actors usually feel nervous when they come to their first script reading, but seeing Han Byeol constantly looking around and chattering away with curious questions, Writer Kim Jin-ju nodded her head.

 

 

 

‘She’s definitely like Ella. Good casting choice.’

 

 

 

She fit perfectly with the character Ella.

 

And she smiled mischievously as she spoke.

 

 

 

“Secret! They’ll be here soon anyway, right?”

 

 

 

Then Jung Su-yeon and XYZS’s Dong-ha, along with other main supporting actors, entered and took their seats after exchanging greetings.

 

 

 

Usually when broadcasting stations proceed with casting, articles are published once casting is complete, so people often hear the news in advance.

 

 

 

Even for movies, they sometimes hold separate meetings for main and supporting actors, but this time casting was completed as quickly as roasting beans over lightning, and since there had been no reports about the casting or the work, the actors were busy greeting each other since they didn’t know who had been cast.

 

 

 

“Hello. I’m Jung Su-yeon.”

 

“Ah, I’m Dong-ha from the boy group XYZS. Please take care of me.”

 

 

 

As Jung Su-yeon exchanged greetings with Dong-ha, a cheerful voice came from beside them.

 

 

 

“Unnie, you’re the unnie who cheered for each other last time, right!”

 

“Oh? That student from back then.”

 

 

 

While they were exchanging greetings, murmuring voices from other minor role actors and staff could be heard from the entrance area.

 

 

 

Naturally turning their heads toward the source of the sound, they saw the lead actor of this work entering through the entrance.

 

 

 

A young actor wearing a deep purple suit, radiating an aura and showing off his presence.

 

 

 

“…Huh?”

 

 

 

Jung Su-yeon was so surprised that she unconsciously let out a foolish sound.

 

And Han Byeol beside her also gaped her mouth open.

 

 

 

“Wow, amazing! I’m a huge fan of Ryu Yeon-woo oppa?! Is he our drama’s main character?”

 

 

 

The making cameras also turned to film Ryu Yeon-woo as he smiled and greeted the staff.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo, who had approached the center of the table, spotted Jung Su-yeon.

 

Since he had deliberately not asked the production team about casting to avoid interfering, Yeon-woo was equally surprised to face an unexpected person.

 

 

 

“Su-yeon? So we’re working on a project together this time.”

 

“Y-yes, we are.”

 

 

 

Come to think of it, during the last 「Spring Lover」, he had only done cameo filming as a daily helper, so this was actually the first time working on a project with Jung Su-yeon.

 

Jung Su-yeon was happy about Yeon-woo’s sudden appearance, but felt more bewildered than anything.

 

 

 

Thinking about how Jung Su-yeon had recently been preparing for the announcer exam, Yeon-woo could guess what role she had taken on.

 

 

 

“Ah, the narrator role?”

 

“Yeah. That’s right.”

 

 

 

Then greetings poured toward Yeon-woo from all around.

 

 

 

“Hello! I’m Han Byeol!”

 

“I greeted you once at a music broadcast before, I’m Dong-ha from XYZS.”

 

“Yes, nice to meet you. Han Byeol-nim, Dong-ha-nim.”

 

 

 

As everyone had apparently arrived, the Assistant Director closed the door to the main conference room and shouted.

 

 

 

“Alright, let’s begin.”

 

 

—————
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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