NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 166
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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 166. Idol
Although Lily had grabbed Yeon-woo’s outstretched hand with a surprised expression, she couldn’t look directly at Yeon-woo and kept looking only at Chrissy beside her.
“Uh, Mom. What’s this all of a sudden···.”
“I told you before. I said Jay would come visit our house when he comes to America.”
“···No, I definitely heard it, but.”
Although her mother had participated as a music director in countless works until now, there had never been a star who was close enough to visit their home.
That’s why she thought it was just talk and didn’t pay much attention to it.
That made sense because while working, music directors didn’t have many opportunities to meet actors directly, and Hollywood actors rarely formed friendships with ordinary people outside their own inner circle.
At that moment, Dong-ha and Han Byeol, who had been organizing the tteokbokki ingredients they bought in the kitchen, also came out to the living room.
“Hyung! We finished organizing everything!”
“Yeon-woo hyung. The rice cakes were completely hard, should we soak them?”
And when Lily saw Ella and Akenaton walking out from the kitchen at home, her eyes widened once again.
“What?!”
After some commotion at the entrance, Yeon-woo went into the kitchen and quickly finished cooking, making delicious-looking tteokbokki in no time.
And while everyone sat down to eat, Lily kept poking at the innocent rice cakes with her fork.
Her eyes moved busily back and forth, alternating left and right frantically.
It was definitely the same kitchen where she had eaten cereal this morning, but it felt completely different from the morning.
“You ate it well last time when Mom made it for you, saying it was delicious. Why are you just poking and tormenting the rice cakes?”
“But how can I just eat food when such an unrealistic situation is unfolding before my eyes!”
It was the most shocking day of Lily’s life.
Watching such Lily, Dong-ha laughed.
“Go ahead and try it. It’s the first tteokbokki I’ve ever made in my life. Of course, Yeon-woo hyung did almost everything.”
“Yes, yes!”
At Dong-ha’s words, Lily hurriedly picked up a rice cake and put it in her mouth.
“I watched all the Axis music videos! I’m also in a K-POP cover dance club at school!”
When Lily spoke with sparkling eyes, it was actually Dong-ha whose eyes sparkled even more.
“Oh, really? Then you must know our choreography well too?”
“Of course!”
“Want to do a dance challenge together after eating? I’ll post it on TikTok!”
“Really?!”
Jeong Cheol-min was naturally uninterested, and Yeon-woo and Jung Su-yeon also had no interest in idols or dancing.
At best, Han Byeol would reluctantly join when Dong-ha asked her to, but she was unexpectedly clumsy and couldn’t learn choreography well.
Yeon-woo had thought Chrissy’s daughter would get along better with Han Byeol, who was the same age, but seeing Dong-ha unexpectedly hitting it off so well, he chuckled.
Seeing such Yeon-woo, Chrissy asked.
“You said you came for a talk show this time. How was it? Did you do well?”
Han Byeol answered that question.
“Totally! I thought only oppa had a script!”
“Really? Jay definitely has a sense of humor that works in official settings. He’s a man who makes jokes even in bleak Germany.”
Understanding that she was talking about the Berlin Film Festival, Yeon-woo tilted his head.
“Chrissy. Were you at the Berlin Film Festival?”
“I didn’t go, but it was a movie I participated in, so I looked it up online. Someone filmed and uploaded an interview before the movie started.”
“Ah···.”
Yeon-woo nodded at Chrissy’s words.
While eating tteokbokki and chatting about various things, Dong-ha took Han Byeol and went up to Lily’s room.
Judging by the thumping sounds and music heard together, it seemed they were filming the dance video they had talked about during the meal.
“It was good that you brought them.”
“It’ll be an unforgettable memory for Lily. Thanks to this, I saved on Christmas gifts.”
Yeon-woo smiled slightly upon hearing Chrissy’s words.
‘Come to think of it, Christmas is coming soon.’
After Christmas, the new year would come soon.
It seemed like they would need to start practicing in earnest to put on a play early next year.
‘I’ll need to prepare other aspects besides practice. I wonder if the kids are doing well with what I assigned them···.’
Meanwhile, Jun-su and Seong-sik in Seoul were covering all the plays currently running in Daehangno.
“Hey, but isn’t it kind of···?”
It was a sentence missing both subject and object, but Jun-su nodded at Seong-sik’s words.
“Right? The level is kind of···.”
The plays were definitely interesting. The content was good and the actors performed passionately.
Though they were looking at it from a non-expert’s perspective, the actors in Daehangno had solid voice projection and their body movements were full of confidence.
But something was lacking.
“How should I put it. There’s no vivid feeling. Like, that… Ah, I can’t express it properly?”
“I know what you mean without you saying it.”
“But if those actors from earlier heard us talking like this, they’d probably sneer at us, right?”
Jun-su shook his head at Seong-sik’s words.
“Why? We may not know how to act, but we have eyes to see, so we’re free to share our impressions. It’s not like you can’t open your mouth while watching soccer unless you’re a former player.”
“That’s true. I think it’s probably because we started our first play with that guy Yeon-woo’s acting?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
After first experiencing Yeon-woo’s acting where emotions poured out as if they were alive and breathing, all other acting felt faded in comparison.
“By the way, I wonder if Yeon-woo is doing well in America.”
“Who are you worrying about?”
“True.”
***
The day after returning from Chrissy’s House.
Yeon-woo and the Expedition Team members attended a mini fan signing event prepared by Bernard Fenton’s side.
Looking at the members sitting through the mini signing event that lasted two hours from lunch, they all looked like they were gaining energy rather than finding it difficult.
“Oh my gosh. Ella you so cute!”
“Th-thank you!”
A Black woman with an afro perm sitting next to them grabbed Han Byeol’s hand and showered her with compliments, her eyes sparkling as if she had seen an angel.
A fan also came up to Yeon-woo and shyly held out a piece of paper.
“What’s your name?”
“Mike!”
After signing along with Mike’s name, Yeon-woo spoke first.
“Thank you. For watching our series.”
“Wow, don’t mention it. I really enjoyed watching it so much. And you’re really kind. It’s so amazing that I can meet and talk with a star like this.”
“Is that so? Since I can’t come often, I should meet fans when I’m here.”
Yeon-woo smiled slightly while looking at Mike.
After all, fan meetings and signing events were relatively unfamiliar culture in America, except for Comic-Con or other big events.
Moreover, such events were mainly held in New York or San Diego.
Though Hollywood was the city of stars, there were hardly any occasions to meet actors publicly like this.
“Um, could I possibly shake hands with you?”
“Of course. Mike.”
Unlike Korean fans who were already accustomed to various fan signing events and made diverse requests, American fans simply got autographs and shook hands once, and that was it.
‘Honestly, I was prepared to do aegyo about a hundred times.’
Of course, it wasn’t that he disliked showing cute service to fans.
Compared to the love he received, such effort was a small gesture.
But this project was a little different.
Yeon-woo looked at the members beside him.
One was his teacher, one was his friend. And the other two were his younger siblings.
‘Hmm. Doing aegyo in front of them…’
Yeon-woo shook his head slightly.
‘It’s really fortunate that it hasn’t spread here yet. Phew.’
Just as Yeon-woo felt relieved, the fan who finished shaking hands moved on to Ella next to him, and the next fan came up to the platform.
‘She must be a Korean-American.’
It was a young woman who appeared to be Korean.
Originally, LA had the largest Koreatown and the most Korean-Americans residing there.
“Nice to meet you. Are you Korean-American?”
“No! I’m a Woo’s fan! This is amazing, really! I came to LA for fun and happened to hear about the surprise fan signing event, so I rushed over!”
“Really? Nice to meet you. I didn’t expect to see a Woo’s fan here.”
Yeon-woo smiled while looking at the fan.
Then suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.
‘No way?’
And such premonitions were never wrong.
“Um, I’ve watched it more than a thousand times on NeTube, but if it’s not rude, could I also…”
“Hmm…”
Originally, “Did I get them?” was a magical spell that should never even be thought of.
***
After finishing the fan signing event and sightseeing, Yeon-woo and his group boarded a plane heading back to Korea.
Since American fans still didn’t even know what it was, there weren’t as many fans requesting aegyo that day as expected.
After that, while sightseeing, several production companies attempted to approach Yeon-woo, and James Choi constantly tried to intervene each time.
Most of the time, Yeon-woo stepped forward to have private meetings so James Choi couldn’t interfere, and when that wasn’t possible, he passed it to Team Leader Yoon Mi-yeon.
In the end, James Choi, who failed to achieve his intended purpose, sat in the back seat of the return flight with a distorted face, endlessly staring out the window.
‘I still don’t know if that guy is a subordinate who reports directly to Baeksol, but I can find that out by tracking him after returning home.’
Even if he does report, he wouldn’t be able to report that things went wrong because he couldn’t handle one young actor.
That would only showcase his own incompetence.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter if he reports that anyway. They’re not the type to move for such simple reasons in the first place.’
They would never move rashly without economic reasons backing them up.
Yeon-woo would be spending the first half of next year doing theater, so there would be no business conflicts with them.
While organizing these various thoughts and looking at the clouds flowing over the Pacific Ocean airspace outside the window, Dong-ha in the seat next to him called out to Yeon-woo.
“Yeon-woo hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you happen to like futsal?”
He had liked ball sports since his previous life, and even after his reincarnation, he had frequently played futsal since high school.
“Well, somewhat? I played often with friends.”
“Then do you happen to know about Achae-dae?”
Yeon-woo, who was listening to Dong-ha’s story, shook his head.
“Well, I haven’t heard of that university. Is it famous for futsal?”
“···Huh? Ahem, no. It’s an abbreviation for the program ‘Idol Sports Championship.'”
“I see.”
Seeing Yeon-woo nod calmly, Dong-ha broke out in a cold sweat.
The ‘Idol Sports Championship’ was a special program where idols competed in sports events every New Year and Chuseok.
“The thing is, our team is participating in this New Year’s special, but all our members are physically clumsy, so we barely have anyone who can play futsal. We can somehow manage relay races or archery, but they’re at the level where if they kick the ball forward, it flies sideways…”
Dong-ha, who was speaking, glanced at Yeon-woo’s expression and carefully continued.
“So each team can recruit one mercenary, and if hyung is interested…”
Yeon-woo seriously considered Dong-ha’s words.
‘I was already considering appearing on variety shows as a service for fans anyway, and if it’s a program where idols appear, wouldn’t that be pretty good?’
He had enjoyed futsal regularly even in high school, so it seemed like it would be more fun than expected.
And if it was Dong-ha’s matter, he wanted to help…
“For now, I’m fine with it? I’ll have to discuss it with my agency, but I don’t think there’s any particular reason I shouldn’t appear.”
“Oh, really?!”
Dong-ha looked at him with hopeful eyes, but Yeon-woo tilted his head.
“But there seems to be one problem.”
“A problem?”
“I’m not an idol.”
Then Dong-ha looked at him as if asking what he was talking about.
“Hyung, you are an idol. Jay from the co-ed group J-NARI.”
“Ah…”
That’s right.
He was an idol who had even appeared on music broadcasts.
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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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